"Yeah that's all well and good, but you two realize that you are kissing in a dirty alleyway?" A small sarcastic voice piped up.
The couple let each other go and looked at their kwamiis.
"Plagg, why were you in Marinette's purse?" Adrien asked after a moment.
"Well, I was sitting in your jacket and I heard Marinette's voice, I knew she was Ladybug so I got out to sneak over and see if Tikki was around and we spent the evening in the purse listening to the two of you prattle on and on." Plagg rolled his eyes.
"Plagg, be nice. They just discovered they were with their partner and knew they shouldn't say anything that gave away who they are in civilian life." Tikki floated up to Adrien's face and bowed. "Nice to finally meet you Chat Noir. I'm Tikki, Ladybug's kwamii."
Adrien smiled at Tikki. "Nice to meet you as well." A thought went through his head. "You two knew we were Ladybug and Chat Noir. Did you know we were being fools about each other?"
"We didn't know you were each other until the fight with Dark Owl. Magic keeps kwamiis from saying their owner names around other kwamiis. And we couldn't tell you who the other was even after we knew. You had to find each other yourselves." Tikki giggled. "And you finally did." She laughed some more and flew around the two of them.
Plagg huffed, "Maybe now you'll stop all the whining about how much you 'love Ladybug'. 'How cute Marinette is'." Plagg had used air quotes and it was adorable. "Sometimes I wished I could have told you outright that they were the same girl. If only to stop you from making a mess of yourself."
"Plagg, sometimes it is best if you don't say anything." Marinette teased the little black kwamii.
"Wait," remembering that Marinette had said Plagg's name and that was what drew him to the alley Adrien said, "You know Plagg?" He turned to Marinette.
Marinette grinned sheepishly and scratched the back of her head. "Kind of. There have been a few times over the years where something happened to 'Chat Noir' and Plagg had to find me and help me. Also he's come up with some goofy ideas that he needed my help with on occasion."
Adrien looked at Plagg, "Is that why there was a bunch of fabric scraps and tiny styrofoam balls all over the floor that one morning?"
"Yeah, my attempt at making a fancy beanbag for sleeping on did not go well." Plagg looked sheepish.
"Adrien, we didn't like keeping the two of you in the dark." Tikki flew up to Adrien's face and hugged his cheek. "We wanted you to to find each other." She flew back around so she could see both of them. "We couldn't tell you who the other was and we couldn't let you just go around telling anybody who you were while trying to find each other. If anyone had found out who the superheros were, and it got back to Hawk Moth, he could have hurt your family or your friends to get you to give up your Miraculouses. And now that you each know the other, you are going to have to be more careful. You are going to have to try to keep some detachment during battle. When one of you gets hurt, you'll have to act like you don't care as much as you do. If Hawk Moth figures out you are a couple as superheros, he may start looking at couples in civilian form trying to find you. This is going to be harder on you two more than ever. But we know you love each so much that you will be able to deal with it and face these problems head on. Together."
"You two are the best Chat Noir and Ladybug that we've ever had." Plagg gave Marinette's shoulder a little hug.
Marinette gently cupped Plagg, and reached out to Tikki. Tikki flew into her hand and Marinette hugged them both close. Then Adrien hugged all of them together.
After a moment Plagg said, "Ok enough cheesiness. I need some real cheese." And flew out of the hug.
"Ok. First," Adrien stole another quick kiss from Marinette's lips and then dropped an arm around her waist to turn her towards the street. "First we need go back to the restaurant. Alya has threatened my ass if I didn't go after you. We need go back and let them know that things are alright between us."
Marinette held open her purse for both kwamiis to fly into. "They are more than alright kitty." They started heading back.
"Huh, you know, we are going to have to come up with other nicknames for each other. I can't call you my lady, or princess or bugaboo in front of our friends while you're Marinette." Adrien scratched the back of his head with his free hand.
"Mari, will do just fine. Thank you very much." Marinette bumped his hip with hers. "Shall I call you Adrikins? Or Adrihoney?" She teased him using Cloe's old nicknames for him.
Adrien shuddered, "No. No way. Just your usual breathless Adrien will do." He smiled and kissed the tip of her nose.
"Chat," she admonished.
They both walked back to the restaurant. Holding each other close and dreaming of a future together.