Not Alone: A Miraculous Ladybug Story

Chapter 15

 Adrien followed Marinette into the sparse apartment, with Alya and Nino walking behind him, but more hesitantly. He felt bad that the two were suddenly thrust into the middle of all this without warning or choice. He wanted to explain, give them a chance to to back out. They had been nice to help him look into his mom's disappearance, but this was quickly spiraling into a more dangerous situation. As much as he wanted Alya's canny intelligence and Nino's calm grounding, he didn't want his friends to get sucked into something that could hurt them.

Marinette was a different situation. She almost had as much at stake as he did, and he wouldn't insult her and their partnership of the last year by insinuating she couldn't protect herself. As little as he wanted her to put herself into a dangerous position, Marinette could handle better than he could anything that the world threw at them. They were a team, but despite what their juxtaposition of her reluctance and his ready embrace of their roles as superheroes might suggest, Marinette had proved how born for this life she was. Her hesitation may have made her appear less than graceful at first, but his eagerness led to stupidity and only because of her cautious approach to the role did they not fail that first attack. He knew she was still uncertain and insecure at times, but in the heat of the battle, under pressure when it really mattered, Marinette had always been logical and decisive: the calm in the storm.

He grabbed her hand again, and she laced her fingers with his almost instinctively, as if they'd been doing it all their lives. Please don't let me screw this up, he prayed to whatever god was listening. Adrien may seem picture perfect in daily life, but he was keenly aware that there was nothing ironic about the fact that he had been chosen for the destructive miraculous. He often felt like a wrecking ball moving through life. He just did it behind the scenes in his personal life, not the physical wrecking ball that Marinette sometimes resembled.

Master Fu had placed Duusu on a plush mat in the center of his studio, and after performing whatever inspection he had been doing, he looked up at Marinette and Adrien. Instead of resting on them though, his eyes focused in on Tikki and Plagg, who had been hovering in between the two, above their huddled shoulders.

"She has gone through a shock, and submersed herself in a forced stupor to protect the miraculous. We are very indebted to whoever protected her and the miraculous, or else she would have been lost to us."

"It was my father," Adrien interjected, "Hawkmoth."

"Ah, so you know."

Adrien just gaped at him, fury burning at his collar and threatening to overwhelm him. "You knew!" he sputtered indignantly. "My father is being controlled by some psychopath that has my mother god-knows-where, and you just sat by and did nothing? You coward!"

Adrien was visibly shaking, and Marinette moved to hold his hand with both of her's, grounding him, but one look at her face and he saw his anger reflected, albeit to a lesser degree. Surprisingly, this calmed him. He wasn't alone. He wasn't being irrational. He glanced back at Alya and Nino to see similar expressions, and took a calming breath.

Master Fu, looked around the room, observing all of them individually and as a group. Then he smiled. It was bittersweet, tinged with a bit of grief.

"I see I chose well," he muttered to himself before continuing to address Adrien directly. "I'm not aware to all of what you speak, but yes. I gave your father his miraculous, and your--well, perhaps that is for later. I discovered something had gone wrong, but had lost all contact with your father and Nooro. I can advise when called on, but I am merely the keper of the miraculous, after they make their choice...well, I can't revoke that. The miraculous must be given up willingly." Fu looked at Adrien, and he felt his temper start to abate. Fu continued, "When it became clear that the miraculous was being used for the wrong purpose, the core two called to me. They were ready to be wielded again, and so I followed them to whom they led." He stopped and smiled fondly at Marinette and Adrien. "I know you both had your doubts, but you are who you need to be, and the miraculous are never wrong, even about your father, my boy." Adrien began to protest, but Fu held up a hand to stop him. "It is never wrong."

"Because he is only protecting his family. They're manipulating him through his love for Adela and Adrien." Marinette piped in, understanding Fu. "Love is never corrupt, but it can be used to corrupt others."

"Yes my dear," he looked down, sadly at Duusu. "We can save her. Duusuu will no doubt have valuable information about this quest you four have undertaken." He looked around knowingly. They had said nothing about their search for Adrien's mother. Either Fu knew more than he was letting on, or was a bit miraculous himself.

"No," he said again. "The miraculous is never wrong. It chose you. It chose your father." he paused, deliberating.

"It chose your mother."