Okay, so I may have hit a wall. Writers block hit me hard, and with school and everything, I couldn't find the time to write! But fear not, dear readers! While I can't promise a regular updating schedule, I CAN tell you that I will be coming out with chapters at least more often, and possible starting a new fic! I'm thinking either Kingdom Hearts or MLP. What do you guys think?
Chapter 4: Lecture
"Marinette?" The voice seemed so distant. My feet were moving on their own as I felt lost and free in my own thoughts. Adrien was Cat Noir. Adrien freaking Agreste was Cat Noir, my partner, one of my closest friends and the only person I trusted more than Alya, the person who I would gladly put my life in the hands of. And I was okay with it. The initial panic had subsided, and I realized that off all people it could have been, I was overjoyed that it was Adrien.
"Marinette!" I felt someone grab my arm and pull back hard. I stumbled and fell on my butt, jarred back to reality. Alya stood next to me, a panicked look on her face. We were on the sidewalk, about to cross the street, it seemed. Only, the crossing signal still showed a red hand, while traffic zipped by at a frantic pace. It was then I realized that I had, again, almost been hit by a car. "Is this going to become a regular thing with you? Because I am not walking you across the street every time you need to go somewhere!"
I stood up, flustered, a cheesy grin on my face. "Sorry, Alya. I guess I just got a little distracted, that's all."
"You really ought to pay more attention! I've been trying to talk to you for the last ten minutes!" She smirked at me. "You wouldn't happen to have been distracted by a certain blond model, would you?"
"Pssh, what? No!" My defense was weak and my tone revealed my lie instantly. As the light changed and we began crossing, Alya began her interrogation.
"Girl, you have to tell me what happened in that elevator! You two did get to spend some time alone, after all. And being saved by Ladybug! I need to know all the deets!"
Believe me, I would have told her everything, but I knew too much would reveal too much about my secret identity. Or, I guess, our secret identities. I knew I had to stretch to story in order to keep the secrets.
"So there we were, plummeting to our deaths, when all of a sudden, the ceiling panel of the elevator opened, and in jumped Ladybug and Cat Noir! Ladybug used her yo-yo to pull Adrien and I out just before the elevator crashed down at the bottom! Cat Noir pried the nearest elevator door open, and the left us on that floor before, I would assume, heading up to help you guys!"
"And?"
"And nothing. Nothing else happened. We just hugged, that's all!"
"Really? Bummer. Oh well, at least your a few steps closer to getting the man of your dreams!'
His words rang in my mind. "I...I love you..." Never before had that phrase been so powerful, so beautiful, so...perfect. Just like him.
We laughed a little, and before I knew it, we were at the bakery, eating macaroons fresh from the oven. We laughed and joked, having a jubilant time. Suddenly, Alya stared straight forward, a look of surprise on her face.
"Shoot! I didn't do that Algebra project!" In an instant, she was out the door and on her way home. By this time, it was getting pretty close to evening, so I went up to my room to do some homework of my own. The moment I close the trapdoor, Tikki leaped out of my bag and floated in front of my face.
"Marinette, we need to talk." My happy mood crashed instantly at her serious tone. Something was definitely wrong. But what could possibly be the problem? I knew who Cat Noir was, and he knew who I was. But I hadn't told Alya anything, so what was the big deal?
"Um, okay, what is it, Tikki?"
"Marinette, now that you know who Cat Noir is, we need to go over a few ground rules. First, you are forbidden from talking about superhero business with each other outside of costume. There's always a chance that somebody could overhear. Second, you...Marinette?"
I don't know when I stopped listening. I was just gazing at the poster closest to where we were sitting on the bed, thinking about what would come next, if we would start dating, when we would get married, how happy I would be with our three kids...
"Marinette! You have to listen to me!" Tikki ripped the poster off of the wall, rolled it up, and hit me with it.
"Ow, okay okay! Don't talk about being heroes while we aren't in costume! Can I have my poster back now please?"
"No! There's still more you have to listen to!" She hit me with the poster again. "Now, the second rule is that you must never, ever, use each other's civilian names while you are fighting Akumas. Actually, scratch that, at any time. Even on patrol, you have to keep your identities secret. You never know if or when Hawk Moth could be listening, and we don't want to take any risks. Third and finally, you must do whatever you can to keep Paris safe."
"Um, I already know that part, Tikki."
"You must understand, this is different. I know how much you care about each other, but you can't let your feelings get in the way of your duty! As a hero, you have to be willing to sacrifice anything to keep the Miraculous away from Hawk Moth."
"I don't get what you mean by that..."
"Say, for example, Hawk Moth had captured Cat Noir and taken his Miraculous and made a deal to free him if you gave up yours. We almost had a similar situation on the Eiffel Tower, remember? When Volpina had the Adrien illusion? You were moments away from just giving away your Miraculous! I'm sorry, Marinette, but you have to put duty before love."
"What? But he could be hurt! Or killed! I can't just abandon him like that! The right thing to do would be to help him!"
"No, Marinette." Tikki's tone was dark, and I suddenly felt intimidated, as if she had some sort of hidden power. "If you gave your Miraculous to Hawk Moth, he would win. With that power, he would take over the world, and likely kill both you and Adrien. As we speak, Plagg, that's Cat Noir's Kwami, is probably giving Adrien the same lecture. If he understands this, then he will understand what you have to do if a situation like that ever arises. Do you understand, Marinette?"
I sighed, fighting back the tears in my eyes. "Yeah, I understand. Duty before love."
"Good. You can talk this over with Cat Noir when you two are on patrol tonight, which should be right about..." An alarm on my phone started ringing. "Now."
"Tikki, Spots on!"
"What do you mean I can't save her?" Adrien sat on his couch, staring at Plagg in disbelief. What he had just heard was jarring.
"I mean you just can't. Imagine what would happen if you just handed your ring over to Hawk Moth! With both Miraculous, who knows what he could do!"
"Why, though? Why that specific situation? I mean, i'm sure we could just talk him out of it if we-"
"No! There's no talking him out!"
"But i'm sure if-"
"I won't let that happen again!"
Silence fell over the room. "Plagg, is there something you're not telling me?"
Plagg sighed. "Do you know why you've never heard of the heroes Ladybug and Cat Noir before?"
Adrien shrugged. "Now that you mention it, ever since seeing my Dad's book, I have wondered about that."
Plagg sat on top of the television, facing away from Adrien and looking out at the falling sun. "The last time we had heroes was almost eighty years ago. You'll probably recognize the name of Hawk Moth's identity back then. He was a German dictator by the name of Adolf Hitler."
Adrien jumped up in surprise. "What? The last Hawk Moth was Hitler?"
"Yes. Ladybug and Cat Noir had known each others identities for a long time, and had managed to keep them safe. But Ladybug was trapped. With her earrings taken off, she was a simple German girl. Cat Noir ran to her rescue. The ransom demanded was Cat's ring. By this time, he had actually been married to Ladybug just a week before. He glanced down at his hands, at the ring on his left, and the on his right. With tears in his eyes, he pulled off the Miraculous, de-transforming and changing into the plain young man he was. He ran to his wife, only for both of them..." Plagg stopped, sniffling.
"What? What happened, Plagg?" Adrien ventured to ask, though he feared he already knew the answer.
"They were both shot on the spot."
Adrien sat back down, his hand on his forehead, disbelief in his eyes. "Tell me, what happened next?"
"What you humans call World War II. In the end, the Master pulled the Miraculous from Hitler's cold, dead hands just after his suicide. However, the moth Miraculous was nowhere to be found, and presumed to be lost forever. That's what we thought, until the day you two were chosen, when darkness again arose."
"So even if her life is in danger..."
"For the good of the people, you have to find another way, or let her go."
Adrien sat silently, watching the sun touch the horizon. Tears stung at his eyes. "I understand, Plagg."
"Good. Now, you have patrol to get to."
See? I can write dark too. Sorry if that was a little dark for you soft hearted people, but I have always wondered what the story behind the moth Miraculous being lost forever was. I figured, why not connect it to a major world event? If this offends anybody in any way, let me know and I will take it down. Otherwise, I feel like it adds the drama and tension needed to progress the story.
I love all of you! Thanks for your care and your support!
