A Miraculous Tale: Hawk Moth

Ch. 13

Marinette was sitting at her desk, ready for class to start. It wasn't a particularly exciting day, nor did she have anything planned for later. Even so, she drummed her fingers against the desk impatiently. She wanted to get home because she was hoping Cat Noir would stop by. She still didn't know if she wanted to date him or not, but she did want to talk to him. If I could just talk to him, maybe we can figure this out. Together. She sighed. He's so persistent he might just be waiting for me when I get home.

"Hey, Marinette."

She was so lost in thought that she jumped at the voice. Her head spun toward it. Adrien had slipped into the seat next to her, a casual smile rested on his face.

"Hey." She said with a smile. "What's up?"

His face fell instantly. His eyes roamed the classroom before he leaned close to Marinette. "Listen. Remember my mom's diary?" Marinette nodded. How could she have forgotten? It had only revealed Hawk Moth's identity and his motive.

"I remember." She said, her voice lowered.

"Well, I did some sleuthing around for Cat Noir, and I found my mom."

Marinette leaned back. "What!?"

"Not so loud!" He reprimanded. "She is in a coma. I never really believed she was, to be honest, but she is. Father has her in a secret garden hidden below the house. His actual lair with all the butterflies is in the attic."

Marinette was shocked he had found this out, but one question nagged at her. "Why are you telling me all this, Adrien?"

"Because you're one of my closest friends." He said sincerely. The statement used to upset her greatly, but now it touched her.

"Plus, you already knew about my dad. It's nice to be able to share this with someone."

Marinette smiled. "Well, you can share anything with me anytime." She said as she squeezed his hand in confirmation. "That's what friends are for."

Alya and Nino walked in at that exact moment. Oblivious as always, Nino sat down without a second glance at the pair. Alya, on the other hand, noticed their hands right away, and managed to shoot a three in one look at Marinette. Her eyes were scrutinizing the pair while her eyebrows were raised questioningly, and her mouth was pursed in disapproval.

Marinette quickly let go of Adrien's hand even though she had meant nothing by it. Alya took a seat in Adrien's usual chair right as the teacher walked in. Alya shot Marinette another look. We're talking later, the glare seemed to say. Marinette sighed, as she was now dreading the inevitable.

**********************

Ladybug was standing on a rooftop. Her arms were crossed, and her foot was tapping the ground impatiently. Adrien had told her as Marinette that Cat Noir was planning to meet Ladybug to catch her up on everything, but the irksome cat had yet to show up for the debriefing.

Ladybug checked her yoyo again. He was now fifteen minutes late. What's taking him so long? She thought irritably. I hope he's okay. She thought as worst case scenarios began to fill her head.

Suddenly Cat Noir appeared; he was all tooth and flirtatious poses. "Hey, Ladybug. It's so nice of you to join me here, on this fine Parisian day."

Ladybug rolled her eyes. She knew Cat Noir was only playing with her, that he no longer had a crush on Ladybug, so his teasing didn't bother her.

"This is no time for games, Cat Noir! What is it you wanted to tell me? And what took you so long!"

"My, aren't you crabby today? If you must know, I got caught up in some personal business. Anyway, Adrien found Hawk Moth's secret lair."