I AM SO SO SO SORRY! This is late, short, and still not the end! I could make excuses, but theyd really consist of how I couldn't get any of my ideas to work out, I had band camp for two weeks and had NO TIME for those two weeks, and I started trying to figure out a ML fairy tale story.
Please don't kill me.
I am very very sorry! On the other hand, I have the next chapter outlined and all I have to do is write it, so I'm hoping to get it up in the next two weeks.
Disclaimer: Miraculous Ladybug isn't mine!
Aziza stared. Blinked. Stared some more. Chat Noir... was Kafele?
He smiled at her, trying to reassure her. Was he talking? She couldn't tell anymore. The blood pounded in her ears and she couldn't hear, couldn't think. His lips moved but she couldn't hear.
Blink. She was standing up beside the bed.
Blink. He had grabbed her arm, and she was by the window. Still mouthing words she couldn't hear.
Blink. She had transformed, he stepped back in shock. Pleading brown eyes stared at her.
Blink. She was gone.
Aziza felt her bed under her fingertips as she detransformed, and she realized what she had done. Run away from Kafele (Chat Noir?) as Ladybug.
Tikki flew in her face. "Aziza!"
"I don't want to hear it, Tikki," Aziza muttered as she slowly sat down on her bed, turning away from the tiny god.
"You can't just run away from your problems!" Tikki's tiny voice yelled from behind her.
"You don't know me, Tikki."
"Stop pushing me away! I'm just trying to help you!" Tikki begged.
"Help me? You're the reason this is happening!" Aziza yelled.
Tikki stared at her Ladybug, wondering what went wrong. "Aziza, we can work through this together-"
"I didn't ask for this, Tikki," Aziza whirled to face the tiny kwami. "I didn't ask to be a hero, I didn't ask for my friend to be taken, and I definitely didn't ask for an annoying little bug to follow me around and tell me when I'm wrong!"
Aziza breathed heavily, enraged by the tiny bug. She turned away again, composing herself. "Leave me alone, Tikki."
Tikki looked at the girl that had so quickly shut away all emotions again. "You know, I think there's only one way you can be this disturbed by what happened."
Aziza stiffened. "Go away, Tikki," she muttered through gritted teeth.
"You like him," Tikki stated proudly. Aziza knew that Tikki could see her flinch to confirm that she was right. "You almost liked Chat Noir too, and knowing that they're the same person was too much for you. You have to shut everyone out again because you can't handle your own feelings."
"Leave me alone!" Aziza raged. "I don't need to hear this!"
"That's because you already know it, Aziza. You know I'm right and you just don't want to admit it, just like how you don't want to admit that you know Kafele is desperately in love with you and you are just too scared to give him a chance because it might hurt you in the end, but what about his feelings?"
Aziza flinched back from Tikki's words. "No- that's not- I don't mean to-"
She caught Tikki's brief smile when the kwami realized she had hit a sore spot. "You may act cold and tough, but your really do care about him. And if you're not careful, you'll lose him entirely."
Aziza's shoulders began to shake as Tikki's words set in. Her eyes filled with tears that she furiously blinked back, but one stubborn tear still trailed down her face. "You're right, Tikki..." she whispered. Tikki flew close and gave Aziza a hug. "Thank you..."
o~O~o
Kafele had stared out the window for an hour after she left. Aziza. Ladybug. One that he had come to love and the other he had come to respect greatly during the short time he had gotten to know her. He wasn't sure he expected Aziza to be Ladybug. Aziza had always come off as cold, whereas Ladybug was caring and loved to laugh.
Maybe it was kind of like how Chat Noir was more charming and Kafele was more awkward at times. Maybe the mask helped them be a different version of themselves, and the mask gave them the confidence they needed. It was definitely an interesting concept.
"You've been sitting in the same spot for an hour, kid, are you planning on moving anytime soon?" Plagg flew into the room snacking on something he had grabbed from the kitchen. The kwami had a habit of eating food whenever he wasn't sleeping, which meant that he did both a lot. It also meant that Kafele had to take what Plagg ate out of his own meals so Adela's parents wouldn't notice. Not that Kafele really minded, though there had been a couple days where Plagg got really hungry...
Kafele looked over at the black cat floating in the air. "I'm not a kid anymore," he stated simply, "I'm eighteen now."
"I don't know if I should congratulate you or ask you if that's supposed to make your love life less of a mess," the kwami stated drily.
Kafele rolled his eyes, "I think you've succeeded at doing both."
Plagg smiles proudly, "Why thank you! That was my goal."
"It's not like you've ever been in love, anyway..." He muttered.
"Of course I've been in love. Still am, actually. Just like how you're in love with your Ladybug, I'm in love with mine." Plagg insisted.
Kafele blushed, "Sorry, I didn't mean to- wait, do you mean you love Ladybug's kwami? How does that even work? How often do you even get to see her?"
Plagg sighed, almost wistfully, and floated over to sit on the edge of the bed. "It's complicated, kid."
"Don't call me-"
"Did I say I was done?" Plagg snapped at Kafele, causing him to abruptly shut his mouth. "That's better. Now, you have two choices. You can go after her now, or you can wait until morning."
The kwami probably already knew what Kafele was going to do. He was beginning to understand Kafele.
Kafele found this terribly unfair. Plagg could anticipate his actions, whereas Kafele had to actually think about them and then follow through with them. Kwamis didn't have responsibilities. (Unless you count taking care of superheroes and making sure they don't accidentally destroy the world. But Kafele wasn't counting that.)
The truth was, Kafele was scared. Well, maybe scared wasn't the right word. Maybe he was looking for the phrase 'downright terrified.' He'd been in love with Aziza for about a year, pining after her but always too scared of rejection.
So he expected the unsurprised look in Plagg's eyes when he said he would do it tomorrow. He didn't expect the disappointment he felt deep down inside, but he shoved it down further anyway.
o~O~o
Aziza felt enlightened when she woke up the next day. Her talk with Tikki had really helped her sort out her feelings (after actually discovering what they were). It was strange to finally accept that she like Kafele a lot.
However, she still wasn't prepared to act on any of those feelings. So it was a shock when he showed up at her front door that morning, out of breath and trying to talk to her. Her mother had left early for the market, so she quickly ushered him inside.
Kafele looked anxious, his eyes flitting from her to the ceiling and back again. His uneasiness was unsettling to her.
"Kafele?" Aziza looked at him, then caught a glimpse of Tikki watching them around the corner. She narrowed her eyes at the small kwami briefly before turning her attention back to Kafele.
"I've been trying to tell you for a while now," Kafele began, his words fast, "but I haven't been able to work up the courage-"
She cut him off, anticipating his words, "It's okay, I know now."
He blinked, drawing her attention to his deep brown eyes. It made her realize again how lovely they were, unlike her weird deep blue eyes. "What?"
"I know that you're Chat Noir, and you know that I'm Ladybug, and it's all," she swallowed, trying to come up with the right word, "fine."
"Oh! No, not that. Well, that probably was pretty important too, but it wasn't what I was talking about," he began to ramble. "Of course it was pretty important, since it turns out I'm Chat Noir and you're Ladybug, even though we haven't know each other for long as Chat Noir and Ladybug-"
Aziza cut him off quietly. "Please get to the point, Kafele."
He grinned, but it was weak and unsure. "Right. I had a point." He rubbed the back of his neck anxiously before looking her in the eyes. "I was trying to say... I-I really like you, Aziza. A lot. Maybe even love you. I'm not sure on that part yet."
Aziza froze, staring at him. He must've thought that meant bad things though, because he continued to ramble on, "I know you're confused and don't know how you feel, but I do. I love you, and if you don't, then just say it. I'll be okay."
Then he stared at her desperately, his eyes seeming to plead with her. Aziza couldn't help her reaction. A laugh bubbled out of her chest, and she sank to the floor, laughing the hardest she had in a long time. She knew how it had to seem to Kafele, so she grabbed his arm and yanked until he was on the floor too, on her level. His dark eyes were filled with hurt.
"I'm sorry, I'll just-"
"No! No, don't," she gasped for air. "It's just funny because I was just thinking about you last night."
"You were?" Kafele seemed dumbfounded.
"I was!" she leaned forward, feeling giddy. "And if you wanted to court me, I would gladly let you."
"You would?" Kafele stared at her.
"I would!"
And with that, Kafele closed the gap between them and kissed her.
o~O~o
Adela found herself rudely awakened in the morning. Her eyes flashed open and she saw a woman standing over her with a bucket. One that had just been full of water. Only now it wasn't.
Adela yelled, scrambling backwards and falling off the side of the bed. "Oh my gods!" She wiped the water away from her eyes before peering over the edge of the bed.
The mysterious woman looked not much older than Adela, and Adela realized that there were two more women standing behind her. Probably slaves of the king, sent to fetch her.
The first woman had very dark skin, making the cream of her dress stand out. Her midnight black hair reached past her hips and was pulled back into a braid. Her eyes looked almost black, and her lips were pulled down in a frown.
Another woman stood right behind the first one, and she glared at the first woman. Her hair was deep black, it was in a bob that hit just below her chin, and she had bangs across her forehead. Her eyes were a light brown, and there was a twinkle of mischief in them. Her skin was the lightest of the three of them, and her dress was white and had turquoise around the hem.
The last woman was cowering behind the second. Her hair was completely natural, and it hung straight down to her shoulders. She was the shortest, but not much shorter than the second woman. Her skin was more in the middle, and her eyes were a chocolate brown. Her white dress was a little too long and dragged on the floor.
"Oh, look! You're awake," the first woman had a sneer.
"I'm so sorry," the third one whispered. "We tried to tell her-"
"Oh, shut it!"
"Leave her alone!" the second woman spoke up.
The first one rolled her eyes, "Fine. We have to work anyway."
"I'm Alecto, the rude one here is Calista, and this is Melora," the second girl- Alecto- spoke again.
Adela slowly stood up. "And what am I supposed to do?"
Calista headed toward the door impatiently. "King Tutankhamun wants you to look your best for whatever he wants with you. He won't tell us, but it must be important."
"Calista has great fashion sense, so she's going to pick out your clothes while we help bathe you," Melora spoke so quietly that Adela had to strain to hear her.
"Bathe me?" Adela finally spoke up. "No thanks, I can do that myself."
"Did she ask for your permission?" Alecto spoke up, hands on her hips. "We won't get in trouble because you won't let us do our job, so excuse me if you have to do something you don't particularly want to do."
Adela stood and held her chin up. She might as well follow them, hopefully she'll be able to escape. Servant girls can't stop her, right?
"Fine. Lead the way."
o~O~o
Nico paced the floor of his fiancée's house. It was an absolute wreck. Broken pots on the floor, a bunch of dust, and even a couple mummies. Mummies didn't just get out of their pyramids, walk into houses, and kidnap people! That just didn't happen! Mummies were mummies because they were dead. His fiancée was gone and no one knew where she had gone. The servant boy had also disappeared without a trace. Was that suspicious?
He crouched on the floor. A clear struggle had gone on and he was proud of Adela for fighting back.
One of the things he hadn't told his parents about their meeting was that she had punched him. Lost in the memory, he rubbed his stomach. It had hurt, but Nico supposed it was largely his fault. He'd just put on his mask that he had with all of the other women his parents had take him to meet, and he was a bit of a prick. So she ended up punching him, they had a real conversation, and he went downstairs to tell his parents she was the one he wanted to marry.
Needless to say, they were thrilled.
There wedding was supposed to be tomorrow, too. It was so close!
He clenched his fist. He would find Adela. Nico was going to save her, and whoever took her was going to pay.
Sort of a cliffie? Anyway, next chapter WILL BE THE END!
Thanks to my two reviewers! (By the way, I am aware that Nefertiti was not Tut's wife in real history, but I have watched The Pharaoh several times to make sure my story at least follows what it gave me, and it says that this Nefertiti was his wife.)
I've got two questions for you guys. First of all, do you want to see the wedding? Cuz I won't write it if you don't want to see it. Also, do you want to see a fairytale story sometime in the future? It won't be strictly fairytales, because I've got a Mulan story planned out. I'll give you more details if you want them.
Dont be afraid to follow, favorite, and most importantly, REVIEW!
