Week One - Oblivious

Author's Note: Welcome back, friends! Epcot97 here along with ChubbyUnicornMama and LyraMaeArcher; after the fun we had in July, the three of us foolishly thought we'd seen the last of Google Docs for the summer. That was before a certain someone discovered Adrien August (or, apparently, Adrien AUG-reste). Sadly, it was like catnip; so here we are once more with some new themed material for your reading pleasure.

Each of us has taken one of the four themed weeks and made it our own, with as much an Adrien focus as we can do; one week we are writing together. This week is my take on the theme of "Oblivious," where we watch Adrien slowly transition from his blind crush to something a bit more meaningful. And because I simply can't help myself, there is a healthy dose of Marichat sweetness in the recipe. (No, I won't pay for your dental visit after reading this.)

Ep: There was a bunch of research on this one. I think something is wrong with the Chat costume I bought for Comic-Con, though. It was really hot catnapping in the sun! There's no way I'm going to try that Miraculous Chipmunk outfit CM sent me in June now.

CM: Well, aren't you just Mr. No Fun.

It was the tail end of summer break for me - in a few short weeks, school started back up and I'd once again need to juggle the daily demands of my academic life with my nightly prowling as Chat Noir. The last academic year had been my first as Chat Noir - well, in fairness, it was my first year in a real classroom, too - and though it had been an amazing experience, summer had offered a much needed respite.

Father had ensured my extracurricular activities filled the time I normally would have been in school, but despite that, I still had plenty of gaps in my day that allowed for some… creativity in planning. That's how I found myself one afternoon lounging atop the roof of the American Library In Paris, masked eyes closed as I tried to absorb every last photon the sun was putting out. My wild mane was propped up against the backpack I'd carried in; I had a research paper due the first week we returned and had been doing some research in the reading room not two floors below me.

It went faster than I expected, and as I closed up my tablet and walked over to the desk to check my books back in, I happened to cross a beam of afternoon sunshine that was slanting in through the magnificent southern-facing windows. That was all my inner Chat needed; instead of calling my bodyguard for an earlier pickup, I found a protected corner of the stacks and transformed, then slinked out an open window to make my way to the roof.

The dark color of my costume had warmed quickly, but it's magical properties kept me in the snug-and-cozy part of the chart despite both being in direct sunlight and the rather warm temperature for the day. I sighed contentedly, then stretched luxuriously before re-adjusting the backpack so I could get a better view of the Eiffel Tower. I smiled at that - for most of my observations were taking place behind closed eyelids.

I felt the purring rumbling in my chest, and wondered vaguely if I should be worried how many cat-like tendencies I was expressing - and how I had begun to structure my life around them. The warmth of the sun permeating my costume lulled me into a catnap, which was rudely interrupted by the incessant buzzing from my baton.

Knowing I would likely miss my pick-up call, I had set an alarm for ten minutes ahead of my designated time by Gorilla, but as I pulled the baton out and popped it open, Ladybug was actually texting me. Guilt inflamed the parts of my face not covered by the mask; she had repeatedly tried to discourage me from non-hero related outings as Chat. I scanned the rooftops around me, trying to determine if she'd caught me, but didn't see red-and-black anywhere.

Turning back to the phone, my masked eyes widened.

Bugaboo: Mind if I join you?

Chat: You're always welcome to!

Bugaboo: Be there in five.

I didn't have to tell her where I was, knowing that the Bug Phone had a lock on my location. I slid the baton back and leaned against my bag, claws laced behind my head. Ladybug arrived as promised and carefully sat down next to me.

"Hey kitty," she said. "Catching some rays, I assume?"

"Yes," I said, smiling. I caught her looking at the bag behind me and belatedly realized she might be able to recognize it. I flipped sideways and covered it with my back. "What brings you to my scratching post, Milady?"

She smiled and leaned back a bit herself. "I needed a break," she said. "You always seem so relaxed when you're enjoying your sunshine, I thought it might de-stress me a bit."

My eyes popped wider. "What's wrong, Milady?"

She sighed, looking less like Ladybug and more like a normal teenager. "I've been helping out my parents and…" she paused, deciding how much to reveal, "we've been putting in some long hours. And some of our… well some of the jobs require us to work with clients who are… overbearing?"

I nodded. This was more personal information than I'd ever gotten from her before. "I am happy to hang out with you for a bit," I said, smiling a cocky-Chat smile. "It's a well known fact that cats help lower the blood pressure of their owners."

She looked at me. "I don't own you, Chat," she said with some shock.

"Milady, you've owned my heart from the start."

Ladybug rolled her eyes. "I should have seen that coming."

"Yes." I started to say something else, but a particular telltale tickle hit my olfactory nerves; I immediately put a claw to my nose and squeezed my masked eyes shut. Of all the times!

"Chat?"

I held a paw out to her, and for a moment I thought it had passed. Swallowing hard, I tried to speak again only to have the world go fuzzy as my eyes watered up.

I tried my best, but the sneezing started in earnest; I opened my watering eyes to see a handful of pigeons had landed just behind us and were pecking away at the tiles. Ladybug caught my look and a knowing smile hit her lips as I devolved into another series of sneezes. Feathers. And it was worse as Chat, since I was far more sensitive in the sensory department.

Sadly, I started to pack up to go - until they cleared out or we moved to another location, there'd be no way I could continue a conversation. I also had the added issue that my alter-ego had a well-documented allergy to feathers; Ladybug had only met me in civilian form a few times, and none of them had been when I'd been having an allergy attack. But since I had no idea who was under that mask, prudence dictated I depart.

I waved halfheartedly at her between sneezes that wracked my body; she looked concerned but understood and departed in a direction opposite to mine. I curled around the outside of the library and back through the window I'd used earlier, de-transforming in the same protected part of the stacks. My eyes were still running but the sneezing had thankfully stopped by the time I'd made it to the curb and the waiting sedan.

My phone rang on the ride back to the mansion, and it was Marinette of all people. We talked regularly; in fact, I'd made it a point to visit the bakery as Adrien a few times a week, picking up goodies as an excuse to spend time with my friend. As I answered the call, I smiled a private smile, for Chat was a far more regular visitor, dropping in just about every evening on the Bakery's rooftop patio.

If only she knew.

"Prince-uh, Marinette!" I said. Between the sun and the allergy attack, I'd forgotten which persona I was supposed to be at that moment. "What's up?"

"Hey Adrien," her small image said. "Your Father's order is ready. I tried calling the number they gave us, but his assistant says he's unreachable at the moment."

I smiled outwardly but cringed inwardly. It was so like him to forget. "I'll swing by," I said. "I'm close anyway."

"Great! See you soon," she said as she hung up.

I redirected a not-impressed Gorilla and the sedan pulled up in front of the Dupain-Cheng bakery. After asking him to wait, I moved across to the store and pulled the door open, reveling in the cheerful chime of the bell that was attached to it. Marinette was behind the counter, the store otherwise empty.

She had that dreamy expression she always wore in those few moments when we were alone together, and I feared that our conversation was about to veer into sentences of few syllables. "Thanks for letting me know," I said as I approached. "Father tends to get wrapped up in his work; he's never able to find the purrfect moment to break away."

Marinette's eyes popped out of their dream state. "He what?"

My smile faltered. Had I said something odd? "Anyway," I said, "what did he order?"

Still looking at me oddly, she turned and pulled a set of bags from beneath the counter. I recognized them immediately: small, perfectly portioned-controlled dishes. For one.

For me.

Father was about to go away on another business trip. I felt a tiny flame of anger but used some model magic to keep the smile going. He didn't trust I would eat properly while he was gone - well, properly for a model that had to keep an unrealistic body shape. It also meant he'd be giving the cook the week off - forcing me to eat what was provided. Not that I minded; Tom and Sabine knew the drill by now and as they felt I was underfed to begin with, tended to slide in extras.

Marinette was looking at me again. "How long this time?"

I looked at the bags. "At least a week, judging from these."

At my miserable expression, something crossed her face. "You could stay with us," she said suddenly. "No reason to be alone in the mansion. We've got a spare room."

I felt a slight elation. It would be nice not to be alone for ten days, which was nearer to how long he'd really be gone. I couldn't believe how much of a friend Marinette was to even suggest it. "I'd like that," I said happily, "but I doubt Father-"

Marinette's face took on the determined look I was well acquainted with. It appeared any time someone told her something was impossible. "Be right back," she said as she disappeared into the residence portion of the building.

I patiently waited, looking through the bags as I did so. My smile crept bigger when I located the small bag of passionfruit macarons; I knew those had been inserted by Marinette. Had I been transformed, a quick claw to the edge of the bag would've liberated at least two. I had nearly convinced myself to do it when she came around the corner, glumly.

"Didn't go for it, did he?" I said.

"No," she nodded. "I'm sorry. Dad tried."

"It's all good," I replied as I took up the bags. "You'll be with me in spirit," I added as I headed for the door. "Especially when I munch on those macarons," I winked.

Her face flushed crimson as I pushed my way out the door.

Continuing on in the sedan, I mused that having Father gone for a bit wouldn't be a bad thing. Gorilla would likely keep me on the major parts of my schedule, but in the past I'd found it was far easier to escape as Chat Noir when he was on duty. When Nathalie didn't meet us at the steps to the mansion, I realized Father had already departed, having done so once again without saying goodbye.

Sighing, I toted my meals into the barren kitchen and put them away in the freezer or fridge as appropriate, careful to hold out the macarons so I could spirit them to my bedroom. Chat Noir loved his midnight nibbles; I'd have to come up with some way to thank Marinette. From both of us.

Several days passed before I had my first opportunity to visit Marinette as Chat.

As I trudged down from my bedroom with my empty dinner tray, Gorilla was fast asleep at the front door, newspaper sliding out of one hand. After quickly disposing of the tray, I quietly tip-toed back to my room, and then transformed on the run, diving through my open window as Chat. It was still very light out at that hour, but I found I was casting long cat shadows as I crossed the rooftops of Paris on my way to the Bakery.

I found my Princess sitting cross-legged on the patio when I landed on my favorite chimney. "Hello, Purrincess," I said brightly.

"Hey, Chat!" Marinette said warmly, looking up from what she was working on. "C'mon down, you silly kitty. If I've told you once-"

"I know," I laughed as I vaulted to the railing overlooking her and repositioned into my world famous cat-perched-on-a-rail stance. "But your chimney makes for a much more dramatic entrance. That, and you can hear my boots better when I land."

Her eyes widened. "How do you know that?"

I cocked my feline ears at her. "I can hear you when you move from your bedroom. You nearly always come up the ladder right after I hit the chimney."

"Oh," she laughed. "Of course."

I eyed the construction materials she had arrayed around her. "Whacha doing?"

"I'm making charm bracelets," she said, turning back to one in her hand. She had braided together several strands of colorful threads to form a thicker multicolored cord. Several completed ones were on one side, and though my better feline vision could easily see their details, I was curious enough about the handiwork that I vaulted down to her side to pick one up in a paw.

"These are fantastic," I whistled, my masked green eyes taking in the convoluted but unique twists she had created. Each one of the finished bracelets was completely unique. I turned my attention to the one in her hand and my eyes widened. The primary thread was black, but an electric green accent had been woven into the mix. Both colors were an exact match to my costume.

My feline eyes went to hers. "Princess, those colors look familiar."

"They should," she said, her eyes dancing with laughter. "I had to use the color wheel app on my phone, though, to get it right."

It finally dawned on me why she'd wanted to take a photo of the illuminated logo on my baton. "Clever," I nodded.

With a deft maneuver, she tied off the ends and then held it to me. "Wrist, please," she said.

I dutifully held out my ring arm, and she quickly connected the ends to each other. It fit comfortably just behind my wrist cowl. "Wow," I said. "My own personal Lucky Charm!"

Her eyes widened. "Who said anything about luck?" she asked.

"If it's from you, Princess, it has to be lucky," I said, carefully leaning over and kissing her on the cheek. "Thank you."

Marinette was a little crimson, and looked down slightly. "You're welcome, Chat."

I spent the next couple of hours making a few of my own, and found that having claws actually was rather beneficial for fishing thread through the knots. It was close to midnight once I returned to the mansion, where I found Gorilla still sound asleep at the door and apparently none-the-wiser that his charge had been absent for the past few hours.

Monday rolled around, and though Father had only been gone a few days, I was nearly out of macarons. That seemed to be as good as an excuse as any for Chat to go on the prowl once more; this time, Gorilla was watching the snooker world finals on the big screen in Father's atelier. I knew he'd be sound asleep before the penultimate pair played each other, and vaulted from my bedroom window shortly after finishing my own dinner.

As I neared the Bakery, I could see the lights were on over the patio, but Marinette wasn't present. That wasn't unusual, so I landed on the chimney and waited for a moment, cocking my head to listen. What I heard brought a smile to my face - she was in her room, playing on her Xbox, and from her excited mutterings, oblivious to anything outside that virtual world.

I vaulted down to the skylight, tapped once with my claws, and then popped it open in a smooth motion. With practiced ease, I dropped directly through it and into a crouch on her bedroom floor. "Princess-" I started, before realizing I'd just created a bit of a mess.

Three sets of eyes turned in my direction: in addition to Marinette, Alya and Nino were also there. Two of them wore shocked expressions. The third, a bit of what-do-we-do-now?

"Uh, hey, Chat," Marinette said. "I, uh, wasn't expecting you tonight."

Alya swung around to her friend. "What do you mean, tonight? He visits? Often?"

Nino just continued to stare at me.

"Uh, well, you see-"

Thinking quickly, I smiled a million-watt model smile and crept closer to where the three of them were sitting on all fours. "I've been helping Marinette prep for that online tournament she's entered." I looked at her knowingly. "You know? That multiplayer Ultimate Mec tournament?"

She caught my thread and I saw relief washing over her. "Yes, that's right," she said.

Alya looked at me, arched eyebrow and all. "You play video games," she said, her tone evoching disbelief.

"A cat's gotta have downtime too," I laughed. "And it's more interesting than playing with a mouse toy." I waited for a beat. "Although the catnip-loaded ones can be fun."

"But how-" Nino started.

"Looks like I got here in the nick of time," I interrupted. "Who gets to be my partner?"

There was a tiny squabble but in the end I was paired up with Marinette just as I'd hoped, and we spent a happy few hours battling Nino and Alya on a new map that had recently been released. Mari and I actually did play together regularly during my visits as Chat, and I think we surprised Nino and Alya with how well we meshed as partners.

After ultimately blowing them out in a final winner-take-all round, they bade us goodnight and left together. We watched them from the rooftop patio as they walked hand in hand toward the Metro, and for a moment, I pictured myself with Marinette before hurriedly swapping her out for Ladybug. That had been happening to me more and more over the past few months; not for the first time I wondered if I was intentionally ignoring my changing feelings for my friend.

"It's late," I said, turning toward her but also well aware that my tail had snaked itself around her waist. "I should go."

I noted that for once, she didn't remove it. "Chat," she said suddenly, "would you do me a favor?"

"Anything, Princess."

"My friend, Adrien, has been alone all week. His Father is out of town on business and that means he's quite nastily stuck at home." She paused. "Would you check in on him for me?"

"I will," I said, unable to explain to her how I was going to do that. Then an idea struck me. "Want me to sneak you in?"

"Wait - what?"

"You want to visit him? I can get you past the bodyguard if you like."

She smiled. "You'd do that?"

"Absolutely," I said, wondering exactly how I was going to pull this off. But I had an idea. "Get some cardboard together and I'll meet you here tomorrow night. We need to build you a disguise."

"Okay!" she said, and she leaned up to give me a quick kiss on the cheek. "I appreciate this, I'm worried about him."

"Don't be," I laughed as I hopped to the railing to go. "With a room like his, I bet he's forgotten there is an outside world."

Marinette looked as though she had her doubts, but I smiled warmly and took off for the mansion.

I arrived about the same time the following evening and found Marinette once more surrounded by building materials. I dropped directly to the tile of the roof this time, and saw she had already realized what I was thinking. I nodded, then dropped to her side and playfully nudged her slightly with my mane. "Nice," I purred.

"Hey!" she cried, her scissors going wild with my bump and shearing off a part of the cardboard.

"Sorry." I backed up a bit. "You figured out my plan already then?"

Marinette proudly pointed to the outfit she had crafted from the cardboard boxes her father received at the bakery. Along with the smaller box in her hands that was currently topped with one triangular ear, she'd fashioned the better part of a faux Chat Noir outfit. "Yes," she said, "but this won't fool too many people."

"It will be dark," I reminded her.

"But you'll be with me," she said, wearing a worried expression. "There can't be two Chats present."

"There won't be," I smiled as I turned and grabbed the canister of black paint she'd opened.

Less than an hour later, I was carrying Marinette in her Chat outfit across the darkened skies of the city. "Normally, I would just go through the bedroom window," I told her as we got closer to the mansion.

"When you visit?" she asked.

"Uh, yes," I said, realizing I was being a little too truthful. "Since you can't climb up that high, we're going to meet him at the front door."

"What?!"

"Don't worry," I laughed. "He's got it covered. I'm going to drop you there and then circle back to his room. Once he knows you're there, he'll come down and sneak you in."

I could feel her stare of disbelief, but she kept her own council. We landed on a roof close to the mansion, and once I was certain the coast was clear, I vaulted over the fence and baton-pogoed twice to reach the door. Gently, I let Marinette down, smiling at the "malfunctioning" lights in the dooryard. I'd carefully smashed all of them with my baton on the way out, effectively shrouding the front of the mansion in darkness. "Stay put," I said, and then I rode the baton up and away from her.

Once I was out of her line of sight, I redirected to a nearer window I'd already left open, dropping noiselessly down in a guest room we hardly used. The furniture was covered in ghost-like cloth that rippled as I bounded past it. At the doorway, I cracked it open and leaned a feline ear out; as I expected, Gorilla was snoring, loudly, from his suite at the end of the hallway. If my plan went as I hoped, he'd slumber away the rest of the evening.

Dropping my transformation, I hurried down the staircase and unlocked the front door. "Chat Noir! What a surprise!" I said out loud to an audience that didn't exist.

Marinette laughed, a tad uncomfortably. "Uh, surprise?!"

I leaned down and whispered, "Chat told me you were coming." I eyed her outfit. "He did say you'd look like him. Not bad…"

"Thanks," she said nervously. "May I…?"

"Of course!" I pulled back the big door and let her in, and then the two of us tiptoed up to my room. As I helped her take off the cardboard, though, I realized I'd made a tiny error.

"Where's Chat?" she asked, looking around my room, with her eyes landing on my closed bedroom windows.

"He said he'd be back in time to take you home," I said quickly, my own eyes flicking to the window. "But he had an errand to run."

"Uh huh," she said, eyes looking skeptical.

"I hear you've been playing UM with him as a partner," I said, quickly changing subjects and hustling her to my couch and the waiting game console. "I've been cooped up here for days! Show me all of the moves he's taught you…"

We spent a few hours playing together, with breaks for snacks that I'd managed to rustle up from the kitchen. As it got later and later, I watched her yawns get bigger and bigger before she ultimately dozed off against the pillow I'd conveniently placed on her side of the couch.

Ducking into my bathroom as a precaution, I transformed to Chat Noir and re-entered the bedroom, turning off the lights as I went. By the time I reached Marinette, the room was completely dark and my night vision had fully kicked in. Mari was softly snoring, the game controller still in one hand. I hopped to the top of the couch and perched for a moment, appreciating the fact that she'd made the effort to visit me.

I felt a change happening, deep in my heart. Somewhere along the line, my friend had become something more to me; I still had feelings for Ladybug, of course, but increasingly I found my thoughts were centering on Marinette. As I gently scooped her up into my arms and moved through the now-open window of my bedroom, I realized just how comfortable - and comforting - my relationship with Marinette was. And that at some level, I wanted to deepen it.

When did that happen?

After carefully tucking her into her own bed, I paused at the railing on her balcony, torn; I didn't quite dare leave her to wake up in an unexpected place. But Adrien would ultimately be missed if I didn't return to the mansion.

The choice was simple, really, and I slipped back down into her bedroom, carefully sliding past her sleeping form to drop noiselessly to the floor. I hopped up to her chaise lounge and curled up facing her bed, and settled in to wait for her to awaken.

As comfortable as the lounge was, and as tired as I had to have been, I didn't realize I'd nodded off myself until I felt a gentle touch on my shoulder. I flew off the chaise and landed, baton out, ready to take on whoever had dared attack my princess before realizing I was staring at a very shocked Marinette.

"Chat…?" she asked, eyes wide. "Have you been here all night?"

"Purrincess," I said, eyes scanning the space to make sure we were truly alone. "Uh, yeah, I guess," I admitted. I popped open the baton and saw it was close to seven, and groaned. "I'm dead," I said simply. "My alter-ego should be at breakfast about now."

I didn't think her eyes could go any wider. "Can you get home fast enough to ameliorate it?"

"No," I said. "Although…" My eyes narrowed a bit as an evil idea appeared in my feline brain. "If I can ask a favor and a landline? Maybe I can fix this."

"We've got one downstairs in the Bakery," she said. "What's the favor?"

"I need a moment alone with the phone," I said. "I obviously can't call as Chat."

She laughed. "Doh! Of course. C'mon, let's see if we can sneak you past my parents."

Marinette took me by the paw and whisked down the trapdoor to the main part of the residence, then down two flights to the rear entrance of the Bakery's kitchen. I could hear Tom and Sabine out front and frowned; Marinette held a finger to her lips and pulled me into a back corner of the kitchen and through a small door I'd never seen before. A tiny desk was littered with paper and a small computer - clearly it was the business office for the Bakery.

"I'll distract," she said as she backed out and closed the door behind her.

As soon as she closed the door, I dialed Gorilla's direct line with my claws and waited. It was a brief conversation - I was in big trouble for apparently sneaking out of the house on him - but he backed down a bit when I told him I'd gone to the Bakery for coffee and did he want any? The promise of coffee bought me twenty minutes, and left me smiling as I replaced the phone.

Marinette knocked, quietly re-entered and looked at me inquiringly. "I need two cups of coffee," I laughed, "and the day will be saved."

"I think we can rustle that up for you, Chat," she smiled. "And - thanks for last night," she added. "It was important to me that Adrien know he's not alone."

Oh, he knows, I thought..

"Anytime, Purrincess," I smiled.

As I stood up to leave, my tail snagged on Tom's chair, throwing me off balance and directly into Marinette. We tumbled together and hit the floor, and I found myself looking up at her from my back. She was staring at me, and I at her. Impulsively, I leaned up and kissed her. Marinette tensed slightly, but didn't pull back; in fact, she leaned down and into me, ratcheting up the intensity a few notches. I felt my tail kink slightly.

She pulled back and I stared into those deep blue eyes, seeing she, too, had come to some conclusions about our relationship. Something clicked for her and she leaned down again for a quick follow-up smooch. "Drop by again tonight," she said with a sly smile, "and we can discuss this further."

"As you wish, Princess," I smiled, gently brushing a lock of hair back from her face with a claw. It took an amazing amount of willpower not to snag one of the ribbons in her pigtail while I was at it.

Having brought Ladybug coffee on numerous occasions, I was an old hand at flying through the Parisian skyline with a drink carrier. I found a safe alley close to the mansion and dropped my transformation so Adrien could walk the rest of the way, careful to ensure I was coming from the right direction. Gorilla met me at the top of the steps, and despite the hard look he initially gave me, a shadow of a smile crossed his face when I offered him his cup of Tom's special brew.

Chat Noir wasn't the only fan of that blend in Paris, it seemed.

Keeping to my best behavior for the rest of the day meant dutifully going through my Wednesday schedule according to plan; I had fencing in the morning and a photoshoot in the afternoon, and by early evening, we were back at the mansion. Officially, the rest of the day was to be spent practicing my piano (sandwiched around dinner, of course), but as soon as I'd closed the door to my bedroom, I transformed to Chat Noir. My feline hearing would be better suited to determining when I could skulk out of the mansion to meet with Marinette.

Gorilla, burned once already, abandoned his normal playbook at that point. To my surprise, I heard him set up his chair outside my bedroom door; hurriedly, I docked my phone and spun up one of the pre-recorded practice sessions I'd made, complete with flubs, and relaxed slightly when it didn't appear he was going to perform a spot check.

I alternated for about an hour between pre-recorded tracks and my own talents at the ivories; it had been a while since I'd played with my claws out, and I made a few note errors before accounting for the slightly longer fingertips I had. But Gorilla didn't seem able to tell the difference between my live playing and the pre-recorded music, so by nineteen-hundred, I reset the playlist on my phone for a three hour set and started it playing.

Creeping to the door, I pressed a feline ear to it and heard snoring. Smiling, I cracked the door open enough to peer into the mezzanine. Gorilla was there in his chair, head resting against the wall, newspaper partially clasped in one hand. He looked quite peaceful.

Carefully closing the door, I quickly bounded out my open window and into the night. Marinette was waiting for me when I dropped down onto my favorite chimney. "Sorry I'm late, Princess," I said as I vaulted to the railing next to her. "I had more trouble exiting tonight than normal."

"I can imagine," she said. "You weren't in too much trouble from last night, were you?"

"Enough that I will be under… surveillance for a bit."

She frowned and looked genuinely upset. "I'm so sorry to have gotten you in hot water."

I smiled. "It was worth it, Princess. And I'd do it again, happily."

Marinette looked at me, and reached out a hand, beckoning me down to her. I dropped off the railing and took her hand in my paw. "It dawned on me this morning that you've been a rather frequent visitor, Chat."

"I'm here a few times a week," I smiled.

"No, Chat." She looked at me seriously. "You're here just about every night. The only nights you've missed have been ones that you were off fighting an akuma with Ladybug." She paused. "And even then, I'm pretty sure you actually stopped by but didn't wake me."

I narrowed my masked green eyes a little. I knew she was right. I'd come to the same realization; I just wasn't sure what her reaction was going to be. "So what are you saying, Purrincess?"

"I think we should abandon any pretense, Chat." She put her hands to my costumed shoulders. "It may have started as two friends hanging together, but I think you know as well as I do that we've moved beyond that now. We should recognize it for what it is."

My heart was beating rather loudly - I was sure Marinette could hear it. "And what would that be, Princess?" I asked, slyly smiling and cocking my head at her. I held my breath, waiting for an answer I wasn't sure I'd ever have heard from anyone.

Marinette's eyes met mine, and held them. I saw trust, compassion, and even love in those blue depths, and my heart skipped a beat. Then two.

"You're mine, kitty," she said softly. "And I am yours. These paws," she said, picking up one for emphasis and placing on her chest, "have wrapped themselves around my heart completely."

I let the breath out. In that one moment, I knew I felt the exact same way - and had for some time.

Running a claw through her hair, and this time, playing slightly with a ribbon, I smiled back at her as I gazed deeply at the girl I knew I Ioved with everything I had. "My heart is yours, Princess. For as long as you want. Hopefully furever."

She drew me in and placed her head against my costume, and I held her like that for a bit, relishing how the universe had suddenly snapped into perfect order. Ladybug still had a special place in my soul, that I couldn't deny; but the girl in front of me was my entire reason for being.

There was just one, tiny little detail. "Mari," I said cautiously, "you only know me as Chat. Are you okay being in a relationship with a feline of mystery?"

Marinette looked up at me, a knowing gleam to her eye. "I think I know you well enough, kitty," she said softly. "And when the time is right, you can reveal your secret to me. Until then, I am purrfectly happy."

My masked eyes widened. "Did you just steal my pun?"

"Better get used to it, Chat," she laughed.

I hugged her closely, my heart overflowing with pure joy. "As you wish, Purrincess," I said softly into her hair. "As you wish…"