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There were many things that Adrien loved about Marinette. He loved her creativity, he loved it when she wore her hair down (like she was tonight), he loved her bravery and generosity and he loved every one of the freckles that speckled her nose and cheeks. Most of all though, he loved her laugh. It gave him so much joy whenever he could bring a smile to her face, so when it came to choosing a movie for their date, he especially picked a comedy just so he could hear her laugh.
Glancing beside him he watched her pop another piece of popcorn into her mouth and start chuckling again. He didn’t even know what the movie was about anymore, all his thoughts were only of her. Reaching over he placed his hand over hers, she turned her head towards him and her bright smile and sparkling eyes met his. Turning her hand over, she interlace her fingers with his and it made him feel all warm and lit up inside.
He was so grateful to Nathalie for helping him set up this date. Despite his father’s apparent dislike for Adrien’s girlfriend, Nathalie (and also his bodyguard) had been some of their biggest supporters along with Marinette’s parents. Sure he got to see Marinette at school everyday, and they could steal moments here and there, but his father was trying to make even that more difficult. It frustrated Adrien that he still hadn’t been able to take Marinette on a real date like a proper boyfriend should. She deserved nothing less than that. Taking advantage of his father going to a business dinner with Tomoe Tsurugi and some of their Japanese associates, Nathalie gave Adrien a free pass for the night… well at least until midnight since his father wasn’t expected back until after that.
“You know it makes me feel like I’m Cinderella or something.” Adrien grumbled as they left the cinema hand in hand. “Having to be back before midnight I mean. I’m 16 now. I’ll be an adult in two years. I just wish my father would start treating me like one.”
“It’s fine Adrien.” Marinette reassured him. “We still have another few hours before you need to be back. Would you like to come back to my place for a while? I know Papa had plenty of leftover pastries from today.”
Adrien felt Plagg dig him in the ribs. He knew the little cheese gremlin was just wanting him to go there so he could steal cheese puffs. Adrien looked out towards the Seine in the distance. It was a lovely clear evening and it would seem a shame to waste it. “Would you mind if we went for a walk? I just want to be able to spend some time alone with you.”
Marinette blushed a little and nodded her head with a soft smile and Adrien ignored Plagg’s grumbling, walking Marinette closer towards the river bank. Sitting down, Marinette shivered slightly against the light breeze on a wooden bench. Adrien slipped off his light coat and wrapped it around her shoulders, causally letting his arm rest there.
“Is that better?” He asked softly.
“Yes.” She replied, a little breathless under his adoring gaze, his soft blond locks dancing in the breeze. He was so close, close enough that she could feel the warmth of his breath on her cheek.
“Marinette.” He whispered near her ear. She turned her head slightly towards him as he nuzzled her cheek. “Do you think, maybe tonight I could kiss you?”
He was hopeful. For one reason or another, despite dating for a few weeks now, he hadn’t been able to get Marinette to kiss him yet. He was aching for another touch of her lips, another being that he vividly remembered the night they had kissed when he was Chat Noir. Yes, it had been wrong for him to romance Marinette behind the mask, but she hadn’t hesitated then, not like she was now when it was just him without the mask. He couldn’t understand why she was so much more comfortable with a guy in a mask than her actual boyfriend.
He heard her breath hitch, her lips only millimeters away from his, but then it happened again. Her eyes widened and she quickly turned her head away.
“Adrien… I…” She closed her eyes and balled her hands into fists on her knees, berating herself for letting the moment go once again.
Adrien moved back to give her space, taking his arm away from her shoulder. “It’s alright Marinette.” He said, but he knew his voice betrayed his disappointment. “It’s me, isn’t it? I'm the problem here. I did something to make you uncomfortable. I shouldn’t have been so pushy.”
“What? No.” Marinette exclaimed. “No Adrien you’re wonderful. You’ve been nothing but a perfect gentleman and you’ve been so patient with me. It's my fault. I’m the one who can’t seem to get my brain or my heart in order.”
Marinette stood up and wrapped her arms around herself, holding Adrien’s coat tighter about her as she looked out over the dark water. Adrien followed her with his eyes, worried where this was going.
“Marinette, I don’t want to make you feel you have to do something you don’t want to do, but I’m struggling to understand. I love you, with all my heart I do, and you said you love me…”
“I do.” She interjected, sounding frustrated. “And it’s not that I don’t want to kiss you, I mean I’m sure you're very kissable.” Marinette held her hand to her forehead. “What am I saying?” She huffed, kicking a pebble on the ground. “It’s just… there’s something…” Her voice trailed off, her back still to him.
“You know, if it’s because you kissed Luka when you were dating, it’s okay. That’s in the past now.”
There was a beat of silence. “It wasn’t Luka.” She said quietly, her stomach knotting. She couldn’t bring herself to meet his intense stare. “I’ve… I’ve kissed someone, but it wasn’t Luka.”
Adrien had a sinking feeling he might have known where this was going, but he had to be sure. He stood up and walked closer to her, turning her to look at him. “Marinette, you don’t have to feel bad about having kissed someone else before.” He could hardly blame her, after all he had kissed Ladybug, even if he couldn’t remember it, and she wasn’t secretly his girlfriend.
Marinette looked away from him and Adrien wasn’t sure how to read her expression. “It wasn’t just someone else, Adrien. It was Chat Noir and… and I don’t know how I feel about it.”
Adrien took a deep breath and mentally kicked himself for the umpteenth time. Maybe he could blame his back luck on Plagg, but how could he have stuffed up so badly that he had literally blocked himself with his alter ego?
“Do you… do you have feelings for Chat Noir?” He felt Plagg poking him in the ribs, that cat Kwami clearly not happy with this line of questioning, but he couldn’t help himself. He had to know. She had said that night that she was a fan, a super fan even, but he felt he had been taking advantage of the situation by kissing her. He so desperately wanted to kiss her that he did it behind the mask when he shouldn’t have. He’d hurt her that night, and he only had himself to blame.
Marinette still had her eyes fixed to the ground. “I don’t know.” She said, running her hands down her face. “God that sounds so awful and shallow, but I think you have the right to know that it wasn’t just some celebrity crush on a superhero. There were real feelings there and I’m sure he felt it too, otherwise how could he have kissed me like that?”
Subconsciously Marinette touched her fingers to her lips, remembering the soft touch of Chat’s lips on hers. She then shook her head, trying to erase the memory. “Anyway, whatever it was, it's over now.” She said definitively. “Chat ended it before it could go any further, and I understand his reasons for that, even if it hurt.”
Marinette glanced up nervously at Adrien, unsure of how he was going to react to this information. “You don’t have to worry Adrien. I promise. I’m with you and I love you. I guess I just feel guilty in a way because I was still in love with you, but I didn't know how to tell you, but then I guess I loved him too and…ugh.” She grumbled. “I don’t know what I’m saying. I guess I’m saying that there’s no need for you to feel jealous or anything.”
Jealous? The last thing Adrien was feeling was jealous. She loved him, loved both sides of him, and he wished he could tell her that so she didn’t have to feel so bad about having kissed Chat Noir because it was still him. Marinette was looking out over the Seine, chewing on her bottom lip like she does when she is worried. He wanted to kiss those worries away. Kiss her so much that she forgets her own name. Kiss her until her lips were bruised and swollen and she was nothing but a breathless mess in his arms.
Adrien placed his hands on her shoulders and turned her to him. She looked like she had tears brimming in her eyes. Damn it all to hell, he thought to himself as he searched her bluebell eyes. He wasn’t about to stand here and let her keep beating herself up for no reason. If Ladybug didn’t want to know who he was then fine, but he’d be damned if he was going to keep his identity a secret from the girl he loved. Adrien knew in his heart that if he could trust anyone with his identity, it was her.
Cradling her face in his hand, he kissed her on the forehead before looking down at her face. “Marinette, I can’t be jealous of Chat Noir.” He said gently, wiping a stray tear from her eye with his thumb. “You see, I’m…”
Adrien was cut off when a bright swirling light suddenly appeared in front of them. Instinctively, he pulled Marinette behind him and shielded her from whatever the light was. Adrien was prepared to transform in front of her if it meant keeping Marinette safe, but to both of their surprise a young girl came tumbling through the portal.
“No!” She screamed out, running back towards the rapidly closing portal. “Louis, Hugo!” She called as she tried to run back, but the portal vanished before she could make it.
“Oh no, mum and dad are going to kill me.” The girl lamented, pacing back and forth and holding her head. She hadn’t really noticed the two teens standing behind her looking at her curiously. The girl appeared to be about 13 or 14 and had long blonde hair swept up into a ponytail with vibrant emerald eyes, emerald eyes that looked achingly familiar. In fact, if Marinette were asked to describe the girl she would have been accurate to say she looked almost like a female version of Adrien.
The two watched as the blonde girl sat down on the bench with her face in her hands. “I promised mum I would look after Louis and Hugo and now a stupid akuma has sent me who knows where. How am I supposed to get back now?”
Louis and Hugo? Marinette shook off the coincidence. “Maybe we can help you.” She offered kindly, but with one eye out for this apparent akuma. Both she and Adrien took their phones out to have a look, but there was no akuma alert. Strange. “What’s your name?”
“Emma.” The girl said, her head still hanging low. “Emma Agreste. You might have heard of my mum and dad from MDC Designs.” It was at this point Emma finally looked up and her eyes flew open like she had just seen two ghosts.
“Mum, dad!” She exclaimed. “Wait, why do you two look so young? Did you get hit by an akuma too?”
The two teens looked at Emma speechless as realisation dawned on them. This was their daughter from the future. Adrien and Marinette turned and looked at each other, the implications of that hitting them at the same time and they both blushed profusely, turning their heads away.
“Um… it seems that you may have traveled back in time.” Marinette eventually said, fiddling with her fingers. Was it a time traveling akuma?”
“Oh wow.” Emma replied. “That’s a first, for me at least. Fancy meeting you both here then.” She chuckled nervously. “No the akuma was being really random. Some people were frozen, others were trapped in bubbles or became kids again. Me, I suppose I got thrown into a time warp. I guess I’ll just have to wait for Scarabella and Chat Noir to do their thing, or for Auntie Bunnyx to come and get me.”
Adrien heard Marinette gasp beside him. He held her hand in his and gave it a reassuring squeeze. It was good to know she was as worried about their Ladybug as he was. “Scarabella?” Adrien queried to the girl, trying not to get too excited about the fact this was his daughter, his daughter with Marinette. No Adrien, focus. “What happened to Ladybug?”
“Nothing exactly happened to her.” Emma said, looking profusely embarrassed. “I shouldn’t really say too much since Bunnyx always says no one should know too much about their own future, but since it’s you two I guess she won’t mind so much.” Emma rubbed the back of her neck in the same way that Adrien always did. Marinette couldn’t help thinking how cute that was. She was so much like her father. Oh Lordy, that thought was giving her palpitations.
“It seemed having me and two younger brothers wasn't enough for you pair and you went and knocked her up again as Aunt Alya put it.” Emma folded her arms and pouted. “Just so you know in the future, being 14 and having your mum pregnant is totally embarrassing. Louis and Hugo are only 9 and 5 so they think it’s all great, but since I’ll most likely be the one on babysitting duties during akumas it will just mean I’ll have to wait longer for dad to give me his Cat Miraculous which is totally not fair because I was so ready to do it too.”
Emma was completely oblivious to the bombshell she had just dropped, that was until she looked back at Adrien and Marinette and saw the frozen looks on their faces. Her own eyes widened. “Oh no.” She gasped, holding her head. “You didn’t know your identities yet did you? Oh what have I done? Mum and Auntie Bunnyx are going to be furious.” She got up from where she had been sitting on the bench and started pacing back and forth. “I’ve probably done some irrevocable damage to the future. I wasn’t supposed to say too much and now I’ve not only blabbed out about your future family, but I’ve outed that you’re Ladybug and Chat Noir when you weren't supposed to find out yet. Now mum is never going to trust me with Plagg and I’ll never be a miraculous holder and I’ve ruined everything…”
As Emma continued to catastrophise, Marinette noticed Adrin start to chuckle. “What could possibly be so funny at a time like this?” She asked, looking indignant.
Adrien was even more amused at Marinette slipping into Ladybug mode and he gave her a wide cheeky grin. A very Chat Noir looking grin which caught her completely off guard. “She’s clearly your daughter, she acts just like you.”
Marinette’s mouth flew open, then she pouted and narrowed her eyes at him. “Well clearly she’s your daughter too, because she acts before she thinks like a certain cat I happen to know.”
Adrien was about to make a smart arse retort, but stopped when he saw Emma had sat back down, burying her head in her hands again. Adrien sat down next to her and patted her arm. “If it makes you feel any better, I was just about to tell Marinette I was Chat Noir.”
“Really?” Emma asked, looking up at him.
“You were?” Marinette queried in surprise.
“Yes.” Adrien confirmed. “I was literally about to say the words when you showed up.” He said, looking back at Emma. She might have had his eyes and hair, but he was certain that was Marinette’s smile.
“So, I haven’t ruined the future?” She asked, wiping her eyes with her sleeve.
“I can’t see why you would have.”
“But Adrien…” Marinette said, clearly still concerned. “What about the whole secret identities thing? And Monarch, are we still fighting him in the future? What if he akumatizes one of us and finds out?”
Adrien stood up and held Marinette’s hands in both of his. “I couldn’t keep my identity a secret from the girl I love, or let you keep thinking that your feelings for Chat Noir was somehow a betrayal of what we had since I’m still the same person. I just never would have thought, though, that you would turn out to be Ladybug.”
Marinette cast her eyes down towards the ground. “Because you didn’t think Ladybug could be me?”
Adrien hooked his finger under her chin and tilted her head up so her eyes met his. “Because I didn’t think I could ever be so lucky that both the girls I loved were the same person.”
Marinette felt all lit up inside, but still her face fell. “But Monarch?” She walked back over to Emma. “Are we really still fighting Monarch so far into the future?”
“Oh no.” Emma said, that familiar neck rub twitch making another appearance. For some reason the question seemed to have made the girl uncomfortable. “No you defeat that Monarch, but when one butterfly holder goes, another takes their place. Don’t worry though, Louis, Hugo and I are ready to take up the fight when the time comes. You’ve trained us for the day since we were born.”
A new voice then came from behind them. “You won’t be taking that Cat Miraculous anytime soon Miss Emma Agreste.”
Emma flinched before peaking over her shoulder at the approaching Rabbit hero, carrying a lucky charm locked jewelry box in her hand. “Hello there Mini Bug, Kitty Noir.” She added, seeing Adrien and Marinette.
“It wasn’t my fault.” Emma suddenly protested. “I told Hugo to stay inside, but he went running after that bird that Aunt Alya asked us to look after for her and so Louis and I had to chase him down and…”
“Calm down Kiddo, I know what happened.” Bunnyx chuckled. “You’re just lucky this one over here,” she said, pointing at Adrien. “…was about to let the cat out of the bag anyway. I’ve double checked and nothing here should change anything. I guess we should be grateful the akuma happened to send you to this night and not a few weeks ago. I do however need to get this box back to Scarabella so Adrien, well future Adrien, can get to the hospital. It looks like someone has decided to make an appearance a week early.”
“Really?” Emma said, her face lighting up. She then remembered herself and tried to act smooth. “Yes well, I’ll be sure to keep the boys in line while they are busy with the baby. I am the responsible one in the family after all.”
“Yes, you do that.” Bunnyx smirked with an eye roll. “Come on then Emma. Burrow.” Bunnyx gave Adrien and Marinette a salute and as quickly as Emma had shown up, she was now gone back to her timeline. Marinette slunk down onto the bench, her mind still swirling from what had just happened.
“Can you believe that just happened?” She said in a daze, her eyes still on the spot where the burrow had disappeared.
“Yeah.” Adrien breathed, sliding up next to Marinette. “But I guess it did establish one thing.”
Marinette looked at him curiously and was met with a mischievous glint in his eyes. “What?” She asked. Adrien leaned his face closer to hers.
“Clearly we ended up doing a lot more than just kissing.” He said, raising an amused eyebrow at her. Marinette quickly looked away. If her face had been red earlier in the night, it was practically burning now. Nope, she was not letting that cat get the better of her. Marinette then turned her eyes back onto him before she suddenly poked him in the nose and pushed him away. She got up and backed up from him, still laughing.
“Oh my god, you really are my Kitty aren’t you? You made me fall in love with you twice, you sneaky cat.”
Adrien got up and feeling bolder, grabbed her by the waist and pulled her in closer to him. Marinette braced her hands on his chest. “You’re Damn straight I’m your Kitty.” He grinned devilishly. “And I think you know exactly what I want to do right now.”
Marinette could feel her heart almost thump out of her chest. Seeing Adrien being Chat without the mask was a little unnerving, but also exciting.
“Maybe I do.” She said, looking up at him from under her eyelashes. “And I suppose we have kissed before.”
Adrien cupped her face with his hand, inching his face closer to hers. “Not like this.” He whispered before claiming her lips with his. If it was one thing Adrien knew as he kissed her with all the fire and passion he had in his heart, it was that he wanted that future Emma had told them about. He wanted Marinette always by his side, whether it was suited up on the rooftops, or laying next to him under moonlight. She was his lady, and she always would be.