Chapter Text
2049 — About a year before the Final Battle
“Miraculous Ladybug!”
Ladybug threw her Lucky Charm in the air, then watched wistfully as the magical bugs swarmed around the city, repairing the damage from the latest Akuma.
“They’re beautiful, aren’t they?” she whispered, as Chat walked up behind her.
“You’re beautiful,” he countered, wrapping his arms around her from behind and pulling her in close. He placed a kiss on the side of her forehead, and she smiled at the gesture.
They pulled away after that, and turned to help the Akuma victims who were returning to their original states around them. Twenty minutes later they waved goodbye to the camera crews that had gathered around them and leaped away. They settled onto a nearby rooftop, watching the pedestrians wander around below.
“So,” Chat said softly.
“So,” Ladybug echoed.
“This is it, isn’t it? It’s time?”
She didn’t have to ask what he meant. “I think so, yeah. I don’t know why, but...it just feels like this is the moment.” She turned to her partner. The man who’d been her rock for close to three decades, and saw the sadness that was slowly settling over his face. “It’s good to go out on a high note, you know?” she added, unsure if she was trying to convince him or herself.
“You’re right,” he said. “It’s just...bittersweet. You’re the Guardian though. It’s up to you, M’lady.”
She swallowed back tears. “I know, but...I don’t want to make this decision by myself. You love being Chat Noir. I don’t what to take away something that makes you so happy—”
He cut her off. “You’re all I need to be happy, M’lady. You and our family. You have been for years.”
She inhaled deeply, shutting her eyes and leaning on his shoulder. “You too, Chaton.”
They’d known this was coming. They’d been preparing to pass on the torch for a long time. Their lives outside of the suits were getting more and more hectic due to the success of Marinette’s company, and they just didn’t have the stamina they used to.
Still, that didn’t make it easy. It didn’t stop her from feeling like their story was ending, somehow.
At least that would allow another story to begin.
“Well, M’lady. What do you say?” He extended his fist towards her. “Pound it?”
“I had something else in mind,” she said. She grabbed him by the bell and pulled his lips down to hers. They lost themselves in that moment for a while. In the wind whipping through their hair. In the thrills that ran through them as their hands roamed over each other. In the promise of their partnership that would always extend beyond just the suits.
When they pulled away, she felt like she was seeing all the memories of their thousands of rooftop kisses from across the years reflected in his eyes. The nostalgia seeped through every cell of her body and wrapped around them like the very air they breathed.
“Hey,” Chat said, his eyes smoldering. “We don’t have to hand over our Miraculous yet, do we?”
Ladybug grinned. “No. We can...keep them for the night.”
“Good. Because I still have a few more things I want to try…”