Marinette had timed it perfectly. She had just enough time to see Cat Noir's slitted pupils dilate in surprise before a cloud of rose-colored sparkles blocked her vision, and she felt the familiar rush of the transformation right as Adrien's mouth made contact with hers.
Oh Lord God Almighty, I'm kissing Adrien Agreste!
She felt Cat Noir lean into the kiss, and she was more than happy to reciprocate, closing her eyes and focusing all her attention on kissing Adrien. What had doubtless been intended as a mere peck for the camera-staff became much more. She heard a faint clatter, and a moment later she felt Adrien's other arm wrap around her and hold her close. Her own arms came up to embrace him, one wrapping around Cat Noir's leather-clad shoulders, the other tangling in his hair. Then she felt a pressure against her lips and let them part slightly, and she felt Adrien's tongue slip into her mouth. Her own tongue came forward to caress his.
Marinette had no idea how long they held the kiss, but eventually their mouths separated. Marinette opened her eyes to see Cat Noir's green orbs staring into her own.
"Oh, My Lady," purred Cat Noir. Then he suddenly stiffened. "My Lady!" he repeated in a startled tone, disentangling from her arms. "Oh God, you're Marinette!"
"Afraid so, mon chaton," said Marinette.
"Then I…"
"Told me that you were dating me in order to make me jealous of myself," finished Ladybug with a smile. "And did a magnificent job of it, too. This has been everything I ever wanted from a first date, and a whole lot more besides."
Cat Noir grinned ruefully. "I look a purr-fect fool now, don't I?"
"Hey, it's not all your fault," said Marinette, reaching out to flick his bell. "I'll admit it was a bit mean of me to keep my secret and then spring it on you the way I did. Don't worry, nobody ever need know about this."
"And look on the bright side," she continued. "Now that we know each other, we can go on dates whenever we want."
"You… want to go on a date with me?" said Cat Noir.
"I wasn't lying, yesterday," said Marinette, fighting a sudden rush of embarrassment.
"You weren't?" said Cat Noir. "I still think I'd have noticed if I were dating you, whichever faces we were wearing at the time."
Marinette sighed. "I didn't say I was dating you, or at least I didn't mean to. I meant to say that I had a crush on Adrien Agreste, and that's why I couldn't act on any feelings I might or might not have had for Cat Noir."
Cat Noir pounced on Marinette's phrasing. "So you did have feelings for me!"
"A little, maybe. I don't know. Until last night, I was very deliberately not letting myself think of Cat Noir as anything other than my partner, because I was so infatuated with Adrien."
"And I was doing my best to ignore Marinette's crush on me and not let myself see her as more than a friend, because I was devoted to Ladybug," said Adrien ruefully. "What a mess we made. Only two people, and we managed to get ourselves into a love triangle. No, wait, a love square."
"I wonder how much longer we'd have kept it up, if you hadn't said what you said?" said Marinette.
"Lord alone knows," said Cat Noir. "You're not mad at me for revealing my identity, are you?"
"No," said Marinette. "You couldn't have known that I was Ladybug, and what you told me couldn't have revealed your real identity to anyone else. I am a bit annoyed that you felt it necessary to lie to me, though, even if you thought I'd lied to you first." She laughed. "Then again, I suppose I can't be too annoyed, considering the results." She leaned in for another kiss.
"Yeah," said Adrien breathily, once his mouth was free, "Hard to feel the fool when you're kissing the girl you've had a crush on for the better part of a year." And suiting action to word, he leaned in again.
"Uh, speaking of crushes," said Marinette a few moments later, "would you mind de-transforming? I'd kind of like to kiss Adrien at least once tonight."
"Not a paw-blem," said Cat Noir with a smirk. "Plagg, claws in!"
"Tikki, spots off!" said Marinette at the same moment. Pink sparkles filled her vision, and when they cleared, Adrien Agreste was sitting next to her. She gathered her nerves and leaned in for the kiss, wrapping her arms around Adrien to hold him close.
"Well finally!" drawled an unfamiliar voice. One of Marinette's arms came free and swatted blindly at the voice, before returning to its place tangled in Adrien's hair. "I mean, seriously, do you have any idea how annoying it was to watch my kitten pining like that? It was almost enough to put me off my cheese!" There was a ripping noise and a gulping sound. "Almoft," the voice continued, now sounding rather muffled.
"Oh shush, you old sourpuss," chirped Tikki. "I think it's very sweet."
"You would," said the unfamiliar voice.
There was a moment's pause, and then a tiny chirp. "Missed you," said Tikki.
"Missed you too," said the other voice, now much softer and more sincere.
Adrien and Marinette came up for air and turned their heads to take a look. Tikki and what had to be Cat Noir's kwami were embracing in midair, eyes shut and all their attention seemingly turned to each other. It was the kind of embrace Marinette often saw from her own parents, and seeing it from her kwami made a sudden pang shoot through her.
How long has it been since those two were together last?
The two kwamis broke apart and turned their attention to their Chosen.
"What?" asked Cat Noir's kwami in his original tone of voice.
"Wow, Plagg," said Adrien. "I never knew you cared about anything other than cheese."
"The things you don't know about me could fill a whole library of books," said the cat-kwami. "Say, are you going to finish that champagne?"
"Uh, there's plenty in the bottle," said Adrien.
"But first, introductions!" chirped Tikki. "Marinette, Plagg. Plagg, Marinette."
Plagg rolled his eyes. "Fine. Adrien, Tikki. Tikki, Adrien." Then he dived for the champagne bottle.
Tikki dived after him. "Not yet, Plagg!" she said, grabbing him by the tail. "They've still got to get back down, remember? I'm sure Adrien will let you have all the champagne you want once you're back at his house."
"Whatever," said Plagg, but he changed course and instead made for the sandwiches.
"Actually," said Marinette. "We probably should be getting back home." She paused for a moment to let out a yawn, then continued. "It's very late, and I wouldn't want my parents wondering where I disappeared to."
"Yeah, probably a good idea," said Adrien. "Plagg, claws out!"
Plagg just managed to grab the last piece of cheese from the sandwich he'd been disemboweling and stuff it in his mouth before he was pulled into Adrien's ring. Green lightnings played over Adrien's form, and then Cat Noir stood there instead.
"Tikki," said Marinette. "Spots on."
The sparkle of the transformation blinded her for a moment, and when it cleared Cat Noir was holding his staff, with the screen extended from the top and a –
No. I am not going to think that! Enough with the stupid puns, brain!
-a very pronounced grin on his face.
"I fur-got about this, earlier," he said. "Came out just about purr -fect, though. Here, have a look."
Marinette leaned in to take a closer look. It was the photo that Cat Noir had snapped of their first kiss, and it was just as good as he'd said. The two superheroes were both fully transformed, lips locked together like they hadn't a care in the world but each other. Which… was pretty much the truth, of course.
"Do you think we should send this to Alya?" asked Cat Noir. "I have a feline that it would make her day."
"And week, and probably school semester," said Marinette with a laugh. Then she sobered up. "It doesn't really feel right, though. The fact that we are or aren't dating shouldn't be anyone's business but ours. We're heroes, not celebrities."
"I am a celebrity," said Cat Noir. "Always have been. I suppose that gives me a bit of a different perspective from you on the issue of publicity. But if you don't want to let the cat out of the bag, we don't have to. I'm sure there will be plenty of other opportunities to tell the world how I feel about you."
"Thanks, mon chaton," said Marinette. "Be sure and save that photo, though. When we're old and married and showing our kids our scrapbooks, I'll want it front and center."
Suddenly, Marinette realized what she'd just said, and for a moment she felt like her heart had stopped. Her face felt like it was on fire, and she knew it had to be as red as her Ladybug suit.
Cat Noir began to laugh. "Is that sup-paw -sed to be a proposal, Milady?" he asked.
Marinette covered her face with her hands and mumbled something incoherent.
"Be-claws if it is," said Cat Noir, "Then I think these would be in order."
Marinette carefully lowered her hands, but what she saw instantly made her clap her hands back to her face with a muffled squeak.
Sitting in the palm of Cat Noir's outstretched hand, shining against the black leather of his glove, were a pair of golden rings.
"Milady?" asked Cat Noir.
"Where did you get those?" asked Marinette, letting her hands fall once more from her blazing face. "And why did you bring them tonight? Was Marinette supposed to wear an engagement ring to back up your story about dating her?"
"I've had these for ages," said Cat Noir. "Almost since we met. I figured some day the right moment would come, so I bought these and I've been carrying them around ever since."
Marinette couldn't help laughing at that. "You really are a smitten kitten, aren't you?" she said, taking another glance at the rings. One was set with a single emerald, the other with a sapphire.
Blue for my eyes, green for his, thought Marinette. Then another thought flashed across her mind. Oh God, how much did those cost? If those are real gold and gems – and I'm sure they are – then they must have cost hundreds of euros. And he just went out and bought those because he thought I might someday accept his flirting.
That cat was – is – seriously into me. Maybe even more than I'm into him.
"Well…" she said out loud. "I think the rule is you're supposed to have at least three dates before getting engaged, and I don't think fighting akumas counts."
"Hmmm…," rumbled Cat Noir. "Tonight's one, obviously. And then there was the time we trained together, just before the Gamer. And the totally-not-a-double-date with Alya and Nino to see the new Star Trek movie. And the one going out to L'igname Pourpre, though that might only count as half a date since we both had to leave when Trumpeter showed up. Plus I could probably think of at least a couple more. And even if we don't count multidates with Alya and Nino, there was the time you and I went out for ice cream, so that plus Gamer plus tonight makes three."
"All true," admitted Marinette. "And I do kind of feel like throwing Alya a bit of a bone. Plus I can't wait to see the look on Chloe's face when I turn up with your ring on my finger." She realized what she had just said and winced. "Sorry, I shouldn't be looking forward to that."
Cat Noir sighed. "No, it would probably be good for her. One of the hardest lessons to learn when you grow up the way Chloe and I did is that it is possible to not get what you want, that there are times when things happen that you would give anything to prevent, and there is nothing you or anyone else can do about it. I don't think Chloe's ever learned that lesson, not really, not the way I did when I lost my mother. Maybe this will help teach her."
There was a long moment of silence, and then Cat Noir shook his head as though trying to get water out of his ears and pasted a smile back on his face. "Wonder how long it will take Nino to notice that I'm wearing a ring? I've a feline Alya will notice in half a heartbeat."
"Most likely," said Marinette with a laugh. "Hey, let's be all really casual about it, act like we've been dating since forever. It'll be fun watching them all freak out."
"A fine notion, Milady," said Cat Noir. "But you know they'll eventually ask what we are to each other. What are we to say when we do decide to answer that question?"
Marinette smiled and plucked the emerald ring from Cat Noir's palm. "Let's just call it boyfriend/girlfriend for now, and revisit the 'marriage' idea once we're a little closer to legal age," she said, slipping the ring onto the ring finger of her left hand. "Though if you keep giving presents of this caliber, I can be fairly sure what my response is going to be."
"As you wish, Milady," said Cat Noir with an overly elaborate bow. He put the sapphire ring on the same finger Marinette had, and Marinette felt an odd temptation to giggle as she glanced from the…boyfriend ring on his left hand to the Black Cat's Ring on his right.
One of those is worth far, far more than the other. But when we're not transformed, only two… no, four people in the world would know which one it is.
"Good night, mon chaton," she said, unclipping her yo-yo from her belt.
"Good night, My Lady," said Cat Noir.
With a last wave, Ladybug leapt from the Eiffel Tower, yo-yo already spinning.