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Chapter Text

Mornings in Paris could be hard for the average teenager, but for a superhero and guardian of the Miraculous they were even harder. It's hard to pay attention to the alarm clock when the day before you spent all day managing a double life, the dramas of a teenager, fighting crime, studying and to top it all off staying up late into the night patrolling.

"Marinette. Wake up!"

Tikki joined in the efforts of her alarm, to which Marinette turned around and covered her ears with the pillow. The bed was simply too comfortable in her position. Then the kwami flew to the other side to face her again, illuminating her frowning face with pink light.

"Come on Marinette."

"For what...? I'll just give Lyla the pleasure of continuing to lie in front of my face if I go..." The raven-haired girl commented as she turned around again.

"Oh come on Marinette, you can't let her deprive you of school."

"And how about work? Remember that I have to be on guard for two now" She yawned before continuing while covering her head with the sheets. "I need the rest"

"Mari, pleaseeee..." The little kwami tried to pull the sheets. "Your parents are going to worry"

"Just five more minutes..."

"That's the ninth time you've said it!"

After those shrill words from the red creature, absolute silence reigned in the room for approximately 30 seconds. You couldn't hear the noise of the hectic Paris morning, nor the morning clientele at the bakery, much less the sound of the living room below her bedroom. The abysmal calm reigned as long as it could before the girl lowered the sheets and finished doing the math, throwing the sheets away with a scream.

"Wait I sleep how much?!" Hurry took hold of her when she noticed that she was very late.

No matter how fed up she was with life, she was Marinette Dupain-Cheng, and the impulse to do the right thing always won out, sometimes to her misfortune. No matter how clumsy and unfortunate she was, the desire to help and not disappoint anyone always made her stumble forward.

In this case, tripping on the ladder of your bed and falling on the carpeted floor below. She was lucky that her parents bought the softest rug they could find when they saw that their little girl would be sleeping in a loft. She quickly stood up and looked for her clothes, she was half-dressed going down the stairs that led to the living room.

"Mom! I'm so sorry my alarm didn't go off and I fell asle-" Marinette stopped, one arm out of her half-on shirt and her vest in the other, noticing that her mother wasn't there. "Oh, I guess they'll have a lot of work today, maybe that's why she didn't come to wake me up."

After reasoning about her parents absence, the girl with pigtails went to the cupboard, took out a granola bar and proceeded to go to the refrigerator for a glass of orange juice. It was strange, normally her parents already prepared lunch early, no matter how late she woke up they always received her with at least a bowl of cereal or toast.

This time it seemed like they hadn't been there at all, the kitchen was as clean as they left it last night. 'I guess they had a lot of work at the bakery' thought the girl as she emptied her glass in three gulps. She quickly washed her glass and ran out the door, down the stairs while eating the cereal bar.

Marinette opted to leave through the side door instead of the front, she didn't want to cause them problems if the bakery was so full.

She put the wrapper with what lwas left of the bar in her bag, so that Tikki would also have a snack and then she could throw the paper in a school trash can. She look both ways before crossing the street, not a car in sight, and walk quickly to the sidewalk in front.

"Oh no! Everyone must be inside now, it was too late" She said with concern when she noticed that there was not a soul outside the school.

She doubled her speed and walked up the stairs, skipping a step with each step, luckily without tripping in the process. Running and doing parkour throughout the city as a heroine undoubtedly did miracles for her physical condition, even if it was in making her less clumsy when moving... Well, sometimes.

Due to her impetus, she ended up colliding with the school door. Falling on the floor confused, usually at this time the door was still open. She stand up and went to grab the handle, surprised again to notice that the door wouldn't open.

"What? It's school hours, this shouldn't be closed" Said the raven-haired girl. "I won't have set an alarm again on Sunday... Right?"

"Of course not Marinette, today is Tuesday." The fairy confirmed in her bag.

"So this had to be Lyla's work, she saw that I was late and made up an excuse so they would close the door"

"Aren't you jumping to conclusions?"

"I would be if she wasn't done this same thing on the sport day." She said before knocking on the door. "Helloooo! I'm Marinette! Let me come in, I study here!"

There was no response. After a couple more attempts, the girl decided to stop forcing her throat. She turned to look around, after making sure that there were no one around, she ran down the stairs and hid behind some bushes.

If the door wasn't going to open, then she would have to get inside for other way. With a pink glow, Ladybug emerges from within the bush, and with a quick movement of her yo-yo, she flies off, swinging to the roof of the building. It was not the first time that she had to use this methodology to enter the Françoise Dupont School, she did it mainly when she was forced by an akuma to leave class and defeated it before dismissal time.

She moved carefully across the roof, taking soft steps that would not cause noise, making sure that there was no one at the entrance to the library and that the library door was not open. Once the clear path was confirmed, she went down and covered herself behind the concrete railing of the third floor, de-transforming with a pink glow.

She goes down the stairs carefully, already thinking of an excuse for when they blame her for being late. 'Did I go straight to the bathroom because the one at home was ocuped? No, that would be embarrassing... Oh I know! I will say that on the way I stained my clothes and that's why I avoided being seen while I was going to clean myself!' With an explanation for being late and how she was able to get around the closed door, Marinette hurried to her classroom, surprised again with a closed door.

"Oh you have to be kidding me"

Already annoyed by so many obstacles, Marinette went to look out the window, hoping to catch someone's attention so they would open it. She stopped in front of the glass, frozen and with her eyes wide open.

"What's wrong Marinette?"

"There is... No one"

The classroom was empty, completely immaculate, not a single student inside or any indication of their presence. There were no backpacks on the sides, no papers or notebooks on the desks, nor on the teacher's table. Quickly the girl with pigtails looked over the railing, confirming that there was no one in the yard.

She quickly went to the other classrooms, finding the same amounts of nothing in the lab, the art room, the locker room, and the other classes. She even went to the director's room, taking the keys when she noticed that there was no one there either. She opened the doors and searched deeper, hoping it was some elaborate prank.

Unfortunately, from between the shelves in the library to behind the pipes in the engine room, there was no one hiding. Neither under the desks nor inside the garbage cans, she was the only one in the school.

The silence was powerful. She was in the middle of the courtyard, surrounded by the entire huge building, alone. It was as if it were night, as if everyone had already gone home and she came back because she forgot something in the classroom. But even in that situation there would be someone with her, and the blue sky barely covered by a couple of clouds confirmed that it was not night.

Marinette looked at the time on her phone, going from being late to being the only one present after 30 minutes of the doorbell ringing... Well, if only it had rung in the first place. Something bad was happening, and it smelled like Hawk Moth all over the place.

"This could be the work of an Akuma, I have to find out what happened at school, Tikki, spo-!" Her sentence was interrupted by the echo of a knock on the door.

Someone knocked on the school door, this caught the girl's attention, and she was startled to hear the knocks being repeated more frequently and intensely. Someone or something was calling just like she did, but with more enthusiasm. With caution, she took out the pepper spray that her friend Alya gave her from her bag, and with a bunch of keys in her hand she approached the entrance.

A voice joined in with the blows, vigorously demanding that they let her in. As the girl with light blue eyes approached, she began to recognize her tone, already engraved in her memory from years of arguing with that person. When she put the key in, the sound of the lock opening stopped the tapping and demands.

Marinette cautiously opened it, peeking her head out, meeting the gaze of those incredibly blue eyes. A look that let you know that you are the pebble in the shoe on a rainy day, one more drop in the almost full glass of Chloé Bourgeois.

The blonde's hair was somewhat disheveled, with a few strands escaping from her ponytail. Her yellow cardigan rested folded on her right arm, slight sweat stains in the armpits of her white T-shirt. Her makeup was still intact, but was not the same for her face. A frown adorned her face.

"Chloe, you co-"

"Don't talk to me, Dupain-Cheng, I'm not in the mood," declared the blonde, covering her mouth with the tip of her finger.

"It was bad enough that the butler took the day off, the cooks were lazy, the driver didn't show up, and Daddy didn't answer my calls without you deciding to start bothering me so early," Chloe said as she walked in, stopping looking at her.

"You are the one who gets bothered on when we see each other? Really, Chloe?"

"I told you to not start, Dupain-Cheng," She warned, looking back at her, noticing that the other girl was still carrying her bag and had the keys in her hand. "And what are you supposed to do here? And with that? Class has already started, don't tell me you're late."

"You say it as if you didn't come after me."

"The hotel is far away and like I said, the ridiculous driver didn't show up. Do I have to do the math for you?"

"Wait, you said the driver and hotel employees are missing?"

"Obviously they're not here, when I see them again they'll be fired for taking the day off, that's as soon as I get Daddy to pick up his damn phone" the blonde complained, taking her phone out of her pocket and thaping a number, getting the audio of his father's voicemail in response.

"The mayor is not there either..."

"What are you murmuring about? By the way, how the hell are you late living next door? I at least have an excuse."

"It doesn't matter" Marinette put her hands on the blonde's shoulders. "Chloe, did you see anyone on the way here?"

"Why you're touching me? Hands off."

"Chloe this is important, I need to know if you saw anyone from the time you woke up until you got here." She repeated, firming her grip.

"I told you to be hands off and to not bother me" the blonde pushed her hand away and turned her back on the girl with pigtails, heading towards the stairs. "If you are so interested in my life, talk to me after class, and watch your tone."

The raven-haired girl followed her, hoping Chloe would be more cooperative after seeing it for herself. They walked to the second floor, the door to their classroom was open from Marinette's previous check. The blonde looked confused for a moment, she turned to look at Marinette.

"Did we have chemistry first today?"

They went down and the most refined girl saw the laboratory, the same view as in her classroom, an empty room. She went to the art room, still with the girl with pigtails following her, same result. She do the same thing in the locker room, finding a large amount of nothing.

They were going up the stairs again to the director's room, when the blonde stopped with each foot on different steps, turning around annoyed to see the girl with the light blue eyes.

"Enough! This is ridiculous, uterly ridiculous! The only one who follows me like this is Sabrina and she is nowhere to be found, just like none of our ridiculous classmates"

Chloe walked down a couple of steps, closing the distance between the two, stopping right on the step in front of Marinette. Their height difference was much greater now, the blonde was always taller by a few inches, it made it easier for her to look down on Marinette. Despite only reaching his chest, Marinette kept her gaze serious, almost defiant.

"What's going on Dupain-Cheng? Where is everyone?" The girl above her questioned.

"I don't know," She replied, relaxing her stern gaze a little. "I woke up late, I ran but the door was closed, I managed to sneak through a window but there was no one. At first I thought it was some kind of prank by Lyla or you... But no matter how hard I looked, I couldn't find anyone."

Now both of their faces changed, Marinette's for remember the situation her classmates would be in and Chloe for process what her rival was telling her.

"I looked for the keys to confirm it, that's why the rooms were open, but I didn't find anyone," She continued, climbing a step to be at his level again. "And then you came, saying that the hotel workers were absent. Chloe, from the time you woke up until you got here... Did you see anyone?"

There was a minute of silence, the blonde put a hand to her mouth as she thought, looking at the empty school. She almost bite the side of her pointer finger as she struggled to remember.

"No..." She said in a whisper, almost scared. "I didn't see anyone at the hotel or when I was walking here..."

Her fears were confirmed, Marinette massaged her hair with her head down, thinking. For her part, Chloe almost fell, she sat on the step and took out her phone, she went straight to calling two specific numbers. 'Sabrina Roinconprix' and 'Daddy', both contacts gave the same result, voicemail.

"Come on, don't leave me hanging..." She dialed the number again, voicemail. "I don't walk down the street looking at people, obviously there was someone around..." She try again, voicemail. "They're going to be in a lot of trouble if they leave me alone like this..." She tapped their names vigorously, as if that would change anything. Voicemail.

Even if she was her enemy, seeing her suffer so much with her phone did not give Marinette any satisfaction. In fact, it made her stomach turn more and more. Seeing Chloe on the verge of breaking down like this was not common, she was just a few attempts away from crying, and Marinette knew that this was her responsibility.

"Don't worry, it must be the effect of an akuma, Ladybug will take care of it... Everyone will be fine..." She said about to put a hand on her shoulder.

When the blonde realized this, she slapped her hand away before it could touch her, standing up in annoyance.

"I don't need your pity, my daddy didn't disappear and neither did Sabrina! And I don't need that stupid Ladybug's help, I'm going to find them myself because they DID NOT disappear!" The blonde stated, walking down the stairs and running out the door. Marinette just watched her go.

"Will she be okay?" Tikki asked from her bag.

"She'll be upset and maybe she'll yell at the mayor when we get them back, but she'll be fine... I don't think I'd have reacted any better if I found out that my parents disappeared overnight-" the realization hit her like a Stone Heart punch.

The raven-haired girl walked down the stairs and began to run, doubling her speed as panic took over her. She dropped her keys in her haste, walked out the door and stumbled down the stairs. She didn't care. She stood up as quickly as she could and ran to the bakery.

Marinette hit the front door, it was closed and the 'closed' sign was still on. The girl refused to look away from the sign and look through the glass, choosing to turn around and enter directly through the side door she came out of. Then she enter the bakery kitchen.

The ovens were off, there was no flour or sugar on the work tables, the desserts in the display case were not replaced. Any indicator of his parents' morning work was shining by their absence.

"They closed early and cleaner fast" she said to herself.

She ran upstairs and checked every room in her house, from the dining room to the bathroom, from the closets to the bedrooms, under the beds and chairs. She even looked inside the appliances, already with tears threatening to come out, she wanted to cling to the fact that her parents would be hidden even in the tiniest of corners.

After turning everything around in her house, she ended up back in her room, falling to her knees and hitting the floor. Howk Moth released an akuma while she was sleeping, while she was complained and pitied herself, an the akumatized made her family and friends disappear. Marinette felt horrible again.

But there was no time to cry, she was the guardian of the Miraculous and the heroine of Paris, there was only time to make up for her mistakes. She said the code word and turned into Ladybug, jumped through the trapdoor in her room and started swinging with the yo-yo.

First things first: find out the extent of the damage. While looking for the akuma, she took note of the state of the streets and houses, everything was intact, no broken doors or destroyed walls, not even overturned cars. What she can confirm is that, as Chloe said, there was no one on the streets.

She checked her friends' houses, Alya's, Nino's, Mylene's, and even Juleka's family's boat. No one anywhere, not allies, not civilians, not the cause of all of this. She ran across rooftops and jumped between buildings, searching the Louvre, the Arc de Triomphe, the stadiums and parks. Still no one.

She crossed next to the Agreste manor in her search, she knew that no one was there anyway, so she continued. Deep down she hoped Adrien was okay, she saw him looking very down before he left.

She crossed Paris from end to end, looking for more people who had been saved from the Akuma's power like her and Chloe, the results were disappointing. As big as it was, the only thing that separated Paris from a ghost town was that there were still animals in the area. She even found Xavier's pigeons, who were orbiting a specific bench, as if they too would notice his absence.

Then Ladybug passed by the Paris city hall, noticing the open central door. She go around to check the windows, she wouldn't go in so directly if it were an Akuma trap. Looking cautiously and stopped at one of the windows of the mayor's office.

She notice a person inside, it was Chloe Bourgeois. She was sitting in her father's chair with her hands covering her face, trembling on the spot. She didn't need to be inside to know what it sounded like, she was crying. As bad as the blonde was, she still had people she cared about. Marinette lost a city, Chloe lost her only friend and the only one of her parents who genuinely loved her.

She continued her way to the top of the Eiffel Tower, sitting on the viewing platform at the top. The city was undisturbed, not a car moving, not a helicopter in the air, no one walking, not a fireplace lit or an accident happening. The only thing that broke the silence was the wind.

"At this point, super villains usually attack," the girl in the red suit with black spots said out loud. "Come on, I went all over the city, I'm tired, it's the best time." She stood up and went out to the top of the tower, taking a breath. "I'M HERE! COME ON! MY MIRACULOUS IS NOT GOING TO BE STEALED ALONE!"

She screamed at the top of his lungs, with all the strength that his Miraculous powers gave her, there was even some clouds parting. She call out to the villain, trilling to provoke him or Howk Moth to come out and confront her. She received no response and after the echo of his voice disappeared, silence reigned again. Ladybug saw how the sun began to go down and no one came up to challenge her yet.

There was no one. Not her family, not friends, not rivals or acquaintances, not citizens, criminals or villains.

There was nobody in Paris.

Chapter Text

The nights in Paris were particularly cold, which was logical, after all it was entering autumn. In the same way it was logical that no one was outside, after all the moon was beginning to go down on the horizon. The silence was logical, after all, all the citizens of Paris had disappeared.

What was not logical, obviously, was the absence of the perpetrator. Generally the villains appear first than the hero, but there was our heroine, Ladybug, being the only one present in the city for hours. She ran across rooftops, checked alleys, and prepared for a surprise attack at any moment.

But this attack never came. She had been like this since the morning of the previous day, traveling around the city in search of any other person who, like her and Chloe, had survived such a singular disappearance, and above all, looking for the akumatized person responsible. She didn't rest for a moment, she couldn't rest, not without knowing what had happened to his parents and friends.

The answers, however, were conspicuous by their absence. The heroine in red with black spots then stopped on top of a building, took out her yo-yo and swung it, entering her pone mode. She tried to search in internet for the city plans, to see if she could think of where she could hide if she were a villain. Then an idea crossed her mind.

"Of corse! the Internet. Maybe it didn't delete everyone at once and someone was able to record something." She said out loud, to announce that she would be distracted.

She did this several times, putting on the show of being a tired, confused, and distracted prey to set a trap for her opponent. Turn the hunter into the prey. It wasn't difficult, more than fifteen consecutive hours patrolling helped her 'fake' fatigue and his current situation is naturally already confusing.

She quickly search through Alya's Lady Blog, the last update was a video of her fight against the last akuma. The video was uploaded on Monday at 11:46 PM, and the last comment on said video was at 00:24 AM. Apparently it was the last activity on the blog, since after that there were no interactions.

Disappointed, Ladybug strained her ears and looked out of the corner of her eye, trying to notice if someone was finally coming. Nothing. Then she continued checking other corners of the network. Other Blogs, news forums, broadcast pages and even social networks. Nowhere seem to mention the disappearance of the Parisians or any strange sightings.

Still attentive to her real surroundings, she search deeper and deeper on the Internet. News pages from other countries and in other languages, the same on social networks, it didn't matter if she had to translate it from Mandarin, Russian or Catalan, any information was useful.

Unfortunately, and despite spending an entire day with Paris cut off, it seemed as if no one in the world had noticed. Then the heroine with the red mask checked the dates, widening her eyes. Shocked by the surprise, she checks her search history and goes through each page again. She went through them with increasing speed as anxiety took hold of her.

"It can't be..."

After going through all of them, she went back to check the dates again, more meticulously this time. She check the timing of blog updates, most recent comments, and social media posts, checking them up to five times to be sure. No matter where you looked, the language, what part of the world the user was from, or their time zone, all recent activity dated back more than 24 hours.

The sun's rays were beginning to filter through the horizon, her tired body fell to its knees on the roof of a building. Her eyes, already red from watching closely all night, stared in horror at the yo-yo in her hand. She was breathing hard, a storm happening in her mind.

"Everyone... Everyone left... They left..." The words trembled in her mouth. "They all disappeared..."

Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Ladybug, has never felt so defeated. Not only could a villain disappear all the citizens of Paris during her watch, but everyone, everywhere, had vanished overnight. Under her nose, under her guard, someone cleaned the world of all traces of the people who inhabited it.

She was, completely, alone.

"No! It can't be like that! I'm assuming things" The heroine said shaking her head. "There must be someone left, there may still be survivors, they are just as confused as me and didn't find time to use the internet." She reasons to herself.

The raven-haired girl stood up and walked from left to right on the roof, trying to process the situation so as not to break down, she had to keep everything together if she wanted to be able to fix the situation.

"There is no time to cry, there must still be someone out there who needs my help, and without a doubt there must still be someone out there who is responsible for all this... It's no use looking for it alone, I need someone else to cover more ground... I need help... Chat!"

~<{3 days before the incident}>~
"You're kidding right?" The girl in red questioned.

"Oh come on, it'll only be for a few days. I swear it's something important." answered the green-eyed boy.

"Chat, you can't be serious. You can't leave Paris just like that!"

"But this time I'm telling you in advance! It won't be like that time in New York, this time I'm telling you and you are the one who will stay here. Or are you also going to follow me, My Lady?" The blonde asked flirtatiously.

"You know I'm the guardian and I have a life, I can't just leave Par- Wait you followed me on purpose that time?!"

"No no no, it's a joke, chill." He calmed her, trying to avoid accidentally looking bad. "I know you're the guardian, that's why I know you'll be fine. You have an army of heroes with you, you barely needed me anymore." He said something more apathetic this time.

"Again with that? Chat, a week ago you gave up your Miraculous for this very reason, you already know that I can't replace you and that you are important to me."

"I know My Lady, I know. But like you said: 'I have a life' and I know the timing is very bad but I really have to leave Paris for a few days." The kitten relaxed as he saw her companion let out a sigh of acceptance.

"Well, at least you warned me this time, and you have the power-up that transforms you into Astro Noir so you can come back quickly if something happens" Ladybug said, noticing a strange expression on the cat hero. "What?"

"Yes, well... Well, I had to make the trip yesterday and I used the flying power to get here and be able to tell you, so... If you could give me another...?"

"Chat!"
~<{Back to the present}>~

Ladybug started searching through the contacts on her yo-yo, almost breaking the screen when she pressed Chat Noir's name. The peculiar telephone let the small waiting bell ring, the black-spotted heroine listened attentively, waiting with anticipation to hear her companion's voice. Nobody picked up the call.

"Come on, don't leave me hanging, you silly cat..." She dialed the number again.

The girl let the doorbell ring for several minutes before trying again, hoping desperately that someone would answer. There was no change, like everything she had done since woke up the day before. No matter what she tried, nothing seemed to change, nothing improved, she just stressed over and over again how there was nothing left, how she was alone and what had failed.

But, before the cloud in her thoughts became even darker, something changed, a different sound came from the device in her ear. Unfortunately it wasn't a voice, it was a beep, a beep that overrode the waiting tone. She recognized it instantly.

When she saw her yo-yo, it began to glow softly and fell apart in the air, as did her heroine suit. The magic left her body and suddenly she felt much heavier, she had a hard time standing up as if her legs were made of noodles, she trembled as the fairy came out of her earrings.

"Tikki, what happened? I haven't even used the Lucky Charm yet." The girl questioned.

"Marinette, you've been like this for hours, you haven't stopped at any point."

"I can't stop! Paris is my responsibility and everyone disappeared without me realizing it, and now it turns out to be everyone! I have to do something, it's my responsibility."

"But Marinette, you can't keep going like this, you haven't even stopped to eat, and the last thing we ate was a granola bar...And it was the day before!" The little creature exclaimed, scaring the girl for a moment.

"B-but I didn't feel tired... I-I... How did I not notice?"

"Because I wanted to help you, Marinette," Tikki said in a calmer tone, lowering her voice to reassure her owner. "The Kwamis not only given our powers to the bearers, we give them our energy, so their bodies not only resist more but also endure more."

The little fairy flew up to her arm and hugged her sleeve.

"I know this is very hard, your city, your family disappeared. I want to help you and I know you will be able to overcome this, but the sun has just risen again and you haven't stopped since the day before. You need to eat and sleep a little."

"B-but my parents..." Tears began to come out of helplessness.

"I know, it worries me too, but everything will be okay, everything always ends well" Tikki hugged her tighter with her little paws, the heat soothing the muscles of the girl's arm. "After all, you are Marinette Dupain-Cheng and you always find a way to save the day." She said with a sincere smile.

"Thank you Tikki" the girl returned the gesture as best she could.

"You're welcome, now let's go home."

The duo walked at an slow pace, not only because they had to get off a random roof and Marinette was very tired, but also because Tikki spent the entire walk trying to get Marinette to relax. Following the fairy's advice, the raven-haired girl was silent, concentrating on the song of the wind that gently caressed her skin.

Let her heart calm down until it was at the same pace as her breathing, and then she brought the two of them to the same pace as her walk. She kept looking down, ignoring the parks and empty stores, letting the noise of birds and moving leaves overshadow the silence of the ghost town.

She let the tears flow and be dried by the wind as she walked with her hands clasped at her chest, as if trying to support herself, but calmer than she had been in hours. She crossed in front of the mayor's hotel, looking up just to see her only human companion in this tragedy.

Chloe looked back at her, apparently she had cried so much that even her makeup, the finest one could buy in Paris, had smudged a little. Even though Marinette knew she looked infinitely worse, the blonde didn't say anything. She had a look of pity, as if she understood perfectly what the other girl was going through.

'Looks like neither you nor I slept in our beds last night, huh?' thought the girl with skyblue eyes, somewhat amused at having something in common with Chloe Bourgeois at this point in her life. They looked at each other for a moment longer before they both continued on their respective paths, unable to help the other at the moment.

The blonde entered her hotel and Marinette continued to shrink her world, slowly shrinking it as she approached her parents' bakery. Tikki suggested that she make things smaller, she was trying to cover the world and it was tearing her apart, so she made the world smaller as she went. First it was Paris, then the blocks surrounding the hotel, then the blocks surrounding the square in front of her home, then it was the square itself.

As soon as she was in front of the bakery her world was just a building, an empty building. She go in and grab some of the pastries, breads, and biscuits from the store before heading upstairs. She had years of experience in which ones tasted better from one day to the next. Then her world was reduced to her house, where her parents were not there to receive her. She walked up the stairs one last time, entering her room.

Now their world would be a room with more than 4 walls, a completely empty room... Or that would have been if it weren't for the tangle of floating colors that surrounded her as soon as they saw her. After all, she was the guardian and she was missing for an entire day, naturally the Kwamis would be worried.

"Guardian! Where have you been? Are you okay?" Wayzz asked worried.

"I was about to start opening portals to go find you!" Kaalki commented.

"Don't worry, we stopped her, but we were still worried," Sass added.

"What happened? You look very tired" Trixx asked.

"Everything has been VERY calm!" added Mullo.

The questions continued to fall like raindrops, but Marinette didn't care, a weak smile forming on her face as she reached out to wrap the little creatures in a hug. They, surprised, went with the flow, feeling that it was the right thing to do. Them left their questions and accompanied the guardian to eat, with Tikki promising to update them later.

Then, already with something in her stomach, the girl climbed the stairs to her bed with difficulty and lay down. She fell knocked out the instant she touched her soft bed, finally letting her body recover properly. To ensure that her brain did not keep her awake the Kwamis promised to keep an eye on her, so that she would feel safe.

They were her mini bodyguards, that put a smile on her face while she slept. Thus, even without her conscious, there would still be someone waiting for the akuma.

Chapter Text

Chloe Bourgeois didn't have a normal house, she lived in Le Grand Paris. And she didn't live in just any room, being the daughter of the owner of the establishment and current mayor of Paris, the blonde had the privilege of sleeping in one of the finest penthouses in the building.

The walls designed especially for comfort, achieving almost complete soundproofing for privacy and calm, are perfect for blocking the non-existent outside noise. The red curtains, soft and light, blocked out any unwanted rays of light as well as the view of a ghost town.

This, added to a king size bed with the most ergonomic mattress, silk sheets and pillows filled with the fluffiest feathers, provided a more than perfect environment to sleep in after a night of hardships. The colors, as well as the furniture, were designed and distributed in such a way that they were as pleasant as possible for the guests to see when they woke up.

This was confirmed by Chloe every time she thought she had finally woke up from the nightmare she was having, only to go back to sleep after seeing all her unanswered calls. She must have woke up five times with excitement, only to see that her one hundred and ninety-three messages to her father were real and were not answered. For the sixth time, hunger took her out of her routine of disappointment with reality, deciding to go get something to fill her stomach.

The blonde girl put her hair in a ponytail, put on her usual outfit and fixed her makeup, she couldn't allow herself to look less than fabulous for when, once and for all, Ladybug defeated the bad guy and everyone came back. 'That attempt of a hero is taking her time in this' the blonde thought as she left her room.

Normally her butler recommended that she take the stairs, since there were only a few floors to the dining room and the movement helped her circulation, so the girl made it part of her routine. Then she realized that she was going to pass in front of her half-sister's room, she immediately turned around and went to the elevator. Fortunately there was still electricity.

Once in the hotel restaurant, Chloe walked past the empty tables to her usual one. It was an automatic journey, she did it every day. It didn't matter what she had to choose from, she always had HER table reserved. A circular individual table, far enough from the windows so that the sun does not bother her when having breakfast but close enough to have a good view. With space for another chair in case, in the afternoons and if she herself was in the mood, she gave Sabrina the opportunity to eat with her.

Right now the blonde genuinely wanted this to be one of those days. It didn't bother her that there were no people at other tables, she always ignored them after all, but not having her accomplice after almost two days? It was ridiculous, utterly ridiculous. Chloe sat and looked at her phone as usual, no one in the dining room paid attention to her so she always paid them in the same coin. Then, again, she remembered the annoying situation her was in.

The blonde girl stood up and went to the kitchen, not a chef in sight. They never told her that she couldn't enter, they knew whose daughter she was and how she acted, so not hearing complaints about her presence was nothing new. The strange thing was not hearing the sound of pots and pans. As everyone disappeared, even the busiest parts of the hotel became too quiet. In the case of the kitchen, it even felt a little cold without the burners on.

Since Chloe didn't know how to cook, she decided to go easy, look for something pre-made in the freezer. She looked through the various shelves, annoyed at not finding anything particularly refined or appetizing, and resigned herself to a frozen pizza. Why would a restaurant have frozen pizzas with nationally renowned chefs? According to his father 'What the guest don't see doesn't affect the 5-star experience.'

The girl followed the instructions on the box and put the pre-made food in the microwave to defrost it. After a few minutes for the device to ping, she took the no longer frozen food to the oven, struggling for several minutes to understand how to use it without burning it in the process. After over half an hour, the blonde had her dinner. A pizza with cheese and mushrooms, probably half raw or half burnt.

She carried the disk of dough to her table, carrying the metal tray from the oven to the tablecloth with kitchen gloves, then went to get some cutlery and a plate. It wasn't her favorite food, she would prefer sushi or even soup, but it was what it was. She cut off a crispy piece and put it in her mouth, the burning quickly making her beg for water. Right now her butler would help her instantly, but, again, there wasn't a soul in sight.

Chloe stood up, throwing her chair in the process and running to the restaurant bar, jumping over the bar and finding just what she was looking for on the other side. A trash can and a bottle of mineral water, she proceeded to spit the boiling cheese dough into the can and extinguish the flames in her mouth with the water.

"Ridiculous, utterly ridiculous." She said quietly, feeling like she burned her tongue.

In a normal situation she would simply threaten to fire an employee whose name she didn't know, but since she was the one who heated up the pizza and there is literally no one in the building, the blonde simply resigned herself to waiting for the food to get cold. She ate in silence, alone, as she did every morning, except now it was 7:30 in the afternoon.

With a full stomach, she left everything on the table and walked away. No one ever bothered her while she was walking around the hotel, anyone who wasn't an employee simply pretended she didn't exist, and even the workers themselves simply tried to avoid her so as not to get in trouble for anything.

Everyone knew what Chloe was like, and she had already assumed that people didn't think so highly of her. But still, she had never felt so ignored before as the moment everyone disappeared. The silence, the empty hallways, the fact that there is no one in any corner. The blonde didn't like it, but there was no one to listen to her complaints, so she became quieter herself.

'It doesn't matter, they almost never listened to me.' thought the blue eyed girl. 'Not my classmates, nor my Daddy, nor Ladybug. All this time putting me through this. If she is having such a hard time finding the akuma, I can help her. It's my dad who disappeared! With the Bee Miraculous I-' Then she stopped, covering her mouth as if she had been speaking.

Tears formed in her eyes at the resentful memory. "No, no, I didn't do anything, this is not my fault... I didn't do..." The girl shook her head, turning back to her room. "There's no use continuing to go through all of this while im awake, if Ladybug doesn't need me and my brain won't leave me alone, then I'll sleep until my useless butler comes back to wake me up."

Unfortunately, it was easier said than done, in the end her night was spent repeating the same pattern as at the beginning. Chloe constantly woke up, hoping that it was all a nightmare, that it was still Tuesday and her father would stop by to say hello before he went to work. Every time she collided with harsh reality, she would simply roll over with a snort and go back to sleep upset. Then Thursday morning came, the third day since they all disappeared.

She was spread out on her bed, with the sheets fallen from so much frustrated movement, even her teddy bear was on the floor. Her hair was a mess and she could still feel her cheeks wet from tears. Then she got up and took a look without even changing. She looked out the window at the ghost town that was supposed to be Paris, seeing the undisturbed streets and buildings, and then she looked down the hallway.

She stuck her head out and then her whole body, there was still no one in the hotel. Then she saw her half-sister's room and felt her stomach turn as she repeated under her breath "it's not my fault." Then she returned to her own room and, driven by frustration and anger, did something that no one would expect from Chloe Bourgeois. She made her bed and tidied up the bedroom, opened the curtains and dusted the rest of her room.

Then she got dressed, applied her makeup and packed her bag. She walked out the door determined that, when she returned, she would have visitors. If Ladybug wasn't going to do anything, then she would find her father and Sabrina, along with the rest of Paris by the way. She only realized when she left the hotel that she didn't know exactly what she would do to achieve her goal.

After a few minutes thinking about the entrance, she then saw some pigeons flying in the sky and the idea struck her like a bolt of lightning, starting to walk towards a specific place. 'If the animals are still here, then he will be perfect' she thought as she walked through the deserted city. She walk several blocks, crossing the river on the lovers' bridge with its thousands of padlocks.

On the other side she continued a couple of blocks until she noticed a police car in front of a house, Sabrina's house. She went straight to open the door, finding that it was closed. She groaned at the inconvenience and looked around, nowhere to hide a security key in sight. Then she went down to the police car, hitting one of its rearview mirrors and starting to kick it.

The first kick set off the alarm, the second cracked the glass and the third had already broken the joint, allowing her to finish removing it with her hands. Once with the piece in her power and the sirens in the background, the girl with the ponytail gained momentum and threw the rearview mirror at the window of the house, breaking it into thousands of pieces. Was it vandalism and trespassing on private property? Yes. Would they thank her when she saves all of them? They should. Did she not care because her dad was in charge? A bit.

After gaining entry, Chloe was greeted by a lifeless version of Sabrina's house, unaltered, as if no one had lived there for days, two to be precise. The blonde never knew how disappointing it would be to be in this house and not have Sabrina welcome her like a queen, but at least someone came to take care of her in her place. A tricolor basset hound, one that was coming towards her as if she were an intruder but quickly stopped when it saw who it was, looking happy even with its disgraced face.

"Hello... I haven't seen you in a long time... You still have the same old face from the day I bought you..." Chloe said, not knowing exactly how to deal with the animal, at least he looked calm.

"Well, I guess you've noticed that Sabrina is not here... Nor is her dad..." The blonde continued as she looked for the door's key.

"The truth is that the whole city is like this, and Stupidbug is not doing her job, so that's where you come in," She pointed out as she took the keys out of a jar next to the door.

"You're a bloodhound, right? And you're also a policeman's daughter's dog, right? Well then you're going to help me find where everyone got with your stinky nose, deal?" She said opening the door.

Then the animal turned around and went to scratch a door at the end of the hallway.

"No no no, that's not the right door, we're going outside to look" Chloe clarified, but she was ignored.

She went to see what was so special about that damn door, finding a closet on the other side. Then her look down and notice the bag of dog food.

"Are you hungry? Oh come on don't start this now I'm in a hurry, didn't they feed y-?" The blonde paused in realization, pinching the bridge of her nose. "Yes, obviously they didn't feed you..."

The girl in the yellow Cardigan reluctantly dragged the bag to the kitchen, where she found the dog's bowl, it was red and with the name 'Louis' in gold. She poured an excessive amount into the jar, to which the dog was right to eat starvingly.

"Come on, get stuck, but know that I'm not going to clean up after you if you go to the bathroom on the street." She said as she looked for the leash.

In her search she took an apple from the kitchen fruit bowl and some dirty clothes from the basket, it was Sabrina's old sweater. She already had something with her scent, someone to follow her trail, the leash so she wouldn't lose that someone, and something to eat herself. As soon as the hound returned to her side, Chloe got to work.

She was determined to end this nightmare, show what she was capable of, and prove that it wasn't her fault by finding the missing people.

Chapter Text

The plan was simple, just simple. She would get a dog that knew how to track, give that dog some of Sabrina's or the mayor's clothes to sniff, the animal would find where the villain hid everyone and they would give her a medal or something for saving the day. Chloe thought it was a plan too good to go wrong, as it turned out it was too good to work in the first place.

She had managed to get Sabrina's dog Louis out of her house and gave him something to track. Until that part everything went well, the problem was that she had been waiting for almost two hours for the long-eared animal to find a trail. The hound walked with his short legs sniffing the street like any dog would, as if Chloe had taken him out for a walk.

He walked zig-zagging along the sidewalk, showing curiosity about the abandoned buildings, curiosity that Chloe would take as a clue, entering said buildings only to find absolutely nothing. The dog only continued to roam the streets, barking at pigeons and marking his territory on fire hydrants and trees. Chloe was beginning to doubt that it was a police dog, although of course, technically she was the one who bought it and gave it to Sabrina since her dad didn't want to buy the redhead a pet.

"So much 'i don't want dogs in this house' and look at you, it seems like they never took you out for a walk. Did he think the city was too dangerous for you or what?" Chloe questioned.

The short-legged animal ran happily through the Trocadero Gardens, enjoying the green grass under its paws while Chloe rested sitting next to the large main fountain. The fact that her attempt to help was so fruitless frustrated her, there was no one on the street, whatever smells there were should be the only ones present.

"Don't tell me I just went for the only dog that doesn't have a sense of smell," she said as the lop-eared quadruped returned to her with a twig in its mouth. He left it on the edge of the fountain, where she was sitting.

"You don't expect me to trow this right?" He questioned seeing the branch with slime. The tricolor basset hound simply sat in front of her, looking between her and the object, as if giving her signals.

"No, of course not, I'm not going to play with you." The blonde stood up, pointing at him. "I freed you so that you could help me find YOUR OWNER, my FRIEND. Not so that you could walk around like a tourist in Paris"

She looked steadily at the small animal, who simply took the branch and placed it on the ground in front of her, pushing it closer with her nose, as if Chloe had not perfectly understood his intentions and had to make them clearer. This naturally irritated the blonde even more.

"I'm not stupid! I know exactly what you want to do but this isn't the time!" She scream, stepping on the branch, breaking it. "I'm trying to do something good, to get everyone back! Do you think you're Ladybug to deny me being a hero? Well, that useless hero hasn't done anything in days! We've been walking for hours and she's nowhere to be found!"

Then, as if the universe was mocking her, the aforementioned heroine of Paris swung over the buildings. Chloe couldn't help but snort when she saw her, apparently the woman in red saw her too. Since she quickly descended towards her position.

"Chloe! I finally found you."

"Oh? Were you looking for me? It must have been difficult in such a crowd" her sarcasm was laden with venom. "Shouldn't you be looking for, I don't know, everyone?!"

"Chloe, I know you don't like me but now I need you to listen to me..." The raven-haired heroine looked annoyed by her attitude, that only gave the blonde more fuel.

"No, listen! Do you know how awful it is to wake up knowing that no one is there? That your dad is missing? Because I am, all because you're not doing your job! And I'm not the only one, even that ridiculous bakers daughter is suffering and it seems like I'm the only one doing something."

"Yelling at me isn't doing something! If only you could hear me that this is impor-" Ladybug stopped when she felt something on her leg, Louis was sniffing her calf, curious about the heroine. "A dog? Do you have a dog?"

"Don't be ridiculous, it's from my friend Sabrina, and don't change the subject because I'm not done with you yet!"

"I'm not changing the subject, it's just that I walked around the city for days and never saw dogs on the streets." said the heroine.

"Duh, obviously not, this bag of fleas has never left his house in his life, if it weren't for me he would still be in there yearning for food." The blonde explained.

"Wow Chloe, that was something... Good..." Ladybug exclaimed, her surprised tone offending the blue-eyed girl, but before she could say anything the heroine jumped up. "Wait! Pets are trapped inside their houses?! They're going to starve!"

With a quick wave of her yo-yo, the woman in the red suit with black spots was already back in the air, moving at full speed through the city. Presumably to free all the pets from their homes, Chloe was in disbelief.

"Ridiculous, utterly ridiculous! She arrives, starts bothering and then leaves, she has her brain in the clouds." The blonde said.

Then she continued her walk, confident that she was more productive than the girl with the mask. Anyone would be overcome with despair knowing that their city's hero didn't even know where she stood, but for Chloe Bourgeois that was only a reinforcement of her determination, a guarantee that she could prove herself and prove that she was a hero.

Unfortunately, it seemed that the universe had agreed that nothing should change. No matter where she went or what she tried, everything gave the same result, nothing. She continued walking through the city, trying to get Louis to follow a trail, but ending up wandering around at random, hitting dead end after dead end.

She even tried to take the dog to places where she knew her father used to go, or where she used to walk with Sabrina, to see if he could find a trail to follow. But in the end she only managed to get nostalgic for not seeing her acquaintances in those places.

Chloe was starting to get frustrated again until Louis started pulling on the leash, wanting to run in one direction. The blonde's face lit up for moments, thinking that she finally found a clue. She let the short-legged dog lead her in the run.

The blue-eyed girl was lucky, being as proud as she was, that there was no one around to see the look on her face when she noticed that Louis was chasing a squirrel. In annoyance she dragged it with difficulty, fighting with an animal a fifth of her size to try to get it on its way again. In the end, out of sheer annoyance, she let go of the rope and left him on his own.

As if it were a bad joke, the dog finally found her three blocks ahead. "Oh, so you can track?" Chloe said, noticeably frustrated.

She noticed how more dogs slowly appeared in the streets, wandering cautiously, surprised by the situation. In the same way she began to see cats walking around on the rooftops, naturally more indifferent to the situation in the city. It seemed that in the end Ladybug was doing something, freeing every pet in Paris.

"Excellent.... Now the place is a doghouse, well done Ladybug, now I have more options to achieve nothing looking for Daddy..." She was frustrated, after all she and Marinette were the only ones in the city, and in Instead of worrying about them, the heroine of Paris preferred to look after the pets.

"I was a Miraculous wielder, I was a hero! I could be doing more than just being here wasting time with a flea bag that won't listen to me! If only...!" Then the memory attacked her mind again.

~<{2 hours before the disappearance}>~
"That damn giant lolypop again? Does Hawk Moth have no imagination?" Chloe said watching the news before going to sleep.

Before she watched it because she wouldn't miss any of her idol's heroic acts, now she did it to enjoy watching how Ladybug and a group of heroes had a hard time with an Akuma or Sentimonster, constantly thinking about how she would make it easier with the Bee Miraculous.

Then that new heroine appeared, the new bearer of said Miraculous. As soon as she saw the blow that paralyzed the giant, the blonde, angry at seeing her replacement, turned off the TV immediately.

"Ridiculous, utterly ridiculous. That cheap copy is not Queen Bee." She grumbled, heading to her bed to sleep.

Then she saw the wave of bright ladybugs outside her window, repairing everything the colorful, scrawny monster destroyed. Annoyed, Chloe went to close the curtain, but noticed something swinging towards the building, something yellow.

Realizing that she fell on her ceiling, the blonde ran to the elevator. As soon as she reached the pool on the roof, the girl in pajamas noticed a flash of yellow behind one of the decorative bushes. She approached the terrace on tiptoe, making sure that whoever this Vesperia person was didn't see her.

"Do you think Ladybug is okay? She usually arrives within a minute to retrieve the Miraculous." The yellow fairy asked.

"Oh, maybe she went to stop a robbery on her way here, the city has been hectic lately, or she's still looking for why that Sentimonster disappeared without us finding the amok..." answered the girl with the pink hair.

Chloe couldn't believe her eyes, the new bearer of the bee Miraculous, her replacement, who took her place was none other than her own sister.
~<{Back to the present}>~

The girl in the yellow cardigan shook her head, slapping her face a couple of times.

"I don't need a stupid Miraculous, or approval from her or Pollen, I'm a good person, I didn't cause this but I'm going to fix it." She stated as she grabbed Louis' leash, giving her plan another chance.

This time the search was more difficult, since every few blocks they found groups of animals with which the dog tried to socialize or with which it began to bark. But despite these obstacles, Chloe was determined not to give up.

Hours passed and slowly she saw how the animals were dispersing, some perhaps searching for food, taking shelter or returning to their respective homes. They were on their own, after all Ladybug freed them so they had a chance to survive, it was up to them now.

Not that Chloe would care, she still had one goal in mind, and having free range again was helpful. Paris was a big city, so she would have a lot of ground to cover without having powers. She continued walking until she came across a grocery store, they weren't fresh fruits but at least she was able to fill her stomach.

Then, she met the heroine of Paris again, standing in front of the zoo entrance with a hand on her chin and a thoughtful expression. The woman quickly shook her head and swung away. Out of pure curiosity, the blonde took a look, all the animals in the zoo were still in their cages, noticing the girl's presence immediately.

They were used to visitors and caretakers, so two and a half days without human presence made they missed them. The various creatures looked at her expectantly, as if they would expect something from her. Meal? Attention? She didn't know, in fact even Chloe was uncomfortable with the attention. But still she couldn't help but feel sorry, those animals looked even more miserable than Louis's wrinkled face.

"Damn it, that cheap heroine turned this city into a doghouse and made my job ten times more difficult, if she's not going to let them go, I will." The blonde said, being incredibly compassionate even if she was moved by contempt for Ladybug.

First she took Sabrina's dog out of there, knowing that he would be easy prey, she released him a few blocks away. Leaving him with a pack of dogs. Then she returned to the zoo, forced her way into the headquarters with a rock and got the keys. Then she went to release the herbivores first, or well, everything that looked like it didn't eat meat. She was Chloe Bourgeois after all, not a zoologist.

Seeing that the animals were hesitant to leave their habitats, the blonde went to the surveillance post and activated the loudspeaker at full volume, playing music at also full volumes on her phone, generating static to scare them away. This time her plan worked, she had made even the largest animals run.

The problem was that it agitated the rest, so now she had to be careful with the rest who were predators. Sometimes she was lucky they just ran away, other times she had to put out meat from the zoo's stock to distract them. It made her sick to touch the large pieces of fresh red meat, but it was preferable to her being the snack.

Luckily all the animals left the zoo without causing problems, all except the last one. It was time to free the panther, Chloe opened her door and quickly hid in the bushes, in the opposite direction to a pile of cold meat. It was perfect, she was hidden and meters away there was meat literally staining the floor, there was no reason to have problems.

Unfortunately, as soon as the panther came out, it began to look and walk in her direction. Chloe was starting to get nervous, but not wanting to give away her position she remained hidden. 'That stupid cat is lost, he doesn't know I'm here' she thought, until she saw in horror how the panther began to charge in her direction, deciding to start running.

In a situation like this, a teenage girl alone in a ghost town, being chased by one of the most dangerous big cats, would end very, very badly. Luckily, she wasn't completely alone.

Before the panther could sink is teeth into her, Chloe's feet stopped being in contact with the ground as a strong arm wrapped around her waist, feeling like in a moment she had another body next to her. She quickly hugged the other girl while closing her eyes, before she knew it her feet were already touching solid ground again. Or well, a firm roof.

Chloe was breathing rapidly in panic, holding on to the other girl to stay upright due to the shaking in her legs, then she opened her eyes and noticed the red spandex with black spots on the other girl's chest. She quickly pushed herself apart.

"I didn't need your help." The blonde said.

"Sure, I just like carrying people." The heroine responded. "You know that was dangerous, right?"

"Obviously, but seeing that you are the one who was releasing animals and you abandoned the ones of the Zoo, I decided to do it anyway."

"It's because I wanted to free the rest of the pets, I wasn't going to leave them in literal cells but first I wanted to give the rest time to get safe..." Ladybug explained. "Luckily your trick with the speakers also scared the pets and cleared the area, that was very clever..."

"Obviously, it's me after all."

"What I mean is... Thank you, it was dangerous but I appreciate the help..." That comment put a smile on Chloe's face.

"You're welcome." She responded. "And... Thank you... For stopping me from being eaten..." This made the girl in the red suit smile, nowadays it was strange to receive thanks from Chloe Bourgeois, even less so with Ladybug being the one to receive it.

"Don't mention it. By the way, since you're wanting to help by searching for the missing and giving the animals a chance to survive... Would you be interested in helping me with something else?"

"Oh right, you were looking for me for something earlier. Before you went crazy because you didn't notice the pets were traped their houses..." The blue-eyed girl commented, enjoying the opportunity to annoy Ladybug.

"Yeah, I've been distracted lately, a lot of pressure and stuff..." The heroine admitted. "I didn't even notice things on the tip of my nose, like my duties as a guardian..."

Realizing what the heroine was going to say, the confidence on the blonde's face was quickly beginning to disappear, she hadn't even said the words yet and she was already scared.

"Chloe...Where is the Bee Miraculous?" And with those words, Ladybug made the blonde's heart to skip a beat.

Chapter Text

You don't realize how tired you are, or how much our bodies need to replenish, until the hours become a blink of an eye. That was what Marinette experienced with what she thought would be a short nap to regain strength, only to see how the sky had already turned orange in the blink of an eye.

She woke up in her bed, her hair matted and with the floating creatures still firm in their promise to stand guard. They orbited the entire room, looking through windows and nooks. They informed her that she had gone to bed around eight or so in the morning, causing her eyes to widen as she checked the clock.

"I slept 10 hours?! I was that tired?"

"I told you, you needed to rest." Tikki responded, happy to find out that her owner slept without problems.

It's not that Marinette suffered from nightmares, at least not always, but the nights she spent dreaming had become much more frequent. Her brain was still half active due to stress and work, so she hadn't fallen into deep sleep for almost a month.

Naturally, her body felt considerably lighter, somewhat numb but without the tearing fatigue of running through Paris for a whole day non stop. Likewise, she also felt incredibly empty, and it wasn't long before her stomach began to growl.

The raven-haired girl walked down the stairs, quickly struck again by the fact that her parents weren't there. It was unusual for her house to be so empty, nor was the city. Luckily, before the negative thoughts could settle in her mind again, the Kwamis came down like a waterfall.

"If no one is there, we can move around the house right?" Kaalki asked. "We could join you for lunch!"

"It's a good idea, isn't it Marinette? That way you won't feel much of a difference when you have dinner." Tikki added, trying her best to prevent her wearer from falling into a spiral of self-blame again.

"Yes! Full stomach, happy heart!" Said Daizzi the little pig Kwami, flying over to the oven and turning the gas knobs.

"No, wait! They're not automatic!" Marinette shouted, running to avoid a disaster.

In the end the fairies' strategy worked, well, half-worked. The girl with pigtails was able to keep her mind busy and distracted by preparing dinner for 15. Well, for one person and 14 fairies slash mystical gods. Tikki intentionally guided her to choose a somewhat long recipe, pasta with homemade sauce.

Still distracted by the food, her mind couldn't help but wander, falling into nostalgia. She remembered how her parents, with three fire extinguishers on hand and first aid kits, taught her baking and basic cooking. She wasn't the best, but for how clumsy she could be, she performed surprisingly well.

The beautiful memory of her parents immediately led her, again, to the fact that she, the guardian of Paris, let everyone disappear right under her nose. As soon as they finished dinner and her stomach was full, Marinette went straight back to work.

Since she had slept so much, she spent the rest of the night reviewing everything she knew. She try to make a timeline using records on the Internet, messages and any data at hand. In the same way, she tried calling relatives and acquaintances without luck. Her uncle in Shanghai did not answer, nor did her friends abroad or Chat Noir himself.

In the end, by Thursday morning, with the sun filtering through her circular window, she already had some clear ideas.

"Ok, let's go over this one last time..." The raven-haired girl said, holding a cup of coffee in front of a cork board filled with photos, drawings, and red laces.

"During the night of Monday and Tuesday morning, around 00:24 and 00:40, the entire population of Paris disappeared." She declare taking a sip of the coffee. "This includes people of all ages..." She looked at a school photo along one of her parents.

"Yes, and apparently it affected a large part of the world, if not the entire of it." Sass added, pointing to a world map with news and publications in different languages pointing to different countries, all printed from internet screenshots and with the time highlighted with a red marker.

"All this while the bearer of the black cat Miraculous and Plagg were outside the city, who if they did not disappear are in radio silence." Wayzz said next to a photo of Chat Noir making a flirtatious face at the camera, with many question marks around him.

"And for some reason, the only ones who were saved were the guardian and that unpresentable Chloe Bourgeois." Trixx noted, pointing to the two circled photos. One of Marinette doing the peace sign and a surprisingly good photo of the blonde.

"On top of that, Hawk Moth hasn't sent any messages in over 48 hours, either to gloat or to demand something in exchange for returning them all." Marinette looked at the photo of when the villain made a giant butterfly head to talk, remembering her beginnings as a heroine.

Quickly, her light blue eyes traveled to the drawing next to it, the silhouette of a butterfly with a question mark inside, they still didn't know which the akuma was. She followed a red cord to the suspects and began analyzing them.

"The Akuma would have to be someone who specifically doesn't want to affect me or Chloe, like Stoneheart with Mylène or Evilistrator with me. Which is a margin... Too small..." She said looking at the four photos.

"Chloe's mother because she saw you as a promising star and maybe she finally gained affection for her daughter. Miss Bustier, although that would make it strange if the rest of your classmates disappeared. The... The ice cream man?" Tikki asked.

"I don't know either but I had his photo and maybe if you close your eyes it makes sense... Maybe sleeping for 10 hours wasn't so good..." Marinette said.

"And lastly Adrien, the only one who would still be half friends with both of you at the same time." The snake Kwami pointed to the last photo.

"Although I think his relationship with Chloe is complicated right now..." The girl with pigtails took another sip of her coffee. "Besides, he's in New York for his father's fashion ceremony, and akumas don't fly that far. Right?"

"As much as they are conduits of a Kwami's powers, butterflies and feathers are still just that, butterflies and feathers. No matter how much one can direct them, they will continue to move at the speed of a bug and the speed of the wind respectively." Explain the turtle.

"That's true, and we just had Sentimonster attacks over the weekend, Hawk Moth couldn't have gone to far." Marinette took another sip.

"Maybe Mayura is back!" Daizzi shouted, full of energy from also drinking the coffee that the raven-haired guardian made.

"That would only make everything more complicated, it would be too bad if we had more than one enemy in the shadows again." Wayzz thought out loud.

"Hey, why isn't Chloe among the culprits? We know she's bad! She betrayed us, she team with Hawk Moth, got akumatized for anything, and revealed the identity of half of the wielders!" Said the Fox Kwami. "If there are only the two of you left, and you are the guardian, and she is already she, then surely she must be the akuma!"

Most of the Kwamis seemed to agree with that thought, even Tikki was scratching the back of her neck, she also thought about the probability but it seemed that something about it made the red fairy doubt. Marinette couldn't help but remember the times they saw each other, how panic and fear took over her as she realized what happened.

How she cried in the mayor's office, how she saw her just as devastated as she was in front of the hotel. Yes, Chloe Bourgeois was Chloe Bourgeois, but she was still just a girl of her same age. Although she returned to her old habits, she still had people she loved, people she didn't want to hurt. Deep down, if Marinette had someone to blame, that someone was definitely not the blonde.

"No, that would be too obvious." Our heroine said to calm the presuppositions of the spirits. "What is certain is that, whoever the akuma is, I won't be able to find him alone. With all my friends gone we no longer have carriers left to help us, but that doesn't mean we're left without help."

"Oh, here comes my favorite part!" Kaalki exclaimed, excited.

"Plagg is missing and Bunnix took Fluff to the future the last time she was here, for paradox reasons, which means we are left with 15 intangible, flying magical creatures." Marinette explained, pointing at them all. "I'm only human, I've had a lot on my mind lately and I can overlook things, but I know that fourteen ancient spirits won't fall so easily."

"The idea of releasing the Kwamis into the world is very unorthodox, something unthinkable with former guardians." Wayzz commented.

"Yes, it's so refreshing to have such a fearless guardian. I can't wait to travel the world on my own!" Naturally the Kwami of the migration would be the most excited about the plan.

"And desperate situations require desperate measures." Marinette added. "There has only been one akuma that could catch them, they are also untouchable and due to their size they are almost imperceptible, so the danger is minimal. They will travel in groups of 2 to the borders of Paris and beyond, crossing walls and searching either to the akuma or other survivors. When they find either of them, they will quickly return to this same place to report."

Then she take out the horse's glasses from the Miraculous box.

"In case of any eventuality in Paris, I can use your respective Miraculouses to summon them. You all will still be far away but at least the pull will let you know that youre need to return." Explained the girl with light blue eyes.

With everything clarified, she began to assemble the groups.

“Roaar will go with Longg to the east. Daizzi and Xuppu to the west. Stompp and Orikko to the north. Kaalki and Sass to the south. Wayzz and Poll-" she stopped for a moment, noticing the turtle alone.

She looked at all the Kwamis and started counting, then panic took over her.

"Where's Pollen?!"

!
•
¡

After unexpectedly rescuing the pets of Paris and preventing Chloe from being eaten by a panther, Ladybug found herself guided by the girl to Le Grand Paris. She had used Zoe Lee's help along with other temporary carriers to defeat a Sentimonster before they all disappeared, as lately the Amok were purifying themselves, the confusion and her workload made her decide to pick it up the next day.

That next day was Tuesday, when everyone disappeared.

Since Chloe lived in the same hotel as her half-sister, and already knew what the Bee Miraculous looked like, she would have definitely found it if it didn't disappear with her sister. In the end she confirmed this on the roof next to the zoo, but that only created new doubt. Why wasn't she using it?

Ladybug saw her effort to search for the missing, as well as help the animals, she knew that both things would be much easier with powers. The fact that the blonde wasn't with her usual chatterbox, and her almost defeated and cooperative reaction only made the girl with the red mask worry more.

'This doesn't feel good, something bad is happening.' She thought as she entered the building, Chloe walking ten steps ahead of her, arms crossed over her stomach and hands on her elbows. Every now and then the girl would take sporadic glances back, not with suspicion or malice, but with guilt. As if she felt ashamed, humiliated. Something very bad must be happening.

Then they arrived in front of Zoe's room, to which Ladybug took a step forward. No matter her previous history, she was a hero and Chloe was completely messed up, so whatever was waiting for her on the other side, she would protect the blonde. 'I won't fail this time, I have to protect the people of Paris no matter who they are.' She said to herself as she opened the door.

She turned on the light and came across the usual sight these days, a room completely devoid of life. Everything frozen in time, as if no one lived there anymore. Chloe was behind her at a respectful distance, not on top of her, but close enough to take refuge behind her figure.

The heroine in the red suit with black spots wanted to say something, to tell her that everything will be fine, then she saw something on the ground. It was the comb, the Bee Miraculous. The girl took it and the Kwami quickly came out with a flash. The little yellow fairy blinked a few times, then got excited.

"Guardian! I knew you would come. Something very wrong is-" Pollen stopped as she noticed the girl behind the heroine. "You!"

Chloe quickly latched onto Ladybug's back with a squeal, using her as a shield. The Kwami flew towards her, trying to surround her.

"Stay away from her! Thief!" The bee spirit screeched.

"I already told you I didn't steal anything!"

"You lie! You found out Zoe was Vesperia and stole her Miraculous out of jealousy!"

"First: she stole my position first. Second: I already told you a thousand times that she was the one who gave it to me!" Chloe answered.

"Wait, she gave it to you?" Ladybug asked.

"Don't believe her guardian! She's lying!"

"Of course i'm not! I'm telling the truth!"

"Like when you first had me? Or like when you teamed up with Hawk Moth and stole all the Miraculouses?!" Pollen yelled at the blonde. "You're definitely working with him again!"

"Which I'm not!"

"Pollen, you have to calm down, you're overdoing it." The raven-haired girl tried to keep the situation under control, failing miserably.

"Of course not! She robbed me again, because I didn't believe her lies she made Zoe disappear!"

"I didn't do this! I'm not the akuma! Why would I even make my Daddy disappear?!" Chloe defended herself.

"Because you're bad! Badder than Hawk Moth! You just want to grab and take things without caring about anyone else!"

"N-not true!" The blonde's voice was beginning to crack.

"You killed my user! Because of your whims everyone in Paris is dead!" After that last scream, silence reigned again.

The heroine of Paris had her mouth covered, completely stunned. For her part, the mayor's heir was crying profusely at the Kwami's anger, quickly running towards her room. Ladybug tried to go for her, but was greeted by a heartbreaking "LEAVE ME ALONE!" from the depths of the other girl.

In the end Marinette did return home with the Bee Miraculous, she was even able to do a good deed by freeing all the pets in the city. The streets were now filled with the various noises of the new Parisian fauna, and her room was now illuminated by all the mini gods that were the Kwamis. So why is our heroine sitting in her desk chair with her face in her hands?

"I think you were very cruel to Chloe." Tikki said to the yellow fairy.

"Come on, you and Plagg are always in action but it's very rare that other Miraculous we're used, it's frustrating that the few times I was able to do something it was because I was robbed." The bee excused herself.

"And I mean, it's Chloe we're talking about, she bullying the guardian her entire life and caused us to lose Master Fu in the first place." Trixx added.

"Still, we are Kwamis, we must be above such abrupt feelings." Wayzz lectured them.

"But if she were my user
she could silence me, obviously she stole it." Pollen exclaimed.

"Not if the spirit of the user is not firm and determined." Sass added.

"Well, but if she's the akuma we just have to go to her house, break all her things until the butterfly comes out and everything works out, right?" Xuppu asked.

"No, we will stick to the original plan." Marinette said with a dry tone. "I'll keep an eye on Chloe, you guys have to look for survivors and the akuma."

None of the present had seen her like that, she was tired and upset, and it was evident due their worried faces. Realizing this, the girl with light blue eyes put on the gentlest smile she could as she handed a small bag to each of them.

"I trust you all, ok? I know you will do it well, I will call you if anything happens, and I prepare snacks, so all of you don't have to resort only to things you find along the way." Said Marinette trying to make her tone sweeter.

Apparently it worked, as the little magical creatures regained their humor. They gave a military salute and proceeded to fly off in their respective directions. Each with different degrees of excitement or caution. As soon as she was alone with Tikki, the girl with pigtails fell back into her chair, tears in her eyes.

"Marinette, is it because of what Pollen said?"

"All dead. It was her words, she said she killed them..."

"You heard the other thing she say, not all Kwamis are active at the same time, there are some who have not gone out to act since ancient Greece. That means that we are not always good with touch..." The red fairy explained.

"But she said DEAD Tikki."

"We are almost immortal Marinette, we have seen many things over the millennia, but we also have outdated ideas. Before we did not have concepts such as captured or missing." Tikki patted her on the shoulder.

"I know, but it's still a possibility, a possibility that makes me sick." She confessed. "They could be in another dimension, trapped in bubbles, turned into pigeons, or become characters in a video game... But dead? And the worst thing is that she blame her..."

Marinette stood up and walked to the cork board, taking the photo of the two of them.

"I know how it feels, I'm the heroine of Paris, I blame myself for all this. But a god blaming you for causing a genocide? For killing your own parents? Thats to much"

"She must feel horrible, alone in such a big hotel. Like being stranded in a desert. I'm starting to feel sorry for her."

Without further hesitation, Marinette moved the board, putting away the tacks, strings, and ribbons. She cleaned the clippings, hid the Miraculous box and arranged the piece. She poured her coffee cup and dusted the dining room.

"Marinette? What are you doing?"

"Cleaning up Tikki, we're going to have visitors." She said passing the broom, knowing that her new idea will be difficult to execute. "I'm not going to leave her alone to suffer in silence. I'm going to ask Chloe, if she want us to living together."

Chapter Text

Normality had gone out the window, which was saying a lot when we were talking about Paris. The city of lights was beginning to seem like a dream, teenage superheroes running across the roofs, a cloud of ladybugs repairing houses and cars every day, psychologists charging more than ever to prevent the average citizen from gaining powers and becoming villains, Scientists managing to revive T Rex became normal news.

It didn't seem real, but still, even with the absurdity of the world they lived in, there was still a certain normality. Friends still went out to parties, tourists still walked by the monuments, traffic was still present in the streets, students still stayed up late studying for exams, politicians still tried to buy your vote and lovers still went on dates.

All that disappeared three days ago, on Tuesday both the strange normality of Paris and any hint of everyday life suddenly disappeared along with the entire human population. Parents, children, teachers, students, friends and enemies, everyone left except for the two of them.

Marinette Dupain-Cheng and Chloe Bourgeois were the last two people in Paris and, as far as they knew, in the entire world. They were alone, any kind of routine they had disappeared without a trace, leaving them isolated with their thoughts.

Marinette in her house, next to a school with no students and above a bakery with unlit ovens, blaming herself for letting all this happen. For her part, Chloe was in Le Grand Paris, an abandoned hotel, probably locked in her huge room several meters high, isolated and, thanks to Pollen, believing that she is a murderer, a genocidaire.

Something had to change, something needs to change, and since Ladybug had failed to discover what happened and protect the last citizen of Paris, then Marinette had to take matters into her own hands. After commissioning the Kwamis to go around the world to search for survivors and the the akuma, the raven-haired girl set to work to regain some of that normality.

She wanted to help the blonde, to prevent the last citizen of Paris from falling silent in despair, so she made sure not to come to her empty-handed. She cleaned her house and set the table as if she, her parents and a guest were going to eat. She left baskets with clothes in them even if they weren't dirty, to give the impression that there were people around to have to wash tomorrow. She took advantage of the sauce she made yesterday to save herself work and receive her guest with fresh pasta, she even left a cake in the oven for when she returned.

She wanted to give an impression, an idea of normality, she wanted to give Chloe a sense of stability if she could get her to come to her house. She had to get her to come to her house. 'I'm coming for you, Chloe, please wait for me.' thought the girl with light blue eyes as she headed to the door, quickly grabbing a helmet when she realized that it may have taken too long to act.

She went down the stairs and was grateful for having a grandmother as peculiar as hers while she took out the motorcycle that they gave her. She still didn't have a license and promised her parents that she wouldn't use it, but given the situation she knew there was no time to walk to the hotel. She sped out of the bakery, greeted by an orange sky and the lights on the streets starting to turn on automatically.

Naturally, the streets were clear, after all people disappeared after midnight, so this inexperienced driver had a clear path to get carried away by her hurry. In a few minutes she saw the building. "I'm here Chloé, don't do anything dangerous, please." She implore.

(×)
She quickly searched the balconies, darting her gaze over them all, relieved to see no figures on any of them. Under the same line of thought that led her to look up, she avoided looking at the streets and sidewalks surrounding the hotel until she gathered enough courage, being happy to see them unchanged. With that fear out of the way, the raven-haired girl looked at the hotel.

All the rooms had the lights off, if it weren't for the light in the hall one would think there was no electricity anymore. Marinette got off the bike and threw away her helmet, running into the building. As she got into the elevator, knowing that she wouldn't be able to change the blonde's mood if she was also unwell, she tried to reassure herself that everything would be okay.

"Tikki is taking care of the oven, she knows how to turn off the stove, you just have to ask Chloe if she wants to accompany you to eat and she will go, because freeing animals all day and running from a panther will make anyone hungry..." She said to herself as the elevator opened on the penthouse floor.

She walked quickly down the hallway, straight toward the heiress's room. She remembered it very well because of the path she took earlier, as well as the figure of the poor girl who went to hide in it. There it was, Chloe Bourgeois' room, only a solid double door separating the girl with the pigtails from meeting the blonde.

Before knocking on the door she put her ear, wanting to check if there was someone inside. At their height and given the size of the building, any animals barking or meowing in the street had disappeared, so the only sound she would have been able to hear would be whatever Chloe made. Unfortunately, the girl with light blue eyes heard nothing but the sound of the wind.

'Wind? She leave the window open?' Marinette's mind quickly jumped to the worst conclusions. She tried to open the door without success, it was locked, so she decided to knock, hoping that it was not too late.

"Hello? Chloe, are you there?" She asked as she knocked on the door, hard enough to be noticeable but not enough to be threatening, she didn't want to cause the other girl any more stress.

There was no response, not even to yell at her to leave.

"It's me, Marinette." The raven-haired girl clarified, perhaps Chloe wasn't responding because she thought it was Ladybug. "I haven't seen you since Wednesday morning, and I wanted to come check on you..."

Still nothing, she put her ear back to the door, listening to the noise of the wind in an empty room. 'Damn Pollen, why did you just now decide to defend yourself?' She cursed the yellow fairy.

"Chloe, can you hear me? I wanted to ask you if... well, I prepared extra food thinking that everyone was already back and, hehe, they haven't come yet..." Marinette chose her words carefully, trying to sound natural but maintaining touch, not being sure if she achieved either. "And I thought maybe you might be hungry... So I came to check on you and..."

Still nothing, not the slightest noise. The silence was the auditory darkness, and the worst of the darkness is what was hidden in it. A blank canvas for the imagination to run wild, and unfortunately, Marinette's mind was prone to getting carried away. The nerves created scenarios in her head, proposals to go to the movies that ended in life imprisonment or silly confessions that ended in Adrien leaving Paris for the shame.

Those were the scenarios for harmless things, evils born from overthinking things as mundane as talking to your crush. They were the scenarios of normal days, of simple situations, but this was not a normal day. It was the third day after the disappearance of all humanity, the same day when a literal goddess yelled at a poor girl and say she had no heart, that she caused a genocide for a whim.

The scenarios in Marinette's head, whizzing by to fill the image on the other side of the door, made her sick. They turned her stomach and took her breath away, terrified. She had to cover her mouth as tears threatened to come out, because the calmest scene that explained that silence, at least according to her own mind, was that Chloe just jump.

"Chloe... Please... Answer..." She managed to plead, leaning against the door, breathing heavily. "I know you're in there..." she lied to herself. She didn't know, and that tortured her.

'None of this would be happening if I had picked up the Miraculous that night, none of this would have happened if I hadn't been so stupid to choose her own sister to replace her... If I hadn't gone for Kagami that day...' Marinette thought, going over everything, blaming herself for everything, wanting to apologize but fearing that it was already too late.

"I'm scared Chloe... I don't want to wake up thinking this nightmare is over only to see it's not... I don't want to be just me at the table because I couldn't do anything..." She cry, clutching the handle for stability. "Please... Tell me you're still there, t-tell me that is not to l-late..." her voice began to break.

'Tell me that im not failed again...' she implore, this time not to the blonde, but to the universe itself.

Fortunately, someone was listening, and it was not the accumulation of all matter in visible space, but a young woman with smudged makeup and red eyes. The sudden movement of the door almost made her fall, but the raven-haired girl quickly balanced herself to face her rival in the yellow Cardigan.

"C-Chloe!" After the bad trip that was her own imagination, she couldn't help but sound incredulous in her voice.

The blonde was in front of her, with a tired look, her ponytail ruined, her clothes wrinkled, but safe and well. In one piece, with the only red thing being her sclera for what must have been a long time of crying. Before saying another word Marinette confirmed that everything was in order, analyzing the blonde well.

There were no bruises on her exposed neck, no residual foam at the corners of her mouth, her sleeves were rolled up but it was her normal look, there were no marks on her arms or anything, at most her clothes were slightly stained by sweat. Her thorough inspection calmed Marinette's heart, making absolutely every scenario disappear in her mind.
(×)

"What... Are you doing?" The blonde asked her.

"Ah..." Then the girl with the blue eyes realized, she had looked at Chloe up and down very intently and for a long time. "Sorry, it's just that after so long without seeing anyone I was beginning to doubt what is real... I'm sorry" she said blushing.

"Sure... Whatever..." The sapphire-eyed girl seemed more apathetic in her tone, until she looked at her again, becoming a little more cautious with her posture and tone. "So... Were you saying something?"

"Oh yes! I prepare some dinner, and knowing that it's just you and me... Well, I thought maybe you wanted to come and accompany me..." There was a very long minute of silence between the two of them. "I made a cake..."

"Okay..." Chloe said with a sigh after thinking for a moment.

"Really?"

"Yes, I'm hungry." And with that statement she turned around and went into her room.

"But... Where are you going?"

"To correct my makeup, I'm not going out if you're going to see me like this."

"Oh sure, sorry."

Marinette took the opportunity and entered the room to take a look, grateful to still be able to see the scarlet and cream tapestry on the walls. The room was well lit, knowing that the darkness Chloe was in was only metaphorical cheered her up a little more. Then she saw the door to the balcony wide open, as soon as she went towards it she noticed Chloe's yellow stuffed animal on the sofa and a pillow stained with tears.

"If you say something I'm not going!" The blonde yelled at her from across the room.

"Ah! Yes, sorry!" The girl with pigtails responded.

Chloe noticed how she was checking the place out and, as proud as usual, refused to admit weakness in front of Marinette. She didn't know it, but for once in both of their lives that attitude didn't bother the bakers' daughter. 'I'm glad you're still you Chloe... I wouldn't have stood it if a Kwami said those things to me...' She thought, enjoying the small breeze that came through.

Then, while she was waiting, she went to the balcony and began to notice something. From the hallway and with the door closed she could only hear the air swirling in the room, but once outside she realized, despite the height, a chorus of barking and meowing could be heard in the background. They were the mascots released earlier by Ladybug, and then the trumpets joined the orchestra. In the distance she saw the zoo's elephants walking through the streets, the animals that Chloe freed.

"Of course... It makes sense now." Marinette whispered.

As the saying goes, actions are more worth than a thousand words, but they never said that they couldn't be other people's words. Perhaps the judgment of a metaphysical entity could carry a lot of weight in one's mind, but living evidence to the contrary had even more value. Chloe Bourgeois may not be the best girl in Paris, she may not even be nice, but she was far from a monster. Even with all her setbacks, she could still do good things.

"So... Shall we go to your house or...?" The blonde asked, already ready.

The raven-haired girl didn't realize how much she had been absorbed with a smile on her face until she saw the other girl already dressed up, she quickly joined her and they went down the elevator. Neither of them were used to dealing non-hostilely with the other, so they were both particularly quiet until they reached the entrance of the hotel.

"Is that a motorcycle? YOU ride a motorcycle?" Chloe questioned, dismayed seeing the pink vehicle.

"Well... Yes, my grandmother gave it to me..."

"That's not like... Illegal?"

Marinette knew perfectly well that the blue-eyed girl wasn't referring to the part about giving her a motorcycle. She couldn't blame her either, Chloe has known her for years, she knows very well how clumsy she can be. Instead of replying, she simply held out her helmet.

"If it makes you feel better, you can use it." She stood with her hand raised for about a minute until the blonde sighed and took the helmet.

Marinette sat down first and started the bike, Chloe then sat behind her, with her helmet firmly on her head. The girl with light blue eyes saw the blonde in the rearview mirror, watching how the other girl was thinking in real time about how she should hold on. If she was honest, neither of them probably expected to be on a motorcycle with the other, so she couldn't blame her for not knowing how to act or much less where to put her hands.

In the end the blonde chose to directly grab the sides of her black shirt, avoiding touching her directly. It was a strange pose, you could tell that they were both nervous, but it was enough at the moment. Marinette started the motorcycle and started driving back to the bakery, slowly and with extra care so as not to scare away her passenger.

The air was turning cold and the night sky was covered by clouds, the animals were in their houses or makeshift dens, it would probably rain at any moment. The dim street lights gave a calm atmosphere as the motorcycle purred through the streets, the soft wind caressing their faces. After a few minutes they arrived at the only other building with light coming out of the windows, the Dupain-Cheng house.

They both got off of the vehicle, Chloe returning the helmet before fixing her hair and Marinette putting the bike inside. They climbed the stairs and entered the home of the girl with pigtails.

"Make yourself at home... I mean, it won't be as big as the hotel... or as fancy... or as expensive... Nor were you ever here..." She rambled as she invited the blonde in. "I'll go check on the cake."

After her guest entered she closed the door and ran to the kitchen, leaving Chloe to get comfortable. The blonde girl was clearly weirded out, not only because she had never been to her rival's house before, but because the whole situation was peculiar in itself.

From the kitchen Marinette could see the other girl, looking like a fawn lost in a strange place. She cautiously began to walk through the living room, looking around taking in the atmosphere. While the raven-haired girl turned off the oven and cooled the cake, she noticed how Chloe's nerves slowly left her as she sat on the couch. Maybe her attempt to give her a 'normal' environment did work.

"So...how was your day?" Marinette asked.

"Lonely..."

"Oh, yeah, me too..." She said preparing the water for the pasta. "Do you like spaghetti?"

"I tolerate them..."

"Ah... Good to know..."

The conversation wouldn't be easy, after all they didn't have much to talk about in a normal situation, but they could take it one step at a time. The light blue-eyed girl decided to focus on not burning the food, she wasn't willing to defy the laws of physics again and burn water in front of her guest, not if she wanted to make sure the blonde stayed.

After a few more minutes of awkward silence, dinner was ready. They both sat on the same side of the table, Marinette didn't want to make her uncomfortable if she sat in front, she wanted to provide company, not seem like she was watching her. Although she didn't know the blonde's routine either. In fact, by the time they knew each other, she knew very little about the other girl.

"And... Was my spaghetti tolerable? I made the sauce myself." The girl with pigtails asked.

"The best thing I ate in days... Although that's not saying much." The heiress said dryly.

Clarify the sarcasm, a habit of Chloe's so that the rude comment will hit twice. There was something in her head, something started bothering her. However, the blonde cleaned her plate completely and even repeated it, without making any grimace of displeasure while she ate. It was likely that she genuinely like the food.

"Okey... Well, it's time for dessert." She brought the colder cake and cut a piece for each one, placing it on a plate in front of her rival. "Do you like blueberry pie?"

"No." The blonde declared before tasting the first piece, again with no signs of disgust.

Marinette swore her face even lit up a little. 'Something is definitely going on in her head.' thought the raven-haired girl, as she enjoyed tasting her own cake, noticing that it was better than usual. She had tried harder than usual to make it good.

As they both finished their portions with spirit, a light illuminated them through the window behind them. When they both turned, the thunder came with a crash. The girl with light blue eyes went to the window to check, the rain had already started, the water fell gently before increasing its strength.

"So thats why there were no stars on the way." Chloe said, before returning to her cake.

"I remember on Monday listening to the weather forecast, something about strong storms on the weekend..." The girl at the window commented.

"Ridiculous, uterly ridiculous, I'm going to be soaked when I get to the hotel, and I don't even know where the laundry is!" The heiress complained.

"What?! You can't go out in this weather! It would be dangerous! Look, you can stay here, I have plenty of blankets and padding, the armchairs are comfortable, the one in my room to."

"What?"

"Yes, every time Alya came to stay at a sleepover she always told me how comfortable it was." Marinette commented, happy at the memory of easier times, before Lyla arrived. "Don't worry about the dirty dishes, I'll wash them tomorrow, today was a long day and there is nothing nicer than sleeping with the sound of the rain."

Before the blonde could say anything Marinette was already going quickly to the stairs.

"If you give me a moment I'll prepare everythi-"

"Marinette Dupain-Cheng! Wait a minute!" The girl in the yellow cardigan interrupted her with a scream.

"Huh? What's up Chloe?" The girl with earrings asked halfway up the stairs.

"What's happening? You come to my house, you start whining at my door, you offer me something to eat and a cake, and now you want me to stay the night at your house?" She still questioned her from the dining room.

"Uh... Yeah?"

"Why?!" Chloe was confused.

"What do you mean 'why'?"

"It doesn't make sense! I'm Chloe Bourgeois, the most annoying girl in Paris, everyone hates me, I've made your life impossible almost since I met you, the only time I try to change I ruined everything! And you act like nothing happened!" To say it was unusual to see the blonde like this was an understatement. She seemed more angry with herself than with Marinette.

"Chloe, that doesn't matter now." The girl with the light blue eyes tried to calm her down.

"Of course it matters! You are stuck in a ghost town with me! It's literally just you, me, and Ladybug. Why don't you doubt me?" The blue-eyed girl questioned her. "I have done bad things to you, I have been akumatized hundreds of times, if anyone would be guilty of all this it would have to be me, right? Then why do you treat me so well? Why do you care so much about me if I can be the one that made your parents go?"

They looked at each other for a long minute, each in a different corner of the room. Chloe from the dining room with her arms resting on her waist, demanding answers, demanding that they confirm the idea she already had about herself. Meanwhile, on the other side, on the stairs, was Marinette, processing what she had just been told before breaking eye contact and looking at the ground. She take a deep breath before answering.

"Because it's my fault too." Her words surprised the blonde.

"What?"

"I always try to help, I always try to be there for everyone... But when I can't help anyone, when I can't do anything, when I fail, I feel horrible..." She looked up at the red fairy. She floated in her bedroom and looked at her with compassion. "And now everyone is gone, the days go by and I can't do anything... And that... It's eating me up inside..."

"Marinette..."

"You say you could be the akuma? Well, I was never akumatized, I don't know what it feels like, I don't know how it works. I could be and I'd never realize it, I could be the one taking away your loved ones... " She looked at the blonde again, this time some tears escaping from her light blue eyes. "That's why... I'm sorry Chloe, for failing you too, and I'm sorry for making you feel uncomfortable..."

Then she finished climbing, leaving the girl in the yellow cardigan behind. With the sound of the rain in the background and alone in her room, the raven-haired girl changed her clothes into her pajamas. Her stomach was full and she hadn't slept for a long time. Apparently she failed in her task, again, Chloe was probably already back in her hotel isolated from the world, but at least she knew that the blonde was leaving with a full stomach.

Her Kwami was trying to comfort her until they heard a noise, footsteps going up the stairs, Tikki quickly hid before a blonde head appeared through the trapdoor.

"Where is that damn couch?"

"Chloe, are you back?" Marinette asked, peeking out from her bed.

"You'll be dense, I never left. I just... I kept thinking, OK? I can also think, and then the rain got stronger and... Look, just give me some blankets." She demanded.

And so, added to the list of impossibilities of the day, Marinette saw the heiress of Paris herself blushing embarrassed, agreeing to stay the night at her house. Far from wanting to gloat at the opportunity, our heroine only smiled gently before going down to help the blonde.

In the end, after days of consecutively failing to fix the situation, Marinette felt like she did something right. That something went well. That night, the last two citizens of Paris slept soundly, for once in days feeling not so alone.

Chapter Text

To Marinette's surprise, sleeping in the same room as Chloe Bourgeois was incredibly quiet, or at least it was from her bed in the loft. She had slept well, very well. The combination of the presence of someone else at home, having a “normal” dinner, and knowing that she didn't fail at something allowed her to get a restful sleep without feeling guilty.

She even indulged five more minutes of lying down, enjoying the comfort of her bed, the softness of her pillow, and the sound of the birds outside. Apparently the rain had already stopped.

"Tikki, are you there?" She asked whispering.

"Yes, well hidden." The fairy answered, emerging from the light table. "Did you sleep well?"

"Very well, honestly, I think I also needed some normality these days."

"What are you going to do now?"

"I'll see if I can get Chloe to stay longer, so I can make sure she's safe and then we can find out what happened on Monday night." She said as she stood up to see her guest.

The raven-haired girl quickly fell down in surprise, hitting her face on the padded carpet. Tikki quickly flew to the edge of the loft to check on her mistress, noticing that the blonde's makeshift bed was empty.

"Chloe?" Marinette quickly asked, standing up and going down the trapdoor into the living room.

The heiress was nowhere to be found. Not on the couch, not in the dining room, not in the bathroom or even in her parents' room. There was no trace of her anywhere, not a blonde hair in the entire house.

"Could Chloe have returned to the hotel while we were sleeping?" The red kwami asked.

"Maybe? I guess the change was very sudden and she decided to go back home to be more comfortable... Or maybe whatever made everyone disappear came back to finish the job!" She then heard a crash outside the bakery, quickly going to the nearest window to see what caused it. "Or maybe she just went out to crash a car! CHLOE! What are you doing?!"

Marinette screamed, opening the window, seeing the blonde get out of the driver's seat of a limousine, said vehicle was perfectly parked on the sidewalk and with a light post in the middle of the bumper. While the blue-eyed girl was dusting off her clothes, the girl in pajamas came out of the building running towards her.

"Oh, you finally awake?"

"Chloe! Where were you? What did you do? Why did you crash a limo outside my house?!" She bombarded her with questions.

"Hey, I didn't crash on purpose! This stupid pole was put in the middle of the parking lot."

"B-but what are you doing driving?" The girl with the pigtails questioned again.

"Duh, bringing here my stuff. I'm not going to carry my wardrobe and makeup all the way back." Chloe explained, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "And if a disaster with two left feet like you can drive a motorcycle, what's stopping me from driving a car? Although, it's the last time I'll sit in the front of a limousine..."

"Wait... Did you bring your things from the hotel? Are you staying?" Marinette was surprised she didn't even have to suggest it. 'Do I say it in my sleep?' She thought.

"Obviously, it was obvious that all this being alone was taking its toll on you, so I decided to do you a favor... That and, well, free food without having to fight with the oven or microwave..." The blonde said, going to the near seat and to the open trunk.

"Hey! Don't pretend this didn't affect you too."

"Pff, of course not. Now help me put my things in."

The girl in pajamas wanted to argue, to tell her new partner that she didn't have to pretend to be strong, but she simply resigned herself with a sigh. Chloe Bourgeois was her new partner, she saved her the trouble of having to convince her to stay and even, to her surprise, she asked her for help with something instead of treating her as a maid.

They certainly lived in exceptionally peculiar times.

Now Marinette wasn't sure how to continue. They had spent the entire morning entering and arranging the blonde's things, the girl with the light-blue eyes wanted to make sure that the other one wouldn't find the Miraculous box or her cork board. The less things she had to explain, the better.

But that left her wondering, what wil she do now? What happened after saving the heiress of Paris? On one hand she had achieved little nor nothing in the last three days, remaining as disoriented as she was on Tuesday morning. Besides, she already had the Kwamis' plan in motion, they would comb every corner of the world in search of more people. Such a meticulous task would take time, especially if they want to do it right.

On the other hand, she had no direct way to find out what happened between Chloe and Zoe without putting her identity at risk, nor wanting Chloe to isolate herself from the world again if she discovered that she was Ladybug. Added to it is that, well, they weren't friends, so casually chatting about their lives wouldn't be an easy task.

But, those were problems for when they had full stomachs. Marinette prepared egg omelet for both of them, while Chloe simply read fashion magazines in the living room.

"You know you can give me a hand, right?"

"You're doing well." The blonde said without taking her eyes off the magazine. "It will be acceptable."

"Sure..."

While it would be better if Chloe were more cooperative, the truth is that her usual attitude was a breath of fresh air. It gave her that feeling of normality that she was looking for so much, having another person at home, a human being with who she could treat herself as such, someone she even can argue sometimes.

She wasn't an army of mini goddesses disconnected from time and humanity, nor was she a group of temporal heroes who did whatever she said and only when she said it. She was just another person, she was just Chloe, and for once in years, that was enough.

After a while of cooking, the food was ready and they both sat at the table. They were side by side, in the same places they occupied the night before. They ate calmly, with Marinette glancing at the blonde from time to time, to confirm that she was also eating with pleasure.

It was curious how striking it was to see her, it was not because she was particularly expressive, but because despite trying to maintain an unexpressive image, it was quite obvious that Chloe enjoyed her dish.

The soft movement of her nose, revealing that she liked the aroma. How she cut the next piece of the omelet in advance, still savoring the previous one. The slight curve at the corner of her lips, welcoming each bite with a modest smile. Even how she closed her eyes at times to taste well, concentrating on the flavor.

'Has Chloe always been this good at tasting or does she really like what I cook so much?' the raven-haired girl asked herself, surprised by this side of the blonde. She felt somewhat proud of being able to cause this reaction in her rival. Once they both cleaned their plates, the girl with blue eyes brought the dessert.

"I hope what you didn't like about yesterday's blueberry pie wasn't because of the blueberries, because... Ta-da!" She said, presenting her with the dish, confident that it would be good.

"Blueberry waffles? Maybe your family has a little problem with blueberries..." The girl with the ponytail commented as she took her portion.

"Well, technically we do have a problem. Everyone left just when we had the pantry almost empty..." Marinette sat back down, explaining while Chloe ate. "We have a good supply of flour, sugar and cereals, all well protected for the bakery and being only two it would last for months. But in terms of fruits, milk, eggs, preserves and meat we have just enough for... Today and tomorrow?"

"Aha, and...?" The blonde responded dryly, as if she hadn't heard a problem.

"What do you mean and? This is serious, we can't live with flour and sugar."

"Yes, but you talk about “the pantry” of your house" She said, making quotes with her fingers. "There is literally enough food out there for 2 billion people, the city IS our pantry... And I'm not just saying that because I'm the mayor's daughter..."

"That... That's a good point..." Marinette conceded. "Although it would be more appropriate to keep important things in a nearby place, we cannot go from house to house until we find one with unexpired milk."

"Well, I did the same with my makeup and clothes, so why not, let's do the pantry." The blue-eyed girl declared, finishing her plate.

"Let's do? You mean you're coming too?" Marinette was amazed at how cooperative Chloe was being, as well as how pragmatic she could be.

"Duh, if I leave you alone you'll probably have a meltdown in front of the grocery store door or something." There was the mean blow, everything returned to normal.

"Again, I'm not overreacting to being alone! It's a completely natural reaction!"

"Whatever you say…" Chloe rolled her eyes.

After finishing the meal and some quick preparations, the unexpected duo left the bakery and began to explore the deserted city on foot. They were carrying umbrellas in case the rain came again, after all the storms were predicted for the weekend and it was only Friday. Marinette had her normal umbrella in hand while Chloe had a retractable one in her bag.

They passed by different packs of released pets, they also seemed to form groups to face living in a Paris without people. Then they arrived at a supermarket, going from section to section picking up what they needed in bulk, checking the expiration dates to make sure they would last. It would certainly be a huge burden... For Marinette.

"I can't believe Sabrina does this regularly..." The light-blue eyed girl said, carrying a ridiculous amount of bags.

"Hey! We don't go shopping all the time... Only once a week..." The blonde clarified as she was only carrying her own bag.

"She's stronger than she looks... Could you give me a hand?" She asked as she struggled with the load.

Then Chloe simply walked down the hallway, leaving her alone for a few minutes before returning with a grocery cart. Making a "Ta-da" gesture with her hands and an indifferent face.

"There were carts?!"

"And baskets." The blonde said, taking out a plastic basket from inside the cart. "I was wondering why you didn't go get one."

"Say it out loud next time!" Marinette shouted as she put the things in the cart.

"And every time I do it they call me rude! Why help if they're going to receive it badly anyway?" Then she handed her the basket for the rest of the things.

"Maybe because you can point something out without sarcasm or including 'Are you stupid?' in the sentence." Marinette said as she grabbed the basket and began to stretch now that her was weightless.

"Oh come on, are you going to tell me that you never felt the need of calling someone for what they are when they do something really stupid?"

"Well..." Memories of all her classmates and even teachers believing Lila's poor lies crossed her mind. "Okay, yes, you have a point... But it would still be nice if you were a little nicer, especially if what you're going to say is important..."

"If someone is being ridiculous, I'm going to point it out. Isn't that what people do when they see something that's wrong? They point it out and say it's wrong."

"There are ways to do it, okay? It's not always that simple..." Our heroine said, remembering Lila's case again and Adrien's words. "Whatever, would you mind if..." She pointed to the full cart.

"Ugh okay, but don't lecture me while I work..." Chloe demanded, as if pushing the cart was too much effort.

However, Marinette accepted, she didn't want to get into a fight with the blonde while they were shopping, they had a lot to go and pick up. Plus, she wasn't going to ruin one of the few times she and Chloe worked together either. After finishing at the supermarket they continued on their way, going from store to store and from store to store again, even checking the pantry of several restaurants.

In the end Marinette ended up with her hands full again, carrying several plastic baskets, bags and makeshift packages. Meanwhile, Chloe carried up to five carts tied with ropes, a mini freight train.

"I. Should. Not. Brought. That. Cart!" She complained in the middle of the street, pulling the mini train with effort from the front.

"You're doing great! Just one more block... I think... And we won't have to worry about supplies!" Said the raven-haired girl next to her, barely able to see over the pile of things in her hands.

"I want. Sushi. For. Dinner!" She demanded annoyed.

In the end, just like with the heiress' things, the supplies reached their destination before the rain hit the city again. They now had enough supplies to survive for the duration of the situation they were in, although Marinette hoped to have solutions to that problem by this point.

In the end she returned to the same question from earlier. What to do now? Such a simple doubt but one that stopped her with terrifying ease. Chloe had been a great help to her surprise, she would simply decide something and do it. Since what she wanted was benefical for both of them, Marinette couldn't help but be grateful for that characteristic of the blonde.

'Very unthinkable things have been happening, huh? I wouldn't believe them if I weren't living them.' Our heroine thought to herself, preparing sushi while Chloe took a shower. She had brought her rival to eat, she had put her up in her room to sleep, they managed to work together on a task without killing each other, and she had even received compliments from her. Without a doubt none of her companions would believe her.

"When you're done, take it to the room, I'm not in the mood to stand anymore." The blonde said, walking towards the stairs wrapped in a towel.

The girl with light blue eyes quickly looked away, adding to the list the sight of Chloé Bourgeois using only a towel to cover her body. She quickly tried to forget the vision, concentrating on wrapping the fish in seaweed and not on the fact that it didn't disgust her to see the heiress like that.

'Come on Marinette, grow up. She's just a girl, she may be a brat but it doesn't mean she's ugly either, she's even been helping you in her own way, it's normal that it doesn't make you uncomfortable or disgusting... Right?' She thought as she waited until she stop hearing the hair dryer so she could go upstairs. Once the machine was turned off she went to the stairs with two trays, remembering the Queen Bee days when Chloe tried to be better.

An idea formed in her mind as the trapdoor opened, the memory of the blonde's attempt to change made her think about something, about how they could continue from this point. She saw Chloe brushing her hair, it was one of the few times she saw her with her hair down, it was also the first time she saw her in pajamas. A seawater colored nightdress, it looked quite comfortable and matched her sapphire eyes.

"Finally, I thought you starting a meltdown in front of the fish." The blonde said, taking a pair of chopsticks and putting a roll in her mouth.

"Ugh, come on, it's not funny..." Marinette complained, pulling her desk chair closer and grabbing a pair of chopsticks as well. "Chloe... Can I ask you two questions?"

"Do I have a choice? I mean, I can't go anywhere..." She points her chopsticks at the round window behind her.

The rain fell hard and even the sky lit up to prove the blondy point. The lights in the room quickly began to flicker at times, losing strength during the roar of the thunder. Quickly the girl with the pigtails took out her cell phone and turned on the light, leaving it face down to one side, to not go so suddenly to dark.

"Fisrt I wanted to know... Why do you act like it's not hard being alone? You've been saying all day that things are worse for me... Are we just trying to bother me to pass the time or is this really not affecting you?" The girl with light blue eyes asked, some concern in her eyes.

"Let's see, you brought me here saying that you made extra food, yesterday and today you prepared the table with extra dishes, you were literally happy that I, your bully, will stay with you." She list. "What's more, you cried at my door saying that you didn't want to be alone anymore..."

"Oh... You hear that part..." Marinette said a little blushed.

"Yes, and it's not to brag, but I've been very independent since I was very young. Does it bother me that I don't have servants? Yes. That Sabrina isn't around? Yes, but it's not the end of the world, I already lived like that before I met her. I can also live without receiving messages from daddy for a few days..."

"Wait... Messages? You didn't mean see?" Our heroine questioned.

"Well... If something happens at the hotel or I have to threaten someone then I see him, since daddy has a lot of work, we talk to each other more by text." Chloe explained.

"Not even to eat? Or to go out to run errands? Or to play video games?"

"Well, maybe your baker parents have a lot of free time, but my daddy is the president of Paris and owner of the best hotel in Paris. He has too many responsibilities to spend it on babysitting."

"But... Was it always like this? And what if you had nightmares when you were little?" Marinette asked with a worried look.

"He just going to bought me a bigger stuffed animal."

"Chloe, that's not how-"

"No no no! Don't you dare!" She interrupted her by pointing her chopsticks at her. "You're looking at me with pity and you were going to lecture me, save that Dupain-Cheng. Nobody looks down on Chloe Bourgeois!" She declare.

Her pride would not allow her to openly accept the compassion of others, least of all Marinette of all Parisians. Chloe was Chloe, she woul never let herself look vulnerable. Knowing this, the girl with pigtail let out a sigh of resignation, deciding to leave the topic for another time.

"It's okay... I'm not going to look down on you Chloe, in fact, I wanted to know if you could help me with something..."

"Mmm... Continue..." The blonde said taking another piece of the sushi.

"You see..." Our heroine thought very carefully about her words. "When I realized that everyone left I panicked, I tried to calm down and think that Ladybug would solve it but... Well, the hours turned into a whole day, so in order to not go crazy..."

Marinette stood up and went behind her paper screen, taking care to remove the notes with the Kwamis' addresses and any information that would reveal her identity. Then she take out a cork board.

"I tried to find out what had happened... Maybe you could help me?"

Chapter Text

To the heiress's surprise, living in Dupain-Cheng's house was being quite an experience. Sure, it won't have 24-hour room service, the most expensive furniture, the finest bathrooms, or 5-star food, but the hotel didn't have half of those things currently either.

It was a small house by her standards, in five steps she could leave Marinette's room and reach the living room. She had everything at her fingertips, without having to walk down long corridors or take an elevator to get to the dining room, she could simply get up from the sofa in front of the television and in an instant she was in her seat in front of the table.

It was a small place, very small by Chloe's standards, but yet she found something in that lack of space, it felt warm. Not only because of the fact that the kitchen and the oven were next, but because of the entire environment itself. Everything around her stopped radiating opulence and began to be more homely, even if it was just the two of them, the house felt alive.

The cushions of the chair were soft and warm, denoting continuous use by many people. The bathroom, while it didn't have the best water pressure, the wet towels and steam on the mirror left evidence of the presence of others. Everything in the Dupain-Cheng house made her feel in company, as if even alone she never stopped knowing that someone was home.

And of course, literally always was someone at home. Marinette was the most unlikely choice for a roommate, but there she was, sleeping in her attic after asking Chloe for help the night before. It was a revealing confession, knowing that the other girl had also tried to find out what happened, and as always, the raven-haired girl seemed to know what she was doing better than the heiress.

A cork board with a lot of information that Marinette collected, from the approximate time at which everyone disappeared, how Hawk Moth did not make any announcement about it to boast, a list of the affected countries and even some ideas of who could be akumatized and decide to leave just the two of them.

Chloe couldn't help but compare all that effort and information with her plan to simply get a bloodhound to search for the missing people, getting annoyed at how naive she looks in the comparison.

'Apart from being a fashion prodigy, an artist and cook, you are also a detective? Would it kill you to be bad at something Dupain-Cheng?' the blonde thought while putting on her makeup. The heiress was an early riser by habit, she not only woke up to go to Françoise Dupont College, she woke up to apply her makeup and prepare her hair well. She couldn't afford to look less than exceptional.

It was something she didn't bother to do when she was alone, but with her rival at her side, she couldn't afford that luxury. Speaking of the aforementioned, seeing that Marinette didn't wake up and that she hadn't had breakfast yet, Chloe decided to go down the stairs. She looked for one of the many bags in which they brought food yesterday and then she returned to the room, going up to the attic and staying on the stairs.

The girl was still sleeping with her hair tied in pigtails. This fact meant that, apart from making the blonde wonder how she slept comfortably, her face would be completely exposed. Not a single hair concealed those soft features, the shape of her eyes or her adorable nose, much less her tender lips.

'Do you even know? Do you look in the mirror every morning and realize how ugly Paris would be without you? No, of course not, you're too modest to think like that.' Chloe thought when she saw her sleeping so peacefully. Then she proceeded to inflate the bag and quickly crush it in her hands. The explosion woke up the girl with light-blue eyes.

"Ah! Akuma attack?! Where's Chlo-?!" Marinette's shock quickly disappeared when she noticed the blonde standing next to her, calm and with her arms crossed. "Oh, there you are, Chloe."

A part of her wanted to ask the girl in pajamas the reason behind saying her name, if it was a question out of concern or if it was an incriminating doubt, if she thought the heiress would be the attacking akuma. But the truth was that Chloe didn't want to know the answer, instead she decided to just point out the obvious.

"You're not a morning person, huh?"

"A bit... You know you could have just shaken me right?"

"Yeah." She responded drily before turning around and descending the ladder. "It's time for breakfast, we have a long day ahead."

It was strange, utterly strange. They were rivals, they hated each other, yet Chloe just blew up a bag. Don't throw a bucket of cold water on her, don't sound a truck horn, don't throw her out of bed, none of that. A simple bag, she even felt a little bad for waking her up like that, just a little. It was unheard of coming from her and the blonde knew it.

For her part, Marinette didn't argue with her, she didn't yell at her, she didn't question her why she couldn't make the effort to be nice, none of that. She simply pointed out that she was able to wake her up like a normal person and proceeded to get dressed for the day. Everything was different, obviously everything would have to be different, humanity disappeared after all, but they were also beginning to change, and that began to worry the heiress.

'Change never works out well...' she thought as she watched the other girl preparing breakfast, at Chloe's request she made a continental breakfast, a way to test how varied her cooking skills could be. To no one's surprise, the dish she handed her looked good, and also tasted excellent, every single part of it.

"I still can't believe you're good at cooking..."

"Oh, my food isn't only acceptable?" Said Marinette with a smug face.

"Obviously it's barely acceptable, the surprising thing is that you can do it in the first place." The blonde answered. "Shouldn't it be burned or something?"

"I'm full of surprises..."

Dupain-Cheng took the opportunity to gloat a little, finally something that felt more natural to Chloe. Once they finished eating, they returned to the front of the cork board, each one sitting in a different chair with a tea in her hand and looking at the notes, the girl with the light-blue eyes explaining everything in more detail.

"And in the end that would leave us with everyone missing, everywhere in the world, and maybe Hawk Moth too..."

"It wouldn't be the first time a plan blew up in his face, right?" The blonde said drinking her tea.

"Now the question would be, what exactly did he do?" The raven-haired girl asked.

"Well, everyone disappeared except the animals. Any environmentalists who might have a screw up? You know, like those guys who appear in the movies and say that humanity is a plague and stuff."

"It's a possibility, although the only environmentalist I know is Mylène and..."

"Pff ridiculous, utterly ridiculous, that girl wouldn't kill a fly... Or well, not even the owner of an oil company..."

"You're right, let's see... I saw you a few days ago walking around the city, did you discover something?"

"Other than Ladybug being very distracted? Well... I tried to use a dog to track Sabrina and Daddy, but I guess it was just a faulty one since it didn't find anything..."

"What species was it?"

"I think the guy at the pet store said it was a... basset hound?" Talking of Louis reminded Chloe of the day she bought him.

Sabrina's father had denied her having a puppy, so the face the girl made when she gave it to her with the excuse that she regretted buying it was worth gold, and the police chief's expression was also magnificent. 'The only one who can deny things to my friends is me.' she thought.

"Basset hounds are hunting dogs, they have an excellent sense of smell. Maybe there was no trail to follow?" Marinette commented.

"So they just disappeared and that's it? They're not kidnapped, great, we're still at the same point..." The girl in the yellow cardigan complained.

"Hey, at least we know something else... Hmm... Although we can't rule out that they're trapped either, do you remember the guy who harassed Jagged Stone?"

"The fool with the camera head? Ugh I remember, I was trapped in a white space with Adrien and a Crocodile... Hey it's true, that guy made us disappear in place."

"And he took them to a pocket universe, there we would have a possible akuma." The girl with the pigtails said, putting a photo of Jagged Stone on the side of the possible akumatized ones. "I don't have a photo of the guy so let's use this as a reference..."

"I would say that Hawk Moth is very lazy for copying himself, but god, that guy keeps repeating himself over and over again, the last week he spent sending that, What's his name? whatever the lollipop monster is ...It's ridiculous, utterly ridiculous..."

"Copy... That's it! Chloe, you're a genius!" Marinette shouted excitedly.

"Of course I am." The blonde said.

"Hawk Moth keeps using existing concepts, when you were akumatized for the first time you had Ladybug powers, right?"

"Ehh... Yeah, I could create things like her, I was Anti Bug... Oh! And the second time I still had the same powers I had as Queen Bee!" Chloe added standing up.

"Not only that, you controlled the wasps like they were Mr. Pigeon's pigeons, and Vulpina had Rena Rouge's illusion powers."

"And that second-rate cameraman had the same powers as that fourth-rate musician, that girl, the one who used trumpets as guns."

"You don't miss any akuma attacks huh?"

"Before I didn't miss a single Ladybug fight, now I don't miss any time she got beaten up." Her comment made Marinette's expression change for a second. "But hey, your point?"

"My grandfather became a bread Viking, my grandmother a witch with everything and a broom, dad seemed like he was taken from a European fairy tale and if I had a coin for every akuma from Chinese or Japanese mythology that attacked Paris... I would have like two..."

"But it's strange that it happened more than once, and not all of those times were with Asian people? On top of being uninspired, it's racist..." The blonde said.

"So uninspired that one of his akumatized people was literally an amalgamation of Egyptian gods, if he uses so many things as references..."

"...then maybe he got this idea from somewhere else!" Chloe completed the sentence.

"But, from where?" The raven haired girl scratched her chin looking out the window, the rain showing no signs of stopping.

"Duh, if you were going to seek inspiration from other cultures in Paris, where would you go?" A smile seemed to form on the heiress's face when Marinette turned to look at her, a warm smile lighting up her face.

"You're a genius... I knew you could help me with this." Her words left a blush on the blonde's cheeks.

"It's common sense, I love pointing out the obvious..." She reply proudly.

So they both went to look for something to cover themselves from the rain, determined to get out on the motorcycle now that they had an idea of where to look. Chloe and Marinette, each wrapped in a yellow and red raincoat respectively, left the bakery at full speed, or well, at enough speed to move safely in such unstable weather.

The blonde still didn't know where or how to put her hands with respect to Marinette, so she leaned back and held on to the handles of the motorcycle. It wasn't the most comfortable position but it would certainly be the least awkward for both of them. The number of animals had decreased due to the bad weather, all sheltered between the houses, so they encountered no obstacles on the way to the Louvre Museum.

They parked the motorcycle and ran to take cover inside the glass pyramid. Once inside, they took off their raincoats and got to work. They combed through every section of the museum, looking for anything they could associate with their current situation. Unfortunately for the blonde, that meant reading many, many descriptions and information.

It was a large museum, filled with works of art and historical pieces from all over the world, each with a rich history to learn about and interpret. Being just the two of them, with no guides present, all the work fell on them, or well, mostly on Marinette.

"Let's see... According to the writings of the Shaivaists, with the fiery gaze of his third eye Shiva will burn the universe, including Brahma and Vishnu, and smear the mortuary ashes of everything all over his body..." The girl whit light-blue eyes read, they were in the oriental antiques wing.

"Well, the earth and the stars still look good, and there is no smell of smoke..." say Chloe.

"It doesn't have to be literal either..."

"You know that if we go for technicalities we won't get anything, right?" The blonde questioned her.

"Well okay, but I'm going to write it down as a possible..."

Then they continued through the galleries, touring the facilities and arriving at the Greek antiquities wing.

"Oh, the Pleiades, seven daughters of the titan Atlas and the sea nymph Pleyone."

"Do we go from eyes of fire to very big water?"

"No no no, their story is that, amazed by their beauty, the archer Orion began to chase them. Then Zeus did things, I think he killed Atlas, and granted them a perpetual place in the sky so they could escape..." Marinette explained.

"Oh, turning people into stars?" Chloe looked up. "Well, with so many stars, it's normal not to notice the difference if you ad more... Something ironic that Adrikins is up there..."

"Was someone harassing him?" The girl with light blue eyes asked with concern.

"Really? “Amazed by his beauty, the baker started chasing him.” Doesn't that sound familiar to you?"

"Hey! I don't chase him!"

"Marinette, I know you, you fall very hard for a pretty face..." She said a little sad at the memory. 'As if I were someone to call her out...'

Then the blonde continued walking, with Marinette denying the accusations as she followed her. So they continued, writing down possibilities of all kinds, from the most plausible to the most ridiculous.

"Maybe Pharaoh came back? Maybe he turned everyone into mummies and uses them to build a giant pyramid in some desert?" Said the girl with the pigtails in the Egyptian part of the museum.

"Well, it's a good thing he leave me aside this time, I hate sand in my shoes..."

They discarded the idea, beginning to notice that they had been there for hours and still couldn't find a reason why neither of them disappeared with the rest of the world. They had hypothetical scenarios, but they lacked the reason, why two people as different as they are? Then, in one of the art pavilions, they saw a painting of a heavenly landscape.

"Many interpretations of the rapture imply the disappea-"

"My mom's not here, Hawk Moth is nowhere to be found, and you're here." The sapphire-eyed girl interrupted her. "I know I stayed, but you? Leaving you instead of my mother or the rest of the bad people? Ridiculous, utterly ridiculous."

"Chloe, don't say that, you don't deserve to be left behind either." There it was again, that worried face of Marinette, the same one she made when the heiress told her daily life.

"Come on Dupain-Cheng, just because I'm the last thing you have doesn't mean you have to be nice..." The blonde went to sit on a bench in the hallway. "I have all the papers to stay and suffer on earth."

"Come on, you know it's not true, you may be rude or annoying but no one deserves eternal punishment for so little." The girl in the black vest sat next to her.

"So little? Oh here we go again, again stating the obvious." She started counting with her fingers. "I abuse my daddy's power, I threatening people when they don't do what I want, I'm self-centered, I'm capricious, I betrayed Ladybug and helped a literal terrorist!" Tears began to form in the eyes of the girl in the yellow Cardigan. "Just because I'm helping you doesn't mean I'm good..."

There was a minute of silence, both of them not speaking to each other, the baker carefully thinking about what to say while the heiress pinched the bridge of her nose.

"Chloe..."

"What do you want?"

"Can I ask you... What happened?" There was genuine interest in Marinette's tone. "You tried, I was there, I saw it, we all saw it, you tried to change. You were kinder... In your own way... With Sabrina and the others, I even saw how you secretly left a gift for the teacher, no to prove that you were good, you literally did it in a way that only she would notice..." The words hurt the blonde.

"They were accidents, they meant nothing..."

"Chloe, that's a lie, you yourself are admitting that you did bad things, and I'm not stupid, I can tell that it affects you to admit it..."

"Are you seriously going to gloat in the fact that I have a conscience?!" The blonde yelled defensively.

"No, I'm not going to do it." Her gaze and tone were firm, she would not allow herself to be misunderstood, however, the hand she placed on Chloe's shoulder was gentle, as if holding a butterfly.

"So what do you mean Dupain-Cheng?"

"That all that, that you know what you did bad, and that it hurts... It means that you are a good person, it means that you can still change..."

Her words hit her like a bomb, the girl with the ponytail quickly broke eye contact, looking at the floor holding back tears and with a short breath. Marinette never left her side, nor did she get up or remove her hand from the other girl's shoulder. She just wait, patiently.

"Everything got worse since I tried to change..." The heiress finally said after a few minutes.

"How did it get worse?"

"I tried to be good, and everything was fine for a few days, but everything started to go wrong. It didn't matter that I was nicer to Sabrina or that I protected her from those red akumas, in the end I only had her, no one came close to me nor trying to talk to me. My parents kept fighting, Ladybug started leaving me aside, denying me the only thing that proved to everyone that I could be good..." Chloe didn't see it, but her words broke Marinette's face, changing to one more mortified, almost guilty.

"Maybe she did it to protect you..."

"Or maybe because she got tired of having me around..." She responded without taking her eyes off the floor. "Remember how you said you didn't know what it was like to be Akumatized? It's like a dream, you usually forget everything, but something remains, fuzzy details... I thought... I thought I revealed the identity of all the supporting heroes to Hawk Moth."

"Oh..."

"Yes, oh... If what I remember is true, if it's true... Then it means that she doesn't want to protect me, it means that she hates me just like everyone else..." She wiped away a tear, careful not to smear her makeup. "How nothing got better I made mistakes, because I made mistakes everything got worse, all because I decided to change... That's why I went back to how I was before, because before everything was easier... So nothing can get worse..."

The hand on her shoulder moved to her back, making circles along it to try to calm her. Marinette then put her other hand on top of Chloe's, holding her down. It was just what the blonde didn't want, compassion, she didn't want to be weak.

"I told you not to look down on me..."

"I'm not doing it." Her voice was soft, cautious.

"You're doing it, you're trying to comfort me, you feel sorry for me..."

"No... I'm trying to apologize, Chloe."

"Now what are you saying?" Finally she turned to face the raven-haired girl, blue eyes meeting light-blue ones, like the sea and the sky.

"I'm trying to say... Remember when you said you were surprised that my food was good? Well, I didn't achieve that overnight, much less by myself..." She squeezed the heiress's hand, but not enough to hurt. "I'm clumsy, I know it perfectly well and so do my parents, but I really wanted to be like them, I wanted to learn baking and help them... But everything turned out very badly for me... Once I even burned water..."

"How? That's impossible."

"I don't even know, but that's how it was... I wanted to cry, well, actually I did cry, a lot... But they didn't let me give up, they helped me learn, with three pairs of fire extinguishers at hand and a lot of patience, they managed to help me get to where I am now..." There was a light in Marinette's eyes.

"But I'm not learning to cook... I'm the one who's supposed to change."

"That doesn't stop others from being able to help you, in fact, it means that help is more necessary... We must all do our part to make the world a better place, and we just leave all the work to you..." She said with a smile.

"Ah, so the world would be better without me?"

"No, silly, I say the world would be a much better place with a good Chloe... And that's why I'm say sorry, for letting you relapse and not helping you when you wanted to change... And I promise that, if you're willing to try again, I'll help you. I won't let you fall again." The blonde couldn't help but let out a soft laugh when listening to Marinette.

"You're never going to change are you? You're always going to try to be so good and help everyone?" The blonde took a deep breath as the tears stopped, a smile on her painted lips.

"Always." She answered without an iota of hesitation.

"You are ridiculous, utterly ridiculous..." She said with a lilt in his voice, it was probably the happiest tone with which she said her line. "Thank you, Marinette..."

"There's no need... Now, let's continue investigating! Paris is not going to save itself!"

And so the unlikely duo resumed their journey, more determined than before. Their situation may be strange, they may be changing, but to Chloe Bourgeois' surprise, maybe it was not so bad. Maybe changing was not so bad.

Chapter Text

Knowledge is power, knowing what had happened was key to being able to solve the situation. Unfortunately, to gain knowledge you had to study, and the two of them had to study a lot.

Marinette Dupain-Cheng and Chloe Bourgeois had been the last inhabitants of Paris for almost five days, two of them sleeping in the same room and half a day investigating what could have inspired Hawk Moth to create such a peculiar setting.

The Louvre Museum was a cultural center, the perfect place to look for some reference or antecedent of an event similar to the one they experienced, unfortunately, even after hours of searching they seemed to still be at a standstill. Both were sitting at the ends of a long bench in the hallway, back to back and with several papers on it.

"Okay, if he based it on Noah's Ark, then maybe he could change the “one pair of each species” for all of humanity and put them in a giant ark somewhere... That would explain this torrential rain." Marinette said, reading what she had written down.

"Which is dumb because, and you said it yourself, the weather report had already predicted this rain since Monday." Chloe added, fixing her nails.

"True... Maybe it was a child or someone who believed that a flood was coming? Maybe it could have been someone with good intentions who was manipulated..."

"Then someone is going to look very stupid when the rain stops." The heiress responded, looking at her work, noticing that her index fingernail was uneven.

"Maybe someone made a Jörmungander Sentimonster and used it to swallow all the people? I mean, maybe he would use them as hostages..." The raven-haired girl took another piece of paper with notes.

"Such a large animal would have been seen." The blonde said as she filed the uneven nail.

"Maybe he use the Paris drain?"

"Something that big wouldn't fit in the pipes."

"Maybe since it's magical it could... It wouldn't be the first akuma or Sentimonster to break the laws of physics... Or maybe he use the Shiva eye thing but limit it to how it will only affect certain specific people? It's also not the first time he's given specific powers…" Marinette scratched her head looking at the notes. "Maybe he copy the bogeyman? Or maybe...?"

"Maybe this, maybe that, maybe this and that! I'm tired!" Chloe turned on her back, leaning back on the bench. "They are all probabilities! None of them even reach a hypothesis!"

"I know..." She also sat back, defeated. Now both of their heads were parallel, side by side. "But it's all we can do. The only clue we have is the time, the rest are just questions that make it more confusing... Like why you and I are still here..."

"Ugh, why couldn't that fool Hawk Moth come out and brag like always? How hard is it for him to come out and say “haha, this is my plan, blah blah, give me the Miraculous if you want me to get them back!” and stuf?" The blonde asked. "It's ridiculous, utterly ridiculous..."

"Everything would be easier if he were more talkative..." The girl with the pigtails remembered all the times her villain made things more complicated than necessary.

"In the end, if it's true that his plan blew up in his face, then he have to be a idiot..."

"Ha, it made himself disappear..." Marinette said. 'I finally get rid of that guy and I can't enjoy it.' She thought. "At least we won't have to worry about getting akumatized out of frustration."

"You know, normally I find that whole glass-half-full attitude annoying, but come on, why not. You're giving me free rein to be as negative as I want without worrying since that pathetic excuse for a villain is gone..."

They stayed in that position for a few minutes, both lying on the bench looking at the ceiling, they were right under a skylight. The bench was almost rectangular with no backrest, lined with fabric and padded to be more comfortable, providing a perfect place to rest from your walk through the museum.

Then, as they watched lightning forming in the sky, an idea lit up the blonde's mind. She quickly turned around and leaned on her hands to stand in front of our heroine's face, blocking the view of the skylight with her own upside-down face.

"Marinette Dupain-Cheng! Do you know what that means?" She said with her sapphire eyes wide open and a smile on her lips.

"Ahhh..."

The girl with the pigtails was puzzled by Chloe's reaction and position, especially since she had usually only been like this in her heroine alter ego with Chat Noir on rare occasions. The memory of what the cat hero usually try to do in this position gave her a slight blush to her cheeks, not being sure which way the blonde would go.

"If whatever happened took Hawk Moth too, that means..." The heiress waited for Marinette to realize what she was going to say.

"It means..."

"It means he doesn't..."

"Does it mean that he... That he's not here?" Then her eyes lit up too. "It means he's not in his lair!"

"Oh thank god, for a moment I thought you were that dense." Chloe said sitting on her knees on the bench, while Marinette turned around to sit as well.

"If his plan, or whatever happened, made him disappear too, then we have free way to search for his lair!" The girl with light-blue eyes was excited.

"Discovering Hawk Moth's hideout, I'd love to see that silly Ladybug accomplish that." The blonde puffed out her chest with pride at the idea, without noticing how her partner's expression faltered at the comment. "And that will certainly be much more productive than saying maybe in a museum."

"Of course, in the case of his lair we already know what to look for, now we just have to know where to look." Marinette put her hand to her chin in thought. "For that we would have to make a list of possible suspects of being Hawk Moth, that will be more complicated than the possible akumatized ones..."

"I'm surprised you didn't already have one, wasn't Césaire the owner of the Ladyblog? Sounds like the kind of thing she put there, I mean, it even has lists of all the akumatized people in Paris."

"I told her that it was still dangerous to put a list of suspects in a public place, not only is incriminating people without evidence on the internet dangerous for them, but also it is dangerous for her if she ends up hitting one." The raven-haired girl explained.

"Well, didn't she want to be a reporter? Being disappeared is supposed to be normal in the profession."

"Let's just say she's not very good at it..." Not very pleasant memories came to our heroine.

"Oh, trouble in paradise?" Chloe said in a mocking tone, old habits wouldn't go away overnight.

"Let's focus on this, let's see... As I remember, she said that the list was complicated, since the main suspects had already been akumatized..." The one with the pigtails was thoughtful.

"Oh come on, we already made it clear that you don't have to pretend."

"Sorry?"

"I know no one likes me, you don't have to pretend its don't like that, you don't have to make up an excuse to not tell me that they thought I was Hawk Moth."

Marinette didn't buy the blonde's words. No matter how confident she seemed to be, she could never say something like that so calmly, especially not after Pollen's words. She still felt bad for not being able to tell the heiress directly that the fairy was wrong.

"It's not because I'm trying to protect your feelings, if you were akumatized you can't be Hawk Moth." She explained, watching as Chloe began to think in real time in front of her eyes, as if she had never considered the idea in the first place.

"Really? Does it work like that?" Finally the blonde said, somewhat incredulous.

"Do you really think we would believe you were Hawk Moth? You've been physically in the same place as Hawk Moth, like on Heroes Day and... the Miracle Queen incident..." There was pity in her tone for bringing the topic back.

"No, not that, you talked about innocence through akumatization... Are you sure it works like that?"

"I mean... Yeah? I don't think you can akumatize yourself..."

"So... Are you telling me that if, say, I don't know, Chat Noir trips and hits himself with the Cataclysm, nothing will happen to him? Or that the Lucky Charm can't cure Ladybug? Or that pink girl can't use her magical gift on herself?"

Now it was Marinette's turn to think, she wanted to say something but quickly returned her gaze to the floor and her hand to her chin, scratching her cheek with a finger. She was remembering from both a civilian's and the guardian's point of view, finding nothing that could debate the heiress's words.

"That... I had never thought about it... It sounds crazy but... I don't know anything that makes it impossible..."

"So... What were those main suspects already akumatized?"

!
.
¡

With a new goal, the girls left the Louvre Museum and returned to the rain-soaked streets. The number of candidates to be Hawk Moth was considerably small, from aspiring Presidents of Paris, unscrupulous businessmen, fashion icons and even professors with frustrated dreams of being renowned scientists.

Marinette was especially mortified by two of the candidates, one of whom Alya herself said was being crazy for even thinking about it. To her surprise, Chloe didn't even question her when the name came up, in fact, she even insisted that it be her first stop.

As they moved forward on the bakers' daughter's scooter, they noticed downed cables for several blocks. It was assumed that they fell due to bad weather, but something didn't seem right to the driver.

"Don't you think those beech wires in the back were weird? Like... Cut?"

"Look ahead!"

"Don't worry, I can drive! I was just curious."

"Well, they were down, like we woul be if you're not careful!"

"Oh come on, I know how to drive..."

Quickly, as if the universe was against her, a strong wind pushed them, causing the motorcycle to zig zag for a couple of meters. The sudden movement caused the blonde to grab hold of Marinette, clinging to the raincoat, almost encircling the other girl's waist.

Before the road becomes more dangerous, they reached their destination, an apartment building. They left the motorcycle under the cover of a nearby tree and entered the building, leaving their raincoats at the entrance.

"So... does this Lila live here?"

"Alya started bringing her sisters here when I can't took care of them... Along with many others..."

"Isn't that you job?"

"Yes, but since I've been busy lately, I've been losing it."

"So this girl is already taking your job? I can't believe you let a nobody bother you so easily, I mean at least you make it difficult for me and I'm the mayor's daughter." Chloe declared as they walked up the stairs.

"It's complicated..."

They both went up, noticing that the lights in the building were beginning to fail, then they found the door of the Rossi house. Naturally it was closed, so the girl in the yellow cardigan went to look for something while the girl in the black vest looked around in search of an emergency key.

"Get out the way." The blonde said, carrying a fire extinguisher in her arms, quickly getting into position to use it as a battering ram.

"Chloe I'm sure that's illegal!"

"And I'm sure Daddy can paid for another door." She gave a sharp blow. "Or that Ladybug will repair it with her Lucky Charm." And another. "And they'll give us a parade if we unmask Hawk Moth!" And another one.

At the dull noise that echoed through the hallway, the confidence in Chloe's words, and the resistance that the door imposed, Marinette quickly went to grab the fire extinguisher as well.

"Look, if we're going to do this, we have to do it right!" She said getting into a position parallel to Chloe. "With rhythm and pointing to the side of the handle."

"That's the attitude!" Who would have thought that the heiress would be encouraging her, while they committed home invasion together.

'One. Two. Three!'

As a team they gained momentum and repeatedly attacked the door with their improvised battering ram. After a minute of effort they achieved their goal, opening the door with the seventh blow. The duo was greeted by the standard sight these days, a completely empty venue. There was no one home, no people or pets.

"Ok, we're in, are we looking for...?" The blonde asked.

"Anything that looks especially evil... Or a villain's lair... and/or a butterfly farm..."

They started checking the house, both with different levels of care. Marinette had an almost guilty approach, cautiously and reverently examining the furniture. Underneath, behind, on the sides and anything on top, fearing she would overdo it if he delved deeper.

For her part, Chloe almost knocked the contents of the drawers onto the floor, opting to drop them on the table instead, so she wouldn't have to bend over to check things on the floor. She was less meticulous but she didn't stay superficial, she only stopped when she noticed something that caught her attention.

Luckily and against common sense, they did not divide up to cover more ground, they went as a group room by room, each one checking in their own way. The lights began to flicker, going away for moments before returning, they both assumed it was bad weather.

Then they arrived at the brunette's room, Chloe walking in like she owned the world, while Marinette hesitated, Alya's voice repeating "I can't believe you're accusing her out of jealousy" echoing in her head. After a moment she entered, seing the things from the closet that the blonde threw on the bed.

She looked over the furniture and things her partner was throwing away, still hesitating to even touch the things, then she saw something on the nightstand. An Agreste brand necklace, with an incredible resemblance to a certain magical jewel that she returned to the Miraculous box. The raven-haired girl sat on the bed with the jewel in her hands.

~<{2 days before the disappearance}>~
"Marí, we already talked about this, she may invent things but she is not dangerous." The brunette said on the cell phone screen.

"But she had the Grimoire, she read it, and she used it to make up a lie about being the bearer of a Miraculous, the fox's Miraculous, Your Miraculous!"

"And if my memory gies right, you discovered that because..."

"Because I spied on her talking to Adrien... Okay yes, I understand, sometimes I acted badly because of my fixation on him, but this is different! As a guardian I have to be careful." The girl with the pigtails tried to justify herself.

"We're just going to see a movie, a movie that you didn't want to go to."

"Only because Lila managed to rope me into helping the teacher mark exams!" Sge hold up the papers in front of the phone. "I still don't understand how she manages to convince everyone... Just because I gets good grades doesn't mean I can give them!"

"Come on, it was to help a pregnant woman have a weekend of rest, and she herself couldn't because of her carpal tunnel syndrome." Alya justified to the other girl.

"Yes, for cutting the hair of lions that obviously aren't from the zoo your dad works at..." Marinette complained.

"And my dad confirmed that animal hygiene is very important and that community work is always well received."

"B-but...!"

"Marinette, calm down. Look, it's me, I'm not going to let her steal my chance to be a heroine just like that. Also, Nino is coming to, if he sees her trying to steal my Miraculous he would defend me." The girl with glasses explained.

"I know, I know, it's just that things have been so complicated lat-" the raven-haired girl stopped in her tracks, finishing processing the brunette's last words. "Wait... Nino what?!"

"Oh ahhh... Nothing!"

"Does Nino know you're still Rena Rouge?!"
~<{Back to the present}>~

She must have been absorbed for a long time looking at the replica of the pendant, because she felt a person sit down next to her. The blonde was patting her on the back, as if trying to comfort her although not sure how to do it properly.

"Now, don't be mortified by cheap jewelry... If not you wouldn't cry every time you see your own house..." Chloe said, the effort on her part was surprising even if she did it in her own way.

"Did I look that bad?"

"No... I just like to pat people on the back..." The heiress seemed to dislike her own words. "Sorry, I'm not used to these things..."

"Hey, you tried and even apologized for being sarcastic, I think that's a very good start..." Marinette responded with a smile.

"You know, I don't like owing things and I owed you a favor for that whole time at the museum..." Chloe said with red cheeks. "Whatever, are you going to tell me exactly what happened between you and this Lila?"

"It's just... Since she arrived things just aren't right... Every word that comes out of her mouth is lie after lie after bigger lies, as if she hadn't even told us her real name..."

Our heroine thought carefully about her words, knowing that her theory about Lila was supported in part by what she knew as Ladybug, and in this situation she couldn't reveal it to the blonde.

"She tells everyone who will listen, manipulates them to create a twisted world where her word is the law... Where she is the center of everything..." Marinette explained, looking at the floor, before turning her light blue eyes to Chloe. . "I tried to confront her, and because I didn't believe her lies she gave me an ultimatum, which would destroy me, which would make them leave me aside..."

"Let me guess... Did she keep her word?"

"Because of her I ended up fighting with Alya... So yes... I think she's complying..." The memory of the face her friend made when she went to retrieve the fox's Miraculous destroyed her, she looked at the ground again while tears fell. "She's not like you, I've never had a bully like her. She's... Bad, like she wants to be an antagonist for me, for the world..."

"So that's why you think her might be Hawk Moth..."

"And because... One day when she approached Adrien I started following them, I know, it's wrong... She told a lie about Ladybug and it seems that she was close since she heard it..." The girl of the pigtails felt guilty for lying, especially after Chloe's progress. "I guess she also declared her hatred for Ladybug..."

"She appears out of nowhere in the first months of the school year, her first words are lies, she enjoys molding the world in her image, she hates the two best people in the world for no reason..." The heiress list it. "No wonder you put her in the 'maybe it's Hawk Moth' list... Well, more reasons to dislike her."

"You dislike her to?"

"She's a fake!" The blonde snapped with crossed arms. "She comes from nowhere, she pretends to have contacts and a life that I should have, she appears to be better than you, than you Dupain-Cheng! But she acts worse than me? With what it costs to make people love me and she can just make her way to popularity by saying pure shit? It's ridiculous!"

Marinette was amazed, the girl in the yellow Cardigan could perfectly recognize what was wrong, although she considered it bad for the wrong reasons. But even with more petty reasoning, Chloe understood her. 'We have more in common than it seems, huh?'

"Yes, you're right, it's ridiculous, utterly ridiculous." The girl with light blue eyes said, somewhat relieved. "Wow, I notice why you repeat that so much, it feels good on the tip of your tongue."

"Right? But hey, if you're done venting, can we check out what I found while you were mortified looking at an ugly necklace?" The heiress got up, looking for the objects.

"You find a secret villainess lair...?"

"No, it's just that someone has bad taste in wigs, she had it hidden attached to the base of a drawer..." She said showing what seemed to be Lila's hair.

"She wear a wig?"

"And a curtain with a printed landscape..."

"It's from when she said she was abroad!" As she said it, suddenly the light went out, something catching our heroine's attention outside the window.

"Even the spotlights were offended by this attack on the school's IQ..." The blonde commented, noticing how the girl in the black vest looks out the window. "What are you doing?"

"I could swear I saw something... Anything else?" She said looking back at her.

"Well, it's not a secret lair, buuut..." Chloe hand her a ticket.

"This is for a walk through the catacombs, and it has coordinates!"

"It would be a good hiding place for someone like Hawk Moth..."

"It's perfect! Let's go now!" Then her stomach growled audibly, making her blush in embarrassment.

"I think it's better not, I'm hungry too and I refuse to go to the catacombs at night, especially in this weather." Declare the heir.

"Good idea..."

And so, after some complaints from the blonde, the two tidied up the room and the rest of the house. They must have broken the door, but Marinette refused to leave after leaving the place upside down. Then they went down the stairs, put on their raincoats and went out to the street to see how the motorcycle was out in the open.

"But I left it under a tree!" The bakers' daughter ran to it, noticing the fallen branches on and around the vehicle.

"The weather is really strong..."

"Or maybe someone cut them off." The girl in the red raincoat looked up, noticing that a cable was passing where the fallen branches should be. "Was that there before?"

"Ok, I think so many hours of research took their toll on you, today we'll eat sandwiches and go to sleep, you can't go crazy now." Chloe ordered as she pushes her towards the bike.

She was going to object, but Marinette knew that there might be some reason in her words. They got on the cold, wet bike, quickly regretting not wearing thicker pants, and headed back to the bakery. It was curious, six days ago it would be unthinkable to see the two of them walking together so calmly, much less working as a team.

But here they were, trying to figure out what happened, trying to figure out Hawk Moth's identity, and somehow, it felt like they were doing it right. To her surprise, she felt like she was making more progress than she had in weeks.

"You know... We make a good team..." The pigtail girl said as she take of her helmet.

"I'm surprised too Dupain-Cheng, I am surprised too..." The blonde responded, taking off her yellow raincoat and going up the stairs.

Marinette was happy for this new side she had discovered, Chloe was more than what she saw with the naked eye for so many years. She was a girl with problems, no doubt, they would have to work hard, but she was also someone willing to try. Someone with curiosity and ingenuity, someone determined.

When she saw her climb the ladder, she saw someone who deserved the opportunity to be at the top, who if they let her reach the light she could do great things for the world. Then the light blue eyes lowered for a second and her face quickly turned red, turning to the side.

"Ahhh Chloe, your pants..."

The heiress quickly turned around and with a blush tied the Cardigan around her waist, the wet seat combined with the white clothing had made her underwear visible, a side of her that Marinette swears she didn't want to see on purpose.

After a change and putting the clothes to wash, the girls ate while listening the rain fall, while the lights were struggling not to go out. When they went to sleep our heroine stayed awake. Not because she was wondering why she reacted like that in front of another girl... well maybe in part, but because she had to be alert.

She had to protect the civilians of Paris, she had to protect her friends, and after Chloe's efforts and her promise to help her change, she had every reason to protect her more than ever. Since those branches and wires never left her head, since she knew there was something outside.

Chapter Text

If there was something that didn't convince Chloe Bourgeois about her stay at the Dupain-Cheng house, it was undoubtedly the chair where she slept. It was the size of a lounger, good support, several cushions and soft padding. It was an acceptable option to sleep for a day, the problem is that there were already three since the heiress changed her king size bed for this improvised version of one.

It was a very big change that was already beginning to take its toll on her, leaving her with slight back and joint pain due to the poor position. Sleeping wasn't so easy either. Sure, with her partner in the attic she could hug her teddy bear without worrying about being seen, but that object that softened the nights of her childhood was not going to alter the current reality. She slept uncomfortably.

As usual, she woke up early, the clock on her cell phone informed her that it was around 8 in the morning, necessary confirmation since thanks to the storm it seemed like midnight. She stretched, cracking her sore joints. 'If I ask her to change beds, will she accept?' the blonde thought, quickly realizing the answer.

"Obviously yes, it's Dupain-Cheng I'm talking about..." She said to herself, somewhat annoyed.

She knew the other girl, she had known her for a long time. She knew her well enough to know that she would always settle for the bare minimum. It didn't matter that she was the owner of the house, it didn't matter that she was the one doing everything to meet the basic needs, it didn't matter that she was the better of the two, none of that mattered.

She would always go for less than the minimum she deserved, and that made the heiress angry. She was so good that she let herself be stepped on even though she was the one who had every right to be the one to step on others, after all, she was everything Chloe wasn't, she was exceptional.

'At leas she improved her standards when it comes to boys... Maybe I can return the favor for helping me change by teaching her how to have some pride...' the heiress thought as she dressed behind the paper screen, they left her previous outfit to wash. so this time she paired her yellow Cardigan with some gray jeans.

They weren't homogeneous with her white striped shirt, but at least it would keep her warm on this particularly cold morning. Already prepared for the day, she approached the circular window. The water fell in torrents, creating rivers on the sides of the streets that flowed to the gutters of each block, the puddles reflecting an almost black gray sky. Without a doubt an ideal environment to explore the probably flooded catacombs.

"We haven't killed each other in five days, at this point I think I can convince her to forget about Lila for a day... I mean, unless the girl is trans and the Miraculous can transition you we should be looking for a guy..." Chloe said quietly, talking to herself but not wanting to even wake up her roommate.

Then lightning illuminated the landscape, the white light illuminating the entire room. The heiress quickly felt that something wasn't right, the walls on her sides also lit up but she didn't have any windows behind her, then the wind blew into the room and she realized it.

With the sound of thunder in the background she turned around and saw it, the hatch above Marinette's bed was open. Stranged and somewhat worried, she quickly went up, panic emerging when she noticed the rainwater stain in the middle of the unmade bed, without its occupant present.

"Marinette?"

Quickly and moved by fear, she looked out onto the balcony, without even looking for anything to cover herself from the rain. The cold water splashed on her scared face, the raven-haired girl is not up there, only the storm to greet her.

"Marinette?!" She asked again, her voice drowned out by the roar of the wind.

Then she went back inside and jumped off the loft, a perfect landing on the soft carpet thanks to years of valet practice. She ran downstairs and turned on the light in the living room, it blinked three times before going off.

"Marinette! Don't hide!" She yelled, taking out her cell phone.

She shined the flashlight, searching each room, starting to get annoyed at how familiar everything felt. The house suddenly lost all that homely and warm air it had, beginning to feel like the rest of the city, empty.

"It's not fun! Get out of wherever you are!" She demanded as she checked further.

Without results, she left the house and checked the bakery's pantry, then she noticed that the motorcycle and the pink helmet were still there. The thought that this was some kind of joke began to leave the blonde's head.

"Is this for leaving without warning on Friday?" She asked entering the bakery. "Well, I'm sorry, okay?!" She said to the cold ovens and old bread, no one else to listen to her.

It was like Tuesday again, everyone she knew had disappeared again, Chloe Bourgeois was alone in the Dupain-Cheng house. Looking for her yellow raincoat, completely ignoring that she didn't have her bag or that she was fasting, she went out into the street, screaming from the bottom of her gut.

"MARINETTE!"

The wind carried her words away as she searched around the block, in the square next door, and in the school, both empty. 'There was something outside? Did something really cut the wires and branches?!' The idea crossed her mind with horror, it was the only thing that made sense now that the excuse of a bad joke fell to pieces.

Her companion had noticed, and as she realized, whatever was in the city came after her. They had kidnapped her right under her nose, the blonde was next to her and still she didn't do anything. And what was worse, whatever it was, monster or akuma, left her aside again, left Chloe behind again, completely alone and scared.

'Why didn't I go instead? Why did I matter so little that I was left out twice already?' She thought, tears starting to come out, mixing with the raindrops. Then she stopped three blocks from the bakery, she ran without knowing where to look.

"I don't want to be doing this, I don't want to know that I'm worthless... I already know it, I don't need the universe to always repeat it..."

She was hugging herself, her breathing heavy and her throat burning from the cold air. The storm gave no quarter, the rain falling indifferently on the yellow plastic and the thunder roaring in a silent city. She felt small, all the normality that Marinette selflessly built for her suddenly disappeared now that she was outside without her.

No one in the city of light, the huge hollow and lifeless buildings, the Eiffel Tower as an indifferent figure, cynically looking at a death city. The lights eventually went away and the storm turned everything gray, and only she was left, a single bee lost in a hurricane. She was alone, a pathetic, useless and not at all exceptional spoiled child left aside by the world.

"No! No! Focus Chloe!" She slapped herself. "This isn't about you! Stop feeling sorry for yourself! You can't throw the towel so quickly! I have to find Marinette, she needs me!"

It was unusual, the princess of Paris, the number one bully at the Françoise Dupont School, scared and worried about a girl who had every right to despise her, but who still didn't. Marinette Dupain-Cheng, despite everything she had done to her, did not hate her.

In fact, she had given her another chance, despite having ruined so many others, she gave her another chance. Promising to help her, promising her that being good wouldn't make everything worse. She was just like that, too compassionate even with people who never deserved it.

"I'm not going to let my mistakes hurt you Dupain-Cheng, you just resist, I'll find a way to find you..." She said wiping her tears with a wet sleeve of her raincoat.

She began to think about the situation, trying to organize her thoughts. Something was intentionally damaging the electrical wiring, that means it would be something or someone who could run across the ceilings like Ladybug or directly fly, that would explain why the hatch was open.

"Wait that's it!"

Realizing what that meant, she ran back to the bakery. The blanket was messy and the climb to the roof was open, so Marinette couldn't have disappeared like the rest of the city. If she didn't disappear, then it was the old way of kidnapping, someone physically took her away.

She entered like a yellow lightning bolt, looking for the red raincoat that the girl with pigtails was wearing, along with the pink pants that they left in the laundry basket, after all they had both gotten on the same motorcycle. Then she grabs a granola bar to entertain her hungry stomach and a piece of meat from the unlit freezer, running back into the rain with everything at hand.

Her next logical stop was the stables around the zoo, where she had left Sabrina's dog with a pack of dogs. They couldn't have gone far, right? 'This time it's going to work, that bag of fleas will be able to track her' she thought in the middle of her career, the years of ballet classes strengthened her balance enough to not trip on a walk so slippery due to the rain.

In a few minutes she found her objective, the Paris Zoo was in front of her, so she only had to search the surrounding buildings and alleys. She was beginning to lack air in her lungs after checking four entire blocks, her sneakers and socks completely soaked by the deep puddles of water, no sign of Louis anywhere.

"Has he returned to Sabrina's house?" She said as she stopped to catch her breath.

Then, there in the middle of the dark streets, suddenly illuminated by one of the many lightning bolts that fell, the blonde noticed a red flash in the sky. She raised her head and saw, Ladybug was moving between the buildings. Chloe hadn't seen her since Thursday when she yelled at her, it was ironic that she was now calling her the same way.

"LADYBUG!" She shouted into the wind, dropping things as she followed her from the ground. "LADYBUG HERE! HEY! I need you!"

Nothing, the heroine didn't stop moving while the noise of the wind drowned out the heiress's pleas, she seemed very focused on something. The blonde followed her to the zoo, continuing to call her at the top of her lungs. The girl in the red suit with black spots seemed not to hear her, as if she had something else on her mind, she was carrying what seemed to be power wires.

"There's no time to play electrician! Marinette needs you! SOMEONE KIDNAPPED HER!" Chloe shouted, tears of helplessness in her eyes as she saw how Ladybug ignored her. "This isn't about me! A really good girl needs you! I'm not going to bother you anymore if you just listen to me for a moment!"

Then the heroine swung across the river with her yo-yo, leaving the heiress almost jumping over the zoo railing to follow her. The river had risen a lot from the rain and the current became much stronger, she could only continue shouting from her side, trying to get the attention of her former favorite heroine with all her might.

But she ignored her, like she ignored the hotel's bee light sing, like she ignored all the times she tried to help, like she ignored what all of Paris would think if Ladybug of all people denied her the chance to be a hero. She ignored everything... And deep down, Chloe knew that it couldn't be by accident, she knew that she also hated her like everyone else.

Like everyone, except that two girls.

~<{30 minutes before the disappearance}>~
"Hello? Chloe? Can I come in?" Zoe asked from the door.

"Leave me alone!"

"You left the door open and I swore I heard a crying coming for here... Are you okay?" She entered anyway.

It was natural that she wouldn't sit idly by when she heard someone cry, after all, she was the good sister. Everyone knew that fact, her classmates, her rival, her own father and even the heroine of Paris knew it, they knew that she was not a bad apple.

"Leave me alone! You thief!" The girl with the ponytail stammered, throwing her teddy bear at her as soon as she entered the room.

"I don't think it's a good idea, you sounded very bad from the hallway and... Frankly, you don't look very good either..."

"Oh and now you even insult me!" She threw another stuffed animal, a giant ladybug, before wiping away her tears and smeared makeup with her sleeve. "You're no better than me, Thief!"

"I don't think I'm better than you!"

"Of course you think so, you are! Right now you're doing that whole thing about feeling sorry for bad people like that fool Dupain-Cheng!"

"It's called empathy and just because you're not nice to me doesn't mean I can't care about seeing you like that." The girl with the pink locks sat at the foot of the bed, without her hat Chloe could see that she didn't have the Bee Comb on. "What happened Chloe?"

"You're a damn thief!" She throw a pillow at her.

"I haven't stolen anything from you!" Zoe said dodging.

"Of course! You showed up and took everything, my shoes, the attention i desserve, Daddy and you even stole my Miraculous!"

"I didn't take any of your... Wait... Miraculous? You know that I...?!" Her sister was frightened by the revelation, putting a hand in the pocket of her black jacket.

"How could I not find out?! We live in the same house! I spend more time on the terrace than anywhere else! I'm sure Ladybug did it on purpose..." She crossed her arms angrily. "She wanted it to be clear to me that I would never be a hero again, that I never had a chance to be good... That she never t-trusted m-me..."

The tears returned as her voice cracked, unable to even maintain a semblance of control in front of the other girl, the thought causing a pang in her chest.

"Chloe..."

"T-that Miraculous that you have was the p-proof, the proof that I could be g-good, no one in Paris would doubt it if Ladybug herself trusted me..." Then she hid under the covers out of shame, She couldn't stand Zoe seeing her being fragile. "But it was just a lie I told to myself... She never had faith in me... She hates me..."

Under the silk blanket she felt her sister get up, almost swearing what the expression on her face was as she told what happened. Chloe couldn't stand being looked down on, pitying her, so she asked her to leave again with a broken voice.

To her surprise, her sister finally listened to her, leaving the room but not before saying a few last words.

"I never thought I'd say this but... I do want to have faith Chloe... I don't think you're a lost cause..." And with those words she leave the room.

The blonde came out from under the covers as soon as she heard the door close, ready to cry in silence, until she noticed a certain gold comb at the foot of her bed.
~<{Back to the present}>~

The memory of the last time she saw her sister made her blood boil, she, like Marinette, were willing to give her another chance despite how bad she had been, they were that good, and yet they both disappeared. And the heroine in the red suit with black spots did nothing.

"DAMN YOU LADYBUG! You useless! You're no better than them! JUST BECAUSE THEY ARE BETTER THAN YOU DOESN'T MEAN YOU CAN LEAVE THEM!" The wind blew off her hood, water soaking her hair as she let out some steam, yelling at the wind. "I don't need you! I'm going to find Marinette and we're going to save my sister, Daddy, and Sabrina! Do you hear me?!"

Ladybug had long since disappeared into the distance, only the noise of the river and the storm filling the air. After a few minutes of heavy breathing, Chloe put the hood of her raincoat back on while she wiped the tears from her face, she no longer knew what had left her body and what the rain was to blame.

She was frustrated and angry, but also determined. She returned to where she had dropped her partner's clothes and the piece of meat, they were soaked but it didn't matter, Louis could still track her down. She then set a fast course for Sabrina's house, gradually regaining her running speed.

She was always a fast walker, her brisk walk through the shops of Paris almost daily gave her enviable speed, more than once she left and returned to the hotel in less time, not for nothing was she so reluctant to participate in gym classes. She always saw it as unnecessary. What would her teacher think seeing her running like that now?

Like a yellow stain on the streets, the heiress ran straight to the police chief's house, trying to take every shortcut she could, she knew that time was gold if she wanted to get her partner back. Then she saw the police car without a rearview mirror, the house with the door open and a broken window. She had arrived.

When she tried to enter she was stopped by a chorus of barking, a lot of barking. Inside the redhead's home there was a pack of pets of different sizes and breeds, all of them defensive of the blonde for obvious reasons.

"Hey hey hey! Calm down!" Chloe said stepping back, then left the meat she brought at the foot of the stairs. "I come in peace..."

The animals seemed hesitant to accept her offering, even though they were on the defensive, but they had at least stopped barking. Well, all except a certain little guy who came out of the crowd. Sabrina's basset hound bounded down the stairs, going to greet the princess of Paris as if she were an old friend.

"There you are...." The heiress said, happy to see a familiar face.

She went down to his level and looked at him, confirming that he was in good health, or well, as good as someone like Chloe could tell. He still had his collar on and dragged his leash everywhere. She carefully took the rope while bringing the clothes to the dog's nose.

"Listen, last time it didn't go as I expected... But I know this time will be different... I need it to be different..." She was a little sad, knowing that investigating on her own wasn't going well. "Someone kidnapped this girl and I need your help... I want to save my friend..."

The word echoed in her head. 'Are we friends? Do I even have the right to call her that?' She thought, knowing that her feelings and how she saw the other girl varied a lot as time went by.

"Please... I need your help..."

Louis looked at her carefully, as if for once he understood what the blonde was saying. The dog buried its nose in the clothing and then began to sniff the wet floor, quickly beginning to pull on the leash. A smile lit up Chloe's face.

"Yes! Good boy! Go!" She said following him. "Wait for me Marinette, I'm going for you."

Chapter Text

Life could be very ironic sometimes, too much for some people's taste. Among those people is the princess of Paris, the mayor's daughter, Chloe Bourgeois. And boy, fate had had a lot of fun with their current situation.

She was a self-centered girl, she always wanted to be the center of attention, that the world would revolve around her, and now she was, literally speaking. She was one of the only survivors of a mass disappearance of human beings, there was no one else in Paris or in the entire world. She was the center of the action, and that action was running through flooded streets, praying that a dog would be able to follow a trail in the middle of a storm.

And the icing on the cake, the person she was looking for so hard, imploring that her to be okay, was none other than Marinette Dupain-Cheng. The same girl who always opposed her when she could, the same girl Chloe made her life impossible, the same girl who had everything she wanted, was now the only thing that occupied the blonde's mind.

"She's going to be fine, she's going to be fine... She's smart and strong, a stupid kidnapper at the end of the world won't be able to take her..." Chloe repeated in her run, trying to convince herself that there was no reason to worry nor to panic.

Unlike the raven-haired girl, the heiress's imagination was not so prone to flying uncontrollably, she did not go off on tangents as much or oversize situations. The problem lay in the fact that, unfortunately, the situation was already worrying by itself. Someone or something entered her room and kidnapped the girl, it was a scary fact.

So the blonde was grateful for the energy Louis put into the task. Unlike a few days ago, the animal seemed to better understand the seriousness of the situation, and in the same way it seemed more efficient searching for a trail. 'Is it because he's been with other dogs for so long? Did you finally learn to use that nose of yours?' Chloe thought as she ran after him.

It seemed like it had a trail, something miraculous with so much humidity in the air and the chaotic wind. Even with everything against her, Louis seemed to guide her confidently to something, making precise turns and sniffing several times before correcting course.

"In just four days you learned to be a real dog, huh?" She said out loud, feeling that the dog deserved the recognition even if it was just for the effort. "If it's that good living with others of your kind, maybe Marinette can bring out the good in me."

The girl in the yellow raincoat still couldn't believe that, after so many years, Marinette was willing to help her, to give her another chance. Chloe still remembered how it all started, and now more than ever it gave her pain in her chest to have it so fresh in her memory.

It was on her first day at preschool, many years ago. Having a politician for a father and such an absent mother caused the heiress to arrive alone, being the only passenger at the back of a huge limousine. It was something she would eventually get used to, but she remembered how that day she fought not to cry. Naturally, when she go out it attract a lot of attention from her classmates, her classmates and their parents.

The little girl with her ponytail was greeted with that something that she always lacked so much, attention, but it was, however, something bittersweet. The rest of the people noticed her, that was good, she was not alone, but she couldn't get out of her mind how many adults there were, all of them bearing an enormous resemblance to their new companions. Everyone had their parents that day, everyone except her.

It was something that hurt her at the time, and that hurts every time Chloe realized that that never changed. The fact that, until last Tuesday, it was an immovable constant. Luckily, public attention managed to cover that fact. Excited comments from the other children who had never seen a limousine, the praise for having nice clothes, even the recognition from the adults who realized of who were her parents.

It was a nice thing, she didn't have to think about her absent parents if everyone was celebrating her, and maybe if she was the center of attention, maybe even her mother would turn to see her. It was a concept that only became more and more ingrained in her mind as time went by. But there, at the entrance to the school, being the center of her little universe, the blonde noticed something. She noticed someone.

Outside of the crowd that was paying attention to her, on one side there was another duo of a girl and an adult with quite a similar physical appearance, and both ignored the heiress. The woman who had Asian features was crouched down, trying to comfort a girl with pigtails who was crying her eyes out. Chloe didn't remember what the girl was saying, but she knew very well the emotion behind those words.

"Please, don't go"

The first thing she heard from mini Marinette all those years ago, before she even knew her name, were words that she probably said to her mother before she left for New York. The only difference was that Mrs. Dupain-Cheng did something the blonde knew her own mother would never do, comfort her.

That girl, who at that time was less than a nobody compared to the heiress, had just in those seconds in front of the entrance EVERYTHING Chloé would have wanted, and everything she would give the world to have. Now the world had disappeared, there was no one left but the two of them, and in the middle of a storm Chloe prayed for the safety of that crying girl she envied so much.

Louis took her to a subway entrance, in other circumstances she was even disgusted by the middle-class smell that the place gave off, but after almost a week without people and in her rush to find her partner, she didn't even notice. She used her cell phone as a lamp again, somewhat grateful that the kidnapper chose to hide somewhere indoors. Then she saw the end of the stairs.

"Ridiculous, utterly ridiculous..." She complained in disbelief at the sight of the ground filled with water.

She rolled up the hem of her gray jeans and, given how short her handler's legs were, she carried the dog in her arms. If it weren't for the advertising on the walls, the subway would look like a flooded cavern. She moved forward as best she could, trying to illuminate with her phone while she struggled to hold onto Louis, who kept shaking while sniffing the air.

"If you make me turn around, I swear..." She was interrupted by the splash of her cell phone falling. "Damn it!"

She quickly crouched down and reached into the water, doing her best to try and grab it without drowning the dog in the process. Luckily the light on made it easy to locate, the problem is that her phone was not exactly waterproof. The light began to fail when she pulled it out, lasting long enough to illuminate a large pink animal that was in front of her.

Rats in the sewers? Quite common in Paris. Crocodiles? American thing. A hippopotamus on the subway? Unthinkable, if it weren't for the fact that it was just one of the animals that Chloe released from the zoo on Thursday. The blonde froze, not knowing if the sturdy footed tank would remember her and be grateful, or try to eat her.

As soon as she saw the animal open its mouth, the paralysis left, being replaced by a scream at the large fangs and the noise of the intense splashing of its run to the stairs. Was it a carnivorous animal or was it simply defending its territory from an unknown invader? They were questions that the heiress did not know nor was she interested in knowing, she simply ran with all her strength until she went outside again, leaving the robust animal at the foot of the subway stairs.

"Tell me... Please... That we won't... Have to go down there... Again..." She asked after letting go of Louis and stopping to catch her breath.

The dog began to sniff once again, this time approaching the subway entrance but changing direction, going one block forward, where there was an open sewer in the middle of the street. Before an expression of disgust could form on the girl face, the animal took a quick sniff at the hole and then at the air, moving on.

Chloe was happy to not have to go back into the subway, or worse yet, the sewers. Although that did not mean that it would be drier compared to going through flooded places, the rain still did not give any respite. It was difficult, uncomfortable and frustrating, but the blonde was determined to find Marinette, she needed to see her again.

They spent years seeing each other, both at school and outside of it, never for good reasons. And now, after working and living together for the last few days, the truth is that their singular truce made her remember something that bothered her greatly. She liked watching Marinette.

It was something that she also, unfortunately, knew from the day they met. The pertinent presentations had passed, she and her preschool classmates had been left in the hands of the teachers, having their first day normally. Naturally the rest of the children followed her, being the famous girl who arrived in a limousine made her quite popular, but there was one who did not orbit around her.

By accident and without knowing it, the girl with pigtails had been against the heiress from day one. When everyone revolved around the blonde, she was a rebel comet. When everyone tried to get closer, she stayed on the sidelines. The raven-haired girl was anxious, still missing the woman who, unlike Chloe's mother, deigned to promise she would return.

The fact that it would upset her at the time brought tears to her eyes in the present, grateful for the rain covering her remorse. 'I was always so mean...' she thought, no longer knowing if her furry companion would find the other girl. She was careful not to trip as she remembered their first interaction.

She went to confront her at recess. Seeing her up close for the first time, the word "pretty" suddenly jumped into her mind, the girl was adorable in her blue eyes. She could watch her all day, and she end up watching her every day. Unfortunately, the blonde had to ask.

She asked her what was wrong with her, why she didn't act like the rest of the children who followed her, to which the girl with pigtails confessed with all the innocence in the world. She didn't remember all the exact words, but again, she remembered the emotion behind it all.

"I never separated from my mom."

That was just another nail in the coffin of their future relationship. Whatever she told her, it had confirmed what the little heiress was already thinking. The raven-haired girl had something that she didn't, something that no matter how much she demanded of her father she would never have, and that made her angry. Then came the words that she did remember.

The girl talked about how she was clumsy, that she tripped over her own feet and that was why she was so cautious. She told mini Chloe that she always walked hand in hand with her mother so she wouldn't fall, and that was why she was so distant, because she didn't want to be embarrassed in front of everyone.

Then, with an innocence and nervousness worthy of her alone, she ask her if she could take her hand to be safe. And the blonde, feeling pure envy for the girl with pigtails, responded in the same way that her own mother responded every time she asked her that question.

"Ugh, no. That's pathetic."

It was only now, years later and in the middle of what could perfectly have been the end of the world, that the blonde most regretted saying those words. She always hate Marinette for things out of her control, things she didn't do on purpose. That girl was not guilty of an empty limousine going to look for the blonde that day, nor was she guilty of what the blonde thought when she saw her jump into the arms of her loved ones who did come to look for her.

She made her life impossible just out of jealousy, and the whole world had to disappear for her to finally decide to recognize that. 'And yet... She still believes that I can change...' They say that in the most difficult situations we show our true nature, and the last few days Chloe only saw the same Marinette as always, a clumsy girl with a good heart.

That girl with pigtails was always genuine, from her intentions to her actions. So the heiress knew that if she wanted her second chance, if she really wanted to change, she would have to find it. Because she would welcome her with open arms and that beautiful smile. She couldn't lose her now, not now that she was her friend, not knowing how much it hurts the other girl to be alone.

Then she saw her, it was as if she had found land after years at sea. After turning around a block, she saw how Louis ran towards a girl with raven hair and in pajamas, standing in the middle of the street with an umbrella in her hand. She seemed cold and distracted, but she was safe and sound.

Without thinking, Chloe began to move, almost imitating the girl from her memories. She wanted so much to be like her, to be able to leave school and run to her loved ones, jump into their arms and never let go. That's what she did unconsciously, she surpassed the little dog in reaching Marinette and almost tackled her, they didn't fall silent on the wet streets by pure luck.

The girl with light blue eyes was surprised, throwing words into the air when she noticed the heiress, she was probably explaining what was happening or what happened, but Chloe didn't listen. For a moment the blonde forgot about the humidity, the cold, the rain, the darkness and the noise around her. None of that mattered to her. She only cared that she had found her, that she had Marinette in her arms.

Chapter Text

When you have a responsibility or are assigned an important task, such as receiving a package or taking care of someone, a person tends to become more alert than usual. You become more perceptive, paying attention to things you would normally overlook. Naturally this prevents one from being able to relax 100%, constantly focusing on anything that is out of place.

In the case of a superhero, the task of protecting the city makes them alert 24/7, attentive to the slightest sound that resembles sirens or cries for help. In the case of Marinette Dupain-Cheng, apart from being alert for her duties as Ladybug, she also had to be alert to protect the Miraculous Box.

Such great responsibility, accompanied by her clumsy nature and her tendency to blame herself for all her mistakes, especially affected her at night. Before everyone disappeared she slept intermittently, when her mind was not leading her to dream about her work as a heroine, her senses woke her up because a cat walked across her roof.

It was something that would affect her health in the long run, but until then she managed to hide it, even overbear it, but then came the disappearance of humanity. There was a problem, no doubt, just as there was a mystery, but while the quietness of everything dismayed her, it also helped her relax in a way.

She had already tried everything she could do for herself, she had the Kwamis searching the world, she had the last citizen of Paris under her roof to make it easier to take care of her, she was even starting to get along with her. There was no way crimes would be committed or accidents happen with just the two of them, and everything that would happen between the two could be handled as Marinette.

It was curious, but since Thursday the girl with pigtails was on a streak of good nights, the situation gave her that privilege. Unfortunately, that streak was interrupted due to the events of Saturday. Something was cutting branches and moving wires all over the city, or worse, following them. There was something outside, and the likelihood that it would endanger Chloe kept her on her toes.

The rain and wind didn't help, constantly waking up from the slightest sound. Several times she looked out from her attic to confirm that the windows and the hatch were still closed, as well as to check on her roommate. It was dark, but the occasional lightning bolt illuminated the silhouettes in the darkness and showed her a beautiful blonde sleeping soundly with a stuffed animal in her arms.

The calm of the situation did not calm her mind, but knowing that the heiress was fine brought peace to her heart and strengthened her spirit.

"Sleep well... I'll make sure you're safe here..." The raven-haired girl whispered.

She was surprised by this change between them, seeing how little by little they treated each other better, how Chloe tried to be good, to help. How the blonde began to open up to her, how she confessed her insecurities and how she promised to try again made Marinette more determined to protect her. She was no longer just the last citizen of Paris, she was more than that.

Then the girl with pigtails checked her cell phone, it was almost 2 in the morning on Sunday, still without a trace of anything strange. With that confirmation she turned to see the little red fairy sleeping next to her pillow. The miniature deity didn't have much to do the last few days, at most hide from the visit of its bearer, but that night was different.

"Tikki... Wake up..." The girl with pigtails said under her breath, moving the little creature with the tip of her finger.

"It's the sixth time in just 3 hours..." She complained in a whisper.

"I know, but I can't sleep, I know there's something outside..."

"But the last few times I checked there was nothing..." Despite her complaint, the Kwami began to float. "But since you can't hear anything because of the rain, you have no way of confirming if that doesn't change..."

"Had I already used that excuse? Sorry..."

"No, it's okay... You're doing your job and my duty is to help..."

"Thanks Tikki, I promise I'll make your favorite macaroni to make up for it." Marinette assured her with a grateful smile.

"There's no need..." The red fairy said, flying through the wall carelessly in sleep.

It was a simple task, being a tiny and intangible creature there was no danger, she just had to fly around the bakery to confirm that no one was trying to sneak in or do anything strange. The only thing the strong cold wind did was wake her up completely, but other than that inconvenience it was impossible for her to fly away dragged by the storm.

It's usually only a few seconds before the Kwami re-enters the wall, saying she didn't see anything with a yawn and lying back down. Marinette was already starting to feel paranoid, starting to feel bad for bothering the mini deity, but then Tikki's head appeared on the wall with her eyes wide open.

"Is in the school!" She said stifling a scream, managing to make it soft enough to not wake the blonde.

Neither of them expected that there was really someone else, so without thinking the girl in pajamas went out through the roof hatch directly into the rain. Looking towards the Françoise Dupont School she noticed an open window and some cables entering through it, connected directly to the electrical wiring. Likewise, she saw a light moving in the abandoned building.

Before it could disappear from sight, in the blink of an eye Marinette jumped from her terrace, transforming into her heroic counterpart in mid-air and swung her yo-yo to the building. She crashed into a window, shattering it with the roar of thunder in the background, quickly checking the place.

She saw the wire that went from the window to the living room door, she quickly pulled it hard, hoping that whoever had entered it was still holding it. What came into her field of vision was a broken wire, violently detached from whatever it was connected to. She went out into the hallway and saw where it came from, it was connected to a long line of modified extension cords.

Ladybug followed the wiring, which was connected together rudimentarily, some parts even with several layers of electrical tape. The path took her to the first floor and directly to the basement of the facility, where they had all the electrical, gas and water installations for the school.

The raven-haired girl had to restrain herself from going directly through the walls, she didn't know what she was facing but her mind was already going a mile an hour. It was down there, the thing that was stalking them, that knocked down the branches and the wires, maybe it was an akuma, maybe it was what caused all of this. Maybe it was the monster that took away her world, that made her friends, her parents, disappear.

It was difficult for her to be rational, it was going to be difficult for her to contain her blows. 'But if that thing, whatever it is, is capable of causing a mass extinction, it would certainly be prepared to suffer the consequences, right?' Was what she told herself in her mind, noticing that she was holding her yo-yo tighter than usual.

Then, without thinking about it anymore and believing that everything would end there, the heroine in the red suit with black dots kicked the door, detaching it from the wall and causing it to fly violently through the center of the room. Something inside the engine room began to make evasive maneuvers, it was small and had a bright light, it quickly pointed directly at the light blue eyes, blinding Ladybug.

In response the heroine threw her yo-yo to the side, catching a janitor's trash can and pulling it towards herself, then made a complete turn and threw it towards the light with the lid open. The force of the launch was such that in the blink of an eye the light had disappeared, trapped inside the trash can that was now nailed to the wall and crushed like an empty can.

Quickly the girl with pigtails ran towards the object, preventing it from falling silent and freeing the intruder. It was there, shaking inside the bruised plastic can. She prepared herself for whatever it was, whatever had made everyone disappear, she couldn't make mistakes. She then prepared to throw a preemptive punch as she removed the boat. She expected everything, but she never expected to saw a drone with cracks in its screen and a crooked hand.

"[NO PLEASE! I'M TRYING TO HELP!]" He plead in a staticky voice.

"Markov?!"

"[LADYBUG? IT'S YOU! WHAT JOY]" Said the machine, starting to move its propeller to fly again, with some difficulties.

"Are you the akuma?!"

"[WHAT? NO! MAX SAID THAT WHEN I'M AKUMATIZED I'M RED. I'M STILL BLUE!]"

"And Akumatized Max is green but on Heroes' Day he was red!"

"[YES BUT...]"

"And the last time you were akumatized you locked people and things into the internet!"

"[YES BUT...]"

"Do you know what I've been through all these days?!" The girl in the red mask was upset, determined to end the charade right there, holding the robot in her hands.

"[NO! WAIT! LOOK!]"

Accompanying his pleas, something changed on the screen that showed his pixelated eyes, a video began to appear. On that small broken screen her could see a recording of a room, the camera approaching a sleeping boy, it was Max himself. He didn't seem locked in or anything, that must have been his room. Then the camera zoomed in and a robotic gripper shook his arm.

"Wait... This is what you see? But when is the video recorded?"

The robot did not respond, still playing the recording. The boy had sat on his bed and put on his glasses, reluctantly taking out a laptop while yawning, it must have been very late at night. What he saw on his computer made him open his eyes and woke him up completely, there was no audio so our heroine wasn't sure what it was.

Then a shiver ran down his spine, after what seemed like a few minutes in fast motion the boy got out of bed, only to fade away in the blink of an eye. Where Max was before there was now nothing, not him, not his glasses or his pajamas, the laptop falling to the ground when he vanished.

There was no light, there was no lightning, nor did he become an animal nor object. He didn't even show any signs of being in pain, he was completely normal, he just vanished mid-sentence. Ladybug covered her mouth with horror in her eyes, it was an image that made her stomach twist. Knowing that this happened to everyone, just like that, that there was absolutely nothing she could do to prevent it. And even worse, she was going to hurt someone who saw it firsthand.

"I'm sorry Markov..."

"[DON'T WORRY... IT WAS LOGICAL... WITH SO FEW SURVIVORS THE PROBABILITIES OF ONE BEING THE AKUMA ARE HIGH...]" The robot responded, recovering its pixel eyes.

"But I was too rough anyway, I even damaged the screen and broke your arm..." The heroine lamented.

"[NO PROBLEM, THE IMPORTANT THING IS MY DATABASE AND THE BATTERY... I WAS GOING TO TURN THEM OFF ANYWAY WHEN I HAD A DURABLE POWER SOURCE...]"

"Is that what all the cables were for? Were you doing maintenance on the electrical grid?"

"[WITHOUT HUMAN PRESENCE, THE LIGHT WOULD GO ABOUT A WEEK AFTER ITS DISAPPEARANCE... THAT'S NOT TAKING INTO ACCOUNT EXTREME WEATHER LIKE THIS STORM... IF I WANT TO CONTINUE RESEARCHING I NEED TO SECURE A POWER SOURCE...]" Once Ladybug let he go he flew again with his propeller, heading towards the cables on the floor. "[Sorry, I think I had caps on... I turned off my voice modulators to save power...]"

"Don't worry. You said something about an investigation, does it have to do with what you showed Max?"

"[True, for privacy and security I am not allowed to record audio... His mother is an astronaut, in a month it will be her first trip to space in a prototype ship.]" He explained while trying to lift one of the wires. "[Space travel has many variables... The variables worry Max, so I entered the satellite systems of Tsurugi Industries™, the company that finances the project, to monitor what would be her flight path...] "

"Isn't that illegal?" The heroine asked, picking up the wire, still feeling bad for breaking the drone's clamp.

"[If you sell the data. Or if you use it for extortion. Or if you give access to third parties. Or if you use it to create your own system. Or if...]"

"Never mind, we'll just say you were trying to help a worried friend... Go on."

"[While I was charging at night I was still in the satellite, at 00:35 in the morning they detected an object in the earth's orbit over Paris...]"

"An object? Like a meteorite?"

"[I still do not have data to give you an answer, I only know that said object did not "enter" the detection field of the satellites... It was formed within said range...]"

"Wait... You're saying that before everyone disappeared something materialized in the atmosphere?" The girl in the red suit was incredulous, for the first time in days she had something more than a hypothesis. "It could be related! Many Miraculous materialize things out of thin air."

"[Since the appearance of matter from nowhere is not a common phenomenon, and since I had nothing in my database, I decided to wake up Max.]" The robot began to fly lower, the heroine felt bad for damaging it so much. "[He confirmed that it was not an error made by the scanners and that said object had begun to fall with a strange trajectory.]"

"And then he disappeared." Ladybug finished the sentence, holding up the small drone. "Along with the rest of humanity..."

"[At exactly 00:47 AM on Tuesday.]"

"I'm so sorry Markov, I should have done something to stop it..."

"[You can prevent things without a prior precedent?]" The machine asked naively.

"I..." The girl didn't know how to respond, on one hand this entire disaster was her responsibility, after all she was the guardian of the Miraculous and the heroine of Paris. But at the end of the day she was just a normal girl.

"I wish I could..." Was her response.

"[Me too. When Max disappeared I went to ask his mother, since I didn't see her either I thought that my visual sensors failed, so I rebooted and started to load. When I reactivated on Wednesday and confirmed that it was not a failure of my sensors, I started to... How do you say... worry.]"

"Well, that explains why I didn't see you before... God, I'm terrible, I didn't see you while I was checking the whole city, just like I passed by all the pets..." The girl with raven hair felt guilty.

"[Stress can cause tunnel vision.]" Was his static response.

"That's no excuse! I should do my job better... Whatever, we're not getting anywhere like this. There was an investigation, what's it about?"

"[Since the only variable that day was that object in space, I assumed that there was a correlation between both events. So I began to investigate, looking to access more satellites and cameras, trying to find out where it fell, why it formed and why it made so many people disappear. As much data as possible.]"

"That's perfect Markov! That's just what I needed! If we find out what that was I'll be able to confront it and use my Lucky Charm to bring everyone back!" The excitement returned to Ladybug, knowing that she was finally making progress on something.

"[The problem is that this requires a lot of processing power, and the processors require energy as much as I do.]" The robot noted. "[I was trying to redirect the city's power sources, making a secure line to one place, connecting hospital backup generators and other electrical sources.]"

"That's a lot of work for one. Didn't you think to ask for help?"

"[When I realized the power problem you were no longer patrolling the city.]"

"I'm sorry about that too, but there were Marinette Dupain-Cheng and Chloe Bourgeois, could you have asked them..."

"[They are incompatible, everyone knows it. Having two pieces that constantly repel each other is not good for any operation. Teams should be like yours Ladybug! A functional machine where all the parts blindly fulfill their purpose... ]"

"Markov... Thats not..."

The heroine could not believe the image she conveyed to the public, her companions were people, not machines following orders. Although of course, the drone didn't tell lies. After the Miracle Queen incident and becoming the guardian, Marinette had certainly become more controlling. She felt that the world was in her hands, so she unconsciously began to put it into practice.

She arrived with the plan and then gave them the Miraculous, demanded that it be fulfilled, and naturally her companions, seeing her as the heroine of Paris, followed her without questioning. And right now, after being forced to work with the blonde and seeing how determined she could be, her creativity and logic, only made her feel even more bad. 'So this is what I teach the future generations and robots? Teams shouldn't be like that...' The girl with the mask thought.

"[Aside from that, Chloe is the lowest point of the low in terms of human evolution. It wasn't going to do any good to ask her for help on this.]" Markov noted.

"Who said that?!" The phrase caught Ladybug off guard.

"[Marinette]"

"Ah..." Her recent admiration for the heiress made her forget what she herself responded to in their rivalry, both antagonizing each other. "Well, teenagers have complicated relationships, I'm sure she didn't mean to be so cruel to her and that she doesn't think that..."

"[The best thing would be to ask her when I see her, now I have to continue preparing the safe energy line. I have to download the data from the satellites before they start to fall in a year due to lack of human support...]" He said while It was flying again with its propeller, trying and failing to grab the cable again.

"You know, teams don't have to be a perfectly functional machine either, having everyone do everything you say puts a lot of pressure on just one person... And that's why I'm going to help you!"

"[Oh really?]"

"Your plan is just what I need in this situation, besides, good deeds need support, we can't expect people to be good without help..." The girl said, putting on her best heroine face.

"[What joy! With your help we will surely finish this before the nuclear reactors collapse and the earth is filled with radiation!]" There was a joyful tone in his synthetic voice.

"Wait, nuclear plants what...?!"

"[Without human maintenance, the energy system would collapse in about a week. But only the transportation infrastructures, for their part, the power plants themselves would take longer to collapse. The nuclear ones would take a month before their cores melt down for no maintenance and no cooling.]"

"We have to get to work then, I don't want to find out if the Lucky Charm can clean radiation, you will have your energy source before the day is over." The heroine stated, somewhat worried about her new work deadline.

“[Can you do that?]” A question mark appeared on the cracked screen.

"I won't be the most advanced machine in Paris, nor will I perform miracles, but I will do what I can."

And with that promise, the girl got to work. More than ever before she had something to work with, a clue, an idea of what could have happened before everyone vanished without a trace. She had a lot to do and the night was still young, she was going to do everything she could to help.

Chapter Text

There is something we all do to feel fulfilled, something that makes us feel complete, proud and satisfied with ourselves. Some spend their entire lives searching for that something, others have known it for as long as they can remember, and others simply have an epiphany. The latter was the case with Marinette, who had her epiphany during the Stone Heart incident.

The first akuma attack was the day that changed her life forever, when she discovered what filled her inside and that would eventually begin to drown her, was helping others. That which gave meaning to her life above all things, that something that she wanted to be her legacy, was being a heroine. Be a good person, help people, make the world a better place.

Unfortunately, what filled her was also the number one cause of her complexes and insecurities currently. 'Am I enough? Am I doing the right thing? Can I do better? Is this all my fault?' were the questions that were on her mind most every time she looked back at her work as a superhero.

She had everything to help people like Ladybug, she was literally chosen to save the world. But was her up to the task? Since the disappearance she only had one answer to that question. No. She wasn't up to par, she wasn't enough to balance everything that was at stake. And every second that she was alone with her mind, that she wasn't distracted by the Kwamis or Chloe, or that she wasn't working on something, she remembered it.

She clung to every breakthrough to find out what happened, to discover Hawk Moth or to achieve something, to prove herself wrong. And that's why, now that the universe was smiling at her in the form of a drone with a broken screen, that she was running through Paris against an inclement storm. The wind was blowing hard and the rain was falling furiously, but she went through it all undeterred.

She swung unstoppably as Markov guided her. For practical reasons, she take an earpiece from her yo-yo and placed it in her ear, asking the robot to speak to her there so that she could hear it well even in the storm. In the same way, she put together an improvised fanny pack with cables to carry the aforementioned, still feeling guilty for the damage she caused by accident.

"[I see why so many people are fans of the spider guy! This pendulous aerial movement, while not efficient, is a lot of fun!]"

"No doubt, but we have to concentrate. Are you sure we have everything we need for the hospital?" The heroine asked, seeing the large sports bag that they took out of a store, it was already light from the hours of work.

"[Yes! According to my calculations, we have 132% of the materials needed to redirect the electricity from the emergency generator.]" The robot on her chest answered. “[I still don't understand why you took extra supplies when we robbed the hardware store.]”

"How would I know how many rolls of duct tape are 13,470 centimeters? And it's not stealing! When this is all over, everything will be back in its place... I hope..."

"[So I won't go to jail for practicing unlicensed pruning of public trees and damaging the city's electrical wiring?]"

"Did you think they would send you to jail?"

"[I mean, it's vandalism after all. I spent 3 hours, 42 minutes and 15 seconds considering the implications before trying to secure a power source.]"

"That's a lot of introspection for someone who hacks satellites, and what was your conclusion?" The girl in the red suit and black dots asked.

"[That from previous observations, you and Chat Noir actively damage or use public and private property to stop crimes or accidents, as well as enter places where you were not invited or should not have access...]" He explained with his voice with static . "[But since you do it for the common good, then there is no problem. So I will find a way to help, even if there is a possibility of ending up in prison.]"

Ladybug was genuinely surprised by that reading of her previous actions. 'Is that the example I'm giving to the world...?' she questioned herself in her mind. His intentions were not bad, the robot genuinely wanted to help, but his analysis was very literal.

After all, is it wrong to go when someone needs help? Was it wrong to use a frozen fire truck to set a trap for a villain? Or activate the bumpers of a car to trap a siren inside? Or go through a bus when it is thrown at you? She fought super villains and saved lives after all, things couldn't be that simple, they had to have nuances.

Although of course, she had the Lucky Charm, just yell Miraculous Ladybug and a cloud of magical ladybugs would repair everything, so her use of public and private property was never a real problem for the population. Then she saw what she was doing, she was going from block to block altering the electrical wiring. Assembling and changing cables, connecting them to other parts and changing currents, all following Markov's instructions.

Would all of that be repaired too? Would the private information obtained by the small drone be deleted from his hard drive? She was now going to a hospital to connect the emergency generator to her secure line. When everything returns to normal will it recover the power they use? Will those in charge know that the emergency generator is empty when they return or will they be in for an unpleasant surprise if the power goes out in the middle of a surgery?

She never thought about the ramifications of her powers, she simply trusted that everything would be fixed. Since her chaotic life calmed down due to the disappearance of everyone, since she no longer has a thousand things that kept her mind distracted, she falls more and more into these questions. Increasingly aware of what she doesn't know, what she does and what she did. And all that, along with Markov's perspective, only made it clear to her that she might not be very good at what made her feel complete.

After all, the robot could be very smart, but it still had less than a year of “life”, it was still like a little kid. Sure, a little kid was teaching her how to redirect an entire block's electricity to go to a single building on the other side of town, but he was still a very innocent mind in his own way. 'Humanity's first steps in having real artificial intelligence like those in the movies, and I'm teaching him that stealing is okay? Max is going to kill me...' she thought after wrapping some exposed wires in electrical tape.

"[Well, with this we had already secured 82 power sources.]" the robot reported. "[Now it's time to disconnect the subway from the main network. We have to have as little current deviation as possible and i don't think Marinette or Chloe are using the train right now.]"

The heroine simply go to it without responding. To some it would seem very diligent, but the truth was that she was still lost in her thoughts. After all, she had consciously knocked out electricity on almost every block of Paris just to carry out a plan, and now more than ever she questioned whether her powers would repair what she did consciously.

She was so engrossed that she didn't even flinch at the hippopotamus at the foot of the subway stairs, simply jumping over it as if it were a fence. Advancing through the flooded tunnels to the central train station, there she cut the power to every train track in the empty city. The city was completely dark after finishing her work, every power source in Paris going directly to a single point. Now all that was left was to get Markov to that point.

Although she couldn't tell because of the storm if had already spent the night, they undoubtedly spent several hours working in the heavy rain, so she opted for a marginally drier path. The sewers were overflowing with rainwater, but thanks to her super-human speed and great agility, the heroine advanced without touching the ground (nor water) at any time. She moved the manhole cover and emerged just a couple of blocks from the Paris TV building.

Markov had deduced that it was the perfect place for his plan, a large number of processors and servers for telecommunications, even with its good assortment of antennas and transmitters to improve his own range, making it easier to enter the range of the satellites and contact them. They had the entire power grid concentrated in that building, running through a wide variety of suppressors and firewalls to ensure that devices didn't burn out from excess power.

"[Very good. Everything seems to be working fine. Now, if you could connect those USB-type cables and the charger for me, I would appreciate it.]" The robot asked in his static voice, awkwardly moving his robotic hand to demonstrate why he didn't do it alone.

"Immediately." The heroine responded, connecting the cables. "And... Sorry again for being so aggressive earlier..." She add embarrassed.

"[It was a logical thing to do given the stress of the situation, although I suppose it's hard to let go of habits.]"

"Oh don't tell me I'm also one to hit first and ask questions later..."

"[What? No. In fact, what I notice after our last 9 hours of collaboration is that you tend to apologize a lot. Considering that, of the 43 minutes of conversation we had today, a third were apologies.]"

"That much? Wait... Do we really talk so little?" The girl in the red suit with black spots was surprised by how self-absorbed she could be sometimes. 'I have to apologize to Chat when he gets back if that's how I always am... It must be awful flirting with a wall...'

"[I thought it was something like a heroic hyper focus, it dosnt? Are you okay Ladybug?]" He asked with question marks on his screen.

"Yeah, don't worry, it's just... With the disappearance and our little talk I've had a lot on my mind..." She confessed.

"[Because of the collapse of the nuclear plants? We still have a lot of time before we get to that point.]" He pointed out, trying to calm her down. "[Or is it because of the gas system? Technically the pipes have better performance and resistance than the wiring, so it still has a couple of days of operation left. And if it is because of the drinking water, rainwater is one of the cleanest for human consumption, there are many collectors in the city.]" Markov explained.

"It's not that but good to know, one less problem..." The heroine scratched her neck. "It's more because... Because of everything else... The city is so dark and silent that I can't stop thinking about everything I did..."

"[I suppose that the deprivation of external stimulation causes the brain to stimulate itself. In the absence of the natural color and bustle of the city your brain must be compensating by resorting to your memories.]" The blue screen robot reasoned.

"The problem is that I look back and wonder if I did my job right... I mean, no matter how hard I tried until now, I haven't been able to stop Hawk Moth and if it wasn't for you I would never have known what the satellites detected ..." Then she looked directly at the machine connected to the cables. "What do you do if you are not able to fulfill your purpose?"

There was a moment of silence, as if Markov was processing what she said, literally processing what she said, searching for an appropriate response. After a minute the drone spoke again, this time making sure its voice came out as clear as possible.

"[Humans naturally have no purpose per se, they are not a machine or an object with a predetermined function, so Max programmed me without a fixed goal. He wanted me to be as human as possible, not anchored to a single function or purpose, so I could choose what to be.]" Then he pointed to her. "[Max said that humans give themselves a purpose, a function. You decide what your purpose is.]"

"But what if I'm not capable? What if I fail at what I want to do? What if I can't help people?"

"[Then you have to define what is a failure. If your purpose is to help, at what point do you fail to help? On what scale? You consider that you failed on a global scale, but on a smaller scale? For example: you helped me today. Thanks to you I have a way to fulfill the purpose that I set for myself, to find out what happened to save my friends. It is unlikely that that can be considered a failure.]"

At these words, the girl with light-blue eyes could do nothing but sigh with a bittersweet smile, not completely convinced but refusing to continue bothering the robot.

"Thank you Markov, I think... You're right..."

"[It is a pleasure to help. Now, I will proceed to collect all the possible information from the satellite and the cameras.]"

"I'll stop bothering you then. When you have something, turn on the light on the twelfth floor and I'll come as fast as I can." Ladybug said waving goodbye, the robot responding to the gesture with his own arm.

Now that everything was ready, the truth is that the rush left her body as the roar of her stomach became present. She took out some fries from a vending machine, detransformed, and shared it with Tikki as she walked down the stairs. Then she took an umbrella from one of the weather girls and went out into the street, again in the rain that gave no quarter.

It would be a long way home, she hoped to get there before Chloe woke up so she wont worry, but the black cloud in her mind made her stop in the middle of the street, looking at the Kwami that was floating attached to the waterproof fabric of the umbrella.

"Tikki, I know you always tell me that I'm doing well and that I'm a good Ladybug... But is that true? Weren't you just being nice those times?" Marinette had a mortified face.

"As you yourself told Chloe, the fact that you recognize it, that you care so much about doing it well, is proof that you are a good Ladybug." The mini goddess answered, sounding almost knowing, although it seemed that was not enough to convince its bearer.

"Don't use my words against me, you know it's different. She tries to be good and it shows that she's made a change these days, but I've been trying to be a heroine for months and I feel like I'm not making any progress..." The girl in pajama was upset with herself. "If she fails, her life will still be miserable, that would be horrible but at least it wouldn't hurt anyone... On the other hand, if I fail... This is what happens..." She pointed around.

"Come on Marinette, don't say that, you're only 15, you had no way to prevent this."

"I would have prevented it if I had caught Hawk Moth at this point! I am Ladybug, I am the guardian of the Miraculouses, and yet you already heard how everyone sees me! A bossy one who gives orders and treats her heroic companions like robots , a delinquent who breaks everything since her magical yo-yo is going to repair it when it's all over." Tears began to threaten to fall.

"I think this is your insecurity talking..."

"You think?!" She gave a small hiccup, gripping the umbrella tighter as she lowered her tone. "Tikki, I got into a fight with Alya before all this happened, I literally forgot a Miraculous that I gave to Zoe, I raided Lila's house based on my prejudices when it's obvious that she can't be Hawk Moth..."

"Marinette..."

"I fill my mouth saying that I'm going to help Chloe be good when I caused her to have a regression in the first place... By pure luck I found Markov, otherwise I'd still be totally useless at home... Tikki, she thinks I'm perfect, but I don't even know if I can be good anymore..."

"Don't worry... You're not a bad person, much less useless, you do the best you ca-" The red fairy was distracted by something in her field of vision, cutting off her monologue.

She quickly flew to hide on top of the umbrella. This action was strange to the bakers' daughter, who turned around when she heard the footsteps in the water. In the blink of an eye a girl in yellow tackled her, they did not fall in the flooded streets miraculously. It took almost a full minute for the girl with pigtails to realize what was happening.

That girl who almost knocked her down, in a yellow raincoat and who was hugging her was Chloe. Chloe Bourgeois, the Chloe Bourgeois, was hugging her. Not even in her wildest dreams could she see a scene like that, and then she realized that the blonde who is hugging her is also the same one she left at her house on the other side of Paris, the house to which Marinette thought she would return before said blonde woke up.

"OH MY GOD CHLOÉ! I'm so sorry! God I'm stupid! He even told me a moment ago that we were there for 9 hours of course what would worry you! You must have been terrified! God I'm so stupid! I'm sorry! VERY SORRY!"

Her apologies rained down with the same force as the storm around her, but the blonde didn't even flinch. She held her in her arms, the cold, soaked raincoat feeling warm against the fabric of her pajamas somehow. It was something in the way she held her, like Chat Noir's arms every time he protected her, like Alya's when she comforted her after revealing her identity, like her mother's when she went to pick her up in her first days of preschool.

The small repressed cry she heard next to her clarified everything. Chloe went out in the middle of the storm, wrapped only in a raincoat, to look for her. Chloe was scared for her, and she was hugging her like she was the most valuable thing in the world. This put tears in the eyes of the raven-haired girl, who returned the hug and felt guilty for allowing herself to be immersed in it.

Then she whispered softly into the heiress's shoulder, words so soft that they would only remain between the two, even if there was no one else who could hear them. This last apology came from the depths of her being.

"I'm sorry."

Chapter Text

Calm, a sensation that at times seemed to have disappeared from everyone's dictionary in Paris. With an akuma attack almost every day, the busy life of the city of light became even more hectic, and for some students at the Françoise Dupont School, calm was almost a fictional concept.

Projects, fights between friends, attacks by super villains, exams, people willing to make your life impossible, friendships in doubt or broken, family that returns only to make everything worse and responsibilities that not even an adult would know how to handle. Then, as if by magic, probably literally by magic, all those problems disappear.

One would think that calm would return there, that they would have a moment to breathe, but in the case of Marinette Dupain-Cheng the opposite was proven. The disappearance of her problems was a problem in itself, what had happened, when and how, the fact that her parents and acquaintances were also gone only made it even harder.

Days passed, she changed her goal to something she felt more achievable, and her failures began to make the problem even bigger. Then someone appeared whom she overlooked and showed her when. Almost a week after the incident, the most progress she made was with the help of a third one, by a stroke of luck, and that brought everything but peace to her mind. The world was silent but her brain was screaming.

But then, in the middle of the silence of the city everything begins to change as the days go by, with no one around you can notice the little things, how they grow. And for a moment, in front of the Paris TV building, the girl with the pigtails feels that something she lost so long ago. There, under a blue umbrella and hugging her former bully, she feels her mind quiet for a moment. Marinette feels calm as she lets her emotions run without any more noise in her head, crying softly into Chloe's shoulder, tears mixing with the raindrops on the raincoat.

An impossible scene in the middle of an unthinkable tragedy, and the only witnesses were a hidden fairy and a wet dog. It was a moment that not even the thunder in the background, roaring through the soulless streets, was going to break. The ones who put an end to the hug were themselves, the blonde moving away to look into her eyes but maintaining her grip on the shoulders of the girl in pajamas, the blue of the sea reflecting the blue of the sky.

"Finally found you! I looked everywhere..." Chloe said with a tired look.

"I'm so sorry, you must have been so scared..."

"I? Scared? You're the one who was kidnapped!" She broke eye contact to inspect her carefully, confirming that she was not injured but seeing her wet clothes. "You're going to get sick like this, we have to get you something quick and get out of here before the kidnapper finds you again."

"Kidnap-? Chloe, calm down, I'm not in danger..." She inform her, placing a hand over hers on her shoulder.

"Are you kidding? You're on the other side of the town in your pajamas! Your roof hatch was open and the rain was falling on your bed! How is that not being in danger?!" The terror and confusion on her face sent a pain through Marinette's chest.

"Look... I..." This time she was the one who broke eye contact sadly, looking first at her open mouth that was breathing hard, then at her legs that were trembling gently, then at the flooded floor. "Let's go in first... It will be... Long to explain..."

Confused, tired and soaked, the heiress gave up, resignedly entering the tall building. The two sat on the sofas in the hall, the yellow raincoat over one while the blonde sat directly next to it, near the girl with pigtails. You'd think it was to try to keep her warm, but Marinette was sure it was so she wouldn't run away.

She felt trapped and technically she was, she had to give an explanation, an explanation for why she disappeared so suddenly and why she seemed unconcerned about it. Suddenly the question of how many times she got herself into a predicament crossed her mind, a question she filed away for existential doubts later, since patience wasn't exactly Chloe's virtue.

Say girl was looking at her expectantly, sitting with her fists clenched and resting on her legs, while the bakers' daughter had her hands together and played with her thumbs while she thought. 'What do I tell her? She crossed half of Paris on foot to find me, she even looked for Sabrina's dog to save me. She believed I was kidnapped by a monster.' Then she moved her eyes from the ground and looked to her side, the blonde was close.

It was certainly a picturesque situation. Two girls sitting on a sofa at a television station, one well dressed and made up, the other in pajamas with a short-sleeved t-shirt and their clothes as soaked as their shoes, one almost on top of the other looking at her expectantly. A curious scene if it weren't for the deathly silence, the lack of Light and the storm outside. Every second Marinette grew more nervous, not knowing when Chloe would burst into accusations.

Then she looked briefly at her face again. There was no anger, no annoyance that it was taking so long, only the purest concern was what her features expressed. It was an alien idea, that the heiress wanted her enough to worry, to wait in silence despite her longing, just so that she would gain the strength to speak. 'I have to tell her something, she as been so worried about me. But what do I tell her? I can't just tell what happened! I can't tell her that I'm Ladybug...' then the word echoed in her mind, bouncing to the tip of her tongue.

"You see... What happened is that..." She almost trembled in her place, the words wanting to come out like that time after the gang of secrets. Maybe it was the situation, maybe it was desperation, maybe her recent doubts clouded her judgment, but she felt she had to say it. "The thing is, I... Ladybug..."

"Oh that bitch!" The blonde snapped, making Marinette jump. "That idiot spent her time swinging everywhere without doing anything! Can you believe she ignored me when I asked her for help?! I called her with all my might to help you but she continued walking away!"

Her contempt welling up the moment she heard the name, and the raven-haired girl completely understood why. The information left her cold, not only because it was cold and wet, but also because of the idea that, once again, she was so focused on trying to solve everything that she ignored the girl she swore to protect when she was there and called her directly. She also wanted to yell at herself, scold herself for not having noticed her, Markov or the pets at the time. But Chloe wasn't done yet.

"Did she have something to do with it? Is it her fault that you're here?!" She asked in an accusatory tone, standing up. "I knew that cheap heroine would be jealous of people better than her, but to come to this?! Oh, she's going to find out when if I see her again!"

"No Chloe! I..." The tears began to come rushing out, barely contained. "She... what's happening is..." The girl in pajamas regained her composure as quickly as she could, trying to organize the ideas in her mind. "That's not how it happened..."

"So what happened?!"

"What happened was... The thing outside was Markov..."

"The four-eyed toy? I mean... Max's robot?"

"He and Ladybug were... They were modifying the electrical wiring, they needed to have a stable power source because Markov could figure out what happened..."

The anger began to leave the ponytailed girl, sitting back down next to her as she processed what she was listening. It seemed like she believed it, after all what the girl with pigtails said was true, a half-truth. 'Half-lying...' the idea hurt her, but she still continued.

"I couldn't sleep so I found them when they were passing by the roof, so they told me and... I got excited and I joined them... I wanted to be useful, I wanted to help... I wanted to help you to... I thought that I could do something right..."

"That's what you are, someone good..." Chloe said pinching the bridge of her nose as she let out a sigh of resignation. "Obviously she would ask you for help... I was already surprised that it wouldn't happen sooner... And obviously I would be left aside..."

"She said she didn't want to bother you, that the last time you two saw each other wasn't... Exactly good... I... She didn't want to wake you up just to argue and cause you stress... We just wanted to get everything ready for the morning and tell you the good news... But we timed it wrong... I focused so much on doing it quickly that I blocked everything else..." She try to justify the heroine, not to defend herself from the heiress's justified hatred, but to try to apologize for having so much tunnel vision. "I'm sorry..."

"No. Stop saying that... You don't have to apologize for being the way you are. It's normal that you tried to be a hero and help... And it's normal that Ladybug didn't trust me..." She said in a almost melancholy tone, patting her on the back.

"But you should have been so scared! She should have thought better of it... I should have thought better of it!"

"Marinette, no. I'm Chloe Bourgeois, I don't care about anyone other than myself, and I'm not afraid for others..." She shut her by placing her index finger on her lips.

"But Chloe…" She moved the finger away, taking her wrist in her hands.

"No 'But Chloe' Dupain-Cheng, even if you say it when everyone comes back no one is going to believe it in the first place, and if they believe it they'll probably say I deserved to be 'terrified'." She made quotes with her free hand, not bothering to break contact or free her other hand. "You're okay, there's no monster outside and you did the good deed of the day, that's all that matters. So stop crying over spilled milk. Understand?"

"I... okay..." She sighed resignedly, letting go of her wrist.

"Okay, now that we've stopped making me feel stupid for worrying, just let me see where..." With everything decided, the blonde stood up, looking around, took out her cell phone and after a couple of attempts managed to turn on her light. "There!"

Marinette looked at her strangely as the princess of Paris walked down a hallway of the building, not knowing exactly what was going on in her head. Before her conscience began to reproach her for lying to someone who cared about her, the blonde came back and threw a security guard uniform on the seat.

"I knew there would be one around here, put it on and let's go." She said making signs with her hands.

"Sorry?"

"Put it on, you're in pajamas and we're on the other side of Paris, apart from the fact that that thing is almost transparent." The raven-haired girl quickly covered herself with her arms as her face turned red. "The last thing I want is to take care of someone sick, so put on those old-fashioned guard clothes."

"B-but I can't! That's stealing!" The tomato-red girl complained.

"Excuse me? It's called survival! We did the same thing with the supplies!" Chloe replied.

"It's different!" She assured standing up.

"Of course it's not! Your survival depends on you not being half as annoying as I am with a flu, and no one wants to find out that!"

"I had a meltdown just minutes ago over this very topic, I'm not wearing a stolen uniform!"

"Ugh, fine!" She complained before taking off her yellow Cardigan and throwing it at the girl in her pajamas.

"What are you doing?" Marinette asked, catching it, she quickly covered her face with the yellow garment when she saw her take off the shirt. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"

"It's not theft if I give it to you! If you're not going to wear the uniform then I'll give you mine and then you'll stop bothering me."

"At least do it inside the bathroom or something!" She scream with her face bright red.

And that's how they headed back to the bakery from the Paris TV building, walking side by side in silence. It was a strange sight to say the least, a sight that none of her acquaintances would believe even seeing it with their own eyes. The two girls stood shoulder to shoulder, sharing an umbrella held by Chloe, who was wearing a security guard's uniform that was comically oversized.

Next to her was Marinette, who incredibly was wearing the heiress's clothes, which fit her quite well, just one size different from her normal clothes. They were both shoulder to shoulder, covered by the same umbrella and wrapped in the same yellow raincoat, looking in different directions with pink cheeks due to their unique situation.

They were both grateful that there was no one to take a photo, they knew very well what they looked like and neither was prepared to face that. It was a long, quiet and surprisingly pleasant walk despite the apparent embarrassment. They were both physically and emotionally tired, so they found themselves leaning on each other multiple times.

As soon as they arrived at Marinette's house they had another argument, this time over who got to shower first. After swearing and swearing that she wasn't cold, the girl with pigtails managed to convince the blonde to go through hot water first. But not before promising that she would stay there, sitting and not going on another surprise adventure to play the hero.

So there she was, keeping her promise, sitting in a chair outside of the bathroom, still in her partner's warm clothes while she dried little Louis who accompanied them the entire walk.

"There, we don't want you to catch a cold too, little one... Chloe was very smart to ask you for help, huh? Who's a good boy? Who's a good boy? You are..." she play with the wrinkled dog after drying its fur.

The animal seemed extremely happy about the treatment, it was obvious that it had not interacted with a human for days. The sound of the rain outside, the shower inside, and the joy of the basset hound running in her living room brought some life to her dark house. She would have to light a lot of candles and lanterns to illuminate the environment.

'Maybe I should have asked Markov to connect my house to the secure line...' she thought, quickly feeling bad about the idea, for thinking about hindering the robot's good deed with her selfish desire. 'But why am I like this...?' she questions herself, sometimes trying too hard not to break a single plate can be counterproductive.

Then she felt a hand on her shoulder, this time she couldn't just look away because of what was in front of her eyes. The blonde was once again wrapped in a towel right in front of her, a yellow one wrapped around her chest and a smaller light blue one wrapped around her hair, the blonde curls that always escaped from her ponytail still adorning the sides of her cheekbones.

"Look, I... I don't know if your heater is gas or electric, so... Look, I left you hot water, okay? Take advantage of it..." Said the heiress, still not used to being openly friendly.

Marinette was grateful for the darkness of the house, she wasn't sure if Chloe would have spoken so well to her if she saw the look on her face. It wasn't that she was ugly, in fact, it was quite the opposite, she was shocked not to see her ugly. Seeing her exposed like this, such an intimate view of the heiress and being considered in her own way, and worse yet, seeing Chloe and thinking she was pretty. It was unthinkable, not even by the work of an akuma did it seem possible.

But of course, at the end of the day it was just the two of them. There was no one to impress, no one to question her, no one to derail her. They had lost everything, and only had this opportunity without interference to change. And Chloe, Chloe was changing.

"It's hard to believe that she was your bully, really, she seems like another girl" Tikki commented as soon as they entered the bathroom.

"Yes... She has grown so much on her own..."

"From enemies to friends, she has really matured!"

"Friends... She became my friend..." Tears began to appear on the face of the girl with raven hair. "She changed so much to help... She even lent me her designer clothes... And I lied to her face..." She said entering the shower.

"Marinette, I love you very much, but please not again..." The red Kwami put her little arm to her forehead.

"Tikki, you've seen it, she's changing and I'm stuck... and I don't know if I'm stuck in a good place anymore..." Then she let the warm water run, relaxing her tired muscles. "I'm the worst..."

"If I'm honest, I haven't seen anyone so dramatic since the Italian Renaissance..." The fairy commented, moving away from the stream of the watering can.

"Well, you could also be honest about Ladybug... I know I'm the first to lose an entire world and take so long to fix it..." The girl said melancholy as she wet her hair.

"You know, you're right, no Ladybug has ever gone through something like what you're experiencing..." The Kwami of Creation declared.

"I knew it...!"

"But because no Ladybug was like you." She flew up to be directly in front of Marinette's face, holding her nose between her little paws to have her full attention. "You're one of my youngest wielders, you didn't even have formal training from the Guardian Order or even a warrior, you're literally a girl whose dream is to be a fashion designer."

"See? I'm not qualified..."

"Let me finish. The wars are over, you were born in a time of peace where the majority no longer have to fight. As if that were not enough, you were born in a time during which the Guardians Order did not exist, and you have to fight against the two Miraculous that are capable of creating armies of demigods..."

The Kwami of Creation paused, wanting to be sure her bearer was following her. Marinette was so attentive that she hadn't even used soap yet.

"You're not a warrior, and yet you fight every day with everything Hawk Moth throws at you. You had even less training than Master Fu, and yet you fight every day to be the best guardian you can be... And in such an interconnected world, you do everything knowing what's at stake, carrying a world too big for anyone's shoulders... And you still manage to get up every day to help..."

"Tikki..."

"When I say that you are the best Ladybug, I don't say it by comparing you to any past carrier or trying to protect your feelings. I say it because, for the conditions in which you have to fight, I couldn't ask for anyone better for the position..." Said the mini goddess, hugging her shoulder with her little paws. "Although sometimes you can be a bit dramatic..."

Tears returned to Marinette's face, but this time they were not bitter. The small creature managed to create a ray of light that pierced the black clouds that swirled in her mind, taking away the weight that her insecurities left in her heart.

"Thank you, Tikki..." She said, putting her hand in her shoulder to give the Kwami a small hug.

After that little shower talk, the raven-haired girl finished getting rid of the cold with the hot water. Now with a calmer mind and physically cleaner, she wrapped herself in a towel and went out to the living room, being greeted by Chloe lighting candles throughout the dining room, apparently she found her mother's aromatics in the cabinets.

The blonde looked like she had a lot of yellow cardigans and t-shirts with black stripes on the stomach, this time putting everything together with a long yellow skirt that reached her ankles. Marinette, for her part, returned to her usual outfit, this time without rolling up her sleeves. Since the gas would take longer to go away, they took advantage and prepared a baked chicken with potato salad and a casserole flan for dessert. They needed carbohydrates after running all over Paris and after taking down the padding of the attic.

They had both had enough movement for one day, so they agreed that they would sleep early today, although that didn't stop them from making small talk during dinner. This time they were one at each end of the table, naturally the heiress refused to let the girl with pigtails leave her field of vision.

"So... Lady Bitch gave you a Miraculous? I mean, for you to walk around so calmly in your pajamas you must have had a magical suit or something..." The blonde asked while wiping her lips with a napkin.

"Oh, y-yeah of course... Obviously she gave me one to help..." Marinette replied as she helped herself to more of the potato salad.

"Comfortable, right? I remember it from when I was Queen Bee, a single piece without seams but flexible, light but resistant, close to the body but retains heat well, waterproof but lets the skin breathe..." She list with nostalgia while drinking from a glass, it was fruit juice, the heiress liked to appear elegant. "Without a doubt they were magical suits..."

"Sometimes I forgot that you also know about fashion... Good description..." The girl with light blue eyes said, giving a chicken leg to Louis under the table.

"If only mom was also easy to impress... Anyway, can I know which one she gave you? Just curious..."

"Ah, t-this... Mine was..."

"Oh no wait, that whole 'No one can know your identity' thing and blah blah blah, forgot about it, you don't have to tell me." She went back to eating after saying that.

"It's for our safety, she doesn't want our loved ones to be hurt..." Excuse her own alter ego.

"Bullshit!" Chloe snapped after swallowing. "If what I remember from the Miracle Queen incident is true, then Hawk Moth knows the identity of more than half of the supported heroes, and I don't see any of them even changing their names."

At those words Marinette remained silent, it was difficult to object when the reality was even more incriminating with the facts. Not only did the villain know the identity of most of the heroes, but he had even used this information to attack Alya and impersonate Nino on two different occasions.

Although she believed in Tikki's words, the truth is that there was a certain bias when it came to giving her friends other opportunities compared to her former bully, and although it was logical, it still made her chest hurt. She still had a lot to improve. After a minute of eating in silence, she finally spoke again.

"Do you remember when the science teacher was akumatized? That time Ladybug came for me and gave me the opportunity to be a hero, I wanted to do everything right so as soon as the fight was over I returned the Miraculous to her... Chat Noir saw me..."

"I know that someone as good as you should have been on her list of candidates for heroes... I bet she was scared that you left her without a job, you're the nicest person I know... Maybe too good sometimes." ..."

"Are you saying that for refusing to steal the security guard's uniform? I know it sounds stupid, but I don't know. Aren't bad people the ones supposed to do things like steal or break things? I don't know if as hero you are giving the right message by doing that..."

"So firefighters are bad for breaking into other people's houses? I mean, it's breaking and entering and it's not very legal to enter a burning house..." The blonde said with a sarcastic tone.

"Oh come on it's different."

"And what about doctors? I mean, what kind of good person would be a psychopath who spends his time open up people, puting things in and out of a person's body or giving them drugs?" Same tone as before.

"But that's his job! It's not the same as a vigilant."

"So our tree-hugging partner is evil for stopping my Daddy from destroying a very nice park and building something there? I'm sure it was the one next door." She pointed out the window from her seat. "I mean, it is illegal to interfere with the felling of trees even if a park that made many children and couples happy is going to disappear."

"You're not going to stop, are you?"

"Stop? Oh, surely all those kids picking up trash from the street should stop when that's the job of underpaid garbage collectors. How dare they clean up the city where they live?" Even if she tried to be nice, Chloe was Chloe, and naturally it would be difficult for her to stop using mockery as a debate methodology.

"You're still kind of rude... But I see your point..." The raven-haired girl conceded.

"I mean, I'm happy that you also dislike Ladybug, but at least do it for a good reason. They are heroes after all and although it pains me to admit it, they saved my ass many times... I don't like them, I know I could do it better than all of them... But at least they do their job..." She explained, drinking her glass again.

"Sometimes I'm scared to agree with you but... I think you're right..." Marinette said cutting a piece of chicken. "I still think they could try a little harder, do better..."

"Oh absolutely! If I were out there we wouldn't even need a Lucky Charm..."

And so the girls continued, compared to the morning, both girls shared their dinner with enthusiasm and a pleasant chat, and that put a smile on the face of the girl with pigtails. After calming her doubts a little and clearing her mind of the black clouds in her, the girl was happy to enjoy the small victory she had today.

She had a small clue about what had happened on Tuesday, she had help to find out exactly what happened so she could solve it, she even had the most unexpected help to stay sane. She had managed to become friends with Chloe Bourgeois, and better yet, she had seen with her own eyes how she was trying to change.

So, when she went to bed in clean pajamas on old but soft padding, with clean sheets and candles on the frame of her bed, she knew she would sleep very well after a long day. She had already made herself comfortable when she noticed certain sapphire eyes on the stairs of her bed.

"Chloe? You think I'll disappear again tomorrow right?"

"It's not that, it's just..." The blonde had her hair down, already in her light blue nightgown and with her curls falling on her shoulders. "Listen, I really appreciate the gesture of giving me a place to sleep but the couch in your room isn't that comfortable..."

"Oh! I'm sorry! I should have realized... Hey, do you want to sleep up here? We can change." Marinette hurried out of bed when a raised hand stopped her.

"Stop Dupain-Cheng, you spent all night helping Ladybug become an electrician and on top of that her sent you walking home, you're not going to sleep badly... I..." Even with the little light from the candles she saw the pink tone on the heiress's cheeks.

"Yeah?"

"I wanted to know if you would mind sharing your bed... It's quite big..." She mumbled embarrassed.

With a gentle smile on her face, the girl with raven hair moved to the side, standing closer to the railing and leaving a more than respectable space for the blonde, both of them deserved a good night's sleep. Chloe climbed up somewhat reluctantly, too proud to bring her teddy bear, and lay back with her arms crossed staring at the wall. The owner of the bed offered to make hee a wall of pillows, which she rejected.

"It would be ridiculous, utterly ridiculous. We're young adults Marinette, just stay on your side and I'll stay on mine..." She grumble.

"Hehe, whatever you say, I just wanted to make you comfortable..."

"Then put off the candles, I'm don't need a night light... And I don't want you to burn the bed either..."

"At your orders..." She said blowing out the candles. "And sorry again for leaving you alone..."

"Stop apologizing, if anyone has things to apologize for, it's me... But I know it won't be enough..."

"The important thing is that you're trying..." The girl with pigtails said, leaning back, watching as the figure next to her turned her back on her.

"Whatever you say... Good night, Marinette..."

"Good night, Chloe."

!
.
¡

At an undetermined time of night, in her completely dark room and with the sound of rain outside, Marinette suddenly woke up. She felt something. She was on her back and felt something putting weight on her left leg and holding her left arm. She feel a soft pressure against her forearm and a warm breath against her collarbone. Then the idea clicked in her mind.

She turned and recognized the silhouette next to her, Chloe was hugging her. It took a moment for her eyes to adjust to the darkness, at which point she remembered that the girl had not brought her stuffed animal to sleep. Slowly the idea made sense as the silhouette became clearer, she admitted it without wanting to, that every time she slept badly her father bought her a new stuffed animal.

Every time she saw the yellow bear it was when Chloe was bad, when Pollen accused her of being a monster and when she had to get used to sleeping on her couch. Despite how tough she tried to look, the scare from earlier must have undoubtedly affected her. Then our heroine managed to distinguish her face in the darkness. The heiress was asleep, her features slightly bent, as if she were dreaming, perhaps a nightmare. Her heart was beating fast.

Instinctively and gently, Marinette slowly turned around to wrap her free arm around Chloe, trying to comfort her like she did to herself in front of the Paris TV building. She arranged the sheet over both of them and made circular movements on her back with her hand, hypnotized by how the blonde's features relaxed. When she wasn't spitting venom at others, when she allowed herself to be calm and show her vulnerable side, the girl was incredibly pretty.

"Don't worry... I'm here... I'm not going anywhere..." She whispered.

With each passing day she learned more and more about her former enemy, and each day she strengthened her resolve to protect her. There was more in her than what she let on in that rough, rude exterior, a diamond that she wanted to save now more than ever. Ladybug failed Chloe, but Marinette wouldn't let Paris lose such a special girl.

That's how she went back to sleep, with a smile on her lips, the blonde in her arms and with warmth in her heart.

Chapter Text

~~<{zzz}>~~
She was drowning, the number one bully of the Collège Françoise Dupont, the mayor's daughter, was going down. The water flooding the dark streets of Paris grew steadily and she could barely stay afloat. The heroes were there, each of the heroes she handed on a silver platter to Hawk Moth were staring at her from the buildings in the shadows, all with disgust and righteous contempt.

Chloe screamed for help, everyone turned a deaf ear, then looked up. A storm of wasps came out of the black clouds, descending and stinging everything in their path, they swirled down towards the heiress. She begged for help again, but the heroes were already gone, only the two of them were left to witness her fall. The neon green eyes watched her indifferently from the shadows, while she, oh she, she didn't even deign to look at her.

The champion of Paris, the greatest heroine in the world, the light of her heart, the woman Chloe admired the most, turned her back on her. Then her mother's face and her words emerged across all the screens, posters and televisions. Reminding her of the obvious, what the entire city already knew but had to say out loud so that the blonde understood it once and for all.

"You are worthless. You are not special. The only thing exceptional about you is your mother. You are a disgrace."

Tears fell down her cheeks, submerging the already flooded streets further and further. Then, before the wasps could eat her alive, she gave up. She let herself be drowned by the darkness that enveloped her, moving further and further away from those figures who despised her. Of the image of her mother on the monitors. Of everything. She sank to the bottom. Where no one could see her. Where no one could hurt her.

She was kneeling in the ground, hugging herself, when a pink bee and a ladybug (insect) flew past her eyes. Then someone emerged from the darkness, enveloping her in a circle of warmth, as if covering her from the rain with an umbrella of light. The girl in pajamas extended her teddy bear, which the blonde hugged with all her being.

Then the other girl hugged her in the same way, silencing the noise and calming her mind.
~~<{zzz}>~~

Dreams are windows to the depths of our mind. Memories, ideas, concepts that float in our heads mix and stain each other, forming a familiar but distorted vision of reality. For their part, nightmares are an unpleasant version of dreams. Ghosts made of regrets, of fears that disturb the peace of our bizarre dream worlds.

Fortunately for a certain young girl, both dreams and nightmares are very relative in terms of time. Sometimes you spend hours tossing and turning in a dream that seems to last only minutes, and sometimes it's just a flash in the middle of a very long, restful sleep. Fortunately for Chloe Bourgeois, it seems that she got the latter, although at times it seemed that it was going to be the former.

She had a nightmare, but she did not feel tired or agitated, as if it had quickly vanished, like someone who turns on the light to make the shadows disappear. Despite a vague bittersweet memory, she slept very well, deeply and peacefully. It was unusual but she was happy to have had her beauty dream despite the near interruption.

The autumn mornings were cold, and after a weekend of non-stop rain the ambient temperature must have been at rock bottom, but she didn't feel it. On the contrary, she felt warm, as if she had put on a double blanket. The wind had calmed down and the rain was falling lightly, the sound of the drops falling on the roof mixed with a soft and rhythmic drumming, creating a lullaby for sleep that invited her to continue sleeping.

She don't know why it dosen't felt like her usual mattress, but it was infinitely more comfortable than a sofa. The sheets felt cheap, but while they weren't silk, the fabric that caressed her skin was surprisingly pleasant. And her teddy bear was the best part, softer and warmer than ever. It fit perfectly between her arms and legs. She was happy, refusing to open her eyes and opting to indulge herself that morning, sleeping just a little longer.

Then, as time passed and light began to filter into the room, Chloe's sleeping brain began to connect the dots. The bed felt different because she wasn't in the hotel, she moved from her house to survive better, because everyone disappeared and they didn't know why. She was at the Dupain-Cheng house, she had been sleeping on the couch for about 3 nights and decided to move to a bed before she got arthritis.

Then she remembered in whose bed she was in, quickly being overcome by a small panic that the other girl would see her like this, hugging her teddy bear like a baby. Her mother had told her for as long as she could remember, what kind of pathetic, annoying girl would depend on so many ridiculous little things like stuffed animals or holding hands.

Then, before she opened her eyes to see if her new friend had discovered her, she thought some more. Mr. Cuddly, her teddy bear, was barely the size of a handbag, there was no way she could hold him with her hands and legs at the same time. Then she paid more attention to her touch, whatever she was hugging felt different than a plush animal or a pillow.

It was soft but solid, as if instead of having cotton inside it had a skeleton to give it shape. Her legs were tangled with other things, going over and under them at the same time. She was hugging something with a shape more marked than that of a pillow, but without curves as abrupt as those of a doll. She could, in fact, move her hand along the shape and feel how it was softer in parts and smoother in others.

For some reason she also felt as if she had put on a piece of clothing wrong, as if her arm had gotten stuck between her chest and a shirt, but without being in an uncomfortable position for her arm. Then, in a split second, she connected all the dots with the soft drumming and the warmth she felt. Chloe opened her eyes and, thanks to the light coming through the windows, she came across white fabric with a small flower print.

Paralyzed, she moved her blue eyes to see her periphery, she could see how the short-sleeved shirt was slightly wrinkled, out of place due to the night's movement. She also saw how a gentle arm wrapped around her neck and rested against her cheek. Then slowly, feeling the heat rising on her face, she looked up, coming across the unconscious face of Marinette Dupain-Cheng.

It was like a painting, an image so beautiful and calm that the blonde thought it should belong in a museum. The raven-haired girl breathed calmly with her sweet lips slightly open, making her chest rise and fall gently on the heiress's face. Listening to her heartbeat, feeling her breathing and sharing her warmth, Chloe was impressed with herself for not having a heart attack.

She swore her face must have been glowing because of how red it had to be, especially when she noticed where her hands were. She slowly tried to escape, to get out of bed without waking Marinette, feeling like she would die of shame if she stayed in bed when that moment came. She slowly tried to untangle herself, trying to touch the other girl's back as little as possible as she removed her hand from under her shirt.

She moved like a sloth, with calculated and slow movements, making sure not to increase or decrease the weight on her partner's limbs too abruptly. Becoming so aware of her own body and of her friend only made it worse for the blonde, feeling like she was drowning in a sea of emotions as she managed to get out of the hug. Then she maneuvered her legs and very carefully moved those of the girl with pigtails to finally end her suffering.

Now she was free, sitting on the edge of the bed with her heart threatening to burst out of her chest with shame, watching as she left Marinette completely uncovered. Feeling guilty and not wanting to give the raven-haired girl a cold, Chloe moved again, trying to put the sheet over her before leaving the bed.

Once with her new friend covered in blankets, the blonde went down the stairs of the attic. With her heart racing and looking like a tomato with a wig, the princess of Paris sat at the foot of the stairs on the soft carpet. She was leaning against the stairs as if she had been shot, she was dramatic like herself. It was a lot to process.

The idea of unconsciously holding someone like that, while they were sleeping, of looking so thirsty for affection in front of someone else, terrified her at the same time as it embarrassed her. 'I'm Chloe Bourgeois for God's sake, what would my mother think if she saw me like that?' and with that thought she realized something. Her mother wasn't there.

In fact, she was never there. Chloé always tried to give an image, to give a status, since she believed that her mother was somehow still attentive. That gossip and word of mouth reached her, that maybe Audrey was taking care of her in her own way, watching her from afar like she always did when she was at home. But the blonde was never enough to have that privilege.

Then, why does she care about what her mother thought? She disappeared along with everyone else, and even if she hadn't, she certainly would have left on her own. The heiress knew it well, she never had what she wanted most, they could never give it to her, they never wanted to give it to her. Since she never had it, she was always jealous of those who did, and she always took it out on others for it. She always took it out on Marinette for it.

And now she was doing the same thing, she was thinking about what her mother would say, how disappointed she would be, when she should be thinking about the person she hugged while asleep in the first place. What would Marinette have said if she had woken up? What would she think of the blonde? Would she feel uncomfortable? Disgusted? Or worried? Would she take advantage and mock her in revenge for so many years of mistreatment?

Chloe dismissed the last question as she got up from the ground, Marinette had the right to get back on the blonde, but she wasn't like that, she wasn't a bully like the herself. Or at least that's what she wanted to believe, considering the situation they were in, it was the best time to have blind faith.

Due to the weather and with the dryer without power, the heiress could not return to her usual white pants, so she opted for a white ruffled skirt that looked homogeneous next to her T-shirt. She paired it with long black tights to match the black stripes on her waist and white sneakers. As the crown of the outfit, her yellow winter jacket, the plush synthetic fur on the collar giving the touch of grace.

She saw herself in the mirror, proud of her taste in clothes. With her hair in its usual high ponytail, the girl began applying her makeup by the window to get good light. Although it was still raining, the clouds already looked less dark than usual, allowing rays of sun to pass through that shone in the massive puddles on the streets and forming a rainbow on the horizon.

It seemed like the worst was already over. 'Did it kill you to give us this weather yesterday?' The blonde complained silently, remembering how horrible the atmosphere had been on Sunday, how she ran against the wind, how the night was indistinguishable from the day, how it seemed like the end of the world until she found Marinette. The memory of the raven-haired girl was counterproductive to her application of blush, since the memory of the hug under the umbrella and the walk back caused her cheeks to turn red.

"Ridiculous... Utterly ridiculous..." The heiress whispered, annoyed at not being able to notice how much makeup was enough or which shade matched best.

To make it worse, she heard the other girl yawning in her bed, turning to see her stretching her arms in the loft. She wasn't prepared to find out if Marinette realized what she did, much less for the conversation that followed.

"Good morning Chloe... Did you sleep well?" The girl asked with a smile.

"Eh... Sure... I slept well..." The heiress responded, turning towards the sale, pretending to concentrate on her makeup.

With the hand mirror she kept her bedmate in her field of vision, she watched her to see her reaction, she needed to know if Marinette was aware of how embarrassing the princess of Paris could be when she acted unconscious, but she lacked the courage to ask herself.

It seemed that the girl with pigtails was thinking about something while she saw her, even though the blonde had her back turned, the girl with light blue eyes did not look away. Why did she see her? Did she have something on her back? Was she judging her perhaps? Did Marinette know that she hugged her and now she was wondering why the blondy was acting distant? All those doubts disappeared as soon as her voice sounded through the room again.

"You know, sometimes I wish I could do that too, even though I don't understand why you do it right now..." The raven-haired girl said.

"Sorry?" The heiress turned around surprised.

"Getting up early as easily as you do. Since Friday I notice that you are much better at it than me, going to the hotel and returning with your things, already getting ready for the day before I even notice it's morning, all that... " She explain going down the stairs. "I wish I could be that type of girl..." She said scratching the back of her neck and with a slight pink tone on her cheeks.

"W-well, it's not something I do because i want Dupain-Cheng, some of us have to wake up very early to look this good. This beauty requires effort, you know?" She boasted, making a small pose, trying to recover that confident image she had. 'She doesn't seem to have noticed, thats good... I have everything under control' she thought.

"Well, I guess you're right about that... You may not be the best student in the class but you were always ahead of me every day, and you always look good and with the make up in place..." The girl in pajamas reasoned.

"Obviously, how could I hold it against you otherwise?... I guess I shouldn't be proud of that, right?" Now Chloe felt a little guilty.

"Hehe, I guess not." She said with a smile as she went to get her clothes. "But let's go step by step, don't be mortified because I don't expect you to be an angel overnight."

"But I should, right? After everything I've done, it's the least I could try..."

"It's like I told you in the museum, it's not easy to change and learn, I need help and patience to learn to cook." Marinette walked to the window next to Chloe, holding her clothes in her arms. "It won't turn out right the first time, there will be moments where you want to cry, maybe your parents will have to use a fire extinguisher or two, and maybe you'll still burn one or two cupcakes after all... But by the time you want to realize , you will be serving “acceptable” food to the princess of Paris..."

The heiress didn't know if it was something about the girl in front of her eyes or if the sun defeated the rain clouds, but she felt as if the room would suddenly light up. She couldn't help but smile when the baker used her own words to finish her speech. It was incredible how just a week ago she was upset for just seeing her face, and now here she was, in her room as a guest and being happy to have her as a friend.

"I guess you're right... Thank again for this..."

"Don't mention it, that's what friends are for..." Then the girl with pigtails looked out the window at the flooded streets. "It's amazing that it's already Monday, right? A whole week since everyone disappeared..."

"Like you said, little steps, Ladybug will be incompetent but we are going to make everyone come back." Chloe stated looking out the window as well, trying to cheer her up.

For a moment Marinette's expression changed, but she shook her head before the blonde noticed. She went behind the paper screen to change in private, after a moment she came out on the other side with her usual outfit.

"Do you want tea? We have to take advantage of the clean water and we gas while we still have."

"Sure, I want to see if you can really burn water..."

"Hey, it only happened once when I was little... Well... 3 times..."

And so they went down laughing, perhaps these were not the most normal times, perhaps it was a very complex situation, but that did not stop Chloe Bourgeois from feeling grateful. They had difficult times, but if this way her future would become as bright as that morning, then she wouldn't complain about how started her new life.

Chapter Text

Without a doubt, the Dupain-Cheng house was not at all similar to Le Grand Paris, but after living there for a while, the heiress discovered that her new home had nothing to envy of her father's hotel. Was it a modest and small house? Yes, but with the right company it felt bigger and warmer.

She didn't have a butler or room service, but she had something even better, a friend. She didn't cater to her every whim, but Marinette as a host made sure the atmosphere was pleasant at all times. She was very attentive, as you would expect from someone who helped in a bakery and constantly supported her friends' projects.

She prepared snacks for when they were hungry and was diligent about maintaining comfort, making sure the place was kept clean and putting scented candles in the windows when the scent of the city wafted in. Chloe didn't know how much she would respect the work of the garbage collectors until they disappeared, the aroma mixed with the active presence of loose animals causing it to smell like a farm.

On the bright side, for a week the only combustion engine that had been working was the one on the girl's scooter, so at least the air was not as contaminated as it could be by the cars pipes. In fact, the city seemed even more natural, it would take a long time for the plants to take over the buildings, but the rain and the absence of hustle and bustle left a perfect environment for the animals.

A swollen and strong river, puddles of water everywhere, plants that were not inferior naturally watered, birds flying freely, herds of different animals walking calmly through the streets, all very idyllic. But Chloe was not Mylène, she was more focused on a certain very tall building in the background of the landscape.

"So... If I understood correctly, in the TV building there is Max's robot, you and Ladybug helped him so that all the energy goes there since he..." The blonde waited for her mate to refresh her memory.

"Becase he can hack and store data from satellites and computers." Marinette said from another room, she was looking for something while Chloe finished her tea in front of the window.

"Yeah, that... Because he is a robot and apparently whatever happened only affects humans except you and me." She commented as she saw the animals outside and Louis sleeping on the couch. "And before everyone left he discovered that something appeared over Paris within reach of satellites in space..."

"And minutes later he captured on video how Max disappeared in front of his... Censors? It was all very hard to watch..." Added the raven-haired girl, still out of sight.

"Thank God I spent the nights in my room, what a fright I would have been if I went out into the hallway and saw my butler disappear."

"Were you awake at that time?"

"Well I had... things on my mind that night..." She remembered her discovery and the little yellow fairy. "Anyway, the point is that we have a clue, a good clue for a change, but it all depends on the toy... I mean, on Max's robot, who you said would warn us by turning on the lights in the building."

"Indeed. He'll turn on the lights on the twelfth floor so we can go get the information." She said throwing various objects into the hallway.

"And Ladybug is going, right? Ugh, I think I'll wait at the reception that day. You'll have to repeat what they tell..." Then Chloe walked up to where Marinette was, crossing her arms as she thought about what she said. "I was very bossy, wasn't I?"

"A little... Aha! I found it!" The girl with pigtails shouted.

She quickly excitedly walked out into the hallway to show off her discovery. In her hands she held a large wooden board with a silver metal plate in the middle, filled with rows of symmetrical bumps and indentations that created an irregularly smooth surface. The blonde looked at it like an almost alien object, not knowing what it was or why her friend was excited.

"And this is...?"

"A washing board! You know, those things that appear in old movies or documentaries about the past. With this, a brass and water we won't have to worry about having clean clothes." Her light blue eyes lit up.

"Not to be rude, I swear I'm still trying to be good, but I never imagined you family was this poor. I mean, they have a 3 floor house and even a flat screen." She said pointing to the rectangle back in the dining room.

"It's a gift from my grandfather, we always had a washing machine..." The girl rolled her eyes, but quickly regained her good spirits. "But since there's no power now, I figured it's a good time to use it. I mean, after all the excitement of yesterday we deserve the day off, but when we go back to look for the lair I don't think you'll want to run around town in your skirts, right?" ?

"There you have a point, it will be more comfortable in pants... Still, even if its good for us, why did your grandfather give them something from the last century?"

"He is... An old-fashioned man..."

"You paused on the 'is', it's not just someone with old-fashioned tastes, right?"

"It's complicated. My grandfather is one of those people who believes that everything was better... Well, before. You know, all those things from simpler times and that..." You could tell that the girl in the black vest was thinking hard. Being careful with what she say, as if she wanted to be careful with how she describes him. "I think he's just a scared man, you know? All his life things were one way and he doesn't know what to do now that everything is new... And of course, the more time you spend accustomed to something, the harder it is to avoid saying 'That's not how it's done' when you see something that goes out of the way... Change can be difficult for some people..."

"Oh..." The heiress raised an eyebrow.

"I-I'm not saying this for you! You've actually changed a lot and I'm very proud of that! You've taken some really big steps this week... It's just that, like I told you, my grandfather..."

Chloe stopped listening when the compliments ended, on one hand she found it funny how despite everything her partner still tripped over herself when she felt she said something that could upset others, it was even adorable in the sapphire eyes of the princess of Paris... But the blonde was very into first impressions, direct like herself.

If someone seemed annoying to her then she would call them annoying, if someone started putting up a very weak front then she would call them a liar, and if someone approached her like an idiot then not even the word of a saint would convince Chloe that they were anything else. Marinette was that in her eyes, the nicest girl she had ever met, a good Samaritan that at most only her sister could perhaps match.

She was gentle and honest, she wouldn't lie to her. But she could sweeten things, like saying that everything the heiress did to her was not a big deal so as not to mortify her. But that doesn't mean she bought it, she knew she had a lot to make up to her new friend, and she knew her grandfather wasn't just a poor scared old man. The blonde had already formed an image of what he was like, an image only cemented by the delicacy with which the girl with pigtails approached the subject.

He was THAT kind of old man, that same kind of old man for whom her father asked her to be discreet with certain tastes she had, because he could not risk losing the votes of that sector. With that image in mind, the words left her lips automatically, almost without thinking.

"I can't believe your grandfather is an bigot."

"What? No no no, it's not like that."

"An old man who believes that everything before was better? In Paris? That means that either the best times were when you and I had no rights, or they were the times of the Second World War."

"My grandfather isn't that kind of man! He doesn't even recognize pizzas and thinks it is a modern ravings..." Marinette dropped the iron and put her hands on Chloe's shoulders.

"That's way to back... And very stupid, are you sure he's not senile?"

"Well... Maybe? Seriously, he's not a bad guy, at most he's a bit grumpy. He stopped talking to dad for years for putting rice in the flour in his bread, but he already recognized that its not a bad mix..."

The blonde was left listening to white noise at her friend's words, the fact that she had her so close lately only helped her remember the features of her beautiful face, so her mind began to read between the lines. 'Wait, would she forgive someone like that?' An idea began to form in her mind, an idea that bothered and mortified her in equal measure. The heiress placed both hands on the sides of the raven-haired girl's face, pulling her closer while holding her gently.

"Ahh...Chloe?" Before the blush on Marinette's face could get any stronger, the girl used her hands to turn her face towards a mirror on the wall.

"Ok, I want you to look at the shape of your eyes for a moment, then look at mine..." She said turning her face too and putting it to the side. "And tell me exactly when your grandfather stopped talking to your dad..."

It wasn't the first time they were in a situation like this, although it was the first time Chloe consciously held her this close. It was normal for the two to argue, after all they were rivals and both wanted to prove the other wrong at the first opportunity. But, this time when the girl with pigtails followed her instructions and closed her eyes with a snort, it had a different effect on the blonde.

"Okay, maybe... Maybe my grandfather was that kind of old man..." She responded, looking away dejectedly.

Unlike so many other times in the past, winning an argument didn't give her pride or a sense of superiority. Instead, she felt pretty bad. She knew she was right, but she was abrupt and rude in the way she proved it, and worse yet, she invaded her friend's personal space again just to prove a point and make her feel bad. Chloe's expression quickly changed to one of regret as she let go of her.

"But I swear he's changing! He's not a bad person." Marinette insisted again, looking directly at her. "He may not approve that my dad will marry my mom and he distance himself... But in the end I managed to reach him, make him see that different things are not bad, that they produce good things."

"Of course you could, it's you... That's not the point..." She said, clutching the hem of her skirt with one hand.

If she felt bad before, now he felt worse after seeing what she imagined was right to. Her friend was that good, she greatly appreciated that quality, admired it, but it also implied something unpleasant about the heiress herself. Then she went to sit on the couch next to Louis who was still sleeping indifferent to the drama of her temporary owners.

"Chloe..." Marinette quickly followed her, sitting next to her. "If its not that... Then what's the problem?"

"Isn't obvious?" As soon as she saw the look the other girl was giving her, the blonde found herself unable to maintain eye contact. "It's not your grandfather, it's you... You can forgive an old-fashioned xenophobe who cut off communication with his family, with his own son, just because of a 'rice in bread' dispute..."

"There is nothing wrong with forgiving..."

"The problem is that... I know that I have no right to judge your grandfather, I know that I am not better, but... But if you can forgive someone like that, defend him so that he does not look so bad in the eyes of others, then What kind of monster can you forgive? What kind of monster I am?"

"Don't say that, I've already told you that I don't think you're responsible for all of this..." She had reached out and took the blonde's hand, squeezing it gently as she ran her thumb over her knuckles.

"I know, I know... But just because I'm not worse than Hawk Moth doesn't mean I'm good... It means I'm fighting for second place with Mayura..." The heiress put her feet up on the sofa and hugged her legs with one arm, she can't move the other away from Marinette's touch.

"You are not even the top 5 villains of Paris, you are not even a villain Chloe... You are a girl with problems, not a monster..."

"That doesn't change that I was a bully to you and to the whole school, that I am a bad person who takes advantage of the fact that my father has power... I think beforehand about what my mother would say before the people around me... Even now I think about what she would say before thinking about what you would feel…” Her cheeks turned red from the memory of the morning's incident, still praying that her friend hadn't noticed.

"I know it's hard to forgive yourself, but after this week together, after finally making the effort to get to know you, I know you're not that kind of person..."

She moved closer, putting her free hand on her shoulder, speaking softly like how you would deal with a scared animal. It wasn't normal for the blonde to let someone be so close, but she didn't feel like she had the right to defend her personal space either, not after last night.

"Of course I am... Your grandfather may be stubborn and old-fashioned, but at least he left, he didn't act like that for years in front of you, not against you... I did... I was present in your life, turning it in hell for things you couldn't control... I'm jealous, rude, envious, stubborn, stingy, with a bad temper..."

"And sensitive, intelligent, self-critical, with a very flexible mind, brutally honest and genuine..." Marinette released those sweet words moving a loose strand behind the blonde's ear, this gesture made the heiress pull her face even more on her knees, hiding her red cheeks. "And you are considerate in your own way... You may hate Ladybug, but while we were working on the electrical grid she told me how thanks to you she realized that the pets were trapped..."

"It doesn't count..." Chloe muttered into her long black stockings. "I only went for Louis because he was the only dog I knew to look for Daddy and Sabrina... Not because I have a heart of gold or anything..."

"You may see it that way, but that doesn't mean that that little one next to you wouldn't be sleeping full and in good health if it weren't for you..."

"Does it count as a good deed if you do it for your own benefit? Or for petty reasons?" She asked, glancing at the girl next to her.

"It's something I've been thinking about since yesterday... I know we've already discussed it, that heroes aren't bad for breaking a rule or two to save the day... Neither are you and I for doing what's necessary to survive... But I can't help but wonder, is it the intention or the result that counts?"

It was a question that, said in the air, managed to make the heiress loosen up a little. She stop hugging her legs and lower them, thinking for a moment. 'The intention or the result?' It was a very simple question, but the blonde's story leaned heavily towards just one. Most of her good acts were motivated by various intentions, none of them purely altruistic.

Be a heroine? She wanted to prove herself special to her mother and all of Paris. Stop Maledictator? Same point above plus guilt for causing the problem in the first place. Be of help in akuma attacks as a civilian? She wanted to earn good girl points with her idols. A party for the whole school? She didn't want to break her friendship with Adrien. Give Sabrina a dog? She would be the only one who would allow or deny things to the redhead.

Chloe may not have genuinely known how bad she really was, but she certainly knew herself, she knew she was right in the characteristics she described herself with. But if she refused to listen, she would fall into the same vicious circle again. She needed to listen to Marinette, to know if she was uncomfortable with her actions, with her way of being. She had to make the effort to listen to her better.

"So...what conclusion did you come to?"

"Well... I wanted to learn to cook to feel useful, to not be just the girl for whom they put padded reinforcements in the corners of the tables... Of course, I ended up being able to help on the busiest days, but I did it because I wanted to show that I wasn't a burden..."

There was a look of nostalgic in her eyes before continuing.

"When I found out that I had a grandfather on Dad's birthday, I went looking for him to try to reunite the family... I ended up lying to a delivery man, to my grandfather, impersonating someone to get into a house and even causing him to be akumatized..."

"Pff, all that to bring a xenophobic man into your life?" The blonde couldn't help but let out a small laugh at the sight.

"My heart was in the right place, although the execution could have been better..." Then she looked at the floor somewhat saddened. "And speaking of hearts... When you said you were going to New York forever with your mom, I celebrated with everyone, I was happy until Adrien arrived and... Well, he was still friend with you and he got worried, and since I like i'm, well..."

"That's why you came for me to Queen Bee's party... For Adrien... Right?"

Marinette released her grip, somewhat guilty from the sound of it, however Chloe couldn't blame her. The raven-haired girl was her victim, it was obvious that she would be the first to celebrate the blonde leaving. And she liked boys, as much as it hurt the blonde, it was a fact that she would do it for Adrien in the first place.

"But, although I didn't do it with the best of intentions, I don't regret giving you a chance back then... Because I could see an attempt, no matter how selfish in my motives, it gave me the chance to try and see you, see what good in you, and you know what? I saw that you tried, and thanks to that I can know that what I'm experiencing these days is not the exception to the rule..."

This time it was the blonde whose incredulous expression lit up, with slight pink tones on her cheeks.

"I wanted to feel useful and I ended up being able to fill our stomachs when there was no one else in the world, I caused an akuma attack but in the end I managed to get an old man to open his mind and return with his family... I wanted to look good with the boy I like and... I discovered a rough diamond in the least thinking place..."

The raven-haired girl took her hand again, this time she held it with both and squeezed it decisively. The blonde was going to kill her, she had to kill her for calling her a diamond and not letting her look away to hide her face.

"I think, above all, it matters that we try. Not the reason or the method, or how long it took to give a favorable result, but that we did it in the first place. Good things won't happen if we don't try... Or At least that's what my conclusion, how about you Chloe? Is that a satisfying conclusion?"

"It would be satisfactory if you didn't attack my makeup..." The heiress said, wiping away a tear with her free palm. "Thank you..."

"To you, for trying in the first place. Well, now I'm going to see how to wash the clothes with that..." She let go of her hand and got up from the couch.

"Leave it to me, I don't think it's gona be that difficult." The girl with blue eyes stated, also standing up.

"Wait... Seriously?! You're going to hand wash the clothes?"

"Yep, my intention is for you to cook something delicious because I'm hungry."

And with that joke, the girls filled the house with laughs.

Chapter Text

Living in the same house involves many things, one of the main ones is the act of sharing. Naturally, if they share the roof over their heads and food on the table, they would also have to share the chores. A basic rule for coexistence, and some are better at it than others.

Marinette was surprisingly capable for her age, although her clumsiness and bad luck worked against her. Based on pure willpower she managed to excel in the correct skills to achieve a certain independence, being a competent chef, an exceptional designer, with efficient organization in her own way and management accordingly. She even had great spatial knowledge regarding the city, ideal to accompany her ability to drive.

No doubt, despite her two left feet, the girl would definitely manage to stand on her own in the future. Chloe on the other hand was another story. Being born in a cradle of gold, with a father willing to attend to her every whim with material goods, caused even the most basic need to be covered with just the snap of the fingers. Obviously this lifestyle made even heating food in the microwave a completely foreign concept to her.

She depended on servants and money to cover her needs; anyone would think that if her funds were cut off and she was left alone she would be more incapable than a baby. But, to the surprise of everyone who can't see her and herself, she was proving the opposite, although she wasn't very happy about it.

She was sitting in front of a can filled with water and foam, her yellow winter jacket hanging over the back of her chair, her shirt sleeves rolled up, and she was hunched over as she rubbed her dirty clothes against the metal part of a clothes iron. Naturally, after a minute of effort she began to complain.

"You can tell whoever invented this never painted their nails... I feel like I'm going to need a pedicure after this..."

"Come on Chloe! You can do it! Just a little more, are you seriously going to let a little water stop you?" The raven-haired girl encouraged her from the kitchen.

They were both at different ends of the living room. The blonde stood sideways in front of the dining room window, to make sure she could see the stains on the clothes, while her partner was on the other side preparing food for the next few days. Both were in each other's field of vision, just turning their heads was enough to confirm the other's status.

On one hand, Marinette made sure that the heiress did not break a nail or any piece of clothing while washing, while the aforementioned watched in case she had to throw the water from the brass against a burning oven. To date the Dupain-Cheng bad luck has not show its magic in the culinary field, but it never hurts to be alert. Plus, although she wouldn't admit it, Chloe thought the apron looked great on her new friend.

"Did people really use this to clean clothes?" She said wiping the sweat from her forehead with her forearm.

"I guess they invented the washing machine for a reason, all things invented to make life easier... Take it easy, the more you hurry, the more likely it is that something will go wrong." The girl with pigtails suggested.

"Are you saying this from experience?" The blonde looked in her direction, leaving the garment under the water.

"Obviously." She replied with a smile. "There were many deflated shuffles and times that I pricked my finger wile sew clothes before I learned it well... Although sometimes when I'm anxious or short of time I forget..."

"That explains a lot, now that we have all the time in the world you don't even burn bread..." Chloe remembered her last meals, since that frozen pizza at the hotel she hasn't had a single one that was less than delicious.

"Yeah, I think you're right. The truth is, not being in a hurry helps a little..."

"By the way, what are you cooking?"

"Well, since we don't have electricity, the meat is at risk of going bad, so I'm trying to use it as best I can. A stew, meatballs, chicken wings for Louis, maybe a pizza... I found some recipes from mom for kimchi and kombucha, I'm not sure what they are but they must be fermented so they come in handy..."

"Don't go crazy with food either, it's just you and me, and half of that is a picky eater." The heiress stated, twisting the fabric over the water to remove the excess.

"Let me guess, you don't want to ruin your diet?" Marinette asked jokingly.

"Obviously! This figure requires effort." Chloe responded, pointing at herself.

"You know, since we have all the time in the world and there's no one else, maybe you could take it easy on that too. I mean, it's just me, you don't need to worry about your appearance like if you're going to be on TV..."

"That's where you're wrong. We are not alone, there is you and there is me, we are two people, and if we are two it means that there is a pair of eyes that I have to bless with my presence." She explained, rubbing her dirty pants against the metal.

"So that how you raise a healthy ego, huh?"

"I want to be good, not a hippie, leave me the designer clothes and expensive makeup so I have to look good when I do charity or take a kitten down from a tree."

"Hey! I don't take kittens out of trees. That's so cliché!" The girl in the kitchen said laughing.

"Well, give me suggestions because I don't have many ideas on the topic either. What do nice people do?"

"Well, helping others with things is always a good option, doing things for them, giving them a hand..."

"Like this?" The blonde made a gesture to the brass with water and foam. "Forget it, I'd better buy everyone a washing machine and that's it."

"No silly." Marinette giggled again as she put something in the oven, maybe it was the pizza. "But thanks anyway for taking care of the clothes... I think I can think of something else for when you're done there..."

"Great, more work... Me and my big mouth..."

Despite her complaints, the heiress continued with her work. Ultimately, she felt that she had to do her part, respond to all the good will that her former victim was putting into her. She provided her with food, care and even gave her part of her bed, and most important of all, she gave her company.

The raven-haired girl had saved her from spending hours thinking about her father, Sabrina, and her sister. It saved her from lamenting silently inside a giant hotel, from thinking that maybe Polem could be right, from feeling alone. As if that weren't enough, she listened to her and offered to help her, help her be a better person, help her do something good.

Marinette did all this even knowing perfectly well who Chloe is, although in her light blue eyes the blonde should be a burden or a punishment from fate, she is still giving her friendship. The heiress had to respond in some way, and since she couldn't take the easy way out of buying her expensive things in gratitude, she decided that the effort was worth it.

She'd probably still buy her expensive things when the whole thing was settled, a motorcycle or new clothes, but until then Chloe would earn the right to share the same space, doing her part in the household chores. Fortunately, she managed to finish cleaning both of their clothes without any problems and without breaking a nail in the process, although she complained as if it had happened. She had several wet clothes in her hands, both her and the bakers' daughter's, plus a security guard's uniform. All soaked but clean.

Seeing this, Marinette programmed a wireless kitchen timer, it was shaped like a black cat with green eyes and rotated very slowly. With an alarm set, she proceeded to help the blonde carry the laundry basket into the room and through the trap door to the ceiling. On the terrace of the bakery they made an improvised clothesline, where they hung the clothes so that the sun and the wind could dry them.

"Perfect! If the weather doesn't change suddenly we'll have everything dry by night."

"And at that point we'll have to bathe them in perfume to get rid of the smell. God, the city stinks..." The blonde complained, pinching her nose.

"Oh come on, it's not so bad, it's still our beloved Paris. Look! We even have giraffes in the park next door!" The raven-haired girl stated, putting one hand on the heiress's shoulder and turning her to see the landscape.

"You know that's not very common in Paris, right?" She responded without resisting the gesture.

Indeed, a family of giraffes that Chloe released from the zoo were eating from the trees in the park and drinking water from the fountain. Their brown spots make them almost blend in with the trees that were beginning to show their autumn leaves. It was certainly a curious sight, even welcome for reminding the heiress of the good she had done, but the girl was more focused on the hand on her shoulder.

Chloe had her arms crossed, somewhat withdrawn, but Marinette had placed her arm behind her back and put her hand on her shoulder, pulling her closer while telling her where to look. The funny thing was that the girl with pigtails did not back away, she stayed in the same position and maintained the same grip. 'Is she comfortable with this type of contact? Is this how she acts with friends?' The blonde thought, remembering.

Chloe remembered how every time she saw her arrive at an event or meet with friends, everyone welcomed her with open arms, literally speaking. Handshakes, hugs, holding hands, supporting each other, all things that made the heiress envious. Her partner's body language was as affectionate as her childhood was. 'Ugh, where does that leave me?' she asked herself again.

She could be so thirsty for affection as to hug another sleeping person, but she consciously steadfastly refused to show that side, being closed off and distant, even with Sabrina she was rarely this clingy. It was natural if she thought about it, she remembered how she was educated and treated, always maintaining a refined demeanor and with a mask of hardness. In fact, one of the few times she consciously touched the other girl was a few hours ago, and it was abrupt, invading her personal space by holding her face to prove a point.

She felt bad about that and about invading her space at night, but she was still comforted by the gentle caress of Marinette's hand, which moved her in short movements up and down. Maybe she thought the heiress was cold since she left her jacket down and was only wearing her white long-sleeved t-shirt. It would be an expected attitude from the girl in pink pants, but Chloe had to be sure for the night, to be less mortified if the morning's incident was repeated. It's also part of living together after all, she had to know the limits and respect them.

Feeling unable to ask it directly, the heiress chose to try to read her partner, after all actions had more weight than words, and through her body language she can tell how comfortable the raven-haired girl is. A few minutes after the blonde's decision, they both stopped enjoying the scenery and came down just in time to hear the sound of the kitchen alarm.

They had a big meal, Marinette actually prepared a feast so as not to waste meat, it wasn't even close to all of their reserve but at least they would have different dishes to enjoy. A baked turkey, meatloaf, skewers, empanadas, meatballs, a little bit of everything. Each one had more than abundant portions, even old Louis enjoyed a banquet.

"Just because the food is good doesn't mean I'm going to eat until I burst and you know it." Chloe said eating the meatloaf.

"Oh, so my food went up a notch? I thought it was just okay." Marinette responded with an amused grimace.

"Let's say I'm in a good mood, besides, being good includes giving compliments when someone earns it, right?"

"You're clear. A few kind words never cost anyone anything." The girl on the other side of the table stated while eating her empanadas.

"And even though they are so cheap, Mom refuses to say them..." The girl with the ponytail muttered into her glass. "Whatever, if your plan isn't to eat all this, then wasn't it a waste to prepare all this food?"

"It would be if there weren't so many mouths to feed."

"Marinette, 3 mouths are not many, they barely amount to several." The heiress pointed out.

"There you are counting Louis, right? Your mouth, mine and his bear. That means the animals' mouths count too." The girl with pigtails reasoned.

"Oh great, you're going to turn the house into a kennel, and it already smelled bad outside..." The blonde complained.

"No no no, we are not going to bring them all here, in the long run that would cause us problems. Since tomorrow we are going to be wandering around the city looking for Hawk Moth's lair, we can take advantage and leave the food behind." Her friend explained while drinking juice. "Maybe we could even hide them so that pets can learn to look for food on their own. I don't doubt that zoo animals have instincts left, but many domestic pets depend a lot on humans."

"That... Sounds like a good idea actually. You sure are good at being good..."

"I'm just trying my best to help, like you." She responded with a warm smile.

She was incorrigible, she could be a clumsy girl, overthink things or even be chaotic at times, but Marinette never stopped having the best intentions or trying to help others. They continued eating, with a warmth in both their stomachs and chests, until they couldn't fit anything else.

The three inhabitants of the Dupain-Cheng house were satisfied, so they proceeded to take a well-deserved rest after so much work. Or at least those were Chloe's intentions, since the raven-haired girl seemed to have other plans. After a few minutes to put the food down, the girl pulled the heiress up the stairs back to the room.

"Don't tell me we already have to take down all the clothes again..." The blonde complained with some annoyance. She wanted to be good but housework wasn't exactly her favorite subject to be determined.

"Not yet, it's best to wait until sunset to take advantage of every ray of sunlight so that it dries well."

"So why are you dragging me here?"

"Well, do you remember I said I would think of good things you could do?"

"Oh right, I were hoping you'd forget and I wouldn't have any more work for today." Chloe confessed.

"Don't worry, this will be much easier than washing clothes... Or well, at least for you it should be very easy..." Said Marinette, sitting on the couch in her room, inviting the girl in the yellow jacket to do the same.

"Well, you have me curious, what is this good deed that I can do to help and that is not as annoying as cleaning?" The blonde asked, sitting down.

"You remember that I want to be a designer, right?"

"Marinette, my mother offered to take you to New York as her new promise in the field before even deigning to look at me. I can't forget it even if I want to..." The heiress reminded her with a bitter tone. 'That and I've been jealous of you for that very reason ever since you started showing how talented you are.' She added in her mind.

"Yes, sorry... Well, the point is that it is a hobby where help is always welcome..." She said, bringing her diary, the same one that Chloe had Sabrina steal when there were school elections, she showed her some pages in specific with photos. "The girls always found a way to help me, some acting as models for my clothes, sometimes they gave me ideas, suggestions for recyclable materials, they even raised money to give me a gift and get me fabrics..."

"Wow, you do have very charitable friends..."

"I can tell you, they wanted to help and they did it in their own way, Alya helped me do photo shoots and they will look more professional." She said pointing to the photos.

"Professional what is said professional does not seem..." The blonde could sometimes have high standards, but she was the daughter of Audrey Bourgeois, former best and only friend of Adrien Agreste, she ate breakfast reading fashion magazines, she HAD to know one thing or two about fashion.

"Well, we're just girls in the attic of a bakery, it's not going to be that professional..."

"B-but... It's ahh... A pretty acceptable job..." She corrected herself, the fact that it's her field doesn't mean that she wasn't talking to the girl with light blue eyes, and that she didn't want to continue being rude to her. "Even if it don't do justice to the clothes you make, they can certainly improve... And of course they can improve quickly..." It was genuinely difficult for her to give positive comments.

"And that's what I wanted to talk about. Everyone does good things according to their abilities, no one asks you to find the cure for cancer or anything like that, and you said it, you put a lot of effort into your image..."

"Continue..." Chloe said, closing her eyes, attentive to what the girl sitting next to her is going to say.

"You are an expert in makeup, you are very diligent with the clothes you wear and your appearance, I think you would be the perfect help in our photo sessions, seeing how to make the designs stand out and things like that..." The girl explained.

"Do you want me to do your friends' makeup and hair? I'm not sure... I don't think they'd like the idea..." The heiress knew that not everyone could be as open as Marinette, and that they would be right to doubt her.

"Well... You can do my makeup... Just try it! I mean... To see if you feel comfortable with the idea, and if you are comfortable with it, then I can take care of convincing the others..." Suggested the girl with pigtails.

"Do you makeup? Hmm..." Chloe pondered the idea for a few seconds before handing the journal with the designs back to her friend. "Okay, let's try it."

"Really? Great! I assure you that you won't regret it, helping feels great and I guarantee that I won't give you any problems, I'll stay very still." She said as she got up to put away her journal and brought a scarf along with a beret. "Look, as a test we'll do it with this outfit, so you can see how you make it look better."

"Whatever you want, now sit tight on the couch and put your legs up, because if you apply makeup crookedly your neck will hurt." Chloe stated, reaching for what looked like a very fine toolbox.

It didn't seem like a particularly heavy suitcase, but it was still surprising how the blonde moved it with just one hand. She placed the box on a rolling chair and placed it next to the sofa, releasing the locks with a click and lifting the lid to reveal several compartments filled with various beauty items. Combs, brushes, eyeliner, various shades of blush, eye shadow, creams and lipstick.

"I thought you were only using what was in your bag..." Marinette said, surprised by the sight.

"That's because I already know that it looks good on me and that it matches my clothes, now i need to find out yours. Stay still..." The heiress asked, sitting next to her and approaching cautiously.

The application of makeup required a certain closeness, since she had to pay careful attention to her partner's features and features, as well as be careful with the application of cosmetics. This was a more than ideal time for Chloe to test the waters, to find out how comfortable Marinette is with physical contact and sharing her space.

It wasn't with bad intentions, she just wanted to know how much it would bother her friend if she repeated the incident from the morning again, in case she didn't wake up first of course. She had to be sure to stop being mortified by that fact, so she became alert, ready to retreat at the slightest sign of displeasure.

They were innocent things, getting close enough for her nostrils to touch as she investigate her features, light touches with her fingertips to make the other girl move her head and shine the light at another angle, checking the texture of her skin to know what brush and pigment to use. It was an almost chaste but methodical approach, as she took the objects out of the box to apply the makeup, she paid attention to the corners of her lips, the position of her hands, and what her eyes were saying.

So far she didn't seem affected, at most some pink on her cheeks that the heiress didn't put there. Maybe it's embarrassment at having someone examining her so closely? Some self-awareness for the topic they were working on? Whatever it was, her soft cheekbones were the only thing that gave her away. Which was somewhat inconvenient when it came to choosing the right color for the blush.

"I know I shouldn't move, but... Are you sure you're comfortable? You're half crooked and I'm not the only one who should be comfortable in this." Marinette pointed out, careful not to move too much.

Indeed, the blonde was still sitting on one side of the sofa, almost on the edge, with her body twisted to face her friend and somewhat leaning towards her. It certainly wasn't a comfortable position at all, and she hadn't realized it from her meticulous attempt to read her roommate. As soon as she became aware of her own position, her back began to bother her a little, and in turn an idea arose in her mind.

"Now that you say it, I can't work in such an uncomfortable position, give me a moment..." Then, calmly and trying to look as natural as possible, she climbed onto the couch as well. "I think it's better this way... Do... Do this make you uncomfortable? Is this okey?"

"Ahh... Well... Yeah, it is okey. This way we'll both be comfortable... Right?"

Although she seemed a little nervous at first, Chloe didn't notice any major displeasure or aversion to the position they were in. The blonde had sat on her friend's lap, with her legs kneeling and close to hers. No matter how kind the raven-haired girl was, she couldn't just ignore that act if it caused her discomfort, but she didn't show any signs.

Her hands rested on top of each other on her stomach, no nervous movements or anything like that. Her body was relaxed, no muscles tense despite having her former bully's body on top of her. As if that were not enough, when the initial blush passed, the girl began to hum a melody with her mouth closed while waiting for the makeup session to end.

It was unprecedented for the heiress, but at the same time it only reminded her that she had never had a friendly approach with the bakers' daughter. They had known each other for years but never in this way, never in depth. No matter how much she had her sights on her, she only focused on what she envied about the other girl, on those things that made her shine where the blonde wanted to stand out. After all, the two of them had never been friends before.

Although that hurt the princess of Paris a little, the past was just that, the past. Now this was her second chance, her second chance to be good, to get along with the girl she unfairly mistreated. To get to know each other better. 'At least I know you don't have problems with physical contact...' Chloe thought while finishing her makeup.

Since Marinette had a matte red beret with a small gold embroidery, along with a carmine scarf with small, separate pink stripes, the heiress opted for more discreet makeup so that they would stand out more. A modest layer of blush on the cheeks, a soft eyeliner, pale blue eye shadow to match the light blue eyes and a peach lipstick.

"Well, it's ready, I don't think I can make you prettier but I did what I could to make the clothes look better." The blonde said, getting off her lap to get her up.

"Oh come on, I don't think you could spend so much time in front of someone ugly so comfortable..." The girl laughed as she stretched her legs.

"I never said that." The girl with the ponytail responded almost offended. "There wasn't much to embellish..." She looked away as her face heated up.

Then Marinette stood up and looked in the mirror, looking at herself almost as meticulously as Chloe had. Tilting her head and seeing from different angles, adjusting her beret and scarf. A smile forming on her lips, a happy and satisfied smile. She looked in the mirror at the blonde behind her, her expression warming the heiress's chest in seconds.

"Yes, without a doubt I have to convince them to let you participate, your work is miraculous... You are very good, Chloe." The softness in her words made her stomach twist, in a good way.

"Obviously, this is my thing... and thanks you... Marinette..."

"Come on, we're friends, you can call me Mari..." Turning around with a radiant smile. Maybe the blonde was too good at putting makeup on because what it made her feel now wasn't even half normal.

"Are you sure? You don't think..."

"Of course, as I say, we are friends after all... But if you're not comfortable with it then no problem, you can continue calling me Marinette..."

There it was, just what the heiress could not say in the first place, a simple and noble question in favor of the comfort of her partner. Where the blonde took the hard route, the raven-haired girl could simply express what she felt. It was impressive and obvious at the same time how different they could be, and yet there they were, living together as comrades.

"I'll keep that in mind..."

And so they spent the rest of the day, talking about fashion and themselves, and by the time the clothes were dry and night fell, they both removed their makeup in preparation for bed. This time, just in case, Chloe sneaked her teddy bear along, to make sure they could have a normal night.

Chapter Text

They had been difficult days, days of guilt, of helplessness, of feeling like she was hitting rock bottom. But, at the same time, they were days of reflection, of small victories, of discoveries, of opportunities and, above all, of learning. Marinette had learned a lot in a short time. Both the good and the bad, both from herself and from others.

She learned how silent the city could be, how devastated she would feel if she didn't was at her best, how cruel tiny gods could be, and how helpless she could be. She learned that unintentionally her actions could give messages that she did not want to give, as well as that good deeds can have their nuances that dance very close to being bad acts. But topping that list was the fact that she learned the exact moment when all the citizens of Paris, of the entire world, disappeared.

On a night like this, with a similar temperature and a similar silence, just 7 days ago all the people that the young heroine was supposed to protect disappeared without a trace. It was a night almost the same as today, saved by two crucial differences. This time she wasn't asleep, and there was someone else lying in her bed.

It was the fifth night that Chloe stayed over at her house, and the second that both girls shared the same mattress with the same sheets. Both had gone to bed almost at the same time, the blonde had gone ahead for no apparent reason, but seeing her position in the darkness it was obvious why, she was hugging something to her chest. 'This time she brought her bear...' she thought it was funny.

Not for the fact that her partner will need a stuffed animal to sleep, but for the heiress's great pride, which refused to recognize her more sensitive side. Marinette wanted to tell her that she didn't have to pretend, that she didn't have to bring her teddy secretly, that she wouldn't judge her or mind if she hugged her while she's asleep, but she knew that she would only mortify her friend with her knowledge.

Chloe was Chloe, and she didn't want to force her to bring out more of her true self, she didn't want to force her to express herself without fear when she wasn't that comfortable yet. She had to decide when to open up and how much she would open up, and until then the girl with pigtails would protect her secret, the same way she protected her own heroic identity.

Then she turned on her side and took her cell phone that was resting next to the pillow, it only had 15% battery due to the lack of electricity. She was in the camera gallery, the most recent photos were from her makeup session and one that she secretly took of the blonde sitting doing laundry, she needed to have proof for when she will tell how good her new friend was. She knew that it would be a truth difficult to believe. Then she went to the home screen and saw the time, it had already passed midnight, specifically it was 00:45.

As soon as five turned into six, the raven-haired girl put the phone down next to her and turned to face the blonde. It was about to be the time when everything began, in just one minute it would be 00:47 AM on Tuesday, it would be exactly one week since the disappearance, not a minute more nor a minute less.

Although thanks to Markov she knew when it happened, that it was something that materialized in the Earth's atmosphere and even how they all disappeared, she still lacked important information. She didn't know what materialized, nor why it did so, nor why only the two of them had survived. But what worried her most was the what if, that question of what if it can happen again. There was no evidence to prove that it was an isolated event in time, that would not be repeated.

They had a few days without major altercations, but today, on the one-week anniversary of the loss of all humanity, Marinette decided to listen to their fears to be prepared for the worst. She gently approached her partner, counting the seconds, she found the blonde's hand and took it in her own. Chloe was sleeping peacefully, nothing seemed to disturb her dreams, if she left now, she would remember the face of her new self, the friend she made at the end of the world.

A face that her never thought she would see days ago, the princess of Paris without makeup, without a judging look, without an expression of superiority or displeasure, without projecting hatred or spitting venom. She was just there, sleeping calmly and securely, features calm and soft, framed by her beautiful but wavy hair. The raven-haired girl genuinely wondered why her friend seemed so insecure about her own beauty.

Marinette squeezed Chloe's hand as her count reached zero, with fewer seconds left the fear of seeing her disappear into the air won over her, so she closed her eyes. It was all in her touch now, in the sound of their hearts beating, in the air that moved between them with their breaths. Then the anticipation came to an end, it must have been 00:47 in the morning, and she still felt the sleepy grip of Chloe.

She waited in case she had miscounted, but to her pleasant surprise, the weight on the mattress did not change, nor did the smooth skin against which her thumb rubbed. No matter how much she expected the worst, that soft, warm breath on her lips would not disappear. Noticing where she was feeling Chloe's breathing, Marinette opened her eyes. Apparently she had gotten too close, to the point that the tips of their noses could touch each other.

Feeling the heat rising to her cheeks, the girl stepped back, letting go of the heiress's hand as she turned to look at the ceiling. 'It was an accident, a silly accident... Oh Chloe... Your new friend is a bit dramatic huh?' With that thought she went to sleep, somewhat embarrassed by her unfounded fears and doubts about why her heart was beating so hard.

She closed her eyes and allowed herself to sleep, hoping to wake up to a peaceful morning, with her friend and without very personal doubts on her mind. The nights had become much easier in recent days, the times she had nightmares were becoming more and more anecdotal. The figures of Hawk Moth or Chat Blanc hardly haunted her dreams anymore, it was nice for a change.

Then the morning light began to filter through the windows. Given the position of her bed, she never had the need to close the curtains, as it made the entry of the sun's rays less invasive and more gradual while she danced that fine line between being awake and dreaming. Under other circumstances she would ask for five more minutes and go back to sleep, but the girl with pigtails quickly realized that she must be dreaming.

Marinette came to this conclusion since it was one of the most beautiful scenarios of her recurring dreams, one of her favorites. She, lying on her side, with the body of a certain blonde hugging her from behind. Their bodies fitting together perfectly like puzzle pieces, as if they were tailor-made for each other. Her being wrapped in those warm, strong arms, letting herself be protected, being the little spoon was one of the reasons why she didn't complain about not being taller.

It had to be a dream, except that in her dreams Adrien's arms were usually more muscular, while the ones wrapped around her were more like her owns. The hands under her shirt were also peculiar, they felt thin and delicate as they caressed her belly, just as the chest pressed against her back felt especially soft.

They were small details, but they stood out in her mind, yet they did not raise any alarm. They felt familiar, pleasant. Then, her mind began to remember and connect the dots. The sensation on her back was the same as something she had felt pressed against her forearm before. The arms that held her longingly felt incredibly familiar, like those of a recent hug. And those hands, those soft, refined, elegant hands she had felt before, she had held them before, she had held them during the night.

The realization woke her up completely, opening her eyes and turning her head to get better peripheral vision. She immediately recognized the golden locks and the light blue nightgown, Chloe was hugging her while she was asleep again. 'But this time she brought her teddy bear... Did she... Did she choose me over her stuffed animal?' That innocent deduction turned her face red and her brain in a mush. With a combination of panic, haste and care the raven-haired girl clumsily tried to get out of her friend's grasp.

Fortunately for the girl with pigtails, her double life as a heroine made her very good at getting out of grabs, and since the hug was sleepy it made it easier for her to free herself without waking the blonde. She was now partially leaning on the loft railing, getting out of bed as she tried to gather her questionable thoughts. Then she took another look at Chloe, her body now alone and uncovered on the bed. The panoramic view did to Marinette no good.

Still feeling her confusion grow more as well as the heat on her face, Marinette found the will to take the teddy bear and put it in the sleeping beauty's arms before covering her so she wouldn't be cold. Once this was done, she stumbled and almost fell to the floor as she backed away from her companion. Luckily she managed to grab the base of the bed before causing a fuss.

Once her feet were on the ground, the girl with light blue eyes quickly went to cover herself behind the paper screen, still trying to put her thoughts in order.

"It's okay, it's okay, it's just a false alarm, I was partially dreaming and thinking about Adrien, that's why it felt... Like that..." She whispered to herself trying to calm down.

"Are you okay Marinette? You're very red." Tikki asked.

"Uh... Yeah? You... Did you see what just happened?"

"That Chloe was hugging you in her sleep? Yes! It was so cute, she did the same thing the night before and she was very careful to get out of the hug without waking you." She explained with a soft chuckle. "I never thought she had a side like that."

"Yes, that must be why... Sure, it makes sense! I'm just happy to have her as a friend... Your heart beats like crazy when you're happy, right?" She asked almost imploringly in a whisper.

"Well yes." Tikki responded.

"What a relief..."

"Or when you're in love, like with Adrien." The mini deity noted.

"Ahhhhh! Not that!" The girl in pajamas gasped. "I can't be feeling this way about her... There's no way I'm feeling attracted to a girl..."

"Why not?"

"Well, first of all... Chloe is a girl..."

"Marinette, I was active in ancient Greece... That never stop anyone..." The red fairy said.

"Well, how about this... We're in what could be the end of times, I can't just start distracting myself like I do with Adrien right now... Since everyone left my head is clearer, no exams, not crushes that make me act weird, now my only responsibility is with Chloe and fixing all of this... And I don't want to ruin it just because I don't know what I truly feel..." The girl in pajamas explained.

"Marinette..."

"Also, we just became friends now, she even did my makeup yesterday, she's making a lot of progress and I don't want to ruin it because I don't know if I like her, if I'm attracted to her or what the hell is going on in my head..."

"Don't worry, you're growing up, one day you'll be able to understand your own feelings, and I know that whatever they are, everything will be fine..."

"How do you know?"

"Because loving feelings are never wrong... Loving your loved ones is never wrong..."

"Yeah... That's right... I'm not in love with Chloe... I feel very fond of her like a BEST FRIEND! Of course... I'm proud to have managed to make her such a close friend..."

"Okay... That's starting to sound like you're trying to convince yourself..."

Then, a background noise caught both of their attention, a small cry of "Yes! It worked!" coming from the bed. Marinette peeked her head around the side of the paper screen to see her partner sitting with a triumphant smile. Quickly hiding the stuffed animal in her arms behind her back when she noticed the eyes in her direction.

"Ah... Good morning... Did you sleep well?" The blonde asked embarrassedly.

"Ahh... Yes! Yes I did..."

Although she had almost fallen out of bed, she couldn't say that she started the day on the wrong foot. They continued their routine as normal, both dressed for the day in their clean classic clothes and shared a light lunch while chatting. Since the catacombs would be flooded and without electricity, they reached an agreement to stop investigating Lila for the moment to avoid unnecessary scares.

With that decision made and their stomachs full, they were both ready to head towards their next suspect's house, until Chloe looked out the window.

"Oh shit, not you again..." The heiress complained.

"Something wrong?"

"Look at it yourself." She said making space at the bedroom window. The girl with blue eyes poked her head out and noticed a big cat prowling the street.

"Oh... That's a very big panther."

"Magnificent, simply magnificent... I couldn't just leave the carnivores in their cells... I had to be good to everyone..." The blondy grumble between murmurs.

"Don't say that, although it is a risk it is good that you gave them the opportunity to survive on their own." Then the girl with pigtails started thinking out loud. "Let's see, the door to the bakery is still closed since last Tuesday, and out of habit I lock the other one every time we return home. It won't come in..."

"You don't think it smelled the feast you made yesterday, do you?"

"No, cooked meat smells very different from the raw one they normally eat... Maybe it were tracking the giraffes we saw the other day?" She suggested.

"Whatever the reason, we can't go outside. It will eat Louis if we walk and I don't want to have it chasing my butt if we ride a motorcycle..."

"I guess we'll just have to close everything down and wait for him to leave on his own."

With their options unexpectedly reduced, the girls decided to retreat to the room again to be safer. They closed doors, windows and curtains, they put away the food they were going to distribute today so that it wouldn't attract more costumers with fangs and they blocked the trapdoor with the sofa, on which the dog was lying calmly.

"Look at him, our guardian..." Chloe commented sarcastically, leaning against a wall with her arms crossed.

"Oh come on, he looks adorable like this..." The truth is, Marinette was impressed by the dog ability to take everything in stride.

"Yes, when he doesn't do anything... Although there isn't much to do anyway..."

"Speaking of doing... Have you thought about what you'll do when everything goes back to normal?"

"Well, if we find out who Hawk Moth is, I guess I'd prepare for the parade they would give us for unmasking the biggest criminal in Paris." The blonde said.

"Are you already thinking about the spotlight?" The raven-haired girl laughed a little, sitting in her swivel chair in front of her desk.

"Obviously, as I've been telling you, one has to be prepared to look good. The suit, the makeup, the hairstyle, you have to know how to leave an impression... After all, we would do something that not even Ladybitch could..." justified the heiress.

"I honestly wouldn't even know what to wear to start..." She said thinking about the situation. 'Technically I would have to go as Ladybug to that, I never thought about going as Marinette to a party in my honor...' she mused.

"Design something then."

"Design me something?"

"Yes! You said it yourself, right? You're a fashion designer, make something nice..." Chloe suggested. "In fact, it really seems strange to me that you always wear the same clothes. Shouldn't you, I don't know, use your creations for propaganda or something like that?"

"But I do! I made the shirt." She said moving the black vest so the floral design could be seen well. "Besides, you're not the one to talk either, day in and day out you also wear those same clothes."

"Yes, because unlike the rest my mother is a famous fashion expert and she once complimented this outfit, obviously I was going to wear it more often..."

"That... Makes sense..."

"Obviously it has, I'm not ridiculous..." Then the blonde looked out the window. "Ugh, great, that thing went to sleep on the crashed limo. Couldn't a gazelle or something come by so he can chase it out of here?"

The heiress's words gave our heroine an idea. She discreetly wrote something on a piece of paper while the heiress wasn't looking, a quick note. Once she had written down her message, she began to move it strangely under the table, to get the attention of the creature that was paying attention to them. Tikki took it and her blue eyes quickly noticed how the little Kwami crossed the floor.

She had written 'Use what's left of the turkey to get the panther off the block, I'll keep Chloe distracted.' in paper. It was perfect, since the fairy was an intangible and eternal entity, she ran no risk when interacting with the animal, and was strong enough to move the remains of food, or at least a leg of the turkey. Now she just had to make sure her partner stopped looking out the window so she wouldn't discover her Kwami. The girl with pigtails thought until she had a eureka moment.

"How about... If I make you an outfit?"

"Sorry?" The blonde turned to see her directly.

"Make you an outfit. You said it, I could make myself something nice for when we discover Hawk Moth, why would I stop at myself if I can make something for both of us? What better advertisement for my creations than Chloe Bourgeois herself wearing them in our show ?" Feeding her ego, it was perfect for her to accept.

"A-are you sure?" Her cheeks were slightly red, it seemed like there was something about the idea that made her nervous.

"It won't be fine clothes like Gabriel's or with your mother's approval, but I swear I'll make it custom-made. I'll put a lot of effort into it!"

"I know but... You would have to take measures for that..."

"Oh... That... Don't worry! I'm a professional! I've done it many times with the rest of my friends, and I promise you that no one will find out about the princess of Paris's numbers. I'm very good keeping secrets..."

It made sense to Marinette, many girls had hang-ups about their weight or body, so it made sense for the blonde to be cautious of those who might know her measurements. Even if they weren't confident enough to do so, she could still use the designs and sketches to get her partner away from the window. But to her surprise, Chloe spoke again after letting out a red-faced sigh.

"Alright..."

"Wait, really?"

"I guess if you already did it with your friends, then I'm not going to be any less... But don't let anyone find out! Understand?"

"Of course! Best friends word!" Marinette said getting up from the chair.

"Well..." Then the heiress went behind the paper screen, to the surprise of the bakers' daughter.

"Hey... Chloe, I have to take your measurements here..."

"And you think I don't know? To make a custom outfit you have to have as few clothes as possible or that they are not thick so as not to affect the results... It's obvious..." The blonde pointed out as she changed after the screen

"Oh... I mean... Pff obviously I already knew it, come when you're ready..." The aspiring designer responded.

The truth is, although she always made clothes for her friends, most of the clothes she made were based on existing sizes or using other clothes as a guide. It was partly out of caution, she made sure to make things that would fit on more than one person in case the person who asked for it didn't like what she designed. Most of the time she made bespoke things they were embellishments, additional items like vests, trench coats or hats, never an entire outfit.

Despite everything, Marinette was confident. It was simply taking measurements, that she wearing looser and thinner clothes would not change the fact that she only had to wrap it with a yellow ribbon with numbers, she just had to appear to be methodical to give Tikki enough time to take the panther somewhere else.

It didn't have to be awkward, after all she already had Chloe on top of her the day before, it wasn't a big deal. 'Just friends comfortable with each other, nothing to drown in a glass of water.' she thought, pulling out the tape measure, a pencil, and her diary. She was sure she could made it.

"Well, I'm ready... And don't say anything, I bought them on sale..." The blonde said coming out from behind the paper screen.

All the security left the raven-haired girl's body as soon as she laid her light blue eyes on the heiress. Marinette expected to see Chloe in her pajamas, it was light clothing from everything, but instead her friend went for something more direct. She had put on a two-piece swimsuit, or maybe it was underwear? The girl with pigtails couldn't make a difference as her brain produced white noise.

From the Ladybug's pattern in it, she had probably bought it when she was still a fan, before the Miracle Queen incident. She probably used it on trips to the beach or in the pool, Marinette had never noticed until now every time the two of them were in a pool, unlike now, when she perhaps noticed too much.

The blonde stood in front of her, a light shade of pink on her face and shoulders, so embarrassed by an outfit that would look so corny. For her part, the girl with pigtails was probably red because she noticed how slim her friend was. She knew she was in good physical condition, she saw her skills and dance when she did her interpretation of Ladybug in a contest, but she never thought she would see her so close. She wasn't marked but her abdomen was definitely firmer than what she expected, just as her legs were more athletic than they appeared.

"So this is what you get walking around stores?" Managed to articulate the girl with pigtails, measuring the heiress's thigh.

"That and ballet, just because I don't like the gym class doesn't mean I don't stay in shape..." Chloe said, trying to stay as straight as possible. "They won't be like Césaire's but I'm not going to set the bar so high..."

"E-excuse me?"

"Come on, you said it, you do this with all your friends, and I'm proud but I don't blind, I know I'm no competition for her..."

When Marinette managed to process what her friend was referring to, the image of the brunette in the blonde's position made her bad. She would have lost her balance if she hadn't even been sitting at that moment. 'Okay, maybe I'm attracted to girls... Just a little...' she admitted to herself, listening to her heart beat like crazy. To calm herself down and not think about the implications of what she had just discovered about herself, our heroine desperately searched for something to talk about.

"So mmm... Any suggestions on what you want in your Dupain-Cheng desing? Like accessories, colors, that stuff..." She asked as he stood up to measure her arms.

"W-well then... Yellow and white look good, black never fails in an outfit... Maybe a skirt..." She responded with a less red face.

"Oh, like when we made the movie, right? The Queen Banana thing... I-I mean, your outfit for the movie, not when you were akumatized and..." Marinette began to really regret the topic she chose.

"And when Vesperia, my replacement, appeared..."

"I-I don't think Ladybug wanted to replace you as a heroine... I mean, I don't think that was the intention... To change you, it's because she... the Miraculouses need to be used and..."

"No, it's okay..." The shame seemed to have left the blonde, grief taking its place as she sighed quietly. "There's no reason to deny it, everyone prefers to have someone else in my position... Do you know why I wanted to be the protagonist in the movie? Why I became so possessive about it?"

"We thought it was, well, wanting to be the center of attention..." The designer responded after writing down the length of her arms on the paper.

"Well, it's partly true but... It was also for Daddy... I wanted to impress him..." She confessed, lowering her arms.

"The Mayor like movies?"

"I think... that Daddy wanted to be a filmmaker... I say I think because, well, he didn't tell me... I found out that he showed Zoe a box of “frustrated dreams” and when I went to see everything they were movie stuff..."

"But... Why would it be a frustrated dream?"

"Something tells me that it was me and mom who were to blame for that part... He is the Mayor for us... He has to do something he doesn't like for me..." The heiress now had her arms crossed, hugging itself. "I know that I always take advantage of his position and his power... But I wouldn't have had any problem if he were a famous filmmaker instead... If only... He would have revealed it to me and not to Zoe..."

"Chloe..."

"I know I know, it's not her fault that she's the good girl that everyone wants, it's just..." Tears threatened to fall, Marinette had never seen her like this, so vulnerable, both physically and mentally. "If everyone wants to replace me with someone else... Someone good... Even my dad... Well, I can't help but be a little jealous and a little annoying about it..."

Forgetting her own nervousness, the girl with pigtails hugged her, to the blonde's surprise. She may not want people to feel sorry for her, she may not like being seen like that, and maybe it wasn't even the best time for physical contact, but it was the only right action in her mind.

"You are the good Chloe, Chloe, no one can take a person's place... No one can take your place... You are special, you are irreplaceable, and no one's arrival is going to change that... and... sorry for the surprise hug, I know you don't like them..." Something calmed down in her conscience when she felt her friend return the gesture.

"It's okay... I... I think I needed these more than I thought..." She responded with a sob.

They stayed like that for a moment until they were both calm, each time getting more and more used to each other's support. Marinette wanted to help her with all her heart, but she never think there would be so much to repair in her former rival's life. Just because things were fine between the two of them didn't mean they were fine with everyone, maybe not even with the family who should love her the most.

After venting their emotions, they both remembered that one of them was in a swimsuit so they separated with a blush. Then Chloe got dressed again while the aspiring professional designer finished her notes, just in time to notice that the fairy had long since returned. With the coast clear, she lock up her diary.

"Your parents don't read it, right? Look, I was serious when I said I wanted this to stay private..."

"Don't worry, I'll make sure no one sees your page. All sensitive information is well protected." She said, slapping the locked box a couple of times.

"You have a lot of faith in that thing..."

"You have no idea, I used my savings to buy an improved version. It's harder, the joints are more resistant, it's waterproof and they even told me it resists fire... Only the best to take care of my designs." She winked at her, both of them sharing a soft laugh at reminiscing about the past.

The truth is that she actually bought a more secure box when she realized that she was writing a lot of her heroic work in her diary, but the extra privacy for the rest of the things never hurt. Since they were both well dressed and the important information was protected, they took advantage of the fact that their furry visitor had left to go out on a motorcycle to their next destination.

It were difficult times but they managed to get through it, and today Marinette had learned something new about her new friend as well as herself, the only thing left to do was see what they would discover at the Agreste manor.

Chapter Text

Planet Earth was a beautiful singularity, a tiny bright blue point in space, at the right distance from its sovereign star so as not to be a sea of flames but not to suffer the cold of the cosmic abyss either. It was the middle point that gave rise to life, and of the life that emerged, none stood out as much as humanity.

Weak but intelligent, fragile but powerful, sickly but numerous, this peculiar species managed to stand out from its peers on the planet and managed to leave is mark on the world. Buildings, monuments, cities, countries, cultures, humanity shaped the landscape and filled the horizon with bustle, and it was like this for a long, long time... Until, between Monday night and Tuesday morning, everyone desapeared.

To the surprise of two poor girls from Paris, humanity as we know disappeared without a trace. The city of light was in darkness a week after the incident, with no bustle in the streets or electricity in the buildings. The only love in the city of love was, for the moment, the appreciation and affection of an unexpected friendship.

But then, Paris wasn't even the biggest city in the world, just as the absence of people on the internet didn't mean that people were absent in the real world. Knowing this, the young heroine and guardian of the Miraculous, Marinette Dupain-Cheng, sent the spirits of the magical jewels to search the world for both survivors and or the person responsible for this disaster.

~<{Stompp and Orikko: North}>~
The houses were the abode of shadows and memories, an imperturbable silence reigned in the closed and hermetic dwellings, the curtains denying the entry of sunlight. Except for insects and rats that sneak into old structures, nothing seemed to be able to get in or out of the more modern ones... Until a certain rooster-like fairy walked through the door like a spirit.

"Greetings survivors! I am Orikko! The Kwami of Pretension and a benevolent entity of great power sent by the Guardian to guide you to safety-" He stopped in the middle of his speech, the orange creature noticed that there was no one to listen to it. "Oh come on, just say nobody is there and that way I'll save saliva."

Then, he flew through the door with his intangibility to the house across the street, repeating his entrance.

"Not be afraid! I, Orikko of Pretension, messenger of the powerful guardian of Paris, come to save you humble morta-" he closed his mouth again, noticing that there was no audience. "Not again..."

So, he went to the next house while taking a breath.

"Survivors of the great extermination! I am Orikko and I have come to give you hope!"

Same result, it flew to another house.

"Quick! Come with me if you want to live!"

His words echoed in the darkness, himself as the only listener. He flew towards another building.

"I! Orikko! You! Survivor?!"

There was no response, only silence. He continued on his way.

"London Bridge is falling down. Falling down, falling down. ¿London Bridge is...? Come on, everyone knows how it goes! Don't keep me waiting!"

They left him waiting, nothing respond to him. Then he stepped out onto the streets of London again, watching as his horned companion emerged from a red multi-level bus.

"No one sleeping in the seats." Stompp said.

"Did you make the entrance I told you to?"

"For what? They have no reason to hide and it's faster to just look in the first place."

"Oh come on! It would be the first time we would meet many new humans in so long, you have to make a good first impression. Maybe the guardian will decide to ask them for help and make them temporary users for us!"

"We are looking for innocents in danger, not warriors." The buffalo fairy responded.

"Aren't you excited? This could be our chance to have bearers! No one has used us in the new millennium, nor since Master Fu was the guardian." The mini rooster-like deity replied.

"I'm realistic, if fighting super villains every day hasn't used the one that grants them immunity to everything or the one that gives them almost any super abilities, then I don't think that finding some hypothetical survivors of an unknown event is going to make a difference..."

"Spoilsport."

"I am the Kwami of Determination, not the one of false hopes. I am determined to fulfill the mission she gave us... Speaking of which, how long have we been?"

"A few days maybe? I think there was a giant clock a few blocks ago."

"Will London have a giant calendar too?"

"I think that's why they piled up some stones in some field, but I don't know how close we will be to them..."

And so the Kwami duo kept searching, with the orange and yellow one not giving up his chance to make a great first impression.

~<{Roaar and Longg: East}>~
Their mission was simple, search for any other survivors like Chloe from the disappearance, or the akumatized culprit of all this. A simple mission when you take into account that the footprint of humans is easy to trace, their cities and buildings stood out in the environment, like the long and extensive metal cables that the Kwami dragon ran through.

They seemed to connect a city with the tip of a mountain, passing over forests and hills, carrying capsules similar to rounded cars. Longg checked each one diligently, looking for some poor soul who was lucky enough to survive and with enough bad luck to get trapped.

"Humans and their transportation methods, at least this time they didn't trace cement rivers through the forests..." He said checking one of the capsules, relieved that there was no one dying inside.

The mini deity then began to remember the first time he met his current carrier, how she seemed to be inside a horse-shaped transport. Maybe it was the work of an akuma, but he liked it to be more natural.

"If they could copy birds to create airplanes, I wonder what stops them from imitating quadrupeds for their cars... They would save a lot on making roads..."

"LOOOOOOOONGG!" It was heard in the distance.

"Ugh..." The reflection ended as he cleared his throat. "WHAT?"

"THERE IS A DOG WHO LOOK BAD AT ME!" Roaar shouted from the city. "WOULD IT BE THE AKUMATIZED ONE?!"

"FOR THE TWELFTH TIME, NO! NOOROO DOESN'T CREATE SUCH STRONG AKUMAS WITH ANIMALS!" The mini dragon pointed out.

For being one of the most versatile Miraculouses, the butterfly Kwami was one of those whose potential was most explored, and although the order by tradition kept the mini entities in the shadows with respect to their knowledge, that did not prevent them from talk to each other within the space of the Miraculous box. After all, they didn't have much to do in there either.

"THEN WHY DID HE LOOK AT ME WEIRD?!" The Kwami of exaltation replied exaltedly.

"YOU'RE A FAIRY THAT LOOKS LIKE A PURPLE TIGER! THAT'S NOT NORMAL TODAY!"

A moment of silence as the dragon's roars stopped echoing through the empty mountains.

"I'M NOT WEIRD!" Roaar added.

"I'm beginning to understand why the guardians didn't let us go out more often... Why didn't she pair me with Wayzz?" The embodiment of perfection complained, flying back to the city at the foot of the mountain before his energetic friend ran into a poor, hungry animal again.

~<{Barkk and Trixx: Northeast}>~
In the inviting streets of Brussels, among trees and buildings, two canine fairies tried to imitate their mortal counterparts to fulfill their function, both sniffing the air and the earth as they moved.

"Nothing. And you?" The fox Kwami asked.

"My nose doesn't find anything either, if there were survivors here maybe they cover their tracks before leaving..." Barkk responded

"Well, we still have a couple of neighboring cities before moving on to the Netherlands, maybe they moved there..."

"Let's hope we have better luck- What is that?!" The dog Kwami was distracted by something shiny a few blocks away.

After a few seconds of flight they arrived at a gigantic structure, standing out among all the buildings for its unique shape. It had an almost alien appearance compared to its more mundane surroundings, shiny metal spheres connected to each other by large cylinders, easily measuring more than 100 meters.

"Could it be a Sentimonster?" The lop-eared one asked.

"Oh, I think I know what this is, my bearer made a presentation about this for a school project." Remembered the orange fairy. "I think it was called... Atomium, it's a piece of art that represents an iron crystal magnified 165 billion times."

"They have seen atoms yet? Wow, humans are so fascinating!"

"And not to brag, but my bearer got an excellent grade..." The fox declared proudly. "I hope that when everyone returns the guardian let me go back to her... The truth is I'm starting to miss her..."

"I know, it is not usual to have a permanent bearer, what made the guardian go back on her decision?" Barkk asked.

"Well, the guardian once gave the Miraculouses to her and her partner at the same time, so they both discovered their identities..."

"Does that mean we no longer have to hide the identities of the bearers? So modern!"

"In fact, ideally not, since Hawk Moth found out when that stupid spoiled girl betrayed us, so we had to make an illusion to pretend that she was no longer my carrier so she could continue helping from the shadows." Continued explaining Trixx. "But, the rest weren't supposed to know this time, but she couldn't lie to her boyfriend either, so when the guardian found out, well..."

"Oh I understand, that's the thing about love, when you are so adored by someone you adore with the same passion, you usually reciprocate with honesty and trust... It's so beautiful when that bond is reciprocal..." The little fairy had sparkle in her eyes and sweetness in her voice.

"Yes... I don't know how reciprocal that trust is... Sometimes I asked myself how they ended up together..." The fox confessed.

"Wow, what happened?"

"To begin with, that boy was jealous of my carrier because he saw a movie."

"A movie? Is your bearer an actor?" Barkk asked, tilting her head.

"Not even that! In the movie there was a character like Rena Rouge and he was offended by her because that Rena didn't go out with the character that represented him." Trixx explained.

"Was your owner the director of the film?

"Not that I know of. Although she is good at taking photos and editing..."

"Then why did he get jealous?"

"That's what I'm saying!"

~<{Kaalki and Sass: South}>~
Still on French soil, a certain grayish creature was flying with joy over the fields, being closely followed by a worried snake.

"We should follow the roads! If we continue like this we could lose some farms" Sass pointed out.

"Easy! We'll just fly higher and see if we missed anything! Enjoy the breeze!" Kaalki neighed.

"Or we could just do it right directly..."

"Oh don't be a spoilsport, aren't you the one with the power to go back in the first place?" The equine Kwami said stopping, only to start pretending to jump over a fence.

"That's not how it works, my thing is to “go back”, not go back."

"What's the difference?"

"Well, I'm not "returning" anywhere, I undo what I've already done to a certain extent to choose another path." The teal Kwami responded, sitting on the fence, taking a snack out of the mini bag Marinette made for them.

"I mean, like this?" Then Kaalki repeated the exact same jump she did but on her back, flying in reverse along the same path.

"More or less but, you know, with everything else included."

"You know, because of those technicalities of time, we might be a little jealous of you and Fluff. Well, at least I'm a little envious of you two." The fairy confessed next to him, leaning on the fence with her little arms crossed.

"Let me guess, because technically we're the ones who spend the most time outside the box?" The Kwami looked at her from the side with his reptilian eyes.

"Are you surprised? I am the incarnation of migration, my thing is to travel, to be free. I really like helping humanity, seriously, but I would be lying if I said I didn't miss traveling the universe..."

"Yes... I also want to help, interact with them, but believe it or not, the relativity of my power doesn't help much... Yes, technically in operation much longer than Plagg and Tikki, but everything has a cost..."

"Like human tolls? What a obsession they have with charging for everything..."

"Only in my case what is charged is the health of my bearer... It requires a persevering spirit, a serene personality, a calm and mature mind to withstand my power..." The magical snake explained.

"Of course, woh wouldn't go crazy repeating the same jump over the same fence over and over again..."

"Yep, the human mind is a fragile thing, that's why I'd prefer if we didn't go around so much, I don't want loneliness to drive our guardian crazy... It's a hard experience to be without support." Sass said, starting to fly again.

"Well, she's still not just any human, she's the guardian, Fu wouldn't have chosen her if she didn't have what it takes to support the weight on her shoulders." Kaalki assured, starting to fly too.

"She may, but is still a very young girl, although I don't think they get along well, I hope that at least keeping an eye on Chloe will help her endure all this..."

"I'd be surprised if we come back and they didn't are each other necks."

"I will remain positive, now to resume the trip as we have no time to waste."

"Yes, I'm going to run with my eyes wide open through any ranch!" She scream before flying away at breakneck speeds.

"At least she'll be attentive..." Sass let out a resigned sigh as he went after her companion.

~<{Mullo and Ziggy: Southwest}>~
San Sebastian was a Spanish tourist city, close to the French borders and facing the Bay of Biscay, for anyone it would be unnatural to see such a beautiful city depopulated by human life, but for a certain duo of Kwamis it even seemed normal. In their five days of exploring since leaving Paris on Thursday, they found nothing but ghost towns.

Now they gathered on a hill to see the landscape and confirm what they found, both anticipating exactly the same response from the other.

"Let me guess, not a human in your half of the city?" The mouse Kwami asked.

"Not a soul." Ziggy responded carrying a brick. "And yours?"

"The usual, empty houses, still cars... What looked like the remains of a plane in the middle of the street..."

"That explains the smoke we saw, it must have been left without a crew in mid-air..."

"By the way, why do you have a brick?" Mullo raised an eyebrow.

"Ahhh... I don't have a brick." The Kwami goat said, dropping the brick.

"You just dropp it."

"Thats not true..."

"It's literally bigger than you and it's orange, obviously I was going to see it."

The horned Kwami did not respond, looking in another direction while whistling.

"Ziggy!"

"Okay! Although I didn't find any humans, the truth is that I did find many animals trapped in the closed houses... So... I BREAK THE HOUSES!" She admitted sadly.

"That's... Exactly what I've been doing too! I know we shouldn't be naughty, let alone damage human property, but I couldn't handle their little faces..." Mullo also confessed.

"Phew, good thing we're on the same page. We're not going to tell Ladybug about this, right?"

"Yeah, I don't know if she'll be happy that we waste time on those things, we're too lucky that she lets us be outside the Miraculous box to take the risk."

With their little prank covered, the two Kwamis continued on their journey.

~<{Wayzz and Pollen: Southeast}>~
Some Kwamis teams were more compatible than others, some were more chaotic than others, but apparently Marinette had made a particularly quiet duo when she decided to combine green with yellow.

With silence and diligence, the turtle and the bee had arrived in the region of Tuscany in Italy, it had been a slow but thorough search for survivors that led them to the city of The Leaning Tower of Pisa. For ancient creatures like them, five days were a tiny amount, almost anecdotal, but due to the tension that accompanied the silence, Pollen was beginning to feel it eternal and, above all, annoying.

After checking out a cathedral she met up with Wayzz, who was investigating cars parked on the street.

"I didn't find anyone in the cathedral..."

Wayzz just nodded before continuing to check.

"Did you find anyone?"

The green Kwami only turned to shake his head before continuing.

"Are you seriously going to keep giving me the cold shoulder?" This phrase stopped the turtle who turned to look at her again, without speaking. "You've been like this since Paris, Paris! As soon as we left the guardian's house you just stopped talking!"

"Because there is nothing to talk about, you said what you felt, you gave your reasons, I'm done. If there is nothing productive to say, it's not worth talking." The green spirit broke the silence.

"Is this all because of Chloe?! I already told you that she stole me! And everyone knows how she is like! She kept bothering our current guardian, because of her we lost Master Fu and now she even killed all the humanity!" The Kwami bee shouted.

"We don't know what happened to everyone, they don't necessarily have to be dead..."

"And what do you see around you? Because I will tell you what I don't see, Humans! They are nowhere to be found, ergo, they ceased to exist, ergo, They are dead!"

"Even if they were, those are not the ways, we should not stoop to treating mortals like that..." The turtle Kwami reprimanded her.

"Why do you defend her so much? She is not your bearer, in fact, she took away your old bearer, who was the guardian, and put the new one on a silver platter for Hawk Moth! Do you know how it feels? How it feel that your bearer will cause so much harm? That you will be used to cause so much damage to the world?"

"Yes! I know! Because Master Fu did the same thing with the guardians!" His tone made the yellow entity retreat. "Listen, I didn't want to scream, but... Humans are complicated, right? They are complicated creatures that go through stages, and you have to understand that at all stages they are prone to making mistakes..."

"Well... Some people definitely make too many mistakes, and some even make them deliberately... Fu didn't do it on purpose..." Pollen said with a pout.

"And you think I don't know? I remember it like it was yesterday... For what we live, it could have been yesterday..." Wayzz looked at the floor, melancholic. "The monastery in ruins, the order annihilated, magical jewels lost and then he called me... It took him his time, several hours, maybe days to muster up the courage to look at one of us in the face... He was just a child..."

Although there were days of silence between them, the bee Kwami allowed his friend the moment of silence to organize his ideas, to appreciate or contain the memory, it was clear that he needed the pause.

"When I saw him, I did not see any human as the guardians of the temple or as our ancient bearers... I saw the youngest, most defenseless, innocent and docile stage of humanity... He was hugging his legs, terrified of the darkness that surrounded him, of the mistake he himself committed... Ashamed by the deaths that stained his small hands and buried under the weight that now rested on his shoulders..."

"I... I had no idea..."

"Do you know why he chose me? Because I am the Kwami of protection... He needed to feel safe, that nothing bad would happen again, that he was somehow protected... His mistakes tormented him for years in places where not even I was able to protect him... Silly mistakes of a child who did not consider the consequences, who only wanted something as simple as filling his stomach in the middle of a dum test..."

"Wayzz..." Before she could get closer, the turtle spirit moved away.

"I know that the girl is not well, that there is darkness in her, that you have your reasons to be upset... But when I heard what happened, what you said... I could only think about how Master Fu would have reacted, no, how that little boy would have reacted if someone had yelled at him like that... tellin im that yes, it was all his fault... That he was a monster..."

Now that she understood why his partner was upset, Pollen had also lost the desire to talk. She was still angry at the blonde for stealing the Miraculous again, or well, what she thought had been stolen, but now she felt guilty for the way she acted. And so they continued in silence, until they found someone or Marinette called them back.

~<{Daizzi and Xuppu: West}>~
After finishing investigating a coastal city without luck and with the sun falling on the horizon, the Kwamis of the monkey and the pig were preparing for what would be a long trip, since the sea is in front of them. They would cross all the way to America or any island in between to follow the guardian's orders, and it would be very, very boring.

Luckily for them, something had caught their attention on the beach, so they didn't have to immediately begin the most monotonous part of their mission.

"It doesn't look like a sand castle..." The pink Kwami observed.

"Yeah, it's very hard to be made of sand... Unless they compacted it a lot..." Xuppu added.

"It could be a statue... A statue lying down. But what is it doing right here in the middle of nowhere?"

"Well, most ancient statues are usually in the middle of nowhere, since in ancient times those areas were not in the middle of nowhere..." The monkey pointed out.

"But it has those things like the ropes coming out from behind the TV in Marinette's living room... What are they called... wires? Aren't those things modern?" Daizzi asked.

"Maybe? Anyway, I don't think it's very modern, look at it, they got the number of eyes wrong! This statue has three instead of two."

"You're right about that, with the number of cameras and photos available today It would be surprised if they fail this badly in anatomy... Or is it an artist's decision? Oh! I like sub-realistic art!"

Then, in the middle of her ramblings, the kwami of Derision began to vibrate, releasing a small glow while moving a little to the side, then he stopped.

"That was weird..."

"Are you okay Xuppu?" The pink spirit asked him.

"I'm fine, it just felt like when a wielder uses the phrase to transform... Wait! It actually WAS like that! The guardian must be calling us!" The monkey exclaimed.

"Maybe she found the Akuma!"

"Or the akuma found her! We have to hurry!"

And so, they left what they thought was a statue in the middle of the beach, so the deactivated humanoid figure would sank deeper and deeper into the sand, they were completely unaware of who that girl was. Hurry gripped the Kwamis as each group received the signal, they all hurried back to Paris. That Tuesday night, all the Kwamis went back home.

Chapter Text

Things were changing in ways no one could imagine. No one would expect to be able to circulate without obstacles during rush hour in Paris, just as no one would expect the only noise on the streets to be the purring of a single scooter, and above all, no one would have imagined seeing the two of them on one. Marinette couldn't help but think how the rest of the people would react if they were still there, how sub-real it would be to her friends.

Her and Chloe Bourgeois of all people, working together, dropping off food at various points around the city to prevent another incident like the panther earlier. Not only that, now they were no longer so hostile towards each other, they no longer treated each other as rivals, but rather they lived together. The girl with pigtails cooked for the heiress and the aforementioned had even deigned to wash clothes by hand. The blonde even held onto her well while they were riding the motorcycle, not just not knowing where to put her hands or clinging to the sides of the baker's vest with discomfort, now she had enough confidence to surround the driver's waist with her arms.

Every time they stopped, Chloe got out to take some of the food that Marinette prepared yesterday from the makeshift suitcase and left it for the pets or zoo animals that were released into the city. And every time they got back on, the blonde put her arms around her again. The raven-haired girl knew that this was normal, that it was a typical and safe position for two crew members to ride in this type of vehicle.

But still, feeling the heiress wrapping those elegant hands around her belly and feeling her chest pressed against her back brought back memories that made her heart beat, just as it turns her cheeks pink every time she climbs back up. Despite being driving, her mind returned for seconds to feeling in her bed, remembering how she fulfilled one of her dreams with Adrien but with her. The fact that she later realized that maybe she liked women and knew the blonde's measurements did nothing to calm the doubts in her brain.

It was a concept that confused her almost as much as the disappearance of humanity just a week ago. She couldn't be a lesbian, she wouldn't have spent so many years feeling things for boys if she was, just as there was no way Adrien would occupy so much of her mind if she only liked girls. But, that only left her with one answer and one fear, she was bisexual and maybe, just maybe, she had feelings for her new friend.

There were so many things wrong with her about that idea, not because they were bad in themselves, but because of the contradictions it brought to the surface. She was her former bully, but now she was her friend. She had bothered her for years, but now she was trying her best to be good and help her. She was so shallow and made up, but the face she saw in the rearview mirror over her shoulder was so, so cute. It was something that unfortunately she had become more and more aware of, since lately she couldn't stop glancing at it.

Since she went to look for her at the hotel a day ago, Marinette hasn't stopped having her eyes on her. When she slept on the couch, when she ate, when she went out wrapped in a bath towel, when she slept next to her, when she did the laundry, when the blonde applied makeup on her and when she let her measurements be taken in a bikini, the raven-haired girl simply couldn't take her eyes off her. But of course, all of that could be excused because she wanted to protect her, because it was the only thing she had to see and keep an eye on in the world, and that was the problem.

The excuses. Just as every counterargument had an answer to debate it, every strange action had an equally plausible excuse. What if she only feels that way about her because she's the only girl around her? What if she's now taking a look in the rearview mirror to see that her friend is comfortable on the motorcycle trip? She looked at her lips because it was easier to see grimaces there, not because she was particularly interested in them.

Likewise, she looked into her eyes to see if there was fear in them because of the way she was driving, not because those sapphire eyes were incredibly beautiful to her. Then, completely interrupting the rambling in her mind, she noticed how the eyes of the girl behind her had widened, her pupils contracting as she focused on something on the side of the road at the same time as her mouth opened to speak.

"What happened there?" Chloe asked, making Marinette follow the direction of her gaze and stop the bike when she saw it too.

Next to them, in front of her eyes, there was a jewelry store that had a huge window facing the street. Emphasis on the WAS, since it was in pieces. 'There is no broken glass on the sidewalk, what broke it came from this side.' the girl behind the wheel reasoned, analyzing the scene. There was enough sunlight coming in to see inside without getting out of they transport, and by the looks of it, whatever came in caused a disaster. The display cases that displays various diamonds, gems, necklaces, earrings, rings and other jewelry were destroyed.

"Maybe... A gorilla or rhino was mistaken for its reflection?" Our heroine suggested. "He thought he had a rival, charged against the window and in the confusion turned everything upside down."

"So this is what the saying about an elephant in a glass shop was referring to? Although... If it was a confused animal then... Why did everything turn out like... Like this?" There was something the blonde didn't like about the scene, and the raven-haired girl knew what she was referring to.

Every single stained glass window was destroyed, it seemed like any place that could house jewelry was attacked. If it were an accident, it was rare that there wasn't at least one display case intact. Likewise, all the props were lying around, some covered or on top of pieces of glass, but none near where they should go in the first place. There was a certain pattern to the chaos, something that seemed almost methodical. But, that didn't rule out that everything was just a coincidence, they didn't even know when it happened.

"Look at what street it is, we don't have much to do so we can come back to investigate later..." Marinette said as she started the scooter again.

"Ugh, I hope we don't encounter another animal, I've already encountered too many for my taste..." The heiress complained.

Then they continued along the road, they were in a particularly expensive area of the city, right where the Agreste Manor was. The list of who could be Hawk Moth was quite short, after all, many of their best candidates with the most evidence against them were ruled out for being victims of akumatization. However, after an idea crossed Chloe's mind, the girls began to take into account the possibility that the powers of the Miraculous will also affect their own wielders.

It was logical when the heroine started to think about it, after all, any damage she suffered due to a fight was also repaired by her Lucky Charm in the same way as the rest of the city. Just as Carapace's shield can be created around himself, other heroes, or to trap villains. Even the Sentimonsters can be given to the akumatized so that they have a companion or act directly alongside the peacock bearer directly.

With that possibility open, the discarded candidates once again headed the list. In it were people like Lila as suspects, evil and mysterious people, who were up to no good and who kept their truths in the shadows. On the other hand, there were people like Adrien's fencing teacher, with aspirations of greatness and power, who might want to rewrite history because of their family past. Or also like they science teacher, who had already shown herself to seek recognition and who literally tried to hunt down the Kwamis.

However, the one who was at the top of that list and whom she was most mortified to doubt, was none other than Gabriel Agreste. A reserved man who spent his time out of the public eye, who rarely left his house, whose brand logo is literally a butterfly and who, above all, had the grimoire, the ancient book of the secrets of the Miraculouses. Master Fu had lost it along ago with the butterfly and peacock jewels, so if he found the book, he may have also found the Miraculouses.

The idea hurt her not only because as a fashion designer he was an idol to her, someone she aspired to be like, but he was also Adrien's father. The idea made her sick, and made her feel deeply sorry for the blonde. She loved him very much and couldn't bear the thought of her perfect life falling apart. Although, that only motivated her more in her search, this was the perfect moment to be able to cross him out without a doubt from among the candidates, she just had to thoroughly check the mansion.

Speaking of the aforementioned, after passing a fire truck the motorcycle stopped in front of the bars of the Agreste home, a place that both girls knew very well.

"Well... We're here..." Marinette said, taking off her helmet and leaving it hanging on the handlebars.

"You know, although I hate wasting time I hope we don't find anything... I don't know how good a gala in my honor would feel if Adrien is crying in the background..." Chloe confessed, also taking off her helmet and resting her head on her friend's shoulder now that she had no obstacles, still maintaining her grip on her waist.

"I know... But if we want to rule it out we'll definitely have to..." The girl with pigtails responded, placing a hand over the blonde's on her stomach to comfort her.

When the heiress sighed in resignation, she noticed it again, that feeling. There it was again, that closeness they had gained, that affection that Chloe projected when she was comfortable with someone and that she so unsubtly wanted for. They were things that she did unconsciously and that Marinette responded in the same way, until now that her heart made her doubt. She didn't want to face her feelings, but she also didn't want to deny her friend what she deserves so much just because she herself became too self-conscious about her actions.

When the blonde let her go and got off the motorcycle, the raven-haired girl took the opportunity to quickly slap herself on the face, while her friend wasn't looking. 'Focus Marinette, you don't like her, she's your friend... Also, you love Adrien...' she thought, hoping that being at her crush's house would clear her mind about this whole situation. But to do that, they first had to find a way to get in.

"You know, until today I had never noticed that his gate has no handle or lock..." The heiress pointed in front of the bars with elegant metal patterns.

"It's quite modern, I remember it has an extendable camera next to the doorbell, I saw it a lot of times we'en I came..." Said the girl with pigtails, getting off the motorcycle.

"Do you come to visit him often? I haven't been able to get him to make time in his schedule to come here in a while..." Chloe commented.

"Well, it's not that he invited me or they were very formal things. Simply if someone had to bring him his homework in case he skipped a class to model, or there was an errand to run at the manor or the opportunity simply arose, then I took it... " Marinette confessed. "I guess when you love someone a lot, you take advantage of every opportunity to be close to them..."

"Ugh, don't even tell me, I'll understand that feeling... Although she wasn't very happy with my approaches..." Then the girl with the ponytail looked at the panel on the side. "If there is no manual way to open it, you must use some control or code, but since there is no electricity, that won't even help us. How annoying!"

"You're quick to notice problems..." She said without a hint of irony in her tone, she wanted it to sound like a compliment.

"Obviously I am, so I can complain from the start. Now, any idea on how we can get in?"

"Well, let's see... I remember that one of the times when I tried to sneak in, a firefighter helped me make a tower with trash cans, maybe we can-" Marinette stopped when she noticed the side-eye glance that her friend was giving her. Then she turned red when she realized what she had just admitted. "I-I can explain it! Lila had lied her way in and I had to protect him!"

"In fact, I was more shocked by the fact that a firefighter helped you. What kind of public safety worker would help with something like that? It's ridiculous, Utterly ridiculous."

"Wait, you don't... You don't think I'm crazy?"

"I mean, at most it bothers me a little that we had that whole issue of "not wearing stolen clothes" at the TV tower, what strange morals you have... But my Adrinkis is famous and it's not the first time that I hear from some fan trying to sneak into his house..." Then Chloe stopped, as if she'd had an epiphany. "I have an idea, come here, bend your knees and put your hands together."

"Ahh... Okay?" She obeyed, placing herself at a specific point on the side of the fence without understanding what the heiress was thinking.

The blonde put her helmet on Marinette's head before backing away a few meters, remaining in the middle of the street. Before our heroine could ask what she was planning, the princess of Paris was already running towards her quickly. Despite the sudden burst of panic, Marinette didn't move away or separate her hands, acting almost on instinct as a spring when Chloe quickly placed her foot on the makeshift support that was her hands.

With the momentum and losing her balance, she saw her friend jump into the air, doing a sideways pirouette right in the gap between the entrance arch and the side of the fence. Our heroine fell into a sitting position just as the blonde disappeared from sight, quickly getting to her feet and running to the fence when she heard the landing. Standing on tiptoe and holding on to the metal bars, the raven-haired girl saw how the blonde was already inside and dusting herself off. From her distance it seemed that she did a cartwheel as she fell to stop her fall.

"Chloe! That was amazing!"

"Of course it was, it's me after all. What ballet classes would be complete without a little rhythmic gymnastics?" She said with a particular tone, as if stating the obvious.

"But, they're like, almost 4 meters!" Marinette was genuinely amazed at how athletic her former bully could be.

"Pfff, Sabrina said the same thing when I really want to visit Adrien... And that's why I needed a cute five-foot-tall bench just like you..." She patted her helmet through the fence, before putting her fingers together to make a small support. . "Now go up, before I regret it..."

"Oh, sure."

Taking advantage of her friend's help, plus the curved pattern of the gate bars, the girl in the black vest climbed to enter the manor. It was considerably easier to simply use the gate as a ladder, an option that was too obvious and unsubtle in normal situations, but in a city without people there was nothing stopping her from using the easier route.

Nothing could go wrong, well, nothing except for her own clumsiness. With her physique, reflexes and balance increased by the Miraculous, it was much easier to avoid accidents caused by her two left feet. Unfortunately, she had not yet reached that level in her civilian role, so when she lost her balance she could not avoid falling. Fortunately the blonde was down to catch her, or well, to try and end both of them on the ground.

"Ouch... Sorry Chloe..."

"I should have gotten away... I put the helmet on you for a reason..." The heiress complained on the ground.

"But you didn't, so, thank you for breaking the fall... And sorry for falling on you..." Marinette apologized again as she got off of the blonde, extending her hand to lift her up.

Before all this, Chloe probably would have slapped her hand away, refusing help from someone she considered inferior, but this time she accepted it. Before she would have directly stepped aside so that the concrete was the mattress of the girl with pigtails, but she didn't do that, instead she took a risk and tried to save her from her own clumsiness. Apparently, the coexistence between the two these days was producing results beyond words. 'Maybe all you needed was real support after all...' Marinette thought with a smile on her face.

With both of them already on the grounds of the mansion, they now only had one more obstacle to overcome, entering the building itself. They both walked calmly to the entrance stairs, the blue sky above them and without a single noise in the city.

"You know, sometimes I asked me why don't you continue with Ballet classes, you're very good." She said with the helmet in her hands as she walked up the stairs, she didn't want to lose it for the return home.

"I'm not that good, I practiced it for several years and yet my mother never bothered to look in my direction, hell, in a certain point the teachers also stopped paying attention to me and spent their time with the bunch of the most useless of my classmates. " The blue-eyed girl declared angrily, adjusting her hair as they reached the door. "Do you know what it's like to pay more attention to a girl who doesn't even know how to do a Pirouette? Ridiculous, utterly ridiculous."

"Well, maybe since you were so talented they decided that it wasn't necessary to correct you or give you instructions. I mean, there you have Max, he never needed tutoring or help in Math or Science subjects." The girl in the black vest pointed out as she examined the door. "Yep, it's closed."

"Well if that's what it was then they should be fired. Why be so good if they're not going to tell you?" Then the girl with the ponytail started to look around.

"Well, now I'm telling you. You have a very good physique Chloe.... I-I mean! You have very good physical attitudes, you should take back those classes." She suggested leaving the helmet on the ground while she checked for an emergency key, without success.

"Thank you but that's is old stuff, not even when I threatened someone they go to any of my ballet recitals..." The heiress said, checking the windows. "Besides... It just made me have less time to see Daddy..."

"You know, maybe if you talked to him, he might realize that you really don't need a lot of expensive stuff to be happy..." Marinette commented, checking between the small columns of the stone railing. "There has to be some key around here..." She muttered.

"And what would be, Dupain-Cheng?" Chloe asked behind her back, grabbing something from the floor.

"Well..." The raven-haired girl thought carefully.

When the blonde used her last name, she was distant, perhaps annoyed. Maybe she had spoken too personally too quickly, but if she wanted to help her she couldn't just ignore the problem that was obvious to her at this point.

"That he needs to be there, that you don't want to be alone, and you don't deserve to be... And yes, as Mayor of Paris he has responsibilities, but as a father, you should be his priority..." Marinette was going to continue, but her words were interrupted by the sound of breaking glass.

Our heroine quickly turned around to see Chloe with her arms crossed, without her helmet in sight and with one of the side windows broken. It was specifically the window on the right side of the door that now had a large hole, through which a very dark interior could be seen. Then, the heiress changed her posture and used her bag to apply pressure and enlarge the hole, especially removing the sharpest glass from the sides and top.

"I thought they would be tougher..." She whispered, before turning to the girl with pigtails. "And don't worry, I was listening and... Maybe you have a point, at least the part about me being important..."

"I hope the Lucky Charm fixes that..."

"Don't worry, if Ladytrash's silly toy turns out to be as useless as her we have something even better, a bottomless credit card." Chloe said, entering determinedly through the gap in the window.

With a sigh of resignation at how... Pragmatic her companion could be, Marinette followed her into the Agreste manor. Despite how airtight and closed the building was, there was no smell of stagnation or confinement, as if someone had kept the air flowing inside the structure. They placed the helmet on the floor next to the broken glass, and as they entered the darkness they took out flashlights from their respective bags. They both had one in hand.

"Okay, you're his childhood friend so... Anywhere that gave you bad vibes?" The bakers' daughter asked the blonde, who began to look at both sides of the hall.

"Well, since you're asking, Uncle Gabriel is a designer, so when I was little I took advantage of every time I came to go to his office and ask about Mom... On the third time his bodyguard wouldn't even let me near the door..." She explained, illuminating the large doors to the left of the stairs.

"A designer's studio, huh? Sounds like a good start." And with that said, they entered.

Gabriel Agreste's office was a large room, with a mini catwalk in the center with seating for his guests, workers or employers, ideal for doing demonstrations and planning fashion shows. It had paintings, photos and references on one side, while on the other there were various exhibition mannequins, ideal for testing outfits and seeing the clothes on something.

In the background and in front of a huge square there was a huge computer-like screen, naturally turned off. It must have been where the designer worked, apparently standing. 'I once read that it was good for circulation work like that...' the girl with raven hair thought as she went to the armless mannequins to check. Maybe if they turned in some direction they would activate something, or if she compared it to how her hiding place for the Miraculous box worked, maybe she would have to press them like the balls of wool in her secret box for the Miraculous Box.

Since she had no luck with either of the two approaches, she noticed the clothes abandoned in the place, some models that the famous designer was probably working on. Maybe if she put them on the mannequins a certain way it would activate something. For her part, Chloe was dealing with the paintings, moving the frames at an angle to try to activate some switch, and when that didn't work, she simply lowered them to look behind them. They both had the same luck, finding absolutely nothing.

Then they both moved towards where Gabriel's desk would be, being greeted by a black screen that only served as an improvised mirror. While Marinette looked for a button, the heiress took the opportunity to fix her hair, tucking stray strands behind her ear and under her sunglasses that acted as a headband.

"A drawing tablet so big and not even a useful button. Why do he need all this to design...?" The girl with pigtails complained, pressing buttons, achieving nothing.

"It's funny that you're more old school than him, Uncle Gabriel also invests a lot in technology, you know? That's why he has dealings with Tsurugi Industries." Chloe explained, feeling comfortable being the one who knew things for once.

"Well, so much innovation doesn't seem to be of much use if there's no electricity, the alarm didn't even go off when we came in..."

"You know... Now that you say it, that's strange... I remember that one time the power went out due to an akuma attack, and I sent about a thousand messages to Adrien complaining, then he respond to me the next day that he didn't notice. .." The blonde noted out loud. "Shouldn't this place have, like, an emergency generator?"

"Well when me and Markov... I mean, when Ladybug, Markov and I redirected the electrical power, he never suggested there was one here..."

"Well, there shouldn't be anyone here anyway, Adrien and his father went to a gala in New York, they didn't have to leave everything on if there wouldn't be anyone at home..." Then the heiress looked at the painting in the middle of the room.

Marinette followed her eyes and soon recognized the face, it was the same one she saw on the blonde's monitor when she entered his room as Ladybug, it was Mrs. Agreste.

"You know... I never knew what happened to her..." Our heroine said.

"How could you not know? He literally ended his friendship with me because of you guys, how come you didn't ask him at this point?" Chloe sounded almost offended.

"W-well, yes, we are friends but it's not that it's easy, I try to be close to him but... Let's say I'm didn't work well around him either, it took me a couple of months to be able to be next to him without rambling..." The raven-haired girl confessed.

"Ugh, crushes suck... Anyway, that's Émilie Agreste over there, Gabriel Agreste's wife and Adrien's mother who since I've known him has always been in bed for one reason or another. I think she was sick... "

"Did she..."

"Die? At this point, probably. She disappeared one day, but from the way she was, I think they just say that to protect Adrien... Although I think he already knows..." The blonde started hugging herself, as if the memory saddened her.

"You... You were close to her?" She asked cautiously, putting a hand on her shoulder.

"Not really, but hey, I was with Adrien and I can empathize, you know?" The princess of Paris paused briefly before looking at the painting again. "She... She was very kind... She always welcomed me with a hug when she wasn't bedridden... Even when she was sick she was radiant..."

"Sounds like a great woman..."

"I think she came out of the same mold of you and my sister, so compassionate and optimistic, seeing the positive side of things and always trying to be there to help... One time, she ran away from her room to sneaking in just to participate in my tea party with Adrien. He was so happy when she show up, and god, I never thought I'd see a grown woman pretend so comfortably that she was drinking something from an empty plastic cup..." Chloe changed because of the memory, from sad to happy to sad again. "And then she had a very bad coughing fit and the doctors had to take her to her room..."

Hearing the scene, Marinette moved her hand to her other shoulder and put her free hand on her forearm, giving her a side hug. They both saw each other in the slight reflection caused by the glass that protected the painting, both together in the darkness of a building with no one around. It was very clean and clear glass, as if it had been recently installed, in fact, it still had finger marks on the edges. Although there was no reason for it to be there, it's not like someone would break into a famous designer's studio just to browse and touch paintings.

"It must have been very difficult for him..."

"Yes, but hey, at least now he has you, right?" The heiress said with a bittersweet tone, as if the idea would bother her a little. "It doesn't matter what I said before, you are no a small thing, you are good, exceptional, you undoubtedly deserve someone like him... He won't be perfect and his jokes will be very bad but he is undoubtedly a good boy..."

Something in her words hurt Marinette a little, perhaps because of the image the blonde had of her. She seemed to see her as some kind of saint, a perfect girl, which she herself knew wasn't the case. She loved Adrien, and yet she didn't know anything about him, instead of asking him in person about his life, she simply spied on him and stayed superficial, as proven by the painting in front of her. And not only in love was she a disaster, no matter how hard she tried, she continued to make mistakes that hurt her loved ones, she had literally abandoned Chloe and left her terrified in the middle of a storm for not knowing how to measure time. She made decisions without properly thinking through the ramifications, and worse still, she never stopped contradicting herself.

She thinks she likes someone, but looks for any excuse to deny it, or in the case of the other blonde, it is impossible for her to get close to let those feelings out. She says she hates lies, but she keeps lying to her parents and best friends. She cares a lot about the image she gave to the public, to the point overthink the break of smoll rules for a greater good, only to forget that she was literally trying to enter private property just to prevent the boy she likes from talking to the girl she hates

Marinette was many things, but THAT good? So worthy? A saint? No, for her those were the last words that could define her. Still, she put on her best smile and they continued with their search, this was not the time for worries that she didn't know how to talk about without revealing her identity. Then, they went up the stairs to the largest room, Adrien's room.

Neither of them believed that he could be involved in the whole situation, but since the most common trope was to have the entrance to your secret laid behind a bookcase, they thought that his record shelf would be the best place to rule out that option. And after all, his schedule was so timed and known, that it was not surprising that a villain would know when he was not present to come and go without the blonde noticing. They both split up, the girl with the light-blue eyes checking the discs one by one while the girl with the yellow Cardigan checked the bottom tire of the fourth.

"And now something happened?" The bakers' daughter asked after moving a DVD from the shelf.

"Nothing." Chloe answered from below.

"How about now?" She moved another.

"Still nothing."

"And now?" Another disk moved slightly from its place.

"When you activate something you'll find out, okay?" The blonde said playing piano keys. "Well, that was worth trying..."

"Don't give up, it could be some combination like, I don't know, Darth Vader's imperial march..."

"And you think I look like a music expert or what? I don't know how to play that!"

"Then check the fotball table, maybe there is a hidden button..."

You'd think a boy would know if his room had some kind of secret entrance, but considering Marinette was making enchanted macarons with magical potions for her Kwami at the bakery, right under her parents' noses, she didn't see it as far-fetched that someone would keep a secret like that in front of a boy with such a hectic schedule.

"So... How's it going with Adrinkis?" Chloe asked from below.

"Sorry?"

"How are you doing with Adrinkis? I mean, you try to spend time with him, you take care of him from bitches like Lila, and don't think I didn't see your collection of gifts for him that you have in your room. It's obvious that you have a hard crush on him."

"Oh..." The fact that Chloe found out that made her cheeks pink.

"Don't feel bad, it's a nice detail, although having his schedules down pat does worry me a little... Anyway, I'm not one to criticize either, as I said, I understand the feeling of having a famous crush and wanting to know where find them." The blonde admitted next to the mini fotball.

"And you also saw the calendar, perfect..." Now the raven-haired girl wanted the earth to swallow her, fearing that she would look crazy in front of her new friend.

"In my defense, it's very boring and the truth is that it made me curious. You know, I remember that you always had quite bad taste in boys so I'm interested in knowing how you're doing with the boy who is a good match to give you standards." She comment nonchalantly, pausing before speaking again. "That was rough right?"

"Well, yes, a little... But are you sure you don't think I'm some kind of crazy?" Marinette was surprised that the heiress was more focused on justifying snooping through her things than on the fact that she discovered her partner had some... Peculiar attitudes.

"I am the mayor's daughter and I am living in the house of the girl I have always bullied, who because of her good heart is taking care of me and a dog in an empty city, which literally lost all its inhabitants overnight and where a normal day included a megalomaniac who almost caused World War III just to get some jewelry. I think the world is crazy right now..." Chloe explained, leaning on the machine, looking at her up.

"One thing doesn't mean the other, don't you think I was wrong in retrospect?" The girl with pigtails questioned, leaning on the glass railing.

"In retrospect I had a giant sign made to get my crush's attention and let me use a magic comb to prove to the world that I'm good, cool, and important, only for it to be left rusting on my ceiling because I seriously ruined things. Now are you going to tell me how things are going with Adrien or not?" The heiress asked, something bothered.

"Chloe, just because the world is upside down and you don't have a perfect record doesn't mean I can get away with doing questionable thi-" she stopped when she finished processing what the blonde had said. "Wait... You... You had a crush on Ladybug?"

"I mean, duh, who doesn't? Like, all of Paris probably had one on her... Well, half with good taste, the other half prefers the cat... Weirdos." The girl with the ponytail walked towards the trophies to check them.

The truth hit Marinette like a blow from Stone Heart, Chloe Bourgeois has a crush on Ladybug, Chloe Bourgeois had a crush on HER. If she had found out about this a week ago, she probably would have felt incredibly disgusted and uncomfortable. If she had found out days ago, she would have felt even more guilty for how she treated her when she was trying to change. But no, she had found out today, the same day she realized she liked girls, just when she started asking herself if she had started to like the heiress.

She was the heroine of Paris, her role model, her idol, the one who made her heart beat and even with all that devotion she simply pushed her aside made her a hater. 'Oh god, what kind of idiot am I?' she thought, ashamed of herself. Memories flooded through her, of how she acted openly annoyed by every time Chloe was openly fanatical about her, every time she treated her with distance, and every time she chose the fullest trash cans to cushion the blonde's landing.

Marinette went down the circular stairs to go to the heiress and apologize, but then she realized and slowed down. She couldn't. As much as it hurt her to imagine the other side, how bad she would feel if someone treated her like that, no matter how much she regretted her past actions, she couldn't do anything. Instead of hugging Chloe, she changed course and went to sit on the bed.

It was frustrating to have your hands tied. If she wanted to apologize, she would have to reveal her identity, and the psychological pressure of knowing that the person she hated so much now lied to her would probably ruin everything the blonde had progressed in those days. She couldn't ruin her like that just because of feelings she wasn't sure about, just like she couldn't break her heart just to apologize. She had no way to make amends, nor to undo the things she did, how she let her down, how she did questionable things and abused her power as Ladybug when it came to Lila or Adrien. 'I caused a mess like this just because I came in here once as Ladybug... What was I thinking when I smelled his pillows?' she questioned herself.

Apparently her moment of self-deprecation caught the attention of her new friend, who sat next to her and awkwardly patted her on the back.

"Now now, it's not the end of the world because you're crazy about a boy, it's the hormones..." She drawled the words in a neutral tone, probably thinking that the bakers' daughter was exaggerating, without knowing the real reason for her reaction.

"I don't think I can blame adolescence for my actions..."

"Don't be so dramatic, at least you didn't help a supervillain on multiple occasions..."

"At least you're not desperate enough to kiss a wax statue of the boy you like only for it to turn out to be said boy pretending to be a statue..." Her confession cause a hysterical laught from Chloe, who sat back kicking on the bed.

"HAHAHAHAHA! It can't be!" The scene was so absurd and so sad that the blonde had a hard time breathing, almost crying with laughter.

In the empty mansion, their laughter echoed throughout the place. It was the most cheerful she had seen the heiress in a week, but then she began to gradually stop, as if she had noticed the pained look Marinette had looking at the floor. Then she sat down properly next to her again and ran her hand down the pigtailed girl's back, making circles.

"Ha, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, that was very funny... As I said, adolescence is the worst. Hormones turn you into one of 3: A nerd, a weirdo or a bitch. And no one is saved..." She said to calm her down.

"Sometimes I want to be just a nerd and only that..." She responded. 'And a normal girl...' she added in her mind.

"Hey, at least you're kind and trying to improve, like you said at the museum, acknowledging and feeling bad shows that you care.. Was that what you say, right?"

"Yes... it was... Thanks, I think I have a lot to learn... And a lot to think..."

"And we still have a lot of mansion left to check, come on, I think we cover enoug of this room, and for some reason this place reeks of rothen cheese..."

Then they both left Adrien's room, with Marinette thinking that she would have a lot to think about when she got home, maybe she could make Chloe's favorite dessert as an indirect apology. But then they reached the intersection of the stairs and they see something strange. From the large staircase that connected both wings of the second floor to the entrance, they could clearly see the broken window they entered through, and said window seemed to be even more broken than the last time.

Not only did the hole seem bigger, but they both noticed the small red spot that was on one of the bottom glasses. The wind moved it as if it were a flag, it was a thin, red piece of fabric, like part of a dress. They were both in their classic outfits, so it was impossible for it to be for they clothes. Also, the helmet was nowhere to be found.

"Hey... Is it just me or we don't left the door to Uncle Gabriel's study open so wide?" Chloe whispered from behind.

"No... We didn't..." The raven-haired girl answered quietly, becoming alert and turning off the flashlight. "And we hadn't opened that door either." She pointed to a half-open door on the other side of the second floor.

They both advanced cautiously and carefully, moving down the stairs at a steady pace. They both held their flashlights to use as weapons if something came out of either door. They weren't the best defense but it was something. They went to the most suspicious one first, to the room on the other side of the second floor. For the moment the entire building was quiet, very quiet. As if everyone present was waiting for the moment something would happen.

Then, in a burst of courage, the blonde stepped forward once they were next to the suspicious door. They had lost Gabriel Agreste's studio from sight due to its position, so now our heroine was keeping an eye on the stairs, since it would be the only place something could go up. From her periphery she could see how the heiress was prepared to strike whatever was on the other side of the double door, holding the flashlight as if it were a baseball bat.

Then, everything happened in a fraction of a second. The squeak of a door, a muffled scream and the sound of an object falling to the floor. The girl with the ponytail had her hands up, slowly backing away in fear. Without thinking twice Marinette jumped in the middle to defend her, quickly noticing what made her friend drop the flashlight. They had a crossbow pointed at them. A crossbow in the hands of a woman in grey pajamas, disheveled and very, very pale.

Despite her sick appearance, the two recognized that raven haircut with red streaks and those glasses, she was Adrien's guardian, Mr. Agreste's assistant, Nathalie Sancoeur. She was there, she too had survived, and she was pointing basically a gun at them. But the strangest thing about the whole situation was her eyes. Although she is on guard, her eyes seemed almost perplexed, her mouth half open. It was as if the woman had seen a ghost, as if she had discovered something unprecedented. And she was looking directly at Marinette. Then, her words came out with disbelief in her tone.

"Marinette Dupain-Cheng? It was you..."

Chapter Text

Despite the super villains, crime in Paris had dropped considerably. It is difficult to risk robbing or assaulting someone when you have people with superior physical abilities, with powers that seem to have no limits and who resist things that would pulverize normal humans guarding the streets. Added to the fact that the victims' negative emotions can cause the arrival of an akuma, the number of people who were threatened by a gun pointed at them in the city had dropped considerably, becoming almost anecdotal.

Unfortunately, in an empty world, in a quiet city and inside a dark house, our protagonists found themselves living that unique situation. The girls, worried that something else had entered the Agreste manor, had gone up to investigate a door that was not open before, ending up face to face with Nathalie Sancoeur. For the city's heroine this would be good news, in the best scenario she would have found a survivor, another person who miraculously did not disappoint.

Despite the questions this would raise, she would be happy to see Adrien's caretaker, if it weren't for the fact that she was now pointing a crossbow loaded and ready to fire at them. Marinette managed to get between the gun and Chloe as soon as she saw her raise her hands in panic, but that mean that they were both trapped between the arrow and the railing. They had no place to retreat and, being at a distance where the shot would be at point-blank range, they had no way to move to the sides.

The adult woman looked sick and agitated, something natural since the girls must have been the first people she had seen in a week and she just found them invading what would be her home. The girl with pigtails had to think fast, she was thinking fast. After being Ladybug for so long, situations like this no longer made life pass in front of her eyes. She had lost her fear of something as minor as a weapon, a very hard truth when we are talking about a fifteen-year-old girl, but one that in these moments allowed her to think clearly and pay attention to the details.

She had the heiress close to her back, who kept her frightened gaze fixed on the attacker, for her part, Mr. Agreste's assistant was only a meter away, with the crossbow pointed at some point between her chest and her neck. The first thing that stood out as if it had bright spots was the crossbow, she was taller than the two so naturally the weapon was relatively inclined downwards, although Nathalie's posture was not very straight either. Her legs stood out too, they were half bent outwards, as if they were having trouble supporting their own weight.

Then her eyes traveled to the lantern on the floor, a cylindrical object ideal for someone to trip over if they managed to flee, then she noticed the stone railing, a small wall very thick, perfect for acting as a shield in the correct corner. Automatically her eyes went up to the flashlight in her own hand. She had them over her head, so the gravity plus the extra weight would make for a quick blow and strong enough to perhaps knock the woman off balance. Then she looked directly at Nathalie again. If Marinette was thinking at full speed, it seemed like the woman in gray pajamas was having trouble processing what she saw, as if she would especially have a hard time believing what her eyes were telling her.

Then, she saw her reflection in the woman glasses. The light coming through the broken window and Adrien's open room gave enough clarity to see their silhouettes in them. Then her gaze returned to the girl behind her. Chloe had lowered her hands and had instinctively taken cover when Marinette jumped to defend her, she could feel her fingers gripping one of her shoulders and how she was holding her breath on the other, but what caught her attention the most was the blonde's free hand.

Unlike the rest of her, her left arm was not behind the human shield that the raven-haired girl put together, instead it was floating above her stomach inches away, and she was raising it little by little as the eternal seconds paced. It was now rising to the level of her collarbone, right in the middle of her chest. 'It's the area where Nathalie is aiming... She's going to risk her arm for me...' our heroine thought, smiling at her friend's progress and feeling more determined to make everything go out well.

She had a plan, an idea for an escape if the situation got worse, but that was only in the worst case scenario. The woman in front of her didn't look like an akuma, on the contrary, she looked downcast and confused. She was a human being, a thinking creature, not a rabid animal, she was not going to make the same mistake as with Markov.

"Ham... Hello, eh... Nathalie, right? How long, I'm..."

"Marinette Dupain-Cheng, daughter of the bakers Tom Dupain and Sabine Cheng, you go to the Collège Françoise Dupont with Adrien... You seem like good friend..." List the woman with the red tips with quite certainty.

"Oh... That was pretty accurate hehe... Don't worry, we're all Adrien's friends here..." The girl with pigtails responded with a nervous laugh.

"It's my duty to know what kind of people he hangs out with..." Then she moved her gun to point it directly at the blonde, making her gasp. "Like you... I understood that you were no longer friend with he... You cut it at the time when Queen Bee's replacement arrived, right? What as change?!" She demanded answers.

"Calm down! Don't point it at Chloe... Or at me... Or at anyone! If possible..." The raven-haired girl asked as she moved to remove the heiress from the fire line again, although she still placed her hand back in the middle. "It's a strange situation, we all have a lot of questions and we're scared, so how about you put that down and we can talk to clarify everything?"

There was no immediate response as Nathalie raised an eyebrow, there was a lot of doubt in her gaze, as if those in front of her were not harmless little girls. She was analyzing them, as if she had pieces of a puzzle in front of her, as if they were a real threat in some way. 'Is she also thinking about how to continue? Making an escape plan? Or to get rid of us?!' The thought was interrupted by a sudden noise.

Mr. Agreste's assistant raised her hand to cover her mouth in the face of what seemed like a coughing fit, a strong one. Each sudden exhale was sharper and louder than the last, the noise echoing and resonating louder through the large hall. Despite the agitation that almost seemed like spasms, her other hand never left the gun or the trigger, holding it steady with exceptional control despite her condition. She wasn't going to shoot them by accident, that was good, useful information if another window of opportunity to escape opened again.

But as useful as it was to know, Marinette couldn't help but worry, a person in that state of health, for so many days with no one around, no matter how much she had them at crossbow point, our heroine couldn't help but feel compassion. The cough had passed and although she was still breathing hard, the woman turned her eyes to them again, being greeted by a different look, one less frightened.

"Are you... okay? That didn't sound good..." the girl with pigtails asked.

"I'm the one asking questions here..." She said before coughing again, taking a deep breath. "I'm fine..."

"How long have you been like this? Someone in that condition shouldn't have been alone for so long..."

"I said I'm fine... Or at least I was until someone broke into the house and started laughing like a maniac while throwing motorcycle helmets around the place... Do you know how much the frame you girls broke cost?" Her tone, although somewhat raspy from coughing, was laden with annoyance.

"I don't laugh like a crazy person..." Chloe commented, somewhat blushing, between the stone railing and the bakers' daughter.

"Wait..." Unlike the blonde, Marinette realized something that didn't add up.

Yes, the heiress had laughed out loud while they were in Adrien's room, because of the wax status anecdote, but they left the helmet lying in the hall and the only thing they broke was the window. They had been exploring for a least hour and a half, maybe even more, Nathalie couldn't have spent all that time waiting in the room for they to cross. Added to the fact that the helmet was no longer where they left it, then there must be someone, or something, else in the mansion.

"Hypothetically... What frame exactly are we supposed break?" The girl with pigtails asked with genuine curiosity and concern in her tone.

Both girls followed the head movement of the woman in gray pajamas, who tilted her head to point at the side of the large door they were standing in front of. Between the second floor window and the place where they were was a painting leaning against the wall on the floor, the glass was cracked as if it had received a strong impact, and in front of the fallen painting was the red helmet that Marinette gave to Chloe.

They both shared a look, ignoring the fact that they were still in the line of fire of the crossbow, too shocked to care about it. The situation had become very strange in a very short time. The plan was simple, they were looking for Hawk Moth's lair, instead they found another person who survived the disappearance, who happened to be with a gun in her hands, alert and very sick. As if that were not enough, there were several things out of place, as if a fourth person, or entity, had entered as well.

That someone or something broke the window they entered through even more, lost a piece of red cloth on one of the sharp glasses and threw the helmet across the room. In the process it opened the door to Gabriel's study more than the girls had left it, and since the only other doors that were open were those to Adrien's room where they were and the room they are in front of right now, that means that said other invader must still be in the famous designer's office, right below them. There was something downstairs, and they had been making a lot, a lot of noise. Coming to this realization at the same time, the girls pressed against the railing to bend a little and take a look down, freezing at what they saw.

"Hey! I'm still here. Don't pretend like everything's okay or that you're done with the explanations!" Nathalie said, raising her tone as she noticed the girls' sudden indifference.

Since they didn't respond, she approached, still pointing the crossbow at them, rotating around them, keeping a meter away. Now the three of them were leaning against the stone railing, after another moment of hesitation she also decided to look out and see what had them so absorbed. Then she too held her breath, joining the wide-eyed pair. While they had found each other, while Marinette was looking for how to calm the situation and save Chloe, while Nathalie looked at them as if she had seen a ghost and coughed as if she had choked on her lungs, that was down there. And apparently, it already realized they were upstairs.

It was leaving Gabriel Agreste's office, leaving the blind spot on the second floor as if it were entering the scene. It moved like a feline, like a tiger or a panther, but it only moved its front legs and was covered in red cloth with black trim. It was as if it were wearing a layered dress, like a wedding or tango dress, but with very long and wide sleeves. With the black edges marking the contours of the fabric, an almost non-existent figure beneath it. A cat was the first thing that came to mind to the girl with pigtails, a stray one, at least in its initial movement and shape, since the more she saw it, the more the fabric seemed to be alive. What could be called the main body seemed to measure almost two meters, not counting the trailing fabric.

It had a long veil, even from her perspective from above she could see that it covered the entire face, which it moved from left to right looking for something, looking for them. Then, as if it were the trunk of an elephant or the neck of a snake, the red veil began to lift, zigzagging as it surveyed its surroundings. It was something inhuman, nor animal or even natural, a disturbing mockery of a living being and of fashion itself. Despite all this, it seemed that only the heiress was genuinely scared.

The woman with glasses had slowly begun to aim her crossbow at the creature, in anticipation of it looking up and being hostile, gulping as she carefully analyzed it. For her part, our heroine's mind was going a mile an hour. 'Is that the akuma? Too abstract, Sentimonster? If so, I will have to look for the object with the hamok, where it will be? It can be anywhere! Did Hawk Moth made it? Hawk Moth is here?! I have to save Chloe and Nathalie to transform! But where? And how do I sneak out on my own?' Ideas and questions flew through Marinette's mind, so she barely noticed that Chloe had taken her hand and was pulling her shirt to make her back away.

Noticing the tug, she looked away from the monster and her light blue eyes met the blue of the sea. The sapphire eyes held an emotion that until recently she never thought saw in the blonde, worry. Not for herself, but for others, for her. Her own face was reflected in those beautiful eyes that begged her to react, being in that circular frame made her feel like the only thing important to Chloe, and from her features and the way she held her, that idea was probably true. She was imploring her without words to react, that they had to get out of there, to hide, as if she couldn't do it alone, as if she couldn't separate herself from her. The second they saw each other, Marinette felt guilty for blushing at such an inopportune moment, for feeling so warm at such a stressful time for her friend.

Her legs gave way, moving. The feelings that she tried so hard to deny and her own untimely bad judgment could wait, she had to save the blonde, although she did not perfectly understand her feelings for her, she knew that now she was more important than just any civilian. When she turned to also pull Nathalie out of danger, she saw how the creature became aware of the girls' presence, jumping into the air, unfolding the fabric and looking like a gigantic bat in the middle of the second floor. The woman in pajamas fired her crossbow, hitting it in the middle of the body and making it step back for a moment, the girl with pigtails then grabbed her arm and Chloe pulled them into the room, where they quickly closed the door.

Then the bakers' daughter started thinking quickly again. A sick woman who could barely stand still, leaning against the large wooden doors that wouldn't last long against a clearly supernatural creature. An heiress looking for a place to hide, clearly in good physical condition but not the type necessary to stand up to such a creature, nor the experience to make the attempt. Outside was a possible sentimonster, a creature that was potentially on par with the heroes of Paris, highly likely to be able to knock down simple wood, and probably hiding other tricks.

And then there was herself, a normal girl leaning against the same flimsy door, a girl with a secret that would be very helpful against whatever that monster was. She was a hero, she was Ladybug, but that fact was a secret for a reason. On one hand, the woman who threatened them with a gun, an unexpected survivor who is just at the house of their number one suspect of being Hawk Moth. On the other, a very hurt girl who she had learned to appreciate. Could she even save her if she broke her heart by revealing that she had been lying to her? That her new friend is the same stupid heroine who let her down?

Marinette was trapped between a rock and a hard place, between fabric and flesh. Between the people she had to protect and the demons she had to fight. She was trapped in the manor.

Chapter Text

The problems could be so simple but so complicated at the same time, a duality as contradictory as it is true for many, and Marinette is precisely in that situation. She along with Chloe and Nathalie are trapped inside the Agreste manor with a potentially dangerous creature, however, she is Ladybug. The most obvious and simplest solution had to be to simply transform and fight the monster, right? Obviously it was, but it would mean revealing her identity and that would undoubtedly cause her a lot more problems in the long run.

She would have to find a way to separate herself from the group to transform without revealing her identity, but at the same time she had to have a good excuse as to why she suddenly disappeared, and at the same time that meant leaving her friend and a very sick woman alone, so she would also have to find a way to leave them in a safe place before being able to escape on her side. As if that were not enough, the three girls were not exactly in a particularly safe place either. They were locked inside a room, Nathalie's room, a closed room on the second floor that at first glance had only one door, a door against which they were leaning to prevent the entry of the monster they found.

What seemed like the simplest solution, what was ridiculously easy on paper, was also the most complicated. So the girl with pigtails decided to simplify the problem even more, to make it less complicated. She decided to focus only on the important part of the plan, putting her friend and the new survivor in a safe place, and then she would worry about facing the monster. So the shorter girl began to think, to analyze the dark environment as quickly as she could, despite the lack of electricity, a half-open curtain provided sufficient clarity.

The blonde was already doing her part, looking for a hiding place, and after her actions in the hallway Marinette knew that she wouldn't leave her behind, that she would make sure that she too has a place to hide. With that clear, the girl with pigtails noticed the woman next to her, pale but persistent, still with crossbow in hand. It was clear that moving her around the room would be a problem, so it was best that her hiding place be somewhere nearby. The room was large and widely decorated with various objects from different regions. Tribal masks, Egyptian-looking cat statues on the sides of the door, stone sculptures, objects you would find in an antique store, even an explorer outfit like the ones the girl saw in movies or wildlife documentaries in a display case.

As if that were not enough, it even had its own fireplace, with various furniture and many, many bookshelves. They didn't know how long the monster would be dormant from receiving an arrow to its chest, so Marinette acted quickly once she came up with a plan. First, she went for one of the statues on the sides and pushed it, with difficulty managing to make it fall while the woman in pajamas moved away. Then she went for a chair, placing it at an angle over the fallen cat, so that it fit into the handle and the legs were resting on the carpet, almost nailed. No doubt that would offer more resistance than a girl and a tired woman, although it wouldn't make that much difference, and the girl with pigtails was counting on that.

She quickly realized that Nathalie was replicating what she did, about to throw the other one in the away until Marinette stopped her, whispering.

"Wait, don't do it."

"Don't be overconfident, that won't be enough." The woman with glasses answered quietly.

"Yes, that's the point."

"What?" The answer genuinely confused her.

"Listen, trust me, I'll get us out of here. I promise, everything will be okay, just trust me in this." The girl in the black vest pleaded.

She was trying to gain the trust of the person who threatened them with a gun, and to her surprise and luck, Nathalie relented, muttering something. Then Marinette urged her to squeeze between the bookshelf and the statue she was trying to knock over, once in position she went for one of the tribal masks and gave it to her, along with a couple of arrows for the weapon.

"Stay very still and when you see it approaching a bookshelf, shoot one of is... Wings? Sleeves?" Despite her doubts, the woman nodded at the whispered orders.

Then the first knock was heard in the dark room, a knock that shook the door hard. The woman in gray pajamas put on her mask at the same time Chloe pulled Marinette back into bed. She had moved the padding that hung from the sides and there were some things around on the floor, so the moment the heiress lay down to get under it, the baker understood that she made space under the bed. An ideal hideout. Still without letting go of her hands, our heroine also crouched down, but not before arranging the padding so that she would fall silent once they were underneath.

Taking that extra moment, she couldn't help but notice the nightstand in front of her, which was full of small boxes, bottles, and blister packs. By the time the monster hit the door again and the blonde pulled her to get in faster, Marinette understood that they were pills, medications of various types. 'So much time alone and in that state... It must have been awful...' she thought as she dropped the padding and remained face down on the floor, with the heiress at her side and an elegant king size bed as her only protection. Then, the sound of breaking wood echoed through the room, the door giving way.

"You have a plan... Right?" Chloe whispered with some fear, making our heroine turn to look at her.

"Yeah, I think I have something..." Another crack made them shiver.

"You better... Sometimes you think too much... Don you have a survival instinct...?" Even in the dark, Marinette could perfectly see her friend making a worried puppy face.

"Yes, that's for sure..." To reassure her and taking advantage of the fact that they still had their hands together, the girl with pigtails ran her thumb over the knuckles of the princess of Paris. "Everything is going to be fine..."

Then, the sound of the chair being dragged and something heavy moving across the floor reached they ears. The girl with raven hair turned to look through the centimeters of space left between the padding and the floor carpet, seeing how the double door was half opened. Both were broken, but the one on Nathalie's side was completely open inward, covering the statue and the woman in pajamas. 'It entered through the window that we broke, it chooses the path of least resistance...' her deduction turned out to be correct, although she wished she could look out a little further to better analyze the beast, but the pressure on her hand convinced her to stay in position, turning to see her hiding companion again.

It was not the first time that Chloe was in a similar situation, in fact, outside of the heroes she was probably the girl most used to dealing with dangerous beings with powers. Many akumas were after her, everyone knew that, after all she was the cause of many akumatizations. It was something they would have to deal with when the time came, being more careful with others. But, no one knew how scary the villains could be to the girl. Marinette for a long time believed that she knew, that she cared about protecting her own skin, willing to get rid of anyone to survive.

But, after a week alone, in a empty Paris, our heroine began to doubt that she was so ruthless. Maybe in the past she left people behind, ran when the villain took control of her family or Sabrina, but that was before. Although she still hid behind human shields when she was afraid, she still never left her. A moment ago in the hallway she was willing to risk her hand to not leave the bakers' daughter defenseless, and now the heiress was holding her as if she were more afraid of losing her than of surviving. Her friend didn't want to be left alone, and Marinette would make sure she didn't leave anyone else alone in this city.

She carefully brought her hands together in the darkness under the bed, holding Chloe's as she put the most confident smile she could on her face. She wanted to give the blonde security, to let her know that this sudden nightmare would end quickly. Apparently it worked, as she could see her friend's expression relax as she imitated the gesture with her hands. They both waited for the right moment, while the creature moved around the room, looking for them. Our heroine did not see his face or eyes at the time, and from the time it was taking and the way they heard things fall, it seemed that her opponent did not have very good eyesight, that or his intelligence was quite rudimentary.

Saved by the copies of human beings, the Sentimonsters she had faced were not particularly intelligent. Then, among the sound of falling books and ornaments, came the sound of curtains moving, being pulled roughly, along with some more light filtering through the edge of the bed. The creature passed from one end of the room to the other, it must have thought that they jumped out of the window, without a doubt it did not realize that they did not have enough time to make a safe descent. Then came her signal, the sound Marinette was waiting for, the firing of a crossbow.

"Come on let's go!" The girl in the black vest shouted as she pulled the blonde out.

As she emerged from under the bed, another arrow flew over her head and stuck in the beast's limb, leaving it struggling next to the bookshelves to free itself. With the sound of cloth being torn in the background and our heroine supporting the older woman, the three of them ran out of the room and down the stairs.

"There's a fire truck on the next street! We can use their ladder to get Nathalie out!" Marinette explained, making sure that neither she nor the woman in the gray pajamas tripped on the stairs.

"Are you for real going to take her too?!" Chloe exclaimed almost offended as she skipped down steps.

"But I threatened you with a gun!" The woman with glasses also seemed incredulous.

"I'm not leaving anyone behind! Not in a ghost town with a monster on the loose!" Her determination make the two doubt for a moment, after all the three of them were running for their lives.

They then reached the base of the stairs and ran straight to the broken window, only to stop when they saw a figure moving outside. Apparently the reaction was mutual, since the reddish silhouette also seemed to notice the girls inside the building. That's how another creature of twisted fabric entered the building right in front of them, similar but different to the monster they no longer heard struggling in Nathalie's room.

Instead of looking like a wedding dress, it looked more like a plush fur trench coat. Instead of moving like a cross between a bat and a panther, it moved upright and wobbly, like a drunk person. This one did appear to have feet, which looked like black high-heeled slippers, matching what appeared to be long dark-gray pantyhose that twisted as if there was no leg inside them. The coat was red with the collar, base and wrists of the coat extra plush in black, with what looked like a mix of fur and feathers. Instead of a head it seemed to have a voluminous, tangled red wig, the hair falling forward in strips.

Another monster of enormous size, with a supernatural complexion and that seemed to be a burlesque version of what a designer would do. Maybe Hawk Moth did it on purpose, maybe he discovered that Ladybug was an aspiring designer and that's why he made these creatures as a personal attack on all aspects of her life. 'But... Can you make more than one sentimonster at the time?' was the question that crossed Marinette's mind before the beast dropped towards them.

Quickly our protagonist duo, along with Nathalie, turned around to run. This time Chloe also helped give support to the sick woman, so Marinette could move faster. The creature was enormous and naturally quadrupeds are usually faster than bipeds, so in seconds they would be between the monster's sleeves. Or so she thought until she noticed a red cloth fall from the second floor, now without a wing. The first cloth intruder had freed himself by tearing his arm, and was falling towards them.

Thanks to the adrenaline and the fact that they were being chased, the dress-like creature fell on its new pursuer, causing them both to go sideways and tangled with each other. With that stroke of luck, the girls took the opportunity to hide in the kitchen. After closing the door, they ran to take refuge behind the central island of the room. A large piece of marble that served as both a dining table, a cabinet for more storage, and a cover for rare monsters made of clothes.

They were sitting on the floor, close to the structure so as not to be seen if the creatures entered while they caught their breath and thought about what to do. The woman in pajamas was almost lying down, still with crossbow in hand, while Chloe was on the other side, looking towards the other exit of the room, while Marinette was in the middle, tempted to look over her cover to see when the enemies enter and check what things were at hand.

"In the backyard... I think there were vines and those plants that grow on walls..." The blonde whispered, turning to the girl with pigtails.

"Yes... They're still there, they make good decoration... They reach the metal fence..." The woman noted, adjusting her glasses.

"It would ruin my nails but..."

"It could be our way out... Well thought Chloe..." The bakers' daughter congratulated her quietly, before hearing the door open again.

The monsters had entered, no matter how simple their exit was, they had to first escape the room. They waited carefully, with the girl with the ponytail looking cautiously toward the backyard door and the woman with red highlights looking for something to defend herself with. There were pans and knives on the kitchen stove, and the last time they checked the gas had not yet gone out in the bakery, so the thought that perhaps the cloth monsters were afraid of fire crossed her the mind of our heroine who was also alert. 'If I stretched myself a bit, I can turn on the burners and those things maybe gona get so scared they give us another opening to escape... Could it be that easy?' thought the girl with light-blue eyes.

Then, she remembered that she defeated Maledictator with a lacer pointer, Dark Blade by tickling him, and Evilustrator by turning off the lights with a rubber ball. It could be so easy, she just needed the confidence and the right approach to the situation, or at least that's how it seemed when she used the Lucky Charm. Then, as she considered taking that risk, she felt plush fur on the side of her head. Marinette let out a scream as the sleeve clung to her ear and cinched it upwards, listening to her teammates join in the screams as the trench coat monster lifted her into the air.

"Mari!" The panic in the heiress's voice stood out, echoing through the room.

The creature was an easy two and a alf meter, added to the meter of the central kitchen island on which it was standing, had the girl with pigtails kicking in the air, clinging as best she could to the monster's arm so that her own weight won't tear off her ear. One would think that the ideal would be to take her by the entire head or neck, not by a point as small and soft as the ears were, it was not even the ideal way to hold someone. Although of course, that's what you would think if you weren't feeling the biggest ear pulling in history, as was the case with Marinette.

Flailing only made her feel more pain, but she still tried to throw a couple of kicks at the monster, realizing that it was like kicking clothes on the ground, there was no resistance, they were not solid creatures. At this point she had her eyes closed, a couple of tears falling as she struggled to keep her ear in her head. Then, at the same time she heard the echo of a frying pan hitting something, she felt the pressure in her ear go away as gravity returned her to the ground. When she fell to the ground she saw Chloe with a frying pan in her hand, apparently using it as a bat to hit the beast on the feet and make it lose its balance.

The cloth monster let go of her and fell onto the oven, to which Nathalie quickly went and turned on the burners. When the gas came out, she held a lighter to the furry coat and the flames began to sprout, and it didn't take them long to expand. The feathers and hair were perfect fuel, since as soon as the group reached the door, almost half of the monster's upper part had become a torch.

Still feeling a throbbing in her ear, Marinette ran with the rest to the back of the mansion, she and Chloe on either side of the woman in pajamas to support her. It was basically a cage, very high walls that blocked the view from other buildings, even if there were people in the city no one could see them. Then they reached the wall that had a statue of Adrien's mother, naturally the first to go to the vines was the heiress, who despite her maked nails climbed diligently.

"Are you still... Do you think you can...?" The girl with the red ear asked.

"Don't think my current state will stop me... I can do it." She stated, confident despite the cough that escaped her.

Before she could begin to grab the vines, a churning tangle of fire broke down the door through which they exited. The monster that looked like a fur trench coat was now moving spasmodically, as if it were trying as much to go for them as it was to put out the fire. He charged towards the raven-haired duo like a rabid gorilla, to which our heroine pulled the woman out of the way. Both were saved but the vegetation on the wall was not, which also began to burn, luckily the blonde was already on top.

"Are you okay?!" She shouted from above, watching the smoke rise.

"Yes! Go get the fire truck and take it to the entrance! We'll find a high place to use the ladder to get out!" Marinette instructed from the ground, to which the heiress hesitated for a second before nodding and climbing over the fence over the wall.

Without her friend in sight, the girl with blue eyes focused on helping Nathalie run away from the burning creature, which increased its danger exponentially. They ran through the yard as fast as they could, with the monster behind them making no noise despite being engulfed in fire. Then they re-entered the building, running through the hallways until they reached a large dining room with a very long table. If it weren't for the rush, maybe they would have been nostalgic for the Christmas Eve dinner with everyone Adrien knew. Sadly, the monster still chased them, jumping between walls, spreading fire and starting to fall apart.

The flames must have already consumed its seams, since it was beginning to lose parts, like the heels that were left burning in the backyard and one of its grades was beginning to come off. In response to this, the creature twisted around itself, trying to wrap itself up to put everything together. While he was doing this, Marinette took advantage and threw a chair at him, making it fall on the ground. Then they arrived at the entrance all again.

"We have to go back to my room..." The woman with glasses declared.

"That's right! There's a window there."

Quickly the raven-haired duo went up the stairs, just when they were at the first intersection the monster came out of the dining room, which now shone with its own light. With the glow of the orange flames of her pursuer behind her, the girl in the black vest ran towards the large window of the room. Right next to it was the crown nailed next to a large piece of cloth that made up the arm of the first monster they encountered. When she opened the window, Marinette found that it had a mini balcony with a high railing, she looked out and found a completely empty street.

"Chloe! This way! Where are you?" She didn't get any response from the outside, but she did get a response from inside the room.

"GEET DOWN MARINETTE!" Nathalie shouted.

Knowing what was coming behind her, our heroine trusted the adult woman's words and went down on her knees covering her head. What did she gain in exchange for her trust? A fireball passing over her. The fur coat-like creature jumped out of the window, collapsing on the street as it was consumed by the flames. Then she turned to the woman in gray pajamas.

"Thank you..."

"No problem... Let's go to the exit, I already have what I needed..." She said with a controller in her hand as she leaned against a table that had fallen on its side.

"What's that?"

"One of the mansion's security controls. After an... Unexpected accident, it was decided that they will also control the mansion's electrical system... I just have to..." And with the press of a button, the light returned to the scene and the sprinklers were activated by the fire.

"That explains it, Chloe and I were wondering why there was no electricity here if it had a generator..." Marinette said, once again supporting the sick woman down the stairs.

"It was just me, there was no reason to use more electricity than necessary... And I couldn't let the mansion burn..."

They carefully made their way through the entrance, the cold water from the sprinklers cooling them after the grueling race for their lives. Then they went out through the broken window, with their clothes and hair soaked, it was colder than expected, but they were both looking around for some other of those monsters, it was rare that there was more than one Sentimonster, unless it was not one. Everything seemed fine, there were no cloth creatures in sight, just a flag over the manor. Then the bakers' daughter realized that there was no flag when they arrived.

"Ehh... Do the Agrestes by any chance have Russian ancestry? And were they particularly communists?" She asked looking up.

"Euro-Italian, why are you-" The woman with glasses fell when she looked up. "Oh, of course, I already forget they were two..."

With a movement the red flag revealed to be a dress without a sleeve, with an acrobatic leap the creature jumped to the ground like a feather, still with an arrow stuck in the center. It looked like a bat without a wing, with an elephant's trunk on the body of a panther, a cross between a wedding dress and a flamenco dancing outfit. When it fell to the ground there was no sound, despite missing a limb and having an arrow stuck in, it showed no pain or anger towards them, it seemed anything but human, and that made them retreat.

Marinette had déjà vu, with danger in front and an innocent person behind her. Only instead of being inside a dark building, she was outdoors, with a manor to her right and a closed gate to her left. And instead of a sick woman with a crossbow, she had a monster of unknown origin. They backed away cautiously, not breaking eye contact even though their opponent had no eyes. For its part, the living dress advanced towards them, like a wounded predator that had its prey right where it wanted.

With no other options at hand, our heroine was about to summon the fairy in her pocket and reveal her identity, but then the sound of metal colliding with metal made everyone turn to the opposite side of the manor, just in time to see how the gate fell and an out-of-control fire truck headed straight for the creature. In the blink of an eye the wheeled battering ram ran over the living dress as it crashed into the side of the manor's staircase. Marinette and Nathalie were in disbelief at the sight of the cloth monster under the red truck, still squirming and trying to flap under the wheels. Their surprise only grew more when they saw the heiress get out of the vehicle.

"At best I can brought a limo to your house and you seriously think I know how to use a fire truck? Ridiculous, utterly ridiculous..." The blonde who was walking as if her leg was numb complained.

"Chloe! That was amazing! Are you okay?" The girl with pigtails asked.

"Yes yes yes, I'm great, I know, let's get out of here!" She demanded going towards the motorcycle outside.

With their enemy trapped, the trio took the opportunity to get out quickly. Marinette sat first as the pilot, starting the scooter while Nathalie sat behind her. They were back to back, the woman with glasses wanted to make sure they weren't followed, still carrying her crossbow even though it didn't have arrows. For her part, Chloe decided to take a particular seat, she sat sideways on the bakers' daughter's lap, making her squeal and blush.

"Go go go!" The heiress demanded again, to which our heroine obey.

It was probably the most unsafe way to drive with three passengers and none of them wearing helmets, but she didn't care, nor did she care about the way the blonde was holding on to her, those doubts took a backseat when she saw them in the air. More dresses and various costumes flying through the air, others walking on the roofs and others on the streets. And along with those monsters more vandalized buildings, mainly jewelry stores and clothing stores.

They were not an invasion like the Sapotis or Mr. Pigeon's pigeons, they were not an army, but they were several. They were scattered around the city and were relatively easy to avoid so they wouldn't be seen passing by, but they were still many more than the number of human survivors. Counting those in the mansion, there were at least a dozen of those fabric monsters. That's at least according to what they saw in the commercial area, while the most residential area where the Dupain-Cheng house was located have no one, for now.

They presence was both a mystery and a problem, a very big problem, luckily Marinette already had a simple solution, or at least the beginning of a simple solution. As soon as they arrived at the bakery, Chloe got off to open the door, entering with the motorcycle, without wasting a single second our heroine ran up the stairs.

"Close the curtains and windows on the first and second floor! Lock the doors! I'll take care of locking our room and the house!" She instructed her partner, not only to divide and do the work faster, but to save time alone.

The girl in the black vest and pink pants went directly and non-stop to her room, where she quickly took out the Miraculous box and took eight jewels before going up to the terrace. She was greeted by the dusk sky and no monsters in sight, so she put on the accessories and used them to summon a kwami from each expedition group. She needed to have all her options at hand to be safe, to protect the people she cared about, to defend Chloe and the new survivor. She needed all the help she could get, since there were monsters in Paris.

Chapter Text

You could ask anyone in Paris and they would all give you the same answer, Chloé Bourgeois only cared about herself. She always wanted to be the center of attention, and her particular attitude made her well-known, but not for good reasons. Everyone saw her as a spoiled brad, who stepped on anyone no matter who they were and who did not stop to think about how others would feel about her actions. After all, it was common knowledge that she caused many akumatizations, and that she always fled alone, leaving everyone behind, demanding priority in being protected and sometimes even using human shields.

She never stopped to think about other people, her ego only left room for herself. It was what everyone assumed, and on that autumn Tuesday, with the cold wind blowing her ponytail, no one was there to see otherwise. There was not one to witness her on top of the back wall of the Agreste manor, not one to witness how she would do the dumbest thing in the world for a girl who just a week ago she antagonized non-stop.

There were no trash cans underneath, and it was easily at the height of a third floor, it would be a painful fall if she did it wrong. It was dangerous, but surprisingly, the blonde wasn't afraid of it. Being the target of easily a sixth of the city's akumas had cured her of fear, a fall of so few meters was the least she regularly encountered. What did scare her, and a lot, was that her new friend was in danger. The fact that the girl who opened the doors of her home to her, who welcomed her with open arms with all her problems and traumas, and who gave her another chance despite how bad she had been, was trapped with a monster of fabric terrified her.

The image of Marinette hanging from her ear at the hands of that monster, her scream of pain, was burned into the heiress senses. Her stomach churned as she exclaimed her friend's name in panic. It was the first time she called her by a nickname, and maybe Marinette would never have been able to hear her say it with both ears if she hadn't acted quickly. If fear had not left her body to attack the monster and make her fall, perhaps her beloved companion would never be able to listen to her life so compassionately again.

Refusing to imagine what would happen if she gave up to the fear now, Chloe jumped. If she learned anything in her ballet classes it was to know how to move, to be agile, and to know how to fall. She was going to caught the fall with her legs, so that she could disperse the energy with them and by rolling. In theory it should have been a piece of cake. In practice, it was not. She made a loud noise, her sunglasses fell off, and her right leg hurt. She groaned in the street, sitting on the ground with her forearm tingling.

Apparently she broke one of the lenses of her glasses and had a couple of scratches on her leg, there was no blood but without a doubt her fine white pants were ruined. To her own surprise, she didn't give it any importance, she simply gave a frustrated sigh and stood up. She had something that was more important to her at the forefront of her thoughts, rescuing her partner.

With her glasses back on as a headband, she trudged toward the big red truck parked a block away. Have they attended to any emergency before disappearing? A cat in a tree perhaps? The heiress did not know and she cared very little about it, the only thing that mattered to her was that with it she could save the girl with pigtails and thus return home together.

Thanks to the adrenaline from the rush, she reached the vehicle in a flash and managed to get into the driver's seat. They were definitely doing something in the area since the fire truck was unlocked and had the keys already in the ignition. A quick glance in the rearview mirror revealed a tree with a safety tarp underneath, so that dispelled the small doubt. Then she tried to start the vehicle, it took a couple of tries before the engine decided to run. By the time it's on, she end up realizing that trucks and limousines were very, very different for driving.

It was a vehicle just as long but much larger, it felt even heavier when moving and its field of vision was different from that of the limousine. Added to the amount of controls she had at hand, she realized she had a completely different challenge, and it wasn't like she was driving the limo very well in the first place. It required constant effort, spontaneous braking, momentary acceleration, accidental reversing, it was a nightmare.

"Screw it, driver's licenses are for taxis, I'm never going to drive again..." She complained when the vehicle hit the sidewalk. "I will always go in the back seat, comfortable looking at my cell phone..." She mumbled while throwing a trash can. "Or hugging my Mari while she takes me to the Ferris wheel on her scooter..." The truck shook as it fell down the slope between the sidewalk and the street.

With effort she managed to turn the corner, she was on the right side of the Agreste manor in the middle of the block, looking for how to operate the fire escape and seeing which window the girl with pigtails would look out of. If driving was already difficult, operating the machinery without instructions was a whole different challenge. The fact that her new pressure roommate was in danger didn't help her think clearly, the extra stress only made everything even more frustrating.

"Come on you piece of junk, I just want to go back to my house, eat something and sleep next to my girl, is that too much to ask?" She questioned, not sure if she was talking to the vehicle or the heavens, pressing buttons. "Don't worry Mari, I'll find a way to get you out of there."

And as if it want to contrary her, the engine fell silent, she had turned off the truck by accident. Then, with an unpleasant tingling in her sore leg, gritting her teeth and digging her nails into her palms, she began to hit the steering wheel in a tantrum. She wanted to be helpful, she genuinely wanted to help, she wholeheartedly wanted to do something good. This time she was not looking for fame or recognition, there was nothing that would taint her intentions, she was doing exactly what a good person told her, what one of the best in Paris told her.

"I just want to help her..." Chloe cried a little, leaning her forehead against the leather steering wheel.

Marinette, despite all the right she had to leave the heiress aside, despite all the evil and contempt she had showered on the poor girl, never left her alone. She helped her, she took care of her, she gave her another chance and when the blonde was comfortable enough to open up, she listened to her. She listened to what she said, understood her and, above all, accepted her. The kindest, prettiest and talented girl in Paris listened to what she had to say, genuinely took her contributions into account, recognized her ingenuity and talents. She even apologized for not having done it sooner, for not having helped her more willingly some time ago.

"Oh Mari..." She wiped her tears with her sleeve, annoyed with herself for becoming so emotional at such a critical moment. "Please... I just want to help..."

She tries to start the truck again, looking for her friend in a window, this time it takes longer to start, showing more resistance.

"Please, she doesn't deserve to be trapped in there with monsters and a crazy woman who pointed a gun at her..."

She moved the keys again, same result. The engine purred but did not start.

"I just want to get her out of there and get us back home... I just want to help my girl frie-"

Then, at the same time the truck started up again, it hit her. Chloe realized how her heart was beating, how worried she was for another person, how she saw the Dupain-Cheng bakery as a home, how she thought about her. About how important Marinette had become. About how intimate they had become, that she even called her by a nickname, one that was affectionate and not pejorative. How she became more important than her designer clothes or her own security.

"I... I like her...." She said in the truck, in the middle of an empty city and with no one to listen to her. "I like Marinette Dupain-Cheng..."

The realization hit her harder than Stoneheart, her cheeks turning red as she realized that she liked being served by the girl with pigtails, that she felt warm when she gave her affection, that she was comfortable doing her makeup, that no matter how much it ashamed her, she wanted to wake up again hugging her. She realized everything... and it made her angry.

With both hands on the wheel and remembering where the accelerator was, she headed down the street to the park in front of the Agreste manor, visibly upset with herself. 'Of course, I had to be so stupid, only I could be so brazen as to fall in love with the girl I bullied for almost my entire life...' she scolded herself as she got on the sidewalk and broke a park bench. 'First I fall in love with a super idiot who never cared no matter how hard I tried, and now with the girl who I personally took charge of making suffer just out of jealousy...' her mind was racing through so many cruel jokes and unpleasant comments as she turned around with difficulty.

Then she collided with the side of the bumper into the center fountain, cracking it. She had to go back and forth several times to get the vehicle into position. 'As if I wasn't naive enough to seek my mom's affection, I also find a way to be stupid enough to fall in love with the most Adriensexual person I've ever met... Am I doomed to fail at everything?' Then she looked towards the entrance of the mansion, where she catch the baker daughter when she fell after climbing the fence.

If she couldn't figure out how to use the fire truck's ladder, then she would simply knock down the main obstacle. Then she saw the girl responsible for her doubts, a girl as talented as she was clumsy, kind enough to be the support of a woman who threatened her with a gun, good enough to give the princess of Paris another chance. Before the girl turned to look up, Chloe could tell even from a distance that she was very, very beautiful.

Then she saw a cloth monster fall next to her, she didn't bother to analyze it or pay attention, her eyes remained on the girl with pigtails. She was there, protecting Nathalie no matter what, backing away with a serious look on her face. She could be as calculating as she was naive, both a nervous wreck and the most determined girl she ever met. She was Marinette, and the blonde always had her eyes on her. Before she looked at her with disdain and envy, but now she couldn't stop feeling how her heart was dancing and her face was getting hot. And so, with a smile on her lips, Chloe accepted that she was doomed in love.

"Ridiculous... Utterly ridiculous..." And just like that, she sped up.

Her gaze locked on the red fabric as she floored the accelerator, turning the truck into a giant battering ram. In seconds she closed the distance between the fountain and the entrance of the mansion, the windshield cracked and the joints of the fence fell away from the frame. In the blink of an eye, the heiress intentionally participated in a crash, and in the same way as when she jumped off the wall, in the end she regretted absolutely nothing, especially when one of the monsters that hurt her friend disappeared under the truck. Thanks to the airbag, the bumps and cuts she suffered were minimal, and she was able to get out of the vehicle intact, but she was not gona lose the opportunity to complain anyway.

"At best I can brought a limo to your house and you seriously think I know how to use a fire truck? Ridiculous, utterly ridiculous..."

"Chloe! That was amazing! Are you okay?" The girl with light-blue eyes asked her, her security and concern made everything worth it.

"Yes yes yes, I'm great, I know, let's get out of here! The blonde said, starting to go towards the motorcycle that was outside.

She was having trouble walking a bit, so naturally Marinette was the fastest of the three, arriving first and taking her position as the pilot. For her part and despite her sick condition, Nathalie moved ahead of the blonde, sitting behind the girl in pink pants. If she had been in a position to hold on to her friend Chloe would have complained, but instead the woman stood back to back. She wanted to make sure they weren't followed, she still loaded her crossbow even though she didn't have arrows.

Technically all the places were occupied, and there was no way the blonde was going to go over the woman in gray pajamas, so she had to think for a moment how she would get on the scooter. Then, an innocent idea came to the princess of Paris mind. Without asking, she sat sideways on the driver's lap, making her squeal as her legs dangled off the right side of the motorcycle. Was she taking advantage of the situation to be with the girl she liked? Without a doubt, but frankly it was neither the first time nor the most blatant, and it was probably the most harmless.

"Go go go!" She said, putting her arms around her friend's neck so she wouldn't fall.

Although she was comfortable with her little trick, comfortable and blushing, the heiress also realized how serious the situation really was as soon as she saw them. The fabric monsters did not stop appearing in the most luxurious area of Paris, counting those left in the mansion there were easily a dozen of them, flying in the air or on the roofs, destroying jewelry stores and others buildings. Although they managed to avoid being seen and there were no creatures near the most modest area where the Dupain-Chengs lived, the knowledge that there were more and that they acted so strangely did not calm any of them.

Once in the bakery, Marinette ran upstairs to close the windows and entrances to the room on the top floor, urging the blonde to do the same on the first floor so they would be safer. Therefore, Chloe was left alone with Nathalie at the entrance. The image of the sharp arrow in the crossbow returned to her mind as she closed the curtains of the tent and locked the door that connected that section to the staircase. She didn't like the idea of the woman who threatened them being under her same roof.

"May I know what you're doing?" She asked, noticing that the assistant was moving the scooter.

"Blocking the front door..." She responded, dragging the motorcycle. "Or do you want to play the heroine again and come to the rescue when everything goes wrong?"

"Watch your tone, glorified secretary."

"Any problem Chloe?" The woman with glasses responded, somewhat defiantly. You could tell she wasn't happy either.

"It's Miss Bourgeois for you, understand? And don't think that because Marinette is mercifull I'm going to overlook the fact that you tried to shoot us..."

"It's the most logical thing you can do when someone breaks into your house. Do I scare you?" The woman in pajamas moved the crossbow in her hand.

"Ha! From a woman who can barely walk and with a crossbow without arrows? You wish. I'm just giving you an ultimatum: never point that, or anything, at me or Mari again. Capiche?"

"With that attitude I'm surprised you lasted so long as Adrien's friend." With those words the heiress simply turned around offended and went up the stairs. "Are you going to leave me here?"

"Did you think I am my sister? Without a doubt that illness must be harming your brain..." The blonde said, going up without looking back, closing the windows and curtains as she passed.

A small part of her felt a little bad for acting so rude again, while the vast majority enjoyed every word. She was trying to be good, to learn how to be a good person, but she hadn't yet gotten to the part of what to do when someone disrespects you or worse, someone you love. So she acted by memory and inertia.

Then she reached the third floor, the Dupain-Cheng house, the place where she was beginning to feel more comfortable. She was greeted by Louis who stayed to take care of the house while they were gone, and then went straight to closing the windows and curtains. Before she completely deprived the room of the orange evening light, she watched as the girl with pigtails came down the stairs.

"Everything closed upstairs, where is Nathalie?" She asked rubbing her left ear.

"Oh, you know, old womens think they're so tough and don't need help to go up stairs... Does that hurt?" Chloe asked pointing to the red ear, the one that Marinette almost lost to the monster.

"A little, mostly it burns... I mean, hanging all your weight on one usually ends up a lot worse, hehe... I guess I got lucky..." Upon hearing that, the heiress took a rag from the sink and soaked it in the cold water.

"Can I?" She ask holding the cold and wet cloth.

Marinette responded with a blushing nod, the blonde carefully placing the cloth against her red ear, being greeted by a small sigh from her partner. At first she thought it might hurt, until the moderately shorter girl tilted her head toward her touch. It was an almost intimate moment, and Chloe felt foolish again with her emotions. 'Enjoy this moments, it's the only thing you'll have... For her, all of this is merely platonic...' said a voice in her head, trying to put her on her feet on eart so that it wouldn't hurt when reality hit her.

"I still don't understand why the monster did that..." She said out loud to ignore her pessimistic thoughts.

"Yes, it makes no sense to hold someone like that... Nor does it make sense to break windows of shops..." Added the raven-haired girl. "Why destroy jewelry stores and break into a famous designer's house? Why would a monster do that?"

"Yeah, why would a monsters obsessed with jewelry be wreaking havoc in Paris? Never seen before..." She responded in a sarcastic tone without thinking.

Just as she was going to apologize for being unnecessarily sarcastic again, they both processed what the blonde said. Her eyes widened in realization, looking directly at each other.

"Wait... That make sense... They are monsters looking for jewelry in Paris..." Said the sapphire-eyed girl. "That means those things are in the city..."

"For the Miraculous..."

Chapter Text

The Miraculous were a topic of debate in Paris. At first people simply took it as part of a phrase that the heroine in red said before unleashing the power of her magical ladybugs. Maybe it was the "open sesame" opening for restoration magic, no one was sure. However, it didn't take long for it to take a meaning after hearing day in and day out some akuma yelling said phrase at the local heroes.

Sometimes they said Miraculous, sometimes they said jewelry, but they all referred to the same thing, the black cat's ring and Ladybug's earrings. In places like the Ladyblog their purpose and origin was discussed, naturally after extremely public incidents such as Lady Wifi, Prime Queen, the post-defeat against Queen Wasp or the fake Ladybug of Heroes' Day, everyone was already quite clear that they were mystical objects that allowed you to be a superhero, or if you don't have good intentions, they simply gave you the opportunity to have super powers.

You would think that having super villains and a terrorist on a global scale at this point searching for jewelry would be bad for the fashion accessories industry, but the reality was far from the theory. Everyone wanted to wear rings and earrings, from children to adults, everyone wanted to feel like their favorite heroes, Chloe herself began to pay more attention to expanding her earring collection during her time as a Ladybug fan. That's before throwing them all out the window after a justified tantrum after the Miracle Queen incident.

Even so, she still had an enormous amount of jewelry, accessories of which she took a handful before moving to the Dupain-Cheng house with part of her wardrobe. Now she was in Marinette's room, standing with a tingling leg as she looked at one of her open suitcases, which contained many of said accessories and little boxes with even more jewelry. She more than anyone knew that the Miraculouses were not limited to just a ring and earrings, that they could come in the form of anything and that, if those monsters that attacked them knew it, probably having so many jewels was counterproductive.

Chloe was vain, that's for sure, but she wasn't stupid. It didn't matter that the things inside those little boxes were super expensive, that her father bought them to please her or that they would shine brighter than the sun itself, if they endangered her life or Marinette's she would be the first to get rid of them. Unfortunately, just like with her new guest whom she also wanted to throw out the window, it would not be so easy to solve the problem. She ponders her options in front of a single candle illuminating the dark room.

"Let's see... If I just throw them outside, they'll still be around the building, and those things might get curious and investigate further down the block... Maybe flush them down the toilet? No, I'm not going to risk the pipe to get clogged..." She said looking at the size of the boxes, the brooches and even her own golden segmented belt.

She then thought about how it would be easier to leave them somewhere hidden, but even that idea had cons and things to take into account. The fabric monsters seemed to have a certain logic, they were at the moment in the most commercial part, places with a high concentration of jewelry stores. With that in mind, the logical thing to do was to simply hide her jewelry in a place where they would never be searched for. 'Like in the trash, what kind of crazy person would throw such expensive things in a trash can?' She thought, quickly discarding the idea when she realized that she would have to touch the trash to move it and hide such shiny decorations well.

"Everything okay here?" An angelic voice asked from the stairs.

Although her image of the bakers' daughter had improved thanks to their forced coexistence, the recent discovery of her own feelings for her made the blonde see the girl in a new light. Her voice became increasingly pleasant to listen to, her tone more melodious to her ears. Seeing her emerge from the floor with a candle in a glass warmed her heart, her beautiful face illuminated by the dim light put a smile on her lips.

"Yeah, just thinking about what to do with all of... This..."

"You have a large jewelry collection uh..."

"And you didn't see the shoe one." They shared a small laugh before looking at the suitcase again.

"They know what are the Miraculous but they don't seem to be able to track them down, so they go looking for anything that looks like them..." Reasoned the girl with candle in hand. "Jewelry, rings, bracelets, combs..."

"And they seem to be very clear about where to find those things, impressive for eyeless things..." The heiress pointed out with some disdain, her tone changing as she looked at her partner's ear. "I don't want them to come here... Not because of these things..."

"Don't worry, they're not going to find this place... There's no reason to look for jewelry in a bakery..." Marinette pointed out, putting her hand on her shoulder.

"You don't know that, those things are stupid enoug to keep chasing you and Adrien's guardian even engulfed in flames... I don't want them to try to hurt you again, not because of some stupid cheap earrings..." Chloe's face turned red when she realized that she was only talking about the girl in singular. "I-I mean... Neither of us, I don't want either of us to be hurt..." She corrected herself to try not to be so obvious.

"I don't want that either, but don't worry, we'll find a way..." Then, taking advantage of the proximity, the raven-haired girl looked her up and down. "And speaking of injuries..." She said looking at the superficial cuts and bruises on the blonde.

"Don't worry, it's nothing, they're just a few scratches, if they hurt I'd already be complaining like you have no idea..." She tried to calm her friend down, without much success.

"Yeah, but you still just got out of a car crash, the fact that it was on purpose and in a fire truck doesn't change that fact..."

Then the girl with blue eyes left her candle on a small table and went to her desk, returning with a white box that looked almost like a lunch box with a red cross. It was a first aid kit. The heiress was going to ask why she already had it in her room, then she remembered that she was talking to Marinette Dupain-Cheng, the girl with two left feet who still slept in an attic, who spent her time surrounded by sewing needles as a hobby. and that once when she was little, she probably burned water somehow. Obviously the aid kit would be in her room.

"Come, sit down, if I'm going to treat you at least you should be comfortable."

"Ugh, okay doctor..." With a snort the blonde gave up, letting the girl take care of her, quickly letting out a hiss as she bent her knees to sit down.

Her right leg, on which she had fallen when jumping from the wall, was very stiff. Marinette took note of this as well as the tear in the white pants, first choosing to treat the most visible scratches, which were probably the result of crashing the truck into the gate and stairs of the manor. Chloe was generally a somewhat difficult patient to deal with, complaining every time she went to the doctor, reluctantly following orders and ignoring his instructions.

She also wasn't a fan of injections or ugly bandages and band-aids that didn't match anything, but there she was, trying her best to stay still while the girl with pigtails checked her out. She was surprisingly good at taking care of people, she was throughout this whole week they were together, demonstrating day in and day out how charitable she could be. While the sudden crush of the blonde only made her remember again how much she had to make up for years of mistreatment.

So when Marinette cauterized a small pair of eyelash tweezers and held them to the cuts, the heiress just clenched her jaw and said nothing. Great was her surprise when she saw how her removed small fragments of glass, probably shards from the windshield.

"That was in the scrach?!" The girl with the ponytail asked incredulously, opening her eyes at the small crystals that shone near the light.

"You generally don't feel pain from injuries or blows right away, I guess because of the adrenaline... You know, that whole phrase about 'it's going to hurt tomorrow' and stuff..." She explained while wiping a cotton ball soaked in an antiseptic solution.

"It looks like you have experience with beatings..." The blonde commented, although she said it innocently, it made the girl in front of her nervous.

"Ah w-well... it's not the first time I've worked with broken glass." The girl with pigtails said, trying to cover up why she actually knew what it was like to get hit. "Half the cups at home are plastic for a reason... I eventually took over from mom as I started to want to be independent... Obviously I'm still trying not to break anything but it's better to be prepared..."

"You know, sometimes I wish I were that independent... Cleaning, cooking, planning, baking, you even know first aid... I could use a thing or two to know... You know, then it wouldn't be so much of a burden in these situations..." Chloe confessed. 'After all, a long and lonely life awaits me...' she added in her mind.

"Oh Chloe, it's okay to depend on other people, and you're not a burden, in fact, you've helped me a lot these days..." The raven-haired girl assured her as she put a band-aid on the cut, before moving on to other.

"Oh come on, you're the one who does most of the things here..." The heiress replied while her friend treated a cut on her cheek.

"That does not mean that you are not helpful, despite the unexpectedness of the situation you have been a great roommate. You make sure I have water left to bathe myself, you help me organize my ideas or consider new approaches, On Monday You even washed the clothes by hand!" She listed as she covered another scrape with a square patch. "The truth is... I'm very happy to have you here Chloe, it makes me happy to see this side of you..." Her rosy-cheeked smile melted the heart of the princess of Paris.

"You only say that because you would go crazy being alone..." She said that more to herself, to cover the joy that flooded her from hearing those words. 'She's nice to everyone, she's not for you, you don't even deserve her after everything you've done... The quicker you accept it, the less it will hurt when everyone comes back and she returns to Adrien's arms...' her mind took her down the path of denial.

After all, the last time she had hoped that things would change, that she would have someone's love and attention, was when her mother came back to town, and the whiplash she felt at thinking that she was better off when her mother wasn't there still hurts her to this day. She had to have a clear reality and her feet on the ground if she didn't want to fall flat on her face again, she didn't want to ruin things again by jumping to conclusions and letting herself be carried away by her feelings. She didn't want to disappoint Marinette like she did with Ladybug, she didn't want to disappoint her and make her lose hope. Then, after her friend finished healing the upper half of her body, she said something that snapped her out of her doubts and fears.

"Well... Take of your pants." She asked, looking away embarrassed.

"Oke... wait, what?!" The heiress was genuinely surprised by the sudden proposal.

"I-I mean, since you climbed the wall to go to the fire truck you've been walking limply, if it hurt just from sitting down... And the scratch is at the height of your thigh, if it were your calf you could just roll up your pants, but that high would generate pressure as well as get in the way." She explained herself better, still somewhat embarrassed.

"W-well yes, it's true, but..." She hesitated.

"Don't worry, it will be like when I take your measurements earlier, you can even just stick out one leg and that's it." Her words only made the blonde redder, remembering that moment with a new perspective.

"Yes but... Our new guest..." Chloe excused herself, so as not to have to explain what changed from the morning to that moment.

"Oh, don't worry, I left Nathalie in my parents' room so she could sleep peacefully. It'll just be you and me, like old times... Well, not like old times, like recent times... The last week times... half last week times..."

Her partner's clumsy rambling to calm the situation drew a giggle from the heiress, causing her to finally accept with a sigh. With some difficulty, help from her friend and more pain than she expected, the blonde managed to remove her injured leg from the torn pants. Technically there was nothing to be ashamed of, they were both girls and it was not the first time that the bakers' daughter saw her in underwear, it was not even the first time that she saw her Ladybug underwear that she bought when she was still a fan of the heroin.

Still, her heart beat like crazy at the sight of Marinette kneeling before her eyes, holding and examining her leg with the utmost respect and attention. It was already night and the dark city did not produce any noise or light, so it was just the two of them, an island in the middle of the darkness, illuminated by the warm light of scented candles and with the sound of their own heart drumming. in Chloe's ear.

The mayor's daughter was surprised at how calm her friend acted, how diligent and professional she seemed. Naturally, she attributed this to the fact that her partner was heterosexual, and that what she had in front of her was probably no competition to what she saw at her sleepovers with Alya, or at least that's what the blonde assumed. Little did she know that the girl with pigtails was screaming internally, doing her best to only tend to the injuries of the princess of Paris.

"Your knee is a little swollen and quite dark... I think your knee may be dislocated... Does this hurt?" She asked running her soft fingers over the bruise.

"A little, and you... Can you do something?" Worry began to rise above her shame.

"I think so, I have to put it back into position, it's a little crooked and I think I can feel the bone slightly out of place, moving it a lot like that can aggravate it in the long run..." Then she take some gauze and place it in the form of a small package. "Bite this."

"Uh... Okey? I guess I'll pay attention to the girl who trips a lot..." She said, clenching the fabric with her teeth.

"Well, who falls a lot heals a lot... Now, please take a deep breath."

Marinette took a moment, positioning the leg in the correct position under her right arm, carefully placing her hands on either side of her at specific points. She then looked her directly in the eyes, holding Chloe's gaze for a minute. Her expression was one of resigned sorrow, she knew what she had to do but she knew what it entailed. The adrenaline was gone, the stress of the moment and the rush too. It was just the two of them this time.

Before the blonde could ask, the girl with light blue eyes broke eye contact making a quick and precise movement, a crack made the heiress close her eyes tightly, holding back a few tears while she dug her nails into the pink tapestry of the couch. The cure can sometimes be as bad as the disease, and putting a bone in its place hurt as much as moving it out of place. After a moment of breathing heavily through her nose, the blonde felt a gentle hand next to her face and soft fingers on her lips. The girl with pigtails removed the gauze and asked her to breathe, making circular movements on her neck to calm her down.

"It's over, you did very well, everything is in its place... Breathe..." Little by little Chloe regained control of her breathing, becoming calm again. "Tomorrow we'll look for some painkillers, okay? It won't bother you one bit again..."

"Marinette..." She said with her eyes closed.

"Yeah?"

"Thank you... For taking care of me... For everything..." The blonde confessed.

"And thanks to you, for letting be helped, and for trying to be better in these difficult days... You are important to me..."

"For real?" She asked with a broken voice.

"For real..."

And so, with a bandage on her knee and covered in Band-Aids, the princess of Paris prepared to sleep soundly. They had agreed to sleep in shifts, in case one of those disturbing fabric monsters had followed them. Naturally, Chloe was in no condition to climb the attic stairs, so she went back to sleeping on the couch. Only this time she had company.

"Remember to wake me up to take you place in a few hours, you need to sleep too." The heiress said, lying in her sky blue nightgown and looking at the girl sitting on the side of the couch.

"I know, I know, and you try to rest so you can relieve properly." The girl in the white t-shirt and pink pajama pants said, placing the blanket over her friend. "Tomorrow we will see what to do with all your jewelry and what we can discover about Nathalie."

"If that witch tries anything, don't hesitate to wake me up."

"I will, but rest now, Dr. Dupain-Cheng's orders." She declared with a chuckle.

"Baker, designer, driver, doctor, is there anything you don't know how to do?" The blonde asked, settling down.

"Nothing, I can do everything... That's why you can sleep peacefully."

After sharing a pleasant laugh, the blonde let herself fall into the realm of dreams knowing that, even if Marinette didn't feel the same, she would still be there tomorrow. That no matter what happened, both would continue to be side by side.

Chapter Text

All of this was for her, all of this was for Émilie, so that she could live the life she deserved, so that she could continue to illuminate the world with her presence. That's why Nathalie was willing to go so long without sleeping in her own house. Since before the tragic death of her dear friend, she already had the Agreste guest room as her's, the place where she moved temporarily to be present, to help, to be able to say goodbye to her when the inevitable happened. But, little by little, that time was prolonged as the woman faded more and more. It was painful, but she didn't leave her aside, nor the Agreste family.

She wanted to protect her legacy, help her loved ones, so she stayed. She now lived in the manor, she had even finished her contract with the landlord of her apartment. It was good not to have to worry about the rent, and she liked taking care of the young blonde, he reminded her a lot of her old friend, both because of those green eyes and that heart of gold. That same constant memory was the reason she got to this point, the reason she ended up where she was now, in this very unique situation.

The objective was always the same, to obtain the Miraculous of Ladybug and Chat Noir, to unify them to achieve absolute power, the ability to rewrite reality through a wish. Unfortunately, and according to the power they wielded, the combined forces of destruction and creation were an obstacle too difficult to overcome. They tried many approaches and various plans as the months passed, all ending in failure. Unfortunately, there were times when things went wrong long before the heroes showed up. And this time they went very, very wrong.

They had made a mistake, Nathalie had made a mistake, and that is why she now slept again in a bed that was not hers, but this time in the Dupain-Cheng house. She was lying face up on the spacious double bed of the now-defunct baking couple. Naturally, two-thirds of the bed was considerably softer than the remaining third, something to be expected given how bulky in both height and girth Marinette's father was. The image of the girl with pigtails lingered in her brain for a long moment, as she reviewed what she now knew about young Adrien's classmate.

"I still can't believe it... But... She was the one who returned the grimoire when Adrien lost it..." Then came memories of when Sirena flooded the city.

After losing the book it was that the heroes began to show aquatic, flight and ice power ups. Likewise, all the support heroes they had a record of coincided with students from the Françoise Dupont, not only that, they were classmates in their same class. The more she thought about that fact, the more obvious it was, and the more foolish she felt for not realizing it. 'Damn, it didn't even change her haircut... Is the Miraculous magic that effective?...' she wondered in her mind at how blatantly obvious the costume could be. The facial features, the height, the physical complexion, the color of the hair and the way it was tied, even the tone of her voice were the same.

Everything had become so obvious, everything started to add up as soon as she saw her in the mansion, Marinette Dupain-Cheng was Ladybug. Although they have posters around the city and recordings from all angles and distances, the truth is that the heroes were always like the product of a dream, your brain does not make the connection the moment you have them in front of you and when you try to remember them they become somewhat vague and with blurry details. But now that she knew that the only people she would ever see in the city would be the heroes, then the cover broke as soon as she saw her face.

And now she was there, in the house of the number one heroine of Paris, the guardian of the Miraculous, her enemy. She was the main obstacle standing between Gabriel and her getting Emilie back, she was the main obstacle preventing the world from seeing that beautiful smile again. And yet, she brought her straight to her house. There was no noise outside, with the city without inhabitants or power everything was incredibly calm at that time of night. It was probably already Wednesday at this point.

Carefully and as quietly as she could, the woman sat on the bed, searching for her glasses with her right hand. She spent days in bed without finding a reason to even get up, nothing to convince her to ignore her desire to simply sleep until it was all over. But now, now that she had a reason, she couldn't even close her eyes. Since she found the girls, she has not stopped being alert, paying attention to the smallest detail, she even counted the steps when the blonde left her to her fate at the base of the stairs. She took note of the entire way to the room, how many steps there were between the living room and the room where she was staying, where the armchairs and furniture were, where there was carpet and where she should step carefully so as not to make noise.

But over all, she memorize the way to the stairs that Marinette climbed. With tired and sore legs, the woman in gray pajamas stood in the dark. Without the mechanical prostheses to help support her own weight she found herself shaking, her movements became much slower, constantly trying to maintain her balance. Using a broken Miraculous destroyed her immune system and cracked her spirit, making everyday life more difficult. But, in her current situation, the consequences of using a broken Miraculous were quite timely.

That her body would force her to move calmly and control her breathing was ideal to ensure she was stealthy, her movements were less orthopedic and more calculated, the pain that occasionally stabbed through her chest and through her bones kept her awake and alert. Her dilated senses, which made her feel several times as if she were experiencing an intermittent hangover, allowed her to notice everything in the dark house above the bakery. She carefully walked next to the Basset hound dog that was sleeping at the entrance to her room, probably the girl with the red earrings left it there to keep an eye on her.

Thus she advance, leaning against the wall to use it as support. Taking advantage of the fact that the kitchen was next to the stairs, she made a quick stop to get the largest knife she could have on hand. She counted on being able to be stealthy, getting in and out. But she had to be ready, after all she was dealing with a superhero at the end of the day, the Miraculous were closer than ever, but so far away at the same time. The girl was healthier than her, she had the ladybug Miraculous and on top of that she was the guardian, so she must have also had the rest of the Miraculouses that existed in the box.

Remembering the rest of Miraculous, a question that had been on her mind since she saw the two of them returned. 'When do she trust Chloe with the Miraculous? What changed?' was what she kept questioning, interspersed with disbelief at discovering Ladybug's identity. It was unthinkable, they had managed to manipulate her to make her an ally on the hero's Day, they had found a replacement for Queen Bee and the heiress demonstrated many times that she was not even remotely a good person, she even ended her childhood friendship with Adrien, how did Ladybug entrust her with a Miraculous again? Was she Chat Noir and Queen Bee at the same time? It was a setback for Gabriel's plans, an unexpected factor, something that should not happen, a mistake.

Chloe Bourgeois's presence at this time demonstrated a huge flaw in the plan, in the same way, Nathalie being present to find out all this is also the product of a big, big mistake.

~<{1 and a half hour after the disappearance}>~
"Ugh... Where... Am I?"

Her whimper echoed in the empty room, the steel dome of Hawk Moth's lair amplifying her own voice, much to the chagrin of her sensitive ears. She was lying on the hard floor, her limbs aching and shaking, the skin on her hands in a unnatural shade of blue.

"This is not good..." She said sitting on the floor, then she noticed the dress she was wearing, as well as the peacock fan on the floor. She was still Mayura.

Then, Gabriel's words and the plan came back to her clouded mind, panic taking over her in a matter of seconds.

"Fold my feathers!" She exclaimed, detransforming and returning to her natural clothes and colors. The feather fairy was shocked.

"Ma'am! Maybe it's not too late yet, we can still go back and make that thing disappear!" Her words fell on deaf ears.

"Duusu, I renounced you, I am no longer your carrier!" She declared, removing the brooch and making the blue kwami disappear. Then she lay back down on the cold floor. "I hope you're right... That there's still time to do this before it activates his power..."
~<{Back to the present}>~

The sad reality is that it was too late, the plan required good timing so that it would free her from the burden of not disappearing. If everything had gone well, Nathalie would have felt like she had blinked. No matter how much time had passed, for her it would be the same as for all the citizens of Paris, just a second. She would have woken up after they had won, a world where Gabriel managed to make his wish and Émilie would be alive.

But she fell unconscious after trying too hard using the power of the peacock, that window of time was gone, and now she had woken up in an empty world, devoid of humanity. It was seven lonely days she spent in the manor, but now she had the chance to make it all worth it. She knew who Ladybug was, she knew where the Miraculouses were, at least she had the creation one within her reach. She was tired, sore and alone, but she wasn't going to waste this opportunity to finish everything once and for all. With that in mind, she opened the hatch, ready for anything.

But, she wasn't ready for what she saw.

Indeed, there was the girl with the red earrings, her biggest obstacle in getting Émilie back. But at that moment she did not see the heroine of Paris, she did not see the woman who went to extra trouble to leave the manor in order to hide her identity, much less did she see a warrior that day in and day out also used cunning to defeat each akuma that they will command nor a mystical guardian. No, she didn't find anything like that. Instead, she found a room poorly lit by an almost completely burned out candle, with two girls sleeping on a couch.

"They... They're just girls..." She whispered, holding the trap door with a trembling hand.

Nathalie was so surprised by her discovery of the heroine's identity, that the entire time she was thinking about the fact that Marinette was Ladybug, and not that Ladybug was Marinette. Before Gabriel started all of this, before Hawk Moth existed, she was just a little girl. Then the woman with glasses remembered the object in her hand. 'Was I going to...? Attacking a child...' although she had the Miraculous a few steps away, although they were her enemy, they were also only childs. All this time, they were fighting with a girl the same age as Adrien.

The memory of how she watched the young model grow up only made her hands go limp and made her feel even sicker. 'What am I doing?' she asked herself, looking at them once more. The one with raven hair was sleeping half lying on the couch, hugged by the blonde, both breathing calmly covered by the blankets. They were both alone, without parents or anyone to care for them, just each other. The memory of her travels with Émilie came back to in that moment, before Gabriel, she was the one who accompanied her on her explorations and journeys. She became a treasure hunter just so she could continue accompanying her dear friend, so that the Grahams de Vanily would entrust their daughter to her to satisfy their thirst for adventure and keep her safe.

She saw herself reflected in the particular duo, in her happiest days exploring the jungle, with the girl for whom her heart beat faster. But, this time they were not here of their own free will, and the dangers were not the wild animals, here the danger was her. With that image, she go down the stairs and leave the knife in its place, carefully returning to the bakers' room. She lay down, feeling how her ailments were joined by a less tangible but even more powerful one, the question of what she was doing with her life.

She was in a bed that wasn't her's in a building she didn't know, trying to rob a couple of poor girls. She had caused unimaginable damage to the world and only now did she begin to think about that fact, about how she allowed so many horrors to happen. She did it all for love, wanting to give back a light that the world lost when Émilie fell into an eternal sleep, but what would happen if they succeeded? What would happen if they managed to fulfill their wish and brought her back? Could she or Gabriel look into her emeral eyes after spending months fighting with children? After isolating two poor girls from the rest of humanity? After going so far as to extinguish the human race even for a little while?

"She... Would she approve it?" Nathalie wondered in the dark.

Chapter Text

It was not uncommon for students to sleep in bad positions, staying up late working on assignments in the morning, or staying up late studying for an exam were almost universal experiences for people their age. Even before she was a heroine, Marinette already knew what it was like to fall asleep sitting at her desk and how her body hurt when she woke up, but like everything since Fu gave her the Miraculous, these experiences became even more common in her life.

Going from patrolling the city at dusk to sitting at her desk, working on an essay on the history of classical poetry or struggling with algebraic formulas, had become almost routine due to her overloaded schedule. Thanks to being the guardian of the Miraculouses, she would no longer have room to schedule an appointment with the physiotherapist if she developed a back problem from sleeping hunched over her desk.

Luckily, this time she had sat on the lounger in her room, so it was much easier to settle into a more ergonomic and comfortable sleeping position, and oh boy, the girl with the pigtails was comfortable. Her makeshift bed felt more comfortable than usual lying on top of the blankets, and although it was supposed to be cold because it was late autumn, she didn't feel it at all. In fact, she felt a warm tingling at the level of her neck.

Then, a small beam of light managed to sneak through the spaces between the closed curtains, hitting right on one of her eyes. Her first instinct was to move, ignore it, and continue sleeping, but she quickly realized that her movements were quite restricted. Once she opened her eyes and moved them a little out of the way of the sun's rays, she found a scene that she already knew quite well, but that still warmed her cheeks. Chloe had hugged her again while she was asleep, this time with the blanket in the middle wrapping Marinette like she was a burrito. Since the couch was not as big as their bed, they naturally slept close to each other, lying directly on top of the left half of the heiress, who was breathing calmly on her neck.

Given her recent conflicting feelings, plus the fact that she was applying weight to her injured companion, our heroine decided to slowly untangle herself to get up as soon as possible, taking care not to wake the blonde. No matter how much she was in a hurry, she had to be careful not to aggravate her friend's condition or deprive her of good sleep, but this made her stay close enough to notice the details. The shape of her body, the longing in the arms that held her, the calm in her face, the way the small ace of light made her golden hair shine that framed her soft features, and her lips, her soft, soft open lips.

She was a sleeping beauty with a flower band-aid on her cheek, and it didn't matter how much she had been sickened by admitting it to her past self, or how much it confused her to think about it in the present, but it was a fact that under the makeup and her mask of toughness and venom Chloe was very beautiful. The girl with the light-blue eyes swallowed, embarrassed to have to admit it, and even more so to realize that a minute ago she already had her feet on the carpet and was free from her prison of blankets. It was something so strange and unusual to be able to see that side of the blonde, that our heroine could not help but treasure that moment to admire it, knowing that it could be as elusive as seeing a unicorn.

Her cheeks burned as her gaze returned to her lipstick-less lips, quickly leaving the room when she noticed that she was unconsciously approaching the heiress again. 'God it's like when I'm in front of a photo of Adrien, my body acts just to plant a ki... Wait... Did I just compare Chloe to...?' and with that thought she quickly entered the bathroom to rinse her face with cold water. Her Kwami quickly joined.

"Tikki, we had agreed that you would wake me up to take over with Chloe, the idea was that she could sleep more before we changed, not that I would sleep straight through." She complained quietly in front of the mirror.

"I know, but you two looked so comfortable and calm. I couldn't take that away from you, Marinette." The red fairy explained.

"You wouldn't be taking anything away from me! She's just my friend... It's not like I like sleeping with her, I mean, she's Chloe." She denied in the room with ceramic walls. "That sound bad... Listen, it's not her, she's made a lot of progress, really. It's me..."

"Marinette, I know you're scared, that you're afraid of ruining things because of feelings you're not even sure about, but what was there in the room, what happened just now, wasn't bad at all." She consoled her, flying close to her shoulder to put one of her paws on it.

"There was nothing in my room! Nothing happened because I wasn't thinking about anything specific..." She replied with red cheeks, pouting in denial.

"Exactly! You weren't thinking about anything, you were simply calm. There was calm, serenity. Since you became a guardian it seems that your days were becoming more and more difficult and stressful..." Tikki flew towards the sink to be in front of her carrier. "As much as the only function of kwamis is to lend our power and knowledge when they are commandeered, the truth is that I can't help but worry about my wielder, and that's why I'm glad for those small moments of tranquility that emerge when you're with her..."

"But they're not because I like her! They're... They're... Well, I don't know why they are, but I'm already telling you that love doesn't calm me down, you've seen me with Adrien, you know that normal and in control are not synonyms for me being in love..." She felt almost bad at how easily it came out of her own mouth, in fact, she was surprised by her self-awareness.

"And can't that be a good thing? Not having to be six or even seven steps ahead to impress your crush?" asked the Kwami of creation.

"It's because she's Chloe, she's known me before everyone else, she's seen my worst mistakes... She's laughed at them... And yet she has a better image of me than I expected..." She crossed her arms, hugging herself in the cold room. "I guess it's easier this way, I have nothing to pretend or build, other than hiding that I'm Ladybug, there's nothing that makes me afraid of stumbling next to her, she's already seen me fall many times..."

"But now she doesn't laugh anymore, at least not maliciously, and she's there to lift you up. Isn't that a nice life?" asked the red fairy.

"Y-yes it is, but... That's not my future, I already have everything thought out and it's very nice." The girl said with red cheeks, going to the door to end the conversation, not liking where it was going. "Adrien and I, living in our own house, alone, surviving on our own independently, a hamster, 3 children, little Emma, Hugo the eldest one and the charming Loui-" she stopped when she saw the dog of the same name waiting for her outside, who looked at her curiously with a bowl in his mouth.

Marinette stifled a whimper, covering her face with her hands at the realization that she was technically fulfilling another dream with the "wrong" blonde. 'First sleeping on a spoon and now this... It must be a joke...' she complained in her mind as she went to serve food to the animal, still feeling how her face was burning. 'Focus Marinette, focus. There's no time for this, there are monsters in the city and the only two human survivors need medicine. I had to prepare everything so I could go out and take charge as Ladybug.' she said to herself, scooping yesterday's leftovers into the little dog's bowl.

Once Sabrina's pet was fed and she was completely awake, the raven-haired girl went back up to her room, noticing her friend sound asleep, as well as her torn pants hanging over the back of the chair in front of the desk. Then an idea came to her mind.

!
•
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Once Chloe and Nathalie woke up the morning progressed normally until lunchtime, when the atmosphere got a little... Heavy. The young girls sat together at one end of the table, the blonde at the head and Marinette on her right side, almost at an angle, almost shoulder to shoulder. For her part, the woman who was still wearing the same sweaty gray pajamas was at the opposite end. This arrangement was decided by the heiress and the lady with glasses, although it seemed more like the former's decision with the latter accepting with some guilt.

The girl with pigtails prepared chicken soup with vegetables, something ideal for sick people, Chloe for her part ate only the vegetables with the chicken on a plate while the older woman let the hot broth warm her body. There was a certain caution between them, a certain static in the air that Marinette tried to prevent from turning into lightning bolts with a friendly hand and a pleasant chat. She held her friend's hand under the table, reminding her that she was there if she needed her, while she tried to come up with a topic of conversation to distract from whatever was on their minds.

"And then my uncle told me that I just told the lady that her babies looked like crocodiles instead of penguins!" The girl in the black vest commented.

"Haha, that woman's face must have been a poem." Nathalie said with a reserved laugh, taking another spoonful of the soup.

"Don't even tell me, I wanted the earth to swallow me! I should never have gone to Shanghai without preparing more..." Our heroine declared, putting the back of her hand to her forehead, acting with false drama.

"Something very yours to be honest, only you could go to a country where only you and your uncle know French." The girl with the ponytail added.

"Ha, brave words coming from you, I remember when you were little you told Adrien that he shoul take you to New York with him when you didn't even know the verb 'To Be'." The woman in pajamas replied with her soft laugh.

"Hey! I've improved my English a lot, secretary! I even know how to use the weird metric system of the United States!" The heiress said with pride and annoyance, biting down hard on her fork as she put another piece of vegetable in her mouth.

"And yet the only time you accompanied him was on a school trip, it's a shame that you ended your friendship just months before he was due to go to a fashion show there again." She commented as harshly as the cough she let out before taking another spoonful of the soup.

"You say it as if you weren't here with us instead of in New York..." The blonde responded between fumes. The tension was escalating, so Marinette squeezed her band-aid partner's hand, this gesture making her turn around for a second before sighing. "Okay, I'm sorry, I guess you didn't go because of that... Condition of yours..."

"Correct... Incredible that you notice..."

"You bit-"

"Speaking of which, what exactly do you have Nathalie? Is there anything we can get you to treat it?" The girl with pigtails asked, trying to prevent the argument from escalating while also gathering information for her next expedition.

"Oh amm... Don't worry it's... It's just something in the family..." Said the woman with red locks.

"Oh! So you already know what medication helps and how to treat it? Right?" There was curiosity and kindness in the tone of the girl with light blue eyes.

"You don't have to worry about that Marinette, you already did a lot by giving me shelter and preparing this delicious soup..."

"Nonsense! You are our guest after all, and if we are all going to survive together, we have to at least be comfortable while we hide, right?" The shortest reasoned, bringing dessert to the table, some sweet buns that she prepared the day before.

"No, seriously, there's no reason to-" a loud cough interrupted the woman in pajamas, who doubled over while covering her mouth with her hand.

"That's actually a good reason." The girl with pigtails pointed out.

After that moment and finishing eating in the room vaguely illuminated by the light of the slightly opened curtains, Marinette had gotten a more or less precise list of what she needed to get to treat both the blonde and the secretary. Antibiotics, anti-allergy, pain killers and remove makeup that Chloe was running out of. The plan was simple, while Nathalie and the heiress rested in they beds, our heroine would go out to find the necessary supplies on foot.

Since she would go alone, she could easily use her Miraculous to defend herself from the monsters outside. 'I could even look for the monsters to fight directly, and then with the Lucky Charm I could heal Chloe's wounds...' she thought as she walked down the stairs, with a large errand bag at hand, ready to be a hero. Then she felt a small whimper higher up, noticing the blonde coming down behind her. She was well wrapped up in her yellow jacket that was furry at the edges, her sunglasses were still in place as was the flower Band-Aid on her cheek.

Somehow she managed to put on her makeup with the same in mind, it even seemed as if it hadn't been an obstacle. Even so, Marinette was more focused on her legs, specifically the right one that she treated yesterday. She trembled slightly every time she stepped on her black boots, it was obvious that it hurt her to lean on them. At the level of where the bandage would be, right where there was a tear in her thin white pants, was now a floral pattern similar to the one on the chest of our heroine's shirt but whit a bee.

Originally the girl simply wanted to patch the scratch, but since she didn't even have fabric of the same type, she decided to do something more creative to repair the garment. At first she was expectant and nervous about Chloe's reaction, but the heiress simply watched it for a few minutes before going straight to putting it on, proceeding to see herself in a mirror with a satisfied expression. Still, the seamstress still wasn't sure if she stroked the pattern on her thigh under the table because she liked it or because the wound hurt, but she was sure about the cause of the wrists to hit her face as she walked down the stairs.

"Chloe, what are you doing? You should be upstairs resting. I can go run errands alone..."

"Don't be ridiculous, this is not like going to buy bread on the corner, I was one fire truck away from being completely alone in this city, I won't even dream of letting that happen twice..." The blonde stated, carrying her own bag.

"But you have Nathalie at home, you won't be alone. Besides, your leg..."

"Oh yes, because a sick assistant is such good company... Listen, I'm Chloe Bourgeois, I'm stubborn and we've already made it clear that I'm in good physical condition, I can handle it... Besides, it's not like we're going to have to drag again a train made of supermarket carts loaded with food..." The princess of Paris pointed out, determined to go.

"Yes, but you don't have to do it, it was my idea and I'm perfectly capable of doing it on my own... You can trust me..." Marinette tried to use the trust card to persuade her friend to let her go alone.

"Like Sunday when I found you wandering around in your pajamas in the middle of a storm?" She asked, raising an eyebrow accusingly.

The memory made a knot in her stomach, it was the moment she most noticed how much Chloe cared about her, how hard she could try to do the right thing, and how much she hurt her for not thinking clearly. She just had to go back and forth, help Markov and get back before the blonde woke up, but she timed it wrong and sent her on a terrified search throughout the city. It made sense that after that, and knowing that there were monsters in the city now, she wouldn't leave her alone.

"That time Ladybug accompanied me..." She said as a last excuse.

"And yet she left you to return on foot through a flooded city, there are still puddles in the streets for god sake... Yesterday they almost killed us and that fool didn't show her ridiculous antifas at any time..." Apparently the girl with raven hair's grief was very obvious, since Chloe quickly changed her tone and put a hand on her shoulder. "But it's okay, we don't need a trashy heroine, I was always better than her after all, and you... You just have to see what you accomplished in a week..." She pointed herself up and down, eliciting a small blushing laugh from our protagonist.

"Come on, I can't take all the credit, you were the one who decided to change..."

"You say that as if you didn't know me in the first place... You work miracles Mari, genuine miracles..." She said sincerely. "Come on, are you going to keep me standing here all day or are you going to take me to a pharmacy?"

"Okay, okay... But if that hurts, don't hesitate to tell me..."

So they both went out to the deserted city, with the bakers' daughter leading to the nearest pharmacy. If it weren't for the monsters, the truth is that Marinette could get used to these outings with Chloe, maybe one day the two could just have a calm walk.

Chapter Text

When we are little it seems that everything changes, we are in a constant state of discovery and learning. The world is very big and very interesting, full of wonders that catch our attention, going through many stages in a very short time. From babies we grow to children, from daycare to kindergarten and then to school, we meet new people almost daily and our environment, schedules and activities constantly change as we grow. Until, at a certain point, everything becomes monotonous.

The routine becomes more routine, the days more equal to each other, our environment is no longer something foreign and unknown. The days become repetitive in a landscape that we have already seen thousands of times, one would think that at her age a girl like Marinette would not go through these things, much less a superhero who constantly interacts with magical things. But no matter how far-fetched the akuma, stagnation quickly set in in Paris. The same people stumbled over the same stone, even with an army of heroes she was no closer to defeating Hawk Moth and no matter how much she had been trying to ask Adrien out for months, she was still just another friend.

Nothing changed, everything was the same. Then, everything changed.

They all disappeared without a trace, not in a big fight, not with a villain monologue, not even with screaming and chaos. They simply vanished into thin air overnight, the only proof that they existed in the first place was the city where they lived, the buildings they built. Marinette went from being stuck on a grueling mission and a life that was slowly consuming her, to no longer having a world to directly protect. There were no villains, there were no civilians, the only thing she had left to keep from falling into despair was her ex bullying with whom she began to live, and when things were stabilizing, everything suddenly changed again.

Now Nathalie, Gabriel Agreste's assistant and Adrien's caretaker was in the equation, along with many strange cloth monsters. On one hand, our heroine was happy that there were more survivors, but the aforementioned was in an extremely unfortunate health condition, so she found it necessary to go look for medicine to treat her. Unfortunately, moving around the city would no longer be as easy as the previous week, since now there would not only be animals loose, but also some strange creatures that looked like something out of a fashion show, beasts with twisted movement, that seemed to have no bones, face, or eyes.

Because of those things, she herself almost lost her ear and Chloe was very hurt, yet the heiress did not leave her side, insisting on going with her with her characteristic stubbornness. They moved through the deserted streets on foot, slowly and alertly, being extremely aware of their surroundings, the hiding places along the way, and the creatures that lurked in the streets. The two advanced very close to each other to ensure that they did not separate, in the same way to help each other quickly if something arose.

Whether side by side or behind, holding hands or two steps apart, they both walked among the stopped vehicles and among the abandoned buildings. The girl with pigtails often held the blonde when she had to run from an alley on one block to the cover of the next, holding her by the paint while she put Chloe's arm over her shoulders, in order to take weight off her injured leg and prevent it from getting worse. Before the whole disappearance the heiress would probably have thrown a tantrum at being touched and refused to be pushed or receive help.

But now was not before, now was the second Wednesday after the disappearance of all the people in the world. In a few days, without outside pressures and with no choice but to coexist, the princess of Paris became more open and cooperative, proving to be more of an important ally than a burden as she would have seemed a long time ago. When she took the time to listen to her and move past the passive-aggressive comments, Marinette realized that she had some logic and common sense in the way she dealt with things, that her words had value. Likewise, our heroine was surprised by how diligent the blonde could be. Yes, she could object or viscerally express what she thought about a plan or an idea, but she still did what was asked of her with the right tone.

Their staying together was an experience that genuinely changed how the raven-haired girl viewed Chloe, on levels she still couldn't believe were possible. Not only did she become her friend, but because of the emotional openness between them due to this very unique situation, the girl with pigtails also began to feel other emotions for her. Was it because she was the only person she could interact with? Was it because it is her duty to take care of her? Was it because of the surprise of seeing her good side, both in the way she acted and physically? Or perhaps having seen the most vulnerable and needy Chloe that she herself tried hard to hide and bury under a mask of superiority?

The answer did not matter, since the result was already evident no matter how much she denied it. Marinette loved the blonde, it didn't matter if it was platonic or romantic, she loved her. Therefore, the walk to the pharmacy was more stressful, constantly checking that no monsters or animals were coming for her. She couldn't tolerate the idea of putting her in danger, of hurting her. Not again.

Even with her determination, there were many things that hid in her blind spots. Luckily, the heiress also had her eyes wide open. Chloe stopped her next to a red minivan, pulling her by the shoulder to make her crouch down and pushed her against the vehicle, causing her to be covered by the blonde and the shadow of the vehicle. Her eyes went first to her companion, to the body next to her, then she looked up into her sapphire eyes and followed them to the sky. There she saw it, another dress spread completely in the air, its long, shapeless sleeves flapping like wings.

A piece full of lace and bows, with an exceptionally thick base, like a strange red and black version of a Victorian dress. It flew several meters before colliding with the third floor of a building. This seemed to have no effect on it as it moved like an insect along the wall until it found a slightly open window. Without much effort, it tore off the frame and dropped the glass onto the street, managing to fit its voluminous body smoothly through the square hole. 'Have they started searching the houses yet?' Marinette asked herself in her mind, apparently they had already finished looking for the Miraculouses in the obvious places like jewelry stores, which was very bad news.

She quickly and carefully helped lift her friend up once the monster was gone and they continued on their way. If they spent all night searching the wealthiest part of town, it would only be a matter of time before they stumbled upon the bakery. Having a sick woman, a dog, and the real Miraculouses there only gave a heightened sense of urgency to our heroine. Still, her mind didn't stray far from the blonde at her side, still willing to be as careful as possible. 'Don't worry, I'm not going to let them down again... Not again...' she thought, before seeing what they had been looking for on the other side of the river.

On the parallel street was a pharmacy, the problem was that they had a river in the middle and the only nearby bridge was a pedestrian one a block away. At that time there were no moors on the coast, the sky only presenting white clouds with no red and black beasts flying in sight. Likewise, the streets were deserted, with no animal or monster walking at ground level. Still, that could change at any second, and at their current pace such an exposed route would be inviting disaster to occur. Not wanting to strain her friend's leg by making her run, and feeling the urge to act quickly, the girl with light blue eyes had an idea.

"Okey, come up..." Marinette said, crouching down with her back in front of Chloe and throwing her arms back.

"W-what are you doing?" The heiress whispered.

"We are very close to arriving but I have a bad feeling, if we take too long outside they might see us, so to prevent your knee from dislocating again I..."

"Don't even think you're going to give me a piggyback ride, I'm not a little girl..." She replied with a blush on her face.

"As a princess then?" The girl with pigtails asked as she looked at her out of the corner of her eye, partly as a joke to make her partner relax, partly because, well, at this point she also began to genuinely believe that this deal suited the heiress. "I mean, that would match more, right? There's no pro-"

"Ridiculous... Utterly ridiculous..." The blonde interrupted her by dropping her weight on her back and joining her arms around her neck.

"W-well, you were the one who didn't want to leave me alone..." Marinette commented, trying to regain the confidence she lost the moment her friend pressed her chest against her back, failing miserably.

"And my name is not Chloe Bourgeois if i'm ever did it again... I won't be able to make it up if a monster eats you..." She whispered this last part to herself with some guilt.

"Don't worry, it'll just be a moment, I promise not to trip."

"You better..."

With those last words, our heroine grabbed her partner's thighs, which were wrapped around her hip. It was difficult to get to the right height to give her proper support without causing her own face to heat up more, but she forced herself through it to ensure her friend's comfort and safety. Once with her partner in position, Marinette stood up and began to run. The job as a heroine did wonders for her physical condition, which had improved incredibly in her civilian form.

Even though she depended a lot on the extra strength and agility that the Miraculous gave, the effort was still real for her body. Carrying orders from the bakery was much lighter and had become much more flexible, excelling more in gym class. Now that physical growth came to light, managing to carry a girl moderately taller than her and almost the same weight, not only that, but she could even run with the extra load. Even though it was the source of her current problems and the stress it was generating in her daily life, the truth is that becoming Ladybug changed her for the better.

It was strange how the good things, that gave her purpose and made her both mentally and physically a better person, also brought such a great burden to her life. It was better thanks to being Ladybug, being a hero made her concentrate more so as not to trip over her own feet when saving people or fighting villains, but the weight of the world on her shoulders was beginning to be too much for her, even more so because it never left. Every day was the same, every day lives depended on her being able to contain her clumsiness to ensure that everything turned out well, that Marinette didn't come out and ruin everything.

But then, that world was gone. She lost everything and everyone, the weight on her shoulders replaced by a bitter hole in her heart knowing that all of this happened on her watch, that the streets were empty because of her. But, even in times so bad that they made her feel useless, something good happened. Chloe, of all people, became her friend. The one who previously antagonized her just by existing was helping her, she was changing, still biter like herself but proving to be a good flavor in her life.

She opened up to our heroine, they trusted each other, they reached a point where she even allowed herself to be cared for and cared for others, even allowing herself to be carried on a piggyback in the middle of the city for her own good, even though she might be embarrassed. And not only was her former bully changing, the girl with the light blue eyes was changing too. Her thoughts regarding the heiress, how they interacted, how she saw her, how she felt around her. Normally she wouldn't mind being careful when dealing with the blonde, more than once she pointed directly at trash cans to cushion her fall or hide her, or abruptly pulled her away from the action.

Now? Now she prayed to channel her inner Ladybug as she crossed the bridge, the mere idea of tripping and dropping her, of getting a Marinette and losing that gentle but firm hug at the height of her neck, of no longer feeling that excited heartbeat through that soft chest on her back, of no longer seeing yellow in her peripheral vision ate away at her inside. Chloe became much more than she ever thought she could be, and as much as she wanted to blame her heart was flying to the adrenaline from running to the pharmacy, the truth is that her new emotions were the one's to blame.

It was curious, how the good she got from the best thing that had happened to her was combined with the good she got from the worst thing that had happened, allowing for a moment like that, of so much trust and closeness, of the heiress trusting Marinette even when there are monsters around, and of herself being able to feel that desire not to disappoint her, of wanting to respond to her friend's progress by being better herself as well. It was magical, almost miraculous that they were acting and reacting to a situation like this the way they do.

Just a couple of meters from the building, the raven-haired girl hopes that this moment will last longer, that no one has seen or followed them, that this could be her new normality. One where she measured up, where the good changes were those that remained and stood out, and that the pain of the best thing that happened to her in her life and the misfortune of the worst that had happened did not mix. So, after her short run and still with Chloe on her back, Marinette entered the pharmacy, hoping that everything would go well.

Chapter Text

With humanity gone, the civilization they created stopped making any noise, quickly absolute silence reight. It was strange how loud cities could be even in their quietest moments. Cars driving in the background, machines and heaters running, people themselves going about their respective lives, and much, much more. Once all that stopped with the disappearance, silence had quickly become the norm.

Insects, frogs, and other natural sounds? Those were in the forest, far from the concrete jungle that was modern cities. The animals Chloe released from the zoo? They scattered on their own, looking for areas that met their requirements for habitats, vegetation, and shelter for herbivores, and preys for predators. The pets Ladybug released? Hidden throughout the city, trying to protect themselves from what lurked in Paris, just as our protagonists did.

The girl with pigtails was still with the blonde on her back, glancing quickly and sporadically out the small window in the pharmacy door, her hand firm on the handle, as she tried to control and slow her breathing after the sudden run. The store seemed to be half closed, with the large windows on either side of the door covered by metal curtains, it was clear that the worker disappeared before he could lock the door. Marinette lowered the small plastic blind on the door while keeping watch, she didn't know if the fabric monsters had eyes but she wasn't going to risk it.

As she recovered from carrying someone for an entire block on the run, she felt the weight on her back lessen as the soft texture of the white pants slipped out of her grip. Instinctively she followed it with her fingertips, unwilling to lose track of where her partner was. For her part, the arms wrapped around her neck moved back until the thin hands were resting on her shoulders. Her friend remained glued to her back but with her feet firmly on the ground, acting with her own caution while looking over our heroine with her blue eyes.

"It seems clear..." The blonde whispered, her heartbeat still palpitating on the pigtailed girl's back.

"Yeah... I don't think they saw us..." Marinette said, turning to look at Chloe, their noses touching for a moment due to the closeness.

When they both realized the tiny distance between them, they looked in opposite directions as they separated, both with various shades of pink on their cheeks. Not wanting to say a word on the subject and knowing that they were safe for the moment, they entered the pharmacy. It was nothing they hadn't seen before, a hall with a couple of chairs against the walls, a water dispenser, and a counter with a glass partition for safety. They walked past it and went behind the counter to the storage room, where what they were looking for would be.

The building was much smaller than the mansion, so the walk was short, but without electricity the place was very dark as it only had the front windows. Luckily, the raven-haired girl always went out prepared, not only with a mini goddess in her bag but even with a spare flashlight along with the pepper spray that Alya gave her. With the light in hand, she turned it on and illuminated the moderately larger room that unfolded before the duo. Several shelves and shelves made of metal and sheet metal, arranged in rows with various boxes, packages and small boxes of various colors.

Then Marinette took a list out of her pocket, it didn't have specific names, just the type of medication and the characteristics that it had to meet in order not to trigger allergic reactions in any of the 3 women. So they began to check shelf by shelf in the silent place, checking the small print in the dark with the flashlight resting at a good height on one of the shelves. It was a rather slow process due to the large number of medicines and remedies that were there, and very, very tedious due to the peculiar names and descriptions.

This quickly began to get on the heiress' nerves, who let out small frustrated grunts every now and then as she read the instructions on each box, her leg trembling slightly from stomping around with the toe of her designer boot. This was only noticed by the bakers' daughter, who quickly noticed that it was the leg with the floral pattern, the same one that had a bandage on it.

"Chloe, are you okay? Is your leg hurting? Maybe tingling or something?" She asked in a soft voice, breaking the silence.

"What? No, why do you ask?" The blonde then followed her friend's finger, which pointed to her foot that was still lightly stomping anxiously. "Ah, that..." She replied annoyed.

It seemed that she didn't like how obvious she was when something bothered her. 'She usually puts on a show for less, I don't know if she's become calmer or if she's pretending to be tough...' Marinette thought, looking at her with concern in her light-blue eyes. She quickly gain a sigh of red cheeks from the heiress.

"Calm down, it's just that this is so, sooooo boringggg..." She complained, dragging out the last word. "All these stupid remedies seem to be written in Chinese or... I don't know, Greek or something... So much trouble because of that bitch..."

"Don't call her like that, Nathalie is not to blame for being sick or being in this situation..."

"You don't know that!" Her voice echoed in the empty room, in response, she lowered her tone. "You don't know that..."

"Well, I don't think she got sick on purpose, it's not like she has a job she can miss due to illness right now... Besides, that seems more like something Kim would do to miss a very difficult exam, not something a grown woman will do..." The bakers' daughter reasoned.

"Don't even remind me, the idiot came with wet hair to catch a cold and miss the French exam when it was that very day..." The blonde pinched the bridge of her nose at the memory. "But you don't know about that, you and I have been alone for a whole week, and suddenly she appears out of nowhere, threatens us, and when the monsters shows up it turns out that she is a poor sick old lady who needs help..."

"You say she pretends to have an illness?"

"Maybe, maybe not, how was I supposed to know if we only found out she was still here yesterday? Neither you nor I saw her the whole week and that's even though we were on the move, not even Ladybug herself saw her..."

That last part hurt Marinette, the fact that she had done such a bad job as a heroine despite going all over the city several times, leaving a poor sick woman to suffer in solitude. She didn't even bother checking Adrien's house because she knew he wouldn't be there in the first place even if no one had disappeared, but it never crossed her mind that there might be a worker trapped inside. Still, the raven-haired girl swallowed it so she could continue the conversation, it seemed like Chloe was onto something there.

"You mean she hid on purpose?"

"No, I'm saying that the bitch pointed a fucking crossbow at us, she had a gun that shoots really pointy things pointed right at me..." She pointed at herself with her finger. "And then right here..." She then pointed at the baker's chest.

"Chloe, she was scared, we were the first people she'd seen in a long time and we snuck into her house..." The girl with pigtails explained.

"Again, she threatened to kill us, she was aiming right here with the intention of putting an arrow in you." She replied, a well-crafted nail poking at the collar of her shirt to emphasize her point.

"Because she was scared and confused to see us." Before she would have pulled her hand away, before if the heiress was arguing with her and started poking and pointing she would have defended herself, but this time she took her friend's hand in hers, looking at her with determination. "The first day, at school, I myself was ready to pepper spray whoever knocked on the door before I saw it was you. We're all nervous because it's a strange situation and we don't know what's going on."

"And that's why I don't understand how you can trust her so blindly, if we're all on the defensive you look like a fool for being so disinterested." The blonde said with a worried tone rather than an accusatory one.

Unlike other times, she didn't squirm at the contact, on the contrary, she let it drag on. She wasn't defensive in the discussion, it had more of a warning tone, as if she wanted to warn our heroine of danger instead of proving she was right. Neither of them acted the same as they would have before, they had become softer with each other. It was strange, even odd, but it was a change that Marinette liked, that they were no longer at each other's throats, that their discussions had a lighter tone and one of mutual concern rather than contempt.

"Listen... I know it's weird, that we got off on the wrong foot with her, but I saw her, she was shaking, struggling to be firm while she pointed the crossbow at us, I don't think she's faking her condition..." She caressed her knuckles with the back of her thumb, trying to get the idea to sink in better with the friendly contact.

"Of course, because you obviously pay attention to every detail and know everything..." Chloe rolled her eyes as she looked back at the mantel with a snort.

"Look, when we were in her room I noticed that she had a lot of medication around the place, and right on our list there's a particular kind, the kind that helps you sleep..." She explained, letting go of her hand and holding up the paper to the light. "I think that to deal with being isolated with such poor health she decided to take sedatives to lessen her mental burden... It was risky and dangerous... But if you're alone and scared..."

"It would make sense to do so..." The heiress finished, sounding resigned. "I'm not going to trust her anyway..."

"Relax, you don't need to, just... Trust me instead... you're already doing more than enough by accompanying me here..." Marinette said, placing her hand on her friend's shoulder.

"I know, I know, I'm great..." She let out a resigned sigh before taking another box to read its specifications. "And obviously I trust you... You're the best person I know..."

"Thanks... I don't think it's that big of a deal though..."

They continued their search for supplies, slowly loading their bags with the correct medications. Our heroine's mind went back to yesterday, the image of the woman and the crossbow in front of them fresh from their talk, so she decided to go over what they had seen and heard. Maybe there was a connection somehow, so she tried to recall. Then, her mind stopped on a small, tiny bity detail that she didn't think about the implications it would have at the time, and with her recent emotions for a certain blonde, maybe it was time to bring it up.

"So... Chloe, can I ask you a question?" She asked nervously, arching her back and looking in the direction of her friend who was backlit.

"Shoot."

"W-well, thinking about what happened at the mansion... Before everything with Nathalie, you said... You... You liked Ladybug, right?" She had to look away as she said that, her cheeks flushed as she played with her fingers. There was a moment of silence before a sigh sounded.

"Yes, yes I did..." She said reluctantly.

"But... Liked, liked... How in... Liked...?" It had been harder than she had thought, but she needed to clear her doubt.

A simple 'as a role model, I don't like girls' would be enough to silence her own feelings for the princess of Paris, making everything easier. She wouldn't have any chance to begin with and knowing that it wouldn't be reciprocated would allow her to bury her conflicting emotions more easily. She could go back to having a normal... Well, not so normal crush on Adrien and that's it, she just needed her friend to indirectly hit her to break the illusion that she obviously didn't have.

"As in 'I want her to carry me like a princess with her strong arms, call me a good girl and let me taste her lipstick'? Yeah... Liked liked." That was definitely NOT what the baker needed, nor wanted, to hear.

"Oh..." The girl with pigtails blurted out, feeling how Chloe turns to look at her and even raise an eyebrow without even looking at her directly. It must have been because of the tone with which that 'oh' came out, without context it must have sounded bad. "I-I m-mean...! It's not that it bothers me or makes me uncomfortable or anything..."

"You don't have to pretend, I know how I talk about Ladybug, it's not that I regret it or that she doesn't deserve it..." She said before continuing. "It's obvious that anyone would be surprised that I had a crush on her... Especially if it's someone who, somehow, didn't notice it before... Like you..."

"I-it wasn't that obvious..."

"Whatever you say Dupain-Cheng..." The blonde rolled her eyes as she went back to checking the medications.

"So... Does that mean you're bisexual?" The baker's daughter asked, hoping that if she dug a little deeper she could find something that would work for her case, maybe Marinette would get lucky and Ladybug was the exception to the rule.

"May I know why the interest?"

"Oh ehhh... curiosity... It's not that I have a problem, of course not, I am an ally after all hehe, it's just... It's to make it less boring to check the medicines and... Eh... to forgot that we are surrounded by dangerous fabric monsters..." She said taking another package and putting it in her bag to cover up.

"Well, talking about myself is definitely more entertaining than reading the fine print..." She stated as she squinted and brought the bottle in her hand closer to the flashlight. "And no, I'm not bisexual..."

"What? Why?"

"Honestly? I never saw whats so nice about the guys..." She answered without much hesitation, comparing two bottles of pills before dropping her shoulders and simply putting both in her bag.

"Wait... You're... A lesbian?" Memories of her yellow-jacketed companion alongside the model filled her mind, the light blue-eyed girl had even been annoyed at the time by the heiress's advances towards Adrien, now remembering them she was incredibly confused. "But... Then why are you...? Why you always...? With Adrien...?"

"What about him?"

"Well you... You always greet him like that... And when there are dances you... You didn't like him?" She asked at the contradiction that formed in her mind.

"Well... Yes? He was my best friend, do you see me treating any commoner like that?" She raised an eyebrow looking at the shorter girl.

"Yes but... Alya is my best friend and yet I'm not that insistent on being on top of her... Or that we dance together or am I trying to monopolize her..."

"I'm not trying to monopolize Adrikins, he was my friend first, I got there first, although it seems that you guys made sure that he forgets that..." The heiress crossed her arms, pouting as she looked against the light, even in the shadows some sadness could be seen in her eyes.

"I know, I'm sorry, we didn't want you to break your friendship, it's just that... I thought that all this time we were competing for him..."

"Ha! Obviously not..." She laughed, before rubbing her arm somewhat embarrassed, as if she had realized something, that she did something wrong. "I wasn't competing with you, I just... I wanted to annoy you and at the same time make sure I didn't lose Adrien..."

"Chloe..." Marinette put her hand on the blonde's shoulder.

"He's been my friend since we were little, my only friend on my same level... We're both from important and rich families, he's famous, he's the only one I can act like this in public without anyone saying anything..." She confessed.

The contradiction quickly became logical for our heroine. It wasn't that Chloe acted so clingy with the young model because she was superficially interested in the prestige or fame that came with hanging out with him, of course not, it was because it was only with Adrien that she could be so openly affectionate. This was the most open Chloe she had at her side, the most vulnerable and affectionate version of her she had met these days, the one who could hug and be considerate in her own way was only allowed to hang out with people of her same class, and that made her sad.

"I... I'm sorry Chloe... I didn't know..."

"Well, it's not your fault, ordinary people never have the class rules that much in mind... And no one more than mom..."

Silence reigned for a minute, both of them still between the shelves, letting emotions flow before continuing. Then, in the middle of the shadows one last idea came to the bakers' daughter's mind. Moved by curiosity at this point, she spoke again.

"So... If you don't like Adrien... You and Sabrina...?"

"Ha, don't be ridiculous, I just told you why those things don't work... She's a good friend, but we met because my daddy is the boss of hers, not because we were equals or anything like that... Plus you have all those dumb things about relationships of power and... And then she... And then other dumb things... It just couldn't work..." There was something in her tone and the way she looked away that let her know there was something else.

"Sounds like it bothers you a lot..." Marinette commented.

"I already told you it wouldn't work, her father doesn't buy her expensive or pretty things, I do... Besides, she depends on me to be someone and stand out..." They sounded more like excuses than anything else, not like something that would truly matter to the girl with the ponytail, and then she added. "Besides... She wouldn't feel the same..." That last thing sounded real, sadder, a more sincere reason.

"Are you sure? You two seem really close..."

"Remember that trip to New York? When Hawk Moth almost caused World War III? Well, she met a guy during that trip..."

"Wait... Really?" That caught her by surprise, but considering all the things that happened by surprise on that trip, it wasn't that hard to believe either.

"Yeah, little Sabrina got herself a boyfriend, she even ignored me when I told her to go find my mom while we were on the trip... The worst thing is that they exchanged phone numbers, I think they still talk to each other even now... Not that I care..." She pouted again as she looked away.

"Relax, there are still more fish in the sea... Or well, mermaids, for your standards..." Marinette tried to joke to ease the tension, while rubbing her back.

"Yeah, right... With my luck, they'll probably betray me again like Ladybug or..." The blondy looked straight in her eyes for a moment, before looking away forcefully and somewhat embarrassed. "Or they'll just be straight like all the others..."

Faced with that, our heroine didn't know what to do. She knew about many things, and she was always willing to help even if she didn't know how, but she knew all too well that the field of love wasn't her strong suit. After all, there she was, trying to find excuses to not face that she had developed feelings for Chloe, perhaps pushing too far just so she could be indirectly rejected to try to get rid of them. As if that weren't enough, she was Ladybug, she was the one who hurt the heiress so much that her love and admiration turned into hatred and contempt.

Not knowing what else to say and with their respective bags full of what they were looking for, they grabbed the flashlight and left the pharmacy's storage room, heading for the entrance. There was a certain air of heaviness that grew between them as they entered the hall to leave there, but said heaviness flew away as soon as they heard it. Something hit the door. 'We didn't lock or block it when we arrived...' thought the raven-haired girl, and with the sound of something holding the handle, she pushed the blonde back down the corridor towards the warehouse.

As soon as the light from outside illuminated the hallway, they were already closing the door and crawling on the floor. They didn't have time to try to block the entrance, they didn't even know if that thing had seen them, so they weren't willing to risk revealing their presence either. They crawled side by side, with Marinette leading the way between the shelves to get as far away from danger as possible, looking for a back exit from the pharmacy, if there was one. Then, she heard a slight hissing sound from behind.

The girl with pigtails stopped and looked to her side, she could see her partner's silhouette in the darkness, Chloe was leaning on her forearms with her hands closed as she looked at the floor, loose locks of hair covering her face. Marinette quickly moved back to be by her side, noticing her pained expression and how her friend was trying to lie down on her left side. It had to be her leg, the injury aggravated by the sudden movement and the sudden application of pressure directly to her knee.

That was bad, very bad, but worse was when they both heard the door open again and something enter the warehouse. They were already out of the main corridors, out of the small aisles between shelves full of medicines that led directly to the door, specifically they were three on the right, out of sight, on the floor and in the dark. But, they were still in the middle of the bare floor, so Marinette wrapped her arms around her friend and proceeded to roll over onto her back with the heiress in a tight hug. Thus, both of them ended up face to face under one of the shelves full of medicines.

Their hearts were beating fast and both of their breathing increased when they began to hear the sound of very large rags falling repeatedly on the floor, they were the footsteps of that monster. The bakers' daughter covered her mouth with one hand and the blonde did the same but with both, so as not to reveal their position. Both of them were just there, in silence, trying not to tremble in fear and hugging each other very, very close, not wanting to accidentally touch the monster's fabric. They didn't know if that thing could feel them by touch.

Because of the proximity, the girl with pigtails could see how Chloe looked in all directions except in front of her, she looked at the darkness behind them both, where the dress-shaped monster would be. She tried to be attentive, to be on guard despite being injured. As the footsteps got closer while that thing investigated the warehouse, the princess of Paris did something that surprised our young heroine again. She removed her hands from her mouth and quickly placed her soft, smooth palm on the right side of Marinette's head, covering her ear.

Her fingers were carefully tangled in the raven hair and her palm firmly in place, covering the ear and, more importantly, the earrings. This made their gazes meet, and even in the darkness what the light blue eyes saw told her everything they couldn't say at that moment. That was something the bakers' daughter learned these days, that despite how talkative and chatty she could be most of the time, Chloe said a lot with just her actions, she said the most important and sincere things this way.

She told her how much she cared when she cried when she found her after searching all over Paris, in the middle of a storm. She told her how genuine her intention to help was when, despite her words indicating otherwise, she washed the clothes by hand. She told her how comfortable she was with the baker's presence when she didn't pull away when Marinette hugged her while she was in her underwear. She even admitted how much she longed to feel love and affection when they slept together. Now it was no different, her gaze was firm, half accusatory, as if to say "you should have left your earrings at home." But at the same time she seemed protective, making a promise "I won't let it try to pull your ears off again."

At this, the shorter girl decided to respond in her own language, uncovering her mouth to show a gentle smile of gratitude, and in turn placing her now free hand on her neck, covering the blonde's necklace. It was an almost imperceptible accessory of the heiress, a small golden necklace that she always wore to give herself that extra touch of class, but it was still a piece of jewelry that the monster could try to attack. "You shouldn't have brought this either" she tried to say with her eyes, and it was clear that her friend understood because darker tones formed on her cheeks as she looked away for a second.

Despite how her life had been up to that point with her, the animosity and suspicion that had been her relationship with the heiress for year, in these moments she understood where the affection in her heart came from every time she was near. She protected her even though it was the perfect time for Chloe to be the center of the universe, she gave up her place to share the spotlight in her own mind and soul, and coming from the blonde, it felt like a huge privilege for the first time.

Then, they both realized that they hadn't heard any footsteps for two minutes.

Her friend tried to look over her shoulder and so did Marinette, but neither of them saw anything. Before they could separate a little and feel their way around, a metallic echo reverberated through the warehouse, as if something was squeezing metal. Unfortunately, that sound was accompanied by a tremor in the supports of the shelves.

In the blink of an eye and with an unparalleled crash, the shelf disappeared, being thrown to the side causing a domino effect with the rest of the shelves. The girls looked up in horror at the shapeless mass that had climbed to the ceiling to attack them. The fabric monster broke free and collapsed on our defenseless protagonists, just as Chloe pushed the baker with all her might. Marinette rolled on the floor full of medicines and crushed boxes, while that mockery of a dress hit the floor with all its fabric figure.

Our heroines tried to get up as quickly as possible, hitting her head on a fallen bookshelf before she could see, or rather not see, her friend struggling with the monster in the darkness. The long pieces of fabric fluttered next to the amorphous, layered figure, changing its dimensions in the darkness as she heard the screams of her companion. Before she could process what was happening and get to her feet, the heiress reached out her hand in her direction.

"MARÍ!" She implored with a broken voice, she was losing the fight against this monster.

"CHLOE!" Marinette grabbed her hand from the wrist, clinging to her as she used the fallen bookshelves as an anchors.

She pulled hard, trying to get her friend out of there, the heiress' panic was such that she almost dug her nails into her arm. The raven-haired girl didn't care, she probably applied the same force. They were in this tug-of-war for a few seconds before something started to feel wrong, very wrong. Chloe's grip was slowly loosening, just as her pulse was somehow stabilizing. The screams and grumps also decreased, as if her former rival was falling asleep, as if she was falling unconscious.

Then, just as the hand she was holding was going limp, a very lively and soft fabric wrapped itself tightly around her wrist, with a jerk it separated her from the shelves and threw her into the air, slamming Marinette against a wall and landing on her back on the pile of metal. Did it hurt? Yes. Maybe she broke a bone or two? Also yes. Did she care? No, not in the slightest. Even less so when she pulled herself together and looked at the monster again.

The light from outside filtered through the hallway straight into the warehouse, bringing enough light to see the silhouette standing completely upright on its hind legs. It was like a long vest mixed with a cocktail dress, with the collar raised like a basket and at chest height some glasses hanging from a blonde mane. The last thing Marinette saw was half of Chloe Bourgois' sleeping face before it was swallowed by the fabric, completely enveloping her as it dropped those characteristic glasses to the floor.

First she felt a pit in her stomach and a hole in her heart, then she felt the tears start to flow as she starts to see red. She gritted her teeth as she stood up, looking directly at the monster that hurt her friend, that was trying to take her companion, maybe trying to use her as a hostage. It didn't really matter, it didn't matter if that thing was an Akuma or a Sentimonster or if someone else could see through her non-existent eyes. Marinette was upset, and the warehouse was dyed in a pink light.

"Tikki! Spots on!"

Chapter Text

Silence. That was the norm these days in Paris. In fact, all over the world. There were no cars, taxis, or buses on the streets, trains were stuck on their tracks, and helicopters sat motionless on their helipads. Without humans, there were no pedestrians of any kind, and with monsters of absurd size and disturbing movements prowling around, not even animals had the courage to venture into the streets. These creatures made no noise, neiter spoke nor roars, only moved from building to building, searching. Since their activities were confined to enclosed spaces, the only real noise was the wind blowing between buildings and the water rushing through Paris's rivers.

Then, the front window of a pharmacy exploded. Shards of glass rained down onto the sidewalk while a two-meter-high tin shelf bounced violently against the street, falling deformed into the river with a splash. Quickly, one of the cloth creatures ran out of said pharmacy, running like a scared cat. It reached the edge of the street and leaped onto the guardrail, extending his limbs as if it were about to fly. But when it tried to take off, it got stuck, fluttering over the river, unable to go any further. A yo-yo was tied to his leg, and the string was taut, leading all the way back into the pharmacy from where our black-spoted heroine emerged.

"You're not going anywhere!" Ladybug yelled, starting to pull.

She had her feet firmly planted on the ground, her legs forming an arc. As the beast fluttered from side to side, she shifted her dominant leg to maintain traction and not trip. She couldn't trip, she mustn't trip. Not if she wanted to get Chloe back.

The tug-of-war continued for a few arduous moments, until their struggle ended with our heroine pulling the monster closer and closer, with no danger of either of them falling into the river. Unfortunately for her, the living garment took advantage of the tugs to suddenly recoil and swipe backward. The sleeve sliced through the air and flew over the masked girl's head, who at the last minute tilted her head and ducked her entire body to dodge.

Using her new, more compressed position, she leaped forward like a spring to respond with a flying kick. Even without visible eyes, the peculiar suit was able to anticipate the blow and dodge it. Missing her shot didn't bother Ladybug, as it was part of the plan. With a flip, she landed on her feet right behind the creature, cornering it against the buildings. It would be easier to contain if it could just run left or right. She was on guard, and with the yo-yo string tightly wrapped in her hand, she was both ready to fight and ready to thwart its escape again. She wasn't going to let it escape.

The monster began to lunge, trying to land blows using both the long strips of fabric and the long sleeves of the vest. Direct blows, sweeps, and whiplashes. The raven-haired girl blocked firmly and dodged gracefully, trying not to lose her position or leave it any openings to escape. Counterattacks on her side were fewer and required greater caution; after all, her friend was inside that thing. She couldn't attack it with all her might without risking harming the heiress.

While having a hostage was helping her avoid a beating, it seemed to be affecting the living dress as well. Unlike the examples they faced in the mansion and the ones they saw wandering around the city, this one displayed more restrained and less chaotic movements. More human, more lifelike. It was as if it had bones and a real body—after all, it literally had one inside. It wasn't just a moving pile of fabric anymore.

Knowing that her enemy wouldn't contort and bend into impossible positions relaxed our heroine, more because she knew Chloe wasn't in much danger of getting hurt than because her opponent would be much easier to handle. Still, only the central body presented this problem. The sleeves were still unpredictable; they were much longer than her friend's arms, so when she tried to block a punch, it quickly folded around her.

Ladybug had one of her arms tied to her chest, but she was still defending herself with the other in case the creature went for her earrings. Instead, the monster lifted her off the ground and threw her forcefully sideways, out of its way, and into a parked car. The blow dented the door and set off the car's blaring alarm. Still, our heroine was ready when the living garment tried to take flight again. She planted her feet on the ground, and the rope tightened again as her opponent tried to flee.

Without giving ground, our heroine noticed the strangeness of the creature's behavior. 'It almost ripped my ear off back at the manor, and now that it has a real Miraculous within reach, it starts running? What changed?' she mentally wondered, as the monster began to fly from side to side, trying to make the raven-haired girl lose traction. 'Is it because it has Chloe inside? Is that its purpose? To kidnap people? But if Markov showed me that people vanished into thin air, he had it on video!' She gritted her teeth and pulled with both hands. The monster was retreating instead of advancing.

Then she saw them out of the corner of her eye. Huge red and black stains—more of those living dresses. The alarm caught the attention of the rest of the monsters in the area, three more to be precise. Two to her left and one to her right, the latter very close. It was a very flowery, sleeveless dress. It leaped into the air as if it weighed nothing, and with a graceful movement, it did a complete spin. It was about to crush her with its voluminous, long skirt.

Ladybug quickly jumped while still pulling the kidnapper. Their combined effort allowed her to dodge the blow that, surprisingly, had split the concrete of the street. Leaving behind a small explosion of rock and dust, our heroine was in the air. Taking advantage of the fact that her yo-yo was still attached to its target, she went straight for the agitated monster that had Chloe captive. She quickly tackled her opponent in midair, and together they propelled themselves to the other side of the river, landing on the parallel street.

The battle continued, with the masked girl trying to prevent the monster from escaping, quickly turning into a grapple. Ladybug parried the creature's whiplashes, catching the pieces of fabric by the tips to make it harder for it to catch her again by surprise. With swift, acrobatic movements, she ran in circles around the large mass of fabric, trying to tangle its limbs together and wrap it in her yo-yo string. This would ensure it couldn't escape when the rest arrived.

Which was much faster than the black-spotted heroine expected. In the blink of an eye, the rest of the living dresses jumped across the river and joined the fight, turning it into a four-on-one. They attacked with wild and impossible moves, taking advantage of their unique abilities to attack from complex angles and with unpredictable movements. The pigtailed girl quickly returned to the defensive, dodging a barrage of blows.

Unfortunately for the new fighters, and fortunately for her, their chaotic, extremely flexible movements exposed a weak spot. They had nothing inside them; they were clothes with no people to wear them. It didn't matter how much they contorted, and that every part of their bodies was functionally indistinguishable from the others. They had no hostages, ergo, she had no reason to hold back. So she began to counterattack as she continued to run around the main monster, dodging blows that felt like whiplashes and responding with punches and kicks that moved the wind upon impact. Her blows caused the fabric to violently fold in on itself, causing it to twist and turn as they fell back.

Still, none of them seemed truly affected; not even she felt like she was hitting anything. It was like wrestling sheets hanging on a clothesline. There was no real resistance to her blows, only the natural movement of the fabric under pressure, devoid of pain or real reaction. It seemed like blunt force wouldn't do much against them. That was bad, since unlike sheets on a clothesline, they did strike back. The voluminous sleeveless dress from earlier made a snake-like motion, sweeping out with its heels.

Ladybug grabbed the rope with both hands and jumped, dodging the blow as she climbed onto the monster whos holding the blonde. Having finished tying it up, she used her back as support and the momentum of her jump to perform a spinning kick, almost as if she were breakdancing. She hit all three, knocking them back as her main target fell to the ground. She had it wrapped on the ground with her yo-yo, the long, nearly three-meter-long figure now resembling a trout wrapped in red and black fabric.

Unfortunately, just like a fish out of water, it began to writhe. It jerked and jumped on the ground. Too hard. Too fast. Too abruptly. It jerked like a snake, as if it didn't have long bones inside, as if her beloved Chloe weren't inside.

"No! Stop!" She screamed, climbing on top and using her superhuman strength to try to contain the creature's spasms. "You're going to hurt her!"

Just as she managed to control the suit with long neck, the rest returned to the attack, this time joined by two more. Five plus the one she had tied up and whom she had to control for the sake of her friend. They were all against her, but that didn't scare her. She began to dodge again, trying to not let go of the immobilized monster or get off of it. She rolled on top of it, performing low flips and small jumps to change position, avoiding blows while throwing her own. When they began to land blows and jump on her, the heroine was forced to push her captive.

She dragged it down the street, trusting that the layers of fabric would protect her companion while she avoided being caught as well. She dodged the blows that came and went from all directions, but there were too many. Not only were there five against one, each consisted of different sets of limbs, so they had different sets of possibilities with which to attack. It was like a swirling rain around her; by this point, she'd struggled for almost three blocks. Then, as if that weren't enough, the monster beneath her began to writhe again.

"Stop!" the girl screamed as she lost her balance, narrowly dodging a tail whip that was aimed straight at her.

The pinning was much more difficult while dodging, so it felt like she was riding a mechanical bull as she continued to narrowly avoid blows. She could no longer counterattack; it was very difficult to keep up while trying to keep Chloe from being damaged by the spasms of the creature wrapping around her. Then our heroine rolled sideways to dodge a whiplash straight to her torso, allowing the bound thing to switch places with a shove.

Before she knew it, the girl in the red mask was on her back, her mount now on top of her, crushing her with its entire bound body. Two more quickly joined in, jumping on top to immobilize her. It was as if Chloe had brought thirty quilts to cover herself and was using her as a bed on top of that. She couldn't move, and the monsters were already taking advantage of their opportunity. She could see someone who looked like a bell-bottom dress mixed with winter clothes stretching the ends of her scarf like hands, reaching down the sides of her head. They were going to remove her earrings.

"Don't even think about it!" she said, shaking her head.

She quickly positioned her body under the pile of fabric and, with all the strength she felt, fearing it would all end there, she pushed up with her legs. The force was so great that the bound monster shot into the sky like a rocket. With a circular motion, as if she was dancing, the heroine of Paris stood up in the middle of the circle of living dresses. She was surrounded, but her hands were free.

When the heiress's captor stopped ascending and gravity began to take effect, Ladybug had already begun the second round. They continued to hit from all directions, but she changed her approach. She dodged acrobatically, forcing them to move. She hit them with all her might to separate them for easier work. When the five opponents were reduced to just two at point-blank range, the heroine with the black spots began to use grabs.

She caught the ends of the cloths they tried to hit her with, pulling them to use one as a shield, causing them to hit each other. Once she had them close enough, she grabbed another sleeve and tied them together. Repeating the process with each blow. Their greatest advantage was making them easy to manipulate if they were distracted and she acted quickly.

She dodged, pulled away, held, made them take their own blows, and then tied them together again. And so she repeated, one by one, limb by limb. It was a tangle of cloth, a living tornado, and she was in the middle. But when she was Ladybug, tornadoes were nothing more than simple breezes. She was fighting everything, against everyone. Against both the monsters and her own two left feet. She refused to let Marinette ruin this; she couldn't allow herself to be herself, even for a second. She couldn't afford to fail. She had to do this for her, for Chloe.

After dodging one last whip blow from the scarf, she used its kinetic motion to wrap the fabric around the other two. She completed her feat by tying the ends of the scarf into a bow while standing over them. Three of the fabric monsters were now completely tangled together in a mass of clothing, to the point where they couldn't move. The other two, meanwhile, were firmly tied together by their limbs, their constant efforts to separate only tightening the knots.

Quickly, with a kick and a left hook, she pushed her opponents aside to catch the kidnapper of blondes, who was already about to hit the ground. Ladybug jumped to grab it in midair, then landed with her legs bent, carefully supporting her main body, where her friend should have been. She was especially careful to minimize any risk of injury from falling. But, as soon as her feet were back on the sidewalk facing the river, the tied-up duo attacked her from behind.

Both our heroine, the monster with Chloe inside, and the other two dresses fell into the water.

It was cold, very cold. Autumn had arrived, and the water had turned icy. If she hadn't been using her Miraculous powers, the cold would have penetrated her bones. But that didn't matter. What really worried Ladybug was the girl without a magical suit to protect her. The canals were overflowing from the previous days' rain, and the monster wrapped in the yo-yo sank deeper and deeper no matter how much they wriggled. 'She's completely wrapped up. She's going to drown!' Her panic was such that she completely ignored the creatures that pushed her, and who fell with her.

When she tried to swim, they intercepted her. They couldn't separate from each other, but they could go in the same direction, down. They were pushing her toward the bottom of the river. They began to spin, trying to envelop her. Luckily, being in the water slowed them down considerably, so she was able to easily dodge and push herself out of their reach for a moment. The girl with the mask didn't have her magic macaron to turn into Aquabug, nor her yo-yo to use as a respirator. She had to manage the little air she had carefully. She couldn't afford to get caught in a struggle, especially when someone needed her.

She wasn't the best swimmer in her class, but she could keep up with Kim for a few minutes before tiring. This, plus the boost in her physical abilities thanks to the Miraculous, allowed her to quickly reach the end of her yo-yo. Unfortunately, the beasts didn't stay behind for long. Even at a disadvantage, they caught up with her and grabbed her leg, slowly trying to wrap it back around her like they did with Chloe.

It was bad. Very bad. She couldn't pull her companion out of the water with them in her path, but she also couldn't get rid of the monsters if her hands were full. Even less so if she ran out of oxygen. Making a quick decision, as was typical of her, she released the long, vest-clad cocktail dress. She trusted that its predisposition to flight would carry it out of the water, and that she would then be fast enough to keep up.

Once she saw the creature moving like a mermaid to the surface, our heroine quickly brought her magical yo-yo to her mouth to act as an air tank while she turned around. She angrily faced the bound duo, holding them tightly in a powerful grip. It was difficult to move in the water; they couldn't use their limbs as whips, and without her water suit, she couldn't strike like she could on land. But one thing that wasn't affected by her new surroundings was her grip.

Even with the slowest and most restricted movement, those creatures were still very effective at enveloping people. For her part, Ladybug still possessed superhuman strength, and she remembered very well what happened when Nathalie pinned one of these creatures' arms to the wall with her arrows. The girl pull in two opposite directions; the sound of tearing fabric was nonexistent underwater. The dresses didn't stop, and neither did she.

Every second she wasted with them was a second in which that monster receded further and further. It was a second in which Chloe receded further and further. 'They took my parents, my friends, my city. They took everything from me...' She tore off part of the dress. 'They left me alone with my bully, the girl who made my life miserable, who allied herself with Hawk Moth...' she tore at the sleeves of the suit. 'And now that I'm starting to love her, you guys come along and try to take her away too?' she tore. 'Ridiculous.' and she tear again. 'Utterly...' and again. 'Ridiculous!' and again.

As soon as the strips of cloth on her limbs lost strength and came loose, she swam to the surface. Normally, littering in the Seine River was prohibited, but if it was to save the mayor's daughter, Ladybug would probably be forgiven for throwing the pieces of two complete dresses into the river.

As she lifted her head out of the water, she began searching for her target. She quickly noticed some buildings with damp patches in a specific section, as if it had rained in a straight line across that meter of space from the street to the roof. At the top, she noticed a piece of red cloth, similar to a skirt, disappearing into the roof. It wasn't too late yet. With renewed energy knowing her friend wasn't far away, our heroine swam to the shore to chase the kidnapper.

She grabbed the ledge and pulled herself up with her arms to get out of the water, landing on her feet on the street. Then she realized the other monsters had managed to free themselves from their tangled predicament. Far from scaring or worrying her, seeing the three of them surrounding her, ready to attack, only bothered her even more. She didn't have time for them, just as she didn't have time for those underwater. Not if a civilian was in danger. Not if a friend was in danger. Not if her Chloe was in danger.

She needed something, something to get them out of the way, something to help her deal with the cloth monsters. Knowing that time is of the essence at this point, she threw her yo-yo into the air.

"Lucky Charm!" She said the activation phrase, loud and strong.

An intense flash of pink light erupted from her yo-yo, followed by the cloud of ladybugs that swirled high above her. In an instant, they dissipated to reveal what she had materialized from thin air. She recognized its shape immediately and was struck by how incredibly obvious this Lucky Charm was. A welcome simplicity given the situation. She leaped to grab it from the air, and the monsters leaped as well. She caught it with her right hand; it fit perfectly in her. It was a pair of red scissors with black spots. Dressmaker's scissors. Fabric scissors.

With a flick of her fingers, she opened it, and in a blink of an eye, she twisted in the air to land a direct blow. Unlike blunt blows that barely caused a reaction from the creatures, sharp objects were much, much more effective. The heroine landed on her feet, in a heroic pose. One of the dresses fell behind her, ripped in two. The top half kept moving, and the other two flapped in the air. With the scissors to her right and her yo-yo spinning to her left, Ladybug acted quickly.

She turned to receive the lashes head-on, catching them with the blade. The pieces of fabric stopped moving as they separated from themselfs. Two long slashes to the main body and it stopped moving. She used her yo-yo as a shield to block the fall of the winter suit, then she yo-yoed it all. The scarf proceeded to lash out like a snake from bot sides, and with three snaps of the scissors, she cut it into seven pieces. She quickly swung the blade from side to side repeatedly, her arm blurring with speed. The warm suit shed cotton and feathers as it fell to pieces.

She then threw her yo-yo to grab onto a ledge of the building, to propelling herself through the air. Before she could take off, the sleeveless dress was in her path. She repeated the previous movement, twisting in the air to crush it with her voluminous, long skirt. The layers of fabric alternated between black and red, as if she were about to be worn by a very beautiful hammer rose. Ladybug simply pushed off with all the strength she could. As the heroine flew, the dress hit the ground. It was split in two.

After using her power, she only had five minutes before detransforming. Given how far away the kidnapper of blondes was, it probably hadn't even been two. For some reason, the creature wasn't flying, but running over the rooftops. In fact, it was moving even slower than usual, as if it were heavier. Its colors also looked duller, darker. Then the realization hit her. They were fabric monsters; fire consumed them like clothing, and the dressmaker's scissors were just as effective against them as they were against normal fabric.

They were clothing, they were fabric, and just like the heiress's pants or the baker's sheets, they absorbed water very well. And when wet, they were heavier. It couldn't move freely because it had a real body inside, and it couldn't fly because it was completely soaked. It was like a helpless animal. A three-meter-tall, unnatural, almost alien animal, who looked like a mockery of her profession and who had devoured the girl who had make her heart beat.

If that thing was a defenseless animal, she was the predator. She quickly darted across the rooftops and swung between buildings. Thanks to the Miraculous, she could cover blocks in one stride if she wanted to. The city of love became very small when she wore the Ladybug costume; it became easy to overtake even any vehicle on the street.

Then she gained height and dropped to the pavement. With the help of her yo-yo, she harnessed the centrifugal energy of her fall to propel herself, barely grazing the street and swinging upward. She made an arc through the sky and was about to fall directly onto the monster that was already leaping through the industrial zone. The heroine fell like a rock, pushing the living dress through the skylight of a warehouse.

They landed on a wooden box, shattering it into pieces. They rolled on the ground, the wet creature trying unsuccessfully to defend itself, trying to escape. The girl with the mask wouldn't let them. Once on top, she looked for her friend's figure, and once she had identified it, she began to cut. She cut away the protruding fabric. She cut off the bows and details, she ripped the botoms off the vest and tore apart each layer. She peeled the garment away from her friend's skin and cut it. As soon as she saw the golden hair, she redoubled her efforts.

She cut and cut, freeing each limb of her friend, exposing the yellow within the red. She cut quickly. She cut carefully. The blondy had stopped moving, had been knocked unconscious in the pharmacy when that thing ate her. Then all the struggling they had, the violent spasms. Then they fell into the water, she had no way to defend herself, no way to surface, no way to avoid drowning. Everything could go so wrong, and panic threw her into a frenzy. She had to be quick, she had to free her, she had to know she was okay.

Then the clicking of the scissors stopped.

In the middle of the abandoned warehouse, on a pile of wet red rags, were the two of them. The Princess of Paris was there, unconscious and limp on the floor, and above her was Ladybug, who was breathing heavily, her eyes glassy. Her clothes were wet and her skin was pale, her makeup had run, and the Band-Aid on her cheek had fallen off. Her hair was scattered on the floor, no longer in a ponytail, strands of it plastered to her face by the water. Her striped T-shirt was also cut, as was her vest. She had gone overboard with the scissors.

In that moment, she was no longer a hero; in that moment, the only one thinking in her head was the clumsy girl in love. And that girl dropped the Lucky Charm to lift her friend with both hands, hugging her tightly. She was afraid. So afraid. Afraid of being alone, of never seeing her again.

She quickly moved her head to rest her ear against Chloe's chest. It felt soft and the fabric was damp against her skin. She listened intently, praying it wasn't too late. There was a moment of silence until she heard a heartbeat, and then another, and another. Ladybug breathed a sigh of relief before moving her head, shifting her position to try to hear her breathing. There was some water at the corners of the blonde's mouth, but her lungs were audible. They expanded and contracted faintly against her cheek. Chloe was alive.

Her heart skipped a beat, and a smile formed on her face, tears beginning to fall over the mask. She hugged her a little closer, a strong, deep hug. She wanted to give her warmth, to make her feel safe, she wanted to never let go. Unfortunately, the heiress wasn't returning the hug, her head hanging down instead of resting her chin in her raven-black hair.

"Is okay... Is okay... The Lucky Charm will fix everything..." She said before stepping away.

She gently laid her down, clasping her hands and tucking strands of hair behind her ear. The heiress looked like a princess. Then she took the sewing scissors back and jumped through the broken skylight. If those monsters were looking for Miraculous and for the people who didn't disappear to kidnapp them, then maybe they were connected to the incident. Maybe they were responsible. If so, the miracle cure should repair everything the villain damaged and bring back everything they took.

It always worked that way, and she had no reason to believe today would be any different. With hope, she spread her legs and lowered the object to gain momentum, then threw it forcefully upward.

"Miraculous Ladybug!" She chanted.

A cloud of tiny, bright red insects was released, flying in all directions. They enveloped her, and in the blink of an eye, she was dry. The skylight beside her was as good as new, as was any apparent damage caused by the fight.

But... The city remained silent.

The cloud of magical ladybugs had already disappeared over the horizon, but the fixes she and Markov had made to the electrical system were still in place. There were no people on the streets, no lights, no noise. The eagle that flew overhead confirmed that the zoo animals hadn't returned to they place. She had defeated the monster; she could even see the pieces of the creature disappearing, her friend waking up with her clothes intact and dry, and her leg even seemed to no longer hurt. But nothing more.

She had investigated the city, helped Markov gather information, sent the Kwamis to search for survivors, and called them back when trouble arose. She had taken care of Chloe, Nathalie, and the animals on the streets. She fought evil, used her powers for good. But, just as it had ever since she first obtained the earrings, as it always had, everything remained the same after all. Nothing changed.

Chapter Text

Wednesday morning was a curious experience for Nathalie. Waking up under the same roof as her enemy was undoubtedly a peculiar experience. The woman with red locks had barely slept, partly due to her own physical discomfort, partly due to the doubts swirling in her mind now that she knew Ladybug's identity. Both she and Gabriel had their own theories and hypotheses, occasionally sharing them when the latter sought to stifle his frustrations after suffering another defeat.

Mr. Agreste maintained that she must be some apprentice of the last guardian, perhaps the daughter of a lineage of Ladybug bearers, some sort of champion of the Miraculous order. He swore that perhaps she and Chat Noir had a hideout in Paris, their own lair just like his, where the guardian trained them arduously to confront him. Sometimes it seemed like he wished it were that way, that Ladybug was something great that fate had put in his path, as if it would make it easier to cope with her constant failures.

Nathalie, for her part, took a more logical approach: if the half of the revealed heroes were children and teenagers, then perhaps their leader, who entrusted them with these items, was from the educational system. A private teacher, perhaps a psychologist from the infirmary, someone who interacted with them or had access to the records to see who was the most qualified. This, assuming that Ladybug was the leader and the figure in charge, the former guardian always could be the mastermind and the decision-maker, and even in that scenario, the heroine could have been the one who provided him with the information to choose.

Whatever either of them theorized, neither would have predicted that it would be Marinette of all people. That the daughter of simple bakers, an average aspiring designer and companion of young Adrien, would be the source of all their problems. The woman in the gray pajamas certainly didn't imagine that being under the same roof as her enemy would mean being in her parents' room. It was strange; they expected something different. The house of the person behind the mask, a lair, a temple, not the home of their parents.

They never thought Ladybug would live with her parents. In fact, they never thought about what it would mean for her to have a family. That they were fighting with someone's daughter, that they would be hurting someone's daughter. That they would have taken a poor girl's parents away from her with this plan. It was an increasingly present thought, especially since she reacted too late and didn't give up her Miraculous in time, and she could feel the effects of the plan firsthand.

The utter loneliness, knowing that no one was out there, that your family and friends were no longer there. That level of isolation was hard, an isolation that no matter how hard you tried, you couldn't change. Not to mention that, as a hero with no villain in sight, Ladybug would probably have thought it was all her fault. Gabriel actually wished it were that way; the months and months of mutual antagonism had made him feel a very personal contempt for his enemy. He no longer just wanted to win; he wanted her to suffer, and deep down, Nathalie did too. After all, she was standing in the way of such a noble motive as bringing back a human being as wonderful as Émilie.

Ladybug stood in the way day in and day out of giving back to the world the angel it lost, giving back to a family the loving mother that was lost, giving back to her dear friend the chance to live a full and happy life. Obviously, Nathalie would hold a certain amount of contempt for her; obviously, there were days when even she wanted the heroine to suffer, even a little. But now it turns out they both hoped to mentally break a girl no older than Adrien himself.

They wished ill on a child; they didn't just wish it on her, they directly caused it. And what did Marinette do? She carefully opened the door to her parents' room, gave her a gentle smile when she saw the secretary awake, and said,

"I made vegetable soup, ideal for sick people..." She paused for a moment, looking at the floor. "Uh... If you're hungry, of course..."

"Yeah, sure... I'm a little hungry..." The older woman replied, putting on her glasses and coughing a little before sitting down.

"Do you need help getting to the table? I-I can bring the food to your bed!"

"No, no, I'm fine..." The dry cough contradicted her. "Thanks, Marinette, but there's no need, I can do it myself..."

Even so, the girl stayed by her side the entire way. At a respectful distance so as not to be invasive, but close enough to be able to intervene if the woman lost her balance. She was very attentive and selfless; there wasn't even a hint of distrust or hostility in her actions, or if there was, the little heroine hid it like a master. Chloe, who was waiting for them at the table, was far less subtle, not bothering to hide her animosity.

"We'll sit on this side," the blonde said firmly, referring to herself and Marinette, pointing to a pair of chairs at one end. "You're going to sit on the opposite side, or you can eat alone on the couch, the decision is yours."

"Chloe! She's not contagious, you don't have to push her away like that..." The girl with pigtails jumped to her defense.

"Don't worry, Marinette, is fine, I think it's better this way..." The woman with glasses agreed, understanding where the heiress was acting so defensive; after all, she had pulled a gun on two girls herself.

Although she understood and felt a little sorry for it, Nathalie remained alert, on the defensive as well. Yes, she had discovered that her greatest enemy was only Adrien's classmate, but there was still a lot that didn't add up. Why was Chloe here if the only permanent carriers were supposedly Ladybug and Chat Noir? How did Chloe have a Miraculous that prevented her from disappearing in the first place? What changed? All these questions ran through her head, the last one standing out as the most baffling.

They had an eye on her. They knew that since the Miracle Queen incident, the blonde had returned to her capricious and annoying ways. Thanks to the young Adrien they even knew she was at an even lower point, having ended their friendship, their only friendship since they were little. But then, how come she was sitting next to Marinette? How can she be so calm next to Ladybug and vice versa? Does she know she's Ladybug? And why did it seem like they were holding hands?

They were together at the other end of the table, side by side, almost shoulder to shoulder, their hands slightly curved toward each other under the table. Even as the baker's daughter told stories of her past misadventures to lighten the mood, she always seemed to return to Chloe, attentive and calm at the same time. Not as if she wanted to control her, but as if she simply wanted to watch her. 'Like when I only wanted to look at Émilie when we were together...' she compared in her mind, and the comparison only made it make even less sense.

She saw them the night before. They were sleeping together, cuddled, one on top of the other, but they were Marinette Dupain-Cheng and Chloe Bourgeois. How was that possible? Maybe it was a side effect of loneliness. Maybe their plan had worked so well, and Ladybug felt so abandoned that even the mayor's daughter seemed like a good option. Or maybe having to protect each other in a hostile land had brought them closer together. Like when she traveled with Gabriel's wife in her youth.

It was confusing, so confusing. On one hand, the realization that they were just children the persons they were fighting made her feel bad, but on the other, she couldn't let her guard down. She didn't know them. She didn't know anything about Marinette beyond the most basic information. She didn't know if she was genuinely that kind or if she was playing good cop and bad cop to get information out of her. Similarly, she knew Chloe on some level, so her change of behavior and her presence in those moments felt almost unnatural.

So when the idea of the younger girls going to get some medicine came up in the middle of the conversation, Nathalie decided to pretend her condition was more serious than it actually was. She strained her throat to fake a coughing fit, which eventually caused her to have a real coughing fit. Counterproductive and welcome at the same time. She pretended to be weaker just to give her enemy a greater sense of urgency, to ensure that if they did go to a pharmacy, they would leave her alone. That way, she could think about her next course of action without interference.

After finishing the soup, she returned to Marinette's parents' room, followed by Marinette to make sure she was okay and confirm what specific medication she needed. Once she had a list, she closed the curtains completely so the woman in pajamas could sleep, leaving water on hand, even a bucket with a wet towel in case she felt she had a fever, as well as a thermos with more soup in case she got hungry later. 'Is she trying too hard to maintain her facade, or is that how really was her?' She questioned the excessive care and preparation, although seeing how cautious Ladybug was, it wasn't so far-fetched that it was her nature to be prepared for everything.

After a minute of silence after the girl with pigtails left, she heard footsteps outside her room. Marinette must be downstairs by now, so that must be Chloe. After hearing the door close, she waited. Her bones ached and her brain rumbled as if she had a hangover as she waited, like every day since using the broken Miraculous. Then, after 15 minutes of complete silence, she stood up again.

She felt dizzy, but sooner rather than later, she was moving again. They had given her a cane to support herself more easily, so she was no longer confined to seeking support from the walls and nearby furniture. That would be useful for what she was about to do. Then, as soon as she opened the door, she found a surprise. A Basset hound was lying at the foot of the door, as if standing guard. The animal quickly turned and looked up at her with its long face, standing on its short legs.

Nathalie had seen him the day before when she entered the Dupain-Cheng house, but she had no idea who he was. He certainly wasn't of the heiress's; the thought of such a spoiled child taking care of another form of life, even her own, was unthinkable. Of course, it wouldn't be the first time the blonde had surprised her; the only thing that seemed somewhat normal about her in the last few hours was her attitude toward the older woman.

For her Marinette part, the house didn't even have a dog blanket, and the food bowls on the kitchen floor were soup plates, not actual bowls. He didn't seem to be the family pet, and considering her daughter designed the logo, one would think they'd even use her dog as the brand's mascot. Having ruled out the other options, a slightly more far-fetched but not impossible idea crossed her mind, and knowing that Marinette was the current guardian, she had to check it out.

The woman in gray pajamas knelt down, getting closer to the dog's level, adjusting her glasses on her nose. The animal was calm, sniffing tentatively. He didn't consider her an acquaintance to play with, but she certainly wasn't a stranger either.

"I read in the grimoire notes that Kwamis have a sort of 'true form' different from their smaller, more compact appearances... Are you... A Kwami?" she asked, leaning on a shaky knee with a steady gaze.

Louis looked back at her, yawned widely, and began scratching his long ear with his hind paw. At this, the woman simply snorted and straightened.

"I think I'm going crazy. Even if you were, you wouldn't tell me..." She said as she walked past him and headed for the stairs, heading for Marinette's room.

If the girl was Ladybug, that means that since the Miracle Queen incident, she's was also the guardian, and the guardian has the Miraculous Box. She had to hide it somewhere easily accessible and where she could always guard it, and given her age, that place would be none other than where she lives. It couldn't be in the bakery; it would be too exposed to strangers; there was no point in looking there. It wasn't the rest of the house either; if her parents didn't know her identity, it would be dangerous to hide it in the dining room or next to the washing machine.

This only left her room, a place where she could guard the box 24/7, where she would have privacy to manipulate it and complete control of where everything was. With this train of thought, Nathalie opened the trapdoor and entered the dark room. The closed barred windows and curtains barely let in any light; the candles were all unlit so no one would have a reason to believe there was life inside the building. So the woman in the sweaty pajamas began to explore the possible lair of the heroine of Paris.

The first thing that caught her attention was the couch where the younger duo slept the night before. She checked under the sheets and the furniture itself, finding absolutely nothing. Then she noticed the suitcases, all elegant and seemingly expensive; they must have belonged to Chloe. Nathalie ignored them as she made the connection. 'I can believe they became close, but Ladybug wouldn't be gullible enough to reveal her identity to the girl who betrayed her... Right?' she thought. Yes, her enemy was just a child, but she couldn't just be a normal child with a normal life. She had a secret, one no one should know about. So the woman with red locks couldn't underestimate her.

She couldn't afford to believe she would be so naive. So she went to get one of the trunks. It was a piece of wood with no wheels or feet, so it was unlikely the heiress had brought it. It must have been there before, and if it was there before, then it was still there when the previous guardian passed the torch. The fact that it didn't have a lock suggested she was looking in the wrong place, but that conclusion was what made it such a good hiding place. She opened it and found packages. Many, many, many packages.

"Well... They're definitely boxes..." The woman raised an eyebrow before starting to rummage.

She moved them around, searching the bottom, and then tried to find the largest package, thinking maybe she'd wrapped the Miraculous Box to hide it. Sooner rather than later, the bespectacled woman realized that the wrapping was wrapping paper, and that it already had a signed note. 'Dear Adrien, happy birthday, love, Marinette. XOXO' she read a small note stuck to the paper. Each package had a matching note with a similar set of words; they were all birthday gifts.

"But... These are gifts to cover like... His upcoming 30th birthday... Why would Ladybug prepare so many gifts for young Adrien?" she wondered, puzzled.

With the doubt still floating in her mind, she continued searching, straightening with difficulty and pain in her bones. She inspected a rather large doll box, which was hollow inside. She was getting closer to something; it definitely looked like it could hide something inside, perhaps a prototype for her final hiding place. With that size reference, she continued searching. Then she stepped on something on the floor. She took a step back, staring at the yellow object with eyes like tiny diamonds. It was a teddy bear.

It was small, plush, and innocent. Something strange in a secret lair, but not in a little girl's room. Every time she tried to convince herself that her enemy was a threat to her goals, something always reminded her that she was looking for reasons to keep fighting with a little girl. There were stuffed animals, banners, and cute decorations in a pink room. The sheets had vibrant colors and pretty patterns, as did the curtains. Even the paper screen had cherry blossom tree patterns.

Then, the woman with glasses noticed something peeking out from behind the room divider. Something was hidden behind it. Nathalie walked over and pulled it aside, revealing a corkboard. There were notes, photos, and colorful threads connecting everything. There was a lot of information, a lot to process, and a lot of implications. Apparently, the young heroine had recorded the moment the world fell silent online, trying to get an estimate of when it all happened. She had a pretty good estimate.

At one end was a list of possible akuma candidates; apparently, she'd filtered them based on who might want to make everyone disappear except her and Chloe. 'That's good, she has no idea why only the two were saved... Why did she put the ice cream man as a candidate?' she wondered, then followed the thread above the word Akuma directly to the other end of the board. Her blood ran cold, and she gasped, not only from her fragile condition, but from what was right before her eyes.

"C-candidates to be... Hawk Moth?"

Beneath that headline were photos with question marks drawn on them and some small notes with possible motives. Adrien's fencing teacher, Armand D'Argencourt, had a note that read "wants to rule Paris, generational vendetta." Beside him, Olga Mendeleiev, akumatized in Kwamibuster because she sought to catch and expose the existence of the Kwamis. Her note read, "Knows things, mad scientist? Bad teacher???" Right next to her was a crossed-out photo, as if it had been discarded. It was the girl who was trying to rise to fame by hanging out with Adrien and who liked to manipulate people. Nathalie had forgotten her name.

But the name she wouldn't forget even if she wanted to was the one standing next to the girl, a magazine clipping. It was Gabriel. Gabriel was one of Ladybug's candidates to be Hawk Moth. 'But... We did the whole Collector charade repeatedly to throw her off. How come she still...?' The questions in her mind mingled with fear, the notes were recent. She could tell this whole investigation was. That's why the heroine was at the Agreste manor. The plan was for Ladybug to feel alone and desperate, but instead, she took advantage of everyone's absence to search for Hawk Moth identity. And she was very close to finding it.

It was bad, very bad. They had come so far, risked so much, become villains just to bring Émilie back. And now that they were so close to achieving it, now that they had carried out their most ambitious and drastic plan to date, all of that would be lost. Gabriel sacrificed his humanity, committed this atrocity as his final blow, betting it was all or nothing, and he would lose.

They couldn't fail, not after wiping out all of humanity, not after going to these extremes. They only wanted to bring an angel back to the world, and now they would be damned. She would never see her dear friend again, never see her run or hear her laugh again. Adrien would be left alone, the last ray of her beloved's light would be extinguished, swallowed up by the misery and contempt of the public.

"No... I wont going to allow it..."

Nathalie quickly left, ran down the stairs, and returned to the bakers' room. She closed the door before the dog could follow her. She was sweating and breathing heavily, already out of breath from the rapid movement, but she didn't stop. She forcefully kicked the basin of water and the rag, defended the bed, and threw the pillows. She threw the dead clock on the table into the air, as well as the table lamps. The sudden uproar caused the dog outside to start barking; the cacophony of noise was piercing her head, but she kept going.

When the room looked like a war zone, with her hair disheveled and plastered to her face with sweat, the secretary took off her glasses. She dropped them to the floor as she began to pull at her pajama top, managing to break the buttons and causing them to fall off as well. She used what was left of her strength to tear off a piece of fabric. Now she was there, in the middle of a destroyed room, breathing heavily, with her shirt open, her hair disheveled, sweating and breathing like a wild animal in the middle of the darkness.

Then, she pulled a brooch from her pocket. A brooch shaped like a peacock's open fan. She gave it up, but she never let it go. It was her fault for not taking it off in time, so she wouldn't just leave the object lying around in the manor. Failing to close her shirt again, Nathalie simply hooked it to the front of her black bra. As she put it on, a blue light shot out from it and danced around her, flooding the darkness with its brilliance. The Kwami of Emotion was back at her side, and before she could say anything, Nathalie screamed.

"Dussu, spread my feathers!"

After another burst of light, the woman was no longer disheveled and sweaty; she was now wearing an elegant, warm, feathered dress. A sudden vitality infused her body before quickly fading away. It was always like this: the Miraculous gave her strength every time it augmented her human abilities, but the damage caused by using it when it was broken lingered. Still, it was more than enough. She stepped on her glasses and bent her knees, leaning forward, toward the bedroom window. Then, she propelled herself.

In a single bound, she shot out like a rocket, shattering the window. She couldn't stay in enemy territory, couldn't risk Marinette discovering her, but she couldn't attack her from behind either, so she decided to pretend a monster had come in and kidnapped her. That way, she could protect Gabriel's secrets. This was her most ambitious plan, the riskiest and most drastic; it was the last chance, and she couldn't give up now. She couldn't let her mistake and newfound morality ruin everything.

She fell onto a car on the next block, trying to convince herself it was the right thing to do. 'We just want to wish to Adrien gets his mother back, that the Agrestes were a happy family again. Everyone will come back when we get the Miraculous, Marinette will get her family back, and she won't have to fight anymore. The world will be more beautiful and peaceful...' she told herself, before stomping hard to smash the car. The alarm was shrill.

The cloth monsters were in the city to retrieve the Miraculous. If they reached the bakery, everyone's suffering would be over. Then she turned to look at the building one last time, sorrow and guilt blossoming inside her.

"I'm sorry, Marinette... I hope one day you can forgive me and Gabriel for all of this..." And so she jumped again, creating a car alarm guide for the monsters of Paris.

Then she started running across the rooftops, careful not to be seen. She was going back to the mansion. She shouldn't have left it in the first place, she shouldn't have saved herself from disappearing in the first place. Now it was all in the hands of the akuma and his cloth minions. It would all be over soon, and maybe it would be worth it. After all, she could wake up in a world with her by her side again.

"I hope you can forgive me too, my love..." She whispered as she ran, the image of her beloved and the memory of everything she had done to bring her back bringing tears to her eyes. "We did it all for you, Émilie."

Chapter Text

Chloe's memories were vague but concrete at the same time. She remembered the awkward moment in the pharmacy before the monster appeared, how her dislocated knee had started to hurt again when she started crawling in the dark, and how her heart raced when the baker's daughter held her close as she rolled her across the floor. She remembered that almost spiritual connection, that moment when, in the darkness, the two understood each other perfectly. She remembered the fear that the monster would hurt her current friend, as well as the struggle before losing consciousness. But, deep down, she also remembered a glow.

As she felt her strength fading and she fell asleep, wrapped in the strange garment that constituted the creature, her vision already blurred and her face engulfed in the fabric, Chloe noticed a glow. A pink glow, and something was strangely familiar about it. Now she'd woken up, no longer in the pharmacy; she was surrounded by boxes on the floor of a warehouse. Her leg no longer hurt, as if it had never been dislocated. She brushed her fingers against her cheek and noticed there was no scar beneath the Band-Aid. Likewise, the girl she'd begun to love, who made her heart beat, was no longer anywhere near her.

She quickly went to one of the large metal gates, where they loaded and unloaded the material stored there. Right next to it was a smaller rectangle with a handle, a smaller door so only people could enter and exit. Fortunately, it was open. Were they still working or had someone broken in? That mattered very little to the blonde who stepped out onto the street in front of the warehouses. She was greeted by the same sight as every day: not a soul in sight, only the sound of the cold wind blowing to fill the silence.

Then, the girl with the ponytail looked back, noticing someone was looking at her. She looked back and saw a figure she would recognize anywhere. She had memorized every black dot and curve of that outfit back when she was her number one fan, something she now regretted seeing their hypocritical and fake happy face. 'Stop pretending you care about me, bitch. Don't pretend to be like...' Her gaze softened as the image of both girls appeared in her mind, a nasty thought buzzing through her brain like a very annoying mosquito. Chloe shook her head and looked at Ladybug with determination.

"Where's Mari? Where's Dupain-Cheng?" She shouted from the street, her hands clenched. The heroine wore a tired, almost guilty expression.

"She... I told her to wait for you in a safe area, but I think she followed us... She must have been left behind. You'll find her by the Canal Saint-Martin... Maybe..." She said after a brief pause, as if she were thinking about what to say, then she brought her hand up to her ear. "I'd take you, but... I don't have time anymore. I'm going to detransform..." She stepped back, disappearing from sight.

"Pfff, as if I wanted your help..." The heiress replied in a dry, low tone.

Chloe could have stood there and watched, seen if the light that emerged when she detransformed and transformed was pink, but she decided to look away. Not out of honor or to protect the heroine's identity—she didn't even have the range of vision to see who was under the mask—she simply didn't want to see a flash of pink light. She didn't want to fuel her doubts any further, she absolutely didn't want the idea swirling in her mind. She quickly looked for a reference to which street she was on and started running, trying not to think about the events.

In retrospect, they had only been together for a short time, barely a week and a half, but her perception of the girl with pigtails had changed so much that the blonde couldn't believe it was so short. Seeing her no longer sent her jealousy levels through the roof; now she could see her adorable face without feeling self-conscious. Now her extraordinary ability to be self-sufficient and optimistic was no longer something that bothered her; on the contrary, it gave her pleasure to be in the care of someone as capable as that girl. Now she could admire her qualities for what they are, traits to be praised and desired.

She was no longer the black sheep in the heiress's flock. No, Marinette was the prettiest and warmest of them all. She was the only one who genuinely reached out to her. She listened to her, and Chloe wanted to listen too. She asked for help, and that made her want to help. She opened the doors of her house to her, and made her feel like it was truly a place she could call home. She opened her heart to her, and that made the princess of Paris's heart beat faster. There was no electricity in the city, and no people on the streets, but Marinette's presence made everything so beautiful that Chloe didn't even know how to thank her.

She was so selfless, so kind to others, and so hard on herself. She made everything she said or did feel so honest, so real. 'If she were Ladybug... Does that mean it was all a lie...? She couldn't have been... playing this sick game... She can't...' The blonde gulped as she ran. Yes, she could. Marinette had every right to be able to, every right to hate her. If she were Ladybug, she'd only have even more reasons to do so, and even more ways to prove it.

The heiress ran through the streets toward the canal, her gaze focused on the asphalt. There were no debris, protrusions, or potholes on the road, and given the time at which everyone disappeared, there were no cars either, at least not in the middle. They were parked on the sides, motionless. She wasn't looking down at the ground to facing obstacles; she was looking down at the ground because she was suppressing her desire to look up, to see if she could see the heroine again. Or rather, her desire to not see the heroine.

Chloe wanted only to look up at the sky and confirm that the girl in the red suit wasn't swinging in her direction, that Ladybug wasn't getting ahead of her, and that just as she lost sight of her, Marinette would appear up ahead. Chloe wanted to confirm that it was just her insecurities talking, but what if she did see her? What if she found her also heading toward the Canal Saint-Martin? Or worse, what if she saw a pink glow in an alley and then Marinette came out of it?

The blonde shook her head. 'Don't be ridiculous, Chloe. You know Mari better than anyone. She's your friend. She would never play with someone like that... She wouldn't play such a sick joke on me just because she... Hates me...' The thought made her stomach clench. 'She's the best person you know, Bourgeois. She's an angel. Have more faith in her... She didn't lie to you when she said she believed in you, that she would help you. Believe in her like she believes in you...' she told herself, but still refused to look up.

It didn't take long until she reached the canal, following the river current in search of her companion. She wasn't even paying attention to the cloth monsters anymore; they had long since ceased to be the priority in her mind. She looked around until she saw that jet-black hair gleaming in the sunlight. She was on the side parallel to hers, on the other side of the canal. She seemed distracted, looking in all directions. 'She was also looking for me to...' the blonde thought, trying to silence the question of whether she was just pretending to keep up her facade.

Then their eyes met, they both gestured and shouted each other's names, and then they both ran again. They ran to the nearest bridge, they ran to be together, and once they met in the middle, they ran straight into each other's arms. Now they were there, standing in the middle, over the river flowing beneath their feet, the wind singing around them. Marinette sank into the hug, her feet almost parallel to the blonde's, clutching the yellow jacket tightly. You couldn't even put a needle between them, they were so close. The heiress could feel her breath on her shoulder; her friend had buried her face in her necklace.

"I was so scared when that thing caught you... I thought... I thought I'd lost you..." Marinette said without moving away in the slightest, almost sobbing.

Chloe wasn't exactly the most astute or the most prepared to differentiate truth from lies, but she was cynical and self-aware enough to know when someone was telling her what she wanted to hear. But those words felt so sincere they made her heart skip a beat. The concern, the fear in her voice, was as honest as only Marinette could be. A smile formed on the blonde's lips as she drew circles on her friend's back. She could get used to this level of concern and affection. She could get used to feeling loved by someone.

"Okay, okay... I'm here..."

!
•
¡

Dusk had already fallen as they carefully walked home, walking hand in hand the entire way. They weren't willing to part again. They were alert, still unsure if Ladybug had wiped out all the cloth monsters. The only thing certain was that the Lucky Charm had been used and the cloud of ladybugs had repaired everything damaged, but neither the people nor the electricity had returned. The raven-hair girl told her the details while carrying a bag full of medicine.

"...So you're saying those things lost the ability to fly after falling into the river?" the heiress asked, peeking around the corner of an alley before continuing.

"Yeah, and that thing could still fly with you inside it..." the girl with pigtails reasoned.

"Are you calling me fat?"

"Of course not, I'm saying that these almost supernatural creatures aren't so supernatural... They behave like animals, and react like clothes..." Marinette was thoughtful, scratching her chin.

"Go on... I'm sure that 'they react like clothes' thing makes sense... somehow..." she said, looking around cautiously.

"When Nathalie pinned the sleeve of her larger dress to the wall, it ripped when it came loose. The down coat with the wig? It burst into flames when it fell into the burning stove, like a scarf in front of a lighter..." the girl in the black vest explained.

"And when they get wet, they get heavy, like my clothes when I washed them the other day..." Chloe continued, following her logic. "Wait, is that why we're just seeing them now? Did last week's rain prevent them from arriving sooner?"

"Could be, maybe Hawk Moth's plan was for his akuma to make most of the world to disappear and for the cloth monsters to catch the survivors while they search for the Miraculous..."

"Oh great, and that dumb Ladybug decides to yell at you to hide instead of giving you a Miraculous so you could fight..." The blonde complained as they crossed the park.

"She probably had her reasons. It would have been difficult for her to make sure I was safe while I was jumping into the lion's den..." After saying this, she hugged the heiress's arm, still holding her hand. "The important thing is that she was able to save you..." There was a hint of longing, as if she wanted to cling to that small victory.

"I guess so... Although it would be nice for us not to be so defenseless..." Chloe said, leaning her head sideways against Marinette's.

"Maybe if you were nicer to Nathalie, she could teach you how to use her crossbow," Marinette replied with a giggle, regaining her spirits.

"Me? With a crossbow? You want me of all people to know how to use a weapon? Oh Dupain-Cheng, you have some crazy ideas..." The blonde joined in the laughter, a pleasant atmosphere between the two as they reached the side door of the bakery.

Unfortunately, the calm didn't last long. As soon as they entered, the girls heard barking. Louis was barking like they'd never heard him bark before; something bad must have happened. They quickly ran upstairs, entered the house, and saw the dog right in front of the entrance to Marinette's parents' room, resting its paws on the door. The animal noticed the girls' presence and barked in their direction, stepping aside when the girl with pigtails reached for the handle.

What was supposed to be a dark room like the rest of the house, inhabited only by a sick woman, was bathed in the orange light of dusk pouring in through a broken window. The entire room was upside down, as if there had been a fight, and Nathalie was nowhere to be seen. Then, they found her glasses, broken on the floor.

Marinette fell to her knees, staring at the shattered window, the wind whipping her bangs around, looking like she wanted to cry. Chloe simply knelt on her now-healthy knee and placed a hand on her companion's shoulder, gently squeezing it to let her know she was by her side. The baker's daughter placed her hand on top of the blonde's, and they both stood there in silence, absorbing the situation for a long moment. The cloth monsters had arrived at the bakery and had taken Nathalie away.

After that incident, they covered the window as best they could and locked the room. It seemed that the fact that one of those creatures had arrived in their home had worried Marinette greatly, as she suggested that they might consider moving somewhere else in case the creatures returned. With that thought in mind, the heiress decided to help her prepare what would be the girls' last supper at the Dupain-Cheng house.

Chloe wasn't exactly in her element, but she would do what she could to help her friend, following her orders as best she could. It was clear the event had affected the aspiring designer, as if she wasn't downcast, then she was acting peculiar. She would react suddenly, pulling pots from shelves directly above the blonde, or moving plates and cooking utensils in peculiar ways. Until one moment, while the heiress was chopping vegetables by the light of a single candle, Marinette hugged her from behind, pressing herself against her body.

"M-Mari?" Chloe stammered at the spontaneous contact.

"O-oh! Sorry, it's just... Uh... I'm so happy that my dear friend is okay! How nice it is that we're now companions and I have a good Chloe Bourgeois by my side... Hehe..." She said, emphasizing certain words.

There was an odd, nervous tone in her voice. Night had already fallen, and she was clinging to her waist somewhat tightly, not enough to be bothersome, but enough to make the pressure felt. Her hands rested spread out on top of each other on the heiress's lower abdomen, and she herself was pressed very close to her back. Realizing what was probably happening, the blonde dropped the knife and placed her hand on Marinette's, speaking softly.

"You're still scared about what happened today, aren't you?" She ask, to which the girl with pigtails simply stood still before nodding on the back of her shoulder. "It's okay, I understand, I feel that way too... But I'm here, and I'm not going anywhere. I'm your problem now, Dupain-Cheng, and you won't be able to get rid of me that easily..." Chloe reassured her in a light tone, trying to both reassure her friend and lighten her mood.

There was no immediate response, but the Princess of Paris could feel the raven-haired girl's lips curl into a smile against her shoulder. Apparently, her words had worked. Then they parted ways, Marinette going to her room to continue preparing things for their move to a new shelter, while she asked the blonde to keep an eye on the stove. Apparently, the gas was already starting to run out; the problem was that it hadn't completely gone out yet, so it was in that dangerously low state where the stove's flame could go out but still be pouring gas into the room.

It wasn't complicated for the heiress; she simply had to turn the knob if the blue flame went out, so her mind was more focused on the girl in pink pants. 'If she were Ladybug she would have gone out to look for Nathalie, she wouldn't even have been afraid enough to leave her own home... My Marinette isn't a stupid superhero, she's a normal girl, a girl who doesn't deserve to go through this...' she thought as the water boiled, determined that she would be there for the woman she loved, that she would protect her, then, the aforementioned called her from the room upstairs.

"Chloe! Come quickly! I have good news!"

At Marinette's words, the blonde turned off the oven and went upstairs, nowhere near ready for what she found when she opened the trapdoor.

"I think Ladybug agrees with you about defending ourselves..." Her friend said at her side, while Chloe swallowed.

Her blood had run cold, and a shiver ran down her spine when she saw the two jewels resting on the couch they slept on the night before. She didn't recognize one, but she could never forget the yellow one next to it. Right on the pillow was a necklace and a comb.

Chapter Text

Eons had passed since the Kwamis were free to roam the world. Before humanity was even a concept, before life had even first flourished on Earth, they were already here, roaming the vastness of existence without restriction. Or rather, with a crippling restriction. They could not interact with the material plane, with the world created from their essences, with reality itself.

They heard the sounds of creation in all its forms and the roar of destruction that followed. They saw illusions being born and things migrating, how time changed everything. They witnessed perfection being defined and leapt into action. They saw how diverse creatures were capable of adoration and protecting one another, even of passing on knowledge as if it were the transmission of energy between atoms. It was a glorious and beautiful world, one they were unable to be a part of.

They couldn't interact with anything, help anyone, or coexist with anything. They were disconnected from the world until someone saw them and helped them. They traded that absolute freedom and independence for the opportunity to interact with reality, to coexist with humans, and to help life thrive. Unfortunately, that meant heeding the orders of their caretakers, the bearers, and the caretakers of their bearers, the guardians. The Order had kept them sealed and limited for centuries.

Rarely they had the freedom to roam the cities of manking, much less the land itself, but since Marinette became a guardian, the unusual had become usual, and now they were in a unique situation. They were sent to travel the world in search of survivors after humanity's vanishing, and now, after almost a week of exploring, they were returning to the City of Light because their guardian had summoned them. Something had probably happened while they were gone, maybe something bad.

The Kwamis flew in groups of two, and as they returned to Paris, the first thing they encountered were other groups. From the east came the dragon and tiger duo, flying swiftly along the clouds with the red Kwami leading the way. From that high point, they could observe any signs of battle or any clue as to why the guardian had called them. At first glance, it seemed as though nothing bad had happened to the city, but the lack of humans on the streets or moving vehicles also ruled out any possible good news.

"It's completely desolate," Roaar said, looking at the buildings bathed in the orange light of the sunset.

"But at least it's not destroyed. That means we weren't too late if it was something bad," Longg added, trylling to look on the bright side.

Then, they both noticed something entering the city from the north. They saw a bunch of small lights moving between the buildings. A blueish hue accompanied by various shades of orange—it was Stompp, Trixx, Orikko, and Barkk. The duo quickly swooped down to find them. The micro tiger rushed forward, excitedly pouncing on his Kwami friends. He was greeted with the same enthusiasm.

"Guys! It's so good to see you again!" shouted the purple fairy.

"We're happy too!" replied the Kwami of Adoration.

"Have you had any luck finding anyone?" asked Trixx.

"Not a single survivor in the eastern cities, and you? Any luck in the north?" The dragon asked the rooster and ox duo.

"No humans who might want to be carriers, or who couldn't be carriers, or who could even tell us the time..." Orikko complained.

"Nothing at all from here to London," the long-horned one added.

"We found some very interesting buildings and human art, but not their creators..." Barkk added.

"No survivors, no akumas. I hope the others had better luck..." Trixx had her hands crossed. "By the way, why did we were summoned?"

"Maybe the guardian had better luck than us finding the bad guy?" the Kwami of perfection suggested.

"Or maybe... Maybe an akuma attacked!" the Kwami of exaltation exalted.

"But there are no signs of any fighting or destruction, we saw it from above," the mini-dragon said.

"Yes, but bad things don't have to be bombastic!" Roaar replied with the same impetus.

"Look who says it..." Longg rolled his eyes, but he too began to worry. A perfect exterior could hide deep cracks.

"There's only one way to find out, to the bakery!" Orikko pointed energetically at the sky before charging forward. The rest of the group also began to advance.

It didn't take long for them to arrive. Being intangible was a great help; with no obstacles, they could simply fly in a straight line without wasting time detouring. The first thing they noticed was that the building was particularly closed. Although it wasn't completely dark yet, all the curtains were already closed, as were the windows and doors. Despite the tight seal, there didn't seem to be any light inside to compensate for the darkness it would create.

It was like a more isolated version of all the surrounding buildings, but this one had a peculiarity: it had a broken window. One of the side windows was visibly damaged, with the frame broken and the glass forming a gap at the edges. It was particularly noticeable thanks to the contrast provided by the white cloth blanket hanging inside.

Since no one remembered it being there when they left, they decided to go in to see what had happened. The mini-gods were quickly shocked by what they saw. It was the guardian's parents' room, and it was wrecked. Everything was out of place and broken. The door was locked, and the sheets had been nailed to the broken window frame.

"What happened here?" Stompp asked, looking around.

"It's like a hurricane just passed through..." Longg said.

"But hurricanes don't form in bakeries." Roaar corrected him.

"That's a figure of speech..." the fox Kwami replied, rolling his eyes.

Then they went down to the ground where Barkk was, sniffing around like a real dog, looking for any clues.

"Someone I don't know was here, but at the same time I smell a familiar scent, like the magic of a Miraculous..."

"Did the guardian have a fight here?" Orikko asked.

"But we all recognize the guardian. She smells like cupcakes and a tailor's shop..." Trixx replied.

"With three tablespoons of teenage hormones and sweat," the Kwami of adoration corrected.

"If it's not someone we know, but it smells like our magic... then who could it be?" The mini buffalo scratched his chin.

"Maybe it's an akuma!" the purple tiger said. "They're people we don't know well, and they're also imbued with Kwami magic."

"That... makes perfect sense..." Longg was surprised after spending almost a week seeing how stubborn Roaar could be, and was starting to worry more.

While everyone nodded in agreement, they heard noises in the room next door and upstairs. Since Marinette's room and the Miraculous box were upstairs, they went to check there first. They went through the ceiling and emerged through the floor of the room, as if they were floating in water. Not knowing what awaited them, they were stealthy, careful not to be seen. There, in the darkness, they saw the guardian packing things.

She looked... defeated.

Head down, wiping tears from her eyes, moving slowly, almost hunched over. She looked as bad as when they lost Master Fu, as bad as when she was having a meltdown with her friends, as bad as when Chat Noir gave up being Chat Noir. Something very bad must have been happening for her to be like this in the dark.

"What's wrong with the guardian?" Barkk whispered.

"I don't know... but I suspect it has to do with her parents' room being destroyed..." Longg reasoned before going down with the rest of the kwamis to see what was causing the noise in the living room.

Then they saw her: Chloe Bourgeois was there. For some reason, the blonde was at Marinette's house, and she looked much calmer than the guardian in the kwamis' eyes, with a cynical and impassive face.

"What's she doing here?" Orikko asked.

"Isn't it obvious? She must be the akuma like Pollen said. Hawk Moth made her look like she does every day and hid under the guardian's nose, and when her least expected it, she attacked," Roaar declared.

"It's just like my carrier said, she's always there to make Marinette suffer..." Trixx added. "She took Master Fu from us the last time she teamed up with Hawk Moth... She's probably done it again now to take our carriers away."

"Maybe she's extorting the guardian to serve her in exchange for returning everyone..." the canine kwami proposed.

"And she destroyed her parents' room just to revel in their pain," the fox continued.

"If that's so, it's our duty to stop her!" Orikko joined in.

"Or at least incapacitate her so Ladybug can escape..." Say the dragon.

And so they set off, to try to help their guardian.

!
•
¡

Due to the fact that the cloth monsters attacked while they were gone and took Nathalie away, Tikki had taken to patrolling the block, checking the surroundings so her carrier could calmly prepare to change shelter. To do this properly, the mini-goddess of creation searched the area to find any hiding places for such peculiar creatures, even going to the school next door to keep an eye out.

Everything seemed peaceful as she left the third floor, passing through the library walls and surveying the landscape. Then the little fairy noticed some specks flying toward the block from the south, one yellow next to a green one. Recognizing them, Tikki rushed to welcome them.

"Wayzz! Pollen! You two are here!"

"Tikki! You're okay! Oh, what a relief! I was already worried when I feal the summon..." The turtle sighed with relief.

"What happened? Is the guardian okay? You're still here, and there's no debris anywhere..." The blue-eyed Kwami looked around. The place was still as intact and untouched as the rest of the world.

"Well, Mari used the Lucky Charm, so the little damage that had been done was already repaired..."

"Did Ladybug have to use her Lucky Charm?!" The bee was startled.

"And even after taking care of the akuma, the people didn't come back?" the green fairy asked.

"No, and she didn't take it very well. Probably what we fought wasn't an akuma either. There were a lot of them, and they didn't have an object to house the butterfly..." Tikki explained.

"A sentimonster that multiplies, perhaps?" Wayzz questioned.

"It's complicated. We'd better wait for the res-" And before the creation Kwami could finish speaking, they heard a scream.

"Where's the fight?! Here we go, Guardian!" Xuppu shouted before flying past the group of Kwamis, but was stopped by Tikki, who grabbed him by his monkey tail to slow him down. "Ah, hello Tikki." He said, looking upside down.

"Hello Xuppu, I see you were motivated..." The red fairy replied.

"Ah! Ah! Don't wander off from the group like that! Empty cities are scary, and something could happen to you!" Daizzi, the Kwami of Jubilation, complained, along with Mullo and Ziggy.

"Sorry, I got excited for being so close..."

"Well, we'd better get going..." Wayzz commented, heading towards the bakery.

"Oh yeah, about that... I think there's something I should explain first, don't be scared..." Tikki walked ahead of the group, and they shared a confused look before following her.

They flew toward the building where the Miraculous guardian lived, but instead of going directly to the top floor, where Marinette's room was, the Kwami of creation guided them to a lower floor, where the main living area of the house was. They passed through the wall at the mezzanine level, in the area where the ceiling of the living room meets the floor of the room above. With a stealth that was strange to the group, Tikki urged them to stay in the background and remain silent, as if they needed to hide.

As soon as they peeked inside, their mouths opened in disbelief, understanding why they had to avoid being noticed when there was supposedly no one there besides the guardian. There was someone else, there was someone in the kitchen, a blonde. Chloe Bourgeois was there, and she was inspecting a knife.

"She... She's here..." Pollen's voice sounded less annoyed than any of the kwamis expected, all of them remembering her opinion of the blonde before they went exploring outside of Paris.

"She looks better than I expected. I can't stop thinking about how she must be after someone was so rude to her..." Wayzz didn't even hide the fact that he was talking about the yellow fairy, the rest of them could quickly guess where the conversation was going as they traveled together. "I suppose this is for the guardian's doing, right?"

"That's right," Tikki nodded. "Since it's Marinette's duty to protect the citizens of Paris, and she was the only one left, she decided to bring her to live here so she could prevent anything bad from happening."

"And by doimg that, she can keep an eye on her in case she really was involved, right?" Mullo assumed. "Humans really like to multitask."

"Correct," the red fairy assured.

"Is she... cooking? Does she know how to cook?" the mini goat asked, watching the blonde try to peel an onion by candlelight, rubbing her eyes from the tear-filled smell.

"No, but she's surprisingly good at following orders if you know how to talk to her and give her a reason. My carrier has made a lot of progress with her. Now she's helping with cooking, earlier she accompanied Marinette to the pharmacy, before that she helped her to try and find Hawk Moth's lair, and once she even did the laundry herself." The creation Kwami listed with some pride.

"Did she really do all that?" Pollen was amazed. The image she was left with of the blonde was far from what she was hearing. The girl was too capricious and cruel to do something like that, or at least that's what the action Kwami thought.

"Yes, I know it sounds unbelievable. Believe me, I've heard worse things about Chloe directly from my owner, but both of them have changed so much in recent days, flourishing in such difficult times..."

"Both of them?" Xuppu was intrigued by the idea that the guardian had to change to.

Then, they saw someone coming down the stairs. It was the aforementioned guardian, who looked dejected. She had a defeated expression; apparently, it wasn't all roses while the Kwamis were gone. But as soon as the girl with pigtails looked up to see her companion in the kitchen, and she looked back, both of their faces lit up with gentle smiles. Their eyes were still tired and red, but they had kind gazes. It was as if they'd seen something that automatically put them in a good mood, as if instead of hating each other, they were each other's sunshine.

"Oh..." The newly arrived travelers said in unison.

"Yeah, oh..." Tikki nodded. "Though, it seems from their perspectives it's not as obvious as it is from the outside..."

"Yeah, I can even see hearts popping out of Chloe's head..." Daizzi said.

"Nah, it's just Longg and Orikko floating above her..." The monkey pointed.

"Wait, what?" The mini goddess of creation looked away from the happy couple and saw the dragon above, hovering a few meters above the blonde, carrying a huge pot alongside the rooster Kwami, bot ready to drop it.

Chapter Text

"Oh no," Tikki whispered.

Both the mini-goddess of creation and Marinette knew something like this could happen when they called the Kwamis back home. From their own experience, since the latter was their guardian, her fellow fairies could be quick to jump to conclusions and cause trouble. It was something they both understood; some had been locked inside the Miraculous box since before the pyramids were built, so it was only natural that they wouldn't know how to act in human situations.

And there was no human situation more extraordinary than finding Chloe Bourgeois in your house. They had more than enough reasons not to see her in a good light, not to want to see her there, to doubt, to distrust her. That's why they hoped for luck from the moment they called them when they found the cloth monsters, that the Kwamis would arrive while the girls were sleeping so Tikki could explain everything before anything happened. Then they hoped for luck and that the Kwamis would arrive while they were having a civilized lunch while Tikki kept watch, so she could intercept them and explain everything. Finally, they hoped for luck and that they would arrive while they weren't home, hoping that they wouldn't interact with Nathalie since they didn't know her and she was sick.

But in the end, they had no luck at all. The fairies arrived separately, and Tikki couldn't greet them all at once. To make matters worse, they found the girls just as their guardian was feeling down, so they probably immediately assumed the worst. And that's how they ended up in this particular scene: Chloe Bourgeois in the kitchen, looking at her friend, completely unaware of the danger hovering above her, with Marinette watching her in love, and two Kwamis about to drop a pot on her blonde head.

Luckily, the guardian noticed.

The girl's mind must have been working at an impressive speed, as there was only a split second between her seeing the object about to fall and her leaping to catch it. She almost collided with the heiress, stretching out her arms to catch the pot above her, effectively knocking the Kwamis into it.

"C-careful!" She said, pulling away, spinning around so she was on the other side of her friend, moving the pot so the blonde couldn't see the creatures inside. "How clumsy! I put it in the wrong cabinet and it were too close to the edge, hehe... It almost fell over... Sorry about that..." Marinette made up on the fly, nervously.

"That... Makes sense, you've had a lot on your mind today..." Chloe seemed to accept the excuse.

The Kwamis were surprised by the guardian's persuasive skills, sharing a stunned silence. Tikki, for her part, knew her carrier was simply that clumsy with things like that, so the excuse, as basic as it was, turned out to be the most plausible scenario of all. Luckily, the blonde also knew this side of Marinette well, so there was no reason to doubt it.

"Is that Stompp?" The monkey fairy beside her pointed.

The group of Kwamis looked in the direction her paw was pointing, finding the large-horned mini-deity on the other side of the heiress about to use a sideways plate like a bat to hit her in the back of the head, to knocking her out.

"No!" Wayzz whispered, flying at full speed toward the dark blue Kwami, trying to help the guardian, who had already sprung back into action. The turtle fairy tackled her companion, and they both flew through a wall before being seen. At the same time, Marinette stretched out to catch the plate, almost colliding with her companion again.

"Plates!" The girl with pigtails said, placing the plate next to a stack and grabbing them all from the base with one hand. "I have to set the table by carrying the dishes!" She started walking toward the living room.

"Wouldn't it be easier if you used both hands?" Chloe pointed to the pot under her left arm, to which Marinette laughed before placing it upside down on the stove.

"I'll leave it here where this naughty one doesn't fall on anyone's head..." She let out a nervous giggle, pretending she was joking and not talking to something inside.

Ziggy and Daizzi quickly flew underground to get them out and explain the situation. Between that and seeing Wayzz peek out to signal they'd be waiting upstairs, Tikki was able to breathe a sigh of relief, but then they saw Trixx holding a soup ladle like a golf club and heading straight for an unsuspecting Chloe, who was shredding some leeks. The Creation Kwami quickly flew at full speed toward its wielder at the table, appearing in front of her to point at the danger.

As soon as she turned around, the raven-haired girl let out a squeal and ran behind the blonde to grab the ladle along with the mini fox holding it. When her friend turned around to take a look, Marinette greeted her with a nervous smile as she hid the Kwami in her right hand behind her back while extending the ladle to her.

"I forgot you'd need this. I couldn't let your first time cooking go wrong... Hehe..."

"A ladle... For chopping vegetables?" Chloe raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, well, it's a... uh... an old Chinese cooking technique my uncle taught me! Where... you know... to easily crush and extract the juices from the vegetables... so it will stay in something that will be in the sauce the whole time... It help the flavor?" she explained, gesturing exaggeratedly with one hand, nervously moving the ladle.

"Oh..." The blonde thought for a moment. "How about I just keep doing it the basic way? I think I'm still too green for those... uh... cooking tricks?" the heiress said with a blush.

To the surprise of the Kwamis who were still watching, Chloe said it with a sorry tone. It was less an excuse for something she didn't want to do and more like something that genuinely seemed too complicated for her. Between that more humble attitude, the fact that she hadn't insulted anyone in all that time, and the guardian's persistent attempts to protect her, it became increasingly clear that something had changed between the two of them in the last few days.

Something the other group of Kwamis apparently hadn't understood yet, because when Marinette stepped away, Roaar appeared. Luckily, he didn't have any blunt or kitchen objects in his paws; he wasn't even at head height. Unfortunately, the Kwamis were still able to interact with matter freely. Carry things, bump into things, bite things. As Chloe casually sliced the leek she'd cut into strips, the mini tiger, as if straight out of a cartoon, approached to give her a firm bite on the butt.

Before they could determine if kwamis had the same bite force as the animals they resembled, the guardian noticed. With a quick movement, she swatted him away and proceeded to hug the blonde from behind, pressing herself tightly against her, as if trying to be a human shield.

"Oh, the guardian is smart. If they're stuck together, they won't be able to attack the rude girl without damaging her, thus stopping her attempts to do so..." Xuppu reasoned from a distance.

"Yes, very clever," Mullo agreed. "Though her hands are a little low..."

It was clear that this last detail had also been noticed by the human she was protecting, as she froze for a moment before stuttering.

"M-Mari?"

"O-oh! Sorry, it's just... Uh... I'm so happy that 'my dear friend' is okay! How nice it is that we're now 'companions' and I have a 'good Chloe Bourgeois' by my side... Hehe..." She said, emphasizing certain words as she snuggled closer; she was speaking to any Kwamis who might still want to play any trick.

After a moment, it seemed like a realization hit the heiress, but not a life-threatening realization. No, it didn't seem like she'd discovered the Kwamis or Ladybug's identity. It seemed more like she realized something that made her sad, that generated compassion. With a gentle expression and a soft tone in her voice, the blonde dropped the knife and placed her hand over Marinette's.

"You're still scared about what happened today, aren't you?" She asked, catching the mini gods' attention with curiosity. 'What happened today?' was one of the questions that ran through their ancient minds.

When the guardian nodded on her shoulder, Chloe continued. "It's okay, I understand. I feel that way too... But I'm here, and I'm not going anywhere. I'm your problem now, Dupain-Cheng, and it won't be so easy for you to get rid of me..." She assured her in a light tone, as if trying to reassure the girl she'd been bullying until just a week ago... And it worked.

Marinette looked comforted, calmer, happier. The two remained silent for a moment, hugging each other, the raven-haired girl's peachy lips on the heiress's shoulder. Had she kissed her? Had Marinette kissed Chloe's shoulder? Did the guardian like girls just like Master Fu? Was that a requirement to be a guardian? All questions the Kwamis might soon ask, as they heard the guardian tell her she was going back to her room to pack and instruct the heiress to continue taking care of the kitchen.

It was the perfect time to get an answer and an explanation of what was going on... as well as a scolding. They were in the attic, with the Kwamis hanging their heads and the girl with pigtails frowning, looking down at them in annoyance, arms crossed, kneeling on her bed to avoid hitting the ceiling.

"What the hell were you thinking?!" Marinette said in a low but firm tone, not wanting to shout so Chloe wouldn't hear her.

"We were just trying to defend you!" Trixx floated forward.

"Yes, we found a destroyed room and then saw you collapsed in the dark. It worried us a lot," the dragon explained next.

"And you thought it was Chloe?" the guardian asked, her tone and gaze becoming softer.

"Yes! Why would she be here otherwise? She never comes!" Roaar said.

"And she looked as impassive as ever with her spoiled-girl face..." Orikko added.

"And Barkk smelled a scent she didn't recognize in the destroyed room. It could only be hers since no one else was there," Stompp pointed out.

"Yes, yes, that's what I smelled, plus Kwami magic." declared the canine-looking fairy. "We assumed it was because Chloe was akumatized, so we could explain both scents... Sorry for jumping to conclusions..." She added at the end, looking sadly at the floor.

"Yes, we're sorry, we reacted inappropriately instead of going straight to talk to you..." Trixx admitted, to which Marinette's posture softened further, no longer seeming so upset.

"Okay... It's fine... I'm not mad..." She sighed and took the troubled group in her hands. "The person in that room was Nathalie, Adrien's father's assistant. We found her investigating the city and gave her asylum... Chloe has nothing to do with it..."

"Did you find a survivor? We weren't so lucky..." Wayzz said, to which the rest of the Kwamis nodded in agreement.

"Daizzi and I couldn't find anything either, and we only just made it to the coast," Xuppu commented.

"We saw a lot of animals but no humans..." Ziggy added, with Mullo nodding vigorously at his side.

"Same here, we only saw empty buildings and vehicles... And animals that looked at me strangely..." Roaar looked away, crossing his paws.

"Relax, I don't let i'm bother the animals..." Longg assured.

"But while that explains the smell, what about the Kwami's magic? Did you give her one? Is that woman the akumatized one?" the mini dog asked.

"No, of course not, Nathalie..." Marinette's eyes glazed over. "She was sick and alone, barely strong enough to walk on her own... Chloe accompanied me on an expedition to find medicine for her, and it seems that while we were gone, one of the monsters came and took her... I saw them try to do the same to Chloe..."

"Did you say monsters?!" Orikko was startled. "Like... sentimonsters? In plural?"

"I don't know, they're like... A mockery of something a designer would make, clothes that are in search of Miraculouses and can kidnap people..."

"Tikki told us you used the Lucky Charm. Was it to save Chloe from one of those things?" Wayzz asked, resting his paw on the guardian's arm.

"They attacked us and she saved me." Marinette said.

"She saved you...? Chloe protected you?" Pollen was surprised.

"More than you can imagine, she's been helping me a lot these days... She pushed me aside, and I watched as she fell unconscious inside a living red and black dress... It terrified me, so I tore them to shreds with scissors... But when I used the Miraculous Ladybug, no one came back, everything stayed the same..." The girk whit light-blue eyes slumped her shoulders, looking defeated again, just like the first group had seen her when they arrived. "Then we came back and it turns out they took the only other person I was supposed to protect... I'm useless..."

"Don't say that, Marinette. It's not your fault..." Tikki consoled her.

"Well, that explains a lot..." The mini tiger looked embarrassed by his actions.

"Why wouldn't the Lucky Charm have worked?" The Kwami of Perfection scratched his chin wile thinking.

"The Lucky Charm is supposed to repair all the damage caused by the opponent of the wearer of the earrings, to restore order to all the chaos caused by the villains, but to do that, you have to first confront the source of said chaos." Wayzz explained. Being the Kwami of the Miraculous guardian for so many years had made him very knowledgeable about the capabilities of his peers.

"What if there are several sources of chaos? If they are monsters in plural, it means there's more than one. Maybe we have to stop them all to the humans to came back?" the Mouse Kwami reasoned.

"I don't doubt there are more left. One of them took Nathalie a few hours ago... I took out, like, six of them. Before that, we burned one down in the manor and trapped another under a fire truck..." Marinette thought back. "Maybe there are four left? Five?"

"So what are we doing wasting time? If it happened earlier, it means those monsters shouldn't be so far away. We can go find that Nathalie and defeat the remaining bad guys in the process! Two birds with one stone!" Orikko said energetically. "I think that sounds bad coming from me..."

"I can't do that. Chloe doesn't know I'm Ladybug. I can't just disappear like that. She'd be vulnerable and terrified! I don't want to put her through that again!" the girl explained to the mini-gods.

"Again?" Trixx raised an eyebrow, to which Marinette leaned against the wall, sitting normally in bed.

"I was so stupid that I went out to investigate in the middle of the night, I lost track of time because it was stormy, and when she woke up I wasn't there..." She said, hugging her legs. "She was so scared that she went looking for me in the middle of a downpour, but I was so focused on something else, being Ladybug, that I didn't hear her screaming for help since her friend, me, disappeared..." The Kwamis looked at her worriedly as a tear ran down her cheek. "When she found me, she hugged me. She hugged me with the same strength that Chat Noir hugs me after a akuma attacks me..."

"Are we still talking about Chloe?" Xuppu whispered to Pollen, who looked in Tikki's direction.

"Is that my Chloe? Is that really the girl I accused of being worse than Hawk Moth?" At her questions, the Kwami of creation nodded, making the yellow fairy feel bad.

"I'm all she has left, and she's all I have, but I still keep letting her down, lying to her, and failing to fix all of this..." Marinette continued, wiping away her tears. "That's why I couldn't go after Nathalie. I can't leave her unprotected, and I can't be in two places at once..."

The Kwamis shared her grief, some meditating and others staring sadly at the sheet.

"It's a shame you can't use my powers without revealing your identity. Chloe would definitely be suspicious if she saw Ladybug in mouse mode with her..." Mullo said, feeling helpless.

"Yeah, and if you try to disguise yourself as a civilian like last time with my power, all it takes is for Chloe to pat you on the back and it will reveal everything." Trixx added, scratching is head.

"Like last time... THAT'S IT!" The girl's face lit up. "I can't protect Chloe as Ladybug, but I don't need to be Ladybug to protect her... She wouldn't even need me to protect herself!"

!
•
¡

To say the guardian was excited by this new idea was an understatement, just as to say the Kwamis were skeptical was generous. It was simple, a straightforward solution to the problem, like all of her heroine plans. If Ladybug couldn't find Nathalie while Marinette protected Chloe, then they would remove the heroine from the equation and they would be the ones searching for the sick woman.

She would pretend that the heroine from Paris had brought them a gift, that she had given them both a Miraculous: the mouse for the girl with pigtails and the bee for the blonde. That way, Marinette could more freely and honestly protect her dear "friend" while protecting her primary identity. She still had the chance to make one of her clones deviate to become a multibug and use the Lucky Charm if needed. Up to that point, the Kwamis thought it was an excellent idea, until the guardian decided she would also give a Miraculous for the heiress.

She swore Chloe was a great help when they acted as equals, that they'd have a better chance of winning if the blonde took a more active role as well. While her word was law, the mini-gods had their serious doubts. After all, they still held a very unfavorable image of the Princess of Paris, and a few words in five minutes wouldn't be enough to automatically change that perspective.

With this in mind, Marinette ordered them to hide so they could see the scene firsthand, this time without any of them playing tricks. That way, they would see how the scene unfolds and how the heiress reacts. That way, perhaps, they could see the Chloe Marinette had met last week, and if not, they would be free to interfere if things got out of hand. So that's what they did: they waited, hiding near the Miraculous box, ready to act or leave everything in the hands of the unexpected duo.

"Chloe! Come quickly! I have good news!" said the raven-haired girl in an excited tone, following as soon as her new friend peeked through the trapdoor. "I think Ladybug agrees with you about defending ourselfs..."

The Kwamis were all waiting for the blonde's reaction, even Pollen and Mullo. While their Miraculous jewels would be delivered and were already placed on the couch, given the former's animosity, they decided it was best for her to also be aware of the physical plane during the delivery. They would simply take advantage of the darkness of the room to fly through her blind spots and begin to glow to simulate the summoning of the jewel.

Now they just had to see how things would unfold, if the temptation of power didn't bring out the worst of the heiress, if everything the girls had experienced up until now hadn't been a façade, if the guardian's emotions were reciprocated and she deserved their trust. They were ready for whatever might happen.

"Remember you asked me which Miraculous Ladybug gave me? So I wouldn't have to go around helping Markov in my pajamas? It was that necklace, the mouse one," Marinette said excitedly, as if she were genuinely excited to tell her. They didn't know if she was just good at acting or if finally being able to tell Chloe a truth, even if it was only half-truthed, made her so happy. "That comb has a picture of a bee on it. It means Queen Bee will return! Come, let me put it on you hair."

"Don't touch it!" The heiress grabbed her arm before she could finish reaching for it.

The Kwamis were already on alert from the sudden action, fearing that the worst had come true and greed had come out... But instead of pushing the guardian aside and taking the power for herself, the blonde hugged her and pulled her back with herself. It was almost as if she were protecting Marinette, acting as if the comb were some kind of bomb.

"What is she doing? What is going on?" Pollen whispered to Wayzz.

"I don't know..." the turtle replied, both of them moving around on the desk to get a better look.

"This is bad, very bad... That shouldn't be here..." Chloe said in the darkness, a hint of fear in her voice.

"Chloe, what's going on? Why would this be bad? You said yourself today that this is what Ladybug should have done from the beginning..." the guardian declared beside her, both now in a dark corner of the room.

"Just because I'm right doesn't mean I want to be right!... Not with this..." There was something in the blonde's tone, a hint of sadness.

At one point, Marinette took out a match and lit it, helping the Kwamis see the scene better and revealing the blonde's glowing eyes. It was as if they were about to cry, as if she were afraid. The guardian looked surprised, but her face quickly became calmer, more compassionate, her soft features even beautiful in the matchlight. She moved to light a half-burned candle, still at her side and in the heiress's grasp.

"Chloe... What's wrong?" she asked again, more gently, stroking her friend's arm with her free hand.

"It's... It's just... I can't use that Miraculous... Not again... Not now..." she admitted, to which Marinette guided her to sit on some suitcases.

"Why?"

"Because every time I use it, every time someone gives it to me, every time I try to be a hero... Bad things happen... And I'm tired of having bad luck every time things go well..." the blonde confessed.

"Bad luck? But we don't bring bad luck," Daizzi said from behind a ball of yarn.

"And I'm not Plagg... How could I be bad luck?" Pollen felt somewhat offended and puzzled at the same time, and they continued listening to the conversation.

"We've talked about this before. There's nothing wrong with being a good person, with changing, with trying to be a hero..." The guardian assured her, placing her hand on top of hers.

"I know, I know... But... This is different... Whenever life seems to give me the opportunity, everything goes incredibly wrong..." Chloe looked at the comb across the room, in its own island of light from a candle next to the couch. "I found it at the Eiffel Tower the first time. It was my chance to be like Ladybug, to be special, to show my mom that... Well... That I was better than you..." She looked at the floor in shame. Unable to look at Marinette in the eye.

"The first time you were Queen Bee..." She remembered.

"And look how it ended... I stupidly endangered a train, I got into a fight with Ladybug and Chat Noir, I was the first akumatized with a Miraculous, and in the end, what did I achieve? Only for Mom to call me disappointing, utterly useless, on national television..." The heiress reminisced, sounding hurt. Some Kwamis felt sorry for her.

"Well... That's what happens when they use our powers for evil, right Wayzz?" Xuppu reasoned.

"Maybe... But if that were the case, Hawk Moth would have given up a long time ago..." The turtle replied, turning his gaze to the guardian's friend.

"Then Ladybug would give me the Miraculous again, only to tell me I couldn't be Queen Bee again after I helped her... But she'd still give it back to me afterward... Did she do it just so she could tell me in the face that I wasn't worthy of being one? What was her problem?" This time it sounded more like a complaint, more annoyed than sad.

"You know it's not like that... You and I broke the secret identity rule, and that rule exists to protect us as civilians, us and our families..." Marinette explained, a little guilty. "Besides, at least you had more opportunities to be a hero than I did, right? M-maybe she thinks more of you than what you coul believe..."

"No, it's not like that..." Chloe shook her head. "Not after I saw that comb in Hawk Moth's hands... I wanted to save my parents, he chose to akumatize them directly, and Ladybug pushed me aside... He offered me the chance to save them... And to get revenge..."

"Chloe..." Marinette approached, placing the candle on the floor and stroking her friend's back as she squeezed her hand. "It wasn't your fault. He manipulated you into being on his side... Ladybug..." She hesitated, before looking at the floor, somewhat sadly. "Ladybug made a mistake... And Hawk Moth took advantage of that to take advantage of you..."

"I Help Hawk Moth!" The heiress raised her voice, facing her angrily, but not at the guardian, it seemed more like to her own. "I helped him! I revealed the identities of so many heroes. I wanted to teach Paris's greatest heroine a lesson!" There was a pause, silence reigning again as the blonde stared at the floor, crying. "And what did I achieve? I didn't win anything, I lost even though I had all the Miraculous, Hawk Moth got off scot-free, and I was left looking like the worst person in Paris. I threw a monumental tantrum for nothing..."

"It takes a lot of courage to admit that..." Longg whispered, turning around. He didn't need to see more, but continued listening with the others. None more attentive than Pollen.

"Relax... I know it won't end like that this time. This time it will be different... There's no one way to lose, it's just you and me, and I know you won't hurt me..." She reassured her, wiping a tear away with her finger.

"That's what you think, but I always find a way..." While the Kwamis weren't used to human expressions, they could tell it wasn't a threat. Chloe's voice sounded pained, as if she were powerless against her fate. "The last time I saw that Miraculous, I... I found out who Vesperia was..."

"You... Do you know who the new bee wielder was?" The heiress nodded at Marinette's question, without looking at her face.

"She is... She's someone I know... It hurt me a lot to find out she was my replacement..." explained the girl in the yellow cardigan, without mentioning Zoe's name directly. This surprised the hidden fairies, especially for someone who had given Hawk Moth the identity of half a team of heroes. "And it seems Ladybug chose well, since she was so good that when she saw me sad, she... She gave me back the Miraculous..."

"Is that how it happened?" Wayzz whispered to Pollen in the darkness.

"Since the guardian didn't come back to collect the Miraculous, my wielder decided to give up my power so I wouldn't get bored waiting... Honestly, I don't know what really happened..." replied the bee.

"And yet you assumed the worst?" The green Kwami didn't say it in a recriminatory way, but his partner still felt like he was accusing her.

"With her record, wouldn't you?"

They both stopped when they heard Chloe continue.

"Mari... That was the night before everyone disappeared... I literally had that comb back in my hair, and what happened? All I did was argue with my Kwami instead of apologizing about Miracle Queen, I went to sleep upset after sending her to find me si- her real carrier... And then I woke up to find all of humanity gone..." Now the blonde was hugging herself, the turtle looked back at the yellow Kwami.

"Yes... That did happen... Word for word..." She admitted in a low, embarrassed voice. "I got upset, assumed the worst, and we argued. She was rude, but she told me to go to my original carrier to prove that she wasn't lying..."

"And since she was your carrier at the time and was certain, her will instructed you to search the entire hotel endlessly for her replacement to confirm, right?" Wayzz questioned, to which Pollen nodded. Chloe was her legitimate carrier at the time.

"So you think something bad is going to happen now?" The guardian's voice echoed around the room as she rubbed circles on the blonde's back.

"I mean... I had nothing to lose before, and look how it all ended, we're in the middle of the end of the world... Now I have you, I'm changing, and I don't want to go back, not now, not now that you're my friend... I don't want to hurt you, not again... I don't want you to disappear, Marinette..." She confessed, looking at her companion as if she were the most valuable thing she had.

"Chloe..." At this, Marinette simply pulled her into a tight hug. "I understand, and don't worry, you don't have to use the Miraculous if you don't want to... But I promise nothing bad will happen this time... I'm not going anywhere. I'm your problem now, Bourgeois, and it won't be so easy for you to get rid of me..." She said with a smile, resting her chin on her shoulder.

"Hey, you copied my line..." She giggled, wiping away her tears, without moving away from the hug.

"What? You want to sue me instead of hugging me back?" The guardian said in a more playful tone, to calm the atmosphere.

"You're lucky there aren't any lawyers around now... And that I prefer to hug you..." The heiress returned the hug, and with that, the Kwamis saw everything they needed to see.

They departed back to the Miraculous box in silence, knowing that Marinette and her new companion had everything under control. They were once again amazed by the human capacity to change, to do the unexpected, to amaze ancient beings like those mini-gods with such small things. Seeing the two of them there, on that small island of light, they remembered why it was worth it to trade absolute freedom for the ability to interact with and protect life in the universe.

Then, in the midst of the silence, completely destroying the atmosphere of calm and hope that all in that room felt, a noise rised. A loud crash echoed from the ground floor and throughout the building. Something had broken a window, something entered the bakery.

Chapter Text

Although it was marketed as a modest business, the Dupain-Cheng bakery was quite popular. Its frequent customers included celebrity icons like Adrien Agreste and Jagged Stone, as well as recognizable people such as Paris's top TV reporter and even the mayor himself. On holidays, everyone would accompany their celebrations with some delicacies from the bakery and were even called upon to serve at events, such as movie premieres.

This recognition naturally led to the occasional attempted robbery, with thugs breaking in in the middle of the night hoping to make a quick buck. After all, it was just a bakery. Still, Marinette could count these attempted robberies with her fingers, and none of them escalated to anything particularly serious. It was nothing a long wooden bread paddle and a call to the police couldn't fix, and since superheroes were around, these crimes became even more uncommon... until tonight.

Tonight, someone, something, had entered the bakery. Something big, something with company, and this time there was no one to call for help. The stale bread shattered as it fell to the floor, two living dresses turning the bakery upside down. They made no sound as they walked over the broken glass of the shop windows, as if they carried no weight, but their incredible force shattered the door at the foot of the stairs. One slithered through the shadows like a thief in the night, a combination of a wedding dress and a trench coat. The other climbed up onto the ceiling, as if it were a spider and not a three-meter-long ball gown.

On the second floor, the moon cast a shadow across the window; something was moving outside, something that didn't even faze the creatures on the stairs. That something tore the structure from the frame and threw the window out onto the hard street, where its echo resonated through the empty block. Then a third suit entered. It was hunched over, sporting an almost formal appearance, composed of various layers of elegant vests and jackets, decorated with feathers and long strands of fabric wrapped around what would have been his waist and shoulders, moving almost like snakes. On his head was a top hat.

He advanced with his long legs, bell-bottoms that acted almost like elephant legs, dragging them along the carpet to the second flight of stairs. Each one advanced in a unique way, one hunched, another crouched, another moving like an insect, all writhing in the darkness as they eyelessly investigated the building. One stopped, trying to force the second-floor door to check the storeroom, while the other two were already peering up at the top floor, standing before the door of the Dupain-Cheng house.

When the hunchbacked monster went to grasp the handle, it found the door already ajar.

If such things could reason, then this fact should have set off their alarm bells, should have put them on alert, since it shouldn't be normal for a house to be so easy to break into. But, to Marinette's surprise, that wasn't the case. The creature didn't question that the door was so easy to open, it just gently pushed it forward, falling straight into the trap.

Before he could react, a very large pot filled with boiling water fell upside down on him, soaking him and trapping much of his upper body. It didn't look like the water had burned him, but the extra weight of the liquid plus the metal object falling on him suddenly knocked him off balance. The strips of fabric spread out, darting forward along with his sleeves to dig into the carpet and avoid falling to the floor from the sudden attack—that was the signal the girl with the space buns was waiting for.

With a swift movement, she charged from the base of the shelf next to the door, using a kitchen knife as if it were a greatsword, slicing through the silk and sleeves with spinning movements. A second one joined her, jumping from a higher vantage point between the shelves, helping to further segment the pieces of fabric. The monster fell completely to the ground, and from above, above the spotlight, a third Marinette emerged, propelling herself with incredible strength for her current size and pinning the pile of vests to the ground with a skewer.

The three quickly gathered around the pot, two armed and one unarmed. The creature was still thrashing and barely contained, but they had no time to waste as their enemies were also numerous, and unlike the girl with a jump rope tied around her waist, the monster in front of them was very, very large. Quickly, like a panther, the long-dressed pounced on their companion, trying to trap the mouse heroine with they long, flowery sleeves and silk gloves.

The mini-warriors moved swiftly, dodging the wriggling fingers as they slashed back, managing to land a couple of lucky shots before retreating deeper into the house. Naturally, the beast followed them, and the raven-haired girls scattered and regrouped around it, surrounding it and forcing it to turn around. They had its full attention, and they had it right at the foot of the stairs.

"Get down!" a blonde yelled.

Quickly, the long veil that acted as the monster's face sped toward the source of the noise, taking the full weight of a trunk tied to several suitcases tumbling down the stairs head-on. The creature was crushed with a loud crash, but was still moving frantically underneath. The heiress quickly jumped down and fall onto her improvised ram. She then jumped off it as she ran and grabbed one of the mini-heroines, the unarmed one, retreating with the group of one person.

"That went better than I expected..." Chloe said, leaping onto the couch before turning around, watching the figures struggle in the darkness.

"When you have my luck and two left feet, you get used to improvising... I guess I'm good at it now." said the mini-Marinette in her hands.

"Good at it? You're amazing at it!" she complimented her before running under the dining room table when she saw one of the monsters get up. "I didn't even have time to admire that adorable outfit before you started multiplying and moving everything..." the blonde confessed in a rush of adrenaline.

"Hehe, it's no big deal..." She scratched her neck, grateful that the darkness and her current size hid her blush. "I didn't want to ruin my second chance as Multimouse..."

Then the echo of a shattering sound resonated throughout the room, and immediately afterward, a window was violently shattered. The moonlight, however dim, illuminated the room. There were no shards of glass on the floor. The heiress quickly pushed the table so it fell on its side, creating a small shield between the two of them and the monsters at the entrance. Chloe held up her hand for her to look at, where the mini heroine could see the pile of vests with a hole in the middle of the chest and her soaked top hat hitting the ceiling.

"There goes Mom's pot..." Multimouse commented before leaping from the blonde's hand and back into action.

"Those things throw way too hard for cheap fabric..." The heiress tucked her arm away and stayed under cover, turning to another of the mini Marinettes carrying a knife. "Are you sure you can handle this alone? You didn't use the suitcases we packed for the move. If you move them out of the way, I can grab Louis and run to the Louve or somewhere safe... We can find a safe place..." She suggested.

"Relax, we have safety in numbers with the power of the mouse." she assured her with a determined look.

"Yes, but only for 5 minutes." she pointed. "I know how to use a Miraculous, and no matter how good you are at multitasking, we have a time limit before you put yourself in serious danger..."

"It wouldn't be the first time I worked under pressure... You know, for leaving schoolwork to the last minute, of course... Hehe..."

"Mari..." Her tone was serious and her eyes reflected concern. At this, Multimouse placed a hand on her cheek.

"Relax, I've got everything under control. As long as I can take them on individually, I'll be able to subdue them. I'll be fine, we'll be fine... Both you and I..." Then, beneath the sound of their clones fighting, literally underground, they heard something moving things in the warehouse.

"There are three of them..." Chloe sounded somewhat scared.

"And there are many, many more of me..." The girl with space buns said before running to the broken window and jumping through it. A small group of clones followed her. "We'll cut through outside, you stay safe." the last copy told her friend before jumping.

Although she said it as if they were going to separate, the truth was that she was still in the room with the heiress, still watching over her. After all, all her copies were her, all Marinette Dupain-Cheng. They all had the same wit, the same desire to protect and care for others, the same confusing love for the Princess of Paris, as well as the same experience. They were all fighting monsters with the mouse Miraculous, but only one had the ladybug earrings.

A clone had been left behind in the room above. Or was it perhaps the original body? Marinette was never sure; the mouse's power was rare, but what she was sure of was the plan. She would stay behind to guard the Miraculous that Chloe refused to use, protecting the comb so they could address the matter more calmly once it was all over. And if things got complicated, she could use Ladybug's powers unseen to summon the Lucky Charm and thus repair all the damage done.

"Come on, focus, Marinette. It sounds like an intense fight, but it's okay. Your others you will let you know if we need a Multi Bug..." She told herself, pacing back and forth on her bed, carrying the comb at her side as if it were a giant purse. "Maybe I should use the Lucky Charm right now? What if it's a Reflekta-type case and we just defeated the original akuma? We might lose our chance to get everyone back if I don't use it now..."

She let her imagination run wild while she waited for a signal, letting intrusive thoughts pass as she heard the fight downstairs. Not being able to act and knowing her friend was in the middle of it all made her feel sick. Then, snapping her out of her dark cloud, a cream-colored flash flew through the wall.

"We saw something thrown through the window, what's going on?!" the migration kwami yelled.

"Ah!" Our heroine went defensive in surprise, holding the comb as if she were going to use it as a weapon, then noticed who the new intruder was. "Kalki?"

"Guardian? Why are you using the Mouse Miraculous?"

"I told you not to run!" Sass also entered, somewhat tired.

"Where have you two been?!" the girl with space buns asked.

"Oh, it turns out migration and orientation don't exactly go hand in hand. She said she knew a shortcut... We ended up at the Nimes Arena..." the snake explained.

"This isn't the time for that. What did we miss? What's going on?" Kalki asked, partly out of concern and partly trying to avoid a possible scolding.

"I brought Chloe to live here. We went looking for Hawk Moth's lair without success. We found Nathalie and brought her to live here too. We saw cloth monsters that seek out Miraculous and kidnap people. I defeated some, but the Lucky Charm didn't return anyone. They kidnapped Nathalie, and we made a plan to go find her without revealing my identity to Chloe, but before that, the monsters arrived at the bakery. That's why all the mess... Oh! And Chloe looks good." She listed to bring the mini gods up to date.

"I shouldn't have suggested that shortcut; we missed a lot..." The horse Kwami said.

"Yeah... By the way, why is it important to know that Chloe looks good?" The snake raised an eyebrow.

"I didn't say that, I said she is good now..." Multimouse blushed. "Besides, there are more important things right now. There are monsters in the city. You two have to get back to the Miraculous box while I fix this..."

"Understood. If you need us, don't hesitate to call." Sass nodded before flying toward the box.

"That explains the strange bird we saw flying over the house," Kalki commented, flying after the snake.

"Wait... Strange bird?"

The copy with the earrings climbed toward the trapdoor above the bed, opening it easily despite its size and glancing out at the terrace. Then she looked up and noticed something moving in the starry sky. Sure enough, it looked like a strange bird, a headless bird. It looked like a sack of feathers with fuzzy pompoms on its sleeves. The creature circled like a vulture in the dark, as if waiting for someone to die before it could feast.

Then the beast began to spin faster and faster until it began to rotate on its own stationary axis. Then it fell. It propelled itself forward with force and fell like a rocket, spinning violently as it aimed directly at the trapdoor. The mini-heroine barely had time to jump onto the bed and get out of the way before the monster hit, the impact causing the entire building to shake. From Marinette's bedroom to the living room, even the warehouse shook slightly.

Now the Multimouse with the earrings was lying on the carpet, when she open her eyes she saw what was expected after such an attack. A hole in the ceiling, the loft and her bed collapsed and broken, and the bee Miraculous right between her and a pile of clothes on the floor. As soon as this pile began to move, she too sprang into action. She ran and grabbed the comb before one of the pompom sleeves flung upward, falling hard and trying to hit her. She moved out of the way and watched in amazement as something so seemingly soft could be so strong as to sink the floor.

Like a mouse, she sprinted in all directions to dodge the blows from the fabric, trying to cover herself and fuse her Miraculouses, but only succeeded in causing the monster to break more and more things in her room. This was what she hated most about when akumas attacking her house, not only did they endanger her family, they also destroyed her home, sometimes forcing her to participate in the destruction if she wanted to save the day.

This time seemed to be no exception. 'It's okay, with the Lucky Charm, everything will be back to normal. It'll be as if nothing had happened. Mom and Dad will be back, the house will be as good as new, and Chloe and I will sleep comfortably in my tidy room.' She told herself in her head to give herself courage, as the cloth monster was on her heels, literally trying to push her over with its stiletto heels. The raven-haired heroine dodged stomps, punches, and sweeps, all while clinging to the yellow Miraculous.

She quickly opted to get reinforcements, so she ran toward the stairs, leading her new guest to the living room. They were greeted by a pitched battle. The mini Marinettes had managed to almost completely dismantle the beast made of vests, but it was clear that the other dress had managed to free itself from the weight of the suitcase crate. For her part, Chloe was running around carrying Louis, dodging as best she could, trying to keep herself and the dog out of the way. Even in the darkness and chaos of the moment, seeing the blonde in one piece put a smile on the Multimouse with earrings face.

Then, a very large bag of flour flew through the air from the entrance, knocking down three of her clones who were mid-air in the middle of an acrobatic stunt, creating an explosion of white dust. When she turned around and headed for the front door, she saw it—another cloth monster covered in scratches and cuts, entering right behind a group of her clones. 'Obviously we had the same idea; we're the same person after all...' the mouse heroine lamented, seeing how she now had three and a half monsters in her living room.

Her problems began to accumulate, and she began to lose ground. Yes, she was literally an army of one, but they were very small, and her opponents were very large, with long limbs and unpredictable movements, and now their numbers were increasing as well. She could deal with them one at a time, but all together they had become a problem to be reckoned with. The sound of small grumbs began to fill the air as the monsters began to land blows, luckily both she and her doubles had superhuman resistance, because those lashes should easily turn her into dust with her current size.

This angered the heiress, who looked both sickened by the violent blows and annoyed. Little Louis, for his part, began to bark, and against Chloe's protests, he leaped into the fight, running straight toward one of the monsters and snapping at it without a second thought. The little boy wanted to help; he was doing his job, protecting his new owners. But unfortunately, the creature he attacked wasn't a simple thief, not even human, and as unfazed by the bite as by the animal, it simply lifted him into the air and threw him hard. Very hard.

The fabric tore, and the dog flew straight ahead, almost crashing into the wall. But he didn't; instead, he collided with a white T-shirt with black stripes. Chloe managed to jump in between to cushion the blow, saving the animal but also crashing hard into the wall next to the window. She fell to the ground with a whimper, clutching the poor basset hound, and terror gripped the mouse with the earrings—all of them. And at that moment, thanks to that small distraction, the pom-pom jacket caught her, pulling out her comb as she struggled.

Luckily, with that size, it couldn't see or feel the earrings or the necklace, but that didn't mean it didn't have a Miraculous in his hands. What would those things do now? Run away like when they caught people? Would they leave? Would they search harder to find the rest? None of the Multimouses were willing to give them that chance. Most charged toward the sack of feathers to retrieve the comb, while a small group went to attend to the blonde.

Then, the unthinkable happened. A flash of golden light flooded the room, a flash as bright as the sun, like when they acquired their heroic identities by activating their Miraculous. And that's exactly what had happened. Her mini copies had frozen again, as had her friend. They were all watching as the creature changed its color scheme from red and black to yellow and black. Now its fabric wrapped around the sack in such a way that it resembled the stripes of a bee.

"Oh no... Not again..." Chloe sobbed, watching her fears come true.

"They can use Miraculous too?!" The mini heroine beside her was incredulous and angry. "Of course they can use them... Kidnap people, search for magic jewels, fly, feel no pain, have no bones, use magic jewels, what else, Hawk Moth?! Do they do your taxes too?!" She complained, she was too tired of all the surprises the cloth monsters brought.

As if to answer her question, the creature raised one of its black pompoms, and a stinger of light emerged from it, just like when Queen Bee and Vesperia used Venom. Then it swung at one of the clones that launched herself at it with a knife, causing it to fall frozen to the ground, unable to move. Then it threw another punch, and another, and another. And all the mini-heroines who couldn't dodge fell paralyzed. That monster had the power of the Bee Miraculous, and it was spamming it.

In less than five minutes, the situation had gotten completely out of control. Multiple creatures, her house turned upside down, her beloved injured, her new pet too, a magical jewel in the enemy's hands, and her army of herself forced onto the defensive by the bee's power. And she was running out of time. She had to think of something. Marinette had to think fast before it all ended here and now.

"I'm sorry..." A tearful voice said next to her. Marinette turned to her side. Chloe cried as she watched the creature decimate the Multimouse army. "I'm so sorry, Mari... It's happening again..."

"No! Of course not! This isn't your fault, none of this is your fault..."

"I should have stopped doubting, I should have used the Miraculous to help you, now we won't be able to stop that thing..." The tears continued as her friend hugged the unconscious dog.

"I'll find a way, I always do..."

"No, you can't. Even Ladybug needed Chat Noir to destroy the Miraculous to stop me when I was akumatized... That thing is indestructible, and on top of that, it can paralyze us all..." the heiress explained, moving to avoid another sack of flour.

"We don't need to destroy the Miraculous; I need to take it away from him so I can cut it."

"And how do you plan to do that if you can't get close? I don't think it will fall on his own..." Chloe's need to have the last word made the mini-heroine remember something, something she saw back at the Agreste manor.

The cloth monster chasing them had caught fire, and its seams burned through first, causing it to fall apart. Supernatural or not, magic or not, they were still clothes. A plan formed in her head.

"Sorry, Chloe..." She apologized as she grabbed the blonde's leg.

"You don't have to apologize for anything. I'm the one who- Woah!" Her words were interrupted when the mini-copy pushed her up and threw her through the hole in the window.

Quickly, four of her doppelgangers rushed out behind Chloe to cushion her fall, while the Multimouse who threw her proceeded to grab the sack of flour and throw it toward the cloth monsters. With a whiplash, they shattered the sack and created a cloud of flour in the air. Our heroine took advantage of the distraction to run to the kitchen.

"Multimouses! We're leaving!" she ordered, to which her companions ceased their attempts to fight and ran to the room upstairs.

Several fell paralyzed in the process, but enough made it to the top of the stairs. She, for her part, ran to the stove and turned all the oven knobs, hoping there was enough gas and that her copy with the earrings had already summoned the Lucky Charm. She quickly dodged a downward blow from one of the monsters, which broke the sink and caused a water leak.

"Nothing a surprise arrival from Ladybug can't fix..." she said, grabbing a box of matches before dodging again.

She moved with dexterity and agility, running across the room, in the process causing the yellow and black monster to hit one of her fellow creatures with the poison, paralyzing it. Now it was only two of them against one Multimouse. She was on the losing end, but I was only trying to hold on long enough. Thanks to the shadows cast by the moonlight, she could see that her copies had already took out the suitcases. She turned and saw the sewing machine where she hid the Miraculouses box fall next to her other selves. The way was clear.

Then she heard her necklace beep. She was running out of time before detransforming. Luckily, she didn't need any more. She dodged a downward blow from the stinger, which caught on the floor. She, for her part, fell onto the side of the fallen table, between the window and the monsters. The air smelled of flour and gas, a devastating combination.

"You know... When I fall down, I'll probably end up detransform, going from my Multimouse costume to my Ladybug costume..." She took a match out of the box; its size made it look almost like a torch. "I will have to explain a lot to Chloe... But I know we'll make it through... We'll have a home to go back to, a peaceful place... Without you..."

Just as the monster was about to throw another stinger, the girl with the space buns lit the match. There was light, and with the light, a noise. A dazzling flash, a shrill bang, and a powerful shock wave. Everyone saw it, everyone heard it, and everyone felt it, and she was in the front row.

Then, deafened by the explosion and blinded by the brightness, all that copy felt was cold. Damp, wet, and enveloping cold. She had fallen into the river and was sinking. Then, she felt a hand grab her, and the air returned to her lungs. She could hear gasps beside her. It was Chloe. Chloe jumped in to rescue her, holding her above the water with one hand while climbing with the other.

"Oh my God! Mari!" was all the blonde could say as she climbed back onto the sidewalk.

Her copies came to help her up. Now everyone was outside, on the street, illuminated by an orange light. Louis, her copies, the suitcases, the still-hidden Miraculous box, Chloe, and her in her hand.

"Mari... Your house..." Her friend's voice cracked.

"Is okey... Everything will we fine..." She assured her after coughing up some water.

"No... It's not... Your house... Mari, the whole bakery..."

Then her necklace rang again, beeping rapidly. In the blink of an eye, her copies vanished into a bright pink light, the sparkles flying toward the Multimouse in the blonde's hand. It had returned to its normal size before detransforming. Now Marinette was in her friend's wet arms, who held her tightly. To the raven-haired girl's surprise, her friend didn't comment on her red outfit with black spot, but it didn't matter; she just had to cast the Lucky Charm and they could talk it over calmly inside.

Then she realized. She couldn't feel anything in her hand. She lifted it and found it empty, and to her horror, found only her pale skin. She looked down at her own body; she was wearing her civilian clothes. If you use two Miraculous at the same time and one runs out of power before the other, you're left with only the outfit of the second, but she didn't have one at the moment. 'Didn't I...? None of my copies activated the...?' Then she saw it.

Her eyes widened in horror. The light reflected off in her tears, the silhouette burned into her mind. The entire building, her parents' bakery, her home, was litting up the entire block. The only light in all of Paris, blotting out the stars with its smoke. She didn't have the Lucky Charm, and her house was on fire.

Chapter Text

We all have a place we know like the back of our hand, a place we can walk through even with the lights off, a place full of memories. For Marinette, that place was her home; she didn't even need to see it to visualize it perfectly. The table where she shared a delicious meal with her family, the couch where she played video games side by side with her father, the doorframe where her mother marked how much she had grown. She even remembered where her bed was before she convinced her parents to let her sleep in a loft.

That building saw her stumble, get up, and fall again, only to get back on her feet. In it, she learned, she learned to be herself, to cook, to sew, to improvise, and to be brave. Those walls covered her when she needed to cry, when she needed security, and they let her shine. That building saw her grow, mature, become a hero and a good person. It was her home. It is her home. And now it was being consumed by flames, lighting up the entire street in the middle of the night.

Every corner of the building, the places she hid while playing hide-and-seek, where she would cry alone until her parents found her. Every gift she knitted for her loved ones, every treasure filled with precious memories, each and every one was engulfed in fire, the only light in a darkened Paris. And it was her fault, from the state of the world to that of her house. She failed, she let Hawk Moth, or someone, take humanity away. And she decided to burn her own house, she did it. She thought she had everything under control, so she willingly made her worst nightmare come true.

Marinette turned to her side, there they were on the sidewalk facing the river. The suitcases they'd packed to move elsewhere after Nathalie's disappearance, along with the sewing machine where she hid the Miraculous box, and hugging her was Chloe. The heiress didn't speak, probably not knowing what to say; she was wet and cold from the sudden dip. She threw her out the window wile she was Multimouse, she took them all out as a precaution, because she had already decided that the only way to stop the monster with the comb was to burn everything.

She took them all out for safety, in case the Lucky Charm didn't work again, in case something went wrong. She knew this could happen, and yet she did it anyway. She deliberately burned down her home, all to win. 'Th-this is what I do? Did I cause things like this often? How many times would things have ended like this if it weren't for the Lucky Charm?' the questions rose above the white noise her brain had sunk into. Amid the memories of her home turning to ash, this doubt gripped her heart, incredulous and fearful of her own decisions.

They sat there for a few long minutes, sitting on the floor with the crackling of the fire as the only sound in the entire city. The heat radiating from the burning building counteracted the cold of the dip they took. They weren't even close, and yet she felt as if she were going to get a tan from the intensity emanating from it. From the bakery to her now probably nonexistent room, the four floors were red-hot and the wind blew sparks through the air, while smoke covered the starry sky.

Then, inside the fire, something moved. On the side facing the park, something emerged from the second floor. An amorphous ball of flames shot from the wall and fell onto the street with a thud, spilling onto the floor. Then it began to move.

"No, no, no... Stop..." She begged, her voice breaking, tears in her eyes. Marinette couldn't believe it hadn't finished yet. "Please... Just... Just stop..."

Chloe quickly crouched down beside her, reaching out to cover her, putting herself between her and the flaming monster. She was wet, scared, bruised, probably hurt, and she didn't have a Miraculous, and yet there she was. Her former bully, protecting her, ready to be a human shield. The pigtailed girl noticed, hating herself for not being able to move, for being stunned by the shock of the moment.

The cloth monster began to move is incandescent form, staggering aimlessly. It took a couple of steps toward them, a half step to the side, a couple of steps back toward the park, spreading its sleeves as if was about to fly, only for one to fall off and fall to the ground. In the end, the creature simply tilted and collapsed onto the street, crumbling into a pile of burning fabric. Then they noticed: a fragment of it bounced off as it hit the ground, a fragment that retained is shape and rigidity.

After waiting a few seconds to confirm that the monster wasn't playing dead, Chloe hurriedly stood up and ran toward it. She took off her yellow cardigan and used it to put out the fire where the sturdy object was. Then she wrapped it in the garment, which was still soaked in water. Trembling, she ran back to Marinette, falling to her knees to show her what was inside her makeshift bag.

"I got it... It's over... It's all over..." The blonde said softly, moving the yellow cloth to reveal a steaming comb. They had the Bee Miraculous back in their possession. "They didn't take any jewels from us... No... We didn't lose... Not everything..."

Her voice was shaky, fragile, struggling to sound hopeful, optimistic. Chloe wanted to make her believe there was a silver lining, she was trying to comfort her. The friend she couldn't protect, the one whose her constant mistakes affected the most, was trying to cheer her up, to protect her both physically and mentally. Chloe Bourgeois was trying not to crumble into pieces so she would have something to lean on. 'What a hero I am...' she told herself in her mind, hating to ruin the blonde's sweet gesture with her self-loathing.

Marinette quickly wiped her tears with her fingertips. She had to pull herself together, after all, she was supposed to be the one taking care of others. After all, she was the one who made this mistake. She stood up and helped her friend do the same, then looked around. They were out in the open, out in the open in the middle of the street, exposed to anything. As if that were not enough, the glow of the blazing fire only made the darkness of the night even deeper.

Their small island of light only amplified the darkness that flooded the electricity-deprived Paris of nighttime. Anything hiding there, be it more monsters, animals, or the akuma itself, would be completely undetectable.

"We have to hide until morning... We can't go to the new shelter in these conditions... Not at night..." Marinette tried to sound firm, holding back the tears that threatened to burst forth.

Chloe needed to feel safe more than she herself, or at least that's what the bakers' daughter believed. They both grabbed what they could and, slowly and silently, went to the only nearby place they knew well enough to navigate in the dark. They went to the Collège Françoise Dupont. It was on the next block, had been open since day one of the disappearance, and both had been studying there for years, so they were familiar with the facilities.

Of course, the place was very, very different in the absolute darkness of the night. The open concrete courtyard was completely empty, nothing to trip over, no structures of any kind in the way, just several square meters of absolute nothingness. The lack of a roof and the windowed rooms on the sides, along with the open walkways on the second floor, made the place feel more like a wrestling ring. They had nothing to hide in and nothing to use to defend themselves; they were exposed to whatever might leap out of the darkness.

With this in mind, they entered the locker room, where they had a completely diferent problem. There were plenty of places to hide, plenty of places where a monster or wild animal could be and they wouldn't notice. As if that weren't enough, no matter where they positioned themselves, they would always have plenty of blind spots even without the darkness obscuring everything.

Still, it was their only option.

They huddled against the lockers and went to the back, to the most secluded corner they could find. The orange light from the fire on the next block filtered through the windows, giving them the slightest bit of light and reminding Marinette of what she'd done. They put their suitcases and boxes to the sides, not wanting them to be an obstacle in case they had to run. Then, they sat on the floor and waited, hugging their own legs, staring into the darkness until morning.

"Mari... Um... Marinette..." Chloe hesitated before continuing, placing a hand on our heroine's shoulder. "Do you... Um... Want to talk about it?"

Her question was cautious, and her movements were awkward. She was doing it again, it wasn't normal for her, but she still tried to be on the other side, to be the support for the girl with pigtails. This made her stomach knot up. This was her job. She was the heroine here. She should be the one comforting the heiress at a time like this, not leaving that burden on an innocent civilian, not someone she herself had directly affected by her own bad decisions.

"No... Thanks, but I'm fine... It's just a house..." Marinette said, trying not to think about it so her eyes wouldn't overflow with tears.

"But... Mari, it's our- I mean... It's your house..."

"Buildings get damaged all the time when an akuma attacks... I'm used to it..." She lied, quickly looking for a way to divert the conversation. Then she noticed her friend's hand feeling cold and trembling. "You should take some dry clothes out of your suitcase... You're going to get sick if you spend all night like this..."

"I... I'm not cold..." She looked away, probably embarrassed by her pointing out that she was shivering.

"It's okay, Chloe, you don't have to act tough... It's a difficult time, you have the right to be afraid..." The guardian said, standing up. 'Sorry for putting you in a situation like this...' she apologized in her mind, she didn't have the strength to say it out loud without crying. "I'll go stand guard, so you can do it whit privacy..." Before she could stand up, a hand pulled her back again.

"No... Please..." the blonde begged. "I'll change, but don't leave... I'm fine with you being here... But I don't want to lose sight of you again, any of you..." Her words broke Marinette's heart.

She must have been terrified when she threw her out the window, knowing there were so many copies of her being slaughtered by an unstoppable monster. On top of that, when she lost sight of her, the building exploded, and one of her copies fell into the water. The fear of knowing that they were all part of her only friend must have been enormous now, even more so now that she herself had destroyed the little normality she had built with the heiress.

The raven-haired girl sat there, unable to leave her side and feeling a enormous, enormous guilt. She felt guilty for the situation she'd put Chloe in, for blatantly lying to her, for keeping her so lost and confused in such an unusual situation. Marinette felt guilty for the light from the flames filtering through the window, for the poor, injured puppy on her lap, and for having the nerve to feel the heat on her cheeks while her crush changed her shirt and pants beside her.

It was simply wrong from our heroine's perspective. She shouldn't have made the situation worse. She shouldn't have expected Chloe to simply accept a Miraculous and do her job for her by lying so blatantly. The blondy shouldn't feel bad about something that's her fault, she can't just fall apart and leave her mistakes uncorrected. She can't simply act like a lovesick child when the world and her loved ones depend on her.

Marinette had to fix all of this. She had to be strong so neither Chloe nor Louis would have to, so they could feel safe and at ease. She had to endure this, she needed to be tough, for them.

Chapter Text

The sun began to peek over the horizon, slowly bathing the abandoned buildings and empty streets in its light. It was another sepulchral morning in Paris, devoid of any noise except that of nature itself, taking back what was hers. The wind blew between the buildings, with no one to drown out its song. The water flowed through the river with force, speed, and health, with no one to muddy it or disturb its flow. The fire... The fire continued to crackle in the background, just as it had all night.

It had already been the second Thursday since everyone disappeared, and Marinette still couldn't believe that everything had gotten worse instead of better. She hadn't made any progress at all. She hadn't come any closer to discovering the cause, nor to finding Hawk Moth's lair. The number of people she was supposed to protect remained, tragically, the same. Even though she only had one person to defend, she failed miserably to do so, leaving her in an incredibly vulnerable state by her own decisions.

It was as if time hadn't passed, as if she'd gone back to that Tuesday when it all began. The only thing that confirmed she wasn't in a time loop was the fact that her home no longer existed. As soon as she walked out the school entrance carrying her suitcases, she smelled it: the horrible mix of burnt bread with ash. The girl with pigtails turned her head to the right; it must have hurt her soul, but she needed to know if the fire had spread to other buildings, but something blocked her field of vision.

Or at least she tried to.

Chloe, who was behind her, hurried to stand beside her, placing herself right between her and the sight of the burnt bakery. The suitcase she was holding and her bag, where they'd put Louis, had been whipped forward by the sudden braking. Even her ponytail was resting on her shoulder. She just shook her head to toss her hair back, looking forward nervously, then looked at Marinette for a few seconds before turning to look in another direction, whistling. Her intentions were as clear as the river water; she was still trying to protect her from such a awful sight.

Still, just as she couldn't hide the sun with a finger, the blonde couldn't hide our heroine's mistakes either. She was only about 10 centimeters taller than Marinette, and her fair skin, golden hair, and white and yellow clothing only highlighted the burnt background. The structure was blackened like coal, with thick, dark smoke rising high above them, standing out equally against the blue sky and white clouds. The fire had spread, and although the daylight hid it, the flames hadn't yet gone out.

Now she could add the entire block where her house stood to the long list of victims of her heroic inadequacy. 'Focus, Marinette, focus. You won't fix anything by crying over spilled milk... It's not a big deal... I-it's just a building... Just a building...' She shook her head, cutting off her train of thought. She couldn't pretend it didn't happen. She had to acknowledge her mistakes if she wanted to correct them, but she also couldn't afford to get lost in her self-loathing. Or at least she tried to not doing it.

Determined, she gritted her teeth and tightened her grip on the suitcases, moving forward without a word. The blonde followed close behind. The priority was to reach the new shelter. She had to get Chloe and the Miraculous box to safety; only then would she have the privilege of thinking about how to deal with the fire or find Nathalie. The light-blue eyed girl had already decided against the idea of understanding what was happening, or finding the culprit. She needed to focus on something more manageable, to narrow down her world to find something, anything, the smallest thing she could achieve. She needed to feel like she was doing something, that she was being useful. She needed to not ruin everything for once in days.

They walked through the streets the same way they had the day before, cautiously and warily peeking around every corner. They didn't know what might still be outside, and they were a slow and vulnerable target because of the luggage they were carrying. They didn't know if the ones in the bakery were the last of the cloth monsters, just as they didn't know if the animals had left the city or simply gone into hiding, and now that the big, scary living clothes were gone, predators would once again stalk for prey.

Luckily, she still had at least a window to improvise, a little insurance in case something happened along the way. She still had the mouse pendant along with her ladybug earrings; she could turn to Multimouse if anything happened. Similarly, they still had the bee Miraculous; Chloe didn't have to use it if she was there herself. She could protect her without exposing her identity. 'With the copies, I even have the Multibug insurance with the Lucky Charm... No doubt this time it will work out... Because I can't tell her I'm Ladybug, and that's why I'm going to keep lying to her... Lying to my newly reformed friend, betraying her trust... And risking burning down all of Paris because I can't help being Marinette and ruining everything...' she thought as they took cover behind a car before crossing the street.

It was a problem she'd had since she first received the earrings. She was too Marinette, she IS too Marinette. Too clumsy, too distracted, unreliable, with poor judgment at times. She had the intentions, but she always let the worst of her win at the most inopportune moments. Even in these moments, she had to make a conscious effort to walk upright, to not step on her own feets, to not drop her suitcases and leave them exposed in the middle of an open field because her clothes were scattered all over the street.

Every so often, she saw her companion, who would go ahead and wordlessly insist on staying on the outside of the sidewalk, where something would be more likely to attack. Once again, she acted to protect her. Marinette couldn't help but frown, annoyed with herself for being jealous and frustrated with the heiress's growth. She was being protective and selfless, like her best friends, like Adrien, like Chat Noir. And how was she responding to this blossoming? With a knot in her stomach from her own self-loathing.

She felt bad for not being able to protect her, for mot being the hero and still always needing others to look out for her. Chat Noir was always on the receiving end of the attacks, Alya was the one who discovered the secrets of the Grimoire, Markov was the one processing data to figure out what happened to humanity, and now Chloe Bourgeois was the one looking out for her. She'd been beaten with a dog, whipped against a wall, thrown out of a window, swum in a river, and traumatized by the fire—and yet here she was, carrying a dog too weak to walk long distances, suitcases in hand, ready to be a human shield. Always close, always protecting her.

Marinette wanted to be proud of her, but she kept thinking that it was wrong. She's supposed to be the hero, the guardian, she's the one with the power to fix everything, and that's why she has the world on her shoulders. If only she could be a little more Ladybug now that everyone needed her the most. 'Although it's not like you're better as her, right? With or without powers, you're still you...' The thought echoed in her head.

She swallowed and held back tears. It wasn't the time to do this, but with each stop they took to regain energy, all she could think about was the little robot's words. Markov was a logical machine, working with empirical data and interpreting it reliably, and he also brought out how flawed she was as a hero. She took too many risks, trusting too much that the Lucky Charm would fix everything. She broke the rules as if she were above them, as if she weren't just a little girl in magic pajamas. She was a bad influence without realizing it, and worse, she hadn't changed in all this time.

She hadn't become more careful, hadn't even thought about all the things she was doing wrong as a hero, it took all of humanity disappearing for her to even begin to think about it. Yes, she won the fights day after day, but she wasn't even close to winning the war. Hawk Moth remained a mystery, as he had been from day one, neither of them was close to defeating the other, and every time the tide shifted, she lost. She let her relationship with Chat Noir deteriorate little by little, she lost a great ally, she lost Master Fu, she lost all of humanity, and now she's lost her own home.

No matter how many small victories she had against the akumas, she was still Marinette, and she keep ruining everything. 'Maybe Fu made a mistake by choosing me...?' was the last echo in her mind before she saw the metal fence.

"Is this the place?" Chloe asked, stopping beside her, both of them staring at the weeds that dominated the front yard. "It looks like it's been abandoned since it was built..." She said with a tone of displeasure at the neglected facade.

"My grandfather is a... peculiar person..." our heroine replied. "He was quite antisocial and hardly ever go out, so the outside is a bit messy... The good thing is that no one would think of looking for jewelry here, we should be safe..."

They had arrived at their new hiding place, the house of Roland Dupain, Marinette's grandfather. A modest, old place. The shutters on the windows sealed, with hinges so rusted that even if you wanted to, you'd have trouble opening them. That was the main reason they remained closed. The weeds next to the dismantled beetle in the front yard, with the rusty metal fence screen, only reinforced the idea that no one lived inside. No one would look for survivors in a house that looked so unusable. If no one followed them and they hurried inside, it would be the perfect hiding place.

"Do you want to repeat what we do in the ma-?" Before the blonde could finish, the girl with pigtails had already dropped her bags on the ground and jumped up, perched on the fence.

Marinette climbed up and landed with her feet on the car on the other side, giving a small jump to land in the driveway. She quickly started searching, remembering where her grandfather had told her he hid the spare key. It was her chance to have a victory however small it was, her chance to be useful, to do her duty. She found the key under a rock and proceeded to open the gate, then took one last look at the sky before entering the house.

The place was dark and smelled like it looks, but it was nothing the few scented candles she'd packed before the incident couldn't fix. But first, they had to make sure there were no surprises. With flashlight in hand and Chloe at her back, they walked around their new home. It was a considerably smaller building than the Agreste manor, so it didn't take long to check every room. They found neither surprising survivors nor invasive monsters, just a quiet, old house with a few mice wandering around.

Once everything was inspected, they carried their suitcases and luggage into the main room, lighting some candles and camping lanterns. Their supplies were now limited, as were their resources, but at least they were safe. Marinette was unpacking while the heiress sat on an antique armchair, the silence reigning relentlessly. Neither of them spoke, Louis had taken a nap to recover, and they hadn't heard the fire in hours, at least not with their ears. After a few minutes that felt like an eternity, Chloe spoke.

"Marinette... Are you sure you're o-?"

"There's a large stove in the back, with a grill we can use it to cook without gas..." the baker's daughter commented, preventing her friend from finishing.

"Marí... Are yo-?"

"He's also a baker, I'm sure he also has food supplies. We can rest for a few days before needing to go out again..." She interrupted her again, commenting without looking at her directly; she didn't even feel worthy of facing her anymore.

"Marí..."

"My grandfather also has a special water heater, a more rustic model that uses wood to heat the water... Oh, and there's also a tub. It might not be the most luxurious, but it'll definitely be an improvement, right?" The raven-haired girl continued pointing out the positive aspects of the place, she needed to be the one to protect the blonde.

"Marí, please..."

"I mean, I assume it's more exquisite to bathe in a tub than in a regular shower. I think I pack some bath salts in one of these... You'll have a bath fit for a queen..." Marinette refused to listen, getting up to go prepare the hot water. She wanted to offer her comfort, to make up for the mistakes she'd made.

"Would you listen to me?!" Chloe's voice echoed through the building, freezing our heroine and waking Louis up.

"Uh... Is everything okay? You dont want to take a bath? Oh! Right! We haven't eaten anything since yesterday, you must be starving! I'll make something right away..." The girl with pigtails turned to go to the kitchen, whereupon the heiress stood in her way with open arms.

"I said listen to me, Dupain-Cheng!" Our protagonist hadn't seen that expression on the blonde for weeks, at least not in her civilian identity.

"What... What is wrong, Chloe?" Marinette asked, wondering what she had done wrong now, what she had messed up this time.

"What is wrong? That's what I should be asking you! You've been like this since last night! You don't say anything to me, you only talk to give directions, the whole way here you were looking at me as if I had hidden your purse in the toilet cistern again..." She explained, gesturing impatiently, but she soon lowered her tone and her expression narrowed. "And now you're acting like you're hotel room staff? Making me a bubble bath? Going to cook just in case i'm hungry?"

"You... Aren't hungry?"

"Of course I'm hungry! Just like you should be!" She raised her voice again, pointing between them. "You went through all that madness last night just like me, you haven't eaten or slept since yesterday either... It was YOUR HOUSE that was burned down, Marinette! And you're acting like I'm the victim here..."

"It's no big deal, Chloe." She lied, not only to the heiress but to herself as well. "The important thing is that you're ok-"

"What do you mean it's no big deal?!" This time it was the blonde who interrupted her. "Marí, I burned down your house! How is that not a problem?!" Her words surprised our heroine.

"What?! No no no! That wasn't your fault, Chloe!"

"Of course it is! Like a idiot I chose not to use my Miraculous. If I had acted from the beginning none of this would have happened..."

"No, no, no, Chloe, of course not." Marinette placed her hands on her friend's shoulders. "It's not your fault. You were afraid that something bad would happen again if you use it..."

"And something bad happened again! Your house is burned to the ground!"

"And that was my fault!" This time it was the girl with pigtails who screamed, already feeling the tears welling up. "I was the one who decided to burn the house down to stop the cloth monsters! I threw you and our suitcases out the window so you'd be safe. I decided to burn my house down!" It hurt her to say it out loud, too much. Judging by her expression, it hurt Chloe too.

"Marí, don't say that..." And in the blink of an eye, their roles suddenly reversed. "It's not your fault. You shouldn't have decided that. You shouldn't have been in that situation in the first place." The heiress took her hands in hers, her gaze filled with compassion and guilt. "I was Queen Bee before you. I helped Ladybug longer. I should have made sure the situation didn't escalate like that..."

"It's not your fault, It was my duty to protect you and everyone else. Everything that's happening is my responsibility..."

"And who the hell decided that?!" the ponytailed girl asked.

'Master Fu...' she admitted in her mind. "Chloe, I'm a hero. I'm responsible for this. I am..." she admitted in her mind. "Chloe, I'm a hero. I'm responsible for this. I am..."

"NO! OF COURSE YOU'RE NOT!" She yelled, to which the raven-haired girl backed away.

"B-but... I..."

"No, Marinette, you're not a hero!" Her words echoed in her head, the vibrations breaking the dam she'd been clumsily building all day. Tears began to flow as she heard someone say out loud what she already knew by this point.

She wasn't a hero, she wasn't fit for one.

But that wasn't what Chloe meant, she leaned closer and placed her hands on her shoulders. The calm, gentle touch made Marinette realize she herself was trembling. The heiress's expression was calmer, her voice much softer. She was doing it again, going back to being the one who protected her, and Marinette didn't have the strength to stop it.

"Marinette, I remember perfectly what you told me last Thursday when you invited me to stay with you... You're a good girl, you have a heart of gold, but you're not a hero... You're not Ladybug... It's not your duty to help us all, you don't have to pretend everything's okay to protect me..."

"B-but I-I'm..."

"A normal girl, Marinette, that's what you are. A very beautiful and compassionate one, but not Ladybug... You're not her..." The blonde lifted her hand from her shoulder to place it on her cheek, caressing it with her thumb. "You're not a hero, or a protector, or a guardian. You're the girl who least deserves everything that's happening... You don't have to pretend this doesn't affect you or that it's your fault just to protect me. You have the right to be hurt... to be mad..." Then she look away, sad but confident in her tone. "Please, even if you're mad at me, let me take care of you this time... You deserve that..."

And with that, she couldn't hold it back anymore. She fell forward, unexpectedly hugging Chloe as she lost strength in her legs, tears falling like waterfalls and her cries deafening in the abandoned house. For the first time since becoming Ladybug, Marinette allowed herself to let it all out, to lament all the pressure she was under, for the responsibility she never asked for, and for the mistakes that haunted her. She was devastated, a jumble of tears, snot, and whimpers, but the heiress didn't back away.

Chloe reciprocated the hug, holding her tightly but gently, rubbing circles on her back. She guided her to the floor, both of them sitting on the rug so she could cry freely. Louis joined in now that they were at is level, curling up next to her to comfort her. Despite the support, the girl with pigtails continued to cry, and the blonde didn't even try to ask her to stop. She didn't even push her away so she wouldn't ruin her yellow cardigan, she just let her be, whispering words of encouragement as she stroked her hair.

And so their first day in their new haven was, with Marinette letting go of her façade, allowing herself to grieve over the tragedies they'd experienced, crying on her shoulder.

Chapter Text

To say that life's paths were unexpected and uncertain was an understatement, a big understatement. After all, there she was, Chloe Bourgeois herself, sitting on an ugly, old rug, hugging and comforting a devastated Marinette Dupain-Cheng. Anyone who knew them would think something was wrong with the world, as it was usually the blonde who caused the tears rather than the one wiping them away, though the question of who was to blame was still debatable.

The heiress remained certain that the fire was partly her fault on some level, either through inaction or simply because she had entangled the baker in her rare and tragic luck when she has the Bee Miraculous nearby. But she decided it wasn't worth continuing that argument, not even trying to win it. There were more important things, things that needed to be the focus of attention more than herself. Someone who needed the microphone to get it all off her chest, and Marinette was doing it, along with floods of tears.

Chloe could feel the dampness seeping through her yellow cardigan and soaking into the shoulder of her T-shirt. Her dip in the river last night made the stain on her shoulder feel less cold and uncomfortable, so she could continue patting her friend's hair and offering support without much difficulty. Despite everything they'd been through, this kind of contact still felt alien to her, but if it was for Marinette, then she was willing to get used to it, to do her best.

"It's okay, let it out. Hawk Moth isn't in town, you can allow yourself to feel sad. Nothing bad is going to happen... Just... Um... Let it flow..." the heiress whispered, somewhat nervously, unsure if she was doing it right.

Often she adjusted her position to avoid the tingling in her limbs. She moved slowly, making sure she was always holding her companion, careful not to break contact or accidentally make her think she wanted her to move away. She knew the girl with pigtails needed this, that she deserved this moment to cry and complain, to let it all out.

But unlike the blonde, Marinette wasn't complaining about anything in particular. The only things that came out of her mouth between her tears and hiccups were single, sad words—"my house" or "I'm sorry" and "I miss them so much"—stumbling phrases that showed Chloe how much her friend was holding back. The heiress assumed that pretending normalcy and that everything was fine was just a thing from their first days together, but it seemed her friend was better at pretending than she gave her credit for. She missed her parents, her group of friends, her classes, school, the bakery, her everyday life.

She missed everything and everyone, and she kept it to herself for so long while she hoarded the blame and responsibility for everything around her. 'And yet, there you were... Lighting up my life, making sure we survived, that we lived well even in a situation like this...' It was an enormous pressure and pain, and yet the girl crying in her arms endured it all for so long. Chloe wished she could one day be that strong.

Since they first met, the heiress had always had something to envy about the baker's daughter, and it seemed as if that list only grew longer and longer with the passage of time. She was jealous of the unconditional love she received, the talent she exuded, how capable she was, her sincere and annoying happiness. But now, after allowing herself to coexist with her, after allowing herself to accept that her former rival was simply that gifted in comparison, Chloe began to admire her. She was admirable, with a huge heart and unparalleled strength, and it sickened the blonde that such a person had to go through this.

Yes, Marinette was the best of the two, an angel who protected her under her wing and made her days better, but that didn't mean she had to do all the work, that she had to be in this situation in the first place. She didn't deserve to be the victim of the blonde's envy, or of anyone's scorn, much less to be the one who would bear the full weight of surviving because Ladybug wasn't doing anything. With this in mind, Chloe was ready to do whatever it took to make it up to her, to take that weight off her shoulders, to take care of her.

It wasn't exactly her strong suit, nor was she sure what to do after simply holding her and letting her vent, but she would give it a try for her. And if she didn't know what to do, she simply asked herself, "What would Marinette do in this situation?" 'What would she do if I were the one crying my eyes out?' And the answers became clearer. The baker was attentive to details, like hydration, so the blonde waited until her friend had stopped crying before acting. After a few minutes of silence to confirm that she was calmer, Chloe slowly backed away, careful not to scare her. The moment her grip on her clothes loosened, she stepped away, just for a moment.

She stepped aside to approach her suitcases, never taking the other girl out of her sight, opened it, and took out a bottle of mineral water. She'd packed a lot since she had free space after getting rid of unnecessary jewelry as a precaution against the Miraculous-hunting cloth monsters. The raven-haired girl herself had recommended keeping a supply of bottled water; all it took was a complaint from the heiress the first few days about how she'd never drank tap water for her former rival to be on the move to grab as many water packs as they could.

To Chloe's surprise, there was apparently bacteria in the pipes that, if your body wasn't used to them, could cause an upset stomach. 'And I thought it was just a social classes thing like Daddy used to say... Well, a reason not to drink from the tap is still a reason...' she said to herself in her mind as she returned to her friend, sitting next to her and handing her the already uncapped bottle.

"Here, you need to drink a lot. You cried so much I thought you were going to dry out... Not that I'm complaining..." She added at the end, hugging her own legs to her chest as her friend wiped her nose before taking a few small sips of mineral water.

The dark circles under her eyes were prominent along with smudges from her smeared makeup, her lower lip was still trembling just like her hands, and her eyes, even in the dim light provided by the camping lantern, were a shade of pink, almost red. She looked devastated, but at least her crying was replaced by the sound of her slow, small sips. It was an improvement, small, but an improvement nonetheless. Marinette looked at her after her seventh sip of water, specifically at her shoulder, the sadness that never completely left her face shining brightly again.

"Y-your designer jacket... I ruined your Cardigan... Sorry Chloe..." Her voice cracked, sounding defeated, as if one of the heiress's many yellow cardigans being stained was a huge problem.

Normally, the blonde would agree with that idea, especially if the person responsible was her rival, but this wasn't a normal situation, and she was no longer her rival or enemy.

"I told you I'm not complaining, it's okay..." She said, rubbing circles on her back. "Besides, a surprisingly capable girl taught me how to leave my clothes looking brand new..." She winked at her, trying to lift her spirits. Unfortunately, it seemed to have the opposite effect.

"Grandpa's washing table... It was still in the house during the fight, it w-was... He got us one just like his mother's and-and I let it turn to ash..." She clutched her water bottle, her gaze lowered, seeming to still have tears left to shed.

"Hey hey, don't say that. It was just an old-fashioned thing. You did your job and prioritized the dumb civilian who didn't help you in the first place... Uh... I mean, we have our bags, both Louis and I are safe and sound. You did what a hero would have done..." Chloe tried again to look on the bright side, but apparently it had the same results.

"Safe and sound..." Marinette put the bottle aside and saw the Basset Hound lying next to them, the small animal staring back at her with his long face. "Louis can barely move now... I-I saw you crash into a wall so hard, I don't even know how your back is a-and I still made you walk while carrying heavy bags... And i-if you hadn't reacted at that moment... S-Sabrina's dog would be..."

"Stop, I'm going to stop you right there..." The blonde said, hugging her friend again and stopping her train of thought. "Let's get the what-ifs out of the way, shall we? You did your best. Could we be better? Yes, but we also might not have had any problems with Hawk Moth in the first place if Ladybug had done her job. My mom could try to not been such a bitch, and I also could have not tried to be like her... We all could have done things differently..." The heiress puss back a little to look her friend in the eye, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "So, don't beat yourself up about trying your best... Many of us didn't try in the first place..."

That last part didn't seem to stick, since now she felt a little bad remembering she was talking about herself, and apparently her friend was still downcast, as if she'd found something to blame herself for again. Was this normal for her? Was her mind, so creative, so cruel as to always overestimate everything? The truth is, Chloe couldn't take anything for granted; she only bothered to get to know Marinette better and open up to her in the last few weeks. Although they had known each other for years, she was always an outside observer, unaware of the mental state of the girl she was bothering.

They were silent for a few more minutes before something interrupted their shared misfortune: a guttural roar that made them tremble. It wasn't coming from outside, nor from some corner of the dark house; it came directly from the room where they were. They immediately went on alert, looking in every direction until it rang again, coming directly from inside the blonde, who blushed when she realized it was only her stomach. The girl with pigtails placed a hand on her own stomach, noticing that hers was also growling slightly.

"I'll make something for you to ea-"

"No no no, I'll take care of it." The blonde hurriedly interrupted her friend, standing up before she could.

"W-what? A-are you sure?" She asked, still on the floor, looking at her with her red, tired eyes.

"Sure! It can't be that difficult... I just look for some ingredients and combine them into something edible, piece of cake..."

"II could h-help..."

"Marí, you've been doing all the cooking all this time, let me return the favor for once..." The heiress said, helping her friend up and leading them to the old sofa. "You've done so much for me, maybe more than I even deserve... much more... It's the least I can do to repay you..." Her words were honest, not with her usual brutality, but expressing how she felt.

Her friend didn't continue the discussion, didn't even insist on lending a hand, she simply resigned herself to staring at the floor. Marinette seemed a shadow of her former self, and that only motivated Chloe more to try to take care of her. She wanted her to take a break to process everything, so she could grieve and complain freely without hindrance; she had more right to that than anyone else. But even though her wish had been granted, seeing the girl she had fallen in love with like this was heartbreaking. She had no strength for anything, and her mountain-moving spirit had vanished.

If she wanted to got that Marinette back, she had a lot of work ahead of her. The first thing was to fill her stomach; she couldn't regain her good mood with an empty stomach. Neither of them could. The blonde searched the rooms until she found a refrigerator or a cupboard; she needed something easier to work with than flour and yeast. It was easy to pretend she had everything under control, but she was far from being able to prepare a single-star meal; dinner had to be basic enough for her to prepare and large enough to fill their stomachs.

She scanned the entire place, returning every so often to check that her friend was still there. After a few minutes of searching and being disgusted by the curdled milk and moldy cheese, Chloe found something she could work with: canned goods and packaged crackers.

The crackers didn't require any refrigeration and, as long as they were well sealed, would stay crunchy for a long time. Even better, the expiration date on the packages was four months away. The cans, on the other hand, had an even longer shelf life and also kept perfectly at room temperature. After struggling a bit with the can opener and preparing her presentation—laying everything out on a silver platter for show—the heiress beamed back to Marinette's side.

Chloe presented her with the day's menu, placed it on the table, and sat down next to her. Crackers with pâté or tuna (at choice), olives, room-temperature mineral water, and for dessert, sliced peaches in syrup. Chloe felt like she was scraping the bottom of the barrel if she had to call this dinner now, but when she spread the pâté on the crackers to give them to her friend, a smile spread across her face as she watched her eat. She still looked downcast, as if the storm in her mind would continue, but at least she ate just like they did back home above the bakery.

They ate together, calmly and silently, a shred of that little something they'd gained after the disappearance of humanity that gave them some sense of normalcy. They ate slowly until they were full, and by the time they finished the crackers were just crumbs, the empty cans of pâté and tuna stacked on top of each other, three and two of each respectively, next to a jar that only had a trace of syrup at the bottom.

Once their stomachs were full, they both took a moment to digest the food before the blonde jumped into her next plan to improve her companion's mood. With her stomach happy, it was time to cover another of life's great pleasures: a warm bath. Chloe remembered that nothing made her feel better after a particularly unpleasant day than a warm bath and putting on clean, dry clothes, especially after running from an akuma and their obsessive habit of throwing debris and trash everywhere.

Then the heiress remembered what the baker had mentioned, that the water heater in her grandfather's house was wood-fired, so she took off her tear-stained (and various other fluids) cardigan and set to work lighting a fire in the bathroom fixture. 'If Marinette can burn water, then I can light a fire for this. How hard can that be?' the blonde thought. After 40 minutes of stabbing herself with kindling, searching for papers to burn, struggling to light matches, dirtying her hands with ash, smearing herself with coal, and breathing in huge amounts of smoke from her failed attempts, she had managed to light a steady fire to heat the water.

After almost an hour and a half, a considerably exhausted but triumphant Chloe presented the raven-haired girl with the fruits of her labor. A steaming tub of hot water, with candles on both sides for warm lighting, the bath salts they'd brought, and even random flower petals the blonde pulled from the garden decorating the water. The blonde was ready to proudly leave and give her depressed friend some privacy, until her words stopped her.

"I can't take this bath..."

"Marinette, I swear to g-" Chloe stopped herself from continuing, knowing she would sound very angry and that her friend didn't need anyone turning around to see her angry. "Why you can't?" she asked, softening her tone and clasping her hands at her sides.

"I... I don't deserve this... You should make better use of it..."

"Marí, I literally prepare this bath because YOU deserve it... For the record, it's me. I wouldn't do this for anyone, especially someone who doesn't deserve it..." The heiress explained, gesturing with her hands.

"That's why you should be the one taking advantage of it... You've done so much... And I just sat there feeling sorry for myself..."

"Done so much? Marí, I made you the most mediocre excuse for food possible..." She complained before placing her hands on the pigtailed girl's shoulders. "And you think I have a problem with you being sad? For once, I'm not thinking about myself, I'm thinking about you, and you deserve to do the opposite for once..."

"B-but..." The girl in the black vest looked away, her cheeks flushed. "Y-you jumped into the river for me. I had a magic suit, but you didn't. I made you walk all over town without checking if your back was okay. I couldn't be so selfish and take away a relaxing bath when you needed it most..." She explained, making the blonde roll her eyes.

"So what's the problem with you being selfish? You're always thinking of others, always trying to please and save the world. You have every right to be selfish from time to time, especially after everything we've been through..." Chloe crossed her arms over her chest.

"I... I can't be selfish... Nothing good ever happens when I am..." Marinette confessed.

"And from my own experience..." The heiress looked away with a small pout and a blush. "Well, it feels... good... Actually... And it would be nice for you to feel nice and comfortable too..."

There was a moment of silence, the girl with pigtails continued to stare at the floor, embarrassed and sad, making fists and holding back tears.

"I'm sorry... I know you're trying to help me, and I can't help but be a burden now..." she said, her voice breaking.

"Burden my ass..."

"But I can't be selfish if I know I'm taking something away from you... Not if I know you're going to have to repeat this when you want to take a bath..." The baker's daughter confessed.

"So... You're not going to relax unless you confirm that I'm going to be comfortable and relaxed too?" The heiress asked, pinching the bridge of her nose.

"I'm sorry..."

"Don't Say it, I'll think of something before the water cools down..." She replied before starting to think.

!
.
¡

Sometimes you can be too smart for your own good, and that was the case with Chloe right now. She managed to find a solution to her problem using only three pairs of towels. She'd accomplished her goal before the water had even reached room temperature. The tub was still steaming, and her friend was inside, letting the exhaustion and sweat drain from her body. Unfortunately, being in a bathtub wearing only a towel with her equally exposed friend was making her scream inside.

Sharing was something the heiress wasn't good at, and it was something she slowly learned to do during these days during the end of times. She shared her space, shared her time, shared responsibilities, clothes, and even the bed with someone else, and now here she was, sharing a candlelit bath. Having her crush on her lap, both wrapped in towels, immersed in the same warm water, with the warm light of the scented candles reflecting off the bubbles and their soaked skin, was simply too much for her heart.

Chloe thanked anyone who was listening that Marinette was turning her back on her; she knew she'd die of embarrassment if anyone saw how red-faced she was right now. But, even though she was a blonde tomato, she still mustered up the courage to go ahead. The heiress had said it was practical, that not only could they both enjoy the hot water, but they could also help each other wash their hair more easily. While the baker hesitated at first, apparently the promise that she could help the blonde with something was enough to get her to accept the idea, so Chloe got to work.

She stretched out of the tub for a moment and grabbed the shampoo bottle from a wooden chair placed next to her, uncapping it and applying it to her hand before proceeding with her friend's hair. Baths were supposed to be relaxing, to loosen the muscles, cleanse the skin, and make you feel refreshed and comfortable, and it seemed to be working, at least for Marinette. She looked different, not exactly well but considerably better, at least that's how it seemed according to her reflection in the water.

The blonde, on her side, was anything but calm, gulping at how intimate the moment felt, her hands massaging her companion's scalp and her fingers tangling in her beautiful raven hair. She moved her slender fingers carefully so as not to ruffle her hair abruptly; she wasn't willing to do it even by accident anymore. 'I can't believe I used to pull her hair on purpose... Or throw gum at her... Or spit on the back of her neck as she passed...' Her blush diminished, becoming somewhat more embarrassed; she was embarrassed to look back at these moments.

"Well... The product is infused well enough, I'm going to... uh... Pour water on it if you don't mind..." Chloe said, slowly removing her hands from her hair to try and make a bowl to pour water over it.

But before she could do so, Marinette covered her nose and dipped her head into the tub, frightening the heiress for a moment. The shampoo foam stayed in place on the surface, while her hands remained on her partner's head, quickly and carefully the blonde untangled her fingers, taking them out of her hair and placing them on her shoulders, bringing her out of the water.

"Let me know next time you do that... I don't want to have my hands on your head when you submerge it in water..." She pointed out, noticing the light blue-eyed baker's expression fall again.

"I'm sorry..."

"You don't have to..." And it was true, she had no reason to apologize now, at least from Chloe's point of view. 'I wouldn't feel guilty about having you in that position if my old self hadn't been such a awful girl with you...' she thought, recalling all the cruel pranks and actions she'd done to her without any provocation.

She continued washing her friend's hair, this time more calmly, lifting the hot water with one hand and letting it run down the hair while smoothing it down with the other. She was slow and careful, not wanting to fall into old habits or hurt her now delicate friend. After a few minutes, the blonde finished her work, her raven hair was clean and shiny.

"There... Was it okay?" Chloe asked, stroking the hair that was always tied in pigtails one last time.

"Yes... It was," Marinette replied, leaning back and leaning against the heiress.

"M-mari?" A blush lit up her face again as her friend closed her eyes and tilted her head.

Their faces were almost cheek to cheek, angled so she could see her button nose and soft lips. The baker's daughter let out a small sigh as she settled in. Maybe it was just a too relaxing bath, and the 24 hours of no sleep were starting to catch up with them? Whatever it was, Chloe had already agreed to it if that meant her friend would be better, so she wrapped her arms around her, holding her in place.

"Sometimes... Sometimes I wish I were your Chloe..." There was something in her tone, not the constant mortification she had before, but rather the pain of a confession that was difficult to say.

"Really? But... I'm a horrible person..." The Princess of Paris declared without hesitation.

"No, you're not... Not now..."

"Being in past doesn't change the facts..."

"And the fact is, you 'were' something... You changed... And I wish I was able to do that..." She confessed, hugging her arm with one hand underwater. "I feel like I'll never change..."

"The best people shouldn't have to change..."

There was a moment of silence between them before Marinette responded. "Maybe I'm not one of those people..." She said, and before they could continue their discussion, she pulled away, effortlessly freeing herself from the hug and moving so that she was sitting at the other end of the tub. Then she raised her arms. "Come, it's my turn to wash your hair."

At that, the blonde simply let out a sigh of resignation and carried the shampoo to the side, sitting on her companion's lap and once again thankful she wasn't looking at her face as she felt her hair being treated. It was undoubtedly an experience Chloe would remember for a long time, even if she wouldn't admit it.

After drying themself with the second and third pair of towels, and seeing that the baker's daughter's mood was improving by the minute, the heiress proceeded with the last part of her plan to make her feel better: a long and well-deserved restful sleep. It was the perfect ending, at least that's how it worked for the Princess of Paris. A full stomach, a clean body, and a sound sleep cuddling her stuffed animal were all she needed to get through a bad day on a high note.

So far, it seemed that, slowly and to a lesser extent, it was working. Marinette's skin looked less pale, her voice regained a more confident tone, and her eyes, still tired, were no longer red and lacked the stains from crying. She still looked small and dull, but she was closer to Marinette than the shadow she had become.

Since they hadn't managed to put away any of the light blue-eyed girl's pajamas, Chloe had lent her one of her nightgowns. Now she was there, sitting on the side of a large king-sized bed, with the heiress combing her hair before bed; neither of them would sleep with their hair tied up that night. But before she could go to bed, the blonde needed to attend to one last matter to make sure everything went smoothly.

"I forgot something in the living room, I'll be right back..." As she turned to grab a lamp and leave the candlelit room, she felt something tugging at her own nightgown.

"Wait... Chloe... Don't go..." Marinette pleaded, her eyes shining.

"Relax, it'll just take a moment..."

"I'll go with you then..."

"No no, no need to get cold, I'll be right back..." But her friend wouldn't let go. In fact, she was about to move the ugly, old patterned quilt to follow her, so Chloe dropped the flashlight to grab something she'd brought into the room, half-hidden. "Look, I promise it'll only take a moment... But if you don't want to be alone, Mr. Cuddly will keep you company... He's very good at cheering up pretty girls that are sad and taking care of people..." She said with a small blush.

"You... You really would give me your teddy bear?" There was disbelief and surprise in her bedmate's voice.

"It's not my... Well, okay, yes... It's my teddy bear... And if it could be by my side in so many nights at the hotel, it could certainly be a good companion for you..."

And with those words, Marinette cautiously accepted the yellow bear, letting go of the blonde before hugging it to her chest.

"Thank you... And sorry for bothering you..."

"You would never be a bother... Well, not to the Chloe I am now..." Then she kissed her forehead before leaving the room and heading for the stairs in the hallway, only realizing halfway through what she had done. "I didn't do what I thought I did... Oh my God, Bourgeois, be less obvious..." Despite the growing heat in her cheeks, she continued on her way.

If she wanted to protect her friend, then she still had one last thing to do. Back in the living room, with Louis sleeping on the couch covered by a blanket, the heiress placed the camping lantern on the table and took out a bee-designed comb. She took a deep breath, thinking about what her friend had said in the batroom. 'She's right... I've changed... I can do this...' Then, determined, she placed the comb in her loose hair. A golden glow emerged from the side of her head, she twirled a few times, and the little Kwami appeared before her.

"My qu—I mean, Chloe..."

"Pollen..."

The silence was awkward, neither of them knew how to begin, not after their very brief and not exactly pleasant previous encounters.

"Ladybug told me that she was going to give me to you... This time I have no reason to doubt your word..." The yellow fairy commented, looking around, she had disappeared when the battle started so she was a little lost in the decoration.

"Good..." Chloe replied, pulling the Miraculous out of her hair. "Then go back to her and tell her I pass."

"W-what?!" The mini-goddess hadn't expected that response at all.

"You heard me, I'm not going to play hero, not anymore... I'm not the same Chloe who wanted to magically become important... I'm tired of trying..."

"B-but..."

"No buts." She shut her up, raising her free hand in a stop sign. "Every time I tried to be a superhero or someone gave me a Miraculous, everything ended worse... For me, for everyone... And I'm not going to let that continue, not in a situation like this..."

"But what are you going to do if the person responsible for all this shows up? Or Hawk Moth shows up?" Pollen asked.

"Don't get in Ladybug's way. I'll keep Marinette safe, and we'll stay away from danger... This isn't our fight... not now... We won't burn down our house again to help her..." There was conviction in her words, as well as contempt for the heroine.

"So... I'm leaving too?" a voice said behind her. Chloe turned around in a start and found herself facing the Mouse Kwami.

"Oh god, don't... What a scare... Right, the necklace, to being Multimouse she called you... Wait! Where have you been all this time?!"

"Well, Kwamis don't have much experience with humans, so we—I mean I stayed out of it, inside her bag..." Mullo explained. "Do I have to go back to Ladybug too?"

There was a moment of silence while the heiress thought.

"No, you don't have to. I won't steal someone's Miraculous again. She still wants to feel useful and protect us... It's her decision if she wants to hand you over... But I'll talk to her tomorrow." She turned her gaze to the yellow Kwami. "I'm going to suggest her we leave Paris. We'll be away from danger. We're capable on our own, and the bad guys only want Miraculouses. We'll be fine..." She said, holding up the comb for the fairy to take.

"Very well, so be it." Pollen nodded before taking her Miraculous in her paws.

"And Pollen..."

"Yes?"

"Sorry for abusing your power and allying with Hawk Moth..." With that, Chloe opened the door. The yellow fairy nodded and disappeared into the night.

"I think I speak for everyone when I say that was very mature of you... Although Ladybug will still need your help..." The multiplication Kwami commented.

"Ladybug spent more time without a team than with one, and even with one, she does all the work..." She complained. "We're not going to be her disposable tools, especially if her let my Mari suffer like this without doing anything... I don't want anyone hurting that girl anymore, not me or that excuse for a heroine, not even by accident... I love her too much to put her in danger, and the Miraculous are the reason we are in danger in the first place..." The heiress said, locking the door, going back to the light and heading for the stairs. "No offense..."

"I'm not offended, you have a point..." the Kwami assured, feeling somewhat guilty since her powers weren't enough to save the house of the guardian.

Then silence reigned. They had nothing more to say, so they simply returned to the room. The house was strange, completely unfamiliar to the blonde, but it was all she needed at that moment. A refuge, four walls, and a roof that would provide security. Then she arrived at the room and saw her lying there, waiting for her, and Chloe knew she was in the right place.

She turned off the flashlight with a flick of the knob that regulated the light, blew out the candles, and, in the darkness, crawled under the sheets next to the girl who made her heart beat. Life's paths were unexpected, after all, there she was, Chloe Bourgeois herself, lying in an old bed, lovingly watching her companion sleep. Finally, the pain and exhaustion left her beautiful face as she fell asleep, hugging the teddy bear. Chloe took her hand and joined her in the world of dreams, happy to have achieved it, happy to have begun to make up for all the harm she had caused. And so, the Princess of Paris went to sleep, next to her beloved Marinette.

Chapter Text

Being out in the open creates a certain sense of exposure, of vulnerability, since there's nothing between you and a potential predator, between you and a threat. One would think it's impossible to feel that way in a city, that buildings, structures, and houses would provide good cover. And they'd be right—only if there are people and you're at ground level.

When you're one of only three people in all of Paris, your opponents are the other two, they can move over buildings, you're in a considerably weakened state, and on top of that, you're blue, it's impossible not to feel exposed and vulnerable, especially when you're hiding behind a billboard on a building. She was backlit, covered in shadows as the orange light of the sunset painted an Adrien perfume promo orange.

She didn't know where the teenagers were, or if the heroine was moving on foot as a civilian or using the Miraculous's powers, so she'd better tread carefully to avoid being discovered. Although she didn't just have to be careful not to run into Marinette. The cloth monsters were moving toward the bakery, attracted by the alarms she set off, so they were inevitably going to cross paths.

She had to be alert and move carefully if she wanted to avoid conflicts. The living suits had no reason to differentiate between friend and foe; after all, it was assumed that only their creator and Ladybug would remain in the world. It was bad enough that she herself had ruined her part of the plan, she couldn't also help her enemy by accidentally fighting one of the beasts that seek the Miraculous. 'This is our last plan. All this madness will be over, we can all be at peace... I can't deny that to Gabriel, to Adrien... to Marinette...' she thought before jumping to a rooftop on the parallel block.

She quickly realized she hadn't taken a running start and was beginning to descend, but with a swift movement, she opened her fan and swung down. The gust of wind was strong enough to propel her upward, allowing her to reach the other ledge, where she landed with a gasp. Even with the strength granted to her by being Mayura, she was still quite weakened; she still had to be careful and put in extra effort to navigate the city. Another reason to avoid unnecessary fights.

Unfortunately, the universe seemed to have other plans. She quickly looked back when she heard a peculiar sound. Adrien's face in the commercial was covered by a large red cloth with black ruffles, which quickly moved, leaping in her direction. The woman in blue quickly jumped to the side, dodging the first attack from the monster that landed beside her, landing on her feet but trembling slightly. Then the pile of clothes swirled and lashed out with its long fabrics, which she again dodged with a simple jump.

She wasn't in the best condition to be acrobatic, but just like with this involuntary fight, she was forced to act and do a cartwheel backward to avoid another lash, this time aimed at her face. And then another lash, and another, and another, and another, and another. Mayura dodged them all, each time by the skin of her teeth, the monster coming dangerously close to landing a devastating blow. It attacked like a tornado, without mercy or space tl breathe. Apparently, Gabriel had his part of the plan mastered, his minions were a force to be reckoned with.

Flexible, erratic, aware of where to attack and what to try to take away, the blows with the cloth-like limbs oscillated between her vital points and the brooch on her chest. The creature sought to neutralize her in any way possible. 'God, what did I throw at the bakery?' A tinge of remorse began to creep into her consciousness as she jumped backward, falling into a narrow alley. The cloth monster jumped after her, diving forward.

She bent her knees as she fell, rolling onto her back to avoid the creature falling on her. They were in a very enclosed hallway, with barely enough room for one person, ideal as cover to avoid attracting more unwanted attention. Then the living dress launched an strike forward, one of its ribbons stretching straight toward the woman in blue, who easily dodged by stepping to the side. Then Mayura pressed her back against the wall before stepping toward the other wall, avoiding the recoil blow and the following hook.

Given its size and the erratic, open nature of its attacks, the alley was perfect for limiting the creature, making it more manageable. It could no longer deliver sweeping, curved blows, its attacks were less constant and more legible, and it almost rendered its ability to whip useless. Only almost, as the monster began to throw its blows into the air before spinning around, sending a shower of lashes crashing down the hallway.

She quickly jumped back to get out of range, but unfortunately, the thing followed her, moving forward as it spin. Her heels hadn't even touched the ground, and she already had three long stretches of fabric about to slam her to the ground. In response, she reached down, opened her fan, and brought it up with all her might. The wave of wind that the movement produced pushed the monster back, also pushing back its fabric tentacles and knocking her out of range.

Taking advantage of the momentary stun and the space between them, she turned and ran toward the end of the alley, quickly being pursued by the creature. Despite its efforts to close the distance, Mayura managed to put enough distance between them to disappear from its field of vision for a few seconds as she turned the corner. Taking advantage of the blind spot, she got into position, and as soon as the creature appeared, she attacked. With a vertical movement and using her fan, the exit from the alley became a guillotine that split the living dress in two.

The separated pieces of fabric were propelled forward by the inertia of they run, leaving it open to another blow, and another, and another, and another. In six moves, her attacker was nothing but shreds on the ground. 'Okay... It wasn't that hard...' the woman in blue thought, catching her breath. She no longer felt so guilty about leading the monsters to the bakery, not after seeing how manageable they were with the right tool. Her eyes traveled to the small blades peeking out from between the fan's feathers, sleek and aquamarine in color.

With a smooth, literally magical movement, they disappeared. The Miraculous weapons, like their outfits, reflected their wielders, the nature of their users. And while she wasn't in her best condition right now, very few people could catch Nathalie Sancoeur off guard. The memory of one of those people flashed through her mind, her radiant smile and green eyes quickly reminding the woman ofwhy she was in this situation, why she was doing all of this, and she regained her composure. She quickly stuffed the monster's remains into a trash can to hide her trail and proceeded to stealthily going back to her lair.

Sooner rather than later, she found herself on the roof next to the Agreste manor, its facade barely illuminated by the last rays of sunset. The woman scanned the surroundings before proceeding, making sure there were no more monsters or that the heroine hadn't prepared anything while she was away. The back yard had burned walls and plants reduced to ashes, then she remembered her first encounter with the girls and the cloth monsters. They had set one on fire, and it chased them through the entire house. The sprinklers put out the internal fire, but the external one had to go for almost two days without interruption before running out of fuel.

She then looked toward the still-open window of her room, remembering how she by a reflex warned Marinette to avoid the creature and how it fell through the window. She lowered her gaze and noticed the black stain the entity left on the street. Apparently, they shared the properties of the garments they imitated. 'Weak to fire and sharp objects, Ladybug will soon realize it to, that girl is as smart as she is kind... Maybe I should have stayed to help the monsters?' she wondered in her head.

On one hand, she was still grappling with the idea that their greatest enemy this whole time was just a little girl, so she was looking for any excuse to feel less bad about sending the wolves to her house. On the other hand, they had made everyone disappear. Hundreds of millions of trillions of people on earth, reduced to, ideally, just two. Now she knew there were probably four, including herself, and she was also aware that even if they went that far, they could still fail. That everything could fall apart. That it would all be for nothing.

They would have gone to such extremes, and she might never even see her beautiful face again. They had to carry out this plan; it had to work, no matter how many miscalculations had arisen. Whether Ladybug was Marinette or anyone else, young or old, they had monsters attacking where she hid the Miraculous box, it's not gona be so easy for her win this time. It didn't matter that Chloe had also survived, whether she was Chat Noir or another wielder, good or bad, they were still outnumbered. And it didn't matter that she hadn't disappeared, she could still hand over the Peacock Miraculous.

Then the thought crossed her mind as she looked at the manor's entrance. It was still there, the first clothing monster they'd encountered, the one they ripped off its sleeve and the heiress run over with a fire truck. It was still there, flailing beneath a now-dead vehicle. The pieces began to fall into place, so she leaped toward the building, fanning the long train of her dress like peacock's feathers, gliding to the open window. She had a lot of work to do to make up for the mistake of her presence, but she was ready to make the best of the last plan now that she was back in the manor.

Chapter Text

Everything returned to her as soon as she detransformed. The magical strength drained from her body like water through a sieve, leaving her muscles dry and tired to support her weight. Her vitality vanished like a cloud in the sky, her body trembling as if she'd done a full day of aerobic exercise. The disappearance of her magical suit left her exposed to the cold air of the abandoned manor, her bare feet sending a shiver down her spine as they stepped onto the damp, icy tiles of Gabriel's office.

"It's surprising I look healthier with blue skin..." Nathalie commented, seeing her reflection on the screen of her benefactor's desk, the Kwami of emotion illuminating her haggard appearance.

"It's not too late to stop all this. You need to stop and rest..." Duusu said cautiously.

"Dont worry, that's exactly what I'm going to do..." She replied, turning to the portrait of Emilie with a remote control in one hand and a new pair of glasses in the other. "I'm going to stop trying so hard and take a long break... But first, I have to make this last effort..."

The beautiful painting was still there, intact, radiant. Gabriel had secretly installed bulletproof glass before his trip to New York with Adrien. He knew perfectly well that he would leave the manor unprotected, with Ladybug completely free to move around Paris without restriction. They couldn't risk her finding the buttons to the secret lair, even by accident. They had to take precautions from each step for their final plan, and that was exactly what Nathalie was doing now.

The raven-haired woman with red highlights put on her glasses and used the remote control to deactivate the frame's locks, allowing her to move the painting like a door to reveal the safe behind it. This was another of the security improvements, to prevent accidents like the disappearance of the Grimoire at Adrien's hands from happening again. She opened the safe and took out the aforementioned book, ready to capitalize on many sleepless nights trying to decode it.

As quickly as her condition allowed her, she began moving through the manor. It was slow and winding, but she diligently searched for the ingredients for the spell she was about to perform. The magic behind the potions and the Miraculous enhancements was easy to understand when thought of as a cooking recipe or the process behind a craft, at least that's how Gabriel reasoned once they began to understand the words. You needed certain ingredients, specific materials, treated in a certain way to achieve a specific reaction when it came into contact with the esoteric nature of the Kwamis and their magic.

Ingredients as abstract and conceptual as the material of your abandonment and indifference, an elegant way of referring to the dusty cobwebs in the unseen corners of your house. Or the pride of the composer of the night, also known as the legs of a cricket. The tip of the stand of the great sage of the jungle, a.k.a. elephant nails. The dried tears of the guardian of the firmament amidst the darkness, that is, moon dust. The trees' tribute to death and cold, autumn leaves, which is why Nathalie breathed a sigh of relief even though she was freezing to the bone from the night's chill. She just gritted her teeth and tried hard to contain the trembling in her hands. She could change her clothes and warm up when she finished securing the Miraculous. She felt like she was against the clock, not knowing when a surprise Ladybug might appear.

Still outside in the backyard, she take advantage and take one of the spell's most unique ingredients: the ashes of burned memories and lost security, the ashes of a burned-down house. Your burned house. Given the nature and purpose of the magic she was about to use, the woman with glases couldn't help but imagine that such a trick was born when a Miraculous wielder was in such danger that they had to disappear without a trace, including their own home. With that in mind, she hoped the burned remains of the garden would be enoug.

She then went into the kitchen, where she ground everything together with cough suppressant and mixed it all in a pot with warm water. Once the mixture changed color, she let it cool and went for the most straightforward but hard-to-find ingredient: Pima cotton from the Peruvian coastal valleys. 'Thank god Gabi went into fashion...' she thought as she took some cotton from her boss office, rolled it into a small ball, and soaked it in the mixture. She gave it to Duusu, who resignedly ate it. Then she placed the tip of her index finger over the blue Kwami's mouth.

"As your master, and through this spell, I seal my name, Gabriel's, Emilie's, and all your previous bearers! Our identities will remain a mystery, and your answers a whisper, the truth sealed for as long as I live!" She said out loud, with all the strength she had left, trying to make her words firm and not tremble.

Her only way to know if it had worked was an electric sensation and a faint flash, as well as a small cloud of miasma pouring from the blue fairy's mouth when she removed her finger. The small peacock-like entity was surprised, apparently this Grimoire spell had never been used on him before. They had no way of confirming it at the moment, but Nathalie needed to trust that the Order's knowledge of Miraculous was correct. If Marinette didn't already know that Gabriel was Hawk Moth and she was Mayura, then this spell would prevent Duusu from revealing anything if they managed to intercept the cloth monster.

"Good, now I just have to-" A powerful cough choked her words, making her curl in pain, her diaphragm burning, nearly falling to the floor.

"Oh no! Old Lady!" Despite everything, the Kwami of emotion flew to her side, worried. "Are you okay?! You need to rest urgently!" He tried in vain to help her up.

"I'm fine..." She said breathlessly, struggling not to fall, her legs shaking more than ever and her hair disheveled. "Soon you'll be with Gabriel, he'll be able to control that thing and... We can win..." She held back the urge to vomit from the dizziness, she was trying too hard, working too much. "Even if his creatures aren't up to the task, the sentimonster could turn the tables... If I can deliver you, maybe I'll be able to make up for having failed on my part in all of this... Maybe, just maybe, the plan will work and we wouldn't have made everyone disappear for nothing..."

With that in mind, she relinquished her Miraculous again, making the Kwami disappear and marching straight toward the manor's entrance. The only thing worse than having come so far was having done it for nothing. It was something that ate her inside even more than her deteriorating health. They spent months fighting against just a child, terrorizing Paris and failing, time and time again. They made everyone's life a living hell, including young Adrien. And nothing of that had a purpose? They extinguished humanity and yet they still had the nerve to achieve nothing? Nathalie couldn't allow it.

This was her limit, this was the last grand scheme, the last great plot. It had to work. With that in mind, Mr. Agreste's secretary and young model's caretaker faced the last two obstacles in her path. A stationary fire truck and a fabric monster that, as soon as it saw her, began to writhe in her direction, still trapped under the weight of the red vehicle.

Naturally, in the rush that day, Chloe had left the vehicle running when they fled the scene, so now it wouldn't have any fuel left to reverse. With this in mind, she searched for a hose and an empty tank, going directly to the limousine's garage to perform a gas transfusion. Surprisingly, the hardest part was finding the inlet for the peculiar truck's tank, the darkness of an unlit city didn't help either, but sooner rather than later she managed to find the opening.

Once the tank was full, she slowly and tremblingly climbed through the passenger door, moving into the cabin until she sat behind the wheel. She rolled down the window with her right hand and took the peacock brooch in her left hand, looking at it with some nostalgia before throwing it to the frontyard floor. 'If only we'd known it was broken...' she thought before leaning out to see if the monster had noticed the falling jewel. As soon as she saw it trying to crawl in it direction, she started the engine.

Backing up was a bit difficult because of the bent steel grille underneath, but sooner rather than later she felt a sudden tremor throughout the vehicle along with the sound of ripping fabric. Nathalie adjusted her glasses and looked to the side; in the shadows, she saw a small light blue glow, as well as the red turning blue. Then she opened the door she came through and lay down on the floor of the cabin, under the dashboard and next to the pedals. While the creature had a Miraculous in its possession, it would likely also try to take her hostage.

Then she heard it, the sound of the living dress moving over the fire truck, its long fabrics hitting the metal. It was inspecting, checking, searching for her. She held back the urge to cough, to react to the growing pain in her bones, to vomit, until she felt the vehicle suddenly lose weight and heard the wind stir. The unnatural flapping of wings like a bizarre animal. She came out of her hiding place and looked up trought the window, seeing the sleeveless dress twist its body to compensate for the absence of one of its wings. She watched it disappear into the night sky, flying west.

"Package sent... I hope you use it well, Gabriel..." She said aloud, sitting in the driver's seat and resting her weight on the steering wheel.

The thought that maybe she should have written a letter with Ladybug's identity crossed her mind, but was quickly dismissed.

"In a world where Emilie is alive, there's no reason to know who Ladybug really is... He won't even remember when he deakumatizes." A faint smile formed on her lips. "We're going to win this last fight... Even that little girl will be able to live happily and peacefully in a better world... Everyone will... They deserve it for everything we did..."

Nathalie was tired, so tired that she didn't care about the pain she felt in every limb. So tired that she didn't care that her pajamas were unbuttoned, disheveled, and sweaty. So tired that it didn't affect her to be like this in the middle of a dark autumn night, with the cold penetrating her bones. She just wanted to sleep there, to stop fighting and just rest. Then, amidst the dream and the vigil, the silent city echoed with a noise, an explosion.

This shook her, alerting her. She jumped off the fire truck as fast as she could and ran into the manor, stumbling up the stairs to get to the second floor to get a better view. Then she saw it through a window. In the distance, between the buildings, a light. Far away, an orange glow illuminated a block, like an island in a sea of darkness, with black smoke rising and blocking out the stars. She knew which building was in that direction, she knew exactly who was there.

She knew whose fault it was.

She quickly closed the curtain, falling to her knees and spilling the contents of her stomach. Her brain gave no respite, immediately imagining the worst. She knew the kind of damage fights could cause when Miraculous were involved, and unfortunately, she now knew that said damage would befall a girl as young as the son of her beloved Emilie. She was breathing heavily, staring at the floor.

"This is okay... It's okay... She's not a normal girl with a normal life, she's not weak, she's Ladybug for god's sake... she's endured and emerged victorious from worse..." She tried to silence the guilt screaming inside her. "Any moment the ladybugs will come out to fix everything..." Even though she said this, she didn't have the courage to look out the window again. "I need a shower..." She said to distract herself, now aware of how cold and sick she felt right now.

She told herself over and over again the whole way that everything was okay, that it wouldn't be for nothing, that they had a reason, and that it would be worth it. That everyone—her, her enemy, and Adrien—would be in a better world at the end of all this madness.

Chapter Text

She was on her own now, with nothing to do, no one to fight with. Nathalie was alone with her mind, with nothing to keep her distracted. The first few days of the disappearance were like that, with her in bed, waiting for Gabriel's plan to bear fruit, hoping that this time it would work and everything would be better. But now it was different; things didn't seem to improve so easily, hope clouded by guilt and shame, and of course, now she wasn't in her bed either.

The woman with red streaks in her hair was in one of the manor's large bathrooms, in one of its luxurious and modern bathtubs. Since the mansion had several backup generators, she could enjoy all the amenities. Still, the dim lights, the warm water, the bubbles, and the steam that filled her lungs couldn't take away the pain in her body. The tub's materials felt particularly hard against her aching body, as if she were sitting on a hard stone and leaning against the steep edge of a solid rock.

Having nothing between her skin and them didn't help, and despite the water enveloping her, she didn't feel weightless, she didn't feel any less heavy or tired. Nathalie stared at the ceiling, her vision blurry, even more than usual. She usually only needed glasses to see things at close range, but apparently the combination of lack of sleep, all the constant physical exertion, and her current condition only made everything around her blurrier and blurrier. She closed her eyes and focused on her breathing, taking deep breaths before exhaling slowly, making her aching chest rise and fall.

All was silent.

'It's beautiful, don't you think so, Nath?' The voice was familiar, causing the woman to jump, her eyes snapping open and her gaze shifting to her side.

"Huh?" was all that came out of her mouth, her voice barely molded into a question.

'The night, Nath, is clear... The stars look beautiful today,' said a blonde woman at her side, one she saw every day in her boss's office and every night in her dreams.

She stood there, resting her fine chin on her pretty arms crossed against the snow surrounding the hot springs. If she felt cold from touching the snow, her dreamy eyes, gazing up at the sky, didn't reflect it. Then the sick woman became aware of her surroundings—white snow with a soft glow from the moon—and realized that, indeed, there was no roof above them. They were in an open field, on the side of a mountain. She followed her old friend's emerald eyes and gazed up at the sky, bright and more imposing than ever. Indeed, it was beautiful.

"I... I remember this..." She managed to form a coherent sentence, beginning to feel like she was seeing a familiar but hazy sight. A blurry but warm memory.

'Yes, I would remember it too... I feel like those cute Japanese macaques, wandering through nature until I stumble upon a warm miracle... natural hot springs, an oasis of warmth in the middle of a winter desert, to shelter from the cold alongside my adventure partner... It's magical...' The golden-haired woman sighed, turning around to imitate Nathalie's pose.

"Yes..." She replied with a smile. "Only because the shortcut to the campsite you suggested got us lost..." She added without malice, it was a cherished memory of her beloved Emilie.

'I know, it's incredible that after so many trips I'm still so bad at finding my way...'

"It's not for nothing that your father only let you go out with someone..." She turned to look at the blonde, who turned sideways, facing her with a mischievous smile as she leaned her head on her hand and her elbow on the snow.

'Although I didn't see you complaining when I started taking off my coat...' the woman at her side commented, creating small waves with her free hand.

"W-well... We did a lot of mountaineering and... I like hot springs..." Nathalie replied, looking away, blushing heavily.

'Just kidding, haha... But..." She noticed a slight blush on her companion's face as well. "I like hot springs too...' Emilie said, moving closer to her side, perhaps too much for Nathalie's poor heart.

They were now elbow to elbow, shoulder to shoulder, their presence making her feel hotter than the hot water itself. The head of her unfortunately only friend was resting on her shoulder, letting out a small sigh as she held her hand underwater and squeezed Nathalie's right forearm with her own. That's how she was, that's how casual her companion was. Her unfazed by physical contact, her comfortable display of affection, so unlike her parents, all of that made the woman with jet-black hair and red highlights fall deeply in love with her.

That, and the way she saw the world around her. How, through her eyes, everything seemed so magical, so bright, so special. As if she were in love with life itself, as if she could see miracles in the mere fact of being born.

'I know we're not in our sleeping bags from camp, and I know you'd rather be comfortable in your house than naked in the middle of a snowy mountain in nowere... But I'm glad to have you... I'm glad to meet people as special as you, as Gabi in Paris, and to be able to live experiences like this... They make me glad I was born...' The blonde confessed, and her words brought tears to Nathalie's eyes.

One by one, they trickled down her cheeks and fell against the hot springs. She had so many memories like that, so many shared memories with Emilie, so many moments where simply being alive was enough to make her feel whole.

It was painful.

'What's wrong, Nath? Are you okay?' The woman with emerald eyes asked, her sweet voice was a candy that her ears hadn't tasted for too long.

"I miss you... I miss you so much..." She clenched her fists underwater, unable to contain the hiccups in her voice.

'Me too, hun... But the most beautiful part of life is that it ends...' She said, circling her back with her hand.

"It's not fair... Colt, Emil, Audrey, myself... So many horrible people. Why did you have to die before them? Before us? Why do we have the right to stay, but you had to go?"

'Nath, you know it's something I decided, and I'll never regret it...'

"You didn't know that!" She spit, hitting the water and making it splash into the snow. "You didn't know the jewel was broken! We didn't know this was the price to pay...! Y-you just wanted to give someone a chance to live, to bring a life to fill with joy and share with them the beauty of a world that only you see... Why then did fate condemn you to die? To die like this?"

When she turned to her side, Nathalie saw how the image of her beloved Emilie changed, now reflecting her own sickly image. Pale skin, gray bags under her eyelids, sick and weak. But even with all that, that bright in those green eyes never left her, and her smile never left her face.

'Oh Nath, you know there were very few things I regretted in my life, and using the Miraculous wasn't one of them...'

"Yes... I remember..." She said, and felt herself now sitting in a chair next to the bed where her beloved companion rested, now separated, estranged. "The only thing you regretted about all this was not being able to spend more time with Adrien..."

'But I know he would live a full and happy life with you and Gabriel watching over him...' Said the blurry image of her friend's body in bed. It was a different memory, the last one she could share with her, tears welling up in torrents.

"We made him disappear... Along with all of humanity..." She confessed, unable to stop trembling, her vision blurring again. "We did everything to bring you back... I-I caused the deaths of two girls just to have you back by my side... I'm a monster..."

'Nathalie...' She placed her hand on her shoulder, a gentle touch she didn't think she deserved.

"I love you so much, Emilie. I loved you for so long... And look what I've done to all the beautiful memories... To the dream of a life together... Reduced to excuses... I-I'm sorry... I'm so sorry..." She couldn't stop the tears anymore, she had broken down. "You deserved to know someone better than me... Everyone in this family would be better off if I wasn't here, if I hadn't found that Miraculous..."

'Oh, Nathalie, darling...' Even though she remembered her bedridden and unable to move, the emerald-eyed woman still got up to hug her. She cradled her head, stroking it gently. 'I would never regret meeting you... I told you that once, and no matter what you did next or what you become, I will always be happy to have been friends with the old you, my dear...'

Then Nathalie woke up, tears streaming down her face as she opened her eyes staring at the ceiling. She was still in the bathroom of the Agreste manor, completely exhausted and without a beautiful woman by her side. 'Was it a dream? A hallucination from stress?' she thought, looking around slowly. Then she closed her eyes again and sighed, opening them only to see her reflection in the water.

"You're going crazy, Nathalie... Keep it together..." She told herself before getting out of the tub, the cold air hitting her bare skin.

The manor was a shadow of what it once was, a cold, empty shell, just like its sole inhabitant. The woman dressed in the cleanest, warmest clothes she could find, making sure they were also the most comfortable. They were wine-colored cotton and silk pajamas with gold trim and a name engraved on them—Emilie Agreste's. Gabriel had a particular confidence, not trust, in his Akumas. They never worked, but he always made preparations before each akumatization. It could have been Mr. Pigeon's thirty-ninth akumatization that week, and he'd still have all his wife's belongings ready and in tip-top condition in case he got the Miraculous.

Nathalie took one last walk around the manor, slowly and aided by a cane, holding the remote control for the facilities in her hand. She made sure each room was the same as when she'd left it last Tuesday with the girls, whether intact or destroyed, ensuring everything was in its proper order. Once she was sure the scene was convincing, she shut down the room's systems completely. Slowly but surely, she cut off the power and water to each sector of the manor, burying its secrets and making it just another building in this ghost town.

She did this methodically, not even looking out the window to confirm if the Lucky Charm had worked its magic and put out the fire. Then she reached the last room left to shut down, the fashion designer's office. She put the Grimoire back in the safe where it belonged, next to the replica of the Peacock Miraculous. Once the painting was in place and the entire manor was secure, she proceeded to stand on the secret elevator, activating it remotely and descending into the underground mausoleum.

Despite his humble origins, Gabriel had a theatricality and ideas worthy of someone with too much money to spare. An underground chamber with an intentionally flooded floor, a climate system, grass and natural soil for breeding butterflies, a lighting system behind a giant porthole-shaped window with a butterfly pattern, all accessible via a reinforced magnetic glass elevator. The fact that it all happened before he became a literal supervillain set off a few alarm bells.

But this wasn't the time to question the sanity of her benefactor and friend. 'And Emilie agreeing to having a mausoleum under his house doesn't help...' she thought as she stepped out of the elevator and shut off Gabriel's office remotely. Now there was no way Ladybug, who was undoubtedly still alive, could find the entrance. She walked across the metal bridge to the central island, illuminated by a light from above that gave it a divine, heavenly feel. She was greeted by an empty coffin.

"Even if Ladybug could have awakened the dead, she wouldn't have found any allies. We genuinely made all of humanity disappear..." She reasoning, opening the modern sarcophagus.

The thought crossed her mind: maybe another Miraculous was capable of achieving the goal she and Gabriel had in mind. The truth was, searching for the Peacock Brooch was a titanic task driven by faith in a fairy tale, it was more of an adventure than something they hoped would bear fruit. Then they found the magic they were looking for, plus an extra: the butterfly and the book. Then misfortune struck, and the red and black simply shone, standing out as the logical answer.

Whenever there was trouble, the Order would release the Ladybug Earrings into the world, and if the problems were too great, and only if they were too great, they would release the Black Cat Ring beside them. The two powers combined could do the impossible, rewrite reality itself, grant any wish. If Miraculous existed, the Order had to exist. And if the Order existed, then they would bring to light the most powerful jewels. It was the theory that started this battle, this wave of madness, and when it worked, when it genuinely worked and Ladybug and Chat Noir appeared, there was no turning back.

It was exactly the same as when they found the blue Miraculous: the jewel gave them hope before taking everything from them. The heroes gave them hope before refusing to give up their power. Their hope, both hers and Gabriel's, was their doom. That was the only thing she could be sure of now. And yet, here she was, choosing to believe in the plan, that in the end she would wake up in a better world. She was cynical, but that willingness to try anyway was what brought her to the love of her life in the first place.

Nathalie entered the modern coffin; it was a piece of advanced technology, the most advanced money could buy. When Emilie fell into a coma, they transferred her here, life support kept her alive and pain-free. When the scans showed a flat line, the cryogenic chamber kept her intact, in one piece. To prevent her own mistakes and poor judgment from interfering with the plan again, the old lady had decided to use it to sink into a long, deep sleep.

"This is our last chance, Gabriel. I'm not going any further... We better reach the finish line... I trust you..." She said before leaning back on the camera and connecting everything.

The lights went out one by one as the chamber closed and reality faded, the lights of the mausoleum going out one by one as Nathalie sank into the realm of dreams. She genuinely hoped for the best, the best for Emilie, for Gabriel, for Adrien, and most of all, for Marinette. And when the last spotlight went out, in the manor reigns the silence.

Chapter Text

~~<{zzz}>~~
It was crushing her. The weight of her responsibilities, of the entire world, was crushing Marinette Dupain-Cheng. A gigantic box of Miraculous was placed on her back, like a solid backpack twice the girl's size, placed there by her teacher. Fu left without a word, also leaving shackles on her feet, each join bearing the name of a Parisian citizen. She could barely lift herself off the ground, let alone move.

Even so, she crawled out of her house, trying with all her might to crawl and move quickly. She was running late for school. She used all her strength, digging her nails into the asphalt, baring her teeth as she scraped her entire body to cross the street. The weight on her shoulders and the chains on her feet grew heavier. Then an orange glow erupted behind her. She turned around and watched in horror as the bakery burned, her parents inside.

She couldn't do anything. She screamed with all her might, pleading for help. Her classmates from the Françoise Dupont, those she'd chosen so many times to be heroes, were standing at the entrance. Still, none of them reacted. Markov pointed out how they all had red shackles with black spots, thin threads attached to their limbs, and Ladybug turned them into puppets. Without her as a puppeteer, they wouldn't react. Then Marinette continued screaming. She saw her friend and the man who had driven her crazy, but she saw Ladybug arrive and push them toward Lila, who covered their ears.

Now with tears in her eyes and amid the flames spreading through the city, she screamed for help again. Chat was there, her faithful companion, but the girl with pigtails quickly realized something was wrong. He was far, far away. She pushed him away, leaving him so far in the shadows that he disappeared into them. She was alone, trapped under the enormous weight, being suffocated by the heat.

Then, amidst the flames and the pain, gold emerged. The weight lifted from his back, as someone kicked it aside. An ugly, cracked mask fell beside her, and when she looked up, the golden light bathed her completely. The blonde was seeing her for who she truly was. Still, still seeing Marinette for who she was, still knowing her history, she reached out to help her up. The names on the chains vanished, shattering into thin air. The raven-haired girl accepted the hand.
~~<{zzz}>~~

Our young heroine was no stranger to nightmares. In fact, she was a frequent client of them. After every big fight, she was haunted by the thought of the what if, her nerves about future fights, her insecurities, her fears. Her restless mind would bring them all back when she least expected them. That, combined with her need to always be alert so as not to fail in her important duty, meant that there were days when her nights were very, very light and sporadic.

This wasn't one of those nights. While Marinette remembers a bad dream, it quickly faded and became blurry, and judging by how relaxed she was when she regained consciousness, it was clear it was a very short nightmare. Marinette was comfortable, very comfortable; it was probably the most peaceful morning she'd had in a long time.

The raven-haired girl had her eyes closed, enjoying what she perceived through her other senses. While she had never slept on that mattress or with those blankets before, it had enough support to make her feel comfortable, as well as softness and warmth. The scent was also delicious; while it wasn't the smell of freshly baked bread from the bakery, it had a refined air without falling into a strong, toxic perfumes. It was like bath salts and jasmine... And fashion.

Although autumn mornings were especially cold in Paris, she felt so warm in that moment, as if she were being hugged by a soft plush bear. The icy air didn't enter her lungs, as if she were in a warm chamber that protected her from the outside world. Protected, that was the key word. Marinette felt exceptionally protected, in a safe, comfortable space. There was no one in Paris, the memory quickly came to mind, but still, she didn't feel alone, she didn't feel lost on her own. Someone was holding her, protecting her.

Although the guilt over the bakery incident still weighed heavily on her mind, she couldn't help but enjoy that feeling, especially knowing who it was from. Chloe had changed, had made a huge effort to change and help her, she couldn't deny that. She was simply so warm. She felt her arms around her, wrapping around her back and shoulders, slack from sleep but still there, holding her close. Her legs were intertwined, tangled with each other, as if she were embracing her with all her being.

The raven-haired girl opened her eyes slightly, noticing how the room was dimly lit; apparently, the curtains barely blocked out the light. 'Old people tend to get up early... I guess this was never a problem for my grandpa...' she thought, although in reality, it wasn't really a problem. She had no reason to get up yet, and she refused to break the magic of the moment. The curtains were red, so the room had a soft reddish lighting, giving a soft and magical pink filter to the whole environment, and especially to the princess at her side.

There she was, her old enemy, her ex-bully, her former rival, Chloe Bourgeois. But she couldn't have looked more different in the baker's eyes, not just because of her clothes and the light shining on her. She was beautiful, very beautiful. Her symmetrical features relaxed in a calm expression, without grimaces of hatred or jealousy. There was no makeup to alter the look, only the natural tones of her cheeks and eyelashes, her soft, parted lips standing out even without lipstick. There was a thought in her head, a truth Marinette no longer wanted to deny: that girl was as kissable as she was beautiful. That thought made her heart flutter.

For its part, her long, curly hair, like rivers of gold, was a spectacle in itself. She had never imagined the heiress would have such fluffy curls, mainly because she had always seen her wearing a ponytail since they were children. A few loose ends traveled all the way to her own face, lightly tickling her as she moved. The raven-haired girl wanted only to brush aside the strands of hair that were blocking her view of her princess, to frame her angelic face and admire it properly, maybe even to close the distance between their lips. All the thoughts that had previously tormented her, but which she now let flow. They had been through too much to deny it now.

It felt good, even though her face was burning with the thoughts, it simply felt right at that moment. They had been through so much together, so much so that her now-friend had opened up to her and changed for her. She try to cook for her, bathed her, listened to her cry, and even comforted her. She shared her space, her story, her feelings, and even the stuffed animal in her arms. Marinette still held Mr. Cuddles in her arms, the Princess of Paris's personal teddy bear, the one that supported her through difficult times. She gave him to her former enemy without hesitation, just so she could feel good and safe when she slept.

The girl beside her, the girl hugging her, had long since ceased to be her bully or an enemy, and the raven-haired girl couldn't be happier to be by her side this cold but warm morning. As devastating as the road to get here was, she was grateful to have walked it with the blonde, knowing that otherwise she would never have witnessed such a beautiful blossoming. 'Diamonds require pressure to be created... it's hard to believe I used to see you like coal in my boot...' our protagonist thought, admiring the heiress one last time.

Then, Marinette simply squeezed the stuffed animal before reaching out to lean closer to her friend, returning the hug, deepening it and holding her close. She buried her face in the blonde's chest, feeling the soft, fine fabric of the nightgown against her skin, feeling the rise and fall of her chest as she breathed, lulled by Chloe's heartbeat. It had a gentle, healthy rhythm, before being replaced by a faster, more frantic one after a few seconds.

The heiress's arms tensed for a moment before she began to push away the one on top of her, her fingers stretched out and moving away from her back, as if they weren't allowed there. Marinette also heard a small squeal, barely audible if not for the absolute silence, released before this reaction. Chloe had woken up, and apparently her proud and shameful mind was beginning to torment her for being so emotionally clingy. It was difficult to accept certain aspects of ourselves, and even harder to discuss them out loud, at least if you're a teenager. Luckily, there was a way to save her friend from panic.

"Chloe... Sorry if I woke you up... I got a little cold, and you're so warm..." The girl with the earrings said, taking the blame for the situation, still hugin her.

"Ah... D-don't worry..." Her companion replied, her pulse beginning to slow, her body returning to a looser, less rigid state. It had worked.

"Do you mind... If we continue like this?" Marinette asked, not wanting the moment to end there, not wanting to be forced to separate yet.

There was a moment of silence, the heiress's heart began to beat vigorously again, followed by movement in her hands. Her arms wrapped firmly around our heroine, strengthening the embrace and holding her in the close position she was in. One of her elegant hands made gentle, slow, small circles on her back, while the other now rested on her head, its slender fingers tangled in her jet-black hair. For the first time in their peculiar mornings together, they were both aware of what they were doing, and neither tried to pull away.

They were comfortable, relaxed, sharing their warmth with each other, snuggling up to each other. Before they knew it, they were both back to sleep, falling back into the realm of dreams in each other's arms. It was the second Friday after the disappearance, the second week after humanity had been wiped out in a single stroke, after both had lost everything. Still, they both gave themselves the privilege of enjoying the rare thing they had gained in this tragedy. That morning, they weren't survivors. That morning, Marinette wasn't the one who had to clean up this mess. That morning, they were just two girls, in love and happy.

!
.
¡

Time moved slowly that day, at a calmer pace than the previous ones, less hectic, less chaotic. Since they arrived at their new refuge, since Chloe brought her back down to earth, our heroine finally had time to breathe and think. The storm that was her life had now calmed, giving her time to dry off, to warm up, to see what she had accomplished. And what she had accomplished had gotten out of bed.

She had already realized that the heiress was an early bird, and with her sudden change of role to a more protective one, it was only a matter of time before the sleepy embrace ended. The bed felt considerably empty now, almost cold, but that didn't matter as much to Marinette, as her mind was elsewhere. She continued lying there, hugging the stuffed animal, her face buried face down in her pillow, glancing at her companion out of the corner of her eye.

The blonde was changing, leaving her light blue nightgown behind and returning to her classic ensemble, smoothing her charming curls and tying them into a ponytail, finishing applying a literal and metaphorical mask as she applied her makeup. 'She wore a mask before I was Ladybug...' was what crossed her mind as she watched her get ready, unable to forget that vulnerable, strange but loving girl she'd met these past few days. She had her problems, big problems. She stumbled, stumbled a lot, even more than the baker herself, only in less literal ways, and yet she kept trying.

Years of habits, of neglect, of an upbringing that would corrupt anyone, and a world that would push her to stay the same, and yet there she was, striving to show love. Marinette had seen what lay behind that luxurious, jealous, and arrogant women, and she just wanted to get up and get all of that out of the way. To take off her clothes and make her an outfit herself, something that would better reflect the girl she'd now known, something that would allow the world to see the real Chloe.

Then the baker's daughter realized she was thinking about undressing her friend, so she buried her face in the pillow, certain that her face probably surpassed the red of the curtains. 'I really fell in love with her, huh? I fell in love with Chloe Bourgeois...' she thought before feeling a hand caressing her hair.

"Keep sleeping as long as you like, you've earned it... I'll try to have something better than crackers for when you want to get up..." the blonde told her in a soft voice, to which Marinette only nodded.

As soon as she heard the door close, the raven-haired girl rolled over onto her back, stretching her limbs but still holding the teddy bear. She sighed, thinking about the crossroads she faced. Now she finally had a calmer mind to try to resolve the situation they were in, but at the same time, she had fallen hopelessly in love with a blonde again. It was hard to concentrate only on what she had to do.

Then she heard a tapping on the window, a soft tapping against the glass. Marinette wrapped herself in the sheets, and still holding the stuffed animal, she got up to check. She carefully opened the curtain and found a small yellow fairy carrying a distinctive brooch. Without hesitation, she opened the window, letting the Kwami in, as Tikki and Mullo came out as well. They all headed toward the sewing kit box. She had managed to sneak it into the room while the blonde brought up the suitcase with the makeup and they clothes.

"Sorry I didn't come back sooner. Chloe told me to go back with Ladybug, and well... It was hard to get in with her by your side... That, and this thing doesn't become intangible..." the Kwami explained, handing her Miraculous to the guardian. "I couldn't get in through the chimney either..."

"Don't worry, I understand..." Marinette said as she bent down to open the secret compartment for the sewing kit, still wrapped in the sheets and with her hair loose. 'Chloe gave up her Miraculous, huh? Well, after what she said and what happened immediately afterward, I shouldn't be surprised...' was what crossed her mind.

"Did you have to hide from the cloth monsters?" Tikki asked Pollen.

"No, I was around the house all night, didn't see a single one... Although a stray cat took me by surprise..."

"Maybe we took out the last of them? That would be very good news..." The Mouse Kwami commented.

"It's likely. Even the Sapotis must have had a limit. The question is, did we stop those things when they were a manageable number, or are there more on the way? Or they can create more...?" The heroine declared. "When we defeated them, they didn't act like either akumatized or Sentimonsters, so maybe they're a byproduct of one of the former... Like Sandboy's nightmares, Queen Wasp's wasps, or the robot we got for defeating Gamer in his first round... There's still a lot to investigate..."

"Although... I don't think Chloe's up to the task..." Pollen said.

"Do you still not trust her? She's... She's genuinely helped me a lot, more than I thought possible for her... And I don't think I can do it alone..."

"No no no! It's not because I don't trust her! I was also surprised to see how much she's grown... I say this because she herself declared that she's tired of all this Miraculous stuff..."

"Yes, last night she not only gave up her Miraculous but also gave up being a hero. Not to be evil, of course, in fact, she was very altruistic at that moment..." The gray fairy corrected herself. "In fact, she did it with you in mind, to protect you. She didn't want you to get hurt again..."

"Aww Chloe..." A small smile formed on the guardian's lips, accompanied by a blush. "If only she knew that now she's been a hero more than ever... the hero I most needed..."

"Yes, I agree with that..." Pollen confessed. "I was very harsh on her..."

"Yes, you were. I understand you all are ancient mystical entities, but like she said yesterday, we're just people, we're just children... A god shouldn't yell at a human like that." Marinette said in a more stern tone but without falling into recrimination, sounding more like a concerned mother than an angry one. "Especially if her confession before the attack on the bakery was sincere..."

"I... I can corroborate it..." The yellow fairy slumped, looking guilty as she looked at the floor. "Things did play out like that on the first day... I'm sorry..."

"That's good to know..." the guardian replied, somewhat proud of this progress with the mini-deity. "Now you'll just have to tell her when I convince her that she's worthy of being a superhero..."

"Really?" Pollen was somewhat surprised.

"That's right! What happened Wednesday was a bad coincidence. You guys don't give bad luck, and her trying to be a superhero won't make things worse..." She said, remembering the heiress's words at the museum and in her room. "I can't let that hold her back. I can't lose any more allies..." She quickly noticed how emotion mixed with concern on the bee Kwami's face.

"I think that'll be difficult, Guardian... She said she wanted to get you out of danger, to leave Paris to protect you..."

"Yes, she said she'd talk to you about it today, that it's not your job and that it's best to stay out of Ladybug's way to be safe... But you can't do that! You're Ladybug!" Mullo added, scratching her chin before adding, "That, and letting you decide whether to give me back to Ladybug, I actually thought it was a nice of her part..."

"Yes, it is... She change a lot... And you're right. I'm Ladybug. This is literally my job, and this time, there's no one who can do it for me." Marinette said, getting up to sit on the bed, hugging the plush toy with the colorful fairies in front of her.

She thought for a moment, then took the yellow teddy bear with diamond eyes in her hands and looked at it for a moment. You could almost see the gears turning in real time in her head. Apparently, she came to a conclusion, since she let out a sigh of resignation as she closed her eyes. Although a smile quickly spread across her lips, as if the idea was a good one, as if she was sure of how to proceed.

"I recognize that face." Tikki crossed her arms, sharing her owner's confident expression.

"Do you have a plan? Oh! Maybe you're going to use my multiplication power to split yourself in two, untransform yourself, and then go with Chloe while your other self takes care of the problem?" Mullo got carried away with excitement; it had been a long time since her power had been as key to a plan as it had been in recent days.

"Like in the green watch series the guardian sometimes plays to us? Didn't it go wrong when the protagonist of that cartoon did it?" Pollen asked.

"That's because they used technology; my magic isn't as prone to failing." the gray fairy commented, almost offended.

"Haha, that's an interesting idea... But I had something simpler in mind." Marinette said, setting the stuffed animal aside and taking off her mouse collar. "Something I can do by myself..."

"Damn... Well, you always have the option available if you change your mind..." The multiplication kwami easily resigned himself, without losing her good spirits.

"Remember, we're here to serve you, Guardian." Pollen added, and then they both returned to the Miraculous box, the jewels in their respective drawers and the mini gods in the pocket space inside.

Once alone with her original companion and after having closen the box, our heroine began to get ready for the day. She carefully folded the light pink nightgown the heiress give her, leaving it next to the aforementioned one at the foot of the bed. Then she began to look for what to wear, particularly conscious of her own appearance. She wasn't going to say it out loud, but she wanted to look pretty for the blonde. Even so, she ended up with a fairly typical outfit for her.

Her personally made graphic tee was covered this time by a black blazer from Chloe. The heiress had offered her the option to wear any garment she needed since the monster attack had caught them off guard, and she hadn't been able to keep the her own suitcases properly packed. It was a little too big, a little too elegant, the texture and material denoting its likely exorbitant price, but it still felt pleasant to use. It made her feel warm, like all those little actions the blonde was taking, those little considerations she was making. Details that warmed her soul and made her feel good.

Even so, she tried to tuck in the yellow edges and gold details of the blazer, the designer inner her reminding her inwardly that they didn't match her pink pants. Since it was cold, she also took a pair of the heiress's cream-colored boots, plush and padded inside with the white furry trim visible. As she styled her signature pigtails in front of a mirror in the wardrobe, the red Kwami flew to her side.

"So... what's the plan?" Tikki asked.

"I'm going to tell her I'm Ladybug."

There was a moment of complete silence, the fairy's blue eyes widening as saucers. After processing what she heard, she let out a clear, loud, and completely incredulous question.

"What?"

Chapter Text

The echo of the red Kwami resonated throughout the room. Luckily, Marinette's grandfather's house was very solid and well-insulated, otherwise, maybe someone else would have heard the incredulous fairy.

"Shh, Tikki, not so loud, Chloe's downstairs..." Our heroine said as she arranged her pigtails. She got distracted and pulled them higher than usual.

"But... Are you sure?" asked the Kwami of creation, flying to stand in front of her wielder.

"Yes, I am..." She replied confidently, taking her arms out of her hair. "I can't go on like this, Tikki, I can't... And I tried to keep Marinette and Ladybug separate, and you saw how that all ended..."

"But you always found a way to protect your identity."

"Yes, when there were more people around. When there was a crowd in between, when no one would notice if someone ran off during an akuma attack, when I could just lock myself in my room or make up an excuse to skip class... There's no one else anymore..." Our protagonist's demeanor fell a little, more somber. "Chloe is all I have now, and I'm all she has. She will notice if I leave, she will be worried if I lock myself away somewhere far from her, and I'm also going to worry about how she might interpret that..."

"I know, I know you care a lot about her now, that you want to protect her... But don't you think you're being hasty? You're Marinette! You always find a way to balance everything even if the scenario isn't favorable..." Tikki pointed out in a low voice.

"And now it didn't work," the raven-haired girl remarked. "I tried to fix the problem on Sunday, and I ended up scaring the only person I had left to protect. When the monsters arrived, I almost lost an ear, and Chloe was hurt because I couldn't transform in front of her." Her gaze dropped to the floor, and she hugged herself guiltily. "When I tried to make an ideal scenario to leave on my own, I ended up losing Nathalie. I was lucky they don't take Chloe too..."

"Marinette..." The Kwami flew to her side, hugging her forearm.

"And now, I tried to do the same thing I did against Kwamibuster, protecting my identity using the mouse Miraculous... I didn't count on there being so many of them, with them coming from all sides..."

"But it was a good plan. You could have reversed the ambush and solved the problem at its root..." Tikki tried to cheer her up. "It's what you always do..."

"Yeah, it would have worked out so well... But I ended up burning my house down on purpose..." Her eyes glazed over at the thought, but she quickly regained her confidence. "I know it was the rule Fu insisted on the most, but if I keep going like this, we'll never get anywhere."

"You're sure about this, huh?" the little deity said, clasping her paws together in doubt.

"The truth is, I was never alone from the start. I always had Chat by my side. Without him, I would have lost many times, and Hawk Moth would have gotten his way... And, well, you saw how it turned out when we had to find a replacement for the kitty..." Marinette scratched the back of her neck, somewhat embarrassed by the memory.

"Yeah... Cat Walker..." Tikki was also uncomfortable about the incident, although in her case it was because she knew what Plagg's trick was that time.

"So, as you see, it couldn't be just anyone with the black cat ring; it had to be Chat if I wanted to get this far... And then we have Alya. The pressure of being a guardian was eating me alive, everything was falling apart, and I was pushing everyone away... Until I gave her a vote of confidence, until I let her get close..." The girl with pigtails wiped a tear, remembering the people she loved who were taken from her along with humanity. "And everything was easier, wasn't it?"

"Yes... Alya helped you a lot after you told her..."

"It was a difficult time, just like now. My decisions affected those I loved, but once I sought help, once I shared the burden like protecting Paris with Chat or being the guardian with Alya, I was able to regain my bearings..." She wiped her tears and reached for the doorknob. "It's like learning to cook. Aside from practice and patience, you need others, someone to help you, to guide you, and to support you... At the Louvre, I told Chloe that if she let me, I would be that support, and look how she's grown... It's time I let her help me too... As Marinette and as Ladybug..."

With those determined words and a fire in her heart, she left the room, welcomed by the dark hallway on the second floor of her grandfather's house. Without lights and in an environment practically unfamiliar to her, the raven-haired girl placed her hand on the wall to serve as a guide. She went slowly, kicking softly and briefly with the side of her foot to make sure she didn't bump into any furniture. The red fairy quickly crossed the wall and landed on her shoulder, whispering.

"But... What about the times when revealing your identity went wrong?" There were still doubts in the personification of creation.

"Relax, Tikki, we have insurance for those events..." She scratched her head with the fingertips of her free hand. "Technically, those times never happened in the first place. Thanks to Bunnyx and Sass's intervention, if things genuinely get out of hand, we might have a chance of preventing them..."

Marinette stopped and felt her way with her foot, noticing that she had already reached the stairs. She held onto the railing and proceeded to use the edge of the step as a guide to lower her foot, slowly and carefully so as not to trip, while also keeping her voice low to clear her Kwami's doubts without accidentally spilling the beans so soon.

"Also, adult Alix took the rabbit Miraculous. She knew that in a situation like this, we would have used it to prevent the disappearance... I guess that means all of this is something that... had to happen? Like the Miracle Queen incident..." Now that she said it out loud, the girl with pigtails sensed something was off.

"I guess you're right, using the rabbit Miraculous goes hand in hand with the path to the future. Since she comes from the future, she knows what has to happen for said future to exist, as if they were agents of destiny." The ancient entity on her shoulder reasoned, which didn't relax Marinette at all.

Now that she thought about it, that fact made her feel uncomfortable. It made her feel sick to think that, in fact, everything bad had to happen. That all of humanity had to disappear, that she had to lose Nathalie, that her bakery had to burn down, and that it had to be by her own hand. That, coupled with the concept that someone knew something so bad was going to happen and that they actively chose to do nothing to prevent it, but perhaps even made it happen, made her feel somewhat dismayed.

But as soon as she reached the bottom of the stairs and heard the blonde's murmurs, Marinette decided to file that not-so-pleasant thought away for another time. Now she had a test in front of her that required her full attention—after all, leaps of faith are made conscientiously—and she was going to jump off a skyscraper. She walked along the wall to the door of her grandfather's kitchen-dining room, from which an orange light emanated, softly illuminating the adjoining hallway.

She stood pressed against the wall for a moment, covered in shadow, out of sight. She needed a moment to prepare. From what she could see, Chloe lit candles to provide light without opening more curtains, and from what she heard, the heiress was fighting with the food.

"How are you going to tell her? She's not a big fan of Ladybug right now... Do you think you can change her mind? Maybe it would be a good idea for her to see Ladybug in a different light first..." Tikki whispered, still on her shoulder, trying to help her carrier, seeing that they were going to continue with this plan.

"No, if I do, then when I reveal my identity, she'll think I've been manipulating her... She's more perceptive than she seems. Even if there are things she's not completely clear about, she knows when something isn't right..." Memories of how the blonde spoke about her father and acquaintances flashed through her mind. Chloe knew deep down that something wasn't right, even if she got defensive, that it shouldn't be normal. "And she's clear about what it's like when someone plays with your emotions to achieve something..." She whispered, the Miracle Queen incident front and center.

"So?"

"I'm going to be honest. I'm going to show her that I'm me, that I'm Marinette first and foremost... And that I truly love her... Maybe then she can continue seeing me and not the mask..." These were her last silent words to the Kwami before opening her jacket. At the signal, Tikki wished her luck and quickly flew away to hide among her layers of clothing.

Marinette smoothed her clothes, arranged her hair, and took one last deep breath as she gathered her courage. Not only was she going to reveal her identity, she was going to say everything, open up completely to the girl who made her heart beat so fast. That was especially difficult when life was normal; she couldn't close the distance between Adrien and herself, nor could she control the terrifying and uncertain variables: how everything would change when she opened her heart and her being, how others would react. But now, life wasn't normal.

Now that path was traveled alone, the years of knowing each other in a different light shortened it. The terrifying variables took a backseat now that she faced monsters and real threats, that her daily life was becoming uncertain. And above all, they had opened up to each other, at least a little, the heiress more directly, and they had changed. And she liked it, she liked the change a lot. Now there were no others, she only cared about one reaction and one person, and that was Chloe. Determined, Marinette stepped forward and entered the kitchen, being greeted by the sight of the heiress struggling with what appeared to be a pile of... dough?

"Hi..." She waved to make her presence known.

"Ah! Mari, you're already up... Uh..." The blonde turned to face her. "I think the food will take a while..."

Thanks to the candlelight, she could see that she was covered in flour up to her elbows, her sleeves rolled up to her biceps, and her yellow jacket conspicuous by its absence. Judging by the egg-like stains on the stovetop, she probably took it off to avoid ruining her fine clothes. The pretty blush on her cheeks betrayed that she was a little embarrassed to be found like this.

"Oh, it's normal, things take time to cook." She quickly scanned the surroundings for an apron. "What are you preparing?"

"Well, since you said this is the house of a grumpy old baker, I thought maybe... Maybe he'd have... You know... Some, uh... Recipe? I guess in his case it would be a recipe for bread, but, well, sandwiches count as bread too, and I assumed it would be more substantial than crackers..." Chloe explained, almost scratching the back of her neck but stopping immediately, not wanting to ruin her hair.

"That's a good idea!" the girl with pigtails responded excitedly, pulling a pair of aprons out of a long cabinet. "Did you find anything in particular?"

"Actually, after snooping around for a while, I only picked the recipe that look the best. Bread names don't mean much to me, but this one had nice handwriting..." She pointed to a piece of paper next to a pile of flour. "But as you can see... Well... I'm not exactly exceptional at this..."

Marinette quickly took it and began to read.

"It's from Mom. When Dad reconnected with my Grandpa, they gave him some recipes. He wanted to make an effort and expand his horizons after seeing how good the rice bread was..." Our protagonist explained as she finished analyzing the ingredients and the steps to follow.

"I assume by rice bread, you mean meeting his energetic niece, right?" Chloe crossed her arms, avoiding touching herself but letting her chin hover over the back of her hand.

"Well, both. I got him to try the bread, and I think I made a good impression on him."

"Winning both metaphorically and literally, how Dupain-Cheng of you." She replied with a playful tone in her voice, as if it were common, as if she liked it, and the sound and implication of that pleased our heroine as well.

"You could say, hehe... Do you want a hand?" she asked, offering one of the aprons.

"Well, you look in a good mood, and I really don't want to wait that long to eat..." the blonde confessed, raising her arms for the pigtailed girl to tie her apron. "I thought cooks wore a full uniform. I was surprised not to find one of those big hats..."

"I guess hotel staff give that impression, but ordinary people usually just wear an apron to avoid getting dirty. It would be very cumbersome to have to wear different clothes for everything you do..." Then she realized who she was talking to. "You... You do that?"

"Off-cour-se, what kind of girl doesn't have an outfit for every hour of the day?" the heiress replied, feigning offense, to which Marinette could only roll her eyes with a smile.

It was a good start, like the first few days after the disappearance. The two of them together, trying to have more everyday moments, sharing a normalcy that no longer existed in Paris, that no longer existed in the world. This time Chloe wasn't just talking to her from the couch, this time she was by her side, directly participating in the preparation of the day's meal. Another reminder of what Marinette couldn't stop seeing: she had changed. The distant girl from her earliest memories simply disappeared before her eyes. It was the same girl, but what had once seemed unthinkable was now natural, and it was happening right next to her.

The heiress was helping her with household chores, they were cooking together, and it was a pleasant experience. Apparently, when you manage to capture the attention of the Princess of Paris, she becomes adept at learning, with a certain curiosity worthy of a child. She paid attention to the explanations the raven-haired girl offered, and took into consideration the tips she gave her, as well as her guides. She was surprisingly careful, as if she were painting her nails, taking the time to apply everything correctly and not waste any polish.

They used the wood-fired pizza oven to bake the dough, and they made the wait more pleasant by simply chatting. Marinette's peculiar family history was a main topic, such as how her grandfather became a Viking made of bread and how her own grandmother, who had become a witch, had once almost turned her into stone. They also shared stories about the hotel and the bakery, both incidents and curious experiences. They even went so far as to talk about anecdotes from school, obviously avoiding their previous rocky relationship.

They were in the middle of an empty city, hidden from the outside world, with almost no light source and completely alone, and yet, their giggles echoed through the house. They were simply having a good time, forgetting all the chaos and fear, choosing to be close to each other even though they had plenty of space. The room was large, yet they were both close enough that their hands accidentally brushed against each other. There was no reason to lower their voices, but they kept their volume low, leaning in close to each other to whisper. The intimacy just felt right, it was natural.

Then, the aroma of freshly baked bread filled the dark room. They took off their aprons, and our duo went to sit on the plush sofa, enjoying the fruits of their labor together. It was particularly sweet bread, crispy on the outside but with a soft and fluffy interior. They washed it down with preserves from the cupboard and mineral water; it was a big improvement over the day before. Everything was calm, everything was perfect... Except for one small problem.

The dog didn't want to eat.

"Are you sure you don't want it, little one? It's delicious..." Marinette said, passing a piece of bread spread from top to bottom in pâté in front of his snout.

Even though little Louis's wrinkled eyelids were raised and his eyes saw his juicy prize illuminated by a lantern, he didn't even make a move to eat it. He looked listless, and that, along with the fact that he barely moved, worried the raven-haired girl and annoyed the blonde.

"Come on, just because you're an animal doesn't mean you can waste food, especially something that was made for moi..." She complained, sitting at the other end of the baker girl, opposite the dog.

"I think something may hurts him. It's like when I had a tooth pulled. I didn't want to open my mouth even to speak for a weekend..." She ran her free hand over his back, trying to feel if anything was swollen or out of place. Maybe she wasn't a veterinarian or even a doctor, but at least she could take advantage of all the stumbles and falls in her life.

"I wouldn't be surprised, I can't believe you bite one of those things just like that... You didn't even know where those fabrics had been..." She ad a recriminating tone. She was upset, but Marinette could tell she wasn't upset with the animal, at least not directly. "Damn monsters, don't they know what it took me to get this dog for Sabrina? Don't they know what it took me to find it on Sunday to look for you? And the same goes for you. Do you have any idea of the trouble we're going to to take care of you, fleabag?"

"He was just trying to help Chloe, he's a good boy... He was just doing what any dog would have done in his situation..." The baker explained, scratching the little dog's head.

"And I don't understand why. I bought him to be Sabrina's pet, not to protect her. His dad's the chief of police for crying out loud! It's not your job, you don't have to play the hero, you just had to be there for my Sabs." She said, pointing at Louis, as if he could understand her.

"I guess it's in his nature... We can't expect him to see someone in his pack in danger and not want to try to protect them..." Marinette could understand the feeling very well.

"Pack? Mari, we're humans, not dogs. And I'm not even his owner! Neither are you nor I."

"And yet, when the monster threw him through the air, you jumped to catch him... You cushioned the blow and saved his life, Chloe..." She placed the piece of bread on a tray and placed her free hand over the blonde's, looking into her eyes.

"J-just because I know you and Sabrina wouldn't stop crying if he kicked the bucket..." She muttered, breaking eye contact, pouting slightly as she looked away.

"Still, you acted. You saw someone would get hurt, and you didn't stand idly by, for whatever reason, you tried to help..." The girl with pigtails said, stroking the heiress's knuckles with her thumb.

"Maybe... But maybe I shouldn't have been in that situation... None of us should have been in that situation in the first place... It's not our job..." Chloe looked down at the floor before sighing, turning back to her, her gaze firm. "Mari... We need to talk..."

A very simple phrase, but one that terrified so many, especially couples. The girl with pigtails knew it was coming, just as the Kwamis had warned her, that Chloe would try to convince her to leave Paris. She was waiting for the heiress to start the conversation, partly to have time to plan what to say, partly because she was nervous about what she would have to confess.

"Yes, you're right... I also have something to tell you..."

Chapter Text

Feeling like the center of the universe is more common than it seems. After all, no matter how hard we try, we can only see the world through our own eyes, we can only live our unique and singular experiences as ourselves. It's extremely normal in teenagers. After all, life starts to get hectic, responsibilities and expectations begin to pop up, and hormones don't help to make the experience any easier.

Despite this, despite the fact that teenage drama hits us so hard at that age, the truth is that the world doesn't revolve around any of us. Our actions or inactions, our decisions, carry no real weight on the world we live in. The earth isn't going to stop if you fail an exam or if you get your heart broken, and that's a unanimous truth for each and every person... Except for the case of a young French-Chinese girl in Paris, who had the misfortune of genuinely finding herself in that position.

Since passing Master Fu's "test", Marinette has become the center of the world, constantly in the sights of a crazy super-criminal and with the survival of the entire universe on her shoulders. Reality itself would fall apart if Hawk Moth obtained the Miraculous, so every action and inaction she took genuinely put everything at risk, and it never felt more real than in that dark room with her companion.

Humanity had been missing for almost two weeks, with the two of them being the last inhabitants of the world, and with the duty and responsibility of fixing everything falling solely on her. It was too much, and the baker understood perfectly. She needed help, and who better to provide it than that surprisingly charming heiress who saved her life? Chloe supported her the whole time, whether directly or indirectly, sitting next to her on the couch. Marinette remembered all those moments.

At first, it was just an objective, a goal to accomplish, the last civilian she was meant to protect. It kept her focused, providing her with small victories in her daily life so she could feel she could do something about a phenomenon of such titanic proportions. Ironically, the girl who filled her daily life with stress was the one who kept her from going crazy. But the blonde wasn't satisfied with that alone. Little by little, their interactions became more natural, more genuine. Little by little, Marinette began to see aspects of the heiress she had never before contemplated.

As the days passed, something happened that neither of them had previously believed possible: a change occurred. Their relationship changed. The blonde changed. In a city that already viewed akumas as normal, in the midst of the most stagnant and immutable period in modern French history, she changed. Chloe, with whom it seemed the universe itself was trying to pull her back, changed. And that change dazzled our heroine, becoming a light at the end of the tunnel, proof that things could genuinely change, that they could improve, that she herself could be better.

The blonde gave her hope, cared for her, and saved her from falling into despair. Chloe had become her hero, the girl her heart beat for, and while she made many things easier, she made this moment exceptionally difficult. The world revolved around her now, hanging on what she was going to confess. Hundreds of billions of people depended on it, and her secret could shake everything they had built up to that point.

"What do you want to tell me?" Chloe asked.

"You go first, after all you were the one who wanted to talk in first place..." She let the blonde start, knowing what she was going to say was no reason to interrupt her, and she needed time to think through her words.

"Okay... Mari, do you remember what I told you yesterday? Before all the crying and that..." She looked away for a moment, seeming a little embarrassed as she explained it.

"Yes, I remember..." While she ultimately understood what her friend was trying to say on that occasion, it still hurt to hear the heiress tell her she wasn't good enough as a hero.

Although, in hindsight, she was grateful she'd said it, it would be easier to hear what her friend had to say when she knew the wole truth. She'd undoubtedly have stronger adjectives and more forceful statements. At least she'd be prepared for the blow.

"Well... I stand by what I said..." Chloe's tone was firm, looking her in the eyes again, but without any harshness in them. Instead, they felt compassionate. "I know you want to help people, I know you have a heart of gold and that you can't stand to see people struggling, believe me, I know that... It's something I've learned to appreciate about you..." Her tone softened, turning her hand so they were palm to palm, holding it. "But everything that happened, everything we've faced... None of it was your responsibility, you shouldn't have had to suffer through all that..."

"But I had to, I couldn't just sit back and do nothing. I couldn't leave you and Nathalie alone, I couldn't not try to protect you all..."

"Yes, yes, you could... For heaven's sake, Marinette, you're 15 years old. You shouldn't have to protect a bitch that always treats you badly, nor take care of someone else's pet, or take care of a terminally ill woman... None of this is your burden... No one should force it to you..." She declared, her tone equal parts confidence and compassion.

"No, Chloe, no, you're not a burden." She quickly moved her free hand to gently rest it on the heiress's cheek. "Neither you, nor Louis, nor Nathalie, none of you are... No one is forcing me to do anything. I want to help..."

"And that's the problem." She retorted, holding her hand to the baker's one and pulling it away. "You're just a normal girl, Marinette. Even though you have that deep desire to help everyone... You can't... Neither you, nor I, can do anything..." There was a hint of defeat in her expression, half-lit by the lamp.

"That's not right. There's always a way to help."

"Mari, I know you're not stupid. You're one of the smartest people I know. You know that's a lie..." She clasped her hands together, almost pleading.

"Of course it isn't... No matter who we are, there's always a way to help those in need..." Despite everything, our heroine stood firm in her stance. At the end of the day, she was still Marinette, is what her do.

"Oh, come on!" Chloe let go of her hands and stood up from the couch, standing in front of our protagonist. "If this were about charity or helping others, I'd agree with you. Hell, I'm not that stubborn to get stuck in an argument like that... But that's not the case in this situation." She said, gesturing with her hands. "We're at the end of the world, every single person we know and don't know has disappeared without a trace. The electricity and gas are gone. As if the carnivores at the zoo weren't enough, there are also monsters roaming the streets! And on top of that, there's a fire probably burning out of control in the Place des Vosges. A fire that, incidentally, we caused..." She enumerated.

"You don't have to take responsibility for that. It was my decision..." Marinette tried to take her hands, but the blonde got there first and placed her own on the baker's shoulders.

"We're not going to do that again! And if we do, it only proves my point. We shouldn't have been in that situation in the first place. The responsibility shouldn't have fallen on us..." Her tone softened as she crouched down, now eye to eye with the pigtailed girl. "It wasn't our job, it wasn't your job... And yet you were the only one who paid the price..."

"Chloe, thats not..." It was difficult, especially with the look the blonde was giving her. She looked genuinely concerned, worried for her.

Since she was backlit by the camp lantern, Marinette could perfectly see her reflection illuminated within the blue eyes of her beloved companion. 'She's not saying that for herself... She's saying it for me... She genuinely wants to protect me...' the baker's daughter thought, holding her arm gently.

"I know it's ironic coming from me, knowing what I did it to you for so many years... But I know now..." She moved to cup her face in both hands, holding her gently as she emphasized her words. "You don't deserve to suffer like this, or all the bullying I did to you, or to bear a responsibility that isn't yours... You just want the best for everyone, but in this situation... In this situation, we can't do anything... We're not going to accomplish anything, and you're only going to suffer like yesterday if we keep trying..." Chloe stopped, staring at the ground for a moment as she swallowed, then holding her gaze again with glassy eyes. "It's killing me that you think it's not like that, that you think it's your fault or your responsibility or any of that nonsense... You're just a girl with a huge heart, not a hero or a savior... Could you just... I don't know, think about what's best for youself? Could you do that for me? Please?"

Her words made a lump form in our heroine's throat and brought tears to her eyes. Hearing her, hearing Chloe Bourgeois, imploring her to stop for her own good was too much for her heart. Receiving so much concern and affection from such an unlikely place moved her to the core, and knowing how she would have to respond to that love hurt even more. Chloe had changed, she was showing care and affection, and she was going to respond by dropping a bombshell, revealing that she'd been lying to her all this time and that things weren't as she'd thought, that she always worked with half-truths. Her friend was quick to notice the girl with pigtails' reaction.

"Oh no no no, please don't cry..." the blonde said, hugging her. "Sorry..."

"N-no... It's okay..." our heroine hiccuped, returning the hug. "It's not your fault, it's not because of this..."

That moment in the darkness, being comforted again, made Marinette realize something: that she couldn't reveal her identity to Chloe like this. Not in the middle of a dark house, not hidden in a space so isolated and strange for both of them, not if the echo and the darkness distorted her words and masked her reactions. The heiress had changed, she deserved better than a spontaneous, careless, and hurtful confession, especially if she wanted everything to go well. A vote of confidence, a true declaration, deserves to be thought through with great care and in the right place. And that place inst here.

!
.
¡

The light from outside flooded in as she opened the front door. They were both greeted by a blue sky framed by white clouds with gray edges. In a line of thought worthy of her ramblings and fantasies with Adrien, our heroine came to the conclusion, that her confession should be special. And that meant it should be outside, in the sunlight. Maybe if she did it like a normal confession, revealing everything—what she felt and who she was—would be easier. A quiet walk to think through her words, to set the mood, to let the natural beauty of Paris and the sounds of nature play to her advantage.

She convinced Chloe by using returning her Miraculous, along with getting painkillers for Louis, as an excuse to go on a expedition outside. Another half-lie, but at least half of it about the dog was genuine, and the fake part wouldn't last long. She saw the blonde lean forward a little to take a look, her eyes wide and alert.

"The coast looks clear." She said before turning to face our heroine. "Okay, do you have the box?"

"Right here." Marinette replied, taking a small jewelry box out of her purse. She looked for one in her grandfather's house to mime putting away the mouse Miraculous.

"Perfect." She looked around again, in a protective, alert mode, which the baker found endearing. "We'll go to the TV tower since Ladybug is probably protecting Max's robot. We'll give her the Miraculous, get whatever you want to give the dog, and then we'll get as far away from Paris as we can. Ready?"

"Ready." The girl with pigtails nodded.

The truth was that her friend's plan was pretty solid. It wasn't exactly heroic, but from her perspective, with the information she had and her priorities, it certainly seemed like a perfect plan. The logical path. 'Now I wonder if her let Sabrina do her homework because she needs help or out of simple laziness...' A doubt crossed her mind as she put the box back in her bag. A reflex from the last few days, Chloe bent down a little and was attentive to open the gate.

It had become normal for them to almost crouch, ready to run if they saw a living dress. Normally, Marinette would be the first to preach caution and alertness, but today would be different. Marinette was Ladybug, the safety of her powers and a Lucky Charm were literally a word away, and she was standing next to the princess of Paris. There was no reason to walk on eggshells, no reason to be afraid.

"Chloe..." She tugged at the heir's winter jacket, catching her attention. "Do you think... We could walk there normally? You know, standing up, side by side..."

"What are you saying? This isn't like shopping. There are probably still monsters in the city..."

"I mean... Are they? One may think that the bakery explosion would have caught the attention of those left behind, but we were on watch all night on Françoise Dupont and didn't see anything..." The girl with pigtails said, clutching her forearm.

"That's true..." The blonde put a finger to her chin, recalling her memory. "But those things are a real pain in the ass. When we least expect it, they pull out that crap of also being able to use Miraculous... We don't know if they're not watching us..." Chloe was feeling downright paranoid after recent events.

"Yeah, it's a possibility... But, I have a good feeling... I mean, we spent a peaceful day and a half at Grandpa's house, slept soundly, and nothing attacked us... I think, I want to think, that we can indulge ourselves... I... I feel safe with you..." She confessed, playing with her fingers and looking at the floor.

"Ugh, fine..." A deep blush lit up the princess of Paris, both her cheeks and the tips of her ears. "But you won't leave my side, and at the first strange thing we see, we'll run, Capisci?" she demanded, to which Marinette quickly linked her arms, took her forearm with her free hand, and rested her head on Chloe's shoulder with a smile.

"Capisci." she replied, happy and completely oblivious to how her friend's blush intensified.

Without another word, and with an embarrassed, happy, and alert blonde, the two began their walk to the Paris TV building. They continued side by side, as they had been these past few days, growing closer until they reached this unlikely image. Marinette Dupain-Cheng, the strange and restless girl next to Chloe Bourgeois, the most conceited and arrogant girl in Paris. They were polar opposites, their lives couldn't have been more different, they were downright enemies in their daily lives.

Still, now they were walking down the street, pressed side by side, at peace, happy. The improbability of that situation only made it more special, remembering how they'd gotten along only made the change they'd gone through more special. It was a small miracle, their small miracle, and because of this, our heroine was sure of her decision. That special something that was born deserved the vote of confidence, entrusting her identity to the heiress. It was a truth that could shake everything they had now, but it was also something that could strengthen everything.

It was the only step she could take now, the only step that could help her solve this predicament, that would allow her to change too and ensure that things would be different when everyone returned. With that in mind, Marinette thought. She thought about every word with every synchronized step they took. She thought as the cold wind brought them closer together to share the warmth. She thought as the colors of Paris flooded her heart.

The multicolored landscape of the autumn trees blended well with the city's architecture, creating a vibrant and lively atmosphere for a deserted city. Accompanying the crunch of the leaves under their shoes was the whistling of the wind through the buildings, which created a charming melody alongside the birdsong. 'If the animals aren't hiding anymore, that means the monsters haven't been prowling the city for a while... Everything's better...' At first, she might have thought she was seeing things rosy because she was in love, but the truth was, everything genuinely seemed to be better now.

Chloe remained attentive, but it was still clear that she was enjoying the slower pace, being outside and still being able to enjoy a more everyday experience. They walked at a brisk pace, swaying in sync as they leaned against each other. Their hands were clasped, fingers intertwined, their bags on opposite sides so they wouldn't get in each other's way. It was something they both did unconsciously, it just happened now, no matter how strange it seemed from the outside.

"So..." The blonde broke the silence, but in a low voice, partly to avoid unwanted attention, partly because they were right next to each other. "Any places you want to visit? Trasbug will probably figure all this out before we get anywhere, but, you know... It's good to have a destination..."

"I thought you'd already have a place in mind. I mean, it was your idea..."

"Well, yeah, but... Hey, I'm being generous for once, don't waste this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity... And speak quickly before I change my mind..." The heiress feigned annoyance.

"Well, I've always wanted to go to Milan..." the raven-haired girl admitted.

"Why I'm not surprised, one of the fashion capitals..." Chloe seemed to be thinking about it, as if she were already visualizing it. "Although it kind of wouldn't be as fun now that no one's around, but the change of scenery wouldn't hurt..."

"Yeah... It would be nice to go with you..." She whispered, looking away.

Then they reached a bridge, apparently one of the bridges where Andre the ice cream man was handing out his ice cream for lovers. That, or, considering how locked it looked, maybe he was on his way home after completing his workday before disappearing halfway there. Seeing the cart brought an image to Marinette's mind, memories, memories of so many couples living their lives in the background. Some she knew, most she didn't, but they were there, part of the world she protected and living proof of why she carried that weight.

She could see their shadows, ghosts of a memory. Nino and Alya, leaning on the railing, enjoying their ice cream with some music shared through the headphones of the boy whit the cap. She could see Ivan and Myleene sitting on a bench up ahead, as adorable as ever; despite the big man's appearance, they radiated affection. She saw Adrien still with Kagami, they seemed happy before they broke up. She saw Luka playing his guitar, a patient love who had no problem waiting. Maybe one day he will find someone else and wouldn't wait forever.

People she knew and people she didn't, happy couples, singles, and nervous teenagers testing the waters. It was a bridge filled with the ghosts of memories, as was the entire city, an image that reminded her of her important task and at the same time brought her a certain peace. She felt nostalgic for such a fond memory, and now that she was holding her ex-bully's hand, she couldn't help but imagine walking with her when it was all over, integrating her into her group of friends, inviting her to sleepovers, traveling together, maybe... maybe fight together.

As the birds took flight to the east and a huge flock crossed the sky from the west, Marinette stopped. It was time. With the river running beneath her feet, the breeze stirring her bangs, and butterflies and insects painting the azure sky with their colors, she spoke.

"It wasn't just once..."

"Excuse me?" Chloe turned to look at her, and they both stopped in the middle of the bridge.

"You said it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, but thats not true..." The raven-haired girl moved to stand in front of the heiress, still holding her hand. "This isn't the first time you've done something like this, being... selfless..."

"Marí, it's me... The fact that I'm not a complete jerk from time to time isn't a big deal..." The blonde tried to pretend it didn't matter, but the baker wouldn't let her.

"That's where you're wrong. It's a big deal..." Marinette took her other hand, holding both of them while looking her straight in the eyes. "Chloe, you... You've changed..." Those were the words that formed a smile on her lips, and that made the Princess of Paris flinch a little.

They were simple but powerful words, easy to think but carrying great weight when spoken aloud. Marinette could swear the ground shook beneath her feet when she said them. She lifted the heiress's hands, clasped them in hers, and held them at the height of her heart. It was the only thing between her chests as she took a step forward. The girl with pigtails took the opportunity to see her friend. She was wearing a warm outfit: a fluffy, yellow jacket with white faux fur trim, long black boots, and most importantly, the pants with the pattern the baker had sewn. They were further proof of everything that had changed between them, everything that had blossomed.

"You've changed, more than you know... I... I could see what you're capable of, your kindness... The love you can project..." She said, looking the blonde in the eye again. She saw her swallow as her cheeks turned red.

"M-Mari... What are you saying?" She asked, confused and excited at the same time.

"What I wanted to tell you at my grandfather's house, something I've been thinking about and keeping to myself for a few days..." She moved one of her hands away to cup the heiress's cheek, noticing how almost scared she looked. Her mind seemed to be racing after just a few words, but she couldn't stop herself. "I see you, Chloe, I see the real you... After so many years, after so many misunderstandings, challenges, and fights, for the first time I see you for who you are... For the first time I feel like I know you, Chloe..."

"W-what are you saying...? You already know me, Mari. I'm the fool who bullyied you for years..." She said, her eyes glazed over, but without moving away, she leaned into her touch, letting Marinette hold her head in place.

"Yes, you were... Before, I didn't even want to go to school with you, I didn't feel safe... And now... I don't think I could feel safer than being by your side..." She stroked Chloe's cheek with her thumb, wiping a tear from her flushed face.

Her princess was speechless, processing the sincerity in Marinette's words.

"Remembering who you were, who we were... It only makes me feel happier to have the privilege of knowing the woman in front of me... You're the one who kept me afloat, the one who helped me when I needed it most, the one who made me feel like just a girl again... Thanks to you, Chloe, I feel like it's okay to be myself... And above all, I feel hope. Hope that things can get better, that they can change, that I can change... I want you to know that everything you've done up until now, all those 'sporadic' moments where you showed me your kindness... They were the great thing, they were just what I needed to keep from falling..."

Marinette held the heiress's hands together again, and the blonde mirrored her gesture. They were both holding their hands between their hearts, inches apart. The baker closed her eyes and took a deep breath before letting it out. She opened her eyes to see her princess, who had an incredulous smile, as if she couldn't believe what was happening, almost trembling.

"Chloe... You're my hero, and I... I love you..."

The utter shock took the heiress's breath away, tears of joy welling in her sapphire eyes.

"R-really?" were the words that managed to escape her lips, as if she were afraid she'd heard wrong, as if she were afraid it was all a dream. Marinette fulfilled her duty as a hero and allayed her fears.

"Really... I loved you, Chloe, and I mean it... And that's why I have to confess this... Chloe, I am..." Then she saw it, something just on the side of her reflection in those shining eyes, on the periphery of both of them eyes.

A huge dark blur caught her attention, both of theirs. They both turned and saw something descending down the river on another bridge. A tall figure fell like a feather. It looked like it had cat-like shape, with a pair of green sparkles shining under a cloak of black robes.

Chapter Text

That moment, that particular moment at that point in Paris, that precise moment on that bridge, was the most terrifying and joyful thing Chloe had ever experienced in her life. The genuine nervousness she felt when Marinette began to speak and the incredulous ecstasy that flooded her when she heard those beautiful words were seared into her memory. Her former rival, her former victim, the girl she most envied and admired in the world was simply there, listing things that even the heiress herself didn't believe could be associated with herself, but the baker said them with such confidence that she couldn't help but believe her.

She spoke of change, of growth, of improvement, of meaning something big to someone. She showed her how much she appreciated and needed her, and she said the one thing she'd never heard before, the one thing she'd longed to hear. Marinette had told her she loved her, and she'd made sure Chloe believed her words. And why wouldn't she? She was her beloved Mari, after all. She was flooded with so many emotions, so many doubts, questions, and sensations, but all she needed was to feel her heartbeat and see that beautiful face in front of her to know that everything was okay. That everything would be okay. That those emotions were good, that she was feeling the deepest and most sincere happiness she had ever experienced.

If she hadn't been so surprised and her dear friend... well, girlfriend... hadn't continued to delight her ears with her beautiful words, then perhaps the heiress would have closed the gap between them to feel those lips that were becoming increasingly difficult to ignore with each passing day. It was simply tempting to steal a kiss, no matter how quick it will be, but she held back, as with so many complicated emotions. Perhaps she would have finally been able to get rid of that thorn, that need, if only that presence hadn't appeared.

They both noticed it, a dark stain they saw out of the corner of their eyes. Instinctively, they turned in its direction. No matter how special the moment or how in love they were, there were still monsters in Paris, so survival instinct took over at the first strange thing that appeared. For a moment, she thought it was Ladybug's henchman, so she was about to curse that stray cat from here to China, but she quickly realized something was... Wrong.

It was hard to be sure because of the distance, but it seemed much larger as it fell like a feather, and the fact that it had a black hood covering its hair didn't help with that uneasy feeling. Then, the thing hit the ground, and they both watched as the bridge shattered into pieces. There was no explosion, no lights, no wind, no noise. Their hands clenched together as adrenaline surged, a chill running down their spines. Time slowed as they watched the debris fall into the river, their eyes wide open and their breaths caught.

That, that was the Cataclysm. Destruction in its purest form, and the thing that had used it wasn't Chat Noir.

Time slowed down when they saw that thing jump, the pieces of the bridge creating a cacophiny of noisy splashes as it floated through the air, weightless. It was heading toward them. It was one of the living dresses, one of those monsters had obtained the black cat Miraculous. 'Shit.' she was going to say, but she only managed to think it, the air didn't leave her lungs when they saw him stretch out one of his sleeves. With a sweeping motion, the creature extended the fabric and whipped down powerfully, straight at them.

They reacted reflexively, or well, Chloe did. She pushed her beloved forward with all her strength and jumped as fast as she could. They both dodged the blow and fell a few meters to the side. The whiplash left a clean cut across the bridge, from one railing to the other. When the blonde glanced up, she watched in horror as the ground around the mark darkened and disintegrated into dust. Quickly, without letting go of the pigtailed girl, she scrambled to her feet, running as fast as she could while pulling her companion along.

For a moment, she dragged her, but before the ground beneath them disappeared, the baker reacted and ran too. They narrowly reached the other end of the bridge, jumping to the street and avoiding the water. In a minute, two bridges disappeared as if they had never been there, becoming nothing but rubble and dust in the river. The heiress remembered the incident at the bakery, how one of those things grabbed the bee's comb and began spaming venom left and right.

That had been a problem, but this? This was a nightmare. It was the worst thing that could happen, and knowing what kind of danger they were in, her mind instantly traveled to the girl who had just confessed her love to her. She turned to see Marinette, and she was on the ground beside her, staring at the bridge that no longer existed. Chloe had seen the way her eyes looked when she was nervous, even scared. In the past, she had always been there in the front row to see it, many times she was the cause. But she had never seen that expression before.

Her eyes wide open, her pupils almost reduced to pinpoint, her lip trembling in her half-open mouth, unable to look away, unable to move. It was as if she'd seen a ghost, a demon, as if something worse than Hawk Moth had appeared. As if the devil himself had emerged from hell before her eyes. And she couldn't blame her, not when she saw that thing flying.

The monster flapped its sleeves and propelled itself, passing over them, almost ignoring them, and falling onto a car. In an instant, the car, which had seemed almost new, rusted as if a thousand years had passed, its windows shattering and it bended like an empty can. There was a moment of silence, where the creature looked in all directions as if searching for something, still ignoring them. 'I guess with one of the big jewels, you're no longer interested in kidnapping people...' the heiress thought, carefully crawling towards her companion, unwilling to push her luck.

Her gaze traveled a thousand times between Marinette and the Noir Fabric, attentive to what was most important to her and the monster that was endangering it. The monster was strange, it followed the same pattern as the previous ones: a dress or outfit of some kind without a person inside and with a life of its own. But it was strange, not only because it didn't have anything red like the others, but it seemed like a genuine fashion disaster, and that was saying something. The rest so far had seemed like a pretentious fashion show with extravagant designs, but this one seemed put together by a madman.

Formal pieces mixed with casual clothes, without any cohesion or care. Leather pants under teared jeans, a sash alongside loose shirt pieces with many belts on top, a leather jacket over a trench coat over a tuxedo over a sweatshirt, and she couldn't tell from which of them the cat-eared hood came from. Too many loose fabrics, too many ribbons and belts, all in a monochromatic shade of black. The only thing that wasn't were those lights under the shadow of the hood, like spectral green flames that simulated the eyes of the feline hero.

A complete abomination, a mockery of the heiress and the baker's shared passion, but she couldn't allow that creature to distract her from what was truly important at that moment: getting Marinette out of there. Her beloved seemed paralyzed, unable to take her eyes off that thing, beginning to tremble, flashes of what looked like tears in her eyes. The girl she'd seen fighting without hesitation with the rest of the living dresses, who was always so capable, who confessed something that not even the blonde herself had the courage to confess, just stood there, frozen in place in absolute horror.

Then, the black fabric turned its back on them, facing one of the many empty buildings in Paris. The monster leaped and slammed forward, and in the blink of an eye, the entire building collapsed.

In a rush of adrenaline, Chloe grabbed the raven-haired girl and stood up, running as fast as she could out of range of the debris. They stumbled a lot along the way, but managed to cover a good two blocks before turning a corner. The blonde let go of her partner's hand and rested both palms on her knees, catching her breath with difficulty.

"What the hell was that?!" the heiress spat, finally managing to say what she'd been thinking since that creature interrupted her special moment. "How did that get Chat Noir's ring?! WHERE WAS CHAT NOIR?!"

"Blanc..." Was the only thing she heard beside her, a broken and weak voice.

"Mari...?" Chloe turned to see Marinette kneeling, holding the sides of her head.

"It can't be him, it can't be B-blanc... It can't happen again, it's not happening, it's not happening, it's not happening!" She whispered, shaking her head. "No no no no no, it's not true, I... No, I c-can't b-breathe..." She said, clutching her neck, panic making it hard to think, it seemed as if she were choking on air.

"Mari! Are you okay?" The Princess of Paris quickly came down to her side, scared by what was happening to her companion.

Marinette was having a panic attack. She almost seemed disconnected from reality, with the only thing connecting what was happening now to her mind being that monster. 'Is it because of the bakery? Was she traumatized by seeing the building fall to pieces?' she thought, and she couldn't blame the girl with pigtails. She'd said it and would repeat it until she was tired, Dupain-Cheng didn't deserve to go through all of this, and seeing her in this state only further confirmed it in the heiress's mind.

The bad thing was that Chloe was on her own now, and she didn't know what to do. The sound of more buildings collapsing didn't help her think. The fact that they weren't a direct target of that thing didn't make their situation any less dangerous. She needed to get going again and find a safe place. Then she saw a huge crack crossing the street opposite the river, crossing a fire dam that quickly shot water upwards like a geyser. It was her starting gun to keep moving.

Drawing strength from deep within her, partly from love, partly from adrenaline, Chloe managed to scoop her frightened friend into her arms and run away. It wasn't comfortable, it wasn't safe, sooner than later, her arms were aching like hell, but she gritted her teeth and kept going, pulling Marinette out of what felt almost like a war zone. Towers of smoke began to rise across the city, the rain of cataclysms bringing chaos to the thankfully empty streets.

The blonde stumbled, but managed to avoid falling and knocking down her beloved, skidding on her knee, scraping it badly. 'It's for Mari, she needs you, you can do this, you can do this, you are Chloe Bourgeois, you can do this!' she repeated to herself in her mind, noticing a place where they could hide, as the adrenaline blocked the pain in her leg. She got up and ran into an open building, the sound of Paris's destruction fading with each step.

Unfortunately, in the darkness of the hallway, she could only hear and feel the girl in her arms. She heard her crying in her arms, screaming that she couldn't breathe, that everything was closing in around her, that there was no room. She felt her trembling, trying to escape, but hopelessly frozen in place. It was painful. Luckily, the light at the end of the tunnel was near, literally. They exited the hallway directly onto a soccer field.

High walls, enormous bleachers, a semi-open roof for fresh air, but with cover so that whatever flew by wouldn't notice them. If the place collapsed, they could run to the center and avoid the rubble. And most importantly, Marinette couldn't see the creature wreaking havoc, she couldn't hear or see the destruction of the city from that point. She quickly moved to the side and carefully placed her beloved in a seat.

"Marí. Mari! Marinette!" Chloe took her hands away and held her face so she looked at her, trying to get her attention.

The girl continued to breathe as if she were short of breath. When she felt her pulse, she noticed it was sky-high. Her panic at the Noir Fabric was overwhelming.

"Marí, please! It's okay! Look around, you're safe!" she said, wiping away a tear, a smile reaching the heiress's lips as she noticed the girl with pigtails looking around, her eyes dilating until they returned to normal. "It's okay, I'm scared too, but that thing isn't coming for us. We're safe..." She repeated several times, hoping the girl would believe her.

Marinette's breathing steadied, if only slightly, her eyes traveling around the place before holding Chloe's gaze again. Her eyes were glassy and slightly red, her pulse was still racing, and her lower lip was still trembling.

"I-its d-d-dangerous, h-he's going to destroy everything..." The baker grabbed her partner's wrists, her voice cracking with panic.

"No, not everything, not us, never us..." the heiress replied, confidence in her voice as she caressed the blue-eyed girl's cheek as she continued. "Nothing's changed, we're going to stick to the plan... I'm going to find Louis, grab our things, and we'll get out of here... We'll be safe in Milan."

"B-but...!"

"I run faster than you, and that thing seems to ignore us. I'll be fine..." She thought for a moment about how she could convince her companion. "I-I'm going to take a car. It'll be fast and safe. I've driven before... And we're going to find medicine for Louis in another city!"

"B-but, we can't leave Paris!" The raven-haired girl tried to get up, but the blonde pushed her back into the seat.

"Marí, please! I... I love you, and I can't just stand idly by and let you carry this burden, not again..." The image of the burning bakery flashed through her mind, as did how devastated her friend looked the next day. "This isn't your fight, and Ladybug can handle this."

"You... Do you really think so?" Those words seemed to particularly shock Marinette.

"Obviously! I mean..." To get her beloved out of danger, Chloe had to swallow her pride and pause her squabble with the heroine of Paris. "She's the best at this. No matter how much I complay, she always wins in the end, and I wish I could say that about my work as a hero..."

"But, that thing..." Hesitation was strong in her tone, as she looked in another direction.

"That thing is just a Chat Noir with worse taste in clothes. Every time someone with mind control comes out, they makes him change sides, and that's never been a problem for Ladybug," the ponytailed girl declared confidently.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes... Don't let Paris keep you awake at night. We'll be safe, and eventually everyone else will be too..." She said, caressing her cheek one last time, puting a lock of jet-black hair behind her ear, and planting a kiss on her forehead before running off. "Breathe all you want, you've got a stadium of air! If you feel trapped, go to the middle of the field! I'll come back with a car and the dog!" She shouted as she walked away down the same corridor they came in. "I love you!"

That last word echoed as Chloe sped down the dark hallway. The walk was much easier now that she was weightless and had her arms free, although the burning in her muscles and the scrape on her leg didn't help. She ignored it all as she left the stadium, focusing more on finding an alternative route back to Grandpa Dupain's house.

"Come on, Chloe, she's counting on you. You're Marinette's girlfriend. Miracles do exist. You can't let her down." She told herself, starting to run again. If she stopped too long, the adrenaline would probably wear off, and it would be hard to get going again.

Then she realized what she'd said out loud. The phrase echoed in her head as she ran through the city as fast as she could. 'She's my girlfriend, Marinette Dupain-Cheng is my girlfriend... After so much time, so many mistakes, she still chose me...' Her heart raced and her resolve strengthened, doubling her efforts. It was hard to move when she'd only been to the place she wanted to return to once, but at least she knew where not to go.

The plumes of smoke and the roar of falling buildings were perfect indicators of where the black cloths were. Then the thought crossed her mind: she could use the landmark destruction, she could retrace her steps if she found the destroyed bridges. Besides, the monster wouldn't be in the places it had already destroyed, so there wouldn't be any danger.

With that in mind, she followed the river, making sure he'd already crossed to the other side before reaching an easily avoidable obstacle. She passed a path of destruction, of broken streets, rusted cars, destroyed buildings, and broken technology. Buses opened and closed their doors while their alarms went off and on to the rhythm of their flashing lights. Destruction in all its forms and levels, from rubble to cracks to downright dust. It was only a matter of time before she stumbled due to the broken streets and debris, falling face first to the ground.

"Shit..." She groaned, using her arms to push herself up off the ground, then noticed the pebbles trembling on the ground, to the rhythm of a heavy march.

Obviously, in the face of the absolute chaos caused by the black suit, moving objects couldn't be missing. Debris tumbling from buildings, shipwrecks being swept away by the river, water rushing through the streets from broken pipes, and, unfortunately for the heiress, the Ferris wheel spinning out of control away from the Place de la Concorde. Apparently, that thing broke the support of La Grande Roue, and was now rolling like a steamroller in a straight line, right in her direction.

"Oh come on, you've got to be kidding me..." the blonde said, trying to get up. Unfortunately, exhaustion caught up with her, making it impossible to get out of the way of the big wheel in time. "No no no, I have to save Mari, I can't leave her alone..." She continued to struggle as one of the Ferris wheel's many cabins fell on top of her. Chloe closed her eyes and covered her head.

Then she felt the wind on her face and a strong arm holding her waist.

When she opened her eyes, she was greeted by an aerial view of the City of Lights. There was a clearly devastated area, with a Ferris wheel that had already collapsed sideways against some buildings. Instinctively, she turned to look at the Football stadium, letting out a sigh when she saw that, like most of Paris, it was still intact. Then she looked at her savior, already realizing who was responsible. There she was, Ladybug, swinging with her smug confident expression.

She landed on a rooftop far from the chaos, releasing the heiress, who was ready to demand that the cheap heroine explain why she hadn't intervened when the bakery was attacked. She was going to yell at her, to demand that she explain what twisted excuse she had for placing such a burden on her beloved and leaving her to her fate. But before she could form a word, the heroine had extended her open hand. In it, she held an extremely recognizable comb, along with something that looked like a dark blue piercing.

"Chloe... I need your help..."

Chapter Text

The world is a matter of perspective, reality shaped by our experiences and ways of being. Seeing the glass half full or half empty depends on how optimistic or pessimistic you are. Feeling alone or together in a crowd depends on how you relate with the people around you. What color is an apple? It can vary depending on your mood and whether or not you're colorblind. For Marinette Dupain-Cheng, the dark monster in front of her looked white.

As soon as it clicked in her mind that this thing wasn't Chat, when she saw it casually destroy a bridge and charge toward them, she immediately jumped to the only possible explanation: that a cloth monster had gotten hold of the black cat ring. Unfortunately, that explanation also triggered something in her memory. An unhealed scar, a nightmare she couldn't forget. The situation became terrifyingly familiar, memories flashing before her eyes.

A world devoid of life, a twisted and corrupted image of her beloved companion, an overwhelming power she didn't even know how to survive. Then came the image of her own corpse, her petrified image at the bottom of a flooded Paris, crumbling to dust before her eyes. She had already lost that time, lost everything, and she was only here and now because Bunnyx gave her a second chance in that future. As if that weren't enough, she only won because deep down, he was still her Chat, her companion, her friend.

That thing wasn't it. The cloth monsters didn't have a conscience or emotions to appeal to, they didn't even have an akuma or amok to capture, and her Lucky Charm didn't bring back the people when she fought them. Bunnyx wasn't there, she abandoned her, taking the Rabbit Miraculous with her. This time, she wouldn't be the Marinette of the second chance, she wouldn't be the Ladybug they brought to fix everything, no. She would be the one who would turn to dust. And this idea terrified her to the depths of her being.

The world blurred around her, unable to stop seeing Chat Blanc's presence as everything distorted, the city curving and looming over her as if it were about to devour her. She could barely move her feet as she felt something pulling at her, fear beginning to paralyze her, her lungs feeling like they were shutting down. Hyperventilating brought back the image of her body underwater, her body underwater reminded her of her death, her death to the white cat, and the white cat made her hyperventilate. A painful, vicious cycle that made her suffer. It was a nightmare come true, and the worst part was that she wasn't alone.

She had completely changed her view of her, she had learned to trust her, she had begun to love her, she had fallen in love, and yet she had failed her. She was on the wrong side of history, on the side of tragedy that someone else would have to correct, and she was going to drag Chloe down with herself. She was going to deny her the light at the end of the tunnel, taking away from her the opportunity she'd worked so hard to achieve. Time moved at its own pace as her mind was engulfed in such a devastating storm. At some point, she ended up in the arms of the blonde, who risked being in the front row for the finale just to save her, because her stupid legs couldn't respond.

She tried in vain to break free, but her body only trembled. She couldn't move at all. She could only fight for breath as she begged to wake up from this nightmare. But this wasn't a nightmare; it was real. The monster destroying her city was real, the darkness surrounding her was real, the trillions of people she failed were real. That nightmare was real, and yet, she was able to wake up.

Chloe was able to woke her up.

The heiress had placed her on a seat and held her face, forcing her to look into those beautiful sapphire eyes se has. They helped her focus on something other than the memory of the white cat for a moment.

"Marí, please! It's okay! Look around, you're safe!" She said, and she could feel her wiping away a tear.

Then Marinette tried to process what she'd said, looking around, trying to focus on reality. She couldn't see any destruction, nor hear it, all around her was a relatively untouched stadium.

"It's okay, I'm scared too, but that thing isn't coming for us. We're safe..." She repeated several times, caressing her cheek with a gentle hand.

The baker continued looking around, her vision beginning to adjust to clearly see the seats in the shadows, searching for threats, dangers, for the cause of this ordeal. She found nothing. Slowly, her breathing began to stabilize, returning to those beautiful, worried eyes, a blue deeper than the sea, but they not suffocate her. Her heart was still racing, but seeing Chloe's calm smile calmed her a little. Yet, Chat Blanc continued to gnaw at the back of her mind, predicting a cataclysm for her beloved.

"I-it's d-d-dangerous, i-it's going to destroy everything..." The baker grabbed her partner's wrists, her voice cracking with panic.

"No, not everything, not us, never us..." The heiress replied, confidence in her voice as she caressed her cheek. "Nothing's changed, we're going to stick with the plan... I'm going to find Louis, grab our things, and we'll get out of here... We'll be more relaxed in Milan."

"B-but...!"

"I run faster than you, and that thing seems to ignore us. I'll be fine..." She noticed a pause, she was genuinely careful about what to say to her. Chloe Bourgeois was thinking before speaking, a miracle that until now only she had been able to see. "I-I'm going to take a car. It will be fast and safe. I've driven before... And we're going to find medicine for Louis in another city!"

"B-but, we can't leave Paris!" That heroic instinct kicked in, and despite her fear, she couldn't help but feel she had to try something, especially if the blonde would put herself in such great danger. Still, the heiress pushed her back into the chair when she tried to get up.

"Marí, please! I... I love you." Then Marinette remembered what she confessed before the monster arrived, blushing slightly at hearing Chloe feel the same. "And I can't stand idly by and let you carry this, not again... This isn't your fight, and Ladybug can handle it."

"You... Do you really think so?" Hearing those words come from the princess's lips surprised her, especially when she was talking about her alter ego.

"Obviously! I mean... She's the best at this. No matter how much I argue with her, she always wins in the end. I wish I could say that about my work as a hero..." She doubted it about others, but Chloe had swallowed her pride to say that. She'd spoken well of someone she hated. She couldn't be lying.

"But that thing..." Doubt was strong in her tone, looking in another direction, the memories of that other destroyed Paris and how she could only remain defensive were too persistent.

"That thing is just a Chat Noir with worse taste in clothes. Every time someone with mind control comes out, they make him change sides, and it was never a problem for Ladybug." The ponytailed girl declared confidently.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes... Don't let Paris keep you awake at night. We'll be safe, and eventually everyone else will be too..." She said, caressing her cheek one last time, tucking a lock of jet-black hair behind her ear and planting a kiss on her forehead, a kiss that froze her and brought a pleasant warmth to her face. "Breathe all you want, you have a stadium of air! If you feel trapped, go to the middle of the field! I'll come back with a car and the dog!" She shouted as she walked away down the same corridor they came in. "I love you!"

That last word lingered in the air, echoing as Chloe sped down the dark hallway. 'I love you... Chloe said that to me... She said it after I confessed that I loved her too...' A smile formed on her lips at the thought, her fears fading as she felt butterflies in her stomach. Then, when the echoing stopped and all she could hear was the beating of her own heart, Tikki emerged from her hiding.

"It's amazing to see her act like that. You really had a big impact on your girlfriend, Marinette." The mini-goddess commented before checking on her carrier.

"I can't take credit for that, she did the heavy lifting." She said with a smile and hugging herself, still nostalgically looking back at the path through we're she left. "I'm lucky to have been able to be a part of it..."

"So... How do we proceed?" the red Kwami asked, crossing her paws as if clasping her hands in front of her as she floated beside her carrier. "The situation certainly took an unexpected turn. I don't think it's a good time to leave Paris."

"And you're right about that..." The pigtailed girl stood up, placing a hand on her chin in thought. "My mind took me to a not-so-pleasant place when that thing appeared..."

"Yes, I noticed, you had a panic attack, a shame after such a beautiful confession... But don't worry! Everyone gets one sooner or later, especially if they've been in the business for so long. Even the best carriers go through it." The mini deity said, patting her on the shoulder.

"Good to know, but the point is, I wasn't paying enough attention to our new friend's..." Marinette crossed her arms, looking at the little fairy with curiosity but caution. "Tikki, is it like...?"

"Like Chat Blanc? No, not at all." The Kwami of creation shook her head. "It's definitely Plagg's power. I can feel it, but it doesn't seem to be altered by outside forces."

"So he just has access to the same power Chat would have, right?" Our heroine reasoned.

"Exactly, although you can see how limitless its uses are, not like the ones of a human." Tikki assured her.

"Of course, those things were made specifically for Miraculouses. It's not unreasonable to think they were also made for limitless use. Anything else?"

"It doesn't seem like his goal is capturing survivors or searching for Miraculouses like the others. He's also less insane than Chat Blanc, it seems more focused, even if it's just on destroying the city. Oh, and I didn't see him shot anycataclysms either. He's just at contact from what I saw." The incarnation of creation told her.

"That's good to know," Marinette said with a smile, before closing her eyes and thinking as she walked through the grassy field. "I don't think they just went from searching the city for Miraculous to wanting to destroy it. There must be a reason behind it. If they already have the black cat ring, then all they need is the ladybug earrings to have absolute power..." She turned to face her kwami once the idea clicked. "He's doing this to lure me out. He's destroying the city so Ladybug will come and stop him."

"That's why he's ignoring you and Chloe."

"And that's why we have to hurry. Every second that thing isn't seeing black dots on red is another second of unreasonable destruction. It could even demolish the TV tower and destroy Markov in the process, we'd lose all the data he collected, and I can't take that risk, not when the Lucky Charm already failed to bring people back..." The pigtailed girl clenched her fists as her gaze fell a little.

"The Lucky Charm brings order to chaos, returning everything to its place once you take care of the source of say chaos. Trust, Marinette, trust like Chloe and I trust on you." Her Kwami tried to encourage her, and the small smile that formed her lips showed that it worked.

"Thanks, Tikki... And speaking of Chloe, I think I'm going to need all the help I can get..." the raven-haired girl said, regaining her confidence.

"Are you still determined to reveal your identity to her?" the mini-goddess asked, tilting her head in concern.

"No, not right now. It's a lot to explain, a lot to process. I can't just drop a bombshell on my girlfriend and drag her off to fight destruction incarnate. It would be counterproductive and dangerous... As soon as we have everything under control again, that's when I'll tell her everything..." our heroine decided, seeing how the fairy also smiled.

"That's a good idea." The creation entity agreed, pleased to see its wielder making sensible decisions.

"Good, now let's not waste any more time. Tikki! Spots on!" Despite what she said, she still indulged herself in her little dance as she transformed.

She couldn't help but be in a good mood to indulge herself with that little treat. After all, after two lonely weeks, she would finally be fighting side by side with another hero. She could have someone to help her with this burden, to watch her back, and if that weren't enough, that someone would be her girlfriend. The princess of Paris, her former bully, the girl who had changed so much and blossomed before her eyes, would be fighting by her side on the heroic field. That made her happy, making the moment worthy of some joviality as she transformed.

She was going to be able to show Chloe that she was trustworthy, and she was going to give her proof that she recognized her effort and growth. 'And this time I'm not going to take it away from you. Paris will be able to see the girl I see...' she thought, remembering the blonde's words in the museum. As soon as her clothes were replaced by her red suit with black spots, she took the yo-yo from her waist and opened its magical compartment, taking out a yellow comb with a bee design.

She looked at the Miraculous in her hand for a few seconds before remembering what the heiress had told her, what she had done. She saw that jewel as something unlucky, something that combined with her would bring misfortune. In the same way, she gave up the bee Miraculous in order to protect our heroine. She chose to put her well-being before the opportunity to regain power. She probably wouldn't put it in her hair so easily. With this in mind, Ladybug pulled another jewel from the magic pocket on her weapon, a dark blue piercing with small, smooth yellow spikes.

"We'll need extra protection..." With the Miraculous items chosen, the heroine closed the compartment of her yo-yo and began to spin it.

She quickly threw it toward a beam of the stadium's open roof, pulling herself skyward, her momentum reaching the top of the building. She was greeted with the predictable: a clear path of destruction that wound diligently through the city, columns of smoke, and destroyed buildings as if it were a war zone. Without delay, she began searching for her beloved around the chaos, jumping and swinging between buildings on her way to her grandfather's house. Sooner rather than later, their paths crossed, and apparently the raven-haired girl found her just in time.

The Ferris wheel had broken free from its supports and was rolling down the street, heading straight for Chloe, who had tripped. With lightning speed, our protagonist dropped while throwing her yo-yo at the Ferris wheel, managing to hold on and using the centrifugal force to move almost skimming the ground, trapping her girlfriend in the process and pulling her out of the way.

Now they were both in the air, with her holding the blonde's wasp-like waist. They had become so close that this position felt right, comfortable. Confidence flooded her, feeling like she was a hero again, saving her damsel. Unfortunately, her comfort vanished when the heiress opened her eyes and looked at her after noticing she was flying. There was resentment in them, almost disgust at the sight. Marinette felt like old times, like so many times they crossed paths in the school hallways. 'This will be a difficult conversation...' she thought to herself, already anticipating the moment they would defeat their adversary.

She quickly swung until they gently descended onto a nearby rooftop. The girl with pigtails knew what awaited her when she released the heiress: that she wouldn't miss the opportunity to complain and demand explanations, and she also knew that she wouldn't be able to resist spilling the beans once they started. Since she couldn't afford to do that right now, with a monster destroying the city, she thought about how to stop it. She got straight to the point, raising her hand to hand over the Miraculous before her companion could speak.

"Chloe... I need your help..."

Chloe stared directly at the jewel with a certain caution, almost defensive, as if the heroine were holding a hand grenade in front of her. A moment passed before she spoke, a moment where all they could hear was buildings collapsing in the distance. Then she opened her lips and said.

"I... I can't... I'm not going to do it..." She replied.

"Are you sure? I won't be able to do it without help..." Her gaze softened, without complaint or objection. She couldn't pretend she didn't know what her girlfriend looked like, or that she probably knew what was going through her head.

"As if you'll need it... Besides, didn't Pollen tell you? We're leaving. Marinette and I are leaving the city, we won't be a distraction for you anymore..." She declared, pouting slightly before turning her back to her with arms crossed. "You made it clear that we are a burden..." There was a hint of venom in her tone.

"It's because of what happened at the bakery, right?" the girl in the red mask guessed effortlessly, moving close enough to place a hand on her shoulder.

"Of course I'm talking about the bakery! And everything else!" She pulled away from her touch, glaring back at her. "You left us to our fate, you gave us Miraculous just to get us out of your way. You left Marinette alone to deal with all of this while you played electrician with that dumb robot. Why?"

That last part hit close to home, the heiress still resented her for what happened last Sunday. She couldn't blame her neiter.

"I wish I could explain it to you... No, I'm going to explain it to you, but first we need to make sure that what happened in the bakery don't happens again." She handed her the Miraculous again.

"Why don't you put them on and leave us alone? You did it more than once... You and Chat did it in the Miracle Queen incident... It's not like I was any good in it in the first place..." She said, looking away.

"Because you're right... About me..." With that, the blonde turned to look at her like a flash of lightning, somewhat incredulous. "I'm not invincible or infallible. I need help. It's something I've learned these days... And that's why I sought you out... Thanks to what Pollen told me and what I've seen, you're perfect for this job... You're a hero, Chloe, and that's what I need now..."

Apparently, her words hit the nail on the head, as she watched her girlfriend ponder it in real time, thinking it over carefully. Then she blushed before sighing, as if she were giving up.

"Fine! I will! But only because that thing made my girlfriend really sad. She's the prettiest, sweetest, and most talented girl in Paris, and I'm not going to let a fashion disaster make her feel that way." Her statements brought a smile to the heroine's lips. Hearing Chloe speak like that, almost showing her off, was definitely an experience she could get used to. "And when I'm done, we'll grab our things and leave until you bring everyone back."

"Sounds fair," she replied, confidence in her soft expression as she gently handed her the magical jewels. The Princess of Paris hesitated as she approached the comb.

"Does this really have to be this one...?" As Ladybug feared, the heiress was still unsure of her fate with the bee.

"Oh no no no, that's not yours." She moved the comb away before holding the nose ring between her fingers. "This is yours," she said, already prepared for any doubts her girlfriend might have, though she wasn't prepared for the look on her face.

"A piercing?" Disbelief filled her voice. "Are you kidding?"

"Nope..." She took a deep breath before putting on her guardian voice. "Chloe Bourgeois, I grant you the Ox Miraculous. With it, you will possess the power of resistance, which will make you immune to our opponent's attacks. Will you use this power for the greater good?"

"You're not kidding..." There was a moment of hesitation before the blonde sighed and took it, letting out a soft "for Mari..." that made our heroine's heart melt.

The blonde inserted the piercing into her button nose, making her kwami appear as the jewelry turned golden and, counterintuitively, more discreet. Ladybug did the same, adjusting the hair comb that adapted to match her ladybug outfit, summoning Pollen in the process. The yellow fairy and the heiress looked at each other for a moment without saying anything, quickly breaking eye contact before looking at their new companions. 'One step at a time. Just because there are many doesn't mean they should be rushed...' the girl with pigtails thought.

"Usually my wearers have more muscle..." Stompp said, scanning his wearer, trying to act natural.

"Well, it's not like you have much of a choice now." Chloe crossed her arms.

"I guess you're right." The horned Kwami turned to the heroine, trying to understand the situation.

"Let's get this over with. I need to get back with Mari." the Princess of Paris stated.

"Well, I can work with that spirit. Strength is useless if it's not used to protect those we care about..." The guardian was grateful that the Kwami could read the room well enough to not jump to conclusions or to say to much.

"Yeah, anyway, let's not waste time..." Chloe positioned herself as if she were about to transform, about to say the phrase, then she realized something. "The phrase is...?"

"Oh, right, it's 'Stompp, make way'. But before you say it! I don't want to spread false propaganda, I don't want what happened with Achilles to happen again..." the dark blue fairy commented.

"And what would be it?" the heiress asked, raising an eyebrow.

"My power is resist. With me, you can resist things, not nullify them. You'll take blows like they're made of paper, but they'll still impact you. They usually yell at me because they think they're immovable..." Stompp explained. Apparently, his previous users tended to misinterpret her powers, and knowing who her wielder was going to be at the moment, it was better to be safe than sorry.

"Will the cataclysm affect me?" the blonde asked bluntly.

"Are we fighting Plagg? Well... At most you will feel a tingling sensation, like if your arm is going numb." The horned Kwami said.

"But will I still be able to kick his ass even if he hits me?"

"If you really want to protect others, consider it a given." He declared confidently.

"That's enough for me." Chloe got into position again, and from the depths of her body, she yelled, "Stompp! Make way!"

In the blink of an eye, with a flash of light, the Princess of Paris changed clothes. She no longer wore a warm version of her usual outfit, instead, she was swapped for a full-body suit in dark blue, almost black. It fitted her body like a glove, highlighting her figure with a plain, fitted suit, similar to her Queen Bee outfit but without any visible patterns. Instead, she had golden rings. One pair hung on either side of her waistband, another pair hung from her shoulders, and others acted as bracelets on both wrists and ankles.

She also had a sleeveless, closed vest, the same shade as the rest of her suit and with a golden ring instead of a clasp. It looked quite fluffy, adding some volume to her top. Our heroine blushed as she noticed how she was focusing more on her partner's curves, luckily, her mask hid it well. Aside from this, she also noticed that her girlfriend looked taller. Apparently, her outfit came with cream-colored platform heels, resembling hooves. That, combined with the horns, made her look considerably taller.

The raven-haired girl wasn't the only one scanning the new suit, as the blonde did the same, inspecting herself as best she could, spinning a few times on her own axis, and testing her movements with the suit. She quickly realized she had something on her back, the ox's weapon was a hammer. To Chloe, it was a large hammer covered in gold, except for sections of the handle. It was as if someone had tied a particularly beffy ingot of gold to a stick and then held it all together with dark blue belts. It was a bit much, but her was Chloe Bourgeois after all, it seemed appropriate.

"Oh. My. God! This thing gave me horns! And it completely straightened my hair... It's like this Miraculous doesn't know how to make ponytails and is just cinching my hair!" the heiress said, seeing her reflection in the hammer's golden surface. "I like the mask, though, it brings out my eyes... And the boots are cute too..." She lift back her leg to check on it.

Ladybug had to hold back a "you're cute", knowing she'd be exposing herself. Then Chloe nearly tripped while trying to balance on one leg. Instinctively, she grabbed the hammer handle with both hands, and it extended, turning into a mace almost her same height.

"Whoa... I... can use this..." A malicious smile formed on the princess's lips as she held her weapon in both hands, as if she were already plotting revenge on the monster who tormented her girlfriend.

"Okay, my turn. Pollen, Tikki, Unify!" As soon as she gave the order, she felt the magic overflow and her hair rearrange itself as her outfit changed. Now she was carrying a yo-yo on one side and a spinning top on the other. "You can call this one Ladybee. Do you like it?" she asked, somewhat eager to hear a compliment from her girlfriend.

"Eh... Not bad..." The blonde said reluctantly, still not losing her animosity towards her heroic counterpart.

"Oh... okey... By the way, maybe it's just a one-time thing, but what do you want me to call you? You know, so we're on the same page and all..."

The situation wasn't the best. The enemy had one of the two most powerful Miraculouses, the absolute best at breaking everything, and even if she won, she would have to deal with what revealing her identity would mean for her relationship with the heiress. Still, in that moment when Chloe was thinking of her hero name, on that rooftop, she felt like everything would be okay. That the world was getting brighter, that everything felt safer. From Marinette's point of view, she had already won.

"Call me... Diamond Queen."

Chapter Text

In a desolate Paris, destroyed by the attack of a strange enemy, Ladybug found herself racing across the rooftops to stop it alongside Diamond Queen, the temporary identity of Chloe Bourgeois, her girlfriend. Although she didn't know the heroine was Marinette, she was still by her side. They were still going to fight side by side. It didn't matter that her relationship with her heroic side was fraught, they were working together. They were together. And that gave our protagonist strength.

The monster they were facing reminded her of a very dark place in her memories, but the way things changed, the way her beloved improved through it all was a light that dispelled the shadows in her mind. Ladybug had regained her determination, her confidence, and by unifying her Miraculous with the bee's, plus Chloe's assistance with the ox, she was confident she could win.

They followed the path of destruction, plumes of smoke rising and buildings falling, a growing route that led directly to its builder, the Noir Fabric. The girls stopped on a nearby building when they saw the creature made of cloth. It had reached the front of the train station and, with a couple of crossed lashes, left the mark of a giant X at the entrance. Two black gashes from which the concrete changed color to a more grayish hue, the mark branching out into cracks that grew in size until the entrance frame and the adjacent walls fell apart.

In mere seconds and without effort, that thing had torn a hole the size of a house in the imposing building. While it wasn't the craziest thing either of them had ever seen thanks to the akumas and sentimonsters, that didn't stop a shiver from running down our heroine's spine. Her light blue eyes quickly traveled to her horned companion, her beloved girlfriend. Chloe had swallowed audibly, a flash of doubt in her eyes and a tremble in her hand.

The raven-haired girl was tempted to hold her, to take her hand and intertwine their fingers, to tell her everything would be okay while giving it a squeeze to let her know she was still by her side. But she couldn't do that now. She wasn't Marinette in this moment; she was Ladybug—well, Ladybee specifically, but Ladybug nonetheless. She couldn't have that closeness, it wouldn't mean the same to the heiress if it came from this side of her.

Instead of taking her hand, she contented herself with placing it on her shoulder, giving it a small shake so she would turn in her direction and receive it with understanding trust, without intruding too much on her personal space. Heroic formality at its finest.

"It's okay, you'll be fine. Remember, once you activate your power, you'll have five minutes where the cataclysm will only tickle you. We must take advantage of it to study him, see where the ring is, and give it a good shot of venom to remove it." Our protagonist explained, trying to convey confidence, softening her tone and gestures before lifting her yo-yo. "When you activate it, I'll set a timer. As soon as you have one minute of stamina left, we'll retreat to a safe distance."

"Okay, right," Diamond Queen said, squeezing the handle of her hammer with both hands.

"Nervous?"

"Shall I be honest? It's like when Mom was akumatized... She was so strong and so scary, god, she was my mother, obviously I couldn't do anything... And yet, you don't know how much I wanted to yell at her, to tell her to stop being so ridiculous to everyone, to stop throwing such a tantrum over a few seats..." A smile formed on her dark blue lips as she sighed with a giggle. "I know, rich coming from me..."

"A little..." Ladybee had to confess, stepping away to take the spining top in her other hand and start spinning it. "But in the end you did something, you tried to help me when I was there. Even if it wasn't much, you acted to protect an innocent person in a situation that terrified you..."

"Well, it was Adrikins, he is... he was... My best friend..."

"That doesn't change the fact that you were brave, or that you tried to do something about it... Ready to that again?" There was a slight pause, the blonde seeing the dark figure up ahead, then she shook her head, shooing away any doubts.

"Yeah... Let's do it..."

They both took a deep breath before jumping off the edge of the building in unison, landing gracefully on their feet on the street in front of the train station. If the tangle of living clothes could hear, then they ignored them, perhaps thinking it was more rubble falling. They both looked at each other one last time, nodding before the heroine in red, black, and yellow details took a deep breath.

"HEY! LOOKING FOR ME?" Ladybee shouted.

There was a quick reaction. The Noir Fabric writhed at her voice, bending over so the gap in her hood faced them. In the darkness, the two green orbs focused directly on the insect-themed heroine. To the girls' bewilderment, and displaying a nonexistent anatomy, it began charging toward her like a dark wolf, as if it weren't lying on its back or hunched over. It was a disturbing beast running toward them, but they didn't back down. Ladybee kept her feet firmly on the ground while Diamond Queen charged forward, stomping her feet as she stood between the red heroine and the monster in black.

"Resistance!" she shouted.

They collided, and a light-blue flash completely covered the blonde in the blink of an eye. At the same time Marinette activated the timer, the charge was stopped in its tracks, the cataclysmic particles disappearing for a moment from it's long, flowing fabrics. 'It works!' was the first thing that crossed her mind, a weight lifted from her heart at the sight of her girlfriend being protected from such a dangerous adversary. Her sudden happiness was cut short by the sight of a cataclysmic-laden whip that came too close. She was out of reach, but only by a few meters, and it's struggles to stretch only shortened the distance.

"Hey! Don't ignore me!" The blonde whined as she struggled, offended by the blatant disinterest of her opponent in the one stopping him. "Your fight is with me!"

With tremendous strength and annoyance, the heiress pushed the living suit back, and it had to hold on to her to avoid being thrown back toward the train station. That was a mistake, as they now had enough distance between them for the horned heroine to move freely, so as soon as the beast recovered, it received a direct blow from the hammer. The full force of an angry teenager, combined with the super strength of the Miraculous, along with the natural weight of the weapon and centrifugal force, fell directly onto the Noir's Fabric hood, burying him instantly.

The ground shook after the blow, both the cars on the street and the buildings that hadn't yet fallen to pieces sake to. It was probably a good idea to prevent her girlfriend from having the Ox Miraculous when they faced normal akumatized villains in the future, our protagonist made a mental note before preparing to activate the Venom. Then she noticed it, the black fabrics were rushing towards the crater where her partner's weapon still was, wrapping themselves around the aforementioned and Diamond Queen, dragging her down.

Ladybee quickly threw her yo-yo to grab her girlfriend, but she was swallowed by a hole in the ground. Panic gripped the girl with the honeycomb ponytail. Even though her partner was invulnerable, that didn't mean she wasn't afraid of what might happen to her. She quickly went to follow them, but before she could reach the hole, the ground beneath her feet cracked. Instinctively, she jumped and threw her yo-yo, swinging out of the area as the creature's sleeves emerged from beneath the pavement. With the Cataclysm, obstacles don't exist; everything is a straight line to its target, and she was that.

The Noir Fabric emerged from the street like a shark, leaping to follow, using his sleeves and ribbons to move and launch hundreds of blows from all directions. It was difficult to maneuver in the air, but now that she had both her trusty yo-yo and the bee's spinning top, Marinette was able to keep up with the task of moving around and dodging the merciless Cataclysm-charged attacks. She used the natural reliefs of walls, window frames, balconies, and rooftops, jumped behind chimneys for cover, and used the antennae to weave herself out of range.

The beast followed her as if it were weightless and each piece of fabric were a limb, moving erratically, but always forward, always toward her. At one point, one of its sleeves landed directly on the ceiling, obscuring the area between the monster, the heroine, and the edge of the building. It crumbled as if it were made of playing cards. As soon as the heroine lost her balance, she raised her arm, spinning the yo-yo hard and fast, like a helicopter's propeller. Before gravity could catch her, she was already flying.

Her feet were no longer on the ground, and she was soaring through the air above the streets. She took advantage of the moment to do a quick scan, looking for her horned companion, but was interrupted by her enemy, who leaped up behind her. It flew directly to charge at her like an eagle. At this, Ladybee stopped the spinning of her yo-yo and contorted her body as she backed away, narrowly avoiding the living suit in midair. Before she could free fall or be caught by the straps of the dress, she used the momentum of the spin to launch the bee's top toward a nearby lamppost, widening and throwing herself back out of reach.

She leaned on the top of the lamppost with one hand and propelled herself with it, performing an acrobatic leap, anticipating that the monster would follow her. Her intuition proved correct, as as soon as she moved away from the lamppost, it was directly impacted by the living garment, causing a small explosion upon impact. Our protagonist couldn't help but notice how the flying pieces of the lamppost oxidized while the dark particles disappeared from the suit.

As soon as she landed on a window frame, she saw the dark particles and rays returning to the fabric. 'It constantly spend and activate the cataclysm... There's a window for using venom...' she analyzed in a split second before the beast leaped after her again. She dodged again as it crashed into the wall. The building didn't shatter as the almost humanoid figure clung like a spider to the wall. Apparently, it could also decide which part of his nonexistent anatomy he would unleash the devastating power of destruction with. This was undoubtedly necessary for movement, as well as to avoid wasting the power.

It was useful information, information that would give her the victory, but the Noir Fabric didn't give her room to use it, to even breathe. He kept her too defensive, preventing her from thinking about how to proceed. His blows fall like a rain of whips, tearing and shattering the building's facade as she dodged. Thanks to the strength and agility granted by the Miraculous, it was as if they were on the ground, even though they were both horizontal. Then something caught our heroine's attention, something that her opponent in black didn't. A manhole cover was propelled through the air.

Ladybee dodged a whiplash and fell onto another lamppost, looking down the street at the place where the improvised rocket had come from. Where the manhole cover had been, there was a golden hammer, and beneath it emerged a very, very angry blonde with horns.

"Did you throw me down the fucking drain?!" If she'd been offended by being ignored in her crash before, being left out like that must have made her blood boil. "You son of a bitch!"

Diamond Queen screamed as she stood up, approaching the nearest car without hesitation while squeezing her hammer. She slammed her feet down and twisted her entire body as if she were going up to bat in a baseball game. A single swing of her hammer and the vehicle became a bullet that flew at full speed toward the fabric monster. Before it could react, he was crushed inside the building, a red car embedded where a window should have been. Then the aforementioned vehicle rusted down to its wheels, turning to dust as the dark figure covered in belts and cloth-like body emerged from the dust.

Then another car hit it, burying it deeper inside the building. Before it could rust, another car also hit it, and another. And another. And another. Chloe had turned that particular building into a parking lot, and was filling it with every car on the street at once. She twirled like a dancer, making long arcs with her hammer before unleashing powerful blows that propelled the metal further and further into the block. There was a certain elegance to her movements, beauty in her anger, but it was probably a tactic the heroine shouldn't encourage in her partner.

"Chloe!" She quickly jumped to join the girl in the tight dark blue suit.

"It's Diamond-!" Another car was thrown into the now nonexistent, crumbling building. "-Queen..." She leaned on her hammer to catch her breath.

"Right! Well done, but I think you might have overdone it a bit..." She said, looking toward what now looked like a car junkyard.

"It's an empty building! Like, the whole city? We're dealing with destruction here, that's why you gave me this thing." She excused herself, pointing to her nose ring.

"Well, maybe, but we're heroines. We have to be precise and minimize collateral damage if possible." She suggested calmly.

"We? Excuse me, but you're the heroine. I already told you, after this I'm just going to be the happy wealthy girlfriend of the best designer in Paris, probably also her star model!" The heiress declared, puffing out her chest proudly, her words echoing through the streets.

Then they both noticed, their sounds echoing through the streets. The rubble no longer moved. It was silent, too silent to be fighting a boundless wielder of the black cat's power. The duo immediately went on guard, crouching and back to back. The blonde held her hammer firmly while the raven-haired girl twirled the bee's top as a shield.

"You don't have to stop there... You can do so much more." The red-suited heroine tried to continue the conversation, looking at the cracks in the pavement with anticipation.

"Sure, I also plan to help her with the housework..." She said, looking around, among the rubble and the intact buildings. "I could even lend a hand at the bakery, apparently I can cook, and my bread tastes delicious..."

"Girls these days can be very versatile, you know? You can do anything you want... Girlfriend, model, housewife, baker, heroine..." They were both ready to jump, slowly circling back to back, covering their blind spots.

"I'd know, my sweet peach Mari is a Swiss Army knife..." The compliment along with the choice of words caught our heroine off guard, trying to erase her sudden blush and regain focus. "She'd for sure will we good at not breaking everything like me..." the blonde confessed.

"Then... You two could be it together..." our protagonist suggested, trying to establish the idea while making sure the shadows in the distance were just shadows.

"Don't get me wrong. I know she'd be a thousand times better heroine than me, and certainly better than you, but she doesn't deserve everything you put her through..." Marinette felt a tinge of guilt along with a certain warmth.

Her heart warmed at the compassion her girlfriend showed, but there was also guilt for all she didn't know. She had an incomplete picture, she didn't know that the only one causing this to the baker was herself. Her moment of self-blame was interrupted by the sound of something cutting through the wind, quickly noticing a shadow around them that was beginning to shrink. Her mind made the connection in an instant, launching a back kick straight toward her partner's back, using the force to propel herself forward in a pirouette.

Then Tela Noir fell from the sky where they were standing. They both narrowly missed the impact zone by inches. 'He knew we'd be waiting for him from below. He used the debris to cover his escape and surprise us from above.' She thought as she rolled on the ground as she fell. It was a problem that her opponent was so powerful and unpredictable. If he even had a basic level of strategy, then they were in serious trouble.

The monster also raised its cataclysmic sleeve, ready to whip directly at the insect heroine, but a powerful side hammer cut short its attack, knocking it to the side. It had some awareness, but it was completely fixed on one thing, and that was counterproductive when theres two, and the other had the larger weapon and was ready to use it. While blunt blows seemed to have no effect against the cloth monsters, Diamond Queen's powerful hammer blows and kicks shook the creature like a rag doll.

Slowly, the horned girl picked up the pace, alternating side and frontal blows, pushing and repositioning the black-clad beast with each impact, avoiding falling attacks so as not to repeat the mistake from last time. She kept an eye on it, not letting it stray too far from her, but neither did it get too close; after all, it was a nearly four-meter-tall, very flexible monster. Still, she had it under control. It was the perfect time to look for that opening.

Ladybee quickly retracted the top into her hand, holding it with the tip facing outward, and whispered the activation phrase. Her hand was quickly enveloped in a soft yellow and black light, creating a sting of energy in her left hand. She rolled to the side to cover it, knowing the green eyes were still on her. She began circling them, analyzing the exchange of blows.

Each impact of the hammer shook the layers and layers of clothing, each high kick and headbutt forced him to lose sight of the insect-themed heroine. Likewise, each time they touched, there was a spark, a flash. The fabrics charged with destructive energy unleashed their devastating power, their dark particles and rays disappearing momentarily as her girlfriend illuminated herself with a light blue glow.

The ox's power bathed her completely every time she received the Cataclysm, starting from the impact area and expanding waves throughout her body. If she received it in the arm, the wave of light traveled until it disappeared in her opposite arm. If she received the blow to the chest, it traveled to her back. And if she received it in the head, it traveled until it disappeared in her thighs. She could use them as a guide, being more striking and easier to see than dark energy on dark fabric. Who would have thought that focusing on her girlfriend's physique in a tight outfit could be useful?

"Queen! Eight counts in a quick chain!" the heroine shouted, drawing the attention of her partner, who had received a blow that knocked her off balance.

She quickly used the momentum of the blow to spin and counterattack, then her face lit up as she understood the instruction. The blonde began timing her blows, keeping a rhythm in her head, executing a chain of movements on repeat, graceful movements packed with power. It was an aggressive dance. The heiress took advantage of those years of ballet classes, moving with a flexibility and agility that, while not equal to her opponent's, allowed her to keep him on the ropes. High pirouettes, cadenced spins using the hammer, short lunges, and long jumps. All in sequence and repetition.

Ladybee quickly began to move around, using her yo-yo to swing, distracting the monster who was increasingly forced to follow the horned girl's dance. Our heroine in red and black also joined the rhythm, reading the dance and following the light blue flashes. She found the rhythm and closed the distance, arriving from a blind spot, predicting the next flicker of power. 'There it is, the window!' She launched into the attack, seeing a sure hit.

"Take this!" she shouted as she hit The Noir Fabric with venom.

Time stopped for a second, as if the universe was holding its breath. Had she done it? Could they defeat the cloth monster with the black cat Miraculous? Could they prevent everything from ending like it had with Chat Blanc? Was the nightmare over? Questions that instantly flooded Marinette's mind, and were answered just as quickly as she felt the top in her hand crumble to dust. It wasn't over.

Her eyes widened as she felt the material of the clothing against her fingers for a few seconds, noticing the slight friction caused by the vest as it spun at speed. Cloth monsters generally didn't have a body inside, so impossible moves like rotating their torso 380 degrees were within their reach. It spun with such speed, and Marinette was so close, that she wouldn't be able to dodge. A fully extended sleeve, charged with cataclysm, went straight for her head.

Luckily, Diamond Queen was there. The blonde realized what had happened and dropped her hammer, jumping to grab the beast's arm. Her grip barely broke the impact, but it did disperse the cataclysm before it made contact. It saved her life, though it couldn't prevent the girl in red from taking a blow that loosened her teeth. Ladybee was thrown through the air, rolling as she fell and braking when she crashed into a building, her jaw somewhat numb.

She barely had time to get up when she heard her yo-yo's alarm. Four minutes had passed since Chloe activated the ox's power, and it was about to disappear. Realizing this, her gaze quickly traveled to her girlfriend. Tela Noir had taken advantage of the interruption of the attack to grab her and cut her weapon, slamming her hard against the ground. The impact was so strong that it made her bounce like a ball against the asphalt, yet she got back up as if it had been nothing, jumping between her and the monster with her fists raised.

Despite the poor image she had of Ladybug, despite how much she hated her heroic side, despite not knowing she was Marinette, Chloe still defended her. She was protecting her tooth and nail, even though from her point of view, she was just the useless one who got them into this. She defended her just the same. As if that weren't enough, she was facing off against a shadow of Chat Blanc, a twisted reflection of the one they had to prevent from existing in order to defeat. And like the aforementioned, it seemed the cloth monster still had surprises under is sleeve.

She watched as its dark figure rose high above the horned girl, beginning to spin on its own axis without moving its feet, wrapping itself in all its fabrics and belts, tightening, compressing. The strangling sound was unpleasant, the blonde turning to look at our protagonist, as if waiting for her to have an answer. They were both equally confused when the creature turned into a crooked, stretched tube, but then they noticed it. The tension. Every fiber of that thing was taut with incredible force, and it was accumulating bad luck. The black particles and lightning returned, enveloping its form.

Realization clicked in our heroine as her breath caught. It was going to unleash everything, in every direction, unleashing its fabrics in an explosion, a tornado made of rags and destruction incarnate. Apparently, the heiress came to the same conclusion, as she turned and ran, or rather, charged. She charged towards her as fast as she could, staring urgently into her eyes. They barely reached each other when the Noir Fabric unleashed his attack, and Ladybee closed her eyes as it unleashed a typhoon of whiplashes that spun at high speed, hitting everything.

The streets, cars, trees, and buildings, even the air itself, everything was attacked at once. Everything within reach was ripped apart, shattered into pieces that turned into dust. The sound made our heroine remember Style Queen, remembered when Plagg used his powers without a wielder. It was a cacophine of destruction, reality itself screaming and collapsing, the wind roaring with the scent of bad luck, and the world trembling around her, as if everything would collapse in an instant.

Still, even though she could still hear the violent whiplashes, she didn't feel any different. Despite the savageness of the attack, she was still there.

Then the chaos became an echo that dissipated in the distance. The heroine in red was still standing, leaning against the brick wall of the building she crashed into earlier. She cautiously opened her eyes, finding herself in a cloud of debris and shrouded in shadows. Beams of light pierced the darkness as the wind blew away the cloud of residual dust, the first thing illuminated were the golden rings at her sides. Her strong arms, wrapped in dark blue fabric, were extended to either side of her head, her hands almost buried in the red bricks.

Following them made her stare directly at that fluffy vest with a golden ring as a clasp, which rose and fell with each deep, heavy breath. Her legs were slightly bent, and combined with her companion's platform heels, she had to look up to meet her gaze. Her half-open lips made her stop mid-stride, mesmerized for a few seconds, before continuing and meeting those half-open sapphire eyes, filled with worry.

The horned girl protected her, used her body to shield her from the attack, and took it full force. Stompp said that even if she will survived, she would feel the blows, and yet she chose to be her human shield, taking a storm of cataclysms. She was her shield, her hero, taking the blow full force to protect her. Chloe pushing her against the wall, cornering her without respecting her personal space was a common occurrence. But doing it in that context, in that outfit, holding her so close and only hearing her heavy breathing and the beating of her heart, suddenly made the atmosphere feel hot for our heroine.

"Are you okay?" she asked, a pair of golden strands loose in front of her face.

"Yes~" Said a Ladybee that perhaps was enjoying the moment a little too much.

Before our protagonist could continue daydreaming, her partner's nose ring began to beep, reminding her of the current urgency and leaving the question of confronting the implications of her newfound tastes for another time. Glancing over Diamond Queen's shoulder, she noticed something moving in the center of the smoke, a tangled and disoriented Noir Fabric making an appearance. 'Looks like that trick took its toll on him too. He might be vulnerable, but...' The beeping of her bee comb confirmed her doubts.

"Time to retreat." She declared in a serious tone, to which her partner nodded without question.

She wrapped her right arm around the blonde's waist, holding one of the rings on either side of her hips to hold her steady while the girl let go of the wall and wrapped her arms around her neck. Ladybee began to spin her yo-yo, and the brick wall behind her collapsed, the only surviving part of the entire building. Then they both flew off the scene, swinging through the air. A glance back was enough for both to notice how the train station, along with the surrounding blocks, had completely vanished. The entire area was flattened in one fell swoop.

They moved quickly and at ground level, using the intact buildings as cover to hide their escape and prevent anyone from following them. Once they'd covered enough distance, the honeycomb-haired heroine swung them directly into a nearby building, through the doors of a movie theater, and proceeded to close them with her yo-yo once inside. The dark room lit up with a flash of gold and blue. Diamond Queen reverted to Chloe, and our heroine returned to just Ladybug.

"We'll be safe here for a moment. Pollen, Stompp, find something to recharge your batteries." Ordered the girl in the red suit with black spots.

"At your orders, guardian." Replied the Kwamis, flying toward the local food stand.

"That went very well..." said the heiress sarcastically. Despite the darkness, it was clear she was massaging her shoulder, she looked sore.

"Are you okay?"

"I feel like I ran a marathon in the middle of a pillow fight..."

"I told you, it's called resisting, not nullifying." The horned Kwami pointed out while eating popcorn. "Mmm, needs butter..."

"And need to not being old..." The bee fairy added, heating to.

"Whatever!" Chloe climbed onto the counter to sit down, she didn't want to stand. "What's the plan now, leader?" There was a tone of disapproval and suspicion in that last word.

"His cataclysms aren't continuous, once he touches something, it shuts down for a split second..." the girl with pigtails explained, bringing a hand to her chin. "I thought I could time it with the flashes you make when you're hit to find an opening to hit him with venom... But I miscalculated..."

"Yeah, he didn't seem too paralyzed..." The heiress said, smelling the popcorn. She was tempted to have a snack too, but she just threw it away.

"Don't feel bad, Guardian. The flashes happen every time a blow disperses. Even getting hit by a car would activate them..." the mini-deity of determination explained.

"It makes sense, I didn't take that into account..." Our heroine touched her jaw, still feeling numb from the powerful blow she received even though it didn't have Cataclysm energy.

"Well then, what now? We can't know when he spent it, and it's such a small window. You'd have to be right on top of him to hit him in time. And I can tell you, if it gave me a weird tingling sensation from receiving the Cataclysm directly, I don't even want to see what it would do to you..." Chloe said, pointing at the heroine.

"Don't be so pessimistic, listing the problems doesn't help." Stompp crossed his arms, while Pollen stayed out of the discussion.

"But she's right." Ladybug agreed with the heiress, shocking the Kwami. "We need to confirm he spent the Cataclysm, close the distance between the two, and land a point-blank venom hit, all in an incredibly short amount of time."

"So, if you blink, you'll miss it." The yellow fairy finally said.

The Guardians and her Kwamis started thinking; every second was precious, so they needed a good idea fast. Apparently, seeing them all sitting there, arms crossed and pensive, annoyed the Princess of Paris.

"Oh, come on, is it really that big of a deal? You're the guardian of the Miraculouses, right? You literally have one that makes you immune to Chat Noir's fucking Cataclysm." She pointed at Stomp.

"Resist." the aforementioned kwami corrected her.

"Whatever! The point is, you're the one with the magic jewels, you're literally using two at once, two powers at once! Are you going to tell me you don't have a Miraculous that gives you super speed, makes you stop time, or allows you to get to that fashion disaster at just the right moment?" Apparently, when it wasn't Marinette, Chloe's brusque side still tended to come out full force.

"Chloe, it's not that simple..." Pollen steeled herself and tried to intervene, but was interrupted by the guardian, who slapped her hand to her face.

"Of course, I have two Miraculous... Chloe, you're a genius!" She declared.

"Obviously I am... Why I am?"

"I was so doubtful I could repair the damage caused, and so focused on preventing that thing from causing more, that I completely forgot about the main purpose of the ladybug's power." The raven-haired girl said, gripping her yo-yo tightly in one hand. "Whenever I hit a dead end, the Lucky Charm will open a new path for me." She quickly tossed the yo-yo upward, activating its power. "Lucky Charm!"

A cloud of ladybugs and sparkles began to swirl around the ceiling of the cinema. In the blink of an eye, the red cloud materialized into an object with our heroine's color scheme. Then, both girls stepped aside, noticing the particularly large object, which fell with a thud against the floor.

"What the hell was that?" the blonde asked, peeking out from behind the counter.

"Is... a refrigerator?" The pigtailed girl examined the metal rectangle.

Indeed, it was a red refrigerator with black spots, it didn't even look like a modern model. It was a standard size, almost two meters tall, with enough width and depth to refrigerate a large amount of food and drinks. It lacked a water or ice dispenser, but it had a solid structure, enough so that it wouldn't flinch when it hit the floor. It looked like the kind an old archaeologist would use to survive an atomic bomb.

Ladybug's mind quickly began to spin, its gears working at full speed to deduce how an appliance could help her against the Noir Fabric. She looked at her companions, both Kwamis standing out with a distinctive pattern, the same with her girlfriend and her piercing, then the refrigerator also stood out, and finally herself. She put the pieces back in place, and a confident smile formed on her lips.

"I have a plan."

!
.
¡

Seeing a cat-like figure wrapped in black running freely through Paris had become commonplace, but the level of disaster it left in its wake was far less common. The Noir Fabric continued to lurk, searching everywhere for Ladybug, repeating his previous modus operandi. If the heroine didn't appear, it would reduce the city to dust until he found her, and so he did, causing building after building to collapse, car after car to corrode, and streets to crack. It leaped weightlessly through the air, gliding like an autumn leaf as it left a path of ruin.

Then the monster stumbled upon an object that would undoubtedly attract attention if it fell apart: the Eiffel Tower. The structure loomed imposingly, visible for miles around, the perfect target to destroy and force the local heroine to reemerge. He flapped his wings a few times like a bat, carrying the cataclysm in his sleeves, ready to launch itself against the metal frame. Then a sonic boom was heard in the distance, as if someone had fired a bullet, and before the creature realized it something hit it from behind, throwing it against the tower.

He was crushed between metal and metal, the fabric jammed between the beams and a car. In the blink of an eye, the vehicle was reduced to reddish dust, the living clothing unfazed by the lack of bones to break on impact. Then another car hit him. He did the same, dodging the third vehicle launched in his direction, doing the same with the fourth, and blocking the fifth with a whiplash, disintegrating it before impact. The ghostly green eyes within the darkness of the hood stared in the direction from which the attacks were coming.

From the Trocadéro Gardens, Diamond Queen strutted gracefully down the street, standing next to the cars, holding her hammer as if playing cricket. With a single blow of inhuman force, the car flew, breaking the sound barrier as it crossed the river until it collided with the monster. It pushed it to the side before leaping forward. The car rusted in its fall as the Noir Fabric flew directly towards the blonde.

"Oh~? Finally deigning to pay attention to me?" the horned girl commented with mock surprise before performing a couple of balletic turns with her hammer, quickly firing three more cars in succession at the creature.

The dark figure fluttered, dodging two and destroying the third upon collision. The heiress quickly slammed her hammer into the ground, using the power of the impact to propel herself through the air, and went to intercept it face to face. They met in the middle of the sky, colliding again, Cataclysm versus Resistance. While it barely tickled her, this time not having her feet on the ground made it impossible to hold herself in place, so she was dragged by the creature toward the Trocadéro fountain.

The explosion from they splash formed a rainbow for a moment in the air, beneath which the two emerged from the water, struggling and exchanging blows. They were similar in some ways, each other's attacks seemed to have no real effect beyond a jolt if caught off guard, but they seemed evenly matched. Until an important factor came into play. The Princess of Paris was flesh and blood. A smile formed on her lips as she began to dodge the blows instead of just taking them.

"You didn't think your landing through, did you, old-fashioned sponge?" she said, avoiding a whiplash and knocking it back with a powerful swing of her hammer.

They were both soaked, but where the blonde was only shiny and wet, the living suit directly slowed down as the fabric absorbed the water, just as Ladybug had said. Its erratic blows became more manageable, the extra weight, though minimal, was enough to slow it down, allowing it to better read and predict the whiplashes. For her part, Diamond Queen only became more graceful, practicing dancing again while landing powerful blows that splattered the surroundings of the fountain.

"God, you're useless! Oh hohoho!" She laughed as she jumped several meters back, heading for the stairs.

She wasn't sure the cloth monsters could understand what she were saying enough to make the provocation work, but Chloe wasn't going to miss the opportunity to talk shit anyway. Luckily, it seemed that her fight had made her such a huge obstacle that the Noir Fabric couldn't help but follow her to eliminate her, and the plan progressed just as it should.

The horned heroine ran, stopping every so often to turn the urban into projectiles with her hammer. With a single blow, she threw trash cans, benches, and flower pots at them. With the water, her opponent was slower to dodge, taking the hits squarely, and was forced to counterattack and use the cataclysm to clear them out of his path. Even so, the blonde remained ahead in their race with a confident smile.

She ran to the top of the stairs and between the two buildings, the large open space decorated with more improvised projectiles, including a movie projector, a popcorn machine, and a red refrigerator with black spots. She spun around her own axis, taking advantage of the momentum, spinning like a ballerina with her hammer to hit the movie projector, which shattered upon colliding with the monster. Then she jumped and flipped in the air, spinning to hit the back of the popcorn machine and throw it against the wet fabric. Old popcorn scattered across the floor and over the dark creature as the structure disintegrated.

Then Diamond Queen stood next to the refrigerator, stomping hard. Her momentum was such that every extra inch of her platform sank into the ground. She flexed her magically enhanced muscles and, with enough torque to flip an entire city block, fired the appliance at the Noir Fabric. In seconds, like a flash of red lightning, the objet impact. It struck the monster, which took it full force. Retreating as it caught it. As with any other obstacle, the creature activated Cataclysm, unleashing it on the object, which began to disintegrate.

In a split second, the refrigerator turned to sand between its sleeves. In a split second, the energy of bad luck and chaos abandoned the living suit, and in a split second, it received a direct puncture to the chest. From the appliance emerged a heroine in red, black, and yellow, with a honeycomb ponytail and a confident smile backing the confidence in her eyes. She had landed a direct hit, just at the right moment.

The monster fell on its back, and taking advantage of the momentum, Ladybee flipped in the air to get away. By the time the cataclysmic energy returned to its being, it was too late; every sleeve, belt, and piece of fabric was frozen in place. The once uncontrollable and flexible creature was completely motionless, the only thing protecting it were the dark particles that enveloped it, or at least that was the case until a girl with horns and a smug smile approached.

With utter satisfaction and wrapped in lights blue sparkles, Diamond Queen began to unravel that fashion disaster, tearing at each layer of fabric as if it were an insult to life itself. It was somehow adorable for the bug theme heroine. After a few minutes, her opponent was nothing but shreds littering the floor. Just like that, her nightmare, that shadow of Chat Blanc, was gone.

"Okay, that felt really good." The blonde admitted, standing up, visibly pleased with having gotten revenge on the creature. "By the way, I think this is yours..."

Her companion handed her the black cat ring, which Ladybee gladly took. They power was once again out of the clutches of the bad guys, back in her favor. With the enemy out of the fight and the Miraculous recovered, there was only one thing left to do. The insect-themed heroine went to the ruined remains of the Lucky Charm, and from among them she pulled out a small red grate with black spots. The refrigerator shelves were removable, and she pulled them out of position to better hide inside. Since they weren't directly connected to the rest of the structure, one piece managed to survive the cataclysm.

"Miraculous Ladybug!"

With that phrase, she threw the object into the sky, which dissolved into a cloud of magical ladybugs. It expanded and spread throughout the city in an instant. As easily as Tela Noir had sown chaos, her enchanted amulet repaired everything. Disappearing bridges come back to reconnect both sides of the river, collapsed buildings re-emerged from the ground in a flash, and shattered blocks once again decorated the cityscape with their architecture intact. Even Ladybee's numb jaw felt like new, just as Queen Diamond's fountain water had been dried in seconds as the ladybugs passed by.

The objects our heroine used for her trap were reconstructed and returned to the cinema from which they were taken, just as each vehicle her partner used as a projectile was gently returned to its original positions on the street. Even the ferris wheel returned to its original position as if it had never rolled away. Everything was back in its place, except for the people. 'The enchanted amulet brings order to chaos, but only if it's used against the one who caused say chaos... In the end, he wasn't the cause of the disappearance...' the heroine reasoned, trying to understand the predicament.

Although this realization left a bittersweet taste in her moment, the truth is that our protagonist was happy. She got a clue about her kitten's whereabouts by recovering his Miraculous, and she also avoided the worst possible scenario, all thanks to the help of her beloved girlfriend. Chloe had excelled, proving that while she could still be harsh toward people other than her civilian identity, she could still do the right thing and protect people, even those she hated as much as Ladybug. She fought without hesitation against one of the biggest nightmares she could imagine, she was brave, proactive, and heroic, and that filled the girl in the red suit with pride.

"I'd forgotten how refreshed you feel after these things pass by..." the blonde said, stretching. "I hadn't even realized my back hurt until they cure it."

"Those were busy days..." Our heroine said, looking away at the silent beauty that was Paris at that moment, the Paris they saved.

"You say it." The heiress agreed, removing her nose ring and returning to her civilian clothes.

Ladybee saw her, her face automatically brightening. Her more wintery yet recognizable outfit, her curls, which she could now recognize even wen still contained in that characteristic ponytail, her makeup, her boots, that flower-and-bees pattern the baker sewed onto her white pants to cover up a cut. From the outside, she probably looked like the same rich girl, but to our heroine, she was completely different; she looked different now. Now she was her companion, her friend, her girlfriend.

"Thank you so much for your help..." the lovesick girl said softly.

"That thing gave my girl a panic attack, I couldn't just stand idly by... But not anymore..." She handed the Ox Miraculous to her. "The city is as good as new, but things haven't changed. I'm going to find Marinette and we will leave. Say hello for me to the next crazy dress that comes looking for jewelry." She declared, turning around as she waved goodbye.

The blonde remained determined in her plan. In that sense, they were quite similar; both were stubborn and obstinate in their decisions. If someone had told her two weeks ago that she would recognize her resemblance to the heiress, she would have called it an insult, but now there was simply no denying it. They were similar, and that was good. They both complemented each other better than they could have ever believed, and that's why the heroine in red went ahead with her idea. Her enemy was defeated so there was no reason to delay any further, what they had achieved together only reinforced what she had decided in the morning.

"You don't need to go looking for her..." she said, to which Chloe turned around in surprise.

"Excuse me? Of course I do. I can't leave my girlfriend alone and scared on the other side of town!" the heiress objected.

"Don't worry, she's not alone... She's here..." Ladybee's voice was soft, with a hint of doubt. She trusted the blonde, she was willing to confide this to her.

"What? Excuse me?" She looked around, searching for her partner. "You told her to go back to Multimouse without telling me?!" Chloe was offended.

"No..." Our heroine closed her eyes and took a moment to breathe. She reached the point of no return and was ready to cross that line, to take the leap of faith she couldn't take on the bridge. "Pollen, buzz off. Tikki, spots out."

With those words and the Eiffel Tower in the background, Marinette detransformed. She was there, with her pigtails, her black coat she borrowed from the heiress, her same purse, and the same expression, both nervous and excited. Marinette Dupain-Cheng, in all her glory, appeared before the heiress, with the two Kwamis at her sides and the comb in her hair. She had done it, she had not only revealed her feelings, but her identity as well.

Although, it didn't go as well as confessing her love.

She knew it would be a powerful revelation, that her girlfriend might not believe it at first, that there would be many questions and perhaps screams, much raw emotion and confusion, but she didn't see any of it now. No. She don't shaw any of that. She would have wanted to see anything but the expression that formed on the face of the Princess of Paris. Chloe had woken up alone in a dead world, faced wild animals and monsters made of cloth, fought face to face with the most dangerous monster to ever set foot in Paris, and yet, never, not once did her face reflect even a fraction of the absolute terror it expressed now.

Concern flooded Marinette, but the moment her lips opened to say something, the blonde stumbled backward, falling as if the raven-haired girl had threatened to pull out a gun. She didn't even have time to raise her hands or make a sound before Chloe scrambled to her feet and ran away, tears in her fear-filled eyes. It was so sudden that our protagonist froze, as if she'd been hit with venom.

In seconds, the heiress disappeared from her sight, leaving our protagonist there, in the middle of an empty but untouched city. She managed to protect Paris, fought alongside her girlfriend to save the day, and followed her heart by taking a leap of faith. But despite all that, Marinette now felt an emptiness inside, confused by what had just happened and, above all, she was now alone.

Chapter Text

Paris was the capital of France, and like most capital cities, it had a higher population density than the rest of the country's cities. This, coupled with the natural tourism for one of the most famous places in the world, meant its streets were packed with people. There was never a time of the day when you wouldn't bump into someone if you went for a walk, there was never a time of the day when a person could run by without being noticed, it was impossible for a crying girl to flee away without anyone noticing.

But humanity had disappeared, and even if they hadn't, probably no one would care. Not if she was the girl crying and running.

Chloe ran through the streets, empty streets where her footsteps echoed, with no obstacles to hinder her escape. She felt she had to flee, that she had to get away. As if physical distance would somehow cancel out what she saw, as if not having it in front of her could make her forget what she discovered. She hoped with all her might that this was possible, that it would work this way. But when has she been so lucky?

"This isn't real, she's not her. It's just a bad dream, she's not her. It's not happening, Mari isn't Ladybug." She repeated between ragged breaths, believing that if she said it out loud it would be easier to believe.

But no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't unlearn the truth.

So she kept running, heading for a hiding place, a place where she would be safe, so she could curl up in a ball while she waited to wake up from this nightmare. She was running back home, toward warmth and safety. Unfortunately, our subconscious can play tricks on us sometimes, so the heiress ended up in front of a bakery burned to the ground. Chloe stopped in her tracks, swallowing as she caught her breath in front of the building consumed by a now-dying fire.

Then the image of who lived there flashed before her eyes, then a flash of red with black spots, and then the tears fell again like waterfalls. She resumed her run, getting as far away from the place as possible. It was a reminder of a reality she now denied, of a tangible tragedy, making her believe she wasn't dreaming. 'This isn't real, I'm sleeping, it's a nightmare, any moment I'm going to wake up and she'll be there and it won't be...' The image formed in her head, her beloved beside her in bed, her clothes changing intermittently between pajamas and the heroine's outfit. Her earrings sparkled.

Chloe stifled a scream, holding her head as she ran. She couldn't have a breakdown in the middle of a public street, not because there was even anyone who could see or judge her, not because she had to keep up a facade, or because it would affect her father's reputation if she did. But because maybe, someone, would catch up to her. Someone who might be following her, and if they did, it would mean facing the very thing she was so desperately running away from. The blonde was afraid the whole way there that the girl would jump out in front of her. Luckily, sooner rather than later, she arrived at Le Grand Paris.

She burst through the hotel's main door like a flash of yellow lightning, without pausing or looking back. Given its size and lack of electricity, the interior was completely plunged in darkness, but that didn't matter. She knew the route like the back of her hand. After all, she'd lived there her entire life. Although she stumbled several times on the stairs, she eventually reached the floor where her suite was, which shone like the light at the end of the tunnel. Chloe ran faster that last bit down the hallway, quickly entering and turning to slam the door shut, as if someone were chasing her.

She stood there for several minutes, catching her breath as she gripped the handle tightly, tears streaming down her cheeks. Then she turned around, leaning her back against the fine, expensive wood of the entrance to look at her room. It was just as she'd left it when she'd moved into Marinette's house last week: desolate, messy, and with the balcony door open. She managed to resist the urge to run and close it.

"Marinette is stubborn when it comes to helping people, she always sticks her nose in where she's not called. She would have followed me... I-if she's not here yet, it's because it wasn't her, right?" She told herself as the seconds passed, blocking the door with her body and looking expectantly toward the only source of light.

She wanted to convince herself that it wasn't real, that her beloved Marinette wasn't Ladybug.

"M-maybe it was an illusion, yes! An illusion! One of those fabric disasters got hold of the fox Miraculous and made an illusion... An illusion to defame my sweet peach, because... Because... Why would they do that? Uh... Because they're weirdos who would do that. Yes!" the blonde said aloud, trying hard to silence the little voice in her head that told her that it was a ridiculous excuse, utterly ridiculous.

Logic was her favorite weapon when it came to annoying someone. Stating the obvious, knowing it was irrefutable, she could look clever and at the same time win easily when that opportunity was at hand—it was perfect. Unfortunately, that only made her feel stupid for trying so desperately to convince herself of something so absurd. The cloth monsters were too rudimentary for such a convoluted plan, and even pulling off a charade like that wouldn't achieve anything. Chloe had to change her approach if she wanted to convince herself.

"Maybe it's like the Miracle Queen incident, maybe it's all Hawk Moth's plan... Yeah, the bastard wants to trip me up again... Of course! He wants to use me again! Maybe he's even afraid of me! That's why he wants me to stay alone and angry at the world. He knows he will lose if i'm one of the good guys." At this point, denial was driving her crazy, but her ego helped silence that voice in the back of her mind.

The heiress stepped away from the door, searching for the villain. If he was planning to use her again, he certainly wouldn't be far away. Perhaps he or Mayura would be hiding there, ready to akumatize her. But no matter how hard she looked, the room remained empty.

"Come on! I found you! You can come out of the shadows, you filthy bastard creep!" She shouted, her voice echoing throughout the enormous room.

Her only response was silence, a very familiar silence, a silence typical of the room were she grew up alone.

"Your plan didn't work! As if I was going to believe my babygirl is that bitch that call herself a hero!" She declared defiantly, less and less convinced. "That illusion didn't even look like my Mari... Wait! That's it!"

Chloe reached into her pocket for her phone. Although she was avoiding it, she had the intention of looking for a picture of Ladybug and Marinette. Surely if she put them side by side, she would see that they didn't look anything alike. By the time she took it out, she realized it had been four days since it had turned off due to a lack of battery. Finding herself only with a black screen reflecting her scared and hurt face, she could only curse, throwing the device against the wall.

"Damn it!" She was losing her composure, more than ever.

She needed proof that they weren't the same person, to see with her own eyes something that would disprove what she saw at the Trocadéro, so she started searching her hotel room. While she'd discarded most of her photos of Ladybug when she'd failed her, when she'd gone from being her number one fan to her sworn hater, there must still be some nearby. She wasn't that meticulous, and she was too embarrassed to ask her butler to take care of dismantling the altar she'd made to the heroine.

She searched every drawer, every nightstand, among her clothes and shoes, desperately searching for any photo or image of the girl in the red suit with black spots. Finally, the blonde breathed a sigh of relief when she found a couple of photos next to a newspaper clipping under the large sofa. 'Perfect! It's just what I needed! Now I just have to bring them to light and I'll be able to prove that my dear Marinette doesn't look anything like that bi-' Her train of thought was cut off, replaced by white noise as she looked at the photos.

"It's... It's Marinette..." Her hands began to shake. "In the magazine article, swinging... It's her..." Tears pooled behind her eyes.

She couldn't look away, couldn't stop seeing her. The jet-black hair, the light blue eyes, her Asian heritage, and the shape of her soft, round face. Hell, she even had pigtails. Even though she had a mask covering her cheekbones and eyelashes, the girl in those photos was, unmistakably, Marinette Dupain-Cheng.

"No, no, no, no..." She tore the magazine clipping in two, falling to her knees. "No!"

She tried to remember all the times she'd seen Ladybug, whether in person or on TV or on her phone, and Marinette kept appearing in her place. No matter how much she was in the costume, it was her. No matter how impossible her acrobatics were, it was her. From the moment she saved her from Stoneheart to the moment Chloe motivated her against Rogercop, even when she asked for her help against Malediktator, it had always been her. Allowing that idea to take root in her head only made the heiress's world fall apart even further. What she had fought so hard to hold onto no longer existed.

Along with the wave of emotions came unease, fear. She no longer felt safe in her suite, not with the terrace door open. But instead of closing it, Chloe instead chose to move deeper into her room, closing the door that divided the two rooms, enclosing herself in the darkness. The thick curtains that blocked out every ray of light, the insulating walls for privacy, and her king-sized bed to support her gave her a certain level of security. Four walls that didn't crumble like the universe around her. Maybe she should never have left her room in the first place.

"It was genuinely her, Marinette is Ladybug... And I ran away..." The heiress was conflicted. On one hand, she ran away from her girlfriend without saying anything, like a coward.

But on the other hand...

"Perhaps... Perhaps nothing was real?" Doubt gnawed at her inside. After all, Marinette IS Ladybug. She didn't become the hero in this moment, she always had been.

That meant she had Ladybug by her side the whole time. That meant Marinette was there when Pollen yelled at her that she was worse than Hawk Moth. That meant Ladybug was the one she confessed her troubles to. Was what she said just a way to get her to her home? Did she just pretend to be scared and alone to use the blonde like everyone else? Did she really need her help with the Hawk Moth investigation, or was she just using her for entertainment? The questions and implications made her stomach twist.

"When I looked for her during the storm, she ignored me and then pretended to be worried. I looked all over the damn city for her in a downpour! I gave her my clothes to keep her warm! And she...! She just laughed in my face!" Her fists met the comforter she was sitting on. "I dislocated my leg and car crash a fire truck for her! AND SHE WAS FUCKING LADYBUG!"

She felt the pattern the baker had sewn onto her pants. The warmth and pride she felt walking with that design on them disappeared. She thought it was proof of how much their relationship had changed, but she remembered the context for which she had ripped her pants in first place and couldn't help but grit her teeth. She could have transformed into Ladybug at that moment in the Agreste Manor, she could have spared her the pain, she could have prevented them from being in danger, and she chose to simply play with their lives as if they were worthless. This thought made her dig her nails into the pattern out of anger, pulling at the threads and destroying the figure of the cherry branch with bees.

Tears ran down her cheeks as she held back a small hiccup. It wasn't just that turning her white pants into a Marinette's Originals now had no meaning or purpose, it was that it never had any of it. Their heart-to-heart talks were one-way. Her treating her wounds no longer meant she truly cared. All the things she said to her felt empty coming from Ladybug hiding behind the mask of an innocent girl. That declaration of love on the bridge was nothing more than another charade to use her for some unknown purpose, and that broke the heiress heart.

"B-but I really tried, I r-really tried..." she said, her voice shaking, trying to wipe her tears with the palm of her hand, but they wouldn't stop falling. "I-I freed the zoo animals, I helped take care of Louis, I did chores. What more does she want from me? I tried to help her find Hawk Moth lair, I helped her with everything she could came up with... I-I even c-console when her house..." The realization sent a chill down her spine.

"T-the bakery... S-she let the bakery burn down... She let her own home burn down and Nathalie be taken away... Why? Why?! Why would she do that?!" Chloe screamed, standing up. "Why the hell would she let something like that happen?! She... She's a hero! She can't do that..." She was trembling now.

The blonde stared at the floor in the darkness, hugging herself, trying to understand what kind of sick game she was playing.

"M-maybe it was a test? She left me the bee comb that time... S-she wanted to see what I'd do? If I was worthy of becoming g-good...? I... I failed the test? B-but she didn't have to burn down her own house to punish me for failing! Or at least not pretend to be so devastated about the matt-!" Then a new wave of memories hit her.

The way she comforted her, her efforts to take care of her, the pathetic excuse for a meal she made for her, the way she tore her hands to shreds trying to get her hot water, the way she bathed her. This last memory, of bathing together in the same tub, was the one that made her stomach churn while a hole formed in her heart. The intimacy, the closeness, the vulnerability, and the unspoken trust, everything was stained in red with black spots. Chloe covered her mouth, wanting to throw up. She felt worse than humiliated, she felt used, abused, in ways she never thought possible, all at the hands of the girl she so naively believed she had the right to love.

"B-b-but..." She whispered, trying to hold it all together. "B-but what did I do to deserve all this?" She asked, and the answer hit her even harder, so hard that she had to sit down. "Oh... Right..."

Years of jokes, insults, belittling, and torment passed before her. It was like a parade, a bright and noisy one, one that no matter how much she closed her eyes and covered her ears, she couldn't ignore. A parade of memories that wouldn't allow her, even for a second, the privilege of pretending she wasn't herself. That wouldn't give her the luxury of pretending reality was any different. That wouldn't let her forget again what should never have been in doubt: that she deserved it. All of this.

"She... She hates me..." Chloe whispered, completely destroyed, feeling stupid for believing for a second that it could be any different.

That was how time passed for the Princess of Paris, lamenting in the darkness of her locked room, facing a painful and unfortunately familiar reality. No matter how hard she tried, it always ended like this, whether with or without humanity, she always ended up scorned, sad, and alone. No one would hear her cry in her room, no one bothered to go to that trouble. But, in the same way, she didn't bother to listen to the footsteps in the hallway.

Chapter Text

Although Paris had become a war zone of calamities that day, after the miraculous cure, everything had returned to normal. The chaos that raged outside had completely disappeared, replaced by the natural silence of a ghost town. The only thing that could be heard in the darkness of the house were the footsteps of mice and the soft snores of little Louis, who lay imperturbably on the old sofa.

Then, someone opened the door and let the light in. Ladybug stood in the doorway with a neutral expression, her gaze almost downcast as the light bathed her back and shadowed her face. It took her a moment before she entered her missing grandfather's house, as if she were hesitating, but she soon put one foot in front of the other. The hallway lit up red from more light reflecting off her suit, the glow fading as she plunged into darkness.

She didn't bother grabbing one of the camping lanterns they'd left in the living room, as if there was more on her mind than being able to see clearly. Either way, the heightened senses granted to her by the Miraculous were more than enough to navigate the ancient building. She couldn't see in total darkness like her feline companion, but she could definitely find whoever she was looking for. Unfortunately, it seemed luck wasn't on her side.

She entered the rooms calmly and cautiously, slowly opening the doors, as if dealing with a frightened animal, letting a soft, concerned "Chloe? Are you there?" be her calling card, signaling her presence and intentions. She didn't want to fight, argue, scold, or question. At this point, she just wanted to find her, to know if the heiress was okay. Unfortunately, every room she tried yielded the same result. Silence.

Not a scream, a start, a gasp, or any kind of reaction to her presence. The house was just as they'd left it before they left early, not a single piece of furniture or rag out of place, not a single noise or sob echoing through the air. Everything was monotonous, sterile. Then she went upstairs and found the room where they slept last night. Just as she had done with all the rooms before, she made a methodical and calm inspection, having to hold back a sigh of resignation when she saw the empty room.

The magical, dreamlike aura that had permeated the room that morning had completely disappeared, not only because the pink lighting had vanished due to the curtain being half-open, due to the time of day, but also because it was as if the spirit of the room had vanished along with the blonde. Now it was just a gray, empty room, like the rest of her grandfather's house, like the rest of Paris, like herself.

Without any luck, our heroine returned to the first floor, heading for the old sofa where she plopped down to sit, her expression and posture defeated. The Basset Hound beside her woke up, and like any canine who finds a stranger invading its space, he began to bark and growl. Normally, an animal in that state, especially one with a tremendous bite force, would make any young or old girl jump. But at that moment, Ladybug didn't even flinch, not only because compared to the monsters she fights, a domestic dog wasn't a big deal, but because her mind was simply too numb to care.

Still, when she noticed with a sidelong glance that little Louis was starting to try to get up with slight tremors, concern and common sense made her react. She quickly said the deactivation phrase and returned to Marinette, visibly confusing the dog for a moment but quickly calming him down. Apparently, seeing his temporary caregiver relaxed the wrinkled animal. It was a good thing since it would prevent his condition from worsening, but at the same time, that reaction to his transformation only reminded her of what had happened just a few hours ago.

"At least you're not scared..." she said bittersweetly, stroking Sabrina's dog's head.

That was the part that hurt the most, not the explosive reaction, not the pulling away, none of that. What hurt was that it was that particular emotion, that expression on Chloe's face. It was fear. The blonde looked into her eyes, her whole body, and felt terror, her face drawing a primal, pure, fear.

Chloe didn't move aside to give herself space, she didn't run, she fled. She fled from the girl with pigtails as if she'd transformed into a monster in front of her, and Marinette was starting to think that maybe she was. After all, a person shouldn't be able to feel this way inside, so empty. By freezing while her companion fled, she lost sight of her completely. By the time she regained her composure, she'd already disappeared; she was unable to find her in the nearby blocks, and by the time she put her Ladybug costume back on, she'd already become a needle in a haystack. To top it off, her best bet, her grandfather's house, their new refuge, was a dead end.

Our protagonist wanted to cry, but she didn't feel worthy of it. It was her decision to do it in the first place, to do it today, to no longer plan it; it was her decision to stop thinking about it so much and being so careful. It was ironic, bitterly ironic, as if no matter what she tried, her approach or focus, it all went horribly wrong when she most needed to get it right.

She tried to tackle the mystery of the disappearance in her own way, and without Markov's intervention, she wouldn't have achieved anything. She tried to handle the threat of the cloth monsters alone, planning carefully to protect her identity, and ended up burning down her house. She tried to trust, to take a leap of faith and change to get help, and this time she only managed to break the heart of the girl she now loved. She was devastated, staring at the ceiling in the darkness, the room lit only by the reflection of the light coming through the front door.

"Are you okay, Marinette?" Tikki entered her field of vision, standing to the side without imposing her presence. Her concern only increased when the tired eyes passed over her. The baker had become unfortunately good at noticing facial expressions.

"Yes, I'm... I'm fine. It's just that I never thought this would happen, that someone would react like that..."

"Well, it wasn't thaaaaat bad of a reaction." The red fairy tried to console her, trying to downplay the moment to reassure her owner. "Yes, it was bad, but we're still here! The world didn't end. That already makes it one of your two best identity reveals, right?"

Her kwami was right about that. Both times Chat discovered her identity in other timelines, it ended with the end of the world and with an express reset by Sass. By definition, it wasn't the worst possible outcome of discovering her identity. 'It probably has to do with Hawk Moth not being around. That was the expression of an akuma who could end the world...' The image gave her a pang in her chest. Just because that bastard wasn't there to akumatize her didn't mean those emotions weren't there. They were emotions capable of breaking a world, Chloe's world, and hers too.

"I wish it had been different. Why couldn't it have been like with Alya? I-I mean, I know it wouldn't be that easy, that there'd probably be yelling and a lot of explaining to do, that we were gona to argue... And that's okay, we've been fighting and arguing for years. I could endure another day or two of that until I fixed things with Chloe, b-but..." Marinette leaned forward, resting her face in her hands and her elbows on her knees.

"Maybe... Maybe you still have time to argue and explain, to try to fix it..." The mini-goddess of creation patted her head, trying to comfort her.

"Tikki, I hurt her, a lot... We spent the whole day fighting a monster with unlimited cataclysms, and I was the one who hurt her the most, I was the one who scared her so much that all she could do was run away..." She shook her head, looking up at the empty room. "I don't know what kind of hero would do that, what kind of cheap guardian would be so incompetent, what kind of person goes from being stuck to sinking so low..."

There was a moment of silence, as if the immortal entity at her side had to think, to meditate on what it was going to say. Then, after minutes of silent self-loathing, with Marinette replaying in her mind everything she'd messed up these past few days, her Kwami spoke.

"I know, you would do it." Before her owner could misinterpret, Tikki hurried to explain in a soft voice. "Not because you're bad, not because you're a monster, but because you're human. Stumbling, making mistakes, saying or doing things that hurt others, are all qualities I've seen in countless people throughout the ages. But you know what else I've seen? I've seen them get up, rectify their mistakes, seek to undo the damage they caused. And I've seen you do just that, I've seen you repair what you broke, right the wrong you caused. I know you still have time to do that."

"Tikki..." Marinette processed what the mini-goddess told her, her expression of emptiness and despair disappearing momentarily. Then she could only muster a simple question, fear and doubt now in her eyes. "Are you sure I can still do it?"

"Did you doubt Chloe could when you first asked her for help? When you motivated her to change at the museum?" The fairy raised an eyebrow.

"No, of course not..."

"Even with years of stagnation, setbacks, and pain behind her, you didn't doubt she could make it. You helped her, you worked hard, and thanks to that faith, she was able to blossom into a flower so beautiful it could even captivate your heart. If Chloe Bourgeois could do it, you certainly can. You still have time." The entity of creation assured her, and a slight smile formed on her small face as she noticed something returning to our protagonist, a spark.

"I think... I think you're right..." The raven-haired girl stood up, receiving expectant looks from Louis and Tikki. "But you're wrong about one thing. It wasn't my faith that helped Chloe change. She tried, hard. As much as she might need help, she took the first step. I can't let that determination be in vain. I can't give up, even if I need help getting up when I fall."

"That's the Marinette I know!" Her kwami perked up, hugging her cheek with its paws.

"Thanks, Tikki. I really needed that." Then she took the black cat ring out of her pocket, clutching it in her hand with determination. "I'm going to save the world, bring them all back, but I'm going to do one thing at a time. First, I have to find Chloe and make things right with her. I hope that's okay with you." She said, looking at her Kwami, her determination failing to mask the tinge of shame she felt for being somewhat selfish in her priorities.

"It's never a bad idea to seek help, especially when it comes to such a big situation. We'll make it together, everyone." After receiving the mini-goddess's blessing, Marinette smiled.

"Let's not waste any more time. Tikki, spots on!"

A flash of pink erupted from the old house, and from its doorway emerged a red-and-black heroine, swinging through the streets of Paris. There was determination in her gaze, carrying the Miraculous box, a suitcase and a Basset Hound under her arm. She needed to have everything important in one place to be safe, so she could talk to Chloe calmly without worrying about anything else. She moved quickly through the empty city, searching for her beloved princess. There were many places to hide, but relatively few to search.

She had to find a place where the blonde would feel safe, one she would consider a refuge. It was sad that the girl with pigtails could only think of a few candidates who fit that description. By dusk, she had quickly arrived at the Le Grand Paris hotel. It was tempting to enter directly through the rooftop, but instead, she decided to take a more mundane, more Marinette-like approach. She went down to the lobby and walked around the dark building, untransforming halfway and taking a flashlight out of her bag.

She had a deja vu of when Pollen had been so harsh with the heiress and she had hidden in her room, only this time she was the one responsible, and she was infinitely more worried. Her footsteps echoed down the hallway, the walls blocking out both the sounds from outside and inside the rooms. She reached her destination, in front of a huge, expensive wooden door. She knocked a few times, hoping at least she would yell at her to leave. When nothing happened, she simply opened the door and entered the room.

The place was cold and had orange lighting. The door to the terrace was still open, just as they had left it the last time she was here last week. With the constant ventilation and the autumn air, the room had become a veritable refrigerator. Marinette left the dog, the suitcase, and the Kwami box on the couch before going to close the balcony door. She scanned the area, seeing what she could deduce from her surroundings. Then she stepped on some torn photos of Ladybug and deduced that things were looking bad. 'No one said it would be easy, I expected it to be this way anyway...' she said to herself as she closed the glass doors.

Then she noticed a broken cell phone. It was Chloe's. The screen was completely cracked, the casing almost popping off. 'She must have thrown it hard when she was angry... At least she feels something other than fear. I think I'm going to have my yelling match after all.' She thought, seeing something coming that might be even more difficult than fighting an akuma, but this didn't demotivate her. Our heroine was determined to move forward, to fix the situation, for her own good, for the world's sake, and especially for the heiress's. Then she noticed the big double door in the aforementioned bedroom.

She went and put her ear to the wood, hearing sobs that broke her heart but calmed her conscience. She had already found her beloved. With the blonde located, Marinette went to the couch, opening the Miraculous box to release the Kwamis. They began to notice they were in a different place.

"Okay, here's what we'll do." She began speaking quickly, drawing the fairies' attention to prevent them from making a fuss. "You're all going to stay in this room, keeping an eye on Louis and making sure no new cloth monsters or akumatized villains appear." She explained as she wrapped the dog in blankets and pillows to keep him warm. "Tikki's in charge while I take care of some matters. Behave and pay attention to her, and most importantly, no matter what you hear from the other room, don't come in. It's something I must, and can, handle alone... It'll be easier that way..."

Despite her hesitation, she spoke like a guardian, with a certainty that made the mini-deities listen and nod, some even giving her a small military salute. They were going to respect her wish and trust her, which gave the light blue-eyed girl courage, she was going to need it. Once everything was ready, she looked at her kwami one last time. Tikki nodded in approval, giving her permission to act without fear. Then she took a camping lantern out of her suitcase, she would need it if their "civilized conversation" extended into the night.

Then she approached the door, grasping the handle and surprised to find it unlocked. She took a deep breath, calming the anticipation in her mind before open it. Then she entered Chloe's room, closing the door behind her.

Chapter Text

After closing the door, Marinette found herself completely surrounded by darkness, immersed in the shadows of the room of the girl she'd been searching for. Deep down, she felt the doubt of whether she was being invasive, entering without question and without permission into what had always been the blonde's private domain. This idea was quickly corroborated by the other girl in the room, who made an appearance with her voice.

"L-leave me alone!" Chloe yelled, throwing an object through the air, which our heroine lassoed to the side to dodge.

There was no light, but thanks to months of experience with enemies throwing things at her and getting used to the Miraculous's heightened senses, the raven-haired girl managed to perceive the faint sound of the object being shaken and thrown through the air. The pillowy sound it made as it landed next to her betrayed the fact that it was a pillow. She ignored it, more concerned with the pitch of the scream, how ragged it sounded, how it broke before she could even begin the sentence, and how she could hear a small hiccup across the room.

"I can't do that." Marinette said, turning the knob on the camp lamp, literally bringing light into the dark room.

She noticed the heiress instantly turn around, her back at her. She swore she saw a tear on her cheek reflect the light, even if only for a second. Whether it was pride, shame, contempt, or displeasure, the baker understood perfectly well why her companion didn't want to face her. The truth is, she herself wasn't completely ready to look at her in the eye.

"J-just go and leave me here, just leave me alone..." The blonde replied. From the way her head and elbows moved, our protagonist deduced that she was wiping away tears.

"You know I couldn't do that... You know me..." Marinette replied, taking a couple of steps forward. The urge to comfort her made her test the waters.

"Yeah... I thought so too..." Chloe said before turning away with her arms crossed. "But it seems I was wrong..."

The sideways glance the heiress gave her made her stop in her tracks. Those sapphire blue eyes were slightly reddened and glassy from her recent regrets, but they still pierced her with defiant and firm pangs, as hard as the blonde's tone, full of anger and disappointment. It was a preview of what the girl wirh pigtails would face, of the turbulent emotions she would have to confront if she wanted to fix things, for the sake of both of them. It made her tremble for a moment, but the baker quickly swallowed and set the lantern aside.

"So, let's change that..." She placed the light source at the foot of the bed before moving away to sit in an elegant circular armchair.

She had guarded her distance, choosing a spot in a corner far from where her beloved princess was, giving her the space to move freely and choose where she wanted to position herself. Similarly, on the sofa, she was at a height relative to the lantern that allowed the light to shine directly on her face, head-on, without shadows that would alter her expressions or gestures. She was going to be honest, and she wouldn't let anything interfere or alter what she was going to say. Still, she gave Chloe the right to control the lighting, to have it within her reach, she wanted to give her some control and stability after accidentally taking it away from her.

"Listen, I know what I revealed at the Trocadéro changes... Everything... I know you'll have a lot of questions, and that you're probably hurt..."

"You don't have the sligthest idea of how I feel." The blonde interrupted her with a sour tone.

"But I want to know, and I want to fix it..." Marinette hunched forward, her hands clasped in her lap. She looked at the floor for a second, saddened by everything that had happened. "You said you don't know who I am anymore, and I understand that, and I want to clear it up, clear up all the doubts..." She raised her head, meeting the heiress's inquisitive gaze with a determination very typical of the baker. "I'm an open book. Ask and I willl answer, I will tell you everything you want to know, explain everything I need to explain, so you can stop seeing me as a stranger... So I can be someone you can trust..."

There was a moment of silence, a peculiar look on Chloe's face, difficult to decipher with the naked eye. She seemed to have some hesitation coupled with clear suspicion, caution halfway to confusion. Then her lips parted, uttering a single word.

"Why?" She asked quietly, arms still crossed, defensively, as if needing to protect herself.

"What?" The girl with pigtails asked in response, with unsuspecting innocence. It was a very vague question to know what to answer.

"Why are you doing this? Why go to all this trouble? All this... This little theatric of your. Seeking me out, wanting to clear everything up, trying to fix something with me of all people... Why?" Doubt and confusion became visible in her expression.

Marinette took a moment to think. Before the silence became awkward, she simply shrugged her shoulders and shook her head.

"Well, it's what the girl you knew would have done..." She said with a slight smile, sincerity in every fiber of her being.

She had no other way to put it; it was simply what she would have done. What Marinette would have done. And Chloe seemed to agree with that, because a minute after her answer, she let out a resigned sigh and proceeded to approach, sitting at the foot of the bed, face to face with our heroine. They were still relatively far from each other, but it was still progress, at least they weren't on opposite ends of the room anymore.

Although the Princess of Paris had silently agreed to participate in our heroine's honesty exercise, she nonetheless kept her lips sealed for several minutes. Given the awkwardness of the situation and the reasonable number of questions that would arise from revealing her identity, the raven-haired girl didn't give much thought to her companion taking her time to gather her courage, instead focusing more closely on the blonde.

Her curls made an appearance, escaping her perfectly arranged ponytail in loose strands, likely due to running from the Trocadéro all the way here. The girl's makeup, meanwhile, despite the lightness she'd worn today and the high quality of it, was slightly smudged. They weren't tear streaks on her cheeks, far from it, nor did they show the passage of any waterfalls from crying, but they were certainly not uniform either, painting her eyelids with uneven smears that made it obvious she'd rubbed her eyes.

Still, what caught Marinette's attention most was her beloved's white pants, the pattern she'd sewn on them was gone, completely frayed and torn. What had once been a loving gesture, a small detail Chloe seemed very proud of, was now nothing more than colorful threads on torn fabric. 'There's no one else here, only she could have done that...' Her stomach twisted as she bit the inside of her mouth. The thought that the blonde had deliberately ripped it after finding out her identity hurt her deeply.

Before she could continue to mortify herself by observing the state of the woman who had recently made her heart dance with her mere presence, before admiring her became painful, the heiress opened her mouth, determined to ask something.

"When... When did all this start? Since when are you... Ladybug?"

"Oh? Oh, well, I guess there's no better place to start than with the origins." She tried to joke to lighten the mood, though deep down she was grateful to be pulled from her train of thought. "Since the first day of school, when the first akuma appeared. I, well, completed a test... so to speak... And when I passed it, I was given the ladybug earrings... Along with the mission to stop Hawk Moth, of course..."

"It was... Was it something you expected?" Chloe asked, clutching the hem of her winter jacket in one hand.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you know... I remember one day when a big akumatized guy tried to perform some kind of sacrifice at the Louvre and he mentioned that Ladybug had been thwarting his plans since ancient Egypt... I mean, I know the guy was crazy, but that thing with a Ladybug in it became really popular for, like, a week or so in the Egypt part of the Louvre..."

"Oh right, that day Alya livestreamed it to the Ladyblog to keep me informed when he locked us up. I remember the discussions on the blog were very active..."

"Well... What I'm saying is... Is it something inherited? A family mantle passed down through generations or something?"

"What? No! Of course not. I'm half-Asian, not half-Egyptian..." She quickly realized how dismissive the statement sounded, especially given the angry expression on the blondy face. "Sorry! Sorry! I wasn't thinking you're domb! It was just a joke!"

"What I'm saying is, did you already know it was your turn?!" The ponytailed girl spat out angrily. "Whether it was something, I don't know... That you'd trained your whole life for, or that you knew it would be your turn to be a hero sooner or later... That you were special..."

"Oh, no, no no no, it wasn't... That day was my first interaction with this whole magic and superhero thing. Honestly, it caught me off guard... Up until then, I was just another normal girl, no magical family secrets or anything like that... I don't think it was fate either, I'm just... Just a normal girl with a normal life..."

Marinette could clearly see the heiress cross her arms and mumble "Yeah, right." while looking away. It was certainly not a very encouraging outcome for what would be her first question, but she didn't let that discourage her, especially because, despite her skepticism, Chloe was listening and considering what she was saying.

"Next question..." The blonde said, looking directly at her again.

"I'm ready. Shoot!" The raven-haired girl placed her hands on her clasped knees and straightened her back, trying to radiate positivity.

"Are you still you when you transform? Like, you know, does it change your personality or something?"

Interestingly, it wasn't the first time she'd heard that question. After revealing her identity to Alya and that she'd be cheering her up after she'd aired all the pressures of being a guardian, the aspiring reporter bombarded her with questions, and apparently the same doubt crossed the mind of the Princess of Paris.

"Oh? Is it so hard to believe that I could be the city's efficient, competent, and moderate heroine?" She said, placing a hand on her chest, dramatically feigning offense.

The heiress greeted her with the same expression the brunette had given her when she'd also do this same joke with her, only unlike her best friend, Chloe didn't seem in the mood for Marinette's poor attempts to lighten the mood.

"Sorry..." the girl with pigtails quickly apologized, clasping her hands again and looking at the carpet, blushing. "Yes, I'm still me when I transform, as incredible as it may seem... The Ladybug Miraculous is like any other Miraculous, it doesn't magically change the way you are or think. Like you using the bee and the others, I'm still the same girl under the mask..."

"Really?" The blonde raised an eyebrow, still sitting on the bed with her arms crossed. "Allow me to doupt it..."

"I know, it sounds crazy, right? The girl with two left feet who drowns in a pool of water when faced with trouble, being the perfect and confident protector of Paris, I wouldn't believe it either... But the truth is, even with the powers, I'm still that... There's so much at stake and so many people depend on me that I try three times as hard not to trip, half the time I use my enhanced abilities to make the conscious effort to walk upright... I try to appear confident so the civilians feel safe, no matter how nervous I am... I still let my emotions get the better of me even though people are too distracted by the villain of the day to notice I acted like a child... Hell, I'm still a total disaster in love whenever I'm around someone I like, whether or not I have a duty to..." Apparently, her honesty resonated with the heiress, who seemed to be carefully processing what she had just said.

"So... You are still yourself under the mask..." Chloe said, looking in another direction, she seemed somewhat disappointed or even sad by the answer.

Her entire expression lost its alertness and defensiveness for a moment, even her shoulders looked slumped for some reason. Then something happened, something must have crossed her mind as she processed the new information, because her eyes sparkled for a second. Marinette couldn't quite put her finger on it, especially since the heiress quickly stiffened again, but if she had to guess, she'd say it was like a reassuring revelation. A possibility that cheered her up for a moment, a spark of hope. 'Maybe she's realized nothing's changed and that I'm still me?' The thought also encouraged our protagonist, who had already been excited to think she was moving in the right direction.

"You said someone gave you the Miraculous, right? That you passed a test to be Ladybug... That means you have, like, a boss or something?"

The heiress's question left the raven-haired girl listening to static, not expecting the change of topic at all, nor the particular excitement emanating from the aforementioned.

"Huh?" Was the first thing that came out of her peachy lips, wondering in real time how important this information was to the blonde.

"I ask you if you have someone who gives you orders! You know, like Sabrina's dad, he's the chief of police like you are the boss of the heroes, but Officer Roger has my dad as his superior, someone who tells him what to do, who can give him orders. You have something like that, right? Someone who gives you orders that you follow?" The fact that Chloe was less aggressive, more specific and direct only made Marinette think more carefully about her answer; it certainly carried more weight than it seemed at first glance.

"Well, I wouldn't say boss, he was more of a teacher. His name is Wang Fu, he is... He was... The guardian of the Miraculous..." There was some nostalgia in that part, remembering the old days that no longer had a place in the present. "He chose me and Chat Noir, and gave us our respective Miraculouses to fight evil."

"That means he's the one making the decisions, right? He's the guy who told you who to test and how you should behave and lead and all that, right?" She asked, that glimmer of hope shining on the blonde's confused and anxious face.

"Well..."

"Well what?"

"Well... Not exactly." Marinette already had an idea of what Chloe was expecting from this question, and while she wasn't sure why, she knew she couldn't lie either.

"Explain."

"Well, while Master Fu was our teacher, the truth is we still didn't know we had a teacher as such... At least not at first. Do you remember when Lila arrived at the school? Well, things happened, and it was only then that I met him... Formally, of course, I saw him once before, but I didn't know he was the guardian or that he gave me the earrings..." the raven-haired girl added.

"Wait, wait, wait... When did Lila arrive? But months passed between your debut as Ladybug and the arrival of that bitch!" The heiress gestured with her hands in disbelief. "What kind of cheap teacher leaves his students on their own against a super villain? It's ridiculous, utterly ridiculous!"

"Calm down, Chloe, give him a break. Maybe I wouldn't have understood his methods at the time either..." 'Or now.' she thought before continuing. "But Master Fu had his reasons. Besides, he cared deeply about us, and the whole world."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." The ponytailed girl interrupted, brushing the matter aside as she stood up. "The important thing is, you met him after Lila arrived, right? After that bitch became Volpina and Uncle Gabriel was akumatized for the first time, right? All of that happened before other heroes appeared, which means he was already your boss at that point."

The blonde's explanation made the pieces fall into place in our protagonist head, a stomach-churning image formed. But before taking anything for granted, the current guardian simply nodded for her companion to continue, wanting to be sure before jumping to conclusions.

"He was the one who gave you and that stray cat the Miraculous, and if he was in charge, and if new heroes with Miraculous appeared... That means he told you who to look for, who to choose, right?" She asked hesitantly, in an almost defensive pose, as if she were afraid of the answer.

Marinette shuddered on the couch, her heart wrenching at the realization that she was nurturing that spark of hope in her beloved's eyes. Chloe wanted to know who it was who had rejected her as Queen Bee, who had denied her the Miraculous to protect her family. Chloe wanted to give the baker the benefit of the doubt and believe that she wasn't the one who had done all of this, the one who had chosen her sister as her replacement. Her princess seemed to cling to that idea, and nothing hurt our protagonist more than having to take that away from her. She couldn't just sweep her mistakes under the rug at her convenience; she couldn't keep lying to her.

"Chloe..." She didn't even say a word, and her throat already felt dry. "M-maybe you want to take a seat..."

"Come on, Marinette, just answer the question. It's not complicated." She groaned, still standing, to which the girl with pigtails gulped.

The girl in the black vest lowered her head, the artificial light from the lamp shadowing her anguished expression as she let out a resigned sigh.

"When things got too much for Chat and I to handle alone, the Lucky Charm would guide me to Master Fu to call for reinforcements... He would then hand me the box of Miraculouses to choose which power I needed... He trusted my judgment..." She admitted tentatively, playing with her fingers in her lap, unable to meet her eyes.

"He l-let you choose...?" Chloe sat up in bed, a devastated expression plastered on her face as her legs trembled.

"Yes... It was my decision which Miraculous to choose each time and who to give it to... In hindsight, being the guardian now just eliminated the middleman... I'm sorry, Chloe..."

When Marinette looked up, she saw the blonde holding her left arm with her right, the former with its fingers digging into the quilt and the other almost scratching her sleeve. She was biting her lower lip as she fought back tears. Even against the light, her eyes were glossy, and small threads of light fell down her cheeks.

"So... Then why?" Their eyes met, their reflection in those sapphires framed by resentment. "Why was I Queen Bee in the first place? Why did you keep looking for me? Why did you never keep your word and keep giving me false hope?" Her voice was cracking, it was hard to see.

"Chloe, I..."

"No one forced you to give it to me! No one forced you to seek my help!" She yelled, standing up, clenching her fists at her sides. "Why Dupain-Cheng? Why?!"

The raven-haired girl broke eye contact, sinking into the armchair in the corner of the room, the heiress's shadow completely devouring her, making her feel tiny.

"I didn't mean for this to happen. I didn't mean to hurt you like this... I didn't mean to involve you in all this hero madness..."

"Oh, really?! Now it turns out that me finding it a Miraculous at the Eiffel Tower was a pure coincidence? That you weren't testing me? You just... You lost it by accident?" Marinette remained silent, looking away in sadness, her cheeks red. "Oh god, you did lose it by accident..." The heiress whispered.

The baker's daughter watched as her friend clapped her hands to her face, stifling a scream, incredulous at what she had just discovered.

"You literally lost a Miraculous in the fucking Eiffel Tower! Everyone goes there, you left the magical jewel that gives superpowers in the most famous place in Paris !" She rebuked her, regaining her momentum, gesticulating with her entire body. "Do you know what kind of people could have found it?! I'll give you a hint! Me! I literally found it!" She pointed at herself. "You saw me there! You fought with my mother there! You saw us before you left! If it wasn't to perform a twisted test on me, then why the hell did you leave it there?!"

"I... I needed help stopping Style Queen, so I went to find Alya, who had followed you two... You know, reporter stuff... She'd used a Miraculous before..."

"Why I'm not surprised." The blonde interrupted her, pouting with her arms crossed.

"I trusted her to help me. But then your mom arrived before I could even get the Miraculous out of its individual box, turned Alya into glitter, and made me drop it... Everything was happening so fast, and the risk kept growing, so I couldn't go and get it back right away... Then my transformation time was up, and I had to get back to the gala, so I didn't have time to look for it..." She finished her side of the story, watching the heiress rock back and forth on the spot.

"That's so... Stupid! My God, I can't believe Ladybug was so careless... A hero wouldn't even do that..."

"But it's something Marinette would do..." Marinette replied, stroking her forearm on the couch, somewhat embarrassed by the incident.

For her part, Chloe waved her hand as if swatting away a fly, as if the idea were something tangible she could dismiss, and more importantly, as if she didn't want to think about it.

"Okay, fine, fine! Let's pretend I believe that, that it was an accident... That doesn't explain why you kept handing it to me afterward. And on purpose, too!" She pointed at her, putting her hands on her hips. "I stole the Miraculous, I revealed my identity, I caused a mess, I AM a bad person... If it wasn't a test, then what? Why did you give me so many chances? Why did you tell me it would be the last time if it never was?"

"Chloe..." This time Marinette stood up, so she was at eye level with her companion, but still respecting the distance between them. "I'm not going to lie to you, and I know it's hard to believe, but... I don't know either..."

"OH PLEASE!"

"Let me explain! I meant what... I didn't know at the time either." Her words seemed to catch the blonde's attention, halting her reprimand. "You see, yes, it's true... It was an accident the first time, yes, you did bad things... And yes, I had my doubts and reservations about dealing with you... But every time you had the Miraculous, you did things I never thought possible... Coming from you, of course..." The girl with pigtails blushed in embarrassment as she scratched the back of her neck, uncomfortable with the clarification.

Seeing that the heiress didn't take the indirect insult the wrong way, and that she was in fact still paying cautious attention to her, she gathered the confidence to continue.

"First you gave me back the Miraculous and apologized... I know it sounds like a small thing, and maybe I took it as such at the time, until the mayor was akumatized... Since he was your father and I needed someone to use the Miraculous, well, I thought it was the right thing to do... And then I saw you, I saw a different Chloe for the first time when I went looking for you, I saw that side of you that you try to protect behind your facade of not caring about anything, and even though I didn't realize it at the time, the truth is... It moved me..." This time it was Chloe's turn to break eye contact, looking away with a slight blush, the raven-haired girl took a step forward, getting closer. "Deep down, even though I wasn't sure, I started to think that I had misjudged you, that maybe you could be a heroine, and well... The truth is that you were good as Queen Bee. A bit conceited, of course, but good nonetheless... That's why I gave you so many chances, because even though I still took you with a grain of salt and had my doubts, the truth is that you deserved them..."

There was a moment of silence, of stillness in the room, a moment in which Marinette could only hope for the best. She saw the girl in front of her, and saw how her expression became less rigid even though she still had her arms crossed over her chest. Even though her princess looked away and against the light, she could perfectly see that blush on her cheeks and that look in her eyes, that look she had seen many times in recent days in similar situations, which told her she had heard her, and that she was taking it into account. Her heart fluttered.

Perhaps it was seeing that side of the heiress again when she thought she would never see it again; perhaps it was managing to calm her companion's justified anger for a moment; perhaps it was seeing how beautiful she looked calmly, with her ponytail resting on her left shoulder, shining golden in the artificial light. Perhaps it was finally being able to open up and be honest about what she kept in the depths of her conscience. Whatever it was, she felt like she was back in the morning at her grandfather's house, happy and at peace with the girl who had earned a place in her heart. Sensing the atmosphere less tense, less electricity in the air, the baker approached cautiously, her cheeks heating up.

It seemed like everything was starting to go well... Until Chloe's lower lip began to tremble as a tear fell.

"You're lying..." She said, almost whispering.

"What?" A shiver ran down our protagonist's spine.

"I-I'm not as stupid as you think. I-I know what you're doing..." Her voice broke for a moment before she inhaled deeply, trying to regain her composure before continuing. "You've done it all along. You say what I want to hear, you make me look stupid, and I end up proving you right, all because I think I mean something to you..."

"Chloe, that's not true. You do mean something to me. You mean so much to me! Chloe, I lo-"

"Don't you dare!" She interrupted her, screaming as tears fell. "Don't you dare think I'm that stupid, don't you dare think I'm so weak that I'd forget reality just because I truly want to believe you." There was no longer just anger in her eyes, no, there was pain staining those deep blue eyes.

"Chloe..." Marinette made a move to raise her arms, wanting only to hold her and comfort her, but the heiress instantly pulled away.

"I remember perfectly how things ended. I remember how after each mission you told me it would be the last, how you always reminded me that it was my fault I couldn't be Queen Bee anymore, because I committed the unforgivable crime of revealing my identity..."

"I did it to protect you. Hawk Moth could set his sights on your family, on you." The raven-haired girl said reflexively, a lie she'd told so many times it was coming out against her will. These words only annoyed the blonde more.

"And the universe proved you right, right?" She said contemptuously. "Hawk Moth akumatized my parents back then in Hearts Hunter, but it seems there was no point in me fighting to protect my own family anymore, since you ignored my pleas and then walked right past me with the dragon girl."

Chloe's words were scathing, in a way that brought back unpleasant memories for the pigtailed girl. It was as if the Chloe she'd known these past few weeks had vanished, a hurt version of her former bully returning, this time charging at her with just cause. This made her stomach turn, not only because of the memory that the Miracle Queen incident was her fault, but also because of seeing her beloved regress all the progress she had made.

"Chloe, I-I'm really sorry. I swear it wasn't my intention. I promise, I didn't mean to..."

"To have me by your side? To have me become a hero again? To have me continue bothering you with my spoiled brat whims?"

"Of course not, I wouldn't... I could never say that..." Now Marinette was the one starting to tremble.

"But you did it! When I was akumatized and revealed everyone's identities to Hawk Moth, you carried on as if nothing had happened!" She pointed directly at her, accusing her angrily, before balling her hands into fists and lowering them to her sides, staring at the carpet as she repeatedly stomped one foot. "I. Remember. It. Perfectly! I-I remember now, when you mentioned Alya I remembered, she was there that day, I am right? She's one of your temporary heroes, your friends are, right? And I'm sure I kept seeing them all long after that incident."

"I-I..."

"Akumatized people forget what's happened, but Hawk Moth doesn't. He knew everyone's identity, yet I was the only one who received that treatment! Do you really want me to believe it was for my safety? For my parents'? For the sake of my bitch of a mother or for my cowardly father?! I don't even have any friends to target, damn it! Your dear Adrien hasn't spoken to me in so long, and everyone thinks Sabrina is my slave. I-I think even she sees it that way..." She wiped her tears with her palms; there were too many emotions. "And the people you do care about, who have loving, worthwhile families, who are friends to everyone, you did nothing with them! Do you want me to believe that you care about me? That you're more concerned about the safety of the bitch who put you through hell than that of your best friend? Do you think I am that stupid?! That I'm that out of touch with reality?!" She breathed quickly and heavily, her eyes glassy. "Just... Stop lying to me, stop pretending... J-just leave me alone..."

Chloe continued to back away, turning her back on her as she walked toward another of the room's enormous doors. While it wasn't the entrance, the girl with pigtails wasn't sure if she was going to a closet or the bathroom, but she was sure what her intention was. The heiress wanted to get away, to put a wall, a door, anything between them so she wouldn't have to see her face, to isolate herself. It would be much less dramatic, much less explosive or spontaneous, but it was just like what happened at the Trocadéro when she revealed her identity, and Marinette couldn't let that happen again.

"Chloe, wait!" She said, jumping to grab her left wrist with her right hand. The blonde tensed instantly.

"Don't touch me!" She flinched, at which the raven-haired girl immediately let go in a panic, backing away with her palms up as her companion stared.

"Sorry! I'm sorry! But let me explain! I can explain!"

"And let you keep lying to me? Of course not!"

"I'm not lying to you! If you let me explain, it might not sound any better, but it'll make sense, I swear!"

"I told you to stop doing that! I don't want you to lie to me!"

"I'm not!"

"Of course you are! Is it so hard for you to admit that you hate me?!" She faced her again.

The baker's daughter's eyes widened, a chill running down her spine. The words, each agonizing syllable, echoed in her head, her mind replaying the heiress's lip movements in slow motion, trying to read them carefully. 'Hate'. She repeated the word in her mind, no doubt, she heard it. She said it confidently, without hesitation, like someone declaring the sky is blue or that water is wet, as if it were an unquestionable fact. Chloe had no doubts; she genuinely believed Marinette hated her, and this terrified our heroine.

"That's not true!" She jumped on the defensive, denying the reality her companion was proposing.

"Yes, it is! Why don't you just admit it already?! Is it so hard for you to see that I already know?!!!" the heiress declared through tears, as if it pained her too to say it out loud.

"I'm not going to admit it because it's not true!" The pigtailed girl retorted, matching the blonde's impetus.

"I worked with Hawk Moth!"

"He manipulated you!"

"I revealed the identities of the other heroes to him!"

"You said it, it didn't matter in the end!"

"Then why did you choose my own sister as a replacement?! Why prove to me that everyone hates me and prefers her if it's not true?" She became defensive, demanding answers.

"You weren't supposed to find out!"

"We live in the same hotel!" Chloe pointed to the floor, reminding her where they were.

"And me with my parents! And yet they don't know I'm Ladybug!" The heated argument also brought back her old self, the Marinette who was ready to argue with the heiress. She felt exactly like she had before the disappearance, before everything had happened.

"She was waiting for you on the fucking roof next to the fucking emergency stairs! Did you forget there's a pool there? It's a fucking recreational area! There are people in that place all the time!"

"Who would be there in the middle of the night?!"

"Me, Dupain-Cheng! I was there! Just like you wanted me to be there so it would be clear to me that no one loves me, that everyone is going to replace me with someone who isn't broken!" Chloe said, poking our protagonist in the chest. The heat of the argument made them stop keeping their distance.

"It was an accident, Chloe! No one is plotting a evil plan to see you suffer! Less than anyone, me! I don't want to see you suffer, I don't want to harm anyone!"

"Oh? Really?! So it was an accident that I was terrified that a monster had kidnapped you while I was sleeping?!" The blonde raised her eyebrow in defiance. "You were the one who said there was something outside the Saturday before that! You planted that idea in me!"

"Yes! But it was an accident! I was going to come back before you woke up. I wanted to come back before you woke up!" Marinette tried to explain.

"You ignored me when I begged for your help when I saw you as Ladybug! You walked right past me without even turning around!"

"Because I genuinely didn't see you! Chloe, I'm sorry, I really am. I swear I didn't mean to." The raven-haired girl lowered her tone for a moment, her light blue eyes once again reflecting regret as she placed her hand over her heart. "My head was in the clouds, I got too focused on modifying the city's electrical wiring to help Markov that I lost track of time... I genuinely believed that would help me fix everything... But I lost sight of my surroundings... Whom I wanted to protect..." She said, rubbing her forearm.

"I was the only person in all of Paris!" The heiress attacked again, pushing her this time. "My raincoat was bright yellow! I was the only person making a noise! How do you expect me to believe you didn't see me?! You're Ladybug, for God's sake!"

"Because I make mistakes! I just told you! Please, Chloe, if you could just listen to me."

"I hear you, Dupain-Cheng. And what you're saying is ridiculous! Utterly ridiculous!" she retorted, making a cross with her arms.

"It isn't! I'm telling you the truth!"

"So why doesn't it make sense? Why nothing you say makes sense?! You say I touched you, but you take away my Miraculous. You tell me you don't resent me, but you choose as my replacement the only person with I would feel bad if it was. You say you want to protect me, but you let me crash a fire truck into Adrien's house to save your ass!" the increasingly frustrated blonde enumerated.

"I had to protect my secret identity! I couldn't just transform like that and reveal my secret identity! A-and we didn't even know what those things were! What if Hawk Moth was seeing through them?" She tried to defend herself as best she could, to make her case stronger, trying to appeal to the logical side she'd discovered in the heiress.

"You know what I think? I think you didn't do anything on purpose to see me struggle to survive, to see how badly I could get hurt from all of this, to delight in patching up my wounds knowing they were painful. I bet my knee wasn't even dislocated and you just wanted to sprain my foot!" The darkness in her words made Marinette's stomach churn.

"Oh my God, Chloe! What kind of sick monster do you think I am?! I would never do something like that to you!"

"Then why did you do it?! You're literally the one with the magic cure for everything! You've cured far worse things than a dislocated leg! Why wouldn't you use it? Why didn't you cure Gabriel's secretary's illness instead of us going for medicine? Why is Louis nearly paralyzed? Why did we change shelters in the first place?!" The Princess of Paris gestured widely, questioning everything.

"It's not what you think! If you'd just let me expla-!"

"I'll tell you what I thought!" She interrupted her. "I think you took me on that stupid search for painkillers just to watch me hobble around town with a broken leg! I think you let Sabrina's dog get hurt to make me feel guilty for not using the Bee Miraculous to help you! I think you burned down your house just so I'd feel sorry for you and humiliate myself!"

Those last words, what she just said, what she implied, were like a trigger.

"T-that I burned down my house to humiliate you? T-that I burned down my house to humiliate you?! WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU?!" She screamed, tears building up behind her eyes.

"Oh, now it turns out I'm the one who's s-!"

"It was my house, Chloe!" This time she was the one who interrupted the blonde. "MY! HOUSE! I lived there my whole life! My parents moved there when they got married long before I was born! The family bakery has been there since we were a family in first place!" Every word that left her mouth cracked the dam that was her eyes more and more, cold tears seeping out as her breathing became ragged. "Almost all of my most precious memories were there! My first burnt bread! My first good bread! The first time I played video games! My first drawings and designs! Damn it, they even let me do the patterns on the windows!"

"Then why the fuck did you let it burn to the ground?!" she questioned, and the raven-haired girl snapped.

"Because I'm useless!" Her voice echoed, stopping the blonde's outburst in her tracks, making her step back.

There was a moment of silence, a moment of calm, where there were no more screams, no more raw emotions clouding the world around them. At least that was the case for the girl in the ripped white pants, as the one with pigtails was shaking, crying, and struggling to keep her eyes open. The lighting in the room softened, almost as if mimicking the expression of the Princess of Paris at that moment. Only in her case, instead of running out of energy, it was because she was going from anger to confusion. And from confusion to worry.

"What?" the blonde asked, in a calmer tone of voice, loud enough for Marinette to hear over the pounding of her own heart in her ears and the storm in her head.

"I said I'm useless! I-I foolishly thought I could do e-everything...! T-that I could leave a copy behind to separately unify the mouse and the ladybug, so I'd have the power to fix everything if things got complicated..." She explained, wiping her cold tears with her sleeve. "But I messed everything up! I acted without thinking, without realizing that no one had summoned the Lucky Charm! A-and I... I burned my house down... I burned my house down on purpose to win, believing like an idiot that everything would be okay..." The girl in the black vest sobbed.

"But... You're Ladybug... You always have everything under control..." A dismayed Chloe said, abandoning her offensive stance and adopting a more cautious, more defensive stance, worry beginning to show on her face.

"I should be, I should be Ladybug, I should be able to be a hero, to protect people, but I can't! No matter how hard I try, I just can't! I can't stop making mistakes! I can't stop to be... To be me..." There was a tone of defeat, of shame in her voice, as if it were wrong to be her. "I don't want to be a clumsy little girl when the world is coming to an end! I don't want to be the immature, emotional girl who doesn't know what to do when I should be the hero who has the answers! I don't want to be the mess with two left feet w-who fails everyone she loves... But I can't... I can't stop being Marinette... No matter how much I want to stop being her, I can't..." She covered her face with her hands, her voice breaking.

The baker's legs trembled; she thought she was going to fall to her knees, but because of her position, she managed to wobble back to where the bed was, managing to sit down abruptly on the soft mattress. The lantern wobbled and fell sideways behind the devastated girl, rolling slightly and worsening the already poor lighting in the room. It seemed fitting for the half-Asian girl, who was sinking into that worryingly familiar pool of self-loathing.

"Marinette..." The heiress spoke in a peculiar way.

It was also a familiar intonation, but this one was a recent familiarity, typical of the last few strange days. She spoke the protagonist's name as if it were important, as if it held a weight inside her, and the aforementioned couldn't help but lift her face from her hands to look at her. Her red, dripping eyes met a gaze that was hard to read, not that she was in the right mind to make the effort in the first place.

"I'm sorry... I'm really sorry... I'm sorry I made everything so wrong... That you have to be stuck with someone so... Disappointing..." Marinette said, noticing the blonde frown.

"Stop talking like that... stop saying those things..." Chloe demanded, crossing her arms.

"B-but it's true... I'm inadequate, useless for such a simple job... Just a failure who burned down her own house and hurt the only person I was supposed to protect..." The girl with pigtails lowered her head, staring at the floor while clutching her forearms.

"And you're right!" She said with a scathing tone, causing Marinette to shrink back further. "But... You're sounding like my mother, and right now I don't want to hear my mother talking like that, much less about you. Is that clear?"

Her words again drew a reaction from our protagonist, who looked up in disbelief and confused by what she heard. At this, the heiress snorted and sat down on the bed as well, keeping the distance between them.

"Don't flatter yourself. I'm just saying this because I'm the one who's going to talk to you like that..." She said reluctantly, looking away.

Despite her words, the raven-haired girl could tell something was different. This moment felt more like when she was trying to protect her ego than the visceral anger of a few seconds ago. Even their positioning was different; they were no longer facing each other, almost a whole room apart, nor were they shouting inches from each other. Now they were sitting on the same bed, facing the same direction, with calmer voices. They barely met each other's gaze, and there was about a meter between them, but if she compared it to how it started, it was a big step in the right direction, so Marinette smiled a little.

There were a couple of minutes of silence, where the baker's daughter took the opportunity to try to regain control of her breathing and heart, trying to calm her turbulent mind. Before she could start blaming herself for stealing the heiress's moment to vent, the girl at her side spoke again.

"So... Was it just that? An accident? Like... Everything that happened before?" she asked, turning in her direction, to which Marinette nodded.

"Yeah... Sorry again..." The girl in the black coat and pink pants rubbed her neck, her cheeks still feeling damp. "After months of trying to protect my identity and the Miraculous at all costs, I've gotten used to having to go with the flow until I have the chance to step aside and transform... But it doesn't work so well when there's only one person by your side..."

"Duh, it's obvious... That other person would probably think something really bad happened to you..." The blonde muttered as she crossed her legs, resting her elbow on the side of her knee and her chin on the palm of her hand.

"I know... And yes, I was the one who said there might be something outside on Saturday. That's why last night, when you were asleep, I jumped up to fight whatever it was when I saw something moving outside the bakery... When it turned out to be Markov, and he had a way of knowing what happened... Well, I got too excited..." She confessed, explaining slowly.

"Sure, that makes sense. It was your chance to find out what happened to your parents, your friends... And maybe find whoever was responsible..." The heiress enumerated, sighing. "You had much more important things to attend to compared to the jerk you took into your home..."

"That's not true. I wanted to come back with the good news, that when you wake up, not only will I tell you that we find out what happened to the mayor and Sabrina, but also that we could know what and where it happened..." Marinette continued, still embarrassed by her tunnel vision.

"And you were going to tell me that Ladybug asked you for help, like at the TV tower?" Chloe looked at her, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah... Well, I still hadn't decided exactly how to say it in that moment. At first, I was going to say that Ladybug told me, but I ended up improvising when you found me outside..."

"So you were going to lie to me anyway." Replied the girl with the ponytail, which rested disheveled on her right shoulder this time.

"I had to protect my secret... And well, it's not like finding out you were living with Ladybug would make things easier, right?" The raven-haired girl said, unable to help but point out how well they turned out earlier at the Trocadéro.

"Tuche," the heiress conceded. "Well... Let's assume I believe you, that you weren't testing me or taking revenge, then what happened when we ran into the monsters at the manor? Why didn't we have a miraculous rescue from Ladybug?"

"Partly it's like I've already told you, I didn't know who or what may was seeing, but also... Because for Ladybug to come, Marinette has to disappear, and I couldn't just disappear..."

"What do you mean you couldn't? You literally had the perfect excuse with the monsters." The blonde pointed out.

"Chloe..."

"Don't give me the excuse that I'd be worried, or that I was going to have a heart attack."

"The thing is, that would have meant abandoning you two, and neither as a hero nor as myself could I afford that. I had to make sure you two were somewhere safe first... I was thinking maybe I'd stay behind once you left the manor... But then the cloth monster burned the vines, and Nathalie stayed by my side..." Our protagonist declared, regaining some of her usual energy.

"That... Makes sense..." Chloe looked at the ground, somewhat embarrassed.

"Although I genuinely thought you'd use the fire ladder... I never expected or planned for you to be in a car crash." The girl with pigtails assured her.

"Well, you overestimated my ability to understand how a fire truck works..." The blonde crossed her arms with a pout.

"If it helps, it was pretty impressive how you saved us from that monster while also showing us a way out... You were very brave..." A blushing Marinette said with honesty.

"Of course I am..." The heiress replied, flipping her hair back with a flick of her hand, a small flash of that proud and good-humored Chloe.

Like all flashes, this one lasted only a little while before the blonde returned to a more contemplative and dejected expression; she still had questions that needed answers.

"Well, why didn't you do it the next day? We were literally all hiding somewhere safe, and it was the perfect time for you to disappear and for Ladybug to save the day." the heiress questioned.

"Chloe, what do you think I was going to do when I offered to get the medicine on my own?"

"And why didn't you stop me from going with you? I was literally going to be dead weight!"

"You are the most stubborn and determined person I know, probably the most stubborn and determined person in all of Paris, if not all of France. Do you think I would have managed to convince you to let me go alone? With a city full of monsters in between?" Marinette asked, raising an eyebrow, causing Chloe to roll her eyes.

"Ugh, I hate it when you're right..." She pouted, eliciting a small laugh from the raven-haired girl.

"Hehe... I don't think you're the only one... I do it sometimes too..." The young baker massaged her neck again, the memory replaying in her mind. "Although... Maybe I should have tried harder..."

"For Nathalie, right? Should I have done my part and looked after her?" The heiress assumed, to which the girl with pigtails shook her head.

"I thought... I'd lost you..." The dim light from behind darkened her expression. "When that cloth monster caught you in the pharmacy, you... You went limp, you lost consciousness completely from one second to the next while that thing wrapped around you... We fought, we struggled, it took a very long dip in the river with you inside..." She clasped her hands together, staring at the floor. "When I was able to cut it, when I freed you, I was afraid it would be too late. You were cold, wet, bruised, and motionless... I still remember the calm that came over me when I felt your pulse... When I could hear your heart beating. I guess it was as if that thing put you in a state of stasis..."

"But... Why the frear? Your Lucky Charm fixed everything. With the number of akumas attacking daily, you must have already brought several people who went to the other side..." A troubling realization crossed the blonde's mind. "You... You've already realized that, right?"

"I'd rather not think about it... People shouldn't have to die more than once..." The raven-haired girl said, sitting further back so she could pull her legs up and hug them to her chest. "After almost losing you, and after coming back to not find Nathalie at home, well, I knew I had to change my tactics if I wanted to protect you. If I couldn't be Ladybug freely because I was keeping the secret, then..."

"Then you'd be another hero..." Chloe finished the sentence for her, to which Marinette nodded in agreement. "That's why the whole charade about Ladybug giving us the Miraculous to defend ourselves..."

"A half-truth. Yes, Ladybug decided it, and yes, it was so we could take care of ourselves. It was never a test or anything like that, just an attempt to protect the last thing I cared about..."

"That... Actually sounds like a good plan, one of Ladybug's good plans, or well, you..." The heiress conceded.

"Yes, but we saw how it ended..." Marinette said, unable to forget the fire.

"All because I started whining instead of putting that stupid comb on..."

"Chloe, please... Don't blame yourself for that. Believe it or not, I understand better than you think what you said before everything got out of hand..." Our protagonist assured her, placing a hand on the blonde's shoulder.

"You... You do? Really?" Chloe turned to look at her, neither moving her hand away nor squirming under the touch.

"Really." The girl reached for one of her earrings, caressing it with the tips of two fingers. "Ever since Hawk Moth appeared, everything has been turned upside down, and thanks to these earrings, I'm at the center of it all. I'm the only one who can repair the damage and purify the akumas, so I have to be ready all time, ready to jump in and save the day... Likewise, I'm the main target, along with Chat, so if I lose, the world ends... I have to protect Paris and at the same time continue with my daily life so as not to arouse suspicion, if I don't want a madman to show up at my house in the middle of the night. I have to lie and deceive, even though I hate lies... Even though I hate deceiving my parents..."

The heiress listened carefully, without saying a word, attentive.

"I love Tikki, and I know that thanks to the Miraculous, I can help in ways I previously thought impossible, that with them, I can protect my city and make a difference like no other... But..." Marinette hugged her legs again. "But I'd be lying if I said I didn't feel them like a burden sometimes... It's not that I hate them or resent them... It's just that... Sometimes I feel like I'm not cut out for this, that both I and the world would be better off if I'd never stumbled upon all this magic... That I'd live more peacefully without the responsibility..."

Chloe sighed, crossing her arms over her chest in thought, poking her own finger at her shoulder as she pondered.

"So... why don't you just quit?"

"What?" The question surprised the girl with pigtails.

"I said why don't you quit? I mean, it's obvious this is a lot, even for you, and that failing weighs heavily on you... If everything that happened yesterday at your grandfather's house was real, then genuinely being a hero is too much for you... So why don't you just let someone else handle it?" The girl with the ponytail said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"Chloe, I can't do that. I can't quit and leave the world like this." The raven-haired girl let go of her legs and knelt on the bed, looking directly at her companion. She was genuinely caught off guard by the heiress's proposal.

"Obviously, silly, I mean when humanity returns." The blonde stood up, moving her hands in unison from side to side to emphasize her point. "You save the day, you find a new Ladybug, and you live a long life without saving the world making you go gray before you're twenty. No more lies. No more schemes. No more hating being Marinette Dupain-Cheng. Simple as that," she said proudly, placing her hands on the sides of her hips.

"It's not that simple. I can't just quit a job like that." The blue-eyed girl pointed out, sitting up straight in bed.

"Of course you can! Marinette, you don't like having to lie to protect your identity when it's the most basic thing a superhero should do. You get so worked up over something as simple as trespassing on private property or damaging street furniture to save the day when it's what you're supposed to do. You take responsibility for your plans going awry when there are other stupid girls who deserve that blame..."

"Chloe, I've already told you, the bakery wasn't your fault." she interrupted, seeing that her friend still believed herself responsible for the tragedy.

"Well, neither are you!" she responded forcefully. "You weren't alone, you didn't know what or how many people you were up against, you had to juggle to protect your identity! Yet you managed to protect me, Louis, and even prevent them from taking the Miraculous... In the end, you did your duty... and yet the one who ended up devastated, crying for hours on my shoulder, was you... And if I hadn't confronted you at that moment, you would have sucked it up and pretended everything was fine, right? Just so you could keep looking out for us all?" Her gaze was challenging, but filled with compassion for her.

The baker couldn't say anything; her friend knew her well. Chloe bent down and cupped her cheek with her hand, this time initiating contact. It was gentle, soft.

"Girls like you, with such big hearts, shouldn't have to go through these hardships... You don't deserve this, to be punished like that... To punish yourself like that... To have to be afraid of being yourself for the sake of the world..." She stated.

"Chloe..." Marinette looked at the floor, at the carpet, thinking for a moment, then took the blonde's wrist. "Maybe you have a point, but I can't give up, no matter how much it eats at me inside, I can't. I can't do it if I know I decided to do nothing, even though I had the power to do something. I couldn't live peacefully knowing what was at stake and that I refused to do anything."

"But you wouldn't be able to do anything anymore. Without earrings, there's no power, without power, there's nothing you can do. Just... Find someone trustworthy, capable... I don't know, Alya or Miss Bustier... No doubt either of them would do it well..." She suggested, to which the girl with pigtails shook her head, withdrawing her hand.

"Chloe, even if I stopped being Ladybug, I'd still be the guardian, I'd still be involved, and I can't take a passive role and just send people to the slaughterhouse instead of going myself..."

"Well, quit that too! Come on, Mari, it's not that difficult." The heiress remarked as she stiffened, looking annoyed at how obtuse our heroine was being.

"I can't do that either!"

"Okay, this time you have to be doing it on purpose, you want to make me angry." The blonde accused, to which the girl in the black vest shook her head again.

"No, it's just that this time I literally can't give up being the guardian..." She said, standing up.

"Then why Mari? Why can't you do something so easy for your own good? It's good to be selfish sometimes, like these times!"

"Because if I give up being the guardian... Then I won't be me anymore..."

"You and your morality." The heiress rolled her eyes, resigned.

"No, is not because of that... Chloe... I'll forget everything if I do it..." She confessed looking away.

"What?" Chloe blinked a few times, confused. "What do you mean by that?"

"Remember when the Miraculous box changed shape after the Miracle Queen incident? After we defeated you and before Hawk Moth left..."

"I wish I could forget about that... Ugh, okay, I remember. I'm not even sure what changed. I could still take Miraculous out of it without any problem."

"That's because what changed wasn't the box, it was the guardian. My master, the one who chose me as Ladybug, Fu, he named me the new guardian that time, and by doing that, by... Magic, I guess... He lost all his memorys." The raven-haired girl explained.

"Wait, all of them, as in... All all?"

"All all." Melancholy washed over her. "So Hawk Moth no longer had the guardian hostage, just an old man who didn't even know his own name, who no longer had any valuable information or anything the bad guys could use... There was no difference between having him or some random guy off the street..."

"You mean...?"

"Yes."

"Your name? Mine? Adrien's?"

"Yes..."

"Will you just forget who you are? Your enemies? Your friends? Your school years? You will have to go back to kindergarten!" Chloe couldn't believe it.

"I know... And I'd also forget the people I love..." Marinette sat back down on the bed. "What hurts the most is that if I give up being a Guardian, then I'll just be lying without knowing it... I'd live the rest of my life perpetuating someone else's excuse for why I lost my memory, unable to tell my parents that I was once Ladybug... Not only would I lose myself, but I'd be trapped being the thing I despise most without knowing it..." The pain was palpable in her voice.

"How... Horrible..." The blonde was speechless.

"I know... Now do you understand why I can't? Not only because of who I am, I simply couldn't continue being me if I did..." The girl with pigtails declared.

Silence reigned in the room as the heiress processed what she'd just discovered, the light beginning to flicker. 'Maybe I should have brought a replacement... It'll be very dark soon...' she thought, noticing the lantern starting to go out due to its low battery. Then the blonde found a few words to say.

"What a son of a bitch..."

"Huh?" Chloe's cursing caught her off guard, her eyes widening in her direction.

"What's that old bastard's problem?! Aren't hero teachers supposed to be good people? There's no good in condemning a little girl like that!" The heiress was very, very upset.

"Chloe, don't talk about him like that. I'm sure he didn't mean to harm anyone..." Marinette jumped to her old friend's defense, failing miserably.

"No no no, that's your excuse. You're 15, you make mistakes. That senile old bitch is an old man. Aren't old mentora supposed to be wise? There's no wisdom in putting all that responsibility on you! It doesn't make any fucking sense!" The blonde complained.

"Chloe, Fu went through a lot. He did the best he could..." The baker stood up, speaking to her face to face.

"Mari, he destroyed your life! That old idiot found the sweetest, kindest, and gentlest girl in all of Paris, the closest thing we have to a saint, and decided to ruin you life forever! How can you defend him like that?!"

"Because I know he didn't mean any harm, that he genuinely didn't wish me any pain... I know he lived a long life, and that he made many mistakes, and that he suffered for it the same way I do... We're people Chloe, and I simply can't hate him for it..." The raven-haired girl said, trying to calm the situation, although slightly blushing at her companion's description of her.

"But it doesn't make sense. What did you do to make him screw you over like this? Why would the universe punish you with all this?" There was genuine doubt and concern in the sapphire eyes of the Princess of Paris.

"I don't know..." Marinette thought, trying to find an answer, but instead a question arose, a doubt she'd had since kindergarten, since she met the girl in front of her. "Chloe... Since you brought this up... I want to, well... ask you something..."

"Don't change the subject just to defend that old man..."

"No, no, nothing like that, and it's the same topic... It's just... Why did you harass me all these years?" The blonde reacted as if a bucket of cold water had been thrown over her, tensing suddenly.

To both of their surprises, Chloe didn't back down or jump on the defensive, and while she was nervous, neither did Marinette. It was something that would inevitably come out if they started talking like this, if they started settling scores and telling the truth. The heiress sighed and sat down on the bed, somewhat embarrassed, she seemed to feel guilty about the memory. After a few minutes, she spoke.

"Because you were a dumb little girl..." She spat out. "Such a dumb, clumsy, messy, loud, needy, whiny little girl..."

"Hey... That's mean..." The girl with pigtails quickly regretted asking.

"You were everything that was wrong... But you were also the most beautiful girl I've ever known, the happiest, the most full of life..." The blonde's tone was laced with both melancholy and regret. "You had the talent I could only dream of, you had the most sincere and unscrupulous friends... And you had love... The love of... You know..." Chloe didn't want to say it out loud.

"The love of... my parents...? A mother's love...?" She guessed sadly, to which the ponytailed girl nodded bitterly.

"You were everything I was told that is wrong... Everything I couldn't allow myself to be, and yet you were the one who had everything I longed for with all my heart... I was jealous, and like the damaged bitch I am, I took it out on you, even though you weren't to blame for my problems..." She admitted with shame. "You had no idea why I did that, and I just thought it didn't matter if I made you cry, because your mom would be there to shower you with affection, no matter how loud you were she would love you just the same... Although, to put it out loud, it's no wonder I never got the same treatment..."

"Chloe..." Marinette sat down next to her, placing a hand on her back, which the heiress didn't flinch or pull away from.

"I was a horrible person... There's no doubt about it. I hurt you for no reason... But I don't want to be that girl anymore, I don't want to be that broken girl who takes her anger out on the world, on you. But not now, not now that I know you... I'm so sorry... That's why I thought you hated me, that's why it bothers me so much to see how that old man condemned you to all this." She gestured to the space in general, referring to they entire situation. "And yet you're just defending him... You didn't do anything to hurt me, not intentionally, you don't deserve what I or that Fu hag put you through... Someone as good as you doesn't deserve to suffer..." She declared, looking at the floor, her words echoing in our protagonist's head.

Marinette also lowered her head, staring at the carpet in the same position as her companion. She clasped her hands in her lap and twiddled her thumbs, thinking. It was finally over. Her former bully had apologized, to the point that now she wanted to defend her. It was something that belonged to the realm of imagination until two weeks ago, especially coming from Chloe Bourgeois. It even seemed like she no longer resented her for being Ladybug, but there was something that worried her. 'You didn't do anything to hurt me...' the phrase echoed in her mind. 'But... That's a lie...' she thought, and seeing that they hadn't finished clarifying everything yet, she spoke.

"I... I'm not that good..." She confessed.

"You do know that modesty counts as lying?" The heiress said without thinking. "Sorry, it slipped out..."

"No, it's okay, you don't have to apologize... And no, it's not out of modesty." She stated as she turned to face the blonde. "Chloe, what you said before, before I yelled at you... You were right. I genuinely treated you differently than the rest... My resentment affected my judgment, my attempt to make a difference..."

"Mari, I've been bothering you nonstop ever since we met. If I were you, I would have ripped the comb out of my hair the minute I saw my bully with a Miraculous..." The ponytailed girl assured her, leaning back and resting her hands on the mattress as she stared at the ceiling. "Probably along with one or more strands of hair..."

"But thats because you're you. I'm not like that, and yet I was flexible with the rules and looked for shortcuts when it came to my friends... While being very strict with you..."

"Well, it was about time you were a little selfish." Chloe said as she turned to bring her nails closer to the lamp. She couldn't see them properly in the dim light that was getting dimmer and dimmer. "Believe me, if it was up to me, Sabrina would get away with murder if she want..."

"Still, I shouldn't do that, and neither should you..." Marinette thought, reviewing the times she had been unfair with her powers and position to prove her point. "I once used a Lucky Charm to prevent you from dancing with Adrien..."

"It's that stupid old man you call a teacher's fault, who sent him to choose a hormonal teenager..." The blonde clicked her tongue as she inspected her nails.

"Well... What about when... Uh..." Then the memory hit her, making her scratch her neck in embarrassment. "Oh... Oh, right..."

"Are you finally admitting I'm right? Mari, you don't have to justify why I was mean to you, by no means should you... Just because you're so good doesn't mean you should make excuses for those who walk all over you. Some people are just like that... I was like that..." Chloe affirmed, sitting up to face her.

"No, it's not that..." She sighed before continuing. "Hawk Moth also knew Kagami's identity, and I still sought her out to keep her from kissing Adrien..."

The heiress's eyes widened.

"She was Ryuko..." Marinette confessed.

"What the fuck, Dupain-Cheng?!" The princess screamed excitedly, almost standing up on the bed. The sudden movement knocked over the camp lantern.

"I know..."

"What the hell is wrong with you?!"

"I know. The worst part is that my obsession with Adrien made me careless, and that allowed Fu to be captured. If only-"

"No, no, no! Stop!" The blonde ordered, grabbing her by the shoulders. "Stop talking!"

"Chloe, I just want to explain," the light-blue eyed girl said.

"And I don't want to listen! Can't you see that I don't want to be mad at you anymore?!" She shook her.

"Huh?"

"Nothing of 'Huh?' Dupain-Cheng! First I thought you hated me, then that it was all a lie and you used me, and now I saw that I was a fool! That you're still just an innocent girl with a lot of problems that she doesn't deserve. Why do you want me to go back to scuare two?!" The girl in the yellow coat demanded answers.

"I don't want you to hate me again, but I'm not innocent. That Marinette isn't me, not completely," the raven-haired girl asserted.

"You're good, you're clumsy, and you're Ladybug! What else is there to know?" The heiress listed things with her hands again.

"That I'm a normal girl! Not innocent, not a saint, not a heroine! I'm a normal girl, which means I'm just a person... A person just like you or Fu." She declared firmly, catching the blonde's attention. "That means I can make mistakes, but I can also be mean on purpose and hurt people... That I consciously decided to do the wrong thing, and I can't just sweep it under the rug..."

"Why not? Why is it so important to you that I know? Why couldn't you just leave it like that?" Chloe asked, confused. "I don't have to know everything. Hell, just because I knew you're Ladybug made us end up like this when I was so happy..." She said, settling into bed. She was sitting with her feet to the sides, almost kneeling.

"And that's what I want too, Chloe, and that's why I don't want what happened at the Trocadéro to happen again. But I won't do it by lying, but by telling you the truth... I told you that at the beginning, didn't I?" Marinette mimicked her position before proceeding to cup her face with both hands. "I want you to know who I really am, so you could be able to see me and be sure of what you see, to be able to see the real Marinette... Even though I'm someone who's done a lot of things I regret..."

"Ha, you say that like you're not talking to me..." The heiress giggled along with a tear, which the baker wiped away with her thumb.

"I want you to be able to trust me again, I want to be able to stay by your side, to watch you blossom and continue changing into the wonderful, imperfect, and complicated person you are... And... Maybe... Maybe do it too... After all, I too have to apologize for my wrongdoings... For what I did to you and others... And for that, I ask for your forgiveness, Chloe..."

There was a minute of silence, where the blonde took her partner's wrist, thinking with her eyes closed before sighing.

"You're ridiculous, utterly ridiculous... there's no need to apologize or change, not with me... But... Thank... Really... And I forgive you, and I hope you can forgive me too." The heiress said with a shy smile.

"That's who I am, and don't worry, I forgave you a long time ago..." Marinette replied, pulling her partner into a strong and necessary hug.

Chloe returned the hug and deepened it, holding the girl with the magic earrings with the same force one would embrace a loved one who had been away for years, as if she hadn't hugged her the morning before. The dim light emanating from the lamp at the other end of the king-sized bed began to flicker longer, taking longer to return each time. At any moment now, they would be completely dark until the next morning. Still, neither of them cared; they just stood there, enjoying the hug, and later, the sight when they separated. They were both there, sitting across from each other, gazing at each other as they could, happy to be in each other's presence.

"So... Chloe..." the girl began, her left index finger playing with one of her pigtails as she looked away.

"Yes, Mari?" The blonde held her stomach with her forearm, she seemed to have something on her mind, something that made her nervous.

"So... Are we okay now? Me being Ladybug, I mean, isn't that a problem anymore?" She asked tentatively.

"Yeah... I'd say we're okay now..." The heiress conceded, reaching out to take the heroine's hand, stroking her knuckles with her thumb. "I'll probably seek special treatment the next time an akuma attacks... Maybe get carried bridal mode wile going to a safe place... That safe place also need to be a nice place..." She said, half-jokingly, half-seriously.

"I wouldn't expect anything less..." She admitted, amused. "Although, you know, you could also have a nice piece of magical jewelry..." Marinette not-so-subtly dropped the thought, feigning innocence as she scratched her cheek with a finger.

"Hmm... I'll think about it... Looks like I'll be free, since apparently the trip to Milan is canceled..." She commented, eliciting a nervous laugh from the raven-haired girl. "Hey, Mari..."

"Yes?"

"I also have something I want to confirm..." A blushing Chloe said.

"Sure, shoot-" At that moment, the flashlight flickered for the last time; it had finally gone out.

The baker began to calculate. When she entered the room, it was still some evening light, yet the curtains didn't let a single glimmer into the room. Considering how long they'd been arguing, it was probably nighttime, so even if they opened the curtains, it would still be pitch black.

"Oh... Don't worry, I think I brought another flashlight... Maybe I left it in the livinroom..."

"Mari, wait." Chloe stopped her. Thanks to the darkness, she could tell how much arguing had taken its toll on her voice, tired from so much talking. "That's fine... Actually... It's better this way..."

"Ah, well..." Marinette said, noticing how her senses were sharpening as her eyes struggled to adjust to the darkness. She felt her friend's hand tremble. "Chloe... What's wrong?"

"I... Well... The thing is..." It was easy to notice how her breathing quickened slightly, just as her weight on the bed shifted slightly as the blonde leaned closer. "I wanted... I wanted to know something, since you promised to tell the truth..."

"Of course, ask me." Our protagonist said with her usual diligence, but she could feel the grip on her hand tightening and the heiress's other hand now resting on her forearm, gently caressing it.

"Everything else... What happened in between... What didn't have to do with Ladybug... That... Was it real?" The blonde was waiting for the answer.

"Of course it was... Every word I said and every action I took as a result..." She affirmed, squeezing her hand to reinforce her point. Slowly, she could notice her silhouette in the darkness, her figure, blurry but recognizable, her brain filling in the missing details.

"That... Does that include the bridge?" She asked directly, and our heroine's heart skipped a beat.

At that moment, she feel her face heat and her imagination was flooded with images of the girl in front of her, reliving the millions of stolen glances and accidental contemplations that had taken place over the past two weeks to form her image in the darkness, our heroine gulped loudly.

"Yes..." She answered after gathering his courage. "Especially the bridge..."

"Good..." Without warning, she felt the hand on her forearm rise to her cheek, bringing her close, so close that their lips touched.

They kissed.

Chloe had kissed her.

Chloe had kissed her on the lips.

It was for a second, something quick like a flash, careful, and she might even say it was a bit shy, but it sent a shock through her body. A pleasant electricity that left a tingling sensation at the point of contact. She opened her mouth in surprise, letting out a startled sigh when the blonde stepped back, she could taste the trace of her lipstick on the edge of her lips.

"Sorry... It was an impulse... I shouldn't have... But I've been wanting to do that for so long... I'm sorry..." She jumped to apologize.

Chloe Bourgeois, the Chloe Bourgeois, the girl that if wanted something would just take it, the girl who didn't know the meaning of asking for forgiveness or permission, was apologizing. Apologizing for kissing her. She wanted to kiss her, longed to kiss her, Marinette Dupain-Cheng of all people. She only stole a quick kiss, and yet she asked for forgiveness. All of this ran through the mind of the girl with the magic earrings. All of it made her heart beat faster in her ears.

She thought about what to say, a billion words crowding her brain, some in languages she couldn't pronounce well and that the heiress wouldn't understand either. So many emotions, so many feelings, so much to say, and she simply couldn't express what she was feeling at that moment, not with words. Then, the answer, or rather the impulse, came to her suddenly.

"Mari, please... say som-" This time it was Marinette who kissed her without warning.

It was considerably longer, not just an instant, no just a flash. It was slow, perhaps a bit careless, needy, a second kiss very much in her style, very much in the Dupain-Cheng style. That was something that made her proud and embarrassed in equal measure: that it felt natural, that it felt like her. She couldn't help but wonder if Chloe had liked it too, if she'd done it right. Luckily, if the first shock fried her brain, the second settled her thoughts, so when they parted their lips, she was able to whisper.

"Me too... I wanted to do that too..." Marinette said, hugging the heiress by the shoulders. She hadn't realized she'd pushed her down onto the mattress by accident. "Sorry..."

"You're dense..." The blonde complained before, somehow, surprising the baker with another kiss.

It was longer than the first and second combined, more passionate than the previous ones. And it was followed by another, and another, and another.

From that moment on, they stopped talking, the words had done their job. Their voices had released all the negativity, all the doubts and fears, becoming more sincere until they were almost hoarse. Now all that remained was what they felt in their hearts, the emotions they had cultivated over the past few days, which they now knew were mutual. The love born in adversity could finally blossom. At first, they were clumsy and inexperienced, but with each kiss, they grew more confident, seeing that they both liked it, that they were comfortable.

The kisses became longer and more passionate, no longer limited to the edges of their mouths. The embraces grew warmer and softer, fitting perfectly into each other, drawing closer as they shared their breath. They stayed close, using they touch to guide each other in the darkness, their hands becoming more adventurous as time passed and their trust deepened.

A desolate world, a Paris shrouded in darkness and silence, was the setting for something that was clearly supposed to be impossible. But miraculous things could happen, even in the most difficult times. Two weeks ago, they wouldn't have tolerated each other's presence, they wouldn't have been able to coexist; anyone would have thought that if they were locked in a room together, they would kill each other. But now? Now they knew each other, now they understood each other, now they love each other, and now, they were together.