Revealed over Poop Pills
I know in light of Oblivio, Backwarder is a little irrelevant, but I still loved the episode and I wrote this before the last couple episodes and just hadn't had the time to edit. Since it started out as a completely crack idea, I figured that'd be okay haha. Enjoy anyway!
Summary: Marinette forgot a very important step between arriving at the train station and giving her letter to Adrien. A little Backwarder Crack. Oneshot.
"I won't have time, but we might."
Marinette transformed outside Master Fu's apartment. In a matter of minutes, she needed to deliver her letter to Adrien, Master Fu's letter to his sweetheart, and pick up and deliver his prescription. She had all the confidence she could get this done, but she had to hurry.
Ladybug arrived at the train station after a few swings on her yo-yo. Running in, she didn't notice the many heads turned her way. Some in interest and excitement and others were looking around in a panic. A few phones captured pictures of their hero. Without looking, she pulled a paper from her yo-yo, not thinking to look at the object and realize she wasn't Marinette at the moment.
As soon as she saw Adrien at the door to the train, she called out, "ADRIEN!"
Immediately, the model turned around. His eyes widened, seeing his red-clad partner running up to him. Was there an akuma after him again, he panicked.
"Ladybug?" he breathed out questioningly.
Ladybug doubled over breathing for a second, then held out a piece of paper with both hands. She didn't seem to hear him.
"Here!" she rushed. "Read this on the drain-train! I've never told you kiss-this, but what I want more than anything in the world is written on this piece of paper, and… only you can give it to me."
Both teens blushed at Ladybug's soft tone.
Adrien opened his mouth as if he was about to say something, but only let out a light gasp as Ladybug turned and ran.
"Sorry! Medical Emergency!" she yelled as she fumbled around a civilian she almost ran into.
Adrien watched her go, completely confused. He glanced at the letter before turning and stepping onto the train.
Kagami gave him a confused but equally annoyed look. "What was that about?"
Adrien held the paper close and tried to be nonchalant. "No idea."
As they walked to their seats, Adrien looked at the folded piece of paper. Should he read this in private? What if Ladybug knew his identity? Surely, she wouldn't risk something so public to tell him. She told him to read it on the train so she must not be worried about others seeing what she had to say. Still, she appeared very nervous. She had a nervousness that was almost uncharacteristic of Ladybug and reminded him of someone else, but he couldn't remember who.
The train was about to depart when Adrien opened the secret letter. He had waited until he, Kagami, and their parents were settled in their seats, and specifically until Kagami seemed distracted by something her mother was saying to his father and not paying him or the letter the slightest bit of attention.
He didn't catch her glance over as he carefully unfolded the paper.
Adrien raised his eyebrows as it dawned on him what he was looking at. In his hands was a prescription for… constipation pills? What?... Was his lady…? Did she need these right away? Shouldn't she need these right away? Obviously, she knew he was getting on a train for a different country.
Only you can give it to me…
Only him? Only Adrien? Or Chat Noir? Sure, he knew Ladybug trusted Chat Noir, but for this? And what reason did she have to trust Adrien even more? Why couldn't she buy them herself? Did she need money? He supposed she would know he would have that. But that still didn't make sense. Ladybug wouldn't ask someone she barely knew for money for prescriptions.
Medical Emergency!
Gosh, what was he doing?! His Lady needed him! Whether she knew who he was or not. An emergency meant it was urgent. Who cared why, he needed to get this for her. Just as he thought this, Gabriel Agreste stood from his seat and raced to the back.
Adrien waited only a moment before standing himself. At Kagami's raised eyebrow, he paused. "Maybe, I should go check on him." It was a fairly good excuse, he thought.
And his father stopping the train was a good excuse to leave and buy Ladybug her constipation pills. But he'd need to be fast. Time for Chat Noir to save his Lady.
"It's very urgent," Chat Noir said upon handing the prescription to the pharmacist. The broad-shouldered man took the paper and read its contents. "Right away, Chat Noir!"
Adrien was surprised for a second before remembering he was still in uniform. While the pharmacist rushed to get the pills, Chat Noir stood at the counter, watching the small television mounted in the corner.
If his phone hadn't disappeared into the suit, he was sure he would have heard the alert at the same time it showed up on the screen.
"This just in: there's a new supervillain at large." An evil cackle could be heard off camera after Nadja Chamack's announcement.
"I better go," Chat Noir told himself just before the pharmacist returned with a small paper bag.
Chat Noir handed him the money quickly and gestured to the TV. "Thank you, sir! Well, duty calls!"
He gave a salute before running out the door. It wasn't until he was halfway to the scene, when he realized his incidental pun. Usually he would be somewhat proud, but this was a serious matter. He just hoped Ladybug wouldn't need them during the battle.
Ladybug and Chat Noir defeated the akuma with ease. Well, if a complicated Lucky Charm was still considered easy. There was also a high risk involved since Ladybug being hit had the potential to lead Hawkmoth straight to Master Fu, the Miraculous, and reveal her identity.
Chat Noir's ring counting down alerted him to the urgency in which he needed to act. He needed to detransform and get back to the train before it left. No doubt his father would be furious if he missed it.
"Oh! Oops, sorry, but I'd better scat… superfast."
"Got a train to catch?" Ladybug giggled as he knelt to kiss her hand.
The phrase jarred him. The train, her prescription! Questioning if she knew but not having the time to think on it, he straightened immediately and pulled out the bag. "I believe these are for you, my Lady."
She raised a brow as he placed them in her hands but opened the white nondescript bag.
Seeing the contents, she gasped, "How did you…?!"
Maybe it wasn't appropriate, but Chat Noir winked. "It's a secret. You see, we cats are mysterious too."
And with that, he ran off, hoping it wasn't too late to sneak back onto the train.
How? How, how, how? Ladybug's head screamed.
After giving Marianne the right letter, she hurried to Master Fu's. The white bag was tight in her grip as she swung across Paris. A bag with Master Fu's prescription and the corresponding pills. How had Chat Noir known? How had he gotten the prescription? Had Master Fu also contacted Chat Noir? Knowing Marinette made mistakes like this, akuma causing mistakes, had he called for backup? But there was only one doctor's note… Marianne had the letter from Fu and she had received her letter to Adrien, so… oh, it was awful! Adrien had Master Fu's prescription for constipation pills! But then how did Chat Noir get a hold of it? Marinette was still coming up with scenarios to make sense of the situation when she arrived at Master Fu's. He was still alive, and Marinette guiltily had to tell him how she had gotten his sweetheart akumatized.
"It's quite alright, Marinette," Master Fu said after her hundredth apology. He picked up his phone and flipped to something he would show her. "I'm much more interested in why Ladybug was at the Eurostar before the akuma was even seen… by the Seine."
He looked at her pointedly as he turned the phone to show a Twitter photo of Ladybug holding out a paper for Adrien Agreste.
Marinette grimaced. There she was handing off the prescription. Wait! There was Ladybug handing off the prescription. Oh no! This was even worse! She forgot to detransform! Adrien was probably so confused! Oh gosh! What if he had gotten her actual love letter? Well, she supposed Ladybug still loved him, but then she'd never be able to tell him who she was. He'd never love Marinette. Oh, it was just an awful mess!
And now other pieces popped into place. Like Chat Noir giving her the Guardian's pills. While how Adrien had contacted the hero was still a mystery, she was sure Adrien in total disgust gave it to someone that he thought could actually get the drugs to Ladybug.
Marinette groaned and fell face first onto the floor. With more apologies, she explained further, voicing some of her worries.
"I think you'll find," Master Fu chuckled, "that both Adrien and Chat Noir will be fine with this turn of events."
Marinette sighed. "I hope so. It's so embarrassing! I don't know how I can face either of them!"
"With a smile," Master Fu took a sip of tea. "And the truth doesn't hurt either."
Marinette nodded. "But I can't tell Adrien my secret identity," she said despondently, "or hurt Chat Noir. He'll want to know why I gave a letter to Adrien, even if it was the wrong one."
"Start with one," Master Fu smiled knowingly.
Start with one, Marinette repeated in her head.
Neither boy could have the full truth, and she had a hard time choosing who to talk to first.
Adrien would be back Sunday night and unless there was another akuma between now and then, she would see Chat Noir at their patrol that same night. She couldn't tell Adrien her identity, but she could tell him that she meant to deliver something else – a message from a friend. Of course, she would have no idea of the contents of the letter. The things she'd said had also been from said friend. Ladybug definitely did NOT need constipation pills, and she would apologize for the confusion, probably disgust, and for making him go through the trouble of handing it off to Chat Noir. Part of her hoped he might reveal the model and hero's connection, but she knew that wasn't the point. Overall the story for Adrien was the easiest to fabricate. Marinette hoped working around the truth would prescribe to Master Fu's advice.
Chat Noir was a little different. He could know the full truth. She mixed up the letter, had a crush on Adrien, caused the akuma. But would he question her further? Would she have to defend her crush on Adrien? Because Chat Noir thought it was a silly celebrity crush. She worried about revealing her identity, but most of all, she worried about hurting him.
Still, it would be easier to tell the whole truth than a story around it. And yet it would be easier to leave out information like her identity than hurt her partner again.
Ultimately, she had a choice to make and when the time came, she chose truth.
The wind pushed Ladybug's hair from her face. The tail end of one pigtail still desperately trying to reach her face. She stood on a rooftop, waiting for Chat Noir. She had settled with herself that her partner needed to know the truth first. Then if he got to Adrien before her, they would be on the same page. She still didn't want to hurt his feelings or reveal her own vulnerabilities, but she had messed up and she knew she had to fix things with both of them.
"My Lady," Chat Noir greeted as he landed on the roof.
Ladybug's smile was automatic and involuntary. "Chat Noir."
The black cat hero looked awkward for a second before asking, "Are you feeling better?"
His genuine concern touched her, but she blushed in embarrassment.
"Yes, well, I needed to talk to you about that. See, those pills weren't for me, Chat Noir… they were for Master Fu… and- and I messed up."
Chat Noir raised an eyebrow, trying not to ask why she gave it to Adrien.
"I had Master Fu's prescription, a letter Master Fu wrote to his sweetheart, Marianne, the one who was akumatized, and… and a letter I wrote to Adrien Agreste."
"You mixed them up."
"Well, yes," Ladybug said, her shoulders deflating. "I gave Adrien the prescription which he gave to you, my letter went to Marianne, and Master's love letter to the pharmacist!"
Chat Noir laughed as Ladybug covered her face with her hands.
"It's not funny," she murmured, but there was a hint of a smile in her voice. "Adrien thinks I have digestion issues and Marianne was akumatized!"
Chat Noir knew what Adrien thought, but found that her mistake caused an akuma interesting.
"What was in your letter?"
"Huh!" Ladybug squeaked. Her nervous behavior returned, and she looked at him with wide eyes. "Well, uh, um…" A sad look crossed her face as she looked at him. "I was going to tell him my feelings."
Chat Noir's jaw nearly dropped, and his heart started to beat faster.
Ladybug had become distant in her body language now, a hand wrapping around her body and holding her elbow. She didn't want to meet his eyes afraid of what she would find there, not knowing that hope bloomed in them.
"He's- he's the boy that I like…" Ladybug continued quietly.
Chat Noir was silent, too dumb-found to speak. His Lady? The other guy? But…
"It's not what you think!" Ladybug suddenly rushed before he could even process. "He's not just some celebrity crush, okay? Sure, he's handsome, but he's sweet, and nice to everyone – even Chloe, and he works really hard to please his dad even though he doesn't appreciate it, and he's really smart, and… I'm sorry. I'll stop. I just- I know him, and he'll never see me as anything more and I just… wanted him to give me a chance. That's what was in the letter. But Ladybug wasn't supposed to give it to him, and I guess my wording wasn't quite right because Marianne ended up being akumatized." She tried to laugh but it was forced.
Chat Noir stared at her for a long time. How did she know him? More than anything, he wanted that letter.
Ladybug sighed. "I was in such a hurry, trying to get those stupid pills and the letters to their respective people that I forgot to detransform. I'm kind of glad now though since Adrien won't know it was me who gave him a prescription for constipation pills. Me me, not Ladybug me." Ladybug paused, noticing Chat still staring back at her. "Can you please say something now before I ramble into oblivion?"
Chat Noir blinked back at her. "What did the letter say?" he whispered.
She raised at eyebrow in surprise. "I already told you-"
"No, the actual words." Chat closed his eyes for a moment as if trying to calm himself.
When he opened them, Ladybug finally saw it, the look of hope, the bright love. And suddenly it was very easy to recall every word of the poem.
"…Dearest you…" she started. "When you love someone, you must never hold back from telling them when you have the chance, because one day you might realize that it's too late and that all your hopes and dreams are ruined with no way to go back in time and do it over. I want to tell it to you today before you leave so you can take my words with you. I'm hoping they'll make their way to your heart and that when you come back, you'll give me a chance to prove how true these words really are. I… love you."
Both teens' cheeks were pink.
Ladybug looked away in a hurry, a hurt look coming across her face. "Go ahead and laugh. All the boys on the metro did."
Chat's eyes widened. "Why would I? That was… wow, absolutely beautiful."
"Um, thanks." She was flattered. If only she could say those words to Adrien… Her eyebrows furrowed as a thought occurred to her. "Why did you want to know?" she asked accusatorily before her nerves came back. "Please, don't tell him! My relationship with him is difficult enough without him knowing. And I still have to apologize to him after patrol, and I don't want him finding out that I'm Ladybug…"
"You really do love him, don't you?" There was a teasing tone to Chat Noir's voice.
Ladybug's body slumped. "Yes… I'm so sorry, Chat Noir. I know how you feel about me…"
"Don't worry about it," the hero said happily.
She raised her eyebrows as he stepped closer and took a hold of her hands.
"You're right. When you love someone, you must never hold back from telling them when you have the chance. I love you, Ladybug. And you love someone else… but… the one who you love…" Chat Noir dropped his transformation. "…is me."
Ladybug's jaw dropped. "A-Adrien," she breathed out. A lump formed in her throat as she stared up at him, his eyes adoring every inch of her masked face. "I'm dreaming."
Adrien laughed. "I really hope not. Besides, if anyone was dreaming, it'd be me since I believe I've told you multiple times, My Lady, you're the girl of my dreams."
He leaned forward as if he was going to touch his forehead to hers but stopped an inch away and stared into her eyes. Her eyes scoped out his every facial feature. He could tell she was panicking as her hands (probably) subconsciously squeezed his. Pieces were falling into place.
Suddenly her arms wrapped around his neck. "Adrien! I can't believe it was you. You're Chat Noir!"
His heart hammered against his chest as he wrapped his arms around her. She sounded happy!
He heard her giggle then she pushed back, her hands still crossed behind his neck.
"Master Fu told me to tell the truth and now I see why."
Adrien chuckled.
"But…" Ladybug gulped. "Adrien, you don't even know who I am. Do you- will you still trust me? Will you…" There was a long pause followed by a whisper. "…still love me?"
"My Lady," Adrien softly scolded, brushing back a piece of her hair. "You know I will. You know me, remember?"
Ladybug's cheeks burned, then she took a deep breath. She held her breath as her transformation was released. Apparently, the kwamis had decided to catch up somewhere else nearby because Tikki zoomed off immediately.
Now it was Adrien's turn to be slack-jawed and speechless. "Marinette?... Marinette!" He wrapped his arms further around her, holding her to his chest. "You mean, all this… this time you were…and…I was? Right there this whole time!" He sighed and placed a kiss on her head. "You're perfect."
Marinette squeaked.
"Oh, I'm sorry!" Adrien moved back, afraid he crossed a line. Marinette's face was red, but otherwise, she had a cute smile on her face.
"No, it's okay!" After a beat, she spoke again. "Besides you missed."
Adrien's furrowed brows showed his confusion before realization dawned on him and he raised an eyebrow knowingly.
"Did I?"
"Just come here, you silly kitty!"
Her hands gripped his shirt and pulled him in. Their lips instantly crashed together.
They had danced around one another for far too long. This was their happy reward, and who would have thought it'd happen over 3 little pieces of paper and poop pills.
Gosh, to be honest, I'm not even a fan of bathroom humor, but they got me in that episode and I ended up writing this. Hope you liked it anyway!
Also, not sure if it needs explaining but "duty calls" is sometimes a phrase used to say "I'm leaving to use the bathroom". The pun was entirely accidental on my part (which I think are the best ones hehe) but as soon as I realized, I needed Chat to realize too.
Anyway, thank you to all those who continue to favorite and follow me and my work. I keep every single email that I get cuz they mean so much to me. So thanks! And I hope you liked this one too!