"Over a week!"

It's Wednesday lunchtime, and Alya is glaring at her phone.

"Honestly, LadyBug and ChatNoir, if you can hear me, this is downright cruel!"

Marinette's the only one listening to the rant. She's been listening to it for the entire previous week, after she'd posted Tracker on the Sunday. It's now been over a week since Tracker came out.

Neither of them have posted the finale, and it's driving Alya insane.

"You can't leave us on a cliffhanger!" she complains. Marinette knows exactly what Alya is referring to. At the end of Tracker, Tikki and Plagg find two things they've been looking for. The first one is the girl that Tracker was looking for. The second was the very thing they've been searching for since the start of Season 1.

The location of Nooroo himself.

The episode ended with Tikki racing after Nooroo, Plagg fetching the other kwamis, and a note from LadyBug saying that the finale would be uploaded in a few days.

"She clearly has a different definition of a few days," Alya complains. "There had better be a very good explanation for the delay!"

Considering Alya has been ranting for a week straight on this very topic, she allows Marinette to sit on the bench and ignore everything she's saying.

Marinette is listening to every word.

There is a very good excuse for why the final episode has not been uploaded, but Marinette would never tell Alya what it is. It's because after Marinette left her laptop, her phone buzzed, but she didn't check it for another two hours because she was eating dinner and watching TV with her parents. When she finally went back upstairs and read ChatNoir's message, she realised what a dreadful mistake she'd made.

Wednesday, the day she'd recommended ChatNoir post the final episode, had come and gone without it. Clearly, he's making good on his promise not to open Miraculous if LadyBug isn't there.

The problem is, he doesn't know LadyBug is there. Because there's no way Marinette would leave Miraculous after she finished TP. She might not make any new comics for a while, simply due to lack of ideas, but she wouldn't leave altogether. She'd still reply to comments, still interact with her readers.

And, most importantly, still message ChatNoir.

"I just don't understand," Alya huffs. "What did we do, us humble fans who want nothing more than the final episode? Why hasn't LadyBug at least put up a notification to tell us there's a delay in drawing the final episode?"

There's a pause.

"But there isn't a delay in the final episode!" Alya groans. "Because she said in her message at the bottom that it was already drawn and ready to be posted on Wednesday! Surely she or ChatNoir could post it? No matter which of them was supposed to post it, they should have realised by now that it hasn't been posted."

Marinette does know that it hasn't been posted, and she's trusting that ChatNoir knows it hasn't been posted either.

"I just want to know about Nooroo and Duusuu," Alya groans. "Is that too much to ask?"

Marinette smiles.

"I've even tried messaging LadyBug!" Alya complains. "She hasn't replied!"

Marinette knows this too. She's been reading, but ignoring, RenaRouge's messages. Along with messages from every other desperate fan wanting to know how it ends.

Her phone buzzes.

"I'm going to the bathroom," Marinette says, because Alya's rant doesn't seem to be stopping any time soon and she wants to look at the notification without her best friend peering over her shoulder.

You have a new message

Marinette can't get to the bathroom fast enough, and she bolts the door to the cubicle and desperately unlocks the phone.

Her heart plummets and is crushed on the floor.

The message is from Viperion. Luka.

Viperion: hey marinette. just out of curiosity, why haven't you posted the final episode of tp yet?

Marinette considers not telling him, but if she doesn't tell him on Miraculous, he'll probably find some excuse to talk to her alone and ask her anyway. At least through private messaging, it becomes a lot harder to overhear.

LadyBug: chatnoir was under the impression that i would be leaving miraculous after we finished tp (which is wrong). he has said that he won't be returning to miraculous, asking me to post the final episode

LadyBug: i have sent him a message explaining that he was wrong, but because he's left miraculous, i can't guarantee he's seen it. i'm trusting that, because we've drawn the final episode, it will get to the point where he wants to have the comic completed and will reopen miraculous

LadyBug: if i post the episode, he'll never see my message

There's a pause, and Marinette flops down on the toilet seat to wait for the reply.

Viperion: poor guy, he actually thinks you were going to abandon him? just "see ya" and off you go?

Marinette sighs.

LadyBug: apparently. i'd never do that, how could he even think it?

Viperion: i know why he could think it

Marinette frowns slightly.

LadyBug: luka...?

Viperion: nevermind

Marinette isn't quite sure what Luka means, but she lets the topic drop.

LadyBug: im trusting that the annoyance about tp not being finished will make him go on and post it himself. all i can hope for is that he then sees my message

Marinette waits in the bathroom for a while, waiting for Luka's reply. It's only when the bell rings that she accepts that she won't be getting one. She leaves the bathroom, remembering to wet her hands to go with the whole "I went to the toilet" excuse she's going to feed Alya. Who, in turn, believes it.

The day ends, and Marinette leaves the class. She's just leaving the room when Adrien trips, spilling his stuff all over the floor.

"Do you want some help?" Marinette offers. Adrien sighs and shakes his head.

"Nah, I'm okay, thanks."

Marinette hesitates, but Adrien waves her away as he repacks his bag. She doesn't see Luka waiting near the classroom door, and she doesn't hear him telling one member of her class one, cryptic sentence before meeting his sister and leaving.

All she sees is the highly confusing messages she gets on Miraculous when she gets home.

Viperion: curiosity killed the cat, satisfaction brought it back

[A/N: Happy Valentine's Day y'all! It's just occurred to me that I could have posted these episodes in the same timeline as they take place, but it's too late now. Anyone have any Valentine's drama?]