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Redemption	By : Cat_Eyes Category: +M through R > Miraculous LadyBug Views: 2815 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Miraculous Ladybug. Miraculous Ladybug is the intellectual property of Thomas Astruc and released by Zag studios. No profit was made writing this story.

Chapter List
- 5
- 6
- 7
Marinette checked the text again, then looked up at the old, grey building before her. It was depressing, the very stonework exuding misery and despair. Adrien's texts had informed her that this apartment block had been a gateway home for released convicts for decades, a place where they stayed while they transitioned back into normal society. It was an unfortunate fact that some people who had been imprisoned for a long time were incapable of that readjustment, so when they were faced with freedom, they either did something to get themselves put back in prison, or they took their own lives.
Marinette gulped and tremulously climbed the steps to the front door, holding a bakery box before her with shaking hands. When she pushed on the heavy wood, the door swung inward on creaking hinges, the sound echoing up the concrete stairwell sitting to the left of the entrance.
The inside was just as bleak as the outside. The dusty linoleum floor peeled up at the corners, and was pockmarked with cigarette burns. The walls were bare stone, with stains of dubious origins breaking up the monotonous grey. The ceiling was decorated with cobwebs and a patina of smoke stains that turned it the same, non-descript grey as the rest of the building.
The door swung shut behind Marinette, enveloping her in almost total darkness. Feeling out of place and unwelcome, she gripped the handle of her box with both hands, and scampered around the base of the stairwell to Adrien's ground floor apartment. She knocked, wincing as the noise disturbed the tenuous peace.
Adrien's door opened suddenly, and Marinette jumped, feeling like the building was trying to scare her away.
'Hey, you came. Are you all right?' Adrien asked, as Marinette doubled over, with her hands on her knees, to draw in deep breaths.
Marinette held out one hand to give him a thumbs up.
'Ok, come on in,' Adrien invited as he held the door open for her.
Marinette straightened up, holding the box handle with both hands once more. 'Thanks for having me over.'
'Thanks for coming; I wasn't sure you would. Sorry, 'Adrien rushed to amend. 'I didn't mean to imply that you're a liar.'
Marinette smiled. 'No, it's ok,' she assured him. 'I think I get it.'
She looked around the modest residence as she entered, gasping softly. It was a contrast to the rest of the building, homey and welcoming, with soft, buttery yellow walls, and sheer curtains to match. The sunlight filtering in bathed the room in a warm glow.
There was a kitchenette to the immediate left of the door with a counter to separate it from the living area. It was small, but clean and well ordered.
The lounge room had a basic, three seater couch, and a large TV was mounted on the left hand wall. A collection of movies, video games, and a console sat on shelving below the screen with a wooden coffee table sitting between it and the couch. Crammed into the space behind the couch and the right hand wall was a piano, closed but well loved.
To Marinette's right was a short hallway leading to the bathroom, linen closet, and Adrien's bedroom. Looking down, Marinette saw the floor was covered by a no-nonsense, short pile, brown carpet. It was ugly, but Marinette couldn't dispute its functionality. The window opposite the door was large, but it had thick, steel bars on the outside, turning the deceptively homey place into the prison it was.
'Those bars were installed specifically for me,' Adrien explained when he saw what she was looking at. 'I'm basically under house arrest, and that was their method of reinforcing that.'
Tearing her eyes away from the window, Marinette turned back to the piano. 'You managed to save something, I see.'
Adrien's answering smile was indecipherable. 'Yeah, a few things, actually.'
He indicated the lounge, and Marinette sat at the far end, placed the box by her feet, and turned to face Adrien as he sat next to her.
'The TV, games, and movies are all mine. I also kept all my clothes, books, and vast collection of hair and skin care products.'
'So, the essentials,' Marinette joked.
Adrien laughed. 'Yeah, gotta keep those priorities straight.'
Marinette liked his laugh. She wished he had cause to do it more often. 'Where's your guard?' she asked, looking around as if he were hiding somewhere.
'Probably at home,' Adrien replied. 'Someone decided it was no longer necessary to watch over me twenty-four seven, so now Gorilla is more like a chauffeur. My guess is, they just didn't want to pay him anymore.'
'So, you're left here all by yourself?'
'Most of the time,' Adrien shrugged. 'Honestly, it's not so different from how my life used to be.'
Marinette could only stare, unable to imagine such a life for herself.
'Gorilla also buys my groceries, and showed me the basics of cooking. Since, he's not much of a gourmet, there was only so much he could teach me. But hey, that's what the internet's for, right?'
Marinette could have wept for him. She pulled the box Sabine had given her into her lap, stared at it thoughtfully for a moment, then extended it to Adrien. 'My parents say you should never visit someone's house empty handed. Please accept this.'
Adrien took the box carefully and opened it, gasping at the array of foodstuffs within. 'You didn't have to do this.'
Marinette looked up, worried she had offended him.
Adrien was looking longingly into the box, but then he snapped it shut and held it out to her. 'This is some high quality stuff, it must've cost a lot. Don't waste your money on me.'
Marinette smiled and shook her head. 'My parents would be flattered by your praise.'
Adrien cocked his head.
'My parents own that bakery. They gave me all that to give to you. It didn't cost anything.'
He alternated between looking at her and the box, still held in his outstretched hands. 'I can really have it?'
'It's all yours. I recommend not eating it all at once, though. You'll make yourself sick.'
A grin twitched Adrien's lips. Pulling the box back into his lap and opening it, he pointed to each item, and asked what it was.
'What about those ones?' he pointed to a row of bread slices.
'That's cheese bread. Savoury. Great on its own, or with curry, oddly enough.'
Adrien's smile faded. 'Plagg loved cheese,' he murmured.
Marinette didn't respond. She wasn't sure if he realised he had said that aloud, but she knew how he felt. She still missed Tikki, and their late-night talks when Tikki would often speak of Plagg. She would mostly complain about his obsession with cheese, but Marinette could see the fondness and longing underneath her griping.
Adrien came back to himself with a start. 'Plates. I should get plates, and put the rest in an airtight container,' he rambled.
'You miss it, don't you?' Marinette asked, 'being Chat Noir.'
Adrien paused, then placed the box on the coffee table. He put his elbows on his knees and turned away. 'Aspects of it,' he confessed.
'What do you miss most?' she went on, hoping to get him to focus on the positives.
Adrien sat back with a sigh, a far away look in his eyes. 'The freedom,' he began. 'All day, every day, I was shut up inside, never allowed to go to school, go outside, or even make friends. As Chat Noir, I could just open my widow and jump out whenever I wanted, go wherever I pleased. Then, everywhere I went, people would see me. It wasn't positive attention, and it wasn't Father who noticed, but at least someone could see me. I was also fast, strong, and had ten times the endurance of a normal person. I was just as resilient, too. Geez, did I take a beating,' he concluded with a shake of his head.
'Is there anything you regret?' Marinette couldn't help but ask.
Adrien's expression turned sombre. 'Everything else.'
'What do you mean?' she hadn't expected an answer.
He sank into his seat, hands limp in his lap. 'Did you know Ladybug and Chat Noir were supposed to be a team? All the miraculous are. They were never meant to be used for evil.'
'Then why?'
Adrien got to his feet. 'Follow me.'
He led her to his room at the end of the hall. On the right, sat his bed, the foot extending into the middle of the room. Just inside the door on the left was a desk with a computer and his school supplies. The far left wall boasted another barred window with opaque curtains. Adrien ignored all of this and headed to the closet standing at the far wall, opposite the door. Leaning around the back of it, he dragged out a massive portrait. It featured himself, Gabriel, and a woman Marinette could only assume was his mother.
'She's very beautiful,' Marinette told him.
'Yeah, she was,' Adrien replied as he stared at the painting.
'Oh. I'm sorry for your loss.'
'Thanks.'
'You look a lot like her.'
Adrien's ears turned pink. He coughed into his fist and continued. 'I don't know what happened, but losing her changed Father. Suddenly, he was obsessed with Ladybug's miraculous, and he told me that with my ring, and her earrings, he could bring her back. I missed her too, so I allowed myself to be taken in by his promises. I told myself the ends would justify the means. But the longer Ladybug evaded him, the more irrational Father became. He got angry easily, and would lash out at me, or Nathalie.'
'The tall woman with the dark hair?'
Adrien nodded. 'Nathalie was Father's assistant. She was prosecuted for aiding and abetting a criminal, but her trial was buried under all the hype surrounding Father and I. I think she's serving a twenty year sentence.'
Mari took a seat at the foot of his bed. 'So, you regret the toll it took on your father?'
Adrien slumped down beside her. 'Among other things.'
Marinette lay a hand over his, feeling she had pushed him far enough. 'You don't have to talk if you don't want to.'
He shook his head. 'It's not that. It's just hard when, for most of you life, you've considered yourself a good person, but then, suddenly, everyone's baying for your blood.' He paused to take a breath. 'I didn't like Papillon's methods. I never did, but in my selfishness, I refused to acknowledge the pain Father and I caused. It was especially hard when he akumatised little kids, but I still wanted Mother back. I didn't feel that was an unreasonable desire.'
'I can't empathise,' Marinette told him, 'I've never lost anyone I was especially close to. I imagine, though, that anyone who lost someone they loved would want them back. I don't think anyone can fault you for that.'
'Except hunting down a girl for her magical earrings to raise the dead isn't, exactly, a rational train of thought.'
'No, it's not,' she agreed. 'But, if you could talk to Ladybug, what would you say to her?'
'That I'm sorry,' Adrien replied, his voice thick. 'I'm sorry for everything I did. I'm sorry if I scared her, and I'm sorry I hurt her. I'm sorry Father and I hurt so many others. If I could take it all back, do it all again, differently, I would. We were supposed to be partners,' he finished on a broken whisper.
Marinette wrapped her arms around his shoulders and pulled him close as he cried. He twined his hands around her waist and gripped the back of her shirt, trying not to make a noise.
Marinette stroked his hair and back as she rested her cheek on his head. 'It'll be ok, Adrien. It's ok, you can let it out now. You're safe here. You can let it all out.'
At her words, Adrien's tears fell in earnest. He muffled his cries in her shirt, but didn't try to stop. He cried his release as she continued to rub his back, murmuring soothingly in his ear.
Eventually, he pulled back and wiped his eyes. 'Sorry. I didn't mean to get your clothes all wet and snotty.'
Marinette smiled reassuringly. 'It'll wash. Feel better now?'
Adrien nodded. 'Yeah, thanks. I think I needed that.'
'Hey, that's what friends are for, and, for what it's worth, I think Ladybug would forgive you.'
Adrien looked at her with hopeful eyes. 'You think so?'
'I'm certain of it.'
- 5
- 6
- 7
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Redemption