Guys I am SO SORRY! Work was taking over my life, I lost motivation for this, hit a writer's block, then came back and forced myself to finish it off.
There wasn't much more I could have done with this plot and I don't want it to drag, so… it ends here. Well, I split the last chapter into two: this is filling any plot holes and creating closure, and next will be the epilogue.
Thank you guys so much for reading this story. I appreciate you all! Mwah!
For the last time, enjoy.
"What?"
"What do you mean 'rewrite the book of rules'?"
Marinette watched as Alya and Nino tried to make sense of the words she had just said. She takes a deep breath.
"I mean… I'm the guardian now. Of course, I have to follow certain rules that the Order of the Guardians puts forth, but not all of them."
Alya shakes her head, "But, girl. You want to keep the miraculous when there is no threat. That's the biggest no-no in their book. Is it not?"
The bluenette nods.
"Yes. That's one of them. But the other biggest no-no is mistreating a kwami and abusing their powers — which is exactly what Hawkmoth is doing."
Nino feels like his head is about to explode.
"Dude, how are you even going to do this? Isn't the Order's book, like… centuries old? You can't just go in and cross off things because you don't like them. Can't they, um.. fire you.. for doing that?"
"No. A guardian's role is permanent unless they die or decide to resign. Almost like the Supreme Court justices in America. Same principle."
"Alright… but how would you go about doing it?"
She shrugs.
"It's simple. We just go against it. Meaning that Adrien and I keep our Miraculous' and if the Order decides to reprimand me, they can't do anything about it. Anyone else who becomes guardian after me will have been told to never surrender the Miraculous to the Order, and it will continue on like that for centuries. In theory, at least."
Alya rolls her eyes.
"So we're just rewriting the future by defying your bosses?"
Marinette bites her lip, then nods.
"Basically."
Nino shrugs, "I don't see a problem with it."
"I don't either, babe, but why are we having a discussion about it if we're not going to do anything?"
Marinette is about to respond when she sees a flash of blonde hair, then a pair of green eyes peek at her through a small crack in the door. Her breath hitches.
"Hey, kitty. Everything okay?"
Said kitty nods, looking at the other two heads that had turned towards him, then resting his eyes back on the bluenette.
"Can I… talk to you for a second?"
She swallows, then nods. After a quick look at her two friends, she is left alone with her boyfriend.
"Um… I'm sorry," he tells her.
Marinette is taken aback at his apology. Why is he saying sorry?
"For what? I was the one that said you weren't trying, and you've been trying so hard to keep it together lately. I'm the one who should be apologizing. I shouldn't have said that."
He's silent for a moment, looking down at his shoes, before he meets her eyes.
"I don't need to apologize?"
He says it so… innocently. It pulls at her heartstrings.
"No. You did nothing wrong."
"But… I was acting pretty rude all day," he confesses timidly.
She shakes her head.
"You have a lot going on. No one can be perfect all the time."
He looks down again.
"My father never accepted imperfection. Sorry. Just… used to apologizing for everyone."
Her hearts breaks in half.
"Well," she grabs his hand, "your dad isn't here right now. I am. And I'm the one who said something insensitive. So I'm saying sorry."
When Adrien looks up to her again, she notices some unshed tears and smiles sadly.
"You don't have to apologize for things that aren't your fault, minou."
He nods, blinking away his tears.
"Ok," he says brokenly.
It's silent for a minute as he wipes away any fallen tears with the back of his hand while he rocks back and forth on his feet awkwardly.
"So," he starts, "are we good?"
Marinette nods, "Yeah. We're good."
Adrien then lets out a sigh of relief.
"Come here," the bluenette mumbles.
The blonde watches as she wraps her arms around his thin frame. He follows suit, stuffing his face into the crook of her neck.
"I love you," he says, the sound muffled by her shoulder.
Marinette smiles, pulling back and gazing at her boyfriend.
"I love you too."
He watches the tennis match on the small TV in the corner of the room, lost in his thoughts. Hugging a pillow, breathing slowly. His therapist gazes at him in concern.
"So…"
Adrien turns his head to face her.
"Nathalie's trial was yesterday. Was the outcome what you wanted?"
Honestly, he wasn't sure.
He was happy that Nathalie wasn't given as harsh of a sentence as his father. She still helped the man, but she was blinded by love. The jury seemed to understand that, given that they only sentenced her to 7 years. It's still a long time, but it's extremely shorter than the time Gabriel would be serving. Despite being an accomplice to his father's crimes, she had been sort of a mother figure to him for some time now. He won't be visiting his father in prison, but he will definitely be visiting her.
Because beyond that stoic face and monotone voice, he knew she was a softy. He knew she cared for him.
And he realized that he needs to be cared for. After so many years of fending for himself, emotionally, having someone to care for him like a mother would is refreshing. There's a sense of relief in knowing that he's loved.
Clearing his throat, he finally responds.
"Yes. It's better than I expected. I'm glad she won't be in there for long. She, uh… she was sorta like my mom for a while."
"Are you mad at her?"
Reluctantly, he shakes his head.
"No. I forgive her."
Chrissy nods, taking a note, then looking up at him again. She inspects his features for any sign of lying or discomfort. Finding nothing, she smiles in relief.
"How do you feel right now?"
Adrien has to think about that. He feels… nothing. Nothing at the moment.
Numb? Is that the word?
"Um. I don't feel anything right now. Just kind of, uh, numb, I guess? I'm not sad, really. But I'm also not happy."
She nods.
"That numb feeling can be one of two things. One, it could be a trauma response. A defense mechanism. Feelings can be hard to take in right now, so your mind stops you from experiencing any. Two, it could be a side effect of depression. That is the 'emotion' you're experiencing. Same type of thing as the trauma response, just from a difference source.
"I just want to make sure that you know, this is NORMAL. This is something that many of my patients experience. Considering everything going on in your life right now, it's expected. When an emotion comes, welcome it. Let it happen. Don't try to conceal it, because that's your body finally agreeing with the fact that you're ready to feel."
She sends him a smile, causing his heart to flutter. It reminds him of his mother.
He feels a pang in his heart, but it goes away as fast as it appears.
"Okay," he manages.
"Okay! Anything else you wanted to talk about with me today?"
He racks his brain for any questions he may have, but finds nothing. Then he thinks back to the last few days, then the past week.
"Oh, um…"
She looks at him, eyebrows raised as she waits for his question.
Licking his lips, he speaks again.
"Is it… normal… for me to take things out of proportion?"
Chrissy tilts her head.
"What do you mean?"
"Um. Like… Marinette said something a while ago, like I wasn't trying or something, and I guess I took it the wrong way and got offended easily and mad at her and… yeah. Is that normal? I've never reacted to something like that before."
"Hmm. Do you remember what she said?"
"Something like… 'I know there's a lot happening right now, but you at least need to try,'" he mimics a higher voice.
Chrissy nods.
"Were you acting any different?"
He shrugs, "I may have been a little snappy."
"Ah. Well, that's a comment that anyone can take the wrong way. I take it, she apologized?"
Adrien blushes.
"I apologized. Then she told me I didn't have to."
She frowns, "No, you didn't have to. It was one of those comments where you don't realize what you say might be hurtful. I'm glad the situation was taken care of; I'm sure she didn't mean it."
He shakes his head.
"No, she didn't," he swallows. "I just… I've never gotten offended that easily. It's new."
"Well, were you allowed to get offended? Say, when your dad said something that was hurtful?"
He's silent for a minute as a memory resurfaces.
"You need to tell me when you want to leave."
"But you always say no, and sometimes…" he huffs, "sometimes I need to get out of here, Father."
The man puts his hand up, closing his eyes, before opening them and returning his hand behind his back.
"On the contrary. I let you go to public school with those imbeciles you call friends, and you are outside for the majority of your photoshoots. You need to be grateful, son."
Adrien grunts in frustration, nearly losing his composure.
"Maybe I need more time out than that. Don't you understand, Father? I'm still a kid. I need some type of freedom!"
Gabriel raises his voice, glaring intensely into his son's wide, green eyes.
"You should be grateful for the freedom I give you. With that attitude, you will get nowhere in life. I am simply here to protect you."
"PROTECT ME? What about when Gorilla was akumatized and held me up 150 feet into the air? Then made me FALL TO MY DEATH? How is that protecting me, Father?"
The man huffs, "That was your bodyguard not controlling his emotions. I had a long talk with him afterwards. That should not happen again."
Adrien's eye twitches.
"That doesn't change the fact that I was still in that situation! And you didn't even ask if I was okay…"
"Because you were. Ladybug saved you."
"Okay, and what about the mental trauma that put me through? I still have nightmares about that, you know."
Gabriel rolls his eyes, turning his back on Adrien.
"Real men don't have nightmares. Real men aren't weak. Agrestes are real men. Are you not an Agreste, son?"
A twang of pain hit his chest and his eyes water.
"I am, Father."
"Then act like one."
He gulps.
"No. Father wanted me to conceal all emotions. To be strong," his voice cracks and he looks down to his lap. "Not be weak."
Chrissy sighs, setting down her notepad and standing up from her chair. Walking around her desk, she ends up in front of Adrien. She takes a seat on the couch next to him.
"Adrien, listen to me."
He turns towards her, slowly exhaling.
She meets his eyes, showing him that she's serious.
"You don't need to be strong all the time. It's okay to break down. And you have people there for you when you do."
His bottom lip trembles as he takes in her words, and he feels his eyes start to water. He swallows and blinks, determined not to cry.
Chrissy shakes her head, offering him a sad smile.
"You're doing it right now. Cry. Let it out."
So he cries, holding tight onto the pillow in his arms. Chrissy wraps an arm around his shoulders, pulling him close to her chest.
The part of him that craved affection is satisfied with the contact, but the part of him that is filled with anxiety tries to wriggle free. His therapist makes sure to hold him there, rubbing his arms comfortingly.
"It's okay. I'm not going to hurt you. You're safe here," she whispers to him soothingly.
He sniffles, struggling with his conscience. She's safe, he knows; but having this kind of motherly love is still so foreign.
Nathalie was never this touchy. It's been so long since he's been in his mother's arms… he barely remembers how it feels.
But he's starting to welcome it. Starting to welcome the physical support from the woman he's been seeing for a little over a month now. It's starting not to feel as weird.
So he lets it happen. He lets his tears fall, lets Chrissy hold him, lets himself be loved.
And it feels so nice.
Marinette was worried after the one-hour mark passed; his sessions were hardly ever more than thirty minutes. Now at two hours, she was pacing up and down the psychiatry halls, wiggling her fingers and breathing deeply. She knew he was okay, he had to be. Well, not okay, but hanging in there. Hopefully they were just talking a lot. Yeah, that's what was happening.
But her heart breaks when he walks out of the door with a red face and puffy eyes.
She stands up, holding a hand out for him to take.
"Hey," she says softly.
He takes her hand, rubbing his eyes with his other hand.
"How did it go?"
Out of all the reactions she thought he might have to that question, she never expected him to smile.
"It was really nice."
"Well, good! What did you talk about?"
He shrugs, "I honestly don't remember. I just ended up crying into Chrissy's arms for the last, like, thirty minutes of it."
Marinette has to smile at that. She knows that he craves physical contact, but still shies away from it. She's glad that he allowed himself to be held in someone else's arms that weren't hers'.
She realizes that she has been his rock for the longest time now, but his support system is growing. Alya, Nino, her parents, his therapist, their class, Ms. Bustier…
Paris is loosening up on the accusations too, now that their identities have been revealed.
Adrien has the support of everyone in Paris and those close to him. She knows that he'll be okay. It just might take a while to get there.
Her parents had been treating him as if he were their own, which just warmed her heart. She knows that he got extremely lucky, getting to stay with her and her parents; if his father had not been proven to be Hawkmoth, there was only a slight chance that he would have been put with a close friend — Gabriel's abusive behavior was not enough for the ASE to be able to get him past France's Child Protection system. If this was any normal circumstance, Marinette knew that Adrien would be with some random family right about now, and she's not too sure how well he would be treated. Probably not as good as he is with them.
Yes, he has a big support system.
She just hopes that he realizes he has one.
