Chapter 43
In the afternoon as the classes were over, Gerda walked out of the court together with Juleka and Rose, which held each other's hands.
„That documentary about penguins was the most adorable thing I have ever seen," Stated Rose making Juleka nod.
„I love the coloring of the penguins. Just black and white. It's still very pretty,"
„I agree," Commented Rose, then looked at Gerda which squinted her eyes to find her brother along with Alfida and the weasel Luta.
„Is that Luta?" Asked Gerda, then ran at the trio to have the weasel jump at her arms. „Luta! My little girl,"
„Sorry, Alfida had been hiding her to avoid anyone finding out about her. Sadly animals are prohibited there," Explained Kai watching Gerda pet her animal, then Rose showed up excited to look at the weasel.
„Is that a weasel?" Questioned Rose with a big smile making Gerda nod, then watched Luta sniff Rose's hand and allowed the girl to pet her. „What a cutie,"
„Has she a name?" Asked Juleka making Gerda nod.
„Her name is Luta," Answered the Norwegian girl, then allowed Rose to take the weasel on the arm, so Juleka could pat her as well.
„Sweet," Commented Rose, then Juleka moved her head up to hear a whistle and see her older brother come along with Rollan.
„Hey everyone," Greeted Luka, then looked at the weasel and chuckled. „Cristiano has a weasel as well, but in brown," Stated Luka making Rose nod and look at Gerda.
„Cute," Commented Gerda.
„I remember seeing her, but I never got the chance to meet her," Said Rollan reaching his hand at the weasel, which looked up at the boy and growled. „I won't hurt you, I swear," Commented Rollan, then Luta bite him on the finger making him yelp, followed by Kai and Alfida laughing.
„Hey!" Complained Rollan making Gerda flinch and grab her weasel holding her away from the Spaniard.
„He's on our side Luta. I promise," Stated Gerda looking at the weasel, which was annoyed.
„It's going to take a while for us to get along," Commented Rollan making Gerda nod.
„Madame Livre doesn't allow pets in our home, right?" Asked Gerda making Alfida nod. „Shoot, it will be hard to hide Luta all over again," Stated Gerda making Luta drop her ears.
„Well that's sad," Commented Rollan. „I could ask Arthur if we could take care of her but I don't think he would say yes…..and I don't think Luta would like to have me around,"
„Well, you don't have to do a lot for her. Just giving her food, water, and a bit of love and she will be good,"
„I think the love part she won't really like it from me," Commented Rollan making the weasel giggle.
„Don't worry, she will behave. If necessary I will pass by every day so I can help you," Suggested Gerda leaning the weasel closer to Rollan, which got growled by the stoat again. „No Luta. He's a friend,"
„If there's a problem Juleka and I can take of her," Suggested Luka. „My mother could use a companion during the day,"
„Is she unemployed?" Asked Gerda making Luka shake her head.
„No she works at the port and she usually starts at five and ends at three," Answered Luka. „She can as well take Luta with her to the work, if she's not seasick or anything, of course,"
„Thanks for your offer, I will think about it," Commented Gerda, then watched Rollan slowly place his hand on Luta's back, which shrieked and turned her head back at the boy warning him.
„You can trust me," Said Rollan slowly caressing the weasel on the back, which turned her head away and watched Gerda nod at the girl. Luta jumped at Rollan's other arm, then got up on his shoulder to look at the owner.
„Good girl. You will see, that with the time Rollan and you will become good friends," Assured Gerda, then she watched on Rollan's neck his shirt suddenly get wet making the girl drop her chin. Rollan noticed his shirt moisty, then sniffed on it warping his face in disgust.
„I learned my lesson, okay! No more lying," Complained Rollan making the weasel chuckle.
„Shall we go to your house instead, so that you can change your shirt?" Asked Luka. „I don't mind going there if it's allowed,"
„It won't be a problem, don't worry. We just might not be 100% in silence because of the twins I'm usually taking care of,"
„Won't be a problem," Answered Luka.
„Will you take Luta home and ask?" Questioned Gerda making Rollan nod.
„Si…..do I have to say, that she's not potty trained?"
„She is, don't worry. She just…..wanted to tell you how she feels about you,"
„Right…..." Commented Rollan looking at the weasel, which lied on the other shoulder, which wasn't wet, and glimpsed at the Spaniard.
„If it doesn't work tell me and I seek for another option or follow Luka's offer," Commented Gerda making Rollan nod, then Gerda tickled the weasel under the chin.
„I will, don't worry," Commented Rollan, then looked at Kai and Alfida, noticing Kai had more of a serious glare at the Spaniard. „Uh…..How are you two doing?" Asked Rollan receiving no answer from Kai.
„Fine," Commented Alfida, then elbowed her crush on the elbow. „Say something,"
„Same," Murmured Kai making Alfida shrug.
„Typical brother instincts,"
„I get it," Answered Rollan, then Gerda looked at her two female friends.
„Is it alright, if I spend the day with my brother and his friend instead?" Questioned Gerda. „I haven't seen them for a while,"
„You don't need to ask us that, just go. They deserve to spend time with you after everything that happened between you all," Answered Rose with a smile making Gerda smile.
„Thanks for the sweet words," Commented Gerda hugging the short friend along with the taller one. Gerda stepped back to Rollan to caress the weasel on her neck.
„And Rollan will take good care of you when his family allows it. I will pass by at night to see how you two are doing." Spoke Gerda, then rolled her eyes at the Spaniard. „Call me, when there is something with Luta or anything else you need to know,"
„Okay I will," Answered Rollan making Gerda smile, which got on her tiptoes to peck him on the cheek. „Adios,"
„See you later," Said Gerda joining Alfida and Kai to head back to their youth home.
Rollan smiled seeing her romantic interest leave, then Luka grabbed him on the clean shoulder.
„Come on boy, let's get to work," Said Luka making Rollan nod and move further along with the French boy.
From the open gap above the high school, Ladybug got out, then analyzed the way, that would lead her to the Louvre and leaped over the roofs. Someone whistled calling Ladybug's attention, which stopped on the roof of a building and looked down at the road to see Cat Noir stand on top of a bus, waving at her. Ladybug shook her head amused at Cat Noir's short cut and moved on, moments later Cat Noir jumped at the top of the roofs as the bus made a stop to pursue her to the museum stopping at one building, which was rowed along with other houses behind the museum.
„Already off school?" Questioned Ladybug making Cat Noir nod.
„Yes, still haven't done my homework, but it can wait," Commented Cat Noir. „After that one essay from yesterday, I'm definitely giving homework a longer waiting time,"
„I haven't been able to call the last heroes, that were present on Sunday. There will just be you, me, Ryuko, and Rena Rouge,"
„Okay and we will just inform the others about our talk or not?" Questioned Cat Noir.
„I will see about that, otherwise we can gather around later at night to be safe,"
„Yeah we can," Agreed Cat Noir, then heard the wind blowing and smiled at it passing by his hair, afterward he shrieked as he was pulled above the air along with Ladybug and got dropped on top of the museum and in front of them appeared Ryuko, which had materialized herself into the wind.
„Good afternoon," Greeted Ryuko looking at a goofy-grinning superhero.
„I really thought it was just the wind," Commented Cat Noir making Ryuko chuckle.
Ladybug looked down at the ground to see Rena Rouge ran along the ground to approach the team, then Ladybug rolled her yo-yo down to have Rena Rouge help her getting up.
„Hold on, I almost got you," Warned Ladybug pulling the friend up carefully, then held her hand out to pull the friend at the roof along with Cat Noir and the quartet formed a circle.
„Okay, what's up?" Asked Rena Rouge.
„First of all, I want to thank you for the big help last Sunday with the Fire Demon. As you probably know Fire King has survived this issue and doesn't remember anything from it nor how exactly he lost his mind. But one thing we have figured out. Fire King has a few minutes before he lost his will to the Fire Demon met Gabriel Agreste on the road. He had during the run crashed against his car and were talking about what happened and later on, he woke up attached to a hard object. We assume since Nathalie was around, that she could have put Fire King down so that Fire King would end up losing his control with the time. According to the monk, one of the fastest ways to eventually have him or Lady Frost lose their mind was enraging them in any way,"
„He should have akumatized him if he thought he would have success with that idea," Commented Rena Rouge making Cat Noir nod.
„Which is strange, cause if he had he could have had a better control of the villain," Mentioned Ladybug. „Most of the akumatized villains of course,"
„Maybe you can't akumatize a demon?" Commented Ryuko shrugging her shoulders. „Or something had happened and he failed,"
„We won't know it. Okay, so we all need a plan. We're currently four. If we get Viperion and Carapace we'll be six. Hawk Moth at the moment is only one and if we attack him soon enough we will defeat him. We're all sure enough, that Gabriel Agreste is Hawk Moth after what Adrien saw and the fencing colleague of him Kagami,"
„He spends most of the time inside the house, last few times I have seen him out of the house. I think because of his job or because of anything else related with akumas," Mentioned the cat-themed superhero. „The best thing for us would be to wait for Gabriel to leave his house and when he's far away from home we catch him," Suggested Cat Noir. „His house has this amount of automated security service we had seen last time when fighting Simon Says,"
„Yeah, that's a good start," Mentioned Ladybug. „Two of us could pursue him, one or two could get into the house and look for a way to get down into his hideout again and find a way to pull out the coffin in there,"
„Shouldn't we leave that to the police?" Questioned Rena Rouge looking at Ladybug.
„Hmm the one of us, who's going there could try to convince someone of the police to get in there as well, but legally you would need some license to go in there,"
„Okay, we can look for another option, if needed," Mentioned Cat Noir.
„I had one idea," Ryuko raised up her hand. „What about we show Gabriel that video of Adrien breaking into the repository and threat him to publish it online if he doesn't listen to us?"
„That would be a super idea, but we would need to put Adrien under protection. In case something happens,"
„Best he should be somewhere, where no one expects him to be," Added Cat Noir making the red-dressed heroines nod. „I could ask him, who he wants to be or we look for the less obvious options for him to go,"
„Sounds good. Something like a social care home or anything would be less obvious or even a retirement home or anything. Where no one has a clue, who he is," Explained Ladybug making Cat Noir nod.
„Yeah that's a brilliant idea," Confessed Cat Noir with a smile.
„Thank you," Replied Ladybug. „Well, I will see, if I can meet on my way the rest of the team and explain these options and see if I can gather all up tonight here at 9. If one of you sees Lady Frost, please call her at this meeting. I need to get back her miraculous before another disgrace happens," Asked the blue-haired heroine making the trio nod.
At the house of the Hemmings, the twins were playing with each other in their bedroom with car toys and Luta was around them watching them. One of the boys lost shove the car away from him watching it pass by the weasel, which looked at it and picked it up to smell on it. Luta placed it down, then got on top of it and tried to move forward on it and she felt off it watching it roll down at the twins. Jett looked at the weasel and chuckled.
„I think I have a better toy for you," Said Jett walk up to the drawer under the bed to look through a small gap, which contained all the toy cars in it, and took out a truck with a trailer, which is meant to transport cars.
„Here, this one is longer," Offered Jett placing on the ground making Luta smile, which got on top of the truck, then used her right hind leg to move the truck slowly. Jett smiled glad seeing the weasel showing interest in the toys.
„She's so cool," Commented Jett, then Jake looked at the weasel, which was getting more or less the hang of it, but wasn't able to understand how to turn the truck, so she bumped with the vehicle on the wall. She frowned her face, then got down to move the vehicle aside, so she could move on again.
Rollan showed up by the entrance of the bedroom to see the boys playing, then saw Luta with the truck and got curious to see her interested in the vehicle.
„She likes playing with it?" Questioned Rollan, then Jake nodded and watched Luta move a little faster with the truck, but it turned aside by itself making Luta frown again. „I think she needs a bigger car,"
„You know, what would be cool?" Asked Jake looking at his twin. „If we had one of those controllable cars and she could sit in there like Hiro from our class has,"
„Yeah," Agreed Jett, then Rollan got into the room to adjust the truck and Luta looked up at the Spaniard neutrally.
„I know you don't like me, but if you want you can stay with Luka," Mentioned Rollan. „Arthur thinks it's not a good idea to keep you over the day alone when no one is here. By Luka, you will always have his mother and at the rest of the days you'll have him and Juleka,"
Luta nodded, then licked his hand making him smile a little.
„You enjoyed their company?" Asked Rollan watching the weasel look at the boys, then back at the tall boy and shrugged. „Trust me, they're quite a little more mature than the troll boys from Orm, but they were just babies. They don't understand it,"
Someone rang, then Rollan looked back and heard Arthur from the office speak.
„I'll open it," Mentioned Arthur and Rollan returned his eyes to the weasel, which walked up his arm then gave him a lick on his cheek and returned to the ground.
„Was that an apology?" Asked Rollan making the weasel nod. Rollan smiled, then held out his hand for Luta, which got up on it and Rollan moved it up, so he could have the weasel closer. The weasel smiled and jumped above Rollan's head, then he looked back in shock. Rollan sighed in relief as he saw Gerda standing there getting down on her knees to grab the pet. „Oh right,... I totally forgot about your visit," Said Rollan getting up. „I was still allowed to keep her during this night,"
„I know you said that but I didn't want her to bring you any trouble," Pointed Gerda out and Rollan shook his head.
„Actually this is funny. Luta just accepted me…..well she tolerates me," Commented Rollan, then Luta nudged her head on Gerda's neck and licked her cheek making her giggle.
„See Luta? I told you he's not that bad," Commented Gerda, then Luta leaped down to approach Rollan's foot and licked him above the sock.
„It tickles," Commented Rollan with a chuckle, then watched Jett grab Rollan on his arm.
„Hello Gerda," Greeted the boy.
„Hey….uhm Jett?" Questioned Gerda looking at Rollan, which nodded.
„Si," Answered Rollan making Gerda smile.
„I knew it by their clothing," Admitted Gerda making Rollan nod.
„I sometimes mistake them. If they're in their pajamas I know which one is who. Jake is usually more attached to me,"
„Sweet," Commented Gerda, then watched Jake yawn and she chuckled, then Rollan turned around to see it as well.
„Guess it's bedtime," Stated Rollan, then Jett pushed Rollan on his arm.
„Will you read for us again?" Questioned the Swedish boy, making Gerda smile enamored at the boy's request and looked up at Rollan, which looked at him neutrally.
„The same book?" Questioned Rollan making the boy nod.
„We haven't finished yet," Pointed Jake out coming from his place to the Spaniard. „It's the last part of the book. There's going to be a happy ending, I can sense it," Commented the boy making Rollan chuckle.
„Okay, I wonder how it will end," Mentioned Rollan picking up the truck toy. „But first put the toys back or you'll fall over it during the night,"
„Okay," Commented the boys, then Jake picked up the truck to store it back and Rollan got the book to open it up, thereafter Gerda came to take a look at it.
„What's the book about?" Questioned the blonde girl, which held the weasel in her arms.
„Well, there is this one farmer, which embarks on a quest along with a stray dog he finds to free a princess from a tower and to bring her to some Lord, that will marry her afterward. During the entire book, he and the Princess fell in love, but the farmer doesn't confess, cause he fears she wouldn't accept him for being from another social class,"
„And what chapter are you guys now?"
„Well in the last one it turned out, that the Princess had some curse, that could only be cured by love, the lord kissed her and it didn't work At another point the same issue happened with the farmer and all cried about her death until suddenly her younger brother showed up with a potion, which apparently worked,"
„Okay, that's a strange turn, but it's something new," Commented Gerda, then the boy all lied down in their beds waiting for Rollan to read the story.
Rollan sat down in front of Jett with the book and Gerda sat across by Jake, which looked up at the girl, then patted the weasel on her back making it smile and get down to nudge him.
„Okay….let me start," Said Rollan faking a cough. „Two years later, several things have changed…... Princess Lana and Farmer Han have confessed how they feel, then confronted the royal family about it. The parents were split with their opinions and couldn't decide what to do, so planned since the beginning they have let their Princess stay with whom she loved, no matter what social ranking he came. Before leaving the dog Din told the couple goodbye and received an invitation by the couple to move into the farm. The Husky happily accepted their offer, promising to be the best pet they could ever wish for. Throughout the months, Princess Lana gave up her title as a Princess to be able to marry her farmer, and as well, she had been expecting their first child. One warm, autumn morning Din was napping on the ground in front of the empty fireplace. Across the room ran a young child, then got down on her knees to pat Din on his head, harshly bothering the dog a little. Lana came along with a plate with porridge, then sat down on the chair near the chimney watching Din being patted by the daughter.
„Pet him on his belly. So he will like it more," Suggested Lana making the daughter nod, which placed her hand down under Din's belly and he lied back on his back to enjoy the belly rubs of the little girl.
„See? He's enjoying it," Commented Lana making the daughter smile, which lied her head near Din's head. hearing a soft grumble making the girl chuckle.
"He's hungry," Commented the daughter making the mother laugh.
"Din's actually purring, sweetheart" Explained the mother watching her daughter listen to the rumbling sound of the canine. Lana continued to watch the girl on the ground, afterward the girl looked up at the plate the woman had in her hand. „Do you want to eat your lunch already?" Asked the mother making the girl nod, which left the dog in peace and got up on the knees of the woman, which helped the girl sat up on the knee. „Here comes the little bird, delivering its' seeds!" Warned Lana moving playfully the spoom around before inserting it inside the child's mouth, that chuckled about it.
"Where's daddy?" Mumbled the daughter followed by Lana cleaning up the girl's underlip from the blotted semolina.
"What did mommy say about eating?" Questioned the woman widening her eyes playfully, watching the girl swallow and ponder about it.
"Oh,...oh...Don't speak with full mouth!" Answered the girl proud making Lana smile.¨
"Pretty girl," Complimented the brunette making the girl smile earning another full spoon of semolina. "Daddy is out there at the farm feeding the animals. He's gonna be back in a moment,"
"Will we play together today?" Asked the daughter watching the mother tip her nose with the index finger.
"Of course, little lady!" Answered the former princess cheerfully.
Rollan looked down at the boys to see them asleep, then moved his book closely up to the night table and watched Gerda pat the young boy's head gently to make him fall faster asleep. The Spaniard got up to watch Jett moved around against the wall, then he patted the boy gently on the shoulder and gazed back at Gerda, which got up with the weasel that had jumped up at her hands.
„I can read the rest tomorrow or restart it again," Commented Rollan.
„Alright," Commented Gerda looking around the room, then Rollan did the same and earned a curious look from the girl. „Where do you actually sleep?" Asked Gerda, then Rollan moved his arm to ask her to follow him and walked to the office to show Gerda the open bed couch to the girl.
„His third room is an office, but the couch there works as a bed. It's a little hard, but I got used to it,"
„It works just fine for you, right?"
„Sure. Except a few of my clothes I keep it inside the drawer of the boys,"
„Okay," Commented Gerda, then took out her smartphone to see the time. „Is it okay, if I leave now? Before it gets too later and I may have issues with the warden?"
„Si, go. You don't have to get in trouble because of me," Noticed Rollan making Gerda nod, then place Luta on the bed. „She's gonna stay with me tonight, right?"
„Sure, unless you're not okay with it,"
„I'm fine. Don't worry," Responded Rollan walking out of the room with the girl to the exit of the apartment. „Tomorrow in the early morning I pass by Luka to deliver Luta,"
„Thank you," Responded Gerda making Rollan smile.
„De nada," Added Rollan, then looked at Luta walking across the corridor to return to the room of the twins making the duo chuckle. „I think she prefers to spend the night with the boys,"
„That's fine too," Commented Gerda, then met the boy's eyes with hers. „We will see each other at the school tomorrow,"
„As always," Agreed Rollan. „I might be playing basketball along with the others as usual. If you want we could be together in the break and I don't know, eat together and talk,"
„I would love to," Answered the blonde, then embraced the boy.
„Great," Commented Rollan, then received a peck on his cheek. „Shall I accompany you home?"
„It's not necessary, thank you," Responded Gerda making Rollan nod.
„You sure?" Asked the raven-haired making her nod.
„Don't worry, I'll be fine," Promised Gerda getting up on her tiptoes to put her hands on Rollan's cheeks to kiss him. „I call you back when I'm home, is that okay?" Questioned Gerda poking with her nose on Rollan's.
„Si," Responded Rollan, then locked up his lips on the girl's again for a short moment and pulled away. „Good night,"
„Buenas Noches," Wished Gerda, then walked the stairs down and Rollan observed her going, then pondered about something. Rollan got down quickly to meet up with Gerda, which was about to open the exit door and he arrived by the door as well.
„One moment Gerda!" Asked Rollan watching Gerda hold up the door open.
„Did I forget something?" Questioned the blonde making the raven-haired boy shake his head.
„No, but I want to ask you something if….it's not too early for you,"
„What do you want to ask?"
„I was wondering if we're pretty close in a romantic way, that we could both go out with each other. You know, us dating?"
„You mean to be your girlfriend?" Questioned Gerda curious making Rollan nod. „This is the perfect moment!"
„You think so?" Asked Rollan surprised.
„I was expecting it a little later, but I'm even more excited to see you asked me now,"
„So it's a yes, right?" Questioned the Spaniard making the blonde nod, then opened his arms at the girl and got hugged tightly by the girl. Rollan chuckled at Gerda's deed, then pecked her on the forehead. „Cool,"
„Alright, enough. I really gotta go," Warned Gerda making Rollan nod, then she pecked him on the nose and got out of the building leaving Rollan back, which observed the girl making her way along the sidewalk back home.
On the other side of Paris, the superheroes had got reunited with the absence of Fire King and Lady Frost.
„Thanks for showing up again. Before we start, Cat Noir have you got any new pieces of information about Adrien?" Asked the red-dressed heroine.
„Yup! Adrien told me on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday Gabriel leaves earlier to meet up with Audrey Bourgeois at the office because of their planned designs for a shoot. He doesn't know the exact time he will leave, but around 5:50 he is supposed to be out,"
„Alright and as I see, we haven't seen Lady Frost anywhere….well at least she's safe,"
„I had two ideas of who she could be, but I'm afraid I could be wrong and sound like an idiot," Commented Carapace. „I saw two girls with wreaths on their heads, but I'm not sure if that's really their miraculous,"
„Okay, maybe until we start our plan we will find her, if we find it on the day it doesn't matter," Commented Ladybug.
„Okay," Commented Rena Rouge.
„So on Wednesday Rena Rouge and Carapace follow Gabriel's car, Ryuko and Viperion follow you a few miles away to find a way to block Gabriel's car. Lead Gabriel out of the car, then show him the video of his repository and order him to give you his miraculous. If he doesn't cooperate, Viperion and Ryuko hold him tight or the other way around and take it out by yourselves,"
„Okay and what will you and Cat Noir do, if I may ask?" Questioned Viperion.
„We will see if someone's around the house and call the police to pass by, so we can show them where Emilie's located. They will want to interview every family member of her, including Gabriel and that's when you all show up with him,"
„Okay and what will they do with him?" Questioned Carapace. „Put him in jail? Death penalty?"
„We're in France, Carapace," Mentioned Viperion.
„Japan's system for death penalties are scary. You will never know which day will be for you to the last one. That's pretty harsh,"
„Man if that dude's guilty of having his wife lying dead inside a coffin under the basement he deserves worse than the death penalty," Commented Carapace making Ryuko nod.
„There's nothing worse, than a death penalty," Commented Viperion.
„Torture is worse," Corrected Cat Noir making Carapace chuckle.
„Right, right,"
„And what will be afterward?" Asked Ryuko. „If we have his miraculous, it's over then?"
„Yeah, if everything goes as we planned and we have him without any more issue. It will be over," Ladybug explained. „After almost three years,"
„Unless he's so lucky and rich to bribe everyone at the court to spare his sentence," Commented the turtle-themed superhero.
„I doubt after all this he has done he won't have it so easy. He has akumatized so many people, terrorized many citizens, the list is infinite. The judges will know what punishment serves him right,"
„What will happen to us all?" Questioned Rena Rouge. „After Hawk Moth is gone, we won't be needed anymore?"
„Well…..I haven't thought about that. From now on our first priority is to get Hawk Moth's miraculous back. The rest we will see with the days that pass afterward. There will be a lot of things. Journalists, agents, and more people want to talk to us about how we figured it out,"
„Yeah right," Commented Cat Noir.
„So, that's it. I let you keep the miraculouses until the end of the week and on Wednesday, we will put it to work. Then everything will be solved and Paris can move on without worrying about falling under akumas for feeling negative!"