11 Regret

Landing softly on the pavement, I ran up to her and pulled her into an alleyway so that no one could see or hear us, "Ladybug?! What are you doing here, aren't you supposed to be inside defeating the Akuma?" She looked at me worried but then looked down at what I was holding out to her.

"Alya Césaire, here is the miraculous of the fox which grants the power of illusion. You will use it for the greater good. Once the job is done, you will return the miraculous to me, can I trust you?" I waited in anticipation, not knowing fully if I was making the right decision mainly because I know running the LadyBlog is her life.

She looked down at the box then back to me and shook her head vigorously, "Of course, of course! This is my dream come true, I can't want to tell Marinette about this!"

Before she could pull out her phone I held her by her shoulders and sternly spoke, "you cannot speak of this to anyone no matter how close you are to them. This must stay a secret from your friends, family and especially from your blog. Can you still hold this responsibility?"

She held my shoulders back and shook her head again, "oh yeah, I definitely understand, I'll keep this just between the three of us Ladybug!"

I froze at the number and said, "two...only the two of us. Chat Noir has no reason to know who you are, seeing that he isn't here." I looked to the side in disdain but then remembered what was happening. "Quickly, you need to transform so that we can stop Kitty Contour in her path!" I looked over to where I could see the mall as Trixx, the Kwami for the Fox miraculous was explaining to Alya what powers she had.

I looked back at them with a worried expression, "Trixx let's pounce!" Beautiful shades of oranges fly around the air and clear to show Alya completely transformed into Rena Rouge, her new superhero alias. "Alright Ladybug, what's the plan?"

She looked at me with determination and spirit, looking for adventure. Turning towards to mall, I start swinging my yo-yo and with a fiery glare I announce, "we're going to de-evilize that Akuma before it gets a chance to destroy half of Paris, let's go!" I swung my yo-yo with Rena Rouge jumping behind me.

Running through the doors I see Chat Noir getting up after once again being thrown to the ground by Kitty Contour. We both run up to him and before he could say anything, I grabbed his staff and gave it to Rena to have her follow me as I grabbed Chat and swung through the halls to find a safe spot to talk to both of them. "Who's she? Did you think I couldn't handle myself Bugaboo?" He laughed self-deprecatingly then looked back at Rena and sighed, "does this mean that you hold the other Miraculous too?"

I looked at him and shook my head dismissively, "of course not! I'll explain after we defeat this Akuma!" I hated lying to him like that, but I know Master Fu will tell Chat everything when he deems him ready. For now, I guess I'm just everyone's messenger bug?

We landed in a vacant jewelry shop and hid behind the counter, "lucky charm!" After I threw my yo-yo up, a slingshot fell down. I looked around as inspiration struck for my perfect plan, "alright, everyone grab as much jewelry as you can, I'll be right back!" Running across the hall, I sneak into an Ultra beauty store and start picking up random lipsticks.

Running to the center of the hall I take the lipsticks and start drawing on the floor with them. I hear footsteps behind me and the clanking of jewelry, "uhh Ladybug? I know I'm kinda new at this but...what are you doing?"

I got up and looked at the two of them with confidence, "I'm sure Kitty Contour will have a hard time fixing this one!" Running back into Ultra, I grabbed hairspray and started to spray it all of the hot mess of a makeup job I made on the marble floor. "Now to lure her in, make a trail of jewels to this spot, the light should reflect off of them to make get her attention without angering her to shoot off any more lipstick or gloss!" The two of them stared at me then hopped away to follow orders.

It worked! The three of us hugged each other as Kitty Contour's makeup palette fell to the floor and revealed her Akuma. " No more evil-doing for you, little Akuma. Time to de-evilize, gotcha!" Waving up to the now white butterfly I giggle and softly say, "bye-bye, little butterfly!" Picking up the slingshot I throw it in the air yelling, "miraculous ladybug!" I turn to the two of them and hear my earrings going off. "That's me, let's go Rena Rouge!" Before Chat had time to ask any questions I grabbed her and swung away to the alley again.

She hopped around ecstatically and shrieked, "AH THAT WAS SO AMAZING LADYBUG!" I laughed and heard my earrings again.

"uh-huh it was great now uhm..." three minutes left!

I reached out my hand as Alya stopped hopping around and stared at my palm. "Alya I need the miraculous back."

"Oh but...can't I just keep it? I could help you and Chat Noir all the time!" She backed away and hugged the necklace.

I stepped closer and sternly repeated, "no Alya, you promised me before all of this that you'd return it. Now I need it back before I detransform." Another minute ticked off. "Alya, if you don't give me the chance to trust you now, how will I be able to trust you to help me again later?" I sighed in defeat and started to walk away when a flash of orange light came from behind me.

"I'm sorry Ladybug, I should've just given it back when you asked. Please don't mistrust me because of this!" She pushed the miraculous towards me and I softly laughed.

"I trust you more than ever now, thank you for keeping your promise Alya." With that, I swung away in the direction of Master Fu's place. Before I entered, I ran into an alleyway and detransformed, then walked into his building. "Master Fu? It's me, Marnette." I knocked softly on his sliding door before entering.

"Hello Marinette, I assume using the fox miraculous was successful?" He laughed as I handed it back to him and sat down.

Looking up I laughed and softly said, "it's always the ones I choose isn't it?" Before I even realized what I'd said though, Master Fu began to laugh as well. I awkwardly scratched my head and corrected myself, "well I'm the only one that chooses who to give the miraculous to, aren't I?" Master Fu stopped laughing and shook his head.

"Is there something bothering you Marinette?"

I guess he could see the guilt on my face when I spoke. Sitting up straight, I sighed, "well it's just that I never see uhm..." Realizing I almost said Adrien I cleared my throat and flatly said, "Chat Noir bringing in people to help I guess I just--"

"Feel like you're deceiving him by not telling him about me?"

"Well..."

"It's alright to feel that way Marinette." Tikki flew out from my bag eating a Macaroon and said, "all of the Ladybugs before you felt the same way! We just have to come here before Chat Noir, so that we can make sure he really trusts you while also showing us that we can trust him with keeping this secret!" When she finally finished, her face drooped.

"What is it Tikki?"

She looked up sadly, "well Master..." she looked back at me with big sad eyes. As she did, I realized what she was about to say and stood up abruptly.

"Tikki! I still trust him even after all of that! There's no reason to even bring this up again!" I ran over to Master Fu and tried to explain to him the degree of the situation but it looked like he already knew what this was about.

"Marinette...If you found out so easily, then there's only a matter of time before Hawkmoth does too. It's not just for his safety but for yours as well. Do not intervene. If he ever confronts you about being Ladybug ever, just say that Tikki is Ladybug, there is no lie in that." He took out a cloak and wrapped it around me. "You must not let anyone see you leave as Marinette or Ladybug, wear this and other people will see you as another random person besides your true identity. Do not make contact with Chat Noir from this day forward, do you understand Marinette?"

I began to tear up as I shook my head yes. Tikki flew up to me and hugged my cheek, "it's for everyone's sake Marinette, trust us." She gave me a warming smile and hugged me one more time.

"I trust you."