The white terraces flew past as she swung from building to building. No longer surrounded by others, she had time to think. Hawkmoth had found her and knew exactly who she was. It would take little for him to find out where she lived; the identities of her parents; all her friends and other family members. Adrien. Alya and Nino. They could be targeted by Hawkmoth and she would be powerless to stop him. Her secret was out and the hands of the worst person in the world clutched it. She was alone in terms of people to converse with, people to help her carry this burden. Chat could not find out or she would no longer be able to oppose Hawkmoth in any way, having to give up the Miraculous by Guardian Law. After Master Fu's amnesia, she was the new Guardian and had to uphold those laws.
Tikki was the only person who could help her in this crisis. She deftly flipped over the bakery, and flicked her wrist at the last second, pulling herself behind the chimney stack above her balcony in a fraction of a second. Despite Hawkmoths knowledge, she still needed to remain vigilant. The sun was hitting the wooden floorboards and she desperately wanted to just curl up on the pink deckchair and forget everything. The brass knob on the trapdoor glinted, and she bent to lift it open. She dropped three feet down the stairs into her room. "Tikki, Spots Off!"
She collapsed onto her futon as the Kwami flew over to her, looking as exhausted as she felt. "Marinette..." She squeaked out, her normal cheery, optimistic voice muted and sombre. "We may need to discuss alternative plans."
"I have to give up the Miraculous don't I Tikki?" She whispered, her head in her hands, fingers shielding her face from what she assumed was a downcast Kwami.
"No! Marinette, you are one of the greatest Miraculous wielders of all time, you can't just hand over the Miraculous now that Hawkmoth knows" Tikki argued.
"But the Guardians law states-" Marinette was cut off by the chirpy creature again who pried her fingers from her face to look her in the eyes. Blue to blue.
"Guardian Law only applies if the wielder of the Cat Miraculous knows who you are. Fortunately, he does not, so you can still solve this before the situation worsens." She said gently to Marinette. Teary eyes gazed back at Tikki.
"I'm so glad to have you as my Kwami, Tikki." She mumbled out, tears slowly rolling down her cheeks. Tikki brushed them away before they could reach her chin and smiled.
"And I'm so glad to have you as my Ladybug, Marinette, and this city is thankful to you as well. You've done so much for them all, regardless of the hardship it's put you through. No one deserves this more than you, no one would have done a better job." Tikki consoled. Marinette felt her tears stop falling and she cradled Tikki in her hands, just appreciating the warms and comfort the Kwami provided her.
Chat watched as his lady flung her yo-yo over the rooftops as she propelled herself away. With a nod and a wave to the remaining onlookers, he also took his leave placing the staff against the ground and extending it until he was over 10 feet in the air. The speed pushed him onto a nearby roof and he sprinted along it returning home, questioning so much. Images of his Lady's crumpled form in an alley. Her face as she gazed up at him, wincing in pain. She had needed him but in the end, she had saved him. She was the one who created the plan that healed her. He could only sit back and follow her orders. Just thinking back to her unresponsiveness, a painful wrenching in his chest occurred. Yet she had said nothing of it to him. Explained nothing. He no more idea of what had happened than the rest of Paris. Her partner had been told nothing. He planned to ask her as soon as he got the chance.
A small feeling of doubt had settled at the back of his mind. Hawkmoth had stolen information regarding the identity of students in Paris. Even Marinette was on there. Could he have found out who she was? If so her name must have been...
A brief scan of his plate-glass windows revealed Natalie to be stood in the doorway looking for him. He swivelled mid-air to avoid getting too close and drawing her attention. She seemed to wait a few seconds before turning and leaving the room. He realised that he could no longer just waltz in through his window. He would need a cover story and fast. If he didn't show up soon, then people would be out looking for him and that wouldn't do. He dropped to the street below and detransformed. Plagg flew away from him briefly before catching the scent of cheese, which he held out for him absentmindedly. Plagg ducked back into his school bag which had materialised at his side. Neither spoke a word. Adrien pulled his phone from his pocket, scouring for his contacts for a number that would give him an excuse. His eyes lingered on a certain bluenette, remembering the list before he pressed Nino's number.
It rang twice before Nino picked up. "Sup Dude, whatcha calling for?"
Adrien felt bad about lying but he needed an out from Nino. "You wouldn't mind picking me up from somewhere and walking me home? I need to get out for a while and I need an excuse."
"Well, I am more than happy to start discussing romantic literature with you on a stroll around Paris before dropping you home." Nino chuckled.
Adrien couldn't help laughing as well "It's a date then, meet you by then Trocadero in 10?" He ended the call and hurried away to meet Nino, thoughts of his Lady barely on his mind, sidelined by the mixture of the excitement of getting away with being missing and looking forward to seeing Nino for an hour or so.
An hour or so in the bakery had calmed Marinette's nerves and she felt much better. With flour between her fingers and dough in her palms, she could forget about her second life for a brief while. Well, mostly. She still had a small, hungry mouth with an obsession with sweet objects that she had to satiate every once in a while. The bakery was quiet that afternoon with her father only leaving once or twice to speak with customers. An order for a cake came through and Sabine left for half an hour to stock up on the needed icing sugar and colourings. Once they had all eaten a family meal, Marinette snuck away upstairs under the pretence of studying. She needed to meet with Chat for patrol, and most importantly keep her identity a secret from him. She hated lying to her partner but she knew that she merely needed to omit a few details and make up a believable story for how she was injured. That part would be most difficult.
After a short reprieve from his house, Adrien had to end his excursion with his father ordering him home from his "group project" that he and Nino were working on. Upon his arrival, he was greeted unsurprisingly by Natalie and she informed him of all the appointments and items that were scheduled for him. Fencing, Chinese, Piano and Modelling all took a lot out of him. Then he left the entrance hall to the dining room where he ate alone usually. His father had been even more vacant the past three days with Adrien seeing him only once, so he hardly expected to see him sat at the other end of the table, let alone looking happier than he had in alone time. He looked up from his food as Adrien walked in slowly. He trailed his hand along the back of his chair not seating himself quite yet. "Good evening Father, you appear to be in good spirits." He said, finding his fathers manner very unusual. Gabriel Agreste nodded his snowy head at Adrien's comment, a smile gracing his face. It was so strange to see, his face contorting at angles it was not used to. But it wasn't forced like it normally was. His father seemed to be containing some sort of child-like glee.
Adrien was incredibly suspicious, still not seated. His father would never act like this. So jovial. He suspected something had occurred that he was unaware of. "Business has come through on a project that I have been working on for a long while, something I have been dedicated to since your mother left. My Magnum Opus you could say," He smirked. There was no chance on Earth that this was his father, and that was probably correct considering how alien Father seemed to him. He watched him as he sat, his fathers face turned back to his food. "What business deal had finally occurred that he had needed so desperately," he pondered.
After dinner, he shook his head just to make sure he wasn't dreaming. He and his father had had a pleasant conversation over dinner. About nothing relevant to anything at all but it was the first time in a while that he had felt welcome at his father's side. The last time had likely been when his mother was around. Plagg flew over to him from where he was hidden in Adrien's school bag. No one was around to see him rush to his room. No one to watch as he placed his phone above the piano, shuffling the music that it would play to be different from yesterdays lineup. Well, normally no one. As he bounded up the stairs and into his room his father slowly followed, after a delay of around 30 seconds. As Adrien was about to hit play, his father spoke his name from behind him. "Adrien... Son, would you be opposed to me joining you?" Adrien turned in disbelief as his father paced over and set himself on one half of the bench.
He scrambled to move the phone away and into his pocket and managed to squeak out a "That would be lovely, Father." A sequence of notes emanated from the instrument as his father ran his fingers across it. He joined him and a melody sprung forth similar to one his mother had played a long time ago.
Ladybug stood waiting above the usual meeting spot on the Eiffel tower, it was a few minutes before the sun would set, and Chat had still not arrived. She could feel doubts and worries surrounding her, enveloping her as she questioned his vacancy. "Had Hawkmoth found him too?" She wondered. His absence was most unusual. She watched as a shadowy figure hopped from a building a few hundred metres away. The figure carried a large pole and she deduced it to be Chat. The fading rays of sum seemed to avoid his black suit. A weight she didn't know she'd been carrying lifted, like a breath she wasn't aware she'd been holding in. The metal railing she was leaning against was a twisted metal pole. Its flecks of bronze were pretty in the sunset.
"Very romantic M'lady," Chat drawled from behind her. She could feel the grin on his face without even turning.
"Hey Chat, how could you been so late to our very romantic patrol?" She questioned mockingly, glad that he was safe. She heard him pause, so she turned around to face him. He had an interesting expression on his face.
"It's difficult to explain Bugaboo, my family were just acting very strange compared to normal and I couldn't help myself from staying a little longer." He replied after a few seconds looking out over the city with a melancholy expression.
She knew he had a difficult home life and that he seemed estranged from his parents, though she could detect a longing in his tone. "It's fine Chat, you needed the extra time," She assured, watching with sadness as he immediately plastered a confident smirk over his face, hiding his emotions from her. He always had to portray the flippant, suave superhero and hid his true feelings from her. It was one reason she never took his flirtations seriously. That and her infatuation with Adrien, though she wouldn't admit it to anyone even Tikki, though she probably knew.
"So, M'lady what happened this afternoon? You were injured when I found you in the alley by Françoise Dupont High school." He asked suddenly. She had prepared a story and she hoped that he would believe her. The story wasn't foolproof, it banked on him not remembering the exact details of how her Miraculous cure worked.
"I had an accident the day before playing sports and broke a rib. I saw the Akuma alert and managed to get out of my bed in the hospital and transform. I couldn't stand to see you face an Akuma alone Kitty, you mean too much to me I don't want you to get hurt. I just misjudged how much of the injury the transformation would mitigate and I must have fainted and fallen." The lie stung her almost as much as the rib had. It tasted horrible on her tongue. With her mention of her compassion for him, his expression went from a mixture of disbelief and annoyance to apologetic and sombre.
"I can't believe you put yourself through that pain just for me, Bugaboo" His look of anguish sent a lance of pain through her. He cared so much more about her under the surface. He had believed her. Now she just needed to console him and she would be able to keep their union. She treasured it almost as much as her bond with Tikki and the lie was worth the reward to continue fighting by his side.
She reached forward her arm and caressed his cheek with her hand. He pressed into it slightly, what seemed like a purr almost escaped his lips. "Of course I would do that for you, Kitty, we are a 'purrfect' team after all." The pun seemed to please him and his expression was back to a happier grin.
"But we would be a much more perfect couple, wouldn't you say M'lady? We could be 'pawsitively' wonderful." His eyes searched her face for a response and despite his light-hearted tone, he still hadn't dropped their conversation from their previous patrol. The last of the light of the sun fell over the horizon and Chats hair began to glint less in the light. It seemed to almost mirror his hopes as he could see what she was about to say before she said it. "It's fine Bugaboo, I remember your previous answer." He turned and she was aware of the tension in the air.
She didn't want it to be awkward between them now he had confessed. It wasn't just that they couldn't be together because of their identities but Chat seemed more obsessed with the mask and the persona it stood for rather than the girl behind it. After all, he had met with her in her civilian form and had viewed her as a friend. She didn't want to commit herself to him for her to lose his affections if the mask fell away. "It's easier this way," She told herself "Pining after a dreamy classmate is more than enough."
"Well, we should start the patrol before we get any colder, my legs are stiffening just lingering around. Race you?" He smiled at her horrible attempt to change the subject and nodded his head.
"Need a headstart M'lady?" Chat glanced over to her, legs coiled ready to spring forward.
"I think it'll be you asking for one in a minute!" She replied cheekily before diving forward from the railing and down to the city below.
Marinette woke to sunlight casting a warm glow around her room. A fine glimmer added an airiness to her pastel room, glistening on her design mannequin. The jacket currently placed upon it had a dark blue trimming with brass buttons that flashed every time wind blew in through her trapdoor. Her trapdoor. She turned to see it fully open, having not closed it last night. She had been too tired after the events that had transpired from the previous day. Quick flashes appeared before her eyes and she grimaced. Sharp pain in her abdomen was no longer caused by a broken rib but by a lingering phantom pain. She groaned and rolled over. Hawkmoth knew everything, she was helpless without the aid of Chat or the knowledge of Hawkmoths identity. But she was willing to keep fighting. Whatever it took to keep Paris safe. A buzzing sounded and she shifted to pick her phone from the table by her bed. Her alarm had gone off a total of four times before she picked it up. She was already 20 minutes later than usual. As she swiped to clear them she noticed another notification. A message from Adrien.
He had enjoyed the exploration of the city with his crimson companion last night. Watching her weave amongst the buildings in an attempts to overtake him. He always treasured those moments of exhilaration he spent with her. However, he was now late to walk with Marinette to school. He enjoyed their chat and pastries from yesterday. Plagg poked out of the cushioned area behind some game cases on the floor above him and whizzed down, looking expectantly at him. Adrien laughed, and pushed himself up and out of his bed and moved off to the shower. "Help yourself to the cheese in the cabinet, Plagg. I will ask Natalie to requisition more today."
"I love the way you think, Kid" Plagg replied in his raspy voice "More of the one with the nuts, if you could, it's so creamy and delicious."
"Whatever you say Plagg, you greedy cat." He replied, waving his hand. Once he had showered, he picked up his phone and messaged Marinette that he would be running late and that he had an alternative idea for their transport to school.