A/N: Hey guys! I'm awfully sorry as usual for the long time this chapter took, but school has been kicking my ass because I'm just a poor little first-year English major. Anyway! You can skip this if you just wanna read the chapter, there's nothing super important. Otherwise, a few orders of business: So this chapter wraps up my first fic in years and my first fic in the ML fandom! I'm super hyped to have managed to finish this at a respectable 22k words and I could not have done this without all the positive feedback, so thank you all for each and every comment, kudo/like, etc! Thank you all so much!
Secondly, don't worry, this isn't the end. I have a couple ideas for probable one-shots floating around that will hopefully manifest themselves once I've dealt with exams, assuming that Persona 5 doesn't consume my life-energy and leave me a desiccated husk once it comes out. Buuuut, if you want to help make sure I keep writing for this fandom, feel free to hit me up at .com and throw some writing prompts in my askbox. I can't guarantee they'll get written but it's certainly motivation for me! Thanks in advance, and have a lovely day everyone!
She managed to make it to the rooftop of the bakery before her transformation dropped and she was just Marinette Dupain-Cheng, teary-eyed and clutching an unconscious superhero. She wasn't certain why she was crying, nor why her first instinct had been to bring the two of them to her own home. But Marinette pushed those thoughts away, because she didn't have time. She glanced out over the skyline, double-checking that nobody had seen her. She wasn't the only person in Paris allowed to occasionally take up residence on the tops of buildings, after all.
Thankfully, nobody was around, which was a small blessing. She shifted Adrien's weight to one side, crouching down to unlock her skylight. She hauled it open, then did her best to gently lower Chat Noir down onto her bed. There was one final, solemn, mournful beep from the Ring of the Black Cat, and suddenly Adrien was there in her bed, eyes shut, a little black cat kwami floating next to him for a moment before settling down tiredly on Adrien's chest..
Tikki, who had been hovering next to Marinette since she'd detransformed, was the first to speak. "Marinette, this is Plagg. Plagg, I'll go find some cheese. Please be nice." She floated off and phased through the floor before Marinette could respond, but it wasn't like she was going to object. After all, she'd only need Tikki to stay if…
"You're not going to turn back into Ladybug before he wakes up?" Plagg said, opening his eyes and giving her a look she couldn't quite identify. Marinette, not having met him before, was unaware of how uncharacteristically calm he was. She pursed her lips, sat down gingerly on the edge of her bed, and shook her head.
"Huh. You're letting the cat out of the bag out of, what, pity?" Plagg asked. Marinette swallowed hard. Was it pity? She'd learned who he was, sure, but she'd protected her own identity for so long. She could always blindfold him so he wouldn't recognize her room, and retransform. Nothing was forcing her to reveal her identity in return. But…
"I…" She sighed deeply, fingers grabbing her blankets and clutching them tight. "No. No, it's not pity. It's only fair he knows who I am. And the way this turned out…" She gazed up, through the skylight, at the deep blue sky. "The way this turned out, maybe it was supposed to happen like this. All along."
"Mm." Plagg grunted, and Marinette sat there in silence for a few moments, trying to figure out what she thought of him, when he spoke up again. "Maybe it ain't my business to say, but he loves you, you know. Had you figured that out?"
Her chest tightened and she averted the scrutinizing eye of the quantic god. "When you say that… When you say that, you mean Chat Noir loves Ladybug." Her voice was barely above a whisper. "And that… I knew that. I rejected it out of hand, and I refused to think about it, but I knew it."
"Tch. Ladybugs, always thinking of yourselves as two separate people." Plagg said dismissively, and Marinette felt a wave of irritation wash over her. What gave him the right to be so rude? Did he treat Adrien like this?
"What's that supposed to mean?" She snapped, voice tighter and more vicious than she'd really intended.
"I live in Adrien's head when he's Chat Noir. I hear his thoughts, same as Tikki hears yours. And I can tell you, he's not thinking in terms of "Chat Noir loves Ladybug". No, with him, it's "I love whoever she is". Plagg responded aloofly.
Marinette was still trying to process how to respond to that when a familiar voice suddenly filled the air. "Don't… Don't be such a dick, Plagg." Adrien said, tiredly. His eyes were still shut tight, but his head reached slowly up to his chest to gently scratch the kwami's back.
"Fine, see if I ever try to speak up on your behalf again." Plagg said, but he leaned into the petting nevertheless.
"Adrien… How do you feel?" Marinette asked, trying to keep her voice level. Adrien's head turned towards her, and Marinette could see his facial muscles twitching, but he kept his eyes shut tight.
"I've had better days, my lady. I'm paw-fully sore, but a little R&R and I'll be fine to get out of your hairball." He said, shooting her a small smile that didn't seem to reach all the way across his mouth.
"Get out of my hairball?" Marinette said, slowly.
"Oh, surely you get that pun?" Adrien said in a taut voice. "If no-"
"I get it, Adrien, but you don't need to… to get out of my hair."
He was silent a moment before answering. "The way you're saying my name… Y-You're someone who knows me, aren't you, my lady?" He said thickly.
"I am." Marinette said. It was funny. Time seemed to run slowly as all hell when Adrien was speaking, and her brain ran wild trying to figure out what to say, but when it came time to answer him, the answers slipped out with no rhyme or reason.
"Does it…" Adrien bit his lip. "Does it change what you think of me? What you think of me in either p-persona?"
"I-it does." Marinette said. She was acutely aware of how flat her voice sounded, and she desperately wanted to make herself sound stronger, more reassuring. She wanted the tone of her voice alone to assure him he had nothing to worry about. But she couldn't make it sound right for some reason.
She realized a moment before it happened that he was about to start crying, and when the first tears slipped out from between his shut eyes (why wouldn't he open them?) it felt like her heart was about to burst.
"Don't hate me." Adrien said in a croaky voice that was maybe the most painful thing Marinette had ever heard. "I know… I know I'm a reserved, b-boring, sheltered mess out-outside of the suit and an obno-" He made a strangled noise at the back of his throat, and it was a second before he could keep speaking. "An obnoxious f-flirt who won't leave you alone and I promise I'll s-stop being a bother, I know yo-you're a better person than that but th-there's a point where people stop putting up with me and please, please don't leave me."
"Adrien… K-Kitty, I don't…" Marinette took a deep breath, turning her whole body and grabbing at one of his hands with both of hers, squeezing it tight. "None of that i-is true and I'm not going to leave you. You're not boring. I… I adore Adrien Agreste, and more importantly... More importantly than that…! Chat Noir is my partner and my best friend. You've done so much for me, when I'm around you is some of the best times in my life even though we're usually fighting for our lives and I would do anything for you! So… So please, for me, take a few deep breaths. And then look at me before we both start crying!"
Adrien nodded and sniffled, and Marinette watched as he took a few big, wheezing breaths and rubbed his forearm against his eyes until they were mostly dry. His facial muscles twitched a couple times, his expression plainly wracked with indecision. And then, suddenly, he was looking at her.
For a period of time that neither of them would be able to tell whether it was a second or five minutes afterwards, they were both quiet. Then Adrien spoke, his voice barely above a whisper.
"I...Can you be honest with m-me?"
She nodded. She didn't know what else to do.
"Are you… You've always seemed un-uncomfortable and distant. The gum thing… That first impression… Did you still hold that against me, or did you just… not like me very much?" He spoke slowly, in a way that told Marinette he was doubting whether he should say what he was saying even as he said it.
She kissed him. She didn't know what else to do.
His lips were softer than Marinette expected, and she could feel the hot tears streaking his cheeks making her own damp. His hand squeezed hers tightly as he stiffened in surprise, and quickly relaxed. Her eyes were shut tight, and she suspected his were as well, but she honestly couldn't say for sure. Marinette hoped they were. Wasn't it a bad sign if he didn't close his eyes?
The kiss only lasted a couple seconds before she pulled away, abruptly self-conscious. What if he hadn't wanted that? Was that selfish of her? She thought that maybe kissing him would make him happy, would make it clear that no, she absolutely did not hold anything against him and no, she wasn't leaving him any time soon. But was that an excuse?
"S-sorry! I shouldn't have, that wasn't, I just took adv-" She stammered out apologetically. But Adrien was smiling despite his wet face. He reached down to his chest, scooped up Plagg, and deposited Plagg on the other side of his own prone form. Tikki, who had just re-entered the room, floated over to Plagg with some cheese and cookies, settling down to enjoy her snack alongside her partner. She had the tact not to say anything.
"Co-Could you… Could you kiss me again?" He asked. Marinette paused for a moment, wordless, and then nodded. She leaned down and pressed her lips to his for the second time.
"...Huh." Adrien said, once they had broken apart again.
""Huh"?" Marinette responded. What was that supposed to mean?
"Yeah. Huh." Adrien said. "I was surprised that it was even nicer the second time you kissed me."
She hit him with a pillow. She didn't know what else to do.
"Ow! What was that for?" He protested, grabbing the pillow and peeking up over it with wide eyes.
"Adrien "Chat Noir" Agreste, if you ever respond to me kissing you with a "Huh" again, I promise you it will be the last thing you ever say." She fumed. "Honestly, you really didn't expect that? Because I expected better from Chat Noir. WHO RESPONDS TO A KISS WITH "HUH."? DO YOU KNOW HOW THAT COMES ACROSS?"
She was hitting him again and again with the soft, fluffy pillow of death by the time she was finished speaking. He was putting up a feeble defence, mostly just covering his face, and he was… Was he laughing?
She slammed the pillow down onto the bed one final time with a huff and turned away, crossing her arms. "...It's not funny." She said, in a feeble voice that caught both Adrien and herself off-guard.
"Marinette?" He ventured.
"It's just…" Her lip quivered, but she refused to let herself start crying. "I've h-had a crush on you since that whole u-umbrella thing your first day and now, here you are crying and I don't know w-what else to do so I kiss you and I'm te-terrified you're going to think I'm taking advantage of you or hate me because Marinette is so much weaker than L-Ladybug, and then you go and s-say something like that that makes it seem like you're just… casually trying to decide if it's worth liking me…" She said, her voice much shakier than she'd hoped.
"I'm… I'm sorry, Marinette." Adrien said, sitting up as best as he could manage and leaning around her to grab her hand. Marinette could feel the uncertain reluctance with which he laid his head on her shoulder. "I g-got so wrapped up in my own feelings, my own sadness, that I didn't think about your emotions. Just because you'd cheered me up didn't mean you weren't going to be going through some stuff of your own, and I failed to think about that, and I made everything about me. I'm sorry."
"It's fine. I-It's fine." She said, turning to look at him. He looked so goddamn sincere with those green eyes of his, searching her expression for forgiveness while somehow managing to reflect how guilty he felt for upsetting her in the first place. "I know it won't… won't happen again."
"I promise it won't." Adrien said with certainty. They were quiet for a moment after that, discomfort slowly fading away into a kind of blissful silence that can only be shared by two people who know beyond all shadows of a doubt that they are in love.
"...Hey, Marinette?" Adrien asked after a couple moments, shifting a bit in place to press a little closer to her.
"Yeah?" She asked, tilting her head at him curiously.
"Is it just me, or does a lot of stuff seem stupid and/or obvious in retrospect now? Like… The whole thing with Evillustrator and your quote unquote secret mission." Adrien said sheepishly.
"Oh, definitely." Marinette agreed with a pleasant hum. "If I'd had a little bit more self-control, I could've actually thought about why you'd take a shower mid-Akuma attack instead of just getting all flustered ever-" She cut herself off with a sudden blush, and Adrien smirked.
"Oh, do go on, my Lady."
"I'll hit you with the pillow again." She threatened. He leaned in close, whispering into her ear.
"I'm into that."
"Gross! Gross. God, you're gross. You are just… You teenage horndog. Horncat. I'll take my pure sweet innocent Adrien and my Chat Noir who's too smitten to actually say anything gross to his Ladybug back, please." Marinette demanded.
"Please, if you think I'm innocent, you should see the notes Nino and I pass in class."
"La la la, I'm not listening~" Marinette responded, holding her hands over her ears and shaking her head.
"Opinions, Marinette. We have deeply considered opinions. On ladies." Adrien said, poking her repeatedly in the shoulder. "...That said, you know, please tell me if anything I say ever makes you uncomfortable, I would never want to-"
She flicked him on the nose. "Disturb me or make me feel objectified, I know, I know. You stupid beautiful dumbass."
"...I'll take that, honestly." Adrien said. He was trying to think of something else witty to say when his phone went off in his pocket. He winced, fumbling to grab it and silence it before Marinette…
"Ooh. Someone likes magical girl cartoons." She teased. "Such a masculine ring tone."
"Shut up. We're basically both magical girls, it's thematically appropriate!" Adrien shot back. Finally managing to extract his cell from his pocket, he glanced down at the caller ID. "It's Nino. Did you tell anyone anything about where we… uh… are? When you ditched the party."
"Ummmm…" Marinette started. Her own phone started ringing. "That's probably Alya."
"Yeah, and that's also a superhero theme song, so don't call me black, you pot." Adrien paused. "That came out sounding more offensive than I intended."
He tapped the answer button while ignoring Marinette's snickering, tossing the phone up to his ear. "Hey, Nino! Yeah, I know I disappeared. Chat Noir? Oh no! I hope he's okay… Where am I? Well…" He shot a glance at Marinette, then smiled. "I ran into Marinette."
Her phone stopped ringing.
"Yeah, she's okay too. Actually… We're both better than okay. We, uh. We had a good talk and I'm fairly sure we're going to start dating now."
Her phone started ringing again. There was also a loud, sudden wall of noise that could arguably be called cheering audible from Adrien's phone.
"...The whole class on speakerphone? Thanks for the warning, man." He risked a glance at Marinette, who was currently raising a pillow threateningly. "Okay, everyone's going to Kim's for pizza and video games? Great. We'll, uh… We'll meet you there. No, don't wait up. I think Marinette has to beat me to death for talking too much first, so that'll hold us up. Bye!" He hung up quickly as he was greeted with white, fluffy rage to the face.
Once Marinette was done venting her feelings on Adrien's lack of tact through the new martial art she was considering dubbing Pillow Fu, the two of them got ready to go, rousing their sleepy kwamis and quickly touching up their appearances to that they didn't appear too disheveled.
"Hold on, wait a second." Adrien said. "Can you turn into Ladybug first?"
"Uh, okay. Why?"
Adrien grinned widely. He'd waited ages for this moment. "I want to see your transformation sequence! You've gotta have one, right? Please tell me you go through the theatrics." If she didn't, he wasn't certain he could forgive her.
Marinette rolled her eyes. "Yes, of course I've got one, you colossal dork. And fine. But don't stare too much! It's embarrassing! Tikki, spots on!"
Adrien stared in awe as his pigtailed classmate-and-girlfriend became his pigtailed superhero-and-girlfriend. He debated whistling as her transformation came to a close, but figured that'd be a little much. "Jeez, Ladybug! That high-kick is really something! You really are flexible."
"Yeah, you hadn't noticed after a literal year of yo-yo slinging acrobatics on my part?" Ladybug said dryly.
"Look, that was like, a literal vertical splits. Definitely flashy!" Adrien argued. "Anyway, Plagg, claws out!"
"Hmm." Ladybug said, crossing her arms as Chat Noir emerged from the flashing lights that had just filled her bedroom.
"Well? C'est magnifique, non?" He asked, flexing.
"It's a little repetitive. You pull in tight, stretch out, your belt shows up… And then you pull in tight, stretch out, and claw at the air? Needs a little work." She critiqued. He looked a little crestfallen, then brightened up.
"Well, we'll just have to make sure our team transformation is extra-special!"
"Team transformation?" Ladybug asked. Chat Noir nodded eagerly.
"Well, we don't need to be totally alone to transform now, right? We can transform around each other, and we should totally have some synchronized posing. Maybe we can work in some backflips?" Chat Noir asked.
"Maaaaaybe. If you're a good kitty. Now, come on." Ladybug said, leaping up to the skylight. "We've got a party to crash! Or… attend regularly. Because we were invited and enjoy spending time with our friends."
"You fell into akuma bantering mode for a second there, huh, my Lady?" Chat Noir asked, following her up onto the roof. Ladybug elected not to dignify that question with a response as the two of them took to the Paris skyline, swinging over office building and apartment alike.
Of course, they weren't in the air more than thirty seconds before Chat Noir broke the silence. "Heeeeeyyy… Race you to Kim's?" He asked. Ladybug glanced back at him, pigtails whistling through the air, and grinned wordlessly before upping her pace.
"I'll take that as a resounding yes." Chat Noir quipped, before launching himself off the edge of a rooftop and rolling to break his fall several stories below.
There was cheering on the streets below them as they raced through the city. More than usual. Chat Noir was confused for a moment, wondering what exactly was warranting the extra public attention, before the realization brought a warm smile to his face: They were cheering for the fact he was okay. Alya had already circulated the news that he was more severely injured than usual, and the public was celebrating that he'd turned up good as new.
"This is what we fight for, you know." He mused to Ladybug in a breathy voice the next time he slipped next to her during their impromptu competition. "These people who believe in us. They're one of the many reasons I get up every morning."
Ladybug rolled her eyes and smiled good naturedly. "Getting caught up in sentiment, mon minou? And not even wholeheartedly. They're only one of many reasons?"
"Well, I'm counting your smile, your laugh, et cetera as separate reasons. Otherwise, it's pretty much just them and you." Chat Noir responded, briefly grabbing onto her waist as she swung across a gap in the rooftops to avoid falling behind.
"You know, that sounds a little codependent."
"I prefer to think of myself as co-dependable, y- OH SHIT, LOOK OUT."
Ladybug tore her gaze away from Chat Noir's stupid pretty face to find out that the two of them apparently had a blind date with a brick wall. Chat Noir grabbing onto her had caused her to misjudge the amount of slack she needed in her grappling yo-yo for this particular stunt.
"Oops." She whispered, before the two of them slammed full speed into the side of the building and went tumbling down to the ground below. They crashed against several different landings on the fire escape, a big leafy tree, and finally a slightly shorter tree before landing on the ground in a tangle of limbs.
"Did you…" Chat Noir groaned, wiggling his fingers and his toes to make sure nothing was broken. "Did you really just say "oops" just before colliding with a wall at like fifty kilometers an hour?"
"You don't want -ow- to go there, Chat Noir. You don't want to go there. You threw off my balance!" Said the superheroine from below him.
"You throw me off balance every time I see you, my Lady." Chat Noir said with a wink.
"I fucking hate you." Ladybug said before grabbing his shoulders and leaning up to kiss him. He fell into the kiss greedily, and they were a good ten seconds in before either one of them noticed a strange silence around them. It was quiet. Too quiet. They turned slowly to one side as they noticed two facts at the exact same time.
Number one: They had fallen on the middle of a sidewalk on the way to Kim's house. Number two: All of their friends from school, who had been on the way to Kim's house, were standing there and staring at them.
Ladybug reddened. Chat Noir grinned. Their classmates stared, and Alya hauled out her cellphone. She focused on the red-and-black jumble through the lens, and lined the shot up with expert speed, but just before she pressed her thumb to the button, a sense of familiarity at the sight before them shot through her and the red-capped boy standing next to her.
And as she was snapping the first of the many photos she would take of the two of them, Marinette and Adrien, Ladybug and Chat Noir, as a couple over the long and lasting relationship that would bring warmth and joy to the rest of their lives, she whispered something so quietly that nobody besides Nino could hear it.
"I fucking knew it."