Title: Third Time’s the (Lucky) Charm
Fandom: Miraculous Ladybug
Pairing: Ladynoir
Word count: 3315
@nerdbymoonlight I am SO, SO, SO SORRY this is so late!!! This is my very belated White Day present for you in exchange for the adorable picture you drew for me for Valentine’s Day! (Many thanks to @miraculous-valentine-exchange for resending the information to me!) I hope you enjoy it and that it’s worth the wait you had.
“Have you ever tried to tell someone something important, and every time you try to say it the words just can't seem to come out?”
________________________
“My lady.”
Ladybug looked over at her partner inquiringly. He was looking down, his arms behind his back, and shuffling his weight as if nervous. It was rather uncharacteristic for him, and she wondered if something was wrong. “Yes, Chat?”
His eyes flicked up to her and then back down. He was still fidgeting. “I—there's something I've been meaning to tell you,” he mumbled.
She blinked, confused. What had gotten into him? His shyness was starting to worry her. She approached him slowly. “What is it?”
Chat looked cornered and piteous. His gaze began to dart around, locking on everything but her. “I, um … I … that is …”
Ladybug waited patiently. He would get out whatever it was he wanted to say sooner or later. Although it really was odd, she thought. He had been acting just fine all throughout patrol. He'd only started getting shy once she went to say goodbye for the night. Why get nervous now if he hadn't been before?
“I … I …” He finally brought his eyes to hers, and she could have sworn there was a flush in his cheeks beneath his mask, and then he slumped in defeat. “Never mind. I … I can't.”
There he went, looking down again. She'd never seen him this uncomfortable. She cupped his cheek and lifted his face up until she could meet his gaze. “Is everything okay?”
Chat jerked out of her touch like he had been electrocuted and began to back away towards the edge of the roof. “Yes, of course! Everything's fine, my lady. Never been better. I just—my transformation's almost up. Gotta go!” He jumped across the rooftops without another word.
Ladybug watched him go with a frown. They hadn't run into any akuma that night. He hadn't used his Cataclysm at all. He was just making excuses to run away. She decided that no matter what, she was going to figure out what it was that was bothering Chat Noir.
~
“What was that?” Plagg asked as he snatched a slice of Camembert from Adrien's fingers. He took a large bite and spoke around it. “I thought you were going to confess to Ladybug.”
Adrien began pacing back and forth across his room. “I can't, Plagg. The way she was looking at me … I could hardly even talk. How am I supposed to tell her I love her when her eyes turn me into a total—”
“Enough,” Plagg interrupted with an exaggerated gagging sound. “You're going to put me off my cheese.”
“Some help you are,” Adrien muttered, flopping down onto his bed. He was more disappointed in himself than in his unhelpful kwami, though. He'd promised himself that he would tell Ladybug tonight how he felt about her. He'd promised himself. And then he'd run instead.
Maybe if he didn't tell her outright. Maybe if he went at it in a more roundabout fashion …
No. He'd decided he was going to tell her. That meant actually telling her. Actually getting those three words out. No matter how hard it was to say them.
But when she looked at him with such open curiosity and such utter trust … Adrien rolled over and buried his face in his pillow. This was hopeless. He was hopeless. The sky was more likely to fall down around their heads than he was to confess to Ladybug.
~
Chat was looking nervous again. He almost looked sick to his stomach, his face was so pinched. Ladybug felt sorry for him. Whatever was weighing on his mind, it was clearly bothering him a great deal. She didn't wait for patrol to finish before approaching him; this needed to be addressed sooner rather than later. He was so preoccupied with anxiety that he was liable to walk off a roof without noticing. And so when they were about halfway through their usual route, she stopped and pulled him aside. “Chat, is everything okay? You seem … I don't know … You seem a little odd tonight.”
Chat slipped out of her touch so gently that she almost didn't notice—but it wasn't like Chat to do that sort of thing, and so she did notice. “I'm fine, my lady,” he promised her with a poor attempt at a smile. “Just tired.”
She pursed her lips. Chat wasn't giving her enough credit for knowing him. She'd seen Chat when he was tired, and this was not it. Not by any stretch of the imagination. “Don't lie to me, Chat Noir. I know you.”
He wilted. “I'm sorry,” he murmured. “It's not anything you need to worry about.”
“You're hardly focused on patrol because of whatever this is,” she pointed out. “Your mind is anywhere except where I need it, and that makes this something I need to worry about. We're partners, right? You can tell me. Even if you think it's something I don't need to worry about. It's not like I'm going to laugh at you for whatever it is.”
Chat looked away, out over the city. He looked a little less pinched, but she could tell that something was still bothering him. He'd never been very good at hiding how he was feeling.
“Please,” she said. “I want to know what's wrong.”
His eyes snapped up to meet hers for a brief instant before drifting back down to the ground. “I just … there's … something I want to tell you, and I … I'm not sure how to say it.” He looked at her again, shyly. “Have you ever tried to tell someone something important, and every time you try to say it the words just can't seem to come out?”
It was her turn to look away now. “More often than I'd like to admit,” she mumbled. Sure, she'd tried to talk to Adrien, but every attempt ended in virtually incoherent stuttering. Forget telling him something important—she could hardly even manage a 'hello' to him. But this wasn't about her, this was about Chat. She decided to leave it at that and sat down on the edge of the roof, patting the space beside her to indicate for him to sit with her. He did so after only a moment's hesitation.
“I understand that you're reluctant to tell me, and I can respect that,” she told him. She wanted to make sure there was no doubt in his mind that she wouldn't force him to talk against his will. “But when something is bothering you so much that you can't pay attention on patrol, well … can you blame me for wanting to know what's going on?”
“No,” Chat admitted quietly. He was looking down, out at the expanse of the city spread beneath them like a glimmering map, and his eyes reflected more golden than green in the light. “But what I want to tell you, it's … hard. Hard to say, I mean. It's something that's kind of a big deal, and it would completely change our dynamic. I'm not sure if it would change it for the better or for worse.” He swung his legs back and forth slowly over the edge of the roof, and heaved a sigh. “Please, can you wait, my lady? I promise I'll tell you someday, just … not now. Not tonight.”
Ladybug chewed at her bottom lip in thought. If it was something that would change the way they worked together, fought together, it would probably be better the sooner he got it off his chest. But then again, if it was as important as he said it was, he deserved the time to brace himself for whatever effects the news might have.
“I can wait,” she answered.
Chat's posture finally relaxed, loosening and slouching just enough to stop looking like his back was strapped to a pole, and he dropped his head onto her shoulder. “Thank you,” he breathed.
Ladybug flushed at the way his breath stirred the hair at the nape of her neck and pretended to be very interested in the cars driving past on the streets below.
~
“Do you think just saying 'I love you' outright is too direct, or would she get frustrated at me for beating around the bush if I didn't?”
Plagg groaned and reached for what Adrien was pretty sure was his fifth piece of Camembert. “Do you have to drag me into your confession plans?”
“Don't try to tell me that other Chat Noirs haven't fallen in love in the past, because I won't believe you,” Adrien retorted. “You're thousands of years old, aren't you? You probably have a better grasp on this whole love thing than I do.”
“My one true love has always been, and will always be, cheese,” Plagg informed him. “The rest, I never bother with. It makes no sense to me.”
Adrien sighed. “You really are no help whatsoever. Look, can you just … give me an idea. Anything. What have other Chat Noirs done?”
Plagg stopped eating long enough to look Adrien up and down. “I don't think you're old enough or smooth enough to pull it off.”
“Well, ouch,” Adrien muttered sarcastically. He leaned back in his chair and tried to think of whether he ought to just tell her or try to do something more elaborate. His gut reaction was to just tell her and get it over with, but he didn't want to make light of his affection for her by treating it casually. A love confession ought to be something memorable. Just on the off chance that she reciprocated his feelings.
Hell, he finally decided, he would just wing it. Even if he tripped over his words or stuttered, at least there would be no risk of screwing up a carefully fabricated plan if he didn’t have one in the first place.
~
Chat seemed bizarrely confident the next night, Ladybug noticed. It was a sharp contrast from the pinched nervousness of the previous night. He must have decided on something after patrol. Certainly he didn't seem as plagued by whatever had been bothering him for the past few days. “Feeling better, kitty?” she asked him when they had finished their patrol route and were preparing to part ways for the night.
He beamed at her. “You could say that,” he agreed. “My lady, before you go, there's something I have to tell you.”
He was ready, then. Ladybug did her best to brace herself for whatever news might be coming, and gave him an encouraging smile. “And what is that, Chat Noir?”
For a split second, she saw fear flicker in his eyes, and then it was gone as soon as it had come. “I've wanted to tell you this for months,” he admitted slowly, “but I could never quite bring myself to do it.” He shook off the last of his hesitation, his shoulders set with determination, and met her gaze with confidence. “Ladybug, I … I love you. Ever since we stopped Coeur de Pierre together, I've loved you. You're the strongest, bravest, most incredible girl I've ever known.”
Ladybug sucked in a deep breath. Oh.
Some little part of her had always known, but she had tried to push that particular little part very deep down and not think about it. She was a little scared of it, honestly. This kind of love, which sacrificed everything and gave everything and never asked for a single thing in return, was overwhelming, and that made it terrifying. She was only fifteen, ready for a simple, happy love, not this all-encompassing depth of love that threw the world away for the sake of the beloved. But there it was, in Chat's expression and in his words and in his movements.
Her heart broke to know that she would have to break his.
Chat was still talking, a little more hesitantly now. He was steeling himself for the worst already, she could tell. “I would do anything for you, my lady. Anything at all. So if you …” He bit his lip, and she saw the faintest hint of tears in his eyes. “If you want to stay friends, and pretend like this never happened, that's … that's okay. And if you don't want to have anything to do with me anymore … that's okay, too.”
Oh, God, he was making this harder. How was she supposed to turn him down when he seemed so starved for love? Ladybug took a very, very deep breath in, and let it out slowly. “Chat, you know I could never want nothing to do with you,” she started.
Chat relaxed, but only marginally. The flicker of anticipatory sadness was still in his eyes.
“But I …” She took another deep breath to steady herself. “I'm in love with someone else. So … I … I can't return your feelings.”
Chat Noir's face crumpled, and he visibly struggled to paste a smile back on his lips. It took a moment for him to succeed. “That's okay,” he assured her, although his tone of voice made it sound like it was anything but okay. “I … I had a feeling you wouldn't.”
She put her hands on his shoulders. “We can still be friends, though. I might not love you the way you love me, but I love you as a friend dearly. So if you're all right with continuing the way things were …”
“Of course I am,” Chat promised her. And she wasn't at all surprised by that. He would cling to what he could get. Even if it wasn't what he wanted.
Ladybug gave him a small smile. He was brave, so brave. Her kitty. She couldn't imagine the guts it had taken to confess like that. “Thank you for telling me.” She stood up on tiptoe to kiss his cheek, a platonic kiss from one friend to another. “Good night.”
“One more thing, before you go?” Chat requested as she turned to leave.
Ladybug turned back around to look at him inquiringly. “What is it?”
He looked down at the roof. “Could I … May I know the name of the one who holds my lady's heart?”
She struggled for a moment to decide, but figured there wasn't much he could do with just a name. Even a famous name. “It's Adrien,” she answered. “Adrien Agreste.”
Chat's jaw dropped.
Ladybug laughed nervously. “I know, it's completely hopeless and he'll probably never like me back, but …”
“No, that's not—I'm not shocked about that, I'm just—well, I am, actually, but—but—Adrien Agreste? Am I hearing the name right?”
“Yes,” she answered, somewhat peevishly. What was so dumbfounding about Adrien Agreste? Did he think Adrien wasn't her type?
There was a moment of silence wherein Chat continued to gape at her. Then he spoke.
“My lady, I … I am Adrien Agreste.”
“That's not funny, kitty,” she informed him, folding her arms across her chest. If he was going to tease her, she wished he'd pick a nicer way of doing it.
“No, I'm serious! I am Adrien. I can prove it.”
Ladybug raised an eyebrow at him. “Go ahead, then.”
A bright flash of green light enveloped Chat for a single blinding instant, and then it faded as fast as it had come, leaving him maskless in front of her.
“Hello, my lady,” Adrien said. He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. “So … um … is your answer still a no?”
Ladybug stared. And stared. And stared.
He wasn't lying.
Chat Noir was Adrien Agreste.
Adrien was Chat Noir.
Adrien began to fidget nervously. “My lady?”
She jerked out of her thoughts. “What?”
“Do you …” He cut off and shook his head as if frustrated at himself. “Never mind. I'm sorry. You've always said we should keep our identities a secret and I just …”
“That's not it,” she hastened to assure him. “That's not it at all. I'm just surprised, is all. I never expected Chat Noir would turn out to be … to be you.”
Adrien scuffed one shoe against the roof. “Then …”
“Just … I need a minute. I need to wrap my head around this.” She sat down, heavily, on the edge of the roof. How? How could Adrien, shy, kind Adrien, be the theatrical and cocky Chat Noir? They were nothing alike! Ladybug glanced back at him over her shoulder and saw he was waiting patiently where she had left him.
Well, maybe they were a little alike.
But only a little.
She dug and sifted through her memories, trying to match Adrien to Chat and Chat to Adrien. The one who, on their first meeting, had been trying to unstick gum from her seat and the one who, on their first meeting, had been bursting with excitement to try saving Paris. The boy who'd said he had never had friends before and the boy who had told her to have confidence in herself and in him. The boy who did his best to reel Chloé in when she got nasty and the boy who always, always put others' safety before his own. Slowly, in her mind, the puzzle pieces came together, and she began to see one boy instead of two, one boy who was lonely and desperate to see the world, who loved and cared for other people with everything he had. He was a dork, a little too self-conscious and a little too closely observed by the world to say and do what he wanted without the safety of a mask to hide behind. Sometimes he let a hint of his wit show through the shyness, just because he was unable to resist. But he was kind without reserve, with or without his mask. He always did what he believed to be the right thing.
What a beautiful picture that made.
Ladybug got to her feet at last, and came back over to Adrien. “You wanted to know if my answer was still a no?”
He nodded.
“Well, that depends.” She bit her lip. This would be a gamble. But if Adrien wanted to be with Ladybug, he needed to be able to love all of her. And that meant the side of her without the mask, too. She sent a prayer up to the heavens and let her transformation fall. “Does Chat Noir still love Ladybug if she's just Marinette?”
Adrien's face lit up first with recognition and then with such pure, utter joy that it made her heart skip a beat. Then he threw his arms around her, wrapping her up into a giddy, tight embrace, and spun her around. “Yes. Absolutely, definitely yes.” He set her back down, smiling from ear to ear. “I should have known it was you. Of course it was you. I can't believe I never noticed that my lady was my princess.”
Marinette flushed and looked down at the ground. “Th-then … you're not … disappointed?”
“Disappointed?” he echoed. “Why on earth would I be disappointed? Marinette, you're one of the sweetest, cleverest people I've ever met. I'm not disappointed at all.”
She peeked up at him shyly. “So … then … you still …?”
“Let me put whatever doubts you have at ease.” Adrien took her hands in his. “Marinette—my lady—I love you. I've loved you ever since we stopped Coeur de Pierre together, and I will never stop loving you, no matter what. I just want to know if you love me, too.”
“I do,” she whispered. She allowed him to pull her closer, and let her eyelids flutter shut as he leaned down to kiss her. It was short and chaste, the lightest and most tentative touch, but she had never felt so happy. And it would only be the first of many, many more to come.
Paris had never seemed more beautiful to Ladybug than it did that night, kissing Chat Noir beneath the moonlight.