updated C9
"Marinette! I woke up and she had vanished! Is she okay?!" Adrien cradled Marinette in his arms having returned her to her room at the hospital. With a reassuring smile at Alya, he laid Marinette down, before slumping back into the nearby chair, "its ok Alya, she's asleep. I…uh- ran into her on the way back, she seemed a little unsteady and confused still so I carried her back." He felt it was best he didn't tell Alya the real reason why Marinette had left the hospital- surely she would kill him!
With the silence that had once again settled around them, Adrien was able to mull over his amazement that Marinette had been Ladybug. She had grown so much in ten years but now that he watched her closely he could see he certainly had to wonder how he had not realised?
Fate certainly had been kind to him because it was just too good to be true! Marinette, who he happened across randomly at a boring work meeting, had been his Ladybug! She had managed to claim his heart in such a short time and then been in a horrific car accident, before waking up too late to make it to their reunion! Despite this she still went, and Adrien had still hung on! The odds should have been against them but they still made it back to each other!
Suddenly, Adrien felt his heart sink as he recalled the love that she had held for another- the one who was ripped from her so unfairly. Had fate also done that to her so he could have his Ladybug? Had his joy come at another's expense? Was he allowed to feel the guilty joy at claiming her for his own because had her love survived, she would not be his to claim?
Alya watched Adrien curiously as his shoulders dropped- along with his smile, "Adrien? What's wrong?" With a shake of his head he grabbed Marinette's hand gently and held it lovingly to his face, "I could never replace Luka. She can never love me like she did him- I will never be enough!"
Understanding dawned on her face as she looked from Adrien to Marinette, "You know, I got so frustrated watching the two of you the other night; Marinette was so happy- and so were you. I kept wondering what was holding the two of you back from taking the leap. But both of you were so dense!
Giggles escaped her as she watched Adrien's eyes grow wide in confusion "what do you mean?" Alya threw her hands up in exasperation, "Marinette won't thank me for saying this but you can consider me your fairy god mother- who wishes to help things along a little. I figured it out when she told me where you lived…you were her secret friend weren't you?"
Pausing for a while to see the surprise light up in his eyes, Alya grinned with her head now resting in her hands, "Marinette had kept her friendship with you a secret- until you left, and then she spilled the beans to me. Marinette loved you most of all to begin with! When you moved away she was crushed. She convinced herself to forget about you so she could move on, it was only once she had done that, she got with Luka."
She giggled at his stunned face before continuing, "I realised that the wall that Marinette used to visit you was at the very edge of the boundary to your house. When Nino and I explored your beautiful family home, I came across a huge bird's eye painting of the grounds and saw just how far the land spanned out. It's so huge that Marinette never realised the location of the woods was actually inside your back yard- so to speak."
Alya had already figured it out. She had known who they were to each other before even they did, and though Adrien wanted to be furious at her for not telling them before now that she had figured it out- he couldn't be. It was his own fault that things had panned out this way.
"When you had left, Marinette also told me that you had promised to return to her in ten years- that's where you both went tonight right? I have to confess though, I never thought you would have both remembered. Even I had forgotten until the truth hit me the other night."
The cat was out of the bag! Adrien chuckled quietly before sitting forward with his head in his hands, "There was no way I would forget! Not a day went by that I didn't think about her, Alya. She was the only light in my life and when my father took me away from her, it nearly killed me! I swore that when I was old enough to escape him, I would return to her!"
His father had found out about her, Adrien had been forbidden to have friends and when his father had discovered his secret…he had immediately arranged for them to move. Adrien had hoped that ten years would be enough time to acquire his freedom, but he was never truly free! Even now, his father was surely hunting him down.
"Adrien? You're in love with her- aren't you?" Alya knew he had cared for Marinette as a child. But when he had met her at work only a week before he hadn't known who she was, but even after only a week of knowing the adult Marinette, there was no mistaking that the love in him was plain to see.
Adrien sighed miserably, "yes Alya, I am. I'm just not sure if she is ready for me to love her yet. I have to confess to you; I think she may have realised it herself, that's why she fled my place- and why she was in such a hurry to get home! It…it was my fault she crashed!"
Listening as his voice cracked, Alya placed a gentle hand on his shoulder and quickly shook her head, "it isn't your fault! Marinette may have freaked; but not because she realised the depth of your feelings for her- I think it's because she realised her feelings for you!"
Alya's eyes rested sadly on her best friend as she lay in the hospital bed, "her fiancé died only a year ago- with that comes a ton of emotions; namely guilt. The question of whether it's ok to just fall in love with someone a year after your fiancé dies? Whether she is ready to fall in love again because of the fear that they too will leave her? All of these worries will be plaguing her and that's what made her run!"
As the sun began to rise, Alya stood up and kissed Marinette goodbye and with a large grin, she threw her arms around Adrien, "listen Agreste; I was always rooting for Ladybug and Cat Noir to be together. And I am once again, because Marinette needs her partner back! Just as she was your light back when you needed her, now it's time for you to be hers! Just don't disappear on her again okay?"
He was anxious for her to wake up so that he could finally explain the events that led to him leaving ten years ago, but when Marinette finally stirred, she simply blinked at him several times before shaking her head and smiling widely at him, "you're here! Thank you- I'm glad I'm not alone."
Adrien watched her nervously as he waited for her to fire questions at him regarding Cat Noir. He waited, and waited, but the questions never came- nor did the subject even arise! Marinette sat up in her bed and reached under her pillow, she pulled out a crumpled piece of paper and squeezed it in her hand tightly.
"Marinette? Is everything okay? You haven't said a word about last night!" A small frown appeared above her eyes, "The crash? I'm sorry for worrying you- I freaked out but I shouldn't have ran away like that."
Still no mention of Cat Noir? Adrien rested his head against the back of the chair while he wondered how best to broach the subject, "you know what day it is right?" Allowing a moment to check the date on her phone, Marinette's face paled.
Her fists tightened around the note in response. Adrien had a sneaky feeling what the paper in her hand was. Taking a leap of faith, his hand wrapped around hers- the one that was holding the poem.
"Our battle is over- though still not yet won…" her eyes darted to him in shock.
"What did you say?!" He shook his head sadly with a bitter smile, "the truth!" He took the note from her hand and re read his words. Though these words had been written a decade ago- each word still held true in his heart.
"I take it you don't remember? You ran away from the hospital so that you could finally meet Cat Noir again after ten years." Though clearly surprised, she didn't seem opposed to the idea that he was Cat Noir. Her initial response had been less than desirable, and this worried Adrien still.
"I thought it had been a dream! You mean...?" Adrien held her face to his before she could finish and claimed her lips for his own because he was unwilling to allow her to respond in a similar manner to last night.
"There is so much I want to tell you my Ladybug! Before any of that however, I need to tell you that I love you! Cat Noir loved Ladybug; you know that already, but Marinette claimed Adrien's heart after only a week! I had no idea who you were or what you meant to me- but somewhere deep down my heart recognised you as the one I love!"
His mouth pressed to hers again gently, "I promise I will tell you everything, about me, my father- and why I had betrayed you and left for ten years! I just hope you aren't mad at me!"
She had been quiet and listened intently, however now she simply couldn't speak due to the lump in her throat. Finally managing to keep the tears at bay, Marinette finally allowed herself to speak, "Adrien, I don't know what happened or why you left but I know this; I could ever be mad at you, I trusted Cat Noir and I loved him- No I loveyou. Nothing you could have ever done would change how I feel about you! I never thought of it as a betrayal!"
Adrien beamed at her, wondering if he had ever felt joy like this, "very well, I shall tell you Ladybug…the truth about 'Hawkmoth' and about me."
