If you had asked Adrien six months ago where his life would be now, he would never have guessed he'd be this happy.
Adrien loved being Paon, and he felt Duusu loving him more too. His costume was way more comfortable now, and the original formal teal suit his father had him transform into was now a bodysuit, not unlike his Chat Noir design, of the same color. Purple and navy swirls covered it as well, to separate his look from those of Aspik and Viperion.
Adrien had kept the cape (he loved the way it floated when he jumped), but it was far looser and more casual. As for his hair, it was nearly completely turquoise blue with purple highlights, and tousled the same way Chat Noir's was.
His father hated it. It only made Adrien like it more.
Hawkmoth had long ago run out of things to train Adrien in, and, although Gabriel never officially gave it to him, Adrien kept the Peacock miraculous at all times. He transformed whenever he pleased, sometimes just to wander around and take pictures with fans. His sentimonsters were more polished, and he took care never to be the one to destroy them unless he lost control and it threatened a civilian, although instances like that were rare now.
His popularity was soaring, pun intended. Paon was rated Paris' most popular superhero, beating out Ladybug for the first time ever. He even came in second in the global competition, with a close vote to Eagle (formerly Sparrow). Citizens would often gather to cheer on sentimonsters, and public pressure on Ladybug to loan her miraculous to Paon was growing.
At first, Adrien felt bad for Ladybug. He had never meant to create so much animosity against her. He wanted them to be a team. It's just, at this point, this was her own fault. He was all over the news, he had repeatedly told her his motivations, and he had never put her or any civilians in danger. Yet she barely spoke to him. Battles had become boring, especially when only she wanted to fight.
He felt her hesitation though. That's one new extra power he got as Paon that he loved: reading emotions. Not only as Chat Noir did he know her well enough to recognize doubt, guilt, and grief, but he could physically feel the waves of it when he neared her.
Today, Ladybug had already defeated his sentimonster, although he cared more that she hadn't immediately taken off. There was something new this time. Sympathy, and was that a hint of attraction?
"You watched my interview, didn't you?"
"I may have," Ladybug said slowly, looking past Paon.
"Don't you get it now?" he asked excitedly. Paon bounded towards Ladybug, and while she looked slightly scared, she didn't move as he grabbed her hands. "You can help me!"
"That's not what I said." Ladybug pulled away and sat on the side of the roof. Paon matched the motion, still too close and staring too intensely for her liking. "You need to stop this. It's too much of a risk."
"What can I do to get you to trust me?" Paon let out, exasperated. All this time he had been worried about how to tell Ladybug. He had never guessed she'd be against helping Paris and the world. Against saving his mother.
She swallowed hard, avoiding eye contact, seemingly running through all the scenarios in her head. He felt her stress, and it hurt him. Hesitantly, he drifted his hand towards her cheek, bringing her to face him.
"You're the most incredible girl, Ladybug. You're brave, and kind, and I know you would do anything for the people of Paris." He paused, and her eyes flickered to his. He could feel her stilted breath, warming him on this cold Parisien night. "I promise you, we're the same, you and I. I would do anything for the people I love."
A beat passed. He couldn't help it. He had to blurt it out.
"I would do anything for you."
She recoiled slightly in shock, but didn't move his hand from her face or her leg pressed against his. He watched as her beautiful, bluebell eyes met his. He watched them soften, and she gave him the same glance he was used to back when he was Chat Noir.
"It doesn't work that way." She closed her eyes and shook her head. "It doesn't work that way," she repeated quietly.
Paon put an arm around her, and tilted her chin towards him.
"It can, though. It can."
He closed his eyes and leaned in to kiss her. He felt her lips get closer, anticipating their first kiss (that he'd remember, at least). He could sense the same in her. He could sense…
He tried reaching for the power again, and couldn't feel anything. He opened his eyes and jumped back, his costume gone and the peacock miraculous in Ladybug's hands.
"I'm sorry," she whispered, shaking.
"You tricked me!" Adrien yelled, full of fury and betrayal and disappointment. "You used my feelings for you to, what, force my identity out of me?"
Ladybug didn't move, still open-mouthed at the sight of him. Before she could react, Adrien snatched the peacock miraculous back, the pin scratching her hand in the process.
"I would have told you, you know. I would have given it to you, if you had just trusted me! Why do you always trust everyone except me? Why am I never allowed to be the one to make the call to save the world?" Adrien let all of it spill out. Months of frustration trying to convince her as Paon, not to mention her confirming his worst fears: that Chat Noir was completely unnecessary. She didn't care about Chat Noir being missing, and didn't even feel like she needed him to defeat Hawkmoth.
Ladybug had always been the one to make the final call. As Guardian, it made sense, but her being so against his plan made him really doubt what he fought for with her. He was never included in the long-term plan to defeat Hawkmoth, if there even was one. Maybe taking strange jewelry from a random old man without knowing who his partner truly was wasn't Adrien's smartest decision.
"Until we meet again, Ladybug," he seethed, transforming back into his superhero self.
If he hadn't decided before, this solidified Adrien's choice. He was doing this now, with Ladybug's help or not.