Bidding her parents goodnight, Marinette headed up the stairs to her room. Once there, she closed the door before popping open her purse. Tikki flitted up and out immediately, taking in her limited freedom with little complaint and an anxious sort of buzzing. Marinette watched her for a moment, until the fairy came to float before her, smiling as she did.
"I have to ask you about something," Marinette said after a moment, toeing off her shoes before she took a seat in her rolling chair. Tikki trailed her the whole way, before settling on her desk and looking up expectantly. "It's about tonight, when I transformed. Something weird happened."
This announcement didn't seem to surprise Tikki in the least. She simply blinked up at her ward with unlimited patience—despite the fact that she had to know what Marinette was about to say.
"The thing is," Marinette went on, "I had two yoyos instead of one."
Tikki's little smile lit up her face. "This is good!"
"It-it is?" Marinette fiddled with her fingers in her lap.
"Of course!" Tikki did a flip in the air before settling back down on the desk. "This is progress, don't you see?"
"No..."
"It's like Master Fu said," she went on. "When you and Chat Noir work together, you become stronger than when you're apart." An explanation that only caused Marinette's eyebrows to scrunch closer together. "Chat Noir and Ladybug are a team. You can only grow and become stronger together. It must be that, since you two have revealed yourselves to one another, more of your Ladybug powers have manifested."
"More?!" Marinette squawked. "I have more powers?"
"Certainly!"
"You never said anything about that!" She couldn't help sounding somewhat accusing. After all, there were a lot of things she felt she should have known that Tikki hadn't told her. Like about how closely related she and Chat's powers actually were.
"Well, no, I didn't," Tikki agreed, no shame. "If I told you everything from the start, there'd be nothing for you to learn on your own. The value of knowledge is only as great as the learning that occurred while in pursuit of it."
Marinette groaned. "So this yoyo is the real deal? I can use it and it's safe?"
"Yup!"
"Are there any other abilities I have that you should be telling me about?"
"Mmm, in the future, you may develop them, but it's not my place to say anything more."
"Then whose place is it?" Marinette didn't normally get irritated with Tikki, but she could feel the beginnings of annoyance steaming up through her person. Of course, she'd always known that Tikki had to have a much greater history and knowledge base than she did—the kwami was thousands of years old—but things like other abilities seemed like facts she ought to know.
"Marinette." Tikki used her scolding voice. "Being Ladybug isn't as easy as just knowing and learning about your powers. You have to learn about yourself too. Ladybug's abilities manifest with yours and Chat's personal growth. That's not something I can dictate. And I would never rob you of that experience by giving away too much."
"But what if these other powers could help with the akuma or in finding Hawkmoth?"
"Then better you didn't know about them," Tikki replied simply. "You'd just be focused on getting those powers, instead of the journey that takes you there." She zoomed up and placed a single little mitt against Marinette's cheek. "I know it's hard to understand now, but you'll see in the future. Until then, just focus on the abilities you do have, and on getting to know Adrien. Together, the both of you can take on anything."
