"Marinette, can you come down to the bakery for a few minutes and watch the front, please? Your father needs my help with something."
"Be right there, Mom!" Marinette put down the fabric she was cutting and headed down to the bakery. "What do you need?" she asked when she arrived.
"Just watch the front; I'll be helping Tom load a giant cake into the van for delivery."
Marinette went to the register and started helping customers. Saturday mornings were usually busy, but not overwhelmingly so. People lazily strolled in throughout the morning, either picking up a late breakfast or some bread for lunch or dinner. The steady pace of the bakery calmed Marinette's nerves and got her to a Zen state.
An old man came to the counter and greeted Marinette in Chinese, startling her. Marinette responded in French, "Sorry, I don't speak Chinese that well. Can I help you?"
"Oh! I'm terribly sorry," the man responded. "I was in here the other day and had some nai wong bao. The woman behind the counter then - that was your mother, I presume? Mrs. Cheng?"
"Yes, sir. I'm her daughter, Marinette. It's nice to meet you." The two shook hands.
"I'm Mr. Chou. Likewise. Do you have any other traditional Chinese delicacies?"
"Sometimes Mom makes pineapple buns, and in the fall she's made mooncakes, but that's it for the bakery. At home, she makes really good Chinese food a lot. My uncle is the chef in the family. He doesn't live here, though."
Just then Sabine arrived from the back. "Mr. Chou! It's lovely to see you again! How are you doing today? Marinette, Mr. Chou is new in the neighborhood."
"I'm doing great, thank you. I stopped by to ask if there were any Chinese community centers nearby. I was hoping you might know."
"There is a small group that meets every fourth Saturday at the library around the corner… but it looks like you just missed it, since that was last week."
"A shame! I will have to be patient some more, it looks like."
Sabine smiled at Mr. Chou. "Tell you what - we always have an extra seat at our table. Would you like to come by tonight and share a meal? We're having roast duck tonight."
"I would be honored to be your guest, Mrs. Cheng. What time should I arrive?"
"Be here at six. We'll be waiting!"
Marinette had spent the rest of her morning agonizing over clothes. After quickly sewing accessories for the battle of the bands, she figured out what to wear for the afternoon. Settling on a pink Jagged Stone t-shirt and faded blue jeans to go with her usual pink flats, she examined herself in the mirror.
"For the last time, Marinette, you look fine! I've never seen someone get so worked up for a guitar lesson before!" Tikki said from over Marinette's shoulder.
Marinette moved a strand of hair behind her ear. "I know, Tikki… I know. I just want to wear something different for once..." She leaned forward and began to fix her makeup.
It was a few minutes before 3:00 PM when Sabine called, "Marinette! Your friend is here!"
Marinette squeaked and went downstairs to meet Luka at the door of the apartment. She found him standing just inside the doorway, carrying his guitar and a notebook. He had a black Nirvana t-shirt on with blue jeans. "Hey!" she said, greeting him with la bise.
"I'll let you two kids have fun," Sabine chuckled. "I'll be downstairs in the bakery if you need me." She left the apartment and closed the door behind her.
"Hey, yourself," Luka responded. "I like the shirt! Pink really is your color."
"Aw, thanks! Your shirt isn't bad, either. Can't go wrong with the classics," she grinned. "What have you been up to all day?"
"Cleaning," he admitted. "Mom may not be much for rules, but if we don't show up to help clean the boat on Saturday mornings, we wind up with extra swab-the-deck duty. It only took me once to learn that lesson. My forearms were sore for a week! How about you?"
"I helped out in the bakery this morning and then put together some accessories for the band. Want to see them?"
"I'd love to!"
"Great, wait here. I'll bring them down." She went up to her room, where Tikki gave her a big grin and a thumbs-up. Marinette shook her head, smiled, and returned downstairs with some dark blue and purple lengths of fabric. "What do you think?" she asked.
"These are fantastic! So, I'm guessing these are the bandannas and scarves from your sketches?" He grabbed one and tied it around his arm. "I love it!"
"Thanks. You'll have to give it back, though, I'm not done."
"I'm definitely going to keep it when you are. You can sign it for me. The great, talented Marinette! I'll put it on my wall."
Marinette blushed. "Maybe don't go that far… besides, you're pretty talented yourself! How about you show me what you can do on that guitar?"
"I thought I was coming over here to show you what you can do on this guitar?" he teased.
"By all means!" She sat down on the couch. "What's the first thing we do?"
Luka placed the guitar in her lap and squatted down in front of her. "Go ahead and hold the guitar like you were playing it." Marinette picked up the guitar and mimed strumming it. "Good. See, you're a natural!" He laughed and took her left hand in his. "Let's start you out with some easy chords. This one's a G major," he said, moving her fingers in place.
Marinette felt her face heat up as she watched Luka's hands move over hers. When he was done, he said, "There. Now, strum all of the strings - oh wait, you don't have a pick. Hang on." He fished in his pocket for a few seconds and pulled out a few Euro coins, some lint, and a blue Jagged Stone guitar pick. "Here we go. You hold it like this," he demonstrated before handing it to her.
She took the pick and strummed the strings. Dissonant, clunky sounds came from the guitar.
"Don't get discouraged; everyone sounds like that starting off. Here, let's try again. Try to keep your fingers curved so you're only pressing one string at a time." He moved her fingers back into position. Marinette took a deep breath and strummed the guitar again. Brighter, almost-recognizable-as-a-guitar sounds resulted.
"You're getting the hang of this! Let's try that again," Luka smiled.
In his apartment on the right bank of the Seine, Fu Wang was getting himself ready for the meeting of a lifetime.
I have to see her - she has to have noticed by now that the magic that protects the Guardian is fading. I don't know how much time either of us will have left. Marianne Lenoir has always been my closest confidante and friend, even when I haven't been at my best. I hope she forgives me for keeping us apart for so long.
"Yes! I think I got it!"
"That sounds great, Marinette," Luka enthused, listening to her strum a G major chord. "Let's give your hands a break… I don't want you to get blisters on your first day."
Marinette looked at her hands. The fingertips on her left hand were red and dented from pressing down on the guitar strings. "Oh!"
Luka showed Marinette his fingers. "You'll get callouses eventually, see?"
"I had no idea!" she said, running her fingers over the tips of Luka's. "Yes, let's rest. Can you play that song you were playing the last time you were over?"
"I'd love to." He stood up and walked behind the couch. Leaning over, he reached around Marinette so he could play the guitar on her lap. Blushing slightly, his fingers moved over the neck of the guitar and he began to play.
Marinette closed her eyes and listened to the music. She leaned her head slightly against Luka's chest and sighed.
After a couple of minutes, Luka whispered, "Do you still think this could be a love song, Marinette?"
She could feel his breath hot on her neck. Turning her head toward him, she brushed her lips against his. "Yes," she whispered back.
Marinette moved her head closer and captured Luka's lips with hers.
"You shouldn't have come, Fu."
"I had to, my love. There are too many things I need to tell you."
"We have to wait until Hawk Moth-"
"No, we cannot wait. It's even more important than Hawk Moth. Marianne… how long have we known each other?"
"Why, it must be at least 110 years now. I've been following you around the world for half that time, at least," she teased.
"A time for which I will always be grateful. But I'm afraid that our journey together is coming to an end."
"What do you mean, Fu? Don't tell me that you will have to flee again?!"
"It's not that," he said wistfully.
Marianne reached out and put her hand on his arm. "Tell me," she said gently.
"There is a new Guardian. The magic that has sustained us… it will sustain her, now. And us…" he smiled sadly. "There are so many things I wish I could say to you. So many things I wish I did say to you. And now… we are out of time. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, Marianne. You deserved so much more than I gave you."
"Fu," she whispered. "You gave me so much, whether you realize it or not. As the Guardian, you could have held yourself aloof from other people and been in hiding for all of your years. But instead, you found me, and you shared as much as you could with me. You gave me adventure. You gave me travel. You gave me life. I should have been dead and buried a century ago. But here I am. Here we are. And wherever you go… whichever life you will pass to… I know that I will follow you there, too."
Fu looked at her, eyes glistening. He reached up and wiped the tear rolling down her cheek. "You have always been so good to me, Marianne. You helped me shoulder a burden that I have carried for far too long. Thank you for all of that and more."
"And this new Guardian? Who will help her shoulder that burden?"
"I have to teach her. She is so young… younger than I was when I became Guardian. She is talented, strong, and mature. But… I worry that she will make the same mistakes I did. She has someone to be her partner, to sustain her… but they are not quite there yet."
"Have you told her about your mistakes, so she cannot repeat them?"
"She will be the last of the Guardians if she repeats my mistake. The entire Order… wiped out because of me. For her to repeat that… it would be catastrophic."
"You must tell her," Marianne insisted.
"I... can't."
"It has been one hundred and sixty-five years, Fu! How long are you going to hold on to this? For your sake and for the new Guardian, you must forgive yourself. Open up to the new Guardian. If you trust her as much as she needs to be trusted, then this is the most valuable lesson she can learn."
Fu fell silent and considered her words. She's right, of course. She always has been. "I'll… tell her."
"Good. Now, what are the other things you need to tell me? Something about Serket, I imagine?"
She's as smart as ever. "Perhaps. I think that Serket may have an as-yet-unheard-of Miraculous. I don't know who would be behind this. And… I think Serket is after me specifically, not just the Miraculous. This is different then back in the War, when we had to go into hiding to protect the Miracle Box. Now… this seems personal."
Adrien met Kagami at the door of the Agreste mansion. "Let's go to the cafe around the corner," he suggested.
"Hello to you, too," she said. "Won't you get recognized there? I seem to remember someone being plastered all over social media the last time they left the house."
"Oh, sorry… I forgot my manners. Hello!" he chuckled. "I have an arrangement with the cafe owner. If I let him know far enough in advance, he'll hold a table for me in the back corner so I don't get mobbed."
"That sounds nice! Do you go out to eat at that cafe often?"
Adrien frowned. "No, actually. Father rarely lets me out of the house. Nathalie only set this up for me last week, and tonight's the first night I'm taking advantage of it."
They reached the cafe. Adrien waved to the owner on his way in, and the owner directed the pair to a dimly-lit booth. Adrien waited for Kagami to sit down, then slid in across from her.
"You mean to tell me that you never get to leave the house?" Kagami said, amazed. "How on earth do you function in life?"
"Well, my room has everything I need for entertainment - you saw how it is…"
"No, I mean socially."
"Um… I watch a lot of movies?"
"That's not… you know," she said, pinching the bridge of her nose, "this explains a lot."
"What do you mean?"
"Adrien, don't take this the wrong way… but regardless of your looks and your talents, you're not the most socially aware person."
"Huh? Look, if you're talking about me forgetting to say hello to you earlier, I'm sorry about that. But Father has always made it a point to make sure my manners are flawless. Nobody can say that I'm not socially gracious."
The conversation paused while they ordered their dinners from the waiter. Kagami ordered a large hamburger and French fries; Adrien ordered a light salad. "Socially gracious is not the same as socially aware, Adrien. You're aware of others' feelings and have the appropriate reactions, but you come across as 'the nice guy' so much that nobody really knows what to do with you! I've said this before, and I think you need to hear it again: What do you want?"
Kagami's probably intentionally trying to get my temper up to see how I would react. Let me just count to ten before answering so I don't fly off the handle-
"And I know what you're doing, Adrien. You're putting everything back in a bottle so you can give me some filtered version of what you're thinking… or worse, what you think I want to hear. I'll tell you what I want to hear: the real Adrien Agreste. Now," she commanded.
Adrien opened his mouth, then shut it. Blushing, he started, "You want to know what I want? I'll tell you what I want. I want freedom. I want someone to share everything with. I want someone to actually give me a gift that comes from their heart instead of from a secretary. I want to see what it's like to live without everything at my beck and call. I want somebody to love me for who I am and not what I look like or what I do." The words rushed out of him like water from a fire hose. "I'm sorry. You probably think I'm selfish."
Kagami reached across the table and took Adrien's hands in hers. "Adrien, you're not selfish for wanting something for yourself. That's just knowing who you are."
"What about you? What do you want?"
"I want…" she smiled mischievously. "I want a nice, handsome boy who knows what he wants. I want someone who challenges me, and someone I can challenge and who won't be offended. I want a strong, powerful love… the kind that could set my heart on fire and make me want to come back for more."
"Wow… you've thought about this a lot, I guess," Adrien said lamely.
The waiter arrived with their food. Kagami picked up a French fry and took a bite. "I know what I want. And I refuse to wait for everyone else to make the first move. So, when I want something… I go and get it. Nobody else is going to help me first."
Adrien poked at his salad with his fork. "And if you want something and can't get it?"
"Hasn't happened yet," Kagami said confidently. "Although sometimes I have to be persistent because my target is being stubborn… or oblivious," she teased.
Adrien looked at her, his face a question mark.
"You, Adrien. You've been my target for a while now. I'm glad you're finally starting to see the light," she grinned and took a big bite of her hamburger.
The doorbell rang at six o'clock sharp. Marinette answered it to find an old man with silver-grey hair, about her height, dressed smartly in a dark blue button-down shirt and grey slacks, with black shoes. Around his neck he had a small sapphire pendant that resembled a bird. "Welcome, Mr. Chou! We're glad you could make it. Please, come in." She showed Mr. Chou into the house, where dinner was waiting on the table.
Sabine showed Mr. Chou to his seat. "We're glad you could make it tonight. Mr. Chou, this is my husband Tom Dupain."
Tom and Mr. Chou shook hands. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Dupain."
"My wife tells me that you're new in town, Mr. Chou. What brings you to our fine city?"
"I'm here to try and locate an old school acquaintance of mine. He's been difficult to track down, but I think I've finally got him in my sights." The old man smiled and took his place at the table.
Next time:
* "I've got some… important things I need to share with you."
* "I don't want this to change our relationship or come between us in any way..."
* "Just keep doing what you're doing."