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uptoolateart · 2 years

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Gabriel and Adrien Agreste as Zeus and Apollo / Hermes

So, there are these mind-blowing books from some decades ago, by Jungian psychoanalyst Jean Shinoda Bolen, M.D. – Goddesses in Everywoman: A New Psychology of Women and the follow-up, Gods in Everyman: Archetypes That Shape Men’s Lives.

If you’ve never heard of them, basically she takes a set of gods and goddesses and explores them as archetypes (energies and aspects) that we see in ourselves or in the people around us. The idea is that all of us, male or female, can channel any of these archetypes, but we probably lean more heavily towards one or two of them. For example, I’m very much an Artemis, with some Athena and Hephaestus mixed in.

I read these books and found myself applying the archetypes to literally everyone I know – even story characters. And I want to talk about the key archetypes we see in Gabriel and Adrien Agreste, because I think it helps us understand their relationship as father and son.

Gabriel as Zeus

Gabriel’s key archetype is absolutely Zeus. According to Bolen, Zeus is your typical ‘alpha male’. He’s head of the pack, in control of everything and never the one controlled. Because of this, he probably has a lot of money and is extremely successful in his ventures. He also attracts a lot of women (of a certain kind, I’d wager), and he’s unlikely to remain faithful. Your average Zeus is used to getting his way and doesn’t take well to being challenged.

He may also be abusive. Think just how many people Zeus destroyed in the myths, sometimes simply because he could. He wasn’t a loyal partner. He was an inconsistent father, usually distant and ‘in the clouds’, with high expectations of his children and a tendency to write off anyone who didn’t meet his standards.

The child of a Zeus father will feel emotionally left out in the cold and never good enough. This can lead to a deep-seated fear of abandonment. In ‘Sand Boy’, we see that Adrien’s biggest fear is of being caged in; and as Cat Noir he fears Ladybug rejecting him the way his father does. All through season 4, Adrien struggled with feeling like Ladybug didn’t need him. He didn’t put himself on her level as her equal until the very end of ‘Strike Back’.

Bolen observes that the Zeus man will often marry a trophy wife and have children purely for the purpose of continuing his personal legacy. He isn’t very interested in who the wife or children are as individuals. Everyone is an extension of himself, or a tool to be used. For this reason, the wife is often wealthy in her own right, a means to gaining greater power for himself.

In ‘Psycomedian’ we learn that Gabriel’s career began with designing a French fry costume, which tells us that at some point he was a ‘normal’ person. He didn’t start out rich; he worked his way up. He’s ‘new money’. From Felix and his mother’s cameos on the shows, we can work out that Emilie, on the other hand, came from ‘old money’, which means Gabriel ‘married up’ – a common Zeus move to use his marriage as a means of elevating his own station.

Equally, Gabriel doesn’t seem to view others as individuals with their own strengths and weaknesses, likes and dislikes. Even of his own son, Gabriel only says things like, ‘He’s the image of perfection,’ or, ‘He’s an Agreste.’ (Seriously, what does that last one even mean?) He doesn’t view Adrien as a human being with his own mind. We could infer that this is further evidence for the sentimonster theory, but I think it’s more about Gabriel. If Adrien does transpire to be a sentimonster, we have to ask which of them is more human – because I say Adrien.

Bolen also states that this kind of man is cut off from his heart. He’s all head – cunning, without sincerity of emotion. And because power is his highest priority, his deepest fear is of losing control. We saw this in ‘Risk’ when Gabriel passed the ring to Nathalie and then had a moment of panic over being unable to control the boy he thought was his son (Felix posing as Adrien). It was one of the only times we ever saw him lose composure.

Bolen suggests that such a man can only be healed and made whole through some huge life crisis, such as traumatic grief, which forces him to examine life through new eyes and reflect before it’s too late. Emilie’s death could have been this moment for Gabriel, but the quest for power has become more important to him even than resurrecting his wife, regardless of how that quest first began.

Adrien as Apollo

Apollo was one of Zeus’s most favoured children. Interestingly, Apollo was a twin (with Artemis), just as Adrien seems to be a twin to Felix, despite them being cousins.

Apollo was the sun god (Artemis was the moon goddess), and we can think of Apollo boys as the ‘golden child’. Adrien even has a halo of golden curls that fit this image perfectly. The fandom also commonly links Adrien to the sun and Marinette to the moon.

Bolen tells us the Apollo archetype is highly skilled in just about everything he does. He’s the ‘perfect’ son who can seemingly do no wrong – intelligent and talented, constantly striving to do better…because he knows that if he is less than perfect, he will lose all his father’s love. Apollo was also a musician, just as Adrien is skilled at piano.

Apollo types know they will never be at the top. They will never be the alphas. They have had that understanding beaten into them (sometimes literally) by their fathers ever since they can remember. They accept their standing and renounce any desire for ultimate power. In fact, in ‘Sandboy’, Cat Noir emphasised that losing his power is not his biggest fear. He has never minded being second to Ladybug, as long as she does not reject him altogether.

Cat Noir as Hermes

Happily for Adrien, he has another side, and that’s his Hermes archetype. Hermes was the messenger god, and a bit of a trickster, immediately loquacious and playing pranks from the moment of his birth. Hermes is also musical, and very playful. He’s outspoken and extroverted and doesn’t really care what others think of him. Sometimes a Hermes type can push things too far (Felix), but when channelled for the good, he can balance out the insecurities felt in an Apollo.

Adrien isn’t just one of these things: he’s a combination of them. I think his challenge for a long time has been in trying to channel each archetype separately, under dual identities. In ‘Cat Walker’, Plagg made him see that he has both these energies in him all the time and the journey to wholeness involves merging those energies together. We saw a glimpse of this, at last, in the final moments of ‘Strike Back’.

Now, all that’s left is for him to rise up against his Zeus father and put an end to his exploitation – and to see that he can indeed be loved for simply being who he is. And when you achieve that, surely you’re the one who is truly at the top!

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cococookiedraws · 3 years

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A Second Chance: Part 1 - A MLB Fic

Remember that Miraculous fic I was writing, where I shared the outline for the first part? So uh... here it is. Written. I hope you like it :)

[Part 1: Here] [Part 2] [Part 3] [Part 4] [Part 5]

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A group of butterflies hovered around the garden that surrounded Emilie’s coffin. Hawk Moth stood in front of his wife, holding two pieces of jewelry in his hands. A pair of red earrings with black spots, and a black ring. Mayura stood farther back, watching him.

“After all this time,” Hawk Moth said while putting on Ladybug’s earrings, “I can finally bring you back, Emilie.” He slid Cat Noir’s ring onto his finger.

Tikki and Plagg looked worriedly at one another, then turned to their owners with a sense of helplessness. It was game over.

Marinette Dupain-Cheng, formerly the superheroine Ladybug, had her arms wrapped around Adrien Agreste, who used to be Cat Noir. Adrien had just had so much trauma thrust upon him that he couldn’t hold back his endless stream of tears. Hawk Moth, the man who had been terrorizing Paris for the past year, was his father, and his deceased mother was being kept in their mansion’s basement.

Hawk Moth ignored his sobbing son. Of course he’s sad, he just found out that Emilie has been down here this whole time. Once his mother is revived, he’ll be happy again. “Tikki, Plagg,” he began the words to unify the Miraculous, to access the wish and bring back his wife. A mixture of red, black, and green sparks of light began to swirl around him.

Adrien grit his teeth and slowly stood to his feet. Marinette could see determination in his eyes. He began to sprint towards Hawk Moth. Marinette’s eyes widened with shock as she realized what he was about to do.

Mayura noticed a blur of motion to the side of her vision. Adrien was running toward Hawk Moth at full speed. Everything seemed to move in slow motion. She processed what was about to happen before she could move her body to intercept it. All she could do was extend her hand out in front of her.

“Unify-” Adrien jumped towards his father before he could finish.

It all happened so quickly, neither Adrien, Marinette, Hawk Moth, or Mayura could comprehend it. Hawk Moth was knocked to the ground with Adrien’s impact, and a flash of white light began an explosion.

Hawk Moth’s transformation disappeared as he slammed into the wall of the garden. Adrien flew the other way and Marinette ran to catch him.

Gabriel Agreste was lying on the floor, unmoving. Mayura de-transformed herself into Natahlie Sancoeur while running over to him. She felt her heart drop to the pit of her stomach. “Sir! Gabriel!” she cried out to him. But he couldn’t hear her. She tried to catch her breath, but her body refused to stay calm.

Adrien was lying on the ground, wincing and holding his head. Marinette was checking him for any injuries he sustained from the blast.

Nathalie felt tears forming in her eyes. She knelt over Gabriel for a minute, hoping that he could show even one sign of life, but he didn’t. Her emotions felt like they were in a chaotic battle for dominance, fear, pain, loneliness. After all they had been through, it couldn’t end like this. She had to do something.

She dried her tears and tried to stand up, but her limbs felt like they were being weighed down by an invisible force pushing her down. Nathalie looked up. She felt her conflicting emotions drain away, leaving a hole of emptiness inside her. She clenched her fists. Something new sparked inside her, a fiery rage. Adrien didn’t deserve to lose the last of his family. She didn’t deserve to lose her last friend. And it was all Ladybug’s fault.

“This is all your fault.” Nathalie said in a dead quiet tone, pointing at a startled Marinette. “If you hadn’t appeared when he created Stoneheart, none of this would have happened.” She let out a weak laugh. “He would have given up after his first try otherwise.”

“It’s because of you that Adrien became Cat Noir. If you hadn’t shown up,” her words were caught in her throat. “He would still be here,” her voice cracked and a tear rolled down her cheek.

Adrien shielded Marinette. He had just lost his father, but who was his father in the first place? He felt confused, and he didn’t know how to feel. “It’s not Marinette’s fault. If anyone is to blame, it’s me-”

“ADRIEN, NO.” Marinette interrupted him and moved to shield him instead. “We never meant for any of this to happen-” she protested.

This time Nathalie cut her off. “It doesn’t matter whose fault it is,” She took one last look at her boss, her friend, removed his butterfly brooch and placed it above the peacock brooch she already wore. “Because this will have never happened.” I won’t let Ladybug destroy this family. She paused for a moment to consider what she was about to do. Combining Miraculous was dangerous according to the grimoire, but she had no choice.

“Nooroo, Dusuu, unify.” Nathalie’s appearance changed. Her skin darkened into a blue tint, and her eyes became magenta. Her azure-coloured hair was tied back into a neat bun. A navy blue cardigan covered her purple dress that descended down into five feather-like points. The cane was now retractable and hung on her belt alongside her layered fan. Tiny butterfly wings hung from her boots.

Adrien began to slowly walk towards her with a bit of hesitation. “Nathalie, what are you doing?” he asked, trying to stay calm.

Nathalie didn’t answer as she formulated a complex plan in her head. The less he knew, the better, otherwise he would try to stop her. She snatched an unsuspecting butterfly fluttering in the air and infused it with energy to create an akuma, placing it on the peacock miraculous.

“I give myself, Sialga, the power to create portals to anywhere in Paris.” Nathalie said, giving herself a new name. Interestingly, unlike a normal akuma, her outfit didn’t change. Whipping out her fan, she pointed it directly in front of her to create a ring of glowing blue swirls.

Adrien ran toward her, reaching out his hand and simultaneously trying to reach out to her before she did anything she regretted. He remembered how she helped him face his father. She convinced his father to let him go to school, helped him with his studies, organized his schedule and did countless other things for him. She wasn’t like the man she worked for, she could be reasoned with. “NATHALIE, WAIT! There has to be another way!”

Sialga looked behind her shoulder as she stepped through the portal. “Don’t worry Adrien,” she told him. “I’ll fix everything.”

Ending note: This fanfic is going to explore Hawk Moth’s impact in the show. Btw Emilie wasn’t revived because the merging of the miraculous of creation and destruction backfired, since it was interrupted. The result was Gabriel’s death. Don’t worry, the rest of the comic isn’t gonna be as depressing as this. I think.

I planned this to be 5 parts.

#miraculous au #miraculous lb #mlb angst #ml angst #ml #mlb #miraculous #mlb au #Gabriel agreste #nathalie sancoeur #adrien agreste #marinette dupain cheng #hawk moth #mayura #cat noir #ladybug #a second chance

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skaylanphear · 5 years

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Monster

Summary: Ladybug didn’t know how far one could stretch the abilities of the peacock miraculous. And quite frankly, she hadn’t wanted to find out. But when she and Chat Noir finally catch Hawkmoth--revealing him to be Gabriel Agreste, no less--they learn the truth about many things. About him, his wife, and the unnatural means by which the couple had recreated their dead son using the same power that Mayura had twisted into sentimonsters.

And though Ladybug can’t figure out why Chat Noir seems to be taking the news so hard, his own identity soon makes it all clear.

(just another drabble based on a new episode. Like, y’all knew I had to do it to him)

Part 1

Gabriel Agreste was Hawkmoth.

This was a reality that was slowly sinking through Ladybug's system. After all, there was no denying the truth. He was crouched on the ground before her, his miraculous in her hand while her other gripped her yoyo. He'd tried to escape through the secret elevator in his house, but she and Chat had followed him through. Weakened after their previous battle and without the help of Mayura—who'd collapsed upstairs—it'd taken only another moment to steal his miraculous, leaving him exposed before them.

Exposed in his lair, which Marinette was taking in as she quickly looked around. Long walkways, butterfly breeding grounds, and…

"What the hell is this place?!" Chat demanded, pointing his stick threateningly in Gabriel's direction. "Explain. Now!"

"What does it look like?" Gabriel asked shortly, slumping some as he looked up at them. "It's a tomb."

Flicking her attention back behind him, Ladybug finally took in the ignited figure at the back of the room. She was propped up behind a glass case—a case more akin to a coffin. She was holding a bouquet of flowers, expression peaceful.

Chat was looking between the encased figure and Gabriel as well, just as confused as Ladybug.

"Is this why you wanted the miraculouses?" Ladybug asked.

Gabriel sighed. "With the power of your miraculouses, I can heal her." His gaze dropped to the ground. "I can bring her back."

"What's wrong with her?" Chat asked. Well, it was less a question so much as a demand. And when Gabriel didn't immediately answer, he extended his stick harshly into his chest, knocking him onto his back. "Tell me!"

"Chat!" Ladybug scolded, but he ignored her.

Gabriel shoved the stick aside and propped himself up on his hands. "I don't see how the details of her condition are any of your business," he snapped.

Ladybug glared. "I don't think you're in any position to be making determinations about anything."

Gabriel eyed her for a moment, before clicking his tongue and looking to the side. "She abused a miraculous and so suffered the consequences."

Chat curled his lip. "A miraculous?" he asked. "How? Why?"

"Why does it matter?"

"Because I want to know!"

Ladybug looked again to Chat, surprised at his ferociousness. But she had to admit that she, too, was curious as to how all this had gotten started. Not only because they'd finally caught Hawkmoth and she wanted details, but because this was Adrien's mother and father. Maybe it wasn't her business, but she still wanted to know.

"When you try to make a miraculous do something it's not meant to do, there are prices to be paid," Gabriel replied. "But Emilie was willing to pay that price, just as I'm willing to pay the price to bring her back."

"That's not an explanation," Chat growled.

"It's enough."

"It's not."

"Just tell us the whole story," Ladybug insisted. "And don't leave anything out."

Gabriel glared, but with Chat once again shoving his stick into his chest, he released another defeated sigh.

"It happened because of our son," he started, a statement that visibly startled both Chat and Ladybug. "Some years ago, he got… sick. Very sick. He'd always been… weak. That was why he had to stay in the house, and why we never let him go to school. Because his health… He just couldn't.

"We knew from the beginning that he was unlikely to live much past the age of twelve or thirteen. But even so, you can't… You don't just give up on your children. We talked with the best doctors in the world, got opinions from everyone, but no one could help us. So Emilie decided to look into… other options."

"The miraculous…" Ladybug determined.

"Yes. We got a lead that led us to Tibet, but the miraculouses we found weren't the ones we needed. What we needed were your miraculouses, but we got the peacock and moth miraculous instead.

"We started to give up hope. Adrien, he… he didn't have much time left. And so we decided that what little time he did have, we'd spend it… with him. Home. Together. As a family." He had to pause to take a shaky breath, his chin trembling as he visibly clenched his jaw. "He was everything good in the world. He knew he was—that he—he knew what was coming, and he was this… positive force through it all.

"He told us not to worry," he said, voice choked. "That everything would be fine. That he'd be fine, no matter what."

"You can't possibly know what it's like." He looked back up at them, heavy, dark grief apparent in his gaze. "To watch for months—years—as the one thing in the world you love the most slowly fades away."

Shaking his head, he tried to remain composed, but a single tear streaked down his cheek nonetheless.

"He died in my arms," he whispered, the words so strained it was amazing he could even say them. "Nothing but skin and bones, wasted away to nothing. He took his last breath while we held him, and then he was gone."

Despite herself, Ladybug blinked back her own emotions. None of it made sense, because she knew Adrien and he was strong and healthy. Yet, somehow, she realized that what Gabriel was saying was true as well.

"Parents aren't supposed to outlive their children," he continued brokenly, seemingly giving in to the fact that he wasn't going to be able to hold back his own despair. "Even though we knew it was coming, we could never have been prepared. It broke us both, losing him. But with Emilie it… it was like she just couldn't accept it.

"So she started experimenting with the peacock miraculous. At first, I thought she was just… grieving, creating these sentient creatures that looked like him, but never actually were. Because no matter how close to living the peacock miraculous makes these… things, they were never actually… But she kept going, thinking she was getting closer each time.

"But the peacock miraculous isn't the miraculous of creation—it doesn't have the ability to create life or restore it. Not within the typical parameters of how it's meant to be used. But Emilie, she… she was always the type to think outside the box. Like you." He nodded to Ladybug. "She always found a solution, even in the bleakest of circumstances.

"She became very skilled at creating these… fake copies of our son. I hated them, but they seemed to preoccupy her, so I just… kept my distance. Maybe if I'd been more attentive, I could have stopped her. But in the end, I was too late.

"She's kept a few locks of his hair, before we'd… As a memento. I don't know when she started using the hairs to create the creatures, but I suspect that was when the miraculous started siphoning off her own energy. Because with each attempt she made at making him real, the more there was that was required of her. Like I said, the peacock miraculous doesn't create life, so in order to do that, you have to get that life-force from someone else.

"She perfected him. She manipulated the genetics in those strands of hair, weeding out all the weaknesses and leaving everything else behind. But even so, he still wasn't… right. Which she knew, because she'd been practicing. Preparing herself for the real thing.

"So the time came when she felt she was ready. She took one of those single hairs and instead of keeping it, she created the… sentimonster, as you call them, around it. Protectively, so it could be born with free will that no one else could take or manipulate. And then she poured all of her life force into it.

"It shouldn't have worked, because that's not what the peacock miraculous is for. But I suppose we can't really know the true nature of the forces that reside inside those tiny jewelry pieces. They're beyond us. Her love, her memories, her desire, her grief, whatever it was she poured into him, it was enough to break the barriers that had defined what was possible with her miraculous.

"But it also shattered the miraculous, which in turn shattered what little remained of her. So here we are." He gestured out to the sides. "My wife is all but as dead as my son and all I wanted to do is bring her back."

To say that Ladybug was pale and shaky by the end of his story was a bit of an understatement. It was hard to believe, let alone rationalize. Because that meant the Adrien she knew, that went to school with her and her friends…

"But you have a son," she said sternly, as if needing to convince herself.

"Yes." Gabriel shrugged one shoulder. "I have the living embodiment of what Emilie thought our son was and want she wanted him to be. A perfect child that represents all that we loved without all the ill that stole him away from us. But though they share the same name, he's not the Adrien that died in my arms. He's perfect and unreal, just as Emilie intended him to be."

"But he's not unreal," Chat reasoned, sounding oddly desperate. "He's… He's a person. He has feelings and memories and—"

"And he is just as Emilie intended him to be," Gabriel replied flatly.

"You talk about him as if he's not your son at all," Ladybug pointed out.

"Of course he's my son," Gabriel snapped. "But he's not the son we lost and he never will be. Emilie's grief created something unnatural and she had to pay the consequences, while I live on with a constant reminder of everything I lost, loving it—him—because what else is there possibly left for me to do?" Once again, his expression broke. "He's perfect, but he's the only thing in my life that is."

"No one is perfect," Ladybug replied, finally beginning to regain her composure. "Your wife did an abhorrent thing, creating Adrien the way she did." Gaping, Chat whipped around to look at her. "But it's not his fault he exists, nor is it his fault that he now has to pay the price for you and your wife's mistakes."

"If you'd give me your miraculouses, he wouldn't have to know a thing about it," Gabriel growled out.

"What makes you think there isn't a price to be paid to use our miraculouses that way too?" she asked. "What you want to do is no more unnatural than what your wife did originally. You've created a life and ruined it all at the same time.

"You act like what your wife did was a mistake, but now you're trying to do the same thing. What makes you think your attempts will end any differently?"

"Because this time I'll have the proper tools!"

"No, you won't," she said firmly. "There are no right tools for what you're trying to do. No, all either of you have done was create a child that you've now orphaned. His mother is dead and now his father… You've done Adrien a horrible, horrible wrong and there's no way you'll ever be able to undo it."

"I'm doing this for Adrien!" Gabriel insisted.

"No you're not," Ladybug insisted. "You're doing it for yourself. Because you're just as steeped in grief as your wife was.

"This ends now," she said finally. "No more will you abuse any miraculouses. Or Adrien, for that matter."

"I love my son."

"That doesn't mean any of this is okay. I know Adrien. And I know that he'd never approve of anything you've been doing." She paused, swallowing hard. "And I hope to god that he never finds out the truth you just told us."

Gabriel glared. "Then you're not going to even try and help me."

Ladybug stood firm. "No."

And so Gabriel looked to Chat Noir. "And you?"

"I've already called the police," he said coldly, holding up his stick as he did. The phone adaptor was open, programmed to supply the authorities with their location. "You'll never be allowed to abuse a miraculous the way you and your wife have ever again."

Gabriel scowled.

"You're going to prison," he continued. "And if I have anything say about it, you'll be locked up for the rest of your life."

"It won't be that simple," Gabriel practically threatened.

"You're a terrorist that's murdered thousands. I don't think there's much to question," Ladybug replied.

"Thousands that you brought back!" Gabriel practically shouted. "How is that any different than what I'm trying to do?!"

"Because I only bring back the people who have died by the unnatural means of your abused miraculous!" she snapped. "I'm not bringing back people who die every day outside of your influence. I wouldn't even know where to start in doing that, because I know better than to question things like the natural process of life and death! Your wife… Your wife tampered with that line and I can't… I won't follow in her footsteps. And I'm certainly not going to allow you to do that either."

"You'd rather retain a status quo?" Gabriel asked. "Is that really the attitude of a hero?"

"It's the attitude of someone who knows their place in the universe," Ladybug replied simply. "And who has accepted their own mortality in the face of a universe I know is beyond my comprehension."

"Then you're a coward, unwilling to reach beyond your simple existence!"

"No, Gabriel," she said steadily. "You're the one unwilling to face reality. If anyone here is a coward, it's not me or Chat Noir."

Maybe he'd have had more to say. Maybe he'd have tried to do more than that. But if fate truly existed, it had something far different in store for Gabriel Agreste. Within the moment that Ladybug had quit speaking, they heard voices overhead, before a flashlight was shining down through the elevator shaft behind them. Snapping her yoyo out, Ladybug wrapped Gabriel up before he could finish standing, stranding him in place while Chat turned and marched back toward the elevator.

Soon enough, the police were all over the lair. And while Ladybug knew there was no hiding what was obvious, she hoped that perhaps she'd be able to keep a majority of the more sensitive details between only her and Chat Noir. Keeping both the moth and peacock miraculous hidden in her fist, she gladly handed Gabriel Agreste over to the authorities.

She wanted to find Adrien before things could get too messy. He had to be somewhere in the house. At the very least, she wanted to prepare him for what was coming. Yet as she attempted to retreat back up the elevator shaft, she was halted by the police for questioning. And so she ended up stranded for some time, explaining all that had happened and any details she felt were pertinent.

By the time she finally broke away and swung up the elevator shaft (the police calling after her), at least thirty minutes had passed. Hopefully—upon realizing that the police were swarming his house—Adrien had been barricaded away.

She really wanted to be the one to talk to him first.

And where had Chat Noir disappeared to?

Ignoring the police that continued to try and get her attention, she vaulted across Gabriel's study and out the door. Jumping to the banister along the stairs, she sprinted upward and over, deciding that the first place she would look was Adrien's bedroom.

The door was unguarded and unlocked, making it easy for her to press her way inside.

"Adrien?" she called as she walked in.

The room was dark, the night sky cloudy beyond the windows, the moon's light slightly hindered. But it was still light enough to see, and so she scanned the room.

There, sitting on the edge of Adrien's bed, was a single figure.

"Chat?" she asked, recognizing him immediately.

He didn't look up at her. In fact, it didn't even seem as though he had heard her. Hunched over, he was staring down at his hands, wholly indulged in his own thoughts.

"Chat," Ladybug said more firmly, making her way over as she did. "Have you seen Adrien?"

Still, he didn't answer. But he did twitchingly look up at her, the sight of his confused, distressed green eyes immediately jump-starting Ladybug's own concern.

"What's wrong?" she asked quickly. "Is everything okay? Are you okay? What about Adrien? Where is—"

The bright green flash of Chat's transformation disappearing was both startling and shocking, Ladybug freezing in place as her eyes went wide. But she didn't have time to look away, her gaze still zeroed in on Chat as his black suit disappeared to reveal…

Heart surging into her throat, she felt everything inside of her go numb as she stared into those familiar green eyes, both of which were now bordered in tears.

"Adrien..?"

He swallowed hard, the tears overflowing down his cheeks.

"My Lady," he struggled to say, each word sounding as though he had to pry it free from hardened concrete. "I—I'm Adrien."

He gasped helplessly, a sob ripping from his throat.

"I'm a monster."

#miraculous #miraculous ladybug #ml #mlb #ladybug #spoilers #ml spoilers #miraculous spoilers #my fics #fics #part 1 #Monster #sentimonster!adrien

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iceartweek · 5 years

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Final Ice Art Day

Before I get into it, just thank you for being here. Whether you’ve read the mediocre fics I wrote, or contributed art or fic that genuinely I loved and was amazing, or whatever you did, thanks. I know it’s just a trial and wasn’t super huge but I had fun, so thanks for letting me. If anyone still had things I’d love to see it, but even if there isn’t this blog will remain open.

Anyway. Final Day. Future

Marinette stood on her balcony practically bouncing where she was. The sun was going to set soon and the fairy lights that she had lined the park with were lighting up. The ones on Luka’s boat would also light up when everything was ready. In some ways the fact it had got trapped when her miraculous ladybugs fixed the bridge destroyed the akuma was sort of sad especially as Anarka had lost hope years ago of getting it moved, but on the other hand it had meant she had spent her senior years waking up to Luka’s serenades and him always just a moment away. Now she could just see Luka and Kagami in the greenhouse adjusting their outfits and triple checking everything. Her musical prince who had slowly taken over the world with his ballads and volunteering much time to Music Fund. Then her now long haired princess who after nearly making it to the Olympics decided she could do good in the UN as she wasn’t afraid of standing up for what she believed in and after Hawky’s defeat felt weird not helping others. Sure she wasn’t a full fledged diplomat yet but she was on her way. From the small glimpses she saw they looked perfect.

“Are you ready, my love?” Felix asked, Marinette turning to see him extending a hand and looking suave. Even ten years later and he was making her catch her breath every time she saw him. For a while he had helped with his father’s business but focused more on the work than life part, often taking on too much due to a fear of delegation. Eventually they had all convinced him to calm down a bit because between the four of them anything was possible so he might as well follow his dreams. While he figured out exactly what he wanted - lawyer, politician, and air host were currently at the top of the list - he had opened up a quaint little book shop. Marinette already knew how it would end though. He had helped out at the bakery one too many times and with her parents retiring in the next five years he’d likely take over. Tom was convincing.

“If you think so?” Marinette responded doing a quick twirl in her dress. The hat from way back had served her well in being noticed, especially when she became the girl to refuse Audrey Bourgeois. With Jagged also backing her and personal drive she had started her own label. For a while she dabbled in esports but that turned out to be a flop, and baking was a hobby and not something she wanted to do full time. Fashion just always was there for her and seeing people comfortable in things she made was inspiring to say the least. Especially when it was her loves who could wear a paper bag and still look great.

“You always look stunning,” Complimented Felix, planting a soft kiss on her lips, fingers playing with the tips of her short hair before going down her arm to grab her hand. “Handsome even.”

“Thank you,” Smiled Marinette feeling the blush comeback.

As she walked down the steps she considered a bit of what happened in the past ten years from simple high school dramas to Hawkmoth’s defeat. Just how had her pack managed to survive that? It was a miracle. Even Alya and Nino had broken up for about half of that before finding each other again, and Rose and Juleka who had been the perfect couple had split. And they had been perfect. That being said Rose and her new girl Violet a travelling tour guide in south east Asia were just beyond adorable together, shame neither of them could make it. Juleka with Clara was also a surprisingly good fit.

“If you forgot the rings-” Marinette warned coming back to reality hugging Felix’s arm a little tighter.

“I have them. Your design with Luka’s touches and using Kagami’s old rapier and with the glimmer of Agreste jewels. How could I possibly lose them?” Felix retorted patting his pocket. Originally they had planned to just swap rings. Luka would give the black one he always wore to Kagami, Kagami would give her family ring to Felix, Felix would give his mother’s engagement ring to Marinette, and she would give a family heirloom ring to Luka, but it just hadn’t seemed special enough. “You worry too much.”

“Marinette!” Squealed Sabrina at the bottom of the stairs. Their ceremony organiser because after so long of carrying Chloe it was realised she had a very keen sense of style and amazing time management skills. Wedding, funerals, birthdays, or love dedications like the one today and she was the go to gal. Once she had called Chloe out and set boundaries she had changed a lot, from meek and timid to firm and do not cross her. “You look gorgeous. Everyone is here and waiting!”

“Thanks, Brina,” Marinette gave the girl a quick hug and kiss cheek. “Does that include-”

“We’re not a thing,” Snapped back Sabrina.

“Really?” Felix questioned genuinely surprised. “Could have sworn you were unless we’re talking about someone different.”

“Chloe and I were never a thing. Just friends,” Sabrina corrected clicking her pen a few times. “It’s what she wanted.”

“We better go before Jagged starts doing a rock cover of here comes the bride,” Marinette hurried just wanting to leave the awkward situation. From the limit gossip she knew, when Chloe had tried to be a better person Sabrina had always been by her side, always being ditched for the first hotel heir or prince to walk into view. Everyone blamed Audrey indocrinating Chloe into money and style is everything and everyone is below you, but after a certain age it got old. Sabrina and Chloe were still friends and Chloe was a much nicer person, but somethings were just never outgrown.

“Good call,” Felix agreed holding the door open for Marinette. They turned into the park, sun very very close to being perfect. Gina and Rolland off in one corner having a hushed argument which everyone could probably guess what was being said. Sabine trying to get Tom to stop crying on his daughters’ day. Tomoe, Anarka, and Felix’s parents drinking champagne, Anarka already laughing a bit too hard.

“So I can officially retire as your knight now? Contracts signed and they can’t back out anymore?” Adrien joked standing next to the door. Even as an adult he was model material, despite no cameras being on him anymore.

“I thought you were going to be in Nice!” Marinette exclaimed in surprise, before giving him a tight hug. “Something about Nathalie or family assets?”

“And miss my bugaboo’s big day?” Laughed Adrien hugging her back. When they stepped back he shook Felix’s hand but it was clear even after everything they hadn’t become super close. “As your original crime fighting partner it is my duty to make sure you are not harmed and nothing ruins this day. I’ve already stolen Plagg back from Fu so will cataclysm anyone who has cold feet or any girl wearing white. Give me the signal and the claws will come out.”

“But you’re ok?” Marinette thought back on his face when Gabriel had been defeated and Emilie’s body had been found. Even now they were searching for Emilie who had taken the two miraculouses and fled, somehow managing to escape them. Until she was caught, Adrien couldn’t have peace. He had trusted Nathalie and she had abandoned him and the threat of Hawkmoth, or a version of him, was forever looming. Sure, Adrien was coping but having the tip Nathalie was close by couldn’t be easy.

For a moment she remembered the reveals and all the rejections. So much heartbreak and drama that at the time seemed world ending. He managed to handle it all with grace though. Just disappearing for a few days after the reveal, before coming back with smiles and jokes, calling Marinette cousin, threatening her royal court that if they ever hurt her they would be dead. He had also threatened Marinette if she ever hurt Kagami but it was a weak attempt. From there they had gone back to friends which seemed perfect. They were still there for each other whether it be late night ice-cream sessions dishing out relationship advice or supporting him when the truth about his family came out. They really were better as friends.

“Always,” Smiled Adrien. “Trust me, I have the purr-fect cat-itude and your day will be pawsome.”

“Urgh, still? One day you have to stop the puns,” Marinette warned.

“Auntie Mari!” Screeched a kid colliding into Marinette, her arms wrapping around Marinette’s legs nearly making her fall over. Felix put a hand on her back to steady her.

“Watch it, you don’t want to ruin her dress. Hi Felix and Marinette,” Greeted a blonde chasing after the child and pulling her away. After quick cheek kisses, she stood beside Adrien holding the little troublemaker. The perfect little family. A little over five years ago Adrien had been in a tv studio giving some interview about stepping away from the Gabriel brand when he had run into Paris’ favourite weather girl Aurore. After quick polite chit chat about mutual friends or how crazy highschool with all the akumas was, they realised it hadn’t been chit chat but a two hour conversation. The conversation then turned into current events, and by the end of the month they had been dating. Wedding eighteen months after that which had been beyond stunning - partially thanks to Marinette’s designing the outfits for the whole wedding party and the bakery doing the most exquisite cake - and child ten months later. Marinette had met Emilie a few times and even at such a young age it was obvious she was going to have Adrien’s kindness, Aurore’s determination, and both of their beauty. “Sorry about Em. First wedding.”

“Love dedication,” Corrected Felix, glancing down at his watch. “Legally-”

“Don’t get him started. Please, please, don’t,” Laughed Marinette trying to silence Felix. “We better get started though. Talk to you later.”

Marinette and Felix walked into the park, all conversation falling short as eyes fell on them. Later that night they would listen to Alix joke about how love was dumb before comments on how no matter how many times she bunny hops the four of them would always be the best example of love, adorable, beautiful love which nearly made her want it. They would talk to Alya and Nino who would gush about their current jobs in America, Alya’s latest expose on why not all charities are good, and Nino struggling so hard to not reveal the twist in his movie before spoiling the whole movie. They’d laugh with Jagged and Penny as they told stories about their biography or latest up and comer they were mentoring, Luka still after ten years being flustered when speaking to his idol. Mylene and Ivan still going strong ten years later. Nathaniel and Marc kissing on the dancefloor, and later talking about their latest comic idea or how their old comic was about to hit the big screen, with pleas and begging Luka, Felix, Kagami, and Marinette to play themselves. Chloe would come late, leave early, and say it was ridiculous the latest scandal. Max would talk about his latest game while Kim talked about the olympics. Bustier, Mendeliev, and Damocles would make sappy comments about how they wish they had students like this now, before ranting about their current students. They would meet with Fu in the bakery, him decked out in all the miraculouses so that the kwamis could see their chosen’s perfect day, all crying and smiling. Sure, there were times miraculouses were still worn by the heroes but those times were getting rarer. Plagg would be there too asking Tikki if she wanted to try it out to see what all the fuss was about.

But that was all later in the night. For now, Marinette and Felix stood at one end of the park under an arch, sunset painting the sky pink and orange. Jagged was playing a classic wedding march, Penny having a hand on his shoulder to stop him getting too out of control, Adrien accompanying him on piano. They turned to see Kagami and Luka walk into the park, the most beautiful sight Marinette had ever seen. Marinette wanted to tell them to walk faster, so they wouldn’t be so far away and she could pledge her undying love. Sure, legally it all meant very little, but she just needed to the world to know how much she loved them. Felix squeezed her hand, and she turned to look at him, tears in his eyes that were filled with love as he watched their sweethearts walk down the aisle.

They each took turns saying their vowels. Hurried, messy vowels, full of classic babblenette moments, as they just could barely wait another moment not being married (or closest they would get to married legally). They just wanted to start their lives officially together. They just hated having to wait. They’re happy ending was insight. And maybe life loved to challenge them, make ant hills seem like mountains, but nothing could stop how miraculous their worlds had become. Just two words left to capture everything they felt: I do

(credit to @autumnlover13moni8 for the final line)

#Ice Art Week #Thank you

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komorebirei · 5 years

Text

The Water Was Never Afraid - Chapter 11: Available

(AO3)

Adrien called his father’s phone, again, and listened to the tone ring through to his voicemail, again.

“… am unavailable at this moment. Please leave a message or contact my assistant, Nathalie, at the following num—”

Adrien sighed and hung up, before dialing Nathalie.

She picked up on the second ring.

“Hello, Adrien?”

“Good morning, Nathalie. Do you know where Father is?”

“I last saw him in the study.”

“I called, but he didn’t answer.”

“Hm… strange.”

And it was strange—ever since Adrien had found out his father was Hawkmoth and this whole drama had started to unravel between them, his father had been good about picking up the phone whenever Adrien called.

Adrien heard the clicking of heels against tile as Nathalie went to check his study.

“He isn’t there… he must have gone out.” She sounded a little distracted, as if trying to brainstorm where he might be and what he might be doing. “He didn’t tell me he was leaving, though.” More footsteps. “The car’s still here…”

Adrien rubbed his forehead, hoping his sense of foreboding was unwarranted. “Nathalie, are you free?”

“For you, yes… why? Do you need something?”

“Can we talk? “Of course.”

“I’ll be there in ten.”

—

Adrien found Nathalie at her desk, scowling at the computer screen amidst rapid-fire typing. He placed coffee and a croissant beside her, pleased to see her face melt into a smile. He knew she had a habit of skipping breakfast. “Good morning, Nathalie.”

“Good morning, Adrien. Actually, it wasn’t a very good morning—even though it’s Saturday morning, the photographers are bombarding me with calls and messages asking why the samples aren’t ready yet. I’m trying to convince them to push back the photoshoots until next week. Not that we have much of a choice.” She looked exhausted. “You’ve made it better, though. Thanks for the croissant.”

“I’m sorry, you have to deal with all that.” He felt personally responsible for the sample debacle. Even though he was technically only responsible for the fall line, he had been trying to keep tabs on whatever else happening with the company, as an extra set of ears and eyes, so he could help keep things from falling through the cracks. Of course, there were details his father didn’t tell him about, so he hadn’t known about this particular sample drop, but he still felt like he had been slacking.

“You couldn’t have done anything about it,” Nathalie reassured him.

“Maybe. So…” Adrien bit his lip and sat on the edge of her desk, in the absence of a chair. When Nathalie shifted her eyes, showing obvious disapproval of his behavior, he snorted and waved a hand. “Come on, Nathalie, it’s just us here.”

Nathalie sighed, forcing herself to relax. Her phone chimed, and she glanced at it, frowning before switching it to silent. “So, what did you want to talk about?”

“How has Father been?”

Nathalie shook her head. “You know how he’s been.”

“I need details, Nathalie, please. I haven’t been here every day like you have.”

Nathalie let out a deep sigh. “He’s been spending long hours in front of his computer, but when I ask him how his designs are going, he has little to show. I don’t know what he’s been working on. He’s been going into the study, also. Going through Emilie’s old things.”

“The other day, I found him looking through photos of Mom,” Adrien pointed out. “He had the butterfly miraculous with him. I’m worried about letting him be alone for too long—I don’t trust him to be reasonable.”

“He’s started asking me to help with the reviews,” Nathalie offered hesitantly.

“Reviews of…? Budgets? Schedules? Assignments?”

“No…” Nathalie said in a small voice, “Designs. Patterns. Material lists.”

“What? You’ve been reviewing designs?” Adrien deadpanned. He couldn’t believe his ears. Only an experienced designer should be giving approvals.

“I tried to refuse, but he insisted that he needed the help, and—what was I supposed to do, Adrien?” Nathalie raised her voice defensively, a note of desperation entering her tone at the way Adrien was looking at her. “I don’t know how else to help him!”

“No wonder there have been errors lately,” Adrien said coldly, mostly angry with his father, but also partly at Nathalie for going along with him even though it didn’t make sense. Yet, her obvious agony at the situation made it impossible to hold it against her. Sighing, he turned to her. “He doesn’t need help with reviews, he needs emotional support. He should be perfectly capable of doing his job, if only he weren’t drowning himself in misery over mom.”

“Emotional support?” Nathalie bit her lip and looked away. “I’m no replacement for Emilie.”

“No one can be!” Adrien exploded. “That’s the problem, isn’t it? No one can replace her, not you, not me, not anyone. So what’s the point of feeling inadequate because you can’t be her? Father needs someone, and she isn’t here to be that someone—she’s in the basement on life support, and he’s still clinging on to the nonexistent hope that one day she could be back with us, laughing and singing and playing practical jokes like she used to—”

Adrien choked on tears that started to stream down his cheeks. He was so concerned about how his father was handling the situation that he hadn’t faced his own grief about his mother’s state. How much he missed her smacked him like a punch to the gut.

Yet, he couldn’t afford to cry or look weak, especially not now. He had a point, before his feelings got the better of him. He wiped the tears away angrily and continued. “My point is—he needs you, Nathalie. If we both keep our distance because we can’t plug the hole Mom left, he’s never going to get better. We need to help him, Nathalie. Please. I need your help on this… I can’t do it alone. I know you care about him.”

Suddenly, unexpectedly, Nathalie’s arms were around him. It was awkward, and he hated how inept they all were—him, Nathalie, his father. He hated how difficult this was. He patted her elbow, holding back tears, trying to keep himself from completely losing composure and bawling all over her pristine blazer. Feeling more composed, he extricated himself from her embrace and looked her in the eyes. “Nathalie, why don’t you try just spending time with him? Not as his assistant. Not to schedule his time, or ask him for designs, or help him with work. Just—be there for him. Talk to him. That’s what he needs now.”

“I’ll try… though I feel like he barely tolerates me these days,” she sighed bitterly.

“He barely tolerates anyone these days. Don’t take it personally.” Adrien murmured, his sympathy for Nathalie growing. He had noticed years ago how she felt about his father, even though she never said anything—this wasn’t easy for her, and yet, she was trying. She was trying very hard, the only way she knew how to help him, which was to handle the logistics. “Nathalie… He needs love.”

Nathalie took in a breath, looking terrified at the implication of that statement.

“I’m trying, but I can only do so much,” Adrien explained. “He still sees me as a kid that he needs to exert his authority over. You, on the other hand? He trusts you, Nathalie. He respects you…” Enough to hand you the reins of his own company, apparently. “I’m afraid of what he’ll do if we just leave him alone.”

Nathalie nodded. “I’ll do my best.”

“How long has it been since you saw him?”

“An hour and a half, maybe two hours? … I’m sorry for losing track. I really thought he was in the study.”

“I’m going to check downstairs.” When Nathalie started to follow him, he turned and smiled at her. “It’s okay, I’ll go alone. You haven’t touched your breakfast—your coffee’s probably cold.”

Nathalie returned the smile weakly, sadly. “I’m sorry for letting you down, Adrien.”

Adrien shook his head. “You haven’t. I’m sorry for snapping at you. This hasn’t been easy for any of us.”

—

Adrien found his father gathering butterflies.

“Father, what are you doing down here?” he asked lightly, trying to keep judgment out of his tone.

“It was time for the butterflies to emerge.”

“You don’t need the butterflies anymore, Father,” Adrien said in the same light tone, though he could feel hysteria rising in him. This situation was absurd.

“I’m not going to do anything with them,” Gabriel said, his voice calm and dry like paper. “I’m just bringing them to where the other butterflies are.”

“Why don’t we just set them free?” Adrien came to his father’s side.

Before Adrien knew what his father was doing, Gabriel lifted Adrien’s hand in his fingers and stroked the miraculous ring with his thumb. Adrien shuddered and instinctively clenched his fist, securing the ring on his finger.

“Wouldn’t Ladybug give you her earrings if you asked?” Gabriel inquired in a low voice.

“No, Father, we are not doing this,” Adrien said as firmly as he could, trying not to let himself tremble.

“She loves you,” Gabriel continued. “There wouldn’t be any need for akumas. There would be no fighting. All you would have to do is ask her.”

“She doesn’t love me, and even if I asked, she wouldn’t give me her earrings. There is no point in pursuing this.” Adrien carefully kept his mind in a calm and rational space. He would not get emotionally involved. He would not entertain his father’s thoughts.

“I promised her, Adrien.” Gabriel’s voice was full of anguish. “How can I just give up when we already have half of the solution?”

“We talked about this, Father… you know we can’t use the wish. We can’t trade her life for someone else’s.” Adrien used his other hand to peel his father’s fingers away from him. “Could you live with yourself after taking someone’s life?”

“I already can’t live with myself,” Gabriel rasped.

“It was not your fault, Father.” Adrien slowly took the tongs from his father’s hand and placed them on the floor, by his mother’s capsule. He carefully avoided looking at her. Doing so wouldn’t help him stay calm.

“It was.” The utterance escaped as a half wail, half sob.

“Things happen, Father. You can’t blame yourself. We have to try to move on. Come on, Father, let’s go back upstairs.”

Gabriel placed one hand on the glass of the capsule, gazing down at Emilie, his face contorted with deep longing. Adrien, who chose to watch his father’s face instead of looking at his mother, saw a single tear escape, as if it had been squeezed from the depths of Gabriel’s soul, already dry from too much grief.

“I’m sorry, Emilie,” he whispered. “I’ve failed you.”

Adrien waited, too emotionally drained to say anything more or to try to lead the situation. However, he did not leave his father’s side, and expressed no intention to budge until his father was ready to come with him.

Finally, Gabriel turned away from Emilie’s capsule and strode past Adrien toward the elevator.

Adrien followed him silently, wondering what more he could do.

—

Adrien had intentionally cleared his schedule for the day, so he spent the afternoon with his father, trying to figure out how a father and son were supposed to pass the time together. He tried talking to him about literature or offering to play duets on the piano, to which Gabriel reluctantly agreed. Adrien even tried inviting him to play basketball or video games—Gabriel declined as expected. By the time evening fell, Adrien and Nathalie were exchanging glances, both suffering from the uncertainty of whether they were helping or making things worse.

Gabriel was reading a book, insistent on finishing ‘the chapter’ before he came to dinner, though Adrien was sure his father had already finished two or three. He recognized the book as one he’d seen his mother reading, and was tempted to point out that reading it wouldn’t help Gabriel move on, but he restrained himself. They would have to take this one step at a time.

Adrien could only take so much of this—he had barely sat down for dinner with Nathalie when decided he had had enough. He stood up again, muttering an apology.

“Where are you going, Adrien?” Gabriel asked from his armchair, seeming alarmed.

“I forgot I—Kagami and I are supposed to meet tonight. Please excuse me, Father.”

Adrien thought his father would either rebuke him for leaving dinner, or brush off his departure. Contrary to Adrien’s expectations, Gabriel stood up and strode across the room to come face-to-face with his son. His expression was tender. “Thank you, Adrien.”

“… For what?”

“For not abandoning me, even though I’ve given you every reason to.”

Those were the last words Adrien was expecting to hear, and they broke upon his heart like a refreshing wave on a scorching shore. Adrien stepped forward and embraced his father, stubborn determination coursing through him. It wasn’t comfortable, nor was it natural, but he refused to let this bond die. He refused to be cowed before the awkward humiliation of a man who didn’t have the strength to live up to the role of ‘father.’

“I will never abandon you,” he whispered emphatically.

—

Adrien hadn’t really intended to go to Kagami’s, since they didn’t have plans that night. Instead, he went home and tried to sort through some business matters and get ahead for the next week. It might have been therapeutic, if he hadn’t been so worried about the extent of the damage done by Gabriel shirking his review responsibilities. He made a mental note to ask Camille to step in and take a look. Why his father hadn’t asked the senior designers for help was beyond him. Most likely, he didn’t want to give the rest of the staff any notion that he was struggling.

After a few hours of this, Adrien was feeling restless and in need of some emotional release. Impulsively, he stood up, shut down his computer decisively, and grabbed his bag.

By the time he got to Kagami’s estate, he was shaking. It was probably a combination of the emotional tension and the fact that he had skipped dinner. He took in several deep breaths before ringing the doorbell, trying to steady himself.

Kagami met him at the door. “I didn’t know you were coming.”

“Sorry. I should have called ahead. I spent the day with my father, and …” Adrien shook his head. He didn’t really want to talk about it, he just wanted a distraction. He slipped off his shoes as he stepped inside, and kissed her hand like a gentleman. “It was a long day, and I thought… seeing you would make it infinitely better.”

Kagami smiled and embraced him, something she only did when they were absolutely alone together. Adrien wondered if she could feel him shaking. If so, she didn’t give any indication. Before long, she slipped out of his arms and took his hand, tugging him down the hall. “Mother and I were just having tea. Come join us.”

To Adrien’s relief, Mrs. Tsurugi was not angry with his unexpected visit. Instead, she brought out daifuku to accompany their tea, with an impish smile, as if delighted to indulge in the mischief of eating a sweet snack at nearly 10 p.m.

They made polite conversation, which was at least free of the darkness Adrien had been wading through all afternoon.

After Mrs. Tsurugi retired to bed, Adrien and Kagami looked at each other.

“How about a game of chess, like old times?” Kagami asked, with a glint in her eye, referring to their days in university when they would spend late nights in the common rooms playing.

She clearly had more energy than Adrien had at this moment. “I don’t know,” he said dubiously. He didn’t want to think.

“What would you like to do?”

Adrien didn’t even know. He felt like he’d exhausted his roster of ‘things he’d like to do’ when he was trying to tempt his father with activities earlier that afternoon. “Watch anime?” he shrugged.

“Haven’t we been watching a lot of television lately?” Kagami pointed out. “It’s going to rot our brains. Just one game of chess. Please?”

No, Adrien whined internally, but he said, “Okay.”

He lost his pieces one by one, and congratulated Kagami when she teasingly boasted about her victory. He kissed her, letting the sensation of her lips replace the unpleasant thoughts that kept swirling through his mind.

I had a horrible day, was on his tongue. I feel like I’m heading toward a breakdown and I’m scared, he wanted to say. I don’t think I can do this anymore, his mind was screaming—but Kagami saw him as someone strong, level-headed, confident, and optimistic. He was afraid of ruining that image, afraid to find out whether she would stand by him when he couldn’t live up to it. So he stayed silent, bid her goodnight, and left.

—

“Minou?”

The French doors opened, and Marinette came out onto the balcony in her pajamas—a light spaghetti strap shirt, and pink shorts.

“What are you doing here so late?”

It was past midnight. He had tried to go home, tried to sleep, but he was feeling desperate under the weight of everything he had been repressing. His life was a lie. Everything that was important, he wasn’t allowed to talk about. When he closed his eyes, he felt like his ears were full of the sound of screaming, and even Plagg couldn’t keep his anxiety at bay. He needed to talk to someone.

“Sorry if I woke you,” he said, leaving out ‘Princess’ —his heart didn’t feel light enough to tease.

“You didn’t.” She swept a hand across his forehead to move his bangs aside and look deeply into his eyes, as if reading his soul. Whatever she saw there must have moved her, because she kissed his cheek tenderly and wrapped her arms around him. He could feel her warmth through the suit, and melted into it.

“Do you want to talk about it?” she asked against his shoulder, and he shook his head.

She stroked the back of his head with one hand. Her breathing was slow and steady, and her slightly damp hair, probably fresh from a shower, carried the scent of roses.

The soft warmth that she so willingly gave without asking anything in return softened the stubborn resolve that Adrien had carried around all day, refusing to give in to his emotions. One tear leaked, then another, and soon he was sobbing uncontrollably, he chest wracked with spasms as the sobs tore from his throat.

Marinette continued to hold him, stroking his hair and his back. “Let’s go inside,” she whispered.

The neighbors might hear, Chat Noir realized, but she didn’t point that out, instead graciously guiding him inside without taking her warm hands off his back. As soon as they were inside, she pulled him onto her sofa and enveloped him in an embrace again.

Adrien desperately wanted to talk to someone. He wanted to tell someone his father was Hawkmoth. He wanted to say his mother was dying and her body was in the basement, and it was up to him to help his father get better so he could finally let go of the temptation to terrorize Paris out of desperation to get her back. He wanted to whine about how difficult it was to try to prevent his father from running his company into the ground. He still felt like a kid, barely out of school, naïve about the way the world worked. Why did he have to deal with all of this? Who could help him?

Marinette didn’t ask anything, but everything about her body language said she was listening. And since Chat Noir wasn’t ready to spill everything, he simply choked out, “My life is a lie. It’s one big act and I don’t know how long I can keep it up without going crazy.”

In answer to this, Marinette cupped both of his cheeks in her hands, stroking his cheekbones with her thumbs comfortingly. “Minou… are you acting right now?”

“No…”

“Are we friends, Minou?”

“Yes… I hope so.”

“We are. This is real, Chat Noir. You’re going to be okay.”

He sighed and closed his eyes, relaxing into her touch. With every stroke, he felt his anxieties peeling away, leaving him raw and vulnerable.

“I’m scared,” he admitted.

“Of what, Minou?”

“Of ruining everything.”

She pulled his head down and kissed his forehead. “You couldn’t do that, Chat Noir. You fight too hard to make things right. I know that.”

Why did it feel like she knew him so well? Why did this feel familiar? He’d never been this close with Marinette. He never would have broken down in front of her as Adrien.

When he was with Marinette like this, nothing made sense, and yet, everything made sense. He didn’t understand, so he didn’t try, but instead, just accepted it.

—

He must have dozed off, because next thing he knew, he was bleary-eyed, with a little folk ditty in his ear that Marinette was humming, and he had to take a moment to remember where he was and what he was doing there.

The lights were off, and Marinette’s song had gone off key. He noticed her head was drooping and realized she was falling asleep despite continuing to sing. “Princess,” he whispered.

She blinked awake, and her voice stopped.

“Sorry for keeping you up.”

“Don’t you dare apologize, Minou,” she said, then yawned.

“Ah, no! The Princess is missing out on her beauty sleep.” And just because he could, Chat Noir picked her up, bridal style, before realizing he’d never been in her apartment before and he had no idea where her bed was. He looked around, trying to make out furniture in the darkness.

Marinette giggled and rested her head on his chest, seeming to accept her fate as his captive. Or his damsel in distress, despite the fact that she had just saved him from a meltdown. “To the right,” she instructed him, and he found his way to the doorway of a smaller room—her bedroom. A window, with the curtain pulled back, let in enough light to see her bed with the sheets slightly tousled as if she’d gotten up in a hurry. She must have already been in bed when she heard him land on the balcony.

He deposited her carefully in bed and pulled the covers up to her chin. “Thank you, Princess. I’d be lost without you.”

He gazed down at her, standing at her bedside. Her face in the moonlight looked so sweet, framed by dark locks, loose and spilling out on her pillow, her eyes twinkling with a patient smile. “Do you feel better, Chat Noir?”

“Yes. Thank you.” He stroked her bangs to the side, not really sure why. Her face looked like a doll’s, and she was warm. There was something that drew him to touch her. “Good night, Princess.”

“Good night, Chat Noir.” Her eyes were already closed, and the way she said it indicated she was already well on her way to the Land of Nod.

He let her sleep, making his way out of her room and apartment, locking the French doors before shutting them behind him.

It was strange, the way he missed holding her, and still felt the ghost of her warmth tingling against his chest. It must be his emotional state—he was feeling overly sentimental after the tears. All this would pass by the morning.

#MiraculousLadybug #Miraculous Ladybug #Miraculous Ladybug Fanfiction #MiraculousLadybugFanfiction #Marichat #Adrigami

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rosegardentwilight · 5 years

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Steal My Heart Chapter 9

a03

Summary: Prince Plagg had waited for the day that he could meet his betrothed, but when he does, he is met with a different reaction than he expected. He becomes determined that despite her mistaken assumptions, he will woo and win the Princess’s heart. Meanwhile, Prince Adrien finds himself thrust into an adventure after a brief encounter with a thief named Ladybug.

Pairings: Cheesecake and Adrienette.

A.n.- Happy Weekend all! I appreciate all of you. Enjoy reading.

Thank you @tog84 and @bluetreeleaves for betaing this chapter. Thank you for all you do.

“Don’t be nervous.” Plagg slid his hands down Tikki’s arms until he found her hands.

Tikki giggled back at him. “Strangely that doesn’t make me any less nervous.” The laughter died as her nerves hit her full force. “I mean, what if they don’t like me”-

He cupped her face, and any other excuses died on her tongue.

“That’s not possible.”

She leaned into his touch, grateful that he was still here. Her mother told her that Plagg stayed by her side every second except when he went to retrieve the potion that healed her.

“They’ll love you because I do. You’re perfect for me, my love. And in two days, we will be joined forever.”

“How can you be so calm?”

“Because I know I can handle anything as long as you’re by my side.”

Tikki nodded, looped her arm through his, and they entered the dining hall. Her mother had taken up the responsibility of hosting by chatting and eating with Plagg’s parents until they arrived.

“Tikki!” They stood from their seats. “We were worried, but we’re so glad you’re back to full health.”

Tikki offered a polite smile not sure how to react, but not wanting to insult them. “I am, too. I’m sorry that I scared everyone.”

“Do you... remember what happened?” King Richard asked, ignoring the look from his son.

Tikkie shifted uncomfortably despite Plagg squeezing her hand as an apology. “I don’t know. I was talking to Charles, my mother’s advisor, and then I blacked out. I can faintly remember hearing people talking, but”- Her voice wavered until it faded to silence. Since she had woken up, that question had plagued her. Each time it was asked, it frustrated her further that she couldn’t answer what happened. Charles could have poisoned her, or it could have very easily been someone else who had access to her room. Who she angered to the point that they would want to kill her was still a mystery. The knowledge that whoever did this to her was still out there made fear creep on her skin.

“Father, I was hoping I may speak to you alone just for a moment.”

Tikki silently thanked him for pulling the attention off her. The two mothers remained, but she hoped that she could turn the conversation towards her impending wedding.

“I was filling in Jocelyn on the wedding preparations. She was hoping that after the wedding that you would journey to Tuho for the coronation.”

Tikki blinked allowing the request to sink in. A toss of worry flickered at the notion. Tikki had never traveled much growing up. It wasn't a surprise that the coronation would take place in Plagg's kingdom. IT was sinking in how much her life would change after marriage. Plagg gave her the strength to face all the challenges that might come up. They boosted each other's strengths and helped with their weaknesses.

"Of course." How could she not accept the queen's wish? Plagg's people would need her just as much as her own, and the first step would be to get to know them.

She had to have faith in her abilities and that her parents had taught her everything she needed to succeed.

Nathalie glanced out the window to witness the outskirts of the mountains turned thick forest and then rolling farmland. She hadn’t heard from her daughter since she’d sent the note that she was traveling to meet her. Part of her worried, but she had to believe that Duusu was trained well enough to survive whatever came her way.

If all went well, then Duusu stopped the union between Luominen and Tuho. The break would allow other Kingdoms to align and seize Luominen. It was nothing personal against the Queen or her daughter, but throughout the years it had become hard to ignore that their region always yielded more crops, pulled in more fish, and prospered in everything they did. It was almost as if the core of luck was woven throughout the land itself.

Nathalie had first pointed out the change between the kingdoms to Gabriel many years ago. He had dismissed her then - or rather Emilie had convinced him to. But after his beloved wife’s death, Gabriel had swung back around amongst his grief.

It was then that they hatched a plan. If they gained Tuho and Bourdon on their side, then Luominen would be overpowered and helpless even if the other kingdoms decided to help.

The one thing that she hadn’t expected was to fall for Gabriel along the way. He had broken through her stone heart after she lost her first love. Nathalie knew that one day his eyes would be open and he would return her affections.

“Your Majesty.”

The voice of her servant caught her off guard. Amongst her reminiscing, they had arrived in Luominen.

“Thank you, Cerdic.”

He offered out a hand to assist her out of the carriage. No more than a couple of steps towards the castle and Queen Felice stood at the top steps of the palace.

“It has been too long, my friend,” Nathalie lied between her teeth. The only reason she stepped foot in this kingdom before it was under her control was to meet with her daughter to move to the next stage of the plan. “But as you can imagine my journey was long and I would like to rest.”

“I’m afraid we have to discuss your daughter, Nathalie.”

“Duusu? What about her?”

“Your daughter seems to be guilty of conspiring with my advisor to poison my daughter and lay ruin to Luominen.”

“That doesn’t sound like a thing my Duusu would do.” By the sound of it, her daughter had gone overboard. If she would have known what she planned she would stress the importance of not getting caught. To think she trusted her with a mission with as crucial as this one.

“I think she had guidance from outside the walls as well.”

Nathalie’s eyes narrowed at Felice. It was enough of an accusation to show where her thoughts were without declaring war on the spot. Her best course of action was to stand her ground. Any less and she may as well surrender the war now. “I shall speak to her at once and let her know that such behavior is not tolerated. Obviously, your advisor took advantage of her and convinced her to act in such a way.”

“I see.”

Victory over Felice for now, but Nathalie did not doubt that she would be cornered once more.

“I’ll leave you to speak to your daughter. Should I prepare a room for you two, or are you not planning on staying for the wedding?”

“Wedding?” Nathalie parroted.

“For Tikki and Plagg.”

If Felice decided to rattle her, it worked. Her facial features failed for no more than a couple of seconds.

“I hadn’t realized that she had awoken. What a miracle,” she replied as well as she could. So not only had her daughter failed in her, but she had done so miserably. She had to confer with Gabriel before her next course of action.

“Show me to my daughter. After I speak to her, you’ll have your answer.

After several days of rotting in the dungeon, Duusu started to wonder if her mother would ever come. Her shoulder muscles were stiff. She was long past hungry after refusing to eat, and her vision had started to blur.

What if she’s not coming, her mind whispered. You’ve only been a disappointment. You failed.

Duusu tried to ignore the dark thoughts and spend her energy shifting to ease the pain on her body. This was all her fault. If not for her eagerness to please her mother, she would be relaxing as her maidservant brought whatever she needed on a whim. Duusu was at the point where she would kill for a hot bath.

At the sound of footsteps, she froze. Her stomach released a growl, and this time she wouldn’t turn away food.

“I keep asking myself:” The voice chilled Duusu’s blood and prepared herself for the verbal lashing that would ensue. “How can my daughter continue to be such a disappointment? Any thoughts, Duusu?”

“Mother, I can explain.” The words tumbled out. Allowing the advisor to take the fall was the perfect plan. He hadn’t known that she’d intended to double-cross him, and she certainly hadn’t expected him to run off in the night leaving her in this mess.

“Close your mouth, you insolent girl.” The burst of rage calmed as Nathalie’s voice returned to cold and rigid. “I gave you one job, and you couldn’t even carry it out correctly. Do you know how much scrutiny I’m under because of your mistake?”

“I didn’t think”-

“No, Duusu. You didn’t. If I had my way, you would stay in here so you couldn’t mess up my plan further.”

Tears pricked at the edges of her eyes, but she held them in. To cry would be to show weakness, and she didn’t want to confirm what her mother already thought of her.

“I can do better,” Duusu promised, lurching as far forward as she could. She hoped that her mother would take her words to heart. Otherwise, she would have to keep the rats' company longer.

“For your sake, I hope so.” She glared. “Here’s the plan. I’ll get you out of here once I can speak to Gabriel and make sure you didn’t cause any permanent damage. You keep your head down and mouth shut. We don’t need war; we are not sure we can win because of your failures.”

Duusu flinched at the word. Of course, her mother hated her; she didn’t accomplish her mission. She had tried so hard over the years to gain her approval, but the more she tried, the less she was convinced that it was achievable. After so many attempts, it only left her broken.

Do you even love me? The question tantalized her tongue, but she didn’t dare ask. Deep inside, she feared the answer. No one loved damaged goods.

“Yes, mother.”

“Good.” She pulled back. “Maybe we’ll get out of this.” Nathalie turned and made her way to the stairs without looking back.

Duusu sunk back down to the ground soft sobs to escaping her lips.

Was it so wrong that she wished her mother’s plan to fail? If she gave up on this ridiculous plan, they might return to a resemblance of a caring mother and a loving daughter. This pending war and Gabriel had been the two things her mother had been obsessing with for the last couple of years.

She couldn’t see that it brought down their kingdom and their people feared the queen and herself instead of loving them. From the moment she arrived, she noticed a difference between the realms. She dared say she was jealous of Tikki.

Even if she wanted to stop her mother, she didn’t know how. No one would believe her.

Marinette found her heart elated the second they entered the city. The excited whispers greeted them that Princess Tikki had awoken. The potion had worked. At that moment, Marinette didn’t doubt she did the right thing by giving it away. Stopping by the castle to meet Plagg's betrothed was high on her priority list before they left for Schmetterling. By the way Plagg talked about Tikki, Marinette was convinced that they would get along well. All of her interactions with royalty had been much different than she expected and made her question her original thoughts.

"We're back." She didn't know if it was excitement or dread boiling up in her stomach. There were so many questions swirling in her mind making her dizzier with every step. Adrien's voice calmed her instantly.

“I told you nothing would go wrong,” he teased, wrapping his arm around her. “After we check that Plagg and Tikki are ok, I’ll make preparations so you can go back home.”

Home. The word spread more warmth through her than the kiss Adrien planted on her head. She had spent all this time running from the idea until she realized that’s what she wanted all along.

“I love you,” she whispered into his shoulder.

“I’ll never get tired of you saying that,” he whispered back into her ear.

Marinette heard the murmurs start and gently pushed away. The amount of touching between them had become a steady normal over the last couple of days, but now they were back within the kingdom. It had become more taboo. Surely people would recognize him as the Prince, and he was surrounding himself with non-royalty. It would fuel the rumor mill for the day.

As soon as they rounded the corner, Marinette’s blood froze. It hadn’t occurred to her that the whispers and stares had less to do with them and more than King Gabriel of Schmetterling and Princess Chloe of Bourdon were exiting the carriages and blocking the front entrance to the palace. She had hoped they hadn’t spotted them - only to be disappointed when a shrill shriek filled the air.

“Adri-kins!”

In a blink of an eye, he was wrapped in a tight hug from a blonde Princess that Marinette could only assume was Chloé. “You were gone so long; I missed you. Did you bring anything back for me?”

Marinette’s first reaction was to resist the urge to burst into laughter. Chloe was quite the charmer, but one wouldn’t simply ask for—

The ring.

That must be what she was referring to. Her face paled, and her hand flew up to her necklace on instinct. Chloe could claw at Adrien all she wanted, but the only way she would get the ring was off her corpse. She could feel another pair of eyes on her, and when she searched, she met the cold gray eyes of His Majesty Gabriel.

“You can go finish putting our horses in the stable.”

Chloe’s command pulled her back to the present.

Marinette’s mouth dropped to say something—anything, but any idea of how she would respond died in her throat. Adrien answered for her.

“She’s not a servant, Chloe. This is Marinette, my”—

“Adrien, a word. Now. ” The harshness rippled through the air sending a shiver to shoot down her spine.

Marinette helplessly watched as Adrien shot her a sympathetic glance before following a little distance as not to be heard.

Chloe uttered complaints with a sulk, but Marinette tuned her out. She found that she couldn’t look away from Adrien’s interaction with his father. Body tense, hands curled by his side, and a permanent frown displayed. Gabriel didn’t fare much better, his blonde eyebrows knitted and jaw rigid. She didn’t have to be close to understand that his father didn’t appreciate Adrien’s disappearing act nor the fact that he’d showed up with her.

Her fingers crept up to her necklace once more, pulling strength from the promise that came with it. They knew this would be hard. Adrien’s father wouldn’t relent to the idea easily.

Even if he did, Marinette doubted that Chloe would give up. Judging from her behavior, she got whatever and whoever she wanted. She wouldn’t accept that the Prince would choose someone like her. Both situations had to be handled differently, as one day she would want Gabriel’s approval. She took a couple steps forward in attempts to eavesdrop inconspicuously.

“Adrien, you’re making a spectacle. Now stop being foolish and follow me so we can pay respects to the Queen and the newly betrothed.”

Marinette’s heart sunk in her chest. She could see why he didn’t talk fondly of his father. The one thing that Gabriel didn’t say but it was evident if you read between the lines.

Leave her behind.

Adrien’s father wanted nothing to do with her and was probably disgusted that his son’s affections lay with her. She wrapped her fingers around her necklace once more, combating the rising anxiety.

“Not without Marinette,” he growled.

Adrien’s fierceness surprised her but reassured her all the same. She hadn’t meant to cause tension. Maybe this is what Luka meant when he said to put duty before his heart. Without her in the picture, it would be a much different reunion playing out in front of her.

“She is a friend of Prince Plagg, and she aided in the healing of Princess Tikki. I’m sure they would enjoy a visit from the woman who made their wedding possible.”

“I see.” Gabriel didn’t say anything more, but he seemed to yield to Adrien’s request.

Marinette reached out her arm to grasp hold of his sleeve before he could take too many steps up the stairs.

“I’ll find my way to you later. There’s someone I have to see.”

“Are you sure, I could come with you.”

It softened her the way his eyebrows narrowed in concern. He treated her as if the King and Princess weren’t with them. It only reinforced the memory of when he said he would fight for her. Is this what it looked like?

“You may have faced thieves and bandits, but I don’t think you’re ready for Alya just yet,” she teased quietly. If Adrien’s father knew half the stuff he did, odds were he would lock him in the castle for the rest of his days.

“I’ll be fine, Adrien. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

The answer seemed to calm his nerves enough that he didn’t protest further. He gave her one last loving glance before falling in line behind his father - with plenty of space between him and Chloe. As soon as he disappeared through the door, the smile she was holding in place fell. She hadn’t expected to meet his father in such a way, let alone the woman that the King obviously preferred. Why else would he bring her here? The time before Adrien returned to Schmetterling was drawing nearer. What if Gabriel didn’t allow her to come with them? Sure, Prince Adrien held some power, but Gabriel’s word was law in their kingdom. He could quickly banish her if he desired and there was nothing she could do about it. Just because they were back safely didn’t mean they were out of the woods yet.

Marinette stopped as soon as Alya's house came into view. It was weird not having Adrien hovering around her, but this was one visit that she rather have on her own. If he came with her, there would be no doubt Alya would bombard him with questions. Marinette couldn't do that to him. It was a fate worse than anything they’ve ever faced to get his mother's ring back.

Instantly her hand went up to clutch up the ring that she stored next to her heart. Marinette lifted the chain until the ring reached her lips.

Alya wouldn't hate her for her decision to go with him, would she? They had always been together through thick and thin throughout the years. She would like to think Alya would be happy for her.

Marinette took the necessary courage and knocked on the door.

"Marinette! Marinette!" Immediately, she was engulfed in multiple arms.

"It's so good to see you!" She countered, returning the hug. "So full of energy. Do you know where your sister is?"

"She's inside!" They squealed. "Say that you'll stay."

Marinette smiled at their excitement and bent down to their level. "Only for a little while." Their disappointment drowned their features. She couldn't leave them like that. "But why don't you grab your dolls to show me."

"OK!" The twins ran inside, and Marinette's eyes wandered up the door to find her best friend wearing a smirk.

"You really know how to worry someone, don't you?" Alya crossed her arms over her chest. "I was scared that you-" She cut herself off, but Marinette didn't need her to finish the sentence.

"I know, and I'm sorry." She never intended to worry her that much.

“What aren’t you telling me?” Alya raised an eyebrow, “You are terrible at lying.”

Marinette cuddled her arm and her lip curled between her teeth. Of course, Alya spotted a difference in her, even if she didn’t know what caused this change. Marinette had met Alya shortly after Luka left her.

"I might leave." Marinette’s words made the situation more real to her. But Plagg had been right; she was in love with Adrien, she couldn’t deny it. Glancing back to Alya, Marinette braced herself for the plethora of questions.

"Where?" Alya’s eyes shot wide and mouth ajar.

Marinette swallowed hard. "Schmetterling." Alya started to flounder, "what brought this on? There's a boy, isn't there."

“You remember that guy from the tavern.”

“Him?”

“Turns out he is the Prince of Schmetterling. He wanted the bag we stole, but I had given it to you. He said I could face the gallows if we could retrieve what we stole.”

“Marinette!” Alya chided.

“At first I tried to get away, but the more time I spent with him, the more I grew fond of him. We came to rely on each other, and we make a good team. I’ve never felt like this towards anyone, Alya.”

“Is he just as smitten with you?”

“Perhaps even more so. It was his idea that I return with him.” Marinette bit her lip. “Alya, he wants me to be his queen one day.”

Squeals filled the air as Alya threw her arms around Marinette and spun her around. The high faded quickly as the somber truth meant they would be separated.

"I'm going to miss you." Alya ran her hand through Marinette's hair. "What am I going to do without you?"

She knew where her best friend was coming from. The idea of leaving her behind tore at her heart, but it would be necessary for her to grow. Marinette knew that she couldn’t keep thieving and certainly couldn’t keep to her original plan to become isolated. "You're strong Alya; I know you will survive." She could feel the tears starting to well in her eyes. "If you start to miss me, then come and visit. I'm sure Adrien would agree to you staying at the castle with me."

"Does he make you happy?" Alya asked.

Memories of their adventure flashed through her mind, and each one caused her to smile more.

"More than you could possibly know."

#miraculous ladybug #miraculousladybug #miraculousfanfic #miraculousladybugfanfiction #adrienette #cheesecake #tikki and plagg #medieval au #Steal My Heart #rosegardentwilight

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