The Fairy
AN: This one-shot was inspired by a review StarDaPanda225 left on "It Came from Outer Space" wondering what would happen if a child found a miraculous and didn't understand what a Kwami was.
To yellow 14: Well, that creature itself probably won't be a threat again, but whatever caused it will definitely show up again. The Heroes of Paris probably won't have too much involvement with it; it's going to be covered more in the "SLD Case Reports" series. Fortunately, now the Heroes have some help in investigating these kinds of things!
To Butterfly: I do enjoy using these one-shots as "palate cleansers" between the longer stories! And regarding "Fridge," I hope it lives up to expectations! But Emilie will be back before "Fridge" returns.
To A.K.U.M.A: I have noticed that!
Lise spread her blanket on the grass and set her bakery bag of pastries on one end next to her book, The Hunchback of Notre Dame. She had never actually read it before, but since she was living in Paris, it seemed high time for her to actually read one of the books for which the city was best known – especially since Notre Dame Cathedral was one of their most common meeting places for patrols. Marco had made a beeline over to the playground as soon as they arrived, where a group of other children his age were running around and playing tag under the watchful eyes of a group of parents. As she watched, he caught one little girl, tagged her, and ran off giggling, with her chasing after him. He stumbled and landed on his bottom, and the girl tagged him back. He sat where he'd landed and folded his arms in a pout, but presently stood up, looked around, and ran off to chase another boy.
Russa phased out of the bag, a mini-scone in her paws, and sat down on the blanket next to Lise to eat, humming quietly to herself.
"I hope you left a few for me," Lise teased her Kwami.
Russa giggled. "There may be a few crumbs left!"
"How sweet of you." Lise pulled a couple éclairs out of the bag, opened her book, and was soon lost in it, ears attuned for the distinctive sound of Marco's laughter. Lying next to her, Russa sunned herself while idly watching Marco's game. About fifteen minutes later, Russa nudged Lise's side. She looked up quickly to see Marco sitting on the see-saw with the same girl he'd been playing with earlier, talking animatedly. The girl pointed to something sitting on the see-saw in front of them. He looked in her direction and waved when he saw her watching him. "Marco! Snack time!" she called.
Marco toddled over as quickly as he could, grinning from ear to ear in excitement. He stumbled on the edge of the blanket and fell to his knees, sticking a hand in the pastry bag and pulling out a fistful of cookies. He shoved all of them in his mouth at the same time, his cheeks puffing out like a chipmunk.
"Marco, what have we said about eating so many cookies at once?" Lise chided him calmly.
Marco chewed for several minutes before he could swallow. "Don't?"
"That's correct," she praised him. "One at a time now: we don't want you to choke and hurt yourself."
"Siento," he apologized. "Play more!"
"When you finish your snack you can go back."
"Okay." Marco shoved another two cookies in his mouth.
Lise rolled her eyes. "Who's your friend?"
"Lauren?" he asked. He smiled excitedly. "She's cool! She lives there. She has a kitty. Her daddy works at a school. Mommy works at banco. She plays with Gramma! And she has a fairy!"
Lise hummed indulgently, only partly listening to his excited rambling. "A fairy, you say?"
He nodded. "She found it at the park and it stays with her!"
"That's fun." Lise snorted in amusement, wiping a thin layer of crumbs off her book.
"It's the same size as Russa," he explained. "Tiene pointy ears and whissers and a tail! And its nom Paw."
"That's int–wait." Lise cocked her head in confusion, turning her full attention to the toddler. "What was that?"
"A fairy!"
"And the fairy is Russa's size?"
Marco nodded, annoyed. "Uh-huh. Can I play?"
"Okay," she told him, "but be careful!" As Marco ran back to where Lauren was sitting on a swing, Lise gave Russa a look. "Do you think…?"
She nodded seriously, her jaw setting in a thin line. "It definitely sounds like a Kwami," Russa squeaked, dropping to phase into the ground beneath them.
Lise looked around the park cautiously, suddenly on high alert for anything out of the ordinary. If Marco's friend really had found a miraculous, what might that mean? Could it be one of Night Bat's miraculous? One of the missing Atlantean miraculous? What if Lynchpin's people came to look for it? She didn't have to wait long; Russa returned less than ten minutes later, an amber Kwami with triangular ears and a long tail following her. "I don't believe it," she whispered, staring at the Kwami.
"Hi!" she squeaked, grinning cheekily. "I'm Pounss. I'm the Lynx Kwami!"
"Hi, Pounss," Lise greeted her quietly, smiling. "I'm Lise. I take it Russa told you that we are here from the American Miraculous Temple. So what's your story?"
Pounss shrugged. "My miraculous has been lost for a while, but the little girl found my bracelet a few days ago," she explained. "We've played tea party and dress up, and she thinks I'm a fairy."
"So I've been told," Lise observed wryly. "Has Lauren been treating you well?"
The Kwami nodded. "It has been nice to be out of my miraculous again, and Lauren is so sweet. She lets me have anything I want to eat!"
Lise smiled in relief. The idea of anyone mistreating a Kwami had made no sense to her before they arrived in Paris and learned about Kwamis being abused for their power. But if the girl was being kind to Pounss, that could make this conversation that much harder. She frowned at Russa, who gave her a pensive look. "So what do we do now?" she asked the two Kwamis. "I mean, I'm sorry, Pounss, but we can't exactly leave your miraculous in the hands of a three-year-old… And with bad guys in the city trying to get their hands on every miraculous they can, she could get hurt if they find out about you."
Pounss frowned sadly. "I do wish it were different, but I have to agree. The Miraculous of Secrecy is far too easy to misuse."
"What is the miraculous?" Lise asked, looking across the park at the spot where Lauren and Marco were riding down the slide together. Something on Lauren's wrist caught her eye, just as it stuck on the railing of the slide while she climbed back up. "The bangle?"
Pounss nodded.
Lise hummed quietly and thought. Seeing Marco looking in her direction, she waved him over, removing a rubber bracelet from her own wrist as she did so. "Marco," she asked when he returned, "Can you ask Lauren if she wants to trade her bracelet for this one? This one won't get caught on anything as easily when she's playing."
Marco shrugged and wandered off, holding the new bracelet in front of himself. Presently he returned with an amber bangle in his hand, barely large enough for a child's wrist, which he handed to Lise. It grew larger as Lise placed it on her own wrist for safekeeping. Satisfied, she gave Pounss a look. "Do you want to go say goodbye to Lauren? I hate to take you away from her without any explanation. Maybe you can tell her you need to go home to fairy world but you might see her again someday."
Pounss nodded sadly and flew over to Lauren, who gave the Kwami a hug, tears in her eyes. She patted the Kwami on the head and kissed her, and presently the Kwami returned. "What are you going to do with me now, Lise?" she asked, eyes wide.
Lise fished out one of the roast beef sandwiches they had brought for lunch and offered the Kwami a couple slices of meat. As Pounss ate, Lise thought. "Well, the first thing I'll have to do is show your miraculous to our Guardian – Marco's mother. Julia can decide if you should stay here with the Heroes of Paris or if we should bring you to the American Temple. But you're with friends now: we've already found several of your Atlantean brothers and sisters, a few of whom are active at the Mansion where we're staying."
"Kheaa and Dorreen and Paxx will be so happy to see you again!" Russa squeaked, clapping her paws excitedly.
"It will be nice to see the others again," Pounss agreed with a relieved smile. "I haven't seen another Kwami in at least a millennium!"
AN: Merry Christmas (in advance)! Tomorrow look for the first chapter of "Fear Itself"… which takes place the first weekend in October and is definitely not a Christmas story…