Luka plucked haplessly at his guitar strings, thoughtlessly playing the tune he had created for Marinette. Chloe had left not long after he mentioned what had happened to him during her last akumazation, but her change in mood had shaken him. Even more so after her parting words.
"You said that she grew at that time. Considering the fact that she is now able to talk with Adrien alone without tripping over herself your probably right."
He set his jaw. Chole talked as if she knew Marinette better than he did though the two girls had never even been friends. Yet, there was something in her words, a kind of certainty, that threw him off. His music stopped abruptly. Marinette's disappearances, her excuses, did Chloe know about them? Did she know what Marinette was hiding from him? What she was hiding from everyone? And why did she mention Adrien?
A light headache started to tap its way into his skull. There were just too many questions. He should've just been satisfied with knowing that Marinette loved him, but recently he had been wishing for more. He wanted more of her time. More of her confidence. More of her trust. More of her.
He sat back, hair falling back out of his face. Why was he having all these thoughts now? Perhaps Marinette was right that Chloe was trouble.
Marinette stared hard at the picture Alex had sent her, the phones dull light searing the image into her mind. There was Chloe looking purposefully down at the just visible blue head of hair at the bottom of the photo. Luka. Why were they together?
Her eye's started burning again. It seemed to be happening a lot these days. There was just too much going on. She couldn't think straight.
"Marinette. Marinette!" Tikki said snapping her out of her thoughts.
"Huh? What?" Marinette said rubbing her temples "I'm sorry Tikki, what is it?"
Tikki sighed. "I'm worried about you Marinette. You've been staring at that picture for a full half hour."
"A half hour!" She yelled, leaping up, "I can't waste a half hour! Quickly Tikki, bring me those cloth samples Mr. Agreste gave me. I have to finish this project tonight so I have time to finish my color theory project."
"But don't you have to meet Chat Noir at 5?"
"Aw crud, you're right! What time is it now?"
"4:50…"
Marinette leaped up, leaving her phone on her desk. "I'll be late! Tikki, spots on!"
A moment later Ladybug swung off of the Dupain-Chenge roof, heading for the Eiffel Tower. She got there with two minutes to spare but was still later than her faithful kitty. She sat next to him and sighed.
"There you go again," Chat said looking at her, "you've been sighing a lot more often milady, are you okay?"
"I'm fine Chat. There's just, there's a lot going on."
"Well, okay, if you say so." They lapsed into silence, Chat Noir peering into Ladybug's face as he tried to puzzle what she wanted. Finally he gave up and sat back saying, "you haven't told me why you called me here yet and I'm feline kind of curious."
Ladybug offered a small smile, but it was empty. "Curiosity killed the cat Chat…"
"True, but satisfaction brought it back." He leaned back so he could see her profile a bit better "What's going on bugaboo?"
She spat it out as quickly as possible. "Someone knows my secret identity."
Chat Noirs diamond pupils shrank to slits in his eyes, breath caught in his throat as he processed her words. "Who-how, what does this mean?"
Ladybug bit her lip, her fingers unconsciously rubbing against the towers metal surface. "I don't know Chat. I don't even know who knows! If things go much further I'll be forced to give up my miraculous to somebody else, to stop being Ladybug-"
"No!" Chat Noir shouted, standing up. "I-I'm sorry milady, it's just – you can't stop being Ladybug. You- you just can't. Do you know for sure you're found out?"
Ladybug nodded, looking away. "After we battled Pinman," she said quietly, "I went to go return the mouse miraculous to the Miracle Box. When I got there I found a note on top of it. It mentioned me by name, Chat," She looked up at him, eye's reaching for some spider thread of hope that he might be able to pull her out of her hole, "my real name. And then it said that they knew I was Ladybug. It told me to be more carful of other people might find out."
"And you have no idea who it is?"
"None what so ever." She brought her hands to her face, her back tensing as she attempted to control her hard breathing.
Chat rubbed her back softly, chewing on the inside of his cheek. Kagami had left him, what would he do if he lost Ladybug as well?
"Oh Chat," she said, "what am I going to do?" She brought her hands down again revealing a dark shadow over her face. "There's just so much right now, how can I deal with this too?"
"Go home and rest bugaboo," Chat said, stretching up before offering her a hand as well, "I'll patrol alone tonight."
"But if there's an emergency-" Ladybug protested, letting her partner pull her up.
"Then you'll see it on the news and then you can come help. We'll figure this out, but until then you should lay low. Don't want to let any more cats out of the bag now do we?"
Ladybug shot him a glare. "Not funny right now kitty."
"I do apologize," Chat said bowing, "Now go get some rest."
He watched Ladybug's form disappear into the Parisian landscape, disappearing behind smokestacks and rooftops. Someone had discovered Ladybugs identity. It wasn't him. How long had he yearned for that openness with Ladybug? Even after his feelings for he had switched to Kagami he had still wanted to share secret identities with his partner, if only to prove his trust. She had always refused harshly. Hadn't she? He thought back to whenever they had first become hero's. Back then she had refused mostly on principal come to think of it. When had her secrecy become so desperate?
A little cat on a roof, all alone without his lady.
He shook his head, clearing the ditty from his mind. None of that mattered now. Now he had to be more diligent than ever. It was up to him to help Ladybug. After all, no one else was her partner but him. He was sure of that.
