Marinette was internally screaming. Oh my god, Adrien is Chat Noir?! How is this possible? They are nothing alike! OH. MY. GOD. I've been pushing away Chat for Adrien, but they're the same people! And oh my god! I kissed him when he was under Dark Cupid's influence! Now Adrien knows what an absolutely pathetic girl Ladybug is under the mask! He must be so disappointed in me now! And – wait a minute…Did she just say that her name is Emma Agreste? But I picked that name for our future daughter if ever Adrien and I get marri – ARE WE REALLY MARRIED IN THE FUTURE?! What the hell is going on?
Meanwhile, Adrien was swirling in his own revelation. Marinette is Ladybug? How did I not see that! The love of my life has been literally behind my back! Now that I think about it, it makes sense. She's got the same build, blue eyes, dark hair – heck, both of them have it in pigtails. Both of them can't stand Chloé, are extremely creative, and brave. Oh man! She said she liked me! And I almost rejected the love of my life! Thank god I didn't, or I would've killed myself!
Plagg started cackling – or rather, howling with laughter, snapping the older teens out of their stupor. "Oh my camembert! This is gold!"
Adrien blinked, trying to reply to the younger bluenette. "Umm," he started. "I don't have anyone in my family named 'Emma'."
"Of course." Emma grinned. "Because I'm not born yet."
"Not born yet? What does that mean?"
A small, lavender colored kwami with butterfly wings of the same color flew into their field of vision. "What she means is that we have come from the future!" the kwami squeaked.
"Nooroo!" Tikki cried, whizzing past Marinette's shoulder, and squishing the lavender kwami in a tight embrace. "It's good to see you doing so well!"
"I know!" Nooroo agreed. "Hawkmoth was terrible, but Emma practically spoils me everyday!"
Marinette raised an eyebrow. "Spoiling your kwami?"
Emma grew sheepish, as she rubbed the back of her neck with her hand nervously. That action was endearing, and oh so familiar. "Yeah, I like to feed him blackcurrants when he's feeling down, or just give into his wishes."
"Sounds like a lot me, actually." Adrien admitted, chuckling.
Marinette grew exasperated, as her patience grew thin. "Okay Tikki, I'm confused right now. First you were dead set on keeping our identities a secret. And now, you're just flowing along with it, like nothing happened?"
Tikki giggled. "Of course." She floated near Marinette's peripheral vision. "I admit, I'm not completely happy with this situation. But I can sense a little bit of you in her!"
Her eyebrows quirked in confusion. "Sense a little bit of me? What does that mean?"
"As much as I want to laugh more at these oblivious idiots," Plagg spoke, gesturing to Marinette and Adrien. "I think you owe us an explanation at who you exactly are, and how did you come here."
Emma sighed. "Yeah, I bet I do." She gestured for them to sit down, while their kwami's sat on their laps. "It was just another day, what with Le Paon trying to destroy Paris…"
"Hold up!" Adrien interrupted. "Who's Le Paon?"
"She's the Peacock miraculous wielder." The young bluenette explained. "She's so evil, she makes Hawkmoth appear like a baby. I really don't want to explain what's going on. You have enough problems as it is."
"Okay, fair enough."
"As I was saying," she continued. "Her attacks got so violent, that I akumatized a man into one of my champions, to help da-Chat Noir. She retreated for the time being, telling the usual crap about how she'll defeat us." She rolled her eyes. "Then the clean-up crew was clearing up the mess, and my champion just had to shout that he wanted to have some fun. I tried recalling my butterfly, but I couldn't reach him anymore. I ended up chasing him to a portal, and I ended up crashing into you. You know the rest." She shrugged uncomfortably.
"Clean-up crew? Wasn't Ladybug on the scene?" Tikki questioned.
"Uh, mo – I mean, Ladybug's on a hiatus."
"Hiatus? Why would I be on a hiatus?" Marinette asked
"Broken leg."
"Oh."
There was an uncomfortable silence. Until Adrien decided to speak up.
"I know you don't exist in this timeline. You seem familiar, but I can't put a finger on it." He stroked his chin as he looked thoughtful.
Plagg groaned. "Seriously kid? You can't just look into her eyes and not see who she is?"
Adrien peered into Emma's eyes, making the latter squirm under the scrutinizing gaze.
Plagg facepalmed. "C'mon kid! Even her name has the clue! Why do I have such an oblivious holder?" he whined.
Nooroo gave a deadpan stare at his holder, and nodded a little. Emma nodded back, and grinned in understanding.
"Well," she began. "You did say you were extremely oblivious when you were younger, Dad."
That threw him off. "D-Dad?" he spluttered. His expression softened as he noticed Emma's glittering emerald orbs. "You have my eyes…" he murmured in awe. Emma nodded in confirmation, with a Chat-like grin.
Emma dipped her hand in her ladybug-printed purse, and pulled out a sleek black-colored glass rectangle, which they assumed was her cell-phone. When she touched it, the screen lit up white, and Emma furiously started swiping through it, searching through a gallery of photographs. She finally tapped on one, and showed the enlarged photograph to the other kwamis and teens.
On the screen, a woman with short, dark hair with bright blue eyes was standing in front of a man with blond hair and green eyes. The man had his muscular arms wrapped around the shoulders of the petite woman, and both of them had smiles that reached their eyes.
"I took that picture." Emma beamed, with pride glinting in her bright emeralds.
"Is-is that…?" Marinette asked hesitantly, pointing at the picture.
"Yeah, that's you, Mom."
Marinette blinked. Once. Twice. Thrice. Four times.
"WHAT!"
The high-pitch shriek of the older blunette made everyone wince at their places.
"Yikes! Mom, that was too much!" Emma complained, rubbing her ears.
"Y-y-you-you're m-m-my…" Marinette stuttered, blushing a bright crimson hue.
"Daughter? Of course, if that wasn't clear enough indication." She rolled her eyes. "And Adrien Agreste is my dad. Which also means," she paused for dramatic effect. "Ladybug and Chat Noir are my parents too."
"This…this is too much. I'm going to wake up any moment, and laugh all of this off in the morning about the absurdity of this whole thing. Yeah, that's what's gonna happen."
"Hey! This whole thing is not a dream, and I'm stuck here, don't you get it?" Emma cried, exasperated. "Besides, Nooroo's exhausted and I can't transform anymore for today." She huffed.
"You can't just akumatize a person into a time-travelling freak?" Adrien asked. Emma looked offended.
"Okay, first of all, my akumas are called champions. Second, I can't just akumatize just about anyone; either they have to be very happy, sad, or excited, whatever. Third, akumatizing is a one-time gig, so even if I transform, I'm pretty much useless now." She finished with a huff.
"So, you're stuck here."
"In case that wasn't clear by the fit I threw a while ago and my useless whining, I'll say yes."
"But Emma," Nooroo spoke with concern. "Where are we going to stay till we find a way to get back?"
Emma's eyes widened in understanding. "Oh my gosh, you're right!" She jumped and started to pace around the steel beams of the tower. "I can't just sleep right here! Oh, mum's gonna eat me alive when she gets to know how much I screwed up this time! I won't be able to take part in the football tournament! I practiced for ages for that one!" She sighed, and shot a pitiful look at her kwami. "It's all over…" She whimpered.
"Hey." Marinette said in a soothing voice. "It's not the end of the world, okay? We'll figure out something." She shot Emma a reassuring smile. The young blunette however, looked unamused.
"Says the one who thought the universe would come to an end if Adrien Agreste rejects her confession." Marinette blushed a bright red.
"H-Hey! I'm trying to help you! You don't need to make fun of me!" Marinette cried, making Adrien chuckle. Emma raised an eyebrow at her father.
"What were you talking about anyway, before I – uh crashed into you?" Adrien immediately sobered up. Marinette narrowed her eyes at the blond.
"I believe, he was about to reject me." She deadpanned.
Emma shook her head, letting out a snort. "God, this day is getting more and more ridiculous. I literally crashed into my mom's confession to dad. And now, I'm stuck here with the teen version of my parents." She cast a sideways glance at the older teens. "Who are…still older than me."
"Think of this way Emma!" Plagg chirped. "You can learn tons of embarrassing stuff about these two idiots. You can later use that for blackmailing them for cheese!"
"Plagg! You're not supposed to encourage that type of behavior!" Tikki scolded.
"You know, I like your thinking, Plagg." Emma grinned deviously. "But maybe, I won't use it for camembert."
Plagg wiggled his eyebrows. "See? She's an excellent kitten!"
"Oh Plagg!" Tikki face-palmed. (or is it face-pawed?)
"Hey! You're not allowed to do that!" Adrien cried, pointing an accusing finger at his – daughter? "Or-or – you'll be grounded!"
Emma's eyes became unusually large, a bit glassy with tears, and she pouted a little. "You'll really do that? To your own daughter?" She whimpered pitifully.
Oh no. It was her secret weapon to get out of trouble. The kitten-eyes.
"Awww!" Marinette cooed. "Not the baby-doll eyes, please!"
"It's the kitten eyes." Emma corrected.
"Aww, it's so cute!" Adrien gushed. "I just wanna cuddle you!"
'Yay! Outta unnecessary time-out!' Emma cheered silently.
The little bluenette giggled. "I know! Mom can't resist these kitten-eyes." She said, pointing a peace-sign to her eyes. "She complains about it endlessly to dad, saying he had the gall to pass it on me and Louise. He always puts on the same face every single time."
Marinette tilted her head in curiosity. "Who's Louise?"
"My little sister," she informed. "Honestly, she resembles Grandmeré Emilie so much, it's spooky. Save for the freckles she got from mom."
Marinette whistled. "Wow…"
"Tell me about it. Atleast, I have certain privileges as the first granddaughter. Grandmeré Emilie's favourite, is of course Hugo, being the first-born kid and all that, even if she claims that she loves us all equally. Poor Félix, left all alone." She rolled her eyes.
Adrien questioned that particular statement. "W-wait." He paused for a breath. "You mean to tell me, my mom is…still alive?!"
"Of course. Who on earth told you she was in some sort-of fancy graveyard?" Emma scoffed.
Adrien sighed in relief. "That's good to know." he muttered only to himself.
"So umm…" Emma started nervously. "I still don't know where I'm supposed to stay for the night. I'm stuck in the past after all. I'm not supposed to exist."
"You could stay with me." Marinette offered. "It's only for a few days, we can adjust. Maman and papa would be happy to have you at home."
"Oh my god, really!? Thank you so much mom, you're the best!"
"You say that every time when Ladybug lets you use her 'Miraculous Cure'. When you snatch the Lucky Charm from her." Nooroo teased, making Emma red from embarrassment.
"But how are we going to explain Emma to your parents, Marinette?" Tikki questioned.
"It's fairly simple, I know how I can handle this." Emma assured. "I'll say that I got flung out of that portal along with Butterfly, and I got stuck here. Rest, I'll just tell them who I am." She shrugged. "After all, the whole Butterfly episode must've blown all over the Ladyblog."
"Oh no, I forgot about Alya!" Marinette cried. "How am I supposed to explain you to her?"
"I'll just use the same story. But I promise I won't blow your cover as Ladybug and Chat Noir."
"This whole thing is a lot to take in." Adrien admitted. "But seriously, just how many people are you planning on using the same story?"
"Just Auntie Alya, Uncle Nino, Grandpapa and Grandmaman Tom and Sabine, and Grandperé Gabriel. They're pretty close to us so they need to know. To others, you can just say that I'm a cousin or something.
Plagg flew near his chosen's face. "Kid, I hate to break this to you, but it's getting pretty late. Your father's assistant has called at least 27 times."
"Crap Plagg! You couldn't tell me this earlier?!" He got up and raised his fist in the air. "Plagg, Claws Out!"
In a flash of warm green light, black leather replaced the clothes and Chat Noir took Adrien's place. "I'm sorry m'lady. But this cat's gottta go. I promise that tomorrow you'll be graced with the presence of your knight in shining leather. Cat's honor!" With a little bow, Chat Noir extended his baton, and swung away to his home.
"Ready Emma?" Marinette asked.
Emma grinned. "This bug's ready to wing it!"
Marinette groaned at the pun. "Now I know you're definitely Chat's kid." She shook her head. "Tikki, Spots On!"
Emma laughed at her mother's comment. "I won't deny it. Nooroo, Dark Wings, Rise!"
In a flash of pink and purple, Ladybug replaced Marinette and Emma Butterfly. With the yo-yo and cane, the bug heroes made their way to the bakery.