The afternoon sun was directly above as the two teens reached the little Chinese shop. The lights inside were off, the only source of light came from the sun that beamed through the windows, and the sign on the door said "Sorry, we are Closed!"
"Maybe it is closed because of the Akuma attack?" Marinette suggested, but Adrien shook his head no.
"He told me if I ever needed to see him, I could just get the spare key from within the potted plant." Sure enough as soon as Adrien lifted up the potted plant; taped underneath was a small little key. "I was always confused on why he told me about the key, maybe it has something to do with the fact that he knows my identity?" Both of them just shrugged at each other, and Adrien turned the key and opened the door. The shop was pretty quiet, it didn't even seem like Master Fu was there. However far off into the backroom, where Marinette had to go to the lesson, they could hear a tea kettle start whistling.
Cautiously, both of them silently crept across the floor, peering into the room for any sign of Master Fu. But neither one of them saw him. They walked into the room, trying to stay alert of the things going on in the room. As they walked toward the stove they noticed that six nearly identical cups were placed out on a tray, with some freshly made chocolate chip cookies and several of Camembert. It took a bit of effort to keep Plagg from wanting to leave the shirt pocket, but Marinette managed. Adrien turned off the stove, and the whistling of the kennel stopped.
"Thank you for getting that," Marinette and Adrien both jumped in surprise and they turned around to see a smiling Master Fu. "I must apologize. In my old age, I've begun to move much slower. Would either one of you two heroes like a cup of tea?" Marinette and Adrien just looked at each other- unsure of what to say. "I'm sure your Kwami's are hungry, especially after having to face off against Gemini." Their Kwamis flew up and nuzzled the man's cheeks.
"It's so great to see you again Master Fu!" Tikki chirped happily.
"Thank you for all this cheeeeeeesssssseeeeee!" Plagg said zooming over to the tray and began digging into one of the rolls. Master Fu was chuckling the entire time, and Marinette and Adrien were even more confused than before.
"So, I'm guessing you two have some questions, and I will be happy to answer them but please sit down and enjoy some tea." Marinette looked over at Adrien, who just shrugged and took as seat at the table, and Marinette followed his lead. Master Fu placed the tray down in front of them, and put in tea bags and poured the hot water in. "You know you can come out," Master Fu said out of the blue. "There is no point in hiding yourself." Before either Marinette or Adrien could question Master Fu's odd behavior, a tiny lime green blur flew out into the middle of the table.
"Wayzz!" Tikki cheered. "I was wondering where you were!" She floated up and hugged him in a tight embrace. Plagg gave a weak wave as he was slipping into a food coma from all the cheese he ate. Tikki removed herself form Wayzz's form, and Wayzz did a bow to the confused teens.
"Hello, I am Wayzz. I'm please to meet your acquaintance." Adrien gave a bow in repose, and Marinette sloppily copied the gesture. Wayzz gave a quick smile, and went down to join the other two Kwami. Master Fu looked over to the two with a big smile.
"So you are a Miraculous Holder too?" The question slipped from Adrien's mouth before his mind could stop himself from saying it. Master Fu's expression did not, he even laughed a bit. Marinette looked back between the two of them, waiting for his response.
"Indeed," Master Fu said stroking his beard. "My partner, Wayzz, and I use to form a great turtle warrior, but now I am known as the Great Guardian: protector of the Miraculous." The two teens had their mouths agape, and could not utter a single phrase. However Master Fu continued on without delay. "For many decades, I have been keeping this jewels protected and preserved, until worthy people- like yourselves- to be given such great power and responsibility. In my many years, I have only made one mistake..."
"Hawk Moth..." Marinette finished his thought. Master Fu's smile disappeared for a moment as he nodded solemnly, and he continued telling his tale.
"Many years ago the last Holder of the Butterfly Miraculous was defeated in battle, and his Miraculous had gone missing. It was not until a few months ago when Wayzz had told me that he felt that the Butterfly Miraculous was reactivated, but it had a dark aura around it. That is when I took immediate action, and recruited you two to help defeat him. I only met you two only once that day, but I sensed great heroes within you two, and I also felt a powerfully strong connection between you two. Something much greater than just partners and friends..." Marinette and Adrien both looked at each other; blushes surrounded their cheeks, and Marinette turned to Master Fu.
"W-what do y-you mean by... by that?" Master Fu chuckled at her reaction, as he expected she would.
"Well, picking a Ladybug and Chat isn't one to be taken lightly. The two must be completely compatible. And you two, much like previous Ladybugs and Chat Noirs, were made for each other." Their blushes turned to a deep shade of red, neither one of them could look at each other for awhile, and they wanted to both become puddles and evaporate. Plagg busted out laughing at the two embarrassed teens, and Tikki and Wayzz; both shot him angry looks. Master Fu laughed once again and his full smile returned to his face.
"Perhaps I said more than what was needed, but I felt like you needed to know. So I will move onto the real reason why I brought you here." Marinette and Adrien turned their attention to Master Fu, their blushes lessened slightly. "I'll get right down to the point: Wayzz and I cannot revert what Gemini did to you." The two appeared to be disappointed, but Master Fu held up his hand. "However, it does not mean we can't offer our help." Wayzz nodded in agreement after taking a sip of his tea.
"Yes. My master and I have learned many things about them from merely watching you two fight Gemini. As you well know most Akumas use the item that was transformed with them as a weapon. And at first glance the bear seemed to only serve as away for Hawk Moth to control them both, however there is more to it."
"During your more recenet battle we were able to confirm that they draw upon their physic abilities through the akumatized item. Even if you are unable to break the item, just removing it from their person should disable their powers; making it easier to defeat them." Suddenly at that moment, a phone rang from the wall. It was one of those old wired phones that was mounted on the wall and only had buttons to dial. Fu excused himself and got up to answer the phone.
"Hello?... Yes 'he' is right here with me... Well there was an Akuma attack and he felt safer here than at the school, you know how it is always being targeted... Oh does 'he', well I'm sure after 'his' tea he can... Oh you are already on your way?...Yes, I understand. 'He' will be ready to be picked up right as you get here... No problem... good-day." Master Fu placed the phone back into place, and turned to Marinette. "That was Nathalie, she was wondering where you were, since you weren't at school. I'm sure you heard me cover for you so that part you don't have to worry about. However you should probably go out and wait for her, I would not want you to get in trouble." Marinette nodded and she got up to leave with Tikki, but Master Fu called out to her. "Wait, I have one more piece of information to give to both of you." Marinette stopped short of the door and turned back to Master Fu. "I know that you are in unfamiliar territory, using weapons and having abilities that are very different from your own," From outside they could hear the sound of a car horn, telling them they had to hurry up. "However, don't focus on that, just focus on each other's abilities and powers." The two looked at each other, both returning a blank stare. The car horn blared again, and Master Fu began to shoo them away. "It will all make sense later, now go."
"I'll follow you out," said Adrien getting up, along with Plagg, to join Marinette. Her face got a little red, but it didn't stop her from continuing with Adrien by her side. They made it to the front door, the limo was parked just out in the front. Before she left, Marinette turned to Adrien.
"Soooo... umm... t-thanks for, wa-walking me to the-the car." Adrien smiled at her, which made her face go even redder.
"It's no problem," Marinette returned with her own smile. "So it looks like I was right." Marinette's expression changed to confusion.
"What do you mean?" Adrien folded his arms with a smirk.
"That we were absolutely made for each other." Marinette's face shifted to a bright shade of pink. She looked down at her feet, keeping her hands close to her body.
"D-do y-y-you... re-really th-think s-so...?" Adrien had sneakily walked over to her, and he lifted up her chin so she was looking right up at him. Adrien nodded his head.
"Of course I do Mari, I wouldn't have said it if I didn't mean it." Marinette's eyes were wide open, her mouth was slightly agap, and she remained frozen in place. Adrien chuckled to himself. "You know I never realized how cute you looked like that. It's one of the few things I do remember about that Valentines Day: you made a face exactly like that when I tried to tell you how much I love you." Heat began radiating off Adrien's face as well, he just realized he confessed his love to her. Marinette's face was like mercury in a thermometer, turning completely red.
"I-I lo-" The sound of the door opening behind her stopped her mid-sentence. Nathalie had entered, wearing an annoyed expression. Both the teens stiffened up like they were caught taking cookies from the cookie jar.
"Adrien!" Marinette and Adrien answered and both of them chuckled awkwardly. Nathalie either didn't notice or didn't care. "I've been waiting out here for a few minutes, I would much rather not be late and displease your father even more." Marinette turned and waved goodbye to Adrien, and began walking towards the door. However, both Nathalie and her were surprised to see Adrien blocking the door way, holding his arms out. He dropped them shortly after, and rubbed the back of his neck.
"Sorry but I wanted to... see if maybe I could tag along?" Nathalie furrowed her brows, almost as if she were examining him. Finally she spoke up.
"I remember who you are: you are the creator of the feathered derby hat. You are Marinette." Adrien nodded with a hopeful smile. "Well usually we don't let visitors watch the production..." Marinette looked over to Nathalie, and she pulled out some of that confident Ladybug demeanor.
"But you can trust 'Marinette', she won't get in the way and besides it could prove useful to her; to you know, experience for the fashion business." Nathalie looked like she was gonna say something but quickly thought it over.
"Is she going to 'behaved' like your friend Chloe?" Marinette almost burst out laughing at the implication that Nathalie called Chloe her friend. But she held it back and she managed to keep her voice steady.
"Yes 'she' will, 'she' is much better than Chloe." Nathalie looked back and forth between the two teens and her phone, checking something on it. Finally, she sighed, putting down her phone,
"Fine, Marinette can come along with us." Marinette and Adrien beamed smiles at each other. Nathalie sighed again and pushed the two excited teens through the door. "Yes, yes its fun and exciting... now come on, we are going to be late!" Nathalie shoved them into the back seat and she joined the Gorilla in the front seat. She paid the two no mind as she focused on finishing up last minute preparations for the re-shoot, and said two couldn't stop smiling back and forth at each other.
They didn't talk but the silence wasn't awkward, it felt light-heart and they were just enjoying each others company. Without either of them knowing it; both their hands found each other's, and their faces instantly burned up. Marinette and Adrien glanced over at each other, though it only made their blushes worst than they already were, but instead of looking away they just just smiled at each other. Adrien gathered up the courage and took the initiative to fully embrace her hand. Once again both their blushes intensified, but they also didn't break eye contact. Unfortunately the moment only lasted for a few minutes as they were dragged out of the car, and Marinette was brought into the dressing room, leaving Adrien outside all by himself.
It felt kinda nice not having people crowd around him, getting him ready to sit and pose for hours. Though in turn it made him feel bad for Marinette, she had no training and she isn't use to this. Adrien stared up at the door thinking to himself. 'I sure hope she is doing okay...'
"Ms. Dupain-Cheng," Adrien jumped several feet into the air by the voice that had come up behind him. He turned to see his father looking down at him, his face held no expression, only just his stone, buisness face. Adrien blinked himself back into reality and offered a small chuckle.
"Oh, its just you fa-Mr. Agreste. I wasn't expecting to see you here." Usually his father didn't bother to come down to the photo-shoots, let alone a re-shoot. One of Gabriel's eyebrows were raised up slightly, giving Adrien a quizzical look.
"I was just about to say the same to you. Nathalie told me that Adrien had brought a friend with him to today's re-shoot. Of course I had to see if it was that Chloe girl, or that supposed 'friend' that Adrien hangs around with, against my will of course." Adrien's fist tightened up unknowingly, he did not like how his father just talked about Nino like that. 'How can he just talk about Nino like that!' Adrien took a deep breath and let his fists go. 'Come on don't let him get to you, Adrien.' Gabriel didn't seem to pay much mind as he talked on. "But I am glad to see that it was you and not either of them." Adrien looked over at his father with confusion.
"What do you mean by that?" Adrien asked. Gabriel readjusted his glasses before answering.
"You are the type of person I want around my son." Adrien's face only became more confused, so Gabriel took out his tablet and began reading off of it. "Well, aside from your daily tardiness, you are a bright student, not quite top honors but nothing below a B. You are the class representative, and you are incredibly talented. I've been keeping my eye on you, that's why I have this file on you. You have the potential to be a great designer one day, maybe even one that could parallel or even be better than my own." Adrien was completely shocked about hearing all this from his father. 'I've never heard father talk about anyone like that... not even about myself.' Adrien cleared his throat, pushing away any jealous feeling that began to accumulate, and tried responding like Marinette as best he could.
"W-wow sir, that-that is really nice of you..." Gabriel simply looked back at him, as if he didn't say any of those nice things. He put away his tablet, and extended his hand out to him. Adrien hesitated for a moment, but eventually he took his faher's hand and shook it firmly. As their hands removed, Gabriel began walking away.
"I hope to see you again, Ms. Dupain-Cheng. Enjoy the photo-shoot." And just like that he was off, probably going off to check on some other part for the re-shoot. Adrien sat down and lamented on the encounter with his father; he was going on a rollercoaster of emotions and thoughts. 'Well, on the bright side, at least my father likes Marinette. But does he like her more than me? What am I saying, I'm just blowing all this way out of proportion.' Adrien took a couple of deep breaths. 'At least my father approves, I wouldn't have to worry about telling my father that I like Marinette.' Adrien smiled to himself, 'Oh man, Marinette is gonna be so happy to hear what my father said.'
A few minutes later, Marinette finally came out, dressed in a new purple sweatshirt and a matching pairs of shoes with a butterfly logo on them. The two barely were giving a passing glance as Marinette was rushed over to the spot where she had to pose. Adrien followed closely behind and sat off to the side, giving her an encouraging smile. During the photo-shoot, if Marinette wasn't able to pull off exactly what the photographer wanted or she was feeling down, she'd just look over at Adrien and see him, and all her sadness would float away. Adrien had overheard the photographer talking to Nathalie, he sounded very upset about something.
"What do you mean the female model can't make it!" Nathalie seemed unfazed by the clear irritation of the photographer's voice.
"She apparently got food poisoning, and is currently getting her stomach pressed." The photographer face palmed and slowly dragged it down over his face. He closed his eyes, taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly.
"Well, we can't delay this again, or Mr. Agreste will have both of our heads. We need to get a girl that will fit the matching outfit, and can model." Adrien took this opportunity and walked his way over to them.
"Excuse me?" Their attention was drawn towards Adrien, Nathalie remained stern but the photographer had a confused expression. "I couldn't help over hearing the need for a female model. And while 'I' am not a professional, I think I can fit the bill as an extra." Nathalie said nothing, looking unamused, but the photographer looked him over. After awhile he threw his arms up into the air with a shrug.
"Yeah sure, we don't have any other options so I guess you'll do. Nathalie can you take..." Before Adrien could reply with "Marinette" the photographer continued. "Can you take this girl to the dressing room and get her ready for our next session, please?" Nathalie nodded once and began walking towards the extra dressing room. Adrien was well aware that when she'd just walk off like that, she wanted you to follow her. Adrien followed Nathalie over to one the trailers. She led him inside, but she stayed by the door.
"Please wait for us to bring you what you will be wearing, and please don't ruin them in anyway possible." Nathalie left without another word, closing the door behind her and leaving Adrien and Tikki there, by themselves. They talked for a little while; Tikki was excitedly telling Adrien all about the one time Marinette wanted to join him for a photo-shoot in the park after defeating Stormy Weather. Alya had to do so much to save a spot for Marinette, but in the end the photographer chose Manon over her. Adrien started laughing about the whole endeavor.
"If it meant so much to her, I probably could've talked to the photographer about choosing Marinette." Tikki giggled and hugged his cheek.
"Oh Adrien, you are so kind hearted. Marinette would love to hear you say that." Adrien smiled at the little Kwami and softly rubbed the top of her head. Suddenly there was a knock on the door and Tikki retreated inside the purse. Adrien let the people in and they handed him a sealed bag that, from what he could make out, was: a purple and black varsity-style, zip up jacket with the "Gabriel" butterfly logo. The assistant also placed a ball-cap, that had a matching logo, on top of the bag of clothes.
"I've been given specific instructions to not let you put on these things until after the make-up artist are done preparing you to be in front of cameras. They will be here shortly," the assistant added before exiting. Adrien put down the clothes on a chair and waited. Soon after, Adrien had his make-up done, it was a little different than what he was use to. He looked at his reflection in the mirror when they were done, and Tikki joined him once they left.
"Wow," Tikki said breathlessly. "You look stunning." Adrien nodded in agreement as he shifted his head around to get more angles.
"It is really Marinette who is stunning." Tikki gave a light hearted giggled at the comment. After a moment of thinking, Adrien added on, "You know, Marinette really doesn't need any make-up. I've always found her stunning without any." Tikki nudged his arm.
"Marinette is right, you are a big flirty dork." Adrien laughed, and stood up, closing his eyes and waited patiently while Tikki helped change his clothes. Tikki hid within an inside pocket of the jacket, and Adrien walked out of the trailer and made his way over to Marinette. Immediately, Adrien and Marinette where being asked to pose and act in certain scenarios so that way the pictures they were taking appeared more natural. Adrien personally found that this was, by far, the best photo-shoot he had ever done. This was such a rare time that he didn't have to fake his way through it all, he was honestly having such a good time with Marinette, he never wanted it to stop. Unfortunately it did, and when it was all over Mr. Agreste looked almost pleased.
"Well done the two of you. Ms. Dupain-Chang, I must admit, you had me surprised out there, and usually I don't consider surprises good, but for you I see that as a good thing." Gabriel turned away and began walking away, but not before turning his head back and adding, "I look forward to seeing more surprises from you. Good day." And once again, Gabriel left without another word, leaving the other two speechless- for different reasons.
The next few minutes went by in a blur as Adrien and Marinette were whisked away, getting make-up off and disrobing, and suddenly they are in the back seat of Adrien's limo. With the stress and craziness of the photo-shoot behind them, they are able to relax a bit as they made their way towards Marinette's house. Adrien got out once the car stopped in front of the door, but he didn't go in right away. Instead, he stood there waving at Marinette, who in return waved back, and neither of them stopped until they lost sight of each other.
Marinette waited until she was in Adrien's bedroom to pull out her phone. She saw that Adrien had already texted her, and it set butterflies to pound against her stomach. Marinette flopped down on the bed and hurriedly opened the text message.
(Adrien)- 'Hello my dazzling Lady. I much enjoyed our time together.'
(Marinette)-'Me too, my gorgeous kitty.'
(Adrien)- 'So what were you trying to say to me earlier before the photo-shoot? I'm dying to know ;p' Marinette fidgeted almost uncomfortably, and she debated on actually telling him. Finally she broke down and wrote the words. She closed her eyes as she hit sent.
(Marienette)- 'I was gonna say that I love you too' Adrien replied almost instantly, and Marinette braced herself for whatever his response was.
(Adrien)- 'I'm so extremely happy that you said that. Because after we get back into our bodies I would like to properly ask you out.' Marinette nearly squealed and woke up the entire block, but instead she held it back and tried to calmly respond.
(Marinette)- 'You have no idea how long I've waited for you to ask me out!'
(Adrien)- 'Likewise my Lady <3.'
(Marinette)-'I am glad that Master Fu told us about, you know, that we are made for each other.'
(Adrien)- 'I am too, it gave me a reason to reveal my true feelings for you.'
(Marinette)- 'Me too, but he also said something else that has me stumped.'
(Adrien)- 'Oh what is that Bugaboo?'
(Marinette)-' Said something about focusing on each other's abilities and not our own. Do you have any idea what he could mean?'
(Adrien)- 'Not a clue, but I guess we will find out about it in the morning. I ean we can't really do anything about it now. It is gonna get dark out, and I won't be able to see out without my night vision.'
(Marinette)-'You are right. Good night, my Prince.'
(Adrien)-'Good night my Princess.'