AN: So…like I said at the end of the last chapter: the Ladybug vs Cat Noir tension might be over, but there's still plenty of action left to fill these last few chapters. Cat Noir is battling a lot of emotional and mental demons right now. Anyway, here's chapter 11! Hope you enjoy!

Chapter 11: "I'm Going to Renounce My Ring"

"So, can we talk about what happened?" Ladybug asked tentatively.

"Ladybug, I'm so sorry about what happened. I didn't mean to, it was just, I…" Cat Noir started to stammer out before he was stopped by the gentle touch of a finger to his lips.

Shushing her partner, Ladybug softly told him, "Cat Noir, it's okay. We'll talk about it. I don't want this to turn into a pity-and-regret conversation, though." She waited until Cat Noir had nodded to show that he understood before removing her finger. "First, I guess, I'd like to know what you remember."

Cat Noir stared out over the city and Ladybug watched as he thought this over. "Not very much," he finally answered. "I don't remember much really before the…the kiss."

Ladybug nodded; she'd expected that this would be his answer. "Yes, that makes sense," she told him. "I'm guessing that you'd already figured out that Hawk Moth akumatized you."

Cat Noir nodded silently. "Yeah, I know how it works," he told Ladybug. "I've seen enough akumatizations to know, but I never expected…" He looked down again at the street below them. Ladybug waited patiently for Cat Noir to speak again. She knew that it was going to take time for him to feel comfortable to open up about all of this. Swallowing a little, he continued again. "I never expected to ever find out firsthand."

Ladybug looked over to her partner, taking his gloved hand into her own. She gave it a tight squeeze, silently letting him know that she was here for him and that she always would be. Pondering her next words carefully, Ladybug was just about ready to speak, but Cat Noir beat her to it.

"I remember so little from the time that I was akumatized, Ladybug," he told her softly, bringing his free hand up to run it slowly through his hair, "but I do remember something. It was awful. I'd hoped it was a nightmare, but when I saw my ring, I knew that it wasn't."

Ladybug was certain that she knew exactly what Cat Noir was talking about; it was a moment that she'd also hoped was a nightmare, but she knew it to be true. "Cat Noir," she started, ready to tell him again that this conversation wasn't meant to be about all the things he was regretting.

"No, Ladybug," he answered, his voice more steady now. "I know what you're going to say. You want to tell me that it was okay because I was akumatized. You want to tell me that it isn't my fault because I didn't have control and that it wasn't actually me that did it. You want to say that it doesn't matter because your Miraculous Ladybug fixed everything back to normal." Cat Noir looked away and Ladybug wished that he would meet her eyes. "It does matter. Regardless of my being akumatized or not, I still used Cataclysm on you, M'lady. My power still hurt you. I could've killed you."

Ladybug felt Cat Noir try to slide his hand out of hers. She gripped tighter, wanting to hold Cat Noir there until she could help him to relax again. Right now, Ladybug was just so worried that her partner was going to do something he would regret. Not only that, but Ladybug wouldn't have put it past Hawk Moth to send out another akuma to Cat Noir. Somehow, she had a feeling that Hawk Moth was quite pleased with himself for managing to akumatize one of Paris's superhero duo members. Surely he'd jump at the chance to do it again and Cat Noir was so upset right now that he definitely wouldn't resist.

Unfortunately for Ladybug, her partner was stronger than her and he managed to free his hand from her grasp. He stood up and turned his back away from Ladybug. "This isn't the first time that my Cataclysm has hurt someone," he reminded Ladybug, his voice sounding broken once again. "The superheroes in New York warned me about this after I hurt Uncanny Valley. I should've never let her convince me to become Cat Noir again. This would never have happened if you had someone else, a better and stronger partner, Ladybug."

Ladybug sharply gasped in a breath. She'd heard this type of talk before from Cat Noir, HER Cat Noir. He was hurting so much that... No, she wouldn't let him go through with this plan of his! She jumped up to turn toward him.

"Hurting you, Ladybug, is something that I never wanted to do, ever." He glanced over his shoulder and, this time, his eyes did meet Ladybug's. "You do hurt me a little every time you remind me that you don't feel for me in the way that I love you, but I'm used to it. From the beginning, I always had to be strong and those wounds always heal. This time, though, how can I look into your face and not remember that grimace of pain, all because of me?"

Ladybug watched as he looked down at his ring. She wasn't about to let him try to renounce his Miraculous again! It had been hard enough last time in New York. This time, she would stop him before he ran away, she had to!

"I'm going to renounce my ring," Cat Noir confirmed Ladybug's worst fear. "Don't worry, though, Ladybug. I know that you don't want us to see each other's civilian identities. I'll make sure that you don't see who I am behind this mask." He reached to his back and grabbed his stick. Ladybug watched as he looked down at it, holding it horizontally across both of his face-up palms. "I'm going to go down to the alley below us and I'll detransform there. I'll say my goodbye to Plagg and then, I'll set my ring down. You can pick it up from there in a few minutes." Ladybug watched him sigh deeply and turn his face forward again. His voice broke as he finished by saying, "I wish you the best with your new partner, Ladybug."

Cat Noir started to run toward the far edge of the building. Ladybug wanted to cry as she saw flashbacks to their time in New York. This time, though, she wouldn't be a second too late in reacting. Pushing away the tears that stemmed from the memories of New York, Ladybug grabbed her yo-yo and threw it out to circle around her partner's chest. When she had successfully caught Cat Noir in her yo-yo string, Ladybug pulled it tight, not enough to hurt her partner but snug enough to stop him from taking another step closer to the far edge of the building. "Cat Noir, stop," she told him as she started to walk closer to him, keeping the yo-yo string snug against his body so he didn't try to run again.

She could see Cat Noir tense as he heard her approach. Slowly, she walked around so that she could face him once again. "Cat Noir," Ladybug softly said to her silent partner. "There will never be a 'new partner'. I've already told you before that you're the best Cat Noir that I could ever have asked for; you're the only one that I ever want to have by my side in all of this." Stepping closer to Cat Noir, Ladybug looked down at the yo-yo string that she was holding which kept her partner from running away. "Please don't run again. It was hard enough after New York when I thought I'd lost you forever. I never want to go through that again. We'll get through this Cat Noir, I promise. Now, if I release you, do you promise not to leave me?"

Ladybug watched as her partner looked away, as if he was ashamed to lock glances with her. Finally, he nodded. Cat Noir wasn't one to break promises, Ladybug knew. If he agreed not to run, then he would stay right here with her. Satisfied, she let the yo-yo go slack and called it back to her hand. Slowly, she returned it back to her waist, making sure to keep an eye on Cat Noir and remind him that she was watching. "Good," Ladybug told him with a smile. "Now, come on, let's go back. We didn't finish our conversation yet."

Cat Noir said nothing in response. Instead, he just turned and walked back to the edge where they'd been sitting before. Ladybug followed him. She didn't expect that he would try to make a break for it, but she wanted to be ready to stop him again if he did. Never before had she ever seen Cat Noir this broken so Ladybug wasn't quite sure what to expect from him. Hopefully after this conversation, they would both be able to start the healing process and their comfortable friendship would return again over time.

I had so much fun writing this chapter too! I'm sure that, even though it's not brought up in the show, Ladybug still has some emotional baggage left over after almost losing Cat Noir while they were in New York. It was fun to show, in this chapter, how that pushed her to stop Cat Noir from leaving and renouncing his ring. (I know that was the title of the chapter—I'm not that evil, I promise! Haha!)

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