"Future Rewoven" Book 3 of "Secrets Unraveled" Trilogy |COMPLETED|

Chpt 14: Lila's Future, Maya's Past.

"Tell me about my future again," said Lila, lying down on the living room couch and smiling up at the ceiling in preparation to hear her new favorite story again.  Maya looked over at Lila from the chair where she was sitting.  She had been busily sketching out diagrams in her notebook of equipment she was going to need to get the Miraculouses by herself.  She thought she was about done with the planning stage and would soon be ready to move on to building everything she needed to identify who the Miraculous holders were and then to take the Ladybug earrings and Cat ring for her own use. She tried not to show her frustration at being interrupted or sigh and roll her eyes at Lila. She didn't really want to go over the story for the . . . what was it?  The sixth? Maybe seventh time? She'd completely lost count, but too many times! However, Maya was completely dependent on Lila in this time, so she felt she had to do as she asked.

Maya closed her notebook and set it in her lap, while Lila readied herself for the story by settling more comfortably into the couch cushions. "Well, you and Max got married right after college. While he worked on his graduate degrees, you supported him as you started to make contacts with wealthy business owners. By the time that Max finished his schooling, you had put together enough money to create your own start-up tech company- the kind with all the 'must have' tech gadgets the public wanted- with Max doing the work, but with you as the face of the company. With all of the profits, you built Max a research lab where he and a few others worked on 'impossible' tech that may or may not ever become products to sell. But, it was always Max's dream to invent and research new things, so he was happy. With all the money your company made, you bought a mansion and hosted all of the wealthy people in Paris. You became very influential," Maya concluded, hoping that would be the end of it for the day.

Lila grinned and closed her eyes, imagining all that was to come to her in the future. "I knew I was destined for a very different life than the one I have now!" she said as she opened one eye to glance over at Maya. Lila closed her eye again and continued to imagine all of the wonderful clothes she would have, not to mention servants, parties, prestige, the money to do anything she wanted! So many things that she didn't have now would be hers in the future!

Maya shook her head slightly at how focused Lila was on money. She didn't mention the fact that this may no longer be Lila's future, now that the timeline had changed. She suspected that some of Lila's wealth and influence came about because of her behind the scenes association with Hawk Moth that also led to her doing some modeling for Gabriel Agreste. Maya didn't know all that Lila had helped Hawk Moth with, as her grandmother was very tight lipped about it, but she did know that she was instrumental in his terrorizing Paris for much longer than had happened in the timeline she was in now. Maya frowned. What if the timeline has changed enough that I will no longer be born? Is that why I'm forgetting things? Maya tried not to panic at the thought of no longer existing, as panic-worthy as that was. She needed to keep her head and follow through with her plan to get the Miraculouses so she could get back to her own timeline in the future. And maybe she should do all she could to make sure that Max and Lila stayed together, too!

She looked over at Lila, who she knew was smiling to herself as she dreamed about the wonderful life she would have, and found her annoyance at her grandmother growing. Not once in all of these times that Lila made her describe the future had she ever asked her about Maya's mother- Lila's own daughter!- or really anything about Maya that didn't specifically have to do with her own self. She was starting to understand more and more why her mother left Paris as soon as she could to get out from under Lila's control, but not why she had listed Lila as her guardian in the case of her death. I suppose there really wasn't anyone else, Maya thought sadly. She missed her mom and wondered how different her life would have been if only her mom hadn't died so young. Being placed in the care of two people she didn't know and who were not really interested in her had been hard.  

When Maya was growing up, her grandmother had always told her stories about how popular she had been when she was a teenager, but that two people had made her life miserable, according to Lila anyway. One was a classmate, Marinette Dupain-Cheng, who stole her boyfriend, a famous model named Adrien Agreste, by spreading lies about Lila, and the other was Ladybug. Her grandmother was adamant that she had never gotten what she deserved because of Marinette and Ladybug. And, her grandmother had really hated Ladybug! Because of this, Maya had grown up with a very different view of Ladybug than the rest of the kids her age and also with the view that getting what you deserved was the most important thing. Any actions you took to get what you deserved were completely justified, no matter who might get hurt.

Her grandfather could have made her life better, if only he had been around more to protect her from the machinations of her grandmother and been more loving. Maya had to admit that her grandfather had recognized her scientific talent and trained her well, but he had never praised her accomplishments, only focusing on things that didn't go perfectly. Maya had taken a job in his research lab when he offered, but he never really let her do what she wanted to like the other researchers could and she never got the recognition she deserved which is all what led her to where she was now. What a mess!

Maya noticed how quiet it was, a very rare occurrence around Lila in any time, and glanced over at her grandmother. She appeared to be asleep. Maya took that as an opportunity to get back to planning. She opened her notebook and scanned through what she had sketched and the list of materials she would need to make everything. Maya decided she would start on it tonight, after Max went home for the day. She reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone- time to get to the lab! Max had made a date to have lunch with his mom, so Maya had chosen to get out of the lab for a bit and stretch her legs.

She quietly grabbed her bag from the floor and tip-toed toward the door so she wouldn't wake Lila. Well this is not at all familiar! she thought wryly to herself with a smile, remembering all of the times she'd snuck out just like this to avoid having to go to one of her grandmother's fancy parties. Maya had hated those- being dressed up in uncomfortable clothes and paraded around in front of assorted rich people she didn't know and had nothing in common with! Unfortunately, she had only managed to avoid half of them!

Maya slowly turned the door knob and opened the door just enough to fit through and then quietly closed the door behind her. Success! She headed down the hall, ready to get back to her work in the lab.