I am heartbroken so there will be some references to Chat Blanc now because that shit hurted. THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS SLIGHT CHAT BLANC SPOILERS.

###

Adrien had thought Marinette was joking about how badly she needed the coffee. But here she was, silent, sipping on her death brew and going through the dance submissions. Kagami had arrived a little before the group and had saved a table for them. Adrien wasn't sure why, but she was very quiet. She kept sending questioning glances Marinette's way, thought Marinette was far too preoccupied to notice anything. She hadn't even noticed the sad look on Luka's face when she returned his jacket. It also seemed to escape her that he had another coat on entirely.

Kagami finally let out a sigh and spoke, "what are those, Marinette?"

Marinette looked up from the pile of little paper squares, "they're theme submissions for our spring dance. Part of the wonderous job of class president is choosing the top two themes to vote on."

Kagami looked up at Adrien, "you guys have a dance?"

Adrien lit up, "yeah! Marinette is going to design the decorations and every one will help her set up if she needs it and- "

Marinette cut him off, giving Kagami a kind look, "it's not until the end of April."

Adrien wasn't sure why, but Kagami breathed a sigh of relief, "oh, well that's nice. I'll help you set up too, Marinette, if you need it."

Marinette smiled, "I appreciate it. I'll probably need all the help I can get."

Kagami smiled, "what themes are you leaning towards?"

Marinette bit her lip, "there are a lot of good ones, I'm just not sure- "

Alya chose this moment to speak up, "is Lila's up there?"
Marinette bit her lip harder, and Adrien almost winced at the obvious pressure she was putting on the skin, "i-it's in the top six, definitely I just- "

Alya stood, "she was right, you didn't even consider it!"

Marinette put both her hands in front of her, "I did! I promise I did! Kim and Rose just had really good ideas too!"

"You're lying!" Alya spat out the words.

Marinette shook her head, "I promise Alya! I tried to picture the decorations for each theme and Lila's was really pretty, but Rose's… I mean Rose if I can…?" The small girl nodded and Marinette continued, "I mean, just read it!"

The piece of paper was pushed in the middle of the table, and everyone took a look. In delicate cursive were the word 'spring in bloom' with beautiful drawings of flowers around it.

"That's a really great idea, Rose!" Adrien's voice was kind, but no one could ignore the look of anger Adrien shot Alya.

Alya looked at him in surprise and bit her lip. She spoke after a few seconds, "it is a really good idea… Just Lila was so upset- "

Kagami cocked an eyebrow, "what was her theme?"
Alya smiled wide, "Russian Ball!"

Kagami looked between Adrien and Marinette, then tested the words, "Russian ball? I mean, you're kidding right?"

Alya blanched, "what?"

Kagami crossed her arms, "what is Marinette supposed to handmake royal, glass chandeliers?"

Alya looked down, "well, I mean, it's doable in some ways…"

Kagami shook her head, "what would disappoint Lila more, her idea not being chosen because it's pretty but very hard to execute or her idea being chosen and the decorations, the entire dance, falling flat? No offense Marinette."

Marinette shook her head, "don't worry about it, the decorations are going to be underwhelming anyway."

Kagami shot her a look, but then turned back to Alya, "Rose's idea sounds gorgeous, not to mention tissue flowers are beautiful and easy to execute. And I've seen Marinette make a rose out of paper before and it was breathtaking!"

Adrien turned to Kagami, "really?"

Kagami nodded, "yeah, I was having a… rough day a few months ago, so I visited Marinette at the bakery and…"

Marinette remembered that day well. It was hard to see Kagami as upset as she was. She had outright asked Marinette if Adrien had liked her instead of Kagami. Marinette had replied honestly; Adrien showed no signs of liking her and had chosen Kagami. Them Marinette had picked out Kagami's favorite cupcake, black cherry cake with dark chocolate frosting, and made her a yellow paper rose to go on the plate to try to make the girl smile. She knew what heartbreak felt like, and if Kagami was feeling even a fraction of that then she felt sorry for her.

Marinette offered a smile to Kagami, "it's just with all of this snow, I'm sure the blooms are going to be late this year and I just thought…."

Alya crossed her arms again, "and what's the other idea."

Marinette narrowed her eyes, "something I know you'd love, but Kim isn't here right now. And I won't reveal it without his permission."

Alya let out a huff, "you're so sure I'd like it?"

Marinette nodded, "I'm pretty sure everyone will. Rose and Kim nailed this one. Alya, I would never just throw away someone's idea like that. I thought you would know that. I just loved Rose's and Kim's ideas a lot. His idea will knock your socks off, too."

Julekha smiled, "I'm going to outright be biased and vote for Rosie's idea no matter what."

Rose blushed and Marinette smiled back, "and you have my unwavering support. Rose, it really is such a great idea."

Rose blushed deeper and hid behind her girlfriend's arm. Juleka giggled and Luka spoke, "but you know, no matter whose idea gets chosen, we're going to help you out too, Mari."

Adrien's skin pricked when he heard Luka use the nickname, but he gritted his teeth, "he's right, you won't be in this alone, Marinette."

She smiled and took another sip of her coffee. He couldn't help but notice how tired she looked. And how sad. He leaned back in his seat and shot Alya another look; that look didn't escape Marinette this time. She clenched her jaw to bit back her tears. Where was all this support earlier, when Lila had attacked her in the first place? Where was all this support when Lila accused Marinette of so many other things? She chewed on her lip; she wouldn't be in this alone? She's been through almost everything alone. Chat Blanc… She couldn't be with anyone anyway. She could never tell anyone who she was Ladybug. Chat could find out and everything would fall apart. She stared down at her coffee. There were so many people around her, but none of them knew her. At least not anymore. None of them could possibly understand what she was going through. She was tired. She was too tired for all of this.

She stood and put her coat on, grabbing her folder and her coffee after doing so, "I'm going to head back to give Mme. Bustier my results and to make sure she agrees. I'll see you guys after lunch."

Before anyone could say a word, she turned and left the shop.

Adrien had wanted to follow her. But when he began to try to stand Kagami squeezed his hand harder, and quietly spoke, "she probably wants to be alone, Adrien."

Adrien sat back down and bit his lip, staring at the door clouded from the cold air hitting the warm glass. Would she really want to be alone? After that? They still had a full hour left before they would even have to think about heading back to the college. She'd wanted to get away from Alya, he knew that for sure. But to be alone, after that? That ten-minute conversation had been the most he had heard anyone defend Marinette since Lila came back to school.

He looked back up at Kagami, who was looking at him with sad eyes again. He didn't know why she looked so sad… Could she tell that he didn't love her? Was that what was hurting her? Looking at those eyes, he wished that he could have been the one for Kagami, that he could love her like she deserved to be loved. But he couldn't he had… whatever he felt for Marinette, and even if it wasn't love, even if he was too young to truly love anyone, he didn't feel that way for Kagami. He liked her; she was a great friend. Always there for him, and kind too him. Some days, she truly made some horrible stuff seem okay. But he just couldn't drag her on like this. He offered her a small smile,

"Do you want to go for a walk?"

###

Marinette sat at her desk, tipping her to-go cup around and watching the remainder of her coffee mov about the bottom. She'd never regretted doing her homework the night before, but she was so bored right now, the record had been broken. Luckily, Mm. Bustier had been off of her lunch. Marinette had given her the two top choices, then had gone over the rest with her. The best part was that Mme. Bustier had agreed with her on her picks. And she had said nothing about Lila either. So now it was a waiting game. Waiting for the rest of the class to get back from lunch. She doodled some possible flower decorations in the upper corner of her notebook. She let her hand draw absent mindedly, but before she knew it a small dress had appeared around the flowers. Marinette bit her lip as her heart hurt. It was a pretty dress, but she couldn't wear it let alone make it. She tore out the page and stood, walking the crumpled ball to the trash can. She dropped it in unceremoniously.

Adrien walked in then, with a sad look on his face. Marinette bit her lip as he sat down. She sighed and took the seat next to him. There was still fourth-five minutes left of lunch, why was he back already?

"Are you okay, Adrien?"

He looked up at her, had he been crying? He offered her a sad smile, "yeah, I'm okay I just… I- "

Suddenly the wall of windows exploded. It seemed to move in slow motion to Marinette. She acted quickly and upturned the desk, grabbing Adrien to duck behind it with her. His eyes looked panicked. He tried to look over the desk, but Marinette pulled him back down as more debris was shot their way,

"Thanks," he whispered only to receive a nonchalant and unimpressed 'don't mention it' in return. When all was quiet for a while, Marinette peaked over the desk. Her eyes widened at what she saw. A sad look appeared on her face,

"Kagami?"

Adrien stood quickly. His mouth open at the sight of the akuma victim. Finally, a harsh voice spoke,

"I'm not Kagami! I'm Oni-Chan! Lila told me what you've done, Marinette."

Adrien's eyes turned panicked. This was not good. Adrien looked over at Marinette, she wore a face of disbelief. Oni-Chan spoke again,

"I thought you were my friend, Marinette. You're going to pay."

Adrien looked between the two for a moment before Marinette spoke. Her voice started as a whisper,

"for fuck's sake. Kagami, I swear to you, whatever she said was a lie. I would never do anything to hurt you, Kagami."

Suddenly Oni-Chan tan at Marinette slamming her into a wall and pinning her to it, "I am not Kagami, I am Oni-Chan. And Hawkmoth gave me permission to do whatever I wanted to you, as long as I take down Ladybug and Chat Noir."

Adrien gasped as she lifted Marinette up and carried her out the window. Adrien ran into the nearest closet, Plagg shot out from Adrien's bag. Adrien expect some quip for being summoned during his nap time, but Plagg was all business.

Adrien nodded, "Claws out!"

###

Kagami was hurting Marinette. She was wrong. This wasn't Kagami. Kagami would never do this to her. Never. Another kick connected to Marinette's ribs and she cried out. She rolled over to her side and whimpered,

"please, what did Lila tell you I did? I promise. I would never try to hurt you."

Oni-Chan narrowed her eyes, "she told me everything Marinette. How you have been seeing Adrien. How you told him to keep seeing me. How your whole class has been laughing at me behind my back. No wonder you had to tell Adrien to ask me out for coffee."

Marinette's eyes widened, "no! No, Kagami! None of that is true! He likes you! He chose you!"

Oni-Chan shook her head furiously, "I wouldn't have cared if he had chosen you Marinette, because you were my friend. But friends don' do that to each other."

Marinette let the tears escape, "no, Kagami, I swear to you. We are friends. I would never do that to you."

The tears fell from Oni-Chan's eyes freely, "so that day I came to you. That day I needed you. You were laughing at me."

Marinette's eyes widened, "no! No Kagami! I would ne- "

Marinette only had time to put up her arms to protect herself from the slice of Oni-Chan's sword. Blood flowed from her arms. She felt dizzy at the sight. More and more blood came from her arms. Marinette's vision was blurred.

"Marinette."

She knew that voice. Chat Noir.

Chat Noir landed on the roof behind Oni-Chan. All he could see was the blood. There was so much of it. Oni-Chan turned to him and he bared his teeth,

"what have you done?"

Oni-Chan narrowed her eyes, "she's horrible, Chat Noir. She deserves to be punished. I was told everything she's done to me. She's been betraying me this whole time. She was never my friend."

Chat Noir shook his head, "you have to know that you've been lied too. Marinette would- "

Chat Moir barely had time to jump out of the way as Oni-Chan attacked. He gritted his teether, where was Ladybug? He had to get Marinette out of her. She would bleed to death if no one got to her. Chat Noir tried to move around the akuma, towards Marinette, but Oni-Chan ran to him throwing him, and herself, atop the next roof.

Marinette let out a ragged breath. No one was watching her. She gritted her teeth, "Kaalki? Home, please."

The ground beneath her gave way. A chill ran up her spine. Goosebumps rose on her skin. Before she was transported to her bathtub. The white tub was quickly stained with red. And she managed a small smile to the horse kwami, "thanks. And thanks for thinking ahead."

Marinette quickly rinsed her arms under the faucet. Wincing as the water touched her cuts. She applied some anti-septic then quickly wrapped her arms with layers of gauze. She rested against the cold corner of the tub. Her breath uneven and labored. She stood finally with clenched teeth. She placed her glasses onto the sink. She turned to the kwamis who had concerned looks on their faces. She rubbed her lips together,

"Tikki, spots on!"

Chat Noir was knocked back on to the roof. Had Oni-Chan been this tough last time too? He lifted his hand to rub his shoulder, which had taken the brunt of the fall, but he noticed something on it… Blood. Marinette's blood. He looked around him. Bu where was Marinette? Where could she possible had done. He couldn't find a latch on the roof. He couldn't find any way that she could had gotten down. Oni-Chan then jumped beside him. She lifted her blade and brought it down. Chat Noir jumped out of the way just in time. Narrowly keeping his head. Oni-Chan growled,

"where is she? Where did you take her?"

Suddenly, a voice spoke unwavering but weak, "I didn't take her far."

Chat looked up, Ladybug. Finally, "where have you been?!"

Ladybug offered a weak smile, "sorry were you waiting long, chaton?"

Any other day, Chat Noir may have smiled. He may have even laughed. But not today. Not when he was currently sitting in a puddle of Marinette's blood.

Ladybug's yo-yo was thrown to where Oni-Chan stood. Oni-Chan jumped up onto the higher wall of the roof and looked down at the two heroes, "I guess now that you're here I can take your miraculous, then hunt down the traitor."

Ladybug gritted her teeth, her arms were screaming at her to stop, but she continued throwing her yoyo to the akuma. Chat Noir then swiped at Oni-Chan with his baton. Knocking the girl to another rooftop again. Ladybug allowed the yoyo to wrap around a beam of another roof, but pulling on it made her arms scream in pain. She knew she was on limited time and bit the bullet,

"Lucky Charm!"

Marinette bit her lip as the object fell into her hands. She fought back tears. No wouldn't this just hurt Kagami more? She held the paper rose up. It couldn't be that simple, right? I mean, if that moment had meant so much to Kagami, why would she just throw it away with a few words from Lila? Where did Kagami even see Lila? She hadn't seen the girl at the coffee shop. Ladybug bit her lip. Was it even worth a try,

"Chat Noir!"

He looked over. He understood the look in her eyes. It was time to lead the akuma into a trap. Ladybug motioned for him to come over to her. Lead the akuma right to her? What did she have planned? He swallowed his doubts and began to run back to Ladybug.

"Going somewhere, you mangy cat?" Oni-Chan followed quickly behind him. Chat Noir ran to Ladybug's side. Oni-Chan smirked at the way Ladybug was standing. She wasn't prepared for an attack at all. Her miraculous were as good as won.

Oni-Chan began to run at Ladybug, who was doing nothing to prepared for the attack. Chat Noir's eyes widened as the akuma got closer with sill no action from his partner. He lifted his baton a second too late and Oni-Chan grabbed Ladybug. He didn't understand why Ladybug still looked so calm until she lifted her Luckycharm into Oni-Chan's face,

"would your friend really betray you like you were told she did? Would she ever hurt you like that?"

Oni-Chan gasped as she reached for the paper flower, she looked up hesitantly at Ladybug who nodded. Chat Noir watched as Oni-Chan hugged the rose close with tears in her eyes and fell to her knees,

"I-I don't know."

The purple mask appeared over Oni-Chan's face; Hawkmoth was going to try to undo this. Ladybug bit her lip. Her Luckycharm was in the akuma's hands. She'd never given a Luckycharm to an akuma before. Oni-Chan shut her eyes tightly as Hawkmoth continued to speak to her. Ladybug wished she could know what he was saying.

She did the only thing she could do; she took Kagami's hand and squeezed it. After a few agonizing moments Kagami squeezed back. She bit her lips as Kagami also squeezed the paper rose,

"no. No, Hawkmoth! You're lying! Leave me alone!" Kagami squeezed Ladybug's hand harder. In her other hand the rose began to crumble, "I don't want to do this, stop making me do this."

Suddenly the lucky charm gave way, a soft pink light shone in Kagami's hand. Purple clouds formed around her as the akuma began to release her. Oni-Chan no longer sat before Ladybug, only a crying Kagami. Ladybug helped the other girl to her feet. Kagami looked at her and bit her lip, "I'm-I'm sorry."

Ladybug shook her head, "it's not your fault. It's Hawkmoth's."

Kagami held open her other palm, now empty, "I don' know where it went. I destroyed it."

Ladybug shook her head, "it did what it needed to do."

Tears began to fall from her eyes, "but how will you undo all the things I've done?"

Ladybug squeezed her hand, "windows and rooves can be fixed easily Kagami."

Kagami shook her head. Chat Noir's eyes widened as he understood. Worry overtook him and his heart slammed against his chest as Kagami spoke again, "no! Marinette! We need to fix Marinette!"

Ladybug bit her lip. Oh yeah. Well that's fucked. She sighed, "Marinette will heal, Kagami. And I know Marinette already forgave you."

Kagami looked up, "how do you know?"

Ladybug put on the best fake smirk she could, "who do you think got her out of here?"

Kagami offered a weak smile and Ladybug continued, "how about Chat Noir gets you home?"

Chat Noir shook his head, "shouldn't someone check on Marinette?"

Ladybug frowned as Kagami put her head in her hands. She gave Chat Noir a look. He gritted his teeth. He felt bad for Kagami. He really did. In fact, this was probably all his fault. But he needed to know that Marinette was okay. How could she be okay after all of that blood?

Ladybug took Kagami's hands from her face, "I'll go see Marinette. No problem!"

Chat Noir looked like he wanted to protest, but another look from Ladybug quieted him down. He lifted up Kagami and spoke, "where too, little Lady?"

###

Marinette fell into her room through her window. Her face felt hot and she felt nauseous. She shivered,

"spots off."

Tikki appeared, and quickly all of the other kwami's surrounded them. Mullo spoke first,

"Marinette! Are you okay?"
She nodded weakly, "yeah, I just, I just need to relax a second."

Xuppu vanished into the bathroom, and Marinette heard the faucet start. Wayzz appeared from her bracelet,

"We have to get these bandages off of your arms, we need to properly clean your wounds."

Marinette nodded and stood, "what do I need to do to properly clean them?"

Wayzz began unwrapping her arms, "we need to ensure there's no debris from the rooftop in them, more antiseptic, fresh wrappings and monitor you for a fever."

Marinette nodded then turned to Tikki, "Tikki, why did the LuckyCharm… do that?"

Tikki offered the girl a shy smile, "you didn't want to fight Kagami, and your wounds wouldn't have let you anyway. I think it may have been the only solution."

Marinette nodded. Tikki had told her before that if Ladybug was ever injured it would affect her main power… she just never imagined like that. Perhaps she wouldn't have been strong enough to undo everything anyway. She felt a twinge of pain in her arms as the last of the bandage was removed. She gawked at her arms… they didn't look good… at all. Suddenly she heard her phone go off. She looked at Wayzz who nodded, she reached for her phone.

She smiled softly, "thanks, kitty."

Tikki cocked her head, "what happened?"

"It's an automated message from the school. Chat Noir told Principal Damocles that I couldn't undo the damage, they closed the school for the rest of the day."

"which means the weekend starts now! WOO!"

Marinette heard the voice coming from the bathroom and laughed at Xuppu's excitement. She watched Wayzz inspect her arms, he looked up at her with a cautious glance.

Marinette bit her lip, "what?"

Wayzz sighed, "there's a stone, I'm going to have to get it out."

Marinette nodded and braced herself. She would never have been ready for the hot pain that shot up her arm. A shriek escaped her. Suddenly, she heard running footsteps on the roof. The kwamis hid quickly and Chat Noir burst through her patio door and landed on her bed,

"Marinette! Are you okay?"

She le out a wavering breath. He looked up at her, blood coming from her arms and approached her with eyes full of concern,

"I know, that has to hurt. What made I bleed again?"

Marinette found her voice, "there was a rock I had missed. I was going to give it a proper cleaning but I…"

He nodded, "yeah. This really needs to be cleaned. Do you want help?"

A slight blush crept onto her cheeks, "well I was going to clean it in the bath…"
Chat Noir's cheeks lit up red, "uh yeah! No place for a cat! We hate water you know."

Marinette let out a small chuckle. He smiled back,

"you know what, my Kwami needs a quick rest anyway. How about this? I get home, rest really quickly, let you patch yourself up. Then I come back over in a little bit and we spend our Friday evening together?"

Marinette nodded, "that would be great, kitty!"

Chat Noir smiled at the girl. He looked her over again. Her arms were horribly cut, he could see that her neck was bruised beneath her turtleneck. Her ribs must be bruised, and she had a small scrape on her cheek. He bit his lip and gently hugged Marinette,

"I'm so sorry, Marinette."

She gently rubbed his back, "it's not your fault, kitty."

Chat Noir shook his head, "it is. I'm sorry… I'm sorry we couldn't fix you."

Marinette shrugged in his arms, "somethings can't be helped."

Chat sat up and looked at her, "can't be helped? Marinette you just- "

She waved him off and walked to turn off the faucet that was still running, filling the bath, "I know, I got my ass kicked."

Chat Noir cocked his head, "you're absolutely kidding right."

Marinette raised her voice, "ass kicked." She elongated her 's' and turned to him.

He put a hand on his chest, "did you just sass me? Are we twelve?"

Marinette vanished into the bathroom, "only emotionally."

Chat Noir chuckled and followed her cautiously, "I'm going to head out, but I'll be back in an hour or so, does that give you enough time?"

Marinette nodded, "that's fine. If you get done earlier that's fine too. More movie time for us."

He laughed no, "eager, Princess?"

She laughed, "ya got me. I look forward to seeing you much more than picking rocks out of my arms."

"You flatter me." He gave her a gentle hug before hopping back to her bed then out the door.

Marinette let Tikki enter the bathroom with Wayzz then closed the door. She slowly took off her shirt. It was impossible to ignore the blooming bruises all over her abdomen. They explained why it hurt to breathe. She poked one and winced. Tikki clicked her tongue,

"Marinette! What did you expect?"

Marinette offered her a small smile, "sorry, human habit."

She finished undressing and watched as Wayzz poured some light green substance into the bath. She cocked her head,

"what's that Wayzz?"

He offered her a small smile, "it was Master Fu's recipe, he always kept some in the box. It's medicinal."

Marinette smiled and nodded and slipped into the bath.

It stung. That was the first sensation. It hurt. She couldn't figure out what felt so hot at first. The water was warm, but Xuppu was careful about the temperature, she knew that. Then it occurred to her. The potion. It had smelled so innocent. Like the water itself. But now, now she truly believed it was medicinal. She felt it. After a few moments the stinging gave way to a soothing cold. She looked at her arms. The harsh edges of the cuts had dulled to a pale pink. She noticed a few more rocks in the now calmed flesh and picked them out. The sensation was more dulled than earlier, but she couldn't hide a grimace. She inspected her arms more closely; she may need stitches. She wasn't sure. She hoped Wayzz would say something if that was the case.

She finished cleaning the blood off of her and allowed the bath to drain. She braced herself on the edge of the tub and stood. It hurt. Her muscles screamed in response, but she carried on nonetheless. She happily accepted the towel Tikki offered and stepped back into her room. The cold almost shocking her at first. She too her pajamas from the bed and dressed carefully. Using extra caution while putting her arms through the sleeves. She took a couple gentle painkillers to make it through the night. Xuppu approached her excitedly,

"how did I do this time? Did I make the water come out right?"

Marinette laughed and nodded, remembering the last time he'd drawn her a bath of ice water, "it was amazing Xuppu. Thank you so much. I don't know what I'd do without you guys."

A small smirk appeared on Trixx's face, "I'm sure Chat Noir would cover for us."

A small blush appeared on Marinette's cheek, "he's just worried. I don't think we've ever had an akuma that I wasn't able to reverse. He likes to take care of akuma victims. That's all."

Kaalki spoke next, "uh-huh, and I'm actually a donkey."

Marinette shook her head, "he's just visiting to be nice. That's all. He said he's noticed I was different. I'm sure he's worried about another miraculous holder being akumatized."

It made sense. That completely made sense. Why else would Chat Noir visit her? To protect everything else. She felt a little disappointed, but she wasn't sure why. It was a perfectly reasonable and sweet reason. Apparently, Hawkmoth was back, Oni-Chan was the first akuma in a while, so Chat Noir was probably being extra cautious.

Wayzz le out a troublesome laugh, "that's not what Plagg said."

Marinette turned in surprise to the usually passive kwami, "and what did that troublemaker say?"

"Wayzz," Tikki hissed the name, "that's enough."

Everyone looked to Tikki, shocked.

"Marinette," Tikki took a breath, "Marinette… You have to stop seeing Chat Noir like this. It could… it could cause…"

The other kwamis shouted at Tiki in response. Saying things like 'he's her only true friend right now' and 'they really like each other'.

But Marinette…

Marinette pictured those icy blue eyes. The way they had stared at her that day. And hearing him call her by her name, her real name. Seeing all of Paris underwater. She sighed as she felt tears prick her eyes. As much support, as much warmth, as she felt from Chat, she just couldn't risk it. She couldn't risk losing him to the akuma, losing him to Hawkmoth. She couldn't play this game. She remembered his desperate eyes. She couldn't risk him. She turned to the other kwami's, biting her lip,

"T-Tikki's right," she took a steadying breath, "you guys… you guys weren't there. Paris was… gone. The other me in that world… I was gone. He was all alone there. And I easily could have failed. I can't risk that. He even knew who I really was. Which means if he finds out now… all of you… you could be at risk. I can't let any of this happen."

She sighed again and sat on her chaise. Tikki patted her shoulder kindly. Tikki hadn't wanted to bring up Chat like that. A large part of her had wanted Marinette to forget Chat Blanc too. She had given up Adrien for it, and had taken up a life of isolation because of it. She was afraid that if anyone found out her identity, Chat Noir would be at risk. And maybe a part of her was right. But now, now she was going to have to give up Chat, too. It wasn't safe that he was visiting her like he was. Sure, Chat had come here out of his own free will to comfort Marinette. But that didn't make the danger any less. Tikki desperately wished she could remember the series of events after Adrien found out who Ladybug was. She wished she could tell Marinette so that they both could ensure it would never happen. But Tikki couldn't remember, no matter how hard she tried.

Suddenly that familiar smell hit her nose. But before she could speak, there was a tap on the door. Tikki shot Marinette some sadness before she hid with the other Kwamis. Marinette looked up at the door with tearing eyes. Before she could tell her kitty to go away, the door opened,

"Princess! I brought the movie this time! I also got us coffees… but I dropped them. I mean I think I did. I don't know when. One moment they were in my hand the next… well frankly I left the coffee shop with them… then took out my staff to leave and… oh! They're on the roof! They're on the roof of the coffee place! I can go get them!"

A single tear left Marinette's eye, "oh, Kitty."