Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Seriously, all you had to do to be given a Miraculous was help stop an old man from getting run over?” Chloé asked incredulously, staring at her girlfriend. “Not that that’s a bad criterion or anything, but I really thought the selection process would be a lot more rigorous than that.”

It was the day after the Miracle Queen incident. Marinette hadn’t stayed long after she’d bequeathed the Miracle Box to Chloé, she’d just been too tired after everything that had happened, and Chloé did not blame her one bit. For her part, Chloé had remained at the hotel all day, claiming illness to avoid going to school. In reality, she’d just been too ashamed to go and face her classmates, about half of whom she’d exposed as Paris’ auxiliary heroes.

When she’d come by that afternoon, Marinette hadn’t questioned Chloé’s absence, but simply followed up on her promise to fill her girlfriend in on all the details.

“Maybe he saw something else that told him I’d be a good Ladybug.” Marinette shrugged, looking to Tikki, who shrugged as well.

“Don’t look at me, you putting on the Miraculous was the first time I’d been out of the Miracle Box in decades. I don’t know what Master Fu was thinking.” She said, flitting around whilst Marinette gave her a slightly aggrieved look. The tiny kwami was still unhappy with Chloé, not that she expected or really deserved anything else.

“So you and Chat Noir were chosen by this Master Fu at the start of collège for reasons known only to an amnesiac old man.” Chloé sighed, shaking her head. The more she was learning about what was going on behind the scenes of Paris’ heroes, the more chaotic and dysfunctional it was appearing. It almost seemed to be a good thing that someone as organised as her was now being brought in.

“And we’ve been protecting Paris from Hawkmoth ever since, but you already knew that.” Marinette laughed weakly.

“Yes, I did.” There was something bugging Chloé throughout this part of their discussion, but she couldn’t quite put her finger on it, though something else occurred to her. “When you say he gave you the Miraculous, he did actually give it to you, right? Handed it over and told you what being Ladybug would entail?”

“Uh, not exactly…” Marinette rubbed the back of her head nervously. “I sort of found the little box in my bag later that day, and Tikki was the one who explained things to me.” Chloé stared at Marinette for a few moments before letting out a low groan.

“He didn’t even do it in person.” She buried her face in her hands. “He recruited two teenagers to fight a supervillain and he didn’t even have the manners to do it in person.”

“I’m not sure what me being a teenager has to do with it.” Marinette piped up, sounding confused.

“Mari, we’re basically still children.” Chloé said, looking up from her hands incredulously. “I sort of assumed it was destiny or something like that which chose the Miraculous holders, but now that I know it was just some old man, I just…” Chloé cast around helplessly for a more tactful and accurate descriptor, but she just couldn’t think of one. “It’s not the best description, but it’s kind of like child soldiers, Mari.”

“I don’t see how it’s different to any of your magical girl manga, Chlo.” Marinette defended weakly and Chloé just gave her a flat look.

“Those are just fiction and wish-fulfillment. What girl wouldn’t want to think a normal girl like her could be a powerful superhero? I know I wanted to when I first picked up the Miraculous.” Shaking her head again, Chloé slid off her bed to pace the room a little, the weight of what she was learning pressing down on her. “But this is real life, Mari. There’s real stakes here, and I really don’t think a bunch of children were the best choice for this.”

“Probably not.” Marinette looked more than a little perturbed by what Chloé was saying, something both Tikki and Pollen picked up as the two kwami floated around her fretfully. “Look, even if Master Fu shouldn’t have entrusted the Miraculous to us, fighting evil is the right thing to do, no matter how old you are.”

Chloé couldn’t exactly refute that point, and it was far too late for them to back out of this now, they were committed. Chloé was certain that, even if she was offered an out, she wouldn’t take it. This was her penance, after all.

“And now the one man who could have told us what to do and how this all works has lost his memories.” Chloé sighed.

“I mean, we do still have Tikki and the other kwamis.” Marinette pointed out which Chloé conceded. “And he did leave a few things behind.” That sounded promising, and Chloé perked up a bit.

“Did he?” She asked, walking back over to Marinette. “What did he leave?”

“So yesterday after you left, Chat and I attended to Master Fu and he mentioned having a locker at the train station, so I went there once we were done with cleaning everything up and found these inside.” Marinette reached down for her backpack and opened it up pulling out a letter and a memory stick.

“Master Fu seems to have left this as a contingency in case he was forced to pass on the guardianship.” Marinette said, handing over the memory stick, but keeping hold of the letter.

“Well at least that’s something.” Chloé said, heading into the living room to retrieve her laptop. “Do you know what’s on here?”

“No, the letter doesn’t say, but I’m hoping it’s a copy of the grimoire.” Marinette got up to join Chloé as she grabbed her laptop and set it down on the coffee table to boot up.

“What’s the grimoire? What is a grimoire, even?”

“It’s a really old book about magic.” Pollen piped up as Marinette settled down beside Chloé. “But in this case, Marinette is referring to the Book of the Miraculous. It contains a wealth of information about the Miraculous and it’s a repository of the knowledge of the Order of the Guardians.”

“Wait, there’s an order of Guardians too?” Chloé asked, distracted from plugging the USB stick in. “Why aren’t they helping us?”

“The Order was destroyed over a century ago. Master Fu was all that was left.” Pollen said, her little antennae drooping a little.

“And now it’s just me.” Chloé sighed, once again feeling the weight of this new responsibility press down on her shoulders. “And is there a reason this grimoire would be in digital form? As convenient and useful as that would be, I doubt that was its original form.”

“It’s kind of a long story.” Marinette said with a reluctant shrug. “I think we should check to see if it’s actually on there first.” Acquiescing to Marinette’s request, Chloé plugged the stick into her machine and opened up the file explorer to see what was inside, only to find that it was password-protected.

“Whilst I’m pleased he takes his data security somewhat seriously, this is not helpful.” Chloé looked to Marinette. “Was there a password written in the letter?”

“I don’t think so…” Marinette opened up the letter and scanned over it. “It doesn’t look like there is.”

“Marvelous.” Chloé slumped against Marinette’s shoulder and her girlfriend patted her arm sympathetically. This was all so disorganised and chaotic. It was actually a testament to how far Chloé had come in the last few months that she wasn’t spiralling into a major freakout. As it was, the anxiety and panic of everything was still there, but she was able to keep a lid on it for now. Having Marinette beside her helped a lot more than she was willing to say.

“So what happened with this grimoire, then?” She asked in an effort to take her mind off the stymied efforts.

“This actually goes back to the end of our first year.” Marinette started, her hand continuing to stroke Chloé’s bicep comfortingly. “The first day Lila joined our class, Adrienne had this book.” Chloé tensed up at the mention of her nemesis, but relaxed a little as she remembered that Lila had been taken care of for now.

“Tikki told me it was important, but before I could ask her about it, Lila stole it and later used information in it to pretend to be the fox heroine.” Chloé frowned at this, she remembered the incident which had led to Lila’s sudden leave of absence from school and her first Akumatization, but not what had led up to it. “Anyway, she was using it to try to get close to Adrienne, and she trashed the book so whilst she was distracted, Tikki and I took the book and we took it to Master Fu. That was actually when I first met him.”

“Of course it was.” Chloé rolled her eyes, but gestured for Marinette to continue.

“So, as it turned out, the book was the grimoire and Master Fu had lost it a long time ago. He theorised that whoever had the book was Hawkmoth.”

“Then how did Adrienne have it?” Chloé asked, but her mind was already working and she answered her own question. “She got it off her father, didn’t she? I knew that dick was up to no good.” Chloé certainly wouldn’t put it past the man to be a supervillain. The only parent she knew who surpassed him in terribleness was her own mother, though she might be biased on that account.

“That’s what I thought as well.” Marinette agreed. “But just as we were going to the Agreste mansion to confront him, he got Akumatized, so he couldn’t be Hawkmoth.” For some reason, Chloé didn’t really buy that. It seemed perhaps a little too convenient that, just when he was suspected of being Hawkmoth, he was Akumatized, but it was still a pretty solid alibi.

“So then what happened?”

“You remember how Adrienne nearly got pulled out of school soon after Lila left?” Chloé nodded, she’d been the one to console her friend when it had nearly happened. “Well, it was because Adrienne lost the book, so we had to return it.”

“Really? A book detailing all of the history of the Miraculous and you just gave it away?” Chloé asked incredulously, raising both her eyebrows.

“I didn’t want Adrienne to get pulled out of school. Besides, it’s not like we just gave it back without putting at least a little thought into it. Master Fu took pictures of all the pages.”

“Which is why you think they’d be on here.” Chloé indicated the memory stick and Marinette nodded.

“Master Fu did have them on a tablet, where he also had translations of the text, but when I went back to his last hiding place, it was turned upside down and I couldn’t find it.” Marinette looked distinctly uneasy, and Chloé could probably guess as to why.

“You think Hawkmoth took it?”

“He had the Miracle Box, that must’ve been where he got that from, so he probably took the tablet with the translations as well.” There was something of a guilty edge to Marinette’s voice, which Chloé rushed to allay.

“It was an accident, Mari. You were stressed and made a mistake.” She reassured her girlfriend. “You’re okay.”

Marinette made a doubtful noise, and Chloé wrapped her in a tight hug in an effort to reassure her. If Marinette could still love her after she deliberately sided with Hawkmoth just yesterday, then Chloé could certainly still love Marinette after she made a simple mistake.

“So we probably have our own copy of the translated grimoire, we just can’t get to it right now.” Chloé summarised, glaring at the memory stick as it taunted them silently with its password protected contents. “That’s something.”

“Even if we can’t get at it yet, it’s not the end of the world. I do have a couple of things from the book written down at home.” Marinette said, though she sounded as though she was trying to convince herself more than she was Chloé. 

“What do you have?”

“It’s some recipes for these little treats that change how the kwamis’ powers work.” Marinette explained and Chloé nodded.

“Like the time you fought the ice villain.” She said, remembering the time all of Paris got covered in ice. That had not been fun.

Sighing, Chloé rested her head against Marinettes’, doing her best to ignore Tikki’s disapproving glare. “Is that everything I need to know?”

“I think so.” Marinette hummed in thought. “How I got the Miraculous, the grimoire… I think that’s everything.”

“Okay, that’s good.” Chloé stretched out and got to her feet, offering Marinette a hand up. “I guess there’s just one thing left to do.”

“What?” Marinette tilted her head in that adorably curious way she had.

“Introduce me to Chat Noir, of course. Surely he should know who the new guardian is?” Chloé mimicked Marinette’s head tilt as Marinette’s small smile froze in place and pink filled her cheeks. “Is something wrong?”

“Chat never actually met Master Fu before today.” Marinette admitted, looking away as Chloé’s jaw dropped.

“You’re kidding me, right?” She asked and Marinette shook her head. “Then how did he know all of this?”

“He, um, he doesn’t.” Marinette mumbled, still looking anywhere but at her girlfriend’s face.

“... Dear God.” Letting her head tip back, Chloé stared up at the ceiling for several long seconds before returning her attention to Marinette. “You’ve met Chat Noir, though, right? Out of costume I mean.” Marinette’s silence spoke volumes and Chloé was forced to ask one more question. “You do know who Chat Noir is, right?”

“We agreed not to tell each other our secret identities in case something happened to one of us.” Marinette said somewhat defensively, whilst Chloé let out a quiet keening sound. Whilst it was a good and sound idea on paper, it led to situations like this.

“So now nobody knows who Chat Noir is except Chat Noir?” It wasn’t so much a question as it was a statement since Chloé already knew the answer. The panicky anxiety that she’d been able to keep a lid on up until now was bubbling furiously in her head, whipping itself up into a frenzied swirl as she felt herself giving in to the freakout.

She really could not think of many ways this whole situation could be going any worse. She’d fucked up big time and stripped Marinette of almost all of her allies, been indirectly responsible for her mentor losing his memories, and now she was pretty much obligated to fix this chaotic mess that she’d gotten dropped into.

It was just too much, and Chloé was finding it hard to think straight or even to keep her breathing at a regular pace. It was fast and erratic, and she tried to get it back under control with some of the exercises Marinette had taught her, but it wasn’t working. Scared of having a full on freakout, Chloé quickly marched over to her bed, climbing on and grabbing the bee plushie Marinette had given her for Christmas, squeezing it tight to her chest.

“Your Majesty, What’s wrong?” Pollen squeaked somewhere nearby, her voice only just audible over the roaring in her ears.

“It’s okay, Pollen.” Marinette told the kwami and Chloé felt the bed shift beneath her as Marinette climbed on as well. “Chlo, it’s going to be okay. I know it’s not ideal, but we can make it through this. Please try to calm down and breathe with me. In and out, with me.”

Marinette demonstrated and Chloé did her best to follow along whilst her kwami flitted around her head nervously. It was hard, but after some time, she was able to calm down at least a little, she wasn’t in danger of losing herself to the freak out anymore.

“Do you want me to call down for some chamomile tea?” Marinette asked and Chloé shook her head.

“Could you just hold me, please?” She asked, her voice a little scratchy from her laboured breathing earlier. Marinette complied immediately, wrapping her arms around her girlfriend in a tight and comforting hug, the pressure helping to ease the stress.

“You’re good, it’s okay.” Marinette continued to reassure her, pressing a few gentle kisses to Chloé’s temple. “We can figure this out together, I promise.”

Chloé nodded, slowly returning to a state of calm as she nuzzled into Marinette’s side. She felt a lot better just being in contact with Marinette. She really was such a needy girlfriend, and she was so glad that Marinette was willing to let her be so cuddly.

“Do you want me to stay?” Marinette asked quietly, and Chloé nodded against her, humming softly. There was a small pressure against Chloé’s hair and she looked around to see Pollen stroking it with her tiny arms.

“Pollen?” She asked, her brows furrowed.

“You were upset, Your Majesty, I thought it would help.” The kwami said innocently, flitting away so she could talk to Chloé properly. “Did you dislike it?”

“No, I just would’ve preferred it if you’d asked first.” Chloé replied, feeling a little embarrassed that she was trying to establish her boundaries with a tiny god-like creature. She also couldn’t help but notice that Tikki was floating not too far away, and was still giving her a very disapproving look.

“Oh, okay.” Pollen sounded a little sad but perked up immediately. “Would you like me to continue, Your Majesty?” Chloé nodded and Pollen flew back in to run her hands over Chloé’s hair and scalp. After a little while of this, Chloé felt calm enough to articulate some of her thoughts.

“I’m not going to repeat the last master’s mistakes. I’m not going to hide my identity from Chat Noir.” She said as she held her plushie tight. “He doesn’t deserve to be left out of the loop like that, and I do need to know who he really is.”

Marinette didn’t answer immediately, humming in thought for a moment before she nodded. “You’re right, we should be doing better than Master Fu and learning from his mistakes.” She agreed with a small sigh. “I’ll tell him when I next see him and we can sort out a time for him to meet you.” Chloé hummed in agreement with this plan of action and snuggled closer to Marinette. There was still a fair amount that they needed to deal with, but she could stay like this with Marinette for a little while longer, even if she didn’t deserve it.

Chapter Text

Chloé really did not want to go into school the next day, but she wasn’t able to milk her fake illness for another day, not without any actual symptoms. Her heart wasn’t really in her morning routine as she prepared for school, putting on her makeup and clothes as though it were armour whilst Pollen watched curiously.

“What should I do with the Miracle Box?” She asked the kwami, looking at the honeycomb-shaped box with a frown. She was inclined to leave it here where it would be safe from being lost, but she was also loath to leave it unattended.

“Do you have anywhere in your room you can lock it away?” Pollen asked, zipping around the room to check herself. Mildly amused by the Kwami’s enthusiasm, Chloé picked up the Miracle Box and carried it over to the safe set in the wall and concealed behind a painting. Her room had at one time been a guest room and it had all the same features, though she’d never needed to use the safe until now.

Keying in the combination, Chloé opened it up and retrieved the override key she’d left inside and replaced it with the Miracle Box. Hopefully, it would remain safe there whilst she was out.

“Do the kwami know that time is passing whilst they’re in there?” Chloé asked as she closed the door and locked the safe before replacing the painting.

“We’re vaguely aware of it. It’s difficult to explain to a human.” Pollen squeaked, sounding a little disappointed in her inability to properly answer Chloé’s question.

“That’s okay.” Chloé reassured her kwami, reaching out to pat her gently on the head. “We should get going if we don’t want to be late. Though I wouldn’t mind it so much, just this once...” Chloé paused as her face twisted into a horrified expression. Just how far gone was she if she was considering being late for something?

“I’m sure you will be fine, Your Majesty.” Pollen chirped confidently, apparently oblivious to Chloé’s moment of doubt. “I’m coming with you, right?”

“Of course. I hope you don’t mind hiding in my handbag.” Chloé gestured to the bag that was still sitting on her vanity, which Pollen zipped over to and examined closely. “I can put some things in to make it more comfortable for you.”

“Oh, no need, Your Majesty, this looks more than comfortable enough.” Pollen flitted into the open top and poked her head out, smiling at Chloé as she walked over and slung the bag over her shoulder.

“Good. Time to go, then.” Chloé announced, checking around the room to make sure she hadn’t forgotten anything. Satisfied she hadn’t, Chloé left her room and headed to the lifts. Hopefully, she wouldn’t run into her mother or father before she left. She was not in the mood for dealing with them and their rather inept attempts to reconcile.

If she’d been asked a year ago if she wanted her parents to get back together, she would have said that she was all for it. Now, though, she’d changed her mind quite a bit, and she felt more than a little terrible about it. Really, she should feel happy for her parents that they were trying to work things out, and were apparently making a concerted effort too. But she couldn’t help but feel like it was a terrible idea, especially when she wasn’t entirely convinced of her mother’s ability to change.

Perhaps that was unfair to her mother. She’d changed, after all, and in a relatively short amount of time too. But at the same time, it had been almost a year since Chloé had seen her mother, and other than this willingness to try to patch things up with her father, she saw no other improvement. The woman still couldn’t remember her own daughter’s name, for goodness sake!

Neither Chloé’s father nor mother were present in the lobby as Chloé stepped out of the lift and hurried across the room and out of the door to her waiting limo.

“Good morning, Miss Bourgeois.” Her driver greeted her politely as she climbed in the back of the limo.

“Good morning.” She replied politely, buckling herself in. “If you wouldn’t mind dropping me off at the bakery across the road from school, I need to pick up some things.” Her driver nodded politely and didn’t comment on her out-of-character request.

Before now, she’d been careful not to let any of the staff know of her frequent visits to the Dupain-Cheng bakery, unwilling to let anyone know of her relationship with Marinette. But now she was too drained by everything to bother with the charade. She wanted to see her girlfriend and walk to school with her, and she didn’t care who saw. It wasn’t exactly much of a secret that she and Marinette were best friends, so what if she walked to school with her?

It was a surprisingly short drive that morning, the traffic was lighter than it usually was, and they arrived at the bakery with plenty of time to spare.

“Thank you. If you wouldn’t mind picking me up at the usual spot.” Chloé told her driver as she got out of the car. He tipped his hat to her before she closed the door and watched him drive off. She really should ask him what his name was at some point, but it had been so long now that it would be awkward for her to ask.

Resigning herself to having to wait until someone else asked him what his name was within earshot, Chloé turned and entered the bakery, setting the bell above the door jingling.

“Sorry, we’re not open just yet!” Mr Dupain-Cheng called from just out of sight by the ovens.

“Perhaps you shouldn’t leave the front door open when you’re not open, then.” Chloé suggested, her voice a little nervous. She hadn’t seen Marinette’s parents since the incident at school that had led to Chloé discovering Marinette’s identity as Ladybug and the subsequent blow up.

“Chloé?” Mr Dupain-Cheng’s head popped around the corner to look at her. He didn’t appear to be angry with her, but she wasn’t about to commit to that interpretation just yet, she wasn’t that good at understanding the expressions of anyone other than Marinette just yet. “What are you doing here?”

“I came to walk to school with Marinette.” Chloé shifted a little uncomfortably on the spot as Mr Dupain-Cheng raised an eyebrow at her.

“She’s just upstairs. I’m sure she’ll be happy to see you.” Nodding her thanks, Chloé made her way around the counter and upstairs into the living area of the bakery. As she walked into the living room, she noticed Marinette’s mother sitting at the kitchen counter reading a newspaper.

“Chloé?” The woman’s eyes were narrowed a bit at Chloé, and she squirmed a little beneath her gaze. She felt as though she was being judged, probably for her callous abandonment of Marinette the previous week. “Are you here to see Marinette?”

“Yes, I was going to walk to school with her. I hope that’s alright.” Chloé tried and failed to keep her voice even. Compared to various other authority figures in her life, Marinette’s mother was perhaps the one she wanted to disappoint the least. Sure, she didn’t want to let her father down and disgrace him with her sexuality, but she didn’t care enough to suppress her desires either, like she really should have done if she was truly sorry for the pain she’d put him through.

“You know, Marinette talks to me a lot and I like to think we have a good relationship.” Mrs Dupain-Cheng closed her newspaper and turned to look at Chloé properly. “She talks about you a lot, how much better you’ve gotten and how caring and attentive you’ve been since you started dating.” Chloé’s stomach squirmed uncomfortably at the clear warning edge to Mrs Dupain-Cheng’s voice.

“I’ve already told you that it’s alright for you to keep what happened between you and Marinette private, but that doesn’t mean you can just run away from your problems when they do happen, and they will. This is probably your first serious relationship. You’re both young, and I know you’re both going to make mistakes and hurt each other, but that doesn’t matter. What matters is how you deal with it afterwards.”

“I understand…” Chloé said as she hung her head in shame. “I want to make things up with her and to make up for being a bad girlfriend the last few days.” There was far far more than just being a bad girlfriend that Chloé had to make up for, though Mrs Dupain-Cheng didn’t know the full extent of the damage her brief turn to villainy had caused.

“Good. And I want you to know that this all applies to Marinette as well.” Mrs Dupain-Cheng’s expression softened a bit. “I know your parents can be rather… difficult people at times, but if you ever need someone to talk to about things, even if it’s something unsavoury about Marinette or her behaviour, you can talk to me.”

Chloé returned Mrs Dupain-Cheng’s smile a little wanly as she made her way over to the stairs leading up to Marinette’s room. “Thank you.” Marinette’s mother nodded and waved for her to head up the stairs which she did, knocking softly on the trapdoor. “Mari, can I come in?”

There was the sound of slightly frantic rustling before Marinette’s voice called out. “Yes, you can.” Unable to keep a smile off her face at the thought of seeing Marinette again, Chloé pushed open the trapdoor and climbed inside the room.

“Morning, Mari.” She said to her girlfriend, who was trying and failing to look casual, leaning up against the ladder up to her bed.

“Good morning, Chlo.” Marinette’s smile was suspiciously strained and Chloé had no idea of what the cause could be. Raising an eyebrow, she took a quick glance around the room to see if something was out of place but she couldn’t see anything. “How come you’re here? Normally we meet up at school.”

“I know, but I wanted to walk with you today.” Chloé hesitated for a moment before letting her reason spill out. “I’m scared of what the others are going to say about me, and I wanted you with me because I feel a lot braver when you’re with me.”

Marinette’s slightly forced smile became rather gentle and she stepped forward to take Chloé’s hands. “It’ll be okay, Honey, I promise.”

It took a moment for what Marinette said to register in Chloé’s mind, but when it did, she let out an embarrassed squeak. “Honey?”

“Calling you ‘Chlo’ is cute and all, but I think Honey fits you a lot better, since you’re so sweet.” Marinette grinned as Chloé blushed deeply.

“And I’m sure it has nothing to do with my Miraculous.” She said, giving Marinette a wry look, though the effect was somewhat ruined by the pink that still filled her cheeks.

“Nothing whatsoever.”

“I suppose that means I’ll have to come up with a new name for you too.” Chloé hummed thoughtfully. Mari was very cute and she’d probably keep using it when they were with company, but it would be nice to have a pet name just for her and Marinette.

“Just so long as it isn’t Bugaboo.” Marinette deadpanned, earning a giggle from Chloé.

“Please, as if I’d copy something that mangy alley cat calls you.” She dismissed with a toss of her hair. “I’m far more original than that.”

“I’m sure you are, Honey.” Marinette teased lightly, stepping into Chloé’s space and pressing a chaste kiss to her lips. Chloé’s heart fluttered a little and she sighed happily into the kiss before it was rudely interrupted by a high piping voice.

“If you two are done being lovebirds, you should probably get to class.” Tikki squeaked, and Chloé pulled back to see the little kwami’s head poking out of Marinette’s bag that she now saw was stuffed willy nilly with a variety of worksheets. Suddenly, Marinette’s earlier awkwardness made a lot more sense.

“Oh, leave them be, Tikki. I think they’re very sweet together.” Pollen chipped in, poking out of Chloé’s bag whilst she fixed Marinette with a baleful look.

“Mari, have you been falling back on bad habits again? What happened to the folders I gave you to keep your worksheets organised?” Raising an eyebrow, Chloé waited for an answer as Marinette squirmed under her gaze.

“I might have forgotten them at school, I think?”

“You think?”

“I wasn’t exactly in a good state of mind the last few days, so some things slipped my mind.” Chloé felt a stab of guilt, knowing exactly why Marinette had been out of sorts and who was the cause.

“We can pick them up when we get to school and reorganise your things.” Chloé suggested. “I can help.”

“Thanks, Honey.” Marinette pressed another kiss to Chloé’s lips before moving aside to pick up her bag. “We should probably get going now, though.”

“Sure.” Chloé hesitated for a moment, then reached out to take Marinette’s hand. She was pleased to know she wasn’t the only one who was still mildly embarrassed by shows of affection, as Marinette’s cheeks turned a light pink.

They had to separate momentarily so they could descend the stairs, but they relinked once they were both in the living room, fingers intertwining.

“Have fun at school, Marinette.” Mrs Dupain-Cheng said, eyeing their joined hands with amusement.

“See you later, Maman!” Marinette chirped, pulling Chloé behind her down the stairs, forcing the blonde to call out her goodbye from halfway down. “Bye, Papa!”

“Bye, Sweetie!” Mr Dupain-Cheng called back as the two girls left the bakery and headed towards the school, still hand in hand. As they crossed the street and approached the entrance, Chloé felt her heart begin to speed up. The fear of how her classmates would react to her started bubbling up, and she was about ready to just abandon this foolishness and flee but Marinette squeezed her hand reassuringly, stroking her thumb over her fingers and calming her nerves.

Chloé paused outside the entrance and took a deep breath to steady herself before stepping into the school. The courtyard wasn’t packed, but it wasn’t deserted either, and Chloé winced as she noticed several students eyeing her suspiciously and starting to whisper amongst themselves.

“It’s okay, Honey.” Marinette murmured softly, taking the lead and pulling Chloé after her up the stairs to their homeroom. Chloé could see through the classroom windows who was already seated and ready for the day to begin, and she was not reassured when she saw that both Césaire and Kim were amongst them.

Chloé braced herself for loud shouting when Marinette gently pulled her into the room, though it didn’t come. Césaire was glaring at her, but she stopped as Marinette gave her a stern look in return. The two of them made their way to their seats and slid in, Chloé still feeling anxious and just waiting for the explosion to happen.

Slowly, she got her things out of her bag ready for the first lesson, careful not to disturb Pollen as she did so. Her careful aligning of her pens was interrupted by a small cough off to the side. Looking up, she was only mildly surprised to see Césaire standing there.

“If you’re here to lambast me for my poor decisions, can you please make it quick? I have enough to deal with as it is.” Chloé sighed, unable to fully muster up her usual acid and vitriol, especially when she knew she deserved it.

“Believe it or not, that’s not why I’m here.” Césaire said shortly, before focusing on Marinette. “I wanted to ask if we could talk later, after school.”

“So now you want to talk to me?” Marinette asked, her voice frosty, and Césaire winced.

“Marinette, please.” Both Marinette and Chloé exchanged glances at Césire’s tone, Marinette silently questioning whether she should or not and Chloé shrugging to let her know that it was her decision.

“Fine, the library after school.” Marinette said after a long pause whilst she thought it over.

“Thank you.” Césaire looked relieved that Marinette had agreed to talk and she returned to her desk. “I’ll see you then.”

“Are you going to be okay, Mari?” Chloé asked quietly once Césaire was out of earshot.

“I think so.” Marinette shrugged uncertainly. “I have no idea what she wants to talk to me about though.”

“Do you think it might have something to do with… you know.” Chloé asked, her brow creasing in worry.

“Probably not. I doubt she’d be asking to talk to me about it. She’d have it posted all over the Ladyblog the moment she could prove it.”

“I’m not sure about that. I don’t like her at all, but she didn’t out you before. That probably counts for something.” Chloé pointed out. Defending Césaire left an odd taste in her mouth, but she did feel obliged to give a fair opinion on the girl.

“True…” Marinette sighed and leaned up against Chloé’s side, resting her head on her girlfriend’s shoulder. Chloé reached out and patted Marinette’s knee reassuringly.

“If you want me to, I can come along.” She suggested and Marinette nodded against her. Normally, Chloé would be incredibly anxious about her and Marinette being so openly affectionate with one another, but she really wanted the comfort that came from being in contact with her.

Chloé was about to continue reassuring Marinette, when her phone buzzed in her bag. Wondering who would be messaging her now of all times, Chloé pulled out her phone and opened it to see a message from Alix.

‘I see you and Marinette have made up, then?’ Sighing, Chloé craned her neck to look for Alix and saw her in her usual seat at the back, smirking at the affectionate couple.

‘Yes.’

‘Aren’t you gonna tell me about it?’ Chloé rolled her eyes and quickly typed out a reply as Mme Bustier entered the room and began setting up for the lesson.

‘It’s none of your business, Alix. We’re fine now, that’s all you need to know.’ Whilst Chloé might have liked having a confidante she could talk to about Marinette stuff, she just couldn’t think of a plausible cover story for why they’d been on the rocks. Tucking her phone away, Chloé ignored its buzzing as she focused on the lesson about to begin. She could deal with Alix’s curiosity later.

Chapter Text

Maybe she was being paranoid, but Chloé just could not shake the feeling that everyone in school was staring at her. She supposed she should be grateful that was all they were doing, or at least what most of them were doing. Surprisingly, the most anger towards her for her actions as Miracle Queen hadn’t come from Césaire or anyone else who was unsubtle about their distaste for her, but rather from Kim.

“I only got one shot at being a hero and now because of you I’m benched for good!” He’d shouted at her during morning break, cornering her in the locker room whilst she’d gone to collect her books for the next lesson. “You and your selfishness got nearly all of Paris’ heroes exposed!”

Chloé didn’t say anything, there wasn’t really anything she could say that would solve the situation, so she instead just let Kim vent out his anger for several long and uncomfortable minutes, before he ran out of steam and left her.

She’d gone and hidden in the girls’ bathroom after that, and ended up missing an entire period before Marinette found her. She pretended everything was okay, of course, even though it really wasn’t, she didn’t think she’d been any less fine since that time Adrienne had threatened to end their friendship. The only difference was that she was a lot better at keeping her composure now.

The end of the day could not have come quick enough, though, and Chloé joined Marinette in heading to the library for her talk with Césaire. Chloé did have to wonder exactly what Césaire had to say to Marinette, a more optimistic person than her might suggest that it would be to apologise to Marinette for her shitty treatment of the girl who was supposed to be her best friend.

Admittedly, Césaire had seemed to be turning away from Lila before she was fully exposed, but Chloé was not about to forget how distraught Marinette had been after she’d come out. Césaire’s reaction was more than enough for her to permanently go on Chloé’s shit list, not that she wasn’t already there thanks to her involvement in Lila’s torment of her.

But if Marinette wanted to talk to her and hear her out, then Chloé would support her girlfriend. She was rather painfully aware that Césaire had become pretty much Marinette’s only friend at the start of collège after years of unjust torment at the hands of hers truly. The two of them had had a strong friendship before, and it wasn’t one that was just going to go away, even if Césaire had treated Marinette horribly for her bisexuality.

“What’s taking Césaire so long?” Chloé huffed, setting her pen down and looking at the clock on the wall.

“I’m sure she has a good reason to be late.” Marinette said reasonably, though she didn’t sound entirely convinced of it herself. “Also, why do you always call Alya ‘Césaire’?”

“It’s her name, isn’t it?” Chloé shrugged, drumming her fingers impatiently on the table.

“Yes, but you don’t call anyone else by their last name, just her.” Marinette continued to probe.

“Not actually true. I used to call you Dupain-Cheng all the time, didn’t I?” Chloé reminded Marinette before sighing. “I call people by their last names if they’ve done something in particular to earn my ire and are actually worth paying attention to. Lila didn’t get the same treatment because she didn’t deserve it.”

“You really hated me that much?” Marinette asked quietly, and Chloé felt the familiar sting of guilt for her previous actions.

“I never hated you, not really.” Chloé said slowly, carefully thinking out her next words. “I thought I did, you always seemed to be deliberately trying to make my life harder by defying what I thought was orderly, but I don’t think I hated you.”

“Are you going to say that tormenting me was your way of expressing your repressed lesbian attraction to me?” Marinette asked, a hint of mirth in her voice, but Chloé shook her head.

“No, that wasn’t it. It would be easy to pretend it was, but I only really started to fall for you after I got to know you.” Chloé sighed, hanging her head. “I don’t really know how to explain it, I just… I don’t know. I was young and stupid, and latching onto something that I thought made sense.”

“Hey, it’s okay, you don’t have to explain if it’s too difficult to verbalise. I was just curious.” Marinette reassured her, reaching out to pat her on the arm. “And I know that look, Chlo. Please stop beating yourself up for how you used to treat me. You’re not defined by who you were.”

That was something Chloé had to disagree with. What were they if not the sum of their past actions? Their pasts may not strictly inform who they were, but it didn’t change the fact that they did happen, and it wasn’t that simple to wipe the slate clean. She didn’t say any of this, though. Marinette didn’t need to be burdened with this when she was about to deal with Césaire.

Sighing, Chloé continued to tap her nails against the table, thinking idly to herself that she really needed to get a fresh manicure at some point, and that maybe she could convince Marinette to join her in one.

“Why’s she here?” A voice sounded from above, and Chloé looked up to see Césaire standing by the table, having approached whilst she was distracted.

“I’m here because Mari wanted me to.” Chloé shrugged, not feeling the need to explain herself any further to the girl who’d helped make her life pretty unbearable for the last few months. Césaire turned her gaze to Marinette, who shrugged.

“Chlo’s my best friend and she’s here to support me.” Chloé felt at least a little pleased that Marinette was willing to refer to her publicly as her best friend. It made up a little for the fact that they couldn’t be public with their actual relationship.

Césaire rolled her eyes, but said nothing more on the subject as she sat down across the table from Marinette and Chloé. There was a long and awkward silence as they waited for Césaire to start talking and explain why she wanted to talk to Marinette. After a little while, Chloé couldn’t stand the quiet any longer.

“So, what was it you wanted to talk to Marinette about?” She asked, eyeing up the other girl suspiciously.

“I... I wanted to say I’m sorry.” Césaire said finally, fiddling with her glasses and looking distinctly uneasy. “I fucked up a lot and I was a really shitty friend to you Marinette.”

Chloé blinked in surprise. This wasn’t exactly what she had been expecting. Then again, she hadn’t known what to expect, but an apology was not high on the list.

“Okay…” Chloé shot Marinette a look to see how she was taking this, but she couldn’t interpret Marinette’s expression. That in itself was rather concerning to her, as she thought she’d learned all of Marinette’s looks.

“Why now?” She asked, her expression still inscrutable as she looked at Césaire. “You decided that you weren’t going to be my friend anymore last year, before Christmas, and it’s been a couple of months since then. Why the change of heart?”

“I was talking to Alix a few days ago, after Chloé suggested I do so.” Césaire began, avoiding Marinette’s flat stare. “She may have set me straight about a few things.”

“Wait, you talked to Chlo?” Marinette gave Chloé a shocked look at which she just shrugged.

“It was brief, she just wanted to help prove you hadn’t cheated and I pointed her to Alix. I’d actually pretty much forgotten about it.” Chloé said, hoping Marinette would pick up on why the short conversation had skipped her mind.

“Anyway, I talked to Alix about some stuff. Girl can be pretty brutal when she wants to be.” Césaire winced a little, no doubt recalling some of the skater’s blunt honesty. “And one of the many things she pointed out was how slavishly I was just believing Lila.”

“You don’t say…” Chloé muttered, earning a reproachful look from Marinette.

“Look, she had no love for you and I let my… dislike of you cloud my judgement.” Césaire did at least have the grace to look at least a little guilty about that. “For someone who’s trying to become a reporter, I did a shitty job of doing even a little bit of digging to make sure Lila was telling the truth.”

“This isn’t sounding much like an apology.” Chloé noted rather acerbically, already getting tired of the dancing around of the issues that Césaire was doing.

“Okay, okay, I was getting there.” She huffed, rolling her eyes. “Marinette, I’m sorry I believed Lila over you. You were my friend and I should have known that Lila was lying about you.”

“You hurt me in more important ways than blindly believing Lila. It’s Chloé you should be apologising to for that.” Marinette said shortly, crossing her arms and looking expectantly at Césaire, who looked like she had swallowed a lemon.

“... I’m sorry, Chloé, for believing what Lila said about you and using it to tear you down.” Chloé got the distinct impression that Césaire probably still believed that Chloé did deserve to be torn down, just for her actual sins and not the ones that sprang from Lila’s fertile imagination, and really, Chloé couldn’t argue with that.

“So, was that all you and Alix talked about?” Marinette asked rather pointedly, continuing to give Césaire a hard look.

“No, she may have asked about why you and I fell out and I might have mentioned that you’d told me you were bisexual and what I thought about that.” Chloé now glared at Césaire who raised her hands in surrender. “Which was wrong, I shouldn’t have outed you to her, even if she already knew. And to Nino too.”

“You told Nino?!” Marinette yelped a little too loudly, and several other students who were still studying gave her withering looks.

“We were dating, of course I told him.” Césaire said weakly, before hanging her head. “I shouldn’t have though, he was right to dump me.”

“That was why he dumped you?”

“That and because he didn’t like what I had to say about people who are bi.”

“So what did Alix have to say about that?” Marinette asked, still looking rather upset that her former friend seemed to have been outing her left and right.

“Nothing good. She had a few choice words about how biphobic I was being and then she asked me why I thought that.” Césaire still looked exceptionally guilty, which Chloé thought was a good sign, though she was a little unsure of why she was so contrite. The mention of her ex-boyfriend did give her the impression that maybe this was less because she felt genuinely sorry and more because she wanted her life to return to the way it was.

“And?”

“You know my sister, Nora?” Chloé did not, but Marinette nodded. “And you know she’s very open about being gay?” Again, Marinette nodded though Chloé couldn’t really tell where this was going. “So a while back, I may have mentioned to her that I thought you were pretty whilst I was still dating Nino…”

“Is this actually going somewhere?” Chloé asked, growing rather impatient with the beating around the bush not to mention the small spike of jealousy that sparked when Césaire said she thought Marinette was cute. Mari was hers!

“Chlo, please be nice.” Marinette chided gently so Chloé sat back in her chair and waited for Césaire to finish her interminable story. “Go on.”

“She told me… well basically what I said to you when you came out to me and I don’t want to repeat it.” Marinette was nodding along as though this made sense to her, and admittedly, Chloé was starting to see the full picture now too. “And I didn’t question her. Why would I? She’s my cool big sis, so I just accepted it and internalised it.”

Chloé was reminded of that meme she’d seen once online, something about having a cool motive, but it still being murder. Sure she understood now why Césaire had been so hostile to Marinette after coming out to her, but it didn’t change the fact that she’d still really hurt Marinette by saying those things.

“So that makes it okay, does it?” Chloé asked, doing her best to keep her tone under control.

“No, it doesn’t, but I thought context would help a bit when I said sorry.” Césaire finally looked up at Marinette. “Marinette, I am so sorry. I was a shitty friend and insulted you with my prejudices about bisexuality when you trusted me with something so important about yourself.”

To Chloé’s mind, the apology sounded rather rehearsed, not that she could really fault Césaire for that. If she’d had the opportunity to plan her apologies for all the horrible things she’d done to Marinette in the past, she would have taken it. As it was, though, Chloé still doubted the genuineness of Césaire’s apology. Maybe it was her own dislike of the girl that was making her think that, but it was what she thought but ultimately thi wasn’t up to her.

“It hurt a lot, Alya. I thought you were my best friend and that you’d understand and accept me.” Marinette said, her voice low and a little cracked. “And it wasn’t just that either. Even before that you were so angry about me being friends with Chloé. I didn’t want to lose you, but that really was the last straw, and I just don’t know if just an apology is going to make it all better.”

Something in Marinette’s words struck a chord with Chloé, and she was reminded of just how much faith Marinette had in her, despite every terrible thing she’d done. Sometimes it felt as though all she’d done was apologise too, and she’d done far worse things to Marinette than Césaire had. If Marinette could forgive her and still love her, then maybe Césaire deserved the same.

“Mari, I know she hurt you a lot, but maybe it’s worth giving her the benefit of the doubt?” Chloé murmured to her girlfriend, low enough that Césaire couldn’t hear her. It felt strange to be advocating for someone she didn’t like, but this was for Marinette’s benefit, and even if she didn’t say it, Chloé knew not having her friend of two years hadn’t been good for her.

“Is it?” Marinette sounded doubtful, but Chloé nodded.

“You gave me another chance, even when I didn’t deserve it.” She reminded her girlfriend, who frowned.

“You always deserved it, Chlo.” She insisted stubbornly and this time, Chloé didn’t argue.

“Then she does too. She fucked up, but she seems to want to make nice again.” The look Marinette gave her was tinged with exasperation, but there was also amusement there as Chloé had boxed her in with logic.

“Do you really want us to be friends again?” Marinette asked Césaire, who shrugged uncomfortably.

“Only if you want to.”

“... Okay. We can give it a shot, I guess.” Marinette’s face was still twisted into a doubtful frown, and Chloé worried that she might have pushed Marinette into something she hadn’t really wanted to do. Césaire’s face split into a relieved smile. At this point, Chloé figured her presence would probably be more of a hindrance than an aid since she and Césaire were still on rather shaky ground with one another.

“I have to catch up on the work I missed yesterday.” Getting to her feet as she announced this, Chloé brushed her hand comfortingly against Marinette’s shoulder. “I’ll leave you two to it.” As she left the table, she shot her girlfriend a look to reassure her that she’d call later to see how things went.

Trotting out of the library and down the stairs, Chloé paused for a moment when she was sure she was alone to peek into her bag. “Did I do the right thing, Pollen?” She asked the little kwami quietly.

“I don’t know, Your Majesty, but I think it’s good that you want Marinette to be happy.” Pollen squeaked in reply, to which Chloé simply shrugged.

“I love her, of course I want her to be happy.” She sighed before closing up her bag and heading out to her limo. She could talk to Pollen properly once she was back at the hotel and away from prying eyes.

Her car was waiting for her as ever and she spent the journey back to the hotel in silence, busy thinking about the work she needed to catch up on. She’d missed quite an important lesson about Interwar Germany and the structure of the republic, which she was sure would be the subject of an upcoming essay.

When they arrived at the hotel, Chloé thanked her driver and got out of the limo, fully prepared to rush through the hotel lobby just in case either of her parents were there, as she still did not feel like dealing with them.

Her plan was scuppered, though, by the presence of not just her father, but her mother too. The two of them were standing in the middle of the lobby and engaged in a rather heated argument that was certainly driving business away.

“I just cannot believe that you brought her here!” Chloé’s father blustered, waving his arms at his wife.

“I was hardly going to leave her unattended, was I?” Chloé’s mother retorted, less screechy and enraged than usual, but still in a state of irritation. Chloé had no idea who they were talking about or why it had her parents up in arms despite their agreement to try to sort out their marital issues only a couple of days ago.

“She could have stayed with her father!”

“He’s far too busy to keep an eye on her.” Audrey waved a dismissive hand.

“And I suppose you spend all your time with her.” Chloé’s father fired back. “Rather than spending time with our daughter.” it was at that moment that he noticed Chloé standing there watching the proceedings, and his face went pale. “Chloé! You’re back.”

“School is over now.” She pointed out, now very confused by what was happening. “Why were you both arguing?”

“Well, it’s a rather complicated matter…” Her father began, but Audrey waved her hand.

“It’s really not. Clover, there’s someone you should meet.” She gestured Chloé over, the girl electing not to correct her on her name. Audrey then looked off to the side and called out. “Zoé!”

For the first time, Chloé took notice of another girl standing awkwardly in the lobby as well, watching the argument. She was a little bit taller than Chloé, with long blonde hair that she wore loose and with a pink streak dyed in the fringe, and her clothes appeared rather ill-fitting, though Chloé suspected that was deliberate, as she had a rather bohemian air about her.

“Chloé, I’d like you to meet your sister, Zoé.”

“... What.”

Chapter Text

“Didn’t you hear what I said?” Audrey asked impatiently. “Is your hearing that bad?”

“I heard you the first time.” Chloé snapped, still trying to wrap her head around this development. She had a sister?! How could she possibly have a sister and know nothing about her?

“There’s no need to be rude, Claustrophobia.” Audrey hissed, and Chloé really had to hold herself back as she got her name wrong yet again. That one wasn’t even a name!

“I don’t know, I think I actually have a pretty good reason to right now.” Chloé’s head was an absolute mess right now. On top of everything else she was having to deal with, now she had this? It was very very tempting to just give into the freakout she knew she was just on the verge of, but she was just about able to hold it back. She really wished she had Marinette with her right about now.

“Why did neither of you ever mention I have a sister before?!” She demanded, looking between her parents. “Where has she even been all these years?”

“Living with me in New York, of course.” Chloé’s mother said dismissively.

“And she’s technically your half-sister.” Her father added, shooting his wife an annoyed look. “One whose presence won’t be looked upon too favourably by my supporters.”

“Oh please, André, it’s not like you’re the one who had a child out of wedlock.”

“No, but you did, and some might say that’s even worse!” André huffed, folding his arms and shaking his head. Chloé, meanwhile, was not sure whether this was better or worse. On the one hand, the fact that Zoé was her half-sister did explain to some degree why Chloé had never heard of her before. Of course, on the other it did mean that her mother had cheated on her father, though she found that rather unsurprising.

Whilst her parents argued, Chloé glanced over at Zoé, who stood just to the side, looking both rather nervous and a little confused. She was tempted to go over and speak to her, but something held Chloé back. She’d only just learned about this girl’s existence, and one of the many whirling thoughts in Chloé’s head that she was just about able to keep under control reminded her that Zoé had been living in New York with their mother for the past however many years whilst she’d been abandoned.

“So why did you bring Zoé here?” Chloé asked, interrupting her parents’ argument about whether being cuckolded was worse than fathering a child out of wedlock.

“Since I’m staying here for the foreseeable future whilst your father and I work on repairing our marriage, I decided I didn’t want to leave Zoé all alone in New York, so she’ll be staying here with us.” Chloé did not know what to say to this. Not only was her awful excuse of a mother sticking around in Paris, now she also had a half-sister staying with her too?

“She’d better not be staying in my suite!” Chloé blurted out. It was the first thing that really came to mind. There were so many reasons why Zoé sharing her rooms would be absolutely terrible, not least of which being the box of magical artifacts she had stashed in her safe. She did wince a little at the look of hurt that flashed across Zoé’s face. She hadn’t meant it to sound quite so rude, but she was under a lot of stress right now.

“No, sweetheart, Zoé will have her own rooms.” Chloé’s father sounded deeply resigned. No matter how much he protested, Chloé knew her mother well enough that she would bully him into getting her way regardless.

“They’re not ready yet, though. I keep telling your father he needs to fire the housekeeping staff and get better ones, so would you please be a dear and take Zoé up to your room and entertain her for a little while whilst the two of us continue our conversation?”

Chloé would have liked to have had some time to herself to fully process this new development, but it was unlikely she’d be able to get out of this. Nodding in reluctant agreement, Chloé headed for the lift, Zoé following her after a moment.

Her parents had already resumed their argument as the lift doors slid shut and the two girls were carried up to the top floor. There was a tense silence between the two, before Chloé finally broke it.

“You do speak French, right?” She asked. It was a perfectly reasonable question, given Zoé’s silence and where she used to live.

“I do. I learned it at school, and Maman insisted we speak French at home.” Zoé answered, her words a little halting and with a definite accent to them, but it was perfectly understandable, and probably better than Chloé’s English was. It was something of a relief that they wouldn’t have too much difficulty communicating, but despite this, they lapsed into silence once more.

Chloé was calming down a little, but she was still very much on edge, and she was certain that one wrong move would have her toppling over the edge. The lift came to a halt on the top floor and Chloé led the way down the corridor to her suite, realising as she opened the door that she should probably start locking it now that she was the Guardian of the Miraculous. She’d never bothered before. There were cameras, and even if something of hers did somehow get stolen, she had more than enough money to replace it.

Carefully hanging her bag on her chair so as not to disturb Pollen, Chloé wandered into the living area, where she proceeded to collapse dramatically on the chaise whilst Zoé followed, looking around the room with interest.

“Your room is a lot bigger than mine in New York.” She commented, standing apprehensive by the sofa, only sitting down when Chloé gestured for her to do so.

“I’m surprised. I expected Mother would refuse to live in anything other than a mansion.”

“We do live on the whole top floor of a tower block.” Zoé admitted, sounding very embarrassed. “But I only have one room.” Chloé nodded in understanding. She and her father basically had the same arrangement, except their rooms had previously been guest rooms that he’d had converted.

Once again, silence fell between the two as Chloé simply did not know what else to say to Zoé. She would have liked to do something else, but she had to be a good host.

“Did you really not know you have a half-sister?” Zoé asked, frowning and Chloé

“No, nobody ever mentioned it.”

“Oh…” Zoé looked away and Chloé narrowed her eyes at the other girl suspiciously. That was never a good noise to hear from anyone, and it only took her a few seconds to work out exactly what Zoé meant by it.

“You knew you had a half-sister.” Chloé stated. She didn’t need to phrase it as a question.

“Yes.”

“And you didn’t think to contact me or anything?” She demanded, glaring angrily at Zoé. “Didn’t you think I might like to know our mother cheated?”

“How was I supposed to know you did not know?!” Zoé fired back, surprising Chloé with the anger in her voice. “This is not on me!”

“Right, I guess I should be overjoyed that I’ve suddenly got to deal with some random girl who’s just been dropped into my life.” Chloé’s temper was up now. How dare this girl have the gall to be angry with her? She was the one being persecuted and suffering here, not Zoé.

“As overjoyed as I am that I have to deal with my bratty half-sister who sided with a supervillain.” Chloé choked in shock and anger as Zoé got up abruptly and stalked over to the door. “I am going to go check if my room is ready.”

Chloé didn’t have time to screech out her rebuttal before Zoé slammed the door shut behind her, she simply gaped until she finally exploded. “That bitch!”

“Your Majesty, language!” Pollen squeaked in reproach as she zipped out of Chloé’s bag to hover in front of her.

“You heard what she said!” Chloé got to her feet and began pacing angrily. “Saying things like that without knowing anything about what really happened!”

“Even so, there’s no call for language like that.” Pollen floated after Chloé, still disapproving.

“Well, how else am I supposed to react to that?” Chloé asked, whirling to face Pollen. “How am I supposed to deal with any of this? I just found out my mother apparently has this whole other family in New York that she’s been living with all this time.”

The little kwami hummed in sympathy as Chloé silently begged her for help. Now that she was finally alone and without the scrutiny of others, she was struggling to keep her freakout in check. This was a worst case scenario she couldn’t have possibly imagined. She was still struggling to wrap her head around the fact that she had a half-sister, and her thoughts kept returning to that.

How could her parents have kept this from her? Didn’t she deserve to know that was what her mother had been doing living abroad all these years? It was at that point another thought occurred to her. Was Zoé the reason why her mother had left? Did she prefer her other, probably normal, daughter to the damaged one?

“Your Majesty?” Pollen’s high voice was filled with concern as Chloé walked over to the chaise and collapsed onto it, her thoughts spiralling. It made perfect sense. What other reason would her mother have for just abandoning her legitimate child in favour of her bastard unless there was something wrong with the former?

Chloé’s memories of her childhood at around the time her mother left were rather fuzzy, but she was fairly certain that was about the time her quirks had started to become a lot more noticeable and could no longer be excused as childishness.

It all added up to an awful picture, and Chloé was only dimly aware of Pollen trying to talk to her, and how her breathing was far too fast. Everything was pressing down on her. Her eyes hurt like she’d been staring into the sun and her ears ached like there were sirens going off despite the room being both dim and quiet.

Pulling her legs up to her chest, Chloé buried her face in her knees, pressing the joints hard against her eyes in an attempt to block out the world. It felt like everything was just too loud and too bright and she just couldn’t think with it all blaring away in her senses. 

Clamping her hands over her ears, Chloé just rocked back and forth, trying to make it all go away, but even though she was able to block out the world, she could not escape the dark morass her thoughts had become. She really wished Marinette were here, but just thinking about her girlfriend sent Chloé into a further spiral as she thought of all the terrible things she’d done that had hurt Marinette in the last few days alone.

Even though Marinette had helped her when she’d gotten like this in the past, Chloé just about had enough presence of mind to know it would not help to have her around this time. So she instead fell back on her old habit, riding out the freakout until it subsided.

There was a pinching at her hand which normally would be only a slight annoyance, but in her current state it was like someone was tearing at her skin. With a loud shriek, she pulled her face out of her legs and looked around wildly for who had pinched her. 

“Your Majesty, I called Marinette for you.”Pollen said, holding out Chloé’s phone, from which she could hear Marinette’s voice.

“Chlo, Pollen called and said something was wrong, are you okay?” Her girlfriend’s voice was panicked, which only served to push Chloé further into her freakout as she shook her head vigorously.

“She shook her head.” Pollen informed Marinette who made a small noise.

“Chlo, are you nonverbal at the moment?” Chloé had no idea what that meant, but when she opened her mouth, no sound came out, and it fell to Pollen to convey this to Marinette again.

“Okay, Honey, it’s going to be okay. I want you to listen to my voice and really try to concentrate on it.” Chloé did as she was told, despite the thoughts that screamed in her mind that she was a burden to Marinette. “I know it’s hard and upsetting right now, but I want you to just keep listening to me.”

Chloé nodded, whimpering a little as the brightness of her room continued to burn in her eyes. She was able to just about keep her focus on Marinette’s soothing voice and not let the deafening ambient noises from the rest of the hotel and outside get to her.

“Okay, Honey, I can hear you’ve breathing really fast right now. If you can, I want you to start breathing along with me, Okay? In and out like this.” Marinette demonstrated, breathing heavily down the phone and Chloé did her best to copy her.

Her breath caught a few times, but she was able to keep pace with Marinette’s measured breathing, the slow regularity of it helping her to start to come down from her freakout. Her frantic and overstimulated mind was slowly starting to calm down and just existing wasn’t so incredibly painful and awful.

“That’s it, Honey, keep breathing like that. I’m here for you. Do you need me to come over?” That suggestion had a fresh wave of panic washing over Chloé and she nearly stopped following Marinette’s instructions to continue her measured breathing as she shook her head vigorously.

“She’s shaking her head, Marinette.” Pollen told her over the phone, and there was an answering hum from Marinette.

“Okay, no coming over, that’s fine.” Marinette soothed gently. “I’ll stay on the phone as long as you need me to.” Chloé made a noise that she hoped would convey her gratitude to her girlfriend. She was gradually returning to a more stable state of mind and she was feeling quite a bit better as Marinette continued to talk, giving her something to focus on.

“You’re doing well, Honey, just keep going. It’s okay.” Her heart rate was beginning to return to normal now and the tension in her muscles was subsiding, leaving them aching and sore. Chloé felt incredibly tired and she slumped back over her chaise, unable to hold herself up.

“Honey, you doing okay?” Marinette asked gently, and Chloé nodded weakly which Pollen dutifully relayed. Okay might have been a bit of an exaggeration, but she was feeling quite a lot better than earlier. “That’s good. I can stay on for longer if you want me to, or we can talk tomorrow if you’d prefer.”

Chloé opened her mouth to speak, but her words still weren’t quite working so she had to resort to nodding again.

“She’s nodding, I don’t know if that means she wants you to stay or go.”

“Do you want to talk tomorrow?” Marinette asked again, narrowing down the question, and Chloé nodded. She’d already taken up enough of Marinette’s time and needlessly worried her. “Okay, I’ll see you at school. If you need me before then I’m just a phone call away. I love you.”

Chloé wanted to respond, but the best she could manage was a small squeak that was barely audible over the phone. “Try to get some rest, okay? Talk to you tomorrow.” There was a moment’s pause then the sound of a kiss being blown before Marinette hung up the phone.

Chloé continued to lie there, slumped across her chaise as she continued to recuperate from her freakout. She hadn’t had one that bad in over a month and definitely not since she and Marinette had started dating which had admittedly only been a few weeks.

“I’m sorry, Your Majesty, I didn’t know what to do other than call Marinette.” Pollen apologised, having set the phone down on the coffee table and flitted over to hover in front of her. “Please don’t be mad at me. I was just worried for you.”

Chloé shook her head to reassure the little kwami that she wasn’t angry, in fact, her calling Marinette had probably been the most helpful thing she could have done. Letting her head roll back so that she was looking up at the ceiling, Chloé sighed deeply. She felt absolutely exhausted after that. Freakouts were never a fun experience, and the fact that Zoé had been the one to trigger it endeared her even less to her half-sister.

Chloé had not been very sure about the idea of living with her previously unknown half-sister, but now she was assuredly not looking forward to it at all.

Chapter Text

Breakfast the next morning was an incredibly awkward affair. Chloé normally didn’t bother with it, but her mother had insisted that the four of them eat breakfast ‘like a family’ before school. Chloé supposed that she got her wish, as it was just as awkward as Chloé imagined most family gatherings to be. She spent most of it glaring across the excessively fancy dining table at Zoé, who met her angry gaze coolly.

Chloé was still sour and sore about yesterday afternoon and how she’d been pushed into her first freakout in ages. Suffice to say, she was not particularly endeared to her half-sister, and was even less so when their mother made the announcement that Zoé had been enrolled in Collège François Dupont as well.

“What?!” Both girls screeched in tandem first staring at their mother in horror before turning their attention and ire upon one another.

“Maman, why do I have to go to the same school as her?” Zoé demanded, looking away from Chloé and giving Audrey a pleading look. Chloé, meanwhile, was incensed that Zoé was the one upset about this arrangement, as though she was the innocent one.

“Papa, why does she have to go to my school? There are several other collèges in Paris she could go to.” Chloé said, deciding to bypass her mother in favour of her father, who she was sure would be more receptive.

“I did suggest that she go to a different school but-.” Her father started, but was cut off by Audrey.

“But your collège is clearly the best, since you and the Agreste boy both attend, and Zoé gets nothing but the best.” She said as though it was obvious, and for a brief moment, Chloé saw Zoé’s petulant pout slip for a moment.

“But-.” Chloé tried to protest, but her mother interrupted again.

“No buts. Zoé is going to that school and that is not changing.” She then fixed Chloé with a stern look from behind her ever-present sunglasses. “And I expect you to look after her. She is your younger sister, after all.”

Chloé didn’t even bother to hide her displeasure at this and she scowled moodily at her breakfast. The rest of the meal passed in tense silence, until Chloé simply got up once she’d finished eating and left the room to grab her things for school.

“Are you going to be okay, Your Majesty?” Pollen squeaked, poking her head out of Chloé’s bag as she entered her bedroom. “You still look upset.”

“I’ll be fine, thank you, Pollen.” Chloé sighed, grabbing the neat pile of books she’d prepared and placed them in her other bag before hoisting it on her back with a grunt. She’d gotten used to having to carry her own things since Sabrina had abandoned her. Thinking of the redhead got Chloé wondering what was happening with her since she’d gotten suspended for confessing to her and Lila’s action.

With everything that had happened with the revelation of Marinette’s identity as Ladybug, lots of things had been sidelined in her mind. Perhaps she should reach out to Sabrina soon, once this situation with Zoé was resolved.

Picking up the small bag which contained her kwami, Chloé gave herself one last once over in the mirror before heading out and downstairs. Just as she was about to leave the lobby to get into her limo, she was caught gently by the shoulder and she spun around to see who it was.

“Sweetheart, I know this isn’t ideal or what you wanted, but please remember that this isn’t easy for Zoé either. Please try to be nice.” Her father told her quietly. Chloé wasn’t quite sure how things weren’t easy for Zoé but she nodded agreeably, earning a smile from her father. “Good girl. You should get going now. Don’t want to be late for school.”

Chloé definitely did not, so she nodded, leaning up to press a quick kiss to her father’s cheek before hurrying out of the front door and into the limo, where she found Zoé already waiting for her.

“Good, you are here.” She said, words sharp. Chloé didn’t even bother dignifying it with a response and instead instructed the driver to go. The two half-sisters sat in silence as they drove through the busy streets, Chloé filling her time by tapping her fingers on the leather seat, drumming out the Death Devil theme.

Eventually they arrived at the school and the two girls climbed out of the vehicle, thanking the driver as they did so. They both stood there at the foot of the steps leading up to the main entrance, Zoé twisting the strap of her bag between her hands as Chloé menatlly prepared herself.

“Come on, then, if I’m supposed to be looking after you.” She said shortly, starting up the steps to the entrance, Zoé following aher after a moment’s hesitation. When they got to the top, Chloé felt her heart do a strange flip flop as it both leapt and sank at the same time as she saw Marinette standing by the entrance, clearly waiting for her.

“Chlo!” She chirped happily, ready to rush over when she caught sight of Zoé walking behind her and she faltered a little. “Um, hello?” Chloé groaned internally at having to make this very awkward introduction, but it did fall to her and there wasn’t really any getting out of it.

“Mari, this is my half-sister, Zoé, from the US.” Chloé gestured to the girl in question before turning to her. “Zoé, this is Marinette, my…”

“Best friend!” Marinette supplied, a welcoming smile plastered across her face as she held out a hand. “It is nice to meet you.” Zoé blinked in surprise at Marinette’s sudden switch to English and she slowly took Marinette’s hand and shook it briefly.

“It’s nice to meet you too.” Zoé replied, and Chloé couldn’t help but feel a small stab of jealousy at how her half-sister gave Marinette a brief smile. She was hers. Even if they couldn’t tell people, Chloé still felt rather possessive of her girlfriend.

“Do you know which class you’re in?” Chloé asked, cutting in before any more conversation could happen between the other two.

“No, I think I was supposed to report to the principal.” Zoé said, shooting Chloé a look at the interruption.

“I’d better get you there quickly. Don’t want to be late on your first day.” Chloé began, not so subtly trying to move her half-sister along. “I’ll see you in class, Mari.”

“Sure…” Marinette said as Chloé grabbed Zoé by the hand and pulled her into the school and up the stairs to Mr Damocles’ office.

“What was that about?” Zoé demanded, pulling her hand free and glaring at Chloé as they walked up the stairs.

“Lateness is always intolerable.” Chloé said by way of explanation. It wasn’t a lie either, it just happened to be irrelevant.

“Sure it is.” Chloé did not need to look back to know that Zoé was rolling her eyes. Holding her tongue, Chloé guided her sister to the office and knocked politely on the door. After a few moments, she was called to come in so she opened the door and ushered Zoé in after her.

“Yes, Miss Bourgeois?” Mr Damocles asked, narrowing his eyes at her.

“I brought my half-sister to see you. She’s just been enrolled.” Chloé explained, stepping aside to allow Zoé to enter the room properly.

“Ah yes, I did receive a very… loud phone call from your mother yesterday.” Chloé winced sympathetically. Even if he was rather incompetent, Mr Damocles did not deserve to have her mother inflicted upon him. Chloé was sure he was probably fired at least three times during their call. “Anyway, Miss Lee, if you’d take a seat, we can finish your enrollment and I can take you to your class.

Nodding, Zoé stepped around Chloé, knocking into her a little as she did and took a seat. Chloé was about to protest this treatment, but she was waved away by Mr Damocles.

“Thank you for bringing your sister, Miss Bourgeois, you can head back to your class now.” Silently fuming, Chloé stalked out of the room and along the walkway to her homeroom. Marinette was already there and waiting for her, as well as half the class. Even though Kim glared at her as she entered, Chloé was reasonably pleased that Césaire simply ignored her.

Slipping past her girlfriend, Chloé began setting up for the first lesson when Marinette slid a little closer to talk to her in a low voice. “Chlo, why didn’t you tell me you have a sister?” She asked, sounding a little hurt and Chloé winced. Even if it wasn’t her fault, she now hated upsetting Marinette, even indirectly.

“She’s only my half-sister.” Chloé said. The precision and distinction was important to her, it served as a reminder of her mother’s many trespasses against her in this new regard. “And I never mentioned her because I didn’t even know I had one until yesterday afternoon.”

“What?” Marinette goggled at Chloé. “But how?”

“Nobody felt like telling me that my mother had an affair and another daughter she decided to stay with in New York.” Chloé tried and failed to keep the bitterness out of her voice. She wasn’t very good at the whole ‘hiding her emotions’ thing. She resolutely stared down at her tablet, not wanting to look up at her girlfriend and see the pity in her eyes. She loved Marinette so much, but she did not want anybody’s pity right now.

“Oh, Chlo, I’m sorry.” A comforting hand patted Chloé gently on the shoulder, which she appreciated, despite not wanting pity. “Is she staying with you at the hotel?”

“Yes, she is.” Chloé sighed before following it up quickly as she heard Marinette’s sharp intake of breath. “She has her own room though, the you-know-what is still safe.”

“Okay, that’s good.” Marinette breathed a sigh of relief.

“I still feel weird locking it away like I have been. Surely I should carry it with me in case you need it in an emergency?”

“I’m not really sure how you could, it’s not exactly small.” Marinette hummed thoughtfully. “I mean, there’s nothing stopping you from heading back to the hotel.”

“But if I can’t, then what will we do?” Chloé asked, lowering her voice even more, aware that, even if they weren’t explicitly saying the words, they were still discussing something incredibly sensitive in public.

“I don’t know. We’ll think of something, though.” Marinette sighed, resting her head on Chloé’s shoulder, making the blonde blush deeply. “Do you still want me to come around this afternoon to work on that art project, or are you going to be too busy with Zoé?”

“I’d like it if you would come over.” Reaching down, Chloé intertwined her fingers with Marinette’s. “I missed you after our… falling out, and I want to spend time with you.”

“Sure.” Marinette squeezed Chloé’s hand before quickly pulling it free as Mme. Bustier entered the classroom and they were forced to focus on the upcoming lesson. Chloé already missed the feeling of Marinette’s skin, but she was reassured that no matter what happened, she would still have Marinette beside her, even though she didn’t deserve it.

Much like literature, Chloé did not like art. Sure she was able to appreciate it and the efforts it took for others to produce it, but she was both awful at it and hated the idea of having to create something so subjective for assessment. How were you even supposed to grade something when there were ‘no right answers’?

Theoretically, they were supposed to be working on a surrealist piece. They’d spent the last few weeks since returning from the Christmas break studying various surrealist paintings, and now they were supposed to be creating one of their own.

Chloé had spent the last half an hour staring blankly at her sketchbook, her mind blank and bereft of ideas. The last few thoughts she’d had had been painfully derivative, going beyond homage to the point of plagiarism.

With a groan, Chloé let her head drop onto the table with a thunk that caught Marinette’s attention.

“Are you struggling, Honey?” She asked sympathetically, setting down her pencil.

“Why can’t I just do more Maths instead of this?” Chloé asked, not raising her head from the table in her depression. “And I thought you were only going to call me that in private.”

“But we are in private, aren’t we?” Raising her head a little, Chloé looked pointedly over to where their two kwami were hovering nearby, very much in earshot. “Okay, but that’s just Tikki and Pollen. It’s not like they don’t already know about us.”

“I know, it’s just kind of embarrassing.” Chloé admitted, blushing a little. She loved Marinette’s new pet name for her, but she was still a bit insecure about other people knowing just how deep their affections for one another were.

It then suddenly occurred to Chloé that, much like how Pollen had gone with her pretty much everywhere since she’d received the Miracle Box, Tikki must have been in close proximity to Marinette all this time.

“Mari, h-has Tikki been in the room every time we’ve kissed and things?” Chloé asked anxiously, her eyes flicking over to the kwami, who were now very obviously listening in on the conversation.

“I mean, she does need to be nearby in case of an emergency…” Marinette admitted, blushing a little as well. “But it’s not like she doesn’t give us privacy or anything when we’re making out.”

“I don’t know why you humans care so much about being watched.” Tikki piped up, floating over with her arms crossed. “We kwami are millenia-old. We’ve experienced every facet of humanity through our proximity to our wielders. Even if we don’t understand all of it, nothing is so shocking to us.”

“Maybe it’s because our relationship is something between the two of us and has some things that we’d like to keep private.” Chloé snarked, rolling her eyes at the Kwami’s bluntness and lack of tact.

“Anyway, I have no desire to watch yet another of my wielders kissing someone else, so you’re welcome to your privacy.” Tikki continued, ignoring Chloé’s sarcasm. “I will never understand why you humans do things like that anyway.”

“We kiss to express our love and affection for one another.” Marinette explained with an indulgent smile.

“Oh I understand that part of why, I just don’t understand this whole ‘love’ thing.” Tikki raised her tiny arms to perform air quotes as both Marinette and Chloé exchanged glances.

“You don’t understand love?” Marinette clarified, and Tikki just shrugged.

“I’ve seen hundreds of humans fall in and out of love and had them try to explain it to me over and over, but I just don’t get it. They say it’s something you feel, but I’ve never felt like that. I love my fellow kwami, but that’s closer to what humans call familial love, as far as I can tell” She explained, floating idly in the air. “It’s just something I don’t think I’ll ever really understand.”

“Well I think it’s fascinating and adorable!” Pollen piped up, zooming in. “You might have seen it many times, but I haven’t had a wielder nearly as often as you have. It’s anything but boring to me!” Chloé wasn’t sure what she found more odd, Tikki’s apparent disinterest and lack of understanding of romance or Pollen’s fascination with it.

Something Pollen said did stick out to her though. “You haven’t been out as often? What does that mean?”

“Oh, well, the Ladybug and Black Cat are the most powerful of all the kwami, so whenever we’re needed, they’re always the first to be brought forth.” Pollen began to explain flitting down to sit on the coffee table. After that, myself, Duusu, Wayzz, Nooroo and Trixx are then next to be chosen, and then the twelve zodiac kwami.”

“I didn’t know there were so many kwami.” Chloé said, looking over at Marinette, who shrugged.

“I never really thought of it that way.”

“We’re not the only kwami out there either. I don’t know the exact number, though.” Tikki chipped in, flitting down to sit beside Pollen. Chloé was struck speechless by this. She’d thought nineteen was a lot of kwami, but that there were even more, and so many that they didn’t even know an exact number, was a little difficult for her to wrap her head around, so she distracted herself with another question.

“So you just stay in that box for years and years, only being let out occasionally and only in that order?”

“Pretty much, Your Majesty.” Pollen shrugged. “I told you yesterday that we’re aware of time passing as we wait for a wielder, but it’s not the same as how it passes for a human.”

“But that hardly seems fair on the others if they aren’t let out as frequently.” Chloé exclaimed, already getting to her feet and walking to the painting her safe was hidden behind. “I would just hate it being stuck in a box forever until it was decided that things were dire enough that I was needed.”

“We don’t mind it really, Your Majesty.” Pollen squeaked as she flew after Chloé who was busy opening up her safe and retrieving the Miracle Box. “And it’s how the Order of the Guardians has done things for centuries.”

“Well, I don’t know how the guardians did things, since they’re all gone and the only one who could have taught me has no memories.” Chloé said, carrying the box back over to the table and setting it down.

“Honey, are you about to do what I think you’re going to do?” Marinette asked, her eyes wide as Chloé retook her seat.

“If you think I’m going to let them all out, then yes.” Chloé said, looking over the box before giving up on working out how to open each section individually and simply smacked the top of the box with her fist.

With a pop and a snap, the seven hexagonal sections on top popped open, revealing the turtle and fox Miraculous, then several drawers popped out from the sides, each one containing each of the remaining twelve Miraculous. There was a brief moment where nothing happened, and Chloé’s shoulders slumped in disappointment.

“Kwami can only come out when their Miraculous is worn.” Tikki said, sounding more than a little smug. With a deep sigh, Chloé reached out to close up the box again, when it jerked and rattled on the spot and with a burst of light, a veritable swarm of kwami burst forth from the box making both girls yelp in surprise.

“I thought you said they couldn’t do that!” Chloé demanded of Tikki, glaring at the spotted kwami.

“We’re not supposed to!” She squeaked back, sounding just as shocked as the other kwami scattered throughout the room and started examining and messing with Chloé’s things. Marinette and Chloé exchanged frantic looks at the cacophony of squeaking voices as the newly freed kwami continued to flit around the room, exclaiming in wonder at the various things they found, like excitable children.

Maybe this hadn’t been the best idea Chloé had ever had.

Chapter Text

“Stop that right now!” Chloé demanded, wrestling her tablet away from several of the kwami she’d released. When she’d planned on letting them out, she’d been under the assumption that they would all be like Tikki and Pollen. That was to say, sensible, and not like tiny flying children under the influence of a sugar rush, which was exactly what they were.

“Booooo, you’re no fun!” The little monkey kwami said, blowing a raspberry at her.

“Fun is not wrecking someone’s room when they were nice enough to let you out!” Chloé fired back, before yelping and rushing over to the door to the balcony, where one of the kwami was about to leave the room. “No you don’t! No going outside!”

“Awwww, but it’s so different out there.” The kwami whined, though thankfully it obeyed her instruction. “I wanna see.”

“Children. I’m dealing with children.” Chloé groaned. “I thought kwami were thousands of years old.”

“We can get a little… stir-crazy being trapped inside the box, Miss.” The turtle kwami explained, thankfully not engaging in the antics of his brethren. “Many of them have not been outside in hundreds of years.”

“That’s no excuse for them to make a mess.” Chloé huffed, looking over to the living area of her rooms. “Mari? How’s it going?”

“They’re nothing like Tikki! I have no idea how to wrangle them!” Marinette cried out as she chased the horse kwami around the chaise, trying to retrieve the TV remote from him. “Kaalki, give that back!”

“What does this do?” The kwami asked of nobody in particular as he jabbed at the buttons randomly, both managing to turn the TV on and set it to play the last video she’d been watching. Of course, she hadn’t used it since her deductions of Marinette’s identity as Ladybug, so it was one of her compilations of Ladybug, and it just so happened to be one of the more… risque ones, because the universe really seemed to hate her right now.

With a yelp, Chloé abandoned her current kwami wrangling in favour of turning the TV off at the wall and unplugging it, before whirling to face Marinette. “You saw nothing!”

“That didn’t look like nothing!” Marinette’s face was bright red, and Chloé was fairly certain hers was too. “Why do you have a compilation video of me as Ladybug?”

“It doesn’t matter right now.” Chloé rushed after another kwami, who had discovered the light switch and was busy turning the lights on and off repeatedly whilst singing about day and night.

“Tikki, why is the girl who betrayed us here?” The fox kwami asked, being one of the calmer kwami, though he was regarding Chloé with a worried expression. “Did we get kidnapped for evil like Nooroo and Duusu?!”

“No, it’s worse than that, Trixx.” Tikki grumbled, and Chloé paused to glare at the kwami for the less-than-flattering comparison to being forced to do terrible things by Hawkmoth. “She’s the new guardian.”

The other kwami all came to a screeching halt when Tikki said that, which annoyed Chloé greatly if that was all that needed to be done in order to get them to stop.

“What?!” The fox kwami stared at Chloé, aghast. “Wayzz told us that Master Fu gave up his position, but to her? But she joined Hawkmoth and exposed our bearers!”

“Yes, we know.” Tikki sighed, shaking her head. “But it wasn’t Master Fu’s decision to make her the new guardian, it was Marinette’s.” The kwami turned to give her wielder a disapproving look as Trixx zipped over to Marinette.

“Why would you make her the guardian?” He demanded, glaring back at Chloé. “After everything she did.” Chloé hated how much of her agreed with the kwami about how little she deserved the honour of being the guardian, though it was feeling more and more like a penance.

“Because I trust her. Even if she’s made mistakes in the past she’s still a good person and-.”

“And you’re dating and in love with her.” Tikki interrupted with a roll of her eyes. “Because of course you let your feelings cloud your judgement.”

“Hey, you said there were worse choices than me.” Chloé sniped at Tikki, who fixed her with a look.

“Yes, I did. Hawkmoth, Mayura and Lila.” Tikki reeled off, counting on imaginary fingers. “You’re a better choice than those three. Other than that, though…”

“Wow, great vote of confidence.” Chloé snarked, now thoroughly annoyed that her girlfriend’s kwami thought she was only a little better than literal supervillains. She almost wished she hadn’t found out about Marinette being Ladybug, then she wouldn’t have to put up with Tikki being a little bitch to her.

“Tikki, don’t be so mean.” Marinette reprimanded, coming to Chloé’s defence, which she appreciated greatly. “Chloé is far, far better than them, and I think she was the perfect choice.”

“If you say so…” The other kwami were still quiet as they regarded Chloé with a mixture of curiosity and apprehension.

“I suppose I should introduce myself.” She said, starting to feel uncomfortable with all the eyes on her. “I am Chloé Bourgeois and I am the new guardian of the Miracle Box.”

“If you’re the new guardian, why are we all out here?” One of the kwami piped up, now looking around the room, a lot calmer now than a few minutes ago. “Have we been given out to wielders?”

“No, I let you out because…” Chloé scratched at the back of her head awkwardly. “Well, because it just didn’t seem fair that a lot of you have to stay trapped in there for years on end whilst some of the others get to be out almost all the time.

There was a ripple of murmurs between the kwami, but Chloé couldn’t tell if they were good murmurs or bad ones.

“This is not how the guardians did things.” A red kwami with a spikey head said, sounding rather disapproving.

“Well, there’s no guardians around except me, so I’m doing it my way.” Chloé shrugged. “If your Master Fu wanted it done in a particular way, he should have left instructions or something.”

“It’s not Master Fu’s fault that he didn’t have time to properly prepare the next guardian.” Trixx huffed and glared at Chloé meaningfully. Chloé looked away guiltily. She could feel the judgement from the assembled kwami and she was starting to think even more that this had been a bad idea.

“Hey, it wasn’t Chloé’s fault that Master Fu got found out by Hawkmoth either.” Marinette spoke up, pushing her way into the circle and wrapping a comforting arm around Chloé. “Anyway, it’s done now. Chloé’s the guardian, so you’re all just going to have to deal with it.”

“She could always give up the position.” Trixx suggested, and Marinette and a few of the other kwami glared at him.

“Not happening.” Marinette put down firmly. “Unless something happens to her, Chloé’s staying as guardian.” There was a murmuring of assent from the kwami, though Chloé did notice that Trixx in particular did not join in as did a few of the others.

“Right. Well, I think we need to set some ground rules.” Chloé announced, trying not to let the dissenters get to her. “Most importantly, you can’t leave this room without permission. If anyone finds out about you all...”

“Yes, we’re aware of the need for secrecy.” The monkey kwami rolled his eyes, and Chloé shot a glare at him.

“You were all being both very loud and very destructive. That’s not exactly being very secretive, is it?” Chloé pointed out acerbically, silencing the kwami. “I’m trying to do right by you all, but that’s only going to work if you all cooperate with me as well.”

“She let you all out because she didn’t think it was fair we had to stay inside the box all the time.” Pollen declared and Chloé blushed a little as her kwami stepped up to bat for her. “So maybe you all could show a little bit of appreciation.”

Chloé felt more than a little awkward at the impassioned defence that she knew she did not deserve at all. Marinette seemed to sense her discomfort, however, and pulled her tighter against her side. It seemed that the dissenting kwami were at least deciding to remain silent, which Chloé decided to take as a positive. The spikey-headed red kawmi did decide to speak up again, though.

“The issue still remains that, even if she is the guardian, she hasn’t been trained in the ways of the order.” He reiterated, floating out of the circle to hover in front of Chloé and Marinette. “There is so much that she needs to learn.”

“Then maybe you can teach me?” Chloé suggested tentatively. “Since you all have spent centuries with the order, surely I can learn from you?” Chloé didn’t really want to have to do things the old ways. Blind adherence to tradition was never the answer, though she was aware of the irony that someone as set in her ways as herself didn’t want to submit herself to a different set of rules. But learning about the order of guardians couldn’t hurt, and if it ingratiated her to some of the more traditional kwami, that was another benefit.

The red kwami frowned and tapped at his chin. “Perhaps… In the absence of the order, I suppose we are the most informed about their ways.” He looked around the other kwami, and his attention settled upon the turtle kwami. “Wayzz, you spent the most time with Master Fu. That would put you in the best position to tutor her, for the time being, at least.”

“It would be my pleasure to instruct you.” Wayzz floated over to Chloé and inclined his head respectfully in a way that had her feeling distinctly awkward about the deference this unimaginably old being was showing her, an incredibly flawed teenager.

“I look forward to learning from you.” Chloé started to bow, then thought better of it and shuffled awkwardly on the spot. Her willingness to learn the ways of the guardians did seem to have won over the remaining kwami and the circle dispersed. Thankfully, their manic energy had abated, and though most of them resumed examining her room with interest, they weren’t destroying it like before.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Chloé gently pulled away from Marinette to collapse face first onto her bed. That had been surprisingly stressful, the whole day had been, really. She felt the bed dip beside her and Marinette’s warm hand started rubbing comfortingly at her back.

“You did so well, Honey.” She cooed, leaning down and pressing a kiss to Chloé’s cheek as the blonde blushed deeply.

“Mari, we are definitely not alone now.” She mumbled, a squeal of joy from one of her many new roommates reminding her that they would probably never get a moment to themselves in Chloé’s rooms ever again.

“I know, but I like calling you that.” There was a shifting, and Marinette’s weight settled on top of Chloé, which she found surprisingly soothing. “And since it seems we’re going to have all these kwami around, we should try to get used to it.”

Chloé frowned, unsure. She doubted she would ever get used to the constant presence of the kwami. Maybe they’d be polite enough to give them some privacy if they wanted to do more than just cuddle and kiss. Not that they were ready to take any steps like that, and Chloé blushed even deeper just at the thought of doing… more with Marinette.

That was probably a conversation they’d have at a later date, though, especially since Chloé assumed that they were in this for the long haul. They’d made it through what was possibly the biggest challenges to their relationship relatively unscathed and were now closer than ever. Beyond that, Marinette was the only person Chloé even wanted to do those blush-inducing things with.

Just thinking about the rough spot made her feel just a little uneasy about the longevity of her and Marinette’s relationship and desiring of some reassurance.

“Mari, you’re not going to leave me, are you?” She asked quietly and Marinette shifted on top of her.

“Why would I? I love you, Honey.” Marinette murmured in her ear, sounding mildly concerned. “Why do you ask?”

“I was just thinking…” Chloé considered her words for a moment, before deciding that now was just as good as a later date. “If we’re both planning on staying together, I was wondering if you’d ever thought about going further.”

“Going further?” Marinette’s tone was puzzled, and Chloé felt the heat rising in her cheeks as she tried to think of a less circumspect way of describing it.

“Taking our relationship to the next level, you know, physically.” There was a brief moment, then Marinette let out a soft ‘oh’ of understanding, followed by a squeak of embarrassment that had Chloé hurriedly clarifying herself.

“Not right now of course, just as a general thing.” She said hastily, hoping that bringing up the subject hadn’t made things too uncomfortable between them.

“Right, yes, I understand.” Marinette’s words were a little stilted, and Chloé could just imagine the pink blush on her face as well. It made Chloé want to twist around to see. Marinette always looked absolutely adorable when she was embarrassed.

“I might have thought about it once or twice.” Marinette admitted, shifting around a little. “And I want to sometime, I do want to take that step with you.” Her tone gained conviction as she spoke, and Chloé reached back to intertwine her fingers with Marinette’s own.

“I suppose we’re pretty serious now, aren’t we, if we’re discussing things like that?”

“Is that really surprising, though?” Marinette’s voice gained a teasing edge. “I mean, we’ve said we’re in love with one another, and you’re now the guardian to my Ladybug and my confidante.”

“I think I prefer being the Mariko to your Akiko.”

“I thought I was Mariko?”

“You were, but that was before I learned you’re the superhero of the two of us.” Chloé pointed out with a sniff. “Despite the pleasing similarity between your name and Mariko’s, I feel like the similarity between you and Akiko is much greater.”

“I mean, maybe, but I’m not an exact match for her. We’re Marinette and Chloé, not Mariko and Akiko.”

“I know, it just helps if there’s a similar situation I can use to process and understand.” Chloé felt rather embarrassed about the confession. She disliked admitting her faults when it came to social situations, even to her girlfriend.

“I understand.” There was a small pause, as though Marinette wanted to say something else on the subject, but she instead started talking about something else. “Going back to how we’re getting kind of serious, I wanted to ask you something.”

“Yes?”

“It’s Chinese New Year in about a week, and I was wondering if you’d like to come round to my place to celebrate.” Chloé blinked a couple of times, surprised by the request.

“Should I?” She asked, unsure of whether she really should or not. “Isn’t that like cultural appropriation or something, since I’m not Chinese?”

“Chloé, my papa isn’t Chinese and he celebrates with us.” Marinette said exasperatedly. “Contrary to what some people might say, celebrating such things with your partner is not cultural appropriation.”

“Okay…” Chloé still wasn’t entirely sure about this, and Marinette seemed to sense it, as she crawled off of Chloé and allowed them both to sit up to talk properly.

“Chloé, it would mean a lot to me if you came, and it’s pretty much no different than any other time you’ve come around.”

“Isn’t it supposed to be a family occasion or something, though?”

“It is, but you’re my girlfriend, my serious girlfriend, so that means you should come.” Marinette’s insistence was wearing down Chloé’s initial hesitancy, but there was still some reservation she nodded.

“Okay, I’ll come. If your parents are okay with it, of course.” If there was going to be a reason why she shouldn’t go, it was Marinette’s parents, who as far as Chloé knew, were still wary of her after her and Marinette’s brief falling out.

“Honey, maman was the one who suggested I invite you.” Marinette laughed, before wrapping her arms around her girlfriend and pulling her into a quick kiss. “Don’t worry, you’ll have a great time, I promise.”

Chloé’s answer was interrupted by a small crash and a high-pitched voice crying out. “Oops!”

Rolling her eyes and sighing, Chloé pulled away from Marinette to see what damage the kwami had wrought this time. There really was no rest for the wicked.

Chapter Text

News of Zoé spread quickly through the school. It wasn’t every day that a new person joined in the middle of the school year. Chloé wasn’t quite sure how it got out that she and Zoé were related. It wasn’t as though they had the same surname or anything. She suspected Zoé must have run her mouth about being Audrey Bourgeois’ daughter, though she had no proof of this.

It wouldn’t be so annoying, Chloé would recover eventually from the embarrassment to her family Zoé’s existence caused, if it weren’t for people who wouldn’t say a single word to her that wasn’t laced with barbs coming up to her asking to be introduced to Zoé.

“Why do you even want to talk to her?” Chloe asked what must have been the twentieth person that day. “What’s so amazing about her?”

“She’s from New York, of course.” Mireille answered, rolling her eyes as though it was obvious. “Just think of how amazing it is there. Broadway, Madison Square Garden, Times Square…” Mireille sighed wistfully in a way that thoroughly annoyed Chloé.

“We live in Paris. How much fancier can New York really be?”

“You just don’t understand because she’s already told you about it.” Mireille waved her hand dismissively. “Think about how the rest of us feel not knowing someone who’s lived in New York for years.”

Chloé didn’t deem the girl worth responding to. For some reason, everyone also seemed to be under the impression that she had known about Zoé all this time and had guarded her existence like it was some precious secret.

“Look, if you want to ask her about how utterly amazing New York is, talk to her yourself.” She snapped, thoroughly annoyed by the pestering by now.

With a huff, Mireille stalked away, leaving Chloé to breathe a sigh of relief and continue on her way to lunch. Collecting her tray of tasteless mush, Chloé walked over to her usual table, where Marinette and her other friends sat. They were also joined by Césaire today as well, the brunette sitting awkwardly beside Marinette whilst Adrien and Kagami gave her slightly suspicious looks.

“Did New York suddenly become the ‘it’ place when I wasn’t paying attention or something?” Chloé asked of the group loudly as she slumped into her seat. “It seems like everyone wants to ask Zoé about New York. ‘Oh, what are the bagels like?’, ‘Oh, do you go to any shows?’, ‘Oh, Zoé, have you ever been up to the top of the Empire State Building?’.”

Chloé would have slumped forwards over the table if her tray wasn’t in the way. Marinette reached out and patted her on the shoulder.

“It’s just because she’s new. They’ll get over it soon.” Alix told her with a wave of her hand.

“Soon is now, though.” Chloé grumbled, crossing her arms and glaring at her limp salad as though it too had personally wronged her. “I am sick to fucking death of hearing about New York. I don’t give a shit about New York. I wish she’d stayed there, her and my bitch of a mother.”

“Chloé!” Marinette gasped, aghast. “You don’t really mean that.”

“You’ve met my mother, I’d say bitch is a rather tame descriptor for her.” Chloé shrugged. “And Zoé’s presence has done nothing but upend my life. I’m sure she’d be happier back in New York, and my mother can just go be with her normal daughter like she did ten years ago.”

Chloé paused as she realised she’d let her mouth run away with her and she clamped it shut, pointedly ignoring the look Césaire was giving her.

“I doubt Zoé meant to do that, Chlo.” Marinette said sympathetically.

“Doesn’t change the fact that that’s what she’s done.” Chloé poked at her lunch sulkily. “Why did she have to come to Paris and ruin my life?” Looking up from her lunch, she was surprised to see all the others staring at her, and Adrienne was shaking her head violently. “What?”

“I suppose I should not be surprised that you only think about yourself and no one else.” An acerbic voice sounded from behind Chloé. Turning around in her seat, she was only a little surprised to see Zoé standing there and glaring venomously down at her.

“Right, because your life is suddenly so hard.” Chloé growled, doubling down on her anger. “‘Oh woe is me, I have to move to Paris to stay with my mother who clearly cares enough about me to have me brought here to stay with her.’.”

“Chlo…” Marinette hissed in reprimand at her girlfriend’s unflattering imitation of Zoé’s voice.

“You have absolutely no idea about what my life is like.” Zoé spat back. “You are just a selfish little brat.”

“Says you.” There was a long silence, then with a loud huff, Zoé stalked away, shoulders hunched. Nobody at the table spoke as Chloé turned to face them all again.

“Maybe next time the person I’m saying unflattering things about is right behind me, you could maybe let me know?” She asked them sharply, returning her attention to her pitiful lunch. She really should start asking Marinette if she could bring her food from the bakery, it would be so much better than this.

“Chloé, that was really mean.” Césaire said, giving her a sharp look. “Marinette said you’d changed, but I really do not see it.”

“What?” Chloé’s temper was already riled from her encounter with Zoé and now Césaire had the gall to go after her as well.

“Alya’s right, Chlo.” Chloé whirled to face her girlfriend. Césaire she’d expected not to understand, but for Marinette to side with her? “That was very mean of you, and more like how you were before rather than the girl you are now. The girl I fell in love wi-.”

Marinette paused as Alix groaned loudly and slapped a hand to her forehead. “You two are really shit at the whole secret relationship thing.” Both Marinette and Chloé turned to look at Césaire, who was staring at the two of them with a slack jaw.

“You’re d-.” She nearly exclaimed at the top of her lungs, before Alix lunged forward and covered up her mouth.

“You’ve already managed to get into my shit books outing Marinette to various people without her consent, do not make things worse for yourself by doing the same to Chloé.” She hissed into Césaire’s ear before releasing her. Chloé was rather touched by Alix’s defence of her, though it was soured a little by her immediate follow up. “Even if she is being kind of a bitch about her sister, she doesn’t deserve that.”

“Half-sister.”

“Whatever.”

Césaire did seem to have calmed down from the revelation, though she still stared at the couple who squirmed in their seats under her scrutiny.

“How long has this been going on?” Césaire demanded, her voice a lot quieter now as she leaned in towards the two.

“... Since the trip to London and the upper atmosphere.” Marinette finally admitted, taking great interest in her manicure.

“And you didn’t think to tell me?!”

“A: that would have been outing Chloé and B: you two weren’t exactly friends at the time because of what you said to Marinette about her bisexuality.” Alix chipped in with a smirk.

“Okay, you know what, that’s fair.” Césaire sighed, hanging her head. “Feels strange, we haven’t talked in months, and now I find out that not only is Chloé apparently nice now, you’re also dating her.”

“It’s been an interesting year.” Adrienne laughed as Kagami joined in, chuckling politely. Chloé suspected they were probably laughing at how Césaire didn’t even know the half of what had gone on with their small group, what with Adrienne being Adrienne. “But I think we’re getting off-topic. Weren’t we talking about Chloé and how she was being a b-word to her sister?”

“Half-sister.” Chloé grumbled, now annoyed that Adrienne just had to remind everyone of the previous topic of conversation. Awkward as it was that yet another person knew about her and Marinette’s relationship, she did feel at least a little more comfortable talking about it than her half-sister.

“Whatever, Adrien’s right. You were being way meaner to her than you’ve been recently.” Alix chipped in.

“Why are you acting like I’m the bad guy in all of this?” Chloé glowered at the other occupants of the table except Marinette. “For once, I am not the villain here. I am the one who has had her life upended by a half-sister I never even knew about until a few days ago.”

“You’re not the villain, Chlo, but you are kind of acting like one.” Marinette said in a soothing voice, patting her on the shoulder. “Maybe think about things from her perspective.”

“What perspective? The perspective of having a mother who actually gives a shit about you?” Chloé asked, starting to get frustrated again. Marinette was supposed to be supporting her, not doing whatever this was.

“Did you consider that perhaps your mother doesn’t really care about Zoé?” Kagami asked, tilting her head. “I wouldn’t profess to be an expert in bad parents, despite my own experiences with my mother, but it seems to me that forcibly relocating your child with only a few days' notice isn’t a particularly caring thing to do.”

Chloé had been fully prepared to defend herself from Kagami’s accusation but she paused to consider what she’d said. It actually made an annoying amount of sense. She’d never considered the thought that Zoé might be having just an awful of a time being dragged to another country, it had been far too easy to just blame her for everything.

“Shit.”

 “And that sounds like someone who just realised she was being kind of a bitch.” Alix snickered and Chloé shot her a half-hearted glare.

“I really should apologise to her.” Chloé muttered, mostly to herself as she returned to moodily poking at her salad. Now she really felt like shit. She was supposed to be doing better and not being such a terrible person, but clearly that wasn’t the case. She’d sided with Hawkmoth, now she’d upset Zoé. Maybe she was always going to be just an awful human being.

“Hey, I know that look.” Marinette nudged her gently. “You’re not a bad person, Chlo, you made a mistake.”

“One of many.” Chloé sighed and rested her chin in her hand. “Every time I think I’m doing better, something else happens and it feels like I’m back to where I started.”

“That’s not true.” Adrienne reassured her immediately. “Would Chloé even just a year ago even consider apologising to someone for something?”

“No…”

“There you go, that’s progress.”

“When did you get so smart?” Chloé asked, and Adrienne just shrugged.

“I’ve been doing some reading, is all.” She said rather bashfully. “Anyway, you’re a lot better than you were. You’ve grown up a lot since the start of the school year.”

“It’s thanks to Marinette, really.” Chloé looked away.

“It’s you as well. If you didn’t want to get better, then you wouldn’t have.” Marinette told her firmly.

“Yes, but it’s because of you that I wanted to be better.”

“I don’t believe that.” Marinette placed her hand over Chloé’s and squeezed it. “You’re a good person, Chlo, and a lot better than you think you are.”

Chloé wanted to deny it, to remind Marinette of all the pain she’d caused her and others for years and how there was no coming back from that. But her words died in her throat at the look of honest affection and care on Marinette’s face.

“Okay…” Chloé managed a small smile for her girlfriend. “I’ll apologise to Zoé back home. I just hope she’s willing to listen to it.”

“I’m sure she will. She seems like a nice enough girl.” Kagami shrugged, resuming her lunch. Chloé wasn’t quite so sure of that. If Zoé was anything like her, and Chloé had little reason to believe otherwise, given that they were related, then any apology was likely to be ignored at best and viciously rejected at worst.

Still, she needed to do it, because she had been pretty cruel to Zoé when she hadn’t deserved it.

Chloé waited for a long time outside the school, waiting for Zoé to emerge so she could talk to her. But as ten minutes became twenty, and that became thirty, Chloé decided she had waited for long enough and got into the limo. She could always catch Zoé back at the hotel.

Chloé spent the ride trying to think of the best way to apologise to Zoé for what she’d said. So far, the best she could come up with was just a simple apology for being so mean and an offer to perhaps start over. Maybe that was all she needed. Marinette had told her at some point that apologies didn’t need to be over the top or grandiose, just sincere.

Thanking her driver, Chloé got out of the car and made a beeline for the lift. Before she could make it, however, someone called out for her.

“Sweetie, was everything alright at school?” Chloé paused and flashed a grin back at her father.

“Yes, why wouldn’t it have been?”

“Zoé came back a little while ago and she looked rather upset. I thought you might know why.”

“I think I have an idea.” Chloé said, keeping her words even. “I’ll go and talk to her about it, don’t worry.”

“Would you? Thank you, sweetie.” Her father breathed a loud sigh of relief.

“Of course, Daddy.” Chloé turned neatly on her heel and continued to the lift, hitting the button for the top floor where Zoé also had her rooms. Anxiety bubbled in her chest as she rocked back and forth on her heels. Zoé being upset when she came back only further cemented that this apology would not go well.

Chloé paused outside the door to the suite, her hand half-raised to knock. She could do this. Just say she was sorry and that she fucked up. Resolve steeled, she knocked on the door and Zoé’s voice called out for her to come in.

Apprehensively, Chloé opened the door and stepped inside. She hadn’t seen Zoé’s rooms yet and she was surprised to see that it was all so bare, as though Zoé wasn’t really living there. Chloé had expected that someone as creatively inclined as Zoé appeared to be would have decorated the place almost immediately.

“What are you doing here?” Chloé’s attention was pulled from the sparse walls to Zoé who was sitting on the bed and glaring at her.

“I wanted to talk to you. I-.”

“Let me guess, you are here to tell me all about how I ruined your life with my mere presence.” Zoé snapped, interrupting Chloé.

“No, I-.”

“Well let me tell you something, you spoiled brat. You’re the one ruining my life!” Now that got Chloé’s hackles up. She was here to try to make amends, and now Zoé was accusing her of ruining her life? That was just not on.

“How am I the one ruining your life? You’re the one who showed up at my home!”

“And I would not be here if it were not for Maman deciding to try to make amends or whatever.” Zoé jumped to her feet and stalked up to Chloé. “So now I have been dragged halfway across the world, to a country whose language I can only half understand, and I have to live with the most spoiled bitch I have ever met.”

“I am not spoiled!”

“Yes you are! You just have money thrown at you and you just flaunt your power and status over everyone!” Zoé gesticulated wildly. “You have no supervision and you’re allowed to do whatever the fuck you want.”

That stung, mostly because it was true that Chloé had pretty much been given free reign, but she did have a rebuttal.

“Yes, at the expense of having parents who gave a shit about me!” She snapped back, all thoughts of apologising gone. “She chose you over me!”

“And she made my life hell because of it!” Zoé got right in Chloé’s face. “Do you have any idea what it is like to have her breathing down your neck all the time, having to put up with her demands all the time?”

“Of course I don’t, because she was never there!”

“And you were lucky!” Throwing up her hands, Zoé stalked away to the other side of the room. “If it were not for her, I would still be home in New York with all my friends, and not stuck here with you!” Zoé was breathing hard as she rounded on Weiss. “I hate it here and I just want to go home!”

Chloé was about to answer when she caught sight of something fluttering in through the open window. Something very familiar and purple.

“Zoé, I know you’re upset right now, but you need to calm down.” Chloé told her half-sister, fighting to control her own temper and breathing. She could not be akumatized again. If she was, it would be all over.

“Calm down? You are telling me to calm down?!” Zoé shrieked, completely unaware of the danger fluttering towards her.

“Zoé, there is an akuma right behind you and you need to calm down right now or-.” Chloé cut off her own warning with a yelp of fear as Zoé looked behind her just as her akuma fluttered into one of the pins on her beanie.

This was bad. This was very bad. Chloé yanked out her phone and was already fleeing the room as she heard Zoé accept Hawkmoth’s offer. Hitting the speed dial, Chloé fled down the corridor with her phone to her ear. She was the one who’d managed to infuriate Zoé, and she was under no false impressions that the akuma would be coming after her first, then her mother.

“Come on, Mari, pick up please.” Chloé begged as she took the stairs two at a time. She knew it was a bad idea to run away from the Miracle Box in case Marinette needed assistance, but also she needed to put as much distance between herself and Zoé as possible.

“Hi, Chlo, did you make up wi-.”

“Mari, you need to get your spots on and get your butt over to the hotel. Zoé’s been akumatized.”

“Oh shit, I’ll be right there.” Marinette hung up just as Chloé burst out of the access stairway into the lobby. Of course, it was just her luck that Zoé had managed to get there before her as she postured at the top of the main stairs.

“I am Mal Du Pays, and you will all feel my pain!”

“Ah, shit.”

Chapter Text

Chloé dove behind a nearby large potted plant, pressing her back up against it as she prayed that Zoé hadn’t seen her. Shit, this was not good. She could hear the panicked screams of the various hotel patrons and, oddly, what sounded like retching.

Peeking out from behind her cover, Chloé was horrified to see several people doubled over, clutching at their stomachs and evacuating their contents. Evidently, Zoé’s akumatized form took homesickness very literally. It was no surprise that she was a very sickly green and appeared to be wearing a beaked mask, though it looked rather incongruous with her beanie that was still perched upon her head..

Speaking of Zoé, she was cackling loudly, prancing around the room and infecting more people. This really was the most disgusting akuma Chloé had ever encountered. The smell was starting to get overwhelming, and it was making her gag. She really hoped that the lucky charm would clean up all the mess, or the cleaning staff would have an awful time.

“Chloé? Where are you?” Zoé called out. “Are you still here, or did you run away like the cowardly bitch you are?” Chloé’s blood boiled just a little at the insult, but she stayed put. It wouldn’t do to have her incapacitated, she could still be useful, even if she couldn’t transform.

She mildly regretted taking the one Miraculous that she couldn’t use to join in the heroing, but she was rather attached to it and Pollen.

“No matter, I will find you eventually. In the meantime, I have someone else who deserves to share my pain.” Chloé watched as Zoé turned on her heel and marched towards the stairs again. It didn’t take a genius to work out who else Zoé wanted to inflict her pain upon.

Instead of following her sister, Chloé waited until she was out of sight before making a break for the exit. If she could meet up with Marinette and Chat Noir before they engaged with Zoé she could tell them what she knew.

Chloé pulled out her phone again once she was outside the building and dialled Marinette again, only for it to go straight to voicemail. Shit, she’d forgotten that Marinette couldn’t answer her phone whilst transformed.

“Pollen!” Chloé hissed, as she darted to hide behind more shrubbery. “How do I get in contact with Marinette when she’s Ladybug?”

“You need to be transformed to do that.” The kwami squeaked, poking her head out of Chloé’s bag. “And have your Miraculous connected to the network, otherwise any Miraculous Wielder could just call any other.”

“Okay, fine.” Chloé sighed. She hadn’t intended to do this outside of the most dire of circumstances. She needed somewhere to hide where people wouldn’t find her. That would probably mean venturing back into the hotel though.

Taking a deep breath and steeling herself, Chloé ran back into the hotel. The stench was awful. Most of the people who’d been hit by Zoé were still doubled over, moaning and groaning and trying to throw up anything left in their stomachs.

Chloé dodged around them and into the corridors, eventually finding a suitable housekeeping cupboard to hide in.

“Okay, Pollen, buzz on.” Chloé closed her eyes as she transformed, not wanting to watch it happen. Something uncomfortable roiled in her stomach when she was finished and she looked down at her black and yellow striped hands.

Forcing her discomfort back, Chloé grabbed her spinning top and opened it up to its communicator mode. “Ladybug, can you hear me?” There was an anxious wait before Marinette popped up on the screen, looking rather confused.

“Chl-?” She caught herself, then looked worriedly over her shoulder at someone and called out to them. “I have to take this.” There was a brief pause and Chloé heard Marinette walking away from who she presumed was Chat Noir.

“Chloé, what are you doing and why are you Queen Bee?” Marinette asked in a hushed tone.

“I needed to contact you and this was the only way I could do it.” Chloé sighed. “Look, as soon as we’re done talking, I’m going to detransform. I know we can’t risk Hawkmoth finding out that I’m still working with you.”

Marinette let out a small sigh. “Okay, what did you need to tell me?”

“I know where the akuma is, it’s in one of the pins on her hat. Also, you can’t let her touch you. She makes people sick when she touches them and it’s really disgusting. I don’t think anyone needs to see Ladybug barfing.”

“Ew, no!” Marinette’s nose wrinkled behind her domino mask. “Don’t let her touch us. Anything else?”

“Yes, she’s mostly after me and our mother, but no doubt she’s going to try to spread it to everyone. If you need bait, I-.”

“No!” Chloé recoiled a little at Marinette’s vehemence. “You’re not going to put yourself in danger. Please, Chlo.”

“Fine, no throwing myself into danger.” Chloé said, feeling a weird mixture of relief and reluctance. “What I am going to do is see if I can sneak up to my room and get the Miracle Box out, in case you need back up.”

“Be careful, Honey.” Marinette stressed.

“You too. Talk to you later.” Chloé closed the top and groaned quietly. “Pollen, buzz off.” The closet was filled with a brief flash of light and Chloé was back in her regular clothes as Pollen flitted down.

“Your Majesty, are you really going to risk getting attacked by your sister?”

“Half-sister. And yes, I can’t just leave it there, and Marinette might need to recruit someone else.”

“But if Zoé is after you specifically. If you have the box with you, everything could be put in jeopardy.” Pollen did have a point there, but Chloé couldn’t just hide in this cupboard and do nothing.

“It’s my fault that Zoé got akumatized. I can’t just sit by and wait for Marinette to fix my mistakes.” Chloé slumped against the wall and slid down it to sit on the floor. “I’m supposed to be the guardian, supposed to be helping fight this evil, not pushing people into it and then doing nothing to fix it.”

“I know, Your Majesty, but that’s not your role anymore.” Pollen flitted in to nuzzle up against Chloé’s cheek. “You’re the guardian, not a warrior. You’re the shield to their sword. Whilst they go out to fight evil, you ensure that good is preserved and protected.”

“I suppose.” Chloé sighed, hanging her head. “Still feels like I’m not doing anything, though, and I don’t want to be some dead weight that Marinette has to pull along after her.”

“You do a lot more than you give yourself credit for, Your Majesty.” Pollen reassured her. “Even if it’s not as tangible as fighting like Marinette and Chat Noir do. And I know that once Marinette has purified the akuma, you’re going to go and make things up with your sister, because you’re a good person.” 

Chloé let out a weak laugh at that. “A really good person wouldn’t have driven her to that in the first place.”

“You’re still only fourteen, Chloé. You’re going to make mistakes. Everyone does. The measure of a good person is how willing you are to make up for your mistakes.” Chloé’s laughter was more genuine now, and she reached up to pat Pollen on the head.

“How did you get so good at comforting angsty teenagers?”

“I don’t know.” Pollen shrugged. “The Miraculous are normally only given out to adults, so I said pretty much the same thing I’d say to them.”

“I appreciate it.” Chloé smiled faintly before getting to her feet. “I don’t really want to hide out in this cupboard throughout the attack, though. Let’s see if we can get a bit closer.”

“Are you sure that’s such a good idea, Your Majesty?”

“I’m not going to get involved or anything. I learned that lesson several times.” Chloé reassured the kwami. “But I want to make sure that Marinette’s still safe, and I should be on hand in case she needs another Miraculous rather than hiding.”

Not waiting for an answer, Chloé poked her head out of the cupboard to check that the coast was clear before slipping out. “Now, where could they be…?” Pulling out her phone, Chloé checked the Ladyblog to see if Césaire was on the scene.

Sure enough, there was a shaky live feed of Marinette and Chat Noir fighting with Zoé. It seemed that their mother had fled the hotel and Zoé had given chase. Grumbling quietly to herself about all the cardio being a hero seemed to require, Chloé took off at a jog to catch up with the fight.

Maybe she should have grabbed the Miracle Box whilst the coast was clear, but she didn’t have time for that if she wanted to catch up. She’d also probably have to try and come up with a solution to the issue of her not always having the box with her in a crisis.

That could wait for later, though. Chloé hurried through the streets, dodging past various citizens who’d been unfortunate enough to get in Zoé’s way. Chloé’s attention was so fixed on her phone, she nearly stepped in a few puddles of unmentionably chunky liquid. She finally caught up with the fight and watched as her mother threw another unfortunate person in Zoé’s way to save herself.

It really did not surprise Chloé at all that her mother would do something like that. It seemed that things weren’t going so well for the heroes either. Chat Noir was having to stop every so often to cough and retch as though he were an actual cat with a hairball.

Meanwhile Marinette was doing her best to try to get close enough to Zoé to grab her hat without getting touched, and Audrey was not helping at all, constantly using Marinette as a human shield. At this rate, Marinette would end up incapacitated and with her lunch all over the pavement, and Chloé could not let that happen. It seemed she hadn’t learned her lesson after all.

“Hey, Zoé!” Chloé called out, against her better judgement. “How does it feel knowing your ‘brat of a half-sister’ was able to fight off akumatization whilst you’re stuck doing Hawkmoth’s dirty work?”

“Chloé?!” Marinette yelped, noticing her girlfriend taunting the akuma. The jab worked, though, and Zoé rounded on Chloé angrily.

“I’ll show you who’s dirty!” It was a rather lame comeback in Chloé’s opinion, but she didn’t have time to worry about that with an akuma bearing down on her. With a shriek, she bolted, thankful that Zoé had to at least make physical contact in order to induce the debilitating nausea.

“Running like a coward!” Zoé screamed, still in hot pursuit of Chloé, who glanced over her shoulder to see Marinette running after the villain as well. “Let’s see how you feel when I make you feel like me!”

Chloé couldn’t keep running forever. Moreover, it wasn’t actually helping anyone except her mother, who had taken advantage to flee the scene. Someone needed to stop Zoé from moving so Marinette could grab the pin.

That gave Chloé another very bad idea, even worse than using hearself as bait. Whirling around, Chloé ducked down and tackled Zoé with all the force she could muster. It was probably more the surprise that she’d dare try something like that that the akuma was unable to stop her from sending them both crashing to the ground. 

Chloé wrapped her arms around Zoé’s and braced herself for what she knew was about to come. Lurching, awful pain radiated through Chloé, starting from her stomach. She kept her mouth firmly shut as bile tried to force its way up her throat. Of course, it wouldn’t be too bad if she vomited on Zoé, it would at least be more of a distraction, except Chloé really did not want Marinette to see her like that.

“Quickly!” She gritted out through clenched teeth as she fought back the urge to throw up with all her might. Acting fast, Marinette ran over and plucked the pin from Zoé’s hat. Without further ado, she crushed it under her boot and captured the akuma.

Chloé released her hold on Zoé in favour of clutching at her own stomach and willing herself not to be sick. She could hold out for just a little longer, just until Marinette used her lucky charm.

“Lucky charm!” As if in answer to her silent pleas for the pain to be over, Marinette tossed the red and black spotted item into the air and a horde of ladybugs swept across Paris, and Chloé groaned in immense relief as the pain that was twisting in her stomach finally released.

Standing up, Chloé still felt a little groggy, and she hated to think how the people who were hit at the start of the attack felt. She didn’t have very long to contemplate things as she was grabbed by the arm by Marinette and pulled away from Zoé.

“Chlo, what were you thinking?” She hissed as she looked Chloé over. “I told you not to get involved.”

“Sorry, Ladybug, but I had to. And it worked out in the end.” Chloé said, ignoring the little prickles at the back of her mind.

“Chloé…” Marinette groaned, shaking her head.

“Can we talk about this later? I think Zoé could use a sympathetic ear.” Chloé said quietly, her eyes flicking over to her half-sister, who was slowly getting to her feet.

“Fine, but we will talk about it.” Marinette said firmly before stepping back and pulling out her yoyo to grapple away.

Sighing, Chloé walked over to Zoé. “You feeling okay?”

“Yes, I think so.” Zoé was still looking at her body and flexing her fingers. It wasn’t an uncommon thing for people who’d been akumatized to feel more than a little disoriented when freed from Hawkmoth’s influence.

“Good. We should head back to the hotel.” Chloé gently started to guide Zoé back along the streets towards the Grand Palace.

“Why did you do that?” Zoé asked after they’d walked in silence for a few minutes.

“Do what?”

“Use yourself as bait, jump me, all of that.” Zoé gave Chloé a confused look. “You escaped, you were safe. Why would you do that and risk yourself?”

“Because it was the right thing to do, and I make very rash decisions.” Chloé shrugged in embarrassment. “Also, it was kind of my fault you got akumatized. I came to apologise and ended up arguing with you.”

“You were going to apologise to me?”

“Yeah…” Chloé sighed and scratched at the back of her neck. “My friends pointed out that I’ve been kind of a bitch to you, and they weren’t wrong.”

“You were a bitch.” Zoé agreed before sighing as well. “But I was pretty bitchy to you as well.”

“Hey, no hijacking my apology.” Chloé scowled. “Let me apologise first, then you can have your turn, though I’ll say that you were probably only bitchy to me because I was to you.”

Zoé didn’t say anything in response, which Chloé took to be tacit agreement.

“I got so wrapped up in how hurt I was that I didn’t even know you existed and how our mother left me to live with you that I never even stopped to think how you were affected by all of that.” Chloé paused to lean up against a nearby wall. “It doesn’t excuse how I behaved towards you, though.”

“No, it does not.” Zoé agreed, leaning up beside her. “But it is not like I did not do something similar.”

“Hmmm?”

“I had heard a few… less than flattering things about you. You are a minor celebrity, after all.” Chloé nodded. As much as her father disliked it, his position as mayor of a city that was constantly under attack from a supervillain meant that he and the rest of his family were under scrutiny as well. “And after you started being bitchy to me, I assumed that you were everything the news said and worse.”

“I mean, they weren’t all wrong, I was a terrible person. In many ways, I still am.” Chloé let out a bitter laugh. “Case in point, getting into an argument with you and getting you akumatized.”

“I was the one who initiated that argument. You just said you were there to apologise.”

“An argument needs two people. I could have refused to engage, but I lost my temper.”

“Perhaps.” Zoé shrugged. “I honestly did not think that you had any reason to be mad at me other than because you were a bitch.”

“I didn’t, not really.” Chloé stood up straight and resumed walking back to the hotel. “Really, I should be furious with our mother for all of this. She’s the one who cheated and had another daughter who she didn’t tell me about. It’s her fault that she left me alone, not yours.”

“And neither is it your fault that she decided to drag me to this ridiculous country where I do not speak the language well and away from all of my friends.” Zoé grumbled, joining Chloé and walking alongside her again. “You know, I was actually jealous of all the freedom you got not having Maman breathing down your neck all the time and judging you and firing you every other day.”

“You were jealous?” Chloé raised an eyebrow. “I mean, yeah, the freedom was fun and all, but I spent half my life thinking that there was something wrong with me that made her abandon me. I was jealous of you that you got that.”

“I suppose we both fell into the same line of thinking.” Zoé laughed. “I don’t know what it would be in French, but the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence. ” Chloé didn’t quite understand what the expression meant, but she joined in with her sister’s laughter.

“Do you think we can start over?” She asked, a little hesitantly. “Stop being at each other’s throats?”

“I would like that.” Zoé smiled and Chloé returned it in relief.

“We should probably get back to the hotel. Papa will probably be worried about us, and Mother will no doubt try and fire you, so we should get it over with.”

“ Ah fuck, I don’t wanna have to deal with that shit. ” Zoé complained loudly, and Chloé burst into genuine laughter, relieved that she and Zoé had finally made up.

Chapter Text

Chloé’s prediction of their mother’s behaviour ended up being very accurate. When she and Zoé walked into the lobby, their shared laughter died out as their mother stormed up to them, absolutely furious.

“There you are!” She shrieked, jabbing a finger in Zoé’s face, making her recoil. “How dare you show your face here after you assaulted me? You’re fired! Fired, I say!”

“Darling, don’t be so hasty.” Chloé’s father hurried over to them, calling apologies over his shoulder to the irate patrons he’d been busy placating. “She was under Hawkmoth’s control.”

“That doesn’t matter!” Their mother stomped her foot petulantly. “After all I’ve done for her, bringing her here she repays me by attacking me!”

“What you have done for me?!” Zoé snarled, squaring up to Audrey. “You never asked if I wanted to come with you to Paris. You did not even tell me in person, I just got a text telling me I had to pack up my things and that my flight left in three hours.”

“All of that was a favour! Do you have any idea how long it would have taken anyone else to get a flight to Paris at such short notice and in first class?”

“If you really think I give two shits about that, then you’re sorely mistaken!” Zoé switched back to English, no doubt to fully express her rage. She’d mentioned on the way back that she didn’t know how to swear properly in French, something Chloé had agreed to help her with in exchange for lessons in how to swear in English.

“We don’t use language like that here, young lady!” Their mother snapped. “We speak French in this house.”

“Fuck you.” Zoé spat, looking like she was ready to start clawing at her mother. Chloé had no idea how she could have ever thought that her sister had it better than her when the two of them were at each other’s throats like this.

“Zoé, please calm down. You don’t want to attract another akuma.” Chloé warned, looking around the room. It was rare, but not unheard of for Hawkmoth to send out another akuma right after one had been defeated.

“Chloé’s right, Darling, you should calm down as well.” Chloé’s father placed a placating hand on Audrey’s shoulder. “You’ve both been under a lot of stress with the attack. Both of you should go and relax.” He gave Chloé a meaningful look, and she nodded, taking her sister by the hand and pulling her away quickly before the argument could resume.

Thankfully, Zoé was amenable to being taken away from their mother, though the moment the lift doors closed behind them, she exploded once again.

“Of all the selfish things!” She ranted, throwing her arms up in the air. “The nerve to claim that she was doing me a favour and try to blame me for that akuma attack.”

“You would think that having been akumatized more than once, she’d be a little more sympathetic.” Chloé sighed deeply.

“Like she would ever be sympathetic to anyone.” Zoé snorted derisively, and Chloé had to agree with her. Their mother seemed incapable of seeing anyone other than herself as a person and not just something to satisfy her whims.

“Hopefully she’ll calm down in a bit. Though she probably won’t apologise.”

“Do not worry. I am used to not getting any apologies.” Sighing as well, Zoé leaned up against the wall of the lift. “This is exactly why I was jealous of you not having to deal with her.”

“I think I’m starting to understand. Having her around and acting like that must be awful.”

“It is a lot to deal with.” The lift came to a halt on their floor and they got out and walked towards their rooms, pausing outside Zoé’s. “Thanks for… Everything, I suppose. Sorry I was such a bitch to you before.”

“I’m sorry too. You want some company?”

“No, thank you. I think I want to be alone for a little while to process.”

“Understandable, you know where I am if you need me.” Zoé smiled a little and waved goodbye to Chloé, before heading into her room and closing the door behind her. Buoyed up by her success at beginning to mend her relationship with Zoé, Chloé headed into her room, only to be mobbed by a dozen kwami all clamouring for her attention.

“Why didn’t you come get us? We could have helped!” One squeaked loudly to be heard over the others. Chloé tried to answer, but her voice was drowned out by the kwamis’ complaints about not being allowed out and her dereliction of duty in leaving the box unattended.

“Enough, please!” She finally shouted, silencing them all. “Really, must you all talk over one another like that?” The floating beings said nothing, and she sighed deeply, rubbing the bridge of her nose. “Look, there wasn’t time to come back up here and grab the box to loan out a Miraculous.”

“Well why didn’t you have the box on you?” Trixx asked, once again the lead voice in the anti-Chloé camp. “You’re supposed to be the guardian.”

“Well, firstly, the akuma was after me personally. I didn’t think it was wise to carry the box with me in that situation. Second, I just can’t carry the box with me all of the time. I have school and other things I need to do.”

“Then how are you the guardian if you’re not guarding the box?” Chloé hated how much of a valid concern that was, and of course it was Trixx who’d made it.

“Look, I don’t know. I’m just trying to muddle my way through this whole guardianship business and I don’t really have any idea of what I’m doing.” She said, opting for the honest approach. “But Marinette and I will figure something out, especially when it comes to handing out temporary Miraculous.”

Trixx continued to give Chloé a sceptical look as she walked into the living area of her rooms and collapsed onto the chaise. The frantic jog to catch up to the fight was starting to catch up with her, and she was starting to feel quite tired. It was only late afternoon as well, and she would still probably have to sit through dinner with her mother, who would no doubt be extra snippy after the day’s events.

Groaning to herself, Chloé draped an arm over her face to block out the light whilst the kwamis flitted around the room, playing with things and generally occupying themselves. Thankfully, they’d lost a lot of their manic and destructive energy by now and were a lot easier to manage. Of course, she would probably have had a much harder time doing it if she hadn’t taught Wayzz how to properly work the TV.

Apparently, the previous guardian hadn’t had a TV like hers, and many of the kwami had been delighted to learn about the wonders of television. Of course, it had led to her getting woken up in the middle of the night by a kwami watch party when they found that Marinette had left herself logged in to their anime streaming service. They’d already watched through all of Watashi no Mahou Academia before Chloé convinced them to watch a shonen, something that would keep them occupied for at least a few weeks, at least in theory.

Just as she was finally starting to relax, there was a knock at her door. Groaning to herself, Chloé got up, gesturing for the kwami to hide themselves whilst she went to answer it. She was only a little surprised to find her girlfriend standing there expectantly.

“Hi, Chlo. Can we talk?” Chloé had barely nodded before Marinette walked in. Closing the door behind her, Chloé followed Marinette into the room, calling out to the hiding kwami that it was only Marinette.

The little god-like beings all flitted out from their hiding places and swarmed Marinette, pestering her to be given to a wielder so they could get in on the action. Chloé couldn’t help but smile at how well Marinette handled the kwami. They really were like overexcited children a lot of the time, and she knew that Marinette worked as a babysitter for extra money. Though Chloé had told her she didn’t need to anymore since, she was willing to pay for whatever Marinette wanted.

Once she had successfully placated the kwami, Marinette turned her attention to Chloé, and her heart sank just a little at the serious expression on her girlfriend’s face.

“Chlo, we need to talk about what happened today.”

“I did try to apologise to Zoé, but things escalated and she got akumatized.” Chloé explained, her hands twisting guiltily. “I did apologise to her afterwards, though, and we’re starting over, but I’m really sorry, Mari. I should have tried harder.”

“That’s not what I wanted to talk about.” Marinette said, her expression still serious. “You rushed into the middle of an akuma fight, untransformed, and you used yourself as bait.”

“It worked, though.”

“That doesn’t matter, Chlo. It was so dangerous for you to do that.” The seriousness on her face shifting to worry. “Chloé, I love you so much, and the thought of you throwing yourself into danger like that is terrifying.”

“You do that as well, though.” Chloé protested. “Do you think it’s any less scary for me to see the girl I love risking her neck to save the city over and over?”

“I know, but I have powers to protect me. You don’t.” Chloé was about to gesture to the comb she had in her hair, but Marinette cut her off. “Powers that you can use outside of a dire emergency. This is more than just me being worried about you, Chlo, if something bad happens to you, then what happens to the Miracle Box and all the kwami?”

“You’ll be able to find another guardian.”

“I don’t want another guardian, though. I chose you, and I chose you for a reason.” Stepping forward, marinette took Chloé’s hands in her own. “You are so smart and driven, and that’s exactly who I want and need to support me when I’m out there fighting.”

Chloé looked away guiltily, recalling what Pollen had said earlier about her role no longer being that of a fighter. Maybe Marinette was right.

“I’m sorry, Mari. It’s just hard to watch you go out there and fight whilst all I can do is stay here and watch.”

“I know, and I can’t promise that I won’t get hurt, but I can promise that I will always come back to you.” Looking back at Marinette, Chloé couldn’t help but smile a little at the look of conviction on her girlfriends’ face.

“You promise?”

“I do. But Chloé, please don’t come running into fights like that again, please.” Marinette implored, her eyes shining. “I need to know that you’re staying safe.”

“I won’t, I promise.” Marinette broke into a wide and relieved smile, and she released her hold on Chloé in order to pull her into a tight hug. Chloé returned it immediately, burying her face in the crook of Marinette’s neck and breathing in the scent of her strawberry shampoo.

After a little while, Chloé pulled away reluctantly, as they had some other things they needed to talk about.

“I’m not going to run into danger anymore, but I do still need to be available to lend out Miraculous when you need back up.”

“I figured I would just come to you to do that.” Marinette said, tilting her head in her adorably puppy-like way. “It’s how I did things with Master Fu.”

“Yes, but I’m not an old man who can stay in one place all the time. I have to go to school, and I can’t really carry the Miracle Box around with me all the time.” Marinette frowned, now realising the issue at hand. “Not to mention, if the akuma is targeting me for whatever reason, me having the Miracle Box on my person would probably be a bad idea.”

“Yeah, I get what you mean...” Marinette hummed as she sat down on the chaise, Chloé joining her and placing her legs over Marinette’s lap. “Maybe you could just carry a couple around with you?”

“They might not be the ones you need at that moment.”

“Also, it’s ridiculous and out of the question!” Trixx piped up, swooping over to the pair. “Not only are you trusting her with guardianship of the box and usage of a Miraculous, you want her to carry even more around with her?”

“You know, I get the distinct impression Trixx doesn’t like me very much.” Chloé sighed, pointedly ignoring the kwami as he huffed irritably. “In any case, like I said, I don’t want to be carrying around a bunch of Miraculous that aren’t helpful to you at that moment.”

“I guess that makes sense…” Marinette sighed, resting her hands on Chloé’s legs and running them up and down idly over the denim. “But I’m not sure what other solution there could be.”

“I mean, there’s nothing really stopping you from just coming here yourself and choosing one.” Chloé suggested, trying not to blush too much at how gently Marinette was massaging her legs.

“Absolutely not!” This time Longg interrupted them, zipping over to join Trixx. “The guardians act as the keepers of the Miraculous and are the ones to hand them out to those they determine to be worthy. To have Ladybug circumvent this could lead to disaster!”

Both Chloé and Marinette raised their eyebrows at one another, both doubting that Longg’s claims of doom would actually come to pass. Nevertheless, it was a good idea to keep the more traditional kwami on their side.

“So if I need to be the one giving Miraculous to Mari, rather than letting her just take them when she wants, how can we do this?” Chloé asked the kwami, who simply shrugged unhelpfully. Rolling her eyes, Chloé wracked her brain for a solution.

She couldn’t easily carry the box with her, but that was starting to seem like the answer, though she’d need to make a better bag for it, and even then, taking it out of the hotel was just asking for trouble. If only there was some way she could access the Miracle Box without taking it outside…

“I’ve got it, but I don’t think some of you will like it.” She announced, catching the attention of the rest of the kwamis. “If I take the Horse Miraculous, I can grab the Miracle Box from wherever I am.”

Surprisingly, her suggestion was not met with the immediate hostility she’d expected from the more traditionalist kwami, which she took to be tacit agreement. There was some reluctance from one kwami, though, as Pollen zipped over, looking distressed.

“Are you going to stop using me then, Your Majesty?” She squeaked, her eyes wide with sadness.

“Of course not, Pollen, you’re a dear friend.” Pollen’s tiny shoulders sagged in relief, but anything else she wanted to say was interrupted by Trixx

“No! Absolutely not!” And there was the resistance that Chloé had expected. “It’s bad enough that you’re using one Miraculous, but two?!”

“I agree with Trixx, this is far too unorthodox.” Longg added, and Chloé rolled her eyes, very unsurprised that he would side with Trixx on this. She was mildly annoyed that several of the other kwami were nodding agreement with the two.

“I think it’s a good idea.” Kaalki said, folding his arms as he floated there.

“Of course you would think so, you benefit the most from it.” Trixx fired back snarkily. “No wielder has possessed more than one Miraculous on a permanent basis, and the guardian definitely shouldn’t.”

“Well, I’m not going to just cast Pollen aside.” Chloé said stubbornly as he glowered at Trixx and Longg. “She’s been incredibly helpful and supportive.”

“Be that as it may, it is still against the old ways.”

“I’m pretty sure almost everything we’ve done has been against the old ways.” Marinette pointed out. “Giving the Miraculous to children, having someone who didn’t know how to be the guardian take over... None of this is part of the traditions.”

“Which is exactly why we need to hold onto those that have not been broken even more!”

"Or we could take it as a sign that we shouldn't be beholden to them." Marinette's tone was soothing as she tried to placate the kwami. "Longg, do you really think that we should keep doing things the exact same way the guardians did all those years ago?"

"Well…"

"The world has changed a lot since then, surely we should change with it." She continued coaxingly.

"I mean…"

"It's been a long time since you were last out." Chloé added, joining in on the gentle cajoling. “I’m sure Hawkmoth doesn’t do things the old ways, so if we stick to them, then surely we’ll be at a disadvantage.”

Longg it seemed was starting to be swayed by their arguments, but Trixx held firm.

“No, we cannot allow this. Grand Master Su-Han would never have allowed it.”

“Well, I don’t see him here, do you?” Chloé snarked, starting to lose her cool again. “Look, you can’t exactly stop me from doing this, and once the situation with Hawkmoth is resolved, I’ll return the Horse Miraculous. Besides, I won’t be wearing it. I’ll just have it on me. Glasses do not go with any of my outfits.”

Ignoring Marinette’s snort of amusement, Chloé got up and headed over to the safe, not waiting for any further protests. Opening it up, she opened up the compartment containing the Horse Miraculous and pulled it out.

She returned to the others, pointedly avoiding looking at Trixx, and instead walked over to Kaalki.

“I suppose we’re going to be spending a lot of time together. Please try to behave.” She implored, and the kwami huffed.

“Of course I shall. I’ll have you know, out of all of my brothers and sisters, I am the one with the most decorum.” Chloé resisted the urge to roll her eyes and returned to her spot on the chaise, draping her legs over Marinette once more.

Though a few of the kwami still looked doubtful, there were no more complaints, and Chloé settled back to enjoy Marinette’s hands tracing over her once again. At least she was going to, until she remembered something else they needed to sort out.

“Did you talk to Chat Noir about introducing me to him?”

“... Damnit, I knew I forgot to do something.” Marinette groaned, letting her head flop back. “Next time, I’ll remember, I promise.”

Sighing and shaking her head, Chloé sat up so she could lean against her girlfriend. “There’s no real rush. Just the sooner the better is probably wise.”

Marinette nodded and leaned back against Chloé with a small sigh of contentment. Turning her head a little, Chloé pressed a small kiss to Marinette’s hair, happy that she still had her and that things were starting to look up a little. At this rate, they’d be properly settled into their new roles in no time, and Hawkmoth wouldn’t stand a chance.

Chapter Text

It took Chloé a few days to get used to the presence of Kaalki in her everyday life. Thankfully, the kwami wasn’t incredibly disruptive, like some of the others could be. Xuppu in particular had destroyed more of her personal belongings than the rest combined. Kaalki was, however, very different in temperament to Pollen, and Chloé frequently found herself playing peacemaker between the two.

The two kwami could always find something to disagree over, and would argue for a long time in their high-pitched and piping voices. One of their favourite topics to argue about was the role of the kwami and the Miraculous wielder, since they appeared to have diametrically opposed views on the issue.

Pollen believed that they were there to aid and act as adviser to the wielder whilst Kaalki claimed the wielder was merely a conduit for their greatness and power. In all honesty, Kaalki’s unshakeable conviction in her own superiority reminded Chloé of how she used to be, only the kwami was a lot less malicious about it.

Currently, the two were engaged in another hushed argument, this time about the latest episode of Shield Maidens, whilst Chloé worked on some homework, tucked away in a remote corner of the library.

Marinette had been busy that afternoon, much to Chloé’s disappointment. This was good, though, couples shouldn’t spend all their time together. At least that’s what the media and all her shows had taught her. Personally, Chloé thought it was bullshit. Why shouldn’t she spend all of her time with Marinette? They loved each other, and Chloé loved basking in Marinette’s presence. Being with Marinette made her a better person, so being with her was just natural.

“I’m telling you, Fumiko is clearly the better shield maiden. She shouldn’t suppress her own glory just because Haruka is the so-called hero.” Kaalki insisted, glowering at Pollen from her perch on the desk. It was rather risky to let the two kwami out in public like this, but Chloé figured they were isolated enough that they’d have enough time to hide if someone showed up, and she felt guilty for forcing the two kwami to spend several hours stuck inside her bag.

“It doesn’t matter who the better shield maiden is. Haruka’s the leader, so Fumiko is simply doing her duty and following her.” Pollen fired back, crossing her arms and doing her best to return Kaalki’s unhappy expression, sticking her tongue out.

Chloé had no idea how the kwami could be these ancient and incredibly wise beings with incredible power at their disposal, whilst also being incredibly childish at the same time. Just last night she’d been forced to break up a slap fight between Fluff and Mullo. It really was like looking after children, tiny god-like children. Marinette’s experience as a babysitter really was invaluable in wrangling them all.

Chloé sighed deeply, drumming her pen on her workbook. God, she missed Marinette, and they hadn’t even been apart for much more than an hour. Maybe this was why couples were supposed to do things apart, so they wouldn’t become so reliant upon each other to the point they were almost nonfunctional without the other.

She’d gotten barely any of her work done. Admittedly, it wasn’t urgent, but she had to keep ahead of things. At least she’d have Marinette for all of tomorrow, though that was its own source of anxiety as it was the reunion dinner to celebrate the lunar new year.

Chloé may have done an awful lot of research on the subject to make sure she didn’t accidentally offend her girlfriend’s family. This was after all their first meal together since they’d told Marinette’s parents they were a couple, and Chloé needed it to be perfect.

As it turned out, there were a lot of traditions, far too many for her to learn all of, and it did not help that Chloé didn’t actually know where in China Marinette’s family came from, if indeed they even did come from China. During her research, Chloé had gotten lost on a long tangent researching Chinese immigration to France, and in doing so had discovered that a significant proportion didn’t come from China.

Of course, she was fairly certain that asking your girlfriend where she comes from would be considered very rude, so she had to make do with a more general knowledge of the occasion. She just didn’t want to come across as some ignorant white girl. She’d more recently become aware of just how insular her upbringing had been, and sure, she read manga and watched anime, but pretty much all of her friends, what few she’d had anyway, had all been white and upper class.

In short, despite her happiness at being included in this part of Marinette’s life and being with her girlfriend, the whole event was looking to be something of a minefield.

Sighing softly to herself, Chloé continued to drum her pen on the desk in a comforting rhythm whilst the two kwami continued their argument about paying fealty to someone when you’re more capable.

The three of them were so engrossed in their own things that they almost didn’t notice the sound of someone walking towards them through the stacks until it was almost too late.

“There you are, Chloé, I have been looking all over for you.” The blonde yelped and nearly fell out of her chair in shock and she heard the two kwami zipping back to hide in her bag.

“Don’t scare me like that, Zoé.” She groused, straightening herself out as she gave her sister a half-hearted glare. Since Zoé’s akumatization and the reset of their relationship, they’d actually been getting along fairly well. Chloé doubted they’d ever be best friends, their interests were a little too different for that to really work out, but she felt comfortable with calling her a friend. A mutual dislike of their mother certainly helped smooth out any lingering issues between the two.

That said, Chloé hadn’t introduced Zoé to the rest of her small friend group just yet. The rest of the school was still enamoured with Zoé, and after she’d recalled how they’d been like that when Lila had joined, she was pretty sure that the rest of the student body just had incredibly boring lives, like they were the background characters and devoid of anything noteworthy.

“You are the one who was so engrossed in…” Zoé leaned over to look at the textbook Chloé had been working through. “I have no idea what that says. Something about planets?”

“It’s gravitational physics.” Chloé explained. Zoé’s conversational French was very good, if a little stilted, but she struggled with more technical terms. “We’re doing a unit on astrophysics this semester.”

“I see…” Zoé said with the air of someone who clearly did not. “Anyway, like I said, I have been looking for you. I want to head back to the hotel.”

“You could’ve just gone by yourself.” Chloé pointed out and Zoé shrugged.

“If I am with you, I do not get nearly as much of a nagging.” Chloé couldn’t fault Zoé for that. Neither of them were exactly the golden girl in their mother’s eyes, but they put up a united front against her when they were together that seemed to work against her scorn and judgement.

“Okay, fine.” Chloé sighed, starting to gather her things. “It’s not like I was getting much done here anyway.” Zoé waited patiently for Chloé to pack up and leave.

“So, how was theatre club?” She asked once she was done and ready to go.

“It was good. I think I am finally getting used to how things are done here.” Zoé grinned. “Not to mention, the French is a lot easier when I am reading from a script.” She ran ahead a little and struck a pose, holding out a hand to Chloé.

“You may hate me, but I love you and I always will!” Chloé raised an eyebrow at her dramatic sister who held the pose for a moment before snorting and bursting into laughter.

“That sounded so hokey.” Chloé laughed, shaking her head. “Who wrote that?”

“I am not sure, someone in the club, I expect.” Zoé rejoined Chloé as they continued out of the library and down the steps into the courtyard. “Anyway, the quality of the script doesn’t matter to a good actress.”

“If you say so.” Chloé just rolled her eyes as they approached the waiting limo and climbed in. “They’re lucky they have a talented actress such as yourself joining them.” Zoé gave her an appraising look as they buckled themselves in and the car pulled away.

“I cannot tell if you are being sarcastic.” She said, her eyebrows knitting together.

“I wasn’t. That was sincere.” Chloé quickly reassured her sister. “If I was going to insult you, you would know that you were being insulted.” Chloé truly did not understand the idea of stealthily insulting people. If you wanted to put someone down, surely they should know and not be oblivious. Otherwise, what was the point? Not that she did that anymore, well, not quite so much anyway and she was working on it.

“That is not as reassuring as you think it is.” Zoé said as she stifled a laugh. “I appreciate your confidence in my skills. I wish Maman did.”

Chloé winced and nodded. Just last night, they’d been treated to a lecture by their mother about how acting was just a waste of Zoé’s time and that she should go into politics like André, claiming it was the only way to really support your family.

Her mother had only been living with her for a couple of weeks, and Chloé could already understand very well what Zoé had meant about having to live under her. The woman really was just awful, and Chloé hated how similar she’d been to her and still was in many ways.

“What do you think today’s rant at dinner will be?” Zoé asked, bringing Chloé back to reality. “My money is on ‘the lower classes and the evils of social mobility’.”

“I expect she’ll have found something new about the staff to complain about.” Chloé suggested. “She’s yet to complain about the quality of our meals, so it’s only a matter of time before she goes after the chefs.”

“You would think she would run out of things to complain about at dinner, yet she just keeps going.” Zoé grumbled irritably. “Sometimes I wonder if she likes anything at all.”

“Of course she does.” Zoé raised an eyebrow at Chloé’s claim. “She loves herself, obviously.”

Zoé snorted with laughter that Chloé joined in with a few moments later. It felt good, being able to laugh with someone and actually be their friend. Chloé didn’t really know how she’d managed before now with only Sabrina and Adrienne, and even then they hadn’t really been friends like she had now.

“Maybe we should start a…” Zoé cast around for a moment, then shrugged. “Gambling thing, on what Maman will complain about at dinner. I could do with some more money to supplement my allowance.”

“The phrase you’re looking for is ‘betting pool’ and if we do, we’ll have to start after tomorrow. I’m not in for dinner then.”

“What?! You’re just abandoning me to deal with Maman on my own?!” Zoé gave Chloé a look of betrayal. “Why will you not be there?”

“I’m eating at a friend’s house.”

“Really?” Zoé raised a sceptical eyebrow. “Are you going around to Adrien’s house, then?”

“No, not Adrien’s. He-is father doesn’t like me enough to let me come round for dinner, or much more than a fleeting visit.”

“Who then?” Zoé leaned in. “I do not care who it is, just please take me with you.”

“I can’t, it’s a special event,and it’s far too short notice.”

“But please, Chloé.” Zoé all but begged, clasping her hands. “What could be more important than saving your sister from our bitch of a mother?”

“If you must know, I’m going round to Marinette’s to celebrate the new year with her and her parents.”

“Was that not last month?” Zoé tilted her head in confusion. “Is this some strange French thing Maman didn’t tell me about?”

“No, it’s a Chinese thing.” Chloé explained. “It’s the Lunar New Year. Marinette’s family celebrate it, and they kindly invited me.” She suddenly realised that she might have given a little too much away as Zoé now fixed her with a narrowed gaze.

“Why did they invite you?” She asked curiously. “Everyone I’ve spoken to kept telling me that you and Marinette have hated each other for years.”

“We did, or rather, I hated her.” Chloé admitted, her mind racing as she tried to come up with a way out of this. “But that’s in the past. We’re really good friends now. Best friends, even.”

Zoé was still giving her a suspicious look, and Chloé scrambled for something else. “And I’ve always been interested in East Asian cultures, I mentioned I like manga, didn’t I?”

“You did mention that you are a weeb , yes.” Chloé rolled her eyes and decided not to comment upon the mild insult.

"Right, well, Marinette was so kind and thoughtful that she offered to let me join the festivities."

"I do not see how this means I cannot come as well." Zoé set her jaw stubbornly.

"Because it would be rude. The Dupain-Chengs have only catered for the four of us. You can't expect them to suddenly feed you as well."

"Ugh, fine. I guess I will just have to suffer alone." Zoé grumbled, and Chloé sighed in relief. The crisis had been averted, though she'd have to be careful from now on around Zoé. 

Far too many people knew about her and Marinette's relationship, and Zoé was far too close to their mother and her father. Chloé didn't want to make Zoé a liar and conceal her relationship for her.

The limo pulled to a halt outside of the hotel and the sisters climbed out. Chloé was about to enter when she noticed Zoé wasn't following her.

"What's up?"

"I do not know." She said, glancing around suspiciously. "It feels like we're being watched somehow."

Chloé joined her in looking around, but saw nothing.

"It's probably the paparazzi." She dismissed after a little while. "Plenty of famous people stay here. The vultures are probably just looking for the latest scandal."

"You are probably right." Zoé agreed eventually. Together, they headed into the hotel, already cringing as they heard the faint sounds of their mother screaming at someone.

Chloé was very glad that she was going to be far away from this mess tomorrow. Any amount of potential awkwardness with her girlfriend’s parents was worth it if she could get some time away from her mother.

Chapter Text

“Please, just promise me that you’ll both behave and be good.” Chloé pleaded with the two kwami who had become her ever-present companions.

“Of course we will, Your Majesty. I shall ensure that Kaalki behaves herself.” Pollen reassured Chloé, much to the annoyance of Kaalki, who huffed at her companion.

“I shall have you know that I am an impeccable houseguest and shall be on my best behaviour.”

“You say that you’re a good houseguest, yet you’re the one who used up all of my good lip gloss not two days ago.” Chloé reminded the kwami, still rather annoyed about that. It had been one of her favourites, too, mostly because she got the most compliments from Marinette when she wore it.

“I was curious and wanted to experiment!” Kaalki defended herself with a pout. “I thought I’d look nice wearing it.”

“I’m sure you looked lovely, but bear in mind the only people you see are the other kwami, Marinette and me.”

“And? One must always look one’s best.” Chloé rolled her eyes at the kwami’s sulkiness.

“Just, please.” She implored before closing her purse and taking a deep breath. She’d prepared for this for the last several days, nothing could go wrong. Or at least she hoped nothing would. Mentally prepared, she stepped out of the small sidestreet she’d dodged into when she’d felt her anxiety and the urge to just run home and cuddle with her stuffed toys spiking.

Taking one more deep and calming breath, Chloé walked the last few metres to the bakery. They’d already closed for the day, the sign in the door indicating as much, but Chloé could see Marinette through the glass, helping to clear down.

Chloé bit back a giggle when Marinette jumped at her knock on the door. Smiling brightly, Marinette hurried over to the door to unlock it and let her girlfriend in, said girlfriend pulling her into a tight hug once the door was closed behind her, as though they hadn’t last seen each other just a couple of hours ago.

“Missed you.” Chloé mumbled into Marinette’s shoulder before breaking the hug, though she immediately took Marinette’s hands in her own to maintain contact.

“I missed you too, Honey.” She laughed, checking over Chloé’s shoulder to make sure they weren’t being watched before pressing a quick kiss to her cheek. “I’m glad you were able to come. Do you want to go upstairs? I’ll just be a moment.”

“I’d, um, rather stay with you.” Chloé’s eye flicked nervously over to the stairs. “Besides, you look like you could use a hand.”

“Oh, no, I’ve got this covered, and you’re a guest.” Marinette insisted, trying to push Chloé towards the stairs. “I’ll only be a minute, I’m nearly done.”

“I can wait.”

“It’ll be faster if i’m not distracted by you.” Marinette said, continuing to chivvy Chloé upstairs. She wanted to protest more, but Marinette wouldn’t take no for an answer, and so Chloé reluctantly made her way up to the living area of the bakery.

Both of Marinette’s parents were there, busy working in the kitchen. Marinette’s mother was dressed very nicely for the occasion,in a festive red shirt with gold trim. Chloé didn’t really have much in the way of red or gold clothing, but she did have a lot of yellow, which was close enough to gold that she thought it was safe.

“Marinette?” Her father called over his shoulder, hearing Chloé approaching from behind. “Did you finish downstairs already?”

“She’s not done just yet.” Chloé answered, making the two adults jump in surprise.

“Chloé, we didn’t hear you come in.” Marinette’s mother exclaimed, hurrying over to her guest. “Come, sit down.”

“Oh, don’t you need a hand?”

“Nonsense, you’re a guest!” She insisted, her hand hovering, but not touching, as she waited for permission, which was given with a small nod. Resting her hand on Chloé’s shoulder, Marinette’s mother guided her over to the dining table.

“We’ve got everything covered, Chloé, don’t you worry.” Marinette’s father insisted, continuing to work at the stove. “We are professionals, after all.”

“If you say so, Mr Dupain-Cheng.”

“I told you before to just call me Tom, Chloé.” He chided, and Chloé shuffled uncomfortably in her seat. This was precisely why she didn’t want to be here without Marinette. She didn’t normally do well with other people’s parents.

Chloé wasn’t quite sure what she was supposed to say to make conversation as Marinette’s mother bustled back over to her husband to help him. Her first act was to slap his hand away from some of the already finished food and take over the cooking, leaving him to start clearing down.

“Do you do this every year, then?” Chloé asked, finally settling on a neutral topic of conversation.

“Of course, it’s a big thing. I would love for us to go back to China and celebrate with the rest of my family, but sadly. travel isn’t that cheap. and I can’t justify taking Marinette out of school for that long.”

“But it’s only a day though, right?”

“The reunion dinner may just be on the eve, but there’s a few weeks of celebration after, and if we were visiting China, I wouldn’t want to just stay for a day.” Chloé could understand that, and she nodded in agreement, before remembering that they couldn’t see her.

“That makes sense. Does that mean Marinette’s never been to China before, then?”

“No, she hasn’t.” Mrs Dupain-Cheng sighed, shaking her head. “Half of her heritage that she knows next to nothing about, other than a couple of traditions and celebrations. I think she knows more Japanese than Mandarin thanks to all that anime she watches.”

Chloé wasn’t sure what she was supposed to say to this and, it seemed that maybe Mrs Dupain-Cheng shouldn’t have said it either, as her husband elbowed her in the side.

“Sorry, Chloé, forget I said anything. I was just rambling.” She said quickly and Chloé was happy to let it go. It was probably something private between Marinette and her mother.

She was saved from having to come up with something else to say by the arrival of Marinette, who came bounding up the stairs.

“All done!” She announced to her parents, before hurrying over to Chloé and draping herself over her girlfriend. “Hey, I missed you.”

“Missed you too.” Chloé patted Marinette’s hand, smiling in relief that she was here to save her from awkward conversation.

“If you’re done with Chloé, Marinette, we could use some help over here.” Marinette’s mother called over to her and, grumbling to herself, she obliged, but not before pressing a quick kiss to the top of Chloé’s head.

The blonde blushed furiously, fighting the temptation to bury her face in her hands to hide her embarrassment. She was so used to having to hide her relationship with Marinette around other people, lest somebody who wasn’t supposed to know. Having her be this open in front of her parents was… unusual to say the least, though not entirely unwelcome.

It did, however, also fill her with a sort of sadness when she remembered that she could never be open about her relationship with Marinette around her own parents. She had no idea how her mother would react, though knowing how she reacted to everything else, she doubted it would be received well, and as for her father…

She shook her head to clear it of the dark thoughts. Today was supposed to be a celebration, not a day to think about her parents’ probable homophobia. Marinette had no idea how good she had it with her parents, and Chloé watched with mild jealousy as she laughed with her parents and helped finish the preparations for the meal.

After a few short minutes, Marinette returned to the table bearing two large plates of steaming food, and Chloé jumped up to give her a hand.

“No, sit back down, Chlo, I’ve got this.” Marinette instructed firmly, and Chloé instinctively made to return to her seat, before catching herself.

“No, I can’t just let you three do all the hard work.” Chloé insisted, looking around for something she could do to help. The table was already laid, and Chloé was already a worse than average cook without trying a cuisine she was unfamiliar with.

Seeing nothing else, she reached out and grabbed one of the large plates off of Marinette before she could protest or stop her. It wasn’t much, but it made Chloé feel a bit better that she wasn’t just sitting there and doing nothing.

Once she’d set the plate she’d taken from Marinette down, Chloé hurried over to Marinette’s mother to intercept the next plate.

“Chloé, you really don’t have to.” She said, holding the plate back from her a little to stop her from taking it.

“I know, but I want to.” Chloé said, holding out her hands expectantly. After a moment, Mrs Dupain-Cheng reluctantly handed the plate over once it became clear that Chloé wasn’t going to take no for an answer.

“That’s one stubborn girlfriend you’ve got, sweetie.” Mr Dupain-Cheng laughed as he watched the exchange, and Chloé’s cheeks burned.

“Too stubborn for her own good sometimes.” Marinette agreed, though she gave Chloé a fond look to let her know she was only being half-serious. “It’s one of the many things I love about her.”

Chloé nearly stumbled as her heart did a little backflip in her chest. It was nothing Marinette hadn’t said before, but it felt different to have her say it in front of her parents of all people. It seemed she wasn’t the only one surprised by Marinette’s words, as she heard a clattering from behind her that she was fairly sure was Mr Dupain-Cheng dropping something to the floor.

She did her best to pay it no mind as she hurriedly carried the plate over to the table and set it down. She remained in place for a few moments, trying to marshall her face into something more appropriate to face her girlfriend’s parents with than her current beet red expression of embarrassed delight.

She was saved from any further embarrassment by Marinette’s parents bringing over the last of the dishes, and she was waved to sit down in her seat. Naturally, Marinette seated herself right beside Chloé, even going as far as to move her chair around a little so she could be even closer to her.

“Right. Don’t be afraid to take as much or as little as you like Chloé.” Mrs Dupain-Cheng instructed. “And just help yourself. You should try the noodles though, They’re the one thing that isn’t bread that Tom can cook well.”

“I can cook more than just bread!” He protested, swatting at his wife. It took Chloé an embarrassingly long time to realise that they weren’t being serious. In her defense, it had sounded exactly like the sort of argument her parents would have over dinner.

It was a bit of an adjustment for her to be in the presence of a married couple who actually liked each other. She was used to Marinette’s expressions and the small nuances in her speech now, but she’d had a couple of months of practice to learn them. Marinette’s parents, on the other hand, were a new entity and one she was unfamiliar with, though she supposed, if she and Marinette were going to be together for the foreseeable future, she should try to learn their reactions too.

Resolved to this, Chloé started to help herself to the food, keeping an eye on both of Marinette’s parents as they continued to chat back and forth. It was a bit of a disheartening thought that she might end up getting on better with Marinette’s parents than her own, but given who her parents were, it was inevitable. Still, at least she’d get on with her in-laws, which she understood was a much coveted thing.

Comforted by this thought, Chloé dug into the food, happy that she got to spend this time with Marinette, though it wasn’t quite enough to banish a thought at the back of her mind that things were going far too well.

Chapter Text

“You have got to be fucking kidding me!” Chloé stared at the little green kwami as she tried to process what he’d just said.

“This is the way the Order of the Guardians have done things for centuries.” Wayzz told her calmly, his lack of reaction to the new guardian’s disbelief was really quite maddening.

“I was already pretty pissed off about the whole taking kids away from their families thing, like you think you’re Jedi or something, but you seriously force a prospective guardian to go without food for a whole day just to prove their devotion?”

“It’s one of many tests required to ensure that the new guardian is truly committed to their duties.”

“I would’ve thought that the years of training might have suggested that.” Chloé snarked, rolling her eyes. As part of her deal with the kwami to have them accept her as the new guardian, she’d agreed to learn from Wayzz the ways of the Order. The turtle kwami was one of the more measured kwami, less prone to destruction like some of the others, but with everything she was learning from him about the Order, the less she was liking it.

“Whilst I will admit that some of their methods could be a little… harsh, and I don’t agree with them all, these are traditions that date back many many centuries.” Wayzz reminded her, still in that infuriatingly calm tone of his. “They kept the Guardians going that long, so they must have been doing something right.”

“Didn’t we already have this discussion about the merits of tradition versus innovation?” Chloé rolled her eyes. “Surely you of all kwami, who spent so much time with the last guardian, don’t think that blind adherence to tradition is what we need.”

“You did agree to this, Chloé, you agreed to learn the ways of the Guardians.” Wayzz reminded her, and she let out an annoyed huff. Sure, she’d agreed to it, but that had only been to appease the kwami who doubted her suitability. She had no real intention of following any of these archaic traditions, and maybe that was a little ignorant and selfish.

“I know, I know.”

“If you’re so resistant to learning about and following the millenia old traditions of the order, you can always renounce your guardianship and we can find someone more suited to the role.” Scowling, Chloé turned to glower at Trixx, who was hovering nearby and watching the lesson.

Chloé wasn’t entirely sure what exactly she’d done to earn so much of the fox kwami’s ire, but he had decided to appoint himself as the one to keep a watch on her to make sure she didn’t slip back into her old ways or something like that.

Whilst she understood that quite a few of the kwami didn’t trust her and wanted to make sure she didn’t backslide, Trixx really didn’t need to be quite so abrasive about it.

“And maybe you would do well, Trixx, to remember that we should be respectful to the guardian.” Wayzz interrupted, staring down the fox kwami with a firm gaze. “Since you’re so up on our traditions, maybe you’d like to abide by some of them yourself. Starting with how you should treat Chloé with respect.”

“Well, I don’t know why I should. She’s just a powerless child, after all. We’re the ones with the power.” Trixx folded his arms defiantly.

“Wow, the hypocrisy.” Chloé rolled her eyes, tired of having to deal with Trixx. “Not to mention the superiority complex on this one.”

“Trixx, you know what happened the last time a kwami started to think like that.” Wayzz reprimanded him further, though he sounded more worried than annoyed, piquing Chloé’s interest.

“What happened?” She asked, ignoring Trixx’s defensive scoffing. “Wait, if one of you lot ended up going mad with power in the past, I think I have a right to know as the guardian.”

“It wasn’t any of the kwami residing in this Miracle Box, not to mention that this was an incident many centuries ago.” Wayzz reassured her, but his phrasing did little to do that, and in fact, only raised more questions.

“Wait, there are more boxes holding more Miraculouses?” She demanded, torn between annoyance at this information being kept from her and surprise that there could even be more Miraculouses out there.

“There are a great many Miraculous out in the world, many of which have been lost over the centuries.”

“Well that’s not concerning at all.” Chloé snarked, rolling her eyes. “If there are so many out there, then how come Hawkmoth is so fixated on Ladybug and Chat Noir’s?”

“Most likely because he wants what they can do together.” Wayzz’s tone was a lot more sombre now, and it was actually starting to concern Chloé.

“And what might that be?”

“Don’t tell her!” Trixx cut in, flitting over to Wayzz and hushing the turtle kwami. “Who knows what she’ll do if she has that knowledge?!”

“She’s the guardian, Trixx, she should know the importance of her task.”

“I’d like to think I already know just how important keeping the Miraculouses safe is, but go on.” Chloé waved Trixx out of the way so Wayzz could continue speaking, ignoring the squeaky huffs of protest.

“As I am sure you are aware, the ladybug and black cat Miraculous embody the powers of creation and destruction respectively.” Chloé nodded, it had been one of the first things Marinette had explained to her when she’d accepted the role of guardian. “Well, if the two were combined, it would grant the wielder a wish.”

“A wish?” Chloé raised an eyebrow at Wayzz.

“It can be a wish for anything they like.” He said sombrely. “There is nothing too great that the two Miraculous combined could not achieve.”

“And letting someone like Hawkmoth get a hold of them to do that would be bad.” Chloé finished off. It didn’t really take a genius to work out just how catastrophic that would be. It was bad enough that he had his current Miraculous and powers, but if he could do literally anything…

“Exactly. Now you know why it is paramount that the Miraculous stay out of his hands. It would be truly catastrophic if he were and even just a little more power on his side could tip the balance in his favour.”

“I understand.” Chloé agreed, her resolve firm though it did leave her with a small dilemma. Up until now, Marinette had always been her number one priority. It was partly why she’d even agreed to be the guardian, other than because she could never say no to her girlfriend. This way she could help and try to keep the girl she loved out of harm’s way as much as possible.

But this… this was serious, incredibly serious, and Chloé honestly didn’t know what she would do if confronted with the choice of saving Marinette or letting Hawkmoth have the Miraculous. Hopefully, it wouldn’t ever come to that, and she wouldn’t have to even think about making that decision.

“Aren’t you going to ask about using the wish yourself?” Trixx asked acerbically, floating back into Chloé’s eye line. “Since you’re so power-hungry and evil.”

It took quite a lot of effort for Chloé not to just explode at the kwami, and if it had been before Marinette’s influence had started to change her for the better, she almost certainly would have. Instead, she marshalled her temper and took a few deep breaths to calm herself.

“I figured it was obvious that using power like that is not something to be taken lightly, and really shouldn’t be used at all.” She explained to the kwami. Despite managing to stop herself from shrieking in rage at him, she was unable to keep the disdain and general irritation out of her tone. “Besides, if there’s one thing anime has taught me, it’s that power like that always has some kind of price, especially when it’s as easy as this one seems to be.”

Trixx didn’t respond, but he seemed more than a little annoyed that Chloé hadn’t just immediately succumbed to temptation and revealed her lust for power. As much as she would like to have that power, and really who didn’t want to have more power, recent events had put quite a few things in perspective for Chloé, not that power had been her main goal of course.

“Well said.” Wayzz nodded approvingly before shooting Trixx a stern look. “I’d say that you already understand a lot of what it means to be the guardian.”

“Thanks, Wayzz, that means a lot.” Chloé allowed herself a small smile. “Of course, I do still think that a lot of the Order’s ways are archaic and a hindrance.”

“Of course.” Wayzz acknowledged Chloé’s opinion with a nod. “But knowing our history is not a bad thing.”

“No, but what I’d really like to know more is what was in the grimoire.” Chloé sighed, leaning back against the sofa. Ever since she’d been given the thumb drive that she and Marinette were sure contained the scanned and translated copy of the grimoire, Chloé had been on and off trying to get into it.

She was reasonably sure that if she were to get professional help or even just a computer whiz like Max, they’d have it unlocked in next to no time, but that had far too much risk involved with the potential exposure of her ongoing involvement with the heroes of Paris. Admittedly, there was also an element of arrogance and pride to it too. She was supposed to be the guardian, and if she couldn’t get it done then what sort of guardian was she?

“Can’t you just tell me what was inside?” Surprisingly, Wayzz looked a little embarrassed at the question, or at least as embarrassed as a few inch tall god-like being could.

“We weren’t actually allowed to read the grimoire.” He admitted after a little while.

“What? How come?”

“I’m not entirely sure. Just that we were forbidden from reading it.” Something about that raised Chloé’s suspicions. She doubted that Wayzz was lying to her about why the Guardians forbade the kwami from knowing the contents of the grimoire, but there was just something that didn’t sit right with her about it.

“Right, I guess I’m back to square one, then.” She sighed and shook her head. At this rate, she was going to have to learn how to be some kind of hacker if she ever wanted to get into the thumb drive.

“Maybe Master Fu knows the password?” A voice piped up from the bedroom where the other kwami had been instructed to hang out so as not to disturb the lesson. Looking around to see which of the kwami it was who had made the suggestion, Chloé was surprised to see several of the kwami were hovering there and watching the conversation.

“How could he possibly know? He’s lost all of his memories of his time as the guardian.” Chloé pointed out. “Honestly, I’m surprised he can still function in society if he was the guardian for as long as you say.”

“The magic used to remove the memories of former guardians has been lost to the ages and we don’t know how exactly it works. As far as we can tell, it only removes his memories of his time as part of the Order.”

“That’s not very specific, but I guess it means that he’s not completely helpless in the modern world.” Chloé had never had the questionable pleasure of meeting her predecessor as guardian, but she understood that Marinette had been rather fond of the old man, so she was glad that he probably wouldn’t end up in an old people’s home and be diagnosed with dementia or something.

“From what I understand, he’s moved to England with an ex-girlfriend.”

“Well, that’s nice, I suppose. But given that he’s lost all his specific memories of the Order of the Guardians, I don’t know how he could possibly help with the password for this.”

“Maybe the password is something unrelated to the Order.” Xuppu suggested, flitting a little closer. “Maybe he used the same password for everything.”

“He was pretty old…” Chloé admitted. Sure it was a little reductive, but it was something that might indicate that Master Fu would use the same password for everything. “But it’s like you said, he’s moved to England, and I don’t think he’d appreciate a random French teenager he doesn’t know showing up to ask him for his passwords.”

“Maybe Marinette could help with that.” Wayzz floated around so Chloé could see him. “She did help send him off when he left, I’m sure she could still get in contact with him and have him return for a little while.”

“Right, and I’m sure none of you have any ulterior motives in getting him to come back to Paris.” Chloé raised an eyebrow at Wayzz in particular who looked distinctly embarrassed.

“Well, it would be nice to see him again. I was his sole companion for a very long time.”

“I’m sure you miss him a lot, Wayzz, but even if he did come, there’s no way you could meet him.” Chloé said, trying her best to sound sympathetic.

“I know, but I would like to know that he’s doing well. I still consider him to be a friend.”

“I’ll ask Marinette and see if she can get in contact with him.” Chloé acquiesced and made a mental note to talk to Marinette about it. “But given that we don’t know how long that’ll take, I’m going to keep trying to crack it open myself.”

“Of course, there’s no sense in being idle when Hawkmoth and his allies won’t be.” With the lesson in the Order’s archaic traditions tacitly over, Chloé grabbed her laptop and opened it up. Pulling the thumb drive from her pocket where she’d attached it to her keys, she plugged it in and was confronted with the maddening password prompt once more.

She’d tried pretty much everything that she could think of that was obvious as a password already. Miraculous, Ladybug, Guardian, the list went on, and none of them had worked. Of course, this was also counting on Master Fu not adhering to good password security and just using a plain word. If he did actually bother with using upper and lowercase letters as well as at least one number and symbol for a thumb drive that was supposed to be a backup, she was pretty much fucked.

“Okay, what haven’t I tried yet?” She said, mostly to herself. Scrunching up her face in concentration, Chloé tried a few more words, but had no luck. Grumbling in frustration, she flopped back and stared up at the ceiling.

This was just so frustrating. She was supposed to be the guardian, yet here she was, stumped by a simple password-protected thumb drive. How on Earth was she supposed to help Marinette reach her full potential as Ladybug if she couldn’t get at the information she needed to be the guardian?

Sitting up, she grabbed her phone off the table and opened up her message chain with Marinette. She smiled briefly at the text she’d received last night, a poorly spelled declaration of love that had no doubt been written just before Marinette had nodded off, before typing out a message.

‘Hey, Mari, do you think you could get in touch with Master Fu? Some of the kwami think that he might be of some help with the password.’

Sending off the text, Chloé set the phone aside and resumed trying to guess the password. Hopefully, if she wasn’t able to get it, then Master Fu would come through and soon. The longer they went without the grimoire, the further they’d fall behind Hawkmoth, since he actually had the book itself, and that could only be a bad thing.

Chapter Text

“Hey, Honey, do you get the feeling that you’re being watched?” Chloé looked up from her homework and around the park. It was such a nice day, despite still being a little chilly, so the two of them had decided to do their homework outside rather than stay cooped up in Chloé’s room. It did also have the added bonus of giving them some time away from the disruptive and distracting presence of the Kwami.

“All the time, why wouldn’t people be watching me? I am the second most beautiful girl in all of Paris.” She ran a hand through her hair and tossed it whilst smirking at Marinette. “And right now I happen to be sitting with the most beautiful girl in all of Paris, maybe even France.”

“You’re being ridiculous.” Marinette snorted, her cheeks going pink and she looked away. “And I don’t mean like that.”

“How do you mean then?”

“Like someone’s spying on us or something.” Marinette frowned, her eyes flicking around the park. “I’ve been feeling it for the last few days.” 

“Maybe it’s the paparazzi?” Chloé suggested, looking around too for anyone acting suspiciously. “Or maybe a political rival of my fathers hired someone to spy on me or something.”

“Your father’s the mayor of Paris, Chlo, not the president. Do you really think the local politics is that serious?”

“Maybe? I don’t know.” Chloé shrugged, still keeping an eye out. “I try to keep out of Papa’s work.”

“Well, I doubt that there’s a whole lot of blackmail going on on the local level.” Marinette laughed gently, patting Chloé on the shoulder. As she did, a terrible thought occurred to her.

“What if it’s something to do with the… you know what.” She hissed, pointing at Marinette’s earrings. “I mean…”

“I don’t think so, if it were Hawkmoth, then surely he’d just come after us and not bother with spying.”

“Maybe he doesn’t know where the Miracle Box is and he’s spying on us to find out. Maybe he’s just spying on me because he knows I used to have a Miraculous and he’s just waiting for Ladybug to give it to me again.” Something horrible and awful felt like it was crawling up Chloé’s throat as she began to breathe heavily. She should have known this had been a bad idea, of course it would be thanks to her that everything would fall apart even after they’d just about managed to claw things back.

“Honey, you’re working yourself up.” Marinette said soothingly, patting Chloé on the shoulder and rubbing reassuring circles. “Hawkmoth would never think that I still trusted you. He doesn’t understand our relationship, and in any case he’s a villain, and they never understand how good works.”

“You don’t know that, Mari!” Chloé would have wailed but she was still fairly conscious of the fact that they were in public. “You can’t know that!”

“Chlo, please try to calm down and just listen to me.” Marinette said firmly, her grip on Chloé’s shoulder tightening. “Breathe with me, Chlo. In and out with me.” She demonstrated and Chloé did her best to match Marinette’s measured breaths.

Now that she wasn’t hyperventilating, she felt a little better, though not by much. She was still unable to shake the fear that it had something to do with the Miraculous and Hawkmoth. It was the only thing that really made sense. Yes, she’d been stalked by paparazzi before, but it had been a while since that had happened.

“That’s it, just keep breathing with me.” Marinette continued in a low tone, her grip loosening to start rubbing and massaging her back. They stayed like that for several minutes whilst Chloé’s breathing gradually returned to normal, though her thoughts were still frantic and envisioning all sorts of catastrophic outcomes to Hawkmoth spying on her.

“I want you to listen to me, Chlo. There is no way that Hawkmoth would be spying on you, and how would he?”

“I don’t know, an akuma?” Chloé suggested.

“That’s not really his M.O., is it?”

“I guess not…” Chloé mumbled, still a little doubtful. “But what if he’s changed it? We have, after all, and if anything, he should be the one changing how he operates, he’s the one who keeps losing all the time.”

“It’s been years since he started out and he’s barely changed what he does. Even with Mayura, he still just sent out the Akumas and Sentimonsters without any sort of subtlety.” It was a compelling argument, and one that Chloé would love to believe as Marinette clearly did, But she couldn’t discount the possibility of Hawkmoth refining his strategy.

Unlike Marinette, she had personal experience with Hawkmoth, and even if he was rather foolish, nobody was that stupid and set in their ways. Not to mention it was her job to be the Guardian and consider these possibilities to protect the Miracle Box.

All that said, catastrophizing probably wasn’t the best use of her time or energy, and she was just letting it run away with her. The breathing exercise had definitely helped and she nodded in agreement with Marinette who smiled gently, still rubbing her back.

“Feeling better now?” Chloé nodded again and leaned against Marinette, not really caring about who could see them. It was a lot of effort to think about people seeing and having to be constantly aware of her surroundings when all she wanted to do was get close to and be with her girlfriend.

“A lot better now, Mari.” Chloé murmured, resisting the urge to nuzzle deeper into Marinette’s side. Words couldn’t properly express how much she adored her girlfriend, and at this rate, they’d have to head back to the hotel or to Marinette’s bedroom lest she start being more affectionate than was advisable.

“Good.” Marinette shifted a little and rested her head on Chloé’s shoulder. They weren’t even bothering to pretend to study by now, too busy basking in each other’s presence. Chloé let out a small sigh. She was just so lucky to have someone as understanding as Marinette as a girlfriend, so lucky that she didn’t really deserve it.

“I’m sorry, Marinette.” She mumbled, averting her eyes. “You shouldn’t have to keep taking care of me like this.”

“Is that how you see it?”

“How else can you see it? I keep letting my quirks get the better of me and having these episodes, and you keep taking care of me and helping me through them.” Chloé argued, sitting up to look Marinette in the eye. “It’s not fair on you that I keep putting all this work on you.”

Marinette didn’t answer immediately, but when she did, it was preceded with a flick to the forehead that made Chloé yelp in protest.

“What was that for?”

“It’s not work, and you shouldn’t keep talking yourself down like that.” She said firmly, frowning at Chloé. “I love you, and that means all of you.”

Chloé considered protesting again, but Marinette seemed to be able to read her mind, as she raised her finger threateningly, so she thought better of it and huffed a little. She didn’t know how Marinette could be so tolerant and accepting of her quirks when everyone else just saw them as a nuisance, including herself.

“Should we stay here and finish up the homework, or do you want to come back to my place for some… other stuff?” It took Chloé a few moments to fully process Marinette’s suggestion, and she went bright red as it shocked her out of her funk.

“Mari! I thought we were waiting!” She hissed, scandalised by how brazen Marinette was being. “And we’re only fourteen, too!”

“Chlo, I just meant we could go back to my room and kiss and cuddle for a while.” Marinette laughed gently, covering up her mouth and clearly trying not to embarrass Chloé anymore.

“Oh, of course.” Chloé flailed for a moment, trying to save face before abandoning the attempt and hanging her head. “I would like that very much.”

“Good. Let’s go, then.” Marinette glanced around the park quickly, then gave Chloé a quick peck on the cheek. Chloé was fairly certain that she was completely red by now and her hands were clumsy as she started to hurriedly pack up her things.

She ended up dropping her books a couple of times, drawing a few stifled giggles from Marinette, who ducked down to help her gather up the last of her things. Handing over the bag, Marinette’s hand brushed up against Chloé’s and she jumped momentarily, before relaxing and once she’d hoisted the bag onto her shoulder, reached out to take Marinette’s hand.

“I really did mean it when I said you’re the most beautiful girl in all of France.” She murmured, giving Marinette’s hand a brief squeeze as they headed out of the park back towards the bakery.

“You’re too sweet, Honey.” Marinette cooed and Chloé wasn’t sure her face could go any redder. “Honey really is such an accurate name for you.”

“Mari, stoooop.” Chloé whined, pouting and stomping her feet. “You’re embarrassing meeeee.”

“Aww, I’m sorry, Honey. Don’t worry, I’ll make it up to you in a bit.” Chloé had no idea how Marinette had become the confident and collected one whilst she was the constantly embarrassed and shy one. It felt like a complete reversal of their dynamic before they’d gotten together, but Chloé didn’t dislike it, quite the contrary.

They called out a greeting to Marinette’s parents as they entered the bakery and made their way upstairs to Marinette’s room, ignoring Marinette’s father’s instruction for them to keep the trapdoor open.

As soon as the door was closed behind them, the three kwami they carried with them flew out of their hiding spots in bags and pockets.

“I am so glad I don’t feel love the way humans do. I don’t think I’ll ever understand it properly.” Tikki announced as she often would, shaking her head as she floated over to the desk and perched on the edge. Chloé got the impression that her exasperation was less to do with Marinette’s preoccupation with romance, since according to Mari, she’d never been like this when it came to Adrienne, and everything to do with who Marinette was dating.

“You keep saying that, Tikki, but I think they’re absolutely adorable.” Pollen chided, flitting over to hover in front of the ladybug kwami.

“And you keep saying that, Pollen.” Kaalki sniffed haughtily, crossing his arms and holding his head high. “And quite frankly, I find your repetitive arguments about the relationship between the Guardian and Holder of the Ladybug Miraculous to be so incredibly tiresome.”

“What?” Both Tikki and Pollen turned to look at Kaalki in affront. Chloé, meanwhile, looked to Marinette, silently asking whether they should interfere.

“You heard me. I’ve watched the two of you have this disagreement so many times since Chloé started to bring me with her, and it is so annoying.” He floated down to talk directly to the other two kwami. “It seems to me that neither of you is willing to budge, and though I do find this obstinance from you, Tikki, to be unlike you, I’ve seen enough of it to know that nothing is going to change between the two of you anytime soon.”

“So what do you propose, then, Kaalki?” Tikki asked, folding her arms to mirror the horse kwami.

“That the two of you just stop talking and commenting about it every time we’re alone.” He suggested dryly. “I mean, I could probably do both sides of the conversation myself.”

Chloé hadn’t expected an outburst like this from Kaalki, he was normally a rather reserved and almost aloof kwami. She really did not expect him to start doing a comical imitation of the other two kwami.

“Oh, I’m Tikki and I hate that my wielder loves someone who made a mistake and has consistently since then tried to atone for it.” He squeaked out in a high pitched voice that was actually quite a good approximation of Tikki. “And I’m Pollen and I’m a sycophant who will always agree with whatever her wielder says and will defend her to the death despite having all the power in this relationship.”

“Okay, Kaalki, I think that’s being a bit too mean.” Marinette finally spoke up, stepping in and trying to get between the kwami. “Even if I agree that you have a point about this being something that the two of you could just leave alone, mocking them like that isn’t nice.”

“Fine.” Kaalki rolled his eyes as he floated away. “But they really should just give the argument a rest if neither of them is going to change her position.” Whilst he busied himself with flipping through one of Marinette’s design sketchbooks, now disinterested in the conversation, Marinette turned her full attention to the other two kwami.

“Do you two think you can manage that? Leaving it alone?”

“I guess…” Tikki grumbled with a tiny frown.

“I will if Tikki stops insulting my Queen.” Pollen sniffed, giving Tikki a sharp look.

“Fine.” She huffed before flying up to Marinette’s bunk, leaving the two teens with Pollen.

“I’m sorry for causing so many problems, my Queen.” Pollen apologised, looking immensely disappointed in herself.

“It’s okay, Pollen. Marinette, do you still have any honey macarons up here?”

“They’re just in my desk, I can get them out for you.”

“It’s no problem, Marinette.” With that, Pollen flew over to the desk and phased through into the drawers.

“I’m sorry. I should have gotten involved sooner.” Chloé sighed, shaking her head. “I’m clearly terrible as Guardian. I bet Master Fu wouldn’t have these problems.”

“Master Fu didn’t let the kwami out, so he didn’t have to deal with their interpersonal… interkwamial? Whatever they’re called, issues.”

“Still… he had far more experience at this, all the training, even if it was by a bunch of jedi-wannabe jerks.”

“You’re doing an amazing job, Honey, trust me.” Marinette pulled Chloé into a tight hug that she returned after a moment’s hesitation. After a little while, Marinette released her hold and stepped back, a smile playing across her face. “Oh, and speaking of Master Fu, he’s coming and he’ll be here tomorrow.”

“So soon?” Chloé was rather surprised that Marinette was able to convince him to come back to visit Paris on such short notice.

“He is only in London, it’s just a few hours travel.”

“I know that, but I only asked you to call a couple of days ago.”

“He’s old and retired, I guess he’s just got a lot of free time on his hands.” Marinette shrugged. “Also, his wife used to live here, so I’m sure she’s happy to come back to visit too.”

“Wait, wait, wait.” Chloé waved her hands, trying to rewind the conversation a little. “He’s married?!”

“Oh, right. I guess I never told you about that.” Marinette gnawed at her lip in embarrassment. “It’s kind of a long story, but Master Fu’s been in love with her since the forties, and she’s kinda been waiting for him since then, and after he lost his memories, she helped him get back on his feet and they moved to London together.”

“And when you say the forties, you mean…?”

“The 1940s, yes.” Marinette nodded. “He never actually told me why he came to France and Paris in the first place, but he was here back then, before he left to keep the Nazis from getting their hands on the Miracle box.”

“Now there’s a thought I do not want to even consider.” Chloé shuddered before moving on from that terrifying idea. “But they must be seriously old if they knew each other that long ago.”

“Yep. I think it’s actually really romantic that she held out hope that he’d come back for her for so long.” Marinette sighed in that lovestruck way she used to do whenever she’d been thinking about Adrienne. “Anyway, when I messaged him to ask him to come back for a visit, he mentioned that he and Marianne had gotten married since leaving.”

“That’s pretty quick. I mean, he had his memories of her removed, so he’s only really known her for a few weeks.”

“If it’s true love, then it’s true love.” Marinette shrugged. “Who are we to argue with that?”

“I guess you’re right.” It still didn’t quite sit right with Chloé, the idea of marrying someone you didn’t really know after such a short amount of time. There was something else about the situation that was nagging at her and making her feel uneasy, but she couldn’t quite pinpoint it.

“Well, either way, they’ll both be here tomorrow, so we can meet them at the station when they arrive and ask Master Fu about the password.”

“I really hope he has something useful he can tell us about it.” Chloé sighed, wanting to be optimistic about it, but after trying everything she could think of to unlock the thumb drive, she wasn’t really feeling it.”

“I’m sure he’ll have something.” Reaching out, Marinette gave her a reassuring pat on the shoulder before her smile became something of a smirk. “Now, I believe I mentioned something about making things up to you?”

It was a very satisfied and smug Chloé that returned to the hotel later that day. Not even the overheard argument between her parents could kill her good mood. Spending the afternoon cuddling with and being kissed silly by your girlfriend tended to have that effect.

Humming the theme to the latest anime she and Marinette were watching together, along with some of the kwami who were more interested in slice-of-life rather than shonen, Chloé trotted down the corridor to her room and unlocked the door.

As she opened it, though, the first thing she noticed was that it was in quite the state of disarray, and her mind immediately jumped to the logical conclusion.

“What did I tell you lot about messing up my room when I’m gone?” She called out to the kwami she was sure were hiding out of embarrassment. Then her eyes fell upon the bald man in orange robes carrying a cane that was frozen in the middle of trying to wrench her safe open.

“Um, what the fuck?” She asked, too stunned to really be afraid of the man who’d broken into her room. “What the fuck do you think you’re doing?”

“Trying to open this infernal contraption.” He answered, which Chloé honestly hadn’t been expecting. “I know you’re keeping the Miracle Box inside, I tracked it and you here.”

“Okay…” Chloé reached towards her bag where she kept the horse Miraculous glasses. If this was Hawkmoth or someone affiliated with him, then they were in some deep shit. “And who the fuck are you, then?”

“I am Grandmaster Su-Han, leader of the Order of the Guardians.” He declared, standing up straight and staring Chloé down. “And I am here to reclaim the Miracle Box.”

Chapter Text

Chloé was not at all reassured by the man’s claim to be with the Order of the Guardians. In fact, she was put on guard, even more so as she whipped out the glasses and put them on.

“Kaalki! Full Ga-!” Her attempt to transform was thwarted, as the man moved far quicker than Chloé expected. Launching himself across the room, he grabbed her bodily and clapped a hand over her mouth, effectively silencing her.

With his free hand he reached up and plucked the glasses off of Chloé’s face. She tried to struggle against the man’s grip, but he had a good half a metre or more on her and was a lot stronger.

Her transformation call may have been interrupted, but she’d said enough to get the attention of the kwami in her bag. Kaalki flitted out to see what was up only to freeze in mid-air and stare at the Grandmaster.

“G-Grandmaster Su-Han?!” He squeaked out fearfully. “Y-You’re here?”

“I am indeed, Kaalki. I have walked thousands of miles to retrieve the Miracle Box. Who is this insolent child wearing your Miraculous?”

“Um, she’s the Guardian, Grandmaster.”

“Her?” He looked down at Chloé in shock. “But she is using one of the Miraculous, in flagrant violation of one of the 144 Perfect Precepts.”

“I know, Grandmaster.” Kaalki said nervously.

“How did she even become Guardian? Or at least this false pretender to the role.”

“Perhaps if you were to let her go, Grandmaster, she could speak for herself.” Kaalki suggested, and after a moment’s consideration, he released his hold on Chloé and her mouth. She stumbled away, wiping at her mouth to clean off her certainly smudged lipstick as she glared up at Su-Han.

“What the fuck?” She snapped angrily at him. “You break into my room, try to steal the Miracle Box I’ve been entrusted with and now you have the gall to call me a pretender?!”

“That is exactly what you are. You are young, insolent and inexperienced.” He said with a calm and authoritative tone. “Who exactly gave you the Miracle Box? Assuming of course that you didn’t steal it.”

“I did no such thing! I was given the box by the current Ladybug, who was given it by the last Guardian.”

“I think you’ll find that I was the last Guardian and I did no such thing.”

“I’ve never even heard of you before.” Chloé fired back, crossing her arms and turning her head a little to hide the comb still in her hair. He may have taken the Horse Miraculous, but she at least had the Bee. “That last Guardian was called Master Fu.”

“Fu? Wang Fu? Whiny Chicken Legs?!” Su-Han’s thick bushy eyebrows furrowed and he glared at her. “The incompetent disciple who couldn’t do a thousand finger pushups let alone spend a single day without eating?”

“Well, I don’t know anything about that. I’m not the one to ask about that, and it’s not like you can ask him, since he’s had his memory wiped.” Chloé shrugged unapologetically.

“Is all of this true, Kaalki?”

“It is, I can get the others to confirm too.” The little kwami said, before flitting over to the safe and phasing through the door.

“What?” He asked in confusion before his eyes shot open as all the other kwami flew out of the safe to meet him. “What is this?!”

“It’s the kwami. I would have thought you of all people would know that, Mister Grandmaster.” Chloé snarked smugly.

“Not that, you foolish girl! What are they all doing out of the box?” He demanded, gesturing at the kwami who all hovered there looking more than a little ashamed for some reason. “Another precept broken!”

“Well, I’m so sorry that I don’t know all of the precepts of your ancient order.” Chloé snarked. “I was a little thrown into this.”

“Wait…” Su-han completely ignored her, scowling at the assembled kwami. “Some of the kwami are missing!”

“Nooroo and Duusu were lost along with their Miraculous a while ago. Have you not been paying attention to the whole ‘Paris is under attack by supervillains’ thing?”

“Lost Miraculous too?” The grandmaster looked like he was about to collapse from the shock. “A third precept!”

“Of course that’s a fucking precept. What is it that even makes them so perfect?” Chloé rolled her eyes, hoping that he was done with his complaining. It was in vain, however, as he noticed someone else missing.

“Where is Plagg?!” He demanded, looking around the group. “Where is he?!”

“I presume he’s with Chat Noir.”

“And who is this Chat Noir exactly?”

“I have no idea. He was given the Miraculous by ‘Whiny Chicken Legs’ and Ladybug didn’t tell me either.”

“You’re not serious.” Su-Han fixed her with an intense glare. “Tell me you are not serious.”

“Oh, I am deadly serious.” Chloé met his glare evenly, doing her best to control her breathing and heartbeat. As cool as she liked to present herself, this was incredibly stressful. Even if this guy was purportedly the Grandmaster of the Order of the Guardians and ostensibly on their side, he was still an adult man who’d broken into the room of a young teenage girl. It really should not look good for him, and it was only the need for secrecy that was stopping her from calling for security.

“Do you have any idea of how dangerous it is for him to be loose in the world with no accountability or control?” He asked, barely repressed anger in his voice. “He caused the end of the dinosaurs! Not to mention the dragons. This should be of more concern to more than just me!”

That did give Chloé some pause. She wasn’t sure how much she trusted what Su-Han had to say, but the idea of something with the power to cause the best known extinction event being out there was more than a little concerning.

“This is all too much to allow to go on any longer.” Su-Han shook his head and turned his attention to the kwami. “All of you, return to the box immediately.” There was a murmur of assent from them, and they all flitted back into the safe, with only Kaalki staying back, as Su-Han still had the glasses.

“You, pretender, open it and retrieve the Miracle Box.”

“Why?”

“I am retaking the box, reassuming my position as Guardian, and then you are going to summon Ladybug and Chat Noir.”

“How about no?” Chloé challenged. “You don’t get to order me around. You are not the boss of me, and I am the Guardian now, not you.”

“Insolent child!” He snapped, taking a menacing step forward. “From everything I have seen observing you and the state of the city as well as what you have told me, I have determined that neither Whiny Chicken Legs nor you are worthy of the role of Guardian.”

“Wait, you’ve been watching me?!” Chloé shrieked, focusing on that part of his statement first. “And what do you mean I’m not worthy?” She tried her best to keep her voice steady, but she could hear the blood rushing in her ears as he confirmed one of her worst fears.

“You have violated so many of the precepts of the Order. You have proven that you don’t respect the order or its ways, not to mention the fact that you are a mere child. They are ultra powerful cosmic beings who must be managed with authority, which you are clearly unable to do.”

“Excuse you, I have been corralling those little monsters for a while now. I am more than capable of doing this.”

“I shall be the judge of that. I am the Grandmaster of the Order and I command you to open that safe!”

“Again, you’re not the boss of me!” Chloé snapped defiantly. “And since you’re so insistent that I’m not a real Guardian, you can’t pull rank on me.”

“You insolent child! You will hand over the Miracle Box to me right now!” He advanced menacingly on her, and she backed away nervously, painfully aware that she was alone and Su-Han was very tall. She wasn’t sure what he could do to her to make her open the safe, but she didn’t want to find out.

She considered just turning on her heel and running, but there wasn’t any guarantee that he wouldn’t be able to break into the safe if left to his own devices.

“Why now? It’s been years since this all started.” Chloé asked, trying to distract him whilst she tried to come up with a solution.

“I, along with the other Guardians, have been trapped inside a Sentimonster for many many years. As soon as we were freed, I walked tirelessly to come here and retrieve the box.” he explained, still advancing on her. That wasn’t much of a help for her, though, as she wondered just how she was going to deal with this. There didn’t seem to be any reasoning with him on this and as she started to panic a little, her brain went blank.

“If this is the state of the modern world, protected by careless fools who know nothing of our rules and methods, it’s a wonder that it hasn’t been destroyed yet.” Su-Han shook his head. “And to make it worse, you are refusing to relinquish the Miracle Box and make things right.”

“Well excuse me for not just handing it over to the first man who broke into my room and demanded it.” Chloé fired back with an attempt at bravado. “How do I know you’re not just some rando? How do I know you’re not Hawkmoth, trying to trick me?”

“How dare you accuse me of such a thing?” Su-Han thundered and Chloé wondered if she’d pushed a little too hard.

“How am I supposed to know? Just take you on your word?” Chloé challenged again, stamping down on her anxiety. Su-Han’s face was starting to resemble a tomato at this point and he reached into a pocket of his robes and pulled out a small worn out book that he waved at her authoritatively.

“The Perfect Precepts! Proof I am a member of the Order!”

“You could have gotten that from anywhere.” Chloé retorted and Su-Han’s face went even redder.

“The gall of you, you insolent child!” He raged, stuffing the book away and brandishing his staff at her. It certainly looked rather ornate and fancy with a large pink orb clasped at the top as though the branch the staff had been carved from had grown around the orb.

“Behold, my badge of office and proof of my station as the Grandmaster!” He proclaimed, grandly planting it on the floor as he gave her a challenging glare.

“I’ll give you that it’s a fancy stick, but how is that proof?” Chloé asked sceptically, not sure if Su-Han would actually answer or had finally tired of her delaying.

“A fancy stick?!” Chloé swallowed nervously as he drew himself up to his full height. “It is the symbol of my station and role as a Guardian! All true guardians are given one upon passing all of the tests to become a full member of the Order. It is mystically crafted and imbued with the power to locate the Miracle box, wherever it may be.”

Picking up the staff again, he thrust it at her orb-first to show off what looked like a weird compass-like device floating inside that was pointing directly at her safe. It certainly explained how he’d been able to track her and the Miracle Box down, as well as putting a bit of a wrinkle in any potential plans for escape.

“Okay, I believe you.” Chloé admitted, realising that she couldn’t delay for much longer. “But I’m not going to just hand the box over to you and call up Ladybug just so you can leave me out of the loop.”

“Insolent child, you do not get to dictate the terms to me.”

“You know, you really need to work on your vocabulary. That’s the fifth time you’ve called me an insolent child. My American sister has a better vocabulary than you and she doesn’t know any good swear words.”

“Another Precept broken, not respecting your elders.”

“I respect people who have earned it, and you certainly haven’t.” Chloé fired back. “It’s a two way street, and all you’ve done is demand that I obey your instructions.”

“Because I am the Grandmaster!”

“Yeah, that’s not a reason.” Chloé rolled her eyes. “Like it or not, I am the Guardian, I have been accepted by the box and the kwami as such, and I even put in the effort to try to learn about what that meant. If I’d known it meant being a colossal dickhead, I wouldn’t have bothered.”

“What?”

“It’s true, Grandmaster.” Kaalki piped up, still hovering nervously nearby. “Chloé has been learning from Longg and Wayzz about the Order and their ways. She’s been a very diligent pupil, too.”

“Be that as it may, she has still contravened countless Precepts.” Su-Han said, though his tone did soften a little and the redness of his face subsided a little.

“She has done the best that she could with only our limited knowledge to guide her.”

“Surely Whiny Chicken Legs would have taught her at least something.”

“Weren’t you listening when I said that I was given the box by Ladybug?” Chloé interrupted with a roll of her eyes. “I never even met the previous Guardian.”

“... I see.” Su-Han still looked very unhappy, but at least he’d stopped with the shouting. “Speak, then. What is it you are proposing?”

“That we go and meet Ladybug and Chat Noir together, I’ll even bring the Miracle Box, and then we can talk about what’s happening with the whole situation.” Chloé said, trying to keep her tone calm and even. She was very surprised that she’d managed to help talk him down and made a mental note that she owed Kaalki a whole bushel of apples for his help with that.

“That is… acceptable.” Su-Han answered after a long pause.

“Oh, and just so it’s clear, if you try to take the Box before we meet them or anything like that, I’m going to make sure that Ladybug and Chat Noir do everything in their power to oppose you.”

“Fine.” He didn’t look too happy about it, but she had to take him at his word. Pulling out her phone, Chloé dialled Marinette, still keeping an eye on Su-Han as she did so. The phone had barely rung before Marinette answered.

“Chlo! I was just about to call you. Master Fu was able to get into Paris today and I’m with him right now.”

“LB, we’ve got a bit of a situation here.” Chloé interrupted, taking care not to use Marinette’s real name or to call her Ladybug over the phone. “There’s someone here from the Order who wants to see you and that mangy alley cat. If you could get suited up and get in contact with him before coming to meet me on the roof. You know the one.”

“Alright, I’ll see you there.” Marinette’s tone immediately became sombre, and Chloé hung up the call before returning her attention to Su-Han.

“I’m going to need the Horse Miraculous back now.”

“Why?” Su-han immediately went back on the defence and gave her a suspicious look.”

“We’re meeting them on a roof. I don’t know about you, but I’m not quite good enough to do parkour without the power of a Miraculous.”

“And how do I know you’re not just going to use the power of the horse to flee with the Box?”

“You’ve already established that you can track the Box wherever it goes, and I’ve already called them and told them we’re meeting. It would be pretty pointless.” Chloé shrugged. Admittedly, she didn’t really need the Horse, she did still have the Bee tucked in her hair, but she didn’t feel like coming up with another hero alias in a couple of minutes.

“Promise that you won’t use the power to flee with the box.” He said after another pause.

“I promise I won’t use the power of the horse to flee with the Miracle Box.” Chloé recited in a bored tone. “Are we good now?”

“For now.” Su-Han said before holding out the Miraculous. “I suppose it doesn’t matter that a Guardian is using the Miraculous since you’re not truly the Guardian.”

“Harsh.” Chloé snarked as she took the glasses and put them on again. “Let’s try this again, shall we? Kaalki, Full Gallop.” 

Chapter Text

As Chloé hopped across the rooftops, she was mildly impressed by how Su-Han was able to keep up with her. For a man who seemed to be in his sixties, not counting however long he’d been trapped inside a Sentimonster, he was surprisingly agile and capable of keeping up with her.

She’d missed being suited up as a hero. There was something quite intoxicating about the power the Miraculous granted, and she was painfully aware of the temptation that posed. It was something she grappled with on occasion. Having all the Miraculous at her disposal, it would be so easy for her to just take one or more and use it.

She had greater restraint than that now, though. The old Chloé might have done something as selfish as that, but she was wiser now, though not too much, otherwise she wouldn’t have made all those other mistakes.

“How much further is it?” Su-Han asked as they cleared another road and jogged along a long roof. “You had better not be leading me on a wild goose chase, or there will be consequences.”

“Not much further.” Chloé rolled her eyes, not breaking her stride. “Has anyone mentioned that you have some serious trust issues? Because you do.”

The Grandmaster didn’t dignify the jab with an answer as they jumped to another roof top and Chloé finally came to a halt beside a stack of chimneys. It wasn’t an ideal meeting place, but it worked well enough. It was nondescript and high enough that it was out of sight of both the street and any nearby buildings.

“We’re here. Now we wait.” She told Su-Han, leaning up against the brickwork, the box safely tucked under her arm. She was more than a little anxious about taking the Miracle Box out like this, putting it at risk of being stolen by Hawkmoth or his lackeys.

Su-Han did not take his eyes off of her as he watched suspiciously, as though he was waiting for her to make a wrong move and try to flee or use Voyage to escape him. She considered making another snarky comment about his lack of trust in her, but she held her tongue. If she was being honest, if she was in his position, she’d probably be doing the same as him, just more effectively.

A few minutes passed, and Chloé was starting to consider calling up Marinette to find out where she was, when she heard the familiar buzz of a yoyo retracting and she turned to see as Marinette alighted on the roof.

“Ladybug, there you are.” Chloé breathed a small sigh of relief as she stepped towards the heroine. It took a surprising amount of effort for her to resist pulling her girlfriend into a hug and kissing her silly, but that probably wasn’t a good idea with Su-Han present.

“Sorry, it took me a little while to raise Chat.” Marinette apologised, glancing over at Su-Han who was still watching them with narrowed eyes. “Is this the guy?”

“Yeah. This is Grandmaster Su-Han.” Chloé gestured to the old man who made no move to greet Marinette. “Apparently he and the rest of the Order of the Guardians were trapped in a Sentimonster for years and he walked all the way here after he was freed.”

“But we defeated Feast months ago.”

“You knew about this?” Chloé raised an eyebrow, though the effect was somewhat lost thanks to the large sunglasses that came with her costume.

“Well, I didn’t know someone was going to walk all the way from China, but I was sort of aware about the Order getting released.”

“And you didn’t think it was important information for the new Guardian to know?”

“I’ve had a lot of things on my mind, and the old Guardian told me not to worry about it and that he’d take care of it.” Chloé sighed deeply. She couldn’t really blame Marinette for that. It was just yet another thing that Master Fu had left for the two of them to deal with.

“Where is the bearer of Plagg?” Su-Han interrupted, still scowling as though that was the only expression he knew how to make. And here Chloé thought she had a problem with resting bitch face.

“He’s coming.” Marinette reassured him before glancing over at Chloé. “Has he been like this since you met him?”

“Pretty much, though he hasn’t called either of us an insolent child just yet, so I think that’s a record for him.”

“You should respect your elders, you insolent child!”

“There we go.” Chloé rolled her eyes. “Did I mention that he broke into my room?”

“He did what?!” Marinette glowered dangerously at the man, and for a brief moment, his stern expression flickered under the fury of Marinette’s glare.

“I was retrieving the Miracle Box.” He defended, his scowl returning quickly. “The execution of my duties as Grandmaster take precedence.”

“Of course they do.” Chloé was pretty sure she was going to strain her eye muscles with how much she was rolling them today. Thankfully, she was saved from having to come up with a scathing retort by the arrival of Chat Noir who landed gracefully on the roof and gave the three of them a once over.

“You called, Ladybug?” He asked, holding his staff loosely but still ready to get into the fight. “Who are these two?”

“This is…?” Marinette turned to Chloé helplessly.

“Pegasister.” Chloé shrugged, she hadn’t put too much thought into what her hero name would be, given that she wasn’t really supposed to be a hero. “I’m the new Guardian of the Miracle Box.”

“Not for much longer.” Su-Han interrupted imperiously, stepping forward to take over the conversation. “I am Grandmaster Su-Han of the Order of the Guardians.”

“Okay?” Chat Noir still seemed to be pretty confused about what was happening. “So you were like Master Fu’s boss or something?”

“Foolish child!” Su-Han snapped and Chloé had to hold herself back from applauding his use of a different adjective. “I have heard enough of your prattling and prevarications, and I shall not wait anymore.”

“What do you mean?”

“The two of you shall hand over your Miraculous to me at once!” He demanded, pointing at Marinette and Chat Noir.

“But what about the city? We’re the only ones standing between Hawkmoth and his victory!”

“Your Miraculous will be reassigned to carefully selected adult wielders, as they should have been in the first place.”

“I don’t know about this. How do we know this guy’s on the up and up?” Chat Noir asked suspiciously.

“The kwami confirmed that he is who he says he is.” Chloé sighed deeply. “I don’t like it either, but from what I’ve heard, Master Fu didn’t exactly do a great job when he was the Guardian.”

“And you think that this Grandmaster is going to do a better job?”

“I don’t know. He might.” Chloé shrugged helplessly. “I mean, he’s not wrong about us just being kids. Saving Paris and the world shouldn’t be up to us. Maybe because we’re kids is why you haven’t been able to definitively beat Hawkmoth.”

Something uncomfortable settled in her stomach as she glanced over at Marinette. This was supposed to be her penance for betraying the heroes and causing so many problems for them, but right now, she was actually more than a little tempted by the idea of laying down the burden and letting someone else take it up instead. It’d also mean that she and Marinette could have a normal life together without the weight of the world on their shoulders.

“And what about Pegasister?”

“Obviously, I shall be taking the Miracle Box. This pretender will relinquish the box to me so that I may officially claim guardianship of it.” Su-Han explained as though it was completely obvious.

“What about her memories?” Marinette asked, her brow furrowing. “Master Fu forgot almost everything when he gave up the box. How much is she going to forget?”

The weight in Chloé’s stomach increased tenfold. She hadn’t thought of that, though she really should have seen it as a potential outcome. It certainly gave her pause as she gave Marinette a worried look. Grandmaster Su-Han’s lack of an immediate answer did little to reassure her. 

Perhaps if all she was going to lose was her memories of being Guardian, she could live with that, especially if she still had Marinette to tell her of what they’d been through during the past few weeks.

If she lost more than that, though…

“How much will she lose?” Marinette demanded again, glaring at Grandmaster Su-Han defiantly. Still, he didn’t answer, which Chloé took to mean the worst, as Marinette must have as well as she dropped into a fighting stance between Chloé and Su-Han. “You’re not taking my Miraculous or the Box. You want them, come get them.”

“Insolent child! If that’s how you wish things to be, then so be it!” He too dropped into a stance, though his looked far more practised than Marinette’s “Did you ever wonder why Guardians train for so long?”

“Blind adherence to tradition?”

“We are trained to overpower rogue Miraculous wielders. Wielders like you!” With a shout, he lunged at Marinette, fists flying. Chloé squeaked in fear, clutching the Miracle Box to her chest and backing up as Marinette rushed to meet him.

Chloé had thought that Su-Han had been talking himself up a lot, that he was just a man who couldn’t stand up to actual superheroes. This assessment was clearly wrong as he smoothly dodged every one of Marinette’s punches and kicks.

“Celestial storm! A thousand thunderous fists!” He cried out and he launched a flurry of punches, most of which connected and battered Marinette before the final one connected solidly with her stomach and knocked her back into a chimney.

“Ma-Ladybug!” Chloé caught herself before she called out her girlfriend’s name in distress. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.” She groaned, getting to her feet. “Master Fu was way nicer than this jerk.”

“His Mira-Kung Fu was worse too!” Grandmaster Su-Han announced, stepping forwards menacingly.

“Mira-Kung Fu?!” Despite the seriousness of the situation, Chloé was unable to stifle a snort of disbelief at the ridiculous name. “That’s seriously what you called it?”

“You won’t be so amused when you feel the full wrath of a Master of Mira-Kung Fu, you insolent child!” She bellowed, charging forwards again. “Crashing tide! The waves shall wash away the impure!”

“Are you really going to keep calling out your attacks?” Chat Noir quipped as he threw himself into the fray, just about managing to get a lucky hit in on the enraged Grandmaster. “Pegasister, take the box and go!”

“I can’t! I swore I wouldn’t, and who knows what magic shit would happen if I broke that?!” Chloé confessed, backing away over to Marinette, who had crawled back to her feet.

“Just surrender now and I won’t inflict more pain upon you!”

“Not gonna happen!” Marinette shouted back before looking at Chloé “If you can’t run away with it, then give it to me and I’ll take it.”

“It won’t do any good. His staff lets him track the box.” Chloé said despairing as she tried desperately to think of a way out of this. It was all going wrong, they weren’t supposed to be fighting, they were supposed to be having a calm discussion about this.

“Then we take the staff too.” Marinette said resolutely, spinning her yoyo ready. “Chat! He can’t fight both of us at once!”

“One, two or a thousand! My Mira-Kung Fu shall still defeat you!” Su-Han proclaimed as he kicked Chat Noir in the chest and performed quite an impressive backflip. “Hammer of the heavens! Crush all who oppose righteousness!”

“Enough already!” Rushing at Su-Han, Marinette helped Chat up as she went, and together, they charged the Grandmaster. For all the two heroes’ bravado, though, it was very clear to Chloé that it was of little help against Su-Han’s superior training.

They fought valiantly, but he simply dodged all of their attacks whilst all of his counters landed home, battering the two heroes soundly. She couldn’t just stand here and do nothing, but getting involved seemed to be just as bad of an idea when she had the box to protect.

There was no beating Su-Han with simple force, they needed to be smart to beat him. Looking around, Chloé wracked her brain for a solution. She wondered how Marinette was able to do it with her Lucky Charm every battle.

Her brain was frozen as was her body as she looked around the rooftop and at the melee, trying to work out just how to stop Su-Han. Finally, her eyes alighted on his shoes and the sorry state they were in. She remembered how he’d said he’d walked non-stop to Paris, which certainly explained why they were pretty much falling apart.

The solution hit her like a ton of bricks, and she ran over to the nearest slant of the roof, pulling out her horseshoe weapon as she ran. She was much more familiar with the spinning top, but she didn’t need finesse for this. Hurling the weapon as hard as she could, it smashed into the tiles, shattering them into hundreds of shards before returning to her.

Scooping up the pile of broken shards, Chloé ran back to the fight where Marinette and Chat Noir were getting their asses handed to them. Clutching her payload, she ran right for Su-Han and tossed out the shards.

He saw them coming and dodged out of the way with ease, but Chloé was expecting that. Bringing out her horseshoe again, she threw it at him and forced him to dodge back, right onto where she’d scattered the broken shards of roof tile.

“AH!” Su-Han screamed in pain hopping on one foot as he clutched the other. It was just the opening that Marinette and Chat needed. Leaping forwards, Marinette finally managed to land a solid punch on the Grandmaster’s jaw before snatching his staff and tossing it to Chat.

“Let’s go!” She called to him, running back to Chloé and grabbing the Box from her. “Don’t worry, we’ll keep it safe. He’s not going to take your memories.”

Chloé desperately wanted to kiss her girlfriend, but she held off as Marinette tucked the Miracle Box under her arm and took off after Chat, who’d already started to run.

Chloé stood and watched as she left, before turning back to Su-Han, who had finally recovered from having his feet stabbed by the impromptu caltrops. Growling in rage, she stomped towards her, doing his best not to wince with each step.

“You insolent child! You swore!”

“I swore that I wouldn’t use the powers of the horse Miraculous to flee with the box. I never said anything about stopping someone else from doing it.” Chloé shrugged. “Maybe you should be more specific when extracting promises from someone.”

He continued to glare at her, and Chloé met his gaze defiantly. Eventually, he let out a snarl and stomped to the edge of the rooftop.

“This plan won’t work, you insolent child. I will retrieve the box and the Miraculous from the rogue wielders.”

“Good luck with that without that fancy tracking staff of yours.” Chloé said as nonchalantly as she could. She was still very worried about what was happening and how wrong things had gone. Su-Han didn’t answer as he looked over the edge of the roof. Then, rather worryingly, he cracked a small smile.

“I wasn’t the only one with such a staff.” He said before jumping off the roof. Heart plummeting, Chloé ran after him and looked over to see where he’d gone. Down below them was one of the many gardens that littered the city, and sitting at an easel was a familiar old man.

“Shit!” Of all the bad luck, of course the previous guardian was right below their meeting place. Su-han was already on the ground and running towards the old Master. Still swearing under her breath, Chloé vaulted off the roof and dropped to the street, ignoring the gasps of surprise from the pedestrians as they saw her.

Grandmaster Su-Han was already arguing with Fu as she entered the gardens, trying to wrestle the old man’s cane away from him.

“Give me that, Whiny Chicken Legs, you don’t deserve it!” He snapped, pulling the cane free from Master Fu’s grip whilst an old woman smacked him with her own cane.

“Ah! What are you doing?”

Whilst Chloé wasn’t a massive believer in blind devotion to the elderly just because they were old, Su-Han’s treatment of Master Fu was completely out of line. As she ran towards them to intervene, she caught sight of a flutter of black and purple wings.

She swore again. This was just what they needed.

“Akuma behind you!” She called out a warning to the three she was running towards. They did at least take note of her call, and Su-Han looked around to see the Akuma coming for him. He took a step back and pressed his hands together. As she got closer, she could hear he was muttering something about his anger to himself. Whatever it was, it seemed to work, as the Akuma halted in its tracks, fluttered in place for a few moments in what seemed to be confusion, then flew away.

“I have wasted enough time with this!” Su-Han announced once the Akuma had gone. Snatching up the staff, which he’d dropped in all the confusion, he took off with it just as Chloé reached him. She considered just running straight after him, but paused for a moment with Master Fu.

“Are you alright?” She asked, helping him to his feet.

“I’m fine, but that rude man stole my cane and assaulted my Marianne!” He fumed, shaking his fist at the retreating back of Grandmaster Su-Han. “He needs to learn some manners!”

“Amongst other things.” Chloé huffed. She was just ready to run off in pursuit of Su-Han again, when there was a faint fluttering, and she spun back around just in time to see the Akuma she’d thought had left flutter into Master Fu’s paintbrush.

“No, no, no!” Why was everything going wrong? “Master Fu, whatever Hawkmoth is offering you, it’s not worth it. It’s never worth it to listen to him.”

Her words didn’t have any effect, though, and just as she abandoned the attempt to appeal to Master Fu to break the paintbrush, he swung his arm and smacked her aside with surprising strength. Chloé landed rather painfully and she scrambled to her feet as the transformation took hold and the Akumatized villain took his place.

“My love, please! It’s not worth it!” The old woman who’d been with him tried to hold him back, but the villain simply shrugged her off.

“That reckless whelp won’t get away with this.” He snapped, pulling out the paintbrush and drawing some Chinese characters in mid-air. The characters floated there for a moment, then zipped off and Fu ran after it in pursuit.

Groaning, Chloé ran over to the old lady who looked devastated at what had just happened.

“My husband! Please do something!”

“Don’t worry, Madam. I’ll get Ladybug and Chat Noir and save him. You just stay right here.” Chloé instructed, before turning and running after Master Fu. Tapping the side of her sunglasses, she activated the communication mode to contact Marinette.

“Marinette, we’ve got another problem to deal with.”

Chapter Text

Usually, it was pretty easy to follow someone who was Akumatised, the trail of destruction they tended to leave was very noticeable. This time, however, Master Fu hadn’t left chaos in his wake, and Chloé had been forced to ask pedestrians she ran past where he’d gone.

Thankfully, Paris was so used to heroes by now that nobody questioned her as she ran through the streets. She’d been unable to raise Marinette on the communicators, and Chloé supposed that she and Chat were too busy finding somewhere to hide out or still on the run from Su-Han to answer.

Chloé had no idea where they might have gone to hide the Miracle Box, but she imagined they wouldn’t have gone too far. They at least seemed to be heading out of the city centre, which made sense. Marinette would always try to minimise civilian presence whenever she could.

Dashing into an alleyway, Chloé leaped between the walls to get back up to the rooftops and see just where she was heading. She had yet to work out how exactly a horseshoe was supposed to be used to transport her at speed, so she was forced to use just the parkour skill that wearing a Miraculous granted.

Once up on the roof, Chloé scanned the city for any sight of her quarry, and her gaze alighted upon the Parc des Princes across the river. Of course Marinette would head there, there were no matches today and it was one of her favourite places in Paris to lure villains for confrontations, given how it was pretty much deserted when not in use.

She couldn’t be entirely sure that it was Marinette’s destination, but unless she wanted to just keep trailing Master Fu, it was her best bet at getting to the fight in a timely manner. Her heading decided, Chloé resumed running, hopping across the rooftops until she reached the Seine, where she had to pause for a moment as she contemplated her options.

She wished that she could still use the Bee Miraculous, the spinning top made getting around Paris a breeze. She supposed that the reason the Horse’s weapon didn’t perform a similar function was because the Horse could use its power to go anywhere.

She was wasting time standing around and trying to work out the best way to get across the river. Su-Han and Master Fu could already have caught up with Marinette and Chat. Perhaps it was time to throw caution to the wind and just use the power she had available to her.

“Voyage!” Flicking her wrist, Chloé summoned up the portal and focused on the changing rooms at the stadium. She’d been there a few times with her father and she knew it well enough to picture it in her mind.

With her destination set, Chloé cast the circle forward and it formed into a human-sized portal with the changing rooms on the other side. Wasting no time, Chloé hopped through and closed it behind her.

Now that she was here, she could hear the sounds of fighting from outside on the pitch, and she was ready to jump in, but the first beep of her sunglasses gave her pause.

“Kaalki, Dismount.” Chloé instructed, and the kwami zoomed out of her glasses as she detransformed.

“What’s going on? Where’s Grandmaster Su-Han?”

“He’s probably out there complaining or something.” Chloé rolled her eyes as she rummaged around in her pockets. Marinette had told her how she always carried cookies around for Tikki in case she needed a quick recharge, so Chloé had adopted the practice as well.

“I’m sorry to do this to you, Kaalki, but there’s an Akuma out there as well as the Miracle Box. We need to get back into it and fast.” She told the kwami as she pulled out a small ziplock bag of apple slices and fished one out.

“Say no more.” Kaalki accepted a couple of slices of apple and swallowed them down in record time. “If the Miracle Box is at risk, then there’s no time to lose.”

“Exactly. Kaalki, Full Gallop!” Chloé called out, calling the kwami back into the Miraculous and powering her up again. Now appropriately prepared for the fight, Chloé ran for the door that led to the pitch.

Bursting out into the tunnel and rushing for the light, Chloé could clearly hear the sounds of a pitched battle and the familiar sounds of a certain someone calling out his attacks.

“Raging river sweeps away all who oppose it!”

Chloé groaned internally as she ran out onto the pitch and quickly surveyed the action. Marinette and Chat were in the centre of it all, the former firmly holding onto the Miracle Box as the two heroes tried their best to fend off attacks from both Su-Han and the Akuma. They weren’t the only ones fighting on two fronts, thankfully, as every now and then, Master Fu would break away to attack Su-Han, who still held the old Guardian’s cane.

The fight wasn’t the only thing going on either. Up above, grey clouds swirled and crackled with ominous red lightning, no doubt the work of the Akuma. Chloé couldn’t for the life of her work out why Su-Han was still insisting on trying to reclaim the Miracle Box when there was an Akuma right there, but she didn’t have time to wonder.

Dashing forwards, she drew her horseshoe and pulled back to throw it. Chloé had always been pretty good with maths, but no amount of mathematical acumen would allow someone to calculate all the necessary angles on the fly, so it was a good thing that the power of the Miraculous augmented that and allowed her to see the planned trajectory of her weapon.

With a grunt of effort, Chloé let the horseshoe fly, sending it spinning through the air and into the fray. The first ricochet landed a direct hit on the back of Master Fu’s head, just as she’d planned, but the second was neatly intercepted by Su-Han, who caught it.

“You! Insolent child!” He cried out, pointing an accusing finger at Chloé before tossing the horseshoe aside. “This is all your fault!”

A big part of Chloé just agreed with the accusation without question, the same part that kept reminding her of how badly she’d fucked things up with the Miracle Queen incident. She swallowed the self-loathing down, however, and shouted back at the Grandmaster.

“Look who’s talking! It’s your fault that Fu got Akumatized!”

“He what?!” Marinette squawked, staring at Su-Han in disbelief. “Why would you do that?!”

“Whiny Chicken Legs refused to hand over his staff. One that he should not have had!” Su-Han snapped imperiously. Chloé rolled her eyes as she launched herself at Fu as he fired off more paper talismans at Marinette.

“And you think that justifies driving him into the arms of our enemy?” Chloé fired back, struggling to split her attention between the fight and lambasting Su-Han. “And don’t pretend that Hawkmoth isn’t your enemy. Whatever your issues are with us about our adherence to the Order’s rules, they’re nothing compared to what he wants to do.”

Su-Han didn’t seem to have an answer for that, as for once, he didn’t insult her or crack back with a retort of his own. Chloé was glad of that as it meant she could properly focus upon fighting the Akuma.

“Thunder!” He called out, throwing forth another slip of paper that shot up into the crackling cloud. In response, there was a roll of thunder and several bolts of red lighting lanced down at them, forcing them to scatter.

“Does anyone here have a plan?” Chloé called out to the other two heroes as she dodged out of the way of getting fried, the impact showering her with clods of earth.

“Don’t die?” Chat quipped, backflipping out of the way and landing beside the discarded horseshoe. Snatching it up, he tossed it back to Chloé, who caught it and whipped it around to launch at the Akuma again. With unexpected agility, Fu ducked out of the way, leaving the weapon to spin through the air before returning to Chloé.

“You knew how he got Akumatized, Pegasister. Where is the Akuma?”

“It’s in his paintbrush, the one he’s using to make those talismans.” Chloé told the others, catching her horseshoe out of the air and running at Master Fu. Thankfully, it seemed that Su-Han had ceased in his attempts to seize the Miracle Box for himself, though he wasn’t helping them either.

“Do you feel like lending a hand?” Chloé snarked at him, swiping at Fu with her horseshoe. “Or do you want us to fix your mistake? What happened to your Mira-Kung Fu bullshit?”

“Mira-Kung Fu was developed to combat rogue Miraculous wielders, not those their powers created.”

“You have got to be fucking with me!” Chloé couldn’t help but stare at the Grandmaster in disbelief. She couldn’t think of a stupider thing than that and she’d been inflicted with a lot of idiocy since becoming Guardian.

The whole point of the Butterfly Miraculous was to empower others, so it was utterly ridiculous to have a special fighting style that was easily countered by one of the exact things it was supposed to be used against.

“It should never even be needed, if the Miraculous are kept safe and out of the hands of evil!” Su-Han declared, though he didn’t look too convinced by his own argument.

“So just because your fancy martial arts aren’t meant for this, you’re just going to stand by and do nothing?” Chloé’s head was fully out of the fight now as she glared at the Grandmaster. “Only willing to take on fights you think you’re assured of winning? That can’t be many at all, since the only people you’ve fought today have been teenagers and an old man!”

She could not believe the cowardice of the man and how he was using things like these stupid traditions to justify his actions. If she wasn’t in the middle of a fight with an Akuma, she would have given him several pieces of her mind, but that wasn’t the case.

In fact, Chloé paid for her distraction and rage as she was kicked solidly in the stomach by Master Fu and knocked onto her ass.

“Pegasister!” Marinette called out in distress as Chloé groaned in pain before crawling back to her feet. She wasn’t the only one who paid for her distraction as the Akuma took advantage of Marinette’s momentary lapse and threw a slip of paper at her.

“Statue!” The moment the paper touched Marinette, she froze in place though her eyes continued to move frantically. Without pausing, Master Fu snatched the Miracle Box out of her hands and held it up triumphantly.

“Now to retrieve my cane!” He announced grandiosely. Before he could make good on the claim, however, there was a yell from the side and Su-Han came flying in with one of his usual attack cries.

“Soaring eagle dives to victory!” It seemed that, despite his claim that Mira-Kung Fu wasn’t for fighting Akumas, Su-Han was capable of holding his own, leaving Chloé and Chat Noir to rush to Marinette’s aid.

Reaching up, Chloé ripped the paper off of Marinette’s forehead, and the heroine stumbled a little as her movement was restored.

“Ladybug, are you alright?” Chloé asked, trying to hold back the worry in her voice. She needed to stay calm, even though her girlfriend had just gotten frozen by an Akuma.

“I’m fine.” Marinette reassured her, though she still looked a little shaken from the experience, brief as it was. “I don’t know if we can beat him.”

“What do you mean? There’s three of us, four if we’re counting Grandmaster Useless.” Chloé glanced back to see how Su-Han was holding up and unsurprised to see that he was starting to falter and struggle against the Akuma.

“Master Fu was a Guardian, he knows Mira-Kung Fu too, and he’s got the power of an Akuma to back him up.” Marinette reasoned, stepping to one side to watch the fight. “We won’t beat him in a straight fight. We need to be smart about this.”

“What do you propose then, oh, fearless leader?” Chat asked, glancing back too.

“We need to keep him busy and distracted whilst someone else grabs the paintbrush.”

“Um, how do we do that? We don’t exactly have access to the Miraculouses.”

“I have an idea. Chat, help the Grandmaster. Pegasister, you’re with me.”

“Aye aye, Ladybug.” Chat gave her a mock salute before charging back into the fight, arriving just in time to save Su-Han from getting immobilised like Marinette had. Chloé was about to ask Marinette what her plan was when her girlfriend wrapped an arm around her waist and threw out her yoyo to wrap around one of the floodlights.

Chloé couldn’t help but let out an embarrassed squeal as she was swept off her feet. She clung onto Marinette as they flew through the air to land in the stalls surrounding the pitch. She stumbled a little when they touched down, and she was pretty sure that her face had gone bright red from the surprisingly intimate position they’d just been in.

“Okay, we need someone here to grab the paintbrush whilst Master Fu is occupied with us.” Marinette reiterated, somehow remaining completely unaffected by how they’d been pressed together in their skin tight superhero costumes.

“Right, and I suppose you want me to use Voyage to get them here?” Chloé said, recovering a little from her embarrassment and predicting Marinette’s request.

“Exactly, but we need to get someone in who doesn’t need time to be brought up to speed with what’s happening and is where we know where they’re going to be so you don’t waste the portal.”

“I take it you have someone in mind?”

“Was Marianne with Master Fu when he was Akumatised?”

“Is she an old woman? I think she said he was her husband, too” Chloé asked and Marinette nodded.

“That’s her. I’m sure she’d be more than willing to help.”

“Should we get her, though? I mean, she’s an old lady, and we’d be putting her in danger.”

“We’ll keep Master Fu busy so she’s not in any danger, and besides,” Marinette leaned to the side to look at the still ongoing fight. “I think he’s more concerned with attacking us and Su-Han than hurting civilians, particularly his wife.”

“If you say so.” Chloé frowned in concern, but she raised her hand to summon the portal anyway. She’d already paid for not trusting Marinette before so she was willing to give her the benefit of the doubt. “I told her to stay put, I just hope she listened to me. Voyage!”

Concentrating on the park she’d left the old lady in earlier, Chloé flicked her wrist and cast forth the portal. The circle grew into a portal, opening up onto the park from before and thankfully, Marianne was still standing there, looking very concerned as she looked around the park.

“Marianne!” Marinette called out to her and she started before turning to face them.

“Ladybug! Is Fu safe?” She asked, hurrying towards them as fast as she could and stepping through the portal, which Chloé closed behind her.

“Not quite. We need your help to save him.” Marinette explained, glancing back at the pitch. “Pegasister, I’ll fill her in on the plan. You go help Chat. Don’t forget about your timer though.”

“On it.” Chloé reached out to squeeze Marinette’s hand in reassurance before hopping back towards the pitch, running over the seats to rejoin the fight.

Things weren’t going too well for Chat and Su-Han. Somehow, in the short time that she and Marinette had discussed their plan, Su-Han had lost the cane he’d stolen back to Fu, who was now using it to thoroughly school Chat Noir in staff fighting.

Not waiting to get back onto the grass, Chloé drew her horseshoe and hurled it at Fu. This time, he didn’t deflect it, and the weapon smacked into the back of his head, catching his attention.

“Thunder!” He slung out another paper talisman as Chloé reached the pitch and caught the horseshoe as it returned to her. Several streaks of lightning lanced out from the clouds at her and she was forced to dodge wildly as she continued her headlong rush back to the fight.

By the time she reached the fight, her sunglasses started beeping and the first pip winked out. She absolutely could not let herself be caught detransforming, it would be catastrophic. With that in mind, she really hoped that Marinette could get her plan to work quickly.

Her first few strikes were parried expertly by the Akuma and Chloé struggled to work around both Chat and Grandmaster Su-Han as the three of them kept up the attack.

“I really hope Ladybug knows what she’s doing.” Chat grunted as he was jabbed in the stomach by the cane.

“She does. We just need to have a little faith in her.” Chloé insisted, taking a kick to the side that winded her.

“Well, I’m not holding back anymore. Cataclysm!” Chat held up his hand and the dark energies of his power swirled around it as he ducked into a fresh fighting stance. “If I can just get his cane, we’ll have an easier time of it.”

His prediction didn’t come to pass, however, as Fu kicked out with both feet and slammed into Chat Noir’s chest. The impact was strong enough to send him flying right into one of the goals, and it was frankly a miracle that he didn’t end up touching anything with his Cataclysm.

“Lucky Charm!” With a whir, Marinette came sweeping back into the fray, clutching a set of polka dot bolt cutters. The speed of her return caught the Akuma off guard and he stumbled back a few steps as Marinette landed.

She didn’t stop to rejoin the fray, however, as she instead just carried on running, making a beeline for a cage of balls just on the sidelines. Chloé had no idea what she was doing, but she had enough faith in her girlfriend and the strange ways that her power worked.

In any case, Chat had gotten back to his feet and was charging forwards, claw at the ready, but he was of no concern to Fu.

“Vision!” Drawing a fresh slip of paper, he slapped it to his own forehead and his eyes flashed red. “Aha! I see your plan!”

Chloé tried to trip up the former Guardian as he ran for Marinette, but she wasn’t quite fast enough as he leaped nimbly over her leg and kept running.

“Stop him!” She called out as she got to her feet and charged after him. Both Su-Han and Chat Noir were close behind, the hero overtaking the old man and with quite an impressive leap launched himself at Fu’s back.

What followed happened so quickly, Chloé didn’t quite catch all of it. All she knew was that in a few instants, Fu had whirled around and grabbed Chat Noir by the wrist as the hero latched onto his back. Dropping his cane to free up his other hand, Fu threw out another talisman that struck Su-Han in the forehead and froze him in place.

By this point, Chloé had caught up to the Akuma and Chat and was ready to get involved when she was distracted by the second pip in the corner of her eye winking out. The momentary distraction was enough for Fu to grab her two, and with surprising strength, locked her arm behind her back before forcing Chat’s darkly glowing hand towards her chest.

“No!” Marinette cried out from a little way away and just as Chloé closed her eyes as the claws got dangerously close to her she heard something whistling through the air. Something struck her in the chest, but unlike the unbearable pain she imagined getting touched by a Cataclysm would feel like, it was more like getting punched.

Opening her eyes, she saw that somehow, Marinette had thrown a football in such a way that it was wedged between herself and Fu so that Chat’s hand couldn’t quite reach her. There was no time to relax, though, as Marinette ran towards them and threw her yoyo at them.

Jerking his head back, Fu dodged the attack and with quite some dexterity, grabbed the string with his teeth before using it to tug Marinette into the group, using his legs to lock her in place as well.

“Gotcha!” Marinette declared smugly, drawing a laugh from Fu.

“Ha! Foolish child, I think you’ll find that I have you too! We’re all stuck here and your timers will run out eventually. All I have to do is wait.”

“Well, it’s a good thing we don’t have to.” Marinette’s smirk grew wider as Marianne popped up from the stands by the pitch’s edge. With as much speed as she could muster, the old woman hurried over to the trapped group and plucked the paintbrush from behind Fu’s ear.

In a moment, she snapped it in half, releasing the Akuma. There was a rush of energy as Fu was de-akumatized and dropped them all. After taking a few deep breaths to collect herself, Chloé bent down to grab the Miracle Box to check that it was unharmed.

Satisfied that it was fine and that all the Miraculous were present and accounted for, she turned to the other two heroes, who were busy with the usual post-battle ritual of fixing things and talking to the victims.

“I need to go, I’m almost out of juice.” Chloé told them, gesturing to her sunglasses. “Tell Grandmaster Useless he knows where to find me when he’s ready for an actual discussion about how things are going to progress from now on.”

With her message delivered, Chloé turned on her heel and ran from the pitch. Even if it was probably a one-off thing, it hadn’t been a bad show for her first time back as a hero.

Chapter Text

It had felt incredibly risky to walk back through Paris with the Miracle Box under her arm and in plain sight, but Chloé didn’t have much of a choice. Even though she was incredibly tired from the exertions as Pegasister, she ended up dodging around a lot in order to remain out of sight.

“I don’t see why you insist on this ridiculousness.” Kaalki sniffed haughtily as they approached the hotel, having just been forced to hide behind a dumpster in an alleyway moments before.

“Because we have no idea who Hawkmoth is, so we need to keep out of sight and not let anyone see the box.”

“I know that. I meant this silly hiding and running into alleyways.” Kaalki rolled her eyes. “Do you have any idea how suspicious you look doing that? Nobody is paying attention to you, but when you dash into an alley, that draws attention.”

“What should I do, then?” Chloé asked, more than a little annoyed that the kwami had waited this long to point this out.

“Just act like you normally do. Walk like a normal person and people will just ignore you.”

“And the box?”

“Just put it in a bag or something.” Kaalki flitted out from the inside of Chloé’s cardigan back behind the dumpster. “I think I saw one right… Here!” She flew back with a crumpled up plastic shopping bag.

“Ew.” Chloé wrinkled her nose in disgust, but reluctantly took the carrier bag anyway. Gingerly, she placed the Miracle box in the bag and took it by the handles, inspecting it from all sides to make sure that the box wasn’t visible through the plastic. Satisfied that it wasn’t easily identifiable, she slipped out from the alleyway again, Kaalki flitting back into her cardigan.

She was very glad that the other Kwami hadn’t decided to leave the box as they usually did. It seemed that, despite their impulsiveness, they had enough sense not to come out since being dismissed by Su-Han.

Strolling out into the main thoroughfare, Chloé did her best to look nonchalant and not like someone who had something to hide. Taking Kaalki’s advice, she held her head high and did her best to channel some of her old haughty self.

It was a strange feeling, calling upon that. It was like the Chloé of the past was a completely different person to who she was now. Despite her dislike of who she was before, it was still a useful experience for times like this.

Not having to hide out of sight every few minutes meant that she made much faster progress back to the hotel. She still didn’t want to be too obvious, so instead of going in through the main lobby, she slipped in through one of the many side doors she had access to. Her father had questioned her as to why she’d wanted a keycard to what her mother would refer to as the ‘servants’ entrances’.

Once inside, she made her way up the back stairs to her suite, smiling and nodding politely to the staff as she passed them. It was a bit of a tiring climb, but eventually, Chloé reached the penthouse, and after quickly checking to make sure that neither of her parents or Zoé were around, she scurried back to her room.

Once the door was shut and locked behind her, she let out a long sigh of relief. Despite the whole debacle having been less than an hour, Chloé still felt exhausted. Withdrawing the Miracle Box from the carrier bag, she opened it up and ran a hand over the Miraculous within.

“You can all come out now, we’re back home.” She said to them, setting the box aside on her bed as she took the carrier bag to the bin and threw it away. Turning back, she found the Kwami hovering over the box, an air of anxiety hanging over them.

“Are we actually home?” Xuppu asked nervously in stark contrast to his usual exuberance. “I thought Grandmaster Su-han was taking us away?”

“We’re going to see about that, but after the shit he pulled today, I’m not just going to roll over for him like before.” Chloé crossed her arms and set her jaw. “Grandmaster or not, he’s so out of date with his methods and blind adherence to tradition. Pretty much everything that went wrong today was his fault.”

“Surely not!” Trixx protested, though he didn’t seem to be convinced of it himself.

“Given that he’s the direct cause of Master Fu getting Akumatised, I’d say so.” Chloé told them, though she tactfully decided not to mention that Su-Han had gone after Master Fu after Marinette had taken the Miracle Box. Besides, if you started to play that game, you’d then go back to blaming Su-Han for trying to confiscate the box and then back to blaming Marinette for making her Guardian and so on. It was a pointless exercise that achieved nothing useful, especially not when Chloé really wanted and needed the Kwami on her side for the argument with Su-Han she knew was coming soon.

“Is Master Fu okay?” Wayzz chipped in, cutting Trixx off, his usual calm and measured tone absent.

“He’s fine. He’s been de-Akumatised and I left him with Ladybug and the others.” 

“Thank goodness.” The turtle Kwami sighed in relief. “Where is Grandmaster Su-Han, then?”

“I left him with them too. He should be coming back here at some point to talk, though.” Chloé glanced over at the balcony door in case he’d arrived whilst she’d been talking to the kwami. “Hopefully this time we can actually have a proper talk without him calling me an insolent child every other sentence.”

“He’s the Grandmaster, he deserves respect!”

“I’ll respect him when he respects me, and so far, that hasn’t exactly happened. I’m pretty sure he doesn’t actually know my name given how many times he’s called me ‘insolent child’ or some variation.”

“Chloé Bourgeois.” A familiar stern voice sounded from the balcony door, and Chloé looked over to see the Grandmaster entering the room. In contrast to his usual stony face, however, his expression was a little softer as he approached Chloé and the kwami.

“So you do know my name.” Chloé turned to face him, her arms still folded. “Are you actually going to use it or are you just going to call me an insolent child again?”

Su-Han winced just a little at the stinging accusation, and for a moment, Chloé felt a little bad for continuing the hostility from before.

“I feel that we may have gotten off on the wrong foot.” He said tactfully, and once again, Chloé had to restrain herself from making another snarky remark.

“I think so too.” She said, marshalling her tone to something more diplomatic. Even if he’d been the one to screw things up the most, it wouldn’t be particularly productive to maintain that antagonism. “Can we start over?”

“I think that would be wise.” Su-Han nodded, glancing around the room. “May I have a seat?”

“Sure.” Chloé gestured to one of the armchairs whilst she collected up the Miracle Box to bring with her. The kwami who’d remained silent during the conversation flew after her and settled around the box when she set it down on the coffee table.

“Did you want something to drink?” She asked, playing the good hostess as she headed over to the mini-fridge she’d insisted her father have installed a few years ago. “I have water, cola, lemonade…”

“What’s cola?”

“... Water it is.” Chloé grabbed a couple of bottles of water and brought them over to the Grandmaster.

“Thank you.” He took the bottle, though didn’t open it and instead examined it with interest. “Such strange things in this modern world. Clear bottles that aren’t made of glass, but this strange light material.”

“You really have been out of it if you don’t know what plastic is.”

“From what I understand, the Order and I have been trapped for… a very long time.” Su-Han said, not really paying attention as he continued to inspect the bottle. Raising an eyebrow, Chloé opened up her own bottle and took a long drink from it. Heroing was thirsty work, and if they were going to have a conversation about Guardianship, then she didn’t want her throat to be dry.

“Ladybug wasn’t specific with how long it was.” Chloé said once she’d finished with her drink. “Well over a century, though.”

“A hundred years isn’t so long. I was nearly that old when I became Grandmaster.”

“Perhaps, but in the last hundred years or so, human progress has accelerated exponentially. We went from the first powered flight to landing on the moon in about fifty years.”

If Su-Han was impressed by this, it wasn’t immediately obvious, though his eyebrows did raise a fraction. He said nothing, however, as he mimicked Chloé and opened up his drink.

“What I’m trying to say is that times have changed a lot since the Order were trapped, and it’s a whole new world out there. Blind adherence to tradition isn’t the way forward.”

“So you’re suggesting that we just throw away centuries, millenia even, of traditions?”

“Not exactly.” Chloé sighed, trying to recall what she’d said to the kwami to get them on side before. She hated that she kept having to convince people of her worthiness to be Guardian when she herself wasn’t entirely convinced of it.

“What is it that you are proposing, then?”

“A compromise. A way for you to preserve the traditions of the order whilst still remaining relevant.” Chloé said, steepling her fingers and leaning forwards.

“And how do you propose I do that?”

“You let me remain Guardian and stay in Paris as my mentor.” It wasn’t the best idea she’d ever had, but she was pretty sure it was the only thing Su-Han would go for without considerable effort on her part.

“And how does that benefit me?” Su-Han snorted, frowning at her.

“It’s about the best you’re going to get. I’m pretty sure the events of today demonstrated that Ladybug and Chat Noir aren’t on board with you forcibly taking Guardianship away from me, and like it or not, you need their cooperation.”

Su-Han’s frown only deepened, but he didn’t try to argue her point. Perhaps if the whole Furious Fu debacle hadn’t happened, he would have, but he didn’t really have a leg to stand on right now.

“Consider this an olive branch, a peace offering.” She pressed on, hoping to strike whilst the iron was still hot. “You still get to be involved and pass on your teachings.”

“And if I refuse?”

“Then we just keep muddling through like we have been so far. They may not have had the smoothest ride, but Ladybug and Chat Noir have been keeping Paris safe without the Order for a few years now, and have been doing a decent job of it.”

“I see…”

“We’re doing this with or without you.” Chloé shrugged unapologetically. “I’d rather that we didn’t have to, but if you can’t get with the program, then we will.”

“And I suppose that getting to pass on the time-honoured traditions of the Order is my reward for ‘getting with the program’?”

“That and you’ll actually have someone to help guide you through the modern world.” Chloé offered, hoping this might sweeten the deal. “Unless you intend to live the frugal life of a monk or something like that.”

“The Guardian should be living a simple life, devoting themselves to the protection of the Miracle Box, away from any distractions.”

“Yeah, that’s not going to happen. I can’t just leave or anything like that, I’d be missed, since I’m just a teenager.” Chloé pointed out. “Also, I’m not going to give up my creature comforts, and I doubt the kwami will want to either.”

“What do you mean?” Su-Han raised an eyebrow and looked at the kwami, who all pointedly avoided meeting his gaze.

“I mean that if we have to go and live away from society, they won’t be able to keep watching their anime.”

“No!” There was a collective cry of dismay from the kwami.

“I need to know if Sasuke and Naruto ever admit their love for one another!” One called out, several of the others making various noises of assent.

“Don’t be silly, he wouldn’t be Boruto’s dad if he and Sasuke get together.”

“They could adopt!”

“What on Earth are they talking about?” Su-Han asked in complete bafflement, giving Chloé a helpless look.

“Anime stuff. Don’t worry about it, I can explain in better detail another time.” She smirked, enjoying the Grandmaster’s confusion a little more than she probably should. “Point is that the kwami have gotten pretty well acclimated to the modern era, and whilst I don’t speak for them, I doubt they’re inclined to leave it all that much.”

None of the kwami said anything, not even Trixx who seemed to enjoy being contrarian just for the sake of it. Chloé took their silence as agreement with her point as she gave Su-Han a triumphant grin.

“So, are you in?”

There was a long contemplative pause from the Grandmaster, his brows knitted together in thought. As the silence stretched on, Chloé started to get nervous that maybe her sales pitch hadn’t convinced him.

“... I accept your terms.” He finally said, though he didn’t look best pleased about it. “Not that I seem to have much choice in the matter.”

“I’m not forcing you or anything. It’s in our best interest to work together, and this is the only way I see us doing so.”

“So you say.” Su-Han sighed and shook his head. “If that is all you wished to discuss with me, I shall take my leave for the time being.”

“If you come by in a few days, I’ll get you a mobile so we can arrange training sessions and the like.”

“What is a mobile?”

“Yeah, I’ll explain that to you another time.” Chloé restrained herself from groaning. She didn’t know why she was so surprised by this, the man didn’t know what cola was for God’s sake. “Also, I suggest you get yourself some shoes soon. You do know what shoes are, right?”

“Yes, I know what shoes are.” Su-Han grumbled as he got to his feet and brushed himself off. “I’m unaware of where I can acquire a pair of replacements for my sandals, though.”

“Wait one second.” Chloé instructed, getting up and heading over to where she’d abandoned her purse when she’d first returned to her room. Searching through it, she emerged moments later with her purse and fished out a few notes.

“Here, this should be enough to get some shoes, and some food too.” She told Su-Han, returning to the Grandmaster and handing over the money. “I don’t know what to do about where you can stay and sleep, but for the time being I’m pretty sure there’ll be a shelter you can crash at for the short term.”

“I cannot accept this. Especially not from a child.”

“Just take the money. I have plenty, too much, even.” Chloé insisted, pushing it into his hands. Su-han looked as though he wanted to protest more, but Chloé glared at him until he nodded and tucked the notes away.

“I shall take my leave, then.” He said, starting towards the balcony. “And I shall return in three days.”

“Sure, that’ll be fine.”

“Be aware, I will still be watching, and the moment I see something I do not approve of, I will be intervening.”

“I expected nothing less.” Chloé rolled her eyes. With his warning given, Su-Han left the room and jumped off the balcony. She couldn’t help but be a little impressed by the feat, but she tamped down the feeling as she turned her attention to the kwami who’d been watching the discussion in silence.

“So, I guess you’re officially stuck with me, then.”

“I wouldn’t say that we’re stuck with you, my Queen.” Pollen piped up supportively, flitting up to nuzzle against her cheek. “You’re a great Guardian, and I’m sure that in time the Grandmaster will see that too.”

“Well, at least he’s not trying to confiscate the Miracle Box.” Returning to the coffee table, Chloé picked up the box and took it back to her safe to stash it away safely again. “I think we’ve all had quite an eventful day. If you lot want to watch something, you know where the TV remote is. I’m going to read for a bit so please don’t be too loud.”

“No problem, my Queen.” With Pollen’s assurance, Chloé made her way to her bed and collapsed onto it. She felt completely drained after the events of the day, and she was prepared to just stay lying there for the rest of it.

Her plans were put on hold, though, as her phone buzzed in her pocket. Groaning, she pulled it out to see who was texting her. She perked up a little as she saw that it was a message from Marinette, and she opened it up eagerly.

‘Hey, Honey. Master Fu is doing okay, but he’s too tired after getting Akumatised to talk.’ Chloé knew the feeling, she’d pretty much completely forgotten about the reason for the previous Guardian’s visit to Paris, and she was pretty sure if they’d gone ahead with the plan to talk to him, she might have collapsed or something.

‘He and Marianne are staying in Paris tonight and we can talk to him after school tomorrow. I figured you’d like to know before then. Did everything go okay with Su-Han?’ Smiling a little at the thought Marinette had given her, Chloé typed out a response.

‘Thanks for letting me know. I’ve come to an agreement with him. I’ll tell you the details in person tomorrow. Love you, Mari’

‘I love you too.’ Unable to keep the grin off her face, Chloé set her phone aside and stared up at the ceiling. All in all, even though things could have gone a lot better, at least it hadn’t fallen apart and there was some progress being made on things. She just hoped that the conversation they’d postponed until tomorrow would go better than today had.

Chapter Text

The next day Chloé was in pretty high spirits as she put on her makeup ready to head out and meet Master Fu. She’d pretty much run home after school to do so, and she wouldn’t have put so much effort in if she were just meeting him, but Marinette was going to be there and once they’d finished talking to Fu, Chloé had a proposal for her girlfriend.

“Are you sure we can’t come to just see him? Just a little?” Xuppu wheedled, floating in front of the mirror and in the way of Chloé’s reflection.

“I know you all want to see him, but it’s too dangerous to let you out and about in Paris.” Chloé sighed, tilting her head so she could continue drawing on her eyeliner. “Also, I’m already on thin ice with Grandmaster Su-Han. Do you really think he’d be pleased with me if I were to bring you with me?”

“I suppose not…” Xuppu deflated, causing a tide of guilt to bubble up in Chloé’s chest as he floated away to rejoin the others.

“I’m sorry. I really am.” She turned to look at them. “I want to do right by you, but I also should be respecting Su-Han’s wishes and authority.” Chloé recoiled internally at the idea of obeying the grumpy old man, but she’d come to terms with at least respecting the wealth of knowledge he possessed and how she needed to at least pay lip service to him to access it.

“As much as I hate to agree with her, Chloé is right.” Trixx really did not sound happy about being on the same side as Chloé, but his support did sway some of the other kwami.

“Also, you wouldn’t be able to talk to him even if you did come to see him.” Chloé continued in as gentler a tone as she could whilst still being stern. She used to be pretty terrible at managing her tone, but getting thrown in the deep end with dealing with all the kwami had helped a lot with that.

“So?”

“I think only being able to see him would be upsetting for you. I know it’s not quite the same, but I know if I were only able to see Marinette and not be allowed to talk to her, I’d be heartbroken.” It felt cruel to say, and the guilt in Chloé’s stomach roiled even more.

It was true though, she was pretty sure that if such a thing were to happen to her and Marinette, God forbid, a clean break would be preferable only seeing her. Of course, if she were in that situation, Chloé was also pretty sure that she wouldn’t be able to stop herself from trying to catch even the smallest glimpse of Mari.

“It would be painful, but it’s painful right now too.” Wayzz spoke up, his tone sombre. “I was Master Fu’s companion for many many years and I miss him dearly. I would just like to see for myself that he’s doing well in his new life even if it hurts.”

Chloé had to work hard to resist the urge to gnaw at her bottom lip as it would ruin her lipstick as she mulled over Wayzz’s plea.

“Alright, you can come since you were so close to him, Wayzz.” She finally answered with a small sigh.

“Just Wayzz?”

“Yes, I’m sorry, but I’m already pushing my luck by taking three of you. I’m sure Wayzz and the others can let you all know how Master Fu is doing and be checking on him on your behalf.”

There was still some grumbling from the Kwami, but none of them protested this edict, so Chloé returned to her makeup. She still felt a little guilty about having to deny the Kwami but after everything that had gone down yesterday, it was more important now more than ever to toe the line and keep Su-Han on her side.

Finishing with her makeup, Chloé gathered her bag and gestured for the three chosen kwami to get in. Before she left her room she turned back to look at the other kwami who were staying behind.

“I don’t think it should be necessary, but I’m going to remind you anyway. Be good and stay here. The TV remote’s on the table where it usually is, but if you do watch something, please can you keep it down? Some of the maids mentioned to me that they can hear it playing whilst I’m out at school.”

There was a quiet chorus of agreement from the kwami as Chloé left the room, making sure to lock the door behind her. Together, the teen girl and three kwami headed out to meet Marinette and the old master.

Chloé regretted her decision to go home to redo her makeup and go the extra mile as she finally arrived at the park outside the Dupain-Cheng Pâtisserie. She’d rather foolishly dismissed the limo for the afternoon, and as such had to walk there whilst trying her best not to get sweaty and ruin her immaculate look.

Fortunately she made it in reasonable time with just a few hairs out of place from the brisk walk. As she approached the park entrance, she caught sight of Marinette and Fu sitting on a bench and chatting amicably. Pausing for a moment, Chloé smoothed herself out and made sure that she was as primped and perfect in appearance as she could be.

“You look beautiful, Your Majesty. Marinette won’t know what to say.” A small voice piped up and Chloé glanced down at Pollen who’d stuck her head out.

“Thank you, Pollen. But you’re supposed to stay inside the bag, remember?” Chloé said sternly. As much as she adored Pollen, she couldn’t very well show favouritism to any of the kwami. That would set a very bad precedent, and one that she couldn’t easily walk back.

“Of course, Your Majesty. Sorry, Your Majesty.” Pollen dipped her head apologetically before vanishing back inside Chloé’s purse.

Shaking her head, Chloé finished smoothing herself out before entering the park and calling over to her girlfriend.

“Marinette! Sorry I’m late!” Her heart skipped a beat, as it always did when Marinette looked at her and graced her with a smile. She found herself speeding up unconsciously as she approached her girlfriend and the former Guardian, who smiled politely at her.

“Chloé, you’re not late at all.” Marinette reassured her as she got up and took Chloé’s hand, leaning in to kiss her chastely on the cheek. Heat rushed to Chloé’s face as she glanced nervously at Fu again to gauge his reaction. He remained smiling politely as Marinette loosened her hold on her hand, though their fingers remained intertwined, and turned to face Fu as well.

“Mr. Fu, this is Chloé, she’s a very close friend of mine.”

“Well, any friend of Marinette is a friend of mine.” Before either Chloé or Marinette could stop him, he pulled Chloé into a tight hug. Fortunately, it was mercifully brief, and before Chloé could start panicking, he released her.

“Thanks, I think?” Chloé flashed a questioning look at Marinette who shrugged awkwardly. “How come you’re here alone? I thought you came to visit Paris with your partner?”

“Oh, Marinette must not have told you.” The old man proudly raised his left hand and showed off a simple gold band. “We got married a few months ago.”

“Oh, congratulations.” Chloé had been filled in a little by Marinette before the former Guardian’s return about his reunion with his old love. It gave her hope that if an old couple like them could get together like that, then maybe she and Marinette stood a chance in the long term.

“Thank you.” He smiled and nodded. “And she did come with me, she’s busy doing some shopping before we head back to London. She says she cannot get good croissants to save her life there.”

“If you want, we can bring some to you. We’re supposed to be going on a school trip, provided it doesn’t get disrupted by an Akuma again.”

“Ah, yes, I imagine those are rather troublesome to have to deal with on such a regular basis.” The old man nodded sagely. “I myself had to suffer at the hands of one of those accursed butterflies, and I imagine when I lived here before I lost my memories.”

“Oh, right, I never told you about how Mr Fu here lost his memories in a paddleboat accident.” Marinette cut in, eyes flickering between the two of them. Chloé didn’t comment upon the lie, though she did wonder if Marinette couldn’t have come up with something more dignified than a paddleboat accident.

“Yes, it was quite unfortunate. But it is how I met young Marinette, she’s the one who found me after the accident and even introduced me to my Marianne.” The almost fatherly affection Fu was displaying to Marinette, a girl he’d practically just met, was throwing Chloé for a loop.

Everything she’d heard about him from Marinette had painted a rather different picture of the man, an aloof figure whose presence in the heroine’s battle against evil was minimal and served only to hand out the Miraculous. Perhaps it was the amnesia that had softened him out, that being a Guardian hardened a person. Having met Su-Han, that theory certainly had legs and was a little concerning to Chloé

She pushed the worry out of her mind though as she refocused. As nice as the conversation was, they were supposed to be trying to get some answers from Fu. Chloé wasn’t quite sure how they were supposed to get them without just asking him straight out.

“So you don’t remember anything from before your accident?”

“No, I don’t. Nothing clearly at least.” The former guardian’s smile turned down at the corners. “It’s strange. Sometimes I feel as though there’s something there, just out of reach that I can’t quite recall.”

“You probably shouldn’t push it. I’m sure your doctor told you that your memories will come back in their own time.” Marinette reassured him, her tone getting a touch strained as she did. It must be awkward for her to lie to the man like this when she knew that his memories would never return.

“Perhaps. Or maybe it’s because I’m getting old. Maybe I always had a bad memory and I just don’t remember it.” He chuckled and shook his head. “Even now, I have trouble remembering things like passwords. If I can, I like to just leave them blank.”

“You what?”

“Oh, don’t tell anyone, especially not Marianne. She worries I might get scammed, and she takes that sort of thing very seriously. But I just cannot for the life of me remember passwords for things, so I just leave it blank wherever I can.”

“Oh, I see. I have trouble remembering passwords too. I use the autofill settings for that all the time.” Marinette commiserated with the old master whilst Chloé had a minor breakdown in silence. She had been trying for what felt like ages now to crack into that USB drive they’d been left to no avail. She’d tried every possible password she could think of, anything related to the Miraculous, the top hundred most common passwords and variants thereof. What she had not tried was just leaving the password field blank.

Just thinking about it made her head hurt. All this time, it could have been something as simple as just hitting enter. It was a good thing Fu had his wife, otherwise he probably would be getting scammed or hacked every other day if that was his approach to cybersecurity.

Taking a few deep breaths, Chloé calmed herself down enough to rejoin the conversation that had thankfully moved on from Fu’s simply awful password policy.

“I hope you were able to get more painting done yesterday after you were saved by Ladybug and Chat Noir.”

“Yes, I did. It was rather inconvenient having to walk all the way back across Paris, but I suppose at my age a vigorous walk is quite necessary.”

“You’re a painter?” Chloé inquired politely, eyes falling on a canvas-sized case leaning against the bench.

“I am!” Reaching down he picked up the case and unzipped it, opening it to reveal several canvases neatly arranged inside. “In fact, I gave one of my works to young Marinette.”

“Oh?”

“It was… an interesting work.” Chloé was familiar with Marinette’s diplomatic tone and she raised a questioning eyebrow.

“You don’t have to be so polite, Marinette. It was a rather strange painting, if I do say so myself.” Fu chuckled as he pulled out one of his canvases to show Chloé. He wasn’t lying, the painting was very strange, and upon taking it, Chloe turned it this way and that, unsure of which way up it was supposed to be.

“Which way up is it supposed to be held?” She asked after a few moments of contemplation.

“I’m not entirely sure myself. I think that adds to the beauty of it.”

“I suppose it does, doesn’t it?” Chloé would be the first to admit she didn’t really ‘get’ this kind of art. Still, there was a certain verve to it, the strength of the brushstrokes and the abstract shapes and lines that danced around the simplified representations of Paris’ landmarks.

“Maybe someday my art will be displayed here in the Louvre.”  Fu laughed again as he took the painting back and put it away. “Something to aspire towards, I suppose. Then the one I gave you will be priceless, Marinette. A Wang Fu original.”

“No matter how much or little it’s worth, I’ll always treasure it.”

“I couldn’t ask for more.” Fu looked as though he had more to say, but a call from the park’s entrance caught the trio’s attention.

“Wang, darling!” The old man’s smile grew wide and he stood up to wave at the elderly woman who came tottering over. The couple embraced and shared a kiss that made Chloé feel even more awkward than she usually did around strangers, like she was intruding in on something.

“Marianne, this is a friend of Marinette’s. Chloë, right?”

“Chloé.” She corrected, automatically offering a hand as she’d been trained to. “Bourgeois.”

“Oh, you must be the mayor’s daughter.” Marianne returned the handshake loosely before returning her attention to Fu. “Wang dear, I do hate to interrupt your conversation, but I’m done with my shopping and the train is going to be leaving soon so we really should be going.”

“Ah, of course. We’d better not miss the train.” Brushing himself off, the former guardian picked up his case of paintings and another wooden case. “I’m sorry we have to cut things short, Marinette. It was wonderful to see you again, and to meet you, Chloë.”

“It was lovely to see you too, Mr Fu.” Marinette pulled him into a tight hug before moving onto Marianne whilst Chloé hovered awkwardly to the side. “I’ll let you know when the school trip to London is scheduled for, then I can bring you some pastries.”

“Thank you, dear. I’m sure Wang told you that I simply cannot get good quality ones in England.” Marianne sighed dramatically. “I’m sure we shall see you soon, and I shall text to let you know we made it back safely.”

With a parting hug to Marinette, Marianne and Fu left the park hand in hand. There was a shuffling from Chloé’s bag, and the kwami all popped their heads out to watch the former Guardian and his wife leave. She didn’t have the heart to tell them that they were supposed to be staying out of sight, especially when she heard a sniffling that she was pretty sure came from Wayzz.

Leaning over, Chloé wrapped an arm around Marinette’s shoulders, and she rested her head against her girlfriend’s.

“He seems to be doing well at least.” She offered, unsure of what else she could say.

“Yeah. It’s good he’s got Marianne with him.” Marinette agreed, rubbing at her nose and sniffing a little. Her eyes were a little misty as she cleared her throat and stood up straight. “It’s still a little hard to see him like this. He’s still the same Master I once knew, but at the same time, he isn’t.

Chloé only nodded, a small spark of guilt forming in the pit of her stomach. She couldn’t help but feel somewhat guilty for Fu losing his memories as she tried to step into his shoes as Guardian. Objectively she knew that whether she’d been involved or not in the events leading up to that, Fu probably would have relinquished Guardianship regardless, but feelings didn’t exactly work that way.

“I know what you mean.” Wayzz piped up, his tone soft and melancholy. “I don’t know how someone can be the same person but not at the same time.”

“I’m sorry, Wayzz.”

“Thank you, Chloé.” The kwami sighed quietly. “And thank you for bringing me. It did help a little to see that he’s doing well now in his new life. I’m sure it will reassure the others too when I tell them later.”

“No problem, Wayzz. I’m glad I could help.” Chloé did feel a little better with this reassurance from Wayzz and she let her hand drift down Marinette’s back to take her girlfriend’s and intertwine their fingers. “And it was interesting to meet the former Guardian properly.”

“Damn!” Marinette suddenly burst out, making Chloé jump a little. “Shit, sorry Chloé.”

“What are you sorry for? What’s wrong?”

“I forgot to ask him for any information that might help us get access to the grimoire.” Marinette groaned, dragging her free hand down her face. “I mean, I didn’t forget exactly. But it wasn’t easy to come up with questions that wouldn’t give things away too much.”

“It’s okay, Mari. I have a pretty good idea of how to get into that thing.” Chloé reassured her, giving her hand a squeeze as she stepped around to face her properly.

“You do? But you were only here for a few minutes and we didn’t really talk about much.”

“Trust me, Mari. I’m about ninety percent sure that this will work, and we’ll finally have access to all that information we’ve been needing.”

“If you’re sure about that, then okay.” Marinette brightened up considerably. She glanced around the park briefly before darting in to press a quick kiss to Chloé’s lips, bringing a bright pink blush to her face.

“What was that for?” She managed to get out, doing her best to both control her embarrassment and ignore the titters coming from her bag.

“Do I need a reason to kiss my girlfriend?”

“I suppose not.”

“Exactly.” Marinette looked very pleased with herself. “Um, since you’re here, did you want to come over for a bit? Maybe we can watch something.”

“Actually, I had a proposal of sorts.” Chloé steeled her nerves a little as Marinette regarded her curiously. “Would you like to go out on a date with me?”

“A date? Really?” Marinette’s eyebrows raised. “But aren’t you worried people will see us?”

“They won’t know. It’ll just be a date for us.” Chloé reassured herself as much as she was reassuring Marinette. “There’s a new café I’ve been dying to try out, and I think you’ll love it too.”

“Sure. It sounds like fun.” Marinette broke into a bright smile and leaned in to give Chloé another quick kiss, this time on the cheek. “Lead on then, Honey.”