*Author's Note*

Surprise surprise... I didn't think of anything until about 9pm, so once again I didn't publish anything until after 2am.

Also... yeah... I know... kinda angsty again. I don't know why writing pure fluff has been so hard for me this week. I've done it in the past. I've written fanfics so fluffy and pure I warned that readers might need to set up dentist appointments to make sure their teeth didn't rot. Something about this week though, man...

Day 2: Trust

Spoilers: Desperada, Feast, Chat Blanc, and Miracle Queen / Season 3 spoilers
Love Square Side: LadyNoir
Romance Level: Sweet Friendship

Summary: Now that she's the Guardian of the Miraculous, Ladybug has a lot to confess.

~ I Have Something To Confess ~

The apartment remained dark; still vacant. Ladybug wasn't sure if she preferred that to someone else living there. Someone else making it theirs. Making it no longer his.

"Evening, M'lady." Chat Noir landed beside Ladybug on the building across from the empty apartment. "I have to say, I wasn't expecting a late-night meet-up. What's up? What are we doing here?"

"Chat Noir," Ladybug's voice was soft; solemn. "You know I've hated keeping secrets from you, right?"

"Yeah. Of course I do. What's going on?" He inched closer, but kept his hands to his sides, unsure what kind of comfort she would need yet.

"I'm the Guardian of the Miraculous now, and so many secrets have already been revealed to you, like who the other Miraculous holders were. But, I wasn't the one who got to let you know that, and neither did Master Fu. You had to find out because of Hawkmoth, and I hate that. I should have told you, or Master Fu."

"It's okay, Ladybug. I have to admit I hated that you were trusted enough to know, but I wasn't. I also hated that you were able to pass out Miraculouses, but I couldn't choose a hero. But I get it. I understand why. I'm not mad at you, or at Master Fu." This time he rested his hands on her shoulders, squaring her in front of him so she could see how sincere he was.

"Even so." She turned, and Chat Noir reluctantly let go so she could. "There should only be one secret between us, and that's who we really are. No others. Hawkmoth still managed to find out who the other holders were even when Master Fu and I were the only ones who knew, and he didn't even learn from either of us. So, from now on, you're going to know too. I promise."

"Thank you. That means so much to me, but-" Chat Noir looked around him. It wasn't often that they fought in this particular part of Paris, and there wasn't a monument nearby. There didn't seem to be anything terribly significant about the spot, but it also wasn't terribly secluded. "Why did you ask me here? This address?"

Ladybug pointed across the street, to the empty apartment. "You see the one that's dark?"

"Yeah. The one with the flower box?"

Ladybug didn't even notice that. She was so focused on what was missing from the inside of the apartment, she didn't even see the flowers still growing on the small balcony outside the living room windows. They were a bit wild since no one had properly cared for them for nearly a month now, but still, they grew. They had lived on even without a guiding hand. She suddenly had a touch more faith that she could do the same.

"That apartment used to be Master Fu's."

Chat Noir did a double take. Master Fu had lived there. That was where the Guardian of the Miraculous was. That apartment was where Ladybug would disappear to in the middle of their battles in order to bring a new hero into their fold. Suddenly, the apartment felt so surprisingly close to his own home.

"You knew where he lived?"

Ladybug nodded. "I'm sorry we never told you. It wasn't fair."

"The whole time?"

"What? No!" Ladybug flailed her arms around, crossing them wildly. "No no no. Not the whole time. I didn't even know there was a Guardian at first. I was just as clueless as you when I first got my Miraculous. No, I only found out after Volpina attacked."

"Still." Chat Noir crouched down, perched like a cat as he stared across at Master Fu's former apartment.

"I know." Ladybug sat beside him, her fingers digging into the cement roof ledge. "It was still a long time that I knew and you didn't."

"I didn't even know there was such a thing as a Guardian of the Miraculous until Syren."

"I know, and I'm so sorry."

"Why did Master Fu bring you to his home, but not me?" Chat Noir glanced over, his eyes wide, sad, and pleading.

Ladybug gently squeezed his forearm. "If it's any consolation, he didn't bring me to his home. My kwami did."

"But why? My kwami never had me come here to meet Master Fu. In fact, I only officially met him when he came to my house."

"He- he came to your house? How? Wouldn't that have given himself away?"

Chat Noir blinked. He didn't realize he had a secret from Ladybug (aside from the identity thing).

"I- I can't really say how. Secret identity stuff, but no one I live with seems to have questioned it."

Ladybug nodded. "Master Fu probably knew what he was doing. I'm glad he did finally talk with you, but I'm sad that you two weren't able to interact more." Refocusing on the apartment, she tried to figure out what exactly she could tell Chat Noir without potentially giving him a clue as to who she was.

"As for why my kwami brought me here, there is this book. A spell book. It explains the Miraculous and the other powers they each possess: the transformations, as well as how our normal powers could evolve once we're stronger."

"A- a book? About the Miraculous?" Chat Noir grew pale. He was pretty sure he knew exactly what book Ladybug was talking about.

"It is written in a language that only Guardians can read, so my kwami couldn't decipher it. She knew that Master Fu would want the book back, though, so when I found it she told me where to find him."

Plagg had seen the book. He knew that Adrien was carrying it around all day. He never once mentioned Master Fu or even that there was a Guardian that was looking for it.

Maybe it wasn't the same book. Maybe there was another one that had pictures of superheroes and written in a language he didn't recognize. He didn't know that many languages; it was possible.

"You said you found the book?"

Ladybug nodded. "In a trash can in the Place des Vosges. I- I found it when I went there to yell at Lila for lying on the Ladyblog about knowing me. That must have been how she was able to have the Fox pendent replicated."

Lila? That's why Adrien didn't have the book when he went home that day? She had taken it? He wanted to believe that Ladybug was mistaken, but it did add up, and Lila proved herself untrustworthy on multiple occasions. Still, his father got the book back, didn't he? One of Adrien's classmates returned it, didn't they? Was that Lila? Why would Ladybug give it back to her to return? Did she force her to? Why did his father get the book back in the first place, didn't Master Fu need it?

"Chat Noir? Are you okay?" Ladybug began rubbing his back, bringing him back to present. "I know, this is a lot, isn't it?"

He nodded. "So, do- do you have this book now? Do you know how to read it?"

"Well, I sort of do." Ladybug turned back to the apartment building across the street. "For reasons I can't really talk about because, ya know, secret identities and all that, the book was returned to the man who had it before Lila: Gabriel Agreste. That was why he became The Collector; he was mad that the last gift his wife gave him went missing: the book."

Chat Noir sank; his shoulders felt heavy. It was the same book. Nothing made sense anymore. More questions flooded his mind.

"Wait. Is that why you thought that he could be Hawkmoth? Because he had a book about the Miraculous?"

Ladybug nodded. "Plus, you have to admit there was a lot of other circumstantial evidence that would have fit. I'm glad I was wrong, but it would have also been nice to have found Hawkmoth and finally stopped him." She laid back across the rooftop, counting off the dozen stars that were bright enough to cut through the light pollution. "Master Fu took pictures of the pages before we returned the book, and then he translated the digital copy. I guess after we defeated Feast, and Master Fu told me he wanted to train me to be the next Guardian, he must have made a duplicate of his digital copy of the spell book. I have that, and a way to translate it. I have to be careful that no kwami sees it though. It's super important that they never learn how to read the book or discover its contents."

"It is? Still? I thought there were no more secrets now."

Ladybug sat back up so she could meet Chat Noir's eyes. "We have to keep this one. The book explains everything, including the ingredients for the power-up potions. What if a kwami finds that out? What if Hawkmoth's or Mayura's kwamis knew how to make the potions? It may not be a concern for our kwamis now, but what if some future Ladybug or Chat Noir gets corrupted and orders their kwami to tell them that info? What if we let any of the other kwamis find out, and then Hawkmoth captures them?"

"You always have a reason for your secrets." There was a bitterness in Chat Noir's voice.

She placed a hand on Chat Noir's shoulder; it was stiff. "I'm sorry. I really am, but this is for everyone's safety; now and in the future. Please understand. I'm telling you because I wanted to show you the spell book. I wanted you to know what I do in case something comes up and I can't tell you the information when you need it. We're partners, Chat Noir, and I want us to be more equal in that partnership, but you need to understand how important certain secrets are."

Chat Noir scanned her face, taking in all of her sincerity. He rested his hand on top of hers, and gave it a little squeeze. "Nah, I get it. I do. I'm sorry I'm acting like this. You don't like lies, and I don't like being left out – or for others to be left out. I've had too much of that in my life. But you're right. Some secrets are important to keep."

"Thank you, Chat Noir."

Ladybug then took her yo-yo off her hip, and swiped a finger up the side like she were about to capture an akuma. The yo-yo opened up into a transdimensional pocket; a glowing endless pouch. Reaching in, she pulled out a flash drive. "Here. This is your copy of the spell book. Make sure no one can find it."

"Thank you, Ladybug. I'll keep it safe. I promise."

"I know you will."

Chat Noir accepted the drive, and tucked it inside one of his zipper pockets.

"There's something else. You saw Nino Lahiffe with the other Miraculous holders, but he wasn't transformed."

"He's Carapace, isn't he?"

Ladybug nodded. "I had a feeling you were able to figure it out, but I wanted to make sure: no more secrets... aside from the one we need to keep from each other."

"Thank you, Ladybug."

"Oh! Also-" This last secret pained her the most to tell. It was one thing when only she and Master Fu knew who a Miraculous holder was, but to confess a civilian knew? "About Viperion."

"Yeah?"

"Well, I'm sure you noticed that he wasn't Adrien Agreste after all. His name is Luka. I tried to give the Snake bracelet to Adrien, but- but he- I never realized it because of how Second Chance works, but he told me that he tried being the Snake superhero Aspik nearly twenty-five-thousand times. We kept failing as a team, and he'd reset time to try again, and it never worked. He gave up the Miraculous." Ladybug winced. She was dreading the next part.

"Luka ran up to check to see if we had found Adrien," she continued, "and I needed to find someone to wield the Miraculous. I hadn't learned about merging two powers yet, so I thought neither you nor I could use Second Chance. It was actually Adrien who suggested I give the Miraculous to Luka. He was the one who chose, not me, and he knew who Viperion was. I mean- he went to go hide before I officially handed the bracelet to Luka, and so it's possible he thinks Luka also failed or that I didn't listen to him and Viperion is someone else entirely, but that's not the kind of person Adrien is. He chose well. He saw exactly who we needed that day, and I don't think we would have been able to defeat Desperada if Adrien hadn't picked Luka to help."

Chat Noir gawked at Ladybug, so she took his hands in hers.

"I am so so sorry, Chat Noir. It was wrong for me to let a civilian help me choose a Miraculous holder instead of you. I should have tracked you down and talked to you instead. And to let Adrien know who – besides Chloe, of course – had a Miraculous? It's inexcusable, and I hope you can forgive me. But that's it. That's all of the secrets I have left between us."

"Aside from the obvious."

"Yes. Aside from that. So, please, could you forgive me?" Ladybug squeezed his hands tighter, pleadingly.

Chat Noir remembered what it felt like, when Ladybug pulled him – well, Adrien him - into that tight hug on his sofa the night he was missing his mother terribly. He felt that weight lift off him again; that same sense of relief.

Ladybug looked close to tears, probably scared to have ruined their partnership when she handed him – Adrien him – the Snake bracelet, and let him choose who should wield it instead. It was a very un-Ladybug-like thing to do, but he was just so elated that she valued Adrien that much that he didn't think much of it.

Clearly Ladybug thought often of that moment, and she desperately needed the same relief she had given Adrien just a week before. He tugged gently on her hands, and pulled her into a hug. He wrapped his arms tightly around her shoulders, and let his head slowly sink into her hair, nuzzling her a little with his cheek.

"It's okay, Ladybug. I get it. I'm not mad, and if you could trust Adrien, then I will too. I'll even take special care to watch over him to make sure Hawkmoth can't get to him, okay?"

"You don't have to-"

"No. It's okay. You are the Guardian of the Miraculous. Let me be the Guardian of Adrien Agreste." Chat Noir felt bad about manipulating her like this, especially when she truly did have so much extra piled on her plate now, and all he was promising to take off it was to watch his own back.

Meanwhile, Ladybug wondered if this was how Chat Noir found out who she was and became Chat Blanc. She wasn't sure how far into the future it truly was that he was akumatized, just that it all started when Adrien discovered who she was. If the Chat Noir of that timeline also watched over Adrien, and found out that way...

It didn't matter. Adrien didn't know who she was, so Chat Noir was safe. She held him tight, praying that he'd forgive her this one final secret between them.

"Thank you, Chat Noir. Thank you for having so much faith in me, and for forgiving me so easily."

"There's nothing to forgive, Bugaboo. It means a lot to me that you told me all of this." Chat Noir wished he had some crepe paper and pipe cleaner on him so he could make Ladybug a flower, just as he had done for Marinette over the weekend. Didn't matter. Ladybug never liked accepting flowers from him anyway. So instead he just held her for as long as she needed in order to know that he wasn't going to abandon her.

They were partners, and she was his lady. Nothing would ever change those two facts in his heart.

Ladybug lingered in Chat Noir's arms. She didn't want to lead him on, but it felt too nice to push him away, or to let go of him. He wasn't mad. He understood, all of it, and he accepted it as well. She couldn't have asked for a better partner.

With one last burst of strength, she tenderly squeezed him close to her, breathing in his warmth and compassion. She never before noticed how familiar he smelled. If only she could peg how she knew that scent.

~ Thanks For Reading. Feel Free To Review And Come Back For Day 5 Prompt: Comfort ~

*Closing Notes*

I rarely write in third-person omniscient (usually sticking to either first-person or third-limited), so if I'm head-hopping in this, please let me know.

This "chapter" is the first one I officially tied to the other two, and, much like with my last short, this could have been both the Day 2 prompt of 'Trust' and the Day 5 prompt of 'Comfort'. For this go, I was mostly focusing on 'Trust' so I still need to write up something specifically focused on 'Comfort', despite it being an underlying theme throughout this series of one-shots. Hopefully I can get something written at a decent hour tomorrow...