Mine, His

Marinette stared at the unconscious man in her arms. He looked pale ...his body was limp.

She was terrified.

"Omigawdomigawdomigawd, Chat!"

She held his face. Marinette was always good under pressure, but never before had she faced something like this. She had no idea why Chat had fainted. She couldn't take him to the hospital because the police would use it to their advantage. She didn't know if he had any illness. She knew nothing about his physical wellbeing. If she knew at least something about his health or if he had been suffering from something recently then she would have an idea how to help…

But she didn't…

She felt so useless.

"Okay, urm, okay,okay,err…"She felt his head,and to her it was unusually warm.

"I'll be back."She said before running to dampen a cloth, once she had squeezed it, she pushed back Chat's bangs and placed it on his head.

She had a nagging suspicion that his Model diet was not enough to sustain a man of his height and age. He ate less than anyone she knew.

Marinette looked around frantically, maybe Google would know something.

Plagg screwed his eyes in pain as he tried to draw all the pain and illness away from Adrien's body.

…But it was too much.

Adrien was Anaemic, and with the diet he followed, he had hardly enough iron in him. Although he did take the supplements he was asked to, his diet plan was going to be the death of him, somehow his dietician had come up with a fairly nutritional diet plan for the model, but Adrien more often than not skipped multiple meals. He ate lesser than he should have. He hardly ever slept, and though he was sleeping much more since he met Marinette, with his schedule he should have been sleeping more.

Many things were coming into play at that moment and Plagg knew he had to do something, otherwise, he and Adrien would not make it…

His pressure was much too low, and it was never good to be unconscious when it was that low.

He noted that more often than not, he was eating more Camembert for the purpose of sharing the energy it gave him with Adrien rather than for the purpose of enjoying it.

Sure, he was immortal, but even immortals felt pain and got hurt, and if it got bad enough, they would be out of commission for a very long time. He hated when that happened. It had happened to Duusu.

And Plagg knew that Master was keeping her separate from the others ever since…

It was rumored…that Duusu had attempted Reversal.

Reversal was a complicated, fine art that only two kwami's were able to perform, namely Tikki and himself as they were the strongest of all the Kwami. They were the Yin and Yang, and were capable of performing the Magic to do the Reversal.

He had done it a few times in the past, but it wasn't something that he liked doing. When a kwami performed reversal, the roles of the chosen and the kwami would be swapped.

The Chosen would be sent into the Miraculous to heal, and they would be safe, and the Kwami would take over the physical form of the chosen and would therefore be the one to take the pain that the chosen was facing or would face. When he did it, he became as vulnerable as a human.

That meant…

He could die.

Not even immortals had forever, because there was always a loophole.

Plagg sighed. At the moment Adrien's body was weaker than his. The boy needed to heal.

"Stupid annoying rebellious kid." He snarled.

He couldn't hear any of Adrien's thoughts.

Plagg sighed.

"Don't make me do this again…Please…"He blinked.

"I don't want to die." He said, very quietly.

Adrien does not respond.

Plagg swallowed.

"Reversal."

***

Marinette's eyes widen as Chat begins to morph. His hair suddenly turns Black.

His skin slowly seemingly turns a cool charcoal colour, but upon closer inspection, she sees that it's not skin, it's a layer of glossy, silk like fur. It was smooth to perfection.

She drops her phone and stares as Chat's ears become real cat ears.

Chats body was normally tall and lean, but now it morphed into tall and muscular.

Marinette stares at Chat as he begins to look less and less like Chat.

His tail that was normally a belt becomes an actual tail.

Slowly, he opens one eye.

Marinette gasps.

"Chat!" She grabs him and hugs him.

"Urgh Kid, I don't do that hugging thing, I'm not Chat, I'm Plagg." Plagg says, pushing her nose so that she goes further back with a finger.

Marinette blinks.

Plagg yawns and rolls onto his tummy, slowly stretching.

"Plagg?" She asks.

"Yes, Plagg. Now, I'm going to go raid your kitchen because loverboy has no food in his system."

Plagg jumps up and darts down her trapdoor stairs on all fours.

Marinette shrieks.

That was NOT normal. Not at all. What the hell just happened?

She runs down the stairs after him.

"Urm, Plagg, Sir?" She looks around, and quietly enters the kitchen.

Plagg looks at his gloves.

"Ha, I should probably modify these for that Kid." He says to himself.

He closes his eyes, opens them, and then snaps his fingers. The palms of the glove suddenly become coated in a matte looking layer.

Plagg picks up a cup.

"Much better. That kid doesn't complain enough." He muses. He looks at Marinette.

"You, pigtails, come here." Marinette blinks rapidly.

She walks towards him nervously.

He rolls his eyes.

"I'm not going to eat you, that's lover-boy's job." He snickers.

Marinette opens and closes her mouth.

"Let me see your palms."

Marinette turns her hands over and shows them to him.

Plagg pokes her palm.

"Squishy." He says, and then looks at his gloved palm.

"Okay then, feel this, does it feel like skin?" He holds out his gloved palm.

Marinette looks at it, and then at Plagg. She doesn't know what to make of this strange person, if he was a person at all that is…

He looks at her oddly as she stays in her spot.

"Well come on." He says with an eyeroll, showing his glowing green sclera. She reaches out a finger to touch it.

"It does." She says.

"Awesome." Plagg says with a satisfied grin which allows Marinette to see the long, cat-like canines in his mouth.

"It should come in handy." He snickers.

"Huh?"

"Oh nothing, I said I'm hungry." Plagg says, throwing open the fridge and he gasps.

"It's so…Beautiful." He says, pulling out a dome containing a whole cheesecake.

Plagg suddenly feels a massive head-rush. He grimaces but effectively masks his pain from Marinette.

He takes a deep breath then shoves a slice of cake into his mouth.

Marinette's eyes widen. Chat would never dare to eat something that sweet.

"Urm Sir…Where's Chat?" She asks.

"He's here."

"Where?"

"Here kid, here." He says, wiggling his right hand finger with the ring on it.

"Inside the ring."

"Well yes. He's too weak to be out here, so I sent him in there to heal while I fix his wreck of a body out here."

"But that's not his body…"

"Of course it's not. It's a modified version of it, but it's still essentially him, I'm just here because I need to fix all his problems and go back. Now tell me, do you have any tablets for iron deficiencies?"

"Urm yeah, my mums anaemic so I do."

"Well bring them. And some nausea and migraine tablets." Plagg says rubbing his temples.

"Chat's sick?"

"Sick? That's the understatement of the century. Now seriously, please quiet down and bring me the stuff."

Marinette can't do much more than close her mouth and hurry to get the medicine. Chat wasn't well.

Plagg runs a hand through his hair. He was a whole lot better at handling pain than Adrien was capable of, and at the moment he had a whole lot more energy that he brought with him into this body, but that didn't mean that Adrien's body was doing well at the moment.

He looks at the cheesecake.

"I will be back for you. I promise." He says to it before beginning to pull out some spinach leaves.

He looks at it with a disgusted look.

"I'm so going to kill you Adrien." He hisses, before shoving the leaf into his mouth and chewing.

He swallows and gasps for air.

"Oh shit oh shit, kill me, kill me please."He says with a disgusted look.

He knew he needed to eat it but it was so awful.

He takes a deep breath.

"Okay, I can do this."He says, picking up another leaf. He would eat the whole bag,he could definitely do it. If only there was a way to make it taste better.

Marinette returns with a bunch of tablets.

"Pigtails, do you have any camembert?"

"Camembert?"

"Yes, Camembert."

"You mean like the smelly old cheese?"

Plagg huffs.

"You humans don't understand how essential cheese is."

Marinette just scrunches up her nose, noting that he was asking for the same cheese that Chat always asked for.

Naturally, she had stocked up on the Cheese so that Chat would never run short.

"I do have it…"

"Excellent, now how good are you at making a roux?"

"Quite good, I think."

"Great, soo I'm going to need you to make some."

"Okay,if that's going to help Chat."Marinette quickly begins to pull out the ingredients.

Plagg perches atop the counter in Cat-like tail manner, his tail flicks back and forth as his ears twitch with the sounds of the kitchen.

Marinette wills herself not to be rude, and not to ask about Chat but her curiosity was getting the best of her.

"Urm,Plagg,Sir,is Chat okay?"

"He will be."

"So he's not okay at the moment?"

"Not really, no."

"What do you mean he's inside the ring?"

"You're an inquisitive kid, no wonder lover boy and you get along so well." Plagg rolls his eyes

"Please tell me where he is,Plagg. This is really weird for me, please understand, he was just here, and then he gets sick and faints and suddenly he's gone and you're here and you could be some kind of homicidal maniac-"

"Whoa whoa whoa, homicidal?"

"-And it's frightening because now I don't see him anywhere and you say he's somewhere, but I have never even heard about you before and you expect me to trust you-"

"-never heard of me?-"

"-and you're a man with ears and a tail and fur crouched on my countertop asking for cheese and pills and eating spinach and roux's-"

"Technically I'm not eating the roux as yet-"

"-And it's extremely disconcerting because I wasn't aware that this could happen at all-"

"OKAY KID SHUSH! I already have one panicky kid and I won't handle a second. BREATHE."

Marinette stops.

"It's good to be curious, but really, you're wasting precious time, every moment you waste is painful, I'm here to get rid of…Chat's pain, but to do that I take it upon myself,and I'm doing that right now, and it's really a pain in the a.s.s, as much as I understand that you're curious, you need to remember that we don't have time for this, you want Chat to get better, right?So stop thinking so much and help me,the sooner you do, the sooner you can see him again."

Marinette sniffs and blinks away the tears that had unknowingly formed in her eyes. She's just so disconcerted…But she realises he's right, she can't say she cares about Chat if she's standing around, being selfish and wasting 'Plagg's' time.

She nods.

"I'm going to go lie on that sofa over there, will you be fine here?"

"Yes, sir." Marinette nods, determined.

"Awesome, and the name's Plagg, kid." He reminds her, patting her head before going to the couch. He sniffs the huge bag of spinach leaves and blanches.

Marinette turns on the stove and begins to cook.

Sirens can be heard throughout Paris, most likely in search of Adrien Agreste.

She turns off the stove and sees Plagg back on the counter, drinking water in a very strange way, lapping at in.

"It's done." Marinette says cooling it.

"Great, let's do this." Plagg says, grabbing the pot and a plate from the counter, Marinette squeaks and he walks past her swinging the hot pot, he plops down onto the sofa, placing the pot on the table.

He wastes no time in dropping all of the spinach into the pot and then overturning the concoction from the pot onto the plate.

Marinette watches curiously, wringing her hands.

She feels a really disturbing, pulling feeling in her c.h.e.s.t and a twisting, uncomfortable feeling in her tummy.

Plagg said Chat would be okay… But what was wrong with Chat in the first place?

Come to think of it, he never ever showed any signs of vulnerability around her, only once before when he had the nightmare…But then too, it was highly unintentional.

She had gotten to know so much about him, almost everything, yet she didn't even know his medical state.

Plagg leans his face down to the plate.

His eyes flick up to look at Marinette.

"Rude to stare, pigtails." Plagg snickers.

Marinette winces at being caught but turns to pace behind the sofa.

Plagg takes this as his cue to begin eating the concoction as fast as possible.

Marinette keeps her eyes on the ground, and then decides to busy herself with making him something to drink.

Looking at his appearance, he's definitely not human, and he looks almost 100% feline.

The way his body moves, it's much too animalistic.

Even Chat, as graceful and cat-like as he was could not match up to the way Plagg moved.

She scratches her head, perhaps he would just like a glass of milk or cream?

She opts for a mix of cream and milk, noting that he was almost done eating. She wonders what condition Chat is in for something like this to happen…

Maybe Plagg would tell her, but she knows that even if he didn't, she would make Chat spill his guts.

Plagg burps. Marinette looks at him with a scrunched up nose. He looks full but disgusted.

"That was horrible." He says to himself.

"Sorry Sir, have some of this, maybe it will help."

"Its 'Plagg' kid, Plagg." He says in a reminder of what he had already said countless times. He calmly takes the glass from her.

"The worst part about spinach is the aftertaste." He says.

After downing the glass, he wipes his mouth before looking at her with a sombre expression.

"So, let's talk."

Marinette nods, anxiously. She's extremely worried and it was taking every fiber of her being not to cry on the spot.

"Don't just stand there, you're making me award." Plagg says, smacking his forehead and gesturing to the sofa across him.

Marinette sat down, wringing her hands once more, awaiting Plagg's diagnosis of Chat's condition.

"Okay Pigtails, so as you know already, Chat is a model, what you don't know is that his life is abnormally packed out. He's a model. He's expected to do this whole line of activities that are beneficial to him in no way except to impress his father which almost never actually happens. In short, he's always moving. And there's not much he can actually do about it."

With everything Plagg says, Marinette feels her eyes widen more and her jaw drop even lower.

She had never even considered the fact that Chat was just a young a.d.u.l.t like herself and had parents who expected great things from him. Even after he'd spoken to her.

"Literally, the only time he has as a break is when he comes here after his packed out schedule for the day, and believe me, he gives a new definition to the word workaholic…The problem is that even though he does everything he's asked in a flawless manner, it's not good enough and he's always pushing and working harder, and in the process he's forgetting that he's only human. He never remembers to eat. He next to never sleeps. He never takes a break and he never realises that it's much too much. He thinks he can handle it but he's not. He's deteriorating, right in front of everyone's eyes, he's just hiding it very well."

Plagg sighs.

"He has a lot of medical conditions,and believe me, they come in the worst combinations at the worst times. I won't tell you every one of them because I know he does value his privacy…But he listens to you, so you may be able to help both him and I, question is, will you help me?"

Marinette nods quickly, not missing a beat. Of course she would help Chat! In the short time that he had come into her life he had become her very closest companion, almost as close as Alya, he helped her so much, and he always tried his best to make her happy, even agreeing to be a living mannequin for her designs, and it was time she gave back to the person who was turning her life upside down and making her realise that she liked it better that way.

"Yes, of course."

"Good, so firstly, you need to force him to eat like a normal human being." He says seriously.

"But he doesn't want to, he gets uncomfortable around sugar, and the sight of bread or rice makes him upset." Marinette says.

"Then make him comfortable with it."

Marinette groans.

"Okay okay, I'll do it, he may kill me, but I'll do it." She says.

Plagg waves his hand.

"Loverboy wouldn't lay a hand on his Princess, moving on, he needs to eat whenever he's hungry, unfortunately though, he has no idea when he should be eating, so it's up to you to make him eat whenever he's here, he has this habit of starving himself, I think it's sort of unintentional, I mean at first it was intentional, but then after a while he just stopped feeling hungry so he skips the meals. He's anemic, so it may be good to look up some meal plans on Foogle-"

"Google-"

"That's what I said, also, he's stopped taking some of his supplements because he thinks it's making him get fat, so he needs to start taking them, he really really needs it, and finally his insomnia, he needs to start sleeping. He has this habit of falling asleep and then waking up to stare at yooo-"Plagg quickly catches himself.

"-ouur trapdoor."

"My trapdoor?"

"Urm…Yeah he has this idea that someone's going to come in from there." Plagg says, trying to cover up his slip.

"But nobody knows it's there." Marinette reasons.

"Well, he expects the unexpected."

"I'm going to do my best Plagg, I promise."

Plagg nods.

Suddenly he freezes.

"He's up."

"He's up?"Marinette asks, hoping Plagg was talking about Chat.

"Yup. He doesn't like being in the ring." Plagg snickers looking at the ring and pulling it off.

He holds it up to eye level.

Marinette stares at the ring.

"How did he go into the ring?" She questions.

"Urm magic?Duh."

Plagg throws the ring up and down, and Marinette tenses up.

"Aren't you hurting him?" She asks worriedly.

"Nope, it's huge in the ring, just super boring and super dark...Kid, one more thing, don't ever let this ring get off his finger, okay?"

"Okay, but why?"

"Just don't, ever."

"So how come you can take it off yours?"

"Because I can." He snickers, slipping the ring back on.

He grins suddenly, sneakily.

"That eager huh? What will you give me in return?" Plagg says looking at the ring.

Marinette looks at the ring, Plagg was talking to Chat.

"How many…?"

Marinette stares at Plagg impatiently, she was eager to see Chat, and very anxious about how he was doing.

"I want 12."Plagg says.

He's quiet for a moment.

"12 or I push Marinette here outside." He winks at Marinette to indicate he was just kidding.

Plagg snickers after a minute.

"Alright, okay, I'm coming." Plagg rolls his eyes with a big grin.

"He's coming out now?" Marinette says a bit too excitedly. Plagg raises an ebony brow.

"I mean, errr, sorry to see you go, was so good meeting you." She coughs.

"I'll pretend you mean that. You kids are going to be the death of me." He says the last part more to himself before leaning back on the couch.

"See you soon pigtails." He salutes her before closing his eyes.

For a moment Marinette stares at him in confusion before suddenly, his tail once more changes into leather, and his ears become leather too. His fur disappears and his hair changes to blond. Ever so slowly, Plagg becomes Chat.

Marinette moves towards him and waits in front of his face, quietly.

Slowly he opens his eyes.

"Chat or Plagg?" She asks cautiously.

"Plagg? Princess, I have much more class than him." Chat says rolling his eyes, but suddenly he finds Marinette hauling him into a hug.

"Oh my gosh I was so worried, I thought you were dying, you moron!" She says crying into his shoulder.

Chat just tries to blink away his shock.

"Hey, don't cry." He says, a bit frightened, he really didn't mean to drop, it wasn't his intention to upset her.

Unfortunately that made her cry harder.

"Princess please don't cry, look I'm fine." He says in attempt to calm her down.

She draws back and dashes away her tears.

"No you're not! At all, like how long were you not going to tell me that you basically have no time to even pee?"

Chat has the nerve to look affronted.

"I have time to pee-"

"And Plagg told me what you've been doing…"

"Okay, what have I been doing?"

Neither of them realised the compromising position they were in,Marinette was kneeling between Chat's legs,with her left hand in his hair and the other on his neck as she looked down at him ,while he looked up at her with a puzzled expression, a tilted head and arms encircling her waist.

"Firstly, you've been staying up staring at my trapdoor when you should be sleeping."

Chat's eyebrows shoot up.

"Errrrrrrr…" Her trapdoor?

"And secondly, you have no regard for your health whatsoever." She berates.

"Why do I feel like you've flipped the table?"Chat groans.

"Don't give me that, from now on we have rules."

"Rules?"

"Rules."

"What rules?"

"Rules that you will follow."

"I don't have to conform to anything." He says in a matter-of-fact tone.

"Really? Then I guess I don't have to either." She narrows her eyes at him.

He realises what she means and growls lowly.

"Are you threatening me?"

"Yes, I am." She says back with equal malice.

They stare at each other for some time before Chat huffs.

"What kind of rules are we looking at?"

"You are going to eat three meals a day." Chat looks taken aback, it was as if she had told him that the Eiffel tower was made of plastic.

"AND you are going to sleep for eight hours every night."

He sighs.

"And you are going to take your supplements, all of them."

"I can't, Two of them make me gain-"

"Chat forget about the weight! You're killing yourself! Don't you see that?"

"But am I dead?"

"You're missing the point." Marinette says, frustrated.

"I understand what you mean Princess but it's easier said than done. I don't live a very conventional life. Some people are able to eat whole cupcakes and not put on weight, some of us take a bite of a cupcake and gain several lbs."

"But you're not going to be a model forever Chat."

"I know, but until then I have to do what I need to in order to keep my build. Yes, some modelling industries may want a muscular model, but the ones that I'm contracted with do not. Lean and tall. That's it."

"Then break the contract."

Chat sighs.

"Like I said, It's easier said than done."

"Why?"

"It just is Princess."

Marinette stares at him.

"I won't accept it." She says finally.

"Yet you have to."

"No."She says, crossing her arms and tossing her head to the side.

Chat tilts his head.

"Someone's in a particularly bossy mood." He chuckles.

Marinette huffs. "It's time for you to go to sleep." She says, standing up.

Chat looks at her stunned.

"It's not even ten as yet." he says.

Marinette ignores him and makes her way to her room, knowing he would follow behind, and he does.

Once they enter the room, Marinette retrieves a clean white pillow and a comforter from her wardrobe and goes up to her loft.

"What are you doing?" He asks curiously, and Marinette turns to him with hands on her h.i.p.s.

"You are going to bed."

Chat stares at her.

"Who actually sleeps at this time?"

"Plenty of people." Marinette says as she fluffs up the pillow.

"Yeah, old people and seven years olds." He says in annoyance.

Marinette ignores him and turns the thermostat, making the room warmer.

He groans.

"This is stupid."

"Uh huh."

"I don't want to sleep."

"Mmm hmm." Marinette says, looking around the room for something.

"Princess are you even listening to me?"

Marinette picks up a black cloth and some sticky tack.

"Yes, of course kitten."

Chat pouts.

"You're not."

Marinette sticks the cloth over the trapdoor above her bed.

She finally turns to him.

"Come on kitty, time for bed."

Chat looks at her oddly.

"But I'm not tired."

"I know, but you need to rest, you had a long day. And no doubt you've been scheming all day." She says with a pointed look.

Chat pouts. "Overly bossy today." He says once more.

She extends her hand to him.

He sighs before taking it.

The heat in the room was kind of making him a little drowsy. He yawns discretely. Marinette instructs him to lay on his previously designated side of the bed. He rolls his eyes and lies down.

"I'm being babied." He says as she covers him with the blanket.

"Just stop thinking and sleep."

Marinette takes the pillow and comforter that she brought up and sets it on her side. She settles herself in and puts the light off.

Chat stares around the dark room, able to see everything.

He sighs. His plushy was at Nino's place. He turns to Marinette.

"Can't I sleep at 12?"

"No."

"But I'm only going to fall asleep at 12 anyway…"

"And if you go to bed at twelve you'll fall asleep at two."

Chat sighs again. Marinette closes her eyes.

"I'm bored." He says.

"Go to sleep."

He groans and turns to lay on his back.

He stares at the ceiling for a few minutes.

"You're not sleeping." Marinette murmurs.

"I'm just thinking."

"What are you thinking about?"

"You know, if you never broke my nose, I wouldn't be here right now."

"Are you saying you're glad I broke your nose, kitty?"

Chat's quiet for a moment.

"I am, I mean I didn't know I would be, but I am."

Marinette hums.

"Well, let me just say It felt really good, breaking your nose I mean." She giggles.

Chat turns his head to her.

"Geez thanks, here I am pouring my soul out to you and that's the response I receive? You wound me, my lady." Chat clutches his c.h.e.s.t.

"Fine, I'm glad I whipped your b.u.t.t in that alley that day."She snickers.

"Hey, I was really tired that day." he says defensively.

Marinette snorts.

"The fearsome Chat Noir, taken down by a petite young woman. For shame, sir."

"Yeah well, the said woman had pepper spray and hit below the belt so it doesn't count."

"I think it does."

"Princess, it does not."

"Admit it, you're a cute, loving kitty at heart."

"Never."Chat says.

Marinette sits up.

"Denial."

Marinette gets an idea.

"Bet he's a super-ticklish one too." She grins, but Chat realises her ill-intent a second too late, for she's already tickling him.

He begins to laugh uncontrollably.

"No…Stop…claws…may scratch you…"He gasps out between tickles, he does his best to keep his claws to himself.

Marinette straddles him when he tries to escape and continues her relentless torture.

"This…is animal…cruelty." He wheezes out.

"Paris' greatest villain's weakness: Being tickled." Marinette teases.

"Nooo…"Chat groans out.

"See, such a good kitten."

He tries to catch he wrists but she evades him easily.

"Oh look…Berry's out of his…box…"Chat says.

Marinette stops for the slightest of seconds to look over her shoulder, but that was all the time Chat needed to flip them over.

"HA!"He says once she's pinned down.

Marinette brings her feet up and puts them on Chat's c.h.e.s.t,using them to push Chat off her, he moves back slightly,surprised at her very clever idea, but he catches himself, and stays firmly in place.

"Very Clever princess." He chuckles.

Marinette huffs.

"Hey, did you see the Modification on your gloves?"

"Huh?"

"You should check it out." Marinette says.

"Nice try." Chat snickers.

"I'm serious." Marinette says with an eyes roll.

Chat readjusts Marinette's wrists so that he's holding both effortlessly in one hand.

He lifts his palm to his face. He takes in the swirling, tribal tattoo like designs.

It looked really alluring. There were a few words written in green.

'Your claws will come out when it needs to be used, you don't have to think to extend them, they will just do so, when not in use they will retract. If you want them out all day, just think to extend them and they will extend. Thought this may come in handy… ;)'

Chat blinks as the writing fades away once he reads it.

"And question, who is Plagg?"

Chat looks at her.

"Urmm, my Cat…"

"No, really, who and what is he?"

Chat purses his lips, should he tell her Chat was a kwami and gave him his powers?

"Well…"

"Well…?"

"He kind of makes me Chat Noir."

"How?"

"He's this magic kind of creature, he lets me use his powers to transform."

"Transform? Wait wait wait, this is not a costume?"

"Nope."

"And you aren't some radioactive human?"

"Something like that."

"So how come I've never seen Plagg before? Where does he go?"

"He's here, you just can't see him."

"So he's there watching absolutely everything?"

"Not exactly, he tunes me out and goes to sleep,he sleeps easily, so I never hear him."

Marinette nods to herself.

"He's really worried about you."

"I know."Chat says, running his free hand through his hair. "I never knew he could come out, into a human-like form."

"He wasn't exactly human,he had whiskers and fur, and cat ears and a tail and his eyes kind of glowed."

"Sounds a lot like his Kwami form."

"His what?"

"Kwami, when I'm not Chat Noir he moves around as a small floating kitten-like creature."

"Interesting…" Marinette says.

She blinks up at him. "He calls you kid."

"He's older than he seems."

"Really?"

"Mmmhmm, over 5000 years old."

"5000?"She asks incredulously.

"5000."Chat confirms.

"He used to tell me that he's not used to being responsible, but he's been more responsible than he knew he could be this century. It's weird, but I really am thankful to him for being by my side, and putting up with me through everything, even when I'm being reckless."

"Wow, I wish I had a Kwami thing." Marinette says.

Chat tilts his head as he looks down at her.

"What would you do with it Princess?"

"I'd be less clumsy for one, and I'd make Paris safe again, and I'd protect people."

"Ever the selfless one."

"And you could be my side-kick."Marinette giggles.

"Side-kick? Why can't we be partners?"

"Well, we could be a great team." Marinette says.

"Yeah,you could figure out how to get the bad guys and I could beat the crud out of them."

"I could beat the crud out of them if I wanted to as well."Marinette says.

"I don't think you could."

"And why not?"

"You've been unable to escape for the last 5 minutes."

"Urgh, I could totally escape."

"How, you going to hit me with your pot?" Chat snickers.

"I can't find my pot. But…"She suddenly lifts her body so that her head can reach his arm, and she bites down.

Chat yelps, not expecting that.

Marinette uses the opportunity to break free from his loosened hold, using her feet to throw him off her. She breaks off into a run, around her bed.

"Conniving little woman. Whatever shall I do with you?" Chat asks, rubbing his forearm.

"Nothing much, since it's time for all little boys to sleep."

Chat raises his brow.

"Little boy?"

"Uh huh, the littlest of little." Marinette says through giggles.

"My lady, are you mocking me?"

"Perhaps." She says.

"That's a very dangerous thing to be doing, love." Chat says with a grin.

"What are you going to do about it, alley cat?"

"Make you eat your words."

"Never." Marinette says, dodging his as he lunges for her.

They run around the bed for a while.

"Surrender while you can!" Chat says as she slides down the ladder into her room.

"You can't make me!" She calls back almost at the trapdoor, but he makes it there before her.

"Says who?" He says with a sneaky grin."

Marinette takes off in the direction of the chaise.

Chat makes it there before her.

"Nowhere to hide princess." He tilts his head.

Marinette looks around the room.

"AHA." She says grabbing a bottle from the table next to her little pot plant.

Chat slinks towards her.

"And what is my Princess going to be doing with that?" He asks, not realizing what she was holding.

She lifts the spray bottle to his face and sprays. Chat's mouth drops open as his face gets sprayed with water.

"You did not just do that." He says. Marinette snickers and has the gall to squirt the bottle a few more times. Chat stands there, absolutely stunned.

"Bad Chat, Bad!" She says as if speaking to a pet.

Chat finally snaps out of his daze and hisses, suddenly reaching forward, grabbing her and throwing her over his shoulder.

"That's it, no more fun for you, you're grounded till you're a hundred,off to bed."

"Hey! Put me down!" She w.h.i.n.es. Chat drops her onto her bed, before suddenly tickling her.

Plagg was right, it was handy being able to retract his claws.

"Nooooo! Stop! Have mercy!" Marinette says as she tries to shield her tummy.

"I would love to, but I'm not in a merciful mood." Chat says.

"Oh no, please find it in your heart to forgive me for my sins." Marinette manages to say.

"I'll think about it." Chat says.

Marinette's face begins to turn pink with all of the laughter.

Chat grins and stops torturing her. She takes deep breaths before opening her eyes and looking up at him as he hovered above her on the bed.

Again, as always, neither of them realised the compromising position they were in, with Chat's body hovering above Marinette's, with their faces so close and their eyes connecting.

"You know Chat, I'm also glad I broke your nose that day." He rolls his eyes at her words.

"If I didn't, you wouldn't be here right now." She continues.

"So what that basically translates to you're glad that you've met me?"

"Yes, exactly that." Marinette smiles.

Chat smiles, and for the first time, Marinette can see the timid edge to it. It was easy to be missed, but she could see it.

"It's hard to imagine my life now if none of this happened. Everything feels like a dream sometimes." Chat says.

"I get what you mean, I mean if someone told me Chat Noir would become one of the most important people in my life, I swear I may have broken their nose."

For a few seconds, they're silent before both parties realize exactly what she's said.

Chat blinks.

"One of the most important people in your life?"

Marinette turns her head to the side.

"I don't want you to stay sick, and I don't want you to disappear."

"But I'm right here Princess." He says gently.

"You're deteriorating, and I can't do anything about it. Eventually, it's all going to catch up to you, and you'll fade away."

"I won't just leave you like that, Princess."

"Someday you may not have a choice."

Chat purses his lips, taking in the young woman's sudden change in demeanor.

She was right, and he knew it.

"But isn't that life? You don't always get a choice, sometimes you have to take what you get."

"And it's your duty to take care of what you're given."

Chat tilts his head, and turns her head so that she's facing him.

"Why do you care so much?"

She remains silent.

"Why do you not want me to die? You know for a fact that your life would be much easier. Paris could go back to the way it was. You could live a normal life again. You could stay out late, and watch the stars, and go to the movies again, and sleep with your windows open."

The more he speaks, the more he realises how difficult he had made her life through his years of being Chat Noir. How much of her life had he stolen from her by making her live in fear?

"You could have Karaoke nights, and more sleepover's with Alya, and you don't have to live in a barred up house. You wouldn't have to get scolded for finishing up a design late at University because you'd have no curfew, and you could have celebratory dinners again instead of congratulatory lunches, you could support Nino at more of his gigs, and you could play in the rain again."

Chats brows furrow as it occurs to him that he had not just made her life difficult, but he had made her life just like his, the life of a prisoner.

"You could sketch in the park and watch the sunset from the meadows, or see the Eiffel tower late at night, you could go out and catch fireflies like you always wanted, you could take a boat on the Seine and dance in the dark with the ship's fairy lights dimly burning, you could take walks after…"

He swallows.

"…going out on a date, and-"

"It doesn't matter." She cuts him off.

"What?"

"You wouldn't be there with me, would you? So none of that matters."

She receives an odd look.

"I don't care how easy my life would be. I don't care if I can't do all those things. It doesn't matter, because I got you in exchange, and in reality, I got the better end of the bargain. Letting go of all those things is the minuscule price that I'm willing to pay to have someone as unprecedentedly perfect, wonderful and amazing as you, even if you don't think much of yourself. In the end, I'd do anything to have you forever."

Chat's eyes widen.

Her face turns red when she realizes what she's said.

"Forever? Me?"

She coughs.

"I mean, forever is a long time, but we could be ghosts and scare people, and we could totally watch movies together then and dance on the boat to spook everyone out, that's if you want to dance, it's perfectly cool if you don't want to-"

Chat puts a finger on her lip.

"So what you're saying is I get to have you all for myself forever if eat and sleep properly and by default, not die?"

"Pretty much." She says.

Chat stares at her.

"So if I agree, do I have to sleep right this minute?"

"Not this exact minute, why?"

"We're French, there's a way things go if you wan't someone forever." Chat says with a devious grin.

"Huh?" Marinette looks at him in confusion, but he just chuckles and dips his head.

It took Marinette a second to realize that Chat was kissing her. Something in her c.h.e.s.t exploded,it was as if it was waiting for this young man for eternity, and finally he showed up, and she knew that this was the one she was destined to be with.

Chat Noir, whoever he was underneath his mask, was the missing part of her soul, the piece she never realised wasn't there till she met him.

It was strange how she was able to accept him into her life so easily, but she never ever wanted him to leave. If he ever did, she would never be the same again.

Chat was a very gentle kisser, but whatever he was doing was quite dizzying

One of her hands drifted into his hair while the other held the back of his neck, and Chats hands pulled her into a tighter embrace.

She exhaled shakily as his lips peppered gentle kisses down her neck, across her collarbone , to the dip of her shoulder and back up to her mouth.

She hummed happily in approval when he returned, kissing her much more passionately this time.

Slowly he breaks away from her, which makes Marinette w.h.i.n.e in response.

Chat looks at her ruffled appearance appreciatively.

She smiles up at him, and he smiles back at her with a face-splitting grin.

"I should have been informed earlier." He says, resting his forehead against hers.

"I would have informed you, but I was kind of battling the feelings."

"Tell me about it, I've been in denial for ages now." Chat says.

He shifts so that they're lying on their sides in a comfortable embrace, his arms hold her protectively, almost as if he were scared that if he let go, he'd wake up to find that he was just dreaming.

She looked into his green eyes and she could see the happiness swirling around them.

"Did anyone tell you that you have beautiful eyes?" She tells him.

Chat flutters his eyelashes.

"My lady, are you trying to flatter me?"

Marinette blushes.

"No." She says, hiding her face in his c.h.e.s.t.

"Sounded like you were." He chuckles.

"Go to sleep." She says grumpily.

"Your wish is my command." Chat says, before eyeing that Cat pillow on her bed.

"Yeah sorry buddy, she's mine." He says to it, before flinging it off the loft.

"What did he ever do to you?"

"He just looked really dodgy." Chat says.

"Aww, but his colours were so cat-chy ."Marinette laughs.

"Princess, you are so bad at puns."

Marinette growls.

"Go to sleep before you go flying off the loft too."

"I'm sleeping, I'm sleeping." Chat says, placing a kiss atop her head.

"Sweet dreams, kitty."

"Sweet dreams, Princess." He says with an adoring smile.

And they both drift into slumber.

MEANWHILE IN MIAMI…

Chloe drops her glass at the same time that Gabriel Agreste crushes his in his hand.

The dinner party was interrupted by an urgent Message.

Everyone watched in horror as Adrien Agreste cried.

"My son…"Gabriel says in a quiet voice.

"Not him…"Gabriel says, his breathing becoming heavy.

Chloe stands still, stunned at everything she had just seen.

She had watched the entire live broadcast. Every bit of it. She brought her hand to her mouth. He had Adrien, he knew about her babies, he calculated her every move and now she could do nothing, all she had was Marcus, and she was not sure how far that would take her.

She swallows.

In this game, Chat Noir was winning. Chloe shakes her head.

No. She would not let him win. Never.

She knew she couldn't get Marinette now. She needed a plan so flawless that Chat Noir himself wouldn't be able to figure it out.

Gabriel begins to step back, before turning and darting out of the Exhibition hall.

"Chloe, stay here, Nathalie, get my jet ready, and get me a list of the best private investigators internationally, I'll take care of deciding who to call. Contact the agency, and tell them that I will be putting a pause on the showcase of my designs. I will get my son back!" He says almost desperately.

Chloe just stares at the screen.

"Madame. A message for you." A tall, elegantly dressed butler says.

She snaps out of her daze and looks at the letter on the silver dish.

She picks it up after a moment and walks out of the hall, once she's away from everyone, she brings the letter to eye level. With slightly shaking hands, she opens it. There's only two words.

'Your move.'

Chloe blinks down at the letter. She narrows her eyes.

"Indeed it is, Chat Noir. Indeed it is."

She cricks her neck.