Author's note-

Enjoy!

M'lady's Secret

Night: Adrien/Cat Noir

Adrien had just settled into his comfy bed and closed his eyes to rest for the night when Plagg tapped him on the shoulder.

"Come on, Plagg! I'm trying to sleep," Adrien said, rolling over to bat his kwami away. "If this is because you want more food, I swear…"

"No, this is serious," Plagg told Adrien. "Ladybug's out there, but she doesn't look like she's in danger."

"Ladybug? Where? Maybe she's come to confess her undying love for me. It is the night before Valentine's Day, after all." Adrien flexed his muscles in a mock boasting-like way.

"I don't think so, boss. It looks like she's crying, actually." Plagg pointed to Ladybug sitting on the top of a building, her head in her hands. Even from a few buildings away, Adrien could see that her shoulders were shaking.

"What's the matter with her? I've gotta go help." Adrien jumped up.

"Aww, Superman's gonna go save his love?" Plagg teased. "Have fun with that." He zipped back into Adrien's bag, where he began to eat the camembert that he had saved.

"No way are you eating that now. Not when Ladybug needs my help. Time to transform!" Adrien smoothed out his pajamas and held up his ring. "Plagg, claws out!"

Plagg was sucked from his cheese and dragged into the transformation. Finally, Adrien was no more. Cat Noir took his place, looking like a more rascally version of his human self. His blonde hair was fuller and his green eyes twinkled mischievously.

"Now, it's time to see what's up with Ladybug." And with that, he jumped out of the window and glided from rooftop to rooftop until he landed silently behind Ladybug. He crept towards her and finally she turned around to face him.

"What are you doing here?" she asked flatly. Her eyes were full of tears, but when she caught him staring, she quickly wiped them away. "What do you want?"

"I was just concerned about you, M'lady. I noticed you looked a little different than normal this evening." Cat walked over until he was sitting right next to Ladybug. "You can tell me. I thought we trusted each other."

"No, It's nothing big," Ladybug said. Cat noticed that she was holding an envelope with a postage stamp of a flag he knew wasn't French. Maybe that was the cause of her troubles.

He gestured to it. "Hey, what's that?"

"T-that? Oh, it's nothing." Ladybug scooted a little farther away from him. "I should probably get back to patrolling the city, don't you think?"

"Not when you can talk to me!" Cat exclaimed. "Listen, I know that I annoy you and all, but if you ever need a friend to talk to, I'm here."

"Really? You're not going to purr-suade me? Or say paw-lease?" Ladybug tried to grin, but a few tears escaped anyway. She wiped them away angrily. "What's with your new cat-itude?"

"Nice, M'lady. Now tell me what's wrong."

"You have got to be kitten me." Ladybug facepalmed. "You're not even going to make any cat puns?"

"Looks like you've got that covered, and yours are pretty claw-some, Little Lady." He put his arm around her. "Look, I can be understanding. Try me."

"Okay." Ladybug took a shaky breath. "My pen pal died."

"Your...pen pal? You have a pen pal? Where are they from?" Cat asked.

"It's extra credit for school. She's from America. Her name's Olivia Shannon, and she was 14 when she died." Ladybug fingered the letter. "Her birthday was supposed to be in late January, so I sent her a birthday card. That's when her parents decided to tell me. She's been gone since December. They didn't tell me until this letter reached, which was today."

"Yikes, that's harsh. Do you feel betrayed?" Cat questioned, looking serious all of a sudden.

"What are you, some kind of therapist?" Ladybug asked, avoiding the question with one of her own.

"Do you really think that I, Cat Noir, would be something as boring as a therapist?" Cat laughed. "Well, I do help people, but that's pretty much all we have in common. But really, don't feel betrayed. You might get akuma-tized."

"Excuse me if I can't control my feelings!" huffed Ladybug. She crossed her arms and looked off into the distance.

"Can't control your feelings for me, is that what I'm hearing?" Cat flirted. "Cause I feel the same way, M'lady."

"No!" Ladybug shook her head and rolled her eyes. "If you want to flirt with someone, you've picked the wrong lady. I… I have feelings for someone else."

"Really? Who's the lucky guy?" Cat leaned in close like she should tell him everything.

"Just a guy in my class. But I know he doesn't like me back." Ladybug shrugged. "It's okay. You're always getting crushed by me; I guess I should have to get crushed sometime."

"You don't deserve to get crushed, princess. Any guy would be lucky to have you." Cat squeezed her shoulders. "Nothing could make me love you less."

"Not even…who I really am?" Ladybug asked. "Never mind. Stupid idea. I should go."

"Stay! I want to know who you are! Maybe I can help you with your crush." The last part came out slowly, but Cat continued. "I'm willing to sacrifice my love for you, if you're willing to share your secret."

"Look, I can't. It'd be too embarrassing. I'll see you next time there's evildoing going on." Ladybug prepared to leave. "Goodnight!"

"Wait, Ladybug." His voice softened. "I'm sorry about your pen pal. Try to feel better, okay? Here, you can call me if you feel bad." Cat scribbled down a number on a piece of litter from the roof of the building. "I'll listen to you."

Morning: Marinette/Ladybug

Marinette woke up a little late on Valentine's Day, since she had been up late the night before. Had it all been a dream? Was her pen pal still alive? Then she saw the letter sitting on her desk and it all came flooding back. Even the scrap of paper with Cat Noir's number on it, which she could see lying on top of the letter.

Tikki was floating above the letter and number. "Are you going to save him as a contact?" she squeaked. "Otherwise you might lose his number."

"Yeah, yeah." Marinette brushed her hair and hurried to changer her clothes. "It's just that he might not pick up when I call, and then what do I do?"

"Leave a voicemail, silly!" Tikki tapped Marinette's phone. "Come on, you gonna do it?"

"I'm about to, if you move," Marinette said. She picked up the paper with the number on it and started to type it into her contacts. When she was done, she gasped. "Tikki, look!"

"What?" Tikki zipped over.

"I-it's Adrien's number." Marinette fell onto her bed in shock. "Cat Noir is Adrien Agreste. Who also happens to be my crush. Tikki, what do I do?"

"First, you calm down." Tikki patted Marinette on the shoulder sympathetically.

"How do I calm down? I've been turning my crush down for years just to find out that he actually is my crush. I've been talking to my crush effortlessly, but I stumble over words when I see him in human form. How am I supposed to talk to Cat Noir ever again?" Marinette put her head in her hands.

"Ladybug. You can talk to him when you're Ladybug, but not when you're Marinette. Why?" Tikki asked.

"I don't know!" Marinette continued to freak out.

"Well, I'm calling him," Tikki said, her foot above the call button, "and you can talk to him for yourself."

"No…" But it was too late. The phone was ringing, but it went straight to voicemail.

But Marinette noticed that Adrien's voicemail had changed. Instead of the usual, "Hey, this is Adrien's voicemail. Leave a message," it was just, "Hey, it's me. Leave a message."

"He must have changed it for Ladybug to not discover him," Marinette muttered. Out loud she said, "Hey, this is Ladybug. I know who you are. Meet me back at the building so we can chat, okay?"

Then she threw on her purse and walked to the building without even bothering to transform.

Midday: Adrien/Cat Noir

"She knows who I am?" Adrien said, annoyed. "And to think I thought I could find her out before she found me out." He tapped his bag. "Anyway, time to transform. Plagg, claws out!"

"Aw, do I have to?" Plagg poked his head out with camembert in his hands.

"I said, Plagg, claws out!" Adrien yelled. He turned into Cat Noir and back out the window he went, jumping from rooftop to rooftop until he reached the one they had been sitting on the night before. "Ladybug?" he called softly.

There was no answer. So Cat walked to the rooftop ledge and sat there, facing the city, to wait for Ladybug.

Suddenly, he heard a voice, that sounded suspiciously like Ladybug from behind him. "Hey, Adrien."

His immediate reaction was to turn at the sound of his name, which was what he did. And he came face to face with a girl from his class. "Marinette? What are you doing here?"

"Nothing. Just...this." And with that, she kissed him. Finally, it dawned on him.

"You're Ladybug?" Cat Noir transformed back into Adrien in Marinette's arms.

"Look, I'm sorry I kept on turning you down. I only had one special place in my heart, and it was for you. I… I'm sorry." Marinette started to walk away.

"Wait! I was right when I said that nothing could make me love you less," Adrien said. "I love you too, Marinette."

When they kissed again, it was like all was right in the world. Every flower bloomed and the Eiffel Tower seemed to glimmer even more in the sunlight.

Night: Marinette/Ladybug

"The stars are really pretty tonight, Adrien." Marinette leaned into her new boyfriend.

"Not as pretty as you, M'lady."