Look What You Made Me Do

You Can Keep Those Kingdom Keys

(AN: A little more insight on Chloe becoming Honey Flash. You get to see Kagami, and Marinette gets some good news)

Chloe was leaning against the wall filing her nails as she waited for Marinette. If someone had told her two years ago Marinette Dupain-Cheng would become her best friend she would have told them they were being ridiculous, utterly ridiculous. It was strange to think about all the things that lead her down this path. It took a long time to realize that she had always been a little jealous of how easy Marinette could get along with others. It took watching a monster like Lila Rossi to see what kind of monster she was. And sure she wasn't as bad as that sausaged hair girl.....but it still wasn't a pleasant wake up call.

It was a slow process but Chloe felt like she was getting better. Marinette certainly thought so. But the biggest sign of that was when Ladybug appeared on her balcony. Naturally Chloe had been nervous. Worried that the superheroine was going to scold her for something.But instead she held out the bee miraculous to her. She said that she had been watching her and said that she had seen her trying to change. They had a very long talk about the responsibilities of being a hero. That it wasn't about fame or recognition. It was about helping people. Chloe admitted that the reason she had told everyone she was Queen Bee was because she wanted people to like her. Wanted to do something that would make her mother proud of her and maybe come home more often.

When Ladybug said she was going to give her a second chance Chloe had been confused how they were going to do that. Everyone knew her as Queen Bee. Ladybug said they would rebrand her. Apparently she was a perfect fit for Pollen so just giving her a different miraculous wouldn't work. However they could change her appearance. They went over details and in the end Honey Flash was created.

Chloe had asked about Chat Noir and right away could tell it was a subject Ladybug did not want to talk about. So Chloe dropped it. She didn't pout when Ladybug took Pollen back with her. They had gone over that this was a trial basis. Things had started out a little shaky. Chloe had been nervous about meeting Chat Noir as Honey Flash. She had been worried he would know it was her but that fear was short lived. The real test was hearing him bad mouth Chloe. But she kept her cool and could tell Ladybug had been proud. Things got a little weird after the third akuma in a row and Chat realized Honey Flash wasn't a once in awhile thing. When he threw an absolute tantrum and threatened that if he saw Honey Flash he wouldn't bother joining the fight. Well that was fine with her. Ladybug and herself could clearly handle things. When Ladybug announced that she had taken back Chat's miraculous Honey Flash hadn't been surprised. What had surprised her was Ladybug not just asking her to be her official partner but finding out who her civilian identity was!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Revealing her identity to Chloe had been a big step to take. But after talking to Master Fu she explained how much easier it would be if there was one person she didn't have to hide from. Master Fu had been training her to become a guardian and said that he trusted her decision. As a guardian she would have to trust her instinct.

"God it's about time." Chloe complained as they started to walk. Marinette just smiled because she knew that Chloe was more bark than bite. As they got outside she spotted a familiar Bluenette waiting for them. It was Kagami.

Kagami was another near casualty of her massive crush on Adrien. She had been so scared by the prospect of a rival that it almost ruined their chance at being friends. Kagami had a stricter upbringing than anyone Marinette had ever met. She had thought Kagami was strange when she was just trying to get to know her through her friendship research. The fact that she felt she needed to research on how to make friends hurt Marinette's heart. It made her feel ashamed of how she had acted. But they had become closer.

"Kagame what are you doing here?" she asked with a smile.
~~~~~~~~
Kagame looked up and gave a brief smile. "I am here to pick up Adrien so we may go to fencing practice." she explained in her usual clinical manner. She had long since moved on from her feelings for Adrien. When she heard what had been happening at their school she had wanted to go straight for her katana to punish the offending parties. She would make Lila Rossi beg for forgiveness at sword point! But Marinette put a stop to that plan

When she had found out Adrien knew that Lila was lying she had wanted to go for her katana again. Marinette was her first female friend and Kagami wanted to protect her. But she would honor her friend's wishes. She would admit that Chloe was doing a good job of supporting their friend

"Once again Mother is pushing us together. I suspect she is doing more business with Mr. Agreste." As children with a very controlling parent they got along in a way others didn't. But that didn't get him completely off the hook.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Well we'd better get going then." Marinette said as she grabbed Chloe's hand and pulled her to the waiting limo. She did not want to deal with Lila any more than she already did. They had developed the habit of Chloe giving her a ride home even though it was not on Chloe's way home. Chloe didn't like the idea of any of Lila's minions messing Marinette. None of them had the guts to do anything close to the bakery. Chloe knew none of them wanted to be on Mrs. Dupain-Cheng's shit list.

Marinette waved as the limo drove off.After greeting her parents and grabbing some cookies and an apricot croissant she headed upstairs. Once the door was closed Tiki flew out of her purse and accepted the lime macaron offered to her. "Marinette are you sure it was wise to confront Lila like that?"

Marinette knew that Tiki was worried about her. Normally she would never think about doing anything so aggressive. But to be honest...she was tired. Tired of Lila's lies. Tired of the class being against her. Tired of keeping her head down. Tired of Adrien's lack of support. She had been dealing with the same problem for years. "I know you're worried Tikki. But Lila isn't going to leave me alone. So I'm going to make her do it."
~~~~~~~~~~
The red kwami didn't say anything right away. She knew it wasn't in Marinette's nature to be mean or any type of bully. She wanted her holder to be healthy and happy. What has been going on wasn't right! But she worried that in the long run this course of action might hurt Marinette. She was probably the best Ladybug she had ever had. A perfect holder for sure. It was probably the reason Master Fu was teaching her how to be a guardian. "You know I trust you completely Marinette." she smiled as she floated over to give her holder a hug.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Marinette smiled as he kwami hugged her cheek. She turned her attention to her computer so she could start her homework. As soon as she opened her email she gave a gasp of surprise.

"Marinette are you okay?!" "Tikki asked looking worried.

Marinette had a huge smile on her face. "Tikki I'm great! I just got an email saying I won that essay writing contest! Our class is getting to go on a month-long trip to Gotham in America!"

The kwami was practically vibrating with her excitement. "Marinette that's so great! I know you worked really hard. I'm sure everyone will be proud of you!"

At this Marinette gave a little snort of amusement. "Oh I'm sure Lila will find some way to take all the credit for it."

"That's just so unfair!" Tikki said with a shake of her head.

"Don't worry Tikki." Marinette smiled as she started to reply. "I have some ideas on how to stay ahead of Lila. Mr. Wayne emailed me himself! He asked if there are any special accommodations I would like for me and a friend." She got a reply rather quickly and was pleased with the answer. She couldn't wait to tell Chloe tomorrow. She had a lot of plans!