Never Let Me Go

by AlexArtemesia

Some secrets just can't be kept, no matter how hard you try. Some things are simply meant to be. - Canon divergence in that it takes place after the events of Chat Blanc, but it kind of tacks on to the end of the episode and goes on from there. Aged up to attend Lycee and to avoid writing about 13-year-olds' love lives.

2. Chapter 2 - Tikki

Marinette fell face-first onto her bed the moment she landed back in the safety of her bedroom and detransformed. Tears still choked her, and she hugged her pillow to her chest as she sobbed anew for all the things she hadn't been able to tell Chat.

"Marinette…" Tikki crooned, stroking the girl's hair in sympathy. It had killed her too, seeing her partner like that, and all the little luck kwami wanted to do was rush to find Plagg and see if he was alright… Surely he'd felt something off? But now was not the time; Now, she had to help console her Chosen, because as much as Chat Noir had done for her, there was so much that couldn't be said.

"I almost lost him, Tikki!" Marinette's muffled cry made the kwami wince, remembering the cold blue of Chat Blanc's eyes and how much hatred had filled them when he'd been chasing Ladybug. "I almost lost him because of a stupid mistake!"

Tikki was old enough by now to know when to hold her tongue. Now was not the time to chastise the teenager's brash decisions or her love-struck foolishness. She'd righted it, in the end, and Tikki understood just how much pain that action caused. Because unlike when their usual Miraculous Ladybugs had swept through and cleansed everything… Marinette remembered. She remembered everything.

Which meant…

"He knew who I was, Tikki," Marinette hiccupped, lifting her face from the pillow so that she could be heard more clearly, even as she curled around it as if she'd been hit in the stomach. "He knew who I was, and said we'd been in love… I…" More tears leaked from the girl's eyes, and not for the first time, Tikki's heart broke for her Chosen. It was often like this, for her Ladybugs. It was part of the magic of the Miraculous, and part of the curse of being their holders. There was always the pain of being apart from your other half. It was a burden all chosen shared with their kwami.

"I'll never be able to tell him, will I?" Marinette asked, looking up.

"Tell him what?" Tikki asked, suspicious at the suddenly deadened look in Marinette's gaze, worried that she'd missed something in her ruminations. What was Marinette talking about?

"I'll never be able to tell Adrien that I love him… If I want to keep a future with Chat Blanc from happening."

Tikki's blood ran cold.