reveal! fluff! personal victories! kissing!

enjoy my sweets

xo moonbaby

...

"Ice of you to drop by, Princess!"

Chat Noir's cheeky adoration shone like a light from Adrien's green eyes.

Ladybug rolled her eyes with practiced resignation, but a giggle bubbled up from deep down in Marinette's belly, and it was like a spring being uncorked. Giggles turned to gales of laughter, and Adrien joined in, both of them lying sprawled on top of each other on the ice, cracking up.

The knot of worry in Marinette's stomach was shaken loose as she laughed, rolling off of Adrien onto her back, clutching her sides. Her smiling face eased the tension aching in his shoulders. The absurdity of their own lives had hit them like a train, and laughing was the only rational response after so much pent up anxiety and fear.

Marinette sighed, only to be set off again. Adrien struggled to sit up, only to collapse into giggles once more.

Finally, they quieted, wiping the tears from their faces, taking deep breaths, staring up at the ceiling of the rink. Her hand found his.

"When did you know?" The clarity that Marinette felt was wonderful.

"When we did the dip during the fight with Malice and Sangfroid." Adrien felt wonderful too. "But I think it just confirmed something I already felt."

"I know what you mean. I didn't let myself put it into words but then when we did the death spiral I had to accept that I had known for a while, on some level." She laced her fingers into his and squeezed.

There was a small silence as Adrien struggled to find words. Questions were starting to pile up again.

"Is it.. I mean, do you…" He took a nervous breath. "Are you disappointed? That its…me?" His heart fluttered like a butterfly.

Marinette sat up abruptly and stared at him. "Are you kidding!?" she spluttered, "of course not, I mean, its all unbelievable, its too good to be true, I think…" She bit her lip, brow furrowed. "Is it too good to be true?"

Adrien sat up and looked intently into her eyes, taking both her hands in his. His heart beat wildly with all the ways he wanted to say how much he felt for her.

"Its way too good, but it is true. The truth, Marinette, is that I asked you to be mine, but what I meant is that I'm yours. Totally, completely, head over heels, for ever and always yours, no matter what you're wearing or doing or what your name is. I'm only embarrassed that it took ice skating to make me see you for all that you are."

Marinette's blue eyes were wide and searching. Her lip slipped from her teeth and she swallowed. "Y-you meant that?" A tiny smile tugged at the corners of her mouth.

Adrien felt a smile tugging at his too. "I was a little blinded by Ladybug, I admit, but skating with you showed me that Marinette is the strong one, the kind one, the one who can do anything she sets her mind to, and just as I chose you I found out I didn't have to choose at all." He felt warm despite the hard ice underneath them. "I'm yours, My Lady."

Marinette felt that flicker in her belly and took in his beautiful, smiling face. The small smile split into a grin, and the weight of her worries and the grief of uncertainty lifted off her. Their faces drew closer as though pulled, and the flicker became a flame.

"And I'm yours, chaton." Their lips met softly, sweetly, as they marveled at the newness and completeness of the moment, the weight and weightlessness of finding each other whole.

Her arms wrapped around his neck and he circled her waist, pressing into each other and kissing around big smiles, giggling and searching. Adrien leaned back and pulled her onto him, paying no mind to the giant empty rink or the cold pressing against his back.

Marinette's mind wandered away as they kissed, warmth and gladness permeating her body, deliciously incredulous at her ladybug luck.

Adrien pulled away a few inches to take her in, panting a little and unable to keep a smile from his swollen lips.

"That's twenty-five thousand times, Marinette."

Her eyebrows shot up and she threw her head back to laugh, a deep, happy laugh at the realizations rolling in. She landed a kiss on his nose.

"Twenty-five thousand and one, Adrien."

With a final smooch she pushed herself off of him and got to her feet, offering him a hand. There was a truly Ladybug look on her face, warning him not to knock her over again. Grinning, Adrien took the hand and stood up carefully.

"Shall we find some common ground, bugaboo?" Adrien teased, noting Marinette's 4-inch advantage on skates.

A wistful expression came over her face as she looked around the rink, and Adrien realized his mistake.

"I'm so sorry, Marinette, I didn't mean—of course you can stay, I—" She shook her head to cut him off.

"No, no, we can go.." she said, shrugging a little. "Did Alain tell you? He's going to Lyons to coach." She took Adrien's hands. "He…well, he knows. He saw it. And we can't.. I mean, it's too risky.." She trailed off, scuffing her toe pick against the ice.

Adrien didn't know what to say. "I'm so sorry, Marinette." His voice was soft. "I know how important skating is to you."

Her eyes were wet but she smiled at him and squeezed his hands. "Oh Adrien, don't apologize. I'll miss it, yeah, but honestly…the best thing I got out of skating was you." She blushed a little. "Well…us." She went to duck her head but a hand caught her chin, and a kiss landed on her mouth.

Adrien's voice was warm. "Good thing a cute girl taught me how."

"Good thing Alya set us up." Marinette laughed and swiped her eyes with her sleeve. "She's going to love this- what we can tell her, anyway."

A thought that had been nagging Adrien couldn't be held back anymore. "How did you know Michel was doping?" He blurted out.

"Oh!" Marinette chuckled drily, barely skating beside him as he started shuffling towards the gate. "It was Chloe, actually, with that magazine. Michel had a cigarette and something just sort of clicked. He's always been arrogant but smoking? For a pro athlete, that's a red flag. So I went home and went through footage, especially since he teamed up with Volkov. Russians, you know? Doping isn't just common, its often state funded! So I watched him in practice and it just didn't fit, what he was capable of paired up with his habits and his age level. But I knew nobody would listen to me, so I.. took advantage of the opportunity and let Ladybug do it."

"Is that why he was so…angry, too?" Adrien asked, remembering a distant detail from health class.

Marinette scoffed. "No, that was all natural." She glanced at Adrien, her own question pressing at her lips. "Were you following him? You know, as Chat Noir?"

Adrien looked down guiltily. "Yeah…it was hard not to…I mean he was so terrible to you! But I think you served him pretty well. That punch! That was incredible!" He opened the gate and gratefully set his feet on solid ground.

Marinette stepped down off the ice. "Really? I'm kind of embarrassed about it. Ladybug should know better."

"It was sexy."

She blushed bright red and stared at him in surprise. "I- what!?"

"It was! Can't I tell you that?" Adrien stepped close to her and kissed her jaw. "Plagg says I have a type, you know."

"Plagg? Is that your k-kwami?" Marinette was flushed and flustered.

Adrien kissed her earlobe, smelling her hair, enjoying her blush. He felt warm too. "Yep." He kissed her neck, hands on her waist. "He says I like strong," kiss, "confident," kiss, "women" kiss, "who are better at things," kiss, "than me." With a final kiss to her lips he drew back, surveying the damage.

Her eyes were a little glassy against brilliantly pink cheeks. She shook her pigtails and coughed a little, trying to compose herself. She laughed a little.

"You know, when Tikki said Chat Noir wanted to kiss me, I thought she was crazy," Marinette mused, hands reaching up to tangle in Adrien's hair, scratching lightly behind his ears. His face immediately relaxed and he pressed into her hands. She laughed and took advantage, kissing up his neck and under his chin, and he inhaled sharply, shuddering a little and stepping away from her abruptly, face a deep red.

Marinette laughed and sauntered away to the dressing room, smirking back at him. He grinned and followed, devising ways to get back at her. His phone rang in his pocket and he grimaced, answering as he pushed through the door.

"Hi Nathalie. Yes, I'm at the rink with Marinette, I swear I told—"

His face froze in surprise. Marinette looked up from where she was untying her skates.

"Wait, really?! Can I tell-" He was grinning. "Thank you Nathalie! Tell him thanks from me, ok!? Ok, yes." A pause. "Ok bye! Thank you!"

He turned to Marinette, face in a huge grin. She raised her eyebrows.

"You got the internship!"

"WHAT!?" Marinette shrieked and leapt into his open arms. "Oh my god!"

He lifted her off her feet and spun around, jubilant.

"You deserve it! My dad did something right for once!" He hugged her fiercely.

An insistent buzzing came from her skating bag. She squeezed him again, grinning, and went to grab her phone. She grimaced a little at the number before answering on speaker phone.

"Henri, hello." Adrien looked at her in surprise.

"Marinette! My darling! How are you?" She rolled her eyes.

"I'm very well, Henri, thank you." Her voice was polite but wary.

"Wonderful, I have wonderful news for you and that handsome Adrien of yours."

"Ok." Marinette had a sinking feeling. Adrien took her hand.

"You'll never guess so I'll tell you." Henri paused for dramatic effect. "Now I know I didn't see you skate because of that horrid interruption." Marinette and Adrien smirked at each other. "But Jacqueline tells me I would be crazy not to, so I have picked you two for the open spot on the French National Team!"

Marinette closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Adrien gaped at the phone.

Henri blustered on. "We're so excited to have such wonderful young skaters, and of course your story is so inspiring! And you can train right there in Paris, and I've already found some wonderful sponsors and—"

"Henri." Marinette cut him off. She was looking hard at Adrien, who closed his mouth and shook his head, face serious. "Thank you for the offer, but I'm afraid we have to turn it down."

There was a silence. Marinette could picture his speechless goldfish face.

"But, Marinette, this- this opportunity is unheard of! I mean, you're so talented, and you two have that- that spark, and you can.. stay in Paris and, I mean, what about what Adrien wants?" Henri didn't take rejection well.

"I'm in agreement with Marinette," Adrien said coolly.

"Oh! Adrien, hello, but, but…why not?" Henri was seriously flustered.

Marinette's smile was so cat-like, Adrien was a little taken aback. She winked at him.

"Believe it or not, Henri, we have…more important things to do."

"Have a good day," Adrien said, hanging up the phone and dropping it back onto Marinette's bag on his way in for a kiss.

A laugh bubbled from Marinette's lips as she kissed back, hard, losing all sense of time. She protested when he pulled away, trying to close the gap between their lips again and again.

"Mari!" he laughed, giving in to another kiss before holding her at arms length. "Mari, are you sure you don't want to skate, like really skate, like you were supposed to?" His face was earnest, determined to make anything work for the girl in his arms.

She smiled brilliantly at him. "Who says this is my last chance?" She leaned in again, blue eyes dancing, looking deep into green. A lifetime of excitement and joy spread before her like a glittering ocean, and she kissed the corner of his mouth with delight.

"We're superheroes, after all."

...