Disclaimer: I do not own Miraculous Ladybug or it's characters.
Personal note: I don't know why I keep inserting different languages into my stories, but oh well.
Chapter 26,
"H... how long have you known?" Marinette asked and Cat Noir's shoulder's slumped.
"Ever since Tikki found me and told me that I needed to use the Ladybug Miraculous." Cat Noir admitted and Marinette shook her head.
"I guess it really would have been too much for them to actually tell you I was sick." Marinette said and Cat Noir bit his lip.
"Well, you were sick with Akuma fever." Cat Noir suggested. Marinette blinked at his words and then scoffed with a smile.
"Now that's exactly what I expect from a caterwauling comedian." Marinette said softly and Cat Noir smiled softly at her.
"So, how's your leg, Milady bluebell?" Cat Noir said and they both blushed at his words.
"I-I, um... it hurts." She admitted.
"We need to get you back to those doctors. They can easily care for your leg." Cat Noir said.
"And your shoulder." Marinette said and Cat Noir was silent a moment.
"Right." Cat Noir said. His mind was so focused on the fact that she got shot, that he almost forgot the paint he was feeling.
"I can't believe the way you stood up for me." Marinette said.
"Of course. You know, what was I suppose to do? Let them shoot you again, because you can't walk?" Cat Noir said and Marinette took a breath.
"Still... I just find myself so in awe of how much you believe in me. I can't believe that you're willing to die for me. I..." she hesitated and then she lowered her gaze.
"I don't deserve your blind faith, Cat Noir." Marinette said and Cat Noir shifted until he managed to lean his head back onto her shoulder.
"I have faith in you, Milady. In Ladybug and Marinette. I'm not blind about it... if anything, my eyes have been opened to how wonderful you really are." Cat Noir said and Marinette hesitantly glanced at him in his awkward position.
"So you're not disappointed that... I'm Ladybug?" Marinette asked and Cat Noir smiled softly.
"Nope." Cat Noir said. He picked up his head; partly to give his neck a break, and partly to look away from Marinette.
"I was a little surprised. Especially since... I told you that I, um... that I was in love with Ladybug." Cat Noir said slowly, and Marinette tensed a bit.
"Yeah..." She said softly.
"But in the same token, I'm glad that it is you." Cat Noir said.
"You mean it?" Marinette asked and he nodded.
"Yeah. As Ladybug, you are so smart and confident and you'll do anything to save Paris. And then, as Marinette, you're so creative, and loving and you'll do whatever you can to support your friends and connect them to other people." Cat Noir said and Marinette smiled.
"Ok... ok, we better get out of here before those guys come back." Marinette said.
"Or before they try to sell your earrings on the black market." Cat Noir said.
"Wait, do you speak Korean?" Marinette asked and Cat Noir moved his head back and forth.
"Not much; I couldn't hold a conversation with it." Cat Noir said.
"Oh, Cat Noir, I could kiss you." Marinette said happily and he leaned his head back onto her shoulder and puckered his lips.
It was ridiculous to try and kiss her now, because even if she had the physical capability to reach his lips, this certainly wasn't the time. Still, this display was so adorable that Marinette couldn't help but be charmed by it. She went ahead and leaned forward and gave Cat Noir's forehead a tiny kiss. Which, upon this act, caused Cat Noir's eye to open widely and his whole face turned red.
"What did they say?" Marinette asked sweetly and Cat Noir was still frozen. He got so use to Ladybug pushing him away, or shifting his head to the side... he didn't actually expect any sort of reciprocation.
"Caaaaaaaaaat." Marinette said in a singsong tone, and Cat Noir shook his head and sat up correctly.
"Um, they talked about some translator, but he's not here. They talked about, um... that one soldier took your earrings to give to his wife, but since they were, um... magic, he was gonna sell them on the black market and see what he can get." Cat Noir said and Marinette nodded.
"Ok, let's see. Can you use your cataclysm on the rope?" Marinette asked and he hesitated
"Um, considering where my hand is, I'd rather not risk it." Cat Noir said and she thought.
"Tikki." Marinette said and Cat Noir's eyes widened as he realized her idea.
"Brilliant." He said with a smile. Marinette looked down at her purse and she blinked.
"Come on, Tikki." Marinette urged, but then she realized why her kwami wasn't coming.
"Oh, no. She disappeared when they removed my earrings." Marinette said with a groan.
"That can happen?" Cat Noir asked and she nodded.
"Yeah. I know because after our first battle, I removed my earrings even though Tikki didn't want me to. She disappeared when so did that, because..." Marinette hesitated.
"Because you were giving up?" Cat Noir asked and she nodded.
"I... well... anyways, it makes sense for Tikki to disappear when they removed the earrings." Marinette said and she looked around. Then suddenly she realized what they could do and she rolled her eyes.
"We are being ridiculous. This is simple rope. You can cut the rope with your claws." Marinette said and Cat Noir bit his lip.
He shifted, which stung his shoulder and he awkwardly ran a claws against the rope. It took about three strokes with his claw before one of the strand broke. Marinette did her best to loosen and remove the rope as Cat Noir cut it; and soon, they were free. They stood up and Marinette buckled in pain, and Cat Noir caught her.
"Easy." Cat Noir said and Marinette groaned.
"We need to find something to soak up the blood as we find my miraculous and make our way back to the M.A.S.H 4077th." Marinette said as she sat back down on the chair.
"Not just for our heath, but blood trails can be followed." Marinette said and Cat Noir looked around them.
"We can't use anything hereS they only cloths here are filthy and already covered in blood." Cat Noir said. Marinette put a hand on her face as she thought about this, but then she gasped happily.
"Not the only things." Marinette said, and he turned to her. She took off her grey gloves, ripped them in half and formed a mock-bandage around her own leg.
"Come here." Marinette said and Cat Noir knelt down for her. Marinette removed her jacket, folded it and wrapped that around Cat Noir's shoulder. She tied it off, but to help keep it in place, she reached up, removed her hair ties, and wrapped them around the bandage. Cat Noir stared at her, in slight disbelief. This was like giving him the shirt off her back, and she didn't even hesitate to do so.
"Ok, I'm gonna need to lean on you a bit while we locate my miraculous." Marinette said.
"No problem, bluebell." Cat Noir said as he helped her to her feet. She leaned against Cat Noir's undamaged shoulder and they moved to the door. Slowly, Marinette cracked the door opened to see if there was a guard outside the building; there wasn't. They slipped out of the barn and off to the side, where they were out of sight.
"Ok, if you were gonna sell something valuable, where would you put it, to keep it away from people who would steal it?" Marinette asked.
"On a military base? Perhaps the office, or maybe even a storage shed." Cat Noir said.
"Makes sense... although..." she hesitated and Cat Noir rose an eyebrow at her.
"Something wrong?" Cat Noir asked and Marinette bit her lip.
"Well... I was just thinking... Miraculous' are hard to come by because they are under the constant protection. Either under the care of guardians, or under the care and use of miraculous users like us." Marinette said and Cat Noir nodded.
"So maybe, even though these soldiers see this as 'magic earrings' instead of a miraculous-"
"They would keep it on their person to protect it instead of putting it in a safe." Cat Noir finished and Marinette smiled at him and nodded.
"If I'm correct, that superior soldier put the earrings in his jacket pocket, so all we would need to do is pick his pockets." Marinette said and Cat Noir let out a breath and ruffled his own hair.
"I feel a bit uneasy picking the pocket of a stranger; and this one has a trigger finger." Cat Noir said and Marinette nodded heavily.
"I know what you mean." She said and Cat Noir looked up at a fading cloud in the sky. How could that sea of pale blue and fluff, be so happy when there was so much blood being spilled all over Paris?
"Ok, so how are we suppose to get the jacket off him?" Cat Noir asked and Marinette sighed.
"That's what I'm trying to figure out. I mean, we could turn up the heat in his office, but he might leave the the room instead of take off his jacket." Marinette said.
"I guess we can't really pour a bucket of water on him. He might remove his clothes to dry or wash them, but then he'll see us and chase us down." Cat Noir said and Marinette's eyes widened.
"Actually... getting him a little dirty might just be perfect." Marinette said with a sly look on her face. Cat Noir smiled back.
-
Colonel Jin Hyo Sung was sitting in his office, looking at the earrings he had collected from the little girl earlier. He occasionally poked them to see how he could activate them. He was only seconds away from stabbing his own ears when he hears some sort of commotion outside.
"Je suis le plus grand super-héros qui ait jamais vécu." He heard someone say and then he heard running.
"Colonel Sung! The male prisoner has escaped!" He heard and he stood up, shoving the earrings back in his pocket and rushing towards the door.
"Allez, les gars, pourquoi si silencieux? C'est comme si nous avions une sorte de problème de communication." He saw the giant cat running straight towards him.
"Get him!" Colonel Sung shouted.
"J'espère que vous avez ces boucles d'oreilles sur vous!" The cat shouted when he pushed Colonel Sung off to the side and he landed at the foot of his door. Colonel Sung saw his soldier running after the cat.
"If you don't get him, I'll put you all in front of a firing squad!" Colonel Sung screamed, and they hightailed it.
Unfortunately for the Colonel, his soldiers didn't see the large mud puddle in front of him, and when they ran past him, they splashed unforeseen amounts of mud all over him. The Colonel sighed and he stood up. Traditionally, being in charge meant that he didn't have to get down and dirty. He walked back to his tent, emptied out his pockets and placed the various products on his shelf and he heard something unexpected.
"À tout moment, Milady!" That was the voice of that cat man. Was that idiot circling the camp? Wait, where's the girl? The Colonel turned back to his shelf and he gasped when he saw the magic earrings missing.
"Stop them!" The Colonel shouted, running out of his tent in time to see the girl with some silver walking stick, smiling at him.
"Punaise en dehors!" She said cutely. At that moment, the cat man ran up to her, grabbed her and the silver stick, and used the stick to launch them away.
The Colonel was now enraged, and he rushed after them. At least until they got to the bridge. The cat man said something and suddenly the bridge turned to dust and disappeared. The Colonel didn't know what to think about this. He's never seen anything like it.