Chapter 35: Unbroken Bonds
Author's Note: I think some people got confused about the Miraculous
In this universe, the Zodiac Miraculous either don't exist, or were back at the temple when it got destroyed. So, when Xue Ying destroyed the Miracle Box near the start of the story, I just pointed it out to show that the Zodiac Miraculous didn't fall out, meaning that they weren't in the story, not that they got destroyed along with the box.
I also think some people got confused about the school system I'm using, which is the French one since the setting is France. Meaning that the main characters would be in college (11-15-year-olds), with the exception of Zoe who would be in Lycée (15-18-year-olds), and lessons start at 8:30AM and end at 4:30PM, with a 2 hour lunch.
Fu sighed as he got out of his futon, using his stick to help him rise to his feet as he winced at all the pain in his back.
Waking pains were nothing new to Fu, given his age, but they had become much worse since Xue Ying took the Miraculous from him all those months ago.
Subconsciously, Fu brought his hand to his wrist, where the Turtle Miraculous once lay before it was taken from him.
"Oh, right." Fu gasped quietly, suddenly remembering.
The Turtle Miraculous had been retrieved.
It sat alongside the Fox and Bee Miraculous on top of the Grimoire.
Fu gently took the Turtle Miraculous and slipped it onto his wrist with a smile.
"Hello, old friend." Fu said as Wayzz appeared.
"Master." Wayzz grinned widely, flying over to hug Fu.
Fu gently cupped Wayzz to him, the two of them enjoying their reunion silently for a bit.
"Are you alright, Wayzz?" Fu asked his Kwami.
"I'm fine." Wayzz automatically said.
"Wayzz." Fu said warningly.
"I am fine." Wayzz insisted. "Xue Ying left me mostly alone unless it was to demand about the potions, which I couldn't give her answers to anyway. Though, I have drank a few too many failed potions."
"An upset stomach then." Fu said. "Nothing the right tea can't fix."
"Oh, I have missed your teas." Wayzz said excitedly. "Xue Ying's stock was rather limited."
Fu chuckled as he prepared some tea for both himself and Wayzz.
Once the tea was done, the two of them settled down, Fu turning on the TV to watch the news.
The two watched as the news displayed the citizens of Paris celebrating, believing that they were finally safe with the villains defeated.
"Is it really all over?" Wayzz questioned.
Fu hummed before answering.
"It seems that way." He said. "All of the Miraculous have been reclaimed. But Xue Ying is still out there, and she already claimed the Miraculous without having her own once before."
Wayzz sighed sadly.
"I suppose, despite everything, it would seem too easy for the fight to end here." He said.
Fu nodded.
"Until Xue Ying is properly dealt with, Paris, and the Miraculous, will never truly be safe." He said. "And it will be hard to find Xue Ying until she makes her next move, she'll be laying low until then. And we have no idea when she will attack, it could be tomorrow, it could be a month from now."
There was the sound of movement and voices from outside.
"It seems as though the others have awoken." Fu noted.
The teens formed a steady trickle into the room to retrieve their breakfast from Fu's kitchen, some slumped over from how tired they still were. Marinette was even letting Adrien push her in her wheelchair, too tired to push the wheels herself.
"So, none of you are morning people?" Fu joked.
He received sleepy glares in response.
"We're teenagers." Zoe mumbled, leaning against her girlfriend. "Biologically, we're up too early."
"So," Marinette paused to yawn. "When can we fix the Bee and Peacock?"
"Unfortunately, we still have to wait a while for the moon to be in the correct phase to uncorrupt the Bee." Fu told the teens.
Wayzz and the other Kwamis whined at Pollen being forced to remain in the corrupted Miraculous for a while longer.
"And, looking through the Grimoire," Fu picked up the book and turned to the correct page. "The Peacock Miraculous requires a strong feed of magic alongside the items we already know were listed, which will allow the damage to be repaired. And that is best done with the other six Miraculous feeding into the Peacock. Meaning that we'll have to wait to fix the Peacock until the Bee is uncorrupted."
"That means that Duusu isn't going to be fixed for a while." Tikki said as her antenna drooped. "It took Plagg a month to recover from his corruption."
"Don't worry, I'm sure that Pollen won't need as long." Fu comforted. "Pollen has only been corrupted for a short time compared to Plagg. And the Bee seems to have only been corrupted once, while the Black Cat showed evidence of a constant feed of corruption to keep Adrien under Xue Ying's control."
Adrien winced at the reminder, Marinette rubbing his back to comfort him. While Tikki floated over to Plagg to comfort him.
"Well, it's not as if we're in a-wait." Chloe broke off her confident boast as a thought occurred to her. "If Adrien needed a constant feed of corruption and Sabrina didn't, does that mean that Sabrina wasn't fighting against being evil?"
"I…" Fu trailed off, not knowing how to answer. "I don't know who Sabrina was, so I can't tell you." He settled on saying.
"Well," Alya said, deciding to shift the subject. "One person we can definitely tell was evil is Lila, since she wasn't corrupted. I wonder what her punishment will be. I mean, she's attacked Paris but she is still underage, so would get a more lenient sentence." Alya then remembered something. "Then again, she was trying to tell the police officers that she was corrupted too."
Chloe scoffed.
"Another lie that'll be easily taken care of." She said. "I'll drop by the station later, in costume, and give a statement about the Lie-la's guilt."
"You better confirm Sabrina's corruption while's you're at it." Marinette advised. "Sabrina could still get persecuted as a full villain, so a clear statement of her innocence could help her."
"Alright, I'll do that too." Chloe said, somewhat reluctantly. "But, I mean, is she fully innocent? The old man said that she didn't fight the corruption."
"Hey!" Everyone ignored Fu's indignance at Chloe's name-calling.
"Chloe, this is Sabrina we're talking about." Marinette said.
"Yeah, she's a bit of a follower, to a fault." Alya agreed.
"She did stick with you during your worst years." Adrien added on.
"Okay, I get it." Chloe huffed.
"Sabrina's always been someone who's eager to please. She needs help, not persecution." Marinette said.
"What do you want from me, a girl guide promise? I said I'll testify her innocence." Chloe snapped.
"I'm sure you will." Zoe said, patting Chloe's head.
Chloe turned to glare at her, Zoe only smiling back.
Checking the clock on the wall, Marinette stretched.
"I suppose we should be getting to class first." She said. "If only it was Sunday."
The other teens, except for Adrien, groaned.
Adrien would have felt an amount of smugness at the fact he didn't have to leave and could even go back to bed if he wanted, if he wasn't barred from even leaving the house by the public still. He would happily go to college if it meant being able to leave.
"Wait." Alya said, checking her phone. "An email from the college is saying that morning lessons are suspended in celebration of the villains' defeat. But the college is open for those who still want to come in, and the teachers are hosting a small party."
"Only morning lessons?" Chloe pulled a face.
"The teachers still have to do their jobs." Marinette said. "Still, we have the morning off to do what we want."
"I might go to the party, see who's there." Alya said. "Get congratulated for my part in the take-down." She added with a grin.
"Ugh, you're getting a big head." Chloe sneered.
"You'd be doing the same if you didn't have your identity to keep secret." Alya shot back, continuing to grin.
"Of course I would, I deserve to get my praise." Chloe huffed. "I should just go and reveal my identity now. Now that the fight is over, I don't exactly need it."
"Yes, actually, you do." Tikki flew to Chloe. "As long as Xue Ying is out there, she can use your identity to hurt you."
Chloe groaned loudly. "It's not fair."
The blond dramatically buried her face in Zoe's chest.
"There, there." Zoe patted her head. "Anyway, there's no time to party. We can use the freed time for another dance practice. The performance is tomorrow."
"Don't we already have the routine down." Chloe complained.
"Yes, but there's no such thing as too much practice." Zoe said.
"Plus, you haven't done a dress rehearsal yet." Marinette added. "By the way, I've finished the costumes. I actually finished them a couple of days ago but forgot to give them to you with everything that's been happening."
"Thanks." Zoe said, smiling. "Hear that, buggie? We've still got to try our routine in our costumes."
"Fine." Chloe sighed.
"You can come by my place with me to pick them up." Marinette said. "Though, I didn't have time to properly fix the glitter, so it's going to be falling off the costumes for a while. It's already going to be stuck in between my floorboards forever."
"We've got the costumes, now we just need the music." Zoe said. "Hey, uh, Alya? Could you go see your friend, Nino, and ask him about the dance music I asked him to mix for us? While Chloe and I are picking up our costumes."
"Uh, sure." Alya said.
Adrien watched as everyone started getting ready to leave, returning to their own lives and routines outside of being heroes.
"If the wind changes, your face will stay like that." Plagg commented, noticing Adrien's sad look.
Adrien rolled his eyes and gently batted Plagg away.
Nooroo also took notice of Adrien's sad look while waiting for his wielder to get ready to leave.
"I'm sure you'll be able to leave soon, Adrien. Everyone here can testify your innocence, and you can't be held accountable for your actions under the corruption." Nooroo told him. "You can go to the police station at any time to sort things out."
"Yeah, but that would mean being under an even stricter house arrest than I am now while they work things out. And I'd likely be put back with my father." Adrien said.
"I've got to agree with the kid. The cage is bigger here." Plagg said.
"But it's going to remain a cage unless Adrien actively tries to change it. And to change it, that risk needs to be taken."
"I'll think about it." Adrien sighed.
Nooroo smiled sadly at Adrien before he had to leave with Marinette.
Alya found Nino at the college, using one of the computers for the music editing software.
"Hey, Nino." Alya greeted. "How are you?"
"Oh, uh, fine." Nino said, rubbing his eyes. "Just, you know, working."
"Zoe asked me to see if you got her music done." Alya leant on the desk Nino was working on.
"Yeah, I just finished it yesterday."
Nino dug into the pocket of his bag and pulled out a small USB.
"Cool."
Alya pulled the USB out of his hand to look over it.
"Hey, that's not for you." Nino tried to grab it back.
"Calm down." Alya rolled her eyes. "Zoe and Chloe are at Marinette's house right now, I'll go deliver it to them."
"Fine." Nino sighed. "But you're accountable for it."
"Sure." Alya said, slipping it into her pocket.
Looking Nino over, Alya could see that something was wrong.
"You alright?" She asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine." Nino said, tired.
Alya raised an eyebrow.
"It's…it's just Adrien, you know?" Nino then admitted.
"Still worried about him being a villain?" Alya asked.
"No." Nino immediately denied. "I know he's a good person, and he's proving it with being Chat Noir. But…"
"But?" Alya prompted.
"But I guess I was hoping that with the villains being defeated, he'd come back, you know." Nino admitted.
"If only things were that easy." Alya sighed.
Though she wanted Adrien to turn himself in so his life could finally get put back on track, Alya also understood the villain-turned-hero's hesitance. It was completely unknown how the police and public would react to him.
'Maybe, once Sabrina and Lila have been handled, he'll get a good view of how his own situation will get handled.' Alya reasoned to herself.
Nino's head then suddenly shot up as he turned to Alya.
"Wait a minute, you were fighting alongside Adrien last night. Did you get to talk to him?" He asked.
"Eh, if was mostly battle talk." Alya rubbed the back of her head, not wanting to give away just how much she knew. "Then Chat Noir ran off back to Lady Nymph."
"So, Adrien's with Lady Nymph?" Nino brightened.
Alya shrugged.
"I think so." She lied. "That's the impression I got, anyway."
Nino slumped slightly, though he still looked brighter than before, with the idea that he was with Lady Nymph, the person who had been fighting to free Adrien from the corruption controlling him since the beginning.
"I just hope Adrien's safe, wherever he is." Nino said. "…I miss him." He then added.
Alya frowned sadly, feeling the boy's pain.
"I'm sure that you'll get to meet again soon."
Alya's mind drifted back to the USB in her pocket.
"Anyway, I'll go give the music to Zoe and Chloe."
"It's going to have to be up to Adrien." Marinette said.
"Okay, so let's go talk to him." Alya said.
"You're not going anywhere until our costumes get properly fitted." Chloe interrupted.
She and Zoe were dressed in the costumes Marinette had made for them.
The costumes were almost completely made, Marinette just needed to fix some areas that had gone wrong while sewing them together, such as better positioning of certain aspects.
"I think that Adrien is more important than your dance outfit." Alya rolled her eyes.
Zoe gave an over dramatic gasp.
"Nothing is more important than our dance." She said, grinning afterwards to show that she wasn't serious.
"Exactly." Chloe nodded. "Anyway, why can't you just talk to him yourself?"
"Because I may know him, but we're not exactly full friends. Meanwhile, Marinette's his girlfriend, so is more likely to get him to agree." Alya reasoned.
"I guess that's right." Marinette said. "Still, though. I need to make sure these costumes are right. So, I won't be able to do that right now."
"It would be better to talk to him now." Alya said offhandedly.
She didn't say it as part of her argument, just as a statement of facts that didn't require a response.
Chloe, however, decided that Alya's comment warranted a reply.
"Then talk to him yourself." Chloe repeated. "And stop bothering us."
"No need to be rude." Alya frowned.
"You never know, you could be able to convince Adrien, and not need Marinette." Zoe said.
Alya sighed loudly.
"Fine, I'll go talk to him myself." She said.
Making sure that she left the music with Chloe and Zoe, Alya left to go to Sanctuaire de la Dame, trying to think of what to say to Adrien along the way.
"Hey, Nino say's he missed you." Alya ran over a scenario in her head. "Is that too straightforward? Is there really any other way I can tell him?"
Eventually, Alya reached the building, letting herself in.
Fu was talking with his Kwami in his room, so Alya skipped past his room and went straight to Adrien's, finding the boy just lazing about on his bed.
"Are you really just lying in bed at this time of day?" Alya raised an eyebrow.
"There's nothing wrong with having a nice long layabout." Plagg piped up from where he lay.
"There's not much else I can do." Adrien answered. "I can't exactly leave the house."
"Oh, yeah." Alya said.
She supposed that there wasn't really much to do, and Adrien didn't have much in the way of entertainment.
"Well, how about some company?" Alya suggested, seeing an opportunity to bring up the subject of Nino.
"Yeah, I guess we can hang around and talk." Adrien said, not realising that Alya meant someone other than her.
"Actually, I was thinking about someone who you know a little more. Like Nino." Alya suggested.
"But Nino doesn't know about who we all are, or that I'm here." Adrien said, confused.
"He could." Alya said simply.
"I…I don't think that's a good idea." Adrien said unsurely.
"Come on. I just talked to Nino. He's told me how much he misses you and want to know that you're alright." Alya said.
"Really?" Adrien asked hopefully.
"Really." Alya assured.
"But…but what if he didn't really mean it? Or what if he doesn't like me, because he only knew the corrupt me?" Adrien started worrying.
Subconsciously, Adrien started scratching at his arms in anxiety.
Moving slowly and clearly, like she had seen Marinette do, Alya took Adrien's hands away from his arms and patted them comfortingly.
"Adrien, think. Would Nino really be like that?" She said gently. "Nino wants to see you. And I think that you want to see him too."
"I do." Adrien admitted. "But, what about Marinette? This is her place."
"I've already talked to Marinette and she told me that it's up to you. She's fine with Nino coming here." Alya told Adrien.
Adrien took in a deep breath and let it out, like he had been shown to help keep him calm.
"O-okay." He said. "I'll see Nino."
Alya grinned widely.
"Good, I'll call him over." She said, taking out her phone.
"Wait, now?" Adrien asked, not realising that he'd be seeing Nino so soon.
"No time like the present." Alya said.
With a flying of fingers, the message was sent off to Nino.
'Come to Sanctuaire de la Dame, right now. There's something you need to see! – Alya'
Nino regarded the message one last time as he stood outside the gates to Sanctuaire de la Dame, wondering just what Alya was wanting him to see, and why it wasn't Marinette sending the message when it was her place.
Sighing, Nino rang the bell at the front of the gate.
He had been to Sanctuaire de la Dame a few times, but still wasn't comfortable just entering the house freely like Marinette's other friends.
Alya appeared out the front of the house, jogging down the path to meet Nino at the gate.
"Come on." She said, excitedly.
Alya grabbed Nino by the arm and began dragging him through Sanctuaire de la Dame.
"What's so important?" Nino asked as he was dragged.
"You'll see." Alya grinned.
Nino felt like his arm had almost been yanked off by the time they stopped in front of one of the doors.
"Go on, knock." Alya let go of Nino and motioned to the door.
"Uh, okay." Nino said unsurely.
Feeling a bit ridiculous, Nino raised his hand and knocked.
Silence was the response.
Just when Nino was thinking that Alya was playing a trick on him, there came a rely.
"Come in."
Nino's eyes widened at the painfully familiar voice.
Hesitantly, Nino pushed down on the handle and opened the door.
Adrien stood on the other side, shuffling his feet as he looked at Nino.
"Hi…Nino." Adrien raised his hand slightly to wave. "I-"
Adrien was cut off by Nino diving forward and pulling him into a hug.
"I've missed you, dude." Nino said.
Adrien found himself at a loss for words, unable to comprehend the affection he was receiving in the moment.
Then, his eyes began to tear up.
"I missed you too." Adrien said as he began to cry, hugging Nino back.
Silently, Alya grabbed Plagg from his resting place, silencing the Kwami's protests with one hand, and slipped out the room to give the two friends some privacy.
The two boys eventually separated and sat down on Adrien's bed.
"So, you've been here the entire time?" Nino asked.
"Yeah." Adrien nodded. "Sorry I didn't tell you. But I was so afraid, that you'd…"
"It's alright. I understand." Nino assured. "I'm just glad that you're safe and being looked after. I'm glad that Marinette found and took you in."
"Thanks." Adrien smiled.
"Wait." Nino said, realising something. "Marinette took you in, but Alya said you went with Lady Nymph."
"Ah, it's nothing like that." Adrien waved his hands, trying to stop Nino from connecting the dots.
"And Marinette's garden and balcony are always full of butterflies." Nino continued despite Adrien's protests.
The photo that Alya had taken of Marinette months ago, covered in butterflies, also came across Nino's mind.
"Coincidence!" Adrien exclaimed.
"Marinette is Lady Nymph!" Nino's eye's widened.
Giving up, Adrien groaned and slumped his shoulders.
"Of course, it all makes so much sense." Nino said, mouth open.
Adrien stood up and stumbled over to his door opening it.
"Alya, Fu! Nino worked out about Marinette and Lady Nymph!" He shouted down the hall.
"What!" The reply was muffled by Adrien shutting the door again.
"I wonder who else could be a hero." Nino was not done. "Marinette's been very close with a few people, which could mean that they're actually her teammates. Like…Chloe!"
Adrien looked at Nino in horror, unable to do anything to stop his friend now that he was on a roll, so opted for banging his head against the door, wondering how he was going to explain to the others that his reunion had inadvertently led to Nino working out their identities.
Despite all of Paris being in celebration of the heroes' victory, education could not be delayed forever. So, reluctantly, the students returned to the College for afternoon lessons.
"So, you understand that you have to keep everything a secret? You can't tell anyone." Marinette stressed to Nino as she pushed herself along beside him.
"Chill, dudette. I won't tell anyone." Nino assured.
"You better not." Chloe glared at Nino.
She had not been happy to find out that Nino had worked out her identity as Belle Aube.
Sure, she wanted more people to know so that she could get the praise she deserved, but she wanted it to be on her own terms.
"I won't." Nino repeated, holding his hands up in surrender.
Chloe eyed Nino suspiciously before increasing her stride to walk in front of everyone.
"Geeze, I never realised how scary she can be." Nino said.
"Don't worry, she wouldn't actually hurt you." Marinette said.
"Say that again to my future gravestone." Nino commented.
The group of friends split ways to make their way to the classroom, Marinette taking the lift while everyone else took the stairs.
They met up again outside of the classroom where they found Nathaniel and Marc talking.
"Alix said that they're getting a Chinese exhibit in soon. All these new things that were just discovered in a tomb. So, we could go and check it out together." Nathaniel offered to Marc.
"Yeah, that'd be nice. It'd be interesting to see what Chinese writing they have." Marc agreed.
"And there'd be some good art. It could give us some inspiration for our next comic." Nathaniel said.
"That sounds cool." Marinette entered the conversation. "Do you know if there'll be anything on Chinese fashion?"
"I'm not sure. Maybe ask Alix." Nathaniel suggested, pointing to Alix, who was also standing outside the classroom.
"I'll have to check." Alix answered.
"I might go anyway." Marinette shrugged. "When are you guys going? I could tag along."
"Ah, well, actually…" Marc fumbled.
"Marc and I want to go as just us. You know?" Nathaniel finished for her, as Marc currently identified.
"Ah." Marinette smiled. "That's fine."
"Sorry. But we'd just prefer to be there together." Marc said.
Alix let out a dramatic groan. "Why don't you two just hook up already?" She complained.
"Well, uh…" Nathaniel's rubbed the back of his head as Marc turned red.
"Wearetogether." Marc quickly mumbled.
"What?!" Everyone exclaimed.
Marc shrunk in on herself while Marc patter her back.
"We're already dating." Nathaniel said more clearly.
"What? When?" Marinette asked. "Why didn't you tell us?"
"Well, we didn't see the point of making a big deal of it. We just decided that we like each other and hung out enough to consider it dating." Nathaniel explained.
"I'm so happy for you." Marinette grinned widely.
If she could, she'd be jumping up and down in her wheelchair.
"Yeah, you make a great pair." Nino agreed.
"A cute pair." Alya added on.
The two smiled shyly back.
It made them feel so warm to hear the acceptance and encouragement coming from their friends and classmates.
"Better be careful from now on though." Alix warned. "Once Rose hears about this, you're not going to escape without at least one double date with her and Juleka."
"I'm sure we'll be fine." Marc said. "Won't we?" She turned to Nathaniel.
Nathaniel pulled a face and wiggled his hand in a so-so gesture.
"Great." Marc sighed.
"Blocking the halls is a fire hazard! Get to Class!" Ms Mendeleiev's voice came from the courtyard.
The teacher had spotted the collection of the students and was not happy.
Everyone quickly went to move.
"See you after class." Nathaniel said to Marc.
"Yeah." Marc agreed.
Marc then looked at Nathaniel and moved forward, hesitated and moved back a bit, before biting her lip and moving forward again. She put one hand on Nathaniel's cheek, before kissing him on the other cheek.
"Bye." Marc said, quickly turning and racing off to her own class.
"Eyeee!" Marinette squeed, clapping her hands together in joy.
"You need help." Alix rolled her eyes and pushed Marinette's wheelchair into the classroom, Marinette too busy celebrating to do it herself.
From within Marinette's purse, Nooroo also rolled his eyes at his wielder's behaviour, put also smiled at Nathaniel and Marc being happy together.
It made Nooroo want to glow, seeing Nathaniel enter the classroom, holding the cheek he'd been kissed on and smiling happily.
It was late at night, nearly time for when most people would start going to bed, but Lila was nowhere near tired.
She was angry.
Everything had fallen apart.
They were supposed to win, the heroes were meant to be defeated, their Miraculous taken and the ones behind the masks humiliated.
But then Adrien had to go and be a hero, and it was Lila and her team who were defeated instead.
"…the trial date for the underage villains assisting the mastermind, Serpentina, is still yet to be set, pending evaluation-"
"Agh!" Lila chucked the nearest thing at the TV.
Thankfully, it didn't break the TV, no matter how satisfying it'd be.
Under house arrest until the investigation was finished, Lila's access to the internet and her phone had been removed to prevent any contact with Xue Ying. Meaning that the only access Lila had to the outside world was her TV.
"It's not fair." Lila pouted.
A knock came at Lila's door.
"Lila, honey, are you okay?" Her mother popped her head around the door.
Lila began pushing out tears, wanting sympathy.
"It's not fair, mum." She cried. "I didn't do anything wrong. I was being controlled. But I'm being treated like a criminal."
"Oh, sweetie." Lila's mum quickly embraced her daughter. "Don't worry, it'll all get sorted out. Remember that your friend, Sabrina, is getting the same treatment. It's just a precaution until they clear everything up. That nasty woman who controlled you is still out there after all."
"I know." Lila sniffed.
That was a small solstice to Lila, that Sabrina was under the same treatment, meaning that the police didn't suspect her any more than Sabrina, who was actually controlled.
And with Xue Ying still out there, the heroes hadn't won completely. There was still a chance to beat them.
There was still a chance to get revenge for what had been done to her.
"But it's not enough." Lila continued to pull her mother's heartstrings. "Even when they prove my innocence, I'm never going to be able to go back to a normal life ever again. Everyone's going to know me as 'that villain girl.'" Lila visibly sobbed for good measure.
It was true though.
Even if Lila managed to get away without any punishment. Nobody in Paris would ever trust her, or would be likely to fall for her lies, again. Her reputation would forever be stained with the fact that she had once been a villain, controlled or not.
Which was why she was going to take great joy in taking revenge on the heroes, when Xue Ying came back, especially Adrien for turning on them and leading to her identity being revealed.
"I'm sorry. I can't do much about that." Lila's mother said gently. "But maybe we can slowly work to fix it, once this is all over. A few community jobs here, some charity stuff there, and you can show people that you're not really a villain."
"I suppose." Lila ducked her head so that she could pull a face at the idea without her mother seeing. "But that might not work. It might-" Lila stopped to sniff. "It might be better to just start over."
"What?" Lila's mother asked.
"It's just. I might have a better time if we went somewhere where no one knows me as Volpina." Lila added in some sobs.
Lila's life in Paris was over, so the solution was to just to move somewhere else and start over, establish herself as the Alpha again.
"I don't know if we can do that, Lila. My job would make that hard." Lila's mother said, hesitantly.
"Are you saying that your job is more important than my wellbeing, more important than me?" Lila laid it on thick.
"No, of course not." Lila's mother fell for it. "Look, I'll think about it, okay?"
"Okay." Lila nodded, using a tissue.
"Alright. Try to get some sleep. It'll help." Lila's mother said, getting up. "Goodnight."
"Goodnight." Lila replied as her bedroom door shut.
Once her mother was gone, Lila sneered and began wiping the crocodile tears from her face.
It would take a little more convincing, but Lila was sure that she'd be able to convince her mother to move away.
Her current situation was just a stumbling block, one that would soon be far behind her.
"Your poor mother."
Lila jumped at the sudden comment.
Turning around for who spoke and finding that someone was outside of her window.
"Master Xue!" Lila grinned as she recognised the person, racing over to the window. "I knew you'd come to get me. We're going to get our revenge now, right. What's the plan, I mean we don't have our Miraculous anymore, but you must have a plan. That doesn't matter, can you remove these bars?"
Lila wrapped her hands around the bars that had been bolted over her windows with her house arrest, to keep her from leaving through the window.
To Lila's surprise, Xue Ying started laughing.
"What?" She questioned.
"Oh, Lila, it's funny how much you overstate your value." Xue Ying said.
"What?" Lila repeated, unable to comprehend.
"You, Lila, view yourself as important. But in truth you are nothing but a pawn. One that has no use now that you lost my Miraculous." Xue Ying sneered. "I have merely been using you for my own ends. Though, I admit it was funny to see your attempts at manipulating me back, as feeble and pathetic as they were."
"What? How could you do this to me? I was nothing but loyal to you!" Lila exclaimed in anger.
"Lila, you should have expected betrayal when you willingly chose to be a villain." Xue Ying tutted, like she was only scolding Lila for eating too many sweets.
"But-but-but you chose me to have a Miraculous!" Lila began grasping at straws, trying to show her worth.
"And now I have judged you as unworthy." Xue Ying told her. "You will never hold a Miraculous again. And you will fade into obscurity as the weight of your deeds drags you down."
"No!"
Lila reached for Xue Ying through her bars, intending on grabbing the older woman in anger.
"Agh!" Lila cried out as Xue Ying grabbed her wrist, holding it in a painfully tight grip.
"Pathetic." Xue Ying tutted.
Xue Ying then removed a bracelet from Lila's wrist.
The bracelet stood out from Lila's other bracelets, being clearly Chinese in design.
"Do you really think that I didn't notice you stealing from me." Xue Ying raised an eyebrow as she looked the bracelet over.
Xue Ying let Lila's wrist go and the girl quickly yanked her arm back, cradling her wrist.
"Well, I have what I came for." Xue Ying said.
And without another word, the woman turned and left.
"No." Lila denied as she realised what was happening. "No, no, no."
Xue Ying had abandoned her.
Lila had just been used the entire time.
And she had never took notice of it.
"NO!"
Lila collapsed to the ground, slamming her fists on the floor and curling in on herself as she sobbed for real.
The next day come both too quickly and slowly for Chloe.
Because today was the day.
Today, she and Zoe would be performing the dance piece they had worked over a month on together, in front of a crowd.
Now Chloe wasn't worried about the crowd. She knew she'd be amazing, no matter what she did.
It was who would, or maybe would not, be in that crowd that had Chloe shifting her feet.
"Come on, buggie, you need to do your warmup stretches properly. You don't want to pull something while performing, do you?" Zoe said to her girlfriend.
"Oh, right." Chloe said, realising that she hadn't been doing her stretches properly while lost in thought.
Once warmup was done, Chloe and Zoe slipped into the costumes Marinette had made for them, helping each other to make sure everything was secured.
Then, the two joined the rest of the dance group to the side of the stage.
Peering through the curtains, Chloe quickly spotted Marinette and the rest of their friendship group, sans Adrien, sitting near the front. Alya was holding out her phone, ready to record everything.
Looking towards the reserved seating, Chloe found her father and butler there, but no sign of her mother.
"I don't think she's coming." Chloe frowned.
"Then it is her loss." Zoe turned Chloe around to look at her, using the time to adjust the cloak Chloe was wearing.
"Yeah." Chloe said. "Yeah." She repeated, more confidence. "If she doesn't want to be here, then she's losing out on seeing the most spectacular performance."
"That's right." Zoe grinned.
All went quiet as the show began, the first set of dancers making their way to the stage to perform.
The girlfriends kept their hands busy in each other's as their own performance drew closer.
"And our final act of tonight, Chloe Bourgeois and Zoe Cain!" The dance tutor in change gave their que.
The two nodded to each other as they walked gracefully out onto the stage and took their places.
Looking out into the crowd, Chloe kept her face purposely blank when she saw that Audrey still wasn't there.
Chloe then cast that fact out of her mind as the music started.
Chloe and Zoe walked over to each other and then around each other in pace with the slow build of the music, moving their arms and legs in the dance.
As Chloe once again faced the audience, her eyes widened as she saw her mother making her way to the front row, just in time to see Chloe's performance.
Taking a deep breath, Chloe continued with the slow dance, allowing Zoe to guide her movements, and then taking her turn at guiding Zoe.
Looking out to the audience again, Chloe could see her mother's unimpressed gaze behind her ridiculous sunglasses.
Perhaps it was because of their costumes, which were rather bland waist-length cloaks over a black body suit.
But that was going to change.
Chloe and Zoe drew closer once way, seeming to fall into each other as the back beat of the music suddenly stopped, leaving only the tinkling of digital piano keys.
Grabbing hold of the other's cloak, the two broke away from each other, ripping away the other's cloak to reveal the true costumes underneath. The cloaks were sent flying safely off the stage as Chloe and Zoe struck a pose to show the simple beauty of their costumes.
Both costumes consisted of black body suits at the base, but with only one arm, long ribbon wrapped around the other arm. On their chests, emblazoned in glitter, were phoenixes, the tail feather coming out to form feathered skirts. The only difference between the two costumes was that Chloe's phoenix and ribbon was red, while Zoe's was silver.
The back beat of the music returned, this time much faster and lively that before.
And Chloe and Zoe danced to match it.
They spun, they kicked, their embraced and parted, pulling each other around in their dance. Their phoenix tails adding extra flare to their movements.
Finally, the music came to an end and the girlfriends struck their final pose, hand around each other's waist while the other hand was in their air.
The crowd cheered loudly as Chloe and Zoe panted.
"What a wonderful display. Chloe Bourgeois and Zoe Cain, everyone." The dance tutor gave the signal for the girls to leave the stage.
Waving to the crowd as they left, Chloe didn't even give mind to checking on her mother.
Chloe and Zoe didn't bother changing out of their costumes, only stopping to retrieve their cloaks, before meeting with their friends.
"You were stunning." Marinette said.
"Awesome." Nino gave a thumbs up.
"Amazing." Nathaniel and Marc said.
"And I caught it all on video." Alya shook her phone.
Marinette sneakily opened her purse to show Nooroo and Tikki inside, who gave their silent approval for the performance before Marinette hid them away again.
"Chloe."
Chloe went ridged, turning around to face her mother.
"Though, I was worried that you'd disappoint me, you surprised me with your performance. You and, uh…"
Audrey turned to Zoe, having not bothered to learn her name.
"Zoe Cain." Chloe told her mother.
She then grabbed Zoe's hand. "My girlfriend." She added.
"I see." Audrey said. "Well, your performance shows that you do have the potential to be something exceptional. And Zoe does have the style and beauty, so I can approve of your relationship. Glitter is in style after all."
Chloe frowned.
Since she was young, she'd wanted her mother's approval, to be called 'exceptional'.
But now that she had it, that she had been told she was exceptional and had her mother's approval, she felt nothing.
Chloe looked to Zoe, then to Marinette, both giving encouraging smiled.
That was when Chloe knew.
She was not the same girl she was years ago.
"Thank you, mother, but no thank you." Chloe looked Audrey directly in the eyes.
"What?" Audrey questioned.
"I already know that I'm exceptional." Chloe told her. "But you missed that because you weren't here."
"How dare you?" Audrey gasped. "That is no way to speak to your mother."
"Ah!" Chloe held up her hand to silence her. "I will speak however I please, and you have no say in it."
Chloe stood as if she was Belle Aube facing a villain.
"I have no need for your approval." She said.
With a dramatic flip of her hair, Chloe turned around and strutted back to the dressing rooms.
Zoe followed after her with the proudest grin anyone could have.
Their friends were left to watch in amusement as Audrey stuttered and tried to comprehend what Chloe had just said to her, complaining to Andre who was battling between loyalty to his wife, and his own proudness for Chloe.
Author's note: Please comment
And another chapter closer towards the end, with Xue Ying still out there planning something.
Adrien gets some more support in the form of Nino, Marc and Nathaniel are together, and Chloe gets over her issues with her mother.
I was struggling on how to get Nathaniel and Marc properly together, but I realised that I could just do it off screen. And Nathaniel and Marc would probably be the type to not make a big fuss about it.
Some character art to show as usual, this time you can go to my DeviantART or Tumblr to find the Champion forms for Aurore, Marc and Mylene. Alongside the concept for Chloe and Zoe's dance costumes for this chapter.
And if anyone's wondering about me in this whole Virus stuff. I'm fine, but my Uni lessons have been suspended, and the Uni will likely be shut past the end of the school year, with the UK quarantine not that far away. Meaning that while I can continue making my costume stuff at home, I have no access to my models to ensure that the costumes I make properly fit them, I have to order all my supplies right now so that I have them when all the shops shut and I can't get them delivered, and hand-in will have to be done with pictures rather than physically handing in my work.
Still, I'm in a better position than the other courses, such as production design, photography and acting.
