'Ladybug?' Chat Noir spoke softly after letting her down onto the ground against a brick wall as gently as he could. The two were in a back alley near the school that the two heroes were unaware they attended together.

'Chat... Noir...?' The black masked hero felt a burst of relief wash over him. He smiled.

'Yeah, it's me. How are you feeling, m'lady?'

'Chat, where... are you?' The blond hero froze at the words.

'What... do you mean, m'lady? I'm right in front of you.' He held the red masked hero by the shoulders. Looking into her eyes and upon noticing that they were no longer blue, the realisation struck him hard. His cat ears fell flat against his head as he looked down at the ground.

'She took away your sight.'

'She took away my sight.'

The two spoke simultaneously.

A long silence engulfed the two heroes as they processed everything that had happened in the past hour. A beeping noise sliced through the quietness, followed shortly by another similar noise.

Green eyes glanced up at Ladybug's earrings before Chat hung his head to check on his own miraculous.

'Ladybug, you have two minutes left, while I have four.'

'Two minutes?!' The red masked hero exclaimed in panic, standing up immediately. 'Okay, we split here. Once we recharge, we'll meet at the Eiffel Tower-'

'M'lady, please. How would you even find a safe location to detransform, absolutely sure that no one would see it?' Chat sighed, immediately halting the blue haired girl from leaving the alleyway by grabbing hold of her hand. 'And even if you managed that, how would you find your way to the Eiffel Tower? You wouldn't be able to see, and you wouldn't be able to swing around the city without your yo-yo either.'

'I know, but we can't-'

'Ladybug...' he pleaded.

'We can't! We aren't supposed to-' she held her head in her hands, shaking her head vigorously from side to side.

'M'lady.' Chat Noir reached out for her hand and held it gently. 'Maybe you should ask your kwami or give Master Fu a call to see what they think?' He suggested, hoping the red masked girl would consider it, at least.

There was a pause, before Ladybug let out a sigh of defeat. 'You're right, you're right. I'm just being irrational again.'

'I never said that.' Chat said with a small smile.

'I'll talk to my kwami. Mind... not looking?' The black masked hero hummed in response and turned away.

'Tikki, spots off.' Marinette spoke softly, feeling a soft wind brush against her as her kwami appeared out of thin air.

'Oh, Ladybug... I'm really sorry about what happened. Everything will be alright, okay?' The dark haired girl heard her familiar voice and felt two small hands cup her left cheek.

'I know, Tikki.' Marinette sighed. 'Should I give Master Fu a call? I think I really need his advice right now.'

Tikki nodded. 'Yeah, go ahead.'

The girl in pigtails reached for her phone just as she heard Chat Noir's ring beep a few times before he detransformed.

'Chat, any cheese?' Marinette heard an unfamiliar voice speak to her partner.

'Is that the only thing you care about right now, Plagg?' Adrien grumbled at his kwami, reaching for a piece of Camembert for the small black cat. 'Ladybug's been blinded and her yoyo's been destroyed too. Who knows where the lucky charm went, and how in the world are we going to beat the villain?'

Plagg simply shrugged. 'You'll figure it out.'

Marinette sighed in relief when Master Fu picked up the phone. 'Master Fu?'

'Yes, Ladybug? What is it?'

Marinette gulped nervously. 'So uh... this- villain. While we were fighting her, my yoyo got destroyed... I dropped the lucky charm too... and she took away my sight. How... how bad is the situation, do you think?'

There was silence on the other end of the line, and Marinette got afraid for a second. 'Master Fu?'

'Marinette, listen to me closely.' She tensed, nodding her head even though she was on the phone with the old man. 'You have to trust in your partner, Chat Noir. Your first step will be to find the lucky charm you lost, at all cost. Without it, we lose, immediately.'

There was a pause, and a faint sigh on the other end of the phone. 'Capture the akuma, and kill it before it starts multiplying.'

'But Master Fu-'

'Listen to me, Marinette. This is the only way.' She fell silent.

'How will I do this without my sight, Master Fu? I will only drag Chat Noir down.' Adrien perked up at the words, strongly disagreeing in his mind.

'Trust in your partner, completely.'

Marinette furrowed her brows. 'What-'

'It is exactly what it means, Marinette. Neither of you can do this alone. Trust in Chat Noir, and listen to what he thinks you should do first. Then decide together what your next course of action will be.' The old man went silent and Marinette didn't speak. She even didn't know what she could say. There was a tense silence before he spoke again. 'I wish you the best of luck, Marinette. You can do this.'

The line went dead. The hero in pigtails sighed in defeat. 'Chat, you still have your back facing me, right?'

'Yep.' He responded immediately.

'What... what do you think we should do? What... can we even do?'  She asked, voice showing defeat. She was tired, sleep-deprived and terrified. Physical exhaustion caused her to take a seat on the grassy ground. The lack of sleep had her yawning as soon as the smell of grass hit her. She curled up in on herself in horror, the fact that she was now blind truly sinking in.

'That's a strange thing to hear from you, isn't it?' Chat chuckled lightly, surprising the dark haired girl. 'You always have a plan, so you never really ask me for any input on what we should do, you know?'

Marinette froze. That was true. Most of the time, she was ordering the black masked hero around, reminding him to not get distracted and stick to the plan she came up with.

'I think that first of all, we should get some rest, all four of us. You seemed really tired during the fight, so we shouldn't push you.' Marinette was surprised that he noticed. 'I think I should send you back to your family as Chat so you can properly rest, get taken care of, and reassure your friends and family that you're okay.'

'And... how are we going to do that? You'll find out who I am.' Marinette muttered defeatedly, feeling Tikki rest on the top of her head, trying her best to comfort the brunette.

'That's... exactly what I'm trying to say, M'lady.' Adrien rubbed the back of his head. 'I... don't think we'll ever be able to proceed if we don't reveal ourselves to one another.'

Marinette visibly froze under Tikki. 'What?'

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