Our Love Will Go On

Chapter 3 - A Frightening Discovery

Marinette was tossing and turning in bed. She was exhausted: not only had Monarch's attacks become increasingly targeted and dangerous, but the pressure of the school year, so important because of the Brévet at the end of it and the deadlines of her first commissions on the website she had recently opened, were starting to leave a toll on her.

But she couldn't sleep. It was as if there was something new in the air. Something scary. The only time she had managed to fall asleep, she had woken up after a few minutes, with her sight still clouded by the vision of a pair of fierce and desperate blue eyes.

Chat Blanc.

The memory of her Akumatised partner didn't want to leave her, a constant reminder that, even if she wanted to, even if she was starting to reciprocate the boy's feelings, she could never get involved with Chat Noir. At least until Monarch was defeated.

"Our love did this to the world," her Akumatised partner had said.

Marinette knew very well that it was wrong to trust the words of an Akuma victim, but for some reason, she couldn't not believe him. She couldn't help but think about it. Constantly.

And then... there was Adrien. She had said it several times and even written it in her diary: if Adrien had never existed, perhaps she would have given her partner a chance. After defeating Monarch, of course. But Adrien... she couldn't imagine a world without that boy. It would have been a world without sunlight.

She was reflecting on this, her body in a foetal position, and was almost asleep when a couple of well-placed knocks on the glass of her skylight made her jump. But Marinette didn't have time to say or do anything because she was swallowed by something black, cold and trembling that fell on her and began to hug her so tight as to risk breaking her ribcage.

"Wha—" she managed to say, with a suffocated whisper, but she couldn't finish the sentence because a gloved black hand landed on her lips.

"I'm sorry, Milady. I'm so sorry!"

Marinette's blood froze in her veins as her heart skipped a beat and landed directly in her throat. "Ch-chat Noir? What... what did you call me?" she stuttered as her hand motioned for the light switch on the bedside table. She had just switched the light on and her heart froze when she caught a glimpse of her partner's face—terrified, desperate. He looked like prey.

"Claws in," he whispered, and Marinette closed her eyes and uttered a cry that sounded almost like a squeak.

"What are you doing? Please, don't do this to me, Minou; say the words and re-transform! Please!" she begged him, but he grabbed her hands and tried to remove them from her face.

"Please, Marinette, look at me. You have to look at me!" The boy's voice was hoarse and almost unrecognisable. He seemed more than terrified. Scared to death. Marinette's heartbeat quickened in her chest: she had never heard Chat Noir in such a state.

"No! Why do you think I'm Ladybug? And even if I was, you know we can't until Monarch is defeated!" The girl resisted strenuously and managed to prevent him from moving her hands from her face.

"He told me," Chat Noir replied, sniffing. "He spied on you with the help of a Sentimonster similar to Optigami. He knows who you are. And it's not the only thing he knows."

Marinette held her breath at his words. What? This was a disaster! If Monarch was aware of her identity, they were in deep trouble. Did Monarch know who Chat Noir was, too?

"Please look at me, Milady. The time for secrets is over. I know who Monarch is—he's my father! He's doing all this to bring my mother back! He... he knows you're Ladybug. Keeping secrets between us could be deadly; he wants to... use me... to break your heart. And he's gotten the upper hand." Chat Noir's voice was so hoarse that Marinette realised how much effort it cost her partner to speak.