So here it is! The conclusion that I never planned on writing, but ended up agonizing over for a very long time anyway. Enjoy!

Theirs

They're sitting on a rooftop at midnight, looking over the city that they protect when Ladybug brings up the question that has been plaguing her mind for weeks.

"Do you believe in reincarnation, Chat?"

If he's wondering where this seemingly random statement came from he doesn't show it, opting to answer without hesitation. "I suppose it's possible. If a pair of superheroes with magical powers can exist, reincarnation can probably happen too."

He turns to look at her, studying her face intently, and Ladybug feels an ache in her chest, but she doesn't understand why. "If you're worried that we won't be together in the next life, don't. I'll find you no matter who or where you are, my lady."

At any other moment, Ladybug would come up with a clever response to counter his flirtatious remark, but tonight she just ignores it and says, "I wonder how many Ladybugs and Chat Noirs have lived before us."

"Well, there was at least one Ladybug who existed 5000 years ago…for all we know, there could have been thousands of us."

"That's true," she says. "I think I see them in my dreams sometimes, Chat. I can never see them clearly, but they feel so familiar."

Chat raises his eyebrows in surprise. "…I have dreams like that too."

They sit in silence for a moment, the realization dawning on them that maybe this means something. Perhaps these dreams aren't just the products of overactive imaginations, but are fragments of Miraculous users who came before them.

"I see them die sometimes," Ladybug whispers, more to herself than to Chat. "I've seen so many Chat Noirs die for their Ladybugs."

She reaches out and places a hand on his arm. "Chat, promise me you won't do that. Promise me that you won't throw away your life for me the way they did."

He looks as if he was expecting that statement, and it makes her heart ache. "You know I can't do that, my lady."

She remembers that he has already almost thrown his life away for her several times, taking hits without any hesitation. She wants to be mad at him for valuing her life over his own, but refrains from putting it into words because she knows that she's a hypocrite. She would put herself in danger for him, if he would let it happen.

They're interrupted by the beeping of their Miraculous, reminding them that it's almost 1 a.m., and they both have school tomorrow.

"About the whole reincarnation thing though..." Chat Noir says, before turning to leave. "I wasn't kidding about finding you in the next life, my Lady. I think we really are destined to be together."

Adrien comes to a sudden conclusion one day.

He wants to see Marinette smile.

That in itself is probably not strange. It's normal to want to see your friends be happy, right?

Yet it nags at him. He feels the desire to make her smile on a level that he can't fully comprehend.

He realizes that that desire is something he feels when he looks at his lady too.

But that's just a strange coincidence, right?

They both feel it.

A strange sadness that they can't explain when they look at each other sometimes.

But neither of them utter a word because they are just classmates, just two teenagers putting on the façade of being regular people.

Confusing feelings over vague dreams about Ladybugs and Chat Noirs past have no place here.

They must be overtired. Why else would they be misplacing their thoughts onto someone else?

This isn't my lady, Adrien tells himself, unaware that at the same time, Marinette is silently admonishing herself for associating a feeling she has for Chat Noir with Adrien.

They're not the same, they remind themselves.

But what if…?

She isn't sure if she wants to bring it up.

She doesn't know if she wants to tell him about how lately her dreams have more clarity to them, not just the nightmares, but the happy ones too.

She doesn't know how to tell him that she sees his smile reflected back at her in every Chat Noir, no matter what form they may take.

In some ways, these happy dreams are more terrifying than her nightmares because they make it even more apparent that Chat Noir, whoever he is under the mask, is irreplaceable. He has become her everything, and she doesn't even know what his face really looks like.

A part of her asks, What about Adrien? and she wonders if it's possible for two people to be her everything. They seem to share her time almost equally lately. Adrien occupies her thoughts during the day, and Chat Noir takes over at night.

Right now it's close to midnight, Chat's time to rule over her heart.

She thinks about the myriad of Chat Noirs she's seen: different names, different faces, but at their core, all the same.

All filled with love and with life, until they died for their Ladybugs.

The words star-crossed love drift in her mind for a moment. Is that what her destiny is too?

She takes a peek at Chat Noir, whose attention is occupied by the traffic down below. He looks perfectly content with his lips curved into a smile, and she worries that one day he'll lose that joy and it will be all her fault.

His gaze meets hers, his smile widening into a grin. It feels like her heart is going to shatter when she looks into his eyes, the same eyes she sees in her dreams every other night.

"Yes, my Lady?"

Is this what their fate is? To have their paths cross, but never intertwine?

The akuma they're fighting calls herself The Seamstress, and she wields a giant pair of sewing shears. Ladybug thinks to herself that in a different situation, maybe they would have had a wonderful conversation with each other, but there's no room for that now.

The Seamstress is very difficult to catch, and in a moment of carelessness, Ladybug leaves herself open for attack.

Chat Noir jumps in front of her, and she watches the scenes that play out in her subconscious become reality as her world starts to fall apart, and everything is red. There is so much red.

She's holding Chat Noir in her arms, his name on her lips in a hoarse scream. She wants this situation to be an elaborate fabrication. Let this be a nightmare that she can wake up from.

I have to fix this, she reminds herself. I can fix this.

She hates to tear herself away from him, but she has to. She has to save him.

He has seen this in his dreams before.

Now that it's happening to him, he wonders if maybe this was a warning from his past lives. Maybe they were trying to tell him not to do this, that he shouldn't throw his life away in this manner.

No, he thinks. The opposite. None of them regretted this, and neither do I.

Maybe he does regret it a little though, when he sees Ladybug crying over him. He doesn't want his lady to be in pain on his behalf.

Ladybug briefly presses her lips against his forehead, and whispers, "I'll be back, Chat. I'm going to fix this. I promise."

"Of course, my lady. I'll be waiting for you," he manages to choke out. He'll wait for her in his next life if he has to.

Everything is a blur for Ladybug as she fights the akuma on her own in silence. The quiet reminds her that her partner is waiting for her. It keeps her focused.

She wastes no time breaking the weapon and releasing the butterfly, praying that she isn't too late.

She runs to her partner as she uses her Miraculous Cure, barely registering that the spots of blood on the pavement have disappeared.

Please be okay. Please tell me I fixed it. I don't want my nightmares to be real. Don't leave me. Don't leave me. Don't.

She's kneeling over him now, her eyes misting over with tears again. "Chat?"

"My lady," he murmurs, opening his eyes slowly. "I had the most wonderful dream while I was waiting for you."

He thinks that maybe this is the dream as Ladybug pulls him to her, holding him so close that he can hear her heartbeat. It's steady and strong, just like her. The sound almost makes him forget that his own heart had almost gone silent a few moments ago.

"You silly kitty. I told you not to throw your life away for me."

"If I recall correctly, I didn't actually promise you that I wouldn't," he replies, and he can't help but give her a cheeky grin as she looks down at him with a scowl. "But I will promise to try and be more careful when I'm protecting you from now on."

"You better," Ladybug exhales, and she presses her cheek against the top of Chat's head.

They share a sigh of relief taking solace in the realization that their story hasn't ended yet.

They're watching over the city from a rooftop again, a part of their usual routine. Today they're out earlier than usual, the sky still bright with shades of yellow and orange left by the setting sun.

"So I've been thinking about something," Ladybug says, before she can convince herself to back out of this conversation before it even starts.

"Oh?" Chat Noir tilts his head in curiosity. "Do tell, my lady."

"You know those dreams I was telling you about the other day? The ones where I see our past selves? They've been getting more detailed lately, to the point that I remember them clearly when I wake up. And it's kind of freaking me out because they made me realize that you're a super important part of my life—N-not that I didn't think that before…"

She's rambling, and she's impressed that her partner is patiently listening to her nonsense instead of cutting her off. "I-I guess what I'm trying to say is that I really care about you, and I'm scared to lose you."

"You're important to me too, my lady," he utters softly. His eyes tell her more than his words do. I trust you. You're precious to me. I love you. It scares her a little how clearly he's displaying these feelings for her on his face, and she also wonders how long it's been like this, and why she hadn't really acknowledged it until now.

Except she doesn't need to wonder because she knows why.

It's because Adrien exists, and to consider Chat Noir as an alternative was never an option. At least, not until she started having these vivid dreams, and these midnight conversations, and the recent experience of watching him almost die in her arms.

"There's…something else," she mumbles, surprised that the words managed to leave her mouth. She could have left the conversation as it was. That would have been the safe route to take. But she's seen the fragments of her past lives, and they've told her that sometimes you have to take risks, and that you can't avoid your feelings forever.

"Yes, my lady?"

"I…I…think I love you, Chat Noir."

"P-Pardon?" he sputters, eyes wide at her confession.

She takes a deep breath, trying to gather courage by thinking of the myriad of other Ladybugs who have existed. "I think I love you," she repeats. "But I love someone else too, and I'm so confused because you're both so different, yet I feel connected to you both in the same way sometimes. And maybe it's stupid, but I can't help but think that maybe it's my past lives trying to tell me something; that maybe you're not so different after all. I think I might know you, Chat Noir."

She doesn't notice that she's shaking until Chat Noir takes one of her hands in his, entwining her trembling fingers with his steady ones. "I don't think it's stupid," he reassures her. "I feel something pretty similar, actually. There's someone I see all the time, and she reminds me of you. Sometimes I think about how I would do anything for her, the same way that I would do anything for you. If you think that your past selves might be trying to help you connect my civilian identity to my hero one, then maybe it's the same for me too."

It feels like her heart is lodged in her throat as the implications of Chat's statements settle in her head.

I feel connected to you both in the same way sometimes.

There's someone I see all the time, and she reminds me of you.

Could this be the moment that their paths intertwine or is she being too optimistic?

"Do you…want to test that theory?" Ladybug asks hesitantly.

She can see Chat's inner struggle flit over his features briefly as he considers her offer. She appreciates his hesitation. He has always valued her boundaries more than his own curiosity towards her, and it makes her love him more. "Only if you want to, Ladybug."

"I do," she says, hoping that her voice doesn't betray how nervous she is. She trusts him, but the thought of revealing the secret she's been keeping for so long scares her.

She reminds herself that she's doing this because she doesn't want one of her regrets to be not knowing every side of her partner before one or both of them disappear. These past few weeks have taught her that.

"So…let's release our transformations together on the count of three?" Chat suggests.

"Y-yeah! That sounds good."

They're both tense as they count together. "One…two…three!"

There are flashes of pink and green, and for a moment they sit in silence, scared to look at each other, their hands still tightly clasped together.

Marinette dares to turn her head to look at her now mask-less partner, and her breath hitches when she sees the person she hoped it would be.

How fitting that she finds out who he is as the sun sets. As day and night briefly overlap with each other, Adrien and Chat Noir also blend together. All of her inner conflicts involving the two have melded into the individual standing before her.

"Was your theory correct?" Chat, no…Adrien asks, a smile tugging at his lips.

"Yes," she exhales. "Was yours?"

"It was," he whispers, dipping down to press his forehead against hers. "I'm so glad I didn't have to wait to find you in the next life, my lady."

Adrien chuckles a little, content that he didn't have to fall asleep to give his dreams a happy ending and Marinette joins him.

Their paths did get to intertwine after all.