Chapter 2
Quand je le vois, je ne suis plus moi,
je deviens rouge et parle tout bas
Le souffle court, j'ai le cœur qui bat
After a rather sleepless night, Marinette woke up with dark circles under her swollen eyes. That 5 hours power nap didn't help her state, she felt more tired than she had the day before. She was an active person, after all, inaction only made her feel more tired. To add to this she was also worried about the problem with Sirena. Was she really on their side? She knew her identity... She could use it to blackmail her or use it to turn Chat and her against each other or tell it to Hawk Moth or... Who knew!
To be fair, Sirena was the first person (aside from Master Fu which didn't count) to know her identity and Marinette didn't know how to feel about that. One thing was for sure, things were starting to change, but Marinette didn't know if it was for better or for worst.
"What do you think about Sirena, Tikki?" Marinette asked while getting dressed for the day
"I'm not sure Marinette, but I know she is not an Akuma, I can feel her kwami" Tikki answered from the top of Marinette's mirror where she was sitting eating a chocolate chip cookie
"Right, but is she a good holder or a bad one?"
"It's impossible to know that, Marinette," Tikki said with a calm tone "No one is completely good or completely bad, but only time will tell if she's leaning towards the good or the bad side"
"I guess you're right..."
"But what we can know for sure is if she was telling the truth when she said she had spoken with Master Fu"
"How could she lie about that though? She knew so many things that she could only have known if she spoke with Master Fu"
"Maybe," Tikki answered "But remember she is the holder of the fish miraculous, she can know all of those things just by looking at you," Marinette swallowed hard "However, her miraculous doesn't give her the ability to lie well, and she seemed to be telling the truth, but who knows"
"I guess there's only one way to find out"
Marinette ate her breakfast with her parents and headed out on the streets. It was still very early and the summer weather could still be felt in the air. There were no Akumas in sight, the sun was shining, the birds singing, people running to their jobs and for once Marinette wasn't late for an appointment; but she couldn't let herself enjoy the day, because the only thing in her mind right now was Sirena, more specifically, how was she going to deal with her once Master Fu told her she was nothing more than a vile liar.
She arrived at the Cinema where Master Fu was working, but it was still closed. Which was great, because it meant that only Master Fu was inside. Marinette knocked on the door 4 times in the rhythmic pattern that had become hers and Master Fu password.
"Ah, Marinette," came a voice from behind her that startled her. "You're early," said Master Fu holding a key in his hand to open the cinema for her. Marinette scratched her head. How was it that she was early? She was never early for anything! And then it hit her
"Alya jacked up my phone, I have to fix that, it feels weird to be early" she giggled following him into the dark cinema
"Wait here," Master Fu entered a door near the entrance to the cinema and suddenly all the lights were on. "I have to prepare the cinema for the morning show, but since you're early, I have a few minutes to spare, what can I help you with?" Marinette noticed that Master Fu seemed more at ease than he had the day before. He was breathing normally and didn't seem tired from raking through his belongings looking for the miraculous
"I came to talk to you about Sirena," She said confidently, displaying the Ladybug side of her.
"Who?"
"I knew it!" Marinette exclaimed "She is nothing more than a liar" she started to ramble
"Now calm down Marinette, you'll have to give me a bit more of information, I might be old and wise by some accounts, but I can't read your mind, explain to me what is going on"
"Hehe, right," She giggled nervously "Sirena, she said she came to talk to you yesterday, said that she is the new holder of the fish miraculous."
"ah," Master exclaimed "I didn't know that she had chosen Sirena as her superhero name, I like it, it has something to it," he said distractedly
"So, you do know her" She added after a pause.
"Of course!" he exclaimed, "She came yesterday to tell me how she found the miraculous and practically begged me to let her keep it, she is an honest young lady if you ask me." Marinette was a little disappointed with his answer, she half expected that she didn't pass from a lie, so she and Chat could go back to being just the two of them, and occasionally some friends added to the team, but only in emergencies.
"So, she is on our side?"
"Well, I can't read minds, but I can take pride in my good judgment of character, she came to me humbly, knowing that I had no reason to let her keep the miraculous whatsoever, she could have enchanted me to forget the miraculous existed, or even to make me let her keep it, but she didn't. And she could have done the same thing with you, enchanting you into trusting her, but by the looks of it she didn't either." Master said truthfully
"Or maybe she hasn't, and she is waiting for the right moment to betray us," She said more to himself than to Master, but he still heard it.
"Perhaps, only time will tell for sure, but as far as I know, she has no intentions of doing anything of the kind, she just didn't want to lose her Kwami"
"That's it? What about Hawk Moth? What about fighting for what's right and good? What about protecting the innocent?"
"Everyone has different motivations Marinette, to some is their duty, to some trying to escape, for others is love, whatever it is, as long as Paris is safe and Hawk Moth kept at bay, we can deal with the rest later"
Marinette still wasn't sure what to make of it. She had promised Chat that she would have an answer for him tonight, but she still wasn't sure, she wanted to belive Master Fu, she wanted to trust Chat's judgment, but there was so much in stake, she couldn't simply trust blindly in a person that came out of nowhere holding a miraculous that was not directly given to her.
Marinette left Master Fu's cinema after a few minutes and arrived at her school without noticing how she got there because she was too lost in thought to notice. She entered to her class in automatic mode, too distracted to notice what was going on around her, she didn't even notice when the professor assigned different groups for a class project until Nino tapped her on her shoulder
"Hello partner," Nino said with a smile, but Marinette only looked confused.
"Marinette isn't paying attention to the world around her," Alya said while sliding from her seat to meet with her new partner, who was sitting a few rows behind "She's probably thinking about a certain someone," She said winking at her. In reality, she was thinking about a certain someone, but it wasn't the person Alya was thinking about. She was thinking about Chat Noir, more specifically, what would she tell him.
Nino chuckled and sat next to her finally. Marinette was too lost in thought to notice that Adrien was sitting in the row behind her with Kim as his partner, and Alya was sitting next to the new girl. Their small group was broken, but that was the least of her problems, what if Sirena was in her same school? What if she told everybody who she was? Would they be disappointed it was just plain old her?
Marinette tried with all her might to focus on the task ahead but failed miserably, leaving Nino to do all the hard work while she only nodded in response to whatever he was saying.
A row behind her, Adrien was chatting pleasantly with Kim, who didn't seem to understand completely what the teacher was asking of them.
Adrien was good in keeping his feelings and thoughts away for as long as he needed, even though he too was somewhat worried about the new miraculous holder, he was keeping those thoughts at bay and enjoying the class. Can you believe it? He was actually enjoying that group project.
Contrary to Marinette, Adrien had a great night of sleep, he was excited about the newcomer, he wanted to get to know her, and since she already knew who he was, he was expecting to be able to talk to her more openly, he had longed for a friend with whom to share his experience both as Adrien an Chat Noir. As she had told him, he was following both his heart and his mind, which had come to the agreement that Sirena was trustworthy. His mind told him that her reasoning was logical and in his heart, he just knew she was telling the truth. He was no longer second-guessing himself, now he just wanted Ladybug to believe in her so that they could become a great team.
When the class ended Nino, Adrien and Marinette met near the classroom door, waiting for Alya so that they could go to their next class together. When she finally came, she wasn't alone.
"Hey, guys!" She said when she got near to them. "I want you guys to meet someone" she gestured to the girl next to her "This is Alba, she just moved to the city, and she is amazing!" As it was, I was not as good as Adrien keeping my thoughts at bay, let alone other people's thoughts. "I swear she could be a spy, she has guessed so many things about me, that I didn't even tell her!" She said excitedly.
"Come on Alya," I said more embarrassed than annoyed yet a mixture of both "I'm sure everybody knows you run the lady blog!"
"Yes, but not that Nino is my boyfriend or that Marinette is my best friend! Not even that my favorite color is orange! She must have some sort of superpower I promise ya'll"
"There's no superpower Alya" I lied nervously, worried that Marinette or Adrien suspected who I was, but the thought didn't even cross their minds, all thanks to the miraculous's glamour. "I'm just very observant"
"Let's see," Nino said smiling "If you're soo good at it, then who is my girlfriend" the four of them looked at him askance
"You better say it's me," Alya said silently to me, but loud enough so that the others could hear "Otherwise he'll be in trouble" They laughed
"It is you, Alya," I said still giggling "And I believe he loves you very much" both Alya and Nino blushed and Marinette let out an 'aww'. I didn't need my powers to see that they loved each other madly, both as civilians and as superheroes.
"Hey Alba," said Adrien cheerfully "would you like to have lunch with us? That way we could test your abilities as a spy!" he changed his tone to a mysterious one and raised an eyebrow, but I knew he was joking
"Are you sure?" I asked "I don't want to be the third wheel to the happy couple right here"
"You'll be like the fifth wheel then," he said completely unshaken by my insinuation of him and Marinette being a couple, the thought didn't even cross his mind, but Marinette did notice and blushed a little. "Marinette and I'll be there too, so you don't have to worry about a thing"
"In that case, I'll see you there." Adrien was so sweet, his love for ladybug so sincere, he was only being nice to me, just as much as he was to everyone else. He is so different from Chat, yet they are the same, but I feel like Chat is just the liberal version of Adrien.
We all headed to our respective classes which we didn't share, except for Adrien and Marinette, who shared physics.
Adrien saw Marinette as a nice friend, but when they headed to their class he remembered that he had left her standing on the streets of Paris, late at night to fend for herself. For once he started to feel bad for it, it wasn't the nicest thing to do to a friend. He almost apologized to her several times during the class, but it wouldn't make sense if he did, so he refrained himself, and decided that he would pay another visit to Marinette tonight after patrol, if ladybug showed up on time, that is.
At lunch, they all sat on a table next to a big window. When I arrived at the cafeteria, I found Nino, Alya, Adrien and Marinette waiting for me. Marinette waved her hand and I followed. It was nice to see that Marinette was not as cautious around me as Ladybug was around Sirena.
"Alba, dear," Alya said as I sat down. "I was wondering since you figured that Nino and I are a couple, can you know who likes who in our class?" oh, I could do more than that, I thought
"I can give an educated guess, I don't just know, I observe and guess" It had been a grave mistake to let Alya know that I was good at 'guessing' things about other people, now she wouldn't shut up about it, which was worse, she was motioning for me to tell that Marinette liked Adrien in an attempt to help Marinette a little with him.
The first and only person that came to Adrien's mind was Ladybug, of course, but for a split second, I thought I saw Chat Noir in Marinette's mind, and then it was Adrien who she was thinking about. It seemed almost like a glitch as if Marinette mentally slapped herself for thinking about Chat that way.
"Well," Alya said impatiently after a few moments "What are you waiting for? Tell us!" Alya knew that Marinette liked Adrien, but she didn't know what Nino knew and hadn't dared to tell her, that Adrien liked Ladybug, and had no eyes for another.
"I'm sorry Alya, but even if I can guess who they like, I can't say it. It would be like sharing their private information"
"I mean, but they're just guesses, right?" Nino said
"Still, it doesn't feel right"
"Oh bother," Alya said annoyed "What's the point of knowing something like that and then doing nothing about it" I shrugged and we continued to eat our lunches in a nice and fun flow of conversation.
When the afternoon came, Marinette was still not sure what she was going to say to Chat Noir, she still wasn't sure if believing Sirena was the best course of action, but it was as if everything and everybody was telling her to believe her.
"Oh whatever" she exclaimed and Tikki looked at her askance, and before she could say anything about it "Tikki, spots on!" Marinette said, transforming into Ladybug. It was already time to see Chat, so she took her Jojo and called Chat Noir, who picked up quickly
"Evening M'Lady"
"Hey Chaton," she said her cheeks turning pink without her consent "Where are you?"
"Trocadero," he said simply
"Why? We were supposed to meet at the Eifel Tower"
"Well, I was on my way there, but then you called, and I can't exactly answer your call and use my batton at the same time."
"Well, doesn't matter, Trocadero is a good enough place. I'll be there in two minutes" She hung up the phone and set off for the Trocadero Gardens.
Chat was waiting on the top of the building when Ladybug arrived
"No sign of Sirena?" She asked when he took her hand to kiss it. Disregarding the gesture as nothing out of the ordinary.
"No," He started sitting on the edge of the roof "Not yet anyway"
"Good," she said sitting next to him "I wanted to talk to you first" Chat's ears pricked and he turned to face her
"Did you talk to Master Fu?" she nodded silently "Did he confirm her story?"
"Yeah," She said simply, Chat couldn't help but feel relieved, he wasn't so wrong after all. "But... I'm still not sure" Chat was surprised
"What do you mean? She was telling the truth, wasn't she?"
"Well, what if she was only pretending? What if her power corrupts her?"
"M'Lady, we all have the potential of being corrupted by our powers, just like Hawk Moth and Myura did. The only way to prevent corruption is by acknowledging that you can be corrupted." He told her hopefully
"I get that, but still..."
"M'Lady, do you trust me?" She was taken aback with the question
"Of course!" She exclaimed
"Why?" he asked again
"Well..." She didn't know how to answer that unexpected question "You've saved my life countless times, you've proven yourself trustworthy, plus is not like I was given a choice when I first met you." She said the last one with a smile on her face
"Yet you know nothing about me, for all you know I could be some psycho or even Hawk Moth himself or somebody waiting for the right moment to stab you in the back" Ladybug was surprised at the plainness in which he said these things. It was true though, she didn't really know much about him, except for the fact that she would put her life in his hands er... paws without hesitating. "It's the same with her" He continues "We don't have much of a choice, she is who she is and we have to deal with it, the question is, do we give her a chance to prove herself loyal and helpful or should we just completely disregard her?"
Ladybug sighed "I guess... if you put it that way..." She answered slowly "I think we should give her a chance"
"Great!" came a voice from below them and when they looked down they saw Sirena in the fountain, her face peeking on the border with her chin resting on her crossed arms while her feet splashing in the water
"Sirena?" Chat Noir said jumping down from the building, Ladybug following close behind. "How long have you been there? And what are you doing there? What if someone sees you?"
"I've been here long enough, plus, there's nobody here, I mean it's Tuesday afternoon, most people are coming back from work or doing more interesting stuff other than spying on Paris's beloved superheroes, who could be seen and heard from where you were sitting"
They looked abashed
"So, you've decided to give me a chance?" I half asked half exclaimed still not coming out of the fountain which felt warm and cozy.
"Yes," Ladybug said. "Apparently you're telling the truth, so we've decided to give you a vote of confidence as you asked"
"You won't regret this!" I leaped from the water in a similar way that dolphin jumps, taking impulse with my arms and legs but falling standing up on the floor next to where Chat and Ladybug were staying. "Now," I said as they looked at me surprised by my maneuver. "We have to make a plan, how are we gonna go about finding Hawk Moth?"
"I feel like we should have a list," Ladybug said with her arms crossed. "of the Akuma victims, there's one in the lady blog, that way we could know who is not Hawk Moth"
"I don't think that's a good idea My Lady" I interjected "Because that's exactly what Hawk Moth would want you to think. I've read enough minds to know that if you want to get away with a crime, the best way is to become a victim of said crime"
"You're saying that Hawk Moth akumatized himself?" Chat asked, obviously the thought never crossed his mind before.
"Maybe, I don't know, but we shouldn't just assume that all of the akumatized people are free of charges. No, if we're gonna make a list we'll have to add every citizen of Paris"
"What?" Ladybug exclaimed "And search them all? That would take months!"
"Maybe, but it's the only way to ensure that we're not missing anyone"
"And where could we find a list like that?" Ladybug said bitterly
"The major's office of course!" Chat said, "The last census was not so long ago, I'm sure there we'll find all of the information we need."
"Great idea!" I said, but Ladybug looked at us with disbelief.
"Are you suggesting that we sneak into the Major's office, get into his database and find the census with all of Paris's citizens?"
"Yeah"
"Pretty much," we said at the same time. Ladybug looked at us with big blue eyes.
"Oh dear, what have I gotten myself into?" she said, more to herself than to us
"Now, the question is when, and... how"
"Let's do it tonight," Ladybug said, and both Chat and I looked at her, surprised at her sudden change of heart. "What?" she exclaimed in frustration. "If we're gonna do something stupid let's do it at once before our minds start working properly again"
Chat Noir was the first to arrive at the Major's office being the fastest of the group, followed closely by Ladybug. I had tried to catch up following the Seine, but there was still a portion that had to be crossed jumping roof from roof, which I didn't enjoy, I was slow and clumsy compared to my veteran heroes who seemed to swing from rooftop to rooftop without any inconvenience, as swiftly as a bird in flight.
When I finally arrived I was sweaty and trying to catch my breath
"Why are you so exhausted?" Ladybug asked amusedly. "Doesn't your miraculous give you endurance and strength?"
"Yes," I said gasping for air. "Underwater! Not so much outside of it!" when I finally managed to catch up my breath completely I added. "That's why you'll always find me diving into the nearest body of water, it helps me to recover from exertion"
"Well, whatever." Chat said, "What's the plan?"
"I dunno" I shrugged, "I thought you had a plan! You're the pros after all"
"Well," Ladybug said pensive "We need to get into the building, then into the archives, find the census and leave, now, the question is how"
"I guess I could go to the security guy and enchant him, that way he'll move the cameras away or something, after that, you guys enter the office and find the documents"
"Right, but I suppose there are passwords or some other sort of security system," Chat said.
"Watch out!" Exclaimed Ladybug and we ducked on the rooftop. I was confused for a moment, but then I saw, the Major was coming out of the building, next to his assistant
"Perfect," I said and carefully and crawled to the edge of the roof being careful not to be seen, and before I the Major and his assistant got into their car I dug into their memories to see what useful info I could find. After a few moments, I went back to where Chat and Lady were sitting. They looked confused, looking at me with big eyes "Okay" I said without minding their interrogating looks. "I got the passwords and the building's architecture"
"What the..." Chat said
"Here's the plan," I said with a newly found sense of confidence, now that I knew what awaited for us.
After explaining my plan to them, I made my way to the place that I knew would be the closest entrance to the camera room, when I finally found it, the door was locked and I found it could only be opened with an especial card, because I didn't have it, I speared the thing with my trident, the door unlocked immediately but before I opened the door I said "Chant," thus activating my power.
When I swung the door open I started to sing
"Don't look so frightened,
Don't look too scared
'Cause what you have seen
You soon shall forget
Take all the cameras
And turn them away
Delete the footage
And follow me instead"
The guard was successfully enchanted and did exactly as I told him, without releasing him from the enchantment I took my trident and taking the middle prong out I used it as a phone to signal Ladybug and Chat Noir that it was safe to come into the building
As soon as Ladybug received the signal she looked at Chat.
"Ready?" he said to her motioning with his head
"As ready as I'll ever be." Ladybug was visibly nervous until now her job had only included fighting Akumas and attending some events, never sneaking into one of the most secure buildings in the city.
"At least it's not the Élysée Palace," he said referencing the presidential palace of France. Ladybug chuckled a little releasing some of the tension.
They entered by the same window that Sirena had used to get into the building but kept walking, Chat leading the way since it was dark in there; His hand brushed Ladybug's hand several times, but never actually took it, as if he wasn't sure if she would approve of his gesture.
They reached the door that Sirena had talked about at the end of the corridor, it was locked, with a key card reader that had a red light on which suddenly turned green and the door unlocked, as they entered the room Ladybug's Jojo rang, and she answered quickly
"You're welcome," came Sirena's musical voice. "Try to hurry up, I can't hold the enchantment forever"
Ladybug hanged up without saying a word, too afraid to say anything, she was soo nervous that her hands started to shake. Chat noticed this and this time held her hand firmly without hesitation and looked at her in the eye. He was nervous as well, but he was better at hiding it. Ladybug appreciated the gesture and smiled back at him, nodding silently.
Together they approached the bookcase on the nearest corner and moved it to find a vault door that had a pin pad. Sirena had told them that the pin was CHLOE or 24563 to be exact. Ladybug entered the pin and the light of the pin pad turned green but then it asked for fingerprint. Ladybug and Chat exchanged looks and nodded at the same time, agreeing silently on something
"Cataclysm" chat whispered activating his power. He placed his hand on the fingerprint scanner that was waiting for a finger to scan, destroying it instead. The door opened immediately, the pad had not just only been damaged, it had completely disintegrated.
They entered the room which was completely dark, apparently when Chat totaled the security system he also damaged the lights. However, Chat was still able to see clearly so he guided Ladybug to the single computer that was placed with it's back to them. Ladybug sat on the black chair that was in front of the desk. She turned it on and entered the password that Sirena had told them, which was just 'password'
She quickly found the archive she was looking for but then realized in horror that there was no way she could take it with her.
"What is it?" Chat asked when he noticed the change in her attitude. "Did you find it?"
"Yeah," she said shakingly "But there's no way we can take it out of the computer, there's no printer and I have nothing to upload it in"
"Use your lucky charm then," he said matter of factly. "Hopefully we'll be lucky enough to get something like a memory stick"
Ladybug nodded, she had partly forgotten about her power, but in a moment she whispered "Lucky Charm" and a little red key with black polka dots appeared in her hands
"Well," Chat said after a long whistle. "That was not what I expected"
Ladybug was deep in thought looking for a way to use her lucky charm, and she soon found it. There in the desk she was seating in front of was a thin drawer with a keyhole in it, without thinking it twice she slid the key into the keyhole, and it opened quickly. There, right in front of her eyes where what seemed like dozens of small black memory sticks, they surely wouldn't notice if one was missing, there were just so many.
She took one and plugged it into the computer locking the drawer as quickly as she had opened it. The memory stick was new, as it had no archives in it whatsoever, someone must have stored them in there in case they needed to download some information. Thank goodness.
Ladybug downloaded the file just in time before Chat's miraculous started to beep. He took his batton and called Sirena.
"We got it, we'll be out in a minute," He said as ladybug unplugged the MemoryStick and stood up abruptly from the chair and set off to the exit with her heart pounding in her ears. They didn't even care about closing the doors behind them, they just ran coming out through the window they had used to enter. A few seconds later, Sirena bolted through the same window, and ladybug took it as her cue and threw the key into the sky
"miraculous ladybug" she said, and the ladybugs fixed everything, the doors, the cameras, and the damaged electrical system. It was as if nothing had happened, and the guard remembered nothing of it because although it had been him who deactivated the security system, moved the cameras away and everything, he had been enchanted the whole time, it would be to him as if time hadn't passed.
"Pound it?" Chat said rather nervously Ladybug an I smiled and pounded our fists with his.
"Here you go," ladybug said to me handing me the memory stick. "whatever you do with it, bring it back tomorrow for Chat to destroy it, I don't want to risk it if it has a tracker or something"
"Don't worry M'Lady" I replied. "By the way, should we have like a regular patrol time? I know you just come out whenever you need to, but if we want this plant to work, at least I need to go around the city to try and get a glimpse of the people's minds"
"Alright," she said "we'll meet a 10pm since I think most people would be on their houses by then." all of their miraculouses beeped at the same time, ladybug's with 3 spots, Chat's with two pawprints and mine with one pearl. "We better get going." Ladybug said taking off, and Chat gestured to go in the same direction she had gone, but I could see that he was actually planning to go to see Marinette, but just couldn't let that happen, knowing what I knew.
"Wait!" I said to Chat. "I needed to tell you something" he turned to face me a little annoyed, knowing that he didn't have much left before he transformed into Adrien
"What is it?" He said kindly anyways. But before I could think of anything to say or do anything to prevent it, I felt my transformation fall. Chat looked at me with big green eyes, and it looked like all the color had left from his face.
"Well," I said looking at my now bare hands "I guess this was bound to happen." I smiled at Chat who was still gaping. "what's wrong kitty? the cat got your tongue?" I asked jokingly
"A... Alba?"
"yes, and you and I go to school together." he was taken aback, although he already knew that I knew who he was. He closed his mouth finally and before the last beep of his miraculous rang, he said.
"Plag, claws in" and let his transformation fall. "how could I not know it was you?" he asked having recovered his voice again.
"It's because of the glamour," I answered simply. "If I didn't have my power it would be impossible for me to figure out who you are, the glamour protects our identities"
He was deep in thought for a moment. "Is this how you knew so many things about Alya?" I could feel my cheeks growing hotter
"That was a silly mistake... I can't help but look at what people are thinking, and she was thinking so much about Nino, and then the Lady blog, it just kind of came out of my mouth before my brain could process it." Chat laughed.
"And now everybody thinks you're some sort of spy?" he laughed even harder "It's not like Alya will shout up about that." the situation was not funny, but it was the nerves making him laugh.
"Tell me about it," I said faking bitterness "I'll have to tell her I'm just a fan of Sherlock holmes o something. But hey!" I said now looking at who had now stopped laughing and was now only chuckling trying to control his laughter "I don't need to read your mind to tell that you have a crush on Ladybug," he stopped laughing altogether and looked at me with a grave expression.
"It's not something I'm trying to hide," he said shrugging. "But my Lady loves someone else"
"Well, you are rather good at hiding your feelings, especially as Adrien" he chuckled again uncomfortably
"Excuse me" came a little voice that we had forgotten all about "but if you don't give me something to eat, I could die!" said the black kwami, Shelly was nodding next to him.
"Right," said Adrien taking a piece of some stinky cheese from his jacket and giving it to Plagg. "Get ready, cause we need to transform back if we're gonna get down from this building." I couldn't help but giggle, their relationship was so funny.
I reached in my purse and found that I had a few crackers and gave them to Shelly, who took them gladly.
We talked for some moments sitting on the edge of the rooftop while our kwamis ate and regained their strength.
"It feels good to have someone I can trust to know my identity, I feel like I finally have a friend that know both sides of me"
"I know, right? someone to take the burden of your identity with you, I feel the same." we smiled contently.
"Well, if you don't mind, there's a place I need to go to before it's too late," he said standing up and getting ready to transform
"I think you should bring her a flower," I said knowing exactly what he was planning on doing.
"Wha... oh right, I can't hide things from you... an apology flower?" he asked sheepishly
"Yeah, that would do." he nodded
"Plagg, claws out," he said as he transformed. "well, sunshine" he bowed jokingly "It time for me to go." he smiled as a form of saying goodbye.
"See you tomorrow kitty." he smiled, understanding that I was talking about school. He turned his heels and leaped off from the edge of the roof using his batton for impulse. He was eager to see Marinette. It was a nice surprise to know that the new hero was also a friend from school, but that thought was now on the back of his head, right now his thoughts were filled with a certain dark-haired girl, and it wasn't Ladybug.
Chat kept leaping from roof to roof until he passed by a garden with hundreds of beautiful flowers, without stopping he took one, a red rose, and continued his way to find the girl that had filled his thoughts the whole day because of course, he owed her an apology.
Chat sat on the rooftop of Marinette's house, hiding in the darkness. He didn't see Marinette in her balcony, so he looked through the window carefully. Marinette was sitting in her desk all ready in her pajamas, she seemed to be doing homework. Chat knocked on the window and she turned around with a start. When she saw Chat though, she relaxed a little, but still was visibly flushed.
"Chat! what are you doing here?" She asked opening the big window to let him in. Chat held out the rose for her to see it, and she took it turning slightly redder. "what is this, Chaton?"
"I owed you an apology," he said plainly. "I shouldn't have left you stranded like I did yesterday, it was my idea to take you for a run, I should have seen that you got back home safely"
"oh," she said, she had forgotten all about that, since she went to follow Chat after he left her, but of course, Chat didn't know that, and he should never know. "I understand Chat, there was something more important you had to deal with."
"It's not like you're not important, princess" He sat on Marinette's desk chair facing the back of the chair and spun in it "But yeah, that thing was urgent, but still, I could have done a better job taking care of you." he was ashamed of his behavior, and he showed this by burring his face in his arms that were resting on the seatback. Marinette kneeled next to him, putting a hand on his shoulder to comfort him.
"I forgive you Chat Noir," she said seriously, without questioning him further.
"Did you get home safely?" he asked facing her suddenly, she went red as a beetroot.
"Of course... er I... mmm walked... got to... to ... to my place... my... my parents didn't notice." she managed to blurt out, talking fast and softly and Chat couldn't completely make out all that she was saying, but he understood what she was trying to say, she got home safe and sound, and it was all that mattered.
He nodded, putting his chin on his fists "Aren't you gonna ask?"
"Ask what?" she looked at him with big eyes.
"About the 'Akuma' I encountered last night," he added air quotes with his gloved hands
"Oh," Marinette understood that she shouldn't know anything about Sirena since she was a secret that should be kept between him and Ladybug. "I'm guessing it wasn't an Akuma or I would have heard of it in the news today." she shrugged standing up from her previous kneeling position.
"That's right, but I'm afraid I can't tell you what or who it was exactly"
"Then why did you bring it up?" she said crossing her room to find a vase where to put the flower so that it would last longer.
"I dunno, for a moment I thought I could just tell you, but now I'm not so sure." He turned around in the chair using his feet to follow Marinette with his gaze, still resting his head on this arms
"I suppose there are some superhero-related thing that you just can't share with me." she found a vase, a tall one made of clear glass, she placed the rose in it and put the vase on her desk next to her computer. She turned around to face him and rested her body against her desk using her hands for support
"Yeah, but to be honest, I don't want to talk about superhero stuff with you, I have Ladybug for that." And Sirena, he thought, but he couldn't tell her that.
"oh, and what is it that you want to talk about?"
"Nothing," he said staring intently at her. "and everything." his answer made her heart beat faster, so fast in fact that she could feel loud and clear in her ears. Chat was not flirting, he was in no way behaving like he did when he was with Ladybug, but seeing him like this, humble and carefree made her heart swell and her stomach flutter.
"What does that mean?" she managed to say noticing that her breath was coming out quick and short.
"Well, you're my friend, I don't have to have something to tell you to come and see you, do I?" he asked.
"Are you inviting yourself to my house?"
"Can I?" Marinette laughed, her stomach was still fluttering but the fact that she could act naturally around Chat made her more at ease.
"Of course Chaton," she said smiling. "Just try to knock on the window before you look in, what if I had been getting changed or something?"
"Maybe you could put up some curtains," he said simply straightening in the chair
"I hadn't thought of that you know? I never thought that anybody could spy on me from that window specifically, especially since we're on the fourth floor"
"Well now you have a friend who's not afraid of the height!" he said motioning to himself "And who wants to come to see you every so often"
"I'll think about it Chat." Chat stood up after a moment
"well, I guess it's time for me to go, It's getting late and I bet you'll want to get a few hours of sleep." he headed towards the window he had used to enter to the room.
"wait!" she said catching his tail.
"hmm? what is it, princess?" He faced her, but now they were standing in close, very close, and Marinette could feel the warmth grow in her face, her pulse quickening and her breath failing her, the look on those green eyes, big and warm, she had never seen him like this, was it the light that was making him seem more... human?
"Thank you," she whispered, talking low and slowly as if to hide the tremble in her voice. "For the flower." Chat nodded with a big smile and leaped out of the window, leaving Marinette looking at his figure disappear in the night.
"Are you okay Marinette?" Tikki asked, coming out of her hiding spot behind the computer for the first time.
"I don't know what's wrong with me, Tikki!" she said closing the window "Chat Noir is nothing more than a friend, why is my heart behaving this way?"
"I guess only you can answer that question." Tikki followed Marinette to her bed, where she finally fell asleep with a slight smile on her face.
Translation of the lyrics:
(When I see him, I'm not me anymore
I turn red and speak softly,
Shortness of breath, my heart is beating)
[Hello everyone, Luz here. I'm sorry this chapter was late, I'm in the middle of my midterms and just haven't had time to write a lot. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this chapter.
I'll try to publish the next chapter on time next week, but I can't make any promises... Until then, peace
-SDG]