Disclaimer: Don't own and never will.
AN: This is a miniature sequel (of sorts) to the excellent fanfiction Nullius In Verba by FlightfootKeyseeker/Keyseeker on AO3, in which akumatised victims remain as akumas instead of being purified. They challenged us to write more for this and…well you get the idea… This is set just after the end of the fic. Also, Juleka was never akumatised, but Rose was.
"Don't peek."
Rose almost giggled as Juleka gently pulled her forward, guiding her towards some unknown destination. It had only been a week since Hawkmoth had been defeated. A week since their memories had been restored. Ladybug had yet to find a way to return them to their previous bodies and yet, this felt so normal. So…right.
She hadn't had a lot of that recently.
Between the strange looks she and the other akumas received and the strange feeling she had every time she looked in the mirror, it was…well normal seemed a long way away.
Juleka continued to pull her along. She could feel the sun's warmth on her skin and in the background, she could hear birds tweeting away. They came to an abrupt stop and Juleka removed the blindfold.
She blinked momentarily as her eyes adjusted to the light. It was the park outside the school. The same park they had first met many years ago as young children. And sitting in front of them was a freshly laid picnic, with Rose's favourite view. She could even see Luka sitting nearby gently strumming his guitar.
"I promised myself that I would take you here when you came back," Juleka said quietly and Rose smiled as a tear of happiness ran down her cheek.
"Oh Juleka…" She leaned forward and kissed her girlfriend. "It's so romantic…"
Juleka took her girlfriend by the hand and gently led her towards the picnic. A few people gave them strange looks, but the two girls ignored them and sat down. As Luka played a gentle melody in the background, Juleka opened up a bottle of Fizzy Lemonade and poured out a couple of cups for the two of them. The cups were simple paper cups instead of glass, but it was sweet and Rose felt her heart rise. She raised her cup.
"To freedom," Juleka said and Rose raised her cup.
"To freedom. And to being back together with the most important person in the world to me," she said and both girls smiled.
The two girls began to eat. Fresh, triangle shaped cheese sandwiches and heart shaped macaroons. Strawberries and pasta salad.
Rose picked up a strawberry and smiled at Juleka. She leaned forward and popped it into Juleka's mouth. Juleka smiled fondly at her girlfriend and popped a macaroon into hers. The two girls began feeding each other and soon they had moved from feeding to kissing with such enthusiasm that Luka decided to retreat. The two girls didn't notice, enamoured as they were with one another. They couldn't say who was the first to kiss, but soon the food lay forgotten as Rose pushed Juleka against a tree.
When they finally stopped to breath, they looked at one another and smiled
"I love you Juleka," Rose said as she gazed into Juleka's copper eyes and for a moment, everything was perfect.
"What on Earth are you doing, kissing a monster like that in public!?"
The two girls turned to see a stubby woman in her forties with short brown hair glaring at them.
"Yes, I'm talking to you," the woman said, jabbing her fat stubby finger at them, her face turning red. "Do you know what this-this-this…" The woman seemed unable to speak as her face turned an angry red. "This monster…worked for Hawkmoth! She tried to steal Ladybug and Chat Noir's Miraculous!" She paused and glared at Rose. "You should be ashamed of yourself for what you did!"
Rose felt herself recoil slightly, but Juleka tensed up. Rose put her hand in Juleka's and gave it a reassuring woman however continued speaking.
"And you," she said, poking her finger at Juleka. "You're disgusting! Kissing a creature like that! It's like kissing a dog! Would you kiss a dog on the lips like that? Of course not!" She pointed to Rose once more. "You should be locked away, far away from normal people like us!"
Juleka stood up and stomped angrily towards the woman. Rose had never seen Juleka so angry before. It was simultaneously scary and sexy at the same time. She wasn't sure if she should feel worried about her girlfriend or the woman, who was still berating them.
"SHUT UP!" Juleka yelled and the woman was abruptly stunned into silence. "SHUT UP, SHUT UP, SHUT UP YOU STUPID, BIGOTED PIECE OF TRASH!"
"How da-" the woman began as she regained her composure, but Juleka cut her off once more.
"ARE YOU REALLY THIS STUPID!? SHE DIDN'T DO ANYTHING WRONG!" Juleka yelled, pulling herself up to her full height and towering over the woman, who appeared to be slightly terrified. Not that Rose blamed her. This was the angriest that Rose had ever seen her girlfriend get, ever. Even Chloe didn't inspire this level of rage. "HAVE YOU NOT BEEN LISTENING TO ANYTHING LADYBUG AND CHAT NOIR HAVE EVEN SAID!? WHEN SHE WAS AKUMATISED, SHE WAS UNDER THE CONTROL OF HAWKMOTH! YOU WOULD BE THE SAME IF IT WAS YOU!" Juleka paused for a moment to take a breath. The woman opened her mouth as if to say something, only for Juleka to cut her off once more.
"DON'T YOU DARE CALL HER A MONSTER! SHE WASN'T A MONSTER! SHE NEVER WAS A MONSTER! WOULD YOU CALL YOUR OWN FAMILY A MONSTER!? BECAUSE YOU'RE A TERRIBLE PERSON FOR THAT! WHAT THE FUCK IS YOUR PROBLEM!? SHE'S NOT UNDER HAWKMOTH'S CONTROL ANY MORE AND I LOVE HER BECAUSE I KNOW THAT EVEN THOUGH SHE'S STILL IN HER AKUMA FORM, SHE'S STILL THE SWEETEST, MOST LOVING, MOST KIND PERSON I'VE EVER MET! SHE'S BETTER THAN YOU'LL EVER BE!"
"But-but-but-" the woman stuttered as she cowered slightly from Juleka, who simply glared at her.
"You really upset Juleka and me," Rose said gently and the woman recoiled slightly. "You really shouldn't be so judgemental and cruel. It's not a very nice thing to do. We were under Hawkmoth's control and now we're not. We don't have his voice pressing in our heads, or our free will being taken from us now. You should try talking to some of us. You'll find that we're just normal people underneath our appearances." She paused and looked at her hands. "And I'm sure that Ladybug and Chat Noir are working their hardest to change us back. They'll have us back to normal in no time!"
The woman stared, opening and closing her mouth, lost for words.
"You should really be nicer in future," Rose continued gently and the woman huffed. Juleka continued to glare at the woman until Rose put her hand on Juleka's arm and Juleka smiled at her.
The woman looked around, hoping to find support from the crowd that had gathered around them. Unfortunately for her, the audience were looking at her with some hostility and she seemed to pick up on it. With a slight hmmph of annoyance, she stormed away.
Another woman approached them. A slightly younger blonde haired woman with two young children following behind her.
"Are you okay dear?" she asked and Juleka muttered a small yes as her face became downcast. Rose gave the woman a friendly smile.
"Yes, thank you!" she said brightly. "It's very nice of you to ask."
The woman smiled at them and nodded.
"You're a cute couple. Don't let that crazy idiot spoil your day," she said and Rose nodded.
"We won't. Thank you!"
"I'm sorry…I wanted this date to be perfect and now it's been-" Juleka began, but Rose put a finger over Juleka's lips and smiled.
"It was perfect. It was a thoughtful, beautiful thing that you set up for me. And most importantly, it was from you," she said with a smile. "And it's perfect because of you Juleka. Just you."
Juleka smiled as the Sun continued to shine down on them.