"Cat Noir! No!" screamed Ladybug.

The akumatized person, a weather-themed villain, had just shot a blast of lightning at Ladybug. Cat Noir had jumped in front of her, and the lightning had struck him instead. Now he was laying on the ground, not moving.

"Cat Noir!" cried Ladybug again. She touched his face, trying to wake him up. She was surprised at how cold his face felt.

"You've lost your kitty," the akumatized person said. "Now you'll lose your miraculous!"

She lunged at Ladybug, trying to grab her earring. But Ladybug glared at her. "No I won't!" she cried, jumping up.

The fight was a long and hard one, since Cat Noir was not there. But finally, Ladybug succeeded in breaking the akumatized item. She purified the akuma, then threw her lucky charm into the air, yelling, "Miraculous Ladybug!"

Everything should have gone back to normal. But when Ladybug returned to the place Cat Noir had been, he was still lying on the ground in the same position.

"Cat Noir?" asked Ladybug.

He did not move a muscle.

She shook him, but he still did not move. She tried everything, but the cat superhero still laid motionless. She finally laid her hand on his chest to feel for a heartbeat.

Nothing.

"Cat Noir!" she screamed in anguish. A tear rolled down her cheek. He was gone. Her loyal friend and partner was gone.

She could not leave him there where Hawkmoth could easily steal his miraculous, but her earrings were beeping. She took a deep breath, then touched his ring. She would have to take it home. She pulled it off his finger, and his transformation disappeared. She gasped at who she saw laying there.

It was Adrien.

Marinette sat in her room, holding Cat Noir's ring. It had been hours since the akuma attack, yet she was still crying. She twisted the ring around in her fingers. She knew that if she combined the miraculous, she could get a wish. But should she do it?

After many minutes of thinking it through, she decided she had to. She could not imagine life without Cat Noir, and without Adrien. She pulled her earrings out and placed them on top of the ring.

A purple wind began swirling around her, and she closed her eyes. "I wish that Cat Noir was still alive!" she cried.

The wind disappeared, and with it the miraculous. Marinette ran out of her room in the direction that Cat Noir had lay.

But when she arrived, she saw Adrien still laying there. She touched him. "A-drien? Are you okay?" she asked.

There was no answer, and Marinette fell to the ground. It hadn't worked. Her wish had failed, and now the miraculous were gone.

Hours later, Marinette laid in her bed, touching the pictures of Adrien she had hanging next to her bed. Tears were rolling down her face, and she wondered if she ever would feel happy again. She felt like crying for days, but eventually, sleep overtook her and she fell into a deep sleep.

The next morning, she awoke, and remembered what had happened. Her heart broke all over again. She knew she had to go to school, though, and so she sat up and went down the stairs with no cheer.

"Good morning, Marinette," her mother said. "Why so glum?"

Marinette mumbled a response and sat down to eat breakfast. When she was finished, she stood up and walked out the door slowly. As she was walking to school, she suddenly saw a red flash.

"Marinette, we'd better hurry up! You don't want to be late to school!"

Marinette looked in disbelief. "Tikki?"

She touched her ears, and her earrings were back! "What?" she cried. "What's going on?"

But now they were at school, and Tikki hid in Marinette's purse.

Marinette walked into class, very confused. She nearly tripped over her own feet when she saw what she saw. There was Adrien, completely fine, sitting next to Nino!

"Adrien?" Marinette cried, a bit too loudly.

He smiled that adorable smile of his and waved. "Hi, Marinette!"

She walked over to him. "Is it really you?"

He looked confused. "Why wouldn't it be?"

"But, you got struck by lightning!" Marinette cried.

He stared. "What?"

"The akuma attack yesterday!" Marinette said. "You got struck by lightning by the akumatized villain, and when Ladybug turned everything back to normal, you weren't reverted and..."

"Girl, are you crazy?" Alya interrupted. "There wasn't an akuma attack yesterday."

"What?" Marinette asked.

She walked to her seat and sat down, a million things running through her head. Had it all been just a dream? She frowned. But then why would she dream that Cat Noir was Adrien? They were so different. If she hadn't seen it with her own eyes, she would never have believed it. Although now that she thought about it, Adrien did look a bit like Cat Noir. He had the same color hair and eyes. But there had to be a million blond-haired boys in Paris. Maybe he wasn't Cat Noir and it was all just a dream.

Her thoughts were interrupted when the teacher began speaking. She began paying attention to the teacher, and the crazy thoughts didn't come back until Marinette heard screams coming from outside. It was an akuma attack! Marinette quickly asked if she could go to the bathroom and transformed into Ladybug. It was only then that she realized that the screams had sounded the exact same as the ones she had heard at the same time yesterday, or dream-yesterday, or whatever it was.

She went outside of the school, where she saw Cat Noir. "Another akuma attack," he said to her. "At least that gives me a chance to spend more time with you, M'lady."

Those were the exact words he had said to her yesterday, and in the exact same tone of voice, too! Something very strange was going on.

But Ladybug was so glad to see Cat Noir after what had happened the day before, or dream-day before, that she hugged him. Cat Noir looked momentarily surprised, but then he hugged her back. "Why the sudden hug?" he asked. "Though I don't mind at all."

"I just… had a bad dream about you last night," Ladybug said.

"Care to tell me about it?" asked Cat Noir.

Screams interrupted their conversation. "I'd love to, but we don't have time right now," Ladybug said. "We can talk after we've defeated this villain."

They used their yo-yo and baton to get closer to the villain, but when they saw the villain, Ladybug gasped. It was the exact same akumatized person that they had fought yesterday!

"Ladybug, Cat Noir!" said the villain. "I am Electra, and if you don't give me your miraculous, I'll electrocute you!"

It was the same thing she'd said to them yesterday. "Cat Noir, does this seem a little familiar to you?" asked Ladybug.

Cat Noir shrugged. "She's kinda like Stormy Weather, I guess, but I just hope I don't get electrocuted!"

The scene from yesterday played in Ladybug's head. "Cat Noir, that's not funny," she said.

Electra suddenly began shooting lightning out from one of her hands. As the heroes dodged the blasts, which were coming exactly like they had yesterday, Cat Noir said, right on time, "I bet the akuma is in her ring. That's where the blasts are coming from."

Yesterday, Ladybug had agreed with him, and that had been their folly. But she was wiser today. "No, I think it's in her anklet," she said, pointing to an anklet on Electra's leg.

"That doesn't make sense," said Cat Noir. "How do you know?"

Ladybug said, "Just trust me."

"Always," said Cat Noir.

The fight continued, and Ladybug was filled with an overwhelming sense of deja vu. Except for when she had said something different that what she'd said yesterday, the entire fight and things Cat Noir and Electra said were the exact same as they had been yesterday. Cat Noir even said the same puns.

Suddenly Ladybug realized that they were at the part when Electra would shoot the lightning at her, and Cat Noir would save her at the expense of his own life. A split second, and Ladybug jumped out of the spot Electra had shot at her before. As Ladybug expected, Electra shot at that place, and she missed Ladybug.

Cat Noir was still there. He was still alive. He had not been hit.

The fight continued, and suddenly, Ladybug had to ask him something. "Cat Noir?" she asked. "I know it's not the best time, but I want to know. Are you Adrien?"

He looked shocked. At that moment, as he was processing the information, he let his guard down. And suddenly, Electra threw a lightning bolt at him.

It hit him. It was too late. Ladybug hadn't seen it coming.

"Cat Noir!" she screamed as he went limp and fell on her. "No!"

She glared at Electra. "You'll pay for this."

The fight was over quickly, as Ladybug knew the villain's weak points. After getting her lucky charm, the same as it had been the day before, she was able to win. She broke the anklet, purified the akuma, and threw the lucky charm into the air.

All was reverted, except for Cat Noir. Ladybug fell to her knees. "This is too similar to my dream-yesterday to be a coincidence," she said.

Suddenly she remembered her wish. She'd wished for Cat Noir to still be alive. Had it been granted in the form of turning back the clock?

She took his ring off, and the transformation came off. It was Adrien under the mask. "It wasn't a dream," she whispered.

She wasted no time in returning home and making the wish. This time, she swore, she would do it right. This time Cat Noir would be saved.

The next day, she went to school. Tikki was back again, like the day before. Adrien was alive again. She counted the minutes. At precisely the same time as the days before, she heard the screams. She ran to the bathroom, transformed, and went to the spot she knew Cat Noir would be.

He was there. "Another akuma attack," he said to her. "At least that gives me a chance to spend more time with you, M'lady."

She knew he would say that. "Cat Noir," she said, "I need to take her from behind. She'll never see me coming. I'll break the anklet and purify the akuma. I won't even need to use my lucky charm."

"And what do I do, M'ladybug?" asked Cat Noir.

She smiled. "Stay here," she said. "If I need you, I'll call. But I can't let you get hurt."

"I trust you," said Cat Noir. Ladybug smiled. Then she swung off to defeat the villain.

Electra was standing on the top of a building, shooting electricity from her ring. "Where are Ladybug and Cat Noir?" she screamed.

Ladybug swung around behind her and grabbed the anklet. She tore it off, and the black butterfly flew out. "No more evildoing for you, little akuma," she said, and purified it. She watched as Electra was de-akumatized. Then, after some kind words to the girl to make sure she wouldn't be akumatized again, she swung back to Cat Noir.

"Wow, that was fast," said Cat Noir. "How'd you do it, Bugaboo?"

She smiled. "It took a few tries," she confessed. She told him about the last two times that he didn't remember. "I'm glad you're okay this time, Kitty."

He smiled. "Thank you for saving me, Ladybug."

She looked sad. "I wish I didn't have to go through those last two times to do it." Then she brightened. "Cat Noir, when I took off your ring..."

He looked at her.

"Are you Adrien?" she asked.

He smiled. "Claws in," he said. He detransformed. Ladybug smiled. She had been right.

"Now that you know my secret," said Adrien, "will I have the pleasure of knowing yours?"

Ladybug moved closer to him. "After all this," she said, "I couldn't keep it from you. Spots off."

He gasped. "Marinette?"

She nodded.

"How did I not see it all along?" he asked. "You're both brave, smart, confident… I feel so silly for not seeing it before!"

"Is it okay that it's me?" Marinette asked with a frown.

"What?" Adrien asked. "Of course it is! It's more than okay, it's perfect!"

Marinette smiled. Then she looked down at her purse, where Tikki was. "Tell him," the kwami whispered.

Her heart beat faster. She needed to wash her hair, and put on her lucky socks! But… she could not wait. She might not get another chance. She took a deep breath.

"Adrien Agreste," she said. "I love you. I have ever since that first day I met you."

He smiled broadly. "I'm the luckiest boy alive!" he cried, putting his arms around her. "I love you too, Marinette Dupain-Cheng!"

Then Marinette smiled. "It's perfect," she said.

Adrien said, "Claws out."

Marinette said, "Spots on."

Then they closed their eyes and leaned in for a kiss. They were kissing for a long time, and when they stopped, they looked down and saw a bunch of people watching them! Alya was in the front, and she was holding her phone and recording.

The people started cheering. Ladybug cried, "How much of this did you see?"

"I'm totally posting this on the Ladyblog!" Alya cried. "People will go nuts to see a video of Ladybug and Cat Noir kissing!"

Ladybug laughed and turned to her partner. "I guess they just saw the kiss," she said. She touched his bell, which jingled. Then she said, "I have to go. Bug out!"

She threw her yo-yo and swung out of the area.

Cat Noir smiled. "See you soon, Ladybug." Then he propelled himself out too with his baton.

This time, Ladybug had saved him. And this time, everything had become better than it had been before.