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Lila started this page to gather all the school gossip. It had nothing to do with Marinette. At first. Then she started looking for confessions from or about a certain blue haired baker, and she was terrified of her own feelings for a moment. Then she acted like any other teenage girl with a crush.
"Look, Nooroo, we got a confession from 'M'." She excitedly opened the message.
Anonymous sender: I have the biggest crush on Ivan:)
Lila screamed into her pillow.
“Is that Marinette’s message?” the kwami asked. This made Lila laugh.
“No, of course not. At least I hope. Mylene sent this” she posted the new confession, then she left her house, to grab a croissant. And a macaron for Nooroo of course. She had bigger plans with the butterfly miraculous, but ever since she had this new hobby, she just didn’t have the time.
It was totally accidental that she chose Marinette’s parents’ bakery out of all the places where you can buy a croissant in Paris. Marinette’s mother gave her a warm smile, which made Lila smile too.
They had the same smile. She and Nooroo headed to an empty park to eat it.
"Isn't it weird that she's never at the bakery?" the kwami bit into the macaron.
“It is for sure. But maybe she’s out with Alya, or Kagami. Or…” Lila got anxious at the thought of Adrien.
Marinette wasn’t stalking the boy anymore, and she was perfectly normal about him, but what if she still had a crush on him?
“She’s not with Adrien. Adrien is in London with her cousin” Nooroo reminded her of the blond’s latest post.
“You’re right” the girl nodded. Then she got a new message.
Anonymous sender: Hi! My confession is that I’m head over heels for a girl. And I can’t tell it to her, cause I’m a girl too and she’s probably straight.
Lila raised her eyebrows. This has to be Zoe. She mentioned her crush on Marinette a few months ago. Is she still in love with her? She wanted to hate Zoe, but she stood up against her own sister for Marinette and Lila. She started making conspiracy theories, but then a new message came.
Anonymous sender: Sorry, to bother you again, I’m the girl being in love with another girl, I realised I forgot my initial. It’s M.
M?! M as in MARINETTE? Lila’s hands were shaking. No, she needed to calm down.
“Okay, Nooroo. At school we have Marinette and Mylene” Lila started.
“What about the other people you don’t care about?” the kwami interrupted. Nooroo was right.
“Oh, shoot. You’re right. I have to gather more information. I have a plan” she posted M’s messages, then started typing on her phone.
“What are you doing?” the kwami tried to read the text.
“I just sent myself a new confession. Read it.” she showed the phone to Nooroo. The confession said: ‘M might be my soulmate, cause I am in a similar situation. –L”
"There's a slight chance she's Marinette and she's talking about me." Lila’s eyes lit up,
“If you say so” Nooroo was unsure about this plan.
“Who else could she like? Chloe definitely has a crush on her, but Marinette hates her. Mylene, Alya and Alyx are her friends, right? This can’t be about them. Zoe, Rose and Juleka are not straight, Rose and Juleka are dating, Zoe had a crush on her and there are no other girls in the class. And it can’t be Sabrina, cause she’s Chloe’s best friend.” Lila explained.
Next day at school everyone was talking about the two girls on the confessions page.
“Who do you think they are?” Lila asked as she sat beside Marinette . The bluenette stared at her almost in horror.
“I- I have no idea” her voice cracked. Lila found that adorable. And suspicious!
“I’m so invested in this. M seemed a bit clumsy though” she was a professional yapper, she was determined to make Marinette talk about this.
“Yeah, me too. What if they are each other’s crushes in secret? That would be like a romcom” Marinette smiled.
“I know right! If I was M, I’d definitely ask L out on a date. I mean you can never know.” she wanted to encourage Marinette to confess that she is M,
“I wouldn’t. How would they arrange it?”
She’s right. Damn it!
“Oh.. you’re right” Lila nodded.
“You guys are so blind” Kim stepped next to them.
“What do you mean?” Marinette asked, and Lila heard a bit of panic in her voice.
“It’s just obvious. L as in…” he started, and Lila was praying to whatever god that he’ll say something stupid. “Ladybug” Kim continued, and this made Marinette choke on her water.
“You’re definitely an idiot, but continue” Lila rolled her eyes, but Marinette’s reaction was interesting. Does she have a crush on Ladybug?
“And M is the new butterfly miraculous holder” he was so proud of himself. For the first time in her life, Lila had no words. How can someone be THIS STUPID?
“The new holder’s name is Chrysalis.” Marinette kindly reminded him.
“And there wasn’t an akuma attack in like what? Four weeks?” Lila had to say something, because she didn’t want the others to think that she’s suspiciously quiet. She also wanted to subtly brag about being nice and all.
“I mean, she’s not going to call herself C, for one simple reason. Everyone would think C stands for Chloe. No one wants to be associated with Chloe. So she chose M. M as in moth!” he laughed. Lila would find his logic fascinating, if she wasn’t L.
“No, they are definitely not Chrysalis and Ladybug. They’d never have a crush on each other. They don’t know each other’s identity and they probably have people in the normal life they have a crush on” Marinette stumbled on her words.
“I agree, they are not just their secret identity” Lila agreed with the bluenette.
Lila spent the entire history lesson not listening to a single word.
To be fair, Marinette wasn't helping. She was sitting right next to her.
Every time their elbows accidentally brushed, Marinette stiffened. Every time Marinette stiffened, Lila noticed.
Every time Lila noticed, she became more convinced that M was sitting approximately twenty centimeters away from her.
"You're staring again," Nooroo whispered from inside her bag.
"I'm not staring." Lila whispered back. To her bag. To her surprise, Marinette pushed a piece of paper in front of her and a pen.
Need a pen?
Lila’s pen rolled off the desk like five minutes ago. Marinette noticed it. Without thinking Lila scribbled a ‘thank you’ on the paper. Then before handing it to Marinette, she drew a heart on it.
Marinette read it, looked at her, then blushed. Then Marinette’s book somehow fell down. As she picked it up, Lila could’ve sworn that she heard Marinette whispering to her bag.
Lila had a heart attack.
“Nooroo” she mouthed.
“What?” the kwami was confused.
“She blushed”
“Maybe because she’s Marinette”
Lila hated how reasonable that answer was.
The next few weeks the confessions page got a lot of messages. Most of them were from randoms, shipping the two girls. L and M were also talking to each other through confessions.
Anonymous sender: Hey L! What’s up with your girl? Sincerely, M
Anonymous sender: She’s either blind or doesn’t want to notice me at this point. To be fair, I’m not in a place to take a step towards her. What about you? Yours, forever, L:)
Anonymous sender: Can you guys just date already?
Anonymous sender: She’s acting weird. Weirdly nice. But I like it. – M.
In the meantime Lila started to have another growing suspicion.
“Okay Nooroo! Hear me out!” She woke him up at 6 in the morning.
“What now?”
“What if… Marinette was Ladybug?” she asked.
“Then you’re in a love square” he answered. Lila realised that this would complicate things, so she had to drop this theory for a while. First, she had to confess to Marinette. But this whole confessions thing was fun. Not as fun as school was today though.
Kim walked into the classroom and dropped a stack of paper on his desk.
“Guys, listen!” he said.
Nobody listened. Rose and Juleka were listening to music, Mylene and Ivan were watching a video on the girls phone, Marinette was staring at Lila, Lila was pretending that she had no idea Marinette was staring at her and Alya was reading a magazine.
“GUYS LISTEN," he yelled.
“What is that?” Marinette asked.
“Evidence” he sounded like he was proud of himself.
Marinette and Lila exchanged a look. This was going to be interesting.
“I analyzed every confession from the last two months,” Kim started explaining.
“Jesus, you need a hobby” Alya interrupted.
“This is my hobby” he was embarrassingly proud of this.
“It shouldn’t be”
Kim didn’t care at all, he continued his theory.
“M and L post around the same time” he pointed at the time stamps.
“Kim, that’s not evidence.” Alya sighed.
“Both of them are clearly dramatic” he didn’t care about Alya’s comment.
Lila felt offended.
Marinette felt very offended.
“Therefore.. M is Chrysalis and L is Ladybug” M as in moth for Chrysalis offended Lila so much that she wanted to akumatize Kim.
This whole theory sparked a debate in the classroom.
“Oh. My. God. What if they are enemies in public but lovers in secret?” Rose was so happy about this, that Juleka didn’t want to ruin her mood with the possibility of this.
Lila risked a glance at Marinette. She was tense. Unusually tense. She found that interesting. Very interesting.
And then to make this whole situation worse, Kim said the worst thing possible.
“Actually, now that I think about it… Ladybug would be the awkward one. She can’t handle people flirting with her.”
Marinette choked on air.
“See?! That’s what I’m talking about” Kim pointed at her.
“See what?” Marinette grunted.
“That reaction”
“I inhaled wrong”
“Suspicious”
“Kim, are you accusing our clumsy Marinette of being Ladybug?” Alya asked, which made everyone laugh. Lila thought Marinette’s laugh was suspiciously loud.
Lila’s problem was that she knew Kim was wrong. The confessions page wasn’t some secret superhero dating service. There was no way M was Chrysalis. Cause Lila was Chrysalis. And she wasn’t writing anonymous love confessions. Except for the ones signed with L. But those were different. Completely different.
Lila was deep in her thoughts. But then Marinette said something weird.
“Even if Ladybug and Chrysalis did like each other, it wouldn’t matter”
“Continue,” Alya said.
“I just mean..." Marinette fidgeted with her sleeve. "People are more than their superhero identities. If someone likes Ladybug, they should like her because of the person underneath the mask” she explained, and this made the whole classroom go quiet.
“So you’re saying Ladybug and Chrysalis should date each other” Kim just had to ruin the moment.
“NO!” Marinette protested.
“But you just said that” he argued.
“That wasn’t the point” Marinette dropped her head onto her desk.
While everyone was laughing, something in Lila’s chest tightened. Because if Marinette was Ladybug then what would she think about her being Chrysalis? Would she hate her? Would she accept her? To be fair, she even stopped akumatizing people. And it was because of Marinette in a way.
Later that day the page got a new message.
Anonymous sender: L, if your girl likes you back, would you even notice?
After school, Lila re-read every message. Every single one. She remembered the pen and the message about being weirdly nice.
And she remembered how disappointed Marinette was when she mentioned her secret crush.
“Nooroo, am I an idiot?” Lila asked.
“Obviously, yes” the kwami nodded.
The next morning Lila decided that she’s gonna be straightforward with Marinette. She sat next to the bluenette without analyzing her every move.
“Hey” she said
“Hey” Marinette smiled at her.
“Would you maybe like to get ice cream after school?”
Marinette completely froze.
“Just the two of us” Lila added, which made Marinette blush.
“Like a…” Marinette started.
“Yes. Like a date” the brunette nodded.
“Of course, I’d love that” Marinette could finally answer. During the day Lila could’ve sworn, she saw Marinette talking to her bag, but she decided to not mention that. They were both excited, and Lila’s every move and word made Marinette blush.
After school, they walked to Andre’s together. Marinette got a caramel-chocolate ice cream and Lila got a blueberry and pecan flavoured one. They watched the sunset on a nearby bench and for a few minutes they just enjoyed each other’s company.
“So I have to confess something” Lila started.
“Go on” Marinette smiled at her.
“I am L. On the confessions page. Also that page is mine” she said, which made Marinette’s smile brighter.
“Well, what a coincidence! I am M” Marinette said. “Wait, you were talking about me in the posts, right?” she aksed.
Lila laughed a little.
“Of course I was. And I find it funny that all this time…”
"You thought I liked someone else."
"You thought I liked someone else."
They both laughed and this time Paris looked different at sunset. The city was warmer and softer.
Later, Lila was walking Marinette home. As they were walking hand in hand, Marinette stopped.
“Lila, I think that I really am in love with you. No one has ever made me feel the way you do” she confessed. For the first time in her life, Lila had nothing to say. She kissed Marinette so slowly and softly, she was afraid Marinette might disappear.
The other girl instantly kissed her back. Which was unfair, cause Lila spent months worrying over what ifs.
“I think I love you too, Marinette” she pulled her closer.
A week later
Lila Rossi thought life couldn't possibly get any better. She had a girlfriend. A beautiful girlfriend who somehow liked her back. And for the first time in years, she didn't feel like she had to pretend to be someone else.
That was why she immediately knew something was wrong when Marinette suddenly stood up from the couch. Outside, sirens echoed through Paris, then something exploded. The windows rattled. People started screaming.
Lila rushed to the balcony.
Cars were stopped in the middle of the street. Something huge was moving several blocks away. She couldn't tell what it was. Only that it definitely was not her doing.
Marinette appeared beside her.
She was pale, anxious and terrified. Not because of the attack. Because she couldn't leave Lila alone without a good reason.
Cat Noir's emergency signal was flashing on her phone.
Lila noticed. Marinette noticed her noticing.
For a long moment neither of them spoke, then Marinette took a deep breath.
"Lila."
Something in her voice made Lila turn around immediately.
"I need to tell you something."
Outside, another explosion shook the city, but Marinette didn't even look at it. Her eyes stayed fixed on Lila.
"I wanted to tell you sooner." she closed her eyes.
"You don't have to—"
"I do."
Marinette's hands were shaking. For the first time since they started dating, she looked genuinely afraid. "Whatever it is," Lila said softly, "you can tell me."
Marinette laughed nervously.
"I really hope you're still saying that in two minutes."
Now Lila was really worried.
"I've been keeping a secret from you."
Marinette took another breath.
"I'm Ladybug." finally, she said it out loud
Silence. Complete silence.
The city around them seemed to disappear.
There was only Marinette bracing for rejection. Lila was still silent.
"Tikki. Spots on."
Pink light exploded around her and a second later Ladybug stood where Marinette had been.
The same smile. The same eyes. The same girl.
Lila stared. Not because she was shocked. Not really. Honestly?
She had suspected it for weeks. Maybe longer.
Still—
Seeing it made everything click into place: the kindness, the stubbornness the endless need to help everyone. Of course Marinette was Ladybug. Who else could it have been?
"Say something," Ladybug whispered.
And for the first time Lila realized something. Marinette thought she was about to lose her.
Instead, Lila stepped forward.
"You're an idiot."
Marinette blinked.
"What?"
"You thought I was going to leave?"
"I–"
"You literally saved Paris a hundred times. Do you think I would leave you because of one not-so-great encounter with Ladybug? That was so long ago" she smiled at her, which made Marinette a little bit more calm
Ladybug looked toward the window. Then back at Lila. Her duty was calling. She had to leave
"I have to go."
"I know."
"I'll come back."
"I know."
"And then we can talk."
Lila sighed..
"Actually..." Now it was her turn to be nervous. She had a good reason to be.
"Before you leave…” she started. "There might be something I should tell you too."
“What’s wrong?” Marinette was worried.
"I wasn't completely honest either." Lila looked away. For the first time in forever she felt genuinely vulnerable. No lies, acting or manipulation. Just honesty. And honesty was terrifying.
"If I tell you, there's a chance you'll hate me."
Ladybug immediately shook her head.
"I won't."
"You don't even know what I'm about to say."
"Whatever it is, I could never hate you”
Marinette took a step closer.
"And I know you."
Somehow that made it harder. Lila laughed weakly.
"We’ll see about that." she played this scenario in her head a hundred times with a hundred different outcomes. It was time to find out which one of them is real.
Ladybug's eyes widened.
"Oh."
"Nooroo." Lila swallowed.
Ladybug's eyes widened.
"Dark wings rise." Purple light filled the balcony.
A second later Chrysalis stood in front of Ladybug. Not a villain. Not an enemy. Just Lila. Her form was different. She didn’t look evil.
For several seconds neither of them moved. Neither of them spoke. Neither of them breathed. Then Marinette groaned.
"Oh my god."
"What?"
"Kim."
"What?"
"KIM WAS RIGHT."
They stared at each other, then both of them started laughing, because after all the secrets, all the confusion and after all the weeks spent talking through anonymous confessions, Kim's stupid conspiracy theory was correct.
“But if you're here, then who's wreaking havoc?” Marinette asked, staring at the flames.
“Let's find out together, shall we?” Lila replied.
Marinette nodded, and a second later they were swinging toward the danger, toward chaos, and probably toward a very long conversation afterward. Still, Lila couldn't stop smiling.
Because whatever happened next, they would face it together.