Chapter Text
Carapace raced over the rooftops of Paris, coming to a stop on the edge of a very specific roof, directly above a balcony. After a quick glance around for onlookers, he jumped down onto the balcony, landing silently. Then he turned around and pressed his face to the glass door that led into the balcony’s associated apartment, trying his best to see what lay in the room beyond, sighing in relief at what he found. Then he curled his hand into a fist, raised it to the glass, and gently tapped his knuckles against the door.
Inside the apartment, Chat Noir started, his attention turning from his sleeping daughter to his balcony door. When he found his best friend standing there, he stared in stunned disbelief. Then he glared and gave a pointed look at the baby resting against his chest before returning his gaze to Carapace and mouthing, “What the fuck, dude?”
Carapace sighed and rolled his eyes before gesturing to his side. To the two Kwamis hovering there, watching the scene with obvious interest.
As soon as Chat Noir caught sight of them, his mouth dropped open. Then he looked back at Carapace, silently begging for an explanation.
Carapace shrugged and then said something to the Kwamis. A second later, the little blue one darted inside, shooting straight at Chat Noir, crying, “Hello, Guardian! I am Duusu!”
Chat Noir immediately made a shushing sound, his eyes frantically looking down at his daughter, praying that the noise hadn’t disturbed her. To his relief, she didn’t even stir, the subtle vibrations of his ongoing purr more than enough to keep her fast asleep.
As he relaxed, a much softer voice said, “Please forgive Duusu. He’s usually much more well behaved, but his broken miraculous has affected his manners.”
“Broken?” Chat Noir asked, glancing up to see that the second Kwami was now also inside.
Nooroo nodded shyly as he explained, “The peacock was broken many years ago. We are hoping that you can fix it.”
“Me?” Chat Noir asked, staring between the two new arrivals. “Why me?”
“You are the Guardian, are you not?” Nooroo asked. “Wayzz’s Chosen said that you were.”
“No, I said that I’d take you to the Guardian,” Nino whispered as he walked through the balcony door, having detransformed so that Wayzz could let him inside. “And the Guardian does live here, but that’s not her.”
“Where is the Guardian then?” Duusu asked, glancing between the two humans.
“She’s sleeping,” Chat Noir explained. Then he glanced down at Emma and smiled as he added, “That’s why this little lady and I are out here. Someone was being fussy and keeping her mommy from getting what little rest she can between feedings.”
He pressed a kiss to his daughter’s tiny head, then looked back up at his guests and said, “But I can go wake her. Your arrival-”
“Oh, please don’t!” Duusu interrupted. “New parents need whatever sleep they can get!”
Nooroo nodded. “Yes, please, don’t bother her on our account. We truly don’t mind waiting until morning. That was our original plan anyway. I’m just pleased that someone knows that we are here so that our presence won’t be a shock.”
“Are you sure?” Chat Noir asked, glancing between the Kwamis. “It’s really not a bother.”
“We’re sure!” Duusu chirped as Nooroo nodded.
“What about telling the other Kwamis?” Chat Noir offered, but this was met with shakes of their heads.
“We are looking forward to the reunion, but we would like some time to rest first, if that’s alright,” Nooroo confessed, glancing between the humans, obviously nervous. “It has been a... stressful few days.”
“Stressful?” Chat Noir echoed, giving his guests a searching look.
“The little dudes aren’t allowed to tell us much, but I can fill you in on what I know,” Nino offered.
“And I can assist my fellow Kwamis in finding something to eat!” Wayzz proclaimed.
Chat Noir nodded. “My kitchen's your kitchen, Wayzz. Make yourselves at home.”
As the three Kwamis darted off, Chat Noir gave Nino his full attention, asking, “What happened?”
“I went out for my standard weekly patrol and there they were, hanging out on the roof of Montparnasse tower. They’d apparently been there for a few days, keeping an eye out for any of us Chosen, but that’s all that they could tell me. Papillon released them, but he didn’t renounce them and it sounds like he gave them some very strict instructions to keep his identity a secret,” Nino explained.
Chat Noir frowned, looking concerned. “Do you think it’s a trap?”
“If so, then it's either a really stupid one or a really clever one,” Nino sighed, reaching into his pocket and pulling out two brooches. One was shaped like a butterfly, the other like a male peacock’s tail. As Chat Noir stared at the two miraculouses, Nino continued, “They’re the real deal. I transformed with the butterfly, just to be sure. I would’ve done the peacock, too, but they weren’t kidding when they said that it’s broken, see?”
Nino tilted the peacock so that Chat Noir could see the cracks running through it. “I don’t know what using it would do, but Nooroo assured me that it wouldn’t be anything good.”
“Huh,” Chat Noir muttered, staring at the damaged miraculous. Then he looked back up at Nino and asked, “But why now? What made Papillion give up?”
Nino shrugged. “No clue, dude. I didn’t get that far with them. It was pretty clear that the little guys had been through the ringer so, as soon as I knew that they were safe, I headed here. I did take a pretty crazy route, though. I also called Scarabella for backup, just in case. She tailed me through half of Paris before giving me the all clear to head here. She’s still out there, though, watching the building and the nearby area to be sure that we don't get any nasty surprises. We’re both planning to stay out there all night, too, just to be extra sure. Not sure what Papillion could do without his miraculouses, but there’s too much at risk to be arrogant here.”
“I appreciate that,” Chat Noir said with obvious relief. Then he glanced over towards the kitchen, where the Kwamis were sitting on the counter, munching on snacks and talking quietly. After a few seconds of staring, he shook his head and muttered, “This day just keeps getting weirder!”
“Everything okay, dude?” Nino asked.
Chat Noir turned back towards Nino, then grabbed his phone off of the table beside the rocking chair. After unlocking the device and navigating to the right text message, he handed it over, saying, “Read that.”
Nino took the phone, glancing down at the glowing surface. Then he raised an eyebrow, giving his best friend a searching look. “Dude, has your dad never sent a text message before? ‘My dearest Adrien’, really?”
“He usually just dictates stuff to Nathalie,” Chat Noir explained, making Nino shrug and go back to reading the message. The more he read, the wider his eyes got.
When he got to the end, he looked up at Chat Noir and demanded, “Is he joking?”
“My father has many faults, but being an incurable prankster is not one of them. Man’s never told a joke in his life,” Chat Noir sighed.
Nino didn’t say a word. He just looked back down at the phone, rereading the text message to be sure that he’d read it right. Then he said, “So he’s seriously offering you the mansion?”
“Yep,” Chat Noir agreed, sounding exhausted.
“Are you gonna take it?” Nino asked.
Chat Noir didn’t reply right away. Instead he looked down at his daughter, studying her still-sleeping face. Then he said, “I’m not sure yet. I've never considered it as an option before, but now that it’s there… I don’t know. There’s some real benefits to consider.”
“Like what?” Nino prompted.
“Like the Kwamis,” Chat Noir replied, glancing over at the trio still sitting in his kitchen. “They’re tiny, but there’s fifteen of them! Seventeen now that Nooroo and Duusu are here. I don’t know how Marinette handled having them all confined to just her bedroom! They basically run whole apartment during the day and it's overwhelming at times. If it weren't for Emma, we seriously would've moved to a bigger space just to accommodate them, but by the time that we'd talked about it, Marinette was too far along to handle house hunting on top of everything else. It's still on the table once Emma's a little older, though, but it would have to be a big house. Big enough for us, the Kwamis, and a few more kids, if things go according to plan. The mansion's bigger than I was picturing, but it might actually our best bet unless we wanna leave Paris.
“Plus who knows what threats we’ll face in the future. If team miraculous has to fight another Papillion, it’d be nice to have a central location where we can meet up and plan that isn’t some random rooftop where we might be overheard. And, well, being part of this team isn’t a tiny ask and I don’t just mean the risks that come from fighting.
“I feel like an idiot for not realizing it before, but Marinette wasn’t living with her folks because she wanted to. It was because she couldn’t afford anything else! Her boutique sees decent business, but she’s always had to keep her offerings limited and expansion was out of the question because she had to make sure that she could handle working and fighting. Learning that made me realize that we need a way to support the team beyond the battlefield. A way to make sure that they aren't homeless because they're doing the right thing while also keeping people from questioning where the money's coming from.”
“Well, I’m not gonna say that you're wrong because I'm not sure what we would've done if that initial akuma surge had kept up. We were nearing the point of asking you for help,” Nino admitted, earning a stunned look from Chat Noir. Before he could offer any apologies, Nino pressed on, saying, “But don’t rush into this, dude. There's probably a ton that goes into running a place that big and you need to make sure that you and Nettie can handle it. What does she think, anyway?”
“I haven’t told her yet,” Chat Noir confessed. “She’s stressed enough as is and it’s not like we’ve got a deadline for this. I’ll bring it up to her in the next week or so, whenever it seems like she’s got the mental capacity to handle the news.”
“So she doesn’t know about the trip, either,” Nino asked.
Chat Noir nodded. “Yeah, though that’s less waiting until she’s ready and more why would she care? It doesn’t affect us and it’s not an insult or anything. Father knows that he’s not getting an invitation to see us for at least a few more weeks. If he wants to go to the Aegean for a month, then more power to him! It’s about time he got out of that house and cleared his head. Even if we don’t take it and he just sells it, I’m glad that he’s moving out. All of those empty rooms full of memories? That can’t be good for anyone.”
“I guess,” Nino reluctantly agreed, shrugging. Then a chiming noise from his pocket made both men start before glancing down at the baby, letting out relieved sighs when they saw that she was still asleep. Then Nino pulled out his phone, reading the waiting text and letting out a soft chuckle. “Seems like duty calls. She’s also demanding snacks and drinks since we’ll be up all night.”
“Go for it. There’s plenty of quick food around. Feel free to come back here in the morning, too. I'm sure that you'll want to be here for the big reunion,” Chat Noir said, watching with a smile as Nino retransformed and then stocked up on treats before heading off into the night.
Once he was gone, Chat Noir went back to purring and rocking his daughter until she naturally woke up, letting out tiny whimpers, a warning sign that tears would soon follow if she wasn’t given food immediately.
“I know, I know, come on, let’s go see mommy,” Chat Noir said, rising to his feet. He didn’t head into the bedroom, though. Instead, he stopped by Nooroo and Duusu, who were curled up on the kitchen counter next to their miraculouses. “You two sure that you wanna wait until morning? I’m gonna be waking Marinette up now anyway. I'm happy to let her know that you're here.”
“We’re sure,” Nooroo promised tiredly. “I do not think that we’d have the energy for the ensuing madness.”
Duusu nodded in agreement, snuggling closer to Nooroo and letting out a happy coo.
“Okay, then I’ll see you in the morning, I guess. And don’t worry about the other Kwamis finding you. They’re under strict orders to stay in the guest room during the night so that they don’t accidentally wake Emma," Chat Noir assured them. Then a thoughtful look passed across his face and he added, "Plagg might find you when I detransform, though. He’s got free reign of the place since he’s tied to me, but he usually stays with us in the bedroom.”
“That’s fine,” Nooroo assured him. “Plagg will not be a bother. He is opinionated, but quiet, unlike many of our kind.”
The assessment made Chat Noir grin. Then he grabbed some Camembert from the fridge and headed off towards his bedroom, purring all the while to help keep his daughter calm.
As soon as he was out of sight, Duusu poked at Nooroo’s side, whispering, “Let’s follow!”
“Why?” Nooroo asked, displeased at the thought of leaving when they were finally safe and comfortable.
“I wanna see the Guardian!” Duusu explained. Before Nooroo could reply, Duusu darted off after Chat Noir, leaving Nooroo to sigh and reluctantly follow.
The apartment was dark, lit only by the moonlight sneaking in from outside, making it easy for the Kwamis to stay hidden as they chased after Chat Noir, taking up residence in a shadowy corner of the Chosen’s bedroom.
Then they watched as Chat Noir walked over to his sleeping wife, leaning down to kiss her and softly say, “Time to get up, Bugaboo. Our little lady is demanding her next meal.”
Marinette groaned, but didn’t get up. Then Emma let out a soft whimper and Marinette’s eyes shot open, her gaze immediately seeking out her daughter, relaxing when she saw her husband, too.
“That time already?” she murmured.
He nodded. Then he pressed the remote sitting on her bedside table, activating the motor that raised the bed into a reclining position.
Once the bed was done moving and Marinette had made herself comfortable, Chat Noir handed over the baby, watching with loving eyes as his wife coaxed their daughter to start eating.
Only when the baby was happily nursing did he drop his transformation, making the watching Kwamis mouths drop open at the sight of their master’s son. Then Adrien tossed the slice of camembert in his hand to Plagg, barely even glancing at his Kwami, too enthralled by his family to look away.
When Marinette realized that he hadn’t moved, she glanced up, giving him a tired smile as she said, “Come on, Kitty. You can watch us just as easily from the bed.”
He nodded reluctantly, then made his way over to his side of the bed, crawling under the covers and curling up at his wife’s side, watching his Ladies with a look of exhausted adoration.
Within minutes, his exhaustion had forced him into much-needed sleep. Not that Marinette and Emma minded. The baby was perfectly content to eat and her mother was perfectly content to watch, the magic of being able to feed her child still new enough to mesmerize her.
Sensing that this was a private moment, the two Kwamis left, making their way back to the kitchen in silence.
As soon as they were safely out of earshot, Duusu let out a happy trill, twirling through the air as Nooroo looked on in tired resignation.
After a short while, he begged, "Duusu, please, can't we rest?"
Duusu shook his head, vibrating with delight. "How can you want to rest after feeling such pure, raw emotion? Oh, it was wonderful, Nooroo! The love between the Guardian and her husband and their child? It's powerful!"
Nooroo nodded sadly, thinking of their Master. “Love is a powerful thing. It can lead people to do terrible things, bring nations to ruin, or-”
“Or save the world!” Duusu interrupted, laughing and twirling about.
When he saw Noroo’s surprised face, he paused, grinning at his old friend. “Don’t you see? We’re here, free at last, because love made something precious enough to finally make our Master see reason!”
With that, Duusu resumed his twirling as Nooroo sighed and settled down to watch. He couldn't exactly argue with his old friend, even though he didn't fully agree. Their Master had given up his quest, but not because he'd seen reason. Gabriel had stopped because he'd been forced to make an impossible choice. Nothing more, nothing less. Though, the more Nooroo thought about it, the more strange the whole thing seemed. That out of all the people in Paris, Adrien would be Chat Noir. Which meant that Chat Noir and Ladybug had, in fact, forced Papillion to surrender. They hadn't done it with some masterful plan or clever scheme, though. They'd simply fallen in love and made a baby, just like millions of people before them and millions of people who would come after them. Only luck had made this baby any different from the thousands of other babies out there. None of them would have stopped Papillion. Only Emma could.
As Duusu did another twirl, a tired smile spreading across Nooroo's face. Perhaps Duusu was right. Perhaps love really had saved the world. Or perhaps it had been luck or fate. Nooroo honestly didn't care. He was just happy to free again.
With that thought, he let out a tired yawn and curled up on the kitchen counter. A few minutes later, Duusu calmed down enough to join him. Then the two Kwamis drifted off to sleep, gathering their energy for the morning when there would be cries of welcome, tears of joy, and a veritable wave of love.
We will never know the full impact that we have on the world.
The way that we've shaped other lives simply by existing.
But I promise you, you have had an impact, even if you can't see it.
Little moments of selfless love and kindness ripple out.
So do moments of anger and selfishness.
So, when you have the chance, choose kindness.
Choose love.
Happy Valentines Day!
-Nedjemet