Author's Note: After two weeks of new episodes, I was wondering what direction to take this fic in, but now I'm feeling inspired again, and I hope you all have fun with what's happening! Please shoot me a message stardusted or chassecroise on tumblr if you like it! I love to hear from readers :)
Adrien spends all day trying to think of a way to get a better look at Marinette's earrings again without being weird about it, but he can't think of anything that's not suspicious. And when he finally does get a chance during their lunch break, Plagg starts kicking the side of his bag and Adrien has to run off and feed him cheese, scowling at the tiny black kwami's self satisfied little smirk as he gobbles it down. By the time he returns to the classroom, Marinette's already gone home for lunch.
Finally, it's the end of the day, and Adrien practically runs to rehearsal. He doesn't want to waste any more time, and he purposefully walks up to Marinette, who's talking to Alya, and taps her shoulder. She jumps in surprise at the feeling of his hand and turns around to look at him curiously.
"Salut Adrien! Did you need something?"
Adrien waves his arms in her general direction and twists his lips, trying to think of a way to say, "Can I look at your earrings?" without sounding like a total creep.
"Um—well…"
Professeur Seydoux saves him by calling the main cast over to her. She tells them to sit in a circle as she hands out sheets of paper and pens.
"Okay, everyone. Today, we're going to explore our characters. I want you to truly understand how your characters think and feel and see the world. Dive deep into their psyche and figure out how they tick, what they like, what they hate. Any questions?"
Everyone shakes their head no, and the Professeur turns to look at her two leads, pointing her pens in their direction.
"Also—my Ladybug and Chat Noir—even though everyone else is writing about their own characters, I want the two of you to write essays about how Ladybug and Chat Noir see each other. Marinette, you should write about how Ladybug sees Chat Noir, and Adrien, I want you to explore how Chat Noir sees Ladybug. Dig deep and be as authentic as possible. I want both of you to connect with your characters so well that the audience actually thinks that you are Ladybug and Chat Noir.
Adrien and Marinette both hide their smirks from the Professeur (and from each other). She has no idea.
"Of course, Professeur," says Adrien dutifully. "I'll do my best." He takes one of the pens she's offering them and sneaks a look at Marinette as she moves past him to take a pen herself. He manages to get a quick glimpse of one of her earrings before a lock of hair falls over her ear and hides them again, and he sighs. But it is at least enough to confirm to Adrien that his eyes aren't deceiving him. Marinette's earrings are exactly the same as Ladybug's.
What does it mean? Is she a fan, like Alya and Chloe? If so, it certainly is a subtle way to go about it. Nobody except the most diehard fan would notice. And Alya has certainly never said anything about it. Maybe she's just never noticed herself.
Or maybe Marinette just started wearing them after she got cast in the role, to get into character. But then again, from the sounds of it, she didn't volunteer for the role—it was Mylene's suggestion.
It's a mystery, and Adrien wants desperately to solve it. For months now, he's been dying to learn who Ladybug really is, but he never asks her anything about her civilian life, because he knows how private she is.
But first, it's time for him to write about how Chat Noir sees Ladybug. Which is easy, because Ladybug is everything. In fact, Adrien thinks of so many good things to say about her that after he looks down at his paper after five minutes he figures he should tone it down a little bit, to avoid coming across as a total fanboy. Even though he is, and he knows that Plagg will tease him for days once they get home.
Marinette sits quietly in the corner and ponders what to write about Chat. She's feeling so confused and worried about what to tell the real Chat about the play that it's hard to focus on her assignment for class.
But then she thinks about her silly minou, and how he'd call laugh off her worry and tease her about how they're meant to be together (he's been doing that a lot more often these days, come to think of it), and then the words come flowing.
Marinette writes about how silly he is, how he's kind and funny and gallant. How he's always there when she needs him, and how he's the most genuine person she knows, but a little too cocky and overconfident at the same time. Infuriating but as close to a best friend that a superhero partner can be—as in sync as humanly possible, even though she doesn't even know his real name.
She scratches that last part out. Nobody else knows that Ladybug and Chat Noir don't know each other as civilians. In fact, she's not sure that anyone actually knows that they have civilian forms, since they always run off and hide before they detransform.
Before she knows it, it's time for everyone to share their paragraphs, and Professeur Seydoux chooses Marinette to go first. Adrien is excited to hear what she has to say about Chat Noir, not only because of all the things he's wondering about her, but also because he's saved her a couple times, and he can't help but wonder if she was at least a little bit impressed by his skills. At the very least, he hopes that she will praise his speed and acrobatics.
But he's surprised to see that she doesn't mention his physical abilities at all. It seems to him that Marinette is focused entirely on Chat Noir's personality, and her level of insight is startling for someone who's only met him a few times.
Because the thing is, even though Paris is a city devoted to worshipping its two heroes, the focus is usually entirely on Ladybug—and so the fact that a simple civilian girl like Marinette has such a sharp insight on the way he thinks—well, it makes Adrien even more curious about her than he was before.
And then he hears her say "cocky and overconfident at the same time", and he deflates a little bit. Marinette is taken aback. She wonders if she's offended Adrien somehow, even though that wouldn't make sense. He's the opposite of cocky and overconfident—he's sweet and charming and nothing like Chat at all, as she's reminded Alya multiple times.
Unfortunately, she can't continue the rest of her paragraph, since that's what she's crossed out, so Adrien never hears her say the part about Chat being as close to a best friend to Ladybug as he can be. Instead, she tapers off and shrugs, and Professeur Seydoux tells her to sit down as she beckons at Adrien to stand up and read what he's written.
And Marinette finds that she is speechless when she hears it. He's written a tender account of how much he looks up to Ladybug and how she's the bright light in the city of Paris, and how no matter how dark things get, Ladybug will be the one to make things right—and Chat Noir will stand behind her all the way.
Everyone applauds as Adrien sits down and Ivan begins reading his paragraph, but Marinette isn't listening, because she has just realized that Adrien genuinely has a crush on Ladybug. Yes, he's writing from the perspective of Chat, but what he doesn't know is that Chat doesn't really have feelings like that for her. Because if he truly did, Marinette would know about it.
The only secret Chat has ever kept from her is his true identity—and that only because Ladybug has always wanted to keep it that way.
It's the main reason she's so worried about this play. The way Chat flirts and calls her "my lady" all the time, it's just the way they interact. If he shows up to the play and sees "Ladybug" and "Chat Noir" kissing on stage like they're meant to be together forever, what will he think? And how will Marinette's changing feelings toward him complicate things further? It was bad enough this morning when she couldn't tell him about the play. How will she deal with Adrien, playing a lovestruck Chat Noir in rehearsal, and then face the real one when she sees him again? What if she starts to mix them up?
But all of that complicated nonsense aside, what this exercise boils down to is this: Adrien is genuinely in love with Ladybug. And Marinette finds that it hurts a little bit, even though she knows it's irrational. She is Ladybug, after all. She could make this happen, if she wanted to.
Does she want to?
Maybe.
It's a tempting thought, and she continues to ponder what Adrien has written while the others go on, not listening to anything they're saying. Adrien, too, is distracted, though for other reasons. He's got many things on his mind.
Later, at home, Adrien leans back in his chair thinking about how Marinette described him, and how it lines up with how Ladybug actually acts around him. How is it possible for her to read him so well?
Plagg groans. "Can I please have some camembert? I've been putting up with your gumshoe act all day and I'm going to need several rounds of cheese if you're going to keep going."
Adrien sighs. "But Plagg, how can Marinette know me so well? Only Ladybug could possibly know those things about me."
Plagg scowls in response and Adrien rolls his eyes and opens up a jar sitting on his desk and tosses a few pieces to the grumpy kwami, who swallows them whole. He opens one bright beady green eye to stare directly at Adrien.
"You tell me, Jules Maigret. You're the one playing detective."
At home, Marinette wonders what would happen if she visited Adrien as Ladybug. Just out of curiosity. How would he react?
She remembers the one time she ran into him as Ladybug, when she was fighting The Mime. He hadn't said anything then, just stared at her, with what Marinette distinctly remembers now as a look of pure wonder, and it makes her heart stop for a moment.
And those kisses that still make her lips tingle when she thinks about them.
And all those nice things he said at rehearsal today. She wants to hear them again. Because honestly, what girl wouldn't want to hear such nice things straight from the mouth of the boy she loved? Was it really that surprising that Marinette wanted to visit him right then and there?
Tikki shakes her head, worried. "Marinette, it's risky! You've never done anything like this before. Are you sure it's a good idea?"
"Of course not, Tikki! But I'm not sure of anything right now. Not about Chat, not about Adrien, not about this play…but I'm just curious."
She looks out the window and watches the Eiffel Tower glittering in the distance.
"What's the worst that could happen? It's not like I'm going to tell him who I really am. I just want to say hi." And maybe do a few more things.
Tikki sighs. She can clearly see that Marinette is feeling impulsive tonight, so she says nothing more.
Marinette transforms into Ladybug and leaps off her roof. She swiftly leaps across the tops of the buildings in the darkness before landing atop the Agreste Mansion, panting and out of breath—partly from the exercise, but mostly from nerves.
Ladybug takes a deep breath before leaping off the roof. She swings back and forth in front of his room and taps repeatedly on the window, with what she hopes is a flirty expression.
Adrien looks out the window and jumps in surprise. He blinks and rubs his eyes several times before running immediately to the window to let her in.
"Ladybug? What…what are you doing here? Is there an akuma outside?" He rubs his ring, ready to think of an excuse to run out of the room so he can transform into Chat Noir.
"No! No—there's no akuma. I just—"
Ladybug is at a loss for words herself. She's not sure either. She didn't actually think she'd get this far, and without a reason to be authoritative and bossy around a civilian, she's not sure how to act. Ladybug isn't usually around in non-threatening situations. There's no code of conduct to follow here. She's in completely unfamiliar territory.
"I…don't know. I guess I just wanted to see you tonight." What is she saying?
Adrien stares at her, eyes wide. "Wait, does that mean you know me? In your—your civilian form?"
Ladybug pauses. She's always been so careful about keeping the lines between her life as Marinette and her life as Ladybug completely separate. If she says yes, that means risking everything.
If she says no, well—then she's safe. And so is Adrien. So that's probably the better option. But to say no, she has to have a proper explanation.
She tries to think quickly for reasons to explain why she's here when her eyes light upon something heart shaped and red sitting on the corner of Adrien's desk, next to a picture of a smiling woman who looks a lot like him.
It looks like a valentine—wait, the valentine! The one that she wrote as a response to the crumpled up valentine Adrien had thrown in the trash, the one that she and Tikki thought was for Marinette.
It had said, "I wish I knew who you were underneath that mask." Tikki had said it was a poetic metaphor, but Ladybug realizes now that Adrien was being completely literal—because the poem wasn't for Marinette. It was for Ladybug.
She remembers now that she never actually signed her poem. And maybe now, for once, that can help her. Because she remembers every single word that she wrote like it was yesterday.
Ladybug points at the card on the desk. "That valentine, who is it from? One of your classmates?"
Adrien notices what she's staring at and turns bright red.
"I—that—that's from someone—I don't know. It wasn't signed."
She slowly approaches him, reciting the words from memory.
"Tes cheveux brillent comme le soleil,
Tes yeux sont du vert de la chance,
Je te regarde et me demande,
Tes pensées et rêves.
Oui, ta valentine je sarais,
Notre amour sera si vrai,
Ensemble pour l'eternité,
Mon coeur t'appartient."
Adrien gasps.
"—It was from you!"
Ladybug smiles up at him. Even when she's transformed, he's still taller than her, and she finds it incredibly attractive. She's two inches from his face, and she's not sure what's come over her, but she's feeling reckless like she's never felt before and even though she knows it's probably the worst idea in the world, she reaches up and lightly strokes his cheek.
Adrien reaches up and laces his fingers through hers, squeezing them tentatively. He meets her gaze and holds it steady as he wraps his other hand around her waist and gently pulls her closer, as softly as if they're both standing in a dream.
"Can I kiss you?" he whispers.
Ladybug breaks into a dazzling smile. "God, I thought you'd never ask."