The first order of business on that fated Tuesday afternoon was to visit Master Fu and say her final goodbyes to Tikki.
Marinette was not unfamiliar with the ancient old man, having acquainted herself with him several times over the years when Tikki fell ill or when she just needed a piece of grandfatherly wisdom from someone who knew exactly what she was going through. Master Fu was an understanding man, a virtue he'd developed thanks to his almost 191 years on the planet, so when Marinette explained the situation to him he only smiled knowingly, telling her it's alright- Ladybug and Chat were never the same people for too long anyway.
"I'm sure there's another clumsy middle-schooler that'd be perfect for the part," Marinette joked weakly, mindlessly rubbing the base of Tikki's antennae as the kwami relished in her owner's last affective touches.
"Probably," Fu chuckled kindly in response. "I do not want to say it is a shame, because you deserve the opportunity to chase your ambitions, but you truly were a fine Ladybug."
"Thank you," the girl replied earnestly. "For everything."
"It was my pleasure."
The traditional wooden clocked chimed two o'clock, surprising all three of them.
"Alright, Tikki," Marinette grinned, tears beginning to well at the bottom of her sombre-blue eyes. "I guess this is goodbye."
The cherry-coloured kwami flew up close to the soon-to-be-former-superheroine's face, nuzzling her cheek.
"I'll miss you a lot," Tikki giggled, her expression composed but a hint of sadness still apparent. "But I wish you all the luck in the world, Marinette."
They paused for a bittersweet moment, Marinette taking a slow, deep breath before delicately bringing her trembling hands up to her ear.
"Goodbye, Tikki," she whispered, removing the first earring.
"Goodbye, Ladybug."
She deposited the Miraculous into the original hexagon-shaped box that started it all and handed it to Master Fu, who accepted it with a nod and sentimental smile.
"Well," Marinette said, a high, cheery voice mixing with the tears rolling down her cheeks. "I have a plane to catch, so… good bye, I guess." She bit her lip, trying to stop herself from crying.
"Farewell, Marinette," Fu placed his hand on her shoulder encouragingly. "May your future have the best of luck."
"Plagg?" Tikki called out, spotting the telltale black ears behind a gigantic wheel of cheese on the dresser. "What are you doing here!?"
The black kwami gulped down his mouthful of camembert, giving his well-loved friend a big, cheeky grin. "You're not the only one whose Miraculous wielder is going off to New York!"
Indeed, sitting in Seat 2A on flight F6294 at Charles De Gaulle Airport was a very handsome and very jittery blonde boy who kept alternating his gaze from out the tiny window to the aisle on his left where soon, hopefully, he'd see the girl he was waiting for.
The butterflies in his stomach took a turn for the worse as soon as he saw her. He grinned, watching her face pale in shock as she abruptly dug through the pockets in her favourite black cardigan, hastily pulling out her boarding ticket. Adrien started to laugh out loud when she looked up from her ticket to the number written below the overhead compartment, then back to her ticket, then back up at the number, then finally to him.
"Hey, Marinette," he gave a small wave. "Long time no see."
"Oh, uh," she stammered, not meeting his gaze behind the large duffel bag she was carrying. Her cheeks burned with their usual redness.
She managed to squeak out a pitiful hi, the tension between them growing in every passing second after the sounds left her mouth.
Adrien turned into himself, not wanting to make her uncomfortable. He returned his gaze out the window as he watched Marinette from the corner of his eye try (and fail) to get her luggage into the very, very high storage compartment.
"Here, let me get that for you," he intercepted her, climbing out of his seat to grab the bag and push it up into the space.
"Oh, uh, thank you," she said, scarlet blazing her face as she realized their sudden close proximity- airplane aisles were only so large.
"No problem," Adrien replied, quickly ducking back into his seat, chiding himself for scaring her. Although, looking at the pigtailed girl as she carefully let herself sink into the plush maroon chair, he figured there wasn't anything he could do that wouldn't make her feel even more nervous.
This in turn made him even more nervous. As he expected, the air filled with an awkward silence. He fiddled with his phone as Marinette struggled with her seatbelt.
"Is this your first time on an airplane?" he asked curiously, wanting to break the ice.
"Yeah, I'm kinda nervous," Marinette answered, laughing politely.
"Do you want the window seat?" Adrien offered, leaning up slightly.
"Oh no, it's okay, but thanks," she held her hands up in protest as Adrien, defeated, fell back into his chair.
They broke apart again, the quiet drowning them.
Adrien trained his head straight ahead, pretending to pay attention to the airplane loading image on the screen in front of him. He was acutely aware of the impatient drumming of Marinette's fingers on the shared armrest between them.
"Sorry about the gala," she blurted out suddenly.
"What?" he asked, turning to face her.
"The gala," she repeated. "I just randomly disappeared, I'm sorry if I caused any trouble or something."
"Oh, don't worry, I took care of it," Adrien told her, glad to see her relax, if even just a smidgen.
"That's good," she breathed, and he could see her hesitate, not wanting to break the conversation.
"I'm happy to hear that you got a spot designing for my dad's company," he continued.
"Oh, yeah, I'm very thankful to both of you," she smiled gratefully. "I was so surprised to find out you paid attention to my designs."
"They're really great," he complimented her, grinning at the blush highlighting her cheeks. "I look forward to working with you in New York."
"Wait, what?" she paused, momentarily confused. "Working with me? In New York?"
"Yeah, my dad is letting me model for the new branch, so I'll be living there now," he explained.
"Oh…" she gasped. "That's cool, are you looking forward to it?"
"I look forward to anything that had to do with getting away from my father," he retorted, sighing.
"Yeah, he seems a bit… protective."
"You don't know the half of it."
Their conversation continued, the flow of it becoming more and more natural as they discarded their etiquette and began to act more and more like themselves. In fact, they were in a very heated discussion about their favourite video games when the flight attendant interrupted them, asking them to please quiet down because people around them were trying to sleep.
"Sorry!" they apologized in unison, giggling at each other. The lady only sighed at the stupid teenagers, closing the curtain that separated their seats from the aisle as though the sheer fabric could in any way muffle the sounds.
Adrien was relieved to find Marinette so relaxed around him now, and it gave him a burst of confidence for what he was about to do next.
He was about to open his mouth to speak when Marinette yawned, interrupting him.
"Sorry," she apologized sleepily, craning her head into her shoulder as she struggled to get comfortable in the seat. "Geez, I know this is business class, but the seats are still so uncomfortable."
He swallowed. "If you want, you can sleep on my shoulder."
She blinked at him. "Are you sure?"
"Yeah, I dunno if it will be any more comfortable, but you can try."
She leaned into him, her exhaustion seeming to inhibit her awkwardness entirely. She shifted a little bit right and left as she found the best nook, sighing contentedly when she did.
"Mmm," she hummed. "This is much more comfortable."
"Are you going to go to sleep?" he frowned.
"I'm tiiii-red," she sung lightly, snuggling closer.
He couldn't blame her- it was almost midnight, their nine-hour flight having taken off at seven due to some "engine difficulties".
"Who's going to keep me company, then?" he pouted.
"I dunno," she mumbled.
It was now or never, he realized.
"Stay up for a bit longer," he begged, lightly shaking his shoulder. Irritated, she fell back up into her own seat.
"Why should I?"
"What if," he asked, then suddenly dropped his voice into a whisper. "What if I told you I had two very important secrets that I've never told anybody?"
He piqued her interest, he could tell. She leaned in to him, eyes wide open, inquisitive and wondering.
"One," he held up his finger, taking a deep breath. Her stare hypnotized him, and he knew, he knew there was no backing out anymore. Slowly, gently, he brought his hand up to her jaw, absentmindedly tracing her jawline with his thumb.
"I know you're Ladybug."
Her eyes blew open in shock, and her whole body stiffened like ice. "How do you know that?"
"Because," he said simply, the beginnings of a small smile dancing across his lips.
"You told me."
If her eyes were saucers before, they could hold galaxies now. Her hand trembled as she brought it on top of his, painfully cold in comparison to his which burned with nerves. Her line of sight followed his hand to his arm, then to his shoulders, then finally to his face, where suddenly every familiar feature fell into place and the instantaneous recognition flashed across her stunned face.
"Chat?" she breathed.
"Shhhhhh," he pressed a finger to his lips. "That's my second secret."
"But, but," she did her best to remain quiet as the incredulity disappeared, "if you're Chat, and you're here, and you're going to New Yo- oh my God," she realized. "You came for me."
"I told you everything would work out, Princess," he beamed.
Her words escaped her; she simply shook her head, a giant grin spread on her face.
"You can go to sleep now, by the way," he teased her. Wordlessly, she resumed her place on his shoulder, taking the liberty to hug his arm with hers.
Adrien's nerves had all disappeared, the butterflies had all flown away, the voices were finally gone. A sigh of relief escaped him, and he watched his sleeping girlfriend breathe up and down next to him, the goofiest smile spread all over his face.
"Good night, Marinette," he hushed, pressing a small kiss to the loose strands of her blue-black hair.
He closed his eyes and rested his head on top of hers.
Author's Notes:
Oh my god!? We're done!? We're finally done!?
Wow what an experience this has been! I hope you all enjoy this chapter and the long-awaited reveal- hopefully it lived up to your expectations!
Thanks again for all of the favourites, all of the follows, and all of the reviews! The epilogue will be coming out soon and I do have the beginnings of another fic (no angst in this one! Just pure Adrienette fluff!) ready to go if you want to look forward to that.