Ladybug tries to ignore how her feathers sprout mostly brown nowadays, but in some moments, when she isn't questioning all of her choices leading up to these moments, they sprout white.

As Marinette, she knows where her feelings lay, as tangled in a net of confusion as they are, but today was unlike anything else and kind of reminded her of second chances as she'd stood right across from Adrien while she was suited up as Ladybug, and she'd felt the delicate fluttering of new feathers sprouted on her back.

He'd been so happy and so sweet, and she realized that Ladybug's soulmate wasn't just Cat Noir; it was binding in its own way to realize that either way, she'd probably feeling the sprouting of feathers around them both. Was there a way to stop it and just take a deep breath and move on?

She doubted that feathers would stop sprouting if she left one for the other, and she wondered dimly if Cat Noir lived like she did, caught between two girls, two identities, like she was caught between two guys and two identities.

Marinette's life couldn't be as simple and sweet as her parents' had been, and she realized that no matter what, something would fall apart between them.

"Thank you, Ladybug." He'd smiled up at her, and she'd felt so caught up in his smile like it was nothing else.

"Anything for such an outstanding citizen." She'd muttered somehow, and yet she wasn't quite sure if that would ever be enough; she was so grateful that her feathers hid beneath her suit just like it was any other kind of fabric though she knew that he probably felt it too, felt the feathers emerge on his back so very easily.

It feels like a slam of reality down on her since Ladybug and Marinette each have the same soulmates, and she's almost fearful of seeing Cat Noir while she's Marinette, but she doubts that she could stop it if push came to shove.

She wonders if Cat Noir would sprout feathers on her back if he were detransformed, just a civilian, in front of her; she's pretty sure that he would though nerves ride high in her stomach out of her control. Has she ever met Cat Noir without his mask on?