Mission Accomplished!
Chat Noir and Ladybug goggled at one another.
He couldn't take his eyes off of her face. Her big blue eyes were made bigger than ever as they widened with surprise and her mouth dropped open into a perfect little 'O' shape. Her cheeks were a scarlet red that merged with her matching mask and he had no doubt that his expression was just as shocked and embarrassed as hers was.
And then his heart leaped for joy.
Ladybug and Marinette were one and the same.
Ladybug and Marinette were one and the same.
Ladybug and Marinette were one and the same!
They were the same.
His brave, strong, and impressive partner and his sweetest, kindest, and amazing friend were one and the same.
Of course, they were the same!
How could he have not realised this? How could he have been so blind? How could he be so stupid?!
They had the same big blue eyes, the same midnight dark locks scooped into two perfect pigtails, the luminous skin dotted with the exact same adorable freckles, and the same lovely, sweet, smile that enchanted him at the get go. They had the same strength and determination for justice, the same kindness and compassion for all, the same stubbornness and fiery temper, the same...they were just the same.
The two loves of his life were not different girls he had to choose from but one and the same girl he can devote himself to entirely.
This was undoubtedly the happiest day of his life.
The slow, happy, smile that steadily spread across his face rapidly turned into a wide, wild, grin of ecstasy.
"You're you," he said reverently.
"You...I...ah...you...guh!"
He threw his head back and laughed, utterly delighted. This was the adorableness of Marinette that he loved so much. And by God, he loved her. And, he remembered with a wider grin, she loves me too! Alya said so!
He tugged on her arm so she staggered towards him and hugged her tightly as he breathed in her sweet, flowery, shampoo and he nuzzled her silky hair and sighed blissfully. She hugged him back tightly and it felt wonderful to finally have her in his arms like this.
BOOM!
And then instantly he remembered that there was an Akuma still roaming the corridors of the school.
The pair of them pulled apart quickly and shared a horrified wide-eyed look. "The Akuma!" they exclaimed in unison.
They immediately leaped away to jump into their battle-ready positions when they were suddenly yanked back towards one another. They collided against each other clumsily as the handcuffs rattled loudly between their wrists. They both groaned at the reminder.
"The handcuffs!" Ladybug moaned irritably. "What the hell was Alya thinking?!"
"Never fear, My Lady," Chat smirked, "I can handle this."
She rolled her eyes at that but willing held up their conjoined wrists with such trust it filled him up with a warm, fuzzy, happy feeling.
"Cataclysm!"
The handcuffs turned to dust and their hands were finally free from restraint. Ladybug instantly clutched her hand to her chest as she rubbed soothing circles into her wrist. He tried to not be offended by the look of pure, unadulterated, relief on her face (after all he was really looking forwards to going to the bathroom alone after all of this) as he flexed his own free hand and revelled in having free movement again.
"Right!" Ladybug said firmly as she took command as per usual. "I'll go and keep the Akuma distracted while you recharge, and then we'll purify this thing together."
"And then after that?" He couldn't help but ask hopefully.
Ladybug flushed at that. "We'll talk later," she said hastily before she rushed out of the classroom door and into battle.
YES!
Chat pumped a victorious fist into the air as he dropped his transformation cheerfully. All of his anxiety and dread about possibly breaking someone's heart had melted away and there was a light, joyful, feeling fluttered away in his stomach at the thought of finally making some sort of progress with the girl of his dreams.
Plagg hovered before him with uncharacteristic patience. His deep emerald eyes glimmered with a smug knowing look. "Happy, Kid?" Plagg asked.
"Immensely," Adrien grinned.
"Good!" Plagg purred out in satisfaction. "Now gimme my cheese!"
Adrien laughed again as he happily handed Plagg a slice of cheese without argument. He was so over the moon with happiness – He loved Marinette and Ladybug, who were both one and the same, and she was in love with him and his Chat Noir side, and they were going to talk about this – that he wasn't bothered by Plagg's rude, greedy, ways.
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As usual Alya was in the midst of all the danger.
It was, after all, her duty as the foremost journalist on all things Ladybug to capture the Akuma attack in all of it's gory detail on live stream so that Ladybug and Chat Noir could be informed of the danger and come to the rest of her classmates' rescue. Unfortunate it meant that Alya had almost been knocked out by heavy objects (like pieces of the school locker) and had a power blast thrown at her one time too many. Alya was able to dodged and duck with great ease and continue to film (and run a commentary) for all of her viewers right up to when Ladybug suddenly wrapped her yo-yo round Alya's waist and hauled her out of the Akuma's firing range.
"Alya!" Ladybug hissed furiously. "We've discussed this! You can't keep endangering yourself like this."
"But Ladybug it is my duty as a journalist to report this!" Alya protested. "How else would you have known there was an Akuma Attack?!"
Ladybug growled but didn't reply as she was too busy using her yo-yo as a shield against the Akuma's power attacks. Alya got a perfect view of the whole battle as Ladybug managed to get close to the Akuma to start hitting them back with her yo-yo and when it looked like Ladybug might be in danger herself, Chat Noir chose that moment to sweep in and deflect attacks with his baton. It took another clever Lucky Charm and well placed Cataclysm for the Akuma to be defeated and Alya was proud to say she had it all on camera.
Well...most of it, unfortunately in order to keep her life intact she had to duck behind debris and missed bits and pieces here and there but it's more than the real news channels were ever going to get and she can be more than satisfied with that.
Because she got the juiciest, best, clip of them all!
Ladybug held up her fist for the traditional fist bump when Chat Noir uncurled her fingers to slide his between hers and suddenly tugged her forward. She stumbled into him as her cheeks flushed bright pink and her eyes glazed over in the same way Marinette's always did when she gazed upon Adrien. It was the most love struck look Alya had ever seen on the superhero's face.
Chat caressed Ladybug's cheek softly with his other hand as his eyes bore into Ladybug's, asking a silent question. He must have seen an answer somewhere because he leaned in and kissed her lingeringly. Ladybug tilted her head and deepened the kiss and Alya had no choice but to keep filming as shocked but ecstatic grin spread across her face.
She shuffled closer to zoom in on all the good lip-locking when Chat Noir and Ladybug pulled apart to catch their breath. Chat rested his forehead against Ladybug's as they panted in unison both equally flushed.
Alya inwardly squirmed with excitement that at least one of her ships were finally sailing!
"...ette, I love you," Chat Noir murmured.
"I love you too, Kitty," Ladybug replied softly.
"YES!" Alya screamed excitedly. "LADYNOIR IS FINALLY REAL! YOU SAW IT HERE FIRST ON THE LADYBLOG, FOLKS!"
Ladybug and Chat Noir's eyes bugged out of their sockets as they immediately jumped away from one another as if they had been electrocuted. They both blushed a deep, fiery, red as they spluttered incoherently.
"A-A-A-Alya!" Ladybug half shrieked. "Haven't you heard the concept of personal space and privacy?!"
"But Ladybug," Alya said innocently as possible, "you're a public person involved in the safety and the well being of this city. It is my duty to ensure that the people know exactly who is defending them. Now, do you think your new relationship status with Chat Noir would effect your efficiency in battle?"
Ladybug spluttered indignantly at that as Chat squeezed their still entangled hands comfortingly and shot her a sheepish grin.
"My Lady is most professional when lives are at stake," he said smoothly, "It will take more than this breathless beauty such as me to distract her from the safety of Paris."
"Uh-uh," Alya said flatly, "and tell me," she narrowed her eyes in suspicion at Chat Noir's all too innocent face. She didn't trust him to not sneak off and plant some kisses on Marinette after this and she was not letting her Girl get heartbroken over the likes of this Tom Cat. "Is your relationship with Ladybug exclusive?"
Tell me that you have taken my advice and left Marinette alone to stick to Ladybug, was what she meant.
"The girl by my side is the only girl for me," Chat said firmly as he turned to gaze deeply into Ladybug's eyes, "whether or not she is wearing the mask."
Ladybug flushed at that as the smallest but most dazzling smile appeared on her face. "It's only you for me too," she mumbled almost timidly, "I'll take you no matter what. Puns and all."
Chat smiled sweetly as he leaned in closer to Ladybug. Alya also leaned in closely, hoping to capture a second Ladynoir kiss for her blog, when suddenly there was a loud beeping noise and both Ladybug and Chat Noir leaped away again.
"That's our cue!" Ladybug exclaimed. "Gotta go!"
"Until the next time," Chat Noir bowed.
And then, instead of dashing off in opposite directions like they usually did, Alya watched fascinated as they grabbed hold of each other's hands and ran away together in the exact same direction. There was no doubt about it that their relationship status has certainly changed.
"You heard it hear first, folks!" Alya grinned into her camera. "Ladybug and Chat Noir are now a couple! This is Alya Cesaire bringing you super news straight from the cat's mouth."
She signed off with a wink and turned the camera off before she pumped a victorious fist into the air.
Ladybug and Chat Noir were a couple!
That was now one less obstacle for Adrien and Marinette to get together! She could show her video to Marinette to ensure her friend was aware of Chat Noir's new non-bachelor status. It would hurt Marinette a little, and Alya was sorry for that, but as she would still be chained to Adrien, there is no doubt that Adrien would step up to comfort her like the prince charming he is. Soon enough Adrien and Marinette would fall into each other's arms and Golden Lotus will also be sailing!
Today was totally Alya's day!
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The disappointing thing about Akuma attacks was that Ladybug always fixed everything afterwards.
This meant, annoyingly, that even though the school was totally destroyed twenty minutes ago, it was now miraculously fixed again and classes could continue without any trouble. Alix sighed at the loss of a possible half day because Ladybug did her job far too well to Alix's liking.
Would it kill Ladybug to leave the school half-destroyed so they could have a couple weeks off?!
That wasn't too much to ask for, surely?
Alix, Alya, Mylene, Rose and Juleka were the only ones in class as they waited for everyone to make a return. Nino and Ivan had been spotted in the school entrance listening to some music together, Nathaniel was probably hiding in the art room, Kim and Max had probably snuck off somewhere to play video games while the Akuma attack had happened, and Chloe and Sabrina probably ran off to some high-tech top-notch safe room in the hotel because heaven forbid Chloe broke a nail in the middle of an Akuma attack.
And the teacher was probably in the staff room or something, who knows?
Who cares?
They were in the middle of watching Ladybug and Chat Noir kiss when Adrien and Marinette stumbled in. There was something a little off about them that Alix couldn't quite put her finger on. Both of their hairs looked messed up as if someone had been running their fingers through them, and they both looked very flushed and flustered, and was it just Alix but did their lips look kinda swollen?
They both had great big stupid grins on their faces too which was unexpected because Alix thought they would be switching between sulking and dying of embarrassment for the rest of the day until they finally unlocked the handcuffs.
(Of course, they had a spare key. It was firmly hidden under Alya's mattress at home.)
It was Alya, of course, who immediately put her finger on what was wrong with the picture before them. "You're not handcuffed any more!" she huffed. "How did you get out of them?!"
"Oh," Adrien shrugged, "Chat Noir used Cataclysm on them to free us."
"Did he now?" Alya narrowed her eyes at that. "Hey Marinette!" she added brightly. "Have you heard that Ladybug and Chat Noir are now an item?"
Alix snorted at that. "Subtle Alya," she muttered as she rolled her eyes, "real subtle."
Alya's cheeks had a red tinge to them but otherwise Alya ignored her completely as she waved her phone excitedly before Marinette's nose. "See!" she said smugly. "I was the first one to get confirmation."
"That's nice Alya," Marinette said cheerfully.
Alix and the others swapped dubious glances. That was way too accepting for a girl who had all but turned into a puddle of goo in Chat Noir's arms last month when she was tangled up in probably the most romantic pose Alix had ever seen in her short life (outside of romantic movies and novels that is). There had to be something else going on that they were missing!
It was Rose who noticed exactly what it is.
"You're still holding hands!" Rose cried out as she pointed at Adrien and Marinette's entwined fingers. "You're no longer handcuffed but you're still holding hands!"
Adrien and Marinette instantly turned bright pink at that.
"Well, ah, you see," Adrien rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, "we got to realise a couple things about each other handcuffed and, well..."
"...we'reacouplenow!" Marinette blurted out.
There was a long lingering silence as they all stood there and let exactly what Marinette had said sink in and then -
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"
Adrien and Marinette flinched back with pained expressions as all of them – yes Alix included! - screamed in utter delight that they had finally – finally! - succeeded in reaching their goal of Golden Lotus. Alix didn't even hesitate as she took Alya's hand on one side and Mylene's on the other as they all began to jump up and down excitedly in a circle together.
"WE DID IT! WE DID IT! WE DID IT! WE DID IT! WE DID IT!" they chanted giddily together. "WE DID IT! WE DID IT! WE DID IT! WE DID IT! WE DID IT! WE DID IT! WE DID IT!"
Adrien threw his head back and laughed for some reason while Marinette looked utterly flabbergasted at their reaction. She didn't have time to compose herself though as Alya ripped her hands away to fling herself at Marinette. Alix followed without hesitation and ended up crushed between Marinette's elbow, Alya's shoulder, and all of Mylene who collided into her back. She could just make out Rose and Juleka hugging Adrien from the other side.
"I'm so happy for you!"
"This is amazing!"
"It's brilliant!"
"Oh congratulations!"
"Finally!" Alix exclaimed. "Just finally! It's about time you two hooked up!"
"ALIX!"
"What?" Alix asked untroubled by her friends' aghast expressions. "It's the truth! We all thought this would end up being our grandchildren's mission these two were so oblivious!" Adrien and Marinette flushed with matching blushes. Urgh, they were so going to be one of those couples that did everything together and wear matching jumpers at Christmas, weren't they? "After all the trouble with Chloe, the detentions, the grounding, the Akumas, and all the other little fuck ups, they're finally together and all we had to do was sell – shit!" Alix interrupted herself as the memory of Plagg smacked her in the face. "Does this mean I definitely have to call my kid Wensleydale now?!"
"Huh?!" Marinette squeaked.
"Wensleydale?" Adrien repeated with a frown. "Why would you need to name your child after a chee-"
"YES!" Plagg bellowed, drowning out Adrien's question. "And you're overdue for your weekly cheese sacrifice too!" He added crossly. "Whatever happened to devotion and piety towards your God? A few centuries ago it would be unthinkable to let your lord and master starve to death from lack of cheese sacrifices especially after I had just answered all of your prayers. Where's the gratitude and the worshipping I am owed? Honestly you just can't get the right kind of disciples for a cult these days."
Everyone stiffened in shock and their eyes widened mortification as Plagg's loud, demanding, voice wafted out clearly from beneath Adrien Agreste's shirt...