At first Ladybug waited everyday.
Atop the Eiffel Tower she sat just as the sun began to set, her suit clashing with the reddening sky. She paid no attention to those who gathered below– cameras flashing, calls of 'thank you' and pleas for interviews– she just stared out at the building-filled skyline, unmoving. She stared there long after the sun had vanished, and when the few visible stars began to shine. It wasn't until long after the night set in that she left, swinging away on her yoyo and running across rooftops as she vanished.
This went on unrelenting for months– everyday the citizens of Paris knew where to find their hero, and they knew no amount of coaxing could draw her down from the monument. It was one of the few times they saw the heroine. Perhaps she'd swoop in to stop an ongoing bank robbery, or to bring a lost child home to their searching parents, but usually she stayed far out of reach. No akumas to draw her out, no nightly patrols like she had so often done. She no longer accepted interviews, nor showed up to events in the heroes' honor. She had so quickly become an enigma, but everyone knew why.
The last time Chat Noir had been seen had been at the arrest of Hawk Moth, the Butterfly Miraculous had been clutched tightly in his palm, having been the one to rip it from the villain's chest. While the city had celebrated their victory, there had only been a cold fury in his gaze, watching as Gabriel Agreste was dragged away. He had not said a word to anyone, not even Ladybug, as he had vaulted away across rooftops.
People had once excitedly gathered to look up at Ladybug as she waited on the tower, but as the months dragged on the novelty had worn off. They no longer called to her, eager to see the savior of Paris. She had become almost like a statue– silent and distant, something to be honored, but just a shadow of who she had once been. Her presence every night had become calming, knowing that she would be there, and it was rare that someone lingered long enough to stare.
The first night Ladybug had not been seen up on the tower was the first time she had appeared in the news for weeks. The media had exploded with theories overnight– everything from the weather to alien abductions attempting to explain where she had gone. The simple, but startling break in routine had sent the city's fear spiking, simply wanting to know what had happened to their remaining hero.
The next day Ladybug returned to her perch, silently waiting as always.
No one was quite sure when exactly Ladybug's absences had become more common than her appearances, but after a year of a stable schedule it had eventually become noticed. At first it had only been a couple nights a month that she failed to appear at the tower, which didn't take long to turn into a couple of times a week. The nights she spent atop the tower soon had faded into once a week as the second year of Paris being rid of Hawk Moth progressed.
Her service to the civilians had never wavered. The police never blinked when a flash of red pounced on a fleeing criminal, and it never took long for her to make an appearance in a hostage situation. Countless people had stories of Ladybug walking them home, of confronting threatening figures in alleyways, or of even finding a lost pet. Even without a super villain lingering over them she was still Paris' hero.
Theories sprouted up, of fading hope and lingering faith in the return of her partner. She gave no answers to these individuals, always zipping away after she had done her duty. It had been ages since Ladybug had given an interview, and she no longer directly addressed the city she served. If she did talk it was to individuals privately, often to children she had saved or to those victims of what had taken place. The only time the news could catch her voice was when her Miraculous Ladybug was cast, to heal and fix the damage that had been inflicted, though it was minimal compared to when akumas raged.
Seeing her Lucky Charm was even rarer.
During the third year since Hawk Moth's defeat Ladybug's presence had once again become a constant in Paris.
It was not as often as she had appeared before– only once a month could she be spotted up on the tower– the full moon behind her. It didn't matter if it was a clear night or a raging storm, she would silently wait in the same manner she had often done. Theories had long stopped being proposed, and few paid her any heed. She was their hero, and this was the familiarity they had come to know. They saw no mystery or forlorn at the sight, just another constant in their lives.
As the end of the year approached she once again began to waver in the routine they had come to know. As winter had fully set in she seemed to vanish from the Eiffel Tower completely from her monthly watch. No one had questioned her disappearance this time, as she still appeared when trouble seemed to strike. No one blamed her for not sitting up there in the middle of a bitter winter.
Because was it worth waiting for someone who wouldn't show?
When the fourth year since Hawk Moth's fall began they expected their Ladybug to return to her sentry on the Eiffel Tower in the spring, when the snow and bitter rains had retreated, and the clear nights were once again waiting for her. Yet March had stretched out into April, and April into May, and only emptiness could be seen on the beams of the tower.
It was easily assumed that Ladybug was no longer waiting for her partner.
Yet as summer came around, and as the anniversary of Hawk Moth's defeat approached, the heroine was soon spotted. For one week she sat upon the tower as she had faithfully done in the years before. As the city celebrated the fall of the one who had once attacked and terrorized them, as they honored her, she sat in her isolated silence.
During the fifth year the Eiffel Tower sat empty.