Chapter Four:

"I-I don't know what you're talking about!" Marinette blurted, trying desperately to sound convincing.

"Yeah, right." Tikki retorted, still not moving from her spot.

"First there was the 'Punner's Block,' then you opened up your purse when I always hide in your jacket, and then you completely messed up on Haemolymph. And don't even get me started on your sudden ability to be totally fine with Sabrina all over Chat."

Marinette cringed. She had been a horrible Other Her. She really needed to start taking better notes.

But now, however, she had to deal with her kwami.

"Oh, alright" she said, sighing. "I'll try to explain, but don't blame me when it sounds ridiculous."

"Kid, I've definitely heard stranger things." Tikki replied, shrugging.

"Okay, so…" Marinette started, debating over how to explain. "I am Marinette, but just not your Marinette."

When Tikki gave her a confused look, Marinette backtracked a little.

"Back where I live, I'm still Marinette and Ladybug, but Ladybug's… lucky. The Ladyblog, my world's version of Noir News, is dedicated to her, and Chat Noir's the one who flirts and makes all the puns."

"So… you live in an alternate reality?" Tikki summarized, looking surprisingly calm about the situation.

"Yeah… yeah that's it!" Marinette exclaimed, glad her dilemma finally had a name.

"And you got here by…?" Tikki questioned.

"Well…" Marinette began.

Cue flashback because the author says so...

Ladybug grinned, swinging her yo-yo around. She flipped over to Stamena, undoing the akuma's ponytail and grabbing the hairband. She snapped it in two and swiped up on her yo-yo to purify the akuma.

Once she did, she let it go free, calling, "Bye, bye little butterfly!"

She threw the now-opened bag of seeds up into the sky, yelled "Miraculous Ladybug!" and watched happily as the swarms of ladybugs flew around, taking care of all the pesky flowers that had caused her and Chat so much trouble.

Wow, she thought, I did it without Chat! That's… weird, but at least it'll show him I'm perfectly capable on my own.

She was waiting for the kitten himself to show when she was blinded with a bright light.

When Ladybug opened her eyes again, she looked around to find that the familiar rooftops of Paris had disappeared.

Instead, she was in the middle of a beautiful garden.

Had Stamena caused this? she wondered, taking a careful look around.

Unable to think of anything else to do, she took a step forward, and a dirt path appeared. She looked down at it, wary of whatever magic had created it, and found that it already had a pair of footprints embedded on it. Curious, she decided to follow them.

Ladybug looked up from her feet to find thousands of flowers peeking up at her; a colorful blend of pastels and dark colors that echoed throughout the limits of her vision. As she walked by, she swore some leaned towards her and some tilted away.

Eventually, however, the flowers faded into the distance, leaving only grass.

A pond appeared in front of her, most likely created by whatever force had made the path, and she took a minute to glance at her reflection.

She was not Ladybug anymore, but Marinette.

Her normal ponytails had been discarded, her blue hair instead trailing down to her shoulders in waves. A flower crown rested on her head, made up of narcissuses and thorny red roses.

Suddenly, a gust of swept around her, causing her to shiver.

"Hello, Marinette." a gentle voice called.

Marinette looked up to find an older woman, hair fiery red, staring back at her. Her glittering green eyes echoed a smile, but her face itself was frowning.

"H-hello?" Marinette asked, unsure whether she was real or not.

"Ladybug, Marinette." the woman said.

"What- how did you-" Marinette started to say, but she was interrupted.

"Such a leader," the woman said, shaking her head gently. "Yet I fear you have forgotten how to follow."

Marinette tilted her head, confused, and the woman continued.

"I have walked in your shoes before, Marinette, and you will soon follow mine." she promised. "All will make sense in due time, Ladybug."

Why was she referring to her as both Marinette and her kwami counterpart? Marinette wondered, puzzled.

"Why shouldn't I?" the woman replied. "You are both, are you not?"

Was she?

"Ah, but that you are." the woman chidded. "Now, shall we?"

"Huh? What?" Marinette blurted, incredibly wary of the situation.

She watched as the woman placed her hands around Marinette's, adjusting their position until they were cupped together. Once this was done, the woman pulled her own hands away and muttered something in another language.

A lotus appeared inside Marinette's newly cupped hands; just a bud at first, but blooming into its full potential in mere seconds.

"Now, Marinette… Ladybug… which flower will choose you?" the woman wondered.

"Wait, choose? What!?" Marinette exclaimed. This made no sense!

The woman simply shook her head and smiled before fading away.

"Wait! Where- what?" Marinette tried to reply, puzzled.

The lotus suddenly exploded into a pink color. Alarmed, Marinette took her hands away. The pink flew around her, wrapping Marinette in its color.

"Go forth," it called, "young Star of Bethlehem."

And then, the garden was suddenly no more.

Marinette was left in the twilight of a completed spell.

It was dark, Marinette thought, Very dark.

And… end of flashback!

"Huh…" Tikki muttered. "You're right, this is strange."

"Yeah, and now I'm stuck trying to impersonate whoever this world's Ladybug is."

"Well, kid, you're going to need some serious training if you're going to be this world's Ladybug. Your friend Alya is a real hound, any mistakes you make won't slide past her."

"Right," Marinette remembered, groaning. "We'd better go home and start practicing, I guess."

Watching Tikki open her mouth, Marinette quickly added, "And - I'll get you some pastries!"

"I don't know, kid. It'll just be so much work…" she drawled.

"What do you want? Some cupcakes? Cookies?"

"Both'll do nicely," Tikki decided, winking.

"Alright," Marinette replied, sighing.

Meanwhile, back at the other side of the story…

"Master Fu?" Adrien prompted. "If you could please read it aloud…"

"Ah! Yes, yes, of course!" Fu replied, looking up from the entry. "My apologies, Adrien."

Year of the Rabbit- 3rd month.

The Blessing of the Flowers

To fully entail what I have learned from Liánhuā, I must address some exposition.

Nature was here first, that I have to confirm, alas in lieu of the many other myths we have decided upon.

It was Nature that allowed us to form, kwamis and Chosens, and Nature that has to oversee the consequences of our actions.

Thus, Nature has been said to have created some sort of power… (here the ink smudged to illegibility)... that will help restore peace and jurisdiction should we ever fall to disorder.

Liánhuā has told me that the power cannot be controlled or used in any deleterious way, that it is managed by Nature itself and only that.

She, even as the Lotus Priest, was unable to diverge the methods of the power to me; I can only assume it will in someway guide the agitator to a path of serenity.

Liánhuā was able to convey that the magic will only come in times of trouble that would terminate in disastrous consequences.

And thus, the entry ended.

"Well, that was vague!" Plagg decided.

"Wait… but this means… something's happened that would end badly?"

"Very badly, if the contents of the entry tells us anything," Wayzz agreed, nodding.

"But… what?" Adrien exclaimed. "Is it Hawkmoth? What's so bad that Nature itself needed to intervene?"

Tikki looked over to Plagg. Both shrugged, and silence overtook the room.

"It seems we have created more questions in the hopes of finding answers," Master Fu said calmly, getting up to clear away the teacups.

No one but Wayzz noticed the amused smile on his face when he left for the kitchen.

Adrien shook his head, slumping. Both of the kwamis fluttered over.

"Kid, I said this when we started, and I'll say it again; there's nothing we can do," Plagg reminded him. "Mlle. Snow White will have to wake up on her own."

"I have to agree with Plagg," Tikki spoke softly, "The Blessing of the Flowers happened to Ladybug, not us. She has to figure it out on her own."

Hearing their conversation, Wayzz moved to speak up. "Adrien, I know this is a lot, but you really should head home. I have no doubt a sudden disappearance will be widely noted."

Plagg nudged Adrien, and he drawled, "Of course. Wouldn't want to worry my father now, would I?"

He made to get up, opened up his coat for Plagg to fly into, and looked up at Tikki. "You coming?" he asked.

Tikki looked back at Wayzz, gave a small wave, and followed after Plagg.

Inside his coat, Plagg grumbled to Tikki.

"He'd be better off without the crush," he muttered.

She looked over at him, sighing. "It'll work out… hopefully."

They relaxed, listening to the rhythmic pattern of Adrien's feet as he headed back to his house.

"I sure hope it does," Plagg whispered quietly.

On the other side of the paper…

Marinette tried, for what seemed like the hundredth time, to go through the motions she was supposed to do while yelling "Haemolymph!"

"Front, back… turn it and hook!" Tikki instructed. "C'mon kid, it's not that hard."

Marinette winced as the practice yo-yo she was using hit her in the back.

"Front, back, turn… and hook," she repeated, trying again.

She watched as the wooden yo-yo swooped front, back, spun… and landed flat.

She collapsed onto the bed, groaning.

Tikki shook her head. "Kid, you almost had it. Just… hook!" she said, managing to do the hand motions perfectly.

Marinette looked up at her kwami and rolled over. "Maybe in… five minutes?"

"Uh-huh, and then you'll just keep making excuses," Tikki retorted, reading between the lines.

"Oh, alright." Marinette said, slowly getting up. Tikki waved the yo-yo in her face and she wrapped the loop around her middle finger.

"Front, back, turn and hook," she muttered to herself.

She thrust the yo-yo forward, swung it back, tensed it so it could spin in a circle, and… hooked it onto the chair's leg.

"Finally!" she cried.

"Alright, kid. Don't get too excited. I'll need to see that three times again before I can deem you good enough." Tikki reminded her.

With a look of complete concentration, Marinette did it once, then twice, and finally three times more.

"Okay, I'll give you it, though your hook on the last was a little sloppy," Tikki said, trying to appear reprimanding but failing to cover up the pride glimmering in her eyes.

"Now, let's move on to the scenarios. You're good enough with the puns and nicknames, but Ladybug's got more than that to her personality.

"Ladybug always throws herself in harm's way for Chat. She gets reprimanded, shrugs it off with a flirt or a pun, and jumps back into action. So…" Tikki finished, throwing a pillow at her.

Due to her reflexes, she immediately dodged it.

"And, Chat Noir goes SPLAT!" Tikki proclaimed.

"Right, right."

Pillow #2 hit her elbow, bouncing off. She gave Tikki a confused glance, and was assured that, yes, Chat had definitely been hit in this imaginary scenario.

"Again!" she yelled, throwing Pillow #3 at Marinette.

#3 hit Mari on the leg and prompted Tikki to throw Pillow #4.

Marinette was ready this time, and - it hit her in the chest. "Ow," she winced, surprised at the pillow's apparent strength.

"Nuh-uh!" Tikki reminded her. "Cheesy pickup lines, not wincing! And, seriously kid? These things are made of feathers!"

Pillows #5, 6, and 7 ended in a similar conclusion.

It was only when Pillow #8 hit her dead on when Marinette finally managed not to flinch. Unfortunately, that was when Tikki decided to spice things up.

Pillow #9 was thrown to her far left, "hitting Chat" when Marinette missed.

#10, however, hit Marinette dead on. She ended up on the floor, and quickly exclaimed, "Why, it seems I've fallen for you again, m'lord!" while winking.

"There you go!" Tikki chirped. "That's a Ladybug line!"

"Oh!" Tikki said, remembering. "Kid, you can't forget. If Chat ever is endangered by an akuma that can force him to be controlled by them, you've got to take the blow as well. It's not just a Ladybug thing, it also needs to happen. Chat's the only one who can reset everything and purify the akuma, so you have to make sure that he doesn't get zombified or whatever."

"I'm not as important as Chat Noir…" Marinette realised.

"I wouldn't put it like that, kid. No need to damage your own self-esteem. It's just a matter of who can reset any damage done in the scenario." Tikki said, scolding.

Marinette was hit with a wave of appreciation for the Chat back home. He had to sacrifice himself so many times, just because she was the one who could reset it all.

"Nah, it's okay!" Marinette reassured her.

"Alrighty then. You're pretty good, we've just got to work on your jealousy."

"Je-jealousy?"

Tikki gestured to the computer screen. "Kid, you've got a crush on Chat."

Marinette staggered backwards. Wait… but… this means…

She blocked the thoughts out of her head, for now. She could deal with them later.

"S-so, how do I do that?"

"Impersonate the green-eyed monster?" Tikki offered, shrugging. When Marinette stared at her blankly, she smiled. "I'm just kidding! You've just gotta become really protective of your 'm'lord' whenever he's with another girl. Easy enough!"

Marinette chuckled, remembering her rage at Chloe slow dancing with Adrien when Nino was akumatized. "I'm pretty sure I've already got that down."

"Well, then just multiply it by two or whatever! I'm telling you, kid, Ladybug will straight up punch a girl that so much as held hands with Chat." Tikki said, chuckling. "Oh, she was a disaster when that artist was akumatized into Ladymimic! Telling that poor guy she and Chat were together…"

Marinette stared at him.

"Ooooh, riiiight." Tikki said, realizing. "Chat probably did that in your world… and you never found out, did yah?

"...I know Ladybug never told Chat in this world, she'd probably die of- oh, I feel really bad for the Chat back where you live."

"Oookay! Moving on!" Marinette chirped, deciding not to dwell any further on the subject, for now.

"So… you've got the Haemolymph thing down, you're good with the whole 'take the blow' stuff, and… you're good with the jealousy. Let's see, what other part of Ladybug's personality are we- oh!" Tikki said, facepalming. "How could I forget?"

"As Ladybug, you typically distract the akuma while Chat Noir figures out how to use his Collar Charm."

"How exactly do I distract them?" Marinette asked. As Ladybug, she was usually too focused on what on earth her Lucky Charm was meant for, so she only had even caught bits and glances of Chat when he was distracting the Akuma.

"Oh, you usually throw your yo-yo at them to get their attention. From there, it's a combination of cheesy puns and insults to get on their nerves. You dodge a bunch of attempted attacks, Chat figures out how to use his Charm, and you defeat the akuma."

Seemed easy enough, Marinette thought.

"Now, let's see your best smacktalk, Ladybug version."

Marinette thought of the last akuma she'd encountered, and tried her best.

"Hey, pardon the intrusion, but where's the train? All I'm seeing is the wreck!" she tried.

Tikki shook her head. "That was awful."

"Hey! Monsieur Bulldozer, I believe you're forgetting about a certain bug! Scared I'll wreck that pretty little face of yours?" Marinette taunted.

"Whoa, kid! No need to channel your inner super villain!" Tikki exclaimed. "Try it again, a little less vicious this time."

"Hey Train Wreck, look my way, cause this bug's gonna run you over! Haemolymph!" she called, picking up her wooden yo-yo and finishing the smacktalk with her Haemolymph flare.

"Alright, that'll do for now." Tikki decided.

Marinette took a glance at the clock and yelped. "Tikki, I've gotta get to bed! Maman or Papa will be up in five minutes!"

Just my luck, she thought while changing into her pajamas. She rushed into bed and pulled the covers so that they'd cover both her and Tikki.

"Goodnight Tikki." she whispered.

"'Night kid."