Chapter 15
Malgré ce grand mur qui nous sépare
l'amour traversé de part en part
Nous sommes ensemble une force rare
One night, when the rain was pouring and the city was dark, a tap was heard on Marinette's window. The same one she heard the night before and the night before that. It was the sign that the man she loved had come to visit. She would never grow old of that beautiful sound.
"Good evening my Lady," The familiar black cat kissed her hand as he climbed into the room,
"Chat, you're pouring wet!" She exclaimed rushing to find a towel while Chat detransformed sitting on the floor. When she came back, she looked at Adrien with a quizzical look. "Why are you seating on the floor?"
"You said it yourself," He said, giving Plagg a tiny piece of cheese that he carried on his pocket, "I'm wet, and I didn't want to soak your bedroom,"
With a raised eyebrow, she threw the towel on his head. She kneeled in front of him and began to dry his hair with the towel. When she revealed his face, she looked at him with gleaming eyes and kissed his nose quickly just before throwing the towel back on his face.
"Only your hair is wet, the rest of you is perfectly dry," she said, sitting on her desk chair trying to hide her flustered face,
"Then why are you running away from me?" He stood up and hugged her from behind the chair, resting his head on her shoulder,
"I'm not running away from you, I'm... I'm..."
"See, you have nothing to say in your defense," He looked at her from the corner of his eye,
"You know what, I'm actually glad you're here," She stood up abruptly, escaping from Adrien's grasp, leaving him kneeling on the floor,
"If you're so glad why did you..."
"We need to talk," Adrien's face paled and his eyes widened at the sudden interruption,
"Mari, we've been dating for little more than a week and you already want to break up with me? Was it something I did?" He held his breath waiting for her answer,
"What? No, silly." she giggled, much to Adrien's relief, "We need to talk about... about Hawk Moth," She said, being careful with her word choice, because she knew that the matter was still very delicate for Adrien,
"You mean my father," He groaned, slumping on Marinette's desk chair. She nodded,
"I know we agreed to wait until you came to terms with the idea of fighting you father, but we will have to confront him eventually,"
"I know, I know, it's just..." He pressed his lips together and stared at his hands, "I don't know if I can to it." Adrien was half expecting that Marinette would snap at him, the way Ladybug would have, but instead the next thing he felt were her hands cupping his face,
"I'm on your side, kitty, don't forget that,"
Adrien couldn't help it when a single tear rolled down his cheek. Marinette brushed it off and looked at him in the eye,
"It's you and me against the world," He shrugged, smiling sadly at her.
She brushed his hair with her hand and whispered, "Always," pressing a single kiss on his forehead.
o0o
"So, they're not talking to you at all?" Alix asked Alba one day while they were sitting on the benches of the soccer field eating their lunch,
"They have a good reason not to, I always knew that enchanting them was not a good idea," Alba sighed,
"But it was for a good cause! Ladybug and Chat Noir have to see that someday!"
"The end doesn't justify the means, I can only hope they will forgive me,"
"I'm sure they will," Alix smiled taking a bite of her sandwich. "So, what did you do to Adrien and Marinette?" Alix asked with her mouth full, making Alba choke on her drink,
"What do you mean?" She hid her face with one hand trying to hide her flustered expression, but the coughs were not helping,
"I mean, you guys used to be super close, they even made you a surprise party and all, and now I haven't seen you talk to them in weeks, not even with Adrien! I thought you guys were partners in a project or something,"
"Well, we did the project and turned it in, there's not much to it,"
"But are you guys in a feud or something? Did you do something to them as you did with Ladybug and Chat Noir?"
"No, we just haven't found a lot of time to talk, that's all." She shrugged, but the truth was that Alba completed said project by herself, mainly because Adrien had a lot to think about those days, and a silly school project was not one of them, also, he didn't want to talk to her, plus now that her job finding Hawk Moth was done, she suddenly found herself with a lot of free time.
At some point during their conversation, Marinette, Adrien, Alya and Nino walked through the soccer field and sat on a blanket under the shade of a tree. Alba was trying to read what they were thinking about, but she suddenly felt a sharp pain hit her head. She pressed both her hands on her forehead making her drop her drink on the bench.
The sticky substance fell next to Alix, making her squeal when a drop fell on her pants,
"Alba, what's wrong with you?" she fumed, standing abruptly from her seat, but then noticing Alba's stance, she leaned in to touch her shoulder, "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine, it's just one of my migraines," Alba tried to comfort her, but her eyes were still shut tight,
"I think you should go home, you look pale," she touched her hand on her forehead "and you sweating cold! Alba, you definitely have to go home,"
"Yeah, I'm not feeling well, it's been like this the whole day, I just have a class left but... I'll talk to the nurse and go home."
So she said and so she did, and once she was safe at home, she slumped on her bed and closed her eyes shut,
"I'm okay, I'm okay," she repeated to herself until a bright white light shone on her bedroom and then, she wasn't alone anymore,
"Alba, is that really you?" A familiar voice asked her, so she opened her eyes to see who was speaking,
"Bunix?" It was Bunix all right, but she looked different than the last time she saw her, she was younger, younger than she had ever seen her, in fact, she looked pretty much like the Alix she had been talking to just a few minutes ago.
"I can't believe it worked!" She chimed,
"Did... did you come from the future?" Alba asked, closing her eyes shut, realizing that she shouldn't look at her if she didn't want to spoil the future,
"Yeah, I came to find you."
"Find me?" Alba asked seating on her bed, still with her eyes closed, "Why?"
"There's something I need to ask you," she said looking sheepishly at her feet.
"Why not ask the future me?" Alba asked, but Bunix didn't say anything for a while. In fact, she was quiet for so long that Alba had to open her eyes to make sure she was still there; however, when she did, she was met with Bunix train of thoughts instead.
"I see." Alba said with a straight smile, "what did you have to ask then? I'll answer anything." As she often did with Alix, Alba answered every single one of Bunix questions with a chill voice, but being vague enough not to reveal too much information.
She was feeling well all of a sudden and all of her pain was gone, and she was feeling hopeful and happy again. She was at peace. A peace that can only be described as a peace that surpasses all understanding.
"I should go back now, I don't want you to find out any more than you should," Bunix giggled nervously,
"Before you go, can I ask you a favor?" Alba finally stood from her bed and walked readily to her desk, "There is something I want you to give to Ladybug and Chat,"
"What is it?" Alba handed her a heavy purple binder with a thick amount of papers inside,
"It's a letter I wrote for them," Alba couldn't help but giggled at Bunix's scandalized expression, "I know, I know, who writes a 200 pages letter? But it's more than just that, it explains their story, as well as my reason behind enchanting them, I began writing and couldn't stop, I finished it just a few nights ago,"
"Why don't you give it to them yourself?" She held the document close to her chest as if it was the most precious thing in the world, yet as if it was the heaviest,
"Because they won't listen to me right now, but I think in the future they will," Alba smiled broadly although her eyes were watery, "Don't read it though, I don't want you to find out who they are before time,"
"Who? Adrien and Marinette?" Alba's eyes widened at the revelation, and now it was Bunix' time to giggle, "I found out the moment I entered my burrow for the first time,"
"Oh, well then it's okay if you read it,"
Bunix smiled awkwardly before adding, "It's time for me to go back to my time, but it was great to see you,"
"I'm always glad to help,"
A bright light illuminated Alba's room as Bunix opened her burrow but before stepping into it she turned around to see Alba. She ran towards her and hugged her tightly, "They will forgive you, don't worry about it,"
"There, there, we'll see each other soon," Alba assured her, and she went back into her portal, closing it and erasing every sign that she was ever there.
With a newly found sense of confidence, Alba went back to her desk and began to write her heart out, since it was the one thing, she loved the most.
It was a new pack of letters that she would soon give to the person she trusted the most.
o0o
During the next few days, Alba did something she had been afraid to do. She asked her crush out.
"The thing is, you're still my student, and..." Gerald told her with an amused smile,
"Oh, forget about that," she interrupted him with a wave of her hand, "But if it's that important to you we could meet at a coffee shop I know, it's pretty far away from here, I bet no one would recognize us if we went there,"
He smiled broadly, and Alba could see how excited he was about finally being able to go on a date with her. He had waited patiently for her, and it seemed like his patience was finally paying off.
Later that afternoon, Alba arrived early at that well-known coffee shop. Gerald hadn't arrived yet, so she greeted the bartender saying, "You owe me 20€," while she took a seat in front of the counter, in front of the bartender,
"Beg your pardon?" Master Fu turned to greet her, "If I'm not mistaken, your bet was on MariChat, and as far as I know LadyNoir won the round," He boasted "You owe me 20€,"
"Nono, don't come at me with that, he found out who she was when he went to visit Mari, so MariChat won,"
"Yes, but Chat saw Ladybug transform, thus breaking the love square, LadyNoir won," Alba was about to protest a little bit more, but then the doorbell rang as a couple entered the shop. She turned around to see them and it turned out that they were no other than the couple they had been talking about.
Alba jumped out of her seat in hid behind the counter before they saw her, but they looked so cute together, she stared at them for a moment and thought they were both worth losing a bet. Their smiles shone brighter than the sun. They were just worth everything to her.
But they wouldn't believe her if she told them, so she did the only sensible thing she could think of at the moment. She crawled her way next to Master Fu and through the kitchen of the coffee shop until she reached the back door and flashed out of there, where she coincidentally crashed onto the one she had been waiting for,
"Gerald! Boy am I glad to see you, but we can't stay here, come on let's go somewhere else," He was about to say something when she grabbed his hand and led him to a park nearby the shop and sat him on a bench, quickly taking her seat next to him,
"Something is troubling you," he tried to look at her in the eye, but she laid her head on his shoulder,
"Can I trust you?" She asked already knowing the answer,
"Of course," He answered with his deep, velvety voice, while he grabbed her hand on his. He was visibly unaccustomed to being this close to Alba, which was a great contrast to how Alba was acting, who snuggled his arm as if she had been in a relationship with him her entire life, "You know you can talk to me about anything,"
"I know, there are some things I want you to know," and with a sigh she began to tell her story, "It all started when I found an anklet..."
o0o
"Akuma alert, Akuma alert, proceed to the library calmly, Ladybug and Chat Noir will take care of the problem," the school's speaker kept repeating. Some students groaned while others limited themselves to picking up their stuff. Since this was the last hour of the day, the Akuma alarm meant they could go home; however, these were their last weeks of school, and missing classes meant that they would have to come until the very last day to make up for the lost time.
Everyone was leaving for the library, as protocol dictated, except for two students who looked at each other for confirmation and nodded with determined looks,
"Who do you think it could be this time?" Adrien whispered to Marinette once they were side by side,
"Probably Sightseer, it's always him lately," Marinette answered rolling her eyes. Adrien laughed and they headed towards the door,
"Marinette, Adrien," somebody called for them from inside the room just when they headed out. Alba, noticing they were still ignoring her, felt dizzy all of a sudden and collapsed into the floor, only to be helped by professor LeBeau.
But the heroes didn't hear the commotion behind them, so they continued in their way.
They reached the library and signed their names on the checklist so that nobody suspected they had disappeared, then they found their way out of the library and out of the school by climbing out of a window.
"Ladies first," Adrien bowed, making Marinette giggle,
"Of course you would say that, but you'll have to give me a boost,"
Adrien helped Marinette out of the window and once she was out, she helped him by pulling his shirt to get him out of the building. Once they were sure nobody had seen them, they hid in the shadow of a tree and transformed into Ladybug and Chat Noir.
"I bet 5€ it's sightseer," Chat told Ladybug once they were at a safe distance from the school,
"What makes you so sure?" She asked landing on a chimney,
"It's Thursday, he always gets akumatized on Thursdays, or at least he has for the last three months," He explained putting his hand on his chin,
"Maybe, but he usually gets akumatized at night," Ladybug explained pulling out her yo-yo to scan the city, until she found what she was looking for, on top of the Eifel Tower, Sightseer stood waving his cane in the air. Ladybug grimaced and turned to see her partner, "How about I take you to the movies instead of the 5€?"
"That's more money, you know?" He told her with a satisfied look,
"Well, I think it's a win-win situation," Ladybug took her yo-yo and transformed it into a pair of wings, which she used to fly on the direction of the Eiffel tower. Chat followed running beside her,
"I still want my 5€ though," He ran next to her,
"Why? Don't you wanna go on a date with me?"
"You're my girlfriend, I'll get to go on dates with you anytime, but how often do I get 5€ from you?" Ladybug giggled at the comment but then focused on the Akuma they were just about to meet, and it was a good thing because in just a few seconds they reached the top of the Eifel tower.
"We meet again, Ladybug and Chat Noir," Sightseer laughed,
"We meet so many times we should start a support group," Chat snapped back,
"The stars tell me..."
"Yeah, yeah, the stars," Ladybug interrupted him, "We've been through this a hundred times, whatever the 'stars' say, we'll defeat you as we have the other 20 times,"
"Ah, but this time I brought a friend," He turned around to make way for a giant hourglass that appeared behind him,
"Is that a..."
"A sentimonster!" Chat yelled just when it began to fall on their direction, luckily though, they managed to move out of the way before it smashed them.
This time other than the cane, Sightseer had a crystal ball on his right hand, which he apparently used to control the hourglass that kept chasing the heroes around the top floor of the tower until Ladybug thought of something and motioned Chat to follow her. Ladybug led the way for Chat and the hourglass, and they followed swiftly while Sightseer laughed hysterically. Such was his laugh that he didn't notice that Ladybug was leading the hourglass right unto him. When he finally opened his eyes to see, they were so close to him that he panicked, throwing the crystal ball into the air,
"I got it," Chat yelled and jumped to catch it, destroying it with his cataclysm on the way. The hourglass was about to fall on top of Ladybug and Sightseer, but it disappeared before it even touched them.
Out of the shattered crystal ball on Chat's hand flew a small feather flew out. Which Ladybug captured, purifying the Amok, but before she was ready to fight back, Sightseer appeared to form a portal behind them, hitting Ladybug hard on the back of her head,
"No!" Chat yelled when an unconscious Ladybug fell on his arms. He placed her gently on the floor and growled to Sightseer, "You! Stop this,"
"You think it'll be so e..."
"I'm not talking to you, Hawk Moth, show yourself!" Chat sneered, still kneeling next to Ladybug's unconscious body. Then, a dark purple butterfly appeared on Sightseer's face, and it was no longer his high-pitched voice coming from his mouth,
"What is it Chat Noir, are you ready to give up your miraculous?" The dark voice spoke,
"I've had it with you and your tricks," He stood up to face him, at the same time that Ladybug began to open her eyes, "I didn't want things to get to this point, but I've had it with your tricks! If you don't show yourself now, I'm gonna go find you," He demanded,
"Chat, what are you doing," Ladybug said still laying the on the floor but Chat didn't listen
"Is that so? And how are you supposed to do that?"
"I know who you are, Gabriel Agreste, and I know where to find you,"
The dark voice didn't speak for a long moment, and then Sightseer's transformation fell and a purified Akuma flew from his cane, leaving good old Darren in his place,
"You're not gonna escape this easily Hawk Moth," He began to run in the direction of his house, but Ladybug caught his tail,
"What do you think you're doing?" She said kneeling on the floor, rubbing the back of her head,
"I've been patient with him, hoping he could change, but I've had enough, I'm gonna go fight him," He barked,
"But you already used your cataclysm, you could transform any minute, plus he could use you..."
"I know what he can do, I've thought about this a dozen times, and I'm ready,"
"Then I'm going right behind you, we're in this together," She said, but when she stood up, she felt dizzy and fell back into Chat's arms,
"You're not well, M'Lady, rest for a moment, I'll call you when I find him,"
"But, Chat..." She was about to say something but Chat placed her next to an iron pillar and jumped out of her reach,
When Chat arrived at the Agreste mansion, Gabriel Agreste was rushing down the steps of his front yard to his parked car, but with a backflip, Chat landed on top of the car, blocking the way for the man,
"Going somewhere?"
Gabriel gasped, stumbled, and fell backward, but Chat grabbed him from his ascot tie preventing him from falling,
"I think you're mistaken, Chat Noir, I'm not who..."
"Don't come at me with that, I know who you are," In that moment, the tie loosened from Gabriel's shirt, making him fall and revealing a purple brooch, which Chat recognized as the butterfly miraculous from the miraculous spell book.
Gabriel tried to crawl away, but Chat leaped and blocked his path from the other side,
"Leave me alone Chat Noir, you have the wrong person,"
"If you're not Hawk Moth, then you won't mind if I take this," He motioned to grab the brooch, but Gabriel caught his hand and shoved him to the floor. Gabriel then stood up and said,
"Nooroo, dark wings rise," transforming into Hawk Moth, much to Chat's disappointment. If he ever had any doubts about his father's identity, now there was no way to deny it. "If it is a fight that you wanted, then a fight you will have," He charged at Chat, but before he could reach him, Ladybug's yo-yo grabbed him and pulled him to the metro station in front of the house, where she stood.
An enraged Hawk Moth pulled her yo-yo and threw her out of the way. Just when Chat came running at him, chanting "cataclysm," pointing at Hawk Moth's cane. But Hawk Moth moved out of the way, and Chat's cataclysm touched the floor opening a hole on the cement, big enough for the three of them to fall.
"Was it the hit on my head or did you just use your cataclysm for a second time?" Ladybug asked making a way through the debris Chat had created
Chat looked at his ring, which had three pawprints in it,
"We'll find out later, let's just be thankful now," They stood up scanning their surroundings thinking that they had reached a part of the metro, but no, instead it seemed like an underground chamber filled with plants and water, yet the most striking view was Hawk Moth, who stood protectively in front of something about his size.
"Back off," He warned them harshly pointing at them with his cane, but they kept marching forward,
Maybe more as a threat than for real damage, Chat called his cataclysm which appeared, again, on his hand. He charged towards Hawk Moth, again, pointing at his cane, but he moved out of the way, and Chat was faced with his mother's dormant face.
Great was his surprise when he saw her, but Hawk Moth's was even greater when Chat called her "Mother,"
He didn't miss a second and whacked Chat Noir away from Emilie, with enough strength to send him flying to the Eifel Tower.
Ladybug and Hawk Moth followed him, though Ladybug arrived a few seconds faster since she was using her wings. She kneeled next to Chat and helped him stand up, while the few people that were still passing by moved aside, except for two of them, who hid behind one of the pillars of the tower.
"So, it is you," Hawk Moth stalked towards them, "I've suspected it was you for a long time, but I thought it was wishful thinking,"
"You would wish it wasn't me," Chat sneered,
"Now you understand why I'm doing this, I want to save your mother, but I can only do it if I have your miraculous,"
Chat stood unmoved by his speech, since he had heard it on a loop on his head since the day Alba told him about his mother. He was prepared for this moment, and nothing Hawk Moth said could undermine his confidence.
"You don't want to deal with the ultimate power, it'll...," Ladybug began but was cut off by Hawk Moth
"Silence, insect! I'm not talking to you; I'm talking to my son."
"I might be your son, but I'm not helping you in your schemes," Chat stood tall, conscious of his active cataclysm on his right hand,
"And what about your mother? Wouldn't you help her?" Hawk Moth grunted,
"I'll find a way to help her. One that doesn't include giving you all the power in the world,"
Hawk Moth clenched his teeth and fists, frustrated because he couldn't feel any negative emotions emanating from the superhero. He was powerless against him. He then turned to look at Ladybug, whose arm was grasped around Chat's,
"You," He growled at Ladybug, "You turned my son against me," He grabbed his cane and pulled the top part, revealing a long sword, which he threw at Ladybug. She could have dodged it had it not been for the pounding wound on her head, but something pushed her out of the way, and they heard the sound of metal cutting flesh.
Ladybug opened her eyes to find herself safe on top of Chat Noir, whose Cataclysm had touched one of the Eifel Tower's pillars, and now pieces of metal were scattered around the floor. But what frightened her the most was the person who stood before them with a sword protruding from her upper abdomen. She fell on her knees only to be captured by Ladybug,
"Alba, what are you... Why did you..."
"Hawk Moth," She said taking a raspy breath, "Don't let him get away," But they didn't listen, instead Ladybug and Chat scanned her looking staring mostly at the sword and wondering if they should pull it out or not. In the end, it wasn't necessary, because the sword disappeared from her abdomen, making blood pour out of her wound,
"Hawk Moth just detransformed," another, breathless deeper voice spoke to them, "I'll take care of her, you go get him,"
"Monsieur LeBeau?" Ladybug and Chat said in unison,
"Go get him," Alba whispered "Bring him to me,"
Ladybug and Chat looked at each other and began running to find him.
They went back to the Agreste Mansion, the underground chamber and under the metro until they found him about to take the next train. Ladybug grabbed him with her yo-yo and dragged an outraged Gabriel Agreste out of the metro station,
Meanwhile, Alba laid bleeding heavily on Gerald's arms, but somehow found the strength to call Mishell and transform. The transformation made her wound stop bleeding for a moment, but then she began to bleed through her costume,
"This is it then?" Gerald asked as a single tear rolled down his cheek,
"Will you sing for me?" She asked, with a little more strength now. Gerald began to hum and then sing with his baritone voice, the song, the one that made them meet,
"Puede que pase un año mas de una vez,
sin que te pueda ver,
pero el amor es mas fuerte
Puede que el tiempo nos aleje otra vez
sin saber donde estes,
pero el amor es mas fuerte"
While he was still singing, letting his tears roll freely, Ladybug and Chat arrived dragging a protesting Gabriel Agreste. It was now Sirena's turn to sing.
"Today's events you must forget,
Your son is just Adrien Agreste,
The one you saw is not your heir,
Forget it all, but forever this remains,
Today your reign of terror will end."
Every word of her chant came out strongly, but the last one was more of a hush, and having sung that last note, she took a deep breath and her chest grew still.
Her transformation fell and an exhausted Mishell appeared from her miraculous, but she wasn't the only one that was drained,
"Alba?" Ladybug said, kneeling next to her still body, "Alba, talk to me, I'm sorry," she cried, "I'm sorry I didn't believe you, I... I was mad, you were right, you were right about everything,"
Chat put a hand on Ladybug's shoulder and whispered, "she's..." but she shoved him off and grabbed Alba on her arms, shaking her slightly. But seeing that she didn't move, made her tears fall faster,
"Ladybug," Gerald's kind, yet watery, eyes met hers, and she had to blink away the tears, "Use your power, maybe... maybe there's still time," his voice broke as he spoke, but a tender smile never left his eyes,
"Right, my miraculous," Ladybug stood up and grabbed her yo-yo, fixing everything around her, The Eifel Tower, the hole on the floor next to the metro and even Alba's wound.
The blood stopped, the wound closed, but no breathing came out of her parted lips, nor did her heart began to beat. But despite the weeping around her, even in her death, a smile was plastered in her face.
Despite this great wall between us,
Love crossed through.
We are together, a rare force!
[for those of you that don't know the song or don't speak Spanish, here's "Un Año" with English subs
watch?v=zLq6u05vhCk