Chapter Text
Chat Noir stared at her with big, green eyes. “Milady, please help me,” he said hoarsely as his suit began to bleach, turning white.
Ladybug backed up until she hit the chimney on the rooftop. Suddenly the foundation shook. She put a hand on the chimney to steady herself. “Chat, don’t do this. I’m sorry.”
“Ladybug!” a voice from down below shouted. She looked to where it came from to see Adrien in Hawkmoth’s clutches. “Help me!”
Ladybug stood still. Who did she go to first? Who did she save? The choice weighed on her, her indecision causing the roof to shake more and more and-
Marinette, to her chagrin, did not wake up to her alarm. In fact, her alarm never went off; she’d forgotten to set it the night before. Instead, she woke up to water dripping on her brow, plink-plink-plink ing all over her head, her blanket, and her sheets. She forced her eyes open to see the skylight above her open.
And of course it was raining.
The water spread, creating spots on her pajamas. Tikki flitted around her ears. “I’ve been trying to wake you for the past five minutes, Marinette!” her kwami scolded.
Marinette ignored her drenched outfit and the way it clung to her skin. She reached up and closed the skylight, fumbling as the rain poured over her arms. “I need to put these in the laundry,” she said, gesturing to the ruined blankets. “Tikki, can you help get my backpack ready?”
Tikki nodded and zipped along. Marinette was grateful to have Tikki to help her when she was late. Tikki would help pack Marinette’s bags or lay out clothes or give her constant reminders on what she needed to do for the day. It was better than having a planner or setting up reminders on her phone. She knew Marinette’s schedule better than… well, Marinette. She assisted in any way possible to make sure everything got done on time.
But, Marinette thought as she threw the blankets into the laundry basket, maybe she wouldn’t be on time today. The clock read fifteen minutes until class started. She cursed and quickly changed into the clothes she’d set aside last night. She’d spent a ridiculous amount of time trying to figure out what to wear today. Marinette had settled on a pink overall dress and a white shirt. Simple, stylish, cute.
She examined herself in the mirror, then grabbed her now-full backpack. Tikki floated nearby. “You should be off soon. You need to be there to surprise Adrien!”
Ah yes, the surprise. This was going to be the day she confessed to Adrien. She had ten failed attempts on her record, and she refused to let that number grow. Today she would give him a box of passionfruit macarons with a note. She’d stayed up a good chunk of the night writing different versions and drafting what she’d say. (Marinette suspected her sleepiness by the end of the night was the reason behind her lack of alarm this morning.) Finally, she’d come up with a simple message: Will you go on a date with me? As she ruminated on her plan, she brushed her teeth and pulled her hair into her signature pigtails.
Marinette made her way downstairs to the kitchen. Her parents were probably busy with the bakery, so she grabbed a yogurt cup and polished it off as quickly as she could.
Looked at the clock again. Five minutes to spare. She broke into a dead run, purse slung over her shoulder with Tikki nestled inside. Confidence flowed under Marinette’s skin. You can do this, Alya’s voice encouraged. The only person who knew about today’s plan was Marinette; she thought it would be a big surprise to everyone if she asked him out without encouragement.
She didn’t want to disappoint anyone this time, least of all herself.
Marinette said goodbye to her parents as they bustled about the bakery and grabbed an umbrella from the stand in the corner. Every effort extended into sprinting to class. She thanked her lucky stars that she lived next door to the school.
She stumbled into class with a few seconds to spare before the bell rang. The class talked amongst themselves, loud and bubbly. They all shrugged out of their hooded jackets or shook the rain off their umbrellas. Adrien seemed occupied in a conversation with Nino about Nino’s little brother’s antics. That’s okay, she convinced herself, I have all day to speak to him.
And she’d rather not do it in front of the class, anyway. What if she embarrassed herself? She’d get him alone later in the day.
Marinette slipped into her seat next to Alya. “Girl, your hair’s all wet,” said Alya in lieu of a greeting.
She put a hand to her damp pigtails. “I left my skylight open and got a little rainshower this morning,” she explained.
Alya shook her head with a smile. “Only you, girl.”
Mme Bustier called the class to attention, and they began their daily ritual of giving each other compliments. Mylene had started off with a compliment for Nathaniel, and around they went. Marinette zoned out, staring at the back of Adrien’s neck. She wondered how he’d react. Maybe he’d be happy, confessing his own love for her. Or he’d be apologetic- “Sorry, but I don’t feel the same way, Ma-”
“-rinette? Marinette?”
She broke out of her stupor. The entire class had their eyes on her. Her skin prickled. “Um, what was the question again?” she asked, looking to Alya for help.
Mme Bustier replied, “I asked if you had a compliment for Adrien, Marinette.”
Her face went on fire instantly. She tried - and failed - not to catch his eye. Don’t make a fool of yourself. “Uhhh… Adrien, Adrien, right, Adrien.” He gave her a small, encouraging smile and she knew she was done for. “... good. Right! He’s good. A good, solid person. Totally.”
As soon as she finished speaking, she wanted to melt under the floorboards and crawl back home. Good? That was all she could come up with? Mme Bustier gave her a tight smile, and she avoided all eye contact with Adrien in favor of the grainy wood desk. “Thank you, Marinette. Let’s move on to discussing the chapter assigned for reading last night…”
She drowned the rest of it out while Alya gave her a sympathetic pat on the back. Her shoes squeaked under the desk, and Marinette wished nothing more than for the day to end right there.
She spent the rest of her class - both Mme Bustier’s and Mme Mendeleiev’s - building her courage back. Sure, the compliment didn’t go as planned. But she could still salvage this. When she gets him alone, she’ll give him a better compliment.
Marinette, while in Mme Mendeleiev’s class, wrote down some possible things to say to him in a list format.
You have nice eyes.
You are the kindest person I know.
You smell like pine trees.
You give everyone a chance, even when they haven’t given you a reason to. (I hope you can give me a chance.)
She was so busy writing out what she’d say to him, she didn’t notice the beaker boiling over with the solution. A splash of green landed nearby, jerking her back from her seat.
“Marinette Dupain-Cheng!” cried out Mme Mendeleiev. The teacher appeared next to her work station and turned off the Bunsen burner, letting the solution temper itself. She snatched up the notebook. “What was so important that you couldn’t pay attention to the lab?”
Marinette protested. “Mme Mendeleiev, I’m so sorry, but don’t-”
It was too late. Mme Mendeleiev read off some of the things Marinette had written down. “You have nice eyes. You are the kindest person I know. You smell like pine trees- Mademoiselle Dupain-Cheng, please save the poetry for English class.”
The class giggled- or at least, that’s what it felt like. In reality, it was just Chloe, Sabrina, and Lila. Her eyes burned with the possibility of tears, but she refused to let herself get worked up over it. She refused to look over at Adrien; he was probably embarrassed for her. She bit down on her cheek and grabbed paper towels to clean up her mess.
Luckily, Alya, Nino, and even Adrien helped her wipe it up. She avoided eye contact with all of them except Alya. “It wasn’t as bad as you think,” her best friend whispered to her. “If Adrien knew that was about him, he’d be really flattered.”
As they threw away the paper towels, Adrien nudged her. The contact almost made her squeal, but she kept herself in check. “Are you alright, Mari?” he asked.
She nodded, eyes wide. “Yeah, totally fine. Not embarrassed at all.” Marinette trailed off with a half-hearted laugh.
Adrien frowned. “You shouldn’t be embarrassed. Whoever you wrote that for should be happy that you think of them like that.” He looked like he was about to say more, but Mme Mendeleiv called their attention to the front.
She snorted to herself. If only you knew… And then- That was the perfect time to tell him! She groaned.
By the time the bell rang for lunch, Marinette had to build back her courage for the second time that day. She packed her lab notebook into her backpack, then went through to grab the box of passion fruit macarons.
Except she came up empty.
She went through it again, head half in her bag in search. Alya poked her back, causing her to shoot up with a yelp. “Did you lose something in there, girl?” she asked.
Marinette hesitated, then said, “It’s fine. I can probably go get it at lunch.” She flashed her friend a quick smile. The two parted ways in front of the school. She watched as Adrien got into his limo, carted off to his own home. This would have been the perfect opportunity to confess.
She trudged past the open doors of the school and a raindrop plopped on her head.
Great. She’d forgotten her umbrella in class. Mme Bustier’s or Mme Mendeleiv’s? Didn’t matter now. Marinette braced herself and made a run for it, the downpour knocking on her back, dripping down her neck and hair.
Once she made it back to the bakery, she could’ve shaken herself off like a dog. Her teeth clattered from the cold rain soaking through her clothes for the second time that day. Her mom took one look at her and clicked her tongue. “Marinette, you should go take a hot shower or else you’ll catch a cold.”
She obliged, taking a quick shower to soothe herself, then had to find a different pair of clothes to wear. This time, Marinette didn’t put much thought into the outfit. She’d already made a fool of herself too many times today that it didn’t matter if she dressed up or not.
She talked as she threw on a yellow blouse. “I’m so confused, Tikki. I thought I had everything planned out. I thought you put the macarons in my backpack this morning.”
Tikki zipped over to her face. “I’m sorry, Marinette! I thought you meant just your books. I wasn’t thinking.”
Marinette patted Tikki’s head with a finger. “It’s okay, Tikki. I wasn’t thinking either. I’ll try to remember to bring them when lunch finishes up.”
Except that didn’t happen either. When she made her way back into class, her backpack was devoid of the box again! She groaned and pulled at her pigtails. Alya nudged her shoulder as she settled in. “You good, girl? You seem a little off today.”
Marinette felt her anger subside at her best friend’s comfort. “I just had this weird dream last night and barely slept. It’s spot-related stuff.” That was their code: spot-related stuff.
Alya nodded solemnly. “If you ever want to talk about it…”
She gave her a grateful smile. “You’re the best, Alya.” And yes, her eleventh confession attempt was a bust, but at least she had her best friend by her side. Marinette spent the rest of the school day calming herself with platitudes like you’ll do it next time, for sure and the timing wasn’t right anyway.
Luckily, the rain cleared up once school let out. The sun was peeking out from the clouds. . Puddles lined the street, soaking the soles of her shoes. She said goodbye to Alya, Nino, and Adrien.
Once home at the bakery for the day, Marinette consoled herself with mousse au chocolat, her favorite dessert. Tikki told her she definitely deserved it.
It wasn’t a second after the spoon first touched her lips that an akuma alert sounded from her phone. Could this day get any worse?
She checked the notification to see if there was any detail about the attack. None, except that it was spotted near the Louvre. Marinette sprinted outside, ducked into the alleyway behind the bakery, and called on her transformation.
It didn’t take long to find the akuma. She followed the trail of people ‘resting’ along the sidewalks. Her mind worked through its mental fog to put together that the akuma’s power must be to make people fall asleep.
She found herself partially right- the akuma’s name was Zapper, a male in his 20s that had bright yellow hair and an all-black outfit. Ladybug watched as he touched a lady’s arm and she slowly stopped fighting back until she went limp. As a result, Zapper grew a bit bigger. He would tower over Marinette easily- at this point, he was maybe eight feet tall.
Chat Noir appeared at her shoulder, both of them overlooking the scene from a rooftop. “Looks like this akuma isn’t one to sleep on, m’lady. Any ideas?”
She squinted to get a better look. The akuma- Zapper, he’d announced himself as - grabbed a little boy’s arm. The little boy pulled his arm back and stumbled away, dragging his feet as he did so. “The akuma doesn’t necessarily put people to sleep. It drains them of their energy,” she assessed.
It was then that the akuma caught sight of them. “Ladybug and Chat Noir! Give up your miraculouses to me!” Zapper roared.
Ladybug and Chat Noir engaged in combat for a little bit. She learned that just his presence made her more and more exhausted. And besides, how did you fight an akuma that you couldn’t touch? Between dodging jabs, Ladybug scanned his figure; her eyes caught on a battery pack attached to his waist.
“Chat, the battery pack!” she shouted. He nodded at her. Ladybug stood back as Chat took the brunt of the assault, defending her with his baton. “Lucky charm!” she called out.
A spotted phone-shaped object hit her palm. She grinned as her mind made the connection between the phone and her best friend; Alya was going to be so excited! This would be her first battle since becoming a permanent holder. “Chat, keep him occupied. I’ll be back.”
Ladybug knocked on Alya’s window with a wide smile. Alya opened the window, excitement dancing in her eyes. “Need me, bestie?”
“Of course,” she said. Alya said her transformation phrase and the two raced the rooftops back to the akuma. Ladybug caught her up- akuma named Zapper that they couldn’t touch, a battery pack as the akumatized object, and the possibility of creating an illusion to distract him.
Chat Noir was still battling when they returned. Luckily, Zapper hadn’t grown any bigger since she left. Chat must have been hard at work to keep him from taking anyone else’s energy. Ladybug wondered how he hadn’t broken a sweat. Did he work out often? She shoved the thought down, down, down.
“Chat, watch out!” she called.
“Huh?” He turned to look at her on the rooftop, then ducked quickly away from a jab from Zapper.
Rena Rouge brought her flute to her lips and cast her illusion. Ten, twelve, no, twenty Ladybugs surrounded him in a circle. Zapper turned in a circle, not knowing which one to look at. He growled and rushed at one, only for it to fade away and reform.
Chat Noir was trapped on the outside of the circle. He’d been thrown to the ground by Zapper and looked up in bewilderment at the Ladybug illusions. He tried to spot the real one, but he couldn’t.
That was because Rena’s illusion extended to make herself and Ladybug hidden from view. They snuck into the circle, and Rena used her flute to smash the battery pack at Zapper’s waist. The akuma butterfly flew out of the remains, and Zapper returned to a normal, 5’9” man who looked a bit spooked.
It didn’t take long for Ladybug to cleanse the akuma and cast her miracle cure. “Pound it!” she said, putting out her fist for Rena Rouge and Chat Noir. Rena met her with a similar enthusiasm, but Chat hesitated. She took note of the odd behavior. Maybe she’d bring it up the next time they had patrol?
“Thank you so much, Ladybug and Rena Rouge,” the man said.
“No problem,” said Ladybug, even though it was, indeed, a problem. She was absolutely exhausted. Did the cure not fix how tired she was? Regardless, she gave the man an anti-akuma charm like she did everyone else. A part of her wondered which would take longer: giving enough people anti-akuma charms that it was no longer an issue or defeating Hawkmoth. She hoped she’d never get that answer.
The man shuffled away, back to his home. Ladybug’s miraculous beeped, down to its last spot. “We’ve got to go, Rena.”
Rena Rouge nodded. The two were about to take off when Chat called out, “Wait, Ladybug!”
Anticipation built up in her gut. He looked… hesitant? And a bit sad, she realized. She bounced in place, knowing her transformation could drop at any moment. “Meet me on the rooftops in five minutes? We need to talk,” he said.
She frowned. He’d never sounded so serious before. A pit formed in her stomach. “Of course, Chat. Bug out!”
She and Rena Rouge only made it a couple rooftops away until they had to drop into an alleyway for Marinette’s transformation. Tikki and Trixx chattered between themselves as they ate to fuel up. It seems that they, too, had grown tired from the akuma.
“What do you think Chat wants? It looked serious,” said Marinette, tapping her flats against the pavements. Her mind drew up a thousand possibilities: he was sick, he had another romantic surprise for her, he was giving up his miraculous…
No. She couldn’t bear it if he left her again. She couldn’t do any of this without him. He knew what she was thinking at all times; that’s how they’d always been. In sync, one mind. But today seemed different. He didn’t make as many jokes, didn’t flirt, didn’t even say much . She missed him talking and being a chatterbox. It kept her stress levels in check while they fought.
Alya grabbed her arm. “Don’t work yourself up, girl. Maybe he’ll ask you out again.” She frowned. “Too bad Ladynoir will never happen because Adrienette has to prevail.” She sighed and dramatically pretended to faint.
Marinette laughed. Her friend was right; whatever it was, they’d be fine like they always were. “Thank you for your help, Alya. I couldn’t have defeated Zapper without you.”
Her best friend gave a dramatic bow. “All in a day’s work. I’ll head home now. Wouldn’t want to interrupt you and Chat.” She winked.
Marinette rolled her eyes at the insinuation. “Tikki, spots on!” she called. “Stay safe on your way home, Alya.”
Ladybug leaped onto the roof and scanned the horizon. She caught Chat Noir sitting on a rooftop a couple of streets over. It didn’t take long to settle next to him, her body humming with a new energy. Being around Chat Noir gave her that feeling, as if he were her energy source.
She looked over at him fondly. Her partner had grown throughout the past year and a half- physically and personally. He was now nearing six foot while she remained short. He had grown a lot as a person, better able to balance his jokes with fighting. He’d also laid off the flirting too much . Now Chat Noir was romantic enough for it to be charming, not cheesy.
“What’s up, Chat?” she asked. He turned to her, and she noticed for the first time a frustration building up behind his eyes. His eyes that now shone with unshed tears. “What’s wrong?” She moved closer as if to wipe any tears away, but he moved back.
“You told me I was irreplaceable, Bug. But if that’s true, why do you prefer to have Rena Rouge fight with you instead of me?” he asked.
It was strange to see him like this; she’d never seen him cry, and this was the closest he’d come to it. Her heart panged as she heard the small wobbles in his voice, almost undetectable. “Minou, that’s not what this is. Rena Rouge has been really valuable in defeating akumas lately. And you held off Zapper while I went to get to her! That’s really important.”
He scoffed at her. Yes, scoffed. She’d never seen him do that, either. Her heart sank further. “You left me! And usually I’m fine with that, but you left me just so you could- could get my replacement. You don’t come to patrol anymore and when you do, it’s clear that you don’t want to be there. You have all these new power-ups and they’re cool, but you never talk to me about them. Like, did you find something that I don’t know about? Something in the grimoire? You keep me in the dark. It’s like you don’t want me around.” He looked away now, voice breaking at the last part.
He felt like Rena was a replacement? Then he would be really mad when he found out that she knew Ladybug’s identity and was a permanent holder. Oh, she’d messed up. Big time. “Chat, you know you’re important. You’re irreplaceable. I mean it.”
He refused to meet her gaze and flinched away when she reached out to touch him. “I wish you would act like it, then.” Without a warning, he stood up and vaulted from the rooftop on his baton.
“Chat!” she called out. Her throat tightened. If her heart panged before, it was now completely shattered. Scratch what she said before about him giving her energy. Now she felt even more exhausted than if Zapper had grabbed her.
He didn’t bother to look back. And, worst of all, he was completely right. She’d been a terrible partner, person, and friend. Chat Noir was more important to her than she’d ever let on. She stood there for a while, mind swimming. Ladybug wasn’t sure what she was waiting for- an epiphany? For him to come back?
After what felt like hours, she peeled herself off the rooftop and swung back home. Marinette de-transformed and Tikki tumbled out of the earrings. “Marinette, what happened? Is Chat Noir okay?”
Marinette swung open her skylight and dropped onto her bed. Right. Her bed with no blankets and no sheets because she’d forgotten to wash the laundry. The mattress shifted, lumpy under her weight. But she didn’t move. Maybe she deserved to feel a little uncomfortable. “I messed up big time, Tikki.” She held her cat pillow close to her chest. “He’s not okay, and it’s all my fault. He’s so upset, and he doesn’t even know the full truth yet.”
Marinette curled up further. Tikki brushed against her temple, and she imagined that it was her mother’s hand rubbing her head when she was a little girl in an attempt to put her to sleep. And it worked. She heard Tikki’s comforting words about how they’d fix this, felt the brushes against her temples, and drifted to sleep, the exhaustion of the day coming back to bite her.
---
Bunnyx groaned in her burrow. “Really? Neither of them can pull it together for two seconds, can they?”
She paced back and forth, ranting to the endless space and the pockets of time. “Marinette can’t confess to Adrien to save her life. And Ladybug and Chat Noir are on the outs. They both need to solve this. But how?”
Bunnyx looked at the pocket of time that showed two dual perspectives: Marinette sleeping in her blanket-less bed while Tikki brushed her hair away from her face; and Adrien staring at the ceiling with dried tears on his cheeks. Plagg tried to say something to him about getting ready for a Chinese lesson, but he was unresponsive.
April 2nd. The day where things went extremely wrong.
It pained her to see her friends hurt like this. Even more so that they hurt each other in their confusion. If they could only figure things out…
An idea formed in her mind. Maybe it was reckless, maybe it was irresponsible. But she was Alix, after all. She always rose to the challenge. “Time to interfere.”