[Really sorry this took so long guys, writer's block sucks is all I have to say on it :/ But thank you all for being so patient! Hope you like the last chapter and thanks for sticking with me ^-^]

Chapter 5

Marinette had been running for no more than a minute when she heard sharp footsteps echoing behind her. Quickly she turned her head to look, and sure enough, there was Chloe, enraged and heading her way. Without delay she whirled forward again and turned the next corner, and the next. She was zig-zagging through Paris, trying to get the villain off her trail, but it was to no avail. It felt like she had been running for hours, but it really couldn't have been more than a few minutes. She just wasn't fast enough. And she definitely wouldn't be able to keep this pace up for long.

Before her strength would completely fail her, Marinette looked down at her hands. The formerly black bands on her ring fingers were now a misty gray. For a while now, she had assumed the bands showed the fogginess or emptiness of her mind. That once the bands were either completely white, or even just gone, she would have her memory back. She was already feeling it now. Just holding the akumized ring in her hand was bringing back feelings of her adventures as Ladybug. She just knew that she had to stay strong, somehow she had to save everyone. It was kinda weird, after a long time of just feeling...nothing, but it wasn't unnatural. It was all coming back to her, as familiar as the sun on her face. She, she could remember Adrien. Not the boy himself, but the feelings of butterflies in her stomach and red hot blushes on her cheeks. That thought alone helped her to move faster. But then again, there was also the confidence and power with which Ladybug held herself each day. And not only that, but the compassion and willingness to move forward, to do whatever it takes to save...well, everyone. It was all so clear and the girl was more than ready to just remember everything. She needed to get to Nino. He had the ladybug miraculous, so right now, only he could save them. He could get her memory back.

With the turn of one last corner, she found herself in another unfamiliar, but empty, street. And there he was. "NINO!" She shouted.

He turned, and at the same time, Marinette stopped and stood with a large grin on her face. Once he saw her, his eyes lit up and he ran her way, his expression changing with each step. By the time he had gone ten steps, still several yards away, he was waving his hands and yelling at her to move.

But it was too late.

Marinette attempted to take a step forward, only realizing what he had meant when she found herself trapped in a headlock. An awfully mutilated voice began whispering in her ear, bringing back the horrid feelings she remembered from her time as Ladybug. It wasn't very pleasant.

"Give me the ring little girl. Give it to me and no one gets hurt." At the same time, Marinette saw a diamond enclosed hand held out in front of her, causing Nino to cautiously pause, but still inch forward. Apparently, Forget-Me-Not didn't like that. "STAY BACK! One more step and she dies!"

Nino stopped. Marinette held her breath. And a few blocks away, Cat was slowly limping toward the soft, muffled yellings of the crew.

Cat felt like he was dying. He wasn't of course, he just felt really awful. It was like one of those days at school that seemed to go on and on and on. It went on forever and you just got more tired and grumbly with each new assignment. Except this time, his assignments were to fight this akuma, over and over and over. It was exhausting. And having a giant hole in your foot doesn't help much.

He could hear screams. They were close, but not close enough. He couldn't make out the words, but someone was in trouble and he wasn't doing anything. As he limped around one last corner, he saw them. There was DJ in a wary fighting stance, facing Forget-Me-Not who was currently holding Marinette in a headlock. He continued limping forward, trying to keep his moans of pain to a minimum. Forget-Me-Not had her back to him. Maybe he could actually do something.

Without delay, Cat quickened his pace. Nino looked his way and nearly gasped, but Cat started frantically waving his hand under his chin. Thankfully, he understood and turned his attention back to Mari.

At a closer look, Adrien could see that Marinette was holding something. And it was only when Nino started yelling that he realized what it was. "Don't give it to him Mari!"

The girl looked frantically at DJ, then back to her hand. Her knuckles were nearly white from holding the ring so tightly. Cat couldn't quite see her face, but he knew she was terrified.

He was only a few yards away now. Any second, he would be able to reach out and snatch Marinette away from Forget-Me-Not.

But then he tripped.

His injured foot doubled over underneath him. It hurt like death itself. And then he fell. Right onto Forget-Me-Not.

The villain gasped and loosed her grip on Marinette as she was thrown to the ground. The young designer jumped away and stared wide eyed at her rescuer. As Chloe began to struggle underneath the injured hero, Marinette began inching backwards towards Nino.

"NO!" The akuma screamed. She reached out to grab the girl's ankle, but that was when she ran the other way. As she ran, Marinette had her eyes trained on the akuma and she ran into Nino, nearly dropping the ring. He took it from her gratefully and smashed it to ground after a few words were exchanged between them.

Chloe was still struggling beneath Cat, but he held her down as he watched the black butterfly begin to fly away for the second time that day. He was fighting a strong urge to jump up and go catch it, but he had to keep Chloe down. They were NOT going to go through the trouble of getting the ring off her AGAIN.

Thankfully, he didn't need to catch the butterfly, because DJ did. As soon as it had escaped, DJ pulled out the yoyo and swung it into the air, catching the butterfly and releasing it almost instantly with a bright glow emanating from the now white butterfly. After yet another word with Marinette, which really confused Cat, DJ threw the yoyo again and shouted "MIRACULOUS LADYBUG", all while Chloe struggled and screamed underneath him. Once the magic spread over the city though, the struggling stopped, and Cat was able to get up. The girl was puzzled and very, very quiet. He helped her to her feet and steadied her as she regained her balance and looked around at the scene before her. She just looked lost. Lost and tired and confused. It was a weird look for Chloe, but not entirely unnatural. Cat was happy to see that his foot had fully healed now. It made walking a lot easier.

The girl was clinging to the superhero, not saying a word but thinking hundreds. She almost jumped as Marinette and Ladybug walked towards her. But Ladybug was...he was a guy. She tooked a step back and looked up to the feline hero in confusion. He smiled back at her reassuringly and waved to the two as they approached.

"Nice job DJ." The hero nodded in return and smiled gratefully. Out of habit, Cat held out his hand in the customary fist bump he and Ladybug always shared after a battle. DJ returned the fist bump gratefully, but out of the corner of his eye, he could see Marinette. She was looking at their hands in dismay, as if she somehow didn't approve of the fist bump. Weird.

For some reason, the girl was avoiding looking at him. As he talked with DJ and calmed Chloe down, the designer did nothing but find something else to look at. Like, how interesting can the ground be? It looks just like the rest of the road. But nope, she was still looking away.

She also looked a bit...antsy. Like she was ready to get out of there. Crap, he hoped he hadn't scared her or something. That was his classmate, man he'd feel awful if he'd scared Mari. She was just so sweet. He had to talk to DJ and get things figured out, but there was something about the girl that just kept bugging him. He kept looking her way and it wasn't till her face was turned toward something behind him that he realized what was so familiar. That was when he saw it.

There was not one, but two Ladybugs standing before him. One was in costume, the other...the other in disguise. A disguise he hadn't seen through in all the months he'd known her. She had been right there. Right behind him. All. This. Time. It had been her. And now here she was. Smiling up at him, or behind him, with those wide blue eyes he fawned over every night.

Here was not only his friend, but his lady. She was here. She had been here all along, and he hadn't even known it. She hadn't even known it. It was mindblowing. Wow. Just-just wow.

What was even happening right now? Cat couldn't think straight, he could barely think at all! Had he-had he just discovered her secret? After all their crazy battles together; all their successes, all their failures. After all that, all it took was her. Not Ladybug, but really, truly her. Marinette. Because really, that's who she was, and it had taken him so long to see it. Taken him so long to see what he loved in Ladybug in, so prominent in his friend. In Marinette. Oh he couldn't stop thinking her name and oh, oh, that spark he loved in her. It had been there all along. It showed in her eyes every day, if he'd only taken a closer look. But now she was here. She was really here.

It was Marinette. His best friend, his love, his lady. All right there in front of him.

"M-marinette?" Cat cringed as he heard his voice crack. The girl finally looked his way and she saw his recognition immediately. Her eyes went wide and her mouth fell open. She knew what he was thinking. And it looked like she was about to deny it, to spurt out whatever nonsense she could to keep her secret safe. But it was too late for that, and both of them could see it.

She stood there motionless, not knowing what to do, not knowing what to say. And he was the same, if not worse. It was just, just mindblowing! It was her. He-he couldn't believe it! And now he knew. Not only that, but she knew that he knew, and he knew she knew he knew, and it looked like DJ knew too-and oh crap he probably knew he knew too. Wow his mind was a mess, too many knews. Too much knowledge.

"I-i-i-uhhh…" Mari sputtered.

Cat chuckled a bit. He felt the same way. He took a deep breath and walked over to the girl, trying to look as confident as possible. Chloe had let go of him by now and stood shyly to the side.

Mari shrank back a bit as he approached and his confidence dropped, but as he was reaching out to place his hand on her shoulder, she grabbed his hand in her own and gave him a sweet smile. He held her hand in return and even though both were red in the face, they put on matching smiles to mask their astonishment. Cat took another deep breath as he began to speak.

"Umm, we should talk. About all this. Like soon."

Mari giggled quietly at his answer and nodded, though she still looked pretty flustered. "Yeah, w-we really do. B-but first I need to talk to Chloe."

Cat's eyes followed Mari as she turned toward the blonde. She nearly jumped at the mention of her name, and her eyes were still open wide in the shock of their whole ordeal. Cat let go of Mari's hand and she walked toward the startled girl. The designer wore her cheery smile and talked with Chloe confidently, but not aggressively. Both were apologizing to the other and Cat's respect for the two grew as they humbled themselves and ended their apologies with a hug.

DJ was watching the two happily, just like Cat was, but that was when Cat realized he needed to go. He hadn't used Cataclysm at all this battle, cause if he had he would never have been able to finish it on his own, but Plagg was probably exhausted by now. They'd been fighting all day and the kwami really needed a break. And now was his chance. With the two girls hugging it out and the other hero distracted, he could get away and detransform. He had told Mari they needed to talk, but maybe it would be better to do it as Adrien. Now that he knew her identity, there was no way he wouldn't reveal his own. At the very least she deserved to know who he was.

Without delay, Cat backed up slowly and slipped down another street. Once he had made sure he was alone, and that no one had followed him, he let go of his transformation and Plagg fell into his open palms with a thump. He wasn't moving.

"Plagg? Hey cheesebreath, you doing okay?" The kwami still wasn't moving. "Plagg!" He yelled as loud as he dared. "PLAGG ARE YOU OKA-"

WHAP.

Adrien looked down at the now moving kwami, of which had a very annoyed look on his face. His cheek stung, and Adrien was attempted to slap the kwami back, but that was kind of hard when the creature was only a few inches tall. Instead, the kwami sat with his back hunched and his face twisted in a growl.

"What was that for you dweeb? I was trying to sleep, no need to panic or nothing..." Adrien sighed and nearly dropped the kwami for scaring him so bad. He contemplated it for a minute or so before realizing he should probably get back to his friends. Wait a second, could kwamis even sleep while in the miraculous? Ugh, he didn't want to think about that right now.

Instead, Plagg zipped into his shirt and swiftly fell asleep while Adrien made his way around the corner again. He turned to see his three friends looking around dumbfounded, as if they were confused as to why the feline superhero had suddenly disappeared. But as soon as they turned and saw Adrien, their eyes widened, but the now detransformed hero could tell they hadn't figured out his secret. Yet.

He walked up to the three and was surprised when Chloe didn't run up to him in tears. Her eyes were still red and puffy though. She backed up as he approached, but Marinette grabbed her arm and gently squeezed to keep her there. Adrien was a bit stunned to see the blonde so...scared, but it took him a minute to realize that he wasn't Cat Noir anymore. But still, did she not trust him anymore? Even when it was Chloe, well, it kind of hurt.

"A-adrien. What are you d-doing here?"

Adrien almost jumped at the sound of Mari's voice. He'd just realized that, even though he knew she was Ladybug, she didn't exactly know that he was Cat Noir… He had to come up with an excuse now. Man! What has he been thinking? Coming back as Adrien-wow now that was stupid.

"Uh, I uh. I saw you Mari, you were running. I wanted to make sure you were okay and all, I mean there's been an akuma running around..." He quickly looked to Chloe. "Not that that's a problem or anything!"

Oh man. He did not do well under pressure. Even worse when he was out of costume. Both was just a nightmare. He didn't know whether to look at Marinette or Chloe or DJ-wait where was DJ? Adrien looked around for a couple seconds, but the superhero was gone. He was about to say something about it, when Chloe of all people spoke up.

"Adrien? I-I'm sorry."

The model looked over to the girl. She had her head bent down so her eyes were hidden, her shoulders were lax and her whole countenance shone with regret. It took him a second to process what she had just said, but once he had he felt like wrapping her in a big hug.

Marinette was standing off to the side slightly, but however much Adrien wanted to go talk to her, he had to apologize to Chloe first.

He took a deep breath and stepped forward toward the girl. She didn't flinch this time. He set a hand on her shoulder and smiled not only with his mouth but with his eyes. "No Chloe, I'm sorry. I should've taken your feelings into account and not ignored you like that, it's my fault."

"No but Adrie-"

"Thank you Chloe. But that's all I need to hear. You're sorry and it won't happen again, that's all that matters. Come here." Adrien held out his arms, and before Chloe could do anything he pulled her into the most comforting hug he could manage at the moment. At first the girl didn't move, but not a second after he had enveloped her in the hug, she returned it graciously, and it was hard to believe that this sweet girl was...Chloe.

Adrien smiled as he held the girl, and even though she might turn back into her normal, bossy self the next day, it was nice to know she still had some goodness in her.

After a minute or two, he let go and for once the blonde gave him a genuine, happy smile. They spoke a few more words to each other, then he let Chloe know that he needed to talk to Marinette now. She was kind of hurt by the information, but Adrien hoped he had made it clear that he still cared about her, and his friendship with Mari wouldn't ruin his friendship with her. It seemed that Chloe now understood, so after calling up her father and getting a ride home, Adrien waved goodbye as Marinette tentatively walked up next to him.

The model took a deep breath. He knew. She didn't. And now he had to tell her. Oh man he was gonna make this really awkward now wasn't he? Adrien rocked back and forth on the balls of his feet, and just as he was about to turn around and spurt something out like, 'I KNOW WHO YOU ARE I'M A CAT!', he heard a soft voice begin speaking from behind him.

"H-hey Adrien? I-i should probably head home n-now. A-are you, uhh I mean, d-do you have a ride home, or something?"

Adrien nearly jumped into the air at the sound of her sweet, ever familiar voice. "Yeah, yeah. I can get a ride and everything, but umm, first I wanted to talk to you about something, i-if that's alright…"

The designer nodded her head vigorously and Adrien couldn't help but notice how cute it was when she did that. Her pigtails were bobbing up and down and her face was doing its best to look serious and professional, but that only made her look cuter. "O-okay then. Well, I...ummm...I don't really know any better way to put this...so, uhh...I know your secret."

The moment Adrien spoke the word secret, the girl in front of him froze. Her face went bright red, her cheeks looked like they were on fire. Her eyes were open wide and her hands shot out almost instantly, waving wilding in front of her to express her denial at having a secret. In all honesty, she looked pretty ridiculous, but Adrien doubted he would have handled it any differently.

"NO nO no, I don't have a secret, what are you talking about-that's, that's nonsense, you couldn't possibly know I mean no, there's nothing to hide I-" Before she could speak any more, Adrien stuck his hand out and placed it across the girl's mouth. It might have been kind of rude, but Adrien doubted it would matter once she realized who he was. He only hoped she wouldn't...wouldn't hate him for it.

The girl was stunned but not offended, yet. Her eyes were blinking rapidly, and Adrien could see that she was thinking of every possible excuse to throw at him to protect her secret. He slowly pulled his hand away and her mouth kept quiet. It was open slightly, as if she wanted to speak but couldn't decide what to say. For a second, no more than a second, his eyes drifted to her lips, and he realized that they were the same lips he had longed for as Cat Noir. Mentally, he shook himself away from the thought and focused on his current situation.

"Marinette, don't worry. I won't tell anyone." Quickly, he lowered his voice to a whisper. "But I do know. I know that you're Ladybug."

If it was possible for Marinette's face to get any redder at that point, then it sure did. Her eyes were looking everywhere but at him, and her mouth still hung open in a mixture of fear and amazement. It took her a few seconds, but eventually the girl composed herself enough to look him in the eye. "O-okay. H-how d-did you find out?"

Adrien smiled a bit and turned his eyes away. He lifted his hand to scratch at his neck and avoided eye contact as he spoke. "I don't really know. I kind of just saw you next to the substitute Ladybug and it just...clicked. It just made so much sense and I knew it had to be you."

"B-but how did you see me? Y-you didn't arrive till after Cat Noir had left and…" Mari's voice trailed off as she spoke and her eyes looked downward as her face contorted into that of confusion and puzzlement.

"Yes, and what does that tell you?"

Mari lifted her eyes back to the model's face. "Umm, I don't know, should it tell me something? Cat Noir left probably because he was gonna detransform and you were worried about me and just happened to show up after he left, right?"

"Well...kind of, but not exactly. Doesn't that seem somewhat odd to you?"

Marinette tilted her head slightly, confusion still covering her face. "Odd? How?"

"Umm, okay. Let me put it to you like this. What if, by some chance, Cat Noir was standing right in front of you. Like, right now."

Mari stopped for a second. "Why would he…..oh…"

Oh. OH. Wait was she-did she just-was he? Wait a sec, was he saying what she thought he was saying? No he couldn't possibly be-oh wow. The designer could barely think she was so shocked. She couldn't believe that he could be-but how? How could Adrien? Darling, handsome, perfect Adrien be-be Cat Noir? It was ludicrous! Crazy! But yet, it made so much sense. It was all there. It really was him, there was no way it couldn't be him… She wanted to say something then. To say something to tell him that she understood, that she knew and, and...oh gosh. He had known she was Ladybug. Only for a few minutes but still! She had to say something, and she had to say it now.

"Y-y-you're a cat then?" Well great. That was just great, way to go Mari, smartest comment ever.

"Heh, yeah kind of. I-i know you didn't want us revealing our identities, but once I found out, I only thought it right that you knew…"

Marinette stopped. If she had the choice, she would run home right then and just take some time to think on everything. She needed time to process all this information. Adrien was Cat Noir. And he knew that she was Ladybug. Probably the two best kept secrets in Paris had just been let loose. But she couldn't leave. Not now. She took a deep breath. "I-i don't know what to say…"

Adrien took a deep breath as well. "Y-you don't need to say anything. I know it's a lot, I really do. I'm still kind of reeling from the fact that..it's you."

Mari frowned slightly. "Is that a bad thing?"

"No! No it's not a bad thing. It's actually a really good thing. I just, I think it's really cool that you're Ladybug. It just seems right, and well, now that I know and all, you're even better than before. Sorry if i'm not making any sense it's good trust me, you're just amazing I-"

Before he could say another word, Adrien found himself trapped in a sudden hug. He looked down with stunned eyes to see Marinette clinging to him, wrapping her arms around his waist and holding him tightly. He took his arms from his sides and wrapped them around the girl, completing the hug while holding her close. She was warm and small, so tiny in his arms, it made him want to protect her from anything that came her way. He squeezed her softly and swore he heard a small 'Thank you' escape the girl's lips as he did so.

He was about to let go and continue their crazy conversation, when he heard another voice speaking from behind him. "Oooo, looks like the lovebirds are finally getting together."

As soon as the girl spoke, both Adrien and Marinette jumped out of the hug and whirled to face the two newcomers. In front of them stood a boy in a red cap and blue t-shirt, with an auburn haired girl to his side wearing a smirk on her face.

Both Adrien and Marinette wanted to scream a huge 'NO' at the two, but they figured it would only make things worse, so instead, they stood with mouths agape and eyes wide open.

"Yo Adrien, don't look so freaked out dude. Alya and I just met up while we were looking for you and well, here you are. And Mari?" The girl looked up at red capped boy. "I have something for you. Well, a couple somethings…"

The auburn haired girl nudged the boy playfully. "Ohh, whatcha got for her Nino? You can tell us you know."

Nino chuckled quietly and began rubbing his wrist. "Actually, no. I can't Alya. Wait a sec, why are you asking? You know what I have!"

Alya cackled joyously and patted him on the shoulder. "You don't need to be so secretive Nino! Adrien probably already knows and Mari's gonna need to know eventually!"

Adrien watched the two in befuddlement. Saying he was really confused was an understatement. That is, until he looked down at Nino's wrists. Or rather, what was on his wrists. He had the rubber bands and bracelets there, just like always; but on each wrist, one of the bands had a silver earring attached to it. He gasped.

Nino chuckled a bit at his astonishment, and it wasn't long before Adrien heard another gasp from behind him, signifying that Marinette had finally caught on to their conversation.

"Nino is that..."

The boy nodded softly. "Yes it is. And I have you-know-who with me as well." Marinette's eyes suddenly went wide and scared. "But don't worry! She's safe, it's okay. You probably don't remember, but she was the one who told me and Alya everything."

The four stood in silence for a little while as everyone took the information in. People from the city started coming out of buildings and gathering in the area. No one had paid much attention to the four beraggled teenages...yet.

Alya was the first one to realize this problem. "Hey guys?" She piped up. "We should probably head somewhere else to talk about all this, cause we will be talking about it. A lot."

Adrien took his chance to speak. "Yeah, but where-"

"My house." The three turned to look at the black haired girl. "We can go to my house it'll be the easiest. And Alya, you're right. I don't remember much from the past little while, so you guys will have to fill me in. And...I guess I should fill you in on, all of this too…"

After a few nods of agreement, the four wordlessly began making their way to the Dupain Cheng Bakery. While they walked they didn't speak, and once they got there, it took a while for the four to begin explaining everything. But afterwards, everyone felt it had been the right thing to do. They were still a bit confused, still learning and still growing, but now they knew. Two secrets each kept by one person, were now kept by four. It would be weird and different, but after having time to talk, all four teenagers believed they could make it work.

There were still some people who were confused about the 'Ladybug' incident, but before long it was all blown over. One person, Chloe Bourgeois, was still persistent in her efforts to discover why there had been a new Ladybug for some time. She wouldn't let the matter go, but at the same time it kept her from hurting others so no one bugged her about being so obsessed. After some time, her obsession died out, and no one knew why. No one except the four from that day who may or may not have let her in on a little secret. Having four, sometimes five, rather than one to work everything out was both weird and helpful. It was always nice for the two heroes to know they had friends they could count on. They knew things would work out if only they worked together. Because for now, they all had each other.