Chapter Text
It was a lovely Sunday afternoon when Marinette was out on her terrace enjoying the summer breeze and the warm sun. She didn’t have many opportunities to just sit and relax like a normal teenager, so she was really making the most of it.
After a couple of hours and a jar of cold lemonade, she started to write on a small pink notebook that had been lying next to her.
“Marinette,” her kwami said. “Don’t you think it’s a bad idea to keep writing on that thing after what happened with Sabrina and Chloe?”
“That was a long time ago, Tikki,” she said keeping her eyes on the notebook. “This is a new diary. I only write about Ladybug stuff in here, but I never include any personal information.”
Confused, her kwami floated to the table where there was a plate with cookies. “I still think it might be risky,” she said between bites.
“I can’t help it, Tikki. This is the only way I can vent about my superhero responsibilities. It’s my way to cope with everything after all these years of being Ladybug,” she stood up holding the diary to her chest and leaned her back on the railing. “Besides, if someone were to find it, they couldn’t know who wrote it or if it’s even real.”
She stood there for a while, glad that her kwami didn’t pressed on the matter. She didn’t like arguing with her. Tikki was more than a friend but not even the little creature could understand what Marinette went through as Ladybug. No one really could, so in a way her diary was her confidant and she had become a little dependent on it, she’d admit.
“Marinette, look!”
The girl turned around quickly to see a beam of light coming from what it looked like the direction of the Louvre. It hadn’t started to get dark so the light was barely clear enough to be noticed.
So much for a quiet afternoon, she thought with a sigh. Maybe it was nothing but it was her duty to make sure. She took a moment to take a quick breath before leaving but then a screeching sound coming from the same place made her jump dropping everything she had in her hands.
“Tikki, spots on!”
______
A tired Marinette returned to her balcony, opened the trap door to her room and dropped on the bed while releasing her transformation.
“You know where the cookies are, Tikki,” she said sounding worst than she looked.
She made one last effort to get up and go down the stairs to grab something quick to eat before going back to her room. She told her parents how she still had a lot of homework to do and that she wanted to skip dinner and be in her room.
In less than thirty minutes, Marinette was already sleeping on her bed with Tikki cuddling one of her pigtails.
______
Meanwhile, across town, Adrien Agreste was eating dinner quietly. He was used to eating alone so it was a great surprise for him to be joined by his father, and his assistant, even if they were just as quiet.
“Adrien,” his father called him from the other end of the table. “I will be leaving to Milan tomorrow morning to meet with some business partners.”
That was new. His father never left town if he could avoid it. He guessed it must be a very important meeting.
“You don’t have to come with me but while I’m gone, you can’t go to school.”
“But, father!”
“You will stay here where Nathalie can keep and eye on you,” Gabriel interrupted him pointing to his assistant. “I’m taking Gorilla with me so you can’t leave the house. It’s for your own good.”
“Yes, father.”
Without any further words, the man stood up and left.
“Can I be excused, Nathalie?” said Adrien not waiting for permission and leaving to his room.
He should have seen it coming. His father only was around to give bad news. He couldn’t believe how he still didn’t trust him. He was seventeen for goodness sake! The feeling of anxiety and impotence clouded his mind. He couldn’t wait until school was over to go and live somewhere else.
Adrien called his transformation and jumped out the window. He didn’t know where he was going but it didn’t matter. He just ran as fast as he could. Jumping from one rooftop to the next one until the only pain he could feel were his legs begging him to stop.
He stumbled upon a small park that he recognized for being close to his school and sat on one of the benches that was on a dark corner. He rested his elbows on his knees and his head on his hands. Everything was going to be OK. He just needed a minute to calm down.
When he decided it was time to go home he spotted something shiny on one of the ends of the park. The regular Adrien would have missed it for sure but Chat Noir’s extra sensitive eyes could see very well in the dark.
It was a notebook with a locket. A diary, but it was open. It didn’t look like garbage to him, it was actually very nice. Someone must have dropped it by accident, he thought.
Chat Noir put it inside his staff and made the decision to look for the owner some other time. When he got home, he put it on his bedside table and forgot about it almost immediately.