4: Revelation

It's late again. There weren't as many akumas this week, not that you're complaining. But it sets you on edge, like any shadow could unearth and be the next, like any bout of darkness could submerge your last fitful bits of rest.

When you reach the meeting-place, you find her curled up and staring over the rooftops of the city.

So you sit beside her. "Hey, Bugaboo, what's wrong?

She shudders. You hesitate before letting your hand graze her shoulder. "Hey... Ladybug, what is it? Do you want to talk about it?"

Finally she glances your way. Her crystalline eyes have shattered, and it's evident that no matter the times she's tried to glue the pieces, they've never quite come back right. "You won't judge me if I tell you, will you..?" To her sniffle, your heart aches.

"Why would I ever judge you, silly?"

But it doesn't make her laugh, not even a slightly-annoyed smile. "I-I mean it, Cat Noir. I don't want to tell you unless you promise... you won't judge me."

"Okay, okay..." You gently pat her shoulder. She lets you, sort of leans into you. Your heart's incessant pounding is going to kill you. "I won't. Pinkie swear. Cat's honor." Then you pause and you whisper, just for good measure, "I mean it."

"I... C-Cat, I..." The tears are already falling again. You take her hand. Again she lets you. If only you knew if she felt the same way about it, about holding it, as you do. "I made a mistake. A really big mistake. My...

"My parents know I'm Miraculous Ladybug... a-and my best friend too. They were all there and... and it was late... and they realized I-I-I wasn't home, and then when I got home... and my miraculous, a-and..."

You utter, "Ladybug..."

Oh, geez. You didn't know what you'd expected, but... this?

With stabbing alacrity you recall your promise, and you clench her hand in your own. "It's gonna be okay, Princess. Your best friend and your parents aren't gonna, like... let that get out, are they?" To the gallant shake of her head, you release a breath. "Okay. Okay! That's good. Then it's like nothing even happened. No one ever has to know."

She opens her mouth, a question in her shimmery eyes, but then she shivers and it's lost.

"What is it, Bugaboo?"

A flush scatters beneath her mask. "How'd you know I had something I..?"

"I'd like to think I know you pretty well~"

"Pshhh..." She shoves you, her fingers small and touch tender. "I-I suppose... you do." Her lips shut and she looks astray.

Then, somehow, miraculously, it occurs to you, exactly what she (may have been) about to ask.
Or maybe it's just what you wanted her to ask.

She said her best friend knew. You said nobody else ever has to know.

She got upset.

Then—Clearly—there's someone she wants to know, has wanted to know—

Abruptly you stand. Ladybug's eyes follow, her mouth slightly agape. A strange trill fills your body, and you think for a second that you're going to explode.

Then the sensation passes.

"If... you were forced to out yourself..." You hands twist together in front of you. Something lodges in your chest. Oh—Impending regret. You see yourself doing this and—and losing her, losing the one person you ever wanted, needed, to be happy.

"It's not fair, if you're the only one."

Quickly you slip off the ring and hide it into your pocket. Once it's gone, your heart thunders, and you're incredibly tempted to jump off the building and legitimately kill yourself. Without your powers, without your steel bar, without your Cataclysms...

You're just Adrien.

Who is Adrien, anyways?

Plagg ducks behind your back, as if afraid to intervene.

Your eyes hook to Ladybug's sudden pallor. She tries to stand, falls, tries to stand again, manages on wobbly legs. She whispers "wait" once, then again and again and she does fall off the rooftop, but she catches herself with her yo-yo. You rush over to her, to catch her, to help her, to something, and again she lets you take her hand.

She stares at your entwined fingers. A gasp falls out of her mouth. "A-Adrien... It was y-you... all along?" You gaze upon her, and you watch as tears spill from her eyes.

Oh, oh no... "Y-Yeah, it's... ah..." Your hands are shaking. Was this a mistake? Who is this girl, anyways? What does she know about Adrien Agreste? Wh-What if...

Her hand reaches for your cheek, but she hesitates. You hesitate too. "Ladybug. Please... tell me you still know me. I know, I know what I look like, but Adrien is a stuffy little toy whose father controls the vast majority of his actions. Cat Noir... is the mask he has to wear in order to be himself."

Her tears overflow. "But I..."

"B-Bugaboo," you whisper, suddenly terrified, when her hands fall to her earrings.

They come off.

You watch as the mask dissipates into red sparkles. Ladybug's kwami, Tikki, flits to Plagg's side, her eyes trained in any direction but her chosen's.

Beneath the mask is a girl with blue eyes—just like you predicted. And her hair... deep, entrancing blue. Her heart-shaped face is pale and blushing, deeply, and her lips look so—

"Marinette," you breathe, and all of a sudden everything has fallen perfectly into place.

You realize before you even began to think of it that she is the perfect person to be beneath the mask—the only person you ever could have longed for.

She stares into you, eyes fluttering, breaths hitched. "A-Adrien... does Cat Noir still..."

Your hand cups her cheek, and she leans into your touch. "Yes, he does..." You hesitate and add, "I do. I do still love you. More than I thought possible."

Her eyes dart away, then toward you. "I-I didn't think you'd... I-I mean, this has worked out p-p-pretty well for me, I-I must say..." Giggling, her voice low, she murmurs, "I always had a crush on Adrien... but I didn't let myself develop one for Cat Noir because of it. So I... I mean, this feels a little u-unfair for my..."

"Pssssh. No, no no don't tell me..." You can't stop the laughter. "I didn't let myself feel anything for Marinette, because I always had a crush on Ladybug!" Closing your eyes, your forehead brushes against hers. She stiffens, then leans into you, sighing.

Your voice lowers. "How can you say you're the one who lucked out? Imagine if Ladybug was one of my many fans, who forgot anything they knew about the Cat and just... ugh... fawned over me? You're the kindest person I know." And she's so cute...

"Okay, okay..." she sighs again, giggling, "so we both got..." Her eyes hover, staring into you. "Is this what they call fate..?"

You flush all over. "I-I don't... I mean... M-Maybe."

In the dark of the night, your arms wrap around her, and you hold her in the tightest hug. Her head nuzzles into your chest, and her fingers grip tightly to your shirt. She's so warm. She's the warmest thing you've ever held...

when was the last time you were ever hugged? The fact that you don't know strikes you hard, and you almost break down.

"Heh... now I wish I told you sooner," you whisper.

She giggles, her breaths against your heart. "I tried to! Although... maybe it's not such a bad thing that we waited. We got to know each other a little first. Trust each other, even though we didn't know each other's identity."

"That's true... that's true."

Blissfully happy, you're content. You forget about your tiredness, you forget about your father, about school, about photo shoots and bodyguards and the massive mansion you call your home, and everything else that makes you feel out of place.

It doesn't matter if you don't belong anywhere else. You belong with her.

Then a voice shatters the silence. "Heyyy uhhh... we still gotta check for crime, y'know."

You flush and glare over Marinette's head. "I wish you weren't right about that, Plagg."

Releasing her, you murmur your respective claws out or spots on; then once again the masks are back. But now when you look her way, at your Marinette, you recognize her features through the mask. The miraculous no longer hides her creamy skin, her crystalline eyes, her dark blue hair, from you.

She must notice as well, because her eyes widen. "I see you."

"Heh. I see you too, Miladybug."

A snort breaks out before she can stop it. "Why am I not surprised you still call me that?"

"Hey, it's a perfectly cute nickname!" you squeak.

Her eyes skitter from your own. "Yeah. I always thought it was..."

Your heart snags. "You did? Y-You never told me!"

"I didn't realize you were Adrien! I didn't want to let it feel cute! I'm sorry!" Between her blush, she's laughing, and you ache to hold her hand.

You step up to her, and she takes yours before you get to it. Her eyes gleam. "Well, are we gonna stop some akumas or what~?"

In the back of your head, you can hear Plagg's voice.

Good job, bub.

I think I'm still gonna write at least one more chapter? Something involving Hawk Moth and actual battles. I just don't know what yet... we shall see~

Thanks for reading so far!