Chapter 17 - The Reveal

Marinette was sleeping in her bed, dreaming happily about Cat Noir, when someone kept shaking her. She groaned sleepily and rolled over.

"Marinette, wake up!"

Marinette opened her eyes and was greeted by her best friend, Alya.

"Alya, what are you doing here so early?" Marinette asked, sitting up and rubbing her eyes.

"Early? Girl, it's 1 o'clock in the afternoon!" Alya told her, laughing.

"Huh? What?" Marinette said incredulously. Did she really sleep in that long?

"You must have been up pretty late last night. Maybe... you got a secret visitor?" Alya said, leaning in towards Marinette with a teasing grin.

"W-what? Who would even v-visit me when it's date night - I mean, late at night," Marinette said, climbing out of bed quickly.

"I don't know, your secret soulmate perhaps?" Alya said, smiling.

"N-no!" Marinette said in a panic.

Alya started laughing. "I'm just joking with you, girl," she said.

Marinette let out a sigh of relief. It would be hard for her to explain that someone was in her house last night, and it wasn't just anybody - it was a superhero.

"Well anyway, come on, let's go do something. We haven't hung out in a while!" Alya exclaimed.

Marinette nodded happily. Everything was just perfect. Well, almost. She was dying to tell Alya that her soulmate wasn't just any boy - he was Cat Noir.

"Why don't we bake something?" Marinette asked eagerly.

"Yeah, girl, I've been craving cupcakes!" Alya responded. Marinette laughed as her best friend pulled her downstairs to the kitchen.

Later, after a day with Alya full of baking, watching television, chatting, and eating cupcakes, Marinette lay back on her bed, exhausted yet happy. Things were good with her best friend, things were good with her... boyfriend? Marinette didn't know what her and Chat were, exactly.

There was a knock on the window. Marinette smiled.

She crossed the room and saw Chat's face, grinning at her. He pointed at the balcony, clearly wanting her to come up onto it with him. She giggled and climbed up the ladder.

Stepping outside, Marinette felt the cold night air hit her skin. Chat Noir started to greet her, pulling her towards him.

"Mari-"

"What are we?" she said, interrupting him. He looked startled. She smiled sheepishly. "Sorry. I was just wondering, are we dating? Am I your girlfriend?"

Chat Noir's eyes lost their confusion. "Of course, Marinette. Of course you are. Why wouldn't you be?"

"I-I don't know. I just wasn't sure."

Chat smiled. "Dating you is the only thing I want."

Marinette realized it all at once, and she felt the urge to say it, just blurt it all at once. So she did. "Chat?"

"Yes?"

"I love you," she said nervously, staring up into his green eyes, which lit up. She didn't think he'd ever been more handsome.

"I love you too," he said, and even though he'd confessed that already she still felt her heart clench in happiness and butterflies fill her stomach. She stood on tiptoes to meet his lips and they shared a long kiss.

Marinette felt something weird. Sparks. Of course, she'd felt figurative sparks before with Chat, but as they broke apart, she saw actual sparks in the air and felt a sensation travel up the top of her arm.

"Chat? Did you feel that?" she asked. He nodded, puzzled. "Sparks felt like they were traveling to my shoulderblade."

"For me, it was my bicep," Marinette responded. Then she realized something. "Wait. Isn't that where your soulmate mark is?" She'd never seen it, as the suit was stuck to his skin, but he'd told her before.

He nodded. "And yours is on your... shoulderblade."

Marinette started to panic. "Do you think something changed? Maybe the marks-"

"Marinette. It's probably fine," Chat Noir said, his hand brushing her face.

She nodded, calming down with his touch.

"Why don't you look at your bicep and see?" he suggested.

That was a good idea. She took off her jacket, shivering a little, and twisted her head to look down at her arm.

There, printed in a square font, were the letters A.A. They were blue.

Marinette really started to panic. "What's going on? Who is that?" She twisted her head again and pushed her shirt aside a little. C.N. was still there.

Chat Noir looked at her arm. She couldn't read his expression.

"I don't understand. A.A? Do I have a... a second soulmate or something?" she asked, hoping it wasn't true.

He raised his head again and looked at her. "No, you don't have a second soulmate. That's just me."

"I don't understand."

"That's just me... Adrien." Marinette felt shock run through her body.

He spoke the words softly. "Plagg, claws in."

He detransformed, and there stood her soulmate... Adrien Agreste. A.A. His kwami flitted around him.

She couldn't believe it. Marinette just could not believe that all this time, they were the same person. She had gone through so much heartbreak! So much pain! She'd been so dense. If only she'd known all along, she could have saved herself a lot of hurt.

"Adrien," she breathed. Looking at him, she finally saw all the similarities between him and Chat. Yet, she also saw all the differences. Adrien seemed so much more free, not under such pressure, when he was in his superhero form. 

"When I first met you, I thought my heart belonged to ladybug, but I was wrong. It only belongs to you," Adrien spoke, seeming nervous.

Marinette looked at him and took his hand in hers. "It's okay if part of it still belongs to Ladybug." He looked confused. She squeezed his hand tighter. "Adrien, I am Ladybug."

He didn't have time to say anything, a look of shock on his face, before she murmured the words, "Tikki, spots on."

She transformed. There they stood, Adrien and Ladybug.

"You're Lady-"

"Finally," a sarcastic voice interrupted. It was Adrien's kwami. "That took ages. You two sure are dense."

Adrien started to laugh, Ladybug joining in. "Marinette, or Ladybug, meet Plagg."

He cleared his throat. "I just - I can't believe you're her."

"I can't believe you're !" she responded. Happiness was flooding her body.

He faced her, and took her other hand in hers. "This whole time, I've been fighting my heart to make it belong to you, Marinette, but it turns out my heart was right all along."

"It always was," she said.

This time they moved at the same time to kiss each other. It felt so familiar, yet so much better now that they'd revealed themselves.