11. Origins Finale

Helpless.

A whole five seconds of feeling that way was all it took. A few seconds of seeing Alya struggling, her parent’s desperation to help her, to Chat Noir crying out as he tried to escape Ivan’s grasp, and Marinette had made her decision.

The weight of her choice propelled her whole body forward as she dived underneath the debris, to the miraculous. To her miraculous.

She couldn’t stand by and let innocent people suffer. Despite any bad blood between them, she couldn’t let Chat Noir face this alone. Finally, she understood all that she could do. Finally, she knew who she was meant to become. What she was meant to be.

I can’t do this without you.

His words rang in her ears as she stretched her arm out, grunting in pain as she propelled herself just a bit further, just a little bit more. She was too weak in this state, the cut under her fringe reminded her of that. She needed Tikki.

Never in her life had she wished she was a 2d character more than this moment, able to bend at will. She inched further under the debris, praying it wouldn’t collapse on top of her. Every centimeter she moved made the metal and plastic above her groan and crunch. Still her bag was out of reach.

“Come on,” she grunted, partly to psyche herself up but mostly as a plea to some higher miraculous-giving power. Her fingers scraped against the cobblestones, almost there but not quite.

The debris above her shifted again and Marinette froze, holding her breath. If it collapsed, she’d be trapped. Or worse.

When nothing more happened, she closed her eyes, scrunched up her face, and decided to risk it all.

She threw herself to the side, her fingers finally touching the cloth of her purse. With a quick turn of her ankles, she awkwardly pushed herself towards the gap she’d crawled through before.

Just in time for the debris to start collapsing as she feared.

With a yelp, she pushed off of the ground with all her might. She had to make it. She had to.

The debris came down.

But she’d made it through! She’d got out! Sure, she was far more worse for wear than before, and had gained more scratches, particularly on her legs, but she’d done it! She’d gotten her bag back!

Pulling herself to her knees, Marinette wrenched open her purse. There was no time to recover from almost being crushed to death, no time to assess any potential injuries. Her loved ones needed her. The city needed her. Chat needed her.

And she needed Tikki.

Like the first time she opened the box, Tikki appeared in a beautiful burst of pink light. This time, however, Marinette was prepared. This time, she was ready.

“I knew you’d change your mind!” Tikki beamed at her. Although Marinette didn’t smile back, she did feel warmth spread through her- a kind of instinct telling her that as long as she had Tikki’s encouragement, there was nothing she couldn’t achieve. She placed the box down on the ground and removed the earrings.

“I can’t stand here while innocent people suffer. Not when I can do something!” she replied, putting the earrings back on.

“And that’s why you’ll be an amazing hero, Marinette!” Tikki replied.

Marinette clenched her fists, not wanting to linger a second longer. “Well, we’ll have to see about that. But for now, Tikki TRANSFORM ME!”

Power rushed through her, coursed through her veins. The first time she’d transformed had made her feel weird, like a plate of jelly sliding around a plate, desperate to stay put. Now was different. Now she welcomed it, embraced the power like an old friend. It was like breathing after a minute of holding her breath, and she was almost giddy from it. Her world disappeared into nothing but light, strength and magic. She accepted it all. Heart, body, and soul, she was one with the miraculous.

She was a hero.

She was Ladybug.

Acting on instinct, she grabbed her yoyo and flicked it towards the car Alya was pinned by. Whereas before the yoyo had disobeyed her, had seemed to have a life of its own, now it acted as an extension of herself. It did her bidding as she made it slice straight through the car, releasing Alya from its metallic hold.

She ran forwards, not even stopping to hear their thank-yous. Her eyes met her parents, and a strange pang filled her heart when their wide eyes fixed on her, not recognising their own daughter. But she pushed those feelings to the side. Now wasn’t the time to dwell on that. Besides, it was better that they didn’t know.

“Get to shelter!” she yelled to them, snapping her yoyo back towards her and spinning it. “Tell everyone you meet to do the same! It’s not safe outside!”

Only when she saw her parents, and Alya, complying did she turn herself away. Using the momentum from the yoyo, she flicked it out to a streetlamp. Chat and Ivan were almost at the end of the street. She had to be smart about this.

Launching herself into the air, she swung. Her feet stretched out, aiming straight for Ivan’s stone head. “HEY!”

Ivan turned his head at the sound, just in time to see her feet slam into his face. He wobbled, groaning in anger. Though he didn’t topple, the force of her kick disorientated him enough for her to swing around a second time, hitting the other side of his head with everything she had.

He began to fall, and Ladybug flipped forwards, landing on his back. Leaping over Ivan’s shoulder she reached out and grabbed Chat, propelling them both out of the way of Ivan’s body.

They landed close together, skidding to the ground in a way that would’ve surely broken all their bones had they not had their miraculous. Ladybug shook her head. Apparently the miraculous protected you from most injuries, but disorientation was still a factor. Her stomach swooped, but she recovered after a few breaths. Glancing up, she saw Chat sitting up with a groan.

Their eyes met. Ladybug froze, unable to speak after everything that had happened. Words had gotten them into this messy start. She didn’t know what to say to make it better.

Chat surprised her by speaking first. When he opened his mouth, she expected… actually she didn’t know what she expected. Another apology? An acknowledgement that she was there? Berating her for taking too long to show up?

Whatever she thought though, she was definitely not expecting him to ask, “Are you ok?”

Ladybug blinked, unsure of what to think. “I’m- I’m fine?” Sweet, she thought. He’s sweet .

Shoving that thought far away, she launched herself to her feet, offering her hand to Chat. He took it, smiling shyly as she pulled him to a standing. “I’m glad you’re here.”

Heat crept up her face. Why was he being so nice to her all of a sudden? Maybe he really was remorseful. “Well,” she stammered, turning her face away. “Couldn’t let you have all of the fun Kitty-Cat.”

“Kitty-Cat?”

Ladybug froze again, only this time it was in sheer, raw embarrassment. Oh my god what the hell is wrong with me?!

Chat Noir chuckled nervously. “That’s cute! I like that!”

Ladybug wanted to die. Maybe her Lucky Charm would procure a black hole she could jump into a disappear forever. Ok maybe that would literally kill her though and she didn’t want that.

Whilst contemplating creating a disappear-hole instead of a black hole, she failed to notice Ivan getting back to his feet. She shook her head, annoyed with herself and her partner for getting distracted. “Ok focus time,” she said, “We’ve got to fix this mess.”

“One akuma coming right up!” Chat Noir saluted, coming to stand by her side, before leaping back into action.

Ladybug watched and, for a moment, allowed herself the briefest of smiles before she too leapt back into the fray.

It was time to stop this akuma and free Ivan for good.

Later that evening, the sky split in two and the heavens opened, upending a ton of rain onto the city of Paris.

Ladybug tucked herself under the beams of the Eiffel Tower, knees to chest. Her heart was pounding enough for her to feel it in her legs but she tried to ignore it. Instead she closed her eyes, reaching out to feel droplets of rain as they pattered onto her gloved hand. Beside her rested her umbrella, which she’d brought in case the rain picked up. She didn’t want to get soaked on the way home. Tikki had assured her that she wouldn’t catch a cold in her superhero state, but still it was better to be safe than sorry. At least until she got used to the whole superhero thing.

The whole day had gone by so quickly. Everything from their take down of Ivan to their confrontation with the so-called “Hawkmoth” was a blur. She’d barely been able to say anything to Chat Noir beyond calling out strategic manoeuvres.

They had a lot to talk about, which is why they’d decided to meet here. If Chat’s passionate message to her through the news report had been any indication, they’d had some misunderstandings to say the least. Misunderstandings that, if she was going to remain a superhero, they really needed to clear up. If they were going to make the best out of their partnership, communication was the key. Even if they couldn’t share everything, like their identities, they had to make sure they were as honest as possible. Honest and clear.

Not that she was letting him off the hook for his earlier rudeness, he still owed her an explanation for that at least. But she needed to apologise too. She could’ve handled things better.

Ladybug brought her hand back in to the safety of the Eiffel Tower. It felt weird, to be up so high with no fear of falling.

“Hi!”

The happy chirp from behind her gave Ladybug a start and she jerked, almost slipping off her perch but grabbing a hold of the edge just in time. Peering over her shoulder she saw Chat Noir, arms behind his back, sheepish. “Sorry I startled you.”

He came to sit beside her, and Ladybug said nothing again. Looking down at the view below them, she noticed that the city faded into mist and rain and clouds, reminding her of those hazy oil paintings her mother went through a phase of collecting a few years back. Some street lights had already flickered on in preparation for dusk. It made her acutely aware that she and Chat were the only ones around for miles. The powers that be had closed the Tower to visitors after the earlier akuma attack.

They were well and truly alone.

The problem was, now that they were alone, neither of them seemed to have a clue where to begin.

Ladybug bit her lip, inhaled through her nose, and decided to fortify. If she couldn’t talk to Chat Noir now, chances were low that she’d ever be able to talk to him properly.

“I’m-” she began to apologise.

“I just wanted-” he said at the same time as her. Evidently, they’d both decided to put their best foot forward simultaneously and ended up smacking headfirst into each other.

Well, she thought remembering the start of their first meeting, at least this time they were smacking into each other metaphorically instead of physically.

“Oh, you first,” Chat yielded, putting his hands up and gesturing her to continue. Ladybug shook her head.

“No, please. I want to hear what you have to say,” she said, hoping her tone was more gentle than accusatory.

Chat’s eyes went wide with shock, his mouth parted into a little “o” shape. It was as though he’d not been told that very often. A pink tinge dusted the tips of his ears (his real ears, his cat ears were a little droopy and Ladybug was finding it hard not to think of it as adorable). He shuffled awkwardly in his seat, staring at his lap.

“I just wanted to say that you were really awesome out there today, what with the way you confronted Hawkmoth and told all of Paris that we’d protect them,” he uttered, so quiet Ladybug almost couldn’t hear him over the rain. He glanced back up at her, smiling the tiniest, shyest smile she’d seen from him so far. It struck a chord in her heart. A chord that had never been played before. She gripped her chest and stared, transfixed. “And Ladybug is a cool superhero name by the way! Excellent choice!”

This made Ladybug frown, confused. “Are you... patronising me again?” she replied, warily tilting head.

The smile was wiped from his face in an instant. He sat up, ram-rod straight, and began waving his arms like they were made of spaghetti. Ladybug didn’t know whether to laugh or be concerned. “No, no, no! I’m not! I swear! And I wasn’t patronising you before either. I mean- I know it sounded like I was. But I really didn’t mean it like that. I just meant that I thought you were some kind of prodigy, to have been chosen to wield a miraculous as a teenager. Well, I’m only twenty so it’s not like I can talk much about being an adult. I’m still treated like a kid. Probably more than you are. Anyway”- he finally took a breath here, pausing to run his hand backwards over his hair and cat ears, then down his face- “the point is I wasn’t trying to offend you. But I did. And I’m really, truly sorry. I’m so sorry. I’m not good with stuff like this.”

Ladybug sat back, her mind reeling. His outburst was a lot to process. “Not good with what?”

Chat pouted, putting a hand at the back of his neck. “People. Talking. Socialising in general. I’m not really good at it. It sounds dumb I know, but I never went to school… or really had any friends. Except one but we don’t talk much these days. So, all of this is sort of new to me.”

He shrugged, offering another smile that was significantly more vulnerable than the one he’d worn before. For the first time, Ladybug wondered what he’d look like without a mask.

Tentatively, she reached out with both hands and placed them into his own. Ladybug gasped at the contact, even though she initiated it. Her fingers tingled and she didn’t have a clue as to why. Chat stared at the contact, his expression unreadable. He only looked up when she began to speak. “I need to apologise too. I overreacted because I was already doubting myself and my abilities, so I think what you said touched a nerve. But it wasn’t fair of me to be so snappy and judgemental. It was immature. I’m sixteen and I was acting like I’m six for crying out loud. I’m sorry.”

Chat nodded at her, and Ladybug’s shoulders relaxed at his acceptance of her apology. They continued to hold hands, and she found herself not wanting to stop.

“Well I think it’s safe to say that we got off on the wrong paw,” Chat winked.

Ladybug snorted, trying not to laugh. “Oh, so you’re a joker now?”

Growing bolder at her reaction, he leaned closer to her, unaware of what the closeness was doing to her heart. Seriously though, why was her whole body going haywire? Sure, he was good looking but she wasn’t that shallow. In fact, good looking or not, she’d been prepared to hate his guts before. They were still holding hands.

Oblivious to her inner turmoil, he amended his earlier pun, “The wrong claw?”

Ladybug giggled at that, letting go of his hand to push his face away, her own growing hot. “Stop. Oh my god.”

“The wrong toe beans!” he cried, tapping his palm with his fist.

Ladybug couldn’t hold back her laughter anymore. She wrapped her arms around her middle, hoping it would calm the butterflies. How had she been so wrong about him? He wasn’t a jerk, he was a hopeless dork!

But she kind of liked that.

“Ladybugs don’t have toe beans!” she gasped for air once her giggle fit subsided. The proud beam of Chat’s face (was he seriously that happy to have made her laugh? Maybe he really wasn’t used to having friends) only made him more endearing to her. “But I’d say our start was pretty rocky for sure.”

“Ooooh good one Little Lady!” he praised, sparkles in his catlike eyes, then added, “Do you mind if I call you that? You can keep calling me Kitty-Cat!”

Ladybug sat back, resting her weight on her hands. She mulled it over. “Little Lady?”

“Yeah, because Ladybugs are small and cute and so are you!” he explained, with such an air of innocence that Ladybug couldn’t be offended even if she tried.

She felt herself grow as red as her suit, tugging at her pigtails and hiding behind them. “Jeez Kitty-Cat, you really are socially inept huh?”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“N-nothing,” she said, wanting to change the subject. “As long as you don’t mean it in a horrible way, I think Little Lady is a nice nickname.”

They stayed that way for a while, in comfortable silence. Well, Ladybug thought, it was probably comfortable for Chat. Her insides kept going crazy whenever she looked at him. Get it together already, she chided herself, what’s the matter with you?

“Oh! I almost forgot!” Chat reached to the side, procuring a small white box. “I bought this for you. Not that I’m trying to buy your friendship of anything. I just saw it on my way back home earlier and thought it made a really nice peace offering. Plus! It’s symbolic. You’ll see when you open it.”

He pressed the box towards her eagerly and Ladybug took it. Their fingers brushed again as she met his eyes. They were warm, soft. They screamed at her to trust him and honestly? She wanted to. She may have known him only for a short time, and liked him for even less time than that, but she wanted to trust her partner.

Thunder rumbled overhead. It cracked through the haze of her confusion and suddenly Ladybug realised exactly what the stirring feelings inside her meant. Oh .

Oh.

Oh no.

“Open it, I promise it’s not an akuma,” Chat joked.

“HA!” Ladybug barked out a laugh that had them both jumping in shock. If she hadn’t been blushing before, she certainly was now. “Ha,” she said again, only much quieter this time. “Akuma! Funny! Yeah!”

She opened the box, wanting to do something beyond look at him. Looking at him was rendering her into an incoherent, babbling mess.

Once the lid was off, however, and she saw what was inside, all she could do was gasp.

Inside lay a rose. A beautiful, bright yellow rose in full bloom. The box had a thin layer of protective glass over it that appeared as though it could be removed.

It looked like something out of a fairy tale. Ladybug could only gawk at it.

“Do you like it?” Chat asked. “It’s called a forever rose. It’s a real rose, but they do something to it when it’s in full bloom to make it so that it looks like that forever. It’s kind of like the gremlins though. You can’t give it water else it will spring back to life and then die. I chose this one because the florist told me that yellow means friendship. And I wanted you to know that I’ll always have your back, LB.”

Well, if the look he’d given her hadn’t sealed her doom, the forever rose and his meaning behind it certainly did.

Swallowing her shock for the time being, she put all of her efforts into looking gracious, “I love y-IT! IT! I love it! Thank you! I promise I’ll always keep it safe.” She held up a fist, ready to bump it against his like they’d done earlier, seemingly on instinct. “He- here’s to a great future working together!”

It was as his own fist nudged against hers, and he gave her the warm ‘trust me’ look again that she realised.

She not only liked Chat Noir.

She liked him.

And she was totally and utterly screwed.

“So, you guys stayed there, all that time in the rain?”

Chat Noir blinked down at her. For a while, his eyes had been distant as he’d recalled the past. It was so strange to hear about it through his ears. What sounded like the start of a wonderful friendship, filled with hope and promise for him, had been the start of a completely different and far more panic-inducing set of feelings for her.

Hearing the story of how they met from his perspective was strange. She’d never noticed back then how nervous he was. He’d seemed so sure of himself, if shy and dorky. From the way he told it though, he’d been terrified that she’d jab the rose in his eye and kick his tail to the curb. Literally.

Marinette cringed at the temper she used to have. Granted she still had a temper, but back then with all the hormones? She’d been a bomb ready to go off the second she witnessed someone being cruel. Being Ladybug especially, had tempered that side of her.

She had so many questions, questions that she had to bite back because they were definitely questions only Ladybug would be able to ask. It killed her a little bit.

“A little bit longer, but then we had to head home,” Chat replied, running his hand up and down her back in lazy circles. His cat ears perked up in time with his lips as he recalled something. “She gave me her umbrella, saying it was her way of apologising. I think she also said something like ‘cats hate the rain more than bugs’ but it came out all garbled which was cute.”

Marinette buried her face in the crook of his neck. The gesture would appear innocent to Chat, as they were cuddling on the bed, but it was really to hide how red her face was. Of course, she knew why the words had come out garbled. It’s because she’d just realised that she had a huge crush on him and she’d been freaking the hell out!

Now she knew one-hundred percent, that he was oblivious. For the longest time she’d been terrified he knew about her feelings and had wilfully ignored them for the sake of their partnership. She was glad that wasn’t the case.

“I still have that umbrella you know,” he mused aloud. “I should probably give that back some day, but I guess I kept it for sentimental reasons. It was the first gift I ever got from a friend besides Chl- besides my only friend at the time. So, it’s kind of sentimental. I wonder if she still has the rose?”

Marinette’s fingers tightened into a fist. Her mouth felt dry. Never in her life had she wanted to just open up and tell him. Tell him that yes, she still had the rose, that she kept it hidden away and looked at it whenever she was sad. That she’d looked at it all the time back when she was recovering after getting shot, and she wasn’t allowed to be Ladybug until she recovered. That she’d memorised every swirling petal, every shade of yellow, every thorn and reminded herself that forever, forever, forever , he’d said their friendship was forever . He wouldn’t abandon her because she’d been stupid and let herself get shot right as they finally put an end to the evil spreading through Paris. It had been the only thing holding her together in those long months of recovery. That and stopping the evil for good of course.

But the weight of it all was too huge. It forced her tongue to the bottom of her mouth and kept it there. She remained silent, only managing a hum that might’ve sounded contemplative.

“Oh!” Chat sat upright suddenly, bringing Marinette with him. “I’ve gotta run! The anniversary celebrations are going to start soon.”

“Y- yeah, of course,” Marinette replied, as the pair of them climbed out onto the balcony. The sky was glowing gold as dusk drew near. “Wow, you really did talk for hours huh?”

“What can I say? I’m a storyteller!” Chat shrugged, offering a cheeky wink in her direction.

Marinette giggled half-heartedly.

“You’ll be there, tonight won’t you? At the celebrations?” Chat asked, shuffling awkwardly. He reached out, touching the tips of her fingers with his own. “I know I probably won’t be able to see you in the crowd but, it would mean the world to me if you are there.”

And with that, part of Marinette’s spirit seemed to curl away like dust. Shame crawled up her throat like bile, thick and burning.

“Of- of course I’ll be there,” she said, throwing herself against his chest and wrapping him into a tight embrace. Easier to pretend she was just being a loving, caring girlfriend than the lying coward she was.

Why was she so afraid?

Why couldn’t she just tell him?

Before she could even begin to entertain the idea though, Chat pulled back. Lifting up her chin to face him, he leaned close and pressed a soft, caring kiss to her lips.

She knew, deep down, that he’d accept her. That if she told him she was Ladybug he wouldn’t reject her for that.

What was keeping her from ending the kiss, was the lying. For six months, she’d been lying to him, kissing him, touching him, being intimate with him.

Still, she thought as she watched him disappear beyond the rooftops, it wasn’t right.

She was going to have to do it.

She was going to have to confess.

Right there, in that moment, with Chat’s love bracelet on her wrist and the vision of the forever rose she kept locked away in her mind, she made her decision.

The next time he came to her balcony, she’d tell him the truth.

This had gone on long enough.

For now, though, she was going to let the weight of that decision settle inside her heart, and enjoy an evening celebrating the end of Hawkmoth’s reign of terror over the city.

Later that evening, Ladybug swung over the Trocadero to thunderous applause, standing at the top of the staircase with the current Mayor and her partner. This was the part of the job that she loved the most, seeing all the happy citizens that were safe because her and Chat had stopped Hawkmoth. It reminded her why she did this; reminded her that, beyond the crowds of adoring fans and the relationship drama, she had a purpose. She was a superhero, a force for good, and she made a difference. That, to her, meant everything.

After the speeches were done, the street party began in earnest. Chat offered a hand to her, as he always did, and the pair of them danced the night away. But this time, he kept looking over her shoulder, out at the crowd, and her heart panged when she realised why.

“Something on your mind, Kitty-Cat?” she asked, keeping her voice as low as possible as she twirled under his arm.

This startled Chat and he shook his head as though someone had poured water all over it. “Oh, n-no, nothing. Was just wondering if I could spot someone I knew, that’s all.”

That wasn’t all and Ladybug knew it. But she’d stay silent for now. “We still have to swap gifts you know,” she reminded him.

“After this dance?” he asked, “I’m really fe-line it!”

Ladybug rolled her eyes fondly. “Sure, sure,” she replied, leaning close. The song was slower in nature, and couples around the Trocadero were swaying gently to the romantic melody.

She didn’t want to think about the way he was holding her now, and how different it was to the way he held her as Marinette, yet it was all she could think of. “Happy anniversary Chat Noir,” she whispered, as both halves of herself. As Ladybug, celebrating the anniversary of their triumph and as Marinette, thinking about the sixth month anniversary since they first got together. Since the first lie.

“Happy anniversary Ladybug,” he smiled back, his eyes sparkling in the warm hue of the streetlights, catching the glistening light display of the tower where their friendship had begun.

She wasn’t going to lie any longer.