Miraculous Team ✔️

15

Alya was a strong and outspoken girl. Under the influence of her older sister (who could knock down a man twice her size) and her mother (who was known for her brutal honestly as much as her position as head chef at Le Grand Paris), Alya was a fighter. But that night, she was unbelievably quiet. A thick white gauze covered her left shoulder. The injury wasn't was bad as it looked, just a deep cut, but it hurt anyways.

When Chloe, Nino and Alya got home, Alya locked herself in the room she shared with Marinette. It was late at night. She did not respond to Nino knocking at the door, or to Brie telling her that dinner's ready. She scrolled through her phone. She hasn't touched it for the past few days. She knew what she was going to see.

"Alya Césaire, the founder to Ladyblog, is Rena Rouge."

Alya cringed and quickly skipped the comments section. Why did she feel so ashamed? She knew the media too well, whatever people have to say, it was definitely not going to brighten her mood. She went to her text messages.

Mom: Hey Alya. I got your letter. I'm still stunned, honestly. You've really proven yourself as my fierce little girl, except you aren't even little anymore. You're seventeen now. I wasn't even ready for you to leave for college yet, let along be a superhero. Please be safe. The house feels lifeless without you. I've been keeping Etta and Ella away from the TV. I told them you're on a trip. They miss you too.

Alya gulped.

Nora: I can't believe you, sis. So that's why your lover boy kept on insisting that he can protect you. Smh. I really hate you for doing this to me. As the champion boxer I am, I should be the one watching over you. I never thought that you were watching over the whole of Paris all this time. I really don't mind following you on your mission, you know, wherever you are. I can take a week over from working at the dojo. Just... be careful. K? I swear I'll beat the f out of Nino if he doesn't bring you back in one piece.

Alya took off her glasses to wipe away her tears on her sleeves, then proceeded to reply to her family, promising to be back soon. She threw her phone down and looked at Trixx.

"How do you feel, fox?"

Trixx peered up at Alya. "I'm more concerned about you right now." She replied.

Alya shrugged. "I feel pretty useless. But other than that, I'm okay."

Trixx flew up and made herself comfy on Alya's lap. "Alya. Can I tell you something?"

"Sure."

"I've had a good amount of holders before, but I have never met a girl as brave and strong as you. You were fighting alone. You didn't complain when you got hurt. You even used your powers to help your friends while you were bleeding to death."

Alya smiled and started tearing up again. "Thank you, fox."

"Quit calling me fox, human, or else!"

"Or else what?"

Trixx smirked and looked at Alya dead in the eyes. "I might have a few trixx up my sleeve."

Alya gaped. "Did you just make a pun?" She started laughing hysterically, "Oh no. Lord have mercy. Trixx has been contaminated by Adrien."

Little did Alya know, Nino had his ear pressed against the bedroom door. He sighed in relief when he heard Alya's giggling. Smiling, he retreated back to the living room.

"Yep, she's fine." Nino reported to the group, pointing his thumb back at the room.

"That's good." Chloe said.

Adrien toyed with the edge of his shirt. "It's almost 10. Marinette's still not home."

Brie reached over and patted his knee. "Hong Kong is relatively safe at night. You can't get kidnapped with fifty people looking down at you from their windows. Don't worry too much."

"Have you tried calling her?" Lew asked. Adrien shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

"I'll call her." Chloe offered, pulling out her phone and heading to the balcony.

Suddenly, Lew thrusted a paper bag in front of Nino's face, making him jump slightly. "All the ingredients are in there."

"Wow. Thanks." Nino said. He opened the bag, uncovering a wide variety of plants, herbs and small bottles of liquid. "What are these stuff?"

"I can't tell you." Lew said apologetically, "The less people who know the better."

"But you're literally handing them a bag of it." Brie chuckled.

"Even so." Lew chuckled back, then he grew more serious, "You guys have the ingredients now. As much as I hate to see you all go, you need to get back to Paris."

The mood saddened quickly.

Lew reached into his pocket and pulled out another small bottle, this time filled with a blueish liquid. He handed it to Adrien. "When you finally take back the Ladybug's Miraculous, give this to Tikki. When Ladybug uses her Miraculous Ladybug power, not only will it fix all the damages in Paris and around the World. It would remove any memories of your identities from the Parisians, so they won't remember who you guys are."

"Will I remember?" Brie asked meekly.

"You will." Lew answered.

The heroes smiled at Brie fondly.

"We really owe you one, dudette." Nino said to her, "If it weren't for you, we'd probably never find Master Lew."

Chloe tapped her finger nervously against the cold metal rail, waiting for Marinette to pick up.

"Chloe?"

"Uh. Hi Marinette." Chloe coughed, "Where are you? We're getting worried."

"Oh, right, sorry. I'll be back soon, twenty minutes tops... How's Alya?"

"Nino said she's okay now."

Chloe heard Marinette exhale then said "That's good."

Both of them paused for a second. It felt like only yesterday when they were at each other's necks. Now they were... friends? Chloe quietly wished they were.

"Hey, uh, Marinette?"

"Yeah?"

Chloe was not good at this.

"I never got the chance to apologise... for all the times at school, when I made your life miserable. And I never really liked Adrien that way, honestly. I just thought I needed to be attached to him because of our social status... But now I know, it's more than that."

Marinette smiled at her words.

"So yeah... sorry about that. And thanks for being Ladybug. You really helped me realise what it meant to have friends."

"I'm glad, Chloe. Thank you for letting me dig into your cold soul."

Chloe spluttered, then laughed. "You are so very welcome."

"And thanks for checking on me. See you later."

____________________

Trixx is female in this story. I think she's supposed to be male in the French version but not in the English version (though English isn't my first language). The next chapter is gonna take a while. Cause I'm gonna be busy for the next week. Hope you understand. It should be out in less than two weeks. Thanks and

Bug out!