Ch14
Marinette held her head in her hands as she sat at her desk a pit forming in her stomach as the numbness spread throughout her body. "Marinette come on cheer up," Tikki said calmly. "I'm sure Cat Noir will explain himself."
"That's the least of my problems," she muttered as she looked over at the small compartments where the miraculous box was hidden. I'm the guardian. The words still shook her, she couldn't believe it a part of her wanted to scream and cry at how unjust it was for Master Fu to die.
Then there was Alya. Her friend was still in a coma and showed no signs of waking up anytime soon. Damn him. She clenched her fists thinking of Cat Noir. I didn't think he would be so vicious.
"All he had to do was ask," she said softly. Shaking her head she looked at Tikki. "Why did he have to hurt her like that?"
Her kwami avoided her gaze. "I'm sure he will explain himself."
She slammed her fist against the table making her kwami cringe in shock. "He is such a child, she said through gritted teeth. "How could he just run off like that!" Her blood boiled as she glared at her reflection in the mirror. "Then he comes back and hurts Alya like that, what a child."
"Marinette calm down," Tikki said softly. "We don't know the whole story yet."
"The whole story? He beat her up and cursed her!" She slammed her fist against the table her body shaking as she cleaned the tears forming from her eyes. "Now she is in a coma."
Falling into her seat she let the tears. The weight of the situation was slowly falling on her, she was all alone. I only have Tikki with me now. Luka too but I don't know how much I should get closer to him. She didn't want to make the same mistake with him that she did with Alya, getting someone she cared about involved.
Her phone rang and picked up when she noticed it was Nino. "Hey any news about Alya?" She asked.
"No," Nino sighed. "Still the same. But hey I heard something you might like."
I doubt that. "What is it?" She asked softly.
"Well I heard Adrien may be coming back to school," Nino said. "According to Chloe he will be back soon."
"Oh that's great," she muttered the pit in her stomach becoming deeper. He wants nothing to do with me and has someone else. Her body shook as a tear fell down her face, she quickly grabbed a tissue and cleaned it. "D-Do you know if he said anything about me?"
"Um no sorry but I'm sure he will be glad to see you," Nino said carefully. "I'm sure what happened between you and his father was a result of his mental health being low."
"Of course," she said softly. The look Adrien gave her that day nearly reduced her to tears. He sees me as nothing more than a stalker. Why couldn't he see the truth? That I only did what I did because we are meant to be together.
"Well take care Marinette. I'll update you on Alya's condition," Nino said.
"Thanks," she said as she hung up the phone. Taking a deep breath she sat back in her chair. Her sorrow mixed with anger as she thought of her other problem. The return of the old Cat Noir. "Why couldn't he have just asked her?" She clenched her fists her anger slowly rising. "He is spoiled!"
"Marinette just take it easy you can ask him when you see him again," Tikki said. "If he placed some sort of curse on her I'm sure he can remove it."
She sat up and looked at her frown in the mirror, her nostrils flared as she thought of her partner. "As far as I'm concerned he should've stayed back in retirement." Folding her arms she glared at her reflection. "He always thinks he can get what he wants but throwing a tantrum, he's a spoiled brat! I'll show him one way or another that there are consequences."
"Marinette calm down," Tikki begged. "He still is your partner and you're the guardian you should get along with him. Especially now of all times."
She folded her arms and sat back down. "At the moment I consider Luka my partner." It wasn't easy at the moment because she was guardian but she would work something out. He's been so good to me, I don't want to push him away but I hope he can understand that I can't share everything with him.
"Oh Marinette we also have another problem," Tikki said awkwardly.
"What is it?" She asked.
"Well the bee miraculous is still isn't accounted for," Tikki said. "Cat Noir must have it, if you have the chance get it back."
"Fine," she sighed rubbing her head. "Another headache to deal with." Walking around her room she saw all the photos of Adrien she hung on her wall and a pang hit her heart. "If he comes back I hope I can convince him that I meant no harm."
"Adrien likes his privacy," Tikki said calmly. "Just respect it and I'm sure he will let you into his life again."
She nodded cleaning a tear from her eye a pang hit her heart as she remembered how that girl clung to him. "I miss him so much," she said carefully caressing a photo of Adrien. Her heart ached knowing that Adrien didn't want her and had a girlfriend with him. Why must life treat me so cruelly?
Taking a tissue she cleaned another few tears from her face. "Tikki I miss him so much,' she said softly.
Her kwami looked at her calmly. "Well Marinette maybe you should come to the fact that he wants space."
Tiki's words were soft spoken but they still hit her in the heart. "We belong together I know it. If only he could see it, if he only he could see the sincerity in my intentions." The words rang hollow, yeah she was with Luka and trying to get over it yet at the same time she couldn't lie to herself or to her heart.
"Marinette you need to focus on the big picture. Paris needs you more than Adrien wants you at the moment," Tikki said politely.
Sitting down in her chair she did her best to control the feelings inside of her. Her kwami was right even if her words were like a knife to her heart. "I think I'm going crazy," she said softly. The stress of everything was slowly getting to her. Master Fu dying, Adrien kicking her out of his life, and Alya in the hospital. It was slowly draining her ability to think straight.
Her kwami gave her a sympathetic look and patted her shoulder. "Calm down Marinette just try to take things one thing at a time. Master Fu trusted you for a reason."
"Yeah you're right," she muttered. She looked at where she hid the miraculous box. "Master Fu is dead and he entrusted me with it. I'll live up to being a Guardian."
Adrien sat in his room across from Felix. His cousin had just been dismissed from the hospital and looked well. "So the city is talking about Cat Noir," Felix said showing him a few clips from a newspaper on his phone. "Everyone is happy even if you haven't been seen since your fight with Hawkmoth."
"Yeah I'm still debating my next course of action," he said as he carefully stroked the ring in his hand. "Anyway my friend wants to meet you."
Plagg came out of the miraculous. Felix and the kwami stared at each other neither of them saying anything. "This is my kwami Plagg with his help I transform into Cat Noir. Plagg this is my cousin Felix."
"A pleasure to meet you," Felix said.
"Likewise," Plagg said folding his arms while eyeing his cousin with caution.
"Anyway you both mean a lot to me. Normally I would keep this a secret but since you already know I decided to let you in on it," he said. "Kagami saw me transform but I know she will keep the secret too."
"Don't worry my lips are sealed," Felix said firmly. "We're family I'll always stand by you. What are your plans?"
He took a deep breath and looked his cousin in the eye. "I'm going to be Cat Noir again and help save Paris. I do love helping people and Hawkmoth is going to continue causing damage if left unchecked."
Felix nodded his gaze firm with determination. Well you don't have to do it alone, I'll continue to help you if needed."
"I appreciate your help," he said looking his cousin in the eye. "I plan on working with Ladybug but I also hope to be my own hero. I want to have a healthy relationship with her first and plan on respecting her boundaries."
"Good. Don't let anyone walk over you," Felix said. "That is how they'll take advantage of you. Don't trust that others will have your best interests."
"I know." He still had feelings for her deep down but he knew he had to respect her space and privacy. "I will go and patrol the city tonight and talk to her if I can."
"Good idea," Plagg said. "I'm sure she'll be happy to work with you again."
His cousin also nodded. "Just remember to keep your interests at heart and don't let her tread on you."
"I won't," he said. "It won't be easy but I will look out for my interests." He scratched his head. "I know I haven't been the best at respecting her boundaries but I will work on that too."
"Good idea," Plagg muttered.
"Anyway I wanted to let you know about another thing," he said as he went to his drawer and unlocked it. "We have another miraculous on our hands."
Taking out the bee miraculous Pollen came out and bowed to him and Felix. "Sir Adrien what is it?"
He smiled at the kwami. "Nothing yet Pollen. I just wanted to introduce you to my cousin Felix."
Felix got up and looked at the kwami curiously. "Interesting. Have you used him before?"
He shook his head. "No. I got him by accident. I'm going to talk to Ladybug tonight about him, I was wondering if you could watch over him while I'm gone."
"No problem," Felix said as he held his hand out. Pollen landed on his hand and smiled at him.
"Anyway I'm going out now," he said. "Plagg claws out!"
Plagg's familiar presence washed over him as he felt the energy and power of the miraculous envelope his body. In a flash, he was Cat Noir. "Man it feels good to do this again," he said stretching his arms.
"Good luck," Felix said.
He smiled at his cousin. "I'll be right back I promise."
Felix nodded his face didn't show it but he could see concern in his eyes. The two high-fived before he used his baton to exit his room.
The Parisian night made his insides feel giddy. It's been forever since I did this. He leaped from rooftop to rooftop. Looking down he saw the citizens of the city, some of them saw him and waved at him.
He waved back at the crowds of people. Paris I'm back. I won't let anyone trample over it. Besides he had help too, he was glad Felix and him were mending the gap between them. I hope we can be as one just like the old days.
Landing on a semi-busy street he was greeted by some excited citizens he waved and allowed them to take some pictures of him. Normally he liked his privacy but seeing their eyes light up made him feel good inside.
"Cat Noir is back," they muttered as he ran off and continued to patrol the city.
As he leapt from building to building he noticed a figure fly at him. He leaped out of the way just in time for Ladybug to kick the ground where he was at. His posture turned rigid as a variety of emotions stirred up inside of him. "Hey there Ladybug long time no see," he said with a nervous laugh.
His heart ached a bit but that melted away at the glare she gave him. "You have some nerve coming back," she said coldly. "After everything you did, you still want to come back?"
"S-Sorry I had some personal things to take care of," he said scratching his head. Ladybug glared at him, this wasn't her angry at some joke but was genuinely furious. Her eyes were full of nothing but contempt. "I know I made some mistakes but I want to make it up to you and the city."
"You are so selfish!" Ladybug yelled her body shaking. "Do you know what you did to my friend? You put her in the hospital!"
A pang of guilt hit him. "It was an accident," he said putting his hands in the air. "I didn't mean for her to get hurt, I just wanted Plagg back."
"Well seeing as you gave him up why should he be returned to you," Ladybug yelled her body shaking. "You are a spoiled child. Maybe if you acted like an adult I would've shared information with you."
His heart broke as he avoided her gaze. Looking down he saw a crowd of people pointing and looking. "I'm sorry. I really am."
I guess there goes any chance of reconciliation. Yet through his heartache, another feeling arose, anger. Who was she to berate him? Yeah what happened to Alya was tragic, but this wouldn't have happened if she had been open with him.
Ladybug glared at him her posture rigid as if expecting an attack. "I'll tell you how it will go," she said coldly. "I'm the guardian now and you listen to me, one step out of line and it is game over."
His heart broke as the anger burned inside of him. All the times she put him down slowly burned inside of him and he thought of Felix and his remorse turned into something else. "You know I really am sorry but you don't have a right to treat me like this." His body shook as he met her gaze, it wasn't easy standing up to the person he had some feelings for but his cousin was right, he couldn't be a doormat his entire life.
I'll live my own life starting now.
"We were supposed to be equals," He said folding his arms. "Yet you kept things from me and that hurt."
Ladybug scoffed. "Oh don't be like that with me. You just disappeared leaving the entire city underwater."
He shrugged. "I made a mistake, many of them. But hey you had your other friends to help you am I right?"
"You're so childish!" Ladybug yelled tears forming in her eyes. "You don't care about anyone about yourself. Look how others have suffered because of you."
His posture turned rigid as he stared at his teammate the air around them became tenser. "I admit my faults, but if you want to be like this fine, I can work together on a case by case basis. But I will not have you treat me like a second-class hero." His heart ached in his chest, it took all his willpower to meet her gaze, was he afraid? He was, but he was tired of others dictating what he wanted with his own life.
Ladybug glared at him before drawing her yoyo, for a second he feared a fight. "You sicken me," she said before leaving him on the roof.
As she swung off into the air he breathed a sigh of relief as he cleaned a tear from his eyes. "I did it," he muttered. "I stood up for myself." A part of him felt like crying but another part of him felt invigorated. He had never really stood up for himself in his life, starting today he would start trying harder.