Chapter 7

A House is Not Always a Home

Sure, Celine could've easily found Adrien's room without a guide, but she was used to playing it safe and it didn't get much safer than being escorted to a room in a defensively fortified mansion by two bulky bodyguards and a professional secretary.

She'd pulled Emilie's contact details up on her mother's phone, sending a blind-typed text with the phone hidden out of sight.

She was pleased to note that no-one seemed to have noticed.

"Thank you Timeo, Gerard, you may return to your posts. Natalie, would you mind coming in with me for the first few moments?"

The two bodyguards nodded and excused themselves, while Nathalie remained quiet as Celine knocked on Adrien's door.

"Come in." Came the muffled response.

Adrien's expression brightening a smidge, before resuming his usual blank expression when Nathalie followed Celine into his room.

"Hey." Celine said, offering a genuine smile, which Adrien returns with a little head shake.

Still trying to get used to Celine, though she hasn't changed all that much in the six years where they hadn't seen each other, it was more that he wasn't used to seeing so much emotion and life in his house.

"Now then. Your father gave me permission to rearrange our schedules to better match with each other."

The shocked expression that Adrien now sported was priceless, and Celine had to physically fight from bursting out laughing then and there.

"So, let's get started." Celine states, taking out her phone to pull up her own schedule, and discussing the possibilities with Nathalie.

Adrien getting up to offer his own opinion to some of the more uncertain topics.

It only took a few minutes, and Nathalie thanked the two of them for the cooperation, before leaving to make the final changes to the schedules.

The door clicks shut, and the two teens share a full-blown grin.

"God that was nerve-wracking!" Celine exclaims, throwing herself onto Adrien's lounge dramatically.

Adrien just chuckles, knowing which side of the family she got her theatrics from.

"Really? I'd say you thoroughly impressed Nathalie." Adrien semi-teases.

Celine shoots him a look that suggests he better be joking, raising an eyebrow, and quirking her lips as if to say, "Seriously?".

"Oh, yeah, sure, let me just run through my memory at how impressed she seemed." Celine says, rolling her eyes as Dre's chuckles finally die down a little.

She scooches over as Adrien takes a seat next to her.

"No, seriously. She's not one for open expressions, but you get used to her, and she was definitely impressed. I mean, even I wouldn't have thought of overlapping our piano lessons."

Celine shoots him a small smile.

"It makes the most sense."

She shrugs, deciding to elaborate for the sake of conversation.

"I mean, we'll get to learn from each other's mistakes, pick a wider variety of songs, AND hopefully learn a few duets. Plus, we'll have twice the time in each other's company."

Celine feels her smile widen at the way Dre perks up at her last line of reasoning.

"And you weren't completely useless either, Mr. Chinese conversation." Celine teases, causing Adrien to make a mock show of having his jaw drop.

"Why Leni, I thought you liked my idea of merging our last half hour to practise conversing with one another." Adrien defends his idea; and Celine bursts out laughing.

"I DO. I'm just saying that you had some good ideas too." Celine says, giving Adrien a playful whack with the couch cushion next to her.

Adrien's smile is growing more and more mischievous, and Celine is glad to see the real Adrien surfacing around her again.

Sighing out the last of her laughter, Celine decides to address the next topic of necessity.

"I'm surprised you haven't asked about what your father wanted to talk to me about?" She says, and though there's a little bit of regret in her as she sees her friend's smile dim, she hopes she'll have it brightening up again in no time.

"He usually sends me out when he doesn't want me knowing what he talks about, so I didn't really see a reason to ask… But if you feel like sharing."

He left the last part of his sentence hanging, his smile already brightening by itself.

"As a matter of fact, I do." Celine teases, waiting for Dre to catch on.

He does.

"…and are you going to tell me what it was, or am I going to be left hanging here?" Adrien says, already moving into position.

"That depends…"

"on what?" Adrien finishes her sentence.

"...On how fast you are." Celine says, already moving to bolt, before her response is finished.

Adrien had anticipated her move though, knowing from recent, and general, past experience, that Leni loved having a head start.

So, his hand shoots out to grab a hold of her arm before she even makes it off the couch.

With a quick tug, startled yelp, and a bit more strength than she remembers him having last time, Celine quickly finds herself pinned beneath Adrien's form. Though that doesn't stop her from squirming.

"Ok, ok, I give." Celine laughs, and Adrien carefully releases her, keeping a grip on her lower arm as he rearranges the two of them to sit on the lounge again.

"Man, when'd you get so strong Dre?" Celine asks, a questioning lilt to her tone that informs Adrien of her genuine curiousity.

Adrien shrugs before giving her his answer.

"Not quite sure, my age suggests puberty, though my size says otherwise, and, at the risk of sounding completely sexist, maybe just because I'm a guy?"

Adrien holds his breath as Celine's eyes darken for a moment.

"Well, at least you're honest." She says, closing one eye and cracking a smile to let him know that she wasn't offended.

Adrien chuckles.

"Always a good policy to live by." He tacks on.

Celine nods thoughtfully, finally taking in Adrien's room.

It's a little bigger than hers.

A spiral staircase leads to a second story library of shelves, underneath which is a skateboard ramp, with basketball hoops installed on either side.

The lounge she's on is opposite Adrien's desk, equipped with two desktops, a laptop, homework and textbooks.

In another corner of his room is a play station, Xbox, television and beanbags, while the other side of his room has a side door, which is currently ajar enough to show a spacious en suite.

His bed is in the corner next to his en suite, the bed next to a series of floor-length windows, and a king size.

"Goodness, your room's even bigger than mine." Celine says without thinking, not noticing Adrien's wince at her observation.

He covers for himself quickly enough, realising what she's trying to do after a moment's thought.

"Hang on... What about that thing you wanted to tell me?" Adrien asks, bringing Celine back on point.

Said girl just groans in mock aggravation.

"and I was SO sure I'd managed to distract you this time."

He voice is almost whining, but not quite so that it's annoying.

"Sorry Leni. Better luck next time." Adrien says, having to blink a few times when he suddenly finds Celine's phone in his face.

"Uh… Whoops?" Celine says, dropping her phone back into her bag.

She'd taken the picture on instinct.

He'd just looked so much like the Dre she knew, with his twinkling eyes and open smile, that one expression took her back nine years.

After all, it had been that very smile that had first encouraged a shy, five-year-old girl to befriend a mischievous, five-year-old boy.

That same boy, now a teenager before her, but still as good a friend as he'd been back then.

Shaking her head, she fixed Adrien with an apologetic smile, deciding it would be a good idea to explain herself.

"Sorry Dre. It's just, you looked so much like the kid I first befriended, I just, moved on instinct, I guess… Please don't make me delete it."

Adrien was finding it rather easy to relate, especially when Celine's former expression turned startled when faced with Adrien's phone, the "click" of the camera seeming to snap both teens back to themselves.

Shooting her an easy smile, Adrien quickly pockets his phone before responding.

"Looks like the feeling's mutual, so, we'll just call it even."

And they're smiling at each other again.

Somewhat surprisingly, it's Celine who brings up her earlier mentioned topic.

"Oh, yeah, you know the winter collection photoshoot?"

Adrien's expression immediately turned uncertain.

"Yeah…?" He prompts, wondering where she's going with this.

"Well, that's what your dad wanted to talk to me about. I'm your partner for the next season release." She says, trying, and failing miserably, at downplaying her excitement.

It takes a moment for Adrien to catch on to what Leni's saying, and another few seconds to actually allow himself to believe it.

"What, seriously?"

His tone is so genuinely disbelieving that Leni gives up her pretence completely, and just bursts out laughing.

"Yes, seriously. God, Dre, I'm a bit of a trickster, but not a meanie."

She manages to get out between chuckles, the camera "click" of Adrien's phone is ignored by both teens this time; as Adrien joins in her laughter.

"Oh, that was so CHILDISH." Adrien finally manages to say after a few moments to catch his breath.

"Well I didn't hear any complaints." Celine shoots back with a smile.

Slowly, oh so slowly, Adrien accepts the fact, and his smile broadens and brightens till it rivals the glaring sun outside.

'Oh, wow, it's already nearing sunset.' Celine thinks, surprised that Timeo hasn't come in to escort her back home yet.

"…You have to leave soon, don't you?" Adrien asks, the statement not really holding much of a questioning tone.

Celine sighs, knowing that he's right.

"Yeah; I'm surprised Timeo let me stay this late." Celine says, sad to have to leave her friend.

"But hey, we'll see each other in homeroom tomorrow. And what with our corresponding schedules it's not like we won't see each other outside of school either." Leni says, smiling at the memory that her first friend is also her classmate.

Adrien finds himself smiling at the realisation as well.

"Yeah. We'll see each other tomorrow." He says, the sudden spark of mischief in his eyes all the warning she gets.

In a second Adrien has her pinned to the couch again, using his weight to keep her down, as his fingers easily find the ticklish points on her waist and neck.

Her joyful squeal, and boisterous laughter, as she tries to get the words out past her chuckles, act like a trigger in getting Dre's own smile to brighten.

"Ha ha ha ha, no fair, ha ha ha, arrête de chatouiller! Ha ha ha ha ha, Adrien!"

Celine finally manages to gasp out, Adrien stopping his assault as soon as she says it.

"See? That wasn't so hard, was it?"

Celine gifts him with a half-hearted glare as he smiles down at her.

Having to force herself not to lunge at him.

Her revenge would have to wait.

Not to mention, she enjoyed hearing Dre laugh, be it at, or with, her.

"Alright, alright, it was a little bit amusing." Celine admits with a little eye roll, struggling to get Adrien's weight off of her.

He quirks a brow at her.

"Just a bit…?" He challenges, keeping her pinned with a little more effort.

She shoots him a confident smirk, and Adrien suddenly feels a dull throb in his side, as Celine rolls the two of them over in a self-defensive manoeuvre that has her landing on top of him as he hits the wooden floor with an "Oof!".

Forcing herself up so that she's now straddling Adrien's stomach and waist, Celine quickly finds herself laughing at the tousled look she's presented with.

Adrien cracks a smile up at her.

"Guess I forgot about your self-defence classes." He says, accepting Celine's hand as she gets up off him, and helps him up.

"Yeah, well, you managed to catch me off guard with that sneak attack, so I guess we're still even." Celine says, eyes shining with the fun she's had this afternoon.

...

Not too much later, and Timeo knocks on Adrien's door, come to escort the young heiress home.

"See you tomorrow?" Celine asks, forcing her tone to be a questioning one.

Adrien catches on immediately.

"Yeah. I'll see you in Homeroom… and let me know if you need any more help with physics." He replies, noting the twitch of Celine's lips.

Hmm, he'd guessed right that she was having a few problems with the new coursework, how rarely lucky for him.

"Great. Bye Dre." Celine says, ignoring her bodyguard's presence, and giving Adrien a hug goodbye.

The gesture surprises him, but he's quick to react, putting his own arms around her slight frame.

He'd commented on his height earlier, and he was only a couple of centimetres taller than Celine, but he'd been right about his gender contributing to his strength and build.

She seemed almost like a fairy in his hold.

Wish-granting, but fragile. Small. Delicate.

As though she would disappear if he held her too tightly.

The hug didn't last very long, but time seemed to stand still for a moment before they stepped out of each other's embrace.

"Bye Leni." Adrien called after her, as the door closed behind his friend, and he was left in his big, darkening room.

Adrien sighed, barely starting a countdown before Plagg zips out of his hiding place to hover in front of his nose.

"Good grief. I thought she'd never leave!

Adrien. I'm STARVING!

Give me CHEESE."

Adrien had to physically restrain himself from pinching the bridge of his nose, and squashing his Kwami in the process, as he went over to his mini refrigerator to give the annoying cat his much-loved cheese.

-o-

Plagg, however unnoticed it was going by his human, was having an equally hard time restraining himself from reacting to that girl's presence.

Not only was Scaale's presence VERY OBVIOUSLY detectable from her bag, but he'd never seen his kid laugh, and joke, and SMILE as much as he had in that girl's company.

He wasn't surprised that Scaale had picked her to be his next hero.

She had a way of bringing things that were out of balance, back to a state of harmony, just by being there and being herself, and she had no idea she did it either.

Plagg just shakes his head as he watches his own hero flop down on his bed, no doubt in no mood to get a head start on his homework today.

-o-

Propping himself up on his elbows and holding his head in his hands, Adrien watches Celine get into the mayor's limo.

Smiling when he sees her send him a final wave, or, at least wave in the general direction of his room.

Celine makes it back to the hotel pretty quickly, the rush hour of traffic having long since passed, and, pleading a case of tiredness, she retires to her room with a plate of healthy baguette which she promises to eat before bed.

The door clicking shut behind her, Celine releases an exhausted sigh, places her school bag next to her desk, and slumps in her desk chair.

"Wow. Don't you look tired." Scaale says, making his way out of his little hide-out, and nibbling on an almond that Celine hands him.

Celine sighs again.

"I guess I do, huh."

Her resigned tone rings numerous alarm bells in the Kwami's head.

"What's wrong."

His serious tone is enough to snap Celine out of her little funk.

Her sigh is a little more theatrical this time.

"Sorry for worrying you. I'm fine. I guess, seeing Adrien again is a bitter-sweet occurrence."

At Scaale's confused look, Celine decides to elaborate.

"Adrien's mum, Emilie, went missing three years ago. She was my mum's best friend. And it's confusing the hell out of me why she's been hiding from her family for so long!"

Scaale still didn't get it, but Celine wasn't finished.

"See, Gabriel, that's Adrien's dad, said that he hasn't seen or heard from Emilie in over three years, but she's been keeping in touch with my mum all this time!

I only know 'cause mum gave me her phone before she went to be with dad, and the messages are all dated;

Mum didn't mention her or dad's deaths; but she was always telling Emilie that she was doing the right thing, and that she'd always be there to support her if she ever needed it.

And I don't, Know. WHY."

Celine finally drew a much-needed breath.

"Emilie was always such a caring, gentle mother.

She always worried about the smallest injuries Adrien and I gave each other.

So, her just, abandoning, her family, as Gabriel suggests, it's, it's, incomprehensible.

I don't get it, but I WANT to…

Does, that make sense?" Celine asks, close to tears, and just completely confused.

Scaale releases a light-hearted scoff.

"Yeah, it does; But, you want my advice?"

Celine nods at the little floating being.

"Everyone acts according to their own thoughts and feelings.

So, her leaving, is definitely no coincidence, BUT, I don't think it's our place to judge her actions without first knowing the thoughts and feelings that drove her to do what she did. Do you?"

The ancient being says softly.

He didn't like being the voice of reason, but he'd since accepted that he'd have to play the reasonable role every once in a while, with this Chosen of his.

Slowly, a smile tilts Celine lips upward, as understanding crosses her expression.

"Thanks, Scaale." She says softly, pushing the plate of almonds closer to the mini god before disappearing in her en suite, to get ready for bed.

...

Celine emerges from the bathroom in her pyjamas, hair still moist from the shower, the tips curling into their usual, natural ringlets.

She releases a contented sigh as she slips beneath the covers, her skin still steaming from her hot shower.

"Nice day?" Scaale asks nonchalantly.

Celine turns her neck to send her Kwami an incredulous stare.

"Is that a question, or just a reason to talk?" She asks curiously.

Scaale merely shrugs his tiny shoulders, letting her believe whatever she wants to.

Celine smiles slightly, rolling onto her stomach and turning her head so that she can talk to the floating entity eye-to-eye.

"Well… I got to experience public school life for the first time EVER;

learned a little bit more about Marinette;

saw that rare nice-side to my cousin;

was reunited with a really close childhood friend;

reconfirmed one of my weakest school subjects as being physics, or, at least the topic we're currently covering in physics;

let my act slip up a few too many times, though it doesn't seem as though anyone noticed today;

met a few new people, and a couple of interesting ones too;

uncovered a family secret that is WAY too confusing for me to even begin to try and figure it out;

managed to win some extra time to spend with my friend, and…"

Scaale had been listening with both ears, patiently waiting for his Chosen to finish speaking before he said his part, but when his eyes picked up on her flaming blush, and the way her eyes seemed unable to focus on any one thing for very long, along with the faltering of her words, his curiousity got the better of him.

"…Crashed into some guy on your way to Math, who also happened to have been the predecessor to your new seat;

and you actually enjoyed being able to match your wits with someone who saw you as a person, rather than as a name?"

The monochrome Kwami supplies, turning Celine's wandering eyes to him, though her glare is a lot less effective when her cheeks are glowing like the embers of a fading fire.

"…Fine, I admit it."

One of Scaale's ears flick instinctually at the suddenly soft tone Celine's voice has.

He waits in silence, knowing that she'll share whatever's on her mind whenever she's ready.

"…Yes, it was fun to be, just me. I certainly liked not having to act all prime and proper 24/7; and it was a nice change of pace to just be myself, but, I can't always be so careless."

Celine notices Scaale rolling his eyes at that, but continues on anyway.

"I'll enjoy it whenever I can, but I can't ignore who I am. Sure, the image and reputation my name represents is a burden at times, but that doesn't change the fact that it also stands for the family I grew up with…" She trails off, Scaale slowly closing one of his eyes to continue quietly watching his Chosen with the other.

'I want people to accept the fact that my name comes with responsibilities, but, more importantly, I want my friends to be able to accept that, and look past it, to accept me.'

Celine realises.

Surprised at how complex it had seemed, and how simple it turned out to be.

'Looks like she's slowly starting to figure herself out. Good. Yiang cannot create balance if she, herself, is unbalanced.' Scaale thinks to himself, silently impressed at how quickly his new Yiang is developing.

Training is important, both mentally and physically.

But, the real trick to becoming a true hero, is being able to learn from your mistakes, and help yourself become a better person.

If she was already starting to accept herself, and the flaws that made her unique, then she was exceeding every expectation, that everyone who knew of her existence, set for her.

Coming to himself, Scaale cannot help but smile at the sleeping form of his Chosen.

She prepared his beanie-bed before falling asleep, despite today being a huge step for her.

'Her caring nature is no façade, that much, at least, is certain.' Scaale thinks, knowing that there will be struggles in the future, but even he was unsure of what, exactly, these would entail.

What would happen, would happen. How it was dealt with, would be up to the people faced with it.

"Hey, Scaale?"

The Kwami turns his attention back to his Chosen, surprised that she was now kneeling on her bed, and no longer laying down.

"How long do you suppose I could stay awake, and still be up in time for school tomorrow?" Celine questions, Scaale already smirking as he picks up on her idea.

"I don't know kid. That's what you humans invented alarm clocks for, isn't it?" He answers, eyes twinkling, as Celine smiles at his answer.

Rolling out of the bed, Celine carefully turns on some quiet music, and, finally, unpacks the rest of her suitcase.

Her walk-in-wardrobe not quite full, but now sporting a system of colours, clothes and shoes.

Celine smiles as she looks at the work she'd accomplished in less than an hour.

She'd sorted through her old, favourite and new clothes;

folding, stacking, hanging and placing each article with all others of its likeness.

All her singlets were colour coordinated, folded and stacked;

the same holding true for t-shirts, long sleeved shirts, shorts and leggings.

She'd hung up her dresses and jeans, using clip-hangers to do the same for her skirts.

That done, Celine turned her attention to the labelled boxes she'd seen stacked outside her door when she'd come back from the Agreste Mansion.

She was pleased that Timeo had had the deliveries taken up to her room for her to sort through herself.

Carefully carrying the boxes into her room, and opening each one.

Colourful fabric spilled from the plain boxes, in colours of yellow, green, blue and purple.

Celine spread her purchases on her bed, taking down the old curtains and packing them, along with the old bed sheets and decorating cushions, into the boxes.

She was humming along to the music playing in the background, delighting in the simple pleasure of being herself with no one around to judge her for it.

The sight warmed Scaale's heart, as he flitted above her, helping with the smaller tasks, such as threading the new curtains onto the pole above the window.

Her window seat, though it was really more of a lounge, was now decorated with an array of green and purple cushions, a set of pale purple and white curtains tied to either side of the window lounge, to lessen the intensity of the sun if it ever got too bright.

The balcony doors were now veiled by violet curtains, pricks of daffodil cream and veronica frosting multiplying the further south you looked.

Finally, Celine made her bed with the new bed spreads, her blanket and pillows now sporting a soft white cover, dotted with pale pink peonies and light bluish purple sweet peas.

With a final sigh, Celine flopped onto her bed, completely contented.

She had already set her alarm before she'd started her redecorating spree;

the boxes were stacked outside of her door, and the sky was just clear enough to let a bit of moonlight filter into her room through her new window seat curtains, the gauze lighting up in sparkles of pale white and purple, like a field of irises covered in the remnants of an evening shower.

She smiled into the darkness when Scaale flipped the light switch, floating down to join her for some much-needed sleep.

"Good night Scaale." Celine managed to murmur, realising that she'd forgotten to give Gabriel the sealed letter her mother had given her, to give to him, just before falling asleep.

v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v

Author's Note

Hello again to all my lovely readers!

Here's a little something to tide you over until I can write the next chapter :D

I hope this little valentines gift makes you as happy as it made me to write it!

Unfortunately, it's not a Valentines-themed chapter, BUT, you do get a glimpse into Celine's relationship with Adrien AND a couple more secrets, both learned and revealed.

PLEASE keep sending me reviews!

Every single one is helpful and inspiring to me!

Yours,

Hana

P.S. look forward to learning more about that letter later... I'll give you a hint, it's a VERY important item!