Ah yes, Timetagger. Finally. I plan on making this chapter pretty long, going over the episode but also beyond it because I think with the relationships at hand there are a lot of things to cover, don't you? It has been so hard to get this finished though because of its length and the fact that we are once again super short-staffed at work so I'm working like 12-hour shifts up in this bad boy.
She was dreaming again. It was something Lucy had gotten so used to over the last handful of months, that she hardly thought about it anymore. Sometimes, the dreams felt normal. Flashes of things that never happened, but perhaps would, all coming at her in an unorganized and meaningless way. The kind of dreams that after you wake up one might think to themselves "What a weird dream that was.", but when they try to think about it and the details that made it so odd, it's gone. Instead, you are left knowing something strange had gone on in your mind, but you now no longer have the ability to recollect what it was or explain it to others. You just feel...weird. Unexplainably so. Of course, as the day progresses the odd dream that you know was odd but you cannot remember why begins to drift further into the back of your mind until it is forgotten entirely.
Other times, like this one, Lucy found herself seated in her father's office. The scenario itself was always the same. The same coworkers, doing the same things, speaking the same words to the same people over and over, no matter how many times she had the dream. The only thing that changed was her father. Not physically of course, but he was never surprised to see her anymore and their conversations though usually short, were always different. Unlike everyone around them. She and her father seemed to be the only ones not stuck on repeat. It was peculiar, but like most things, Lucy got used to it. After all, dreams could be odd that way.
"How's your mother?" He asked. He usually did. Perhaps there was a bit of a broken record feeling to their conversations after all.
"She's alright," Lucy answered, picking up the family photo her father kept on his desk and running her thumb over the glass. "She misses you."
"I miss her too." He told her quietly, swiveling in his chair slightly.
"I miss you too." She told him. Looking up, Lucy met her father's eyes as he smiled gently at her.
"Well," He said. "you don't need to miss me, Lulu." He reached forward and placed a warm hand over one of her own. "I'm right here."
Lucy could feel her eyes water at the sensation. How her mind remembered her father's touch so vividly that even after so much time without him that even a dream could make it actually feel like he was in fact right in front of her. The first time he touched her in this state had been a shell shock in a way. They had hugged and it seemed so real that she could feel it even after she had awoken. She swallowed hard and blinked away the water in her eyes that refused to fall. It's possible to go on, no matter how impossible it seems, and that in time, the grief . . . lessens. It may not go away completely, but after a while, it's not so overwhelming.
"Dad, I-" Lucy's words were interrupted by an odd movement in the space. A slight sound passed though as it did so and Lucy could only think to compare it to holding two ends of thin metal sheeting. Making a wave out of it and listening to the wobble sound it makes. Almost like that of some kind of radio wave even. "Well, that's new." She then spoke as she looked around.
Her father leaned back into his chair, pulling his hand away from her in the process. His face remained passive as he took in what was happening before bringing his eyes back to Lucy.
"It's time for you to go now." He told her simply. Lucy furrowed her eyebrows at him.
"But dad-"
"Don't worry Lucy." He stopped her. "Like I said. I'm right here."
A high-pitched ring shot into Lucy's ears making her clench her eyes shut and grip her head. As it passed she opened her eyes and found herself in bed, gripping her father's pocket watch. She let out a breath she didn't realize she had been holding and sat up, running her free hand through her hair. Glancing at the digital clock on her side table, it read eleven twenty-three. Lucy squinted before grabbing her phone and checking the time, finding it to be the same as the clock. She cursed under her breath. Not because she had anywhere specific to be, but because she never slept in that late.
Although Lucy wasn't much of a morning person, she was in fact typically an early riser. She assumed it was just her internal alarm being used to waking up early for school. The latest she usually slept in was around 8 am. To find herself awake after eleven was strange. Bringing her legs over the edge of the bed, Lucy looked down at the pocket watch and ran her thumb over the top, and popped it open. Her eyes widened as a voice came from inside.
"Nice work, Minibug, you're right on time. Now, dig as deep as you can into the past and you will find the rabbit's burrow." The hologram's voice was somewhat robotic but in a way familiar.
"Mini bug?" Lucy said to herself. "Did it mean Ladybug? Dig in the past..." Lucy had opened the watch before and the hologram was nothing new. She had no idea where her father had gotten the watch for it to have that ability but figured it did not really matter. The voice however was very new. The watch had never talked before. Lucy had no idea what to make of the message that played really but figured that maybe her best bet was Ladybug. Putting on the news from her phone, Lucy saw that Ladybug and Chat Noir were once again taking care of Mr. Pigion near the Louvre. Since that building did in fact have exhibits of all sorts from the past, Lucy conducted that that was exactly where she needed to be. Changing out of her Pj's, Lucy grabbed her keys and headed out of the apartment to where Chat and Ladybug were. Hopefully there she would get some answers.
OoOoOoOooooO
Ladybug and Chat exit the restrooms they had used to restore their Kwami's energy. After taking care of Mr. Pigion a new villain appeared claiming to be from the future named TimeTagger. His power seemed to be the ability to send people and things into the past while also moving through time and space himself making it evident that defeating him won't be as easy as it had been to defeat their previous villain. Together, Ladybug and Chat Noir ran for the exit only to run right into Lucy, knocking all of them over.
"The fates have spoken," Lucy said from under Chat Noir who raised a brow at her.
"Lucy! What are you doing here?" Ladybug asked, getting up from the ground while Chat helped Lucy up.
"I'm not sure yet to be honest." She pulled her watch out and showed it to Ladybug and Chat. "My father left me this watch when he died. To this day I have no idea where he got it, or why he found it so important for me to have but today I opened it up and it did something odd. It relayed a message. A message that I think is meant for you." Lucy explained.
Ladybug takes the watch and opens it. The message Lucy had listened to at home played once more. "Nice work, Minibug, you're right on time. Now, dig as deep as you can into the past and you will find the rabbit's burrow."
"Dig deep into the past?" Ladybug repeated in thought.
Chat Noir smirked at Lucy. "Did you also inherit a shovel to go with your watch, by any chance? " Lucy crosses her arms at the boy. "Uh, shovel, you know? For all this deep 'digging'." He explains as he makes air quotes. Lucy smiled and swat at him.
"I know what you meant."
Ladybug facepalms at the interaction but then gets an idea. "Of course! What's the oldest exhibit in the museum?"
Lucy shrugs slightly. "Probably the Egyptian collection. Most of that stuff dates back more than five thousand years."
The three of them run down the Eqyptian exhibit and Ladybug begins knocking on different items until she finds a statue that sounds hollow on the inside and calls Chat to use his power to destroy it. None of the teens knew what would be inside the statue, but something that they never imagined was for a whole person to come out.
The woman stood just a little taller than the girls, and maybe an inch above Chat. (As I was picturing this in my mind I realized that in comparison, Adrien, Marinette, and well, all the other kids are remarkably shorter than most of the adults. I take that this is probably due to the fact that they range in ages 14-15 in the show and most kids have yet to reach their full height yet. However, even when I look up heights it's a little unclear. Being that I aged up most of the teens in my story to 16-17 their heights would probably be a little different and somewhat closer to what their own adult height would be with the exception of an inch or so with girls. Boys obviously grow a little differently. My boyfriend was 6'5 when he graduated HS but he is 6'7 now and he hasn't been a teen for quite some time so ya know.) She had long blonde hair pulled back in a braid with bunny ears on the top of her head. A blue mask covered her eyes and she wore a multi-colored blue suit and umbrella attached to her back. The woman yawned as she stepped out of the rubble left behind.
"Mini bug, Kitty, I knew you'd solve my riddle. A basic security measure in case the watch is stolen. But now, I need to do something very important."
The bathroom was the important thing.
"My name's Bunnix (Yes I know she is Bunnyx in the show. I changed it only because when I read bunnyx in my head it sounds exactly how it looks and that was annoying me.) And in the future, I'm a member of Ladybug and Cat Noir's team of superheroes. Well, the Ladybug and Chat Noir you're going to become because right now, you two are more like Minibug and Kitty Noir." Bunnix explained from inside the bathroom while everyone waited on the other side. "Within the team, I am the hero of the last chance. I'm called upon when everyone else has failed, that includes you two."
"Ey! We just got you out of the stone, didn't we? Which means you must have failed somewhere, too." Chat poked.
"Yes, well, no." Bunnix went on. "It was actually your fault. Or more precisely, it will be. In the future, one of your cataclysms will accidentally damage my Miraculous." Bunnix comes out of the bathroom and shows her busted Miraculous. "That's how Timetagger will be able to send me into ancient Egypt and get me stuck in stone."
"How did you stay alive in there?" Lucy asked with a raised eyebrow. Bunnix tilted her head.
"Due to still being transformed helped. And also, time travel is weird." Lucy wasn't entirely satisfied with that answer but it was clear that everyone had more important things on their mind.
"Wait, then how are we going to do that without the Rabbit Miraculous?" Ladybug asked. Without looking away from Lucy, Bunnix held out her hand.
"Do you have the watch?"
"My watch?!" Lucy asked confused.
"Yes, my watch. Our watch." Lucy squints at Bunnix with uncertainty but the bunny hero simply smiles at her and waits patiently. With some reluctance, Lucy hands Bunnix the watch and a second later it drops its disguise and shows its miraculous form. The design similar to her outfit.
"Excuse my french but that was a fucking miraculous this whole time?!" Lucy asks in disbelief.
"In camouflage mode." Ladybug answers.
"Fluff, counter-clockwise!" Bunnix shouts and her costume fades. Her long hair shortens to almost chin level, it also looks a little darker than her current color. Her ears consisted of a few extra piercings and her outfit changed to an off-white button-up blouse, grayish-blue jeans, and black toms. The watch dangled from its chain around her neck. Suddenly, looking at her in her civilian form a moment of clarity comes over everyone.
"But you are—" Lucy starts.
"Yes, Mini-me. I'm you from the future." Future Lucy giggles. "You have no idea how long I have been waiting to say that."
"But wait," Ladybug chimed in. "it doesn't make sense. I never gave you, I mean her, I mean… I never gave either of you the Miraculous."
"True, you never did. But you never had to. My miraculous isn't with the others. It hasn't been for a long time actually. If you're curious, you know who to talk to about that."
"If I have had a miraculous this whole time, then how come I never activated it?" Lucy asked.
"Fluff, snack time!" Future Lucy called, and a tiny bunny Kwami floated out to eat. "You have to recharge your batteries." She gets out a carrot and fluff inhales it.
"Hmm, was that breakfast, or dinner? What time will it be yesterday? Is it tomorrow already? When it'll be the day after tomorrow, it will have been yesterday again!" Fluff says floating around her adult owner.
"It is dangerous for a miraculous to fall into the hands of random people. So Kwami's can technically refuse to come out to protect themselves. It isn't until after they have revealed themselves, their names, and the words needed to transform that an owner has any power over the miraculous." Future Lucy explained. "Fluff knows who you are. She always has. But it isn't time for you to be Bunnix yet, so she has stayed hidden."
"That Miraculous seems so powerful," Chat commented. "how come we don't use it more often?"
"Because traveling through time is very dangerous. Interfering with events can have serious consequences." Future Lucy warned painting a finger at him before turning to Lucy. "That's why it is very important we don't use it unless completely necessary."
The sound of Chat's ring beeping catches his attention. "Oops, time to feed my Kwami, too!" He yells before running off.
"I don't understand. If you're from the future, then you gotta know how this all ends. Your younger self has seen it with her own eyes. Which means you obviously know how to defeat Timetagger."
"Actually, uh… I've spent so much time in stone, I can barely remember." Future Lucy says scratching the back of her head.
"You had one job, me," Lucy tells her older self, who then rolls her eyes.
"But I think, the logical thing to do, would be to take Timetagger back to the future, so he can be defeated by heroes his own size. I'll take care of this. One thing I remember for sure is mini-me has to be there when I defeat Timetagger. If she's still in my memory, she must play a vital role." Future Lucy says, thinking about seeing her younger self waving with a pen in hand.
"So I get to see myself in action? Nice!"
"Fluff! Clockwise!"
OOoOoOooO
As the four of them run the museum Chat notices something strange. Slowly, different works of art were becoming random citizens from around Paris.
"He's destroying our present by rewriting the past!" Ladybug exclaimed. "Bunnix, since the future me hasn't been able to stop Timetagger from coming here, they must not be that powerful."
"Are you kidding?!" Bunnix says. "You're – I mean, you will be an awesome team leader. The greatest superhero ever." She encourages.
"How do you explain Timetagger then?"
"I told you earlier. If Chat Noir hadn't cataclysmed my Miraculous, Timetagger wouldn't be here. In the future you've defeated: Doctor Sadness; The Eclyptinvaders; Pain and Tears, the twin queens of the Interdimension; and Ignoblia, the evil sister of Majestia, so believe me, you're not going to be intimidated by Timetagger. Oh, and I even forgot Monsieur Rat."
"Monsieur Rat?!"
"You can't seem that surprised Ladybug." present Lucy said. "Think about all the weird and crazy situations you've seen. In the end, you always find a solution, sometimes it just isn't what you expect."
"Tell me, Bunnix," Chat Noir says leaning towards her. "in the future, are you and I like…" He makes a heart with his hands.
"Chat!" Ladybug scolds but Bunnix only smiles at him.
"If I tell you your future, your choices become a lot less...yours."
"That's not a no!" Chat jokes.
"It's not a yes either," Lucy says, making Chat turn to look at her. The two teens met eyes and Lucy was the first to break it, bringing them to Bunnix. Chat frowned as Bunnix kept her expression passive as to give away nothing to either of them.
"Hey, the future isn't set in stone." Chat pouted crossing his arms.
"Not yet," Bunnix answered. "Now let's go."
OoOoOoOo
They raced out of the building and Bunnix growl at the sight of graffiti all around them. "We've taken too long, he's had enough time to weave a giant time-web around us."
"Surrounded by just one guy? Does that mean he can attack from anywhere?" Chat Asked.
"More like: from any time," Bunnix answered and Timetagger appeared.
"Gimme your Miraculous, don't make me ask.
It's pretty clear you're not up to the task!
When I bring them to Hawk Moth's door,
Ladybug and Cat Noir will be no more." He rapped and Lucy cringed.
"Oh great, more rhyming. It's disco Harley all over again." Chat Noir advances to attack but Bunnix takes hold of his arm to stop him.
"Stay where you are. I'll deal with him and take him back to the future you. It means nothing must happen to you in the meantime. But first— " She picks up Lucy and places her next to André's ice cream cart, "Stay right there, okay? Then it'll be exactly like it was in my memory. And now— Burrow!" Bunnix shouts, using her special power. Bunnix goes through the portal she created and transports herself next to Timetagger. He teleports out of the way in time.
"Missed me!" He antagonizes.
Bunnix tries again, and Timetagger successfully dodges again. At Bunnix's next attempt, she gets hit. While flying through the air, she creates a portal and uses her momentum from being hit to hit Timetagger. Timetagger is hit and is flying through the air, he pulls off the same trick. This continues for some time.
"She doesn't need to transform back before she uses her power again?" Chat asks aloud.
"No," Ladybug answered. "because she's an adult!"
"Awesome, I can't wait. Is that an 18th birthday kinda deal do ya think?"
In the background, the fight between Bunnix and Timetagger is still commencing. Chat Noir is getting antsy, he is ready to run towards the fighting duo before Ladybug stops him with her words.
"I don't think we're quite up to the job yet, Chat Noir."
The fight goes on. Bunnix throws her umbrella into the air and goes through a portal. When she comes out, sliding, she catches her umbrella and hooks it around Timetagger's ankle, throwing him inside another portal. Before he reaches it, however, he teleports.
"Bunnix, you're lame, you don't get the game.
And now you have to start all over again."
"I can't stand watching them playing cat and mouse like this. Cataclysm!" Chat shouts.
"Chat Noir, no!" Ladybug calls after him. Chat Noir runs at the fighting duo, but Timetagger notices him and teleports out of the way just in time. Instead, Chat Noir stumbles and almost hits Bunnix's umbrella. She pulls it out of the way and Chat Noir lands on the ground.
Bunnix glares at him "See?! In the future, that's exactly how you damaged my Miraculous. You always do this!" Timetagger teleports next to Bunnix, where she just then opened a portal, she opens her umbrella and pushes Timetagger into the portal. "I knew it! I knew you'd do that. Who's the best now, huh?"
Bowing her head Bunnix smiles at the teens. "Thanks for your involuntary help, my young friends, now Bunnix is going home."
The three of them wave goodbye and Bunnix opens a portal only to stop and look back at the
"Wait a second, this is not the exact right moment."
Timetagger appears behind Bunnix and shoots her with his gun. She gets sucked into a green portal and the number -100.000 appears.
"Enjoy your trip to the ice age, fluffy tail. He says before bringing his attention back to the teens. "We've wasted enough time, gimme your Miraculous, now!" Bunnix emerges from a portal in front of him, shivering; she punches but he dodges. "So, the ice age wasn't good enough for ya? Back to the cretaceous then."
She gets hit with his gun again. She gets sucked into the portal with the number -66.000.000; not even 2 seconds later she emerges from a portal, a t-rex sticks its head out of the portal, while Bunnix holds it back.
"Down, Denver, down!"
"You wanna keep playing, fluffytail?" Timetagger taunts. Bunnix turns to him and glares.
"Don't call me FLUFFYTAIL!"
Timetagger hits her with his gun again; she gets sucked into a portal with the number 24.000. "To the future, Seventh Interstellar War."
"Maybe we should give her a hand after all." Ladybug suggests.
"I don't know Ladybug," Lucy comments beside her. "If something happens to you guys now, it could mess up the future more so than it already is."
Timetagger hits Bunnyx again, the portal has the number 79. "The heat is on." Bunnix emerges from the portal, she's smoking and panting; she tries one more attack but collapses.
"Sorry, Minibug, I just can't. Looks like this time I don't have a solution after all."
"What if today's the day we grow up? Lucky Charm!" Ladybug shouts receiving a notepad. "A block of paper?"
"Hahahaha, what're you gonna do with that? Send a defeat treaty? Now gimme your Miraculous or I get rid of your friend by sending her back to the big bang." Timetagger threatens, pointing his gun at Bunnix.
"Alright, you win, we'll give you our Miraculous. All I ask is that you give me a little bit of time, to write a letter, to apologize, to my future self."
"What?!" Lucy and Chat say in unison.
"No, think of something! You always think of something." Chat tells her.
"Fair enough, Ladybug, wish granted."
Ladybug frowns. "I don't have a pen, could anyone lend me one, please?"
Lucy reaches into her bag and hands her a pencil and Bunnix gasps. He memory of what is supposed to be falling in line. Ladybug is about to start writing, but her Lucky Vision highlights, in the notepad, the pencil, Bunnix, Timetagger, and the graffiti closest to Timetagger.
"Time's up, my moment of victory has arrived."
Ladybug sighs. "Ugh, I can't find the words, it's pointless anyway. I won't even be Ladybug in the future after we give up our Miraculous. She then crumples up a sheet of paper from the notepad.
Bunnix frowns. This isn't right. It isn't supposed to go this way. "Please don't do this, Minibug!"
"Some problems simply don't have a solution."Ladybug says as she walks up to Bunnix. "Go back to your timestream, Bunnix, make the most of your remaining time."
"No, I refuse! I—"
"Who's the team leader in the future?" Ladybug whispers passing her the crumpled paper. "Trust me."
"Okay, Ladybug," Bunnix whispers back before standing and wielding her umbrella. She opens a portal and goes through it.
"Come on, Chat Noir. We better give him our Miraculous." Ladybug says, offering her hand to her partner. Chat takes it, his other hand still bubbling from his unused cataclysm. Ladybug and Chat's eyes meet and Ladybug sends him a wink, signaling she has a plan after all.
OoOoOoOo
In the future, Bunnix emerges from a portal. Adult Ladybug and Chat Noir are waiting for her.
"I'm sorry, guys. If I mess with the timeline too much...you know. I failed.
"Not true, Bunnix." Future Ladybug told her. "You didn't fail. Every problem has a solution. Sometimes it just isn't what you expect."
Bunnix looked up at Future Ladybug and smirked. "Wise words."
"I learned from the best." Future Ladybug takes the crumpled paper present Ladybug wrote from Bunnix's hand and unfolds it. A drawing of the topdown view of the Louvre can be seen, with a dot-grid array under it. One dot is circled and an arrow is pointed to it.
OoOoOoOoO
"Hahaha! I said I was sent by the Hawk Moth of the future, but I never said that the Hawk Moth of the future was you!" Timetagger said, talking to HawkMoth in his mind.
"Your earrings are mine, Babybug." Timetagger held out the pencil Lucy had given her. "And you, Kitty Noir, cataclysm this so I can take your ring safely after I'm finished with her." Chat Noir takes the pencil with his left hand and prepares to do as he is told. "Good boy."
Ladybug looks supremely smug as Timetagger reaches for her earrings. Then, a burrow-portal opens, and out comes a yo-yo. Timetagger is pulled towards it and Future Chat Noir's staff pushes Timetagger's gun off his belt, where it was fastened. Ladybug jumps up to catch the gun, tossing it to Chat Noir, who catches it in his cataclysm-activated hand; the gun crumbles to ashes and from its remains arises an Akuma. Ladybug opens her yo-yo.
"No more evil-doing for you, little Akuma. Time to de-evilise!" Timetagger is engulfed in purple magic and turns back into Future Chris, Nino's younger brother.
"Ladybug? And Cat Noir? You're so young! Where am I?"
"The question should be more like: when are you?" Chat jokes. Bunnix emerges from the portal and takes Chris by the shoulder.
"C'mon, Chris, let's go home."
Future Chris goes through the portal and future Ladybug throws back the note present Ladybug wrote.
"See girl? We did it. We always will." Her voice rang out from the portal.
"So, do I get my watch back?" Lucy asks. Bunnix smiles and hands Lucy her now camouflaged watch, showing Lucy that her own has been restored thanks to Ladybug.
"Remember mini-me, with great power comes great responsibility."
"Really?" Lucy said crossing her arms. "You're gonna spider-man me right now?"
Bunnix winks at her and Lucy frowns. "Wait...did dad know this was a miraculous? Did he use it?"
"Ask him yourself," Bunnix told her. "You know where to find him." Lucy squinted at Bunnix before bringing her attention to the watch.
"Like I said. I'm right here." All this time...
Chat tried to fight his curiosity, he really did. But he needed to know. He cleared his throat beside Bunnix who sighed and raised an eyebrow at him, waiting for whatever question he had.
"I know you can't really tell us much about the future but I was just wondering...Do you know who we are? Ladybug and I? Under the mask?" Bunnix hesitated and stared down at Chat intensely like she was weighing out the pros and cons of the information.
"Yes." She finally said. "I do."
Chat let out a shaky breath that he had been holding as he waited on her answer.
"So you...you..right now...you know who I am?" He clarified. Bunnix gave a small nod.
"So that means..." Chat brings his gaze to Lucy, who had walked off slightly, her focus on the pocket watch in hand.
"For what it's worth," Bunnix spoke as Chat continued to watch Lucy with a far-off look. "I always have. Known who you are that is."
Chat tore his eyes away from Lucy to try and ask Bunnix more, but when he did, she was gone, and the portal closed.
"Miraculous Ladybug!"
Chat wonders over to Lucy and smiles. "Looks like we are gonna be partners after all Hunny Bunny."
"Yeah..." Lucy replies, not looking up to acknowledge him, her focus still on the watch. Chat frowns.
"Is everything alright?"
Whatever thought process Lucy had been having she pushed back temporarily. Blinking she looks up at him and gives a light smile.
"No, I mean yes. Everything is fine. Did you just call me Hunny Bunny?
"I did."
"Don't"
"To late!" Chat told her. "Once I've come up with a pet name, it sticks! Isn't that right BugaBoo!" He called out to Ladybug who rolled her eyes playfully before holding out her fist. Chat Noir and Lucy joined.
"Pound it!"
OoOoOoOoo
"You seem quiet." Ladybug commented as they watched Lucy head home.
"Bunnix knows who we are in the future." Chat told his partner. "Lucy will one day know not only your identity but mine. I just wonder what that means for us. Do I tell her? Or does she figure it out? When will she know? If I told her today would it make a difference than waiting?"
"Chat," Ladybug said, placing a hand on his shoulder to stop his rambling. "I don't know when Lucy will find out our identities, or what that means for your future with her, but I think it's best you let things play out how they are meant to."
"You're probably right." Chat said with a sigh. "I just..."
"I know Kitty. I know."
OOoOoOoOoOo
Later that evening Lucy sat in her bed in thought. "Ask him yourself. You know where to find him."
All this time, Lucy had thought her dreams about her father were her brain's way of dealing with the grief she felt. A way to cope with losing him. It always felt so real to her but thought that maybe that was just how badly she wanted to see him again. Lucy got in her bed and laid down, gripping the pocket watch in her hands. Squeezing her eyes shut, Lucy tried to think hard about her father, putting all of her energy and focus on every detail about his appearance, his office, and the people in it. She quickly began to feel foolish. She wouldn't be able to conjure him up by simply thinking about him. And yet, her eyes remained squeezed shut. Lucy realizes the odds, and science, are against her. But science is not the total answer; this she knew, this she has learned in her time watching Ladybug and Chat Noir. That left her with the belief that miracles, no matter how inexplicable or unbelievable, are real and can occur without regard to the natural order of things.
"Open your eyes kiddo."
OoOoOoOoOoOo
Six years in the future, Bunnix emerges from her portal once more after Chris.
"I'm really sorry guys. I don't know what came over me." He apologizes.
"No worries buddy." Chat told him while Ladybug pulled out a charm from her yo-yo.
"Here Chris. This will stop you from getting re-akumatized." Chris takes the charm and nods, thanking the heroes before heading home.
"Pound it!" The three say bumping fists. Bunnix looks at her watch, her eyes widening slightly at the time.
"Shit." She cursed, looking to her partners. "That took a little longer than expected didn't it." Ladybug and Chat looked at their own devices as if not believing Bunnix. Ladybug yelps.
"Gah! You're right! The ceremony starts in a few minutes! People are gonna wonder where we are, but especially you two!"
"M'lady," Chat bows in goodbye before soluting Bunnix. "See you at the alter Hunny Bunny!" He then quickly uses his staff and volts away, leaving the two women to groan.
OoOoOoOoOoOo
Lucy couldn't breathe. There he was, her father, standing in front of her again. He smiled at her gently but it didn't last as Lucy soon began to feel her legs shake. As she fell to her knees, her father dashed to her side while bringing his hands to her arms, just below her shoulders, and squeezing her lightly.
"Hey, hey, hey," He coaxed. "It's alright. Take a breath. I know it's a lot."
"You're here..." Lucy spoke, her voice set at a whisper. "Like...really here..."
Her father smiled again. "I told you I would be." Daniel Shepherd wasn't entirely sure what kind of reaction he was expecting but a violent shove from his daughter wasn't quite it.
"You're here! You've been here, THIS WHOLE TIME!" Lucy shouted in anger. Daniel looked from her to the door and stood up, closing it gently so as not to draw too much attention.
"Kiddo, l know this is a lot to take in, believe me-"
"Believe you!? Why should I believe you about anything! We thought you were dead!" Lucy spat as she stood from the ground.
"I am." He said quickly, holding his hand up to stop her from shouting at him more. "Just not yet." Lucy blinked at her father.
"What!?" Striding over to his daughter, Daniel took her by the arms and lead her over to the seat in front of his desk and sat her down before sitting against his desk.
"I thought this conversation would go differently..." He admitted. "I always thought I would be the one to-" He paused. "It doesn't matter. Lucy, you're time traveling. You have been this whole time. Did Fluff not explain anything?"
"Did Fluff explain anything? Fluff?! I have been dreaming-coming-I have spoken to you numerous times and you never mentioned anything! And you're gonna blame the floating rabbit!?" Lucy argued. Her father sighed.
"Would you have believed me if I had?" Her father countered. "Lucy, besides talking to me, have you done any other travel with the watch?" Lucy remained silent and shook her head no. "And you thought you were having dreams of me this whole time yes?" A nod came from the girl. "Dreams can be weird Lucy. And I would have no way of proving it without messing with time negatively."
"Why not?" Lucy asked, her anger seemed to subside, but her desperate need for answers came through clearly in her tone.
"It's complicated."
"That's such a cop-out answer."
"It's an honest answer." Her father shot back.
"I don't understand..."Lucy groaned. "Dad...you died! Why didn't you save yourself?"
"Well, I didn't know I was going to die Lulu." Daniel chuckled. "Nobody knows that." Lucy blinked in realization.
"But you could! I can just tell you and-"
"No." He said firmly, making Lucy frown. "Death is inevitable, sweet girl."
There they were again. The sting of tears in her eyes.
"But you could live. Why wouldn't you choose to live! Die when your one hundred like a normal person!"
Another breathy laugh escaped her father's throat at the idea. "Like a normal person." He repeated through a chuckle. "People die every day Lucy, most of them make it nowhere near one hundred."
"You could live!"
"And someone else would die." Licking his lips, Daniel kneeled down in front of his daughter and placed her hands in her lap, and placed them in his. "Light thinks it travels faster than anything but it is wrong. No matter how fast light travels, it finds the darkness has always got there first and is waiting for it. If hadn't taken that bullet, someone else would have. Where there is death, there is always death."
OoOoOoOo
Gabriel Agreste stood in the lower level of his mansion where his wife lay undisturbed in her comatose state. Timetagger had claimed her was not the Hawkmoth of the future. Nathalie tried to suggest that perhaps that meant he had succeeded and after bringing his wife back, he would no longer have a need to be Hawkmoth. Gabriel couldn't help but feel that wasn't the case, however. Even if he had succeeded, there was no way that he would willingly let his miraculous be placed in the hands of another. He was sure he wouldn't let Ladybug and Chat Noir reobtain their miraculous either. No. Something wasn't right about the future. Regardless, if there was anything Gabriel had learned over the span of his life, it was that the future is what you made it. Destiny is not a matter of chance; it is a matter of choice. It is not a thing to be waited for, it is a thing to be achieved.
"We are not gods, Lucy. If you take in anything I say, take in that. Deciding who lives and who dies is a job meant for no human and so it is best to avoid making it a habit. In all honesty, I hope that you never have to use this watch really. If you do, there is a high chance choices will have to be made. Choices that weigh on you after you have made them."
He didn't know yet how, but Gabriel wouldn't stop fighting for his family. No matter the cost.
"Don't they all." Lucy attempted a weak joke, her father's eyes left her's for a moment.
"It's different."
OoOoOoOoOO
"So," Lucy began. "Are you going to teach me how to use it?" Daniel stood and ran his fingers through his hair.
"I mean...yes...but also no." Glaring at her father, Lucy crossed her arms. "What I mean," He told her. "is that, yes I will do everything I can to help you. I always planned to...one day...under different circumstances. But these are the cards that have been delt so we have no choice but to work with what we got-"
"Dad you're rambling."
"Sorry," Daniel apologized with a grin. "I can help you, but in a limited way. I can't travel with you." Lucy's eyebrows stitched together at the information.
"Why not? Don't you technically have the watch right now?"
"On my person? No, it's at home safe. But that's not the reason. Time is delicate Lucy, and it is very easy to accidentally make small changes. Taking your late father from the past on a trip through time is one of those ways. It could snowball. You should reframe from taking anyone at any point in time away from their current timeline unless completely necessary. Have you been to The Burrow yet?" He asks only to get a shake of the head from Lucy.
"Well- wait. How much do you know exactly? Who even told you about the watch?"
"I did," Lucy answered. "Future me popped in for a visit. There was an akumatized villain from the future. She-I...revealed my identity to...myself, and Ladybug and Chat Noir."
"Revealed your identity..." Her father muttered. "Why would you do that?"
"Getting off topic again Dad. The Burrow?"
Daniel shook his head and rubbed his face to refocus. "Right, yes, The Burrow. It's a bit hard to explain but The Burrow acts as a sort of temporal zone. Time works a little differently there and inside presents an overwhelming insight of past, current, and future events. It takes patience and restraint to separate the paths that could be from what will be."
"How do you know which path is the right path?" Lucy asked.
Daniel let out a large exhale of breath as he thought of his answer. "It's not really about right or wrong. Every path is the right path. Everything could've been anything else and it would have just as much meaning. That is why it is important not to allow yourself to look at future events if you can avoid it. Especially future events that involve you personally. When you know the future your choices become-"
"A lot less yours." Lucy finished. "I said that...or maybe I suppose, you told me."
Daniel hummed in response. For a moment, he got a far-off look as if he was imagining every possible conversation he could, but simotaniously already had had with his daughter.
OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo
The music from the other side of the large wooden doors began to play and soon they opened revealing the crowd of people seated in rows that lead all the way to the alter. Her eyes locked with the man of the hour. Once a hazel color had now darkened with age. Still, Nikolas hadn't changed much in the past few years. His facial hair had grown out more but was kept neat and short. He still had the same signature boyish grin since his younger years. His brown hair brushed back slick with not a hair out of place. It was almost odd walking towards him this way. There was a point in time when she had pictured it almost just like this and yet, everything was different.
Adrien squeezed her arm as they reached the alter before separating from her and taking the third spot in the line of groomsmen. Lucy took her third place in line as well with the bridesmaids. Their matching yellow dresses were a halter top-like fashion, sinching in the waist and flowing down to the floor with a slit on the side that came to the knee. They were simple, comfortable, and cute.
"Where were you?" Sabrina whispered from in front of her. "Chloe was about to have a fit."
"I'm here aren't I?" Was Lucy's only response as the music changed and the guests rose. As the quartet played the slow-paced melody, Chloe made her way down the aisle on her father's arm. Her hair was let down in waves, a barret holding a long veil in the back of her head. The dress was a lovely white color that looked mostly of satin. It hung of Chloe's shoulders and puffed out slightly at the hips in a princess style. A beautiful dress for a beautiful girl, handcrafted by the style queen herself, Chloe's mother Audrey.
Chloe's eyes landed on Lucy and you could see her visibly relax at the fact that one of her wedding party wasn't absent. Lucy knew better, however, than to think Chloe wouldn't pull her into a corner later and interrogate her about it. As she approached the alter, Chloe's father squeezed her hand as he locked eyes with Nikolas, like they were telepathically agreeing to something. Nikolas smiled and nodded at the man as he released his daughter's hand so that she could join her husband to be. Mr. Bourgeois took a seat next to his wife who looked over her daughter smugly, admiring her own handy work before narrowing her eyes at Nikolas, the man she still couldn't find it in her to completely approve of.
At the couple began to say their vows, Lucy looked from them and found Adrien staring at her intensely. As their eyes connected a smile crept of the blonde boy's face. It was small and subtle and most people wouldn't even notice it. Lucy smiled back softly before shifting her eyes back to the guests. Gabriel Agreste sat in his seat, and everyone was surprised by it. When you have the ability to see through time, you find irony in almost every situation. You can predict exactly where Mars will be in the sky, even in a hundred years. But the funny thing is that nobody knows what will happen to them 10 minutes from now. He looked...absent...like his body was there but his mind was not. Perhaps things could have been different if just...
Lucy looked away and squeezed her eyes shut for a moment, regretting her own thoughts. It lead her down a road of looking into all the other possible outcomes and the consequences that came with them. Her heartfelt heavy, uncertain of where to go from here. Every path is the right one, and yet while knowing all the variables, she wasn't so sure.
"Well, it's true. People have bent the rules in the past. Before unable to make a choice because they didn't know what would happen. After knowing what will happen, they are unable to make a choice.
OoOoOoOooO
"Sounds kind of boring anyway," Lucy told her father. "Knowing what's going to happen."
"Well, I'm glad you see it that way. It can be tempting though. There was a study done by a psychologist named B.F Skinner. His focus was on behavior analysis. One of Skinner's experiments examined the formation of pigeons: A hungry pigeon is in a cage with a button and a closed door. The door shields the pigeon from a bowl of seeds. Like most other living creatures, the dove quickly associates the push of the button with a reward. But when a timer opens the door every 20 seconds, the dove starts to wonder: "What did I do to deserve this?" If it was flipping the wings on at the given moment, it will continue to flap the wings, convinced that its actions have a decisive influence on what happens. We call this pigeon superstition."
Lucy raised her eyebrows at her father as he continued. "With the experiment, Skinner showed how creatures – including humans – tend to construct meaning. Even when cause and effect don't have an evident connection, we want to create one ourselves. The principles Skinner used to influence the pigeons are similar to techniques magicians use to trick audience's perception."
OoOoOoOoOoO
Adult Lucy sat at her table and people watched. The wedding was over and the reception had begun. It wasn't long into it when the lights dimmed and the announcement of the bride and groom's first dance was announced. "I Get To Love You" by Ruelle began to play as Chloe and Nikolas took to the floor and Lucy smiled to herself at the sight. Warmth surround her hand as she brought her attention to Adrien who had been seated beside her and took her hand in his. There was a thickness in the air anytime they were together these days. A thickness they both tried to navigate through with humor and physical touch. Yet, through the dense fog, it was sometimes hard to make out each other figures. Like searching around in the dark to move through your surroundings.
What did I do to deserve this?
OooOoOooOoOoO
"So, if you can't travel with me, then how are you supposed to really help me learn how to use the miraculous?"
"Well," Her father began. "I'll have to be your Jor-El." Lucy blinked at him.
"My what now?"
"Oh come on Lulu. Jor-El! Supermans dad!"
"Yeah, no, I got the reference." Lucy squinted. "I just need you to elaborate on the relevance."
Daniel sighed at his daughter. "Superman talked to his father in the fortress of solitude with a device that held Jor-El's subconscious. Think of this similarly. I can't physically do much for you, but I'll be here for you to ask questions and give you any advice I may have when you need it." Lucy nodded.
"Okay...I wish I could tell mom though."
"Don't" Her father then said sternly. "Honestly it's bad enough you've told me that other people already know about your identity."
"I think it could be a good thing. Might be nice to have someone other than my dead dad to talk to about it every once in a while." Lucy shot back softly.
"Do you think I enjoy keeping such a large secret from your mother and you? Lucy, the miraculous that you have been given comes with a tremendous amount of responsibility. The more people that know about it puts not only you in danger but them as well. Why do you think I pulled back so much for the two of you? Bad things could have followed."
"Bad things happened anyway, remember?" Daniel's eyes cast downward and his face became solemn.
"As if I could ever forget."
"Why didn't you change it? Why didn't-"
"The same reason I died." He told her. "If it wasn't you, it was your mother, if it wasn't your mother it was someone else in another location. I can't save everyone. Neither can you."
"You could have just gotten rid of Arnold Roberston altogether," Lucy argued with a somewhat bitter tone.
"It's never that simple Lucy."
OoOoOoOoO
"After all, who are we without the hardships we navigate through."
Adrien sat in his bedroom stared at his computer screen with the picture of him and his mom staring back at him. He wondered where she was, and how she was doing. If she was alive or what happened to her if she wasn't. His eyes shifted then to his photos of he and Lucy and he couldn't help but get his hopes up that everything would work itself out between them. Adult Lucy was sure to not give too much about their future away, not allowing him to know one way or another what their relationship was like outside of partnership.
People say that teenagers don't know how to love like an adult. Part of Adrien believes that but he's not an adult and so he has nothing to compare it to. But he does believe it's probably different. He's sure there's more substance in the love between two adults than there is between two teenagers. There's probably more maturity, more respect, more responsibility. But no matter how different the substance of a love might be at different ages in a person's life, Adrien knows that love still has to weigh the same. You feel that weight on your shoulders and in your stomach and on your heart no matter how old you are.
"I love you, Adrien."
Adrien knows those words get thrown around a lot, especially by teenagers. A lot of times prematurely and without much merit. But when she said them to him, he knew she wasn't saying it like she was in love with him. It wasn't that kind of "I love you."
Imagine the people you meet in your life. There are so many. They come in like waves, trickling in and out with the tide. Some waves are much bigger and make more of an impact than others. Sometimes the waves bring with them things from deep in the bottom of the sea and they leave those things tossed on the shore. Imprints against the grains of sand that prove the waves had once been there, long after the tide recedes.
That was what Lucy was telling him when she said "I love you." She was letting him know that he was the biggest wave she'd ever come across. And he brought so much with him that his impression would always be there, even when the tide rolled out.
He then thought about Hawkmoth, and what Timetagger had said about him not being the same Hawkmoth as the future. Did that mean they defeated the Hawkmoth they knew? Or that he will gain an apprentice? Or, will someone overthrow their current Hawkmoth? If that is the case, what does that mean for the old one? It only made Adrien wonder who the man behind the mask really was even more than he already did. Maybe Lucy was right. Maybe Hawkmoth was doing the things he was doing for a reason he actually found justifiable in his own mind. That didn't make it right or okay, but maybe he wasn't just a power-hungry villain, but instead, a man willing to go to great lengths for a personal manner. Maybe, if they knew what it was, they could reason with him.
"No one is exclusively bad, nor is anyone exclusively good. Some are just forced to work harder at suppressing the bad. There is no such thing as bad people. We're all just people who sometimes do bad things."
OoOOoOoOooOo
Marinette knocked on Master Fu's door that evening with a million questions in her head. When the small Asian man answered, he smiled at her and let her inside the simple apartment.
"What brings you here Marinette?" He asks, pouring some tea.
"Today we had a strange encounter with someone...from the future," Marinette told him. Fu paused for a moment before sitting his teapot back down on the table.
"Yes? And?" Marinette blinked at him.
"Eh, oh, well...I was just wondering if you knew how she got her miraculous. She said it had been passed down to her from her father and I just don't understand how-"
"Many years ago," Fu interrupted. "I entrusted the Rabbit Miraculous to a Polish historian during WW2. At the time, it had looked as if the genocide of Jewish people was coming to a close. He and I talked about the importance of preservation, and our worry that if Hitler had his way, he would write them out of existence. I bestrode the miraculous to this man, knowing he would use it, not to change history, but to make sure that it would be properly documented."
"But Master, why wouldn't you want him to change it...or even change it yourself? So many awful things happened to so many people." Fun let out a large breath and nodded in agreement.
"Time is a very delicate thing Marinette. Wars happen. They always have and always will. Trying to change such a defining moment in the history of the world would cause a ripple of chaotic change to the future. Not all of which would be positive."
"Well...why did you never take it back? The miraculous I mean?"
"The same reason you still have yours," Fu answered with a smile. "I believe in you, and your desire to do good in the world. Just as I had with him. It is evident that I was not wrong to do so, as the miraculous has been passed down generations with the same values of preservation in mind. I'm sure whoever is or will be the carrier of the Rabbit Miraculous, is someone who will use it accordingly. That is," Fu said, bringing his hand to his chin. "Unless you have some reservations about this person that might be concerning?"
Marinette opened her mouth and at first, no words came out. "I...uh...no...actually." She answered honestly. Even with her current conflicting feelings evolving Lucy and Adrien, Marinette had no reservations about the kind of hero Lucy might be or doubts that she would use her miraculous poorly. As she thought about it, Marinette couldn't think of someone more fitting than the girl she got to call her friend.
"Good," Fu replied. "I would hate to find out otherwise."
OoOoOoOoOooOo
"I don't know how you can look at it that way," Lucy told her father. "You've seen so many terrible things done by people."
"It's not easy." He confessed. "None of this is easy. But if you go through this life seeing only the negative without compassion or understanding...well, you are more likely to end up doing what is easy rather than what is right."
"Bit of a catch 22 isn't it?"
"In chess, it's called Zugzwang..." Her father told her. "when the only viable move...is not to move."
OoOoOoOoOoOo
"I love it when the night sky makes me feel insignificant." Adult Lucy says aloud as she looks up at the distant stars shining down on them. Adrien looks from her to the sky and hums in agreement. "You wanna come to mine?" She asks, now looking at him.
"Yes," Adrien says as he meets her eyes before bringing them to the ground, suddenly very interested in his shoes. "But I can't. I have to make sure my dad makes it home alright. He's not himself these days, you know?"
Lucy nods. "Of course."
"Life seems sometimes like nothing more than a series of losses, from beginning to end. That's the given. How you respond to those losses, what you make of what's left, that's the part you have to make up as you go."
Alright, there is the chapter. A good almost 9.5 k words. This took some time to write and I made a lot of art to go with it. It was kind of a strange chapter with the back and forth and I wasn't entirely sure which direction I was going to go with it. I hope you guys liked it and I can't wait to read your comments and thoughts! If you are reading this on Quotev or Fanfiction you'll have to find it on Devianart to get a better look at the pictures if you so choose. Under the name ashdash0192 but if you are on wattpad, then enjoy hahah. I wanted to do more art for it but honestly just wanted to get the chapter up so it is what it is! Anyway! I will see you in the next chapter!
