Ready to get even more pissed with Gabriel Agreste?
AuriMoon*
Best Friends
Everything was new to Adrien, so everything felt overwhelming at the moment.
He might have lost his memories, but he could still do everything he did in his former life. He could still walk, and run, and eat correctly without looking like a savage... He could still read and speak... French, Italian, English and freaking Chinese! And so on... It's not like he remembered what or how he could do it! He simply did it! His memories were gone, but not his abilities and that was just weird to him!
In the past few hours he had found himself wondering 'Can I ride a bike?' or 'Wouldn't it be incredible to know how to paint or do acrobatics or parkour? Uhh Parkour sounds cool!' or 'I do know how to speak Chinese, maybe I can play the violin too! Who knows?' He kept wondering and wondering what else could he do, and since he didn't remember anything until moments before he woke up, that could be a long list. He hoped it would be a long list!
He decided he would begin getting to know himself slowly, focusing on what he did know for a start. And his first memory was of the Lady in Red.
He had told the Doctor and his father about his dream, obviously. The Doctor found it peculiar, but Gabriel had quickly dismissed it, telling him it was just a dream. The Doctor agreed with his father after receiving a meaningful glare from Gabriel. It had probably been a dream, he had said, a mechanism Adrien's body found to finally wake him up... It could also be a memory coming back, but only time would tell and Adrien shouldn't try to force the memories to come back. That would only keep them away.
After that, Adrien pretended that it hadn't meant anything. Like his father said, it was just a dream... It probably would turn out to be nothing and he shouldn't be so focused on a fantasy... But if it was a real memory, it would come back. Eventually. If it was the case, he just had to sit tight and wait.
It did bother him, though. He couldn't stop thinking about her. Even though he didn't want to! Even though the Doctor said that he shouldn't try to force his own memories back.
He couldn't remember her face... But he did remember her. He remembered her scent and he could swear that he would recognize her voice if he ever got the chance to listen to her talking.
He remembered nothing else from his former life... His friends (because he must have had friends), his family, even himself... He didn't remember any of that. If the first thing he remembered was a girl dressed in red, crying for him to wake up... That meant something, right?
All had been lost, but Her...
He had only one memory when he woke up in that hospital, and it was her. It had to mean something... Despite everything his body already knew how to do, the only thing he recalled was Her. He needed to find the Lady in Red.
When his father told him they were going back home, some kind of alarm rang inside him, as if his body didn't want him to go to Milan. But Adrien quickly dismissed it... Maybe it was just the nerves - of not knowing anything about his life - talking. If his father was saying that they should return home, to Italy, then he had to believe. Why would his father lie to him?
While they flew in Agreste's private jet, Adrien's father kept answering his son's questions. He was now more willing to talk about Adrien's mother and Adrien wondered if his first reactions to his questions had really been intentional to leave him in the dark - even if it was for his own good... If he wasn't lying to himself, that thought had crossed his mind - or he just didn't want to talk without privacy.
The Natalie woman was very polite and although she seemed somewhat small and delicate, Adrien had a feeling that she wasn't a person you'd want to cross. All that courtesy was hiding a fighter.
Adrien was also noticing there were some weird quirks about him. For example, when he was nervous (which had been almost all the time since he had woken up), he couldn't seem to stop turning around an invisible ring on his right ring finger! Did he have a ring and lose it?
Later he noticed he talked to no one when he was alone and found himself waiting for an answer... And every time he wondered if his former self was mentally healthy. Maybe he'd had an imaginary friend...
After they landed in Italy, Adrien's phone was flooded with notifications. People had been calling him non-stop while he was in the air. Maybe his friends had already found out he had awakened. His heart filled with warmth when he thought about his friends. He couldn't wait to meet them!
"Adrien, put the phone down for a second and take your passport so we can pass the gates." Said Gabriel handing him a small red book. Adrien accepted his passport, locked his phone and shoved it into his jeans' pocket. "Let's go." Called Gabriel and Adrien followed him to the gate, distracted with the little book he had in his hands. It was AMAZING! Every page in it had been filled with thin lines and intricate patterns. An illustration within an illustration within another illustration! That tiny book was a work of art! He was about to point that out when he felt his pocket vibrate.
"Passport." Asked a very bored security guard. Adrien handed the man his passport while taking his phone out of his jeans and mechanically pressing the green button.
"Hello?" Adrien answered, only then realizing that he had taken a call without seeing who was calling. Adrien was about to see if the number was recorded on his contact list, when a girl replied to his greeting, sounding rather relieved.
"Adrien! Thank goodness you picked up!" His heart started racing furiously, leaving him feeling extremely uneasy. She sounded so familiar...
"Thank you." Said the guard handing him his passport.
He could hear the girl giggling breathlessly on the other side of the line, "We have been looking all over for you! Where are you? Are you okay?"
He confusedly accepted his passport. "Who is this?" This girl was making him feel surprisingly agitated... If he had to talk to her, he might as well know who she was.
"Is this a joke?" She asked in shock. And then sounding a little hysterical, she added, "Because it's not funny, Adrien."
"Who is this?" He repeated in a more determined tone, joining his father and Natalie that were waiting for him, both frowning.
This girl's voice was making his core shake. She didn't seem to know what happened to him, though. Was she a friend, or foe?
Great, now she left me talking to myself.
"Hello?" Adrien repeated frustrated, but his father yanked his phone out of his hand and asked "Who is this?"
There was a moment of silence where Gabriel listened to the girl talking.
"I don't know who this is." He answered politely, "You got the wrong number, miss. Please, don't call this number again." and he hung up.
"But it wasn't the wrong number, father. She knew my name!" Said Adrien frustrated. He wanted to know why was that voice so familiar! And why it made him feel like... that.
Gabriel sighed, looked at Adrien and then Natalie.
"Is the car ready?" He asked her, ignoring Adrien. She nodded. Then he turned to face Adrien and said, "No one knows you are awake and we don't want paparazzi making up stories if they see you before I give a press conference." He placed a hand on Adrien's shoulder and squeezed softly "Let's talk about this inside the car, son. Or better, at home. We are too exposed here."
But the conversation never happened that day. Adrien fell asleep in the car the moment the drive home started and then went straight to bed. He was exhausted, against all odds. He had been sleeping for almost two months, he should feel very well rested at the moment! But he wasn't. Apparently, when you have that much sleep, you will get tired of sleeping, therefore you have to sleep.
The next morning, his father came to his room and woke him up gently. Placing a tray with breakfast for Adrien on his bedside table, he asked, "How are you feeling, Adrien?" Then he sat by one side of the giant bed.
"I'm feeling okay, I guess." Adrien responded, rubbing his eyes. He sat on the bed to face his father, "I keep not remembering anything before yesterday..."
"Don't worry about that, son. Your memories will come back, you'll see" Gabriel said, trying to put Adrien more at ease. He had been extremely tense the day before.
Adrien nodded and added "I hope they do. I can't believe I don't remember anything... I don't seem dumb." He shook his head frustrated, "I'm fluent in four languages, one of them is Chinese-"
"Oh, you are not dumb. Of that, I can assure you." Said his father, chuckling.
"Then why did my dumb brain lose all of my memories? Or why is it hiding them from me?" Adrien let his head fall to the bed's headboard and let out a resigned sigh.
"Maybe something happened to you... Maybe your brain is just trying to protect itself by not remembering, I don't know!" Started Gabriel. He knew that Adrien's lost memories were probably Nulls doing and were lost forever, but he hated to see his son like that and know it was all his fault. He was honestly trying the best he could to keep Adrien from danger. Without his memories, he couldn't choose to be Chat Noir because he didn't know that Chat Noir existed... And without the Miraculous in their lives, they would lead a much safer life. All he had to do now was keep Marinette Dupain-Cheng away. "My point is, you can't mourn them now. You have to get up and live! Maybe they will return, maybe they won't, but in the meantime do you really want to spend your days suffering and missing something that you don't even remember?"
Adrien looked at his father, pensive.
"You know what?" He said, sounding determined, "You are right!" Adrien grabbed a croissant his father had brought him and gave it a big bite. It was delicious, but not the best he had ever had. He wasn't sure how he knew that either. "I want to meet my friends today! Or our family" Then he paused, frowning, "Do we have more family?" Gabriel Agreste laughed at this.
"No." He said, "We don't have any more family. I never had siblings, my parents are dead and your mother's family... Well, let's just say they never supported her marrying me, so we were never in touch. Especially after her death." He looked at his hands and his eyebrows raised when Adrien held them. He looked up and smiled with regret, "They are strangers now." He breathed in and got up from the bed, "It's only you, me and Natalie."
Adrien smirked mischievously and asked, "What's up with you and Natalie, by the way?" Gabriel almost choked and Adrien laughed at this, "You don't have to answer right now. If you're not ready to come out yet, take your time!"
Gabriel cleared his throat and decided to ignore what his son had just asked him. He was still in love with Emilie. He would always be. But he did know that Natalie was in love with him. She was his best friend, the only person he trusted everything. Even when he didn't trust his own son, he trusted her. He knew that she was only still with him because she loved him and he couldn't set her free. He needed Natalie in his life, so he kept giving her small moments for her to hold on to. And he did pay her very well.
"I'm having that press conference today. I was wondering if you'd like to be there?" Gabriel asked, still looking a bit embarrassed, but sounding as stoic as possible.
"Do you think I should?" Adrien asked, uncertain.
Gabriel shrugged, "It's up to you. You just woke up yesterday, I think the world will understand if you don't appear in public just yet." He said, sensing Adrien's anxiety. His son wasn't ready and he wasn't going to make him do anything he didn't want to.
"If you don't mind, then, I would prefer to be off the radar for now. I need to reconnect with my friends like I'm doing now with you." And a shiver of horror came down his spine when he realized that his father had talked about their family only, never mentioning Adrien's friends, "I do have friends, don't I?" He'd never thought about that before! He hadn't been awake for long and the thing he had thought most about was of the Lady in Red...
Gabriel nodded, facing the window.
Uff, I do have friends, then.
"You do. I wanted to talk to you about that yesterday, but you fell asleep." Adrien's mind was not at ease seeing his father's seriousness, "I can call your best friends to come to join us for dinner tonight if you want." He started, "But before that, I must warn you of something else." Adrien leaned forward, eager to listen to everything his father had to say. Gabriel turned around to face Adrien. "You might not have realized yet, because we were very careful how we handled things, but you are a Supermodel. I am a very well known designer, but when people think of my brand, Gabriel, they immediately think of you. You are Gabriel's face. The moment you set foot outside that door, your fans will swarm you if we are not careful." He warned. Adrien was wondering if his father wasn't exaggerating just a bit... "So first of all, you have to be accompanied by your bodyguard when you are outside." Adrien was about to protest, but Gabriel raised his hand, asking him not to, "Just for now. You are very vulnerable since you just woke up and I can't risk losing you again." Adrien agreed with a nod of his head. His father was reasoning with him, and it did make sense that he felt a little protective at the moment.
"Don't worry, I will not leave unaccompanied."
"That reminds me that we still have to find you a decent bodyguard. The last one was a disaster, failed miserably to fulfill his job and you ended up in the hospital!" Gabriel lied, "Do you want me to choose him, or will you?"
"Ummm- Can we both choose? I'm not sure what the qualifications for a bodyguard are, but I would like to get along with the person that's constantly following me."
"Sounds like a plan." Said Gabriel, smiling at his son. "The second thing I wanted to talk to you about is about your friends. You are very famous, Adrien, way more than me. Girls and boys would die and kill to get a bit of your attention." Seeing Adrien frowning skeptically, Gabriel added, "Don't give me that look, you will see what I mean when you go outside. My point is that without your memories you are a very easy target. You don't remember who your real friends are, so your crazy fans can try to take advantage of that. In fact, it's already happening."
Adrien looked confused.
"What do you mean, it's already happening?" He asked raising an eyebrow.
"Remember the girl that called yesterday?"
Adrien's stomach suddenly jumped inside him. He nodded his head. What was it with that girl that every time she was brought up he felt so uneasy? So nervous..?
"I don't know how, but she keeps getting hold of your cell phone number." Gabriel sighed, massaging the space between his eyebrows with a hand. "She is a stalker, Adrien. I do know her and I did lie to her saying it was the wrong number, but she is dangerous. I wouldn't be surprised if she followed us here. She is the main reason that I wanted so badly to take you out of that hospital." Gabriel was telling truths within lies. Marinette would never rest until she found a way to retrieve Adrien's memories if they'd stayed and he knew it. It had been a golden opportunity and he didn't regret leaving Paris and hurting the girl. It was the best for his son. And now there was no turning back. So, before Adrien got stabilized, Gabriel would tell him lies. "If she calls again, or if you see her, please let me know so we can do something about it. I changed your phone number, but you can share it with your close friends at dinner. Try not to share it with anyone else for now okay?" He asked, handing Adrien his cell phone with the new number.
"Alright..." Said Adrien, feeling uncomfortable, "I will let you know if I see her," then he paused, thinking, and added laughing "I don't know what she looks like."
"I will find a picture and show it to you. And also to your bodyguard!" Gabriel laughed with Adrien and then he shook his head. "You haven't changed at all. I keep forgetting you don't know anything."
"Hey!" Said Adrien pretending to be offended, "I do know stuff! I know Chinese!"
Gabriel laughed, "You are really impressed that you know Chinese, hmm?"
"Of course I am!"
"Okay, Let me tell you what else you know:" Gabriel started, sitting right back on his son's bed.
It was almost dinner time and his friends should be arriving any minute now.
During the afternoon his father had gone out to give the press conference, leaving him alone in the house because he had needed Natalie with him. Adrien had had the time to learn his way around his own house.
Adrien hadn't given a good look at his bedroom yet. He randomly opened a closet to find a humongous stock of Camembert. "Wow." He let out a laugh, "Do I even like Camembert?" He felt like he didn't, then why was his closet filled with the smelly thing? Shrugging, Adrien closed the closet doors and looked around. It was a mixture of modern and antique architecture. As were all of the rooms in the house.
It wasn't a normal house, now that he thought about it.
"It's a mansion." He said, talking to himself.
It had a great hall, a giant living room, next to a dining room that had a table that could seat twenty people, the kitchens were huge, it had ten bedrooms and fourteen bathrooms.
"Why would we need this many bathrooms?" He kept wandering around the house, and he found a great salon. "To host balls? What is this, the fifteenth century?" he laughed but stopped when no one laughed with him.
The mansion was big, beautiful and well decorated. But it was cold. Like it didn't have personality. He sighed. Maybe his former self didn't feel the need to personalize his room, but he had a feeling that over the time he would do it.
After his father told him that he could play the piano he couldn't seem to take his mind off it, so he opened up his computer and searched for pianos online. He would like to get one for his room. There was a huge Grand piano in the great salon, but for some reason Adrien didn't want to go in there. Trying to ease his nerves, he searched for electronic pianos while waiting for his friends to arrive. Father had hired a cook for the night and had said that tomorrow they would choose a bodyguard and security staff, the kitchen staff and housekeeping staff. Adrien didn't think they needed that many people, but his father was insistent. And the house was his, was it not?
The doorbell made itself heard across the house and Adrien got up, with his heart jumping.
Who were his friends? He wanted to know so badly!
He went downstairs running. Couldn't wait to see them! And meet them!
His father was letting them in, like a good host.
"Hi" Said Adrien with a big smile on his face, his left hand jumping to his right ring finger.
"Oh, there you are, Adrien!" said Gabriel smiling back, "I was just telling Giulia and Alessandro to go easy on you tonight."
Giulia was a beautiful brunette. She was tall and had a majestic port. She greeted him with a soft hug and a sweet smile.
Alessandro was a blonde guy, his hair a shade darker than his own, with blue eyes and a model structure.
Both of them are models for sure, Adrien realized.
Alessandro greeted him with a handshake and a grin.
The dinner occurred with no incidents.
-Kinda-
Alessandro was picky about everything. The light, the chairs, the lack of staff, even the food, and the food was great.
And Giulia... She just couldn't stop talking about herself and the last photo shoot she nailed.
Point being, his best friends barely spoke a word during dinner other than to point out that something was unsatisfactory or to talk about themselves. And no one seemed to find that out of the ordinary. He didn't want to sound ungrateful, but this was not how he had imagined his closest friends to be. They had seemed nice at first, but were they really like this? A group of vapid, shallow people that didn't appreciate anything? He was supposed to be their best friend for goodness sake!
Was his father and Natalie really all he had?
And the Lady in Red...
And my imaginary friend. Still have to give him a name. He chuckled, unamused.
Maybe his friends were behaving like that because they didn't know how to react around him anymore. That must be it.
After dinner, he invited them to his room, for the sake of good old times. But what he really wanted was to catch them alone so they could talk to him like he felt friends should talk. He didn't remember anything, but he knew that friends weren't supposed to be this cold and superficial.
Well, the catch up in his room turned out to be an even bigger disaster then dinner.
Alessandro just held on to his cellphone. And Giulia was the most annoying brat he'd ever met. And he had a feeling that he had met some really annoying brats over his former life. She started taking selfies of her and made him take some too.
Were his friends really that shallow? Didn't they care at all what he'd been through? Not that he knew what to respond if they asked, but they could at least show some empathy towards him, their best friend.
Then, a terrifying thought came to his mind.
What if I'm the one who has changed?
What if I used to be like Alessandro, opening my mouth only to complain?
Or worse, what if I used to be just like Giulia, talking about me all the time and using my friends for the sake of some attention on social media?
Was that possible? He didn't want to think it was. But what if it was?
Then I'm glad I don't have memories of it.
After a while of being tortured with his friends and with the thought that he might have been like that, he decided that it was time for them to leave. He politely shooed them from his house, not even trading phone numbers with them.
If those were his friends, then he didn't want them.
His father looked rather angry with him when Adrien voiced that. Gabriel had refuted, telling him that his friends didn't deserve that from him. They had been best friends since forever, they should at least be given a second chance. After that, Adrien re-thought about it and agreed to see them again once he was ready.
Another exhausting day was waiting for him tomorrow, so he went to bed and slept a dreamless sleep.
The next morning he woke up feeling extremely cold and gloomy. His friends had been a disappointment last night. And he missed his Lady. Why hadn't he dreamt of her again?
When Marinette arrived at Malpensa Airport in Milan, around two in the afternoon, the first thing she did was call her parents, letting them know she had landed safely. She had spent the day before arranging everything so that she could fly to Italy. Her parents weren't too happy that she was flying to another city so close to Christmas, but they understood. Her boss wasn't very impressed with her resolve either. With so little time until the runway show, she should be working with her team on her creations. She had promised him that everything was under control and had pointed out that this way, she could visit the place where the Milan runway was happening.
Louis Vuitton would have a runway show in Paris and then a week after in Milan. Nicolas had thought about it and had given in, although he knew her reasons weren't work-related, having Marinette helping to supervise the Milan runway was a good idea. She wouldn't have any major decisions to make, but this way he could start to teach her the quirks of the job.
Marinette had told Alya that she should stay in Paris. What if something happened? Paris shouldn't be left without all three superheroes!
Nino and Chloe had wanted to come, but Marinette had asked them to stay too. How was she going to give the Miraculous to Adrien with them around? To Marinette's and Alya's surprise, they immediately agreed, claiming that she should know better than them.
The second thing she did when she got off the plane was call Alya.
"Mari, you're on speaker; Chloe and Nino are here too. And we managed to figure out some more things." She said, sounding a bit distant after putting the call on speaker.
"Hi guys," Said Marinette, "What's up? Talk to me."
"Hi Mari!" She heard Chloe and Nino say.
"So," Started Chloe, "In the online magazines there are tons of articles on Gabriel's press conference. They say what we already know. We did see it yesterday. Adrien has woken up, but not fully recovered yet. Gabriel never said that Adrien lost his memories, but somehow the information leaked and there are lots of reporters claiming that. Alya found a couple of bloggers that are planted and recording live in front of the Agreste's Mansion in Milan. I'm sending you the address. The footage is really something. People are crazy. I'm honestly scared for you and Adrien right now. There is a crowd of journalists and reporters there, waiting for people to come in and out. Apparently, Gabriel is hiring new staff."
"Mari, don't go there now, it's dangerous." Begged Nino, not bothering to cover the concern on his voice.
"What? Of course I'll go there now! That's why I'm here!" Marinette replied heading to the Taxi area.
"What Nino is trying to say," Started Alya, "Is that every reporter there knows you. You and Adrien are in the tabloids again and the crowd will go wild if they see you entering or leaving that house. Maybe you could use a disguise?"
That wasn't a bad idea. Though she did have to be extra careful. If a reporter or journalist caught Ladybug entering Adrien Agreste's house the day that Marinette Dupain-Cheng - the girl that had created the Ladybug outfit for the Halloween ball in Paris - set foot in Milan, it wouldn't be long till someone would put two and two together.
"What are you two whispering about?" Asked Alya amused, interrupting Marinette's line of thinking.
"No-nothing, babe." Nino quickly answered. "It's just that, maybe Marinette should wear a real disguise?"
"What do you mean?" Asked Marinette and Alya at the same time. They chuckled a bit, but still waited eagerly for Nino's response.
"What Nino is trying to say, Marinette," Chloe started, coming to Nino's rescue, "It's that maybe you should wear a normal disguise. Buy a blonde wig and a pair of glasses and try to enter in the Mansion as an applicant with an interview. We don't think that magical disguises are the solution right now."
"WHAT?" The three of them yelled at Chloe. Marinette vaguely noticed the people in the airport staring at her.
"Oh my God." Said Nino faintly. Marinette heard the muffled sound of someone dropping on a chair. Nino, probably.
"I'm sorry?" Said Chloe regretful. "You know what? No, I'm not! Your secret is safe with us, don't worry. But if Ladybug is spotted entering Agreste Mansion the day that Marinette Dupain-Cheng arrives there, it's only a matter of time before your secret is no longer a secret." Rampaged Chloe. "We found out by accident-"
"Kind of-" Said Nino in the background.
"Whatever." Shrugged Chloe, "The point is: we know now, we didn't mean to, but we do. And we didn't tell you because... How the hell do you confront your best friends about their superhero alter egos?" Marinette heard Alya's muffled shriek in the background followed by a "Yes, babe, we know about you too" from Nino. Chloe continued ignoring them, "But we will help you with every bit of knowledge we have. Marinette, believe me when I say this, reporters aren't stupid. They will figure it out sooner than you expect if you're not careful."
"Wow." Said Marinette, not sure how to react. She eventually let out a little giggle. "You are the best friends anyone could have." She said, trying to hold back some tears. "Thank you."
"Anytime, Mari. I do want an autograph when you are back. You know I'm your biggest fan!" Answered Chloe making Marinette laugh. Then with an emotional voice, she added, "What will you do now?"
Marinette entered a taxi, cleared her throat and said:
"Now, we get our Adrien back."