Author's Note: And here it is, the big finale chapter! Chapter 15 will be an epilogue of sorts and Chapter 16 will be an AU version of Chapter 8, but for the most part, the buck stops here, my friends! Thanks so much for all the comments and love- it's been a real pleasure writing this story for all of you and I hope you stick around for my future stories!
I've got another one currently in progress that I'd love for you to check out (The Night Patrol) and the first chapter of a ballet AU where Marinette and Adrien are dancers at the Paris Opera Ballet that will be coming out next week (Etoiles). Hope to see you there! :)
Marinette and Adrien hold hands as they peek out through the curtains at the crowd milling about outside. It's half an hour to showtime, and the audience is slowly swelling. They're filled with both excitement and nervousness—so much has happened since they were cast in these roles that it's hard to believe that it's all coming down to tonight.
Alya and Nino have both texted that Theo has successfully set up the hologram display, and from backstage, they can see that the sculptor has more than held up his end of the bargain. Collectively, the five of them have decided that the best way to minimize any sort of mix ups is to create a private booth for Ladybug and Chat Noir, and to allow minimal interaction with the public—the idea is that it's a special performance just for the two of them and that they have to leave early on a night patrol, so they don't have time to talk to anyone beyond basic pleasantries. And so far, it's going good.
So far, at least.
But they don't have time to think about anything else, as Mylene runs up to them and tells them it's time to get set up for the first scene.
And before they know it, the lights have dimmed, the curtains have parted, and it's time to begin. The crowd roars with applause as Ladybug and Chat Noir make their dramatic entrances, and watch, enraptured, as they relive the first battle. Props go out to Max and Nino, who have done a spectacular job with the special effects—they're almost as realistic as the real thing, and Marinette's heart almost stops for a moment as she remembers the moment where she gathered courage and and found the heart to be the heroine that Paris needs.
Alya's taken her speech from that day and added some dramatic license to it, but the heart of it is the same, and Marinette stands tall and proud above the audience as she delivers her monologue. Adrien remembers the moment too, and for a moment, he forgets he's on stage, lost in the memory of that day.
The play continues, running through a quick montage of the akumas that Ladybug and Chat Noir faced in their first few months as heroes. They come in all shapes and sizes, and Ivan, Kim, and Juleka slip into the different costumes like quicksilver, aided by Mylene and Rose.
Though it's mostly fictional (at the time Alya wrote the script, there was no way she could have possibly known that Ladybug and Chat Noir were no more than friends until very, very recently), the audience sighs with happiness as they watch the friendship and partnership between Ladybug and Chat Noir grow closer and closer.
Marinette can see Adrien eating up the praise from the audience, and he gets hammier and hammier to the point where he's acting even more over the top than he does when he's actually transformed as Chat Noir, and it takes all of Marinette's effort not to break character and burst into laughter, particularly after a scene where Chat is dancing around the stage with glee after finding out that Ladybug reciprocates his feelings for her.
Enraptured by the drama taking place on stage, nobody notices what's going on outside the theater when Chloe shows up outside the entrance to the theater in the middle of Act III.
Sabrina, who is manning the ticket booth and has just finished counting stubs, turns pale as her best friend approaches her with a determined pout and a steely glint in her eyes.
"Um, Chloe, is something wrong? I thought you said you would be at the Jagged Stone concert tonight!"
"Shut up, Sabrina. I told you I would come here tonight. Have you done what I told you to do?"
"Chloe, I'm in charge of tickets! I couldn't just tell people to go home because the show was canceled. And it's already the final act—there's nothing I can do!"
"UGH, Sabrina, you're useless!"
Chloe taps her foot impatiently and huffs around the ticket booth while Sabrina frowns and looks down sadly, before she remembers a special piece of information that she knows will perk her friend up.
"Wait, Chloe!"
"What is it?" asks Chloe, petulantly.
"You know that Ladybug and Chat Noir are here in the audience tonight, right?"
Chloe turns on her heel and grabs Sabrina by the shoulders. "WHAT DID YOU SAY?"
"Yes, I think I saw them entering! They're sitting in a private booth with someone named Theo. I think he's a friend of theirs."
"What? That's absurd! I'M the most prestigious fan of Ladybug. If anyone should get to sit next to her in an exclusive booth, it's me!"
"But Chloe, you didn't even want to come tonight!"
Chloe sniffs. "That doesn't matter. Now that I know that Ladybug is here, I'm going to go sit next to her."
She brightens up. "Oh! And I'm going to get a selfie with her, too!"
"That's the spirit, Chloe!" cheers Sabrina, forgetting that she isn't supposed to let Chloe inside without a ticket.
Chloe quietly sneaks into the theater and quickly surveys the audience before spotting the private booth where Ladybug and Chat Noir are sitting, next to the random stranger she assumes is Theo.
For his part, Theo has been keeping the audience members at bay, making a convincing argument that Ladybug and Chat Noir want their privacy, and for the most part, everyone understands—though there are some understandably disappointed people who want to meet their heroes.
But he is not prepared for the sheer force of will that is Chloe Bourgeois.
She approaches Theo and waves her hand with the most dismissive look that he's ever seen on anyone's face.
"Excuse you, but you need to move so I can sit next to Ladybug. She's my personal hero. I don't know who you think you are, but only the most important people in Paris deserve to sit by someone so special."
"I'm sorry, mademoiselle, but that's not possible!" starts Theo, before Chloe comes up to him and gets right in his face.
"I don't know if you know who I am, but I can destroy you," she whispers viciously, before shoving him out of the way and stepping right in front of Ladybug and Chat Noir.
And that's when Chloe realizes that her heroine and her lame partner are not really there. That, in fact, what everyone thinks are Ladybug and Chat Noir are actually holograms, and it all becomes crystal clear as to why Theo is there.
At first she's angry.
And then she's delighted.
Because the fact that neither Ladybug nor Chat Noir actually bothered to come tonight means that neither of them thought that this play was important enough to show up in person.
Theo stares at Chloe nervously as she smiles with savage glee, realizing that she can rub this in Professeur Seydoux's face. It will be sweet, sweet revenge for not being allowed to take over the role of Ladybug from Marinette.
She quickly snaps several pictures of the holograms and the tech and of Theo's horrified face for good measure before sitting down and deciding which ones are the best, before turning her attention back to the stage.
As she watches Marinette and Adrien holding hands and dancing around on stage in those cheap costumes, laughing in the simulated rain as the audience oohs and ahhs, Chloe decides that she's not even going to wait until the play is over to tell Professeur Seydoux. She's going to do it as soon as this scene ends.
As the lights dim and the scene ends, Chloe slides down the stairs and out of the theater, quickly making her way down the quiet school hallways to the backstage entrance. She waits until people stop talking and the next scene gets underway to quietly open the doors and scan the area before she finds the person she's looking for: Professeur Seydoux, standing alone by the edge of the curtain, watching Marinette and Adrien on stage having a conversation and mouthing along with the words.
She walks up to her and taps her shoulder, and Professeur Seydoux looks back in surprise.
"Chloe? What are you doing backstage? You of all people should know that only people in the production are allowed in here during the performance. You need to return to the audience."
"Professeur, I have something to show you."
"Chloe, can't it wait?"
"I'm afraid not. You see, Ladybug and Chat Noir lied to you. Neither of them came here tonight."
Professeur Seydoux sighs. "Chloe, I know you're upset about not getting the role of Ladybug, but that doesn't mean you need to start making up lies. I've seen Ladybug and Chat Noir sitting in the audience with my own two eyes."
Chloe smirks. "I'm not making up lies. Look at these pictures. They're not here. They hired someone to make holograms of themselves. Isn't that awful? You must feel terrible right now."
The professeur flips through the photos on Chloe's phone and frowns in confusion.
"What is this?"
"I told you. It's holograms. Clearly they didn't think that this special production was worth their precious time, or they would have come in person. Personally, I'm sure they would have come if I had been in the role."
Normally, Professeur Seydoux would not entertain this kind of nonsense from Chloe. She's used to putting up with it all the time, but she's been feeling tense all day from the pressure of putting together the perfect production.
And something about the combination of that infuriating smirk on the Bourgeois girl's face—and the fact that Ladybug and Chat Noir actually thought it would be better to resort to a trick like holograms instead of sending simple regrets and being honest about their inability to come—well, it finally makes her snap.
Hawk Moth can feel the professeur's frustration and disappointment bubbling over. He's been tracking her for a while now—and now is finally the time to strike. Quickly, he sends an akuma her way, and as soon as it touches Chloe's phone, he speaks.
"La Réalisatrice! Ladybug and Chat Noir have wronged you by ignoring the fruits of your labor. If you will bring their Miraculouses to me, I can help you exact your revenge on them."
"Yes, Hawk Moth," says Professeur Seydoux as she allows the black magic to envelop her body, giving into her anger and resentment. She transforms into a metallic blue and black creature that looks almost robotic, with pitch black eyes. A large megaphone appears in her left hand, where she's holding the phone, and latches onto it like glue.
Chloe notices this with displeasure and shrieks. "HEY, THAT'S MY PHONE!"
La Réalisatrice turns to her with a scowl and points it at at her, turning her into a hologram. Chloe shakes her hand and tries to run towards her, but as no more than a beam of light, there's not much she can do than stand there and watch, useless, as the villain rushes toward the stage.
While the drama unfurls backstage, the big finale scene has begun.
A string of fairy lights and romantic lighting give off the impression of Paris at midnight, and Ladybug and Chat Noir are sitting across from each other at a tiny café table, knees touching.
Ladybug gets up to leave. "Chat Noir, I have to go home now—it's getting late. I'll…see you tomorrow?"
"Ladybug, wait! There's something I need to tell you!" says Adrien.
Marinette's whisper echoes across the theater. "What is it, Chat Noir?"
"I knew when I became Chat Noir that I would have a partner. But I never could have imagined she'd be as amazing as you."
"I never expected it either. But that's why we're here together."
He pulls Marinette close, his hands around her waist, and she reaches up and gently cups his face, her heart beating fast.
By now, they've kissed so many times that it's a little tough to act like it's their first kiss, especially when hundreds of people are watching. But in the darkness of the theater and the spotlight shining down on them, it suddenly doesn't seem as hard to remember that feeling of excitement and nervousness when they kissed for the first time at rehearsal.
"You're mine," whispers Marinette. "And I'm yours."
As they lean closer together, the entire audience is so quiet one would even be able to hear a pin drop, and everyone is collectively holding their breath, waiting for their lips to touch.
In the sound booth, both Alya and Nino are leaning back in their chairs and smiling at what has been a job well done, when they both spot La Réalisatrice coming in from stage left at the exact same time, and their jaws drop open.
Nino grabs the controls to the intercom and turns it on while Alya grabs the microphone.
"ADRIEN! MARINETTE! GET OUT OF THERE! THERE'S AN AKUMA COMING!"
Adrien and Marinette immediately break their embrace and run out on stage right and behind the curtains as the audience starts panicking, just as La Réalisatrice arrives on the scene. They nod at each other and quickly transform.
"LADYBUG! CHAT NOIR! I DEMAND YOU SHOW YOURSELVES! HOW DARE YOU NOT COME TO THIS PRODUCTION?" she booms through the megaphone. "HOW DARE YOU SEND HOLOGRAMS INSTEAD? UNTIL YOU SHOW YOURSELVES AND APOLOGIZE, I WILL TURN EVERY PERSON IN THIS ENTIRE CITY INTO A HOLOGRAM. THAT IS THE PROMISE OF LA RÉALISATRICE."
"Uh oh," whispers Ladybug. "That's Professeur Seydoux. How did she find out about the holograms?"
Chat rolls his eyes. "I don't know about that, but La Réalisatrice"? Really? The Director? We know she's the play director. Hawk Moth couldn't come up with something more creative this time? Why not Shakespeare or Godot? Not even Prospero? You know, 'all the world's a stage?"
Ladybug sighs. "Chat Noir, it doesn't matter what her name is, we have to stop her before she turns the entire audience into holograms!"
"You're right, my lady," says Chat Noir. "What are you thinking?"
"Well, she's looking for us, right? If we announce we're here, she'll stop. At least for a moment. At any rate, we need to divert her attention until I can figure out where her akuma is."
"I like the way you think, my lady," says Chat Noir with a wink. "Looks like it's time for an encore of my dramatic entrance!"
He pulls out his baton and backflips onto the stage, singing a nonsense tune that surely sounds like music in another universe, but is nothing but dissonant noise in this one.
La Réalisatrice stops her hologram rampage of the first two rows and cringes at the sound. "What is that horrible noise?!" she screeches. "It sounds like a cat in heat!"
"Ah madame, you've got good ears!" quips Chat Noir. "I am indeed a cat in heat. A cat in the heat of battle!" He twirls his baton around and wiggles his ears.
La Réalisatrice turns around, recognizing the sound of his voice.
"Ah, Chat Noir. I see you have finally made an appearance. So kind of you to finally come, when the show is practically over already. Where is your partner?"
"She's occupied at the moment, but I can promise that I am a very interesting cat even when I'm all by myself!" responds Chat Noir, as Ladybug quietly slips behind the curtains and walks towards her.
Chat Noir continues to tease her as Ladybug observes all the details of La Réalisatrice's costume, and focuses in on her megaphone, which she is clutching in one hand.
She pulls out her yo-yo and activates the communication device. "Chaton, do you read me? I think the akuma is inside her megaphone. Can you distract her somehow so I can get ahold of it?"
Chat Noir nods. "You know I'm great at distractions." He looks up at the villain and pole vaults off the stage.
"Hey! Think you can turn me into a hologram, madame? You'll have to catch me first!"
As La Réalisatrice shrieks and lifts her arm to aim her megaphone right at him, Ladybug whips her yo-yo at it and beats it to the ground.
"Chat Noir, now!" she shouts, as La Réalisatrice turns around in shock to see Ladybug.
He drops back onto the stage and activates Cataclysm, collapsing it into dust and knocking her into the rubble.
Ladybug grabs the megaphone and slings her yo-yo towards the theater rafters, followed by Chat Noir, who launches his baton—but as she swings up, Chat Noir's baton slips against the rubble, and he is forced to jump and grab onto her.
Chat Noir and Ladybug dangle above the audience, swinging from the rafters, his legs wrapped around her waist, with one hand gently grasping her shoulder.
Ladybug quickly examines the megaphone. "Where could the akuma be hidden in this? Professeur Seydoux didn't have anything like this before."
Chat looks at the megaphone and immediately spots Chloe's phone attached to the side, which he recognizes it by sight.
"Chloe…." he groans. "Of course it was her."
"What?"
"Chloe's phone is attached to the megaphone. I'm also 100% sure that the akuma is in here."
Ladybug frowns. "It's stuck tight to the side. I can't pull it out by myself. I'm going to need Lucky Charm for this."
She activates the charm and a pair of pliers appears, which she can only assume are to wrench the phone from the megaphone, which she does quickly before breaking open the phone and capturing the akuma.
"Gotcha!" she announces cheerfully, as Chat Noir watches her with admiration. This is the closest he's ever been to her while she's doing this, and he's not sure he's ever going to get over the way her eyes sparkle in the moment.
"Miraculous Ladybug!" shouts Ladybug, and the purifying beams of light scatter throughout the theater, returning all of the audience members who have been turned into holograms back to normal as La Réalisatrice reverts back into a very confused Professeur Seydoux, who doesn't understand what she's doing in the orchestra pit and why the audience is shouting.
She's immediately surrounded by several members of the cast and crew. Mylene hugs her and asks her if she's okay while Kim and Nathanael stare up in amazement at Ladybug and Chat Noir swinging from the rafters, and Alya and Nino grin at them with a thumbs up.
Ladybug watches this and turns to smile at Chat. It's a quiet moment until they both realize that the audience has started to not only cheer, but also shout.
"Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!"
Chat Noir shrugs at Ladybug. "My lady, we should give the people what they want, don't you think? Since they did get deprived of their big finale kiss."
Ladybug smirks at Chat Noir and traces her fingers down his cheek and stopping at his lips, as the crowd cheers below. "You took the words right out of my mouth, chaton."
"I can do better than that," responds Chat Noir with a wink.
"You'd better hurry," whispers Ladybug. "My miraculous is running out of time."
"So is mine," says Chat Noir, quietly, before turning to the audience with a hammy grin.
"SO YOU WANT TO SEE US KISS?" he shouts. "I THINK WE CAN MAKE THAT HAPP—"
He's stopped mid-sentence by Ladybug, who's already grabbed his face and dipped him downward into a theatrical midair kiss. The audience breaks into thunderous applause and cheering, and after what seems like forever, Ladybug finally pulls back for air, leaving Chat Noir looking completely dazed.
She grins and lifts her hand and curls it into a fist. Chat Noir mirrors her movements and they join their fists in a light fist bump as she whispers "Bien Joué!" and releases the tension from the yo-yo string.
They quickly descend downward as Ladybug re-launches the yo-yo string at the catwalk above the stage and vaults off the back of one of the seats to swing upward and into the lights, much to the delight of the theater-goers sitting in the vicinity.
Chat waves to the audience through the lights with a cheeky grin and blows them a kiss before Ladybug grabs him by the collar and they disappear backstage.
The remaining cast and crew, who have all gathered in the orchestra pit, look up and sigh in collective relief.
"Alya, you got this on film, right?!" yells Kim. "This is the coolest thing that's ever happened here! Did you see that?!"
Alya and Nino exchange glances. Between the two of them, they've seen Adrien and Marinette kiss enough times over the past few weeks both in and out of uniform that neither of them is interested in capturing any further footage at this point.
Alya sighs. She knows that tomorrow, the Ladyblog readers are going to be asking the same questions Kim is asking right now. She supposes it's her fault for getting her readers excited about Ladybug and Chat Noir being in a relationship—she did bring this upon herself.
"Uh, I was distracted!" Alya manages to say as Nino pats her shoulder reassuringly, though she knows that she sounds unconvincing even to her own ears.
Within fifteen minutes, a large group of reporters has converged backstage to gather reactions from the cast and crew, and everyone shares their accounts.
Professeur Seydoux feels terrible about letting her emotions get the best of her and ruining the production, while Mylene tries to comfort her. "It's not your fault, Professeur!" she says. "We all get scared and stressed out sometimes. I know I do."
"Yes, we all know that," comments Chloe snidely as Ivan scowls at her.
"Why are you even here?" he says. "You're not part of this production."
"The play's over, you ogre," she sneers, having as usual learned nothing about the dangers of being mean to people. "I'm allowed to be backstage now."
Mylene frowns as she surveys the people gathered around and notices that two very important people are missing.
"Wait, where did Marinette and Adrien go?" she cries. "Why aren't they here? Are they okay?"
Ivan puts an arm around her shoulder. "I'm sure they're fine, don't worry," he says, just as Marinette and Adrien come running in.
"Here we are! We're okay!" they shout in unison, as the entire cast mobs them and wraps them in a group hug, while Chloe stands behind and scowls.
"Oh, thank goodness you're safe!" exclaims Rose. "I was so worried."
"Where were you guys?" asks Kim. "You missed an epic battle! Ladybug and Chat Noir were amazing!"
Adrien and Marinette start to stammer out an explanation when Alya cuts them off.
"I locked the two of them in the supply closet," she says, winking at them and subtly nodding her head towards Chloe, who is silently fuming at this information.
"What? Why?"
"It's because they've actually liked each other for ages. It's about time they confessed to each other!"
"You mean they weren't already dating? Oh, the poor things," says Rose.
"Alriiiight!" shouts Kim. "Great idea!"
"How did you get out then?" comments Chloe, narrowing her eyes.
"I let them out," says Nino.
"So why didn't they come in with you?"
"They, uh, needed a few minutes to fix themselves up, if you know what I mean," says Nino, grinning wickedly and exchanging a wink with Alya as Adrien and Marinette both turn bright red.
One of the members of the press cuts in. "Wait, the two of you are the lead actors! Does that mean you didn't get to meet the actual Ladybug and Chat Noir at all? What a shame. You were doing great out there. I'm sure they would have loved to meet you."
Marinette steals a glance at Adrien before she turns to the reporter. "No, no! Alya locked us in the closet after we had a chance to meet them. They, uh, came backstage right when we got there. And—you can quote me on this—Ladybug said that she thinks Adrien is a great Chat Noir."
The reporter nods vigorously and notes down the quote while Adrien blushes and adds, "And you should also write down that Chat Noir thinks that Marinette is an amazing Ladybug."
The reporter grins. "Well, that's great! And so does that mean that the two of you are dating now, just like Ladybug and Chat Noir?"
Adrien looks at Chloe, who's practically simmering at this point, and smirks before turning to wink at Marinette.
"Yes we are!"
Chloe squeals angrily as Adrien turns to kiss Marinette on the cheek. She blushes and laughs merrily with utter surprise, and the photographers capture the whole scene in a series of photos that are so sweet that later in the newsroom, all of the reporters complain that they're going to get cavities if they keep looking at them.
The next day, much to Marinette's embarrassment and Adrien's pleasure, the photograph and the play review are front page news across Paris. Tom and Sabine don't stop teasing her about it all morning, and they even send a box of croissants with her to school "for their future son-in-law."
Though Marinette is brighter than a lobster when she presents the box to Adrien, the absolutely delighted look on his face makes it all worth it.
Marinette thanks her lucky stars that fate has aligned in all the perfect ways over the past few months—Alya's play, getting cast in the roles, finding out that her partner Chat Noir and her crush Adrien are one and the same, and falling headfirst into the beginnings of a beautiful new relationship with him.
And it's not only that—now that both Alya and Nino know the secret about their superhero alter egos as well, carrying that responsibility is far lighter a burden than it was when they were carrying those secrets alone.
Marinette's not sure where the future will take her and Adrien, but wherever it leads, she knows they're going to face it together, hand in hand.