Later that day Alya and Nino claimed to be off to get tickets to the museum before the doors opened and save a spot in line. Their excuse left Adrien and Marinette at a coffee stand nearby. Alya filled in Nino quickly about Ladybug's plan, and Nino nodded in agreement. Finding a secure corner, they pecked each other on the lips quickly, and transformed.
Marinette nervously scanned the sidewalk, glancing up towards the entrance of the museum. If she didn't get into the museum before Carapace put his shield into place, things would just end up more delayed. She wracked her brain for an excuse to get away from Adrien (not something she typically wanted to do…but under the circumstances…)... but Marinette thanked her lucky spots when it turned out she didn't have to be the one to come up with an excuse. Adrien came up with one first.
"Hey, do you mind if I make a quick phone call before we head off to the museum?" Adrien asked. "If you want, you can just go ahead, and I'll meet you up there." Adrien said pleasantly.
"Oh, yeah, sure…that will be great. Talk your time. I mean take your time," Marinette answered.
As she headed off in the direction of the museum, she glanced back to see him digging around in his backpack…probably for his phone she assumed. Then her heart sunk. Probably to call that girl he had been traveling with. Marinette turned her eye back to her target. She had to stay focused. There was too much on the line to worry about Adrien and his mystery girl. She had to concentrate on herself and somehow finding Chat Noir.
Just as Ladybug snuck through a side door (thanks to Tiki), Carapace created a shield around the museum blocking anyone from entering. (No one noticed a black cat vaulting to the roof a moment before the shield came down either). Rena Rouge played her flute summoning an illusion, indicating to all outsiders that the museum was closed.
Ladybug and Chat Noir literally ran right into each other, rounding a corner into one of the many Egyptian exhibit rooms.
"Chat! You made it!" Ladybug said in surprise.
"I told you I'd find you," Chat Noir cocked his head to one side, flashing her a bright smile.
"Did you get it?" Ladybug inquired urgently. I'd rather get out of here so Rena and Carapace don't have to hold the façade much longer."
"For you M'lady," Chat bowed, presenting her with the stone piece. "Like you said, Alex was really helpful. She convinced her father last night that it had been taken for photo documentation for the online archives….but I'd like to return it right away. I was accused of stealing from the Louvre before, and the police were not too impressed."
"Yeah, but that was Copy Cat who stole the Mona Lisa, not you!" Ladybug reassured him.
"I tried to tell them they had the wrong cat…only this time it really was me who stole something!"
"Borrowed," Ladybug emphasized with a coy smile. "We'll get it back before they even notice it is gone," Ladybug patted the stone piece, and then the two sprinted off through the exhibit.
They reached a case displaying a stone very similar to the one from the Louvre. In fact on closer examination they saw that it was the matching half of the one Chat had (as Ladybug had put it) 'borrowed.'
"Ember light," Ladybug called, summoning the Phoenix.
"One moment," Ember said, and then swiftly zoomed around, disabling the alarms and cameras and unlocked the display.
Chat Noir picked up the missing piece and raised it up. Together they brought both pieces together, and they inter-locked where they had been broken.
The carving on the stone depicted a hunting scene of various humans and animals.
"Why a hunting scene?" asked Ladybug.
"Not hunting, but a war. A war between humans and kwami weilders," Ember corrected.
Ladybug drew her gloved finger across the interlocking lines of the stone piece that they had united. Then using Ember's quill miraculous as a 'key' they fit it into a groove near the edge. A portion of the stone released with a thud. Within was a metal reflective disk with the miraculous symbol engraved onto the surface.
"That is it," Ember confirmed. "Let's get out of here quick!"
Chat Noir pocketed the metal disk, and zipped it up securely. Then returned the stone piece to its case. Ember reset the alarm, and Ladybug merged with Kalaki to teleport the other half of the artifact directly back to its resting place in the Louvre (much to both Chat Noir and Alex's relief).
Ladybug and Chat Noir then teleported outside of the museum right beside Carapace and Rena. "You two can stand down," Ladybug smiled to them. "We got what we needed thanks to you two. As always you were right there when we needed you!"
Carapace released shelter and Rena's illusion disappeared. All was as if their interference in the daily routines of the museum had never happened.
"Does this have anything to do with your recent globetrotting?" Rena couldn't help but inquire.
"I have a feeling it won't be long before the two of you take a similar trip, after all your time as super heroes," Ladybug smiled at her. Ladybug knew her friend's reporter side was just aching to burst out with a full inquiry and burraide of questions. But as always, Rena Rouge withheld the temptation to try to get an inside scoop, especially after Ladybug had trusted her once more with a miraculous.
"Well, if you need any more help, just let us know," Rena said, with Carapace nodding in agreement. The four of them ducked around a secluded corner, so Ladybug could collect their miraculous' back.
"Thanks again!" Chat Noir called back as he and Ladybug propelled themselves up to the steep museum roof where Ember waited for them. With a quick wave, Alya and Nino set off to find their missing friends.
"So, where to now?" Chat Noir asked excitedly. "Are we actually off to Egypt now!"
"Egypt is our next destination, but not yet," Ember folded his fiery wings. "We must wait till 3a.m. London time before we embark. We have to arrive before sunrise in Giza to make this work.
"Meet back here tonight?" Ladybug asked Chat Noir.
"A rooftop date with you Bugaboo?! I wouldn't miss it for the world," Chat shouted with a salute, and leapt off the roof.
"Not a date!" Ladybug shouted back, but he was already out of sight.
"It's not," Ladybug glanced at Ember, who kept his own council, and returned without comment to his quill.
Suddenly, Ladybug heard voices calling "Marinette! Marinette!"
Inconspicuously slipping back down, Ladybug whispered "Tiki, Spots off," and Marinette set off in pursuit of her three friends.
After a full day of touring around London together the four had finally arrived back at the loft after midnight. It had been incredible. There was more than they could possibly fit into one visit in the British museum alone, but they didn't stop there. They had also taken a group selfie across from Big Ben (making jokes about the better view from the top (thanks to Startrain)). They had surveyed the whole city atop the London Eye Ferris Wheel ("Much better than the time my sister when berserk as Aanasi," Alya had declared, which Nino had whole heartedly agreed with). Then they had finished the day with dinner at a trendy new restaurant. Truth be told it would have been the romantic night Marinette had always dreamed of with Adrien, if it wasn't for his occasional distracted looks at his watch.
Marinette threw herself against her pillows in her room, when they had safely all retired for the night. Adrien had been such a gentleman, and insisted on taking the couch in the living room. "He was probably waiting for a chance to call the girl he had been with all week," Marinette lamented softly to Tiki.
"Maybe," Tiki nodded, surveying her distraught mistress. If only I could just put the two of them out of their misery Tiki thought to herself. That boy is thinking about you, but neither of you realize the truth.
"If only I could have been that girl," Marinette moaned, pulling a pillow over her head, "if only I was the one who got to make him happy."
Tiki rolled her eyes with a sigh. Nope. She was not going to say it. These two oblivious weilders had to find each other in their own time, no matter how ridiculously long it took them.
"Don't worry about it all Marinette," Tiki encouraged the girl under the pillow. "Everything will work out the way it was mean to…but you should get some sleep! You only have a couple hours to rest before we've got to meet Chat Noir!"
"You're right Tiki," Marinette said beneath her pillow barricade. "At least I can be happy for Adrien that he finally is with the one he loves."
"Well, he will be soon," Tiki mumbled.
"What was that Tiki?" Marinette asked peeking out from beneath her pillow.
"Nothing…um…just don't forget to set your alarm on your phone," Tiki covered, floating beneath the blanket.