Disclaimer: I do not own the characters from Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir and I make no profit from this story. No copyright infringement is intended I'm just enjoying some time with a few of my favorite television characters. The story is mine, except where directly quoting or referencing episodes.
The night air had taken on a bit of a chill, even though she felt like she was floating on a cloud. She shivered slightly as they sat, and Adrien drew her closer to his side, rubbing her arm to warm her. "How about I run down and grab you a blanket from your room?"
"Thanks, Kitty. Adrien? What do I call you now? This seems so strange, like a dream. Are you sure it's not, that you'll really come back?"
"It's real, Milady." He kissed her cheek. "Call me whatever you like. I'll answer to anything if you're the one calling. Be right back." He winked and let himself down into her room through the trapdoor.
She sat for a moment, soaking it all in. Truth was, Paris had survived the worst Hawk Moth could dish out, and now it appeared to be over. She'd been thinking about returning the miraculous to Master Fu for a while now, but had resisted the idea for a long time, telling herself it would take too much time to get it back should another attack occur. A while ago, after more than four months without any sign of Hawk Moth, she was forced to admit the truth: she didn't want to return it. If she did give the miraculous back, there was no guarantee she'd ever see Chat Noir again and she'd never know who had captured her heart. That was no longer a problem.
"Tikki, spots on!"
When Adrien returned a few minutes later, he found Ladybug leaning back against the railing, watching him come up to the balcony. "Ladybug? Is everything okay?" He looked at the seat where Marinette had been, but she wasn't there. "Where's Marinette?" He looked around again.
"Marinette?" he called. He suddenly felt a sense of panic, that he had let down his guard too soon and his worst fears were already coming true, at just the moment happiness was within his grasp. Right as he was about to transform, he remembered he hadn't revealed himself to Ladybug yet; he'd need to find an excuse to head back downstairs.
Ladybug walked toward him, a strange smile on her face. "She's fine, Adrien. No need to worry."
"But where'd she go? We were—uh—in the middle of something."
"I know, and that's why I'm here, Adrien. I needed to talk to you."
"Me? Hold on—how did you know to find me here?" His brain was desperately trying to catch up, but the adrenaline response that activated when he thought something had happened to Marinette kept a crucial piece of the puzzle hovering just beyond his mind's reach.
She had moved steadily closer and was standing directly in front of him now. "Silly Kitty. It does make me feel better, though, to know I'm not the only one who has missed the obvious."
She reached up to touch his cheek. He stepped back. He'd never seen this side of her before. Years ago, he'd dreamed about it, but not now. He didn't want to hurt her, but he didn't feel that way toward her anymore. The only one he wanted to look at him like that was—wait. Her eyes—something about them, more than just the color—he knew that look. What? Could it be?
"Mar—Marinette?"
Her smile widened. "You did have an advantage, since you started this whole thing, but I won't contradict you when you say you knew it before I told you. Tikki, spots off."
As the disguise disappeared, Adrien nearly fell to the floor. He'd been in love with the same woman this whole time, just two different sides of her? How had he missed it, for so long? "How could I not know?"
"Kitty? Really? After seeing what your revelation did to me, you're surprised to have missed the same things? It's not so hard to understand, now that I've had a few moments to begin processing it. We weren't looking for it. It's as simple as that."
He smiled at her. "A gracious answer, Milady. Thank you." He bowed, then held up the blanket he had brought, wrapping it around her.
They sat down side by side, and as she snuggled into him, she decided to ask something that had been bothering her for a while, though she never could have asked him before without revealing her own dual identity.
"Speaking of 'your lady,' why did you quit calling Ladybug that? It happened rather abruptly, but when you were with me as Marinette, you still used it. The first time you did that, I was terrified you'd figured me out, but from your reaction just now I'm guessing you were as surprised by me as I was by you."
"That's an easy one to answer. I may have been a flirtatious alley cat, but my heart can only belong to one woman. As soon as I began to see you that way, I couldn't call Ladybug 'my lady' anymore. You were, or I hoped you would be. Actually, that was my first clue that I had begun to fall in love with you. I guess I had started thinking of you as mine, and then it came out in my speech, too."
She hugged him from her seat beside him.
He chuckled, then kissed the side of her head. "I think I'm still in a bit of shock."
"Welcome to my world, Kitty." And with that, she kissed his lips, clouding thought even further.