Heroes for Centuries
Yami-Horus: Holy Father of Miraculous, this fanfic was not supposed to be this… long and angsty… It was meant to be short, cute and just tiny bit sad and dramatic (O_O) (Should I be concerned about the malefic delight I seem to take on killing off characters I love?) I hope you like it. There are many time leaps, but I think you'll understand (If you don't, I'll just tell you: I mention the time before and after the kids, the kids are meant to be in one present 4 years-old and the farthest in the future is the kids being 12). This is my very first Miraculous Ladybug fanfic in english (the first one I wrote it in french…! My French is bad, if you want to read it go, but I warn you: my French grammar is terrible!)
AND NO, I HAVEN'T WATCHED THE ORIGINS EPISODE.I'VE BEEN WRITING THIS PRACTICALLY SINCE JANUARY. I WARANTEE YOU THERE ARE NO SPOILERS IN HERE, JUST MY THEORIES AND HEADCANNONS.
And remember: I do not own Miraculous Ladybug, the owner is Hawkdaddy, Troll-mas SORRY! Thomas Astruc.
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First event: with a little help from…"Adrien!" He called as soon as he came home. "…don't hide, I know you're there." Nino frowned. Why were the lights off? The sun had already set about half an hour ago, but he knew by heart that boy didn't like dark "Adrien?" He called once again as he ventured to inspect behind every door. "Adrien?" Nino called again. When he found him, he was curled under the bed's blankets and openly crying. This was a usual behavior whenever there were thunderstorms or heavy rains; except for, right now, there were none?
"Adrien?" Nino called with a hushed voice. "…you alright?" He didn't respond, the body under the blankets seemed to realize he wasn't alone anymore. "What is it? What's wrong?" Continued the brown-eyed-one.
"Nothing…" a broken weak voice finally came. Nino sighed, a confused and concern scowl on his face as he sat on the bed. He didn't even tried to make the other come out, he knew best, the space was required if he needed this to feel safe. He'd wait. Adrien would come out when he was ready, but, in the meanwhile, he could try the waters he was about to dive into, so he could be more helpful in bringing him back into the right tune.
"If you're crying it isn't 'nothing' at all" Nino corrected in a firm, yet understanding voice. "You know you can tell me anything and everything, right? What do I always tell you?"
"That… too much heavy-thoughts will make me explode." The hiccupping weak voice came out again. The hiding-one quickly recalling every time those words had been spoken. Nino was really worried about how much this boy could keep in his mind, how serious his musings could be, how his facial expression would recall more that of an old man thinking about his lifetime's regrets in his deathbed. Such unhealthy habits were not something good for anyone.
"That's it. Alors, dit moi . You know I won't get angry…" The other shift his position so he was sitting with his legs crossed but never left the secure cocoon of blankets he was in.
"I… I had a dream…" he admitted, shame visibly tinting his voice.
"A dream?"
"In my dream I lived in a palace. The palace was really big, but there was no-one in there. And I was looking for someone."
"Whom?"
"I don't know. But, when I opened the doors, the rooms were all empty. Then I… I felt so alone, because there wasn't anyone and, when I looked through the windows… there was someone outside, and was telling me to come out. But there was no way out. All the doors were empty rooms…" He stopped in that moment, when his tears came back as hard as before. He didn't mentioned the ghostly-cold lilac-white light shining above the palace, he didn't mentioned the creatures coming out of it nor even that the person was calling for him to help her or how that light gave her butterfly wings that moved on their own and took her away from him or how the elegant palace was suddenly replaced by a black medieval fortress-like castle; neither he told about those friends of his he could see around him and being turned into monsters he knew he would have to defeat or how an arrow came from no-where to stab him in the middle of his chest or how he almost saved that person when he opened the biggest window in the highest room of the tallest tower… but his hand couldn't reach her hands (the image of her panicked face and pleading teary eyes coming back to him). No he didn't mention them, he didn't want to; and he didn't know how to, what could he call all the fantastic yet terrible things he had seen? He really didn't have the words to tell about them.
"Oh, Adrien…" Nino sighed and, for the first time since his arrival, he dared to come closer to surround the blanket cocoon with his arms. He didn't force him to go any further. He knew that was, most likely, worse than it sounded, he couldn't see inside his head (he didn't know what else was in there that made it so terrifying for the boy)
"I don't want to..." He didn't finish that sentence, but Nino guessed what he meant the moment: I don't want to be alone and afraid . The other let the blanket drop and gripped his arms around him and dug his face in Nino's chest.
"Shush… it's ok now. I'm here, and I'm not going to leave you" Declared Nino with a reassuring smile as he lift the boy in his arms. "Hey" he called to make the little-one look at him greenish-gray eyes meeting brown "…your mom will arrive in one more hour. Wanna eat some ice cream while she's not here?" he asked with a mischievous voice and the 4-year-old nodded in response. "Now, don't cry, unless you want your eyes to hurt tomorrow and be the great tomato-eyed monster!" He warned as he lightly tickled the little-one, making him giggle.
"Ok, daddy…"
"Now that's my big boy!" he prized and ruffled the kid's reddish-brown locks. Nino didn't mention anything else about the nightmare, he just spoiled his little one until the moment he fell asleep in the couch with the TV showing some classical anime series. Alya arrived home some minutes later, indulgent about the ice-cream-for-dinner and telling Nino something about being about to kill one of her sisters for leaving Adrien alone.
Second event: The girl with ocean eyes"I think he likes it here…" Alya whispered to her husband. Their respective jobs had kept them away from home more time than intended for several months (and Alya's sisters seemed to be unable to take care of their adorable little nephew…). Nino, however, had had the brilliant idea of moving to an apartment nearest to his working place (This way, he was 15 minutes away on foot, he could come and go in case they needed to leave Adrien alone at home). At the moment, Alya's job had become too demanding, especially since the new boss explicitly forbid absences (it was the digital section of the most important newspaper in Paris, thus lots of the writers and editors in that section opted for working from home) and she had just been reassigned from editor/redactor to field reporter; and Nino's side job (as director for a small studio) had overlapped with his full-time job at the radio station and drained him out of energy since their other engineer got himself a broken leg. Thus, weekends like this one were complete a bliss for the entire family.
The adults were both worried for Adrien, none of them wanted to leave him alone at home (especially Nino) but he had said he didn't minded. His father had, more than once, taken him to the radio station (he was loved by almost everyone in there; they unofficially became his godfathers and godmothers), Adrien had said the place was fun and interesting but he didn't seemed too interested in going with Nino every day. They wondered why Adrien seemed to be so pleased to be left alone in the small flat. It wasn't like they didn't know the temptations and the sense of freedom one has the first time one's left alone in the house being a child, but Adrien was still too young and was more probably at that age to be scared while being alone at home. Besides, he didn't seemed to be doing any of the classics: no broken things, the cookie jar remained untouched, the parental blocker was on, the ice cream stuck in the freezer was the same immutable icy block, the bedrooms still in order, the toys were not in inadequate places, in one sentence: the house hadn't caught fire! What if their little one was starting his fall into child depression?
Thus the importance of having a family weekend. It started with sweet specialties for breakfast, followed by a walk through the park, a visit to the zoo, a short trip to best bakery in all Paris, a movie and (finally) the satisfactory walk back home. Adrien seemed happier to be back than they thought he would be, and they wondered why (mostly Nino who, at some point of his life, got truly worried about being a good father). Nino was also worried about the neighbor (they hadn't seen the person, but they knew someone lived next door) he didn't want any stranger mad at his son.
"Adrien! Don't go into the balcony!" Alya exclaimed when her 'mother-sense' activated, taking her husband out of his thoughts. The cinnamon-skinned man rushed to find his son about to get into said place (definitely not entirely unsafe for an unsupervised child, but the balcony was a shared space with the next-door neighbor, divided in the very middle by a small decorative fence). Alya came right behind him, ready with a sermon for his son, when they heard…
"Salut Marinette!"
"Adrien!" In the other side of the useless fence was the one who had called the boy's name; it was a little girl around their son's age, her eyes were a stunningly beautiful greenish-blue, almost turquoise, and they came out as much as her red hair that had been lousily caught in two tiny braids in the back of her head.
"Marinette, Òu est tu ma cherie? " a man's voice announced the arrival of the child's father, who turned out to be no stranger… "Huh? Could it be? Nino, Alya! It's been so long!" the deep raspy voice resonated, a man with blue eyes and long red hair tied in the back of his head appeared. "I didn't know you were occupying the other flat." This face was so familiar and yet so strange to hear.
"Well, the last time I saw you, you were a single man, Nathaniël" pointed Nino.
"Point taken, I'm a single father now" He said with a proud smile and taking the little redheaded girl in her arms. "…and this little treasure that walks is my little girl"…the man adjusted the collar of the girl's purple sweater "…say 'hi', Marinette."
"H-hi" the child said hurriedly and buried her shy expression in her father's shoulder.
"So that's what's kept this little monkey so excited…" Alya inquired, eying Adrien that smiled brightly and hugged her leg, never looking away from the little girl. "You got yourself a close friend, huh? Why don't you two go and play while the adults talk?"
"Yes, mommy. Marinette, come!" The boy called out. Nathaniël placed his daughter gently on the floor on the other side of the fence. He smiled fondly at the two of them. "…You have to see this!"
"Adrien, don't run inside!" Alya exclaimed, her motherly-worry striking in. "You have no problem, Nat?"
"No, it's fine. Besides, I haven't quite finished with the redecorating and… It's a mess…" he admitted with a slight sheepish blush
"So… Single father?" voiced Nino.
"Yeah… her mother realized she didn't want anything serious with me right after she was born and… We divorced" he admitted with a hint of hurt in his voice, but illuminating significantly when he added: "Fortunately for me, I kept the greatest treasure in all the world with me; and, the best thing about being an illustrator is that my main work space is at home, where spend time with her is part of the job description"
"…and you named her Marinette…" pointed Alya. Nathaniel sighed a bit nostalgically at the rushing images coming to him about their school years, back when he was crushing hard on the lovely Marinette Dupain-Cheng.
"Heh…" he melancholically expressed "Ladybug was not only a hero; she was an inspiration, an idea, a symbol. Only we, the ones who knew her true name, have the capacity to honor the many wonders that dwelled behind the mask"
"I can't agree more" Answered Nino for his wife, sure that Nathaniël's words had touched a fragile memory inside of her.
"So… your boy…"
"You may have already noticed how we honored the good heart behind Chat Noir…"
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"Mommy, daddy… can I marry Marinette?" The adults stiffened, they were not sure how to react. Nino didn't want to laugh at his son's first crush, but it was just so… nostalgic and adorably cute (and strangely suspicious) he knew he would end up laughing nervously.
Alya's mind fluttered away to her teenaged years, the times when she would help her best friend to get close to the impossibly perfect-for-her Adrien Agreste. Her mind also carried the memory of the many outcomes she had guessed would happen once she had confessed her feelings: one was Marinette running away while Adrien looked confused, there was other in which Adrien liked her as a dear friend, another one in which Adrien and her started to date and became boyfriend and girlfriend… And, of course, there was her favorite; the one in which Adrien proposed to Marinette and had a big extravagant wedding and they lived happily ever after (quite possibly as close to her friend's own vision: with three children and a pet hamster, a cat and a dog). What could have been her dear friend's reaction to this little Adrien, declaring his crush for Nathaniël's little Marinette?
"Mommy? Daddy?" The boy called once again. His greenish-gray eyes moving from one parent to the other in confusion to their momentary spicing out.
"Of course you can, little monkey" Alya responded, coming to his eye level to give him a hug and, hopefully, contain the tears that were threatening with escaping from her own gray eyes "…if you love her, you can do it" she assured him and ruffled his longish copper bangs.
"Really?!" His eyes carried so much happiness that they illuminated as if tiny suns were trapped inside of them
"Yes, but I'm sure you're still not old enough for that…" Alya said "…just wait some more years, ok?"
"Mommy?" The little one called "Why are you crying?" Adrien's worried expression made Alya realize the tears that had escaped her eyes, when did she start to cry? She chuckled and tried to dry her eyes with one hand.
"Oh! This? Is… Nothing sweetie… It's just… you're growing up so fast…"
"Really? Because I want to be taller!" This time Nino let his laugh resonate in every part of the flat.
Third event: We could be heroes…"No, stop!" A girl's voice demanded in between gasps for air. Alya heard the 'mom alarm' activate in the back of her head but decided to investigate first…
"I can't breathe!" repeated the redheaded girl to her playmate, barely understandable as she laughed at the top of her lungs. The response she got was a tickle attack from the back that made her contort and laugh even harder, her red hair freeing itself from the loose braid in the back of her skull; thus, making it fall ungraciously over her face (the light-green ribbon that combined perfectly with her white polka dotted blouse got lost somewhere on the floor).
"Sorry, my lady, but I can't!" Apologized the boy as he kept tickling her abdomen with one hand while his other arm kept her arms pinned to her sides. The red-headed was laughing so hard she could barely stand on her legs. Alya looked at those two from afar, they never noticed her coming out of her small studio. She shook her head, wondering why these kids were that crazy (a current theory of hers said that, perhaps, it had to do with their fathers being artists). When Marinette was done laughing and Adrien finally released her she fell backwards over a cushion, speaking only once she got to even her breath.
"We need to find a better way to get rid of hiccups!" she exclaimed. "That took too much time!"
"…but it worked!" Alya's son responded "…It's the only way to cat-ch your breath!" The redhead face palmed. "What? I thought that paw-n was purr-fect, meow lady."
"Silly cat lover!" the girl threw a cushion to his face. "We still need an idea for the art project"
"If it's ok with you… I vote for plagiarism and do as Andy Warhool"
"Bad cat. That's not plagiarism, kitty, it is appropriation . Why do you think I brought this book?"
Alya shook her head for the thousand time and went back to her studio, trying to finish a note about that day's attack. It had been long since the last time an akuma appeared in the city and since Ladybug and Chat Noir had been last seen (and since the last entry to the Ladyblog!). And yet, here she was, writing a note based on testimonials from people that was in the scene, just like when she was a teenager (except for this time she wouldn't try to find out the Ladybug's true identity).
Her thoughts stopped the moment she received an email from the newspaper. It was a folder with visual material, all taken by someone that had been not only watching but filming and photographing the entire thing with a cellphone. Alya hadn't seen the new Ladybug and Chat Noir, even when the information about them started to flood the media a couple of days ago (apparently, they hadn't interacted directly with people, and preferred to work as discreetly as possible and tended to avoid the media). The reported gasped when she saw a redheaded Ladybug with a small tight braid barely moving while she spooned around Paris, followed by an oddly familiar Char Noir. No. Whatever her mind was starting to build had to be just some stupid crazy idea; and, even if things fitted, it couldn't be true —she didn't wanted it to be true— this was a delirium. That's what it was. Yes, it was just a crazy idea that came to her due to the awakening of her past obsession with Ladybug's true identity and the nostalgia of all... Yes, that. Nothing more. Oh! Now that she thought about it, the whole idea of her adorkable son and sweet Marinette from next door being…! That was… that was something to laugh about! She couldn't wait to tell Nino (Who, by the way, had to be back home by then)
Perhaps she had to get out of the studio and breathe some air. She had passed many hours in there, trying to work and being as objective as possible while fighting her own thoughts. Perhaps she should check on the kids, she thought, they had been so silent she wondered if they hadn't killed each other while her psyche had gone to the moon and back. Good God, if the flat had been on fire she wouldn't have noticed.
It was not even dark yet, and those two had fallen asleep as if they had thrown an all-nighter… Adrien and Marinette lied face down in front of the telee, pencils still at their hands' reach, two notebooks with scratched ideas and indecipherable sketches in front of their sleeping faces and a single big old tome about art history, borrowed from the school's library, in between them. Alya sighed at the cute picture. She didn't have the heart to wake them up and send them to bed, deciding to cover them with a blanket, she would call Nathaniël later to carry his daughter back home (he could get carried away with his work as much as her). She moved her head sideways at the mess around them: pencils and markers scattered on the floor, glue, feathers and sparkles, paint brushes… and what seemed to be pieces of a puzzle made out of discarded cardboard (That must have been one heck of a complex art project!), there were left overs of snacks and cookie crumbs all around — most of them were, surely, stocked among the knots of his son's purple sweater— and cheese on a small plate…
She took a moment to look closer at the two kids on the floor. They were so cute! Twelve years old and they still looked like those preschoolers they were when they met. And speaking of unchanged things, the red haired girl was wearing the same silver ring Adrien had given her so many years ago; and her boy's hair had gotten a little longer than usual, but it barely covered his beloved dark earrings (neither Nino or her say no when their kid asked to get his ears pierced for his fifth birthday). She spiced out for some moments at her realization: they were both tired for some reason, but they didn't have any of their extra classes that day; no ice skating, no fencing, no martial arts, no ballet, no parkour… No. No. It was just her mind playing tricks, she decided, just her many hours of concentration and silly speculations passing her the bill. This was the ultimate sign that she was becoming a workaholic!
A munching sound and a missing piece of cheese made the battle in her brain stop.
"I know you are there" the woman murmured and called in a voice loud enough to be heard but still low enough to not wake up the kids "Tikki. Plagg." as she finished her sentence, two small creatures appeared from under the notebooks.
"Hello Alya" greeted the red kwami as polite as ever.
"Hey sister, been a while" answered the gluttonous black cat with a smug smile.
Alya smiled melancholically. It wasn't like she was displeased to see them, but she couldn't help but weep lightly by the mere thought of the reason that brought them together in her home.
"Them?" the kwamis nodded, there were no correct words to express the situation. "But… these children are only 12-" complained Alya.
"Alya… they are the chosen ones and…" Tikki paused for a moment. "I think you've already noticed the signs…"
"Yes… I have…" Admitted the woman with greyish-golden eyes, her gloomy expression growing as she knelt beside her son and gently stroke his hair (which made him smile and shift his position in his sleep, so he was now curled in a ball and purring… just like a kitten , which made her lips twitch into a melancholic smile). She sighed with tears threatening to escape her eyes. She definitely didn't want the story to repeat itself, especially not with this kids…
…but there was nothing she could do about it.
The world was in the need of the Miraculouses' power once again, and they were the only ones in the whole world with the capacity to wield it; and must probably the only ones that could control and comprehend the whole and complete extension of said power someday.
"Just… make sure they always get back home. Please?"
"We will" Tikki assured her and glanced at her sleeping charge (with that red hair of hers she did look more like a ladybug).
"Don't worry, sister" The kwami of bad luck spoke with an uncharacteristic emphatic voice "This time, things will be different. I can swear to you and Nino that this time — this time — even if it's just this once, everybody lives."
Fifth: You will remember me"Adrien? Where did you hide, little monkey?" Alya was just back home. She had left Adrien alone for ten minutes while she went to talk with the lady in charge of the building, and the child had already performed one of his disappearing acts (she had to admit, he had talent to play hide and seek).
"I'm not hiding!" She heard his muffled voice behind a door. "When she opened it, the contents of the closet fell to her feet and the face of Adrien came out from inside a box.
"Now, just what on earth are you doing there, monkey?" the woman questioned as she knelt beside the boxes Adrien had raid. The child was now covered by old clothes, (he'd regret it later since he was slightly allergic to dust, she might add) and had made a small cardboard and cloth fort for himself in there.
"I'm not a monkey, I'm an explorer!" He said "…I found this treasure, and now it's mine!" Alya then remembered now he had watched some old and cheesy adventure spin-off movie of from an older sitcom that had once parodied an even older adventure film (not the best movie in the world: pirates and old treasures, a couple of teens that were obviously going to end together at the very end, an adorable character that ended up being the badass hero, puns everywhere about anything pun-able… Good God! Ii was so bad that it was good. Not even worth her attention, but it was child friendly and her little one loved it)
"And, what is this treasure you found, Monsieur L'Explorateur?
"I found evidence of an ancient civilization!" he declared as he got out of the box a smaller box with multiple photo albums, pillows and accessories that had once been used by her younger self. In some others were toys and objects she didn't even remember she had.
"Not as ancient as you think, monkey. It's from when I was younger" She corrected as she recognized some objects: Nino's old headphones, her old glasses, a bowler hat with feathers and a golden signature disguised as a floral pattern, a blue scarf, many pictures from magazines and newspapers. There was, also a smaller box, a curiously half-circle-shaped pink and white polka-dotted box with a key tied to it. Alya took the box and opened it, her eyes glimmering as many pictures of her and a black-haired girl with blue eyes came into view.
"Wow! That treasure chest is yours?! This is amazing, mommy is a pirate!" Adrien Exclaimed. "Is there gold and jewels? Pirates always have gold and jewels!"
"Not exactly, dear" answered Alya "…some of us, pirates, capture magic from fairies and gnomes for years just in case they are needed" she said, her ability to wonder children was not lost.
"Really?"
"Yes"
"And what kind of magic does this have?" He questioned, anxious to know more"
"Well… everything in this treasure can make me go back in time "…she explained and then took some of the photos "for example, here! Those are your father and I when we were in school" She pointed at a picture of her laughing at Nino, many bubbles floated around them. "He got carried away with bubbles…"
"This bubble is broken!" He said.
"Oh, that was one time in winter. It was snowing and we were coming back from school. He tried to make bubbles but, they froze almost instantly. This is one of the many that suddenly were covered in frost" And she kept taking out photos and explaining what happened when they were taken.
"Who are those?" the kid asked when they reached the bottom. A picture of a blond boy with green eyes, apparently teasing Nino while Alya and a black-haired girl laughed.
"Those… were our best friends…" she started.
"Are you not friends anymore?" The boy questioned.
"Oh, it's not that it's just… they left so long ago and- We're still friends, but it's going to be a long time before we see them again…"
"Do you miss them, mommy?" Yes, she missed them still…
…she could still remember the day when they announced their 'departure'...
It had been so many years ago, but it remained in their memories as fresh as if it had happened the day before: thunder roared through the darken sky of Paris as a fiery rain threatened with destroying everything and everyone. Hawkmoth had decided to change tactics, deciding to go for a direct attack than a long-rage one, apparently. Instead of controlling innocent citizens with his butterflies, he had come up with a way of using the akumas to absorb and storage every negative feeling in Paris; from a kid playing a tantrum to a resentful adult plotting vengeance, all dark energy was taken to feed his power. This extremely dark-powered black butterflies united to create something that resembled a hole in the Parisian sky, a tunnel between there and the terribly dark void. Of course, Ladybug and Chat Noir would appear to save the world, his plan included absorbing the two of them, make the peculiar portal absolve the miraculous, and making the humans porting them perish.
The evil plan must had been put into action by the break of dawn, because it unleashed true chaos by mid-morning hours. At that time, they were at school; it had been a day as common as any other (classes, games, friends, Chloé being Chloé, frustrated teachers, etc.)Alya had been happier than usual the last few days since she had become the most famous blogger in all Paris; and couldn't help but let her ego inflate a little. Marinette didn't say anything while the copper-haired girl kept rumbling. Her entire face beamed with joy for her friend's success.
Adrien couldn't help but stare. He had noticed just recently how beautiful Marinette was and how much he actually liked to see her smile, how much it amused him her many stunts to keep from falling, the way her eyes flared with passion whenever she sketched a new design. Nevertheless, that was not the only reason for him to keep his –rather creepy– staring.
The first time he saw Marinette, the very day he met her he had an unexplainable feeling of nostalgia. He was aware of how her behavior became a little bit tense around him (he blamed it on her being shy, just like him: he could be shy around new people but, with those he already trusted, he was completely different). He knew they didn't spend as much time together as he always did with Nino, and yet, something in the back of his head insisted he just ought to. He was filled with curiosity and his interest about her could only increase with every passing day (he even kept this list in his notebook where he could write about the new things he would learn about her in the day: what flowers she liked, how she let her pigtails loose to let the wind pick on her hair, how her eyes sparkled when playing videogames…). There were, also, times when he would guess with extreme accuracy -or creepy precision- about things she might like or others she could detest, sometimes he felt like he knew her so well... When he was around her, he felt like he could entrust her with anything: his life, his soul, his everything. The only other person that ever made him felt like that was Ladybug herself! He shouldn't get too close to her, he would be unfaithful to Ladybug (at least in his head, that's how it felt)
At some point, Nino elbowed him and gave him a mocking look about his hard staring of Marinette along with some cleaver comment about it to keep teasing him with until later (and embarrass him in that very moment and make him think how much of a creep he actually felt and must seem by all the staring). Adrien responded with a threat about having a sword and not doubting to use it (fencing puns only he would be able to understand… and laugh about).
Marinette, on the other hand, was freaking out about her own thoughts of Adrien. She had just told Alya about the dream she had the night before in which there was Adrien and a waltz and things that would look like taken from a fairy tale. Alya had said something about dreams that one has repeatedly would come true, eventually. In her eyes, Marinette was surely head over heels for the model boy! Just what kind of crazy dreams did she have? Besides, she had said she never saw the person with her clearly, but she was sure it was Adrien because (according to her) it was 'true love'. This last dream, though, had been one of the most realistic ones (kind of): a masquerade during the reign of Luis XVI and him being a male Cinderella, leaving her when the clock announced midnight, his last words for her being: "We'll meet again, in this life or the other". So cheesy, it sounded like something from a Disney movie.
Yes, everything had been pretty normal until the moment when thunder stroke and the class was dismissed.
Le Collège François Dupont was not too far from the area where chaos unleashed. Alya, as expected, ran to the place directly under the strange portal to get the exclusive to the action. Weeks later, she realized how she should have payed attention at how Marinette had been running behind her to suddenly disappear just before the figure of Ladybug appeared on top of Paris' buildings. Nino had hid somewhere in the way to his home while dragging Adrien with him. The moment the blond mentioned the Ladyblog, Nino cursed under his breath and ran to where he had last seen Alya when he thought she would really go straight home (he too felt like slapping himself days later when he remembered how Chat Noir appeared beside him telling him to go home)
Alya's streaming of the events was witnessed by the majority of Paris. It could be seen how the figure of this dark man was surrounded by a many black butterflies fluttering in erratic directions. This fight wouldn't be as easy as fighting one akuma at a time, they knew it; so they might need of using the whole extension of their powers
.
"Looks like this is our most dangerous mission ever…" the heroine in red commented.
"Yes… Looks like we'll seriously be risking our lives…" the cat pointed, his voice trembling slightly as he felt his stomach dropping
"Chat? Are you… afraid?"
"Who? Me? Of course not, I'm not that of a scary cat" he reassured her with a big smile "…don't worry, bugenette; I'll protect you. I have seven lives to spare, after all!" He tried to lighten the mood. Ladybug gave him a found look before kissing his cheek. No matter the dangers, she was glad that Chat Noir was always there by her side. (Chat Noir seemed to paralyze for a brief instant before gently touching the spot where her lips had made contact)
"Are you ready for this, kitty?" The black haired girl asked with a defiant smile.
"Live to die another day, My Lady" the cat responded with newfound determination.
Witnessing the entire fight was confusing for both the ones watching through Alya's blog and the ones near to watch. The butterflies came and went everywhere; and their very move was perfectly directed by the moving hands of Howkmoth. Chat and Ladybug were not entirely sure if they should avoid them or try and purify them one by one. Hawkmoth remained immutable, patiently waiting for the void to get more power, in the right moment, the Butterflies would take them to the void and the miraculous would be all his.
"Chat Noir!" Ladybug called suddenly "We need the Cataclysm!"
"What's the plan?!" Questioned Chat Noir as he spun his baton in all directions to avoid the akuma hive attacking them (their wings were sharp enough to cut through their, supposedly, indestructible suits).
"You distract him so that I can call the Lucky Charm and then we'll see…" A Moment later the blond used his power to destroy the roof they were standing on (Him and Ladybug remained safe at the edge of the edification) Hawkmoth's concentration seemed to break and the butterflies' flight pattern and they went back to erratically fluttering around him. The plan was working so far.
"Not so fast Ladybug!" Hawkmoth called and the akuma scattered and flew around the city. Chat Noir was about to joke about Hawkmoth giving up, when the heroes heard the screams. Merde! She didn't count with the entire class still near the school building. "My new akuma can do more than just possess the weak!" The girl shot a glance towards the street where the akumas could be seen attacking her classmates. "My little akuma can now feed on the energy of very person that has been possessed before. See? They take their energy and darken it as they feed…" Some of the black butterflies had now grown and had taken the once-akumatized-kids to the undestroyed part of the building's roof, where they fell to their knees as the butterflies could absorb their energies from afar. The others were now charging back against the heroine in red and her partner. "You're doomed, Ladybug and Chat Noir. You can't cleanse this many akuma. You decide: give me your miraculous and save this kids, or perish"
Hawkmoth spoke as if he knew everything about them. What could be the best plan? The heroes' minds ran at light speed trying to think straight, even if that meant to not think about those people as their friends. Chat Noir gave himself a few seconds to watch Nino and glare at the big dark butterflies. Chat felt an immeasurable amount of fury boiling in the depths of his heart, but he knew better than to let it flow freely through him. He wanted to let his instinct take care, but he was determinate not to. He'd control himself, so he could be a good partner and help his lady take care of this before his miraculous ran out of time.
Ladybug called upon the power of her Lucky Charm, surprised that the object that came was thread and needle. Thread and needle, thread and needle… what was it for? She looked around trying to find the solution as fast as possible (she knew that, if the akuma kept feeding on her classmate's energy, they'd be quickly drained, and that was not a good thing…) In her head it felt like hours, but in the outside world, barely a second had passed when she finally saw the solution: the vortex; the akuma, Hawkmoth's hands controlling their movement… then the needle…
She got it.
"Chat Noir, how good is your aim?" Ladybug muttered only for Chat Noir to hear, her tone firm.
"Not to be a show off, but I once hit spider in the middle of the eyes with the graphite of a mechanical pencil…" he responded in the same kind of low voice. That meant he was good.
"And how good your claws with small things?" She asked as she stepped closer to him until they were shoulder to shoulder
"I could perform a brain surgery…"
"Good…" The akuma came after them barely seconds after. Ladybug ran around the building in question while Chat Noir went after the butterflies.
"It's useless!" The masked man pointed "…you, wielders of the miraculous are hopeless! Decide already if you'll run or fight!" He pointed in a mocking voice as he witnessed the hive's chase for Ladybug and Chat Noir's attempt to hit the insects with his claws"
"Actually it is you the one who's hopeless. Now Chat Noir!" The Cat came to a stop and pulled what Hawkmoth recognized as a metallic-red needle attached to one end of the red and black thread that now was perfectly trespassing one of each of his akuma's wings; and kept them still as Ladybug held the other end of it firmly.
"NO!" Hawkmoth was ready to force the akuma to break free from the thread when Chat Noir used his extended baton to knock him out.
"What? Didn't sew that coming?"
"You all have caused so many troubles little akuma" Ladybug prepared her yoyo in the right mode.
"Are you sure you can cleanse them all at the same time?" Chat questioned her, not a hint of doubt in his voice, only genuine curiosity and willingness to help.
"I know I can" her words came out as confident as ever, even when she could hear Tikki's voice telling her it would take a lot of her own energy to do it. "I'll free you from evil!" the yoyo captured the butterflies that were now "sewed" together – even those that were now several times bigger than the mystic artifact. The yoyo shone with such a white pure light that engulfed the entire hive of dark butterflies (they were not trapped in the closed yoyo, it was not necessary, they were already trapped by the thread).
"Je les ont~!" The light seemed to be reabsorbed, and the thread that kept them trapped together disappeared and a swarm of delicate white butterflies took to the skies with a light glow
"Bye-bye, petits papillons."
It was over; well, almost. The akuma had absorbed enough energy from everyone to leave them out of combat. Their eyes were barely open, it was difficult to tell if they were even aware of what was happening around them. Or, perhaps, they could; they could register everything -every single detail of what had developed around them- but they couldn't feel anything. The world felt so… numb.
"Ladybug…!" Chat Noir called for her to aid the others.
"Are you ok…?" No response. She hyperventilated as she came closer to her friends "Alya? Alya, talk to me! Kim? Max? Myleene...?" They didn't move. "They lost too much energy, what do we do? What if they are-?" Tikki felt how Ladybug's heart broke to pieces at the mere thought of any of them dying. She would never forgive herself if something happened to them – even to Chloé.
"It is fine, My Lady." Chat tried to calm her of his own uncertainty-filled voice. He too was worried about them, but he was sure she needed stability rather than more insecurity. Besides, he trusted her "…The Miraculous cure should fix it" Chat Noir pointed.
"They're done for, Ladybug" Howmoth's voice resonated as he tried to get up. "Even if you use your Miraculous Cure, you would use lots of power, and you've already used a big amount of it by cleansing that many akuma in one blow. So… either you use your miraculous power to restore them or you use it to close the void… you can't do both!"
"As my father always says… Nobody asked your opinion!" His claws took the butterfly-shaped brooch from the man, a purple light engulfed him and disappeared, leaving only a small creature behind.
"What?!" The heroes recognized it as a kwami, a butterfly kwami given the evidence. The kwami looked at him and Ladybug with huge eyes, then she looked at what was left of Hawkmoth and, finally. To the void. She gasped and flew away as fast as she could.
"Let her go" Chat Noir heard Plagg speaking to him "…my friend's been Hawkmoth's prisoner for some time by now… She's most probably scared of people right now…"
"My Lady?" Chat Noir called the moment he noticed Ladybug watching directly at the strange portal in the sky.
"It was those new akuma what kept the portal's energy flowing. Now that it has stopped, it is not an immediate threat anymore…" She thought at loud. "If what he said is true…" Ladybug took the red needle that was stocked in her yoyo "Miraculous Ladybug!"
The damaged part of the roof reappeared (objects were fairly easy to repair and represented no effort) and those whose energy had been taken, seemed to come back to life –gasping for air and looking around, trying to understand if it had been all a dream or if it had really happened. The portal, however, remained; like a giant dark cloud in the middle of Paris. They all smiled the moment they saw Ladybug and Chat Noir.
Chat felt relieved, tired and happy, despite the fight and the danger… and; perhaps, some pain from the many cuts the akuma's wings had given him. It would be fine, though -difficult to explain if he had to wear short sleeves at his next photoshoot but- they were not lethal. He looked at himself. Dieu! Wasn't that suit supposed to be almost indestructible? He'd better get back home before his paw lost more green spots or it would be a painful and awkward walk home.
The black-spotted heroine looked weak and exhausted. She seriously thought this event had taken away the lives of them. The shock was so great that she couldn't process the image her eyes were showing as tears started to quickly form in her eyes. She was looking at them, or were they ghosts? Was it possible? For a brief instant, realization came to her: her friends were still alive, Paris was safe, her lucky charm had repaired most of the damage, and she only needed to use it once more to close the portal–Tikki said it would be dangerous, she could close it again after having an hour of rest. Everything would be fine…
… or so she thought.
It was then that something happened, something they couldn't have expected: Ladybug's luck, seemed to run thin as a stray still-unpurified akuma came out of no-where and found its way to her slowly-recovering broken heart. Such action from those little misfortune-messengers would, normally, attach them to an object, but the sinister butterfly had evolved in a form of evil that didn't need of any kind of catalyst to materialize its malicious purpose. Thus, the dark-filled creature, now dwelled in her heart. The evil started to spread to her body, trying to change the nature of her energy, and it hurt. It hurt so much that the physical effort of suppressing the invader made her run out of spots sooner and terminated her transformation.
Where once was Ladybug, was now the silly, cute and pure-hearted Marinette. Alya had lost all interest in borrowing someone's phone to stream this.
"Marinette!" The reporter called at the top of her lungs as she ran to her friend and cradled her as a pair of pure white butterfly wings appeared on the back of the blue eyed. Alya was surprised like the rest of the group, although her worry only increased as she witnessed from up close her best friend's pained expression as the wings emerged and grew from her.
"What's happening?" Alya demanded answers from a speechless, and equally panicked, Chat Noir.
"I don't know… I…"
"The residual power" the pink kwami they thought gone appeared. "…that akuma still had Hawkmoth's evil essence. It is following the initial plan" It explained with sorrow and shame in her voice "I'm sorry… I'm really…. Really sorry…"
"What? What is it talking about?"
"The akuma is in her heart. She used too much energy to purify the other butterflies and restore the energy of all of you. The dark power is now too strong for her. It is going to kill her" The pink kwami spoke as she eyed the red kwami unconscious by her chosen's side. "…Only two things can happen. Either the akuma takes over her and poisons her mind to become a threat like Hawkmoth, or lets the akuma finish the original plan… in either way she's not going to survive, let it be physically or mentally…"
"Alya… It is fine…" a voice called as weakly spoken as firm was the tone. She was pale and a faint thin layer of cold sweat appeared on her skin, her face gave away the pain that came every time she took the effort of breathing. It wasn't really sure if that was for the evil infection or the exhaustion"…There's no way I'm letting anything happening to you all…"
"No, Marinette. Don't you dare saying those things to me! Don't you dare having a heroic death, because I won't forgive you!"
"I just have to let the akuma go and… everything will be fine…" the girl with pigtails pinned her sight at the portal. "…heh… Paris has a hole in its sky… I need to mend it…" she declared. "…The plan… was to lure me and Chat there… so that the portal would take care of us and Hawkmoth have our miraculous…" She let out a soft chuckle "…I bet you have so many questions now… everyone has them… they'll read about it in the blog later…" The wings flapped and they elevated her as if she was completely weightless apart from Alya's hold and towards the still open portal. She let the wings take her up, she didn't made any effort to control them. They kept pulling her up towards the void.
"No, I can't lose her…" they heard Chat Noir yell in despair "Not again…"
Chat Noir let out a feral roar and used his baton to impulse himself and jump towards her, knocking her to the ground. He hold her close to him for dear life. His eyes closed as he felt something like a dagger pulling directly through his own heart. He wasn't sure why he kept his eyes to tightly shut, perhaps because the great amount of concentration it took him to use a specific aspect of his power or, maybe, the pain that he knew would invade him for doing this… or maybe to avoid looking at the agony in Marinette's face as the akuma was being pulled out of her.
"Chat… what are you doing…?" her voice came rushing and quiet.
"-Bad luck" the blond hero said "…while you are like a good luck charm, I am a magnet for bad luck. And I'm glad for that, because, if I have just enough bad luck, then I can take this blow for you, even if it already hit you…"
"N-no… Chat… s-stop-!" It was too late. The portal above their heads seemed to dissipate like a cloud taken by the wind, the wings on Marinette's back broke in many luminous fragments that disappeared almost as soon as they separated. The cat's luck was, indeed, bad enough for him to attract the evil creature inside of his own heart; and it was, also, bad enough to not do the job perfectly. The hero in black had absorbed half of the Akuma; and that surely took him a big amount of energy for he dropped to his knees, still holding Marinette when a green light made the black suit disappear. No fake tail, no cat ears, no long pupils; it was now Adrien who was looking down at her with tear-filled eyes and a melancholic smile.
"A-Adrien…?"
"Sur-purr-ised…?"
0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0
Even though what happened latter was a blur in everyone's minds, they couldn't remember perfectly how they came to be off that roof; they could remember how they carried Adrien and Marinette somewhere they could recover without questions. After some minutes of walking through he quickly darkening Parisian streets -still deprived of pedestrians, surely chased away by the fear of the most recent attack- the entire class was reunited in the their classroom (given the circumstances, that was the only place in the whole of Paris where they could be reunited to talk without any interruptions or unwanted listeners)
"I think we need to talk" Nino broke the silence.
"He's right" Alya continued, her unsure expression gave away how she had no idea what to ask exactly or how to react to the events that had taken place that day.
"Purr-haps the basic" Adrien said in a murmur, still not recovered enough to speak louder (or even sit straight, since he had chosen to sit on the floor in front of the teacher's desk and lied his back heavily against it. "…Marinette is Ladybug" He looked at the girl that was still secured in Alya's grip. The girl with heavenly-blue orbs smirked weakly before replaying.
"…And you are Chat Noir…"
"…You didn't know?" Nino came into the conversation. The heroes looked at him and then at each other before falling into an awkward silence, both giving all of their attention to the floor, as they didn't want the pink in their cheeks to be seen. "…dude, how is that even possible?"
"Well… My Lady said it would be dangerous if we ever knew who the other was… of course, we were aware that we'd come to know one day but, it was not the time for that…"
"But how did you get to become Ladybug and Chat Noir?" Juleka dared to ask. Each of them gave them their version of the story, explaining about their powers and the kwamis as the tiny deities, themselves, floated around (the pink-one had, once again, chosen to disappear).
"So… this Hawkmoth guy… is a threat that's been around for thousands of years, you say?" Max asked while making calculations in his mind.
"Hawkmoth always finds a way to come back, it's been more often in the last couple of centuries" Tikki explained. "…in the ancient times, he would leave humanity alone for, at least, 200 or 300 years before striking again"
"And when that time comes…" complimented Plagg "…we choose a new wielder for the miraculous power"
"And… how do you choose, may I ask?" It was not Chloé's turn to intervene with her annoyed voice "…how is it that Marinette was chosen?! Or my poor delicate Adrikins?"
"Well… I suspect Tikki chose her for being a baker's daughter so she could have all the cookies she could want-!"
"Plagg!" The red kwami gave him a glare and he sheepishly smiled before going to hide behind Ivan. "The chosen ones are chosen based on the good qualities of their hearts" She said "… Anyone can enter the equation, but not everyone has the right characteristics…"
"I bet I know why you chose My Lady" Adrien smiled as his half-open eyes drifted to the heroine "…she's so sweet and brave, she's smart, skilled, strong in many ways… and she's beautiful as a plus"
"And I believe they choose you for how loyal, trust worthy, committed and protective you are" She answered back, in other time that would have made her stutter without control and blush deeply. Perhaps the exhaustion was too much and she was not aware if this all was a dream or not.
"Oh, Please!" Chloé crossed her arms and shoes to look away.
"I don't know what you're complaining about, girl" Plagg observed with a raise eyebrow right before eating the piece of cheese he took from Adrien's locker on the way there "…you don't have to live with him and put up with all his gross lovesick talk about Ladybug" to these words, Nino gave Adrien an accusing look, the other blushed. "Anyway, speaking seriously, not all Ladybugs and Chat Noirs are chosen just because of that" the black cat spoke more solemnly than Adrien had ever heard him "These two in particular, have one sole reason to be all that we were looking for this time…"
"What do you mean, Plagg?" Adrien questioned his kwami. Plagg couldn't speak, instead he let Tikki tell them
"There was once a Chat Noir and a Ladybug, millennia ago, that fell in love and their talents and virtues combined created the perfect harmony, their powers combined became the only thing strong enough to purify the unbalanced. However… he had been born with a weak body, and died while still young."
"Bad Luck" Plagg added with a bitterness and irony combined.
"And what happened to her?" Rose voiced for everyone.
"She died out of sadness…" Tikki continued with a sad expression on her own face "…but something happened, we're not sure what it was, exactly." she paused " They never met in the other life. A fellow kwami told us that his spirit could still see her and couldn't bear to see her cry and that, in his effort to come back, he started this reincarnation circle. Their souls' connection was so deep that they kept chasing after each other. They reincarnated. However, every time they did, there was always one of them dying before the other, and the one remaining dying of sadness again…" Tikki seemed to be needing a hug now (which provided Adrien, who was closer toher.
"For these cases" Plagg spoke again "…we payed extra attention and did our best to help them to be happy. We continued with our duties as always… choosing new wielders for the miraculous, most of them became good friends others fell for each other after some time… but these two we would recognize for they always fell in love with each other at first sight, could it be in their civilian lives or in the masks…"
"Dude, is that… why you said 'not again'?" questioned Nino. Adrien wasn't sure how to respond. If it was true he had been reincarnated… that would make sense. At the time he really did think this was a situation he had experienced before… Had he been there to witness his Lady die many times before?
"Of course, we didn't count with the fact that, this time, they fell in love with the wrong side of the coin" The red kwami finished with guilt filling her voice "We should have known" She whimpered and wept softly. Marinette left Alya's grip and came to sit next to Adrien to take her kwami and brush her cheeks together.
"It's fine Tikki. I think… I think I've had bits of my previous memories waltzing in my dreams for a while now...I think you've never found us at this age before." She mentioned. A wave of the many dreams she'd have with Adrien (now recognized as actual fragments of her past lives' memories) coming to her as well "Usually, when that happened we were already old enough to have some of our previous lives' memories back."
"No it's not, right." Adrien interrupted her as he took her hand and pressed it again his own chest "I feel like an idiot. I should have noticed before…" he spoke, filled with regret.
"Adrien?"
"I've felt like I've already knew you since the first time I saw you, as both yourself and Ladybug. I'm so ashamed. I've known you for centuries and I couldn't recognize you even when you've sit right behind me all the time" He closed his eyes and pressed harder, many images of the previous faces of his Ladybug flashing through his mind. In all of them, he had made the connection, not in his mind of curse- his head could never be as rational as he would like with logic- it was in his heart. In all those previous lives, he hadn't been able to discover his Ladybug's identity until after some years of fighting together. Nevertheless, his heart had told him it was ok to love two people at the same time… for those two people were one single person.
"There's… another thing…" Plagg started "…the halves of the akuma inside of you…" he eyed them with a grim expression "…that is too much negative energy for you two… your bodies are not used to this and… you're still too young to even try to assimilate it…" Adrien, somehow, knew what he was trying to actually say.
"Plagg." He called "How much do we have left?"
"A few weeks, perhaps a little more than a month"
"You two make me sick!" Chloé yelled at them. She came to them with a scowl, everyone was expecting a typical tantrum of hers "Marinette!" She started with an almost-yell and a firm voice "I recognize I lost to you. Adrien is yours. And you Adrikins, you better not make me regret it, alright? Now you, girl, enjoy him while you still can D'accord ?! Because if you don't I won't be your fan anymore and I'll make the rest of your life impossible!" The others looked at Chloé with surprised and confused expressions as she stumbled out of the classroom without Sabrina going after her.
"Please don't mind her…" the cop's daughter explained "…she just… doesn't know how to deal with this… She needs a moment alone"
No-one questioned that.
0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0
Everyone had hoped they would, at least, reach the month and a half prediction; and yet, destiny declared them to only last five days. However, they seemed to know it was going to be like that. They both went home that night knowing their days were counted. They went to school, spend more time with each other and with everyone in class (even Chloé). They spend time with every important person in their lives (Adrien tried to spend some time with his father, but he failed, he got to spend time with Natalie instead; she was like an aunt and he thanked her for looking after him.)
One night they went to sleep, and neither woke up the following morning.
Marinette's parents were devastated, losing their only child so suddenly made them wonder what had gone wrong but, when the doctors told them her heart had simply stopped in the middle of the night, they just accepted it. Tom and Sabine decided to not dwell in that matter and just let their daughter rest in peace. Alya came to them almost daily, hoping her presence could help them as much as visiting did for her. It had been during one of her visits that she had taken Marinette's box and diary. Tikki told her how Marinette had left a message for her inside, in which she explained how she wanted her to take care of her kwami until the next Ladybug appeared, and how she didn't want her parents to know about what had truly happened or even that she was Ladybug.
In Adrien's case, the media attacked Gabriel Agreste with speculations and gossip of all kind. Some magazines spoke about suicide, some exclusive interviews for fashion web-sites with other models accused him of overworking his own son; some others, appointed (very discreetly) to child abuse and drugs while some experts used it as an example of the consequences of high levels of stress. The many interventions of the media made Gabriel decide to make the funeral somewhere secret. Perhaps it is not necessarily to say how guilty he felt for not spending enough time with his own son (especially since the last memory of Adrien in his head would be the image of him wearing a perfectly tailored black suit, inside of a coffin, looking as if he was just asleep). Nino, as a favor Adrien asked him, came to see him; surprisingly, the man let him in to talk. The DJ gave him a letter that Adrien himself had written some days before.
Nino could see how Gabriel was in the verge of tears as he ended the reading.
"Thank you" he said "…I'm sorry… If I ever addressed you as a bad influence…"
"It's fine sir…" Nino answered, trying to smile but the sadness still present in his low voice.
"I should have been there for him…"
"Sir, it's not your fault" Nino stated when Gabriel dropped his head and covered his face with one hand.
"It's not my fault? Adrien says the same thing in his last words. How can it not-? I've been a terrible father… he thinks my reaction would be… I should have told him I… should have told him that I loved him more often..."
0-0-0-0-Adrien's letter-0-0-0-0
Mon père:
I write this since I know that I'm going to die. (I'm probably dead already, I'm not sure when you're reading this but I know) How do I know I'm going to die? It doesn't matter. I just know it, I feel it. You might be wondering how this happened and probably thinking it was because of some stupid teenage-hood-thoughts and I guess you might be blaming my friends at some point. Please don't do it. There are just things we can't control, this is one of them.
Please father, do not blame yourself either. You might have noticed how I've tried to pass time with you the last few days, I just thought you might need one last memory of me. I really didn't want you to feel responsible. I'm sorry I might cause you some trouble right now, you might be angry because of the troubles the media is creating. Sorry. I understand you've always worry about me in your own way, I don't really understand that way, but I get the general idea.
I must be honest, I've been really selfish for some time. I've only wanted your attention and I've never thought about your own responsibilities. It has been really hard for you since mom disappeared, right? I'm not mad at you, I'm not angry. Please, don't think this is your fault. It is mine, actually (I should have known that me dying would hurt you) but it is something I can't control
Just remember that, despite the mistakes you or I could have done to enlarge the distance between us, you are still my father, and I still love you.
Adrien.
0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0
The class, in general, felt listless the rest of the school year. Juleka had chosen to wear a black dress and veil as if it was her daily uniform and she couldn't get herself to play her guitar. Sweet Rose didn't seemed as bubbly as always and could be found in some hidden place in the library weeping while hiding her face behind some big old unclassified tomes. Alix refused to talk with anyone unless told to do so, and even dropped her rivalry with Kim. Kim and Max became extreme videogame junkies (teachers wondered how they got to keep their grades up). Myleene and Ivan spent more time together, each other's company was the only thing that kept them going. Chloé went back to be the class president, her bratty attitude and cruel demeanor seemed to have faded in the air, and Sabrina once again occupied her position beside her as vice president. (Alya gave up the roll, knowing Chloé would most likely prefer to work with her best friend, who she now saw under a much different light). Teachers were demoralized to see the entire class act so out of character, they were supposed to be lively wild teenagers; but they were so out of themselves, they wondered if they were ill.
With the pass of time, they all seemed to be back to their old selves. Except for, they couldn't just go back to their old selves completely; there would always be this tingling in the back of their heads that something was missing: Marinette's sweet smile, Adriens good nature, the creative girl, the boy that was good at physics, the fencing champion, the promising designer… As they ascended to a new grade they could still notice how empty the classroom felt (yet they insisted on leaving their sits unoccupied).
Life continued.
Several years passed and the moment came when the kwamis disappeared along with the miraculous stones. Based on what the mystical creatures had told them, the moment for them to start looking for new wielders of the Miraculous had come. They never explained how they could know that or if they were sure of it at all, Nino and Alya didn't question them.
"Mommy… can I give these to Marinette?" Alya came back to the present and looked down into the opened palm of her little boy. He had a couple of small dark earrings and a silver ring. She had totally forgotten where she had put them in. Apparently, they were stored somewhere below the diary that was still inside the box.
"Oh, these…" Alya thought about it for a moment, the Kwamis said that, the moment they'd leave to look for new wielders, those objects would lose the miraculous power and go back to be simple common jewelry. The reporter was now aware that those were not the miraculous stones anymore, but reminders of people her and her husband loved as family… Yet, she felt something inside of her that told her it was time to let them go "Yes darling, you can."
"Yes! I'll use them to propose to Marinette!" He exclaimed hopping a little.
"You're proposing today?" Alya arched an eyebrow.
"You said we have to wait until we grow up, but I have to ask her first, I saw it in a movie." He simply said with that adorable smile of his. Four years old, and he'd watch way too many of those cheesy pre-teen movies for his age. Alya cursed inside her own head at how smart her child was… Why was he so much like her? She saw him run to the balcony while she voiced out loud, for Nino to hear, about the pros and cons of her child growing up to be like her… not like he didn't have his own amount of Nino's mannerisms in him already… (She forgot her husband had left about half an hour ago)
Sixth Event: …Love Will SurviveAdrien called for his friend (and, apparently, soon-to-be bride). She was at home, he knew. Her dad only left her alone for short periods of time since he mostly worked from home. (Being a professional illustrator had its good points, especially when you're a freelancer and one of the bests).
"Hi Adrien!" She came out.
"M-Marinette… Cat I ask meow something?"
"What?"
"Will you… will mew marry me?" he asked. The girl looked at the ground.
"But… our parents said that we can't 'til we grow up…" The girl said a little bit doubtful.
"But my mommy said I can ask you! And your dad said weddings take a lot of planning and lots of time" He insisted.
"Hm, you're right. I can be your bride!"
"Yes! I have a bride." He exclaimed in excitement and showed his open palm to her "…in the movies people always give rings but, but you can choose what you want" The little girl looked between the earrings and the ring and took her chosen item from his palm.
"I like this" She expressed with a tiny smile.
"Yes! Now we are… uhm… what's that word for two people that are going to get married?"
"I think it's en-caged " the girl responded with a small frown of doubt that faded as an idea came to her mind "… but don't tell our parents yet… Let's make it a surprise."
"Wow, you're so smart, that's why I love you! I won't tell them you're my bride already, I'll tell them you're my… my… my lady! Yes, you're now my lady". He hugged her and kissed her cheek.
"Yuck! Are you really saying this right now?" A small voice, filled with annoyance broke into their moment.
"What?" The boy was puzzled.
"All this…!" a black creature popped out of his sweater pocket "…the lovely-mushy teeth-rotting stuff! I think I got cavities by listening, it's disgusting! Couldn't you have at least the decency of waiting until you were a stupid teenager for this sticky-sweet-corny things?" The small cat-like creature complained at the same time as his tiny paws pulled down at the sides of his face…"
"Plagg, tu ne connais vraiment rien de l'amour " The children said matter-of-factly as Adrien crossed his arms over his chest, pouting at the kwami; and Marinette showed him her tongue before adding:
"You hear my kitty" the redhead declared
"I prefer to know where to find good Camembert, thank you very much."
"What they said, Plagg"
"Oh no Tikki! Not you too! Tell me you're not siding with this brats!"
The sky was still blue, but it would soon start to shade into a pinkish hue before the slightly violet-blue of the night veil came to let the stars shine. And, the miraculous stones shone for the first time in a long time. It would be a matter of time until the kwamis told their wielders about their powers and how to use them. They were glad they found them and they had found each other before the world needed them to save it.
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It had been almost midnight when the cat had come to her roof. Despite that, neither, Chat Noir or Ladybug, had been seen what happened with the portal.
"You know we won't make it, right?" Marinette murmured to Adrien as they both watched the beautiful Parisian nocturne sky. They were cuddling on Marinette's balcony, both of their kwamis were soundly asleep.
"I was wondering when you'd bring that up, My Lady" Adrien spoke as if it had been the weather forecast. He was sure she could feel it too; every morning it was more and more difficult to wake up. Opening their eyes seemed to awake the pain they felt in the pit of their chests, breathing was a difficult task and their limbs felt number with every movement. Although, the feeling of spending more time with everyone was enough for them to push that feeling of exhaustion: the labored breaths were only visible when they laughed too hard or when they did something physically demanding (like running to school in the middle of the rain); the numbness of their limbs only help them to keep up when playing with their friends (like running away from Alya after making fun of her not having a bigger collection of Ladybug merchandise than Adrien); and the pain in their chests only made them smile wider (they liked to think they shared a bond so strong that they could feel each other's pain) "I don't want to stop doing this... It's going to be a long time before we can be like this again"
"You just have to be patient, kitty" She cupped his cheek with the hand that was free from the blanket they were sharing.
"I just wish we can recognize each other as soon as possible in our next life." He pressed her hand against his face "That way, we won't waste time again…" Marinette smiled fondly at him.
"Even if we were to reincarnate in the same city again, how are you going to find me? Paris is too big" The cat gave her a cheeky green and declared out in a dramatic way:
"Well, this cat knows the city like the back of his paw" The blue-eyed girl giggled at how ridiculously cute he was.
"Good thing I'm lucky"
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Yami-Horus: Ok, that was… dramatic and, I suspect I'm slightly evil… OK, please review and tell me, on a scale from one to ten, how badly did I hurt your feels? 8D Please do not hesitate to abuse the details about the extension of your pain. 8D See you in another fanfic!
P.S.: (Just if you were wondering) the story was influenced by the songs CENTURIES by Fall Out Boy and HERO by Charlotte Pirelli