FIVE

After a decade of serving as Paris' protectors, Ladybug and Chat Noir have gotten pretty good at dodging attacks – a useful skill to hone, given that their opponents have only grown more dangerous with time. In the last year alone, Ladybug has seen innocent civilians electrocuted, stabbed, and – in one particularly disturbing case – mind-controlled into jumping off a building. When Ladybug thinks of their early years and the sheer number of attacks Chat had to take for her, she can only thank whatever higher power there is that that is no longer the case. The mere possibility of having to watch her partner go through any of these things has given her a never-ending supply of nightmares.

So when their latest akuma throws a handful of dream powder at Chat's back, it takes a moment for Ladybug to realize that she's not dreaming, and that Chat has actually been hit by Le Rêveur's attack. She rushes over to her partner as quickly as possible, and takes his hand without a moment's consideration for the golden shimmer the powder gives off as it settles into his skin and how it might affect her.

"Looks like it's time for a cat nap!" Le Rêveur announces gleefully as his magic begins to pull both superheroes under. "And while you rest, I will put the rest of Paris to sleep and make them suffer through the pain of living out their deepest, most unattainable dreams. See you later, sleepyheads!"

Ladybug's last thought before she loses consciousness is, but this is your best chance to defeat us. Idiot.

.

.

.

She doesn't dream – not exactly, at least. When she's greeted by the sight of an unfamiliar pair of hands attached to what she thought was her body, she realizes that she's seeing someone else's dreams through their own eyes. A few attempts to move her host body make it very clear that she's not in control at all; she's just here for the ride.

As her unwitting host begins to prepare what appears to be breakfast, Ladybug considers what little information she has on the situation. The host, she deduces, is most likely Chat Noir – given that he was the one to bear the brunt of Le Rêveur's attack, along with the fact that she passed out with her hand in his. They're in a kitchen, that much is clear – but the fact that it bears a certain resemblance to her dream kitchen is just the slightest bit unsettling. The most surprising part of this all, though, has to be the platinum band on Chat's ring finger.

The most surprising part, that is, until she walks into the kitchen. Her hair is down – slightly longer than she usually keeps it – and she's in a tank top and sleeping shorts, but her face remains hidden by her mask. Ladybug realizes two things with a jolt: one, her mask is on because Chat doesn't know what she looks like; two, she's wearing what appears to be a platinum wedding ring.

"Morning," Her other self says with a serene smile as Chat looks up from his task of frying bacon; Ladybug finds herself glad for the fact that she can't feel anything in this body when her other self leans in for a quick peck on the lips. She's been through a lot of strange stuff in the last ten years, but kissing herself would definitely rank as one of the weirdest, most disturbing things of all.

While Chat and his dream Ladybug discuss their upcoming day, Ladybug tunes them out and concentrates on not freaking out over the fact that Chat's deepest, most unattainable dream apparently involves being married to her. He's been flirting with her for a decade now, but she's always assumed that's just a part of his personality, and a thing he does with everyone – after all, he's been pretty flirty with Marinette the handful of times they've interacted with each other. And if this is what Chat really wants, if he really does feel this strongly about her, wouldn't he have said something by now? Something other than the joking proclamations of undying love he tosses at her every other week, that is.

For the first time since they first met, Ladybug is struck by the possibility that perhaps none of those proclamations have been the jokes she's always written them off as.

Before she can come to terms with this new possibility, she's pulled back into the dream by the sound of fast, excited footsteps – multiple pairs, muted by carpets or socks, maybe, but still thunderous as they make their way down the stairs.

"Here comes the cavalry," Her other self sighs, stepping away from Chat's arms to face the kitchen door. And she really should have put the pieces together by now – they're married, the footsteps are accompanied by high, excited voices, and Chat's frying way more bacon than two people could ever need – but Ladybug's heart still stops when three small children suddenly appear at the door.

Two girls and a boy, with the boy appearing to be the middle child. She'd estimate their ages to be somewhere within the range of three to seven, but Ladybug's never been that good at guessing kids' ages. The eldest appears to be an exact copy of her, right down to the messy pigtails she'd worn at that age. The other girl has her hair but green eyes – what Chat's look like, probably, when they aren't distorted by his transformation. The boy, however… against all genetic odds, the boy has his father's blond hair and her cerulean eyes.

She's too stunned to pay close attention to anything after that, waiting only for Chat's eyes to turn towards the children in order to get a closer look at them. The eldest is definitely a daddy's girl, choosing to sit next to her father while the other two sit on the other end of the breakfast nook with their mother in between them, the youngest carefully placed upon a booster seat. Every once in a while, she's met with the sight of her other self, reaching across the table for Chat's hand while she watches their children with quiet fondness and genuine joy. For the most part, though, Chat focuses on the children – much to Ladybug's satisfaction. They are rambunctious but well-mannered, it would seem, eating as cleanly as any child that young can be expected to. They're not picky either, finishing everything that's put before them without a single word of complaint about the mushy peas or the omelet. Her other self spends most of the meal cutting up the food on her daughter's plate and feeding her, until Chat makes her switch places with him and takes over in order to let her eat.

Ladybug might not feel anything Chat feels, but she's still got her own emotions to deal with – and she has never felt so overwhelmed. Here is a future she has only ever vaguely allowed herself to dream about ever since she moved on from her crush on Adrien, a future that seems to line up exactly with what Chat wants. Here is her partner of ten years, making breakfast and holding her hand and becoming her partner in every sense of the word. Here is love, and warmth, and so much happiness her heart feels as if it might burst.

Here is everything she never knew she wanted until right now.

As the dream starts to fade away and the edges of her vision go black, Ladybug comes to a decision. Someday, she silently vows to herself, taking one last look at the children – her children.

She is yanked out of that perfect, sunny kitchen and thrown into an eerily silent Paris, save for the pained groans coming from her partner.

"Chat!" Ladybug immediately sits up, hovering above her groggy partner as he slowly shakes off the last bit of Le Rêveur's attack. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, just-" Chat stops short as he realizes Ladybug's hand is still wrapped around his own. "Ladybug… please tell me you didn't see that dream." He pulls his hand away to rub at his temples before slowly shifting into a sitting position to mirror hers.

"We can talk about it later," She tells Chat in what she hopes is a gentle, reassuring tone. "For now, we have an akuma to stop."

They stand up, Chat's movements the tiniest bit slower than her own. There's no telling what after-effect Le Rêveur's dream powder might have, which is all the more reason to beat him as quickly as possible.

"Come on, we need a higher vantage point to see where he's gone," She decides, hooking her yo-yo around a street lamp to begin her ascent. Chat is unusually quiet as they climb upwards, and it's only once they've landed on top of a sufficiently tall building that he speaks.

"We don't have to talk about it," Chat says quietly as they scan their surroundings for any sign of Le Rêveur. "If you can just pretend you never saw any of that, that would be-"

Ladybug abandons her task for a moment to take Chat's hand in her own. "I want to talk about it," She admits with a smile.

Chat's lips curve into a tiny, hopeful smile of his own.

.

.

.

When Ladybug gets to the Eiffel Tower later that night, she finds Chat waiting for her in their usual spot.

"So I've been thinking," Chat says, eyes still fixed on the sprawling city that stretches out as far as the eye can see. "I'm sorry that you had to see that, I'm sorry that I've put you in a difficult position, but… my lady," He turns around then, all scared eyes and hesitant movements as he approaches her, "I can't apologize for the way I feel about you, or the dreams I have about our future."

"I don't want you to apologize," Ladybug tells him, bridging the small distance he's left between them to frame his face between her gloved hands. "I just want an honest answer, Chat. The kitchen, the kids, us – is that what you really want?"

"More than anything else in the world," His whispered reply comes immediately, with not a single trace of his earlier uncertainty.

Ladybug rises up on her tiptoes. "Good," She murmurs as she brings him closer and wraps her arms around his neck, her smile so wide it nearly hurts. "Because I do too."

It's their second kiss in ten years, and she can't believe it's taken a decade and a dream-obsessed akuma to get them here. Chat seems to have a little trouble wrapping his head around recent developments as well. "My lady, not to ruin the mood or anything – because really, that's the last thing I want right now – but… why the sudden change of heart?"

"It wasn't the kitchen, even though that's more or less my dream kitchen and I really hope we get it someday," She says, watching a smile spread across Chat's face at the idea of we and someday. "And it wasn't the kids, even though they're amazing and perfect and I love them already," It's getting a bit tiresome to stay on her tiptoes like this, so Ladybug lets go of Chat and takes his hand instead, tugging at him until he sits down on the edge of the tower with her, one arm wrapped around her waist as she leans on his shoulder. "It was you, and the way your eyes kept finding me no matter what. It was the way the other me looked at you, with all this love and happiness that I never thought I'd find. It was the realization that you're the only person I could ever have that with, the only person who could ever know and understand and love both parts of me."

Chat pulls away just enough to look her in the eye. "Ladybug, are you saying-"

She smiles, pulls him back in and kisses him until he's on his back and they're far enough from the ledge that no one runs the risk of accidentally falling off the Eiffel Tower in surprise. When Chat looks up at her, his eyes are filled with the same quiet awe and overwhelming love she'd felt in the dream - and it gives her that final push she needed to say those three little words.

"Tikki, spots off."

.

.

.

They have two girls in a row and then a little boy, but they still look just as they did in that dream all those years ago, and their kitchen is bright and sunny and filled with all the love and warmth in the world, and Adrien still looks at her the way he did that night on the Eiffel Tower.

As far as Marinette is concerned, Le Rêveur is her all-time favorite akuma.

This is 99% other stuff, 1% reveal BUT HEY IT STILL COUNTS. I think.

Tip: I just posted two chapters back to back so be sure to check out Chapter 4 too.

Pro tip: I'm really bad at maintaining my FFN account and usually post stuff to AO3 way earlier, so maybe look me up there. I'm E_Salvatore.

As usual, I'd love to hear from y'all in the comments below!