When the light faded and their kwamis zipped away, Marinette could only stare. The cogs and gears in her mind shut down, leaving her raw and exposed in spellbound awe. She couldn't register that he was in no less awe than she was. She couldn't even pull herself together to feel a single iota of self-consciousness under his gaze.

Because of course. Of course it was him.

Adrien Agreste was holding her hands in the place of Chat Noir, and he looked nowhere near ready to let go. The wind plucked at him, tossing his golden hair into a flawless mess and obscuring his spring green eyes from her, but he stood solid and strong against the chill, unmoving and unblinking.

Her chaton. Adrien was Chat, and Chat screamed from every last aspect of the boy before her.

How could she have missed this? How could she have missed the way Adrien's mischievous smirks reminded her of Chat and the way Chat's soft, considerate smiles reminded her of Adrien? How could she have missed the way they held themselves with such lithe grace and confidence? How could she have missed their humor, their bravery, and their stubborn refusal to look after themselves when someone else was in need? How could she have not connected their sensitivity and playfulness with their compassion and their mirth? And how, pray tell, could she have ever tormented herself with thoughts of how she could so easily betray her feelings for Adrien with her feelings for Chat when they were one in the same?

It was so obvious.

These boys—this boy had changed her life. He'd taken bullets for her, would lay down his life for her. He'd been possessed and manipulated, hurt both emotionally and physically on her behalf. This was the same boy who encouraged her the day she received her Miraculous, who made this burden bearable every single day. And just as well, this was the boy she'd once accused for sticking gum on her chair; who had begun to come over to help at her parents' bakery, simply because he loved to sneak cake batter and wanted nothing more than to spend time out of his empty house; who kicked ass at video games; who modeled and fenced and played piano and was a complete nerd when it came to physics and anime, and…

This was the boy she fell in love with. Twice over.

Soft hands squeezed hers, and she blinked, focusing again on Adrien. He was smiling at her, smiling in a way that wasn't wholly Chat or Adrien, and just as she began to return his sheepish and gleeful smile, a giggle bubbling in her throat, he broke the silence.

"Mari."

For some reason, hearing her name—her nickname—in such a loving tone made everything came crashing down in one swoop. Her awe and utter delight that it was him, of course it was him was destroyed by a black hole of mute horror.

No one notices, Chat—Adrien had said.

No one.

The desolate and lonely words stampeded through her head like an avalanche. Guilt gnawed its way through her gut, a sense of failure stalking its path.

"A—Adrien," she stuttered, tears welling in her eyes. Her mind scrambled through her memories of the last six weeks. She'd been worried about Chat. She'd been distracted at school and with her friends. Even Nino had commented she'd been more spacey than usual. And Adrien…oh God, Adrien… "Oh. Oh my God. I didn't…I didn't—"

How had he managed to hide three cracked ribs, a nasty gash across his gut, and whatever else he suffered at Bone Surgeon's hands? Between his photo-shoots, his stylists and makeup teams, his father and school and fencing—no, no, he did convince his father to give him a season off so that he could focus on his language studies, didn't he?—well, even without fencing, it was downright insane to even fathom…

Adrien's brow furrowed, and his hands slipped down her forearms to support her as she staggered forward. "Hey," he said soothingly. "Marinette, it's okay. It's—"

If anything, his attempts to comfort her made her feel worse, and without thinking she burrowed her head into his chest, her tears beginning to fall. Maybe it was six weeks worth of worrying over this stupid idiot finally catching up to her. Maybe it was the realization that, for six weeks, she'd neglected Adrien in favor of Chat, who was the same person, and that was somewhat strange, but awesome, and not entirely fair. Maybe it had everything to do with the fact she was relieved and scared and happy and sad all at once, and maybe it was because she had been so blind to her friend's struggles, it hurt.

Whatever the reasons, it was Marinette, and not Adrien, who broke down. "No, it isn't okay," she mumbled into his shirt. "This is the furthest thing from okay."

"Bugaboo. Marinette. Shhhh." Far too tentatively, his fingers ghosted over her hair. "I can't understand you."

Oh, God, she was making a mess all over him. Her makeup was probably ruining his shirt, and dammit, she was an ugly crier. With some reluctance, she drew away and babbled, "I didn't notice. You were hurt. For six weeks. Six weeks you…and I didn't…Even before all of that—You…"

Adrien's eyes widened as she cut herself off in an attempt to control her emotions and collect her thoughts, and for a second, she thought he was going to snap at her. She didn't expect a pink flush to spread across his cheeks.

"Oh, thank God," he exhaled weakly. "For a second there, I thought you were upset with me for being—er, well…"

"What? No! No, no, no. No, why would I be upset at you? I'm…I'm so happy, Adrien. I'm so happy it's you! I'm more upset at me."

His thumb traced a tear track, brushing away the moisture there with a tenderness Marinette didn't deserve. "You shouldn't be."

"Of course I should be! I'm an awful friend! How could I not notice? How could I miss it all?"

"Alright, one: you are not an awful friend—you're both of my best friends—and two…. You're Ladybug, Marinette." His tone was reverent, and she felt sick. "And Ladybug, you're Marinette. Both sides of the magical kwami were there when no one else was. You…didn't know know, but that doesn't mean you weren't—"

"But nothing!" Marinette interrupted. "You can't just ignore…I mean, you…you needed me—needed us, and where were we? This is…these feelings and doubts have been stewing for a lot longer than six weeks, Adrien! And we never—we just let you act as though everything was okay and—" Something occurred to her, and she suddenly pushed against his chest, propelling him away from her. "Wait, I take that back!"

"Um…take what back?"

"The no! Because yes, I am upset with you! You should have told me ages ago about how you felt! I could have helped you! I would have in a heart beat! Did you seriously think that any of us wouldn't have dropped everything for you?" His eyes widened, and he stumbled a little when she re-entered his personal space. "You listen to me now, Adrien Agreste: you're never alone, you hear me? Never. And don't you dare feel like you need to put on an act when you're around me."

Those lovely green eyes blinked incredulously at her, and his fingers twitched forward again, their tips brushing at the fringe falling in her eyes. "I know that now," he said breathlessly. "I…"

"Good," she interrupted, taking his hand and removing it from her face. She needed to focus, and he wasn't helping. "Because I need you to know that I'm here for you, kit—Adrien. Sorry."

"Either or works," he mumbled. "Wait, um…" He floundered for a moment, looking a little lost, and then settled with an awkward, "When we're alone, at least."

"Right. Um…Same goes, I suppose." This wasn't how she imagined the Big RevealTM going. They were already so familiar with each other in both forms that it was jarring to realize that everything that should have changed… didn't really. She was certainly aware that this—whatever it was—should have been weirder, but it really wasn't all that weird, which ultimately made it all very weird anyway.

Adrien was looking at her pretty weirdly, too, so she assumed he was in some form of agreement.

Weirdness aside, she couldn't afford to freak out now. Adrien and his reasons for wanting to reveal his identity were what were important here. "Well, this is a crazy life we share," she continued, "but I wouldn't have it any other way…and I wouldn't want to share it with anyone else. Together, remember?"

After staring at her for an uncomfortable length of time, he laughed for no apparent reason. "How could I have never seen this?" Adrien asked, eyes alight and shining with awe. "You were right here the whole time."

Marinette sighed. "Was I really, Adrien?"

"Of course you were. I was too caught up in everything to see that the two most amazing people in my life were...the same person."

"Compliments aren't going to get you out of the hot seat, kitty. We're going to have to talk about—" she twisted her wrist ineffectually "—all this."

"It wasn't meant to be an empty compliment," Adrien denied. His gaze bore into her. "Without you, there wouldn't be a Chat Noir. You challenge me, you inspire me, and without you, Adrien…well, he wouldn't be anyone worth talking to, either. You make me feel…like I've never felt before, and I wouldn't have made it this far if I'd never met you, Marinette. You—you mean everything to me."

Marinette gaped, her pulse racing. These were thoughts she'd had about Chat and Adrien more often than not lately, and it sounded so wrong to have her words come from his mouth when she'd done nothing to deserve them. Or at least, nothing in comparison to what he'd done for her. "Have I ever told you that when I first met Tikki…I nearly gave up my Miraculous?" she blurted.

Adrien's horrified expression proved he found the idea completely absurd. "What?"

Nodding, Marinette continued, "After we failed to purify the akuma the first time, I took my earrings off. I told Tikki I wasn't the Ladybug she was looking for, and the next day, I slipped the Miraculous into Alya's bag. I thought she'd be a better Ladybug. I thought she'd…she'd want to be the Ladybug Paris deserved."

"My Lady…"

"But you know what?" Marinette asked, looking up at him. "It was you who first showed me who I could be, chaton. It took me awhile to realize it because Alya's blind trust in Ladybug definitely helped, too, but…at the core of it, everything I've done as Ladybug—it was just as much for you as it was for Paris. You've supported me since day one, and all I wanted was to prove I was worthy of having someone like you as a partner. As Marinette? Well…that's another story entirely, but you, Adrien, are a huge part of that story." Feeling daring, she intertwined her fingers with his. "I'm who I am today because of you. And I guess…I wanted you to know that. Whether you're Adrien or Chat, it doesn't matter. I know you, and I know that you—"

For a split second, she didn't understand what had happened. One moment she was rambling away, and the next…

His lips were soft and warm against hers, the simple contact zinging its way through every nerve in her body, and of course she was as useless as ever. Unable to respond, she stood stock still as he drew away, eyeing her with so much gentleness and gratitude Marinette felt her heart would explode from the pure sweetness of his gaze.

Her mouth struggled around words, but she couldn't find her voice. She couldn't remember how to move, how to blink, and how could she? Adrien Agreste had just kissed her. Chat Noir had just kissed her. Her. She was soaring and falling, falling oh-so-hard for this boy all over again.

I love you, I love you, I love you.

"I'm not sure if that's a good response or a bad one," Chat—Adrien joked. The sound of his voice dragged her back to down to Earth, forcing a crash landing. His grin was all Chat, but there was something so remarkably cautious and reserved about his…Oh. This was bravado, she realized. For all his teasing, he feared her reaction. He feared rejection.

How…How had this become her life? Chat Noir—Adrien Agreste…looking like that? Because of her?

In the span of seconds, there was a gulf between them that wasn't there before. He was closing himself off, using humor as a shield, and now that she understood why he had done it in the past, she would not have that. Nope, she most certainly would not.

"You haven't hit me yet," he added with an odd, crooked smile, "so I assume I've finally—"

Marinette fisted her fingers into his shirt, tugged him forward, and kissed him back.

She wondered if this was how he felt, kissing her when she could do nothing more than stand as still as a statue. It was rather flattering, in a weird way, but it was also simultaneously… discouraging. She attempted to step back, eyes lowered, and perhaps that's how he managed to surprise her a second time.

He followed her, his lips seeking to claim hers again. Chasing her down apparently took far too much effort when she already had a head start, so his hand found the small of her back, and he pulled her closer to him. She gasped against his lips, and he smiled, a low chuckle building in his chest.

Their third kiss was clumsy and far too chaste, but Marinette was convinced it was sort of perfect.

She wasn't ready to return to any sort of reality, not with her heart singing like this, not with his lips moving experimentally against hers. Far too soon for Marinette's liking, Adrien rested his forehead against hers and whispered, "You know what, m'Lady?"

"Hm?"

"I meant what I said. You're pretty…"

There was a shit-eating grin in his voice, and she knew what that meant. "Don't you dare," she warned, even as he leaned forward to whisper in her ear.

"Miraculous."

Marinette huffed and extracted herself from his arms to give him a very clear view of how unamused she was. "Unbelievable. I'm not sure you deserve another kiss after that."

The boy looked positively giddy. "Awww, was it really that—?"

"No."

"—pawful?"

"Noooo."

He snickered, smugness radiating from every last pore on his body. "Did I not just whisker you off your feet?"

"Why do I like you again?" Marinette asked the heavens, but she nudged him with her shoulder, smiling and rolling her eyes. "We were having an incredibly touching moment, and—"

"It was purrrfectly adorable," he agreed. "You're adorable. God, I love you."

"—you just had to— " Marinette faltered, her face igniting like a firework. "What?"

The lighthearted atmosphere disappeared, and Adrien knew better than to joke when she was looking at him so earnestly. "I love you," he repeated, and exhaling a laugh, he smiled. "That feels good to say. I haven't said it before, have I?"

Marinette melted then and there, nearly reduced to a state even her fifteen-year-old self would have found excessive. Here stood her long-time crush, one of her best friends, the partner she'd give the world for…admitting he loved her. Aloud. In real life.

In the end, there really was only one way to respond to such a confession, and years later, she would wonder where she summoned the necessary amount of chill to do so.

Meeting his gaze with every last ounce of intensity, affection, and passion she could possibly muster, she said, "I love mew, too."

And to her utter mortification, Adrien didn't get the pun. He did not get the pun at all and stared at her for a moment before asking perplexedly, "…as in…the Pokémon?"

Adrien's question was met with dead silence.

(Years later, the couple would look back on this moment and tease each other mercilessly and without remorse).

In the present time, however, Marinette was only just understanding the hilarity of the situation. "Oh…Oh my God," she stated. "You—you absolute dork."

Suddenly, she was laughing harder than she'd laughed in weeks. Because Chat missed the pun and because it was so geeky of him to assume she meant Mewtwo at a time like this and because it was so perfectly typical of her to botch her pun delivery and make everything super awkward.

"'Too' as in 'also', chaton," she giggled between gasps of air. "I also love mew."

No one could deny that Adrien was smooth. He recovered very quickly and continued playing off his blunder. "Well, which one is it?" he teased. "Mewtwo or Mew?"

Marinette vowed then and there that she'd rather be caught dead than attempt a pun again, but tonight, she'd give it her all, if only to prove to him how much she loved him. "If we're talking first generation, I'm actually a big fan of Nidoran and its evolutions, smartass," she said as casually as she could. "But c'mon, Chat. Really? That was downright Gastly. Onix-eptable, actually! You don't have to Weedle a confession from me because, God help me, if I'm actually attempting to pun for you, I think it's a bit obvious I love you too."

"Oh," was his articulate response. "Oh, wow." He had the grace to look self-conscious before he too snorted and laughed. Hard. "Did—did you just confess that you love me with a pun?"

"I tried to confess that I love you with a pun, yes," Marinette corrected. "I—Adrien, I've been in love with you since we were fifteen."

The revelation stunned him, and his eyes widened in such an endearing way she wanted to hug him and never let go. "And I fell in love with you a second time a year later," she continued. "I thought…well, whatever I thought, I think—I think I failed."

"No, you didn't, M'Lady." He was leaning in again, and Marinette's heart threatened to burst from her chest. "Far, far from it. You hate puns."

"They exasperate me. There's a difference."

"You hate puns," he repeated, as though he didn't consider there to be much of a difference at all, "and then you used Pokémon to…"

"That was your fault. Mewtwo, Adrien? Honestly?"

Quite aware of the ridiculousness of their shared faux pas, they laughed until their sides ached, and it was hard to stop when one shared look between them set them off again.

"I—I can't believe you—" Marinette gasped.

"I know! I know! I'm sorry! I'm an idiot. A complete—"

"Kid!"

Choking on her own saliva, Marinette jolted at the unfamiliar voice and spun to find herself looking at a tiny black kitten, whose tail was being yanked by none other than her own kwami, her heels "digging" into the air in an attempt to keep the little imp from flying straight at them.

"Plagg?" Adrien asked, wiping laughter-induced tears from his cheeks. "What in the world—?"

"Plagg!" Tikki echoed, her tone sharper than Marinette had ever heard it before. "I can't believe you! This was a very important night for both Marinette and Adrien! You had no right to interrupt!"

"But I'm hungry, and your girl is hogging my boy."

"Your boy? Your personal cheese slave, more like," Adrien muttered under his breath. Marinette, who had only just started to control her breathing again, snickered at his dark humor.

"Exactly. The kid knows his priorities. Kwamis before missies. Or whatever it is they say in the boys' locker-room these days."

"Plagg!" Adrien hissed, looking horrified. He eyed Marinette apologetically, obviously expecting her to feel offended by his kwami's blatant rudeness. "Ignore him, Mari. He's got a personality to match the stinky food he makes me feed him."

In response, Plagg stuck out his tongue at his Miraculous holder.

And Marinette could not have been more charmed. She'd wondered a few times about Chat's kwami, but never would she have expected this. Plagg was absolutely perfect for Adrien, who looked so exasperated by the little guy's behavior that she laughed. "He's delightful, Adrien!"

"You did not just say that. You did not just condone his behavior."

Plagg himself purred contentedly. "Both you and Adrien need to learn from this one, Tikki." Considering Marinette with renewed interest, he admitted, "Maybe you aren't so bad after all, li'l 'Bug, even if you make Adrien over there completely useless with pining some nights."

Marinette ignored Adrien's embarrassed shut up, Plagg and said, "It's nice to meet you, too, Plagg."

"Likewise, I suppose. Now lay off, Tikki. Your chosen has forgiven me. I think I'm off the hook."

Tikki scoffed and released his tail at the exact moment Plagg tried to pull away, causing him to tumble head-over-heels in midair. When he righted himself, the black kwami huffed and zipped to settle in Adrien's blond hair. "Rude."

Rolling her eyes, Tikki faced Marinette. "I am sorry about interrupting, Marinette. Adrien…" she floated toward him. "It is an honor to finally meet you."

Adrien smiled. "And you."

Tikki trilled happily, and Marinette glanced around, sighing. Dusk had long since come and gone, the air nippier than it had been a mere hour ago. She shivered and rubbed her arms. "It is getting late."

Adrien's face fell as he, too, considered the hour, but when he turned back to her, his face lit up. "Would the princess care for an escort home?"

"Is Plagg up for it?" Marinette teased.

"Of course he is," Adrien assured before Plagg could so much as open his mouth. "And he'll get a triple helping of cheese when we get home if he keeps his mouth shut and doesn't argue justthisonceplease."

Plagg cackled and saluted, which must have been enough for Adrien, who said, "And maybe…we can talk about dinner? Well, not about it so much as when we could go…and have it? Tomorrow? Maybe?"

So cute. She was going to die he was so cute, and she swore her grin could have split her face. "I'd love to go out with you, kitty."

He blew out a breath and smiled dazzlingly. "Plagg," he commanded, "Claws out!"

Adrien's transformation was the most striking thing she'd ever had the fortune to witness. It was whimsical, it was powerful, and it was beautiful, and she felt like she was seeing him—all of him, as he truly was, without masks and expectations to weigh him down—for the first time.

Chat Noir offered her a clawed hand. "Well, m'Lady?"

Without taking her eyes off of his for a single second, she accepted his hand and said, "Spots on, Tikki."

She would be lying if she said she didn't revel in watching his expression as she transformed.

When Ladybug blinked her eyes open, their hands were still clasped, and Chat smiled at her without inhibition, looking happier and more at peace than she'd ever seen him before.

You do see me, he said without words. You see me. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

"We haven't finished our conversation, Adrien," Ladybug mused aloud, and she felt a thrill calling her chaton his given name.

Chat shrugged. "Perhaps, but for tonight, can we drop it? Tonight…I don't want anymore of it to be wasted on me." She almost put her foot right and scolded him then and there for using the word waste in such a way, but in an affectionate tone she absolutely could not refuse, he said, "Tonight is for us."

She squeezed his hand. "Us," she agreed.

They were Chat Noir and Ladybug, Adrien Agreste and Marinette Dupain-Cheng, and there were still secrets between them, still insecurities and doubts to iron out. There were plenty of things she needed to tell him, and no doubt there were plenty of things he needed to tell her, but as Adrien said, tonight was theirs', and if the way things were going were any indication, there'd be plenty of time for "later."