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Adrien was excited for patrol; he bought matching Christmas sweaters as a present, and was going to give one of them to Ladybug! They were really cute and he thought she’d like them, and thankfully they were perfect to him. He felt warm, though it was cold outside and the heater inside the house wasn’t working at its best.
“Let me guess, you’re giving these to Ladybug, aren’t you?” Plagg sighed, knowing his love for Ladybug had been intense, and part of that was his fault. He did love Tikki, and Chat Noir’s actions were a reflection of that.
Adrien ignored Plagg’s question, making sure he didn’t lose the sweaters in his huge room, or that they weren’t thrown out. When the patrol alarm rang, he took the sweaters and placed them in a bag.”Plagg, claws out”
Chat Noir vaulted over to Ladybug, who was already there, waiting for him only a few seconds, as he was extra excited.
“Hi Chat. You’re here earlier than usual. What gives?” Ladybug asked, not seeing the sweaters in the bag.
“Well, I got you a present, but I’ll give it to you after patrol, since I’m sure you won’t want to carry it the whole time,” Chat answered.
“Awww, Chat, you didn’t have to! I don’t even know what to get you!” Ladybug responded.
“That’s ok. You don’t have to, you’ve done so much for the city and myself, you can just take it without doing anything,” Chat smiled.
“Oh don’t worry, I’m sure I’ll think of something,” Ladybug assured him.
They jumped around the city at the most common akuma spaces. As soon as they finished at the Eiffel tower, Chat took the sweaters out of the bag. “Ladybug, I got us matching sweaters. Hope you like it!” Chat Noir said, giving her one of the sweaters and keeping the other to himself.
“Thank you, Chat, I love these! They’re so cute! Also, I figured out what to get you,” Ladybug responded, thinking of wearing the sweater, so that if Chat ever saw her, he’d immediately know who she was under the mask. It was safe, as no one else knew about this gift exchange and if someone did, he’d be Chat Noir for sure. That would be his gift, and he wouldn’t know it until later when she’ll confess when he figures out on his own.
The next day, Marinette chose to wear the sweater Chat Noir gave her as planned She saw Adrien wearing the same sweater, and was shocked, considering no one else in Paris seemed to have such a sweater all season.
Adrien’s jaw dropped. “Wait Marinette, you know Ladybug? She let you borrow her sweater?”
“No you dumbo. I am Ladybug,” Marinette smiled.
“Wait, M’Lady? Is that really you?” Adrien inquired.
“Yes,and you are Chat Noir, just as I thought when I saw you with that sweater,” Marinette responded, letting a bit of Ladybug show.
“Yeah, I gave Ladybug that sweater when I was Chat, and I’m not shocked Ladybug is you, considering how amazing you are and how much you mean to me. I… I love you, Marinette,” Adrien stuttered.
“I love you too, Adrien,” Marinette whispered, Adrien barely hearing it.
“What should we do now?” Marinette said silently.
Without a word, Adrien slowly put his lips closer to Marinette’s, and she followed suit.
At the next patrol, Ladybug was acting way softer towards Chat Noir, as she accepted his advances more often. How couldn’t she, if her partner was also her long time crush Adrien Agreste? They leaped together around the city, full of energy they usually didn’t have at night.
Chat stopped to ask Ladybug a question about Ladybug wearing the sweater as Marinette. “Ladybug, why did you allow your civilian self to wear the sweater I gave you? Didn’t you want our identities to be a secret?”
“I have two reasons. One, when was I supposed to wear it? You were bound to find out if I wore it as Marinette and it wouldn’t be good to wear during akuma battles since it could wear out easily, even with my miraculous ladybug. Two, the sweater was your gift to me, so I decided my gift to you was a subtle identity reveal. I was hoping that whether you or Adrien saw it, either of your forms would figure me out, and no one else would know. They would just think we dressed the same. Anyway, I know you live somewhere in this city, so it wasn’t a stretch to think you were near, although I didn’t think you were that close. I also know how much you wanted this to happen. Merry Christmas, Chat Noir,” Ladybug rambled.
Chat looked at her with delight and mild surprise. “Wow, that is a lot to say. Merry Christmas, Ladybug.”