Plagg

I was tired of waiting, so as soon as Adrien fell asleep, I took matters into my own paws. Adrien had fallen asleep later than normal people, and then sun was about to come up. I just hoped his princess was on a similar sleep schedule.

He had fallen asleep on top of Marinette's building. I ate the last piece of Camembert he had and slid through her balcony doors.

"Tikki," I said quietly. "Tikki, if you're here, come out."

A red blur charged at me from under Marinette's bed, tackling me.

"Quiet!" she said in a low whisper. "Come with me."

She slipped out the balcony door, and I followed her.

"What's going on?" Tikki asked.

"I needed to find out for myself," I said. "I was tired of waiting on him to do it. Also . . . I'm officially out of cheese."

Tikki sighed, shaking her head. "Where is Adrien?"

"Sleeping on the roof," I answered. "Wait, how did you know he's my charge?"

She didn't answer. Instead, she darted toward the sky. I was quick to follow. She stopped a few feet from Adrien's sleeping form. His face was twisted with worry, like he was having a nightmare.

"Marinette knows. That's how I know," she said quietly. "She's known for a few days." She flew closer to Adrien and touched his cheek. His face crinkled more and he stirred, but he didn't wake up. Tikki giggled. "He's driving her crazy."

"Yeah? Well, she's not much better." I crossed my arms. "I need to put an end to the running. You two are the only ones who can help me."

She frowned. "You shouldn't have let it come to this in the first place. We're not here so that they can run from their regular lives."

"I know." I rolled my eyes. "No one cares about the kid, though. He just needed space, and we agreed it was only temporary. Now he's just afraid to face reality."

She nodded, her expression softening."You need to talk to Marinette."

I followed her back down to Marinette's room. Tikki gently shook her, saying, "Marinette, wake up. Someone's here to see you."

Marinette squinted her eyes and grunted. She looked at her kwami. "Who's here at this hour?" After a second, she groaned. "No, not him."

"Almost." Tikki gave her a slight smile and turned on the light before flying to my side. "Marinette, this is Plagg."

Marinette looked at me, her eyes widening. "You're . . . . "

"Yeah, yeah, the Cat Noir kwami." I rolled my eyes. "Got any Camembert? Adrien's out."

Tikki shook her head. "Sorry, Marinette. Plagg doesn't have many manners."

"What are you doing here?" Marinette asked, crossing her arms.

"Adrien's being a creepy stalker and is sleeping on top of your roof," I said. "And I needed to find out for myself if you're actually Ladybug."

"Please, don't tell him," she said. "I don't want him to know yet."

I groaned. "You stupid humans could save yourselves a lot of trouble if you just fessed up."

"This is a delicate situation, Plagg," Tikki said. "It needs to be handled as so."

"Adrien thinks you might be Ladybug, but he's not entirely sure," I said, looking at Marinette. "And you obviously know who he is already. You just need to tell him you know, and tell him you're Ladybug, and that'll be one crisis solved."

She shook her head. "I won't tell him I know. He has to tell me who he is. And, I won't tell him I'm . . . her."

"Why not? How many times do I have to say it? You humans are making this harder than it needs to be."

Tikki shot me a glare. "You were there, Plagg. He told her their kiss was a mistake. Don't you think that hurts just a little bit?"

I rolled my eyes. Tikki was always the more compassionate one, but even she had to understand how important this was.

"Can you blame the guy? He thinks he's being torn between loving two women, and he thinks you're in love with Adrien and not Cat Noir. What else is he supposed to think?"

Marinette hugged her knees to her chest. A tear rolled down her face. Great. Now Tikki wouldn't let me hear the end of it.

"He doesn't have feelings for me," she said. "He has feelings for Ladybug. He admitted himself that he might be using me as a Ladybug substitute."

"And you're Ladybug. Don't tell me you're also having an identity crisis."

She shook her head. "No. I'm not. I'm perfectly fine being just Marinette, and I refuse to let him use me as a substitute for her."

I groaned. "What is the problem? You're Ladybug!"

Tikki shook her head. "It's no wonder Adrien is screwed up if you talk to him like this." She snuggled against her charge's cheek. I held back my gagging.

"If he doesn't want Marinette, then what will happen if I can no longer be Ladybug? He'll leave me, and he'll just fall in love with the next person who puts on the Ladybug miraculous. If he doesn't love Marinette, that's exactly what will happen."

"You need to talk to Adrien," Tikki said. Then, she turned to me. "Plagg, go get him. Drag him down here so these two can talk. That's the only way we're going to solve any of this."

Marinette wiped her eyes. "I don't want to see Adrien right now."

"Good, because you probably won't be. Kid's too scared to face you as Adrien, so Cat Noir will probably be greeting you." Before she could stop me, I flew through the balcony doors and up to the roof, finding Adrien sitting up.

"Plagg, where were you?"

"Snooping," I said. "Hurry up. You have a princess to talk to."

Adrien

As soon as I transformed, I jumped down to Marinette's balcony. She was sitting on her bed, her head in her knees. I knocked on the door and she stiffened, but she didn't move otherwise.

I pulled on the door, surprised that it opened. I didn't like walking in without her permission, but I had a bad feeling about this.

"Princess." My voice came out weaker than I expected, but the closer I came, the more I could feel her pain, and it was piercing my heart. Why was she so upset?

"Marinette, what's wrong?" I asked, placing my hand on her shoulder, but she shrugged me away.

"You need to go," she said.

"Was it something I did?"

"Our kiss . . . was a mistake. You only love Ladybug."

"But, you're the one who kissed me, and you only love Adrien," I said, trying to keep the hurt from seeping into my voice. "I don't only love Ladybug. How did you even know I have feelings for her?"

"I'm not dumb. I see the way you're always looking at her." She sighed. "And, I don't just love Adrien. I wouldn't have kissed you if I didn't feel something for you."

I touched her cheek, watching as a tear rolled down it. "I do have feelings for Ladybug, but over the last few days, feelings have been growing for you, too. Princess, why do you think I keep coming here?"

She closed her eyes, and she choked out a small sob. "You couldn't get away from me fast enough after it happened. I just . . . want you to go."

"I won't go," I said. "Not until you're not upset anymore. I don't want something to happen to you."

"What are you talking about? I'll be perfectly fine in my room."

I shook my head. "He feeds on negative emotions. He-Hawkmoth-he'll akumatize you. If he tries while I'm here, I won't let him."

She froze, her eyes wide and panicked. "No. Don't let him get me."

I pulled her against my chest. My suit was getting wet, but if she needed to cry, I would let her cry. In her request, she sounded more vulnerable than I had ever heard her, like she was actually afraid for her life. Not that she should've been.

"I won't."

An image of Ladybug popped into my head, and suddenly this conversation took on a whole new meaning. But, Ladybug was fearless. I could never see her breaking down on me like this. Then again, who would think of Cat Noir as someone who runs away?

She pulled away after several seconds and wiped her eyes. I brushed the loose hair behind her ear, noticing for the first time the dull, black earrings. I could've said something now, but I couldn't bring myself to. All signs were pointing to her being Ladybug, but for some reason, she still wasn't telling me.

"Marinette," I started, voice quiet. I wasn't sure why, but I was terrified to ask this question. Ladybug may have denied it, but would Marinette? "Do you know who I am?"

She looked at me for several seconds then nodded slowly. "You're Cat Noir."

I wanted to press the subject, but my cat senses picked up the sound of someone coming up stairs. I didn't trust leaving her just yet, so I quickly released her and scurried under her bed. The trap door came up, and Marinette stood up, standing at a perfect angle to block the person's view of me.

"Breakfast is ready, honey," Sabine said.

"Uh, okay, Mom. I'll get dressed and be right down."

The trap door closed and Marinette peaked under the bed. "I think . . . I think I'll be okay now. Thank you . . . for not leaving."

Sliding out from under the bed, I took her hand and kissed the back of it. "Anytime, Princess. I hope . . . you can forgive me."

She withdrew her hand, giving me a small, sad smile. "I need to get ready. Can we talk more about this tonight?"

I nodded. "Tonight, Princess."

She hurried over to her closet, and I made my way to the balcony. Giving her one last smile, I jumped down to the ground.

It was a Sunday. There weren't too many people out yet, so I had a bit of freedom to roam the streets without attracting too much attention. I ducked into an alley, hid behind a pile of empty boxes, and released my transformation.

"You forgetting something?" Plagg said.

"What? I didn't get a chance to tell her," I said.

He shook his head. "You're out of Camembert."

I groaned. Of course. "I can't exactly go into a store right now."

He shook his head. "Ask your princess."

"She's with her parents now."

"Fine, I'll ask her."

Wait, Plagg-" He slipped out of my hands before I could grab him. I groaned as he floated farther away. What was he thinking?

I couldn't risk my identity if I followed him. I stayed hidden, hoping this wouldn't blow up in my face.

A small ball rolled into the alley, stopping a few feet from me. I held my breath, expecting a little kid to come running in here, but I heard nothing. Confused, I stared at it. Why did nobody-

A strange gas surrounded the ball. I stood up, preparing to make a run for it, but something grabbed me from behind, picking me up from the ground. I turned, expecting an akuma victim, but instead I looked right into the eyes of my gorilla.

Fear seized me. The gas was getting closer. But, wouldn't he be affected, too? Footsteps came closer, and I found a woman. She looked like Nathalie, except her skin was unusually pale, her glasses were dark, she was wearing pinstripes instead of her usual black and red suit, and her bun was larger than usual.

Had Nathalie been akumatized?

The gorilla pressed my face into the gas. My strength left me, and all I wanted to do was pass out. I tried to fight it, but when I blinked, I couldn't reopen my eyes.

The last thing I heard was a twisted version of Nathalie's voice. "Good. Now Hawkmoth and Gabriel will get off my back."

Poor Adrien can't catch a break. Next chapter, I've decided to do a little something from Tikki's POV, it'll probably just be split between her and Marinette like this one was split between Plagg and Adrien. Thanks as always for reading :)