Chapter Text
She was looking transfixed at the young man in the room. Because you’re not supposed to look into the future and see what someone will look like years after your time. It’s usually the other way around, remembering what it used to be. So it was jarring to say the least.
Ladybug only vaguely remembered wandering through Bunnyx’s burrow as she chased the akuma. She knew it was dangerous, since tampering with time could have dire consequences. But she’d had no choice. Still, she’d managed to chase the akuma back into her time, but something had made her linger on. To stay a moment longer on the balcony she was on and then turn around slowly. Only to see a very familiar face through the glass.
Adrien. But not as she knew him. He looked older. He was taller, his hair a little longer and styled in a different way. But it was still unmistakably him. He was dressed in a suit, black that made his eyes pop out in a disconcerting way that made her think of someone else. He was in the process of tying up a light green tie around his neck, so she could look without being worried about being spotted.
She looked around the room curiously. She knew she had to turn around and get away from here as fast as possible. But she couldn’t bring herself to. She was looking into this older Adrien’s bedroom. And noticing interesting things. Like too many feminine touches to think of it as a bachelor pad. Jealousy shot through her before she could stifle it. Well, it was only normal. Of course he’d have a girlfriend to live with him, she reasoned. It was silly to expect that someone like him would stay single for too long. Her eyes had been gliding from the big double bed to the dresses she could see in the closet before they snagged on something. That made her reasoning go to hell. Because obviously Adrien’s mysterious girlfriend was none other than herself. If the Miraculous box (egg) she could see tucked just behind an evening gown was any indication. And it had to be. There couldn’t be anyone else in possession of it, right?
Her eyes returned to him, as he was finishing getting ready. Wow. It was really him. But if that had been startling enough minutes earlier, add to that the realisation that she was looking at her future boyfriend (was he more? A fiance?), and she was floored. Her future self had somehow managed to snag him. Him! She couldn’t have moved even if she tried. It was too much for her poor heart. She’d been so sure that she was slowly overcoming her feelings for Adrien. That pretty soon it would be all in the past, remaining in history as her first crush but nothing more. And now this. She couldn’t unsee this.
And then the unthinkable happened. It got worse.
“Kitty!” she heard a faint voice from another room. What sounded suspiciously like her voice. Kitty? Who was she calling kitty, almost screamed her panicked brain? She hadn’t realised that her heart was racing and her breath coming out in short puffs. Because whether she wanted it or not, whether she was ready for it or not, it all became clear in that small second when she heard the endearment directed at the man she was watching. There was a shred of hope still left, that huge part of her that had been in denial holding on for a last moment. And then he called back, “In here!” And it was over.
There really was no way to get back unscathed from that. She knew something, quite a big something that she really wasn’t supposed to know. It had been bad enough seeing their life together, knowing that. But now? Adrien and her kitty, the same person. The thought finally crystalised in her mind. Surprisingly, the world didn’t end with that realisation. It was monumental, it was life-changing. But apart from her trembling form, everything else continued as normal.
She didn’t have more time to think about what this all meant because at that moment she entered the room. Her future self that is. It was uncharacteristic of her but she couldn’t deny that she looked spectacular. The form-fitting short red dress was amazing (she could only hope it was something she’d created herself) and made her shine. Her hair (longer than it was now) was piled up in a loose bun on top of her head, a lock or two escaping it to tease her face. A face that quite literally glowed with happiness and love as she took in the man in front of her. Wow. She’d never seen herself from outside but she sure looked in love.
The look Adrien, future-Adrien, gave her as he turned around, however, totally matched hers. They were living together, they’d clearly been together for quite some time and still, by the way they were looking at each other, one would guess that they were still in the honeymoon phase.
“Wow,” he was the first to break the silence, eyes taking her in. “You look breathtaking, m’lady.”
Her heart lurched. To hear that coming from his mouth, directed at her civilian self. It was surreal. And made her instantly regret all the time they’d lost. Time they’d never get back. Time lost to heartbreak and loneliness. When they could have had this .
“Look who’s talking. You look dashing, young sir,” her future-self drawled, drinking him in. Her internal struggles, of course, went completely unnoticed by the two lovers in the room.
And then their eyes locked and present-Ladybug got a feeling, no, a certainty that she was intruding on a very intimate moment. A very intimate moment that she and Adrien would have in the future, gulp!
“Do we really have to go to that gala?” Adrien was saying and he was suddenly not a step apart from her, but very close to her and enveloping her in his arms. Like she was something precious. But also… like he couldn’t keep his hands off of her. Ladybug's cheeks must have burst in flames, she thought. The heat was overwhelming. She felt the need to fan herself.
Their eyes remained locked for a few seconds, the tension in the room reaching abnormally high levels. And then a sad smile appeared on Marinette’s face.
“Unfortunately, we do,” she said and all Ladybug could hear was regret. She really didn’t want to go, she’d rather stay and… well.
“Are you sure? I can get you out of that dress in less than a second?” Came Adrien’s teasing reply. And the smirk that accompanied it was so typical of Chat that Ladybug gasped. If there had been even the smallest doubt left, it was gone. It was him. It really was him.
Marinette chuckled before turning around and walking towards the door. She looked at him over her shoulder and said,
“Later,” a promise in her eyes. He laughed softly too before following her out.
Ladybug took a deep breath and pressed her hot forehead to the glass. Well. That had been something. Quite a something. What was she supposed to do now? Her eyes widened as she realised that she’d practically left her teammates to fight the akuma on their own. They most certainly were worried about her too. She had to get back as soon as possible. And… act professional. Finish this, even after her personal world had turned upside down, leaving her breathless. And Chat… Adrien would be there waiting for her. She felt panic bubbling to the surface at the mere thought of facing him now. Knowing what she knew, having seen what she’d just seen. How would she do this? It’s still Chat, your best friend, your partner. You can trust him , a tiny voice piped in.
So she looked one last time at the room that held so much love. It was clearly a home, not just a house. And she hoped with all her heart that she would get to see this future as herself, one day. Then she turned around and left the same way she’d gone there.
***
The moment she left the burrow behind, she saw him. Perched on that rooftop, looking away. But his kitty ears twitched when her feet hit the roof tiles and he turned around. Relief was almost visible on his face. Of course he’d been the one most worried for her, she realised. And the one to stay behind and wait for her. Her eyes filled with tears as she realised how she’d taken him for granted. How she’d turned him down again and again. And he was still there, solid as a rock, there for her.
Yes, he was stubborn, hopelessly so. But also loyal to a fault. And she hadn’t been fair to him. She’d been so blinded by her feelings for Adrien to pause even for a moment to consider how alike they were. They shared the same kindness and willingness to help others, even at the risk of neglecting themselves. But she’d been too… prejudiced. God, she’d really been prejudiced. To consider the possibility that the poised and calm person she saw everyday at school could have a wild side and a penchant for silly jokes. Or the fact that her light-hearted partner could be too serious for his own good when pressed into being so.
She longed to reach out and hug him. To comfort him and tell him it would be alright. But also, because she knew she could. But what stopped her was that sinking feeling in her stomach because she knew this would be awfully unfair to him. To run into his arms after rejecting him for so long only because she’d found out he was her long-time crush? It would be unbelievably hypocritical of her. So, not an option.
“M’lady?” he asked tentatively, bringing her out of her reverie. Right. She was acting strange. Get a grip, Marinette, she scolded herself mentally.
“Where are the others?” she asked in what she hoped was a fairly normal voice.
“They chased the akuma away, trying to keep him distracted until you got back. What happened? You were gone a while. Is everything ok?” He looked so genuinely concerned. And he was so blissfully unaware of what a monumental thing had taken place.
“I… I saw something I wasn’t supposed to see,” was out of her mouth before she realised what she was saying. So much for keeping this secret. She’d never given much thought to how hard it would be for one of them if they somehow figured out the other one’s identity and had to keep it a secret. Here was the moment of truth. She hadn’t managed to last even five minutes. Granted, he’d caught her while she was still processing everything and therefore was emotionally vulnerable, but still. It was hopeless.
“What kind of something?” he asked slowly, no doubt catching her barely contained panic.
“Oh, to hell with it,” she muttered and saw his eyes widen in shock. But there was no stopping her now. “It was you and me. In the future. Living together. As… a couple,” she barely managed to get the last word out. Panic was now an understatement. This was a horrible idea, she realised. How was she going to tell him? How would he react?
“Us? Like… “ he trailed off, but it was clear what he was thinking. He’d caught up pretty quickly with what this meant. Resignation reshaped his features as he sighed. “You saw who I am.”
“Yes,” she whispered.
“Is this why you’re acting so strange? You’re disappointed, right?” he said, looking away.
At first she thought she hadn’t heard him right. And then she realised she had. But how could he think this? And then understanding dawned. She’d been so fooled by the confidence he exuded when he was Chat. She’d totally forgotten he was Adrien too. Who could be so insecure, especially when it came to interacting with people. He always believed they thought the worst of him. And she’d somehow given the impression that she was disappointed he was Chat?
“No,” left her mouth on a gust of air as she rushed to him. “No way. How can I be disappointed?” she kept saying as she cupped his face and made him look at her again. “No, kitty. I’m confused. And panicking. And a lot of other things. But none of them is disappointed. Never,” she finished, like a vow.
And that’s when it hit her. How close they were. And images of that scene she’d witnessed flashed through her mind. Uh oh. It hadn’t been a good idea to get that close to him when she was so unstable. She had to rely on her self-control and that had been shot to pieces when she’d rushed to convince him she was not disappointed. Her eyes wandered to his lips. Well. What better way to convince him than actually showing him how she felt?
And then she was kissing him. She forced herself to be careful, to give him time to react and push her away if that was what he wanted. But she’d longed for this moment for so long that she really couldn’t hold back. Thankfully, he didn’t push her back. Instead, she felt his arms wrap around her and bring her closer, while his head tilted just a little to the right to give him better access. And he was kissing her back. And he took her breath away, both literally and figuratively. She still felt some residual guilt, for taking advantage of him. But with him kissing her like that, she forgot everything else very quickly.
When she broke the kiss right before running out of air completely, she couldn’t think straight. Wow. She felt him rest his forehead on hers but her eyes remained closed. She needed a minute. Or more.
“So, you’re not disappointed?” he asked after managing to catch his breath.. Her eyes opened to meet his and drown in the adoration that filled them. Oh, she was so lost.
“I’m not. But this is not fair to you,” she added, looking away ashamed. “You deserve someone who loves all of you. Not someone who comes running into your arms right after they find out you’re their long-time crush.”
She heard a gasp and her eyes snapped back to his.
“I… well. I admit, it stings a little. But I’m not one to look a gift horse in the mouth. You know what I mean.”
“I’m sorry. I was too stubborn to look closer and see you for what you are. If it’s any consolation, I was getting closer, I think. It was getting harder and harder to remain unaffected by you,” she admitted. It was the truth. She’d been vigilant. She’d built walls around her heart because she wasn’t stupid. She knew that if she wasn’t careful enough, he’d sneak his way in and she’d be in trouble. She hadn’t realised she was in trouble already.
“We… we’ll talk about this later. Right now we have an akuma to catch,” he reminded her. Right. She’d totally forgotten about that.
“Right. Sorry again. I was too distracted. Shocked. Well…”
“You’ll tell me all about what you saw later,” he added.
And this once again prompted images from her earlier experience to dance before her eyes. With the sexual tension she’d felt and the barely suppressed desire to act on it. Um. How was she going to tell him that, she thought as her cheeks caught fire again.
“M’lady? What’s wrong? You didn’t catch us… doing something, right?” he asked, a teasing glint in his eyes. That only made her blush harder, if possible.
“Not… exactly,” she managed to say. She saw his eyes widen. “How can you be so calm about this anyway? So… blase.” But then she saw his cheeks were also a little rosier than normal too.
“Ha. I’m just being real. You said yourself we were living together. It’s only normal to think... “ he caught himself in the nick of time. Before he’d said something that would make both of them die from embarrassment right there. He cleared his throat instead. “Well. You know.”
She knew. And the fact that they were both thinking about that made it hard to breath. It was a good thing they had a job to do. Nothing better to distract you from inappropriate thoughts than fighting a villain.
“Later,” he said again. And she was almost off the roof when he added, “Can you give me a hint, though?”
She looked back to see him looking a bit sheepish. Right. He still had no idea who she was. The balance was tipped in her favour.
“Do you think you could handle it , kitty? Wouldn’t you get terribly distracted? I don’t want you to get hurt?” she teased him, feeling bold all of a sudden.
“I already have enough things to keep me distracted if I let them, bugaboo,” he shot back at her, but there was that vulnerable look in his eyes that melted her. So she took pity on him.
“You know what? Let’s see if you can guess this right. You’d be surprised how close we’d been without realising it. Like I’m-sitting-behind-you-in-class close,” she rattled off before she could chicken out. And she turned around to leave again. Only hearing his strangled gasp as he said “Marinette.” There. That should work for now.