"So this is the guy?"

"Yeah."

Both Adrien and Marinette knocked, and, when answered, walked into a secluded room in an apartment complex somewhere in Paris. Adrien had never been to this particular area in the city. He never had a reason to, not even as Chat Noir, like the Akuma were determined to stay away from this area. He had no idea why that was, but it never occurred to him to look. Perhaps he was simply uninterested, or hadn't paid enough attention to it.

He found what seemed like a very basic room, with only a table in the main living area. the floor was wooden, and the entire area was Chinese in aesthetic. It was all very minimal living, barely even any technology in the room. And despite having been welcomed in, there was no one inside.

"Hello?" Adrien called out into the room. He was met without a response. "Mari, you're sure this is the place, right?"

"Absolutely. This is where I met him."

"I can sense him here too." Plagg commented, levitating from his owners pocket. He floated around the room, seeming to remember all of the details rather well.

He was followed closely by Nooroo, who had tagged along with them. He had remained with the group for quite some time. It was, in fact, him who had suggested returning to this place. He had wanted to speak to Fu.

"You feel that too then?" Tikki asked, emerging from Marinette's purse. "Nooroo? you also sense it, right?"

"I - I do..."

Looking around and venturing deeper into the room, Adrien made his way to the table. on it, there was an octagon shaped object, with jewels atop it. Each jewel was in a different method of clothing, such as a broach, or a ring, or a pendant. They were all different colors, and despite seeing them for the first time, the young hero knew what they were instantly. "Miraculouses?...

"They're very old magical creations."

"Gaaah!" Caught completely off guard by an old mans deep voice, Adrien shot back and upright, half expecting that he was under attack. Marinette was more relaxed than he was, but she reminded herself it wasn't the first time she had met Fu.

"Relax, Chat Noir."The old Chinese man said, raising a hand as a symbol of peaceful intentions.

It was weird, but Adrien's first impulse was to ask how the master knew him, but then he remembered, freaking everyone in Paris knew who he was. He had automatically reverted to a fighting stance, ready to brawl, but he relaxed upon seeing the old man. He had grey hair, and seemed to walk with a bit of a hunch, presumably due to back pains. He also wore a red and white Hawaiian looking shirt.

"So... You're Master Fu?"Adrien asked, curiously.

"That is me indeed." Fu nodded, and turned himself to Marinette whom he greeted with a smile. "Marinette. Ladybug. It is good to see you again."

"Likewise, sir."

"You didn't think to mention this guy before?" Adrien asked, somewhat sarcastically.

"I must apologize for that, Chat Noir." Fu said. "It was I who requested she keep my location a secret." He bowed his head in apology, a Chinese traditional custom. "I had to prioritize the safety of the Miraculouses. Now that the danger is negligible, I was intending to request a meeting anyway."

Fu prepared some tea for each of the individuals there. Adrien and Marinette both noticed, his tea was very sweet. It border-lined with tasting bitter, but never crossed that point. Adrien would have compared it to a cafe's standard, were is slightly less sweet. Fu seemed to enjoy going a tiny bit over the top with things such as this.

The Kwami seemed to like Fu. Even Plagg, who was the most sarcastic one of the trio, seemed to hold Fu in high regards and respect. Fu had even had Camembert prepared for the cat Kwami.

It was a daunting moment for Adrien. This was the man he had to thank. For his Miraculous. for his ability to become Chat Noir. Marinette had explained that much to him... But it still was a lot for the young Parisian to fully accept. He had just assumed the Miraculous had made its way to him because Plagg had chosen him, not that someone else had chosen Plagg to go to Adrien.

"I believe it is only proper to congratulate the pair of you." Fu said, after a long sip of his own tea. "You have defeated your greatest adversary, Hawkmoth. This is truly a momentous occasion. You have done for me a task that I was unable to accomplish. I thank you for that greatly, young heroes."

"You're the one who chose us for this task, right? To beat Hawkmoth. That's why you gave us our miraculouses?" Adrien asked, wanting to confirm Marinette's assessment.

"That's correct. I both chose you personally."

"...May I ask why?"

Fu took another long sip of his tea, leaving Adrien in suspense. He looked over to Marinette, who seemed just as curious as he was. She leaned over the table very lightly, as if she was peering over. Once Fu had finished his sip, he placed his cup on a cup holder gently. "Because I have seen your kindness first hand."

Both the miraculous holders shot a look at one another.

"You may not remember me, but there has been a point win which you have both aided me. You stood to gain nothing from helping me. Helping me would have, in fact, been a hindrance to your day. And regardless of that fact, both of you aided me in different ways. you went out of your way to help." Fu looked between the two of them. "That is, what I believe, is the greatest quality of a hero."

"I see..." Adrien nodded. "Why us though? I mean, surely we aren't the only ones..."

"I'm curious about that too, Mr. Fu." Marinette added. "There had to be more suitable people than us."

"That is incorrect, Marinette."Fu lamented. As he did so, he petted Plagg on his head gently. Adrien himself hadn't been aware Plagg could purr. fu had proven him wrong on that front in the space of five minutes. "The fact is, in my very long life, I have never seen two individuals more suited to being Ladybug and Chat Noir. You are correct, there are many fine people who also are worthy of wielding a miraculous. The miraculous of Ladybug and Chat Noir, however, have to be selected very carefully, not just as one, but as two."

"I don't follow." Adrien admitted.

"The cat and bug miraculouses always work as a team." The Chinese man explained. "Always. they are connected to one another. That is why you alone are able to track the movements of the other one. This is why you are able to work so well together. You were considered and then chosen to become Ladybug and Chat Noir because your personalities, attitudes, opinions and chemistry was the best out of anyone in all of France."

This caused both the miraculous wielders to blush. That was how well they worked together?

"It is not uncommon either, for miraculous wielders to fall in love." That comment sparked an even deeper blush between the two. "You two were connected long before I arrived. You could consider yourselves, in your terms, soulmates. You were made for each other."

The two of them joined hands and looked at the other, and smiled.

"This is why I selected the pair of you to be the holders of the Cat miraculous, and the bug miraculous."

"About that..." Adrien commented. Marinette nodded at him, and he carried on. "We were thinking... Well... Hawkmoth's gone now... And... Well... The miraculous... People know about them now, and they know we have them... So... We thought..." Adrien slide the ring from his finger, and placed it in his palm. He held it out to give to Fu. "If you want it back... It is yours."

"It is true. There had not been a recorded incident in which the miraculous holders were discovered. this is not a situation in which I have prepared for. It is an unexpected one."

"Sir." Plagg said. Adrien was surprised Plagg even had the vocabulary to show respect for anyone verbally. "They're good guys. They're really good guys. I want to stay with Adrien."

"Plagg..." Adrien was moved, in a word. Plagg...

"Master Fu, sir, I agree with Plagg. Marinette is an excellent Ladybug. I want to remain with her."

"Tikki..."

The miraculous defender laughed quietly, like he had seen this coming. "I could not agree more with you two. Plagg is certainly a difficult creture to gain respect from, and Tikki has an eye for spotting talent and kindness." Fu took hold of Adrien's hand, and wrapped the young boys fingers around his ring. "Keep it. And take good care of it. "

"So, Mari, tell me, how's it feel knowing everyone knows who Ladybug is?" Adrien asked with a certain amount of smugness to his voice. He was teasing her. The world had learned who Ladybug was about a month and a half ago, and enough time had passed for the two of them to be able to joke about everything that had happened.

"It hurts my ears for one thing." Marinette responded with a smile. "I keep having to hear Alya freaking out about it. She still hadn't come to terms with it yet." School had... Certainly been an experience for the blunette girl. There had been a long, long , long list of questions and admirers she had had to deal with. If it weren't for Adrien helping her, she wasn't sure if she'd have ever gotten them away from her.

"Now you know how I felt." Adrien laughed. "Still, I guess it's easier for you. There's not a whole lot of danger for people knowing who you are. With me, we still had to worry about Hawkmoth knowing who we were, but since he's rotting in a cell, it doesn't matter too much."

"It's still kind of embarrassing though..." The teenage girl lamented, her face going a bit red. "It's weird knowing that everyone knows what I did as Ladybug..."

"You're too humble. Enjoy your time in the spotlight, m'lady." Adrien commented, showing off the muscles on his right arm, along with his scar.

A month and a half of no real danger, no real need for Ladybug and Chat Noir, had been liberating to the two teenagers. They still patrolled, of course, but there wasn't an explicit need for them. It had let them settle back into their regular lives, focusing on school work, their friends, and of course, one another. Adrien had gotten his wish of simply being able to take Marinette on dates from time to time. The two of them had just been to a cafe, and were wondering around Paris with no real destination in mind. They got a few looks, but by this point, they were used to it. It didn't really matter.

What Marinette had found amazing about the who city knowing about her identity as Ladybug, was just how compliant and understanding they were of her wishes. More so than Chat Noir, weirdly, but then again, she had been the more popular hero of the two of them. People seemed to admire and look up to her far more than the amount of people did Chat Noir. That was just how things were. So while she did occasionally have to deal with some over-enthusiastic fans, many had been respectful of her desires to have a normal life, as well as hero superhero one.

The people of Paris understood her requests and left her to it. She wasn't sure if she'd ever be able to express how much she appreciated that.

"Maybe you enjoy the spotlight too much, Kitty." Marinette teased, gently prodding him in the cheek.

"You wound me."

"How have things been at your house, anyway?"

Adrien bit his lip and thought for a moment. "Well... It's weird without Gabriel being there, but it's pretty much like normal. Gorilla pretty much takes care of me from a legal perspective, but he doesn't stick around all the time. So it's not like anything had changed too much for me." He turned. "Why, has stuff been difficult for you?"

"Aside from seeing some people outside my house every few days with Ladybug themed banners?"

Adrien couldn't help but laugh at that. "You know, I don't think it ever got that bad for me. You really are in the spotlight, Bugaboo. Maybe you should do some poses for the camera. Sign a few autographs. You know, really get an idea for the life I've had up until recently."

"Oh, shut it."

"But I'm having fun!"

Marinette just sighed again. "You really are a piece of work."

Smiling, Adrien wrapped his arm around the back of Marinette's neck and held her close to him. "You'd miss me if I left."

"That's definitely true. Aside from those people, Maman and Papa have sort of gotten used to it now. I guess? I don't know. Seeing them is just sort of awkward now... But they're getting used to it. I think it's more that they weren't expecting it - you know, Ladybug - To be me."

"Your parents are nice. They at least care about you." Adrien reminded her. "They're only like that because they're worried about you." To be completely honest, Adrien was amazed her parents even slightly tolerated her life as Ladybug. He had spoken with them a few times since she had left the hospital, and he had learned they were, in fact, proud of her, but said it was hard to speak to her the same way when she has been going out and saving them on a regular basis. It made sense to Adrien, but he would never be able to thank them enough for the support they showed Marinette.

"I know." Marinette responded, resting her head in the crook of his neck, her normal, comfortable resting place whenever they were close like this. "And I care about you."

"That's pretty much all I need, m'lady." Adrien said, resting his own head atop Marinette's. He made a light purring noise from the back of his throat, mostly just as a joke for the two of them. He liked to act like an actual cat occasionally when they were having a good time together, mostly because he had done it once, and Marinette had found it adorable.

School was like a dream for both the teenagers after fighting for so long. Well over a year of fighting Hawkmoth, of fighting Akuma, of fighting all sorts of villains and evil creatures for so long, just returning to find the area of an equilateral triangle was like heaven to both of them.

There was certainly a lot of change with the revelation of Marinette being Ladybug, the first and foremost being that Chloe had finally learned when to keep her mouth shut. she hadn't admitted fault in the slightest, but she knew now when to keep her distance. surprisingly, she and Adrien had spoken. And She had accepted Adrien's feelings for Marinette. That had been a surprise to everyone in the room. It was unlikely she would have done had she not known Marinette was in fact, Ladybug.

Alya had the next biggest reaction known to mankind, and had thrown more questions at Marinette than a machine gun would be able to. Contrary to what the blunette girl had been expecting, the blogger seemed to be completely ecstatic about the fact her best friend was the superhero she had admired for so very long.

While it had died down after a month or so, there was still definitely the wonder and excitement about the two of the young heroes in the classroom.

"So, Marinette, which one did you kiss first? Was it Adrien or Chat Noir?" Alya asked with the biggest grin on her face, smugly looking at her flustered friend. Their conversation had caught the attention of Adrien and Nino, sat just below them. Adrien shared Alya's grin. Marinette had to remember to make sure he paid for that later.

"...If you must know, it was Chat." Marinette confessed with a large crimson blush.

"How did that happen?!" Alya asked with an excited squeal.

"You remember when you convinced her to help me after I'd stayed off school for a week?" Adrien asked, recalling the memory fondly. "It's quite the story, isn't it my love?"

"You're so dead."

"But I didn't get to tell them how you were the one who kis - "

"Adrien!" Marinette groaned in embarrassment, covering up her cheeks. Adrien laughed warmly at his girlfriends embarrassment.

It was one of the few times he felt normal.

It didn't last long.

"Alright students, settle down." Their teacher announced upon entering the room. "I assume everyone had completed their homework assignments. I want you all to take them out and prepare them for me to collect."

Adrien reached into his bag and searched for his work pad. "Chat Noir and Ladybug save the world, but no one is gonna save them from Mathematics."

In that moment, however, something shook the ground. Like footsteps, on a gigantic scale. The started out faintly, coming closer with each and every step. As they came closer, the classroom could hear panicked screams come from outside.

"What's going on?" Adrien asked, standing up and walking, with he intention of checking the window.

He was suddenly knocked back with serious force, as the wall essentially exploded in front of him. He was sent flying backwards, just short of hitting the wall. In place of the wall, was a giant fist. At the other end of that fist, was a giant human that looked like a cross between a man, and a giant scorpion.

"Everyone get out!" Marinette yelled, he orders complied with quickly, even the teacher helping to evacuate the students. Once alone, MArinette checked on Adrien. He was fine, just a bit winded. "Is that an Akuma?!"

"No way. Fu has Nooroo. And an Akuma couldn't do this."

"So we're dealing with something completely different."

"Looks that way."

Marinette sighed. "We're never going to get to have a normal life again, are we?"

"Probably not... But you know something, my lady?" Adrien smirked at his girlfriend. "I don't think I mind that too much."

Marinette smiled and cracked her fingers. "I guess it's time to get to work."

"I guess so. Plagg - "

"Tiiki - "

"Claws out!"

"Spots on!"

There were plenty of fights after their fight with Hawkmoth. There were more villains that needed to be defeated. there was more that Ladybug and Chat Noir needed to do to defend the people of Paris.

They never fought alone.

They remained by one another's side until the very end.

And so ends, the tale, of MariChat: Chat Out Of The Bag.

I feel like that even past Hawkmoth, there is still so much for them to do. So much for them to protect, and so long they have left to fight. That's why I ended it like this. For those of you wondering, yes, they did get married in the end.

Guys, thank you so, so much for coming on this journey with me. It's certainly been an experience, and I've loved working on it with you guys. It's been a roller coaster for me to work on, and I'd like to thank each and every single one of you for being here with me throughout it.

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Thank you all for being with me,

And I'll see you next time. See ya!