Chapter Text
Alya and Mainette got to the cafe early and were waiting for the boys to arrive. For the time being Alya was going to try not to think about her superhero deja vú.
Not that she was doing a very good job, but with Marinette rambling about her art history class and how it inspired the design she was working on, and the boys on their way, she figured she would end up with something to occupy her mind eventually.
Marinette was in the middle of explaining how she needed to find just the right kind of fabric to represent historical France, but also look modern enough to be appealing when they heard Nino’s voice, “Hey, dudettes!”
Alya looked up to see her boyfriend lifting his arm in greeting. She was just about to interrupt Marinette, and point out their friends when a blur of black and pink leapt up and ran into him.
Nino stumbled back, grinning, and returned the hug. “If I’d known you missed me so much, I’d have gotten us all together sooner,” he chuckled.
“Sorry.” Marinette jumped back, “I guess it’s just been a while.” Then she noticed her own boyfriend standing behind him and rushed to him as well.
Having braced for impact, Adrien managed to avoid stumbling as Nino had, but he laughed as he caught her and dropped a kiss on the top of her head. He looked over at Nino, “I guess we just get better hugs if she doesn’t see us for a couple weeks.”
Marinette buried her head in Adrien’s chest and mumbled something unintelligible, causing him to laugh again. Alya noticed that she didn’t pull away this time, and he squeezed her a little tighter. It was a little strange for them to be so affectionate in public, but something about it seemed familiar. She brushed off the thought as Nino wrapped an arm around her waist, and pressed a kiss to her cheek. “Well, she sees you every other day, Agreste.”
Adrien grinned and shrugged as he and Marinette sat down across from their friends. A waiter came over and took their orders, and the conversation continued. In a few minutes, Alya was so caught up in talking and laughing with her friends that she wasn’t thinking about Chat Noir and Ladybug, or Marinette’s sudden affection, until Nino brought it up again.
“So have you come up with anything new for the Ladyblog? It’s been a few days since you posted.”
Alya’s face brightened immediately. She had planned to avoid thinking about superheroes for the duration of this get-together, but if they were going to bring it up, who was she to deny herself the pleasure of it? “Yes! I’ve been working on this new article about Miraculous around the world.” She leaned forward as she began to explain, “See, every time Ladybug brings in a different hero, she has to leave the fight, which means the Miraculous are all being kept somewhere. There have been enough new and different ones that it begs the question: how many are there? And then I remembered way back in the first year when that temple appeared in Tibet after they defeated the miraculous eating senti-monster, and there are records of heroes all throughout history. So I started researching how they relate to different cultures-”
Alya was pretty sure she wasn’t supposed to see it, but she happened to glance over at Adrien and Marinette as she spoke. Adrien was looking at his girlfriend with a smirk, but that wasn’t what caught her attention. As he looked at her, Marinette rolled her eyes, still focused on Alya and pushed him away with a finger on his nose.
Of all the things that had been giving Alya deja vú in the last few days, that one clicked.
And then everything else did too.
Alya had seen Ladybug do the same thing on countless occasions. When she was focused and Chat would crack a joke, leaning in to distract her or see her reaction, she would push him back bry his nose without even looking. How many times had she seen the same interaction between her friends?
Because they were Ladybug and Chat Noir.
The realization hit Alya like a freight train, and suddenly so much of the last few days-- the last few years -- made sense.
When Marinete had hugged Adrien earlier, it looked just like when Ladybug had hugged Chat Noir after the fight with Supervision a few days earlier. Then, because she was so glad he was alive that she couldn’t possibly express it in words, and now because she needed to reassure herself of the same thing.
Her excitement when she saw Nino was for the same reason: she was worried about how she had put him in danger. She had pulled back from him because she couldn’t explain why she was so happy, but not from Adrien because he already understood.
A million other things made sense too. Marinette was always missing during Akuma attacks, or late to planned activities even though she was one of the most reliable people Alya knew, and she was always so sleep deprived because she was fighting the Akumas. She chose Alya and Nino to be heroes because she already knew and trusted them. She always knew the name of the people in their class but not other people in Paris because she already knew them. She was always so adamant about Lila being a liar because half of Lila’s lies were about her . It all made sense.
And finally, Alya understood why Chat’s words seemed so familiar to her. It was years ago, before Adrien and Marinette had started dating. Adrien hadn’t been able to hang out with them in weeks, so they were all excited when he finally had a day off, until he cancelled when a last minute photoshoot was planned. They all assured him that even though they would miss him, they understood that it wasn’t his fault his schedule was so packed. He had still been upset, though, until Marinette said, “we’re not your friends because of your perfect attendance. We’re your friends because you do everything you can to be there when we really need you.” Marinette hadn’t lied when she suggested it was Ladybug Chat paraphrased, she knew full well it was herself but couldn’t tell the full truth-
“... lya? Alya, is everything okay?”
Alya snapped out of her thoughts and stared at her friends. Adrien and Marinette looked a little confused and very concerned.
“Woah,” she muttered, barely audible.
“Thank goodness!” Nino sighed, “What happened? You were all excited about your article and then you just stopped. Is everything okay?”
Slowly she nodded her head. Now how did she tell her two best friends she just discovered their biggest secret, one they had successfully kept all 5 years she had known them. She didn’t know, but she had to say something. Luckily her shock took over.
“It’s you,” she said quietly, looking first at Marinette, then at Adrien, “Isn’t it?” It was more of a statement than a question, and if Alya had any doubts they disappeared at her friends’ reactions.
They froze, eyes going wide.
Nino didn’t notice, “Alya, what are you talking about?”
Marientte cut in as Alya tried to figure out what to say, “Maybe we should go somewhere to talk,” she suggested, just barely veiling the strain in her voice.
Alya nodded, “That’s a good idea.”
“Everything’s fine, Nino,” Adrien said, noticing his friend’s obvious confusion, “It’s just not something to talk about in public.” Alya was glad Adrien and Marinette understood and were taking over the situation because she didn’t think she could right now.
Nino only seemed to be slightly calmed, but he followed his friends as they took their bill, and agreed to meet back at Alya’s and Marinette’s apartment.
As soon as the four of them were in the apartment and seated in the living room, Nino spoke up, “Okay, you’re all being weirdly cryptic and I’m so confused. What is going on?” It was funny, Alya noticed, that he didn’t sound angry that he was being kept out of the loop, just concerned. That would be why he got the miraculous of protection. Because he was always so supportive. Not for the first time she wondered how Ladybug and Chat Noir got their miraculous- how Marinette and Adrien got their miraculous, she reminded herself.
Marinette looked at her partner, and he held her gaze. They seemed to communicate without speaking, and, knowing what she did now, Alya was amazed she had never noticed how much like Paris’s heroes they were. Everything from how they interacted to the ring and earrings they had worn everyday for 5 years.
After a moment Adrien nodded and took Marienette’s hand. She nodded back at him, and turned to Nino. “I’m sorry we didn’t tell you sooner, but it was supposed to be a secret.” She took a deep breath. “Adrien and I… Adrien and I are Chat Noir and Ladybug.”
“It’s different hearing it out loud,” Alya muttered.
Nino just stared. At first he looked shocked, but it quickly became thoughtful as he continued to stare at his friends, eyes narrowed and head cocked slightly to the side.
“Ya know, it kinda makes sense,” he said after a minute, “I mean, all the disappearing acts you two pulled when we were in school, and you’re the coolest guys I know. You would make great heroes. I don’t know how the jewelry never tipped me off though.”
“That’s all you have to say? You find out our best friends have been superheroes as long as you’ve known them and all you can say is “that makes sense”? This is huge!” Alya couldn’t take it. Was he really not totally shocked by this? Of course it made sense that their best friends were superheroes, they were superheroes, but this was still huge information. She was so excited! She could finally get answers to all her questions. She couldn’t post them, of course, but she would finally know.
Nino shrugged, “Technically, I’ve known Marinette since CM 1, and it totally makes sense.”
Marinette giggled. “You guys are actually taking this very well.”
“Yeah,” Adrien said, “We were worried you might be mad about all the lying-”
“Dude, you’re a superhero . How could we possibly be mad about that?” Nino interrupted.
“Well, we did have to lie a lot about where we were, and I’m really sorry about all of it.” Marinette said, apologetically looking down at her hands.
“Marinette,” Alya said, “You made both of us superheroes. You save Paris at least once a week. That totally makes up for it!”
For a moment Marinette sat on the couch, lips screwed to the side and hands in her lap. All of a sudden she rushed forward and hugged Nino and Alya as tight as she could.
They both returned the embrace with wide grins, but Marinette didn’t let go. Nino raised an eyebrow and cocked his head to the side. “You okay, Nette?”
“Mhm,” she mumbled, still holding her friends.
Nino looked at Adrien, “What’s going on?”
Adrien smiled, “Relief. You’re alive after Supervision, you don’t hate her for lying. And she’s just Marinette.” He shrugged with the last part, and Nino nodded in understanding.
“We’re all good, Netty,” he said as he and Alya squeezed her tighter.
It was a few more minutes before Marinette let go. She grinned at Alya and Nino, “Thanks guys.” She moved back to sit beside Adrien and he put his arm around her shoulders. “Now, I’m assuming you have questions.” She looked directly at Alya.
“Girl, like you wouldn’t believe!” Alya grinned. Of course it made sense that Marinette and Adrien were Paris’s superheroes. He may have been a model and she may have been a klutz, but they were the most kind hearted and hardworking people she had ever had the pleasure of knowing. Like Nino had said it made sense, but Alya was getting details!