MiracuCrack #B8: Getting Things Backwards

(Timeline: During the Backwarder episode. Marinette delivered what she thought was a love letter to Adrien, just before he got on the outbound train...)

Sitting on the motionless train, Adrien read Marinette's letter for the nineteenth time in as many minutes. No matter how many times he went over it, the words on the page refused to change or explain themselves further.

"What on earth could she have meant by this?" he wondered aloud, talking to himself. "Marinette seemed so sincere when she gave it to me. She pushed herself so hard to make sure that I had it before I left. She looked... emotional, even."

He read through it yet again, looking for some hidden meaning. He held it upside down, wondering if, somehow, that was what he was doing wrong. There were no secret messages when he put the first letters of each sentence together. Holding it up to the light revealed no embedded watermarks.

Adrien closed his eyes, remembering the face of his friend mere minutes before. The need in her eyes, the blush on her cheeks when she said "And only you can give it to me," the desperation she was so clearly conveying to him.

There has to be something here that I'm missing. Something BIG. But what?

All at once... he had an epiphany, like lightning striking him from out of the blue.

"...It's a metaphor!" he murmured to himself, thankful that Kagami had her headphones on and appeared to be napping next to him.

His eyes widened as he scanned the page one more time, the secrets of the universe now revealed to him in her words.

I always knew that Marinette is amazingly clever... but to hide something like this in plain sight? In a way that only I could know what she truly meant by it?

Going line-by-line over what appeared to be a pharmacy prescription for constipation capsules, it was as if he could hear Marinette's voice in his head, whispering soft words in his ear...

Dearest you,

When you love someone, you must never hold back from expressing yourself when you have the chance. Because one day, if you do not, you might realize that those feelings are bound too tightly within you, unable to escape.

You can struggle with those feelings, day after day, and never find the strength to push them out and show the world and your loved one what's inside you. But the longer that you bury them within and refuse to let them out, the more they will gnaw at you, over and over again. Keeping these expressions hidden away can be agony... and I would know.

I want to tell you about this before you leave, so that you can take my words with you. I'm hoping they'll make their way deep inside of you... and that, when you come back, you'll give me a chance to show you just how intense these buried feelings really are.

I love you.

- Marinette

"Plagg," whispered Adrien, desperately. "Wake up, Plagg. Please."

A tiny "Hrmmph?" from his pocket indicated that the tiny Kwami had been roused, but didn't sound all that happy about it. "What?"

Abruptly, Adrien stood up. "I... need to go check on my dad," he told Kagami, and rushed off to the bathroom. Once inside, he locked the door and pulled the letter out once more. With privacy ensured, Plagg floated out into the air, wondering what all the fuss was about.

"Okay, what's so important that we have to hang out here?" asked Plagg. "Even I don't like the smell in here."

Adrien's eyes were intense, and he was clearly flustered, quickly bringing Plagg to full attention. "This... Marinette gave me this, just before I got on the train," he explained, holding the letter out. "I think... I think she was trying to tell me something. Something very meaningful, very important. Something that could change my whole life."

"Really?" asked Plagg. "Because it looks like a-"

"JUST READ IT," insisted Adrien. "Tell me if you get from this what I got from this."

Dutifully, Plagg read the letter top-to-bottom, then read it again to make sure that he wasn't missing anything about it. He looked up at Adrien with a curious expression on his face.

"Well? What do you think?" panted Adrien. "Is she trying to tell me what I think she is?"

"I know exactly what she means by this," Plagg said, solemnly. "It's clear as day."

Adrien hung on Plagg's words, anxiously...

"She ate way too much cheese this week. I get that a lot. I know just how she feels."

Adrien stared at Plagg for a moment... then laughed, quietly. "Yeah, I guess so. That must be it."

Plagg stared back. "Wait. What did YOU think she meant by this?"

Adrien tucked his hand behind his head, nervously. "Oh, um... I don't know... something about having feelings tucked away deep inside, maybe?"

"Wow. I don't know what you've got, but you've got it bad," grinned Plagg. "C'mon. I'll help you find a pharmacy when we get off the train. If she ate a whole wheel of parmesan reggiano or something like that, she'll need your help. That won't be coming out without a crowbar."

"I guess so," conceded Adrien. "C'mon, we..." He hesitated, and looked back at Plagg. "Wait. You get that a lot?"

"Um... yeah?" Plagg replied, quizzically. "I eat nothing but cheese, remember?"

"You're telling me that Kwamis poop?" Adrien asked, a bit startled.

"You're telling me that you didn't know that?" retorted Plagg. "When we get back to Paris, you and I need to have a talk."

Plagg grinned to himself on the way back to Adrien's seat. I could tell him, he thought. I could tell him that OBVIOUSLY there was some kind of mix-up, and Marinette was probably trying to give him a love letter or something like that.

But if he doesn't understand how poop works yet... he's just not ready. She'll thank me later.

~fin~