But the pain, or whatever sensation she was expecting, never came. She opened her eyes and saw that Cat Noir was standing before her. But the very next second, his costume flickered and disappeared. The boy in front of her was Adrien Agreste. She immediately felt heat crawling up her cheeks, and stuttered "A-Adrien? Wh-What? HOW?" He backpedaled, shocked. "How do you know that?" She regained her composure, now perplexed. "You mean you don't notice that you're missing your costume?" He looked at his own arms and chest, apparently oblivious to the fact that his true identity was in view. "Can you see who I am?" Ladybug felt heat rise to her face as she stammered "Of c-c-course! You're Adrien Agreste, the coolest, and you're so smart, and hot, and perfect. But you don't act the same in school as when you're Cat Noir." Adrien looked at her sideways, and inquired "Do you know my alter ego?" Ladybug sighed. "I wish I knew you more than I do." Adrien walked over, and patted her shoulder. "Whoever you are under that mask, I'm sure you're perfect." Ladybug sighed happily, practically sinking into him. "You know who else is perfect?" he continued. 'Please don't say Chloe.' Marinette thought.
"Marinette Dupain-Chang!" He said, reverence in his voice. "Man, she's perfect. And don't even get me started on that adorable way she get's all flustered around me. But I do honestly wish she would be more comfortable with me." Ladybug turned around to hide the furious blush overtaking her face, and whispered "Don't we have an akuma to catch?" And with that, she jumped off the roof and swung towards the Paris tower where The Revealer had run off to. When Cat Noir finally caught up, he looked ashamed, and spoke up in a apologetic voice. "Listen, Ladybug. I'm sorry. It's clear that you love me, and for me to counter by talking about another girl isn't ok, especially when I have been flirting with you for a while." Ladybug shook her head furiously, and was strangely grateful of the distraction that the lasers that The Revealer was shooting at them posed. They fell to the ground and readied themselves for combat.
The heroes pounded against the cars that had been stacked, their bottoms facing inward to form a makeshift prison. Cat Noir had already tried using his staff to pry the vehicles apart, to no avail. Ladybug whipped out her yo-yo, and shouted "Lucky Charm!" There was a flash of red light and suddenly she was holding a box of matches. "What in the name Jagged Stone's pink pony underwear am I supposed to do with this?" Cat Noir looked around the small space and then lit up, a bright happy look in his eyes. "Let's see if you can keep your cool after this, milady!", an annoying smirk on his face. "Cataclysm!" He bellowed, darkness engulfing his hand. He swiped his hand in an arc above and around them, weakening the undersides of these vehicles, and then prying them inwards to form a half-domed shield.
"May I?" He asked politely, gesturing to the box of matches still in Ladybug's hand. She held it out, flushing and the tiny amount of hand-to-hand contact. He calmly struck a match and then poked it out of a gap in their barrier, landing in an exhaust pipe. He dragged her to the ground, wrapping himself around her before she could protest. His chest was pressed firmly against her back, and with his hand locked together in front of her he could feel her frantic heartbeat. They waited five seconds. Ten.
And then just as they thought his plan failed, a deafening explosion shook the ground, throwing the cars in every direction. Dazed, Ladybug sat up, and then noticed the bloodied Adrien lying in her lap. She saw his staff nearby dissolve into motes of light, confirming what she had already thought to have happened. Adrien was powerless. A small, imp-like creature came flying out of Adrien's ring, groaning in pain. "What happened to Adrien?" Plagg rasped. Ladybug bit back a sob and said "He's going to be fine. You take care of him." And, with rage bringing a tremble to her shoulders, she launched herself up toward the top of the tower. The Revealer barely had time to think before her fist connected with his jaw and he immediately fell unconscious. He ripped off his pendant, and crushed it, purifying the Akuma wordlessly for the first time. She threw the remainder of the box of matches into the sky, yelling "Miraculous Ladybug!" She scooped up the still slumbering teen and descended down the tower. When the public began pointing behind her for no apparent reason, she turned her head and let out a faint gasp. Beautiful, silvery wings clung to her back, flapping faintly in the cool spring-like breeze, What's more, her costume now only had black gloves, the bodice a strawberry red, the boots and legs a navy blue. The rest was a gradient scale between the two and the whole ensemble shimmered like fish scales. She disregarded her costume, and looked over at Cat Noir, who was once again suited up, and carried an awestruck expression on his face, looking at her as though she were a star or a goddess, some faraway, lovely thing. She walked over and slumped against him just as her earring beeped. Wordlessly he scooped her up, bridal style and jumped onto a nearby rooftop. The second he alighted on the roof, she wriggled out of his arms and weakly fell onto the hard stone floor. "Go away, dumb kitty. I'm going to change back." He walked over and took a knee in front of her, brushing her hair out of her eyes. "C'mon Bugaboo. I can keep a secret. And besides, you know my identity." She sighed, seeing the determination in his eyes; rolling her eyes, she grabbed him by his bell, and pulled his face towards hers, locking her lips against his, surprise written plainly on his face. After a second, he closed his eyes and began kissing her back. He ran his fingers through her hair, leaning into her, rubbing one of his hands on the small of her back, and cradled her neck with his other. He was so enamored with her he didn't notice that she had transformed back until she had breathed in sharply and pulled away. "Close your eyes, dummy. I've changed back."
But it was too late. He was sitting. Staring, transfixed at the girl in front of him. Marinette felt her eyes watering, tears crawling out as she laughed weakly. "Stupid. Stupid, stupid, STUPID." Cat Noir shimmied up against her and pressed his forehead against hers. "What's up, Bugaboo?" She sniffled and pawed tears away from her eyes. "I realised that since you are Adrien, I am once again not good enough for you." Cat Noir scoffed, and then laughed. It started as a little giggle, and then his chuckle became a booming laugh that scared away the birds still lingering in the sunset. "Marinette, for someone so smart, you can be really clueless. I told myself when I first met you, as Ladybug, that I would love whoever you were under the mask. You could be an forty year old paraplegic with parasites in her mouth and I would still pucker up under the stars." He blushed, realising how much he had said. Marinette chuckled, and ran her fingers through his hair. "You big dummy. Now I can't think of anything to say to top that." Adrien helped her up and said "Then don't talk." Marinette opened her mouth, but Adrien put a finger on her lips. "Shh. I know you, and I would prefer that your probably adorable speech on romance turn into an angry rant on the life of a superhero. Let me take you home, and I promise we can continue this first thing in the morning at school." And with that he scooped her up, and away they went.
They alighted on the roof, and he set her down gently on her feet. He slid his arms around her and pulled her in for one last kiss, lifting her off her feet slightly. Dazed, she stumbled down the ladder into her bedroom. Before she closed the hatch, she heard Adrien call "Goodnight Mari~" in a singsong voice. 'About time' she thought. What she didn't realise was that her best friend Alya was in the street below, filming the whole thing.