Marinette sighed in contentment as she laid back against Adrien's chest.. or well, technically it was Chat Noir's chest, though she was also technically Ladybug at the moment. She was still Ladybug when she was untransformed, just as she was Marinette when she was transformed and Adrien was still Adrien when he was Chat so that..
Actually no, too much thinking, back to snuggling.
They were currently resting together on one of Paris's rooftops, one quite the distance from their usual patrol routes or hang out spots.. It had an unimpeded view of the night sky, no nearby buildings with a line of sight to where they were sitting and had an enclosed wall - she suspected the building might originally have been planned as an apartment complex with a rooftop garden, but these days the building served as a long-term storage facility, and the staircase up had been bricked closed.
Now it was their spot; theirs and theirs alone. Sure they had many places they'd discovered all around the city, but most of them weren't exactly hidden - some couldn't be reached, but people could (and would) just watch them sometimes. Here they could just relax and unwind; escape from both their superhero and civilian identities.. because that is something they needed to do now.
It had been two months since the day Lila had tried to get her expelled and the truth had come out - about Lila's lies that is, not about her identity. Although it was also the day that she had learned that both boys who had a claim to her heart were actually one in the same and he had apparently discovered the same about the girls he loved..
She resisted the urge to giggle; the way they were sitting with Adrien relaxing against the parapet and her sitting between his outstretched legs leaning against him, she could easily hear him purring.. there was no 'apparently' about the fact that they both loved each other.
She didn't regret it; at first they had kept their identities secret because of Master Fu's instructions, trusting their mentor to have reasons for the rules he had. Then they had started to understand what it meant to have a miraculous - that (at the risk of copyright infringement) with great power comes great responsibility. So they had continued to keep their identities secret, worried that as Hawk Moth became more and more devious that they could be forced to betray each other.. For a while now, however, she had asked to keep their identities secret, not because of Hawk Moth but because she was scared. Scared of the boy behind the mask, and the power his opinion of her would hold.. Scared of not being enough, or of something irreparably breaking once they knew.
They still occasionally fell into bouts of laughter because of everything; the sheer irony of both of them being in some sort of love triangle from different sides, yet only involving themselves. Adrien had said it was almost enough to make him believe in fate, except for all the close calls, failed confessions and missed chances they had also had to experience.
That didn't mean there had been no consequences to their identities being revealed; they were just consequences to be dealt with in their civilian lives. Their relationship, for one thing.. bothered quite a few people. It wasn't that their friends and family weren't supportive about them getting together, they were just worried about the way Adrien and her behaved as a couple.
Granted, she understood how strange it must have appeared to everybody - before that day, she still got flustered around Adrien, and while they were friends, he hadn't shown any interest in pursuing a relationship either.. So the fact that within almost 24 hours of dating they acted completely different? It worried people.
To everybody else it seemed as if they suddenly became completely comfortable around each other - which might be a bit strange, but combined with the fact that Ladybug and Chat Noir had been extremely tactile even before they were dating, it suddenly had the hallmarks of a couple of teens becoming way too serious way too fast in their first relationship.
Her stutters replaced with teasing banter, Adrien's friendly yet reserved mien changed to flirtatious smirking, and more inside jokes than Hawk Moth could throw a butterfly at.. what worried others served as relief for them. She would never have guessed that sharing their identities would result in such a weight of their shoulders - the best of both worlds, as Adrien had sung out when they were watching old Disney shows together.
"So, have there been any new theories on what your big secret is? I heard a rather interesting one earlier today.." spoke Adrien from behind her, interrupting her thoughts.
"Hmm? Do tell; the last one I heard was when Rose finally convinced Juleka to give her 'Marinette is secret royalty!' theory some serious consideration.. though Nathaniel told me it was likely just her attempt to convince Juleka to watch both Princess Diaries movies on their monthly stay-in-date-night," she said, before leaning her head back to look at him, "speaking of, why don't we have any stay-in-date-nights?"
He smirked at her with a raised eyebrow before saying:
"Because as much as your parents joke about me being their son-in-law, and as much as my father likes you, both our parents believe we are moving irresponsibly fast in our relationship?"
Turning back to the face ahead, so he wouldn't see her blush, she just let out a slightly embarrassed 'Oh right'.
He snorted, letting her know she wasn't fooling him, but let it go anyway before asking:
"How did Nathaniel know about Rose's plans anyway? Didn't he say he wasn't going to be part of this whole guess-what-Marinette's-secret-is business?"
Now it was her turn to snort;
"Please. Nathaniel believes the whole 'Princess Diaries' idea as much as Rose does! My life is nothing like that movie!"
She could feel Adrien chuckle at her indignant tone of voice.
"Of course not; the movie was about a cute girl who finds out she's royalty, gets a makeover and becomes really pretty.. you've always been the most beautiful girl in school.. although I have to ask, why does Rose have to convince Juleka to watch the movies? Don't they both love romance movies?"
"Well yeah, but Juleka prefers the Cinderella movies?"
At this Adrien started laughing.
"Oh yeah? Would those be the animated movies, the live action remake from a few years ago, or one of the teen rom-com style movies? Or even the Christmas musical one with Laura Marano?" he got out between laughs.
"All of the above actually.. and I'd have been more likely to believe your amusement, if we haven't watched all of those movies at your request," she quipped, kissing his cheek to show she was simply teasing him.
"A-.. anyway, what I was originally going to tell you..?"
She felt the urge to giggle at his flustered face, but just nodded for him to continue instead.
"Apparently some of the younger year students have figured out the 'full story'; apparently you're the heir to some sort of - and I'm quoting here - foreign fashion mafia. Which is why my father has made a deal with said fashion mafia for the two of us to marry. Apparently with you being the brains behind the business and me being the face and name of the Agreste Brand, we are going to become the new French foreign mafia."
Adrien couldn't see Marinette's face due to the way they were sitting, yet judging by the way she had frozen stiff before sagging like a puppet with its strings cut as he finished his retelling of what he'd heard, it was probably something comical - not that he blamed her. There had been some pretty out-there guesses as to her secret - including but not limited to secret royalty, secretly rich as well as being a secret time-traveller - but this was a pretty weird one.
'I mean seriously, fashion mafia? Someone's been watching too much cartoons.'
That's not even mentioning the other ideas people made up to explain their relationship - or rather, how close they became in the space of a day. It wasn't as if they could explain to their friends and family..
'Okay so we know everybody thinks we're moving too fast in our relationship and that it seems to have come out of nowhere, but guess what! We've actually been going around in circles almost since the first day we met! Not to mention, we're very comfortable around each other because I am Chat Noir and Marinette is Ladybug! So since our superhero-selves have always been very physical with each other, even as friends, and we trust each other with our lives (have actually done so multiple times because, once again, we are the heroes of Paris!) so it's only logical that we are perfectly comfortable around each other and have loads of inside jokes! Everyone get it now? Great!'
Yeah. That would go down well.
"We should probably start heading home soon.. Hawk Moth has been a lot more active ever since the day I cured the akuma before it got to me," Marinette interrupted his thoughts, "and we also really need to figure out what is up with him and Mayura seemingly switching miraculouses on random days! What is up with that? We know he's likely had both the Peacock as long as the Butterfly since they went missing together, but.."
Though it was embarrassing to admit, that was as much as he heard, before he got distracted again - Plagg and Tikki had warned them that their miraculouses would start to affect them as time passed; specifically they would develop better battle reflexes, though at the cost of a shorter attention span.. That said, he couldn't deny that in this case he was just distracted by how utterly badass his girlfriend was every time she mentioned that moment.
Why was it so utterly badass? According to Plagg, the ability to purify corrupt magic (akumas in this case) without being transformed wasn't a Ladybug thing..
It was a Marinette thing.
…..
Adrien had just gotten home from.. a pretty long day. Granted, it had turned out amazing and he couldn't stop grinning, but it was a long day nevertheless. So long in fact, that upon entering his room he merely collapsed onto the bed and processed everything that had happened..
Or at least he was trying. Except for one nagging voice.
"So I'm guessing you're gonna be daydreaming about Pigtails for the rest of the week at least, but can I at least have some cheese before you zone out? I mean after today I am almost impressed, but being impressed isn't something I can eat!"
His annoyance at Plagg's obsession with Camembert - which frankly devoured most of his allowance - was pushed to the wayside at the more interesting topic of Marinette.
"Oh yeah! I couldn't believe she was able to release the akuma without being transformed, why didn't you ever tell us? Is it because we needed to keep our identities secret? Or is some secret-Ladybug power?" he queried, remembering to at least fetch Plagg a wedge of camembert, since he could be difficult about answering questions when hungry.
"Actually kid, that's not a Ladybug thing at all. I'd wager it's a uniquely Marinette thing."
Plagg must have read something in his expression, because he just snorted before explaining further:
"Look, this isn't something Tikki and I have brought up before because.. well frankly, neither of us suspected it would happen so soon, but here goes nothing I guess. Occasionally there are chosen which embody or embrace the aspects of their kwami to such a degree that the powers affect them.. more. Depending on the circumstances, it affects them differently.. Leonardo da Vinci had the Ladybug Miraculous during a time of relative peace and so never took a heroic name, yet had such an insatiable curiosity and desire to improve the world it drove him to become one of the greatest polymaths in history. It would seem that your girlfriend has such a desire to help akumatised victims, or apparently even the corrupted akumas themselves, that she has developed the power to heal them outside of their transformation.."
Adrien saw Plagg take a breath as if to continue, yet seemed to hesitate while glancing at him.
"You should know.. Based on how often Hawk Moth manages to akumatise someone at the most opportune moment.. Tikki and I strongly suspect he has the same sort of connection to the Butterfly Miraculous - likely an ability to read emotions untransformed, or perhaps even unnatural skill at manipulating others. It is a pretty confusing situation, because Nooroo has only ever 'harmonised' with people that care more for someone else than their own well-being - the unsung but unforgotten hero types. Heck, the only wielder you might even have heard of was Leonidas - a man who loved his people so much he not only gave his life but lead thousands to their deaths for a chance at saving them.."
Adrien just stared at him, trying to take in what he had just heard.. Leonidas wielded the Butterfly Miraculous? Da Vinci was a past-Ladybug? Sort of anyway. Possibly strangest of all, Hawk Moth might have enhanced abilities from his miraculous (not good), but that likely means he.. cares too much about others.. How does that make sense?!
He was suddenly struck by the fact that Plagg hadn't mentioned any of his own experiences. Maybe it couldn't happen with the Black Cat?
"You haven't.. mentioned anything about previous wielders of your own miraculous Plagg," he started hesitantly - somehow feeling that this was a sensitive topic, "is it because it hasn't ever happened before?"
Plagg became unnaturally still at the question, and seemed to become lost in his memories; so much so that Adrien was about to just waive the question, before he finally spoke:
"Those who embrace the powers of the Butterfly Miraculous tend to be a mixed story - they can be either great or terrible, but they almost always act for others. Be it love for, loyalty towards or vengeance for them. With the Ladybug Miraculous.. they tend to by their natures be inherently good - those who would always have been heroes, regardless of wielding a miraculous. Names like Horatius and Joan of Arc!"
Adrien smirked slightly, recognising the signs of his Kwami about to go off on one of his tangents about how amazing Tikki was, but the smile quickly dropped as his kwami suddenly closed off again, staring at him with eyes that seemed darker in colour than he could ever remember them being.
"When it happens that a wielder of the Black Cat embraces the nature of Destruction however.. the world weeps. It's the nature of my balance with Tikki - Creation and Destruction, Order and Chaos - my wielders only ever form a connection that strong when experiencing an urge to wipe something or someone from existence. Believe me kid, you don't want to know how many so-called 'lost cities' were destroyed by one of my previous wielders.."
Adrien stared at his kwami open-mouthed with his expression somewhere between shock and horror.
"What could drive someone to do something like that!? I swear Plagg, I'll never change into someone that would do it!"
It surprised him when his kwami just chuckled sadly, though he'd never forget the warning that followed:
"The tragic thing is, most of them swore the same thing once told - and except in three specific cases. Out of the eleven people to ever embrace the powers of my miraculous, two caused thousands of deaths due to falling to mind-magics; one had tricked the guardian of the time into misreading him and had an evil nature. Ever since those three cases, the Black Cat and the Ladybug were always used together; Tikki is the only one that can both protect and keep my wielders in check. The others.. Some would call their reasons anger, or vengeance, or perhaps even justice.. but truthfully, it is almost always the same thing that triggers it," and here his kwami paused to look him straight in the eyes for a few moments before finally continuing.
"Grief, Adrien. Grief."
…..
Shaking off the shiver he always got when he remembered the second part of that conversation, he instead focused on his girlfriend who had moved into an upright position facing him, gesticulating wildly as she rambled on and on. Frankly, he found it adorable and the fact that it happened so frequently that she had told him to just leave her to it unless she showed signs of genuine anxiety or panic was one of the things he loved about her - one of those small, strange things that made no sense when you tried to explain it to others. She was right though, it was getting late and they couldn't stay out for much longer. That being said..
He waited until he saw her look in his direction, and then slowly smirked at her in a way that always made her stutter or blush or both; considering his Lady could make him choke on air with a mere look, he rather enjoyed having the same effect on her.
When she developed that oh-so-familiarly-adorable blush, his smirk transformed into a
full-blown grin - one she matched equally when he pulled her against him and pressed his lips against hers, both of their rambling thoughts and worries for the future melting away as they just enjoyed their time together.
They did stay out too late that night.
Tikki peeked out of the purse were she usually hid when Marinette was at school, making sure she wasn't seen by any of the students nearby. From where the purse was she could just barely see Marinette sitting back on the bench, with Adrien's head on her lap and her hand running through his hair.. They were both tired from the previous day's akuma, but it had been particularly tough on Chat Noir; akuma had been based of some card-game character and had kept creating an impenetrable cocoon which he had to break with his Cataclysm - he had had to recharge eight different times before they could finally beat him.
Then they had to deal with a surprise attack by Hawk Moth - or rather, Pavone, as he called himself when wielding the Peacock Miraculous. It was a new pattern that emerged these last few months.. While the original Hawk Moth would send out more powerful akumas that hit harder but had easier weaknesses to exploit and were often backed up by Mayura's Sentimonster, there would sometimes be akumas that were.. less of a threat, but harder to beat; either because they were good at hiding or exhausted the heroes during the fight - whereafter they would be ambushed by Pavone.
It was.. an interesting tactic. One that drove her absolutely mad, since she couldn't see the point! It didn't make sense for them to trade off miraculouses like they were; the more they got used to their own miraculous, the more effective they would become at using them - granted, neither Nooroo nor Duusu would inform their wielders of that little detail, but it was common sense that the more you tried something the better you got! They were effectively cutting their progress in half, and judging by the longer periods between attacks it exhausted them more..
Yet for the past few months this had persisted, and it gave her the feeling that she was missing something - but no matter from what angle she considered things, she couldn't figure out what. She had spoken to Plagg, who had confirmed his instincts were saying the same thing - their enemies were acting off in a way they couldn't pin down.
Glancing at the scene of Marinette and Adrien still in the same position (though she could hear the faint rumble indicating that he was purring - just like her loveable grouch!) she thought once again about how well everything had worked out. Master Fu had been the one to impliment the rule about keeping their identities secret, and though she and Plagg could have overruled him.. she hadn't shared Plagg's optimism about what would happen when they did reveal their identities. So the rule had stayed.
Her worries had turned out to be for naught though - upon learning who the other was, they had managed to fit together so easily it had made people around them uncomfortable (even without considering the strange looks at some of their inside jokes) and it actually helped ease their civilian lives, being able to confide both sides of their lives to someone without worrying about trust.. and they did completely trust one another. More than any previous pair she could remember.
Their friends and family had - after 8 months of dating - finally written off their worries about Marinette and Adrien as simply two people who were ridiculously in love. It helped on days like these, when they were both exhausted from being heroes - they could ask for some alone time, and while everyone assumed they just wanted to be sickeningly-sweet-and-in-love, they could just.. shut down for a bit. They also helped cover for the other when they needed to disappear for an akuma battle.. she wasn't sure when they would realise their friends all thought they kept sneaking away to make out during akuma attacks, but she knew when they did Plagg would tease them mercilessly. So would she for that matter.
The sound of an explosion nearby immediately made the school's akuma-siren go off - it had taken them two years to actually be pro-active about the attacks, but she was willing to cede it to optimism that akuma-attacks wouldn't last.
Regardless, it was time to help her chosen save Paris - even if Marinette never got the credit she deserved.
Contrary to the stereotype (which he 100% blamed on the successes of the Karate Kid movies), Master Fu was not a secret martial arts master - though he had occasionally used the image to frighten off thugs during his travels in order to not resort to magic. To quote another reason for the stereotype (in his opinion, at least) 'only magic can defeat magic', and so he never used it against those without magic of their own.
That said, the individual now standing across from him in his home wielded a miraculous, and so was undoubtedly a fair target.. hence the magic trap he had activated moments ago. It wasn't particularly malicious; it wasn't his nature to strike first, so it was more to delay than actually attack.
He and Wayzz had spent nearly a hundred years on creating the spell, and even then it had a one-time use and needed a week to set up.. which he had done the very week that Marinette and Adrien had been given their miraculouses. It kept the room sealed from anything leaving or entering for the next two hours - time with which he trusted Wayzz to lead the other kwamis towards Ladybug or Chat Noir; sending Wayzz away left him defenceless, but their previous battles had shown that whatever else Hawk Moth was, a killer was not one of them.
That being said, he seemed.. strangely amused by the trap, still standing with his hands held behind his back. Fu narrowed his eyes slightly - he hated clichés, but if Hawk Moth was going to play the silent-yet-ominous mastermind, then he'd embrace his appearance as a wise old master (of magic, if not martial arts - damn Pat Morita for being so charismatic!).
"Since we are both trapped here for the next few hours, can I offer you some tea? I was about to take my morning cup, before you.. dropped in, as it were," he asked, keeping his voice as pleasant as he could and forcing the smile of his face as the man across from him's stoic mask faltered at the question.
"I, ahh.. Yes, thank you. Though I am surprised at how calm you seem to be, considering the situation."
"The situation? Well I suppose I am. We may be stuck here for the time being, long enough for the other miraculouses to be spirited away as I'm sure you've realised, I see no reason to worry. After all, I am quite certain though you may be an enemy, you are not a killer. Considering I chose both the wielders for the Black Cat and the Ladybug miraculouses, I'd say I was a rather good judge of character, hmm?"
The twitch in Hawk Moth's expression was amusing enough, but the grudging tone of his next words almost had Fu laughing out loud.
"..Yes, the two young heroes have definitely been.. more effective than I had expected. A.. good choice indeed. Yet you are so certain of my intentions then, that you'd risk your life?"
"Wisdom comes with age, and I have plenty of the latter to my name - should the former prove to be incorrect in judging your nature, well.. I have had a long life, and won't weep at the end. What is death, after all, but the next great adventure?" Fu managed in the same relaxed tone of voice, which seemed to oddly set Hawk Moth at ease.
"Indeed. Well, you would be correct, I have no intention of doing you har.. Wait, did you just quote Dumbledore?" he asked suspiciously.
Fu managed to keep his snort supressed and just stared at the villain blankly, waiting for him to continue.
Still watching him through narrowed eyes, Hawk Moth drained the last of his tea before humming appreciatively.
"I suppose I had best get to the point then; I haven't come here to obtain the other miraculouses, nor have I come here to hold you hostage or any other such action - rather, I came to make a deal. I wish to make a deal; I will return the Butterfly and the Peacock miraculouses, but exchange I want your word that you will not reveal my identity or that of Mayura to the public. In essence, for ending this conflict today, I will escape punishment for my actions - which I freely tell you, I do not regret. I regret that I needed to take them, but not the actions themselves. I have manipulated, controlled and attacked Parisian citizens.. and frankly I'd do it all again if I had the need," he said, pausing only to take a breath.
"As a show of good faith I will reveal my identity to you, as the guardian, and allow you to use Nooroo to determine the truth of my story as it is not possible to lie to him. Do I have your word? Or will I disappear into obscurity, the Peacock and Butterfly lost once more? No matter how the day turns out, I will not seek the Ladybug and the Black Cat any further."
Fu was really impressed with himself for keeping his composure rather than gaping open-mouthed at the man like his first instinct had been. Quickly running through his list of 'wise masters' to emulate and deciding that there really is no better example than Mr. Miyagi himself, got up and walked over to his bonsai - it had been given to him by Marianne as a joke, knowing his distaste for being seen as a movie-cliché, but.. well. He had reluctantly realised he quite enjoyed the art.
'It is also a rather easy way to distract guests while I gather my thoughts, but that's neither here nor there. Still, the chance to end this conflict without violence or revealing even further information about the miraculouses to the public..'
"I will.. provisionally agree to your terms. I will hear your story and then if, and only if, I judge you to longer be a threat to the world or the other miraculouses I will swear to never reveal your identity - not even to Ladybug and Chat Noir, who I sense you are especially reluctant to know your identity. Surely you do not think they would seek vengeance? I can assure you, it is not either of their natures."
"It.. is a complicated situation. I believe I know the identity of Chat Noir, and if I'm correct.. then I do deserve to be held accountable even more so than other criminals; yet simultaneously he is the reason for my path and so I cannot just vanish now that I've achieved my goals," Hawk Moth bit out, with a more conflicted tone that Master Fu would have expected.. - if he hadn't immediately focused on 'identity of Chat Noir'.
He must have mistaken Fu's glare of suspicion for a gesture to continue, as he suddenly stood, detransformed and with a resigned voice said:
"My name is Gabriel Agreste; and the reason for my actions have to do with the so-called disappearance of my wife, Emilie.."
It was 20 minutes after the now-civilian Gabriel Agreste had left that Ladybug and Chat Noir burst through Master Fu's door; taking a ready stance for whatever awaited them, only to find.. Master Fu sitting at his table, the Butterfly Miraculous sitting beside a empty tea cup and holding the Peacock closer to his eyes for inspection.
Marinette couldn't believe her eyes; Wayzz had told them that Master Fu had activated a final contingency plan - one he had saved for when Hawk Moth or Mayura might have found him - to save the other miraculouses. Yet here he sat, as relaxed as ever, holding both the Butterfly and the Peacock!
Chat seemed to agree, judging by his questioning look.
"Uhh.. Master Fu? Anything you want to.. tell us about?" he asked, clearly trying to remain calm and mostly failing - not that she blamed him.
Taking a moment to observe everything the way she would when trying to figure out her Lucky Charm - the lack of damage to the small house, Master Fu's relaxed posture, both missing miraculouses on the table, his focus on the Peacock rather than the Butterfly which had been the cause of most of their difficulties - and suddenly everything clicked.
Her jaw dropped opened and her eyes widened in shock as she sputtered in disbelief:
"Hawk Moth actually gave up..?"
…..
Chat shot a deadpan look at his Lady. Her optimism and ability to see good in almost everybody was one of the things he loved most about her, but expecting Hawk Moth to have a change of mind was..
"Indeed Ladybug, that is why he came here today - as shocking as it may seem."
..just the sort of brilliant thing he should have expected her to figure out! Still, he forced himself to put aside the fact that hell-yeah-he-was-dating-this-girl! and focus on tale that Master Fu was telling them, about a man who would do anything to heal the woman he loved, no matter the cost..
'Okay, actively going to NOT think about what I'd do if Marinette were to ever.. nope! Not going down that route!'
"..don't agree with his methods, but now that I'm aware of his goal and that it has been accomplished, I'm confident that this threat.. is finally over. You may perhaps be unsatisfied that he's escaped punishment, but if that is the price we need to pay to achieve peace, I feel it is worth paying."
Adrien looked at Marinette, trying to gauge her thoughts on the matter, and they had a wordless debate.. He had a habit of jumping in based on his first instincts, whereas she tended to almost overthink things - they helped balance each other out, even ignoring their miraculous-natures of Creation and Destruction.
He realised she wasn't exactly happy with someone escaping punishment for their crimes, but there was.. something in her eyes that made him think she could understand Hawk Moth's actions just a bit too much; and like him, she didn't want to think about it. Silently coming to an agreement that it was probably the best of a list of bad alternatives, they both agreed aloud with Master Fu's decision.
"Master, you've mentioned that his wife has shown enough signs of improvement over the last few months that Hawk Moth considers her recovery as good as done; did he mention how exactly he did it? I love the idea of getting more free time to spend with Marinette, but what if he gave up on obtaining our miraculouses because he found something.. potentially worse?"
Master Fu only chuckled before saying:
"Ah, young love! It is good to see things are going well between you two. As for Hawk Moth.. he did not mention how his wife was recovering, but unfortunately I do know - and it is a sad tale, for had he returned the Peacock sooner, she would have recovered years ago. You see, the Black Cat and the Ladybug aren't only the most powerful of the miraculouses, but also the most durable. If they are somehow damaged, both Tikki and Plagg are powerful enough to repair their miraculouses themselves. Others like Wayzz or Duusu.. without them even realising it, their miraculouses would absorb the energy needed to repair itself from those that use it."
While Master Fu paused, examining the Peacock closely again, Chat thought about what he had said about Tikki and Plagg. It was.. strange to think how powerful they were. Plagg generally acted like a talking stomach who only stopped being a nuisance when he was trying to impress Tikki, and Tikki appeared to be the literal embodiment of everything cute and sweet. Hard to remember they had lived for thousands of years..
"Strangely, it appeared he stumbled upon this fact accidentally when the current Mayura used the Peacock to assist him that day you had Hawk Moth cornered. Having two wielders to draw energy from would have decreased the burden they'd have each held exponentially. This was likely why Hawk Moth occasionally used the Peacock as well; a third person adding their energy towards fixing the Peacock, and it seems this was finally enough."
Master Fu sighed ruefully, before donning a somewhat wan smile.
"Such is the mystery of life, however. You should know that I was initially planning on taking the Black Cat and the Ladybug back upon Hawk Moth's defeat,"
Chat tensed; vaguely noticing Ladybug do the same - Plagg and Tikki had become as close to them, as they had to each other and the idea of giving them up..
"However, I was quickly disabused of this plan by both Plagg and Tikki - who informed me that if I considered doing so against their advice, Tikki would 'let Plagg off his leash' and then she'd use the ashes for and abstract painting."
Chat.. could only blink at that, though he could have sworn Marinette supressed a snort. Leaning towards her, he threw his arm around her shoulders and smirked at Master Fu.
"Well then, considering Marinette and I will remain together for the foreseeable future, and that our Kwamis plan to remain with us as well, there really is only one thing to do.."
"Oh? And what would that be, Minou?"
"Adrien Agreste and Marinette Dupain-Cheng's world trip! We will take a world trip, explore everywhere our kwamis have been before, then return to Paris to start our careers! What do you say?" he asked with a sincere tone and more confidence than he felt.. at least until he saw the loving smile she gave him.
"I say.. that sounds pawsitively purrfect, Chaton."
Has he mentioned he loved this girl? Because yeah, he definitely loved this girl. Momentarily forgetting about Master Fu in the room, he leaned in to kiss her gently on the lips before whispering:
"I can't wait until the day I Mari you.."