Disclaimer: I do not own Miraculous Ladybug. It belongs to its respective owner.

Slowly But Surely

Marinette doesn't know how and when it all started.

All she knows is that one look at her partner sends her heart pounding violently in her chest, and when his hand accidentally brushes against her own she could feel her face grow warm, and every day she finds herself looking forward to fighting akuma because that means she'll get to see him.

Just a week ago, Adrien was the only boy who could make her feel this way.

But she shakes off the feeling—or feline, as Chat Noir and his aggravating puns would say—because maybe she's just over-thinking herself.

No way would she ever fall for him.

Alya is the first person to notice that something's wrong when Marinette doesn't become a stuttering mess in front of Adrien. She watches from the sidelines as Marinette tells Adrien about her sketch for their latest fashion project when the blond manages to catch a glimpse of it from over her shoulder.

"—and I was thinking of maybe adding some pearls over here," Marinette finishes while pointing at the chest area of her drawing of a ball gown. Adrien flashes her a smile, and for the first time ever, Marinette doesn't feel her knees weaken.

"That's amazing, Marinette, really," Adrien says sincerely. "I can't wait to see the finished product. I'm sure you have the best design in the class."

"Thanks, Adrien. That means a lot," Marinette says, and waves bye when Adrien tells her he has to go.

Alya approaches her warily, and then clamps a hand over Marinette's forehead. "Are you feeling okay? Do you need some medicine?" She then makes a fighting stance. "Who are you and what have you done to Marinette?!"

"Alya, what are you talking about?" Marinette asks, clutching her sketch book tightly over her chest.

"Maybe I need a new pair of glasses and a hearing aid," Alya says, fixing her glasses and cupping a hand around her ear. "But I saw you talking to Adrien and you were forming actual sentences. That, and you weren't making any weird gestures like you usually do."

"R-really?" Marinette asks, placing a hand on her cheek. Alya nodded furiously. "Huh. I didn't even notice."

"Didn't even notice?!" Alya shrieks, causing a few passersby to look their way. Marinette shrinks from the attention. "Okay, now I know there's something wrong. Did something happen?"

"Nothing happened—"

"Is there a new boy?"

At this, Marinette feels her heart beat increase and suddenly the room is boiling hot, and Alya is starting to grow suspicious when her best friend doesn't say anything for a while. A picture of a familiar blond with cat ears and black attire enter Marinette's mind, but she shakes her head to erase the image.

Marinette finally regains her senses and tells Alya, "Of course not."

(It's the truth, but something deep inside of her tells her it's a lie).

Hawkmoth strikes again, and this time, the akuma comes in the form of a volleyball player who refuses to accept the fact that he and his team lost in the finals. His weapon is his volleyball, and he attacks by tossing it around. Whatever it touches turns it into sand, much to Ladybug and Chat Noir's terror.

He eliminates his team and his opponents in a fit of rage, and then goes on to eliminate everything in his way. After several flings of his ball, the town starts to look like an enormous volleyball arena.

It's when Chat Noir dies that Ladybug finally notices someone other than Adrien.

Ladybug performs a somersault in the air to dodge an attack, when she lands in quick sand. She panics, but this just makes her sink deeper into the sandy abyss.

"I got you there, didn't I?" the akuma mocks, then proceeds to cackle evilly.

Hawkmoth orders him to throw his volleyball at her so that when she turns into sand, he'll be able to take her Miraculous from her.

The akuma nods and throws his arm back, aims, and then launches his volleyball right at her. Ladybug closes her eyes, awaiting her fate, when she feels a gust of wind hit her. She opens her eyes to see a blur of black in front of her, and it's when the figure crumbles does she understand what happened.

Chat Noir threw himself in front of her.

Chat Noir took the blow.

Char Noir sacrificed himself for her.

Ladybug feels tears forming in her eyes when she's processed what just happened because he did it again. This is a part two of the Timebreaker incident, and she wants to beat herself up for not being a better partner.

"LUCKY CHARM!" she screams, heartbreak dripping in her voice, and a red lasso with black polka-dots land in her hands. She manages to latch onto the nearest tree branch and pull herself out of the sand.

The possessed athlete throws his ball at her, but determined to avenge her partner, Ladybug dodges each blow and eventually manages to land a kick in his gut. He falls to the ground and his weapon bounces next to him, but right before he could even lay a hand on it, Ladybug snatches it with her lasso and pops it right in his face. A black butterfly flies out of it, which Ladybug successfully captures with her compact.

"MIRACULOUS LADYBUG!" she yells, throwing her ladybug-printed lasso in the air, and waiting nervously for her partner to appear again.

Magic dust fills the air and Ladybug watches as the sand beneath her feet slowly come back together to form buildings and trees and people.

The last thing to form is Chat Noir.

Ladybug feels her eyes water when she sees his cat ears past the little sand tornado in front of her, and she throws herself onto him when the tornado disappears and her partner blinks back into existence. Chat Noir is speechless at first, shocked to see her hugging him, but he slowly returns the hug and smiles to himself.

Ladybug's eyes widen when she realizes what's happening and jumps a good three meters back. Neither of them say anything for a good five seconds, until Ladybug throws her yoyo in his face.

"Ow!" Chat Noir exclaims, rubbing his nose to soothe the pain. "What was that for?"

"You have to stop doing those kinds of things for me," she scolds. "I don't need a repeat of the Timebreaker episode! You died for a good five minutes back there!"

Chat Noir just grins at her. "Didn't I mention before that I've got nine lives?" Ladybug slaps her forehead, but is unable to repress the smile that forms on her face. "Besides," he begins again, taking a step closer to her. He says softly, "I'd put my life in danger for you any day."

And it's that smile that makes her knees grow weak, that voice that makes her head spin.

Thankfully, Tikki warns her that she has one spot left until her transformation goes down and Ladybug uses it as an excuse to get away.

Her heart doesn't stop pounding all the way home.

The next day, Alya approaches Marinette, who looks as if her entire world had just fallen apart. Her eyes are wide, her hands are on the sides of her head, and around her lay crumpled pieces of paper.

"Marinette?" Alya asks, causing her best friend to shriek and jump two meters in the air.

"H-huh? What?" Marinette screeches, and sighs in relief when she sees who it is. "Oh, hey Alya! How are you doing?"

"I'm fine. You don't seem like it, though," she says, taking a seat next to her.

When Alya reaches out to grab a ball of paper, Marinette suddenly shrieks, "Don't touch that!" She then snatches all of the crumpled papers and hides them behind her back. Alya shoots her a questioning look, and Marinette just laughs nervously. "They're—uh, really bad drafts of the newest outfit I'm designing."

Alya raises an eyebrow suspiciously, especially when she catches a glimpse of something that looks like a black tail on one of the papers. Marinette always let her see her drafts no matter how bad she thinks they are—but something tells her that she's not trying to hide sketches of bad clothes.

"Are you sure you're all right, Marinette?" Alya asks.

"Of course I am. Why wouldn't I be?" Marinette answers almost too quickly.

"I don't know… You seem a bit off these days."

Marinette smiles, and the corner of her lip twitches. "Really? What makes you say that?"

Alya knows she's feigning innocence, but decides not to push it. It's probably something she doesn't want to talk about, and Alya understands.

She continues, "Maybe I'm just over-thinking things. Forget what I said," she tells her. "Anyways, did I tell you about my latest post on my LadyBlog? Okay, so—"

While Alya fangirls over Ladybug, Marinette battles with her thoughts in her head because all she sees are black cat ears, silky blond hair and an annoyingly handsome smile.

Marinette is in the kitchen having a snack while listening to her mother chatter about the wedding she's attending later that day.

"She's a very good friend of mine, and you have no idea how happy I was when she told me she wanted us to make her wedding cake!" Sabine exclaims, looking up proudly at the cake before her. "I worked extra hard on this one because Sophie deserves the very best!"

"I'm sure she'll love it, mom," Marinette says with a smile.

When the cake is picked up by a delivery guy and her mother and father are done dressing up, Marinette bids her parents goodbye and shuts the door behind her. She doesn't spend more than two hours in her home when she hears screams of terror coming from her window. Marinette looks outside to see couples being hit with a bouquet of flowers and only watches as their love for each other turns into hatred.

Marinette transforms into Ladybug when she sees an angry bride—Hawkmoth's newest victim—storm down the streets of Paris. Ladybug discovers that the bride's fiancé left her at the aisle, hence why her power involves her breaking couples up. If she can't be happy—if she can't have love—then no one can.

Chat Noir appears next to Ladybug and greets her by kissing her hand, angering the already heartbroken bride even more.

"Another couple? Disgusting," she spits, launching her bouquet of flowers at them. Ladybug and Chat Noir jump out of the way.

"Nice going, kitty," Ladybug says sarcastically, while Chat Noir just grins sheepishly.

"My bad," he chuckles. "But hey, this villain isn't so bad. I mean…" He then winks at her. "She called us a couple." Ladybug just rolls her eyes.

Like always, they manage to save the day and the two heroes watch as the broken couples come back together and give each other affection. The once-possessed bride stands heartbroken in the middle of the park, when her groom suddenly taps her on the shoulder. She turns around, they exchange a few words, and just like that, Chat Noir and Ladybug know that the wedding's on again.

Chat Noir and Ladybug watch the outdoor wedding from afar, on a rooftop, both pleasantly happy to see the bride get her happy ending.

"I love weddings," Ladybug sighs, and smiles when she sees her parents in the crowd. She managed to save her mom's friend's wedding, so all the guests are able to eat their cake happily and not guiltily.

"Me too," Chat Noir agrees. "I definitely can't wait for ours."

Face flushed, Ladybug turns to her partner and exclaims, "O-ours?!"

Chat Noir nods. "It's going to be a big outdoor party just like theirs and our cake will be twice as huge!" He points over at the four-layered wedding cake.

"What are you going off about—" Ladybug begins, but is unfortunately cut off.

"And then we're going to have three kids," he says confidently, hands clasped together and eyes sparkling. "And we're going to live in a huge mansion and—"

"Hold on!" Ladybug exclaims, waving her hands in front of her. "What's with all this planning already? I mean, we're both still in high school!"

(And she says this as if she's never thought of a married life with Adrien before).

Chat Noir merely shrugs, and then grins widely. "I like planning ahead."

"What makes you even think I'd say yes to going out with you, let alone marry you—"

"I like you!"

"—be quiet!" Ladybug's face turns a deep shade of red that even rivals her costume. "Oh, honestly… How could you say that so easily?"

"I only say things that easily when I'm one hundred percent sure of it," he says. Ladybug tries not to gag when he winks at her (and tries her hardest to ignore the fuzzy feeling inside).

"Well, sadly for you, you're not my type at all," Ladybug says, poking his chest with her finger. Chat Noir grabs it and proceeds to kiss her hand a second time that day.

"You'll fall for me one day, trust me," he says smoothly, shooting her a charming smile. "It's just a matter of time."

She pounds him over the head and runs off, unable to hide the blush on her cheeks any longer.

It's one hour past midnight, and both Ladybug and Chat Noir meet up on the roof of the tallest building in the city as usual.

They spent their last few nights trying to look for the source of the akuma attacks, but to no avail. They always just end up tiring themselves and showing up to school the next day with massive eye bags. Tonight, they decided to take a break from all this superhero business and just watch the stars together.

"The view from up here is so beautiful," Ladybug says, dangling her legs over the edge.

"Trust me," Chat Noir starts, taking a seat next to her. "You're a much better sight than this."

Ladybug coughs, and then scoots away from him.

"Hey, come back!" Chat Noir exclaims. "I was just kitten around."

"I'll push you off this roof if you don't stop with the cat jokes," Ladybug deadpans.

Chat Noir shrugs. "Go ahead. A cat always—"

"Don't say it."

"—lands on his feet."

"Chat Noir!" Ladybug screams out of frustration. Chat Noir laughs, then turns away from her to admire the full moon and the thousands of twinkling stars in the midnight sky above.

Ladybug doesn't take her eyes off of him just yet. She stares at his profile, observing his striking green eyes, messy blond hair and radiant smile that could light up all of Paris. He's actually very handsome, now that she's able to take a good look at him, and she feels a blush coming onto her cheeks. Chat Noir notices her staring and turns his face to her, flustering Ladybug and causing her to turn away quickly.

She was staring, he knew. He wanted to tease her about it, he really did.

But Chat Noir decides not to say anything.

Instead, he turns his head to look up at the night sky once more, and just smiles wider.

Marinette is sitting in class when it finally hits her.

I'm in love with Chat Noir.

The sound of her teacher explaining today's math equation slowly fades in the background and before she knows it, all Marinette can hear is her own panicked breathing because no, this cannot be happening.

Her eyes land on the blond boy sitting in front of her, and she knows it's completely over because she doesn't feel her heart skip a beat or beat ten times faster when her eyes land on him. She knows it's completely over because she doesn't feel her stomach twist or feel her knees become jelly when she hears him laugh at something funny Nino said. She knows it's completely over because she doesn't feel shy or jittery, and when the teacher calls on him to answer a question, his voice doesn't send the classroom spinning or make the temperature shoot up by twenty degrees like it usually does.

She knows it's completely over because she's realized she's over Adrien Agreste.

And she knows it's completely over because she's fallen for Chat Noir.

She confesses to him by accident one day.

Chat Noir jumps in front of her to save her a third time. The akuma this time around is an exhausted worker who tries to make all of Paris fall into an eternal sleep because the waking world frustrated him. His weapon is a small blanket that wraps around whatever living thing it's thrown at, making the victim collapse to the ground in a deep sleep.

Ladybug tries to make a sneak attack, but it fails miserably when the akuma turns around and shoots the blanket in her direction. Ladybug is in the air and so has no way out of this, but Chat Noir jumps in front of her, allowing the blanket to wrap around him instead.

Ladybug stares in horror at his sacrifice and finishes the job for the two of them. While the city is being awakened by her magic dust, Ladybug notices that Chat Noir isn't waking up.

She runs to his side and lays his head on her lap. "Hey, Chat. Wake up," she says softly. "Why… why aren't you waking up?"

Chat Noir doesn't move a muscle.

"I told you to stop putting yourself in danger for me, you idiot," she scolds, but there's no bite to it. Tears prickle her eyes as she pushes his hair away from his face. "I'm sorry, Chat. I'm sorry—I—"

She cries.

"Please wake up, Chat. Please," she begs as fresh tears drip onto his peaceful face. "I have to tell you something. I—it's because—it took me a while to realize this because I was so—so blinded by the guy I used to like, but now I know who I do like, and…"

She fails to see Chat Noir's right ear twitch.

"It's you," she finishes, and sobs into his chest.

"I told you," a familiar voice says, making Ladybug freeze. She looks up and sees her partner smiling up at her with his usual charming smile. "It was just a matter of time."

Usually, Ladybug and Chat Noir sneak out at night to watch the stars together or to try to find out where all these akuma are coming from. But there's no akuma attack in two days, and Ladybug couldn't be more relieved. She can't face Chat Noir right now after accidentally confessing to him. She tried to convince him that it was all just a joke and that she knew that she was awake, but Chat Noir didn't buy it one bit.

He danced of joy and jumped from building to building because "Yes! My Lady is finally returning my affections!"

After the third night akuma and Chat Noir-free, she decides it's finally time to stop this childishness and just face it.

Ladybug sneaks out and goes to their meet-up spot. She waits and waits and waits, but it seems like Chat Noir isn't going to show up. Sighing, she stands up and she's about to jump to the next roof when suddenly, "I see my Lady decided to show up tonight."

Ladybug gulps.

She turns around slowly and feels her face grow hot the moment she locks eyes with him. "Chat," she says softly.

"My Lady," he addresses her, bowing.

They confess to each other. They both feel the same way. But then Chat Noir suggests they reveal their identities to each other because he wants to know who his Ladybug really is.

"What if I disappoint you?" Ladybug asks worriedly.

Chat Noir laughs. "You would never," he assures. "No matter who is behind that mask, you're my Lady, and I won't ever stop liking you."

"No kidding?" Ladybug asks, restraining herself from saying, "No kitten?" because now isn't the time to make puns.

"Would I lie to my future wife?" Chat Noir grins, and this only make Ladybug roll her eyes.

"Okay… then… turn around," Ladybug orders, watching Chat Noir turn his back to her. She turns around herself. "And close your eyes."

They let their transformations go, both of their eyes still shut tightly.

"Are… are you sure about this?" Marinette asks softly.

Adrien nods. "I am," he says. "On three?"

"On three," Marinette agrees.

"One."

"Two."

"Three."

Green meets blue, and blue meets green. Adrien sees Marinette, and Marinette sees Adrien.

Adrien is Chat Noir. Marinette is Ladybug.

They stare at each other in surprise because they're best friends, they're partners, they're classmates—and even after learning so much about each other these past few missions, neither of them was able to put all the pieces together before now.

They remain completely shocked at the revelation, and neither says a word to each other for what seems like hours.

But then Adrien gives her a warm smile, and that's all Marinette needs.

Adrien and Marinette—Chat Noir and Ladybug— turn away from each other to look up at the stars that dance in the Parisian night sky. They inch closer to each other and slowly intertwine their fingers together, and the two of them spend the entire rest of the night in a comfortable silence.

A/N: My first fanfiction of 2016 is a LadyNoir fic because somewhere along the way, I became Miraculous Ladybug trash. I almost feel the regret, but at this point, I'm in too deep to care ahahah. Coming up with three akumas was so difficult. ;-;

Loosely inspired by the song Suki Kirai by Kagamine Rin and Len. I find it matches Ladybug and Chat Noir's relationship so well. ;w; Thank you for reading!

HAPPY NEW YEAR! :)