Dabble in Drabbles 7: Satisfaction. Illusions.

Okay, I was extremely unsatisfied with The Puppeteer. One episode, they show Ladybug needing Chat Noir and that they're a team. And then the next, they show that Ladybug can do anything on her own, she doesn't need Chat Noir? I mean, seriously.

I want to keep an open mind. Maybe this was just foreshadowing into the next episode which draws the conclusion because I'm guessing that those two are connected.

ANYWAY, to ease my grouchiness, this drabble's a tribute to ep 18.

Summary: In which Chat Noir visits Marinette late in the night. Feelings are revealed, and some are hidden. Thoughts voiced out.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

Marinette wakes up blearily from her uncomfortable position on her desk. With sleepy eyes, she gets up and walks to the window.

She meets a pair of glowing green eyes and knows who it is. Opening the window, she says softly, "What brings you here so late in the night, Chat?"

Marinette doesn't notice the tenseness of his shoulders, the slight droop of his ears, the way he looks at her with sad eyes glazed over his smile. She doesn't seem to notice those. She never does.

"I'm sorry, princess." Chat says apologetically. "It's just…is it alright if I - I mean, I just need to talk to someone right now."

She lets him in and he slips inside and stands in her room, not touching anything, not looking at anything. Something is off about him. "Chat, is everything alright?"

"Yes! No, I mean…" He pauses and does not finish his sentence. Marinette steps up to him and cups his face in her hands.

"You can tell me anything."

Chat gazes at her. Finally, he speaks. "Marinette, who is Chat Noir?"

Marinette frowns. "Ladybug's partner."

Chat closes his eyes and a small laugh escapes from him. It's anything but mirthful. "Of course. Chat Noir is Ladybug's partner. That's a given fact."

"Chat?" Marinette is confused.

He looks at her. "But is he really? Is Chat Noir really Ladybug's partner? Is he really an equal to her?"

And then she realizes the hidden meaning behind his words.

Am I good enough?

"Chat, you're just as important!" She is shocked. She has never thought of him as anything less. "Both of you form a team! Why would you think something like that?"

He takes her wrists and removes her hands from his face and lets them drop on her sides. She wants to reach out to him, to reassure him.

He turns away and his eyes feel on the poster of Adrien on her walls. She blushes and tries to find an excuse, but he just smiles. "Even a stray is nothing compared to prince charming. Tell me, princess…"

His irises burn her. "Would you let in a stray cat in your house?"

"You're not a stray, Chat." She says quietly.

"Yes, but you believe that I think of myself as a stray."

She grows mad. He dares to play mind games with her. "That's not fair!"

"Everything in life is not fair. Just like how the sun will always shine upon the moon, but the moon will never be able to cast a shadow on her."

She's crying now. But she doesn't stop the flow of her tears. He watches the watery gems slide down her cheeks. "Why are you crying? I'm the one who feels like crying."

"I'm crying for you." She sniffs and says, "She needs you, you know that right?"

"But does she really? The more I think about it, the more I believe it's the other way around. I need Ladybug." He looks like he wanted to use another word other than 'need'. "But she doesn't need Chat Noir."

"You're a team!" She cries out, but that sounds weak even to her.

He shakes his head. "Team is just a word that downplays the fact that one person recieves all the glory, and the other are just there to help."

"So is it glory you want?"

His expression is unreadable. "Marinette, you would never understand."

"Why are you denying the fact that you're just as important as Ladybug?!" Her feelings are boiling inside her. She wants to understand him. She want him to understand that he means so much to her. Too much.

But she could never tell him that as Ladybug. Not ever. And she does not know why.

What he says next breaks her. "Because it's not a fact. It's just an illusion."

=.=

Ladybug doesn't see him for the next few days.

"My lady."

She turns around meets her partner's eyes. She sees him now. Clearly.

She sees his real self. This is Chat Noir. His mask is his reality. But behind those, was an insecure soul. A soul in need of reassurance. Reassurance that he is as important as any Ladybug out there.

But she can never do it as Ladybug.

Because he has put her up on a pedestal so high, he does not see her pain for him or see that she needs him.

And it hurts her to know that she could never curb that mindset.

I get the feeling that Adrien is more insecure of himself than he let on. Even when he is Chat Noir.

And it hurts because his low self-esteem won't ever be assured until much later.

He needs to be loved! My kitty deserves more than this!