Chapter 3

"Oh gracious," Marinette sighed with her eyes closed, "this is delicious." She took another small bite of the delicate, buttery fish. It melted on her tongue. Chat Noir smirked at her reaction.

"It's like you've never had sole meuniere before," he quipped, taking a bite himself.

"Oh, I have. I mean, you know my parents. But this is just so… good…" and she took another bite. Adrien knew she'd been absent at lunch time that day. He doubted she'd eaten since breakfast. It felt good to watch her indulge for just a moment. She caught him staring at her and blushed. "Don't you think it's… good?"

"Of course. Um, fish. Cat." He swept a hand from his chin to his waist in a grandiose gesture.

She laughed. "Ah yes, I should have known. What else do you like to eat?"

"Passionfruit macarons."

More blushing. More laughing. "You silly thing, what else? Really?"

"Why so interested?"

"Because I like knowing things about my friends," she shrugged, taking another bite of the amazing meal.

Chat swallowed and thought for a second. "Hm, I like… fruit."

Her eyebrows arched. "Fruit?" Now he blushed, but nodded.

"Yeah, and croissants. And quiche. Oh, and fresh bread…" he said as he closed his eyes in bliss.

She laughed lightly. He really loved listening to her laugh. "You're not all that picky, are you?"

His eyes popped open. "Picky? Me? Nope. Never met something I didn't love. To be honest," he said, taking a bit of vegetables and chewing thoughtfully, "food tastes different when I'm Chat."

"Really?"

"Yeah. So, you know these?" he flicked his own black cat ear. "They're not just ornamental. When I'm Chat Noir, all my senses are enhanced. The first time I ever ate food when Chat Noir, it changed my life." Marinette's jaw slacked in wonder. She'd, of course, noticed the heightened senses—the sharper vision and clearer, more intense hearing, and the way she could smell flowers and spices with distinction when she was Ladybug, but never, in a year of swinging from buildings, had she thought to eat something while transformed. There was never time for frivolities. "Not to mention this—" he rubbed his finger over his ring—"uses a lot of extra calories. I can basically eat whatever I want."

She giggled, trying to wipe the gawk off her face. "That sounds like fun. Don't tell my dad that, he'll take it as a personal challenge!" Chat smiled into his plate. "But that makes me wonder," she mused.

"Hm?"

"Do you think Ladybug has the same… what did you call it, enhanced senses?"

He scratched his chin thoughtfully. "I don't know, I've never asked her. My guess is probably yes. I know she doesn't get night vision like I do, but there's been times I swear she heard or saw something I did, which would be impossible without the mask."

"I wonder if she's ever eaten while transformed," Marinette continued.

Now Chat raised an eyebrow at her, "why so curious today? That's my department."

Marinette's eyes widened and she looked from side to side for a second, then blinked and smiled, "Like I said, just getting to know my friend."

His face broke into the softest, gentlest smile she'd ever seen. It took her off guard and made her heartbeat go funny. "I like it when you call me your friend, Marinette." His eyes were so tender and yet so strong as they gazed into hers. She couldn't blink or look away. She wasn't sure she wanted to.

It took an interruption from the waiter to end the moment. A fruit and cheese platter was served and the last dregs of sole meuniere were cleared from the table. "Chat! Fruit!"

The paparazzi were satiated when the dinner ended, but Chat Noir wasn't. Being with Marinette was liberating. He'd never had such an open, heartfelt, easy conversation with a girl—or anyone, really-before. "Marinette, would it be ok if I took you home the long way?" he asked shyly.

Her cheeks flushed under that cute smattering of freckles. "I'd… really like that," she admitted. They made a show of thanking the chef for the marvelous meal, posed for some more photos, and then Chat Noir lifted them both to the nearest rooftop before scooping up Marinette and leaping away.

The moment they were alone, he put her down, then walked to the edge of a rooftop and sat with his feet dangling over the side. Marinette seemed hesitant. Chat remembered how clumsy she could be and extended a paw to steady her. She took his hand and sat down. He inched closer so she could lean on him. She took a deep breath and let her feet swing over the edge. When she didn't fall, she sighed, but her shoulders remained tense.

"Marinette?"

"Hmm?"

"Is everything alright?"

Silence. At last she inhaled slowly and shook her head.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

More silence. Another long, slow, breath, and a tiny nod of her head. He wrapped his arm around her very tight shoulders. She seemed to relax slightly. "Sometimes I feel like I've got the weight of the world on my shoulders," she said quietly. "Like everyone is counting on me for everything. It makes my bones ache. What if I let them all down?"

She reminded him of Ladybug, in that moment. He was never quite sure what to say when Ladybug was vulnerable with him, and he wasn't quite sure what to say now, either. He gave her a reassuring squeeze. "Marinette, you are just about the most caring person I've ever met. But Ladybug told me something the other day that really struck me—you can't be two people. You can't split yourself up and try to be everything for everyone. Also, and this is from me, not my partner—it's alright to say no sometimes."

Marinette gave an incredulous little snort. "Say 'no'? Don't you know me at all?"

"I do know you," Chat said quietly, which made Marinette's heart leap.

"You… Do?"

"Wait," he retreated a little frantically, "Not like, know know, but enough to know that you do so much for everyone everyday. You don't have to run yourself ragged. You can ask for help."

She pondered that for a few moments. "What if it's not something I can ask for help with? What if I'm meant to face it alone?"

"I don't believe that's true," he said, pulling her even closer. She felt his warmth and smelled his scent—a glorious combination of musk and leather, with a hint of peppermint. "I don't believe any of us are supposed to go it alone. Like Ladybug and me—we're a team. We didn't get our miraculouses alone; we were meant to protect Paris together. You've got amazing friends that want to help you. I know because I saw them all in your room tonight. Trust them."

She stared blankly at the night sky. Very slowly, she placed an arm around Chat's back, and then the other across his chest. She squeezed him and let her head rest on his shoulder. "Thank you, Chat," she whispered into the smooth material of his suit. "That was exactly what I needed to hear."

"Anytime, Mil-Marinette."

The LadyBlog wasn't the only media splashed with "How important he is to me" the next morning—but it was the only one to get it right. Most were fairly innocuous, simply showing the pictures of Ladybug glaring down Lila (with a warning not to distract the heroes during a battle), pounding fists with Chat Noir after, or highlighting the restaurant with Chat and Marinette. However, the more sinister reports claimed Chat Noir had taken Marinette on a romantic date mere moments after Ladybug had expressed her undying love for him. However, the past year had cemented the LadyBlog as Ladybug's official news outlet, and Alya could honestly reveal that she had been with her best friend Marinette when Chat Noir had come to collect her for an entirely platonic evening out. Tom Dupain was quoted that Chat was a close friend of the family.

It still didn't make a lot of difference. When Marinette arrived at school the next day, she was greeted with wide eyes and a barrage of questions.
"Are you dating Chat Noir?"

"What's he like in person?"

"Is Ladybug jealous of you?"
"Can I have Ladybug now that Chat's officially relinquished her?" (that's the only one she answered with a withering glare.)

She was so crowded by questioning students that she couldn't make it up the stairs to her classroom. "Hey!" she yelled, stamping her foot, "Lay off it, alright? Chat Noir and I are friends. He wanted to help that poor chef that had just been akumatized. So he and I ate dinner together. As friends. JUST friends!"

"Besides—" said a voice that made Marinette blush furiously (had he heard that just now?), "everyone knows that Chat Noir only has eyes for Ladybug." Adrien pushed the crowd back and stood next to Marinette. "So just go on to class, there's nothing to see here," he admonished. Slowly, everyone skulked off. "Ugh. I hate it when fans go crazy like that."

Marinette didn't speak. She just flexed her jaw a bit and stared at him. She'd been so confident around him the last few weeks that to see her clam up again made his heart sink. He hadn't forgotten Nino's words—hung up on him—and was about to give her a reassuring pat on the shoulder when he remembered the last time he had seen her as Adrien… on the stairs… in her house… with Kagami… Oh. No.

"So uh, Marinette, I'm really sorry about last night. I knew you and Kagami were friends, so I asked her to come with me to help you out, but things kind of got out of hand…"

Marinette's eyebrows creased a little bit and she blinked a few times. "It's ok, Adrien, you're allowed to kiss your girlfriend."

"My… girlfriend?"

"Did you two have a nice evening together?" She continued, making her way to the classroom now. "I didn't see you after the akuma attack. I hope you didn't get caught up in all that."

"N-no," he stuttered as alarms blared through his head GIRLFRIEND-GIRLFRIEND-GIRLFRIEND.

"Oh good," she responded. "I'm glad. Did Kagami take it ok? I mean, all the mix up with Lila and the restaurant and everything? I mean, if Lila had posted that she was dating my boyfriend, I think I would have totally lost it." Shut up, Marinette, her brain was hissing, but her heart kept up the word vomit. Adrien's face was blank and his eyes were vacant. "But then again, Kagami's always been cooler than me, so what do I know?"

Adrien's mouth had stopped working. Marinette was a little worried she might have broken him. "Uh, Adrien? You ok?" Still nothing. She touched his arm lightly. "C'mon, let's get to class," she said. He walked silently to his seat and landed in it with a little thud.

That was weird. She settled in and looked at the clock. For once, she was in her seat before the bell!

Except that's the moment the ground rumbled and the AkumaAlert app buzzed. She checked her phone quickly, along with the majority of the class. It was close—very close. "Everyone get down!" Marinette instinctively yelled, and just in time. The few students who were in the room dove under their desks just as something destroyed a part of the wall, sending debris crashing through the classroom. There was no time to even make an excuse—she just bolted for the door, held up only for a fraction of a second as she waited for Adrien to escape first, and beelined to her favorite bathroom stall.

"What is that thing?" Chat Noir asked Ladybug when she landed on the school rooftop next to him. Her eyes swept over the street below. It was the oddest thing either of them had seen—and that was seriously saying something.

It was… tall. Rough—no, fuzzy around the edges. Inhuman, with long swinging tentacle-like protrusions emerging from the top. It was like a statue yanked from the sculptor's hands before completion. But it was still dangerous as it thumped around, knocking things over and throwing things at the school and neighboring buildings. "I don't think it's an akuma. Maybe a…"

"Sentimonster," Chat nodded. "But it's different."

"Yeah," Ladybug nodded. "C'mon, let's see what this thing's all about." They engaged the sentimonster. A couple zips of the yo-yo and swings of the baton were informative: the yo-yo would snare a tentacle, but not for long. With a static voip sound, the tentacle would blink out of existence, and then back in. Chat noticed the same thing—sometimes he would connect with a tentacle, but other times not. It reminded him a bit of Troublemaker, where it was blinking in an out of existence, but there was no rhyme or reason to the disappearances. Ladybug watched as one of the tentacles reached for a car and passed through it twice before being able to make connection and topple it.

"I don't think it's able to control the blipping," Ladybug shouted over the din of the battle.

"We're going to have to find whoever's controlling it to stop it."

Ladybug took a step back and called, "Lucky Charm!"

Chat laughed hard when a hefty wind-up toy cat landed in Ladybug's arms. It even had a little bell under its chin. "Yes!" he guffawed and punched the air. "Cats rule, creepy-weird-sentimonsters drool!" She couldn't help but laugh as well. She looked around to get a clue as how to use her lucky charm. A souvenir vendor cart was parked a way down the sidewalk. Behind it, an alley way where she could make out the shadow of a hunched figure. Still unsure of how this would work out, but confident in her instincts, Ladybug wound up the cat and let it go.

It spun in crazy loops and rammed into the souvenir vendor. Stacks of newspapers and magazines went flying in a constellation of photos of Ladybug with her finger in Lila's face. Hats, shirts, toys, and pens scattered across the pavement. At the explosion of stuff, the shadowy figure leapt in fright and came running towards them.

"Chat Noir!" that familiar, sickly-sweet voice called. Not again! "Please, I know where the amok is! You have to save me!" Lila was turned toward Chat Noir with outstretched arms.

"No, Lila," he yelled at her, "You're not going to put Paris in harm's way again!"

Just then, a feminine figure emerged from the alleyway behind the school. "Mayura!" Ladybug hissed, but then, "no… wait, what?" Ladybug and Chat Noir's eyes narrowed on the form. It looked a lot like Mayura, but very strange. The dress and hat looked similar but were burgundy and cream colored rather than blue and purple. The hat was lower and covered both eyes instead of one, with a black veil material. Her skin was peachy white, not blue. Most unusual of all, she had no feather fan. She barreled at Lila, who made eye contact with this strange-Mayura and screamed.

"Chat Noir," Lila begged with real yearning in her voice, "please believe me. The amok is in that toy." She pointed out a tiny wind-up mouse that was zipping around the pavement in circles. "Please help me!" Chat's eyes narrowed as he saw the tears streaming down her cheeks. Maybe she was being honest, for once. The strange-Mayura slammed a fist into Lila's stomach to silence her and dragged her back into the shadows of the alleyway she had emerged from. Ladybug's cry for help pulled Chat Noir back to the battle at hand. He tracked the hyperactive wind-up mouse, cried "Cataclysm!" and did a mid-air summersault to land on the mouse. It disintegrated at his touch and a tiny purple feather floated way. Ladybug cleaned up while Chat Noir bolted silently to the alleyway.

The voices were hushed, so he only made out a few snippets: "I just panicked, ok?" That was definitely Lila's sobs that drowned out anything else. "Please don't take it!" A few more sobs and a low, growling voice he couldn't make out. "Th-Thank you, Mayura." Lila sounded completely dejected. Muffled voices, and then the clamber of hands on walls and Chat Noir looked up to see strange-Mayura run to the edge of the roof and disappear from sight. Chat made his way into the alley, but Lila was already gone.

"Ladybug," he called to her, sprinting to her side. "We need to talk." She nodded knowingly. "But we can't right now," he added, holding up his flashing ring. "Friday? Sunset? Our roof?"

"I'll be there," she promised.

"Tikki, spots on," Marinette murmured. It was still about an hour before sunset, but she was too keyed up to wait any longer. It was an unusual sensation—planning to be Ladybug. School had ended for summer break that day, so she had no homework. She'd arranged a sleepover at Alya's to ward off any other plans. Yet again, she was so glad she'd divulged her secret to Alya, who was beginning to act like her personal secretary and thought up way better excuses for Marinette than she had all year. Not having to lie to anyone about where she was going tonight was liberating. She'd walked several blocks away from home before transforming, just to make sure any prying eyes didn't see her anywhere near the Dupain Bakery. Tikki had given her a vote of confidence before flying into the earrings.

Ladybug flew from rooftop to rooftop for a few moments, just to release some nervous energy. Eventually she picked her way to the roof where Chat Noir had made her dinner so many months ago. It was a good place to meet—secluded, quiet, and beautiful. Even though she was still plenty early, she was surprised to see him already there, pacing, black tail swishing. His ears perked when he heard the zip of her yo-yo. She swung high in a scissors leap, tucked her arms and knees in, summersaulted twice, extended her legs and twisted in a glorious Yurchenko, and landed lightly. She tossed her hair out of her eyes and smiled at Chat Noir, who gaped at her, completely dumbfounded.

"You're early," she teased.

"Uh… so are you," he replied and rubbed the base of his neck. Was that flirting? He'd certainly never seen her let loose like that, not just for fun.

She laughed that beautiful, musical laugh. "I'm sorry. I guess I just like not having an akuma breathing down our necks."

He nodded, "I totally agree."

Chat Noir had set up a small table and a couple of chairs. There was a grey messenger bag on the back of one of the chairs. How long had he been here? She sat down in the bagless chair and smiled again. "Shall we get down to business?"

He shook the daze from his eyes and sat down at the table with her. Almost immediately he bounced back to his feet and started pacing again. "I've been thinking about a lot of things, Milady."

"Me too."

"Yeah? You go first?"

"Tuesday… the Sentimonster."

His eyes widened. "I know, right? That was beyond weird. What do you think happened?"

Ladybug stood up and paced too. "Well, it's hard to know for certain. But I think that was the Mayura, in some kind of costume. Not transformed."

Chat Noir nodded rapidly. "I was thinking the same thing. The way she still climbed up the wall and ran over the roof top was… eerie." He shuddered. "Could you hear what Lila said in that alley?"

Ladybug shook her head slightly. "I wasn't as close as you were; I could hear voices, but couldn't make out what they were saying."

"I only caught snippets. Lila was definitely crying, she said she panicked, then she said 'please don't take it,' and finally, 'thank you, Mayura.' I'm certain that Lila knows Mayura and is working with her."

Ladybug stopped and her eyes grew large. "That's…"
"Horrible," Chat finished for her, "I know."

"That sentimonster was so weird. Remember how detailed and perfect Mayura's sentimonsters have been recently?"

Chat winced. Oh, how he remembered…the soft skin, the fluttering eyes, the terror that she'd been hurt, the way his heart shredded when he realized it was fake… "Yes," he whispered, "I remember. But this one wasn't like that. It was uncontrolled, fuzzy, almost amateur."

"I agree. Like whoever made it didn't know what they were doing. And it got out of control, just like when Master Fu accidentally made Feast."

They paced silently as their brains churned information. "If Lila knows Mayura and is working with her," Chat said tentatively, "do you think it was her that made the sentimonster?"

Ladybug took a deep breath, "I don't want to jump to conclusions, but I'm having a hard time envisioning it any other way. She knew exactly where the amok was, she was terrified of that thing, there weren't a lot of people on the street, and she asked Mayura… what was it again?"

"'Please don't take it.' I'll bet my cat bell that she was talking about the peacock miraculous."

Ladybug shivered. "Why wouldn't Mayura just make the sentimonster herself?"

Chat Noir's eyes went pensive again. "Remember after Miracle Queen? She collapsed. Hawkmoth took off with her. She might not have the strength to wield the peacock miraculous any more. Maybe she's trying to teach Lila how to use it."

"If we're right," Ladybug said, halting and looking petrified, "that means that we have Hawkmoth, Mayura, and Mayura-wannabe to worry about."

To her surprise, Chat laughed. "Mayura-wannabe! I will never not call her that!"

The lightness of his laughter broke the tension. Ladybug laughed as well. She sat down and Chat Noir joined her, staying in his seat this time. "But in all seriousness," she continued, "Hawkmoth appears to be gathering his own little army."

"It certainly appears that way, Milady. Which is why I got you this…" he said, reaching into the grey messenger bag. He pulled out two sleek, top-of-the-line cellphones. He placed one on the table in front of her. Her jaw dropped. "I've taken every security precaution—untraceable numbers, fake names, and I only laundered a bit of money."

Her hand flew to her mouth. "Chat. This is…"

"We need to stay in contact. If Hawkmoth is gathering an army, we need to gather ours too." She took the phone gingerly. It was locked.

"Uh, what's the…"

A huge, toothy grin split his face. He slid next to her and reached around her to type "ChatNoirIsHAWT!" as the password. She gave a little gasping laugh through what Chat suddenly noticed were tears. "Oh, Milady," he stammered while sliding back to his seat, "I'm sorry, was this going too far?"

She slowly shook her head and her hand dropped to reveal a small smile. "This is… incredible. But I can't accept it," she said, placing the phone back on the table. "These had to cost… a lot. I won't let you put yourself at risk just for me."

He rolled his eyes. "You're going to take the phone and you're going to say 'Thank you, you amazing kitty,' and then you're going to text me cat memes all night."

She smirked. "But seriously… how?"

He flashed a big, supermodel smile and arched an eyebrow, leaned in with his hand under his chin, then whispered huskily, "I've got skills."

Her heart stuttered. He was such a flirt. But two could play this game. She leaned across the tiny table and flicked his bell while lowering her voice, "Thank you, you amazing kitty." His eyes bolted wide open and flew to the back of his chair, lost his balance, and toppled to the rooftop below. She threw her head back in laughter.

When he had slunk to his chair with just a bit less ego and her giggles had subsided, she reached out and took his clawed hand gently. "Thank you, Chat Noir. It's been really hard on me since Master Fu left. I haven't felt like I could possibly fill his shoes. I've been so afraid I'm going to let all of Paris down. But you have helped me realize that I'm not alone—I have the best partner in the world. Thank you for everything."

He blushed and stammered. "You're welcome." He forgot what hands do. He stared at his own awkward appendages and her dainty gloved fingers resting over his and he had no clue how to move or think or breathe. Eventually, she gave his fingers a tiny squeeze and let go. His brain started working again slowly.

"I have one other surprise," he said, clearing his throat.

"I'm not sure if I can handle another one!"
"This is far less expensive, I promise," he said, rapidly regaining his swagger, and reached back into the messenger bag. He pulled out a loaf of fresh bread, a small bundle of grapes, strawberries, and limes, a tall bottle of orange juice, and at last a tiny box of Belgian chocolates. "I got to spend the best evening with a friend of mine this week, and she said something that made me wonder… have you ever eaten while transformed?"

Her eyes melted at the beautiful little meal. She shook her head. As he looked at her, with a little smirk playing at the corners of his lips, her heart picked up its pace. He was so much more than what she had assumed when they first met. He was thoughtful, and patient, compassionate, and—as much as she hated to admit it—funny.

"Well then," he continued, "it's high time." He tore the loaf in two and gave her half. She took a bite.

"Oh. My." He was right: lifechanging.

Author Note: I have an idea where this is heading, but reviews and fellow musings are welcome! Lots more to come.