AWWWW we've reached the end, my friends! Enjoy!

"Marinette?" he whispered, crumbling.

Nothing.

"Marinette? Ladybug?" he shook her, but her eyes remained closed.

Tears began to gather, and he trembled, hands at a loss for what to do.

Adrien…she's…

"Shut up, Plagg!"

He laid her flat on the ground and began performing CPR. "Come on," he murmured as he pressed down on her chest. Over and over.

And over.

He clasped her face and breathed air into her parted mouth, giving her everything, all of it.

She could have every last piece of him.

She just had to come back.

She's gone. Adrien, she's dead.

The words finally registered, and Chat sat back, folding his head in his arms.

Why did he ever think his bad luck wouldn't rub off on her? He was deadly. A black cat. He took the most precious, beautiful creature and stripped her of her smile, then her life.

His chest felt like he'd taken a beating. It felt like Wavelength had disrupted the frequency of his pulse, robbed him of his lungs, his heart, his life.

What was he going to do without her?

Not just Ladybug, either. Marinette. Her bubbly, flustered attitude. Her sassy remarks. Her creativity and sincerity.

He would have to tell her family what happened. Oh God, her family.

And Alya.

How would he explain that Ladybug and Marinette had passed on the same day? Would she want him to reveal her identity? To honor what she had done for Paris? Or would she prefer to remain a mystery, a sign of hope, immortal.

He didn't know! He didn't know what to do.

"Stop crying, Kitty."

He may have had a heart attack—he wasn't sure, nor did he mind the way his body spasmed at the sound of her voice.

Marinette was staring at him with one eye open, her hand taught around her Miraculous.

He looked down at her in awe.

She smiled.

And he pounced.

He threw his arms around her, thanking every God and Goddess in the book.

He cradled her in his arms, rocking her back and forth, until her incessant punching and complaining made him pull back.

Slowly, her palor was saturating, and the warmth was returning to her body.

"Chat…" she whispered, still faint, but alive.

"My Lady."

She teared up. "You came for me."

"Always," he said without a beat. "I'm sorry I didn't trust you."

She shook her head. "I'm sorry I pushed you away."

"No. I pushed myself away by denying how I felt about you."

Her eyes widened. "I thought you—"

There was a beep— leave it to his hungry kwami to ruin the moment—and she gripped his arm. "Your time…"

"I don't care."

"Chat."

"I know who you are, Princess. It's only fair."

She bit her lip, unsure, but she didn't protest.

He let the chirps continue, locked in eye contact, until a bright green light engulfed them, and he was boring old Adrien.

She stared for such a long time, he wasn't sure if she was frozen or not. Then she reddened. "Are you serious?!"

He grinned, laughing softly. "Disappointed?"

"Not at all! A little angry at you though. You teased me that whole time about liking Adrien! You…you were in my bed!"

"I'm sorry. But it's pretty ironic, you have to admit. It was like…a love quadrangle."

She sighed, rolling her eyes, but she was thrilled. He could tell.

When she was done ranting, she met his eyes and reached out. Her soft, loving fingers brushed a few stray tears away. "Were those tears for me, Kitty?"

He smiled gently, covering her hand with his. "Who else? You were dead for five minutes."

"Haaaahhh?" she yelled, bolting upright.

He caught her before she crashed again from dizziness.

"Oi…." she muttered, massaging her temple. "Dead? Are you being sarcastic?"

He ignored her, figuring he'd catch her up on the details later. "I need to take you home. Your parents are worried."

She shook her head and gestured to Wavelength. "Take her to the hospital. She was possessed for nearly a month, and then crushed by the ceiling. She needs medical attention."

"So do you."

"I can manage."

He rolled his eyes, but he knew there was no arguing with Ladybug.

OoO

The next night he found the door open, an invitation, and he never felt so happy in his life.

Marinette was sitting on her bed, drawing, and he almost didn't want to ruin the moment.

Her face was contorted with focus. Her tongue was sticking out.

She looked ridiculous. Adorable, obviously, but a goof all the same.

He cleared his throat, and she jumped, glaring at him for spooking her.

"How are you feeling?" he asked as he strode in, leaning against her wall to face her.

"Better. Nothing a little Ibuprofen can't handle. How's Laurel?"

"Hospital bound for a bit, but she's okay. No longer my stalker, if you're wondering." His eyes fell to her computer screen, where his face stared back at him. "Can I ask you something else?" he began, and she nodded, but she was less sure this time, sensing the change in his tone.

"Why were you so against us knowing each other's identities?"

Her smile dwindled, and she set down her sketchbook.

"I…there were a few reasons. For one, if we started hanging out as Adrien and Marinette, it would be more difficult to differentiate between ourselves and our alter egos, and it wouldn't take long for someone to connect the dots. But…I guess it was more that," she paused, looking away from him, "You admired Ladybug for her bravery and her charisma and grace, and those are all things I just don't have as Marinette."

Adrien opened his mouth, but she kept going.

"I…I liked that you trusted me. I didn't want you to know that I was a klutz, or see me as weak and girly. Basically I didn't want you to be disappointed."

"Marinette," he sighed. "I don't see you that way at all."

"But Ladybug is so much better. She's the person you fell in love with."

"You are Ladybug," he laughed.

She blushed.

He stepped forward. "When you shut me out as Ladybug, I felt like I'd lost my other half. But when you locked me out of Marinette's life, it felt like my world had shattered."

She shook her head, a plea for him to stop, but he wouldn't.

"When you died, I wanted to die too, Marinette. It was the worst feeling in the world. I'd lost the two people most important to me," he closed his eyes. "I lost the two people I loved more than anything."

There was a full silence, a contemplative, heart wrenching silence.

"You still…love me?"

He closed the distance, standing at her bedside. "Isn't it obvious? I never stopped."

She breathed out, incredulous, and then she crawled out of her bed and walked past him to her dresser.

"Marinette…"

"No…I can't."

"What?"

She turned, her face pained. "Everything, it's…I thought I had this all figured out before….before you happened." She shook her head. "We can't."

He attempted to mask the pain in his voice. "Why?"

"Because I'm Ladybug and you're Chat Noir and….oh God, why did it have to be you?"

"You are disappointed," he said. He knew it, and it hurt more than he thought it would. "You wanted Adrien, not Chat."

"No!" she nearly yelled, startling him. "No it's not that I don't want you, Chat, it's that I do."

He blinked at her, caught between joy and confusion. "You aren't making sense."

She threw her hands in the air, dramatically, so much like the Marinettte he knew it made him stifle laughter. "When I didn't have Chat Noir in my life, I deteriorated. You saw me, how I broke once you cut me off…"

Adrien recalled the day she'd shown up in tears, the weeks of reclusive sadness, her locked balcony. That was all because of him? He didn't know how to feel anything other than awful about that revelation.

"Chat," she continued, "I realized that you weren't just my partner or my friend."

He dared to hope. "I wasn't?"

"You were—are, so much more than that," she said gently.

Chat' s heart thumped loudly, and he crossed his arms. "Then how come we can't be together?"

"Because! How could it possibly work?" she cried. "There's so many complications. And it's more dangerous now. Hawk Moth could know my identity, and I mean, there's the paparazzi, and little forgetful details, and Alya and Nino, who are bound to notice…"

"Those are all lame reasons," he decided. "Tell me why."

He waited, and she swelled like a balloon ready to burst.

"If something happens!" she blurted finally.

He stared at her, more amused than anything. "Can you be a little more specific, Princess?"

She deflated, running her hand through her loose hair. "If something were to happen between us, how can we still be partners? How can we save Paris if our emotions get in the way?"

He caught on, and he refrained from rolling his eyes. "You mean if we break up, even though we aren't together yet?"

She put her hands on her hips, adding to the hilarity of the situation.

"You saw what happened this month. One stupid akuma came between us and we—"

"And we won. It all worked out in the end. We learned from our mistakes… I learned from my mistakes," he mended.

She shook her head. "I'm scared, Chat. I don't want to lose you. You're my best friend. And I…I love you too much to risk it."

He approached her, and she let him. He touched her shoulders, sliding his hands down to hers, running his thumbs over her palms. "First of all, I'm never going to hurt you again. I promise." She looked up at him, and her eyes were blurry with fear. "And if something did happen, if we broke up, then nothing changes. I'm always going to be here. I'm always your friend first, okay?"

She nodded slowly, her gaze never once leaving his.

"But you can't keep focusing on what might happen. I'm bad luck so we're going to have problems— that's a given," that earned him a chuckle, and he relished the sound. "Plus we're practically partners for life, so you're stuck with me either way."

He squeezed her hands. "My Lady…focus on right now. Stop being selfless for once and let me love you."

She smiled slowly.

"I thought it was Princess."

"Hmmm," he raised his hands to her cheeks. "How about, My Love?"

"I suppose that works."

He leaned down, and she stood on her toes to meet him.

Right before his lips grazed hers, though, he pulled back.

"Do you want me to transform back first?" he asked timidly. She might have wanted to see his face, his eyes. If there was a quaver to his voice he hoped she hadn't noticed.

She looked at him strangely, then her mouth quirked upward. "Don't take this the wrong way, Adrien, but I think I'd prefer to kiss my Chat. For real this time."

He smiled at her, a real, toothy, feline smile.

Then he frowned. "This time?"

But she was already pulling him down to her, and soon she was kissing the rest of his thoughts away.

OoO

"Oh. My. Gods. Did you hear what happened?!" Alya practically screamed.

"Um…" Marinette said, feigning confusion.

"We've got video footage of Chat and Ladybug kissing! On the Eifel Tower! Isn't that romantic?"

Marinette shrugged, but her eyes flickered to Adrien, and he grinned at her. I told you it would be romantic, his eyes said obnoxiously.

"Thank goodness they finally got rid of what's-her-face. She was sinking my ship!" Alya exclaimed.

"Your ship?" Nino asked.

Alya placed her hands on her hips. "Yeah. You know, when you pair two people together who would make a great couple, you ship them. LadyNoir."

"Ohhhh, just like you ship Adrien and Marinette," Nino responded, winking. Marinette raised her eyebrows. A week ago, she would have been red from head to toe.

"Exactly like that," Alya grinned, elbowing Marinette to gauge a reaction.

Adrien shook his head at his friend. "You know, it's funny you say that. I ship us too."

Now it was Marinette's turn to smile, as Alya and Nino malfunctioned. "Am I dreaming?" Alya whispered, confused.

"Now that you mention it," Marinette added. "I'm pretty sure we're canon."

Adrien smiled at her, his green eyes sparkling with a cat-like impishness, and she laughed.

"Wait, are you guys serious?!"

Ah, that's the end! Thanks for the support and reviews guys! We will get through this hiatus together!

With love,

gtgrandom