(A/N: I love this song! ML and Lindsey Stirling together, my life is complete!)

Marinette held Chat in her hands. She moved away his shiny blonde hair to reveal a bloodstained face. Apparently, his head had hit hard during the fight. She hugged him tight. She stayed that way for a while, weeping into his frozen shoulders. His body was stiff.

"Did he really hit his head...or did Predicta freeze..." She gasped when she thought of what Predicta could've done to her partner. He was not moving at all. Just like what she did to her teacher.

"Marinette, look, he's breathing!" Tikki exclaimed.

Her worst fears were gone when she felt his faint breathing on her shoulders. "Of course! He had been breathing all this time, but I panicked way too much to notice that! Screw your stupid mind, Marinette!" She mentally scolded herself.

"No time to waste, Tikki!" It wasn't long before she felt a red mask cover her face.

—————

Chat woke up to the sound of someone sobbing nearby. He wanted to open his eyes but felt a strong pain when he tried to do so. The pain ran all across his head, like burning fire. When he couldn't take it anymore, he tried to concentrate on the voice that was nearby.

"I'm such an idiot! He was right. Just look at me! What good is Marinette when you're not Ladybug? I can't believe I let him go alone to fight that akuma!"

Chat smiled. (It would look weird when he smiled with his eyes closed but this is Chat we're talking about! 😏) He felt so happy, knowing that his Purrincess would care about him, of all people. But his smile soon turned into a frown when he heard a second voice speak and that too, a really squeaky one.

"I know that hurts, Marinette. But look, you still saved Chat Noir!"

"Yes, Tikki. I saved someone who doesn't need my help. Ugh! I don't know what to do anymore. I didn't know I was so vulnerable without you. I know I'm super awkward and clumsy. Why was I ever chosen, Tikki? Don't you see I'm not cut out for this job?"

"What I see is that you still chose to save someone who hurt you. That's the kind of person I was looking for." Tikki shrugged.

Marinette let out another sigh. "I don't know who I am anymore." She broke down in tears.

Chat felt sorry for the girl although he was unsure of who that squeaky voice belonged to. He clenched his teeth as he managed to subdue the pain when he opened his eyes. He adjusted his eyes to the light as he felt the burning sensation again. With all his might, he lifted himself up from the bed. His eyes followed to where the voice was coming from.

A girl was weeping in the corner of her room. Her head in her knees as she kept blaming herself, perhaps a bit too much than she's supposed to.
"Everyone loves Ladybug! She's confident, she's bold and so much better than The Klutzy Marinette!" She mocked in a voice that almost sounded like Tikki.

"Oh, what am I doing?" The blunette asked aloud. Even though there wasn't any other person in the room.

"If you'd ask me, I think you're being jealous of yourself!"

That's when he noticed the small creature sitting at her feet. "Tikki, you don't understand. People just don't know about the insecure self that Ladybug hides everyday. All they know is that she's amazing. I bet I'll always end up being super clumsy if I didn't have a mask on in the first place!"

"Marinette...that doesn't make any sense. You know you're still the same person. That mask is for your safety. You don't want to risk your identity being known to Hawkmoth. Don't you see? The mask does its job pretty well and so do you. You were always Marinette, the best of all Ladybugs I've worked with." Tikki hugged her holder's cheek with her tiny arms.

Marinette cupped her kwami in her hands. She gave a sad smile but then felt her tears streaming down again.

"Tikki, I'm sorry. It's just that...Chat's words..." she managed to say in between her sobs. "Did he really mean it when he said that to me? I-I could've saved him, but I couldn't because I was just Marinette!"

Chat was now regretting everything he had done since yesterday night. He hasn't been himself. He had hurt a lot of people while trying to find his own happiness. He had hurt Ladybug too. Chat never expected to find this side of Ladybug, a broken and weak one. He came over to her. "Purrincess?"

"AHHHHH! YOU'RE AWAKE!!!" Marinette shrieked while stuffing Tikki in her pocket. This startled him and he took a step back but in the process, Chat bumped his head onto a mannequin behind him.

"Ow!" He cried in pain. She soon held him before he could fall.

"I-I'm sorry." She stuttered. "It's okay." He looked away, trying to get rid of his dizziness. "What happened to me anyway?"

"You hit your head while fighting the akuma. Strangely enough, she didn't take your miraculous though."

"And how did I end up here?"

"I...didn't go back home, Chat." Marinette held her head low, not wanting to face him. Chat came closer to her. "Look, I'm glad I did, Chat! You had lost a lot of blood. If I hadn't been there, who knows what would've happened..." She began blurting out when she saw Chat staring at her from the corner of her eyes. He didn't say anything.
Marinette let out a sigh. "I know I shouldn't hav-" she was stopped mid sentence.

The next moment, she found herself in Chat's arms. He was hugging her tight like he wouldn't want to lose her.

"I'm so sorry, Princess. I should've known." He choked on his tears. "I just wanted to make sure you were safe. I didn't care if it hurt you but I wanted my Princess to be safe." He turned away, releasing her from him. "You can hate me, Marinette. You can hate me like the rest of the world does. I know I'm not perfect, even as a superhero. I don't deserve someone like you."

"What do you mean 'someone like me'!? I'm not perfect at all." She remembered what he said in the morning. "Well, I'm not that imperfect too." She immediately corrected, not sure what Chat was feeling about her.

Chat gave a small laugh. "No, M'Lady, you're perfect. With or without the mask. I've been such a jerk but I'm glad it was you. I couldn't think of a better person to be Ladybug. Marinette, you're amazing. You still chose to save me after all I said. You have a pure heart. You're creative, wise, beautiful, adorably awkward and clumsy. You're everything that I see in M'Lady that others don't. You're courageous, friendly, kind and caring, even to a lonely cat like me! Marinette, your the only person who's accepted me for who I am and I'm glad it was you all this time!"

Marinette stood there, stunned. She felt as if her knees were getting weaker with every word he said. "He knows..." They stood staring into each other's eyes for what seemed like forever to Marinette.

"So...you're not disappointed?" She heard herself ask.
Chat smirked. He whispered in her ear.

"Does it seem like I am, Bugaboo?"

He tried to move away but she held his hand in hers. "Chat, stay." Her words were almost quiet. Chat tensed for a moment but then put his arms around her. "I'll never be disappointed in you, M'Lady."

Marinette cried a lot that day. In fact, she didn't know why she was crying anymore. The fact that her secret's out and things will probably be different between them or the fact that she had finally let out a big burden off her shoulders. They both cried to a point where it seemed awkward.

Marinette raised her head from Chat's chest to look over to his hair. "How is it?" She asked, pointing to the wound.

"Much better. Thanks to you, Purrincess!"