Chapter 7

Marinette

I de-transformed near the park and gave Tikki a cookie to nibble. She was exhausted, I could tell but hopefully she would regain her energy soon. I had a lot I needed to discuss with her.

Running to the park, I saw that all the damage was undone, and children were back, playing on the field. As I scanned the area, I saw Adrien, but Bloom and Sky were nowhere to be seen.

"Adrien!" I shouted, and ran towards him. At my yell, he came running towards me too, and held me by my shoulders.

"Are you okay?" We both asked at the same time. I blushed but nodded; I saw Adrien scratch his head nervously.

"I'm so sorry I couldn't find you, I got lost in all the chaos," I explained to him. I was still riled up from the battle and my nerves felt like steel. Thank the lords I could talk to him properly but this was the least of my problems- embarrassment was the last thing on my mind.

"Same here," he replied but he still frowned. "I have no idea where Sky went," he admitted, "and if he's hurt, my father will literally kill me for messing up this business opportunity." He sighed. "Not to mention the fact that he was like a friend to me, even though we barely met."

"I know how you feel," I told him. "I can't find Bloom anywhere. If anything's happened to her, I'll never forgive myself. Stupid, stupid me forgot to tell her about akuma attacks in Paris." By this time, my eyes were burning in anger and fear.

Adrien looked at me worriedly. "Marinette, the akuma was not your fault. And I'm sure both Bloom and Sky found shelter, somewhere. Remember how Bloom saved our lives? I'm sure both her and Sky are safe."

I nodded, but I was still scared for Bloom. She saved my life and if I couldn't save her… No, I had to stay strong. The Miraculous cure would make sure both Bloom and Sky were healed, even if they did get hurt.

As both me, and Adrien headed towards the bakery, we heard a shout behind us.

"Marinette! Adrien! Wait!"

I turned and my worries melted. There was Bloom, her red hair flying out behind her as she rushed over to hug me. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Sky hug Adrien too and I felt so glad they were both safe, even if I barely knew them.

"Are you safe? Of course, you're a strong girl but still…" Bloom gushed on, as she held me tight. I held on to her too, breathing in her flowery scent.

"I'm fine," I convinced her as she let go of me. "But what about you? Where did you Sky go once the attacks started?"

She looked nervously at Sky. "We ran to find shelter. We decided to meet back here once everything was back to normal." She smiled at me, but something didn't feel right. Sensing my doubt, Bloom just coughed and clapped her hands together.

"Okay, I think that's enough sightseeing for today! I'm still in Paris for one more week, so I was wondering if we could meet again, Marinette?" She looked at me, her blue eyes hopeful.

I smiled at her. "Of course! We can meet up tomorrow! I'm going to make sure this week is awesome for you, Bloom! You know, to make up for what happened today," I said, sheepishly.

She laughed. "It wasn't your fault anyway. But I'm glad to hear we can spend more time together!" She turned to the boys. "Do you guys want to join us?"

Adrien winked at me, and I knew he was hinting we should play matchmaker. I gave a slight nod to him to confirm the plan. "I think that sounds great!" he exclaimed. "What do you think, Sky? My father will probably take more than one day to finish some designs for you, anyway."

Sky flashed a grin at him. "Perfect! I will be waiting to see you, mademoiselle," he added, winking at Bloom and bowing down to her. She rolled her eyes, but smiled along.

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves shall we?" she replied, as she grabbed my arm and started walking to the bakery. But I saw her look back at him, and give him a smile.

"Bye Adrien! See you tomorrow at my house!" I said, thinking it was fair to make the bakery our meeting point. He grinned and walked the opposite direction with Sky, already deep in conversation.

"You're already a lot more confident around Adrien, Marinette," Bloom said gently, "I'm so proud of you. Soon, Adrien will have to see what an incredible person you are."

I blushed at her compliment. "Thanks Bloom," I began, "but let's not mix up my love life and yours."

"What do you mean?"

"Oh come on! Sky clearly adores you, and I can tell you like him back! You guys are perfect for each other!" I said, gushing.

She smiled. "Thank you Marinette. But we can discuss that later. Your parents must be worried." Sure enough, as we walked into the bakery, my mother and father rushed to me.

"Marinette, are you okay? We saw the attack happening but we didn't know where you were."

"Don't worry mom, dad, remember Paris has two superheroes now, right? I'm fine. And I think you should thank Bloom; she saved my life today."

Sabine clasped Bloom's hands. "How can I ever thank you, my dear?"

Bloom put her hands over my mother's. "You have no need to thank me. In fact, I should be thanking you and Marinette for welcoming me to Paris. I have never been welcomed like this, ever." She smiled. "If it wasn't for Marinette, I wouldn't have known about the attacks in the first place, so really, your daughter was the one who saved my life and hers."

"You are too modest," my father protested, "but we thank you once again."

Bloom nodded but something wasn't right. I never recalled telling Bloom about the attacks in the first place. Also, when I was going to transform, what did Bloom mean when she said 'Do what you have to do'? Could she possibly know… no, no-one knew about my secret identity. At least, that's what I thought.

I saw Bloom fidget nervously, almost as if she sensed my discomfort. "Well, thank you Mrs and Mr Dupain-Cheng, I shall see you tomorrow." She turned to me and smiled. "Marinette, can I talk to you for a minute?"

"Sure," I replied, and lead the way upstairs. She followed, and we made our way up to the trap door. Opening the handle, I motioned for her to sit down on my chaise.

"What do you want to talk about?" I asked, unsure of what was about to come.

Bloom took a deep breath. "I want to say something really important to you, Marinette," she started, "and I hope you will forgive me eventually, if not now. I also hope you won't freak out-"

BANG!

We both jumped before running to look out the window. There was an army of metal soldiers, shooting and turning others into soldiers. Some soldiers were carrying a contraption, where a man wearing gold robes and a French Tricolor-striped sash sat. The sash and his face looked familiar…

I gasped. "Mayor Bourgeois?" I realised he had gotten akumatized, but why? And the Papillion couldn't wait one more day to launch an attack on Paris? It was as if he knew how much harder it was to fight two akumas in one day, not to mention one after the other.

"Marinette, there's no time for me to tell you what I needed to say," Bloom said, urgency in her voice, "so I'm just going to have to show you."

"What's going on-" I started to say before Bloom yelled something like "Winx, Bloomix!"

There was a flash of bright light and I had to look away. When I looked back, there stood a woman in a blue dress that was woven with gold, golden jewellery that adorned her arms and red, flowing hair.

But that wasn't the only thing that caught my attention. On her back were big, beautiful wings of fuchsia, magenta and teal.

My mouth hung open. "You, you…" I stuttered when I felt a fluttering in my pink bag. I knew Tikki was trying to tell me to hurry, and transform.

"I'm sorry, Marinette," Bloom said, "I wanted to show you my true form in a more, well, convenient situation. But Paris needs you."

She walked up to me, her eyes filled with a passionate fire. "Marinette, you must remember that Chat Noir should not understand that you know me. Otherwise, your identity may be revealed and I know you're not ready for that yet, and I respect your decision. That's why you must pretend that you do not know me, okay?" She spoke gently yet her words were firm.

My heart was beating fast as I finally realised the truth. As Bloom saw the recognition in my eyes, she smiled, almost apologetically.

"It's time to go Ladybug."

Adrien

As we left the girls and headed back home, I started to confront Sky about Bloom.

"So, Sky, not to be rude or anything, but you seem pretty smitten by Marinette's friend," I began, somewhat casually.

He turned to look at me, grinning. "Guess I wasn't being subtle, huh?"

"Not exactly," I agreed, "In fact, the opposite was true."

He laughed. "Well, we'll see how it plays out. But what about you? Marinette seems to really like you."

His words caught me by surprise. "Really? I mean, we're friends but I didn't think she liked me in that way." I thought about the way she acted when she was around me; before, she used to stutter whenever I came near, but now she seems more comfortable with me.

Sky shook his head, almost in exasperation. "She really likes you, Adrien," he began, "I mean, have you seen the how shy she becomes around you? And the way she blushes?"

I blushed when Sky mentioned all of those things about Marinette. "Sky, are you sure you like Bloom? Because right now, I feel like you've been observing Marinette a little too much."

"No, I just see the things that you're oblivious too. Besides, I see her like my little sister."

"Well, I'm flattered, if all the things you've said about Marinette is true, but I, uh, kinda like someone else," I said sheepishly, scratching my head nervously.

Sky jerked his head to look at me. Now it was his turn to be surprised. "Really? And can I hear the name of this lucky lady?"

I chuckled. Sky made a pun without realising it. "Well, it's Ladybug," I said, my cheeks flaming, "and she really is Lady Luck, if you know what I mean."

He nodded his in acknowledgement. "I can see why you like her," he said, "but don't forget about what I said to you about Marinette."

I was confused by his choice of words but we had already reached the gates of my house by now. I was just about to press the buzzer to let Nathalie know we were here when I heard the sound of a crash.

Turning my head to the source of the noise, I saw a man dressed in gold and a French flag-coloured sash pointing a long metal tool at passer-bys. I looked in horror as people turned into soldiers right before my eyes.

"We've got to move Sky," I said urgently, grabbing his arm and dashing behind a corner. I looked and saw the man in gold, the akumatized victim, progressing along the street and creating an army.

"Sky, you have to get out of here, there's another akuma attack." I shook my head in disbelief. Another akuma so soon after the first was a rarity.

"I'm not leaving you," Sky said, his tone firm. "Well, I was going to tell you the truth soon but I didn't think it would be this soon. Oh, well, here goes nothing!" He whistled sharply, and looked around for something.

"Sky, I have no idea what you're talking abou- AAH!" He grabbed me and we started moving into the air.

"Hold on tight!" He yelled, as I was flung to the back on- wait, what were we riding?

As I looked down, I saw I was sitting on a large, blue bike. But we weren't touching the ground.

"What is going on?!" I yelled, as Sky navigated through the air and landed in a desolate street. He jumped off, but I was still clinging on to the seat.

"I'm sorry Adrien, this was the only way I could have stopped you from turning into a minion of that man in the gold suit." He held out a hand for me to take.

As I calmed down, I took it and came off the bike. "Well, that was new," I said, still a bit taken aback.

He chuckled. "This is my hover bike. Pretty cool, right? It can ride both on the ground and the air. And before you say it's impossible," he warned, as I began to protest, "think about the world you live in. Anything is possible."

I thought about my life as Chat Noir and the Miraculouses. "Okay, can't argue with you there. But what did you mean when you said you would tell the truth?"

Sky looked a little rueful. "Right, well, there's no easy way to say this. And remember, this is not the time to chat, we have work to do." He laughed slightly before coughing and continuing.

"I know you are Chat Noir."

Marinette

"Please don't freak out!" Bloom yelled, as I opened my mouth to scream. I held it in but my mouth was still agape.

"I don't have time to explain now, but we have to go! You need to transform."

I thought about all the innocent people and my duties as Ladybug. I would have time to panic and also question Bloom later.

"I'm going to go and try and settle the situation without attracting too much attention," Bloom formulated, "I don't want the rest of Paris to know about me. And remember, act as if you have never met me before."

With that she flew, yes flew outside through my window. Tikki flew out from her pouch and looked worriedly at me.

"Marinette," she asked, "are you okay?"

"I'm not sure," I said softly, "I'm still trying to process what happened."

"Please, Paris needs you. You'll have time to figure this all out later. And trust me," she said, "when I say that you can trust Bloom."

I nodded. "Tikki," I said, "transform me."

Adrien

"Look, I think you've got the wrong guy here," I said nervously, "I'm not Chat Noir."

Sky quirked an eyebrow. He was clearly not fooled.

"Okay fine, I'm Chat Noir," I confessed, "but you cannot tell anyone."

He snorted. "I think I know that much already. Well, I think it's time for explanations later. As someone once told me, there's a time for talk and there's a time for action."

I nodded, feeling slightly light-hearted. Keeping a secret this huge was difficult, and I finally felt that I could trust someone about this.

"You're right, Sky," I agreed, "we'll talk about all of this later. But now Paris needs me."

"And I'll be here by your side," he grinned. "But I'll join you later. I don't want anyone apart from you in Paris to know about me. And remember, you must act as if you have never met me before, especially to Ladybug. Otherwise, things could get difficult and now is not the time for that."

I didn't fully understand his strange message but I nodded that I would do as he said. He patted my shoulder comfortingly, before leaping onto his bike and grabbing a helmet. The bike lifted and Sky zoomed off, but I knew he would be nearby.

"You haven't forgot about me, have you?" Plagg zipped out of my shirt and looked at me.

"Of course not. It's time to move, Plagg."

"Yes," he agreed for once. "I'm glad you're not panicking too much about this. I think that a lot of things will seem clearer once you've defeated this akuma."

I scrunched my eyebrows but Plagg just scowled. "Don't just stand there! Say the magic words, boy!"

"Okay, okay! Plagg, transform me!"

He was absorbed into my ring and it was time for Chat to step in for Paris.

Finally, a confession from Bloom and Sky, to Marinette and Adrien!

So, I just wanted to explain some references.

When Sky says 'there's a time for talk and a time for action', this quote was taken from Bloom's mother. She is awesome.

Also, when Bloom says to Marinette 'Please don't freak out!', did anyone think Tangled? No copyright intended, including this entire fanfiction as well.

And Marinette is starting to like Chat while Adrien is starting to like Marinette...

Thanks for reading and please review!