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“Today’s akuma was… tough. And wack,” Marinette commented as she pushed the needle through the purple fabric that covered her mannequin, her eyes set upon getting the tough stitching done with. Her miniature best friend and kwami, Tikki, simply hummed her reply as she munched on her cookie.
Marinette nodded a bit before turning her full focus back to the stitching. The inspiration for this dress had struck her while watching Kitty Section rehearse. The dress was simple: a pink sequined top with a pale blue knee-length skirt, topped by purple ruffles. And of course her signature cherry blossoms embroidered on the top, though this time she was going to do them in shades of blues and purples. She was going to wear it for the band’s first live performance that was to be held in a few weeks.
As she finished with the miniature flower and hummed in appreciation, a familiar tiny weight sat on her head. Marinette moved her eyes up to find Tikki looking down at her, her big, blue eyes widened in apparent concern.
“Is something the matter, Tikki?” Marinette finally asked, her kwami’s expression unsettling her a bit. Usually, with Viperion’s involvement in battles, it was normal to feel as if a certain event had taken place not in reality, but in another timeline. She was used to this feeling. What she was unused to was Viperion’s weird jitteriness post-battle. And Tikki’s current expression was not helping her uneasiness.
A few hours back, the akuma Wrocker had struck the city. He was a handful and tricky one, especially with the boulders he had for his body and the lethal ball-and-chain that served for arms. It was clear that the Lucky Duo needed the power of Second Chance for the battle.
With the rest of Luka’s family out of town, Ladybug saw it as a perfect opportunity to bring Viperion back into the battle, for there was no way Hawk Moth could use his family as bait. Luka had been excited to help, and had joined the battle without hesitation. His observation skills and the power to reset time had been extremely helpful in battling and defeating the tricky akuma.
However, after the ceremonial fist-bumping, Ladybug had been taken aback as Viperion had pulled her into a fierce hug. The look of confusion on Chat’s face mirrored hers, but before she could think about it anymore, Viperion’s bracelet chirped, an indication for them to quickly clear out.
Ladybug and Viperion had gone into a nearby alley, taking cover behind a row of dumpsters. Teal light flashed and faded away, leaving Luka Couffaine standing where the snake hero had been moments ago. He took off his bracelet and Ladybug took it back, noticing the way his hands shook but not commenting on it. She also noticed Sass’ concerned gaze directed at his holder, before the kwami was sucked back into the jewel.
“Luka, is everyth--”
“Everything’s fine, Ladybug!” He interrupted her immediately, flashing her a big grin. “I just… I remembered I have somewhere to be. I, uhm, I am running late, excuse me.”
And saying so, he had simply ducked out of the alleyway and dashed out of her sight.
Now back in her room, Marinette pondered upon what could possibly have gone wrong. She turned to her kwami, who fiddled with the cookie she held in her tiny arms.
“Marinette, I… don’t know how to say this, but today in the battle, I felt like I had lost my connection with you.”
“Lost connection? What do you mean, Tikki?”
“I… it’s a strange feeling. Like the magical bond that connects us both… it suddenly snapped beyond repair. I haven’t felt that in a long time…”
“Do you think the akuma managed to take us down completely?”
“I...I guess, maybe it di--”
The kwami was interrupted by a knock on the trapdoor that led to Marinette’s room. It was followed by Sabine’s voice calling out to her.
“Marinette, sugar, someone’s here to see you!”
Marinette shot a quick glance at her little friend, who didn’t need to be told twice. As the little being zipped away to hide in safety, Marinette answered back.
“Send them up!”
She didn’t have to wonder for long about her visitor. A few moments later, the trapdoor opened, a familiar figure with dark hair dyed blue at the tips coming up into her room.
“L-Luka? What brings yo--”
Her next words were broken off in a gasp as Luka wrapped her in a hug the moment he closed the trapdoor. The hug was just like the one between Ladybug and Viperion — except for the fact that this one was more fierce, more desperate and more bone-crushing. One of his arms was wrapped around her back while the other gripped her waist and pulled her close, and his head was buried in the crook between her neck and shoulders. Her arms hung freely behind him, unsure of what to do or how to react to the sudden gesture. It was like her brain had short-circuited and refused to function at all.
What had happened? Why was Luka acting like this? Was it something she had done as Ladybug? Or had something bad happened to his family because he had become Viperion?
She tried to calm her thoughts down, but couldn’t. If Luka’s family was hurt just because he decided to help Ladybug and Chat Noir fight, Marinette would never be able to forgive herself. Never.
But then she felt her jacket getting damp at the shoulders, and her thoughts came to an abrupt standstill.
Luka was… crying.
Her ears finally caught on the muffled mutterings that escaped his mouth. “I’m sorry I failed you, Melody. I’m sorry.”
The ever calm and collected boy she knew was having a breakdown.
Marinette’s confusion turned to worry, and she finally placed her arms on his back, patting his jacket and cooing to him, trying to calm him down.
“Luka.. hey, I’m here, I’m here. Calm down.”
He held her tighter, as if afraid that she would disappear the moment he let her go. She could feel the sobs wrack his body, and the way he gasped for air, trying to get his breathing in control, caused her heart to break into two. What the actual hell had happened to make him this distraught?
“Luka, talk to me, please. What happened?”
He didn’t speak, but simply broke away from her. Marinette finally got a chance to see how dishevelled he really was. Hair sticking in all directions, eyes puffy and red rimmed from crying and face as pale as a ghost, Marinette felt as if her heart had stuttered to a stop.
Gently taking his arm, she guided him over to the chaise-lounge and made him sit down. He wiped furiously at his eyes, and she could hear him curse under his breath as he depreciated himself.
She lightly whacked him on the head, causing him to look up at her in question.
“You’re not a stupid, weak fellow. Do you get me?”
Eyebrows furrowed, he opened his mouth as if to argue, only to let out a frustrated groan as he ducked his head again, hands clutching at his hair in frustration. Marinette carefully disentangled his fingers from his hair and bent down in front of him, eyes full of concern as she lightly squeezed his hands.
“Luka… hey, what happened?”
He looked up at her, and Marinette gasped at the haunted look in his eyes. He looked down at their conjoined hands, and tentatively brushed his thumb against her skin. Marinette saw his body relax a bit as he felt her skin, and he looked up at her again.
“I...I just had a nightmare. About losing you. And that’s why I rushed over.” He got up, brushing his jeans off. “I’m sorry if I worried you, Melody. I didn’t mean to scare you.”
Marinette got up, a smile on her face. “It’s all good, Luka! And uhm…”
Blushing slightly, she moved forward and wrapped her arms around his waist, hugging him. She felt him tense up a bit beneath her, before relaxing and returning the hug.
After what seemed like a nice moment of being surrounded by the scent of pine and ocean, Marinette broke the hug, smiling at him. He smiled back weakly, running his hand through her hair softly and kissing her forehead.
“Thanks again for everything, Melody. I mean it.”
“Anytime, Lu. Just… take care of yourself, okay?”
He nodded at her. “Okay.”
As he left the room, Marinette looked over at the dress that was still on the mannequin. She walked over to it and ran her hand over the teal blues that were draped on it. If Luka could listen to her heart songs, she also had the sixth sense to detect his mood as colours.
And the ominous dark blue she had seen in place of the usual light teal had only heightened her worries even more.
Ladybug swung around the city, running over the rooftops as she embraced the wind in her hair and the adrenaline in her system. Patrolling always caused an excitement, one she couldn’t ignore, to surge within her. And it was also a nice way to clear up her thoughts.
Coming to a halt over a random rooftop, Ladybug bent over, her hands on her knees as she tried to catch her breath. A cool breeze blew, fanning her face and making her feel refreshed. She looked in the direction where the breeze had come from, only to find herself near the Seine.
And a familiar houseboat.
Her thoughts immediately went back to the events of the day. How Luka had been distraught and she had to comfort him. She couldn’t help but wonder how he was at the moment. It was past midnight. Maybe he was sleeping.
As if answering her question, something shifted on the boat. Ladybug squinted her eyes in the dim light, only to find Luka coming up on the deck and leaning by the railing, his posture slouched.
Her concerns took over and she pulled out her yo-yo and opened up the messaging application.
Thankfully, the yo-yo’s features allowed her to connect her bug-phone with her civilian cell-phone. Sifting through her contacts, she came across Luka’s and pulled it up to text him.
She watched him straighten up and pull the phone out of his pocket. However, he simply read through the messages and turned his phone off, leaving it dangling from his hand as he stared into nothingness.
Surprised, Ladybug rechecked the messages. They had been sent and clearly had been read just now. She looked back at the boy on the deck.
Luka always replied back to her texts. Why was he ignoring her now?
That was when another movement caught her eye, one in her peripheral vision. She zipped around, eyes on lookout for suspicious activity. Finding none, she turned her gaze back to the front.
And immediately saw a purple mass heading towards the Liberty.
Sucking in a gasp, Ladybug quickly swiped open her yo-yo and threw it at the akuma. She barely caught it, just before it could absorb itself into Luka’s phone. Pulling back the yo-yo, she released the butterfly, murmuring, “Not this time, akuma.”
Luka had apparently stumbled back from the sudden movement and fallen on the deck, staring at Ladybug with a gobsmacked expression on his face. As the heroine wrapped her yo-yo on the basketball hoop on the Liberty and swooped down on the deck, she caught Luka rubbing furiously at his eyes.
“Luka… were you… crying?”
He looked up at her and flashed her the same grin that he had given her in the alley. “Me? Crying? No! Just… sweating! From my eyes! Yeah, ‘cause I miss Ma and Jules and--”
She raised an eyebrow at him; a clear indication that she didn’t buy the excuse.
Luka sighed, rubbing at his face as he turned away from her. “Okay, I admit it, I was crying.”
She softened up, and bent to his level, putting a hand on his shoulder. He still didn’t face her. “Why were you crying, Luka? You were acting weird in the afternoon too. Did something happen?”
He looked up at her, his vision shimmering in the dim lights from the sidewalk. “Do you really want to know, Maribug?”
“Ye--” Her brain caught up with the name he had used for her.
Maribug . He knew her identity.
Everything made so much sense now. She must have transformed for some reason and Viperion had caught her, and to save her from prying eyes he had reset the time to simply erase the memories for everyone but him. And his breakdown must be because he had seen Ladybug get injured in fights and it was all. So. Damned. Clear.
She needed time to clear her head. Now.
Standing up, Ladybug immediately put her hands out, laughing nervously. “Maribug? Maribug who? I am Ladybug! And oh, I guess I left my lawnmower on! I need to go!”
She had almost cast her yo-yo when Luka whisper-yelled to her.
“Marinette wait, please!”
The raw emotion, the desperation, the urgency that his voice held — it made her flail and stumble and nearly faceplant herself on the deck in surprise. His choked voice caused her heart to clench once more, and she reprimanded herself mentally.
Luka needs me right now, and all I think about is running away and hiding somewhere, just because I am afraid to face the questions that follow? Whether I go or not, he would still know who the girl beneath the mask is. And seeing his state right now, he needs me. What the hell was I even thinking to decide to just zip off?!
Shaking herself out of those thoughts, she turned back to the boy. Kneeling back to his level, she pulled him into an embrace. He tensed a bit, before sagging into her hold, his arms reaching out to wrap around her. She gently patted his back and drew small circles as she felt his breathing go ragged, trying her best to comfort him. Finally pulling away, Ladybug gently swiped a glove hand across his cheek, brushing away the stray tear that had fallen.
“Want to go inside?”
Luka opened his mouth before closing it, nodding fervently.
Once they were inside, Ladybug didn’t know what to do. It wasn’t like she had ever had an impromptu identity reveal before.
Luka sat cross-legged on his bed, picking up his guitar and breathing heavily. Looking around the room, Marinette finally pulled the stool from the vanity and sat herself across from him.
“Uhm, do you want me to detransform or…”
“Stay like that, please. Ladybug is… easier to talk to right now.”
She nodded, not understanding his reasoning but respecting his decision.
Luka began strumming at his guitar, his eyes shutting close. The initial notes were slow, melancholic and soft, and Ladybug realised them to match the worried state of her heart at that moment. The song crescended into something sharper, pointier and heart-wrenching, and with a gasp, the heroine connected the notes to the ominous blue that Luka had been in the afternoon.
The song ended and Luka put his guitar aside, his head bent down as he gazed at his conjoined hands in his lap, leg shuffling a bit.
Silence stretched out between them, and Ladybug was at a fix about what to say or do.
It was Luka who broke the silence. “Second Chances… they sound like a blessing, a power to undo one’s mistakes. And, I know it helps the Team to work upon their mistakes and gain an edge against their opponents. But...it also makes sure I remember everything, Marinette. Every. Single. Thing.”
“What… what do you mean?”
He looked to the side, not meeting her eye. “It happened when we were fighting Wrocker…”
“Lucky Charm!”
“Second Chance!”
“A shield?” Chat Noir commented, a grin spreading on his face. “One of the few times your Lucky Charm has been direct enough, M’Lady!”
“Thanks Chat, but now we need a plan.” Ladybug trained her eyes on the akuma, who was rampaging in the nearby block, ball-and-chain arms swishing around and destroying buildings in his wake.
“Viperion, stay undercover and keep an eye on the battle. Chat, you’re experienced in close combat, take this shield and put your skills to use. Meanwhile, I will try to snag this bulldozer’s helmet. Got it?”
“Got it!” The two male heroes echoed back, immediately taking their positions.
The battle had been going well, with Chat able to fend off the akuma and keep him distracted enough for Ladybug to get closer to the akumatized object. However, in the final moments of the battle, Chat’s shield gave way and Ladybug had to dive in to save her partner. The akuma immediately sent a ball-and-chain for her and…
“Second chance!”
Viperion found himself back behind the building where they had taken cover. Ladybug was looking at the shield, and her eyes brightened as a plan formed in her head.
“Viperion, stay underco--”
“The idea is brilliant, Ladybug, except for the part where you ask me to stay undercover. The plan worked wonderfully, but failed because we didn’t have a side distraction when needed. I will go there as one, and I promise, I will stay undercover and only appear when I’m needed. Also, you might want to attack him from that building, instead of that one.” Viperion pointed at the two buildings in question.
Ladybug didn’t seem thrilled with the idea, but nodded. “Okay, if that gives us a chance to win, then let’s do it!”
They dove into the battle again, and as Viperion had predicted, Chat lost the shield and his baton a minute or two after facing Wrocker. Just as the akuma went to crush the recovering cat superhero underneath his weight, Viperion strummed at his lyre, gaining Wrocker’s attention. The akuma turned around to face Viperion, who immediately ducked behind a nearby building.
Viperion had counted upon distracting the akuma, which he had been successful at. However, he hadn’t counted upon the said akuma moving his arms around, hitting the lower part of a building. More specifically, the building on the roof of which Ladybug was hiding.
Her ear piercing shriek and Chat and Viperion’s collective shouts of “Ladybug” were drowned in the rumbles of the collapsing building.
“Chat, you take over him! I will go check on Ladybug!” Viperion shouted, making a mad dash for the now-ruined building. He could hear Chat hollering at the akuma in the background. “You are going to pay for this!”
Viperion stumbled towards the ruins, calling out Ladybug’s name repeatedly. A glance at his bracelet told him he had two minutes before detransformation. He had to find her in that short time, lest she had gotten grievous--
No, it can’t be. He thought to himself. The magic suit must have protected her from the fall, right?
He desperately hoped to be right.
Staggering over the broken plaster and cement and what-not, Viperion’s heart thudded faster with every passing second. He cupped his mouth and shouted again.
“Ladybug!”
As if answering his calls, a flash of pink light came from a spot not too far away. And that was when Viperion felt a dull ache in his chest.
Ignoring the pain, he hurried over to the spot, and what he saw made his heart stutter to a near stop.
Red. Abnormally bright red.
The grey concrete wasn’t supposed to be red in the first place.
“Ladybug?”
There wasn’t any answer and Viperion looked around, only to find a small hand poking out from beneath the rubble. The hand was lying in a bright pool of red, and the all-too-familiar grey jacket was clearly soaked in it.
He immediately bent down to his knees, frantically and rapidly shoving the rocks away. With each piece of debris removed, the pain in his chest doubled, tripled in intensity. He could hear Chat’s strangled war cries and the clashes of a battle in the background, but his mind stayed stuck in a single loop.
Please not her, not her. Anyone but her. Please.
His heart thudded to a stop as he removed the final boulder from Ladybug’s face.
Her eyes were closed, her face covered in the blood that had run down the side of her head. Her nose had bled and a line of drying blood trailed down from her mouth. There was just so much blood pooling around her and it appeared to be growing, and growing, and--
Hesitantly, Viperion placed a finger near her nose. Not even the slightest sensation of air blowing on it. Nothing.
He felt sick, nauseous. His mouth went dry. His chest hurt, his head spun. He just had witnessed his love die in front of his eyes and he couldn’t do anything about it.
“Cataclysm!”
Chat’s voice snapped him back to attention. He still had his power, he could still turn back time! He could… he could save Ladybug, his Melody, his Marinette!
Frantically, Viperion held the head of the snake on his bracelet. It had almost reached the last line, the final line. Would it work? What if it didn’t?
He shoved the dark thoughts aside and holding onto the slightest ray of hope, frantically pulled at the snake’s head.
“Second Chance!”
Ladybug looked at the guitarist with tears in her eyes as he curled into himself, clutching at his hair and hiccuping. With the murmur of a lucky charm, she got up from her seat and walked over to Luka, handing him the small water bottle she had gotten. For a moment and two, he didn’t respond. But as Ladybug kept prodding him, he took the bottle and downed it in one go.
His hands were still shaking as he passed her the bottle. She kept it aside and then grabbed his hands, squeezing them lightly as she rubbed circles into them. “Luka, breathe. Breathe with me.”
The boy nodded, before closing his eyes and taking in a ragged breath and releasing it. Ladybug followed suit, all the while rubbing at his hands and squeezing them lightly, trying to calm him down. He took deep meditative breaths and repeated the procedure, Ladybug doing the same. She didn’t pay attention as her earrings gave a final chirrup or as the pink light washed over her, leaving behind a concerned Marinette in her pyjamas.
It took some time, but finally Luka managed to calm his breathing down. He rubbed his thumb over Marinette’s hand, squeezing it slightly to reassure her that he was good.
She gave him a watery smile, and reached over to wipe away any tear trails that remained. He smiled back at her, returning the gesture as he wiped away the tears she hadn’t realised had escaped her eyes.
“I am sorry, Melody. If I had been more careful, then I coul--”
“No, Luka.” Marinette cut him off, cupping his cheek. “You saved my life. You don’t have to be sorry. It should be me who has to be sorry for being reckless and forgetting about the side effects of the Snake Miraculous. I am so sorry, I should have talked to you about this earlier. I am assuming the nightmare you spoke about back in the afternoon, it was--”
“This incident? Yeah.”
She got up and kissed his forehead. “You want me to go or st--”
“Stay, please? I… I am afraid to sleep right now and it would be good to have company.”
She smiled at him, before gesturing to him to scoot to the side. He did so with a confused frown. Marinette went to the living room and picked up some throw pillows from the couch. Coming back, she sat down on the wall side of the bed, using Luka’s pillow as a backrest. Placing the throw pillows in her lap, she motioned to him to lay down.
He looked surprised at first, but then with a small smile, he put his head in her lap. Marinette softly threaded her fingers through his hair, massaging his scalp as she hummed a soft tune, the lullaby that her Maman sang for her whenever she had nightmares.
“Melody?” Luka spoke after a long time, causing her to break off and look down.
“Hm?”
“Thanks for… for everything. For being my friend… and an important part of my life.” He let out a loud yawn and snuggled into her lap, bringing his knees closer to his chest. Marinette smiled down at him as she continued to thread her fingers through his hair, ignoring the flutters in her heart.
After time had passed for what felt like years, she heard Luka’s sleepy murmurs. “I...love you… Ma-Ma-Marinette.”
She gasped a little in surprise at the confession but couldn’t help the smile on her face. Sighing happily, she continued threading her fingers through his hair.
He knew her identity, and sure that bridge had been difficult to cross, but they had managed successfully. And she knew in her heart that they would manage to cross this bridge too. Right now, she just happily succumbed to the weariness that had been overpowering her, her heart finally content to have brought Luka to ease.
That night she may or may not have dreamt about pine trees, oceans, snakes, heart songs and a pink and blue dress with purple ruffles.