Nebula - Adrien Agreste

Chapter 20 - Meeting With Master Fu

I stared long and hard at the letter, not knowing whether or not I was even feeling anything. Gulla landed on my shoulder as she read it, also not saying anything though I could feel that she was quite nervous.

"Does that mean he's in Paris?" Gulla asked and I bit the inside of my mouth. I hadn't heard from my father in years. When my parents got divorced I was only ten, and my mother had ordered him out of the house.

"I-" I frowned, not knowing what to say to that. Have I been getting letters from him all this time? It would make a lot of sense for mother not to give me them. She held a grudge, and oftentimes it was her word over anyone else's. It pissed me off when she tried to play God. Or tried to tell me who I could and couldn't have contact with.

Which was why she wasn't going to find out about my new relationship with Adrien, at least not from me.

"We should tell Master Fu," Gulla interrupted my thoughts, making me blink and turn slightly to her - who was still sitting on my shoulder. "If this is right then we might be in trouble." I knew she was right, but something about this felt off to me. Part of me wanted to confront my mother about this, but I couldn't. She couldn't know what I did, who I was when I wasn't playing the perfect daughter for her.

Not that I ever was perfect, but I could pretend when I was in front of her.

With a deep breath I turned to Gulla once again, seeing her nod. "Gulla, Screech Increase!" It didn't take me long in my transformed state to find Master Fu's place. I had always thought it was funny that he hid under a message clinic facade.

"Hmm.. I see.." Master Fu murmured, stroking his beard as he read the letter. Wayz was hovering over his shoulder, also frowning at the words.

"How does he know about the Miraculous, Master?" I questioned with a frown, holding the steaming cup of tea that he had offered me when I walked inside. Gulla was sitting on the table beside me, munching on her banana bread as she watched the conversation.

His brows furrowed at that question as he glanced up at me. I could tell he was contemplating what to tell me, sighing in defeat. "There was a team before you, Chat Noir and Ladybug," he told me and that made me sit upright. While I knew that was a possibility, that meant that my father was on that team. Did that also mean Hawkmoth was there as well? Did he know who Hawkmoth was all along? "Your father was there. As well as the past Chat and Ladybug. They were a team, as well as others."

"So... he was a Miraculous user? You didn't take his Miraculous away?" I was under the impression that once the job was done that was that.

Master Fu rolled his shoulders back and I winced at the cracking sounds. "Yes. He was one of the best. He used his Miraculous to the best of its ability, which is why he still has her. As well as I have him investigating elsewhere." He started and I nodded my head. Now that made a little since, and was maybe the reason my parents got a divorce if my mother knew about it.

"Is he... is he in Paris?" I wondered, biting my lower lip. I would love to see him. I missed him so much, but my mother has forbidden any talk about him. I'd never get any sort of story that he did in his past like other kids might get. It just made things really isolating, though my mother was good at making me feel isolated.

"I cannot tell you that," Master Fu stated simply with a sigh, "if he is in Paris then he has a reason to be. He sent you this warning. Maybe not knowing you were a user, but wanting you to be safe. Though with him being a user there is a very high possibility he knows who you are. You are, after all, his daughter." That made me smile a little at the fact he can tell who I was in the suit and mask, when no one else could. Maybe being a user for most of his life made it easier for him to tell who was under the mask, despite it being magic that made sure no one else could figure it out? "And you cannot tell Ladybug or Chat Noir of this." He told me sternly, which made me sit up straighter in my chair.

"What? Why not, Master? Ladybug will tell if I am not saying anything to her!" I didn't mention Chat, mostly because I had planned on telling Adrien anyway. No matter what Master Fu says.

Besides he said Chat Noir, never mentioned anything about Adrien.

"It's for her own protection, Charlotte," he shrugged. I pursed my lips, not knowing what to say about that. We were facing these things every day. Now he was all of a sudden worried for our protection?

"Is there more to this than what you're telling us?" I wondered with a frown, not liking the way that he hesitated.

"Go home, Charlotte," was all he said as he stood up. "Remember what I said. Don't tell Chat Noir or Ladybug about what is in this letter." With that he went towards the back of his shop. Wayzz sent me an apologetic look before following after the guardian.

Scowling, I stood up. This was fucking ridiculous. Ladybug was already wary of me when I joined, I didn't need to give her another reason to be wary of me by keeping this from her.

"Charlotte..." Gulla whispered, hovering in front of me and giving me a worried look.

Ignoring her I pulled my phone out of my bag, clicking on the first call that I see. Placing it to my ear it rings a few times before someone answers. "Missed me already, Bat Queen?" The voice purred and already I felt my heart race decrease. Adrien's voice always soothed me, even when I didn't know he was Chat Noir. "We just saw each other not even thirty minutes ago!" He laughed, though paused when he realized I wasn't saying anything immediately. "Lotte?" He called, and I could hear the frown in his voice.

"Uhm, can you come meet me again? At my place?" I wondered, seeing Gulla frown. We were walking out of Master Fu's shop, walking down the street. I was going to choose an alley-way to transform in, but I just needed to hear Adrien's voice before I made it to my house. And maybe he'd be able to meet me there while I was enroute.

"Sure," he replied without hesitation, with made my heart melt in an instant. "But are you going to tell me what's going on?" We haven't known each other for long and yet he knew something was happening.

Biting my lip I glanced over to Gulla, who had a worried look on her face. "Yes. I need to talk to someone else about it and... Master Fu told me not to tell Chat Noir or Ladybug, but he didn't mention anything about telling Adrien." I smirked at the loophole, hearing Gulla giggle behind me and easing the tension.

Adrien's side was quiet for a moment and I could hear Plagg in the background. "Yeah, I'll be at your place in fifteen." And with that he hung up.

All I could hope was that everything didn't come crashing down.