Title: Shifting Oceans
Fandom: Miraculous Ladybug, Bleach
Characters: Juleka, Rose
Chapter: 17
Word Count: 1775
Warnings: nothing
Beta: ToxicAngel13 on AO3
AN: Remember when I said things were going ass-up last chapter? It came to a head. I lost my mother.
I'm doing okay.
I have friends with me. I am trying to get things done.
Just know that the already weird schedule is going to stay weird. I'll post when I can.
All the hugs and love.
Playing with the cup of tea she had ordered when she had arrived, Juleka stared over at Rose who was holding her own cup of tea, looking rather sadly at it. Rose had called her yesterday to meet up since they were still out of school for the time being. Juleka had immediately talked to Chloe, still navigating what her new whatever with the blond female was and agreed to meet with Rose.
So she had met up with Rose, arriving at the cafe and ordering their teas, settling at a private table to talk.
"How have you been?" Juleka finally asked, Rose jerking and staring at her with wide eyes.
"Oh! I'm doing well enough. My latest medical tests have all come up clear," Rose told her. Juleka nodded, pleased at that news. "I actually wanted to come talk with about a few things. But I first wanted to apologize for how I treated you based on the lies of Lila," she said softly. She shifted in her seat, flushing softly.
"I..." Juleka swallowed. "I can't say that it hadn't hurt like a bitch when you told me that you had believed Lila over me. Especially since we had been together for so long," Juleka said softly. She played with the spoon in her tea. "It really hurt that you didn't think that me doing anything with a guy not my brother was some kind of bunk. You know that I'm not interested in men beyond as friends or co-workers. Family. Me? Sleeping or flirting with someone? Yeah, that's not happening," she sighed. She shook her head. "I know why it was so easy to believe her but I would have thought that you would have challenged that thought." She shifted. Crossed her legs.
"I know. Believe me, I know. Some part of me did know that what she had told me was so wrong. That you would never do such things with a guy, no matter how much they flirted with you. That you don't like men like that and never have. Not after… But the rest of me? It believed it. Ate it up without any thought or consideration to the truth," Rose sighed. She shook her head. "I'm not really expecting you to forgive me, Juleka. Prince Ali has already told me how disappointed he was in me, but he did agree that a good part of it could be blamed on Lila since she had so much lingering magic on her that were powering her lies. He has agreed to give me a second chance. I must show that I am willing to think and ask where it requires it."
"You still have a lot of things to work out about sll of this, don't you?" Juleka asked, Rose nodding. "I know that you'll figure it out. But truthfully? I'm not the only one that you need to apologize to. You went after Marinette after all she did for us and then you put Chloe down because she spoke the truth about Lila when things were going down. We all drove Marinette and Adrien away from Dupont. They had a very good reason to leave us behind and I'm just glad that they were able to find some happiness at The Rose," she said. She shook her head. "I've already made my amends with her and we're working on our relationship. Have you gotten your own cleansing done?"
"No, not yet. I'm going in later. Alya said that she would go with me, and Nino agreed this morning to go to the shop where they got theirs done," Rose told her. She shrugged as she played with her bracelets. "I don't know what will happen when I go there, but I'm hoping that it will go okay so that I can give Marinette and Adrien a proper apology. Right now, every time that I think about them, even a little bit, I get so mad at them for turning on Lila the way they had," she said, shivering at those thoughts. Now that she knew just where they were coming from, she knew how to stop them and how to stop from reacting based on them.
But sometimes, still, whenever she heard or saw Marinette, they would surprise her and she got unreasonably angry. So now, she was definitely going to go to the store to get the cleansing done. After the press conference from Ladybug and Chat Noir, she had felt that it wasn't a good idea to let the magic linger for any longer then necessary, even if it wasn't being fed into any more.
Ladybug had told them during that same press conference that there would be no more Akumas or SentiMonsters anyways so they wouldn't have to worry about Lila being turned again. And the fact that Papillion and his partner was going to use their abilities for the good of man kind now made her feel even better.
Rose was hoping to start over once she had the magic removed, and then hopefully start to move on, having learned a new lesson in life. And part of that plan was to give her ex-girlfriend a sincere apology.
Juleka smiled as she reached over the table, drawing Rose from her thoughts. She patted the blonds hand as Chloe's car pulled up out front, the driver getting out and ready to open the door for her. "I know that you'll figure it all out, Rose," she promised, standing up. "For now though, I promised Chloe that I would spend some time with her today. We're going to do some modeling for Marinette."
Rose smiled at her and nodded. She watched as a happily smiling Juleka left the patio of the cafe and slid into the car, Chloe smiling sweetly as their fingers automatically laced together. Once the car was gone, Rose took a deep breath and wiped her tears off her cheeks. She knew that she had messed up and that she would be dealing with those consequences for years to come, but it didn't make it hurt any less.
Alya came up behind her and placed her hand on Rose's shoulder, giving her an understanding look. "Come on, Rose. You said that you had to stop by the store to get a few things before we head to the store right?" she asked. Rose nodded her head.
"Yes. I do need to get some of the better ginger beer. Perhaps some ginger paste or ale. Whatever they have in stock," Rose said as she stood up.
Nino joined them and they left the cafe, heading to the small grocers. They helped her pick up the bottles of ginger beer and ale, some ginger paste, a couple boxes of crackers and a few other easy foods to eat while she had the magical backlash headache. Alya and Nino had already agreed to take turns watching over her until her mother got home and was able to watch over her afterwards.
The entire time that they walked, Rose worked out on figuring out her own mind, trying to feel the threads of thoughts that were hers and hers alone while finding all the thoughts that weren't hers. She figured that she had learned what to look like pretty well by the time that they got to the magical store, Missy greeting them and showing her a few more natural teas that could help her feel better then just the ginger ale, beer and paste, along with a headache tea. She wrote out the instructions before packing everything up
The ritual to cleanse Rose took a little longer since Missy found out that Rose was a natural well spring of nature based magic, for the most part, so it had to be done with a lighter touch. Missy didn't really want to do any damage to the young girl's body or soul where the magic was held after all.
Once it was all said and done, Missy showed them out, glad that the uber was waiting for them, and closed the shop behind them. She was exhausted, hating to have to do such delicate rituals with no real notice, but she hadn't wanted to make the girl rearrange her schedule again. She put up a sign about being sick and that the store would open in an hour when her work partner could come in to run the front for her while she rested.
With that all done, Missy headed up the stairs, calling Jagged and asking him cover the counter for her for the rest of the day. Either him or Penny, whoever was free to cover. Jagged had invested in her store when she had first started, their friendship starting when they had been kids rocking out and learning magic, so he would be willing to cover for her.
He sent her a text as she stripped out of her clothes that he would be there with Penny in a few, looking more normal then his usual flamboyant rock and roll style.
With that set up, she pulled on a comfortable set of night clothes, went into her kitchen in the dark and grabbed water and a snack that she ate as she sat on the side of her bed, before she laid down. When Jagged came up to the apartment later that night, as Penny closed the shop down for the night, she took the food he handed her gratefully, ate, drank the last of her water, and crashed out once more, Penny and Jagged leaving through her personal house door.
On the other hand, Rose headed home with Alya and Nino, feeling lighter but quite obviously with a migraine that was making her feel sick. They got her into her home and to her bedroom, Alya helping her into a night gown as Nino followed the instructions on how to mix the migraine tea and the upset stomach tea together in the kitchen. He brought the mug, a can of ginger beer and a large bottle of water, getting her to sip some of the teas and some water before she laid down.
For the next four hours, they got her up every so often to sip some of the cooled tea, some of the ginger beer and water, and maybe nibble on a cracker before her mother got home to watch over her for the rest of the night.
As Rose and Missy rested, Juleka spent the rest of the day with Chloe and stayed the night, holding the blond girl close, nose buried in soft, blond hair as they smiled in their sleep.
