Chat Noir lunged towards the akuma, claws tingling with the power of Cataclysm. At the same time, Ladybug's yo-yo, gleaming with the leftover power from the Lucky Charm, was flung forward. Their two attacks collided in a burst of red and black, the power of Cataclysm attempting to eat away at the Lucky Charm-empowered yo-yo, with the yo-yo fighting the destructive influence off. A second burst of rainbow-coloured light took over the square beneath the Eiffel Tower, startling the akuma and the two heroes. The rainbow light covered all three fighters, shattering the akuma's item and blinding everyone in range. When the light faded, Ladybug went for her yo-yo to cleanse the akuma, only to find it wasn't slung at her hip like she anticipated. Instead her reaching hands grasped a cool metal rod, slung in a pouch behind her back. Alarmed, she turned to where she could sense her partner's presence. She was surprised to see a face with a black-spotted red mask looking back at her, her own bluebell eyes widening in surprise at her.
"Chat...?" Ladybug said tentatively, vaguely noting the change in the way her voice echoed in her chest. The bluebell eyes behind the red mask widened further, before narrowing rapidly. The tentative question hung heavily in the air between the partners.
(SAME SCENE, CHAT NOIR POV)
The rainbow light covered all three fighters, shattering the akuma's item and blinding everyone in range. When the light faded, Chat thought he was no longer necessary, as he had caught sight of a little purple-black butterfly fluttering away. His next thought was how strange it was that he hadn't seen Ladybug's yo-yo snatch up the little insect yet. He looked over to where he had last seen his partner and saw a lean figure wearing black leather, cat-like ears and tail twitching slightly. The figure turned to him and he saw cat-like green eyes, the features around them hidden by a black mask. He felt his own eyes widen just as the green ones did.
"Chat...?" Asked the figure, in a voice that he often heard echoed back at him when he watched their fights on the Ladyblog to see his Lady in action. He narrowed his eyes and looked down at himself, only to find black-spotted red instead of the black leather he expected. A quick grab behind his back didn't yield his collapsible staff, and his hand went automatically to his hip, where it brushed the round shell of Ladybug's yo-yo. He looked deep into the green eyes that were still staring at him, and let a smirk slip onto his face. He pulled the yo-yo off his hip and began idly spinning it.
"Well this certainly is un-fur-tunite, isn't it my Lady?" Chat practically purred, watching as his Lady, currently in his usual form, covered her eyes with her hand. Ladybug then glanced up sharply.
"Chat!" she shouted. "The akuma!" He snapped his head around to focus on the fluttering purple-black butterfly, which seemed to be hanging around rather than flying away. It seemed to be looking back and forth between the two of them, and it was flapping erratically, almost as if it was laughing at them. Chat pulled the yo-yo back to himself from where he had been idly twirling it, and copied what he had seen Ladybug do countless times. He slid a finger along an almost invisible slit in the shell of the yo-yo, causing it to crack open, revealing the gleaming light of the interior. He then snapped his wrist out, capturing the little butterfly in the light, where the yo-yo then snapped shut. Chat pulled the yo-yo back to himself and tapped a finger on the shell, making it open again to release the butterfly. A different coloured butterfly fluttered out, but it wasn't quite the pure white that Ladybug released. It was a very pale lilac, almost white but not quite.
The mostly purified akuma still fluttered near Chat as he flipped the Lucky Charm up in the air, restoring almost all of the damage from the battle. Buildings and injuries were fixed by the cure, however neither he nor Ladybug went back to normal. They shared a glance that was interrupted by the insistent beeping of their Miraculous, which made them duck away into an alley near the tower. Ladybug tried to duck further away, trying to enter an adjacent alleyway, when Chat grasped her arm. Chat nearly flinched at the look of mixed curiosity and anger on his own face when Ladybug whirled around, but he gathered his courage and pushed onwards.
"My Lady," he began, and most of the anger smoothed out of the look he was getting. "I know you said it was safer to not know each others identity, but we don't exactly have a choice this time. Also, when we turn back, we'll just see our own faces." The remaining anger and curiosity smoothed to understanding acceptance as Ladybug nodded. The last insistent beeps passed as they looked into each others eyes, deep blue meeting emerald with a resigned acceptance, and the synchronized thought that their partner probably wouldn't like them when the masks came off.
Green and red flooded the alleyway as the masks came off, but the two heroes barely noticed, each still looking into their own eyes set on the others face. The moment broke soon after as they both blushed lightly and glanced away, choosing to look at the brick walls of the alley. They turned back to each other, feeling strange at seeing their own face looking back. Adrien held his now-bare hand out to his Lady, clearing his throat.
"Adrien Agreste, at your service My Lady," he said. He was surprised to see the blush on Ladybug deepen, though she took a deep breath as though to steel herself.
"Marinette Dupain-Cheng at yours, chaton," she said in Adriens own voice, the blush still deepening. Adrien felt his eyes widening again, then he smiled at the irony of Ladybug being best friends with the author of the blog dedicated to her. Then Plagg, who had been hovering just behind Marinette's shoulder, interrupted by diving behind Adrien's shoulder. Adrien turned and saw Plagg hugging another kwami, that one pinkish-red with black spots. The other kwami giggled happily, but then pushed Plagg away lightly. Marinette also giggled, but Adrien found it very strange to hear his own voice giggling and so broke up the kwami's cute reunion.
"Well princess," Adrien began, startling both the kwami's and Marinette. "We should probably get those two fed, and try and fix this. Is there any camembert in my pockets?"
"Camembert...?" Marinette asked. "Why would you...? Wait nevermind, it makes sense that your kwami would like something different than Tikki. As for her, there's some cookies in my purse, you can just let her in there." As she said that she gently searched the pockets on Adrien's outfit. She did find a wedge of camembert and held it up towards Plagg. Adrien simply opened the clasp on Marinette's little purse and the pinkish-red kwami - Tikki apparently - darted in and back out, holding a chocolate chip cookie in her tiny hands. Tikki glided back up to her black counterpart, nibbling at the cookie as she went, and Plagg gave a huge feline grin and caught her in a one-armed hug, the other arm still grasping the wedge of smelly cheese.
"Always nice to see you sugar cube, but in this case I wish our kids had a choice in letting us meet again," Plagg said, his Cheshire grin getting larger. Tikki huffed slightly and turned away, though she didn't leave Plagg's one-armed embrace.
"I told you not to call me sugar cube, Plagg," she said, mild annoyance warring with affection in her tone. "But I agree, this could be under better circumstances." Tikki finished, and took a bite out of her cookie. Plagg loosed her from his grip and switched his attention to his cheese. When the kwami's finished, the two heroes looked to each other.
"So..." Marinette said, looking somewhat nervous. "Spots on?" Adrien surmised that she was saying they should transform, as well as telling him the phrase for Tikki.
"Claws out," Adrien said, grinning. Marinette smiled back before gesturing Plagg over to her. They both shouted the phrase, changing themselves into the superheroes of Paris. Adrien had an odd idea, and voiced it to Marinette.
"Okay, so do you remember what happened before all this?" He asked gesturing at himself. Marinette nodded. Adrien told her the rest. "I propose we do that again, maybe that'll undo this."
Marinette made a noise of agreement, before summoning Cataclysm. Adrien summoned Lucky Charm, catching the black-spotted rose that was summoned with a blush, then holding the glowing yo-yo out in front of him. Marinette touched it with the destructive force surrounding the black clawed glove. Again there was a burst of red and black, followed by an intense rainbow light. The blinding light faded, and Adrien looked down towards his hands. Black gloves, and the ring with the bright green pawprint appeared before his eyes. He turned, grinning, towards Marinette, who was grasping the yo-yo happily. She then tossed the rose into the air, almost whispering the phrase that sent the Miracle Cure sparkling around the two of them. They both detransformed, and looked at each other, blushing.
"Well then, My Lady," Adrien said. "Perhaps we can go somewhere and talk about certain revelations?" Marinette nodded, blushing prettily, and Adrien took her hand and led her out of the alleyway, not noticing Alya with her phone camera focused on the alley entrance, jaw hanging open and eyes wide.
The end...?
(AN)
Okay, and now a challenge for you readers: Write a continuation to this fic, either from the perspective of Alya, or another character. If you take me up on this challenge, credit me and show me what you write - linking the fic in a comment/PM, or telling me the title if you post it!
(thanks to Nkemmer777 for catching the shenanigans ff put my fic through when I posted it originally, let me know if it's still all code-y)