Chapter 3: Butterfly Effect

Marinette felt disoriented. She was behind the counter at her parent's bakery, helping them out. That was normal, but somehow there were other memories. Wasn't she just on the bank of the Seine, in a red costume with black spots?

Ridiculous. It was just a silly daydream. This was Paris, not London. Lady Bug and Rumpus Cat were British superheroes.

Sabine Cheng, Marinette's mother, answered the phone in the back of the bakery (the one they normally used for taking orders).

"Marinette do you know a boy named Adrien?" Sabine called. "He wants to speak to you."

Marinette's heart jumped. That name... she remembered the gorgeous blond-haired boy who sat in front of her in her class. Except he didn't. Nino sat at that desk alone.

"Y-yes, from school," said Marinette.

It wasn't really a lie. Just a different school from a different set of memories.

"You should give him your cellphone number so he doesn't tie up our business line," said Sabine.

Marinette went to the phone. "Hello. Umm... Adrien?"

"Marinette, you're the only one I could think of to call. I don't have other numbers in my phone anymore, but I remembered the name of the bakery."

"Uh... okay. W-what's up?"

"This may seem crazy, but... do you know me?"

"Yes! Sort of... my memories are kind of mixed up right now. Are you coming back to school?"

"I don't go to that school... the way things are now."

"Maman is looking at me to get off this line. I'll give you my cellphone number and you can call me back. We can talk room in my privates... I mean, talk privately in my room."

Marinette got permission for a break and went upstairs to her room. Her phone rang and she answered it.

"Hi, Marinette."

"Adrien, do you know what's happened? Why do I have these other memories?"

"I think I know. It's time travel. In a different timeline you were Ladybug, a superhero."

"That should sound crazy to me, but it doesn't. I have memories of swinging around the city in a red costume with black spots. But I don't remember anyone learning my identity."

"I found out when we were back in time. I don't think it will do any harm to tell you, since I'm not a superhero now. I was Chat Noir."

"What? Really? You acted so differently as Adrien."

"I was letting my real self free. My good-guy side is the front I put up as a model."

"Wow..."

Marinette wondered about her crush. She had idolized a false image of a guy while rejecting the real person underneath. Maybe that could change now, and they both could get to know each other for real.

"Back to the time travel stuff," said Adrien. "An akuma villain called Backwarder traveled back in time to stop herself from making a mistake. Our powers protected us when time went backwards."

"I'm starting to remember now. What was the mistake?"

"She was the girlfriend of Master Fu, the Miraculous Guardian. In the old timeline they went their separate ways."

"I remember Master Fu and Marianne. I was happy he once had a girlfriend, but sad they lost each other."

"I think that's what changed the past. They stayed together and went to England. That's why there are superheroes in London and not here."

"Because maybe before... Master Fu came back to Paris to be closer to Marianne, even though he waited a long time to get in touch with her. Since they stayed together it didn't happen."

"I bet that's it."

"Hawk Moth somehow learned where they were. That's why his akumas are active in London. Lady Bug and Rumpus Cat were chosen by Master Fu to fight him."

"Do you think Hawk Moth remembers things from that time? He was there, too. He could remember Master Fu's face since he saw him through Backwarder's eyes."

"Maybe, but I killed Hawk Moth back there. His memories are probably weaker than yours. You lost power and faded out of existence."

"Does it bother you that you killed Hawk Moth?"

"Horribly. I was in a rage at how messed up things were, and that Backwarder had to sacrifice herself for us. But that's no excuse for murder. I'm glad I'm not Chat Noir anymore – I'm not worthy. But I'm sorry you lost being Ladybug."

"The fight's out of our hands now. I'm sure Master Fu and Marianne have chosen good heroes there."

"I hope so. They must be really good because they haven't needed to activate other heroes yet."

"So Adrien, now that we're free of all that... do you think we could get together sometime? I mean, you liked me as Ladybug and I liked you as Adrien."

"That will be hard. You see, I live in London now."

"What? When did that happen?"

"My mother disappeared about a year and a half ago. My father moved to England to get away from everything."

"I guess I knew that from from the fashion news, but I didn't connect it with you until this moment. Its my mixed-up memories again – I didn't have any personal connection with you in this timeline. How can he run the Gabriel Fashions brand from London?"

"It's hard, but he's managing somehow. He's very busy and I don't get to see much of him."

"Are you home-schooled or do you get to go to school there?"

"I was able to get him to send me to school. I needed total immersion to get fluent in English quickly."

"You've made friends there?"

"Some. Not as close as you and the others in Ms. Bustier's class, though."

"Are you... seeing anyone?"

"No, not really. Kagami Tsurugi is the daughter of a business associate of my father's. We're both into fencing. It seems like my father and her mother are trying to get us together, but we're just friends. They set us up to go to the Royal Wedding together this weekend."

"The Royal Wedding!" Marinette thought. "I gave Adrien Master Fu's prescription for laxative pills instead of a love confession. I'm so glad that never happened. I would have died of embarrassment."

"You knew Kagami in the old timeline, too," Marinette said.

"Yes, and she came close to killing me as Riposte. She didn't get akumatized this time around."

"Thank goodness."

"How about you? Are you seeing anyone?"

"Well... Nino and I are dating. Several months ago he invited me to the zoo and told me he liked me. I've known him for years and I didn't have any other crushes... we gradually got closer."

Marinette thought, "It's going to be tricky with Nino now that I've remembered my old crush on Adrien. But nothing can ever happen with that. I'll stick with Nino."

"What about Alya?"

"We're good friends. Oh... I remember she and Nino from the other timeline! They never got locked together in a zoo cage for an afternoon, so nothing happened between them."

"Alya's doing all right?"

"Yes. She still has a great interest in superheroes. She blogs about the adventures of Lady Bug and Rumpus Cat. But there's no chance she'll uncover their secret identities from Paris."

"I'm wondering... about my Dad moving to London. We lost my mother in the other timeline too, and he stayed in Paris. What caused the change? Was it just a butterfly effect?"

"A butterfly effect... that could be it!"

"What do you mean?"

"Hawk Moth is active in London because of Master Fu. In the old timeline Hawk Moth and Master Fu were both here in Paris. Your father is in London now."

"You mean you think he's Hawk Moth?"

"There were all those clues... his secret book of Miraculous superheroes..."

"You knew about that book? You didn't tell me."

"My kwami recognized the book when you had it at the school library, and I investigated as Ladybug. I was keeping that part secret because I didn't have permission to talk about Master Fu. I was the one who recovered the book and got it back to your father so you could come back to school."

"I just knew you suspected my father and saw butterfly patterns everywhere around him. But then he was akumatized as the Collector and we eliminated him as a suspect."

"That was before we knew he didn't work alone. The Peacock holder could have done it for him."

"If this is true, what am I going to do? I have no proof. Nobody will believe me."

"Find some way to tip off Lady Bug and Rumpus Cat. Your inside knowledge will convince them. They'll investigate and find the proof."

"I'll try. It's crazy. My own father... I killed him. Now I'm trying to turn him in."

"If there was any way for me to get to London, I would help you."

"Your moral support from a distance is help enough, m'Lady."

"Good luck... Chaton."

"Just call me Adrien. My luck is better without the Black Cat Miraculous. Though I miss Plagg."

"I know you can do it, Adrien."

"I'd better get back to piano practice now. Keep things looking normal."

"Bye Adrien. Please keep calling and tell me how things are going."

"I will. Bye, Bugaboo – Marinette."

They hung up. Marinette sat on her chaise lounge a long time after that, processing the memories and thinking about what might have been. She cried.

Marinette pulled herself together. She had a good life, a normal life. It would be enough.

She headed back downstairs to the bakery.

The End