Chapter 6: The Sun Unfolds

Things were quiet in Nino's room as the three of them sat together and worked on their homework. Plagg and Tikki were in Marinette's bag and she hoped to the stars that Nino wouldn't smell the container of Camembert that she brought along for him. The weight of having gone behind her friend's backs and visiting Adrien weighed heavy on her. She wanted to tell them about her visit right now, to tell him that he was okay and that they would be able to message him themselves after she got him his phone. His father obviously didn't bring it, just like Adrien said he would, Nino would have gotten a message from him by now.

Around midnight she would get the device. No reporters would see her in the shadows of the night and Alya and Nino would be asleep so as to not arouse suspicion. The prospect still frightened her though, sneaking into his room once again, there was the possibly of running into someone. She didn't know who but they could be there, lurking in the dark, waiting for her.

She pictured Papillon, waiting for her, with his frightening butterfly face condensed on the body of an ordinary man.

Was he that ordinary though? He had the ability of turning people into nightmares and did so as he pleased on a near daily basis. All this for the chance at nabbing the Ladybug and Chat Noir Miraculous. Was there something in their abilities that she did not know?

Marinette thought over it and realized that she didn't know. There was the Lucky Charm, there was the Cataclysm, the peculiar, almost high-tech, abilities of her yo-yo and Chat's baton as communication devices and trackers. Then there was her ability to purify an akuma, an ability that was hers alone, and the mysterious disappearing light, but other than that Marinette couldn't think over what abilities or reasons Papillon would want the Ladybug and Chat Noir miraculous for.

She suddenly felt very ignorant. She had been carrying around a miraculous for two years, fighting Papillon for two years, and she knew nothing about her abilities beyond what she learned the first day, nothing about his motivations aside from wanting the miraculous. Wasn't she supposed to learn new techniques and tricks as she got better at using the miraculous? Wasn't Papillon supposed to divulge more into what his "grand-evil plan" was?

It was just what Adrien's father said, they were children. Children playing a game of pretend, but instead of sticks and toys, there was magic and a mad man hell bent on stopping their game for his unknown purpose.

This unveiling of Chat's identity somehow brought with it more questions than it did answers. She suddenly found herself questioning her reasons for being involved in these fights. Now more than ever she needed to know why. She was in the dark and it was aggravating, aggravating beyond all belief. Marinette needed something to fill the hole of confusion that had continued to grow and fester. Why the hell was she so ignorant of the matters?

Her pencil snapped in half in her palm. Alya and Nino looked up from their school work to Marinette.

She had been seething, and she didn't even realize it. Her hands shook as she looked at the pencil she had just unconsciously broke.

"Marinette are you okay?" Alya asked from Marinette's side.

She took a deep breath to quell her sudden upwell of anger and keep herself from shouting at her friends for no good reason.

"I-'m not sure," Was the only answer Marinette could muster, her head was spinning to much for her to really know how she was aside from unbelievably confused and furious at that confusion.

"Would you like some tea?" Alya knit her eyebrows together when she looked at her and Marinette felt a pang of guilt for making Alya worry.

"S-sure," She croaked.

Alya got up from her spot between Marinette and Nino and headed down to make tea, no doubt she would make some for all three of them. Nino glanced at Marinette in his ever curious look, she instinctively brought her hands together to spin Chat's ring around her finger.

She got not one twist before Nino's hand snuck in and grabbed her wrist.

Panic welled in her as Nino's grip was too hard and he jerked her hand up to eye level.

"Nino what-" She stopped.

Nino was staring at the ring on her finger, his face changed from one of shock to that of anger, he recognized the ring.

No.

"Nino! Let go!" She yelled, barely trying to pull her arm out of his tightening grip. Her body was too rigid to register her mental pleading to run, do something.

"Where did you get this?" Nino hissed, his eyes burned with fury. Marinette had never really seen him like this before, it was terrifying.

"N-Nino, let go!" She weakly pleaded with him.

"No! What the fuck Marinette?!"

Alya burst into the room in a frenzy, they were the only ones at Nino's place at the moment and her friends yelling was more than enough concern to go running for them. She saw their predicament as Marinette struggled to get out of Nino's grasp and ran to pull him away.

"Nino! What are you doing? Let her go!"

He didn't hear her, instead shaking Marinette's hand with his own and continuing his tirade.

"This is his ring! This is Adrien's ring, his miraculous! Why the hell do you have it?!"

Tears welled up in her eyes, she didn't know what to say, what to do. Her fear kept her locked in place as Nino blew up right in front of her. Alya's tugging did next to nothing to stop him.

"What did you do to him Marinette?! Why do you have his Miraculous?! Where did you get it?!"

"He gave it to me!" She screamed back, Nino barely slowed, "He gave it to me to protect after I brought him to the ER!"

Like a stopwatch everything suddenly froze. Nino and Alya stared at Marinette with wide eyes, silence filling the room and tension feeling thick like jello.

No, nononono. She just told them, she wasn't supposed to do that! No one was supposed to know, she couldn't let the secret get out.

"You're…" Alya mumbled out, starting her confirmation that Marinette was Ladybug.

Marinette wanted to stop it and find some way to deny it, but she couldn't. She had no other explanation for this, there was no other way she could convince them otherwise. They had too many facts and Marinette couldn't deny them at this point no matter how hard she tried.

"You're Ladybug," Alya finished.

There was a pause.

"…I am," Marinette confirmed, her voice barely audible.

Nino let go of her wrist and snapped his hand back to his chest as if Marinette had burned him.

Her shoulders shook as she cried harder and cupped her hands back to her own chest. This wasn't supposed to happen, they weren't supposed to know.

"Please, please, don't tell anyone," She pleaded through her tears, looking down at her lap as they went dribbling down her nose, "If anyone knows that I'm Ladybug, if it gets out to the media, then I'll become a target for Papillon, and I won't be able to protect Adrien. I can't let that happen, I can't let anyone else get hurt. Please! Don't tell anyone."

There was a moment of unbearable silence, as Alya and Nino took a moment to assess her words and what they truly meant. Alya was the first to pipe up, moving from her place behind Nino to one next to Marinette where she rested her hands on her shoulders.

"Shhhsh, it's okay Marinette," She spoke with a soft voice that only did so much to comfort Marinette, "We-we won't tell anyone your secret. We promise."

Nino said nothing, and the terror continued to flow through her at the possibility that he wouldn't agree to Alya's promise. Marinette raised her head to peek at Nino through her bangs.

Of all things Marinette did not expect to see guilt stretched across his face. Shock, anger, and betrayal, yes. But not guilt.

"You, i-it was you the whole time," He breathed, she gave no response, "You had to carry him to the hospital. He was… your partner."

Marinette leaned closer to Alya. She wasn't sure where Nino was going with his realization, just hoping that he wouldn't run off. She put her trust in Alya's confidence that they wouldn't tell anyone.

"You-you had to deal with all that, and you, you've been having nightmares. And I thought… fuck I've been such an ass," Nino sighed, his whole body slumping, "I'm so sorry Marinette, stars I'm so sorry you had to go through that, I'm sorry I've been so angry at you."

"…I-it's not your fault Nino," She muttered in response, not sure how else to react to his shame other than to reassure him, "You were perfectly justified in your feelings, you didn't know. Neither of you did, you weren't supposed to know."

Nino shuffled over to Marinette and Alya across the ground and slowly pulled Marinette up and into a hug. She took a deep intake of air and wrapped her arms around Nino, letting out another quiet sob as she held tightly onto his shirt. She heard Alya's quiet shhs's as her hand rub against Marinette's back in an attempt to calm her down.

"We won't tell anyone," Nino whispered, "We won't say anything outside of us. Don't worry Marinette we won't anyone know that you're Ladybug."

"We're here for you Marinette," Alya reassured, "We won't let you do this alone, we'll be here for you."

The terrible fear of losing everything was replaced by a buildup of relief that gradually went through Marinette. It felt good holding her friends and being held by them, and it felt so good to hear them tell her that it was okay. They we're here, with her, and sure to make sure she stayed together. This wasn't how things were supposed to happen, but it felt oddly good that it did happen this way. It was good that she had support, that she had her friends.

"Thank you, thank you," She repeated over and over again into Nino's shirt, "Thank you."

Marinette didn't know how they ended up in the position they did, their homework having long since been abandoned in favor of drinking tea to calm down after that emotional tirade. Marinette was curled in Alya's lap with her legs draped across Nino's lap from where he sat next to them. Alya's hands ran through Marinette's hair in a very soothing manner. She held Nino's hand as his thumb rolled over her knuckles, feeling her heart squeeze just a little whenever his thumb would brush and linger over Chat's ring.

It was quiet aside from their synchronized breathing, no one shared a word following the initial explosion for they were unsure of what to say next. Though, that wasn't entirely true, Marinette knew what she needed to say. She needed to answer their questions, they probably had many floating around in their heads, and she needed to tell them about her visit with Adrien. They needed to know now.

"Alya, Nino?" She whispered after hyping herself up internally.

They both lifted their heads slightly at the break in the silence.

"I know you both probably have questions," She took a deep breath to focus on her words, "So, I'm going to allow you each one question, for now."

Marinette could manage one question from each of them for now. She could do that. Alya was quiet as she wracked her head for what one, singular, possible question she could ask now. She had too many to count and remained silent in thought. Nino seemed to find his question without too much thought and took the opportunity to ask.

"Did you know that Adrien was Chat Noir?" He asked softly, his thumb rolling over the ring once again.

"No," She answered, "We never knew each other's real identities, I made sure of that. It was important that we stay anonymous, there was safety in that."

"And you've been so worried about Papillon going and getting Adrien now that everyone knows who he is," Alya stated, recalling Marinette's fears after her first nightmare.

Marinette nodded, and it was followed by another moment of silence as Alya continued to contemplate her one question. At least that's what Marinette thought she was doing.

"Can't think of a question?" Marinette finally asked.

Alya lightly laughed from under her.

"It seems I can't pinpoint a single question right now," She said mirthfully, "But I'm going to claim exclusive interview rights from you two as of now."

"So long as you don't ask or post anything too revealing, I'll agree to that."

"Do you doubt me?" Alya joked.

"You've been intent on getting a hold of my identity since day one, so forgive me if I'm cautious," Marinette retorted, but playing along with the lighter air of the exchange.

"It's a shame, then, that you don't read my Ladyblog," Alya said with a shrug.

"Of course I do, what makes you think I don't?" Marinette was even pretty sure that she had helped with some of the design of the blog.

"Hmm, I guess you just haven't been reading it as of recent," Alya thought offhandedly.

"Well, no, not especially," Marinette said, was there something Alya was getting at?

Before Marinette could ask, Alya had pulled out her phone and was fiddling with it over Marinette's head.

"I thinks its best if you just read this," Alya said handing over the phone and continuing to run her fingers through Marinette's hair.

The device was open to one particular post on the blog page, another paragraph of text. The title of the post was what caught Marinette's attention first.

"Why I'm no Longer Looking for Ladybug's Secret Identity".

It had posted yesterday during lunch, before Adrien had even woken up. She continued to read.

"Hello everyone, I know you're probably curious as to why I've suddenly decided to stop looking for Ladybug's identity after two years of active searching and speculating. I'm sure most of you know this has been triggered by the recent events with Chat identity. It has been a startling realization to me by one on my friends that Chat's identity being revealed has put him in a great amount of danger. Papillon knows where he is and he knows who Adrien's loved one are, who can be used as leverage."

Marinette found herself peeking up from the phone at Nino for a brief moment. Leverage, she had to protect him just as much as she had to protect Adrien. She had to watch over Adrien's family, or more so his father. His cold, cold father.

"Ladybug's anonymity is to her advantage. Her family and friends are safe from Papillon, her miraculous is safe, she is safe. From now on, Chat can only be so safe. There is power in information, there is power in keeping your identity secret. This has been brought to the forefront of my thoughts by my worried friend and so I will let Ladybug's identity remain secret. Thank you".

Marinette smile at Alya's little commentary. Alya would keep her safe, and in turn Marinette would do the same. A slew of comments underneath, some agreeing with the post and some fighting it. She didn't want to read any of that so she handed the phone back to Alya.

"Thanks for having my back before knowing it was my back you had," Marinette said, she gave Nino's hand a light squeeze as extra.

"Of course," Alya responded.

The conversation waned and Marinette recalled what else she wanted to say, she took a deep breath to ready herself again.

"I went to see Adrien today," She said.

Alya tense beneath her, her hand stopping in Marinette's hair, while Nino squeezed her hand.

"How is he?" Alya asked softly.

"He's well," Marinette answered, "He's confined to his bed for the time being as he can't feel anything. He's on a lot of pain meds."

Nino let out a small relived sigh.

"And he's talking, a lot, the medicine makes him ramble," She laughed lightly, "He said he's been sleeping a lot, and…"

"And?" Both Alya and Nino lightly questioned.

"And he's worried about us, of course."

"He's worried about us?"

"Chat never had much concern for his wellbeing, I guess that bled over into how Adrien is as well," Marinette sighed, he really shouldn't be like that.

There was another moment of silence as everyone contemplated what that all meant. Nino spoke up again.

"Did you run into his dad?"

Marinette frowned and clenched her free hand at the thought of her run-in with Gabriel.

"I did," She almost growled out.

"And?"

"He doesn't want me to see Adrien, to even come near him," She explained, not delving into how he shouted at her or how he asked the worrisome question about her miraculous, "I can't exactly do that though, Adrien asked me to bring his phone tomorrow. So, you'll be able to talk to him soon."

Another squeeze from Nino, he looked like he wanted to say something but only let out a quiet "thank you."

She nodded lightly.

"What about everyone else?" Alya finally asked, causing Marinette and Nino to look at her in question, "Are you going to tell them that he's okay? Or just wait until he messages them?"

"No. Actually, my original plan was to tell you and the rest of the class about my visit, tomorrow morning as Ladybug. I was also going to tell everyone to write letters or bring small gifts that I could take to him while he's there," She informed. The gifts were sure to make Adrien happy, to know that everyone was thinking about him, "They'd bring them the next class day and I'd act as deliverer for Adrien, since no one else can visit him."

Or attempt to visit him, Marinette thought, she would just have to be extra elusive.

Or maybe face the man head-on, she'd already done it before.

Thought she really, really, really didn't want to do it again.

"That'll be great, everyone will love that," Alya said.

"I hope they will."

Nino nodded, "Adrien certainly will, he's such a sap."

The three of them laughed in agreement.

A/N: I love dramatic reveals, and I kinda jinxed myself out of the reveals I typically write by putting Chat's at the beginning, so I made up for it with this. I cannot seem to like how it comes out no matter what I do with it though :/... Also sorry this chapter is so short, I'm rather bad at writing conversation (and having conversations OTL), and didn't want to add any other scenes to this chapter.

If your curious about my amputation (cause one person asked) I have a bit more info about it on my profile. Or just ask me questions off of guest so I can actually respond ya noodle.