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Adrien was nervous. Ladybug had told him she had something to tell him and that he should meet her half an hour earlier than they would usually start patrol. He paced anxiously in his room, checking the time every minute or so. He would leave five minutes before they were to meet and there were currently fifteen minutes until then.
Ladybug was always serious, but rarely did they have a planned “we need to talk”. Adrien’s mind was a scattered mess of predictions, and none of them were good. Ladybug had had the miracle box for quite a bit and though she’s a capable guardian, Adrien could tell the responsibility was really weighing on her. If she had decided to give it up, and along with it, her memories, he had no idea what he would do. Ladybug wasn’t only the perfect superhero partner, she was his best friend. She was everything to him.
Three minutes. “What do you think it’s about, Plagg?”
Plagg floated lazily across his view. “Probably just some unimportant human nonsense. ‘I have feelings!’” he said in high pitched mockery.
“I care about Ladybug’s feelings.”
“Of course you do, you’re a human. You have weird priorities.” He popped some camembert in his mouth from the table.
“You care about my feelings though, right?”
Plagg opened an eye while chewing lazily. Adrien looked genuinely distraught. “Yeah, maybe. There aren’t many things on my list past cheese, but I guess they’re at least second.” He swallowed and then made his way over to Adrien's face. “Ladybug’s weird enough to care about yours too. She’s not going to say anything to hurt you.”
“Not on purpose, maybe. But what if everything’s awful?”
“Then she needs you now more than ever,” Plagg said with the most genuine tone Adrien had heard him use since he proposed cataclysm-ing a hole from the kitchen to Adrien’s room to speed up camembert deliveries. Then he scrunched up his nose. “What do I know, I’m not good with moping kids.”
“You’re doing great with me,” Adrien said, patting Plagg on the head. “I had better get going. Plagg, claws out!”
It took Adrien a bit longer than he expected to find Ladybug. He didn’t see her at their spot on the roof overlooking the Eiffel Tower, so he spent some time checking the perimeter of the tower itself. He eventually spotted her at the roof he’d initially went to, but she was wrapped up in a blanket next to the chimney so still and curled up that he’d missed her. He vaulted over to her and landed a few meters away.
“Hi, Chat,” she said quietly.
“Hey, bugaboo. What’s buggin’ you?”
She sighed. A tired sigh that made Adrien silently curse himself for his wordplay. He curled up in a position mirroring hers, still a good distance away. Her blanket covered almost all of her, only her mask and eyes peeking out. “I want to tell you something.”
He gulped. “Right. Spill, pillbug.”
“I’m not a pillbug.”
“I’m just trying to rhyme.” He scooted a bit closer, trying to hear her voice clearer through the layers of blanket. “Is everything okay?”
“Kinda. I just- I don’t know how to say it.”
His heart started to race and so did his mouth. “Are you giving up the miracle box? I know you’re stressed by it, but you’re a wonderful guardian. You’ve done such a good job of protecting everyone and distributing the-”
“No.” she interrupted him. “It’s not that-”
“Then do you think I need to give up my miraculous? I know you and Rena are getting closer and I don’t do as much anymore but I swear I-”
“Chat, stop. It’s not about you.”
“Are you mad at me? I know I need to stop with all the puns, I swear I can lock in-”
“Chat!” she almost yelled. “It’s about me, not you!”
“Oh god, you are giving up the miracle box-”
“I’m trans!” she yelled. She put her blanket covered hand over her mouth, looked around frantically, then settled when she decided no one probably heard her from up there. “It’s not about superhero stuff. I just… wanted to tell you.”
Adrien’s tensed stance melted and he crawled closer to her. “Oh, Ladybug,” he said softly.
“I’m a trans girl,” she explained. She gestured to herself. “This is me, just, not always. I’m not out yet as a civilian, but I’ve been living as a girl the entire time I’ve been Ladybug.”
Adrien nodded silently.
“And I’ve been wanting to tell someone, I just worry everything will go wrong.” Her eyes started to well up with tears. “So it’s been years. ”
“All the more reason you need someone to talk to,” Adrien said. He put his hand on her shoulder over the blanket. “I’m so sorry you’ve been alone in this.”
“I have you,” she said quietly, finally meeting his eyes.
“Yes, always.”
“I get to be myself around you. I know I’m always so focused and stressed fighting akumas but being Ladybug and having you see me as who I am is so freeing. I hope nothing changes because I’ve been hiding this from you.” She fidgeted with the blanket.
“I know who you are, Ladybug. We hide certain things about ourselves, as does everyone always, but the important stuff shows anyways. I know you’re kind, smart, and a wonderful friend and nothing could change that. I’m just happy to know more about you.”
Tears rolled down her face in a slow but steady stream. He never saw her cry. “Can I tell you my name?” she asked.
He blinked. “Oh- I thought-”
“It doesn’t give away anything. You’d be the first to hear it.”
He nodded. “Right, of course, then.”
She took a deep breath. She let the blanket fall to her shoulders so her head was out. Her blue pigtails popped up and he was struck once again by just how cute she was. “My name is Marinette.”
Adrien’s heart melted in his chest. He put his arms out and she moved into them and he hugged her so tight. “That’s such a beautiful name.”
“Thank you.”
“I hope one day everyone gets to hear it.”
Adrien would not hear it spoken outside of that rooftop for almost a year.
It was a random lunch in the middle of the week at Francois-Dupont when Adrien watched his favorite blue-haired classmate stand up in front of the friend group and make an announcement.
“I’m a girl,” she said. Alya was recording the whole thing while Nino high-fived her, Rose ran in for a hug, and the friend group cheered. “I’d like to go by Marinette.”
Everyone congratulated her, mumbling the name back in approval. Adrien stared in awe.
He had read somewhere that trans girls loved picking the same names like Luna, Lily, and Alice. He didn’t know Marinette was a common one. He’d have to tell Ladybug.