*Loud, tired groaning from Australia*

Hi everyone.

I struggled so hard with this fic. Why can't fics write themselves? I'm not even sure I like this, but I hope you do. Please let me know what you thought in the comments.

And yes, that's totally a Hamilton lyric in there, because I'm Hamilton trash and was listening to the soundtrack as I was writing this. Also, I (once again) apologise for typos, cause it's super late here and I'm sure I missed heaps when I was reading back over this.

I hope you enjoy my response to 'Day 3: Reluctant.'

Much love,

Leisey.

Glory

It was hard to believe, but Chat Noir didn't want to know who was under his Lady's mask.

He used to. He used to want it more than anything else in the world, but now...now he was scared to. There was too much pressure with a reveal. Reality could never live up to the expectations.

And yet, he and Ladybug were being told to reveal themselves.

They were at Fu's shop. Ladybug had brought him there, saying the Great Guardian had something important he needed to talk to them about. Although, judging by the look on her face, his partner wasn't expecting this development either.

Or perhaps she wasn't expecting his adamant refusal to go through with it.

"Chat, what's wrong?" She asked, clearly concerned. "You've always wanted to share our identities."

He shook his head. "I don't–not anymore."

"But why, though?" She pressed.

"Why do you want to know? You've never wanted to reveal ourselves."

That gave Ladybug pause; whatever she was about to say died in her throat. She glanced at Master Fu, took a moment to collect herself and went on. "I know I didn't, but if the Great Guardian is saying we should, then we should at least think about it."

"I don't suggest this lightly," Master Fu said. "Your battle with Hawk Moth is getting harsher. It has reached a point where anonymity is no longer a luxury you can afford."

The two superheroes frowned at the him. "What do you mean?" Ladybug asked, sounding as uncertain as Chat felt.

"If something happens to either of you, it is best to know who is behind the mask," Fu explained.

All possible worst-case scenarios flashed through Chat's head. "What do you mean 'something'? Do you mean we could die? I'm not afraid to die."

"Chat!" Ladybug looked like a strange mix of mortified, exasperated and scared. "Don't talk like that!"

It was a blatant lie. Chat Noir was afraid to lose his life…in fact, he was more like terrified. He had too much to live for to die. He had a distant relationship with his father and the strange Aunt and Uncle—babysitter—work colleagues'—relationship with Natalie and the Gorilla. He had the friendship of everyone in his class and the love of the girl with the fierce blue eyes and dark pigtails.

He clung to those relationships as hard as he could. He didn't want to give them up and didn't want to die before getting the chance to explore and expand them. But even still, he was Chat Noir; he had a duty to the city. If he had to lay down his life in order to do that, so be it.

Chat looked at his partner, a strange sort of resolution settling over his shoulders. He'd protect her, no matter the cost. She was the one that could fix everything; she was the one that could bring peace back to Paris.

"Don't even think about it!" She snapped at him.

That caught him off guard. "Huh?"

"If you sacrifice yourself for me, Chaton, I will bring you back and no 'Miraculous Ladybug' will ever be able to fix what I do to you. We don't do sacrifices. We work together and we get the job done."

"Dying is easy, young man. Living is harder," Fu said sagely. "While I respect your bravery and resolve to protect your partner, there is no glory in dying like a martyr. There is glory in living and growing old with those you love." He paused to smile as Wayzz came to nuzzle his cheek. "So put aside such unpleasant notions; we are here to talk of far happier things."

"Like revealing our identities?" Chat asked.

Fu nodded.

"I don't like this idea," his partner said. "But I can where you're coming from, Master Fu. What do you think, Chat Noir?"

He shook his head. "I'm not doing it."

"Why not?" Ladybug wanted to know.

"The expectation is too much."

She frowned, confused. "What? You think you won't live up to my expectations? Chat, you're gonna be perfect. You're my best friend and I'm going to love you, regardless of whoever you are."

He shook his head again, closing his eyes with a grimace. "That's not what I meant."

"Then what is it?"

"I'm scared."

Ladybug approached him and put a hand on his shoulder. "Chat," she said, her voice warm and comforting. "What is it? Let me help."

Chat took a deep breath. He should do it now; do it quickly, like ripping off a band aid. He had to tell her. Do it now. Do it now, do it now, do it—

He let his transformation go and Plagg came soaring out of his ring to float at his shoulder. "My name is Adrien Agreste, and I'm really scared you're not Marinette Dupain-Cheng," he confessed.

Shock was plastered onto Ladybug's features and Master Fu looked pleased; both him and Wayzz nodded at Adrien to continue.

Now that he had said it, the words just seemed to flow out of him. "I love Marinette. Do you remember I told you I started dating a girl in my class? She's so beautiful; god, Ladybug, she's beautiful. She's so kind and she's got these blue eyes that I swear I drown in every time she looks at me. And her smile! I could write poems about her smile. I mean, I have written poems about her smile…not that I've given her them, because they're not that great and she deserves Shakespeare and sonnets, not simple four-line stanzas."

"Adrien," Ladybug whispered.

"But the closer we got, the more I saw her in you—or I saw you in her?—I mean, I saw you in each other. I'd see Marinette's kindness when you comforted an akuma victim; I saw Ladybug's courage when she stood up to Chloé. The similarities just kept piling up and I kept thinking, 'What if Marinette is Ladybug?'"

"Adrien." Her voice was louder; firmer.

"But I didn't want to know who was under your mask, because now I had this expectation. I had this dream that Marinette was you, and that just wasn't fair to you at all. Because you're my best friend, but whoever you are under there, I would be thinking of Marin—"

Ladybug detransformed in a wave of pink and his girlfriend was standing in front of him. "Adrien," Marinette said. "It's me."

He barely noticed when tears started streamed down his face. "Mari, you're Ladybug. I knew—I did—but to see it—"

"Hey, hey," she said soothingly, reaching up to cup his cheek and wipe away his tears. "It's okay. Why are you crying?"

He sniffed. "I'm just so happy, and relieved. I felt so bad because I wanted it to be you, but that wasn't fair to whoever was under Ladybug's mask."

Marinette smiled. "Oh, Chaton, you don't need to worry about that anymore. You found me; you saw me under the mask and you saw me without it."

Whatever else she was about to say was lost as he leant in and kissed her. Adrien was sure it wasn't a great kiss, tear-stained and runny-nosed as he was, but Marinette didn't seem to mind. She responded eagerly, and pulled him closer to her.

Adrien went willingly, his mind repeating one incredible, miraculous, thought: Marinette is Ladybug, Marinette is Ladybug, Marinette is Ladybug…

Caught up in each other as they were, they didn't notice the Great Guardian and his turtle-like kwami watching them proudly.

"I told you they were made for each other," Fu said.

"No one likes a gloater, Master."