Notes: Another surprise! These also happen on the same day so it's only fair you get to continue the story on the same day too.
They had agreed to meet at 5pm on Île aux Cygnes by the Statue of Liberty, and Cat Noir was feeling good about it, having been unable to think about anything but this all day. He had been perched on the ledge at the statue's feet since around 4.30pm, paying little attention to the people gathered below who were wondering what he was doing there, while he thought over all of the conversations that had taken place in the last week, both as himself and as Adrien. He felt incredibly fortunate to have both Ladybug and Marinette in his life and couldn't wait for, what he felt was the strong possibility of, being able to share with both of them who he was. He had been wondering what would happen when he showed Marinette his face, having never really considered what sharing with anyone other than Ladybug would be like, when Ladybug startled him.
"Penny for your thoughts?" she said, looking down at him from her place sat atop the tablet in the statue's arm.
"When did you get here?!" he asked, amazed not to have noticed her arrival. He really must have been deep in thought about Marinette, which surprised him too.
"About two minutes ago," she explained, "what were you thinking about that you didn't even notice the people down there move about and point when I appeared?" Cat Noir glanced down and saw that the crowd was bigger, and gave them his signature two fingered salute.
Cat Noir wasn't sure it would be prudent to start the conversation with his desire to share his identity with someone else, much less another girl. "Oh you know, it's been an intense week," he covered, "there's been a lot to think about."
Ladybug couldn't argue with that, and jumped down to sit next to him. "Tell me about it, Kitty. Did you sleep much this week?"
"Ha ha, no, not really," he admitted. "I didn't even get any cat naps!" She groaned at him, "You too though, huh?" he enquired.
As if on cue, she let out a yawn. "Definitely not as much as I'd have liked. But you and I are no strangers to interrupted nights, are we, kitten?" She seemed to be being extra affectionate with the nicknames today. He took that as a good sign.
"True enough," he granted, "I guess that's one thing that will be nice to get back." Not quite meaning to interrupt the light-hearted conversation they'd had going so far, he had unintentionally brought them on to the main area of discussion for the day.
"Yeah, I guess you're right," she said, her tone suggesting that she still had some hang-ups about leaving their superhero activities behind. That made her harder to read over all and Cat Noir was left wondering which way this conversation would actually end up going.
"You're not looking forward to giving this up, are you?" Cat asked her, deciding that if there were ever a time for direct questions about this all, it was probably now.
"We probably shouldn't talk about it so close to a crowd, huh?" she pointed out, and he wondered if any motivation for that answer was as an avoidance technique. Before he could query any further she jumped off, and over towards the nearby bridge. He would follow her to the ends of the earth if necessary, but sometimes he wished she would tell him where they were actually going first. Thankfully it wasn't far and immediately he knew he should have just guessed and he would have been right. It would be one of their favorite look outs, however on-the-nose it was, and he followed her up to their usual secluded seating place half way up the Eiffel Tower.
"Could you have picked somewhere more obvious?" he teased her, grinning as he caught up.
"Oh hush," she quieted him, "what more fitting place for the heroes of Paris to have their last discussion," she reasoned, adding, "as heroes at least."
He sat quietly with her for a while longer, she appreciating the view of Paris from this position, he enjoying being able to stare at her uninterrupted. She didn't even berate him when she caught him staring at her, simply smiling at him, and he noticed her eyes were wet. She wasn't crying but she was obviously already feeling deeply about what they were walking away from.
"Thank you, Cat," she spoke up, looking him in the eye.
"What for?" he asked, slightly confused but happy to have all of her attention.
"For everything," she responded simply. "Having a supervillain in Paris was never a good thing, but you've made this whole experience wonderful." That was strong language – he noted that she hadn't said, 'you helped make', but 'you've made', and he found himself with his own eyes watering. Neither of them were sad in this moment, it was a sort of appreciation for their shared experiences over the last few years and for each other.
"You've been the highlight of my life, My Lady, not just the silver lining of a bad situation." It wasn't often he got to say such corny things to her without her brushing them off, but today she took the compliment without complaint.
"So," she decided to get to it, "I'm guessing you still want to share identities? No, concerns?"
He knew the best way forward for the future was honesty in every way, and so he alluded to his week in his answer. "Well I can't say no concerns." It had been a week to remember, that was for sure. He waited for her to respond but she had gone quiet, staring at him. "Ladybug?"
She looked at him a moment longer before replying, with a quiet voice, "you mean you aren't convinced we should be doing this?"
Her demeanor had changed so much that Cat wasn't sure what to say. He was glad to have been able to actually take the week to think things through as much as he had, given how he hadn't thought he even had anything to think about to begin with, but his admittance of hesitancy seemed to have spooked her and he didn't want to ruin this moment. "Of course, I am," he reassured her, "I'm just a little scared, if I'm honest."
"Why?" she asked, her voice still withdrawn but her eyes still following him.
"Well," he answered, slowly, so as to be as delicate as he could with her, "because," he looked away, scared to admit his hesitancies, "what if everything changes between us?" he finished, and looked back to see her reaction.
Her heart was beating fast, she had expected Cat to be his usual over-confident self with her, and had been relying on that to help her overcome the uncertainty she still felt about revealing themselves to each other. But he was expressing fears. What if sharing was wrong after all? It was all too much and she didn't know how to handle it. So she jumped.
Cat Noir watched as the expression on her face had gone paler and she had started taking shallower breaths, then all of a sudden she had leapt off of the tower and was swinging away towards the Jardins du Trocadéro. Fast as he had ever moved he grabbed his baton and threw himself after her. Although she was fast they had always managed to keep up with each other – plus, she didn't seem to be running from him exactly. At least she wasn't checking if he was following. Once she had made a turn past Trocadéro he was certain he knew where she was going. This road led to the Arc de Triomphe.
Ladybug found the ledge around the Arc, below the top, and sat on it, letting some of the emotions out. From this position no one on the roof could see or hear them due to the safety fence, and although people on the ground could see them they couldn't hear anything from this distance. She felt Cat land close to her but didn't look up, leaning her back against the Arc, eyes closed.
Cat gave her her space and approached slowly and respectfully, wondering what to say, wondering why she had run. "Ladybug?"
"Sorry, Cat," she apologized. "I didn't mean to bail on you," she admitted, "I just got scared."
"Do I scare you, My Lady?" he asked her, hoping not to be the source of her fear.
"No, Cat, of course not," she assured him, looking his way. "It's just," she looked out over Paris again, "I'm scared about that too, and you've always been so ready to share that I thought you're certainty would help me overcome my fear. Knowing you're scared too was like facing this whole thing again for the first time." She looked back at him. "Does that make sense?"
"Yes, Bugaboo, I totally get it," he said kindly, and finally sat down next to her.
"Sorry if I scared you," she said, leaning her head on his shoulder.
His heart was racing this time, though obviously for a different reason, and he leaned his head against hers. He wished they could just stay like this forever – it was all he wanted. "It's ok, Ladybug, this has been an emotional week for us both."
"You know," she started, "at first all I was thinking about was what it would be like to have to give up my powers, but I came to realize that that wouldn't have been the worst part."
"No?" he asked.
"When I stopped to really think about it, the idea of not seeing you again was worse than that."
Tugs on heart strings. "My Lady, you're going to make me blush," he said, already actually blushing.
She laughed lightly against him. "Don't get a big head, Kitty. But I do mean it. What have you been feeling?"
"Well, something similar. I've been scared of never seeing you again after today." He admitted, not knowing that she already knew this. "This week has been so long to get through because of fearing what we're going to decide and not wanting to deal with it, but at the same time it's not been long enough to really think about everything."
Ladybug hmm-ed in agreement.
He took a deep breath, "can I be honest with you, My Lady?"
"You know you can, Kitty," she said, then thought she needed to add something more to help him believe her, "I won't run again."
He was calmed to hear that. "I've been scared of whether or not you'd like the real me, or if it would make you not like me…" he had said it out loud and she nodded against his shoulder as she thought about it.
"Can I be honest with you?" she asked in return. "I'm kind of scared of the same thing. I'm scared that, because I've told you about liking someone else, that knowing who I am will make that more real to you, and you won't like me for it. And I'm scared that if it changes our friendship and we are ever needed to do this again in the future, that it will have somehow ruined our partnership." That was the conclusion she had come to in terms of articulating how revealing identities could cause problems in a possible future battle.
He sat there for a while thinking about it. "I'll make you a promise, Ladybug," he eventually told her. "I will always be your Cat Noir whenever you might need me to be – whatever happens you will always be able to count on me for that."
She looked up at him and smiled and he smiled back. "Thank you, Cat." She put her hand in his, taking a moment to think about her response so that it could be genuine. "Then I promise to always be your superhero partner if ever we are needed again."
He was closer to her than he had ever been, in more ways than one, and was ready to face this head on. "I may have experienced some concerns, but I'm still certain I want to know you," he told her. "I've never known anything more surely in my life."
"Ok," she informed him. "I think I'm ready…" lifting her head from his shoulder (much to his disappointment) before adding, "…but perhaps not here."
He suddenly remembered where they were and realized she was probably right. She stood up and he followed, placing a hand on her shoulder, and as she turned back to face him she saw his other hand scratching the back of his neck. The same embarrassed gesture he had had after lifting her to the roof as Marinette. 'What was making he embarrassed exactly?' she wondered. "My Lady?" he asked her.
"What is it Cat?" she asked softly.
"I had a request, and I understand if you say no, but I might never have the chance again so wanted to ask anyway. But I really understand if you say no." He was confusing her to say the least. They had just agreed to find out who each other was – what might he never have the chance to do again?
"Errm, what's the request?" she asked, just as softly, but with a bit more confusion laced in.
"It's just, uh, that I was, uh, wondering…" he breathed in to steady himself. "May I kiss you, My Lady? Just once?"
She thought for a moment on the request. She knew how he felt, and he knew that she didn't share those feelings. She had kissed him once before, but that was to break the spell of an akuma, though she knew he had been heartbroken to have received a kiss and yet have missed it.
"I know you have feelings for someone else, and I don't mean to intrude on that, it's just, we may never be us, like this, again."
She stepped close to him and looked up so that their faces were mere inches apart. She closed her eyes and rose softly onto her tiptoes, delicately placing a soft kiss on his lips.
His eyes closed too and for a moment time stood still.
She dropped slowly back to her feet and opened her eyes to look at him, seeing a look of pure joy formed softly on his face as his eyes remained closed for another few seconds. That expression spoke of the peace and perfection that the moment had encapsulated for him, and although she had thought she had no romantic feelings for him she found herself wishing she could give him that feeling again in the future.
Eyes still closed he smiled the most satisfied smile a person could. "Thank you, My Lady."
She continued to look at him as she wondered what exactly it was that she felt for him – she hadn't thought it was romantic, but it seemed to be more than just friendship and more than even the camaraderie their partnership had developed. She pushed the thoughts aside, and joked, distracting herself as much as anything. "If this is the last sighting of us, then that will sure give the media something to talk about," she smiled at him.
"So, where should we go?" he asked, telling her without words that he had no intention of dwelling on what just happened and making her uncomfortable about it, and that they could continue their evening.
She took a moment before making a suggestion. "This might sound weird," she offered, "but hear me out. How about we go to Françoise Dupont school?" He thought it was a strange suggestion if he was honest and his expression conveyed that, so she went on. "We had so many akuma battles there or close to it, and the first akuma victim was from there – do you remember Ivan?"
"How could I forget our first meeting, My Lady?" He winked.
"Well, I think it would be a nice symmetry of sorts to end things there. Plus, at this time it should be empty so we wouldn't have to worry about being seen."
"Françoise Dupont it is then," he agreed.
