Ladybug Blues

Her Legacy

A week had passed with no akuma attacks. Even if Ladybug were alive, Adrien would still be antsy. A week of no akumas meant a week of not being able to follow Scarabella home. A week of no akumas meant a week of not seeing Marinette. It was driving him crazy. He HAD to make that wish.

He decided to visit the Seine. It had become a strange place of solace for him, it made him feel close to Marinette. He sat down on a bench, staring at the water as it flowed peacefully. Plagg landed on his shoulder, sighing.

"Why do we keep coming here again, Kid?" Plagg asked, scratching his ear. "I mean, it's not like she's gonna magically appear or anything."

Adrien thought for a moment, then pointed to the riverbank. "I held her there. It's the last place she truly was, not that damned casket. I can't... I can't let that be it. Coming back here is a reminder of the mistake I made, Plagg. The one I intend to fix."

Plagg looked at him for a moment, then nodded slowly, gently nuzzling his shoulder. "Alright, Kid. If that's what you need."

Another full day passed without even a scream, and Adrien was beginning to lose his mind. Every pop from a bottle of champagne, every delighted squeal from a woman being proposed to got his ears perked, ready to take action.

But there was no action needed, and he didn't know how much longer he could keep this up. He needed to see her, to talk to her, to hold her. He needed to make things right. He couldn't do it if Hawkmoth was finally ending his reign of terror in Paris.

Finally, he decided to do something. Something reckless. He'd find a way to make his own akuma. He'd find a way to make Hawkmoth create one for him, just for him and Marinette. He'd do whatever it took.

He'd wait until tomorrow, then piss off Chloe. It was the easiest way to get someone akumatized. He could always apologize later, right? A warning gnawed the back of his mind, but he shrugged it off. He'd make it up to her, buy her some new heels or something.

Adrien paced around his room crafting a plan. He'd steal Chloe's journal, find something embarrassing (easy enough, she's got loads of trauma to exploit.) From there, he'd defeat Chloe's akumatized form just like he had many times before, follow that wretched bug home, and steal her earrings. And when he did, he'd make the wish. For Marinette. For her, and only her.

It was a foolproof plan, and Adrien patted himself on the back for thinking of it. His Lady would be so proud of him, he just knew it.

He called upon his transformation, eager to spend a little time under Marinette's fuzzy covers. (He definitely didn't steal more of her clothes to wear to bed, that'd be crazy! On an unrelated note, Marinette loved to wear oversized loungewear...) It was always a challenge to tear himself out of her bed and away from her balcony in the early mornings.

The next day, he waited until Chloe was at lunch, then snuck into her locker. He opened her journal and began skimming through it, searching for something, anything that would make her angry enough to want revenge. And then he found it: a page detailing her latest crush on one of the other boys at school. He had to force himself not to grin as he folded the page and slipped it into his pocket.

Adrien pondered on how he'd get her angry enough for Hawkmoth to notice, then it hit him. He'd send her a message on social media, something mean and belittling. It'd be easy enough to make it look like her crush had done it, and with Max's hacking skills, he could make sure she got the message.

He made his way into the cafeteria and pulled a chair up next to Max, earning some curious glances from Alix and Kim. He put on his perfect model smile, the one that made him look innocent and harmless. "Hey Max, can you help me with something?"