Chapter 10: Baby bird return to her nest [Part 1]
Marinette had been very lucky. Thanks to a special day at her middle school, she had the opportunity to meet her idol! She even had the privilege of making him glasses in the design of the Eiffel Tower.
The brunette was over the moon!
She couldn't help but try to meet him as Netty. And the most beautiful part of the story?
Well, Jagged Stone was a fan of hers! He was following her blog!
It was the happiest day of her life!
"I MET JAGGED STONE !"
That was the title of the article that Netty Wayne had just posted on her blog.
There were also pictures of the teenage girl with the artist. There was even a picture with Bridgette taking a nap curled up on Fang's head!
In some of the pictures, Lukario was also present.
The young lady then sent photos to her family members privately, to show them that she had got autographs for everyone.
Contrary to usual, Marinette received no response from her family. It was a bit strange, but the young lady quickly got over it.
She was going to be late for her fencing class.
-XxxX-
Time went by very quickly. It was already the end of the school year.
Marinette was going to go to the ninth grade, with the best grades in the class and as the best student in the middle school.
The brunette was very proud. To celebrate the news, Sabine and Tom had baked a beautiful cake. She had the pleasure of meeting Gina, Tom's mother. Sabine's uncle, the famous cook Wang Cheng, was also present.
With this little party, a new period was announced: the school holidays.
-XxxX-
Later that day, as Marinette was getting ready to go to Kim's swim competition, she received a call.
— Steph... what do you want?
— What kind of cold reception is that?
— You never call me. Except when you want me to mess with Tim's schedule or complain about Tim... or father...
— I am deeply shocked by this statement!
— Steph, I'm busy, I have an appointment in a few minutes, so if you have nothing to say to me, I-
— A date? It wouldn't be with your new little partner, what's his name?
— Lucario. And no, it has nothing to do with him. A friend of mine from middle school has a big competition today.
— He seems pretty cute, this little Lucario, you seem very close...
— Steph... Seriously, what do you want from me?
— Let's say... A little birdie told me that you were seeing someone right now. So-
— You're the last person I want to tell my life to.
— So it's true?!
— Bye, Steph.
The blonde tried to call her back, but Marinette royally ignored her calls.
The blonde wasn't the only one to tell her about Luka, it seemed like everyone in her family had gotten the word out.
Everyone except Damian...
Strangely enough...
In the meantime, the brunette sent everyone away.
She wouldn't let them near Luka, NEVER!
However, everyone seemed to have given each other the word. She should have known that Steph was just a prelude. Everyone started calling her to find out more about this famous "Lucario".
First Jason.
— No, Jason, I'm not giving you her number.
— Why not? Why not? I just want to get to know him...
— What you want most of all is to interrogate him.
— Sooooooo... You're really in a relationship with... this guy...
— ARGH!
Then it was Tim.
— A musician with a gothic look really? I know you're a fan of Jagged Stone, but from there to trying to date his look-alike...
— I don't know whether to laugh or be offended.
— He still has an interesting life... Are you sure he's not Jagged Stone's secret son? His mother was Jagged's guitarist for a long time, though.
— Tim... Have you seriously been looking into a friend of mine?
— Friend huh... interesting choice of words.
— …
Then Dick.
— Did you ever have the talk with Bruce? It's important to protect yourself Mari... Then are you sure about this? He looks like a delinquent to me... He's older than you are!
— I don't want to have this conversation with Father, it would be too humiliating! And damn it, Dick, you're the last person I want to have a sex talk with!
Then Cass...
— Snake boy is nice. I approve.
— You're too knowledgeable for my taste...
Then her father.
— Darling, you-
— NO!
— I haven't said anything yet.
— And I want to keep it that way!
— But, it's important, honey, you must learn-
— NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
Finally, when she realized that even Alfred was calling her, Marinette decided that too much was too much!
-XxxX-
That same night.
It was late, Ladybug had called everyone in for a summit meeting. The meeting took place on top of a building on the outskirts of Paris, a long way from Hawk Moth's perimeter.
The goal now was to let everyone know about her research with Max. She was going to need everyone's ears and eyes to unmask Hawk Moth.
Everyone was impressed by their work.
The insect hunt would soon come to an end.
But before that...
— I have to tell you one last important thing.
There was a great silence.
— I won't be able to be Ladybug for a while. I-
— WHAT?!
— But why?!
— Shhh... Queen, Cat, let her finish.
— Thank you, Viperion. So, as I was saying, I can no longer be Ladybug. I happen to be in France for my studies, but I'm not French. During the school holidays, I'm going to have to go back to my country.
— Oh... You're not French? Then where are you from?
— How are we going to do without Ladybug? You're the only one who can purify the Akuma, isn't it?
— Sorry King, I can't answer that question. Excellent point, Pegasus, as always. To answer your question, I have created with the help of the Guardian and another ally, a system that will allow you to capture the akumas. When I return, I will purify them.
— Wouldn't it be easier to entrust the ladybug Miraculous to someone else?
— You're right, Fox, it would be easier. But the Guardian refused that option. He's the one who will guard my ladybug miraculous for the duration of my voyage. Are there any more questions?
No one spoke any more.
— Good. While I'm gone, Viperion and Bunnix will be in charge of the group. If anything goes wrong, the Guardian will come for me. But I doubt that will be necessary. I know you're more than capable of handling yourself on the field.
Marinette then showed them the famous device to capture the Akuma. It was a pistol. At the touch of a button, it sucked out the butterfly. The inside of the gun contained a tank with magical walls. So even if the akuma was sucked in, it would not "akumatize" the owner of the gun. Also, once inside, the butterfly could not get out.
— Above all, I want you to be very careful with this device. It must not be retrieved by Hawk Moth. Don't play with it, don't make stupid experiments with it. Do you understand me?
— YES BOSS!
— Don't call me Boss!
-XxxX-
Marinette found herself on a jet headed for the United States.
Initially, she had planned to take a normal plane... It was more economical and ecological.
Since there was no direct flight to Gotham... So she would have had to make a stopover in New York and then take the train to Gotham. Knowing that the flight from Paris to New York would take about 12 hours and then the train trip would be 6 hours... She had a total of 18 hours of travel time.
Her suitcase wasn't very big, so for transportation it wouldn't really be a problem. The only real problem was that she was traveling with Bridgette. But the little bunny was used to traveling... so normally everything should be fine.
The brunette had just forgotten she was a rich man's daughter.
So, when she told her father she wanted to go home for the holidays, her father said he'd send the jet to pick her up.
Well, why not...
Time went by very quickly. Marinette spent much of her time working on the Hawk Moth case, while watching Bridgette hop around. The advantage of having a jet was that at least little Bridgette could stretch her legs without bothering anyone.
When Marinette finally arrived and her feet touched the ground... A strange feeling overcame her. She stood still for a long time.
Then she started walking again.
The more she moved forward, the more this strange feeling grew.
Her heart was beating very fast.
She quickened her pace.
Her eyes stung.
She got past security.
Then finally, she reached the lobby.
Her father was there. He was looking at something on his phone. Then she whispered softly.
— Father...
She stepped forward slowly. Her heart was beating harder and harder.
Finally her father looked up and saw her. Their eyes met.
He smiled at her.
She could no longer hold on.
The brunette let go of her suitcase and started to run, then she jumped on her father's neck.
— Papa… Papa… Papa…
His father caught him practically in midair. He held her tightly against him.
— Welcome home, sweetheart…
Her tears were flowing in abundance.
This feeling that had grown inside her.
It was simply pure happiness.
-XxxX-
Marinette hopped to the car. As soon as she saw Alfred, she also jumped into his arms.
Marinette hopped to the car. As soon as she saw Alfred, she also jumped into his arms.
— ALLLLFIIIII!
— Ooooohhhh... Holy Christ!
The butler also hugged her for a long time. Her father, who in the meantime had managed to catch Bridgette (she had escaped from her transport box and was having fun walking around the airport), watched the scene, amused.
— I'm glad to see you're doing well, mademoiselle. You look very well.
— Thank you, Al.
The way to the Manor was rocked by a very talkative Marinette.
As soon as she arrived, Marinette was greeted by an overexcited Titus. The dog jumped on her, squeaking and wagging his tail.
Unsurprisingly, the brunette noticed that the Manor hadn't really changed.
When Damian pointed his nose, he was almost attacked by Marinette, who jumped on his neck.
— DAMIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!
— Tt, still as noisy as ever.
Damian let it happen. He even patted her back a little.
She was happy to run around the Manor, seeing with joy that her house hadn't really changed.
In the evening, Tim was greeted by an octopus called Marinette. He was happy to hold his precious little sister in his arms for a while.
Bonus 1 :
(This bonus is a reference to Bonus 2 in Chapter 4)
Marinette 12, Jon 11.
Marinette was at the Kent house for the weekend, Batman was away on a mission with Damian. Tim was busy, Jason wasn't there, Alfred was very sick... In other words, there was no one to "babysit" her.
The brunette was getting to know Jon's friends... They were playing truth or dare. During the game, Jon had the good idea to ask for action.
— So, you have to give a kiss on the mouth to the person on your right!
Jon turned pale. Marinette raised an eyebrow. Indeed, she was the person sitting to Jon's right.
Seeing her friend's hesitation, Marinette grabbed him by the sleeve of his shirt and smacked him on the mouth.
Jon became redder than a tomato.
Marinette looked at the others with a completely neutral expression.
— That was it. Who's next?
Without Marinette understanding why, everyone looked at her blushing. The blonde girl in the group (her first name was Kathy?) looked at her as if she was ready to gut her.
Had she done something wrong?
Marinette 13 years old, Jon 17 years old.
Marinette was talking on the phone with her friend Jon.
— Jon... remember that game we played at your grandparents' house?
— Uh... Yeah, why?
— That day... I stole your first kiss, didn't I? I'm sorry.
Jon felt his cheeks burning.
— It's okay, don't worry...
Now that he was much older, and Mari was finally starting to understand a little more about human feelings... It wasn't the time to tell her that he had a crush on her when he was younger, right?
Bonus 2:
Vicki Vale was a journalist with strong convictions.
She had recently arrived in Paris to follow in the footsteps of Netty Wayne.
She was very surprised when she discovered that Paris was under threat from a terrorist. Even more surprising, the inhabitants and the mayor let a bunch of kids take care of their protection...
Interesting.
While browsing the internet, she realized that there was almost no information about these young heroes.
The young woman smiled sarcastically.
If she could find out who these young people were... Then her career would be boosted!
Netty Wayne could wait.
She had a bug to stalk.
— Hello, sir, yes, it's me. I think I've found "the scoop" here in Paris. I'll stay here a little longer.
Notes:
Yes you have the right to hate me!
It so happens that I hesitated for a long time between Luka x Marinette and Jon x Marinette... I finally chose Lukanette ! But I wanted to make you suffer with me xD
Otherwise, currently Jon no longer has any romantic feelings for Marinette, she has become his little sister. Marinette has brotherly feelings for him.
