Ladybug left the Agreste mansion, head spinning faster than her yo-yo. She arrived back at her house, entered through the skylight, and de-transformed. "Tikki? I don't know where to start. Wait… yes I do. No, wait… ugh… Tikki!" She flopped down onto her bed and covered her face with a pillow.
"Breathe, Marinette!" The red kwami floated next to Marinette's ear. "Do you want my advice?"
"More than anything else in the world, Tikki," came a muffled whine.
"Talk to your partner. He'll give you good advice."
Marinette peeked out from behind the pillow. "Talk to Chat? But… what about what Adrien said earlier? Tikki, what if…"
"What if what? Talk to him. He's your partner, Marinette. You're not supposed to bear the burdens of being Guardian by yourself. And while you can and should consult with the kwamis occasionally, you need to talk to him."
"OK, fine, Tikki. I'll do that." She reached into her purse and pulled out her flip phone.
[LB] Kitty? Can we meet tomorrow? I have something for you /(%)\
The reply came almost instantly.
[CN] PLAGG? Yes yes yes please =^.^=
[LB] 10 am at the Tower. Don't be late!
[CN] late? I'm so excited i'll have a hard time leaving now. But Bug? How am I supposed to get to the top of the Tower without him?
Marinette groaned. Old habits die hard.
[LB] Just testing you :) Be at the park where you left him at 9:45. He'll meet you there with the ring
[CN] 9:45, got it. Leaving now.
[LB] tomorrow MORNING, Chat
[CN] =^.^=
"Tikki?"
"Yes, Marinette?"
"Is Plagg secretly the kwami of being a dork?"
Tikki giggled and looked fondly at Marinette, who turned off the light, rolled over and immediately went to sleep.
Marinette woke up the next day to the sound of classical music. She pawed at her phone, only to realize that the music wasn't coming from it. She sat up with a shot and peered over the edge of her loft, only to see her mother standing in front of the gramophone watching a record play. Her eyes opened wide and she squeaked.
Startled, Sabine turned around and looked at her. "Oh! You're awake. Where did you get this old record player?"
"Umm…" Marinette tried her best to fight off the sleepy fog clouding her brain. "Adrien."
"What? Why would Adrien give you something like this? I thought you teenagers were into things like video games."
Marinette's brain went from sleepy to overdrive as she struggled to find an excuse. "Oh, yeah, um, we like those too, um, his father is having a fashion show soon and Adrien gave me that as inspiration because he wants me to put a few designs forward and see what his father thinks about them?" she blurted.
Sabine blinked as she tried to process what her daughter said. Finally, she smiled and said "That's great that he thinks so highly of your work! I see you slept in your clothes again… don't make me ground you from not having fun! You're apparently working hard enough as it is. Breakfast is in the fridge!" She smiled, stopped the record and went downstairs closing the trap door behind her.
That was close! Marinette thought, climbing down from her loft. She checked her phone and saw that she had an hour before Chat was due to pick up Plagg from the park, so she went downstairs and had a quick breakfast before settling down to business for the day. Placing the record in its sleeve, she opened the gramophone, retrieved the Miracle Box and summoned Plagg.
"Good morning, Marinette," he yawned. "Do I get to go see Aa-" he covered his mouth as green bubbles floated out of it.
"What was that?" Marinette asked him.
"Kwamis are prevented from saying the names of their holders to anyone who doesn't already know," Plagg explained. "I know who Chat Noir is and Tikki knows who he is, but since you don't, Guardian, it looks like it's code names only."
"Wait! How does Tikki know who Chat is?"
"You two de-transformed in front of each other during the Dark Owl incident," Plagg pointed out. "That's how I found out who you are."
"Oh, right… has Chat ever tried to find out who I am?" I bet I know the answer to this one… he probably bugs that poor kwami daily.
"Do you mean by asking me directly? No. By spying on you? Also no. He almost peeked in on you after Lady WiFi when you had to detransform in the closet of that hotel, but he didn't. He loves you desperately - almost sickeningly so, in my opinion - and wants to know who you are under the mask… but he respects your wishes."
"Desperately?" Marinette boggled. "You're the second person to tell me how much Chat loves me."
Plagg hesitated slightly then turned to Marinette. "You found out about Chat's feelings for Ladybug through someone else… So, tell me… I mean… I know Chat hangs out with him sometimes, but I must not have been paying attention if he ever talked about you... How did that go down?"
Marinette gave Plagg a quick summary of the previous day's battle and aftermath. When she was done the black kwami hummed. "That's… interesting. Listen… Bug… let me talk to him before you do anything, OK? It's not that I don't trust you. You're the Guardian and that carries a lot of weight. But you're also a teenage girl and even though I think feelings are yucky… I don't want to see my friend get hurt. I'll go wait for him at the park. Knowing him, he's probably already there. See you at the Tower." Plagg took the Cat Miraculous, floated away and phased through the window.
Marinette looked after him, then opened the purse at her side. She reached in and pulled out the envelope containing Chat Noir's identity. She ran her fingers over the seal and squinted out the window in the direction of the park. Her nose touched the glass, sending a chill down her spine that jolted her back to where she was standing. Shaking her head, she walked over to the Miracle Box and placed the envelope where the Cat Miraculous had been only moments earlier. Closing her eyes, she shut the Miracle Box and the gramophone, then took a deep breath.
Seconds later, Marinette heard a loud whoop from the park. She ran over to her window and saw Chat Noir leaping to the nearest rooftop. She smiled at her partner and thought, Looks like it's time to get to the Tower. She called for her transformation and climbed out her skylight, headed for the rendezvous point.
Ladybug wasn't surprised when she saw Chat waiting for her. She was surprised at the sight of her partner doing acrobatics with his staff in between beams. "How's it feel?" she yelled as she neared him.
Chat's smile could have lit up the Eiffel Tower at night and probably the entire city of Paris, for that matter. "I feel amazing! Thank you so much for taking care of Plagg for me!" He released his staff and gracefully landed next to Ladybug, throwing his arms around her. "Thank you thank you thank you! Er," he said as he stepped back, "Sorry about that. Personal space and everything."
"It's OK, Kitty. I know how happy you must be to be back in action."
"I want to find Serket and kick her butt! Is that wrong?"
"It's not wrong at all, Kitty - but there have been some new developments. Let me fill you in." She began to recount the events of the day before.
"Aspik, huh?" Chat grinned. "What happened to Viperion?"
"He, uh, wasn't available," Ladybug said, looking off to the side. "That's not important, though. What is important is that we found a way to stop Serket: Aspik almost had her Miraculous but someone new came along and saved her. He has a fire weapon, which terrifies me."
"We have fire too, though, right? What's the big deal?"
"What are you talking about, Ki- oh! The potions! Of course! Do you still have your spicy cheese?"
"I don't leave home without it," Chat confessed. "If it weren't for Plagg hating to transform, he probably would have eaten it all by now."
"Good point. He was pretty well-behaved when I had him, to be honest. Unless the other kwamis sneaked him food, I'm not sure he really ate much."
"Dang, Bug, he must really like you, then."
"He's not the only one." Ladybug found herself talking without thinking - again - and froze. Oops. How on earth do I bring up what Adrien said to me about Chat without giving away that I was at Adrien's house yesterday? Chat's smart - he would figure out that Adrien was Aspik pretty quickly. Come on, think, Ladybug! She noticed that Chat was smirking at her. Can that boy see inside my mind or something? It's not fair!
"...You were saying, my Lady?"
The part of Ladybug's brain that evaluated which words made it out of her mouth disengaged completely. "Well, Sass, the Snake kwami, really seems to like me, too! In fact, he keeps teasing me and trying to get me to open an envelope that Master Fu left for me that has your identity in it." What are you doing? Stop talking now!
Chat's eyes widened. "Excuse me? You mean to tell me that you have my real name sealed in an envelope?"
Ladybug gulped. "It's the responsibility of the Guardian to know who all the Miraculous holders are. I won't open it, though, because I don't want to knock our partnership out of balance. You know me, Kitty - I've always said that our identities have to remain a secret. With Serket out there searching for the new Guardian, if someone found out who you are or who I am, our families… our friends… people we love could be in danger! I can't let that happen." She closed her eyes. Talk to Chat. He'll give you good advice. You're not supposed to bear the burdens of being Guardian by yourself. Her kwami's words from that morning echoed in her mind. "Can I bend your ear a bit?"
Chat reached out and tentatively put his hand on hers. "Of course, my Lady." He reached up with his other hand and twisted his costume ear. "They're flexible."
Ladybug rolled her eyes. "Be serious, Chat. Even before I was Guardian, Master Fu let me choose who would hold Miraculous on a temporary basis when we needed reinforcements. He always praised me for my choices, but I don't feel good about these last two choices."
"Don't feel good? How so?" Chat said, guardedly.
"Viperion seems like he was a flake… he didn't show up yesterday because he had something going on in his personal life. Kitty, you and I always put personal stuff aside for the good of Paris! It's hard work being a superhero, but we both are willing to do it, time and time again. Yesterday was the first time anyone's ever said no to me, and to be honest, it stung!"
"Not as bad as Serket…" Chat rubbed his side and smiled.
"No, of course not as bad as that," Ladybug replied, a smile playing at the corner of her lips. "But it's so hard not to take stuff like that personally! I'm sure he had a good reason or felt that whatever was a higher priority, but when he was saying no to the responsibility, it was like he was saying no to me personally. Does that make sense?"
"Sure, Bug. Your sense of duty is so much a part of you that saying no to being a superhero is like saying no to you. I get it."
"Exactly!"
"So… what about the other choice? Aspik? You said he managed to almost beat Serket… what's the matter with that?"
"It's not what he did, Kitty, it's who he is… oh gosh, Kitty, I can't believe I'm about to tell you this, especially given how much I've fought telling you this for what seems like years now and I have nobody besides the kwamis to talk to and no offense to them but I really need to get this out to a person or I'm going to burst… sorry."
Chat Noir was lightly tapping her hand in between his to bring her back to earth. When she broke from her ramble, he rubbed circles on the back of her hand with his thumb. "Are you okay?"
"Chat…" she moaned. "I'm so sorry. I thought I was stronger."
"I'm strong with you, my Lady. What's on your mind? What happened with Aspik?" Chat leaned forward, a hint of desperation in his questions.
"The boy I chose to be Aspik… when Serket attacked him, I couldn't not see beyond the mask. I know the Miraculous make us invulnerable to physical harm in addition to all of these powers, but Serket managed to get the drop on Aspik... and my first thought wasn't saving Paris… it was saving him. This is why I've always wanted to keep our identities from each other! I almost failed at my duty to Paris because of feelings... and I swore to myself that I would never let that happen!" She balled up her fists and pounded her thighs, frustrated.
"That's OK, Bug… it happens to all of us. I assume Aspik is your friend outside of the mask, which is understandable… you don't just go choosing random people to be superheroes… right?"
"He's more than my friend, Kitty… he's the boy I had a crush on for the longest time. I think I still do, to be honest." She saw Chat's eyes grow impossibly wide. "Oh no, Kitty! I'm so sorry! All this time I was rejecting you for him... and then the first time you're not available I go and get him to be my partner… this is an absolute disaster and I will make it up to you, I promise… Kitty? Say something! Chat! Wait… why are you smiling?" Ladybug hadn't seen a grin that wide on Chat Noir's face since they were trapped in a bubble together.
A man with silver-grey hair wearing a dark blue long-sleeved Chinese tunic, brown pants, black boots and gloves, a sapphire bird pendant and a dark red domino mask burst into the TV studio interrupting the nightly news broadcast. He shoved Nadja Chamack out of her chair and faced the TV camera. "Justice is coming," he seethed, "and I will take my rightful place as Guardian of the Miraculous! Soon… all will know the fury of Le Faisan! Justice fire!"
Orange flames rushed forth from his hands and consumed the TV set as the TVI personnel ran for their lives.