Tom and Sabine knew something was wrong with their daughter as she pushed her dinner around on her plate. They had heard about Adrien leaving to go on a world trip for his father, and naturally Marinette would be upset about that, but they had never seen her looking so listless before, like her whole world had just imploded.

"Honey, are you alright? Is there something you want to talk about?" Sabine asked gently.

Marinette slowly shook her head. "I'm just not hungry." She replied, pushing away her plate. "Can I be excused please? I think I just want to go to bed early."

"Of course sweetheart." Tom replied. "Are you sure you don't need anything?"

"I just want to be alone if that's okay." She was trying hard to keep it together and not to cry in front of them.

"Go ahead dear." Sabine said softly, placing her hand on Marientte's shoulder. "Just remember we are here for you if you need us."

Marinette nodded her head and slowly made her way back to her room. Closing the trap door behind her, Tikki flew out of her purse and looked at her with worried eyes. Marinette went over to her sewing box and pressed the secret code that opened it. The Miracle Box was still there, but empty. Marinette lifted her head and looked at Tikki who was floating nearby. The room suddenly felt so quiet without the chatter of the other kwamis. She had become so accustomed to their banter and playfulness. There would be no more wise words from Sass and Wayzz, no more positive energy from Diazzi and Pollen or crazy ideas from Fluff and Kaalki.

Marinette's eyes began to well again with tears. She really was all alone now. Closing the Miracle Box back into its hiding place, Marinette called on her transformation and threw her yo-yo into the night.

Landing on the rooftop that overlooked the Eiffel Tower, Ladybug had become consumed by hopelessness. For the first time since she had become Ladybug, Shadow Moth had won. He had all of the Miraculous and as his image loomed large over the city, her fears were only compounded by his threats. He would use every Miraculous at his disposal to bring her down and he could do it, and she knew that he could.

How could she have been such a fool? How could she have not seen past that facade to see that it was Félix on the train and not Adrien? Was it Risk that made her not question her motives? No, no it couldn't have been. The plan would have worked, it all would have been fine if it had been Adrien. She knew in her heart that he would never have betrayed her. Adrien… what would he think of her now? The great heroine of Paris hyperventilating on his bathroom floor fooled by his own cousin. She almost couldn't bare the thought of seeing him again after this or Chat for that matter. She was sure that Chat Noir would never want to see her ever again after this, and she couldn't blame him.

Ladybug wrapped her arms tighter around her legs. She had failed everyone, but most especially her partner. Now she was all alone and it was her own fault. She pulled out her hair ties in frustration, freeing her pigtails and throwing the ties off the rooftop she was sitting upon. Rain had lightly begun to fall over the city, her hair clinging to her neck and face but she didn't care. It was all over. There was nothing stopping Shadow Moth from taking her Miraculous now. She might as well just give up and hand them over.

"I've lost everything." She heaved out, her body becoming racked with sobs as she buried her face back into her arms.

"You haven't lost me."

Ladybug lifted her tear stained face to see Chat Noir standing beside her, his stance and face defiant as he stared down the image of Shadow Moth in the distance. She thought he would be angry at her, he had every right to be, but his countenance was calm, his eyes determined.

"You shouldn't be here with me." She said ruefully.

"Then why did you come to our place?" He said, looking out at the Eiffel Tower in the distance. They had never said it out loud before, but this rooftop had become their special place, full of memories as they looked over the city they both loved. Somewhere in her subconscious she knew she had come here wishing, but never daring to hope, that he would come and find her.

"I didn't think you would come." She admitted, her voice carrying the weight in her heart. She pulled her knees to her chest and shook her head. "How can you stand by me? I've failed as a Guardian, I've failed as a hero and I failed you. You tried to be there for me, you tried to help me and I didn't listen to you. I pushed you away time and time again and now…now…"

Ladybug screwed her eyes closed and buried her face again. Chat shifted his eyes over to her, her body shaking as she cried. It broke his heart to see her looking so vulnerable and helpless. She was right, she had pushed him away, and it had hurt him deeply, but right now he knew he was the only one who could pull her back from the brink of despair.

"M'lady." Chat said gently, offering a hand out towards her. Ladybug looked up at him, the sky lighting up behind him as the thunder rolled in. For a moment Ladybug was frozen in time, the sound of the thunder almost drowned out from the sound of her own heartbeat as it raced in her chest.

Reaching out, she placed her hand in his and in one swift movement Chat pulled her up and straight into his tight embrace. Ladybug wrapped her own arms around him, holding onto him like her very life depended on it. In many ways, it felt like it did. He was her lifeline, her grounding.

"We won't let him win." Chat said next to her ear. "We will find all the Miraculous. No matter how long it takes, we will get each and every one of them back and we will never let this happen again."

"I…I don't know how." She said, pulling back slightly from him, but still holding on.

"They do." Chat replied, pointing to where crowds of Parisians had gathered chanting "Ladybug, Ladybug."

Ladybug looked in wonderment at the crowd, but Chat wasn't amazed at all. "You are their hero Ladybug, and they will follow you until the end. As will I, your loyal partner."

Ladybug looked away from him and Chat could see the doubts forming in her mind. He reached out and took her hand in his. "Come with me." He said with an encouraging smile. "I want to show you something."

Ladybug made no attempt to resist when Chat scooped her up into his arms. Instead she looped her arms around his neck and closed her eyes, breathing in deeply the warm earthy smell of his leather suit as he bounded across the rooftops. It was only a short trip and when she opened her eyes she was surprised to find that they were in the park in front of the Ladybug and Chat Noir statue.

The rain from earlier had eased off and Ladybug stood silently looking up at the bronzed image of herself. That day felt like a lifetime ago now. She felt invincible then.

"You know why this statue is here?" Chat said, looking up at it in admiration. "Because it's a symbol of hope. When Paris was afraid of this new villain that had shown up, you stood up to him and made the people believe that good would always win, and you will win again."

Ladybug looked back over the statue. "He should have had us standing side by side." She said thoughtfully. "Not me standing on top of you like that."

Chat gave her a soft smile. "It wasn't about us being equals, Bug, it was about us being partners. It's taken me a long time to realise that. My job is to support you, like in the statue, to be the sturdy shoulders you can stand on, to be there when you need me, to be the one to catch you when you fall."

Ladybug dropped her eyes and turned around, wrapping her arms around herself. "I've done nothing but hurt you for months. I lied to you, I turned you away, I refused your help. Why do you stay with me Chat?"

"Because we are stronger together m'lady, we are still a team."

"A team…" Chat heard her voice crack and took a step closer, wanting to wrap her up in his safe arms, but he faulted. "I should have treated you better Kitty, but I've been so afraid."

"You could maybe confide in me?" He said softly. He didn't want to push her when he knew she was feeling vulnerable, but he still was too and he needed some kind of answers.

Ladybug looked at him over the back of her shoulder and could see that pain again in his eyes, pain that she had put there and she hated herself for that. She clenched her arms and closed her eyes, but all she could see was icy blue orbs looking back at her. She was afraid to tell him, but she also knew she couldn't keep him in the dark anymore.

"You said earlier that you could never be akumatized, but that's not true."

She heard Chat gasp slightly behind her. "But when could…"

"It was erased." She said, her voice hoarse. "Bunnyx came and took me to a future not that far from now. Paris was all but destroyed and you… Hawk Moth, as he was then, had akumatized you into Chat Blanc. You were all in white with blue eyes. You had destroyed the world and it was all because of me… because of our love." The pain of the memories was almost overwhelming her.

"Our love?" Chat echoed, trying to make sense of what she was saying.

"Yes Kitty, our love." She reconfirmed, a touch of tenderness in her voice. She looked up to the sky, the cool breeze fanning her face. "It's not really as impossible as it sounds, you know. It would be so easy to fall in love with you, so much easier than you think. After that day, after seeing what I had done to you, I was too afraid to even consider the possibility. I had to keep a wall between us, Chaton, to protect you. Knowing our identities destroyed us and I couldn't risk that again. I couldn't risk what happened to you… because.. because of me."

The dam broke again, and she raised her hands to her face, letting her sobs take hold. In an instant she felt two strong arms wrap around from behind her, holding her tight to his chest. "M'lady," Chat murmured near her ear. "I don't believe that you could ever do anything that would make something like that happen."

"But you had said…"

"An akuma had said." Chat interrupted. "You know as well as I do what akumas can do to people. You don't know what really happened, what Hawk Moth had done to manipulate the situation." He turned her around so he could look into her eyes, resting his hands on her shoulders. "The future isn't set in stone. We can't live our lives in fear of what might happen. You know Kipling once said 'Of all the liars in the world, sometimes the worst are our own fears'. Don't let them become yours m'lady."

Ladybug sniffed away her tears and gave him an almost amused look. "How on earth do you know quotes from Kipling?"

Chat let out a chuckle. "Let's just say I had a classical upbringing."

The two shared a laugh, and for the first time that night, Ladybug had started to feel a little lighter. Then again, Chat had always done that for her. That positive radiance and dorky sense of humour always brightened even her darkest moment. No matter how dark the night felt, he always made her believe there would be a dawn. "I'm so sorry, Chat, for everything. You deserved so much better than me as Ladybug."

Chat gently cupped her face in his hand, running his clawed thumb across her cheek and wiping away the residual moisture still there. "You know, there is a reason that when people marry they vow to love each other for better or for worse. You asked me why I stayed, and this is the reason why. When you make a commitment to someone, you're not just committing for the good times, you make a commitment to be there at the wose times, when mistakes are made, when it feels like the world is ending and when your partner can't see how bright they really shine. The day I accepted my Miraculous, I made that commitment to you m'lady, and that is a vow I will never break."

Chat bent his head and pressed a kiss to her forehead. Ladybug closed her eyes and leaned into his hand, savouring the warmth of his lips on her cool skin and the feel of his hand in her hair.

"I don't want to ever lose you Minou." She said, tears picking her eyes once more.

"You won't." He promised, resting his cheek on her head. "I'll never leave you."

"Even when I no longer remember you."

Chat stilled and lifted her head up to look at him. "What do you mean you won't remember?" He was searching her eyes as her bottom lip started to quiver.

"Su-Han. He said if I messed up he would take the box and our Miraculous. I don't think anyone in the history of the Miraculous has stuffed up as royally as I have."

Chat shook his head. "No, I won't let that happen." Chat promised her.

"Oh Chat." Ladybug lamented. "You can't stop him. He's the Celestial Guardian, there is nothing you or I can do."

"No Bug, I won't let him." Chat protested, stepping away from her, his anger rising at the mere thought. "He won't take my Miraculous, or yours. Or he can take them off my dead body."

Ladybug let out a cry and Chat immediately was back at her side, holding her to him again. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean it that way."

"Yes you did." She refuted, pressing her forehead to his chest. "You're always throwing your life away for me you stupid cat."

Chat smiled to himself, resting his chin on her head. "But you always bring me back. And even if you do forget everything, even me, I will still always be there for you."

Ladybug shook her head. "You wouldn't know who I was. How could you ever find me?"

"I'd find you." He said confidently. "Whoever you are under the mask, I know I would find you. Fate brought us together once, it would bring us together again."

"You really think so?"

"I know so."

"Even after… all this?"

Chat hooked a finger under her chin so she would look at him. His eyes were soft and full of love. "We aren't our mistakes, m'lady, but we become who we are because of them. You were right, knowing our identities with everything that has happened is too big of a risk at this moment. I understand that now, and I also understand that I'm not any less important to you because of it."

Ladybug looked up into Chat's eyes. She could feel it, the moment she started falling. No, not falling. This wasn't a new feeling at all, but one she had ignored before and buried deep within. She wasn't falling, because she had already fallen. Thunder rolled in the distance, and the heavens opened once again, but she didn't care. If life was about learning to dance in the rain, then there was only one dance partner that she wanted by her side.

Ladybug laid her hand on his chest over the place his heart was beating, it's rhythm almost as erratic as her own. "And I learned that I could trust my partner." She said, maintaining eye contact. "With my faith, with my life and with my heart."

Chat rested his hands lightly on her hips, his own breaths becoming heavy. "Do you mean that?" He asked, searching her eyes. It wasn't that he questioned her words or her sincerity, because he could see both were true, it was because he doubted himself. He desperately wanted to be everything she needed him to be, to be that sturdy rock she could stand on, but also the strong arms that could hold her and make her feel safe, a soft place where she could fall.

Chat knew he hadn't been without fault himself. He too had made mistakes. Maybe even loving her had been his greatest mistake but if it was then it was a mistake he would willingly make again and again.

"Yes Kitty, I mean it. I don't know where we go from here, but you mean everything to me, and I can't keep you at a distance anymore because I can't do this without you." She looked up at him, uncertainty in her eyes. "I…I don't know if I can ever be the kind of girlfriend you deserve Minou. I don't know how to…"

Chat placed a finger softly over her lips. "We don't need a name for what we are, Bugaboo. We are partners, in whatever shape that takes, for better or for worse."

She then smiled at him softly. "I swear I'm going to need so much therapy after this."

Chat's face broke out into a devilish grin. "Then let doctor Chat take care of you." He said with debonair flair. "And I know exactly what to prescribe."

Ladybug looked at him skeptically as he closed his arms around her. "Oh? And what's that?"

"Kisses, and often. Best dispensed by someone who desperately wants to."

Ladybug's eyes widened and Chat practically held his breath. He was worried he might have overstepped the mark until a small blush started to spread across her cheeks. "Kiss therapy huh?"

"Only if you want to." He quickly added. "But they do say that kissing makes you feel happier. It's a scientific fact."

She smiled at him then. "I guess it couldn't hurt to try, purely for scientific purposes."

Chat then brought one hand up to cup her cheek. "Then, may I?"

Ladybug nodded her head, raising up on her toes to meet him halfway. She was sure that if Chat hadn't been holding her, her knees would have given out from under her. This was so much more than that time she had kissed him to free him from Dark Cupid, because this time he was kissing her back with soft lips and an almost reverence. Instinctively, Ladybug tilted her head and Chat brought up his other hand, cradling her head and deepening the kiss, pouring every ounce of love he had for her. She could feel the bliss blooming in her chest. This felt right, this was where she belonged.

Chat was the one to break the kiss, resting his forehead against hers and breathing heavily, his warmth breath mingling with hers. Ladybug looked up at him through her lashes, her lips glistening from his kisses. "I think your therapy is working Dr Chat. I would mind another course."

Chat was trying hard not to smile too hard. "Well, maybe we better keep it to small doses for now until you become accustomed to it. But I think a kiss daily is just what the doctor ordered."

Ladybug nodded her head and stepped back, holding his hands in her. She looked down at his hands in hers. "What are we going to do Chat? How are we going to get them back?"

Chat curled his hands around hers and brought them up to his chest. "I don't want you to think about that tonight. Right now you need to sleep. I want you to go home and just think about you for tonight. Have a talk with a Tikki and tomorrow we will come up with a plan. Remember we still have a whole team of heroes, even without their Miraculous, and I know they will be ready and willing to fight beside you. Will you believe in that Bug? Will you do it for them?"

"I will." She promised. "I'll do it for them, and I'll do it for us. For better or for worse."

He pressed his forehead back against hers, their noses lightly brushing. "You and me against the world." He whispered, ghosting his lips against her before claiming them once again.