Adrien dashed into his room, slamming the door as he went.
"Plagg, Claws out!" The black Kwami didn't protest and supported his chosen decision. Adrien threw open his window, and jumped out as Chat Noir. He jumped onto an adjacent roof and looked back at the house. House, not a home, he didn't feel like it was anything more than a place he slept. His father was more of an employer, not matter how many attempts he made to rekindle their relationship, Adrien felt like he was alone.
He wandered through the city, it didn't matter that as time passed the streets cleared of life. It wasn't as if his father would even notice his absence. As far as Gabriel Agreste was concerned Adrien should be locked away like some princess in a tower.
Plagg offered his own brand of silent comfort from inside the ring. Chat Noir tried not to look like a stray kitten but it was hard when all he wanted to do was cry or punch something.
Not even an hour ago his own father had dismissed him without a second thought, how was someone else to notice him if his own father couldn't. At least as Chat he wasn't holed up in his room; he was getting to taste a small amount for freedom that would soon be taken away.
"Chat?" He wasn't expecting anyone else to be out this late, especially not his lady.
"Hello M'lady." Chat didn't bow or attempt to kiss her hand as he normally would, even his signature grin was missing.
"Are you okay?" It was a simple question, physically yes, he was fine, he was in perfect health. But psychologically, he didn't know. It's not like he hadn't felt the sting of his father's dismissals before, but this time it was different. As Chat, he'd felt the taste of freedom, and as Adrien he'd come to understand the caring nature of others.
"I'm not sure…" Chat knew that Ladybug hated liars and it wasn't as if she couldn't clearly see his distress. "I- I can't tell you about it without given away pretty telling details about my civilian life." He was never fond of the idea of keeping their civilian identities a secret but he always respected her decision.
Ladybug walked over and grabbed his hand, "Come on, I'll race you to the Eiffel Tower." Without waiting for a response, she took off bounding over building with a practiced ease. Chat was confused but followed her, halfway through the journey he could feel a laugh bubbling in his chest. They never really got time to do things like this; there was always an akuma or responsibilities as a civilian keeping them from bonding like this. Chat felt the thrill of the chase flow through his veins, and his let it take over completely. He chased the streak of red that constantly danced out of his reach; for a moment, his breath was taken away as Ladybug glanced back with the biggest smile on her face.
Chat almost managed to grab her, but she swung just out of his reach as she started up the side of the Eiffel Tower. He slowed down for a moment, but followed his lady dutifully. It occurred to him that somehow things were always just a little out of his grasp, which instantly reined in the joy he was previously feeling.
Ladybug was perched on a ledge with her legs hanging down, and patted the spot next to her.
"Chat, I think we should tell each other our identities." Chat stumbled as he sat down not expecting that to come from her. "It's been nearly a year and we're no closer to finding HawkMoth. I don't want to constantly be worrying about who would tell our friends and families if something did happen to us. I- I've been thinking about it a lot lately; and tonight, seeing you and not being able to help you as Ladybug or the girl underneath, it kills me." She trailed off and let her words hang in the air between them.
Adrien's ears drooped as he thought about that, who would tell their friends, and family? But he didn't have a family that cared about him, his father would probably be devastated to lose such a high dollar model but wouldn't even bat an eyelash at the loss of his son. As for his friends well they'd understand, why he'd lied but would they really mourn his loss?
"My lady… I don't know what kind of life you have but my friends and family wouldn't notice if I was gone. I don't think they even care ab-"
Ladybug sharply cut him off an edge of anger in her voice, "I would notice Chat, and if you think for a moment I'm going to allow you to believe that no one cares about you, you're wrong. Even if the only person who cares about you is me, I'd miss you, I'd be inconsolable if I lost you."
Adrien was floored. Ladybug never really mentioned her feelings unless it was her annoyance, but there was so much passion in her voice. Her words rang with a resolute message and he was unable to deny his own joy at hearing how important he was to someone. Chat felt tears begin to drip down his face as he turned to pull Ladybug into the tightest hug possible. He refused to let go of this person, whoever she was in and out of the mask, she'd saved him. She was the reason he would go back home tonight and to school tomorrow, the reason why he'd still try to fix his relationship with his father. She cared about him, and she made him want to find more people who cared about him.
Marinette was shocked when Chat grabbed her and she felt the tears before she heard his broken sobs. Shifting, he tightened his grasp on her but relaxed when she wrapped he own arms around him. She murmured quiet words of comfort and rubbed circles in his back. She would never leave Chat, or the person beneath the mask, he was too important to her.
Adrien calmed down after a few minutes and pulled back from their embrace, "Are you sure this is what you want?" He was ready to learn who was beneath the mask but he wanted her to be sure, to have no regrets.
Marinette lifted her hand and shifted Chat's face to where they were looking straight into each other's eyes, "I am. We'll be fine Chat, whatever happens we'll get through it. I'm scared that you're going to think less of me but… I'm ready for us to know."
Chat reached up, clasped Ladybug's lightly trembling hand in his own and kissed her palm. "On the count of three then." It was a silent gesture to convey his love for her; knowing who she was beneath the mask wasn't going to change that. He'd already promised that'd he'd love her no matter what.
Marinette took a deep breath and closed her eyes, "One." She heard Chat's voice echo her own, "Two." They squeezed their entwined hands, "Three."
Both saw the flashed of light behind their eyelids but didn't open their eyes. They could transform back still and their identities would be safe. They each thought about their own curiosity and their need to know before opening their eyes.
Blue met Green as they both gasped in shock and pulled away from each other.
Adrien recovered first, "Marinette?!" He hadn't considered the shy girl as a prospective Ladybug but it made sense; they each mirrored each other ever if they displayed the same traits in different ways.
Marinette took longer to process everything; she was filled with happiness, sorrow, and guilt. She'd always pushed away Chat's flirting because she was too busy pining over his civilian self? That was the most ironic situation she could think of, and Chat if only he'd turned around could have found her so easily. Marinette couldn't help but giggle until her sides were hurting.
"You mean… this- this entire time… we've been sitting… less than a foot from each other?" She forced out the entire sentence between all her giggling. It was hilarious that fate had them pining over someone who was fully within reach, they just were too dense to realize it.
Adrien was confused when she began laughing, but quickly joined her. They were quite the pair!
Eventually they calmed down that they only let the occasional chuckle escape when Marinette finally acknowledge the boy sitting next to her, "For what it's worth I'm really glad it's you Adrien; even if I couldn't see it before, it makes total sense now."
Adrien smiled, "I'm glad it's you as well Marinette."
"Finally, you guys told each other!" Plagg yelled loudly, as Tikki glared at him.
"Give them their space Plagg!" Tikki smiled at Adrien and greeted him, then dragged Plagg away, after giving Marinette a kiss on the cheek.
Adrien was beginning to forget all about what had forced him to need him to escape the house but it still lingered in the back of his mind even as they bonded. Now that they knew both side of each other the conversation was smooth between them. Marinette still stuttered over the occasional sentence but now so did Adrien as they realized all this time they had liked each other.
Finally, Marinette directed the conversation back to the reason Adrien was so upset earlier, "If you don't want to tell me that's okay but what happened earlier?"
Adrien smiled sadly at her, "You've met my father. He's not exactly the Father of the year. Tonight, we got into an argument about my 'rebellion' apparently, I'm not acting up to the Agreste standard. When I tried to argue he just dismissed me." By the end of the explanation Adrien could feel the anger start to swell again.
Marinette reached over and grabbed Adrien's hand again to comfort him. "Adrien, what are you doing tomorrow?"
Adrien was a bit confused as he wasn't expecting that kind of response. He expected her to say that he wouldn't ever disappoint the Agreste name or something insulting about his father. "Um, I have a photoshoot in the morning but then I'm free."
Marinette knew that Adrien cared about his father so she held her tongue when it came to insulting the designer, but she wanted to show Adrien that people did care about him, her family, their friends, and ever here would all care if he was gone.
"Would you like to come over tomorrow then? We can play games or something, maybe Alya and Nino could meet up with us tomorrow."
They made plans for Adrien to come over around noon, when Marinette began yawning. Hours had passed since they first had met up and it was getting late into the evening.
Adrien stood up and held his hand out for Marinette to take as he pulled her up. "We should get home, we both need out sleep for tomorrow."
Marinette was reluctant to let him go, "Are you sure?" She was worried that once she was gone he'd feel alone again.
Adrien smiled and reassured her, "I'll be fine. If I don't get enough sleep my puns won't be as claw-ver or paw-some as normal."
Marinette scoffed and rolled her eyes. "There's my kitty." With a soft smile, she leaned over and kissed his cheek, "Tikki, Spots on!"
She smiled at him and waved quickly before disappearing into the night. Adrien touched his cheek and started beaming.
"Come on Plagg, let head back, tomorrows going to be a great day."
Plagg groaned, "I better get some camembert after this! I'm starving!"
Author's Note:
So, I'm sure you're all tired of my RWBY references but... here's another one. This is inspired by Wings and Mirror Mirror Part 2 from the RWBY soundtrack. They are both melancholy songs that really hit me in the feels. I'll leave a link to the songs; the entire songs inspired the fic so I won't include any lines this time.
As always, I highly encourage you to listen to the songs or read the lyrics over.
Link for Wings: watch?v=NttqH_mBAa0
Ling for Mirror Mirror Part 2: watch?v=HS4pnBBpr5g
On another note, I wanted to thank everyone that has been with me on this recent binge of Miraculous Ladybug fanfictions. It's been really wonderful to get back into writing as it's been really hard for me to get into a mindset that's good for writing. I'll keep working on fics for this fandom and hopefully some other fandoms as well but I just really wanted to sincerely thank all of you 3