After a nasty akuma fight, Ladybug realizes she could have lost her partner.
Tumblr Drabble for MidnightStarlightWrites
Originally posted in March 2017
Ever since they had accidentally revealed their identities to each other in the midst of a particularly nasty akuma fight, Marinette and Adrien's relationship had changed a lot.
And that was an epic understatement.
From that specific day forward, their classmates had been beyond amazed to notice how the young designer was out of nowhere no more struggling with her words when she was talking to her famous blond crush. Both of them went from 0 to 100 overnight somehow, and it was now a common sight for the pair to be bantering quietly among themselves, for Adrien to carry Marinette's bag through the school's courtyard, for Marinette to call him out mercilessly on his lame and apparently never-ending puns. With no one being the wisest as to how exactly this came to be, the pair had shifted seamlessly from being barely mere acquaintances to being the very best friends in the world, and as time passed their classmates stopped paying attention to them altogether.
Even Alya and Nino eventually came to terms with the fact that Marinette now meant Marinette and Adrien, and that wherever the blond model was, their pigtailed friend could be expected to be found not too far away.
In about the same time span, Ladybug and Chat Noir had grown considerably closer to each other, sparking anew the dating rumours about the superheroic pair. No amount of denying could convince their fans otherwise, and it was generally assumed that they were Paris's new power couple. True, the blushing fest happening on both their faces whenever the topic was brushed did nothing to help them.
Adrien prided himself into knowing even the littlest things about his partner, and even Ladybug had had to admit that the new level their relationship had reached was showing (positively) in battle. He and Marinette had spent the past few weeks talking, joking, and getting to know each other more than they ever had. They were more in sync than ever, words were becoming less and less necessary between them as they fought, and akumas were dealt with quicker and quicker, with less and less damages. He was able without any struggle to predict her next move, and act accordingly.
The last akuma attack hadn't been any different. Chat Noir had seen his lady run toward the akuma, a crazed one that ran around with a flamethrower. He had known right this instant that she would get caught in the crossfire, and leaped to push her out of the way. He felt the flames licking his magic suit, but didn't think twice about it. She was safe, that was all that mattered.
As expected, Ladybug tumbled out the way, managed to snatch the akumatized item, swiftly breaking it and purifying the butterfly. As he was expecting, as soon as she released her cleansing spell, Chat Noir began breathing more easily, the stinging feeling of the burn on his exposed skin subsiding.
Was what unexpected, though, was Ladybug's reaction.
No, he got no warning about how the girl would latch herself around his neck, shivering uncontrollably against his shoulder blade, clutching to him like a lifeline.
And he definitely got no warning about how soft her lips would feel despite how hard she crashed them on his. His brain froze, and it took him a few seconds to fully register what was happening. Out of their own accord, his arms wrapped themselves around her and he held her close to his chest, answering her kiss eagerly. He faintly registered cameras going off around them and bystanders' exclamations, but he ignored them. He was too painfully conscious of the woman in his arms - his partner, his best friend, Marinette - to let anything else distract him.
She broke the kiss all too soon, resting her head against his shoulder, eyes still closed. "I almost lost you."
It then dawned all at once on Chat Noir. Countless times before he had taken the blow for her, still dead set on it being his job. He couldn't bear seeing her hurt in any way, but it never occurred to him that it could be the same for her. And with their identities known, and the new direction their relationship had recently begun to take…
"I love you." It was barely whispered, words falling from his lips for her ears only. But as she raised glistening blue eyes toward him, he could read her answer in them as clearly as if she had painted it in bold letters.
So, ignoring the world losing their mind around them, ignoring the fact that they would probably be all over the evening news, Chat Noir softly held her chin up with a gloved finger and kissed her again.