Pre-Chapter Warning: If you are not part of the Marinette Protection Squad, please reconsider staying here, as I will be defending her a lot. If you are part of the Lila Protection Squad, you will not want to stay, as I will be putting her down a lot. And if you here just to leave hate comments, then don't even bother coming in. This is a negativity-free safe zone.
A/N: Now that the first ten episodes of Season 3 have been released, I think it's safe to say that this story is officially an AU. Some of you were wondering if Adrien was going to be akumatized. My answer to that: Not this chapter, but definitely later on (and Spoiler: it's not because of Lila). And yes, Adrien's characterization (especially concerning his passive-aggressive behavior and his "take the high road" plan in canon) will be getting a boost in this story. Specifically in this chapter, you will definitely see a difference between canon Adrien and this story's Adrien (though with the release of Onichan, they're rather similar now).
Also, thank you for the comments, especially the ones that said "the characters are very relatable". To me, that's good, because it means I'm writing the characters as human-like as possible (because, obviously, kwamis don't actually exist – I wish they did, though). I'm sorry this chapter took so long. I had motivation block for the longest time.
Disclaimer: I do not own Miraculous. It belongs to Thomas Astruc and Zag Heroes. All I own are my ideas.
~~M~I~R~A~C~U~L~O~U~S~~M~I~R~A~C~U~L~O~U~S~~M~I~R~A~C~U~L~O~U~S~~
"With Adrien now knowing what he knows, there's no way he's just going to sit back and watch Marinette suffer. He will bring back that smile, no matter what he has to do."
Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Chat Noir
Please Don't Take My Sunshine Away
Chapter 2: Adrien Agreste
Marinette stirred from her relatively dreamless sleep the night before. She felt well-rested, like a heavy weight had been lifted from her chest. The aftershocks were still there, obviously, but Marinette knew that the hard part was over.
There was a knock on her trap door, before it opened and her mother's voice, asked, "Marinette, sweetie, are you up?"
"Yeah, Maman. I'm up," the girl replied.
Sabine's voice was gentle, "How'd you sleep?"
"Better than I thought I would." She was being completely honest. The talk with her parents last night was easier than she thought it would be, probably due to the fact that she had ranted to Chat first.
She may have given him some flak due to his romantic advances towards her as Ladybug - and some as Marinette – but his hug made her feel...safe and protected...and really warm, just like her cheeks currently were.
Marinette quickly realized that she was blushing. While thinking about Chat Noir.
Fortunately, her mother cut through her mental thoughts, "You feel like going to school?" She asked, her vocal tone suggesting that she already knew the answer.
Marinette tensed up. "I-...I don't think so..." I don't think I can face them after what I did to them, she thought.
"That's understandable," Sabine replied, her vocal tone calm and soothing, easing Marinette's anxiety. "I'll call your school and let them know, and then join your father in the bakery. The breakfast down here is for you."
Marinette gave a slight smile, even if her mother couldn't see it, "Thanks, Maman." The trapdoor closed, and after a beat of silence, Marinette opened it right back up and went through it to get some breakfast downstairs from the kitchen, as well as some cookies and macaroons for Tikki – who hadn't eaten since Chameleon's attack yesterday.
As Marinette went back into her room, plate of food in hand, Sabine called from another room, "Marinette?"
"Yeah?"
Sabine continued, "The school has agreed to excuse your absence, as long as you complete and turn in your homework from yesterday and today by midnight tonight."
Marinette found that she didn't mind that. "Fair enough." She closed her trapdoor, and once her room was secure, she quietly called out, "Tikki? All clear."
The red colored kwami flew out from under Marinette's covers and flew over to her Chosen as she sat at her desk. Marinette motioned to the baked goods.
"Sorry, it took so long."
"Don't apologize for taking some self-care time, Marinette. You need it," Tikki replied, as she took a bite from a cookie.
"I-I know, but a part of me is saying I don't deserve it. Th-That I don't deserve to live." Her voice was shaking, and her eyes were tearing up.
Tikki's voice was soothing, just like her mother's, "That's Hawkmoth talking."
"But the others! Lila probably still has them wrapped them around her finger! She's probably convinced them that me being akumatized is just further proof that I'm the bad guy and she's the victim!"
Apparently, her being salty when upset was a Marinette thing, and not a Stitches thing. That certainly made her feel better...not.
"You don't know that," Tikki rebutted, "You're forgetting that you lectured the entire class about how silver-tongued Lila really was. And the looks on their faces just hoped that they felt guilty about abandoning their sense of logic. They're not perfect. No one is."
"I-I don't know, Tikki..."
Tikki finished her cookie, her attention still on her Chosen, "Trust me. Almost everyone in that class has been akumatized, so they understand what it's like to be in your position."
"But they all forgot! I didn't!"
Marinette didn't expect that outburst, and Tikki certainly didn't.
"Oh..." Tikki finally understood what her Chosen was currently working out – guilt, and a lot of it. She placed a gentle paw on Marinette's cheek. "Listen to me, Marinette. You don't have to apologize for anything, not this time. It may have been your body and your feelings, but it was Hawkmoth's actions. He was using you, Marinette."
Marinette was quiet as she digested this. One part of her believed it, but the other part – the most dominant part - thought it was BS, that Tikki was only saying this to cheer her up.
But Tikki was trying to make her feel better.
Marinette gave her kwami a smile – small, but real – at the gesture. She really did appreciate Tikki being there for her when no one else was.
"I'm sorry for not being strong enough, Tikki," Marinette muttered, tears flooding her eyes to the point where they blurred her vision.
"Even the strongest superheroes have their weak moments, Marinette," was Tikki's response. "I knew it was coming for a while now."
Tears started falling again, but Tikki was right there to give her Chosen the comfort she needed.
Her recovery would take a while, but taking time off to grieve was the first step towards making that happen.
~~~M~I~R~A~C~U~L~O~U~S~~T~A~L~E~S~~O~F~~L~A~D~Y~B~U~G~~A~N~D~~C~H~A~T~~N~O~I~R~~~
Adrien was thoroughly pissed. Specifically at three people.
If she didn't realize her mistake yesterday, Alya.
Most definitely and without a doubt, Lila.
But most of all, for not doing anything when Plagg had warned him, himself.
'I told you she'd be akumatized. I told you, but you just shrugged me off,' he remembered Plagg saying.
And just last night when he got home from patrol, Plagg gave him more advice:
'In order to redeem yourself to Marinette, you need to earn her forgiveness first.'
'I know, Plagg. I know.'
It was weird hearing deep words of advice – that were correct – spoken by Plagg, and it was strange seeing Plagg so serious when he was usually a jokester cat who loved cheese a little too much.
But the black kwami was right.
Forgiveness was the first step towards redemption, but before forgiveness, there was a certain injustice that needed to be corrected.
That injustice called Lila, followed by Alya and everyone else in the class, and even and especially including himself.
Lila had already been outted as a serial liar yesterday, but Adrien needed to find out if that would change anything.
When Adrien stepped into the classroom, the first thing he noticed was that no one was smiling. The second thing he noticed was that everyone had their old seats back – with the exception of Nathaniel now sitting with Ivan.
Well, that answered one question: Marinette becoming Stitches yesterday was still having an effect on everyone. To Adrien, that was both good and bad.
Good, because they were feeling guilty about yesterday.
Bad, because this was just asking Hawkmoth to akumatize them all today in one sitting.
He had asked Plagg if he himself would akumatized for being so angry, and Plagg had replied by explaining the difference between revenge and justice, ending off by warning his Chosen to 'be careful; I don't want to lose you'.
'You won't lose me, Plagg. I promise.'
Because, Adrien realized that he needed to channel his inner Chat Noir and be fearless, unafraid of anything in order to face whatever happened today.
He was ready.
Adrien sat down next to Nino, and asked, "You okay, buddy?"
Nino glanced up at Adrien, his eyes glazed over, as if his mind was already heavily weighing on something. "Huh? Oh, hey Adrien. I'm fine, or...at least, I will be."
Adrien prayed that Marinette wouldn't show up today. Seeing as how Hawkmoth made her remember her rampage as Stitches, seeing everyone still very obviously affected by that would not do Marinette any good in regards to recovering.
Marinette was a very emotional person, and their emotions were ultimately affected by hers. What people didn't consider was the fact that it also worked to other way around. Seeing everyone in this guilty and depressed state would only make matters worse for Mari, especially since she caused this.
No. Marinette wasn't the cause of this.
It was all Lila's fault for causing this and Hawkmoth's fault for taking advantage of that.
As one of Paris' beloved superheroes, it was Adrien's job to bring evil-doers to justice. Starting with Lila.
"Good," Adrien replied to Nino, before turning around to face Alya.
She had obviously been crying, more so than the others.
Of course. Marinette was her best friend, and had been akumatized because of her. There was no way Alya would forgive herself for this.
Then in walked Lila, with Ms. Bustier right behind her. This caused the class to turn forward and lift their heads in an attempt to show their teacher they were ready to listen.
The first feeling Adrien felt was anger – the revenge type of anger Plagg had warned him about. Lila had just walked in with a smile on her face, as if she had just won a game only she was good at and that no one wanted to play.
To Adrien, it only solidified the fact that Lila was clearly unaffected by Marinette being akumatized, no matter how much she would obviously lie about it today and said that she was.
The second feeling Adrien felt was – it was difficult to describe – a sad peace, like he was being comforted, but you still knew something was wrong. Ms. Bustier had given her students a gentle smile, in hope of comforting them, knowing that akumas were still a very real threat, especially after yesterday and how close everyone got to Stitches, almost making it personal.
Ms. Bustier often reminded Adrien of his own mother, Emilie Agreste. That same gentle smile, those same soft eyes, that same calming presence.
Adrien mentally thanked his teacher for taking his mind off of his revenge-type anger and turning it back towards his justice-type anger.
He had the power of Destruction. Master Fu had entrusted Plagg to him after seeing, and believing, that Adrien would not lose control of such a dangerous power. He needed to be calm.
"Welcome, class," Ms. Bustier addressed everyone, officially starting the school day. "I hope you all had a decent morning, in the least. Before we start today's lessons, however, you need to know that the principal got a call an hour ago from Marinette's mother. Marinette is taking the day off today, but she'll be back tomorrow."
There was no murmurs or whispers. It was as if the class was expecting Marinette to not be here.
It was only when Lila spoke that Adrien, and the rest of the class, realized that Lila had no sat down yet. "Excuse me, Ms. Bustier, but my seat has been taken by someone who doesn't need it."
Of course, Lila was still playing the tinnitus card. Of course, she was still acting like nothing had happened.
Adrien took a quick glance around the room to survey everyone else's reactions, and he was glad to know he wasn't the only one that was pissed.
Kim, Ivan, Juleka, and Alix all were too, and Rose looked ready to cry with angry tears. Nino looked fairly mad too, and surprisingly, so did Chloe.
But no one could beat how heartbreaking Alya's face was. Tears had filled her eyes, and if death glares really could kill, Lila would've been over ten thousand times by now.
Lila had noticed the glares immediately, "What? It's true. My tinnitus was acting up this morning, so I need to sit in the front row." She turned to Alya, obviously noticing how her glare was the most threatening of all. "Alya, you also took down my interview video on the Ladyblog. Why? I thought we were friends."
"I took it down," was Alya's shaky, yet dark reply, " because I double-checked my sources, and they falsified the story. So I posted up a video apologizing for getting the story wrong."
Good for you, Adrien thought. Alya was no longer on his list, due to the fact that she just admitted out loud in front of more than two people that she had made a serious mistake. That alone took a lot of courage to admit to even one person. Not to mention, she then did the right thing by taking down the video and admitting to the entire internet that she was wrong.
"I told you before, Alya," Lila was unfazed by Alya's sudden influx of tears when she finished her explanation, "that everything I said in that video was true. If you ask Ladybug, I'm sure she'd say it was."
Oh hell no. Adrien knew for a fact that Ladybug would say it was false. He knew first hand as both Adrien and Chat Noir that Lila was a liar.
"You can stop lying now, Lila," came the voice of the last person Adrien expected to stand up for Marinette.
And Adrien wasn't the only one in shock. To see the one and only Chloe Bourgeois stand up against her rival was not a sight you saw everyday.
But no one spoke up against it.
"We have solid evidence against you, Lila," Max added, "that is one hundred percent certain to get you expelled."
"I'm not a liar, guys," Lila continued to defend herself without breaking a sweat. "Everything I have told you guys is the truth. I don't know what sources you got your evidence from, but they are the ones that are falsifying everything."
"Really, so you're calling the Mayor a liar?" Mylene asked.
"And Prince Ali?" Rose added.
"And Jagged Stone?" Juleka inquired.
"You should probably know," Sabrina jumped in, "that all the evidence collected yesterday by Chloe and Alya was in place long before you transferred here."
"It's fool-proof," Nathaniel said, "so not even you can lie your way out of them."
"Why are you guys treating me like the bad guy?!" And cue Lila bringing on the waterworks, acting like the victim. "Marinette was the one who got akumatized, not me!"
Adrien found it interesting that Ms. Bustier made no move to stop the instant uproar, probably because she had been akumatized too, so she knew what it was like.
The prominent phrase amongst the chaos was Chloe's, "I really want to drag you out in public and embarrass you where the whole world can see, but I won't, because that wouldn't be very heroic of me," mainly because everyone quieted down when Lila replied to it.
"It's Marinette's fault for getting mad over a stupid seat!"
"She earned that seat from me!" came Chloe's outburst. Adrien didn't realize how scary it would be until now. "On the day she decided to stand up against injustice! And you, Lila, brought her down for doing the right thing!"
It looked like Chloe was indeed growing up.
Lila was about to refute that, but Rose's sorrow-filled voice cut her off, saying, "Most, if not all, of us in this room have been akumatized. Yes, it's our feelings, but it's Hawkmoth who turns us into...monsters. And we were the ones who pushed Marinette into becoming Stitches in the first place, so she had every right to take it out on us."
Adrien was becoming a little disappointed that he didn't have to do anything. He needed to do something to ensure justice for Marinette.
His chance came when Principal Damocles knocked on the door and entered, "Miss Rossi. Your mother is in my office. She requests a word with you. And it's more a demand than a request."
Lila saw Chloe's smirk, and Adrien knew what it meant without having to ask. Chloe and Alya, or the Mayor, or all three, had revealed the evidence publically.
Lila was done for, and the distress quickly appearing on her face confirmed that she knew that.
In an obvious last ditch effort for support, she turned to Adrien, obviously expecting him to be a doormat and tell everyone to lay off of her.
Not this time. He was done with that.
Lila Rossi was very good at this game, but no one wanted to play with her anymore, and she just couldn't see that.
"Adrien–!"
"No, Lila," he was surprised at how cold his own voice sounded, but he went with it. This was for Marinette. "Marinette got hurt because of you."
"I'm really sorry, Adrien! I didn't mean it!"
He was so sick and tired of her game. "Stop lying, Lila! We all know you're lying, so why do you keep persisting?!"
"Because, I–!" Lila halted, before lowering her voice into a normal volume, "I just wanted to get closer to you. You know, be your friend. Marinette just got in the way, because she was jealous." And then she had to say another lie.
Adrien obviously did not buy it, "Marinette got akumatized because all of her friends stabbed her in the back and left her to suffer by herself. Not because she was jealous. You can always count on me, but not if you hurt the people I care about."
And with that, Adrien literally turned his back on her as she was led to the Principal's office by Mr. Damocles himself. He was done with her, done with her lies.
No more doing nothing.
He was Chat Noir, after all – currently without the costume. It was time he started acting like it.
~~~M~I~R~A~C~U~L~O~U~S~~T~A~L~E~S~~O~F~~L~A~D~Y~B~U~G~~A~N~D~~C~H~A~T~~N~O~I~R~~~
The rest of the day had gone by smoothly, especially from lunch and onward, when the entire school had learned from Principal Damocles that Lila had been expelled for academic dishonesty as well deliberately causing the akumatization of another student.
Ms. Bustier's class practically cheered when they heard this, but it was short lived as they quickly realized that the next step, and most difficult, was earning Marinette's forgiveness and regaining her trust in them.
Adrien had advised them to give Marinette her space and let her take her own time, and they begrudgingly agreed, but it was obvious that none of them wanted to do that.
However, Adrien was proven right the very next day, when Marinette came back to school.
Everybody was back in their original seats, looking at Marinette – sans Adrien – expecting her to sit back down next to Alya. That way everything would go back to the way it was before.
What they didn't expect was the fact that Marinette's depressed face did not light up at this. Instead, she ignored Alya's urging to sit next to her, and instead resumed sitting in her new seat in the back row.
She was isolating herself, Adrien realized. Because she could remember every second of her rampage. It was obvious that she'd feel guilty for all the pain and suffering she caused.
Adrien could practically feel everyone's sudden realization quickly turn into sadness and even more guilt.
The old Marinette – their 'everyday Ladybug' – was gone. And they had killed her.
Nothing would ever be the same again.
Adrien found it difficult not to glance back at Marinette, unable to get her words out of his head.
'I'm just so sick and tired of being taken for granted, so sick of being selfless when no one returns the favor. I'm just...so sick and tired...of being alone and misunderstood! It hurts and yet no one cares!'
Especially that last part.
He knew what it was like to be alone and misheard. It was one of the things he wouldn't wish on anybody else, one of the things he felt obligated to put a stop to.
He then determined that their 'everyday Ladybug' needed an 'everyday Chat Noir'.
Marinette would never be all alone ever again. Not if he could help it.
~~~M~I~R~A~C~U~L~O~U~S~~T~A~L~E~S~~O~F~~L~A~D~Y~B~U~G~~A~N~D~~C~H~A~T~~N~O~I~R~~~
This morning, Marinette had decided she was done being the victim, that it was time to get her life back on track. Her parents had advised her to take today off too if she didn't feel up to doing anything, but they would support her nonetheless.
The first thing she heard when she got to the school were rumors of Lila being expelled. First, she felt joy. It meant she didn't have to put up with Lila today – who probably would've continued painting her as the bad guy.
But that joy was quickly turned into fear, as she entered the classroom. Everyone had their old seats back, with the exception of Nathaniel now joining Ivan in the same row. Why? Also, all eyes were on her, wide-opened, as if they were expecting her to do something.
What did they want her to do?
Prove she was okay? Prove she was still akumatized? Prove that Lila's lies were actually the truth? Prove she was a monster? Prove what exactly?
Her chest tightened, it was getting harder to breathe. Why did she come here again? This was obviously a mistake. She should've stayed home.
She clutched her books closer to her chest like they were her last life line.
She hurt them. So they were trying to hurt her back, weren't they? By tricking her into thinking they liked her, only for them to stab her in the back once again?
Her lip quivered, and she panicked when she realized she wouldn't be able to stop the tears from falling.
Hoping she wouldn't trip on the way, Marinette lowered her eyes to the floor and quickly went up the steps to the back row – where she belonged.
She could feel her eyes on her as she sat down. It's like they were burning holes into her very soul. She hated that all the attention was on her.
It was a mistake to come today.
Ms. Bustier cleared her throat, sending her class representative a sympathetic smile, "Alright, class. Let's get situated and begin today's lessons."
Marinette mentally thanked her teacher for being so understanding. She didn't deserve to be here, even if the class was uncharacteristically silent today.
Were they sad? If so, about her or about Lila?
Probably Lila. They probably hated Marinette right now.
This was too much.
Why did she bother coming here again?
She barely felt Tikki gently pat her leg from within her purse. She looked down to see Tikki's face popping out of the purse opening, offering a comforting smile. Marinette returned the gesture – albeit with more sorrow – before Tikki closed the purse back up, disappearing into it before anyone saw her.
At lunch, Marinette didn't bother sitting in the cafeteria with the others. They probably didn't want her there. Besides, she didn't want all the attention again. So, she opted for the empty courtyard instead.
Papa and Maman had made her lunch together today, with little sticky notes on every single thing, praising Marinette for being a wonderful daughter and overall person.
Little praises that made Marinette smile, the back of her throat tightening with emotion and tears come to her eyes.
"Take those words to heart, Marinette," she heard Tikki say, referring to her parents' notes. "They're true."
"Thank you, Tikki," she replied, before taking the plunge and asking, "You think I made a mistake sitting by myself? After I promised to stand up for myself today?"
"Part of me does," Tikki replied, honestly. Her Chosen loved honesty. It may hurt her, but it was for the best. Marinette didn't like liars. "But it is your choice. I just want you to be happy, Marinette. Even it takes forever."
"Thank you, Tikki," Marinette smiled, before offering her kwami one of her dad's macaroons.
Tikki took a bite from it without second thought.
~~~M~I~R~A~C~U~L~O~U~S~~T~A~L~E~S~~O~F~~L~A~D~Y~B~U~G~~A~N~D~~C~H~A~T~~N~O~I~R~~~
It was raining. Great.
Why did it always rain whenever Marinette forgot to bring an umbrella? She really was an idiot, wasn't she?
It was after school, and it was raining, forcing Marinette to wait outside until it either stopped or her parents came to pick her up.
What made it worse was that she wasn't the only one waiting out here. Most of her classmates were waiting for it to stop raining too, or they already had umbrellas and were just talking to their friends.
A few eyes were on here, again, and once again, Marinette did not like that. She squirmed under all the attention she was getting.
"Hey, Marinette," came Adrien's voice from beside her. She took a quick glance at him, remembering how little he did for her when Lila was antagonizing her. He didn't do anything. So why was he being friendly towards her now? Did he expect her to forgive him just like that?
She quickly looked away from him. She didn't want to spare him a single second of her time.
Yes, she was mad at him. He did absolutely nothing to help her, not even speaking up on her behalf to get people to leave her alone.
She heard Adrien sigh, before opening up his umbrella, "I'm sorry, Marinette. I really am. I just wanted you to know that I understand your feelings." He did? Very unlikely. He didn't understand her at all. "I know what it's like to be alone." Oh yeah...his mom wasn't around anymore and his dad was always too busy for him, yet still treated him like a kid. "I know what it's like to be isolated, and not have any say in that."
That...was exactly how she felt, give or take a few derailments, but that's what everything summed up to.
Lila exiled her from her own class, her own life, and Marinette was powerless to stop it. No one believed her. In fact, they only turned their backs on her, and it caused her to get akumatized.
The aftershocks of which she was obviously still suffering from.
As she glanced back up at him, Marinette felt her throat tighten up again, her eyes brimming with tears, her lip trembling. She knew she was about to cry, but this time, she didn't try to stop it.
Because Adrien was holding out his umbrella at her again, a gentle, reassuring smile on her face.
And as their eyes connected, blue and green, Marinette felt their hearts do the same...
Adrien felt responsible for her being akumatized, and he felt obligated to fix everything, to put everything back the way it was before, as best he could, so she wouldn't have to suffer anymore.
Because neither of them had to be lonely anymore. They had each other.
"You can always count on me, Marinette."
Marinette smiled as she shakily grabbed the umbrella from him, afraid to break the eye contact.
But it was inevitable. Because Adrien's bodyguard was here and was waiting for him.
"I have to go," Adrien said, a little sad to break up this moment so soon, "but I'll see you tomorrow, Mari, okay?"
Marinette's face broke out into a tear-filled smile of pure of joy, the largest and most realistic one in a long time. "Okay!"
She waved goodbye at his limo as it pulled away from the curb, before walking down the steps of the school and in the direction of the bakery.
As she was walking, Adrien's umbrella over her head, Tikki poked her head of the purse, "Marinette, are you okay? You're crying."
She was, and Marinette didn't realize that until now. But she wasn't worried.
"I'm fine, Tikki. Actually...today went better than I thought."
Tikki's smile following this was equally as bright as her chosen's not too long before.
Chat Noir had done it again.
Marinette was on the mend. Slowly, but surely.
TO BE CONTINUED...
~~M~I~R~A~C~U~L~O~U~S~~M~I~R~A~C~U~L~O~U~S~~M~I~R~A~C~U~L~O~U~S~~
Note:Listen to the background music played in the last scene of the Origins, Part 2 episode during the last scene here. I think it will make you guys shed a tear or two. I certainly did as I was writing it.
A/N: Long chapter, sorry. Review, please, and tell me what you all think! I'm very glad that so many people like this story, so I will continue it. And again, I'm sorry for taking so long to get this chapter out.
I should also warn you: The Love Square will be the prevailing ship, obviously, but MariChat will probably be the most dominant for now, with Adrienette in a very close second.
A preview for the next chapter:
Chapter 3: "Weredad"
"Tom Dupain suffers with the aftershocks of his daughter's akumatization, mostly frustration at the fact that he can't protect his daughter when she needs him the most."