Chapter 5

With the added weight he was slowed a great deal, so they didn't get very far by the time he heard his miraculous give its second to last warning. He had less than a minute before he changed back.

Skidding to a halt on a fairly secluded roof with plenty of large vents to hide from prying eyes, he started to gently lower his passengers to the ground.

He was relieved to feel Fu lower himself on his own, but as he twisted around to help his lady off his back, he heard her miraculous give off its final beep. A bright pink light surrounded her, forcing his eyes shut.

When the light faded, he slowly blinked his eyes open, widening when they finally focused on the sick girl in his arms. "M-Marienette?"

Hearing her groan and feeling his own transformation fall shook him out of his shock, almost dropping the girl to fall on the hard roof.

"Yea I'm pretty sure dropping a sick person isn't best for their health," Plagg commented.

"Plagg shush. He's in shock. They weren't meant to find out this way." A gentle voice said.

Adrien looked up and saw a little red creature with a black dot on its head and blue eyes smiling down at him with such gentleness he wondered why Plagg couldn't smile like that. 'O that's right because he is a little ball of pure jerk…'

"Hello, Adrien. My name is Tikki. I am Ladybug's kwamii. It is very nice to officially meet you." She gave him a little nod. Years of training in being polite engraved into his mind forced him to automatically nod respectfully back while saying:

"I-It is very nice to m-meet you too…"

"Is that really all you have to say?"

"Plagg…" Tikki gently chided.

"What? I expected more screaming or laughing or something when he finally found his 'lady'. This reaction is just boringggg." Plagg whined

Meeting Tikki distracted him enough to almost forget the girl in his arms; Adrien quickly looked down at her then back up at Tikki and back again.

"Y-You are Ladybug's Kwamii?" Tikki nodded, obviously being patient while he processes this new information. "Ladybug was in my arms… and now Marinette is here instead…Marinette is Ladybug..." he just stared in shock as the little red kwamii smiled and nodded.

Staring at the girl, his shock slowly melted away and was replaced by a pure joyful smile before he pulled her up and tightly embraced her. 'I can't believe I finally found you! And you were so close the whole time! I'm so happy!'

"See, my boy is smart. He knows this may be the last hug he'll get before your bug realizes he found her out." Plagg snickered.

"Plagg, that's not true! Marinette won't be mad, this wasn't his fault."

"If I recall you've said that before, with similar circumstances, and your bugs still held a grudge for the rest of their time together."

"Those were different circumstances and you know it! Your kittens were too curious for their own good. Now look at what you've done, he looks terrified." Adrien didn't know what kind of face he was making but Plagg had a point… his lady made it very clear their identities were to be kept a secret. He went against her wishes. She was totally going to throw him off the Eiffel tower…

"Adrien? Adrien!" the boy slightly jumped when he felt tiny flippers push against his cheek. Looking down he saw blue eyes filled with concern looking back at him. "Calm down. Don't listen to Plagg. He can be very naughty when it suits him."

"It always suits me Sugar Cube!"

"Quiet you smelly sock. Or no pets for you." Plagg crossed his arms and turned away in submission, mumbling something about how he deserves a lot of pets.

"Now Adrien." She turned back and gave the boy her full attention once again. "Marinette will not be mad at you. She knew there was a chance she would detransform prematurely, but she trusted you enough to protect her, transformed or not. Now we need to get her back or she could get worse. Can you focus on that for her?"

Adrien stared dumbfounded for a moment longer processing what Tikki said. 'My Lady trusted me enough with her most kept secret… she trusted me!' He was shocked out of his musing when he saw Tikki starting to float down.

"Tikki are you ok?" Adrien asked as he caught her with his free hand.

"Yes, just a bit tired. It took a lot more power keeping the suit cooler to keep her temperature down."

"She's that sick?" Tikki nodded with concern in her eyes.

Adrien nodded once and took a deep breath. 'Ladybug, I mean Marinette needs me. This is no time to freak out. I will have to process later.'

"Ok, Tikki. I have some cheese for Plagg, I'm sure he won't mind sharing." Adrien said as he pulled out a triangle of Camembert from his pocket.

"Like hell I won't!" the tiny Kwamii exclaimed as he zipped down and snagged the cheese out of his chosen's hand and proceeded to eat it a good distance away.

"Plagg! You better share!" When Plagg growled Adrien started to stand up prepared to chase the tiny god.

"Don't worry Adrien, he can have it. I don't care much for cheese; honestly, I prefer sweet things, like cookies." Tikki said

"O ok." 'Why can't Plagg eat nice smelling stuff like cookies?' "Umm… I don't have any on me, but I'll get you some right away." He started to look around but stopped when he felt little taps on his hand.

"I can wait until we get to Marinette's room. She has some stashed away for me there."

Adrien looked at Plagg and was glad to see that he was almost done with his slice of cheese. He looked back and noticed Fu sitting a few feet away cross-legged, eyes closed.

"Umm… Fu? Are you alright?" Adrien curiously asked

"I am now thanks to you. I truly thought I was never going to escape that prison. You and Ladybug have my many thanks." Fu said, slightly bowing, eyes still closed.

"Uhh… yea no problem… umm… do you think I can ask you a question?"

"Certainly." He said standing and walking to get a better look at the unconscious girl.

"What are you to My La- I mean Ladybug?"

"Such an unexpected question…" Fu started as he reached and gently placed a hand on Marinette's forehead. "I thought our relationship would be clear…"

Adrien felt himself deflate. 'I guess they really are together…'

"Come. I see Plagg has recharged enough. We must return, she must get healing as soon as possible." Fu ordered.

Adrien nodded before facing the black Kwamii. "Plagg, Claws out!"

A/N:

Sorry, this chapter is so short :-(

I'll do better next time!

Love

~P. Yukiko