MEILI
"Ok, I'm leaving for the Ball now" Nathalie announced just as she approached the manor's doors, wearing a long and elegant black dress, a silver butterfly hanging from her neck —everything designed by Gabriel Agreste. "I'll be back late".
"See you later Ma-thalie!" Adrien answered, as he opened the door for her.
"Adrien!" The woman scolded him in a whispered yell. "Your father could hear you!"
"What? You've basically been my step-mother since ever. Except for father, everybody knows. He's as blind as a… no, wait, bats can actually see."
"That explains where you got some things, young man…" The woman laughed at Adrien's expense (and was joined by Marinette). "Later, kids!"
Gabriel looked at the decorations in his home. He saw his daughter-in-law thanking someone on the phone about floral arrangements and something about the dining room while his son carried a box which contained them. Any other day, he would have discarded the combinations used to decorate. He had to admit, though; it was a nice change from the mansion's sober decoration. It was all usually silver and marble, black and ivory, straight lines and defined edges, but now, suddenly, everything was a whimsical mixture of red and gold, dragons, lions…
"Nihao!" ...and guests. Dieu, he really hated the holidays.
"I'm so glad you could come, grandmother!" His son greeted a small and —very— old lady (calling her "ancient" might be considered an insult, but she was in her 90's, and was soon to approach the 100!).
"We' wouldn't miss the holidays with you and Meili! She answered. "Now, where are my grand-grandchildren?"
"Don't rush, mother! You're not in the age of running around anymore" Sabine intervened as the old woman approached the stairs.
"Rubbish! I could fight Bruce Lee's ghost and win!"
"Lao Lao!" Luis, Emma and Hugo ran down the stairs, scaring Gabriel who almost lost his footing as they sped past him. The children surrounded the old lady as Marinette's nephews and nieces voiced their own thoughts:
"Bonjour, aunt Meili" a little girl called, her twin odango hair-do made her look twice as cute as she already did with her new red Qi Pao.
"Hello, Huan!" Marinette hugged the little one as other children —the same age as her own— came to greet her. "Oh my! Meixiu, you cut your hair! It looks good. Liqin, Guang, I haven't seen you in ages! Come on, give your aunt a hug!" The girls did as requested, then ran in the direction of their grand-grandmother and cousins to play.
"How dramatic!" A voice intervened.
"We had our last reunion in the summer", then came another.
"You never change, cousin!" And a third-one joined.
"As always, my dearest cousins," his daughter-in-law replied to the speakers as sternly as he had had the bad luck of witnessing first-hand, "it is too soon for us to see each other". After that, they began their own conversation, switching from one language to another.
"Juan! Auntie is right here!"
"You're going to get us in trouble"
"The cousin code is not applicable after 18!"
"Xiang, our mothers have no part in this!"
And that was just as much as he wanted to know. The rest of the Dupain-Cheng were scattered around his living room chatting about nonsense: four toddlers, their parents, Marinette's aunts and uncles, their matriarch, Marinette's international chef uncle…? Twenty four.
"Couldn't her relatives visit one at a time?" He secretly whispered to Adrien.
"Father, don't be rude." His son scolded in the same whispered manner.
"Apologies." The older man responded in a murmur, with no changes in his tone or demeanor, then added in the same whisper: "What did I do to be tortured in this way, in my own house by my own son?"
"You are perfectly aware of what you did, father." The younger Agreste
"Well, sorry if I was an unstable father giving up to depression"
"And, instead of seeing a therapist, you decided to mingle with magical jewelry, and become a menace to all of Paris"
"Well, if I was a menace, then you were the little menace?" His poor attempt at joking was ineffective.
"Don't try to change the subject, no matter how good your dad jokes are getting!" The blond tried not to express his exasperation out loud "I honestly have no-idea how nobody ever knew it was you. Butterflies everywhere? Seriously?"
"Come on, son! It was years ago, it's not even that big of a deal… And when are they leaving? I mean, I wouldn't mind if they had places to be tomorrow morning..."
"Father..."
"And what if an accident happens and Ladybug and Chat Noir must go...? What if Hawkmoth comes back…?"
"If you don't want to be here, it is not too late for you to make an appearance in the Agreste Foundation Charity Ball… Maybe I should tell Nathalie you're going with her…"
"Ahem… Where are my manners? I'll go get the best champagne we have from the kitchens for our guests… and something sweet for the children." The elder designer announce and walked away from his son's stare. From whom had his offspring gotten that intense stare from? He could feel it as he walked away, it was like he had suddenly turned into an ant and his son's eyes were burning him like a magnifying glass under the sun. Something told him it had not been from his side of the family.
As promised, he got a couple of good bottles of champagne, he even started a conversation with Sabine's mother. Horrible. Oh, well, the things we do to avoid confronting worst situations (Charity Ball? Hell no! Nathalie was perfectly capable of taking care of it, though he wondered why she doubted herself, she always prepared his tuxedo, "just in case he decided to attend"). Marinette's uncles and aunts tried to get him to speak to him, even when he knew nothing of what they were talking about (what was even the bloody difference between cha siu bao and kaya-baozi?) Of course, the moment where he got most peace was when he sat down with Gina and Roland.
"This is not how family gatherings are supposed to be!" The man, walking with a cane complained as he placed himself next to the old Agreste. "Everyone speaking many languages at the same time? Can't they agree on one?"
"Roland, we've been over this" Gina, the ever jovial woman she was, said as she took a selfie with her love. The man sighed and smiled. That's the moment when Adrien came to take him away to announce:
"Hey dad, we're still expecting Ying to arrive…"
"More relatives?" Gabriel sighed. "How many?" Adrien looked him in the eye, annoyed (seriously, Emily's DNA was strong in this one).
"Father…" His child raised his voice as a way to reprehend him.
"I'm just asking before investigating if it's too late to go to court and confess my crimes against Paris and its citizens" He explained while deepening the permanent scowl that characterized him. Apparently, at the moment the idea of wearing nothing other than orange overalls for the rest of his life sounded so much better than the increasing number of guests.
"Do you really want to deal with the press and rumors that will follow?" Adrien questioned him in the most sinister voice he's ever heard. "Remember you fired everyone from PPRR last month. There's no-one to come up with contingency plans for the Agreste fashion brand, not even Nathalie could be able to save you…" Gabriel felt a chill run down his spine at the mere thought around the possibility of: "Gossip Magazines, live interviews, press conferences, newspapers, hordes of reporters sleeping by our front door...public appearances… Are you strong enough to take charge or it all?" Gabriel felt so suddenly tired at the mere thought of it.
"How many more?"
"Just Ying and…"
"我病了!" A girl no older than thirteen suddenly exclaimed rather dramatically with her glittery cellphone in hand."我需要医生" Wow, if she was aiming to be an actress, she'd have a better chance by staying in school.
"You're perfectly fine, young lady. Now go greet your uncle Adrien and Aunt Meili..." The teen girl seemed to begrudgingly accept the order, she stomped her foot and turned around to greet Matinette first.
"And that' good ol' Ying." Adrien declared.
"Ouch…! He's a single father to a teen girl. Must be though, I can relate…" He met Adrien's incredulous glare. "What?"
"You want me to drive you to the Charity Ball, don't you? I can get out of this cardigan and into a suit faster than Elsa. I assure you we'll be there in fifteen minutes...Oh, hello, Peng! You have grown a lot!" He ended with his voice back to his cheerful tone (Gabriel could have sworn he saw flowers floating around his son, even when he was currently borderline panicking )
"Hi, 请问，这里 有 wifi 吗"
"Peng! Where are your manners?!" A man's voice immediately after, her father came too.
"Sorry, baba…" She rolled her eyes. "Hello Uncle, Adrien. Nice to see you. 厕所在哪里？"
"It's at the end of that hallway, to the left"
"Shie-shie!" She exclaimed and disappeared (not actress material, but a stage magician? She could be next Houdini).
"Sorry, Adrien. She's been like this since she met some… Some boy she just met at the airport!" The man lamented."She says she saw him about to board another international flight, as we left the plane. Apparently he was traveling to Norway or something..."
"There's nothing to worry about, then! Ying, it's just some silly crush, she'll be over him in a month." And, as those two had their dad talk, Gabriel was left alone, an almost full cup of champagne in hand.
Thank God! He could now, finally, sneak away to his study and —maybe— take some minutes to contemplate the value of time and actions (staring at the butterfly miraculous for hours).
He was alone in his study, brooding by the window with the miraculous in its open box held in one hand. His kingdom of black and white, minimalist aesthetic, style, elegance, refinement...
"And this is Papamoth's studio" The little voice of Louis came to him, breaking his concentration and pose. The toddler was not alone, he was accompanied by his cousins and his siblings who followed him to the window. The children stopped in front of him and Louis made a gesture with his hands as he gave Gabriel his description: "And this is a wild Papamoth in his natural estate". The little ones acted as if Gabriel was some kind of museum piece —or, rather, a zoo animal.
"Ooh...!" They replied in unison.
"Do not be tricked by his grumpy behaviour. He loves butterflies of all colors, even gray ones and those that look like fat, brown, furry butterflies."
"Just like me!" Said Louis.
"That's why we call him Lou-tterfly" Hugo added.
"And Papamoth's favorites are black and white butterflies"
"And his starter pokémon is Venomoth." Their big brother intervened.
"And mine is a Butterfree" Louis spoke again.
"And over here is the painting of Grandma Emily..." Emma now continued, once again, while being closely followed by their cousins.
"Aah…!"
"Grandma Emily is painted in yellow because she was like Belle and Papa Butterfly is the Beast..."
"Uhm… Hugo, what's going on? What are they doing?" Theman asked the ten-year-old didn't react
"Guang, Huan, Meixiu and Liquin wanted to see the house; and Emma and Louis wanted to play pretend. Thus, we're pretending we're in a museum and they are guides. I'm the random museum-security guy that follows people around." The eldest of his grandchildren explained with a soft and lazy smile.
"Children! Macarons!" Marinette's voice came from somewhere in the hallway. The cousins ran, gleefully running and laughing at the prospect of getting treats.
"Are you not coming, Papamoth?" Louis asked as he came to tug on Gabriel's pants.
"Oh, no I…"
"What's that, Papamoth?" Emma asked pointing at the jewel in the box.
"Oh, this? Nothing. It's just a piece of old jewelry." He declared and tried to put on his though persona, his cold and calculating —distinguished, elegant and fashionable stone-cold — attitude. "Now, children, go to your mother and..."
"Is that the butterfly miraculous?" Hugo asked suddenly. The little ones gasped, very dramatically, he had to add, no more vintage movies for these kids (no matter how much he wanted to spoil their good taste in films).
"But mommy and daddy said it had been stolen!" Emma intervened "Does that mean papamoth is Hawkmoth?!" Five-year-old Emma questioned, surprised. No. She was impressed! He did not expect such a reaction. Ok, cool, he could work with these. Just go with the flow and hope they wouldn't speak about it ever again.
"No. I'm not. I was…" he bit his tongue. Stupid! "I mean, I was not- I mean! I am not."
"Can I be the new Hawkmoth?!" Louis's voice interrupted his thoughts. Gabriel looked down and found him trying to reach the miraculous.
"No, you can't" Gabriel declared as he tried to walk away from his grandchildren, only to end up trapped in a corner. Great, he could have easily fought his way out, but these were his grandchildren (who had no miraculouses)."Of course not!"
"Uhm… Adrien...?! Marinette…!" He called to no avail. The murmurs in the distance told him how his his son and daughter-in-law were too far to hear his calls:
"她做了一大盘鱼香肉丝!" "Wait really? No way!" "It was time for you to cook something fancy, cousin!" "I know. You're never fancy enough for the menu, Xiang" "Shut up!
"Ying! How's the score going?"
It was at this moment when he thought he would kill for an akuma to interrupt everything. If only he wasn't the miraculous holder, and he wasn't trapped between the sword and the wall —memo to himself: finding a Hawkmoth successor. And just as he was considering a list of possible mild-threatening options for a new evil wielder of the miraculous (because he didn't want to threaten the lives of his only son and his multiple-talented daughter-in-law), he felt the youngest kids collide with his legs. Apparently, they had the idea of climbing him up to get the miraculous.
"Stay down!" He tried to order them to no avail, one can never really be considered even partially threatening in front of those you love, especially when they don't even respect you. "Don't come any closer…!" Gabriel tried then to keep the box away from the kids by swinging his arm in all directions.
"Guys, leave Papamoth alone. Remember, he's too old" Hugo came to his rescue. The children almost immediately stopped jumping and climbing and left his
"I'm not too old, young man" Gabriel commented, his ego hurt by his savior, and the butterfly brooch fell from its place in the box, which the little ones took while exclamation in excitement . O mèrde! The ex-villain cursed in his head as a familiar purplish light appeared, followed by a lilac butterfly creature, who looked surprised, yet happy that the first thing he saw was the faces of these kids.
"Wow!"
"Hello, my name is Nooroo" The little kwami greeted.
"Hi Nooroo, I'm Emma. and these are my brothers" The girl saluted as she took him in her hands.
"Hi, I'm Hugo" The eldest followed. "Were you my grandpa's kwami? Plagg has told us a lot about you-!" He couldn't stop talking to the kwami, for the youngest sibling took him from the girl's grip and hugged him against his chest. "I love you Nooroo!"
"Ok, you need to return the miraculous, now!" He reclaimed. The kwami saw him, he recognized him, and a piece of fear came to him. His expression became worried and he seemed to not be able to react.
"No!" Hugo spoke. "He's my kwami now, and we're going to the kitchen to get sweets!"
"That's not possible…"
"Why?" Hugo questioned.
"I'm… I… I was going to tell your parents I found it… I... turns out it was never stolen, I had just misplaced it…"Hugo stared at his grandfather so intensely, the older man could have sworn that was enough for him to hear a: "Really, grandpa? Really...?". Goodness, gracious! Emily's were some very aggressive genes! He sighed. Accepting his very—very— embarrassing defeat at the hands of his own descendance.
"Just don't tell your parents I had it, ok? No wait, don't tell your parents you have a miraculous. No. Just don't tell your parents about this!"
"Ok!" The kids chanted in unison.
"Only if you take us to the park and play with us whenever we ask you" Emma started the negotiation. Oh, no… (Why would anyone let Clohé Bourgois babysit them?!)
"What? I can't, I have to work…" He tried to refuse.
"So? You can take us with you. Mommy does it all the time" Oh no.
"Or we can stay in your study when mommy and daddy are out…!" Louis suggested. "And we can help you with your work"
"And you'll tell us bedtime stories!"
"Wait a minute, I'm the adult here, you three must do as I say..." He tried to reason with them (as usual, failing to understand the logic in those so very young minds).
"Technically, yes…" Hugo, finally intervened. "But, who has the miraculous?"
"We could tell mom and dad you had it."
"Louis can scream really loud"
"Wha-?!"
"Yes! We are the boss of you. Obey us!" Louis yelled as he raised Nooroo over his head (the kwami was a mixture of admiration, relief and amusement). The kids had successfully manipulated Gabriel to do their will.
He couldn't be any more of a proud grandpa.
Ok, this was it. This was now his new reality. No longer, in his house, was his name Gabriel Agreste, nor was he an internationally acclaimed fashion designer, nor the villain Hawkmoth, not even the father of Adrien Agreste the famous model nor the mentor of Marinette Dupain-Cheng. He was now another member of this big family, his name was "Papamoth", personal babysitter of Hugo, Emma, and Louis, father of "Adie" his personal torturer, and father-in-law to "Meili", and servant to his former enslaved kwami, Nooroo.
THE END
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Yami Horus: It's already A YEAR since the first part of this story was published. XD OMG! This has been such a joyride! At first I had a lot of random funny sentences going around,
Thank you very much for all the favorites, follows and reviews (WOW! THE REVIEWS! So many!) I hope you guys have liked it! This is the very end to the story of MEILI.
In case you were wondering:
"她做了一大盘鱼香肉丝。 - "She made a big dish of fish-flavored shredded pork"
我病了 – "I'm sick" 我需要医生 – "I need a doctor"
厕所在哪里？ – "Where are the restrooms?"
请问，这里 有 wifi 吗？- "Excuse me, is there any wifi here?"
(Once again, this was taken from a chinese-english dictionary.)
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Yami Horus: Ok, I couldn't resist. Here's a little extra ;)
"Ladybug and Chat Noir, give me your miraculous!" Ladybug saw, horrified, the face of this akuma, who called himself Secreteer. It was no other than her eldest son, Hugo. She couldn't move and Chat Noir (with a Cataclysm still activated and unused in his hand) was just minutes away from transforming back and give away his identity to Hawkmoth 2.0. This was not right.
"Hugo, please...!"
"No.I am not Hugo, anymore. I am Secreteer! Keeper and controller of all the secrets!" He declared as he checked some names on a tablet, those who would his vey order just because he now knew his deepest secrets (a side effect of, perhaps, the fact that he had accidentally told a bully about his best friend's biggest secret and tried to blackmail him). When had her sweet boy become a troubled teenager? Wait. No. No time for having a mom-meltdown! Focus!
The lucky charm was still in her hand (a jumping rope) but, what should they do?
Beep.
Chat Noir didn't have much time left. Un minute!
The jumping rope. Secreteer's talet. Ok, it was simple and risky, but she had nothing better to fight her own son. She was lying on the floor when Secreteer was about to snap a picture of her and check her name in the tablet (as a way of making her give up her miraculous), when the red-clad hero tied his wrist against hers, so that the tablet was now in her reach. "Now Chat!" She knew her husband would have almost no-time after to get away and detransform, but it was the only thing she could think of.
"No!" Secreteer tried to pull away, "I won't fail Hawkmoth! I promised Lou-tterfly..." The Cataclysm came, and Secreteer was no-more.
"Bien jou- Wait a minute." Chat Noir interrupted himself, moments before his transformation was terminated."Lou-tterfly?" Oh, no.
Hugo braced himself. La pucelle help him! He had opened his big mouth!
...
Ding!
A message from Emma.
"Grandpa has left for the country house. We're alone in this." Sweet bread and macarons. "Oh, no..." Inside a closed designer's studio, a 10-year-old Louis detransformed and tried to hide Nooroo and pretend to be innocently messing with his grandfather's tools. "I'm doomed, Nooroo...". He whispered.
"I told you it was a bad idea to play villain with the Miraculous, but you didn't listen!" Nooroo said matter-of-factly, well his holder was not being an evil villain, just a well intentioned kid, trying to play with fire.
The door opened. He covered himself with some raw materials scattered around.
"Louvelis Dupain-Cheng Agreste!"
"I'm sorry, mom! I was just trying to best Papamoth! Please, don't send Nooroo with Master Fu!"
"I'm not, son, but your father and I need to have a very serious conversation with you and your siblings…" Louis came out of his hiding place, to find his mother, not as mad as he thought she would be. Even Nooro ventured out of his green hoodie to join Tikki and Plagg.
Adrien on the other hand...
"Hi, Nathalie! I have a favor to ask. Oh, nothing big I just think that now is the right time for my father to be a designer of the people… I have so many ideas for public events..."
THIS IS 100% THE END