Chapter 22
Super Nathan got up on top of the Notre Dame cathedral landing in the middle of the long roof. Super Nathan kept holding Lila by his arms, then he observed her look down and gasp at seeing how far away they were from the ground on top of the building.
"How are you standing here?" Asked the raven-haired woman looking down to see Super Nathan stay with each leg above the triangle of the roof.
"I'm used to it. If you want, I can put you down there by the tower. There you can stand and hold yourself up easily," Offered Super Nathan taking a leap to get further to the tower making Lila cry, while making the redhead bite his lips at the noise. "I'm sorry, but I promise you feel better here," Assured the man watching the woman put her hand on the wall to grab on the gutter on the side of the tower to get down of Super Nathan's arms, while he assisted her carefully. Lila placed the second hand on the wall, then looked down at the place to see a small field with grass, and beside it was the Seine river that the couple could hear from the top due to the minor car traffic in their surrounding.
"You know if it was later at night, let's say…...1 am, 2 am…..you could hear the flood even more. The cars wouldn't be bothering so much. There aren't many tourists around, our city's citizens are all back in bed, at least the ones who are not at the work or anything,"
"Work….." Lila commented pondering about it. "I feel like I know somebody….personally, who tends to work at night. I know it ain't my parents. Perhaps Rose's parents?"
"Hmm that's a good question. I have no idea, what her parents' work is," Commented Super Nathan.
"You know Rose?" Questioned Lila curious, making Super Nathan drop his chin a little unsure about if he should openly talk about their friends in his superhero form.
"Well…..she used to be Honey Bee," Answered Super Nathan making Lila nod. "Hey….perhaps the redhead I have seen at your house a few days ago? What do you think?" Questioned Super Nathan observing Lila ponder about his words, afterwards she realized she knew his mother.
"Wait…..Miss Kurtzberg, the mother of Nathaniel often works during the night at the tower at the airport. She checks the air traffic and makes sure they can depart or land,"
"Great," Commented Super Nathan watching Lila hold her index finger in front of her lips to focus on that topic. "Anything else about the Kurtzberg household? Any of the generation?"
"Hmm….wait Nathaniel and his mother are Jewish or well…..I know Nathaniel is one. Could as well have been his father only, but I think that doesn't make sense. I believe it's his mother because I don't see any logic on the father's side if he never was present for his son,"
"You've got any clue, what happened to him?" Questioned Super Nathan making Lila shrug her shoulders.
"I think he never told me that before. So far I know, his father never was around ever since he was a baby," Mentioned the Italian girl making the hero nod. "I know my parents loved me. The problem only was…..as diplomats, they barely had any time to spend with me and postponed it weekend after weekend. They have almost never made it to anything important in my life. Birthdays, religious eves, important school meetings. They never wondered about how I was doing in the school, if I had good grades, good friends, bad friends or nothing at all, how I behaved…,"
"You don't need to remember the sad parts of your life, Lila. We're in the present and the only thing we need to focus is on the future," Super Nathan spoke placing his hand on Lila's shoulder making her smile a little and roll her eyes down.
"I had gotten carried away a little," Commented Lila. "But….if I think about Nathaniel for example. His father never was there for him, not because of the work or anything, but because he didn't want to have anything to do with him and that being his son. That's a bigger tragedy than mine,"
"The one good part about it is that I had my mother…...He had his mother! Like…..she was there for him. She tried to be there as much as she could. It's…..unbelievable, what she has done to provide a good life for them while growing up. She did this course to be an air traffic controller, so she would be able to sustain herself with him through her own work. She was a really stunning person during that period of time."
"That does sound great," Commented Lila making Super Nathan nod.
Lila admired the river from the far, then saw a gated ship near the shoreline. Lila slowly slid on her feet on the roof to one of the four statues to take a better look at the empty ship, which had surprised her cause she had expected to see passengers inside it.
"Have you ever had time to enjoy a nice ride inside one of those ships over the Seine?" Questioned Lila looking back at the redhead.
"Not in one of those," Responded Super Nathan.
"What are you referring to? That you drew one?" Questioned Lila making Super Nathan nod.
"Yes, but this takes a lot of time and effort. I made this on a special occasion for a…..certain dame," Super Nathan spoke making Lila grin amused at his explanation, then glanced back at the river.
"These scallops are delicious. I'm not even fond of seafood, but the way that restaurant had made them is just….mwah," Lila's voice rang through her head.
Lila's POV had changed showing herself sitting with her legs crossed on the ground and the plate with the seafood was in front of her vice versa to the other one, that belonged to Super Nathan.
"I don't often have eaten anything similar to these, besides maybe Oysters, but I sort of get fawned by its taste. It kind of reminds me of snails. Okay, that's about years ago since I ate both of them and I tell you snails taste kind of disgusting. I know other people love that, but the flavor for myself isn't what I had expected," Super Nathan spoke. "But this is a thing French people like. I guess my stomach isn't even half of it," Commented the young man making the heroine chuckle.
Lila looked at the redhead, which had been standing beside the woman neutrally, and tilted his head aside slowly.
"I…..I think I remember being there on a ship ride with you," Blurted out Lila, making Super Nathan raise his eyebrow questioningly.
"Wait, what?" Super Nathan retorted watching Lila nod.
"I can't precisely recall all the details, but I can see, that there were you and me. My legs were covered with a sort of super suit in orange and white. We were eating together some sort of shells,"
"Uh right and what else do you remember?" Questioned Super Nathan making Lila shrug her shoulders.
"At the moment, that's all. I'm pretty sure, that this boat ride has something to do with what I remembered, right?" Questioned Lila watching Super Nathan scratch his neck.
"Well…..I've heard, it's better to let you try to remember on your own," Super Nathan commented. "I don't want you to have a bad impression or anything if I would tell you about it, you know,"
"That's what Nathaniel says to me too. It sounds weird actually. If he's my husband or life partner, why haven't I remembered that yet? I remember our daughter and have seen her call him dad. Why wouldn't this trigger my memory? It's as if there's something more behind it, but I don't remember,"
"I really don't know, what to say. I believe you, that it feels strange,"
"I just have to keep waiting. Thanks for this little ride," Replied Lila making Super Nathan smile and held out his hand at the woman, which placed it over his, and both closed their hands together. The two gazed at each other with a warm smile, afterward both closed their eyes leaning in for a kiss. Before anything happened to the duo, the cathedral's bell began to ring, making Super Nathan open his eyes and shriek as he was going in for a kiss, then throws himself aside and loses his balance, and slides on his back the roof down. Lila moved her head around in panic seeing the man disappear, then she slowly slid aside passing by the few statues, thereafter held herself on the last statue taking a look down at the lower level to spot Super Nathan lying on his back on a path beside the building and moved his hand up to inform Lila he was alright.
"I'm okay, don't worry, just…...got surprised by the bells," Responded Super Nathan making Lila nod. "I think it's better to take you back home," Super Nathan suggested making Lila do a single nod.
Later Super Nathan appeared by the window of his daughter's window, then waited for her to pull up the window, so Super Nathan could help her climb back into the bedroom, afterward, he held himself at the window sill to watch her see herself around the bedroom.
"Well, it's time for all of us to go to bed," Commented Super Nathan quiet making Lila nod.
"Thanks for the little sight. It didn't help me a lot though, but it was a good start I guess," Mentioned Lila making Super Nathan nod neutrally.
"I understand. I'm sure one day or another it will be better," Commented Super Nathan, then he pulled down the window and watched Lila head to the exit to leave the bedroom. Super Nathan opened the door and sighed a little noticing, that Lila didn't seem quite happy about the ending of the evening for them. "I'm sorry," Apologized Super Nathan. He heard a yawning, then looked aside to see his daughter sit up while rubbing her eyes. Super Nathan entered the room landing with his knees on the legos, making it nose and he bite his teeth together, then heard his daughter speak to him.
"What are you doing here?" Asked Nathalie watching her father get up from the number of pieces, then got down beside the girl on the bed.
"I'm sorry I woke you up," Apologized the redhead. "Your….mother caught me arriving in her about a half hour ago. I showed her around Paris to see if this would wake her memory, but it only was a very minor thing,"
"Does she know you're a superhero?" Questioned Nathalie making her father shake his head.
"Nope, she remembers that she had dinner with the Super Nathan me when she used to be Miss Vixen a long time ago. That's all I know,"
"Okay," Spoke Nathalie disappointed, then Super Nathan embraced the girl from beside and leaned his chin over her head.
"This is how I feel too," Commented Super Nathan. "I'm beginning to run out of ideas,"
"Maybe you need more patience," Suggested Nathalie making the purple-skinned man nod.
"Hmm tomorrow I will try to give Kagami a call and ask her for advice. This is now strange, she hasn't passed by us yet, since Lila lost her memory. That's kind of odd,"
"I think she was busy," Spoke Nathalie making Super Nathan nod.
"Yeah, still I'll call her tomorrow or give Rose a shot. They're both the closest friends to your mom. Perhaps if we all go out somewhere we can get her to remember more of her old life?" Suggested Super Nathan making his daughter nod.
"What about going to old places you all used to go before?" Questioned Nathalie seeing Super Nathan pondering about the idea.
"You know…...I think you've given me an idea," Said Super Nathan making the daughter smile. "Will you aline?" Asked the father, then Nathalie embraced the superhero who smiled satisfied about the girl's agreement.
Kagami sat in the bed putting on her shoes and getting ready to leave the house. She got up, then walked out of the bedroom to encounter Adrien runnning out of Elliot's bedroom, followed by the young blonde boy, which jumped at Adrien's back and got pulled up by his arms to embrace the man around the neck.
"Got' ya champ!" Spoke Adrien grabbing Elliot by the arms, then got down, so the boy could get back on the floor and both blondes exchanged looks with one another.
"Where are we going with Nathalie's parents?" Questioned Elliot making Adrien shrug his shoulders.
"Someplace they call Pancake Paradise," Answered Adrien. "I think it was a place your and Nathalie's mommy used to go a lot when younger,"
"This place Lila and Nathaniel used to be a lot of times together, when both were younger and still friends," Kagami mentioned. "Lila at this time already was crushing on Nathaniel and Rose as obvious would do anything to bring them any closer,"
"Rose's support towards other people to each other just was very sweet at that age," Confessed the Frenchman making Kagami nod.
"Both were inseparable. Every time I saw them showing each other affection it felt like, these two were destined for each other since day one," Kagami said making Adrien chuckle.
"This reminds me, didn't Lila do some…..questionable things during classes, which you found kind of inappropriate or something?"
"She had written a few times on some occasions her full name, but instead of her mother's name, it was Nathaniel's last name. Even once in art classes, where we had to draw our full names she had done it,"
"Ah I remember the last one, but….she still did get a good grade I've heard,"
"A five I believe" Commented Kagami. "Are you two ready or is something missing?"
"I am," Responded Adrien. "And Elliot has even finished his homework, my smart, little man," Complimented the father ruffling his boy on the head making him giggle.
"I am, but I think I need to go to the toilet first," Commented Elliot making Kagami nod, then Elliot trott along the corridor encountering on the way Shadow walking out of a room, then the cat rubbed itself on Elliot's leg while passing. "Hi Shadow!"
"I will go down and get the car, will you two meet me there?" Questioned Kagami making her husband nod, earning a smile from his wife, which leaned in to kiss him on the lips. "See you then!"
At the Pancake Paradise, the Kurtzberg family had gathered together along with the Agreste and Lavillant household around a table waiting for their order.
"It's been years since the last time we've been here and boy the place has changed," Rose marveled making Juleka smile at her wife's comment. "That was a genius idea, Nath,"
"The red velvet pancake you talked about better be delicious. I skipped snack to eat here," Commented Nathaniel making Rose nod.
"You won't regret it, I promise," Rose said.
Kagami saw Lila look at the two friends talking, then whispered to call the raven-haired woman's attention.
"Lila, how are you feeling here?" Questioned the Japanese woman noticing her friend look at the people sitting around the table, most of them being wrapped up in the table conversation.
"I'm alright," Answered Lila. "This place here, I feel like I have been here before, but it doesn't look like the way I remember it,"
"The entire thing turned more…...neutral. Reminds me of the burger fast food local, which back in my and Juleka's time looked quite for colorful and now it's all black-greyish. It's…..almost depressing to think about it," Mentioned Nathaniel making Rose nod.
"Luka said you were so fond of collecting their superhero toys. You begged a lot for your mom to get you a happy meal very often," Rose commented. "I remember one day being with Juleka's mom out and we both had along with Luka each ordered a kids menu to obtain a superhero to give it Nathaniel. He used to be so happy when we did that,"
"And at the same time, I felt bad for you guys doing that," Admitted Nathaniel placing his hand behind his back.
"Papa, what are the current heroes they give with the burgers?" Questioned Elliot looking up at his father, which moved his head aside to look at his son.
"Oh good question. I haven't heard anything about it yet," Commented Adrien making Elliot nod.
"I think I know it. It's from Sonic the platypus," Nathaniel answered earning a smile from Adrien.
"Thanks" He responded, then behind him appeared a waitress carrying three plates in her hand.
"One Spiced Pumpkin Pancake and two Cinnamon Roll-flavored pancakes," The woman announced watching Adrien move his hand up.
"I and my boy got the cinnamon one," Mentioned Adrien receiving along with Elliot their plate, then Kagami raised her hand up as well.
"The pumpkin one is for my girl friend here," Mentioned the blue-haired woman watching the waitress hand the plate out to Lila, which picked it up gently.
"Wow, the color really is an eye candy," Commented Lila making Kagami smile.
"It really looks delicious," Admitted Kagami making Nathaniel nod.
"Can't wait for mines," Said Nathaniel, afterward the waitress came back with three other plates to announce it to the guests.
"Three Japanese Soufflé pancakes," Mentioned the woman watching Kagami raise her hand along with Rose And Adrien to receive their order. Lila tilted her head curious as Adrien did get two dishes instead.
"You ordered two?" Questioned the Italian woman curious, making the former model nod.
"I just wanted the one with cinnamon, but I got curious about Kagami's variant and picked it out as well," Explained the Frenchman making the raven-haired woman nod.
"Sure, got nothing to say," Spoke Lila, then picked up her cutlery to cut down one part of the pancake and observed the waitress appear, but now with four plates, making her look astonished by the skill of the woman. "I haven't been able to pay attention to waiters, but this seems to be impossible," Lila spoke watching the woman pass behind her to approach her husband and the daughter to give each of the two an order.
"Red Velvet with cream cheese for the gentleman and Banana chocolate chip for the little lady," Announced the woman and moved further to the quiet raven-haired woman and her adoptive daughter. "And said order for these two ladies,"
"This is very impressive," Commented Lila making Nathaniel nod, while Kagami had looked around the table for the sitting guests.
"Shouldn't Nathaniel be the last one receiving his meal?" Questioned Kagami making Nathaniel shrug his shoulders.
"I don't know. Since when is there a right order?" Questioned the redhead, then Adrien looked towards the redhead.
"I think Kagami meant, according to the service rules, it's ladies first and Juleka was last along with Eireen," Commented Adrien making Nathaniel nod.
"I don't think this matters. We all had a different order. It's hard to go by the rules, when you don't receive the needed orders first," Commented Rose making Juleka nod.
"I'm fine with whatever place I got as long as I get it," Juleka stated making Nathaniel nod.
"Same for me. This reminds me, I once got the wrong order at a restaurant and I still took it without commenting anything," Nathaniel spoke making Lila curious.
"You did? You could have told them it was the wrong one,"
"Yeah I could, but I didn't want them to throw it away," Nathaniel stated making Lila nod.
"Talking about throwing away, I remember being with Kagami on a dinner with Nino and Alya at the time Alya was pregnant, she had thrown a hissy fit, because Nino received the order and was fine with it, remember?" Asked the husband looking at the Japanese woman, which placed her hand in front of her mouth to not laugh.
"Oh I do remember and I really didn't want to," Commented Kagami making Adrien chuckle.
"Yeah, I do have to admit it felt embarrassing. Mostly, because she's a type of celebrity and it's kind of odd to act like that," Adrien explained making the others nod.
"Have you per coincidence ever had anything to do with your former fangirls from the past? Just out of curiosity," Asked Nathaniel making the blonde shake his head.
"Since Wayhem took my place, I have literally died for the girls. Wayhem is with his latino-like looks number one in their hearts," Recounted Adrien making the redhead nod, then rolled his eyes up to see a person come near their table to greet them.
"Good afternoon everyone. I hope I'm not bothering anyone," Began the young woman to speak.
"Uh no," Responded Adrien, then Kagami pushed the chair aside to look up at the woman.
"Can we help you?" Asked the blue-haired woman, then the young lady passed her hand over her head to insert it above her ear.
"I just came here, because I felt like I recognized the woman here beside you," Spoke the woman, then Lila looked up at the foreign woman. "You're…...Isabella Alberghini," Commented the woman making tilt her head confused.
"No, I'm not. I'm Lila,"
"Right, right, Lila Kurtzberg. I'm sorry, I had a short blackout after recognizing you," Confessed the woman making Lila nod.
"No problem. I kind of know this issue,"
"Could there be a chance, that I could take a picture with you together or have an autograph signed?" The young lady asked, then Lila looked around the table while her friends looked at her neutrally.
"Perhaps I have to go with a photo. I don't have anything here, that I could give to you signed," Lila mentioned earning a little smile from the woman, which took out her smartphone to prepare herself, while Lila checked herself.
"If I had known you were here I would have taken the magazine I bought months ago with you on the cover," Mentioned the woman, then Lila glimpsed at Nathaniel, which was looking at the fangirl.
"I was on a magazine's cover?" Questioned Lila making Nathaniel nod.
"It was about the role in your show and it contained an interview in it," Responded Nathaniel. "We've got the example at home somewhere if you want to check it out," Offered the blue-eyed man making Lila nod.
"Alright erm…..do I look good for the picture?" Questioned the Italian making Nathaniel nod.
"You look great," Answered the redhead. "You'll always do it,"
"Aww that's sweet," Lila commented watching the fan get beside her and hold the smartphone with the camera directed to the two, then took a few snapshots and showed them to Lila.
"I want to make sure you're okay with them," Asked the woman. "I'm fine if I'm not allowed to share them on social media,"
"I like them," Answered Lila making the woman smile and embrace Lila tightly making her feel a little uncomfortable.
"You're the best!" Commented the fan, afterward, she moved on leaving Lila back.
"That was kind of awkward," Stated the raven-haired woman, then Kagami placed her hand on the friend's shoulder.
"You're just out of the routine," Commented Kagami. "Usually you're pretty comfortable with fans,"
"She didn't have the issue to deal with horny fans as I did in the past….Crazy ones, overly emotional-behaving ones….it's a long list,"
"She also doesn't have as much as fans as you did before. A big chunk of them are in Italy, but that's because due to the recording being there people knew earlier about the show," Explained Nathaniel making Adrien nod.
"And she's an Italian," Pointed Rose out. "They wanted so badly to have one and when Lila participated in the casting, they had drooled over her!"
"For real?" Asked Lila surprised making Rose nod.
"According to Luka, the director said it was like someone had heard the team pray for a perfect fit, and the next time you appeared," Commented Juleka.
"Funny," Commented Lila. "And for the show, I had to color my hair I heard?"
"Exactly! That was Juleka's work. You're welcome," Rose said proudly placing her hand on the wife's shoulder.
"Sweet," Said Lila beginning to break down the pancakes, so she could take her first bite.
"It's actually pretty good this soufflé here," Mumbled Adrien looking at his wife, which smiled at the blonde taking a piece of her meal as well.
Afterward, most of the guests at the table had ordered a warm drink, while continuing chatting with each other.
Nathalie sat on her chair with a sad face, while her friend Eireen was slowly slurping her cocoa drink. Nathalie looked up at her father, which sat looking across the table at Adrien, who was talking. Nathalie placed her hand on Nathaniel's sleeve to push it to obtain his attention.
"Daddy, I can't finish the drink," Nathalie mentioned making Nathaniel tilt his head aside for a little.
"Why not, princess?" Questioned the redhead, then watched the daughter point at her belly.
"I'm full. If I drink too much, I might explode!" Answered the girl making Nathaniel chuckle and grab the drink.
"Shall I finish it for you?" Questioned the father making the girl nod
"Good,"
"Thank you," Responded the daughter, then Nathaniel took a sip from the cocoa from his daughter, then rolled his eyes down at his smartphone to see two messages from Rose and he looked straight at his childhood friend, which dropped her phone on the table while drinking a latte macchiato.
"Rose, why are you sending me a message, if we're at the same table?" Asked Nathaniel, then Rose tapped on her smartphone making Nathaniel sigh and look down at the screen of his smartphone to see the message For Lila.
"It's the interview Lila asked about," Mentioned Rose, then Nathaniel unlocked the smartphone to open the article and showed on a PDF file a two-page interview about his wife. Nathaniel watched Lila listening to Kagami talking, afterward, he moved his smartphone closer to her waiting for the two girls to end their conversation and Kagami was the one to stop as she noticed the redhead shove the smartphone closer to them.
"Is that for us?" Asked Kagami, then Lila moved her head back to look at her husband.
"Rose found your article and send it to me for you to check it out," Mentioned Nathaniel making Lila nod and pick it up to look at it.
"These two pages?" Questioned Lila making Nathaniel nod, then she zoomed into the article to read it.
"Have you planned anything afterward?" Questioned Rose. "I thought about visiting my parents,"
"You can go, if you want, Rose. We will see, where we are going next," Kagami commented making the blonde woman nod.
"What about visiting your mother?" Suggested Adrien looking at Kagami, which shrugged her shoulders.
"I would need to call her to warn her, we're visiting her," Mentioned the Japanese woman making her husband nod.
In the meanwhile, Lila was focused on reading the article and skipped to the next page, which had on a half-page details about her family. Lila took a better look at it, by following that part of the interview slower.
"When I moved in with my husband, it was kind of awkward for us the first few days. We had already overnight in each other's rooms a several times before moving together. It turns out we both felt a little awkward in being 24/7 hours around each other, rather than having these few hours we were for ourselves. With the time we got comfortable with each other and used to our differences and similarities. Fun fact, we got to learn, that both of us despise cooking and would rather not have anything to do with it So most of the time we would order something, go out to eat or eat something simple like a sandwich or…..oh microwave or oven food you only need to heat. Alright, and you kept this for so long? No, as my daughter was born. We knew we had to change that for her and one of our friends suggested we take cooking classes together. At home, if both of us got the chance we do the cooking together. You know, sometimes after a stressful day at work, it feels really good to be in the kitchen along with your other half suffering from one of our least favorite deeds. It fastened our bond and communication with each other. Ah that's amazing, a few questions about your husband, what are his best traits? What does he have, that no other person in the world could have done for you? Nathaniel is one of the kindest guys I have met. On the day we met he had stood up for me in a fight and despite I being unnecessarily angry at him, he had confessed to me he had never done it before, he had just done it because he knew how it felt to be in my shoes and wanted to repay it back to me, but it failed. He had shown me, that he had a softer side, a comprehensive and supportive one. He was always there for me in the most blatant situations. He gave me a hand in anything, even when I was a pain, and boy I have no idea, where he got the patience, I heard stories from my friends, which witnessed me during pregnancy, I can't believe Nathaniel hadn't lost it yet. A guy like him you won't find everywhere. They are rare gems," Lila smiled from reading her past interview, then glimpsed at Nathaniel, which had finished his daughter's drink, afterward Nathalie looked above the father's arm to look up at the redhead, which looked down at the daughter. Lila smiled enamored about the two and observed Nathalie hug Nathaniel by his arm, afterward got up with Eireen to run across the place towards a door, which led to the outside to a small playground, where three kids were at the moment playing together and the girls were going to join as well.