Thanks for reading! Next chapter is written, just needs a second read + edit and will follow later this week. Then only two more chapters to go. PS: I love your comments/reviews. First time author here and it is so nice to hear from readers :)
Tikki shot towards Marinette.
She didn't have a good feeling about this.
"Yes, Marinette?"
"Tikki, is Adrien Chat Noir?", Marinette said.
Tikki looked at the teenage girl in front of her and sighed.
"Even if he was and if I wanted to tell you, I could not, Marinette", she said, "Kwamis cannot reveal the identity of miraculous holders."
At least not intentionally, she thought, only by being an eternal idiot and slipping up.
She made a final, feeble attempt.
"You had this suspicion before, Marinette, and you concluded that Chat Noir could not be Adrien. Remember?"
Marinette made a frustrated sound and threw up her hands, before turning towards her bedside table.
Marinette grabbed something small and stared at it, mumbling a few more "Oh my god."
"Tikki", her face had turned even paler when she looked up and held out a post-it note with shaking hands. It was the note that Chat Noir had left the night before.
"I am quite sure that this is Adrien's handwriting."
At this, Marinette seemed to freeze in her odd posture, with her arm outstretched.
Tikki watched her, sighing.
There had been so many situations in which the two teenagers had been close to discovering each other's identity, and yet, they had managed to avoid the reveal so far. Of course it was bound to happen at some point, Tikki told herself.
"Marinette!", she gently nudged the girl's cheek, but Marinette remained still.
Tikki could practically hear Plagg's sarcastic commentary. If he was in the room, he would undoubtedly say something like: "Sugarcube, I think you broke her."
Marinette was not broken. The unevitable squealing, hair pulling and jumping had followed all too soon, and Tikki had channeled the self-composure that she had gained in six thousand years to wait it out. She had waited, and watched, and made a plan.
Chat Noir could still be convinced that Marinette had no clue who he was. Ironically, of course, the only reason why Marinette did know, was because he incorrectly assumed that she knew although she did not and because he did not know that she was Ladybug. Tikki had to admit, this was one of the more complicated reveals that she had experienced. Quite fitting given the characters involved, she thought, looking at Marinette who was currently dangling from her bed and making weird noises.
The hard thing would be to get Marinette on board.
More squealing.
Actually, there was probably no way that Marinette would lie to Adrien about knowing his identity. But would Marinette at least protect her own secret identity?
"Marinette… I hate to remind you.. but you.. Ladybug.. and Chat Noir agreed to meet this morning", Tikki said eventually. "May I offer that I will go in your place, and tell them that you are sick?"
"Oh, Tikki, would you?" Marinette nodded quickly, "I know I need to see him but right now, I am not sure what would happen."
"I agree", Tikki said. "So let's discuss to make sure that I do not say anything that could compromise your identity." Again, she added silently.