25: Animan

Ladybug was becoming a bigger problem than I thought. Last night proved that.

"I don't want you to stop coming by," I repeated to Adrien as we were cuddling on the couch, "But if she sees us again? She'll know that we lied to her and I don't want to find out what she will be capable of if she really doesn't want us together."

Adrien simply kissed my head, "I'm going to miss you."

"We are still going to see each other," I said softly, "But yeah, I'm going to miss this."

"It's not going to be for long, is it?"

"God, I hope not," I said wryly. "Let's give it a month?"

"Too long," Adrien immediately objects. And I had to agree with him. "A week?"

"Not long enough," I replied back. "…Ten days?"

"…Mangeable," Adrien huffs. "Still not going to like it."

"Hey, I don't like it either, but it's a small sacrifice compared to what will happen after."

Adrien shifted so that I was laying on top of him. His hands were on my lower back, slowly trailing down to my ass before coming back up. "After?"

"…I'm going to make sure to have blackout curtains in my room," I start. "When those ten painfully long days are over, I'm going to show you how much I missed you."

Adrien blushed, but his answer was to grab my face and bring me to a kiss.

When we parted, Adrien smiled fondly as he pulled my hair behind my ears.

"Whatcha thinking?" I asked with a soft smile.

"That I will fight for our love. No matter what anybody says. You are the only one for me."

My eyes started to burn, but I stopped the happy tears from leaking and instead pressed my forehead against his.

"I will fight too," I whispered.

Ladybug, I don't care if Hawkmoth puts me in danger.

I've hidden from men more dangerous than him.

"You know…" I said, an idea starting to form in my head. "I'm no longer in a relationship with Cat Noir."

"Huh?" Adrien sits up, pulling me in his lap.

"Ladybug thinks I'm no longer with Cat. So that means I can be with Adrien Agreste freely."

He looked excited, "Then that means we can officially go public?"

I sighed, "It's too soon. But yes, sometime in the later future."

"I can't wait," Adrien smiles.

Me too, Adrien. Me too.

I don't want to keep it from my friends anymore. But I'm still nervous how they would react.

I don't want them to think that I stole him from Marinette.

We lasted about four nights before Adrien started to crack.

It was our biweekly basketball practice (I had to make it every other week to make it work for my schedule) when Adrien grabbed my wrist from the moment I got out of the women's locker room and pulled me to an empty room.

It was a small conference room that had the curtains closed, but allowed for some sunlight to let through. Adrien locked the door behind us. He lifted me from under my knees and sat me on top of the table.

"Adri-!"

His tongue dominated mine.

If I was standing, I would have fallen. This makeout session was very intense. His hands were everywhere, grabbing my ass and pulling my hair.

His teeth nibbled my ear and gently pulled my lower lip.

"Adrien," I moaned as he sucked on my neck's sweet spot.

"Jolene," He growled as he French kissed me. When we parted for air, a trail of saliva connected our lips.

"What's going on?" I asked wryly, "Not that I didn't like our little moment."

Adrien groaned as he pressed his forehead on my shoulder, "I really missed kissing you."

"Me too," I replied. "But I have a feeling this was something else."

He groaned and looked at me with a pout, "You know me too well."

I simply raised an eyebrow and waited for him to explain.

"…There were some guys checking you out."

I blinked, "Huh?"

Adrien frowned, "In the locker room, I heard them talking about…" He paused, as if controlling his anger, "Your sweet ass."

I couldn't help the giggle that came out.

Adrien didn't look amused, so I had to control myself.

"Sorry, I know it's not- okay, it's a little funny. To me," I pointed out when Adrien frowns even deeper. So I grabbed his hands and put them on my ass. "You know you are the only one to touch this, right?"

He smirked as he slapped them causing me to squeak in surprise, "I better be."

"Good, then let's go," I said as I hopped off the table and turned to the nearest mirror and fixed my hair and clothes. "Natalie is probably wondering where we are and why we aren't in the Blue Room by now."

He grumbled, but stood next to me so he could also fix his appearance.

Huh, I'm surprised he was the first to crack like this.

I thought it was going to be me.

More days passed and I knew I needed a massage as my head didn't stop aching. I've tried drinking water and tea, staying away from screens, taking a nap, and even taking a painkiller. But I still have that headache. And only one place popped into my mind.

So like all people my age, I decided to Google it.

It's not a massage, more like a spiritual/energy cleansing. And many people left many great reviews about Mr. Chan's energy massages.

Well, might as well give it a try.

Kind of sounds like the cleansing my grandfather would do with an egg.

It's been a while since I got cleansed too.

So that afternoon, I visited Mr. Chan's Massage Emporium.

It looked empty, and I was afraid that I should have called ahead and made an appointment when suddenly an old Asian man in a red Hawaiian shirt made a quiet appearance.

"Welcome to Mr. Chan's Massage Emporium," the old man smiles, "I'm Mr. Chan."

"Hi, Mr. Chan," I greeted, "I'm Jolene and I was wondering if you have time to give me your energy cleanse."

He hummed as he walked closer towards me and then grabbed my left arm. His eyes were observing the jade bangle Adrien gave me.

"Was your bracelet this cloudy when you got it?" He asked.

"…Now that you mentioned it, no," I said.

He let go and then motioned for me to follow him behind the paper sliding doors.

It was a decent size room, with a futon bed in the center. At the wall, there was a gramophone with beautiful Oriential designs on top of a drawer.

It was like something was pulling me towards the gramophone. It was hard to explain, but it just grabbed my attention.

"This is a beautiful gramophone," I told him. And then I flushed as I saw his emotionless face with scrutinizing eyes. "Sorry."

But then he asked, "Why were you drawn to my old music player? I didn't think people your age would be interested in those."

I gave him a sad smile, "My grandmother had a gramophone too. She played a lot of Italian music on it."

It belonged to my great-grandfather. He had it made for my great-grandmother as a first anniversary present.

The horn was made of golden brass and shaped to make it look like an Angel's Trumpet flower. The wooden box was a piece of art. The sides were engraved images of the angels and cherubs playing instruments. They were hand painted as I saw in old pictures my grandmother had in her album. She told me that they faded over time, but the wood craftsmanship was amazing. She made sure to oil and polish it so it still looks just as beautiful as it did eighty years ago.

She promised me that one day it would be mine.

It's never going to happen.

"I'm sorry if it brought painful memories," Mr. Chan said softly.

I just laughed softly as I blink away the gathering tears, "Not painful. They are precious memories that bring joy."

Mr. Chan smiled and motioned for me to lay on the futon.

He then lit up incense and kneeled beside me.

"Now, tell me what's bothering you?"

"My head," I told him. "It's been hurting and I've tried everything I could think of, but nothing works."

"Does it hurt now?"

"It feels like a hammer is hitting from the inside of my skull. Right now it doesn't hurt as much as it did in the morning."

"Have you taken medicine for the pain?"

"Only painkillers when my ginger tea didn't work," I answered.

"Do you rely on natural remedies first?"

I nodded.

"That's good," He says. "Now close your eyes and take deep breaths. I'm going to check if your spiritual energy has been compromised. Just concentrate on my voice."

And I did as I was told.

I didn't understand what he was saying. It was more like an ancient chant. I could feel his hands hovering over my body. But they hovered longer over my head and my left wrist. Going back and forth.

I don't know how long Mr. Chan was chanting, but I could feel the difference. When Mr. Chan hovered his hands over my head, I felt the pain spike, but then it lessened.

My body felt lighter too. I didn't even notice until Mr. Chan told me that I could open my eyes.

I blinked as I slowly sat up. Something compelled me to look at the jade bangle. It was just like I first had it, pure green.

"I feel so much better," I told him with a soft smile. "Thank you."

He nodded as he offered me a grandfatherly smile. "You are welcome, Miss Jolene.

"But I hope you don't mind my question."

"Ask away," I encouraged.

"Can you feel spiritual energies around you?"

I shrugged, "I think I can. I mean, I always thought I just sensed the aura of people and sometimes animals. I can feel them whether they are happy or sad, or other types of emotions."

He hummed as he pointed at the jade.

"In Eastern tradition, women wear jade to protect themselves from malevolent forces. And when the jade turns cloudy, it means that it's absorbing those bad energies to protect you.

"But even then the jade needs to cleanse themselves every so often so that it can still protect you."

I nodded in understanding. "So my headaches were because the jade wasn't protecting me from those energies anymore?"

He nodded, "I'm afraid so. But now, everything is fine as I'm sure you can feel."

"How long do you recommend to have my jade cleanse?"

"There's no exact time, just when your jade starts to change color," He answered as he stood up.

I stood up and opened my purse.

"I will not charge you," He surprises me.

I nibbled my lower lip, but still pulled out a 20 euro bill and placed it in his hand. "I insist that you have this then. To show how much I really appreciate your service."

"I believe in your good intentions," He says as he places his free hand over mine. "Then I'll accept it."

We pulled our hands away and I bowed my head respectfully at him, "Thank you and have a nice day, Mr. Chan."

"You too, Miss Jolene."

And so I left Mr. Chan's place, feeling refreshed. And as I walked back to my apartment, I couldn't help thinking back on my misfortunes after receiving the bangle.

My almost kidnapping.

Sitting through the trial.

Chloé's constant negativeness.

Remembering past wounds.

Ladybug ordering Cat to break up with me.

I need to let go of that anger. Or it will poison me. Or worse, get me Akumatized.

Nino was getting ready to finally ask Marinette on a date. But just like Marinette, he gets tongue-tied when they have to talk to their crush.

And thus, Adrien was the one who decided to walk over to her and talk.

As I watched from the sidelines, I could see how Marinette was getting ideas about their future outing.

When they came back, Nino was wearing the biggest grin I had ever seen.

"We are finally hanging out," He grins as he makes a little jump. "It's going to be at the zoo. Isn't it a good romantic spot?"

"…It could be with the right person," I shrugged. "So how do you plan on actually confessing?"

Nino smiled nervously, "Um, I don't know?"

Adrien and I both sighed as we walked towards the Seine.

"Just be yourself," Adrien told him as we sat down on the bench facing the river,

"Right, sure," Nino drawls, "If I could be yourself. Myself don't work that way."

"You're being ridiculous, of course you can," Adrien encourages. "When you're alone with Marinette later on-"

"What? Alone?!" Nino stood up as he faced Adrien. "Oh no, dude. You're coming too. You can't leave me alone, no way."

I wasn't liking where this was heading, but I couldn't say anything.

"Okay, Nino," Adrien says wryly, "What are friends for?"

Then he looks beside me, "Jolene, are you coming?"

I nodded before I could think it through.

"Yeah, but not with you guys," I said thinking of something. "I'm going to be… drawing the animals."

"Oh, cool," Nino smiles. "Working on a new video?"

"Maybe I'll get a new inspiration," I shrugged. "It's been a long time since I last visited a zoo and drew animals that weren't pigeons or squirrels.

"Though maybe next time I should go to an aquarium," I added as an afterthought. "I'll go on ahead. Drawing animals takes a lot of time and I want to make the most of it."

"Hope we see you there," Nino waves while Adrien smiles.

I waved and went towards my apartment to get the necessary equipment.

It's been a long time since I've seen exotic animals up close. The closest thing was when I visited the aquarium in the Mandalay Bay Hotel when I was in Las Vegas. I spent the whole day there.

I really enjoyed drawing the octopus and the surrounding coral that he was tucked in.

And this zoo has a new panther exhibit. I've started to have a fondness for cats.

The zoo was pretty empty which worked for me.

My bag had my sketchbook, my charcoal pencils, sharpeners and eraser. Maybe another day I might bring colored pencils.

I decided to head towards the new exhibit. At first I didn't see the panther until I saw movement above.

It was the panther laying on top of a branch, it's tail swishing back and forth as it's eyes stared at me.

We stared for a while before the panther let out a yawn and laid his head on top of its paws.

I didn't waste time sitting on the nearest bench and took out my supplies. Just as I was finished, I saw Max and Kim walking towards us.

"Jolene, what a pleasant surprise," Max says as he fixes his glasses.

"Ditto," I replied with a wry smile. "I'm here to sketch the animals. Just finished one."

"Oh! Can we see?" Kim asks excitedly. He didn't even wait for my response as he scurried behind me and whistled. "You really took your time for the details."

Max quietly went over and nodded, "Great art skills, though I didn't expect anything less."

"Thanks guys," I smiled as I felt a small blush coming towards my cheeks. "Well, I got to see the other animals."

We waved before I went on my way to see the crocodiles. The pattern of their scales are good ways to practice texture.

It's rare to not have an Akumatized person running loose in Paris. Of course, not all of them make grand headline, but I have a feeling that wild animals escaping the zoo will do just the trick.

For me? Well, I was beyond terrified and pretty sure looked like a crazy person as I was hanging onto a lamppost for dear life as crocodiles were snapping their jaws at me.

"Help!" I cried as my hands were getting sweatier by the second.

I screamed again as one hand slipped.

I tried to reach to grab onto the post again, but then my other hand slipped as well.

I barely had time to scream as I felt myself falling.

But I didn't have to scream anymore. My hero saved me once again.

"I got you," Cat whispered as he caught me in his arms. He landed gracefully and quickly jumped away from the crocodiles with the aid of his staff. He didn't stop until we were on top of a building.

He lowered me carefully and grabbed my face with his hands, "Are you okay?"

I nodded and hugged him, "I am now."

He was about to lean in, but he stopped himself. "I have to go."

I nodded and I raised my hand and gave him the Sign of the Cross.

He kissed my hand, "Please be safe."

"You too," I said softly.

He smirked, "Always am, little lady."

And then he left, probably to look for Ladybug.

I sat down and pulled my knees close to my chest.

I could have been a crocodile's meal.

Tears just fell, soaking through my jeans, my lap getting wet as I placed my forehead on top of my knees.

My head hurt when I finally stopped crying after I don't know how long. When I looked up, ladybugs filled my vision and my clothes weren't ruined with salty tears, my head didn't hurt and most importantly, I was on the ground level. Right in front of the crocodile exhibit.

I wasn't scared of them. No. Of course not, it's irrational.

But that didn't mean I was going to stay in this zoo any longer.

"Allo, Jolene?"

"Adrien," I answered my phone as I was just entering my apartment building. "Sorry if I didn't stay at the zoo. I really wanted to get out of there."

"Sorry for leaving you there," Adrien said softly. "I'll call you back. I see Nino… and Alya."

Huh, curious.

"Okay. Talk to you later," I hung up.

Much later, Nino would call me to say that he and Alya were trapped in a cage that Ladybug put them in. Naturally, to keep them safe from the rampaging animals.

And now Nino doesn't have a crush on Marinette anymore.

He found a girl that shared a lot of his interests: Alya.

And now they are boyfriend and girlfriend.

And on good timing too.

Ten days had passed, and tonight a certain Cat was visiting.

Omake 14

I was certain that Jolene would be the only girl for me. I can't imagine kissing another girl. Nor could I think that someone else would kiss her. Her kisses, her tender touch, her loving stare, are all for me.

I made sure to be careful that Ladybug or anyone else hadn't seen me.

And it was all worth the long wait to finally be back to her apartment. The place I can truly call home.

"Mi cielo," Jolene spoke in Spanish, sending a wonderful shudder down my spine. "You know that Nino is our best friend right?"

"Yeah?" I asked slowly, not understanding where she's going with this.

"So you know that he and Alya are now a thing," She continued.

I smiled, "Yeah. Kind of unexpected, but I'm happy for him. And Alya too."

She sighed heavily, making me think that maybe we were not on the same page.

"Don't get me wrong, I'm happy for them too," She said as she looked at me with that cute smile of hers. "But Alya's best friend is Marinette. And she… has a huge crush on…"

"Huh?" When she mumbles, I can't really understand her.

"You!" She groans as she places her face into my shirt.

"Really?"

She looked up at me, and I couldn't help noticing the cute pout on her face. I know she's supposed to be mad, but she's just too cute.

"Adrien," She frowns, her Spanish accent more noticeable as she rolls the 'R' in my name. I love it when she says it like that. "I knew she had a crush on you since before you were Cat."

This time I was surprised, "I… didn't know she feels that way for me. Wait, why didn't you say anything?"

She nibbled on her lower lip as she looked down, "I, well, it's kind of complicated."

"I'm sure we have the time for you to tell me."

When Jolene finished explaining, I was left a little speechless. But then I saw how Jolene wouldn't look me in the eyes, and how she was slowly moving her hands away from me.

So I had to remind her who I chose to be my girlfriend.

I grabbed her face, and pulled her closer so I could kiss her.

When we parted our lips, I leaned my forehead against her, staring into her gorgeous copper eyes, "I love you, Jolene. I don't care if other girls have a crush on me. As long as you keep being my only."

She smiled, but then she frowned softly.

"I know we can trust Nino, but I don't want him to know about us just yet. He is just in a relationship with Alya. I don't want them to break up because we told Nino to keep our secret."

I nodded, understanding where she was going. And why she was so nervous.

"I'm not mad," I told her. "I mean, I would love to shout from the top of the Eiffel Tower how much I love you, but if you are not ready to share it to the world, I respect that.

"Plus," I added as I hugged her, "I like to keep you all to myself."

She laughed and I knew we would be able to handle the future.

AN: Thank you all that read so far. (And sorry for being a little late...)

And thank you to gwencarson126, starrat, leenap1105, and nene9131 for reviewing. As always, I enjoy reading them. (nene9131, if you made it this far... yes, I named Jolene after that song for that reason :3)

To Nube2013, Aoi mizumi, alissa0505, mariampircxelani1, MuiLOVR, Evil Irish Pixie, and animeflunky, thank you for following and/or favorited this story. You guys make my day.

.

.

.

Only two more chapters left before starting season 2...