Stuck In A Bakery (With You), Chapter 53
Coming down from the balcony, Marinette flopped down in a heap, looking happy but stunned. Adrien took the liberty of folding up the umbrella, climbing down the ladder and setting it aside, and fetching a couple of towels from the bathroom for them.
As Marinette kicked her wet shoes off and let them tumble to the floor below, Tikki asked, "Are you all right? You look like you're handling this okay, but..."
"I'm here," Marinette replied, a little distantly. "I'm... I feel like I'm in a dream, you know? A good dream."
"It's real. I assure you, it's all real," smiled Tikki. "And I think that we all need to talk things out now, at least for a little while."
"Agreed. I can focus if he can," smiled Marinette.
She watched as Adrien climbed back up the ladder to her bed, with Plagg hovering alongside him. Plagg noticed Marinette's expression of mild incredulity and chuckled, "Nice place you've got here."
"Thank you," Marinette said. "I'm glad that you're enjoying it, now that I know that you've been staying here!"
"I couldn't really announce it before now, right?" Plagg grinned. "Our place has more toys to play with, but anywhere warm and dry is a good start in my book."
Adrien scooted over next to Marinette, his arm going around her shoulders; the Kwamis settled down on the mattress in front of them.
Everyone else turned towards Tikki, who took a deep breath.
"All right," she began. "I want to make it clear that what the four of us talk about now... this isn't 'Tikki setting the new rules.' I may have a lot to say about our new situation, but... Marinette, you are both Ladybug and the Guardian. I defer to you in many ways." She smiled and added, "Though I do hope that you'll continue to know good advice when you hear it!"
"I certainly intend to," Marinette replied. "I'm very new at this Guardian thing. I will make my share of mistakes, and I'll trust you to help me avoid them."
She turned towards Adrien. "And as for you, Adrien... or should I say, Chat Noir... and, boy is that going to take some getting used to!" she giggled. "You've been left out of the loop on many things in the past, and not been very happy about that... and I can't say that I blamed you much."
Quickly, Marinette filled in more details around what she'd previously told him about Master Fu, both as Ladybug and as herself. "He didn't want me to know about him for a long while... and once I did, it took a long time for me to earn his trust. And even then, one or two extra persons knowing who he was might've been too much," she sighed. "I still feel terrible about what happened to him... and wonder what I could've, what I should've done differently to protect him."
"Master Fu knew the risks. He did what he had to do," Plagg consoled her. "He did reach out to Adrien, when he felt that he was ready."
"So I don't even have to remind either of you that that secret stays in this room, right?" Tikki stated. "If Ladybug's secret slips out, the Guardian's identity does as well, and Hawkmoth may come after her, her family, her friends with everything he has."
"I will protect that - and them - and you - with everything I have," declared Adrien.
"I know you will," beamed Marinette. "But that being said... I want things to be a little different, going forward. I don't want to try to be the Guardian alone and hide in the dark; if I'm going to keep being Ladybug as well, I can't! I want someone that I trust to back me up and to help me safeguard the Miraculous. And I certainly trust you to do that."
She looked up at him with a sincere and innocent need, then said, "Adrien, with what the two of us know about each other now... I have something else that I want to show you."
Plagg's immediate snickering drew a dirty look from both Marinette and Adrien... but he couldn't stop himself. "I just bet you do," he muttered, just loud enough to be heard.
"Plagg!" snapped Adrien.
"What? You two are just about old enough for-"
Marinette turned to Tikki, pointedly ignoring Plagg's suggestion. "Tikki... since Kwamis assume animal shapes, can I take them to be neutered?" she asked, seemingly innocently.
"If you can find a human veterinarian who can make sense of my parts, good luck to him with that," cackled Plagg.
"C'mon," sighed Marinette, gesturing to Adrien as she headed for the ladder to the bedroom floor.
Adrien watched as Marinette went to her closet, rummaged around and pulled out a storage box. As she lifted the lid, Adrien saw a variety of summer clothes folded up on top.
"I like that blouse," Adrien said, sitting down beside her, as she picked up a floral crop-top.
"I do, too," Marinette blushed, "but that's not what I'm digging for right now." Reaching deep into the box, she produced a smaller box containing a red dome-like structure with black ladybug spots on its surface.
"Ah!" Adrien replied. "I remember seeing that once before... on the day when we lost Master Fu."
"You did," said Marinette, pushing the surface of the dome hesitantly. "But you didn't see it quite like this."
"If that's what I think it is... you keep it in your closet?" asked Adrien, a bit surprised.
"Well..." Marinette paused and replied, turning to him. "Master Fu's old Victrola had a secret compartment where he kept the old Box, but that would stand out like a sore thumb in my room, and.. well... it's Master Fu's, not mine. So I'm improvising for now. I don't think that my parents will come up and rummage through my summer clothes any time soon."
"Makes sense, I guess," Adrien nodded. "Please continue."
As she completed the proper sequence, the top of the dome snapped open... revealing a jewelry armoire inside, with trays popping out holding a large variety of Miraculous.
Adrien's jaw dropped. "Wow!" he exclaimed. "I knew that there were many Miraculous that I hadn't seen yet... but I didn't think there were this many."
"I have sixteen of them," explained Marinette. "You have yours, and Hawkmoth and Mayura have the Moth and Peacock. And this is just our set of Miraculous. Master Fu told me that there may be many others out there; different cultures tapping into the primal magics in different ways. Some of them could be jewelry, like ours. Some could be some other kind of totems or magical charms. Some could appear completely different."
"Huh! I wonder... all the fairy tales and tribal legends and mythologies of old... how many of those could be explained by Kwamis and their Miraculous?" wondered Adrien.
"You might be surprised," Tikki interjected. "I haven't encountered any of our 'distant cousins' in centuries, but they exist. I can say for sure that our set was the first, and should remain the most powerful... but who knows? Magic is a strange thing, and new concepts might evolve to challenge ours someday."
"We'll cross that bridge when we get to it," noted Marinette. "So... here's one of my problems. Our problems now, huh? When Chloe turned into Miracle Queen... she burned a bunch of our identities. Kim's, Alya's, Max's, Luka's... Nino's, kind of, though he didn't power up at the scene... and Kagami, same deal, plus she'd already been revealed," she sighed. "And Chloe will never touch a Miraculous again if I can help it. So that's seven teammates who are out of action."
"Who else is left?" asked Adrien, doing mental math. "Bunnyx, right?"
"Yeah," confirmed Marinette. "But her Miraculous is kind of tied up in time, and she doesn't technically have it yet... so it's great when she can find us, but we can't rely on her presence yet. And I was the Mouse, of course."
"So..." she continued, "we need to figure out a new team. Maybe some new faces whom we could depend on. Maybe some old ones with a different Miraculous. I don't want to give them all out; the more that are out there, the more likely it is that we'll lose one or someone's identity will be blown," she reasoned, "plus, I like having them in reserve so that we can call on just the right powers when they're needed."
"Makes sense to me. But at the same time... the two of us are really good... but friends are good to have backing you up, too," Adrien agreed. "Do they need to be teenagers, like us?"
"That... is a good question. Tikki?" asked Marinette.
Tikki furrowed her brow. "It's... something of a balance?" she suggested. "A young host has a chance to mature as a person while also growing into their understanding of their powers and responsibilities. Less potential for abuse, if one turns out to have gone to the wrong person. And as you've seen... sometimes even the right person can get the wrong Miraculous for them. Isn't that right, Aspic?"
"You could say that," smiled Adrien. "Perhaps we shouldn't give them all to members of our class, though? Hawkmoth knows that five of them went to one classroom, and he doesn't know that the two most important are also in that room. A bit of distraction from that might be helpful."
"Also a good point," mused Marinette. "But I also want our core team to be people to whom we're close... people we know well and can find whenever we need them."
She looked at Adrien. "Are you thinking of whom I'm thinking?" she wondered aloud.
"Maybe?" he replied. "Though not with the same... I can think of two, maybe three others whom we should consider." He pointed to one of the Zodiacs and asked, "What does that one do?"
"I'll show you another time, okay?" smiled Marinette. "I've met them all briefly... some, I know better than others. For tonight... I think that we've had enough surprises, don't you?"
"Yeah... I can agree with that," Adrien agreed, as he watched her close the box and return it to the closet for safekeeping.
The four of them talked things out for a short while afterwards.
"All right. Are we all in a place that we can handle for tonight?" asked Tikki. "This is quite a shake-up, and we're not going to figure it all out at once, but I like what I'm hearing so far. Do you two?"
"I'm good," Adrien declared. "If Marinette is, I mean. It's been quite the shock for both of us."
Marinette leaned her head against his shoulder. "I'm still reeling... but I'm okay," she smiled, softly. "So many more things make sense now." Looking up at Adrien, she added, "The two of us do have some more things to talk about, though..."
"And that's our cue," smirked Plagg. "C'mon, Sugarcube. Wanna go raid the fridge with me?"
"Plagg..." sighed Tikki, "her parents might still be up! The big secrets are out now, but we still don't have the run of the house."
"So? If they catch us, I bet that I can explain us away as hallucinations."
The Kwamis continued arguing back-and-forth as they disappeared through the floorboards. "Five to one says that they finally go ahead and..." was heard from Plagg, just before they vanished.
Marinette grinned at Adrien. "Should I take that bet?" she giggled.
"That... is up to you," he replied, wide-eyed. "Should I?"
Her smile widened, she raised an eyebrow suggestively...
...and then cracked up, laughing uncontrollably.
"We've been a real couple for, what, a whole hour?" Marinette suggested. "I think I can hold off on escalating to things that I... might not be ready for yet."
"That's fine with me," Adrien replied. "Somehow I have a feeling that when we are ready for something new... you won't leave a lot of doubt in the air."
"And this..." exclaimed Marinette, hugging Adrien extra-tightly, "is all new already!"
The two tumbled onto the small rug behind them, lying side-by-side, eye-to-eye.
"I can't believe this is happening," beamed Marinette. "Everything! That we've been this close for this long and neither of us figured it out..."
"That we were throwing ourselves at each other all year long and didn't know it!" marveled Adrien.
"I was too blinded by you to give Chat Noir a real chance..." Marinette added.
"...and I was too dazzled by Ladybug to hear what you were trying so hard to tell me," agreed Adrien. "What a mess we made of it!"
"There's something that my father's always told me about making a mess in our kitchen," said Marinette, a husky tone returning to her voice. "That it's okay to make a mess, as long as you clean it up afterwards..."
"...and you learn from why it happened," Adrien finished her sentence.
"Oh-ho! Someone has been paying attention while helping out down there," smiled Marinette.
"I've been paying attention to an awful lot of things ever since I got here," Adrien grinned back, pulling her close. "In case you hadn't noticed."
"Then, Chat Noir..." Marinette purred, "your Lady needs you to show her everything you've learned. Very much."
"All at once? Or slowly, a little at a time?" smiled Adrien, his heart pounding.
"Surprise me," she giggled.
"I thought you said that we'd had enough surprises for tonight," Adrien whispered.
"For the right guy, I just might make an exception to that," said Marinette.
"Am I the right guy?" asked Adrien, innocently.
"Mmm-hmm," grinned Marinette, running her fingers through his hair.
"And am I in way over my head, right this instant?" he smiled.
"Oh, yes."