Chapter One

Mme. Sabine Cheng looked up, beaming, as the bell of the shop rang over the pounding rain to admit two giggling young women.

"Welcome home, Marinette. Good to see you, Alya."

"Hi Maman!"

"Afternoon Sabine!"

Marinette whooshed out a breath, shaking out her umbrella. "Boy, it's really coming down today. I sure hope nobody's been caught out in that storm."

"No kidding," Alya grinned, wringing out her hair. "It's raining Chat Noir's and dogs out there."

Marinette smirked at her. "Chat Noir out in the rain? Don't count on it."

"That's right! His cat tendencies have gotten stronger over the years, haven't they? Do you think Ladybug has any weird bug tendencies? Like aversion to the cold or something?"

"Uh… Probably? But I mean, lots of people don't like the cold. Wouldn't really narrow down your Ladybug hunt."

"True. I mean, you're a winter-hater too."

"YEah! It's just… You know, the snow soaks into your shoes and your socks and the cold eats into your bones and it's just… gross you know? Plus I look horrible in sweaters."

"Yeah right, girl," Alya snickered. "If you wanted to look good in sweaters, you know you could design one that would fit your figure."

"Heh heh…" Marinette giggled nervously, putting her umbrella to one side. "Anyway Maman, we'll be upstairs. Lots of homework to do!"

"Here girls, take a snack to strengthen those growing brains of yours."

"Thanks Maman," her daughter beamed, leaning in and kissing her cheek as she accepted the plate of cookies - one of which she promptly slipped into her purse for Tikki's enjoyment - then she and Alya hurried upstairs to her bedroom. "So, what should we work on first? Madame Bustier's writing assignment, or Madame Mendeliev's chemistry home- Why is my bed wet?" Marinette frowned, mid-way up the ladder. Worried, she leaned in close and sniffed the massive damp patch, but it didn't smell musty or unusual in any other way.

"That's weird," Alya frowned, stepping onto the lower rungs and peeking around her. "Did rain get through your skylight?"

"The umbrella on the balcony should stop that from happening. I guess that's possible if it was blown aside by the storm, but in that case, shouldn't it still be dripping?" She climbed onto the bed to look directly out of the skylight. "It looks like it's still in place. I don't see any rain hitting the glass, at least. And there doesn't seem to be any water along the seal."

"Well what else could it have been? Unless somebody dumped water on your bed?"

"I know, it's weird," Marinette frowned, tugging her quilt free from the bed and feeling underneath. "It's just surface level, though. The sheets are still dry."

"Did somebody climb on your bed while they were wet?"

Marinette froze, staring at the quilt. Wet only on a surface level, positioned directly beneath her skylight, no other signs of water in the room. Only one person came in by her balcony. What the heck was so urgent that Chat Noir would come out in the rain? And why wouldn't he have called Ladybug about it? She instinctively began to search, scanning the room for any kind of message that Chat Noir could have left behind. Almost immediately, her eyes fell upon her sketchbook, propped on her pillow where she certainly hadn't left it, lying open to a blank page that was slightly wrinkled by water. With trembling fingers, she took the notebook in her hands and read the message hastily scribbled in handwriting that certainly was not her own.

She knew, somewhere in the back of her mind, that Alya was trying to talk to her, but she couldn't hear her over the blood roaring in her ears.

This doesn't make sense. We saw him akumatized! And why would he tell me? Why not call Ladybug or at least Alya, unless… Wait… but how would he have…

No, it can't be. It can't be him, I would have… I would have known, wouldn't I? And it still doesn't make sense, why wouldn't he have called me?

Oh. Oh God, no.

On a frantic impulse, Marinette seized her pillow and threw it aside, revealing in its place a small, octagonal black box with red markings and a round white box marked with a Camembert cheese label.

No.

She knew full-well which of the kwamis had a fondness for Camembert.

No no no no no.

"Marinette! Marinette, are you sick? You look like you're about to pass out or something; what's wrong? What… what's that?"

Marinette was having trouble breathing. Her heart wouldn't stop racing, and she could feel heat rushing from her chest to the tips of her toes and all the way back up to the tips of her ears. Her hands were trembling as she scooped up the little black box. Somewhere in the distance she heard Alya's gasp, and hasty sounds of retreat as she reached for the lid, but she couldn't scramble out of the way before Marinette flipped it open.

Immediately, a flash of green light filled the room, momentarily blinding the two girls. A moment later, a shrill mewl rent the air, followed by a black speck that shot from one side of the room to the other, phasing in and out of boxes and tossing the discarded quilt into the air.

"Kid? Kid! Kid, where are you?! Come on, you can't do this to me, not now!"

"Plagg! Plagg, calm down!" Marinette cried, leaping off her bed with the Ring of the Black Cat clutched in her fist.

"Plagg? Wait, you know that kw- cat?!" Alya exclaimed, scrambling down after her.

"La- Marinette!" the little black fairy squealed, rushing towards her. "My boy, have you seen him?! Where is he!?"

"Slow down, Plagg. What happened? Why did Chat Noir leave you here?"

The little cat's ears drooped, his tail curling through his legs, his electric green eyes suddenly brimming with tears. "So… you haven't seen him? He's really gone?"

"Gone?! What do you mean?!"

"…He left me here because it was the safest place he could think of on short notice. My boy… Chat Noir… Hawkmoth learned his true identity."

Marinette's vision seemed to tunnel; the room turned misty and swayed around her. She grasped for something, anything to steady her, but felt herself stagger, unable to find anything solid before a hand took her arm and guided her to her swivel chair, where she promptly collapsed.

"No," she whispered dully. "Chat… no… y-you can't… Minou…"

Chat Noir.

Her partner.

Her hero.

Her best friend.

Her love.

And he was gone.

He was gone, and she had no idea to get him back.

"… ar…et… ette… Mari… Marinette!"

The designer startled slightly, her dull, tear-filled eyes jerking up to meet Alya's fierce hazel ones. "Look, you're obviously devastated, but as much as you want to cry and as much as I want you to explain what the heck is going on, you have a job to do!"

"Huh?"

"Marinette, Chat Noir wouldn't have left his ring here for you to find it if he didn't think you could help him! Now get your butt and your brain in gear and think! We need to get some answers, and quick! Like, how did Hawkmoth figure out his identity to begin with?" Alya snapped, turning towards the little black fairy cat floating anxiously a few feet in front of them.

"I… I don't know for sure. I don't even know how long Hawkmoth has been watching him, but… earlier today Hawkmoth confronted him, told him what he knew, and tried to convince him to join forces. Chat refused, and made a break for it, but Hawkmoth sent an akuma after him, an akuma with tracking powers. He believed that the only thing he could do was ditch the ring and keep running, hopefully lead Hawkmoth away from it. Since the akuma didn't find me before you did, I guess it worked," Plagg mumbled, obviously miserable. Marinette's heart went out to the little kwami. She couldn't even imagine having to part with Tikki under such circumstances. Sadly, she stretched out her hand towards him. He regarded it for a moment, then apathetically plopped down onto her palm.

"Okay, well if you can't tell us exactly what happened, then can you tell us who Hawkmoth and Chat Noir are so we can help him? I mean I get the whole secret identity thing, honestly, but this is kind of an emergency!"

Plagg sighed bitterly and shook his head. "The magic prevents me from saying either of their names. It's a fail-safe, just in case we get captured by someone with ill intentions. But it's pretty frustrating in situations like this."

"Actually, I think Chat thought of that," Marinette whispered. "He wrote a note in my sketchbook."

"What did it say?!"

"It said that Hawkmoth is Gabriel Agreste. And it was signed with a pawprint and the name 'Adrien Agreste'."