• Till We Meet Again •
February 2016
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Disclaimer:
Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Chat Noir © Thomas Astruc
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A/N:
I HAVE A DIRE NEED FOR ADRIEN AND TIKKI INTERACTIONS OKAY BEAR WITH ME I KNOW THEY ARE GONNA BE FLUFFY AS HECK—And thus it made me write this. THIS WAS SUPPOSED TO BE JUST A DRABBLE. Hah. Atta plot kittens. This also has an accompanying doodle, which you can check out at Tsuza-Art (Tumblr)!
Again, dedicated to my bro Geremy-Raven (Tumblr) who was supportive as heck when I told her of this little idea of mine haha. Enjoy reading and let me know what you think!
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A couple thousand years of accumulated experience, along with her innate good luck, should have sufficed for her to master the art of being "invisible".

Tikki knew she should not be seen by anyone not supposed to; due to the nature of her very existence and the tasks she carry. But every once in a while she does crave interaction aside from her current host and the very, very few fortunate enough to know of her - The secret of who she is, or what she is.

In the smallest percentage of a mischance that someone would catch a glimpse of her (whether by true accident or planned), Tikki already had more than enough stock knowledge anyway on how to go about such situations -

- Particularly exhausting if it involved children, though.

She was generally okay with kids and loved 'playing' with them. With her favorite game being 'Now you spot me, now you don't', Tikki takes humor at the various reactions on whether they had really seen her or she was merely a figment of their imagination. Thankfully, even if these youngsters told someone about seeing her, adults would merely shrug it off or simply play along; as children are believed to have vivid imagination and storytelling.

A small sigh escaped from Tikki's lips; letting her tiny body slowly drift down to a plop onto one of the open flower buds. She figured that over the course of time, children would be a bit more calm; especially those raised from families of the higher-upper class or filthy rich of wealth as her current host termed it. But nope, apparently not!

Tikki may be a kwami, but even someone like her with lasting patience can only handle so much hyperactive poking, pulling and general rough-handling. She imagined that her black spots might already be bruises, or her red skin was a darker hue due to the amount of pressure (or lack of restraint) on those pinches she received. Were her feeler antennas and tail still intact?

She had sought refuge (high and away from said kids) at the rows of beautiful red rose bushes in hopes of camoflouging herself within it. That, along with the moon being the only source to light up this vast sky garden, should give her at least a few minutes of breathing space before she went back to her host. Hopefully her presence would not be missed until then; after all, the party was at the peak of its full swing and no one would go up this garden on the top floor to miss that.

"Fée?"

But, yet again, her thoughts are proven wrong as her amethyst eyes looked at her own reflection, up-close, in a young boy's own light-green ones.

She could feel him holding his breath; either waiting for a response, or for any sign of movement from her. Tikki contemplated: Should she just pretend to be an inanimate object or zoom off in a random direction to confuse and lose him? As she immersed in these thoughts, Tikki did not immediately notice the lad reach towards her. When she did, his fingers were almost at her forehead, and Tikki flinched on reflex (the flicks-and-pinches experience a while ago still fresh in her mind).

"D-Désolé!" the child apologized hastily, stepping back as if afraid that she would fly off at any moment. "You okay?"

Tikki chuckled at how he pronounced the 's' as 'sh'. Looks like he was still at the age where he is still getting used to words. But then again, despite knowing and being prolific in different languages she had learned over the past years, she herself still stumbles when she speaks French. It took a moment for her to process that him saying fée was not a shortened, baby-talk equivalent of 'fairy'. Also -

"'Okay'?" Tikki found herself quoting the young boy. "What do you mean?"

The child's eyebrows furrow and lips purse, like he was remembering something unpleasant. "Earlier. He hurt you."

Tikki blinked a few times at his statement. "So you followed me to see if I was alright?"

The lad made a noise of affirmation. She laughed at how eagerly he nodded his head. Even though his hands still hovered in front of him in mid-reach, he made no attempts to grab her or anything similar. He carefully approached her again, and when he was in a comfortable-enough distance between them, he lowered his hands and poised it to cup the rose Tikki was sitting on. She smiled at these small gestures he did; like he was making sure that he would not scare her off a second time.

"I am now!"

"Y'sure?"

"Oui! Thanks to you checking up on me, little one."

Tikki giggled at his soft gasp of surprise when she flew straight in between his eyes and playfully booped his nose. Momentarily cross-eyed he was, and began to laugh along. Tikki wasn't sure if his hair color was blond or it was just the case of the moonlight shining onto it; nonetheless, his smile now spread and brightened not only his once worried face but also his entire demeanor. She then proceeded to float in front of him to fix his little red bowtie before sitting on the palm of his hands, which he quietly presented for her to land on.

Tikki felt herself visibly relax - She wasn't the type to be down for so long, thus the negative vibe she had began to ebb away. Admittedly, his wide toothy grin was also quite infectious.

And this is why she was slightly caught off-guard when he placed a light kiss on her forehead. She gave him an inquiring look; at which he let out a shy chuckle as reply. "Maman said kisses make it feel better!"

The young boy's eyes suddenly lit up and he began to rummage his left pocket (with Tikki quickly zipping to right the straps of his black suspenders that slid off his shoulder while he searched). After a few tries he managed to pull out a clumpy portion of something bundled in the fancy paper napkins. The blond boy sat down on the stoned ledge of the rose bushes and unwrapped the curious package.

"Cookies?" he offered, handing her the chocolate chip piece.

Tikki thanked him and faltered a bit upon receiving the cookie piece that is almost as big as her. The child laughed softly as he caught her and placed her on his lap. She took a few bites from her own cookie: A mild milk chocolate chip variant with chocolate syrup glazed lazily on top. She was mildly surprised at how it wasn't overly sweet despite having two different chocolate toppings on it. The buttery flavor and crumbly texture was also a nice touch. Half-way through eating her portion she glanced at the young boy, who was chewing thoughtfully on what looked like a caramel-topped variant.

"Are you a fairy?" he asked after finishing his portion.

"Is that what the kid said?"

"Kept saying you were."

"… Not exactly," Tikki decided to say. "I'm more of a ladybug!"

"Ladybug-?"

"Adrien! Is that you?"

The two of them started at the additional third voice. Tikki immediately darted into the bushes; luckily in time as the owner of the said voice had ran up to the young boy. Tikki took a peek at the woman that appeared: Her long-sleeved dress a combination of black and pale pink; heels clacking into the pebbled pathway of the garden.

"Oh, mon petit minou, I have been looking everywhere for you!" she exclaimed, brushing off stray brown hairstrands from her face. She hugged the child (Adrien, Tikki corrected herself) and dusted off his grey polo shirt and black shorts. Tikki saw him stiffen as she looked at him dead in the eye. "You know you shouldn't have done that and ran away, right?"

Whatever the lady was pertaining to, Adrien seemed to know instantly. Tikki saw him bow his head, shuffle his black-shoed feet and mumbled, "Sorry, maman."

"My silly little kitten," the lady sighed, then replaced with a small suggestive grin when she asked, "So who's the reason why you punched that little guest?"

"Maman!"

Tikki couldn't help but silently snicker at both the chosen nickname and the child's flustered reaction. She stopped short, though, as she realized what the last statement meant.

Wait.

Was she referring to that kid who kept pulling her antennas earlier? And this Adrien even went as far as to look for her to see if she was doing okay after that - ?

Tikki was snapped out of her thoughts when the woman, whom she assumed was Adrien's mother, started to usher the young boy back into the venue. He gave a frustrated pout of refusal (on heading back to the party or about the punch, Tikki was unsure), but was eventually persuaded when the lady lifted him into her arms and started to carry him with her. He still had a pout on his face as he rested his chin on his mother's shoulder; arms and legs wrapped around.

When she was sure that his mother would not be looking back, Tikki flew out of her hiding place and hovered a few inches above the rose bushes; high enough for Adrien to catch sight of her. Despite how dark it was she saw him perk up; indicating that he did see her. She waved at him - A gesture he returned. Just before the two turned to the corner and out of sight, Tikki used a bit of her power to call forth a fellow ladybug insect; letting it fly and land on Adrien's waiting hand.

Tikki had made it a point to keep one or two memories of people she categorizes as "special": For her to look back at fondly, or for these people to never be truly forgotten. She would sometimes choose an object to associate a particular memory with to make it more personalized. Often these were related to her past hosts and closest friends. But this little encounter? She knew this would definitely be one of those up there. Special.

Chocolate chip cookies now has a certain delightful after taste.

And, somehow. . .

"I am not for you," Tikki whispered. "But … I'm sure we'll meet again."

•••••

A decade passing is almost fleeting for a being who has lived several thousand years. One could say that with the amount of experience gathered within that massive span of time, nothing should come as a shock anymore.

But, even as one learns to anticipate the unexpected, life is still able to throw in a few surprises along the way.

A smile of familiarity eased in his features; his light-green eyes still as bright as she remembered. His disposition was of someone who had been looking for an old friend and -

"Ladybug," she heard him breathe. "I finally found you."