MiraculElse #34: Our Last, Best Chance
by DFC
(TImeline: Post-Season 4.)
This is not a good idea.
I should not even be considering doing this...
Marinette stared into her bathroom mirror, willing herself to follow through.
But what else can I do in this situation? It's not as if part of me hasn't wanted to do this, to show him once and for all how much I trust him, she reasoned. And I've never needed his complete trust more than now.
"Tikki?" Marinette called, quietly. "I need you."
"Yes?" followed a light fluttering sound.
"I need to do something tonight as Ladybug. And if I sit down and talk it out with you, I have a feeling that you're going to stop me from doing it."
"Oh, really?" Tikki frowned. "What is it that you're thinking ab-"
"Spots on."
Thus ended the conversation.
She felt her heart pound faster as she saw a dark silhouette in the distance, hopping across rooftops and moving quickly.
I still have a chance to back out, thought Ladybug. But I've fought the urge to chicken out three times already tonight... and this needs to happen. I'm sure of it.
Chat Noir landed on the other side of the wide rooftop and walked towards her.
"Good evening, M'lady," he greeted her. "I got your message that you needed me tonight. We're not in a hurry, though?"
"Nope. No Akuma that I know of," Ladybug replied. "I needed to talk with you about something important."
"Hrmm... I don't know that I like the sound of that. Kind of ominous," Chat mused. "How bad is it?"
"That's just it, Chat. It's about... it's about how bad things are right now."
Ladybug gestured for Chat to join her on an old couch that was, as if summoned out of nowhere, present on the rooftop and looking reasonably comfortable. He sat down, noting the surroundings as he did.
"Say," he ventured. "Isn't this the rooftop where I..."
"...Confessed your feelings to me and gave me a rose one night? Yeah, it is. It's a place that means something to us, and it's private," said Ladybug. "And don't get your hopes up from that. I'm... I don't think I'm mentally okay enough for dating anyone right now."
Chat's sense of playfulness vanished with that statement. "Okay, this is serious," he agreed. "How can I help you?"
"You like to say that our partnership is all we need. 'You and me against the world,'" she sighed. "Well, after what happened with Strike Back and Flairmidable... that's never been more true. You and I are all we have to try and stop what's coming. We need to watch each other's backs and to be better partners than we've ever been before."
"That's saying a lot," countered Chat. "We've already entrusted our lives to each other how many times now? What do you have in mind?"
"There's something that you need to know."
Ladybug gathered her breath and her will, and closed her eyes.
"...Ladybug?" Chat wondered. "What are you about to-"
"Spots-"
"STOP!"
In a flash, Chat was up off the couch and into a defensive crouch. One hand was up near his eyes, seemingly about to cover them.
"Chat Noir, what are you doing?"
"You're either Akumatized, controlled by someone or drunk right now," Chat barked. "The only explanations I can think of."
"I'm not any of those, Chat," Ladybug declared, getting at least something of a giggle from his reaction. "I'm not even old enough to drink."
"Well, something's truly wrong, and you're not yourself right now," he frowned. "Or you wouldn't be trying to de-transform right in front of me. That was what you were about to do, right?"
Ladybug nodded.
"Come on, now," he pointed out. "It was on this very rooftop that you told me how vital it was that we could never know each other's identity, how vulnerable we would be if we knew each other's personal secrets. You've reminded me of that so many times since, so my rose and my charm didn't somehow make you forget that."
"And I meant it that night," said Ladybug, very quietly. "And I'd want to keep things that way, if I could. But I don't think that I can any more. Please, Chat... come here. I'll warn you before I try that again."
Cautiously, he sat down once more, concern all over his face.
"Part of me does want to know. I always have wondered," he noted. "But I've respected your wishes, for both our peace of mind. I've never followed you home, for instance, though I'm sure that I could've."
"Thank you for that," she smiled. "Can I explain myself?"
"Please do."
"Okay," breathed Ladybug. "Like I said, I did mean everything I told you that night. Both about our secrets, and... how touched I was by what you set up for me."
Chat nodded, but said nothing.
"I mean that," she insisted. "Just because I didn't fall into your arms doesn't mean... look, part of me was overwhelmed, okay? And part of me still is. No one had ever felt that... strongly about me before."
"The Copycat guy seemed to think you were pretty neat."
"Yeah, but he barely knew me, you know?" Ladybug countered. "You did. But... look, what I'm trying to say isn't about your feelings; it's about the other things I said that night. I had promised Master Fu and Tikki that I would take my identity super-seriously, and protect it at all costs. For my sake, my family's sake, everyone's."
"I get that," Chat conceded. "No one knows my secret, as far as I know. And you only told Rena, right?"
"Right," nodded Ladybug. "In a moment of weakness, where being the new Guardian and dealing with everything was just grinding me down. The Cat is one-half of the Wish, so all of those things still applied to the two of us..."
"I'm not angry about not being the first to know. I'm not," he insisted. "It surprised me that I wasn't, but... everything you've told me about that, I get it."
"Well, now... I guess I'm still the Guardian, even with an empty Miracle Box. Not much of a Guardian, though, huh? I've got nothing left to guard."
"You were lied to. You were betrayed. It wasn't your fault," Chat replied, with emphasis. "You had an Akuma affecting your judgment, and you still did nothing wrong, okay? Not based on what you knew then. And even if you did make a mistake... you're human. You're supposed to now and then."
"No, I'm not," she sighed. "Not when I'm Ladybug. Not as the Guardian. Too much depends on me for me to be careless like that."
"You were not careless. You were tricked."
"Either way," she grumbled, waving her hand, "it happened. And now we're all we have to fight this. We're more vulnerable than we ever have been."
"It's been just you and me before," Chat pointed out.
"Not like this. We don't have Master Fu backing us up any more," Ladybug argued back. "The other Miraculous are all lost. We don't know what he's going to... I keep waiting for a portal to open under my feet and drop me into outer space, you know? Or a timeline will shift and I'll have no way to stop it. Or a Tiger blast out of nowhere will send me flying into Spain."
"So..." she continued, swallowing hard. "We're so dependent on each other now, that I thought... that we need to be able to watch each other's backs, in costume and out. To know that if something happens to one of us, exactly what that means and whom to look for. Neither of us can afford to fall now."
"You want to know who I am underneath, then," Chat nodded. "I've offered to show you that before."
"I think I need to go first, okay?" Ladybug stopped him. "Because I know... that you know the everyday me. I don't know if I know the everyday you or not, so if you see me and you realize that it'll make everything too complicated-"
"If you don't know who I am, how do you know that I know your normal self?" wondered Chat.
"I can show you how I know. Right now."
"If you do this... you can't take it back. You know that," warned Chat. "Just saying."
"Are you ready?" she asked, shaking slightly.
"If you're absolutely sure about this... I'm ready."
"Spots off."
Chat's jaw dropped, as a great mystery of the universe unfolded before his widening eyes.
It can't be, he marveled. It can't be Marinette - I've seen her and Ladybug right next to each other - this is - how - of COURSE it's her!
How did I never see it before?
The pigtails, the eyes, the way she moves, the way she THINKS. That creative mind that's saved me so many times.
Her PASSION.
Not, like, romantic passion, but the way that any time something's wrong or someone's hurting, she's so determined to fix it. Exactly what made me fall for Ladybug in the first place.
My everyday Ladybug.
Right next to me this whole time.
Marinette... how do I even begin to...
"...Surprise?" she offered, weakly, scanning his reaction with desperate eyes.
It took him a few seconds to reply. "Y-yeah. I'm... surprised," he managed, struggling for words.
Chat watched as Marinette's face fell, as she gauged his state of shock.
"You're disappointed," she sighed. "I can tell. It's just me."
"N-no! Not at all!" exclaimed Chat. "I'm just... I'm trying to figure out how... this is... I'm..."
"I know. I've been lying to you all this time," she mumbled. "Pretending that I wasn't who I am."
"That's not what... how can you even think that I'd be mad about that?" boggled Chat. "I'm happy! So happy! I'm just... fitting all the pieces together in my brain right now."
"Take whatever time you need."
"I... Marinette, this is wonderful," he exclaimed, some control returning to him gradually. "There's no one else that I would've rather seen right now."
"Do you really mean that?" she asked. "Or are you just saying that?"
"Listen to me," Chat smiled. "Obviously, you know me better than anyone else does. Who do I come to for advice, to work things out, or just to hang out with? Ladybug... and you."
"True..."
"Marinette, you've been my best... such a good friend to me," he continued. "You've kept me sane. You've propped me up when I've needed it. You've..." He grinned as the reality of the situation presented itself. "You've listened to me babble on and on about how great Ladybug is and how much I love her and how I want to understand her better... and you've helped me understand you better. All while keeping a straight face."
"That... wasn't easy sometimes," she conceded. "But I'm glad that I could help you figure things out."
"I've wondered so many times what Ladybug would be like in her private life, what she'd say and do, what kind of person she would be," Chat gushed. "And I always found myself hoping... that she'd be just like you, Marinette. I guess I got my wish."
That got to her.
"C'mere," she whispered, and pulled Chat into a hug.
"You mean so much to me, Chat," she added, still shaky but feeling more secure wrapped up in his arms. "You always have. I wouldn't have shown you... this if you didn't."
Chat's heart raced... but another realization struck him, and that quieted his romantic daydreams quickly.
"I know, my Lady. Just... just hold on tight, okay?" he whispered back. "I will always be here for you... as the best friend I can be."
"O-okay," breathed Marinette, as she leaned back and wiped her eyes, hoping that Chat wouldn't notice that action. "Before you show me who you are... if you want to, I mean, I won't force you, but I think I need to know... can I ask you something?"
"Of course."
"Do you... know me? I mean, of course you know me. But does the... other you know me?"
"You mean, do you walk right by me every day not knowing that I'm secretly your partner?" asked Chat. "You absolutely do."
Marinette paused. "You're serious," she ventured.
"Dead serious."
As he watched her go deep into thought, he added, "Is that bad?"
"N-no," she hesitated. "Of course it isn't. I'm just... there are only so many people you could be, knowing that."
"Who would you want me to be, if you had the choice?" asked Chat.
"No, I'm not answering that," Marinette frowned. "Because if I say a name and I'm wrong, that'll hurt your feelings."
"Maybe I'm your Buttercup," he teased.
"Pfft! I should be so lucky," she replied, a smile forced out of her. "I can't imagine that, though. You two are..."
Chat watched as Marinette's expression changed, wonder and doubt combining within her. "The two of you are similar in some ways. I can't deny that," she noted, as much to herself as to Chat. "But in other ways, you seem very, very different."
"Not like, one of you is good and the other's bad," she added, quickly. "Just... different. You express yourselves differently."
"I don't try to be different as Chat Noir. At least, I don't think I do," he replied. "I feel different as Chat. I'm in a completely different role. I have more fun as Chat, I think."
"I don't know that 'fun' is what I'd call what we do," mused Marinette.
"I'm completely serious when I need to be. You know that," Chat protested.
"Yeah, I do."
"But there's a freedom in putting on a mask, having super-powers, being able to just go out into the world and go wherever I want to go and help people," he explained. "Free of all my family's expectations, all of my worries and problems at home. It's a gift as much as it is a responsibility, and I'm blessed that it happened to me."
"I'm glad to hear that."
A third voice made both of them turn, as Tikki made her presence known.
"This isn't... how I expected this to happen. Or especially when. I do wish that you'd trusted me enough to talk about this first," Tikki said, glaring a bit Marinette's way.
"You would've stopped me," said Marinette, plainly.
"You don't know that! I mean, yeah, I probably would've, but I would've at least heard you out."
Marinette shrugged at that, feeling a bit guilty.
"Hello, Chat," Tikki continued. "It's good to see you like this again."
"Hi, Tikki," Chat smiled. "It's been a while."
"Are you coming out to stop him from showing me his identity?" asked Marinette. "You know who he is, right?"
"Of course I know. I have for a long time now, even before I turned him into Mister Bug one day," declared Tikki. "Since it's come this far... no, I'm not going to stop him. I think that you would benefit by knowing, now that your secret's out... But I'm also not going to tell him that he has to." She turned to Chat and added, "This has to be your choice, just like it was hers just now."
"I understand that. And I'm ready, if she is," Chat confirmed.
Marinette hesitated... then nodded.
"I need to know," she breathed. "Especially now."
"Marinette Dupain-Cheng," Chat declared, "you mean the world to me. You don't need a costume or a yo-yo to be brave, wonderful and amazing to me. You make every day a little brighter when you're in it. I would do anything to be by your side, to protect you and all that you care about... and I hope that you like what you're about to see."
"I'm s-sure I will."
"Claws in."
It was Marinette's turn to stare at her partner in shock, as Plagg fluttered over next to Tikki with a grin on his face.
"'Bout time," Plagg cackled.
"It c-can't... how can... you?"
Adrien sat very still as Marinette cycled through a wide array of emotions. At one point she reached out and touched his cheek, as if afraid that he was some kind of illusion, then jumped back with a small "eep!" when she felt warm flesh.
His stomach knotted up as he hoped for unbridled joy, her leaping into his arms for a huge hug, perhaps even more affection than that... and witnessed something different. If anything, the revelation seemed to leave Marinette even more shaken up than before.
"Tikki... I'm not hallucinating. I'm not, right?" she gasped. "This is real."
"It's real," Tikki assured her. "He's been your partner from the beginning."
"You never told me."
Her tone was steady and low... but Marinette's eyes screamed out accusations at her Kwami.
"Of course I didn't. I couldn't, even if I'd wanted to!" protested Tikki. "Just like Plagg couldn't tell Adrien."
"Oh, I probably could've found a way," snickered Plagg, "but no one would've ever let me hear the end of it if I had."
"Marinette?" Adrien asked, barely daring to voice the question. "Is it... bad that it's me, somehow?"
"No, of course not," she answered. "No, why would it be? No. No, I... Yes. Yes, it's... no, I don't mean..."
He watched in awe as she struggled to form a coherent response.
"How could it possibly be bad?" emerged in an uncertain whisper.
Adrien started to speak... then stopped himself, letting her proceed at her own pace.
"I've... I've been by your side this whole time," she gasped. "And I couldn't tell that you were... you."
"Well, I did do a pretty good job of hiding myself, I think," Adrien interjected, quietly. "Just like you did-"
"I watched you take so much punishment. Usually defending me," she continued, his words not registering with her. "I watched you die."
"I, um... I got better?" he replied. "Thanks to you."
"I couldn't... I couldn't tell you how much I..."
Adrien held his breath.
"I... uh... you loved me. You told me that to my face, that you loved me. And I kept pushing you away. Like a fool. What was wrong with me-"
"Marinette?" he murmured.
"What was wrong with me that someone who meant that much to me could be right there and kept reaching out and I was too blind to ever see-"
"Marinette."
Adrien's emphasis halted her outburst, momentarily.
"You were doing exactly what you were supposed to have been doing. Protecting your secret - both our secrets. Defending the city from Hawkmoth. Putting the mission first, because of what would've happened if you hadn't," he reminded her. "Being the greatest hero this city has ever known."
"Ad-Adrien..."
"You don't think that I'm startled, too?" he exclaimed. "That the girl I've poured my heart out to about Ladybug, Ladybug, Ladybug was Ladybug all along? That my incredible partner and my dear friend who fascinates me, delights me, always surprises me, they're the same girl? That I got to know you twice over, and I didn't connect the dots, either-"
"I told you all about the boy I'm crushing on. The boy that I'm in love with. I spelled out everything but his name to you," wailed Marinette. "And now, you're-!"
"I'm what?" he asked, urgently.
With that, she fell silent, with some tears beginning to fall.
Silence reigned for a few moments.
"I am going to say," Tikki coughed out, "that I was sure that this would be a happier occasion."
"Me, too," Plagg agreed. "You two finally knocked the obstacles down. What's the problem now?"
Adrien glared at him.
What's the problem? he thought, angrily. My partner's in pain right now. She found out who I am and she's... she's not happy about it. I'm not getting all of what she's referring to... the part about her crush... but I do know this much.
Ladybug told me so many times that she wasn't interested in a relationship with Chat; it just wasn't going to happen.
Marinette told me twice that she doesn't see Adrien that way. She's just into fashion, she just wants to be friends. I'm not her type, I guess.
I always had it in the back of my head that maybe if Ladybug knew that I was Adrien, that might make her look at me differently. Or if I got romantic with Marinette as Chat Noir instead of as Adrien, the way that she's so much more relaxed around Chat, maybe someday there could be...
...
...but, no.
The big reveal is finally here, and she's CRYING.
I can put any thoughts of romance out of my mind for good, now. It's just not possible. I'll be the very best friend and partner that she'll let me be...
...if she'll still have me that way.
On her side, Marinette felt like her emotions were running away with her, no matter how vainly she grasped at them.
Everything that I thought I knew... was wrong! SO WRONG!
I spent all year trying to get to know everything about Adrien Agreste. I studied him like a hawk. And I didn't know a damned thing about him in the end, because HERE HE IS and he's Chat and HOW CAN HE BE CHAT?
"Maybe someday Adrien will fall in love with me." Well, he DID and I said NO and NO and NO and NO and NO and STOP IT and NO...
I endangered everything by following my feelings and giving Adrien another chance with a Miraculous. Felix took advantage of that, I didn't even notice it was him, and now everything's gone to hell...
He's watching me fall apart right now, crying like a child, I can't stop it...
If only I had KNOWN!
But how could I have known? I just had to follow all the rules, shoulder everything myself, keep Chat at arm's length, confide to Alya instead of him...
He's never going to look at me the same way again. I'll never know if he likes me because I'm ME, or because I'm Ladybug. The liar that he fell in l-love with, who never could speak her mind and be honest about her feelings...
It's all ruined now. What was I THINKING? How was I NOT THINKING?
This is a DISASTER.
As Adrien hesitated, not sure what to say or do... Plagg flew up behind him and nudged him, hard.
"Well?" he hissed. "Tell her, already."
Marinette looked up at him, stifling her tears and listening.
"Marinette... I'm... trying to find the best way to say this," he began. "I know that this has been a real shock to you. It's shocked me, too. But then again... it kind of hasn't."
"Oh?"
"I meant what I said earlier," he smiled. "I hoped that the girl behind my Lady's mask would be a lot like the girl I'm sitting with right now. Now that I know, it's obvious, right? But even before tonight... the... two of you? You reminded me of each other in so many ways. I called you our 'everyday Ladybug,' remember?"
"I tried not to faint when you did," Marinette agreed. "And you remember what I did next."
"I'll never forget it," Adrien grinned. "But... okay. What I'm trying to say is... you're still you, even now that I know your secret. I don't... we don't have to... you don't have to worry that I'll be, uh, throwing myself at you from now on."
Plagg made a pained grunting noise at that, while Marinette seemed uncertain how to react.
"What I mean by that is... what we have between us... nothing has to change unless we want it to, okay? I know that you don't see me in a romantic light, because you told me so. You definitely don't see Chat Noir that way. And I'm... I guess that I'm all right with that."
"A-Adrien?" stammered Marinette. "I..."
"I adore you, Marinette. I think you're wonderful, just as you are. You're the one person I can always count on, no matter what's going on... you're my favorite reason for going to school each day, that I know that you'll be there. I felt that way before you unmasked. And, well, I've told you what I think of Ladybug, more times than you wanted me to."
Tikki, behind Marinette's head, motioned for him to keep going.
"So if you're... uncomfortable that it's me behind your partner's mask, I... I don't have to be. I want to be, very much! But I want to give you your turn and hear what you think about that... why you're this upset," Adrien noted. "But you'll have a very hard time getting rid of me as me, and I hope that you'll never want to. Because whether I'm your partner, your close friend, or... whatever you need me to be... I'll always want to be here for you. To be by your side. To show you how blessed I am to have you in my life."
Marinette's tears came back, though her mood seemed less despondent and more... simply overwhelmed.
"I w-would never want you to give up being Chat," she gasped, steadying herself. "Ever. Ever!"
"I'm very glad to hear that," breathed Adrien, some relief in his tone. "Especially now."
"I couldn't do any of this without you, Adrien. Please know that."
He opened his arms, offering a hug, and this time Marinette moved into his embrace.
"You and me against the world," he whispered. "Always."
Marinette leaned back, a bit steadier but still shaken up, and Adrien waited to hear what would come next. She paused for a long moment, speechless...
"Ahem," Tikki interjected. "It's your turn."
Helplessly, Marinette turned to her Kwami...
"If you've been waiting for the perfect moment to finally say it... it's here," Tikki chided her. "It's time."
"To say what?" asked Adrien.
"Adrien," Marinette breathed, "did you mean what you just said to me?"
"Of course I did-"
"I mean it. I need... I need to know for sure," she emphasized. "It's not just you knowing that I'm Ladybug?"
"Every single word," said Adrien...
...and the look in his eye carried her right back to the steps of their school on a rainy afternoon, an umbrella in his hand, honesty and need and concern in his expression, her entire world wrapped up in one perfect face.
"I'm... I love you, Adrien," Marinette declared. "I've been so far beyond in love with you for a very long time."
Quietly, Plagg fluttered underneath Adrien's chin, so as to help prevent his jaw from hitting the ground.
"I need to phrase this just right... because now that I know, I... I want you to understand completely," she intoned, the words finally spilling out of her. "I love Chat Noir. I do. Chat is the best partner I could have ever asked for, and more than that. You mean far more to me that way than I can ever tell you... though, I'll try! But I always held something back."
"Uh-huh..." Adrien stammered.
"You knew that Ladybug was in love with someone else. You knew that Marinette was head-over-heels for her crush," she reminded him. "And now, well, you know that we're the same person... so he's the same person. Did you ever wonder who that person was?"
"Both of them! Constantly," said Adrien. "I figured that whoever he was... he had to be amazing."
"He is," she smiled. "And he's sitting right next to me. Surprise again, Buttercup."
The rush of joy in him buoyed her confidence, but he still seemed startled.
"I... I believe you, and I'm... I'm so... I could just..." he babbled. "I'd hoped and prayed that someday... but when you told me that you didn't...?"
"No one had ever knocked me over without even trying, the way that you did," blushed Marinette. "I didn't know how to react, or what to do, or what to say, or how not to fall down every time you smiled at me! Your kindness, your sensitivity, your way with words... your everything. So when you asked me, that day by the locker and that day in the museum, I just... panicked."
"So that day in the car, coming home from the museum... that's what it was?" Adrien realized. "I said that the girl that I love told me that I tell too many jokes... and you had!"
"I had! But I didn't know that I'd said that to you! So when I heard that you loved someone else..."
"I shouldn't have even said that! But I didn't understand why that bothered you... because we were just good friends and that's what you wanted, you'd just told me so!"
"I'm hopeless. I know I am," she smiled, sheepishly. "But I never had the courage to tell you how I really felt."
"That's a first. Ladybug without her courage," parried Adrien.
"I may be Ladybug, but I'm just a girl, too," Marinette said. "I was so afraid that you'd tell me 'no,' that you didn't like me that way, that I'd always be just a friend..."
"You're not just anything."
Adrien's smile left her breathless.
"So... what it sounds like... is that I got to know you twice, and I fell for you twice. Hard," he beamed. "And now that our secrets are out..."
"...We've been meant for each other all along," she glowed back. "We just kept... tripping over each other and ourselves, all this time."
"I guess we can stop that now, huh?"
"Yeah," grinned Marinette. "It's time for something new."
"So... whatever shall we do about this?" Adrien smiled. "I have a few ideas, and-"
Whatever was about to emerge from Adrien's mouth was silenced by Marinette's.
Once the rush of affection had eased somewhat, Tikki and Plagg floated back in, having given the couple's first kiss its needed privacy. By the time that they reached kiss number 137, though, the Kwamis deemed it safer to approach.
"The partnership is safe, huh?" asked Plagg, knowingly.
"Better than ever," grinned Adrien, Marinette's head resting gently on his shoulder.
"Good. Because we have an idea as to what to do next," Tikki said. "We've compared notes, and it seems like there's a logical place to look first."
"You know exactly who betrayed you... Adrien's cousin Felix," Plagg said to Marinette. Turning to Adrien, he added, "And you know his address, and even which bedroom window is his."
"Oh, he deserves every bit of what's coming to him now," mused Adrien. "We could transform, and maybe use our Space powerups to fly over and pay him a visit?"
"I was afraid that you'd say that," Plagg grumbled. "I hate power transformations."
"It's in a piece of cheese," Adrien frowned his way. "Since when do you have any problem eating that?"
"You eat something that changes your entire body chemistry, and see how you like it," groused Plagg. "Like a plate of bad nachos."
"I have another idea. He's near London, right?" Marinette piped up.
Adrien nodded.
"If getting all the way to London is the problem we need to solve... Tikki, is there any chance that Lucky Charm might give me a little speedboat to cross the Channel with Chat, and then maybe that snazzy motorbike once we're on land?"
"With some desserts to fill me back up... I can see about making that happen," Tikki agreed.
"Flying there might be faster," Adrien pointed out.
"But not nearly as cozy," purred Marinette.
"You make a strong point."
It seemed like a quiet night, all things considered.
A young man stirred in his spacious bed, a flicker of awareness returning to him. Had he just heard an unexpected sound? Was something off?
"Duusu? Is that you?" he half-whispered... but got no response.
Hmmph, he thought. It had to be Duusu. I enjoy his company... but he is a bit on the flaky side. Always rummaging about, trying to learn more about me, poking his nose into everything around him.
I suppose that if I'd spent years in a fractured state, cut off from all of my family and misused by my uncle, I'd be a bit scattered, too.
He rolled onto his back, his eyes three-quarters closed, then all the way once more. Sleep seemed like the best response, especially at whatever time of the dead of night it must have been.
I am being paranoid, he smiled to himself. Uncle has everything he wants now; he has no reason to lash out at me. And I possess the brooch with which he could've destroyed me.
Duusu keeps looking at me strangely when I mention that, how vulnerable I felt without the Peacock in my grasp. I must ask him why he seems to find that dubious.
At some point, I need to figure out what I want to DO with the Peacock, he considered, sleep evading him in the moment as his mind kicked into gear. Unlike Uncle, I do not consider Peacock creations to be disposable! Whomever I create will not be a tool; they will be family, a cousin to me. Turning him or her off with a finger-snap would be murder, so I will only get one chance at this at a time.
I wonder... should I strike out at Ladybug, aiding my Uncle in his quest? Or at both Ladybug and Uncle, seeking to cast a Wish on my own terms with the spoils of victory?
Do I stand any chance against either with just one Miraculous?
He rolled his head to the side and opened his eyes partway, casting his gaze upon the small box on his bedside table where the Peacock generally spent the night.
His eyes opened wider.
Why is the box OPEN?
"What in the-" he began to gasp, interrupted by a flurry of motion around him. Something lashed around him; he tried to sit up in bed and found that he could not rise. A dark, gloved hand pressed itself down upon his mouth, muffling his speech.
"MMMMNNNRRRFF!" he cried out, unintelligibly...
As he wriggled helplessly, three faces appeared above him. Two of them were masked, one in red and one in black. The third was more familiar.
"Oh, hi!" Duusu cooed. "You're awake now! I, um... you told me to tell you if there were any signs of anyone with a Miraculous around here, right? Well, there were, but you were sleeping, and I couldn't tell you while you were asleep, could I? And I thought about waking you up, but that would've been very rude of me, and you looked so peaceful-"
"NNNNNRRRMMMPHHH!"
"Okay, I'll take that as an 'I should've done it anyway.' That's a note for next time," smiled Duusu, cheerfully. "Anyway... they're here!"
He turned his attention to his human captors... one of whom he had betrayed most foully, and the other displaying the Peacock brooch in his free hand.
"Félix Graham de Vanily..." Ladybug declared.
"You have so, so, so much explaining to do," echoed Chat.
