memory loss
"Why is Juleka so glum lately?" Marinette asks Rose quietly as the two are walking behind their long haired friend to their usual spot to eat breakfast at school.
"I don't know. I haven't seen her like this before either." Rose says worried.
"Hey Alya , do you know something about this?" Marinette asks.
"Well our Juleka seemed to be very smitten with a red scaled hero when he rescued her. And after that whole snapshot akuma there are a lot of pictures of him and Ladybug going around the internet." Alya says, showing her phone's new background which is a picture that looks like Dragon and Ladybug are kissing.
"What!?" Marinette screams, not having known about this for the last couple of days.
"Didn't you see my blog entry?" Alya asks disappointedly.
"I was busy... helping my father." Marinette half lies, she was busy with patrolling Paris as Ladybug.
"What's with this ruckus?" Nino asks, him, Jake and Adrien catching up to the group of girls.
"Marinette just found out about these." Alya says, showing the group the pictures proudly, Jake and Adrien looking at them in shock.
"Do you really think that dragon is together with Ladybug and that's why Juleka is so sad?" Rose asks.
"Makes sense, doesn't it?" Ayla says, the group watching Juleka sit down on a bench a bit away from them.
"Jake, you go and cheer her up!" Ayla says grinning and pushes the teen towards his secret crush.
"Hey, can I sit here?" Jake asks awkwardly when he stumbles into Juleka's view thanks to Alya"s shove.
"Sure." She says, sounding void of emotion.
"Something is bothering you, isn't it?" Jake asks.
"I know about you and Ladybug." Juleka says after a moment of quietness.
"Me and ladybug what are you talking about?" Jake asks nervously.
"I know you're dragon. I saw you when you saved me at the sports festival." Juleka tells him quietly.
"You know?" He asks completely blindsided.
"Yeah. And then this made all sense." Juleka says, pulling up the photos of him and ladybug in his dragon form.
"You're misunderstanding this I think." Jake says.
"I was only misunderstanding that I thought you were interested in me like that." Juleka says saddened, hiding even more behind her hair.
"You weren't misunderstanding that. This is not real. Ladybug and I made it look like we were close to get Snapshot to reveal his position." dragon explains in a whisper, while pointing at the picture on her phone.
"Really?" She asks quietly.
"Yeah really." He says smiling at her and Juleka wraps her arms around him in a relieved hug, before opening her eyes and sees her friends smirk while giving her thumbs up and stupid grins.
"Sorry." Juleka says startled, sitting back down normally while blushing beet red and fidgets with her hands.
"I hope this is because of our nosey classmates and that you're not embarrassed to let me see your beautiful face." Jake tells her.
"I'm not nearly as beautiful as ladybug and I'm no hero. I'm just a scared young girl." Juleka sighs defeatedly.
"I'm gonna tell you a secret. So is Ladybug. She's the same age as us. And to me there is no girl I'd rather spend my time with than you." Jake tells Juleka, patting her leg supportively for a moment before getting up and offering her his hand while standing in front of her.
Juleka accepts the hand and the two join their classmates for breakfast, the group relieved to see Juleka back with them instead of stuck in her cloud of sadness.
"I wonder what you could have said to Juleka..." Alya says teasingly when the two join their group of friends.
"Nothing that isn't true." He replies, smiling at the dark haired shy girl who hides herself behind her curtain of hair once more embarrassed.
"Why don't you just go through with it and ask her out?" Nino asks in a whisper, pulling Jake aside.
"Same to you. Alya is right there." Jake replies.
"Right... Good point." Nino agrees, nodding sheepishly.
"Thought so." Jake says grinning and the two sit down with their classmates having a meal and talking a bit.
"So are you really sure that Ladybug and Dragon are an item Alya?" Adrien asks the blogger solemnly.
"I don't know. I mean these pictures seem like it but that's pretty much the only thing speaking to that. According to what some people overheard its more likely that black cat is actually together with her and dragon is their mentor or something." Alya explains.
"mentor?" Marinette asks, her left eye twitching with Jake hiding a smirk at the girl's reaction.
"Well yeah. He can stay transformed longer and has this confidence around him." Alya explains.
"I guess." Marinette grumbles, still a bit upset.
"You don't think Dragon is the experienced one of the group?" Jake asks Marinette with a small grin.
"I... No comment." Marinette says pouting, making the group chuckle while Alya and Alix hug the girl.
After their break the group heads to their next class, while Jake and Juleka hang behind.
"You can't tell anyone my secret, OK?" He says hopefully, looking into the girl's one visible eye.
"I won't" she promises, shaking her head.
"Come on then we're gonna be late for class otherwise. Oh and since you know, let me introduce you to my gramps." Jake says happy that the girl he likes knows and is seemingly OK with him being dragon.
"OK." She agrees timidly while blushing when Jake grabs her hand and leads her to class.
After a school day filled with teasing and joking at Jake's and Juleka's expense the dragon hero brings Juleka to his grandfather's shop.
"Oh, hello you are that girl I met before." Fu greets Juleka relaxed.
"Hello Mr. Fu." Juleka replies, mumbling a bit.
"Is there a reason you're not immediately rushing to your room?" Fu asks Jake.
"Juleka knows." Jake says excitedly.
"About?" Fu asks confused.
"About me being dragon. She knew for a while." Jake says happily.
"Jake! You idiot, you told a civilian?" Fu berates Jake angrily.
"No. She saw me change by accident." Jake replies.
"We have to erase her memory." Fu says, opening the kwami box and gets the pin of the sloth, which allows the user some control over memories. A dark brown and beige furred Kwami tiredly crawling out of the box and waving at the teens with droopy eyes.
"Fu, you can't do this!" Jake protests, stepping in front of Juleka.
"Jake. I don't want you to get in trouble because of me." Juleka mumbles, gripping the back of his shirt.
"Sloan, dream on." Fu says and uses the sloth Kwami, putting Jake to sleep by yawning.
"What is... No!" Jake groans struggling but falls over almost immediately, only to get back up transformed into dragon.
"Master Fu, was this really necessary? Jake already benefited from friends who knew about him before." Longg asks, Jake's voice sounding different with an asian accent.
"What's going on?" Juleka asks worriedly.
"I'm sorry, but no one can know about kwamis and their holders. I have to remove your memories of dragon." Fu tells her, pushing Longg aside.
"Will I still like Jake?" Juleka asks worriedly, looking at who she assumes is still Jake.
"I don't know, I guess it depends if you only like him as dragon or for who he normally is." Fu says and puts a hand on her head, Juleka collapsing to her knees soon after snoring lightly.
Fu then taps Longg's head and Jake turns back human, Longg apologizing in his mind "Sorry Jake. I think we have to trust Fu. My kwami brothers and sisters trust him."
"What did you do to her?" Jake asks grumpily, shakily glaring at Fu, who puts the pin back in the box.
"She doesn't remember anything about dragon. See it as a blessing. You can find out if she likes you for you or for your heroics now, son." Fu says.
"Gee thanks for brainwashing the girl I like. And I'm not your son." Jake replies angrily, kneeling down in front of Juleka and shakes her awake gently.
"Huh? Jake, what happened?" She asks confused.
"You blanked out. I think you need something to eat, young lady." Fu says.
"I could use a bite." She says quietly, nodding in agreement.
"Come on I'll make you something." Jake says with a smile, offering her his hand and she accepts it with a small smile, following him up to Jake's living room over the shop, where she sits down quietly while Jake cooks some noodles for them.
"Are you sure you're feeling alright? It was just a moment that you blanked out but if something is bothering you, you don't have to hide it and put up a strong front." Jake says.
"Strong front? I wouldn't even know how to." She says glumly.
"Why did we come here again?" Juleka asks quizzical, Jake luckily looking away from her when she asks this, a sad and tired expression is plastered on his face.
"No reason. We just wanted to hang out a bit." He lies, glancing over to her from. his spot at the oven.
"Sorry I'm a bit forgetful today." Juleka mumbles apologetically.
"Don't worry. It happens." He says, stepping over to her and squeezes her shoulder with a warm smile Juleka brushing her long hair out of her face and looks up at him with a small smile while blushing.
"I'm still confused as to why you hide behind your hair so often. I mean I know you're quiet, but that doesn't mean you have to hide yourself." Jake says sitting down next to her.
"I told you, I get flustered and it's embarrassing." She says, pulling her hair back in front of her, only for Jake to stop her hand gently, placing it on her lap before brushing her hair behind her ear again.
The two look at each other longingly for a while with both slightly leaning toward each other until a beeping interrupts them and Jake jumps up.
He quickly finishes preparing their food, making a sauce for the noodles and brings the two plates over.
"It smells great." Juleka says, taking in the smell joyfully.
"It's not that great, but thanks." Jake thanks her, sitting down across from her.
"It's really tasty." Juleka says happily.
"I'm sure your mom or you can than me." Jake says, shaking his head.
"No. Mom doesn't cook and I... I have never cooked before." She says blushing embarrassed while looking down.
"Makes sense I guess." He says thoughtfully and she looks at him hurt.
"Oh, no I meant because you're living on a boat. I'm guessing the kitchen situation isn't exactly typical or ideal." Jake says, brushing over her arm.
"Thanks." Juleka says sniffling.
"Why are you crying?" He asks confused, wiping the tears from her cheeks with his sleeve.
"I'm just glad you're so nice and don't judge me for my faults." She says, calming down again and stopping her tears.
"I was judged my whole life. And most of the time misjudged. I mean, first I was an asian kid in America. I was always one of the shortest wherever I went and here I am still one of the shortest, but most judge me rather for coming from the US." Jake tells her, playing with his noodles with his fork.
"I'll try not to judge you." Juleka says with a shy smile before both continue to eat in comfortable silence, their feet accidentally touching underneath the short table.
"I should get going. Thank you for listening and the food." Juleka says, sliding out from underneath the table and stands up.
"Do you want... do you maybe want me to teach you a bit of cooking? Or at least use our kitchen?" Jake offers embarrassed, rubbing the back of his neck a bit nervously.
"I'd love to." She says smiling brightly and hugs him, Jake returning the hug, which continues a while longer than normal and she gives his cheek a quick peck when they break their hug.
"I like... y- your food." Juleka then stammers and quickly leaves the house, Jake hearing her hurriedly big farewell to his grandfather.
"Honestly, what were you thinking?" Fu berates Jake when he steps down into the shop.
"What do you mean? She saw me when I rescued her, it's not like I told her." Jake replies.
"Well you better not. Because even if you are safe as long as you stay alive, the other two won't be. Their Miraculous' can get stolen." Fu says.
"I get it. You can't have anyone suspect us and find out you have the box." Jake says reluctantly.
"For what it's worth, she does seem to like you for yourself, not because you're dragon." Fu tells him, relieved Jake doesn't make an even bigger deal out of it.
"I guess. Anyways I'm gonna go check on the trolls. Last time I was there they were still dead set on visiting the eiffel tower because it reminds them of a bridge."