Disclaimer: I do not own Miraculous Ladybug or it's characters.
Chapter 22,
"Well, Tikki-" Marinette was interrupted by a loud yawn on her lips.
"What do you think?" Marinette asked and Tikki floated over to her.
"This is Nino's birthday present, right?" Tikki asked and Marinette nodded tiredly.
"Correct." Marinette said.
"Let's see. These are very unique bracelets you designed; one for Nino and one for Alya. Uh... what makes them unique again?" Tikki asked.
"This is unique because it is a special take on those couple necklaces you sometimes see people wear. You know, the ones that you have two necklaces that make up one heart or another item like that." Marinette asked and Tikki nodded.
"Well, this is a modern take on that. For these bracelets they bring together a music video. One bracelets plays the film of the video, and the other bracelet plays the sound of the video. That way, when they are together, you get both." Marinette said and Tikki smiled.
"That's really cute, Marinette. I particularly enjoy the fact that these look like little turtles. I'll admit I was a little worried when you said you said you wanted to give Nino a turtle bracelet, but this looks different then the turtle Miraculous." Tikki said.
"See, when they put their wrists together, like when they hold hands, they press the turtle's heads together and it activates both of them at the same time." Marinette said as she picked up the bracelets and demonstrated it for Tikki.
"Wow, you got the hands and feet to go in when the head does." Tikki said and then she rhythmically bounced her head as she watched the music video.
"Is that Nino?" Tikki asked and Marinette nodded.
"Yeah. I've been thinking about him and sometimes he needs an extra boost of encouragement to believe in himself. Well he loves being a Disc Jockey and he loves movies, so I filmed a little Nino music video..." She paused to yawn.
"Of him in the moment of his craft, or being there for his friends, or being brave. I figured, whenever he is down, he can remind himself that he can do anything. And Alya can remind him too." Marinette said and Tikki smiled.
"That's a very nice thought Marinette." Tikki said and Marinette nodded.
"Thanks, Tikki." Marinette said and she yawned again.
"You should get some sleep while it's still dark out." Tikki said and Marinette put her head on her desk and yawned so largely it felt like her lips would splice open if her jaw didn't fall off first.
"I should... I... maybe wrap it first." Marinette said before she fell asleep. Tikki knee it was useless to try and wake her up, so instead she grabbed Marinette's blanket from the bed and wrapped it around the sweet girl's shoulders.
-
After an unmeasurable amount of time, that seemed instantaneous, the warming sun graced Paris with it's glowing presence. One of the first homes it hits, it the Agreste house. And outside of this glorious building was Nathalie, lazily sitting on the hood of her car, watching the rays of the sun.
Working with Gabriel turned into a fast paced escapade mixed with the heartbreaking moments of seeing how sad both Gabriel and Adrien really are; Nathalie recognized her unique position though. She looked over at Gabriel's window and sighed heavily.
That man was in near-constant agony over what happened with his wife. She'll admit, she did have a little crush on Gabriel before Emilie 'disappeared'. However with all this extra time they've been spending together, and seeing how hard he tries and how she's comforted him at his worse... she tried not to, but she ended up falling hopelessly in love with him.
It doesn't matter though; it never mattered. When he gets the Ladybug and Cat Noir Miraculous' he will bend the space-time continuum to ensure that they never received the peacock or the moth Miraculous'. That way Emilie would never had the chance to get hurt by that-... well... Gabriel simply wants to be reunited with his wife once again. Nothing wrong with that.
Who knows, when Gabriel fixes that, perhaps her feelings for him would have gone away too. After all, if Emilie hadn't been hurt, then her feelings never would have grown. And if, on the off chance that her feelings grew regardless of Emilie's condition, Nathalie probably would have quit instead of torturing herself day after day with witnessing how happy they were together.
Nathalie sipped her mocha and turned her gaze towards Adrien's window. Adrien was a good kid and she cared for him very much; at times, like he were her family. But with as much time she spends with the boy, she often had to be cold around him. Partly to enforce Gabriel's rules and demonstrate that she is merely following orders, as he should.
But she also did this for selfish reasons. She is already gonna be so hurt to say goodbye to Gabriel, she didn't want to twist the knife by getting too close to Adrien as well. Her heart just wasn't that strong. She knew it wasn't quite right to act that way around the boy, especially since all he wants, is for someone to listen to him and be there to hold him when he needs it.
A car drove up, and out stepped Adrien's bodyguard. Nathalie looked down at her watch and slid off her car.
"Sorry, Armand, I'll move my car to the side, now." Nathalie said. She pulled her car away and Nathalie parked her car, came back to the front of the house, and she was halfway up the stairs when she stopped completely. She hesitated a moment and then she turned around and walked over to Armand.
"Pardon my abruptness, Armand; but the other day you said Adrien was the closest thing you had to a son. Do you remember that?" Nathalie asked. Armand glanced away and then shrugged when he looked back at her.
"Is that true?" She asked. Armand looked up at Adrien's window and then back at Nathalie. He rubbed the back of his neck and nodded.
"I know that bodyguards try not to get attached to the people they're protecting so that they can properly protect him them. But I want to tell you that I sincerely appreciate how much you care for him." Nathalie said and Armand tensed up a little.
"For what it's worth, I personally believe that you'll have a child of your own, one day." Nathalie said, giving him a gentle pat on the arm and she turned away.
"And I believe you deserve better then Gabriel." Armand stated and Nathalie froze.
"What?" Nathalie said, turning to look at him.
"For what it's worth... Gabriel isn't worthy of your heart." Armand said and Nathalie looked down sadly.
"That obvious?" She asked and Armand shrugged.
"I've been trained to notice the most subtle of facial expressions, and abnormal signs and behavior. I have discovered... several secrets... from remaining silent and noticing what's going on around me." Armand said and Nathalie sighed.
"In other words, 'obvious to you'." Nathalie said and Armand allowed a small smirk at her comment.
"Listen, Nat. Maybe we both need some help to... lead normal lives. You're a strong woman, you don't need someone to guard you, but perhaps we could be friends." Armand said and Nathalie blinked.
"I guess we both need a friend." Nathalie said with a smile and Armand nodded professionally. She stared at him for about three seconds and then she gave him a tilted smile.
"You know, you actually have a nice voice there, Armand. You should think about talking more." Nathalie said. Armand paused for a moment as he thought about it, and then he did a curt nod. Nathalie turned and walked into the house.
-
"Happy birthday!" Nino woke with a start when his parents entered his room. He grabbed his glasses off his side table and smiled when he saw them.
"Oh, dude! Cake for breakfast?" Nino said as they carried a small cake over to his bed. Nino sat up and put on his cap as they sat on the bed. His brother came into the room and stood beside them.
"Well, it is a special day." His father said.
"That's right, it's not every day our young man turns 15." His mother said.
"Don't I get cake, mom?" His little brother Chris asked and their mother chuckled.
"Calm down, Chris. At least let Nino blow out the candle first." Their father said and Chris groaned dramatically and crossed his arms over his chest.
"Why do you care if he blows out the candle or not- Nino isn't even your son." Chris said and the room grew silent. Nino and his parents exchanged glances and then looked back at Chris.
"Who told you that?" Their mother asked.
"Nana told me. She talked about your old husband and how he died- shot overseas. And that's why Nino is so much older then I am. Why didn't you tell me about him; I'm a big kid!" Chris said and their mother scoffed.
"I'm gonna kill her. I am going to kill her." She said calmly, and then she stood up and exited the room.
"Why is she mad?" Chris asked.
"I better go talk to her." Their father said and he handed Nino the little cake.
"Hey, what about the cake?" Chris said and then he pouted. Nino looked at the cake, then at his brother, and then he smiled.
"We can eat the cake together, come on." Nino said and Chris beamed. They walked into the kitchen and Nino grabbed them some forks and two glasses of milk.
"Dig in." Nino said.
"Really?" Chris asked and Nino nodded.
"This is a small cake, it's mine, and I don't have to share it with anyone. If I want to eat it here with a fork instead of on a plate, then I can. But first..." Nino blew out the single solitary candle on the cake and then removed it.
"Can we eat it now?" Chris asked and Nino nodded.
"3... 2... 1... Eat!" Nino said and they both dig into the cake and started eating. Chris smiled at Nino when he finally took a sip of milk.
"Hey, Nino?" Chris asked.
"Yeah, bud." Nino said.
"How come no one treats me like a big kid?" Chris asked and Nino sipped his own milk.
"What do you mean?" Nino asked and Chris shrugged.
"Grownups don't let me do anything. I mean, I can't watch scary movies, I can't play first-person shooter games, I mean mom and dad won't even let me watch that show M.A.S.H." Chris said and Nino blinked confused.
"M.A.S.H.? That military show dad watches from the 70's? How do you even know about that show?" Nino asked.
"Sometimes dad puts it on when he thinks I'm asleep. There's this one doctor who walks around making jokes and talking weird and dressing funny. But when I asked if I can watch it, they said it was too mature for me." Chris said and Nino nodded.
"Well, maybe it is. Those doctors are in Korea during a war... war is hard for adults to deal with, so it can be hard for a kid- even a big kid." Nino said and Chris glared at him.
"You're just like mom and dad! Who never told me about your real dad. We're they never gonna tell me about him? Soldiers are cool; why wouldn't they tell me about him?" Chris asked.
"Listen, Chris-"
"What was his name?" Chris asked and Nino rubbed the back of his neck.
"... Chris..." Nino said softly.
"Nino, I want to know his name. Tell me." Chris demanded and Nino sighed heavily and stared at the cake.
"I just did... my dad's name was Chris." Nino said and Chris paused for a moment.
"They named me after your dad? Well... then they really should have told me!" Chris said and then he stomped off. Nino flinched when Chris slammed his bedroom door and Nino felt bad.
It never occurred to him that they were actually keeping a secret from Chris. It just never really came up. And surely they would have told him when he was older. He looked around briefly and he decided to call Alya... she can probably put this whole issue into perspective.