Emma’s step had a little extra bounce in it that day, her heart filled with the thought of having her first real chance of getting her parents back together - and another step closer to going back home.
Though, she wouldn’t have been honest with herself if she said that a tiny part of her wanted to stay in the Paris of the past forever. Here, she was Emma Bisset - a person with a clean slate. She didn’t have to deal with the looks of pity - the whispers. Here, her scar was just a cool feature she got when she fell off her bike. There, it was her identity.
“Hey! Emma!” It was Lila, waving and smiling like they were best friends. Emma paused by the top of the stairs - wondering if she had just imagined her last encounter with Lila, or if the girl was on heavy medication.
Lila didn’t seem to notice Emma’s confusion as she walked closer - her smile growing with each step. “You’re so clumsy, Emma.” She only said. “Oops!” She extended her arms, her hands pushing Emma back, and her bluebell eyes widened as she felt the sensation of falling.
I’m so dead.
But when she opened her eyes, she was standing. Emma looked back down at her feet in shock, looking back up at Lila, who was wearing a horrified expression - but she wasn’t looking at Emma, but at the person who had caught her: Adrien Agreste. Emma’s father.
“Em?” Adrien asked, knocking at his daughter’s bedroom door. “Come in.” Emma replied somewhat solemnly, fingering the black swan choker at her neck. It would be a while before she saw him again.
Adrien opened the door, his smile quickly fading as his gaze immediately went to Emma’s neck - only this time he wasn’t looking at the scar, but at the choker that lay upon it. “Where did you get that? It’s dangerous.” He said, but then his gaze went to the suitcase beside Emma’s bed, and his face paled. “Emma. Please take that off.” His voice was robotic, his face expressionless.
“Bunnyx needed help.” She only said, looking up at her father. “‘We go where we’re needed’, right Dad?” She quoted him. “That’s different.” Adrien insisted, his face terse. “Emma. Don’t go. Okay? Don’t go on your mission.”
“I have to go. She said that I’m the only one who could do it.” Emma said, frowning as blood began dropping from her nose. “And it's not like I have much of a choice. Even if I don’t go - I’m going to die anyway.”
“No, you aren’t.” Adrien said determinedly. “Your mom and I...we’ll find a way. We always have.” Emma laughed darkly. “You know as well as I do that Mom’s miraculous ladybugs can’t fix everything.” Adrien flinched, his face filled with desperation. “Don’t go. We love you, okay? We can’t lose you also!”
“You won’t, Dad. You’ll never lose me.” She vowed. Bunnyx’s portal came into view. “You have to go, Kitten Bug.” Bunnyx said, and Emma looked back at her Dad. “I’ll come back soon, okay?”
“Emma, don’t do this.” He pleaded as Marinette raced in - observing the scene. “Emma! No!” She cried in terror. “I love you!” Emma said before she was whisked away.
“Oh my gosh! Emma, are you okay?” Lila’s voice broke Emma out of her stupor. “I’m so sorry!” She said frantically - although her eyes were focused on Adrien rather than the girl she just pushed down the stairs. “I have this horrible disease that causes me to have these random muscle spasms!”
She gathered Emma into her arms, keeping her mouth in Emma’s ear, where Adrien surely couldn’t hear. “You tell Adrien one word of this, I will make certain that she will never become a fashion designer. You may think I’m a bad person for lying, but lies can do many things, and I can spin such a horrible web of lies about Marinette Dupain-Cheng that she won’t even have the time to say ‘liar’ before she is kicked out of school. Do we have a deal?”
Emma narrowed her eyes, but nodded. Her presence in the past was already affecting the future, and there was only a small number of things she could do without wrecking the balance completely, and she was pretty sure that Lila declaring war on her mother was one of them.
Lila smiled, satisfied, as she backed away. “I have to go - the charity event starts soon. All those poor little boys and girls are depending on me. Bye, Emma!” She said with a wave as she walked away.
To her surprise, Adrien was glaring after Lila as she strutted away, causing her to wonder if he was also one of the few who knew Lila’s tendency to lie and manipulate people. His gaze softened as he turned back to Emma - his eyes full of concern. “Hey, are you okay? That was a pretty big fall. No broken bones?”
Emma stopped breathing for a second. Though she had been seeing Adrien for weeks now, it was different from seeing the back of his head and then looking directly into his eyes.
Louis’s eyes.
“Yeah. Yep. I’m totally fine.” She said, walking a few steps forward in a straight line to demonstrate before turning back around at him. His face was hard to read, but Emma could see the sense of longing in his eyes. “Sorry.” He said, shaking his head out of its stupor. “You just remind me a lot of my mother. She passed away a few years ago.”
Emma’s breathing stopped - completely in shock. She was half-raised by her Nonna when her parents had to transform as Ladybug and Cat Noir to fight the akumas. Nonna was calm, kind, and always smiling - she certainly wasn’t dead.
“Um...my condolences.” Emma simply said, not really knowing how else to say ‘Your late mother isn’t really dead - surprise!’. “I’ve seen her acting in the film ‘Solitude’. She was beautiful.”
“Have you ever met her?” Adrien suddenly asked - wondering if Emma’s likeness to Emilia was because she had met her when she was little, watched her, and picked up those habits herself. Emma hesitated, but nodded. She wanted her father to have this closure - it was kind no one could ever give her except the boy who was dead.
“I met her - once - at some sort of premier with my parents.” She said, recalling one of the first memories she had of her Nonna. “I was about five years old, and I remember meeting her after I got lost in the crowd. She is-was an amazing woman, and I know that she loved you.”
Adrien’s eyes were a bit shiny as he smiled at Emma’s memory, but then he seemed to remember something. “You’re coming with us to Andre’s, right?” He asked, the memory of Marinette asking if she could come along coming into his mind.
“Yeah.” She said. “You can’t say no to ice cream.” Emma shrugged as he laughed. “Well, I was about to head to the fountain now - where we’re all meeting before we try to track down Andre’s ice cream truck. You can come with me.” He offered as she nodded, when Emma caught eye of a Ladybug poster on the wall, reminded of her mission - not to make friends, but to get her parents back together.
“So...do you like Ladybug?” She asked - wanting to try and get a grasp on how far he had fallen out of his love for Ladybug. “Of course - she’s the hero of Paris.” He simply said. Emma smiled sheepishly, face-palming for making her question so vague. “I mean - everyone likes Ladybug, but you don’t happen to have a little crush on her, do you?”
Adrien laughed. “No! Not at all! Ladybug is just a friend!”
Emma groaned. He was completely in denial. This mission was going to be a lot more difficult than she thought.