The school talent show was only in two days, and all the students were super excited about it. Some because of their own performance, some because of their friends', others were just happy to help out with the organisation and decoration part. And Dani, well, she was a simple girl. She just enjoyed not having lessons while doing the preparations, and also, all the classes were cancelled on the day of the show.
Many of her classmates either participated or had some major role in the preparations. Marinette designed and made some clothing with accessories and Adrien was the model showing it off. Marinette seemed to be in love with the blonde model, who Danielle later realised was actually a model, posing on many billboards and such. It took Dani some days to recognise her classmate on one of the advertising boards on her way home. Nino made a new mix and was ready to show his DJ skills to everyone, while Ivan, Juleka and Rose would perform one of the songs of their band, Kitty Section. Apparently, Juleka's brother was also a member, whose name Danielle didn't know. Everybody just referred to him as Juleka's brother. Mylène planned on performing a monologue that was co-written with Marc. Nathaniel and Max took part in the designing of the decorations, Alix helped make them and Kim was part of the guys who did the physical work. And Alya decided to document everything and upload to the school blog. Even Chloé and Sabrina found things to do that would contribute to the success of the show.
"What's wrong, Danielle?" asked Marinette in a concerned voice, seeing the other girl's troubled expression.
"Everyone is so… busy with the preparations and I'd like to help as well" Danielle sighed. "But… I'm not particularly good at… anything, really" she continued with an embarrassed chuckle. "I just don't want to mess up anyone's hard work."
"Danielle…" Marinette whispered with a sorrowful voice.
She used to have the same feelings that Dani just conveyed to her, she just never said any of them out loud. When Marinette found her passion and talent for fashion designing, and especially after she became Ladybug, she became more confident in her abilities and in herself in general. She understood that it must be hard for Danielle, especially now at a new school. So now, she was determined to help her to feel better about herself.
"You know, I just wanted to ask someone to help me with these decorations for the stage" Marinette said with a kind smile. "I was thinking about using these drapes for the sides with that other larger one in the middle. But I don't know, maybe we should do something… Like, not so simple…" she started rambling, grabbing Danielle by the arm and dragging her to a pile of fabrics near the stage.
For the rest of the afternoon, they worked on choosing, twirling, pinning the drapes. Danielle had no idea how Marinette decided to choose and style these, but the final decoration looked amazing. While working on it, she mostly had to give her the equipment she needed or hold the stool or ladder Marinette was standing on. Especially when Adrien was around to see the progress the two girls made. Danielle didn't react to or comment on Marinette's behaviour, but she knew what was going on. It reminded her of the stories her mother used to tell about her own love story with Danielle's father. Alya, Nino and Rose also joined them for a short while, before attending their own businesses. But everyone who walked by commented on how good the decoration looked, making Marinette shine with excitement and happiness. After finishing their little project, Marinette invited Danielle to meet her and some other girls in their class that afternoon for a picnic in the park.
"That… That's so sweet of you, Marinette" Danielle replied, with a small smile. "But I have private lessons in the afternoons. I'm still behind on some subjects."
"Oh, okay" Marinette said, thinking. "I wanted to ask it earlier… if you don't mind. But how come you need all these extra classes?" Marinette asked with some embarrassment and curiosity, scratching her arm. "But you don't have to answer if you don't want to. Haha. I don't mean to be rude or…" she started defensively, making Dani chuckle.
"Don't worry about it" Danielle said, starting to pack her bag. "My father has to travel and move a lot because of his job. Hm… Maybe profession is a better word for it. And I go wherever he goes. In most schools I went to, subjects like maths, physics are fundamentally the same, you know. Like, umm… the solution of a logarithmic function is the same in Russian, English, French…"
"I understand" Marinette said with realisation. "But other subjects focus more on the national issues, like learning about poets and such."
"Exactly" replied Danielle, smiling.
"Wait…" Marinette said, looking at Danielle with a questioning look. "So every time you move to a new country, you start learning about that country's literature, art, history…" she said, earning a nod from Danielle. "Sooo… how many countries have you lived in with your father?" Marinette asked hesitantly.
"If you ask me…" Danielle whispered, leaning closer to Marinette, with a grin. "Too many… See you tomorrow" she said, as she took her leave, leaving a first confused, then giggling Marinette behind.
As she walked out of the building, Juleka was waiting for her outside. As Juleka saw Danielle approaching, she started mumbling something unintelligible to her. Though, Danielle felt like that was some form of greeting from the other girl.
"Hey, Juleka" Danielle smiled. "What's up?"
"Are you going home?" Juleka asked awkwardly.
"Well, yeah" Danielle replied. "I kinda wanted to go to the drugstore but I have to be home by 4, so…" she said with an eye roll.
"Oh, sorry" Juleka mumbled apologetically. "I don't want to waste your time, maybe we could talk tomorrow, or…"
"I mean… I still have some time" Dani offered. "I don't live too far from here. Maybe we could walk together if you… Umm… Live that way" she said, looking at her phone then pointing to her left.
With a quick glance to Danielle's phone, Juleka saw a map opened on it, showing the way to her destination. Well, she was new in town, so not knowing her way around town instantly seemed sensible. She agreed to walk with Danielle for a while but didn't know how to start the conversation she was meaning to do for the past couple of days.
"I can't wait to listen to your band performing on the talent show" said Danielle, to finally break the silence.
"Really?" asked Juleka, looking at Danielle from the corner of her eyes.
"Yeah. I think it's so cool that you and your brother have the same hobby and could just, you know, have fun together" Danielle replied with a hint of sadness, looking through the windows of the shops they passed. "Marinette also told me about how awesome you guys are. Writing your own songs and all" she added in a much happier tone, looking at Juleka with a small smile.
Juleka mumbled a thank you, clutching the straps of her school bag. They continued walking in silence, until Danielle stopped at a crossroad after her phone GPS informed her to turn right.
"So, I have to go this way, now" she said, checking her phone again, just to be sure. "I don't know if you…"
"You knew my name" Juleka mumbled, looking up at Danielle.
"O-okay" the baffled Danielle replied.
"That morning when I waited for you…" Juleka sighed, looking away. "People usually just forget about me, and you've been here for a day and… you remembered my name" Juleka explained. "I just… Didn't expect that."
"So I didn't offend you?" Danielle asked to clarify.
"No… I didn't know how to react when you said my name" Juleka said in an apologetic tone. "I acted so stupid…"
"I'm so glad" Danielle sighed, making Juleka confused. "I can get so anxious when I talk to people that I say dumb things, or make a fool out of myself. I thought I said something that upset you. I can be so strange sometimes" she said, looking at her shoes, before both girls started to laugh at their own awkwardness.
After they parted ways, Juleka could finally ease her mind. She finally clarified the matters with Danielle, so her brother could finally stop nagging her with this.
ˇˇˇˇˇ
After fighting a pitifully weak akumatised villain, Ladybug and Cat Noir brought home the still shocked accountant, who couldn't believe how frustrated he got after one of his colleagues got a promotion at job instead of him. Of course, Ladybug tried to assure him that it's not his fault and that he shouldn't feel guilty about it, as everything's fine now. But Cat Noir could see that Ladybug was more stressed and more irritable than usual.
"M'Lady…?" he started, getting her attention, as they said their goodbyes to the latest victim. "Is everything okay?"
"Of course" she said proudly. "We could defeat another villain Hawk Moth had thrown at us."
"Yeah, yeah" he replied, with a light tone. "That was obvious. He has no chance to win against us. But I feel like there is something else…"
"Come on, Cat Noir. Everything's fine" Ladybug tried to assure him.
"Bugaboo, we're the cat-and-bug team, remember?" he said with a smile. "You can tell me if something's bugging you" he said, quickly moving his eyebrows up and down.
Ladybug looked at her partner with an unamused squint because of his pun, before sighing. Checking her Miraculous, she saw that she still had some time before transforming back.
"Fine…" she sighed again, as she started to tell him about her exchange with Master Fu.
"Can you believe that?" asked Ladybug in disbelief.
"Well, that sounds strange…" said Cat Noir, thinking. "But she did help us out when you called for her with the Lucky Charm."
"But she only helped because of the Lucky Charm" Ladybug emphasised, angrily. "But she wouldn't fight against Hawk Moth, like any sane good people would."
"Calm down, M'Lady" Cat Noir said with a small unsure smile. "The situation is probably not as easy as it seems."
"Isn't it?" she asked in return. "Us? Good. Hawk Moth? Bad. It's that simple. How can she not choose one or the other? How can she be neutral in a situation like this?"
"She's neutral, huh" Cat Noir mused, as Ladybug continued her rant until their Miraculouses signalled them.
When at home, Adrien was still thinking about the things Ladybug told him about the new superhero in town. He understood her frustration, but he had a feeling things weren't as simple as Master Fu made it sound.
"Hey, Plagg" Adrien started, looking at his kwami munching on some cheese. "Do you know anything about this Dragonfly Miraculous?"
"Ohh, I know a lot about all kinds of things" Plagg said confidently. "I think you underestimate my huge knowledge."
"Come on, Plagg" Adrienn said after a laugh. "I'm serious. Those things Ladybug said…"
"Yeah, yeah" Plagg replied, rolling his eyes. "All true."
"Really?" Adrien asked with a confused tone. "So how does 'this being neutral' thing work?"
"Pfft, you think that you guys fighting Hawk Moth is the first time a Miraculous was in the wrong hands? Or that Miraculous users had never fought before?" Plagg started with an arrogant tone. "Give me a break."
"Do things like this happen often?" Adrien asked with genuine curiosity.
"No, not really often. But it happens sometimes" Plagg said with a more serious voice. "There were times when even the past Ladybug and Cat Noir had arguments" he said with a taunting tone, making Adrien roll his eyes. "But the Dragonfly cannot side with any Miraculous user, under noooo circumstances. That's the rule."
"The… rule?" Adrien asked, thoughtfully. "Whose rule is that?"
"The rule of the Dragonfly Miraculous, of course."
ˇˇˇˇˇ
"I'm home" Danielle shouted as she entered their apartment.
She could hear her father mumbling something in his study, but didn't want to bother him. Who knows what groundbreaking innovation he's working on at the moment. Also, she had to prepare some for her private lesson. Not like she wanted to. She found them so boring, but her tutor scolded her last time that she hadn't finished with the readings she was supposed to. Sitting down in the living room area, she grabbed the history book and started reading about the reign of Louis XII.
"So boring" she mumbled after a few minutes, looking around the room to find something to distract herself.
"Dani" Buzzy's small voice said. "You should study for the private lesson."
"I don't like history" Dani whined with a sigh.
"Oh, you're home, baby girl?" she heard her father ask, as he poked his head out of his study.
"Just got home a few minutes ago" she replied, opening the book again.
"Oh, good. Good" he replied hurriedly in a strange tone as he got out of his room and sat down next to her. "I… wanted to talk to you."
"Dad, I have a history lesson in like, 15 minutes and I haven't finished with…"
"No, you don't" her father said. "I called your tutor. Rescheduled it for Friday."
"Uhhh… Okay" she said, putting her book down. "Did I… do something?"
"Haha" her father laughed. "I knew that this would be your first question, sweetie. But no, you didn't. I just wanted to talk to you about something. Something serious."
"Right" Danielle replied, automatically fiddling with her ring anxiously.
"Actually. There are two things. But first, the more important one" he said, standing up. "There is… Well, so… How should I say this…"
"You got a job offer and we need to move again?" Danielle asked with a monotone voice, leaning back on the sofa.
"Hm… Three things" her father said, making her laugh.
"So, what is the first one?" Dani asked in a more light tone.
"You could apply for a clinical trial of a new therapy" he blurted out. "There is a clinic in the outskirts of Paris and they specialise in rare heart diseases. They prepared some new kinds of drugs that could…"
She saw her father's mouth moving, but she didn't really listen to anything he said. She had many questions that he probably didn't know the answer to. She was doing fine lately. With the given diet, exercise and the typical medicine recommended to people with heart issues, she had no major issues since her surgery. But now, there might be an actual treatment?
"Is that why we moved here?" she asked, interrupting her father.
"Partly, sweetheart" he replied. "So, if you think you'd like to give it a try… I got the number of the doctor leading the research. I postponed your class so you could think this through. Have some time to..."
"Sure" Dani replied without hesitation. "I guess they can give more info on the side effects and such when we apply, right? But it should be worth a try. Next?"
After a few surprised blinks, he smiled and hugged Danielle, sitting down next to her with his arm around her shoulder.
"Next, huh" he sighed. "I got a job offer at the University of Paris as a lecturer and researcher at the Faculty of Sciences."
"You will be bored out of your mind as a uni professor" Dani commented with a mischievous smile.
"Probably" Mr. Proulx replied. "But it's not bad to have a fixed income with your treatment plan."
"Yeah" Dani said, feeling a hint of guilt. "Finally?"
"Finally, I already know that you will hate the third thing" Mr. Proulx said with a grin.
"Did I like the first two?" she asked in reply, making her father laugh.
"Well, you will hate this even more" he said. "We are invited to a fancy party for the weekend."
"Ugh… You're right" Danielle groaned. "I hate this the most."
