Shall We Dance?- A Miraculous Ladybug Fanfiction

Chapter 13

The kiss started out innocently enough.

Her lips were warm and yielding under his. The mere thought of her was enough to make him drunk but now, holding her close, running a gloved paw into her hair, and kissing her like there was no tomorrow, made him elated. The best part was that she returned it. Every piece of passion he poured into her was returned just as strongly. Ladybug reached up and cupped his face, opening her mouth just enough to warrant exploration by him. Their tongues danced. Each breath mingled in the nearly invisible space between them. He pulled her closer, if that was even possible, running his hands down her neck, shoulders, stopping short of her hips.

She responded almost immediately. As he gripped her hips, she pushed herself forward, thinking that there had to be a way to get even closer than they already were, moving her hands back to behind his head. She laced her fingers in the shaggy mess he called hair. She tugged enough to crush his lips against hers. He squeezed her hips a bit, a soft groan escaping his throat. Plagg's never going to let me hear the end of this later but it's worth it. She lightly nipped his bottom lip. Oh so worth it. He moved his hands again, this time to her face, to cup her softly.

For what felt like eternity they stayed that way, feeling and kissing, until finally, they pulled apart to breathe.

Properly.

Chat panted. His glowing eyes explored her, taking in the sight of her being close to him. Her face was flush and lips swollen from the aggressive ending and she didn't drop her hands. She smiled up at him, "Wow. I didn't know you could kiss so well." He chuckled.

"Same to you Marinette," he whispered. She stroked his cheek before dropping her arms to pull him into a tight embrace instead. Her face rested oh so neatly into his neck where she softly placed a final kiss. His heart soared. He hugged her close and took a steadying breath, having to rationalize that de-transforming to ravish her appropriately on the Eiffel Tower was not a smart idea by any stretch of the imagination. After a few more minutes of that, she looked back up at him.

"We have a problem though."

"Problem? I don't see a problem," he purred. She eyed him but then rolled them.

"Of course not at this moment. Not what I meant. We have another problem though since I don't know who you are." Chat nuzzled her head.

"That can be solved very quickly. Plagg...." Ladybug jerked and used both of her hands to cover his mouth. He blinked. It worked though and the final words to call of his transformation were halted in their tracks. She sighed wistfully and poked his nose after removing her hands, which he wiggled in response, causing her to giggle.

"Not so fast kitty. I want to do this on my own. It's not fair you figured out who I was and I get the easy way out."

"But...."

"No way. Don't even think about it."

"As you wish my lady." He pulled a hand up to his lips, giving it a gentle kiss. He smirked up at her. "What would you like me to do then?"

"Not a thing." She pulled her hand back but gave his bell a flick in the process. "I'm going to do this my way. I promise. I'll figure it out. I will know who you are and no matter who's under that mask, I am going to love you unconditionally." She reached for her yo-yo. "But for now, let's go home. It's getting late." He grabbed her wrist, causing her to turn, and to expose herself for the briefest of seconds for another kiss. She flamed. Chat shot her a cocky grin.

"That was a good-night kiss. Sleep well princess." He saluted her with two fingers before falling back off the beam and taking off into the night. She watched but gathered herself again to take off in the opposite direction. Her heart pounded more than normal.

Landing in her room on the final beep, Marinette was bathed in a warm red light. She bit her lip, landed on her bed, clutched at the nearest pillow, and squealed really loudly into it. Tikki floated above her. She was smiling brightly at the young hero.

"Can you believe this Tikki? It's fixed! Chat doesn't hate me!"

"That's wonderful Marinette," she complimented, floating to the desktop to grab one of her cookies. "But you need to figure out who he is first." She pulled her face away from the pillow. Clutching it at her chest, she rolled over to look at the ceiling. That was a good question. How was she going to do this? Chat had used the dancing but it seemed like he had enough experience to tell two people apart. She had to concentrate too much to rely on that. "If it helps any, you only have two people to focus on."

And you're probably strong enough now to break the spell the little fairy thought but didn't say. She only hoped the push was enough to break the wall that surrounded her chosen's mind.

That was true. On her list of people were only two: Nathaniel and Adrien. Both had danced with her for the first time last week and then the next day, one of them had danced with her a second time and used that to figure out who she was. She blinked.

Wait.

Nathaniel had danced with her during the first class for lessons.

Lessons.

Chat knew how to dance.

He wouldn't have needed lessons.

Oh. My. God.

How oblivious was she?

Marinette shot up in her bed, now clutching the pillow even tighter, face glowing red from the top of her head all the way down to her shoulders at the realization. She stared up at her, "Figured it out?"

"If-if you mean who Chat is, then yes," she breathed. Tikki blinked and then laughed. Marinette shook her head. "Why does it feel like my head's clearer?"

"The magic." Tikki flew up and landed on her knees. She crossed her legs. "The Miraculous are embedded with some powerful magic and part of it is the ability to protect its chosen. Part of that protection is a veil of sorts. It's a glamour. Anyone who tries to think about the identity of the heroes will often find themselves thinking about something else or just be unable to put their finger on it. Unfortunately, the magic required that even the heroes themselves were subject to it.

"Now in some cases, the spell can be broken. The easiest way to do it is to both willingly agree to share your identities. Other times, it takes the right set of circumstances to break through it. You and Chat Noir are embedded with the same base magic because of Plagg and me, so, while it took you a little longer than it should have to figure out who each other was, it wasn't completely impossible. That, on top of your love made the spell even weaker."

"But if the magic was meant to protect us, why was it so easily broken?"

Tikki giggled and flew up to hover in front of the young girl's face. "The origin magic meant for this to happen. The earrings of creation and the ring of destruction are a balance for each other and the magic wanted the two holders to be as in-tune as possible. Part of that is knowing that you two need to know each other. Completely. Without questions." She smiled sadly as she continued with, "But this world isn't a friendly place and so the safeguard, the glamour, was put there in case one of the miraculouses landed in the wrong hands."

"Like Hawkmoth's?"

"Yes." Tikki sighed. "Poor Nooroo. He just doesn't have the best luck."

"We'll get him back soon. I promise." Tikki nodded and placed a gentle kiss on her forehead.

"I know. I trust you." Mari smiled and slid off her bed, pulling her pigtails out. She changed into her pajamas before climbing back and snuggling down into the covers. Tikki flew up to her pillow.

"Monday's going to be awesome," she yawned. "I can't wait to see Chat's... Adrien's... expression when I tell him I know."

"Yeah. It'll be great." Tikki patted the young girl's head gently as she slipped off to sleep, before flying over to turn the light off. For the first time in years, her tiny little heart fluttered excitedly for the morning.