Some time before the days of Marinette Dupain Cheng and Adrien Agreste, there was another team of heroes. And another villain.
Once upon a time, Deimos was training to be a Guardian of the Miraculous. It started out well. He was capable and strong e...
The hunt for Jade had led Liana and Raphael to Paris. On one particular day, the two of them were sitting on a table outside a bistro, dressed in flawless French fashion.
Li wore blue chinos, a white button up top, suede ankle boots and sunglasses. Raph was also dressed in chinos (it was summer, after all), though his were beige, and complemented with a white button down shirt and white sneakers. He was also wearing sunglasses.
"Hey, Li..." Raph mused.
Li took off her sunglasses, raising an expectant eyebrow. Raph nodded towards a couple at another table, a young man and woman, wearing gold bands around their ring fingers.
"Think that could be us some day?"
"Marriage?" Li chewed thoughtfully on the temple tip of her glasses. "Hm....maybe if you're good."
"You know I can't."
"Then we won't get married." Li put her sunglasses back on.
"Li, please." Raph whined. Li leaned back in her chair, regarding him thoughtfully.
"I like it when you beg," she drawled. "You look better like that."
"I am yours, as you are mine." Raph said quietly. Li took his hand in hers, her thumb ghosting over his knuckles.
"If you want a fancy ceremony to shout that out to the world," she murmured. "Then a fancy ceremony we shall have." There was silence for a while, before she spoke again.
"Hey, you think Altan'd allow me to kill Jade when we find her?"
"No."
"Shame," she sighed. "I promised her I'd ruin her life."
"And how are you gonna do that if she's dead?" Raph pointed out.
"Hm, true. You can't stop me from that, by the way," Li's voice was soft. "She hurt us both."
"I know."
"You didn't deserve to have your heart broken," she continued. "And Luc getting kidnapped by her..... I want my name to be on her lips when she wakes from a nightmare for those reasons. Just...." Li paused there, biting her lip. "Don't let me become Shroud again."
Raph shook his head.
"Never."
"Luc can hardly look at me now. So I don't wanna hurt you if she comes back."
"You could never." Raphael replied gently. Li frowned.
"But-"
Raph kissed her to shut her up.
"Okay," Li laughed when he pulled away. "Message received."
Raphael kissed her again, because he could.
Ansel and Luc had set up a martial arts club at the school, training students to be future heroes, worthy of holding a miraculous. As you may guess, it was a very exclusive club.
For now, only Ansel and Luc knew of its real purpose. When their students were needed, they would reveal the truth. But, until then, they were none the wiser. Except Zenko, who had also joined, but he was sworn to secrecy.
"Nice kick, Amelia," Luc called out to one of their students, Amelia Valentino. "Keep it up!"
"Suck it in, Zenko!" Ansel encouraged her friend. "Roundhouse elbow comes over the top."
"Well," Luc commented as the two of them watched their students file out at the end of the session, after they'd put the mats away. "I thought that was a very productive session."
"They're definitely improving," Ansel agreed. "Altan would be proud."
"I sure am."
There was a pause.
"I wonder what they're up to," Ansel piped up again. "I haven't heard from them in a while."
I'm sure they're fine."
Altan and Indra were in Changzhou, visiting Indra's father. It had been a very emotional reunion, as they had been apart for four years with no news of whether the other was okay. Altan had felt a little awkward in that moment, as it was not meant for him to see. He'd averted his eyes respectfully, but still felt a bit uncomfortable.
Once it was over, Indra's father sat them down and made them some tea. Altan had tried his best to recount the last four years, with Indra occasionally chipping in with a comment.
"They are all worthy of the power I've granted them," he'd finished. "Every one of them."
"I believe you," the monk had said. "Perhaps I might meet them some time."
A month later, the same day that Li and Raph were on their date in the bistro in Paris, Altan was watching Indra train with his father. The two talked animatedly in Mandarin about simple, powerful, and violent ways to defeat an opponent.
Altan took a small box from the inside pocket of his jacket, flipping it open to reveal a small gold ring, with three tiny emeralds.
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He glanced over at Indra, still training with his father, then back at the ring. Altan knew Indra would say yes, but that didn't make it any easier. He shook his head, dislodging the worry from his mind and, flipping the box shut, he slipped it back into his pocket and made his way over to join his family.
