"Alya, please, at least try to think positive. It's been two hours!" Renard begged. "I know it seems impossible, but I don't want you to become the victim of an Akuma." He was trying to comfort the crying girl in the seclusion of her room.
Alya realized Renard had a point. She wiped away her tears and tried to steady her shaky breathing. "I know... I don't want to become an Akuma again, either."
"Again?" Renard tilted his head in confusion.
"Yeah..." Alya murmured, trying to remember what had happened. "I think I was Lady Wifi. I'm not sure, though. It's like you're in a dream... I can't really remember... It's all blurry."
Renard felt a swell of pity for his holder. But he could only think of one way he could cheer her up. "Do you wanna go patrol as Volpina?"
Alya stepped off of her bed and became eye level with her Kwami. "That'd be awesome." A smile spread over Alya's lips.
"Let's do it!"
Alya pulled the Fox charm from underneath her shirt and drew her hair back. "Renard, transform me!"
Volpina flew out of the window to her room, energized by the freedom she achieved as Volpina. The wind blew through her curly hair as she zipped around the city, gazing at the bright lights and dusk sunset of the evening.
After flying over Paris a few times, Volpina landed on the roof of a building.
"Well, you'd be the last person I'd think to see out here." A voice behind her spoke.
Volpina jumped and turned around quickly, only to see that it was just Chat Noir. She sighed and sat back down, her fox ears drooping. "Chat, please, I just want to be alone right now."
"I know you do." Chat Noir's voice grew a bit clearer as he walked closer to Volpina and sat down next to her.
"How do you know?" Volpina turned her head to face him.
Chat chuckled a bit. "Come on, Alya." Volpina stiffened. "I may be an idiot, but I'm not that blind."
After a moment, Volpina sighed again. "What gave me away, Adrian?"
"Well, although you've never actually yelled at me before, it seemed familiar from when I first met Volpina un-akumatized. And just that some things didn't add up; how fast Volpina raced off to rescue a random civilian unless she knew and was close to said civilian, how Volpina only could've been cured from Assaultress's power without a kiss from her lover and Nino somehow knowing how to help her, how Alya could know what happened with Assaultress in order to convince Nino to call social services in the first place, how Alya was conveniently grounded in time for the festival of heroes, etc."
Volpina laughed humorlessly. "I guess you've got it all figured out now."
Chat Noir shook his head. "Nope, I'm not that smart. I still don't know how to help Nino. He was my friend too, you know."
Volpina looked at her feet guiltily. "I'm sorry I yelled at you earlier, Adrian. I had no right, I was just so mad at everyone. You, Mari, Assaultress, Nino's dad...and Nino."
Chat placed a hand on her shoulder. "It's okay. At the time, all I could think of was how familiar your glare felt."
Volpina suddenly broke into sobs. "I miss him so much, Chat! How- how could he just leave me?! He ended it without a second thought- I brought it up, but I didn't actually want it! But he'd actually been considering it- how could he do this?" She tried to steady her breathing, but it wasn't working.
"Sshh, it's okay." Chat pulled Volpina into a tight hug. "I think he just wanted to spare you any more pain. Maybe he felt guilty for already putting you through all of his problems with his family."
Volpina sobbed even harder into Chat Noir's chest. "But- he shouldn't! It's not his fault..."
Chat stroked her hair comfortingly. "I know." He spoke softly. "Maybe he had other reasons, I'm not sure. I'm not Nino. But after my mom disappeared, and whenever I would start to feel depressed, I would do this-" Chat got Volpina to sit up.
He took her hand and placed it on her chest. "Do you feel that pounding? That's called purpose. You're alive for a reason. Nino wouldn't want you to give up, I know he'd want you to be strong."
Volpina felt her heartbeat, steady and strong with its pounding. She smiled a bit and wiped away her tears with her palm. "Thanks for being there for me, Adrian. I'm sorry if I insulted your mom when I was yelling at you before."
Chat Noir nodded with a shrug. "It's okay, Alya. She is gone, and there's nothing I can do about it now." He paused. "Anyway, I try not to think about it too much. Now I gotta focus on a way to help Nino."
Volpina turned to face the view of the city. "What if there isn't a way, Chat?"
"Don't say that, Alya. There's no need to prepare for the worst just yet."
"Prepare?!" She scoffed. "It didn't look like Nino took the time to think of any other options before he chose the worst and dumped me! Why should I hold any hope for him when he obviously didn't for me?" Volpine crossed her arms angrily.
Chat Noir gave an exasperated sigh. "Alya, come on. Stop being petty. We can make better decisions than him in our position, we have more time and more options that we can use to help Nino."
Volpina sighed in defeat. "You're right, I shouldn't be so hard on him." She looked back at him. "Thanks for talking to me, Adrian. I really appreciate it."
Chat Noir's bright green eyes glinted as he smiled warmly to her. "Of course, Volpina! That's what friends are for." He paused for a moment, as if to contemplate something. "Can I ask you something, though?"
"Sure. What do you need?"
Chat bit his lip anxiously. "Well, if you know my civilian identity and Queen Bee's, then you must know Ladybug's too, right?"
Volpina gave a heavy sigh. "Yes, but Chat-"
He raised his hands quickly and shook his head. "No no no no, it's not what it sounds like. I mean, as much as I'd like to know, I respect her choice of staying anonymous to each other. I just-" Chat Noir let out a quick sigh. "I just want to know if you could tell me what she really thinks of me."
Volpina raised an eyebrow. "Suffering from unrequited love, then?" How ironic.
"Yeah..." Chat grudgingly admitted. "It's just, I love her so much, but I don't know what she really thinks of me, or what I'm doing wrong." He let out a long sigh.
"You've fallen for her pretty hard, huh? You're like a lovesick puppy. Except a cat, not a dog." Volpina chuckled a bit. "Well, I will say this. Ladybug believes you're just a bit of a flirt, and that you shouldn't really be taken seriously as such. I think if you were to be a bit more sincere and serious around her, while still incorporating your usual humor, she'll have to realize that you're serious about this. You get what I mean?"
Chat Noir thought about this for a moment, and then nodded. "That's some good advice." A grin spread on his face. "I can't thank you enough, Volpina."
"That's what friends are for, Chat." She rested a hand on his shoulder.