The Scarf for Two

2 - Not THAT part!

Warning! "Zombizou" and "Glaciator" spoilers below!

"Don't worry Kitty, you'll get your kisses." She'd really said that! Marinette dived into the pillow to hide the flush on her face before Tikki noticed. But what she wanted to gain, if kwami knew all her feelings?

What she'd been thinking?! Sure, she'd been acting under extreme pressure. Everyone had so much hope in her, everyone was sacrificing. So did Cat Noir. Not for the first time, by the way. Until now, she thought he'd been doing it because he followed the reason. She was the only one who could catch and purify akumas. But after what he'd told her... About the kiss... That he wouldn't want to kiss her under the influence of a spell... She wasn't sure anymore whether he followed the reason or rather his heart. And if it was his heart...

"Ughr!" she exclaimed irritably, straight into the pillow.

"Something's wrong?" Tikki asked quietly, approaching the girl.

"Still the Zombizou case's bothering me..." Marinette said and immediately blushed seeing the meaningful smile on her kwami's face. "Tikki!"

"What?"

"I'm not talking about that!"

"You're not?" Tikki smiled wider.

"Oh, all right..." Marinette sighed. "That is also bothering me. I mean... That part actually irritates me! I'm worried about something else."

"Well... When you say: 'that part' which part you mean exactly?" Tikki asked, eating her cookie and observing the girl's deepening flush.

"Oh, you know which..." Marinette groaned and hid her face in the pillow again.

"I can only guess. But why it irritates you? After all, you already said that you were wrong about Cat Noir?"

"What?!" Marinette exclaimed and looked shocked at her kwami.

"Well... During the fight against Glaciator..." Tikki reminded.

"Oh, right... But you know that I love Adrien! I can't reciprocate Cat Noir's feelings! I can't love two boys at once!"

"You're right. You can't love two boys at once..." Tikki confirmed in such a tone that Marinette looked at her closely.

"Are you suggesting something?"

"Me? Of course not!" Kwami denied and took a cookie to avoid adding anything more.

"Oh, never mind! I have no idea why we're talking about that! I'm worried about what had happened before. I mean before I told Cat Noir..." Marinette hesitated, suddenly embarrassed. "You know... what I told him. Oh, Tikki! It bothers me that I let myself feel negative emotions and I attracted the akuma. I've always thought you protect me from the akumas. That I can't be a victim of Hawkmoth."

Tikki looked at the girl with wide eyes and remained silent.

"Tikki?"

"Oh, Marinette... Why have you thought I can protect you from the akumas?"

"Well, no akuma has ever approached to me. Actually, they avoid me, because I can catch them as Ladybug."

"Why haven't you thought that it's because you're such a positive person and you're not an interesting target for Hawkmoth?"

Marinette looked at her kwami totally shocked. It was terrible news. Until now, she lived in an illusory sense of security that Tikki would protect her from the attack of the akuma. That kwami's positive energy created a kind of protective cocoon, thanks to which all her emotions remained somewhat neutral to Hawkmoth's radars. Meanwhile, her safety depended only on herself. Of course, it was comforting that she was such a positive person that Hawkmoth could only dream of targeting her but knowing that she was only on her own was the additional weight on her shoulders.