Chapter One

Ladybug sat on the edge of the Eiffel Tower's struts, swinging her legs gently back and forth as she waited. Her blue eyes gazed at the moon, but they were troubled, contemplative.

Cat Noir landed with a soft thump beside her, and stashed his staff into his belt as he sank down gracefully beside her. Some nights he would greet her…this night, he didn't. He gazed out too. They watched the city together, quiet in each other's presence.

It had been two weeks since the end of Monarch. Two strange weeks of peace…no akumas to fight.

"Hey, Kitty," Ladybug's voice was subdued in a way that made Cat Noir's heart ache as he stole a glance at her. Her bluebell eyes were distant. By her hip, her fingers started to trace out a design along the metal beneath them.

Cat's yellow-green eyes moved, following them, recognizing the shape she traced as a butterfly. He immediately knew his partner was ruminating on the butterfly Miraculous that had belonged to the villain known as Hawkmoth, then Scarlet Moth, then Monarch. Until Ladybug had wrested all the captive Miraculous from him, and lastly, his Butterfly Miraculous…but it had fallen into the water. She had come so close to regaining the long-lost Butterfly Miraculous, to finally find it a worthy holder…so close and now yet so far. Now they had no idea where it was.

He watched her until he had had enough. His eyes locked on her, he reached behind, freeing his staff from its catch, then whipped it around, to rap Ladybug on the knee.

She yelped, leaping to her feet. "What was that for?!"

"You looked bored." He leaned on his staff, smirking at her.

She stared at him incredulously, then rolled her eyes, taking out her yoyo.

"Come on, you know it'll do you good too," Cat coaxed, and spun his staff like a baton.

She whipped out her yoyo, wrapping its string around the staff, and pulled. Cat let go, dropping his weight to his hands and flicked his foot, changing the staff's path so it caught Ladybug in the ribs. She winced.

"Sorry."

She shook her head. "You're right. I need to train." She tossed him back his staff, then spun her yoyo in a lazy circle, taking a step back, gauging his potential moves. He hefted his staff, watching her like he would watch a fencing opponent…though he couldn't help appreciating her a little more. She whipped out her yoyo, knocking the staff down towards his belly, coming in simultaneously to stamp on his foot, bringing her elbow up towards his chin.

"That's my bugaboo," he grinned, twisting back to avoid, and only barely getting the flick of her fingertips on his chin. "Feeling better?"

Her lips curved in a smile in answer. Her eyes were a deeper blue as she launched the yoyo into a rather beautiful new figure of eight, trapping him behind the knees and launching him upwards. She pulled him down towards her, bringing up one leg to hook him around the waist, and then he was on his back, winded, staring up at her.

I'm not in love with her anymore, he reminded himself, squeezing his eyes shut for a moment to think of Marinette, his Marinette. He was no wandering stray. Marinette's heart was the home where he curled up.

He held a different kind of love for Ladybug: it'd taken time to transform it, but the effort had been worth it: a love borne of admiration, partnership and trust.

Her red gloved hand was dainty but strong as she grabbed his hand, helping him up. "Are you alright?" she asked.

"Turning my world upside down like always, milady," he joked giddily, grasping her hand firmly as he got up, coming to stand beside her.

This time as a thoughtful look came over her face, it was a lighter look. He tilted his head. "What's on your mind?"

"You're right," she said. "We should be training. Not just us, though…we should be training the others."

Cat Noir whistled softly, thinking of the heroes…Rena Rouge, Carapace, Felix, Ryuuko, Purple Tigress, Rooster Bold, Bunnyx, and so many more… "How on earth would we coordinate that?"

"We've got the time," she said firmly, thinking. "If we divide them, working with a few of them each night, it could work better."

"But mix it up on other occasions, so they learn to work with each other," Cat suggested. Ladybug nodded in agreement. "Some of them need to learn to focus better," she murmured. "And we should…" her brow furrowed slightly. "Maybe we should introduce them to the power ups…"

Cat frowned at the thought of that. "Maybe…not all at once," he said finally. "That would be a lot of power ups for you to make." For a moment he tried to imagine what Ladybug's kitchen would look like, making that many power ups. A smile tugged at his lips, imagining his lady dashing around a kitchen…

"True." She sighed.

"Soooo…" he leaned on his staff, trying to be nonchalant. "I'm just wondering, bugaboo…" his voice trailed off, searching for the perfect way to ask this.

"Wondering…?" Ladybug echoed, lifting one eyebrow.

He took a deep breath. "Maybe…I could help more…if we knew each other."

"Knew each other?" her voice lilted in alarm.

"Come on," his voice was nearly a purr as he leaned closer, his green eyes more intent. "Why do we keep our identities secret from each other anymore?"

Ladybug's eyes flickered.

"Why do we keep our identities secret from each other?" he repeated. "We did it as long as we feared Monarch akumatizing either of us, to protect each other…" his voice trailed away. "But he's gone now."

"But we don't know where the Butterfly miraculous is," Ladybug said quietly. "What if someone has found it, that will do the same thing as Monarch did?"

"And what if it's just lost?" Cat Noir asked, straightening up, a tinge of anger to his voice. "Heck, what if Nooroo has hidden it because he was sick of being used? Monarch had him for any number of years…I'd not blame him if he hid his own Miraculous…!"

Ladybug stared at him, stunned. Then she lowered her eyes. "It's just…it's not the right—"

"Right time?" Cat Noir said quietly. He looked at her. "We both have our own lives. I…we…I have no idea where you go to school. You don't know where I go to school. One day we'll both graduate from high school, and have to make choices about things like college or work…we have no idea how long we might be Ladybug and Cat Noir. What if I had to turn my Miraculous over to a new holder? Or you, what if you had to give it up? Would we even know? Would all this time we've been partners become nothing but a memory?"

Ladybug hesitated, her eyes dark with something.

"What? What is it?" he asked urgently.

"I'm Guardian," she whispered. "I can't. I don't know…" her voice trailed off helplessly, and then she stood up. "Master Fu was nearly two hundred years old. I don't know if I'll have to live as long as that…"

Cat Noir's mouth dropped open. "Is that…is that just about Guardians? Or holders?" he demanded. He got up, looking down at his hands. "Am I going to have a normal lifespan?"

"I don't know."

His yellow-green eyes flashed wildly, and then he reached as though to take off his ring.

"No!" Ladybug grabbed his hand, pushing it away. "You can't!"

"Can you really stop me?" he asked harshly. "How long have you known that we might have longer lives because of our kwamis? Shouldn't we ask them?"

"Just now," she whispered. She looked away. "Do you think I'm not aware how hard this is? My parents…the idea of outliving them so much…or A—" her grip tightened on his fingers.

His green eyes blazed into hers. "Ladybug, my life has changed since Monarch. I need you to know who I am. That is the one thing I will ask now. Monarch is gone. You are my closest friend, the closest to ever knowing who I am…I love M—I am in love with a girl, but she can never know this side of me. I need someone to know me. If something ever happened to me, I would want someone to tell her."

Ladybug gazed at him, distressed by the passion in her partner's voice. Her mind flashed back to a day when she'd been new to being a Guardian. Her throat locked with the memory of her tears, of feeling so trapped by the secrets of being Ladybug, being Guardian…it'd gotten her friends akumatized…she'd given in and had told Alya, otherwise she was sure it would've shattered her…now she wondered… "Have you ever told anyone that you're Cat Noir?" she asked slowly.

His eyes flickered. "No."

She took a deep breath. "I still don't think it's a good idea for you to tell me…but…" she closed her eyes, thinking. "I did tell someone else."

Cat Noir suddenly remembered the day Scarabella had appeared, telling him that she was standing in for Ladybug for the day. Looking at Ladybug now, he knew she remembered that day too, when he'd learned that someone knew who Ladybug was. He swallowed hard. "Who am I allowed to tell?"

"You can't tell me," she said.

"I know I can't tell you," he said darkly. "You've made that perfectly clear."

"No, I mean, you can't tell me who you tell…if…if for any reason we ever had a time of akumas ever again…I can't risk knowing who knows who you are. I…I was lucky I was never akumatized." She swallowed hard, remembering the handful of times she'd faced the dark butterflies, Monarch's insidious whispers… "I can't risk it."

Cat Noir laughed bitterly. "I'll choose someone then." With that, he unsheathed his staff, extended it and leapt out into the dark of the city. Ladybug watched until he disappeared. Then she hurled out her yoyo and launched herself out in another direction. Patrol was over. Another quiet night…

Minutes later, she landed in her rooftop garden. "Spots off," she said quietly, and caught her kwami Tikki as she de-transformed. The little red creature quickly regained her balance: patrol had been so peaceful that she'd hardly used any energy, just the basic level of energy to transform.

"Did I do the right thing?" Marinette asked Tikki softly, worriedly.

Tikki regarded her with bluebell eyes. "I don't know. It depends who he chooses."