Hi everyone. Sorry to start on a sad note, but I'd like to address the tragedy that occurred earlier this week at Robb Elementary School - now the third deadliest school shooting in US history. There is no way to bring back the 21 wonderful people lost on Tuesday, nor the 10 lost in Buffalo and the 5 lost in Irvine earlier this month, nor any of the others in the 200+ shootings that have already occurred since the start of 2022 in this country. I wish I could say things will immediately change, that those in power will stop spending time trying to take away human rights to "prevent the murder of unborn children" and start focusing on passing legislation restricting the direct threat to the safety of the children we already have. As much as I hate to repeat something I'm sure all of you have heard many times over again, if possible, we have to take advantage of the means available to us, whether that's voting, donating, volunteering, speaking out, protesting, or something else entirely. It might not be enough, but we have to continue to try. Much love to those who've been affected by these tragedies. I hope you're all holding up okay.
Now, back to the happier stuff! Thank you all so much for every fav, follow, and casual read. I hope you like what this chapter has in store.
Last time on A Mother's Love: Adrien wakes up at the Dupain-Cheng's, and Marinette and Sabine help him work through a panic attack.
Now, here's chapter 6, "Picking Up Pieces."
Adrien may not have been the most socially aware person in the world, but it didn't take a genius to pick up on the fact that Gil was not pleased by the time Adrien picked up his phone around noon. He felt horrible about giving his bodyguard such a scare upon discovering Adrien's empty bed in the morning; leaving a note had been the last thing on his mind during his escape the night before.
Unfortunately for Adrien, Gil had picked up on his cautious dance around an explanation of how and why he'd been out in the middle of the night in the first place. Adrien disliked the need to lie after what he'd put Gil through, but he couldn't ignore the danger it may put his guardian in if he told the truth. He typed out a long message explaining that he'd gone to investigate after the power went out and had wound up locked out of the mansion as a result. Gil seemed to accept this, telling Adrien to expect him at the Dupain-Cheng's in twenty minutes' time and that Adrien was not to disappear before he got there.
He knew they would be okay if Gil was already willing to joke about it. The smile stayed on his face as he finished dressing for the day (Marinette had so kindly provided him with yet another outfit of her own design - "Keep it, it suits you!" she'd said).
He let Marinette's parents know that Gil would be there soon, convincing them (well, convincing Tom - Sabine's eyebrow was a little too high for his liking) that he'd just had a stressful week and would be fine to go home. He fed them the same story he'd told Gil, and despite the expression on Marinette's face that was an uncannily perfect replica of her mother's, she stayed silent as she listened to his explanation.
He excused himself to go collect his things. Grabbing his bag from the night before, he meticulously picked through its contents, reassuring himself that everything was still there. Journal? Check. File? Check. Flash drive? Check. Adrien then added his clothes from the day before and the soft pajamas from Marinette. He looked around the room one last time to make sure he'd remembered everything.
Bright red on Marinette's desk caught his eye. An unusual, but very familiar shade of red in fact. But that was impossible! It just couldn't be . . .
Adrien knew that he shouldn't. It was just a color, what excuse did that give him to go snooping through Marinette's things when she'd been so quick to welcome him into her home?
He was seconds away from giving in to temptation when a gentle knocking sounded at the trap door and Marinette poked her head into the room.
"Hey!" she said, climbing up the remaining steps. "Uh, Gil just got here, just so you know."
"Oh! Is it 13:00 already?" He checked his phone. "Wow, time flies." He reached to grab his bag. By the time he'd straightened up, Marinette had closed the trap door.
"I . . ." she started. "It's . . . Are you sure you're ready? You're welcome to stay for as long as you like, and - well - I'm just a bit worried about you is all. Okay, maybe more than just a bit, but not like an unreasonable amount, just the normal amount of worried about a friend who was out in a storm in the middle of the night - not that I'm trying to push you to tell me anything your not comfortable with, it's just that I don't want you to feel like you have to go back to whatever it was you were running from."
Adrien wiped at his eyes as discreetly as he could. "I don't know how I'll ever be able to thank you enough," he told her, voice cracking. "I can't tell you everything right now, I need a couple of days to sort this out on my own first. I'll be okay to go home for now - it's just Gil and me - I'm just . . . scared for what's going to happen when my father gets back tomorrow. I don't know how I'm supposed to live under the same roof, with what I've found out, and how much more I'm worried that I haven't discovered yet. . ." He did his best to keep his focus on steady breathing while Marinette was apparently deep in thought.
". . . Do you have a way to leave the house without him finding out?" she asked.
"Yeah. Why?"
"What if you came here? Just overnight. We'd have to tell my parents and maybe Gil at least a little bit about what's really going on, but you could sleep here and sneak back in before they're due to get you in the morning. It's not a permanent solution, but it buys you time for whatever it is you need to do next."
"I mean . . . I would love to accept, but are you sure you're okay with this? That's more than just a trivial offer."
"I'm sure. And my parents will be, too. Mamán was very worried about you this morning, you know."
"I'm sorry. . . ."
"Adrien Agreste. Don't ever let me catch you apologizing for the fact that people care about you again, do I make myself clear?"
He squeezed her into a hug. "Crystal." He stole a last glance at the red paper on her desk on his way out as Marinette led him down the stairs: it was an envelope after all.
. . .
Gil was waiting with Tom and Sabine in the living room, Tom holding a box of chocolates and Sabine flowers. A bolt of rose pink fabric was propped up behind them, mulberry silk by the looks of it.
Relief washed over Gil's face as he made eye contact with Adrien, and the mountain of a man barreled up the stairs to wrap both Adrien and Marinette in a massive bear hug. Adrien felt himself relaxing in the familiar warmth surrounding him. It stayed in his chest even as he left Gil to hug Tom, Sabine, and Marinette one last time, thanking them all profusely for all of the love and kindness they'd shown him.
Waving goodbye one more time, Gil tapped on his shoulder and then Adrien felt his phone buzz.
We have almost an hour before your private fencing lesson. Ice cream?
"Ice cream sounds great!" he said, smiling up from his phone when a thought struck him. "Just let me check one quick thing, and then let's see if we can't track down André!"
Opening his phone app, he was both surprised and yet not to find no recent missed calls from Marinette, despite what she'd told her mother that morning. Clearly, he wasn't the only one keeping secrets.
. . .
Marinette excused herself to bring her new bolt of fabric up to her room. She couldn't believe how thoughtful it was of Gil to bring her something like this - Adrien must have mentioned she was into fashion.
She was running her fingers across the beautiful silk when she remembered the letter from Chat Noir. There had been no time to give it any thought, what finding Adrien and hurrying him out of the rain and worrying herself sick about exactly what he'd gotten into that had evoked such a horrible reaction at even just the mention of going home.
. . . There was one explanation. She would have the answer if only she dared to open the envelope. But she couldn't. Whether the answer to Adrien's discovery was in Chat Noir's letter or not, it would be such a massive violation of trust at a time when both of them were clearly hurting so much.
"Tikki?" she said.
"What is it, Marinette?" the kwami said, nuzzling up to her holder. The two were unaccustomed to having to stay separate for so long.
"I know you can't answer directly, so I was wondering if it's alright if I just organized my thoughts aloud and asked for advice?"
"You know I trust you, Marinette. I'll do my best."
"So yesterday, I got a voicemail from Chat telling me that he suspected his father could be Shadow Moth and that he was planning to investigate before our patrol today. Then, on my way back from collecting the letter, I saw Adrien, out in the pouring rain in the middle of the night, and when I get to him his hair was all over the place in a way I'd never seen Adrien's hair before and he was sobbing out something about his father and his mother, who I thought was missing or dead or something. Then this morning, he had a very serious panic attack at the mere thought of going home, and then he told me that he had to wait before he could reveal more, and I thought I saw him staring at the letter on my desk as we were leaving. And he's blond, with green eyes, and a kind smile, and he's sweet, and he's brave, and he's got the biggest heart of anyone I've ever known . . . except one person.
"Tikki, I might have found my Chat Noir. And it scares me to death. Because that means that his father is almost certainly Shadow Moth, and I don't know how to help him through it. And if they are different people, then I have two friends who mean the world to me stuck in two very difficult situations, and I don't know how to help either of them through it."
"If Adrien is Chat Noir, then your job is to take the burden off his shoulders, to be his rock as you two plan your next move surrounding Shadow Moth. If he isn't, then you see what Chat needs help with in his investigation thus far and you check up on Adrien while he tries to sort out whatever is going on at home. And whether they are one and the same or two separate people, you continue to be the best friend you can be, ready with open ears and open arms. Adrien might be Chat Noir, he might not. But you are Ladybug, and one of the best and brightest I've ever known at that. And you are also Marinette, with a heart that rivals the one you see in Adrien and in Chat Noir. You know what you're doing. Trust me, you can trust yourself."
. . .
The view from Eiffel Tower was always beautiful at sunset. Today, Paris was awash in a golden-pink glow. Chat Noir was sitting on a metal beam, trying to memorize every inch of the sky before him. It was the last one he would see before Gabriel would come home, and Chat had no idea what would come next.
His enhanced hearing picked up on the zip of a yoyo from a distance. He tapped at his knees like Sabine had done, mentally preparing himself for the conversation that would surely follow Ladybug's arrival.
When she finally plopped down beside him, he didn't have time to look at her before she had wrapped him into a hug. It started with a wobble in his lip, then a tremble in his shoulders, and before he knew it he was crying again. He was so sick of crying. It had been more times than he could count these last few days. But he couldn't stop the flow of tears once it had started and instead took the time to appreciate the silent comfort of his Lady's hands rubbing against his back or the soft cooing noises she made as she held him closer.
Many minutes passed before he broke away again. He only had to meet her eyes. But he knew that she knew.
"It's him, isn't it?"
"It is."
"I'm so sorry, Chat. I'm so sorry."
"Thank you," he whispered. "For being here."
"Of course I'm here, chaton. I would do anything to keep you safe. I wish there was something I could do to protect you from this."
". . . Is it okay if I take a couple of days before we do anything? I need to figure out what I'm going to do next. And I'm sorry, but if it's okay, I'm just not ready to say it out loud yet . . . who he is . . . who I am. You're welcome to read the letter when you get home, thought."
"That's perfectly alright, chaton. Whatever you need."
"Is it alright if we just pretend this isn't happening? If we just go on one last patrol where we pretend everything is normal?"
"Sure thing!" she said. She got up, wincing slightly as she did so.
"Bug, is something wrong?"
"Oh, no," she laughed. "It's just my shins. A friend fell asleep next to me and apparently moves a lot in his sleep. It's nothing worse than what I do to myself on a regular basis - madly clumsy, remember? Now, how about a race for old time's sake? Catch me if you can!" she said, with a flying leap off into the open air.
"Wait, I wasn't ready!" he shouted.
He almost went after her, but then he paused. He checked his hiding spot. The letter was gone.
Chat Noir jumped off the tower towards the Parisian skyline and after his Marinette.
Thanks for reading! I'm hoping to have my first draft of the cover posted by the end of the month, just so you know. Hopefully, I'll see you on June 24th with "Following Leads." Until then!
Chapter Word Count: 2,210.
Published: Friday, May 27th, 2022.
