Chapter One - Promises

Hey there! I'm Dagger, and I have recently gotten into the Miraculous Ladybug fandom. c: I am almost done with Season 1, although not quite, so forgive me if I have missed a few things. Hopefully you guys will appreciate this none the less! Also, as a fair warning, I write in first person (so each segment will say whose perspective it's from, and I will try and change it depending on which identity they are as well). I know most stories written here are not in that perspective, but hopefully it'll be a good change? Either way, please enjoy! I'm super excited to be seeing what you guys think, although I hope I'll get a bit of grace if my writing is a bit OOC at the moment. I'm working on it!

Chat Noir's Point of View

"Happy anniversary." I whisper into the cold and lonely night air from where I am currently crouched on the roof. "It's been a year since I lost them."

The day really isn't one that I should be commemorating, however if I don't do anything to try and brighten the mood I have set for myself, it would be even worse than usual. My moods were bad enough as it is, and with my luck I'd get akumatized if I let this day get me down even further. It's hard, not that I've two more important people in my life.

No, lost makes it sound like they died. They aren't dead; I refuse to even consider such a thing. They are only missing. I'm sure that if they had died, I would have felt something in my soul.

Not much cheers me up these days though. At this point, my puns are pathetic, when I dare to even try and make them. For the most part, I avoid them like the plague. There's no one to tell them to anyways. Half the time, I wonder if Paris has noticed that I've lost the spring in my step. After all, I am still a hero for Paris, a city that I love with people that I love in it. Yet I can't help but struggle with remembering why I continue to save it.

To be fair, Paris doesn't even need much saving these days. Akuma attacks have been happening in smaller and smaller numbers, with longer and longer gaps going on in between. Was it just Hawk Moth getting bored, or was he distracted by something else? Despite the lack of attacks, I've continued to keep up my lonely patrols. After all, who knows? I could end up having the opportunity to stop a cat burglar, or some other horrible, nonakumatized villain.

Honestly, I'm lucky that I even found a way to deevilize the akumas. I would be sunk if I hadn't. In fact, Master Fu was the one who gave me the temporary way to do it, if I'm giving credit where credit is due. I had nothing to do with achieving the way to deevilize them, as Plagg was the one who showed me how to get to Master Fu. The old man had said once Ladybug came back, I would have to give him his special yoyo back, and he seemed quite adamant with the fact that she would return to us. I, on the other hand, am starting to wonder if I'm ever going to see my lady again.

It's that I don't want to believe I will. I want to with all my heart. However, as the days drag on without even the slightest hint of where she could be, I don't know if hanging on to my hope is foolish.

The fateful day, which feels like it occurred a lifetime ago even though it only has been a year, will forever be etched in my mind. It's one of the worst I have ever experienced, matched only by two others. The first of those days is, of course, the day I lost my mother. However, that happened years ago. The other two I count as occurring at the same time, even though they were technically on different days. They happened at roughly the same time, marking this day as their anniversary.

The first is when I lost Ladybug. Perhaps what makes it worse is the fact that the day was fairly normal. I had had a quick argument with Plagg, transformed, and then met up with Ladybug for patrol. It was all usual, and actually rather boring, as there wasn't even an akuma attack. I'd flirted with her like usual, and it was once again to no avail, which was expected. Then, out of nowhere, she asked me to make a promise that I know I'll never forget.

She looked up at me from where she sat, her legs dangling off the roof. We had stopped for a moment, and she wasn't fazed at all by my flirtatious comments or the fact that I was crouching on the chimney, causing me to be looking down at her. Her bluebell eyes seemed to shine in the night with some sort of hidden worry, as if she was aware of something to come. What I wouldn't have given to know what was going on inside her head. For a moment, she bit her lip, seeming to weigh her words. She appeared to be deciding if she should speak, and I was at my breaking point for waiting for her to respond.

"Cat got your tongue?" I teased, giving her a cheeky and somewhat lopsided grin as I attempted to lighten the suddenly serious mood.

She frowned, but didn't respond to my jesting, as she normally did. Instead, she blurted out something completely unrelated to the topic. "If one of us ever goes missing, the other promises to never stop looking till we find them, right?"

I was actually totally caught off guard by the question, and rather taken aback. Did she think that for some reason I wouldn't look for her if she ever were gone? Why was she even thinking about this in the first place? "I would say that that's rather self-explanatory, Bugaboo. I can't go losing my lady, now can I?"

"I'm serious, Chat." She turned away from me, and once again I found myself wishing that my powers included mind reading, a wishing that I'd been experiencing more and more recently. "I-I need to hear you actually promise it. Please."

I took a deep breath. It wasn't that I was hesitant to say the words, because I'd do anything for my red clad partner. However, I felt the pause would ensure that she knew I was really genuine in saying it. "I promise that I will never stop looking for you till I find you if you ever go missing."

She turned back towards me, flashing a grateful smile and seeming relieved to hear the words. Her entire body language, on the other hand, screamed that she has barely relaxed at all. What was up with her? "Thank you, and sorry for making you fulfill such a silly request."

I gave her another smile in return, but this one wasn't all all meant to be flirtatious or irritating. I could only hope that it actually came across that way. "Do you promise the same thing for me, m'lady?"

"Of course I promise that." She didn't hesitate when answering, which caused my heart to soar a bit inside of my chest. "What are partners for?"

My heart sank back down inside of my chest. Bitterness swept over me as I kept my hands from curling into fists. I wanted to be more to her than partners, and that fact constantly distracted me. How was it fair? Why didn't she return my affections? Why had I fallen for a girl who was too good for me?

As all of this ran through my head as I tried to play it off as no big deal, which was unusual since I'd normally give her a pun about how that wasn't true. It felt wrong to do in this situation though. Even as I weakly chuckled and stammered a response, she didn't seem to be paying attention anymore, distracted once again. "Yep, that's right. You and me. Partners."

I let out a shaky breath, pulling myself out of my walk down memory lane. There had been no other kinks on our patrol that night. I had tried to replay the night time and time again, but there was no sign of where things had gone wrong. No sign of where she might've been, besides the attitude that she displayed. Did she know then what was going to happen? Why wouldn't she have told me if so? The entire situation makes my head spin, because there is truly nowhere to start without knowing Ladybug's identity, and no one does except for her and her kwami, who is nowhere to be found. The only one who might have any clue is Master Fu, but if he does, he isn't saying anything about it, and there is no way to force him to.

Of course, my luck couldn't just cause one important person to disappear in my life. No, instead I had to lose two, and the second one is one who I under appreciated for so long. Marinette Dupain-Cheng, whose last encounter with me was at the end of our school day, before I went to patrol with Ladybug for what I didn't know was the last time.

"Your fencing practice is so boring." Plagg grumbled, makimg himself at home on my shoulder as I tossed my gym bag over my other, unoccupied one. "I think I liked your fencing instructor better as Darkblade." I glared at him out of the corner of my eye, and he backtracked. "Not really. Then you'd have to battle him again as Cat Noir. However, that would mean camembert." He got a dreamy look in his eyes as I rolled mine. This was typical behavior for the kwami. "Speaking of which, you could've at least left me some while you were at practice."

"You are going to cause me to end up broke, you greedy nuisance." I grumbled, pushing the door open and stepping into the hallway. "Then you'll never get it again."

Plagg just scoffed. "Please, Adrien. You're so rich, I doubt buying a gold, huge statue of camembert would make a dent in your richness. Speaking of which-"

"No." I stopped that request before it could get anywhere else. "Secondly, I don't think you are using richness the right way, if you are trying to refer to me being rich. Richness is a word you would use to refer to something like chocolate cake, not a person and their money." He opened his mouth to respond, but I swatted him off my shoulder whenever I spotted someone walking down the hallway. "Hide!"

Quickly, he dove into my gym bag - which was thankfully till slightly open - and I zipped it shut as I spotted Marinette approaching, eyes glued to the papers in her hand. "Oh, hey Marinette!"

The girl's bluebell eyes were up in a moment, focused on me, and she nearly dropped her papers out of fright. She always seemed to do that around me, and it made me feel bad. Did she hate me still? I know we'd started out on bad terms, but I'd apologized a long time ago. She said she'd forgiven me, but even with our mutual friendship through Nino and Alya, I wasn't sure that she had. Sometimes it seemed to get better, and I did at least know her better than I used to, but I still had to wonder if she actually wanted that to be happening.

"A-Adrien!" She stuttered, clutching her papers tighter. "Uh, what are you doing? Fencing practice?"

'"That's the one." I smiled, trying to kill some of the awkwardness. It didn't seem to be working. "What about you?"

She squirmed a little, and I wanted to slap myself for starting a conversation and bothering her. Obviously she wasn't in the middle to talk to me. "Uh, I was finishing a project I've been working on with Nathaniel. He helped me if I wanted to ask. No, wait, I mean he asked me if I wanted to help."

Hearing her mention Nathaniel made me cringe, but I couldn't figure out why. Maybe I was still shaken up about the Evillustrator incident, which had been a while ago. "Oh, really? What were you working on?"

"A play!" She beamed, seeming to get excited. In fact, her excitement seemed to get rid of her stutter. "Did you know that he's a brilliant writer? He asked me to help him be his co-writer, and asked if I could help design costumes as well. The school allows us to stay a bit after, as you know, so we were working on it. There's not very much completed, but we're getting somewhere. I can feel it."

I had to keep myself from scowling. "That sounds great. I have to get going, actually. I'm supposed to go meet Chloe."

I don't know why I said it. It probably had to do with her mentioning Nathaniel and working with him, especially since she sounded so excited. I had no reason to do it. In fact, it was really rude, especially because it was a lie. However, I made it before I could stop myself, and had to watch as Marinette's face fell. I didn't have any reason to do it. I'm definitely not jealous, so I had no reason to say it.

"Oh, well, um, I won't keep you. Have fun with Chloe." She spun around and raced away before I could say anything to counteract what I had just done.

I groaned, feeling guiltiest by the second. Why did I have to go and do that?

That memory is even more painful to relive than my last one with Ladybug, and for several reasons. For one thing, I realized far too late that while I had feelings for m'lady, I also had feelings for Marinette. As Adrien, I was an absolute klutz when speaking to her, and she seemed to have no interest in speaking to me. However, as Cat Noir, she actually would talk to me, and we had some nice conversations. How oblivious was I? Secondly, I said some horrible things to Marinette, and I realize now that they had to be out of jealousy for her spending time with Nathaniel. She looked like she was about to cry when she ran away. What if I somehow indirectly caused her disappearance? Perhaps that is the worst thing about that. Maybe if I had just been nicer, something could've done something different and she wouldn't have disappeared. Maybe if I had just paid more attention, I would have realized some detail and known how to at least begin to search for her.

While the police didn't really try to find Ladybug, they did try to hunt down Marinette. They talked to her distraught parents, to our class, and to anyone else who might know where she was. None of us had a clue. Her room was undisturbed, so they said that she definitely had not run away. I wasn't sure if that was better or worse, seeing as it meant that it was a kidnapping. For all I knew, she could be dead and at the bottom of the river, and I would feel responsible.

With no leads, the police announced a few weeks ago that they were giving up the hunt, and while no one said anything, it was common knowledge to everyone that that translated to them saying she was dead. I expected most people to accept it. However, even our classmates - heck, even her parents and Alya - had given up. I was the only one looking for both of the ladies who have caught my eye.

And now, I'm even beginning to wonder if it's worth it anymore. I know that their disappearances have to be connected. It can't be a coincidence that the last time I saw both was on the same day. Marinette has seemed to be good friends with Ladybug, so that could be why. However, I can't figure out what that has to do with anything. If I could just get a clue about one, I could see if I could find both. So far, it doesn't seem like that'll never happen.

"Maybe it is hopeless." I moan, placing my hands in my head. "I'm going to have to detransform soon. If I don't find a clue soon, I'm going to have to break my promise. How can I keep looking when there's nothing to be found?"

"Who's says there's nothing to be found, kitty?" I freeze when I hear the words, afraid to turn around and see the speaker.

There we have it! Normally I try to aim for 3,000 words or more so that they are semi-lengthy, but I figured that this was a nice place to end this. You guys will probably realize who is here though. c; I hope you guys enjoyed this first chapter. Please favorite, follow, PM, and/or review if you did! I'd love to see who's supporting the story, although I will update either way. Thank you for reading! I'll try my best to update soon.

~ Dagger