The Miraculous Tales of Ladybug and Chat Noir

Okay

She slipped down the wall, finally letting the emotions out. All of the hurt from his indirect rejection, and all of the pain from her bullying gone too far, and all of her total loneliness. She's never alone, but she always is. The only possible person to share her problems was Chat, and he always seemed so carefree, so happy... Why, for once in her life, couldn't Marinette find something to smile about?

He knew she was uncomfortable around him in his civilian form, so he transformed and ran to find the girl on the verge of breaking. She was always so strong, he saw that now, especially after seeing the pattern of scars and bruises across her back that Chloe had revealed. Even a hug was bound to hurt the poor girl. Hearing soft crying, he leaped around a corner to see her against the wall, trying to pull herself together.

"Marinette..."

Her head jerks up at the mention of her name. Seeing the black cat standing a few metres away, she put her head back down and chuckled dryly.

"Look at me. I'm a mess."

His heart tugs at her cracking voice, the voice that once would stutter and trip over words, the voice that once stood up to her bully, the voice that belonged to one of his first friends. Her smile lit up a room and her laugh often rang through the halls. But all that was crashing down, and for once, she was the one needing comfort instead of giving it. 

"Marinette, what happened?"

Her heart tugs at his worried voice, for once he wasn't cheerfully cracking puns, or flirting, or being Chat. She saw a genuinely worried boy, worried for her emotions. She saw Adrien instead of Chat, and that only made her heart hurt more.

"I figured out your identity, Chat. It all makes so much sense now. Why you would never show any interest in me yet were infatuated with her. Of course you would love her. She's the person I could never have been, she's strong and brave, she's confident and self-aware, she can hide all her insecurities behind a mask and leave that girl behind. The girl who was bullied, the girl who was clumsy, the girl who was shy, the girl who couldn't trust anyone enough to love her for her because she was Ladybug and they loved her for that mask." 

He stands frozen, listening to her broken words. She figured out his identity, he knew she did, but how? He was so careful, after all, mistakes are irrevocable. And she was describing Ladybug, he knew she was, but how did she know who she was under the mask and all her troubles and fears? How had she so easily discovered the two heroes identities? 

"How...?"

She sighs. Of course he wouldn't connect the dots just yet. He was just that dense, just as dense as she was once. She shouldn't have let herself fall so easily. She should be able to keep her emotions in check. She was like a ticking time bomb, ready to blow any second.

"You really are dense, Chat, no, Adrien. Ladybug is a mask. You've fallen for who the girl underneath wants to be, who she wishes she could be. She isn't real. Ask yourself, how could I possibly know all of Ladybug's greatest regrets, all her fears, all her insecurities, all her troubles, who her heart once belonged to and who her heart was broken by? Tell me, how do you think I know her identity as if it were my own?"

As if it were her own. Chat takes a hesitant step forward. As if it were her own. Of course Ladybug would be different under the mask - he was different under the mask. Of course she would have insecurities, troubles. Ladybug was human, but she never let it show, to maintain their trust in her, their trust in the mask. The girl in front of him wore a different kind of mask, a mask of smiles. She acted like Ladybug, standing up for others, showing kindness to all, yet was simply more human. More real.

"You... You're her?"

She wiped away more tears. He fell for the picture of a perfect girl. A perfect girl for a perfect boy. However, she wasn't real. She was ideal, a dream that faded without the mask. She guessed the perfect boy wasn't real either. This only made her tears come faster. She and him were more alike than she first assumed. His heart would probably break now that he knew who she was, same as hers did when she saw him de-transform next to her house. He wouldn't love her. He loved the girl she wasn't. 

"And the mask comes off, and the girl is afraid and more alone than ever. This is why I never wanted to tell you, I'm not who you think she is, and I never was, and I never will be. Ladybug is supposed to infallible, someone to look up to, a hero. What would they think if they found out Ladybug was just a teenager who is barely capable? What would you think? Never mind, I don't want to imagine it."

He stared at the girl in front of him, her words sinking in. She was afraid of what they would think, what he would think? But she was Ladybug, she was fearless, and she didn't care what they thought. She didn't care what he thought. She just kept doing what she was chosen to do. But she did care, and she was afraid. 

"You never cared what they thought, you never cared what I thought. They can't do anything about you being Ladybug, because if they could, they would lose the Ladybug they love so much. I would lose the Ladybug I love so much."

She lifts her head, now looking at the sky. He isn't understanding. Why can't he understand?

"What would happen if you stopped being the sweet, shy, polite Adrien? What if you just kept being Chat, even in civilian form? Could you do it? Would you care what everyone thinks? What your father thinks? Of course you would, and to me, you're Chat Noir, the boy without worries or insecurities or anything wrong. To you, Ladybug is fearless and strong, but that's not who I am, that's not what I deal with. I have people who would judge me for being me, just as you do. Only those people are on different sides - me when I'm Ladybug, you when you're Adrien."

He finally understands.

"..."

She doesn't hear him speak.

"I'm hurting, Chat Noir, because you reject me for me, and because Chloe throws words that cut like knives, and because I rejected you for a picture of perfection that isn't real. Don't you get it? I fell for the boy that isn't who you really are, and now that I know that, it's like falling in love with an actor. It'll never happen, but your heart breaks anyway."

She finally stands, and he stares at her. Her eyes of cerulean blue are sad yet her face is stoic. 

"Marinette?"

She meets his emerald green eyes, gathering her strength. Inhaling, she wipes her face. Letting her breath out with a slight sigh, she squares her shoulders and brushes past him. Stopping just in front, she turns her head to the side to address him.

"I won't turn up for patrol for a few nights. I just... need time. Give me some space to heal. I'll be okay, but if you bother me, you won't be."

He lets her leave with that threat hanging in the air. He whispers one last promise into the air, watching her hair disappear through the streets.

"I love you Marinette, and I will wait for you, no matter how long it takes. I will wait for you to be okay."

[2018] i didn't really need to edit that but i finished a line that i apparently just. left. yikes past me. learn to read.