Not You: A Miraculous Ladybug Tale

Not You. Anyone but you (The Reveal pt 2)

"Wait, you know Marinette?"

"Yes, I do."

Her nightmare was coming true. She was hoping Cat Noir had never met her before. That way she could pretend to be more like Ladybug. But if he already knew Marinette...it was over.

"I'm confused. Why do you seem so happy about it?"

"Because, I'm actually Adri-"

Just then a stream of bolts went colliding into the phone booth. The bolts shattered the glass. It seemed now it had the power to destroy physical matter.

"We have to go!" Cat Noir flung Marinette over his shoulder before racing out and casting himself into the sky on his pole. The bolts closely followed.

"Where should we go?" She called out.

"It's targeting me, I have to land!"

Instantly, he lowered himself behind a hotel and rested her against a wall. He seemed to be acting as her human shield, as he loomed over her.

"Claws in," he whispered.

"What are you doing?" She shouted.

He gently pressed his hand against her mouth, "Shhhh."

She stared up to find... Adrien? She was confused and blinked a few times to ensure she wasn't imagining things. No, it was him.

Adrien...and Cat Noir...were the same person? It made sense. She had wondered that for a while now, but refused to believe it because...Adrien hurt and rejected her while Cat Noir accepted and loved her.

Adrien was confident and usually pretty serious. Cat Noir was the king of lame jokes. They couldn't be the same person when they were so different. No, actually it didn't make sense. She couldn't combine them into one...two people who represented two different things in her life.

The bolts seemed to stop now that Cat Noir was de-transformed and no longer a target. Instead the bolts began to shoot in the opposite direction and were quickly heading to the other side of the city.

He stared down into her eyes as if to see her reaction. There was vulnerability in his expression as he seemingly waited for his acceptance.

"Well? What do you think?" he probed.

Every memory of Adrien flashed before her eyes...the pain that she felt in those memories as well. Then Cat Noir and all the joy and annoyance he brought her. They had to be different. She didn't want to taint something good with something painful. Then she thought of the day they met in the rain...her love at first sight...was actually also for Cat Noir?

But Adrien, aka Cat Noir, loved Ladybug and not Marinette. So, this entire time Adrien was rejecting Marinette to be with Ladybug? She was right. Even Cat Noir couldn't love Marinette.

Why did it feel like such a personal betrayal?

Unexpectedly, she began to sob, fat warm tears streaming down her face. Her entire body was shaking.

"Hey, what's wrong?" He stroked her cheek with the back of his hand, looking concerned.

Her quivering lips couldn't even form a word. As his hands landed on her shoulders in comfort, she broke out of his grasp and back away from him.

"Marinette, breath."

She took in a deep breath to calm herself. His eyes...were green. So green. Not those green eyes. Cat Noir's green eyes couldn't also be Adrien's.

"Not you," She managed to say, "Anyone but you."

He wore the face of a man in despair. The look of disappointment that she feared so much was actually her own doing. She was the one rejecting him, instead of the other way around.

"Marinette, I'm glad were Ladybug," his words were heavy. 

"You say that now because it's easy. But you only went after Ladybug and rejected me. Now it's convenient to say that."

"Marinette, I-"

"I wish I didn't know! I wish it wasn't you. Cat Noir can't be you! It doesn't make sense. Nothing makes sense."

"We'll have to discuss this later," Adrien said, "In the meantime we need to make plans to take down whoever is shooting these beams."

"You're not Cat Noir. You can't be. You're not. Cat Noir made me so happy. But you..."

She couldn't finish.

He sighed.

"Why did you kiss me? Is this some kind of joke to you?" She asked.

"No. It never has been. I don't just love Ladybug. I also love you. In that moment, I felt like my divided love was complete and whole when I found out you and Ladybug were one."

"You loved Marinette? When?" She crossed her arms.

"Ever since that day in the rain. I just was so naive back then that I didn't realize it was love. I thought it was friendship. I thought love meant to worship someone for their perfection. But recently, I see that deep friendship is actually love in its purest form. Loving someone for their character and flaws, not their perfection."

She didn't know how to process his words. Was it true? She could only understand his words if she could make her brain connect his two sides.

"Adrien. Adrien. Adrien. Is Cat Noir," she said, trying to convince herself. "No. But you're different now."

"What do you mean?" He tilted his head, his blonde hair sweeping across his forehead.

"You're sad now. Serious. Somber. Not like Cat Noir. Adrien is...sad."

"So was Cat Noir. He just covered it up with his stupid jokes. He also had the advantage of hiding behind a mask unlike me."

"So, who is the real you? Who are you?" 

"There!" Adrien pointed to the top of the grand hotel. Her head followed.

"What?" She felt annoyed by his deflection in conversation. 

"I saw someone. Spying on us. Wearing all black."

Marinette felt another chill down her spine. Usually the akumatized villains wore bright and colorful costumes. But this was just creepy.

"What should we do?" Adrien asked.

"Let's go to your house." 

He nodded. Holding his hand out for her to take it. She wanted to take Cat Noir's hand, but not Adrien's. They were different. 

 She wished...deeply wished...she didn't know.