Honour Thy Father (and Mother)

Written by: JuliaFC

Fandom: Miraculous - Tales of Ladybug and Chat Noir

Rating: T

Beta: faerie_cant_communicate, Mystic_Raven20

Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created by Thomas Astruc. "Miraculous - Tales of Ladybug and Chat Noir" © 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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WARNING: THIS STORY CONTAINS SPOILERS FROM EPISODE 24: REPRESENTATION. IF YOU HAVE YET TO WATCH THE EPISODE, DO NOT READ THIS STORY YET. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED

WARNING: IF WHAT WAS SHOWN IN EPISODE 24 TRIGGERED YOU IN ANY WAY, PLEASE DO NOT READ THIS STORY

PS: on the scripts, "Once Upon a Time" is the name of the camera sentimonster that showed the "show" to Marinette. I thought a couple of lines in the story would confuse you if you didn't know that, since I don't recall anyone saying the sentimonster's name in the episode.

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Respect.

Duty.

If you're not your own master, you're already your own slave.

How can you be part of the masters if you're a slave to your own emotions?

Félix had heard those words-well, somewhat similar words-way too many times. They haunted his nightmares and filled his heart with fear. With terror.

He sat at the edge of the rooftop he'd retreated to after releasing Once Upon a Time from reality and dropped his transformation. He sighed, staring at the space in front of him, and nearly didn't hear Kagami moving silent steps towards him and sitting graciously at his side. She stared in the direction he was looking at for a long time, her gaze following absent-mindedly the city lights flickering in the darkness like thousands of fireflies on a dark lawn. He glanced at her and saw a small smile on her lips; she seemed to enjoy the cool wind blowing on her skin and hair. She closed her eyes briefly, pinning her hands on the gutter at each side of her legs. Only the distant sounds of the traffic filled the silence.

"Was that why you kidnapped me?" she eventually said, startling Félix. The boy darted his gaze from the flickering lights and looked at her with a frown.

"Yeah. Nobody deserves to hear words like those. All that emphasis on respect, family and tradition. The way she keeps pushing you to achieve perfection. Your mother sounds too similar to my father for my comfort." He let out a sigh that physically hurt his chest.

Like the time his father had hit his ring against the wall. Over and over and over again. The ring that contained his amok, he'd learn on his skin soon enough. The ring that held his soul.

Respect.

"I had no respect for him, he said. I was an ungrateful brat who didn't deserve his love, he said. He said I was...a monster." He grabbed the fabric of his trousers with his fingers and squeezed his hands into fists, his throat clenching painfully at the memory.

Kagami gasped. "A monster? Why, what did you do?"

"I existed." He didn't want Kagami to think he was weak, but his eyes filled with tears at the memory. Once Upon a Time had just shown it to Marinette and brought the memory to the forefront of his mind. It didn't help that he could still feel the excruciating pain that rang through his soul the second his father's ring cracked. "Having created me was killing him. After my birth, he started developing a strange cough; his health degenerated to the point that he couldn't walk anymore. He got frail. He was slowly dying, and he couldn't accept the fact." He turned his head to look at her as he said so, tightening his jaw when he heard how hoarse his voice sounded. Kagami was looking at him with her mouth agape.