A man stands next to you on a platform falls while you are waiting for the train. As a train enters the station he handcuffs a briefcase to your wrist while muttering an apology he swiftly throws himself under the train.
Marinette stood in shock as the train hurdled past her, destroying the man who had just been standing next to her. She knew there was blood but she couldn't see it. All she could see and hear was the train. Next she heard the screams of horror as the people around her realized what had just happened. A man had killed himself.
The events played back in her mind as Marinette stood there. A young man with light brown hair and a very nondescript face stood by her on the platform. Marinette smiled politely at the man and tried to make small talk. He seemed deeply unhappy and the girl could not help but take pity on him after seeing his forlorn expression. After a few moments of silence, the man asked for her name.
"I'm Marinette. And what's yours?" she said with her sweetest smile. The brunette man looked like he was about to burst into tears and the girl shifted uncomfortably at the situation. The man made to reply but a train that was nearing them let out a loud horn.
"What?" she yelled over the noise.
"It doesn't matter now! Miss Dupain-Cheng, I am so sorry!" the man yelled back, grabbing her arm. Marinette was about to fight him off when she felt something cold click around her wrist. Looking down, she saw she had been handcuffed to a small briefcase. In the next instant, she saw the sad man fling himself under the fast approaching train.
The police had finally arrived and Marinette decided to leave before they began asking questions. For some reason, she felt obligated to help the dead man, and telling the police would lead to the confiscation of the briefcase. The man had known her surname without her telling him. That meant he had been looking for her. The small black case in her hand was meant for her, not the police.
She ran all the way home, forgetting her bus and plans for that afternoon. Opening the door to her room, she opened her purse and out flew her kwami, Tikki. Marinette felt tears run down her face as the realization of what had just happened finally hit her.
"Tikki, that man is dead! I couldn't stop him… I should have…" Tikki cut off her beloved friend who was quickly becoming hysterical.
"Marinette, that was no man. I could sense it. He was a spirit, a very old one. You could not have stopped him if you tried," the red creature said as she hovered over Marinette's shoulder.
"So he's not dead? How did he know who I was? And why did he give me this?" she asked holding up the briefcase. Her tears had slowed but her eyes were still full of fear.
"He isn't dead but he isn't in this world anymore. As for how he knew you, I can only guess he has been studying you, seeking you out for a special duty. As the holder of the Ladybug miraculous, you are an icon in the mystical world. He must have had faith that you could take care of whatever's in there," Tikki sounded confident but she really was almost as confused as Marinette. It was troubling that he was able to find her in her civilian from but such an old spirit probably had just as strong senses as the kwami.
"Tikki, one magical destiny is enough! I can't deal with random ghosts literally giving me their baggage! I have enough baggage!" she cried before sinking into her desk chair. Tikki smiled at her young friend. It seemed like she had calmed down enough to deal with the case.
"Let's take care of the matter at hand. Literally, in your hand," Tikki said. Marinette groaned at the pun put a small smile escaped her lips.
"You're as bad as Chat Noir with your puns! Still you're right. We should open it, I guess," Marinette moved to open the case but saw there was a strange lock on it.
"What do these marking's mean, Tikki?" the young heroine asked.
"Ah, I haven't seen this in ages! It's an old rune script used by the ancient mages. It just says Ladybug and Chat Noir over these holes," Tikki flew closer to inspect the lock.
"Do you think it wants us to put our miraculouses in it? I mean, that looks about the size of Chat's ring and my earings," Marinette mused.
"You read my mind," Tikki said with a smile.
"Let's transform. I'll tell Chat at patrol tonight. This is gonna be hard to do without revealing our identities," Marinette mumbled as she threw herself down on her bed.
Marinette was late to their meeting because of the stupid suitcase. Of course it was a magical freaking suitcase which came with magical freaking handcuffs. She had tried everything to cut it off but nothing affected it. Finally, Tikki told her she thought it must have a spell on it.
So here Ladybug was, swinging over Paris with a briefcase banging against her. Marinette thought today couldn't get worse. She was wrong.
It took fifteen minutes for her to explain to Chat what had happened at the station. It didn't help that Chat was in a very flirty/punny mood. Ladybug almost pushed him off the roof they were meeting on after he joked about hoping that he would see her in handcuffs some other time. He offered to use his Cataclysm but she said they better wait tell they had the briefcase open.
Ladybug took him to an abandoned house by the shop. She had brought two pieces of fabric for blindfolds. Chat had a hard time trying to pick the best innuendo for the situation. He decided to just keep them all to himself when he saw the look of determination on his lady's face.
"Alright," she started, "We're just gonna have to put these blindfolds on and come out of our transformations."
"Kinkayyyyy(kinky)" he said with his catlike grin. Ladybug thumped his nose but the corners of her mouth turned up.
"Listen up, Kitty. This briefcase has some kind of magic destiny stuff and I need you to focus. I'm trusting you to keep the blindfold on. I know you won't let me down."
"I promise, my lady," he said with a deep bow. Ladybug rolled her eyes and threw him the fabric.
"May I ask where you got these paw-fect blindfolds on such short notice or would that be prying into private matters?" he said as he tied the thick fabric over his eyes. Marinette decided to tease him as she made sure he really couldn't see.
"Very private, Kitty," she leaned close and whispered hotly in his ear. Chat Noir didn't say anything in reply, being too focused on not dying of cardiac arrest.
After making sure her partner couldn't peek, she tied her own blindfold. Chat began to count backwards from ten for no other reason than to increase the dramatic atmosphere.
"Ten…nine…eight…"
"Count faster, Chat!"
"7,6,5,4,3,2,1, NOW!"
Marinette felt her magic leave her for the first time, blind. It made her more aware sensation. She could hear Chat as he did the same.
"Chat?" she sounded uncertain as she groped in the dark. Her hand found his forearm. Skin. It shocked her though it made sense. This was the man behind her Chat.
"My Lady. We should sit before we hurt ourselves," he said, gently pulling her down. It felt nice to be able to set the blasted suitcase down.
"PLAGG! IT'S SO GOOD TO SEE YOU AGAIN!" Tikki cried near Marinette's ear. Plagg? Must be Chat's kwami. Marinette smiled as she listened to the happy reunion. Chat groaned internally as he waited for Plagg to embarrass him.
"TIKKI! I'VE MISSED YOU SO MUCH! Oh my gosh, this is your girl? Why she's that.." the cat kwami started but Tikki stopped him
"Plagg! They want to keep their identities a secret! But I have to say, I had a hunch about your boy's real identity and I was right!"
"I've only been with you for a minute and you're already telling me off, not to mention bragging," his voice sounded cross to Marinette when she heard their laughter, she knew he was joking.
"You're right, Plagg, sorry. Well, we should probably get to work," Tikki said, suddenly remembering the mission.
"Yeah, not to rush you guys but I have a report due tomorrow," Adrien stated reluctantly, "I'm sorry, I know that's not fair. We can always do this again, right my lady?" It took Marinette a minute to recover. She also had a report due. Did Chat go to her school?
"I'm sure we can think of something so you two can see each other more. Right now, we need to deal with this thing locked to my arm. Tikki, can you get my earrings?" Tikki did as she was asked and Plagg took the hint to take care of Adrien's ring.
The two kwami flew to the briefcase and inserted the miraculouses. Marinette felt the handcuffs disappear, then her blindfold. A blinding light came from where the case was and both of the teens were enthralled by it. A booming voice sounded.
"Thank you, Ladybug and Chat Noir. I am a Spirit of Truth sealed one thousand years ago, by a previous Ladybug. You see, I had a vision of you two and knew I would be needed here to show you the truth. Ladybug helped me, along with Chat Noir, to insure I would get to you."
"What do we need to know?" Marinette said in an awed whisper. The light chuckled (which Adrien thought was odd but pleasant).
"It's not what you need to know but who you need to know. I saw all those years ago that you would need a push, someone to show you the light, as it were. Someone to take off the blindfolds," the spirit said with a very joyful voice. Both the hero's looked up for the first time in unison, blue eyes connecting with green.
"It's you!" they both yelled at the same time. The light began to fade with a soft chuckle and Tikki whispered a soft thank you to it.
There were tears and blushing, but they walked away from that abandoned house with full hearts. Both of their loves had become one real person they could share everything with. All they had to do was take off the blindfolds.