Chapter 26: The Other Side of the Tale
Hawk Moth screamed in pain, as he felt Mind Void's power coursing through him. Unlike what happened, when she hugged Ladybug and did not want to hurt her, Mind Void wanted Hawk Moth to feel the full extent of the pain she was carrying inside her. The villain tried to fight back, but it was no use. The pain he was feeling right then, in a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being the weakest, and 10 being the most severe, Hawk Moth's pain was definitely on 20. Unlike it happened with her victims in the real world, where they did not feel a thing, when they were affected by her powers, in the Astral Plane, Mind Void's powers worked differently, and the person exposed to them, felt the full extent of her pain in a physical form. When she grabbed him, she just wanted to give him a case of depression or anxiety, in order to weaken him and save Ladybug. Unknown to her, while in the Astral Plane, her powers manifested in a different form. Hawk Moth felt like his whole body was on fire and his brain was about to burst.
"L-Let g-go of me!" -Hawk Moth yelled, as he tried to get out of Mind Void's deathly embrace. –"I-I created you! I-'ve given y-you p-power!" -he screamed, at the Akuma.
It did not take long for the excruciating pain he was in, to send him to his knees And, as this happened, the shackles that bounded Ladybug disappeared, releasing her. She herself did not understand how that was happening, but did not care either. All it mattered to her was that she was free from Hawk Moth's grasp. She was about to say something, when Hawk Moth screamed once again, and his spirit disappeared from the Astral Plane, leaving Ladybug and Mind Void alone in it.
Mind Void had managed to inflict upon the villain enough pain, for him to retreat. But Hawk Moth was not the only one to suffer from Mind Void's attack. On the real world, something else happened, as well. Because of the link they shared with their master, Madame Romani and Brutus, who were then fighting Chat Noir and the guys, felt the pain their master felt, when Mind Void attacked him, and screamed as loud as they could, as that pain incapacitated them and made them faint. And they were not the only ones. Reptile, who was making its way towards where Queen Bee and the remaining heroines were, also felt that pain, which incapacitated him and made him faint. Just before they lost their consciousness, the three lieutenants did not know what was happening, but they all felt worse than whenever their master tortured them. The heroes who saw it happening wondered what was happening, and for a second, they asked themselves if the villains would get back up, which did not happen. Never had they seen such a thing, which left them baffled about it.
"Did we do that?" -Grizzly Bear asked out loud, as he checked on a fainted Madame Romani.
"Don't be ridiculous, man!" -Antelope told him. –"Since when any of us has the ability to put these two out of commission, without even touching them?" -he asked him.
"Now, you're starting to sound like Queen Bee, you know that?" -Panda Roux asked him, in a joking voice, which earned him
"I don't know exactly what happened, but I'm thankful they stopped." -Chat Noir smiled. –"Another couple of minutes, and I think we would be in big trouble." -he thought to himself, as he looked at a fainted Brutus.
"I would say that our fearless leader managed to get the drop on Mind Void, and perhaps a little more than that." -Carapace declared with a smile on his face, as he checked on Mind Void, who was still standing on the same place they had left her a few seconds before.
They had no idea what had happened. But whatever it happened; it had ended the fight. Suddenly, Madame Romani and Brutus' body were enveloped in a cloud of smoke, which made them disappear. And a couple of seconds later, the Akuma Butterfly abandoned Mind Void's body, as she returned to normal.
"There she goes!" -Antelope pointed out to the black butterfly.
"I'll take care of it." -Arachnid said. –"No more evil-doings, for you, you blasted Akuma Butterfly!" -he exclaimed, as his lasso began to glow and he prepared to use it as a whip. –"I relinquish you from evil!"
With one swift move from his lasso, Arachnid destroyed the Akuma Butterfly, putting an end to that chaos. With it destroyed, the threat had ended, the night had been saved, and there was only one last thing to do; restore everything back to the way it was, with the Ampulla Amulet. But before any of them could do so, they were interrupted by the woman that until a previous moment had been Mind Void, who was calling for Ladybug's name.
"L-Ladybug…" -Loryanne whispered with a frail voice.
"Why is she calling Ladybug's name?" -Panda Roux asked, as he kneeled by her side.
"I think it's because of whatever happened in the Astral Plane." -Chat Noir answered.
"Yeah, you still have a lot to explain to us. I mean, on our way here, Carapace told us that Ladybug had unlocked a new ability, and something about astral projection, but I really didn't get it." -Antelope declared.
"I'll be honest. I didn't get it either." -Grizzly Bear said.
"We'll explain it later. Right now, I've got to congratulate out heroine for a job well done." -Chat Noir said, as he saw Ladybug and Rena Rouge landing not far from them. –"Nice job, milady." -he smiled at Ladybug, when he noticed that she looked like she had been hit by a train. –"Are you okay, bugaboo?"
"Y-Yeah… just super-tired." -Ladybug forced a smile.
"She's calling for you." -Arachnid told Ladybug.
Forcing another smile, Ladybug went to her. Unlike the flashy outfit she had as Mind Void, along with the make-up and hairstyle, Loryane looked pretty much normal. She looked frail and weak. Kneeling by her side, Ladybug noticed the hospital gown she was in, as well as the bracelet with the hospital's name and her name printed on it, around her left wrist. Trying her best to look and sound like she was not exhausted and in need of 48 hours of sleep, the scarlet heroine smiled.
"I-I'm here, Loryanne." -Ladybug said, as she gently squeezed her right hand.
"T-Thank you… for s-saving me." -Loryanne thanked her.
"M-My pleasure." -Ladybug smiled. –"B-but I also have to thank you again for s-saving me from Hawk Moth, Loryanne. Without you, I-I would've been a goner, and that's the truth." -she thanked her.
"Hawk Moth?!" -the boys practically yelled.
"Okay, what did we miss here? More and more, I'm starting to feel like one of those characters in a movie, where something big happens, and they have no idea of what happened, because they were just taking a snooze." -Antelope said.
"Look, I don't know what happened either, except what she told me about meeting Hawk Moth in the astral plane, and that she needed to come and see the victim." -Rena Rouge told Antelope. –"But she'll explain everything, when she's ready." -she said. –"In the meantime, I think we better put everything back the it was."
Agreeing with Rena Rouge, Grizzly Bear was the one who decided to use the power of the Ampulla Amulet that night. Using it, a magical wave spread out and put everything the way it was before Mind Void showed up. And while this happened, Ladybug remained kneeled by Lorayne's side, talking to her. The poor woman felt like she owed her life to the scarlet heroine. But the truth was, she was not the only one who felt like owed her life to someone. Ladybug also felt like she owed her life to Lorayne. If she had not attacked Hawk Moth, she would not be there talking with her.
"T-Thank you for saving me." -Lorayne continued to thank her.
"Like I said before, it was my pleasure. Also, I made you a promise, and I'm keeping it. I'm not letting go of you, until I know that you're in good hands, and I'll make sure to visit you, whenever I can, so I make sure that one of these days, you're out of that hospital, ready to face the world, and see just how amazing it is." -Ladybug smiled at Lorayne, before turning to the boys. –"Guys, I know there's a lot of things I need to tell you, but right now we need to get her to an ambulance, so she can receive medical care." -she declared.
"You got it." -Rena Rouge told her. –"I'll take her. You need to relax for a bit and get your strength back." -she said, as she gently picked up Lorayne.
Going down the building, it took the heroes about a minute to find an ambulance. Just like it happened with the police, they too had responded to the situation that was happening on the street. The only difference was that this was one of the few times where the ambulances managed to get there before the police could, on account of the hospital being so close, to where the action took place.
Landing in front of the ambulance, the heroes explained the situation to the paramedics and asked them to help Lorayan, which they did. Placing her on the ambulance's stretcher, they proceeded to examine her. And while one of the paramedics did that, the other asked the heroes, who all looked like they been dragged through the asphalt, countless times, if they would also like to be examined.
"No, there's no need… but if you have anything there that temporarily takes the pain, I wouldn't say no to it." –Grizzly Bear suggested. –"But it has to be a little stronger than an aspirin, please."
"Well, if you don't want any aspirin, I'll gladly keep it. I bumped my head earlier, and it's still hurting." -Arachnid admitted.
"Uh, the pretty scarlet heroine here, could use something for the pain as well… perhaps an aspirin?" -Chat Noir asked, as he flirted a little with Ladybug.
"N-No, I'll be fine." –Ladybug said, kindly refusing it. –"But if it was not much to ask, would you mind if I stayed by her side? I promised her that I wouldn't leave her side, until she was taken back to the hospital." -she admitted.
Usually, a paramedic would not allow such a thing, unless the person was a familiar of the victim. But given the person who asked was one of the heroes of Paris, who had just saved the victim's life, as well as the city, he believed it would be alright for Ladybug to sit next to Lorayne, while his colleague finished examining her. A few moments later, the rest of the team showed up. The first one to land was Dragonfly, who had discovered where they were, thanks to a quick reconnaissance flight and warned the rest of the girls.
"The star of the night has arrived!" -Dragonfly playfully congratulated herself.
"Yeah, a late star." -Antelope told her in a sarcastic tone.
"Better late than never, they say… and you should know what I'm talking about, since you're always one step behind me." -Dragonfly shot back at him, expecting one of Antelope's comebacks, but he just ignored her. He was too exhausted to start a fight with her.
"Hey, there!" -Flamingo waved at her friends, as she and the rest of the heroines landed.
"Wasn't expecting to see you here." -Chat Noir admitted, as he looked at Queen Bee and Louve Grise.
"Yeah, well, I convinced her that you guys probably needed a little help. And I also needed to vent off the rage I had inside me." -Queen Bee admitted, while pointing to Louve Grise.
"What rage? I know I already said this, but I really feel like I'm the last one to know about things." -Antelope said.
"We'll explain it, some other time, okay?" -Louve Grise told him.
"Why didn't you guys call for our help?" -Forest Doe asked them.
"Yeah, we could have helped you with the Akuma." -Corbeau Noire said.
"We felt that you helping people getting away from those smoke creatures, and into safety was more important. Plus, we believed that we could handle it on our own, and we did." -Rena Rouge said. –"Though, I admit I didn't take part in the fight, this time." -she admitted.
"So, who defeated tonight's Akuma? Because it wasn't me. I didn't even get to see it, this time." -Forest Doe said, as Grizzly Bear approached her and placed her arm around her. –"You okay, teddy bear?" -she asked him.
"N-Nothing that a couple of hours of sleep won't cure." -Grizzly Bear smiled at her, while trying to pretend that he was not as hurt as he looked like.
"She did it. It was all her doing, this time." -Rena Rouge smiled, as she pointed to Ladybug, who was still in the ambulance.
"Why is she in the ambulance? Did something happen to her?" -Dragonfly asked, worried.
"Yeah, something happened. She made a friend out of an Akuma." -Carapace answered her. –"Also, she fought Hawk Moth." -he added.
"Wait, did I hear it right?! She made a friend out of an Akuma and she fought Hawk Douche?!" -Dragonfly asked, confused. –"What else did we lose?!" -she asked.
"A lot. You lost a lot." -Antelope answered her. –"But trust me, you weren't the only one." -he said.
"Now, that's… amazing." -Louve Grise said.
"But how did she do that?" -Queen Bee asked. –"I expect someone to explain to me everything in full detail." -she said.
"Don't worry, you ain't the only one who wants an explanation." -Chat Noir told the bee heroine. –"But maybe later, when we're alone, okay? Trust me, there's a lot that needs to be discussed." -he said, as he pointed to the growing mob, who as always wanted a photo with them or their autographs.
Inside the ambulance, the paramedic that had been examining Lorayne, said that she was physically alright, and other than being fatigued and a little but dehydrated, there was no need to worry. He also said that she was displaying signs of anxiety, which he said would be better handled by the hospital staff, once they got there, and the sooner they got her to the hospital, the better.
"W-When will you…" -Lorayne spoke.
"When will I be able to visit you? Soon, I hope." -Ladybug answered her. –"First, I think the doctors will like to give you some time to relax and heal properly." -she smiled at her. –"But don't worry, I won't forget to visit you, I promise. Until then, try to get better, Lorayne."
Saying good bye to Lorayne, Ladybug exited the ambulance and closed its rear door. Watching it leave, she could not help feeling that once again, she had managed to do a good job. It had been the first time, that she and her friends had saved someone like her from the clutches of Hawk Moth. And she hoped, that that would mark the first step in Lorayne's recovery. Smiling, she felt an arm around her shoulders. Looking to her right, she noticed it belonged to Chat Noir.
"So? How is she" -Chat Noir asked her.
"She's going to be alright… or at least, I think she will. Physically, she's good, but psychologically, she still has a long way to go." -Ladybug declared. –"Hawk Moth was smart in picking her to be akumatized." -she said, before looking at Queen Bee. –"And you… I wasn't expecting to see you here."
"That's what I also told her, milady." -Chat Noir told the scarlet heroine.
"Decided to come and help, instead of just…" -Queen Bee declared.
"I get it. And I'm glad you came." -Ladybug said, finishing the blonde's sentence. –"This wasn't our easiest battle." -she admitted.
"Yeah, but we better going. People will start to ask where we went, if you get my meaning?" -Louve Grise pointed out.
"Agreed. And we should go, before more people show up to ask us for interviews, autographs and selfies." -Chat Noir said.
"You guys better go. I know you have somewhere else you have to be." -Carapace said. –"We'll deal with the press." -he said, as he noticed behind the crowd, a news van arriving.
"Yeah, you guys go." -Forest Doe said. –"We'll handle this." -she smiled
"But remember, you still have a lot to explain to us, about what happened tonight." -Antelope reminded Ladybug.
"I promise I'll explain everything in the morning." -Ladybug told him.
"See you tomorrow, everyone. And trust me, when I tell you that we've got a ton of things to tell discuss." -Chat Noir said, as he, Ladybug, Louve Grise and Queen Bee left.
On their way back to the Le Grand Paris, none of the four heroes spoke a single word. It is not that they had nothing to talk about. That night had given them plenty to talk about. But at that moment, they all thought that silence was perhaps the best kind of language they could talk among them. On top of that, they were all feeling quite exhausted, especially Chat Noir and Ladybug, and preferred to save their energies, by not talking. The battle had taken quite the toll on them. Queen Bee and Louve Grise also felt a little exhausted, though, not as much as their friends. But they knew that soon they would also feel like they had been run over by a truck, once the adrenaline in their system disappeared.
Ladybug herself felt like if she stopped running, for even just a single second, she would fall to the side and fall asleep the second after. But one thing prevented her from doing that, and it was not her exhaustion. It was what had happened in the Astral Plane. On that night, she had unlocked two new abilities, one of which allowed her to temporarily borrow abilities from her teammates, and the other which allowed her to access the Astral Plane, where she fought against Hawk Moth, and merely survived because she had managed to make the Akuma realize it was being used by the villain, and by doing so, saving her life. The more she thought about it, the more she realized that she was incredibly lucky. And more importantly, that she would have to speak with Master Fu about it all, and ask him to help her training astral projection.
Queen Bee also had a lot on her mind. The closer they got to the hotel, the more vivid the words that she and her mother exchanged became, in what was one of the worst moments of her life. And it did not happen that thanks to Mind Void, she was forced to experience the way those words affected her, a second time, in less than an hour. Just thinking about it, made her wish she could go straight to her bedroom, once she arrived at the hotel, and go to sleep, in an attempt to forget all that happened. But she knew that she would not be that lucky. At the hotel, her parents would be waiting for her, with perhaps a harsh punishment, after the way she talked to her mother.
Louve Grise's thoughts were different from her friends', but they were also making her head gears spin a lot. She had kissed her best-friend, and realized that the possible crush she had on her, was more than just a mere crush. She loved her, in the romantic sense. She still saw her as her best-friend, but she wished to also see her as a girlfriend, if the blonde reciprocated her feelings for her. The wolf heroine knew that there was a serious chance of Queen Bee not reciprocate her feelings, and although it would hurt much, she was willing to put those feelings aside, for the sake of their friendship, which she valued more than gold. Even so, she needed to tell her about her feelings. If she did not, she would burst. But she had decided to choose the right moment to tell her
You could say that from all four of them, Chat Noir had been the only one who had had a night like so many others, when they are forced to fight an Akuma. But even he was thinking on how uneven that night had been for him and his friends.
As they approached the hotel, they looked for a secluded place, where they could change back to their civilian clothes. Finding it, they changed back, and then walked back to the hotel. The distance between the hotel and the place they chose to turn back to normal, was about two blocks, but as they walked back, it felt like twenty blocks. Their muscles were aching masses of pain, which made them move a lot slower than before. On top of that, the girls were all wearing long dresses, and that slowed them even further. If they were in a hurry, that would have been a problem. But none of them were in a hurry to get to the hotel, now that they were that close to it; especially Chloe, who felt like she was walking towards the lion's den.
When asked if they were going through the front door, Chloe said it was best if they went back into the hotel, through the same way they had exited it. And so, they did as she suggested. They went through the back. Like it happened, when they all used that way before, they ran into one or two people, but none interacted with them or even asked what they were doing there, most likely because they all saw that they were with Chloe. Already inside the area reserved for guests, they noticed the gala had already ended and people were beginning to leave, once they arrived at the hallway that linked the ballroom to the hotel's foyer. Looking around, they looked for any familiar faces, especially Chloe, who did not want to meet her parents, without being ready for such.
"Miss Bourgeois." -a voice called out Chloe. It was Jean, her butler, who was coming from the ballroom and had spotted her and her friends.
"It's just Chloe, Jean. You know you don't need to call me by last name." -Chloe told her butler.
"I'm sorry. It's force of habit." -Jean apologized himself. –"But are you alright?" -he asked her, his voice revealing how worried he was.
"I'm better now… I just needed to get part of that rage out of my system." -Chloe sighed. –"Tell me, where are my parents?" -she asked Jean.
"Your mother has already gone up, while your father is in the bar. He told me to tell you that I should take you to him, once you came back." -Jean declared.
Hearing him say that, Chloe felt a chill down her spine. She had told herself that that would happen, but hearing Jean said, still caused her to fear what was going to happen next.
"How bad is it?" -Chloe asked Jean. –"Please, tell me the truth. Just how mad are they with me?"-she told him. She desperately wanted to know just what kind of scenario awaited her.
"Well… I do not know about your mother, but your father, he was not mad at you. He was many things, but mad wasn't one of them. I can assure you that he's mostly worried, especially since you left your cell phone behind." -Jean answered her, as he handed her back, her cell phone and her pochette, which she had also left behind.
Until that moment, Chloe had not even realized she had not been carrying her cell phone. She, who would never go anywhere without it, had not even realized she was not carrying it. Such was her state of mind, right then. Suddenly, and almost out of nowhere, Gorilla showed up next to them. For a man of his size, he was quite silent, and surprised them.
"Oh, yes… you've left of your pochette behind, and I took the liberty to give it to him, when he arrived to pick you and young Monsieur Agreste, Miss Dupain-Cheng." -Jean told Marinette.
"Thank you, Jean." -Marinette smiled at Jean, before turning to Gorilla, as he handed her the pochette, without saying a single word. –"Uh… thank you." -she smiled at him.
"Thanks for keeping it for her." -Adrien thanked Gorilla. –"Oh, and sorry for not being here, when you arrived. Didn't want to keep you waiting." -he apologized to Gorilla, who silently smiled back at Adrien.
"Well, since the party is over, I guess it's time for you guys to go home." -Chloe smiled tearfully at her friends.
Regarding the party, Marinette, Adrien and Sabrina had nothing else to do there. But regarding Chloe, it was a whole different story. They did not want to leave her alone, feeling she was going to need all the emotional support she could get. And with thought, they were more than willing to stay a little longer, and make sure that after she faced her parents, that she would not do something stupid, like storming out of the hotel like she did, and get into even more trouble.
"You sure you don't want us to stay with you?" -Marinette asked her. –"My parents will understand if I stay a little bit longer. I'll just call them and explain everything." -she told Chloe.
"I can call Nathalie too and tell her that we're staying for a little longer." -Adrien said. –"You're okay with us staying for a little longer, right?" -he asked Gorilla, who nodded his head. –"Thanks."
Chloe wanted to tell them to stay with her; she truly did. She felt safer when they were around her. But she knew that whatever was going to happen, it could not be good. And because she knew that, she wanted to spare her friends of it. Her heart was telling her to ask them to stay, but her brain was telling her to ask them to leave. And in the end, she followed her brain's advice.
"Thanks, guys, but there's no need for that. It'll all be fine." -Chloe told them, trying her best to fake a smile.
Marinette, Adrien and Sabrina knew that she was lying, but did not say a word. Once, when she still behaved like a snobbish diva, similar to her own mother, she could have fooled them, by faking her emotions. But she was no longer like that, and so, concealing her true emotions from her true friends, who knew her better than she knew herself, was harder, if not truly impossible. With that in mind, they wanted to tell her to stop lying and accept their help, but instead, they respected her decision.
"Okay, then. If you feel you'll be okay, we'll be going." -Marinette smiled at the blonde.
"We'll see you tomorrow. If you don't get sent to a boarding school, that is." -Adrien said, with an unease smile on his face, as he hugged Chloe, and pondered the chance of what he said truly happening.
"Her dad won't let her mom do that." -Sabrina told Adrien. –"I'm sure he won't allow her to do such a thing." -she smiled at Chloe, while the latter hugged Marinette and thanked her for coming.
Chloe smiled back at Sabrina. She had not said anything, as they made their way back to the hotel, but she was afraid that her mother would do something like that to punish her. So, hearing her best-friend tell her, that her dad would not allow such a thing to happen, cheered her up, and gave her courage to face what would happen next.
Waving goodbye at Marinette and Adrien, Chloe and Sabrina saw them being escorted outside by Gorilla. And then, it was also time for Sabrina to also go home. But not wishing to leave Chloe alone, the redhead decided to use her status as her best-friend, to once again, try and convince her to let her stay with her a little longer.
"I know you're going to tell me the same thing, you told to Marinette and Adrien, but I'm going to ask you again anyway. Are you sure you don't want me to stay a little longer with you?" -Sabrina asked her.
"I thank you for the offer, Sabrina, I really do." -Chloe said, as she placed her right hand over Sabrina's shoulder and gently caressed it. –"But you're right. I'm going to tell you the same thing I told them." -she smiled tearfully at her. –"I'll be fine."
Once more, Sabrina knew she was lying, but just like before, she said nothing and respected the blonde's decision to not have her around, for what she believed was going to be anything but pretty. She did not like it, but as her best-friend, she was going to respect Chloe's decision.
"Okay. If you say so." -Sabrina said, as she hugged her. –"Thanks for inviting me, by the way. It wasn't exactly a good party, and nothing went as planned, but I'm happy that I got to be here for you." -she whispered to her ear.
"Me too." -Chloe whispered back at her ear, before breaking the embrace. –"Jean will take you home, while I go and talk to my dad. You don't mind doing that, do you?" -she asked Jean.
"It'll be my pleasure, Miss Bourgeois." -Jean said.
"Thank you, Jean… and it's Chloe, please." -Chloe told her butler, correcting him, –"I'll see you tomorrow at school, Sabrina." -she smiled at her.
"See you tomorrow, Chloe." -Sabrina smiled back at her, as she followed Jean. –"I should have told her about my feelings… but right now was not the right time. On top of that, I don't want her to have another problem to worry about, when she's about to hear a reprimand from her mom, after she hears one from her dad." -she thought to herself, while looking over her shoulder. –"I just hope he isn't very harsh on her… Be brave, Chloe. Be brave, my sweet Queen Bee."
She kept smiling until Jean and Sabrina were out of sight. Once she could no longer see them, Chloe's smile disappeared and was replaced with a sad face. Making her way to the hotel's bar, she hypothesized what she was going to hear from her dad. The fact that Jean had told her, her dad was more worried than anything else, helped to tranquilize her nerves a bit, but not by much. She still believed she was going to be scowled by him. She could count on the fingers of one hand, the number of times her dad had scowled her. And the last time that happened, felt like it had been a lifetime ago. Entering the bar, she saw this one was deserted. The only one there was the Mayor, who was seated on a stool by the bar's counter.
She noticed that he was drinking some kind of yellow drink, which she immediately knew was pineapple juice. Most men, when having any kind of problem, and wishing to have a drink in order to forget, choose either whisky or bourbon, or even beer. But not André Bourgeois. No. When he happened to have a problem that was bothering him, he would drink pineapple juice, because it reminded him of the days of his youth, when he would drink it, because someone had told him that pineapple juice stimulated the brain cells. Of course, he knew now that was absolutely false, but it was one of those habits that a person kept, as a reminder of simpler days.
Over the years, Chloe had seen him doing this countless times, especially after a complicated day at the office. And that night had been a complicated one for him as well, she had no doubts about it. Tiptoeing, Chloe approached her dad, not wishing to scare him.
"Daddy?" -Chloe called him.
"Chloe, honey…" -André quickly hugged his daughter. –"Where were you? Are you alright honey? Are you feeling a little calmer?" -he asked her, worried about her.
When he asked her that, she did not know how to answer. She did feel calmer. The anger she had inside her had faded a little, but not enough to go away. Her mother's words and actions were still quite present. And thinking about it, the anger she had towards her mother started to grow again.
"I needed to go for a walk. Adrien, Sabrina and Marinette were with me, and I'm a little calmer… but I'm still very sad and upset with mom, daddy." -Chloe sighed, as she sat on the bar stool next to her dad. –"She hurt me, daddy. Mom hurt me a lot with what she said." -she said, as the things Audrey told her that night, came back to her mind. –"Not only that, but she mistreated Sabrina… he mistreated my best-friend, and that's unforgivable."
"I know, honey, I know." -André told his daughter. –"I admit that your mom wasn't very nice to you, or to Sabrina." -he told her.
"Wasn't very nice?! She practically told me that she's ashamed of me, daddy! She said that I had to earn her love! She can't even call me by my real name, without messing it up, and calling me some other name! That's more than just not being nice!" -Chloe exclaimed angry, before realizing that she was letting her rage get the best of her. –"I-I'm sorry, daddy. I didn't mean to shout at you." -she quickly apologized to her father for talking to him that way. –"But mom… mom was utterly awful and despicable!"
"I know she was, Chloe, and I'm sorry she said those things about you and talked to you the way she did, honey." -André told her.
"How can you love someone like her, daddy?" -Chloe asked her, as a tear ran down her face. –"How can you l-love someone, who cares only about herself, her career and everything that is futile?!" -she asked, as a few more tears ran down her face. –"B-Because I c-can't love someone l-like her. N-Not after w-what h-happened tonight!"
It pained André Bourgeois to hear his only daughter talking about her mother like that. She was right, when asking him how he could love someone like Audrey, who acted like someone who was absolutely horrible towards everyone. But he understood her. He understood it was hard for her to believe her mother could love and care for anyone else, other than herself, especially when she never seemingly showed any other side of hers, that was not her most selfish and self-centred. But even knowing that, he knew there was one side to his wife, which she rarely showed: a side that was the polar opposite of what she allowed the others to see.
"Well, your mother isn't as bad as you think she is, honey." -André told her. –"I know it's hard to believe in what I'm saying, but I wouldn't lie to you about it. Your mother's not perfect, like the rest of us, and yes, she has several issues, but she's not a monster." -he said.
"Y-You're right… I can't believe it." -Chloe told him, as tears continue to run down her face. –"How can you say that?! She mistreats everyone, she is condescending to everyone … daddy, mom is a horrible person, and I-I stand b-by what I said b-before. I wish she wasn't my m-mom, or t-that you were d-divorced." -she admitted, while continuing to sob. –"I h-hate her and I don't want to ever see her again!"
"Like I said, I know it's hard, if not even impossible for you to believe me. But your mother isn't like this… she has a problem, a serious problem that makes her be like this with practically everyone." -André told her, with a kind and smooth voice, as he hugged Chloe again. –"And tonight, I was forced to recognize it… after you left, I had a very serious conversation with her. One that perhaps, I should have had with her, a very long time ago." -he admitted., hugging her even tighter than before.
(Flashback)
After Chloe left the ballroom, the mood of the gala changed. No one said anything, but anyone inside the ballroom could feel the tension in the air. And it was not until the band restarted to play, that the mood changed a little bit for the better. But no amount of music would be enough to calm Audrey down. Because of Chloe, she believed her gala had been ruined. She knew that what happened would not even be mentioned in the papers or any magazine, or website, and if it happened to be mentioned, it would be compared to a small hiccup, in a party that went swimmingly well. But as a perfectionist, even a small hiccup was unacceptable. On top of that, she was furious because of the way Chloe had talked to her and treated her in front of the guests. Feeling that no matter what she did right then, the gala was over. Feeling the need to get away for a little bit, she went up to the suite, with her husband tailing along. She did not say a word, until she entered the suite, and when she finally talked, what came out was something not pleasant.
"This is a disaster!" -Audrey exclaimed. –"How could that child do this to me?! After all the work I had to make sure that nothing could go wrong with the gala, this happens! That girl is going to regret doing this to me!" -she yelled.
Audrey continued to talk how the gala she had worked so hard to be perfect, had been ruined by Chloe, and how she would regret doing what she did. And while she did it, André listened to her. He just intended to listen to his wife, but the more she said talked about Chloe, as if she was just some ordinary girl, that neither one of them knew well, he decided that he had to defend her, from Audrey's cruel words.
"But she's not a random girl, Audrey, she's our daughter!" -André yelled at her, upset that his wife failed to even acknowledge it.
"Yes, our daughter! A daughter that should know better than to talk to her own mother like the way she talked to me, André! I've always told you that you were too soft and lenient on her!" -Audrey snapped at him. –"She humiliated me, as well as our family's name, when she talked to me like that in front of our guests!" -she said.
"I admit that I may have been a little too lenient on her, but I only did it, to make up for the fact that you are hardly around, Audrey!" -André told Audrey.
"So, this is all my fault, isn't it, André?!" -Audrey asked him, clearly upset. –"Our daughter ruins this gala that I worked so hard to put up, and I'm the bad one!" -she shouted at him.
André Bourgeois could no longer hear his wife complaining like that. He didn't want to start yelling back at Audrey, but the way she was behaving, he saw no other way to make himself be listened to.
"This isn't about you, Audrey! It's about me as well! It's about how our only daughter was, and still is being affected by the way we have decided to live our lives! We chose our careers, over her. No matter how you put it, we made that decision, and now she's paying for it!" -André admitted to his wife. –"We have to admit that we're both horrible parents, and that our daughter has suffered because of that!" -he shouted at her.
"Suffered?! She's a spoiled brat, André! You've given her everything she wants, cater to every wish she has, and she was bailed out of every possible punishment, on account of having us as her parents!" -Audrey shot at her husband. –"If you think that she suffered, then you're as blind as a bat!" –"If it had been up to me, she would have been sent to a boarding school, where she would get a proper education, worthy of her social status!"
"Just like your parents did?!" -André shouted back at her. –"Because I remember you telling me that when your parents did that to you, you called them heartless monsters, and you never forgave them!" -he exclaimed.
The subject of Audrey's parents was a very delicate one. Audrey did not have a happy childhood, and talking about it, only reminded her why she had made her husband promise her not to bring it up.
"I thought we had agreed that we would not speak about my parents!" -Audrey told him.
"Yes, we agreed, but I guess we'll have to speak about them, because you're behaving just like your parents did, when they were alive!" -André told him. –"They were the ones who acted like this towards everyone! They were the ones who said that if you weren't the best at something, then you were useless." -he reminded her. –"In sum, they were the ones who saw the world as a place where you are either the hunter, or the hunted."
"Then perhaps they were right! They were always saying that this was a dog-eat-dog world, and they were right! Life has taught me that that's the truth, André." -Audrey declared. –"I told you a thousand times, that if you want to succeed in life, you need to see everyone and everything as obstacles!" -she said
"I understand that, and that the world isn't a fair place, Audrey, but that doesn't mean you get to treat your own daughter that way!" -André told her. –"She's not an obstacle in your way. She's your own flesh and blood."
"Then, being my own flesh and blood, she shouldn't have disrespected me the way she did! And she was not the only one! That girl that was her… Salvia, or something! She had no reason to do what she did!" -Audrey told him, enraged. –"If our daughter had been sent to a boarding school, when I told you to do it, she wouldn't be socializing with people like that Selina, and would have had the kind of education that she needed, to understand that she can't talk the way she did with any adult, especially her own mother!" -she said, raising her voice.
"And there you go again with the boarding school! There's nothing wrong with the school she attends. She attends one of the most prestige schools in Paris, where she has a top-notch education, and she likes it very much. And Sabrina is her best-friend. She felt that you were going to hurt her, so she stood in front of her to protect her. You can't blame her for that" -André said. –"That also demonstrates how good that school is for Chloe. She has friends there. There's no need for her to attend a boarding school, Audrey." -he said, trying to make her see the light of the matter.
"Says you! The way she acted tonight, proved that more than ever, she needs to be sent to one!" –Audrey exclaimed, absolutely mad by how her husband was failing to see what she was seeing, and that was that to her eyes, Chloe had a problem, regarding her behaviour. –"In a good boarding school, she would learn to behave properly, so her behaviour would reflect her status!" -she declared.
"You're talking just like your parents, again, you know? Aside from heartless monsters, what did you also call them? Oh, yes, strict bastards, who care only about what others say about them… that's what you called them!" -André reminded her.
"And they were strict bastards! But even if they were strict bastards, André, I was raised to always respected them, unlike Calypso, who didn't respect me tonight!" -Audrey shouted at him.
"It's Chloe! Her name is Chloe, Audrey! Can't you, for once in your life, remember your own daughter's name?!" -André practically exploded. –"I know it's hard for you to remember people's names, because of all the stress you're under, and that that affects your memory, but this is our daughter! It's your duty to remember her name, no matter how stressed you are!" -he exclaimed. –"And let me ask you this: why do you think she acted the way she did?! She did it because you told her to apologize to that pompous idiot, who shouldn't even have been invited to this party! If Chloe's behaviour was bad, then his was even worst! And regarding Chloe, her behaviour, was not the best, I admit it, but you shouldn't have forced her to apologize to that man! Not when he says the things, he says about everything and everyone! The man shouldn't even be allowed to share his opinions, and you know it!"
André Bourgeois continued to try and make his wife see just how wrong she was about all that. He tried his best to make her see that blaming their own daughter for what happened was wrong, when part of the problem resided not only in her, but also in him. But being the perfectionist, not to mention the proud woman she was, who did not accept any kind of mistakes, and who believed that everything she did was perfect, she could not see just how wrong she was. To her, she was right, and everyone else was wrong.
"Can't you see it?! You're acting just like your parents did, when they raised you, Audrey!" -André snapped at her. –"You may have tried and successfully forgotten about how much that traumatized you, but I remember it quite well! I remember the conversations we had, when we met, where you told me that your parents had always been awful to you. That they never showed you nor love, nor affection, not kindness… nothing!" -he went on. –"All they told you was that you needed to be perfect, that you needed to remember your place in society, that you have to make everything a competition, and that you shouldn't hang with people that didn't have the same kind of status as you. That's what you told me they constantly told you."
"That was different, André." -Audrey told him, not liking where the conversation was going. –"No matter what they told me to raise me, I knew better than to not disrespect them!" -she said.
"No, it's not! It's the very same thing, Audrey! When I met you, you told me that your parents were awful people, who didn't love anyone, except themselves, and who only cared for how people perceived them, and that you didn't want to be like them. That you didn't want to turn into a copy of what they were, as well as not having a child of ours to go through the same things you did… What was it that you told me? Oh, yes… "I'll never let a child of mine go through the same thing as I did.", that's what you said. And now look what happened! You did the exact same thing as your parents did, if not ever worse." -André told her. –"You became the kind of person you didn't want to become. You became just like them! You care more about yourself, your career and our family's status and reputation at the eyes of other people, than you care about our daughter's happiness and well-being!" -he said. –"But you're not the only one to blame here. I'm also to blame here, because I've allowed my love for you, to blind me to something that should have been obvious for the two of us."
"So that makes you a saint?! André, the way you're talking about me, it's like I traumatized her! There's nothing wrong with a little tough love!" -Audrey exclaimed. –"One day, later in life, she'll thank me for showing her how the world works!"
"A little tough love?! If it had been just a little bit, we wouldn't be having this conversation right now, Audrey!" -André told her. –"Your daughter sees you as a monster, who can't seem to love her, care for her, or respect her, because you feel that she needs earn your those things!" -he declared. –"That alone would be enough for a person to realize just how wrong they are about all this!"
The conversation continued around how Chloe perceived Audrey, with the later refusing to accept it. Right then, André felt that talking to his wife, was like talking to a door, and expect it to answer back.
"That's ridiculous! Utterly ridiculous!" -Audrey told her husband. –"You are being utterly ridiculous, André!" -she said.
"You may deny it, but you weren't like this, when I met you. And you certaintly did not believe what your parents taught you to believe!" –André told her. –"You were sweet, and kind, and compassionate to everyone…"
"I was naïve! If anything, life taught me again, all that my parents kept trying to teach me!" -Audrey exclaimed. –"It taught me that one must be strong enough to endure life, and that in life you must earn everything you have!"
"I'm not against what you're saying, but you're taking things too seriously! Do you seriously want Chloe to grow up to be like you?! Do you really want her to grow up into a woman like you, who right now is the polar opposite of the kind of person you said you wanted to be?! A woman that is both feared and seen by her own daughter as a heartless person?! Because I don't… I want her to grow up and become the same kind of woman that you once were. The kind of woman I fell in love with, who believed she wanted to be better than her parents, by not believing that in order to survive in this world, one must think only about itself, where one doesn't have to be in a constant competition with everyone, and where it's alright to have believe that the world isn't a dog-eat-dog world, like you're always saying." -André declared. –"In sum, Audrey, I want our daughter to grow up into someone who's strong and can face every kind of problem that comes her way, but still has the heart, the kindness and the sweetness to go through life with a smile. Call me crazy, because as a politician I shouldn't even believe in this, but I believe that not everyone is as you paint them, and they don't have to be so, to succeed in life."
The argument went on, with Audrey continuing to dismiss all the things her husband told her. One could say that it became quite heated, as both man and wife continued to shot at one another, each demanding the other would see things their way. Things only cooled down, when André Bourgeois reminded her that Chloe had wished they were divorced, and that made her cool down a little. She did not know why he had said that.
"Are you saying that you want the divorce?!" -Audrey asked him, with a serious tone. –"Is that it? You want the divorce, André?!" -she asked, demanding an answer from him.
"No, of course, not, Audrey." -André told her, in exasperation. –"Like I keep saying, I love you more than anything else, just as I love our daughter. And I would never think about divorcing you. You are the love of my life. But you need to accept the fact that you have a problem, that makes it hard for you to put yourself in other people's shoes." -he declared. –"If you could do it, maybe…" -he said, when he was interrupted.
"I don't have a problem, André!" -Audrey said. –"You keep saying that, like I have some kind of disease!" -she said.
"But you have a disease, Audrey! Just like I do! Only yours is worse than mine! We've both became obsessed with works and our careers! We began to believe that in order to be successful, we needed to be better than everyone else. And worse, we began to believe that we are superior to everyone else and that only our opinion matters… especially you, who were raised that way, whether you want to admit it, or not! And because of the way you were raised, combined with the job you have, you have begun to treat everyone that is not up to your standards, the same way a regular person would treat a rabid dog!" -André snapped at her. –"And like I said before, I am also to blame for this. Because I saw all the signs, but I did nothing! I assumed you treated people the way you did, because of the amount of stress that you're always under. But no, Audrey… unfortunately, it's not just the stress anymore. It's something worst! It's your whole attitude, honey. It's like you began to wear a mask to conceal the real you, but that mask has become the person you are now, instead of just being a mask! You became someone the younger you would despise with a heart. And it took our daughter to lose her temperament with you, to realize that this can't go on." -he told her, with a heartbroken voice. –"It can't go on, Audrey. Thing can't go on like this. We can't pretend that things are alright. That we are the perfect family and that we don't have any kind of problems! You... I mean we, have to acknowledge our problems. To take responsibility and to end this facade or else our family will cease to exist! When in front of the cameras, we appear to be the perfect family. But soon as they are off, we each go our separate ways. And Chloe... Chloe is the one who suffers the most with it. This is your… no, this is our last chance to make this family work, Audrey! Last chance to change, and if we don't change, it will all be over, and I don't want that, because I love you and our daughter! But if we can't make this work, I'll have to be realistic about this, and I will do whatever I can to keep you from hurting our daughter further. I don't want to do it, so please, don't make me do something that I will hate!"
After he stopped talking, Audrey said nothing. And it was not because she did not want to talk. It was because over those five minutes, her husband had thrown some pretty hard truths at her face, until finally those truths hit her on the face, and she ran out of arguments to refute the things he had told her. Silence filled the room. André thought he had probably been a little too hard on his wife, but he realized that she needed to hear those words he told her. If not for her own sake, then for his and their daughter's, who had suffered a lot that night, and had stormed off, to someplace neither one of them knew.
"I'm sorry I had to say the things I said to you, Audrey. But believe me. What I said, I said it with all my heart and love for you and our daughter… I'm going to leave you with your thoughts now, because I think we both need to be alone with them." -André told her. –"But before I go, I want to say one last thing… I want you to ask yourself what is more important to you… your reputation and this philosophy that you uphold, that says that you have to be better than everyone else at all costs, and that everyone else who's not up to your standards, doesn't deserve neither your attention, nor your respect… or the love that I have for you, and the love of your daughter, who hasn't had a proper mother in years, who craves for your love and for your attention, and with whom we both have failed?" -he said. –"Think about it, Audrey, because deep inside, I know you'll choose the right answer. And I also know that you'll find a way to see it in yourself, that you have a problem, and that until you accept it and seek help, nothing will change, and change is something that needs to happen, for the sake of us and our family."
(End of flashback)
It pained André Bourgeois to say all those things to the woman of his life, but he had to do it. He had to do it for the sake of their marriage, and of their daughter. And more importantly, in hopes that the woman he fell in love with so many years ago, realized that she had a problem, and that it would not disappear, if she did not seek help.
"I hate myself for telling her the things I did, but I said them, in hopes that she sees her errors, and tries to get better, for her own sake, and ours as well, Chloe." -André admitted, as he continued to hug his daughter. –"Please, Audrey… I beg that you might see the light." -he thought to himself.
"Don't hate yourself, daddy. I'm sure mom deserved to hear all you had to tell her." -Chloe told her father with a sad, yet angry voice.
"But it's not just her fault, honey." -André said. –"Your mom was raised by some of the most horrible people I've ever known. Part of the reason why we don't speak about your grandparents on your mom's side of the family, it's because they were awful people." -he told her. –"They raised her to be like them, and to uphold everything they stood for. And when I met her, she didn't want to be like them. That was part of the reason, why I fell in love with her… But time went by, life happened, and all those things they taught her, they managed to find its way back to her, and slowly, they moulded her into who she is today."
"That's still not an excuse to be mean to everyone, daddy." -Chloe said. –"I should know. I've learned it the hard way that there's no reason why we should treat people like they were garbage." -she thought to herself.
"Perhaps… but maybe, that's the reason why we must be willing to forgive her, if she chooses to change, honey." -André said. –"Because deep inside, your mom is a wonderful person, and she has a really big heart. She just forgot how to it works." -he sighed, as a tear ran down his face.
What a chapter this one was! It was originally conceived to only be 12 pages-long, but in the end, it turned out to be 18 pages-long. I may have gotten a little carried away, but hey, it happens. xD So we finally find out a little bit more about Audrey's childhood, and just how messed up things are in the Bourgeois family. This was an emotional chapter, and I'll admit that I needed a little help from a few friends of mine to finish the last bit, because I couldn't come up with a proper ending to it. So, allow me to just thank you for it. :)
We're getting near the end of this fic, and I must say that this was probably the most complex and longest fic I've ever written, but I'm not complaining. I love writing this saga, especially when I have so many of you who constantly support this passion of mine, and encourage it, by sending me so many private messages and suggestions to improve this AU of mine.
As always, feel free to comment, fav and leave suggestions to improve this fic and following sequels.