How Miraculous Ladybug Should Have Ended

How Miraculous Should Have Ended (whole story here, it's short)

"Lucky charm!" A bowling ball materialized in Ladybug's hands. "Woah, a bowling ball? What am I supposed to do with this?"

"I'm not sure," Chat Noir said. "Just roll with it! I hope we don't strike out! You should-"

"That's enough, Kitty Cat," said Ladybug. Nevertheless, she looked around and desperately tried to figure out how to use her lucky charm. Not only was it frustratingly heavy to hold onto while avoiding swipes from Medieval Madness's sword, but Medieval Madness was advancing towards a Cat Noir in a pillory.

"Hurry up, Bugaboo! This cat doesn't have nine lives!" A look of panic crossed Cat Noir's face as Medieval Madness swung his sword dangerously close to his face.

Ladybug looked around trying to figure out how to use her lucky charm. At last, she saw it! Medieval Madness's soldiers were arranged as if in a game of ten-pin bowling. She ran around the park, making sure to put her foe exactly where she wanted him. With all her might, she shoved the ball forwards, knocking over the soldiers who tackled Medieval Madness to the ground.

"No!" He shouted as he attempted to push the heavy soldier away to free himself. Ladybug approached and took a badge off his armor and crushed it on the ground. A dark butterfly flew out of it.

"No more evil doing for you, little akuma!" The butterfly turned white and fluttered off into the distance. "Miraculous Ladybug!" Everything around them turned back into how it had been before Medieval Madness's akumitazation. The pillory disappeared and freed Cat Noir, the wreckage around the park disappeared, and Medieval Madness transformed back into Carine Aubert, a middle-aged historian at a local museum.

Cat Noir walked over to join Ladybug and help up Carine. "Pound it!"

"What...what happened?" Carine sputtered.

"You were akumatized," Ladybug explained. The blinking of Cat Noir's ring caught her eye. "Cat Noir, quick!"

"Right, time for me to roll out of here!" He extended his stick and headed for the roof of a bakery just around the corner. "Phew!" The last light on his rink blinked out and as his suit disappeared, his Kwami, Plagg, reappeared.

"Adrien, that was a close one," Plagg said. "Almost let the cat out of the bag!"

"Wow, is this how Ladybug feels when I make cat puns? I guess they are a bit annoying."

"Hey!"
"Sorry, Plagg," Adrien chuckled. He reached into his shirt and pulled out a wedge of camembert. "Here, eat this. Fuel up so we can get home."

As Plagg dug into his cheese, Adrien heard a voice and ducked into a shadowy corner behind a chimney.

"Phew! That was close, Tikki," said the voice. "It's getting harder and harder to be Ladybug and Marinette."

Adrien clapped a hand to his mouth to muffle his gasp. Ladybug, the woman he loved, and Marinette, his classmate and good friend, were the same person? The Cat Noir side of Adrien knew he shouldn't look, but he had to follow his heart. He stepped out of the shadows and saw, to his utter disbelief, Marinette Dupain-Cheng standing on the roof before him.

"Ladybug?" Adrien said quietly. Instinctively, Marinette turned around. Her jaw dropped.

"Gah! Ah, Adrien, uh, hello! Um, you're probably wondering what I'm doing on this roof. Yes, I was, uh, I could ask you the same question! See, the weather today was nice and I wanted to, uh, fly a kite! Yes, a kite. Oh, um it's in my room! Looks like I forgot it, silly me, such a klutz. I'll be going now-" Adrien stepped forward and pulled her into a hug, cutting her off. Marinette could barely feel her legs, but she knew she had to think fast, anything to cover up that she was Ladybug. Unfortunately, it seemed the damage was done.

"I love you, Marinette," Adrien said. A wave of memories came flooding over him---school projects with Marinette, fashion shows, photo shoots, school picnics, and birthday parties. Every moment they ever spent together without their disguises suddenly held and incredible weight in his chest.

"I...um," Marinette didn't seem to be able to form words. Though her crush on Adrien had long escalated into the desire for something more, it had always felt like such a pipe dream that she'd never seriously considered it. And she certainly hadn't considered how things would work if Adrien turned out to not only have feelings for her, but to be her partner in saving Paris on a daily basis!

"You don't feel the same," Adrien said glumly, pulling away.

"No! I mean, yes. I mean..." Marinette took a deep breath. "It's just that there's a reason we weren't supposed to know about each other. I love you but...gah, why can't our lives just be easy! I just want to be a normal girl with a normal life. No secrets!"

"Yeah," Adrien said. "I understand. It's okay, we can pretend like this didn't happen. This is all my fault!"

"But it did happen. I have to give up my miraculous. And so do you! It's too dangerous now. Master Fu will erase this from our minds and we can go back to how our lives we're a year ago."

"No potion of his is strong enough to make me forget you. I can't. I won't."

"Cat Noir, uh, Adrien, this is how it has to be. Come on, let's transform and get to Master Fu's A.S.A.P."

"You're right," Adrien said, hanging his head. He brushed his hand against Marinette's and despite what her heart was pushing her to do, she pulled back.

"Come on. Tikki, spots on!"

The pair headed off in silence, bounding over the rooftops of Paris towards Master Fu's. It took only a few minutes to get there, though it felt like much longer as the silence between them burned brighter.

"Are you sure?" Adrien said, landing smoothly on the ground next to Marinette. "I don't want to lose you."

"I..." Marinette tried hard to keep a straight face, but she, too, wanted to keep the last few moments at the forefront of her thoughts. "Yes. We have to."

"Okay," Adrien said. "If we're going to lose all this anyways...can I...can I kiss you?"

"Oh, um, what? I mean, yes, sure, okay, wow, Adrien wants to kiss me. Huh, Cat Noir wants to kiss me, now this would be a crazy headline! Alya would---" He cut her off with a kiss.

A few precious seconds later, Adrien pulled away. "Wow." Marinette couldn't even bring herself to speak. Her mouth moved, but no sound came out. Adrien smiled bittersweetly. "Let's head inside," he said, taking her hand in his, and opening the door to Master Fu's---the place that would take away the most special moment he'd ever had.