Chapter Text
“Gabriel,” Emilie Agreste said sternly.
“I’m just trying to protect him!” Gabriel protested.
“Protect him from what?”
Gabriel opened his mouth to reply, then closed it, running his fingers through his hair in frustration. That was when Adrien knew that his father was truly agitated. Gabriel Agreste didn’t believe in appearing anything less than perfectly put together.
Emilie folded her arms, one eyebrow raised triumphantly. “One of the key factors in this program, Gabriel, is anonymity,” she reminded him. “Adrien’s pen pal will not know his name and he will not know theirs. It’s a chance for him to make friends with someone who isn’t Chloe Bourgeois, who isn’t one of the shallow people who grovel because of you and your wealth and your success. I want him to have something real.”
Adrien didn’t think he had ever loved his mother more than he did at that moment. He was only eight years old, but he was perceptive enough to know that a lot about his life wasn’t as real and sincere as it could be. With this pen pal program, no one would know who he was. He could be himself – a punny, silly dork – without anyone scolding him about “misrepresenting the name and brand of Agreste.”
He wanted a friend that liked him for him. Hanging out with Chloe was alright, but she wasn’t the nicest person and years of having her be the only person his age he interacted with had gotten old.
Gabriel sighed. “Very well.”
Emilie grinned.
“But,” Gabriel went on, turning to Adrien, “behave with decorum, don’t discuss anything inappropriate, and don’t say anything that would reveal who you are. The last thing we need is–”
“Thank you, Gabriel,” Emilie interrupted, shooing him away. “That will do.”
Adrien smiled up at Father. “Thank you, Father. And I promise that I’ll be respectful and I won’t say anything that makes us look bad.”
Gabriel’s expression softened ever so slightly. “You’re welcome, son.”
Emilie held out her hand to Adrien, who took it and they walked together out of Gabriel’s office. They walked up to the sitting room, where Emilie got out her laptop and pulled up the website for the Paris Pen Pals to sign Adrien up. “What do you want your code name to be, sweetie?”
Adrien thought for a moment, then smiled mischievously. “How about Cat Noir?”
Emilie laughed. “After Plagg?”
Adrien nodded, grinning widely. A couple years before, Gabriel had relented and allowed Adrien to get a pet cat. Adrien had named the jet-black, green-eyed kitten Plagg, a name that he had made up on the spot.
Emilie typed in Cat Noir, and then a few minutes later, handed Adrien the laptop. “Ready to type your first letter?”
“Yup.” Adrien balanced the computer in his lap, thought for a moment, then began typing, a little uncertain as he hadn't yet learned how to type with all his fingers. A moment later Nathalie poked her head in the room and said something about needing to consult Emilie on a business matter. Emilie gave Adrien a side hug, then left.
Dear Pen Pal,
I’m really excited to get to know you. I’ve never had a pen pal before, and I can’t wait to read what you write back.
What kinds of things do you like to do? I like to play Ultimate Mecha Strike and spend time with my cat, Plagg. I also really like science. I don’t go to school, but my mom homeschools me and she teaches me a lot of cool stuff.
What is your favorite food? I love passionfruit macarons and chouquettes.
Do you have any hobbies? Do you play any sports or instruments? I play the piano. I’m not very good yet, but it’s fun and I enjoy learning new songs.
I can’t wait to hear back from you!
Your Friend,
Cat Noir
Adrien hit send and closed the browser, smiling. He wondered who his pen pal would be and what they would say.
~ ~ ~
The next day, Adrien borrowed his mother’s laptop to see if his pen pal had written back yet. He gasped in delight when he saw that there was a message in his inbox. He opened the email and started reading it.
Dear Cat Noir,
Hi! I’ve never had a pen pal before, either, but I’m sure that it’s going to be a lot of fun!
I like to play Ultimate Mecha Strike, too! My papa and I play it all the time, and one of these days I’ll get good enough so that he doesn’t let me win. :D
I also love drawing and designing clothes. I sew a lot and I’m learning how to knit. I hope that one day I can be a fashion designer. My favorite is Gabriel Agreste.
It's cool that you have a cat! I have a red parakeet named Tikki. She’s a lot of fun. She always gets excited when I come home from school. She climbs up on the side of the cage and pokes her head out until I open the door and then she flies all around my room. She makes me laugh.
What do you like about science? What’s it like being homeschooled? I’ve only ever gone to public school, which is fun, but there are some days when I’d rather just stay home.
I don’t know what my favorite food is, but I love macarons and chouquettes, too! I also really like my papa’s croissants and homemade bread.
I don’t play sports or instruments, but it's really cool that you play the piano. What’s your favorite song to play?
What kind of music do you like to listen to? My favorite artist is Jagged Stone. I hope that someday I can see him in concert.
I’m glad that we’re pen pals. I can’t wait till you write back!
Your Friend,
Ladybug
Adrien couldn’t stop smiling. He had a friend! “Ladybug,” he said quietly, rolling the word over his tongue like a sweet bite of a macaron. “Her name is Ladybug.”
Dear Ladybug,
I’m so happy to meet you!
It would be a lot of fun if we could play Ultimate Mecha Strike together sometime. I bet you’re really good.
I think it’s great that you want to be a designer. I’m not really into fashion. What do you like about designing things?
Tikki sounds like a lot of fun. Plagg is kind of boring. It is nice to sit on my bed and read with him there, but he never wants to play or get excited about anything. He just glares at me all the time unless I’ve fed him his favorite cheese – camembert. But he is really soft and he can help me feel better when I’m sad. Cats are really funny.
One thing I like about science is how crazy it can be. It’s fun to find out why things happen the way they do. There’s also a lot of puns you can make with science, like this one: why can’t you trust atoms? Because they make up everything!
I really like puns. They make my mom laugh, but my father doesn’t like them very much. He never laughs at anything.
My favorite song to play on the piano is “Morning” by Edvard Grieg. It’s an easy version, but it’s really pretty and all the chords I play with my left hand sound very cool.
I love Jagged Stone, too! His music is always the best. Once my mom took me to a concert he did for kids and it was amazing. I hope that you get to see one of his concerts sometime!
Your Friend,
Cat Noir
~ ~ ~
10 years later
Dear Ladybug,
How did your date with the guitar player go? From what you’ve told me about him, I’m sure it was super fun.
I’m sorry if I can’t be more enthusiastic. I had a terrible weekend. While you were on your date, I was at one of my father’s corporate parties. He made me be the dinner partner for the daughter of one of the investors. I probably shouldn’t reveal her name, so I’m just going to call her Fox Girl.
She was awful. I don’t care how good-looking she was or how charming she could be when she put her mind to it. Fox Girl has only two interests: wealth and influence. She thinks she can get a lot of both from me, so she was resorting to hanging on my arm the entire night and doing her best to flatter me.
Fox Girl was even worse than my only childhood friend, and that’s saying something. The Queen Bee is a bully and manipulative, but at least she isn’t shy about it. Fox Girl has no qualms about lying through her teeth with every word and it galls me.
I’m sorry, LB. I just really need you to cheer me up right now. Tell me all about your date, and I hope you had a better weekend than I did.
Your Friend Always,
Cat Noir
~ ~ ~
Dear Cat Noir,
Oh, my poor kitty cat! I’m so sorry! One of these days, once I know who you are, I’m going to find your father and give him a piece of my mind. He has no right to treat you like an asset and he certainly shouldn’t have paired you with that horrible girl. I completely agree with you. Liars are the worst.
My date with Guitar Player was pretty good. We went ice skating and I somehow managed to not die or end up horribly maimed. I’m usually ridiculously clumsy wherever I go.
I had a good time, but somehow I think that it’s not going to work out. Guitar Player seems to really like me, but I don’t know if I want more than friendship from him. Basically I’m confused. I don’t know what to do. I don’t want to hurt him by rejecting him outright, but at the same time, I can’t hurt him by leading him along and faking things I don’t really feel.
I’m probably not doing a very good job cheering you up. I’m sorry, Cat. Maybe this will work.
One Christmas my Papa brought home a bunch of candy canes. They were all in mint condition. And I hope our bakery never burns down, because then the business would be toast. When I was little my Maman would tell me a story about two windmills. One asks, “What’s your favorite kind of music?” The other says, “I’m a big metal fan.”
I hope that could make you smile. Your puns always make me smile, even if they are terrible.
I also hope your week is better than your weekend. Let me know how you’re doing!
Your Friend Always,
Ladybug
Adrien was barely breathing, he was laughing so hard. He’d spent the last ten years punning with Ladybug, and while she did let him know in no uncertain terms that half of her loved them and the other half hated them, she’d never punned back at him. But now she’d done it because he’d had a bad weekend.
Adrien put his laptop beside him on his bed and stretched out, thinking over the last ten years.
Gabriel rarely let him leave the Agreste Mansion and had never let him go to public school. The only other friend Adrien had ever had was Chloe Bourgeois, the spoiled and stuck-up daughter of the Mayor of Paris. She was always bossing him around and putting down other people. “Ridiculous” was one of her choice insults.
And now Gabriel had introduced him to Lila Rossi. Adrien preferred not to think about her, so let’s just say that she regularly made Adrien want to vomit and leave it at that.
But Ladybug had been there for him, detailing everything she could think of and giving him a taste of a normal life. She was different – genuine, honest, sweet, thoughtful, just… everything.
When he told her that he’d never been to a public school, she told him stories from her own school days, sharing study tips from her teachers. When his mother passed away a few years after they started their pen pal friendship, Ladybug had offered him comfort with her kind words and assurances that she was there for him.
Their conversations had ranged from their personal interests to possibly every subject imaginable. Through it all, even though they disagreed on several things, they remained the closest of friends. The closest, that is, that they could be – considering they had never met in person.
Adrien closed his eyes, wondering what Ladybug looked like. What color were her eyes, her hair? How tall was she, what kind of scale was she built on? Most importantly, what did her voice sound like? Was it soft and gentle, like her comforting words? More sharp like her wit and humor? Was it high or low?
Of course, there really was only one way to find out. A smile slowly grew on Adrien’s face. He and Ladybug were no longer eight years old, of course; there was nothing that the online pen pal program could do to prevent them from meeting.
He grabbed his laptop and began typing a new email.
Dear Ladybug,
I never thought I’d see the day when you’d use puns, milady! The fact that you used them to try to cheer me up means more than I can say. As I’ve told you before, your friendship is the most precious thing I have, and I am so grateful that the pen pal program paired us up.
My advice about Guitar Player? Be honest with him. Don’t fake things you don’t feel. That’s only going to make things more painful for both you and him in the end.
And then I wonder, what do I know? I’ve never been in a relationship before. But they do say that wisdom comes easily for those who have little to lose, so maybe I’m right, anyway. Haha.
I was thinking… We’re both eighteen now, aren’t we? What if we were to meet in person? Tell me what you think in your reply.
Your Devoted Friend,
Cat Noir
~ ~ ~
Dear Cat Noir,
I think having nothing to lose is the best perspective when it comes to romantic relationships! I especially appreciate the advice when it comes to me – I’m just hopeless with such things and I always depend on other people to help open my eyes to what’s right in front of me.
Yes, I am eighteen, and I would love to meet you in person! There’s so many things that I’ve always wondered about you over the years, and, well, there’s no one to stop us now, is there?
If it works for you, how about we meet up at Trocadero Square this Saturday at 10 o’clock? Let me know if some other time would work better!
Ladybug