scorchingdriedink

[scorchingdriedink]

MLB fanfics from 2015-2016 was something else.

Marinette’s stuttering and Chat Noir’s flirt was the prime 🤌🏻

Source: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5551631

[scorchingdriedink]

When inner desire leads to identity reveal

An mlb fanfic.

Chat Noir's inner desire gets shown to the whole of Paris. This led to an identity reveal, Chat Noir being accused pedophile and Marinette becoming really confused.

_______________

Fireworks lit up the Paris sky as Chat Noir ran across the roof. He was up to date on all holidays, events, and festivals, so he was clueless about why there were so many fireworks when there was no occasion.

As soon as he landed beside her, he said, “I’m so sorry for the delay, M’lady.” He took her hand and kissed her knuckles. “I wasn’t transformed, so I didn’t get your calls.”

In reality, he had been watching the fireworks from his window and got distracted by them. “Didn’t you see the news about the fireworks?” she said, pointing to the fireworks show at the Eiffel Tower.

“Oh!” He wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her closer. “You’re that eager to watch fireworks with me?” he waggled his eyebrows.

She rolled her eyes. “Chaton, the fireworks are caused by the Akuma.”

His jaw dropped. “Wha- how come? This looks way too festive.”

“Then take a closer look at it,” she said, pulling away and tilting his face towards the night sky.

The fireworks transitioned to a smoke screen that acted as a display, showing a young woman surrounded by many cats in a living room.

"What exactly are we dealing with?" he said, astonished by the sight in front of him.

"The Akuma was a mother. Her daughter won't tell her what she wants to do after college, which ticked her off. Now she is known as Desiderium and has made it her mission to expose everybody’s inner desire."

She pointed towards the Eiffel Tower, where a lady in purple robes and a witch hat was flying across the street on her broomstick. The Akuma shot a beam at a teenage boy. He was unharmed; however, the Akuma's crystal ball glowed, and a beacon of light rocketed up into the sky. It burst into a firework and then transitioned to show everyone the same boy making out with a girl at a high school dance.

Chat Noir looked back at Ladybug and shook his head. "I did not need to see that at all. I only want to do that with you," he smirked.

"Now is not the time to flirt, chaton," she scowled. "Everyone’s privacy is getting compromised."

"She looks pretty harmless. Have you figured out where the Akuma could be?" he asked.

"It's the crystal globe," she said. "The problem is that if I get hit, my desire can reveal my identity."

"Oh. I guess I’m safe then." He brought his finger beneath her chin and pulled her towards him. "Everyone knows that all I want is your love," their lips were a hair’s breadth away. "And a kiss."

A firework burst again, and an array of brilliant light shone on her face. He was close enough to see the sparkles reflecting off her blue eyes. At that moment, she looked beautiful, magnificent, and ethereal. Blush rose to her cheeks, and her lips parted slightly. It gave him hope. This past week, she had started to react differently to his advances. It was quite subtle, so he wasn't sure, but if there was a minuscule chance, he would grab it.

Oh, how he wished he could get a chance to kiss her. Sadly, all he got from her was being pushed away with her finger on his nose.

"What if it showed you wanting to kiss me as your civilian self?"

He blinked. "Now that… is an actual problem."

"You better not get hit."

They jumped into action immediately.

~~~~

Half an hour later, fighting this akuma posed a difficult challenge. Desiderium was quick on its feet and always maintained distance with its long-range attacks. Whenever they tried to catch up to the akuma, it would attack them, and they would narrowly miss its shots.

“A little bit of luck would be nice, LB!” Chat Noir cried out.

Ladybug halted on a rooftop. “Lucky charm!”

A roll of window privacy screen was summoned. Looking at it, she had no idea how to use this to win against the akuma.

Another firework exploded in the sky. This time, the smoke screen showed a woman marching towards a senior man in a fine suit sitting behind an office desk. The woman tossed a paper on the desk and shouted, “I quit!”

The old man smiled. “Brilliant! You may enjoy your freedom.”

The scene changed to the same woman, now in a hair salon styling Clara Nightingale’s hair.

“My hair looks so fine. The talent in your hands is divine!” Clara sang. The woman beamed, and the scene faded away.

All of that lasted within 30 seconds, but it left Ladybug astounded. There was something about that particular desire that bothered her. It felt strange; it made her feel sad.

“Ladybug, watch out!”

She looked up in time to see a flare aimed at her from a sniper distance. Just when light flashed before her eyes, she felt an impact at her side and tumbled to the ground.

Once again, Ladybug found her face very close to Chat Noir’s as he hovered on top of her.

Fireworks shone over his head like a halo. She wouldn’t lie; this past week, her feelings for Chat Noir had been growing. She was entranced by how handsome he looked and felt tingles from the weight of his body on her. With how enticing his lips looked, she almost pulled him down for a smooch.

However, she was shocked by what she witnessed over his head, toward the sky. The explosive display showed, for the whole Paris to see Chat Noir and her sharing a passionate kiss on her balcony under the moonlight. Except she was not shown as Ladybug. She was shown as Marinette.

“Shit,” she heard him mutter above her, who was also looking at the fireworks.

“Is that your desire or mine?” she said, still quite stunned at what she had seen.

Chat Noir looked back at her. “What do you mean, ‘yours or mine’? Your desire is for me to kiss Marinette?”

His weird question made her realize what she had said out loud.

“Uh, I ship you with her?” she said sheepishly.

All he did was look at her with a big question mark on his face, followed by a long silence.

“Chaton?”

Then his eyes widened. “No way,” he whispered. “I was right.”

Suddenly, Chat Noir rolled them out to dodge an attack thrown at them by their latest akuma. He got up and faced Desiderium, who had a neon purple mask blinking on her face. “Who might that be, Chat Noir? Girlfriend?”

“No comments,” he said and took a fighting stance.

“You ain’t fooling anyone. I wonder where she could be.”

“Leave her out of this!”

“Only if you surrender your miraculous,” the Akuma snarled.

An idea struck her, and she looked at the roll of film in her hand. With a plan in her mind, she pretended to whisper while being loud enough to be heard. “Go protect her, Chat Noir. Go to her before the akuma finds out she’s in her room.”

She winked and passed the roll to him. “Keep her in your special vision. I’ll buy you some time.”

She mouthed, ‘She’s not in her room’ before she launched the yo-yo to block the path of Desiderium.

~~~

Keep her in your special vision.

Special vision as in his night vision?

She’s not in her room.

Those were the words she had mouthed even though she declared to everyone that Marinette was in her room. And the lucky charm that she has given to him is a blackout window film.

Oh, now he understood.

He watched Ladybug, busy blocking Desiderium’s path. Then he launched himself with the help of his baton and ran faster than he ever had with all his might.

As soon as he landed on Marinette’s balcony, he quickly covered the skylight with the lucky charm and left it open when he entered. The room was dark, save for the nightlight streaming in through the skylight. All of the windows were already covered with film. He found it strange even when he visited Marinette last night. When he had visited her as Adrien, she mentioned she liked the natural light this attic allowed in. So why were all the windows covered up?

A foreign sound intruded on his thoughts, and his ears picked up the swooshing sound of the akuma gliding closer. He hid himself against the shadows, and saw Desiderium searching throughout the room in dim light. Suddenly, the skylight was shut, and absolute darkness filled the room. With his night vision, Chat Noir could see the akuma becoming frantic against the dark and chose that opportunity to swipe at the glass globe and cataclysm it. After that, Ladybug entered the room and purified the butterfly.

~~~~

The wait for Chat Noir after dropping off the akumatized victim ended when Marinette heard a knock on her skylight. Questions that she had been dying to ask poured out as soon as Chat Noir entered.

“How did you know? How long have you known?”

His eyebrows furrowed. “What do you mean?”

“My identity!”

He smiled and pulled her closer by wrapping his hands around her waist. “Didn’t I already tell you? My love for you is so strong I’d recognize you the moment I see you as a civilian?” he said.

She pulled away and gave him her most impassive look. “Do you want me to remind you of the first time you met me as Marinette?”

“Why don’t we just pretend and give my love for you some credit—”

“Stop playing dumb, Chaton. Tell me how!”

“This evening. When I got hit saving you,” he said, averting his eyes.

“What?” Her lower lip dropped. “How did you even make the connection?”

“You asked whether it was my desire or yours. It would have been weird for Ladybug’s desire to be about me kissing Marinette. Unless you are Marinette. I actually had my doubts since Kwamibuster. I’m so glad was right” He let out a lovesick sigh. “I still don't want to get my hopes up. But… do you have feelings for me—?”

“So you didn’t know I was Ladybug?” disbelief colored her face.

He looked back at her earnestly. “Really. I swear I didn't know until now.”

“You said you wanted to kiss me. And your desire did show you kissing me, except it was Marinette me.” her brows furrowed.

“True. But I promise I didn’t know it was you, m’lady. Even if I did, I would have let you know.”

“Then how come it showed me instead of… well, the other me? Weren’t you in love with Ladybug?”

“I was shocked as well. It seems I was in denial. Plagg also told me about that. And with how much I have been hanging out with you on the balcony, I guess my affection has shifted to, well, you.”

“So hanging out is all you need to be fickle?” she frowned.

“Hey, I wasn’t fickle. Not falling for you is tricky.”

She blushed, then shook her head. “B-but I’m not even as cool as Ladybug. You probably had an attachment to me because you’re lonely and Ladybug kept rejecting you.” Chat Noir’s jaw dropped. “You did not just say that,” he said in a low voice.

“Well, I can’t think of any other reason why you would like me, especially when you didn’t even know I was Ladybug.”

He pinched the bridge of his nose. “You can’t be serious right now. Did you forget that you are Ladybug?”

“You didn’t know that! I’m a complete ditz otherwise,” she fired back.

“Marinette, you are what makes Ladybug.”

“Give it a rest!” Her voice rose. “Anyone can be Ladybug with the earrings. And even as Ladybug, I’ve just been causing disaster.”

“That’s not true!”

“Oh yeah? Guess who lost all of the Miraculous? Guess who lost our only mentor?” she challenged him.

“That only mentor of ours once lost a whole temple along with the butterfly and peacock Miraculous. Come on, Marinette, not everyone is perfect.”

“Then shouldn’t we get someone perfect when lives are at risk?”

“Wait, we are getting off-topic. I thought this was about me having feelings for you without knowing you’re m’lady.”

“Exactly. I still don’t get why.”

“Marinette. I—”

Both of them jumped away from each other when the trapdoor suddenly opened, revealing Marinette’s mom, Sabine, followed by Nadja.

Upon seeing them, Nadja’s eyes widened. “Chat Noir! It’s good to see you here,” she said as she pushed past Sabine and approached him with a cameraman behind her.

“We were going to ask Marinette a few words for an interview. It would be great for you to join us, Chat Noir. Everyone in Paris wants to know more from you and Marinette.” Chat Noir and Marinette shared a glance.

~~~~

A storm came in the form of Nadja Chamack, and all Chat Noir and Marinette could do was face it. There was a bit of a delay while Chat Noir negotiated with Nadja before the interview began. Both Chat Noir and Marinette were seated in Dupain-Cheng’s living room. Nadja was adjacent to them, and beside her sat a man holding a tablet and a cameraman shooting footage for the interview. Marinette’s parents were also in the room, across from them, seated at the dining table. After the introductions were done, Nadja immediately jumped into questioning them.

"The biggest question that everyone in Paris has on their minds: Are you two dating?" Nadja asked.

Marinette spoke before Chat Noir could answer. "No, we are not dating. And we never will." As she said that Chat Noir’s shoulder slump.

"Then what about Desiderium showing your inner desire to share affections with Marinette, Chat Noir?" Nadja brought her microphone close to him.

"It’s simple, Nadja. I love h—Ow!" He massaged his side where she had elbowed him while she pretended to smile.

Nadja continued, "But as of yesterday, you were declaring your affections to Ladybug." She pointed to the tablet, which displayed a picture of him kissing Ladybug’s hand.

"He does that with every girl. He’s a big flirt," Marinette said, rolling her eyes.

"He does seem to flirt with many maidens," Nadja said, signaling the tablet man, who continued to display pictures of Chat Noir kissing the hands of a little girl, an elderly lady, a woman with a toddler on her hip, and many other female akumatized victims.

"It’s just a gesture of greeting," he pouted. "I was born in the wrong era."

"Will we get to see you both as an official couple in the future?"

"Absolutely not!" Tom interrupted furiously. Nadja simply shifted the microphone toward Tom.

"It’s no surprise that you would succumb to Marinette’s lovable charm," Tom said. "But you are too late! You were given a chance that you carelessly lost. You could have had it all, and we could have seen the little kittens—"

"Papa!" Marinette’s face turned red.

"When did this happen?" Nadja asked.

"It happened when I was akumatized as Weredad. He broke her heart. My poor cupcake cried so much. Chat Noir does not deserve her."

"It’s not your fault, Chat Noir. Declining is the right thing to do when you don’t reciprocate," Sabine added. Chat Noir gave her a sincere smile.

Nadja proceeded, "So what changed, Chat Noir?"

Time spent with Marinette, both as Adrien and Chat Noir, was what changed for him. It’s not something he can easily explain. The next plausible thing he could say, from Chat Noir’s perspective, is, "That was the second time I met her. The more I spent time with her, the more my feelings for her started to change."

"Then what about this?" Nadja pointed again at the tablet, which showed pictures of them meeting during Evillustrator.

"Yes, that’s why I said 'second time,'" he replied.

The tablet man showed more pictures of them during Galciator. "These photos clearly show you had many encounters with her before the Weredad incident,” Najda said.

"At that time, I was in love with Ladybug," he said, subtly winking at Marinette. "And my mind was more focused on handling the Akuma than on falling in love."

"I’m sorry, Chat Noir, but the evidence shows otherwise." At her signal, the tablet man showed a video of him asking Ladybug to go on a date if he defeated the Akuma.

"You had no problem wooing Ladybug while simultaneously handling the Akuma." "Doesn’t that validate my first point: ‘I was in love with Ladybug’?" he frowned. How do they have all kinds of videos of him?

“You were in love with Ladybug and then immediately switched to Marinette.” She paused for dramatic effect.

“What are you getting at?” he asked, crossing his arms.

“What Paris would like to know is,” she said, shifting the microphone to Marinette, “are you Ladybug?”

Her parents gasped and then looked at her intently, waiting for her answer.

“Pfft, me? Ladybug? No way. I’m too much of a ditz,” she laughed while also averting her eyes.

“Would you stop calling yourself that? You are anything but a ditz. You are the most brilliant girl I know. You are superhero material. Don’t sell yourself short—Ow!”

She seethed through her teeth. “You’re not helping.”

He scoffed while massaging his rib again.

She turned back to Nadja. “No, Nadja, I’m not Ladybug.”

“If you’re not Ladybug, then does that mean,” she asked, shifting the microphone back to him, “that you’re into younger women?”

One of his eyebrows rose. “What does this have to do with anything?”

“You mentioned on Ladyblog that you and Ladybug are the same age. If Marinette were Ladybug, then it would imply that you’re young based on your being the same age as Ladybug. Since Marinette denies being Ladybug, it means you are older than Marinette.”

“Did logic go on vacation, or is it allergic to you? I could be the same age as Marinette.”

Ignoring his remark, she continued, “ You also mentioned something about your job.” The tablet man played a video of Chat Noir speaking to Ladybug.

‘I had to sneak out of my workplace. I need to go back before they notice I’m missing.’

Chat Noir considered the video as he leaned back. “You don’t happen to have videos of my birth, do you?” he said jokingly to the tablet man, but his eyebrows rose when the tablet man nodded. The tablet man then showed Chat Noir a video of a black cat giving birth to a kitten. “You know I’m not actually a cat, right?” The way the tablet man’s eyebrows rose indicated that he had misunderstood. What a dumb man.

“Repeating myself,” Nadja continued, “Is Marinette the superhero Ladybug, or are you into younger women?”

“Chat Noir is not a pedophile!” she yelled. Even though he was used to dumb allegations thrown at him by the media, it warmed his heart to see Marinette defend his honor.

“And I’m not Ladybug,” she added.

“Nadja, you’re taking this a bit too far,” Sabine interjected sharply.

“I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable. We only want to know the truth. And with the evidence we have, it’s either this or you’re Ladybug.”

“You bit—” Marinette got up, but he held her back.

“Nadja, I need to speak with you right now, in private.”

“Just a few more questions—”

“Right,” he glared. “Now.”

~~~~

While Marinette and her parents waited for Chat Noir’s return, her mother gave her a suspicious look. “You aren’t Ladybug, are you?”

The lie came out like second nature to her. “Of course not, Mama. I'm scared of horror movies. How would I face a scary Akuma?”

“As long as my cupcake is safe,” Tom said, pulling her into a hug. “I wouldn't ever want you to always be putting your life in danger.”

Marinette bit her lip. Lying to her parents would always be the painful thorn that she could never pull out. She gave a weak smile after their hug but didn’t meet their eyes.

“What about Chat Noir? He may be a hero, but if he is an adult, then I don’t want him near you,” said Sabine.

“Don’t worry, Mrs. Cheng,” Chat Noir answered when he returned in time to hear her mom’s comment about him. “I am 18, only a year older than her. I assure you I'm not a paedophile.”

“You aren’t supposed to reveal your age.”

“I believe you,” Tom said, patting his back. “You are too nice to be a creep. I would have married her off to you even if you were a few years older than her.”

“Papa!”

“This whole time you were fighting as a kid? How could your parents allow it?” Sabine said.

“Mrs. Cheng, I may have been a child, but I have been trained since birth to handle such situations,” he said. Chat Noir was such a smooth liar. Had she not known that they were chosen, she would have believed his words.

“But still.” She rested her hand on her cheek. “Kids should be enjoying their youth, not carrying everyone’s burden. They should be learning about responsibility before taking up responsibility.”

Marinette couldn’t bear to listen to this anymore. The only thing she picked up from her mom’s comments was that she was never ready for responsibility. She was never meant to be a superhero. And everyone had to pay the price for that.

“I’m done for now. I’ll go to sleep,” she said and went straight to her bedroom.

~~~~

When he bid his goodbye to the Dupain Cheng’ and left their residence, he climbed up the wall and knocked on the shade-covered circular window.

She opened it immediately. “You didn’t leave?”

“I wanted to continue where we left off,” he said as he entered. Marinette had already changed into her pink pajamas and had a hairbrush in her hand. Tikki was on the desk by the computer, munching her cookies and watching them.

“Can we do this sometime later? I need to sleep if I want the energy to deal with the aftermath of today’s interview tomorrow,” she said as she removed her hair ties and went to her vanity.

“It’s okay, Marinette. The interview will not be broadcast.”

She stopped combing her hair and turned to him. “What do you mean? It wasn’t live?”

“She was going to shoot it live, but I gave her a few bucks beforehand to do only a normal interview. Then she started asking nonsense, so I paid them off again along with a message video.”

“There is no way any money could stop them from spilling about ‘Chat Noir’s love,’ right?”

“It was tough convincing them, not gonna lie. But I paid them more than they could have profited from this news, so we should be fine.”

“But they could profit millions with it.”

“Yeah. So I paid them off with £10 million.”

“You paid them £10 million?!” She left the hairbrush and rushed toward him. “Where the heck did you get that kind of money?”

“Relax, I have that kind of money to spare in an emergency,” he said with a smirk.

“How can you pay off £10 million just like that? It’s too much. And it also means you are an adult.” She cringed.

“I’m not, I’m not. This was just my dad’s money that I borrowed.”

Her jaw dropped. “That does not make it any better. Aren’t you gonna get in trouble?”

“This much won’t even make a dent in his account. He won’t notice,” he said, rolling his eyes.

“There is no way he wouldn’t notice £10 million missing from his account.”

“He had already spent £50 million on a sculpture and £60 million on a portrait. He definitely won’t notice.”

“A whole £110 million for just a sculpture and a portrait?! No offense, but is your dad an idiot?”

“Not gonna lie, but this gift for Mom’s death anniversary is a dumb move.”

The silence that followed his statement stretched long and loud. He watched her struggle to say something until she joked, “Wish I could treat a measly £50-60 million as only £5 or £6.”

Good on her for not broaching his mother. Sure he missed his mother but was tired of it. This morning, with his father mourning and the millions of sad edits on the loss of the actor Emilie, felt more depressing than honouring someone’s life. He may miss her, but he would always honour her by looking at everything on the bright side and experiencing new things, Something that his mother taught. That’s why he fought to go to school after a year of mourning for his mother. That’s why he took the superhero role when he was given the ring instantly.

Placing a thumb on his chin, he said, “You can marry and then all my money will be yours.” “Can you ever be serious?”

“That was the most serious I have ever been,” he said, followed by a mock smolder.

“Knock it off, Chaton.”

“Alright,” he said, raising his hands in surrender. “Serious question, though. Can I reveal my identity to you?”

She hesitated. “Are you sure? Maybe it’s best to keep it a secret.”

Not this again. It always felt like the secret identity rule was just for him. “But why? You even let Alya and Nino know each other’s identities. So why can’t we?”

“Them knowing each other’s identities is not as dangerous as ours. If one of us gets akumatized, Hawkmoth can mind-control us to make us spill about where the other miraculous is.”

“You have a confidante with whom you share your identity. Isn’t that dangerous?”

“It is, but at least yours will be safe. Even if Hawkmoth gets mine, as long as he doesn’t get yours, he can’t make the wish.”

It really was a rule just for him. He couldn’t believe it. And it was all because she was scared, so she chose to be stubborn. The lack of her trust not only made him mad but also hurt.

“Oh no!” she exclaimed.

“What?”

“If you get akumatized, he will get to me next through you. Then he will get both of the miraculous, and it will be the end of the world. This is a disaster!”

“I promise I won’t get akumatized—”

“I have some spare charms that I’ve been trying to enhance. Let me get them for you.”

She went over to her desk to grab a drawstring pouch. That was when he realized why Marinette’s room felt odd. Her desk, which was usually occupied by her sewing machine, was missing. It was put under the desk along with all the other fabric and supplies. The corkboard was bare of all pictures and now filled with notes, lists, and timetables. Her drawing books and art stationery were replaced with bundles of papers and dried ingredients for potions. Even her mannequin was missing.

“Where is your mannequin?”

Tikki, who had been quiet this whole time, answered in her stead. “She sold it to buy ingredients to strengthen the protective charms.”

“I haven’t been using it anymore. So why let it collect dust when it could have been of some use,” she said as she took a charm out of the pouch and put it in his hand.

“Ever since Hawk Moth was able to breach the protective charms, I’ve been working on making them stronger. I guarantee you this is very strong. It will protect you from akuma at all costs.” A confident smile appeared on her face but deflated within three seconds. “Or what if it doesn’t work? I haven’t even tested it out, and I’ve already made a bunch.”

She dropped to her knees and scattered the contents of the pouch on the floor.

He knelt next to her. “Marinette, relax.”

“Now’s not the time to relax. Hawkmoth can target us anytime, and it’s because of me.”

“How is it your fault?”

She looked at him incredulously. “Of course it’s my fault. You got hit while protecting me, and now everyone knows we know each other.”

“It was just an accident.”

“Accidents shouldn’t have happened.”

“Marinette, calm down.”

“How can I—”

“Marinette!” He grabbed her, and she stopped rambling. She was breathing heavily.

“Breathe.”

She took a deep breath and followed his breath pattern until she significantly calmed down. He guided her to the chaise.

When Marinette got her bearings, she immediately hugged him, and he let her while he rubbed her back soothingly.

He looked at Tikki, who shrugged. “Usually, she is too busy working on the protective charms to be stressed. Though it's true that she has been anxious for the past week.”

He felt her shoulders shake within his arms. “Marinette?” He tried to coax her.

Her voice was muffled against his shoulder. “I am tired, Chat Noir.”

He pulled away to hold her face and wiped her tears with his thumbs.“Do you need a break?”

“I wanna quit, Chaton.” She closed her eyes and let more tears flow. “But I don’t wanna forget about you.”

It struck him that Marinette could forget her memory if she gave up being the guardian. She would forget him and all the precious moments they had lived together. Marinette losing her memories would devastate him. But he was already feeling that when watching her weeping in his arms.

He took a breath before he said, “If it means it will give you peace, then I’m fine with you forgetting about me.”

She looked up at him. “No, Chaton. I love you way too much to forget you.”

His eyes widened. “You love me?”

A soft smile graced her face. “You’re still with me despite me being such a mess and always being there for me. Of course, I’d fall for you.”

“You’re not a mess.”

She shook her head and pulled away from his hold. “It doesn’t change that we lost our mentor and I put my memories at risk. I lost all the miraculous that made Hawkmoth so powerful. You don’t need to sugarcoat anything for me.”

“Just because some things were out of your control doesn’t mean it’s your fault.”

“But now everything is so hectic. We have to leave everything in the middle to fight against Akuma. No breaks, our plans are pending, and everyone in Paris is worried. Worse, if this doesn’t end well, I will lose my memories no matter what—”

He pulled her into a hug again to stop her from rambling again.

“I don’t want to lose my memories,” her muffled voice came. “I want to just worry about homework. I want to freely date you and know your identity.”

“And it will happen. We’ll get through this together, I promise.”

“But how?”

He touched his forehead to hers and looked her in the eyes. “With a well-rested and clear mind.”

She sighed. “Well, that isn't very helpful.”

He pulled away. “Sorry, I don't have any ideas at the moment. We can brainstorm tomorrow, but only after you rest. You look exhausted.”

“What makes you think tomorrow would be different?” she rolled her eyes.

“Because two heads are better than one,” he winked. “We can do this, Marinette. We fought against a sentimonster without our powers. And during Oblivio, we worked it out despite not remembering anything. We were strangers to each other at that time, yet we were such a good team.”

He held her hands. “Did you ever feel like we knew each other when we first met?”

Her eyes brightened. “I always got the feeling like we had known each other forever when we teamed up.”

“Exactly. Marinette, I fell for you because we get each other. We are such a good team. I admire you, your talents, your personality, and everything. But mostly, because I love the people we become when we are together.” He said and kissed each of her knuckles.

Marinette’s chin quivered again and her eyes glistened. “Are you sure? I mean, you did leave once when I made you angry and had Cat Walker as a substitute.” “That was me being immature and petty. You were just doing your job. Can you forgive me for that?”

He felt her grip his hand more tightly. “It's okay, Chaton. I deserved that. Rather, I should apologize for treating you poorly.”

Chat Noir placed a kiss on her forehead. “It's okay. We're all fine now. I promise I'll always be by your side.”

She gave him a kiss on the corner of his mouth. “Thank you. I promise as well,” she said sincerely.

“It's late, you should sleep,” he said and got up. “For now, don’t worry your pretty head. Save that for tomorrow.”

Marinette got up and gave him one more hug. “Will you sleep with me tonight?”

Chat Noir couldn’t help himself from saying, “I didn’t buy any protection yet.”

“Chaton!”

He laughed as she smacked his arm. She looked adorable when she pouted and her nose scrunched up.

“Kidding, kidding. I’ll let my folks know at home that I’ll be cooped up in my room mourning for my mother, then I'll be back.”

“Oh, I forgot about that! Are you okay, Chat? If you're feeling down, you can stay home.”

“Aww. Well, the cure to my sadness is cuddling with you. So…” Suddenly feeling bashful, he rubbed the nape of his neck. “Is it okay if I come back?”

“Of course, Chat!” she said with a bright smile on her face. She blushed, but there was a fierceness in her eyes. She closed the distance and felt her lips brush against his. He definitely thought they were about to kiss, but she backed away instantly. She was averting her gaze and biting her lip while her cheeks turned an even darker shade of pink.

Chat Noir looked confused. “What just happened?”

She squeaked and covered her face with her hands. “I kissed you.”

“That was not a kiss! That was barely a touch.”

She peeked through her fingers. “Are you saying you don’t like my kiss?” she teased.

“Clearly, you have never kissed before.”

She folded her arms. “Not true. I kissed you on Valentine’s Day during Dark Cupid.”

“Which I don’t remember. I will never not be upset about that,” he groaned.

“At least now you got a kiss to remember,” she gave him a sheepish smile.

“That is not how you kiss.” He cupped her face and whispered, “This is how you kiss,” and brought her lips to his.

He heard her gasp, which prompted him to pull her closer with an arm around her waist and nuzzle his mouth against hers. Parting her lips slightly with his, he tilted her head to deepen the kiss. She wrapped her arms around his neck and felt her nails digging into his shoulders through his suit.

When they separated for air, they grinned at each other.

“Be right back.”

“Okay.”

“One more for the road.” He pecked her, then left her room through the skylight.

~~~~

That night, they slept cuddling on her bed, with smiles on their faces.

[scorchingdriedink]

One sided identity reveal fanfic