Miraculous Ladybug but the Eiffel Tower did not exist, yet.

Miraculous Ladybug but the Eiffel Tower did not exist, yet. by alienm

Loosely based on the nobility and royalty of France (no decade in specific, more like an AU). Tom Dupain, Marinette’s father, was the only son of the Dupain barony when he married the daughter of a foreign salesman Sabrine Cheng. The old baron renounced his son’s right to the family fortune. They had to survive with only a title, no riches or luxury, only hard work, and a recipe inherited by the baroness of the best macarons in the whole Parisian high society. Marinette grew up kind and with a strong sense of justice. With her 21-year-old birthday coming around, the debutante party at the royal palace was approaching. Soon, all the ladies of illegible age would spend the most unforgettable weeks before the grand ball. Gabriel Agreste, Grand Duke, the brother of the king himself, mourns the duchess’ death to this day, resulting in an obsession and overprotection of his only successor. A problem arises when the king requires the future duke to appear for the debutante or else he risks not being accepted as the heir of such an important role. When the two meet at the debutante, they have to conceal feelings and a magical secret that they can use to protect those they love.

Words: 2065, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English

Read Here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/45351343

oh, look now, there you go with hope again

Adrien Agreste was sitting alone in the cafeteria.

Again.

The sight made Marinette want to pull her own hair out. Hadn’t she publicly stated, as Ladybug, that Adrien Agreste was as much a victim of his father as anyone who had been akumatized? That in the end, he’d shown remorse and helped her? Hadn’t she urged the people of Paris to embrace him, to give him a second chance?

Sure, she hadn’t exactly practiced what she’d preached, but—she’d excused herself as the exception. After all, no one had been more hurt by Chat Noir than Ladybug herself. No one else had felt the sting of betrayal or the sharpness of his claws the way she had.

So she’d told herself it wasn’t her responsibility to extend an olive branch more than she already had. Surely, someone else—someone who didn’t have vivid memories of fighting against a boy meant to be her partner—would step up and be his hero. It wasn’t Marinette’s job.

Except, apparently, it was.

Because he was still eating alone.

If no one else was going to step up, then she had to.

au where ladybug from the future uses bunnix’s power to go back to the past because she needs to revisit an older akuma to figure out how to beat a new one and so she needs to see how her younger self does it

and she does her best to stay out of the way, but at some point she runs into chat noir as he is in the past and they both sort of freeze looking at one another, and then ladybug pulls chat into a hug and she says,

“you’re still okay. I’m so glad you’re still okay.”

and chat noir doesn’t really understand, but he hugs her back, knowing deep down in his soul that this is his lady, one and the same as the ladybug fighting an akuma right now

and ladybug, standing there- she remembers now, this particular akuma. she remembers how chat noir had been late to arrive, but he came with the answer to defeating it. she remembers that he looked a little more subdued, and that a tthe end of the fight, he had hugged her instead of their normal fist bump, something he only did on rare occassions.

she knows why, now.

so she tells chat noir how ladybug will need him to stop the akuma, and how to do it, and she pushes him on his way before he can question anything at all

she should go back to her own time, she knows. her job there is done.

but she can’t help sticking around just to make sure everything goes the way it’s supposed to, and-

and she wants to see herself fighting alongside chat noir one more time

she sees them win the day, and sees that hug, and she sees chat noir look up and meet her gaze, just before she turns away and calls on bunnix to pull her back to the future.

it’s a future where she fights with other heroes, her friends from grade school- but not chat noir. 

because in her present, her chat noir died years before, protecting her from hawk moth- his own father, at the time, though the brooch was stolen by someone more vicious- and she could never stand to give the ring up to anyone else.

she keeps it with her, though, always. on her finger, so plagg can see tikki and the other kwamis. so that every time she fights a new akuma, she feels him fight beside her, a constant, even when he’s gone.

seeing him when he was younger bolsters her resolve, and she looks down at the ring on her finger. she detransforms and looks at plagg.

“we need chat noir to win this,” she says.

plagg smiles, though it’s a little sad still- just like hers.

“you always did.”

“yeah. I did.”

and then she transforms, and it feels like coming home.

the akuma doesn’t stand a chance.

when the battle is won, marinette goes home, where she greets and cuddles the cat she and adrien had picked out together

she looks at their old pictures, still scattered around the apartment, because even when he passed, she couldn’t quite let go of him, couldn’t move on from the influence he had on her life, how much better she was for having had him at all

she makes dinner- too much. it’s a bad habit, one she hasn’t been able to break. she sets two plates, out on the little table on the balcony, and she looks out at the city, taking it all in

“we won today,” she says, twisting the ring on her finger. (that’s a habit she picked up from him). “just like always.”

there’s no one there to respond, tikki and plagg inside resting.

but adrien is there with her. she feels it in her soul. he’s always with her, but it’s in the quiet moments, when the world around her sleeps and recovers, that she’s most sure of it.

they’re the times when she never feels more alone, and when she knows she’s truly alone at all.

after a long moment, she’ll continue, speaking to him.

“we’ll win tomorrow, too. and the next day, and the day after that, until we’ve won for good.”

after awhile, it begins to rain. she takes up an old umbrella, the one that started everything, opening it and holding it over the table so that she can finish eating, but as she does so, for the briefest moment, she sees him again

they’re thirteen, and his eyes are sad, but kind. her heart skips a beat when he laughs and smiles at her.

and in another, they’re twenty

he’s more himself than ever before, happy, with love shining in his eyes. there’s a second ring on his other hand that matches the ring she wears. she knows that they’re meant to be, that he’s her best friend and the love of her life.

the memories fade as quick as they came, the ghost of her love leaving once more

she finishes dinner and brings the untouched plate in

“goodnight, adrien,” she’ll say when she’s finally ready for bed, brushing her lips over an old and worn picture of him. “i love you.”

when she closes her eyes, it isn’t long before she sees him again, and dances with him through the streets of paris, pulling him down into a kiss by the blue scarf he always wore.

she smiles in her sleep

and misses it when adrien, glowing dim in the dark of the room, places a quick kiss on the back of her hand.

“So Emma had a presentation at school today.” 

“Six year olds have presentations?” Marinette chuckled, putting her briefcase down and leaning up to give her husband a quick peck on the lips despite their daughter’s protests of disgust. 

“You wanted her to go to the frou-frou academy; this is what you get,” Adrien said, tossing a towel over his shoulder as he turned his wife to face their daughter. “Hey Em, you want to show Mama your presentation?” 

“No,” Emma said softly, not even looking up from the small castle of dolls she was building. 

“Oh come on, honey,” Marinette pleaded, leaning over the couch. “Please?” 

Emma looked thoughtful for a moment before standing up and padding towards the door. 

“Oh, we also have a parent-teacher conference tomorrow after school,” Adrien said, gracefully flipping over the couch and landing cross legged as he awaited Emma’s return. 

“Wait, what?!” Marinette said, crawling onto the couch with her husband. “Why?! What did Emma do?! If it’s about that kid who keeps pulling her pigtails, then-” 

“Ahem.” Marinette looked up to see Emma standing on the coffee table in front of her, a stern look on her face as she tapped her foot. 

“S-Sorry, honey,” Marinette chuckled, sitting back against the couch. “Go ahead.” 

“Thank you,” Emma said, pulling a large piece of construction paper out from behind her back. “What My Parents Do; By Emma…ahem…most mamas and papas have jobs in big buildings or in small shops. There are many kinds of jobs, but my mama and papa have the best jobs in the whole city.” 

“Aw,” Marinette cooed, leaning against her husband’s shoulder. 

“Oh wait; it gets better,” Adrien said, crossing one leg over the other as Emma continued. 

“Some moms and dads are bakers,” Emma read. “Some moms and dads fight fires. Some moms and dads make laws. But my mama and papa have the most important jobs of all because…” 

Emma turned the paper around with a beaming gap-toothed smile, revealing a clumsily drawn crayon Emma standing between two very familiar looking superheroes. 

“My mama is Ladybug and my papa is Chat Noir!” Emma said proudly as the color slowly drained from Marinette’s face. 

“Told you it got better,” Adrien said through a forced smile as he applauded his daughter’s performance. 

“Emma, honey?”

“Mmhmm?” Emma asked, not looking up from her drawing of a Tyrannosaurus eating a giant chicken with a snake tail as her mother crouched down beside her.

“Um, about that presentation you gave at class today,” Marinette said, glancing over her shoulder at her husband leaning against the door frame. “Y-You know what mama does for a living, right?”

“Mmhmm,” Emma nodded, still not looking up from her artwork. “Mama designs pretty clothes.”

“That’s right!” Marinette said, letting out a small sigh of relief. “That’s right, mama does pretty clothes-”

“-and fights bad guys,” Emma continued. “Because mama’s also Ladybug…”

“Emmabug,” Adrien said, kneeling down and ruffling his daughter’s hair. “I know you want people to think you’re cool-”

“I am cool,” Emma said, narrowing her eyes at her father.

“-but you can’t go around making stuff up like that, honey,” Marinette said. “You need to tell the truth.”

“But I am!” Emma protested, glancing between her parents. “Mama and Papa fight bad guys and save the day and stuff.”

“Now who told you that sweets?” Adrien asked.

“Nobody told me,” Emma huffed, crossing her arms. “I figured it out all by myself!”

“Emma, you can’t go around telling people your parents are superheroes,” Marinette sighed, sharing a look with her husband. “People will think you’re just making stuff up to get attention.”

“You sound just like Mme. Raincomprix,” Emma grumbled, gathering her crayons and drawings and flouncing out of the room, doing her best to slam the door behind her.

Marinette sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. “What are we going to do with her?”

“Can’t blame her for being smarter than her parents were at fourteen,” Adrien chuckled, rubbing Marinette’s shoulders. “Hopefully the fact that she decided to tell the world at six instead of sixteen means nobody is going to believe her.”

“So what are we going to do about her teacher?”Marinette asked. “Get Alya to make an illusion of us to swing by the window when we’re in the conference?”

“I think I have a better idea…”

“So sometimes we…like to dress up as Ladybug and Chat Noir,” Marinette said with a sheepish smile as she squeezed her husband’s hand.

“For fun,” Adrien said. “And we’re worried Emma may have seen the costumes in our closet and assumed-”

“Adrien, I didn’t call you two here to talk about Emma’s presentation,” Sabrina said, pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose. “I mean, she’s not even the only one who gave the “my parents are Ladybug and Chat Noir” presentation. Children at this age are very…imaginative.”

“So…what are you here to talk to us about?” Marinette asked.

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I’ll give it back!”

Adrien and Marinette looked out the window to see their daughter chasing a much larger boy around with a yardstick and a pink and white pokladotted blanket tied around her neck like a cape.

“Crime doesn’t pay, evildoer!” Emma shrieked, whacking the boy in the shins as he tossed a stuffed bunny back towards a crying child on the edge of the playground.

“MMe. RAINCOMPRIX, SHE’S DOING IT AGAIN!” The larger boy wailed as he ran past with Emma hot on his heels.

“Face justice!”

“…she calls herself the Bully Hunter,” Sabrina sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. “As you can see this is something of a-”

Sabrina looked up to see Adrien and Marinette hastily hiding gigantic grins behind their hands.

“Big problem,” Adrien coughed.

“We’ll talk with her,” Marinette chuckled nervously.

“Am I in trouble?” 

“No,” Marinette said. 

“Yes,” Adrien said at the same time, squeezing another squirt of whipped cream on top of Emma’s coco. “This is punishment coco; you cannot enjoy it.” 

Emma stuck an already chocolate covered tongue out at her father. 

“Sweetie, we need to talk about your little…superhero game,” Marinette said, taking a sip of her coco. 

“Fighting crime isn’t a game,” Emma said seriously, glowering at her mother. 

“Is stealing a bunny really a crime?” Adrien asked. 

“What was I supposed to do?” Emma asked, leaning back as she tried to lick whipped cream off her nose. “He was being a total butthead!” 

“Honey, there are a lot of buttheads in the world,” Marinette chuckled. “Too many to go around whacking with a ruler.” 

“I wouldn’t have to use a ruler if you would get me that samurai sword I keep asking for,” Emma mumbled. 

“Not making a good case for yourself, kid,” Adrien said, ruffling Emma’s hair. “Jean may have been a major butthead, but it isn’t your job to take care of him; you should let a grownup handle it.” 

“Mme. Raincomprix never catches him in time!” Emma protested. “Someone has to clean up the playground! Someone has to stand up to evildoers!” 

“We’re not saying you shouldn’t stand up to…evildoers,” Marinette coughed. 

“Just that you shouldn’t go whacking people’s knees because they took someone’s toy,” Adrien said. 

“Maybe he should stop taking toys then,” Emma muttered. 

“Sabrina, er, Mme. Raincomprix is going to have a talk with him,” Marinette said. “So you can probably hang up the cape now that the evil is getting detention.” 

“You didn’t,” Emma muttered. 

Marinette shared a look with her husband over Emma’s head. “Emma-” 

“Can I go play now?” Emma asked, picking up her coco and snagging a cookie from the tray on the table. 

“…I guess we can talk about this later,” Marinette sighed, rubbing her forehead as Emma hopped off the couch, flouncing up the stairs as loud as she could. 

“…so how did she figure it out?” Adrien mused, leaning back and taking a sip of his coco. 

Marinette said nothing, staring at the tray of cookies on the table. “…when did Emma start liking shortbread?” 

“Do you think they suspect anything?” 

“Uh uh; they think I’m just making it up.” 

“Good…try not to talk about it too much. I shouldn’t have told you.” 

“S’okay. I know how to keep a secret.” 

“Speaking of secret, do you have the secret stuff?” 

The closet door opened and Emma glanced up to see her parents standing over her just as she was about to pass the shortbread to Tikki. 

“So this is how you’ve been sticking to your new diet,” Marinette said, narrowing her eyes at her anxious looking kwami. 

so i was working on a fic last night

to be continued on day 2…….

day 1: enemies…who’re also friends (???)

hm its prom season and ive always wanted to do a prom story ((so lets just pretend this is an AU where proms are a thing in france)) the full story will be told across all 7 days of chlonath week (if i can make it in time) so i hope you enjoy… @chlonathweek

A Visit from the Future

A Visit From the Future by quicksilversquared

No one can deny that an akuma with the power to pull people’s future selves to the present has a ton of troublemaking potential. Even if they don’t mean to, people from the future can accidentally give too much away.

How much will the Future Ladybug and Chat Noir spoil?

Words: 6176, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English

Read Here: http://archiveofourown.org/works/18409877

a concept: following the leads to find the kwamis, gabriel found himself in front of fu’s massage parlor. in order not to raise suspicions of his actual purpose, gabriel claimed to suffer from chronic back pain and required a massage.

fortunately, since fu never let go of his suspicions that gabriel was mothy, he figured the latter was here for a different reason altogether. nevertheless, he played along with gabriel’s story and provided his service as requested.

throughout the sessions, fu performed various massage techniques, claiming that it would help reduce gabriel’s back pain. there was concern when gabriel couldn’t feel his limbs but fu reassured everything was fine.

(obviously, it was a lie)

between the sessions, gabriel took the time to study fu’s massage parlor and noticed the gramophone, wondering if it was significant to his reason of being there but fu also noticed what gabriel noticed and he was cautious.

eventually, they ended up having a tug of war when gabriel tried to steal the gramophone away from fu, resulting in both dropping their pretenses.

who won? you decide.

Fu wins. His “massage technique” was actually acupressure on multiple pressure points that numbed Gabriel’s nerves and severely hampered his ability to move, fight, and especially to lift things. This gives Fu enough of an advantage to delay Gabriel until the police that Wayzz called for arrive…

…JUST IN TIME to witness Gabriel Agreste of all people trying to make off with an old Chinese man’s gramophone. Fu plays himself off as the poor weak store owner who was being robbed. Gabriel cannot explain what he was doing there or why he was taking an old man’s gramophone. Attempts to claim it was originally his fall flat since Fu has proof of owning the gramophone and a receipt from the antique store he “bought” it from years before. Attempts to claim he bought it also fail since there is no evidence of a monetary transaction.

Gabriel is carried out of the shop by police and taken to jail. He manages to post bail and return to the mansion, fully intending to use this new knowledge to send an akuma after the Guardian directly. He realizes too late that in the scuffle, the Butterfly Miraculous was knocked loose and confiscated by police as “evidence”.

Fu presses charges. This drags the case out and prevents the Miraculous from being returned to Gabriel.

Photographers and journalists catch wind. Gabriel Agreste attempting to rob an elderly immigrant over an antique is the scandal of the year. His company suffers a HUGE hit. His stocks drop. Models, designers, photographers, and other employees decide to look elsewhere. People refuse to even touch the Gabriel brand.

Adrien is completely ashamed of his father. He refuses to speak to him, won’t come out of his room when they’re both at home, and hides his face in public. He attempts to do this literally by going around with a paper bag over his head. The paper bag has a little sad face cut into it to emphasize Adrien’s disappointment. Nino, Alya, and Marinette eventually manage to talk him into taking it off. It’s mostly because Marinette bribes him with food and he finds it’s difficult to eat with the bag over his head.

Marinette is confused. Just all around confused. And while she understands the necessity of it, she has…concerns about Fu having her make a fake butterfly brooch and everything about breaking into a police station to steal the real Butterfly Miraculous and switch the two. She manages it with use of Trixx and successfully retakes the Miraculous along with a very, very happy and crying Nooroo, who is not giving up the first affectionate person he’s seen in a year thus won’t stop clinging to her and nearly gets them both caught. They make it to Fu’s safely, but…yeah…morally and ethically questionable.

But at least Nooroo’s back and safe. Hawk Moth won’t be making any more akumas. Paris is free of evil butterflies. And Gabriel is under a court order to receive some long-overdue therapy.

After defeating Hawkmoth, Ladybug and Chat Noir decide to meet at a specific table at a specific café as civilians and finally get to know each other behind the masks. They both try to get there anxiously early but Marinette, being the disaster she is, arrives with a box of personalized sweets after Adrien has already taken the table. Now, as excited as she is to run into the love of her life like this, she needs the table and she’s going to get it. She goes over and they exchange friendly greetings but as soon as she asks for the table Adrien gets serious and gives her a stern “No”. Marinette continues trying to convince him to leave but he insists that he needs the table because he has a date with the love of his life and he ain’t budging (that explains the bouquet he has with him) and it hurts to hear that but not as much as its going to hurt him when she removes him from the goshdang table by force.

They both wind up getting kicked out of the café btw

@jacquesthepigeon I couldn’t get this out of my head, and the image just formed so perfectly, I had to. Also, @buginettte if you ever write your version, I would love to be tagged too.

And for those who wanted to be tagged: @weirdflyingpotato @wild-mare-of-prosecution @wolfinogotbored @demigodavenger @fangirling-istheonlyway @nobodyfamousposts @thestarwhowhishes

It was finally happening. Hawkmoth was defeated. Paris was safe. After all these years, Marinette would finally meet the person behind the mask of Chat Noir. And to make sure they had the exact table they had agreed on, she decided to arrive at least an hour early to the café.

Of course, as per usual, she was delayed by several shortcomings, including not making her mind on how the pastries were turning out. In the end, she stopped fussing and ran out the door, arriving twenty minutes later than she would have liked.

As she stumbled into the café, her eyes quickly scanned for the table in which she would finally meet her best friend and partner. Only to find someone already sitting on it.

Adrien.

Adrien, of all people.

Keep reading

The Chat Righting Reflex - Chapter 12

Also on AO3 Chp 1 - Kitty’s New Home    Chp 2 - Taking Care of Business Chp 3 - Hugs and Kisses    Chp 4 - A Well-Fed Chat Chp 5 - Chat in the Night    Chp 6 - Here With You Chp 7 - The Adventures of Mr. Stainless and the Muffin Maiden Chp 8 - New Normal          Chp 9 - Caretaker Kitty Chp 10 - More Normal     Chp 11 - Everyday Miracles    Chp 12 - Family by Design    Chp 13 - 

Completed as day 12 of my ML WIP-Completion Challenge. It’s also the second chapter I’ve posted to this story today, so be advised that you may need to read chapter 11.

Family by Design

Adrien hadn’t expected to need to lean on his friends assistance again quite so soon, and he was glad he’d gotten all their contact information when he moved. Gabriel had apparently been notified of the changes in his joint minor bank account, and had tried contacting Adrien by phone. When none of that yielded a response, he and Nathalie had returned Paris ahead of schedule.

Adrien’s lawyer, bless his soul, refused to contact him over the weekend because it wasn’t an emergency and didn’t justify that sort of rush. He’d heard enough about Adrien’s reasons for leaving home and severing his contract that he had a good handle on the nature of the situation.  He’d called first thing Monday morning to help set up a meeting. Nino and Max had come through with the perfect place for the meeting. The room was at the center of a Faraday cage, blocking cell and remote surveillance. Plagg and Tikki offered to attend to any on site recording gear.

Since Adrien had been adamant about the location, he’d been willing to go along with Gabriel’s requirement that they meet alone, with his lawyer waiting outside the door for any legal negotiation or discussion that may play in.

“This absurd charade of rebellion has gone on long enough,” Gabriel said sharply.  He was as stiff and cold as ever. Not once had he asked how Adrien was doing, or feeling. “I expect an immediate adjustment of your attitude, or you will find your personal liberties severely curtailed.”

“I’m not a child, and I’m no longer caving to your whims,” Adrien said, presenting himself as an immovable frozen wall, something he’d learned from Gabriel.  Only one of them had any acting experience, so he knew it was effective.

Keep reading

Marinette getting in the December mood

We’re making some overdue improvements to the code that powers our login system. When we make these changes, all Archive users will be logged out of their accounts.

To avoid permanently losing access to your account, please make sure you know your password and/or can receive password reset emails by December 13.

For full details, please refer to the post.

the girls!!! yeah

Gabriel made him shut up after that. 

#LetNoorooHaveHisBirthday

Does Anybody Have a Map? - Day 3: Single Parent - AU Yeah August

Day 3: Single Parent AU (sorry it’s late. Lol)

Summary: It’s been six years since Adrien left Paris to study abroad. It’s been five years since Marinette adopted Hugo to raise as her own son. Now that they are back in each other’s lives, can Marinette forget her teenage crush? And can Adrien work out why he feels so strongly towards one of his best friends?

Just a note, this is the first chapter of a new chapter fic. I will be writing more to this starting next month.

(@auyeahaugust )

“Hugo, come on, we have to get going!” Marinette called down the hall.

At twenty-four, Marinette had changed a lot since her teenaged years. She had grown out her hair and now wore it in a ponytail most of the time. She was constantly on the move between meetings with possible investors for her fashion start-up, designing, and sewing her own fashion line. But the biggest change in her life was the new addition.

Her son, Hugo.

Hugo wasn’t actually her son, but she had adopted him right after he was born so it was close enough. She would never forget how it had occurred. She had overheard her mom on the phone with her dad’s sister. Her aunt had been explaining how Marinette’s seventeen year old cousin had gotten pregnant and wasn’t handling it well.

“Her boyfriend wants nothing to do with her and has left her to deal with it all on her own. She told her mom she doesn’t think she can keep the baby. She doesn’t think she can be a good mother when she feels like the baby is a part of something negative for her,” Sabine had explained.

Marinette had gone to bed feeling horribly concerned for her cousin and the unborn child. It hadn’t been a far leap for her to tell her mom what she wanted to do. So six months later, when her cousin was still feeling the same about the situation, Marinette had driven the seven hours to Toulouse to be there for the baby just hours after he had been born.

It hadn’t been an easy adjustment, adopting a baby at the age of nineteen, but it had been made easier by having her parents’ and Alya’s support.

Now, nearly five years later, Hugo was the center of Marinette’s world.

Hugo poked his head out of his room, sandy blond hair and green eyes peeking out at her. “But, Mama, I’m not done playing yet!” he complained.

Marinette tapped her foot impatiently. “Come on, Hugo. You know I have my meeting. I can’t be late.” She gave him a smile, “Besides, aren’t you looking forward to spending time with Aunt Alya?”

Hugo’s eyes lit up at Alya’s name. “Auntie Alya? She’s babysitting?”

Marinette could only nod. Then she watched amusedly as her son ran through the apartment in a whirlwind to put on his socks and shoes.

“I’m ready!” he announced not five minutes later.

She pulled his backpack onto her shoulder before grabbing her purse and heading toward the door.

“Marinette!” Tikki called from within her purse, “Don’t forget your folder.”

Marinette spun on her heel and grabbed a light pink folder from the counter. “Thanks, Tikki!”

“Thanks, Tikki!” Hugo repeated, grinning at the kwami.

Marinette had figured out early on that with Hawkmoth still very active in Paris, and Chat Noir out of the country for the last few years, there was really no hope in keeping Ladybug a secret from Hugo. Luckily, Tikki and Hugo had become fast friends after a few shared chocolate chip cookies.

The bluenette drove down the street in her car before parking outside of Alya’s apartment building. She got Hugo out and they made their way to the correct flat.

Alya opened the door only a moment after their knock and scooped Hugo into her arms. “Hey, Half-pint!” she said, pressing a kiss to his forehead.

He laughed and Marinette felt a warmth spread through her at the thought of how close the pair had become. Alya had helped her so much in the beginning. Babysitting when Marinette had exams to study for, staying up to listen to her worry over her parenting decisions, and of course, she’d been a huge help with potty training the previous year. And now, Alya was one of his favorite people.

Marinette dropped Hugo’s backpack just inside the door and pressed a quick kiss to his cheek. “Thanks again, Alya! I’ll be back around one, and I’ll bring you guys lunch.”

She turned and hurried out of the building, not hearing when Alya called after her.

Alya sighed, stepping back into the apartment with Hugo. “Guess I’ll have to save Mama’s surprise for later.”

Hugo jumped up and down excitedly. “Mama is getting a surprise! What kind of surprise?”

Alya chuckled to herself as she grabbed her own car keys. “You’ll see soon enough, Half-pint. We have an errand to run.”

Adrien Agreste stood awkwardly in the middle of the baggage claim at the Orly Airport. He was trying to simultaneously search the crowd for Alya and remain inconspicuous.

He checked his phone again. No messages. “C’mon, Alya. If you were just gonna be late then I wouldn’t have argued about my dad sending the Gorilla,” he muttered.

“Stop your whining, rich boy. I’m here,” came Alya’s voice from behind him.

He spun around in surprise to see his friend grinning at him. He pulled her into a hug, excited to see a familiar face after nearly six years abroad.

Alya laughed. “Save the hugging for Nino,” she teased, pushing him away gently.

And that was when Adrien had spotted the little boy hiding behind Alya’s legs. He didn’t look anything like Alya or Nino and he was pretty sure they hadn’t mentioned anything about adopting a kid while he was away. Although, to be honest he hadn’t been very good about keeping in touch.

No, he had been too focused on being perfect while studying abroad, knowing that the first toe out of line could send him on a red-eye flight back to Paris all too soon.

“Who’s this?” he asked giving a small wave to the boy peeking out from around Alya.

Alya glanced down at the child. “Oh, this is Hugo.” She ruffled the boy’s hair as she guided him out in front of her. “Say, ‘Hi’, Hugo.”

Hugo looked down shyly.

Adrien crouched in front of him and waved again. “Hi, Hugo. I’m Adrien.” He held out his hand for a high five and grinned when the small boy obliged.

“You got your bags?” Alya asked as Adrien stood again.

“Yeah,” he held up a backpack and pointed to a rolling suitcase behind him. “Everything else was shipped last week. I figured I had the space in my old room to store most of it for now.”

“At least your huge room is finally proving useful,” Alya teased.

The group then began heading for Alya’s car. It wasn’t until Hugo was in his car seat and Adrien was placing his bags in the trunk that he thought to comment, “I didn’t think you had a kid.”

Alya laughed. “Oh, Hugo isn’t my kid. He’s Marinette’s.”

Adrien paused for a moment, his hand frozen on the door handle. Then he pasted his model smile back on his face and nodded. “Well, he’s a sweet kid.”

It was an awkward drive as Adrien waited for them to get to the apartment where Alya and Nino lived. He had decided staying with them until he found a place would be less suffocating than staying at his family home. They arrived and he unloaded all his things inside.

Alya gave him space to get settled while she read a story to Hugo. Adrien wasn’t sure he really wanted the space as it meant thinking about everything he had missed during the time he’d been abroad. The most perplexing thing was the fact that Marinette had a child.

He knew she hadn’t been seeing anyone before he’d moved, but…

Hugo is four or five I’d guess. Which means Marinette must’ve started seeing someone fairly soon after I left. But, then why didn’t she tell me?

There was a knock on the door and Adrien quickly opened it to see Alya holding out a can of soda and plate with a sandwich. “Thought you might be hungry after your flight.”

He smiled and followed her back out to the kitchen so he could talk to her while he ate. He noticed Hugo laying on the floor before the television playing with some toy cars. Adrien was halfway through his sandwich when Alya’s phone rang.

“This is Alya.” She hummed in response to something said on the other end of the line. “What? No, that wasn’t supposed to be due until next week.”

After a few more minutes of heated discussion, Alya hung up with a frustrated groan.

“What was that about?” Adrien asked.

Alya’s eyes drifted over to him and a mischievous grin lit her face.

“Whatever you’re thinking, no.”

She rolled her eyes, huffing in response. “C'mon, Agreste. That call was my boss, they need an article from me today that wasn’t supposed to be due until next week. I have to go in and take care of it. Can you watch Hugo until Mari gets back?” She watched as his gaze moved over Hugo. “She’ll be back in about an hour.”

Adrien hadn’t answered yet when Alya began gathering her things. “I don’t know, Alya. I’m not sure if Marinette would be okay with it.”

Alya laughed, “Of course she won’t mind. She trusts you.”

Adrien watched as Alya gave Hugo a hug, “I have to go into work for a bit. Adrien is going to watch you until Mama gets back. Okay?”

Hugo looked up at Adrien through curious green eyes before nodding.

“See you boys later!”

And with that, Alya was gone and Adrien was all too aware of the fact that he had never not once babysat a kid before.

Time passed, and Adrien was surprised at how easy it seemed to be to watch Hugo. The little boy was content to watch television and play with the pile of toys he had dumped from his little red and black backpack.

Adrien grinned as he observed the pack. “Is this a Ladybug backpack?” he asked.

Hugo nodded, “Ladybug is my…” he paused a moment, the words he had been going to say pausing on his lips. “My favorite superhero!” he said excitedly.

Well, at least we have something in common.

“You know, Hugo? Ladybug is my favorite superhero too.” Adrien watched the boy’s eyes light up at this piece of information.

Hugo dug around in the backpack and pulled out something very familiar to Adrien. Handmade Ladybug and Chat Noir plush dolls, along with a few of the akumas they’d fought in the past. He couldn’t help but get a little emotional at the thought of his partner.

Ladybug had been very understanding when he had told of her of his opportunity to travel and not the least bit bitter that due to her duties as Ladybug she couldn’t do the same. Paris could do without Chat Noir, but not Ladybug.

Hugo saw how Adrien looked down at the Chat Noir doll and he quickly picked it up and handed it to him. “Here, you can be Chat Noir!”

Adrien quickly accepted. He’d always be willing to be Chat Noir.

Marinette sped down the street like there was an akuma on her tail. Not that she had a tail, that would only be her partner.

Her meeting had run long and even with the promise of food, she doubted Alya would be so forgiving of the fact that it was nearly two o’clock.

“Almost an hour late,” she groaned, “Way to go, Marinette.” She parked the car and hurried up to the apartment, purse and lunch in hand. She opted to use her key instead of ringing the doorbell in case Hugo was asleep.

As she pushed her way through the door, she dug through her purse for her phone that she had neglected for the last few hours.

“Hey, Alya. Sorry, I’m late. Like really super so-” her words cut off as she took in the sight on the living room floor. Hugo had toys strewn everywhere and was currently holding the Lady Wi-Fi and Dust Storm akuma dolls in the air. But what caught her eye was the fact that the person acting as Ladybug and Chat Noir was not her best friend. Instead it was her long-time crush. The one who she hadn’t seen in nearly six years, and oh gosh, how did just seeing him make her heart stop.

Adrien jumped up quickly, brushing himself off in the process. “Hi, Marinette,” he greeted with a wave.

Marinette waved back, phone in hand. “H-hi, Adrien.”