Disclaimer: I don't own Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Chat Noir.

Author's Note: I wonder if anyone here loves anime too?

Desideratum

Chapter 12

The apartment was silent when she arrived home that Sunday night. The sound of her heels clicking on the hardwood floors echoed in the large, empty space.

Outside, the night was still young, Parisians were still up and about enjoying the cool breeze running around the city and normally, this time is her and Cadence's bonding time after her long day at work. Not this time, though.

Heaving a sigh, she forced herself out of the state the resounding emptiness had brought her in and advanced into the room, throwing her keys on the small table near the door. Running a hand through her hair, she dropped her bag on the couch in passing, as she made her way into the kitchen. Her head was pounding, so she grabbed a bottle of Tylenol she always kept within easy reach, shook a pill out, and fetched herself a glass of cold water. She took it with her to the living room after she had swallowed the painkiller, setting it down on the coffee table.

There was no way she could close her eyes in this situation, so she kicked her heels off and settled on the couch to watch the twinkling lights over the city through the large glass wall. She was tired—exhausted, even—both because of the travel and the conference she had had to attend, but there were thoughts circling in her head—thoughts that made her restless.

She couldn't remember the last time she had felt so out of her element, so unreasonably scared. Even when Luka appeared out of the blue on her doorstep, she had known what her next move would be. But now… now it was impossible for her to see the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel.

Since he was born, Cadence had never been one day apart from her—one day. Perhaps she had left him alone for a couple of hours while she dealt with matters regarding work, perhaps there were nights when he went to sleep on his own, and perhaps he had learned to make sandwiches by himself whenever she was late for dinner.

But he had never been away from her.

Marinette had known that their lives would have to change once Luka stepped into the picture. She had known the time had come for her to share her son. She had known that Cadence would grow to love his other parent, that maybe he would grow even to prefer him. That had never bothered her, though, because he was his father, and that was the way things should have always been like.

But she was completely in the dark when it came to knowing how to deal with this.

She wanted Cadence to be happy more than she wanted anything else in the entire world, but if that meant being away from him…

"He will try to take Cadence away from you."

"The need for revenge is something that characterizes the human race."

"No," she whispered to herself as she brought her knees up to her chest and drove her hands forcefully through her hair. Tears filled her eyes. "You wouldn't do this to me. You wouldn't. You couldn't."

The problem was… she had trusted him once. And he had let her down.

She pushed that thought away as soon as it came. She would not blame him for what had happened between them. She would not blame him for their failed marriage. She simply refused to. He wasn't the only one at fault, and thinking like that was selfish and irrational. Marinette had spent many restless nights over the past six years trying to come up with a proper explanation for this situation. She had been unable to.

And that was the exact reason why she couldn't blame him.

What she needed to do was trust him. There was no other way. The moment they stepped over the threshold not an hour later she arrived home, Cadence was no longer by Luka's side.

"Mom!" he heard him shout, his little footsteps thundering out of the room.

Luka took longer in entering, but rounded the corner in time to see him leaping into his mother's arms. Marinette caught him easily, hugging him tightly as his own little arms came to wrap around her neck; she smiled, kissing his cheek, before resting her head against his and closing her eyes.

"God, I'm not used to being away from you," she said.

Cadence laughed, pulling back to see her face. "Nah, me neither."

"Then I guess it's a good thing that I kept my promise," Luka, who had been watching the exchange quietly from where he leaned against the wall, said, bringing their attention upon him.

"Good for you, yes," she answered. She shifted the boy in her arms, but refused to put him down. Cadence grinned at him from where he had tucked his head below her chin.

Luka smiled. "You had fun?" he asked.

He laughed, exclaiming, "Yeah! I met my aunts!"

Marinette kissed the top of his head to hide her smile, bending her head slightly to talk to him, "Why don't you go upstairs?" she suggested, placing another kiss on his cheek.

"Sure," he agreed.

She lowered him to the floor. Her smile was obvious as she watched him bound up the stairs, taking two at a time. Then she turned to Luka, hands stuck in the back pockets of her jeans, blonde hair falling over her shoulders in soft waves, amber eyes staring directly into his.

"Thank you," she told him, genuinely. "For taking care of him...so, he already met Juleka and I'm guessing, Rose too?

Luka smiled, shaking his head. "No. Thank you, for letting me spend time with him, and yes, they peppered him in kisses and spoiled him rotten the moment they set their eyes on them."

"I told you once, Luka. I won't keep him away from you. Where's your mom?"

"I don't want you away from me, either," he confessed. "I know that… you don't want to be around me. I know, and I understand. But the thing is… Cadence misses you these days. And I—" Luka paused before heaving a sigh, "Uh, Mom's in Scotland, going over something over the ancestral house, I told her about Cadence though, she would want to meet him too and you. Juleka and Rose too, they missed you."

"I-uh, I missed them too, I just don't know if I would still be welcome after everything that happened to us. To be honest, I haven't contacted anyone since we arrived back here. I-don't-uh, I just don't feel like seeing them yet, I owe them a lot of explanation. I just packed up and left without so much of an explanation to the. They were my friends and I just left." she said, complete ignoring the first part of his reply.

Luka nodded. "We can't be two separate persons. Not when it comes to him, and that goes to my family too, he's my son and they would want to meet him, but I understand, I'll let you know before if they want to see him again...and your friends? Marinette, the moment you left I've been bombarded by questions about your whereabouts. I'm sure they would love to see you and Cadence. Huh, I vividly remember Kagami came at me with her sabre threatening my life after what happened to us. Please talk to her." Luka chuckled as he remembered that certain memory.

"That's Kagami, alright. Yes, I'll contact them soon. It's just been so busy these past few days. And I know. I got that, they are your family, I am not going to keep my-our son from his family. And for Cadence…" She shook her head. "Luka, I would do anything for Cadence."

Luka smiled. "Then I guess we're on the same page," he said. Pulling the key the boy had given him mere minutes before out of his pocket, he attempted to hand it over.

But Marinette shook her head. "Keep it," she said. "I have a feeling you'll be around for a long while."

She was about to close the door, when a thought entered her mind, she didn't know what came over to her to blurt it out suddenly just as he was leaving. "Oh, but I met Adrien in London, he's there to represent Gabriel."

Luka felt a shiver running down his spine as soon as he heard Adrien's name. Marinette already closed the door before he could even reply and the walk to his car had him contemplating with thoughts he remembered thinking when they were still teenagers.

"Marinette and Adrien?"

A/N: Oho! Is Adrien going to steal the scene? Please leave a review!