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Part 13:Okay

"Chat?" Ladybug asked with a cock of her head.

Adrien's heart broke a bit as he practically felt the pain illuminated in her sparkling tears, running down her face.

Drip.

He saw the tear drop off her chin.

Drip.

He saw Marinette sobbing in her bedroom.

Drop.

Another tear fell.

Drop.

Another memory fell from his consciousness.

"Ladybug..." Adrien heard the reporter start to say, and suddenly he was jerked back into reality. He could deal with his confusion later, right now she needed him.

He scooped her up, trying to make his grip as light as possible, but still couldn't avoid her crying out in pain.

"Sorry, no questions for the Lady today, boys." He said with his trademark grin as he used his baton to volt them up to a roof. He put his baton away and shifted his grip so that he was carrying Ladybug bridal style. Leaning close to her ear;

"Brace yourself, its gonna be a mew-sirable ride." Adrien tried to lighten the mood, as he leaned forward, running and jumping from roof to roof. He was rewarded with a choked laugh and a shaking breath that rattled as it was sucked in. He hugged her closer, snuggling his nose into her hair. How could he let this happen? He should have seen it earlier. He should have seen Ladybug's pain. Her jerkiness, her slowed reaction, the pain behind the mask, he should have seen it. He should have seen the Ladybug was Marinette.

Beep! BEEP! His thoughts were interrupted by the beeping of her Miraculous.

"Chat..." He heard her gasp, from shock or from having no air, he couldn't tell. Well, it didn't matter. What mattered was how he was going to get her home without disclosing the fact that he had unmasked her. She couldn't handle that, or at least not right now.

He would tell her eventually, of course. After everything calmed down, and feelings could be sorted out. Adrien really had no idea, how Marinette would react to him finding out her identity. She was always so adamant that their super hero and civilian lives should stay separate. But then again...she was dating Chat Noir as Marinette, he wasn't sure if that classified as separate. One thing Adrien was sure of, was that, she was going to be confused as he was. And, man, he was confused as hell.

It's not that he was upset that Marinette was Ladybug. That wasn't it at all. In fact, it was wonderful and amazing. Finding out that he loved every side of that girl...it was enlivening, intoxicating and amazing. Yeah, really, really amazing. But it was also surprising, and shocking and...world shattering. Its not that he didn't love her still. In fact, he couldn't find a time that he was more in love with her, because now he knew her...all of her. His two images of his lovely ladies was being stitched together, and with every redrawn memory he could see Marinette in interactions with Ladybug and vice versa for his interactions with Marinette. Looking back on it now, he could never understand how he didn't see it before.  He could, now, easily, see how they were the same person. Yet he could also see how different the two sides of her were. Such stark contrasts, yet he could see how they bled into one another, mixing with each side where they obvious weren't supposed to. Together they created a much larger picture. A beautiful, breathtaking picture. Together they created Marinette. Together, they created Ladybug. Together, they created her, his love. And that's all he needed.

But he was still confused as to why she hid her identity. She always said that is was better for their identities to be hidden, that they could protect Paris better that way....but she always said it with shielded eyes that wouldn't meet his, and he couldn't help but wonder...did she really feel that way? Was there any other reason for her to hide her identity?