True Love's Kiss
Dammit, Mim, I was about to go do my homework. Whhhhyyyyyy would you give me this prompt? (Just kidding, I love it, and I really don't want to do my health homework)
I don't own Miraculous Ladybug. Takes place after the Valentine's day episode.
GENERAL POV
She had kissed him.
She had kissed him.
Chat Noir. On the lips.
She kissed him.
Marinette paced her room anxiously, wringing her hands together and trying incredibly hard not to completely freak out in front of Tikki, who was watching the teenager panic with mild amusement.
"Marinette," the kwami said, a teasing lilt in her voice. "Are you still worried over your kiss with Chat? You know he doesn't remember it."
Marinette threw her hands up in the air briefly, letting them fall back down and slap her thighs. "I know, Tikki! But I kissed him!"
"It was to break a spell," the tiny creature reminded her.
Marinette flopped dramatically onto her bed, flinging an arm over her eyes. "Tikki, if anyone got photographic evidence of that, Chat will never let me live it down. Neither will the press. I'll be in every paper ever as having "fallen" for my partner!"
Tikki tilted her head. "Speaking of paper, didn't your teacher assign you something about true love's kiss for tonight?"
Marinette groaned and yanked her pillow over her face. "Nooooo," she grumbled, her voice coming out muffled. "That is the one thing I don't want to think about tonight."
Tikki rolled her eyes and zoomed down to Marinette's side, tugging on her pinky finger. "Come on, Marinette. The sooner you start, the sooner you're done."
Muttering under her breath, Marinette pulled herself to her feet and stomped over to her backpack, digging around inside and pulling out the copy of the textbook the teacher had given her. It had several dozen fairytales in it, as well as explanations for each fairytale. Marinette had finished the assigned readings and now just had to read the portions at the end and answer several questions about them.
She slid into her desk chair and grabbed a pencil, chewing on the eraser as she flipped the book open, vaguely aware of Tikki hovering over her. "Okay," she mumbled, tapping her pencil on the side of her cheek. "Here we go. Reading about true love's kiss. For school."
"You're stalling," Tikki chuckled.
Marinette waved an impatient hand at her and leaned over, resting her head on her hand and tapping the pencil on the desk as she began reading.
Often a true love's kiss comes to play in fairy tales when there is a need for resolution of one of the parties: either the "prince" or the "princess" needs saving. More often than not, specifically in Western tropes, it is the princess in need of saving, though more recent and modern day fairytales have the prince as the one in trouble (i.e., The Princess and the Frog).
A true love's kiss must be reciprocated by both parties for it to work, however. If, for example, in Snow White, Snow White had not loved the prince as equally as he did her, the spell would not have been broken and she would not have woken from the curse.
Love must be reciprocated for the spell to lift.
Marinette's pencil clattered to the desk top, her heart pounding in her ears as she read the line again. Tikki floated closer, a look of concern on her face.
"Marinette?"
"No, no, that can't be right," Marinette protested, gripping the book by the edges and lifting it to her face. "No way that's correct."
"What isn't correct?" Tikki asked curiously.
Marinette dropped the book like it was on fire and jammed a finger on the page, her face panicked. "That line right there, saying that true love's kiss only works if the love goes both ways. That's not right. I don't….I don't love Chat!"
Tikki tilted her head. "Well…maybe it means love in a friendship way?" she offered weakly.
Marinette pressed her hands to her cheeks, finding that she was blushing violently. "Maybe," she muttered, forcing herself to keep reading.
True love's kiss is the most powerful force in any fairytale, only able to be used by those in a truly romantic relationship, whether established or wished for.
"Not friendship," Marinette groaned, sinking back in her seat and pressing her hands to her eyes. "Tikki…what does this mean?"
Tikki waved her tiny arms around helplessly. "I don't know! Chat obviously loves you. Maybe…maybe you love Chat Noir too?" she suggested softly, a small smile on her face.
Marinette swallowed hard, standing and moving to her window. She leaned against the sill and thumped her head on the panes, trying hard to clear her head. "But I…I like Adrien," she protested halfheartedly. "…don't I?"
Tikki hovered next to her, tilting her head. "If you have to ask…do you really?"
Marinette spun around, twisting her shirt in her hands. "I don't know!" she cried. "How can I love two people at the same time? It's not okay to do that!"
"Maybe you should talk to Chat," Tikki offered.
Marinette looked at the kwami like she had grown a second head. "About us? Me liking him? Tikki, he'll…he'll…"
Tikki settled a tiny hand on Marinette's cheek. "He'll love you regardless," she promised. "I've seen the way he looks at you, Marinette. He won't make fun of you."
Marinette swallowed hard and turned back towards her book, letting her eyes drift to the bottom of the page, the last few sentences of her required reading.
Often times, it is unclear whether or not the love is reciprocated by both parties until the kiss actually occurs. In the American film Enchanted, we see this occur in the main prince and princess; when the princess is cursed and the prince is unable to awaken her with a kiss, we find that she is not truly in love with the prince, but with the civilian she met during the course of the movie.
The true love is not always clear; however, in the end, at least in fairytales, it always seems to have a happy ending.
"You called, My Lady?" Chat Noir chuckled, landing smoothly behind Ladybug on the top of the Eiffel Tower. When she didn't give him a sassy response, he let his smile fall and stepped up beside where she was sitting. "Hey…are you all right?"
Ladybug glanced up at him, her eyes curious and probing as she studied him. Chat felt vaguely uncomfortable, but considering all the times he had probably made Ladybug uncomfortable with his flirting, he let it slide and sat down next to her.
They remained silent for a moment before Ladybug looked away again, drawing her knees to her chin. "I kissed you today," she finally whispered.
He jumped, whipping his head around to stare at her in disbelief. That was not what he had expected her to say at all. "You…huh?"
"You were under a spell, the akuma possession from the anti-Cupid," she explained, keeping her eyes downcast. "And the only way to break it was to kiss you."
Chat swallowed hard, finding that his mouth had gone totally dry. "Wait, you're telling me you kissed me, and I don't remember it?"
She nodded, clenching her hands into fist and pressing her nose against her knees. "Yeah. And then I read this thing and it said…it said that a kiss to break a spell…a…a true love's kiss….only works if the feeling is mutual."
Chat felt like he was going to pass out, his eyes wide as he processed his words. "Wait, so-"
"So I'm confused, Chat!" she snapped, spinning to look at him. He was startled to find tears in her eyes, and her lower lip was quivering. "I'm confused because I had a crush on this guy at my school, and I thought I loved him, and I was convinced there was no way I could love you but then…"
She swallowed hard, looking away. "But then the kiss worked," she whispered hoarsely.
Chat rubbed a hand over his mouth, completely speechless. This was the day he had waited for, and yet…yet it felt unsatisfactory. She was really torn up over this, crying in the growing twilight, and he took a second to breathe before pulling her into a hug.
"Well," he mumbled softly. "Who knows? Maybe I'm the guy you have a crush on at school. Maybe that's why it worked."
She stiffened against his chest and shoved him away instantly, her eyes absolutely enormous as she stared at him. He froze, watching her reaction, and a quiet curse formed in his head. He probably shouldn't have put the idea in her head, but now that he had said it….
…he couldn't help but wonder if it was true.
When Ladybug finally shook her head, he breathed a sigh of relief. "No," she murmured, though she didn't seem completely convinced. "That would be way too convenient. Chat…can I…can I try something?"
His hand instinctively went to his mask and she shook her head quickly, holding her hands up. "No, not that. Just…you trust me, right?"
Chat let his hands fall back to his sides and he nodded numbly. "Of course."
She took a deep breath and leaned forwards slowly, her fingers shaking as she slid her hand up Chat's chest to his shoulder. His heart hammered in his chest as she pressed her lips to his.
They let their eyes fall shut and Ladybug relaxed against him slowly, her body melding to his as he wrapped his arm tenderly around the small of her back and their hearts pounded together. She moved her free hand to the back of his head, her fingers tangling in his hair when he deepened the kiss, eliciting a soft sigh from both of them.
When they finally broke apart, completely breathless and stunned, they leaned their foreheads together and took a second to breathe normally.
"You…you…"
She shut him up with a single finger to his lips and then gave him a small smile, a blush spilling over her cheeks. "Yeah…I did," she murmured. "I…wow, Chat."
He chuckled softly and tugged her against his chest in a tight hug. "Did you figure it out? The…true love thing, I mean," he asked.
Ladybug hesitated before nodding, letting her fingers curl gently in the spandex of his suit as she stared out over the darkening city of Paris. "I'm not sure...but I think so," she whispered.
He tightened his grip on her and rested his chin on her head, and they watched together as the City of Love came to life in the dark.
You two are so dense.
I was gonna have this be a reveal fic, but that just seemed like too obvious of an ending soooo….yup.
Curse you and thank you, Mim. (Also, new favorite head canon is that Pacifica and Adrien are related so thanks for that too)