"Just a Friend?" Book 1 of "Secrets Unraveled" Trilogy (MLB FanFic) |COMPLETED|

Chpt 23: Master Fu needs some strong tea.

That afternoon after school Marinette brought Adrien to Master Fu's. Since Adrien now knew her secret identity, she wanted to include him in everything that he had been left out of before. She knocked on the door. Adrien could sense her nervousness, so he took her hand while they waited, giving it a squeeze. She gave him a tremulous smile. Master Fu opened the door, took one glance at their hands, and welcomed them in. Master Fu then shut the door and turned back around saying "I think I need tea." He left them there and headed toward the kitchen.

Once Master Fu left to make the tea, Tikki flew out of her purse and Plagg zoomed out of Adrien's shirt toward Marinette.

Tikki flew up to Adrien. "Hi, I'm Tikki! Nice to meet you- officially, that is." Adrien wondered what she meant, but decided not to ask, well, right now anyway.

"Hi, Tikki," Adrien replied, noticing how similar Tikki looked to Ladybug. He suddenly realized what the kwami meant. She had been there when he learned Marinette's secret, but he hadn't exactly paid much attention to the kwami then.  A few too many other things had been going on!

"Hey, Marinette!" said Plagg and he gave Marinette a fist bump. 

"Hi, Plagg," Marinette said with a grin.

"Wait, what? Why do you and Plagg know each other so well?" Adrien asked Marinette, his eyebrows raised up in surprise.

"Well, let's see," said Marinette, trying to get all of the details straight in her mind, now that she knew so much more. "I came to Master Fu for help battling Style Queen- it wasn't going well when Cat Noir didn't show up- and that's when I met Plagg, who was here with Master Fu. I was told you somehow lost your Miraculous, which I now know was because you were turned into a glitter statue. I had thought you were just being an irresponsible Cat, but obviously that wasn't the case!" He looked hurt and she gave him an apologetic smile. "Sorry! Well, anyway, Plagg offered to help me, but Master Fu said it was too dangerous. To fast forward a bit, Style Queen was just about to turn me into glitter when Plagg saved me! He put himself in front of me and did a cataclysm, which destroyed the glitter dome protecting you so I could get the akuma rose, but which almost destroyed all of Paris with its power. So, thankfully Plagg defied Master Fu to help me or who knows what would have happened! We made a good team that day, pounding it out in the end." Marinette smiled at Plagg, who tried to hide his blush with a distraction.

"Hey, Sugar cube," Plagg nodded toward Tikki. 

Tikki rolled her eyes at him and said "Stinky sock!" playfully back. They both headed over to see Wayzz, who was looking in Master Fu's direction with a worried gaze.

Tikki's eyes followed his gaze. "I'm sure it will be fine, Wayzz," said Tikki reassuringly. "This isn't the first time, remember," she said.

"Yeah, it just took the longest amount of time of any Ladybug and Cat pairings that were interested in each other that way," said Plagg, rolling his eyes.

Adrien looked over toward Plagg. "So you've been here more than once before?" he asked Plagg, surprised. 

"Well, yeah. Of course! I used to live here in the Miraculous box, and then I came to help try to contact Nooroo on his birthday, you know that night when you thought I'd been turned into a sock. Although, that contact went really badly when we got Hawk Moth instead," he shivered.

"What? Who's Nooroo?" asked Adrien, all confused. 

"Nooroo is Hawk Moth's kwami," said Wayzz. "The Miraculous was stolen and now poor Nooroo is made to use his powers for evil by Hawk Moth. We had tried to contact him to find out where he was (the birthday is the only time we kwamis can use our powers together to do this), but we could not reach him, as Nooroo was unfortunately using his powers at the time and unavailable." He shook his head sadly. "And Hawk Moth somehow reversed the connection to try to find us. We think he may have gotten some kind of clue as to where we are."

"I've missed a lot," said Adrien, his head whirling with all of the new information.

"We'll catch you up," said Marinette, squeezing his hand that still held hers. As long as Master Fu is okay with this, she thought.

Adrien noticed that Wayzz was a turtle and asked Wayzz "Are you Carapace's kwami?"

Wayzz nodded. "In a way. I have been Master Fu's kwami for years, but when needed I also help Carapace. It is nice to be able to use my powers of transformation again, since Master Fu can no longer easily transform." Adrien nodded his understanding.

"So this is where you all go so mysteriously," said Adrien looking around.

"Yes," replied Master Fu as he returned with a tray of tea. He nodded his head in the direction of the mat, indicating they sit. Once everyone was served tea he sat and looked at Adrien and Marinette. "I am sorry that it was necessary to leave you out, Adrien, but it was impossible for you both to be here together before." Master Fu paused, quietly gathering his thoughts. "What Tikki and Plagg both said is true- you are not the first Ladybug and Cat to learn of each other's identities. I expected it would happen once Marinette mentioned that she was seeing you, Adrien."

Marinette blushed and gave a quick glance Adrien's way. "I felt I had to let him know that it wouldn't interfere with me being Ladybug," she said shyly. 

 "It's okay," Adrien said, with a smile.

"Sometimes the bond between Ladybug and Cat is very strong and it can make for a very effective team, but it does bring some dangers. You must keep your emotions under control while in your superhero forms so you are not distracted from what is happening by what you feel for each other." 

 Adrien thought that it shouldn't be too different for him, since he had been in love with Ladybug for what seemed like forever. Adrien and Marinette nodded at Master Fu, showing they understood what he was saying.

"I think it is especially important to continue your training together, and with Rena Rouge and Carapace, so you can try to work out any complications that may arise from your new relationship before you both face Hawk Moth again. Try to remember what your partnership was like before. You were protective of one another, but relied on each other for your specific, individual strengths. You cannot let your fear for the other keep you from doing what you must do. I know that it may be difficult, but practicing will help," he said to them. Marinette and Adrien nodded their agreement again.

They finished their tea and Master Fu collected up the cups on the tray. "I believe it is time for you to go now. Arrange another training session. I will make sure that your space is available whatever night you choose." Master Fu took the tray to the kitchen and then returned to see them out. He looked at Marinette, Adrien, Tikki, and Plagg and said "Take good care of each other. Good night!" Tikki and Plagg flew into Marinette's purse. 

 Adrien and Marinette slowly walked hand in hand back to Marinette's house and Adrien walked her to her door. They decided to do another training session Friday, if that worked for everyone, and they needed to put the final touches on their project tomorrow at Adrien's. They stood outside quietly talking and trying to stretch the few minutes they had. Finally, they both agreed they needed to go. Marinette took both of Adrien's hands and Adrien leaned down to kiss her. 

"See you tomorrow," said Adrien, releasing her. Plagg flew out of the purse and into Adrien's shirt. Tikki stuck her head out to watch Plagg go. 

"Yes, see you then!" Marinette replied and went inside to finish her homework before dinner.