OKAY. It's been too long. I swear I start every chapter with those two sentences. I should really stop saying 'I'm back' since that seems to be some sort of invitation for the powers of hell itself to make it impossible for me to write for at least a week afterward. Here's a shorter chapter for today, and a promise that there is another coming down the pipeline, no matter how long it may be.
I got some pretty interesting feedback on the way the other characters acted in the last chapter, so let me explain some of my decisions.
Why Rose and Juleka? Because I feel like after Reflekdoll and the school picture business, Juleka would have a really bad taste in her mouth after seeing Marinette and Chloe team up. They committed very similar offences, and even if Marinette apologized, that's not going away super fast. And then if Luka, (the one who told her she was pretty and should go for it) was suddenly trying to help them, that would make her crack a bit.
What's up with Luka? The way I see Luka is as the big picture, hyper aware, type player. Even with his miraculous he's more in the background, trying to figure how what promptings people need to make the changes/decisions for the good outcome. Even at the beginning of the New York episode, instead of telling Marinette to decide something, he says he 'hopes she finds some clarity'. And that's what he did in the last chapter where he recognizes that the best way to help Marinette is to give her an ally whose dealt with this before. He can tell how Chloe's feeling and that she needs to get out of her own head to help Marinette. So he turns Chloe's own words against her, getting her to talk and giving Marinette the information she needs to make that decision.
What's up with Chat? Honestly, I do not think I have done super good with the writing of Chat/Adrien. Writing him is a bit of a struggle for me, honestly. But I have consistently recognized that Chat's solution to nearly everything is Ladybug, or confidence in Ladybug. And as much as that's helpful, to some degree it's been there so long that it's not as effective just because Ladybug doesn't have as much confidence for him to play off of. Ladybug's moments thus far haven't been more than a few seconds of worry and uncertainty, something that confidence can fix. This is more of a intense debate on who Marinette is and what she wants/deserves to be. So I don't think that'd be as successful.
Will there be a giant argument and/or showdown? In my mind the big showdown was more at the beginning of the book, before Marinette got akumatized. That was the biggest climax. Now we're dealing with the fallout, where neither side really wants to do anything more than be super passive aggressive. There will be more intense scenes for sure, but as for the big showdown final-blow style, that was when Alya told Marinette's secret. That was her big KO punch.
I could go on for hours about the new reveals related with Zoe in season 4, but I'll just give some bullet points. Spoiler alert for season 4.
1. Zoe actually looks like Adrien and Marinette's kid what the heck
2. Zoe's bee costume is actually disgusting, I could hate Chloe and love Zoe, and I'd still like Chloe's costume more, it's that bad.
3. Zoe's sting thing is connected to her hand, which is super interesting to me since that's how she imagined it without knowing anything about Ladybug (supposedly living in NYC with her mom), so the fact that Chloe imagined it to be a yo-yo like Ladybug's is so sweet and role-model-y to me.
4. It'd be worse if Zoe was Chloe's half sister, cause that means Audrey ran away and met someone in NYC, had another child, and liked the both of them more than Chloe and her dad.
5. If Zoe knew that the miraculous was Chloe's pride and joy and that it was taken away from her (even if it's cause she was a brat) then she's incredibly rude and that goes against the whole 'happy and sweet' aesthetic she's supposed to have. (Unless that's a rouse and Chloe ends up getting to prove her sister for the terror she is, and gets the miraculous back because of that. Thomas you have one chance at redemption.)
6. If Marinette gives the miraculous to Zoe knowing she's related to Chloe (whether or not she's the 'better sister') then Marinette's on her way to needing her own redemption arc, ngl.
7. I feel like the good bits of Chloe are being pulled apart and given to other people - like how Zoe gets the miraculous, and Alya deakumatizes herself by resisting. Stop taking away the good parts of Chloe's character to make up for the two-dimensionality of the other characters. Give them something interesting sure, but Chloe's not a deleted ideas for later use folder.
Thank you thank you thank you all for the support, even though it's been a while. It means the world to me!
That was way too long, so without further ado, onto the chapter!
The rest of the day passed as uneventfully as Chloe could hope. No one was challenging them outright at least, probably because they were afraid Marinette would get akumatized again. The girls took the same plain car back to the hotel, and passed the time in relative silence as they scrolled their phones and did occasional bits of homework watching the sun go down. When it was no more than a fiery pixel on the horizon, Chloe had been startled by the knock on the window, and spun around to find Chat at the window. She rolled her eyes and darted into the bathroom to shower. She didn't need to be present for that.
Whatever Chat had said, it had sort of worked, since he didn't leave with the miraculous box, but not enough to keep Marinette from zoning out and chewing at her lip.
The same easy uneventfulness claimed the next day's classes and lunch period. Chloe was surprised to find that the pastries from the Dupain-Cheng bakery were as acceptable as they were, but not as surprised to find out that Marinette was so good at lying. With only a couple sentences she managed to secure complete trust from her parents that she and Chloe were working on a big final project that would be easiest if Marinette slept over for a couple days.
For some reason, Sabine liked Chat and Luka a bit too much - while Tom was a bit overbearing toward Luka, and purely polite toward Chat. Chloe wasn't surprised when neither of them were really sure of her presence.
That night at the hotel was much more interesting, however. It was dark and quiet, and Chloe had slipped her shoes off for the day. The two were up on the roof, which Chloe made sure had been rid of any splinters, after Marinette had told Chloe about the room of her own home. Chloe was glad she had gotten rid of the Queen Bee light, no matter how many times it had taken her to finally give the request to the hotel staff. Marinette kept looking over at that corner though, as if she too was saddened it wasn't there anymore. Chloe was vaguely aware that Marinette kept brushing her hair behind her ears, even though it was up in the same usual pigtails that the Audrey part of Chloe insisted was for four-year-olds. A moment later Marinette was crying. Not sobbing, not silent, just pure resigned grief as she pulled the first earring out of her ear.
"What are you doing?" Chloe accused, and Marinette froze.
"I can't, Chloe." Marinette admitted, reaching for the second one, and pulling it out too.
Chloe's face was half shocked, half exasperated, but all determined once a butterfly landed on the earrings, and a glowing purple outline framed Marinette's face. "Can you hear me Hawkmoth? That's Ladybug you're trying to akumatize, and Paris needs her. She won't be joining you!"
Then without hesitation, Chloe grabbed the earrings from Marinette's hands and threw them away onto the ground behind her.
The purple lines around Marinette's face disappeared as soon as they came, leaving a heaving and breathless Marinette behind.
"Cataclysm!" Chat shouted as he jumped onto the roof and vaporized the akuma in front of their eyes.
"What was that? What happened?" Chat asked, moving protectively in front of Marinette.
Tikki was flying up to the group next second, holding the ladybug earrings. "Marinette was almost akumatized again. If the miraculous had become an akumatized object, who knows what would've happened!"
"My Lady, are you okay?"
Marinette was staring at Chloe with wide, teary eyes. "I head Hawkmoth, and then I heard you, and Hawkmoth was gone."
Chat smirked at Chloe, with a hint of pride, and something very Adrien about him.
"How did you know removing the akumatized object would work?" Tikki asked.
Chloe sighed and sat down. "It worked for me once. Telling Hawkmoth off and then throwing the thing."
Chat closed his staff and hooked it behind his back. "You did that too? Who helped you do it?"
Chloe shook her head, "No one. The heroes just won against Hawkmoth again, and I didn't get to be involved. I was so disappointed, I snapped at Sabrina and made her go away. Hawkmoth tried to akumatize me, but I told him I was a superheroine, and I trusted Ladybug to ask me for help when she needed to. I threw the picture, and Hawkmoth was gone."
"You trusted me?" Marinette asked, voice clear despite her tears.
Yesterday it was lunch at Luka's and today it was on the roof. This was too much confessed too fast for Chloe's liking.
"You're Ladybug, everyone in Paris trusts you."
"Even though I was akumatized?"
"My Lady, I've been watching the news, there's not a single person that wasn't there last night that knows who you are. And if they do, they decided to trust you anyway, and not publish the story." Chat explained gently.
Marinette was silent for a moment, watching Tikki who was still holding the earrings.
"What was the thing you threw away?"
Chloe scoffed, crossing her arms. This she did not want to admit.
Chat almost laughed. "Come on Chlo, what was it?"
"That stupid polaroid I made you take with me."
Marinette's eyes softened, and then hardened, breaking her gaze away from the earrings to look Tikki in the eyes. Tikki flew closer to the girl and offered her the earrings back. Marinette was reminded heavily of her hesitation the first time she got the earrings, and then of the same determination.
She took the earrings back.