"Ladybug, tell me... do you ever think about the future?"
She smells of flowers Chat Noir couldn't name. For a moment, her eyes glances over to meet his, and his heart is caught in his throat.
Casting her gaze back out into the light speckled night, her voice starts softly, "Often. Ever since I was a little girl, I feel like I've known what my passion was... and I want to follow it."
"What about you, Chat Noir?"
Caught off guard, Chat Noir gives a dry laugh. "I'm afraid not, my lady. I much rather live in the moment. Unless, of course, it's about when I will be seeing you next."
"Don't you have a passion that you want to pursue in the future?"
Passion?
Chat Noir feels his bitterness stirring in the depth of his heart. He was aware that he was the image of the golden child; a teenage fashion icon, and well accomplished in piano and fencing.
His courage had been tamed by the rein fastened to him in the name of safety long ago. Under Natalie's ever so watchful eye and his strict daily schedule that he had no control over, the interests he had once harboured in music, in sport have long hallowed.
Will she understand?
Without his costume, he was just Adrian Agreste, a clockwork machine whirling away for his father's every command. When he closes his eyes and thinks of his future, he sees only a vast land of grey.
He knows Ladybug is different to him. She is a girl so full of life, so capable, brave, and smart. No matter how impossible a task gets, she will face it head on with confidence, often leaving him in her dust, caught in awe at her brilliance.
She had come crashing into his life, armed with just a polka dot printed yoyo. But her presence had set his world alight with colour. For her, he willingly steps into the stage's shadows to give her the spotlight, because this girl is the dazzling light that inspires not only the Parisians, but also him.
"Well, I hope I will still be here defending Paris. With you." He had wanted to keep his tone casual, but he could sense his emotion seeping into his words. He looks to Ladybug, suddenly not so confident.
He needs her, and beneath his nonchalant facade, he is haunted by his fear that maybe she didn't feel the same.
"Me too." Her smile catches his flailing heart like a net. He returns a clumsy but genuine smile, void of his usual coy exuberance.
Perhaps she will never know how much her reassurance had saved him. He will certainly never tell her this is the only future he ever want to imagine for himself - thousands of meters up in the Parisian night with her by his side, with their feet dangling over an ocean of lights. The world is theirs, and the people of Paris sleep, knowing that Ladybug and Chat Noir had kept them safe for another day.