Work Text:
"Emma." Adrien whispered in a secretive tone. "Follow me..."
Emma was sprawled out with her legs slung over the arm of the couch. Dark hair pulled into a messy bun, green eyes focused on the bright screen of her smartphone. At the sound of his voice, Emma raised a brow and looked up at her father. "This better not be some birthday surprise. You know how much I hate surprises!" She glanced back at her phone and sent a quick message to her boyfriend. "You know I already have plans with my friends."
Adrien chuckled softly to himself, fighting the urge to roll his eyes at her. Teenagers...teenage girls to be exact. "It is most definitely a birthday surprise...but I think you'll like it."
Emma scoffed, not quite as successful as her father at holding off the eye roll. "Yeah, sure, Dad."
She doubted his surprise would be anything exciting, but she followed her father all the same. She was turning 18, and would be graduating school soon. She was set to move out and start University in the fall. Her father failed at hiding the anxiousness he felt as Graduation day approached.
Maybe he was starting to feel a little of that ‘empty nest syndrome’. Poor man wasn’t getting any younger. Emma thought with an inner smirk. She’d been waiting for some type of mid-life crisis. He was due one.
Adrien led her through the familiar house, not as big as his childhood home, but spacious enough to accommodate growing children as well as the various hobbies of both parents. Emma noted that he was leading her towards one of her mother’s workrooms.
"Here we are."
Emma rarely entered this part of the house anymore. Not since her mother had first attempted (and failed) to teach her the basics of sewing and design. Emma’s talents definitely lay elsewhere. Photography. She’d already won several contests, including her award winning shot of Ladybug and Chat Noir literally crawling out of a black hole created by Nexus. The photo had also earned her a firm conversation with her parents about safety and Akuma. Emma had avoided these rooms for years. Visiting to deliver messages between her mother and father or to make sure that her mother did not work past lunch or dinner time (a common occurrence).
She glanced around the room, noting that it had become storage in recent years. Boxes of accessories were stacked in the corner. Mannequins with seemingly random designs were scattered around the room. She recognized a few from recent events. One wall was lined with dresses on hangers. No rhyme or reason in their assortment. An old sewing machine and kit were tucked away on a table in a corner. It looked older than she was, and had been well used. Looking closer at the table caused a small smile to creep up on her face.
Emma's voice was full of childlike wonder as she stepped forward. “Heh. So this is where mom put all my old plushies.” Arranged across the top the table was a neatly stacked pile of old plushies from her younger years. Each still in pristine condition. They looked brand new, just like when her mother had first made them for her. Emma knew that she must have been an infant when her mother gave her these.
Her father smiled widely. “So…what do you think of the surprise?”
“You mean…these are it?” The awe in her voice betrayed her. “I’m a little…old for these, don’t you think?”
“Well…maybe not.” Adrien snatched the phone from her hands. "Here, let's take some pictures...for memories. We can send them to your mother. She is sorry she couldn’t be here, but she had other business to attend to."
“On my birthday?”
“What can I say, your mother is a busy person.” He was smirking at her, and it was slightly unnerving. “So come on! Let’s take some pictures for that FaceSnapGram thing you use so much.”
Emma laughed out loud. Her dad liked to pretend to be much older than he was. At least this time he didn’t say that in front of her friends – how embarrassing!
Adrien handed her several toys. "Remember…be gentle with them. You have had them your entire life. They are older than you think."
She took a minute to admire them. It was nostalgic. Holding her old plushies. They still felt a little warm. That had always been one of her favorite things. She remembered as a child, she would imagine they could talk and move. Even fly. As she got older, she realized they weren’t real. Still, she could almost hear their voices in her mind, like a bittersweet memory. Picking up the black cat and white rabbit, she smiled fondly. She nuzzled them close, and then heard a click from her phone’s camera.
Grinning at her dad, she gave a few poses, pairing some of them up as she would have as a child, snuggling them all together in her arms, then posing them all together on the table. Her father snapped pictures for her. "Check them. I’m not the photographer you are. I can try again if they are out of focus.”
Emma nodded. A well of excitement formed within her, and she couldn’t wait to scroll through and select the best pictures for her ‘FaceSnapGram’. However, upon opening the gallery, she froze...
"Wait... there's...something wrong with the pictures." She hesitated. The pictures were in focus. He had done an excellent job keeping the camera steady, but in each and every picture, the plushies were gone. Absent. Not there. Invisible? She laughed nervously, "Funny, dad. What did you do? Did you get Max to hack the phone or something?"
He shook his head. "No. I didn't. Try my phone."
"This is crazy." She looked at the phones and plushies with nervous curiosity. Sure enough. At every angle. Even when she wasn’t recording, the plushies were not on the screen. “What…what is this?” She whispered.
"I think... it's time I tell you about Ladybug and Chat Noir." Adrien smiled as he picked up the black cat plushie, handling it with gentle care.
Emma glanced back at the plushies. "You mean the heroes of Paris? What do they have to do with anything?" She asked as she sat across from her father.
"Plagg... Claws out."