Sunrays peaked through the pink curtains of Marinette's room and landed themselves directly on her sleeping face. Tossing and turning in annoyance, Marinette almost found herself back in her dreams before a shiver bolted through her body. She shot up, jumping out of bed and dashing straight to her phone perched on her desk.
"Shoot, shoot, shoot, what time is it," her hands fumbled around the phone, unable to get a good grip. Tikki yawned and rose from her sleeping cushion to greet her panicking friend.
"Marinette, what's all the rush for? It's Saturday, there's no school." Tikki landed on Marinette's shoulder as the girl was finally able to hit the power button to check the time. Three missed calls from Alya illuminated the screen.
"AAah, I knew I shouldn't have put my phone on mute for us to watch that movie last night! I'm so dumb, Tikki! We're so late!" Marinette quickly tossed her phone on her bed as she threw open her closet door.
"Marinette."
"I'm such an idiot. We've been planning this all week, and I sleep through my 5 alarms. What kind of friend am I?"
"Marinette!"
"He's gonna be so disappointed. I ruined it! I ruined his big day! How can I save Paris, but I can't even be a decent friend for five minutes?"
"MARINETTE!"
Marinette halted midway through putting on her jacket. Her grey eyes met the scowling bright blue ones of her kwami.
"Marinette, calm down! You're not a terrible friend. You made a simple mistake. We'll get over there in no time! But uh… what are we going to again?"
Marinette finished pulling her arm through her jacket, taking a deep breath. The shock of Tikki yelling at her gave her body the needed jolt to refocus. "Sorry, Tikki. It's Luka's surprise birthday party today. We've been working on it all week," Marinetta pushed aside her mannequin to reach for a small brightly-wrapped present behind it. "Juleka said Luka is always sad on his birthday. Their family never really celebrates it, so I wanted to change that." She tightened the ribbons on the present and stepped back to admire her handiwork.
Tikki floated beside her friend to get a better look at the gift box. "But Marinette, do you think maybe he wants to be alone on his birthday? There might be a good reason he doesn't want to be with others."
"I think it means he needs someone more than ever today," Marinette smirked and poked a finger into Tikki's belly, causing a giggle to erupt from the kwami. "So, I just really need to be there for him. Whatever is bugging him might go away if he sees how much all his friends care about him."
She turned her head upward towards the ticking wall clock. The small hand had just reached the 1. "And I needed to be there for him three hours ago! Set-up was supposed to start at 1! What am I doing!?" Marinette began to rush around her room, stuffing items into her book bag.
"But Marinette, would a surprise party be too much then? That seems like a lot of people, especially if he wants to be alone. You know Luka is a fairly private person." Tikki snuggled into her panicking partner's backpack searching for a cookie to satisfy her sweet tooth.
Marinette hoisted her bag onto her back with a thump and then lifted her phone off her bed. "There's not that many people, Tikki. It's just me, Alya, Nino, and Kitty Junction. No Adrien since he has-" Marinette's grip recoiled, and her phone fell with a clatter onto the floor.
"Oh no, Tikki! Today is also Adrien's big photoshoot! The once in a lifetime one where the first 10 lucky guests get a chance to take professional shots with him! How could I forget?" Marinette slapped her forehead before reaching for a small string hanging from her ceiling. With a quick tug, a calendar unfurled showcasing every Adrien-related event she knew. Circled with a big red marker was today's date. Her lips tightened into a thin line and a harsh glisten overcame her eyes.
Tikki peeked her head out of Marinette's backpack to face her friend's pensive face. "Well, what are you going to do, Marinette?"
Marinette stepped back, eyes remaining locked to the red circle on her calendar. She focused on the multiple tiny hearts she had written by the date and Adrien's name. She couldn't remember when she had put them there; the calendar was always filled out months in advance, though recently she had found herself more and more reluctant to scratch each new event into there. It was as if the flame of her obsession was dying out but she hadn't the foggiest clue why. A soft hum escaped her lips as her eyes flickered to the shiny present perched on her desk. Her features softened, and she turned her head to face her kwami friend.
"I love Adrien, Tikki, but this day is important to Luka, and it's important to me. I want to be there for him. Besides Adrien wouldn't even notice if I'm not at the photoshoot," Marinette grabbed the present off her desk, giving it one final look over. "Now come on, we need to get going! Alya's gonna kill me." She lifted the door to her bedroom causing a delicious aroma of baked croissants and cookies to waft into the air.
Tikki smiled before retreating into the backpack. She always knew she could be proud of her Ladybug.
A soft breeze graced Marinette's face as she parked her bike outside Luka's house. She could never understand how he and Juleka could stand the constant swaying motion of the boat; it always made her feel a little sick. She could summersault through the air no problem, but a small lurch made her stomach queasy. Just another little quirk of hers, she reasoned.
Unclasping her helmet, a quick yell caught Marinette's attention. She glanced upwards to see Alya on the boat's deck frantically motioning for her to come up. Grabbing the present from her bike's basket, she complied and quickly ran up the ramp to meet her friend.
"Girl, where have you been? We've been waiting for hours! We're practically done setting up, just need you to go grab the birthday boy downstairs for this party to begin." Alya wrapped an arm around her panting friend.
"I'm- sorry- Alya," Marinette puffed between breathes. With a deep inhale, she slipped her present for Luka into her jacket's pocket and took a look around the boat. Endless amounts of balloons, streamers, and ribbons paraded in the wind. Above the normal Kitty Section practice spot hung a banner Marinette had made over the last week. It read 'Happy Birthday, Luka' and boasted a drawing of him playing his guitar. She smirked remembering how long she had to stare at Luka's face to even somewhat be able to capture his essence in the drawing. Below the banner sat two tables, one filled to the brim with food and the other hosting a DJ set. Nino and Ivan were untangling the cords leading from the DJ table to the nearest outlet, banging their heads together multiple times as they tried to fix every knot. Rose and Juleka stood nearby giggling amongst themselves as Rose tied a bright pink ribbon around Juleka's waist. Alya was right; everything looked according to plan. All that was really left was getting Luka to come up and see it. This had been their biggest struggle throughout the process. During their secret after school meetings, Juleka told them that Luka always refused to leave his room during his birthday no matter what she or their mother did. Their team debated for hours many convoluted ideas to get Luka to step out of his room (most thanks to Rose and Alya) before Juleka's face had erupted into a sly smirk as she suggested Marinette should just go ask him. Everyone was shocked. If he wouldn't come out of his room for his sister or mom, why would he come out for Marinette? Juleka had remained silent, her eyes locked on the black-haired girl, before simply stating she believed Marinette would have better luck. The girl in question could do nothing but stare in awe as everyone else eventually agreed on this conclusion. Even now, Marinette's mind couldn't let go of that moment. The thought that Luka would only respond to her caused a burning sensation to rise in her cheeks, but she quickly tried to diminish it.
A sharp bump into her shoulder snapped Marinette back to reality. She glanced up to see Alya as the culprit.
"We're gonna go ahead and hide. Can you go down and get him to come up?"
"I'll try to do my best, Alya. I really hope he answers. It's his birthday after all. He shouldn't have to be alone." Marinette began rubbing her shoulder but she couldn't tell whether it was because of the lingering pang of her friend's jab or her own nerves buzzing at the thought of talking to Luka.
Alya smiled softly, grabbing both of Marinette's hands. "Girl, are you kidding? I think we both know why Juleka said you should do it. Luka likes you a lot more than you give him credit for."
Marinette's face bloomed a bright pink. "Alya- I- you can't just say-"
Mid-sentence, Marinette felt Alya spin her around and push her towards the door to the lower floors of the boat. A faint good luck could be heard from the others as she began descending down the stairs, almost as if on command.
Marinette observed the home's decorations during her descent. Ship and rock music memorabilia were plastered to the inners of the boat, shimmering whenever hints of sunlight touched them. Glancing from side to side, she started remembering all the moments she had spent down in this part of the boat. The moment Luka inched closer to her to stare at her new designs, the moment that fake singer stole Kitty Section's work, the moment Adrien brought Kagami to see them all… but more importantly, the moment when she first met Luka. Everything was almost exactly the same as then except now the once wide-open door to his room was locked.
Marinette felt her heart hitch for a minute. Was this actually a good idea? She recalled Tikki's concerns from earlier. What if Luka hated it? What if he got angry? What if she was being rude to him? She felt frozen in place.
Knock knock. Marinette's eyes shot up. Who on Earth knocked?
Tikki hovered above her smiling softly, her little arm still touching the door. With a giggle, she flew back into Marinette's backpack leaving the girl angrily huffing at nothing. Ohh, Tikki is sooo going to get it later. No more chocolate chip cookies for her. She'll have to live with oatmeal raisin. Marinette scowled.
A low voice from inside the door caught her ear.
"Mom, just leave. I don't want to talk about it." A sense of melancholy Marinette had never heard before dripped from each word. Her heart dropped. She was in way over her head.
"Uh, it's actually me, Marinette, I mean." She hated how shaky her own voice was, as her eyes darted to anywhere besides the door.
The hum of the boat's lights was all that hung in the air for a moment. Marinette contemplated turning around and leaving to tell the others it didn't work. She was wrong, Luka really did want to be alone. The creak of his door kept her rooted in place though.
Slowly, she tilted her head up and took him in. Luka adorned his usual jacket and jeans but his normally bright turquoise hair seemed messy and dark as if he had not styled and dyed it in a long time. His hands, still gripping his door, were unpolished and rough, but his face was most alarming though. A hollow smile clung to his lips but the emptiness in his eyes gave away its true nature.
"Uhm, hi, Luka."
"Hi, Marinette."
The short exchange left the two awkwardly facing each other. Marinette wanted to scream. Talking to Luka was always easy. It was only ever with Adrien that she would stumble over her words. Why was this happening now of all times?
"Do you want to come in?" His voice was taut, and his eyes seemed to look past her. Marinette nodded regardless and scurried into his room.
He followed behind her and moved to sit on his bed, grabbing a black guitar laying nearby in the process. After absent-mindedly striking a few chords, he turned to the girl in his room and patted his bed to motion her to sit. Marinette followed, trying to sit far enough away to give him space if he wanted it. Luka returned to his guitar, playing a song that from what Marinette could tell was in a minor key. The sad melody waltzed around the room for a few minutes before Marinette decided to speak.
"I'm guessing from your song that someone's made you feel like -" she motioned her hands as if she was playing her own guitar while frowning. Luka always had done this for her, so maybe he would appreciate the call back.
A faint laugh escaped his lips. "Yeah, I guess you could put it that way." Sorrow still lurked behind his features, causing Marinette to abruptly stop her motions. Luka could always make her feel so much lighter when she was down. A simple tune on his guitar and a listening ear always comforted her.
A trepid thought crossed her mind. Luka had always comforted her, but had she ever comforted him before? Guilt began crawling up her back as an icy grip seemed to lock around her neck. She really was a terrible friend!
No. She wouldn't let her mind wander off down that negative train of thought. She needed to comfort Luka in her own Marinette-way.
"Luka, I know you probably don't want to talk about whatever it is that's bugging you, but please know I'm here for you no matter what. If there's anything I can do to help, I will," she rested her hand on top of his and smiled softly.
He refocused his eyes on where she had put her hand, pausing for a moment. A small grin unraveled on his face as he guided his other hand to hold hers in a gentle grip. Marinette felt the same rosy feeling in her cheeks returning. Luka lifted his head.
"Thanks, Marinette. I appreciate it." His lips closed as he stared Marinette down with a great intensity. She felt like she couldn't move, hypnotized by his blue eyes. Suddenly, he broke away, leaning back into his bed. A deep sigh escaped from his chest as he began speaking again.
"I guess Juleka told you I'm always like this on my birthday. She probably didn't tell you why though, did she? She was too young to remember." His eyes met hers, gauging her response. Marinette shook her head with an encouraging look. Luka nodded in return and continued.
"Our dad... he was around for a few years when we were growing up. Nothing special, but he was there at least. I thought that's what it was supposed to be like. To be a family. To be loved. But on the morning of my fifth birthday, I woke up to my mom crying. I tried to look for my dad to see if he could help, but I saw him walking out the door... He never came back through it. He left our family on his own son's birthday." Luka's breath hitched, as he turned to face the window above his bed.
Marinette's hands rose to cover her mouth as tears threatened to glide down her face. She had never known her sweet, intuitive friend suffered from such an experience growing up. She had always thought he could handle any situation or emotional trouble, but a new boy appeared to be sitting in front of her holding in his own tears. He had just exposed to her a side he had hid away from everyone for seemingly years.
Luka closed his eyes to refocus his shaky breath. "I just… I wish I knew why. I can still see it, his silhouette fading into the light from the doorway. I just want to reach out and grab him, yell, scream, ask him why. Why would you leave on your own son's birthday? Was I not enough? Was I that worthless that he couldn't even stay for a final birthday? Did he regret that I was born that much?" By his final question, Marinette could tell Luka was no longer directing the conversation at her but rather at the source of his anguish.
Luka brought a hand to his eye, wiping it slightly. He kept his head turned away towards the window. It seemed like he could no longer look at the girl next to him.
"Sorry, Marinette. I know that's kind of a bummer to hear. I shouldn't have dropped all of that on you. You can just forget-" Luka was cut off by the force of two strong arms wrapping around his chest.
Marinette snuggled in tighter and began to whisper. "Luka, never apologize for expressing your emotions. You have every right to feel sad today. I'm sorry you had to go through that, but just know that your mom, your sister, your friends, all care for you. I care for you. You are worth so much to all of us, to me. I don't know where I would be without our musical talks. Please know that we would never leave you, especially not on your big day."
Marinette refused to let go, wanting to transfer as much compassion as she could into her friend. She did almost leap back in shock, however, when she felt his warm arms encase her. The two sat in that position for a moment. Marinette listened to the steady beat of his heart and compared it to her own. She felt relaxed as though she was at home in his arms, a sensation she had never felt before in Adrien's. Despite his kind nature, she only felt nervous and wobbly when Adrien held her, but with Luka, the feeling was entirely new and welcoming.
Luka let out a soft chuckle. "Heh, thanks, Marinette. I feel like I should have been teaching you that though, not the other way around." He tilted his chin to meet her eyes with a warm expression.
A realization danced across Marinette's mind. No one before had ever expressed themselves wholeheartedly to her, trusting her with their deepest secret. People put faith into Ladybug like their lives depended on it (which they did), but no one ever directly put that deep faith into Marinette. She was just a normal girl to everyone, but Luka saw her as something more, the only person he could truly tell his emotions to. It made her feel raw and open. She wanted to continue feeling this, to continue being there for Luka and him for her. Together, they could share an intimacy she never had with anyone else, and they could lift each other up.
Marinette broke the distance between them, gently bringing her lips to Luka's. She had kissed him on the cheek countless times, but this, this was new and fresh. The kiss was delicate yet warm as though she had fanned a burning ember in her heart. This kiss was very different from her blazing kiss with Chat Noir, and she liked it a lot.
She released her lips from his, revealing a very shocked Luka. Marinette quickly frowned. "I'm so sorry, Luka! I should have asked first. And right after you opened your heart to me. I can't believe I just-"
"Marinette."
She stopped rambling and turned to look at him. She couldn't bear to see how big of a mistake she might have just made.
"That was the best birthday present I've ever gotten." A huge grin scrawled across his face as Marinette released her breath. But then she remembered something as her hand shot up to her jacket pocket.
"Well, get more excited because I have your birthday present part two right here..." she fumbled as she tried to pull the present out, causing it to fall onto the bed between them. Their hands met as they reached for the gift causing another blush to overtake Marinette's face and a deep laugh to escape Luka's lips.
"Let me see if it lives up to the first part." Luka carefully began unwrapping the package until a small black box was revealed. Marinette began sweating as Luka opened the box. She hoped he liked it.
Luka pulled a small guitar pick nested in the box's inner velvet. He held it up for examination. Embedded on the front was a turquoise snake logo, and on the back of the pic stood Jagged Stone's signature. Luka simply stared at it in his hand.
"It's a new guitar pic for your collection. I designed the snake, and then I worked with Jagged Stone to get it printed on the best material possible before getting him to sign it. Do you like it?" Marinette finished meekly.
Luka continued to stare at the guitar pick. Marinette watched his face closely and saw a hint of recognition flash in his eyes before disappearing as quickly as it came. She felt her hands moisten.
Suddenly, Luka threw his arm around her, squeezing her in a tight side hug. He couldn't take his eyes off the pic. "Marinette, I might change my answer. This is the best birthday present I've ever gotten."
Marinette smiled broadly, proud of her work. She had thought this might be the best gift for Luka, and it turns out she was right. Her smile faded though when she remembered why she was here.
"Hey, Luka," he finally tore his glance away from the pic at her change in tone. "I probably shouldn't tell you this, but we planned a surprise birthday party for you upstairs. We wanted to cheer you up and show you that we are all here for you for your birthday, but I completely understand if you want to still be alone. You deserve to have time to yourself today if that's what you want. I can lie to them and say I couldn't get you to come up."
Before she could even finish, Luka had stood up and grabbed her hand to pull her off the bed. "You know what, Marinette? I think I could use a little cake and cheer today. For once, I feel a little bit lighter on my birthday, and I want to be around the people that really care about me today." He squeezed her hand at the last part.
The two remained interlocked as they climbed the stairs of the boat. Luka paused as they reached the top, his eyes resting on the door frame that had haunted him for so long. Marinette rested her head on his shoulder and tightened her grip on his hand. Luka returned the favor and with a deep breath opened the door.
The two of them stepped out into the sunlight and a crowd of cheers. Marinette's hand never left Luka's.