Enjoy this late Christmas Gift! I wrote it all on Christmas Day and finished editing today. I hope you like it. This is a one shot, but I like this strange Robin Hood esque AU I have created and I'm tempted to write a prequel fic. Let me know if that's something you would enjoy. I'm going to try to reach out to everyone who has read either of my miraculous books as a gift for their patience with me in continuing those works, even with the long hiatus.
*to be clear, Marinette's civilian persona has helped Chat Noir before and is also in the rebel forces, however briefly anyone sees her compared to Lady Luck.
"Please."
His eyes drew me in, despite my fears and my doubts and my inhibitions.
"We've danced this game for far too long," his hands moved to rest upon my hip as he took the step between us. "You captured my heart eight years ago my lady, eight long years have you denied me the sweet sound of your name, of the pleasure of it's passing my lips."
"I am not a lady." I whispered, meeting his earnest gaze. It was all I could raise against his passionate words.
"So you've spoken, but I believe it not."
"Are you in love with a liar then?" I challenged him, but I also challenged myself. Did this man truly not love me? Hadn't he shown his devotion time and time again, hadn't he proved the virtue of his love hundreds of times over? No, he did love me, and dearly so.
But... Hadn't I denied his sincerity, when no man had ever loved a woman more try than he? It was plain in the way he regaled me, how he let me order him on even a battlefield, served me and protected me, with no crown upon my head to give him... So wasn't I undeserving, and wasn't I actually a denier of that truth? The truth that he loved me?
"No lie has passed thy lips," he admitted. "Only, I do believe that you posses every quality of a lady, every beauty and grace that I could dream of requiring, all with humility and chasteness to match it, far beyond my capacity to imitate."
I blushed darkly, though it was hard to see even in the very last ebbs of night. We stood in a lonely forest, only the speckled and faintest early morning light filtered through trees for our company. I was grateful for the cover hiding my shame. To think I had resisted him for so long, when he had always been valiant... And to continue to deny him when truly, had not my fears been vanquished? Had not the rightful king of France been found and given his title, had not the peace been restored to our homelands? Was King Adrien not the fair and noble ruler our people had prayed for? That we had fought for?
I had not met the man myself since directly after the battle for the palace, since our one interaction. I had been searching for my partner then, too worried to stop and greet the new king, all I had done was bow to the noble and run off in search of the man I loved.
But he had been crowned and my cat had been found. So what bound me to the shade of the trees and the deception of this mask? Not of any rational fear, surely.
"Please," he echoed. His hands brushed the hair from my face and tenderly cupped my cheeks. "Let me see your face, let me love it in its full." He pleaded, resting his forehead against mine.
Why did I hesitate when my heart urged me on? Why did I resist when my soul begged to join with his?
"Let this be our last night for secrets. When the day dawn breaks, let the light shine unhindered upon your face. Unmask it with the faith that I shall love you only more. Let me see you with my own eyes so I may know you." He whispered. "And... Take me as I am, once you know my truth, as I will you."
"What if I am not the wonder you think I am, what if I should not even stand here by your side?" I felt his tears drop onto my face, mixing with mine. "What if I am lowly and poor without these jewels?"
"It is I who does not deserve to stand here by yours."
I shook my head, I could not believe that. He had done all for me, certain as I had done all for him. Besides, everyone had long esteemed him to be some noble, a lord or knight, to know all he did about royal plots and secrets. He'd always been our in with nobility and our link to the upper class. But me, I was an orphan without dowery, home, or family. My accomplishments were all achieved in tandem with him and the other rebels.
"Do you promise you will hold me tightly, even if I am not the lover you dreamed?" I could only dream of his love- to have it- that would be miraculous.
"Oh, my lady, it is not the mask I love, but the woman beneath." He breathed.
More tears slipped down my face as I felt the warm words fill me. I wished to believe him- no- I did believe him. I had to, for this love to bloom and last.
"Let this be our last night for secrets," he whispered, almost against my lips. "Let the morning bring truth."
I felt my fingers rise, trembling, to the knot that held my mask tight. And as the dawn rose, so did my guise.
"Then let this moment be the last of doubt." I felt the sun's light on my brow, even if it was too early to feel it's warmth.
I fought the urge to flee in fear or cower in shame, raising my eyes to find his. I may be the orphan of a baker, but I was Marinette Dupain-Cheng, and I would hold my chin high.
For a moment he gazed down at me, his face hard to see in the shadow cast by his frame. But when his eyes shone down with joy uncontained as he regarded my unmasked face, I knew that no matter who I was to the people without the name Lady Luck, I would always be a treasure to him.
"Oh, Marinette," He murmured. "Maiden of these lands yet queen of my heart."
At last my face reddened and my heartbeat quickened. He smiled and laughed softly, raising my chin with his gentle fingers. "Queen Marinette," he murmured musingly with a twinkle in his eyes.
"I am far from a queen, mon chaton. For that I would need a king and you-" I tapped his nose-"are a rebel and a rascal."
"But you do have a king," he said innocently, "King Adrien of course!"
"He is our king but he is not mine." I scolded, and Chat's smile sobered a little.
"He could be," he took my hand in his. "If you would have him." With his other hand he tugged of his mask and there stood the monarch himself.
"Chat- I-You," My voice caught in my throat.
"You already rule my heart, you helped me win back my lands with nothing to gain, not even knowing it was me. You've led the people of France to wage war against tyranny and made me fall in love with you while you did it... Marinette, you've been by my side at my lowest and you've raised me up..." All at once the new king was kneeling at my feet, humbling himself before one low as I, and what could I do but stare?
"I want you to be with me at my highest," He paused. "Well, truly I could not reach my highest without having earned your affections." He smiled then, bashfully, as if he had some some reason for blushing in the matter.
"Adrien- K-King A-adrien I-I cannot deny you-"
"Do not say yes to your king, Marinette, you are not commanded to marry me!" He rose suddenly, suprising me, as he raised my hands between us and kissed them.
"To you I am only Chat Noir, your partner, your ally." He kissed my fingers again and again. "It is only me, the rogue and rebel who loves you... Loves you dearly..."
"Oh, Chat," my tears were falling freely. "I cannot say no to the man I love, no matter your station. To do that would be to deny my heart what it wants most."
His smile was dazzling as he threw his arms around my waist and swung us about in circles. We laughed freely as tears of joy slipped from my eyes and I clung tightly to his neck.
"Marinette Marrinette Marinette!" He cheerily sang out my name. I laughed with him, peppering his face with chaste kisses till he set me down. As he released me and distanced himself slightly I felt worry prick my happiness.
"Oh, Adrien," a thought occurred and gave me cause to panic. "What will the people think? The whole world?"
"The people adore their Lady Luck almost as much as I love do. They will cheer to see their king and heroine wed."
"Wed, to a King." I let my eyes echo my awe. So what if my identity was revealed now? It didn't matter, the war was over.
"Wed to mon amour." He smiled, putting his hands around my waist to twirl me about again, laughing breathlessly along with me.
"Wed to mon chaton." I amended, tapping his nose. His answering grin was brilliant.
"I love you, Marinette." He said, an air of nervousness overtaking his features. "I do, truly."
"And I love you," I murmured, resting my head against his chest as he wrapped me in his arms.
When I looked up, his eyes bore into mine with a smoldering force behind them. I reached up to caress his cheek, my heart calm and peaceful.
And when he kissed me, I knew that no matter what challenges we would face, that we would always face them together.