After their identities were exposed following the final battle, there was no way that Adrien and Marinette could stay in Paris.
They had tried- and oh, how they had tried. They had wanted to stay with their friends and family and be able to relax and enjoy time with them without worrying that they would have to rush off to fight an akuma. They wanted to exchange stories now that their secrets were out and laugh with others over the truly awful excuses that they had made to get away for fights. They wanted to join the celebrations surrounding Hawkmoth's defeat just like any other civilian, because really, hadn't they earned it?
But they couldn't.
Instead of being interrupted by akuma, they were interrupted by nosy reporters banging on their doors and bursting in whenever they tried to go out. Instead of being able to laugh over their excuses, they found themselves being asked over and over to retell the tales of their fights, only from their perspective. When Adrien and Marinette tried showing up to the celebrations, they could barely escape again a scant fifteen minutes later after they were positively mobbed by civilians who all wanted to see them, talk to them, get their autographs, get their pictures taken with them...
They didn't even bother trying to return as Ladybug and Chat Noir. The response wouldn't be any different.
Random strangers stopped them in the streets and immediately drew a crowd. The bakery was positively mobbed with people who weren't really interested in bread, but they wanted to see Marinette. No one in Agreste Mansion dared open the gates to leave, or else the people crowding outside trying to get pictures of Chat Noir's childhood home would get in.
In short, it was insanity, and insanity that the police really didn't seem to be trying that hard to contain.
"We could go to England, since we both know English," Adrien suggested one morning as he and Marinette sat on her balcony, staring down at the lines outside the bakery. They had only just emerged to peek, and already the crowds were yelling and pointing. The duo slipped back inside immediately and locked the trapdoor tightly. "Or China, and I could teach you Mandarin."
Marinette let out a long sigh that turned into a whine, burying her face in her hands. "I don't want to leave, but it does seem like the only option right now. Hopefully the hype will die down if we're gone for a bit." It was all she could hope for. With Hawkmoth gone and both of the superheroes out of the city, wouldn't Paris turn its attention back to regular celebrities with time? Her eyes swept over the room. She had planned to move out eventually, of course, but she hadn't though that it would be so soon, and she had of course thought that she would be able to come back and visit a couple times a week, at least at first. But if she had to move out of the country, there would only be phone calls.
Phone calls that they could only hope wouldn't be tapped by some overzealous "fan" desperate to get their location.
The last straw that pushed them into moving wasn't a stranger. Madam Chamack had asked Marinette to babysit Manon one last time and Marinette, relieved that someone outside of her family and friends was treating her normally, hadn't hesitated to agree. Unfortunately, Madam Chamack's motivations weren't exactly pure. She had bugged Manon with a recording device and instructed her daughter to interview Marinette about being Ladybug, but without being too obvious about it.
Fortunately, Manon had been too guilty to properly interview Marinette. Manon felt super-guilty about having to try to trick her idol and who told Marinette within the first ten minutes after trying for a few faltering questions about being Ladybug. Marinette deleted the recording promptly, thanked Manon for her honesty, and then rewarded the girl with a couple small stories about being Ladybug. Manon had been happy, but Madam Cheng had not been. By the end of the day, she had broken off her friendship with the pushy reporter because "there are boundaries, and you just crossed every single last one of them! Using a child- using your daughter- to try to get some sort of twisted exclusive, just so you can, what? Boost your ratings? Get a bonus? Do you even care about the people around you any more, or are they just stepping stones for you to use as you want?"
Madam Chamack had been belligerent about it, claiming that she had done nothing wrong until after Adrien and Marinette actually moved. Then the whole of Paris blamed her for their heroes' leaving the country, and she finally backed down and apologized.
Still, she was hardly the only one to blame, and the rest of the city seemed to be ignoring that they were just as much a part of the problem. There were even people trying to lead a search for Adrien and Marinette, and they were having one fundraiser after another to try to gather funds for rewards for whoever found the duo until several lawsuits stopped them on the basis that their antics were endangering the superheroes.
Still, a lack of reward didn't stop anyone from looking themselves. Adrien and Marinette found themselves discovered within a week both times they tried to move to a village outside of Paris. It took a week and a half for them to be found in a town on the edge of France, and the same amount of time to be discovered in a city on the opposite side of the country.
So they finally decided that they had to move to another country altogether. They picked London for their new home, deciding that with the number of people that lived there, it would in theory be harder for locals to notice two newcomers and it would be hard for someone looking for them to find them among the thousands of others living there. It was a little hairy finding an apartment- they didn't want the person they were renting from to alert anyone to their presence, and they didn't want to commit to a year of renting when it was fully possible that they would have to move within a few weeks. In their first break in a while, the somewhat apathetic landlady was willing to do a month-to-month rent, and she really couldn't care less who they were.
Of course, that one break wasn't an indication of continuing successes. They both struggled to try to get a job of any sort to help pay the bills (which Mr. Agreste was kindly footing while they were on the run). They didn't exactly want possible employers looking them up and finding the plethora of articles about them, but it was kind of hard to avoid it. In an attempt to minimize background-digging, Marinette tried applying to jobs in bakeries and cafes instead of fashion, but only working at her parents' bakery worked against her since it looked bad to only have her parents listed as references. Adrien obviously couldn't return to modelling since it would give away their location right away, and it would be hard to get a physics-related job- and pointless, if they had to move sooner rather than later. He had to do his best to bite the bullet and apply to low-paying jobs that he wasn't even remotely interested in.
It was harder than they had expected, and the fact that they weren't from Britain wasn't helping them at all. Businesses seemed to prefer hiring locals...though maybe that was because locals tended not to be strangely cryptic about their pasts.
Still, in the end it didn't matter if the shopkeepers in London weren't willing to hire them. Two months of being in England proved that it still wasn't far enough away from Paris. While they weren't attracting the crowds that they had back home (at least not initially), there were still quite a few people that recognized them. And of course, the reporters simply followed them to London the moment that word got out that they were there.
"We're choosing a smaller city next time," Marinette swore as she and Adrien made a dash into their building and tore up the stairs to their flat to escape the group of reporters and cameras that had seemingly materialized out of nowhere. "Somewhere when there's fewer people and we're less likely to be recognized."
So they left, and they ran, spending a whole two years moving from place to place. Some places they ended up staying longer than others- a small village in northern Ireland was their home for a full five months before a French tourist happened to notice them and three days later, a bus of screaming fans descended on the town, cameras in place and pens in hand for getting autographs. Even though the local police had been very helpful in keeping the group away from them, Adrien and Marinette moved a week later. There was no point in staying on longer and wearing out their welcome as the groups got larger and larger.
It didn't seem to matter that Alya had made more than a few posts on the Ladyblog scolding people for their harassing behavior. Alya's blog seemed to have dropped in credibility overnight, though it was debatable whether that was because of jealous citizens claiming that she had known all along and had gotten preferential treatment because of who the superheroes were, or whether it was simply because she was saying something they didn't want to hear. People who for years took the Ladyblog as the law of the land in regards to Ladybug were ignoring its posts now.
In Paris, the police had finally started doing their jobs. "Fans" trying to break into the Agreste Mansion and Dupain-Cheng bakery were arrested and slapped with jail time and heavy fines. Others who were found vandalizing the buildings by trying to chip off a piece as a memento got the same treatment. Several of the new prisoners tried making appeals to Ladybug and Chat Noir, telling their heroes that 'you understand, right?'
They got a chiller response than they were expecting. Instead of "graciously" forgiving them, like the fans had hoped, or even simply ignoring the pleas, Ladybug and Chat Noir transformed long enough to make a short video to congratulate the police for catching those who dared to invade their families' privacy and mention that they hoped that it was a fair warning to anyone who might do the same, because that sort of behavior was simply unacceptable and they were very disappointed in anyone who even thought of doing such a thing.
Needless to say, more than a few trashy tabloids decided to hop on the video and claim that Ladybug and Chat Noir's heads must have grown during their stint as superheroes. They didn't appreciate their fans! They hid from them instead of graciously accepting their thanks! They applauded the police for putting their fans in jail when all their fans wanted was to get closer to them!
And that was when their parents had had Quite Enough.
"Is there anything that can be done?" Sabine begged Master Fu. They had met the old man several times before Adrien and Marinette took off, and it was him they turned to for advice now that the situation had gotten worse with time, not better. "The Miraculous have all sorts of powers! Can't one of them help?"
Master Fu stroked his chin thoughtfully. He had spent a decent amount of time pondering the question, especially in recent days, and while he had some ideas, whether or not they would work...
Well, that was another question.
"The only real solution I can see would be to somehow turning back time and preventing people from seeing Ladybug and Chat Noir's detransformations," Master Fu said slowly. "But none of the Miraculous really have that power. The closest thing is my own power to temporarily slow down time...but it wouldn't send anyone back in time, and especially not that far back."
"Hawkmoth did it before!" Gabriel said sharply, his expression narrowing into a scowl. He had tagged along with Marinette's parents, just as frustrated as they were with the way the situation had gone. "For Timebreaker. She only went back minutes, but with the butterfly kwami at full strength and cooperative...could we make a time-travelling champion?"
"You're not suggesting...a new Hawkmoth?" Tom asked before Fu could respond. He looked horrified by the very suggestion. "From what I understood, Timebreaker used the power of human lives to go back in time, which- no. We're not doing that. And wouldn't things just go back to normal once the akuma was purified?"
"Your understanding on how the Butterfly Miraculous is based on a supervillain's use," Master Fu said over the sound of Gabriel's scoff. "The Butterfly is not inherently bad. Normally, it is a hero just like Ladybug and Chat Noir. Nooroo, the kwami of the butterfly Miraculous, was fighting against his enslavement the whole time. I do not know how much of an impact he had on the powers of the akuma villains that he produced, but we would have to ask him. And if a champion is made with good intentions...there is no need to fight it, and the effects that it had won't vanish. And we would be able to figure out with Nooroo if there was an alternate way to fuel a time-traveler's powers." Still, he didn't sound convinced. "I do not think it has ever been done before. Changing a timeline is a big thing, and there is also the time-space conundrum to think about."
"Ensuring that we complete the cycle, you mean," Gabriel said when both Sabine and Tom still seemed puzzled. "If this works, then what is there to ensure that we would go back and alter the timeline in the same way again in the new future? If we succeed, then there would be no reason to make a time-travelling akuma."
Master Fu nodded.
"Well, when will we figure out if we can make this work, then?" Tom demanded after several seconds of silence. "I want to be able to see my little girl again, and I want people to stop harassing her after she spent most of her teens saving the city. It sounds like you've already spent some time thinking about it...so why the wait?"
Master Fu smiled gently. "I understand your frustration. I was like that as well when I was younger, before time became my friend and I was able to take a step back. Nooroo is only just now reaching full recovery from his time of being misused. He had to rest before he could be brought back out again. And for us to pull him out of his Miraculous and converse with him, we either need one of you two to agree to bond with him or we need the combined strength of Ladybug and Chat Noir."
Tom and Sabine exchanged puzzled looked, then both glanced over at Gabriel. "Why...?"
"He cannot bond with more than one Miraculous," Fu told them. He glanced over at Gabriel, who had suddenly become very interested in his shoelaces. "Even if that bond is currently dormant."
"I already know that I'll have to reactivate it," Gabriel said, his voice a strange mixture of sheepish and aloof. "After all, a time-traveler on its own wouldn't be able to do much. The peacock miraculous has the power of distraction and hypnotism. I could shield them from the crowds and the press and then provide a getaway for them while everyone is hypnotized."
"We would have to test the effectiveness of your hypnotism on cameras, but yes, that sounds like a very effective plan if we can get the time-traveler in place." Fu looked back at Marinette's parents. "I don't want to get your hopes up too far yet. It's possible that Nooroo will need more time before he could pull off a champion that powerful, or that he won't be able to at all and we'll simply have to look for another solution."
"Understood," Tom said, at the same time as Sabine said, "We understand." They exchanged a look and then Sabine added, "But how long will it take for us to figure this out? Adrien and Marinette are moving again, and it's only a matter of time before they decide to move across the ocean."
Master Fu thought for another few moments. He and his kwami seemed to be having a silent discussion, and then they both nodded as they came to a conclusion. Fu looked up. "Ask them to come back here, if only for a short while. Tell them that we're researching possible solutions, and that we need their powers to help."
Adrien and Marinette returned on the latest flight they could manage, landing at nearly two in the morning. Both of them wore hats and sunglasses to try to escape the stares, but it didn't matter. Their fellow passengers still whispered, some more complimentary than others. Clearly the tabloids had influenced some people's opinions on the superheroes. Still, no one approached them, and they managed to snag their luggage and make it into the Agreste family car without too much trouble.
"I can't wait to leave again," Adrien murmured to Marinette as the Gorilla nodded to them in the rearview mirror and pulled out into traffic. "All this attention, still. Don't people have lives?"
Marinette wrapped her own hand around his. Her face was just as tense as his, though she was trying to keep up hope. "Maman said that they were researching some sort of solution to this. Maybe it'll work, and we can finally stop living on the run."
"It would take a miracle," Adrien muttered darkly, scowling. "What could possibly be a solution? They can't make people just forget us. This isn't Harry Potter; we can't just wave a wand and make people forget that we're Ladybug and Chat Noir."
Marinette swallowed a sigh and hid her wince as Adrien pulled his hand away from her. The cheerful boy she once knew had been eaten away a little more every time they had to move, every time he tried to get a job to help out with their bills and ended up as a restaurant server or busboy or salesman instead of being able to pursue physics. He came home every day with slumped shoulders and a frown. And on the rare occasions when he didn't get a job, the lack of direction chafed at him. He paced the apartment, he wandered the town, and he always came back high-strung and irritated.
Really, it was probably a good thing that neither of them had tried to pursue a relationship with each other right after the reveal. Between the constant stress of being on the run and the frustration from not being able to pursue their fields of choice in the way they wanted, they would have broken apart. When Mr. Agreste set up a path for Marinette to work for his company secretly and she at least got something faintly resembling her dream of working in fashion, Adrien would have ended up resenting her. He already had without them being in a romantic relationship- their friendship and partnership had become very strained for a solid month after Marinette started submitting designs to Mr. Agreste and getting them back with small critiques, comments, and suggestions. For a while, it seemed like the two of them might go to different places when they moved next.
Marinette didn't know how she would have survived if she and Adrien hadn't stuck together. It was overwhelming each time they moved to another town, another city, another country. How was she supposed to figure out where everything was if she didn't have Adrien by her side?
It was just yet another thing that their "fans" had stolen from them: the chance for the two of them to date, to fall even deeper in love, to have a life together that didn't involve periods where they had to walk on eggshells around each other. It wasn't fair. They would have been great together. Instead, they had to fight to keep even their friendship intact at times.
"We're here," the Gorilla announced as he pulled through the gates in front of the Agreste Mansion. "Adrien, you're back in your bedroom, and Marinette, you are in the guest bedroom. Nathalie will show you the way. You will visit a Fu tomorrow. I believe he is someone you are familiar with?"
Marinette and Adrien exchanged surprised looks. "I- yeah, we know him," Adrien said, blinking at his driver. "Uh...if Father...?"
"Mr. Agreste and Miss Dupain-Cheng's parents will also be going," Nathalie said, suddenly appearing at Adrien's door. Both he and Marinette yelped in surprise. Nathalie pretended not to hear it. "You will be going at ten, in order to give you two some sleep prior to your talk."
"That's goo- wait! Nathalie, what are you still doing up? And- both of you, really!" Adrien half-scolded. "It's late! Why are both of you still working? It's nearly three in the morning!"
Nathalie's lips twitched upwards in slight amusement. "I work late quite often, Adrien. And we were needed to get you from the airport. Your driver needed to pick you up-" the man in question was already out of the car and headed for the room he often occupied when working especially late hours- "and I needed to be available to mobilize resources if some of your more zealous so-called 'fans' decided to harass you on the way back. But you seem to have arrived without incident, so I will escort you two to your rooms and then go to bed myself."
"Thanks, Nathalie," Adrien said. ""But I'm sure we can find our way to our rooms-"
"Mr. Agreste instructed us to help you with your luggage," Nathalie said simply, and sure enough, the Gorilla was already unloading their bags from the back. Before they could protest further, he was lugging the two largest pieces of luggage up the front steps. Adrien and Marinette exchanged a look and scrambled to catch up with their remaining bags. It didn't take long for them to get settled in to the gigantic rooms for the night.
"Do you think we'll be able to do something, Tikki?" Marinette asked as she brushed out her hair in the guest room. She sighed, not waiting for her kwami to answer. "More than anything, I want the old Adrien back. He's lost his spark."
"I don't know what Master Fu has in mind," Tikki answered simply, nibbling on the edge of one of the cookies Nathalie had provided. "There's no way for me to judge how feasible any plans he might have are until he tells us."
"I hope it works," Marinette sighed, abandoning the hairbrush to sink down onto the bed. It was luxurious, with sheets that had thread-counts eons higher than the cheap ones she and Adrien had to keep buying whenever they moved. It was too expensive to buy nice ones every time, and sheets took up too much space whenever they had to move. Still, Marinette barely noticed it. "I just want my partner back. I want to be able to see my family and friends again. I want to be able to work at a fashion company normally, without all of this secrecy and faxing designs back and forth, and I want for Adrien to be able to get a job that he actually likes." She buried her face in her hands. "Is that really too much to wish for?"
Tikki sighed and floated over to perch on Marinette's shoulder. "It's not too much to wish that you had a normal life again, Marinette. I wish your fight with Hawkmoth had ended with your identities still secret. I wish that the citizens of Paris would be more restrained in their appreciation of your work. I wish that they would have learned quickly that they were crossing a line in regards to your personal boundaries instead of continuing to ignore your discomfort. Maybe Master Fu's idea will help somehow."
Marinette didn't say anything. Even though she had tried to be positive in front of Adrien, she couldn't really think of anything that they could do now that would actually help. If they could go back in time, then maybe they could have a few more Miraculous users to help them in the final fight so they could have ended it faster after using their powers. But now?
Adrien was right. No matter how much magic was in their lives thanks to the Miraculous, there was no way to simply make people forget who their superheroes were. Even if they could wipe memories, there were videos and articles aplenty that would have to be hunted down and erased as well. It was an almost impossible task, even with the Miraculous at their disposal.
Master Fu didn't seem so certain that Adrien and Marinette were right. He greeted them cheerily and invited them inside for tea, waving them in with a smile. He hummed as they settled down to wait for Marinette's parents to arrive. Wayazz seemed a little more reserved, but his brow wasn't furrowed in concern like it had been after the initial reveal had gone down.
"We have a good idea that we want to run past you- or, rather, your kwamis," Master Fu started once the Dupain-Chengs had arrived. He started to explain the idea that he and their parents had come up with, and the problems and questions they still had to address to make it work. They pulled Nooroo out to consult with him once they got to the questions about the theoretical champion.
"Our main concern," Master Fu said, "was how the champion would be powered. Timebreaker used people, but obviously that would be impractical."
Nooroo shuddered. "That would take so many people to go back two years! No, that's not an option. But what would release that amount of energy..."
No one missed the glance that Nooroo sent at Tikki and Plagg. The kwamis had a silent conversation for several moments before Tikki and Plagg shared a look and then gave Nooroo a short, decisive nod. From Master Fu's shoulder, Wayazz perked up and gave a short, "Oh!"
"You have come up with a solution?" Master Fu asked, looking between the kwamis.
"It's pretty simple, really," Plagg said, shrugging as though it was no great importance. "Lucky Charm is made out of a lot of energy. Cataclysm releases a lot of energy. Put one to the other and the result is exponential. As long as we all focus on creating a ball of pure energy, it should be fine."
"The energy would be very unstable," Tikki warned. "The Champion would have to already be made and be ready to touch the ball to absorb it within seconds. Any hesitation, and it would blow apart and probably flatten the entire block. And...well, it would take a lot out of Plagg and I. We would have to retreat to our Miraculous to recharge."
Marinette let out a cry of protest. "Retreat to the Miraculous? For how long?"
Tikki flew up into the air to hug Marinette's cheek as best as she could. "Not very long! It would be a year at minimum, but no more than two or three. And since superheroes aren't needed at the moment, it would be fine."
"Even if superheroes were needed, it is hardly as though we are completely dependent on the Ladybug and Chat Noir Miraculous," Master Fu pointed out. "I still have mine...and Mr. Agreste has his."
Gabriel looked supremely uncomfortable as all eyes turned on him. He coughed and delicately readjusted his collar. "Yes, I guess I do."
"And whoever Nooroo chooses will have that Miraculous, and the Fox and the Bee are still in my possession," Master Fu finished. "We will be set in the unlikely event that anything outside of police jurisdiction happens."
Marinette let out a huff. "I'll just miss you," she said mournfully, reaching out to cup Tikki in her hands. "We've been together for so long."
"Like Tikki said, we won't be dormant for ages, even by your human standards," Plagg pointed out, though he had floated over to perch on Adrien's shoulder. "And if everything goes to plan- which it better, that plan is simple enough for even a toddler to remember- then at least you won't be missing your family and friends anymore. You'll get to live normal lives- well, as normal as you two get, anyway."
"I think that it sounds like a reasonable solution," Sabine said quietly. She stepped forward to place a gentle hand on both Adrien and Marinette's shoulders. "You would get to come home again and live normally. You would miss your kwamis for a year or two, but maybe you would be busy enough with getting a boutique started or with doing Physics grad work that the time would fly by anyway. I hate to see you two suffering."
"I think it sounds like a good plan," Adrien said, though his voice sounded a little rough. His eyes were shining with unshed tears as he looked over at Marinette. "Bugaboo?"
Marinette sniffled, but she squared her shoulders and faced the group. "Okay. We'll do it."
They got one last night with their kwamis while the details of the entire process were ironed out. They had to make sure that the loop was closed, Master Fu had said. Mr. Agreste- well, Paon- would have to pass on the key details of what they had done, why, and a bit of the how to their past selves after he had gotten them out of the public eye. Master Fu had to have time to make the list of clear, easy-to-remember points to give to Gabriel to memorize.
The others had to prepare as well. Tom, who had bonded better with Nooroo, had to have time to chat with his new kwami and learn how the process of making a champion worked, while Sabine sat in on the conversation, just to get a better idea of the whole process. And of course, Gabriel had to beg for forgiveness from his kwami after rejecting it for years on end and leaving the Miraculous in a safe to gather dust.
"I can't deny that this is somewhat amusing," Adrien whispered to Marinette as they watched his father trying to ward off the peacock kwami's attacks with an oversized slice of watermelon. His defense was getting thinner and thinner as the kwami took a giant bite of fruit with every hit. "I'm almost tempted to get a video."
"Already on it," Marinette murmured back, gesturing to her purse. Tikki and Plagg had wedged themselves inside and were sticking the very top of her phone out to record the entire thing. She was very glad that Alya had gifted her with a phone that had a camera nearly as good as the Ladyblogger's own. "We're downloading it in as many places as possible. He can't delete it from all of them."
Unexpectedly, Adrien's expression fell. "Will it really matter, though? Will anything we do tonight matter, if we're rewriting time tomorrow?"
The mood fell and Marinette's shoulders slumped as well. "Kitty..."
"I don't regret our decision to do this," Adrien said with a sigh as her downtrodden expression turned on him. "I want this whole problem to end. But it does seem a bit pointless to do anything tonight."
Slowly, the fight across the room ceased as the peacock kwami turned its attention towards them. Gabriel cautiously lowered the now-holey watermelon to watch.
"If everything works tomorrow, anything we do now gets erased," Adrien said, waving a hand. "However futile it felt before to even try to have a normal life...this is even worse. It doesn't...no matter how much time I spend with you tonight, it won't matter by the time the sun goes down tomorrow."
"That doesn't mean that we can't enjoy our time now," Marinette insisted. She reached out for Adrien's hand, then pulled back. A small part of her mind couldn't help but hope that in the new timeline they were going to be making, she and Adrien might actually have a chance at something romantic. No matter how rocky things had sometimes gotten between the two as the stress of their situation got to them, she couldn't help but remember the boy he had been before the disastrous reveal. She missed him more than anything. They had clicked better than anyone else Marinette had ever met, and they had slowly lost that as they moved over and over again. She wouldn't mind losing these memories- memories full of stress and frustration and loneliness. Everything prior to the final battle would stay the same- all of their good memories would be intact. True, maybe this one would be lost, but...
Trading in one good memory and dozens of bad ones for (hopefully) dozens of good ones instead was a no-brainer. Still, the idea of going back in time and simply changing the timeline was an intimidating thought. Making it so that their identities stayed secret to the world was a small change, all things considered- for most people, it wouldn't alter much, just the news that they read on a couple days and maybe their reactions to seeing two civilians out on the street. The change would also release the people from jail who had been put there for harassing the two superheroes and vandalizing their childhood homes, but they wouldn't even remember that. For Adrien and Marinette, on the other hand, their entire lives would change.
"Do you want to run through the details for tomorrow again?" Tikki suggested after a long pause. "You two will have to practice the Lucky Charm to Cataclysm so that your yo-yo doesn't hit Chat Noir's hand but comes very close. It'll take a few tries to get right. Obviously you wouldn't call for your powers during practice, but-"
"Actually, we were planning to test the Peacock's hypnotism powers right now," Gabriel pointed out, making both Adrien and Marinette breathe out a sigh of relief. They hadn't wanted to practice their final move quite yet. He sent a look at his kwami, who had floated away to finish off the slice of watermelon. "Throwing the yo-yo would probably benefit most from a practice closer to the actual event and Ladybug has had plenty of practice throwing it over the years. On the other hand, I haven't practiced doing hypnotism for years and hadn't done it much in the first place. That's a crucial part of the plan. If Duusu is done attacking me..."
Duusu looked innocent and buried himself in a bowl of cut melon.
"That's a good idea," Tikki admitted. "So who is getting hypnotized?"
"Nathalie and the Gorilla have volunteered, as have Nino and Alya," Gabriel said. "I would prefer that Adrien and Marinette not get hypnotized in case something goes funny. It's not the same as trying to hypnotize a large crowd, but they'll be spread out and maybe we'll put in a bunch of mannequins for later trials, to mimic how some people might be hidden behind others. And Alya will be in charge of testing the effects on phones and cameras."
"We can go fetch the mannequins," Marinette offered, but Gabriel shook his head.
"The Gorilla got them all yesterday and they're in the closets right now," Gabriel said, pointing. "We'll all pitch in to set them out. But for now, could you call them up? I'm sure Duusu will be willing to cooperate by the time they get here."
"It worked better than I thought it would," Gabriel told Master Fu the next day when the older man was driven over by the Gorilla. The original plan had them all going over to Master Fu's studio to do their champion-making, but someone had gotten the word out that Adrien and Marinette had been spotted in Paris. It was safer to have others come to Agreste Mansion, with its beefed-up security. It didn't hurt that the police presence in the area had increased as soon as they caught word that the superhero duo was back in town. Marinette's parents had come over the previous night to watch the tail end of the hypnotism experiments and had simply stayed overnight instead of leaving and coming back again the next day, and Nino and Alya had stayed the night as well. "Even when people were mostly hidden behind the mannequins, they still felt the effects. Cameras weren't really that affected, but Miss Cesare pointed out that as long as the people holding them are affected, the cameras are hardly going to follow Adrien and Marinette on their own."
"That is good," Master Fu said, nodding. "But you will still have to be careful to make sure that no one is visibly unaffected by your dance. Keep alert when you go."
Tensions were running high as the morning went on. Adrien and Marinette had to transform so Ladybug could practice throwing the yo-yo so it would come up just short of Chat Noir's outstretched hand. Gabriel transformed briefly to do one last run-through of his hypnotism dance. Master Fu talked Tom through his first transformation and they spent over an hour trying to make sure that Tom would be able to get a champion that would be just what they wanted.
"It would have been better if we could have you make several champions first to get the hang of it, but we don't want to waste any time," Master Fu said as he watched Tom- er, the Purple Fritillary- stare at the white butterflies surrounding him. "We don't want your champion running low on energy, since she needs to go back in time and then return to the present. If we waited two weeks more for you to get a better feeling of your powers, we might have lost our window of opportunity."
"The difficult part will be making the champion, and we can take that part slow," Wayazz said, flying through the air and herding a couple of the butteries towards Purple Fritillary. "And I take it that Nooroo told you what you would need to do last night?"
"Yeah. It didn't entirely make sense last night, but now that I've transformed I think I understand a bit more." He let a butterfly land on his gloved hand. Everyone had been relieved to see that his outfit wasn't even close to looking like Hawkmoth's. The mask was closer in shape to Ladybug's instead of Hawkmoth's full head covering, and while his outfit was more similar to normal clothing instead of like Ladybug and Chat Noir's bodysuits, the coloring was lighter and he had a long cape.
"The Butterfly Miraculous holder's outfit doesn't necessarily need to be practical," Master Fu had explained when Tom gave the cape a dubious look. "It's not typically a front-line fighter. You can always talk to Nooroo about changes later on."
"Marinette, you're designing something for me," Purple Fritillary said immediately. "Unless I can persuade Nooroo to do a t-shirt and pants. Maybe an apron."
Ladybug snorted. "Papa!"
A round of giggles went around the room at the idea of a superhero in a baker's apron. Gabriel even cracked something that might have been a smile.
"I'm just glad that I didn't get a suit like Ladybug's," Purple Fritillary added. He glanced over at his daughter. "Not that it's a bad design or anything! I just don't think I would be very comfortable in it."
Ladybug shrugged. "I wasn't very comfortable in this when I first started, either. But it is good for fighting and I got used to it pretty quickly."
The momentary frivolity from Purple Fritillary's costume discussion didn't last long. He had to focus on Master Fu's instructions on how to infuse a butterfly with the powers that he wanted. Sabine had to listen as well, so that she could channel the right emotions to become a truly powerful champion.
"Well, it definitely won't be hard to wish that I could change the way things went," Sabine said with a small laugh. "I've wished that every day since the final battle, and even more since the tabloids decided to try to smear them just because they wouldn't tolerate people harassing them."
"Focus on those feelings, then," Master Fu urged. "Think about what you felt when those tabloids came out. Think about how you felt when Adrien and Marinette had to move again and again. But try not to focus on the negative too much- focus on that feeling of wanting to change things, to go back and protect. Hawkmoth focused on negative emotion, but the butterfly Miraculous is more powerful when it uses emotions of wanting positive change."
Sabine nodded firmly. A moment later, Purple Fritillary smiled.
"Nooroo's powers are definitely responding positively to Sabine's emotions right now. I'm getting a really clear direction." He grinned. "Should I try to infuse a butterfly?"
"Go ahead," Master Fu encouraged. "If Nooroo is giving you good signals, then do it."
They all watched as Purple Fritillary pulled in energy to infuse the butterfly. Instead of making it dark purple, it came out a light, slightly sparkly lilac, looking far less ominous than Hawkmoth's akumas. He paused for a long moment, looking between the akuma and his wife, trepidation clear on his face.
"The champion's butterfly was correctly done," Tikki announced, fluttering over to perch on his wrist. "You got the energy you needed. And from what I can tell, the powers are exactly what we wanted."
"Nooroo is helping quite a bit, I think," Purple Fritillary admitted. "I didn't know he would be able to do that."
"You can let the champion butterfly go now," Master Fu prompted as Tikki went back to join Marinette again. "If Nooroo and Tikki approve, then we should have smooth sailing, at least as far as the champion goes."
Purple Fritillary let the butterfly go. It fluttered through the air towards Sabine, and then landed lightly on the necklace Marinette had given her just prior to the final battle. There was a silent exchange, and then the butterfly merged with the necklace and her transformation rippled out. Her appearance didn't change much- her dress changed color and took on a clear time-travelling theme, and her mask was fairly simple. Like Timebreaker, she had panels on her legs to show how charged she was.
"Okay, now we need Ladybug and Chat Noir," Master Fu said, looking pleased. He turned to Marinette and Adrien, who were both detransformed and holding their kwamis to them. His eyes softened as he watched them stare at their kwamis. "I know this is hard for you. You've had your kwamis for years, and you've been together for nearly half your lives at this point. But it should only be a year or two without them, and in an altered timeline? You might be busy enough that the time will fly by."
"That's right, I forgot for a second that hopefully we won't be sitting around trapped in an apartment every day in a different timeline," Adrien said dryly. "I won't, y'know, not miss Plagg, that would be impossible, but..."
"You'll be too busy to miss me," Plagg said, trying to sound flippant and not quite managing. "And I'll get a nice, long nap. And when I wake up again, I expect the finest Camembert, not the stuff that, y'know, was on the cheap shelf."
"Of course," Adrien promised. "...and I assume that no matter the timeline, you'd make that same request."
"Naturally."
Marinette couldn't speak. She and Tikki only cuddled wordlessly.
It was a good fifteen minutes before the two of them transformed. Ladybug was blinking back tears as she walked into position. She did a few practice throws before steeling her shoulders and nodding. Chat Noir nodded back.
"Cataclysm!"
"Lucky Charm!"
The dual flash of light- pink against green and black- lit up the room as the two opposing forces collided. Soon, though, it was replaced with a glittering gold light emitting from a levitating gold ball, similar to the one they had gotten after Cataclysming the Gamer's robot. Ladybug and Chat Noir's outfits melted away to leave Adrien and Marinette standing there. They both took several quick steps back away from the orb as Sabine- now Time-Fixer- stepped forward and extended a gloved hand. She took a deep breath, and then touched the ball.
For a moment, Time-Fixer turned entirely gold. She shimmered as the energy settled, and her legs lit up as she charged up all the way. She shook her arms as she stepped back from where the orb used to be.
"That's a weird feeling," she said with a laugh. "So much energy all at once." She shook herself again. "Kind of tingly, even with the protection of the suit."
"The combined energy of Ladybug and Chat Noir is great," Wayazz pointed out. "And quite a bit of it was released right then. The most dangerous part of the process is over now. Now you and Paon must head back in time."
He sent a look at Gabriel, who sighed and called for Duusu. Moments later, Paon joined Time-Fixer in the middle of the room. His deadpan expression clashed with his elaborate, flashy outfit. He had mentioned the previous night that his original outfit had been much more toned down, but it got a little more ridiculous every time Gabriel and Duusu got in a fight. The current one looked like it might have some sequins worked into the design and glitter in Paon's hair.
Despite everything, Adrien had to smile. His father hated sequins and glitter.
"Any last-minute questions?" Master Fu asked. He got up to circle the duo. "You remember all that you need to do? What day and time you need to arrive?"
"I know the date and time," Time-Fixer assured him. "And this- I'm designed to go back to a bit before the moment I want to fix. I don't necessarily need to focus on that too much, I can tell. But one question: will Ladybug and Chat Noir even recognize Paon as an ally? If they didn't know and thought he was another akuma..."
"By the time Hawkmoth's defeat occurred, Ladybug and Chat Noir were aware of the existence of the other Miraculous," Master Fu assured her. "They knew that the bee and the fox were yet undistributed, and that the peacock holder was a retired hero. They likely will not be pleased that he did not come to give them assistance during any of their fights, but they won't try to fight him or escape."
"Knowing my Lady, she would probably accept the help and then as soon as you're out of danger and out of the public eye, interrogate you about why you didn't come sooner," Adrien spoke up. He glanced over at Marinette. "At least by that time, she would. If it had been earlier..."
Marinette only shrugged. She knew he was referring to the Volpina fight, but in her defense, in that case she had just heard the liar talking about being Volpina. It was incredibly suspicious to then have a "superhero" called Volpina show up immediately afterwards. And she had been right, right? If they had had other superheroes show up at different times, and especially if she had known that they existed, she was fairly certain that she would have accepted them.
...with some reservations, of course. She probably wouldn't trust them to watch her back right away.
"Do you feel ready?" Master Fu asked the duo. They nodded, and he smiled. "All right. Then go ahead and fix the timeline."
With a flash of gold light, Paon and Time-Fixer were dragged back in time. Buildings whirled around them as they were dragged across the city to be closer to the scene of the battle between the heroes and Hawkmoth. They ended up one row of houses away, hidden in an alley so that the citizens rushing past- some towards the fight, some away- wouldn't see them and panic. The two of them took a few seconds to orient themselves, and then they jumped upwards onto the rooftops to get a better angle. A minute later, the two of them were perched on top of a building close to the fight.
Paon's eyes narrowed as he focused on the fight below. From this angle, he could see the idiot civilians trickling in, trying to catch sight of the final battle. It was a miracle that no one had gotten killed or even badly hurt in the skirmish, considering that the citizens of Paris apparently had no common sense whatsoever.
If a supervillain was nearby, it was a good idea to remove yourself from the area. If superheroes were headed somewhere in a hurry, then it was a good idea to get out of their way instead of trying to dive in to get a better photo. And if two superheroes were battling it out with an akuma and a supervillain, then anyone with an ounce of common sense would vacate the area, even if one of the aforementioned superheroes had healing powers. If Ladybug and Chat Noir had lost, then there wouldn't have been any healing powers. All of the damage done would have been irreversible. But no, the people of Paris relied too hard on their superheroes. They thought the duo unbeatable, and while they had ended up being right- but barely- it hadn't been smart. Not at all.
(Paon resisted the urge to go down and smack a few particularly idiotic teens around the head as they got in Ladybug's way and messed up her attack. Really, that should have been made a criminal offense to meddle in an akuma attack, but of course the police were content to sit back and not do anything when he knew full well that they would have been crying for justice if they had had to deal with the same amount of interference as Ladybug and Chat Noir did while fighting crime.)
"Can't we help somehow?" Time-Fixer asked anxiously as she joined him in peering over the rooftop at the fight below. "They almost lost, and knowing what I do now about who Ladybug and Chat Noir are-"
"We are not going to go down there until Hawkmoth is defeated," Paon snapped. "They didn't need our help to beat Hawkmoth before, and they won't need it this time around. We are here only to keep their identities from being revealed. Besides, in approximately twenty seconds, my son will defeat the akuma and they can fight Hawkmoth two-on-one."
Time-Fixer looked anxious, but her expression smoothed out once Chat Noir did defeat the final akuma. He and Ladybug switched places seamlessly as he took over the battle against Hawkmoth while Ladybug captured the corrupted butterfly. She didn't release it quite yet, instead throwing herself back into the fight with a vengeance.
"It's good to see that Miss Cesare is at least smart enough to stay out of the direct line of fire," Paon commented idly as he checked the time on the clock in his fan. Based on the time and how the fight was progressing, they had at least another ten minutes to go. Neither had used their superpower yet. He pointed to Alya, who had managed to stake out a sport that had a good view but was still well out of the way. "Good to see that she had already matured out of getting caught up in the battle and interfering like she did with...what was that akuma? The one with the changing faces at the Louvre?"
"Pharon," Time-Fixer supplied. "And I believe the extreme-zoom, extreme-sports camera that Adrien, Marinette and Nino got for her helped- oh. That was probably their exact reason for buying the camera, to let Alya get the best footage while being further away."
Paon snorted. "Naturally. I can't imagine that the city's superheroes and the reporter's boyfriend would need much more incentive." His gaze slid back over to the fight. "Three more minutes, and I'll have to move into position. The easiest escape route will be into the subway system, since the entrance is right there." He had been able to confirm that the stairs and station were empty with his fan (he had forgotten how useful the weapon could be; perhaps he would have to transform more often even after this was all over) and now he was scanning the rest of the surrounding area, just in case he needed a backup plan. He was confident that the subway station would work just fine, though. While he didn't have the peacock's ability to see clearly into the future (Duusu had said that that ability was extremely rare), he could get a feeling for if his plans would go well or not.
He was getting an extremely good feeling from the subway station. Still, it was best not to leave anything to chance.
"The next entrance to the subway is several blocks that way," he told Time-Fixer, pointing down the block. "Go there, and then circle back to this station through the tunnels and make sure that it's empty. Punch out any cameras that you see- there should be five, if you look at this blueprint- and then hide until I join Adrien and Marinette down there. The only exception would be is if someone somehow manages to break through my hypnotism and gets down there. You can come out then and punch them out."
Time-Fixer leveled him with a long gaze. "Has anyone ever told you that you have an obsession with punching things out?"
Paon only rolled his eyes. "I've found it to be particularly effective in superhero-related situations. It's direct and to the point, and when it's a superhero or champion involved, there's no legal mess to deal with afterwards."
Time-Fixer sighed, rolled her eyes, and took off. Her powers hadn't really been designed for fast movement, so Paon could only hope that she could manage to get in place (hopefully with all subway cameras knocked out) before he had to intervene in the end of the fight. She had, by his best estimation, six minutes. Six minutes to run nearly a kilometer, half over rooftops and half in the subway tunnels, and then find five security cameras and-
Shoot. She was a bit too short to be able to easily punch out the cameras, but the champion powers should be able to enhance her jumping height as well as her running speed. He was still getting a good feeling about the whole thing, so perhaps she would pull through.
Ladybug activated Lucky Charm with a yell, and Paon took that as his cue to move. Keeping low on the rooftops (the peacock's costume was not even remotely stealthy by itself, which meant that he had to be extra careful), he circled around the plaza so he would end up in the perfect place to drop down and block the cameras. Nothing had been said during their planning meetings, but they all knew that he would have a window of only seconds to get into place without either a) distracting the heroes and messing up their defeat of Hawkmoth or b) dropping in too late, probably saving Chat Noir's identity from being exposed but not Ladybug's. To do that, he needed to get in as close as possible without being spotted.
Chat Noir's Cataclysm shook the street below, and Paon had to grab onto the chimney near him to keep his balance. It took several long seconds for the shaking to stop and for him to be able to continue.
They had to get this right. They only got one shot.
The mood both on the street and on the rooftops had turned tense. Ladybug and Chat Noir knew that they only had minutes to defeat Hawkmoth, and the Peacock knew he had only minutes to get into position. He could spot the hiding place he had picked out now, but getting there without being spotted and distracting the superheroes...
Well, he had never expected it to be easy.
From there, he followed the fight by sound alone. Gabriel had watched footage from the final fight several dozen times over in preparation, so he could tell when Chat Noir dug his claws into Hawkmoth's legs, leaving four deep scratches in his upper thigh, by the sound of the crowd's cheers. He could tell when Ladybug was knocked off of her feet after tripping over Hawkmoth's staff when gasps and shouts cut through the air. He knew when Ladybug took advantage of her position on the ground and Hawkmoth's overconfidence to use her Lucky Charm to tangle the supervillain's legs together by the sound of the cheers cutting through the air.
With a grunt, he pulled himself into position and unhooked his twin fans from his belt, extending them as far as they went. Thirty seconds... twenty-nine... twenty-eight...
Even with his legs bound, Hawkmoth was a fairly formidable fighter. But everyone knew it was over when Chat Noir knocked Hawkmoth's cane aside with a solid swipe with his baton, strength no doubt partially powered by desperation as his partner's Miraculous beeped frantically. Ladybug dove in as Hawkmoth reeled and with one frantic swipe, supervillain and Miraculous separated for the last time.
Paon didn't waste any time. As the first purple sparkles appeared around Hawkmoth (and Ladybug's Miraculous beeped frantically, signaling only seconds left), he launched himself from the roof. As Ladybug's transformation started deravelling, he landed hard in front of the two heroes, fans outstretched to block them from view of both the defeated Hawkmoth and the civilians around them.
Thank goodness for the supersuit. Even with it, his knees were going to ache tomorrow (in two years?) from that landing.
Ladybug and Chat Noir- well, Marinette and Chat Noir, at that point- both gaped up at him. Chat Noir was so shocked that he hadn't even thought to look at his now-exposed partner.
"I am Paon," he informed them. "There's no time to waste. Your identities cannot be revealed to Paris. I'll hold people off."
"Where were you during the fight?" Marinette demanded, all Ladybug even without the suit as she planted her fists on her hips and sent a dark glare up at him. "You couldn't have come in earlier and helped us defeat him? We nearly lost!"
"I will explain everything in a few minutes," Paon promised as Chat Noir's Miraculous gave its last chime and his transformation came apart. "In the meantime, take these fans and block your faces. Go into the subway station and wait there for me. Keep the fans up just in case, even when you're down there. I'll make sure no one follows and then join you." He caught Adrien eying the fans with a wary face and held breath and rolled his eyes. "Not real feathers, kid. Breathe normally, they aren't going to hurt you."
Adrien took a very cautious breath and his shoulders relaxed minutely. He reached out for the fan that was being offered to him and took it with a small nod of thanks. Marinette copied him a half second later and then, carefully shielding their faces from the crowd, they took off. There were shouts from the reporters as they realized that the superheroes were getting away. Seconds later, someone realized that the duo was detransformed and there were more shouts as the reporters realized that their big scoop was getting away. Paon felt the surge forward before he even turned around.
Everyone stopped dead when he turned and leveled a glare over the crowd. It was his very best Cooperate or Else look, perfected over several years of being a superhero and decades of business room negotiations. Coming from a business executive, it was fairly effective. Coming from an unknown superhero, it worked like magic.
(There might have been a bit of Duusu's hypnotism magic laced into the look, but it didn't matter either way.)
Now came the part Paon hadn't been looking forward to.
Peacocks danced when trying to get a mate, that was well-known enough. But in his case, the Peacock Miraculous's power to distract and hypnotize also came from dance. If that weren't bad enough, it wasn't even an elegant dance. No, it involved a lot of strutting and spinning, all while holding out the tail that was currently mostly hidden in the form of a set of tails on a coat.
Ugh. The things he did to keep Adrien safe and happy.
The dance started out slow, but still caught the eye of everyone nearby as his tail spread. It picked up slowly as Paon danced to music only he could hear. The murmurs of confusion started dropping off as his steps grew quicker and people started being hypnotized in earnest. Eyes glazed over and cameras and smartphones alike drooped until they were pointed towards the ground.
Paon smirked at that. With the cameras out of the picture, at least there wouldn't be too much footage of his ridiculous dance.
Three minutes later, his steps wound down and he came to a stop. His tail slowly lowered and folded back up until it was hidden again. Paon's eyes scoured the crowd one last time, looking for anyone who might have somehow not been pulled all the way under. Nobody had escaped his powers, it seemed (of course not- he was not one to simply mess up), so he turned and headed for the subway station he had pointed Ladybug and Chat Noir towards. He descended the stairs to find the two superheroes standing very, very close to each other.
If they had decided to skip talking in favor of sucking face, he was going to be very, very disappointed in them.
They didn't step apart even as he cleared the staircase and stepped down onto the station floor. Paon rolled his eyes and headed towards the duo, trying to decide how sharply he wanted to cough to make them break apart without causing too much flailing around and possible dropping of fans. He had managed to make the mission go smoothly so far, and he was not going to have it all messed up by some hidden subway cams. But another step closer and he could tell that while the duo was close, they were not quite close enough to be kissing. Instead, they seemed to be staring at each other.
...he supposed that that was better than sloppily making out.
Marinette was the first to notice him. She blinked and took a small step back from Adrien, though she thankfully didn't let go of the peacock fan that she was holding. Adrien glanced to the side as well when he noticed her looking away, and he jumped back slightly, still obviously a bit wary. Paon let his eyes skim both of them for injuries- he was still a concerned parent after all, even if he knew full well that both superheroes had come out of the fight without injuries. He spotted Plagg and Tikki on their respective Chosen's shoulder, both munching on a snack to recharge.
Aha. Recharge, retransform, and make sure everything is tied up satisfactorily. Very smart of them. That way, they could do all of their interviews as soon as possible after the defeat and they wouldn't have to worry about keeping the fans with them for very long. There was probably also an element of not wanting to be vulnerable around an unknown superhero involved, but it didn't particularly matter. The recharging of their kwamis was a strategic move either way.
"I believe I owe you an explanation," Paon said, not wasting any time whatsoever in getting started. His hypnotism would only hold out for so long, and it would be impossible to finish explaining once the crowd found its wits again and surged down to the station to find their heroes. "I come from the future, and I came with the sole goal of preventing your identities from becoming public knowledge. I knew that you would defeat Hawkmoth without my interference based on what happened in the original timeline, and so I stayed out of it out of fear that I might distract you and change the outcome of the fight."
"That's fair," Adrien said before Marinette could do more than screw up her face in annoyance. He glanced at his partner. "I know from fencing that having someone unexpected show up in the middle of the fight can be enough of a distraction to make me lose. If we were going to win anyway, there wouldn't be a point in tempting fate to jinx that."
Paon tried not to wince. He knew, even without Adrien saying anything, that 'someone unexpected' showing up during fencing matches meant him. He so rarely went that it always seemed to throw Adrien off of his game when he did show up. By the glance that Marinette sent Adrien, she knew who he was talking about as well.
"How did you come back from the future?" Adrien wanted to know. "How far in the future?"
"Two years, and we reawakened the butterfly Miraculous to create a champion." He held his hands up in a wait a moment gesture as both superheroes looked alarmed. "The idea was Master Fu's, and the new holder is Ladybug's father. Nooroo, the butterfly kwami, approved of the plan. So did the other kwamis."
The duo exchanged a glance, but Tikki thankfully spoke up before they could protest too much, making Paon breathe a sigh of relief. He didn't really know how long his hypnotism would last, so he had to get their trust and get all of the essential information passed on before the crowds unfroze and tore down to the station. He couldn't tell what would happen- he was fast losing his memories his previous timeline, and the new ones weren't quite solidifying yet- but he knew that if he didn't do this right, it would be bad. "I can believe what Paon said. If you were found out in a previous timeline, I can definitely see us doing anything in our power to prevent it from happening. Nooroo's powers are meant to be used to aid and protect, and keeping your identities from being revealed definitely falls into that category."
"We used a kwami-approved source of power," Paon added. "They came up with it, in fact."
Tikki let out a little gasp at that, and Paon guessed that she had figured out exactly what had been used. She sent a small pouty look at Marinette, but otherwise didn't say anything.
"The public finding out your identities would have resulted in the complete and utter destruction of your civilian lives," Paon continuing, remembering what Fu had said. He hoped that the superheroes wouldn't ask for too many details, because with his shifting memories he didn't know any. "Endless hounding by fans, forcing you to move again and again, and an inability to be hired in your respective fields out of fear of your superhero status would make you more of a trophy than a contributor. That was why I was sent back, to prevent that. And that is why, when you go to turn that Miraculous back in to Fu-" he nodded at the Butterfly Miraculous clutched in Marinette's hand- "you will have to tell him everything that I tell you, to make sure that future me comes back and completes the circle."
The superheroes exchanged a glance, and then turned in unison to listen.
Three minutes later, all necessary information had been passed on and the kwamis were fully recharged.
"Well, thank you for protecting out secret identities," Ladybug said after she transformed again, handing the fan back to Paon and holding out a hand to shake. "It sounds like it would have been a real disaster otherwise. We'll tell Master Fu everything you told us so that we can make plans to complete in the future." She was a little more hesitant before holding out a hand for Time-Fixer to shake as well, though he had told her that it was actually Sabine Cheng underneath the transformation. "You'll be heading back soon, then?"
"As soon as you two are done with your questions," Paon responded. He accepted his second fan from Chat Noir and inclined his head. "I'll stick along long enough to make sure my hypnotism wore off completely, but your Miraculous Ladybug charm might very well take care of that for me."
The duo exchanged a glance. A thousand words passed soundlessly between them, making Paon wish for a moment that he had had a superhero partner that could communicate with him so well. Then he remembered that he hated communicating with people and a partner would have just harassed him endlessly about him neglecting his superhero responsibilities.
Yeah, he was definitely better off as a solo player.
"I don't think we have any questions left," Chat Noir said after another moment's pause. "We'll definitely talk to Master Fu about what you've told us right away so no information will get lost."
"Great." Paon inclined his head, then glanced up the stairs. If he wasn't hearing things, some people were coming unfrozen from his hypnotism, or maybe more citizens were coming to join the crowd. "Then you should go. I'll stay a few minutes longer, and then I need to return to my time."
Ladybug and Chat Noir nodded and with one last thanks, they ran off up the stairs. Paon followed at a slower pace, stopping so he could still see the superheroes but the crowd wouldn't be able to see him. Time-Fixer stopped below him. He watched as Ladybug picked up her Lucky Charm and tossed it into the air. The sparkling ladybugs rushed over everything, fixing damage wrought by both the akuma and the skirmish with Hawkmoth and un-freezing the people that Paon had hypnotized. People shook themselves into awareness to find Ladybug and Chat Noir standing proudly on top of a car, side-by-side and safely transformed. Paon waited until he heard the road of the crowd's cheers before he descended back down the steps to meet Time-Fixer at the bottom.
"Mission accomplished," he announced, sounding as relieved as he felt. "Ready to head home?"
Time-Fixer beamed and started to glow. "Like you even have to ask."
Master Fu glanced up as a flash lit up the room and Time-Fixer and Paon showed up in the same spot they had vanished from only five minutes earlier. "Ah. You were successful, I take it?"
"The circle has been completed," Paon said triumphantly as he detransformed. Duusu spiraled out of his Miraculous and immediately beelined over to the array of fruit trays set out on the table nearby. Adrien and Marinette watched the kwami silently from where they sat in the corner, curled up with each other in an oversized chair. Their Miraculous sat in the boxes they had come in, faded to a pale copy of what they had been. In time they would darken back to their original colors as Tikki and Plagg regained their strength, but it would be at least a year before that happened. Marinette was staring at the light pink earrings, worrying her lip.
"That's good," Master Fu said, smiling. He watched as the butterfly pulled itself out of Time-Fixer's necklace and fluttered over to Purple Fritillary. He tapped it lightly with his stick and released the magic contained in it into the air. Time-Fixer's outfit melted away, replaced by Sabine's normal clothing. She smiled and joined Tom once he detransformed. "Ladybug and Chat Noir- thank you for your service, and thank you for coming today to help complete the cycle. You can return to your wedding planning now." He beamed at them. "That's coming up soon, is it not?"
Both of them finally smiled and exchanged a loving glance. "It is," Marinette confirmed. "We just set the date in stone. We'll get you your invitation as soon as they're printed." She sighed. "I wish our kwamis could be there, but..."
Adrien grinned. "Plagg is probably glad that he'll be missing our honeymoon, to be perfectly honest. He was grumbling about it before Master Fu reminded us that it was time to bring out Nooroo again and make a champion. As soon as he realized what it would take, he suddenly got a lot more cooperative in helping us research stuff for the honeymoon."
Marinette managed a giggle. "That's true. He said it was his present to us."
"That and not having to deal with the smell of Camembert for a year." Adrien grinned at the rest of the room. "Plagg got to finish up the rest of our Camembert supply this morning. There were several wheels of cheese. He was happy, at least."
"I can imagine," Master Fu said with a laugh. "Plagg enjoys anything that means that he gets more cheese. I'm sure he'll want to celebrate the end of his hibernation with nothing short of a feast."
"And I'll miss the little monster enough that I'll probably give it to him," Adrien said with a short laugh. He shook his head. "Wow. I haven't been without him for more than a few minutes at a time ever since I got him. Thank goodness we'll be busy, with the wedding and me starting my new job and Marinette making her new line." He managed a small smile. "It won't stop us from missing them, but it'll help, I bet."
"And it's worth trading a year of missing them in order to not have our identities spread around Paris," Marinette agreed with a small, teary smile. "To be able to actually live our lives normally, and not have to deal with the kind of stuff that we got warned about from the other timeline. And I know that our kwamis wouldn't want us to put our lives on hold just because they aren't here with us right now. We need to go out and yeah, miss them a lot, but then we can have stories for them when they finish their hibernation." She untangled herself from Adrien and stood up, holding out her hand. "Come on. Let's go make some memories."
Adrien smiled and stood, snapping the boxes with their inactive Miraculous in them shut and tucking them into his bag before he took Marinette's hand. "Of course. I'm right with you as always, My Lady."
A/N: As with most things I write, this is a one-shot and is therefore complete.
Please leave reviews, they really make my day! :)