DISCLAIMER: A quote from #17 The Underground and another quote from Megamorphs #1: The Andalite's Gift.
Chapter 9: An Aftermath for an Origins Tale
After school finally let out, Rachel headed straight home.
As she walked into the hotel, everyone else in the lobby, both employee and guest alike, stared at her. She pretended like she was looking straight ahead, but out of the corner of her eye, she took a quick mental survey of everybody's reactions: They ranged from admiration to disapproval, from shock to skepticism…
She didn't even want to look at tomorrow's news articles or their headlines. She didn't even want to look at those currently going right now!
For the umpteenth time, she rhetorically asked herself why she'd gone and done that.
As soon as the elevator doors closed in front of her, she leaned off to the side and banged her head against the interior.
Stupid, stupid, stupid…
Now she would really need to watch her step from now on.
Once Rachel was out of the elevator, she went straight for her room. Just like a shark with its singular focus of hunting for prey, she cruised straight through the hotel hallway until she was back in her inner sanctum.
After slamming the door behind her a little too hard, she stalked over to the large bed and threw herself onto it, screaming into the pillows and linens.
"What a day," she muttered, once she was certain that she'd gotten it all out of her system.
She turned her attention to where the punching bag was once again hanging from the ceiling, as if yesterday's mishap had never happened. After going over there and punching it several times, she walked over to her bed and threw herself back onto it.
Not a moment later, there was a knock on the door. "Mademoiselle?" a man's polite voice called through it.
"Come on in, Jean."
Her loyal butler walked into the room. "Welcome back home, Chloé," he greeted her. "I trust that the punching bag has been fixed to your satisfaction?"
"Yeah, it's all good," she replied. "Honestly, maybe we should have checked it sooner."
"Well, at least it's fixed now," Jean said with a smile. But then his smile dimmed a little. "However, I also wish to convey how worried your father has been. He was very distraught earlier, and he has not been able to speak more because he has spent all day trying to calm the city after the events of earlier today and yesterday. For that matter, all of us here were also quite worried."
Now Rachel felt a little guilty. She treated Jean and all the other hotel employees with as much respect and kindness as was appropriate, and they loved her for it.
"He will want to speak with you later, once things have died down."
She nodded. "I know."
"Or I can do that right now," another man's voice added.
Rachel kept herself calm and turned to the doorway to see her father standing there.
André Bourgeois, owner of Le Grand Paris Hotel and the Mayor of Paris, certainly cut an impressive figure. He looked even better once he'd lost some weight and gained more confidence so he wasn't such a bumbling pleaser anymore (not that Rachel would ever say anything like that out loud).
And right now, his cool gaze was focused on his daughter Chloé.
"Thank you for attending to Chloé's needs as usual, Jean," Mayor Bourgeois told his butler.
"Yes, sir," Jean dutifully said as he saw himself out, but not before giving Chloé one last sympathetic look on the way out.
Rachel looked at this man who was her father, stood tall and not slouching, but also looked down at the ground in shame.
She couldn't actually recall the last time she'd been in trouble like this, in either life.
"Chloé," he began, but then trailed off. After skipping a beat, he then started again: "Chloé, look at me."
Peeking up at him, she tried to read his expression. He kept his face blank, almost mask-like, but she thought she could see some hesitance in his face; as if he didn't want to do this, but he was doing so anyway because parental duties dictated that he did.
"Chloé," he said slowly, "what was that all about? Why did you go and do that today?"
"I don't know," she said quietly. Because I miss the action and the thrill of the fight, she thought to herself.
Rachel didn't like lying, but it just came back to her so easily because it had been necessary for her to lie. It was just like when she was an Animorph, and her mother and father had no idea what was really going on. Just as Naomi and Dan Berenson had had no idea for the longest time that their daughter was fighting a war against alien invaders, now André Bourgeois had no idea what sort of person his "daughter" was or used to be.
And Rachel truly hoped that the man who was now her father in this life never found out.
She looked up again to see him looking at her strangely. To her, it looked as if he was torn by comforting her as he used to for so long, ready to shower her with love and affection and maybe some kind of gift to make her feel better, and wanting to come down hard on her.
But mostly, it looked like he was trying to hold it together and not throw a fit or have a breakdown right on the spot.
"I saw and heard that you were injured," he continued, his voice controlled and measured. "But then I called that doctor's office and they said you were alright. How are you feeling?"
"Perfectly fine. Whatever Ladybug did, it fixed everything that Stoneheart did."
"Yes, well, I saw that. All the physical damage to the city is gone too, and anybody else hurt by that was healed." And then he pierced her with a look. "And hopefully this will teach you to not be so reckless in the future, young lady!"
Rachel took it all in stride. "Yes, Dad," she said, looking appropriately ashamed of herself. "I'm sorry."
The mayor forced himself to take a few deep breaths to calm down, and he finally sounded normal again. "I'm glad you're alright," he said, closing the distance between them and pulling her into a tight hug, "but don't do that again."
"Yes, Dad," she said again, muttering the words into his chest as she returned the hug.
"I love you, Chloé."
"I love you too, Dad."
After they separated, the mayor stepped back and cleared his throat. "I came back home to check in on you and get some things, but unfortunately I'm going to be busy for the rest of the day. I really wanted to just sit down and have dinner with you, but what with everything going on..."
As his voice trailed off, Rachel could see the regret in his voice. In the past few years, André Bourgeois had really tried to be a better father, and not an absentee father who handed off most of the child-rearing duties to the hotel staff and placated his daughter with lots of money and lavish gifts. Rachel would say he had succeeded in that regard.
"It's fine, Dad," she reassured him. "The city is under attack by a supervillain; that's as good a reason as any."
A small part of Rachel's mind silently noted how absurd it was, what she'd just said and how calmly she'd said it, discussing supervillain attacks as naturally as natural disasters. But he looked relieved that she was so understanding; after all, she knew the importance of duty.
"May I ask what your plans for the rest of the day were?"
Rachel could just feel the frown spreading across her face as she remembered about wanting to talk with Marinette. She still wasn't looking forward to that, but it needed to be done.
"Well, I was going to walk over to Marinette's place," she told him. "I need to talk to her about something."
"Is everything alright?" André asked, concerned.
"She's fine, but, well… she and I had a little disagreement about something yesterday, but I'm sure we'll be fine in the end."
André looked like he wanted to ask just what was wrong, but elected not to. He trusted his daughter enough not to pry into things like this.
"Well, then you can go," he told her. "Please tell her and her parents I say hello. Will you be walking there or taking the car?"
"I can walk."
"Alright, be safe," he told her. "Please, just be safe."
"Sure thing, Dad, I will."
Nodding again, he gave her one more quick hug and saw himself out.
Barely a minute had passed before Jean popped his head in again. "Is everything alright, Chloé?"
"Yes, Jean, everything is fine. I'm just going to get some homework done before I head over to Marinette's."
"Very well. I will be around if you need me."
And once he was gone, Rachel sat down and contemplated recent events.
As much as she hated to admit it, she wasn't an Animorph or any other kind of hero anymore, and she would need to be careful.
Glancing over at the clock, Rachel saw the time and planned ahead for the rest of the day. She had time to get her homework done before it was time to leave the hotel again and do what she really needed to do:
Talk with Marinette…
Getting her priorities in order, Rachel sat down at her desk and blazed through her homework. Once again, she started with the subjects and other things which she remembered from her previous life, and took a little more time for the things which she was now learning for the first time.
After getting her homework done, Rachel remembered the picture which Alya took of the three of them. Not wasting any time, she went and printed it out, and happily pinned it on her board next to the other pictures. It looked great along with all the other pictures posted there.
Much later that afternoon, as the worst of the rain was subsiding, Rachel made her way to the bakery. She walked along in a fashionable raincoat and under an expensive umbrella.
It was an old habit of hers to take a car from the hotel to school and then back again, despite the relatively short walk from Le Grand Paris to François Dupont. Maybe it had something to do with her father just feeling better if she was escorted to and from school, citing safety concerns.
At one point along the way, she looked ahead and saw what looked like a short old man walking under his own umbrella towards her.
Nice Hawaiian shirt, buddy, she thought to herself.
But as she got closer to him, he stumbled over a crack in the sidewalk and threatened to fall face-first onto the pavement—!
Rachel let out an exclamation of surprise and concern, and hurried forward to catch him. She even slid forward on her knees across the wet pavement to catch him just in time.
"Are you alright, mister?" she asked the old man.
"Yes, thank you very much, miss," he said with a bit of a foreign accent as he looked up at her. Now Rachel could see his face, with East Asian features and lots of gray hair. "I just stumbled over a crack in the pavement…"
Looking over his shoulder, Rachel could indeed see a crack in the pavement jutting out. "I'll get somebody to look into it right away."
"Oh, thank you, Miss," the old man said gratefully. "And how might you accomplish that?"
"Well, I'm the mayor's daughter," she said as humbly and as smoothly as she could. "I'll tell him so he can let the right people know."
"Ah, such a wonderful young lady," he smiled, "helpful and civic-minded!" But then he peered closer at her. "Say… aren't you the one who confronted that villain earlier today, tried to talk him down? That was very brave of you, but you really shouldn't have gone and done that, Miss Bourgeois!"
Yeah, yeah, everybody's a critic, Rachel was tempted to say, but instead held her tongue. "Well, I guess it seemed like a good idea at the time," she said with a little uncertainty, which only helped reinforce the image of the headstrong and impulsive teenager she was supposed to be.
"Well, just be more careful from now on, Miss Bourgeois!" the old man said cheerfully. "Thank you again so much, but I must be going now! Be well and stay safe!"
Rachel bade him farewell in return with a half-hearted "Au revoir!" but she felt herself bristling a little at the "stay safe" comment there at the end. Was the old man warning her against supervillains or inclement weather? Or both? Or anything at all?
Shrugging, Rachel straightened herself out and continued walking along under her umbrella. As she walked along, she sent a quick text message to her father telling him about the sidewalk pavement before she forgot about it.
Once that was all done, she did her best to push it from her mind.
And soon enough, she was at Marinette's family's bakery.
"Mr. Dupain, Mrs. Cheng?" she called out as she walked in through the door. "Hi, I just wanted to stop by and visit. Is Marinette available?"
"Chloé?" Mrs. Cheng said aloud, walking up to the counter with a smile as Chloé folded up her umbrella and took off her raincoat. "It's good to see you, dear," she said, coming up around the counter and reaching out to hug her.
Rachel gratefully accepted the hug. She loved Marinette's parents.
"Good to see you too, Mrs. Cheng," she said quietly.
"However," Mrs. Cheng added, pulling back and giving Rachel a serious look, "perhaps you shouldn't pull any more stunts like what you did today."
There was nothing threatening about what the shorter woman said or did, but Rachel still felt intimidated and took it seriously all the same. "Yes, ma'am," she said in a humble tone.
Rachel was grateful to have a maternal figure in her life like Marinette's mom… even if it meant having to take criticism from time to time. But there was something about Sabine Cheng which scared her in a way which even André Bourgeois didn't… not that Rachel would ever admit something like that.
Satisfied with her daughter's best friend's response, Mrs. Cheng nodded and smiled again. "Good."
Rachel let out a small sigh of relief.
"Chloé, is that you?" Mr. Dupain called from somewhere in the back. "Sorry I can't greet you right now, I'm just really busy with one thing in particular!"
"Don't worry about it!" Rachel called back, as she finished taking off her raincoat and straightened herself out and made herself look presentable.
"Oh please, don't worry about this, dear," Mrs. Cheng said, gently taking Rachel's raincoat and umbrella and putting them on the coatrack to dry off. "Just go on up and see Marinette."
"Thanks, Mrs. Cheng," Rachel replied, and made her way upstairs to her best friend's room.
As Rachel stood on the stairs up to Marinette's bedroom, she took a moment to compose herself — and to mutter "Let's do it" under her breath — before she knocked on the door above her head.
"Marinette? It's me."
"Come on in, Chloé!"
And with that, Rachel climbed up into Marinette's bedroom to talk to her.
As she waited for her best friend to arrive, Marinette was showing Tikki around her room.
It was almost like having a fairy godmother, albeit one with a penchant for ladybugs. Marinette could hear her own inner child squealing with excitement. Tikki just looked and sounded so cute.
"Oh wow, look at all these things!" Tikki exclaimed, floating and zipping around the room. "The human race has certainly come a long way in the last century or so! The last time I was out of the Miracle Box, people were only just starting to use electricity and telephones!" she continued, floating in front of the computer and fascinated by its screensaver animation.
"Wow, you've been around for a long time, haven't you?" Marinette said, partly asking and partly commenting.
"I've been around since the beginning of the universe!" Tikki happily declared. "I had to be, as I'm the Kwami of Creation! And right after me came Destruction, and the rest of the kwami followed as time went on and more concepts came into being. But it was only about five thousand years ago that we first started interacting with humans and took on these forms so we could manifest on this physical plane."
After ending her little discourse and giving Marinette time to digest it, Tikki turned back to the computer again. "So, this is what computers look like these days? It seems like it was only yesterday when people were first seeing Ada Lovelace's computer being demonstrated!"
"You met Ada Lovelace?" Marinette asked Tikki, trying to recall what she could from her history lessons about the history of computers. "Wait, was she one of your previous holders?"
However, before Tikki could answer, Marinette's computer pinged, alerting her to a new message.
But it wasn't her normal email; it was her business email.
Marinette got plenty of these messages all the time, and she'd learned how to distinguish the genuine would-be clients from the fakers and trolls. But what really got her attention was the name of the sender.
"Mayor André Bourgeois?" she gasped. "What does Chloé's dad want me for?"
She quickly read the email and could barely even notice Tikki hovering over her shoulder. "Wow, that sounds wonderful!" the kwami exclaimed.
Marinette was too stunned to say anything about Tikki reading over her shoulder. It was a commission for Chloé for her upcoming birthday, and he was offering quite a lot for it.
"I wonder if Chloé knows about this…?" she muttered to herself.
"She's your best friend, right?" Tikki asked. After everybody had returned to class after Stoneheart's defeat, Tikki had made herself comfy in Marinette's purse and observed everything going on.
"Yeah, she's my best friend," Marinette said with a smile. But then her smile faded a little when she recalled yesterday's events.
"Is something wrong, Marinette?" Tikki asked.
"You didn't see it yesterday… how she reacted when Stoneheart first appeared, or what she did earlier today…"
A rush of memories and accompanying emotions came back as Marinette tried to keep it all together. First there was the emergence of this new supervillain, but also with Chloé's baffling yet scary reaction to it… and then there was Chloé's shifty secret-keeping, combined with her criticism of Ladybug while not knowing it was really Marinette behind the mask…
Marinette had never been the proud or vain type, but Chloé's criticism of Ladybug had hurt, especially while Marinette had been beating herself up for that uncaptured akuma multiplying like that. She'd felt shame after the fact for taking it so personally and getting mad at Chloé for it.
But before Tikki could respond to any of that, Marinette saw a text message from her mother pop up: Chloé is here!
Marinette gasped. "Quick, hide somewhere!" she whispered urgently.
Tikki zipped out of sight, and Marinette could see the red kwami disappear behind the big cat pillow on her bed.
"Marinette?" Chloé's voice called through the door. "It's me."
"Come on in!" she hollered back.
The trapdoor opened, and Chloé climbed up into her bedroom. "Hi, Marinette," she said with a cautious smile on her face.
As soon as Chloé was fully in Marinette's bedroom and the trapdoor was shut again, Marinette rushed forward and hugged Chloé tight.
Marinette was happy to see Chloé again, she truly was… but then everything came back to her in a rush. She'd held back earlier while they were at school and didn't want to make a scene, but now that they were all alone, she thought she could let loose a little.
"Marinette, are you alright?" Chloé gently asked.
"What are you thinking, Chloé!?" Marinette suddenly exploded.
...Well, alright, more than a little.
And now not only was Marinette still kind of hugging Chloé, but now she was shaking her best friend back and forth. Before she could stop herself, Marinette was carrying on, unable to stop herself.
"What were you thinking, running off after that supervillain!? You could have gotten hurt — well, more hurt than that — or you could have been killed, Heaven forbid! What if you'd died, Chloé!? Then I'd have to go to your funeral, and then I might have to give a speech and even help bury your coffin, OH GOD I COULD NEVER DO THAT..."
Marinette hadn't been thinking about it much earlier that day as Ladybug when she was in the middle of the second bout against Stoneheart, but now that the battle was over and she was plain old Marinette Dupain-Cheng again, it all came back in a rush. The mere thought of Alya or Ivan or Mylène getting thrown from or dropped off the Eiffel Tower was more than enough to make her shudder, and the thought of Chloé managing to get herself hurt like that made her truly nauseous.
Marinette was aware of the fact that she was spiralling, as she had a tendency to do sometimes, but she just couldn't stop herself. She just kept on ranting and raving, all the while going on about the worst images her frantic mind could conjure…
She was vaguely aware of Chloé calling her name ("Marinette? Marinette! HEY, MARINETTE!"), and she finally stopped ranting and raving.
Marinette focused again to see Chloé looking at her, with what appeared to be genuine concern on her face.
"You're right, okay?" Chloé said without preamble. "It was stupid. I was stupid, and I'm sorry. I don't know what I was thinking, but I certainly wasn't trying to make you and everybody else worry." And then, as an afterthought, she added, "Besides, both my dad and your mom have already said their piece too…"
Marinette took a minute to calm down, and she nodded. "Okay," she said at last. "But let's back up a little. About yesterday…"
"Yes," Chloé said, clearing her throat, "about yesterday…"
Marinette gestured to the reclining seat, and Chloé sat on the edge of it like a bench.
"So… why exactly did you react that way yesterday, Chloé?" Marinette said, as calmly as she could. "You looked like you wanted to rip someone apart with your bare hands. I'm not mad, but I just want to understand because I just don't get it."
Now Chloé looked… ashamed? "I don't know," she said at last, looking down at the floor. "Maybe I just hate the idea of big bad villains going around and hurting people. After all, you know how much I hate bullies and the like."
Oh, did Marinette and everybody else know that about Chloé. "Okay, that makes sense," Marinette nodded. "It's just… well, not the sort of reaction people usually have for something like that."
"Yeah, yeah, I know," Chloé muttered. "Like I just said, I don't know why I did that either."
"Uh-huh," Marinette hummed. "But then why did you decide to run after Stoneheart today? Was that also because of whatever's making you act like this?"
Chloé shrugged, still looking down at the ground. "I guess I don't know why I did that either."
After an awkward moment of silence between the two of them, Marinette asked, more to break the silence than anything else, "Does this have anything to do with whatever is bothering you?"
Chloé didn't answer right away, but seemed to think it over. "I don't know. I mean, I don't think so…"
Marinette was very concerned for her best friend. Chloé was putting up a strong facade, but Marinette could tell when her best friend was truly stressed, no well how much the other girl tried to hide it.
"Whatever it is, is it really that bad, Chloé?" Marinette asked gently.
But that might have been the wrong thing to say, as Chloé scrunched her eyes shut and started to grip at her head, looking incredibly stressed.
"Chloé!" Marinette exclaimed in alarm, shooting up from her seat and rushing over to Chloé. "Chloé, it's alright! It's fine! Please, just calm down!"
That seemed to get through, as Chloé began to relax, and eventually let go of herself.
"Sorry," she mumbled.
"You know what, it's fine, we don't need to talk about it now," Marinette said gently.
Chloé stood there awkwardly, looking around, before glancing out the window. "Huh, it stopped raining," she commented. "Want to go out onto the balcony? I could use some fresh air."
Marinette was a little surprised at this request which seemed to come out of nowhere, but she obliged; she didn't see anything wrong with it. "Sure," she said, "follow me."
A minute later, they were on the balcony, with both of them admiring the view.
"Quite the view, isn't it?" Chloé commented. "The way the sun just lights up the sky after a rainstorm, especially this late in the day."
Marinette nodded and hummed in agreement. It was quite beautiful and inspiring.
They both stood there for a few minutes, watching the peaceful scene and hearing the hum of daily life in Paris. Chloé even leaned forward with her elbows on the railing, looking more relaxed.
Finally, Marinette spoke up again.
"Chloé… I understand if you can't or don't want to tell me what it is that's bothering you, but what's really bothering me is how you're acting. Whatever it is, it's clearly bothering you, and I hate seeing you like this." And then she added as an afterthought: "And I'm sure everybody else does too."
Marinette watched Chloé's facial expression change, and now the blonde looked more pensive and guarded than anything. It was the kind of expression which conveyed the message: You're not getting anything out of me. Even though nobody had declared that Chloé would be divulging anything.
"Yeah," she replied with a big sigh, "I know."
"Although I know you try to keep it under control," Marinette hastily added, trying to stay positive.
"Mm-hmm."
"So… can I ask what it is that's bothering you?" Marinette asked tentatively.
Chloé didn't answer right away, but eventually said, "I'm sorry, Marinette, but I just can't. I guess you could say it's really raw and personal. And, no offense, but I'm not even sure if I should tell you." Turning to fully look at Marinette, Chloé said, "You ever get stuck with some big secret which wasn't yours to share? Well, it's kind of like that."
Under ordinary circumstances, Marinette wouldn't have been pleased with this excuse… but now things were not so ordinary anymore.
And now Chloé's words struck a chord with her, because now Marinette herself knew what it was like to have secrets which she couldn't share with other people, including her best friend.
She was Ladybug.
Now that Marinette held and wielded a Miraculous, she couldn't tell anybody about that. She couldn't help but wonder what Chloé's secret was.
But now that Marinette had a big secret of her own, she suddenly didn't want to pry Chloé's secret out of her.
And Marinette didn't want to be a hypocrite.
She was drawn out of her private musings by a heavy sigh from Chloé. "Look, Marinette," her best friend was saying, "if you really want me to tell you what it is, if it's really that important…"
"No, I guess not."
Chloé's head jerked up at that. "Huh?"
"Uh, sorry, what I mean is… no, you don't need to tell me. I mean, if it's really that bad, then I don't want to push it."
Chloé looked surprised, but she eventually calmed down and looked relieved as well.
"That's… I… thank you, Marinette," Chloé managed to get out, looking a little lost for words.
However, something about this still bothered Marinette, and she felt like she had to say something about it.
"Can you just promise me one thing, Chloé?" she asked.
Chloé seemed a little surprised. "Sure, what is it?"
"Whatever this secret is… it's not going to hurt anybody is it? Whatever it is that's bothering you?"
Chloé didn't answer right away, but seemed taken aback by Marinette's question. However, after a few seconds, she finally said, "No, Marinette, my secret is not not going to hurt you. Believe me, if I thought that you or anybody else I knew was in danger, I'd say something right away."
And judging from the dead serious look in Chloé's eyes, Marinette could tell that she meant it.
Deciding that it was enough, Marinette settled the matter. "Thank you, Chloé," she said, feeling relieved.
"No, thank you, Marinette," Chloé said, also looking relieved herself.
Marinette pulled Chloé into a sisterly hug which she gladly returned. "It's good to be back," Marinette commented. "Not just back from vacation, but with my friends again."
"I know, right?"
By now, most of the dark clouds were gone, and the late afternoon sky was shining beautifully after the storm had passed. It not only reflected Marinette's mood, but seemed to reinforce it. Things were getting better again! Even with a new supervillain town, she was reunited with her best friends again, Chloé and Adrien…
Adrien…
Marinette could feel the heat rising to her face as she thought about him, and as something more than just a friend…
"Hey, are you alright?" Chloé asked. She must have noticed Marinette's expression.
"Um, yeah!" Marinette replied, a little too awkwardly. "Hey, how about we go back inside, and I tell you there?"
"Sure, whatever," Chloé said with a shrug. Marinette doubted that anybody could have heard them, but she just felt better talking about this in her bedroom than on her balcony.
Once they were back inside and settled, Chloé said, "Alright, so, what's the big thing you need to tell me?"
Now Marinette felt a little flustered; she wanted to tell her best friend but at the same time was unsure what to say.
She took a deep breath and said, "I think I'm in love with Adrien."
…Or at least she tried to say it; it instead came out as an incomprehensible muttering, and she could tell that Chloé didn't catch that either.
"I'm sorry, what?" Chloé said.
"I think I'm in love with Adrien!" Marinette blurted, nearly screaming it. And then she clapped her hands over her mouth when she realized just how loud she'd been.
Chloé took a moment to let those words sink in before she smiled. "Well, it's about time," she said happily.
Marinette blinked a few times. "What do you mean?"
"Eh," Chloé said with a shrug but still smiling, "I just had a feeling."
Marinette didn't know quite how to reply to that, but she felt good knowing that her best friend Chloé was there to support her.
Normally Marinette was rather shy and humble, but now, she was feeling more and more confident, like she could do anything she put her mind to… even declaring her affection for this wonderful boy she knew named Adrien Agreste.
But how to go about it?
"Actually, Chloé, I was wondering," Marinette said slowly, pressing her fingers together, "whether or not you would help me tell Adrien how I really feel about him."
Chloé looked at Marinette with what Marinette interpreted as a rather strange expression. "Of course! Why wouldn't I?"
"Well… I was, well, sort of afraid to ask you for help."
"What? Why?"
"Well, I knew you had a crush on him for a while."
Chloé gave Marinette an odd look, and then seemed to realize something. "Oh, that," she said at last. "Yes, I had a crush on Adrien for a while. Emphasis on the past tense." Peering at Marinette, the blonde said, "Is that what this is?"
"Well, yeah."
Chloé sighed. Then she said, "Marinette, I'm not 'giving you permission' to date Adrien…"
Marinette wilted in her seat and looked down at the floor.
"...because he's not 'mine' to begin with," she finished.
Marinette perked up and focused on Chloé again.
"Yeah, it's true, I had a crush on him for a while… but I don't think he's ever felt the same way about me, among other things." Now Chloé had a sad smile on her face and then added, "I even dropped a few hints along the way, he never picked up on them."
"I get it, but I just remember all those times you claimed you were going to marry him…"
Chloé winced a little, looking off to the side. "And that's because I remembered my parents promising me that I would marry him someday. Naturally, being the naive and stupid little girl that I was, I took it as gospel."
"Stop that, Chloé."
"Stop what?"
"Stop putting yourself down. You weren't 'stupid' just for believing something your parents told you when you were a small child."
Marinette hadn't been around during Chloé's so-called "bratty phase" but she'd heard enough horror stories about it. And while it was obviously a good thing that Chloé had learned from those mistakes and became a better person along the way, Marinette was still a little uncomfortable seeing Chloé talk about herself like this, and beating herself up like this for whatever she'd done as a small child.
Chloé seemed surprised that Marinette had reprimanded her like that, but she let it slide. "Fine, silly little girl. Better?"
"Much. Now, what were you saying?"
"Well… I think most of my crush on Adrien came from my parents saying I would marry him some day. And yes, he is nice and polite and good-looking too…" (and here, both girls giggled a little at that) "...but, well, I dunno, I just don't feel that 'spark' which would make me fall for him." And then, as an afterthought, she added, "Besides, if he ever felt the same way about me, then I think he would have said something by now."
Marinette blinked. "You seem, well, rather resigned about it."
Chloé shrugged. "I've had a lot of time to think it over and see what happens… and I guess it's just not happening between me and him. I guess he sees me more as a best friend and as a surrogate sister too, but you know what? I'm fine with that."
Marinette nodded, processing all this. She couldn't quite put her finger on it, but sometimes, Chloé Bourgeois seemed more mature than most other kids their age.
...Well, aside from the occasional angry and borderline-violent bouts of rage, of course.
Focusing again on the topic at hand, Marinette said, "I want to date him… but I don't know what to do!"
And before she knew it, she was spiralling again.
"I really want to go on a date with him, but what if I can't get permission from his father, because he'll be lucky enough to just leave the house for school, and then what if I do get to go out on a date with him, but then he's father's like, 'Oh, Marinette, you should totally come and work for me!' But then I already have my own small business going, and then what if it turns out that his father realizes that his son has been dating one of his competitors all along, then I'll be embarrassed in front of all of Paris, NO, in front of all of France, and then I'll have to change my name and flee the country too..."
And as Marinette babbled, she could visualize it all in her mind's eye, images moving by like some kind of mental slideshow, with the images getting progressively more unpleasant and tragic…
"Marinette? MARINETTE!" Chloé's voice cut through, making her flinch.
After stopping her babbling, and then getting her bearings back, she cringed a little. "Sorry, Chloé."
"Don't worry about it. But seriously, it's fine. I doubt that any of that will happen."
"...But what if Adrien's father says no?"
Chloé shrugged. "Then I guess we'll cross that bridge when we get to it."
"But what do I do until then?"
"Then just play it safe, and don't do anything stupid," Chloé said, almost sage-like. "Take it one step at a time, get to know each other better, and don't rush anything. And don't do anything risky until you're both comfortable with doing it."
Marinette was momentarily entranced by how Chloé almost spoke like she was speaking from experience. Before she could stop herself, Marinette commented, "It's almost like you know quite a bit yourself."
Chloé looked surprised, as if checking herself for having committed any faux pas, and then shrugged it off by saying, "Well, I guess you could say I learned from experience just being in the hotel so much; too many lovers' quarrels and other examples of what not to do."
Marinette hummed and nodded. "And what about you, Chloé? Any boys you like?"
Now Chloé looked caught off-guard. "I… I dunno…"
But Marinette could see Chloé's cheeks turning pink.
"Oh, come on, Chloé!" Marinette proclaimed, almost squealing it. "You've got a crush! Who is it? Come on, tell me! Please!?"
Chloé hesitated for a moment before she finally responded,
"Just… don't tell anyone, okay?" Chloé said. Marinette nodded eagerly.
"It's Nathaniel," she said at last.
"Nathaniel?" Marinette repeated, sounding a little surprised. "You've got a crush on Nathaniel?"
"Yeah," Chloé said, looking up at Marinette again. "Don't ask me why, I just do. Why, not what you were expecting?"
"I dunno, I mean, just… well, I dunno," Marinette stammered. "I guess I just never considered that possibility."
Chloé shrugged. "I guess the heart wants what the heart wants." But then she assumed a more contemplative pose, crossing one leg over the other one and putting her hand under her chin. "Maybe I just like the quiet and creative types," she murmured.
"Although, now that I think about it," Marinette continued, tapping her chin and letting a smile grow on her face, "I guess you two would make a pretty cute couple."
"Maybe," Chloé replied, sounding a little distracted. But Marinette could see her smiling a little, even if she was lost in thought.
"Ooh, this could be wonderful!" Marinette exclaimed, bouncing with joy in her chair. "Imagine having Nathaniel as your boyfriend! If things work out right, maybe we could go on double dates too! Just imagine, you with Nathaniel and me with Adrien!"
Marinette put her hands to her face and let out a squeal of delight as she imagined all of them doing just that. She could see it now: Both boys were dressed in something fancy (but not too fancy!), while both she and Chloé were wearing beautiful dresses to match and with their hair all done up, and first they would eat something for lunch or for dinner at a cute little cafe before going for a stroll along the Seine…
Marinette let out a happy sigh as she came out of her fantasy and looked over to see Chloé still looking happy as she thought about Nathaniel (or so Marinette assumed).
It actually made Marinette happy to see Chloé happy like this. It was a welcome change from her best friend looking so grim or angry a lot of the time.
But then her own mood dimmed a little as she remembered one important detail.
"But I don't know where to start," Marinette muttered aloud. Chloé heard her and focused on her again.
"Seriously, Chloé, what do I do? I wish I had a wing woman here."
Chloé silently regarded her, and then got up from her own seat. "Marinette?"
"Yes, Chloé?"
Chloé gently took Marinette's hands in her own, and Marinette looked up to see her best friend smiling down at her, like some kind of teenage angel in casual yet stylish and well-chosen clothing. "I would be delighted to be your wing woman."
Marinette felt all funny, what she probably thought was happiness and gratitude mixing together and getting ready to burst.
She certainly wasn't one to use people for their connections, but it astounded her that not only was she friends with both Chloé Bourgeois and Adrien Agreste — two of the richest and most powerful youths in Paris! — but now one of them was promising to help her woo the other one.
It was at times like these that Marinette just couldn't believe her luck.
Before she could stop her, Marinette leapt up onto Chloé and held her tight, squealing in delight.
"I'll take that as a yes," Chloé remarked.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Marinette exclaimed.
"Don't mention it," Chloé replied, playing it cool.
And just then Marinette's phone pinged. She disengaged from Chloé to check the message. It was a text message from her mother, asking if Chloé would like to stay for dinner.
"Mom wants to know if you'd like to stay for dinner," Marinette relayed the message to Chloé. "She's making some of her homemade recipes, like Lion's Head Meatballs."
Chloé's face already lit up at being invited to stay for dinner, but the mention of Marinette's mother's Shanghainese cooking sealed the deal. "Yum," Chloé commented. "Sure, I'd be happy to stay."
The two of them passed the time until dinner was ready, first by getting their homework out of the way, and then spending the rest of that time talking about fashion and discussing the latest trends. Marinette pulled up digital editions of their favorite fashion magazines, and before long, she and Chloé were trading opinions back and forth about what was hot and what was not.
And soon enough, dinner was ready, and the two girls went downstairs together, still laughing and happily discussing their shared interests.
It felt wonderful for Marinette to have her best friend Chloé back.
"Thanks for letting me stay for dinner, Mr. Dupain, Mrs. Cheng," Chloé said with a smile.
"Of course, Chloé," Marinette's mother replied, giving Chloé a hug. "It's always a pleasure to have you here."
"Is there anything I can do to help?" Chloé replied, returning the hug.
"Well, you and Marinette can set the table, if you want."
Chloé nodded and went to retrieve the silverware from its proper place and place the forks and knives around the table.
It was something that, even after all this time, still amazed Marinette a little how Chloé could just cast aside the air of a rich girl. Ever the dutiful best friend, Chloé Bourgeois was always willing and ready to do her part to contribute and help others. Even now, in one of Chloé's preferred casual ensembles (yellow shirt over white shirt, black jeans, and blue sneakers), there was nothing to suggest that she was really the mayor's daughter and a wealthy heiress to boot. She could easily blend in with a crowd of teenagers and not stand out, and nobody would be able to guess right away that she was the mayor's daughter.
Marinette was happy and grateful to have reconciled with her best friend and have Chloé back, but it still kept niggling at her a little, this mysterious secret she hid so strongly…
"Marinette? Are you okay?"
Chloé's voice pulled Marinette out of her own thoughts.
"Just fine, Chloé," she said with a big smile. Instead, she chose to feel good about having her best friend back.
As they sat down and talked, Marinette and Chloé swapped their stories of summer vacations.
"I really loved Italy, especially Rome. I just took pictures whenever I could, and I just couldn't stop sketching all this stuff. You wouldn't believe how quickly my sketchbook filled up!"
"And what did you do when it was full?"
"Well, then I used my tablet and just drew whatever I could."
"See, I told you that the tablet with all that storage space was a smart move."
Marinette giggled a little. She'd been saving up for something like that, and thanks to some lucrative commissions, she'd been able to buy this really nice tablet without breaking the bank. The extra accessories like the digital pencil and the protective case were nice too!
Soon enough, dinner was served, and the four of them enjoyed some of Mrs. Cheng's Shanghainese recipes. First came the sizzling rice soup, and after that came the lion's head meatballs.
And then it was time for dessert.
"I've actually got a little surprise for you, Chloé," Marinette's father said with a wink.
Chloé looked intrigued. "Oh? And what would that be?"
"You'll see," Mr. Dupain said slyly, getting up from the table to retrieve this surprise for this special dessert. When he returned, he was carrying what looked like a plate with cookies on it, but a cloth hid just what the treats were from view.
"Interesting, but what is it?" Chloé asked him. "Some new recipe of yours?"
"Actually," the baker said with another wink, "it's one of your recipes."
Chloé blinked as she tried to figure out what Marinette's father was getting at. "Wait, you don't mean…"
"Voila!" Mr. Dupain said with a flourish, yanking the cloth away to reveal what looked like oatmeal cookies. "Your own special recipe: Oatmeal cookies made with instant maple and ginger oatmeal!"
Marinette's parents were clearly expecting a more enthusiastic reaction from Chloé, but instead the blonde was just sitting there, staring at it like she couldn't believe they actually existed.
An awkward silence lingered while Chloé seemed to process what she was looking at. To Marinette, it almost looked like Chloé couldn't believe that her father had done that. But before anybody in Marinette's family could say anything, the blonde finally spoke up again: "You… you actually remembered that recipe for those cookies?"
"Well, yes, I hope you don't mind," Mr. Dupain said slowly, looking like he was hoping he hadn't committed a faux pasin front of his daughter's best friend.
"Oh no, it's fine, really!" Chloé hastily reassured them. "I just… wow, I can't believe you actually remember that dumb recipe I came up with."
"Eh," Mr. Dupain said with a shrug, starting to smile again. "It might not have been a big seller the first time I made enough of them to sell, but I thought maybe I'd try it again."
"Oh, that's nice," Chloé said, starting to smile again.
"If you don't mind me asking, Chloé," Mrs. Cheng said gently, "how did you come up with these again?"
"Oh, right… yeah, one time way back when, I ran into this one man who kept ranting about needing more of this oatmeal, and I mean that particular flavor from this particular brand. I thought the flavor sounded interesting, so I tried it once. It wasn't all that good as oatmeal, but I just kept thinking: what if I made cookies with it?"
"And then you asked us if we would help you make it, because you were curious how they might taste," Mr. Dupain added. "I remember all that."
Mr. Dupain offered the plate of cookies to Chloé, and she graciously took one. After taking a bite and chewing on it, she commented, "Wow, tastes even better than I remember. Tastes sweeter, too."
"I added some powdered sugar," Mr. Dupain explained.
"Good idea," Chloé commented. "Still… thanks. I'm touched."
And with that, they each took one and nibbled on them.
After they were done eating and Chloé helped them clean up, both girls went back up to her room so Chloé could retrieve her things before returning home for the evening.
"Thanks again for coming, Chloé," Marinette said with a smile and a quick hug.
"Sure thing," Chloé said, returning the hug.
"Actually," Marinette said slowly, as they separated, "there's one thing I want to show you."
"Really? Like what?"
Returning to her computer, Marinette pulled up the email from Mayor Bourgeois again, but hid the details so that Chloé wouldn't see that part of it. "Your father has commissioned me to make something nice for you for your birthday," she said simply.
"Oh? Like what?" Chloé asked, letting curiosity get the better of her and gravitating towards Marinette's computer to see what it was.
"Uh-uh-uh!" Marinette playfully chided Chloé, quickly closing the message and locking her computer. "It's a surprise!"
"Obviously," Chloé said with a small snort. "But then why are you showing me this?"
"Well, here's the thing," Marinette went on to explain, "do you think he knows that I'm the one behind Atelier Number Sixteen-Hundred?"
Chloé thought about it and cocked her head in thought. "I don't know," she said after a moment. "Maybe he does, maybe he doesn't. Why do you ask?"
"Well, call it a hunch," Marinette replied. "Maybe he remembers that one time you got your family lawyer to sit down with me for a few hours and explain law like Intellectual Property to me."
"Well, yes, I'm sure my dad could connect the dots," Chloé replied, "but even if he did know or figure it out, I sincerelydoubt he would just let that secret loose and let the whole world know that the 'genius designer' behind Atelier Number Sixteen-Hundred is his own daughter's best friend."
Marinette felt herself blush a little, but she knew that Chloé was merely quoting the latest review for one of her products (a really nice purse embroidered with highly intricate floral designs), because it found its way into the possession of some celebrity or another who took it everywhere with her.
"So… what's the problem?" Chloé said. "Just a little worried that someone, like my father, could have figured it out?"
"Yeah, I guess that's it," Marinette said, chuckling nervously as she tried to shrug it off. "I mean, I know I can't get away with it forever, and maybe I'll finally switch over to 'MDC' after I'm done with school and university and all that, but… well, what can I say, I like my anonymity and privacy."
Chloé hummed in agreement. "I know, can't argue that. Still, you have to admit, some of the theories are funny," she added with a smirk.
"Why, what are they saying now?"
"I liked the one claiming that you were American, or specifically living in Washington, D.C., or even someone working at or near the White House."
Marinette blinked. She had nothing against that country, its capital, or where the President of the United States lived, but how the heck did anybody come to that conclusion?
Seeing the look of confusion on Marinette's face, Chloé elaborated, "It's because of the number 'sixteen-hundred' in the name, and the White House is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, D.C. So I guess these people with that theory added two and two and somehow ended up with twenty-two."
Marinette took a moment to try and follow that convoluted line of logic, and then she laughed, and Chloé laughed along with her.
As their laughter subsided, Chloé asked Marinette, "So… everything's fine now?"
There was still that little niggling feeling in the back of Marinette's mind, but she decided to keep her faith in Chloé's judgment and be happy that her best friend was back.
A few minutes later, Chloé was waving goodbye as she headed out the door with all her things, and Marinette was waving back as Chloé walked back home.
Not long after Chloé departed, Marinette was back in her room, sitting and thinking.
A few days ago, Marinette wouldn't have believed that this was her life now.
And now she was the one with a secret of her own.
It made her wonder just what Chloé's big secret could have possibly been.
But she knew better than to try and pry it out of the other girl.
Perhaps it was best that both of them agreed not to nag the other one about big secrets.
"Marinette?" a small voice asked.
She jolted out of her musings and turned to see Tikki floating there.
"Yes, Tikki?"
"So, that's your best friend Chloé?"
"Yeah, what do you think?"
"She's nice and good-hearted, and she clearly cares about you very much," Tikki replied thoughtfully. "But she also has her own inner demons to battle, whatever they are."
That dimmed Marinette's mood a little, but Tikki must have sensed it, because the kwami quickly backtracked. "Sorry, Marinette, I'm not trying to be rude! Just making an observation, that's all."
"It's alright, Tikki, I know what you meant." Sighing, Marinette added, "I just wish I knew what was wrong with Chloé; I just keep thinking, if only I could get her to talk about it and know what was bothering her, maybe everything would be just fine."
"You know, Marinette," Tikki said gently, "you can talk to me about anything. You are chosen to wield the Ladybug Miraculous, and it is my job to help you in any way I can. Now, I would never pry, but if you want to tell me more about yourself and your friend Chloé, I would be happy to hear it."
Marinette thought about it. Part of her wanted to accept Tikki's offer to hear her out… but part of her didn't want to do that.
It wasn't that Marinette didn't trust the kwami who was sworn to secrecy, but Marinette hadn't even known Tikki for two full days, as opposed to the three years and change with Chloé. Not only that, but she wasn't about to talk about Chloé behind the other girl's back; that would be wrong on so many levels, like breaking the girl code.
And, no offense to Tikki, but if Marinette wasn't even going to tell her own parents about it, then she definitely wasn't going to tell this newcomer in her life. Even if Tikki was the Kwami of Creation and as old as the universe itself, as she claimed to be.
After mulling it over, Marinette looked up at Tikki again, who had patiently waited with a serene smile on her face.
"Tikki," she said as politely and as diplomatically as she could, "I appreciate your offer, but I hope you can understand if I don't want to go spilling my guts out to you about it all just yet. If it's really that big of a problem, then I promise I'll turn to you to ask for advice about it."
If Tikki was at all upset or disappointed about it, then she didn't show it. "That's perfectly fine, Marinette," she said cheerfully, and Marinette was entranced by how cute she looked and sounded.
"Thank you for understanding, Tikki."
"Of course," Tikki chirped, and Marinette felt so relieved.
"So…" Marinette began, trying to find something else to talk about. "How about I find some more cookies to feed you? Maybe you'd like to try more of my Dad's stuff?"
Tikki's eyes lit up at that. "Really!?" she exclaimed in delight.
Somehow, Marinette had a good feeling about this new arrangement.
Marinette Dupain-Cheng had never set out to be a superhero, but now that she was one, she would do her best at that job.
As the evening went on and she finished up the last of her homework and went through her business website one last time, she kept thinking about her new role as Ladybug and her new partner, Cat Noir.
I guess he's alright for a superhero and as a partner, she thought to herself. He's brave, and witty too… and he also looks good in that black leather suit, she thought, giggling to herself.
But even as she got drowsy and eventually went to bed, Marinette found herself thinking about a certain other green-eyed blond boy, one who had already stolen her heart...
Adrien was alone in his room again.
He already did all his homework, and then he needed to get ready for dinner… although, knowing his father, Gabriel Agreste himself wouldn't even be there with his own son.
Under most other circumstances, Adrien would ruminate on how cold and distant his own father was becoming… but instead, he decided to just be glad that he'd won this small battle today and had earned the right to go to school with his friends.
To nobody's surprise, Adrien was right and his own father was absent from the dinner table. And so Adrien sat alone, with Nathalie watching him from a distant corner. Par for the course, really.
And once that was all over and done with, Adrien was back in his room, trying to figure out what to do now.
He sent a text message to Chloé asking if she had time to talk and waited for a response. When one didn't pop up right away, he settled for just lying on his bed and staring up at the ceiling of his cavernous bedroom.
He closed his eyes, trying to relax…
He didn't know how much time had passed until he heard his cell phone ringing. He immediately grabbed it and saw that it was Chloé calling.
"Hi, Adrien," Chloé said over the phone. "I just got back home. How are you doing?"
"I'm fine, mostly," Adrien replied. "Just had another extravagant lean dinner all by myself, but otherwise fine."
Chloé made a sound of disapproval at Adrien's situation, commiserating with him. "Your dad really needs to get out of the office more. At this rate, he's going to end up being some kind of recluse like Howard Hughes, except in fashion instead of aviation."
Adrien thought that Chloé's comparison was clever and he wanted to laugh at it, but from what he knew and understood about that aviation legend and his life, he really didn't find it funny.
"How about you, Chloé?" he said. "What did you do today after school?"
"Well, I had to go over to Marinette's house to resolve that thing with her, and ended up staying for dinner. Dad was busy with all this stuff going on, and Marinette's folks invited me to stay."
Adrien felt a pang of jealousy, but internally fought to suppress it. "Oh, that's nice," he said, as casually as he could. "What did you have for dinner?"
"Some of Mrs. Cheng's Shanghainese cooking," Chloé said casually, but Adrien could hear the contentment in her voice. He'd been lucky enough to try Marinette's mother's cooking one before, and he could still remember how good it tasted.
Adrien felt more jealousy in his gut — or was that merely his stomach demanding more food because his own lean dinner wasn't enough for him?
Or was he still a little mad at Chloé for her recklessness earlier against Stoneheart?
He wanted to confront her about that, but he wasn't sure if he should. For one thing, he'd seen it as Cat Noir, not as Adrien Agreste. For another thing… well, he really didn't want to fight with his oldest friend, especially not after everything that just happened.
So he forced himself to take a deep breath before he said or did anything stupid.
"Adrien?" Chloé's voice came through the phone again. "Are you there?"
"Yeah, Chloé, I'm fine," he said at last. "What about you? Are you alright, especially after, well, what happened today."
Chloé sighed. "Perfectly fine, Adrien, perfectly fine. Ladybug fixed everything that got damaged, including my leg, and plenty of people have told me how I shouldn't have done that."
Adrien decided to just leave the topic alone. "Well, I'm glad you're better now," he said, letting the topic close.
"Thanks," Chloé muttered, before clearing her throat and changing the subject. "So how was your first day at school?"
"Fine, and I actually liked it a lot, once we got past the thing with the supervillains," Adrien said earnestly. "It's good to see all the other kids again, and I like the teachers too. And honestly, it just felt good to get out of the house."
"Good, good," Chloé mused. And then, after a beat, she added, "You know I got your back and I'm here for you."
"Yeah, I know. And you know that I'll do the same for you."
"Uh-huh."
They talked for another several minutes, chatting about other things, casual things (Adrien was really looking forward to some new upcoming anime series, and he shared his enthusiasm with Chloé), before they both agreed to call it a night.
After they ended the call, Adrien sat there and thought about recent events. A mere forty-eight hours ago, he never would have guessed that his life would go in a direction like this.
Adrien forced himself to clear his mind, and he focused on the important stuff.
He finally got to leave the mansion.
He got to see his good friends again.
He was now a superhero too, and how awesome was that?
But he especially liked being with his friends again.
Going over to his computer, he printed off that picture of himself with Chloé and Marinette.
Adrien had to give Alya credit, that was a really nice picture.
He didn't know how long he was staring at it, entranced, until Plagg spoke up again: "So, got a thing for pigtails, do you?"
"Huh?" he blurted, sounding like an idiot and instantly regretting that.
"I mean, Pigtails over there looks really pretty," Plagg said. "Blondie looks nice too, don't get me wrong, but I saw you looking at Pigtails like that."
"I don't know what you're talking about, Plagg," Adrien said, shaking his head and rolling his eyes. "Marinette… she's just a friend. A really good friend, just like Chloé."
"Uh-huh," Plagg commented, not sounding all that convinced.
Adrien was just about to fire off some stupid small retort before Plagg spoke up again. "But don't worry about it, kid, because you've got me now!" the Kwami of Destruction said with a smug grin, before putting his arms behind his head and leaning back, floating along in mid-air like someone luxuriously floating along in a swimming pool. "I'm here for you, kid!"
Adrien smiled. At least now he had one more friend which he hadn't counted on getting when he started this school year.
Before long, it was late at night and time for him to go to bed and get some sleep. After making sure that he had his school supplies ready to go, all his clothes picked out for tomorrow (after being approved by his father, of course), he hopped into bed.
But Adrien lay down and thought about Plagg's words regarding blue eyes and pigtails, he found himself thinking not of the aspiring designer, but his counterpart in red with black spots...
"Hey, kid, you got any more Camembert cheese lying around this place?"
Adrien sighed, hiding the small annoyance he felt. "Sure thing, hang on…"
Later that night, Rachel sat cross-legged on her bed, deep in thought.
She sighed heavily. Just when she thought she had a chance at a normal life… just when she thought that maybe she could leave all that stuff behind… this happened.
Now she was living in a world where a supervillain lurked within one of the greatest cities on the globe, and their only hope seemed to lay in a pair of fresh new heroes.
I'm trapped in some comic book nerd's fever dream, she thought to herself.
Why oh why couldn't I keep the morphing power to go along with my memories?
Speaking of memories… she cringed a little as she recalled Marinette's father's surprise for dessert.
The oatmeal cookies… made with that stupid instant maple and ginger oatmeal flavor.
There had been that one time when Rachel and the other Animorphs all discovered that a certain flavor of oatmeal made by a certain brand had the ability to drive a Yeerk crazy, if they ingested any of it through their human hosts and became addicted to the stuff…
"We have our ultimate weapon," Marco reported to the others when they were all safely assembled back in Cassie's barn. "Maple and ginger oatmeal."
"Instant maple and ginger oatmeal," Rachel corrected.
"Instant," Marco agreed.
Cassie, Ax, and Tobias all just stared.
"Oatmeal," Cassie said.
"Oatmeal," Jake confirmed. "But only the instant maple and ginger. I guess they don't know why."
"Maybe it's the ginger. Or maybe it's the 'instant.' Whatever that is," Rachel said. "Who cares? Suddenly we have a weapon to use on human-Controllers. A human-Controller who eats this stuff gets hooked and the Yeerk in his head goes nuts. What we have to do is find some way to get a lot of this stuff into a lot of Controllers."
Rachel took a sidelong glance at Cassie. Something told Rachel that her best friend was not going to approve of this. But Cassie was bending over a cage, poking her fingers through the wire to check on an injured badger…
A month after Chloé — Rachel — got all her memories back, she started acting normal again, or at least she tried to act normal. But her fear of the Yeerks or any of those other hostile alien races existing in this universe too would not go away, and to this day she still had no way of confirming if that was true or not. And she'd been plagued with so many nightmares around that time, including her friends and their families getting captured and infested…
Rachel knew back then that it was stupid and she had no proof to justify her fears, and it might not accomplish anything, but she was being reckless and impulsive and she needed some kind of reassurance. So she tracked down that particular flavor of oatmeal (it turned out that the company behind that brand also existed in this universe) and, during a visit to Marinette's home, asked Mr. Dupain if he would be willing to try to make oatmeal cookies with this particular kind of oatmeal.
After all, who would think twice about the mayor's twelve-year-old daughter trying out some wild new cookie recipe which she herself came up with?
Rachel tried her new oatmeal cookie recipe with Marinette and the other girl's parents, shared it with her other friends and classmates and the teachers at her school, and even slipped a few to Adrien and his gorilla of a bodyguard. In the end, the general consensus from those who tried it could be summed up as thus: "Interesting flavor, but not my favorite cookie ever."
So what if the cookies weren't a big seller at Tom & Sabine's that season? At least it didn't make those who consumed them act crazy, or do anything else to hint at alien possession, and that was what really mattered to Rachel.
She sighed as she kept thinking back to the life she had before, trying to recall whatever happy memories she had from that. It was rare during her time as one of the Animorphs, but there were moments of hope and triumph buried under all the despair and struggle...
Rachel found herself thinking back to the bout with the Veleek monster once again, and after that was all over…
Cassie had done it, and she'd finally destroyed Visser Three's pet Veleek monster, once and for all. Cassie herself was still floating in the water in her whale morph…
And then, to Rachel's total amazement, Cassie began to sing the deep, strange, haunting song of the humpback whale. The sound thrilled her, although Rachel didn't quite know why.
‹What are you singing?› Jake asked her. ‹What are the words?›
‹It isn't words, exactly,› Cassie said. ‹But if it were, it would be just one word: hope.›
Rachel took strength from that back then, and she took strength from it again right now.
She even found herself humming that strange, inhuman melody as best as she could recall it here and now.
Rachel needed hope. And surprisingly… she actually felt hopeful. She believed in these new heroes, and that they could win this thing.
She needed to believe in that.
Especially because now she wasn't doing any of the fighting herself.
In the meantime, there was one good thing in all this: At least she'd managed to resolve her issues with Marinette, again.
It was something, at the very least.
Rachel would take these small victories as they came her way.
With that thought in mind, she slept better than she had the night before. And when she would wake up again the following morning, she would be grateful to have had a blissfully dreamless sleep, devoid of any nightmares.
She slept surprisingly well that night, all things considered.
AUTHOR'S NOTES: And I FINALLY got this one done!
As for André Bourgeois… he may not be a nominee for sainthood, but this version of him will be somewhat better than his canon version. (Let's just say that Rachel-as-Chloé, for all her problems, has been a positive influence on just about everyone else around her…)
And YES, Rachel/Chloé will become Queen Bee in due time. Trust me, I want to get to that part too!
So, how was this for a follow-up after the "start" of these adventures?
As for her run-in with Master Fu… was it pure serendipity, or was that deliberate on his part? Time will tell...
I know that there's already a trend in Miraculous fanfiction to have Marinette as the secret mastermind behind a brand named MDC, and I'm so not the first to do anything like that. HOWEVER, as far as I can tell, I'm the first to make use of how her initials are also Roman numerals adding up to the number 1600, and thus work those into a brand name.
And as for Marinette and Chloé having a "truce" of sorts… how many of you saw that coming? But don't worry, I won't drag it out like the "love square" in canon. For that matter… I promise you this: I will NOT drag out the romantic tension or all this secret-keeping like in canon.
I looked up Shanghainese recipes and found a whole list of them at this website The Spruce Eats and the article "Top Chinese Food Recipes From Shanghai" by Rhonda Parkinson (updated 5/18/21). top-shanghai-recipes-695001
Just imagine how different things might be from canon, with this good version of Chloé being the wing woman to help Marinette get together with Adrien, along with the fact that both Marinette and Adrien already know each other… Goodbye, Love Square, & Hello, Love Blob-of-Indeterminate-Shape.
And as for this chapter's art, thanks to jovie for that picture of Marinette and Chloé on the balcony (you can find her on Instagram), and to Beebeebombam once again for another great illustration!