Ten minutes to midnight on her twelfth birthday and she sat on her bed staring at her arm as if it held the answers to the universe.
It didn't.
At least not yet.
In just a few minutes her words would appear.
The words that would be her soulmate's first words to her.
Most people had something mundane like Hi, Excuse me or What can I help you with?
It made finding your soulmate difficult in some cases.
Then of course, there were the more eccentric ones, but they weren't nearly as normal.
Maman and papan had already told her she shouldn't get her hopes up for some amazing words.
And she didn't.
Really.
She knew the likely hood of her getting anything except the bare basic were minimal, but she had this feeling that her words would be something more.
So there she sat.
Time had to have slowed down to make the wait as unbearable as possible.
It was the only explanation.
Many different scenarios played out in her head.
Maybe she'd only get a greeting or an introduction.
She'd half convinced herself her gut feeling was wrong and she'd get something short and boring, when words began taking shape on her forearm.
It was miraculous.
Transfixed she watched as her words slowly became more and more legible.
You kissed me.
Huh.
Her gut was right.
He hadn't known.
No one had ever bothered telling him.
The day after his twelfth birthday was normal, if slightly quiet.
That was until he'd stormed into the kitchen yelling bloody murder.
"WHO DID THIS?"
It kind of shattered the peace that had for once reigned.
His forearm was uncovered to show of the offence.
Everyone stared at him with different degrees of shock.
Drake was the first to snap out of it and just in time too.
He'd started considering grabbing a knife by then.
"You don't know?" Drake furrowed his brows.
"What is there to know except that one of you buffons have written nonsense on my arm?"
It wouldn't even surprise him if it was more than one of them.
His patience was wearing thin.
"Nonsense?" Brown smiled like a loon. "What does it say?"
"Don't you know how to read?"
"We can't see the words. Only you can." Grayson was as usual the only helpful one. "It's the first thing your soulmate will say to you."
Forget helpful and change that to crazy.
Cain would from now on be his favourite.
But what followed was a long, very, very, long explanation of soulmates and the likes.
And a lot of teasing.
Todd tried to ruffle his hair. "What is the words that will introduce you to your soulmate?"
You kissed me back.
He refused to tell them what his words said.
"Why not?"
"Plagg you don't exactly have the best track record when it comes to picking holders." Master Fu gave him a pointed look. "We should stick with what we know works."
He actually laughed at him at this point.
They'd been arguing over this for at least two hours and neither was giving an inch.
Master Fu was stubborn, but so was he.
"Works." Plagg didn't stop laughing. "The kid isn't even turning up to attacks for anything other than to flirt. Then he gets upset when Ladybug doesn't accept his advances."
It was at times like these Fu looked every one of his years. "He has so much potential. I wouldn't have given him the ring otherwise."
"You're right. He had potential." The kwami of destruction rarely acted this serious. "But potential doesn't mean anything if you don't bother using it. Adrien could have been a really good Black Cat. The potential was there. The problem is that he isn't hero material. He just doesn't understand the weight of it all. The responsibilities nor the risks. I'm usually all for fun and freedom, but I know there's a time and a place. He's been raised in a way that has protected him from seeing the world as it is. He views the world in black and white and doesn't see that everything isn't as simple as that. All of it makes him a terrible superhero and it isn't fair for Ladybug-" He shut his eyes tight. "-for Marinette to have to pick up the slack. It's time for you to accept that I need a new holder."
Master Fu massaged his temples.
That was okay.
He could wait a minute.
He already knew that he'd won.
Wayzz came flying over with a cup of tea.
Probably calming tea.
He took another look at the guardian.
Hopefully calming tea.
"You wouldn't have come to me like this if you didn't have an idea." The man took a deep breath. "What do you suggest we do?"
And now they were actually making progress.
"First of all we make a few more holders permanent." He held up a paw to stop Master Fu from protesting. "It's a bigger risk, but we can keep it as safe as possible by making good choices and we need more players to even out the playing field."
"Who would these heroes be?"
He had their attention.
Both Wayzz and the master was listening intently at what he had to say.
Good.
"The Tsurugi girl and snake boy. They're the only ones with experience that Marinette still trusts since her class turned on her. Plus they're both great at being heroes."
"Understandable." Wayzz seemed to be mostly on board by now. "And the Black cat?"
This was where things would get interesting.
He couldn't afford any doubts in this. "Let me choose him. I already have my eye on someone that would fit the miraculous perfectly."
"Who is it?"
A few minutes later Plagg flew out into the evening to return to Adrien for the last time.
It was only to take the ring.
Tikki had told her to transform and go to an abandoned warehouse.
It was weird, but she tended to trust her kwami and did so this time too.
It didn't make her any less on edge though.
Master Fu appeared and she started to calm down a bit.
"Why am I here?"
Because wasn't that the big question?
It couldn't be for a normal meeting.
They usually had those at the massage parlour.
"Be patient. All will be explained when the rest arrive."
Well, then.
She took to leaning on a pillar where she had a good view of the entire room.
Who else could be coming?
Chat Noir was a possibility, but she somehow doubted it.
He didn't care enough to turn up at every akuma anymore so there wasn't that probable that he'd come to whatever this was.
It only served to confuse her when Viperion came in. "Sass said I should come here?"
Apparently he was confused too.
How did he even get his miraculous?
"Longg told me the same thing." And Ryuko was here too.
She was passed confused.
Master Fu nodded and gave a slight smile. "They were both sent out with their miraculous to find you and bring you here so we could talk."
That explained the how.
Not the why though.
"What are we going to be talking about?" She really wanted to know that.
"We still have to wait for Plagg."
Plagg.
Not Chat Noir.
Just Plagg.
Fu pulled forward one of the wooden boxes that had been abandoned with the place and sat down on it.
She shared a look with Viperion and Ryuko.
The question was quite clear.
They didn't know the guardian after all.
She shrugged and pulled her own box.
The others did too.
The atmosphere was tense.
Something was going to happen.
Thankfully Plagg decided to fly in at that moment.
He had the ring with him.
This couldn't be good.
"Why do you have Chat Noir's ring?"
She admired Kagami for asking the question she couldn't get out.
Plagg looked at all three of them. "Can any one of you really say that he should keep it?"
None of them could.
Chat had been skiving off and when he did turn up he'd flirt with her and keep saying that they should be together.
It was starting to make her uncomfortable and put so much more pressure on her at every battle.
There was a part of her that felt relieved that he wouldn't be Chat Noir anymore.
"Exactly." Plagg had taken their silence as the answer it was.
"Is that why we're getting to keep our miraculouses?"
"No." Plagg looked at the ring again. "I'm giving my ring to someone else. You two aren't going to replace the Black Cat. Lately it's become obvious that Paris needs more than two heroes. That's where you come in."
Plagg left through the roof and flew further into the city.
It had gone well considering everything.
Ladybug had backup that would take their responsibilities seriously.
Those three would have each other's backs.
Now they needed a black cat that would do the same.
He hadn't told Master Fu who was getting the ring.
It was a huge risk on his part, but one he was willing to take.
A few more blocks and he'd reached his destination.
Le Grand Paris.
He knew which window he had to go through.
It had the blinds drawn.
Just as usual.
He passed through and found himself in his new holder's room.
Two feet in and he had to dodge a flying knife.
It embedded itself in the wall.
The thrower was getting ready to throw a second one.
But he wasn't screaming.
It was an improvement from most of these situations.
"Good throw, kid."
"What are you?" The knife was still ready to be thrown, but it wasn't as much of a loose canon anymore.
He could even detect some curiosity behind those narrowed eyes.
Now to the usual Q&A part.
"I'm a kwami. I grant magical powers."
Short, concise and to the point.
"You look like a cat."
That wasn't a question.
He decided to take his chances and flew closer.
There wasn't another attempt to skewer him.
"I'm Plagg. Kwami of Destruction. Nice to meet you." He held forward a paw to shake.
He shook the kwami's paw.
What else was there to do?
And then he listened as the tiny being explained how Paris was being attacked by someone called Hawkmoth that utilised emotions to turn civilians into supervillains.
That didn't exactly go down well.
Someone should have known something if this had been happening for years.
He'd personally only been in the city for a few days and nothing had happened during his stay.
But when he thought about it people had given hints of something happening.
Mentioning akumas and a ladybug.
The knife had laid abandoned as he got to know about the miraculouses.
It was quite incredible really.
Magical jewellery.
That was new.
Then he got to hear about Ladybug and Chat Noir.
And Rena Rogue, Carapace, Pegasus, Roi Singe, Ryuko, Queen Bee, Viperion and Bunnyx.
Paris had their own heroes.
Magically powered up teenagers by the sounds of it.
He couldn't believe how Chat Noir could be a lousy hero without seeing anything wrong in it.
Or how so many temporary heroes could be dumb enough to do something that rendered them unfit to be heroes at all.
Hours were spent learning about so called akumas that had been faced in the past.
It wouldn't be long until sunrise and he still didn't understand why he was being told all of this.
Plagg's answer was straightforward enough.
He'd been chosen to replace Chat Noir.
By a tiny god nonetheless.
He had no idea how to deal with this one.
"You do know I'm leaving Paris within the next 24 hours?"
This was a school trip he'd been forced to go on.
His father's reason was that he needed to make friends.
Hypocrite.
And it wasn't like anyone in his class was worth knowing.
They were rich and entitled imbeciles.
"That would be a problem." Plagg grinned. "Except I happen to know the Justice League has Zeta tubes that go to Paris."
"And this helps me how?"
Note to self: Kwamis don't have eyebrows, but can still make an impression of lifting one.
"I've been spying on you for three days." Way to be blunt. "Do you really think I don't know you're Robin?"
He wouldn't be getting sleep anytime soon.
His eyes strayed to the place in the wall where his knife had been.
Definitely not anytime soon.
"How did the trip go?"
He scowled. "It was a torturous experience and utterly unnecessary."
Grayson was clearly not surprised. "Lil'd, you need friends or you'll end up like Bruce."
"I fail to see the problem with that."
His eldest brother shook his head and chuckled.
Suddenly he'd gotten a hug and the offender was no where to be seen.
His father noticed immediately. "You have a ring."
"I do quite like it. I got it in Paris."
No one looked twice at the ring after that.
"Demon spawn's back."
"You didn't kill anyone, did you?"
"Make any friends?"
Grayson broke up the fist fight that took place a few minutes later.
Cain hadn't participated, but had somehow acquired popcorn.
Plagg floated beside him. "Your family is chaotic. I like it."
He gave him a piece of camembert from his post patrol sandwich.
"You haven't seen us being chaotic yet."
The kwami looked absolutely delighted at hearing it.
P.E.
A dilemma every young vigilante faced.
It meant that father didn't bat an eye when he skipped every Physical Education class he had.
It served him well as he could head to Paris instead.
Especially since no one ever expected him to come right home after school.
His hobby of wandering the city to draw whatever caught his interest had never been as helpful.
The Zeta wasn't far from his school.
But he did encounter another problem.
They'd be able to trace him if he went through.
He couldn't leave any crumbs for anyone to find.
That included his family.
He didn't want them to know about this.
Not until he was sure about what this was.
Plagg could only explain so much.
Plagg.
Of course!
"You're the kwami of destruction. Could you destroy my digital footprints?"
Plagg shook his head from his pocket. "I wouldn't be able to control something like that, but maybe you could."
"You want me to transform?" And use destroying powers without knowing what I'm doing went unsaid, but heavily implied.
"It's difficult destroying something that isn't physical, but if you concentrate on severing any connection you might be able to leave between yourself and the zeta you might just manage."
"Are you sure?"
"Nope, but let's try anyway."
It worked.
But it had brought a new set of questions.
How does cataclysm work? Is it possible to use it without saying anything? If not, would it work if you whispered the phrase?
And what about the baton? How far can it extend? Does it have any other features?
It lead to them having a training session in an abandoned warehouse.
An abandoned warehouse that wasn't really abandoned, but belonged to Wayne Enterprises and was out of use at the moment.
It was where Plagg told him to go and he didn't have any objections.
The walls were soundproof so no one would hear him in here.
Plagg answered as many of his questions he could while snacking on a piece of camembert.
Sometimes he didn't know the answer, but they could always try it out later.
And try it out they did.
The weapon felt unfamiliar and foreign in his hands.
He planned to rectify that as fast as possible.
Some time passed as he tested things out.
In Gotham school had just let out.
In Paris it was heading towards nine o'clock.
Six hours time difference did that.
The point was that the three heroes of Paris were supposed to meet up to discuss how they'd continue on.
It so happened that Ladybug was the first to arrive.
It so happened that the Ladybug and the Black Cat noticed each other at the same time.
Bluebell eyes that burned with fierceness behind the mask of a ladybug.
Forest green eyes that felt wrong and contrasted greatly with the black mask.
Neither dropped their weapon, but they didn't take any fighting stance.
Plagg had told them they'd be getting a new black cat.
Her new partner.
A new chance.
Plagg had told him there was a team.
The girl in front of him his partner.
Himself, her second one.
She was tiny.
He was tall.
Neither hid how they sized each other up.
Trying to make sense of the person in front of them.
They wanted this to be different.
They were willing to make adjustments.
Both wanting this to work against all odds.
Her suit was simplistic and very formfitting. Red with black spots.
His suit was practical and completely black. A mix of ninja and spy.
They'd seen darkness.
Paris was the city of lights, but a mad man held the citizens hostage.
Taking advantage of people and turning them into the worst version of themselves.
Not caring if people died to get what he wanted.
She'd seen it.
Gotham wasn't a place for innocence and neither was the league of assassins.
It wasn't a trade for the softhearted.
Kindness had no place in an assassin's heart.
He'd seen it.
Pigtails. Medium length hair. Dark as night.
His hood had cat ears. It fitted him well with that black hair.
She'd been forced to watch everything go to hell so many times.
There had been too many close calls.
Then everything would go back to normal.
As if nothing ever happened.
Except it had and she wouldn't forget all the people that had died.
That she hadn't been able to save.
Sons and daughters, fathers and mothers, friends and foes alike.
They might not remember it, but she could never forget.
He'd grown up with it.
Never knowing it wasn't normal.
Seeing men and women destroy families and take lives.
Not even blinking at the lives lost.
He hadn't only seen it, but experienced it too.
He knew exactly how it felt and that was impossible to let go of.
Being trained as a weapon to use against people that were in the way or simply at the wrong place at the wrong time.
He'd have to carry that burden for the rest of his life.
Her eyes burned brighter even if they had a sheen to them.
His eyes looked black when light didn't shine on them.
The darkness had tried to kill her spirit.
Make her back down.
It only made her fight back harder.
For a long time he'd been part of the darkness.
He'd chosen to step away.
But the shadows still called for him to come home.
She was a beacon of hope to rally behind.
He was a shadow never meant to be seen.
The tension was high.
A make or break situation.
They both took a few steps towards each other.
Slowly.
This wasn't something that could be hurried.
They're eyes were locked together as they got closer.
The distance between them were shrinking until they stood within arm's reach.
She smiled.
It was tiny and a bit strained, but present.
And he tried to respond with one of his own even though it turned out more like a grimace.
For just a beat nothing changed.
But then a few chuckles escaped her.
And it grew to pure laughter.
He didn't twitch a muscle as she had to bend over to get a handle on it.
"I'm so sorry." She wheezed. "It's just this entire situation."
"Don't be. This is uncomfortable for the both of us." He held forth his hand. "I'm Shadowcat."
She took the offered hand. "Ladybug."
They didn't trust each other.
Not yet.
But maybe they would someday.
More introductions went around when Viperion and Ryuko arrived.
They did have a meeting.
Shadowcat was given the run down of certain things.
That included the akuma alert app.
He was very grateful for that one.
She also gave a few tips to the others since they weren't used to being permanent holders.
That included carrying something for their kwamis to eat at all times and having a few excuses ready to go.
They also agreed on doing some training to get used to each other.
There wasn't any problem between any of them and that had been a major concern.
It had been hard to foresee without knowing who the new black cat was.
From what little she'd gotten he wasn't the best at social interaction.
That could be because of so many reasons that she wasn't even going to think about it until she knew more.
The biggest difference between him and Chat Noir though had been how professional and serious he had been about everything.
That was not to say he was stiff or anything like that.
He just seemed to get that there was a time and place.
She appreciated it.
Ryuko had been the first to leave and Shadowcat followed soon after.
"I get why Plagg chose him." Viperion smiled. "His song. It's fast and thrilling. Chaotic, but controlled."
There had been more that he wasn't telling her, but that wasn't meant for her to know.
She'd find out with time.
He made it back to Gotham in time for dinner without anyone noticing.
He didn't tell them a single thing.
"What are you doing?"
Plagg had watched as he brought forward a map and studied it for fifteen minutes straight.
It was only a matter of time until he asked.
"If I am going to operate in Paris I'll need to know where everything is."
No one was allowed to notice that he didn't live in Paris.
Luckily he had an insider.
He turned to the kwami floating next to him.
Their system worked flawlessly.
Every question adequately answered resulted in a little piece of camembert.
They stayed up late.
"Tikki, what do you think about Shadowcat?"
The kwami pondered the question. "It's too early to say for sure, but he does resonate better with Plagg."
"That's what I thought." She pulled on the pyjama top. "Everything is just changing a bit too fast."
Tikki cuddled into her cheek. "Change can be a good thing, Marinette. Who knows? Maybe this will make it easier in the long run."
"Maybe."
His first akuma happened the next day.
It changed a lot.
Called herself Mama Bear.
Could de-age people to toddlers.
Her sons had bailed out of visiting her.
He wasn't the most sympathetic person around, but even he could tell she was as much of a victim as everyone else.
It made things harder.
"Nadja Chamack live here at the Trocadéro where an akuma is currently attacking. Multiple accounts tells us she turns people back into small children-" Some kind of cookie flew by to a business man. Then it lit up as he seemingly shrunk until a toddler stood in his place. "That is now confirmed. Ladybug has just arrived on the scene. She is immediately attacked and forced to dodge an alarming amount of projectiles. This does not look good. And just as she is about to be hit a harp comes flying in and pushes away the offending cookie. Incredible timing for Viperion. It seems out favourite superheroine won't have to go it alone this time. Ryuko also joins the party and they aren't making it easy for the akuma. This formidable trio definitely have this handled, but- Is that Chat Noir? Wait, no this is someone different. Paris apparently has a new Black Cat. Stay tuned and don't be bemused, it's just the news."
She was surprised by how easily she fell right back into having someone watching her back.
It had been a while since that last happened.
Now she had three good heroes to help her at all times.
It was invigorating.
For so long she'd had to go at it alone and now she didn't have to.
It was the first time in forever she actually came out of a fight without feeling dead on her feet.
He couldn't believe how different it was from fighting regular criminals.
They had to figure out what object was infected and then get a hold of it.
Then the powers.
He knew how to fight against someone that was superpowered, but that didn't mean he had to like it.
But then technically he had powers now too.
It was all so absurd.
That was only the beginning.
From then on it was a common sight to see all four of them at fights.
The public loved them.
Paris finally had a working superhero team.
Their training was doing wonders and they were slowly learning to trust each other.
They taught and learned.
Figured things out as they went.
They all had their ticks, their strengths and their weaknesses.
The warehouse remained their go to location and it wasn't uncommon to find them going their without a reason other than that they had free time.
Sometimes they ended up being there alone for awhile, but it happened that they bumped into each other.
That's how it came to be that Shadowcat and Ryuko started fencing/swordfighting together.
How Viperion and Ladybug could be playing go fish on some crates.
Or even how sometimes they all ended up on the floor with their homework.
They weren't getting sloppy, but they'd gotten to trust in each and every one of them and knew no one would try to figure out any identities from anything they let slip.
It simply wasn't needed.
Ladybug didn't make it a secret that she knew who the other two were, but Shadowcat never took it badly.
He understood the need for secrecy.
They all did.
And if they along the way realised that it wouldn't be the end of the world if they did find out-.
Well, it wouldn't bother them overly much.
Ladybug and Shadowcat did try building up a working partnership.
It was difficult.
Everything had to be built from the ground up.
They trained just the two of them at times.
Partnered up for patrol too.
And slowly their partnership blossomed.
The first month was the hardest.
But they got through it.
He spent more and more time in the city of love.
She spent less and less time with her classmates.
"What about you, Damian? You aren't home as much anymore."
Father had to bring that up at a family dinner, didn't he?
Keep cool.
Don't give anything away.
"I've found myself quite inspired lately. I'm going to need a new sketchbook soon."
Drake snorted. "What's got you so inspired?"
"The city has many moments and places that should be captured on paper."
He hadn't lied so far.
Well, not much.
His sketchbook was getting rather full, but it wasn't Gotham he was filling it up with.
He had others that were filled to the brim with that, but not this one.
No, this one he used in Paris.
Most were done in the times he just strolled around without any goal in mind.
It made for interesting drawings.
But back to his family of detectives that were interrogating him.
They couldn't sense him lying and were obviously ready to move the conversation forward.
"That's not all there is." Except Grayson had to open that mouth of his. "Have you found friends, Dami?"
His first instinct was to deny it, but the words wouldn't come out in anything other than a jumbled mess.
He was spending way too much time with Ladybug.
But that was all that was needed for everyone at the table to assume he had friends.
He didn't.
Plagg pressed against his side from the inside of his pocket as if he knew what he was thinking.
He probably did.
The kwami was lazy not dumb.
The only ones outside of his family he spent any bigger amounts of time with was his teammates.
Had they become his friends?
She'd been pushed down the stairs by Alya.
The rest of her class laughed.
Lila had sent her a victorious smile.
It wasn't the first time.
Not even close.
But this time had been different.
It hadn't hurt as much.
Well, physically it had, but not emotionally.
It used to feel like a stab in the back every time her friends let her down like that.
Seeing her best friend abandon her at every way possible.
Betrayal hurt worse than being flung across Paris.
She had enough experience to say that with certainty.
Except this time she hadn't been looking at her friends.
Her friends would have stood by her.
Just like Kagami did when she helped her up from the floor and lead her out of the building.
"They aren't worth it."
And wasn't that just priceless.
Kagami didn't even know they were teammates, but she was the one to have her back when she needed someone to.
And she was right.
They weren't her friends anymore and they weren't worth the effort.
Any semblance of friendship had been lost long ago.
She'd moved on as best she could.
She had new friends that wouldn't turn on her at the drop of a hat.
Kagami.
Luka.
Shadowcat.
They were her real friends.
He left the kitchen in some sort of haze.
His family's disbelief weren't quiet.
He didn't notice.
She left school with a friend by her side.
Her classmates mocked her as she walked.
She didn't notice.
"I'm bullied."
It was their turn to patrol and they were nearly done for the night.
They hadn't talked a lot.
Both stuck in their own worlds.
And then she said it.
It wasn't a cry for help nor was it for sympathy.
She used the same tone as when talking about the weather.
No emotion at all.
"Oh." He turned towards her, but he didn't offer her any pity.
"Yeah, have been for about a year or two now." She swallowed, but she continued. She needed to do this. "They used to be my friends. I would always excuse whatever they did because of that. It didn't hit me until today that I'm being bullied."
Shadowcat didn't look at her anymore, but she knew he was paying attention.
She continued. "I don't know how to handle this. Shouldn't I feel sad or angry? I know it's better that I don't, emotion exploiting terrorist and all, but I literally can't feel any of it. All I feel is hallow."
He was never easy to read.
It made it all the more frightening that he seemed to be unable to form any kind of answer.
He was out of his comfort zone.
That much was clear.
At last he closed his eyes and took a moment. "I think I have an idea."
He left her at a random rooftop and when he came back he had ice-cream.
Triple chocolate.
It wasn't small by any means either.
They had a huge tub each.
He handed her a spoon and sat down.
Then view of the city was fantastic.
The Seine sparkled in the moon light.
The first taste of the ice-cream exploded in her mouth.
It was heavenly.
And after a while she started to feel a bit better.
Not good, but less empty.
It was nice.
"Feeling better?"
She nodded and swallowed. "Thanks."
"My brother and I always get ice-cream when we're out and about late. I've seen him devour his own weight in ice-cream at particularly bad days. He says it makes everything better when you're down." He shrugged. "I thought it wouldn't hurt to try it."
Her parents must never meet him.
They'd adopt him.
But they kept talking long after the ice-cream was gone.
He told her more about himself and his family.
Turned out he had more than one sibling.
In turn she told him about her hobbies and such.
She probably talked his ear of about designs she wanted to make.
It was bizarre being so open to someone while in her mask.
It should have scared her how easily she let her guard down.
It didn't.
They didn't leave until the sun started peaking out on the horizon.
That night impacted their partnership in ways no one had expected.
They trusted each other from then on.
And a seed had been planted in the bottom of their hearts.
Feelings they'd both deny having.
At least for now.
He made his family promise to not try to find his friends.
They wouldn't have listened if he hadn't threatened to drop them and going back to being a loner if they continued.
It was a empty threat.
She found his sketchbook.
She hadn't meant to peak, but it happened anyway.
It blew her away and took her to a whole other world.
The Eiffel Tower.
The Louvre.
The Trocadéro.
Different parks, cafés and buildings.
People.
A lot of which she recognised and even more which she didn't.
A stray cat.
Le Grand Paris.
Fang.
Not Jagged Stone, but Fang.
There was even a drawing of her parents' bakery.
It gave her a peak into his soul and she felt bad for seeing something that obviously wasn't for her eyes.
She went to give it back to him.
They were a mess.
He'd apparently found her own sketchbook and looked through it.
Seen all of her designs.
She was ready to crawl under a stone and stay there for the rest of her miserable life.
But he liked it.
And it wasn't something he said to be polite.
He gave her reasons for why he liked them.
It made it less embarrassing.
Then the roles were reversed when she told him about her similar mishap.
She should have gone with the stone.
It would have been easier.
Ryuko and Viperion accidentally detransformed right in front of each other.
That wasn't even half of it.
Luka and Kagami were soulmates.
It brought forth a new set of questions.
Plagg finished of his piece of camembert. "It's simple, really. It was the first time Dragongirl and Snakeboy met without being transformed."
Tikki waved her arms as she talked. "They're soulmates so they said their words."
"Miraculouses aren't supposed to interfere with the balance of the world-."
"-so the transformation blocks you from finding your soulmate. Kagami and Luka technically met-."
"-as Ryuko and Viperion, but their bond didn't come into play until they weren't actively using a miraculous-."
"-that could block them out. Well, mostly."
"They've been getting closer for some time now, kid. They just clicked in a way only soulmates do."
"Of course they didn't know that."
Let's say both of them were sure their kwami was laughing behind their backs.
They didn't get why.
Sometimes they were too oblivious .
The team was even more open after that.
Ryuko and Viperion were taking things slow, but they had agreed to tell him their identities since he was the only one that didn't already know.
It had been a big show of trust on their part.
He, if anyone, knew the importance of secret identities.
He also knew how hard it was to trust someone with information that could make or break everything.
Secret identities were a thing for a reason.
He'd take theirs to the grave.
"CHLOE BOURGEOIS!"
Follow that with a lot of crashes, screaming and a few superheroes dropping from the sky.
"Again? That must be the fourth time this week."
"And eighteenth this month."
"Hawkmoth probably just waits until Chloe pisses someone off to send of an akuma. "
"How much of an idiot is this girl?"
"You haven't met her?"
"No."
"Lucky."
"That will be 800."
"800?"
"800. I'd rather take cash, but I could settle on that dark blue card of yours instead."
"Kagami, I consider you one of my best friends. That said, if you let him get that card I'll make sure you regret every decision you've ever made."
"Just turn some cards around and give him the money."
"Snakeboy has been in prison for most of it all. I wouldn't value his advice to highly."
"What if I give you a yellow one and these two red ones?"
"Not a chance. Ladybug would kill me to get those."
"What if I throw in a get out of jail card?"
"Still not happening."
"Well, what do you suggest?"
"How about those two greens and the water works?"
"That's as bad as giving you the dark blue one."
"We'll be here for awhile."
"I'm going to fail english."
"How come?"
"Have you ever spoken to me when I'm panicking? I get stressed and then when I'm trying to say something it just doesn't make any sense at all."
"You need practice. Then you'll be fine."
"Yeah, that's a no go. My parents don't speak english."
"Who said anything about your parents?"
"Mr Pigeon? He actually made it a entire year without getting akumatized."
"These names keeps getting worse."
"Arms out."
"Why if I may ask?"
"Measurements. I'm making you a surprise, but I need to know your sizes."
"You don't need to make me anything."
"Hush. The designer is working."
"Nice jacket, Demon."
"Thank you, Brown."
...
"I can't be the only one that heard that. Right?"
"You're hurt."
"I'm not."
"You are. You flinch every time you move your left arm."
"It's nothing."
"That's definitely not nothing."
"I-... My old friends pushed me into a railing today."
"Want me to kill them for you?"
"No, thanks.
"My offer stands."
"Good to know. Ice-cream?"
"Ice-cream."
"Were you two dancing?"
"That's correct."
"Any specific reason why?"
"I'm going to be her plus one on some gala and I didn't know how to dance."
"That's so sweet!"
They restarted the music and watched as Kagami and Luka continued.
"May I have this dance?"
"Miraculous Ladybug!"
"That never gets old."
It was once again their turn to patrol.
Slow night.
Nothing unusual.
Except something was up with Ladybug.
She was off somehow.
He didn't understand what was weighing on her mind until they'd already finished up patrol.
Guilt.
His partner felt guilty for keeping things from him because he was new.
For not trusting him with everything.
Including her identity.
That evening could have gone two different ways.
It all came down to one thing.
One question that they needed to answer.
Could they let go of their secrets?
Yes or no.
There wasn't room for maybe.
The logical choice was the safe one.
To forget about it, walk away and continue on like they were doing.
Secrets were secret for a reason and the stakes were too high to take risks.
Sharing would put them, the guardian, Paris as a whole and their families in danger to mention a few.
But it would also shatter what they'd built up between them.
All of it.
In the end they'd both reached the same conclusion.
Screw the logical choice.
He took her through the Zeta.
She looked around in wonder. "Where are we?"
Because of course he hadn't explained anything to her beforehand.
And it was earlier in the day, late afternoon, buildings she'd never seen before and quite a few other details that clued her in that they weren't in Paris anymore.
"Gotham."
So began the first of many revelations.
Her partner was Robin.
One of her favourite american heroes was her partner.
She'd been working with a professional.
They were saving their civilian identities for last.
"Do you have any other secret aliases then?"
It was meant as a joke.
Something he'd only recently started doing around her.
But the two of them hidden on a rooftop without security cameras was as good of a time as any.
His partner was MDC.
The one person his entire family had searched for everywhere.
He'd worn a one of a kind original MDC jacket in a manor filled with MDC fans.
They watched the world go by as they shared secret after secret.
Some larger than others.
He'd been raised as an assassin.
She was being trained to be the next guardian of the miracle box.
He had died.
She'd been trying to find Hawkmoth by herself.
And they continued.
Everything was being told.
How they'd become the person they were today, insecurities, lies they'd told, responsibilities...
Until only one secret each remained.
Correction
One secret each and a lie they were both telling themselves.
She nibbled on her lip. "How are we doing this?"
And wasn't that the question.
They'd been discussing it for ten minutes already.
It took another five for them to come to a decision.
Simultaneously detransform in front of each other.
Introductions after that.
Simple as that.
Saying they were going to do it and actually going through with it was very different things.
They stood with one or two feet between them.
Gathered courage for what stood before them.
She sought out his eyes.
Eyes that never felt completely right.
But they were a comfort.
Her lifeline.
He didn't need words to ask her if she was ready.
She wasn't, but she would never really be.
So she nodded anyway.
Spots off and claws in.
Both a mere whisper.
As the light swept over them she closed her eyes unaware that he'd done the same.
Two teenagers on a rooftop.
For the first time there wasn't any masks in between.
Their eyes were still closed and her heart was beating harder than ever.
This was it.
She swallowed.
It took a lot to remind herself that this was her partner.
The one person in the world she knew best.
Especially after today.
Her best friend.
Her heart protested.
She knew why and she was through denying it.
Tikki, sweet and helpful Tikki, gave her a gentle push on the shoulder.
She had to do it before she lost her nerve.
The push was exactly what she needed.
Without opening her eyes she took a single step forward and reached out for him.
Ready or not, her she goes.
Then she kissed him.
Neither noticed how Nightwing landed on the rooftop to quickly turn away from the couple that clearly wanted privacy before taking a double take.
They didn't notice him take a photo and then leaving either.
The whole family had already seen the picture before they'd parted.
It hadn't been the best quality, but it had clearly shown their youngest kissing a dark haired girl.
They couldn't even find out anything about the girl since the photograph didn't really show her face.
They'd tried.
They finally broke apart and opened their eyes.
Emerald and bluebell.
Both blown wide.
"You kissed me."
"You kissed me back."