Miraculous One Shot Compilation

One Body, Two Hearts

A/n - When I showed the beginning of "Under Agreste" to my mother...

Me: Can you tell who she's fighting with?

Mom: Tikki?

Me: Marinette fights with Tikki? Duly noted.

Stemming from a conversation had in the real world, this one-shot is inspired by afterwordstoo.

"I'm tired of everything Ladybug takes away from me!"

"Don't talk like that Marinette, you are Ladybug! You can't be taking anything away from yourself!"

"No, I'm not. There may be two people living inside my body now, but the only one that's me is Marinette Dupain-Cheng. Ladybug is just the name of the parasite who pushes my wants and needs aside every day to go and chase an akuma!"

"Paris needs Ladybug!" The kwami tried to reason with the teenager.

"At my expense? Ladybug could be whomever wears these dumb earrings, so why me?" Marinette dramatically collapsed her head into her hands. Her spotted companion tried to fly closer, but Marinette was in no mood to talk. "I don't want to hear it, Tikki - I know the collective people of Paris are more important than just me, but I'm too selfish to continue being Ladybug's host."

"Marinette, don't -" Tikki faded out mid-plea as Marinette removed the miraculous from her ear.

--

"It's all right girl, it wasn't a good day for any of us to make it. An akuma popped up, so naturally I had to go record it for my blog. All the main roads were closed, so Nino got stranded on the other side of the city, and Adrien won't even say where he ran off to. In short, we rescheduled for another day, so you didn't miss anything."

"I know, Alya, but it's not just about today. I've skipped out on too many of our plans, and I swear it isn't going to happen anymore." Marinette felt a brief pang of guilt as she thought of the earrings and the note she had left near the beginning of the patrol, but she pushed it away. She'd hidden them out of view from ground level, but where - she hoped - it would be easy to see from the rooftops. It had better be her trusted (former) partner that found them, and not anyone else!

--

A month had gone by and Marinette was enjoying her newfound freedom - mostly. Her conscience still whispered in her ear from time to time, but it wasn't nearly as loud as Tikki had been, so was easily shoved away. What bothered her the most was Chat's reaction. Instead of finding a new Ladybug as she'd expected he would, her partner had somehow found a way to absorb the ladybug miraculous into his ring as he transformed. By doing so, his main power still came from the black cat miraculous, but he was granted the ability to purify akumas and reverse damage at the end of the fight.

Naturally, what went on with the local superhero(es) was hot news, and was all anyone wanted to talk about when "current events" came up in class.

"Where could Ladybug have gone for this past month? Poor Chat seems just about ready to drop from exhaustion trying to handle it all on his own."

Marinette crossed her arms defensively. "I don't see why he doesn't just pick a new Ladybug to help him out; he's being a stubborn showoff."

"I don't think that is his reasoning," Adrien protested. "It's obvious he loves her. At least I had thought I loved her." The last part was spoken too quietly to impart to his friends, but Marinette could hear his troubled tone. For some reason, this meant a lot to him!

--

"Sorry, Alya, I've got, uh, somewhere to go!" After class, Marinette felt a sudden impulse that she must discover what was going on with Adrien. With no further explanation to her best friend, she took off in the direction she had seen the blond boy go.

She finally located her crush several city blocks down the road - yet when she tried to call out to him, she found her voice prohibited even her regular stutter. Perhaps some sixth sense had temporarily incapacitated her vocal capabilities... for had it not, she would have missed it as he began to speak to no one in particular. "Stupid girl."

Marinette froze in shock; who could he be talking about?

Adrien sighed. "I always found her so... just so miraculous. Now she's gone and left all of her responsibilities to me." He played with a couple of black stud earrings in the palm of his hand. "Everyone makes mistakes, M'Lady, but I don't know how much longer I can keep hoping you'll right yours."

Marinette shuddered, feeling like he was speaking to her. Indirectly, he was. 'I'm sorry, Chat, I won't make this go on any longer.' "Adrien! Okay? You! Are you o-okay?"

He jumped a bit and shoved the earrings into his pocket, then smiled when he saw who it was. "Hey, Marinette! Uh, actually... I should thank you."

Marinette blinked in surprise. "What do you have to thank me for?"

"Because you're right; it's hard to accept, but Chat Noir really does need to find a new partner. I don't know where else to go, so..." He held out the earrings, "would you like to become the new Ladybug, Marinette?"

Marinette couldn't believe it; her crush had chosen her to be his new partner. Her fingers itched to snatch up the familiar earrings while they were in reach, but she couldn't. If Adrien was to take back his traitorous partner, he'd have to do it willingly. "I can't... lie to you. I was Ladybug. I've still got the box to the ladybug miraculous somewhere in my bedroom if you want me to prove it. I wouldn't blame you at all if you want to replace me, and if that's the way you feel - you should! But... if you're willing to have me as your partner again, I'm willing to take back my miraculous and all the responsibilities that come with it."

Hesitantly, Marinette met Adrien's eyes. He was looking at her like... she didn't know what, but it was intense. Before she had the opportunity to react further, she was enveloped in his arms and he was squeezing the life out of her. "I kept hoping you would come back, M'Lady."

There was Chat, and his stupid nicknames, but for the moment, there was nothing she'd rather be called. He released her far too soon, his hand coming to rest at the side of her face. "May I?"

"Hm?" Marinette wasn't quite sure what he was getting at. 'He's not going to kiss me, is he?'

He delicately removed her current earrings and placed one, then the other, in the palm of her hand. Fearing that someone would notice the lack of the earrings she'd taken to wearing every day, she had purchased a cheap lookalike pair instead. Now an indescribable feeling coursed through her at her partner's care in refastening the real, magical deal.

"Oh."

Amusement danced in Adrien's eyes. "That's not what you expected, is it?"

"No..."

He brought his face teasingly close to hers. "Do you want me to?"

To say yes would be too embarrassing; to say no would be a lie. She was saved from having to answer him by the appearance of a red blur flying in and hugging her cheek. "Marinette!"

"Oh, Tikki, I missed you!"

"Aww, I missed you too! Do you understand what you did wrong now?"

"Yes, there is a reason I was chosen to be Ladybug, and I promise I won't neglect my duties again."

--

"Sorry, Alya, I know I said I wouldn't be doing this anymore, but something came up and I just had to go."

"That's okay girl, you've been like this as long as I've known you! Who would Marinette be without her unexplained disappearances? But don't think I don't realize how your absences coincide perfectly with Adrien's! The two of you should just come out already!"

Marinette glanced over at her not quite boyfriend to see if he'd heard. He most likely had, since he winked at her. She chuckled; she was back, and better than ever!