Celeste, now Sapphire Paonne, sighed as she sat on a rooftop over looking the city of Paris. She didn't want to leave the infant alone with her mother, but she had to. Everyday at the same time, the teen would travel across town to watch the sun set before wandering the streets of Paris. It was what helped her to keep stable in the toxic relationship she had with her mother. If she missed only a single night, the teen's mind would probably break and she'd spiral out of control.
Her actions were mainly fueled by her mother's nature anyway. She always thought lowly of herself and that she wanted to escape. She longed to leave the nest and start a life by herself. A life where she wouldn't be bound to rules, or fearing another outburst from her mother. A life where she could be among the stars and find new discoveries. For the teen dreamed of being an astronaut, but she told herself it'd never happen. But that never stopped her from dreaming.
When the stars came out and the moon was full, that was when Celeste was at her inner peace. Her home was just a place she ate, bathed and slept in, it wasn't an actual home. Her grandmother's house was her actual home, but she was forbidden from going there. All because of her mother's malicious intentions. The teen sighed as she stood up to stretch.
Maybe going around Paris as her alter ego would help to clear her mind. She did have some time before she had to meet Ladybug and the other heroes and it wouldn't hurt to let Paris know there was a new hero. Smiling, the teen leaped to the closest rooftop, her body buzzing with adrenaline as she landed. It was the first time she'd actually done that and it felt...amazing!
"That was incredible!" She breathed looking at her legs in wonder, "What else can I do?"
Soon she was jumping from building to building, testing out her abilities and having the most fun she'd had in a while. Her curiosity brought her out of her shell and she was doing things she wouldn't do as Celeste. It felt like she had a new life, where nobody could judge or tell her what to do. And she embraced it fully.
The teen continued to go around Paris, looking at everything from a different view, until she bumped into a certain heroine, making her panic immediately.
"Ladybug!" She gasped in surprise, "I'm so, so sorry!"
"It's ok," The female smiled, "I was just going to see where you were."
"You were?" The teen raised a brow.
"Yes," The adult nodded, "We've got something important to do tonight."
"We do?" The teen pulled a puzzled expression before nodding, "Oh yeah, the missing Children's case. I heard about it this morning. Apparently the Cesaires', the Mr Bourgeois' daughter's and the Agreste's children have gone missing. All of them are infants I believe."
"You've definitely done some research," The heroine chuckled, but her gaze was distant, "We'd better get searching though, the others are waiting for us."
The teen nodded and soon they were both making their way to the Eiffel tower for patrol. Ready to spend the next hour looking for the missing children.
After patrol most of the heroes returned to Adrien and Marinette's house as Alya had a huge scoop to reveal. It had been a while since the brunette had any scoops on certain cases they were doing and from the smile on her face they all knew she had found substantial information.
The five adults sat in the living room, all tired from the day's activities. They'd all been out for majority of the day, looking for their children as well as going to work and other daily routines. Their limbs ached and their expressions looked strained. All of them had a lot going on in their minds.
"I just found a major scoop on Lila," Alya smiled getting the article from her bag, "Remember that child rape thirteen years ago?"
There was a murmur among the group as they all said if they remembered or not. Each pulling either a confused, or nostalgic expression.
"But what has that got to do with the case?" Chloe asked, "It's not like anything from that could help us."
"Actually it can," The brunette displayed the article to the group, "Because the victim was Lila."
"Lila?" The four other adults repeated.
"And that's not all," The brunette continued, "She had a daughter, who is around thirteen."
The group sat there in silence, glancing at one another as the brunette's news sank in. Lila was a mom. She was raped. She had a daughter.
"Ok, this is great and all," Alix spoke, breaking the silence, "But how does this help us?"
"We'll have leverage," Alya replied, "Think about it. If we can expose Lila or even just figure out who her daughter is, we might be able to find our children."
The room was silent once again as all of the adults thought.
"She has a point," Marinette spoke up, "And what choice do we really have?"
"Mari's right," Adrien sighed, "It's the only chance we have."
"So we're going to trace who her daughter is?" Nino raised a brow.
"Yep," Alya smiled, "And I know exactly where to start."
Celeste turned the key in her front door and pushed it. It slowly glided open to reveal her mother, frowning as the teen stepped inside. Once again she'd come home late and her hair was a mess. But she didn't care, it wasn't like her mother cared about her anyway.
In complete silence, the teen took off her sneakers and hung her jacket on the rack, ignoring her mother's gaze. She then retied her ponytail before smiling at her mother. Hoping that she'd remain quiet because of the infant upstairs.
"Why are you late?" The brunette asked her fingers tapping the banister.
"I went stargazing and lost track of time," The teen lied, "You know I love the stars like-"
"Don't say his name!" Her mother spoke softly, as she turned to the side, "I don't want to be reminded of him."
The teen exhaled sharply as she heard this. It was like her mother wanted to break her in the worst ways possible. She always forgot that she wasn't the only victim of what he'd done, if she was Celeste wouldn't be there.
"I know," She finally spoke, "You don't want to hear about him. But there will be times when he's mentioned."
"No there won't," The woman spoke firmly, "Not in my home. His name, hobbies, anything about him is forbidden."
"What? Like grandma?" The teen spat, venom in her voice, "You can't push everything you hate out of your life! It just comes back!"
"No it doesn't!" The female screeched, "I make sure of that!"
"Sure you do," The teen pushed past her mother, "You're not fooling anyone with your charade. Stop acting like you care for me."
"Celeste-"
"No!" The girl spun on her heel, her eyes glistening with tears, "You never want to hear of him, you never want to spend time with me! All you care about is yourself and that 'dream man' of yours! You don't even know how much I try to please you but it never works! I'm done trying!"
The teen then stomped up the stairs before stopping at the top to add a final thought.
"Why don't you act like the parent you're supposed to be?" She sighed, "I'm finished with being the adult."
She then went to her room, where she broke down into tears once again. Every night this happened, again and again. It was like she was a broken record, forever playing the same song. It was why she gave up on trying because every night, it just got worse. No matter what she did.
The teen cried and cried. Her tears emptying her of her sadness and pain, until eventually she fell silent, her head laying on her shoulder as her breathing became even.
...
It wasn't too long ago but long enough for everything to be lost in time, yet Celeste remembered it. How could she forget it. The look on her face, the way she neglected her. It wasn't hard to remember.
The teen was around four, and she remembered it was when her mother first moved out. She'd gotten a small apartment and she remembered being so happy to finally have some time with her mother. She was walking around the rooms with her stuffed animal and a story book. It was bedtime and she wanted her mother to read her a story like her grandmother used to.
She was already dressed in her pajamas and was dragging her stuffed animal, blanket and story book around the apartment, looking for her mother. The young girl had checked all the rooms and was left with her mother's bedroom. She knew that her mother would be in there and she wasn't frightened to go there, not yet anyway, and she walked into the room with a determined look on her face.
Her mother was at her dressing table getting ready for a night out, and the teen remembered smiling at the sight. Now she loathed it. If she knew that was the night she lost her mother's affection back then, then she'd of known not to do what she did.
The child walked up to her mother, pulling on the woman's dress, to get her mother's attention. The brunette then looked down at the child.
"Story please?" She asked, her voice soft.
"Not now Celeste," The woman spoke as she got up and went to her mirror, "Mommy's got a lot to do."
"Are you going out with your friends?" She asked, "Can I come?"
"No darling, not today," The female spoke, making the child frown, "Stop with the frowning. It doesn't suit you."
The child's face darkened a little more.
"Mommy will be back soon," The young woman then placed her hand on her child's cheek, before removing it just as swiftly. Celeste was left there smiling, only to realise she wasn't getting a hug.
"I'll be gone for a teensy tiny moment," The woman chuckled, "And I'll be back. Make sure you get to bed."
The woman then strolled to the door, ready to leave. The child followed, not giving up on her mission.
"Mama?" She asked holding out the stuffed animal for her mother. Her eyes shimmered with hope and she tried to look as pleading as possible.
"Must I do everything?" The woman huffed before taking the girl to bed, giving her a warm smile before rolling her eyes.
"Thank you mama," She smiled.
"Yes dear," Her mother replied, her voice soft, before she shut the door and left the room.
It was then Celeste knew that she'd never get her mother's love without strings attached. No matter how hard she tried or how obedient she was. She'd always be waiting. And never getting anything in return.
Emma woke from her sleep, a frown on her face. Something wasn't right. She could tell. The infant sat up, her green eyes shimmering in the moonlight. She could make out the sounds of sobbing, making her own eyes well with tears.
Standing up, she looked around the room. There wasn't a soul in sight and all was dark, making her know that they were in another room. Smiling, the infant climbed out of the crib and began to toddle towards the sound, listening to make sure she was going the right way. Her tiny footsteps echoed in the hall as she went further down going towards the teen's room.
She pushed the door to find Celeste crouched on the floor, tears streaming down her face. The teen hadn't noticed the infant and continued to stifle her sobs as she wept. The dream hadn't helped her mental state and now she was feeling worse than ever. All sorts of dark thoughts crossed her mind. From self-harm to suicide. But her reasoning and logic interfered making her think she was going crazy. Maybe she was.
She rocked back and forth, her knees to her chest, until she felt something warm beside her. She gasped, before spotting Emma smiling at her. The infant was giving the teen a hug and smiled at her, knowing that she was upset. The teen smiled back, wiping her tears.
"How did you get all the way here?" She chuckled scooping the little one into her arms.
The infant laughed as the teen tickled her.
"You really are something," The teen smiled, "So did you come to cheer me up?"
The infant nodded with a grin making the teen chuckle.
"Really?" She played along, "You're doing a wonderful job then."
A light bulb then went off in the infant's mind. She smiled as she looked around the room, before she spotted the poster of her father.
"Cat!" The infant squealed, "Cat!"
"Cat?" The teen raised a brow before looking at the poster on her wall, "Oh...Chat! He's an amazing hero."
The infant nodded and clapped her hands as she giggled.
"Cat! Dada!" She exclaimed, making the teen's brow furrow.
"Hm?" She hummed looking at the infant.
"Cat! Dada!" She repeated making the teen's expression become even more confused.
"Bug!" The infant tried again, pointing to the poster of Ladybug.
"Ladybug?" The teen asked and the child nodded, "What about her?"
"Bug! Mama!" The infant smiled confidently.
"Chat, Dada," The teen repeated, "Bug, Mama...What could she mean?"
The infant huffed, annoyed that she couldn't be understood, before she got up and toddled towards the teen's desk. She then climbed onto the chair, then the desk, before pointing at Chat Noir again.
"Dada!" She pouted, her face resembling her mother's completely.
The teen still had a confused expression and the infant sighed. Maybe this idea wasn't the best one.
"Oh!" The teen smiled making the infant look at her, "Chat Noir is your daddy and Ladybug is your mommy!"
The infant nodded and laughed.
"So that means..." The teen gasped as reality hit her like a ton of bricks, "My mother's kidnapped you!"
A/N: I didn't really know what to put in this chapter so I kinda just wrote it as I went along. Anyway, hope you guys enjoyed and here's the mini-skit. (I've noticed they're not as funny or entertaining as before so I may stop them until I get my inspiration back).
Me: Wow, I write fast.
Alya: Yep, but now Celeste knows that her mother's kidnapped Emma what's gonna happen?
Me: Tension, drama, tears and all that stuff.
Alya: Wow, so original.
Me: I know right!
Lila: So are you gonna make Celeste call social services on me?
Me: No, why would I?
Lila: Because I seem to be the punching bag of this story.
Me: You? The punching bag? I'm pretty sure your daughter is? Have you seen how mentally distressed she is?
Lila: Yeah...
Alya: You should be ashamed of yourself. Making your daughter that way. At least she's better than you.
Lila: Hey!
Alya + Me: Just telling the truth!
Till next time,
D.L.D
P.S. I'm kinda basing Celeste and Lila's relationship on one I've seen in another series that represents how I want it to seem.