The weekend was so uneventful, Marinette decided to help her parents in the bakery. They taught her a bit of the baking they had to do, and let her run the cash register. It was surprisingly fun - she didn't mind assisting them at all, especially since it was only the two of them who ran the bakery. They needed all the extra help they could get.
On Sunday night, however, there was another akuma attack. It just so happened that someone had ordered the wrong thing for their boss at Marinette's parent's bakery. They proceeded to glue people where they stood with raw dough.
As strange as it was, Ladybug was not laughing.
She squealed as a burnt piece of bread went fling just past her ear, and she swung off through the streets, trying to avoid getting struck.
Yes, indeed, the situation was ridiculous. She wondered if Hawkmoth ever laughed at his own creations. If she were an evil man turning people into ridiculous monsters, she would certainly have some fun with it.
Chat Noir caught up with her, and both of them spent at least an hour dodging bread dough before they finally managed to break the credit card in which the akuma resided. She captured it, and spared the citizens of Paris from baked goods. She and Chat Noir, whom hadn't needed to use Cataclysm, said goodbye - with a kiss to the knuckles from him, of course - and parted, heading their separate ways.
Now able to land perfectly, Ladybug alighted on her balcony and reverted back to Marinette. Tikki congratulated her - and gave her a hug on the cheek. "I'm so proud of you, Marinette," she said. "Despite what's happened to you, you've still managed to move forward."
"Thanks, Tikki."
Honestly, she didn't feel all that great. Yes, she had defeated another villain without serious issues, and yes, she had continued to hide her memory loss from her partner successfully, but she still felt...adrift.
She hopped down onto her bed, Tikki going to munch on a cookie and go to sleep. It had to be midnight by now, and Marinette wasn't excited for having to get up in the morning to go to school. She was sure her parents would let her stay home, but that made her feel like she couldn't make it. She didn't want to take advantage of their willingness.
Marinette threw on pajamas and yawned as she opened her sketchbook over her lap, curled up in her chaise. She flipped through it for what had to be the thousandth time - completely enamoured by her own art skills. She had been incredible, but she tried drawing something two weeks after the accident and had come up with a stick figure. Sometimes she wondered if the sketchbook was really hers, but according to Alya, no one else could draw Adrien Agreste as much as she had.
She laughed at herself and had just pushed herself up into bed when she heard the thump.
Chat Noir.
She threw open her trapdoor, startling the poor kitty. He had a hand raised, preparing to knock on it. "Um, I wasn't sure if you were going to be awake but I saw the light through your window, and..."
"Come in." She rolled her eyes.
He smiled sheepishly and jumped down to her bed, rocking the mattress. "What are you doing up so late?" He asked, crossing his legs and resting his chin in his hands.
"I heard the screams. Are you and Ladybug okay?" She snuggled into her pillows and then shut off the light. She noticed Chat tense up immediately, and she almost laughed.
The cat was familiar to her now, and though he was in her bed in the middle of the night, she felt comfortable. Normal, even.
"Yeah, we're fine. Ladybug is still acting strange though," he murmured, leaning back against the wall. She could see him just fine with the moonlight pouring through the window. He looked up, through the glass in the trapdoor, and seemed to watch the stars.
"How so?"
"She just seems off. It's like she forgot how to handle things."
Oh, crap.
"And she looks like something is hurting her all the time."
Did she really?
"I want to say something but I feel like she'll just shut me down."
She would have to.
Marinette had never wanted to tell Chat Noir her identity more than she did in that moment. The words, "I'm Ladybug," almost slipped from her lips. She had to grind her teeth.
"Chat Noir?"
"Yes?"
"Are you in love with her?"
He sputtered, his head snapping to her. "W-what?"
"Do you love her?" She stared into his eyes, daring him to look away. He did.
"I... I think so. I've never felt the way I feel about her before. It's new."
Her thoughts flew much too fast.
She felt her eyes close and a waterfall trickle backwards and she didn't know anything anymore besides the fact that Chat Noir was in love with Ladybug, and Ladybug was her, and he had no idea that he just confessed his love to her, right to her face and she realized he would never know because she couldn't reveal her identity, ever, and then she realized that -
That even if she loved him back somewhere in the future they could never be together because it would put the other in danger and the realization of such an honest truth broke her heart one, two, three times and she curled into herself.
"But maybe it could just be admiration."
She opened her eyes.
He shook his head, looking to the stories in the sky again. "I have no idea anymore."
"What do you mean, anymore?" There goes her mouth, saying things she didn't want to be voiced aloud again.
And then he blushed and her head exploded into nothingness again and she wasn't sure what was going on at all. "I don't know. Nevermind."
"What do you mean, anymore?" She pressed.
Oh, shut up, Marinette.
"I just feel like things are changing. And I don't know if it's a good thing or not yet."
And there goes Marinette's heart, breaking in half again.
I feel like this was rushed. So can you please be honest with me? I'm asking because I want the truth, not compliments. If it was rushed, I want to know, so lay it on me.
~Aron