Disclaimer: I do not have own Miraculous Ladybug or it's characters.

Note: it has been a long time since I last worked on this story, and I think I owe you all a bit of an explanation. You see I try to make my stories as accurate as possible, which is why I tend to write for shows that are older, because they are finished. Twice since I started this story, Netflix has added more episodes to the Miraculous Ladybug show. I have been hesitant about working or updating this story because Season 3, part 2, has made my story inaccurate. I was embarrassed, even though I love my story. But I figured if there were people who were willing to read this far with me, and still want to continue the journey I have started; then you deserve the work I wanna put into this story. So let's make a pact together. If you don't complain about how my story is no longer canon, I will produce the best story I possibly can. Deal?

Chapter 15,

"Claws off." The hero said when he finally got back to his room.

"Man, what a day?" Plagg said and he flew over to the cabinet he kept Camembert in. He popped open one and looked over at Adrien. The boy was sitting against the window, staring out at the street lights. He should be crawling into bed, getting a somewhat decent amount of sleep.

"Adrien?" Plagg asked and Adrien held his legs.

"All this time, Plagg. All this time?" Adrien asked.

"What?" Plagg asked.

"Marinette... my Ladybug. How could I not see it sooner?" Adrien asked.

"It's like that day you fought Frighteningale. Remember, I told you that people only see what they want to see." Plagg said and Adrien sighed.

"Oh man... After having such a great night, how on earth am I suppose to just..." Adrien's voice trailed off.

"Go back to normal?" Plagg suggested and Adrien shrugged.

"I guess. Though can I really call it normal? I mean today was such a whirlwind of everything. I love her, but I hurt her; and she loves me, but she hates me; and I'm still her friend, but not really. I mean... after Cat Noir got to have such a great night with Marinette, yet tomorrow I'm gonna wake up swimming in my guilt every time I look her. What is with that anyways? Why am I so much stronger as Cat Noir then I am Adrien?" Adrien asked.

"Oh, that's simple. It's your Miraculous. When you activate it, you're not just activating your power of destruction." Plagg said.

"What? What else could I be activating?" Adrien asked.

"Me, silly." Plagg said and Adrien rose his eyebrow at the Kwami.

"Listen, I'm being serious, kiddo. When you put on that ring, you're putting on a lot. Your powers come from me, so your personality, ever so slightly, changes when your Miraculous is charged. Since I'm more carefree, then you are more carefree when you are Cat Noir." Plagg said.

"I think that might be the mask Plagg. Knowing that no one sees this emotionless model. I have fun as Cat Noir because I can't really have fun in my normal day-to-day." Adrien said.

"Oh, very true. And one should never underestimate the power of a mask. But what about those kitty instincts, or actions you do. I don't really see you squatting for a photo shoot or purring in class?" Plagg said and Adrien blinked.

"I..." he hesitated.

"You need to get some sleep, lover boy. Tomorrow you should just look up videos of Cat Noir on the Ladyblog. You'll see what I mean." Plagg said.

"So I really get instinct from you? It's not just amplified?" Adrien said and Plagg sighed.

"Well, Master Fu said that each generation of the Cat Noir gets stronger because they have their powers and instincts amplified by every other Cat Noir before him." Plagg said.

"Whoa." Adrien said and Plagg nodded.

"Yeah. Now come on you need your sleep and I need some Camembert." Plagg said and Adrien chuckled. He got ready for bed and climbed in. But as tired as he was, he couldn't sleep.

"Do you think Tikki is right?" Adrien asked.

"Yes... but about what?" Plagg said.

"Earlier she said that if I showed up for Marinette and really showed her that I want to be her friend, then Marinette will forgive me." Adrien said.

"Of course. You're an unstoppable team." Plagg said. Adrien heard this earlier, but it sounded differently coming from Plagg. From Master Fu, it sounded like such wisdom. But now that Plagg said this, it sounded like an undisputed truth that is obvious to everyone. A truth similar to 'trees are made of wood'.

"I still can't believe that she loves me." Adrien said.

"Well, believe it, kid. I told you she was a sweetheart the day you gave her that umbrella." Plagg said.

"You did, I know." Adrien said, and he blushed.

"That act made Marinette fall in love with me. I just didn't know it until now. Why didn't I notice it back then?" Adrien asked.

"Well, other then the fact that your dad hid you from the world and you forgot how people behaved around others; you fell in love with Ladybug before that happened. Because of that, you weren't looking at Marinette as if she were a romantic interest. You were just being nice to her." Plagg said and Adrien thought about this.

"You know, you keep making sense. It's kinda scary." Adrien said and Plagg stuck out his smelly tongue.

"Then quit thinking and start sleeping, Romeo. We both could use a rest from your Ladybug obsession." Plagg said and Adrien rolled his eyes.

"Good night, Plagg." Adrien said.

Across town, up in her room, Marinette yawned and rubbed her eyes.

"Cat?" She called out.

"He went home, Marinette." Tikki said, brushing some hair out of Marinette's face.

"Home?" She asked. Marinette opened her eyes and she looked around.

"Aw, he put me in bed." Marinette said as a gentle blush formed on her face.

"I can't believe you fell asleep in Cat Noir's arms." Tikki said and Marinette giggled.

"And I can't believe how good it felt to be in his arms." Marinette practically whispered.

"Marinette, it's starting to sound like you love Cat Noir." Tikki said and Marinette blushed deeply.

"What? No way, Tikki. I mean Cat is... Cat's..." Marinette bit her lip as she tried to find the right word.

"Cute? Kind? Wonderful?" Tikki suggested.

"Yeah..." Marinette swooned. Then she snapped back.

"I mean, he could be to a special girl. You know, if he ever got over Ladybug, that is." Marinette said, climbing down to the floor and picked up her pj's.

"Unless, of course, Ladybug changes her mind." Tikki said. Marinette rolled her eyes and started digging through her pockets, and put stuff in her purse.

"Well, the odds of that happening are-oh..." Marinette's whole mood changed when her eyes landed on Adrien's charm. She gingerly touched the sentimental object and sighed heavily.

"Do you know what you're gonna do with it?" Tikki asked and Marinette bit her lip.

"Adrien hurt me, I don't want to lose his friendship, but I don't know if I'm quite ready to forgive him yet." Marinette said, turning and grabbing one of his pictures off of the wall.

"Perhaps I should go ahead and forgive him though. After all, Andre's ice cream already proved that I'm still in love with Adrien." Marinette said and Tikki rolled her eyes.

"Technically he only proved that you have a crush on a guy with green eyes and pink lips. Do you have any idea how many guys in Paris have green eyes and pink lips- heck Cat Noir has green eyes and pink lips." Tikki said, annoyed. But then she covered her mouth, when she realized what she said. Marinette didn't see her little Kwami doing this, because she was deep in thought. She grabbed her phone and pulled up a picture of Cat Noir.

Tikki was correct. Cat Noir did have green eyes and pink lips. As Marinette stared at those soft lips, she wondered if perhaps she misinterpreted her ice cream. Perhaps she WAS in love with Cat Noir instead of Adrien now. It was a scary concept since she's rejected him so many times as Ladybug and pretended to love him as herself. And yet... they did have a good friendship, and he was often kind to her without asking anything of her. Could this night's interactions caused her to fall for him? Just as the umbrella thing made her fall for Adrien?

"Do you think Cat Noir has green eyes, even when he isn't Cat Noir?" Marinette asked Tikki, but then waved her off.

"On second thought, you shouldn't answer that. You spent the day with him, so you know what he really looks like; and I don't want to force you to lie." Marinette said and Tikki sighed.

"Thank you." Tikki said gratefully and Marinette pulled out a notebook, and a pen, then started writing.

"What are you doing now, Marinette?" Tikki asked and Marinette glanced at her.

"I have to lie to a lot of people about who I really am, and I don't like it. I have a great group of friends and I don't want to lose any of them. If I want to keep Adrien as a friend, then I want to be as honest as I can with him. So..." Marinette paused to grab an envelope.

"I'm gonna write him a letter and give it to him at the beginning of class tomorrow. I'm gonna be honest about how I feel and stay true to myself. And hopefully we can both make the effort to push past this." Marinette said and Tikki marveled at her owner who wrote from the heart.

[Hey this is QueenAlicorn. If you would like to continue supporting this story, then just stick around. But for those of you who would like to do more, I do have a Tumblr account where I am trying to advertise stories. You can like and share your favorite stories, if you wanted.]