Chapter 3

-Adrien

He was worried about her. Genuinely worried. She'd just left when Lila had spouted another sentence. Now Adrien just knew that Lila was wrong, there was no good reason he shouldn't bother with Marinette. She needed him. Now more than ever. But he wanted to give her another source to talk to. He darted to the window in his room and summoned Plagg out of the cheese cupboard. "Plagg, claws out!" As he slipped out the window, he chuckled to himself. "We've got a princess to see."

Chat took off into the air, leaping across buildings toward the bakery. Usually he made these kinds of visits during the evening. But soon enough, he hopped onto Marinette's balcony. She wasn't out on her balcony, so he pulled the hatch leading down into her room a crack and called inside, "Marinette? Are you there?" No response. He called one more time, "Marinette? Princess? It's me!" Still nothing. Maybe she didn't go straight home. He poked his head inside and saw her empty room. Her bed was somewhat mussed, but otherwise, everything looked normal. She wasn't home then. He stood back up and closed the hatch. He'd have to try again later. He shrugged. Chat extended his staff and started off for home again. Maybe he'd take the scenic route.

Chat leapt across the buildings, watching the people of Paris go about their afternoon. He kept going, not in any particular hurry, or in any particular direction. He eventually wandered to the river nearby the lock bridge and spotted the ship that Juleka and her family lived on. He took a break, sitting by the edge of the water on a bench, reclining back. As he looked around him, he couldn't help but focus on the ship more. He admired the little windows and the impressive amount of music equipment the family had. Chat peered through one of the little windows and spotted that boy Luka in his room. He was strumming his guitar and he seemed to be talking to someone, a happy smile decorating his face. As Chat squinted and looked closer, he felt a pang of realization sting in him as he realized that guitar boy was talking to his princess.

-Marinette

Ladybug detransformed behind a bush near the edge of the water before walking towards the Liberty. She was ready to talk to Luka, because once she was in his presence, all the nasty drama in her life seemed to dissipate. She stepped onto the ship, and went down the stairwell trying to remember the path down to Luka's room. After a minute, she found it and slowly stepped through the doorway. "Luka?" She called softly, turning her head to see him sitting on his bed. He looked up and seemed to pierce her with his beautiful eyes, just as when she'd first met him. "Hey Ma-ma-marinette." he smiled, proving he was having a similar flashback as she was. "Are you doing any better?" He asked as she seated herself on the bed next to him. "Kinda," she answered. Luka scanned her face for a moment with his eyes before he reached for his guitar. "Does it feel kind of like this?" he asked her, and he played a melancholy tune of riffs. "Kinda up and down?" he asked. "Yeah," Marinette answered. "I'm sorry," Luka said, "What can I do to help?" "I dunno," Marinette stumbled, "I don't even know what I can do." She admitted.

She didn't want to give away too much, but the situation was hard enough to understand. "Adrien told me today that he doesn't believe what Lila's been saying, but there's not a lot within our control. Alya and Nino still don't believe me. I don't know what to do about it." Luka was listening quietly and after a moment, his fingers turned to the guitar again. He played a tune of scattered notes fitting together in a confusing chord. "Hmmm," he muttered and Marinette was still in awe. "How do you do that?" She asked in awe, "You just seem to translate all my confused emotions into pure music." Luka shrugged slightly as a smile slipped across his face, "It kind of just happens. Music is basically another form of speech. You tell it what hurts, and music says it back in the form of a beautiful tune." Marinette didn't know what to say. Already she felt better, and she knew it wasn't all just because of Luka's ability with music. He had a different power in him. Like a kind of power that a miraculous gave, except more from the heart.
"You're incredible, Luka." The words came out before she could stop them. Luka looked surprised. "That's coming from the girl who's stronger than anyone I know." Marinette didn't know how to answer that. But she didn't have to. Her phone rang in her pocket, and she saw that for the first time in a couple weeks, it was Alya. "Excuse me for a minute," she told Luka and answered the phone, stepping out of the room.

"Hello Alya." was all she could think of to say to her icy friend. "Hey Marinette." Alya's tone sounded somewhat apologetic. That was a good sign. "I just wanted to say I'm sorry. After you left today, Adrien kinda gave me and Nino a talking to. He's right, and you're right. I shouldn't have listened to Lila instead of you. Can you ever forgive me?" Marinette bit her lip at Alya's apology. "I'll forgive you, it'll just take a little bit of adjustment. But I'm glad you want to be friends again." Marinette managed to answer. "Thank you Marinette!" Alya sounded relieved, "I don't know what I'd do without such a nice friend! I could hug you through the phone!" Marinette let out a small laugh. "Thanks Alya. I'll talk to you later." She hung up rather hurriedly and ducked back into Luka's room. He was sitting in front of the window in his room, playing a song on his guitar.

"What's this song?" Marinette asked, pulling up a chair next to him, managing to not trip herself. "It's one I wrote." He said softly, still playing the intro. It was a tune of soft little notes tied together. "What's it called?" She asked. "I haven't decided yet." Luka said. He kept playing the first verse of the song starting with a gentle riff, leading into a hopeful, loving part. Marinette didn't know the lyrics but just listening to the tune, it sounded like a sweet love song. The choral portion of the tune was more upbeat, threaded with higher notes mixed with the lower notes. The second verse and chorus followed suite, but the bridge was a little louder, giving off a more desperate vibe. The guitar part grew louder, with hintings to some of Jagged Stone's music. But then it grew soft again in the finish, circling back to the beginning where it ended with similar soft notes. Slowly, Luka finished, playing the last couple notes and finally taking his fingers off the guitar.

"Wow." Marinette gasped, an awed smile crossing her face. "It's beautiful." She felt a couple tears tingling her eyes. "Thanks," Luka said, looking down a little. "Do you have lyrics for it?" "I'm working on some," he admitted. "Are you going to sing them?" She asked. "I dunno. I don't know if I want to share this with very many people. It's kind of closer to the vest for me." "I understand." Marinette answered. "But I'll let you listen to it when it's done." He smiled softly and Marinette couldn't help but feel her heart skip a beat.