"Everything's so strange," Ladybug said the next day. She and Chat had met up for patrol but she had spent the whole time pacing back and forth. A good nights sleep had lent her enough presence of mind to fully comprehend the fight from the night before and now Chat Noir was getting all of it. "It was too easy. I didn't even have to use my lucky charm!"

"I mean, it is weird bugaboo, but you might be over thinking it a little. Maybe we just caught her at the right moment."

"Chat," Ladybug said, throwing her arms out in exasperation, "we've been fighting Hawkmoth and Mayura for like six or seven years now! This just doesn't read like normal akuma attacks! He has to be planning something big."

"Or maybe he's getting desperate," Chat said walking up to her and taking her hands, stopping her pacing, "maybe he wants the miraculous for something other than power and he's running out of time. Either way there's no use stressing about it. What's with you recently anyways? It's like your claws are out all the time."

Ladybug sighed, sitting down so her feet were swinging off the roof they had chosen to rest on. "Everything's going wrong Chat. My boyfriend's upset at me, and he never gets upset. I might have to stop being Ladybug soon, someone found out my identity 100%."

"Hold it," Chat said stopping her, "that's something you lead with. Someone knows your identity? It wasn't just a prank or threat then?"

Ladybug hid her face in her hands, nodding. He sat down next to her, groaning.

"You can't stop being Ladybug," he said after a minuet, "you just can't. I don't think I can live without you bugaboo. I can't lose so many people precious to me at once."

Ladybug looked up at him with a weak smile. "Thanks Chat. I don't want to stop being Ladybug either. But your input is only a small fraction of how big a decision this is. There's so much more to this."

They lapsed into a reflective silence, decision hanging over them but comfortable in the lack of words exchanged.

"Who found out?" Chat asked after a bit, nearly choking over his own words.

"I can't tell you," She looked at him, brow drawn, "you know that."

"You're hurting Ladybug, I want to help."

"You are helping," she stood up, "you're picking up my slack while I figure things out. That's more than – it's helpful."

Chat stood as well, following her lead. "Is everything okay with you and your boyfriend? You don't sound happy about anything right now, you're acting like he's a burden."

"He's not." She said quickly, "let's not talk about this. Break's over, let's get going."

Marinette hadn't responded to her text. Of course Chloe knew that Ladybug and Chat Noir had taken down the Dancing Mime, or whatever the villain's name was, but there had been no acknowledgment from Ladybug to her at all. Only the little "read" check next to the text. Chole sighed, tucking her phone back into her purse. She couldn't expect everything to change after just one night after all.

She had long since finished her homework for the weekend. She had been watching her mother and father manage their businesses and campaigns for as long as she could remember. Management and business was in her blood. Instead she was taking a slow walk down by the river, rolling her eyes at the cheap knickknacks being sold by the Riverwalk.

She broke away from the crowd, making her way to the less crowded areas further down. The chilly fall air had broken away for a single day, the old stone streets radiating heat. The air by the river was cool, reminding the few people who decided to stand right next to it that France was well into autumn. Faint music caught her ear and Chloe smiled. Luka. As she neared her smile faltered. The sound was low and wavering, incredibly unlike his usual mellow tunes.

He sat on the ground by the river, tearing at the strings on his guitar. His blue hair hung down, covering his face so his expression was unreadable. Chole put her hands on her hips, looking down at him.

"Ridiculous. Utterly and inexcusably Ridiculous."

He looked up at her, stopping mid-chord. Some of the people who had gathered near by to listen jumped at the sudden silence, grumbling and walking off.

"Your music is terrible," She said, clicking her heel against the stone, "how you dare play that out in public is beyond me. What on earth has made your sound go so haywire?"

"Is it that bad?" Luka asked, wincing.

"Duh. I wouldn't have said anything otherwise. All I hear is grating frustration. It's ruining my walk."

He sighed, leaning back, and put his guitar down. "I feel like crap."

Chloe raised an eyebrow, crossing her arms, daring him to elaborate.

"I, I fought with Marinette. I try to always be there for her, but right now, it's just hard. She won't talk to me about anything, won't let me help her with anything. I feel so usless, like she doesn't trust me. She keeps on telling me to wait for her, and I'm trying, but it's just so hard."

"Ha," Chloe scoffed, rolling her eyes and sitting next to him, "why even bother with all that?"

He looked at her, fingers curling inwards on the pavement.

"I mean," Chloe continued, "she obviously has her own thing going on and it' obviously important to her. Why not just let her do her and start letting you do you. Honestly, it's one thing to put your partner first but it's a whole other thing when you start ignoring yourself completely. While she's figuring her stuff out why don't you just figure out your own stuff as well. I mean, waiting on another person to get their life together before you start on your is simply the most stupid thing I've heard in a long time."

"That's, actually not a bad idea. I guess I can't keep on focusing my energy on her when she obviously doesn't want me to, huh? The answer's so obvious." He threw his head back, watching a plane trail across the sky.

"Please," Chloe said standing back up and readjusting her bag, "it's not that it's obvious Luka, lots of people make the same mistake. I'm just smart."

AUTHORS NOTE: Hey ya'll. It is taking everything in me not to start uploading chapters everyday again, but I really want the whole story to be finished before I start uploading chapters again. This is a transition chapter to the rest of the story so I figured I'd at least upload this one. No worries though, I'm nearing the end of the story and there's a whole lot coming. (for reference there's not a single chapter below 1000 words that I've written since my last update and there's over ten chapters I've added to my document). Anyway, I really am nearly done typing it up and will start uploading regularly again as soon as I am. This has been further proof I can't keep promises to myself. Thank you so much for reading and look out for the next upload!