Day 27: Confession

(sequel to Day 20: Lucky Charm Bracelet)

Ladybug stood on the top of the Eiffel Tower, waiting anxiously for her partner to arrive for their patrol.

After Chat had left her bedroom the other day, she was rather distraught. She didn't know whether to cry, scream, laugh, or sing for joy. She didn't know how she felt.

All she knew was that it was a little of everything. And everything was intense.

In some ways, she was overjoyed. It was Adrien! Her silly kitty was the boy she loved. The two most important boys in her life were the same guy!

But on another hand; the fact that Chat had accidently revealed himself to her made her angry. That cat needed to be more careful! They had secret identities to protect themselves and their loved one. If it had been anyone else who learned who he really was, he would be in deep trouble!

But it hadn't been just anyone. It was her. The girl who was secretly his partner.

Maybe that was good luck after all.

Once the shock had passed, Marinette was able to calm down, reevaluate how she saw both Adrien and Chat—as individual people, then as the same person—and came to a conclusion.

How she felt and what she was going to do.

She knew who he was now. She couldn't just forget.

It wasn't fair. Wasn't balanced. She couldn't keep this from him now that she knew. And there was a part of her that didn't want to.

She knew the risks, but she also knew the possible advantages. They were ready.

At least, she believed they were.

Finally, Chat arrived. Right on time.

As he landed on the platform with her, Chat approached her. Ladybug was facing him, standing there with her right arm behind her back for some reason.

"Evening, milady," he greeted her in his usual charming fashion.

"Evening, Chat," she said back, trying to keep her voice steady.

Chat frowned, sensing a serious vibe coming off of her. Then it remained as he remembered what he'd promised to do as soon as he saw her.

She was going to be so disappointed. But his biggest fear was that, now that he was compromised, she would take his miraculous anyway.

He was afraid to have to ask but he had to protect Marinette. And by protecting her, he was also protecting his identity. If Shadowmoth ever possessed her, Marinette could unintentionally reveal his identity to the villain. And that could not happen.

He had to come clean and confess his mistake. Then beg for her forgiveness and then her help.

Even if she took his miraculous, it was fine. As long as she made Marinette a magical charm, he would be fine.

"Um, listen," he began. It was a chance he just had to take. "Before we get to patrolling, I need to talk to you about something."

He cringed a bit and looked away. He expected her to asked what it was with concern or annoyance because she would just know that he had messed up somehow. The last thing he expected to hear her say was…

"Chat, I already know."

The hero's feline eyes opened wide as he snapped his gaze back to her, still standing there, her eyes glued to him. Still tense. "You…what?" he asked. Maybe he had heard her wrong.

"Yesterday, you accidently revealed your identity to a close friend of yours; Marinette Dupain-Cheng," she said to him, her voice soft but serious.

This only made his eyes widen more.

"How did you-?" he stopped. Completely speechless. That was strangely concise. "Did you talk to her?" How else could she have known all of that?

Ladybug lightly shook her head. "I didn't have to." After taking a deep breath, she finally pulled her right arm around from behind her back to her front. She held it up to her chest, her left hand held her forearm.

There, easy to see, especially for someone with Chat Noir's sight, wrapped around his lady's gloved wrist, was the charm.

The lucky charm he gave Marinette. The one he had seen her wearing just yesterday.

"Ladybug, why do you have that?" he asked. Now he was the one in shock.

She took a deep breath. Chat thought that he was the one confessing tonight, but it was really her.

"A very special friend gave it to me," Ladybug began, taking a small step closer to him. Chat was frozen where he stood. "I gave him my old one because I thought it'd help him when we were supposed to be in an Ultimate Mecha Strike tournament together, but then I just let him keep it. Then, on my last birthday, he made me a new one to replace it." Now Chat really couldn't believe his ears. The exact same story. The one he had already known before Marinette explained it to him yesterday. Because he had lived through it. So lost in his racing thoughts, he didn't even notice she had continued to come closer until she was right in front of him. "And I think it's even more lucky," she whispered.

There was no other explanation. It was so plain to see, staring into her bluebell eyes.

"Marinette?" he whispered back.

She nodded.

"Tikki, spots off," she uttered, her eyes closed. As the red light traveled from her feet to her bluenette head, Chat looked on in awe. He'd only even dreamed of Ladybug detransforming in front of him. But never in any of those dreams was Marinette Dupain-Cheng the face he saw when the red light was gone. Marinette opened her eyes again, staring up at him with those same bluebell eyes he adored. How could he have not noticed they were the same? "Maybe…my charm with your charm are more lucky…together," she said, still nervous but she smiled at him.

Chat smiled too, but wrapping his arms around her. Marinette sighed, calm and glad, as she hugged him back.

At first, he thought Marinette's charm falling out of his pocket right in front of her was bad luck. But it turned out to be the luckiest accident even.

See u tomorrow =^.^=