Day after day of akuma attacks left the heroic duo exhausted. The frequency in akumas was increasing heavily as Hawkmoth became more and more desperate. Marinette was just grateful that the evil doer seemed to have taken a day off to avoid the rain, the last thing any super villain, or hero, needed was a fight in a severe thunderstorm. Her eyes remained closed as she laid on her back on her bed, her television's soft light illuminating her otherwise dark room. Her volume was muted but she could hear the static sound the device gave off, it was her only escape from the scream of silence that plagued her.
'Oh Chat, I'm so sorry…' she thought as a small frown spread on her mouth. 'I promise I'll make it up to you, somehow…' She felt like crying, but she knew it wasn't truly her fault. Images of Chat Noir's angry expression came into her mind. The last time she saw him after their last akuma fight he left looking angrier than she'd ever seen him before.
"Marinette," Tikki said gently as she floated down onto the girl's chest. "It's okay, Chat Noir is the type of person to understand why you did what you did." Tikki said with a cheerful voice.
A dry "Mhm," was all that escaped through Marinette's closed mouth.
"I mean, who would honestly expect Ladybug to intentionally hurt Chat Noir?" the kwami pondered.
"But that's exactly what I did, Tikki!" Marinette whined. "I pushed him in front of the akuma to avoid killing the victim!" she cried out as the first tear slipped out. "We detransformed so fast I didn't' even have time to explain why my plan needed him to be in front!"
"Marinette…it's okay, he trusts you, he'll understa-"
"Marinette?" came a concerned voice followed by a soft knocking on her floor. Tikki hid instinctively as the hatch opened to reveal Marinette's mother. "Sweetie, are you on the phone?"
"Oh sorry, mom, Alya just called, she uh…" Marinette tried to think of a lie. "She…needs me to come help babysit and I was sad I was going to miss uhmm…-"
"It's ok, just go honey. If your friend needs you at two in the morning, I understand." The older woman said with a knowing smile. Unbeknownst to Marinette, her own mother had figured out about her secret identity a couple years ago and chose to remain quiet.
"Are you sure? It's so late, and I'm only eighteen!" Marinette said worriedly. In recent years her mother had gone very slack with her curfew and stopped asked why she was home late or where she'd been.
"You're a teenager dear, go live a little." Her mother said as she closed the hatch and left Marinette alone with Tikki who popped out from behind the pillow.
"You have such a nice mother!" Tikki said with a chirp. "And father!" she added as she drifted up to Marinette's face.
"I'm gonna go see him, see if he's still up." Marinette sighed out as she stood up and took a deep breath. "Tikki, transform me."
Sabine smiled from the living room window as she watched her daughter leap from her balcony into the stormy night. Ladybug took her time making her way to the city's center. No sign of her partner in crime fighting. She scoured the rooftops for even a sign of her precious friend, but resigned herself to the night by hiding out under the upper scaffolding of the Eiffel Tower, the perfect view of all of Paris.
Across the beautifully dreary city sat a mansion so grand that it effortlessly concealed the torment within its walls. Adrien sat on his lounge couch stiffly, gaming controller in hand as he harshly clicked and clacked the buttons. An almost murderous glare in his eyes as her focused on his intense shooting game. Plagg watched on lazily from the armrest.
"Kid, can we go to bed yet. I can't sleep until you do. It's been like two days…." The kitten whined with a yawn.
"I wish I could sleep, but this mob needs to die." Adrien said with more venom in his tone than he wanted. Plagg's ears twitched as his eyes wandered from the screen to Adrien's intense expression.
"I never imagined you as the violent type." Plagg nearly laughed.
"I fight crime for a living, why wouldn't you expect it?" Adrien said as his foe died and he tossed the controller onto the coffee table loudly.
"Okay, I'm putting my paw down right now," Plagg said as he hovered over to Adrien and pushed his face a mere inch from Adrien's face. "Tell her the truth that you are mad."
"Mad about being pushed into danger, or mad because she forgot our five year anniversary as partners? We made a promise to go on a date if we were both still single by then." Adrien huffed, then it clicked. "Do you think she remembered and didn't care?" his tone transforming from rage to sorrow.
"I mean, you didn't bring up the first through fourth anniversaries, I don't see why she'd even keep track. She probably just forgot you made that promise." Plagg stroked his chin. "You know how Ladybug is about you flirting with her."
"You'd think after five years she'd be warmed up to me by now, but I guess it's not meant to be." Adrien sighed out as he laid his head back against the couch and closed his eyes. The sound of the rain pounding against his floor to ceiling windows lulling him into a much needed sleep. After a couple deep breaths Adrien was asleep and Plagg curled up beside him.
Hawkmoth watched pensively as his son slept on his couch. He'd known his son was Chat Noir for a while and the idea of akumatizing him crossed his mind daily, several times he'd attempted it. Adrien was so used to disappointment though that none of the akumas ever flocked to him.
'My son, in the same of the greater good, I must.' Gabriel though as he unleashed the butterfly into his own house. It bounced and floated gently down the hallways and under Adrien's door where it hovered over the sleeping boy. It was harder to akumatize a sleeping person than Gabriel had previously though. 'Another night, another failure.' He thought as he detransformed and allowed the akuma to persist.
Ladybug had done a couple hours of thinking atop the tower hoping that the rain would let up, but it only worsened. She feared a lightning strike would hit the metal tower and decided it was best to just go home. She leapt effortlessly to the ground where she landed in ankle deep water. She slowly trudged her way down the sidewalks of the city of romance until she came to an empty intersection. She didn't want to go home, she wanted to think in the rain more, it just felt right.
She could go straight and walk down main street, go left and go home, or go right and….
"Adrien…" she mumbled thoughtlessly and allowed her feet to move on their own. I took her almost an hour to reach her mon amour's house by foot, let alone the mosey pace she'd been walking. Once outside of his house she stopped at the front gate and looked at its majesty. Such a grandiose manor for such a grand man. She walked around the side walk and over to the side of the house that showed off Adrien's bedroom's massive windows.
"Is he awake?" she asked herself as she witnessed the small hint of light from his television.
She leapt over the fence with great ease and snuck up to his window and peeked through the bushes. There on the throne sat the prince of grace and beauty. She smiled gently, reminding herself that everything will work itself out and as long as Adrien is safe she should keep fighting her hardest. She lingered there for a moment, not wanting to stop staring at him. She began to feel awkward, like she was invading his privacy. Her face turned red and she quickly turned to leave, but as she turned something caught her eye.
"No way…" she said breathy as she peered back through the window again to see Plagg curled up against Adrien's leg. "He's a fan of Chat Noir! He's got his own tiny cat plushie!" she smirked.
As she giggled to herself she noticed something purple floating above Adrien's head. Her heart hollowed out as adrenaline rushed through her; an akuma. She pounded on the glass and screamed as loud as she could. Plagg was the first to stir and looked over to see a very distraught Ladybug.
"Am I dreaming this?" Plagg moaned out in disbelief. He floated up and over to the window
"Adrien! Wake up!" she shrieked as she pounded harder. She halted her screams and pounding as she saw Plagg in front of her. She blinked several times, wondering what he was.
"A kwami?" she asked dumbly.
"Uhh…hi ….Ladybug…." Plagg said slowly as he realized what he'd done by exposing himself.
Adrien's eyes opened and the first thing he saw was the akuma looming over his head. He jumped off the couch and put his back to the window as he faced the akuma on the couch. "Plagg!" Adrien called out and the kwami floated up to him. "Transform me!"
Right before her eyes the man she'd spent years fawning over transformed into the silly cat boy she'd been half-heartedly pushing away. It wasn't confusion that overtook her, it was pure regret. Regret that she didn't see it before. She watched in twisted emotion as Chat Noir tried to smite the butterfly of doom. He smashed it with his staff and watched as it retreated back to Hawkmoth's lair.
'Why the hell is an akuma after me?"' Chat thought with a scowl. Then reality set in. 'Didn't I hear a woman screaming a minute ago?' he turned back towards the window and peered out to see nothing but the wild winds and heavy rains.
"Plagg, untransform me." He said and Plagg popped out of the ring and immediately began speaking as fast as he could.
"LadybugwasjustoutsideyourwindowandIthinkshesawyoutransformandnowsheknowswhoyouare-"
"Woah!" Adrien's eyes widened as he cupped the small cat in his hands. "Slow down! What even just happened?"
"She …I mean….SHE…" Plagg panted for air as Adrien saw a new butterfly emerged again.
"Nevermind, no time! Transform me again!" Adrien said as Plagg was sucked back into the ring.
The akuma made a straight line for Chat and he was left with the only choice but to break out through his window and roll onto his swamp of a yard. He opened his pole communicator and called Ladybug.
"The Agreste mansion is under an akuma attack, the butterfly hasn't landed on its target yet!" he said quickly as he tried to scan the area for the akuma. The pounding rain and crackling of lightning flashing all around skewed his vision greatly.
"Chat!" Ladybug called out from the street. "Come here!"
"Man you got here fast!" he said astounded.
She froze, unable to think of the proper response. He gave her a concerned look.
"You got here pretty quick yourself!" she finally retorted.
"I live in the area!" he shrugged. "More importantly, the akuma is trying to land on someone in the Agreste mansion." He said as he turned swiftly.
"Probably Adrien." Ladybug said as she stepped in front of him and began swinging her yoyo. "Akumas like people from that school that Chloe Bourgeois attends." She explained.
"Heh…yeah…they sure do…" Chat said nervously, she wasn't technically wrong.
"This will be easy, it's not even inside of a host yet." She said as she swung her yoyo and snatched the akuma and purified it without a fuss.
Chat Noir stood behind her in awe at how easy she made the whole ordeal look. He then remembered their anniversary and his look of awe faded into discontent. He didn't have the nerve to say he was angry, but he was definitely hurt. She slowly turned towards him and held her yoyo firmly in her hand, unable to make eye contact with him just yet.
He opened his mouth to speak, but she beat him to it. "I'm sorry." She mumbled. His mouth lingered open as he realized what she was about to say. "I only pushed you in front of that akuma the other day because he was going to die if you weren't between him and the wall…. I understand if you're upset." She said in a low tone and her bluebell eyes still refused to look up at him. The thrashing of rain and thunder only added to her beauty, even at a strange moment like this he noticed it.
"Ladybug, I'm not mad." He started as he closed the distance between them and wrapped his arms around her. She leaned her head on his shoulder as her hands weakly went up to grab hold of his back. "I was never mad about that. I know you know what you're doing and that you'd never actually hurt me….physically." he added.
"Huh? What…do you…mean…?" she sounded out daftly. He squeezed tighter.
'She didn't remember….' He thought in bitter defeat. A disappointed grimace painted his face as he shook slightly. He wasn't sure if it was the rain and wind chilling him to the bone, or if it was his own damned heart.
"I'd never hurt you in any way possible, physically or otherwise!" she said sternly and returned the strength of the hug back to him.
"You forgot our promise." He sighed out. "Our fifth year anniversary as crime fighting partners promise."
At first she loosened her grip on him as she pondered for a moment. Then she let go and took a step back. She had no memory of such a thing and felt ashamed she'd forgotten a promise to Chat. A very important promise to a very important person. A very important person.
'I broke a promise….to Adrien…' she was mortified and her facial expression said it very clearly.
"I…that's…eh, uhm…I mean you know, things ….things are things…and I-" she rambled incoherently trying to find that scrap of memory in her mind of what the promise should have been.
Chat laughed loudly and grabbed her by the hand. "It's ok. I forgive you." He said with his usual smile returning to him. "Let's just get out of the rain."
"Where are we going?" she asked as she allowed him to drag her off to Buddha only knows where. She blushed at the hand holding, unable to comprehend how Chat and Adrien's hands were so different since they were the same person.
"There's a twenty four hour café in the Rogue alley that I go to in costume a lot. Lots of cosplayers go there and LARP." He said as he lead her down the soggy streets.
After dozens of questions about what 'LARP' meant or how what a 'cosplay' is they made it to the café. The doors opened to the waterlogged couple to reveal a jam packed house full of super hero cosplayers and cat maids. She laughed at the teenagers in Ladybug and Chat Noir costumes and the grown men with Deadpool masks and Ladybug yoyos.
They reached the front counter and a maiden smiled upon seeing the couple. "A day late is better than never at all, right?" she smirked and lead them to a back private room. Ladybug was confused by what she meant as they were shown their private room. It was the size of a normal bedroom, but there was no bed. There was a comfy looking loveseat, a small coffee table, and a large TV with tons of games and movies. The lighting was romantically dim and the fireplace was already ignited.
"Chaaaat….." she looked around nervously. "What is all this?"
The server handed them both a menu and excused herself. "Your server will be here shortly. Please make yourselves confortable."
Chat waited until the door was closed before taking a deep breath and making direct eye contact with Ladybug. "You forgot our fifth anniversary promise, didn't you?"
"Yeah, sorry, it was a long time ago…what was it exactly?" she asked sheepishly.
'Surely I didn't promise him a kiss or an identity reveal!' her mind raced as she panicked a bit. 'Oh no! I'd never promise a reveal!'
"You promised me that if we were both still single in five years that you'd go on a real date with me!" he sighed out tiredly. "Now I'm afraid I'm so sleep deprived I won't be able to stay awake the whole time." He let his shoulders drop as he flopped down onto the loveseat.
"Oh! Right!" she perked up. "I do remember that!" she admitted and took a seat next to him, which was closer than she would normally be comfortable with. "You even told me that you'd stay single intentionally just for me!" she teased. Her cheeky grin melted into a look of awe and admiration.
"What?" he asked nervously.
"You…you stayed single for five years just to have a date with me?" she asked with utter denial. Adrien stayed single for her? She was in denial that her one and only love, Adrien Agreste, not only stayed single for all these years just to have a chance at one measly date with her, but he kept his promise to her.
"Of course! You're my lady!" he said with a tired, but smug grin. His messy, wet hair made him look even more charming than before. His relaxed and slouched position didn't make him lose any sexy points either.
"Mon amour." She whispered quietly as her hand went to stroke his cheek gently, but he still heard her. He was in slight disbelief that she'd actually said that. A tear rolled down her cheek as she diverted her gaze to her lap. "I don't deserve you." Her hand dropped from his face down to her side.
Now it was his turn to be in complete denial. He sat upright and forced her face to look at him.
"There are but two things I want in this world." He started as she blushed at the feeling of his hands on her cheeks. "My mother to come back, and you. Nothing else in my life matters to me in the slightest."
"But why me? I'm so…so.."
"So perfect?" he interrupted abruptly. "So amazing?"
"I should have been nicer to you all this time. I was always dodging you and avoiding any flirtation because I liked someone else. I should have just given you a chance." She said in defeat. She knew if she confessed to Chat Noir now, it'd only be because she found out that he was Adrien.
'How very shallow of me…' she thought as she covered her face with her hands.
"I didn't know you liked someone else…" he said as he let go of her and stiffened a bit. "It's ok if you don't wanna go on a date with me while you still like someone else…."
She could feel his heart breaking in his words. Then an idea hit her and she cracked a smile so wide she had to turn her head to keep him from seeing it.
"It's ok, I don't stand a chance with him. He's only the most handsome, beloved, precious….charming…" she paused when she saw the disgruntled look on his face. "Perfect man in the world!" she finished snooty.
"Gee…isn't he lucky?" Chat grunted and put his chin on his fist with his elbow on his knee. She giggled.
"You know, looking back, the only reason I never accepted your feelings for me was because of him. If he didn't exist you and I would probably be married by now. Chat's ears twitched and burned at her words, the words of a temptress luring him down a dark path.
"What do you want me to do? Go kill him?" Chat hissed out, he was becoming annoyed with this guy's mere existence already. Jackass!
She roared with laughter as a knock hit the door and the server entered to take their order. Chat was in too foul of a mood to order to Ladybug ordered for him. After the server dropped off their drinks and left, Ladybug continued to preach about her crush before Chat snapped.
"Enough! Please!" he begged. She laughed again. "Why do you mock me?"
"Oh Chat, I'm so sorry!" she snorted between her giggle fits. "I'm in love with Adrien Agreste."
She froze, she'd just confessed so easily. She didn't hesitate like she normally does to even speak to him, but the image of Chat Noir lulled her into a false sense of security and allowed those words to escape from her so freely. Her face was bright red and her heart was slamming. Chat was uncharacteristically quiet. It was an awkward silence that lasted for a couple of minutes, neither turning to face the other as their food arrived.
"So…." He started as he pretended to pick at his food. His eyes remained opened very wide in shock. "Have you ever met….him…before?" Chat asked pensively.
Ladybug swallowed a tiny mouthful and made a small noise of pondering. "Yes."
Chat's eyes narrowed and leered at her. Who could she be?
"How well do you know him?" he asked again.
"Actually," she said with an uneasy sigh as her heart did flips in her chest. "I know him quite well."
"Oh?" he mumbled intrigued. "Do tell." He urged.
She rolled a tater tot across her plate with her fork as she thought of the right words. "I guess well enough to stalk his house out in the rain to make sure he's ok…."
Okay, maybe those weren't the right words.
"Huh!?" his voice hitched and cracked. "That's what you were doing outside his house at four in the morning in the pouring rain?!"
"Heh heh…..eeyup…" she admitted dumbly. "I mean I check up on a lot of people…"
"But mainly him, right?" Chat's eyebrow rose up.
"Yup." She said quickly.
"Well then, I can't very well stand in the way of you and your true love, now can I?" he crossed his arms. She laughed again, very loudly. "You still mock me!?" he hissed.
"Oh Chat, it's not you I'm laughing at, it's me!'' she said as she tried to calm herself down. "I'm not sure how I should be feeling right now is all."
He cleared his throat and reached for her hand across the table. The idea of telling her who he is was extremely tempting, but he knew they shouldn't know each other's true identities for safety reasons. He squeezed her hand and stared at it intently. She knew exactly what he was thinking and a weight on her shoulders doubled before breaking her.
"Adrien," she sighed dreamily and his grip tightened. "Adrien, I saw you transform earlier."
He let go of her hand instinctively and looked up at her like a kid meeting Santa Claus for the first time. She had this bitter sweet smile and how those wistful bluebell eyes looked at him with so much love. It nearly brought him to tears. His mouth opened to say something, but no words came out.
It took him a moment to find the right words, and he chose them wisely.
"Plagg, untransform me." He said as Plagg was released from Adrien's form and he flopped down onto the table exhaustedly.
"Man, you've been in form for hours now! What took so lo….oh, hi Ladybug….again…." Plagg floated up to her and turned back to Adrien confused. "What's happening?"
"She knows who we are now." Adrien said as he felt the sleep deprivation taking hold of him.
Ladybug stared at him for a moment, Mr. Perfection, before deciding what to do and how to do it.
"Ladybug, would it be unacceptable to ask you if…if.. you'd…."
She got the hint. "It's only fair!" she said. "But first, I understand if you don't' return my feelings."
"You are the most amazing person on this planet! How would I ever reject you?" Adrien said louder than he wanted to.
"I mean you've kind of rejected me a few times before…." She said with her head shrugged beneath her shoulders.
"I rejected you?" he asked deadpan, eyes wide, mouth agape.
"You said I was just a friend."
"I friendzoned Ladybug?" he asked louder.
"Yes." She said simply.
He slammed his forehead onto the table and groaned. His mind ran a simulation of all the girls who have ever confessed to him in the past and came up with no specific girl that could possibly be Ladybug.
"I don't understand how that could be…." He muttered to himself as he remained face down on the table.
"Tikki, untransform me." She said nervously. Adrien's heart jumped through his throat, he didn't have the nerve to look up just yet. He shook vehemently as her hand reached under the table and grabbed his hand.
"Adrien?" she asked in this honey sweet voice. Dopamine and every other fancy chemical rushed into his brain as the voice of pure love reached his ears.
With the iron will of a thousand samurai he lifted his head and looked upon his lady. His eyes were greeted warmly by the sight of a windswept Marinette with rosy cheeks and parted lips. It felt real, it felt comfortable, and it was like opening a gift on Christmas morning. To him, Marinette felt right, like she was the only one worthy of being Ladybug.
"Oh thank god it's you." He said as the pools of relief welled up in his eyes and threatened to fall like the monsoon still raging outside. He pulled her into a tight embrace and pressed the side of his head against hers. "Of all the people in the world who you could have been, I'm glad it's you!" he choked out as he bit his lip.
"You are?!" she asked perplexed, what was so special about her?
"I've always admired you, the way you handle Chloe, to the way you bake cookies, and even to the cute clumsy way you trip on the stairs at school every morning when we greet each other. I love everything about you."
It was relief more than anything that allowed Marinette to just grab hold of him and let there be silence between them. After a few moments they calmed down and they remained in each other's arms on the loveseat. They talked about how silly it was for one to be chasing the other in their civilian or hero form and how much time they'd wasted being coy.
"Can I kiss you now?" he asked bravely.
"O-of course!" she said with ruby cheeks and a shy smile.
He was too eager to be embarrassed or shy, he instantly pulled her in and brushed his nose against hers as his lips pressed onto hers swiftly. It was as warm and gentle as she'd always imagined it to be. Her arms found no better place to be than around his shoulders as his arms tightened on her waist.
"I love you, ma dame." He mumbled onto her parted lips.
"And I love you, mon chaton." She whispered onto his lips.
BLK: I don't think this needs a chapter 2, do you? Just leave it like it is?