Marinette took a deep breath and walked towards Adrien. "You didn't fail," she said. He looked up at her. "You heard that?" he asked. "Yes. And in all the time I've known you you've never failed anyone. You've never failed me, you've never failed your friends and you've never failed Paris." she said. "What? I don't-" she cut him off. "No. Let me talk. Please. I want you to listen to all that I have to say before you say anything. Promise?" she asked. His expression was clearly confused but he nodded his head. "You haven't failed anyone. You're always there for me, your friends, and Paris. You always protect me which I find rather stupid at times because you could get yourself really hurt and I would never want that to happen. It would hurt a lot to lose you. Paris needs you. I need you." Marinette took in a deep breath and then sighed. "Adrien, I'm Ladybug.," she said. Bright red light came from where Bridgette was standing. It shrank and zoomed into Marinette's earrings. Bright pink light engulfed her and in her place was Ladybug. Adrien looked at her wide-eyed. He opened his mouth to speak but she put her finger up to his lips to stop him. "Just a little more," she said. She put her hand back down. "Only you can save Felix. Together we'll save your father and Nathalie. I know that I already know who you are but you still have to tell me. And you have to love both sides of me. I know you love Ladybug but you have to love Marinette too. And you can't just say it and move on. Your heart and your head has to know it and you have to truly believe it." she said. She smiled and stood up. "I'll let you think," she said and walked off towards the window. She sighed. "Spots off," she muttered. She dropped her transformation. "It's nice to have you back to normal Tikki," she said. Tikki nuzzled Marinette's cheek. "It's nice to be back to normal! Though I do miss baking. Back to looking at recipes, I suppose." Tikki said. "Do you think he will?" Marinette whispered. "I think so. But if he doesn't do it soon you may have to go after Hawk Moth yourself until he does." Tikki whispered back. She flew into Marinette's purse and found a cookie to munch on.
Felix looked around. Everything was dark and his head hurt but he could tell he was tied to something. Most likely a chair. "Ah. Looks like you're awake. Such a shame that we had to meet this way." a voice said. "'Gabriel Agreste, the famous fashion designer, revealed to be Paris' supervillain Hawk Moth.' Sounds like a great news headline, no?" Felix mocked. A blade was suddenly put near Felix. Since when did the Butterfly Miraculous get a sword or dagger or whatever this is?! Felix thought. "I suggest not mocking me, boy. You're the bait. It'd be a shame for my bait to go to waste." Hawk Moth hissed. "Who knew you could be so cruel. I mean I knew you pretty much ignore Adrien all the time but this is beyond that. Do you know how many times you've put him in danger trying to get the Ladybug and Cat Miraculous?" Felix said back. "It's not my intentions! How do you know all of this anyways?" Hawk Moth asked. "The news, duh. Besides, I can tell. Even though I've only been here about a week, it's clear you shut him. I can see it by the way you treat him when you talk to him and how he looks when you talk to him. How do you think he'd react if he found out his father was Hawk Moth and had put him in danger so many times?" Felix questioned. The blade came closer. "If he knew why I was doing this he'd understand!" Hawk Moth hissed. Felix was sweating a bit. He prayed that Marinette was close to revealing herself and that Adrien would soon after her. "W-why a-are you doing t-this?" Felix stuttered. "His mother. I'm trying to bring her back. For him. I know how much he misses her." Hawk Moth said. Felix's feet started to glow black. Yes! He thought. "Well it was nice seeing you Hawk Moth," the black light engulfed him more. "But I gotta go-ahhhhhhh!" the black light zoomed off. The ropes fell down and laid on the chair and floor. Hawk Moth was confused.
Adrien looked at Marinette. She was still looking out the window. She noticed a small read creature, who he assumed was her kwami, hold up a cookie for her. She took it and looked back out the window. Why was this so hard for him? It was probably so easy for her to accept it. Why was he struggling? He closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths to relax. He opened them and looked down at his ring. He fidgetted with it. Maybe he wasn't cut out to be Chat Noir if he couldn't reveal himself to his partner. This is what he had always wanted. He always wanted to reveal himself and he always wanted to find out who she was behind the mask. He started to pull the ring off. "Don't you dare take that off!" a voice scolded him in a whisper. He looked up. It was Marinette's kwami. "You're overthinking this all. I figured Marinette would be the one to do that and that you'd be the one to accept this with little to no hesitation. I thought this both based on past knowledge and how anxious and willing you were to tell me." Tikki whispered. Adrien sighed. "It-it's just weird to think that Marinette, the shy quiet girl that sits behind me in class, is Ladybug, the sassy, amazing, hero of Paris," he whispered back. "That's how you're overthinking it. You're stuck on thinking about how they're the same person and your mind has pushed back the fact that you love her. Both sides of her." Tikki whispered back. "You may not notice it but you're moving away from Ladybug and towards Marinette. She was moving away from you and towards Chat. Those nightly chats on the balcony? She didn't want you there at first but then stopped complaining when you came by. And why would you visit every week? You could just talk to at school. But you talk to her alone once a week because you want to. You probably have never noticed. You love both sides of her. You're just stuck on the fact that they are the same person. Move on and stop overthinking." Tikki whispered. Adrien looked back down at his ring. "Plagg needs you," she whispered before she flew off back towards Marinette. Adrien sighed and looked at Marinette. Her kwami had been right. "Marinette," he said. She turned around. He smiled. "I'm Chat Noir," he said. Seconds later black light flew into his ring. He was engulfed with green light and what was left was Chat Noir. Marinette smiled. "Nice to hear it kitty," she said. "Claws in," he said and dropped his transformation. Plagg appeared. "Were you really sick?" Adrien asked. Plagg shook his head. "So are my Father and Nathalie ok?" he asked. "Um yeah. They're ok." Plagg lied. "But um I do know who Hawk moth is," he added. "Really? Who?" Marinette asked, walking over. Plagg sighed and looked at Adrien. "Do you really want to know?" he asked. "Of course! We'll be able to finally stop him and take his Miraculous!" Adrien said back. Plagg sighed again. "Kid," he paused. "Your father is Hawk Moth," he said.
Adrien stared at him blankly.
Double update, woo! Partly because it's a weekend and partly because I will have very little time to write tomorrow because I will be out of my house pretty much all day. 3 more chapters!