Ah, Chat Blanc... get ready for another long-ass chapter. Get ready for fluff and angst.
Of course, inspired by the song Time After Time. Which version? Whatever you want. The lyrics are the same. Personally really like the QuietDrive cover of it.
Below his home, Gabriel Agreste visits his wife. No truth can cure the sorrow we feel from losing a loved one. No truth, no sincerity, no strength, no kindness can cure that sorrow. All we can do is see it through to the end and learn something from it, but what we learn will be no help in facing the next sorrow that comes to us without warning.
"Emilie, I miss you every moment. But one day, I will get the Miraculous of Ladybug and Cat Noir, repair the mistakes of the past, and make sure you return to us."
OoOoOo
Marinette gripped her gift for Adrien's fifth names day in her hands. She had once again tried to give the boy something she made in hopes that if he received it, then her feelings would come through. However, yet again she found herself unable to deliver the package and instead came with her tail between her legs to her friends. As she approached, the girls frowned and Lucy held out her hand to Rose who pouted and handed her the unicorn plush she had bet Marinette's confidence on.
"Don't worry, Princess Twinkle Peach will be happy with me," Lucy said, petting the tiny stuffed animal with a smirk.
"Girl, what happened!?" Alya asked bummed.
"I was thinking maybe Adrien doesn't like berets, or what if he hates it when people celebrate his fifth name's day? Or... maybe he wouldn't want to know that I love him?" The last reason felt like it weighed the most to Marinette. When Bunnix came, Marinette had felt a smidge of hope. After all, Adrien may have confessed to having feelings for Lucy, but Marinette had no idea if Lucy would ever reciprocate those feelings. What she did know was that Chat was also in love with Lucy, and Lucy definitely reciprocated those feelings. If Lucy ended up knowing Chat's identity in the future as he knows hers, then maybe there was a chance for them to be together after all? Then, maybe, Adrien would eventually get over Lucy and she could be the one to put his heart back together!
Marinette didn't know how long that would be though. With that being said, the pigtailed girl thought that maybe she could change his feelings like Chat's did for Ladybug. She couldn't shake the nagging feeling as she had walked the street toward Adrien's though. What if he found out about her feelings and couldn't return them? Adrien was a great friend to her, and the thought of him feeling awkward around her after knowing her feelings made her uneasy. What if he got upset? Adrien told her about his feelings for Lucy, what if he found out about her own feelings and thought of it as some kind of betrayal or disregard of his feelings?
Marinette internally groaned.
"The only way you'll know is to tell him how you really feel!" Alaya encouraged.
"I know, but... " Marinette reaches for something in a picnic basket but Rose shuts it.
"That's it, Marinette! No more picnics, sleepovers, or going to the movies with us until you give him that gift! You made that hat for Saint Athanasius Day, which is today! How is Adrien supposed to know you're thinking of him on his fifth name's day if you don't give him your gift?"
"She's right. Today is the day!" Alya agrees.
"Go, go, go, go, go, go!" The girls begin to chant. Marinette Looks to Lucy for help but the blonde girl only shrugs her shoulders and gives a thumbs up. With a deep breath, Marinette nods.
"Rise and shine! Behold, the goddess of self-confidence has awakened!" Mylene said, waving her arms toward Marinette who then ran back the way she came to go deliver the gift.
"And don't forget the card!" Alya shouted after her.
OoOoOoOo
Adrien sat in his car fidgeting with the gold medal around his neck. He had had a fencing tournament today. It ran a little late, but in the end, he won. Kagami was a good sport about it, saying that the defeat only fueled her drive to push harder. They dropped her off at home before heading to his own. As he gazed out the window, Adrien noticed Marinette running down the street in a hurry. He raised an eyebrow, naturally curious to where she was off to in such a rush but didn't dwell on it for long. When he stepped out of the car and made his way to the door, Nathalie was waiting for him. She commented on his lateness and he explained the reasoning behind it. As usual, his father wasn't around to greet him or ask how the tournament had gone.
"Can you let father know I won?" Adrien asked to which Nathalie nodded.
"When he's done with his work."
Taking out his phone, Adrien made his way up the stairs to his room and skimmed over his contacts to Lucy. He had told her he would call after he got home to let her know if he "took home the gold." as she put it. Before he could hit dial, Adrien pushed open his door and spotted what looked to be Ladybug yo-yo out his window.
"Ladybug?" He questioned out loud, now noticing the gift on his bed. Picking it up and unboxing it, Adrien finds a beret that resembles his favorite shirt with white hearts on it. "Why would Ladybug leave me a gift from Marinette? And with a heart embroidered on it?"
"Uh well, it's obvious because Marinette asked her to!" Plagg suggested, trying to cover up what now was becoming obvious.
"Or because... Ladybug and Marinette are the same person!" Adrien said as it clicked in his mind. It all made sense now. His mind flashed with conversations they had had together and how it all fit so perfectly. He felt so ridiculous for not seeing it earlier.
During the movie they made for school.
Fine." Nino then went on. "Lucy, you can be Agent Smith." Lucy raised an eyebrow at him.
"Me? Why me?"
"You know the script." Nino said as if it was obvious. "And with the attitude you've had today, taking charge and putting your foot down, its exactly what we need in an agent Smith."
OR! Oooor, Marinette could do it." Alya suggested making Marinette panic again.
"What?! No! I'm the producer."
"It's up to you Marinette, I don't care." Lucy offered, smiling gently at the girl.
The video game tournament
"Hi Adrien." Marinette greeted from her seat in front of her computer with a small wave.
"Hey Marinette." Adrien greeted back, walking over to take a seat next to his new partner.
"Welp!" Lucy said loudly as she plopped onto Marinette's couch off to the side of the room. "Don't mind me, you crazy kids. I'm just here to make sure you don't try to get frisky." She flipped her phone into her hand and began scrolling through her social media, not noticing Adrien looking at her with a somewhat appalled expression.
"Lucy I would never-"
"Don't worry, I wasn't talking about you, Adrien."
"LUCY!" Marinette shouted at her blonde friend, her eye twitching.
Chloe's party
"I think I have had enough dancing, but! Mari!" Lucy called out, making the pigtailed girl blink at her before coming toward them. "I'm sure Marinette would have no problem keeping you company here on the floor." She said, pushing Marinette in front of her and into Adrien. A confused look crossed his features before he brought his eyes down to Marinette who looked at him with a nervous smile. Adrien gave her a soft one back and began to move to the music, getting Marinette to do so as well.
The night he and Lucy fell apart before they could begin when he spoke to her as Chat.
"You're in love with Lucy." It wasn't a question.
"I guess it doesn't matter. She never showed up." He admitted.
"Seems like you and I could both use a bit of cheering up." She said leaning on the railing.
"You've gotten your heart broken too?" Chat asked, surprised at the coincidence.
"Yup." Marinette admitted
"Marinette?"
"Yes?"
"Have you ever wanted to be with someone so bad, but you instead keep being hit with the realization that it may never work out the way you want it to?"
"Constantly." She spoke, her throat felt tight.
"So what do you do?"
"Keep trying." She answered honestly.
And then with Ladybug
"Gonna tell me how stupid this was?" He asked as he brought his head back down. Ladybug shook her head no.
"Chat...I don't want to step on your hopes. I care about you. You are more than just my partner, you are my friend and I want you to be happy. You and Lucy...it's not smart. My opinion on that has not changed but...Love is stupid sometimes." She admitted and Chat looked at her. "We cannot help who we love. Lucy is...she's great. I really want this to work out for you, I do, I just...I'm worried."
"Me too." Chat said quietly.
"Talk to her." Ladybug continued. "Maybe things will work out...maybe they won't, but you both deserve to be on the same page. I'm not the one to give out love advice. I have my own issues in that department..."
"M'lady has love troubles of her own huh? Who's the lucky guy? Anyone, I know?" Chat asked with a grin. Ladybug gave him a small smile and shook her head.
"Doesn't matter. My point is that I don't know if it's going to work out either. Every turn is telling me that I am heading in the wrong direction of my destination...but I just keep going."
"Why?"
Ladybug paused and let out a breathy laugh almost unsure of her answer. "I don't know...I guess where I am supposed to be and where I want to just happen to be two different places and I've never been good at reading a map."
Well," Chat said, giving her a friendly smile. "Life is always a bit more of an adventure without a map anyway."
Oh how terrible he felt for confessing now.
"Marinette! Perfect timing!" Marinette always had everyone's best interests at heart and Adrien felt confident in her ability to give him solid, well-thought-out advice. He walked with her over to a nearby bench. He sat down awkwardly as Marinette happily gave him her full attention. "Okay, well... I'm sorry, this is a bit awkward for me because it's about a girl."
"A girl?" Marinette's heart flipped, the conversation filling her with sudden anxiety and maybe even excitement.
"We see each other all the time and have been just friends but I have been feeling...different and she can be a little hard to read.."
"So...she was a friend but now you want her to be more than a friend...but you don't know if she feels the same way?" Marinette inquired, her anxiousness building.
"Exactly. Have you ever had that problem?" He asked.
"Yes..eh, no, well probably. What is she like?" She asked, hoping to hear some type of description that would fit her own.
"She's..." Where did he begin? "Kind...and funny. She has these eyes that I sometimes feel like I might drown in..." He closed his eyes and smiles. "And when I am with her I feel..."
"Happy?" Marinette interjected in a whim.
"Home." He corrected.
Marinette's heart hammered in her chest at his description. "Do...do I know her?"
"Yeah," He replied looking at her. "Lucy."
She even asked for Chat's advice on it all.
"Remember when I told you I was having...love troubles?" She asked him, fidgeting with her fingers.
"Yes, of course."
"Turns out that might be even more trouble than before. The guy I have feelings for, I know him in my civilian form. I found out recently that he is harboring feelings for a friend of mine."
Chat frowned. "I'm sorry M'lady, that sucks." Ladybug nodded a little.
"Yeah, it does. It's worse though because although my friend is unaware of his feelings, she is well aware of mine."
"That does complicate things doesn't it?"
"I want to hate her." Ladybug admitted. "I wanna hate her so bad but I can't. It's not her fault. She's just...awesome."
"You're awesome too." Chat told her, and Ladybug gave him a small laugh.
"While I appreciate that, it doesn't matter. To him, I am just an awesome friend, and I am starting to think there might be nothing I can do about that."
"Have you talked to your friend?" Chat asked in a suggestive tone. Ladybug shook her head no.
"I've been too nervous. Her knowing...it might make things worse rather than better. I am considering trying to move on from him. I want him to be happy too of course. I'd prefer it was with me but..." Chat placed a hand on Ladybug's shoulder and squeezed it.
"M'lady, you are incredibly amazing for so many different reasons, and one day, you are going to meet someone who sees all of those reasons without you even having to try. This guy that you have feelings for...maybe in time, everything will work out and he will turn out to be the one, or maybe he never was. Life is made of so many moments that mean nothing. Then one day, a single moment comes along to define every second that comes after. Such moments are tests of courage, of strength. You should talk to your friend. She might surprise you."
Ladybug leaned her head on Chat's shoulder and sighed. "Thanks, Kitty."
Why Ladybug knew Lucy had a love interest.
"I guess I wanna know, but at the same time don't. I wanna know, so I know she's not because is there is no one new romantically involved with her then somehow it still feels like there might be some hope that we might be able to work it all out. If she's not though..."
"It's over." Ladybug finished.
"For real," Chat added. "But I know it's only a matter of time. You know how amazing she is. Any guy would be an idiot for not seeing it!"
Ladybug crossed her arms and leaned against the brick wall as she peered inside the window. A mild annoyance filtered inside her as she thought of Adrien's confession a few weeks prior.
"Oh he sees it alright, don't worry, so far it doesn't seem that she's noticed." Ladybug muttered only for Chat to raise an eyebrow at her.
"Wait what?"
"What?" Ladybug repeated, alarmed by her own externally made thoughts.
"You know someone who likes Lucy? Do you know Lucy as a civilian!?" Chat stood, making Ladybug back away from him in panic.
"What?! No! Of course not! That's crazy! You're crazy!" She brought a hand to her earing. "Boop Boop boop! Oh, would you look at that! I'm about to transform back! BYE!" She shouted yo-yoing away.
He had thought she was some kind of fan all the times he found Marinette near the place he last saw Ladybug. She had told him it was because she was in love with him, but she was worried that he was figuring out her secret!
"You're an idiot," Lucy whispers at him to which the hero quickly frowns.
"I had to tell her the truth!" Chat whispers back in defense. Lucy lets out a scoff-like laugh.
"Yes and admitting to not returning her feelings while also including your feelings for the friend she's sitting right next to is a great way to do that."
"I've never had to do this before! Cut me some slack!" Chat argued.
"You see those god-like biceps, earned from years of dough kneading? If you're not familiar with them you are about to be when he crushed your skull between them like a watermelon for being so careless."
Chat looked down, shame filling his being. He understood why Marinette's parents might be upset with him, but could her father truly hold it against him for not being able to return her feelings? Would he rather Chat lied? Lucy sighed and rubbed her face.
"I still don't even know what is happening right now. Honestly, this whole situation is very bizarre but try not to be so hard on yourself. I am almost positive that Marinette is fine and that there is more to this than either of us is seeing. Just...go. Before that man's concern turns into rage. I'm going to go try and fix...whatever this is."
And when Lucy dismissed the idea of dating him.
"Okay...well...why him? Why not someone you know really well. Someone you trust, someone like-
"Adrien Agreste?" Chat froze at the name. Yes, why not Adrien Agreste?
"I wasn't going to name anyone specific." He told her. "But...sure. Why not someone like Adrien? You guys seem close. Not that I am super amped at the idea of you being with...someone else...he seems like a nice guy."
"He is a nice guy," Lucy told Chat. "But he isn't an option."
"Why not?" Chat asked, and he had to force himself to try and not sound too offended on his own behalf.
Lucy let out a small chuckle. "A lot of reasons actually."
Lucy knows Marinette's feelings for him.
"I just keep getting reminders that there are consequences for my actions is all." She then admitted. Adrien watched her face as she continued to look up at the sky. "Have you ever met someone and felt . . . I don't know how to describe it, felt a chance at having something that eluded you? I don't know . . . Forget I said anything."
He knew what she meant. She was describing that moment when you realize that you are lonely. For a time you can be alone and doing fine and never give a thought to living any other way and then you meet someone and suddenly you become lonely. It stabs at you, almost like a physical pain, and you feel both deprived and angry, deprived because you wish to be with that person and angry because their absence brings you misery. He hated that she felt that way. He hated that he did too. It would be so much easier if he could just...
"I love you, Lucy. I need you to know that." Adrien admitted. Lucy's eyes met his and she gave him a soft smile.
"I know Adrien." But she didn't. Not really. "I love you too."
He wanted to explain it to her. Express that his words meant so much more than just what she was hearing.
Nut up or shut up is what Nikolas had said to him. As Adrien looked down at Lucy, and she took a hold of his hand in her own and leaned her head against his shoulder he tried. It was there, sitting in his core. I love you more. A short and sweet sentiment that he was sure if he just said it would get the point across. He wanted it to be the right time, the right place, the right moment. He knew in his heart of hearts that when it came he would know it and there would be no way to stop it. No bullshit. This wasn't it. He wanted it to be, but this simply wasn't it.
Nut up or shut up.
He shut up.
And that stupid prank!
"I wish I knew how to express myself better. Oh, beautiful statue of Adrien, your wax is so soft! Your yak hair is silky. Your eyes are so green." Marinette says, twirling around him. "Oh, shall I be a statue, too! Everything would be so much easier."
Lucy's eyes widen as she hesitantly reaches towards he friend. "Um, Marinette..."
"Why haven't we been molded together in the plaster of destiny? Marble to marble, wax lips against wax lips, entwined for eternity... Ah..." She embraces the 'statue and brings her lips closer to his and Lucy begins waving her arms in panic. Abort Abort!
Adrien jumps out of Marinette's grasp. "Whoa—! Eternity sounds like a long time...!" He tries to joke as Lucy slaps her forehead with her palm. Marinette yelps in surprise and Adrien tries to explain himself.
"I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to scare you, it was just a prank, that's all..." Marinette pounds her fists on his chest.
"Not funny, not funny at all!" She cries before running off.
Lucy tries to hold back a laugh as Adrien looks to her for help.
"You're a fucking idiot."
The valentines day card!
"Your friend from school, Marinette, just brought you these lessons you missed today. She copied them out for you by hand; she wanted me to tell you she did it for you as a friend to help you."
"Thank you, Nathalie," Adrien says, taking the notes from her. As she leaves, Adrien looks down at the note attached to the book and reads it. See you tomorrow at school. Love, your friend, Marinette.
"I'd never noticed, Marinette's writing. Remember this unsigned card I got on Valentine's Day?" He asks Plagg as he holds up the heart-shaped card he had received. "Of course, it couldn't have been from Ladybug. It had to have been from someone at school, but Marinette? No, Marinette couldn't possibly be in love with me, she's just a friend who loves fashion. Besides, she was the one helping me try and plan a date with Lucy. She wouldn't do that if she had some kind of feelings for me. And of course, there's Luka. It's just someone with similar writing, that's all."
He was a fucking idiot.
"No, no, no, no!" Plagg went on. "Marinette isn't Ladybug!"
"Plagg, stop. It's okay. Everything is going to be fine." Adrien tried to calm the kwami. "This is exactly what needed to happen!"
"WHAT!?"
"This whole situation has made me realize how important it is, to be honest with the people we care about. If Marinette hadn't left me this, I would have never put the pieces together. I would still be oblivious to Marinette's feelings, she would still be hoping that I might like her back, Lucy would be trying to help her, unaware of my feelings, it would be an endless cycle! Adrien explained.
"Then tell Lucy how you feel as Adrien! She doesn't need to know your Chat Noir!" Plagg argues.
"But she does!" Adrien shoots back. "Lucy knows Marinette likes me. She won't allow herself to even consider feelings for me because of that. However, she already loves me. She just doesn't know it. If I reveal myself as Chat, Lucy won't be able to deny the emotions that have already been inside her!"
"That doesn't mean she will be with you kid! Not while knowing Marinette still has the feelings she has!"
"I can talk to Marinette. She already knows how I feel about Lucy, and she never once tried to convince me not to go for it. Marinette is a good friend and she wants me to be happy. She wants everyone to be happy! She'll support us, I know it."
Plagg crossed his arms as he floated in front of Adrien. "I'm tellin' you this doesn't feel right! You are not supposed to-"
"Just trust me, it's all going to work out. Plagg! Claws out!"
OoOoOoOoOo
Ladybug was jumping across buildings, making her way back to her friends when Bunnix appeared in front of her.
"Bunnix?"
"Minibug, something happened today that caused a major disaster in the future. I'm not sure what it was or when it happened exactly. Nothing unusual to report on your side?" Ladybug thought about it, trying to retrace everything that had happened that day that would significantly alter the future so much that Bunnix would be sent back to stop it.
"Think, Minibug, think!" Bunnix demanded, clearly stressed.
"Uh... no?"
"Ugh! In my Burrow, now!" Bunnix grabs Ladybug's wrist and pulls her into her time travel burrow.
Inside the burrow, Ladybug looks around in astonishment. It's a huge open space. Surrounding them are a bunch of circles that act almost like tv screens that are blurred out.
Bunnix puts her hand on a circle. Ladybug runs to two other circles and does the same, unblurring one with a dinosaur and the other of a city of what looks like futuristic Paris. Bunnix notices and puts a bowl on top of Ladybug's head, covering her eyes.
"What's that for?"
"You wanna know what you're getting for your next birthday?"
"No, of course not."
"Exactly."Bunnix guides Ladybug to one of the circles.
"What about you? Do you know about all your birthday presents?" Bunnix gives a small smile.
"I know about... some of them." She says before refocusing on the mission at hand. Normally, we have to avoid interfering with past or present events as much as possible, but this is really serious, Minibug." Bunnix tries to push Ladybug into one of the circles but her right-hand glitches and becomes intangible. "Our future is in danger! I need your help." Using her left hand, Bunnix pushes Ladybug through the portal and removes the bowl from her head.
Ladybug looks around in confusion. They end up on top of the tv station. It looks like she is in Paris, but it's a destroyed, almost completely underwater version of Paris.
"What happened here?"
"The less you know about the future, the better. Just do your thing: capture the Akuma and restore order. Then, the train will be back on track." Bunnix tells her, making her way back into the portal.
"You're not staying?"
"Let's say I gotta stand ready to jump back into time and try something else, in case you fail," Bunnix says, blowing a kiss to her.
Ladybug looks around and tilts her head when her eyes land on a figure sitting on the edge of the building.
"Little kitty on a roof," Singing comes from the figure and it doesn't take long for Ladybug to see its Chat Noir. However, its apparent to her that something has gone very wrong. Chat Noir's usual black outfit is now powder white. Even his hair has gone from the golden color it usually was to platinum.
"All alone without his lady..."
"Chat Noir...?"
His green eyes now an icy blue, pierced her existence as they landed on her.
"M'lady? I thought I'd lost you!" He greets, jumping down from the ledge. "Oh, I was feline so sad that you were gone!"
"What's happened to you?" Ladybug asks, taking a step back. "No, don't tell me. We're gonna fix everything!"
"Of course we're gonna fix everything!" He agrees crawling around Ladybug like a cat. "Now that you're back and now that you're going to... GIVE ME YOUR MIRACULOUS!" He shouts as he stands. Ladybug kicks him away before he can get a hold of them and knits her brows together.
"My Miraculous? What's wrong with you, Chat Noir?!"
"Sorry, I didn't mean to be rude, m'lady." Chat apologizes. "Could you please hand me your Miraculous, please? Cat Blanc has... gotten into some mischief."
"You've been akumatized, Chat Noir." Ladybug says with a sigh as she walks toward Chat Blanc. "You don't need my Miraculous, you need me to de-evilise you. Let me help you." A tear falls down Chat Cheek and Ladybug wipes it away.
"Save me..." Chat whispers, heartbreak evident in his voice.
"My poor kitty... tell me, do you remember where the Akuma went?" Ladybug looks at his belt, then continues to look for one object that might stand out but nothing specific is out of place. Chat Noir grabs her hand and puts it on his chest.
"Here! But it's already broken!" He states, trying to grab Ladybug's earrings again.
Ladybug manoeuvers herself and makes Chat Blanc fall. She crawls away and jumps off a building, with Chat Blanc following after her.
"SHE COULDN'T FIX IT MARINETTE! AND NEITHER CAN YOU!"
Ladybug gasps in shocked by hearing what Chat Blanc said. "What?! She lands on a floating bus a few inches away from Chat Blanc who strides towards her as she crawls backward away from him. "What did you say?"
"Give me a hug... MARINETTE!"
You're wrong!" Ladybug says getting up and running away from Chat. "I'm not Marinette!" From inside the burrow, Bunnix watches carefully, trying to figure out what went wrong. "It's impossible, I never told you anything!"
OoOoOo
"Ta-da, I did it!" Marinette shouts as she joins the girls. They all run to hug her, impressed with her courage. Words of encouragement are shared and Rose takes back her plushie from Lucy and Bunnix immediately pauses the flashback.
"Shit." Bunnix curses. "That wasn't supposed to happen." She pulls out the plushy she had won in that bet, only to find it glitching out of existence in her hand.
As the girls question Marinette about how she got her present to Adrien, Lucy receives a message on her phone. She excuses herself from the group and heads up the off to the right and down the nearby steps. She looks around curiously before being pulled into a bush.
"What the hell!?" She exclaimed, only for Chat Noir to put a finger to her mouth. She glares at him and swats his finger away. "Chat? Why are we in a bush? What is the problem?"
"No problem." Chat answers. "Actually this is nothing but solutions." Lucy eyed him curiously, lifting an eyebrow.
"I'm not following."
"I love you, Lucy." Chat says firmly, making Lucy frown a little.
"Chat..."
"Plagg, claws in." The blonde girl's eyes widen as a flash goes off and a second later, Adrien is in front of her. Adrien waits for her to say something...anything, but instead, she just stares at him, unable to form words.
"I...you..."
"I know this is sudden and...honestly, in my head, I always pictured the moment I revealed myself to you to go a little differently. A little more candlelit dinner and less...middle of the day in a bush, but! Life waits for no one! You once told me that a person couldn't love Chat Noir without loving not Chat Noir. Well, here I am...Adrien-not-Chat-Noir, asking...do you love me?"
"Oh, fuck." was her only response as she continued to stare at him. Adrien blinked at her and nodded.
"I mean...that's not quite the answer I was looking for. Not a no though, so alright..we can roll with this...take your time, process." Adrien took Lucy by the hands and gave them a light squeeze. "Do you, Lucy Shepheard, take me, Adrien-Chat, to be your exclusive and everloving boyfriend?" Once again, only stares.
"I told you this was a bad idea!" Plagg shouts, startling both teens. "You broke her!"
"Oh Gah- what the hell Adrien!?" Lucy whispers harshly. "You're Chat Noir! And you decided now was a good time to tell me?! Why now!? Why in this bush!? Why-"
"Because of this," Adrien says, pulling out the beret.
"Marinette's gift?"
"Marinette thinks she is in love with me and made me this hat to express her feelings."
"Yeah, I know!"
"But I don't love her."
"Yes, you have made that abundantly clear." Lucy sassed.
"And she knows that." Lucy's expression softened.
"What do you mean?"
"I told her. Weeks ago I told her I was in love with you." Lucy blinked at him rapidly.
"And what did she do?!"
Adrien smiled. "She told me to take you to the ice rink."
"Oh my God..." Lucy groaned.
"Yeah, I kinda panicked and asked her to be my buffer, which then lead to Kagami being invited...and then Nikolas...and Luka..."
Lucy let out a hard laugh that she tried to cover with her hand. Adrien's eyebrows shot up as he watched tears form in her eyes. He smiled at her awkwardly, unable to tell if she was laughing or crying at this point.
"Are you sure you're not in love with Marinette..." Lucy said between laughs. "Because that is such a signature Marinette situation that the two of you might be soulmates." Adrien took Lucy's face in his hands and wiped away the stray tear with his thumb while grinning at her.
"I'm sure."
His eyes cast downward towards her lips making him swallow hard. Without giving himself time to second guess himself, Adrien pulls Lucy's face to his own and places a firm kiss on her lips. t only takes a moment for Lucy to respond and kiss him back, leaning forward and wrapping her arms around his neck.
From the burrow, Bunnix watched the interaction with raised brows. This was not how it went down for her.
It felt like they had been both waiting for this moment for longer than either of them could comprehend. Like two lovers being reunited after being separated overseas. Built-up longing and anxiousness spilling out until it covered them both. That was until Lucy pulled away. The pair took in a few short breaths before Adrien tried to Lucy back to him, only to have her resist.
"Wait! Adrien! What about Marinette?" Lucy asked. "She still-"
"I'll handle Marinette," Adrien told her, planting another peck on Lucy's lips. "Everything is going to be fine. I promise." Lucy eyed him once more before giving a small nod.
"It's nice to finally meet you Plagg."
Plagg gave a small smile. "Officially."
"I still don't know about this Adrien. I mean...isn't the whole superhero thing gonna make it complicated?"
"Being Chat Noir makes me happy, and so does being with you. There is nothing complicated about that."
Lucy sighed. "Name one hero who was happy."
Adrien considered Batman, whose parents died leaving him to become a vigilante whose only companion was his butler, Spiderman grows up, also no parents and then has to watch the two people that come closest to it die, Wolverine kills his own father, some of his friends and even the woman he loves, Superman's planet get blown up and is sent to earth where he has to eventually figure out who he is and where he came from while also keeping his identity a secret from everyone he cares about and then becomes a rival with his civilian ego for the woman he loves, which Adrien can't help but now find extremely ironic.
"You can't," Lucy says, interrupting his thoughts.
"I can't."
"I know. They never let you be famous AND happy."
He lifted an eyebrow. "I'll tell you a secret."
"Tell me." She loved it when he was like this.
"I'm going to be the first." He took her palm and held it to his. "Swear it."
"Why me?"
"Because you're the reason. Swear it."
"I swear it," she said, lost in the high color of his cheeks, the flame in his eyes.
"I swear it," he echoed.
They sat like that a moment, hands touching. He grinned.
"I feel like I could eat the world raw. Go back to the girls, I'll handle the rest."
Adrien retransformed and left the bush first. After a moment, Lucy got out as well and dusted herself off, making sure there was no evidence left behind. She wandered back over to the girls who were telling Marinette all about what this could mean for the future.
"There you are Lucy," Rose commented. "Everything alright?"
Lucy nodded. "Yes, I just needed to call my mom about something. Everything is fine."
"Marinette!" A voice called out, catching all the girl's attention. There, at the top of the steps, was Adrien with Marinette's gift in hand. Mylene pushes Marinette forward and Adrien smiles at her. "I need to talk to you. Can we have a minute ladies?" Lucy and the other girls share a look and Adrien escorts Marinette back up the steps and out of earshot from the rest.
"Do you think he's going to confess he likes her back?" Rose asks, clasping her hands.
"Or he'll reject her," Juleka mumbles, making the girls look at her with wide eyes. "Well..cuz..you know.." She mumbles some more, while glancing towards Lucy, suddenly feeling like maybe she should have kept that comment to herself. It wasn't until that moment that Lucy became aware that Marinette must have shared Adrien's confession with the other girls. The blonde girl couldn't help a pain of hurt she felt as they glanced at her, but then brought their attention back toward Marinette and Adrien's figures. They all knew Adrien's feelings and they still pushed Marinette to try and be with him instead. Lucy was a reasonable person. She understood that as a whole, she gave no indication of returning Adrien's feelings, so maybe they didn't see the harm, but still. It stung a little. She wished Marinette would have talked to her. Lucy could only imagine how conflicted she must have felt learning what she did from Adrien.
We can't help our feelings. Marinette was no exception to that rule, but even after trying to help Adrien ask her on a date. That had to count for something. Lucy didn't know what Adrien was saying to Marinette, but whatever it was, she could only hope that it wouldn't damage their friendship too severely.
Adrien patted the seat next to him as he sat at the top of the stairway. Several meters from them, he could see Lucy and the other girls watching, trying to figure out the conversation based on body language. Marinette nervously sat beside Adrien and fiddled with her thumbs in her lap. Adrien suddenly felt nervous too. He never expected to have this kind of conversation with Marinette. Or with anyone really. He sat with his forearms resting on his thighs, toying with the hat in his hands between them.
"Do you not like the beret?" Marinette asked, with an awkward laugh. Adrien smiled and shook his head.
"No, I love the beret. It's great."
"I'm glad."
"You know you mean a lot to me, don't you Marinette?" The dark-haired girl blushed at his words and nodded.
"Good. Because you do. You're one of my very best friends and I don't know what I would do if we ever lost that."
Marinette's smile faltered slightly as if she could already see where this conversation was going. He was going to reject her. For a moment there was a sea of silence around them and she was drowning in it. Learning to have patience and not forcing the relationship is a process for some. If you are trying to force your will onto the other person, chances are you're not ready to really connect yourself. There should be no blame here - only deep and unconditional love.
"You're one of my best friends too Adrien...and I-"
"I love you Marinette," He said. "and I'm so sorry that it isn't the kind of love you want." Marinette could see the brim of Adrien's eyes become red as he gripped the hat she had made him so tight that his knuckles turned white. Her vision went blurry but she willed herself not to cry. It wasn't so much his words that pained her. No, she supposed there was always doubt in her mind. The realistic part of her that knew Adrien didn't see her the same way she saw him. Didn't see her the same way he saw Lucy...No. What pained Marinette was the fear that was radiating off of Adrien. The fear that she would react in a way that would make him feel worse than he already did. The fear that she would hate him for not returning her feelings.
"Sometimes people fall in love with those who do not return the same strength of feelings. That is all there is to it," she said with a quiet intensity. "What I give, I give freely. You owe me nothing, not love, not even friendship. I hoped with my whole heart that you would one day love me the way I loved you and knowing that you don't, actually hearing it from you it..." She paused. "It's...disappointing to say the least but," She placed her hand on his knee. "you have nothing to be sorry about. If anything I should be the one that is sorry, you told me...you told me about your feelings for Lucy and I, well...I guess I just thought maybe you would change your mind..." She stopped again, Letting out an exhausted sigh. "I guess I'm just a selfish person."
"You're not selfish Marinette. You are brave and thoughtful, and..." He smiled to himself. "Miraculous. Adrien brought his eyes to Marinette's as she eyed him, questioning his word choice. "I love Lucy." He told her. "And I am determined to make that work."
Adrien placed a hand over Marinette's and gave it a squeeze. "But you and me? Come what may, you'll always be m'lady."
"M'lady..." Marinette muttered, her bluebell eyes still glued to his green ones. Then there is was, like a flash she could see it. "Chat..."
From in the burrow, Bunnix slides her hands down her cheeks in frustration and worry. "None of this happened!" She groaned in frustration. "Okay, so bare minimum, the gift is the starting trigger point that changed everything, but what the hell happened that made Chat Noir lose his fucking mind!?" She brings her attention back to Minibug and Chat to check on her progress only to find them still playing a game of tag.
"Give me your Miraculous so I can make everything go back to the way it was! MEGA-CATACLYSM!"
Chat Blanc fired a large blast at Ladybug who dived out of the way making the blast hit what was left of the tv station. It fell into the water, raising it over more buildings. Bunnix growled as she went back to the past events and played through them. Adrien and Lucy walk into school together hand in hand, dancing with one another on Luka and Juleka's houseboat during a kitty selection party, eating ice cream together on a bench by the water. Everything, though inaccurate seemed fine. A News broadcast came on, the story being the public announcement that Adrien and Lucy were dating.
"Damn it." Bunnix cursed. "Come on Ladybug, purify him already."
Chat Blanc crawled up the broken pieces of the Eiffel tower, following Ladybug casually.
"Things were PURR-FECT until Hawk Moth found out about everything. Once the cat is out of the bag, it's only a matter of time 'till everyone knows. It was our love that did this to the world, m'lady. We were supposed to protect her Ladybug...I was supposed to protect her...and now SHE'S GONE!"
Bunnix frowned. "But where did I go?"
OoOoOoO
Lucy stood in the dining room of the Agreste mansion, staring up at the portrait of Adrien with both his parents. She much preferred this one to the large, dark, and mildly unsettling portrait of just Adrien and his father in the stairway. She had gotten to Adrien's home a few minutes early, as Adrien was still upstairs doing his Chinese lessons. So to not disturb or distract him, she patiently waited on the floor below.
"Beautiful isn't she."
Lucy jumped at the sound of Gabriel Agreste's voice in the room. He stood in the doorway, his eyes focused on the painting. Lucy nodded before looking back to it herself. Slow, steady footsteps made their way towards her, and soon, the elder Agreste stood beside her, his frame towering over her in an almost intimidating way,
"When I first met Emilie I thought she was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. I knew immediately that I wanted to be wherever she was."
"Well, that seemed to work out for you...for the most part I mean." She said gesturing to his wedding ring but also realizing how her words could have come off as insensitive being that he wasn't exactly where his wife was anymore. Gabriel nodded in response as he twisted the ring around his finger.
"Yes, so it would seem. Our wedding rings were a family heirloom on Emilie's side. She had to put up quite the argument to get them. I wasn't her family's first choice. If I'm honest, I wasn't their second either."
Lucy frowned at his words, pity forming at in her heart for him. "I'm sorry to hear that. I'm sure that was hard to deal with."
"I didn't come from the right family," Gabriel explained. "I didn't come from money or have any real connections. This was long before my days establishing the Agreste brand and her family did not think I would make an etiquette husband and provider for their daughter."
"They came around obviously." Gabriel remained impassive at the statement.
"It took some years, and they had good reason to be concerned. If my line of work was simple, everyone would design and make their own clothes. Fashion is a cut-throat industry and very few who get into it are able to properly make something of themselves. Even I, at the time, did not fully comprehend the work and sacrifice that it would take to be the person I wanted to be. Someone extraordinary and important. Someone who could measure up to the expectations that the woman I loved family had set for me."
His eyes shifted from the painting and down onto Lucy, and the girl couldn't help but shrink under his intense stare.
"Seeing you and my son together, having been through it all myself, it is that I know with utmost certainty," His hands folded behind his back as he leaned down to meet Lucy at eye level. "You will never be enough."
"Sir, Adrien is done with his lessons," Nathalie spoke through the doorway. Straightening, Gabriel turned and headed for his assistant.
"You should hurry now. Wouldn't want to keep my son waiting."
From in the burrow, Bunnix clenched her jaw and took a deep breath out her nose. Even with all the inaccuracies in this timeline, some things never change. She fast forward the screen again and found her younger self sitting in Adrien's bedroom doing homework together. People are all over the world telling their one dramatic story and how their life has turned into getting over this one event. Now their lives are more about the past than their future.
Lucy sat on the edge of Adrien's couch, glancing over her homework pages to look at him. While he focused on his work she took the time to let her eyes shift around his room and really take it all in. All his games, and hobbies, and photos. Specifically, the photo that remained the screen saver of his desktop. The one of him and his mother together. As her eyes fell back on him, Adrien sighed and looked up at her.
"Is something the matter?"
Lucy shook her head no. "I was just thinking."
"Sounds dangerous." Adrien joked, making Lucy roll her eyes and push him with her foot. He laughed and placed his homework down, turning his body to face hers. "What are you thinking about?"
"Where do you see yourself in ten years?" Adrien blinked at her.
"Uh, um, wow...I don't know exactly, why?"
Lucy let out a breath and shrugged her shoulders.
"No reason really. I was just wondering. I mean, right now you live the luxurious life as Gabriel Agreste's son the fashion model but do you want to do that forever?" It was Adrien's turn to shrug.
"I haven't put a lot of thought into it if I'm honest. Every part of my life is always planned out for me. Every part except for...well, you."
"And being Chat Noir."
Adrien chuckles a little. "Well, yes, and that."
"I don't think your dad likes me," Lucy admitted making Adrien's smile drop.
"My dad doesn't like anyone."
"Maybe not," Lucy countered. "but he's your dad. I can't help but want him to like me a little." Adrien scoffed and gave out a sarcastic laugh.
"Don't hold your breath. I'm pretty sure my dad doesn't even like me all that much." Lucy rolled her eyes.
"Your dad loves you. He's shit at showing it but you can see it if you look hard enough." Adrien scooted closer to Lucy, placing her legs on top of his in the process. His hand extended across the backrest of the couch and reached for her face, rubbing her cheek with his thumb. "What would you do if your father said we couldn't be together?"
Adrien's brows knotted together at the question. "What? Did he say that to you?"
"No," Lucy answered. "no, I was just curious. I mean, if he ever had a real problem with-"
"I would choose you." Adrien interrupted answering like it was a simple question. You're being born makes your parents God. You owe them your life, and they can control you. Then puberty makes you Satan, just because you want something better.
"You would choose me..." Lucy repeated slowly as if he didn't properly understand the question. "Just like that?"
Adrien smiled and let out a small breathy laugh. "Just like that? It's been just like that since the moment I met you."
Lucy wanted to relish in this moment. To bask in the warmth of Adrien's love. Yet she couldn't. She wanted to be happy that she meant so much to Adrien that he would choose her over everything else but she simply could not. How could she be happy at the idea of Adrien losing his father over her? How could she be happy that it was so easy for him? If she ever had to choose between Adrien and her mother...her heart would break. It would break into more pieces than it was made out of. Gabriel Agreste may be a pretty shit dad but that didn't change the fact that even with Adrien's confession, she knew how much his father's approval meant to him. Everything Adrien did was for his father, but if given the choice he would throw it all away? The time would come when Gabriel would set the ultimatum, and Lucy couldn't stand the idea of being the thing that would force Adrien's hand.
Adrien frowned at the serious look on Lucy's features. He could hear the wheels turning in her head. "Lucy." He called out, only to get a distant hum in response. "Lucy, are you alright?" Blinking Lucy seemed to shake herself out of her trance and looked at him. The serious look had disappeared as she smile and leaned forward, planting a kiss on Adrien's lips. Adrien kissed her back but hesitated in closing his eyes. Something was off with his girlfriend and he couldn't properly place what it was. Lucy locked her hands behind Adrien's neck and deepened the kiss, making Adrien close his eyes and hold on to her tightly. There was something about the kiss that was eating away at him. The way she was kissing him felt like a goodbye. As she pulled her face away from him, Lucy brought her hand up his neck and over his face, dragging her fingers through his hair.
"What are you doing?" He asked, she smiled at him.
"Taking in the details." Adrien raised an eyebrow at Lucy as she got off of him and stood.
"I'm gonna run to the bathroom real quick. Carry on without me."
"How could I ever?" Adrien said as he watched her run off to the bathroom before letting out a deep sigh.
OoOo
From in the burrow, Bunnix watched in confusion as her younger self closed the bathroom door and turned on the sink, splashing water over her face.
"It's for the best." Lucy said, making Bunnix squint harder at her.
"What is she...?"
"Fluff," Lucy called out, gripping her watch. The tiny Rabbit appeared in front of her.
"Is it time already?" Fluff asked a bit dazed. Lucy knitted her brows a moment before shaking her head. There was;t time for that.
"Fluff, clockwise."
Older Bunnix watched with wide eyes as her younger self transformed. "What are you doing!? WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"
"Burrow." Young Bunnix said steadily, pointing her umbrella toward the shower. Much like she had with Timetagger, young Bunnix did not actually enter the burrow but instead used her power to open a time portal to somewhere...of better some time specifically. She reentered the dining room, just as Gabriel Agreste exits it. Lucy looks at the young Bunnix confused.
"I...uh...hey?" She says, only for the younger Bunnix to take her by the shoulders. Swallowing hard, Bunnix forces a smile.
"Hey me, listen. Remember when dad told us about those heavy choices?"
Lucy nods silently as young Bunnix while waiting for her to continue. "We have to make one of those today." Young Bunnix leans into Lucy's ear and whispers to her. Adult Bunnix screams in frustration. This didn't happen, she doesn't; know what she is doing!
"I can't time jump and confront myself while time jumping! It'll fuck everything worse! Shit! Fuck!"
Lucy frowned as young Bunnix backed away from her sadly.
"It's for the best." Young Bunnix says. Lucy wipes away her tears and nods.
"Okay." Young Bunnix steps back inside her open portal and a second later it's gone. Returning to her timeline, only a few minutes in the future, she detransforms and walks out of the bathroom and back to the couch beside Adrien. He eye's her a moment before smiling. "All better?"
"All better," Lucy repeats, except after she does, she, Adrien, and everything around them dematerializes from existence.
OoOoO
Lucy takes a deep breath and opens Adrien's bedroom door, strutting inside with determination. Adrien sits on the couch awaiting Lucy's arrival and smiles when he sees her. Lucy can feel pain hitting her stabbing her heart over and over as she watches his smile fade at the look on his face.
"We need to talk." She said stiffly. "This isn't working out." It amazed her how easy it is for things to change, how easy it is to start off down the same road you always take and wind up somewhere new. Just one false step, one pause, one detour, and you end up with new friends or a bad reputation or a boyfriend or a breakup. It's never occurred to her before; She'd never been able to see it. And it makes her feel, weirdly, like maybe all of these different possibilities exist at the same time, like each moment we live has a thousand other moments layered underneath it that look different.
"Not working out?" Adrien questioned. "Since when? I thought things were great." She had to keep looking at him. She had to keep looking at him to make him believe her. If she looked away he would know something was off. But God damn it did it hurt to keep looking.
"Well, they aren't." Lucy countered. "I think we need a break." The more she spoke, the harder her throat was to operate. Adrien jumped up from the couch and raced over to Lucy and attempted to take hold of her hands. She wouldn't allow it, and instead moved away from him.
"What did I do wrong?" Adrien asked, and the heartache in his voice made her want to crumble.
"It's not you, it's me."
"What does that even mean!?" Closing her eyes, Lucy let out another deep breath in an attempt to keep her tone calm and steady.
"It means I don't love you anymore."
"That's a bullshit answer!"
"It's an honest answer."
"You're a liar."
"So it would seem," Lucy said backing away from him and making her way out his door and into the hallway. Adrien chased after her, grabbing her by the arm.
"Lucy, don't do this!"
"It's already done." She tells him, trying to pull her arm away. "Let me go."
"I can't!" He cries.
"You have to!" Lucy yanks her arm away from Adrien and quickly makes her way down the stairs. Adrien grips his hair and charges back into his room. Finding the nearest object, a random figurine he had decorating a shelf, Adrien grabs it and throws it across the room.
"Fuck!"
Lucy stops at the front door before turning toward Gabriel's office and last minute decides to make a pit stop. Nathalie jumps slightly at the young woman's abrupt entry, but Gabriel remains unfazed as he looks down at his screen without acknowledging Lucy.
"Measuring up. That's what you called it? What about me, doesn't measure up exactly? Is it because I'm not rich? Because my mom doesn't have fancy connections?"
"You're a foreigner. American - and all Americans think about is their own happiness." Gabriel explained as he continued to work.
"Don't you want Adrien to be happy?
"It's an illusion. The happiness you offer. Adrien needs to understand how to build things that last. Something you know nothing about."
"You don't know me," Lucy argues.
"I know you're not what Adrien needs."
Lucy glared at the man who refused to even spare her a glance. How could he be so dismissive of her? Who did he think he was?
"Adrien told me, that if it ever came down to choosing between me and you. He would choose me." Gabriel paused his finger movements and finally glanced up at her. "He said he would walk away from all of this, from you." He raised an eyebrow at her and Lucy smiled. "Don't worry. I wouldn't let him do that."
Gabriel scoffed at her. "Only fools hesitate to take a winning move."
"Mm no. There's no winning. You made sure of that. 'Cause if Adrien chose me, he would lose his father. And if he chose you, he might spend the rest of his life resenting you." Gabriel doesn't speak for a moment, taking in Lucy's words.
"So you chose for him." Gabriel couldn't help but recognize the irony in her actions. Making choices they felt were in the best interest of Adrien. Perhaps they weren't so different, he and Lucy.
"My father told me that everything remains possible when you don't have to choose. In chess, it's called Zugzwang. When the best move-"
"Is not to move." Gabriel finished. "I didn't know you were so familiar with the sport of Chess," Lucy smirked sadly.
"I just love Adrien so much, I don't want him to lose the only parent he has left. So I just wanted you to know that one day - when he marries another lucky girl who is enough for you, and you're playing with your grandkids while the roses are blooming, and the birds are chirping - that it was because of me: a low class, American nobody."
Gabriel watched Lucy leave and smiled before heading to his lair and transforming into Hawkmoth. He could feel it. The rage and despair radiating off Lucy. Yes, Lucy Shepheard will be his ultimate masterpiece!
"Fly away, my beautiful Akuma, and evilise this broken heart!"
In his room, Adrien and continued to toss things around while Plagg tried his best to reason with him.
"Adrien you have to calm down! You might get akumatized at this rate!"
Adrien let out a cry and fell to his knees, trying to slow his breathing. "Why is this happening Plagg? I don't understand! What did I do wrong?" Plagg frowned at the sight of his owner. No matter how careful you are, there's going to be the sense you missed something, the collapsed feeling under your skin that you didn't experience it all. There's that fallen heart feeling that you rushed right through the moments where you should've been paying attention.
Well, get used to that feeling. That's how your whole life will feel someday.
This is all practice.
"This can't be it," Adrien said standing. "I can't let it end like this. I can't let it end at all!" Adrien raced over to his window to see Lucy power walking toward the subway with her head down as the rain began to pour. Running out of his room and down the stairs, Adrien raced for the door only for it to be blocked off by his bodyguard.
"I have to go after her. Please don't fight me on this. I can't let her go. I love her too much." The large man looks at Adrien and his expression softens before stepping aside and letting Adrien through. As he races down the steps, Adrien spots and Akuma heading straight for Lucy and calls out to her.
"Lucy!" He yells, before shouting claws out to Plagg and transforming. Lucy turns in time to see Chat call for his cataclysm and jump towards her, destroying the Akuma before it could reach her.
"You swore it, remember?" He says to her.
From inside Nathalie looks out the window and watches in shock at what she just witnessed. She brings her phone to her ear.
"It's Adrien. Your son... he's... he's Chat Noir."
Gabriel almost thought he misheard her when she said it. Chat Noir was his son. Adrien was Chat Noir. Victory never felt so close. He would lead Chat Noir and Ladybug right to him, and when he revealed Emilie and the wish he wanted to make, Adrien would have no choice but to side with him. His wife would awaken soon.
OoOo
"This is a damn disaster!" Bunnix shouts from in her burrow when suddenly some of the screens start to fizz out on her. "No, no, no, no, no." She attempts to run across the room only to fall, as her leg glitches. She growls in annoyance.
"It's the fucking Halloween special all over again!" Getting up she hops over to a screen and finds Ladybug fighting Chat Blanc still.
"Come on! Hurry!"
OoOoo
"I'll find you, m'lady! And when I do, you'll give me your Miraculous!" Chat Blanc yells, climbing pieces of the Eifle tower. Ladybug attacks him from behind, grabbing his staff and breaking it in attempt to find the Akuma.
" Looking for my Akuma, m'lady?!" He tries to attack Ladybug with shots from his fingertips, but she dodges it. "There's a faster way to make this end, you know. You just need to hand over.. YOUR MIRACULOUS!" He shouts in rage.
"Never! Lucky Charm!" Ladybug calls out and is given an eraser.
"An eraser? I'd like to erase the past too, but there's only one way to do that." Chat summons a small Cataclysm at the tips of his fingers and starts walking towards her. "You know that by merging our Miraculous together, we'd be granted one wish, right? Any wish we wanted. Well, my wish would be to fix everything, so Lucy and I could be in love again. And have a hamster, too. I've always dreamed of having one. We'll call it— " He goes for Ladybug's earrings, only for her to once again use a defensive move to grab his belt and snap it in half.
"Time to de-evil— " No Akuma emerges, and she looks at the belt in confusion.
"You're not even listening. You don't understand." Chat says sadly. Chat Blanc uses the small cataclysm and disappointedly crumbles the ground in front of Ladybug. Ladybug falls into the water, screaming. Under the water, Ladybug finds the remains of the people of Paris, including the left forms of herself and Hawkmoth. In front of Hawkmoth, was Lucy. She stood on her knees between him and the blast marks with one arm stretched out in both directions.
OoOo
Chat Noir and Ladybug were facing off with Hawkmoth. He had come out this time around and fought him until he plummeted into the depths of the Agreste home.
"You're done, Hawk Moth! Give us back your Miraculous!" Ladybug shouts as Chat throws his cane into the water.
"you know what they say. The wave of a moth's wing can set off a CATACLYSM!" Hawkmoth stands weakly for a moment before smirking.
"I would put that Cataclysm away if I were you... Adrien."
" How do you— " Beside Hawkmoth a coffin-like structure becomes visible and the lid of Emilie's coffin opens for Chat to see. "Mother?"
"I'm doing it for her, Adrien. For you. For us."
"Father?" Ladybug looks at him in shock and suddenly all Chat can feel is rage. "Why? Why? Why?!" He angrily runs up to Hawk Moth with a cataclysm but stops before touching him "Why...?"
Hawkmoth looked down and met his son's eyes. And for the first time in a long time, Adrien's father looks...tired.
"Human beings do not live forever, Adrien. We live less than the time it takes to blink an eye if we measure our lives against eternity. So it may be asked what value is there to human life. There is so much pain in the world. What does it mean to have to suffer so much if our lives are nothing more than the blink of an eye?
I learned a long time ago, my son, that a blink of an eye in itself is nothing. But the eye that blinks, that is something. A span of life is nothing. But the man who lives that span, he is something. He can fill that tiny span with meaning, so its quality is immeasurable though its quantity may be insignificant. Do you understand what I am saying? A man must fill his life with meaning, meaning is not automatically given to life. It is hard work to fill one's life with meaning. That I do not think you understand yet. A life filled with meaning is worthy of rest. I want to be worthy of rest when I am no longer here. But there is no rest without her."
Hawkmoth grabs Chat by the collar and hoists him into the air, making them land in front of the Eiffel tower. In the distance, Lucy stands against a street light, biting her thumb. Chat had messaged her about closing in on Hawkmoth, and how he was certain this was his and Ladybugs shot to take him down. Lucy had noticed the fight not long after and watched the pair chase after Hawkmoth. As much as she believed in Ladybug and Chat, nervousness filled her body. Hawkmoth was crafty and if he came out to fight them face to face, he had a reason. It was now, that she noticed them all land a few yards away from her, and although Lucy knew she should probably stay out of harm's way, she couldn't stop herself from rushing towards them.
"We can save your mother Adrien! With your miraculous and hers!"
"Don't listen to him! You know there'd be a terrible price to pay in exchange!" Ladybug argued. Chat fell to his knees in stress. It hurts to let go. Sometimes it seems the harder you try to hold on to something or someone the more it wants to getaway. You feel like some kind of criminal for having felt, for having wanted. For having wanted to be wanted. It confuses you because you think that your feelings were wrong and it makes you feel so small because it's so hard to keep it inside when you let it out and it doesn't come back. You're left so alone that you can't explain. Damn, there's nothing like that, is there?
"Please stop! Please stop! STOP!" Chat cries. Hawkmoth frowns at his son's despair.
"I thought you better than this son. I thought finding a way to bring back your mother would make the choice simple for you. Is it that easy for you to let her go?"
"Chat!" Lucy shouted as she ran towards them.
"I suppose you couldn't understand my loss without experiencing it yourself. No matter, my son. I forgive you for your ignorance. I wanted to do this the easy way, but you have left me no choice!" Hawkmoth lets out an Akuma that quickly flutters over to Chat and absorbs into his bell. "Chat Blanc, I'm giving you the infinite power of destruction! Together you and I will seize Ladybug's Miraculous and awaken your mother! Obey!"
"Chat no!" Lucy shouts as she runs towards him, only to be grabbed by Hawkmoth.
Chat tries to fight it, but can feel his negative emotions taking over. "I'm sorry..." He says as the akumatization takes over. His outfit changes from black to white, his golden hair becoming platinum and his eyes change to an icy blue. "You did say this is what I would look like Akumatized...right Lucy?" Chat says weakly.
"Seize her miraculous my son!" Hawkmoth shouts and Chat finds himself aiming a ball of light from his fingers at Ladybug. Its evident, that like most Akumatized victims, Chat still has some free will and hesitates.
"You have to resist!" Ladybug says and Chat changes his aim towards his father.
"How dare you! Not me Adrien!"
"I don't know what to do!" Chat Blanc cries.
"Please! Stop! I can do it!" Lucy begs. "Release him from the Akuma! I can give you what you want!"
"Lucy no!" Ladybug shouts as Hawkmoth peers down at her.
"What are you talking about!?"
"I have a miraculous! I can time travel! You want your wife back!? I can do it! Please!" She cries. "Please don't hurt him anymore!"
"Lucy..." Chat calls out weakly. Lucy turns her head to look at Chat.
"It's okay. I'm gonna fix it...you can have your mom..." She turns her head back to Hawkmoth. "You can have your wife!"
"Lucy, you don't know what will change if you do that!" Ladybug argued. "The timeline!"
"Fuck the timeline Ladybug!" Lucy shouted. "Look at him!" Chat Noir struggles, as his cataclysm grows in size, his own inner turmoil only growing with every minute. "If I go back, Gabriel Agreste will have his wife and never become hawkmoth, Akumas will never be a problem, the guardian will never have to give you the Ladybug Miraculous, or Adrien the Chat Miraculous! No more villains! No more double life! Just happy...normal! She says through her tears. Lucy brings her gaze back to Chat who is only getting worse and back to Hawkmoth.
"Please! I can fix it! Let me fix it! Please let me fix it!"
"Lucy!" Chat shouts in agony, grabbing her attention. "I LOVE YOU!"
"ADRIEN!"
Bunnix's breath shakes and she wipes away her tears as she watched Adrien lose control and send a cataclysm big enough to destroy most of Europe and a portion on the moon. She limps over to the other screen and takes another deep and shakey breath. "Fix this nightmare Minibug."
Ladybug leaps out of the water and back onto the broken pieces of building she left Chat on.
"What did you do to them?!"
"I didn't mean to," Chat says, glaring at her from over his shoulder. "Why won't you try and help me fix it?!" He asks, spinning to face her. "The simple truth is that everything I love is gone! And you don't even care! So I might as well destroy YOU, ME, OUR MEMORIES... EVERYTHING!
"NO!"
Chat Blanc starts a Cataclysm that reaches the galaxies. It appears that Chat Blanc is going to use the giant cataclysm to completely destroy everything, the entire universe, bringing an end to the world.
"I want to be worthy of rest when I am no longer here Ladybug." Chat spoke, echoing his father's words. "But there is no rest without her."
Ladybug frantically runs up to Chat Blanc. "OKAY! OKAY! I'LL GIVE YOU MY MIRACULOUS, ChAT NOIR!"
Chat Blanc deactivates the Cataclysm he made and closes his eyes.
"I'm not Chat Noir anymore. " He tells her as he opens his eyes. "I'm Chat Blanc." He then flicks his bell and smiles.
Ladybug walks up to him, puts her hands on his chest, and smiles at him.
Come what may, you will always be Chat Noir to me."
Ladybug slides her hands up his chest as if she is going to pull him in for a hug, and Chat peers down at her in slight surprise but this was a distraction and she grabs his bell and crushes it, releasing the Akuma.
"No more evildoing for you, little Akuma. Time to de-evilise Chat Noir! Bye-bye, little butterfly."
Chat Blanc then turns back into Chat Noir and sees a butterfly in his hands and smiles.
"Yes!" Bunnix shouts, popping out from her burrow. "You did it Minibug!"
"Marinette...Lucy..." Chat says looking around. "What happened?"
"You're still calling me Marinette. You're not supposed to know who I am. It means that if I use my Miraculous Ladybug to fix everything now..."
"You'll still have this memory of her." Bunnix finishes Chat Noir lets the butterfly go and looks sad.
Ladybug,with her Lucky Vision, spots the eraser and the Burrow. "Of course!" She grabs Chat Noir and hugs him "Don't worry kitty, we're gonna fix everything, I promise!"
Chat Noir smiles as the two most important women in his life disappear through the portal. "I know."
OoOoO
"Bring me back 10 minutes before the moment you came to get me, quick! I don't have much time before I transform back and lose my Lucky Charm." Ladybug says as she puts the bowl on top of her head. "I have to erase my mistake to get things back to normal. This future is a result of something that happened in the past. I must not throw my eraser here and now, I must throw my eraser back then!"
Bunnix eyes her. "Do you know how Chat Noir found out about your secret identity?"
"I think so. When I went into Adrien's house as Ladybug, he probably saw me. He figured out that Ladybug is Marinette because of the note written on the gift. But I'm not sure what happened next." Bunnix nodded. Happy Marinette hadn't put all the pieces together quite yet. It wasn't the right time for her to know.
"He probably told his friend Nino, who told Alya, who wrote about it on the Ladyblog."
"Mm.. They would never do that. But Adrien probably told someone, who told someone else, and so on, until it was all over the news! The best-kept secrets are the ones you never share."
"Catchy." Bunnix commented with a smirk. Ladybug then went through the portal and appeared in Adrien's room with her former self and erased the signed card.
"Trust me, it's better this way." She tells herself before throwing her eraser into the air and activating her miraculous ladybugs. A moment later, her past self is gone and the timeline is fixed.
"Ladybug?" Adrien questions as he spots her in his room. Ladybug freezes.
"Oh, Adrien Agreste! What a surprise! I brought you a gift from... your fan club in Brazil! There's a postal strike over there but they really wanted it to arrive today for Saint Athanasius Day."
"That's my... fifth name," Adrien tells her as he closes the door.
"Wow, they must be serious fans to know that about you! Well, happy Fifth Name's Day! " She yells as she leaves through the window.
"Uh... thank you?" Adrien says aloud before hitting dial on his phone.
"Ugh, why would anyone send a beret when they could send cheese instead?" Plagg questions making Adrien roll his eyes.
"Hey Lucy," he greets to the phone. "Guess who came home with the gold?"
OoOoOoO
"Hey, Bunnix," Ladybug asked as she gets ready to leave. "when you travel through time, do you forget what happened when you're done?"
Bunnix smiles. "What's seen can't be unseen. I know who you are, Minibug, and a few other things too."
"Do you know who HawkMoth is?" Ladybug asks eagerly.
"Even if I did, I couldn't tell you," Bunnix explained. "There's a time for everything and time is a fragile thing. One of the reasons I make a good timekeeper? I know how to keep a secret." Bunnix winks at her before walking into the portal and closing it behind her.
OoOo
"Little kitty on a roof, all alone without his lady..." Chat sings softly as he sits on the edge of the TV station building. Ladybug lands next to him. and he smiles.
"Hey, Bugaboo. So what was that sudden call for?"
Ladybugsmiles. "I did it." She leans on his shoulder, relieved that she was able to save her partner.
Chat Noir smiles down at her. "I have no idea what you're talking about, but I'm perfectly fine with it." The two partners and friends continue to sit on the roof and watch the sunset. Ladybug didn't know exactly what triggered Chat Noir or if it would ever happen again. But what she did know was that come what may, she would do whatever it took to get things right back to the way they were supposed to be. Ladybug and Chat Noir. Partners till the end.
So this chapter took me all day and is almost 13,000 words. I am positive that's my longest one yet. Though a good portion of it is recap/ flashback type stuff. Still. Hot damn.
I had fun writing this chapter, and altering it to fit Lucy rather than Marinette, which I at first wasn't sure how I was going to do but am overall happy with how it came out. I also kind of wanted to humble Hawkmoth a bit. In the episode, his reaction to finding out Adrien is Chat was kind of weird to me. I expected the same outcome but not quite the way the show played it out. Even when they confronted him, he kicked the shit out of Chat to get him out of the house and over to the Eiffel tower which seemed a little extra.
It's interesting to me that they give Gabriel/ Hawkmoth this kind of tragedy that turns them evil concept so that we in a way can rationalize their poor choices and try and relate and understand where he is coming from but then when given the opportunity to put further depth into that they just show Hawkmoth like POW Akumatize! OBEY! Like, come on man.
Anyway, this chapter made me cry a bit while writing it. I'm emotional these days I guess. I hope you enjoyed it and that maybe it made you feel something, even if it wasn't the sting of tears.
Remember to heart and vote and COMMENT because I love reading your guy's thoughts and feelings, as it motivates me to try and push content out faster!
I hope everyone had a good turkey day if you celebrate it, or just a good week in general! As always I will see you in the next chapter! Chow for now!