This chapter took me a minute since I needed to rework some of the pacing for the future chapters, but now everything is set in stone. I'm about to have a week off since I'm switching jobs, and what better way to spend it than to write?

Enjoy ;)

There were two things on Marinette's mind.

First, she was thinking about the incredible day that was yesterday. She was thinking about Chat's warm embrace, his soft lips, and his tender eyes as he looked at her with nothing but adoration and affection. The light, floaty feeling he evoked in her followed from the lake all the way back to her tent, where he sent her off with one last, lingering kiss. She would never forget the way he smiled shyly at her ‒Chat Noir, shy‒ before he pressed his lips to her knuckles and left her to retire for the night.

Of course, she could hardly sleep after that, and she spent a good two hours staring up at the canvas of her tent and grinning as she replayed the day's events over and over again. Finally, she drifted off to the thought of his smiling face, and her dreams consisted of apples, sunrises, and a tall man with shaggy blonde hair.

The second thing on Marinette's mind…

"Pick it up! Let's go!"

…was how much she hated Cobra.

Not long after she had finally fallen asleep last night, she was harshly awoken by Cobra's stern face beside her bed, ordering her to, "get your ass to the East." She had sprung upright, afraid that she had slept through training, but one glance outside as Cobra swiftly left showed her that it was still dark outside.

Cobra had something planned for them alright, and that plan was an absolutely excruciating double training day. The troop walked like zombies onto the deserted training grounds, nothing but pitch blackness in the sky and the soft light of the moon illuminating their droopy, sleep-deprived features.

They had started with the posts, and most everyone did much worse than usual. Cobra was keen on this, and before he led them to the next exercise, he made them line up with everyone standing at attention.

"What, are you tired?" His voice dripped with condescension, and he made a point to walk along the line, staring each and every one of them in the face as they all tried their best to look as alert as possible. "I don't care if you didn't get your beauty sleep. If this place is ever compromised and we get attacked, you can bet your asses it'll be in the dead of night." Cobra stopped in front of a soldier desperately suppressing a yawn. "It'll be when you're weak," he inched his face close to him, "and defenseless." The soldier clenched his jaw, eyes wide as Cobra stared him down. "And I don't tolerate weakness." His voice was low, but everyone could hear him perfectly.

He moved to stand before them all again, his narrowed eyes scanning their much more awake faces. "The enemy doesn't care how you feel. In fact, they want to catch you at your most vulnerable." He pointed his finger in the direction of the Compound. "But if you're unprepared, all those people will pay the price."

There was heaviness in the air following Cobra's words. Most of the soldiers had families there, and even though Marinette didn't, her stomach dropped at the thought of them getting attacked. Cobra was explaining to them a possibility that she never considered. They weren't just training for a war in the far future. Anything could happen at any time. Hell, an army could show up tomorrow, and they would be thrown into the midst of a battle.

Maybe they were safe now, but in a moment all of this could be threatened, and it was up to them, the soldiers, to defend it.

Cobra's message was clear as day, and nobody complained as he ordered them to spread out, shouting out directions as he led them through countless warm up exercises. Marinette's head was spinning by the time she finished the last burpee, and now, here she was, running past Cobra as he yelled for them to pick up their pace.

It wasn't a normal run. Each soldier had a pole across their shoulders, bags filled with rocks tied to each end. Running after such an intense warm up was enough to sap the rest of her energy, but adding in the struggle of balancing the pole took her out completely. Her core was on fire as she fought to keep her posture straight. She could barely feel her legs, and her lungs burned with each breath.

The sky slowly lightened around them, and after one more excruciating lap around the East, Cobra dismissed them to get breakfast. Marinette rarely ever ate in the morning, but after exerting so much energy, her stomach was now growling loudly.

As the troop shuffled through the tents, they could hear the sounds of the other soldiers rousing for training, and there was a collective feeling of envy amongst them. As much as they understood why Cobra was doing this, it was still a pain in the ass that they were the only ones going through it. Maybe the other troops already had this experience, or maybe they were just the unfortunate ones who ended up with the toughest trainer in the world.

Marinette stuck herself between Minotaurox and Caprikid as they went through the breakfast line, and then the three of them collapsed at the picnic table where King Monkey was already seated, his head in his hand as he dozed off.

Caprikid prodded his shoulder. "Hey, are you gonna eat?"

"Mm," he shook his head, "too tired."

Caprikid sighed and got up once again, heading back to the line. When he returned, he shoved a plate into King Monkey's elbow, knocking his hand from under his head and nearly causing it to fall into his food.

King Monkey thanked Caprikid through a yawn, and the four of them ate in silence. Usually, their table was lively, but none of them could muster up the energy to do anything but slump over their plates and absent-mindedly shovel food into their mouths.

Marinette vaguely registered the sound of more and more soldiers walking past their common area, so she didn't notice the new presence beside their table until they spoke.

"Well, this is a sad sight."

Her droopy eyes shot open, and she immediately straightened up to look at the owner of that oh-so familiar voice.

Chat smiled down at her with a hint of sympathy in his eyes, and that light, floaty feeling in her chest instantly returned. He didn't let his gaze linger on her for too long, instead scanning the group at large as the other three sat up, their eyes widening in shock.

"Chat Noir?" King Monkey exclaimed, blinking blearily.

"The one and only," Chat grinned, but then his eyes were drawn upwards, and his cheerful expression was replaced with slight confusion. "Or… maybe not?" Marinette followed his gaze towards the other side of the clearing, where Panther was seated in the grass with a few other soldiers. He was already looking at them, but he quickly averted his eyes and returned to eating.

"That's Panther," Caprikid supplied, and Chat furrowed his eyebrows.

"Panther?" he echoed, eyeing the soldier's dark clothes skeptically. "Hmm, he looks kinda familiar."

"Yeah, he started doing that after you trained our troop in the South," King Monkey chipped in, appearing much more awake now.

Marinette looked at King Monkey, surprised. "He had a different outfit before?"

King Monkey nodded. "Different outfit, different codename, all of it."

"Huh," Chat said, crossing his arms, "so he's a copycat."

Marinette resisted the urge to smile at the pun, despite how fitting it seemed. King Monkey openly laughed. "That's probably the best way to put it."

Marinette let her eyes drift over to Panther again, recalling how offended he got when she pointed out his similarities to Chat. He brushed it off as a coincidence, but if what King Monkey said was true, then him changing his disguise mid-way through training was surely intentional. She wondered if the guys had called him out on it, and that was the reason they no longer spoke to one another.

She shook her head to herself. Who cares about Panther? Chat was here, in the East. It felt slightly odd seeing him here and interacting with her new friends, almost like two halves of her life were merging together, but still, she felt relieved and comforted by his presence.

Marinette fixed her attention on him. "So what brings you here, Chat?" Then, she quickly added, "Noir?" as she remembered that most of the soldiers called him by his full name.

He raised his eyebrows at the formality. "Honestly? I'm bored, so I thought I'd come by and see if Cobra needed my assistance."

There was a twinkle in his eye, and she pressed her lips together, knowing full well that there was another reason he was here. Her.

Chat scanned the group again, observing their exhausted forms. "But it seems like Cobra already got started."

"He woke us up in the middle of the night," Caprikid said, sighing heavily. "We've been training for hours now."

Chat hissed through his teeth. "Yikes. Maybe I can convince him to go easier on you this afternoon." He looked around the common area, and his face lit up as he spotted something. "Hey, Cobra!" he called, and all four of them whipped around.

Cobra was standing on the path talking to another troop leader. Chat had drawn his attention, and Chat waved his hand, motioning for him to approach.

"Don't call him over!" King Monkey harshly whispered.

"It's fine," Chat said, completely at ease as Cobra started walking towards them. Marinette had half a mind to stand at attention, but instead, she was shocked to see a smile spread across Cobra's face. Her eyes widened in bewilderment. Cobra… can smile?

"Hey kid," Cobra said, coming up to stand beside Chat. "What brings you here?"

Chat grinned. "I thought I'd help you train today."

Cobra hummed, suspicion clear on his face. "Sure," he raised his fingers in air quotes, "help."

Chat placed a hand over his heart in mock offense. "You have no faith in me."

"No, I just think you're going to goof off."

"Just because I like to tell jokes doesn't mean I'm goofing off. But hey," he held his hands up in surrender, "this is your show. I can just be your assistant."

Cobra pressed his lips together, considering the offer. He glanced at the four dumbfounded faces watching the interaction before finally saying, "Fine." Then, he gave Chat a stern look. "But you do as I say, got it?"

"Yes sir," Chat said with a lazy salute, and the seriousness in his tone was negated by his wide grin.

Cobra rolled his eyes, but a hint of a smile was creeping onto his face again. He nodded his head back towards the path. "Come on, I'll brief you."

They started walking away, but before they got too far, Chat turned around to give the group a double thumbs up. Marinette gaped as they disappeared down the path, absolutely dumbstruck.

She couldn't get over the fact that Cobra had called Chat kid, and it was with such a familiarity that she was reminded they had known each other for over five years. Chat was the one who freed Cobra from the prison, and Cobra was the one who trained Chat to be the soldier he was now. It made sense why they seemed so acquainted, but still, the whole interaction was bizarre to see, and from the looks on the guys' faces, they were thinking the same thing.

Ten minutes later, everyone had finished their food and were mingling about the common area. At the sight of Cobra returning with Chat, the troop collectively stopped what they were doing and stood at attention, causing Chat to look around at them, bewildered. Marinette caught his eye, and she gave him a look as if to say, "See? This is what I've been dealing with."

"Line up!" Cobra ordered, and the troop did as they were told. Once everyone was in position, Cobra gestured towards Chat. "We have a special guest joining us today, so I don't wanna see any of you slacking off. This morning was your warm up. Now, we'll have plenty of time to dig into your training." Marinette's slightly unsteady legs had other ideas, but she kept her posture straight as Cobra continued. "We're kicking things off with something new."

He dismissed them from their stance, and the troop followed as Cobra led them to the training grounds. Marinette hung in the center of the group with King Monkey, Caprikid, and Minotaurox, but her gaze kept flicking ahead towards where Chat was walking beside Cobra.

Despite how much she dreaded getting back to training, she was excited to work with Chat again. They hadn't trained together in so long, and she missed working with him in the mornings. He was always so patient and clear in his explanations, not to mention his presence alone helped her relax and focus.

At the same time, she was worried he might become a distraction for her now. This was the first time they were seeing each other after yesterday's events, and his sudden appearance was already stirring up memories of his touch, his gorgeous face so close to hers, the soft feeling of his lips…

She took a deep breath to clear her head. As badly as she wanted to pull him aside and pick up where they left off, she couldn't, not while they were surrounded by countless soldiers. They needed to be on their best behavior, now more than ever.

But god, how on Earth was she supposed to act normal around him? What was normal anymore?

The troop slowed to a stop, and Marinette snapped from her thoughts to observe the structure before them. It was a wooden obstacle course, stretching dozens of feet long. It was wide, and it looked as though four soldiers could run the course at the same time. There were parts of it that she could reason through what was needed from them; for instance, the beginning had five, horizontal logs for them to climb over, and at the end was a large, rectangular frame with four ropes hanging from them, a bell at the top of each one.

Marinette gulped as she surveyed the course, her abdomen tensing with unease and anticipation. Cobra stood before them, Chat standing beside him with his hands clasped behind his back. "Today, you're tackling this course." He turned to Chat beside him with a smirk. "And conveniently, we have someone here who can give you a demonstration."

Chat's eyebrows shot up in surprise, and then, he started laughing. "Now I see why you agreed to have me here." He moved to position himself at the start of the course while the rest of the troop stood off to the side.

"Watch closely," Cobra said. "Unless Chat Noir is feeling up to a second run, you only get one shot to observe."

Chat let out another laugh. "Does it really matter how I feel?" he called. "You'll make me run it a thousand times if you really wanted to."

Cobra chuckled. "Don't tempt me."

As Chat readied himself, Marinette felt a surge of excitement. She was about to see more of Chat in the field, see the results of his training that led to him being amongst the top of the Northern soldiers. She felt slightly nervous for him too with all of their eyes on him, not to mention there were troops nearby that had paused to watch as well. There was a lot of pressure on him right now, but he didn't show it. He had a smile on his face right up until Cobra signaled for him to start.

He bolted forward, and in a flash he braced his hands on the first log and launched himself over it. One after the other, he cleared each log with ease. The next portion had four round tunnels on the ground, and Chat dove down and disappeared inside one of them. In no time, he crawled out on the other end and was on his feet again. Next there were a dozen or so bars overhead, and he jumped up and swung through each one as if his body weighed nothing.

He had reached the point where the troop stood watching, and every head turned as he continued past them. Marinette's eyes were fixed on his form as he reached a tall, vertical plank with four ropes hanging from them. He jumped up and grabbed one of them, bracing his feet on the plank as he swiftly climbed. At the top was a platform, and he pushed himself up to stand again.

This next portion made Marinette nervous. There were five posts in a zigzag formation, their tops flattened so someone could walk across them to reach the platform on the opposite side. There was a net beneath this section, and Marinette knew that this part would be the most difficult to tackle, but apparently, not for Chat. He hopped from post to post with ease, not once losing his balance as he reached the opposite platform. He spun around and lowered himself over the edge, briefly hanging by his hands before dropping the rest of the way down.

She didn't have time to process the feat he just achieved before he was already moving again, easily clearing another hurdle before dropping down onto his stomach to crawl beneath another one. He was at the end now, and he got to his feet and jumped to grab ahold of the rope hanging from the large wooden frame. He barely used his feet on the rope, opting to rely solely on his arms as he pulled himself upwards at an alarmingly fast rate. Then, he was at the top, and the sound of the bell was ringing through the stunned silence.

Then, all at once, the troop began hooting and hollering, and Chat looked down at them, panting through the grin on his face. Even from this distance, she knew he was looking at her, and she made a point to raise her hands up and applaud him, beaming with pride. She saw his smile grow impossibly wider, and he began sliding down the rope.

Marinette's eyes found Cobra, who was standing with his arms crossed over his chest and a look of approval on his face. She couldn't help but think that Cobra was the one who brought Chat to this level, and with enough drive, she knew she could get there too.

She was overcome with a sudden rush of determination. Who cares how tired she was? Who cares about Cobra's strict and relentless training? All of this was designed to make her stronger, to give her thicker skin and mold her into a soldier suited for war. Maybe she was struggling now, but after seeing how easily Chat performed what would've been impossible for her months ago, she knew this exhausted feeling was only temporary.

Once Chat was on the ground again, Cobra directed the troop to form four lines at the start of the course. Marinette watched as four of her troop members took off, and the further they got through the course, the more spread out they became. The first point of struggle was the bars, followed by the rope climb as their arms were tired from the previous section. As she predicted, jumping from post to post was the most difficult part, and three of the soldiers ended up falling into the net.

Cobra and Chat followed on either side of the course, and Marinette could hear Chat using his trainer voice. He was much more encouraging in his words than Cobra, who took a more demanding approach, but nonetheless, their presence appeared to be giving the soldiers an extra incentive to keep moving.

Group after group traversed the course, and all too soon, it was Marinette's turn. She refused to let her nerves consume her, and with her position on the end, Chat would be following along beside her. She met his gaze as he positioned himself next to the first log, and he smiled, giving her one last encouraging look. It comforted her to know that he would be right there with her, and she allowed herself to imagine that it was just the two of them during one of their early morning training sessions.

She took a deep breath. This will make you stronger. Don't be intimidated, Marinette.

She set her face in determination, and Cobra signaled for them to start. Marinette burst forward, and although she was at a slight disadvantage with the logs since she was much shorter than most of her troop, she wasn't deterred. She braced her hands on the first log and swung her leg around, and she struggled to find her balance once she was on the ground again. With each log she grew more comfortable with the movement, and soon she was diving onto her stomach and into the tunnel.

She shimmied on her elbows, crawling as fast as she could before getting to her feet on the other side. She could see the other soldiers were slightly ahead of her, but she refused to acknowledge it. This was her training, who cares about their progress? She jumped up to grab ahold of the first bar, and for once she was grateful that Chat had her practice pull-ups. Her arms could handle her weight now, and she grunted as she swung her left hand to the next bar, then her right. Her arms were burning, but she could hear Chat's voice encouraging her to push through, and she did.

Finally, she reached the last bar and dropped herself to the ground again. The rope hanging on the plank of wood was mocking her aching arms, but she zeroed in on her determination again. She grabbed it and planted her feet on the plank, finding the same headspace she used when climbing the posts. If anything, this was easier, and that thought kept her body moving as she pulled herself up to the platform above. With shaking arms she pushed herself to her feet, and she tipped unsteadily as she struggled to find her bearings.

The doubts began seeping through as she was faced with the five posts, and already, two of her troop members were scrambling from the net. The other was halfway across and just barely managed to reach the opposite platform.

"Focus, Ladybug," Chat said from below, and she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Focus. Then, she snapped her eyes open, quickly assessing the posts and visualizing the steps she was about to take. She moved backwards as far as she could before running forward and jumping. Her left foot landed solidly on the first post, but her eyes were trained on the next as she pushed forward. Again, her right foot landed on the next post, and she repeated this process. There wasn't an outlying thought in her mind as she continued her skywalk, and before she knew it, she gave one last leap and landed on the opposite platform.

She paused for a brief moment, chest heaving as she realized she did it. Feeling a rush of adrenaline, she pressed on, quickly spinning around and using her arms to lower herself down to the ground again. Her movements were slower than when she first started, but the aching in her muscles was drowned out by sheer willpower as she cleared the hurdle and dove onto her stomach to crawl under the next.

Chat ran alongside her as she made her last dash to the hanging ropes. "This is the last one. Remember, block everything out," he said, and his words were fresh in her mind as she jumped up onto the rope. Despite her gloves, her hands burned from the tight grip she had, and she squeezed her feet around the rope as she began shimmying her way up. The process was agonizingly slow, and her head began to spin as her previous movements caught up with her.

No. Block everything out.

She took control over her heavy panting, grunted with effort as she continued the process. A bell rang nearby, then another, and soon, her own was just within reach. With one last burst of energy, she swatted her hand upwards, and a loud ringing filled her ears as she signaled her completion of the course. Immediately, she began sliding down, and by the time she planted her feet on the ground again, her limbs were completely numb.

Marinette fell to her knees, her chest heaving as she continued to grip the rope for support. A drop of sweat rolled down her temple. Her body was overheating, blood rushing to her swelling and stiffening muscles. Through the aches and the pains, she grinned, and she lifted her head as Chat crouched down between her and the soldier beside her.

He gave the soldier some congratulatory words before turning to her, his eyes much brighter as he beamed at her. He was so proud, and she began laughing. "I did it," she said breathily.

The paint around his eyes crinkled as his smile grew impossibly wider. "You did it." He reached his fist out, and her arm swung off course as she attempted to press her knuckles to his. He chuckled before moving his fist to meet hers.

"Pound it," they said, and then her arm dropped like a dead weight.

The following training was primarily informational, which was a mercy to the troop as they recovered from the obstacle course. Soon, it was lunchtime, and while Marinette limped back to the tents, Cobra flagged her down. At first, she was scared of what he wanted to say to her one-on-one, but that feeling quickly turned into shock as he told her he was impressed with her performance. "Keep it up," he said before swiftly walking away, leaving her grinning to herself as she clung to those rare words for dear life.

She was so giddy from Cobra's compliment that she wasn't aware that King Monkey, Caprikid, and Minotaurox were much further behind her in the lunchline, and after she had settled down at their picnic table, someone else claimed the seat across from her.

Marinette was jolted from her thoughts as Panther smiled at her. "Hey," he said.

She blinked, feeling slightly disappointed that the guys wouldn't be joining her for lunch now. She masked the feeling as she gave him a tight-lipped smile. "Hey."

"You were incredible today." He was looking at her in amazement. "I mean, I can't believe that was your first time on the course."

She shrugged, feeling humble. "Thank you. You…" She realized she hadn't noticed him do his run through the course at all, so she awkwardly said, "You did pretty good too."

He grinned, and she felt guilty for lying. "Thanks. I didn't make it through the posts, but the rest of it went okay." He started talking more about the course, but she wasn't listening. Her eyes drifted over his shoulder to where Chat stood with another troop leader. He was looking between her and Panther, his expression unreadable. When he noticed she was staring at him, he quickly looked away.

Her eyebrows pinched together ever so slightly. She had caught him watching her, but she didn't know why he was trying to hide it. They had made it abundantly clear yesterday that they had feelings for one another. Maybe it was because they were in public?

She tuned back into Panther's chatter as she began to eat, but her gaze flicked to Chat every now and then. Eventually, he finished his conversation with the troop leader and began walking in her direction. For a moment she felt hopeful that he was going to approach, but then he continued down the path, not sparing a passing glance.

Panther's eyes caught Chat as he walked away. "Crazy that Chat Noir is here, right?"

Marinette resisted the urge to turn around. "Yeah, crazy."

Panther pursed his lips. "It felt like he was staring at me earlier," he said suddenly, and his gaze locked on her face. "Was he talking about me?"

"Uh…" Marinette's mind raced. "A little," she admitted. "I mean, I think he was just thrown off by your…" she gestured uselessly towards his outfit," …appearance."

He frowned. "What about it?"

She gave him a look that screamed, "Really?" She licked her lips as she tried to find the best way to put it. "You caught his attention, to say the least, and when he learned that your name is Panther, well…" She raised her eyebrows at him. "It's not that hard to see how similar it is to Chat Noir."

"Seriously?" Panther was visibly irritated. "I chose the name Panther because I liked it, and I'm dressing along with the color scheme." He scoffed. "It's not like Chat Noir owns the color black."

Marinette narrowed her eyes. She could see the point he was trying to make, but with the new knowledge that Panther switched up his disguise after meeting Chat for the first time, she wasn't buying it. Still, she wanted to keep the peace, so she opted to shrug and continue eating without another word.

Unfortunately for her, now that Panther had found her alone, he stuck to her side like glue. She couldn't shake him off as the troop made their way back to the training grounds, and when they reached an open space for their hand-to-hand combat lesson, Cobra told them to pair up. Her eyes scanned across the troop, and she saw that King Monkey, Caprikid, and Minotaurox were already paired off. She made eye contact with Chat, but his gaze flicked off to her right just as she felt a hand on her shoulder.

She jumped and turned to look at Panther. "Partners?" he asked with a shy smile.

"Oh," her eyes drifted back to the troop and to where Chat was now facing away from her, "sure."

The hand-to-hand combat lesson was much more lively with Chat Noir there. He and Cobra gave demonstrations of different fighting moves, but of course, Chat couldn't resist cracking jokes and teasing Cobra. It was entertaining to see the way Cobra glared at him, but every now and then the ghost of a smile appeared on his face when Chat made a particularly good pun.

Archery was next, and yet again, Panther automatically paired himself with Marinette. They settled at a target near the end, and he held out the bow. "Do you wanna start?"

She bit her lip. "No, you go first."

As he shot a whole quiver full of arrows, he gave her detailed explanations of his technique, but she was only half listening. Her eyes kept creeping over to Chat as he observed another pair of soldiers. She didn't even notice Panther walk to retrieve the arrows from the target until he was standing in front of her again.

He held up the quiver packed with arrows. "Maybe this time you could try it with this on your back."

"No," she said quickly, "that'll only trip me up even more."

She took the bow from him and held out her hand for an arrow, and as he set it in her palm, his fingers brushed against hers. She quickly retracted her hand and moved to prepare for her first shot. As she did, her eyes flicked towards Chat once again, and this time, he was openly staring at her. His eyes darted from her to Panther before he turned away again, crossing his arms over his chest as he silently watched another soldier shooting.

Marinette furrowed her eyebrows. Ever since lunch, she couldn't catch Chat's eye for more than a couple of seconds. She wondered if his presence had reignited some rumors, and maybe that was why he was being distant. Still, that didn't stop her from longing to interact with him, and with archery especially, she could really use some of his enthusiasm.

She let out a soft sigh, eyes downcast as she notched the arrow in the bowstring. She lifted her arm and pointed as best she could towards the target, letting the arrow fly before she or Panther had a chance to nitpick her posture. The arrow zinged outward before falling just shy of the target.

She felt discouraged. Mindlessly, she took another arrow from Panther and prepped the bow for another attempt.

"Raise your left arm a little," he advised, and she thought she had done what he said, but then he clicked his tongue. "Not that much."

She let out a groan of frustration. "I don't think that's helping."

Panther thought for a moment. "Here, let's try this." Before she knew what he was doing, he came up behind her, his left arm coming around to adjust her wrist as bent down to peer over her shoulder. She froze, the proximity making her feel extremely uncomfortable, and just as his right hand was about to cover hers on the bowstring, someone loudly cleared their voice.

Panther immediately drew away, and Marinette slackened her pull on the string as she glanced over her shoulder. Chat stood there, arms crossed and lips pressed into a fine line, but he wasn't looking at her. He was practically glowering at Panther, but then Chat cocked his head, plastering on a smile that was far from genuine. "New training technique?"

Panther shifted awkwardly. "Um… yeah. I was helping her make a few adjustments."

Chat hummed, turning his gaze to Marinette, his eyes missing the playful glint that was always present when he looked at her. "And what seems to be the problem?" His voice was stern and no-nonsense.

Marinette blinked, slightly taken aback by his demeanor. She opened her mouth to speak, but Panther beat her to it. "Her arrows are falling short of the target."

Chat's jaw flexed, and he faced Panther again. His smile was becoming more strained, and Marinette felt unease creep through her. Chat seemed… off. His posture was rigid, and while he was obviously trying to appear like his normal, easygoing self, he was making a poor attempt.

Panther was unaware of this, and he continued to speak. "I think the problem is partially her aim, as well as the force of her pull on the string-"

"Really?" Chat interrupted, feigning interest. "Do you have a lot of experience with archery?"

Panther perked up. "I do. I actually-"

Chat didn't let him finish. "Then did you ever consider," he pretended to think, "oh, I don't know, moving her closer to the target?" Chat said it as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, and now that Marinette thought about it, he was right. Still, the sarcastic comment felt like something Cobra would say, and knowing Chat, it struck her as uncharacteristically rude.

Panther blinked, glancing down the line of soldiers who were all standing at around the same distance away from the targets. "But I thought-"

"Let's try it." Chat abruptly turned away from him and grabbed Marinette's elbow, pulling her a few feet forward. Once they had their backs to Panther, so she shot him a look as if to say, "What's gotten into you?"

He ignored it, opting to take a step back as he motioned for her to take another shot. Her gaze lingered on him for an extra moment before she notched the arrow once again, lifting the bow and making tiny corrections to her form as she carefully positioned her arms. Feeling like her aim was as good as it was going to get, she let the arrow fly, and for the first time, it sank into the target with a loud thunk. Of course, the arrow had lodged itself on one of the outer circles, but it hit the target nonetheless.

A satisfied smirk pulled at Chat's lips, and finally, he gave her one of his encouraging smiles. "See? I knew you had it in you."

Marinette felt relief spread through her, both from finally hitting the target and from the way he was looking at her. Now that was Chat.

"Let's have you try it again," he said, and Panther promptly walked forward to hand her an arrow. Chat intercepted before he reached her, taking the arrow with a forced smile.

Marinette eyed him as he handed it over, sensing the change in his demeanor again. She took a few more shots at the target, and each time Chat gave her helpful advice to improve her aim. The longer he worked with her, the more she started picking up on his weird mood changes.

When he spoke to her, he was his normal, friendly self. He cracked a few jokes here and there, but the moment Panther involved himself in any way, Chat was standoffish. He stayed with them until the end of archery practice, and when the troop started walking towards an open area for a sword fighting lesson, Chat moved to walk between Marinette and Panther. She noticed Panther lag behind slightly, perhaps to switch positions and walk on her other side, but Chat struck up a conversation with him, giving her a chance to think about what the hell was going on right now.

It was obvious that Chat did not like Panther, but his lack of subtlety about it was very uncharacteristic of him. He never liked Rhino, but for the most part Chat remained civil around him, only giving Rhino a piece of his mind when it was appropriate. Maybe Chat was miffed because Panther ripped off his disguise, but that still didn't explain why he was being so rude.

Chat volunteered to randomly pair them off for this lesson, and lo' and behold, she was nowhere near Panther. In a way she was grateful for the separation, but she didn't understand why Chat was taking it upon himself to get between the two of them. She hadn't displayed any ill-will towards Panther, and even if Chat didn't like him, she could handle herself. Panther was nowhere near Rhino's level of annoyance, and for the most part Chat had trusted her enough to handle that situation. Why was this any different?

For the rest of the training day, Marinette kept a careful eye on Chat as she tried to figure out what was going on in his head. When they were finally dismissed, she lingered around to see if they could walk back together, but Chat was caught up in a conversation with Cobra.

That's okay. In fact, it might be better if they left separately. With one last glance over her shoulder, she started her trek up the slope. She wasn't feeling all that hungry, so she opted to head to their clearing and snack on some apples while she waited for him. Luckily, the lower hanging fruits in the tree had ripened, so she was able to collect a generous pile without having to climb or get Chat to give her a boost.

Just as she was reaching up for the last apple, a rustling sound from the forest announced his presence. She turned her head towards the noise, watching as he emerged from the treeline. His eyes immediately dropped down to the pile on the ground next to her. "Is this dinner?"

She picked the apple above her and faced him. "Unless you're feeling like something else."

"No, I'm fine with this." He smiled at her as he made his way over, and suddenly she was hyper-aware of the fact that this was the first time they were alone together since their romantic getaway yesterday. She had been longing for this all day, but now that they were here, all she could think about was his strange behavior earlier.

She held out the apple, and his fingers brushed hers as he took it, sending a small jolt of electricity through her hand. She watched as he carefully inspected the fruit. "Checking to see if it's rotten?" she asked, amused.

"I have to. I'm not about to make that mistake again." Once he was satisfied, he took a large bite, chewing thoughtfully before giving her an approving look. "It's perfect."

She gave a small bow in response. "It was nice of you to visit today."

"I couldn't pass up the opportunity to see you."

She shoved his shoulder playfully. "You created that opportunity for yourself."

"Doesn't matter."

She watched as he took another bite, and she decided to take advantage of the lull in the conversation. "Can I ask you something?" He nodded as he finished chewing, eyebrows raised questioningly. She bit her lip, hesitating before asking, "Why were you being so rude to Panther earlier?"

Chat obviously wasn't expecting this, and his pleasant expression faltered. He averted his eyes. "I don't know what you're talking about."

She looked at him doubtfully. "Yeah you do."

His eyes flicked to her again, and he sighed as something akin to annoyance crossed his features. "Fine. I just don't like him, that's all."

"Why not? I mean, I know he kinda stole your look, but that's all he's really done-"

"No," Chat interrupted, and something flashed across his face. "He had no right to put his hands on you today."

Marinette was completely taken aback by this. "What- You mean during archery practice?"

"Yes." Chat crossed his arms over his chest, eyebrows furrowed together as he appeared to be thinking back on that moment.

She stared at him, at a loss for words. Here she was thinking Chat disliked Panther for being a copycat, when in reality he was upset because of her. Sure, Panther could be clingy sometimes, and he had gotten way too close earlier today, but she figured that was just how he was.

"You're right, he shouldn't have done that," she admitted, but then she raised her eyebrows at him. "But to be fair, you did that to me the first time we trained together."

Now it was Chat's turn to be thrown off guard. He was silent for a long moment before asking, "Did I make you uncomfortable?"

"No." Her answer was immediate, thoughtless. "You've never made me feel uncomfortable."

Chat looked relieved, but then the annoyance crept back in. "What about Panther?"

"Well…" Marinette thought back for a moment, but she already knew her answer. "Yeah, but I don't think it was intentional. He was just trying to help me today-"

"No he wasn't," Chat said matter-of-factly, and she blinked at him in surprise.

"How do you know that?"

"Because he was following you around and staring at you all day!" Chat let out an exasperated huff. "Ladybug, he likes you."

She stuttered for a response, completely blindsided by this. Panther? Having a crush on her? That can't be right… Surely she would've picked up on something like that. Chat must have noticed the absolutely dumbfounded look on her face, because his expression morphed into pure disbelief. "You seriously couldn't tell?"

She blinked, her mind refusing to accept this new information. "How can you be so sure?"

He considered her for a long moment, and when he spoke, it was as if he was talking to himself. "Wow, so this is why my flirting never worked. You just didn't notice it."

"Wha- I- I noticed," she thought better of it before adding, "eventually. But Panther doesn't flirt with me!"

"Yeah he does!" He pointed two fingers at his eyes. "With these! I mean- Come on, couldn't you see the way he was looking at you?"

"No, I was too busy looking at you!" Chat was momentarily surprised, and Marinette sighed, trying to wrap her head around this. Their conversation had spiraled in a direction she was not expecting, but there was one thing she knew: Chat had suspicions that Panther liked her, and this resulted in him acting cold towards him. She recalled Chat becoming distant halfway through the day, but only after Panther found her at lunchtime. Suddenly it all clicked into place, and she looked at him curiously. "Chat… are you jealous?"

His eyes widened. "Of him?! No!" His defenses were going up, she could see it in his posture, and an intrigued smile formed on her lips. He's jealous. That's what all of this is about. He noticed her expression, and his face hardened. "I'm not jealous," he stated firmly. "I just," he struggled to find the words, "think he needs to back off." He glanced down at the half-eaten apple still clutched in his hand before tossing it onto the ground in a huff.

She surveyed his disgruntled features, and she couldn't help but think he looked adorable like this. Still, he needed some reassurance, so she took a step closer to him. "Let's say you're right, and Panther likes me-"

"I am right."

She paused before continuing. "Maybe you're right," she repeated. "But there's no reason to be jealous-"

"I'm not jealous-"

She swiftly stepped up to him and held a finger to his lips. His eyes crossed as he looked down at her hand before refocusing on her face again. "Will you let me finish?" He reluctantly nodded, and she removed her finger. "There's no reason to be jealous because unlike him, I have feelings for you. I kissed you," she looked between his eyes, his discontent slowly fading away, "and you're the one I've been thinking about all day."

He searched her face, his features softening at her words. His hand came up to caress her cheek, and she instantly relaxed under his touch. He appeared to be suppressing a grin as he said, "Is that so?"

She allowed her own smile to grace her lips. "The honest truth."

He watched his thumb as he swiped it over her cheek, and he exhaled through his nose. "Maybe I was a little jealous," he admitted quietly.

"Glad we're both being honest." She leaned closer, catching his attention again. "But seriously, Chat. I couldn't care less about Panther, and if he ever crosses a line, I'll kick him between the legs."

Chat laughed. "You do have some practice with that."

"It's my secret weapon." She slipped her arms around his neck, and he automatically settled his hands on her waist. "Now," she let her eyes dart down to his lips, "why are we still talking about him?"

He smirked, and then he ducked his head down until their faces were only an inch apart. "Who?" he whispered, and with that, he captured her lips in his.

The kiss was soft and gentle, slow but passionate. She was thankful that he was holding onto her as she practically melted in his arms. This was what she was waiting for all day. Chat opened his mouth to hers, deepening the kiss, and she matched him as her hands crept into his soft hair. His hands caressed the curve of her waist, and she sighed blissfully as she indulged in the feel of him again.

Being with him like this, it felt right. She had no doubts, no fears, just pure comfort and happiness.

They spent the rest of the evening sitting on the grass, picking at the pile of apples, joking and laughing as they always did. Despite the recent shift in their relationship, Chat was still Chat, and Marinette was still Marinette. They teased each other, they made bad puns together, and they existed in their own little world as if nothing had changed. They were best friends.

But maybe Marinette found herself falling to the ground in a fit of giggles as Chat tickled her relentlessly. Maybe he hovered over her before pressing a gentle kiss to her lips, and maybe she ended up sprawled out on top of him, the rise and fall of his chest lulling her into a deep, dreamless sleep after her exhaustingly long day.

They were best friends, but with a hint of something new.

Everything had changed, but nothing had changed.

They were still Ladybug and Chat Noir.

The next chapter is called "He Was My Friend"