The Big Reveal

11 - Visiting Master Fu

Tikki and Plagg flew into the room and went to say "hello" to Wayzz – Master Fu's kwami. Marinette went in and looked like she was comfortable in this place, but Adrien felt confused a little bit. Hadn't he helped this old man to get up from the ground one day?

"Good afternoon." He said quietly.

"Good afternoon, Cat Noir." Master Fu answered.

Marinette was already sitting on the mat. She looked at Adrien waiting for him to join her. He hesitated but finally sat down next to her. He kept his eyes on Master Fu.

"Why you are so wary?" Master Fu asked the boy.

"I'm not wary." Adrien denied. "I'm only surprised. I... I remember you."

"Oh, you're very kind." Master Fu smiled. "You meet so many people in your life that I'm honoured to hear that our five-minute meeting has been remembered."

"Did you... Did you give me the miraculous at that moment?"

"No, Adrien. I did it later. But when we met for the first time I got known that you are the right person to be the miraculous holder."

"So, it was a test?"

"Kind of... Besides, Ladybug had a very similar test. You know... As the Guardian I must be very careful with choosing the miraculous holders. Just think about how many problems we've had because of one villain keeping the miraculous..."

"Marinette told me that two miraculous were lost." Adrien asked before he thought about consequences of his question. He was afraid of talking about Hawkmoth, because he didn't want to hear the confirmation of their biggest fear.

"Yes, you're right. I told Marinette about loss of the book and two miraculous: the Butterfly and the Peacock. I suspect that all those objects have been in possession of the same person."

"But you're not sure!"

"No, I'm not sure." Master Fu confirmed. "But it's not an excuse for us to forget about being very careful. Especially for you, my boy."

"Master Fu, can you show Adrien the picture of the Peacock miraculous?" Marinette asked.

"Of course, I can. But why you are interested in this particular one?"

"I don't know." Adrien answered. "When Marinette told me about it, I felt a hunch and it's been bothering me since then. I don't know... Maybe I saw it somewhere?"

Master Fu looked at him for a moment, then got up and brought his smartphone. After a while he found the right page of the holy book.

"Here you are." He showed the picture to Adrien.

"Wait! I've seen this before!" Plagg exclaimed.

"So have I, I think..." Adrien whispered in shock.

"Remember, kid? That was in the safe!" Plagg reminded. "There were some strange things inside... Let me think... A book about Tibet and a leaflet from a hotel?"

"My mom's picture... And a hair grip... Just like this one..."

"Tibet?" Marinette spotted. "Your dad told me that he had found this book when he travelled with your mom in Tibet!"

"I have no idea if they've ever been in Tibet." Adrien remarked. "On the other hand, they were away for so many times, that Tibet is equally possible as the rest of the world."

"Master Fu..." Marinette looked at Master Fu with concern. "We talked with Adrien about... Uhm... Hawkmoth..."

Adrien looked at her with fear. He wasn't ready for these questions!

"Don't be afraid, Cat Noir. We can't be afraid of the truth." Master Fu said to Adrien, seeing his reaction on Marinette's question.

"I wouldn't be so sure..." Adrien muttered.

"I see there's a lot of fear in both of you. And the source of this fear lies in Hawkmoth." Master Fu stated very seriously. "You can't let the fear from the truth affect your perception of the world. If you close your eyes to the truth, even if it's the worst, you may miss an important warning of danger. And that will mean the final defeat. You must be aware! And you have to trust to each other. I said this to Marinette when she brought me the book and hid the information from whom she'd got it. Because she wanted to protect the beloved one."

"You wanted to protect me?" Adrien asked quietly and Marinette blushed immediately. She was ashamed of hiding the truth, when she had talked about truthfulness for so many times.

"I told you that I thought you were Hawkmoth." She murmured looking at him dolefully.

"But you didn't mention that you'd lied by the way..." he grinned.

"Oh, you'll never forget me this, right?" she closed her eyes.

"It's good to know that you have any weak points." He answered and kissed her cheek. She blushed again – this time because of contentment.

Master Fu looked at them with curiosity. And in complete silence.