Chapter Text
Where there is great love, there are always wishes.
~Willa Cather
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CHAPTER 1: PATROL
"We are all ordinary. We are all boring. We are all spectacular. We are all shy. We are all bold. We are all heroes. We are all helpless. It just depends on the day."
~ Brad Meltzer
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"What do you think he wants to wish for?" Chat's voice cuts through the comfortable stillness that had settled upon them. In sync as ever, his query uncannily reflects the direction of her own momentary musings.
They're sitting on their favorite beam of the Eiffel tower after finishing the evening's patrol. It was supposed to be her night, but he'd shown up like he needed the distraction, and they'd fallen into their usual rhythm, no interrogation or explanation needed. They ran their route in companionable silence, just the two of them between the rooftops of Paris and the dim stars overhead. The muted sounds of the city below swirled around them in the golden glow of the City of Lights.
"Power? Position? Money? Who knows... You never know the desires of someone else's heart."
"Hmm." He says thinking as his eyes stare out at the dark horizon. "You know the desires of mine, my lady." He chances a glance at her.
Her eyes flick to his then back to the distance. "You know my heart belongs to someone else, Chaton."
"Yes, but does he?"
She sighs. "No."
He hums again, not looking at her. It's a loaded sound, and while he isn't asking for more details, she feels obliged to share.
"The thing is..." she continues, "is that... Chat, I'm a coward."
"My lady -"
"Don't 'my lady' me; it's true!" Her eyes roll and land on his skeptical expression. "It's true," she repeats with emphasis.
"So you've never told him?"
"I've tried!" She lifts her face and closes her eyes. "I've tried so many times. I always screw it up, get it wrong, make him think I totally DISlike him, give him gifts I forget to sign, freak out and run away and mix my words up in ways he probably constantly questions my sanity." She drops her chin to her chest. "I'm a blubbering, flailing idiot around him, and I'm lucky he even gives me the time of day. Ever."
"Heh, that sounds like a girl I know who's always acting weird around me. Pretty sure something about me just makes her really uncomfortable. I... Let's just say I don't have a lot of experience reading into...situations... But I'm not sure even if I did that it would help me understand her. I want to get to know her because she's CLAWSOME, and she's such a wonderful, kind, caring person and devoted friend, but I'm not sure if she's scared of me or just doesn't like being around me unless she HAS to be... Though she has stuck her neck out for me a time or two, so that's a start I guess. She has to think at least a little fondly of me, right?"
Ladybug giggles. "Chat, it sounds like this mystery girl of yours is totally crushing on you."
"Really?" His ears perk up, and looks for all the world like a love struck puppy.
She giggles at the juxtaposition, secretly finding it adorable. "Hey, now, should I be jealous?"
"NO! No, my lady." He rests his hand over his heart. "This knight's heart belongs to you! But since you don't seem to want it..." He deflates from the cat ears to his toes, tail flicking defensively.
"Chaton." He looks up to meet her eyes. "Kitty, if you like this girl, if you want to take the chance, then go for it! I told you, my heart is taken as well. And he might be a lost cause, I don't know, but I'm not going to give up yet. And it's not like I haven't dated someone else just to know if there was better out there."
"Oh?"
"It didn't work out." She looks away.
"Oh. So you're still waiting then?"
She sighs. "I may wait forever. I may not. One day at a time?"
"One day at a time," he agrees with a sidelong, longing glance at her profile. She misses the way his eyes trace her features, memorizing every line like she's the sole sonnet to his heart.
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