Undiscovered Melody |COMPLETED|

Chapter 17

A few minutes later they walked into the bakery together.  Marinette's mom looked up from loading some pastries into the bakery case, surprised to see her daughter who she thought was still asleep in her bed instead coming in the door.

"Marinette?" asked her mom.  "Where have you been?  And without letting me know?"  She frowned at Marinette and looked between Marinette and Luka.

"It's my fault," said Luka.  "I had heard that the weather was perfect for a beautiful sunrise and I invited Marinette to watch it with me at the park."

"No, it's my fault," said Marinette. "I talked about it with Luka last night but I forgot to ask you about it and then in my excitement this morning I forgot that I hadn't asked you.  I'm sorry."

Sabine searched the faces of the two teenagers, feeling that something was a bit off about what they said, but she couldn't quite figure it out.  "Hmm.  Well, next time please let me know that you are going out, okay Marinette?  Have you eaten?" she asked them.

They shook their heads and Sabine got out a plate and put a variety of pastries on it and then held it out to her daughter.  "You better hurry and eat so you won't be late to school," she said.

Marinette walked over to her mom and gave her a kiss on the cheek before accepting the plate and saying "Thanks, Mom!".  She then headed toward the stairs.  As Luka passed Sabine he added his thanks and then followed Marinette upstairs.  They stopped in the kitchen to grab some juice and then headed up to Marinette's room.  Marinette continued to lead him up to the rooftop and got him settled at the table.

"I'm just going to change so I'm ready for school.  I'll be right back," said Marinette and she went down through the hatch in the rooftop.

Luka took a bite of a croissant and then enjoyed the cool morning air and the quiet.  In the distance he thought he saw Cat Noir leaping across the rooftops, making him wonder whether there was something Marinette had missed doing today when she was meeting with him instead.  He'd mention it to her when she came back up.

As soon as that thought crossed his mind, a figure landed next to him and swiped a croissant off the plate.

"Luka.  I thought that was you.  What are you doing at Marinette's so early this morning?" asked Cat Noir as he took a bite of his stolen pastry.  "You know, these really are the best croissants in Paris!"  He walked over to the railing and leaned back as he enjoyed his breakfast.

"Do you often stop by Marinette's in the morning or is this some kind of special occasion?" asked Luka ignoring Cat Noir's question.  He began to wonder whether Cat Noir was interested in Marinette and suddenly got the feeling that there was something familiar about him.  Realizing Ladybug's secret identity had made him curious as to who was hiding behind Cat Noir's mask.  Did he know him, too?

"Nah, I just happened to see you and thought I'd say 'hi'.  And I needed a bit of freedom this morning.  There's nothing quite like a run across the rooftops in the morning to give you that feeling that no one can control you.  But, then I got hungry.  This definitely hit the spot," said Cat Noir as he popped the last bite of croissant into his mouth and wiped the crumbs off his gloves.

"Luka, I hoped you saved some—" Marinette was saying as she was climbing up onto the rooftop but she came to a stop when she saw Cat Noir at the railing.

"Cat Noir!  What are you doing here?  Has something happened?  Don't tell me someone's been akumatized at my house again!" said Marinette, doing a quick survey of the surrounding area and thinking about how she could leave to transform herself.

"No, don't worry, Marinette.  Nothing's happening," said Cat Noir, giving her a grin.

"Oh.  Well, then why are you here?" she asked.