Was she getting mixed signals from him...was she really the one he longed for...or was he still struggling to merge his love for Ladybug with Marinette? One moment they were connecting, and then the next Chat Noir seemed to be holding back.

"Minou? What is it?" she placed her hand on his shoulder, looking up at him.

"I don't want to let you go, otherwise reality is going to set in. I just want a little more time with you...like this!" Chat Noir held her tightly to his chest, and Marinette realized that he was shaking.

"What do you mean reality?" she asked in confusion. "I'm real enough!"

"No, don't talk about it yet, otherwise it will all be over!" Chat Noir pulled her in desperately.

"Kitty, I could never abandon you, You still don't even realize how much you mean to to me," Marinette tried to reassure him. "You've got nothing to worry about!"

"We've got plenty to worry about," Chat Noir moved his eyes toward her. There was fear there. Fear that he could loose her. "Now that I know your identity we have never been more vulnerable. How can you be so calm about this, when you are the one that has been holding fast to this one key rule...we were never supposed to share our identities."

"I told you, I couldn't just sit back and do nothing when I had the power to save you!" Marinette said defensively.

"I'm so thankful that you did, and I am still in shock at how amazing it is to finally know who you are. I just want to make sure that we don't draw any extra attention to ourselves. We've got to be careful," Chat Noir traced the smooth curves on her palm. "I've always been pretty obvious about how I feel about you, and everyone in Paris knows how head over heels I am..."

"Yeah, you've been one smitten kitten alright!" Mariette interrupted, brushing her shoulder against his playfully.

Chat Noir clasped at his chest as if to still his beating heart, and smiled at her, "Mi'lady, the way you talk to me. You really know how to drive a guy crazy!"

"You were saying how you've been declaring your love for me from the rooftops of Paris?" Marinette prompted, returning his smile.

"...well, I mean, even Shadowmoth surely knows what you mean to me. If Ladybug was to suddenly return my affection though...well, that might give him the advantage. Maybe we should wait until after we defeat Shadowmoth before we let down our guard," Chat Noir presented cautiously.

"How can you say that?! You want to put our life...us...on hold for Shadowmoth?!" Marinette crossed her arms. "After kissing you like this tonight, I don't know if I can do that. You want to just be partners...without anything else between us?" as she asked she leaned in towards him, she hovered her lips close to his so he could just barely feel her sweet breath.

"Naw..." Chat Noir's brain when fuzzy, and he bit his lower lip. "You're right, we shouldn't let anything come between..." he mumbled looking from her eyes to her lips again. "Afterall, it's not the end of the world right?!" he laughed hollowly, trying to convince himself more than anyone. "Maybe it's not that much of a risk! Afterall, it's not like I've ever been akumatized or anything!"

He was about to close the distance, sealing his lips against Marinette's, when her eyes popped open, and she sat back abruptly. In front of her she had a sudden vision cloud reality of Chat Blanc sitting in front of her instead. His cold, icy glare cut through her, and his white suit blinded her with dread. "You're breaking more than my heart Marinette," her memory replayed his words from an erased alternate reality that Chat Noir had never witnessed. "Things were purrfect before Hawkmoth found out about everything. Once the cat is out of the bag, it's only a matter of time till everyone knows. It was our love that did this to the World Mi'Lady." Her heart froze, and she blinked, allowing her current reality to return; Chat Noir was looking at her with concern.

"Wha...what is it Mari?" Chat Noir asked. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"It was because of our love..." Marinette said to herself in a far-away voice.

"Ah...what was?" Chat Noir questioned, thoroughly confused.

Marinette looked up at her Chat Noir, and clenched her fists. "I won't like it happen like last time! There has got to be a way for us be the heroes the world needs, and yet still have a chance to be together!"

"I'm still not following...wait! You're not 'second chancing' me are you?! Is Viperion around here somewhere? How many times have we had this conversation?" Chat Noir jumped up suspiciously, looking around the balcony.

"No, it's not like that. Sass is tucked away safe and sound in the miracle box at the moment. As far as I know this is a first...you and me talking like this. I mean maybe, there is still a chance...I mean it is not like Bunnix has popped in yet or anything! That has got to be a good sign right?!"

"I guess..." Chat Noir paused, looking at her perplexed.

"I never told you, because I thought I could prevent it from ever happening...that I could save you from ever having to know..." Marinette chewed nervously on her fingernail. "Bunnix visited me once and showed me a future where you knew my name."

"A future where I knew your name?!" Chat Noir repeated in shock. "Where we...together?"

"I can't even think about it again! I've had nightmares about it ever since! Oh Kitty, it was horrible!" Marinette burried her face in her arms.

"It was that bad?" Chat Noir whispered in a hurt voice.

Marinette slid her hand into his paw, and wiped her arm across her eyes. "There might have been a time we had been happy...so happy, that all you could think about was trying to return things to the way they had been so we could be together."

"...so we weren't together?" Chat Noir asked.

"Chat..." Marinette spoke hesitantly. She didn't want him to bear the guilt of Chat Blanc's curse. "...I...I...was gone. Everyone was gone. You were all alone."

"Alone?" Chat Noir's voice broke, and his blood ran cold. Isolation, loneliness, and neglect had left him aching for love and friendship for so long. How had he been abandoned by everyone he ever cared for...unless...no...they couldn't have...he would have saved them...Ladybug would have brought them all back...unless...Chat Noir closed his hand around Marinette's. "Did I...?"

"It never happened...even if I had done something stupid and delivered a fifth name day present to my crush in Ladybug form...I made sure that Adrien never found out that there was any connection between Ladybug and Marinette...I didn't sign the card and then the secret never got out and never got back to Shadowmoth. We'll just keep this between you and I...maybe you were right about keeping a low profile as Ladybug and Chat Noir. As long as no one else knows, everything will still be okay!" her voice rose higher and higher, trying to calm herself down and appear collected.

"The day you gave Adrien the present he found out who you were?" Chat Noir whispered, his eyes vacant, thinking back to the day he had stumbled upon Ladybug hand-delivering a beret, that she had claimed had come from his fan club in Brazil. Of course now he realized that the beret had been handmade by Marinette...or Ladybug herself. What an idiot he had been not to put that one together. With or without a signed card he should've put that together! Was that really the moment that everything had gone off track, and the turning point that would lead to the devastating future Marinette couldn't even bring herself to tell him about. Adrien had known in that erased parallel universe, but Marinette didn't realize that in revealing herself to Chat Noir, Adrien Agresete had found out all over again! Shadowmoth must have figured out who they were because of him! There would be nothing Marinette could do to prevent her nightmare from becoming reality. He had to be the one to prevent it from ever happening!

"I won't let Shadowmoth track you through me," Chat Noir promised gravely.

"We will just be extra careful," Marinette said. "It might be too risky to meet here, but maybe we could..."

"No, you can't be seen with me at Chat Noir," Chat Noir shook his head firmly. "Hawkmoth tried to akumatize me today, and he will know that the only thing that prevented his plan from taking hold was Ladybug showing up right in front of me. He won't know who you are because you captured the akuma before he could connect with me, but he might have figured out by now that I know. The whole reason we kept the secret of our identities was to protect each other. Now that I know, I'm Shadowmoth's ticket to finding out who you are. There is only one way I can protect you. The next time we face him, I can't be at your side."

Marinette's mouth dropped open, and she jumped to her feet. "You can't! You couldn't! You wouldn't!" she sputtered, with angry tears springing up into her eyes. "You're going to leave me!"

"I'll never really leave you Mi'Lady! It is just until we find a way to defeat Shadowmoth, and prevent him from using this against you. Remember what happened to Rena Rouge? As soon as Shadowmoth figured out it was Alya, he went straight after her family and everyone she loved. We need to do this to protect you, but it is also to protect everyone you love too," Chat Noir put his hand on her arm, and met her eyes.

"Alya could have lost everyone to try to protect the miraculous' from Shadowmoth. He really would do anything to get what he wants, no matter how many innocent people he wiped out," Marinette clenched her fists again, and her voice broke with emotion." You might be right, that this is what the 'smart move' is, but how can I make it without you?"

"Shadowcat can help you out!" Chat Noir said surprisingly chipperly.

"Him?!" Marinette scoffed, "you can't be serious!"

"What do you mean?!" Chat Noir demanded. "Shadowcat is pretty capable!"

"How can we even be considering this?!" Marinette crossed her arms, and stormed off to lean over the railing of her balcony.

Chat Noir blew out the air in his throat, and shook his head. He walked over, and stood next to her looking over Paris. "There are a lot of people out there counting on you," he said softly.

She didn't answer, and just looked out at the lights flickering throughout the city skyline.

"You trust me don't you?" Chat Noir asked into the air.

"Of course I do!" she replied quickly looking up at him.

"Then trust that I will find a way to be there for you no matter what. You don't think I would give up on you the moment I finally get to feel you in my arms do you?!"

"My Chat Noir is much to stubborn for that," Marinette's smile crept back onto her face, and she hugged him around his waist.

"That's right I am!" Chat Noir smiled down at her, and rested his chin on the top of her head. "I'll be closer than you realize. I'd never abandon you Marinette."

"It's not fair. After everything we've been through...after everything you've sacrificed being Chat Noir...we should at least have each other!" she mumbled against his chest. "I...I...don't think I'm strong enough for this."

He pulled back far enough to meet her eyes again, and said firmly, "You're strong enough to face anything! Never forget that!" He leaned in towards her, running his paw through her hair, and met her mouth with his. This kiss was unlike any of the ones before. It was fierce and passionate, as if they were both trying to desperately hold onto one last moment together before they were torn apart.