The Peacock's Revenge

~Chapter Three: The Plan~

Marinette promptly made her way home, hurrying to get out of the public area and to her so she could talk to Tikki. As she rushed into the bakery and up the stairs to her room, her parents noticed there must be something going on, but they had learned at this point that she knew what she was doing and it was best to not get too involved. Since Marinette couldn't transform anyway, Tikki didn't go everywhere with her anymore since it was unnecessary and possibly risky. The little Kwami usually just stayed in Marinette's room on her own.

"Tikki, I think she knows." Marinette said abruptly as she shut the trapdoor to her room, with fear in her eyes. Tikki knew immediately that she was talking about Nathalie.

"It's okay Marinette," the kwami quickly reassured, "even if she does know, it might not matter. Without the butterfly miraculous there's little she can accomplish, and she hasn't done anything villainous so far since Gabriel left. But the real question is, does she know you still can't transform?"

Marinette hesitated to answer, she didn't want Tikki to be mad at her response. "Well...she noticed my cracked earring today, and asked about it. I didn't think about it and I told her it was damaged by an akuma villain.....that might have been a big giveaway."

Tikki widened her eyes, and she was about to gasp but she held it back so she wouldn't worry Marinette. She continued to just speak calmly "Marinette, this could be really bad. If Nathlie knows you're Ladybug and that you can't transform she can threaten you and corner you into bad situations and tough choices. Especially since you can't transform and you refuse to let anyone in on this, you could be in big trouble."

"I know I know!!" She remarked, and sighed as she walked over to her window, looking out of it at the city she was once the proud protector of.

Tikki could tell what she was thinking about, it was something she'd been thinking about for some time now. "Have you decided to just tell Adrien yet?" she asked softly, trying not to annoy her owner.

Marinette didn't wanna be asked that again by Tikki, she had already made up her mind that she didn't wanna tell Adrien anything, and she hated how Tikki kept pushing it. So instead of answering she responded with her own question. "Can't I just use another miraculous? I have all of them right here, I can just use a different one until my earrings heal."

Tikki sighed that Marinette was avoiding the question, but answered anyway. "Marinette none of them will help, only the Ladybug can purify the feathers........but the Black Cat can keep the feathers in his baton until you can come back and purify them....." she said, pushing back for an answer to her original question.

"I'M NOT GONNA TELL HIM TIKKI!" Marinette blurt out. She looked away back out the window and took a deep breath before speaking. "I'm sorry for yelling, but I can't do it. I don't want him to know everything. It's too much even for me, and telling him will just make it worse and make it way too complicated between us. Besides, if he knows then he becomes a risk, and someone else Nathalie can threaten to get what she wants. Since they're under the same roof and she's technically his legal guardian, that could cause a lot of problems for all of us." She was then quiet for a moment, and took another deep breath.....

"Plus, what if he's mad at me? I kept it from him for so long, and for the whole time I was gone, what if he hates me? Not to mention I put his dad in jail."

Tikki was silent for a second to let Marinette collect her thoughts, she knew how hard it was for Marinette to suddenly have a whole bunch of hero responsibilities mixed into her personal life again, and Adrien was already a sensitive topic for her. But, Tikki had to offer honest guidance nevertheless, "Marinette, you're right. He could very likely be mad. But the longer you wait, the more upset he'll be when he finds out."

They were both quiet, Marinette didn't feel like responding, because she knew Tikki was right and didn't wanna admit it. Tikki could tell how hard it was for her to think about.

"I trust you and your judgement Marinette. If you're not ready to tell him then I understand, I just want you to consider that it might be the next right move. But, I will always support you no matter what you decide."

It was hard for Marinette to think about these kinds of things without filling up with worry. Her heart was telling her to just listen to Tikki and open up to Adrien about all the truths she's kept from him. Even though it was super likely that Adrien would hate her, it also seemed pretty likely Adrien would fall in love with her if he knew she was the secret superhero he'd been lovestruck by for so long. Yet, being the hero she was, Marinette knew it wasn't wise to tell Adrien she's Ladybug just so he would fall in love with her, that wouldn't be a very heroic move. And as much as she wanted Adrien's help as Cat Noir in defeating Nathatlie, she thought about what might happen if it didn't all go well. If Adrien was hurt or worse because of Marinette's actions, she would never be able to forgive herself. For so long Adrien suffered because of her and it was painful for both of them, Marinette didn't want him to have to suffer anymore because of what she did, and she didn't wanna have to watch either.

"I wouldn't be able to forgive myself if something happened to him Tikki, I think this is what's best." She told her kwami, and the two smiled at each other to show there were no hard feelings.

Marinette made up her mind that she was going to keep everything a secret from Adrien until there were no more threats and all the miraculous were safe and accounted for. Then maybe one day they would just sit down and laugh about it when she finally told him. Until then, she didn't want her love for him to cloud her choices on what was the right thing, deciding it was best to not involve Adrien any more.

Nathalie, on the other hand, had contrary plans. Nathalie remembered that one time that Marinette confessed her love for Adrien to her and Mr. Agreste. With Nathalie now the legal guardian of Adrien, she planned to pull at Marinette's heartstrings and emotions so much to where her pain would make stealing back the miraculous' too easy.  

It was obvious that Marinette must know that Nathalie is Mayura, since she knew Gabriel was Hawkmoth and theres only one person Gabriel ever talked to. So, Nathalie didn't hesitate to start her plan, and made her way to the Dupain Bakery to put chaos in motion.