Minutes later, they were standing in front of a wooden door. She knocked quietly, though there was no noise from inside. Her hand grasped the knob and slowly opened it. "Master Fu? We're here." He watched her push the door in, still in costume, and walk in. His alarm spiked that she wasn't acting with her usual sense of secrecy, but had to remember just who they were here to see. His eyes widened when he saw an elderly Asian man sitting by himself next to a low-set table...two extra teacups sitting ready for use aside the one he was currently sipping.

He had seen this person before!

He watched her promptly stride to the table and sit next to him, though he didn't hear anything they were saying. His mind raced, thinking back to the day he had tried to go to school by himself and Natalie had stopped him. He gave this old man his walking stick back after he had fallen, but was forced to go back home. That same afternoon, he found his ring in front of his tv.

"Come Chat Noir. Close the door and join us for some tea."

He jolted, but she looked at him and nodded, and he forced himself to relax. He quietly clicked the door shut and took his shoes off before joining them both. "Sorry that we're here so late." He quietly apologized.

Master Fu looked to him silently for a moment before shaking his head with a sigh. "It is I who should apologize my dear boy..."

He stared at the elderly man with wide eyes, so many clues suddenly coming to form the worst puzzle of his life.

"Is that what you meant when you said you didn't want me to know? Because you already knew what happened to her before I did?"

–

"How could I tell you that your mother had received a miraculous stone and died protecting me because of it?"

–

"I couldn't see it myself, but Master Fu told me things...things that...I – I didn't...want you to hear...but...if we're going to stop him...you have to know..."

He slowly looked to her and she quietly nodded. She looked forlorn and stared at her teacup as if pointedly keeping him from seeing anything else that she was feeling. He looked back to find Master Fu watching him. "It's you... You're Master Fu...the guardian of the stones?" Hands rested on the short table as he leaned over them. "You...you gave my mother the peacock miraculous? How? When?"

Master Fu's hand came up and stroked his beard. "Yes. Your personality is so much like hers my boy."

She discretely watched Adrien's face as the truth was finally unfolded to him, in much better company this time. She wanted to reach a hand out and hold his as he listened, to let him know she was here, but restrained herself. She tried not to blame herself for his past coming to haunt him, but it was hard. The sadness and tears that she saw ate at her resolve not to hate herself for bringing him here. She should have just come alone and made sure he was safe! She didn't want him to hear this...but, she told herself, how often had the truth been kept from him? She was now helping him to achieve it and she should hold onto that thought over all.

There was a sense of nothing aside all the sorrow...like a still, black pit that he was standing in with no noise and no feeling. Everything was laid out and it all made sense now. His father's behavior over the years and how he tried to keep him in the house. He looked to the table, eyes darting around it as if to find answers as his mind whirled at impossible speeds.

"I already told you it's out of the question that you go to middle school. You have everything you need in this house. I forbid you from going; the outside is way too dangerous."

"Why do you want to shut me off in a cocoon? I'm always alone! Why can't I have friends like everyone else?"

"Because you're not like everyone else. You're my son, Adrien."

The son of Butterfly who wanted absolute power to make them a family again and wasn't above destroying Paris to do so. The intent was honorable, but the methods were still evil. The son of Peacock who had somehow been killed when saving his father. He wanted to ask more about that circumstance, but due to his father trying to turn him evil and using him to beat Ladybug, it was better that they retreated. He would never forgive himself for fighting her...even if it was against his will. The times he already did he always regretted.

He suddenly looked to her to find her concerned eyes trained on him. She blinked when their eyes met, but gave him something of a small smile as if to tell him she was there. He studied her face; the face of his savior, of his partner. She had tried to do so much to help him, as always, and he felt like she was saving him yet again. His emotions rose with a vengeance, trying to grasp hold of the one solid thing in his life who had always been there for him. He wanted to touch her, to hold her, and feel that she was still solid amidst the chaos of his mind and his feelings.

She knew that look in his eyes and subtly leaned back on her heels in silent negation to his wish. She couldn't help the chagrin from entering her features, seeing his dejected eyes in return.

He suddenly turned to Master Fu, eyes hardening, though pained. His adrenaline rose a degree. He knew things would become complicated if he did this, but he couldn't stop himself any longer. "You told her that I was Chat Noir."

"Yes."

"Why? I thought our identities were supposed to be kept a secret."

"In order to give her the information on your family, she had to know who you were. Also, I trusted Ladybug with your real self because I knew she wouldn't betray you. I knew she would keep Chat Noir safe. "

His eyes darted to hers, harsh and unforgiving. "And yet you still won't tell me who you are?!"

She felt a thread of indignation at that, but he was too openly hurt and she squashed the original words ready to be formed. She looked to the table, face pensive. "Our identities...are our own..." She fumbled, feeling lame for still saying such things in such a place with Adrien present, especially after knowing everything.

Anger came to him and he didn't fight it. A hand hit the table in his frustration and he glared at her. This was probably the one time he would ever be so genuinely upset with her. It had been a long night and she just broke the last straw to his sanity. "We're sitting at the table of the guardian to the miraculous stones! I'm not sitting here as Chat Noir; I'm sitting here as Adrien Agreste! He told you everything. You know everything! What is the point in pretending anymore? Why are you still being like this? Haven't I told you many times that I'll never tell anyone? All I want is for you to truly trust me in this! I swear this to you! What can I do to make you believe in me?!"

She felt so horrible. She wanted to cry at the pain and pleading in his voice. She knew he was all turned around from battle and the truth, and she didn't fault him for his actions. She knew why she was still so hesitant and ever since the initial moment in his room, she was even more scared that he didn't love the real her...that he would never love Marinette over Ladybug.

She looked away, fists clenching. She ignored him and turned inward, warring with herself for so many seconds until a soft hand touched an arm. She jolted to the owner, finding Master Fu's kind eyes on her. "Ladybug, remember my earlier words. Chat Noir is right. However, only you can be the one to let him in. This is a sense of trust which you will never know again in your life. Your other half sits in front of you. You can't deny it for much longer..."

He saw how she was practically shaking at Fu's words and his harsh gaze softened a little. She met his eyes and he was somewhat shocked to see longing and pain there. He didn't know why she should feel so when there was only hope to get from this. His hand reached out before he could stop himself and lightly touched hers in an instinctual move to give comfort. She didn't move, but didn't pull away.

Her eyes darted to his hand lightly encompassing hers. Teeth harshly bit her lip as she weighed everything.

"You ARE Ladybug, even when the mask is gone. You already have those traits within you, but they don't always shine like they do when Ladybug is required to help. You have been Marinette while you were Ladybug when you were with Adrien..."

–

"Would you love Adrien if he was Chat Noir? If he came to you and told you who he really was...knowing how you feel about him...would it still matter who he was with or without the mask?"

Tikki was right as she always was, but her emotions were also very powerful. They had claimed her ability to do anything for the last few days now and nothing had ever been resolved. She didn't want to jump into that unknown pit only to find no sun in that darkness. Adrien gave her hand a gentle, insistent squeeze and she harshly swallowed. He was still asking, pleading, begging for her to trust him with this knowledge. She met his eyes, piercing him with all of the uncertainty and fear inside her.

It was now or never. If she left, she would only hurt him and she didn't want to keep doing so. So many people had already done so and she didn't want to add herself to that list. She gave a shaky exhale and squeezed her eyes shut, shoulders bunched to her ears. A second later, she was encompassed in a blinding flash of light as she turned herself back to Marinette.

Seeing the beginning of her transformation filled him with a sense of elation which he had never known before. He was finally going to see the real face of his true love! The second the mask was gone and Marinette's diverted face was presented to him, he stilled and blinked. His heart raced, but his blood froze in his veins. Her eyes were remained screwed shut and she refused to look at him. The fingers he could now feel were still shaking under his hold, her shoulders trembling horribly. He took in her closed gaze, inching backward at a snail's pace. His was vaguely aware of his own eyes widening till they nearly pained him. Something hit him so heavily that it stole the ability to think of anything else.

"Dude! I need to tell you...I can't keep it a secret anymore!"

"Calm down. What are you talking about Nino?"

"There's a girl in our class who has a serious crush on you! Like, totally head-over-heels! I just found out recently and I can't hide it from you any longer. I even told her I'd put in a good word for her too."

"What are you talking about?! Who?"

"Uh...that's the problem. I've been sworn to secrecy on the name..."

–

"Wait! Someone answered my poem! But, I threw it away..."

"Ugh, a thing this soppy, it can only have been written by your soul mate."

–

"Don't go yet! At least tell me before you go...why Adrien? Why is HE your weakness? He's just some random guy, isn't he? You've just saved him before; that doesn't mean anything right?"

–

"Doesn't matter who's under that mask but, I love her, this girl..."

He jolted to his feet and looked down at her, feeling somewhat out of control. So many memories and clues were going through his head and turning him upside-down. His heart felt like it was going to beat out of his chest and his adrenaline was never this high through any battle he had ever fought. Her eyes jolted opened and looked up to him in fear and utter expectation. He took in the constant timidness that he had always known shine from her eyes, but it was tinged with longing and love. She wrung her hands as she silently looked at him, teeth biting her lip.

"What is the matter with you?! I know it's Adrien, but pull yourself together! What happened to you in the last two days?"

"I...I...haven't...been feeling...well..."

She had known who he was the last few days and she had been scared to tell him, to show herself. She loved him back that heavily and she was looking for his immediate acceptance, but he was too stunned right now to speak. The girl he had been sitting in front of since the start of the school year was Ladybug...the one he loved so much. She had always been so close to him. And she loved him back.

This was almost too good to be true!

The pressure to speak words felt too great and all he could think of was a place to calm down for a second. He didn't want to say or do anything wrong while he felt so turned around about the last few hours. He needed more than a second to collect himself! The instance with his father was still too new and Master Fu's words too horrible. He fumbled a step back before hurrying from the room and letting the door close behind him.

His exit only made her soul rip to pieces. Tears fell and she barely heard the comforting, encouraging words of Tikki nearby. Her hands clenched as she bowed her head.

"Chat Noir has always had trouble with Ladybug. Chaos often goes hand in hand with destruction. He just needs a little time to sort things out. He'll be fine, I assure you."

That wouldn't do. She looked to Master Fu with hard, teary eyes. "That may be the past Chat Noirs, but not this one. I can't let him deal with this by himself! Not like how I've tried and failed."

"Have faith in Chat Noir's love Marinette." Tikki coached. "Believe in him. You know how to be there for him...you know what it's like."

She nodded and stood. She stopped at the door only briefly, wondering just what she would say, before opening it and heading out into the hallway. It was a short find. Adrien hadn't even gone more than a few feet away. She stopped past the door and let it close behind her. She took a few slow steps to him, mind churning. He was hunched over, arms wrapped around his legs, head on his knees. He was silent and still. A trembling hand reached out to him in the quiet, but she wondered just how to begin.

"Now I understand why you tried to leave like you did. I apologize for acting the way I have."

She jolted and remembered he was referring to her entrance into his room and the near, immediate exit afterward. He suddenly looked up and presented her with a calm face. There were no tears, no pain, no negativity. She quickly kneeled in front of him and sat on her legs. She looked to the useless hands in her lap, brow furrowing. "I...I didn't...know...what to do...if...I – I -"

His hand rested over hers and cut off her fumbling. Sweet, shy, kind, talented Marinette. She had always been a good friend. The words of the unsigned poem he had received in response to his, a poem he had thrown away at school...in his classroom...ran through his head. His gaze softened, heart swelling beyond anything he could have ever hoped to happen should this moment ever occur.

He turned to face her and cupped her face with his hands, eyes darting around every feature. She looked at him with all the sweetness of her emotions, the conviction of her need to help, and he stared for the longest time. She was staring at him as if he were injured in a way that was so Ladybug. Did she even know she was giving him a look that showed her alter ego minus the mask? Did she even feel the strength she was radiating out to him through her own insecurities? "Ladybug..."

That poorly chosen word cracked her heart into tiny pieces. Every possible hope was ripped from her as her lip trembled before she could control herself. Tears poured from her eyes. She tried to remember Tikki's hopeful words of her loving Adrien as Chat and visa versa, but all she felt was sorrow. He loved Ladybug...she knew it. She pulled away and looked down, her vision swimming like a tormented ocean. "I...I'm sorry...that I'm not...Ladybug..." She brokenly managed, hands clenched in her lap.

She made a motion to stand, to leave him yet again, but his arms swiftly wrapped around her torso and pulled her to him, to keep her from leaving. A hand went to the back of her head, feeling the softness of her hair. The other clutched at her jacket tightly. He felt her tremble in his hold, heard her sobs as she clutched at the back of his shirt. "You ARE Ladybug." He harshly whispered, holding her tightly. She never said a word and grasped him just as strongly. He suddenly berated himself for his poor start. This what she was afraid of, he suddenly saw. This was what that distraught Marinette was worrying about when he visited her yesterday. "You are also Marinette. Sweet, kind, talented Marinette. My love for you would be no less no matter who you are."

His words vibrated in her ears and the clouds rolled away. It was a much needed salve to the fear which had been encompassing her for so long. Her eyes widened as his words sunk in before she buried her head in his shoulder and cried her relief, feeling his hand gently stroke the back of her head. She was unable to manage words and thus felt him. He said nothing either and merely clutched at her.

He finally pulled her away when she seemed to calm down and reveled in the sweet look she was giving him through her tears. His palms cupped her cheeks with a soft smile, thumbs wiping at the tracks. "Heartbreaker interrupted us so many times before Marinette. I want to finish what I desperately wanted to say that day." He noticed the same Ladybug-like look on Marinette's face like that day he first tried. Never had she been more beautiful than this moment and his face drew a little closer on instinct. "Marinette, Ladybug...whichever you are...I love you."

She pressed her lips against his before she knew what she was doing. The person she was so in love with, felt so much for, loved her back. Her. Clumsy, nobody Marinette. He called her talented, he called her kind. Those words would forever mean so much to her.

He was shocked only for a split second and then his feelings directed him. He pressed against the back of her head, pushing her closer...closer. She went willingly, gave him everything. The barest sound of a whimper escaped into his mouth and his arms went around her more. Never had anything been more perfect and felt more right.

"Ladybug and Chat Noir are a team. Two halves of one whole. Creation and destruction. You must place a great sense of trust and faith in the other. I confirmed this from you both that day in the rain when I saw your actions toward each other."

This is what being whole felt like. This is what really trusting, really loving, someone felt like. All unease melted away as he destroyed it. He evaporated every bad thing as if it never existed in the first place. All she could know was the presence he so powerfully carved in her heart and the feel of his touch against her.

They finally pulled away and looked to each other's eyes mere inches away. She was the first to give a self-conscious giggle and he smiled at her. His fingers wiped her face dry, mouth kissing where her sadness had been. Her heart beat faster at his gesture, at his love. "The rain..." She suddenly murmured, eyes fluttering open to look at him.

A brow went up. "Rain?"

Her gaze softened. "That first day of school in the rain..."

"What about it?"

"That's how long I've loved you."

To hear the depth and feeling of her emotions returned to him created a new sense of solidity, of joy. He thought he had never been happier to merely know who Ladybug was so he could put a face to the one he loved. He thought it would have been enough to finally say the words to her and let her know how he finally felt...how much he had been keeping inside this whole time. To know that she had been in love with him that long, to personally hear it from her, made tears come to his eyes through a blinding smile.

She turned red and averted her eyes, but never moved away enough to break the hold of his hands on her face. "I...could never tell you... I'm...it's...just me..."

He gently kissed her again before any other such words could come from her. He tried to steal all of them in order to destroy them. He released her and put his forehead against hers. "Yes, you're you. And that's why you're so perfect. That's why I love you so much."

She wanted to scream in the ecstasy that was taking hold of her. She wanted to run to the rooftops as Ladybug and shout her love for Adrien to all of Paris. Never had she dreamed that such a moment would ever occur. She had always resorted to loving him in the shadows. She was forced to be content with a few fumbling exchanges and to sit behind him in class only to stare at the back of his head. She suddenly started laughing at how foolish she had been in her room, at how she avoided him for so many days because she was afraid of his reaction which never existed in the first place.

He pulled away and looked at her confused. "What's so funny?" His lips twitched at hearing such a beautiful noise.

A hand went to her face as she finally pulled away. Her head shook. "I'm such an idiot..." She managed, shifting to lean against the wall.

He copied her and leaned his shoulder against hers. His arms loosely went around his legs, feeling much less overwhelmed than the last time he performed such an action. "How so? I'm not seeing it."

She almost couldn't look at him in her embarrassment! Both hands covered her eyes, though her smile refused to go away. "After I found out who you were, after I found out how you felt about me, I actually hid away for two days in my room out of fear! I couldn't go to school in case you were there because I knew I'd give myself away. I prayed that Paris didn't get attacked because I was too scared to fight with you as Ladybug. I knew I'd say or do something stupid." She snorted in amusement at the imaginary scenarios she had previously created. "God, I'm so dumb..."

He quickly pulled her hands away from her face and looked at her reproachfully. "You're not dumb!" He harshly insisted, squeezing her wrists and bypassing her shock. "You're amazing! You're smart and clever and pretty and selfless and talented and strong and fearless and kind and...and..." He blinked. "I'm running out of witty repartee at the moment, but give me a second and I'll find more words to try and properly describe how awesome you are."

Her blush went to her ears and down to her neck. She bit her lip to try and hide part of the blinding smile that encompassed her face. Her shoulders scrunched up to her ears as she started giggling like an idiot. Her heart raced and she tried to engrave this moment for all time.

His smile widened at her reaction. She looked so demure, so shy at such praise when she was worthy of that and more. The things he had seen her do as both Marinette and Ladybug would have him awed till the end of his days. He turned a hand to kiss the back of her knuckles. "If you don't believe me, I'll just have to keep telling you just how amazing you are until the end of my days...my lady..."

She squealed a little before clamping her free hand over her mouth. She watched him chuckle at her with wide, slightly mortified eyes. His other hand gently took the one from her mouth and kissed it as well. "I – I – I...never noticed...how much of a Catanova...you try to be..." She lamely kidded, face as hot as the sun.

His eyes narrowed playfully, Chat-like grin forming. "I'm always romantic for you, my lady. Haven't you been paying attention?"

Her look matched his. She felt more like Ladybug to his Chat Noir right now and it was kind of nice in its normalcy. "I pay attention to everything. Especially the advances of a handsome flirt who pretends to be shy when he's not wearing a mask."

He scoffed, faking being hurt. "Pretending? This handsome flirt is always shy around his lady love."

Her smile widened as his lips descended upon her trembling knuckles again. "Right..."

"Ugh...finish up already so we can come up with some kind of a battle plan!"

The pair jolted and turned to the doorway, finding Tikki and Plagg hovering next to the still-closed door. He sighed, but released her petite fingers from his. "You just had to ruin the moment I finally got to enjoy Plagg!" He complained, looking excessively put out.

"Oh please. You were almost at the end and you know it."

She watched Plagg fly near Adrien before the minute touch of Tikki at her cheek. "What did I tell you Marinette?"

She smiled and hugged her kwami. "You were right Tikki."

"Right about what?"

She looked his way sheepishly. "Tikki told me to have faith in you...and what you felt for me as Ladybug."

He merely smiled and looked to her kwami before returning his soft gaze to hers. "I never doubted you for a second, Marinette. I'm glad you finally trusted me enough to tell me...and to let me show you how I feel about you."

She beamed and they stood before heading back to the room.