What if Marinette told Luka instead of Alya in the episode "Gang of Secrets"? Eventually, Marinette will tell Alya and a reveal will occur between Ladybug and Chat Noir. A Lukanette fanfiction.

~҉҉~҉҉~҉҉{҉҉ ҉҉}҉҉~҉҉~҉҉~҉҉

"I don't want to lie to you, Luka. I don't think I can- I mean..." Under the azure night sky, Marinette looks away with guilt. Her voice quivers. "Maybe we should..."

Luka wraps his arms around Marinette, pulling her into a close hug, which surprises Marinette at first. But only seconds later does she embrace him as well.

"When you're ready, I'll be here, Marinette."

Touched by his words, she buries her head into Luka's shoulder.

Why couldn't she get their breakup out of her mind? By all means, this meant she could focus on Adrien. Yet, she acknowledged she could never have a boyfriend or have anyone get too close to her. Why? Because she was afraid that Hawkmoth would target all of her loved ones.

He was already doing that. Each time she had to fight someone, whether it'd be a friend, family member, or an every day Parisian, it pained her greatly.

There was a select few who remembered what they had done and just didn't care. The rest who had fallen victim to Hawkmoth or Shadowmoth didn't have the slightest clue. Even the victims themselves felt guilty for what they had done. Human emotions were a natural thing. But with all the evils in the world, there was no end.

As for her unrequited love for Adrien, how could she just let go of him? When he gave her his umbrella, that's when she had begun falling for him. She couldn't forget how he said he was in love with someone else. No matter how much she attempted to get his attention for him to look at her in a different light, he only saw her as just a friend.

And her partner, Chat Noir. She held no romantic feelings for him. Yet, he respected her when she said she was in love with someone else. If she told him who her crush was, she felt as if she'd be called another fangirl.

Marinette hung her head down. She she sighed deeply. Why couldn't she just accept that she couldn't do this? Why did Master Fu have to make her the guardian? Couldn't she... No. Doing that was too dangerous. She wasn't going to put her partner in danger just because of this little setback.

Time seemed so slow. It had been about a week now since their breakup. Her heart ached deeply for him. How could she hurt Luka like that? He was good to her. And all she did was lie to him.

With her new responsibilities as guardian, she was starting to get worried about everything. Shadowmoth's attempts to get at Chat Noir and hers' miraculous was becoming more and more difficult. She had started to call upon other heroes to help them. With more heroes helping them, it didn't help that she and Chat Noir had gotten into a heated argument last night.

It was Chat Noir who asked Ladybug to come join him on the rooftops of Paris.

Ladybug found him sitting on the rooftops, swinging his legs back and forth slightly. She knelt right beside him. A small smile graced her lips, "Hey kitty cat. What did you want to talk about?"

His head was hung slightly. "I thought it was always going to be only us against the world. Not a bunch of other heroes." He turned to look at her. "Am I really that useless to you?"

"You're not useless to me, Chat. We're a team-"

"I get that, but lately, I've been feeling left out. All I ever do is mess up. Maybe I should just give up my Miraculous."

A mortified look struck her face. "How can you say that? I need you, Chat Noir. I need you more than anyone else. We've been through so much together and-"

"I see your eyes on Viperion. Is he more partner material than me?"

"What are you talking about? I don't have feelings for anyone on our team-"

The hero in black leather crossed his arms over his chest. "Oh, so now it's our team?"

"That's not what I'm even saying. If you'd just listen to what I have to say, then maybe..."

"Maybe what? Ever since you became the new guardian, you changed. You aren't as carefree anymore. You're guardian now. You have the ability to know who I am. Ever since Truth was akumatized, I've been thinking long and hard about this. You say we're partners, that we're a team, but if we're to defeat Shadowmoth, we should get closer."

"I don't want to put you in danger. It's my responsibility as guardian to prevent that from happening. You know we can't know our secret identities. Shadowmoth may use that against us. I can't let that happen. Not again."

"Again? What do you mean again?" He narrowed his eyes in her direction.

"It's nothing. Never mind."

"No. Tell me. I'm sick and tired of you hiding things from me." Chat stood up. His arms were still crossed over his chest.

"I.."

"Well? I'm waiting."

"You wouldn't understand!"

"If you'd just tell me, maybe you wouldn't be so stressed! Just because I don't know who you are under the mask, doesn't mean that I'm not here to listen! I know I won't understand, but I wish you'd come to me when you're under distress. I lived my life in distress! I don't want you to get akumatized. I care about you!"

Ladybug looked away from her partner sadly. Why couldn't she bring herself to open up to him? If she knew his identity or the other way around, the world would end up falling apart. "I know and I'm sorry. But I can't tell you. I just can't."

He backed away from her. A broken-hearted look had crossed his face. "Fine. Be like that." He turned around and was gone from her vision moments later when she looked up at him.

A great sadness filled her chest. All because she was guardian. All because she was afraid for the safety of everyone. Because of these actions, she was all alone.