True Love?

Chapter 5

The next morning, Adrien paces in his room, concerned. He thinks about what went down at Marinette's place the day before. Marinette didn't seem hurt on the bridge. That means she had to have been hurt in the hour it took to defeat Frost Bite. Adrien starts to piece the details together. With all of the clues and now this mysterious injury, he could not be more sure of Ladybug's true identity. Now he just has to confirm it. He looks at his ring, lost in thought. Plagg floats next to him eating a piece of cheese quickly.

"What are you waiting for?" Plagg asks. Adrien grins.

"Plagg, claws out!" he says. In a flash of green light, Adrien transforms into Cat Noir. He opens the window and leaps out onto the rooftops. Eagerly, he heads toward Marinette's place. As he stops outside of the window to her room, he hears Marinette yelp in pain which causes him to look in the window. She has her shirt pulled up to expose the makeshift fabric bandage. She slowly pulls off the fabric revealing a long and painful-looking cut across her side underneath her ribs. Cat Noir goes to Marinette's trap door on her balcony and taps on it. "Marinette?" he calls. Shuffling is heard then Marinette opens the trap door and sees Cat Noir.

"Cat Noir?" she asks. She climbs outside, up onto the balcony and shuts the trap door. "What are you doing here?"

"I was just clearing my head," he lies. "But then, I noticed you were hurt through the window and came to check to see if you were okay." Marinette's eyes open wide in surprise.

"Uh, yeah I'm totally fine. It's just a scratch. Nothing to worry about." She says. Cat Noir looks at her.

"I know it's you, M'lady. You were not injured yesterday morning but after the fight with the Akuma, now you are hurt in the exact same spot Ladybug was. Besides, there are way too many signs that point to your identity," says Cat Noir.

Marinette pales and gasps. Tikki flies out of her purse.

"Tikki! What are you doing?" Marinette says.

"Marinette, there's no point in hiding it anymore. He already knows," Tikki explains. Tikki turns to Cat Noir and Marinette sighs. "Hi, Cat Noir, my name is Tikki. It's nice to meet you." Cat Noir waves.

"Hey Tikki, it's nice to meet you too," he replies. He turns to Marinette. "So, are you okay M'lady?" She sighs and returns her attention to fixing her bandage.

"I'm fine, Kitty. It honestly is not as deep as it looks," Marinette tells him. "I will just need to keep the bandage on it for a few days, and it should be fine." Cat Noir takes her hand.

"I'm sorry I was not there to protect you, M'lady," he apologizes. Marinette shrugs and puts a hand on his shoulder.

"Cat, you don't have to protect me," Marinette comforts him. "Besides, I got hurt because of my own clumsiness. There was no way you would be able to protect me from myself." Marinette giggles and Cat Noir smiles.

"You're right, M'lady," Cat Noir concedes. "But, I am still going to try to protect you as best I can." He runs his fingers through his hair nervously. "So, um, does this mean, uh, um, that I can reveal myself to you now?" Marinette freezes in place.

"Uh, um, uh," Marinette stutters. Cat Noir laughs.

"Are you worried you won't like who you see?" Cat Noir asks. Marinette shakes her head and regains her composure.

"No, Kitty. I am not worried about who you are," Marinette says evenly. "You know who I am now, which was not my plan for at least until we defeated Hawk Moth. So, I guess it would be okay with me. What do you think, Tikki?" Tikki flies over and sits on Marinette's shoulder.

"I think it should be okay. As long as you both understand that you must protect each other's identity at all costs," Tikki says after a bit of thinking. "Your friends and families must not find out who you are. This means all of the nicknames and loving glances need to stop when you are just civilians." Cat Noir frowns at this.

"So, essentially we cannot act like a couple for any reason if we are not Ladybug and Cat Noir unless we were actually dating, correct?" Cat Noir asks with a smile. Tikki giggles.

"Yes, that sounds right," Tikki replies.

"Hold up, Kitty," Marinette says. "What makes you think that I would date you after you reveal yourself? For all I know, you could be way older than me. How do you know that I am even looking to date anyone right now?" Tikki tries to stifle her laugh but fails. Marinette gasps in realization and before Cat Noir can answer her questions, she looks at her Kwami. "You know who he is, don't you, Tikki?"

"Yes, Marinette. I know who Cat Noir is under the mask," Tikki says between breaths. "Plagg and I have both known since your fight with the Dark Owl." It was Cat Noir's turn to gasp.

"Why didn't you tell us that you knew?" Cat Noir asks accusingly.

"It wasn't safe for you to know. It technically still isn't," Tikki explains. "We were trying to keep both of you safe and in turn, your families safe." Tikki lowers her head. "I'm sorry, Marinette."

"Aw, it's okay, Tikki," Marinette replies softly. "You were only doing what you thought was best." She takes a deep breath and faces Cat Noir. "Alright then, Kitty. I guess it is time to see who my partner really is under the mask." Cat Noir smiles.

"As you wish, M'lady," he says. "Claws in."