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

Chpt 32: Guilt. And Desperation.

I never really would have guessed that Ladybug was quite this young, thought Maya as she sat off to the side and watched Marinette and her friends goof around in between takes of the music video they were making for Kitty Section.  Why would anyone put teenagers in charge of protecting the city?  Does she even have anyone she can talk to about what she is doing?  From Maya's own experiences of not having anyone to share what she was thinking and feeling with, she knew it could be really rough.  Maybe she doesn't even know who Cat Noir is either?  It's amazing that she hasn't had some kind of mental breakdown!  Maya couldn't help feeling a certain respect for Marinette.

Maya was lost in her thoughts when she felt someone approach her.

"Hey, Maya!  You know, you can join in, if you want.  You don't have to sit over here by yourself," said Marinette.  She had noticed Maya by herself and despite her best efforts to not feel any sympathy for the young woman who was probably a villain, she couldn't stop herself from coming over to invite her to take part in the fun.  She wondered if the woman was lonely.  And it never hurt to be nice to someone, thought Marinette.

Maya couldn't help showing her surprise at being asked to join.  Though, she wasn't sure why she was surprised.  She'd seen Marinette being kind and helping people in and out of costume.

"Thanks, Marinette," said Maya with a smile.  "But, I'm okay here."  And she added silently and I don't really want to be caught on video.

"Well, if you're sure," Marinette said with a slight frown.

"Yeah.  Actually, I was thinking that I may head out, even though it's still early.  Work on a few things before calling it a night.  Can you let Max know that I left?  I don't want to interrupt his fun," said Maya, standing up and gathering her bag.

"Sure.  See you later!" said Marinette, giving Maya a little wave and then heading back to her friends.  She hoped none of those "things" Maya mentioned were going to be bad for Ladybug and Cat Noir!  Though, she had to admit the villain hadn't done anything truly awful overall.

Maya watched Marinette return to the group and start laughing at something someone said.  I will not start feeling guilty!  I have to do this.  I have no choice!  And maybe it will be better for Marinette if she doesn't have to be Ladybug anymore.  She could just be a teenager.

Maya turned away from the laughter and headed off the boat.

Marinette had angled her head to watch Maya go, making sure she had really left and wasn't doing who knows what down in the boat.  There was something sad about Maya.  If things were different, she would feel the need to try to help her.

"It seems like Adrien is going back to his old ways- he's never able to come to any of our group get togethers anymore.  What's going on with him?" asked Alya, getting Marinette's attention.

"It has been awhile since we've see him," added Rose.  "Is everything okay with you two?"

Marinette nodded.  "We're fine.  It's just his dad's been asking- politely, if you can imagine- if Adrien would do some more modeling for the company and Adrien has appreciated being asked and not forced to do stuff, but there seems to be more and more commitments and add that to all the practicing he's been doing in preparation for the piano audition thingy, meaning he's been super busy."  She looked at her phone, noticing the time.  "Actually, it's just about time for his audition.  He's there right now.  I really hope that he wins, but that would probably mean that he'll have to attend a bunch of rehearsals and I still won't see him much!"

Alya put an arm around Marinette's shoulders and Rose took one of Marinette's hands and gave it a squeeze.

"Well, that's all gotta slow down at some point, right?" said Alya.

"I would think so.  Hopefully before he's missed all of summer!" exclaimed Marinette, not really realizing until she said it that she had been feeling disappointed that she and Adrien had hardly been able to follow through with any of the plans they had made for the summer.

- - -

"You need to give me an update on how the plan is coming!  Now!" shouted Lila as she slammed open the door to the lab and threw her purse on the lab bench where Maya was sitting.

"Why, Grandmother, whatever is the matter?" asked Maya sweetly, surprised to see this timeline's Lila this upset. She hadn't yet seen the temper she was so familiar with.  She wondered what had happened.  She knew her response would only goad Lila, but now that the Miraculouses were almost in her possession she felt like she had the upper hand.  It was safe to finally poke back at her grandmother a bit for all of those unhappy years she spent with her, no matter that this girl wasn't yet her grandmother.  Maya had been the only one who ever saw the real Lila and Lila had taken out any unhappiness in her own life on child Maya.

"Don't call me that!" Lila snapped at her.  "Mr. Agreste texted me to come over immediately, that's what's the matter.  I haven't heard any real updates from you in weeks.  Just what can I tell him?  Do you almost have what he wants?"

"You've hardly been around to update, what with all of the shopping you've been doing with the project's money and all of the lunch dates with Max," retorted Maya. She had no plans to tell Lila how close she was now to the Miraculouses and Lila would never know that she didn't plan to hand them over to anyone!

"Max and I have been focusing on getting the portal up and running as I need to have it operational before I get the Miraculouses.  I want to be able to return to the future as soon as I get them back from Gabriel.  While Ladybug and Cat Noir should be powerless without their Miraculouses, I don't want to risk any of their Miraculous holding friends coming after me before I can use the portal and safely return to the future with what I came here for.  So, no, we don't have the Miraculouses yet.  Maybe you could say that that spider attack was our first trial attempt to retrieve them- we were testing the superheroes before implementing our real plan," said Maya.

"What spider attack?" asked Lila.

"The giant spider that attacked Ladybug and Cat Noir at the stadium a few days ago! Don't you follow the news?" asked Maya.

"I only follow things that are important to me," Lila huffed, before adding "Was that us?  You didn't tell me we were doing that!"

"No, that wasn't us," said Maya truthfully as the rest of them weren't involved.  "But, Gabriel doesn't know that.  Why don't you capitalize on that?"

Lila thought about that before saying "Maybe I will.  But, you need to move faster.  Mr. Agreste is getting impatient!"

Lila looked at her phone and realized she had stayed too long at the lab. Who knew how Mr. Agreste would react if she took too much time to arrive?  She grabbed her purse and strode out of the lab.

Maya watched her go, feeling a slight twinge of worry for her grandmother.  Lila really didn't seem to realize who she'd gotten involved with.