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“Ladybug!! Chat Noir!!!! Wait!!!”
Ladybug and Chat Noir whipped around in unison at the sound of a voice calling out to them from behind, their adrenaline still high from Paris’ most recent akuma attack.
The source of the exclamation was a little girl with wide eyes and a gap-toothed smile. She held an official-looking notebook and bright pink crayon in her hands.
Both heroes let out sighs of relief: they weren’t eager to fight another battle so soon after the last one.
“Can I get an interview?” the little girl asked as she practically swayed with excitement. “My maman said I can use her special notebook for it!”
A couple meters or so down the street, a woman with kind eyes smiled sheepishly and shrugged at the heroes.
Ladybug and Chat Noir exchanged a glance and smiled. They’d been approached for interviews numerous times, but never by a reporter so young before!
“Well…” Ladybug began, pursing her lips and tapping her cheek thoughtfully in an exaggerated manner. “We only have a few minutes before we transform back, but I say we have time for a quick interview with an up-and-coming reporter. What do you think, Chat Noir?”
“Sounds good to me, LB!” Chat replied brightly. He knelt down until he was eye-to-eye with the little girl and gave her a wink. “What hard hitting questions do you have for us today, ma’am?”
The little girl giggled and grinned widely. “I wanna be like you and Ladybug someday!!” she exclaimed. “How can I become a superhero?”
Ladybug didn’t have the heart to answer this question...although she loved wearing spots and saving Paris, she wouldn’t wish the full-time occupation of keeping the city safe on anyone, especially not an impressionable young child.
Fortunately, though, Chat Noir was more than ready to provide an answer.
“You wanna know how to be a hero, huh?” Chat mused. He narrowed his eyes before gesturing for the little girl to come closer. “Well, I can tell you how to be the best hero ever, but you have to keep it a secret, okay?”
“Okay!!!” the little girl replied.
“To be a true hero, you have to be brave,” Chat began. “Anyone can have superpowers, but only someone who is brave can be a superhero! Sometimes, heroes have to do scary things...do you ever have to do scary things?”
“Oh yeah,” the little girl replied softly. “Sometimes I have to try new things at school...that can be pretty scary.”
“But you tried them, and you made it out fine!!” Chat replied. “That’s definitely something a superhero would do.
“It also doesn’t hurt to be a good leader,” he continued. “No superhero team is complete without an amazing leader who comes up with crazy-awesome ideas to help save the day!! BUT, good leaders also know when they need to step back and ask for help, and they are always open to suggestions from their team. Can you do that?”
“Definitely!!” the girl replied. “I ask for help from my maman all the time!”
“That’s great!!” Chat said. “You’re already on your way there, then!”
The little girl smiled proudly, and from her position down the street, her mother smiled as well.
“Now, there’s one more thing you need to know…” Chat whispered. “The best superheroes have kind hearts. Do you know what that means?”
The little girl furrowed her brows and thought for a moment. “....can you tell me?”
Chat chuckled and nodded. “Of course! When someone has a kind heart, it means they go above and beyond to be there for other people and show them how much they care no matter what they do. Any old person can fight bad guys, but only someone with a kind heart can be a true hero.”
Ladybug’s eyes watered as she listened to Chat. His heart was definitely one of the kindest she’d ever known, and she felt so fortunate to have him as her partner.
The little girl pondered Chat’s final words for a moment. “Hey, it kinda sounds like you’re talking about Ladybug!” she pointed out.
Chat Noir grinned and replied, “You’re a pretty smart reporter!! And what can I say?” He looked up at his lady with a gentle smile.
“She’s the greatest hero I know.”
Ladybug’s heart stuttered in her chest.
Chat Noir gazed softly at her for a bit longer before turning back to the little girl.
“Now, you seem to have a pretty kind heart…” he mused thoughtfully. “if you ask me, I’d say you’re already a hero!”
The little girl beamed. “Yay!!!!!!!” She turned to her mother and exclaimed, “Chat Noir says I’m a hero!!!!”
Her mother laughed warmly as she walked to her daughter and scooped her into her arms. “He sure did!!!! Now, let’s thank Chat Noir and Ladybug and get out of their hair, shall we?”
“But I had another question!!!!!!!” The little girl wriggled her way out of her mother’s arms and rushed over to Ladybug. Ladybug knelt down beside her, heart still pounding from Chat’s earlier declaration.
The little girl cupped her hands over Ladybug’s ears and whispered, “Is Chat Noir your boyfriend?”
A bright red blush bloomed across Ladybug’s face. “N-no!!!” she managed to stutter.
The little girl giggled into her hands. “Don’t worry!” she whispered. “I know you like him, but I can keep it a secret!!
Suddenly, Ladybug was keenly aware of the dots blinking in her ears.
“Welp, this interview has been lovely, but I should be heading out!” With a hasty wave and smile, she was swinging up and out into the cloudy afternoon sky.
Chat definitely was NOT her boyfriend.
And she definitely didn’t want to be his girlfriend.
Not even after all the lovely things he’d just said about her.
Or the way he’d looked at her.
Nope, no way.
“BYEEEE, LADYBUG!!!!!!!!!!!” the little girl cried.
Chat watched Ladybug go with an amused expression on his face. “She sure got out of here in a hurry, huh? What did you ask her?”
“It’s a secret!!!” the little girl replied with an elated giggle.
Chat chuckled and replied, “Well, superheroes DO have to be good at keeping secrets, so I suppose I’ll just have to live with it.”
He glanced down at his ring and started.
"Speaking of secrets, I’d better head out, or MY secret identity will be out of the bag!! Thanks for the interview, ma’am!!” He saluted the girl and her mother before vaulting away on his staff.
And the little girl waved until Chat Noir was nothing more than a black speck on the horizon.
Instead of sleeping that night, Marinette found herself replaying the events of the interview over and over in her mind.
What exactly had Chat said about her?
And why did she get so flustered when she realized he’d been saying all those things about her??
….had he heard what the little girl whispered to her before she left??
Needless to say, Marinette was quite tired at school the next day.