AN: Whoohoow! I finally manged to let updates here catch up to other platforms... Sorry. ^^"

. o O o .

Chapter 27: By The Sea...

In hindsight, Viperion thought his presence today had been pretty pointless. Not that he usually had much to do during an Akuma attack, and he was glad that it was that way. If he had nothing to do, then it meant everything was going according to plan. Still, surely it hadn't been necessary to watch over what must have been the 68th fight against Mr Pidgeon. However, after Ladybug had given him Sass's Miraculous for good, he would not disappoint her by not showing up at the next best occasion.

Besides, if nothing else then he could at least function as moral support for Chat Noir.

Almost two weeks had passed now since the Copycat incident—apparently, that one had been a lot to work through for Hawkmoth, too—and all this time, Adrien had anxiously looked forward to the next Akuma attack. For his chance to talk to Ladybug.

How would she react to Chat wanting to reveal his identities to his—possible—girlfriend? Or rather, to them both doing so. Would she take their Miraculous back or would she allow it? Given how strict she'd always been on that front, he had trouble imagining she'd be all right with their decision. Yet at the same time, he really, really, hoped she would not appoint new heroes in their stead. He'd miss Sass. And Ladybug, too.

"Ladybug, wait," Chat called after their usual Pound it!. "Do you have a moment? There's something I wanted to—"

"I'm sorry, kitty-cat," she interrupted him. She'd already turned and was halfway about to jump away. "I'm in a bit of a hurry today. But we can talk the next time. I promise."

"No, I—" Chat tried to hold her back, reaching for her arm, but Ladybug was already gone. Chat's shoulder's slumped, and he sighed in frustration. "Great. Now we have to wait even longer. I should probably hope Hawkmoth is going to strike again, soon."

Viperion snorted. "Really?"

Chat grimaced, then shook his head. "No, not really." He sighed again. "But having to wait until today already drove me a little insane. I just… I just want to know what to do, you know?"

With a sad smile, Viperion pulled Chat in by the waist and rested his forehead against Chat's. "Yeah, I know what you mean. But these are not things we can hurry. Marinette hasn't given you an answer so far, either. So maybe it'll be a moot point anyway."

Hesitantly, Chat nodded. "You're right. I'd just… I don't know, I think I'd hoped to have it all cleared up tonight already."

Viperion nodded, knowing how he felt. He hadn't heard from Marinette yet, either, and was getting worried, too. Was she about to open up to them or was she pulling away, instead? For once, he had absolutely no idea what to expect, what might be going on in her head. And even though they had an appointment to meet today, he had few hopes of getting answers.

"You mean when she wanted to come over to the Liberty later? I wouldn't expect too much of that. It's just for our costume fitting, remember? I don't think she's going to want to discuss any relationship topics, not with Juleka and the others are all being there as well. Besides, she doesn't know it's you, remember?"

"I know…" Chat took a deep breath and slowly let it out again. "I… probably wish I could tell her, regardless. But if Adrien now tells her he likes her, that would only make things even more complicated."

"True. So even though I get how nerve-wracking it is, we're stuck on just waiting to see how things go. Besides, we should head back now."

A small smile crept across Chat's face. "Right. Even if it's 'just' a fitting, we wouldn't want to keep Marinette waiting."

. o O o .

In the end, it was Marinette who kept them waiting. Adrien arrived at the Liberty a few minutes after Luka's own return, only shortly before their agreed-upon meeting time, but then sat waiting with the others for nearly half an hour before Marinette showed up.

"Aaah, I'm so sorry!" she blurted out as she stumbled on board and nearly fell.

One of the three big boxes she carried toppled off her stack, and Adrien moved to pick it up just as Luka reached out to catch Marinette before she fell. There was a slight blush on her cheeks as Luka took the other two boxes, and she quickly wiped a strand of hair out of her face to hide it.

"Thanks. Good thing your new costumes aren't breakable, or I could probably start all over again," she babbled, her voice a little higher than usual. "And sorry again for keeping you waiting. This day was just— You know how these days are. Just everything happening at once and then even more you didn't plan for and before you know it, you're running out of time because of an emergency and you get a small panic attack because—"

She cut herself off by inhaling sharply, glancing around at her chuckling friends.

"Don't worry, Marinette," Alya said cheerfully, a wide grin on her face. "We all know how clumsy you can be. There's really something to be said about geniuses and chaos, eh?" She laughed, winking at her friend.

Marinette stuck her tongue out at Alya but then grinned.

Alix leaned back in her seat, arms crossed behind her head and a smirk on her face. "So, are we going to see the new outfits now, or do we have to wait another hour?"

. o O o .

The new costumes were great.

The material was much lighter, the style sleeker. The different colours were even more pronounced than in her earlier designs, accents in varying shades making them really pop. All in all, these new looks meant their meeting was already worth all the excitement before—even Ivan looked more than happy with his new style.

But to Luka, all that took a backseat compared to how… happy Marinette seemed. There was none of that tension from their last meeting anymore. He even overheard Rose, Juleka, and Alya talking about how different Marinette was, far more relaxed than only the day before in school. But even though he couldn't help but wonder whether her coming to a decision was the reason for her good mood, there wasn't really any moment where he could ask her. Not with all their friends around.

"These costumes look amazing, Marinette. You really outdid yourself," Rose squealed, clapping her hands as she jumped up and down. "Oh, I can't wait to record a video with these new outfits and upload it. It'll be awesome!"

"Can't we do that right away?" Alix asked, looking almost as excited as Rose.

Alya nodded, already taking out her phone. "Yeah, why not?"

"No, we can't do that!" Marinette interrupted the general enthusiasm, then rocked back as suddenly all attention was on her. "I-I mean… today is not a good day because… the outfits aren't finished yet. Yeah, that's it. There's still some work to be done."

Alya cocked her head. "There is? To me, it seems they look perfect."

But Marinette shook her head. "Ivan's outfit can stay as it is, yeah. But there are a few details I need to fix on the other two. The fitting isn't quite right yet. Besides, Mylene and Ivan wanted to go to the cinema, didn't you?. And Nino wanted to ask whether you two would tag along, am I right?"

Upon Alya's confused look, Nino shrugged sheepishly. "She's right. There's this new action-comedy, you know? It sounds really good."

"Oh, right!" Rose exclaimed. "Jule and I wanted to watch it, too. We could all go together."

Luka watched the entire conversation with a rapidly beating heart. Usually, he'd suggest for him and Marinette to join the others, too. But there had been something in the way she'd changed the topic that gave him pause. A feeling that she might have another plan, and her next words seemed to prove him right.

"That sounds like a good plan," she said cheerfully. "You guys go to the cinema, and I take these last measurements from Luka and Adrien to fix the costumes before Adrien has to go back home. And then we might record that video the next time already."

Alya threw her friend a smirk, glancing from her to Luka, but didn't say anything.

"All right, let's go then."

A few minutes later, their friends had all left and Marinette ushered him and Adrien down below deck and into Luka's room. So the wind blowing along the river didn't mess with her measurements, she'd claimed, but Luka was sure that hadn't been the only reason—if even a reason at all.

"Marinette?" he asked in a low voice after pulling her a bit to the side when she made no attempts to take any measurements whatsoever. "Is… everything okay?" His question was wholly inadequate for all the things they needed to discuss, but it seemed like the only thing he could say.

The room was too small for Adrien to not overhear, and if Marinette wanted to talk about what he hoped she wanted to talk about, then Luka would tell him what she'd said, anyway. But he still appreciated the idea of privacy Adrien gave them as he turned his back to them, inspecting his collection of picks on the wall.

A small smile played around Marinette's lips, and she came even closer than he'd expected, holding on to his jacket as she almost leaned against his chest. "Yes," she said quietly. "More than okay. I… I'm sorry for being so cryptic lately. But I have it all figured out now. Told you you'd be the first to know," she added with a cheeky shrug.

Luka relaxed as her words removed a heavy weight from his chest. "So, we're good?"

With a strange expression in her eyes, Marinette nodded. "There's something you need to know—" She glanced to the side. "—but in general, we're good."

"Oh?" Luka glanced at Adrien, following her gaze, and a sense of confusion blossomed in his chest. She had to be aware that Adrien would hear everything she said. And even though it technically didn't matter… was their secret really safe with her when she so casually would talk about them dating a superhero in front of others?

Or was it something else entirely? Had she decided to confess her feeling to Adrien, after all? Luka had encouraged her to do so on so many occasions, but for her to do it now certainly would be ironic. And if she did, what did that say about her feelings for Chat Noir?

Marinette almost caught him by surprise as she stretched onto her toes and brushed her lips against his. Momentarily confused, Luka still caught on quickly, holding her with gentle hands as he enjoyed the sweetness of her kiss. Even more clearly than her assurance before, this kiss told him that everything between them was all right. The way her lips twitched into a smile against his, how readily she leaned even closer, the soft humming noise she made; all that was enough reassurance to make him forget all the worries of the past days in an instant.

They were good. Everything else could be figured out later.

When she pulled back, her hands lingered for a moment longer on his chest, her eyes holding his gaze even as she took another step back into the centre of the room.

"Yeah," she replied belatedly. "There's something you need to know, something I need to show you. Both of you." She looked at Adrien, for the first time acknowledging that he was even there with them.

"Marinette? What…"

Luka trailed off when she threw him another look, almost apologetic. What was this all about?

Why was she glancing at her purse dangling by her hip?

Why was she nodding as if it had given her an answer?

Why was she closing her eyes, arms slightly stretched to the side?

Why was she—

"Tikki, Spots On."

. o O o .

Dum~Dum~Duuuuhhh

Okay, before I hide under some rocks until the next chapter...
Can anyone guess the title of the next chapter, based on the titles of this and the previous chapter? O:)

Also, if everything works out as planned, then the next chapter will be the last one. With only maybe an epilogue or two coming after. Wish me luck that I manage to write it soon.