Chapter 11
C'est fort quand je le vois
Je veux crier sur tout les toits
Notre amour qui nous tend les bras
Mais je sais que je ne dois pas
Ce n'est pas le moment
Il faut être patient
Être patient...
"I didn't know you were in love with Adrien," Marinette told Alba one day when they walked home from school.
"What makes you say that?" I asked rubbing my temples.
"The other day, I mean, Oni-Chan captured you along with all the people that Love Adrien," She explained fiddling with her fingers.
"I'm not in love with Adrien, but I do love him to death, just as much as I love you," I smiled at her before adding, "You must still love Adrien as well, Kagami almost got you too,"
"First of all, no she didn't, and second I do love Adrien, just not that way... Not anymore,"
"Are you sure about that?" I taunted her, massaging a particularly sore spot near my eyebrow,
"I guess he'll always be special to me. He was my first true love after all, but no, I'm not in love with him anymore," She affirmed, and I could see that she was being honest.
"Then why did you ask if I was in love with him? Are you jealous?" I taunted her again,
"I'm not jealous!" She squealed, making people around us turn their gaze in our direction. Noticing she was the center of attention, she shrugged and pulled me by the arm, urging me to keep walking,
"So, you were saying that you were jealous..." I motioned for her to continue, once we were far enough from the staring gazes of strangers,
"I'm not jealous, It's just... It's kind of weird to think of Adrien with someone else," She explained in a more relaxed tone,
"I understand, but if you don't want to be with him anymore, then you should get used to the idea of him being with someone else," I explained trying to hide a smirk. If only she knew...
"I guess..." She sighed with a hint of sadness in her eyes,
"I know it's hard, I mean you were obsessed with him for so long..."
"I wasn't obsessed with him!" She defended herself, but stopped talking when she saw my annoyed face,
"Hello Ma'am, quick question," I call a random passerby, much to Marinette's dismay, "Was Marinette obsessed with Adrien?"
"Yes," She answered without taking her gaze out of her cellphone,
"See? Even the extras know about it,"
"That doesn't prove anything," Marinette crossed her arms and looked away
"Do you want me to ask someone else? Hey Sir..."
"Ok fine!" She interrupted me, "Maybe I was a little bit obsessed with Adrien,"
"More like a lot!" Another passerby said, and I couldn't stop a complacent smile from appearing in my face,
"Ok, how do you do that?" She asked accepting her defeat,
"I didn't plan this if that's what you're asking. Heaven just smiled at me today," I shrugged giggling,
Marinette huffed and started walking faster, making me giggle even harder.
"By the way, my parents are coming home tomorrow," I told her after a few minutes of walking in silence,
"Oh, so you have parents?" She scoffed still not looking at me.
"Yup, a mom and a dad," I showed her with my fingers,
"Good for you."
"I know you're not saying it, but I know that you're dying to know why I've been living by myself for more than a year, if I'm only 17,"
"I honestly don't care."
"Yeah, you do!"
"I don't," She scowled as we reached my place.
"Fine then, I won't tell you. But I don't want to part ways knowing that you're still mad at me. I'm sorry for joking about Adrien, I know it's still a delicate subject for you," She studied me for a moment while I looked at her with pleading eyes
"Fine, I forgive you," She let out with the slightest of giggles, "as long as you promise you won't try anything with him,"
"Anything with him? Please, Adrien is so not my type," I bantered, but then she looked at me with such a cold look that I had to finish, "Fine, I promise I won't try anything with your ex-crush,"
"Alright then, see you tonight." She winked and left in her merry way. That's the defender of Paris, never afraid to put people in their place, but always ready to forgive. I really admire her for that.
o0o
Later that afternoon, as unexpectedly, as usual, Marinette heard a loud knock in her window. Knowing who it was, she rushed to open it with a dashing smile.
"Chat isn't it too early for you to..." Her smile disappeared when she saw that it was someone else trying to come inside her bedroom,
"Sorry to disappoint you dear, but we have a problem," I told her entering the room and starting to pace around it biting my nails.
"What is it, Sirena? Stop biting your nails," she scolded me
"You'll be biting your nails with me once I tell you what happened! Hawk Moth just akumatized My father!"
"Your father? I thought you said he was coming to town tomorrow!"
"Well, that was the plan, but he came earlier than expected and saw me transform and freaked out, and now he's akumatized."
"Well, let's go get him!" She called on Tikki to transform but I grabbed her wrist before she could say the trigger words.
"That'll be a problem, you see, he's a mind reader like me," she didn't seem to understand the implications of the situation, so I continued, "His name is Sleuth, and as soon as he sees you he'll know who you are."
"Does he know about you?" She looked at me with big eyes.
"I don't think so, I rushed out of my room before his transformation was complete, but I heard Hawk Moth talk to him, he seems to know that I was keeping secrets but not what secrets, which is a relief, but still..."
"Well, then we have to find Chat Noir before your dad, or else..." She shook off my grasp and transformed. She used her yo-yo to try to contact Chat but he didn't pick up.
"Maybe he's not transformed, but still, how do you pretend to fight this Akuma, we all have way too many secrets to keep." I could see the wheels turning in her head until the lightbulb turned on.
"Then we'll send him someone that doesn't have that many secrets to keep."
"You're... not serious, are you?" I asked because the sole idea seemed bizarre,
"You go get Chat Noir, I'll go to Master Fu and get the miraculouses."
"Better go as Marinette, if my dad works as I think he does, this Akuma is going to be like a spy... quiet as a mouse, you won't know he's there until it's too late,"
"Good thinking, I'll call you as soon as I have what I need." I nodded and left her house using the window.
I made sure to look around to make sure I wasn't followed, but I could only hope that my father didn't think of looking for me at Marinette's place.
o0o
I found Adrien wandering around the Champs de Mars. He had escaped from his house in his civilian clothes, so I did the only logical thing to do in a situation like this. I jumped from the building where I was standing, took my trident and threw it at him. It went flying a few feet before landing inches from his feet. He shied away without losing his cool.
"Uh, Sirena?" He mumbled before I landed in front of him.
"Sorry Adrien, I needed to call your attention!" I breathed trying to recover from the exertion.
"Did you just try to spear me?" He asked raising a questioning eyebrow,
"Believe me, if I wanted to spear you, you would have a trident on your chest right now."
"You could have screamed my name or something." He sighed drawing the silver trident from the cement floor and examining it, although I couldn't see what was so interesting about it.
"I didn't want to call unnecessary attention," I shrugged,
"Because throwing a trident to a person is the most reasonable option in that case." He mocked me and used the trident to spear the air. "What are you doing transformed anyways? You're not supposed to be seen in public."
"I know, but we have an emergency. There's an Akuma, and you need to come with me."
"All right, let me just transform." He shrugged handing me the trident. He began to look for a place to transform but I stopped him midway,
"No, that's just the thing, you can't let him see you, he's a mind reader, the moment he sees you he'll know who you are and more!" His eyes widened as if his brain finally turned on after a snooze.
"How do you know all that?" I looked to my feet, trying to escape from his questioning gaze.
"He's my dad and it was kind of my fault that he got akumatized," He looked at me with a sympathetical smile, placing a comforting hand on my shoulder.
"Don't worry, we'll bring him back, but..." He rubbed his chin, thinking about something. "How do we fight an Akuma that we have to hide from?"
"Ladybug has an idea, she'll tell you what to do." He smiled with shimmering eyes.
"That's my lady..." But then he looked down again.
"Adrien, we can talk about whatever it is that's bothering you later. But right now we gotta go," He smiled sadly while he still observed the spear in my hands.
"Alright, let's find a better place to transform." We ran and hid behind some bushes when Plagg emerged from his jacket allowing him to transform. As soon as he transformed completely, his baton rang.
"Chaton, Finally," Ladybug exclaimed from the screen, I pushed him aside a bit to get in the camera with him. "Where are you?"
"We're at the Chaps de mars." He answered
"Great! I'll be there in a second." She hanged up. After a few seconds, we saw her swinging through the neighboring buildings until she landed on the floor near the bushes, where we were still hiding.
"Here," She handed him a black jewelry box. When he saw it his eyes widened as he recognized it, "You have to give this to Kagami while I go fetch Chloe."
"What? I thought you said they couldn't use the miraculous again because their identities were compromised...." He thought about it for a microsecond and then exclaimed. "Which is precisely why they should fight the mind reader. Brilliant, my lady!"
"As always," she boasted. "Don't just give it to her though, get her to a safe place and then hand it over, we could be being watched this very moment, we'll meet at the Eiffel tower in 5 minutes."
"Your wish is my command, my Lady." He bowed and she nodded, "As for you Sirena, wait for us at the Eiffel tower, don't let yourself be seen, especially not when we arrive." I nodded and we all went in our separate ways.
o0o
Marinette followed the path to Chloe's hotel. She found her sitting on the terrace with Sabrina. She waited for Sabrina to turn her head around, and when she finally did, she leaped into the terrace. Using her yo-yo she grabbed Chloe and began to run in the other direction despite her protest.
"Hey! Ladybug? Did you just kidnap me! Why is everyone kidnaping me these days?" She squealed,
"Sorry Chloe, but I'm pretty sure you'll like what I have to say." She stopped on top of a building, hiding in the shadow of a Chimney. She let go of her and she turned to see her annoyed.
"You better have a good reason to..."
"We need you to be Queen Bee again." Ladybug explained. She looked at her with wide, "But I guess if you don't want to..."
"I do, I do! But Ladybug, you said I couldn't do it anymore because my identity was not..."
"secret? Well, that's exactly why we need you, this Akuma is a mind reader, he'll know Chat and my identity if he sees us, which is why you're perfect for the job. What do you say?"
"You can count on me, Ladybug!" She said with a fierce look in her eyes.
"Chat Noir and I won't fight alongside you, but don't worry, you'll have a partner with you."
"partner?"
o0o
Meanwhile, Chat Noir found Kagami practicing fencing while her mother sat before her. Chat rushed to where they were and blurted out, "Sorry Tsurugi-san, but I need to borrow your daughter," before grabbing Kagami and jumping to the nearest building, ignoring Tsurugi-san's protests.
"This is becoming a bad habit for you guys," She stared at him with bored eyes. "I'm never going to hear the end of it from my mother,"
"I'm sorry Kagami, but we need you to transform again, I'll explain everything to you on the way, but we need to hurry, come on!" Kagami was surprised by the unexpected proposal, but she nodded and, taking the black box that Chat handed her, transformed into Ryuko.
"What's the plan?" She asked looking at him, who smiled at her for a second. Chat had to admit that seeing Kagami ready to fight made him feel proud, yet at the same time it made him feel a void in his stomach,
"Come on, I'll explain on the way." They began to run in the direction of the Eifel Tower, and when the four of them arrived I appeared in front of them, much to Ladybug's dismay.
It turned out both girls thought I was the Akuma and tried to attack me from different sides, but I was able to predict their thoughts and dodge the attack, making them crash into each other and fall into the floor.
"Is this really the best you could come up with?" I asked Ladybug, looking at the pathetic duo struggle to stand up. "I could predict their attacks even if I wasn't who I am."
"Who are you then?" Ryuko groaned as she finally stood up.
"Someone who is going to teach you how to fight a villain that can read your mind," I said, ignoring Ladybug's murderous glare.
"I thought I told you to stay hidden," She huffed and I saw her tighten her jaw,
"Yes, but then I figured, you're about to send two unprepared girls into a battlefield with a villain they won't be able to defeat without the proper knowledge." I turned my gaze to see the two novice superheroines who studied me intently trying to figure out who, or what, I was, "Look, you don't need to know who I am, all you need to know is that I'm a mind reader as is the Akuma you're about to fight. I can teach you to fight him, but you need to focus and work together, even if you really can't stand each other."
They looked at each other not recognizing who they were. Which is precisely the effect of the miraculous glamour.
"Listen carefully, to fight him you must be in sync with each other but you can't be thinking your next steps, don't think, act, a single thought and you're done for." I continued and they nodded in agreement. "Feel each other, and you'll defeat him. You'll find the Akuma somewhere at the Champs de Mars." I turned away to leave, but I turned to face them again. "Oh, and by the way, in case you think of telling someone you saw me, just know that I can erase your memory, make you act like an animal of my choice and expose your darkest secrets to the world; so please, don't." I smiled at them and left.
"Who was that?" Queen Bee asked Ladybug and Chat Noir as I disappeared from their vision.
"Doesn't matter, but she's right and you must do as she says." Ladybug said pinching the bridge of her nose.
"Now go, and make us proud, our beloved children." Chat Noir dismissed them with a dramatic voice. They nodded with a fierce expression and set off in their mission. "Do you really think this is a good idea?" He asked Ladybug,
"Nope,"
"Good, I'd be concerned if you did." He looked at the girls disappear among the trees. "So, what now, my lady."
"We wait." Ladybug answered as she sat down with her legs crossed on the edge of the Eiffel tower.
"We wait?" He repeated looking down at her. "You mean we do nothing?"
"There's not much we can do until they call us and even then, I'll only have to catch the Akuma." Chat Noir fiddled with his hands, pacing nervously until he decided to take a seat next to her.
"This is a strange feeling... There's an Akuma on the loose and yet we're just here, sitting, while they do all the dirty job. This must be like everyone else feels,"
"Sometimes we have to delegate, and sometimes that means the best we can do is wait."
"Couldn't we at least try to go an find him?" He pleaded; but Ladybug shook her head. "Come on, we can't just seat here!"
"We must if we want to protect our identities, a single look from that Akuma and he'll know who we are, and we can't have that," She shrugged, making Chat Noir sigh understanding that Ladybug was right.
"At least the sunset is pretty," He noticed looking at the dark orange sky. After a few minutes of silence, he huffed, "I feel so useless!"
"Do you have to keep complaining? You're making waiting more and more unbearable,"
"Well, how are you so calm?" He asked while the sound of an explosion rumbled in the background,
"This all just got me thinking... What would life be after we defeat Hawk Moth? We'll have nothing to do," Ladybug commented looking absently at the sky,
Chat looked at her frowning and crossed his arms over his knees, "I don't like to think about it,"
"Why not?" She gawked, "I thought you couldn't stand him anymore, and you were counting the minutes until we defeat him,"
"I am, believe me, no one wants to get rid of him as much as I do, but I know that the day we defeat him will also be the day when we'll have to return our miraculous," He sighed,
"I hadn't thought of that," Ladybug sighed just when a giant gust of wind swept over them, however, they ignored it and continued chatting.
"I know we have to defeat him but the thought of never seeing you again is too painful to bear," Chat told her, then looked at Ladybug in the eyes, getting closer to her. She closed her eyes and started to draw near him as well. Ladybug could feel Chat's breath in her cheeks when her yo-yo started to ring. Ladybug jumped from her sitting place to answer the call, but Chat didn't notice that she left soon enough and fell face-first on the metal floor.
"Ryuko, give me good news," Ladybug asked through the yo-yo,
"Queen Bee paralyzed him, we already removed the akumatized object, but we haven't released the Akuma, we're keeping it for you,"
"Great timing," Chat grumped rubbing his chin and getting up from the floor, but if Ladybug heard him, she chose to ignore him.
"Good job, girls, release the Akuma, I'll be there in a moment," She turned to Chat and said to him, "I told you they would make it!"
"No, you said we didn't have a choice," Chat groaned still crossed at Ryuko for ruining the moment.
"Whatever, come on, we have an Akuma to catch." Taking her yo-yo, she leaped from the Tower and started to run in the way the explosions had come from,
"No, you have an Akuma to catch," He said to himself before leaving the Eiffel Tower
o0o
They hadn't reached the spot where Queen Bee and Ryuko were, when they saw the black butterfly coming their way. Ladybug caught it without hesitation, but they were met with the worried face of the two novice heroes once they arrived at the designated place,
"Ladybug, the Butterfly escaped! We tried to catch it but we were afraid it would infect us or something," Queen Bee explained frantically,
"Calm down, Queen Bee. I got it!" Ladybug released the purified butterfly.
"So, tell us, how did you defeat a guy that could read your minds?" Chat asked while Ladybug finished fixing everything with her yo-yo.
"It was hard at first, but Chloe and I managed to do what that weird lady told us,"
"Yeah, it wasn't easy, but Kagami and I worked out our differences. We managed to distract him and paralyze him."
"So... you guys know your identities?" Ladybug asked, joining them once everything was repaired
"Oh yeah, the creepy guy told us, though a little heads up would have been nice," Queen Bee stared coldly at Ladybug and Chat Noir.
"No kidding, I've always hated Chloe, no offense," Ryuko explained
"None taken, I hate you too, especially since you kidnap me and all." Chloe huffed. "Anyways, that weird lady was right... will you tell us who she is? I'm utterly curious," Chloe asked hopefully,
"I'm afraid she is someone that you shouldn't have seen in the first place. You have to forget she exists, or else it can be really dangerous for all of us," Ladybug started,
"Yeah, she's also very powerful, if you can't keep your mouth shut about her, you can be sure she'll do to you as she threatened," Chat warned.
"But, you would protect us, won't you guys?" Chloe giggled nervously,
"If you tell others about her?" Chat stated, "No, we won't, that weird Lady is on our side, and she warned you not to do it,"
"And now we're warning you too." Ladybug finished, standing before them. "Thank you so much for stepping up when we needed you. Don't worry we will make sure to protect you if Hawk Moth ever tries to come back at you." Ladybug motioned for them to return their miraculous, they detransformed and handed them over with sad expressions. "And as a thank you for what you did today we'll give you these," Ladybug handed each of them a small red and black paper that she got from her yo-yo, each with a single phone number written.
"Are these...?" Chloe's eyes shimmered,
"It's a direct line you can use to contact us if you're ever in danger, but it's only for emergencies,"
"Thank you, Ladybug," Kagami bowed, "Chat Noir," She bowed again before him, making Chat's heart sink,
"I gotta tell everyone about this!" Chloe beamed,
"If you do, we'll send za weird lady to you," Chat started squinting at her, and Chloe's smile turned into a frown, "Don't share it with anyone else, will ya?"
"Ugh! Fine!" Chloe huffed. Kagami tugged Chloe's sleeve and hinted for them to leave, meanwhile, Chat and Ladybug turned to check on the Akumatized man, but he wasn't where they had last seen him, In fact, he was nowhere to be seen.
"Where did he go?" Chat asked, looking around to try to any trace of him.
"He must have left when we were talking," Ladybug guessed and motioned for them to leave, "He should be fine, right?"
What they didn't notice was that when they were talking with Queen Bee and Ryuko, a mysterious person lurked into the shadows and dragged the man out of their reach. She pulled him into an alleyway despite his protest and faced him.
"Do you know who I am?" She asked the tall tan man in an attempt to calm him down,
"Alba?" He began motioning frantically, making a lock of the curly hair that I inherited, fall on his forehead, "Of course I know who you are, you're my daughter! why are you dressed like that?"
"Dad, you shouldn't have seen me, it's supposed to be a secret," She mumbled fiddling with her braid,
"How long have you been this... person?" He pointed at her,
"More than a year now," I sighed, "My name is Sirena, I'm a mind reader,"
"How much do you know, then?" He asked after a moment of silence,
"Everything, for instance, I know that you and mom work for a private detective's agency and that the reason we came here was for you to find out who Hawk Moth is."
"You've known all this time?" I nodded, "Why didn't you tell us?"
"I couldn't, if I did, I'd lose my miraculous, besides, I'm helping you find Hawk Moth, my job is to look for him in the night, without ever being seen,"
"So? Did you find out who he is already?" He urged her,
"Well, I found out who he's not," I shrugged, but then he hugged me tightly, out of the blue,
"I'm just happy you're okay," I smiled on his broad chest, "We shouldn't have left you all alone,"
"I know you guys are always around and I always know where you are. I've even used some of the information you've collected in my own searches,"
"Still, we're not there for you," He lamented, "Come," He motioned for me to follow him out of the alley, "Your mom should be waiting for us, she'll be surprised once she finds out about this,"
"Yeah, it's just... You know what? I've been dying to show you a new song I wrote,"
"Oh, really? Let's hear it," And with tears starting to sting in my eyes, I began to chant.
o0o
Marinette went home that night thinking about what Chat Noir had said. What would happen once they've defeated Hawk Moth? She wouldn't have to be Ladybug anymore and Chat wouldn't have to be Chat Noir. That meant that whenever they had to say goodbye to Hawk Moth, it would be goodbye to Ladybug and Chat Noir as well.
"Tikki, what will happen when we defeat Hawk Moth?" Marinette asked biting the pen she was using to write,
"There'll be a celebration in all of Paris! The citizens will be at peace and..."
"No, but, I mean to us, you and me." Marinette looked at her from her desk where she was sitting working on some homework,
"Well, I guess since our work together is done..."
"You'll go back into the miraculous box, won't you? I knew it!"
"Relax Marinette, we don't know that yet," She put a comforting hand on Marinette's cheek, "Some Ladybugs keep their miraculous for life, while others decide to return them, others are corrupted and their miraculous has to be taken away... every case is different, the truth is, we won't know until we get there,"
"Fine, but... Isn't it too hard to say goodbye?"
"It always is, Marinette, it never gets easier. I should know, I've had to say goodbye many times, but it helps to know that the other person is doing well, even if you're not around to see it," Tikki sighed remembering some of her most beloved previous ladybugs.
"Okay but what about Chat Noir? I don't know why but I've come to terms with having to say goodbye to you, but Chat... I can't imagine not seeing him anymore,"
"I guess that's a little bit more complicated, but there's no need to worry about it, you should enjoy what you have now, and leave the future where it belongs"
"Did your previous Ladybugs have a Chat Noir?" Marinette asked ignoring Tikki's wise words and propping herself on her chaise lounge
"Yes, you can't separate destruction from creation," She landed on Marinette's abdomen,
"And did they know their identities?"
"Yes," She answered simply, resting her head on her hands
"Okay, but did they always know?"
"Every story is different Marinette, I can tell you what others in your position have done, but eventually you will have to come up with your own conclusions,"
"I love him Tikki, that's all I know," Marinette sighed staring absently at the ceiling
"That's enough for now,"
And it was enough. Marinette's love was strong and all-consuming, she knew that admitting her feelings to Chat Noir would mean everything to her, and she also knew that Chat would return the feeling. She knew that confessing her feelings would mean a huge change to the dynamics of their relationship, it would most certainly distract her from her more urgent priorities, yet she couldn't help but wonder, would he be as loyal to Marinette as he was to Ladybug?
Their love was stronger than anything they could imagine, but she had to be patient. Because now was probably not the time to change who they were, not now that they were so close to finding Hawk Moth, not now when she had school to think about, not now when she could put him and their loved ones at risk if Hawk Moth found out anything that he could use against them. If she ever wished for something to happen between them, she would have to wait, at least until they had captured Hawk Moth and he wasn't able to hurt anyone.
It's strong when I see it,
I want to shout out on all the rooftops!
Our love that reaches us!
But I know I shouldn't.
It is not the moment.
We need to be patient...
Be patient!