No, guys. Wait. I promise that wasn't the last chapter.

(Spoiler alert: This is.)

"She found out who I was and she forgot everything."

Plagg floated out of the way as Adrien collapsed onto his bed. The two exchanged sighs, Plagg's exasperated and Adrien's mournful. Though the boy's tone was sour, he was smiling, thinking back on the kiss that brought Ladybug- Marinette- back to herself. It had been on his mind when he woke up that morning, when he went to class, and when he endured fencing practice. Forgetting about it seemed impossible.

Because, for a few short seconds, she kissed him back.

The accompanying knowledge that it was their second kiss sent his head for a spin. He wondered how Ladybug never mentioned it, because the echo of the sensation was seared into his mind. He wondered how he forgot it. Adrien had to suffer through all the details of him telling her how much he hated her on Valentine's Day, but he never heard of the kiss. The realization dawned on him, and the teenager sat up with a start.

"Why didn't you tell me Ladybug kissed me?" His eyes narrowed at his kwami, who snickered at his frustration.

"Was it really important?" Plagg drawled, eyes glinting with amusement.

"Yes , Plagg. The girl I love kissing me is kind of a big deal."

Adrien huffed and got off his bed, crossing the width of his room to his desk. Out of habit, he went to the Ladyblog, but he smiled as he remembered he didn't need theories to figure out who she was anymore. His eyes skimmed the text on the page, hardly reading it. What he really wondered was how to go about revealing his identity to her again. Would she be just as accepting about it as last time? He wanted to explain their kiss to her too, but he wasn't sure how to go about it. Then a certain post caught his attention.

Hot Rumor: Ladybug and Chat Noir Kiss!

Ladybug followed the Ladyblog, he thought errantly.

He checked the window, catching the cascade of orange as the sun was about to sink below the horizon. Maybe he could find the time to explain it to her after all, seeing as how she would find out one way or another. He knew he'd rather give all the details than have her jump to her own assumptions. Luckily, he knew just where he could find her to have that conversation.

And then she could know he was Adrien.

"Come on, Plagg," he said suddenly, forgetting his surliness towards him. "Transform me!"

Plagg only managed one grimace before he was tugged into the ring, and Chat Noir darted out of the Agreste Mansion in two swift leaps. The rest of the way he whooped through the skies, garnering the attention of passing citizens. The cat only stopped to calm down when he quickly neared the Dupain-Cheng bakery, and he made it a point to escape any onlooker's line of sight before he landed on top of Marinette's balcony. The second his feet hit the railing, his nerves caught up with him.

Chat Noir stood alone, facing the trapdoor that he knew led down to Marinette's room. Behind him, the orange rays of the setting sun were subdued by a growing lavender. The twilight gave him enough time to think, and enough time to doubt. Just because Marinette liked Adrien didn't promise she would like that Adrien was Chat Noir. Maybe she would resent him for finding out who she was while she was trapped under a spell, or maybe she wouldn't want to talk about the kiss. Maybe she didn't like the kiss, but Adrien had replayed the memory so often he wondered how he would have missed any signs. Too many maybes festered in his mind, but he would never know the answer to any of them unless he acted.

Taking a deep breath, he stepped off the railing and onto the balcony.

Ladybug shot up from Marinette's trapdoor.

Ladybug luck wasn't all it was cracked up to be.

Her mistake dominated the scenery surrounding them. The pair stared at each other in sheer astonishment, eyes wide and mouths agape and both frozen in their poses. Ladybug looked up at him from her paralyzed crouch while Chat Noir was rooted to the floor directly in front of her. A beat passed, and neither of them were able to say anything.

Chat Noir just saw Ladybug come out of Marinette's door.

"Chat Noir!" she choked out in a high pitch voice, her heart jumping to her throat. She had to fix this, and she had to fix this now. "F-funny seeing you here. I just left Marinette's door, as you, uh, just saw. I was just visiting to check up on her after the curse and I-"

Then, for whatever reason she couldn't comprehend, Chat Noir burst out laughing.

Stricken by the response, Ladybug stood up and took a step back. Her partner held out a hand, as if pleading with her to stay put while still barking out laughter. It was one of his louder laughs, in which his shoulders shook and the smile on his face stretched its widest, uncontained and unrestricted. It was endearing but completely not what she needed in the quiet night as they stood above where she lived. She pouted and folded her arms.

"And what's so funny?"

The boy managed to stifle his laughter for a moment, only for it to trickle back out in a softer chuckle. He coughed away the rest of his amusement and grinned at her. The mischief in his eyes matched his namesake.

"I think the cat's out of the bag, my lady."

Ladybug groaned and stretched a hand to her temple.

"In all the scenarios where I imagined this would happen, I should have known you would say that in every one of them."

His eyes softened and he grabbed the wrist over her face. She lowered it to send him a dubious look, but she didn't stop him from guiding her to the railing of the balcony. He leaned on it with his side but never looked away from her, whereas she placed her hands on the metal and tried to avoid his gaze for a full ten seconds. She failed.

"I didn't mean to laugh," he said. The mirth still dancing in his eyes made it hard for her to believe that. "It's just... I was coming here to tell you I knew who you were anyway. You just made the whole reveal a lot easier."

Ladybug blinked, unsure how to react towards that. She gripped tighter onto the rail and they both turned to the city, the Eiffel Tower a ceaseless beacon in the distance. She processed his words.

"So, during the thing with Matchmaker?"

"Yeah. A lot of things happened."

She nodded. She thought to ask for details before she remembered what had sent her bolting out her trapdoor the second she heard Chat Noir was out and about the city. She traded her nod for a low hum and she narrowed her eyes back in Chat Noir's direction.

"Like that kiss?" she accused.

He had the audacity to smirk.

"I was repaying the favor."

"What favo-" She cut off, the memory coming back to her with a slam. The heat all but blistered her cheeks, the blood rushing to her face all at once. She knew exactly what he was talking about. Her partner raised his brow at her defensive stance.

"That was different," she argued. "That was to break Heartbreaker's curse!"

"And I broke Matchmaker's curse? Interesting how true love's kiss solves our problems, don't you think, my lady?"

Although he smiled, he sounded somewhat serious. Like he entertained the idea as plausible.

He's joking , Marinette reminded herself, looking away.

"Love conquers hate, Chat Noir. Any kiss probably would have worked."

There was a silence. Ladybug turned, believing Chat Noir was considering her response, but his eyes were distant. The corner of his mouth curled down in distaste and his body tensed. She thought to question it, but his lips parted first.

"It didn't work with Nathanael."

Ladybug stiffened, not expecting the fact nor the uncharacteristic bitterness in his voice.

"I tried several ways to break you out of that curse. You wouldn't… wouldn't budge no matter what I did. You didn't fight the akuma, or even care about anything else but him . It was like you were gone." The hero stared out at Paris like he was reliving a trainwreck.

By compulsion, she wrapped her arms around him in a tight hug.

"But you did break it," she reminded him. Her voice stayed soft and carried sincerity. "Thank you, Chat Noir. I know you always look out for me."

In the end, no matter what Ladybug faced, Chat Noir always managed to be there when it counted. She could never imagine trusting anyone the same way she trusted him- the bond between them was so unique she thought it was impossible to achieve with any other person. He filled in the blanks wherever she needed them, and it wasn't just in the empty slots of her memory. His differences made up for what she lacked. Yet, they were similar enough to act naturally with each other, whether in personality or in movement. This boy beneath the mask had grown to be an important facet of her, and she never wanted to take him for granted. It was a platonic sort of affection-

She cursed him for derailing her last train of thought by pulling her tighter into him and brushing his lips against her ear.

"You know, I wondered why you didn't fall in love with me when Matchmaker hit you."

His voice was a low whisper, and she knew there was no chance he hadn't noticed the way she shivered as they held each other. She could sense the smile that crept up on his lips as a result. Her head tucked into the space between his neck and shoulder, and she focused on the leather-like material of his black suit. When he spoke and hugged her like this, there was no voice in her head to assure her he was joking. She tried to pull a smile.

"Maybe Nathanael just liked me more?" she offered, struggling to keep her voice steady.

"I guarantee you that's not the case."

They started to pull away, only far enough to make eye contact. No matter how Marinette condemned it, her heart fluttered without her control. The feline slits of Chat Noir's eyes locked on her, his focus intense, like he was about to pounce at any moment- and she was the prey. She couldn't decide if the feeling building in her gut was dread or anticipation. He was going to do something, and she knew it would alter everything between them. Her lips parted.

Don't , the back of her mind wanted to whisper, afraid.

The blood singing through her wanted to beg him to continue.

"Chat Noir," was all she could manage, because she had to say something. Anything to hold this moment between them for as long as she could manage. He brought his nose down to hers and Ladybug was no longer distracted by his gaze. Instead, it was the short distance between their lips.

"Marinette . Do you think I've been joking about how I felt about you?"

The name was more intimate than she expected it to sound. What was worse was it was a question that expected an answer- an honest answer. The little barriers in the form of discrediting dismissals fell apart around her, and she came to face the fact she had been forming a defense from him all along. Her breath hitched when her partner drew away to smirk again.

"What's wrong, my lady? Need a little more purrsuasion ?"

Ladybug was honestly going to fall in love with this stupid punning cat, and he would love her back. Then Adrien's name resonated through her mind, along with his kindness and his smiles and his perfection. Her unrequited love, but her love nonetheless.

It took all the strength she possessed as Ladybug to push his nose inches away from hers.

"I like someone else," she confessed, more rueful than she would have liked. She tried to step out of his hold but he resisted her.

"I know. But you didn't answer my question."

She rolled her eyes at his insistence.

"Chat Noir, I've liked this guy for a long time."

"I've liked you for a long time too."

Ladybug wondered if the cunning glint in his eyes had been her imagination.

"You can't expect me to drop my feelings for him in one night because of-" She cut off, unsure what was supposed to come next in that sentence. Chat Noir, however, didn't ask. Instead, he had the same affectionate look on his face as the one she saw when she came out of her trance. Only this time, he was too far.

"I'm not asking you to drop your feelings for him," he said. "I'm asking you to trust me."

Somehow, for reasons unknown to her, that was all it took to crumble her resolve.

Marinette would always trust Chat Noir.

The fact resonated as she felt tempted to close the distance between them again. Ladybug rested her hand on his jaw, her thumb tracing his cheekbone through the material of her suit. He stilled at the contact, as if he hadn't actually expected his words to sway her. She smiled, leaning her face up and delighting in the fact it didn't take much to turn the tables on him.

"Trust, to kiss you?"

"Well, that's not exactly what I was asking, but if you're offering…"

She was entranced by the way his pupils dilated as she brought his head closer, as well as the way he withheld his breath until he spoke again.

"I want you to trust you won't regret it. I hope."

She giggled at his amendment.

"Okay."

She closed her eyes, and the moment his lips brushed against hers, Ladybug already knew she made the right choice.

It started gently. It was different from Heartbreaker, and it was definitely different from Matchmaker. It was a kiss that needed no cure, and this time, she was allowed to enjoy it. There was only the soft skin of his lips and the warmth of his hands against her back, but even that was enough to solidify how she felt towards him. She fluttered her eyelids and clung to his neck, feeling the heat from the exposed skin there, enjoying being close to him. They parted for a breath before he kissed her again, prolonging it, forcing her back against the railing. Neither thought they wanted to stop. At some point, she knew she had to. Just as her lips stilled against his, he dipped her down to press another brief kiss on her. She giggled despite herself.

"Down, kitten," she teased, opening her eyes.

When her kitten smiled back down at her, the night sky above his head, she knew her heart was done for. She would never be able to make an excuse for that kiss. Nor the two after it. Her partner guided her back up, though he never let her go. The familiar closeness between them was charged with too much of a newfound excitement. Chat Noir leaned his forehead down against hers.

"I want to show you who I am."

She hummed in answer. She expected as much at this point.

"It'd be the second time you found out. The first time kind of sprung out at both of us."

"How did I react the first time?"

"Good, I think. Maybe surprised? I think we both were."

There was an edge to his smile. Ladybug wished she could force her memory to grasp all those stolen moments, to see the look on his face when he discovered Ladybug was Marinette. She wanted to know if there was a reason for his wariness, like he was afraid of something his unveiling would provoke. It all seemed silly to her. She was supposed to be the one scared of revealing their identities; it never occurred to her that even he could worry about how she reacted to him.

"I want to know," she whispered, encouraging him.

He was kissing her again. The timing struck her as odd, but the sensation felt too comfortable to protest. His lips were firm and insistent, unlike before, and Ladybug learned she could read his intentions even through an exchange such as this. She realized what was happening as the fabric from the collar of his suit transformed into cotton underneath her hands. Even with her eyes closed, she could notice the blinding flash, and she could even feel the sudden rush of air that carried with his detransformation. He broke away from her, and Ladybug could hear his breathing through the silence.

Blue eyes met green.

"Hi, Marinette."

Without releasing her transformation, Ladybug reverted back to Marinette all at once.

"Adrien?"

It was a tame response, accompanied by a blooming red on her cheeks. Her eyes were glazed by a sort of disconnect, like she had forgotten everything again and could only see that Adrien was standing in front of her. The reaction was so similar to the one she had after he freed her from Matchmaker's curse, and for a moment he feared he was reliving it. Then, after the initial blow had passed, her eyes widened and her jaw dropped. The tender silence between them was swept away in one go.

"A-Adrien! But I was kissing you- I mean kissing Chat Noir- No, I mean-"

At least her stammering made sense this time, though he could see it might as well have been just as nonsensical through Marinette's perspective.

"Um. Both?" he offered, trying a smile. He blinked when she whirled out of his arms and brought her hands to her hair.

"No! I completely just told you I loved you and then I cheated on you immediately after! And I kept turning you- you - down and you were… You're Adrien , I could never turn you down! But you're that stupid cat and I-"

She cut off with a shrill sound Adrien couldn't identify as a laugh or a yelp.

Adrien blinked at first, unsure how to register all that she said in the timespan of ten seconds. All he knew was that she called him stupid and said she loved him in the same breath. He rubbed the back of his neck, waiting for her to turn back and face him. Seconds stretched on to be a minute, and at last he reached to touch her arm. Ladybug peered back at him with apprehension.

"How do we get ourselves into these ridiculous situations? Right?" He smiled. They were words she often repeated to his alter ego, yet this was the most ridiculous situation of all. They watched each other for another long moment before they both dissolved into quiet laughter. Ladybug giggled in that way that was completely Marinette, and Adrien felt himself love her all the more for it. Suddenly, she was more real than he ever knew her to be.

Ladybug reached for his hands, the motion tentative at first, until Adrien closed his fingers around hers.

"I guess our feelings were requited after all." Her words were shy, but her gaze was filled with certainty. Adrien's cheeks warmed. Recovering himself, he grinned.

"If that's how it is, then I guess it's fine Matchmaker didn't light any sparks between us."

Ladybug groaned, but she rested her head against his chest, and the two began to laugh again.

"Class is canceled, forever! No teachers means no homework!"

Marinette scowled, facing off the freshly akumatized victim who had mummified her teacher with a bunch of essays. Most of the class poured out of the classroom for safety, but Alya had lingered to record the villain named Deadline, who hovered over the desk with a clock situated on his chest. The hands were permanently fixed at 7:59, despite it being noon. Dressed in nothing but black and white, Deadline pointed to the young journalist. Papers around the classroom flew in her direction and Marinette had to shove Alya out the door to get her out of the way.

"Run!" Marinette urged her friend with all the force she could muster in her voice. Alya pursed her lips, but another glance at Deadline compelled her to take off. Marinette began to follow after her until Nathanael called out to her from the opposite end of the hall.

"Marinette, behind you!"

The mummified teacher scrambled out of the room, and while it wasn't in pursuit of her, the blind victim was on its way to walking into the hallway railing and falling from the second floor to the first. Marinette grimaced and ran to grab the mummy's wrist just before it would fall. Nathanael ran to catch up to her, grabbing the other wrist and pulling the teacher back up.

"Why are you saving a teacher ?" Marinette looked up to see Deadline floating in front of her. She gasped and released the teacher's wrist as the villain glared at her and Nathanael. "They only exist to make our lives miserable! If you two love school so much, why don't you both stay here!"

A flurry of papers flung the two teenagers back into the classroom. Marinette jolted back up on her feet to run out, but the door slammed shut and the papers barricaded the door from both sides. Deadline's laughter faded further into the distance. She sighed and looked back at Nathanael, who was still sitting on the ground.

"Are you okay?"

Nathanael nodded, focusing on the door before meeting her eyes.

"Shouldn't you transform?"

Tikki raced out into the air, and Marinette exchanged smiles with her kwami. A bright pink flash later, and it was Ladybug standing in the classroom with Nathanael.

"Alright, now I just need to get back out there and-" Her words died in her throat when papers spattered the classroom windows. She sighed and placed a hand to her forehead. "Great." Not shaken, she walked over to the door and began peeling some of the papers from the door. She wasn't sure if she'd be able to rip the rest of the papers free by opening it, but she was going to try. Nathanael got up and started to tear away sheets of paper with her.

"At least Chat Noir will be able to stop her," he said, glancing over at Ladybug. Her expression turned warm.

"If that silly cat can manage without me."

More papers came down. Another minute was filled with nothing but the sounds of shredding.

"So, you ended up dating Adrien and Chat Noir?"

By impulse, she squeaked. She had been going out with Adrien as Marinette and receptive to Chat Noir's affections as Ladybug, and although this had gone on for a month already, she never stopped to think about how it looked to Nathanael. Either he would connect the dots or believe her to be a two-timer, and both seemed to be terrible conclusions.

"W-well Chat Noir is just for show! We're not really-"

Nathanael laughed.

"I'm glad you're happy, Ladybug."

She met his eyes, unsure what to make of the statement. The night she found out Adrien was Chat Noir, they stayed up on her balcony in their civilian forms. Adrien told her all about what happened with Matchmaker to the best of his ability, and it was enough for her to realize how much her time with Nathanael hurt her partner. (Adrien, of course, tried to cover it up by emphasizing the story of how he found out she had a huge crush on him.) Ever since then, she couldn't help but wonder how invested Nathanael had been in their time together, but she didn't want to let her curiosity get the best of her. Bringing up their past would benefit neither of them, but she did worry about the artist that hid behind his sketchbook and locks of auburn hair.

Yet here he was smiling at her, and Ladybug found herself smiling, too.

"Cataclysm!" Chat Noir's outcry sounded from the opposite side of the door, forcing the two to back away. The hinges on the doorway rusted and fell away, leaving the door to fall before their feet. Chat Noir stood beaming underneath the new arch, first seeing Ladybug before he saw Nathanael. When it hit him, however, the great smile dissolved into a weaker one. Ladybug ran to him, squeezing his hand once with a grateful expression.

"We better catch up, before Deadline gets away!" Ladybug pulled her hand away to reach for her yoyo, but Chat Noir caught it with his own again.

"Is that all the thanks I get, my lady?"

Ladybug didn't even have time to furrow her brow when Chat Noir leaned in to press a firm kiss on her lips- just long enough for it not to be a peck. He pulled back and sent his partner a smirk, who in return could only pout. She cast her eyes back to catch Nathanael's reaction when Chat Noir pulled her into the hall. Only able to see the redhead roll his eyes, she sighed and joined Chat Noir in jumping up to the rooftop. They landed beside each other in a crouch.

"Was a certain kitten jealous?" she asked, narrowing her eyes at her partner.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

Ladybug smirked at her partner's innocent face as he pretended to scan the scene from on top of the school. She cupped her partner's cheek and turned his head towards her.

"You already made one akuma with your jealousy. We don't need two," she chided. "Besides, I've made it up to you, haven't I?"

"I don't know, my lady. That kiss you gave him was pretty heartbreaking."

His voice was too casual for Ladybug to believe he actually was upset about it anymore. She sighed.

"How many times are you going to make me kiss it better, Chat Noir?"

"It's so painful, I don't think I can save Paris at this rate."

The hero brought a hand to his chest in a dramatic show of heartache, and Ladybug could only laugh. Chat Noir looked back up at her with an expectant smile. She shook her head before leaning closer to him.

"You're lucky I love you."

Screams rang out from below them, and Deadline raced out into the streets in hot pursuit of them.

"Ladybug! Chat Noir! Your time is up!"

The duo gasped and knocked their heads together from the surprise. Both drawing back to rub the sting away from their foreheads, they spared each other sheepish smiles and stood up.

"Looks like we don't have time." Ladybug sighed and cast out her yoyo.

"You can make it up to me later." Chat Noir winked and vaulted off the rooftop.

With no more words than that, the heroes took off into the sky together, becoming distant silhouettes in the cloudless skies. Once again, Ladybug and Chat Noir were forced back into the routine of restoring Paris to its former glory. Hawkmoth was terrorizing the city again, teachers everywhere were encased in paper shells, and some poor kid was upset that he couldn't turn in his assignment late.

But everything was well.

Fin.

So there's my first completed multi-chapter fanfiction, and it's Miraculous Ladybug.

Please leave reviews! I'd love to hear what you think! And a big thank you for all of you who left comments, follows, and favorites while I was writing.
It was super-motivating and I swear I've never came across a greater fandom.