The view from the top of Notre Dame was beautiful at night. Spring was kind, only the slightest breeze and a comforting warmth hung in the air. The sky was patchy with clouds, and stars faintly competed with the bright lights of the city.

Somehow, Ladybug couldn't find the North Star.

She left earlier than usual and spent the time stargazing to collect her thoughts before Chat arrived. Between all the chaos of her school life, fighting against Hawkmoth, or even just the bustle of the bakery a couple floors below her room, this peaceful kind of quiet was hard to find.

The heavens above made her feel small. It was good; becoming Ladybug brought the whole city upon her shoulders even though it came with the strength to bear it. There was space to breathe again, and she squinted up at the sky trying to make out shapes.

A soft jingle rung behind her. 'Of course,' she closed her eyes and smiled. She didn't bear that weight alone.

The fabric of his suit scratched along the stone beneath them as he moved to lie down next to her.

"I hope I haven't kept my Lady waiting too long." She could feel his gaze on her face.

"Mm-mmh." They lay there for a few moments, all problems forgotten under the deep sky.

"Hey Chat," She didn't return his gaze, opening her eyes to look up again when he made a noise in recognition. "What do you see up there?"

A claw came into her view pointing up to where she was staring before. Three bright stars lined up perfectly. "Well there's Orion's belt, so Orion is right there, which means Gemini is right next to it on the left," He traced a rectangle, starting and ending with the brighter two of the four corners. "Cancer is somewhere over there, but its stars aren't very bright so you can't see it well…"

Ladybug turned her head to look at him, watching his smile as he moved his finger around, tracing shapes. "Remember when we fought the Pharaoh? How there was a Ladybug back then, thousands of years ago? Do you think maybe one of those constellations up there was made for the past Ladybugs and Chat Noirs?"

She watched the tip of his tail start twitching. "Actually, there isn't one for either of us. Nothing even close." He admitted.

"Maybe back then Ladybug and Chat Noir had different names? I don't see why we wouldn't-"

Chat's arm flopped down to push him to sit back up without breaking his gaze above. "I'd know. Let's just say I spent a long time wishing on stars before I became Chat Noir."

She didn't like the way his voice grew quiet, but Chat quickly stood up. She could almost see all the stars reflected in his glazed eyes as he threw out his arms dramatically.

"And then one night a smelly god-kwami came to me and meow-gically transformed me into Chat Noir! Alas, I had only 'til the last beep of my Miraculous, but then I met my Lady Charming and danced the night away on the rooftops of Paris…" He finished his theatrics with a twirl. "…though the akuma could have been left out of the fairy tale."

She remembered somewhat fondly – a student who missed a deadline for a major essay became akumatized and hosed anything printed with words in ink. Chat's hair didn't look so great in jet black, but he got his laugh when she ended up with a suit covered in bright cyan ink. But backtracking to Chat's fairy tale…

"Wait…smelly god-kwami? What happened to the fairy part of it?"

He groaned. "So I'm guessing it's my bad luck that my kwami loves the most smelliest cheeses as possible?"

"Cookies for mine, sorry!" She grinned and jumped up before he could catch her.

Patrol was uneventful that night, so they spent the time along the way pointing at the sky and drawing themselves in the stars. One cluster looked like Ladybug's pigtails, another Chat's pawprint mark, a third the giant T-rex Animan had transformed into, and by the end before they departed the sky was filled with their memories. Ladybug wondered for a moment if she should say that Marinette told her about his new love and that she was supportive of him-

…no. Chat would have said something if he wanted her to know. Understandable, because for so long not a conversation went by without a flirt, but earlier tonight she could feel something was off with him in his abrupt change of mood. Maybe his feelings for Ladybug were waning? But she did know once he confesses for real to this girl, there would be no way he could keep his lips sealed.

"Hey." Her voice was soft but strong. "You know that if you ever need anything, even to talk, I'm right here for you, right?"

He froze mid-stride, an incredulous look flashing on his face before it softened and he closed his mouth without a sound. Chat took her hand in both of his but he did not look up back up at her eyes. "Of course, my lady."

Ladybug didn't like that tone. Her other hand lifted his head by the chin to look at her. "I mean it. You're my partner, my best friend. We are a team. So don't think your problems aren't worth my time. Even if I don't share with you in the same way, never think that the other parts of you besides the silly kitty I see all the time aren't worth my attention. I don't like seeing you sad and not being able to help."

His pupils were wide just like a cat at full attention. "Of course, my Lady." He practically breathed. Her Miraculous beeped in warning once and he let go of her hand. With a warm smile and a wave, he dashed off into the night.

Affection bubbled in Ladybug's chest, overflowing in giggles as she quickly landed on her balcony. No, she can't hold a candle compared to Chat Noir's own for her exactly, but the bond that she had with him was almost indescribable.

No matter what happens later, as Ladybug or Marinette with Chat Noir, they were both strong enough that they would be okay in the end. If anything, the last few akuma incidents revealed how much she wanted to prove his self-doubts wrong. He constantly throws himself in the face of danger for her, to do this for him is nothing. Maybe she'd even learn a thing or two on how to talk to Adrien.

Four knocks, a pause, and then four knocks again. The hatch opened and Chat climbed down quickly before producing a worn paper completely covered in scribbles and crossed out words.

"I came purr-paaaaared~!"Marinette groaned before turning back to her history book. Chat plopped himself down on her chaise and tried to smooth out the wrinkles in his paper.

He neatly folded the paper in half. Opened it again. Chat tried to pick out a line to start with but as soon as he took a breath in he somehow forgot how to open his mouth. He folded the paper backwards so that all he was looking at was the first line of words. His lips stayed shut.

Okay, maybe he wasn't that prepared. Writing this was no different than the nerves he had trying to write a valentine to Ladybug. But at least he has some starting ground this time!

Marinette was looking at him again, an eyebrow quirked up. The grin on her face widened slowly. A silent laughter lit up her eyes and his heart skipped a beat before he pleaded, straight faced.

"Don't even."

"What's the matter Chat, cat got your tongue?"

The boy threw out his arms and legs, flailing erratically in frustration before losing his balance and rolling off the cushions onto her rug.

He's Chat Noir, the most confident and suave (and humble) cat in the city! Praises were practically sung in every exhale around his Lady, every limitation he had as Adrien Agreste torn asunder as he leaps silhouetted in the moonlight! …Except that fighting an akumatized villain seemed so much more easier than this confession façade.

His cheek squished against the floor as he looked up to his crush – the lamp on her desk backlit her face, but he knew he didn't look very picturesque either.

"Mariiiiiii. Why is this so hard to doooooo?" He wailed pathetically. A sharp prick in his palm – he didn't even notice how tightly the paper was crumpled in his fist that his claws were digging in. Marinette shifted so that she sat in the chair backwards, leaning her arms and face on the back.

"I wish I knew, Chat. I'm not doing any better than you on that battlefront, ugh." The chair spun in a few circles, slowing to a stop on its own. Chat finally sat up and put on an shocked face.

"You? One of the only people who can compete with my witty banter besides Ladybug?"

Adrien knew that Marinette was a bit shy and clumsy, but in the last few months she really has changed and became a leader. If he were closer to her as Adrien, he'd probably even try to confess without the mask. But with as shy as she was without his mask on and as nervous as he is with it on, it felt like Adrien and Chat Noir were chasing two different Marinettes in an endless circle. Then there was Ladybug tangent to it. He didn't even want to touch that mess of feelings until he's somehow sorted through this one. But back to Marinette…

Her face was furrowed, not in an angry sense but Chat couldn't find a word for it. The girl spun her chair around lazily again, starting to speak when her back was turned. "I'm really not all that great, Chat. Compared to my best friend, to Adrien, my parents, to Ladybug, I'm really not all that brave or special."

"No."

'You're wrong, you're completely wrong and everything about you is special' His mind continued. He bit his tongue when she swiveled back to face him, eyes wide. Chat's heart felt full, he felt warmth when those eyes looked to him. The words seemed to tumble out of his mouth without control.

"You're Marinette, one of the most bravest people I know. With the Evillustrator you were so calm and collected and didn't crack when you had to go on the ship with him. I didn't need to protect you at all because you're so cunning that you ended up saving my tail instead with the box we were trapped in." He wandered over to her worktable, and thrust his arms out at her latest work. Sketches were taped to the wall and the beginnings of a coat stood on a mannequin.

"And this talent? Even Gabriel Agreste would be so amazed at your passion! Your kindness and love shows in everything you make. That scarf you gave me back when I started visiting you is one of the most amazing gifts I've ever been given, completely honest." And the scarf that his father "gave" him – after receiving the rich green one as Chat Noir, he noticed how familiar it felt. It didn't take long for him to run his fingers over both their stitching; heart plummeting then conflicted over the revelation. But she didn't need to know that.

Chat took a second to glance at her before continuing and his breath hitched in his throat. Something was squeezing his poor heart and the world stopped. Oh God there were tears in her wide shining blue eyes and he went too far didn't he. Her eyes were threatening red at the edges and her face was flushed. But she was staring at him in wonder and he was afraid of breaking such a fragile moment in between them. He didn't want to.

After a moment she blinked furiously and laughed while wiping her eyes with her sleeve. The silence hung in the air and she just breathed deeply. "See, now if you confessed with words like that, there's no way she could say no."

But he didn't feel ready just yet. He didn't want this to end.

"A-actually, I don't even know the girl well enough to say as much as I can about you, Princess." He ruffled the hair on the back of his neck. "But even if I weren't that close to her and said things like that, do you think it would work?" He could hear Plagg cackle softly in his head. 'Just don't get tangled in all the yarn you're tugging.'

Marinette's eyes turned upwards in thought. "Well, if it were me being confessed to, I think I might find it a little weird? And maybe not as sincere as I'd like it to be? I mean - if they didn't know much about me, the things they did know might not be enough to really feel comfortable in how much they like me." She turned to grab her history book off her desk and flipped to a page before handing it off to Chat, pointing at the Renaissance chapter.

"Like here, look. We learned this in class last week about how people wrote poems back then. This guy, Petrarch, wrote poems that were super popular even hundreds of years later when Shakespeare was writing plays. He wrote tons of love poems to a lady he only saw once, but it's all just talking about her beauty and perfection. He knows nothing about her." She paused and frowned for a moment before taking the book back, lost in her own thoughts.

Chat plucked a pen from her desk before lying back on the rug and grabbing the crumpled piece of paper. Smoothing it out gently, he analyzed his words and cringed a little at how many lines left were all assumptions. While he wasn't following Marinette's instructions completely, there was a pace he should follow.

"So… no to 'I hope that you'll love all the other parts of me that you've yet to meet?'" He crossed out a couple lines as Marinette got off her chair to sit down next to him. Panicked, he covered the paper and his tail flicked dangerously. The girl jumped back as he did that, before giving an apologetic smile and choosing to lie down and look up at the ceiling. His heart was sore, having her so close but not letting her get any closer. He really was too selfish.

"Well, how about we start off with a 'Hi' instead of diving into the deep end just yet?" She turned her head only enough to meet his eyes, the scribbles on the paper still out of her sight. Chat grinned back.

"Okay, fine, but I'm still keeping the line, "your eyes are filled with so much kindness that you don't see how much your kindness means to everyone you meet."

He didn't break their gaze.