unexpected feelings | marichat

chapter fifty-two

adrien's pov
marinette was ladybug. marinette, adorably clumsy marinette who tripped over her words and over air, was ladybug. i wanted to be surprised, but it made so much sense. because marinette was also strong and confident and she defended her friends fiercely when they needed it. and ladybug was also sweet and clumsy and she blushed when she was complimented, no matter by whom. and i had fallen madly in love with both of them, the same person. i could practically hear plagg gagging at the realization.
   but there was no time to think about how incredible, albeit slightly insane, this all was. the reporters were coming closer, asking way too many questions after her identity was revealed. and chat blanc was nowhere in sight. i had to get us out of here.
   i held ladybug- marinette!!!- closer to my chest and pulled out my staff. "sorry, no time for an interview now guys! uh, bug and cat out?" i saluted, stretching the stick out and shooting us into the air. there were screams of dissent below us, but i didn't stop leaping until we were well away from them.
i dropped us on top of a building with railings and a tarp, where nobody could see us. it was near my house, so i'd gotten to know it pretty well. i had begun to come up here around the time marinette stopped talking to me. it briefly occurred to me how much more sense that made now that i knew her identity.
   marinette calmly removed herself from me and stood. it was eerie how peaceful she seemed after what had just happened, and also slightly comical considering how this was the same girl i'd seen freak out over a spider in her room, minus the costume. i began to worry, (because why was she so silent?), when she brought her hands to her face and screamed. yeah, she's definitely marinette.
   "he knows, chat. hawkmoth knows my identity, he knows who i am! how long... how long do you think he's known? this is a disaster! he can easily get... THE MIRACLE BOX! what if he gets the miracle box, or if he just came into my room at random to get my miraculous? this is awful," she went on, her eyes wide as she began to pace around the rooftop nervously. i sat on an ac vent, contemplating the situation before us.
   hawkmoth- along with the rest of paris- knew ladybug's true identity now. it must have been all over the news. by now, all of paris and probably a lot of the world knew that ladybug was marinette dupain-cheng, student at francois-dupont high school. that in itself was terrifying. half of me wanted to panic like marinette, but i was scared it would worsen the situation more, so i took a deep breath and willed myself to calm down. i had to spin this positively somehow, no matter how negative things seemed at the moment.
   "ladybug," i called out once, noticing that now she sat on with her back against the wall, her head buried deep in her hands. she didn't look up. i stood, walking towards her and saying it again. still nothing.
i sat next to her, frowning at the small sniffles i heard. she was crying. "hey, marinette. look at me, will you?"
   at the sound of her real name she looked up, but she didn't look relieved, which was the complete opposite of what i had planned. she looked absolutely mortified, and she dug her face back into her hands even further. "i completely forgot that you knew too. this is a disaster."
   "is that so bad, though? i feel like me knowing is the least of our worries right now," i pointed out, recalling the chaos below us. she nodded her head and looked back up, her eyes wide and glassy.
   "you don't understand! last time you found out was a nightmare. it was horrible! i can't stand to see that happen to you again. what i thought was you today, in akumatized form, that almost shattered me, chat. do you know how terrifying it is having to try to avoid that all the time? knowing that one wrong move can mess it all up? and now look, the wrong move was made. what's next?"
   i looked down at my miraculous and pondered. "if i need to, i'll renounce my ring. if it means keeping you, and all of paris, safe from that monster, i'll do it, marinette. just say the word."
   immediately, she shook her head vigorously and put a hand on my cheek. "no! stop. you aren't a monster. i just... i can't stand seeing you hurt like that again. you were so broken, chat. you don't deserve to go through that again. i... i love you too much to let it happen. but you won't have to give up your ring for that. i swear, we'll capture hawkmoth before any of that could happen," she declared, her classic confidence slightly returning to her voice. i smiled.
   "meow! i love it when you threaten hawkmoth, m'lady," i teased, and she smiled slightly. the smile quickly turned back into a frown, though.
   "is it weird? to know that i'm ladybug? didn't you expect, i don't know... more? aren't you mad that i kept so many secrets?"
my eyes widened incredulously. "are you kidding? the fact that you're ladybug is one of the most amazing things i've ever heard. i'm not even surprised. in fact, i already knew," i bragged, kissing my muscles. ladybug smirked and dropped her eyelids.
"no, you didn't," she snorted, and i sighed in defeat.
"no, i didn't. BUT, it doesn't change the fact that i find the news extremely meow-velous. i mean... wow. you're amazing, you know that? as marinette and as ladybug, you're a hero, m'lady. no doubt about it. and, i'm not mad. i know why you kept those secrets, and that it kept us safe. i couldn't be mad at you for saving us and paris," i assured her, and she blushed. i grinned at her reaction.
"plus," i added. "i fell in love with you twice, so you have to know by now that you're the cat's meow," i pointed out, making her giggle and blush even harder.
"i guess i can't help being perfect," she said, putting an imaginary crown on her head.
"no, you probably can't," i said, noticing how close she'd become. if i just leaned in right now...
ladybug noticed it too and cleared her throat, her face becoming focused. "so, now that we know that this chat blanc isn't you, we need to figure out where his akuma is. last time it was in his- your bell, but i don't know."
   "i think that's a pretty good guess. we should start there. but what do we do after we get him? since everyone already... you know," i asked tentatively, and she scowled bitterly.
   "we find hawkmoth. and we take his miraculous. we have no other choice anymore. it's now or never."
   i nodded grimly and followed her to the edge of the roof, where a lonely photographer looked around eagerly, probably trying to catch the million dollar photo. it wasn't everyday two chat noirs fought against each other, after all.
ladybug signaled for us to get off using the other way, towards where my house was. i nodded and we jumped off, not expecting who we found on the ground. at least he lacked reporters and cameras.
"perfect timing, hawkmoth! we were just talking about you," i said, making hawkmoth scowl. chat blanc stood beside him dumbly, and then it clicked. he's a sentimonster.
"hello, chat noir. miss dupain-cheng," he smirked, and i stepped in front of marinette with my staff extended. she shoved in front of me, though, a poisonous look on her face.
"how did you find out?" to anyone else, ladybug must've sounded steady and stern and scary, but i heard the slightest tremor in her voice as she spoke. i grabbed her hand and squeezed it supportively, and she smiled at me in return.
    "aren't you aware? it's everywhere now. it's time to hand over your miraculous, marinette. who knows what i could do to your precious family if you don't? your friends? your little cat boyfriend?" hawkmoth sneered, and ladybug gasped.
   "you won't even have the chance to try and touch any of them," she seethed, charging at him with her yo-yo. with one flick hawkmoth's hand, however, chat blanc tripped her with his staff and held her to him, holding a white cataclysm dangerously close to her chest. she writhed in his arms, but it was no use. if she moved forward, she was gone.
   "let go of her!" i ran towards them, holding my staff like a sword. all that fencing would be coming in handy right now.
   "if you come any closer, i'll hit her with my cataclysm, and you can say goodbye to the bug," chat blanc threatened, bringing his hand closer to her.
   "let go of her, then."
   "but don't either of you want to know why i need your miraculous before i take them away? maybe i can even... convince you to hand them to me," hawkmoth smirked, leaning on his cane.
   "why would we want to listen to ANYTHING you have to say?" ladybug spit, slightly out of breath with how hard the sentimonster was holding her. i stepped closer, scared that he'd suffocate her, even though the supersuit was supposed to prevent anything awful from happening to its wearer. better safe than sorry, though.
"yeah. you're not even confident enough to fight us alone. what are you, scared?" i mocked, noticing the immediate anger in hawkmoth's expression. i smirked, knowing exactly what he'd do next.
"i am not scared! i will savor your defeat. senti-noir, i release you from existence," hawkmoth held up a purple feather and snapped, prompting the sentimonster to seize up and disappear, as if he never existed in the first place. ladybug took a deep breath immediately after, and i looked at her warily, making sure nothing was hurt.
she seemed fine, and i turned back to hawkmoth, finding my annoyance and anger for him increasing quickly. this was the man that terrorized paris endlessly, stressed marinette and i out of our minds, hurt what little chances we had at living a normal life. i hated him. so why were we just standing around, staring?
"your time is up, old man," i called out, running towards him and hitting him with my extended staff. he managed to hit back with his cane, really forcefully. my staff bounced back and hit my face hard, making my vision go blurry. after a few seconds, it cleared up enough to let me see ladybug summoning up a lucky charm. all that came from it was a lighting umbrella, and she hunched down defeatedly for a second before throwing it behind her, squaring her shoulders and walking towards hawkmoth with her yo-yo. super helpful, lucky charm.
   "why are you doing this?" she questioned, looking him dead in the eyes. "what is it that you want with that one wish, hawkmoth? money? power? because those will never make you truly happy, not if you're willing to do all this for it."
hawkmoth chuckled. "i've got plenty of money, and i'd like to say i'm pretty powerful. i want something much more precious. and i know someone you love deeply that is wishing for the exact same thing. need any hints?"
ladybug frowned and creased her eyebrows. i walked in their direction, confused as well. was he off his rocker?
"someone who lost his mother not too long ago, and misses her dearly. he did a photoshoot with you not too long ago, actually. ring any bells?"
ladybug's eyes widened as the pieces clicked in her head, and mine did the same. the only photoshoot she'd had lately had been with... me. but what did i have to do with a supervillain's sick plan?
"what does adrien agreste have to do with ANY of this? don't even think about dragging him into whatever twisted game you're playing," she threatened, her eyes slitting angrily.
"i am not dragging him into anything. i'm simply doing what's best for our family. don't you think he'd love to see my wife again? his mother? i can only bring her back with the ladybug and cat miraculous. one wish. so hand them over."
i heard myself gasp, and felt myself gripping my staff tighter, needing something to grasp onto. i felt like i might faint, or throw up. it couldn't be possible. my father... he couldn't be hawkmoth. it had to be some kind of mistake. sure, he was strict, and he missed mother a lot, but he wasn't villainous. he would never...
it couldn't be. my father couldn't be the man i hated so strongly. it just, it made no sense.
"no... gabriel agreste?" ladybug muttered, seemingly asking herself more than she was asking him. he smiled madly, flashing his white teeth at us. it was all the confirmation i needed.
my throat closed up and my eyes burned as i began to register it. how could he?
"you... you monster! how did you ever think any of this was okay?" she asked, louder this time.
"without my wife, i have nothing. i have to save her."
'i have nothing.' was he serious? was i nothing to my own... father?
"nothing? you have a son who admires you with every inch of his being! he loves you more than anything, and you have the audacity to say he's nothing! you're never around him, committing unforgivable crimes day after day while your son stays home, trying his hardest to listen to your stupid rules! he constantly defends you, despite how little you deserve that. how could you ever say he's nothing, when you mean everything to him?" ladybug's voice cracked, and i fought the urge to cry. i felt like i was on the verge of explosion, like one small shake would completely shatter me.
how was i supposed to forgive him now? i couldn't. no matter the fact that i would give near anything to see my mother again. was it really worth all this? if he even managed to get our miraculouses, what would she say? surely she wouldn't approve.
"i'm doing this for him!"
"no, you're not! you're doing this for yourself, because you're selfish! you spend zero time with him just to do all this, and for what? the miraculous won't just grant you a wish. it comes with a price! using it for selfish reasons is a horrible idea," i snapped, finally gaining my voice back and wanting nothing more than to use it to yell at hawkmoth. i was enraged.
"this coming from the boy who used his miraculous to visit her everyday. was that not selfish?" he countered. i looked down, knowing he was right. that had been selfish. but if he had just let me out the house while he was out threatening paris...
"but we would never go to the lengths you're going. you're mad," ladybug defended. her earrings beeped, signaling that she was close to detransforming. hawkmoth mock pouted before breaking into a huge grin.
"tick tock, ladybug. soon you'll detransform, and then it'll be a piece of cake to take your miraculous. there's no use in trying anymore," he said, dripping with satisfaction. she looked back at her lucky charm with a frown, then looked defeatedly back at hawkmoth. i furrowed my eyebrows. was she really about to give up?
she put her hands to her ear and walked toward him slowly. i caught her eye and frowned, desperately hoping she wasn't about to give her miraculous to someone who didn't deserve it. in response, she mouthed something to me: the lucky charm.
i scrunched up my face before realizing what she meant. grabbing the umbrella quickly, i ran towards them and knocked hawkmoth in the head with it, giving ladybug time to close it and tie it around his head.
  "oops," she deadpanned, leading us back to the roof where we watched hawkmoth angrily stand and snap the umbrella in half. his explosive temper matched my father's, and i began to see the resemblance between the two. it made everything a thousand times worse. now wasn't the time to drown in my sorrows, though.
hawkmoth cursed at the air and fled quickly to the house, and i looked away, hoping that maybe not looking would make it disappear. it didn't.
"i have a plan. the lucky charm gave me an idea," marinette said, drawing my attention back to her and reminding me yet again that the battle wasn't over. she had detransformed already, and she held tikki in her hands as the kwami ate a pink macaroon. it was a cute sight, and it made me smile despite the whole situation.
   today would be the my father's last day as hawkmoth, i decided. i'd have to pay extra attention to the next plan, and i was prepared to do whatever it took to make sure that by tomorrow, akuma alerts would be a thing of the past.
"i'm all ears, then, m'lady."

(a/n: omg gasp she finally uploaded a chapter :O i swear this final battle thing feels like it's been going for ages in here but im splitting it into separate chapters to make it easier for me to balance im sorryyy T-T (that is being used in replacement for the crying emoji) anywho we r drawing real close to the end chapter :D and there may or may not be an epilogue underway... ;) hehehe love yall thx for ur patience<3)