ミ★ ✩𝔻𝕒𝕣𝕜𝕖𝕤𝕥 ℕ𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕥, 𝔹𝕝𝕦𝕖𝕤𝕥 𝕊𝕥𝕒𝕣𝕤✩ ★彡

𝑇𝑒𝑒𝑛𝑎𝑔𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝐴𝑟𝑒 𝐻𝑜𝑟𝑚𝑜𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝐶𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒𝑠. 𝐹𝑜𝑟𝑔𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑚*

"Ow-w Plagg, cut it out."

"I'm not going to sit around and have you crying all night! Your mother might be understanding about your disposition, but I'm a merciless fighting machine that craves the blood of my enemies," he roared. "Feeeeeeeeeeed me."

"Okay, okay. What do you want to eat then?"

"What do you have?" Plagg grinned in excitement as he rubbed his stubs together.

"Sugar cookies and shortbreads," she said as she pointed to the pink jar that sat on her bookshelf.

Plagg phased into the jar and pushed it open from the inside.

"There's nothing but crumbs," he sighed in disappointment as he watched the blue head collapse onto the bed.

"Hey, get up!" Plagg demanded.

"Buzz off!" She spat as she swatted him with a pillow.

The black cat crossed his arms and pouted. Maybe he was going to buzz off by descending into the floor to find food.

It was a bit more than a humble bakery. This place looked pretty big with lots of delicious delights to fill his tummy. The cat headed for the tray of freshly baked hot cross buns that alluded to him. They were a little hot, but the kwami could take it.

'One smallish bite wouldn't hurt,' he thought as his jaws attached themselves to the pastry only to find out that he didn't have the bite strength he previously had when he was with Adrien.

Stuck hanging off the side of a steaming bun, he blew hot breaths on it just as voices could be heard entering the kitchen from the living room area.

"Won't you just talk to her a little, Sabine?" the male's voice pleaded as his wife held onto the countertop.

The black cat, worried at the prospect of being caught, dangled completely still. If he really did get discovered, he could pull off a rat in the kitchen, right? A rat-cat but a rat nonetheless.

"And what if I say something cruel again? I can't stand to hear her sob it out," the woman said in a worried tone as her shoulders slumped down.

Plagg rolled his eyes. She was hardly sobbing. She was ready to heat blast a hole into Alya the next time they crossed paths.

Mr. Dupain-Cheng walks up behind her and places his hands on her shoulders, and begins massaging them.

"How's our perfect little doughnut going to come around when you don't tell her everything?" The large man said as his bushy eyebrows knitted themselves.

Plagg was getting curious. Maybe he could get a meal and some information from his little kitchen trip.

"Yes, yes, but I'm telling you that she won't be ready to handle the truth just yet. It's everything she's ever wanted as a kid, but now I'm not so sure."

"Come on, I'm sure she would be over the moon."

"Oh, don't lie to yourself. You've noticed it, too. Her baggy eyes and the late-night talks with a friend I've never even seen around town, yet they order cookies and biscuits like crazy. She has run through all the excuses now."

Plagg's ears stood as attention as he continued to dangle from the pastry. Geez, her mother was borderline on discovering who Ladybug was.

"It's normal teen stuff. I mean, I used to sneak out of the house to see you?"

Plagg nodded. 'That's right, lead her away from her suspicions.'

"We were young and dumb then," she paused before giving her husband a quick check. "Well, you are still immature, but I loved you for that sweetheart."

"Okay, so she's having a hard time, and she hasn't told any of us about it, but it doesn't mean we can just peep into her life and pick her friends for her."

Sabine bit her lip.

"I-I don't want her to spend time worrying so much about her future. I was almost overjoyed to see her name in the newspaper last week. For her to be entering into design competitions was just so relieving. I thought she was getting better. Yet she hadn't even come to talk to us once about out. Alya might have forced her into it."

"Now, how could you possibly know that-"

"Tom, do you remember the incident about the mayor's daughter eating a turkey sandwich dipped in purple brine?"

"Vaguely," he hummed.

"Well, I saw that girl move my jar the day that it happened, and this morning, my jar was moved again."

'So that's why I felt so sleepy when I ate those sandwiches,' Plagg thought.

Tom wore a sad face, and Sabine sighed.

"I got up the stairs faster than I've ever had. When I say that she was there, I meant it. I didn't even hear the front entrance bell ring Tom. She could have taken some brine and something more. What if she hurt Marinette over something?"

"Well, she's home and safe now," he said warmly as he hugged her from behind.

"I don't want her friends to influence her into ruining her future. She has a choice to choose who she wants to be."

Plagg's ears dropped. He wished Adrien would have heard something like that. All he ever heard was wear this and wear that. Marinette was certainly living a luxury. He was really in a new environment in the same old world. He had never been with a guardian who had a family that valued them highly out of love. He was too hesitant to let the girl use his powers, worried that he was unworthy of her world.

"I know, I know. If all else fails, she could always be with us."

"You know it can't be that way forever, Tom," she sighed before placing a hand on top of her husband's. "She just needs the right people around her."

"Then let's give her space to decide what she wants. I'm sure whatever she'll do, it will bring her happiness."

Plagg was surprised. They seemed to have faith in their own daughter.

A weak smile overtook her face.

"Even if she answers the call to flour and yeast."

"Tom, you clown," her mother chuckled before turning around in her husband's arms to playfully slap his broad chest. "If she comes to me, I'll listen."

"That's after you've chewed her ears out, right?" He joked as he placed a small peck on her cheek.

"I won't bite that hard," she grinned before walking over to the tray of buns on the counter.

Plagg pulled as hard as he could to take one more bite before whizzing off to the stair's unseen. Maybe he could give the girl a chance to prove herself like she needed, with a little push, of course.

Mrs. Dupain-Cheng took out a small china plate and placed a few of the cinnamon delights into a plate.

"I'll bring these up to her," she said before putting on her warmest smile." How do I look?"

"Flustered," he teased as her cheeks tinted pink.

"Well, it will do for now," she said as her worries melted with each step she took up to her daughter's bedroom.

Maybe a little faith could take her where she needs to be.