THIS CHAPTER IS SUCH TRASH AND FILLERISH AND I'M SORRY

Disclaimer: I don't own Miraculous Ladybug.


Lost In The Time Stream

Chapter Seven


PARIS
2027

"I'm so sorry, Adrien," Marinette said when he told her exactly who the Papillon was.

"I don't know how I didn't see it," he said. "Have I been just wilfully blind this whole time?"

"Chaton-"

"I'm so unobservant!" He exclaimed. "I didn't even notice you were Ladybug! It's so obvious and I didn't see it."

"I didn't realise who are you either, Adrien. Or realise who the Papillon was."

Adrien was thankful for her attempt to cheer him up, but it did little to improve his mood. "You're not the one who lives with him, my Lady. You're not the one who's – who's related to him."

Marinette took his hands in hers. "We're gonna get through this. We're gonna defeat him. We will. And you know how?"

Adrien shook his head, "How?"

She smiled at him, wearing a determined yet loving and comforting expression. "Together, like we always do. We're Ladybug and Chat Noir. We're an unstoppable team."

There was a silence as he processed her words. Then, he slowly returned her smile. "You're right. Thank you, my Lady." Adrien felt himself calm down and he really fought the urge to kiss her again. There were other things they needed to focus on.

"So, what else do I need to know about the future?" She asked.

Adrien thought about her question for a moment before answering. "Well, Buginette, there's a few people I need to introduce you to." He paused, his smiling increasing. "Trust me, there's one little Lady that you'll just love to meet."


PARIS
2016

"So Nino has his miraculous already?" Marinette asked.

They were still in Marinette's room, only now Adrien was filling her in on the changes to the time line.

He nodded, "And he knows we're Ladybug and Chat Noir. No one else knows though. Well, besides Master Fu." He paused in thought. "Actually, I wonder how Nino's going. I kind of left him to deal with an overly excitable and probably curious Alya."

Marinette sucked in a breath and looked sympathetic for their DJ friend. "Harsh."

"Hey, you were unconscious and I had to get you home," Adrien defended himself. "Plus, Alya was psyched after seeing Tortue Verte in action for the first time. I was not prepared to deal with that."

"Poor Nino," Marinette laughed. "You're a bad best friend."

"Am not," Adrien said with a pout.

"And now you're pouting," Marinette observed. "And you wonder where Emma gets it from."

Adrien automatically changed his expression, "I am not!"

She laughed, "Are so."

"Am not."

"Are so."

"Am not."

"Are so."

"Am not! Must accept! Ha! I win!"

There was a silence before the two of them burst out laughing.

"Do you ever stop to wonder how we're actually adults and parents?" Adrien asked.

Marinette smirked at him, "Wonder how I'm an adult? No. You? Yes."

"Hey!"

"As amusing as you two flirting is," interjected a new voice. "Perhaps we could get back to the point."

Marinette and Adrien turned to see Plagg floating between them, with Tikki beside him.

"Hi Plagg," Marinette greeted. "Nice to see you again."

"You too, Bug. Do you have any cheese?"

"You just told them to get back to the point, but now you're asking for cheese?" Tikki asked, exasperated.

"Cheese is important."

"So is fixing the time stream!" The ladybug kwami said.

"But camembert!"

"But time stream!"

"Cheese! Cheese! My kingdom for cheese!"

Tikki groaned, "Plagg, please don't start monologuing about cheese again."

"Alright, fine," Plagg said. "But there better be camembert later."

"There will be," Adrien promised, looking amusedly at the two kwami. "Plagg, I always give you cheese."

The black cat kwami begrudgingly had to admit that was true, even if he muttered that it was "never enough."

"But okay," Marinette said, steering the conversation back to the point. "What do we do? We're facing a messed up time stream, akumas from the past and future, and the akuma causing this is in the future. You're sure you haven't seen Father Time here in the past?"

Adrien nodded, "Positive."

Marinette sighed, "That makes this harder."

Adrien frowned in thought as a ridiculous plan came to his mind. "What if… What if we just went and took Father's miraculous from him?"

Marinette, Plagg and Tikki all looked at him in shock. "What?" They chorused.

Adrien cringed at their expressions, but elaborated. "Father doesn't know we're Ladybug and Chat Noir in this time. He's been interested in our jewellery, but he has nothing solid on us. But we know he's the Papillon. He won't be expecting us to just turn up and take it from him."

There was a silence following his words.

"That sounds…" Marinette began before trailing off, not entirely sure how to finish that sentence.

"Ridiculous, I know," Adrien said.

"Too easy," Plagg put in.

"It sounds like it could do more damaged to the time stream than has already been done," Tikki said.

"What do you mean?" Marinette asked.

"I'm not expert on time," Tikki said. "The Great Guardian or Wayzz would know better than me. But, the akuma that sent you to the past was made by the Papillon in the future. It also sent your present selves to that future. If you defeat the Papillon here in the past, that would mean the future Papillon would never have made Father Time into a akuma in the first place. But you and your present selves would still be in the wrong times."

"A paradox," Adrien said in realisation. "Okay, yeah, let's forget that idea."

(Adrien had watched enough Doctor Who that even speaking the word 'paradox' was raising red flags in his mind. Best to avoid those.)

"I wish it was that simple though," Marinette sighed. "You know, that we could just walk up to Gabriel and take it."

There was a contemplative silence.

Why couldn't it be that simple? Why had he and Marinette let his Father continue to terrorise the people of Paris? Yes, he wanted to believe that his Father could be redeemed, but at the cost of the safety of civilians? And yes, he wanted to see his mother, but there were other ways of finding her than his Father's plan to combine the Ladybug and Black Cat miraculous. As desperate as Adrien was to find his mother, it wasn't worth letting the people of Paris live through the constant fear of akumatisation.

No. It had been selfish letting their ridiculous miraculous family feud go on long enough.

"Let's do it," Adrien said at last, breaking the silence. "When we go back, let's just go up to Father and demand his miraculous. All he's doing is causing people grief and Nooroo has been through enough."

Marinette looked at him in surprise. "I thought you wanted to see if your father could be redeemed?"

"That was before I was kicked eleven years into the past. It was … scary being here, my Lady. I was so afraid I was going to do something to mess up our future. That I'd lose you and Emma."

"Chaton," Marinette said, reaching over to him to put a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"This has gone on long enough, don't you think? Father can be redeemed after we take away his miraculous."

Marinette was quiet as she thought about what he said. "You're right," she agreed, sounding determined. "When we get back, we're ending this."

"But that just brings us back to the question: how do we get back to the future?" Adrien said.

"I'd suggest going to the Great Guardian," Tikki chimed in.

"Fu does have a knowledge of time and the time stream," Plagg agreed.

"He didn't say anything about travelling through time when we were last there," Adrien said.

"He might have something now," Marinette said, standing up. "And we have no other ideas, so why not?"

Adrien stood as well, "Alright, lead the way, my Lady."

He followed his wife out onto her balcony. They shared a determined look. They were going to find a way back to the future. They were going to get back to their daughter. No matter what.

"Tikki!"

"Plagg!"

"Transformerz moi!"


PARIS
2027

Marinette and Adrien had made it halfway to Alya and Nino's before the screaming started.

Adrien groaned in frustration, "We were going to see our Buglet!"

Marinette looked disappointed, "I know, but Paris needs us."

They darted into a deserted alley.

"Tikki!"

"Plagg!"

"Transformez moi!"

Ladybug and Chat Noir emerged from the alleyway and rushed to where the frightened screams of Parisians were coming from.

"It's fur-strating, but if this is Father Time, we have the chance to go home!" Chat called to his Lady as they went.

"Hopefully! Let's beat this akuma!" Ladybug called back to him.

"You bet!"

They landed on a roof and assessed the situation. There, on the street, was an akumatised villain and not one that they were familiar with.

"Uh, is Sailor Moon attacking Paris?" Chat asked.

"Sailor Moon is attacking Paris," Ladybug replied.

It really did look like the fictional Sailor Senshi was attacking their city. The akuma they were facing was a young woman that looked remarkably like the anime character. She had blonde hair done up in the same style and was wearing a uniform that looked similar, just in a mix of different colours. Red, white, blue, orange, yellow, purple, pink, green … a mixed of bright colours that made it seem like a rainbow had thrown up on her. She even was holding a rod that looked like Sailor Moon's Moon Rod.

"I am Weeadoom!" She announced. "And I will prove that it's okay if you like anime!"

"We're facing an anime related villain?" Chat asked, just for clarification.

"We're facing an anime related villain," Ladybug confirmed.

"This is the greatest day of my life," Chat said, unable to keep the smile from his face.

He was going to have a field day with this.

"Chat, don't be excited that there's an akuma," Ladybug scolded.

"I've got this, My Lady. I'll distract her, you go for the rod. I bet that's where the akuma is."

"Alright, be careful."

"Buginette, it's my time to shine," Chat laughed.

He darted in front of the akuma. "Hey, Sailor Akuma! How're you going?"

"Chat Noir! Give me your miraculous!" Weeadoom screeched.

"Nah, I don't think so," Chat said. "But I've just got one thing to say to you."

"What?" Snarled the akuma.

"It's time to d-d-d-duel!"

He heard Ladybug groan somewhere to his left.

"In the name of the miraculous, we will defeat you!" Chat said, doing the Sailor Moon hand movements along with the words.

Weeadoom swiped at him with the moon stick, which Chat parried with his baton. Weeadoom staggered back and Ladybug swung her yoyo towards the rod, intending to grab it, but Weeadoom managed to dodge her.

"I'm getting all fired up now," Chat said with a laugh.

"So it's fine for you to reference anime's, but when I do it, I'm teased?" Weeadoom demanded. "That's not fair!"

"I'm sorry that happened to you, but we won't let you hurt the people of Paris!" Ladybug said.

"Believe it!" Chat agreed.

Weeadoom glared at him even more fiercely than she'd been doing previously. "It's dattebayo!" She cried, firing a blast of energy at him from the moon rod.

And in that one shining, perfect moment, Chat knew the best way to provoke Weeadoom.

"You know, I disagree," Chat said to her. "I've always thought dubbed was better than subs."

"NO, THEY'RE NOT!" She shrieked, shooting numerous blasts of energy at him.

While he agreed with her and thought subs were better, his statement did have the desired effect; her attention was now all on him, giving Ladybug the chance to summon a Lucky Charm.

"A skipping rope?" Ladybug asked. "What am I supposed to do with this?"

Chat darted into engage Weeadoom while his Lady figured out how to used her charm.

"Enough of this!" Weeadoom cried. "Give me your miraculouses!"

"Say please," Chat smirked, "anime think about it."

His Lady groaned at the pun, while Weeadoom just growled and sent an energy beam towards him.

"Cataclysm!"

Much like with Guitar Villain, his cataclysm stopped the attack from hitting him.

"Chat Noir!" Ladybug called out to him. "Catch!"

He turned to see his Lady throwing one end of the skipping rope to him. He caught it, ready to go with whatever plan Ladybug had in mind.

Weeadoom, of course, had other ideas.

"You might be able to dodge me," she said, before turning to some unfortunate civilians who hadn't been able to evacuate in time. "But they can't."

"No!" Chat and Ladybug cried as Weeadoom sent a barrage of energy beams towards the civilians.

"Limbo!" A voice cried.

A green blur landed in front of the people. The energy beams were suddenly reflected off their course and the people were safe.

"Whoa, that was a close one!" A familiar voice exclaimed.

Tortue Verte stood there in front of the civilians, his shield still raised from where he'd protected them. It was clear he'd used his special ability to get them in time.

Nino! Chat thought in relief as he looked at his best friend.

And if Nino was here, that meant –

Yep, there Volpina was, standing by Ladybug with her flute ready to play.

And if Alya was here, that meant –

Wait, that meant…

"Who's looking after our Buglet?!" Chat demanded. "I left her with you!"

"Relax," Volpina said. "We left her with Grandma and Grandpa DPC."

Chat sighed in relief, "Oh good."

"Who are you?!" Ladybug cried, looking at the fox miraculous holder.

Oh, right. He hadn't actually gotten around to telling Marinette that her best friend was Volpina. Nino, she'd found out about in the past, but she didn't know about Alya. Adrien had been saving it for a surprise when they went to see Emma.

Volpina frowned in confusion, "Girl, it's me."

"Who?"

"Seriously, how many other girls in fox suits do you know?"

"Uh, the present-Ladybug got sent to the past. That's fifteen year old-Ladybug," Chat said to clarify the situation.

"I'm Volpina," the fox miraculous holder introduced herself. "The true Volpina."

"Do you know who I am?" Tortue Verte asked.

Ladybug nodded, "You, I know."

"Don't ignore me!" Weeadoom cried, brandishing her wand.

"Time travel, reveals and anime akumas. I was not ready for today," Ladybug said.

"I don't think any of us were," Chat said.

"I said, don't ignore me!" Weeadoom shouted, firing energy beams at them.

They all dodged the attacks.

"Okay, forget this," Volpina said.

(Chat felt like Volpina wanted to say something a bit harsher than 'forget').

Volpina cried out, "Oblivion!" and began to play on her flute. Automatically, Weeadoom began to seemed disoriented.

"W-What is going on?" The akumatised villain said.

"Chat!" Ladybug called out to him. "Put the rope tight and run at her legs!"

"Got it!" He replied.

The pair ran at Weeadoom, who was still confused due to Volpina's flute. The rope hit her legs and tripped her over. She fell to the ground with a grunt and Ladybug snatched up the Moon Rod.

"You've done enough harm, little akuma," Ladybug said as she snapped the rod over her knee and the dark butterfly fluttered out of it. "I'm freeing you from evil!"

She threw her yoyo and snatched the akuma out of the air. "Gotcha!" She purified it and let it free with her usual, "Bye-bye, little butterfly."

Chat couldn't keep the smile from his face as Ladybug threw the skipping rope into the air with a cry of, "Miraculous Ladybug!"

Chat, Ladybug, Volpina and Tortue came together for a group fist bump, "Bien joué!"

Chat walked over to the previously akumatised villain, who was dazed on the ground. She was blonde haired, blue eyed and dressed in a pink skirt and black shirt. "W-What happened?" She asked.

Chat crouched to her level. "Hi," he said, his tone gentle. "What's your name?"

"Sarah."

"Hi, Sarah," Chat said. "I'm sorry, you got akumatised. The others and I took care of it though. You're back to normal."

Sarah looked mortified, "I'm so sorry! But thank you so much!"

"It's alright, seriously. I'm sorry this happened to you. But hey, if you ever want to talk anime, I'm your guy."

"R-Really?"

"Of course! It's great! Do you have a favourite one?"

"U-Uh, well…"

Chat grinned at her, "It's a hard question, I know. I personally can't go past FMA:B, but that's just me." He leaned in to whisper to her conspiratorially. "And don't tell anyone, but I'm a sucker for shoujos."

"Seriously?!"

"You bet! Sailor Moon, Cardcaptor Sakura, Ao Haru Ride, Say I Love You, Ouran High School Host Club … I love them all."

Sarah beamed at him.

"And there's nothing wrong with that," he said. "Next time someone gives you a hard time about anime, tell them that Chat Noir said they're awesome."

With that, he stood up and helped Sarah to her feet. He gave her a smile, and a comforting squeeze on the shoulder, before his ring let out a loud beep. "Oh, gotta go! Gotta go transform back to normal. The woes of being a magical cat-boy, am I right?"

Sarah laughed and Chat gave her a little salute before darting back over to the others. "Time to go see the Buglet?"

"I really want to see her," Ladybug said.

Further conversation was halted by beeps from their miraculouses.

"Time to go turn back into pumpkins and see the Buglet?" Tortue said.

"Agreed!" Volpina said.

"Lead the way," Ladybug said.

With that, they dashed away, intent on finding a secluded place to detransform.

After that, they headed off to the Dupain-Cheng bakery and Emma.

As they walked, Marinette came back beside him and slipped her hand in his. While Adrien could see her blushing out of the corner of his eye, he didn't comment on it. Nor did he pull away from her; the contact was a comfort to the both of them.

Adrien grinned; he couldn't wait for Marinette to meet their daughter.


PARIS
2016

"Tikki is right," Fu said, "Attempting to take the butterfly miraculous in this time is a bad idea. Father Time needs to be defeated in the future. That will set the time stream back to normal. Only then could there be the possibility of taking the butterfly miraculous."

They were at Fu's shop, drinking tea and filling the Master in on what had happened since Adrien had seen him. (Which really wasn't that long ago, but it felt like an eternity). Tikki, and Plagg were there, eating their respective favourite foods while their Chosen's and the Guardian spoke.

As Adrien had expected, Fu knew Marinette was from the future before they'd even said it. He'd welcomed her to the past and offered them tea as soon as they walked into his shop.

(He was wise and mysterious that way).

They'd sent a message to Nino asking if he wanted to come with them, but since he was still dealing with an overly excited Alya, he declined their offer.

(He'd also asked them to come and save him from Alya's continuous chatter about the new turtle superhero, along with Ladybug and Chat Noir. But Adrien and Marinette had to refuse his request; Nino had not been impressed).

"Do you have any idea how we can go back to the future?" Marinette asked.

Fu hummed in thought. "It will not be easy," the Guardian said. "I will have to research this. I have knowledge of time and the time stream, but travelling through time itself is something I have no experience with."

Adrien and Marinette shared a dismayed look. This was clearly going to take time and they needed to get back to the future and Emma as soon as possible!

"Something tells me that we may have to combine the forces of the Ladybug and Black Cat miraculous in order to achieve it," Fu continued.

They stared at the Great Guardian in shock. Combining their miraculouses? Even with the extra eleven years of experience they had, they had never done such a thing.

"Seriously?" Adrien asked.

Fu nodded, "Time travel is no easy feat. I will research it further, but it may be a possibility."

Adrien frowned. As hesitant as he was to combine their miraculouses, to have that ultimate power at his fingertips, he was determined to get back to their correct time.

To Emma.

"We'll do whatever it takes," Marinette said, echoing his own determination.

Adrien drew breath to agree with her, but was interrupted by a chime from his phone.

With a murmured apology, put pulled it out of his pocket. It was a message from Nino. Adrien opened it and his blood ran cold as soon as he read it.

Nino: CODE RED! ALYA SAW WAYZZ! WTF DO I DO HELP?

Adrien gaped at his phone.

Oh shit.


Authors Note:

Hi everyone!

So, this chapter was based on a dream I had. I dreamt Chat was up against an anime akuma and was so amused by the idea that I had to write it down. I really do apologise for all the references. (Ten points to the Hogwarts house of your choice if you pick up on the TeamFourStar quote I slipped in here). I did have fun writing this chapter though. It's filler-y, but it sets up where I want the story to go. Plus, it's been so long since I updated, that I wanted to upload something.

I hope you liked it! Please let me know what you thought in the reviews. Thank you to everyone who has reviewed, favourited or followed this story. You are great!

Much love,

Leisey.