AN: Well, I suppose that it's just about time that we start to wrap this story up! Hope you all continue to enjoy!

Chapter 13: We'll Be Okay

The banter between Ladybug and Cat Noir didn't last long. He was still moping about what had happened and Ladybug didn't feel comfortable leaving Cat Noir to go through all of this alone when he was still feeling so down. That had led to him becoming akumatized last time and Ladybug refused to allow that to happen again. If he had to go through all of that again, Cat Noir probably really would break beyond repair.

"Listen, Cat Noir," Ladybug told him gently, hoping that she could catch his attention again. "It's understandable that you were drawn in by what Hawk Moth said. He's a supervillain; he says what people want to hear and they listen. You don't think that all the akumas that we've fought, that those people actually want to terrorize Paris, right?" Ladybug didn't give Cat Noir a chance to respond; she already knew that he'd agree with her. "No, that's never their intention. Those people aren't evil like Hawk Moth. Like what he did to you, Hawk Moth tells people what they want to hear, makes them empty promises that he could never and would never follow through with. It's no shame, really, that you were drawn in to those promises too, Cat Noir. I'll admit that the thought of not having the Miraculous, not having to come out and fight every time Hawk Moth decides to send out on akuma, it is very tempting. I might even be enticed to give in if Hawk Moth offered such a thing to me." If she was being perfectly honest, Ladybug wasn't quite certain that she'd agree to such a thing. There had been the one time that Hawk Moth had tried to akumatize her as Marinette and she'd almost succeeded in removing her earrings before the hold was broken, but she was certain that she'd grown stronger since then. Besides, she knew deep in her heart that giving Hawk Moth her Miraculous was a terrible idea! However, if those words were ones that would help to comfort Cat Noir, then Ladybug would say them even if they weren't the complete truth.

"Really, Ladybug?" Cat Noir asked, turning to her. "You'd be tempted to give up your Miraculous if Hawk Moth offered the chance to you?"

Ladybug turned to look out over the city. It was hard to look at her broken partner as she told him, "It's kind of hard to say for certain what I would do if Hawk Moth tried to tempt me that way. I do know, though, that I've been struggling with all the responsibilities, being Ladybug and the Guardian and Ma—my civilian self. It's a lot and a part of me would be so happy to just go back to the days before I found the earrings and met Tikki," she admitted, voicing thoughts that she'd been keeping to herself for a while now.

"If you do that, though," Cat Noir spoke softly, his voice breaking, "if you gave up your Miraculous like that, you'd forget about me, wouldn't you?"

"I actually don't really know, Cat Noir," Ladybug admitted. "I'm still not entirely sure about everything that comes with being the Guardian of the Miraculous. If I had to guess, though, I'd say that's probably what might happen."

"I see," Cat Noir replied slowly, dragging the phrase out, as if he was considering the full depth of the words that Ladybug had just spoken. "In that case, please don't give up your Miraculous, Ladybug. As much as it hurt me today to learn about what I did to you with my Cataclysm, it would pain me even more if you forgot about me entirely. If we remain friends, that's good enough for me, but that'll never stop me from hoping that we might be more than that someday."

Ladybug smiled. She would never want to forget about Cat Noir and all that they'd been through together. "I wouldn't dream of that, Cat Noir. It's tough to be Ladybug and the Guardian of the Miraculous and still be my civilian self, but I'll find a way to manage. Paris needs us, both of us, especially now while Hawk Moth is still out there terrorizing everyone."

Cat Noir brought his knees up to his chest and wrapped his arms around his legs. "Yeah, you're right, as always, M'lady. No way would I want to give up my Miraculous either, especially not before taking Hawk Moth's and unmasking him for all of Paris to see the man who has been playing around with their negative emotions!"

"That's the spirit, Kitty!" Ladybug told Cat Noir with a smile. Then, she was serious again. "You know, I don't know what Hawk Moth said to you to convince you to accept the dark powers of his akuma, but if it was just that whole 'the Miraculous is stopping you from being in that relationship thing', then you know that's not true." Ladybug hated having to remind Cat Noir of this; it felt like pouring salt right into the open and very raw wound on his heart. "There's that other boy that I'm already in love with, remember?" It was a dumb question, really. She knew that Cat Noir was already aware of how Ladybug felt about Adrien Agreste, even if he didn't actually know that was the name of "the other boy". Sighing, Ladybug continued, "With or without having the Miraculous in my life, I'd feel that way about him. Maybe things would be different if I'd met you first, but we can't live forever in our 'what ifs" and 'maybes". I really am sorry, Cat Noir. You know that I never want to play with your feelings for me and I'd hoped to never see the day when you would be akumatized, especially because of your love for me."

"I know, Ladybug," Cat Noir replied, "and I really am sorry for giving in to my negative emotions. If I'd been stronger and better at resisting the temptation of Hawk Moth, you'd never have gotten hurt today."

Ladybug reached out again to grab one of Cat Noir's gloved hands. "You already apologized for that, Cat Noir and you have nothing to atone for, I promise. In fact, I owe you an apology. Because of what happened today, I realized that I said some things to you that were not nice and, thinking further on it, what I said is not entirely true." Taking a deep breath, Ladybug thought back again to their conversation after the last akuma battle that they'd fought together. "I need you, Cat Noir. You're my partner and my teammate, like I said, but that's not all. Above all, you're my friend, one of my best friends, to be honest. Other than Tikki, my kwami, you're the only one I can talk to about the pressures of being Ladybug and the only one I know who can relate to the struggles of being a superhero and a teenager. Cat Noir, I value your friendship so much. Thank you so much for always being there."

Ladybug felt Cat Noir squeeze her hand and she looked over to meet his eyes. On his face, he wore a smile, the first genuine grin she had seen from him in days. "Of course, Ladybug. You know that it's always been 'you and me against the world' and I don't plan on changing that anytime soon, do you?"

Shaking her head in response, Ladybug returned the smile. "Of course not, Kitty." He didn't need to know how he'd twisted that phrase into something so sinister while he was akumatized; Ladybug didn't plan to tell him either. Some things were better left unknown, buried in the past. Besides, it was never "you against me". They didn't fight each other. They fought together. That was the way it had always been and the way that it would always be. "I am glad to stand side-by-side with you, Kitty." She gave his hand another squeeze. "When we were in New York, after you renounced your Miraculous and left, I realized that I need you, Cat Noir. After you left and I wasn't sure that we would ever see each other again, well, I didn't know if I could continue being a superhero without you."

"I know," Cat Noir told Ladybug. "Uncanny Valley came to me and convinced me to take back my ring. I didn't want to, but then she played a recorded message of you saying that. Then, well, I knew that I couldn't leave you to do this all on your own, Ladybug. We're the Cat and Bug team, after all."

"Bug and Cat team," Ladybug bantered back, flicking Cat Noir's nose. Together they laughed easily again. Slowly, things were returning back to normal. We'll be okay, Ladybug knew, Cat Noir and me. We're strong and we'll get through this together.

When their laughter ended, Cat Noir turned back to Ladybug. "You know, Ladybug, I've told you before that your friendship means everything to me. It makes me so happy to know that you consider me so highly. In my life, I have so few people that do and such a limited number of friends, so I'm glad that you think of me that way." Then, his familiar smirk returned to his face, another visual indicator that he was starting to heal from all that had happened in these long few days. "I also see it as an important first step toward my goal of finding a way to make you fall in love with me someday. I know that you love someone else and it's probably pointless to wait around hoping that you might someday decide to give me a chance, but love is crazy like that, M'lady. As much as I'd like to move on and 'change targets' as a friend of mine once suggested, I just know that I can't. It's impossible. Therefore, I'll never stop trying because, who knows, maybe someday you'll fall for me."

Ladybug wasn't quite sure what type of reaction Cat Noir was expecting from her, but she ended up laughing again at the words that her silly kitty had just spoken. "You know, I don't think I would want it any other way, Kitty."

She held up her fist to Cat Noir. They hadn't gotten a chance to keep their tradition after the akuma battle ended today; mostly because the akuma had been Cat Noir and he'd been so disoriented after returning back to normal, not to mention that he'd also been feeling so down on himself over what had happened. Now, though, that they were both on the road to recovery, it only felt appropriate to continue the tradition. With a smile of his own, Cat Noir brought his fist up to meet Ladybug's.

"Pound it!"

So, this was actually the original ending of the story! The next two chapters are kind of like epilogues. This wraps up the LadyNoir part of the story and the epilogues focus on the Adrienette. (I'm using those terms liberally…there's no actual pairing content. It's all platonic and pining!)

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