i decided to write a little continuation from the ask you sent me in the last ask game. it's not much but hope you enjoy!! (putting it under the cut because it's a teeeeny bit long)
***
Adrien had meant to be waiting for Lady Noire when she arrived. He'd wanted to greet her proud and tall, to reassure her he was very much fine, thanks for asking. He wanted her to know he was ready.
Instead, he hears her boots touch down as he's braced against his bathroom sink. Tension winds its way through him; he was already trembling, and now he can't stop. He can't relax.
"Adrien?" she calls out. Her voice is closer than he expected. And she's here, in the same house as his father. As Hawk Moth.
This is all Adrien's fault.
Footsteps approach, stopping in the doorway. There's a sharp intake of breath, and he knows it's too late to feign bravery. She's already seen him.
He tries to make his jaw work, to share some joke or witty line. But he can barely remain upright as she crosses the tile. He can see her reflection hesitate before she lays a gentle hand on his back.
She's here. He's not alone.
He can finally breathe.
"I don't want to do this," he chokes out. A hot tear slips down his cheek, but he barely has time to process that before she wipes it away.
"I know," she whispers, stroking his cheek. "I know."
And maybe she's not really his girlfriend, but when their eyes meet in the mirror it feels real, whatever passes between them. There's a sudden jolt--a thrill that grounds him to reality--and when her hand falls back to her side, her fingers brush against his. He grabs on before she can pull away.
Her eyes fall to their clasped hands, and a lovely pink dusts her cheeks. "W-we, um...we don't have to do this yet. There's no one watching us, so..."
"I know, my lady. But...I wanted to." He turns to face her for real; she's even more magnificent than her reflection. He smiles shyly. "Is that okay?"
She tightens her hold. "It's..." Her cat ears flatten. She bites her lip and glances away. "It's purrfect."
Warmth dances through Adrien's chest. Maybe things aren't so bad after all.
Because it's almost exam season and that I'm therefore majorly procrastinating, and my brain will not be satisfied with writing ongoing projects, I have decided to translate Heartbeats (just the original fic though, not the epilogue, I'm not that self-destructive), because why ever not?
It's loyal to the original text, with some slight sentence reworks for style and comprehension purposes, but you can read both side by side 😌
If you're interested in the concept, I am doing the same thing for the @miraculers-for-ukraine drive! I still have 3 slots open for translations (2 up to 1.5k words, one up to 3k, from English to French mais aussi de Français en Anglais si ça intéresse les Francophones); commissions are open until the 10th of May. There are also amazing writers, artists and content creators whose slots are still open!
Without further ado, here's D'Amour et d'ECG (which is a very lame attempt at punning on "d'amour et d'eau fraîche", or "love and fresh water", which is supposedly what lovers can live on). Bonne lecture!
---
D’amour et d’ECG
Bip – Bip – Bip – Bip –
Le son du scope dans l’obscurité de la chambre d’hôpital allait rendre Adrien fou. Le rythme lui semblait juste si lent, surtout comparé à celui, fébrile, que son pied battait sur le sol pendant qu’il attendait.
“Hé.” Alya posa une main qui se voulait rassurante sur sa cuisse. “Elle va s’en remettre.”
Adrien passa une main dans ses cheveux et observa le corps qui occupait le lit, au centre de la pièce. Alya ne pouvait pas vraiment comprendre sa nervosité. Certes, c’était sa meilleure amie qui se reposait là, après s’être retrouvée au cœur d’une bataille avec un Akuma. Mais elle ne savait pas comment.
Elle ne savait pas que c’était l’héroïne de Paris qu’ils regardaient respirer, ses mouvements faisant doucement s’élever, puis retomber les draps. Sa meilleure amie à lui, aussi. La fille de ses rêves. Lui-même ne l’avait pas su avant que la voiture ne s’écrase sur la cheminée derrière laquelle Ladybug s’était retranchée pour nourrir Tikki ; Chat Noir, lui, assurait la permanence, leur adversaire s’étant soustrait à leur premier Lucky Charm.
Il s’était précipité sur les gravats, et avait creusé frénétiquement pour trouver son amie : alors qu’il dégageait les briques pour en libérer son corps, il avait à peine percuté que c’était Marinette qu’il tenait dans ses bras. La seule chose qu’il avait vue était son t-shirt rose trempé de sang. La seule chose qu’il avait sentie était son pouls filant.
Il avait foncé à l’hôpital avec elle dans les bras, ignorant l’Akuma lui intimant de revenir se battre.
Elle avait été envoyée au bloc dès son arrivée, les médecins étant soucieux des potentielles lésions internes causées par ses côtes cassées. Chat Noir avait juste eu le temps de récupérer ses boucles d’oreilles pour éviter qu’elles ne soient perdues.
Il s’était alors mis en route pour botter les fesses de l’Akuma, nourri par une rage contre celui qui avait blessé sa Lady. Ce n’était qu’après avoir purifié le papillon, et que tout était apparemment revenu dans l’ordre, qu’il s’était rendu compte qu’il avait pleuré.
En se détransformant, deux Kwami inquiets flottant devant lui, il avait été soulagé de voir un message d’Alya dans le groupe de leur classe, disant que l’état de Marinette s’était stabilisé, mais qu’elle ne s’était cependant pas encore réveillée après l’opération. Il s’était immédiatement porté volontaire pour les accompagner, elle et Nino, rendre visite à leur amie.
Il lui jeta un autre regard furtif. Elle avait l’air si paisible. Indemne.
Il savait bien sûr que la majorité de ses blessures étaient dissimulées sous les draps.
Le scope continua de biper incessamment. Adrien savait que son silence serait loin d’être une bonne chose, mais il ne pouvait pas s’empêcher d’être agacé. Surtout que le son se superposait à celui des autres chambres, ainsi qu’à celui de l’animation du service de Réa.
“Tu penserais qu’elle se serait déjà réveillée,” il marmonna.
“Relax, mon pote. Les docs ont dit qu’elle était encore sous anesthésie. Elle se réveillera bientôt !” Nino jeta un bras autour des épaules de son ami. Adrien émit un grognement dubitatif en réponse.
“J’suis plus surpris qu’on ait pas encore vu Chat Noir,” ajouta Nino. “Apparemment c’est lui qui l’a amenée. C’est un mec cool.”
Alya acquiesça. “Vraiment.”
Les mots de ses amis réchauffèrent le coeur d’Adrien. Il dû cependant retenir un rire ironique en entendant le reste du commentaire d’Alya :
“Je comprends toujours pas c’que Marinette faisait là. C’est pas son genre de traîner autour des Akumas. Normalement c’est plutôt mon job.”
“C’est bientôt ton anniv’, Al, peut être qu’elle essayait de te récupérer un message surprise de la part de Ladybug,” Nino haussa les épaules.
Pendant que le couple se chamaillait à propos de si ça ressemblait à Marinette de s’être retrouvée au milieu d’une bataille, Adrien se leva pour éviter que son visage ne le trahisse. Marinette ne serait sûrement pas enchantée si elle se réveillait et découvrait que tous ses amis savaient qu’elle n’avait pas besoin de pourchasser Ladybug à travers tout Paris pour obtenir son autographe, ou quoi que ce soit d’autre. Il lui suffisait de prononcer trois petits mots pour la faire apparaître.
Il s’approcha de l’écran du scope, et lu les constantes vitales de son amie. Il ne s’y connaissait pas très bien en médecine, mais aucun des chiffres ne clignotaient, ce qui devait être un bon signe. L’électrocardiogramme avait une trace régulière, qui ressemblait à celles qu’on pouvait voir à la TV. Il nota mentalement les valeurs.
On frappa à la porte, et une infirmière entra dans la chambre.
“Les parents de Marinette sont de retour, je suis désolée mais c’est trois visiteurs maximum à la fois… et la famille est prioritaire,” elle dit, presque timidement.
“Bien sûr !” Alya répondit avec un sourire. “On va y aller.”
Les yeux d’Adrien restaient rivés sur le scope, elle fit donc le tour du lit et le prit par la main pour le traîner doucement hors de la chambre. Elle réprima un sourire. Pour quelqu’un qui insistait que Marinette n’était “qu’une amie”, il semblait très inquiet pour elle.
Tom et Sabine attendaient dans le couloir. Adrien n’avait jamais vu Tom aussi secoué. Il avait clairement pleuré.
“Merci beaucoup d’être venus,” dit Sabine avec un sourire à moitié assuré. “Je suis désolée qu’on ait dû partir, mais on n’avait pas complètement fermé la boulangerie dans la panique.”
“Tout pour Marinette,” Alya embrassa la mère de son amie. “Vous nous tenez au courant? Et n’hésitez pas à m’appeler si vous avez besoin d’une pause, je suis sûre qu’on trouvera du monde pour lui tenir compagnie.”
Elle n’avait pas besoin de se retourner pour savoir que les deux garçons acquiescaient derrière elle.
“Bien sûr.”
Les trois ados saluèrent Tom et Sabine avant de s’avancer vers la sortie. Alors qu’ils venaient d’entrer dans la chambre, Adrien mit ses mains dans ses poches, et sentit les deux boucles d’oreilles qu’il avait empruntées.
“J’ai oublié un truc dans la chambre, je reviens tout de suite !” il dit rapidement en revenant sur ses pas.
Il les aurait gardés en sécurité pour elle, mais il savait que sa Lady paniquerait probablement si elle se réveillait et ne les trouvait pas à ses côtés.
Nino et Alya se regardèrent avec un air confus, et haussèrent les épaules.
Quand il fut sûr que personne n’était en vue, Adrien se transforma. Ce n’était pas l’endroit le plus discret, mais il ne savait pas vraiment comment justifier qu’Adrien ait les boucles d’oreilles de Marinette.
Il frappa à la porte de la chambre avant de l’ouvrir. Tom et Sabine étaient assis de part et d’autre du lit, tenant chacun une des mains de Marinette.
“Bonjour, Chat Noir,” dit Sabine en essuyant une larme.
Tom se leva et le serra dans ses bras d’ours.
“Merci,” il sanglota.
Chat Noir tapota son dos maladroitement.
“Tout pour Marinette,” il répéta les mots d’Alya. Y compris mourir pour elle. La simple pensée l’effraya.
“Comment va-t-elle ?” il demanda en s’écartant du grand homme, même s’il connaissait déjà la réponse.
“Elle va s’en remettre,” répondit Sabine. “Les médecins ont réparé ce qu’ils pouvaient, le reste guérira naturellement. Ca va être très douloureux pour elle, c’est pour ça qu’ils la gardent ici, mais ils ont commencé à réduire la sédation pour qu’elle puisse dire aux infirmières quand ça lui fait mal.”
“Je suis sûr qu’on sera tous soulagés quand elle se réveillera,” Chat Noir acquiesça.
“Est-ce qu’il y a un moyen de vous joindre pour vous donner des nouvelles ?” Sabine demanda, de l’espoir dans la voix.
“J’aimerais vraiment vous donner mes coordonnées, mais je ne suis pas sûr que ça serait une bonne idée.” Il sourit tristement. “Mais ne vous inquiétez pas, je serai pas loin.”
“C’est bon à savoir.”
“Bref, je ne veux pas vous embêter plus longtemps alors que vous êtes en famille, je voulais juste m’assurer que Marinette récupérerait bien ceci.” Il déposa délicatement les boucles d’oreilles dans la main de Sabine.
“Ses boucles d’oreilles porte-bonheur,” elle sourit. “Merci.”
“Elles n’ont pas vraiment porté bonheur cette fois-ci,” il répondit d’un ton maussade.
“Bien sûr que si ! Vous l’avez trouvée.” Sabine serra la main de Chat Noir. “Et l’opération s’est bien passée.”
“On vous en est vraiment reconnaissant, fiston,” Tom dit en lui donnant une petite tape dans le dos.
Chat Noir se sentit ému ; son coeur battit un peu plus vite.
“Je ne faisais que mon devoir.”
“Mais ça a fait une différence. Et ça, ça compte.”
Chat Noir aurait aimé que son père lui montre parfois au moins un quart du soutient que Tom et Sabine lui portaient à présent. Ca lui aurait éviter d’avoir les larmes aux yeux dans des moments comme celui-là.
“Vous lui direz que je suis passé ?” Il renifla.
“Bien sûr !” Sabine fouilla dans son sac et en tira un mouchoir, qu’il accepta avec gratitude, et du papier et un stylo. “Vous pouvez lui laisser un message aussi, elle sera ravie d’avoir de vos nouvelles.”
“Merci.”
Il gribouilla un petit quelque chose sur la page, conscient qu’il devait vraiment partir avant que Nino et Alya ne s’inquiètent de son absence.
Remets-toi bien, Princesse. Je t’attendrai. Bisous, Chat Noir. P.S.: Je reviendrais peut-être pour emprunter ces boucles d’oreilles si j’ai besoin d’un peu de chance.
“T’en as pris, du temps !” Alya l’accosta, mains sur les hanches, quand il sortit enfin de l’hôpital.
“T’as trouvé ce que tu cherchais ?” Nino demanda, remarquant les yeux rouges de son ami, mais ne voulant pas les commenter directement.
“Je crois que oui.” Adrien sourit courageusement.
Ma Lady, en tous cas.
—
“Salut ma belle !” Alya dit d’un ton enjoué, ouvrant la marche.
Depuis leur dernière visite, la patiente s’était réveillée, et elle était maintenant assise confortablement dans son lit. Adrien trouva qu’elle avait l’air un peu pâle et fatiguée, mais un sourire illumina son visage quand ils entrèrent. Il remarqua que son rythme cardiaque accéléra brièvement quand il entra derrière Nino. Rien d’incroyable, mais il en prit quand même note.
“Je suis tellement contente que tu te sois réveillée.” Alya embrassa sa copine doucement, en faisant attention aux câbles qui la branchaient aux diverses machines autour d’eux.
“Merci d’être venus, les amis,” dit Marinette, sa voix encore un peu enrouée, pendant qu’ils approchèrent des chaises.
“Tu rigoles ! C’est pas parce que t’as trouvé une excuse pour échapper au collège que t’as le droit d’échapper à nos bêtises,” dit Nino en sortant une clé USB. “J’ai tout enregistré pour que tu puisses suivre les cours d’ici. En revanche, faudra que tu fasses sans les commentaires en live, Mlle Bustier n’a pas vraiment apprécié mes descriptions de tout le monde pendant qu’elle parlait.”
Il lui tendit la clé, qu’elle prit avec un sourire.
“Et elle a refusé que je filme, alors que tu sais que mes angles sont tops !” Alya secoua la tête.
“C’est dommage, t’aurais vu à quel point tu manques à tout le monde,” ajouta Adrien. Surtout à moi ; comment je suis censé faire sans ma Ladybug du quotidien derrière moi ?
“Même à Chloé ?” Marinette haussa un sourcil dubitatif.
“Je crois que oui, il rit. Elle fait trop de commentaires sur ton absence pour que ça soit un soulagement pour elle.”
Marinette était sur le point de répondre, son regard plein espièglerie, quand Alya l’interrompit :
“Mais bref, raconte-nous tout ! Qu’est-ce qui t’es arrivé ?”
Les yeux de son amie s'écarquillèrent avant de se voiler brièvement. Elle n’avait clairement pas prévu de se faire interroger aujourd’hui. Adrien pouvait voir ses méninges se remuer à la recherche d’une excuse pour sa présence près de la scène, qui l’avait menée à l’hôpital. Il décida d’intervenir pour l’aider.
“Chat Noir m’a dit qu’il t’avait trouvée dans la rue, sous une voiture,” il mentit à moitié. Après tout, elle avait juste été un peu plus en hauteur.
“Quand est-ce que t’as vu Chat Noir, toi ?” Alya le regarda curieusement.
Adrien vit que Marinette avait l’air soulagée que l’attention ne soit plus sur elle. Elle articula un merci silencieux quand leurs regards se croisèrent, ses joues rougissant légèrement. Il hocha la tête.
“Hier soir. J’ai remarqué qu’il patrouillait près de chez moi, et il s’est arrêté pour discuter un peu. Il te souhaite un bon rétablissement.”
“Je sais.” Marinette jeta un coup d'œil au bout de papier sur sa table de nuit. “Il est passé quand j’étais encore sédatée, il a dit la même chose à mes parents.”
“Alors comme ça, Chat Noir rend visite à tout le monde, et personne ne m’tient au courant ? Vous êtes vraiment des supers potes.” Alya simula sa désapprobation, son sourire en coin trahissant ses vrais sentiments. “Et il a dit quelque chose à propos de Ladybug ? Ça fait un petit moment que personne ne l’a vu… Tu sais qu’apparemment c’est Chat Noir qui a fini “ta” bataille, d’ailleurs.”
Marinette se figea à nouveau, mais Adrien avait anticipé la question. Même si le Ladyblog commençait à parler un peu plus des autres héros, il restait concentré sur l’héroïne à pois. Dont l’absence se faisait déjà remarquer, même si Alya avait tendance à toujours avoir trois coups d’avance sur les autres quand on en venait à Ladybug.
“Elle est en déplacement en ce moment. Des histoires de famille, apparemment.” Il haussa les épaules.
Marinette bénit Chat Noir mentalement pour avoir pensé à la couvrir. Elle espéra qu’il se dépêcherait de repasser pour qu’il puisse avoir une petite discussion ; c’était d’ailleurs étrange qu’il ne l’ait pas déjà fait. Elle voulait évidemment le remercier pour tout ce qu’il avait fait (rien que d’y penser lui faisait monter les larmes aux yeux), mais il fallait également qu’ils parlent identité. Et c’était sans compter que lui parler lui manquait.
“Il t’a dit quand est-ce qu’il me rendrait visite ?” elle demanda à Adrien, son sourire plein d’espoir faisant momentanément s’arrêter son coeur.
“Il est assez occupé en ce moment, vu qu’il a des responsabilités en plus, mais il fait au mieux pour libérer du temps.”
Marinette joua avec le bord de son drap, fronçant les sourcils. Elle ne voulait surtout pas surcharger son coéquipier.
“Mais il se plaint pas, hein. Il est content que sa Lady prenne le temps qu’il faut pour régler ses problèmes. Confortablement,” il ajouta rapidement, comme s’il avait lu dans ses pensées.
“Okay.” Elle se redressa un peu dans son lit, ses épaules se décontractant. “Bon, si l’un d’entre vous le revoit avant moi, rappelez-lui de ne pas m’oublier.”
Comment pourrais-je ? pensa Adrien.
—
Marinette ouvrit un œil ensommeillé, un rayon de soleil entêté se frayant un passage sous ses paupières. Au vu de son angle, elle calcula qu’elle devait avoir dormi deux bonnes heures. Ce qui signifiait qu’il lui en restait une avant que les infirmières viennent faire le prochain tour de ses constantes. Elle savait que c’était la procédure et que tout était normal, mais elle avait hâte de pouvoir dormir à nouveau une nuit entière sans être réveillée toutes les quatre heures.
Peut être qu’alors elle pourrait faire quelque chose de ses journées.
Elle se retourna aussi loin que ses câbles la laissaient – le drain à sa gauche était le facteur limitant, puisqu’il lui faisait mal quand il était trop tendu – et referma les yeux.
Elle était sur le point de se rendormir quand elle entendit qu’on frappait doucement à sa porte. Elle grogna intérieurement. Pas grave, elle se réveillerait complètement si c’était vraiment nécessaire. Elle entendit des voix dehors, et la porte s’ouvrit. Elle entrouvrit un œil lorsqu’une personne entra, s’attendant à voir une infirmière venue vérifier les nombreuses seringues injectant des produits divers dans ses veines.
A la place, c’est Adrien qu’elle vit.
Seul.
Elle ferma les yeux aussi fort que possible et fit semblant d’être endormie, son cerveau en ébullition, son cœur battant à tout rompre. Qu’est-ce qui se passait ? Pourquoi les autres n’étaient-ils pas avec lui, comme d’habitude ? Elle avait reçu des visites de plusieurs combinaisons de ses camarades dans la dernière semaine, la seule à être venue toute seule étant Alya. Depuis quand Adrien venait-il seul aussi ? Est-ce qu’il voulait lui parler ? Si oui, de quoi ? Et qu’est-ce qu’elle allait bien pouvoir lui dire ?...
Pendant que Marinette paniquait silencieusement, Adrien s’arrêta dans son élan, et se demanda s’il devait rester, ou se retrancher. Le plan avait été d’aller voir Marinette avec Alya et Nino, comme d’habitude, mais les deux avaient été réquisitionnés autre part à la dernière minute. Adrien s’était dit que ce serait une super idée d’annuler la visite complètement, officiellement, et de venir en temps que Chat Noir, puisqu’il devait toujours une visite à Marinette. Alya avait cependant insisté pour qu’il y aille quand même. S’il n’y avait eu aucune chance qu’elle en parle à Marinette plus tard, il aurait suivi son plan, mais puisqu’apparemment Marinette allait être ravie de le voir, il avait décidé de suivre les conseils d’Alya.
Il ne voulait vraiment pas perturber son sommeil, mais ça faisait trop longtemps qu’il n’avait pas passé un peu de temps avec sa Lady. Il ferma délicatement la porte derrière lui et prit une chaise, faisant silencieusement le tour du lit pour la poser de l’autre côté.
Marinette faillit sursauter quand elle sentit Adrien prendre sa main et la tenir dans la sienne.
Il n’osa pas même lui murmurer ses pensées. Il pouvait voir ses cernes, elle avait clairement besoin de récupérer tout le sommeil qu’elle pouvait. Il caressa doucement le dos de sa main, lui envoyant mentalement tous ses meilleurs vœux. Ce n’était pas difficile d’avoir des pensées positives quand il la regardait. Allongée sur le dos, ses cheveux lâchés formant une couronne autour de son visage, elle était l’image même de la beauté et de la paix.
Il jeta un œil au scope. Les valeurs lui semblaient correctes ; il s’était renseigné sur les normes depuis sa première visite, et avait demandé aux infirmières si elles pouvaient être modifiées par l’opération, et comment. Tout était dans le bon intervalle, même si sa fréquence cardiaque semblait un peu haute. Elle était passée de 70 quand il était entré à presque 80. Bizarre.
Tous deux restèrent silencieux, Marinette essayant de se chauffer à parler à Adrien, mais en même temps appréciant le fait de juste lui tenir la main, et craignant qu’il ne la lâche si elle ouvrait les yeux. Quand elle trouva enfin le courage de bouger un peu, la porte s’ouvrit, et une infirmière entra. Elle n’entendit pas ce qu’elle chuchota à Adrien, mais elle sentit quand il souleva sa main.
Il déposa un baiser délicat sur le dos de sa main puis la lâcha. Ses pas s’éloignèrent, et Marinette ne sut soudainement plus si elle avait rêvé ou non.
—
“Hé, les amis ?” Adrien demanda alors qu’Alya, Nino et lui se baladaient le long du Canal St Martin après une autre visite à Marinette.
Cela faisait déjà trois semaines qu’elle avait été transférée dans le service de Réanimation de l’hôpital, et son état s’était considérablement amélioré. Adrien avait fait une blague (très nulle, même pour lui), mais Marinette avait éclaté de rire. Ça avait été un son plein de vitalité, le plus agréable qu’il ait entendu depuis longtemps. Son coeur en avait frétillé de bonheur.
“Ouais ?” Nino répondit, volant un peu de la glace d’Alya.
“Hé !” la jeune fille protesta, tendant son bras pour éloigner sa glace de son petit ami. “Si t’en voulais, t’avais qu’à en prendre une aussi !”
“Mais c’est une des glaces d’André ! Elles sont clairement faites pour être partagées, elles sont servies avec deux cuillères !” Nino bouda.
Adrien rit doucement à leur dispute. Ils se chamaillaient vraiment comme un vieux couple (ce qu’il supposa qu’ils étaient, suivant les critères du lycée). Alya finit par venir se placer à sa gauche, le plaçant entre elle et son voleur de glaces.
“Bref, tu disais ?” Elle lança un dernier regard accusateur à Nino avant de porter son attention sur Adrien.
“Euh, oui. Je me demandais, est-ce que vous avez remarqué que la fréquence cardiaque de Marinette augmente quand on va la voir ?”
“Hmm, pas vraiment.” Elle secoua la tête. “J’ai tendance à essayer d’oublier les machines.”
“Mais il a raison,” dit Nino en sortant son téléphone. “J’ai tout noté.”
“Vraiment ?!” Adrien et Alya se tournèrent vers lui avec étonnement.
“Ça avait l’air d’inquiéter Adrien, du coup je me suis dit que ça l’aiderait de voir que c’était rien de sérieux.” Il haussa les épaules et ouvrit un document Excel. “Et c’est bien le cas, d’ailleurs.”
“J’arrive pas à croire que t’as même fait un graphique avec les valeurs,” dit Alya en regardant le petit écran. Qui aurait cru que son petit copain pouvait être si organisé ?
“J’avais un peu de temps libre.” Il haussa les épaules.
“Vous voyez ?” Adrien montra les valeurs. “Sa fréquence cardiaque est à 70 quand on lui rend visite, sauf que je suis sûr à 100% qu’elle n’est qu’à 60 quand on arrive.”
“Et c’est aussi le cas là, là, et là,” releva Alya, montrant des points sur l’écran.
Adrien regarda attentivement ces dates et leurs horaires. Elles tombaient pendant ses cours d’escrime.
“J’étais pas là ces jours là," dit-il.
Alya et Nino se regardèrent.
“Mais je vous promets que ça fait ça à chaque fois que je vais la voir tout seul. Ça monte même parfois plus haut.”
Alya examina son air pensif pendant qu’ils continuaient de marcher. Elle voulait tellement sortir son téléphone pour filmer le moment exact où cet enfant insouciant qu’elle appelait son ami se rendrait compte du fait le plus évident de l’histoire des faits : que Marinette l’aimait.
Il resta toutefois silencieux, ses sourcils froncés.
“Tu crois que ça veut dire quoi ?” Elle le sonda.
“Je… Je n’sais pas, justement.” Il passa une main dans ses cheveux. “J’imagine que ça veut dire que Marinette est contente de… me voir ?”
Il sentit son visage rougir à l’idée, et son pouls s’accéléra. Alya tapota son épaule de manière encourageante. Adrien secoua la tête.
“Mais pourtant elle devrait être toute aussi contente de vous voir vous, aussi, non ? Je veux dire… On est tous ses amis.”
Nino résista la tentation de se taper le front.
“Je sais pas, mon pote,” dit-il avec précaution. “Genre, oui, je suis d’accord qu’on est tous amis, mais t’as pas des amis que tu es peut être plus content de voir que d’autres ? A qui tu penses plus souvent ?”
Adrien y réfléchit. Son premier instinct aurait été de dire qu’il était plus heureux de voir Nino, Alya et Marinette que ses autres amis. Mais toutes choses considérées, c’était vrai qu’il pensait beaucoup plus à Marinette qu’à son couple d’amis ici présent. A chaque fois que quelque chose ne serait-ce qu’un tout petit peu intéressant arrivait (ce qui était très fréquent, d’après lui), il le notait mentalement pour lui dire plus tard. Il avait aussi décidé de lui faire une mixtape après avoir entendu quelques chansons qui lui faisaient penser à elle, mais il s’était vite dit que le projet était peut être un peu ambitieux, lorsqu’il s’était rendu compte que toutes les chansons qu’il écoutait semblait avoir cet effet.
Mais, après tout, Marinette était son amie, mais aussi bien plus. Ils étaient coéquipiers. Liés par le destin, et peut être quelque chose de plus. Il ne pouvait pas s’arrêter de penser à elle, et, maintenant qu’il y réfléchissait, sa fréquence cardiaque s’élevait quand c’était le cas. Mais encore une fois, il fallait s’y attendre puisqu'il était amoureux d’elle.
Il s’arrêta net.
“Vous pensez que… Marinette pourrait être amoureuse de moi ?” Un sourire béat étira ses lèvres, un sourire qu’il n’aurait pas pu retenir même s’il avait essayé.
“Je pense que tu devrais peut-être lui en parler,” Alya répondit avec un sourire en coin alors qu’ils reprirent leur chemin, checkant la main de Nino discrètement derrière le dos d’Adrien.
Leur ship était enfin en train de quitter le port.
—
Adrien attendit nerveusement, sa main hésitant au-dessus de la poignée de la porte. Il voulait tellement l’ouvrir, mais il avait l’impression qu’il pourrait s’évanouir d’émotion s’il faisait face à Marinette.
Il respira profondément. Tu es Chat Noir, il se rappela à lui-même, même s’il avait décidé de ne pas revêtir le costume aujourd’hui. Depuis quand tu repousses tes déclarations d’amour à Ladybug ?
Il sauta le pas, frappant à la porte avant d’entrer. Marinette lui offrit un sourire étincelant quand il entra dans son champ de vision.
“Salut, toi,” elle souffla, ses yeux un poil vitreux. Elle n’avait pas la même voix que d’habitude ; elle semblait beaucoup plus détendue. Plus, même, que Ladybug avec Chat Noir.
Une infirmière passa une tête dans la chambre.
“Oh, bonjour, M. Agreste. Juste pour vous dire, on lui a enlevé son drain tout à l’heure parce qu’elle n’en a plus besoin, mais on lui a donné des antalgiques assez puissants pour calmer la douleur. Elle va sans doute être un peu dans les vapes, du coup.
Adrien la remercia, et Marinette lui fit au revoir de la main.
“Hey.” Il s’assit à côté de son lit et prit sa main dans les siennes. Marinette regarda leurs mains emmêlées avec satisfaction. “Comment tu te sens ?”
“Bien mieux maintenant que t’es là.” Elle inclina sa tête curieusement, se noyant dans son regard.
“Heureux de l’entendre,” il rit.
“Tu sais que t’as les plus beaux yeux du monde ?” elle demanda d’un ton songeur.
“Ah ?” Le compliment fit rougir Adrien. Ce n’était pas exactement là où il aurait commencé la conversation, mais en même temps, ils semblaient aller dans la bonne direction.
“Absolument.” Elle hocha la tête vigoureusement, même si le mouvement était un peu chancelant. “Mais c’est pas que tes yeux. T’es la personne la plus belle que je connaisse, Adrien. T’es si beau que ça me fait mal.”
Elle grimaça, sa main s’échappant de celles d’Adrien pour toucher son nouveau pansement. Il la rattrapa avant qu’elle ne le fasse, sachant fort bien que le moindre effleurement risquait de lui faire mal.
C’était le mieux qu’il pouvait faire, tous les mots qu’il voulait lui dire s’étant envolés dès que les siens avaient quitté ses lèvres, remplacés par une bouche bée et un rougissement qui s’intensifiait. Il n’avait pas besoin de miroir pour savoir qu’il était probablement aussi rouge que le costume de Ladybug.
Marinette reporta son attention vers lui.
“Et t’es si gentil et intelligent, j’ai parfois du mal à croire que tu existe vraiment. Et je sais pas comment je pourrais vivre sans toi.” Elle caressa sa joue tendrement.
“Je pense pas que je pourrais vivre sans toi,” il réussit à dire d’une voix faible et rauque, ses mains serrant la sienne plus fort. Il se maudit d’être aussi tarte ; Plagg devait en avoir des nausées.
“Mais tu ne comprends pas.” Elle ferma les yeux et secoua la tête. “Je suis juste une amie pour toi.”
“Non !” Ses yeux s’écarquillèrent. “Non, Marinette. Tu es le soleil de ma vie, la raison pour laquelle je me lève tous les matins. Tu es ma Ladybug, mon porte-bonheur. Ou, tu es mon amie. Et j’espère que ça, ça ne changera jamais, parce que je pense pas que je pourrais aimer quelqu’un avec qui je ne peux pas faire des blagues, ou avec qui je ne peux pas parler de tout et n’importe quoi. J’ai la chance que cette personne soit aussi celle qui me fait fondre juste en vivant sa vie et en ne se laissant pas marcher sur les pieds. La personne qui ne me laisse jamais tomber, même du haut de la foutue Tour Montparnasse. Pour qui je laisserait Paris être détruit si ça veut dire que je ne la perd pas, elle. Et cette personne c’est toi, Buguinette.”
Le fait qu’il avait utilisé le surnom de Ladybug passa complètement au-dessus de la tête de Marinette.
“Tu m’aimes ?”
Adrien remarqua que le motif tracé par la ligne verte sur l’écran à côté d’elle se répétait à une vitesse presque hypnotisante.
“Plus que je ne saurais dire.” Il se pencha vers elle, posant sa main sur son torse pour qu’elle puisse sentir la vitesse à laquelle battait son coeur.
“Tu veux sortir avec moi ?” elle lâcha d’un sourire béat, ses joues rosissant.
“Je n’attendais que ton feu vert, Princesse.” Il embrassa sa main.
Les paupières de Marinette papillonnèrent avant de fermer, son sourire toujours figé sur ses lèvres ; elles ne se rouvrirent pas malgré les efforts d’Adrien pour la réveiller. Il appela les infirmières, paniqué à l’idée que quelque chose lui soit arrivé, mais après quelques examens, elles conclurent que les antalgiques l’avaient juste assommée, et qu’il n’y avait pas de quoi s’alarmer. Il n’arrivait pas à croire que ça arrive à un aussi mauvais moment. Il abandonna sa rancune de mauvaise grâce lorsque les infirmières lui assurèrent que Marinette se souviendrait de leur conversation à son réveil.
Adrien ne voulut pas prendre de risques, cependant.
Quand Marinette rouvrit les yeux, elle fut accueillie par un grand bouquet de roses rouges posé au pied de son lit, et le souvenir confus d’avoir invité Adrien à sortir, même s’il l’avait appelée Buguinette et Princesse, et donc que dans son coaltar médicamenteux, elle l’avait donc peut-être confondu avec Chat Noir. Ça expliquerait les roses rouges.
Elle se massa les tempes, réfléchissant à comment revenir sur ses mots sans briser le coeur de Chat Noir si c’était bien à lui qu’elle les avait dits, et tendit la main pour attraper le verre d’eau qu’elle savait posé sur sa table de nuit. Dans son mouvement, elle fit tomber une petite carte, qu’elle rattrapa avant qu’elle ne puisse atteindre le sol.
Elle la regarda avec curiosité. C’était une de ces cartes ringardes qu’on peut acheter dans les boutiques d’hôpitaux, avec beaucoup de coeurs et un mauvais jeu de mots. Ouaip. Ça ne faisait aucun doute, ça venait de son Chaton. Son cœur se serra dans sa poitrine.
En ouvrant la carte, toutefois, elle se rendit compte que tout n’était peut-être pas si catastrophique que ça.
L’accélération soudaine de sa fréquence cardiaque alerta les infirmières, cette fois-ci. Mais alors qu’elles se précipitèrent dans sa chambre, s’attendant au pire, elles ne trouvèrent qu’une adolescente surexcitée, des larmes coulant sur son visage souriant alors qu’elle serrait une carte contre sa poitrine.
Spoiler alert! If you haven’t seen “Gang of Secrets” don’t read it! There are some references to “Truth” and “Lies” too… 😉
* * *
Something was wrong.
Adrien saw Marinette in all possible moods – from excitement, nervousness, determination to sadness… But she had never been so broken as recently. Like someone turned off the lights or the sun was gone forever. He noticed these eyes filled with tears and red marks underneath – the visible proof that she’d been crying. A lot…
He was worried because all that suggested that she had some problems. He wanted to help her but had no clue how to do it. He was hopeless when it came to help girls. Like yesterday… He’d thought it was a brilliant idea to invite Ladybug for a movie to the cinema. Just to comfort her… The result? She gave him a lecture why rom-coms are such nonsense! And when he tried to talk about feelings and being heartbroken, she told him she was perfectly fine and went to swim… So, if he was so terrible in helping Ladybug, how could he manage to help Marinette?
But this morning he noticed that Marinette looked like she felt much better. Alya left the company of Nino and Adrien and focused only on her best friend. When Nino asked his girlfriend why they couldn’t spend time altogether, she answered that Marinette needed girl’s support after breaking-up with Luka. And she left them for the rest of the day. The girls kept sitting in a corner chatting all the time in whisper. That was the moment when Adrien realised he would never understand girls.
Yet… In the evening, all his doubts came back to him. Maybe because of a message he got from Luka, who cancelled another rehearsal… He suffered as much as Marinette… So why had they split up? Why so many relationships didn’t work? Why couldn’t he, Adrien, date Kagami? Why couldn’t he date Ladybug? Why, why, why! Go to hell with all that!
“I miss adult holders, really…”, Plagg muttered when he got enough of Adrien’s dilemmas. “You, teenagers, can make saint’s blood boil. You can say anything about me but not that I’m a saint…”
“I cannot disagree to that…”
“Well, well, well… Some Cat is showing, I see…”
“Cat?”, Adrien repeated. “What would you say for an evening walk?” He smirked.
“What?! No!”, kwami objected. “No way! Night air is deadly for me!”
“Right… Sure… Plagg, claws out!”
A few minutes later he landed on the rooftop of Marinette’s house. He had no rational explanation why he could visit her. Thankfully, Plagg had had no chance to ask him about his plans, because Adrien couldn’t find a reason why he came here. He had no idea what to tell Marinette either if she asked him what he was doing there. He just wanted to see if everything was OK with her. Most likely…
So, why was he hiding behind a chimney, instead of showing his presence? What a fool!
And then he heard a whisper:
“I don’t know what to do anymore, Tikki…”
Cat Noir froze.
Did Marinette say “Tikki”? That Tikki?!
His heart stopped, and he forgot about breathing for a moment. That was impossible! And yet… So obvious at the same time… His brain suddenly matched all the dots and all puzzles found their place. Just like that.
“Marinette?”, he whispered, landing right next to her.
Maybe it was an optical illusion or just wishful thinking but he could swear he noticed a red flash as if a red kwami ran away in a rush.
“C-Cat N-Noir?”, Marinette stuttered.
He saw panic in her eyes. He guessed she was trying to remember last seconds on the balcony and probably realised already what he could have heard. That was kind of amusing watching her figuring out an excuse. He had been there so many times before!
“Is it bad that I know?”, he interrupted her efforts.
“Nobody taught you that you shouldn’t eavesdrop?!”
“How could I predict you’d be chatting with your kwami on the balcony? You should be more careful!”
“So, maybe I’ll just announce my secret to the world!”, she was mad at herself. “If I don’t stop revealing, soon a half of Paris will know who I am! Hawkmoth will be happy…”
“You have told someone already?”
“Alya…”, she mumbled.
“You’ve told Alya?!”
At first, he felt disappointment that she had chosen her friend, not him. He was her partner! They trusted each other! But then he remembered what Alya had done today at school, how she took care of Marinette… He couldn’t do the same being Adrien… That was painful to realise that couldn’t offer the support that this girl needed.
“I couldn’t stand it anymore, Cat…”, she whisper like she wanted to justify herself. “I was so tired… You can’t even imagine how hard it was to keep everything secret… I had no one…”
“You always have me, M’Lady…”
“I don’t even know who you are, Kitty… I know you so well as my partner and I can trust you with my life… But… I don’t know who you are as the civilian…”
“We know each other, Marinette… We’re…”, he began, but she stopped him putting her hand on his mouth.
“No! No more secrets revealed. I don’t want to know… I can’t… Not today… It’s too much… I don’t want to start thinking who you are… No!”, she began blabbing, and that reminded him yesterday Ladybug’s lecture in the cinema. “It’s enough that you learnt about me…That’s a catastrophe!”
“CAT-astrophe?”, he smirked, and she rolled her eyes.
“You couldn’t resist, could you?”
“That’s stronger than my will, Bugaboo…”
She blinked twice in surprise. Well, he just call her by Ladybug’s nickname. Now, she’d probably kill him for that pun… Instead, she looked at him, as if the situation was too serious for fighting against puns.
“What now, Cat?”, she whispered.
“Everything will be OK…”, he assured her and hugged her to his chest.
“How do you know that?”, she asked somewhere around his heart, and he felt the warmth spreading through his body.
“Don’t worry, Marinette. I’ll take care of you…”, he whispered in her hair.
Summary: Adrien asks Marinette to help him get in contact with Ladybug.
Marinette smiled as Chat came in through her window, de-transforming on the way into the only and only, Adrien Agreste. To be honest, she still couldn't believe they were the same person. But she'd gotten over her initial freak out, and was, for the most part, finally coming to terms with the fact.
"Hey, Mari." He said, a light blush dusting his cheeks, his hand going to rub at the back of his neck. "Could I ask a favor?"
"Of course." She replied, giving him a smile.
"I was wondering... If you could maybe give this to Ladybug?" He asked, pulling out a letter from his pocket.
"Why me? Couldn't you just ask Alya?" Because he didn't know her identity (right?), so what reason would he have to ask her?There's gotta be someone else who can do it.
"Well, Alya would obviously read it before even thinking about giving it to her, and I know you know her, remember Evillustrator?"
"O-oh, yeah." She ducked her head so he couldn't see the blush adorning her cheeks.
"So will you do it?"
"Yeah." She said, taking the letter from his grasp. Her jaw dropped and blush darkened when their fingers brushed and eyes locked.
"Thank you so much, Mari. I'd stay, but my piano practice is supposed to end soon, and I don't want to get caught."
She nodded in understanding, but right before he left, as he'd already transformed, she called out, "What's in the letter?"
"A confession." And then he left.
Confession? What did he mean? Was he confessing to Ladybug in this letter? Was he going to tell her how he felt?
A while back I made a silly post, and finally decided to make it a one-shot, so here’s some Adrinette kissing booth half-reveal nonsense.
Read on AO3
Adrien never really liked using his good looks to influence others, but he supposed upon occasion, if for a good cause, that his genetic gifts could be abused just a little. After all, he was helping people, so it wasn’t really like he was using his beauty for malicious reasons. Even still, he grossly underestimated just how much traffic a “Kiss Adrien Agreste” booth would draw in at the mayor’s charity event, and he stared in horror at the seemingly endless line forming in the plaza, wondering just what he’d gotten himself into.
Of course Chloe was the first one in line, and he felt his stomach clench as she leaned across the counter and puckered her lips. Suddenly he felt a lot less enthusiastic about this idea and wished that he’d gone for hugs instead, though he supposed there was nothing on the booth that said where he would kiss them. Leaning down, he tilted his head to the side and planted a soft kiss on Chloe’s cheek smiling sweetly at her as he pulled away.
“Thanks so much for your donation, Chloe. I’m sure the sick kids will be delighted when the hospital buys new medical equipment,” He said, waving as she was escorted away grumpily.
Somewhere in the middle of the line, Marinette stood on her tip toes, straining to catch a glimpse of Adrien as she chewed her upper lip nervously. Alya watched from her place at the concession booth with an amused smirk, pressing her finger to her bluetooth as Marinette’s voice sounded in her ear.
“I don’t know if I can do this. Maybe I should just come back,” She said in her token chickening out tone.
“Relax, girl, he’s only kissing people on the cheek,” She said with a laugh as Marinette tapped her feet. “Besides it’s for a good cause, so just think of all the sick kids who are going to benefit from your euros.”
“I know, but I can’t help but feel a little anxious. I mean we actually know each other, so what if it’s super awkward?” Marinette curled her shoulders a little. “What if I trip and fall and knock over the display stand and land on top of him and end up awkwardly bumping into his teeth with my teeth and, oh, Alya, what if I chip one of his teeth he’ll never forgive me, and his modeling career will be over forever, and I’ll be the girl who ruined the Agreste fashion line and-”
“Girl, you think too much,” Alya scolded, rolling her eyes. “Look the only thing that’s gonna happen when you get to the front of the line is you’re going to put a couple euros in a box then Adrien is going to kiss your cheek for maybe 0.2 seconds then you’re going to come back here and eat a crepe.”
“Yeah, you’re right, Alya,” She said, twisting one of her pigtails before bouncing giddily. “I’m gonna get a kiss from Adrien!”
“That’s the spirit.”
Adrien paused to take a sip of water from his thermos, scanning the line in hopes of seeing the end, but more people were piling in as he watched. He caught sight of a familiar set of pigtails in line and felt a smile curl on his lips as he leaned forward to press a quick kiss to their next donator’s cheek. When she finally made it up to him, she placed her bill in the box shakily and offered him a sheepish grin.
“I-I thought that maybe you’d like to see a framildly- I mean a friendly, familiar face because you’ve been kissing a lot of strangers today, and I totally support the cause, and I’d support it even if you weren’t kissing everyone who donates because I think it’s really great to help people, and so, um, yeah…” She clasped her hands together in front of her, shifting her gaze to her feet and patiently awaiting her kiss.
Adrien felt his heart soften, and he leaned across the booth, cupping a hand on her cheek and lifting her chin as he touched his lips to hers gently. Her spine stiffened a little then she melted into his embrace, leaning into the kiss as Adrien caressed her jawline with his thumb. When they pulled away, her eyes searched his frantically, and he offered her a playful wink.
“Thanks so much for coming. It means a lot that you thought about my feelings,” He murmured against her lips. “You’re super awesome.”
“Mmm yeah,” She hummed in a daze, waving as the assistants led her away, and she didn’t stop waving until she made it all the way back to the concession booth where Alya gently slapped her hand down. “He kissed me for real.”
“Yeah, that was really surprising,” Alya said, tapping her chin. “But I got it all on camera!”
“His lips taste like vanilla,” She sighed, leaning against the glass display case. “And for some reason seem oddly familiar.”
“I mean, you only fantasize about kissing him 8 times a day,” Alya said pointedly. “Maybe your fantasies are too real.”
Marinette pursed her lips, eyes narrowing as she watched him return to kissing cheeks. Her kissing expertise was extremely limited as she’d only ever kissed one other person, but for some reason she felt like they’d kissed before. The way his lips curved against hers, his breath hot against her own brought her back to Valentine’s Day, but she shook the thought from her head immediately. It was impossible. Alya was probably right, and she just fantasized too much though the more she thought about it the more vivid her memory became.
She’d done her best to block out her kiss with Chat Noir because she was just doing her job, but now with Adrien’s kiss still tingling on her lips, she couldn’t stop thinking about how similar their lips were. Of course Alya was always trying to convince her that Adrien looked like Chat Noir, and now that she was considering it with a mask and a costume…
Her heart skipped a beat in her chest as realization dawned on her, and she felt the color drain from her face. She had kissed those lips before, and those lips tried to kiss her nearly every time they saw each other yet she always pushed them away. She hated to admit it, but Adrien Agreste was Chat Noir.
What Will You Do When Everyone Knows? Final Chapter
Ladybug and Cat Noir are having trouble with the newest akuma. She’s dressed all in black, hardly speaks, and keeps slipping through their fingers. To make things worse, she exposes Ladybug’s identity to the world. Which should Marinette be more concerned about? The world’s reaction, or her partner’s?
Rated PG for action. Chapter word count: 3,200.
Read chapter 1 here.
Read chapter 12 here.
Ladybug landed on the deserted street next to the Eiffel Tower. An announcement would soon go out that the akuma had been defeated, and people would start trickling back within moments, so she detransformed while she still had a chance and took off in the direction of Anatole's apartment. Tikki ducked into her bag, and Marinette grabbed her phone. The texts from Alya were still there. That probably wasn't a good sign.
She'd gone two blocks before she stopped to catch her breath and check her direction. No one honked their horn at her. No one waved at her as she passed them. No one even looked twice at her. No one, except for Alya.
"Hey! There you are! Can you believe this?!"
Marinette caught her friend in a tight hug as the tightness in her chest started loosen. "Believe what?" she asked.
"I can't believe it! Argh!" She let go of Marinette and shook a fist at the sky, a fist that held her phone. "I texted her! I had her yoyo number in my phone, and it's gone! There were videos, comments, blog posts, all wiped!"
Marinette barely contained her relieved sigh. Everything on the internet was gone, too? That was one problem taken care of.
"So, how much do you remember, exactly?" she asked. "Uh, because I'm not sure... what I forgot?"
"Almost everything, I think." She grabbed Marinette's arm and started walking in the direction of home. With the sun down, the sky was getting darker by the second, and the wind had picked up even more. They probably had only minutes until they started getting wet.
"Almost everything" was more than Marinette had assumed, based on Cat Noir's reaction. He probably remembered most of it too, then. Would he remember where she lived? That he confessed to her? A piece of her was upset that she wouldn't be able to talk to Alya about that.
"Super frustrating," Alya said.
"Tell me about it. But you seem to be taking this well."
"To tell the truth," Alya said, leaning in, "I do remember one thing. That I wasn't surprised. You know what that means?"
Marinette shook her head, concerned. Alya gave her an evil grin. "She's already on my list of suspects. I'll let you know what I find out."
Deep internal sigh. Well, it hadn't been so bad having her best friend know, right?
Alya spent the first half of the trip home alternately telling Marinette to hurry up and picking her brain for what she remembered about the past few days. They were waiting at a crosswalk when Cat Noir landed on a lamp post right next to them.
Marinette put a hand to her mouth to try to cover her gasp. He looked bad. His face and ears were both drooping, and he seemed to be moving with the least energy possible. "Are you okay, Cat?" she said, then added quickly, "Noir?" Ladybug might be on a first-name basis with him, but Marinette wasn't. Not anymore. It felt weird.
"Oh, sure," he said, trying to straighten his shoulders and giving her a quick smile that was so sad it nearly broke her heart. "I was just looking for Alya, making sure she got away safely."
Putting others first, doing his job, even when he was obviously in pain. How like her Kitty. She couldn't help but wonder if he would have been more honest if she'd been in costume. There was a gap between them, and she didn't like it, didn't like it, didn't like it.
"I'm fine," Alya said with a smile. "Thanks for checking in on me." At least someone was happy.
"What about you, Marinette?" he asked. "That was probably pretty scary for you, too."
She smiled at him sadly. "I'm fine. Thank you." No familiarity. No nicknames. He was professional and perfectly polite.
She hated it.
A few fat raindrop plopped around them and splattered on their faces. Alya put her hands over her head, but Marinette covered her purse instead. She didn't want Tikki to catch a cold again.
"I should let you two get home," Cat Noir said and left without another word.
"Wow." The light turned, and Alya strode into the crosswalk. "He looked pretty heartbroken. I'm sure he'll be okay, though. He seems pretty resilient."
"I hope so."
"He must have forgotten, too," Alya continued. "I can't believe everyone forgot!"
"Yeah, it's a shame."
Despite the rain, Alya got her phone back out, shielding it with a hand. It wasn't very effective. "I've got to make a post about everything I learned, though. Chantal totally spilled her guts. She was dying to tell somebody."
"That was kind of her deal, telling secrets." And she had a captive audience. Ugh! Stupid Cat! "So what happened?"
"University stuff," Alya said. "She had a really good interview with the ParisTech people, and she thought she had it in the bag, so she let everyone know. She thought she was just waiting for the confirmation letter. But she got accepted to Dauphine instead." The wind blew sheets of water all around them. Marinette could feel it starting to soak through her clothing and drip from her hair down the back of her neck. "She thought it was a mistake, that she could fix it. She didn't have the heart to disappoint everyone."
Alya bent over her phone, trying to use her body to protect it from the elements. Marinette had to steer her away from walls and keep her from walking into the street.
"Meanwhile, her boyfriend started applying for jobs down there and got a really good one near the campus. He put a security deposit on an apartment and everything."
"Oh," Marinette said. That's why Chantal claimed it had been her fault. She was the one who started the whole thing. "So that's what they fought about."
"Yeah," Alya said. "He surprised her with the good news, and she finally had to come clean. They both started accusing each other of hiding all sorts of things. The trust was broken." She stopped typing to look up at her friend. "Her secret ruined their relationship."
She turned back to her phone and continued to type. Would Marinette's secret ruin her relationship with her partner? Well, not relationship relationship... Maybe, if it weren't for Adrien.
Adrien! Oh, no! He would have forgotten too. She was back to being just be that awkward girl at school to him. Too bad she couldn't let him know her secret identity. They'd actually been getting somewhere!
Alya's voice brought her back to the present. "I love getting kidnapped by akumas."
"That makes one of us," Marinette grumbled. "I worry about you a lot. Every time." Alya squinted at her phone and didn't hear her.
By the time Marinette had gotten back home after dropping Alya off, she was soaked to the bone and it was dark outside. The last time she'd come home in a rain storm, the bakery had been closed, and her parents and Cat Noir had been waiting for her upstairs. When she came home this time, they were safe behind the counter of the empty shop, starting to close for the night.
"Oh, good," Sabine said. "We saw it on the news. We were hoping you'd be back soon."
Saw what on the news? What were they talking about?
"It's all right," Sabine said, coming around the counter and putting her arms around her daughter. "We already knew, so there wasn't anything to take away." Marinette squirmed and almost got out of the hug before her father wrapped his arms around both of them. Her parents finding out was uncomfortable, but... actually, this wasn't so bad.
"Alya's fine," she said eventually. "Cat Noir forgot, too. He'll be okay." I hope.
"A shame," Tom said. "I would have liked to have him around more often."
Sabine let go and held Marinette's face in her hands instead. "We know this is a dangerous job that you've taken, but it's comforting to know that you've got a good partner to help you."
There was only so much of the news reports she could handle. She'd watched people's reactions for over an hour. There was speculation on her identity. There were questions about why it had taken so long. There were theories on Chantal's motives. All were wrong. Rain pelted her dark skylight and thunder pealed outside. She hoped Cat Noir had gotten home okay. She couldn't text him to ask.
"Why are you still unhappy, Marinette?" Tikki asked, thoughtful. She'd come out of hiding as soon as Marinette closed the trapdoor and had immediately made sure that everything was back to normal. The pictures were back. The diary was in its case and locked up. She'd spent most of the evening watch Marinette grow increasingly restless while munching on cookies. "You should be happy. Chantal is safe, and Hawk Moth's been stopped for now. Everything's fine now. You got everything you wanted."
Marinette just shrugged. She'd gotten most of what she wanted. She'd never wanted Cat Noir to get hurt, especially not because of her.
She turned the news off, only to find herself on the Ladyblog a few seconds later. Alya had posted her information on Chantal, in a little more detail, along with her analysis of what the miraculous cure had done. What it was supposed to. Undone the damage the akuma had caused. All of it. Everyone's memories had been erased, along with anything that would remind them of what they'd forgotten. There were no hints, and no clues left anywhere. She was completely safe.
Marinette skimmed the post and then the comments. Nothing new. She almost closed it to go back to the news when she saw a new comment near the bottom with Cat Noir's name in it. The poster reported that Cat Noir was still transformed and was running around in the rain.
Her heart sank. Had he been out there that whole time? She knew was upset, but she hadn't realized he was "run around in the rain for over an hour" upset. The poor boy was probably drenched and freezing. And lonely.
"Tikki, we're going," she said. The kwami looked up in confusion but didn't complain when she was pulled into the miraculous. His dot on her locator was close by and wasn't moving. There had to be something she could do to make him feel better. At the very least, she could let him know that she was going to be there for him.
Thunder cracked above her. They were both going to be soaked. She did have an umbrella, the one that Adrien had given her so long ago, the one she'd never had the desire to return. She grabbed it and pushed herself out into the rain.
She found Cat Noir in under a minute, sitting on the ledge of an apartment building, shoulders hunched, tail flopping over the edge. Ladybug landed behind him quietly, hoping that she wasn't going to upset him further by coming.
"It affects miraculous holders too," he said without turning toward her. "I've forgotten, so you should be safe from Hawk Moth." Even his hair looked sad. Instead of its normal crazy, carefree style, it was slicked down against his head. His cat ears were pressed flat, too. She brushed a hand against her hip, which had stopped hurting as soon as she'd used her miraculous cure. It wasn't fair that it had taken away her physical pain, but given him emotional pain.
There was plenty of room on the ledge, so she sat with him and opened the umbrella. It was too late to keep them dry, but maybe she could keep him from catching a cold. As soon as she was settled, he laid his head on her shoulder. Below them, the lamp posts gave off puddles of soft light.
Would it really be so bad if he knew who she was? Everyone already assumed that they did. Was it true what he'd said earlier? That she was just afraid of who he was underneath the mask? Was she afraid it would change their partnership? She'd spent so much time lately reacting in fear, but she shouldn't let fear make decisions for her. So what did she actually want? She rested her cheek on his head. It was freezing.
"How much do you remember?" she asked.
He shrugged. "I'm not sure. There's so many holes. A lot, I guess? That I was happy you were... you. That I met your family and really liked them. I don't remember anything about them, though. I remember-" He stopped to take a deep breath, like he was bracing himself for more pain. "That you like someone else. But I can't remember who it is."
She glanced down at him. There it was. The pain that she'd always expected. His face twisted with sorrow and with the effort to hide it from her, but it was too much for him to mask, and it was killing her. Why now? Why did this only bother him now?
They'd be safer with secrets. Their partnership was strong enough to survive keeping them. It wouldn't be ruined like Chantal's had been. But if they did, Cat Noir, the partner who loved her (and whom she loved back, just not the way he wanted) would be in pain. He lifted his head and wiped what she hoped were only raindrops off his cheeks. What should she do?
"I have to go," he said, getting up suddenly.
"Wait!" She scrambled to her feet, dropping the umbrella, which spun lazily near on the ledge. A gust of wind blowing the wrong way would send it over the edge. Cat Noir didn't stop.
"Wait!" she called again. She wasn't ready to make this decision yet. He crouched, preparing jump.
"MARINETTE!"
He froze, back still to her. Maybe this wasn't a smart idea. She felt like she'd swallowed all of the akumas she'd ever purified. There was no way to undo it this time. Despite how nervous she was, this still somehow felt... right. Thunder rumbled in the distance, and she took a steadying breath.
"My name is Marinette Dupain-Cheng. You know... Princess?"
He finally turned around, all shadow of hurt gone. His face held an odd mixture shock and elation, like someone had just proved that Santa really was real. "I remember," he whispered. "I remember everything." He started walking back toward her. "Thank you for trusting me, My Lady." He picked up the umbrella before it got blown into the street below and handed it to her. She took it from him hesitantly, shielding them both, and had a strong sense of deja vu.
"I want you to know who I am," he said. "I want you to know all of me. Can I... can I tell you now? Please?"
She should have expected that question, honestly. "I still think it's dangerous, but it's your identity. It should be your decision."
"Really?!" Cat Noir was ecstatic, and it started to rub off on her.
She grinned up at him, unconcerned with how wet they were getting or how closely they were standing together. "Go fur it."
"You just made a cat pun!"
"Oh, just tell me who you are already."
He didn't tell her. In a flash of green light, he detransformed for her. Ladybug stood transfixed as his clothes changed and his black ears and mask dissolved. A black kwami spun out of his ring, which had changed to shiny silver.
"FFFFIINNNAALLLY!" the kwami said.
In front of her stood Adrien Agreste.
Wait.
Waaaaait.
"So Cat hadn't- you weren't- not teasing me about having a crush on Adrien." They were the same person? That couldn't be right. "He- You were just r-really happy?" In what crazy universe was this possible?
"Pfft. Understatement of the year," the kwami said. "Now he can gush to you about how much he loves you instead of me!"
"P-Plagg!" Adrien's blush was so deep she could see it in the dim light. "You can't say things like that!"
"What? You gush all the time."
"Hey!"
"Not my fault it's true."
Ladybug was still trying to get her brain back online. Cat Noir was Adrien? Adrien was Cat Noir? This was insane. Well, Adrien would make a great superhero, true, and Cat Noir's kindness rivaled Adrien's, sure, but the two were so different!
Her thoughts were chaotic. Fragments of ideas and reactions crowded her mind until they finally crystalized into one bright spot of clarity.
"OH MY GOSH YOU'VE BEEN IN MY ROOM!"
The two boys stopped arguing to look at her. After a few seconds of silence, Adrien started to laugh and gave her a very Cat-like grin, and she could finally see her partner in his face. It was better proof that they were the same person than seeing him transform had been.
"Yeah," he said with a growing smirk. "I love your décor."
Ladybug gasped. She reached out to smack his shoulder, but her caught her hand. "I've had some secrets of my own that I've been wanting to tell you. One was my identity." He gestured down at himself. "The second one, well, I hope I've made it clear that I like you, a lot. You're wonderful. My favorite part of any day is the part I get to spend with you." He scratched the back of his neck nervously. Ladybug was having trouble breathing. Was this actually happening? "What I'm trying to say is... I love you. I have from the very beginning."
Adrien was Cat Noir. Cat Noir was Adrien. She glanced up at the umbrella she still held over them, and he followed her gaze.
"Is that the one I gave you?"
"Y-yeah," she admitted quietly. "I kept it. I've loved you from the moment you handed it to me. I guess you already figured out how I feel, though."
He wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her close. Their noses were almost touching. His other hand reached up to the umbrella and covered her fingers gently. "You can tell me as often as you like." He closed the gap between them and kissed her softly.
For the first time in three days, she felt truly warm. She let herself melt against him, felt the texture of his collar as her free hand reached up to cradle his head, the softness of his hair as she let her fingers run through it, and felt his lips on hers.
And then she felt a sharp pain on her forehead and jerked backward. "Wha-"
Plagg had a few strands of her bangs in his paws. "I want to see Tikki."
"Plagg! Seriously?!" How was Adrien still adorable when he was mad?
"You can see her later," Ladybug said as she flicked him away. "I'm busy."
She pulled Adrien back down to her. They kissed until the umbrella closed on them.
THE END
That’s it! Thank you so much for reading! Check back next week for a new multi-chapter story, and also another entry for Miraculous Fluff Month, even though that event ended weeks ago. XD
The June event of the @mlwritersguild was to create bonus content for one of our fics - I decided to seize the opportunity to finally sit down and write one of the bonus scenes of You can count on me (I will be there for you), and to do draw a bit of fanart to go with it (4 panels, including a Marichat piece)! Let me tell you that the Burrow is a pain to draw, but I'm actually quite proud of the result :)
About YCCOM: It's an aged-up, one-sided reveal with "fake" wedding fic, based on Sallteas' art. The fic is 9 chapters and 20k words long. It was written before season 4, so it's no longer canon compliant in terms of who knows who's identities at the beginning.
Synopsis: Ladybug's identity is compromised, and somebody is after her. After a lot of pondering, she and Chat Noir come to the conclusion that her best bet is for her to marry Adrien Agreste. It breaks her heart that she is not marrying Chat Noir, but she knows that she's buying them time to figure out who is behind the anonymous letters she's been receiving, and hopefully to find Hawkmoth. Whatever the situation might be, her wedding day should provide a moment of respite. And maybe it would have, had Chat Noir refrained from coming to visit her just before the ceremony...
About Alix's rom-com night: it's a one shot that's chronologically set before the main fic, but I recommend reading it after reading the latter since it contains spoilers for it. It follows Alix (obviously), and includes Ladybug revealing her identity to Chat Noir and the set up of their "fake wedding" plan.
Hope you enjoy!
---
Alix opened her door and dropped her keys in the bowl as she kicked off her shoes with a satisfied sigh. Home, sweet home.
Her studio apartment wasn’t very big, but then again, she didn’t need a huge surface when she had a whole extension waiting for her just a transformation phrase away. She’d mentally thanked Marinette more than once for choosing her to wield the Rabbit Miraculous, rather than somebody else, just for the savings she made in rent.
She whistled happily as she made her way to her kitchen area, grabbing a bag of popcorn out of a cupboard and shoving it in her microwave.
She deserved the treat. She’d been running around all week, trying to slide letters to her targets without being spotted, spending hours on end to find the perfect stationary, and then staying up at night to get the wording exactly right, a delicate mix of subtlety and threat to elicit some sort of response from them. It had taken a lot of trial and error, especially for Ladybug. Her friend had always been surprisingly oblivious on many fronts, and it seemed that her honeymoon phase with Chat Noir reinforced her optimistic ability to brush ominous details aside. It had taken three letters for her to start freaking out and to promise Tikki she would talk to her partner about them, whereas Hawkmoth had started the analysis phase upon the first one he’d received.
Alix had only been mildly surprised by the identity of their nemesis when she’d decided it was high time she knew who they were facing; it was all too fitting that the man who leached off Paris’ most intense negative emotions should be the most embittered person she knew, and the one who, in retrospect, had been the cause of many an Akuma (she still shuddered at the what-could-have-been of Chat Noir’s akumatisation).
The microwave dinged, bringing her thoughts back to her timeline. She took the bowl out and called for her Kwami.
“Fluff, clockwise! Burrow!”
A white portal appeared in the middle of her living space and she walked through it, emerging in the ovoid room covered in screens. She made her way to the furthest point, hung her umbrella up on the coathanger she kept in there, and grabbed a folding chair. It was a director’s seat which supposedly had belonged to a rising name in the cinema world before their career had been shot down for obscure reasons, but she didn’t really care about its story; she’d bought it for a very low price at a yard sale, and that was all that mattered to her.
“Right, where are you…” She muttered, scrutinising her surroundings, until she found the screen she was looking for.
She unfolded the chair, zoomed in on the empty (for now) rooftop, propped down in her seat and threw a fistful of popcorn into her mouth, waiting for the show to start.
Unsurprisingly, Ladybug was the first to arrive on the scene. She paced around, mumbling to herself as she wrung her hands together. Alix felt a pang of guilt as she watched her rehearse how she would break the news to her partner, but reassured herself that the ordeal would soon be over.
Finally, Chat Noir landed beside Ladybug, and she flung herself at him, holding him so tight he had to untangle himself from her arms to breathe.
“Well, well, well, my Lady, I know I couldn’t make it to patrol last night, but I didn’t think you’d miss me this much,” he chuckled, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear.
Alix rolled her eyes at just how lovestruck he looked as he did so. How could her friends be so sappy, and yet still be at square one in terms of knowing who the other was?
Some might have said that it was romantic, that they loved each other regardless of who they were; but those people did not have to deal with the constant end of the world threat.
“What was so important that you couldn’t just text me?”
Ladybug took a deep breath. Her fingers slid along his arms as she relaxed her embrace, taking his hands in hers at the end of the line. “Somebody knows my identity,” she said quietly, looking down. “And I don’t know who they are.”
“What?!” Chat’s voice detonated in the previously peaceful quiet of the evening, making a couple of pigeons take off in a loud flutter of wings.
“I’m so sorry, I must have been careless when I got home one night, they must have seen me, I bet it was last week when I was tired and I-”
“My Lady, no offence, but I don’t care about the when and why, just... are you okay?” He tilted her chin up, gently turning her head to each side, checking for any signs of injury.
She placed her hand on his, making him stop, and gave him a soft, sad smile. “Yes, Chaton. Just a little rattled; you know you were the first person I wanted to reveal my identity to. Not including Bunnyx, although technically I never told her who I am.”
“And technically, I’m still the only person who knows who you are,” Bunnyx smugly commented between two handfuls of popcorn. “Now come on, I want to see how you react when you reveal your identities to each other.”
“How do you know somebody knows, though? And do you have any idea what their intentions are?”
Ladybug’s expression darkened. “I received some letters. They’re not signed, but they’ve got enough butterflies on them to make me think that even if they’re not from the biggest pest in Paris, then they’re probably from somebody who’s up to no good.”
Chat Noir swore under his breath, then regained his countenance. “So, what do we do now? Do you think we can hunt down the bugger?”
“We definitely will, but…” Ladybug bit her lip, and Alix leaned forward in her seat. This had to be it. “Chaton, I think the time has come for me to tell you who I am.”
“YES! Finally!” Alix cheered, almost spilling her popcorn bowl.
“Are you sure, my Lady?” Alix didn’t have to be on site to tell that Chat Noir’s heart was beating faster than usual; the corners of his mouth twitched as he repressed a smile, as though his excitement could make her change her mind.
“Yes.” She nodded. “I really want you to know.” In case something happens to me, Alix was pretty sure her friend had left unsaid.
“Okay, okay.” Chat Noir took a deep breath, buzzing with anticipation, so much so that he apparently missed the whole subtext of her previous words. “Do you want to do this now? And how do you want to do it? Do you want me to close my eyes? Are you going to write it on a piece of paper for me to read? Are you going to detransform? Should-”
“I was thinking the latter, and yes, now,” Ladybug said timidly. “Up to you if you want to look or not.”
“For some reason, I feel like I shouldn’t.” He took her hands in his and kissed her knuckles without breaking their eye contact, then took another deep breath and closed his eyes, a blissful smile on his lips. “Ready when you are, my Lady.”
“Ok, here goes.” She let out a shaky breath and called off her transformation. The soft pink glow engulfed her and receded, her suit melting away to reveal her true appearance.
“Wow, Marinette, you actually broke out your favourite dress for this? Glad to see all of this isn’t affecting your ability to think straight.” Alix smirked. If her friend had gone home after a long, stressful work day, and found it in her to change and doll herself up to make a good impression on Chat Noir, things couldn’t be that bad. She had to agree that her dress, simple, white, with little red hearts embroidered on it, was perfect for the occasion, though.
“You can open your eyes now, Chaton.” Marinette gave his hands a squeeze.
Chat Noir obliged, blinking slowly as he took in her appearance, her identity, her. Marinette squirmed under his gaze, his expression not giving away any of his thoughts.
“H-Hi,” she stammered when she couldn’t take it anymore. “I, erm, I guess I should introduce myself? We’ve run into each other before, when we were younger, and even if you actually had lunch with my family that one time, I guess it’s been a while… My name is-”
“Marinette. Marinette Dupain-Cheng.” Chat’s smile finally broke free, spread from ear to ear, almost literally illuminating his face. Alix wondered if anything could ever wipe it off. Love and admiration twinkled in his eyes as he picked her up and started spinning her. Marinette wrapped her arms around his neck, giggling giddily, before Chat Noir closed the gap between their lips.
Bunnyx modestly looked away, allowing them to have their moment. Her eyes landed on a rerun of Plagg putting an end to the dinosaurs’ reign.
“I should have known that it was you, Princess.” Chat panted slightly as he carefully set Marinette back on the roof. “Everything makes so much more sense now, I-”
“Before you finish that thought, I can’t know your identity.” She placed her index finger on his lips. “Yet, of course.”
“What?” Chat froze, and so did Bunnyx, her hand pausing midway between the popcorn bowl and her mouth. “But why?”
“I don’t know what might happen to me, but I don’t want to put you in any danger.” Marinette cupped his cheek. “And I don’t want to lose my memories of you. Of us.”
“Oh for Kwami’s sake.” Alix rolled her eyes. “Boo!” She threw a fistful of popcorn at the screen as her friend continued to list all the reasons Chat couldn’t reveal his identity.
“My Lady, Marinette, if you’re worried about your safety, maybe we should do something about it. I could move in with you, or in a flat nearby, maybe, stay transformed or wear a mask at all times so you don’t know who I am, we can figure it out… Of course I know you can protect yourself, but I could stand guard while you sleep, or...” Chat raked his hand through his hair as he thought.
“You know I love you, Chaton, and that’s why I can’t let you do that! You can’t live like that, I can’t ask that of you. Not to mention how difficult it would be for me, do you really think I could resist having you so close, and not trying to get a glimpse of who you are?” She joked, trying to diffuse the sudden tension.
“Then we need to get you a bodyguard,” he insisted.
“I thought about it, but… Well, I can’t really afford it, and how could I justify suddenly needing personal security? I’m just a designer, and nothing I’ve ever done has been avant-garde enough that I should be worried about my safety.” She shook her head.
“Damn, I knew I should have targeted Chat Noir,” Alix swore under her breath. “He would’ve had to reveal his identity, and she definitely wouldn’t have been a pushover on her kitty’s protection matter. Come on Adrien, do something.”
She could tell that he was up to something just by looking at him. He’d been silent for a little too long for it to be natural. Cogs turned in his head, making him squint. He let go of her completely and paced around the roof, almost pulling his hair out as he did so. Alix sensed that whatever was on his mind was going to be big. She leaned forwards in anticipation.
Finally, Chat Noir came to a halt in front of Marinette, the fever in his eyes and his dishevelled hair making him look slightly unhinged.
“Buguinette, I think I’ve got a solution,” he whispered.
“You do?” Marinette’s voice was full of hope, although she looked slightly concerned about him.
“You’re probably not going to like it,” he warned her, lifting a finger.
“Beggars can’t be choosers.” She shrugged, taking a step forward.
“Right.” He gave her one last look, an opportunity to stop him before the words tumbled out. She nodded encouragingly. “Okay, here’s the thing. I have it on very good authority that Adrien Agreste is being pressured into getting married by his father.”
“I see Gabriel’s just as delightful as always,” Marinette shook her head.
“Unlike good cheese, he definitely doesn’t get better with time.” Chat smiled bitterly, eyes losing focus a little.
“What’s it got to do with us, though?” Marinette prompted, placing a hand on his arm.
“Oh, Agreste, you absolute genius, I think I know where this is going.” Alix took another handful of popcorn.
“Oh, yes, right.” He cleared his throat. “See, Adrien’s not dating anyone at the moment…” Right, Alix snorted. “And he’s not really planning on starting a relationship with his father breathing down his neck, but, well, he happens to owe me a favour, and I’m sure that he’d be more than happy to put his security detail to good use…”
“So you’re suggesting that I marry Adrien.” Marinette deadpanned.
“Well, er, I actually thought you could just date, but thinking about it… It would be less strange for you to request a bodyguard if your relationship was more serious…” He trailed off.
Alix was impressed by how well he concealed his emotions. His poker face was truly exceptional.
“And you think Adrien would be ready to marry me because of a favour he owes you?” Marinette crossed her arms over her chest, pursing her lips and squinting at him as she tried to pick at his lie.
Alix winced for Chat. Maybe he should have waited a bit before blurting out the (as it turned out) probably only sane option in that situation so he could work out all of the details for himself. Marinette was very good at trying to shake plans to see how solid their foundations were.
“Please. Adrien had a crush on you when you were younger, if anything I could probably smuggle it as another favour, given how perfect the fake scenario would be. Although I guess that since you also liked him… It might just cancel out.” He tapped his lip pensively.
“Adrien had a crush on me?” Marinette frowned. “Oh, you must mean Ladybug. I think Nino mentioned it once.”
“Well, yes, but he also had one on you, Marinette.” Chat stepped forward, mischief twinkling in his eyes as he poked her on the nose.
“Really, now,” she muttered to herself.
“The main reason he didn’t act on it was that he thought you loved somebody else.” Chat smiled ironically.
“Wow, what a pair of idiots.” Marinette chuckled.
“You don’t know the half of it.” He kissed her forehead.
“But you know what?” Marinette didn’t pick up on her partner’s comment. “I’m actually glad we didn’t get together. It probably would have delayed us getting together.” She pressed a peck to his lips. “If we’d gotten together at all in that timeline.” She smirked.
Alix snorted. Out of all the timelines she’d watched unfold in an attempt to keep things in check, there wasn’t a single one where Marinette and Adrien, Ladybug and Chat Noir, didn’t end up together, and not just because of her interventions to help them, and the rest of the planet, stay alive.
Marinette’s face fell at Chat Noir’s lack of response. Alix knew her friend didn’t particularly believe in soulmates, but she understood that she would have liked a sappy Chat Noir special comment on how he’d told her he’d grow onto her anyway, and that she would have soon discovered that the Agreste boy had nothing on him. She assumed that he was too busy restraining himself from saying the wrong thing.
“Actually… What about us, then?” Marinette cleared her throat and looked up at him, eyes glistening slightly in the half light.
“My Lady… If you really think that you being a divorcée will spur me away…” Chat Noir looked down at their entwined hands, locks of blond hair falling in front of his eyes, concealing his giddy smile from her. You sneaky cat, Alix thought.
Marinette followed his gaze, letting out a long sigh as she watched their hands sway lightly. Alix knew her brain was probably trying to find all the flaws in the plan. She crossed her fingers, hoping that it would be enough for her friend to accept. It was perfect, whether they got their act together and figured everything out before the event, or not.
“Fine,” Marinette finally said with resolve, making Alix mentally thank whoever was out there. “I’ll do it on two conditions.”
“Anything, my love.” Chat let out a sigh of relief.
“Firstly, we’re honest with Adrien from the get go. No lying about anything.” Chat nodded along. “Secondly, we get cracking on finding Hawkmoth, and after we do and the divorce is settled, if we even get that far with Adrien because obviously if everything is settled before the wedding we won’t be going through the whole plan…” Chat smiled fondly as she took a deep breath. “After all that, we are getting married.” She gestured between the both of them.
“My Lady, are you proposing to me right meow?” Chat Noir all but purred.
“I guess so.” Marinette shrugged, a smile and a blush spreading on her cheeks.
“Wow, then, I’m definitely putting Adrien in charge of the proposal planning,” he replied with a smirk.
“Chaton!” She stomped her foot, her mildly amused smile cancelling out her frown.
“What?” He teased her.
“Will you? Marry me?” She held his gaze.
“Do you even have to ask?” He chuckled. “You know, my Lady, I’m pretty sure that, in my head, we’ve been married since that speech you gave on the Eiffel Tower during our very first fight. Well, I’ve been married to you; you do whatever you please.”
“You’re such a dork,” Marinette laughed, brushing her nose against his and throwing her arms around his neck.
“And yet you still love me.” He pulled her closer.
“Unfortunately, I do,” she sighed dramatically before pressing a kiss to his lips.
Alix dismissed the screen. She’d seen what she wanted, and it seemed like a good place to stop; a happy, sappy ending. Also, she’d finished all of her popcorn.
Everything was on track, her friends would start their Hawkmoth hunt, and soon everybody in Paris would be able to live without fear of their own negative emotions.
(Of course, that was the theory; she’d soon find out that she’d underestimated Adrien’s will to organise the perfect wedding for Marinette, and that, my friends, was no small oversight.)
Next morning Marinette woke up a bit confused. She had a feeling that she dreamt about Cat Noir who turned out to be Adrien. And she couldn’t supress the feeling of disappointment that it was only a dream… She stretched and looked around carefully – but the room seemed to be unchanged and the Cheshire Cat mug was at its usual spot.
The apartment was quiet, so she assumed that everyone had left for their classes. Marinette got up finally and went to the bathroom. She glanced quickly at doors to her friends’ bedrooms and supressed an enticement to check Adrien’s room – she wasn’t going to nose around there when he was out. Not that she was going to do it when he was there either, of course! Oh god, what she was thinking about!
She blushed even if no one heard her thoughts. That was how you ended up when you heard too many digs from Alya, you dreamt too many silly dreams and you had talked too much about your exes a day before! But Marinette was mature enough to not follow a temptation of falling in love with Adrien again. Especially, when she knew that he’d been in love – truly and deeply – with someone else.
Marinette called herself to order and checked once again if she was alone in the apartment. Then she whispered in the direction to her bedroom:
“Tikki? I think you can come up…”
After a moment a red kwami appeared in the living room and approached to her holder.
“You don’t have too much freedom here…” Marinette sighed.
“Your friends want to spend time with you, and that’s OK…” Tikki snuggled up to the girl’s cheek. “I can deal with that, don’t worry.”
“I really can’t foresee when Alya comes in, or Cat Noir jumps in through the window… It was easier at home…”
“Calm down, Marinette… I’m quick in hiding.”
“I miss talking to you…” the girl whispered. “All the time I have a feeling that these walls are too thin and someone could hear us… It seems to me that we don’t talk so often anymore…”
“Because you’re grown up. You’re an adult, Marinette. You don’t need me that much you used to when you were younger…”
“Not true!”
“I don’t mind! I’m happy when I see you so independent. You’re not that lost, uncertain teenage girl in love. In unrequited love. Finally, you’re loved back…”
“Lo-loved? What?! What do you mean?!” Marinette laughed nervously and blushed like she used to do in high school times. Tikki giggled.
“Oh, you’re not going to tell me that you haven’t noticed all those efforts of Adrien and Cat Noir!”
“But how can you think that I love them?! How can I love them both? It’s ridiculous!”
“You didn’t deny yesterday, when Cat Noir asked you if you could love Adrien again…” Tikki reminded in a meaningful tone and Marinette felt flush on her cheeks.
“I denied soon after by telling Cat that Adrien is in love with someone else.”
“Which wasn’t the answer to his question. You only noticed that Adrien has someone else.”
“What are you trying to talk me into, Tikki?” Marinette lost her patience. “I’m not going to interfere with Adrien’s happiness. Not when he loves someone so much! It’s something more than with Kagami, I can see it. Can you believe that his eyes are sparkling when he talks about his girl?”
“Didn’t this description sound familiar to you?” Tikki asked in an innocent tone, but her face looked like she suddenly saw a plate full of macaroons.
Marinette froze in the middle of trying to say something and stared at her kwami. She was still denying to accept the hints of subconsciousness.
“But… But he goes out everyday for a date with his girlfriend. He doesn’t visit me!” she began, but her voice failed her and her heart skipped a beat.
Adrien, indeed, had been going out to see his girlfriend. Every day around eight o’clock. He had been coming back home soon after she had finished meetings of support group. When she’d been sick, both – Cat Noir and Adrien – was taking care of her. At night when she had got the fever, there was Cat Noir there by her bed. In his civilian self, because she remembered his uncovered palm on her forehead. Only he called her “Princess”. It couldn’t be anyone else. Next day Alya told Marinette that Adrien had been there because he heard her cough. If he could hear it through the walls, how couldn’t he hear Cat Noir’s laugh before?
And last night… Adrien had called her “Princess” when he gave her something to drink. When she recognised him, he told her it was just a dream. What if… What if it wasn’t a dream? What if he’d just followed a justification she’d suggested in the evening when she’d said that the reality and dreams had been mixed in her head recently?
“I have to sit down…” she whispered, sitting on a stool in the kitchenette.
Tikki flew away to the girl’s bedroom and brought a notebook and pencils from there. She put these tools in front of her holder and looked at her with hope.
“Maybe you want to make some notes? Before you overload your brain…”
“You know something, don’t you?” Marinette asked in a suspicious tone and immediately continued: “Of course, you do! You know Plagg as yourself. You must know Cat Noir’s identity. And now you want me to discover it myself!” she accused her kwami then she added under her breath: “As if I haven’t already…”
“I just wanted to help…”
“Why now?”
“Long time ago Master Fu told you that everything needs to be done at the right time. He compared it to cooking noodles, remember?” Tikki said, and when her holder nodded with confirmation, the kwami continued: “I think it is the right time.”
“It’s impossible…” the girl muttered and lowered her head.
“But… Why are you so worried?”
“I don’t want to give back my miraculous…”
“Why? Why should you do so?” Tikki asked in surprise.
“You told me once that when I learned Cat Noir’s identity I’d have to give in my miraculous.”
“Oh, Marinette…” the kwami sighed. “You still believe in that?”
“Wh-What?” the girl perked her head and gazed at Tikki.
“Master Fu made up this rule to prevent the reveal of your identities too soon. To make you focus on the mission not on your love. It had been times when you were too distracted by yourselves and Hawkmoth almost won every time when you were more interested in beloved halves. Can you imagine what could happen if you knew your identities? Besides… It was also about being convincing in denying any hints or rumours about your civilian selves.”
“I don’t understand…”
“You were kids. You didn’t know how to be convincing in lying.”
“Now we’re adults, so we know how to lie?”
“I mean being convincing if someone asked you directly. It’s called ‘plausible deniability’.”
“Are you trying to tell me that I was rejecting Adrien all those years? Adrien that I was madly in love with?” Marinette asked in disbelief. “It’s like a nightmare! How can I live now, knowing that I could have been happy for years! With Adrien!”
“You were happy with Luka though…” Tikki reminded.
“Who broke my heart. That still hurts. I could avoid that…”
“Nothing happens without the reason, Marinette. You’ve grown up thanks to Luka. Who knows what you could be if you weren’t with him? Or if Adrien would learn about your qualities if he hadn’t collected his experiences. We’ll never know that. One thing is certain – you’re not two teenagers who love their crushes’ image.”
“I didn’t love Adrien’s image! I knew he was honest, charming and helpful!”
“Yet you didn’t accept his other half. The one that wasn’t tempered by his father or father’s assistant. You’ve appreciated Cat Noir when you’ve grown up.”
“He’s changed.”
“So have you. You’re both mature now. And water is boiling, so it’s time for cooking.”
“Thanks, Tikki…” Marinette sighed.
“I didn’t say that this process would be easy… You have to think over what’s next. Remember that you will have to choose one of them. Cat Noir doesn’t know that you’ve figured him out…”
“I can tell him that I’m Ladybug, can’t I? And that I know who he is.”
“Don’t assume that he’ll react in a way you expect he would. As Ladybug you broke his heart… And you still don’t know what happened between him and Kagami…”
“See? I still need you, Tikki! You’re my voice of reason!”
“I think that you’re mature enough to use your own reason…” kwami smiled. “But, thank you anyway… Now, try to figure out what to do with your noodles…”
Marinette glanced at Tikki thoughtfully. Without a word she reached for her notebook – she always preferred thinking with a pencil in her hand. However, when she looked at the sketchbook two hours later still with not a clue what to tell Cat Noir, she only saw his perfect portrait…
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No room to swing a Cat? p.18 <- Previous part | Next part -> No room to swing a Cat? p.20
