Stepping out on the private floor of the hospital, Adrien made his way over to his mother's suite. She was still in a coma, and it was still unknown if or how she would ever come out of it.
The joyfulness from yesterday's parade soon left him as he arrived home alone the previous evening to think about seeing his mother. He wished Marinette could be there with him. She created a sense of calm and ease which surrounded his otherwise manic persona, that was if she wasn't teasing him like yesterday.
She hadn't given his number to Clara Nightingale at all. She'd passed on Luka's, it seemed the two had worked together in the past and she was very interested in getting to know him more. Adrien was quite sure Marinette had given her a five-star review about the kindness of the boy with the blue hair. Adrien would be jealous if it wasn't for the girl who he loved with every inch of his soul indicating that she loved him too.
More drama had unfolded when he got back that evening. It seemed Chloé and Felix had a surprise of their own. Chloé was twelve weeks pregnant and they were planning to move to England to be nearer to his mother. As shocking as it was for Adrien, and he was most certainly happy for them, he couldn't remove the thought that he was going to be back to living alone.
Yes, Nino was there with him at the moment but he wouldn't stay there forever, Adrien wouldn't let him. Nino had a new addition to his family, plus the need and want for his own space. It was time his friend grew up.
He was no closer to his mother coming home and he was yet to know how Marinette was going to respond to everything that had happened. If she accepted the proposal, maybe, just maybe, the cold confines of the mansion would once again be bought to life.
"Monsieur Agreste?" Adrien was pulled from his thoughts by the sweet voice of a nurse situated at the reception desk.
Adrien walked over to her and nodded in welcome.
"This has been left here for you." The nurse handed over a present wrapped in the most delicate and intricate paper he'd ever seen. It was power blue with white ribbon and a white bow. There was a card seated on top.
"Do you know who left it here?" Adrien asked out of curiosity.
"It was a young woman early this morning. Unfortunately, she was incredibly wrapped up so I could only see her eyes?"
"Piercing blue?" He asked.
"Yes. She seemed a very pretty young lady." Adrien smiled knowing exactly who it was.
"Well thank you for passing it on. Merry Christmas."
He turned away and began to walk towards his mother's room. The halls around him were silent. Now and then the silence would be broken and he would hear a bleeping as a doctor exited a room. Entering room '209', he walked over to his mother, leaned down and placed a kiss on her forehead before settling in the chair next to where her frozen body lay.
Looking between his mother and the present that was laid in his hands he wondered why Marinette could have possibly left something for him here of all places. Curiosity soon passed as Plagg appeared next to Adrien.
"You going to open it or just stare at it all day?"
"I'm just trying to figure out why she'd send something here," Adrien announced.
"If you open it, you'll know!" Plagg stated.
Adrien nodded and removed the white ribbon from around the parcel. Undoing the paper, suddenly the item was revealed along with a note.
Dearest Chaton,
This came back with me from the temple, it's for you, it'll help introduce you to new powers up, and it will be able to help you understand my new role as Guardian. I, also, believe it could help your mother.
From what I've read there is a chance the negative energy from the peacock Miraculous may be the cause for this curse. Meaning, you need to make peace with the fact your mother may have been, also, using it in a negative way.
I'm sorry to say this Kitty but there might be more to the story than what your mother and father have told you. If the dark magic came from using the Miraculous for unintended objections then she will not be freed from its dark depths. She will remain like this for the rest of her life, it's kind of a punishment for the misuse of the Miraculous.
I've put post-it notes on the pages I think might help you. Take your time to read it through first and message me if you have any questions,
Love, your Lady xx
Adrien placed the note down and looked at what the main bulk of the present was. A book. A Miraculous Book.
Finding the post-it note sticking out the top, Adrien carefully opened it at the intended page and looked at the heading.
'The critical curse'
He began to read the information before him, each paragraph detailing that about the 'critical curse' and how it could be overcome.
It seems the curses are part of using a broken Miraculous, just like his mother and Nathalie. Unlike Nathalie though, his mother had overused the Peacock Miraculous for unknown means. His father would never mention it, as far as Gabriel was concerned Emilie had as much to do now with Gabriel as Adrien did, they were both no longer anything to himself and his dynasty. He'd disowned them both.
Adrien turned the pages, eyebrows frowning, skim reading as much information as he could. He swore it had been hours when he eventually finished what Ladybug had pinpointed for him. Plagg was resting on Adrien's shoulder reading as much as he could as his holder fired out questions. Could this work?
Plagg was shocked to see Adrien with such an important book. In all his years, he's only seen the book be passed out twice. Both Chat Noir's were thirty-five and in a fiery relationship with their bugs. They were undeniably powerful as a team. He supposed the same could be said for Adrien and Marinette, but they were still so young. Tikki had always expressed the worry for how much responsibility was placed upon these two teens, but seeing them now only led to one thought; how amazing they both were.
Plagg and Tikki knew they were only days away from their first power-up. It comes from true loves first kiss. Plagg had argued it had already happened but as Tikki explained, being as informed as she was, the kisses they had shared were equivalent to kissing whilst drunk. It didn't count.
Adrien shut the book pulling Plagg out of his dreams.
"I think ... we might be able to do something. Do you think you can mess up the cameras?" Plagg nodded in approval. He loved to mess things up.
Drawing the curtains across the windows Adrien made it back to the bedside of his mother, taking her none ageing hand in his. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
Come on Adrien! Marinette has had to deal with a lot more than this and she can do it. Channel some of her strength!
Taking a deep breath Adrien began to speak. He'd memorised the words and knew all he needed to do was use some of his soul to help.
"Mother Earth,
Goddess we walk upon,
May my gifts be of value
Even after I'm gone.
Today, while I'm here,
May my offering be,
An act of love
for you from me."
Suddenly a glow began to emit from his mother's body and that's when he noticed it. The Amber and sage pendant around his mother's neck. A glow appeared out of it, almost like the Miraculous Ladybugs. It swirled into the sky and something began to happen. Marinette must have dropped that off too.
His mother began to age. Not ridiculously or terrifyingly, but naturally, keeping her untouched beauty but slightly wrinkling her skin.
The hand Adrien was holding twitched. He needed to keep his focus though. The book told him he needed to remain connected until the glow had disappeared and clear movements could be seen. So he held on. He held and he held until the glow faded. Releasing hold of his mother's hand he lifted his head to look into her face.
She was beautiful. Stunning. His mother, his first love.
"Mother, I don't know if you can hear me but I miss you. I miss you so much! A lot has happened since you've left, and I don't know where to start. After everything happened father allowed me to go to public school, well I ran away to public school and gave him no choice. I went to the same as Chloé, and I made so many friends whilst I was there. There was my best friend Nino and his girlfriend, well ex-girlfriend Alya. They've recently had a baby girl. Her name is Nayla and she's gorgeous. The more I see her the more I want a family of my own. They're going through issues at the moment but I know for certain they'll get through it. They're so strong and so tough." Adrien could feel his eyes tear up and he continued to speak to his mother.
"On my first day of school, I helped this old man. He rewarded me with this ring." He held his right hand up to his mother's closed eyes, showing off the silver material wrapped around it. "It's special mother, it's a miraculous. The Miraculous of the black cat. I have a team I work with, and a partner who I adore."
He felt Plagg come and sit by him. Close enough to give support to his chosen.
"We were battling someone with the butterfly miraculous, only to find out it was father and Nathalie. He's in prison, mother, and he deserves it. I visited him a couple of days ago to wish him Merry Christmas. He's my only family around and although I hate him, I still feel some love for him! He spent years hurting myself and my partner and keeping us away from each other. You see we couldn't reveal who we were until he was defeated. It was too risky. Now I understand it's because of my father. If he'd known about who my partner was he would have betrayed me. He would have betrayed both of us."
"My partner, well, she's my best friend. She's amazing! I met her in civilian form my first day at school and we had a huge misunderstanding. What I didn't know though, neither did she. Was that we had already met. On our first day as heroes she swung into me trying to work out her weapon and suspended us metres in the air. Then she hit me on the head with the yo-yo." He let out a laugh and wiped the stray tears away from his cheeks.
"She was my meet-cute mother. Whenever she went away and we found each other again, it was always through an accidentally event, most of the time crashing into each other. She's just perfect. I'm going to ask her to marry me tomorrow. I've only ever loved anyone similar to her and that's you. She's so confident, talented, kind, gentle, generous, I know for a fact when you meet her you'll love her, oh and she definitely knows how to kiss too." A smile overtook his face at the thought of Marinette's lips.
"Is that so?" A gruff voice spoke out to him. He looked up to see Emerald eyes smiling back.
"Mother?" Adrien dived forward taking the woman into his arms. He couldn't believe she was finally back.
The power of love, always so strong!