Annoucement; There will be an Interlude Chapter a week from today! Coming December 27, 2019!

Emerald Eyes

-Anson Seabra

"That went well!" Tikki chirped, flirting around Marinette's head as the girl practically collapsed into her chaise.

"I suppose." Marinette mumbled against the pink fabric, lifting her head only enough to stare at Tikki. "Alix is frustrating, though."

"How so? I found it quite easy to understand." Tikki hummed in confusing, blue eyes staring down at her chosen.

"I wish she could have gotten straight to the point." Marinette grumbled, pulling her pillow into her lap, sighing. "Instead of beating around the bush for so long. Chat Noir will return one day; because Older-Bunnix said so. If he didn't, we wouldn't remember because Bunnix wouldn't have said so. It's an easy concept, but Alix had to go above and beyond."

Tikki clicked her tongue in evident frustration at the teenager, landing softly down beside her. "Alix just has a…different way of explaining things. She likes explaining things in greater detail then you, is all." Marinette cast her Kwami a look, one eyebrow cocked. The guardian of creation forged ahead. "You know, she spent a long time figuring out the timeline. Ever since she met her future self, she's been doodling different timelines in her sketchbook, trying to figure it out. I've read over her shoulder a handful of times during class; it's honestly quite interesting how often she's spent thinking about it. After Chat Blanc, she began sketching them even better – and her handwriting became much more legible, too."

"So…you mean you've been reading over her shoulder this whole time?"

"I read over all your classmate's shoulders!" Tikki piped up, grinning. "Only a few, like Adrien, actually take notes." She decided to leave out that she hung out the most around Adrien, usually in his shoulder bag to talk to Sass or Plagg. "Most usually doodle. Nathaniel does complete portraits, or complete pages of his comic. And he still gets top-notch grades!"

"You could've been telling me the answers to problems this whole time? Or given me valuable leverage over Lila?" Marinette gasped, sitting up as she stared at the red entity.

Tikki giggled, her three fin-like tails on her back quivering with the vibrations. "I could… but that would make you a cheater. And about Lila… Oh, Marinette." The Guardian of Creation sighed, shaking her head. "You know Lila; she keeps quiet about what her lies. If she even thinks of mentioning them, Nathaniel would hear about it; they are seat mates." She hummed, still thinking. "All the lies she's mentioned I heard at the same time as you. I really have nothing to tell you."

Marinette groaned, leaning back in her chair as she stared at the ceiling, spinning the swivel chair around and around lazily. "Uugh…"

"Marinette…" Tikki began, arching an eyebrow. "I just realized that you spent the last hour not even mentioning how you're now dating Aspik…ie; Adrien. Do you have a fever?"

Marinette jolted, sapphire eyes widening. "Oh. MY. GOODNESS!" She squealed, spinning around toward the ladder leading up to her bed. She dashed for it, scurried up it, slammed her pillow into her face, and began to screech into the flannel fabric.

Tikki watched in amusement, shaking her head. Oh, her poor, poor, forgetful holder. Somehow, Tikki guessed that if it had been her civilian self and Aspik's civilian version – Adrien, obviously – Marinette would have been less prone to forget. Why this was, Tikki had no idea. Call it a hunch.

She watched Marinette screech into her pillow for a few more hysterical moments, then landed on Marinette's back, patting her. "There, there, Marinette. You're doing just fine!"

"Tikkiii…" Marinette whined, pulling her face from the fabric to stare at the red blob. "How did I forget? I don't think I even thought of it while Alix was talking. I didn't even think of it until now! How, how did I forget?"

"You got caught up in other things." Tikki shrugged, glancing around. "Though it looks like now you have all the time in the world to scream your head off. Just remember to only do it into the pillow; your parents might hear and panic.

Marinette inhaled sharply, shaking her head as she shuddered. "Tikki! Adrien – Aspik! – and I are dating! I didn't think we'd ever reach this far! And I certainly didn't think he'd be the one to ask me out! Does this mean-? No! It can't be!"

Marinette grabbed the case that held her diary, throwing open the top of the case as she reached in. Before she could blink, the lid slammed down on her hand, and she groaned, looking around urgently for the key. "Tikki!" She called urgently, and her kwami zipped over to the desk and picked up the key, returning to unlock her chosen from her own prison.

Marinette pulled her hand free, holding the case open as she pulled her diary from its case. She flipped it open to May 3rd, finger trailing the paragraphs until it found the proper one. "Tikki! You don't think that…maybe…after the second Puppeteer…that the girl he mentioned liking was…Ladybug?!"

Tikki hesitated, knowing full well the truth. She hesitantly shrugged, surprisingly pale compared to her normal cherry-red visage. "Well…I mean… maybe not? I mean, he said that 'the girl he liked didn't like his jokes'. And you've never told him that as Ladybug, correct?"

"He lived through the same five minutes twenty-six thousand times last time he had the Snake Miraculous. That's twenty-six thousand different realities." Marinette pointed out, doodling a tiny snake in the corner of her diary's page. "Twenty-six thousand different conversations we had. Do…do you think I ever complained about his sense of humor?"

"Maybe so." Tikki hummed, though she seriously doubted it. "Maybe his interests changed over the time you've partnered up with him."

"Perhaps." The civilian hero thought for a moment, humming. "His sense of humor is actually really close to Chat's. They both used the same joke that day… Oy, this is going to be hard to get over Chat Noir leaving if I have to deal with Aspik acting just like him…"

"At least he only seems to only use Chat Noir's sense of humor." Tikki hummed, doing her best not to give away Aspik's secret. "Besides, you might just get too occupied with dating him!"

Marinette pressed the pillow to her face once again, and began to squeal into it, this time laying on her back as she kicked her feet in the air excitedly.

Tikki picked up the diary form its place sprawled on the bed and placed it into its case. She smiled up at Marinette as her holder giggled crazily. Even after Luka's love confession, she hadn't been this…words failed Tikki. Energized? Excited? Jittery? Well, she hadn't been anything close to what she was acting like now.

"Quick!" Marinette screeched, sitting up suddenly and snagging Tikki out of mid-air. "Have me do something distracting! I can't handle this any longer!"

Tikki jumped at the suddenly contact, surprised by how much Marinette was shaking. "Oh, dear! Wouldn't it be better to just let it all out?"

"How am I going to act normal around him, Tikki?!" Marinette pondered, shaking her head. "As us being civilians, I have to act like I'm not dating him, even though I know I am! "

"You could always go back to avoiding him?" Tikki suggested, giggling at Marinette's horrified expression. "I'm joking! Don't do that. Just…deep breaths, okay?"

"Deep breaths. I can do that." Marinette panted, taking her first one right then and there. A quick inhale, a slow exhale. "I can do that."

"Still need a distraction?" Tikki asked, cocking her tiny head.

"Yes, please."

"Let's discuss heroes!"

"Like the past Ladybugs?" Marinette perked up, though her shoulders went back to slouching when Tikki shook her head. "Okay…what, then?"

"Making a new team! Your old team consisted of…let's see… Rena Rouge, Carapace, Queen Bee, Roi Singe, Pegasus, Viperion, Ryuko, and, of course, Chat Noir. We know the last two are very valuable teammates, though, unfortunately, Ryuko's identity was revealed, and Chat Noir gave up his role."

Marinette pursed her lips at that, bowing her head.

"And the first six you can't trust anymore due to their beliefs regarding Chat Noir." Tikki continued, and her holder nodded. "Therefore, you can begin to make a new team. Surround yourself with only the people you know will always be by you and Chat Noir's side."

Marinette looked at Tikki, surprised. "Meaning…?"

"Create a new team! Use new Miraculouses! Explore new possibilities. You already have Aspik, and you can maybe give Kagami another, different Miraculous! Search Paris, get new friends! Find people who care for Chat Noir. Perhaps people affected in a positive way by him, people who also trusted him, and understand he was akumatized and didn't have control over his actions."

Marinette thought for a moment, tsking her tongue curiously. "Maybe…" The two sat in silence for a moment, then Marinette grinned and sprang for her desk. "Tikki, if we do this whole 'new hero' thing, we've gotta have a list of those who are Pro-Chat, and who's Anti." Marinette grabbed a spare notebook from a drawer on her desk, and a mechanical pencil from her spare, ladybug-themed coffee mug Chat Noir had gotten her about half a year previously. (He had a matching feline-based one.)

Marinette laid the notebook down of her desk, tapping the tip of the pencil against the paper before writing at the top Pro-Chat.

She looked at Tikki, who stared at the sheet intently. "Are you going to put yourself on the list?" The Kwami asked, hovering back and forth.

"Why not?" The girl asked, shrugging. In neat cursive, she wrote Adrien 3 . She promptly erased the heart, a dorky, little, happy grin on her face. She moved into the next line, scrawling out Alix. Another line. Marinette. She pulled out her phone and pulled up the texts between herself and her teacher, scrolling until she found the source. Sure enough, Mme. Bustier had dropped plenty of hints that she was Pro-Chat. Her name was rapidly added to the growing list, and Kagami had been written down as well.

"Adrien mentioned a few days ago that his bodyguard - the Gorilla, was it? - is also a Pro." Tikki pointed out, using her top limbs - because, seriously, could they even be considered arms? - to illustrate the man's wide shape.

Marinette added the bear-sized man's name to the list, smiling down proudly at it. "What do you think, Tikki?"

The Kwami peered over her shoulder, nodding seriously. "That's perfect, Marinette! And you left room enough to add more people when the time comes."

"That's right, Tikki!" Marinette flipped open her the notebook to the middle, thinking for a moment. "I'm not giving up on Alya, Nino, nor anyone else at school. I know I can show them the error in their ways. Then I can trust them again. But until then…" She smiled, glancing up at the ceiling as she slowly rotated her chair around.

Chat Noir. I'm…I'm dating Aspik. I enlisted the person you wanted me to. I followed your advice. I…I hope you're smiling, wherever you are. I hope you're on top of the world. And I hope you're returning to me soon. I miss you.