Cat Noir lay flat on his back, being chilled through by the cool smoothness of the stone that made up Marinette's balcony. He listened carefully and could hear the sound of mindless flowing traffic, the soft chime of the bakery bell, and the muffled arguing between a girl and her kwami.

He couldn't quite make out the words, whether from their indecipherable nature or because of the fried processers of his brain he wasn't sure. What he would hear if he tried to listen was also beyond him, everything sort of was at that exact moment in time. He felt like he was in a gigantic tank at an aquarium that had been drained of all water, leaving him in a dim sealed space all on his own. He knew water was meant to be there, and some part of him feared the moment it all came crashing down because when it did, he would almost certainly drown.

The water was flooding the aquarium now, and he felt like he was desperately trying to remember how to swim.

He sighed, sound passing his lips in a vague cry of distress because he had no idea how to fix this. He didn't know what to say, he didn't even know what he wanted to hear. What could he say? Why did something so good feel so bad?

That thought settled in, drawing out the seconds he lay still and did nothing as he considered that line of reasoning again. Something so good… because… it was good. That's how he felt at any rate, it was good. They knew. He was him and she was her and they knew. This balcony… this home… all those nights, whether spent skating or patrolling the city all that mattered is that all those nights were spent together. And all those school days… all those smiles in the halls.

What did he want?

He tried to think it through, sitting up and staring sightlessly at the still locked hatch.

What did he want to happen if and when that hatch opened?

He tried to imagine it, the simple glass pane lifting away and finally letting him enter. Letting him see her.

That's what he wanted, he supposed. He wanted to see her, and see her as all of her. He wanted to look at her and know she was Ladybug, just like she had looked at him in the seclusion of that locker room and known he was Cat Noir.

He wanted to see all of her for the first time, and still feel that hot overwhelming feeling in his chest.

Cat Noir nodded once, purely for himself as his mind started to function again, planning. He had to get in, normally he would respect her privacy but this was extremely important and a unique circumstance… aaaand if he was invited in it wasn't really trespassing at all. But there was no way she was going to let him in and Tikki seemed to have lost her battle, so that left…

He grinned slightly.

Hadn't Tom and Sabine always been so welcoming?

-...

"Marinette!" her father's voice echoed up to her, cutting in to her breakdown time. She lifted her head from the pillows slightly just in time to hear her father say, "Your friend Adrien is here to see you!"

She went stiff, wide blue eyes staring down into the lower level of her room as Tikki gasped adorably to her left.

"He didn't…" she whispered in disbelief, watching her stairs like a hawk as her heart pounded in her ears to the beat of approaching footsteps.

"He DID!" Tikki squealed in delight, giggling happily when the hatch in the floor opened and a sheepish Adrien popped his head in with a weak smile before clambering inside.

"Y-you used my parents!?" she cried indignantly, trying to find something to say and settling on something trivial.

Small though it was Adrien still laughed nervously, looking down at the ground.

"Well you didn't want me wrecking your ceiling so this was the next best option…" he defended himself lamely, finding actually being in her room slightly… terrifying.

The tension was so thick between them he wondered idly how he wasn't suffocating from it, his comparison to the flooding aquarium returning to mind.

Adrien stood stiffly directly next to the now closed hatch, the space of her room familiar but also entirely alien in this new and frightening context. He couldn't look at her, barely able to keep his place as the silence stretched on.

He flinched when he heard her move, any break in their silence jarring as she quietly moved down the steps to stand on the same level as him. And he still hadn't looked at her.

She didn't say anything, countless words on the ends of both of their tongues as they both looked away from each other. She examined the dust on the windowsill… he examined minute details of the floor.

And neither of them spoke… even though both of them had so much to say. That was probably the worst part for them both… they both had so much to say but no words with which to say them.

So slowly Adrien raised his gaze, action being his only aide in fixing… everything. Fixing the rift between him and the person that mattered the most, he could see that now. He could always see how much Ladybug mattered to him, always knew that… but then Marinette would smile out on the ice… skating backwards just to show off. And just like that she was so important too… and it had confused him.

Funny… how the most confusing thing had always made the most sense, because as he looked at her, just as she looked up at him… he could see all of her.

And that feeling did not fade.

Marinette gasped at the intensity she saw in his eyes, the green of them so deep and filled with… everything. So many things she couldn't even name… and then he had crossed the gap, for a moment so desperate to do something that he abandoned his trepidation and just… held her.

That's the only way she could describe it. It wasn't quite a hug…

He just held her, and she swore she could feel her heart stop when he suddenly said, "I'm so happy it's you…"

To the side so as not to intrude Tikki and Plagg had quietly slipped away to hover over Marinette's desk together, the ancient powerful gods watching the scene with varying reactions. When Marinette's breath had left her and she looked up into Adrien's face, and when she choked up from how overwhelming everything was and just… held him too… Tikki smiled.

"Isn't it sweet Plagg?" Tikki sighed happily, her hands to her cheeks as the two awkward teens laughed and refused to part. The red kwami looked over at her scowling counterpart, saying, "They're in love! They're finally on the same page!"

"Same page?" Plagg scoffed, the sound warping into a laugh as he said, "In whose book!?"

"What do you mean?" she demanded, instantly irritated that, as usual, her partner was being pessimistic about something that was so clearly fantastic.

"The only one with all the cards here is pigtails," Plagg pointed out, scoffing again as the two teens giggled nervously and pulled apart, both red in the face and looking away from each other. "She knows everything now and Adrien is still left guessing."

"What are you talking about!?" Tikki huffed, whizzing over to get in Plagg's face a little in her passion. "They love each other!"

Plagg rolled his bright green eyes and crossed his arms, somehow managing to float in the air even lazier then before. "NO," he countered, "he loves her and she knows that."

"And Marinette loves Adrien," Tikki stated harshly, thinking Plagg was just being simple again, but was surprised when he suddenly gestured wildly out towards the pair in the center of the room in frustration.

"And does he know that!? No, he does not." When Tikki just stared at him blankly he sighed and said, "Don't overestimate him, Ms. Smells-like-chocolate might have openly admitted to participating in the competition to impress him but his self-esteem is so low I guarantee you he's got no clue she's in love with him."

Tikki blinked, her tiny mouth open comically wide in disbelief until Plagg found the image so funny he was cackling aloud.

"There's no way he's that dense!" Tikki cried out, and Plagg was honestly impressed that Adrien hadn't heard, or maybe he had and he was ignoring it.

Plagg shrugged, grinning at his partner. "I've been with him for a while and trust me, he is."

"We have to tell him," Tikki said resolutely, surprising Plagg by looking like she was ready to storm off and do it right then.

"Woah woah woah!" Plagg shouted, grabbing her and holding her back, "Don't just go charging in there!"

"She won't do it on her own!" Tikki groaned, sagging into Plagg's arms and curling dramatically into him, at which he rolled his eyes. He worked with absolute drama queens. "She won't tell him her true feelings and everything will be ruined!"

Plagg was now the limp one, looking up at the ceiling as Tikki bawled into his chest looking like he'd much rather be doing something else besides consoling his sometimes emotional counterpart.

"You get so invested in these love stories," Plagg sighed, although he was probably just as invested this time around, not that he'd ever say as much.

As Tikki continued to talk, saying something like, "Well not everyone only feels emotions for pressed milk curds!" Plagg lolled his head around while he groaned, until he caught sight of something hanging on Marinette's wall. A lot of something's hanging from Marinette's wall actually.

Tikki looked up when Plagg's slow cackle started to build, concerned with the deviousness she heard there and freezing when she tracked his gaze to the slightly obsessive collage of Adrien photos on the wall.

"You think we should tell him?" Plagg laughed, "I know how to tell him."

Adrien stood in front of Marinette, their hold finally broken but they still stood close together. Neither of them had spoken for some time, but he felt the need to say again, "I'm happy it's you Marinette…" His eyes dropped to the floor, every action and shift in weight betraying his uncertainty. "I'm sorry I was so pushy and… urgent but I- I just wanted to see you and- I don't know… I don't know, I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry for running," she blurted out, the words so sudden and tense that he actually jumped. "I'm sorry for ditching you I was just so freaked out I-" her words were getting more and more crowded, her whole body tense and Adrien stared at her in wide eyed fright. "I was so afraid and freaked out and overwhelmed and I knew it would upset you and it would upset me too and I just wanted to stay but I couldn't so I ran an-and I-I'm…" Adrien felt something akin to pain in his heart when he heard the wobble in her voice, like suddenly she might cry and all at once his hands were gripping her shoulders and he was speaking without thought, saying the first thing his heart wanted to.

"Ice Flower," he said urgently, cutting her off and demanding her attention with the old nickname, the nickname that became a song that became a dance and… so much more than all of that. The name that became a story that wasn't quite done. "Look at me, please."

When she didn't immediately comply he smiled softly, his tone slightly musical as he said, "Pleaase?"

She smiled a little back, but it was a little while more before she looked up into his eyes. Cat's eyes.

He grinned at her a moment before saying quietly, "I don't blame you for running. It was big and… scary. And I'm sorry, for putting you in such a tough spot, forcing you to deal with something like that on the fly. But…" his own gaze dropped, his smile still in place but gentle now. "We still made a good team right? Me and you?"

There was silence, well… relative silence, Plagg was making some kind of ruckus in the background, but after a while Marinette chuckled breathily.

"Yeah…"

"Yeah what?" he pressed, his smile widening a little when he spotted her rolling her eyes.

"Yeah we make a good team," she said again, laughing a little in exasperation, looking into his eyes for a second before looking away. It was hard to look at him and not see a mask, or look at herself and not see her suit. It was all out in the open now… it was all so… exposed.

It wasn't as awful as she thought it might be…

"Still could have done that better," she muttered under her breath, and he laughed, taking his hands back to cross his arms.

"Says Ms. Hero who ran for the hills."

"You said you didn't blame me!" she scoffed, amazed at the tense yet somehow genuine joking between them.

"Doesn't mean it wasn't a little ridiculous," he shot back, wanting her smile more than anything. It made things feel a little more normal.

However silence lapsed over them again and he fidgeted uncomfortably. This wasn't meant to be this way.

Adrien took a deep breath, and then reached forward to grab her shoulders again, slowly dragging her to sit down on the floor with him despite her protests. She squeaked as she plopped down and he bit back a grin, remembering something similar from all the times he would pull her down onto his piano bench to listen for a while.

"Okay," he finally spoke, his voice stupidly shaky but he forged on, staring into her deep blue eyes. "Ehem… alright. U-um-" he was losing confidence in his idea, he knew she was going to make fun of him but he felt like this is what they needed. He swallowed before saying, "Hello Ms. My name is Adrien."

"What?" she asked, tilting her head but he held up a hand, asking without words for her to hear him out.

"Um, my name is Adrien Agreste. I go to Collège Françoise Dupont here in Paris and I'm fifteen years old." Marinette stared at him blankly, an entertained yet hesitant smile on her face when he added, "And, you might have heard of me, I also double my days as the superhero Cat Noir."

Just like that it clicked, and an embarrassed giggle slipped out as she looked down at the ground. She understood what he meant now, and it made sense. He wanted to meet her again.

"W-well," she tried to start, sighing and shaking her head when she heard him laugh before looking up into his face. "Well, Mr. Agreste," she played along, smiling slightly at his excited grin, "My name is Marinette Dupain-Cheng. As luck would have it," his grin widened, "I also go to Collège Françoise Dupont and am fifteen years old. And, you might have heard of me, I tend to spend my free time as the superhero of Paris, Ladybug."

His handsome face twisted into one of false consideration when he said, "Ladybug… Ladybug… mmm, nope. Never heard of you."

She snorted with laughter, reaching up to cover her mouth but he was already laughing at her.

"Alright so now I know if I ever do hear of this Ladybug, she'll be snorting."

"Shut up!"

He chuckled, glad that she was smiling even if she was flushed. He continued with his game, grinning at her as he asked, "Okay Ms. Ladybug, tell me a little about yourself."

"A little about me? But I thought you had never heard of me, why would you care?" she teased, and it was remarkable as she watched it happen. She watched him smile at how she teased him, and could see him there. Could see Cat Noir. That's who it was… through all of this it was always Cat Noir, and it was always Adrien, with or without the mask. As silly as this little… roleplay was, she understood the point of it. They were meeting all of them, the Adrien that was also Cat Noir, and the Marinette that was also Ladybug.

"Well," Adrien said with all too familiar lilt in his voice, "someone as beautiful as you is bound to be just as interesting."

She gasped quietly at what would typically be a run of the mill line for Cat Noir, burning red at hearing something like that come from… Adrien… while she was still Marinette, but when she looked up she could see how red he was as well and ended up laughing.

"Silly Cat…" she found herself saying, just like she might have any other day, and the tense giggle that came from her counterpart just made her laugh again. He had been brave to try flirting again but it seemed to make him just as flustered now for some reason.

"A little about myself…" she said almost to herself, tilting her head in thought, "well… I suppose-"

She started to talk, Adrien leaning forward over his crossed legs as he listened intently. She shared things he knew, like her love for designing and sewing, and some things she never had to opportunity to share, like her love of animals and architecture. It was bizarre and she petered off into silence more than once, but each and every time he would gently encourage her to continue, a soft smile on his face.

It was one of those times where Adrien asked her another quiet question to get her to keep talking when they heard a strangled cry in the back of the room, behind where Adrien was sat. The super duo looked over to see Tikki smiling as innocently as possible, Plagg's face shoved into the desk as he writhed about wildly with several pieces of paper in his grasp.

"Uh… Tikki?" Marinette questioned, and although she had been looking at them Tikki pretended to notice them for the first time.

"Oh! Yes? What is it?"

"Is Plagg causing you trouble?" Adrien asked, looking on as Tikki continued to hold Plagg down with slight concern.

"No!" she squeaked, ripping some of the paper away and shoving them one by one behind the desk as Plagg yowled in fury, "No trouble! Don't you kids mind us, we're just playing! You keep on talking!"

"Adrien!" Plagg called out, flailing even more dramatically than before, "YOU GOT TO SEE THIS!"

"No!" Tikki cut him off, grabbing the last piece of paper and flying off at top speed across the room, "You'll ruin everything!"

"Give it to me! Give it to me!" Plagg demanded, taking off after her, tackling her midair and sending the two of them bouncing off of Marinette's lounge.

"Tikki!" Marinette exclaimed, Adrien's consistent apologies making up a stream of background noise as Marinette started to stand, before suddenly Tikki appeared again waving dismissively.

"I'm alright! It's alright, really! You kids just keep talking!"

"Give it back you beetle!" Plagg screeched, before halting mid tackle and turning around with an evil grin. "There are more in here, you're gonna love it Adrien!"

"Plagg!" Tikki whined again, flying after him and tackling him to the ground while he swapped rapidly between cackling and hissing.

The kwamis were moving too rapidly for their charges to capture them, so while constantly looking over their shoulders in vague concern they continued to chat.

"Sorry about Plagg uh… just ignore him," Adrien said with a nervous laugh, fiddling with his collar and shooting a sharp glare behind him when he heard another hiss.

"He seems… lively," Marinette laughed, watching Tikki grab Plagg by the tail and pull him into the darkness beneath her desk.

"He's usually the laziest thing alive I have no idea what's gotten in to him," he sighed in response, shaking his head when he heard something crash.

"He's probably just excited to see Tikki, I'm sure they know each other."

"That would make some sense I guess… Uh, if he breaks anything I'll-"

"Don't worry about it! Uh… well Mr. Cat Noir," she tried to tease, and he grinned a little, "tell me a little about you."

"Weeell did I mention I'm a superhero?"

They continued to talk, finding it a little easier to maintain eye contact, at least whenever they weren't distracted by Plagg's wailing. At one point there was a loud snap as something slammed shut, the teens looking over in time to see Tikki smiling sweetly from her place atop Marinette's diary case, which was now shut fast. After a moment they turned away, and Tikki whispered furiously through the lock.

"If you try and phase out I will shove you right back in!" she whisper-yelled, and the case thumped against the desk as he flew against its walls.

"EGH!" he groaned, until all at once all movement from inside ceased and all Tikki could hear was his slowly building cackle again.

"Well that's just fine! Luckily for me I can see in the dark!"

"Plagg what are-" but then suddenly he was reciting at the top of his lungs.

"FEBURARY 24TH, DEAR DIARY, TODAY ADRIEN BREATHED NEAR ME-"

Tikki screamed, and in a desperate need to silence him she shoved the container from the desk, sending it tumbling down and bouncing harshly across the floor. Both young teens jumped in surprise as the box skittered past them, Plagg shrieking inside. In the amount of time it took the box to stop and Tikki to fly over, Plagg managed to find another page.

"MARCH 13TH, DEAR DIARY TODAY I WAS GOING TO TRY AND ASK OUT-"

"STOOP!" Tikki squealed, phasing into the box and starting to wrestle wildly with the cat, Marinette shouting in surprise and sprinting over to unlock the box. As soon as she did the two kwamis were launched across the room, struggling with each other and throwing the diary out from the both of them and across the floor.

"Plagg!" Adrien shouted, exasperated and embarrassed that he was causing such a scene and standing to help Marinette as she ran after the kwamis, fighting to separate them.

Adrien was scowling when he ran over to pick up the discarded book that had fallen open, trying to apologize. "I'm so so sorry about this he's being- uh… unreal…" his voice trailed off but Marinette didn't notice, too distracted with keeping both Plagg in one spot and Tikki off of Plagg.

"Would you two settle down?! What is the problem!?" Marinette asked, already exhausted with the high pitched babbling from them both. Weren't they supposed to be super powerful gods, not squabbling children?

"I'm trying to help!" Plagg insisted, already falling into a giggling fit as Tikki fumed.

"No you weren't you were trying to ruin it!"

"You're the one who made it such a big deal!"

"Guys!" Marinette whined, holding one kwami each in her hands as she finally turned around. "Adrien can you lend me a h-" but she froze, pure horror rooting her to the spot.

Because Adrien was stood in the middle of her room, her open diary in his hands.

...

Adrien had been staring down at the girlish, loopy scrawl in silence, the words standing out and making him feel like the breath had been knocked out of him.

It was an entry for just two days before.

Dear Diary,

So… the contest is going to be pretty soon. And to add even more to all this, last night during patrol Cat Noir told me he intended to reveal his identity to me. Well… Marinette I mean. And I basically told him that I was going to reveal my identity in response… well, he didn't know I meant him but… ugh. It's really complicated okay? So that's it, it's finally going to happen. I fought it so adamantly for so long, and even now I don't think I was wrong for that, it's what I needed to do. But a really long time ago Tikki said something like, "A confession? Is that what your heart is telling you?" and even then… it had been. I had wanted to tell Cat Noir, but I couldn't, I talked myself out of it. Now though, it's gotten much harder to, so much so that… I've decided to do it. I'm going to tell him. Things are different now, I can't deny that. Something changed and I have no idea what… well that's sort of a lie. I think I know, but admitting it even here is… ugh. I don't know that's the thing. I have no idea, all I know is thinking about how I won't see him like this anymore once the rinks close upsets me. Who would think right? I didn't see this coming, and I don't think he did either. I have no idea what he's thinking… and no idea what I want him to be thinking. Does that make any sense? What am I even talking about… even my diary is confusing now. I'm supposed to write all my inner most thoughts here right? So what am I thinking?

I'm thinking I'm really nervous to perform in the contest… I wish Cat could be at the piano. Would that make things better? Or would I be even more nervous to perform for him and Adrien?

And when had there ever been an and there? When had it become Cat Noir and Adrien?

I'm in love with Adrien, just Adrien…

Right?

Adrien stared at the last two sentences like they had burned their way through his chest, rooting out that hot un-nameable feeling and overwhelming him, keeping him from moving even an inch. How many times had he said it? How many times had he said to himself that he was in love with Ladybug?

How many times did he almost say he was in… love… with Marinette? The words buried in the back of his heart, surging forward and confusing him every time the hatch opened on her balcony… 3:00 AM sharp, every night. Every time he passed her in the halls, every second he was comforting her in the locker room. He hadn't had the words then, lord knows he didn't have the words now… but there the words were. Written in a loopy girlish scrawl.

...

Adrien was aware of the silence once it fell, but couldn't look up from the book in his hands, the book he knew he shouldn't be reading. It was her diary, it was private and he had… but he hadn't meant to. It was just open. It was open… quite by chance… and he couldn't decide if it was his luck or hers.

He hoped it was hers.

So she was confident. She was playful and brave and funny… she had only been shy because… she had- she was-

And he was too. The word he couldn't say.

The thing though, that really kept him frozen there, that made tears prick at his eyes…

Was that it had said Cat Noir and Adrien.

In the end…

She had picked him twice… just like he had her.

...

He closed the book, the sound of the pages filing together the only one in the room. Plagg and Tikki had fallen silent, floating away from Marinette's now slack hold and looking on with the distance only great age could buy. And then there was Adrien, looking up at her with a closed diary in his hands.

He had very little time to fix this that he understood. From the look on her face it was like she had watched something impossibly precious slip between her fingers, like porcelain about to smash to the ground. Undoubtedly, if her feelings were as she said, it was scattered all throughout the journal and she was terrified that it had been seen. He could try and lie, but he didn't want to do that. He wanted it to be okay that he had seen it, he wanted to say it back… somehow. He only had until the silence was broken to have the right words, because he could see it in her eyes. She was going to run again if he didn't say it exactly right, and this time there would be no fixing it. She would be gone, regardless of if he ever saw or spoke to her again. Any chance they had would be gone.

He was never a man of words…

But he had to say it right.

...

Marinette looked so terrified… and also so sad, like just the act of an open diary had broken her heart. He hated it so much…

And he found himself speaking.

"Out of every single person I've ever met in my life there is no one I've cared for more than Ladybug, that's what I thought. And it's still true, in a way, or… I mean… I was out on a run. I was upset with my father I just wanted to be out of the house, and I didn't expect to see anyone out on the Trocodero's ice rink. I didn't expect you, I didn't expect to smile so much at 3:00 AM, I didn't expect to write a song and have that song be a dance and have that dance be… you."

There was a pause, and something in Marinette's expression changed, warping into disbelief, but the words were coming now and he couldn't stop them, spurred on by the kwamis' encouraging nods.

He took a deep breath, his voice cracking slightly.

"I didn't see this coming… I didn't expect Marinette when I already had Ladybug, I didn't expect to know all of you, even though it's what I had always hoped. But as soon as you said it there was no one else it could have ever been, no one else I wanted it to be. Because it had to be you, a-and…"

He knew what he wanted to say. He knew, but that didn't make it easy, but then again, it was the easiest thing in the world. Cause he hadn't expected an and.

"I didn't expect to fall in love twice."

The sentence was physical, crossing the distance between them and shocking her, creating a spark in her eyes that changed them both. And he kept talking, looking her in the eye and giving them both the distance they needed to survive this.

"If you need to pretend I didn't say that to make it through this then I understand, if you don't want anything to change I get it, I know. I- I, just… needed… this. I just wanted… you to understand that it isn't… just… Ladybug. It's Marinette. It's you. And if we just pretend this never happened I get that… but please, more than anything… I just want to pick you up at 3:00 AM. I want to go to the ice rinks every night before they close, if that's something we can do. Please."

He would compare the moments before she spoke to the seconds between where they locked eyes out on the competition ice and when he first started playing. It was that tense encompassing second where he waited for the brass of the bell to shatter on the ice, and that second after where he breathed again, because it rang.

"I don't want to pretend…" she whispered, and that hot feeling in his chest blossomed and burned, flaring up like his hope had been fuel to the fire.

Those five words were so incredibly simple. She wasn't going to pretend. They were going to move forward knowing what he had read in the book, and knowing what he had said aloud. They were going to move forward.

When she stepped towards him it didn't feel intrusive, like she was entering his space or going too far. And when he stepped forward it wasn't jarring or unprovoked, but a direct response to what she was comfortable with. When she stopped so did he, and when she was more comfortable with closing the distance herself he let her. They were both… unsteady. Obviously quite a bit had happened in an incredibly short period of time, the most emotionally stressful hour of their lives to be certain.

She came to stand right against him, her hands on his chest and shaking ever so slightly. She couldn't look him in the eye, and when she started to look up he had a feeling she intended to go for… more. The very thought made his breath catch, his heart uneven, but he could see her hesitation, the fear. He knew what she wanted, but it was too sudden, too soon, and no matter how much he may have dreamed of it… no matter how much he himself wanted to tilt her face… close that gap…

He didn't.

He wrapped his arms around her and he could hear the shaky release of breath as she curled into him, berating herself silently for chickening out but also overwhelmed with her relief that he understood and didn't push it.

He held her, more intimately then he had ever been allowed and relished in her closeness, his heart skipping when she held him tight, burying her face into his chest.

He had forced her hand, revealing himself first and making her feel pressured into responding, regardless of if she intended to eventually or not. Her diary had fallen open, catching his eye and exposing her feelings before she had a chance to say them herself. In both instances she had been robbed of the opportunity to do things in a way she was comfortable with, in a way in which she felt like she had control.

From now on… every move would be hers. He never wanted to see that fear or uncertainty in her eyes again, never wanted her to be uncomfortable or doubt whatever it was they managed to make this. They would kiss when she was ready, he would ask her to dinner when she was comfortable. He was going to do it right.

She was far too important to do it any other way.

It was 3:00 AM exactly when Cat Noir landed on her balcony, and it was a lot less jarring in that instance then it might have ever been before to see Ladybug waiting for him, a pair of worn skates in her hands.

"I figured we could take the rooves now," she explained, her voice slightly timid but smiling genuinely at the sight of him. That nervous tension still existed, but for him a majority of his embarrassment came from what he held in his own hands, the flash of metal catching her eye.

"Are those skates?" she asked, her face lighting up and making his own burn. "Did you get skates?"

"W-well, uh…" he stuttered, bringing the plain black ice skates out in front of him, fidgeting nervously, "I figured… now I could have them, s-so… if that's okay…"

"Of course it is!" she interrupted him, smiling in such a blindingly beautiful way his breath left him entirely. "I can finally teach you!"

He found himself laughing, her sweet voice joining in for a moment before he remembered himself, gesturing out towards the city.

"T-to the Trocodero then?" he asked, and he grinned naturally when she nodded.

...

They were in no particular hurry, waltzing easily across the roof tiles and finding the courage to talk between the skips of their hearts.

"I got an earful from Alya," Ladybug started, drawing a chuckle from her partner.

"Oh I bet, you should have seen the text log I had from Nino he was demanding to know what I was thinking, running up and playing for you like that."

"Alya was wondering the same thing," she laughed, shaking her head at the memory of the phone call she had answered not long after Adrien was forced to excuse himself. The joy of being an Agreste it would seem… apparently the event had been televised. The headline detailing the emotionally powerful song and dance half performed by Gabriel Agreste's song had caught fire fairly quickly and Adrien had some half-baked excuses to make up. "She had a lot of questions. Did you know he was going to do that? Where did he learn that song? How did you have a routine for that song ready to go? Where did you freaking go? Why did you force me to skid out on that ice and accept the trophy for you?"

Cat Noir choked on nothing in particular, sputtering out in a bark of laughter, "She had to accept the trophy!?"

Ladybug nodded with an amused smile on her face, not looking away from the path ahead as she made the jump between buildings.

"Yup, her and Nino went out there. He had more fun with it then she did, but still, she was not satisfied with the random answers I gave."

Cat rolled his eyes, shifting his hold on his skates to also make the jump.

"She probably senses a scoop, you know how she gets."

"Still," Ladybug admitted, "I feel a little bad about ditching the contest like that, especially since I won."

"We had other stuff going on," he said simply, the statement so hilariously underselling it that they both ended up laughing together.

"That's one way to put it," she agreed, trailing a little closer to him as they walked the long flat stretch of several joined apartment buildings. The back of her hand grazed his and he felt the connection like electricity, waiting until he was positive it was what she wanted before gently taking her hand.

He didn't need night vision to see the blush on her cheeks, but then again he didn't need it to see the soft smile either. To put it plainly he felt invincible, smiling like a fool all the way.

"They'll never let it rest you know," Cat warned her, the two of them working their way down to the ground level and linking hands again as they approached the rink.

"Oh I know," she sighed dramatically, shrugging her shoulders, "but what can we do?"

"Nothing right now at the very least," he replied, drawing her towards a bench next to the wall of the rink. He looked over his shoulder, canvasing the area and watching carefully as she de-transformed.

They swapped places, Marinette watching over him as he did the same, but still, seeing Marinette where Ladybug had once stood was… well it was surreal. However that grin she had when it came time for Adrien to lace up his skates was so entirely Ladybug, she might as well have never shed the spots.

"You'll want them tighter than that," she corrected gently, leaning over him to fix it. "It's safer, or else you might roll an ankle."

"My ankle? Don't tell me you plan on having me do flips or something," he whined, only joking a little.

She laughed, shaking her head as she pulled him unsteadily to his feet. "Just skating, nothing big. You said you can stay upright yeah?"

"I might have been exaggerating…" he mumbled, looking at the ice even more uncertain then before but it just made her giggle. The sound was stunning.

"I'll keep you safe Slippy Kitty," she teased, stepping fearlessly out onto the ice so she could support him. It was ridiculous how at home she was on the rink, her hand outstretched to welcome him in. he was convinced he was going to make a fool of himself, but that fear wasn't enough to stop him from taking it.

The first step was pretty alright, the second doubly as hazardous, but he seemed to keep forgetting how strong she was and she supported him effortlessly. He clung to her a little more desperately than he'd like to admit as they slowly moved out to the center of the ice, the process much more difficult with skates then it had been padding after her in his boots. However she never faltered, smiling sweetly at him as she gently informed the way he shifted his weight, teaching him how to stay balanced.

He made a vague noise of disapproval when she let go and moved away from him, skating off to the other side of the rink and gesturing for him to follow. He put down his sudden proficiency to pure stubbornness, his desire to make it to her again enough to spur him forward to close the distance. She giggled at how determined he was, skating out of reach each time he started to get close and encouraging him to come after her. Eventually this small exercise taught him how to move forward on his own and change direction, and soon (although a tad unsteadily) he was slowly skating along beside her. He made some sort of excuse, shrugging his shoulders and saying he'd feel much safer if they were holding hands, and she smiled, rolling her eyes but complying with a quiet laugh.

It was like she had promised, no flips or sudden turns, just slow skating around the perimeter of the rink as the heat of the others hand warmed their own. It was Adrien and Marinette, but it was still Ladybug and Cat Noir.

They chatted quietly, talking about this and that. Their friends, their school, patrols, the relative silence in akuma attacks recently. Standard things between the two of them, the usual contexts in which they discussed them blurring together.

They both knew what they had set in motion, from the gentle way he slid his thumb over the softness of her skin to the subtle pressure of her head against his shoulder as she quietly hummed his song for her.

He could feel it in the heat that sat in his chest, never moving, drawn to the girl at his side. She could hear it in the quiet of the ice and the silence of the night.

In the notes of their song.

They skated together, relishing in the quiet moment just before the bell would hit the ice… and smiled.

Because this time, they both could hear it ring.