I know, it's been a while (especially considering that I had been posting the new chapters every other day). Life has been a bit rough lately and my mind/heart is trying to pull me into a new career path. Not sure yet if I'm going to follow down that path, but it has been weighing more heavily than before. Anyway, story updates…I've already got the beginning of the next chapter written…and I think you're going to like it! In the meantime, though, enjoy this chapter!

Chapter 13: Broken Halves (of the Whole)

Ladybug relayed to Cat Noir the story of where life had taken her since the defeat of Hawk Moth. She described how she had finally been able to date the boy of her dreams, the one that she had been so fixated on back when they were still teenagers.

Cat Noir congratulated her. He knew how important this mystery boy had been to Ladybug back then. Unfortunately, all was not as well as it had seemed, Cat Noir soon learned, as Ladybug continued to tell her story.

Bitterly, Ladybug told Cat Noir about how the relationship was not meant to be. "I loved him, Cat Noir, with all my heart, but he did not feel the same for me."

Cat Noir saw the tears slip from under Ladybug's mask. He wiped them away gently, silently cursing the horrible man that had made Ladybug feel this way! "He broke your heart?"

Ladybug nodded. "Yes," she told Cat Noir, "shattered it into millions of tiny pieces. It's been years since that night, but it still feels like my heart is made of small glass pieces and held together only by superglue, ready to shatter again at the most delicate of touches."

Tenderly, Cat Noir hugged Ladybug. He rubbed his gloved hand down Ladybug's back. It felt like the good old days, back when they were teenagers. There had been several times when he had held Ladybug in this way, comforting her when she just needed a friend. There were no words that Cat Noir had to say to Ladybug right now. Though he wanted to curse the man who had made Ladybug feel this way, Cat Noir kept silent. Right now, he just wanted to comfort Ladybug so she would be happy and he could see her beautiful smile again.

When Ladybug had composed herself again, she continued with her story. "I thought that would be the end of it all. By leaving Paris, I wouldn't have to see him again."

Cat Noir had never learned exactly why Ladybug had chosen to leave Paris. Even now in just the short time that she had been back, she had given him three different reasons. Perhaps they were just all pieces that fit together to reveal the answer.

"When I left all those years ago," Ladybug continued, "I was angry. What he had done to me, to the relationship that I had always fantasized of having, made me feel bitter to him. If I had to see him again, it would be too soon. Cat Noir, I was not even back in Paris for a day and I saw him again!"

Cat Noir felt Ladybug's tears against the leather of his suit. How dare this guy make Ladybug cry! If Cat Noir ever learned who had caused this, he would not hesitate to sink his claws into that ungrateful—! He pulled Ladybug tighter. "If it helps, I saw my ex-girlfriend tonight too," he told Ladybug. Cat Noir wasn't sure what possessed him to bring up his encounter with Marinette to Ladybug. Maybe it was because Ladybug's story sounded like his. Maybe he figured that he could comfort her by expressing that she was not the only one having relationship troubles on this Christmas Eve.

Ladybug and Cat Noir had never really talked much about their relationships. It had always seemed to fall into that category of "Information That Might Reveal Identities" so they had always kept the information vague. They were both aware that the other was dating someone but that was where the information stopped. Neither had revealed any additional details about their lover.

Cat Noir noticed that Ladybug had seemed to perk up when he mentioned meeting up with his ex-girlfriend tonight. Her crying quieted and she was not shaking as much. Talking about Marinette was not a conversation that Cat Noir really wanted to discuss, but he would do it if he knew it would calm Ladybug, which it seemed to do. "I hadn't expected to see her tonight either," Cat Noir continued. "You see, she, kind of, disappeared after we...broke up." He tried to keep his story vague so that Ladybug could not connect him back to Adrien Agreste. The hard part was describing their split as a "break-up". Adrien had never wanted to break up with Marinette. If he'd had his way, Adrien would probably be married to Marinette by now! However, she had been the one to cut all ties with him, leaving Adrien single and alone, so he might as well describe it as a break-up.

"That must have been hard, Cat Noir," Ladybug whispered against his chest, "to see her again after all this time."

"I guess so," Cat Noir admitted. "I just think that, the hard part was not knowing how I should feel. Right after she broke off our relationship, she left. There was so much to explain and she didn't give me that chance. I still loved her and never wanted to hurt her or betray her trust. That had never been my intention. The years passed, though, and I never saw her again." Cat Noir looked away, not quite wanting to admit how angry he had become at the thought of Marinette, but knowing that it might help Ladybug feel better. "As the years went on, I guess I became angrier about what had happened, how she never gave me the chance to explain anything. It made me angry. Just the thought of her or a mention of her name would upset me. My friends were always on edge, trying not to mention her name around me."

Cat Noir slowly released Ladybug as he felt that his comforting had helped her to feel better. Ladybug looked up at Cat Noir. "You said that you saw her tonight. Did you still feel that way about her?"

Clenching his fists at his side, Cat Noir recalled his feelings earlier when he had noticed Marinette among the crowd of party guests. "I was angry at first still, yeah. It had been years since I'd last thought of her, but all those painful memories came back instantly when I saw her face." Then he thought again, recalling that moment when his eyes had locked onto Marinette's across the room. "Yet, the strange thing is that, even though I was so upset, I still felt drawn to her. It was like...I just had to walk over to her, talk to her...hope that there might still be something between us. All these years of being angry were just gone. It was strange."

Ladybug seemed to have been drawn in by Cat Noir's story. "So, what happened? Between you and her, I mean?"

Cat Noir was not ready to tell Ladybug about Marinette's reaction. It still stung. Instead, he answered Ladybug's question with one of his own. "What about you? What happened when you saw your ex-boyfriend?"

He waited as Ladybug seemed to think about that moment, probably deciding what she wanted to say. "Well, uh, it all happened so fast," she stuttered a little. "I saw him from across the room. He hadn't changed much in those years, so I recognized him instantly." Ladybug paused but she must have seen that Cat Noir was listening intently, so she continued. "Well, I guess I'm not all that lucky because he came over to talk before I could even decide how to react."

Cat Noir nodded in response to Ladybug's story. He could visualize the scene that she was telling him and it was looking very familiar...almost as if he, himself, had also just recently lived through the same moment! That could not be possible, there. There was no way that...nah, that would just be way too crazy!

"My friends," Ladybug continued, "and his friends too, they always wanted us to be together. Tonight, I guess they may have been hoping that we would get back together. It was just overwhelming, too much happening too quickly."

Cat Noir sympathized with his best friend. Seeing Marinette again tonight for the first time in years had been overwhelming too. There had been so much he had wanted to say to her, so many things he still wanted to talk with her about. He probably would not even get the chance to see her another time before she left Paris again. Stop, focus! he told himself. You're with Ladybug right now. The problems that you have with Marinette can wait! "So, what happened, then? When he came over to talk to you?"

"I ran."

Any guesses/predictions about what's going to happen in the next chapter? See you then!