He was a mysterious guest. Nobody had ever seen him, knew who he was, what he did for a living or why he had been invited to this marriage, except for the bride and groom. Actually they could thank this guest, because he was one of the reasons why they were marrying.
"Céline, could you remind me, again, who's that old man standing there?" Nathalie asked her friend. If Nathalie and Céline could describe their friendship in the past months with one sentence, it would definitely be that question. Of course that for Nathalie's clarification, her friend's answer remained the same.
"Oh, I already told you Nath! He is Fu, my osteopath. And you should try one day, because he's really good at it! At least my pain in the back is gone!" She wasn't really lying. Céline had asked Fu to help her with her back, twice. So technically he was her osteopath. But she couldn't tell her friend that Fu was also the one who made her turn into Le Papillon, one of the two people that was part of the famous superhero duo that saved Paris streets from crime. Besides being breaking that identity rule (that she already broke), if she decided to reveal herself, Céline was sure that Nathalie wouldn't take her seriously and joke with her forever or she would believe and peacefully install the chaos among the guests and then all over the city. So as long as the osteopath excuse sticked, everything was safe.
"He must be really good as a person and as an osteopath, for you to invite him! It's not everyday that you invite a doctor, if we can call him that, for your marriage." She said, somehow sarcastically. Nathalie was no fool. She believed partially in her best friend's words. But her other side was screaming that what she had heard was absolutely wrong and made no sense.
"Oh Nathalie, my dear, if you knew the whole story you would understand why we invited him!"
"And may I know the whole story?"
"You could, but If I told you, then I had to kill you." Céline said with a hint of suspense in her voice and then she just laughed as if it was nothing. "I'm kidding silly! I would never kill my best friend!"
"Yeah I understood, captain obvious!" Nathalie replied and by now it was nearly impossible for her to hide all the curiosity that her best friend made her feel with that speech.
Of course that Gabriel Agreste was trapped in this curse, too. His best man had been haunting him with questions about Fu since the ceremony started.
"Who is he? Why did you invited him? I mean, you already told that he helped Céline and that she really likes him, but was it really necessary?" Leo made this questions too quickly for Gabriel to process them. And the only thing that Leo could achieve with his excitement was Gabriel's annoyance.
"Look, we both wanted him to be here today. And Céline really likes him. Her wishes are orders and if she wanted him to come, we invited him over. Now stop questioning, Leo. Curiosity killed the cat." He really liked Leo. It was one of the few friends he had, but sometimes Leo got carried away and become excited which made him look like and eight year old in the questioning age. When that happened, Leo could be the most annoying person ever.
"Okay, okay I will stop! But I really wanted to know what makes you two so fond of him!?" As Nathalie, he was also pretty curious and eager to break the mystery around this man. Both believed in what their friends told them, but some pieces didn't fit right in the puzzle.
"That Léo, that will be something that you will never know. And if you do, one day, I just hope that I can run away from you as fast as I can." Gabriel replied calmly. He already thought that Le Paon suit was ridiculous on its own, so he was pretty sure that he didn't need Leo to find out that he was the one wearing it. That would be even more ridiculous, and embarrassing. He could like the respect and admiration that he received while wearing it, but he didn't like to imagine how people would react when they found that he was Le Paon. In the eyes of the society, he wasn't the reflex of a superhero and he was aware of it.
"Why do you say that?" Leo asked.
"No more questions, remember?"
The party went on and a bit before the dinner was served, Fu approached the newlyweds. He carried a small gift and an apologetic look, which made Céline slightly anxious. Before any of then could ask what was going on, Fu decided to answer to whatever was going through their minds.
"I know it's your big day and that all you want to do is to stay here and share your happiness with your friends and family but…"
Céline cut him through his sentence, as if she read his mind. "We've got to go right? Or at least one of us, because it would be too weird if both if us left our own wedding."
"Yeah, that it."
"Okay so I'll be going then!" Céline said determined.
"No, you won't honey. And that's not a request." Gabriel said demandingly.
"But Gabriel! I can handle the thing by myself!" She protested.
"I know you can, but that's not the problem. And besides that, it would be more discreet if I left."
As much as she wanted to protest more, Gabriel had a point and, she had to agree that he was right.
"Okay, but take care! I don't want you back with a black eye or something that I won't be able to explain."
"Don't worry. When you notice, I'll be right here by your side." They kissed goodbye and Céline was left alone with Fu. Gabriel left quickly making sure nobody saw him go away.
"So what's that?" She pointed to the small gift and made a grimace.
"Well, that's my gift to you but I'll only give it when Gabriel comes back and no one is around."
"But you know that it wasn't necessary to bring a gift!"
"But I insist on bringing one."
Céline and Fu made the possible and the impossible to delay the dinner but the guests were starting to be hungry and annoyed. They were covering Gabriel for twenty minutes now. "Go big or go home." Céline said to herself and giving up, she thought of a quick excuse and decided to bring the dinner. As she expected, everybody noticed Gabriel's absence and the guests started to create small rumors about where he could be.
Feeling slightly uncomfortable with all the buzz ,Céline stood up and hit with her fork in the glass making sure that all the attention was directed at her. As soon as everybody calmed down, she spoke.
"I know that this may sound bad but Gabriel had to leave due to… unexpected business problems! You may know how he is, fashion can't wait! But he'll back as soon as he can! So we'll have to start dinner whit out him! Bon appétit!"
She sat quickly and started to play with her napkin so she didn't need to stare at the guests that somehow looked disappointed. She couldn't blame them, though. But nobody said that being a superhero was easy and she knew that the truth had to be kept as a secret. Just because of that she decided to accept her fate to wait for her husband with dozens of people that were capable to eat him alive, as soon as he stepped into the room again.
By the end of the evening , almost all guests had left and Fu was still there, sat on his table, waiting for the perfect moment to talk properly to the newlyweds and give them his gift. They were saying goodbye to the last guests when he approached them. When he was sure that they were alone, he spoke to them.
"Congratulations! First of all, I want to say that I was right about you two and secondly I want to thank everything you've done for Paris. If it wasn't you, this city would be chaotic. I also want to forgive for the inconvenient and I know that it was unfair. I'm really happy that you two are finally together." Fu was a man of few words and usually what he said used to be right. So Gabriel and Céline were satisfied with his small speech. They even chuckled when he said that he was right about them, because it was true and there was no way to deny it. Then he just sighed and looked at Céline. "An osteopath? Really? I thought you could get something better than that!"
She just broke into laughter as she heard him with that tiny bit of disappointment on his voice. It was impossible to hold back, that man was hilarious on his own.
"I'm sorry, but it was the only thing I could think of! I promise I'll work on a better excuse!"
He smiled at her and then he looked back at the gift that he was holding.
"So I guess it's finally the time to give you this. It's nothing big as you can see but I hope that it means that much to you as it means to me."
"You know it wasn't necessary. Your presence here is already a gift." Gabriel said.
"I've told him the same thing when you left, but he insisted on bringing a gift."
Fu looked at them and just gave away the small package. He examined the look on their faces as they opened it. The gift was nothing more than a photo of the three of them in one of their first missions. They were transformed and that's why he didn't want to give it when everybody was there, it would be too risky. On the back, it had the date and place where the photo was taken and a small note that they preferred to read later. Now it was Fu's turn to laugh. Their faces were showing so many emotions at the same time that they seemed expressionless. The photo, as Fu had predicted, meant a lot to them because it marked the beginning of some new phases of their lifes. By far this gift was the best they had received.
"Thank god you liked it! I was afraid that I had to exchange it for a sketchbook or something." Fu said, breaking them from the short transe that they had been.
"How… How did we came from that to this!" Céline looked stunned at both men. "I mean, I couldn't stand you back then. You were just so annoying, Gabriel! And you looked ridiculously good!"
"I wouldn't trade this for any sketchbook, I'm sorry." He replied to Fu, with a chuckle. He turned back to Céline, ready to 'counterattack' her. "And you, you were stubborn as a mule. You wanted everything to be your way, otherwise no deal. But we've grown up since and we're not those reckless kids anymore. And wait! Are you flirting?"
"Yes, I agree with you." She gave him a small smile but then her expression turned into something incredulous. "No Gabriel, I'm singing a song! What do you think?" They all laughed at the sarcastic response of Céline.
Memory after memory, the three reminded nearly every moment that they've passed together as superheroes. The good and bad moments, the funny and embarrassing, the annoying and sad. They were all part of an history that would be marked forever on their lifes and on Paris history as well.
Unfortunately, as good as it was being reminding everything, Fu was feeling tired and he wanted to leave.
"Age doesn't forgive and I'm afraid I have to leave." He said sadly.
"We totally understand." Gabriel replied. "Are you sure you don't need us to take you back home?"
"No! I am old but I can still walk on my own!" Fu replied defensively.
"Who am I to talk, then!"
"Thank you for inviting me. It was very good and I am glad that you've thought of me."
When Gabriel was about to answer Fu, Céline pushed the two of them into a tight hug.
"Thank you for everything you've done for me, and for us. We will never forget you and what you've done, not even in a million years." Tears formed in her eyes. She meant every word she said and she was truly grateful for everything because if it wasn't for this guest, nothing of this would have happened.
A/N: this was inspired by a conversation that i had with a friend a tumblr post made by thewonderfulwizardofass so this is like a small gift to them.
The link to the post is right here ( post/155223041263/do-not-edit-or-repost-le-paon-le-papillon-i) and reviews are always appreciated!