Three years since she found a little black box that changed her destiny forever. Three years since she met the partner that would become part of that destiny. Three years since she met the man that had captured her heart. Eighteen months since she gave up her one-sided obsession with one of them and confessed her feelings for the other. A year since they promised to reveal their identities to each other once their mission was finished. Three days since they discovered Hawkmoth's lair. Four hours since they first confronted him. Ten minutes since police led Gabriel Agreste away in cuffs.

Flames from an abandoned observatory futilely reached for the stars. Arcs of white water cut through the black sky, and when the firefighters eventually quelled the blaze, they would discover a winding passageway leading back to the Agreste mansion, however the most damning evidence was likely already uploaded to the Ladyblog. The last hour of the battle took place in the streets, and when Ladybug herself tore the Butterfly Miraculous from Hawkmoth's collar, every smartphone on the street captured footage of Gabriel Agreste emerging from behind the silver mask. Most expected him to run, some expected him to fight, but the moment the lavender light around him faded, he dropped to his knees, and there in the streets he remained until Roger Raincomprix himself took the former fashion mogul into custody.

Ladybug sat on a rooftop far from the inferno, though she could still feel the heat on her cheeks, smell the acrid smoke that she would have to wash out of her hair tonight. Her fingertips found the rip in her suit, just over her heart, where Hawkmoth's cane had almost impaled her, and though her powers had almost healed the wound, she still brought her hand away with blood on her fingers. That was the reason the observatory was in flames. Well, more so Chat's reaction to the wound. His rage-fueled Cataclysm had literally detonated in the confined space. He sat beside her, his expression neutral, unreadable. Ladybug thought she knew him after three years of partnership and nearly two years of a relationship, but she had no idea what currently ran through his mind.

"Shouldn't..." he started. "Shouldn't you fix this? It would only take a moment." Even the tone of his voice was alarmingly even. No swagger, no sarcasm.

She shook her head and her remaining pigtail bobbed as she did, the ribbon holding the other pulled out during the battle. "The firefighters told me not to worry about it. The chief's exact words were, 'You've done more than enough for this city. Let us handle it.' Goodness knows I want to, but..."

"You're exhausted."

"We both are." He nodded. She sighed and whispered, "I can't imagine what's going through Adrien's mind right now." In her fatigued state, she failed to remember that Chat could hear almost anything with his enhanced feline senses, just as she failed to notice Chat flinch at her musing. She did notice when he wrenched himself away after she attempted to rest her head on his shoulder. "What's wrong?"

"I...think I pulled a muscle during the fight," he lied, though Ladybug would never know it. "We should both get home. If we've ever earned a night's rest, it's now." He stood, his back to his Lady, unable to meet her eye.

She reluctantly nodded and stood. As much as she needed his presence right now, they both needed rest more. "Sleep well, chaton. I love you."

He was almost to the edge of the roof, his hand on his baton, when her words jerked him to a halt. The words that normally warmed his heart now drove a stake through it. 'Would you still love me if you knew?' He forced a smile to his face and turned. "Ah, to sleep. Purr-chance to dream." He hoped the pun would distract her from the unevenness of his voice, the fraudulence of his smile...the crushing irony that he had quoted Hamlet's suicide soliloquy. It worked, as she returned the smile. "I love you as well, my Lady." The clink of steel against brick and the hum of yoyo wire signaled their parting.

(#)

Three years since he found a little black box that offered him the freedom he so craved. Three years since he met the love of his life. Eighteen months since his patience paid off and his Lady finally returned his affections. A year since she promised to take off her mask once they had retrieved the Butterfly Miraculous. Four days since they discovered Hawkmoth's lair. Almost a day since they first confronted him. Fourteen sleepless hours since police cuffed his father. Thirty seconds since he realized just what Paris thought of Adrien Agreste.

The power of Adrien's ring enhanced his senses, with or without the mask, and though Chat Noir's hearing was far sharper than Adrien's ever would be, the model – former model, though he couldn't find joy in the fact – could still hear the waitresses behind him arguing.

"I'm not taking him. You take him."

"No way, you take him."

"What's the big deal? Who is that?"

"You don't know? That's Adrien Agreste. Hawkmoth's son."

Adrien stood and slammed his hands on the table a little harder than he intended. Every soul in the cafe recoiled as though they expected purple butterflies to flood from beneath his leather coat. He tossed a few euros on the table and walked outside. Rainfall pattered at his brow for but a few seconds until he flicked his umbrella open and trudged to the west. He kept the canopy low to cover his face, but years of modeling had made him as recognizable as Président Hollande or Ronald McDonald. There was no mistaking Adrien Agreste. Son of a supervillain.

People crossed the street to avoid him. Parents pulled their children closer. His grip tightened on the umbrella to the point he worried he may shatter the handle. He found himself on the Pont des Arts, his footfalls heavy on the wooden planks of the bridge. He held out a hand and allowed his fingers to strum along the multitude of locks attached to the grate, his eyes never leaving the path ahead of him. He could hear people giving him a wide berth. He could feel the thump of their steps echo through his feet and through the hand he now braced on the railing. They feared him, just as they had feared Hawkmoth. His father.

'I'm not like him.'

Was his bad luck finally catching up with him? Was Ladybug among the eyes that looked on him with fear? Was she behind him right now?

'I'm not like him.'

Though he didn't know it at the time, his father had brought them together. Would he also be the one to tear them apart? So many unanswered question buzzed in his mind. He heard footsteps approach, followed by a gasp, then footsteps in the opposite direction at a much quicker pace. Tears stung his eyes. The persistent whine in his ears from the explosion he caused overloaded his senses.

"I'm not like him!"

All movement on the bridge ceased. It took him a few seconds to realize he'd actually shouted those words. By that time, not a soul remained on the bridge, save for one at the far end that had not heard his outburst. He let loose a ragged sigh. It didn't matter what he said, what he believed. Paris had made up her mind. He was a monster, just like his father. Avatar of chaos, destruction, and bad luck.

A sudden gust kicked up his hair, threatened to rip the umbrella from his hands, and from his right, he heard a familiar voice. "Shit shit shit shit shit shit!" Each swear punctuated by a footfall. A rogue umbrella passed before him and settled into the Seine below. A shock of midnight blue hair entered his field of vision, and Marinette leaned over the railing next to him, still swearing after the lost umbrella.

"Nononononono! Dammit!" she huffed. She stomped her foot and adjusted the strap of the bag slung over her shoulder. Without even looking up at him, she brushed a lock of hair behind her ear and said, "Sorry about that. That umbrella is really special to me and..."

"It's okay, Marinette," Adrien offered.

She finally looked up, and Adrien couldn't tell if it was the cold wind or a blush that reddened her face. "A-Adrien? Oh, h-hi. I seedn't did you, youdn't, uh didn't, did-didn't see you there. How a-are you?" She straightened up and waved her hand at him. "I-I mean, of course you aren't doing well all things considered, but you don't need me to remind you about all that. No one is more aware of what happened than you and I–" she drew out the letter "–am going to shut up now." She pursed her lips, her eyes filled with worry. Adrien smiled another one of his signature model smiles that never reached his eyes.

"Again, it's okay, Marinette. I'm just glad someone's talking to me without..." 'Without comparing me to my father' he wanted to say. The police this morning, the waitresses, even Nathalie kept their interactions more brief than usual. The smile faded. He turned away from her and cast his eyes back out to the river.

"Adrien, you're nothing like your father. " She read his mind. He felt a warm hand on his arm, the first kind gesture anyone had offered him all day. "People are just scared and looking for someone to blame."

"Then they can blame him."

"But they can't get to him in prison. They want a convenient solution. And unfortunately, they're going after you, and that isn't fair!" Her angered tone surprised him, especially when she jerked her hand away and turned her own eyes to the river. "If anyone out there knew you half as well as Nino, Alya," the blushed returned, "o-or me, they'd know that you're not a villain! You're kind and gentle and honest a-and loyal..."

"But will my La...girlfriend think the same way?"

She paused, then in a voice Adrien could barely hear over the wind, even with his enhanced senses, "I-is that what you're really worried about?"

A moment passed before he remembered just how touchy of a subject this was for her. She used to have a crush on him, 'used to' being the operative term. It took him almost a year to realize it and Nino never let him live down just how oblivious he could be, but she was over him now. She had a boyfriend, he had a girlfriend, and they had both moved on. However, every once in a while, she would slip and say or do something that implied she may still carry a torch for him.

"Sh-she doesn't know Hawk...about my father. She doesn't know I'm an Agreste." She quirked an eyebrow and he lied, "I've kept quiet about the whole modeling thing. I wanted her to fall in love with me, not the image my father wanted the world to see." He leaned forward across the railing. "I'm...afraid. Hawkmoth has hurt her before. She has every reason to hate him, and I'm scared that because of him..."

"Stop." That single word paused every thought in Adrien's mind. She said it with such force, such ferocity, but also with such care. Her head was tilted down, her bangs fallen around her eyes. "If she's that petty, if she can't love the wonderful man you are, then she doesn't deserve you." She turned back to him. "Look at me, Adrien." He looked down at her, and for a split second, he swore he was looking into his Lady's eyes. Those pools of blue flooded with passion, determination, and love. "You are not your father, and you deserve someone who can see that. You're a good person, and don't you dare–" she jabbed a finger into his chest "–let anyone tell you otherwise."

Adrien hadn't worn a genuine smile on his face since before he and Ladybug confronted Haw...his father, but somehow, this feisty, clumsy girl had brought one out of him. "Is that a direct order, Mari?"

She matched his smile and planted her fists on her hips. "You're damn right, Agreste."

The two glared at each other, both daring the other to break. Adrien broke first, a chuckle in his chest evolving into hearty laughter. Marinette's giggles joined him soon after and the pair stood on the bridge, in the middle of the rain, laughing like idiots. Adrien needed this. He needed a laugh.

No, he needed a friend. Maybe his luck wasn't so bad if fate had delivered him one.

"What did I do to deserve a friend like you, Mari?"

"Just being you," she sighed, her gaze locked on his. Her smile fell flat and she averted her gaze, the blush back with a vengeance. She had slipped again.

Okay, time to change the subject and avoid any unwanted awkwardness. "So, uh, enough about me and my problems, Mari. How have you been?"

Her tension melted away. "Other than losing my lucky umbrella," she grumbled through gritted teeth, "just fine."

"What was so special about that umbrella?"

She fidgeted with the strap on her shoulder. "You should know. Y-you gave it to me when you apologized f-for the 'chewing gum' incident."

Adrien's eyebrows reached for his hairline. "You kept it? After all these years?"

She nodded. "When you gave it to me, that was when I..." 'When I fell in love with you,' he could hear her say. "But you know, it's probably for the best. N-not that I've had trouble moving on or anything, i-it just didn't feel right to throw it out. I mean, it's a perfectly good umbrella, and it was a gift and I didn't want to get rid of a gift, and oh god I'm rambling again."

Adrien smiled again. "Well, it won't do for you to walk around in this rain without an umbrella. And so, as an apology for the 'griping about my problems' thing..."

(#)

Three years since she fell in love with Adrien Agreste. Two years since she realized he would never love her the way she loved him. Two years since she tore every picture of Adrien from her walls, threw out his schedule, and crumpled up the Valentine poem. Five minutes since she had lost the one part of Adrien she couldn't bear to part with. And ten seconds...

Ten seconds since she realized she had never gotten over him.

She was fifteen again. A soft rain fell across the city.

No.

The new kid apologized for a misunderstanding, and though he knew she had every right to hate him, he still offered his umbrella to her.

No!

The rain pattered across the canopy of Adrien's umbrella. His green eyes glimmered in the daylight dimmed by storm clouds. His gentle smiled warmed his face.

Marinette, no!

And now, three years later, the exact same scene played out around her. Yes, his eyes were reddened by unbidden tears, and he stood almost a head taller than her, but Marinette saw the same kindness and sincerity on his eyes she had seen back then. She closed her eyes and tried to shake the feelings out of her head. She had a boyfriend! He had a girlfriend! It wasn't right!

"Marinette, what's wrong?"

'What wrong? What's wrong!? What's wrong is that I didn't do this sooner!'

She didn't know how it happened. Well, she did, but she didn't know how she allowed it to happen. She pushed herself up on her toes, wrapped her arms around his neck, and gently placed her lips against his. An energy sparked between them, somehow simultaneously new and familiar. A voice in her mind screamed that she was betraying Chat by doing this, but the sensation of Adrien's lips on hers silenced it. It was only a kiss. It didn't mean anything. Except right now, it meant everything. She had wanted to do this for three years. She admitted that now.

She had never stopped loving Adrien.

She felt his arm snake around her waist, pull her closer, beckon her to deepen the kiss. Ironic that the gesture only served to end it. She pulled away and looked to his eyes, expecting anger but only finding disappointment, though not in her. Disappointment that the kiss had to end.

She shook her head again. "We shouldn't have done that." She brought the heel of her palm to her eye and shoved the tears away. "I shouldn't have done that," she amended. "Y-you have a girlfriend and I..." She looked back up at him.

Marinette's feet pounded away at the stairs leading up to her room before she came back to her senses. She ignored the worried cries her parents called up behind her and shut the trapdoor, throwing herself onto her chaise. Tikki fluttered about her head, offering calm, assuring words, but it wasn't enough. She needed someone else to talk to. Her thumb found Alya's number in her phone, and thankfully the device rung only twice before the blogger picked up.

"Hey girl! What's..." she paused when she heard light sobbing over the line. "Marinette, what's wrong?"

"Alya, I fucked up."

"Girl, what did you do? Talk to me!"

Marinette paused. If she said it out loud, it became real. If she spoke those words, she could no longer deny her feelings. "I...I..."

"I'm still in love with Adrien." She wept.