Plagg watched incredulously as his charge walked out of the room, leaving a heartbroken looking Ladybug standing in the middle of the room. The transformation undid, leaving an equally heartbroken looking Marinette, eyes filling quickly with tears, and an angry looking Tikki floating next to her. The look the ladybug kwami was giving him conveyed enough for him to know he needed to catch up to Adrien right away.
"Adrien what do you think you're doing?" Plagg cried out, flying behind him down the empty hallway.
"I just... I need some time to think!"
Plagg scoffed. "Are you kidding me? Think about what? You don't know anything!"
"What I do know is that Marinette is Ladybug!"
"Do you? Are you sure about that? It could be a coincidence for all you know. You didn't even give her a chance to speak to you!"
"Is she?"
The question caught Plagg off guard and he faltered and he hesitated, giving Adrien all the answer he needed. He turned to leave again, but his kwami zipped in front of him before he could get very far.
"So what if she is? She had a good reason for not telling you, or else she would have. So why did you just leave her in there without any explanation?"
"It's not that I'm leaving her there, but it was kind of a surprise and I just need time to sort out my thoughts. I wanted to know who she was so badly I didn't actually think about how I'd feel when I finally did. I'm not upset that it's her but I need to figure out how I really feel about both sides of her before I talk to her about it."
Plagg sighed. "Cheese is never this confusing. But fine, go sort yourself out. I'll leave you alone."
Adrien smiled at him. Hands in his pockets, the boy walked slowly down the hall back to where people had started to meander back into the school. Plagg heard the noise of the crowd approaching and flew quickly back to where he had last seen Marinette and Tikki.
When he reached the classroom, he saw that Marinette had sat at one of the desks and was being consoled by her kwami. Knowing his news would likely make her feel better, he interrupted their conversation. Marinette raised her head when Tikki stopped talking to her.
"You must be Cha-Adrien's kwami," was all she said.
"I'm Plagg. It's nice to meet you, although I wish it was under different circumstances." Marinette just looked up at him, eyes rimmed red from the crying she had likely been doing before he came in. "I just wanted you to know that he's not upset. He's just trying to figure everything out. He really does love you."
Tikki stared incredulously at her long time partner, as she had not seen him so sensitive about their charges feelings in some hundred years. Although she knew that these two in particular were very special to the both of them, and they were both very invested in their lives and feelings.
Marinette perked up at his last words however, and her face warmed up, a small smile ghosting across her lips. She went back to frowning quickly afterwards. "I get that much, but I just don't get why he left so suddenly. This is what he wanted, isn't it? To know who I am? Am I a disappointment?"
"Pfft! I wish that was the case. Not only has he been a lovesick fool over Ladybug for god knows how long, but the last couple of weeks have been even worse with him being guilty over falling for you when his 'heart belongs only to his lady' as he would put it."
The smile on Marinette's face returned in full force, her heart beating wildly knowing that's what Adrien thought of her. She seemed to be at war with herself for a moment before she made the decision to go find him.
She looked up at the small creatures and they both nodded at her. She stood up and ran to the door only stopping when she reached it to turn and say "Thank you Plagg," before racing down the hallway in search of her black cat.
The two kwami looked at each other once Marinette was gone and laughed.
Plagg looked over at his companion. "They're quite the pair aren't they?"
Tikki giggled and replied, "that's for sure! I'm honestly surprised that you would come back and tell her that though. I know these two are special but this is a step, even for you."
"I'm just sick of Adrien whining all the time. The last couple weeks have been particularly difficult. And I didn't even get extra cheese for it!"
"Do you think they're going to be alright?"
"Of course they are. They're Chat Noir and Ladybug, Paris' favorite akuma fighting duo. They're always going to be alright."
"When did you become such the optimist?" Tikki asked.
"I've been around you for thousands of years, some of your endless optimism must have rubbed off on me."
"It seems that this Chat Noir has changed you, I think."
Plagg rolled his eyes. "Him? He's just some dumb romantic kid."
"Whom you seem to have a great attachment to. We should go before someone comes in here. I'm pretty sure they're going to head back to Marinette's place after their talk since it's so close. I'm sure we can find you some cheesy bread without her parent's noticing."
Plagg flew into her and hugged her tightly. "You're the best! Let's get going!"
Marinette scoured the campus for Adrien and finally found him sitting in the school courtyard. He hadn't seen or heard her approach yet and she took a moment to notice how his brows were furrowed and sighed heavily before he seemed to gather himself up. He stood abruptly, startling Marinette who had made a move towards him, and it was her sharp yelp of surprised that alerted him to her presence. They both stared at each other, all the sounds and movement around them seemed to halt, and it was just the two of them for what seemed like hours.
The school bell rang shrilly, snapping them from their trance and Marinette did the only thing she could think of at the time - she laughed. Adrien looked at her, eyebrows raised, head cocked to the side in a very cat like motion, which only served to make her laugh harder. Adrien couldn't help but let out a giggle himself, which broke into a full out laugh, a feeling he had not had in quite a while.
When their laughter died down, Adrien moved towards her and spoke. "Mari, I'm so sorry I just left like that. It was just... surprising to find out that it was you but at the same time, I think I may have known all along. The similarities became too obvious. It wasn't fair of me to just leave without saying anything though."
Marinette shook her head. "I'm sorry too. I wanted you to either figure it out slowly on your own, or tell you in a much less dire setting. I was just so worried that you'd built up Ladybug so much that if you found out it was me right away you'd be disappointed... you're not are you?"
Adrien's jaw dropped. "Of course I'm not! Marinette, I would never be disappointed it was you! If anything I couldn't imagine anyone else being Ladybug. Honestly, You were right to ask me to wait so I could try and figure it out. I'm sorry that all this ruined our dynamic, but when I found out you like Adrien, something in me couldn't help but tell you who I was. The fact you like both sides of me makes me more relieved than anything."
Marinette's eyes started to fill with tears again and lurched forward into him, hugging him and burying her face in his chest. He stiffened in shock but shortly relaxed, his arms wrapping around her while her shoulders shook again. He pet her head until she calmed down and she sighed in content. Looking up at him, she smiled shyly, a little embarrassed that his shirt was tear soaked, but he smiled back at her.
"Sorry," she said, wiping her eyes.
"No more apologies. Let's get you home."
"What about Tikki and Plagg?"
"Something tells me they've already left." Adrien smiled and led her in the direction of her house.
"Um, Adrien?"
"Yes?"
After a moment of silence she asked, "so... where does this leave us?"
Adrien took a moment to think, the bakery not more than a few feet away, and a very Chat like grin appeared on his face. He stopped right at the corner to turn around and face her, hands coming up to cup her face tenderly.
"May I kiss you, my lady?"
Her breathing may as well have stopped altogether, her face bursting into flames of red, but after looking at the sincerity in his eyes, she gave a small nod and he leaned down, kissing her softly. It was a light and quick kiss, but it left her a blushing, stuttering mess afterwards.
A noise of disgust came from Marinette's window, and they looked up to see Plagg's face scrunched up and Tikki smiling giddily. The two teenagers laughed and Marinette's confidence seemed to return to her.
"So that answers that. I guess that means you need to take me on a date."
"I'll pick you up at eight?"
Marinette smiled, and pulled him down to her for another kiss.
