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Marinette stood nervously as Alya was buying the movie tickets. They were there with Juleka, Rose, Mylène, Ivan, Alix, and Nathaniel to watch a movie. Centi had convinced her to take the day off for herself, while she and Cat Noir kept Paris safe.
“No Centi?” Mylène asked, glancing around.
“She's not feeling well.” Juleka replied. “She's resting at home.”
“Oh, well please give her our love!”
Ivan nodded his agreement and Juleka smiled with a nod of her own. Marinette smiled at that as well - there were some perks to Juleka knowing Centi's secret identity as Bluebird. She wondered how much she knew about today? Had Centi told her she was giving Ladybug a day off?
Soon, Marinette followed Alya and the others into the cinema, chatting with her friends and settling into her seat beside Alya.
A few minutes later they were watching the previews before the movie, when there was a loud crash and the ceiling shook, causing dust to fall.
“Huh, that’s weird.” Alya said. Marinette was about to make an excuse to go check if it was an Akuma when her phone buzzed with a text.
Centsational: DW, Mr Pigeon again. Bluebird and Cat Noir have it under control.
Centsational: Enjoy the movie.
Right. Centi was being smart about how she talked about Cat and herself, just in case anyone else saw Marinette's texts.
Alya raised an eyebrow at her as she furiously texted back.
“Just Mom telling us to enjoy the movie.”
Alya smiled and turned her attention back to the screen.
Marinette: What abut Akuma?
Centsational: They can trap it, Ladybug can capture latr.
Marinette frowned. Centi didn’t usually make so many typos or use abbreviations, that was more of an Alix thing, though she was probably texting while fighting, so it made sense.
She also wasn’t entirely sure about their plan, though on the other hand that’s what Juleka had done with Bête Noire, so it should work.
There was another crash from outside, and before she even had a chance to text Centi, she had a message from her.
Centsational: We r ok. Watch the movie!!!
So Marinette did what she was told, and enjoyed the movie. It wasn't a good movie. But it was bad in that goofy, campy kind of way that looped back around to good, or at least fun.
Mostly she had fun spending time with Alya and her friends. Being around them was calming, and she could almost forget the worries which had been festering since she became the Guardian.
Every so often there would be more crashes from outside, and her phone would occasionally buzz with a text.
“Sorry, sorry! Stupid spam texts.” She hissed as she got a frown from Alix, who was perched with her arms resting on the backs of Marinette and Alya's chairs.
Alya smirked at her, which got a blush from Marinette.
“Why don’t you put it on do not disturb?”
“My parents don't like me doing that in case they need to get a hold of me.”
“Well, they know you’re with me right? If she can’t get hold of you, she can call me.”
“Good idea.”
Reluctantly Marinette did as suggested, and just hoped Centi and Cat Noir had everything under control.
***
“Remind me who’s great idea this was again?” Cat Noir asked dryly, before sneezing as a feather floated past his nose.
“Oh go spit up a hairball.” Bluebird replied grumpily.
They were currently hanging upside down, tied up in steel cables, and being carried aloft by a flock of pigeons shaped like a WWII bomber.
“Why don’t you try talking to them? You’re a bird, they’re birds.”
Bluebird rolled her eyes. It had seemed like it would be so simple letting Ladybug sit this one out. It was just Mr Pigeon afterall!
“Actually, that might not be such a dumb idea.”
“Why thank you- HEY!”
Bluebird couldn’t reach her fan, but she did manage to snag one of the pigeon feathers that was fluttering down. She charged it with her energy, then let it go, using her power to nudge it at one of the pigeons.
“I can’t believe I’m doing this…”
She closed her eyes as the makeshift Amok made contact with a tracking ring one of the pigeons had on its leg.
<Coo?> She heard through the mental link. I’m really doing this.
As she communicated to the pigeon, she heard Cat Noir snickering. The pigeon didn’t speak in words but it still had emotions to work with, as simple as they may be.
<Sentimal, you are, er, Mecha Pigeon. Mr Pigeon is a false saviour, you yearn for all pigeons to be free! Help us and set the pigeons free of his control!>
<COO!>
Cat Noir was laughing his butt off as the giant mechanical pigeon dove at Mr Pigeon.
“Oh shut up and Cataclysm these chains already. And not a word about this to Ladybug!”
***
As they left the cinema, Marinette switched do not disturb off on her phone, and her phone practically jumped from her hand with all the notifications from Centi. They got increasingly more panicked, until the last text which seemed surprisingly calm.
Centsational: All good. Waiting on the roof of the cinema whenever you’re done.
Of course, Alya insisted on chatting with her all the way home, and then she had to talk with her parents about the movie, so it was about half an hour before she was swinging back to the cinema as Ladybug.
On arrival she found a very grumpy looking Bluebird sitting on an upturned janitor’s bucket which she guessed held the Akuma. Meanwhile, Cat Noir sat off to the side with a huge grin.
And then there was the giant mechanical pigeon strutting around behind them, with a real pigeon perched triumphantly on its head.
“Er, how’d it go?” Ladybug asked as she walked up with a puzzled smile.
“Don’t ask.” Bluebird groaned.
“Is that a Sentimal?” Ladybug raised an eyebrow at the mechanical bird.
“Yep...” Bluebird said, tiredly. Ladybug could almost swear she could see bags under the other heroine's eyes, despite the blue mask.
“MADE FROM A PIGEON!” Cat Noir said, falling backwards laughing.
Ladybug stifled a laugh, and Bluebird narrowed her eyes at the feline hero.
"Shouldn't you have changed back by now?" Bluebird asked, highly irritated.
"I did. Then I came back. I wasn't going to miss seeing Ladybug's reaction."
Bluebird just said "Ugh" before turning her attention back to Ladybug.
“Can you please just purify the Akuma so I can slumber this thing already? You’d think having a mental link with a pigeon would be harmless wouldn’t you? Believe me: It’s not! All of the dumb emotions, and the cooing- oh god the cooing! It's doing my head in! And that’s without having had to retransform, and then wrangle a Sentimal with the brain of a pigeon!” She had been gesticulating wildly to illustrate her point, and now rested her face in both of her hands. “Who knew they could do so much damage in just a few minutes?”
Ladybug stifled more laughter and nodded, unslinging her yoyo and summoning a Lucky Charm, it was a bird call.
"Don't you DARE blow on that!” Bluebird jabbed a finger at her. “I've had just about ENOUGH of pigeons today, thank you." Bluebird said, grumpily, as she stood and tipped over the bucket with her foot.
“Time to de-evilize!” Ladybug flung out her yoyo and caught the Akuma. “Bye bye little butterfly.”
"Miraculous Ladybug!"
“Ugh, at last.” As the magic Ladybugs faded, Bluebird turned to the Sentipigeon, patting it on the head. “Time to Slumber, big guy.”
After the Amok had been safely stored in her fan, Bluebird waved a tired goodbye to the two heroes and headed off towards the Liberty. Once she was out of earshot, Ladybug couldn't keep a straight face, and doubled over with the laughter she had been keeping in for Bluebird's benefit.
“Bahahahahahaha, a pigeon!”
“I KNOW!” Cat Noir added, tears of laughter in his eyes as he rolled on the floor clutching her stomach.
Once he had composed himself, Ladybug sat beside Cat Noir as they watched the small dot of Bluebird hopping across rooftops.
“Can you believe it's only been two months?” Ladybug asked, not taking her eyes off of Bluebird until the other hero went out of view.
“I know what you mean.” Cat replied, and Ladybug turned to see him smiling happily. “It feels more like two years. Three, even!”
“Right? I can't imagine doing this without her anymore.” Ladybug looked across the city, noting the sun was starting to sink in the sky, before turning back to Cat. “You're not jealous, are you, kitty cat? You always liked it when it was just us.”
Cat smiled ruefully. “It feels different with her… it's more like when I'm with you. Don't get me wrong! I know she's her own person with her own style, but I dunno. She just ‘fits’.”
Cat's expression sank slightly. “Besides… I'm the reason we almost lost her at the start. If I hadn't been joking around, Mayura never would have been able to even try to-”
Ladybug shoulder-bumped him. “Hey, don't go there. We saved her, we got Duusu back, and we got a new friend!”
She lent her head on his shoulder, watching the sunlight play on the rooftops. “Everything is how it's supposed to be.”
And silently, to herself she added: ‘Thanks, Centi. For everything.’
Meanwhile, back at the Liberty, a very tired girl, who wasn't entirely an ordinary girl, collapsed on her bed, falling asleep immediately, and having dreams filled with pigeons…