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The street was full of the warm brightness of spring. The shop windows sparkled invitingly. Flower boxes overflowed with tulips and petunias, while morning glories trailed from baskets hanging from lamp posts. People ambled past, most unwilling to waste this beautiful afternoon by hurrying through it.
Luka sat at a table outside an ice cream parlor, its pink and white striped awning fluttering idly in the light breeze. His fingers picked out chords on the instrument of his mind as he waited, adding to the music of life around him. Lately, the music around him had been dark, full of stress, worry, and the minor chords of tension.
Monarch had stolen the miraculous from Ladybug and the whole city was impacted by the loss. Everywhere he went, people were going about their normal lives, struggling to not be afraid of their own shadows… their own emotions. Ladybug most of all, for Ladybug was … Marinette. The strong, brave, unbeatable Ladybug was the soft, gentle, caring girl whose heart song called to him like the lilt of a magic flute… the girl who broke his heart trying to spare him pain because she was sacrificing herself over and over again for the good of all.
The same girl who, every time he saw her, made his heart bleed because her inner music was lost in a scream of loneliness, fear, and hopelessness. Luka ached for her in a way he could never really explain. Music wasn’t just his food of love, it was his words, his hands, the beating of his heart and hearing the song that used to be Marinette tore him apart inside. To know she was locking herself further and further away into Ladybug to spare her Marinette heart hurt him all the more.
“And the mess they are in now without knowing it?” He sighed, his fingers switching to a frustrated drumming on his thigh. Adrien was at the heart of it all, as he had always been, but despite everything, Luka couldn’t blame him. The guy had a good heart. He knew Adrien adored Marinette, but Cat Noir’s love for Ladybug made him suppress it, leading to confusion and pain on both sides. And now he and Marinette were ‘fake dating’ in order to throw off that scheming liar, Lila? “There is no way this will end well. How can I help them if I can’t tell them the truth?”
Taking a deep breath, he let it out slowly, letting the light breeze carry it and his stress away. The beauty of this day, the relative peace surrounding him as the sunlight played tricks across the surface of the Seine and made the flowers as bright as jewels was enough for him to breathe a sigh of relief. He was content to live in the moment for now.
A cup full of chocolate ice cream with raspberry coulis on top was set in front of him.
“You seem lost in thought,” Kagami said, sitting down across from him with her own cup. “Thinking about your music or about how ridiculous this whole situation is?”
He smiled. Kagami was as straight as an arrow and was just as quick to cut to the heart of whatever obstacles lay in her path. In contrast, her inner music was like a Vivaldi orchestral piece, multilayered, multifaceted, and an ever shifting shimmer of light and shadow. He could appreciate her honesty and forthrightness, but it was her complexity that had first caused him to notice her… even if she never seemed to really smile.
But then, a lifetime of loneliness and difficult expectations could do that to a person. Perhaps that is why she had fallen for Adrien in the first place, because he would understand her.
Luka understood her too.
“Both,” he murmured before popping a spoonful of ice cream into his mouth, savoring the sweet richness of the chocolate and the fruity tang of the coulis. “Funny how life pulls people together, even when they aren’t aware of it, isn’t it?”
She nodded, taking a bite of her own treat with all the deliberation of a monarch signed a treaty. “Are you referring to us or to Marinette and Adrien?”
“They are rather obvious from the outside, aren’t they,” he chuckled. “Marinette has been in love with Adrien since the day after they met. She was trying to let him go and that is why we got together, but you can’t really let go of a love like that. Not completely.”
“Hmmm. Yes. The day I first met Adrien I was sure he was in love with her, but he only said she was-“
“A very good friend,” they both finished together.
Kagami’s lips twitched in amusement. “I see you’ve heard that one as well.”
“I think all of Paris has heard it by this point.”
“And yet, Adrien still cares for her deeply, carries the charm she gave him everywhere, and Marinette told me that he was the one who proposed the fake dating scheme to begin with.” She set her cup down and clasped her hands together in her lap, a look of irritation causing her smooth facade to tighten. “That boy clearly doesn’t know his own mind. Adrien is not cruel intentionally, but I fear this might only end in Marinette getting hurt… even akumatized.” She paused, contemplating her dessert with her cinnamon eyes. “I don’t want her to get hurt.”
“She is pretty special,” he murmured, stirring the bright red sauce into his ice cream.
Kagami looked up at him. “She is remarkable. Despite her heart, she tried to get me and Adrien back together.” She sniffed fondly, the closest he had been to hearing her laugh. “She dragged me to one of his photoshoots and she had this bag full of the most random items all to help me, including a vacuum-packed ball gown.” The smirk that tugged at her mouth was very appealing. “Even if it is confused, her heart is in the right place.”
There was a peaceful silence between them as they ate their ice cream. The light breeze played with her bobbed hair and she seemed at rest on the surface, but her inner music was thickening, layer upon layer like storm clouds. Luka could almost hear the cellos of deep hurt, the martial drums of determination, violas and bassoons of frustration… the high, lonely solo of a violin soaring above it all… torn between loss and friendship.
“Why do you look at me like that,” Kagami asked, tilting her head to one side curiously.
Luka smiled softly at her. “You are pretty remarkable yourself.”
She stared at him, a faint pink coloring her cheeks. “There it is,” he thought, pleased. “Her strength is what drew Adrien to her, but her softness… that reminded him of Marinette.”
She looked down at her ice cream, stirring it idly to have something to do with her hands. “I am expected to be. My family would consider me a disgrace if I failed to live up to expectations.”
“Which is why you fell in love with Adrien,” he added. “Because he would understand those pressures… those expectations… and the burden they truly are.”
Kagami gave a sharp little nod and a soft sigh. “Am I that transparent?”
He shook his head. “No. I’m just good at reading people.”
Her eyes narrowed briefly. “Then how do you read me? What type of book am I to you?”
“Not a book. More like listening to a symphony with all of its layers of instruments, tone, and intensity. Your emotions run near the surface, but you hide them well.”
“Except from you, it seems.”
He shrugged. “My mom told me when I was young that I was a sensitive, someone who could read people more deeply than others. It is not something I share with everyone. Not everyone wants to have the secrets of their heart laid bare. Not everyone is brave enough for that.” He sighed. “Sometimes, it hurts to know how deeply others are hurting and not be able to help them.”
There was silence between them again, but it was a waiting one. Then Kagami reached out and grasped his hand.
“Then, tell me. I am brave enough to bear it and strong enough to help you carry the load. Two have always been stronger than one alone.”
He swallowed hard. No one, other than his mother and sister, had ever offered him that before. His friends might take his reading them at face value, respect his insights, appreciate his care when they were hurting, but it had always been one sided. He had thought Marinette might have been one such who could read his heart as easily as he could read hers, she had a tender heart and a gentle touch, but she herself had been in so much turmoil since he had first known her and he had misread her… missed the obvious that she was Ladybug and had forced her to choose between keeping him safe and being happy. He would forever regret that he had pushed her to that, but… it made her unrequited love for Adrien so much clearer… even as it broke his heart.
“Thank you, Kagami,” he said, his voice soft but firm. “I think I would like to know you better before I spill my secrets to you, but it means a lot that you are willing to hear them.”
A small smile peeked out at the corners of her mouth. She patted his hand and pulled away. “I understand. It can be… difficult to let others in past our walls.”
They both sigh, the tension that had been weaving around them like a counter melody retreating into the background.
“So,” she said, one eyebrow quirked in amusement. “How are we going to get our two oblivious exs to realize they are in love with each other?”
Her voice was so dry and layered with tired vexation that he couldn’t help but laugh.
“More to the point, how do we get your ex to realize his true feelings for mine,” he pointed out, a wide smile spread across his face. “He doesn’t seem far off from it, but we both know how Adrien is about hiding his feelings from himself.”
Kagami nodded sadly. “Yes. He can be quite stubborn about such things. He clearly points out that he and Marinette are ‘fake dating’, but then he treats her like he did the other day and…” she sighed and shook her head. “The idiot has her coming and going and doesn’t even realize it.”
“Adrien has two sides to himself, twin songs if you will, neither of which is completely open, but when he’s with Marinette his two songs are no longer in conflict. His melody falls somewhere in between.”
“I take that to mean that he feels he can be himself with her.” She stirred her melting ice cream before taking another bite. “I may not understand your music metaphors entirely, but it is similar when I draw. Drawing someone is a form of truth and I once asked Adrien to pose for me. He was happy to do so, but nothing he did felt true to me. I think that was when I began to realize so much of him was shrouded with lies he couldn’t seem to escape from. I sensed that, deep inside, he was scared, though of what I am still unsure.”
Luka stared at her. Just like her saber, she had cut to the heart of the matter, peeling away layer after layer until she saw Adrien at his most vulnerable, even if she didn’t understand that was what she had done…
… the way he did himself.
A small smile tugged at her mouth again. “Did you see how defensive he was during that video call? He looked ready to beat you off with the flat of his blade for getting between him and Marinette!”
He chuckled. “Yes, poor guy. He just doesn’t realize he has been between us all along.” He gave her a wry smile. “Do you think I should swoop in and pick Marinette up for lunch with us to try to make him jealous? The three of us could have fun, give Marinette a chance to breathe, and leave Adrien to stew in his own friend soup for an hour.”
For the first time, Luka saw Kagami’s mouth twitch multiple times only for her to cover her mouth with her hand and giggle. His eyes widened in delight at the rich, soft sound, like the warm mellowness of deep handbells in snow.
“You are more devious than I previously gave you credit for, Luka Couffaine.”
“And you have a lovely laugh, Madame General,” he replied, watching her lips twitch once more. “I’m glad Marinette asked us both for help, otherwise I might never have had the chance to know you.”
A blush tinted her almond skin and she straightened her spine even though it was already ramrod straight. “We had best finish our ice cream before it melts entirely,” she said stiffly, but her inner music had shifted to something lighter. There was still the dark cellos haunting the background, but there were more violins, flutes, and bells.
Luka smiled as he popped a spoonful of melted ice cream into his mouth. “They think we’re dating, you know,” he said offhandedly, watching her face for her reaction.
Kagami merely shrugged, but the blush remained. “I am not opposed to dating you. You are clearly intelligent, talented, and intuitive. You are a good, supportive friend, for Marinette would have with no other kind, and you seem to have the best interests at heart for everyone. But, as you yourself pointed out, the expectations of my mother are not always in accord with my own desires and would make seeing you difficult. I only managed it with Adrien through lying and that was… distasteful. I would not care to do so again.”
He heard the bitter ache behind the forthright words and nodded in recognition of both. He reached out a hand and took hers, smiling at the feeling of the sword callouses on her palm. “I can assure you. I would never ask that of you.” She looked up at him, her eyes vulnerable yet guarded. “I propose an exchange. I make stringed instruments and teach them as well. Is there an instrument you would like to learn how to play or make? Then you can teach me how to fence, I can teach you something that will turn heads on university applications, and no lies need be told to anyone. If we also enjoy spending productive time together, then that is merely an added bonus that does not need to be mentioned.”
“Hmmm, a sound plan… logical reasoning. I like the way your mind works, Luka.”
“And I like the way your music sounds,” he replied, giving her hand a gentle squeeze.
Her cinnamon eyes met his and he saw the fire that burned within her, tamed, controlled, restrained, but not snuffed out. She was like a dragon out of legend. If someone were to give her the freedom, she would fly and rival the sun.
Maybe… just maybe… he had found a new heart song to follow.