Our Love Will Go On

The Secret Cave

Fandom: Miraculous - Tales of Ladybug and Chat Noir

Rating: T

Beta: KhanOfAllOrcs, Mystic_Raven20

Big Bang artist for the story: (Folks, look forward to her wonderful art in the upcoming chapters!)

Cover art by: Rose Minou

Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created by Thomas Astruc. "Miraculous - Tales of Ladybug and Chat Noir" (c) TS1 Bouygues, Disney Channel, Zagtoon, Toei Animation. This story is not written for profit and is not intended for copyright infringement.

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It had happened by accident. That afternoon his father had called him into his study and asked him to see his latest school results, showing great disappointment about the single A- that he had scored in his French literature course.

"It is inadmissible. You need to work harder. An Agreste can only achieve the best!"

Adrien was so beside himself that he left his father's studio and walked away. He reached his room, locked the door and marched to his bed; only then he lost his apparent calm and burst into tears after crashing on his mattress. But as he wasted his afternoon crying himself to sleep, he suddenly realised that he'd left his stuff behind in his father's office! Panic hit him, making him forget why he was so upset. After discussing the situation with Plagg, however, he established that it was appropriate to return to his father's office to pick his stuff up.

So, Adrien left his room, walked to the studio door, and knocked. Once, discreetly. A second and third time, stronger and stronger, but no one answered. His father must've left the office.

Adrien swallowed awkwardly—he remembered what happened the last time he entered his father's studio without permission. But this time, he had a good reason. So, he pulled himself together and cracked the door open.

"Entering his office without permission and without him being there. Do you want to get into trouble again?" Plagg said, appearing from inside his shirt.

"No, don't worry, buddy. I won't touch anything this time; I'll take my things and go."

The studio was empty, as he had assumed. Adrien took a quick look around and immediately found his tablet. He grabbed it and made to get out. Only to go to a sudden halt when he reached the door, his gaze lost in contemplation of his mother's portrait.

Almost hypnotised, he approached the picture and passed his fingers over the uneven surface of the painting. His mother was so beautiful in the picture; Adrien looked at her face and her eyes, so similar to his own, for a very long time. That's when he noticed the holes in the painting. Not that he had never seen them before–he had, but he'd never really paid attention to them. Today though, he furrowed his brows and gingerly approached the painting to take a better look.

"Didn't you say you only wanted to get your stuff? You have them; go!" Plagg said, peeking out of his shirt.

But Adrien kept looking at the painting, his hand reaching out and gingerly touching it with his fingers. "I never really thought about it, Plagg, but don't these holes look weird? They seem the perfect size for someone's fingers to slide in. But they're not part of the combination for the safe behind the portrait."

"I don't like this," the little furball muttered, "you'll get in trouble again. And it's not as if you've got a gadget to check for hidden technology. You're not in a movie, Adrien!"

But as Plagg said that, Adrien had a flash passing in front of his eyes. He gasped, which caused the black Kwami to look at him with a raised eyebrow.

"As a matter of fact," he said as he slammed one hand's fist against the other's palm, "I think I do. You remember the other day when we were looking for Father to tell him about Félix?"