Plagg by Night

Summary: Plagg goes on another nighttime stroll through Paris on his own and meets an old friend.

A/N: Hey, guys! I know it may also be confusing because in "Mari's Chat, er, Cat" Plagg could sense Tikki's presence, but think of this as a separate line of thought where he can't. They're all unrelated one-shots. Also, thanks for all the reads, you guys are the !

Plagg wasn't an idiot. He knew that he wasn't very well liked. He wasn't nearly so sentimental as his Miraculous holder, who would never admit that he didn't like the black cat kwami. That was just the thing though. He and Adrien didn't have to like each other. They trusted each other. That was enough for now.

That's why Adrien never said anything on nights like this when he pretended to be asleep while Plagg slipped out of the window of the Agrestes' urban palace prison and into the midnight streets of the French capital.

Paris was never ink black. It was called the City of Light for a reason. It made him miss the times that his Miraculous holders had lived before the technology that allowed for this kind of thing. As he cracked the window behind him, Plagg took a deep breath of the warm Paris air. Far below, taxis were honking as they wove through the typical traffic of the street. Tourists in varying shades of intoxication pounded up and down the sidewalk as the drank in the nighttime atmosphere. The smells of dinner from gourmet restaurants drifted up to his nose. It made his stomach rumble when he caught a sniff of camembert, but he shook his head remembering what he was doing.

The best thing about nighttime was the fact that the black kwami could zip over the heads and streets of Paris without notice, and that's just what he did. He wove around the streets and over roofs and chimneys towards the brilliant glow of the Eiffel Tower.

He felt his spirit lift, unburdening itself of the day's worries: Hawkmoth's growing frequency of attack, Adrien's struggle to keep their secret, and the strain the multiple transformations were having on him. He arrived at the top of the Eiffel Tower and swiveled around anxiously in a circle, looking for her.

He felt a weight settle itself on his back as two red hands covered his eyes nimbly. "Guess who!" a squeaky voice demanded.

"Yeesh, Tikki, we're the only ones every up here, how many times are you going to do this?" he grumbled.

She removed her hands, giggling, and he turned to face her. As always, the kwamis saw each other in their true spiritual form, not the tiny, cute versions that their holders and the rest of the world saw. Tikki was in the red jumper she had opted for when she was summoned by her current holder. It was cherry red with black buttons down the front and frilly little cap sleeves. She wore red kid gloves and red flats to match. Her red hair was in two matching buns with little black bows. Her wide blue eyes could swallow the moon.

His face relaxed into a smile seeing his old friend. Though she was thousands of years old, she always managed to dress like a twelve-year-old. They actually both looked about twenty or so, but Plagg dressed like it. He always wore a black suit jacket and dress pants with a grey dress shirt. His brilliant green eyes absolutely glowed out of his dark face. The sat on the edge of the top platform of the Eiffel Tower, surveying the city beneath them.

They were quiet for a few minutes. Tikki was distracted by all of the life below them, and he was distracted by her. As she watched the city, he could only look at her. Tikki was different than him. Everybody liked her, and she liked everybody. There was no limit to her love for the world and for these humans, even after everything they had seen.

In the past, their Miraculous holders had always been close to one another. They had seen war, corruption, death, and sadness come at the hands of what humans could do to one another. All their holders could ever do was keep things at bay until the tide overwhelmed them and they died, leaving the kwamis to find new homes and new partners, with no guarantee they'd see each other again.

Plagg loved all of his Miraculous holders as sure as Tikki did, but his heart could only take losing so many of them before he felt the need to harden it. Adrien could very well be the best holder he had ever had: despite everything that the world had thrown at him, he was still driven by the need to help people. Plagg could probably learn something from him… but he wasn't ready to lose the kid yet. If he opened his heart to him, he would only get hurt in the end.

Tikki didn't walk through life with that fear. She freely and fiercely loved her Miraculous holders, the idiot. She would almost let herself get destroyed in the process of serving them and helping the world. She saw each new day as a blessing and life as an inevitability that was owed to her.

"Tell me who your holder is," he asked her, just as he did every time they met like this for the past year since they'd been summoned.

She looked at her cat-eared companion, and her lips pursed, her eyes just barely welling with the beginnings of tears. "I can't," she replied, like she always did every time he asked.

He knew what she was going to say, but it never stopped him from asking.

"She trusts me," Tikki continued, looking up at the stars. "She wants her identity to remain a secret from your holder… from the rest of the world. I can't break my word."

"Tikki, it's a matter of safety," he growled, his brow deepening and the corner of his mouth rising in a displeased curl. "Every other time we've been summoned, our holders have known each other within the week. Besides…"

He didn't want to say it, but a part of him wished that stupid kid knew who Ladybug was so he'd stop putting her on a pedestal. With some of the mystery removed, Adrien might finally give that pigtailed girl from his class a chance. The baker's daughter one, what's-her-name. Everyone could see the way that she felt about him, and something about her made Plagg trust her immediately.

"Besides what?" Tikki prompted.

"Nothing," he said, scowling further. "I just don't get why we have to wait this long."

"For their sakes," she responded, looking at him. "We are at their service, as always."

"I don't like knowing I can't always be there to protect you," he admitted. "We were created to protect one another."

"We were created to maintain balance," she corrected him. "And you are there to protect me. I can see you staring out of Chat Noir's mask every time I transform Ladybug."

He sighed, grabbing her hand and squeezing it. She squeezed back. "You are my best friend," he told her. "And I feel like our holders could be, too. I think that would only make them stronger… but if you say so."

"I do," she said firmly, standing. "Not that that will stop you from asking me again next time."

He grinned. "You know me too well."

She surprised him by standing on her tiptoes to give him a kiss on the cheek. "Take care of yourself, Plagg. Au revoir."

"Au revoir," he responded dimly as she dove off the Eiffel Tower and went zipping through the streets towards her home.

He was tempted to follow her, but he restrained himself. Plagg already missed her as she grew farther away. He knew people didn't like him… but Tikki did. And she made him feel like that was enough. She was his other half, and together, destruction and creation, they had been fated to protect this strange City of Light. Until the day came when he could be with his Tikki again, he would just have to go on keeping Adrien safe and slowly teaching him how to responsibly use his powers… the kid had a lot to learn, but his heart was in the right place.

Plagg chuckled a little bit as he thought about this, putting his hands in his pockets. He took in another breath of the nighttime Paris air before plunging off the Eiffel Tower and disappearing into the night.