Marinette's POV

I opened the door to the bakery, letting the small bell jingle as I closed it behind me. My parents were no where to be seen down below, so I continued my way up towards our apartment above.

I opened the front door to my home, only to find my father seated on the couch, watching one of his programs. My mother was no where to be seen.

"Tikki?" I whispered to make sure my father would not here me, and she popped her head out from my purse to look at me. "Should I ask mama or papa?"

"It's your choice," came Tikki's reply, "Whoever you feel more comfortable with."

I felt comfortable with both of my parents equally, but wouldn't this be something a girl would tell their mom first? However, my mother was no where to be seen, and I needed advice now.

I really do regret not going to my parents first for advice instead of letting myself get akumatized from the start.

So, I walked up towards where my father was and took a seat beside him.

He immediately noticed my presence and turned down the volume on his remote, "Hey sweetie," he turned his head to look at me and smiled, "How was your day?"

"I need some advice, papa." I admitted, my eyes slowly leaving his to focus on my lap.

He noticed my uneasiness and sat up straighter, turning all his attention away from the t.v. "What's wrong Mari?" He asked me.

"Well," I breathed, finally taking all the courage I had to look up at him. "Some time ago I-I told Adrien that I liked him—"

"Did you now?" He interrupted with a fond smile. "Well, I'll be darned sweetie, I didn't think you had it in you. Congratulations."

However, what my father didn't know was that this was no celebration.

I frowned slightly, and that's when his smile disappeared, "Ah... so he didn't respond like you'd hoped then." Her feather said somewhat sadly. "Did he say something to hurt you?" He then asked seriously, once seeing the look on my face.

"Sort of," I murmured, "He told me he didn't like me in that way."

"And it just really hurt papa," I continued before he could say anything to that, and my tears were threatening to spill again, but I did my best to hold them back. "I really like Adrien, and I just don't understand what is it about me that doesn't satisfy his eyes."

"Oh, Mari, sweetie, that's not true." My father tried to comfort me, wrapping his large arms around me to bring me into a warm hug. I cried into his chest, hugging him back and seeking his comfort.

"Mari," he spoke again as he hugged me. "You are a beautiful, young lady. You are talented, brave, smart, funny, and best of all, my daughter. And let me tell you this..." He continued as he pulled away from our hug to look me in the eye. "...things like this happen all the time. There will be times when the people we love will hurt us the most, intentionally or not. But that doesn't make you any less of a person."

"So, what do I do papa?" I asked, wiping a year away from under my eye. "How do I get over him?"

"It can take time to get over a crush," he admitted, sighing almost sadly. "But, think of it this way. When he rejected you, my dearest, he rejected life itself. Because you, you are the most beautiful, young, lady I've ever known. Adrien is going to miss out."

I giggled at that, and he chuckled. My father always knew how to make me feel better. "Thanks papa."

"Of course," he smiled, hugging me once more.

I smiled back as I returned his hug. Then I remembered that I also wanted advice on what to do about my secret admirer (as Tikki calls it.)

"There's also something else I need advice on, papa," I added, and he quickly released our hug to meet my eyes once again.

"What is it?" He asked.

I reached into my small purse and pulled out the papers I had received from the letters I had gotten. Holding them out towards him, I placed all the papers into his palms, and he stared up at me in confusion. "What are these?"

"I've been getting these letters from some anonymous person," I started, pulling out the first letter I had ever gotten. "And they're making me look for these clues and stuff and I don't think I should be obligated to do any of it."

"I mean, at first I was so determined to find out what it all meant, and not give up," I continued, "But now, I feel as if it's the Adrien situation repeating itself, and I don't know what to do. I don't want to get hurt again."

My father's eyes skimmed across the many papers in his hands, and I knew he was trying to read what was on some of them. "You know," he spoke, looking up to meet my eyes. "You don't have to do anything. You are your own person."

"I suppose," I murmured.

He then picked out a specific letter, holding it up closer to me. He pointed at the specific paragraph written below. "Read this again."

My eyes focused on the lettering again and I read, "You never know, you might meet a ghost ;)" I then looked up at him in confusion. "What about it? I don't understand."

"One time, I went to a Ladybug and Chat Noir convention," my father started, and my eyes lit up, and I tried my best not to laugh. My father had gone to one of our conventions? Before I could immediately laugh and question him about it though, he quickly continued, "I remembered only Chat Noir was there at the time, and he was being a really big goof-ball around the younger kids."

I chuckled to myself as I pictured Chat Noir being all goofy with the younger kids there. He was always good with kids. But, I immediately wiped the smile off my face as I thought about all the things both sides of him had done to me recently.

"The kids were all laughing and Chat Noir was having a great time," he continued, "I was far off when this occurred, but I clearly remember one of the kids asking him..."

"Chat Noir?" One, small child, with brown locks and green eyes approached the superhero. "What's the one thing you fear the most?"

My father continued, "Chat Noir would never intentionally want to scare a small child. So, instead of telling the painful truth, he said..."

"The one thing I fear the most?" The hero asked the small child, and he pretended to be afraid. But it quickly vanished, and instead, he smiled, "I would be so scared if I ever met a ghost. That would be the scariest thing ever, don't you think?" He grinned, tickling the little boy that stood in front of him.

The child giggled after that and Chat Noir continued his goofy play with the children.

"I believe your secret writer has just revealed himself." My father finished with a satisfactory smile on his lips, causing to me to gasp in realization.

Once again, Chat Noir was up to no good. And yet, I hadn't even realized he was behind all this the entire time.

_______________________________

Readers: You know, you could've made Marinette go to her parents in the first place and avoided her getting akumatized all together.

Me: It's my bloody book, m'kay? Besides, ever heard of a teen going to the parents first? I, for one, always try to handle the situation alone or ask a friend. My parents are usually always the last string.

*crickets*

Okay my lovely readers, I hope you enjoyed this update. And BIG NEWS!!! I want to update another book I've been kinda working on... a marichat AU to be exact...

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