Victory Marinette and Adrien!

Marinette pumped her fist in the air, and Adrien spun his chair around, hooting excitedly. He sat still for a moment catching his breath, and turned to Marinette.

"Wow! We won thanks to you!" The blond laughed. Marinette smiled shyly, looking at the ground.

"We played well." Adrien shook his head, reclining back into his chair.

"I practically didn't do anything. You're a champion, Marinette. You'd probably manage better alone. I'm not worth anything compared to you…" Marinette jumped, and looked at Adrian in shock. How could he of all people say something like that?!

"Oh nononono, I… No! You're super-hot!" Marinette cursed herself as soon as the words left her mouth. Why can't I just say what I mean?

Adrien made a small, pained noise and buried his head in his hands. "That's just it though. The only reason I'm worth anything to anyone is because I have a nice face." His voice hitched. "I'm so tired of it!"

"No, Adrien that's not true! You know that's not true!" Marinette didn't even know what to do; she had never thought that Adrien, who always seemed so confident, had this underneath.

"But it is! It's the only reason Chloe, the public, or even my father care about me." Adrien didn't even seem to be aware that he was crying, but the sight was heartbreaking. "I just want to be enough for him; just as I am. Is that too much to ask?"

Now Marinette could see what he meant, because even when he was crying, she couldn't help but notice that he was absolutely gorgeous. The red rimming around his eyes brought out the startling green better than any makeup or editing ever could. It had taken Marinette a while to admit to herself that, at first, the only reason she was crushing on Adrien was because he was a model, but soon she fell in love with how charming and funny and amazing he was.

"Adrien…" Marinette was interrupted by the trap-door slamming open once again with her mom popping her head in with a heaping plate of cookies stretched out in front of her.

"Hey kids! I just made some cookies, and…" The short woman suddenly seemed to notice Adrien, and she immediately rushed to his side, her mom-instincts kicking in.

"Sweetheart, what's the matter? Did you hurt yourself, or—"

"I'm fine." Adrien tilted his head up at them. His cheeks were streaked with tears, but he still managed that dazzling smile of his that looked almost rehearsed.

"If you were fine, you wouldn't be crying, Adrien. Now let's get you comfy and have some cookies and you can tell me what's wrong."

Marinette could see a whole range of emotions running over his face, from anger to sadness to jealousy to longing and then finally a small smile of gratitude. And then she realized why he felt this way and her heart broke for the second time in five minutes. Adrien's mom was gone and his dad barely even looked at him, and Marinette's mom was being so motherly it must bother him. He didn't have anyone to talk to about his feelings, or to make him cookies, or to notice when he was upset. Adrien was alone and it hurt Marinette to think about him like this but it was true.

At the same time Marinette was feeling sorry for him, she was also falling in love with him even more, because this situation was bringing out just how beautiful of a person he is. He could have settled on feeling angry for not having parents that love him, or jealousy that Marinette did, but he settled on gratitude. He pushed away all of the negative emotions and focused of the positive, even when, deep down, he was purely lonely.

That was why Tiki chose me to be Ladybug, a small voice in the back of her mind chimed, We have that in common. That one trait, the ability to focus on the positive even when things are really rough, made people like Marinette and Adrien almost resistant to akumas. People who can stay focused on the bright side of things can't be controlled by negative emotions. Adrien would make a good Chat Noir.

That was when it all clicked into place, and she remembered a conversation she and Chat had had on a rooftop one night, only a week prior. He was so angry with himself for being controlled by Dark Cupid, and the fact that he had attacked Ladybug. He told her that she would do better without him for a partner, and that she was worth so much more than him. And looking at the way Adrien's blond hair was blowing in the slight breeze coming in from the open window and the shocking green of his eyes as Marinette's mom tucked a blanket around his shoulders, there was no mistaking it.

Adrien is Chat Noir.

Marinette pulled herself out of her thoughts and glanced over at Adrien. Now that she knew it was so obvious! But she couldn't think about that now. Sabine had forced him onto the couch and had pulled him tightly against her. He looked confused for a moment before relaxing into her embrace, nuzzling his face into her shoulder, tears still leaking from his eyes. Marinette hated that he looked confused at something as simple as a hug. With some gentle coaxing from Marinette's mom, Adrien explained in a small voice about how his father only paid attention to him when he made a mistake, and how it was nearly impossible to make him happy. He talked about the unbearable stress put on him every day and the sometimes dangerous diets he was forced into for fashion shows and photoshoots; how sometimes he had been so hungry and underweight he had been on the verge of collapsing and had to opt out of afterschool activities to just rest.

"Are you on one of these diets now?" Sabine asked gently.

"I…I started one yesterday. The big spring fashion show is soon and people can't photo-shop those, so the seasonal shows are usually the worst."

"Adrien you need to eat. Here, have a cookie."

He stared at it longingly for a moment before sighing and shaking his head hopelessly. "I can't. No sugar, carbs, or unnecessary fat."

"What do you even eat?" Marinette squeaked. "Everything has something unhealthy!"

"Salads and green drinks for calories once a day and vitamin tablets for nutrients." Adrien looked at his feet. "It's pretty much the minimum I can eat without dying."

Sabine shook her head angrily. "That is the exact opposite of healthy! You are a growing boy; you need food to get strong. Right now, you're starving yourself!" But Adrien wasn't swayed. He just shook his head adamantly.

"You don't understand. I don't need to be strong, I need to be skinny. It's my job." Adrien choked back a sob. "If I'm not skinny, I'm nothing. I'm useless to my father, and to the world." The blond boy's voice broke. "He won't love me."

"Adrien you're already too thin as it is. You don't need to lose any weight." Adrien looked the opposite of convinced, and Marinette knew she had to say something.

She came forward to kneel in front of him and, summoning all of Ladybug's courage, took his hand, saying, "Adrien, you're beautiful. And not just your face and body. You're the most kind and intelligent and thoughtful person I have ever known and you don't need to do anything to change yourself. If your father doesn't love you it's not because you're not good enough but because he's an idiot. And if no one else will love you then I-"

A car horn beeped outside the window. "That's my ride," he said shakily. "Thank you both for everything. And Marinette, I'm sorry we couldn't practice more. We might need to get together again before the competition." He stood and stopped at a full length mirror, straightening his clothes and hair and wiping his eyes and giving the mirror a wide grin until he looked like nothing ever happened. The three made their way downstairs to the front door, where Sabine stopped him and pulled him into a hug.

"You're welcome here any time, Adrien."

"Thank you."

Marinette and her mother watched the boy climb into the limo, and both made vows to themselves; one to care for Adrien, and one to care for Chat Noir.