**A/N: It was a bit of a chaotic week, and this chapter ended up needing almost a complete rewrite. 0_o But it's up on time!**


CHAPTER 12: CRISIS

"What was that? She was right there!" Plagg gestured wildly towards my bedroom window as I frantically paced around my sofa.

"Marinette is Ladybug. Ladybug is Marinette. Marinette and Ladybug are the same person. This whole time. This whole time. This whole time!" I dug my fingers deep into my hair as I repeated my mantra. I switched directions. Maybe going clockwise around my sofa would clear things up.

It didn't.

"Marinette and Ladybug are the same person."

"Adrien." Plagg floated in front of me, his arms crossed and his tail twitched with agitation.

I ignored him, walking slightly off my path to avoid him, and then slid right back into the groove I was probably wearing into the floor. "My heart was being torn between Ladybug and Ladybug. Sorta."

"Adrien." Plagg again hovered in my face, his voice louder this time.

I dodged him a second time by pivoting on my heels and trying counter-clockwise laps around my sofa again. "Ladybug was sitting behind me in class this whole time. Behind me in class, Plagg!"

Not to mention that I had hung out with her. I was in her room. I unknowingly held my lady in my arms as I saved Marinette from akuma attacks. We had gone to concerts together. I had shared my popcorn with her. I had nearly kissed her in Nino's and Alya's horror film!

"Adrien!" Plagg shouted, his whole body uncurled with the energy of the outburst. It was enough to finally snag my attention. "Why did you run away? She was right there. You had found her."

I couldn't quite pin the undertone of his voice. Was it exasperation? Concern? Actually, it almost felt accusatory.

"What do you mean, 'why did I run away'? Are you not hearing me right now? I'm freaking out!"

"I'll say." Plagg rolled his eyes and floated over to the mini-fridge. "What's the big deal anyway? You wanted to know who Ladybug is, and now you do. You felt guilty about liking both Ladybug and Marinette, and now you don't need to choose between them. You're freaking out over nothing." He shook his head and phased into the fridge. The door unlatched and he floated back out with his arms full of Camembert wedges.

"Yeah, I wanted to know who Ladybug is, but Ladybug didn't want me to know. This is bad, Plagg. This is so bad."

"Chat, you know we can't know." Ladybug had told me. "It's too dangerous."

I was so screwed.

"What's so bad about it?" Plagg shoved a slice of Camembert into his mouth.

"What's so-? You were the one who told me no one can know about you."

"Eh, I meant civilians. Could you imagine if they found out about kwamis? Plus, it would paint a target on your back. What would stop Hawk Moth from finding out who you are? But I never meant for you to keep your secret identity from Ladybug. That was more Tikki's rule."

"You're saying that this whole time-" My voice went up in pitch with each word. I held back the urge to strangle my kwami; he could just phase through my hands anyway.

I screwed my eyes shut, pinched the bridge of my nose, and sat on my sofa. "Doesn't matter. Ladybug didn't want me to know, and now I do. All because I had to be a complete creepasaurus, and watch Marinette in her room." I sighed as I opened my eyes and stared through my TV; not registering anything in front of me. "Marinette is Ladybug. I- How?"

Even when I asked the question, I knew I already had the answer. How could she not be Ladybug? I had seen it the whole time; I just ignored it. She was the right physical build. She kept her raven hair in pigtails tied back with red bands, and her bangs swept to the left. She even had those adorable freckles that were so faint that most people might miss them. Plus, there were those deep, caring, bluebell-colored eyes.

When Marinette was focused she had Ladybug's agility, and she definitely had surprising reflexes. She was super smart and crafty; always figuring out solutions to tough situations. She was brave, tough, and sweet. She looked for the best in people, except for-

Suddenly, Ladybug's over-the-top frustration with ChloƩ made complete sense. In fact, a lot of things, mostly about Marinette, now made a lot of sense. Why Marinette was always late to class, or trying to sneak out early. Why she was always so jumpy whenever she was caught somewhere alone (she was probably talking to her kwami, or preparing to transform). Why she seemed a bit flaky with after-school plans. The biggest puzzle piece was why Marinette seemed so at ease around supervillains.

It now felt so fitting that Marinette was calm when she was with Evillustrator. Of course she acted like she had been around akumatized villains before; she had. Also, Ladybug's "secret mission" she never told me about, how she knew Marinette's name and address, and why she needed me to watch over my classmate by myself all made perfect sense.

God, I had made a complete fool of myself by trying to act like a brave knight in shining armor around her. Her. Ladybug! Just... out of costume. I must have looked like an idiot. Then that time I rescued her from Gamer, and jumped off the top of Le Grand Paris while doing a barrel roll? Did I seriously do that in front of Ladybug? No wonder she didn't like Chat Noir. I was always pathetically showing off in front of her.

No. I didn't know it was my partner. I was showing off in front of Marinette. Both times were me trying to prove myself as this great superhero and protector for Marinette. Why?

Had I always subconsciously known? Was I trying to show off to Marinette in order to win over Ladybug? Or was I showing off because I had always had a crush on Marinette, and just didn't realize it because my love for Ladybug had eclipsed it?

"Gaaah!" I ruffled my hair and started pacing my room again. "Plagg, I can't handle this. I can't handle knowing. What do I do?"

"What do you mean?" Plagg shoved yet another slice of cheese in his mouth, and continued talking as he chewed. "You were the one who whined day in and day out that you wanted to know who was under the mask. You practically begged her to let you know. I swear, it's like her de-transforming inside the hotel closet all over again. You want to know, but you don't." He shook his head and gobbled down his last slice of Camembert.

I collapsed back onto the sofa. The room was spinning, and I couldn't be on my feet.

"I still don't understand why you aren't happy," Plagg continued. "You finally found the love of your life. She turned out to be one of your best friends, and you already have a crush on her secret identity. How are you not celebrating? Is it really that bad that Ladybug turned out to be Marinette?"

"No!" I turned to address Plagg so quickly I nearly toppled my sofa over. As it rocked to even its footing again I draped across the back; my arms dangling limp towards the floor. "I- I mean, yes? No. No, I'm not freaking out because Ladybug is Marinette, but, yeah, I kind of am? I- I don't know what I mean. It's complicated." I groaned again and wedged my face into the sofa's back cushions.

"Humans. Everything is complicated with you." Plagg drifted back to the mini-fridge.

As much as he couldn't understand why my mind was little more than scrambled eggs at the moment, I couldn't fathom how he could still be hungry. He must have eaten at least two full wheels since Terravenger was defeated. Even with his love of Camembert, I had never seen him eat so much of it. I must have really drained him with so many transformations in one day.

I walked over to my bed and flopped face first into my pillows. I buried my head and let out a muffled yell. I had no clue why Plagg was so calm about everything. It was complicated.

Barely two days into working along side Ladybug, I had professed that I loved whomever was under that mask. And I truly did, didn't I? I wasn't just fixated on the fact that Ladybug was a superhero. That didn't matter, because I was one too. The powers weren't what made her special. Everything that made Marinette was. With or without the mask, Ladybug was still smart, and brave, and kind, and supportive, and determined. So what if Marinette was also a bit of a klutz? It was actually kind of enduring, as long as she didn't hurt herself. Plus, it was nice to "save" her as Adrien by catching her falls. And sure, she was kind of meek when she didn't have the protection of her mask, but even her shyness and awkward stuttering was adorable.

Plus, I always felt like I could talk to Ladybug. She was my best friend. And I felt just as comfortable around Marinette. In fact, in my civilian form, I felt the most comfortable and most like myself whenever I was around her. As cool as Nino was, and as much as he encouraged me to let loose and act like a normal kid, there was just something more about Marinette. I could be vulnerable around her, and she wouldn't judge. I could let her know my failures, and she'd try to lift me up.

Know my failures.

"My confession!" I popped up so quick the pillows covering my head flew to the floor. "I never confessed to Marinette."

"Nope," came Plagg's helpful reply as he riffled through the mini-fridge still. "Someone got a bit distracted. Human teenagers and their hormones."

I buried my face in my hands and groaned. "I could handle Marinette hating Chat Noir, but if I confess to her I'm also confessing to Ladybug. She'll never want to work with me after that, not when she can't trust me. How could I remain her Chat Noir if she won't be able to rely on her partner? There's no way I can tell Marinette what I've done."

"Weren't you going to let her know anyway?"

"Yeah?" I drew out the word.

Plagg poked his head out of the fridge to give me a knowing look before diving back into his Fort Knox of cheese.

"Okay, so maybe I was trying to avoid letting Ladybug know until I could at least prove myself. If she thought she couldn't protect Paris without me, or that it would at least be a lot harder, maybe my confession wouldn't seem so bad. But after she single-handedly defeated Terravenger? Why would she keep on a Peeping Tomcat as a partner? I told you, Plagg, this is bad!"

"Alright," Plagg called over from the mini-fridge, "so go with your original plan and just wait to tell her. Problem solved." There was the clanging of shelves as he shifted around in the fridge.

"Problem not solved. Marinette deserves to know what I've done."

"And you'll tell her eventually, right? So what harm is there if she doesn't find out right away?"

"How many things turn out fine when I listen to you and wait?"

"Hey," Plagg called out from deep inside the mini-fridge, "Do we have more Camembert somewhere?"

"What?" My mind came to a full-stop as I tried to figure out when we shifted off of my crisis.

"Camembert." Plagg poked his head back out of the fridge, spilling empty cheese wheel containers onto my floor. "Do you have some stashed anywhere?"

"Uh, no. Only what's in the fridge." I lazily pointed to the mini-fridge as I tried to comprehend when our conversation derailed. "Wait. Are you telling me you ate it all? There had to have been about five more wheels left!"

"You're going to have to go get more," Plagg stated dryly as he drifted over to me.

"Yeah, alright. I'll pick some up tomorrow, but-"

"No, Adrien. I need it now."

"Now? You just had how much of it? I'll get more for you tomorrow, you've had enough tonight."

I went over to shut the mini-fridge. Plagg darted in front of my face. His arms were crossed, his eyebrows scrunched together, and his tail twitched behind him.

"No. I need more Camembert now. You had me transform you four times today. I'm tired." He drew out the last word in a whine that would rival a two-year-old's.

"I said no, Plagg. I'm not in the mood for your stinky cheese."

"Come on." He pouted, zipped over to my arm, and started tugging on the cuff of my sleeve. "You can ask that Gorilla or Nathalie to bring it to you."

"I think someone would notice that I'm asking for Camembert after being 'sick' all day. Especially since I'd be asking for food past eleven on a school night. When I should be sleeping. I don't need to raise alarms. Besides, I want to be alone right now, so just go to bed. I'll get you more cheese when I have breakfast."

"I'm not waiting," he squeaked in his raspy voice, "I'll just get some myself."

"Fine. Have fun." I waved him off and fell back onto my bed. My focus had to be on emptying out my mind enough to fall asleep. School was already going to be unbearable with Marinette there, I really needed to get some rest so I could survive it. I hid under my sheets, as if my problems weren't going to find me within my cotton fortress.

I heard a whoosh, but no more whining from Plagg. I had no clue what had gotten into him, but he couldn't possibly still be hungry after eating five times his weight in cheese, could he? I didn't tire him out that much, did I? After about three minutes of tossing and turning I became nervous that I hadn't heard any further peeps from my kwami.

"Did he really go to the kitchen by himself?"

Throwing my covers off, I sprinted to the door and cracked it open.

"Plagg?" I whispered out into the hall, but there was no reply. I called his name out a little louder, but there was still nothing. Checking that no one was in the atrium, I slipped out of my room. Moving slowly, I padded my way to the kitchen, softly calling out Plagg's name as I went. He didn't respond. There was nothing but the muffled sound of my father finishing up a late business call.

At the foot of the stairs I sidled against the banister, and slinked around to the far wall. Keeping an eye on Father's office door, I crept towards the dining room. I made sure the doors were fully shut behind me before again calling out for Plagg in a stage whisper. There remained nothing in the stillness of the house. Cautiously backing away from the dining room doors, I headed towards the kitchen.

The soft clatter of things falling bled through the door as I neared it. I darted in and found Plagg knocking containers onto the floor while he searched the refrigerator for more cheese. An empty Camembert container was already discarded onto the tile.

"Plagg," I hissed, "that's enough. You're making a mess. It's late, I'm tired, I want to go to school tomorrow-"

"So you can see Marinette? The girl you may or may not confess to about spying on her?" There was a strange tone to Plagg's voice. It sounded hopeful, but also snarky and bitter.

"Why do you care? You've never shown an interest in my love life before."

Plagg went back to shoving things out of the refrigerator as he nibbled on scraps here and there. "Yeah, well, it got real interesting now."

"So glad my torment is such entertainment for you." I rolled my eyes and started scooping things off the floor.

He didn't respond. He found a small block of leftover cheddar and swallowed it whole. "No Camembert, but it's a start." He continued with his rummaging.

"Plagg, seriously, stop. You're making a mess."

He huffed and stared right at me as he knocked an entire row of premade parfaits off the shelf. Typical cat. The yogurt splattered everywhere, and my patience came to an abrupt end.

"What is wrong with you?" I shouted, no longer concerned about whether my father could hear me.

"Wrong with me? Have you heard yourself all night? All I wanted was some cheese."

"Why? Why do you need more to eat? You've had enough!"

Plagg's jaw locked up and he spilled a carton of eggs onto the tile.

"Okay, that's it! Plagg, claws out!"

Plagg didn't resist. He just huffed again, crossed his arms, and let the ring suck him into it. With a flash of green I was Chat Noir for the fifth time that day. Grumbling to myself, I cleaned up Plagg's mess as fast as I could. My heart thumped as I kept an ear out for anyone making their way to that part of the house. It would be hard to explain why Chat Noir was randomly wiping up the Agreste kitchen.

Once everything was back in the fridge, the dishes were washed, and the floor was mopped, I headed back to my room. I figured I needed a peace offering after basically putting Plagg into a time-out, so I scooped up some change, hopped out my bedroom window, and ran over to a twenty-four-hour grocery store. Thankfully, it was nearing midnight, so only the night clerk and a few night owl shoppers were in the store. I didn't have to suffer too many odd looks as I bought Camembert at such a late hour while still Chat Noir. For the ones that did see me, it would be something interesting for them to tell their friends at least: "Did you know that one of Paris' guardian superheroes liked stinky cheese, and bought it around midnight? It was so surreal."

Safely back in my room, I opened the wheel of cheese, and then depowered. Plagg spat back out of the ring, and landed on my sofa in front of me.

"Ugh! What was that? You know it drains me to power you up, even if you don't use Cataclysm."

"I know." I slid the Camembert over to him, "But I couldn't think of any other way of getting you to stop. What has gotten into you, Plagg? The overeating, the grumpiness, the destruction in the kitchen? That's not you. Something is up, and I want to know what."

Plagg downed the slice I offered him, scooped up a second wedge, and nuzzled it before gobbling that down too. "Nevermind. Just keep the Camembert coming and I'll behave myself. Besides, aren't you too worried about your Marinette is Ladybug situation to focus on anything else?"

There was a bite to his words. It irritated me that he couldn't just say what he wanted to say.

"Hey, I'm trying to deal with something major, and you're just obsessing over your stinky cheese. If there's something more going on you should tell me. You're my friend, and I can make time for you too if you need me."

Plagg huffed, turned his back to me, and downed another slice. I waited for a response, but all I got was the noisy slurp of Plagg inhaling more and more of the cheese. When he was about half way done I gave up. Sighing heavily through my nose, I stood up and started walking to my bed.

"Ya know what?" I grumbled, "Nevermind. Serves me right to think you'd have a serious conversation for once. I should know better by now."

There was a loud glub as Plagg swallowed hard on the last of the cheese. It caught my attention because it was then that I realized he hadn't said anything at all. Even when he's eating, he usually had some sort of snarky response to my nagging. This time he was completely ignoring me. I looked over my shoulder, just before Plagg had a chance to turn from me. His eyes seemed extra green, like there was a sheen brightening them.

"Plagg, are- are you crying?" I walked back over and slid onto the couch beside him.

"Such a silly question." He blinked rapidly, clearing his eyes, before jerking his head away from me. "I may still be mad at you, but I don't cry. That's a silly human thing." He floated up from the couch and drifted over to my Foosball table. He started kicking the ball around the metal player figures.

"Come on, Plagg. I know something is wrong. You've been acting super weird all night, ever since I found out that Marinette is La-" I had my answer. I found out who Ladybug was because of the kwami Tikki. Plagg had seen her, and he had been acting up ever since.

"This is about Tikki, isn't it? Wow, I'm such a jerk! I've been so focused on my own mind being blown, it didn't occur to me how seeing another kwami might affect you. Are you sure you're okay, buddy?"

Plagg kicked the Foosball into one of the goals and floated up to land on the crossbar of a line of players. "I just haven't seen her in so long."

"You don't talk much about the other kwamis. Is Tikki the only one?"

Plagg's eyes darted all around me, like he was scanning to see if I was worthy of this knowledge. He became serious.

"There are many Miraculouses, and each one has a kwami to power it up and to protect the Chosen One. Even Hawk Moth has one. Tikki, though..." He rubbed the back of his head, and his cat ears bent sorrowfully back. "She's different. She's special among the other kwamis."

There was a hint of wistfulness as he looked out my bedroom window. His voice was subtly warm, and a sad smile gently spread across his lips. Plagg also had a strange longing in his voice when he first saw Ladybug's kwami.

"Whoa! Are- are you and Tikki- Like, together?"

"What?" Plagg perked an eyebrow at me for a second. Then the meaning of my stumbled question finally occurred to him. His ears and tail perked up in alarm, and his eyes widened as he bolted off the crossbar of the Foosball table. "No! Wow! No!" He stuck out his tongue and made a gagging sound. "No, I don't have feelings like love, unless I'm talking about cheese! Gross! No, Tikki's special because, well, she's- I guess you'd call her my sister."

"Sister?" I struggled to not scream the word. It seemed so weird, picturing Plagg and Tikki as kids with a mother. Did they have a mother? Were they ever kids? It didn't look like they aged at all. I had assumed that they just sort of 'were'. I hadn't thought of them having families.

"Well," Plagg drew out the word as he scrunched up his face in contemplation. "We're not siblings the same way humans or even animals are. We were birthed from prehistoric magic, and we were each tied to a Miraculous by mystics eons ago. The Miraculouses for Tikki and I were created at the same time, so I guess you could even consider us twins."

My head felt like it was about to explode. "I need to lay down." I stumbled over to my bed and collapsed onto it. Plagg quickly followed me over and landed on the pillow beside me.

"Tikki and I are kind of two sides of the same coin. We balance each other out, sort of a Yin and Yang situation."

I thought back to Marinette's sundress. It wasn't just a Chat Noir theme along the top half and Ladybug theme along the bottom, there was a curvature to the break. It looked like part of a yin-yang symbol. Had she always known?

"Together," Plagg continued, "we are creation and destruction; good and bad luck;

optimism and realism; drive and laziness; order and chaos; boring and fun." He winked at the implication.

"Now I'm even more confused. If Tikki means that much to you, then why wouldn't you want to help me figure out who Ladybug was? Wouldn't you want us to find each other as soon as possible? That way you and Tikki could be reunited?"

"I don't know what you're talking about. I remember yelling at you for closing that closet door while Ladybug was de-powering. You could have known it was Marinette months ago." He shrugged.

"Yeah, but you never actually actively tried to help me figure out who it is. In fact, you teased me about trying to find her."

Plagg shrugged and shook his head. "It didn't really matter to me. There was a Ladybug still in the world, so obviously that meant Tikki was fine. That's all that really mattered. As long as I knew Tikki was alright I didn't need to see her. I mean, you and your dad don't really hang out much."

My chest tightened and I rolled away from Plagg. "Yeah, but I wish we could hang out more. I thought you knew how much I wish my father would spend time with me. How important it is to me to be able to see family."

"Sorry. You're right. I do know." He placed a paw on my temple to let me know that he was there, should I need it. "I'm just saying, that just because you don't see each other all the time doesn't make you any less family. I would like to talk to Tikki, sure, but-" He let the sentence die and the silence hang painfully in the air. "You didn't pick up any more Camembert, did you?"

"We're having a serious discussion and you want to stop to eat even more Camembert?" I sat up and shook my head at him.

"There's no such thing as too much Camembert." The purr he normally had when he talked about his favorite cheese was back, but there was also a sense of sorrow and need.

"Plagg, why are you so obsessed with Camembert tonight?" I cocked an eyebrow and stared him down.

"I'm always obsessed. I don't know what you're talking about. There's nothing unusual about me wanting Camembert." He rambled off his response and avoided my glare by darting his eyes. Finally, he turned away from me so I couldn't read his expression.

"You eat when you miss Tikki, don't you?"

"Pfft," was his only response. I slowly reached my hands out, scooped him out of the air, and pulled him in to a nuzzle.

"Gah!" He shoved my chin away and tried to scurry out of my cradling hands. "What do you think you're doing?"

"It hurts me that I don't see my father as often as I would like. I'm sure you have the same pain about Tikki, and that it was a hard decision for the two of you to stay a secret. I'm sorry you had to go through that, but you have me, buddy."

"Alright, thanks. Can you stop with the mushiness now?" He phased through my hand and zipped to the other side of the room so I couldn't capture him again.

I chuckled for the first time that day, feeling the stress start to melt off. Then it smacked me across the face again.

"I'm going to have to face Marinette tomorrow. I still have no clue what I'm going to do about it. And you still won't be able to hang out with Tikki without Marinette knowing I'm Chat Noir. I don't know if I could ever let her know. I can't chance losing her as a partner and a friend. But I also can't keep you and Tikki apart. What do I do?"

"You can start by not worrying about me. I'm fine. I know where she is, and Marinette seems like a cool girl. I'm sure Tikki is happy. Next, you can at least pretend to be happy that you know who your Ladybug is. You can start wooing Marinette as Adrien. You're a model, it shouldn't be too hard. Then you can still have your lady love. You can decide from there if you want to tell her everything."

I shifted so I could see the hiding place for the unsigned valentine. The new hiding place for the charm Marinette had given to me. It seemed fitting that they were tucked together.

"Yeah, I guess." I pulled one of my pillows to my chest and hugged it tight. My mind whirled around the idea of seeing Marinette at school the next day. I had no clue what I was going to do, or what I was going to say. I was excited to know my Ladybug was going to be right behind me in class, and that she wanted to gift me lunch. I dreaded the idea that she would be so close, and still had faith in me; not knowing better.

I couldn't wait to get to school. I was terrified to go.

I walked over to my hiding spot and gingerly pulled the bracelet out. Shuffling back to bed, I wrapped myself inside my sheets. The charm clenched in my fist and pressed against my chest.

Ladybug was Marinette. Marinette was Ladybug. This was terrible, but it was also amazing.


**A/N: I know most people ship Plagg and Tikki, and in truth, I do too. However, having the kwamis be soulmates tends to complicate the love square: does Adrien and Marinette only love each other because of the influence of their kwamis? I've seen other authors write fanfics based off that question, and they are amazing. However, that's not THIS story. I didn't want to complicate things even more for poor Adrien.

Plus, a lot of the evidence points away from a romantic connection. Mostly, there's the fact that Plagg calls Adrien gross every time the kid goes on and on about his love for Ladybug. It reminds me of a five-year-old listening to his older sibling talking about his girlfriend. Secondly, neither Tikki nor Plagg seem to pine for the other. They don't even speak of each other. Finally, in "Dark Owl" when they do finally see each other, neither race to the other to rejoice in finally finding them. Instead, Tikki shushes Plagg and then feeds him. It feels more like a maternal or sisterly act more than one of a lover.

Let me know your thoughts on the matter. Until next Friday!**