An Akuma attacked on Valentine's Day.
It didn't really surprise Marinette. After all they hadn't had one for almost a month and that always meant they would be in for a slew of Akuma attacks at some point and what was a better day to start than Valentine's Day? The day were people's emotions ran high, and people would get hurt, humiliated, and heartbroken.
Actually it was a surprise and good fortune that they only had to deal with one Akuma instead of endlessly fighting a parade of heartbroken love-themed Akumas when Marinette thought about it.
They probably didn't because Hawk Moth lacked imagination.
They were facing off, once again, some sort of demented cupid. Only this time it was a heartbroken female who had been tricked into thinking she had a secret admirer only to be thoroughly humiliated in front of her whole class this very morning. She had, since then, been attacking people with arrows of love that made people declare their true feelings.
According to Ladyblog she had already caused five break ups, two people coming out of the closet, and seven new relationships beginning.
Nothing too chaotic or destructive but still causing a great deal of distress for people who didn't want their secrets to come out so to protect people's privacy – and their own – and to ensure they could finish the rest of the day at school without interruption, Ladybug and Chat Noir tracked down the Akuma as quickly as they could.
Unfortunately they were also being tracked themselves…by Alya, who, as always, was determined to capture all of this on video.
"ALYA!" Ladybug barely managed to pull her best friend out of the way before she got struck by one of the truth telling arrows. "What have I told you?!" she shrieked. "The battlefield is not a place for-"
"My Lady!" Chat Noir interrupted fearfully. "Watch out!" Ladybug turned just in time to see Chat Noir shield her from an arrow. His arms wrapped themselves round her as he held her close to his chest just before the arrow hit him in the middle of his back there was a pink, sparkly, glow the shimmered round him before the spell took effect. "MY NAME IS-"
"Nope!" Ladybug interrupted him as she slapped her hands over his mouth. "I'm not going to have Hawkmoth reveal who you are before you tell me yourself."
"Mm mmm!" Chat cried out behind her hands. "Mmm mmmm mm!"
It was obvious the spell was going to carry on until Chat Noir either told his secret or Ladybug defeated the Akuma. Since she couldn't defeat the Akuma without taking her hands off of Chat's mouth there was only one, possible, way she could deal with the situation.
After all kissing worked the last time he got hit by a love-themed Akuma.
"I swear," she sighed, "you purposely get hit by these sort of spells just so I will kiss you again."
Chat's eyes widened at that. "Mmm?!" He cried out questioningly.
She removed her hands but swiftly, before Chat could even speak, she grabbed him by the collar and slammed her lips against his.
It was a short, brief, fierce kiss and nothing like their sweet, slow, explorations the night before but it still sent fireworks going off in the pit of her stomach and felt just as amazing as before.
"Oh my God!" Alya squealed. "A Ladynoir kiss! A Ladynoir kiss! You saw it yourself viewers, Ladybug kissed Chat Noir! This is the best Valentine's Day present ever!" she declared giddily into her camera phone. "Sorry Nino," she tacked on belatedly.
Ladybug stoutly ignored Alya's commentary as she pulled away slowly from Chat, who wasn't quite ready to let her go after he relaxed into her kiss and wrapped his arms round her waist, "Better?" she asked.
"Yes," Chat murmured numbly, "wait….how many times have you kissed me before now?!"
"I think we should finish this before it gets any worse," Ladybug evaded, she threw her yoyo up in the air, "LUCKY CHARM!" and in a puff of magic a paper heart with a love note on fluttered into her hand. "A Valentine?!" she cried out bewilderedly. "What am I supposed to do with this?!"
Soon enough a plan came together in her head and within two minute she had purified the Akuma, fist bumped Chat Noir, said Happy Valentine's Day to the Ladyblog while avoiding Alya's questions, and escaped to a far enough alleyway with Chat Noir.
"I can't stay long," Chat said, their Miraculous' both beeping loudly, "but I wanted you to have this," he pulled out a white envelope with a flourish. "Happy Valentine's Day, my Lady," he said as she accepted the card.
"Happy Valentine's Day, Chat," Ladybug replied.
He plucked her other hand and pressed a lingering kiss on her knuckles before he gave a little courtly bow and fled before his transformation wore off.
Ladybug let her own wear off as she began to rip open the envelope.
The Valentine card was big, pink, and sparkly with an art deco woman drawn on top and the words Be My Forever Valentine was scrawled on in curly yellow font. She opened it to find another typed note folded inside, she caught it before it fell onto the floor and unfolded it immediately.
"On the fourteenth day of Valentine," she read out loud, "my true love gave to me, his body, heart, and soul."
In the actual card there was a restaurant name – a ridiculously expensive and posh one that made her squeak slightly – and a time with a please come, with love your secret admirer all written in his handwriting.
"So it looks like Chat Noir will be taking you out tonight," Tiki observed, as she read the card over Marinette's shoulder, "as his civilian self."
"Yes," Marinette agreed, "It does…..OH MY GOD TIKI!" she shrieked as realisation sank in. "WHAT AM I GOING TO WEAR?!"
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When Nino got a text from Adrien begging for help he thought Adrien had somehow got stuck in something or needed someone to cover for him so he could sneak out. He had not, in a million years, thought he would have to help Adrien with this clothes.
Because, you know, Adrien is a model with an immaculate wardrobe while Nino is the guy that would wear the same shirt four days running if it passed a sniff check.
Regardless of this, Nino was greeted to the sight of a frantic Adrien who was currently throwing clothes out of his gigantic, walk in, closet as he ran his hands through his hair…making it stand on end comically.
"Nino!" Adrien cried out as he threw his arms round Nino's neck. "Thank God you're here! I'm having a crisis!"
"Yeah," Nino said as he patted Adrien's back awkwardly, "you said. What's up?"
"I DON'T HAVEANYTHING TO WEAR!"
Nino took one look at all the clothes Adrien had left strewn all over the floor, some of which still had very price-y tags still on, and then he glanced over at the walk in closet which was still nine tenths full despite Adrien throwing a large amount on the floor (seriously, Nino had less clothes than Adrien's floor did right now). "Dude!" he stressed exasperatedly.
"I know, I know," Adrien moaned, "I have clothes but I don't seem to have the right clothes."
"Dude, I hate to break it to you," Nino grinned, "but you're such a girl."
"I just want to…you know," Adrien flushed a bright pink, "look handsome and dashing enough to sweep Marinette off of her feet."
"Dude, trust me on this," Nino grabbed Adrien's shoulder comfortingly, "you already have swept her off of her feet."
"As her secret admirer," Adrien said quietly, "but not as me. She might reject me."
"She won't reject you," Nino reassured him, "and you can turn up wearing a bin liner and Marinette will still think you're the most handsome and gorgeous thing to walk on this planet."
Adrien looked up hopefully. "Really?" he asked.
"Really," Nino rolled his eyes, "now as what you wear just wear whatever suits the restaurant. Where are you taking her?"
Adrien named the restaurant. It was probably the most expensive, romantic, restaurant in all of Paris and Adrien had somehow managed to score a table on the most romantic night of the year.
Nino whistled appreciatively. "Dude!" he complained. "You got to stop doing this you're making the rest of us look bad. Do you know where I'm taking Alya?"
"…you said the cinema?"
"Exactly!" Nino cried out. "Where she would have to buy her own popcorn because I spent the last of my money on the chocolates that apparently cannot compare to the Ladynoir kiss."
He rolled his eyes again at that.
His girlfriend was ridiculous.
But he liked her anyway.
Adrien shifted guiltily at that – why, Nino didn't know – and smiled nervously as he ran his hand through his hair again. Nino sighed heavily and gave into the sweet innocence that was his best friend.
"All right," he muttered, "show me your suits and we'll find you something to wear."
Adrien lit up in delight. "Really?!" he cried out happily. Nino gave him a withering look which had no effect whatsoever as Adrien continued to beam radiantly. "Thank you so much Nino! You're the best."
"Yeah, yeah," Nino mumbled, "but I better be the best man at your wedding for this."
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After a massive panic that took Tiki, Alya, and Mum at different occasions to calm Marinette down, Marinette had figured out what to wear and was ready in no time.
She had, after some consideration, decide to centre her outfit round the necklace Chat had given her on the first day and it resulted in her donning on a pink evening flare dress with a shimmering netting over the top and matching shoes with pink ribbons in her hair and some pale, matching, lipstick. To top it all off she wore her latest masterpiece – a black leather jacket that she got in a charity shop for five euros and then spent weeks embroidering pink and white flowers all over it. The green stems weaves up her arms, round her back, and finishing just over her left breast as tons of little pink and white flowers bloomed all over it.
"Oh!" Mum gasped softly when Marinette managed to descend down the stairs without tripping. "Marinette! You look so beautiful!"
Marinette flushed a bright pink that surpassed all the pink she was actually wearing. "Thank you, Mum," she mumbled.
"Let me take a photo!" Mum insisted. "This is your first date and I want it well documented."
"Mum!"
It took a great deal of time as both of her parents wanted photos of not just Marinette but of each other posing with her and then giving her a lecture separately about how she was allowed to say no, how he was allowed to say no, and that it's a school night so she must come home early anyway.
Embarrassed and incredibly flustered, Marinette barely managed to leave on time. It took a while to get to the restaurant as well and she was worried that she was so late that Chat Noir had thought she stood him up and left already.
Fortunately that wasn't the case when she entered the extremely lavishly decorated restaurant, with its elegant flower and candle arrangements on every table and fine, red silk, waistcoats on every waiter, she just had to give her name to the concierge and she was immediately escorted to a table in the far corner.
"Sir," the concierge dipped his head respectively, "your date for this evening has arrived."
He then stepped away out of Marinette's view to reveal an impeccably dressed boy in a black suit and a green shirt that brought out the beauty of his own very green eyes. His face was as beautiful as ever though instead of his usual incorrigible grins he wore what was also his usual, soft, shy, smiles that she had always adored…
….because sitting before her, looking extremely nervous, was Adrien Agreste.
Adrien Agreste.
The Adrien Agreste.
As In the guy she had just spent two weeks getting over for Chat Noir only to find out that he was in fact Chat Noir.
And then it all suddenly clicked into her brain. How Adrien was so interested in Marinette's opinion of the necklace Chat had just given her – her hand clutches said necklace at the thought of it all – and how he was nearby every time she received one of Chat's presents, how he was the only other person who was near her schoolbag on that third day, and how delighted he looked when she confessed Chat – him! – already had her attention before all of this.
Marinette blushed deeply in embarrassment as it occurred to her exactly how very stupid she had been this entire time (of course her parents adored him! Of course Nino knew him so well! And of course Alya recognised the handwriting! And she understood now what Alya meant. That poem! That dastardly poem that Marinette nicked the bins! Alya must have thought Marinette would have memorised every word and therefore spot Adrien's handwriting mile away. How was she supposed to know that Marinette snapped awake on night with the horrific realisation of what a creepy stalker she had become and shoved the poem away in her drawer to never look again? It wasn't exactly something Marinette liked to talk about! Or even think about!) and then she blushed even more deeply as she realised that it had been a two, full, minutes since she laid eyes on Adrien Agreste and she still hadn't spoken a single word to him, and Adrien was beginning to look increasingly worried and scared.
Oops?
"…Hi!" she squeaked out.
Adrien looked relieved before he smiled his soft, sweet, smile that made her heart flutter. "Hello," he said warmly.
"Hi!"
"Hello."
"Hi!"
"Hello."
"Hi!"
"H – No," he shook his head, "we're going to end up stuck like this all night if we keep this up." Marinette agreed, she was suddenly even more nervous than before and completely at a loss of what to say that Hi might be the best, most coherent thing, she could say right now. Unfortunately that would mean she would never move from her spot by the table and Adrien would never leave the table and then they would both end up staying there for all eternity. Which wasn't good since she had a curfew. "H-h-how are you?" Adrien stammered out.
"Good!" she managed to choke out. "You?!"
"I'm good," Adrien smiled more confidently, it wasn't quite at Chat Noir's level yet but she could see that spark in his eyes and the flicker at the corner of his lips, and began to relax ever so slightly. "How are you?" Adrien blurted out. He paused for a moment and Marinette quirked an eyebrow in reply that caused him to slump over slightly in defeat. "We already did you, didn't we?"
"Uh-huh," Marinette nodded. There was another unnerving, never-ending, silence that Marinette feared would drown them both as neither of them seemed capable of forming a coherent thought to actually speak. Marinette shifted on her feet nervously before, as the slight crackling noise in her hands reminded her of its existence, she suddenly thrusted her present into Adrien's face. "For you!" she squeaked.
Adrien blinked, dumbfounded, before a slow, warm, happy smile blossomed on his face and he accepted the parcel. She took advantage of his distraction to hurry over into the seat opposite him and as she settled down into her seat he opened up her card to reveal her homemade card with black cats and red glitter love hearts drawn all over it.
She couldn't remember exactly what she had written in it but she had stuffed as many annoyingly sweet cat puns that she could think of into it. On the front she had definitely written, in big, bold, bubble writing so no one could miss it, YOU WILL FUR-EVER BE IN MY HEART! And she signed it with all her love as well.
Adrien glowered happily as he read it. "It appears I have converted you to the art of punning, My Lady," he said smugly.
The return of Chat Noir's insufferable confidence jolted Marinette into her own sassy brand of confidence. "Don't be silly, Kitty," she sniffed, "I just couldn't find a card that actually catered to your poor taste in jokes and had to make my own."
It did nothing to diminish his smugness but then it wasn't supposed to. He then, after carefully placing her card as far away from both the candle and his glass of water, slowly opened up her present to reveal the red silk shirt in all of its glory, black velvet paw prints and all.
His face slackened into an expression of such beautiful awe that Marinette struggled not to let her own jaw drop wide open at the sight of it.
"Princess," he breathed out, "you shouldn't have."
"I should," she said firmly, "it's the very least I can do after everything you have done for me," and she didn't meant just these last two weeks of non-stop romancing. She meant all of his other acts of friendship since they had known each other, for all the times he loved her even when she certainly didn't deserve it with her temper and stubbornness. She nibbled her lip anxiously as Adrien remained silent as he examined the quality of her needlework. "Do you like it?" she asked nervously.
Adrien folded it up carefully and placed it back in its wrapping before he, with all the care and caution in the world, put it down on the floor. He then grinned brightly. "Its purr-fectly pawsome," he informed her and induced a little eye roll from her. "I love it."
There is another painfully long silence as Marinette blushed with pride, happiness, and a little embarrassment. She didn't know what to say other than stare down at her hands modestly and inwardly dance for joy.
"Are you…" Adrien spoke up shyly, he coughed awkwardly, and took a sip of his water before he tried again. "Are you okay with it being me?" he asked anxiously.
"Of course I am okay!" Marinette cried out. "More than okay," she tried to reassure him. "It's just…I feel incredibly stupid right now," Marinette confessed as she kept her gaze down at her hands, her eyes focused on the gold glint of her ring, "I should have known. I should have figured it out sooner. It's so obvious now that I think about it!"
"I know what you mean," Adrien smiled fondly, "I felt the same. Are you…are you disappointed it's me?"
"Absolutely not!" Marinette snapped as she looked up to glare at him. How could he ever think that?! Didn't he know how utterly wonderful he was as both Adrien Agreste and Chat Noir? All that time he spent reassuring Marinette it was always both Marinette and Ladybug for him and he doubted that it might be the same for her? "I mean were you disappointed it was me?!" she asked,
"No!" Adrien burst out. "Of course not! It's just…there was that other guy," he finished in a mumble, "Just because you liked Chat Noir more than him doesn't mean that you like Adrien Agreste more than him...we didn't exactly have the best beginning as Adrien and Marinette, did we?"
"Adrien!" Marinette exclaimed softly. She couldn't believe he was that oblivious! Oh, wait, who was she kidding? Of course she could! "That other guy….he was sweet, kind, wonderful, brave, and clever," Adrien flinched, "but…Adrien that other guy was you."
Adrien's eyes widened in realisation as he suddenly sat up straighter. "Are you….are you telling me that I've been fighting myself for your heart?" he asked quietly, almost disbelievingly. She nodded as her cheeks burned brightly and Adrien's face lit up in utter delight, his green eyes glittered with mischief that she was achingly familiar with, and a little laugh of triumph escaped his mouth before he covered it with his hand. "How embarrassing," he murmured as his cheeks turned a faint pink.
They caught each other's eye and suddenly burst out laughing. It was all so ridiculous. The amount of times they had fallen for one another, the amount of times they must have been jealous of themselves, and the amount of dancing round each other they had done when they could have been them – Adrien and Marinette, Ladybug and Chat Noir – and together long before this.
She leaned forwards and took his hand. Their fingers slide between each other's perfectly like a matching jigsaw piece. "I love you," she said quietly but firmly.
He smiled radiantly as he squeezed her hand tightly. "I love you too," he replied.
They leaned in over the table for a kiss, slowly, painfully slow, as Marinette's eyes fluttered to a close and just when she felt Adrien's warm breath on her face –
"Would you like to order your drinks now, sir?"
They jumped back into their seats and Marinette almost fell out of her's completely as she had to grab on the table – and sent her fork flying- to steady herself.
They both stammered and stuttered their way through their drink orders – just sodas – and the waiter looked mildly embarrassed having only belatedly realised he had interrupted a moment between them before he shuffled off to fetch them their drinks.
Their eyes met again and they both laughed giddily and instantly fell back into their comfortable routine as if they were on Marinette's balcony instead of a ridiculously expensive and posh restaurant. They talked and talked about everything and nothing, sheepish, embarrassed, confessions were made, they laughed a lot, and the best thing of all they had kept their hands locked together until the need to eat broke them apart.
Marinette couldn't for the life of her remember what she had eaten but it had tasted so very good. And eating with the love of her life where violin music was being played in the background, and the candles casted a warm glow on everything, and Adrien's emerald green eyes seemed determined to study every aspect of her face, made it the most magical night of her life.
Adrien continued to be every bit of the courteous gentleman she had imagined him to be as he helped her out of her seat, held her jacket out for her to put on (and admired her embroidery), and opened the door for her before he escorted her home.
Yet he also did it with the cheesiness of Chat Noir as he dropped pun after pun forcing her to groan and roll her eyes while trying to not let him know how much she was actually smiling.
The night was cold and it was beginning to get rather misty, almost foggy, but the street lights made it look almost atmospheric and it gave such a wonderful excuse to snuggle up close to Adrien (he didn't seem to mind, in fact, he looked utterly delighted to wrap an arm round her shoulders) as they walked back to her home.
Sadly, unlike the journey to the restaurant, the walk was not long enough and they got back far too soon for Marinette's liking.
"Well then," Adrien said nervously as he shifted on one spot, "its meow or never, Princess," Marinette rolled her eyes at the pun but didn't comment as she waited expectantly for Adrien to say his piece, "willyoubemygirlfriend?" he blurted out.
"I thought I made it clear last night, Kitty," Marinette said, extremely pleased and flattered, "that you already successfully wooed me. That meant yes, you know."
"I know," Adrien flushed, "I just wanted to make sure."
"Uh-huh," Marinette hummed disbelievingly.
She didn't get much else out as Adrien's warm hands planted themselves on her waist and he pulled her in slowly. Her breath caught in her throat as she wrapped her arms round his neck and stepped closer towards him so their noses were almost touching. His glittering, mischievous, gaze lowered to her lips and she found her own yes fluttering to a close in response as she leaned in even closer…
…They kissed.
It was a slow, lingering, kiss as they savoured every movement, every little touch, their lips made against one another. In a torturously slow pace, Adrien pulled her bottom lip between hers and suckled lightly. She moaned in response and pressed her lips back firmer but it did nothing to speed up the process as Adrien took a painfully long time to explore every aspect of her lips.
The need to breath forced them apart but Marinette remained contently in Adrien's arms as she rested her head against his shoulder.
This was the happiest moment of her life…
….right up until her parents opened the door and reminded her that her curfew was five minutes ago.