Cat Noir hurried back to Chloé's hotel. He found her waiting impatiently on the balcony, no longer as Queen Bee. She held a shoebox in her hands with the miraculous box sitting on top of it.

"What took you so long?" she asked with an accusatory tone.

"I was, uh, looking for Ladybug on the way back," he said. Not entirely false, he told himself.

"Oh, did you find her?" Chloé asked with genuine interest.

"Not yet," he responded guardedly, "Is this the akuma?"

"Yeah, these shoes were so last month," she explained, "So I tossed them and took the box."

"Gotcha," Cat Noir took the boxes from her and turned to leave.

"Cat Noir," she called to him, "Was it true what she said? About Adrikins?"

Cat Noir paused and gave her a reassuring smile, "Nah, I saw him on my way to fight her the first time. He's just fine."

"Oh, good," Chloé visibly relaxed.

"And Chloé?" he added, "I didn't just choose you just because I know your identity, I chose you because I know I can trust you."

"Thank you, Cat Noir," Chloé responded with a smile. It was a genuine smile, a smile of gratitude. Few had the pleasure of seeing that expression on Chloé's face, but Adrien had seen it plenty growing up with her. She could show gratitude, it was just hard for her, given how little of it was shown to her.

Cat Noir gave her a small, two-finger salute as he jumped back into the night. He was not headed back to Master Fu's, though, at least not yet. First, he made his way back to Marinette's. Peeking through the open trapdoor, he saw her on her knees on the floor. She stood up suddenly, heading for the stairs down.

"Where are you going?" he called out to her. She jumped in surprise, turning to face him. She seemed suspicious.

"Uh, no!" she said quickly, stammering in her usual, nervous way, "I was just, uh, going to make sure my parents are ok!"

"Oh, ok," Cat Noir replied carefully, "because I thought you were looking for Tikki."

He saw the expression on her face change as he said that. He wasn't trying to scare her, though that seemed to be the effect of his words, but he had to know. He had waited for so long, and now he was so close to knowing the truth finally.

"Uh, who?" she responded after a significant pause and a blank, wide-eyed stare.

"Marinette," Cat Noir spoke softly, dropping onto the bed with the shoebox still clutched under his arm. It was time to be direct, "Are you Ladybug?"

He watched as Marinette seemed to accept that her greatest fear was coming true. It pained him to see that look on her face, to see her worries bubbling up and nearly overwhelming her. But then, in very Ladybug fashion, she calmed herself down, taking a deep breath, and all trace of hesitation or concern was completely absent as she definitively answered, "Yes."

The moment Cat Noir was out of sight, Marinette opened the trap door to her room and jumped in. "Tikki?!" she shouted into the empty room, but there was no answer. Please be okay, please be okay, she repeated to herself as she climbed down, looking everywhere for her kwami. She opened drawers, her closet, boxes of crafting material, and even looked under the beds, the pillows, the blankets, and anywhere else she could imagine, but Tikki was nowhere to be found.

"Tikki," Marinette began to cry, collapsing to her knees in the middle of the floor, "Where are you?" As she considered, suddenly the obvious answer dawned on her. Master Fu's, of course! she realized. That's where Plagg went when Cat Noir lost his miraculous, that's probably where Tikki went, too. She quickly got to her feet and began pulling open the door that led downstairs.

"Where are you going?" came a voice from above her. Marinette turned in surprise to see Cat Noir was back, watching her from the trap door above her bed. Why is he here again? she wondered, releasing the door handle.

"Uh, no!" she lied quickly, "I was just, uh, going to make sure my parents are ok!"

"Oh, ok," Cat Noir sounded unconvinced, "because I thought you were looking for Tikki."

A chill ran down her spine. Does he know? she thought with horror. If Tikki was at Master Fu's, then Cat Noir might have met her, and Marinette just shouted that name at her purse! Oh, no, she realized, eyes wide, now I've really messed up!

"Uh, who?" she responded finally, but her quivering voice betrayed her.

"Marinette," Cat Noir said softly, dropping onto the bed, a shoebox clutched under one arm, "Are you Ladybug?"

He knows, she realized, suddenly feeling quite warm under the scrutiny of those piercing green eyes. I have to lie, she told herself, thinking quickly for some kind of excuse, I have to protect my identity, but what can I say? After a moment of silence, she realized there was no way to get around it, no way to lie out of this. It was time to own up to her mistakes.

Marinette took a deep breath to steady her nerves, calling in as much of Ladybug's confidence as she could, before looking Cat Noir square in the eye and answering, "Yes."