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“What’s got you down, Mon Chaton?” Ladybug says, kicking out her legs from the strut of the Eiffel Tower that they’re sitting on and holding her feet against the Paris skyline. “We did good today. Akuma went down, nobody was hurt, no property damage—”
“Yeah,” Chat says, curling up, holding his knees against his chest. “And I nearly killed you again.”
Ladybug halts, holds her feet up for another few seconds, then lets them drop. “Yeah, you did,” she says. He’d been brainwashed by the Akuma again, and she’d had to fight both of them at once. She gently lays her palm on the steel toes of his boots, rubbing with a small smile. “You took a hit for me, and we made it out okay.”
“Oh, Chaton,” she murmurs, scooting over toward him and leaning her side onto his shins, reaching up toward his face. To hold him. To caress him. To—
He pulls away, and she can see that his face under the mask has gone splotchy red. “Carapace wouldn’t have turned,” he says, quietly.
Ladybug raises an eyebrow. “What?”
Chat holds up a claw—his Cataclysm hand. “I’ve been—I don’t know why Fu picked me,” he says. “I’m supposed to defend you, but…”
“But nothing,” she says, squeezing his bicep. “You do defend me.”
“Really?” Chat snaps. “Better than the guy who actually has the power of defense?”
“Chaton…” she murmurs, her eyes narrowing. “Where is this coming from?”
He bites his lip, refusing to meet her eyes. “I… thought it was just the two of us,” he says. “At first. It made sense to send us both out.” He closes his eyes, blowing air out through his nose. “But there’s so many other Miraculi. And… I just…” He swallows. “Why didn’t Fu send out the Turtle to begin with?” he says. “Or the Monkey?” He flexes his fingers, looks down at his claw. “They’re actually useful against Hawkmoth and they don’t risk him getting both of us at once.” The corner of his mouth tugs upwards. “All I can do is break stuff. And be a liability.”
Ladybug covers her mouth, horrified. “Chat…” she whispers, but he isn’t done.
“I know you see me as your partner, and I appreciate that.” he says. “I try so hard to live up to it, but—I just… Maybe it would be safer for you if I wasn’t. If you had someone else.”
“Don’t tell me you haven’t thought about it!” he snaps. “How much more useful being able to disrupt an Akuma’s powers might be? Or to have someone who can tank for you without having to worry about fighting them?” He throws his hands in the air. “I don’t—I just wanted to be useful…”
“Roi Singe is our age!” Ladybug yelps.
Chat blinks, flicks his eyes toward her, confused.
Ladybug crosses her arms over her chest. “I just learned he’s someone I know,” she says. “He’s our age but he still wears Velcro shoes because he never learned to tie them.” She grits her teeth, turns her soft smile onto her partner. “Do you really think he sounds like a great partner?”
“Still more useful than me,” Chat grumbles.
Ladybug shakes her head. “No,” she says. “Chat, the number of times I’ve relied on you to win—”
“You only rely on me because I’m the only one there!” he says. “If you had someone else—”
Her fingers wrap around the bell attached to his neck, yanking him downward, forcing him to meet her eyes. “Just—forget the powers,” she says. “Okay?”
“…Why?” he says. He’s transfixed, his green eyes locked on her like a cat on a laser.
“I can’t trust anyone the way I trust you,” Ladybug whispers, feeling the words squeeze out of her chest as she says them. “You—Carapace will always put Rena first. Roi is… well, not bright. I can rely on them sometimes, but…” She sighs and looks away, feels the tightness leave his muscles as her eyes leave his. “Nobody else sees me the way you do, you know that?” She releases his bell, waves her arm over Paris. “To everyone down there, I’m Ladybug. Can do no wrong. That’s what the team sees because… because that’s what they have to see.”
She hears Chat’s slow, unbalanced breath behind her. “But… you are Ladybug,” he says.
She feels a chill at his words. “Not all the time,” she murmurs, rubbing her arms. “Chat. Minou. You were—you were the only one who was there, that first day. The—” She chokes a bit on her next word. “The day I failed.”
“You got back up, though,” he says, hushed.
She shakes her head. “No,” she says. “You picked me up.” She tilts her head to look at him. “Chat,” she says. “I’ve told you before I almost gave up being Ladybug. Did I ever tell you what changed my mind?”
“One of your friends was in danger,” he mutters, digging his claw into the rooftop.
“That’s why I put the earrings back on, yeah,” she says. “But I was going to give them back right after anyway.” She shoves his shoulder. “You’re the one who convinced me to keep them.”
“Yeah, but…” Chat draws his knees into his chest. “That was over a year ago. You don’t need me anymore…”
She rolls her eyes. “I have been borrowing your courage since day one,” she says. “Still am.”
“What about nothing,” she interrupts. “Being Ladybug is… the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do.” She bites her lip, staring into the streets, watching a young couple dance together in the sidewalk, laughing under the streetlights. “I’m responsible for the safety of an entire city, and all my friends, and school, and all of my other commitments, and sometimes…” She shrugs. “Well, sometimes it’s too much.”
Chat sighs. “I know,” he says, sounding like a kicked puppy, and oh sweet Tikki does she want to beat the crap out of whoever made that a normal part of his inflection. “I know I’m not the most professional, and I make things harder on you—”
“Missing the point again, Chaton,” she murmurs, wrapping her fingers around his hand.
He looks up at her, shocked, and she smiles back at him. “If not for you showing me the joy in this,” she says, “if not for your—your sense of wonder, I think…” She reaches up with her free hand, nervously twists one of her bangs between her fingers. “I think I’d have cracked months ago.” She tilts her head. “As long as I have you,” she murmurs, “this isn’t so bad.”
Chat says nothing—his mouth is agape, but he’s not even bothering to hide how stunned he is.
“So… yeah,” she says. “Maybe the Turtle or the Monkey would have more useful powers here. But… but they’re not you.” She squeezes his hand. “Maybe it’s not the powers that need balance,” she says. “Maybe it’s just us.” She lifts his hand, places it on her chest. “Paris needs me to protect them, and I need you to keep me sane.” She reaches up, flicks his nose. “That,” she says, “is a very important job, you know.” She smiles. “Nobody else can pun quite like you do, after all.”
He raises an eyebrow. “Wait,” he says. “You like my puns?”
Ladybug leans in with a grin. “Don’t tell anybody,” she whispers, “but I groan because I appreciate them.”
Chat’s head jerks backwards. “But… you always say—”
“I’d be fine with it if you didn’t insist on distracting me in battle!” she growls teasingly, jabbing him in the chest with a smirk. “Rest of the time? I’m all ears!”
“I, uh…” He looks away, clenches his fist. Unclenches. “They actually… they’re not for you. They’re for me.”
He closes his eyes. “They stop me from thinking about how scared I am,” he says.
Ladybug covers her mouth. “Oh.”
“A-and, uh, I mean, I can stop! If you, if you need me to, but—”
Ladybug stops him with a hand on his calf. “But if you need to,” she says, “then by all means, keep punning.”
He jerks, breath shooting out of his nose in relief. “Thank you,” he whispers.
“Of course,” she says, turning back to watch the man in the street below swing daringly around a streetlamp like a pirate, prompting his companion to burst into giggles at the sight. “What are partners for?”
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