Sorry, I didn't post yesterday, I was quite busy and to be frank I completely forgot. But I wrote another two chapters (yay for being organised)!
Also, you may have noticed that I have changed the rating from K to T. Don't be alarmed! It's nothing more than a bit of kissing, but I'm bumping up the rating for safety. Enjoy!
Adrien didn't have a chance to talk to Plagg until they were back home from school. Plagg hadn't woken up until the end of lunchtime, then had asked for the smallest amount of cheese ever and stayed sadly silent for the rest of the day.
Adrien had been very, very worried. He had been out in the rain for only an hour, and yet he had felt so sick that he had almost passed out and Plagg had been sick and unable to even fly for 24 hours. And what about that strange, sickly green flashing? He'd never seen that before.
Plagg knew what Adrien was going to say before he could make a single noise. "Camembert first." he said. "Then I'll tell you everything."
Adrien nodded and gave the little godling a whole wheel of cheese. To his mixed relief and disgust, Plagg ate two giant lumps of cheese before he began.
"Since the creation of the Ladybug and Chat Noir Miraculous, each of the powers has had one weakness. The weakness changes depending upon each holder's past or personality. For you, Adrien, the Chat Noir's weakness is your family. Every time you think about your family the Miraculous will stop working. That's what the flashing is."
"But… that flashing started when it rained."
"No- well, yes- but no. And it wasn't the rain- it was the thunder. Because your mother disappeared during a thunderstorm, whenever you hear thunder you think of her mother, yes? Then you think of your current family, how no-one with talk to you, and I lose control.''
"What do you mean, lose control?"
Plagg was silent for a moment. "Well, I'm not certain how this works, but I am not the actual source of power of the Miraculous." He finally said. "I'm the kwami- my job is to control the power inside the ring and allow you to use it- and all the other Chat Noirs. But their weaknesses, when they hit me-" he shuddered. "It's like being hit by a truck. And because I'm no longer controlling the Miraculous power for a longer time, a bit longer than when we were out in the rain, but not much- it would be chaos. And the Miraculous-" Plagg suddenly stopped, looking at the floor.
"What? What would happen to the Miraculous?" Adrien pressed. When Plagg looked up the boy could almost have sworn that the kwami was crying.
"If the Chat Noir Miraculous lost control… it would be released from your ring and it would destroy the whole city. Imagine your Cataclysm, but unstoppable and one million times worse. You and I would die. Immediately. Painfully. The Cataclysm would destroy us both, reduce us to dust."
"No." Adrien whispered. "Oh, no.''
"And the worst part?" Plagg chuckled with all the sadness in the world resting inside him. "Ladybug and her kwami, because the two Miraculous share such a strong connection, well- they would die too."
"Oh, poor Chat." Marinette clutched her Chat Noir doll tighter.
Tikki nodded slowly. She was sitting on Marinette's bedside table. MArinette jumped off her bed and started pacing. "What do you think Chat Noir's weakness is?"
"Well… there's one more thing. You see, because the Chat Noir and Ladybug Miraculous are two halves of one whole- yin and yang- whatever weakness Chat has would be one of your strengths, and vice versa. And only the other Miraculous holder has the power to conquering their weakness." Tikki explained.
"So your saying that I'm the only one that can help Chat." Marinette said worriedly. "But how do I do that? I don't even know what his weakness is, let alone how to fix it! And what is my weakness? How is it going to affect me? How could Chat help me? Oh, Tikki, this is all so confusing!"
"Marinette! Stop pacing! Your going to wake up your parents!"
Marinette sat down. She knew that she should be asleep- it was almost 1am- but sh couldn't sleep now, not with thoughts of her partner's Cataclysm exploding and killing him running around her head.
"I have to go out. Please, Tikki."
The kwami nodded, and soon Ladybug was running across the rooftops of Paris. It had stopped raining, and Ladybug was hoping that she'd see Chat, that they could talk about this and work it out.
She almost didn't see Adrien. he was dressed in a dark green hoodie and blue jeans that were obviously not for his father's collection. Ladybug would have passed by him completely had he not turned his head to catch her eye at just that moment.
Ladybug knew that she shouldn't do anything but wave. What did she have to say to him? Nothing. She probably would't be able to talk to him anyway, even as Ladybug. And yet, she argued these things to herself just as she was swinging towards him.
She dropped down right next to him, balancing on the wall. "Hey." she said.
He didn't answer.
"Adrien? Are you all right? What are you doing out here at this hour?"
No answer again.
"Adrien, please don't ignore me."
At that, he lifted his head. "Sorry. I'm not ignoring you. I'd just rather… not talk right now."
"Oh." Ladybug started to swing her yo-yo. "Would you prefer it if I left?"
"No! No." Adrien grabbed her hand before she could go. "I like you here." he blushed. 'I mean- I'd like you to stay."
"Okay." Ladybug nodded, replacing her yo-yo at her hip then clasping her hands behind her back.
She kept and eye (and an ear- you could usually hear akumas before you saw them) out for any signs of Hawkmoth getting up to trouble, but otherwise she simply enjoyed walking along the Seine with Adrien. Even in the middle of the night, he was still gorgeous, his hair slightly messed up where he'd pulled the hoodie over his head. He seemed kind of sad, but he obviously didn't want to talk about it. may be it had something to do with his father. Marinette idolised Adrien's Dad for his brilliant designing, but once she had found out about his cold-hearted parenting from Alya an Nino, she had not liked him as a person. What sort of madman would force their son into such a confining box? Only Adrien could push through that, could still smile and laugh not be overwhelmed by hopelessness. The way he walked, the way he held himself, seemed to speak volumes about his ability to stand up to his father, his confidence and unruffable demeanour.
Of course, Marinette knew that not all of this was true. Adrien could be a true drama queen when he wanted to be, releasing his emotions that were too big for any one person to contain. It always made Marinette feel secretly happy when he laughed and made his stupid jokes, yelled or cried, because that meant that he trusted her and the other people they were with enough to show his true self.
They walked in silence, simply enjoying each others company, until Ladybug's earrings started to beep and she swung away.
Adrien watched her go. He felt kind of guilty for not allowing her to talk, but he Adrien like just walking with her. She held herself tall, and yet she held her hands behind her back and seemed to curl in on herself when she wasn't thinking about the impression she was giving to the people around her. Adrien- or Chat- remembered when she would come to him for comfort when she was unsure or sad. It charmed him completely that she trusted him enough to show that she wasn't as self-confident as she would have you believe. That she was a normal person, with normal insecurities.
He turned left, back to his house, just thinking about how this horrible, scary day had ended so nicely.
Ladybug looked out over the rooftops of Paris, sparkling with lights. This was the one time per week where both of them patrolled together, and Ladybug hoped that Chat would come so that they could talk about the flashing and the weaknesses. because there had been no akumas, she hadn't seen her partner for a whole week. Not that she'd ever admit it, but she always missed her kitty and his stupid puns the moment that she untransformed, and this week especially had been ripping her apart with worry. Was he okay? He'd called her to say that he'd gotten home safely, but what if the weakness meant that he got sick afterward? Oh, this was never going to end well- just thinking about a happy ending was hopeless.
Chat arrived just as Ladybug was beginning to worry that he wouldn't come. But he was quiet, and his ears were drooping.
"Are you okay? Chat? I mean, you're obviously not okay, but- do you want to talk about it? Goodness, that sounds cliché-"
Chat didn't respond. His tail, usually swishing around in excitement for the patrol, was hanging still. Ladybug opened her mouth to say something else, then paused and really, really looked at her partner. it was obvious that he was sad; it was also obvious that she had something to do with it and that Chat didn't want her to know, for her to pretend that everything was fine.
So Ladybug simply hugged him. "It's okay, kitty." she whispered, resting his head on her shoulder. Chat gasped like a drowning man, his claws digging into her suit- not painfully, just reminding her who he was- a person, with all the pressures of being a superhero, and a superhero, with all the pressures of being a person.
"It's not okay. It'll never be okay." he whispered.
"It will be okay- we'll make it okay. Together, no matter what. All you have to do is tell me what's going on. Yes?"
Chat nodded. His hair tickled her neck, just above the collar of the suit. "Yes." he answered, sitting up a little straighter.
"Your the best, Bugaboo, but…"
"But what?"
"Plagg- that's my kwami-he was telling me about the flashing, and what it means-"
"I know. My kwami, Tikki, she was talking about it too."
"Yeah! But Plagg said that if i was out in the rain any longer, well, he might have died- she told about that too- and, I've just been so scared. What if the weakness can affect him when I'm Adr- when I'm not Chat Noir? What if it happens again, and I'm out in the thunder for so long that he dies? What if he gets sick again, and he never truly gets better? Sometimes I feel like I should just give up the Chat Noir Miraculous for good-"
"No!"
Chat stared at Ladybug. Her face was all blotchy as if she was about to cry. "Don't you ever say anything like that ever again, kitty! You're my partner. No-one else, not ever. Don't you see? We'll work this out together. We can do this easily. Just think, we already know what your weakness is, so basically we just have to keep you out of the rain-"
'It's not the rain."
Ladybug stopped talking, just looking at him.
"It's actually the thunder, well,, sort of. My mother- she disappeared during a thunderstorm. Nad now, whenever I hear thunder, I think of her, and I think of my father. So, my weakness is actually my family. And I can't think of any way to stop that."
Ladybug but her lip, thinking. "I can't think of anything right now. But just remember that family isn't always about blood. I'm your family. All those people who love you for who you are, their your family. It's about the heart." She hugged him again. "Shall we do our patrol, then? Or are you not up for it?"
Chat grinned. It wasn't as bright as it usually was, but it was a grin. "Race you to Montmartre! Last one there has to fight the next akuma while doing a handstand!"
Ladybug laughed and gave Chat a 10-second head start. After all, she always won.