Undiscovered Melody |COMPLETED|

Chapter 16

Very early the next morning, Luka got a message from Marinette asking if they could meet. He had hoped she hadn't been up all night worrying about him knowing that she was Ladybug. He quickly got dressed in the dark so he wouldn't wake up Juleka, wrote a note to his mom saying he left early for school and posted it on the refrigerator, and then headed to meet Marinette.

The city was still dark and quiet as Luka made his way to the park where she asked to meet him. As he approached the park, he scanned the area and could just make out her shape sitting in the carousel's ladybug. He climbed on the carousel and sat next to her. It was so dark that he couldn't see her face, so he wasn't sure what she was feeling. He waited patiently for her to tell him what was on her mind.

"How did you know?" Marinette asked him quietly. "Because I can't really deny it after yesterday, can I?"

Luka had been thinking about what to say to her on the way over as he had been expecting her question. He reached out and found her hand and gave it a squeeze, thankful that she didn't pull away from him.

"It was a lot of little things, really, but essentially it's because you are so much like her," he said.

Luka heard Marinette give a small snort of disbelief. "That can't possibly be true! There is not a single person on the planet that thinks I'm anything like her. Actually, people are always telling me how I couldn't be her because I'm so clumsy," said Marinette.

"You're wrong. I've always thought you were incredibly brave and smart and strong and you care so much for other people, sometimes too much. Even before I knew, I thought you were doing too much, trying to help too many people. You were racing around, coming late to things, leaving in the middle, and I worried about you. It didn't seem like you were taking enough care of yourself- maybe giving too much of yourself to others. And now that I know what you were doing, I am even more amazed of what you do for everyone, whether they know you are doing it or not. You are really selfless," he said.

Marinette was thankful for the darkness so Luka couldn't see how pink her cheeks must be getting from all of his praise. "That doesn't really explain how you guessed what I was hiding," she said. "Did I let it slip somehow? Do you think anyone else knows? Because if they do, I don't think I will be allowed to be Ladybug anymore," she said sadly.

"I know this will sound weird, but it was the music that I hear around people that helped me to really put it all together. I kept hearing this mysterious melody when I saw Ladybug and then later when I saw you. Putting it together with everything I know about you- the real you that you don't always show everyone else- it just came to me as I saw Ladybug rescuing the man that fell off the bridge the other day," he said.

"So . . . you haven't known for long then? And you don't like her more than me? Find her more . . ." She stopped uncertain of what she wanted to say.

"Marinette, there aren't two of you," he said with a smile in his voice. "You are her. She is you. I've seen you act like a superhero even when you didn't have your powers. It is who you are whether you have a Miraculous or not. I can see it clearly. I think I see you clearly. I'm pretty sure no one else knows, but we know that most people aren't as observant as I am. That's why you gave me the Snake Miraculous, isn't it? Well, at least that's why you gave it to me after you gave it to your crush first who then realized that he wasn't really the observant type after he failed to save you or defeat Desperada. But, anyway . . ." He hoped she understood that he was mostly joking about it to try to cheer her up.

"Oh, right. That," she said and gave a self deprecating laugh. "I don't know what Adrien experienced when he used that Miraculous but it sounded like it had been a disaster, though it was really my fault. I made a bad mistake when I chose him for all of the wrong reasons," admitted Marinette.

"Cat Noir, you, and I fixed everything, so it was okay. Everyone makes mistakes," he said. "I hate to even ask this but . . . will you get in trouble since I know?"

"I think I would. I might even have to give back my Miraculous," she said and Luka could see her touch her right earring, making him wonder whether she was wearing the Miraculous now. He'd never noticed anything special about her earrings before. "But, I've . . . I've been thinking that maybe I shouldn't let anyone know that you know. Of course my kwami knows that you know and she promised not to tell if it's only you who knows my identity. We trust you. It's still a risk, but we agreed it's only a small risk if it's just you. That's why it's so important to know whether anyone else knows as the more people involved, the more risk to my family and friends from Hawk Moth if my real identity is exposed."

"I won't let anyone know your secret. I won't even ask you the many questions about Miraculouses and kwamis that are currently in my mind. I will try to pretend that I don't know anything super special about you besides what anyone else would see is everyday special about you if they were paying attention," said Luka, his heart feeling a bit lighter when he heard Marinette give a small laugh at what he said.

"And maybe something good could come out of me knowing. Maybe I could help you? Give you an alibi of sorts sometimes? But I will do whatever you need me to do to keep you safe," he said.

Marinette leaned over and gently turned his head toward her so she could kiss him. She then hugged him while she said "Thank you. I will think about what we've talked about and let you know what I've decided. I appreciate that you see the real me and that I have someone to talk to about things. Sometimes everything I'm dealing with can be overwhelming and I don't have anyone besides my kwami to talk to about it. She's wonderful, but she can only help me so much."  She sat back and then noticed the sun starting to rise. "I need to get ready for school. You probably do, too."

"Actually, I got ready before coming here and left my mom a note that I was leaving early for school, so I don't need to go back home. Want to have breakfast together?" asked Luka.

"Yes, that would be nice. Let's head back to my house. I might have to come up with some kind of excuse if my parents see us, though. Any ideas?" she said.

Luka climbed out of the ladybug car and then offered Marinette his hand to help her out.  "I do have an idea," he said.