Quiet Ice, Silent Nights

Let Me Meet You

Cat Noir lay flat on his back, being chilled through by the cool smoothness of the stone that made up Marinette's balcony. He listened carefully and could hear the sound of mindless flowing traffic, the soft chime of the bakery bell, and the muffled arguing between a girl and her kwami.

He couldn't quite make out the words, whether from their indecipherable nature or because of the fried processers of his brain he wasn't sure. What he would hear if he tried to listen was also beyond him, everything sort of was at that exact moment in time. He felt like he was in a gigantic tank at an aquarium that had been drained of all water, leaving him in a dim sealed space all on his own. He knew water was meant to be there, and some part of him feared the moment it all came crashing down because when it did, he would almost certainly drown.

The water was flooding the aquarium now, and he felt like he was desperately trying to remember how to swim.

He sighed, sound passing his lips in a vague cry of distress because he had no idea how to fix this. He didn't know what to say, he didn't even know what he wanted to hear. What could he say? Why did something so good feel so bad?

That thought settled in, drawing out the seconds he lay still and did nothing as he considered that line of reasoning again. Something so good... because... it was good. That's how he felt at any rate, it was good. They knew. He was him and she was her and they knew. This balcony... this home... all those nights, whether spent skating or patrolling the city all that mattered is that all those nights were spent together. And all those school days... all those smiles in the halls.

What did he want?

He tried to think it through, sitting up and staring sightlessly at the still locked hatch.

What did he want to happen if and when that hatch opened?

He tried to imagine it, the simple glass pane lifting away and finally letting him enter. Letting him see her.

That's what he wanted, he supposed. He wanted to see her, and see her as all of her. He wanted to look at her and know she was Ladybug, just like she had looked at him in the seclusion of that locker room and known he was Cat Noir.

He wanted to see all of her for the first time, and still feel that hot overwhelming feeling in his chest.

Cat Noir nodded once, purely for himself as his mind started to function again, planning. He had to get in, normally he would respect her privacy but this was extremely important and a unique circumstance... aaaand if he was invited in it wasn't really trespassing at all. But there was no way she was going to let him in and Tikki seemed to have lost her battle, so that left...

He grinned slightly.

Hadn't Tom and Sabine always been so welcoming?

--

"Marinette!" her father's voice echoed up to her, cutting in to her breakdown time. She lifted her head from the pillows slightly just in time to hear her father say, "Your friend Adrien is here to see you!"

She went stiff, wide blue eyes staring down into the lower level of her room as Tikki gasped adorably to her left.

"He didn't..." she whispered in disbelief, watching her stairs like a hawk as her heart pounded in her ears to the beat of approaching footsteps.

"He DID!" Tikki squealed in delight, giggling happily when the hatch in the floor opened and a sheepish Adrien popped his head in with a weak smile before clambering inside.

"Y-you used my parents!?" she cried indignantly, trying to find something to say and settling on something trivial.

Small though it was Adrien still laughed nervously, looking down at the ground.