Chapter Text
Cat dropped onto Marinette’s balcony, eager to see her after a long week of photoshoots and other boring obligations. School had been busy as well with projects in several subjects as they were nearing the end of the school year. He had poured over his own work late into the nights so he could come tonight with a clear conscious. Though, knowing Marinette, she was still working on it.
He knocked at her skylight, some soft, oriental music drifting up to him through the glass.
“Come in, Cat,” her voice called, but not from nearby.
He opened the skylight. “All decent, Princess?”
She chuckled. “As if I’d invite you in if I wasn’t, silly. I’m down by my vanity. Come on in.”
He eased through the hole and made his way down the stairs, catching a flash of red out of the corner of his eye. Turning, he saw something that made his eyes start out and his heart stall in his chest.
Marinette.
Marinette was wrapped in flowing red silk, a traditional Chinese formal gown of exquisite design. The belled sleeves of the outer robe were embroidered with phoenixes in red, orange, cream, and gold while the same colors swirled down her shoulders and pooled around her feet in a lovely symmetry of vines. The edges were lined in thick bands of silk the color of fresh cream and were embroidered to match while the wide waist tie bore geometric points that reminding him of a crown.
His eyes followed the lines of embroidery from her waist to her eyes with the same fixation as his namesake would have on his prey. Her face was white with rice powder, her lips crimson, and her blue eyes and brows lined in black to make them stand out, like bluebells in floating in a porcelain bowl. Her hair was down except for a braid wrapped like a headband to which was pinned a headdress. A circlet of dark rose velvet formed the base of a small, delicate spread of white and pink cherry blossoms, adorned with beaded tassels of red and white to match the earrings that dangled to brush against her shoulders.
“Cat?”
He couldn’t move. He couldn’t breathe. His heart started stuttering in his chest, frantically trying to kickstart itself and failing utterly.
She was beautiful. It wasn’t opinion. It was fact like saying gravity pulled you down or fire was hot. It hit him with the force of a speeding train and left him breathless. Then he realized what she was wearing and his cheeks burned.
Marinette was dressed as a bride. Not in the western sense, all white satin, roses, and lace. No. She was dressed in the traditional wedding colors of her mother’s homeland. The analytical part of his mind cataloged the elements he had become familiar with during his Chinese studies, the cherry blossoms, the phoenixes, the rich red of robe and lips, the color of luck, while the rest of him … well, his chest ached and he had a sudden compulsion to throw himself at her feet like the poor knight that he was. Was he sweating inside his suit? Great! She stood there looking like a princess out of legend, ready to marry her prince and he was a sweating, blushing mess!
A dainty, white hand snapped fingers twice in front of his nose. “Come on, Kitty. You’re starting to scare me. I don’t look that bad, do I?”
He tried to shake himself free of his rose tinted thoughts enough to answer her.
“No,” he said, his voice breaking and he winced. “No, you … you look beautiful, Marinette!”
She blushed and fiddled with her sleeves. “Thanks. I was practicing getting ready for tomorrow.”
His mind scrambled for a reason why she would be practicing for something tomorrow that involved her being dressed like … this! He fought to keep his eyes trained on her face rather than let them drift along the soft lines that clung and billowed in all the right places to show off her delicate beauty and the delicious curve of her waist.
“What, are you getting married or something?” Why did he say that and why did the thought hurt so much? He had known Marinette for three years and they were close, but he had always had Ladybug in his heart, though in the last year he had buried his feelings for his partner pretty deep in order to give her the support she needed. And Marinette had always been special to him, the only person in his life to really understand him, but this strange, bittersweet ache…
This was different.
The smile faded slightly from her face and his heart clenched in his chest. “No, nothing like that.” She tapped her index fingers in front of her in one of her nervous gestures. “Our final cultural history project is a presentation on a myth or legend. This outfit is part of the presentation.” She pulled the sweeping outer robe away from her to look down at the fine embroidery. “It was my Maman’s wedding gown. She is saving it for me for my wedding, but she is letting me borrow it for this.”
“You mean… this is what you’re going to look like… on your wedding day?” His mouth went dry, tears stinging the corners of his eyes, visions of this fairytale Marinette surrounded by falling cherry blossoms with a radiant smile just for him floating before his mind’s eye.
She sighed, blowing away the daydream like a sunset fog. “Maybe, if I can find someone to love me as much as I love them.”
Why did those words burn in his chest? Why was he having to suppress a growl at the thought of Marinette getting married?
She shook herself free from whatever sad thoughts were haunting her and gave him a sweet smile. “I’m sharing the legend of the White Snake. A snake once turned into a woman and she fell in love with a mortal man because he gave her his umbrella on a rainy day. There are a lot of variations, but that is the basic story. They fall in love and get married, hence the wedding gown. A lot of other things happen, like her husband is tricked into forcing her to reveal herself and it kills him and she has to go on a quest to bring him back to life, but it’s really about the power of love and how it can overcome any obstacle.”
Cat couldn’t help but smile at her enthusiasm, despite how eerily familiar a lot of her legend sounded. “That is a neat story, Marinette. What made you go with that one?”
His eyes widened as her cheeks turned pink and she started fidgeting with her sleeves again. “It’s one of my favorites. It reminds me of someone special.” She looked up at him through her lashes and his heart flipped over. “Do I really look good, Cat?”
How could he answer her with his heart doing summersaults in his chest? Good wasn’t a big enough word to describe her, nor beautiful or lovely or any other word in his vocabulary. She had stolen his breath away, which sounds romantic when you read it in books, but he never thought he would have it happen in real life… unless it was with Ladybug.
“Princess,” he said softly. “You are breathtaking.”
She looked away and her blush darkened. “Do you think he’ll like it?”
He swallowed hard. There was the rub. “Who, Buttercup?”
She nodded jerkily.
Spreading a model smile across his face and doing his best to ignore the sudden surge of disappointment and jealousy, he said, “I can’t imagine any guy seeing you and not wanting to be your groom, Marinette.”
Her radiant smile was both a gift and an attack, leaving his heart aching as she swirled around in a giddy circle, her long, bell sleeves fanning out behind her like phoenix wings. “Oh, I’m so glad, Cat! I’ve been worrying he wouldn’t like it or think it is too much.”
“He would be a fool if he did, Princess.” He felt his heart sinking lower and lower as each word left her crimson lips, but he was her friend first and she deserved his support. He stepped forward and tipped her chin up so he could look into her eyes. “Just remember. A princess looks down for no one.”
Her eyes danced. “Well, I’d kind of have to ‘cause he sits right in front of me, but I know what you mean, Kitty.”
His heart stalled once more.
He sat in front of Marinette!
He was the one she wanted to impress! She had said the legend reminded her of someone special. He had given her his umbrella on their second day of school and she still had it! He… Adrien… was the one she loved?
He was Buttercup?!
Just as quickly as it had stopped, his heart punched the gas and overshot his chest and lodged in his throat, sending a flood of heat to fill his face.
Those sapphire eyes looked up at him, concerned. “Kitty, are you okay? You haven’t been acting like your normal self, this evening.”
“And what is normal when the person you might have been crushing on for a while suddenly tells you they like you back, but they don’t know it’s you because you are a superhero,” he mentally panicked as his cheeks started to hurt from the rush of blood. He rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment.
“Y-yeah, you’re fine - I mean, I’m fine! It’s not like you’re the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen and you are literally dressed for a wedding or anything,” he babbled, hoping he sounded like a cool cat instead of like a complete idiot. “But yeah, y-y-your Buttercup will love it! Probably throw himself at your feet in awe of your beauty and well organized presentation. So… seeyoulaterprincesshopeitallgoeswellbyeeeeeeee!”
His heart pounding, Cat launched himself up and out of her bedroom and back to his own room before he had time to think.
He detransformed and collapsed onto his bed as Plagg cackled with laughter.
“Boy, oh, boy! What a mess you two are stuck in, huh? I’ve been waiting for this for ages!”
Adrien shot up and glared at his kwami. “You knew? You knew I was her… Buttercup this whole time? And you didn’t tell me?”
“Duh! I can’t wait to see how this pans out tomorrow, lover boy!”
“Wh-what am I going to do, Plagg?!”
“You were the one who said throwing yourself at her feet was a good place to start.”
“I didn’t know what I was saying! My brain jumped the track as soon as she said Buttercup sits in front of her! With the way things are going, I’m likely to do something stupid and crazy tomorrow… like propose to her or something equally ridiculous!”
His kwami shot him a smirk that boded ill for everyone. “And that would be bad why?”
“Plagg!”
“So you finally admit you like Pigtails! What’s the big deal? She likes you too!”
“But I just figured out I like her… have liked her for a long time… and she is… and I… and then there is Ladybug… Ugh! Help me, Plagg! What do I do?”
His little friend flew to his nose and glowered at him sternly, making Adrien stare at him cross eyed. “Look, kid. I have been waiting the better part of three years for you to figure this out and you are not going to ruin it for me, you got it? ‘Cause I will warn you right now, you mess this up and I will cataclysm your clothes so you’re left standing in front of your girlfriend in nothing but a smile and I will pay dues to the Guardian later. Are we clear?”
“You wouldn’t dare.”
“Watch me.”
Adrien’s mouth, which had been hanging open in shock, snapped shut with an audible click.
“Good,” Plagg replied smugly. “Now, You had better get some sleep. You’re bride-to-be will be looking her best and you had better not disappoint her… Buttercup!”
Adrien flopped back onto his bed and muffled a groan. He could tell that tomorrow was going to be a very… very long day.