I Do Not Own Miraculous or Avatar.
Chapter Fifty-Six: The Summer Solstice.
The past few nights had been weird. Marinette had revealed to him that apparently she'd been collecting ingredients for the power up potions since she got her hands on the Miraculous Books. She had enough to make one more of each mixture. Adrien was somewhat surprised she could read the Miraculous Book, but not Chinese. She already had several Magicaroons from the Paris days in her satchel, and he was going to get all of the new potions she made once she was certain she perfected the recipes. Unfortunately, that meant there was only one water potion between the two of them since she had already used hers against a raging sea snake. As a result, Adrien learned that for the invasion, he would be the one protecting the subs on the outside and Marinette wouldn't be able to help him. Another interesting thing was that she discovered a potion that would increase their resistance to heat and fire.
"Good for protection against fire benders and conditions with extreme heat." Marinette had explained, "Our suits and weapons will only do so much in a battle against so many people. Especially since now defeating our enemies isn't as simple finding the Akuma and purifying it."
"You called that simple Milady?" Adrien asked, raising an eyebrow as he studied the vial she had handed him.
"That was different." Marinette said, "Then, all we had to do was purify the Akuma and the battle was over. The day was won and the Miraculous cure fixed everything. Luck was always on our side. This is not like that. Here, we are at war. Here, our enemies aren't the victims and we can fix anything we do wrong."
"And if I'm right about the Jinx, luck might not be on our side anymore." Adrien said, lowering his gaze.
"You don't know that." Marinette argued.
"No, but things aren't like in Paris anymore. We don't always win anymore." He said.
"No, we don't, but we will win this time. We have to. For our friends. For Paris. For Ba Sing Se." Marinette said, "And we have to because you are my partner, and as long as you are by my side, things will turn out okay." Adrien nodded.
"I know that, it's just…" Adrien thought back to only a few nights before were a strange third eyed assassin had attacked them. The incident had been so bizarre and random that Adrien couldn't help but feel it was somehow connected to him and his terrible luck, "...We've had too many close call lately. Too many battles lost." Marinette didn't disagree. She didn't have to. She just looked up at the Team, who waited around Avatar Aang patiently. The Avatar had brought them to a remote and completely destroyed island at the edge of the Fire Nation to go on some weird spirit world journey with his past life. It was apparently a task that could only be done on that day, the summer solstice, in that place.
"...He's been through so much since Ba Sing Se." Marinette said, "I've been traveling with this team since the Fire Nation took Omashu. He has always been a carefree kid. He kinda reminded me of, well, me when I first met him. Really goofy, yet serious. Really confident, yet absolutely terrified about what is going to happen next. He's too young for this. But then again, we were too young to be thrust into a war against your father, weren't we?"
"Yeah, but we didn't die." Adrien said, realising her concern. The failure at Ba Sing Se had been the hardest on them all. Aang especially. He didn't show it much, but he and Marinette had been carrying their world on their shoulders long enough to see what the others on the team couldn't. He knew, if the invasion failed, Aang would take it very hard.
"No." Marinette said, "We didn't." The duo were silent for a moment.
"What do you think his past life is showing him?" Adrien asked. Marinette shrugged.
"Heck if I know. Tikki explained his Avatar cycle thing to me, and I still get pretty confused. I'm just glad Miraculous holders and the Kwami don't pass their power down like that. I think we'd all get really confused." Marinette said, "Sure, things like what happened with your father in Paris probably wouldn't be possible if we just simply reincarnated, but I would hate the idea of knowing I'm essentially stuck protecting the world forever."
"Yeah, no joke." Adrien agreed, "This world's Avatar is one brave person. I can see why people put some much faith in people like Aang. He was born for this kind of life. A life where he helps people. He's good at being the Avatar. I just don't think that he-"
"-Knows it?" Marinette asked, "I don't think he does either." Adrien grinned.
"Why, Milady! You are finishing my sentences now. We truly were destined to be together."
"Oh, shut up, Kitty." Marnette said, punching his shoulder. He laughed, smiling without a concern in the world. Of course, in his Lady's presence, there was only one concern, and that was protecting her. He just hoped he could. He hoped he hadn't Jinxed that.
Marinette leaned back against the rock formations, pulling out her sketchbook as the sun was starting to set. Adrien leaned over her shoulder, curious.
"What are you doing?" He asked.
"Hasn't anyone ever told you curiosity killed the cat?" Marinette said, shrugging him off in false irritation. Adrien cocked his head.
"Now who ever started a silly rumor like that?" He asked. Marinette huffed.
"Fine. It's just, I want to remember this solstace. According to Tikki, the Ladybug Miraculous is very connected to the summer and it's solstace."
"Which is why we need to use your Miraculous cure on the winter one. Because it balances out my powers while the worlds are close. The powers keeping us here." Adrien remembered.
"Yes, I remember." Marinette said, sketching out a design based off of the landscape before them. The molten Earth and the ocean waves with the fiery setting sun. Adrien was once again impressed by his Lady's talents, "Which is why I find it ironic. This place used to be a city, Toph sensed it. A city that was destroyed. It seems odd, that on the day that creation and good luck is strongest, we somehow wound up in a place of destruction and misfortune. I guess it's true. Creation and destruction really must coexist." Adrien looked up from the picture at the island.
"While Aang was still asleep after the loss at Ba Sing Se, my father and I got to talking about that actually." Adrien admitted, "He said the Cat Miraculous, according to Nooroo and Plagg, always goes to someone who understands destruction and bad luck, but still is able to maintain a righteous heart. I don't think destruction is a bad thing, Marinette. It forces people to change. It helps make a way for good things to happen. It helps make sure there is room to create something new. Something amazing. The problem with my father and with Fire Lord Ozai is that they lost sight of that. My dad wanted to give me the perfect family, the perfect world. To do that, he hurt people. He was selfish and he lost himself. I'm not sure what Ozai, or anyone in the Fire Nation thinks they are going to gain from this war, but I don't think they realise that by destroying the world to get it, they are destroying themselves. They just… don't give back. They don't replant a forest when it is burned down. They abandon an island after a terrible eruption, not realising that one day the island will be beautiful again. They use up their resources. They throw away lives. They are tearing this world apart and not giving it the chance. Not letting it become something new or even stopping to consider that there should be a limit to how much they destroy. There is no balance in this world anymore. There can't be. Because destruction is more powerful that creation here. They aren't like me. They don't care about creation or about what they destroy. Not like I do." He clenched his fists, glaring at the ground.
"Maybe that's the problem." Marinette said. He looked up at her, confused.
"What do you mean?"
"You keep blaming yourself for all the bad luck we have. But maybe that isn't it at all. Maybe, because there is no balance here and your element is stronger here, we are simply unlucky." Marinette asked, "In our world, there was balance. Because of that, my good luck powers always prevailed just as much as your bad luck always did. Here it seems anytime we try to come together to fight as one and keep using our powers like we did in Paris… well… we can't. What if it is impossible to come together and use our powers that way in this world because of the balance?"
"You mean, like how we were separated for the first few months of being here? Or how Azula captured you at Ba Sing Se, and I wasn't able to go to you because my father feared Zuko would hurt me? Or like how at Lake Laogai, Jet died with you, but I was trapped at an entirely different wing of the place for the entirety of the fight watching it all happen helplessly with my father?"
"And how we only have one water potion with us now, so only one of us will be able to scout ahead during the invasion." Marinette suggested, "It's like we keep on getting separated when we need each other the most. And we are only at our best when we are together. The balance must be what's been doing this. That means we have to restore the balance to this world and win this war if we even want to consider using the winter solstice to get home." Adrien rubbed his head.
"Wow, Milady, you kinda just blew my mind. It is official. Or bad luck and good luck powers have got to be the weirdest and most confusing thing in any world. I'd take reincarnation any day if it meant we didn't have to constantly speculate about what can and can not affect how or powers will work in certain situations. I mean frist the Jinx, and now the balance of an entire planet could possibly be making our powers malfunction? Can't we ever catch a break."
"Sorry, Kitty...but don't worry. It's all just speculation. A theory. It could be the Jinx. It could be the balance. It could be nothing and we just so happened to get separated at inconvenient times. That doesn't change the fact that we still need to at least try and do the right thing." Marinette said, her expression determined as she finished her design.
"And that is why I love you. Even against all odds, My Lady never fails to do the right thing." Adrien winked.
"I could could say the same to you, Chaton." Marinette answered as she put the sketchbook away and frowned, looking over at Aang. Adrien followed her gaze and realised he wasn't glowing anymore. THe Avatar was waking up from hi conversation with Roku.
"We should join them. I'm sure Aang's past life had a lot of advice for us." Adrien commented.
"Probably. I'm sure he has wild story about whatever it was Roku wanted to show Aang." Marinette agreed, "And I'm pretty sure I want to hear it."
"Of course, but first…" Adrien went in to kiss her when suddenly a small black spirit flew in between them.
"Hey guys!" Plagg said loudly, "You told me to get you when Aang started to wake up!"
"Plagg!" The said in unison, "Come on!" The Kwami just chuckled evilly at them.
I am so sorry that I haven't posted at all lately. I got sick and I wasn't really able to get online. I'm doing much better now and apologize for taking so long to get another chapter posted. But! Since I am doing better now, I should be back to posting more regularly, though I can't guaranteeing it will be everyday due to how my life has been getting scheduled lately. I'll try to get a chapter up every other day instead. Thank you all for being so patient, and again, I'm really sorry for taking so long.