Adrien was floating. Quite literally in fact. His hands brushed against the clouds below him, enjoying the feeling of the wind against his face and through his hair. Lucy was there with him. Only a few meters away she smiled at him, holding out her arms for him to reach for.
"Adrien..." She called out as he reached out for her. "This whole time you were Chat Noir..." She said dreamily.
He couldn't get himself to speak, instead nodding as he took her hands in his. His smile, his bliss seemed to be ripped away from him as Lucy's look of adoration changed. Her eyes hardened as her brows scrunched, a frown forming on her lips.
"This whole time..." She repeated, her tone losing its sweetness. "You were CHAT NOIR!"
Adrien jolted up at the feeling of a sting against his arm. Hissing, he looked across the bed to Lucy wholes lips pursed together as she glared at him.
"Ow! What the hell?"
"This whole time you were Chat Noir!" Lucy seethed.
"Yes! We have established that I am and have always been Chat Noir. I thought you were happy about this?! Isn't that why we...?" A lazy smile formed across Adrien's face as his eyes dropped from hers, taking in her bare form that was unfortunately covered by the sheet she had tucked around her.
"Are you serious right now?"
"Are you?!" Adrien shot back. "I thought we were good. Honestly, I expected the look of betrayal before the passionate love making, not after."
"Adrien, you encouraged me to date you while pretending to be someone else."
"To be fair," Adrien pointed. "I tried to stay very neutral any time the topic came up."
"We sat here, not that long ago, and as Chat Noir, you had me tell you all the things I found similar about you two, and then asked me if I loved you. Does that not sound a little manipulative...or maybe even a bit narcissistic to you?"
Adrien stared at Lucy a moment, his brain processing what was being asked of him.
"Well..." He said blinking. "Now that I hear it out loud..." Lucy crossed her arms and huffed. Adrien quickly shook his head and wrapped his arms around her.
"Maybe that wasn't the best idea on my part, but I promise I was in no way trying to manipulate you or anything like that. I just...you have been connected to both personas of me in a way no one else has and I just wanted to know if deep down some part of you...knew. Even if you didn't know...you know?"
Lucy turned her head to face Adrien as he rested his forehead against hers. "I love you." He told her. "I have so much more love for you than I know what to do with, and the idea that there was even the slightest chance that you only loved a part of me...I just..."
"I'm sorry." Lucy whispered, rubbing her nose against his. "I love you too. Every part. Every version."
The pair closed the space between them, both sighing into their kiss. Adrien brought one hand up the back of Lucy's neck to deepen it, slowly pushing her back to the mattress and moving his body on top of hers. His kiss left her lips, moving to her jaw and down her neck. A content moan left Lucys lips as he made his way down to her collar bone. But before any more could happen, Adrien was startled by the loud blare of Lucy's alarm clock.
"Jesus." She cursed, slamming her hand down to turn of the blaring beeps before groaning in annoyance. "We need to get ready for school."
Get ready for school.
It was those words that made Adrien shoot up from her bed as if it was made of hot lava.
"Shit!" He said stumbling to put his pants on. "Shit! Shit! Shit!"
Lucys brows shot up as she watched him. "Are you alright?"
"It's morning!" Adrien replied as if it were obvious.
"So it is, what gave it away? The sunshine perhaps?"
"Lucy, if Nathalie comes to my room to make sure I'm up and I am not there, I am dead, you hear me? Dead."
A laugh belted from Lucy's chest. "You mean nobody knows you're here?"
Adrien paused the process of slipping on his button up to stare at Lucy as if she had grown another head.
"Have you lost your- in what world would my dad okay me spending the night here? IN WHAT WORLD LUCY?!"
Lucy shrugged as she continued laughing.
"Lucy, my dad doesn't even know we are dating yet."
"Seriously? How?"
"I haven't told him." Adrien replied with an awkward shrug. "Plagg!"
"Why not?"
"He's a very busy man...we don't always cross-"
"Adrien!"
"Because he can't end what he doesn't know about!" Adrien spat out. "Plagg! Where are you!?"
Rubbing her temples Lucy squinted at him. "What?"
"I'm right here lover boy, geeze, don't get your undies in a twist." Plagg announced, floating over to Adrien from his spot on Lucy's bookshelf.
"Does your dad not like me or something?" Lucy asks, as Adrien rushed over to the bed, taking her hands in his.
"My dad doesn't like anybody." Adrien clarified. "But if I'm honest it might be your mother more so than you specifically."
"My mother?!"
"We don't have time." Adrien said, placing a chaste kiss on Lucy's lips before getting up. "Plagg, claws out!"
"This conversation isn't over!" Lucy called out as Chat Noir climbed through her window.
"Don't I know it! I'll see you at school!"
OoOoOoOoOoO
Adrien had barely managed to detransform before Nathalie came knocking on his door to make sure he was almost ready. After she had left, Adrien was quick to swap out his outfit for a clean one, rushing down the steps to have breakfast. When he arrived at school, Lucy was already there waiting for him on the steps.
"Mission accomplished?" She asked as they made their way inside the building.
"By the skin of my teeth." Adrien answered. As the approached the lockers, Adrien halted his steps and took Lucy's hand halting hers as well. "Listen, Lu, about earlier. I want to tell him, it's just-"
"It's just your dad and my mom have butt heads on more than on occasion and you're afraid that relationship will make your dad disapprove of ours." Lucy delivered. Adrien scratched the back of his head nervously.
"I... well...yeah, pretty much." Lucy sighed and placed her palm on Adrien's cheek affectionately.
"I get it. I do. But Adrien, if you want this to last long term-"
"Of course, I want it to last long term."
"Then you gotta tell him eventually. Because if you don't, at some point he's going to get that information from someone else and trust me when I say the repercussions of that will be worse."
Adrien took ahold of the had Lucy had on his cheek and squeezed it. "You're right. I know. I'll tell him. I don't know when, but I will."
"Sooner rather than later my guy, sooner rather than later."
OOoOoOoOoO
Later, in Ms. Bustier's class, the principal stopped by for an announcement. Marinette was called to the front of the class and handed a handful of pamphlets to pass out to each student containing information of the career day event taking place in areas of Paris.
"Your class representative, Marinette, is going to be handing you a questionnaire to fill out regarding your study options after school." Mr. Damocles explained.
"Utterly useless!" Chloe spoke, rolling her eyes. "I already know what I want to be when school is over: rich, because I'm already rich. And the baker girl, well, the baker girl. Oh, just plain ridiculous! Yes, being ridiculous would be right up your alley, Marinette Dupain-Cheng!" She taunts, earning an annoyed look from Marinette.
"You know, Chloe," Ms. Bustier cut in. "People are defined by their choices and what they decide to do with their lives. That's why I'm asking you to start defining yourselves by deciding what you want to do later on. It's not just about your future careers, but also what you want out of your life."
Mr. Damocles smiled. "If some of you aren't sure yet about what you want to do, the Paris Career Expo will be held this weekend in various locations throughout the city! You'll meet professionals who will tell you about their careers!"
Ms. Bustier opens a projected map behind her. "The document that Marinette just handed you includes a map of Paris with the locations of each career booth."
"I would add that you should never let the context impose your costume on you. You should choose your costume yourself!" Mr. Damocles says. "Speaking of which, I, myself, would be present at the charity stand as..." The principle zooms out of the door and comes back as The Owl while breathing heavily. "The Owl! Hoo-hoo! Your daily righter of wrongs!"
OoOoOoOo
After school, as well as his Chinese lessons, Adrien sat in his room looking over the career day pamphlet with uncertainty. Plagg, noticing his expression floated over.
"Don't you wanna continue to model?" The kwami asked.
"I don't think so, Plagg. I'm doing it now because my father asks me to, and I realize now I don't know what else I wanna do. I never ask myself that question."
"What do you think of Chat Noir as a career?"
"Well, since Ladybug keeps giving Miraculous out to other holders, one day she probably won't need me anymore." He said glumly. "With that aside, I don't get paid to be Chat Noir.
"Don't worry," Plagg spoke. "I will always be here for you. Besides, since you come from money, you might not even need a paying job. You could be like that comic hero you were telling me about. The brooding one."
"Batman?" Adrien chuckled.
"Exactly! Batman! Pretty sure that guy doesn't have a job and people are always looking to his civilian persona for money."
"You're not wrong Plagg. I do have a trust fund. But I wouldn't be surprised if there were conditions that came with it. Besides, I don't want to depend on that alone."
"Hey, if you want, we could even open a cheese shop together! Just imagine... "Plagg and Chat Noir's Fromagerie"!"
"You can't eat cheese if you're trying to sell it." Adrien told him with a smile.
"Oh, you're right. Good point. What's a job where you get to eat cheese, then?"
"Why don't we start by visiting the food trade booths?" Adrien suggested, grabbing his bag. "Come on, Plagg, it's time to think about our future!"
OoOooOOoOoO
Lucy drummed her fingers on her desk as she looked over the career day pamphlet. What do I want to be when I grow up? Hearing her front door open, Lucy came out of her room and greeted her mother. Monica placed down her bag and took a seat at the kitchen table before kicking off her shoes.
"Hey mom, can I ask you a question."
"Sure thing, Kiddo." Monica yawned. "What's up?"
"How did you know you wanted to be a literary professor?" Monica raised her brows and thought about it.
"Hm, oh boy, I...I don't know really. I kind of just stumbled into it."
"How do you just stumble into becoming a professor?" Lucy asked with a small laugh.
Monica shrugged. "I don't know. I've always been an advent reader. When I was a child, I wanted to be a librarian. I thought it was the coolest job."
"A librarian, huh?"
"Mhm. Surrounded by books all the time seemed like a dream." Her mother explained. "Then, when I was around your age I did just that. My local library was looking for some help and I found myself right where I thought I wanted to be."
"But then you realized it wasn't?"
"Well, I mean, it was for a while. I enjoyed the job enough but after some time I realized that a big part of what I liked about working in a library wasn't being surrounded by books that I could read, but being able to help other people find books they could read."
Lucy smiled and took a seat across from her mother, leaning her elbows on the table with her head in her hands.
"I ended up going to college majoring in literature and minoring in philosophy and after got a job as a middle school English teacher. I enjoyed it but liked the idea of working with older children, so I carried on with my own education. Even got to travel abroad to teach English in China for a year."
"Oh, that's cool." Lucy commented.
"During that time, I met your father."
"In China?" Lucy asked, confused.
"No, no." Monica laughed, "After that. We met in a Library actually. I helped him find the psychology book he was looking for. We ended up getting together, dating even though we went to different colleges. Not long after we graduated, I started up as a high school teacher and he got into an entry level position in the Bureau. We got married and had you. Your dad was scaling up in his career and I hit a bit of a roadblock in mine."
"So, dad always wanted to be in the FBI?"
"Dad always wanted to help people. He was a police officer before we had met. I had asked why he changed paths and he said he thought he could do more on a larger scale in a place like the FBI."
Lucy hummed in acknowledgement. "So, he worked toward his goals, and you were struggling with yours?"
"It wasn't so much that I wasn't reaching my goals. I did what I had set out to do but it can be hard to convince teenagers that they could enjoy reading. Most of the time getting them to complete assignments that involved segments of a book was like pulling teeth. It was frustrating and it had me questioning if I had made the right choices in my career path."
"So, you went back to school."
"So, I went back to school." Monica confirmed.
"And that's how she became Dr. Monica Shepherd!"
"Dr. Monica Dalton." Her mother corrected. "I earned that degree, not your father." Lucy smiled and looked back down at her pamphlet thoughtfully.
"What's the sudden interest in my career path?" Her mother asked, glancing at the pamphlet.
"Graduation will be here before we know it and our school wants everyone to start putting thought into what they want to be when they grow up."
"Well, I wouldn't over think it too much. Some of the best people I knew didn't know what they wanted to do forever when they were a teen, and some of the best people I know now still don't." Her mother explained.
"Growing up means learning what life is. When you're younger, you have a set of ideals, standards, criteria, plans, outlooks, and you think that you have to sit around and wait for them to happen to you and then life will work. But life isn't like that, for anybody; you can't fall in love with a standard, you have to fall in love with a person. You can't live in a criteria, you have to live your life. You can't wait for your plans to materialize, because they may never materialize the way you think they will. You can't wait to watch your ideals and standards walk up to you, because you can't know what's yours until you have it."
Monica placed her hand over Lucy's and smiled.
"I think it's best to always take the first chance in case you never get a second one, but growing up takes that even one step further, growing up means that you have to hold on to what you have, when you have it, because what you have- that's yours- and all the ideals and criteria you have set in your head, those aren't yours, because those haven't happened to you."
"I have to come up with something thought mom." Lucy said. "Doesn't have to be set in stone but I should start considering what my plans are for the future."
"Then go to the career expo." Her mother suggested with a shrug. "Just don't let yourself get discouraged if you don't see something that appeals to you. There are a lot of careers out there. You just need to figure out what makes you happy."
OoOoOoOoOoO
Marinette had been taking her stroll through the different booths when Alec Cataldi appeared with a camera man. His segment seemed to be about finding the most pointless jobs in Paris. Marinette frowned as he stopped beside Andre the ice cream man.
"Andre, the Ice Cream Maker, the ice cream man that is never around! Let me remind you how this goes: Andre doesn't have a shop, no one knows where he is, it takes forever to find him, and he gets to pick a flavor of your ice cream! You've gotta be kidding, Andre!" Alec says making a thumbs down at the camera. "Give me one reason why I should bother to chase after you when I could get my choice of ice cream in any corner supermarket"
"Well, people don't just come for ice cream when they find me. They come to share their love and experience of magical moments!" Andre explained. "A supermarket cannot do what I do! I am a creator of magical moments!"
"Creator of magical moments? You've gotta be kidding! That's not a real job!" Alec argued.
"You're right, dear Alec. It's not a job, it's a career!"
It was clear that Alecs attempt to discredit the ice cream man was a bust, as the crowed seemed more than pleased with his response to Alec, and instead of getting angry, Andre went into his cart and pulled out some ice cream.
"But you found me today! I have some ice cream just for you: lime for the sourness you show on the outside, and chocolate cinnamon for the sweet dreams that still live inside of you! One day, you too will figure out what you really want to be!"
Embarrassed, Alec tells the camera man to cut and walks off, leaving Marinette to inquire with Andre about his choice in career.
"Andre, how did you know that making ice cream would be your job?" Marinette asks. Andre smiled at her.
"My dear Marinette, being an ice cream man isn't a job; I used to have a job. Every morning, I would wake up and do something I didn't like doing. The only enjoyable moment for my day was when I would come home and concoct ice cream flavors that suited my mood. Until one day, in the same way that ice cream enchanted my daily life, I wondered if my true calling would be to try and enchant other people's lives, too! That's when the truly successful career is: a blend of flavors of what you can do, what you love to do, and what you can bring to others!" He told her, handing her an ice cream cone.
"Strawberry and cherry for the indecisive lady, pistachio and pecan for the clear-sighted young man."
"Who? What young man?" Marinette asked confused, only for a voice to greet her from behind.
"Hello, Marinette!"
"Luka!" Marinette jumps in surprise. Actually, Luka and I are just, uh-"
"Buddies. We're buddies." Luka clarified with a smile. Andre gave her the ice cream anyway.
"You don't necessarily have to be in love to enjoy your own scoop of magic."
The pair thanked Andre before walking off, enjoying the cold treat together.
"I'm surprised to see you here! I thought you already knew what career you're going to have." Marinette commented, taking a bit of the ice cream.
"I do! I'm in charge of my booth where I tell people about being a maker of stringed instruments."
The two arrive at Luka's booth, where guitars, electric guitars, and other stringed instruments are displayed as Marinette looks in fasination. Luka grabs one of the guitars.
"What about you, Marinette? Why are you here? Aren't you on your way to becoming a talented fashion designer?"
"I don't know anymore. There are so many careers that interest me in the world of fashion, creation, decoration. You're lucky you know exactly what you wanna do."
"I just listen to my inner voice." Luka tells her, strumming his guitar. "This is the first instrument I made myself." He says, handing Marinette the guitar. "It took me two years."
"Woah!" Marinette gasped. Holding the instrument in her hands. She knew Luka played instruments, but she had no idea he also made them.
"Two whole years to make one guitar when you can download an app in two seconds to your phone?" Alec taunts, appearing out of nowhere and pulling out his phone to play a guitar app. "Yet, another pointless job! You've gotta be kidding!"
Luka, unfazed by the interruption grabs a nearby violin and instructs Alec to follow him. Marinette, Alec and his camera man follow Luka to the outer border of the career expo near the water. Luka lifts the violin into the air and closes his eyes. A wind passes by and in that moment, you could swear it was playing a soft tune.
"Musical instruments fill the space and space fills the instruments. No phone in the world will ever be able to do that." Luka told them. Alec called for the camera man to cut again and stormed off. Marinette smiled and walked over to Luka.
"Woah, you definitely have a gift for finding the right words at the right time." She complimented.
"Adrien." Luka suddenly said, confusing the girl.
"Uh- Well, most of the time."
"No, Adrien. He's behind you, Marinette. Looks like Lucy as well."
Marinette whipped her head around to see Luka was right. A few meters away Lucy stood talking to a rather up set looking Adrien who was sitting against a pillar.
"He looks so sad!" Marinette said with a frown.
"All the more reason to go talk to him." Luka declared, taking her hand in his and pulling her towards the couple. Marinette looked down at her hand in his and couldn't ignore the way her heart fluttered from it. It felt like it had been so long since she was last able to hold his hand. She had forgotten how warm it was. In that small gesture, she understood, felt it down to her bones, that draw, not the electric pulse of power but the thing beneath it, the weight she'd never understood. In a world where everything rocked and swayed and fell away, this was solid ground. Safe.
"Adrien, don't get so worked up over this, you'll figure it out, I promise." Lucy said, trying to comfort her boyfriend, taking a seat beside him.
"Something wrong, Adrien?" Luka asked. Lucy glanced up at Luka and Marinette, trying to suppress her smile at the sight of them holding hands.
"Lucy and I just made the rounds at every stand at the Paris Career Expo, and I still don't know what I wanna do. If I don't figure it out, my father will decide for me once again."
Luka goes to sit beside Adrien and Marinette hesitates to follow for a moment before taking a seat on the other side of Luka. Lucy follows suite and takes a seat on the other side of Adrien. Resting her hand on his knee.
"I've always felt that modelling wasn't really your true inner music." Luka commented.
Adrien shrugged. "I thought things would be simple this way, that I'd be content to do what my father told me to. Most of my life has always been preplanned for me. I never gave thought into the possibility of things ever changing." He explained. "Or at least I figured there would be a lot more time before I had to really put any thought into it. You guys are lucky, knowing exactly what you want to do. Like being a musician like your father or having such a strong passion for fashion design. Even you Lucy. You have a great chance at one day being a famous artist. But when I try and think about where I see myself five years from now..."
"It's way more complicated." They all seemed to share their thoughts in unison.
"I don't wanna be a rock-star like my dad." Luka told him. "I make music but that's not my career, it's my nature. What I want though, is for other people to be able to feel that music. That's why I wanted to be a stringed instrument maker; to make instruments so people can create emotions with them."
"I feel like I always wanted to try new things. But the things I want to do, the things I forget to do, and the things that I just have to do, it's a lot, and I don't know." Marinette sighed.
"Adrien, just because a person is good at something, or even likes doing something, doesn't necessarily mean that's all they want to do forever." Lucy added. "I love painting. It relaxes me and helps me reflect my emotions, and I really love that some people enjoy my art and resonate with it, but I can't say that I want that to be my main source of income. Besides, once I do something because I have to rather than because I want to, I start to like it less."
Adrien shook his head. "My father arranges everything for me, and when I think about what I really want to do my mind goes blank. Nothing!"
Luka and Lucy share a look befor Luka speaks. "There's no one way to become Marinette or to become Adrien to find out who you are. You just need to learn how to listen to your inner melody." He leans over to Marinette, listening to a sound none of the others seemed to be able to hear.
"Your inner music, Marinette, at this moment, is a little bit like a brass band where... all the instruments are playing a different tune. I totally get it why you're lost." He says, making them all laugh. "But if you listen a bit more closely, the music of your band is really beautiful. You just need some time to understand it."
Luka then leaned closer to Adrien and did the same. "Your music, Adrien, sounds like it's being muffled by someone else playing a sad piano tune, but your true melody is a happy one. Pretty rock and roll, actually." Luka got up from his spot and smiled at his friends. "Give it time guys. Eventually you'll hear your inner melody and when you do everything will fall into place." He strolled a few feet ahead of them, placing his violin on his shoulders and began playing a soft melody.
The three others smiled, enjoying the private concert Luka was preforming for them. Adrien clasped Lucy's hand in his, rubbing the top of her hand with his thumb as she rested her head on his shoulder.
"You know what I wanted to be when I was a kid?" Lucy asked allowed, making them both look at her.
"What?" Adrien asked.
"I wanted to work at Home Depot."
"What's a Home Depot?" Marinette asked with a raised brow.
Lucy laughed. "It's a really big hardware store chain in America. There are a lot big hardware chains in America actually, but Home Depot was always my favorite."
"Your dream was to work at a hardware store?" Adrien grinned. "You don't strike me as the manual labor type." Lucy snorted and hit Adrien's arm.
"I'm not. I just...really like their slogan. At least the one they had when I was a kid. You can do it. We can help." Lucy tilted her head. "I don't know why."
"You can do it. We can help." Marinette repeated. "You know, oddly enough that seems like a pretty on brand slogan for you Lucy."
"I thought people working at places like Home Depot were doing more than just retail at the time. They were helping people build their homes. Their lives. I really glamorized it in my head." Lucy spoke with another laugh. "But the slogan to this day still sits with me. And I think that's why I might actually know what I want to do when I get older."
"What?" Adrien asked quietly.
"I think I want to go into psychology."
"Like your dad?" Marinette asks.
Lucy shook her head. "No, not exactly. My father was a criminal forensic psychologist. Psychology in general is very broad. There are a lot of different avenues one can take. Biopsychology is where I feel I might end up. They study and perform research on the brain and behavior. By examining the neural bases of behavior, biopsychologists can understand different biological factors that might impact how people think, feel, and act while investigating how brain disease and injury impact behavior. Finding new ways of preventing, treating, and managing serious brain illnesses and trauma."
"What's making you lean towards that?" Luka asked, finishing his song. As Lucy thought of her answer, the image of breaking glass, the sound of skull hitting concrete, and the forlorn look of a man whose face would be forever imprinted in her mind flashed behind her eyes.
"Just feels right."
"Hey! Hi there, son!" A voice called out before anyone could add to the conversation. Their brows all raised at the sight of the talking crocodile in front of them.
"Dad?" Luka called out.
"Jagged Stone?" Lucy, Marinette, and Adrien said in unison. A gift box falls beside Jagged and the four of them look up in surprise as what appeared to be Santa was flying above them dropping an uncanny amount of presents overhead.
"Merry Christmas, everyone!" He called out, continuing to drop gift boxes. The boxes, coming from such a height would no doubt knock a person out if they got hit by one. The four friends began running for cover when a giant robot of what appears to be like a Robo Tech Ultimate Destructor appeared in front of them.
"I will turn you into mush!" The robot announced, preparing to shoot its lasers at them.
"Go hide behind that tree!" Luka instructed Adrien. He and Lucy split off leaving Luka to hide Marinette next. He quickly opened on of the changing stalls on the beach and shoved her inside.
"Stay here Marinette!" He instructed her. Luka then called out to the robot and ran in hopes of leading it away from his friend's location.
Marinette quickly transformed and went off to save Luka. Not far off, Adrien stood with Lucy behind a tree, looking to make sure the coast was clear. He called for Plagg to transform him, and Lucy gave him a droopy-eyed smile.
"Look at you, all ready to save the day." Chat Noir chuckled and shook his head before placing a peck on hers.
"Stay here and be safe, I'll be right back." He instructed confidently, leaping away with his stick.
Lucy sighed in contentment only to frown a moment later and plop down in the sand. "Now we wait. Ugh. This is always the boring part."
OoOoOoOoO
Luka didn't understand where Marinette could have run off to in the short time he was away, or why she even would for that matter. However, he didn't have much time to ponder on it as he heard his father, still in his croc form, calling for help from the water.
"Help! I can't swim!"
Pulling a crocodile out of the water to stop it from drowning was something Luka never saw himself doing. For obvious reasons, he couldn't anticipate just how difficult it would be either. When they made it back to land, both Luka and his crocodile father lay on their backs out of breath.
"Thanks for the save son!" Jagged praised. "I was almost belly up!"
"But dad, crocodiles know how to swim." Luka commented in confusion.
"I didn't when I was a kid." Jagged explained. Ladybug swung in and smiled at the two.
"Hello croco-Jagged. I need a word with your son if that's okay with you.:
"Rock and roll, Ladybug!" Jagged responded as Luka got of from the ground and let Ladybug yo-yo them away.
Once on a rooftop now far away, Luka doesn't need to ask what Ladybug needs from him. She pulls out the snake miraculous and Luka slips it onto his wrist and is greeted by Sass.
"Use your power now." Ladybug commands. "If Chat Noir and I get hit, you must come back to this exact moment."
"Understood, Ladybug."
OooOoOoOoOoOoO
"Are you sure you don't want me to make your childhood dream come true?" Wishmaker asks, shooting a star at Chat Noir.
He blocks the shooting star with his staff and glares at the the villain. "Don't waste your breath! I didn't have any!"
"Every child has a dream!"
"Maybe not everyone!" There was a bitterness in Chat's tone that made Wishmaker smile.
"You just need to get your memory back. Just let me touch you, and your childhood dream will be revealed to you!"
It was there. The hesitation. No matter how hard he tried there was a part of Chat that wanted to consider it. Wishmaker shot a shooting star at Chat Noir, but Viperion quickly protects Chat.
Ladybug, still unsure of what to do with her Lucky Charm, a Dino plushy, holds it up to the people around her. "Does this stuffed animal mean anything to you?"
The citizens shake their heads and Ladybug returns to battle. Wishmaker fires a shooting star only to be deflected by Viperion. Unfortunately, the deflected star then heads straight for Ladybug.
"It's a dino huggie!" A man in a red hat shouted in excitement, just as Ladybug gets hit.
Ladybug's dream shows six-year-old Marinette drawing the Knitting Fairy on a piece of paper. She then transforms into Marinette, wearing a costume as the Knitting Fairy.
"Awesome! I always wanted to be the Knitting Fairy in real life!"
"M-Marinette?" Viperion wasn't ready for the wave of nausea that hit him. This whole time...No, there wasn't time for it now. "Second Chance!"
Viperion activates his power and a second later he is standing in front of Ladybug once again.
"No one can know our secret identities! Lucky Charm! A dino huggie?"
"I've already got the first part of the solution!"
OoOoOoOoO
It was there. The hesitation. No matter how hard he tried there was a part of Chat that wanted to consider it as Wishmaker prepared to hit him with his shooting star. Viperion calls out for Chat to duck before following Ladybug to find the mad in the red hat. Chat couldn't help it. He desperately wanted to know that at some point he must have had a dream of his own. Wishmaker smiled and shot his shooting star, hitting Chat square in the chest.
Chat Noir shows his point of view as a baby while his parents Emilie and Gabriel are looking at him, smiling. "When I was a kid, I always wanted what my parents wanted me to be!"
Viperion's eyes widen. Adrien. Chat Noir is Adrien Agreste?! Now he knew both their identities. Great. What a mess.
"When I was a kid, I wanted to be in the dino huggie gang!" The man in the red hat explained. Ladybug smiled.
"Then you're the answer in defeating Wishmaker!"
"I'm sorry, Ladybug, but this isn't the right moment yet! Second Chance!"
Time reverts once again when Viperion and Ladybug are on the rooftop during the time he first activated his power.
"No one can know our secret identities!"
"I promise you that won't happen!"
Ladybug once again calls for her Lucky Charm and catches the stuffed Dino.
"The stuffed animal is for a man with a red hat. His childhood dream was to become a dino huggie." Viperion explains. The pair head off, and Viperion quickly heads to Chat Noir, once again deflecting the shooting Star from hitting him while Ladybug finds the man in the red hat. Wishmaker shoots the man turning him into the Dino huggie
"Wow! I'm a Dino huggie!" He shouts in excitement. Ladybug smiles.
"Look! Wishmaker needs a big dino hug!"
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"Thank you, Luka." Ladybug said after taking him to a nearby alley to give back his miraculous. "Thanks to you, our secret identities were preserved, and no one discovered who Chat Noir and I really are." She pulls out her yo-yo and prepares to swing away but pauses. "Uhh... not even you, right?"
There was a part of Luka that wanted to be honest with Ladybug. To give her some kind of hint, or signal that he knew her secret, and that it was safe with him. Instead, he smiled.
"Not even me. Luckily, Wishmaker never hit you or Chat Noir."
After she left, Luka quickly made his way back to the beach where he was supposed to find Marinette. When Marinette broke things off with him, he had been upset. Maybe even a little angry. He didn't understand why she was keeping secrets from him. He didn't understand why those secrets were worth more than their relationship. But now he could see clearly.
Marinette was Ladybug. It was a secret that came with a remarkable amount of weight. He wasn't upset with her for not telling him. Being Ladybug, keeping Paris and the world safe...that was bigger than him. Bigger than them being together. Luka decided he would wait for her. For as long as it took until she could finally put down the mask that he was sure rested heavy on her face. Marinette was Ladybug. She was his hero. And it was in keeping her secret, even without her knowledge, that he would be hers.
"Luka!" Marinette greets as she emerges from the stall. "Thank you for hiding me in here."
"It was nothing, Marinette! You know you can always count on me."
"You guys are okay!" Adrien shouts, Lucy in tow.
"We're all okay, thanks to Ladybug and Chat Noir."
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In his room, Adrien smiles at the career pamphlet. Lucy was right. He was thinking too hard about all of this. "I may not remember my childhood dreams, but that's okay! It's time to focus on the future and find my inner music, like Luka said! Plagg? What are you doing?"
Plagg listens to a round block of cheese with a little stethoscope. "I'm curious to hear what a camembert concerto sounds like!"
Adrien laughs, unsure as to why he would even expect any less of a completely ridiculous answer from his Kwami.
"Where did you even get a stethoscope that small!?"
"Amazon." Plagg answered causally. "You can find almost anything on that place. By the way, I'm expecting some packages within the next few days."
Adrien shook his head. "Well, that explains the weird charges."
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When Lucy got home her mother asked how the expo went as she placed a plate of food in front of her at the dining table. Lucy squinted as she thought of her answer.
"Eh...helpful...but not in the way I expected."
"Huh, well, what are your thoughts?" Her mother asked.
"I think I want to go into psychology." Lucy answered, and her mother smiled knowingly. "I think about how much it helped me, and a big part of me wants to be able to pass that along to others who need it too."
"I can see that for you."
Lucy shrugged. "Obviously I still have some time to think it over. I don't want to commit to anything just yet, but..."
"Of course," Her mother agreed. "Life takes us to unexpected places sometimes. The future is never set in stone, remember that."
A smile formed on Lucy's face as she fiddled with the watch around her neck. Her mother rested her elbows on the table, placing her chin on the top of the folded hands.
"I've put some thought into it. I think I know what I want to be when I grow up too."
Lucy snorted and raised a brow at her mother. "Yeah? What's that?"
"When I grow up, I want to be just like you."