You're The Music That's Been Playing In My Head: Book 2

The Collector: Part 4

Marinette goes quiet as if unsure how to tell Master Fu, so I respond, "We thought it originally belonged to his son, Adrien Agreste, because he had it during school before it was stolen. When it was thrown away, Marinette took it and—" 

"We only just met you, so I didn't know if I could tell you that, so yeah..." She cuts me off and finishes explaining with her head low.

Master Fu smiles at her. "You were afraid that your crush was Hawkmoth." 

This causes her to jump and instantly deny her crush before giving in. "Ugh, yes! I couldn't stand the thought of him being a supervillain."

"You know, Marinette, if we want to be stronger than Hawkmoth, we have to trust each other." 

"Yeah, but there's still one problem, Adrien won't be allowed back outside unless that book returns to Mr. Agreste," I point out, and Mari starts the waterworks.

"I'll never ever see him again!" She cried out, curling into herself dramatically.

"There isn't a single problem that can't be solved, you two," Master Fu says, and I nod, soon crossing my arms and giving Mari a smirk.

"That's why I was going to suggest taking pictures of the book and uploading them onto a cloud with back-ups so we can keep the information, but give the book back." 

Marinette beams as she pulls out her phone and starts taking pictures of each page and its writings. 

°❆⋆.ೃ࿔*:･ 

"So when Adrien put the book down and walked away, I wanted to take a peek. You see, I thought it was a portfolio with lots of pictures of him cuz he's so cute- Uh...You already knew that. Anyway, when he came back, I was scared he'd see me snooping through his book. I hid it in my bag, and I know it was a dumb thing to do, so I'm really, really sorry," Marinette gives Mr. Agreste a reasonable explanation, returning the book to Mr. Agreste.

He flips through the book, checking for any damage. "I see, so you're one of his admirers?" 

"Y-yes. You won't say anything to him, will you?" She asks nervously, and he silently shakes his head. 

"Now that the book has been returned, will you please allow Adrien to come back to school?" I ask, and after a few moments of thinking, he responds. 

"Considering Adrien didn't actually lose my book but was borrowed by you...Yes. Yes, I will." 

Both of us smile and thank him before starting to head out, when another question pops into my head, and I turn around. "Mr. Agreste, if I may ask, I saw some of the pages in that book, and they have interesting illustrations of legendary heroes. I found it inspiring. Where did you get that book?"

"I found it while I was on a trip overseas with my wife. I've never seen another copy of it."

"Ah, thank you, you're very lucky to own it. Have a nice day." 

We head out and walk to school, Tikki poking her head out of Marinette's purse, stating, "That was really nice what you did for Adrien." 

"Thanks, Tikki, but what really matters is that Adrien is allowed out of the house again."

When we get there, we see a familiar car pull up and out comes Adrien, our entire class noticing and running up over to him to welcome him back.

.

.

.

"If you already had a copy of the book, why'd you go through all that trouble?" Nathalie questioned as Gabriel looked through the digital version of the book.

"I did what I had to do to keep my secret."

"You were lucky Adrien wasn't here."

"If he were, it would only have taken suspicion off me further," Gabriel heads to his lair.

Nathalie sighed, looking up at the portrait of Emilie. "Except you're supposed to keep Adrien out of this."

Nathalie exits the office, shutting the door and leaning against it. 

That's what the deal was anyway. She'd help Gabriel bring Emilie back from the dead; however, she could, but he had to leave Adrien out of it, keep him safe. 

It's all for Adrien after all, right? 

Nathalie couldn't replace Emilie, couldn't be Adrien's mother. So she'd bring her back. 

With another sigh, she composes herself and gets back to work.

ॱ⋅.˳˳.⋅˙ॱᐧ.˳˳.⋅ઇଓ

"Miss me, Nooroo?" Gabriel asked condescendingly of the poor kwami as he put the brooch back on.

"At your service, master."

"Nooroo! Dark Wings Rise!"

Butterflies surround him in transformation.

"Ladybug, Chat Noir, (s/n), now you won't find out who I am. I am more above suspicion than I've ever been. As of today, nothing will prevent me from getting your miraculous and bringing Emilie back from the dead! All I need to do now is wait for my next prey..."

Last Edit - June 26th, 2022

Revised - November 5th, 2025