46 Something missing

Adrien's bodyguard did not mind one bit to make a stop at the bakery. Adrien, Nino and Marinette and the man were treated to whatever treats were available from the bakery for that day and accepted them with loud enthusiasm.

It was late in the evening, after dinner, after several phone calls to Nino's parents when, reluctantly, Adrien, his bodyguard and Nino said their goodbyes and left. They were all like family, after everything they've been through.

Marinette took a few breaths to calm down when she was finally alone in her room. Adrien wasn't coming over tonight, they were going to catch up on some sleep and read a few chapters of diaries, if they find the energy.

But the tiredness and a slight melancholy caught up with her and Marinette felt the tears blur her vision, fill her eyes and stream down her face. She wiped her face quickly and took out a diary to read and try to decipher if Therese actually ever met a miraculous user.

"What are you doing Marinette?" Tikki chirped and quickly returned to her macaron, she was finally free to float around and speak to her chosen. "You are tired and need your rest." She added. "Isn't that what you agreed with Adrien for the weekend?"

"But there is so much stuff … are Duusu and Nooroo okay? Or should I help them more? Should I give the miraculous to Alix? The one she has now is the broken one she got from future Bunnix. And what should I do about Felix?" Marinette clenched her fists in frustration.

"You will get to it, one problem at a time." Tikki chirped reassuringly and returned to her macaron. But Marinette crossed her arms and paced a few steps back and forth in front of her desk while she wiped the tired ears off from her face.

"At least when Hawk Moth was around I knew what to do, fight the akuma, now this is …. well at least I can cry my eyes out without getting akumatized. And I am still Ladybug, I should be … helping the authorities with the investigation and learn what happened with Adrien's mother." She quickly opened another file on her tablet and sat down.

"I know I missed something important, I just know I did … " She muttered while she skipped page after page too quickly to actually read it carefully. Tikki simply shook her head and returned to her macaron, her chosen was going to have some rest, she was determined.

"Are you sure you are looking at the right place, Marinette?" Tikki asked, then she took one more bite of the macaron and floated up in the air, she slowly approached the girl and hovered above the tablet, her blue eyes focused on her chosen not on the pages of the book.

"Tikki, you are not supposed to peek into this!" Marinette scolded. "This could have been the Book of Lore and the kwami are not supposed to know what is written inside. It is only my luck I was actually going through the diary this time."

"How are you supposed to find anything you missed if you go through it so quickly?" Tikki asked and looked at her chosen carefully. Marinette deflated, it was true, but she had to find, there had to be something in there, because she had that nagging feeling she forgot something.

Nino patiently waited while Adrien and his former bodyguard exchanged a hug and their silent greeting. The bodyguard gave Nino a quick hug too and patted him over his red hat before he finally turned away, his eyes wet, and went into the silver car.

Nino stiffened when the large man touched his red hat, but the man was so big that the boy decided to tolerate that, his red hat barely moved on his head, it was not that bad that this man, Adrien's bodyguard, the only adult from the household who remained around, touched it, right?

"Come on, let's get inside." Adrien muttered while both boys waved to the bodyguard, who had to start going but was not able to do so and waited for the boys to enter the building. Finally, Nino and Adrien turned around and the man drove away.

The two boys ascended the stairs in silence, maybe they got caught up in fatigue after a busy day (not to mention a week or a month) or maybe they were a bit overwhelmed with feelings after they spent their evening in the bakery.

"Nino! Adrien! You have been away all day. I was so bored. Maman did not let me play games by myself. I even had to tidy my room. It was awful. She is so cruel. But now I had it enough. Game night!" Chris exclaimed, full of energy as he showed a remote into Adrien's hands.

The two older boys exchanged an apologetic look, as if both of them were guilty for something, Adrien shrugged and sat down on the sofa to play the game, he shook his head and tried to concentrate while Nino went to the kitchen for juice and snacks.

Nino took his time in the kitchen, he always treated his best bro like he was just another normal boy, even though he was a famous model and a son of a fashion mogul, even though he fought his own father, who was revealed to be a supervillain.

Perhaps Adrien needed some special treatment, maybe he needed someone to talk to, maybe Nino should be the one to approach, to ask questions, to express his compassion, but he did not know how, that was something that Alya did.

And Alya was grounded, no phone, no meet ups (unless for homework or school projects) and very limited computer time, so Nino removed his red hat, scratched his head, returned his red hat and concluded that the game night it was, unless Adrien started to talk.

Chris was not a patient boy, and it somehow took longer than usual, or longer than he expected to load the game, and he insisted on which game to play and he insisted on where to sit and he insisted to be the first one who will chose the character.

Adrien was not bothered, while he held the controller he only remembered how he used to play against Marinette and how good she was, she did not stammer nor trip while she played, oh no, she wiped the floor with him.

Of course she did, she was his lady, she was amazing in anything she tried, a smile sneaked up on his face while his eyes were unfocused and lost, yeah sometimes she needed reassurance and he was ready to remind her how amazing she was.

He missed her physical presence by his side, they dealt with everything together, and now he was playing a game and it wasn't with Marinette, his lady, he was constantly reminded by his brain, nor against her, she wasn't even present to watch from the side.

He looked at the controller. Maybe he should have showed the controller to the side and go and study the Book of Lore or his mother's diary, because that was what Marinette was doing, he was certain of that.

Then his eyes searched all around the room as if he was looking for a way out, for an excuse to disappear into his room, transform and vault away all the was to her balcony, because he missed her so much … no, he wasn't that selfish, to help her with the guardian duty, of course.

Then he blushed because he remembered how they became guardians, it was like all his dreams came true, she was his, his lady was his, yes they were just kids, but he did not know how to be more than a kid, and a superhero.

Nope, he wasn't going to escape this evening, they made a deal to skip all but what was absolutely needed for the guardian duty, and that wasn't much, really, they both deserved some rest, some time off some …

"Game time!" Chris exclaimed as it finally loaded on the screen. Yeah, they earned some time off, and they spent the whole day together having some time off, at least off the magic of the miraculous and the miracle box.

It was time to chose his player and start to fight, he had to set aside his worries, he was just going to play this game and forget about anything else, this was his family now, technically, Chris had become his little brother.

Adrien held the controller and absorbed himself in the game, he fought, he fought hard, he hit the buttons and became unaware of his surroundings, the only thing that existed for him was the game on the screen, and then he won.

"Aaaaargh!" Chris screamed and smashed the controller into sofa in anger. The plastic device was rather sturdy and simply bounced away while the kid screamed in anger and frustration because he lost the game.

"Dude, you should have lost, you just loose a few rounds and then Chris goes to bed, now we are never going to get rid of him." Nino whispered softly although the frustration was visible on his face.

"Sorry, Nino." Adrien mouthed and concentrated. Okay, so he was to play and to lose, he was able to do that, right? But he did not mind playing with Chris a little more, it wasn't that bad, he never had a little brother before, only Felix, and he did not find playing with Chris that annoying.

It was late, really late when Chris finally fell asleep, game controller firmly clutched in his hands. Nino simply covered to boy with blanket and switched the game off, none of them had any will to continue playing.

"I miss my maman." Adrien stated simply. They were both in his room and listened to a playlist Nino assembled during the school holidays, while Adrien was in China with Marinette, they talked about nothing in particular when Adrien finally admitted that.

"Um, yeah, sorry man, it must be bad … " Nino adjusted his red hat unsure what to tell. He really wanted to be of some help to his friend, he wanted to be a friend and to listen, but he had no idea what to say.

"I mean … I know she's been … gone … like for years now but … but now I know what happened and where she is … and I miss her … and … " Adrien trailed off, he pronounced a few incoherent and unconnected words.

"I get it, you dealt with it once and now you have to do it all over again." Nino shrugged and smiled apologetically as he wasn't sure if he reached the right conclusion, he just wanted to say something, reassuring, to get Adrien to speak some more.

"Um she, you know, is in that magic coma, in the temple, the monks there know about the miraculous, they might help her but … I don't know if I should hope, I don't know what I should want." And then Adrien fell silent.

"That sucks man." Nino blurted out after a long period of awkward silence. What was one supposed to say to a boy whose father became a supervillain and terrorized population of the city of Paris and sometimes the whole world only to save his mother.

"My father wanted her back, I know he did, and look at where it got him, so maybe I shouldn't … you know … hope?" Adrien looked at Nino and the two boys stared at each other. "And then I know my aunt hopes too."

"Um yeah, your aunt … " Nino had a task, he got it from the rest of the boys, to ask Adrien if they could organize a party in his old room in the Agreste mansion, the last time they had a party there was rather unforgettable and they wanted to do it again, this time without an akuma.

"Yes she … well, please don't tell this to Alya, this is not for her blog but … Ladybug took aunt Amelie and me to see her, my maman, back to that temple in Tibet. She … they … used that teleportation miraculous and took us there." Adrien was looking through the window.

"Oh, when?" Nino was suddenly wide awake. This was new, this was an interesting turn of events, it involved the heroes, it possibly involved a temporary miraculous holder that teleported them to the temple.

"Last night actually." Adrien smiled when he saw how alive Nino had become.

"So Ladybug came here to pick you up? From this window?" Nino was becoming more and more excited as he pointed towards the window. "Or was it that other hero who was doing the teleportation? Peagasus?"

"Um, I left with … Chat Noir actually." Adrien smiled sheepishly, that was the closest thing to the truth. "And Ladybug brought aunt Amelie and Peagasus arrived and made a portal and we went through and got really close to the temple."

Then Adrien described how his aunt spoke to the body of his mother, how he met the monks, and how his mother got ill because she was using a broken miraculous and that maybe it was possible to cure her and that Ladybug and Chat Noir were looking for a way.

"Dude, I can't tell you how I feel about this, Ladybug and Chat Noir are trying to bring your maman back to life after Hawk Moth terrorized the city and chased after them in order to do the same." Nino rubbed the back of his head and adjusted his hat,

"Yeah." There wasn't much more Adrien dared to tell his friend, besides to admit that yes, he was Chat Noir and he was doing it to bring back his own maman, and Marinette was helping him, who was Ladybug, who was also his girlfriend.

"They're heroes, dude." Nino bumped his fist into Adrien's shoulders. "They fought all those akuma, even me … " He trailed off, Nino was really close to admit that he was Carapace, but maybe it was too early for that.

"Yeah, sorry dude." Adrien shrugged. It was partially because he was Chat Noir and fought him, and because it was his birthday, but mostly because Nino was akumatized by his father because he was upset, because of his father.

"No need, not your fault … sorry dude, I know he's your dad but he sucks, dude." Nino always had a way with words. That was Alya's territory, he simply did not do words, okay? But his friends knew what he wanted to say, somehow, and that was all that mattered.

"Yeah, he does." Adrien nodded. "They … the monks in the temple, they somehow removed his memory … that he ever wielded a miraculous." Then he stopped talking.

"You mean … your old man doesn't know he was Hawk Moth? He doesn't know what he did?" Nino was astonished. "That's … I don't know what that is but it doesn't seem right."

"The monks … they wanted to remove his knowledge of the miraculous that is why they did it, but they removed the memories with it. I don't know how that works." Adrien shrugged. He really did not know.

"But he also … he cant feel guilty … nor sorry about what he did." Nino protested. "There is no way for him to ever apologize, sincerely … " Then the boy trailed off, there was not much sincere about that man that he wanted to know about anyway.

"My legal representative told me he also forgot about me and maman, but he got his documents back so now he knows about maman and me and that he was Hawk Moth." Adrien continued, that was something he also did not want to deal with too much.

"He forgot about you? He forgot that he had a son? And your maman? His wife? What else?" Nino stood up, he wasn't able to sit down any more. This felt like something huge. "I just thought that your old man and his assistant are now in prison in China and that's it."

"It's not … but I don't want to know." Adrien was hurting just for thinking about it and now he was even talking about it, because talking about it was supposed to make him feel better, it didn't make him feel any better.

"Yeah, dude, let's … if you don't want to talk about it … let's talk about this playlist dude! Isn't it awesome?" Nino was happy to oblige and change the subject. If his best bro ever wanted to talk some more, he was ready to listen.