Adrien grabbed some napkins and rushed across the bridge to Marinette. She sadly picked up a couple of papers and put them in her bag.
"Marinette, are you okay?" Adrien asked. He knew the answer, but there wasn't much else he could do.
"I'm fine." Marinette closed her bag and stood up.
"I know how much those designs mean to you," Adrien began, "but don't let something like this get you down."
"You don't understand," Marinette sighed, "I can-"
Adrien interrupted her and looked straight into Marinette's eyes, "I do understand. When something means a lot to me, I'm always thinking about it. That just stresses me out. Don't be stressed when you have no reason to worry."
Marinette blushed and looked down, "You always know what to say..."
"Of course I do. I'll always be there for you, Milady."
Marinette blushed bright red at the sound of that name. Adrien and Cat Noir had always known what to say.
Adrien smiled, satisfied that he was able to cheer Marinette up. The two began to walk away as a flash of something caught his eye.
———————————————————————
Mira put her palm to her forehead. What she had just done was stupid. Anyone could have seen her use magic, and that was against everything the Order of the Guardians had taught her. She promised she would never bend the rules, for both the Order and Wang. No matter what. It felt good to do something for Marinette, even if Marinette didn't know what she was doing when she caught Lila stealing the Peacock Miraculous.
That was a different matter. Mira came to Paris with the wrong attitude. She was too trusting. Lila had already tried to take advantage of her. If someone like Lila had gotten their hands on the Peacock Miraculous, it would mean nothing but bad news. The owners of the Ladybug and Black Cat Miraculouses… they weren't a threat, but they weren't trustworthy just yet.
She stopped in her tracks. Mira looked around and shook her head. She had found herself in this spot days earlier. It was where she found the Peacock Miraculous. The jewel was half buried in the dirt below the water, but just visible enough so that Mira could see it. She was attracted to it because of its beauty, but kept it when she realised she had been reunited with the Miraculous she loved years ago.
It felt like the Peacock miraculous was created for her to find and use. Destiny. That was the only word to describe it. Destiny, not a coincidence.
———————————————————————
Lila was still upset that her first attempt at being the new Hawkmoth had failed. She couldn't give up, though. Gabriel would see Lila as weak and irresponsible if she couldn't akumatize even one victim.
"Master, don't mind me asking, but how have you gained adult powers?" Nooroo looked at Lila with confusion.
"Adult powers? What do you mean?"
"When you turn eighteen, you gain adult powers that involve many advantages."
Lila's eyes lit up. "What kind of advantages?"
"There is not time limit on transforming out of costume, and you can akumatize multiple people in a row."
"That sounds interesting."
"It is valuable information, but how have you gained these adult powers?"
"It must be a glitch or something. I'm still seventeen, so the Miraculous must think I'm worthy or something."
Nooroo knew that this definitely was not the case. There must be something more to Lila than he originally thought.
"That's it," Lila took a deep breath, "I'm trying again."
She transformed into Hawkmoth once more and walked over to the white butterfly that had flown back to her window. It was fascinating to Lila how such a small and innocent butterfly could hold and transfer so much power. She held out her hand and watched as it fluttered right to her. Lila wrapped her fist firmly but gently around the butterfly. She could feel a rush of power as the butterfly absorbed the dark energy she gave it.
Lila concentrated and searched for negativity in the area. She could feel the emotions of Parisians everywhere. Most of them were happy, but Lila gasped with satisfaction when she found a negative emotion amongst all the happiness.