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It had been a normal day in Paris.
Though normal for a regular Parisian is watching their favorite superhero duo battling an evil, akumatized villain from a safe distance. Citizens had been ushered away from the Eiffel Tower as the battle had raged across rooftops and left broken buildings and missing people in it’s wake. With shrieks of excitement and terror, the civilians watched from behind parted hands as Ladybug and Chat Noir pursued the villain. As always, the superheroes worked together like a well-oiled machine, seeming to understand the other’s thoughts with only a simple nod.
Their current villain was called Mr. Disappear, an akuma victim who had once been a famous magician- once being the key word. The magician hadn’t taken the stage in a decade and had decided to take back to the stage that very day, unveiling a new trick- the disappearing woman. He had his beautiful assistant step inside a curtained off section of his stage with the promise that once he closed the curtain and opened it once more, the woman would be gone. The magician had closed the curtain, uttered a few words of nonsense and a flicked his wand across the closed off section and then pulled the curtain aside with a dramatic flourish to reveal-
His assistant, red faced and very much still there.
The magician had been laughed off the stage by his audience and became the perfect target for an akuma. He now had the ability to make things disappear with a flick of his magic wand and if he managed to hit an innocent bystander with a bolt of magic, they would become his obedient assistant; complete with formal dress and stage makeup. If the situation hadn’t been so serious, Chat Noir would have been on the floor, rolling with laughter.
“Come on Chat, this is important! Can’t you be serious for just one minute?” Ladybug had asked, her exasperated tone barely hiding her suppressed laughter. Their feet pounded against the tiled roof in perfect time.
“M’Lady, you need a sense of humor. How am I supposed to not laugh when their makeup is paw-sitively awful,” Chat Noir explained, pausing momentarily to get the laughter that had been building up inside of him out of his system. The cat gasped for breath through his laughter, shoulders shaking. Ladybug crossed her arms and tapped her foot. Mr. Disappear had almost made it to the Eiffel Tower and once he reached it, he had vowed to make everyone who had mocked him vanish. She didn’t have time to deal with Chat’s antics.
“Look, when you’ve calmed down come find me. I’ll go on ahead,” Ladybug told her partner and unleashed her yo-yo, swinging after the akuma. It seemed like a normal day on the job- a simple interception and capture. Well, as simple as defeating a supervillain could be.
That had been before the trio had scaled the structure, precariously high up in the air. Now, Ladybug was unsure that purifying the butterfly would be so easy. Mr. Disappear’s abilities were making things very difficult. Ladybug would take one step and she would suddenly have no ground to stand on. She had lost count of how many times the partners had had to save one another from falling through a gaping hole.
Had it just been holes in the floor, Ladybug and Chat Noir’s quick reflexes would have made it somewhat possible to get to the magician. It would have been like a dance, each hole a step their partner took. The dance would have been carefully executed like a waltz but fast and full of quick footwork like the tango. Had it only been that, the heroes would have been fine.
Ladybug hadn’t counted on real life partners.
“Since when could the assistants climb?” Ladybug asked in disbelief, looking over the side of the ledge where she stood quickly, trying to assess the situation. When she had seen the transformed people begin to scale the metalwork, she had been so startled she had almost fallen to her doom. That had been one variable Ladybug hadn’t accounted for. “We’ve got company!” She yelled to her partner, who was currently dancing around Mr.Disappear, attempting to grab the wand where the akuma was hiding.
“Because this had been too easy without them!” Chat Noir responded bitterly, the fight draining him enough to take all his jokes out of him. From across the ledge, she could see how big a toll this was taking on her partner; his movements were slightly sluggish and his reactions were half a second slower than normal. If it had been any other villain, she wouldn’t be so concerned that Chat Noir’s responses were delayed but this was one fight where being in a single place for too long meant possibly falling from a hundred feet in the air and Ladybug wasn’t sure even her kitty could land on his feet from that height.
The heroine meant to run towards her partner but a hand grabbed her foot before she could. Her chin smacked against the ground and a wave of dizziness washed over her. Before she could shake it off, a pair of assistants had taken hold of her, their grips like iron. Ladybug tussled with the assistants but part of her was pulling her punches- these were just normal people after all.
All of her concentration was focused on making sure that she escaped from the assistant’s grips without causing unnecessary harm to the people or herself. For a moment, she completely forgot about Chat Noir and his predicament. That had been her biggest mistake.
She managed to twist around just in time to see Chat Noir leave his foot on the ground for a moment too long. Mr.Disappear flicked his wand and Chat Noir disappeared, hands scrambling in the air for a handhold that wasn’t there.
In that moment, time seemed to stop and everything fell away. Afterwards, she would remember falling to her knees as a horrible scream ripped from her throat-had it been his name?- but in that moment she was only aware of the vaguest sense of pain in her kneecaps for a pain far greater than anything physical had taken ahold of her. Ladybug had just watched her partner, her best friend, fall through the Eiffel Tower and had been powerless to stop it.
His scream echoed in her ears, his voice calling out her name and the desperation in it ripped her heart into tiny shreds. She couldn’t have been able to hear him hit the ground but still, there was an ominous thudding sound on repeat in her mind. Every time her heart thudded painfully in her chest, the sound echoed across her mind. It was too much- the screaming, the thudding, the complete sense of hopelessness that Ladybug felt. It consumed her.
It consumed her so much that the rest of the fight was a blur. Her mental shutdown had felt like hours but in reality had only been a few seconds. She recovered quickly and through some unknown force, managed to enable her Lucky Charm and defeat Mr. Disappear. Throughout it though, she could have sworn that a sweet and familiar voice had been coaching her through the fight, telling her when an enemy was approaching or when a new hole had appeared in the ground and occasionally inserting an awful pun.
Her miraculous’ magic fixed the swiss-cheese looking ledge and changed all the assistants back and it even helpfully carried all of them back to solid ground. Ladybug had had to carry the confused and obviously distraught magician back down to the street but she was only going through the motions, feeling nothing as she muttered words that vaguely resembled reassurances that everything was going to be okay. How could she convince someone else that it was all going to be alright when she couldn’t even convince herself of that? Once her feet hit the ground again, she was running. Running towards the crowd of people that could only have been surrounding Chat Noir.
People parted for her, murmuring apologies and reassurances but it was like their words were an annoying fly buzzing around her ear. She saw Chat Noir and then saw him.
He was sprawled unnaturally on the ground, his wrist an awkward angle. Ladybug knelt slowly down beside him, not trusting her knees to not once more buckle underneath her. Gently, she laid two fingers against his throat to check for a pulse and almost started sobbing when she found a faint pulse fluttering against her fingers. He was alive if only barely. Barely alive was better than not at all. For some reason she couldn’t even begin to comprehend, her magic hadn’t healed him.
With her superhero strength, she carefully picked the cat up into her arms. With only a nod to the crowd of civilians, she rushed away, her hand managing to use her yo-yo from her awkward position underneath Chat.
Normally, Ladybug would have stayed to console the terrified streets of Paris and the akuma victim. Normally, Ladybug would have made sure that everyone was okay and that her miraculous magic had fixed all that had been broken. Normally, Ladybug would have stayed on the scene until her miraculous chirped, warning her to leave.
This time however, was not at all normal.
\<>/
“Marinette, what are you going to do? You can’t leave him here- he needs a hospital especially since your miraculous didn’t heal him. That’s how you know it’s serious,” Tikki said partly angry, partly concerned.
The trio were currently stationed on the roof of her neighbor’s house. In her hurry, she had instinctively gone to her home but ended up deciding that that was too obvious, no matter the end scenario. Her neighbors were away on an international cruise so there was no one around to discover the two heros and the kwami. Marinette had collapsed onto her roof, carefully lowering Chat onto a deck chair before slipping out of the Ladybug transformation and catching the worn out Tikki in her hands. Marinette had quickly slipped into her room next door through the trapdoor and retrieved a package of cookies that she kept for emergencies to help the kwami recharge.
Marinette knew that her kwami was right but still she shook her head. “I can’t take him to a hospital Tikki- not when he’s Chat Noir. He would change back in the hospital and then his identity would be revealed to everyone- including Hawkmoth.” Marinette had no doubt that the villain would know instantly who Chat Noir was the moment his identity was revealed and she couldn’t risk that.
Tikki huffed and zoomed right in front of her face. “And what are you going to do when he changes back? His kwami is going to tire out eventually- I’m surprised he’s lasted this long- and then you’re going to know who he is. Are you prepared for that?” Tikki wasn’t prepared for the look of utter desperation in Marinette’s gaze.
She was not at all prepared to know who Chat was- not like this. Marinette had thought about it- when she would tell him, how she would tell him, if she would tell him. They were an inseparable team with their masks on but what happened when the masks came off? Would Chat be disappointed in who he saw? It wasn’t a secret that Chat flirted with her while she was Ladybug but their relationship was more than that- it was substantial and had a surprisingly complex history despite how little time they had known each other. Masks off didn’t automatically mean a relationship between the two but Marinette did hope that their friendship wouldn’t be affected by knowing their true identities.
Marinette was terrified that when Chat saw who she was under the costume, he would hate her. She worried that Marinette Dupain-Cheng wouldn’t be enough for the hero. He would always see her as Ladybug and wouldn’t want to see her as anything else; he wouldn’t even take the chance to know the girl behind the hero.
What if you hate him Marinette?
The thought that she would hate whoever hid behind the black mask was so preposterous that she didn’t let her mind dwell on it. Chat Noir was brave, friendly, loyal, sweet, and caring and those qualities didn’t come with a miraculous’ powers. Those qualities belonged to the person and the person alone and how could Marinette hate anyone like Chat? How could she hate the best person she knew? How could she hate the person that had saved her from villain after villain and even her own doubts?
“You’ve saved me so many times and I couldn’t even do it the one time it mattered,” she whispered with a hand gently against his cheek. The kwami perked up at her words but didn’t say anything.
Marinette hadn’t realized how much she depended on her magic to right all her wrongs. Marinette wasn’t sure why his injuries hadn’t been healed like they normally were but maybe the magic had sustained that tiny flicker of life that had given her enough hope that her cat would pull through. It was like a dose of reality, seeing her partner like this, that magic couldn’t solve everything. That sometimes, people died or got hurt and her miraculous couldn’t save the day. Ladybug couldn’t save the day.
Marinette thought of all she had done as the heroine. How many people she saved, how many times she’d saved Paris, how many times she’d saved stupid Chloe Bourgeois from a villain that had been rightfully hurt by the bratty girl. Why had she saved them all? What was the point?
If she had voiced her concerns to her kwami, the creature would have told her that she saved them because that’s who she was. She was a good person that saved innocent people from evil villains for no thanks or gratitude. She was a hero inside and out and the point was that without her, Paris would be in rubble and chaos would be reigning in the city and sure the kwami would be right. Marinette knew all those things but there was a selfish part of her that knew there was more to it than that.
Before today, Marinette would have said that her selfish reason to wear the Ladybug mask was Adrien Agreste. Adrien, who had held her heart for so long. Adrien, who she would do anything for even though he would never know that because she a complete and utter fool around him. Adrien, who was kind and sweet and stood up to Chloe whenever she went too far. Beautiful Adrien with enchanting green eyes and a stunning smile. Perfect, perfect Adrien.
Adrien- the boy who wasn’t the only reason why she fought for Paris.
She fought for Paris because she worked alongside Chat Noir. The hero was her other half and she knew that she wouldn’t have been able to purify any of the akuma she had without him. Even during the battle with Reflecta, when his powers were unuseable, just his mere presence had given her the strength and resolve she needed to finish the fight. Though she would never admit it, his puns soothed her nerves and reminded her that there was a bright side to life even during the most intense battles. Chat Noir may claim to need Ladybug but Marinette was certain that Ladybug needed him a hundred times more.
So it was there on the roof that Marinette had a breakthrough. To the outside world, Ladybug the hero fought for the safety of Paris but Marinette the girl fought for Chat Noir.
That breakthrough seemed to shatter the dam Marinette had had in her brain that had stopped all her tears from flowing. Ugly, painful sobs coursed through her body, and she wrapped her trembling hand in Chat’s unresponsive one. Tikki flew to rest on Marinette’s shoulder, head nuzzling into her cheek.
“Come on you stupid cat. Can’t you see that I can’t do this without you? Before I- I couldn’t be Ladybug because I didn’t believe in myself; I didn’t think I was up to the task but you changed my mind. You told me that I could do it. You convinced me that I could be Ladybug. Paris only has Ladybug because of you Chat and it can’t have her without you. If you’re gone what am I supposed to? How- how am I supposed to keep fighting when the one person I’m trying to protect doesn’t need saving anymore?”
Her head fell to rest on Chat’s stomach, tears flowing without a concern for her makeup or his suit. She couldn’t care about anything besides her partner that was lying completely still on this stranger’s rooftop. Her shuddering sobs were so loud that she missed the sound of his miraculous beeping dangerously- he had a minute left as Chat Noir. Tikki heard it though.
“Marinette he’s going to change back. Are you sure about this?”
“I don’t care anymore Tikki! I just need Chat!” She screamed and the kwami flew back, startled by her outburst. Tikki had been Marinette’s kwami for so long now and the girl had never yelled at her before. Marinette realized her mistake the moment the words left her mouth. She cautiously extended a hand towards the kwami and to her relief, she flew into Marinette’s outstretched palm. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I just-”
“You need him,” the kwami supplied and Marinette could only nod.
A flash of green light exploded beside Marinette and she turned her back on the body and shut her eyes. If she opened them, all would be revealed and their relationship would never be the same again. Opening her eyes meant facing her worst fears- that Chat would hate her or that knowing who she was would put him in even more danger than he was already in while wearing that mask. If she saw who he was, her carefully built world would come crashing down.
“I- I didn’t know you cared so much M’Lady,” a weak voice breathed beside her and she stiffened. That was Chat’s voice. Chat was alive.
That was all it took for Marinette to throw caution into the wind. She turned and barely sparing a glance at the boy in front of her, she threw herself onto him though their position was awkward. Her head rested in the middle of his chest, arms bent at odd ninety degree angles but she didn’t care. Her ear was poised near enough to his heart that she could hear the rhythm of his heart, a slow, steady and reassuring beat.
“Oh you stupid cat,” she breathed into him. Her fingers curled into material that was most definitely not black leather but the hands that came to readjust Marinette were strong and confident and definitely Chat. He pulled her so she was sitting in between his legs on her knees, head buried in his shoulder, his arms wrapped securely around her torso.
“I almost die and you call me stupid? I retract my previous statement. You don’t care at all,” he joked and Marinette almost started crying again but there were no tears left to shed. Chat was alive, Chat was alive, Chat was alive. She repeated it silently to herself, a mantra that seemed to keep her heart beating and lungs breathing.
Marinette smiled against his t-shirt, the smell of laundry detergent and lemon soap comforting. They sat in silence for a few moments, Marinette reveling in the fact that her partner was back. She hadn’t failed. She hadn’t let down all of Paris and worst of all, herself. She could keep on fighting for another day.
“Ladybug?”
“Yes?”
“We’ve changed back.”
It was a simple statement but it carried so much weight. The weight of their friendship rested on that sentence and all those that followed it. She nodded. “We have.”
A pregnant silence stretched between them and Marinette couldn’t tell what Chat was thinking. In all honesty, she couldn’t tell what she was thinking. Her thoughts were a swirling storm of ‘what ifs’. What if he hated her? What if she hated him? What if they weren’t the same?
What if they were going to come out of this stronger than ever?
“My eyes are closed,” he started, “and I don’t have to open them. You could know who I am but I don’t have to know you are. If you want it to be that way.” There was a pain in his voice at the idea of not knowing who Ladybug was but there was still an overwhelming amount of sincerity. She knew that if that was what she truly wanted, he would have complied and let her slip away next door, leaving him lost and confused and discovered on a strange roof. But that wasn’t what Marinette wanted.
It hit her like a moving car- this realization. This realization that she wanted to know who she put her faith and trust in everyday. This realization that she was ready to reveal a secret part of herself to this boy and that he was ready to do the same with her. Chat Noir had always been ready, he had just been waiting on Ladybug. It was unbelievably kind and Ladybug had taken advantage of it for so long that this was the only thing she could do to repay him- to thank him.
“I don’t want it to be that way. I think it’s time I know who’s butt I’m saving every day.” Marinette attempted to have her voice sound joking and light but it came out as a high pitched, almost strangled noise partway between a laugh and a sob. Marinette had sobbed a lot in such a short period of time.
“Are you sure?” He was tentative, like he was approaching a sleeping bear he didn’t want to awaken.
“Completely.” Her voice came across stronger than she thought it would have and it made her happy. If it had broken in the middle of the word- Chat would have hesitated and doubted whether she really did want this or she was just doing it because she felt bad for him. She felt him exhale a deep sigh that could only have been out of relief. Marinette’s grin was so wide, her cheeks hurt.
“On the count of three then,” and Marinette agreed. Her heart began to pound in her chest and she couldn’t tell if it was from fear or excitement. She shut her eyes and pulled away from his comfortable shoulder. A hand came to rest on her shoulder- a simple reassurance that she was still there. Her hand came to rest upon his for the same reasons.
“One…”
One friendship that would be changed forever, depending on who she saw once she opened her eyes. One partner that she put all her faith and trust and love in; one that she would depend on for many years to come.
“Two…”
Two friends that would have their world totally rocked once they discovered who wore their partner’s mask. Two identities that would be revealed. Two superheros that would finally know who they saved their city with. Two fates that were forever intertwined.
“Three.”
Three words that rushed to the tip of Marinette’s tongue eagerly, begging to be released. Three simple words that she knew she had never meant more than she did right now.
Marinette opened her eyes and met dazzling green ones so familiar they were a comfort. Dazzling green eyes that belonged to one other person- one person so obvious she almost hit herself for not guessing it earlier. Dazzling green eyes that belonged to Adrien Agreste. Her hands came up to her mouth not in shock but in sudden realization.
Everything made sense now. How he would always happen to show up right after her or even before he when the school was being attacked. How he would always perk up when Chat Noir was mentioned during class or blush slightly when the conversation moved to Ladybug. How Marinette could feel the same way about Chat Noir and Adrien because they were one and the same.
Thinking back on it, Marinette wasn’t surprised that she hadn’t guessed Adrien as her partner. The Adrien she studied with and ogled over was calm and reserved, the definition of polite while her cat was outgoing and quick witted, the definition of carefree. The Adrien she knew was everything Chat Noir wasn’t and vice versa but Marinette realized that Adrien couldn’t be Chat in public. He had an image, a box to fit into, a box that Chat’s extendable staff would have easily destroyed.
She realized that this was what his miraculous gave him. It wasn’t just superpowers; it was a chance for freedom. A chance to tear apart the societal box he was trapped in and save people and live his life without fear of ruining his father’s or his own image. But Chat Noir wasn’t his own person or a separate being. Chat Noir was the Adrien Agreste that never got to see the light of day. The Adrien that prowled alleyways by the light of the moon.
She loved Adrien Agreste whether he spoke with perfect, polite grammar or in cheesy flirtations and awful puns. She loved Adrien Agreste whether he hid behind the lens of a camera or a black mask. She loved every side of Adrien, no matter who she saw that day because they were all him. And she loved him.
“I love you.” The dam crumbled and it was such a relief. Such a relief to be able to say those words coherently without stuttering over them or doubting that they would be returned. Marinette laughed when Adrien blushed, a red glow overtaking his cheeks but there was still a familiar twinkle in his eye. A flirtatious glint that made Marinette feel warm and fuzzy and fluttery inside.
A simple kiss to her knuckles was all she needed to know that she wasn’t alone in her feelings. She knew from the simple, familiar gesture that Ladybug and Chat Noir would be better than ever and Marinette Dupain-Cheng and Adrien Agreste would soon start becoming something better.