Author's Note: I cannot guarantee an update schedule at this point, but here is the new chapter, finally! :D
oOo
Marinette's fingers drummed restlessly against the polished countertop, her mind a chaotic whirlwind of thoughts despite the air of calm surrounding her. Nino cruised about in his usual demeanor of chill while fixing some toast in the kitchen, and right beside her, Alya relaxed quietly, slouched over a little too comfortably as she typed away at her laptop.
At a glance, it only seemed like a casual mid-Sunday morning routine. But every minute to Marinette felt like an eternity, agonizingly dragging on as if time itself trudged slowly through a muck thicker than the sludge rumored to rest at the bottom of the Seine.
Marinette's stomach rumbled silently, and her gaze flicked down to the untouched bowl of cereal sitting in front of her. She was hungry, but at the same time, the thought of eating anything made her insides squirm with a queasy feeling. There was something far more important going on to be able to concern herself with breakfast.
Like Chat Noir, her brain unnecessarily fired at her, adding another knot to the tense apprehension coiling between her shoulders.
"Your cereal is getting soggy." Alya's dry tone pulled Marinette from the mayhem of her own mind, and her eyes shot up to find her friend giving the bowl a scrutinizing look.
"I know," Marinette grumbled, slumping over further in her seat. "But I'm not really hungry..."
"Too much on your mind?" Alya asked, snapping her laptop shut. "I know what you're thinking, and you shouldn't worry about it so much." She quickly clapped her hands together and gave Marinette an eager grin. "This should be exciting! We get to see your reaction to Chat Noir sans the mask!"
"Maybe it's exciting for you," Marinette mumbled, waving her hands dismissively, and Alya's smile dropped at the annoyed look Marinette shot at her. "Which makes sense, since you've always wanted to see Ladybug and Chat Noir get together..."
"Err…" Alya flicked her eyes hesitantly to the counter top where their kwami sat, quietly munching on a breakfast of sweet Danishes. "I mean, it's not like I don't support you…" She then folded her hands in her lap and leaned back wearing a sheepish grin. "But I'd be lying if I said I wasn't completely over the moon about it—and—hey! It's hard not to get caught up in the excitement when Ladybug and Chat Noir are practically a celebrity power couple. Besides that, your future-self is way happy with him, girl!"
"Well, you know that, but I'm still just trying to process all of this." Marinette scooted her bowl out of the way so that she could lean forward and drape herself over the counter. "And what if something goes wrong? What if we can't reset the timeline and wind up remembering everything?" Marinette fidgeted with her spoon, tracing a fingernail along the delicate design etched into the cutlery. "Alix can use her Burrow to try and fix it, but the fact that a situation with Chat Blanc could—"
There was no noise or warning for what happened next. Marinette's vision simply disappeared behind a brilliant flash of light. When she became aware of her surroundings again, she found herself a few feet away from where she had been… and... standing in the middle of the kitchen for some reason?
But… she'd just been sitting at the counter, hadn't she…?
"What do you want for breakfast?" Nino asked her, straightening up from behind the open fridge door and holding a carton of milk in his hand. It was all very, very familiar… "We've got cereal if you don't want any toast," he added, repeating the same suggestion that he had given her a few minutes earlier.
"Didn't you… already ask me this?" Marinette blinked and turned slowly, exchanging a confused look with Tikki, who hovered just over her shoulder.
"What's up?" Nino's gaze flicked between them, a curious look on his face that bordered on concern.
"I just got a serious sense of déjà vu." Marinette grasped her head, already wracking her brain for an explanation as to what was going on. It was all too vivid to have been imagined, and given their time-shenanigans, she quickly came to the obvious solution. "Does Luka have the snake miraculous full-time?" she asked.
"He does," Alya answered from where she sat at the counter. "Why? Do you think something's wrong?" Marinette didn't even get a chance to respond before Alya's attention jumped to Nino, her expression a tight frown. "You don't think…?"
"That Félix tried something again and put our Marinette in danger?" Nino fumed as his hand curled into a fist and he slammed the fridge shut. Before anyone could say anything more, he sprinted past Marinette and toward the front door. "Let's go!"
Nino was nearly to the end of the hall by the time Marinette and Alya darted after him, their kwami quickly tucking themselves into hiding along the way. All three of them passed right by the elevator, racing up the stairwell and taking two or three steps at once. Reaching the roof in record time, they paused for a quick moment to check their surroundings and ensure that the coast was clear before transforming in the shadow of a small alcove.
"Marinette wasn't supposed to leave her apartment," Alya mumbled as she flicked open a small panel on her flute. "But if Félix found her somehow…"
Marinette leaned in to watch her friend navigate the flute's applications until they could see the name 'Multimouse' displayed on the screen for active contacts.
"Future-me is using the mouse miraculous?" Marinette asked in surprise.
"She's transformed," Nino pointed out, his mouth pulled down in a grim frown. "Which means something's gone wrong."
"Chat Noir is active too," Marinette added, having flipped out her yo-yo to see his name lit up on her own screen.
"He was standing guard," Alya explained, snapping the flute's panel shut with a quick flick of her wrist. "But future-you wouldn't be transformed unless she needs to be. We have to get over there now!" Alya darted up to the edge of the roof, stopping only to shield her eyes from the sunlight and peer into the distance. "Geeze, where are Bunnyx or Pegasus when you need them?"
"Do we have enough time to even get there ourselves?" Marinette asked, swinging her yo-yo out and following Alya and Nino as they jumped off the roof and propelled themselves with super-human strength over the heights of Paris.
In contrast to how slowly the morning had passed, now it felt like time was racing by much too quickly. How many minutes did they have left, if even that long? For all Marinette knew, there might only be seconds until Luka used his Second Chance and simply set her back into the apartment.
"We'll just have to try," Alya said through her grit teeth, her strong voice clear above the wind rushing past Marinette's ears, even as her friend rolled onto a slanted rooftop with Nino right beside her. "But if Viperion has to use Second Chance again—"
Alya never got to finish her sentence. Just as she feared, Marinette's vision burst into white without any warning—but not before she spotted something moving out of the corner of her eye; a suspicious flash that she took careful note of before everything reset.
When she came to—yet again—she was standing right back in the middle of Nino and Alya's tiny kitchen, the scenario repeating itself for a second time.
"What do you want—" Nino started.
"Viperion is using Second Chance!" Marinette quickly blurted, waving her hands frantically before he could repeat himself a third time—not that he would be aware of the resets. "And adult-me is transformed and probably in some kind of danger!" Out of the corner of her eye, Marinette saw Alya jolt up in her seat, her expression contorted with confusion. But they didn't have time for questions. "For some reason, I can remember everything. We need to move fast!"
At her words, Alya and Nino tore out of the apartment, impressing Marinette once she'd gotten over her shock of how fast they could both move without asking for further details about the situation. They didn't have the full story, but they still acted immediately, because in this future, the pair of them had already matured together as full-time heroes. It created a warm sense of pride as Marinette bolted after them.
Within seconds, they were fully transformed, all of them antsy after Marinette had given her friends the cliff notes version of the circumstances on their run up the stairway. With the accompanying adrenaline rush, Marinette was only slightly out of breath when she reached the roof.
"Okay, so if Viperion is using Second Chance, how will we be able to help if we can't get there in time?" Nino asked as he jumped out over the edge of the building. Alya followed his lead this time, with Marinette swinging above them from her yo-yo. "We'd need Pegasus' power to cross the city before everything resets!"
"I almost wish I couldn't remember any of this," Marinette said, tossing her weapon out and flying forward despite the apprehension worrying at the edge of her mind. "How can I help when I only know that something is wrong, but can't get there in time?"
"We can't give up," Alya added as she gracefully jumped to the top of a chimney pipe and paused briefly to squint into the distance. "If Viperion needs back-up, we'll provide it however we can."
As Marinette swung out over another rooftop, a blurry shape flashed through the corner of her vision.
This was something she had expected, wondering and watching for when the suspicious figure she had spotted before would make its appearance. Marinette immediately pulled back on her yo-yo's string, which shot her out over the skyline at a breakneck speed. A light wisp of air brushed past her shoulder—the only indication that she just managed to avoid whatever had tried to grab her from behind.
Reeling her weapon in with a snap, Marinette landed in a crouch on the flat tiles of a rooftop garden and whipped her head up to see Foresight scowling down at her from the window ledge of an adjacent building. It wasn't long before Nino and Alya joined Marinette at her side, standing off against Foresight in a defensive formation.
"You arrived faster than I expected this time." From beneath the helmet that covered half of her face, Foresight sneered and poised with sincere confidence, as if the higher ground gave her an advantage against being outnumbered. "That doesn't matter though... Your little snake-friend may be using his power to reset everything, but I can still remember what's happened—unlike you!"
Yelling the last few words, Foresight chose that moment to strike, leaping from the window and practically diving at them like a swimmer into a pool. Nino, Alya and Marinette dashed out of the way, leaving Foresight to slam her fist into the solid rooftop. The tiles beneath Marinette's feet rattled, and her own nerves jittered at the impact that felt like the equivalent of a small earthquake. Akuma-enhanced powers or not, that had to hurt, right?
Foresight surprised them all by simply shaking it off, jumping up into a flip that landed her easily back on her feet. Particles of ceramic floated from her hand as she simply shook away the dust. Marinette didn't want to compliment the villain by comparing her to an olympic gymnast but… she couldn't help being impressed by the maneuver.
"Babe—!" Nino's abrupt shout rang out beside Marinette, startling her. But she noticed him glance at Alya, needing only a single look between them for her to nod with understanding.
Marinette couldn't decipher what had transpired, but it seemed they both had a plan.
Whatever it was, Foresight appeared to have her own scheme in mind. The akuma took a step to the side and… Vanished? Or rather, she simply disappeared into one of her portals, which had been turned at an angle difficult for Marinette to see before it shrank completely out of sight.
"Shit!" Alya's head swiveled one way and then another. "Has she gotten faster?"
"Probably that energy she stole from one of our heroes back at the Agreste mansion, yea?" Nino answered, raising his shield in front of him while his narrow gaze surveyed the surrounding roof.
Marinette turned to face away from her two friends, trusting them to have her back and prevent Foresight from getting the jump on them. Like a scene in a movie, everything had gone too quiet, with the usual buzz of Paris' early morning traffic nothing more than a soft murmur from the street below. It was nerve-racking just watching for Foresight to make her move, like waiting on the train when you were in a rush. Marinette mindlessly counted out each nervous beat of her pulse, certain that their time was close to running out.
Or had it already passed? This obviously hadn't happened before, even if they were earlier than the previous time. It felt as if events were beginning to progress without any signs of Viperion using his power on this go around. Luka should have already used Second Chance. Did that mean he had a hold of the situation, wherever he was?
Whatever the circumstances, it was still difficult for Marinette to accurately gauge. With all of her friends being adults, they could go well beyond the five-minute limit that they'd been restricted by in the past. It was reasonable to assume that Luka could go for longer periods of time before activating Second Chance to reset everything.
One could only hope that he had managed to fix the problem quickly, or else she might be in for one headache of a ride. She didn't know how she could handle too many more resets.
Poor Adrien, she thought to herself. How long had he had to endure that battle against Desperada, re-living the same loop twenty five thousand, nine hundred and thirteen times!
"Above!" Alya suddenly cried out, and Marinette whipped her gaze up in time to catch sight of Foresight diving directly at her, arms stretching out and hands poised like talons ready to strike.
Nino was practically smack against her before she could come up with a way counter. With one arm around her shoulders, he lifted his other to raise his shield above them.
"Shell-ter!" his voice echoed out, and the green barrier shot out to cover them in an instant. Foresight slammed against the dome while it was still expanding, and the force sent her tumbling off to the side where she rolled into the side of a wooden shed with a crash.
"I'm thinking that akuma has her sights set on you, Little Bug," Nino said.
"Looks like it," Marinette agreed, about to thank him, when something dark and slender shot into her field of view. It disappeared on impact with the barrier, but the second it faded, Nino's Shell-ter shimmered with an eerie shadow, like a drop of ink billowing out into clear water.
"Are you kidding me!" Nino shouted as cracks formed and spread out along the point of impact from whatever had hit the shield. "Why is that guy here!?"
"Who?" Marinette turned to stare in the direction from where the projectile had come, squinting to see a tiny figure standing on an apartment some blocks away. As she watched, a man swathed in a dark robe raised an intricate looking bow and pulled back the string. Within an instant, an arrow made of pure darkness bubbled to life upon the weapon.
"Ugh... Shatter," Nino groaned, tugging Marinette back and raising his shield above the both of them as the barrier shattered into pieces, raining down on the roof like tinkling shards of glass. "An akuma we've run into before. He can shoot through anything, including my shields!"
Alya jumped to the edge of the roof with her flute raised to her lips. A few short, quick notes pierced the air and at least a dozen clones of herself shimmered into existence.
"I've got him!" Alya shouted as she and her clones darted over the rooftops toward the other akuma.
"That leaves us to handle Foresight," Nino said, pounding his free fist into his shield.
"Handle me?" Foresight stumbled to her feet and quickly jerked her head to the side. The bones in her neck gave off an audible 'pop!' "You haven't been able to so far," she said with a sneer.
A sudden cry from Alya's direction pulled Marinette's attention, and she spun around to see that Alya had reached the other Akuma. But instead of an ensuing fight, Marinette noticed a limp figure tumbling toward the streets below, with Alya leaping down to follow.
And far above them, a lithe, dark form fluttered desperately to escape.
"No you don't!" Marinette sprinted to the edge of the roof and swung her arm back. She flung her yo-yo toward a pair of white column chimneys, where it whipped around and veered in several directions, movement that was impossible for any mere object. The indestructible wire stretched taut between the two stacks, and swinging out on the remaining cord, she leapt toward it, setting her foot against the cable and pushing it back, feeling the tension build like a coiled spring. The wire quickly snapped forward and sent her flying, straight out over the rooftops and careening toward the tiny form of the fleeing akuma.
Marinette quickly pulled in her yo-yo, then tossed it out across the distance. She was close enough. She could make it. The akuma wasn't going to escape on her watch!
But before her yo-yo could snap up the insect, a hand came out of nowhere and suddenly clamped around her wrist. Marinette jerked her head to the side to find Foresight grinning maliciously back at her, appearing out of a portal that hung in the air above the streets of Paris.
Foresight then yanked hard on her arm, simultaneously grabbing her yo-yo's cable with the other and interrupting the momentum of her flight. Were she an average citizen, the force might have wrenched her shoulder out of place. Marinette's suit protected her from suffering any damage, thankfully. If her Miraculous Ladybug didn't fix everything, her arm might be sore in the morning, but that she could at least live with.
Marinette's problem was, along with her attacker, she began to fall. And they were at least thirty stories up.
Her free hand flew to Foresight's fingers to pry at the villain's grip, but Marinette fumbled even with something as simple as that. She could already feel the effects of Foresight's ability stealing her strength.
Having encountered the villain twice before, Marinette had deduced that Foresight's powers appeared to be very similar to that of Timebreaker, the akuma form that Alix took when her family's watch was broken. She collected energy from others in order to fuel her powers.
The good news was, Foresight didn't instantly sap a person's energy and erase them from time itself. Marinette wasn't going to disappear into thin air.
But that didn't mean it wasn't a dire situation. Foresight couldn't take all her energy in one go, and Marinette sensed it gradually leaving her as a sickly sensation, like being under the throes of a heavy fever. It weighed her limbs down, making her entire body feel heavy and lethargic. And there was still the fact that they were both careening toward the pavement of the street directly below them.
Her senses fading, Marinette was only faintly aware of her earrings giving out a sharp beep in warning. Despite the fact that she hadn't even used her Lucky Charm, her transformation was threatening to drop.
"LB!" Marinette heard Nino's frantic shout, but it sounded so distant, it may as well have come from miles away.
Then something zipped beside her with a familiar whirring noise, but it couldn't have been the sound of her own yo-yo. That instrument was dangling limply from her hand, with Foresight's grip still fastened around the cord like a vice.
But there it was, plain as day. The spotted weapon coiled around Foresight's arm and snapped it back, ripping loose her hold on Marinette. She had the sense to try and steal back her own yo-yo, but in her dazed state, she couldn't even get her bearings straight before a strong arm wrapped around her waist.
"Hang on!" A deep voice that she was semi-familiar with vibrated against her.
Marinette quickly did as she was told, arms encircling her rescuer's neck as Mister Bug sent a heavy kick towards Foresight's stomach, causing the villain to reel back in pain and release her hold completely.
"Carapace!" Mister Bug shouted as he used his yo-yo to latch onto a lamp post, pulling the line taut and swinging them both up and away from the concrete rushing up to meet them. "Don't let her follow us!" he commanded.
"Got it, dude!" Nino answered loud and clear despite the distance between them.
Marinette turned her head to peer over Mister Bug's shoulder as he carried her up and away from the street, his free arm swinging out and easing into a more gentle movement as the site of battle quickly disappeared behind them. Marinette still managed to catch one last glimpse of Nino as he fearlessly dove from the roof and caught up with Foresight, using his Shell-ter to trap the dazed villain within. A risky move, but probably the best solution at the moment.
Then the rooftops shot above them as Mister Bug dropped into the shade of an empty street. Marinette's desperate heartbeat pounded frantically in her ears, both from adrenaline and with the effort of keeping her body moving despite her stolen energy. She felt Mister Bug's grip on her shift, and was only vaguely aware of one arm cradling against her back, with her legs draped over his other as he sprinted into a side-street between the buildings.
"Coast is clear here," Mister Bug eventually announced in a low tone, turning into an alley only lit by sparse sunlight filtering in from above. In the hush of the shaded walkway, his voice sounded loud, even though he had tried to be quiet to avoid drawing attention. "And just in time, it looks like," he added.
At his words, Marinette heard her earrings beep again, and light from the transformation suddenly flashed across her body. She instinctively reached out toward the falling shape that was Tikki, catching her kwami in her cupped hands before she could drop to the ground.
"You okay to stand?" Mister Bug asked, his green eyes sparkling back at her, brow etched with worry and concern. Marinette, determined to show that she was alright, collected herself despite the exhaustion pulling at her muscles and eventually nodded, grabbing her purse while Mister Bug carefully set her on her feet.
"I'm starting to think Farfalla released that akuma to distract me," Marinette said, noticing that even as he set her down, Mister Bug's arm did not pull away from her shoulders. With her feet on the ground, she was thankful for his care, because her legs trembled from the effort. She gratefully clutched his arm, realizing that with Foresight's trick, she didn't actually have the strength to stand on her own. No wonder her transformation had dropped.
"You know about Farfalla?" Mister Bug asked, his eyebrows springing up in surprise.
"I know who she is, too," Marinette snorted, popping open her bag so that Tikki could slip inside and recharge with the emergency cookies she kept. "Alix dropped the bomb last night, along with a few other secrets." Her eyes swept over him, and she felt the muscles in his arm stiffen beneath her hand. "The only thing I don't know is Hawk Moth and Chat Noir's identity—so for the moment, I'm still in the dark about you."
She felt him relax, and Mister Bug released a sigh, as if he were tired. "Farfalla isn't a one-trick pony. Shatter being there wasn't a coincidence either." He pointed at her. "Unlike Hawk Moth, Farfalla's plans are all about misdirection."
"I'm not surprised," Marinette sniffed. "This is Lila we're talking about…"
Mister Bug's eyes turned to the side, and he squinted just a bit, as if in thought. "She probably tried to use Foresight to reveal your identity since it was enough to drop your transformation."
Marinette wasn't surprised by that at all. It definitely sounded like something Lila would try. Another one of her schemes or lies—
A small gasp suddenly escaped her. "Wait! It hasn't reset!" Marinette yelped.
"What?" Mister Bug stared at her with confusion written on his face.
"Second Chance!" Marinette blurted, stumbling back and almost losing her balance when she let go of Mister Bug to wave her hands. Thankfully, he quickly caught her again. "Viperion has been using Second Chance! And I can remember everything that's happened for some reason. We think my future-self might be in trouble, because Multimouse was active, last we checked."
"Multimouse?" Mister Bug jolted at that. "Right, she exchanged miraculous to be on the safe side," he mumbled behind his glove as he rubbed his chin, brow furrowed beneath his mask. His suddenly tense expression gave her the impression that he wanted to leave, but with the grip he had on her upper arm helping to keep her steady, he obviously didn't want to abandon her either.
"You need to leave me and go to your wife," Marinette said sternly, setting her mouth into a determined frown.
"What?" he asked, his expression shifting to surprise before he quickly shook his head. "No. No, I can't do that." His hand squeezed her arm tighter, but it wasn't painful, more like a sign of reassurance. "Whatever iteration you are: past or present... I can't just leave you alone like this, Marinette."
"I'm fine," she insisted, grasping at his hand to try and remove it, though he stubbornly kept it locked in place. "I'm not the Marinette that's got a jealous Lila after her while pregnant…"
Though it was a subject she was already familiar with, hearing the words out of her own mouth must have been akin to a confirmation that this was all really happening—or at least would eventually become her own future. It sent an uncomfortable sensation to seize up in the pit of her stomach. What was it about knowing so much about the future that made her feel so… dejected?
Chat Noir was more than a friend... He was her trusted partner. And in time… he would become her devoted husband. Everything was already solidified in the future set before her.
"It's why you switched miraculous in the first place, isn't it?" Marinette continued on, horrified to hear a soft quaver in her voice. She bowed her head, hoping that he couldn't see her face in the shadows of the alley. She was embarrassed, feeling this way.
But as much as she tried to hide it, the pain in her tone must have been evident, because Mister Bug laid his other hand on her shoulder to give it a reassuring squeeze.
"Marinette…" he breathed softly. "It's… okay."
She shook her head, pushing his hands away and crossing her arms, hugging herself. "It's not okay..." Her own voice sounded broken now, and she hated herself for it. "I should be happy… I want to be happy, and I am… but I just… I don't know how I can let go of my feelings for… for A-Adrien…" She tried to stay quiet, aware of the fact that they were still in hiding from an enemy, but her voice bounced around the surrounding bricks before she could control her tone. "A-and it's so much to process in so little time and I…" She lifted her head to peer into the familiar green eyes of her partner. The mask was different, but behind that crimson red mesh and black spots, he was still her chaton. "I'm sorry, Chat Noir… I'm so sorry…"
It was stupid. Childish. Something that she shouldn't even have been concerned about. She had to have her head in the game. There was still a villain loose in the city and probably looking for her. Her friends were out there and fighting against Foresight for her sake.
But she couldn't help the hollow feeling that threatened to pull her into that inescapable pit of despair.
She felt warm tears roll down her cheeks, adding more shame to her grief. To be crying like a child in front of an adult—her future husband, no less! Over a boy that she wasn't going to marry!
"I-I'm sorry," Marinette sobbed, wiping at her cheeks and sniffing gently, trying to pull herself together. "T-this is ridiculous, I shouldn't be—"
Her words caught in her throat when Mister Bug stepped forward and wrapped his arms around her.
She froze up at first, not expecting to receive any kind of comfort. She was crying, yes, but she was crying over a lost love. She was upset because the man in front of her was confirmation that she couldn't be with the boy she held in her heart.
But it was kind and reassuring, giving her that encouraging warmth that often exuded from her partner when he was being supportive.
"It's okay," he whispered, the words radiating through her like the vibration of a purr. "You don't need to apologize. I understand."
"That doesn't excuse—" she started, but he quickly cut her off when his voice growled in her ears.
"Yes it does! You shouldn't have to go through any of this!" He suddenly straightened up, planting his hands firmly on her shoulders. His tight expression was fierce, but it wasn't an anger directed at her. "What's the point of all this? Alix said you were going to forget anyway and… And—DAMNIT! Spots off!"
She wasn't prepared. Marinette's heart puttered in her chest like a revving chainsaw when the pink glow lit up in her vision. "W-wait!" Those were the only words she could get out as she tried to spin away. "I'm not… I-it's…" She squeezed her eyes shut and covered her face, plunging her view into darkness.
But she had already caught sight of evidence too damning to ignore.
A flash of blonde hair.
A radiant, yet apologetic smile.
And polished, silver studded earrings...
Marinette felt his hands squeeze her shoulders gently. "It's okay, Marinette," his gentle tone reassured her.
"It can't be..." Marinette whispered in shocked awe. At his quiet chuckle, she pulled her hands away and opened her eyes. Her gaze slowly moved up to meet the man she knew as a boy. The boy she held in her heart.
"A-Adrien?"
He flashed her that award-winning smile… Only it wasn't simply the patented grin that he donned for the magazines and the crowds of adoring fans. It was a smile for her, with all the warmth and care reflected in a gaze that she had seen him give his own wife.
His wife.
His wife!
THAT'S—!?
Adrien's expression was apologetic as he sheepishly waved. "Hey, Marinette."
"Adrien!?" Marinette couldn't help how her voice turned into a terribly shrill squeak. She didn't move a muscle, hands frozen in front of her face as she peeked out between her fingers while her brain tried to process what—who she was looking at.
"Marinette."
Marinette lifted her eyes to find Tikki floating between them. "Are you okay? We didn't mean to upset you."
Marinette blinked a few times, still taking a moment to process what she was seeing. Even though she knew what was going on, her gaze quickly zipped down to her purse, where her own Tikki peered up with a half finished cookie in her paws and a nervous smile on her face.
"No! I mean, yes!" Marinette swung her arms up in front of her, waving them wildly. "Yes… not it's…" Her eyes moved back to Adrien, her face starting to feel warm. "Not you. I mean... It is you—but not you."
Adrien let out a relieved sounding chuckle and lifted his hand up to rub at the back of his neck. "Yeah. I'm me."
Marinette's heart continued to race. In fact, it felt as if it were picking up even more speed than ever. Because she had finally managed to come to a conclusion. She finally understood what it all meant.
Her partner was the boy that constantly flirted with her.
The boy who had confessed his love for her.
The boy that she had rejected because she was in love with that. Same. Boy.
Then something else clicked in her brain.
"You… You didn't marry Kagami?" Marinette's soft voice was barely above a whisper.
"I didn't marry Kagami." Adrien nodded, an amused looking smile pulling at the corner of his mouth.
"A-and… The girl you're in love with…" If it were even possible, her voice seemed to pitch higher. "The one who doesn't like your jokes…?"
"Who else do I spend enough time with to grace with so many puns, my lady?" Adrien tilted his body forward in a bow, seemingly trying—and failing—to hide the devious grin on his face. Somehow, her pulse shot up into an even higher gear.
And then every feeling in Marinette seemed to crash all at once. The only sound she could make was a lengthy, drawn-out groan as she dropped her head against her palms. "We've been right in front of each other!" she eventually exclaimed, though her words were muffled behind her hands.
"How a-paw-ling that we didn't even know it," Adrien added without any hesitation.
"A-Adrien…" Marinette felt the strain in her throat as she tried to control her tone, managing only a breathless squeak. It wasn't as if she disliked his puns. In certain situations and with just the right timing, they were even somewhat brilliant—something that she would never, ever admit to him—but at the rate he often fired them out on a single patrol, Marinette quickly grew weary of them.
But it wasn't something she was used to with Adrien. She knew his identity now, but it still caught her off guard. She was on the verge of laughing in the same instance she felt like she just wanted to cry. "Please don't…" her voice eventually croaked out, stifling a noise that could have passed as a choked back laugh.
Whatever Adrien might have had to say about that, a sudden shout from above interrupted any further conversation. A loud and obnoxious, "Kaa-kaw!" echoed down from the rooftops.
Adrien cleared his throat while his Tikki tried to stifle a giggle. "That would be Nino's 'safe' signal," he explained.
"Ah…" Marinette squeaked out and simply nodded, not really knowing what more to say while Adrien cupped his hands around his mouth and tilted his head back.
"All clear!" he shouted. There was a brief pause of quiet before Nino and Alya, still transformed, dropped down into the alley beside them.
"That akuma is really starting to get on my nerves!" Alya made a show of brushing something off her shoulder before her gaze turned toward Adrien. Then she froze, stiffening up and staring at the two of them like a deer caught in headlights. Her surprised gaze flicked between Marinette and Adrien a few times before her face contorted into disbelief. "Are you kidding me!?" she suddenly raged.
"Ooh boy." Nino scratched his hood. "Uh, guess the cat's out of the bag? Or the bug's out of the box?"
"Nino," Alya growled, her fingers pressing against her forehead. "Don't. Even."
"Sorry," Adrien quickly apologized. "Things got a little crazy." He then pointed up to the rooftops and asked, "What happened with Foresight?"
"Don't think you can just change the subject!" Alya stomped forward and jabbed a finger against Adrien's chest. "Alix said your past selves needed to meet! Explain, Mister!"
"Uh…" Adrien's grin faltered and he glanced back at Marinette, a pleading look in his eye. "Things happened… Right, Marinette?"
"Uhm…" Marinette glanced at Alya and practically felt the heat radiating from her furious expression. She took in a sharp breath and tried not to wilt beneath her friend's stern glare. "R-right! It wasn't exactly under our control," she managed to stammer, pretty sure her empty excuse wasn't going to cut it.
Alya's gaze bored into them for at least a good minute before she sighed out a, "Fine, whatever," and crossed her arms over her chest. "I'm still disappointed, but this isn't the time for that, because Foresight's ducked out—again. Looks like the energy she stole from Marinette gave her another boost."
Nino agreed with a nod of his head. "She popped back into her portal like Alix does with her Burrow. With all that energy, she was even too fast for me."
"Are you sure, babe?" Alya snickered. "Maybe you're just getting old."
Nino looked ready to make a retort, pointing a finger at her and puffing out his cheeks, but Alya's flute let out a shrill note that quickly interrupted him. Retrieving her instrument from where she had it stowed at her back, Alya brought it forward to flick open the small screen.
"I didn't expect you guys to be active out there." Alix's voice transmitted clearly from the device. "Did something happen?" she asked.
"What? Our local time-historian doesn't know what's going on?" Alya answered in a dry sounding tone. "Shocker."
"Give me a break," Alix groaned. "I've been through multiple Second Chances and at least a dozen time-line jumps this week already. Even the best would get a little lost keeping track of it all!"
"Speaking of Second Chances," Alya pointed out with a glance at Marinette. "Mini Bug's noticed Viperion's activity. Got any intel on the situation?"
"Figured she might notice that," Alix replied. "Alright, so Multimouse is fine. Everyone's safe and hunkered down at the base now, but both Ladybug and Mister Bug need to come here pronto."
Marinette exchanged a curious look with Adrien while he asked, "I thought you said everyone is safe?"
"I'll explain it all in more detail later!" Alix exclaimed sharply. "But for now, let's just say the two cats are causing chaos because of some balance issues, and I'm tired of cleaning up after them! So is Mini-Bug ready to meet our Kitten?"
Adrien looked away from the device with a sheepish grin, even though Alix couldn't see him. "That… probably won't be an issue."
There was a long, silent pause on the other end of the call.
"Wait…" Alix's voice eventually crackled back to life. "You didn't…?" Before anyone had a chance to explain, Alix started laughing. "You two really are a pair!"
"A pair?" Adrien asked, staring at Alya's communicator as if he might be able to read Alix's expression through it. "What's that mean?"
"Well, you can ask your wife what she did when you see her in person," Alix snickered cryptically in answer.
Adrien's expression widened in surprise, bordering a bit on concern. "Wait, what did she do?"
"Catch you guys when you get here!" Alix simply shouted.
"Alix, wait! What happened!?" Adrien yelped, but the call fell silent as Alix disconnected. "Alix!"
"I'm beginning to think she likes causing trouble," Alya grumbled as she stowed her flute away. "But I'd guess it isn't too bad considering she's being vague."
Adien huffed and messed up his own hair in what appeared to be frustration. "I guess we'll need to find out for ourselves then."