A/N: *ahem* MARINETTE LOVES CHAT NOIR MARINETTE LOVES CHAT NOIR MARINETTE LOVES CHAT NOIR! (subconsciously but still)

Also (dunno if it's still relevant now but Origins spoilers beware)

It's You

It was an accident.

Marinette didn't mean to, didn't want to discover her partner's identity, not at all. It was a risk she didn't want to take, a danger she didn't want to fall into, a grinning catboy-shaped wildfire that threatened to burst into her everyday life as she knew it.

(as well as her heart but she never quite acknowledged that)

But it was just that her eyes were shut tight all this time and that she was too afraid of what she might see. Of what she might feel.

Now her eyes were open and it was time to move.

Of course, she was shocked at first. So shocked that her mind might have run away to leave her empty hollow body to malfunction. Poor Tikki had such a hard time snapping dummy Marinette out of her stupor.

After all, how could her perfect, angelic Adrien be the same person as the mischievous, pun-spouting Chat Noir? It was impossible, incomprehensible, out of the question! Or so the old Marinette would have thought.

But somehow it made sense.

Marinette spent a long time thinking about the two boys after finding out that they were one and the same. She loved Adrien without a doubt, her heart was captured by his pure soul and honest laughter ever since that fateful day in the rain, she knew that. For that boy, she would do anything.

As for Chat Noir, she wasn't sure. Beyond his lame puns and incessant flirting, he was precious to her, a dear friend and a vital team-mate but was he ever something more?

If she didn't love Chat Noir, could she truly say she loved Adrien?

Was her love worth anything at all?

As it turned out, she didn't need to worry.

She paid it no mind but her heart had already decided for her.

She loved Chat Noir.

The Chat Noir who had Ladybug's back even without her asking, supporting her and guiding her like no other has ever done for her before. The Chat Noir who tried, maybe a little bit too hard, to impress her with his ridiculous sense of humour but still somehow managed to charm her with his silly antics.

He was her saving sunlight who always took the time to comfort akuma victims, even when his Miraculous was running low. He was the toothy smile who always found the right words to cheer her up when she was down in both sides of the mask. He was the voice of reason who still accepted her flawed self despite showing her less gracious side on several occasions.

He was the umbrella for her rain and the kindness she needed for salvation.

Adrien was Chat Noir. Chat Noir was Adrien. And she needed to get to him now.

She swept across the city with her yo-yo like a crimson red jet but she still wasn't fast enough.

How could I have been so blind?

Seeing his black leather-clad back and spun-gold hair after what felt like eternity made her heart do all the thinking.

She let go.

"Chat!"

Adrien!

Caught by surprise, he barely managed to catch her in his arms and they span in circles from the momentum.

"L-Ladybug?"

She gazed up into his eyes, beautiful, dazzling and green, green, green. Her heart fluttered in happiness and relief.

And she found it. Her other half.

It's you.