A Snap in Time

Chapter 8 (Marinette)

Marinette dropped her transformation behind Luka and looked straight ahead at his broad shoulders. He'd entered his room first, his whole body radiating with something other than love. The tension evident in his shoulders.

She watched him walk over to his guitar and pick it up before collapsing cross legged on his bed and closing his eyes. He began to pluck away at the strings in an unfamiliar melody. One that definitely wasn't what he'd play to represent her.

"Are you going to speak to me or just sit there strumming away?" Marinette crossed her arms over her chest and looked to the side of Luka's room. Very similar to her own, he had a display of photographs on a corkboard. Them, their friends, their hero poses. She felt intrusive staring at them, as though she had no right to look, and maybe after today she no longer had a right to know his inside feelings.

"Your melody's changed. I don't know if I understand it anymore."

"Luka, there's more to it than that. Tell me the truth! What's wrong? Why have you suddenly turned cold?"

Luka opened his eyes and stopped playing. She felt scrutinised by his stare, suddenly fearful for what he might say. She didn't want to argue with him, they'd been through so much together, and still have so much to do as a partnership. Violette Papillon was still out there. This was one of the reasons Marinette originally didn't want to get into a relationship, especially with her partner. There were too many variations unaccounted for, too many possibilities for disaster, too many reasons that if they split Paris would be doomed. Luka had always made her feel special, he was a kind and considerate guy, and knowing how well they worked together it made sense to give him a chance. To give them a try. There was no one else she was willing to try and give her heart to.

"That first day we made an agreement, Marinette, we agreed I would take the lead. That you wouldn't have to feel the pressure of doing everything right. If anything was to happen I was the fall guy," Luka said.

Marinette remembered it like it was yesterday. She'd panicked. She'd been the reason Ivan was akumatised again, and even worse, she hadn't caught the Akuma, causing it to spread around Paris like a virus, multiplying again and again. She broke down and told Viperion she wasn't right for the job, but he'd spoken sense to her. He'd hold her the truth, that it was too late to turn back. He said he'd take the front and she'd cover from the back. He told her he'd always make sure she wasn't on her own, that she wouldn't have to feel the pressure of being a superhero. But after today, this felt wrong. She needed to do more.

"So you think I should just stand in the background and not do anything?" She could feel her blood boiling as she pointed to herself before pointing out of the window. "Did you not see what I did out there? Did you not see how we can do this quickly and safely, I just need to believe in my lucky charm."

"You said yourself you're not strong enough to do this, I promised I would take on the plans so you didn't have to. So that you don't have to worry about messing it up."

"So you think I'm going to mess it up then?" Marinette looked at Luka wondering how they'd got to this place. Never had they argued. He was always so kind and so calm about things but at the moment, they just didn't feel right.

"Who is the cat?" Luka said abruptly.

"You've got to be kidding me," she threw her hands in the air and moved towards the door. "You know that I have no idea who that guy is or what he wants." She opened the bedroom door ready to step outside and make her way home, stopping to eye her 'boyfriend' one last time. "When you grow up, I'll be ready to speak, but for now I need a break."

Luka bound off his bed and quickly made it towards Marinette, capturing her hand before she could leave his room.

"I'm sorry, Marinette, I didn't mean it like that. Please, give me one more chance. Please."

She looked down towards Luka's hand. She had two options. She could walk out here boyfriendless, maybe partnerless and risk the whole of Paris' safety, or she could give this guy, who she'd trusted her life with for the past year, another chance. She could give Luka a second chance.

"Ok," she said, her voice a little smaller than it had been previously.

"Thank you," he engulfed her in a hug, but Marinette wasn't sure whether she wanted to respond in favour. She was still curious about that guy who gave her the answer to the puzzle, the eyes that shone into her soul and made her feel invincible, like she mattered, like she could defeat the world.

She was giving Luka a second chance, but that didn't mean she was going to ignore this feeling she had about Chat Noir. When she met the green eyes of the blonde boy in the park she was quite sure she'd found his civilian identity. The fleeting look wasn't enough to pinpoint every feature, but there was something there. A warmth in her stomach.

"Promise me it'll be you and me to the end," Luka whispered in her ear.

She wanted to tell him the truth, that no it wouldn't and couldn't be just the two of them, that they needed additional help and support sometimes, but she couldn't do it. She couldn't break him like that. She may not have been happy with him at the moment, but that didn't give her the right to hurt him.

"Sure," she said with a small smile. "Just the two of us."

Luka bent down and kissed her on the cheek, emitting a small smile from the teen.

"Listen, I need to go and help in the bakery, so I'll call you later or something," she stepped away from Luka's grasp, keeping her smile fixed firmly on her lips. They said their goodbyes and she made her way out onto the streets.

The walk home was silent. Hundreds of thoughts running through Marinette's mind. Luka, the cat, the boy, Plagg, Tikki, creation, destruction. What did it all mean?

"Tikki?" Marinette sat on a bench in the park opposite the bakery, calling her kwami to attention and out into the open.

She looked up at the billboard in front of her, a turning in her stomach as she studied the umbrella.

"Marinette, we need to talk."

Marinette caught the big, blue eyes of her sweet confidant and gave her a small smile.

"What is it, Tikki?"

"Your true partner ..."

"Viperion."

Tikki shook her head manically.

"He was never your true partner. Creation works the best as an equal to destruction, all the rest are followers to you. The ladybug and the cat Miraculous are the most powerful of all the Miraculous, they're the centre of the Miracle box, the leaders. They're made to work together. You're only going to grow closer to him as time goes on."

"Why have you never mentioned this before? All this time I was meant to be partnered with someone else? I was meant to be the leader?" Marinette spoke a lot harsher than she intended, but today over stimulated her senses and she just needed time to breathe.

"It didn't matter because he wasn't here, and you needed someone to support you. Sass is a great kwami but he's not your equal. The black cat's back now Marinette. Your partner is back, and you need to find him."