Miraculously from Ninjago | Stranded in Etheria

11 - Setting Things Right

I took a deep breath in and exhaled slowly.

"My miraculous—the shell I always wear in my hair— has more than just the ability to transform me into Dauphine Bleue. Thanks to my grandmother's skill with magic, it also possesses the power to transport me between worlds."

I gave Lloyd a moment to process that.

"So... you could have come back anytime you wanted?"

I looked away sheepishly. "Yeah. But I made a promise to my grandmother never to tell anyone in Ninjago of the dolphin miraculous and it's additional power, so I didn't. There have been many times over the years that I desperately wanted to return, but I was worried that you wouldn't forgive me for staying away so long."

Lloyd looked away.

"I'm getting the feeling you're still upset."

"Of course I'm still upset, y/n!" He snapped. "You were my best friend! I thought I meant enough to you for you to stay in the same world."

And with that, he walked away. I wanted to call out to him, to tell him how much he mattered to me, but I was at a loss for words.

"Okay, Ladybird, send us home," Lloyd said as he marched back over to the team.

"It's Ladybug."

"Whatever," he grumbled.

I wanted to cry. This wasn't Lloyd! Lloyd was kind and caring—had I really made him this angry? Or had he changed this much over the time I had been away?

"Hey, wait—we still haven't talked to y/—" Cole said, but Lloyd cut him off.

"There's nothing to talk about. Come on, polka dots. Send us home."

"Okay, okay. Miraculous ladybug!" Lady called as she threw the teapot in the air. The magic of her miraculous reset everything back to normal, sending the ninja back home.

"What'd I miss?" Chat asked as he came back, three miraculous boxes in his hands. He gave them to Lady. "Don't worry, I didn't see their identities."

"The ninja left," Lady explained quickly, but then her earrings started beeping. "I've got to go. Bug out!"

I continued staring at the spot where my teammates disappeared, confused as hell. I thought Chat had left, but then he came to join me in the alleyway.

"Blue?" Chat asked, noticing my hurt expression. "Are you okay?"

"I... I don't know."

He came closer and hugged me. "If you want to talk, I'm always here for you."

Before I could mutter my thanks, I transformed back. I hadn't even noticed my miraculous was beeping.

"Don't worry, my eyes are closed."

I sighed. "You can open them. It doesn't matter anymore."

After a hesitation, Chat pulled back and looked at me. "Y/n?"

"Uh, huh," I mumbled as I handed Ripple something to eat. "It's funny that all of us are in the same class."

"Yeah, I guess— Wait. We're all in the same class? Reena and Carapace, too?"

I clamped my hands over my mouth. "Pretend you didn't hear that."

"Hold on... how do you know everyone's identities?"

"How could you not know?! It's so damn obvious!"

"There's a spell or something on the miraculouses so that no one can recognize the wearers! I thought you knew that!"

"Oh. Right. Of course I did," I said, but Chat could probably tell I was lying. "I guess that kind of magic doesn't work on me since I'm from another world."

"Makes sense. So... you've know who everyone was this whole time?"

"Yup. It wasn't that hard to figure out."

Chat turned to the side, nervously running his hand through his hair. "Does that mean you know who I am?"

"Are you kidding? Your face is plastered all around the city. I recognized you straight away, Adrien."

"Fair enough," he laughed, but then he looked confused as he remembered something. "When you said 'it doesn't matter anymore,' what did you mean?"

"I'm going back to Ninjago," I said, looking at the ground, then back up at Chat. "I have to set things right."