"Anything for my Lady."

Marinette awoke with a start.

Her breath came fast for a few short moments as her mind slowly came back to reality.

She was in her bedroom not atop the Eiffel Tower. And she wasn't bathed in slowly dimming afternoon sunlight. The digital clock read 3:17 AM and both her room and the sky outside was dark, save for a few dim lights from the streetlights.

Staring blankly through the darkness for a moment Marinette suddenly grimaced and clenched her fist in frustration. In one swift movement she pulled her duvet over her head, hiding herself away from the world.

"Marinette," Tikki's voice broke through Marinette's attempt at self-imposed isolation. "What's wrong?"

The girl was silent for a moment before whispering, "My dream self is a jerk."

Marinette then buried herself deeper in the folds of her sheets ignoring all of Tikki's attempts to get her to explain. Finally the kwami gave up and flew back to her sleeping place.

Even after several moments the young girl couldn't get back to sleep.

Her dream remained fresh in her mind and kept playing itself over and over again.

There she was.

Ladybug. Looking out on the city from atop the Eiffel Tower.

"Chat. Listen," her voice was hollow.

Chat Noir stood behind her, his eyes invisible but his face unhappy.

"I…" she stops and lets out a resigned sigh. "I don't like you back. Not romantically."

She still couldn't see his eyes. Only his mouth as the teeth clenched in pain.

"I like… someone else."

That should have been it. Marinette had never blind to Chat's crush on her. And she had played in her mind several times what she would say if he ever confessed.

In all of her mental simulations of the incident, she would then leave it at that. Comfort Chat Noir about how they were still friends and partners before leaving.

But that wasn't what happened in the dream.

"I like someone else. Adrien Agreste."

What was she doing? Why was she bringing up Adrien? There was no reason for Chat to know the identity of who she liked. He wasn't the type of person who would have pressed her to tell him.

And her partner had no way of knowing what her relationship with Adrien was really like. If he recognized the boy's name as that of a celebrity then all that would mean to him was that the girl he loved was rejecting him in favor of a celebrity crush. She had no doubt that something like that would hurt.

"If you were him, then maybe…"

Chat Noir wasn't Adrien. He was his own person. Comparing the two would be nothing short of cruel.

"But, I don't-"

"If I were him?" In a moment Chat Noir disappeared, and Adrien stood in front of her. His hand tilting her chin up to look at that smiling golden face.

"Anything for my Lady."

Marinette pulled her blanket even more tightly around her. Fighting the tears that threatened to spill from her eyes she tried to force her shaky breath to even out. She tried her best to focus her thoughts.

It was just a dream. A silly silly dream. So why was it affecting her so much?

Turning over under the blanket, Marinette knew it was a silly question to ask.

It'd been the unnecessary cruelty with which she had rejected Chat Noir. Bringing up her crush on Adrien as though she was holding it over his head. Practically comparing him to the other with the words 'if you were him'.

And then the way Chat Noir had disappeared and Adrien taking his place.

"Anything for my Lady."

If Ladybug rejected him, would Chat Noir change?

Would his happy jokester attitude be replaced by a serious sullen one? He wouldn't give up being a hero due to heartbreak, but would it affect their partnership?

Or was it that Chat Noir would purposely change himself? Would he go about changing his personality so that his crush would like him? Was that what that dream had meant?

Why am I worrying so much? Marinette curled up into a ball. Chat Noir doesn't like me that much. He just likes to flirt. If I rejected him, it wouldn't hurt him too bad right?

That was how she had rationalized things for so long. How she had explained away her partners interest in her. But it all still haunted her.

Why did it bother her so much?

It's not like I love both Adrien and Chat Noir.

But as the thought raced through her mind, Marinette felt her chest tighten.

Oh.

Oh no.