Work Text:
Marinette’s vision blurred. When she opened her eyes, she only saw light and colour. But in a second, her eyes adjusted, and she realized she was looking up at her own ceiling. She stirred, then sat up. Immediately, she jumped and screamed at the sight of the unfamiliar figure looking at her through his black mask.
“Aah! Wh-who are you? What are you doing in my room?”
The blond boy in the black superhero-looking suit (were those cat ears? And a bell?) leapt to his feet. “Whoa, Marinette, it’s okay. I’m not here to hurt you.” He held his hands up to prove it. “You’re safe.”
Despite his efforts to appear non-hostile, she still edged away. “How do you know my name? And...” She sized him up. “What’s with the costume?”
The boy smiled. “I understand you’re confused. Let me explain.” He stepped forward, kneeling on one knee, and taking her hand. “Chat Noir, at your service, m’lady.” He kissed it and stood up. “Let me tell you what happened to you. You and your parents went on a trip to Italy for a week. When you guys came back, you unfortunately got into an accident. Your parents were fine, don’t worry, but you hit your head pretty hard. Fortunately, I was nearby and saw what happened. I was able to get you to safety and use a healing Miraculous on you to heal your wounds. Then I brought you home and here we are.”
“Miraculous?”
“Don’t worry about it. All that matters is that you’re safe and so I’ve done my job.” He winked and two-finger saluted the confused girl.
“Wait, wait. But... that still doesn’t explain who you are. Am I supposed to know you or something? Why are you dressed like some kind of superhero?”
“Simple. I am one. I even have powers and everything. Cool, right?”
“Uh... sure.” She relaxed slightly but still eyed the boy carefully. “Hold on. Since when are there superheroes in Paris?”
He sat at the edge of her sofa gingerly. “What’s the last thing you remember?”
“I...” She thought back, but the latest memory that resurfaced in her head didn’t make any sense with what she’s just been told. “There was some kind of... stone monster that sounded like Ivan? They sent us all home and then...” Her eyes widened. “I don’t remember! It’s all a blur after that.” She looked at Chat in alarm. “What’s going on?”
He smiled sadly. “That happened three years ago, Marinette. It seems the accident gave you amnesia.”
“What?” She reached up to touch her head gently. “But... I don’t feel anything! How?”
“The physical damage to your body may have been completely healed. But unfortunately, it cannot reverse side effects like memory loss.” He looked at her with a cryptic softness in his gaze. She wasn’t sure what to make of it. She was the one who was apparently missing a significant chunk of her memory, yet he looked at her with the eyes of a person mourning a significant, personal loss. The eyes of someone attending the funeral of a loved one.
Before she could try to make sense of the emotion displayed in his eyes, however, he looked away.
“I’m so sorry, Marinette.”
Stunned, the girl was silent. She wasn’t sure what to process first.
“So... you’re telling me that three years of my life are just... gone?”
“Well, I wouldn’t say gone entirely, no.” Chat looked back at her, but his expression had changed. Instead of the peculiar sadness she had noticed moments ago, there was nothing strange hiding in his features anymore, which she found even stranger. “You did live through those years, that hasn’t changed. You just don’t have any recollection of them anymore. But don’t worry.” He smiled at her again. “You have awesome friends and family that will help you through everything. So don’t stress, okay? You’ll be alright.” He stood up. “I should probably get going now. Plus, your parents will want to see you.” He offered her his hand. “Will you be okay here?”
She took it, albeit hesitantly, and allowed him to help her stand. “Uh... I think so.” She looked around her room, expression solemn. Everything was so familiar, yet not. She felt like she just hopped out of a time machine. “Just a lot to get used to, that’s all. And so many things just aren’t…” She shook her head, seeming to dismiss the thought, and looked at Chat, smiling sweetly. “But thank you. For everything. Saving my life and all. I guess I owe you one?”
He chuckled. “Oh no, of course not. All part of the job.” He bowed with a flourish. “I’ll see you around. And if you need me again, I’ll be there.”
Marinette giggled. “I’ll keep that in mind.”
She watched him, pondering him carefully, as he made his way to the trapdoor serving as the exit out of her room, and as he disappeared through. Funny enough, though she didn’t recognize him at all, there was something extremely familiar about him. It was almost as if he was somehow supposed to have been a part of the memories she no longer had. But she didn’t get a chance to complete that thought before something caught her eye.
Wasn’t that wall by her desk always empty? She moved closer to conduct further inspection. Now, it was filled with photographs, all of the same boy. Blond hair, green eyes, various poses. Some appeared to be from advertisements, others from magazine covers. Others still seemed to be more casual. He was attractive, but she had no idea who he was, or if she was even supposed to know. Judging from the high-profile appearances, he wasn’t someone ordinary, like her. Maybe that was why he looked slightly familiar, despite being so unfamiliar to her. If he was some kind of celebrity, she has probably heard of him somewhere. But nothing was ringing any bells. She stared at the wall, lost in thought, too distracted by her racing mind trying to make sense of this situation she was suddenly thrown into to pay attention to much else.
Chat paused in the trap door of Marinette’s room upon noticing her attention shift to the photographs. He watched as she contemplated the wall filled with pictures of the boy he was sure was now also unfamiliar to her. If the timing is as he remembers, Marinette Dupain-Cheng met Adrien Agreste only the day after first receiving her Miraculous. This placed that event into the territory of memories affected by her amnesia. He blinked back tears for what seemed like the millionth time that day. He had lost her not only once, but twice.
Before he could allow himself to give in, he shook his head and left the room. There would be a time and a place later, but here and now was not it.
Sabine and Tom were keeping busy downstairs, but they perked up upon hearing Chat enter.
“Mr. Dupain, Mrs. Dupain-Cheng, Marinette’s awake. She’ll want to see you.” The two parents breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank you, Chat Noir,” Tom said, his large hand engulfing Chat’s in a handshake.
“Of course. And...” Chat hesitated, ears drooping sadly. “I know it will be difficult, but... please remember what we discussed. It... it was Ladybug’s last wish.” He looked down as emotions welled within him again.
The couple looked at each other, then back at the superhero. Sabine walked up to him and gently took his hands in hers.
“Don’t worry, Chat Noir.” He looked up to meet the woman’s eyes. “Everything will be alright.” Her kind smile warmed his heart, while twisting it at the same time. He was starkly and painfully reminded of how much he missed his own mother, how much he needed her comfort in that moment. He found it hard to keep his emotions at bay as Sabine brought him in for a hug.
“Fate works in mysterious ways. Don’t lose hope,” she whispered in his ear. Against his will, a tear slipped down his cheek at her words. As they pulled away, she noticed and wiped it away. He smiled weakly.
“Thank you,” he whispered, not daring to say more lest he break down in front of the Dupains. Sniffling, he gently pulled away.
“I’ll leave you with your daughter, then. I’ll see myself out through the back. It’s not safe for any of us for me to be seen here.” The parents nodded. “Thank you. For everything. I’ll be watching over you.” With that, he walked out to make his way downstairs, while the parents made their way up to Marinette’s room.
In the alley behind the bakery, Chat pulled out his communicator and pulled up a map of Paris’ alleys and back roads. There was no time to lament now. He still had a mission to complete.
Moving stealthily and keeping to the shadows, he prowled. Pausing, winding, changing trajectory and using his heightened senses to monitor his surroundings, he made sure he wasn’t being watched or followed. He could have detransformed, but he decided the advantages his powers gave him outweighed the disadvantages of strolling as Adrien through a part of the city in which he wouldn’t typically be seen.
Half an hour later, he arrived in the now-familiar alleyway, finding the now-familiar door. Checking one more time to make sure he was alone, he entered. Safely inside, he breathed a sigh of relief.
“Claws in.”
Adrien caught his kwami in his palm as the little creature was pulled out of the ring. As he slid to the floor, Plagg sat up, accepting the piece of Camembert offered to him, and looked at his holder with concern. This may have been rather uncharacteristic for Plagg, who was always the first to complain after detransformation, but even he was feeling the gravity of the situation.
“Are you okay?”
Adrien sighed. “Oh, Plagg. None of this is okay.” He glanced up to the other side of the room, where the plain black box, the reason for his journey to this place, sat looming over him. “I’m so lost. I have no idea what I’m supposed to do now, and no one around to help me.”
“Hey, what am I, rotten cheese?” Plagg finished his food with a gulp and flew up to Adrien’s eye level, energy restored. Adrien chuckled softly.
“You know what I mean.” He leaned his head back against the wall, closing his eyes. “The one person I need by my side right now is the one person in the entire city I can’t have.” He opened his eyes again to look at the dark ceiling, tears welling in his eyes once again.
“I know she did what she thought was right in her best judgement. I trust that. But it still doesn’t feel fair at all.” He looked back at Plagg, eyes red with tears. “She doesn’t even realize how lucky she is. She gets to forget. She’s the one who gets to stop being in love.” He squeezed his eyes shut again and the tears spilled over. “And I’m the one left to pick up the pieces.” Burying his face in his hands, his shoulders shook as he began to cry. “I’m the one left with the what-ifs and regrets.”
Plagg wasn’t sure how to comfort his holder. That has never been his strong suit. But seeing him cry triggered his sympathy. This was his favourite Chat Noir in a long time, after all. He settled on trying to be a comforting presence, landing on Adrien’s shoulder and giving him a hug as he let out his emotions and mourned his loss.
After a few minutes, the sobs calmed down to sniffles. Adrien wiped his eyes and took a breath.
“Whew. That felt... surprisingly good, actually.” His voice was thick. “I’ve been holding that back all day.” He turned to Plagg, who was hovering in front of him again. He gave him a pat on the head. “Thanks for being here, buddy.”
“What are kwamis for?” Plagg smiled, but then turned to look behind him. “Now, we should probably figure out what to do about that, shouldn’t we?” He pointed to the box still laying on the floor across from them. Adrien’s gaze followed.
“Yeah. You’re probably right.” He pushed off the wall and stood up before walking over to the object. He kneeled next to it to examine it.
At first glance, it was nothing special. It looked pretty much like a shoebox, plain black all around, with a glossy sheen. But upon closer inspection, Adrien could see thin, near-invisible outlines of compartments all around the sides, and a large circular one near the top. In one corner on the top face of the box, there was a small circle that looked like it was supposed to be a button. But you’d never be able to see any of this unless you looked really closely. The inconspicuous appearance seemed to be designed to look plain enough to not warrant a second look, unless you knew exactly what you were looking at.
Plagg flew all around the box, examining it himself. “Well, it doesn’t look like anything special to me.”
“That’s the point. It shouldn’t.” Adrien picked it up. The box was surprisingly light, even lighter than it was back when it still belonged to Ladybug. “We’re working in secret. No one is supposed to know that I’m in charge of the Miraculous now. I’m guessing whatever magic transferred guardianship over to me also picked up on that.”
Adrien set the box down on the floor and sat cross-legged in front of it. He found the little button in the corner he saw earlier and pushed it. A flash of green filled the small, dark room as the box began to change shape. The side compartments began to slide out one by one like the CD holders in a DVD player or computer. The circular compartment at the top rose out of the box, revealing itself as a cylinder containing more CD-like compartments. Finally, the top of the cylinder protruded a smaller one, with the top opening to reveal two special spots within. Each compartment contained a Miraculous, save for four, and each Miraculous’ kwami appeared out of it.
Adrien saw a blur of red as Tikki immediately rushed towards him. “Adrien!” She gave him a tiny kwami hug to the face. Adrien chuckled.
“Good to see you, Tikki.” He looked around at the other kwamis. “And the rest of you guys.”
Kaalki was the first to speak up. “Hello, Mr. Adrien.”
“Oh please.” He smiled. “Just Adrien is fine.”
“Very well. Hello, Just Adrien.”
He chuckled. “We’ll work on that.”
Baark spoke up. “We’re pleased to see you, Adrien. Ladybug spoke very highly of you.”
Adrien blushed. “R-really? She did?” He looked at Tikki, who nodded.
“Always. Adrien and Chat Noir both. That’s why you’re here right now.”
He smiled, but that smile dropped quickly. “I’m glad, but... what if she was wrong about me? I don’t have the slightest clue of what to do now. And she’s not here to help me through it.” He glanced over at the open box and picked up the earrings sitting at the very top, nestled in the yin spot of the yang half, right next to where his ring should be.
“Marinette chose you.” Tikki floated up to put herself at eye level with him. “She believed in you. She didn’t want anyone else to succeed her, not even Alya, her best friend and right-hand woman in all things civilian and guardian. She trusted you the most. Maybe you should trust yourself a little more too.” Adrien smiled at the kwami, clutching the jewels.
“Speaking of Alya,” Tikki continued, “I think she should be the first person you talk to. She’s been by Marinette’s side through most of the whole guardian thing. She’s now the person who probably knows the most about it in Paris.”
“Okay. You’re right.” Adrien stood up. “Let’s make a plan of action here.” The kwamis looked up at him expectantly.
“As far as I know, Marinette let you guys be free from the box. Alright. That doesn’t have to change-“ He was interrupted by a collective cheer from the small creatures. “...But you guys need to be about a hundred times more careful at my house. The people there are a lot more strict and I don’t get as much alone time as Marinette probably did. And we can’t afford to make any slip-ups whatsoever. And as for this...” He kneeled and pushed the button again to make all the compartments in the box retract and revert it back to normal. He stuffed it in the bag left over from earlier. “I’ll have to be extremely careful, but I think I can find a spot in my room to stash this where it’ll be totally safe.” He held the bag open. “Alright, guys. Get in. And not a sound, okay?” One by one, the kwamis filed inside. Tikki was the last one left. She turned to Adrien carefully.
“What are you going to do about..?” She nodded towards his hand. Of course, she was well aware of what Marinette wanted Adrien to do with them. But she also understood that he would not cope well with that decision.
He looked down at the earrings, then clutched his fist around them.
“There can only be one Ladybug in Paris,” he said, quietly but firmly. “I’m sorry, m’lady. But this is one promise to you that I’ll have to break.”
He turned to Plagg. “Looks like we’ll be stuck cataclysming akumas on our own for at least a little while. Not my favourite idea, but...” He sighed.
“What about repairing damage caused by villains?”
He looked back at Tikki. “Well, you can do that, can’t you?”
“Technically, yes.” She fidgeted. “But remember, our powers are way too unpredictable when used without a holder. And me doing that every time would cause some major mayhem.” She looked back up at him. “It’s best to find another solution in the long term.”
Adrien sighed again. “Okay. We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it. For now, I should get home. It’s been a long day. Get in, Tikki.” The kwami flew into the bag and he zipped it shut, slinging it over his shoulders. He carefully exited the building, once again keeping to the shadows.
Just before transforming, he looked up at the sky, which was beginning to redden with the first hints of a sunset.
“Bring it on, Shadowmoth.” Adrien vowed to himself then and there that he would make the villain, wherever and whoever he was, pay dearly. Ladybug, Marinette, was gone in a way that mattered. This was personal now.
“Plagg, claws out!”
[9:18 pm]
CN: it’s done
AC: i know
AC: her parents called
AC: i’m gonna go see her tomorrow
CN: guess it’s you and me now
CN: meet me here at 9 pm tomorrow
CN: [Attachment: 1 Maps Location]
CN: i need to talk to you about a few things
AC: i’ll be there
AC: meantime let’s keep things brief here
AC: meeting scheduling only
CN: agreed
CN: and
[9:23 pm]
CN: take care of her will you?
AC: chat
AC: i’m more worried about you than her
[Read 9:26 pm]