Turning Tables: Origins - Prelude (A Miraculous AU )

Chat Blanc

The rest of the day seemed like a blur to Adrien. He was buzzing from the excitement of knowing Ladybug's identity and was sure his notes for the rest of the school day were useless. The photoshoot that took place afterwards was even more of a whirlwind. Luckily, by this point in his life he was good at getting through those on autopilot.

After the shoot he checked his phone in the privacy of his room. On it was a text message from Marinette.

Marinette: Hey Adrien! I have some plushies I'd like to show you. They're really cute and I'd like to know your opinion on them. For some reason I'm having a lot of trouble getting a good picture of them. 😅 Think you could stop by sometime tonight?

Adrien read the message and smiled knowingly. He tilted the phone so Plagg could see.

"Want to go see the other kwamis?"

Plagg's eyes softened, but he tried to play it off as if it had no effect. "I think it would do them some good to be honored by my presence."

It wasn't lost on Adrien that his kwami was touched. He was feeling the same way. It hadn't even been a day but Ladybug had invited them into her home.

Soon, Chat Noir landed on her rooftop and tapped on the skylight. She opened it and he found himself surrounded by excited kwamis as he made his way down to the chaise lounge.

"Hi! Chat Noir"

"It's so good to see you Chat Noir!"

"Can we see Plagg?!"

Chat Noir gave a delighted laugh, "Of course! It's nice to see all of you too. Claws in."

Plagg was quickly surrounded by the other kwamis as they chatted away. Adrien watched them for a moment before looking back up at the loft. Marinette was staring at him with wide eyes and hadn't said anything since he arrived.

"Um... Marinette? You okay?" His eyebrows knit together in concern.

"Fine! I'm f-fine! Just wow." She rubbed her eyes and looked back at him again. "You were right. Seeing your partner detransform in front of you is definitely going to take some getting used to."

"Yeah, it is pretty wild after all this time of keeping them a secret." His eyes went back to the kwamis. There was such a warmth in her home that was a stark contrast to where he lived. "Thank you for inviting us over."

"I just wanted us to start this right. There's still a lot to talk about." She fidgeted with her comforter. Completely unsure of where to start.

Adrien's gaze stayed on the kwamis, but his mouth formed a frown. "It feels like there's been so much hanging between us for so long. I just want to push past all of that, but I also don't want to go too fast. I want to be completely honest with you now, but not so much that it's overwhelming. I guess we'll have to learn how to balance it all."

The kwamis chatted away with him and it gave Marinette time to think about his words.

She appreciated his honesty but it also scared her. There were things she was afraid to talk about. Tikki flew back up to her and spoke softly. "Marinette, you don't have to take action on anything yet, but you've been keeping secrets for such a long time. I think you can both sort out anything together. Knowing you, I think it's worth pointing out that the longer you wait the more time you'll have to think about how things could go wrong. I don't want you to have to deal with that. Not when he's right there ready to listen. You trust your partner right?"

"Obviously. He wouldn't be here if I didn't." Marinette whispered back.

"I trust him too." Tikki nuzzled against her cheek. "Identities are one thing, but the door is open for so much more."

"Adrien." Marinette didn't look at him, but she could feel his eyes on her. He needed to know. "You're worried about it being too much for me. But it's BEEN too much for me. There's something I have to tell you. I want to get it out there. I can't keep dealing with it on my own anymore."

"What is it?"

"You were akumatized."

Adrien gasped at that. "Me? But I've never been akumatized before. I don't remember you deakumatizing me? I'm confused."

"It was a different timeline." Marinette still wouldn't meet his eyes. "I made a mistake and it somehow led to you knowing my identity and... I really don't know the whole story. I just know you were so alone. There was no one left."

"What do you mean no one left?" His voice shook. Adrien feared being alone. He feared hurting the ones he loved. He'd gotten used to the power of destruction, but now and then he'd think about it a little too much. It had caused a few nightmares.

"Hawkmoth must have lost control of you, because even he was..."

"Lost control of me? Did I... Are you telling me that I killed Hawkmoth?! He's a bad guy but I would never intentionally do something like that. I wouldn't!"

"I know you wouldn't. You were akumatized. It doesn't even feel right to say it was you—Chat Blanc. It was Chat Blanc and he was completely out of control. He had unlimited power of destruction. He even destroyed the moon. Paris was flooded. Everyone was gone but you. No, not you. Him."

"Everyone?" Adrien could feel the blood drain from his face. All of his friends? Everyone he knew? He'd destroyed all of them. "Marinette, where were you?"

She finally met his eyes and the tears in them told him enough.

"You saw yourself didn't you?"

Marinette bit her bottom lip and nodded.

"You saw yourself like that? You've been dealing with this? I can't imagine how hard that must have been." His voice trembled. "How could I have done that to YOU?! To everyone? I hurt so many people I—"

Plagg zipped up in front of his face. "Hold on just a minute! If you were akumatized this is NOT your fault. Hawkmoth obviously underestimated being able to control you for some reason. That timeline was his fault. That destruction is because of Hawkmoth. What she saw was because of Hawkmoth."

"But if I would have been more careful, Bunnix would have never have had to come to me to stop that future from happening." Marinette cried.

Her kwami stopped her train of thought as well. "What happened in that timeline exactly, is still a mystery. You prevented it from happening Marinette! Also, I haven't seen any sign of Bunnix so the timeline must be okay! It's doing neither of you any good to blame yourselves for something that hasn't even happened. "

"Hasn't happened yet or won't happen?" Marinette's pessimism escaped her lips before she could stop it.

Silence settled over the room as the kwamis looked between them. Both of them lost in thought for the moment.

Adrien shut his eyes tightly and stood. He walked over to look up at her and waited until her eyes met his.

"It won't." He said with a fierce determination. "I won't let that happen."

"How can you be so sure of that?"

"Because, now I know the stakes. I can't allow myself to be akumatized. It would be the end of the world. Unlimited destruction at the hands of someone who is only thinking with akumatized emotions? I cannot let that happen. My emotions are my own. Now, I have you. If I even have the slightest feeling that I could be akumatized I'll let you know. I can't risk it." He paused. "We can't risk it. You'd be just as dangerous, Marinette."

"Well that's helpful." She grumbled.

"What I'm saying is that we have to be there for each other. I-I've never felt more low than when I disappointed you. I'm surprised I wasn't akumatized then. We need to be able to work through out emotions together when they start to spiral out of control. Shadowmoth getting to us isn't an option. I took it for granted." He admitted. "I thought we couldn't be akumatized. Now, I know how wrong I was."

He stopped for a moment. "Did I say anything when I was akumatized that—"

"It wasn't you! You were not in control!" Marinette wanted to make that point clear.

"Sorry! I'm sorry. Did he, did Chat Blanc, say anything that might hint at what caused him to be akumatized."

Marinette looked to Tikki, she didn't want to say it, but what was the point of holding back now? "He told me 'It was our love that did this to the world.'"

"Our love?" Adrien tilted his head. "Mine and... and yours?"

"Yes."

"That doesn't even make sense."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, frankly, you've turned me down before." He shrugged. "I can't see a world where I become so upset with you that I become akumatized and cause that much destruction because of 'our love.'"

Marinette cringed but Adrien showed no sign of stopping.

"I mean, you know I see you as more than just a potential love interest right? I wouldn't be opposed to that obviously. I've had a crush on you for so long. We're being honest, so there. It's still true. But you're also my friend outside and inside of the mask. You are my partner. If nothing romantic ever works out between us, I still can't imagine my life without you in it. Your friendship means so much to me."

"What are you trying to say?"

"I don't think I was akumatized because of 'our love.' It sounds like more than just heartbreak to me. Maybe that was somehow a part of it but... don't you think that something is missing here?" Adrien wasn't sure how to express it without making it sound like he was searching for pity. "I've-I've been through a lot. I think if I were to get akumatized it would need to be more than just one thing to cause it. I can't accept that I'd destroy the world because you turned me down or we broke up. I can be dramatic at times...."

"That is an understatement." Plagg couldn't help but interject. But the teasing served for some levity.

"Ha. Ha. Very funny." Adrien glared at his kwami. "But really I just feel like that level of akumatization would involve something else or a bunch of things happening at once. To have that strong of an emotional reaction? Hawkmoth completely losing control of Chat Blanc and being destroyed by him? There's more to this."

"You might be onto something." She dried her eyes with the sleeve of the hoodie she was wearing. Adrien was constantly in the public eye. He found himself in tabloids and at the center of rumors. He'd lost his mother. His father was distant and demanding. Expectations weighed heavy on his shoulders every day. Despite all of that he handled things pretty well. "I hadn't even considered that. I just took Chat Blanc at his word."

"Are most akumatized people thinking clearly at all? Did he seem like he was in his right mind to you? It certainly doesn't sound like it."

She scoffed at that. "He was absolutely not. It was terrifying."

Marinette allowed herself to think about the event more. She'd fixated on his words about it being their love that destroyed the world, but not other details that could be used to piece together more of the story.

"Adrien... I think you were trying to show me something."

"Me? Are we still talking about Chat Blanc here?"

"Yes, but there were a couple of moments where I think you were trying to push through the akumatization to communicate with me."

"Really? What do you mean."

"Well, there was certainly a time when Chat Blanc could have easily killed me. Instead, he made me fall into the floodwaters. When that happened I saw myself and Hawkmoth turned to statues of ash. I think the three of us were together when you were akumatized. I'm sorry I don't know what that version of you was trying to convey. But who knows what Hawkmoth had said or done to be able to akumatize you. After that he obviously lost control."

Adrien brought a finger to his chin in thought. "It must have been extreme. I may never know what happened or what he said or did to akumatize me."

"Chat Blanc also flicked his bell. That's where the akuma was. I think, even in that state some part of you was trying to help me." Marinette hugged her knees to herself. "Still, I hope I never have to see Chat Blanc again."

"If I have anything to say about it, you won't." The situation scared Adrien, but more importantly it made him more determined to defeat Shadowmoth and to keep his guard up for anything that could cause him to be akumatized. "We will get through this together."

Despite what he had just heard and despite his obvious concern, Marinette believed him. He always had a way of calming her down and reassuring her.

Adrien's posture shifted and he put a hands on his hip. "Besides, how could our love do anything to the world? If it's just me being a smitten kitten with a crush."

It was a joke at his own expense. A lighthearted thing to ease the tension. He expected a laugh or for her to call him a silly kitty. Instead, she groaned and disappeared from his view as she collapsed back on the bed.

"What did I say?" He slouched.

"Oh Adrien..." Tikki gave him a pitied look.

"Seriously, I'm just messing around. I know you don't feel that way towards me at all. Especially now that I know you're Marinette and you have specifically told me on more than one occasion that you do not like me in that way."

She groaned again. This time the sound was muffled by a pillow. He heard her say something else but it was too muffled to understand.
"What was that?"

Marinette sat up and he could see that her face was scarlet. She took a deep breath. "You. Are. Buttercup."

"Excuse me?!"