A/N: WOW! Thank you all for reading! And thank you for all the comments. I hope you all enjoy this chapter as much as I did writing it. Side note: I have learned a lot about jade through writing this story. I like rocks and gems though. Geology rules! I'm a nerd.
Please let me know what you think in the reviews. I appreciate your support and reviews.
Thank you all,
Traditional Twist
Chapter: 9 In the Dark too long
"Anything for you my lad…" He was cut off by Marinette's lips colliding into his. Something about the second time they had kissed made Adrien quiver with excitement. Marinette's lips were soft and comfortable. Everything about this situation had been nothing but extremes. Extreme pain, extreme fall, extreme treatment, extreme shock, and now extreme comfort.
Marinette broke the kiss with a gasp for breath. She rested her head against Adrien's chest. She watched herself rise and fall with his chest, while only listening to his racing heart pump. His heartbeat was soothing. The tears began to drip out of her eyes.
Adrien felt a cool liquid flow onto his skin. "Hey, don't cry. I'll be fine, and you're fine. You can't see anything but your shoe in the video, but when has a shoe ever given away someone's identity outside of Cinderella?"
"It's one thing when a stranger saves your life, and when you know and care about the person risking your life for you it makes everything a whole lot more serious." She paused let a tear roll over her mouth. "But when this person you know and care about is also secretly someone else you know and care about, it becomes too much."
Adrien ran his fingers down her cheek. Her safe was soft despite the liquid sliding out of her eyes. "You need to stop beating yourself up over this. You save me a ton too. It's what partners do."
"That was Chat Noir," Marinette argued. "Someone I thought I would only see in battle. Battling was the only time we ever saw each other, but now I know you're Adrien. It's going to be hard of me not to see it as you diving into the street. "
Adrien thought for a moment. "Well, I would have done it as Adrien if I were not Chat Noir. And I also would have dived for you if you were Marinette or Ladybug. So no more crying. I'm tired of crying. I'm also tired of laying here, but that I can't change."
Marinette wiped her eyes. "I guess I'm tired of crying too."
"Then it's settled no more crying. Let's just do something more comfortable."
"What do you have in mind?"
"Well we are going to have to think of a story to tell Alya and Nino..."
Marinette groaned. "Because this is of course the ideal date.'
"And exactly what is the ideal date my lady?"
"Aye- ah! Oh! Why do you have to put me on the spot like that?" Marinette crinkled her nose and frowned.
Adrien chuckled. "Oh come one bugaboo, I'm sure you have some sort of plan. Alya did say you have been trying to get me alone for a while now."
"And I'm going to kill her for saying that."
"Relax. We will make a game of it."
"A game?"
"Yeah. I do this all the time when I'm doing a photo shoot for my dad. That way I can pretend I'm somewhere else. It helps will start, you add, and we can build the perfect date. Sounds good?"
"Okay, I will play along."
"Awesome," the blonde paused in thought for a moment. "For our date we are going… on a picnic."
"A picnic?"
"Yeah! I've never been on a picnic. It looks like a lot of fun. We have the basket, and the blanket. We have packed a lot of complicated sandwiches."
"My parents do make the best bread in Paris," Marinette chimed in.
"Yeah! It's all from your bakery. What else would the daughter of Paris' greatest bakers bring on this picnic?"
"Knowing my dad, there would be a variety macaroons. He says they are the food of love, and that's why we always have so many ordered for Valentine's Day."
"Alright, sandwiches and macaroons. Hs sounds amazing already."
"Shouldn't we do something else besides eat on our picnic?"
"Like what, Marinette?"
She thought for a moment. "Um... We take a stroll down the Seine first."
"I like it. We will carry all the stuff with us to picnic by the river."
"And we will go at dusk. It will be a picnic dinner. Then we can watch the sunset and see the city light." Marinette moved one of her hands onto Adrien's head. She began twirling strands around her finger.
"That sound's really nice," Adrien closed his eyes and nuzzled his head into her hand. "That… that feels nice too."
"You always liked being touched as Chat," Marinette said before realizing how inappropriate that sounded. "I mean you would always want to be touched.. No! I mean I touch you… AH! You like physical contact."
"Yeah, I can see what you mean. I guess that the only time I really got any kind of hug was with Ladybug… unless you count Chloe hanging all over me." He frowned. He felt Marinette's hand freeze in his hair. "It's no big deal. Anyway, back to that date we supposedly had." He yawned. "I know the last I checked my phone said it was eleven something at night."
Marinette was skeptical on how real Adrien's yawn actually was, but couldn't protest how late it was. "I will go turn out the lights." She walked over to the light switch and engulfed the pair in darkness once again. Marinette tried to remember the path she had used and slowly made it back to her path. Miraculously she made it back to her apt without tripping or falling. The pigtailed girl curled against the boy and returned her head to his shoulder.
The blonde released a small sigh of relief, and wrapped his free arm around Marinette's waist. "Maybe when we wake up I can have my right arm back and actually give you a real hug."
"That would be nice. Maybe Master Fu will have some idea of what we need to do."
"How did you meet Master Fu? Like how did you know to come here?"
"Tikki was the one who brought me first. She was sick one day after battle, and eventually I ended up bringing her here to get healed." Marinette paused a moment sculling the next round of information to try and sound less, obsessive. "Then um, when Lila came to school, Tikki saw she was carrying a book, and said I needed to get it. When I finally got a hold of it, Tikki told me the book needed to go to the Great Guardian, and that the information within it was invaluable."
"So that's why I never found my dad's book," Adrien mumbled. "I'm pretty sure that book you took was mine, and Lila somehow got ahold of it."
"Yeah. And I knew it was your book too. However, at the time I didn't know you were Chat Noir, and couldn't risk telling you where the book went.
"That makes sense, I get it. So, what kind of information does it have?"
"I don't really know. Master Fu said that he had only heard of the book from the previous Great Guardian. They informed him that this book held secrets to unlocking the ultimate power within each miraculous. He's had it for a few weeks, so I'm not sure if he's deciphered any of it yet."
"We'll have to ask him when he comes back in and gets the jade stuff off my arm."
"How is your arm feeling? I haven't asked in a while."
"I think its better. I haven't really moved it much, so I can't tell you how much better it is."
"And don't you dare move it," Marinette ordered. "You are going to hurt yourself more if you keep rolling around."
Adrien rolled his eyes. "You're not the one has to hold still," he thought to himself.
"That might be true, but you know if you move you will make it worse." She felt the blonde flinch at her response. "What's?"
"Nothing," he answered. "I guess I thought I didn't say that out loud."
"Adrien you must be tired if you're mixing up what you think, and what you say." Marinette began running her fingers through his hair. "Let's just focus on sleeping. We can talk when we wake up."
"Yeah, I think we can wait." The blonde closed his eyes as he felt the girl's finger lightly massaging his head. His breathing softened, as the touch spoke and filled the silence.
Marinette tried to keep her hand moving, but as her eyes closed her hand slowly went from massaging to resting. She let a sigh of relief before she drifted off to sleep.
Marinette knew there was someone talking in the room. She could tell there were voices, but she was still groggy, and lacked the ability to decipher what was happening around her. She could also hear a chipping noise. Her eyelids were heavy, and she struggled to blink them awake, but as she continued to blink, she began to see light, someone sitting not to far away from her, and a muffled voice that in her ears. She finally woke up to realize she was hearing Adrien's voice through his chest as he talked to Master Fu.
"I never knew jade had so many meanings," She heard Adrien's voice echo in each ear.
"Never underestimate the magical properties of our world. You must be mindful of all of your thoughts because they will drive your actions; conscious or subconscious."
"That makes sense," Adrien nodded. He felt a stir on his chest. "Hey, you're awake!"
Marinette rubbed her eyes. "I don't feel awake."
Master Fu chuckle. "It is morning Ladybug. Time to get up."
Marinette sat up, still shaking sleep from her. She looked over to Master Fu. He was chipping away an orange cast around Adrien's arm. Marinette was confused. She could have sworn that the stuff Master Fu painted on Adrien's arm was black. "Why is it orange?" She asked.
"Master Fu says that jade can change colors with type of healing," Adrien explained. "Like black is for physical, so that's why he put the black jade on me first."
The pigtailed girl was puzzled. "So why did it change colors?"
"Orange is for spiritual healing," the elderly man explained. "Whatever you two discussed has put a part of Chat Noir at peace spiritually. He isn't quite sure what it is though." He continued to chip away at the hardened gem that was attached to the blonde's arm.
"I know I'm more relaxed now," Adrien quibbled. "I just don't know what all has made me more relaxed."
"Keep your mind and heart open," The old man advised. "It will lead you to understand more." With one final chiseled, the hardened cast shattered and Adrien's arm was free.
"Awesome!" Adrien exclaimed. He sat up and lifted his arm; rolling his shoulder back. "It hurts a little, but this feels like nothing compared to earlier. Thank you."
"You will still have to be careful for a while. Your arm is still sensitive." Master Fu set the Chisel aside and reached back to grab the boy's shirt.
"That means no cataclysm for at least a week," A black cat kwami flew in with a red kwami on his tile. They each flew to their miraculous wielders faces. The black cat folded his paws looking Adrien in the eye. "I'm on strict orders, Kid. I'm not letting you use that power for a week, no matter what happens."
"Since when are you a rule follower, Plagg?" Adrien's brows furrowed. Plagg scoffed at the remark, and the red kwami giggled.
"Good, we have everyone here," Master Fu gleaned. "It's about time we all sat and had a talk…"A knock at the door interrupted Master Fu's sentence. "Perhaps I spoke too soon."
Master Fu gingerly walked towards the door. Marinette and Adrien watched as a he turned the door handle. The Master's eyes closed and he grinned. "Well what a pleasant surprise."
A large man in a blue shirt and white pants entered the building. He had brown hair and a matching mustache. "Hello, sir. Sorry to drop in so sudden, but i just had to make sure my daughter was safe."
"Papa?"
