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“Shall we get rid of that eyesore m’lady?”

Her blush deepened. Worried about her mouth not forming words properly, she nodded instead and they leaped and swung towards the Eiffel tower. Once there, Cat Noir lost no time in cataclysm the protective shell around the akumas forming Shadow Moth’s face. Ladybug swung her yoyo, planning on capturing all of them when the whole thing disappeared.

“An illusion?” He must have used the fox miraculous. That made much more sense. Where else would all of those akumas come from?

The crowd erupted into a cheer.

“Our promise still stands.” Cat Noir said to the crowd, causing a hush to spread through it. “We’ll do everything in our power to keep you safe.” He lept away and Ladybug followed suit, the crowd cheering and already starting to disperse below them. They landed on a different rooftop, away from the eyes of the Parisians. Cat Noir detransformed and transformed back behind a chimney and then walked back to her.

“What do you think, too dramatic?” Cat Noir asked her with a smile. How could he be like this? Serious and confident one moment and then perfectly at ease the next. She blinked at him as the rain came down harder and thunder still rumbled in the background.

“There you are,” Su-Han spoke from behind them. They both whirled around to face him.

“No.” Cat Noir stepped in front of her. “Paris needs her. Didn’t you hear them? Didn’t you hear how much faith they have in her despite what she lost today? I won’t let you take her away from us.” He prepared his baton.

Su-Han lifted a hand and made a sign to stop. “Have you learned nothing from the last time we fought?”

“No one knows Shadow Moth the way we do. No one works as well together as we do. Give us a chance.” He lowered into a slight crouch, ready to pounce. Ladybug stood frozen behind him. Her heart beating erratically and her thoughts swirling with the possibility of losing her memory and the relief that could bring. The release from responsibility. The freedom from her guilt. But at the cost of memories too precious to part with. Even now, she did not want to give it up. She owed her city. She had to fix her mistake. Cat Noir was right, in moments that felt hopeless, he had always been there with her and they had won in the end. They would win again this time.

“Is it true you lost all the miraculous?” Su-Han asked, looking straight at Ladybug. She nodded.

“This is very grave. Shadow Moth is now more powerful than both of you combined. You have no hope of defeating him on your own.”

She gulped. Would she fight him again? Cat Noir clearly was about to but to what end? Su-Han knew where she lived. He could come and take her miraculous whenever he needed to.

“Don’t underestimate us.” Cat Noir nearly snarled.

“I admire your bravery Cat Noir but surely even you can see how dire the situation is.”

“No. I don’t. Ladybug always figures out a solution. I know she’ll fix this.”

“Ladybug?” Su-Han’s eyes shifted to hers.

“Let me at least try master. I owe it to my city.”

“Very well.” She gaped at him. “I will leave you two in charge of protecting the Parisians for now. I must return to the temple and inform the other guardians of what occurred. We have other miraculous boxes there. I will get help. A decision about your guardianship will then be made when the miraculous are back in their box.”

She nodded, a ball of stress forming at his words. This was a temporary truce but it was also a chance to prove herself.

“I will depart immediately. Whatever you do, do not let fear or guilt make you vulnerable.” He jumped away and Cat Noir eased from his stance.

“Well, that was easier than I thought.” Cat Noir turned to face her. She looked up at him worriedly, squinting against the rain. Really it was a surprise that she hadn’t gotten akumatized this night. Shadow Moth was clearly too focused on his theatrics to realize how close he could have come to defeating her.

“Are you alright?” Cat Noir’s face softened and he took a step towards her. He extended his baton above them and opened his umbrella. He raised his other hand tentatively and gently stroked the rain off of her face. “I won’t let him take your miraculous. Or your guardian title. I promise.”

She closed her eyes and leaned into his hand. It eased her worries and she felt like she couldn’t get akumatized as long as he was here with her, strengthening her with his steady confidence.

“You’re always there for me. Despite how I’ve pushed you away.” She raised a hand over his, hugging it to her cheek. She could so easily get lost in his touch. She opened her eyes and found him starring at her with wide eyes and his mouth slightly open. He was adorable. And sweet and determined and protective and- her lips were on his before she realized what she was doing. He dropped the umbrella and it clattered as it hit the wet roof. She pulled him closer to her and he finally kissed her back and wrapped his arms around her. It was blissful and it was right. Why had she fought this for so long? He had been right, they were meant to be. They were-

“Wait.” Cat Noir pulled away, shaking his head as if to clear it. Their arms were still around each other and she looked up at him, waiting to hear him say he had changed his mind about her. He didn’t love her anymore. She had pushed him away too much and he had finally moved on. “You’ve had a tough day, you’ll be mad at me for this tomorrow.”

She smiled at him. “No, I won’t.” Because her heart had finally realized what it had been fighting for months, years even. She closed her eyes and leaned towards him again but this time he stepped back. She opened her eyes and pouted. Seriously? After all the times he had tried to kiss her and now she finally wanted to kiss him back.

“Just- let me understand what’s happening here.” He seemed to shrink before her, looking vulnerable and worried.

She tried to smile reassuringly at him. It was a fair ask. “You weren’t wrong about us being perfect for each other. I’ve known it for a while actually but refused to believe it could be true for us. It was too dangerous.” She gave a weak laugh. “It’s still too dangerous but as long as we don’t know each other’s identities then maybe… maybe we can make this work.”

He blinked at her, his eyes showing just how confused he was. “Why would it be dangerous?”

She told him everything about his akumatization in the other timeline. About what he, the Cat Blanc him, had told her. He was pale and silent as she finished her story. “And so I came back to this timeline and fixed everything.” She finished.

He started pacing and ran a hand through his hair. “When did this happen?” He stopped and looked at her.

“A few weeks before I became the guardian.”

He blinked and walked back towards her. “Ladybug that was- that was months ago!”

“I know, I’m sor-”

“No wonder you pushed me away. No wonder you’re so scared of revealing our identities. Of one of us getting akumatized. Of those sentimonsters getting my cataclysm.” He was starting to panic. “I- I killed you. I killed everyone.”

“Hey.” She walked towards him and lifted a hand to his cheek. “It wasn’t you.”

“No, but it was a version of me. Do you know what caused it? My akumatization?”

She shook her head. “You said everything was fine until Hawk Moth had found out everything but you also said that it was our love that destroyed the world." She hesitated. "You said that I broke your heart.”

Cat Noir looked at her with a heartbroken expression.

“But I won’t break your heart Kitty. Maybe we can-”

Cat Noir shook his head. “No, you were right to push me away. Bunnix might not even be in the future anymore to come back and save us this time. If Shadow Moth has her miraculous, the future could be all different now.”

She gulped. “What are you saying?”

“That you were right all along m’lady. Until we defeat him, we can’t risk anything.”

Her heart ached but she could see he was probably right. She had gotten caught up in the moment but if she had learned anything today it was that some risks weren’t worth it.

“You’re right. Of course you’re right. I’m so sorry Kitty. I never should have kissed you.” She picked up his baton and retracted the umbrella, more just so she could have something to do while she reeled in her emotions. She then handed it back to him, finally seeing the sadness in his eyes.

“I’m wishing I hadn’t cut it short now.” He forced a smile.

She propped herself up on her tippy toes and kissed him on the cheek. “We’ll pick up where we left off when we defeat Shadow Moth.” And they would. She was doubly motivated now.

“I look forward to it.” He hugged her and she let herself feel the full warmth of it. “Do you think it’s safe to go home for tonight?” He asked her as he pulled away.

She nodded. If Shadow Moth was going to try something tonight they probably would have realized it by now.

“Good, there’s something I need to take care of.”

“I should get back home as well.”

They stood there, staring at each other for a moment, neither making a move to leave.

“Goodnight Ladybug.” Cat Noir finally said and leaped away.

“I don’t deserve your forgiveness.”

“I didn’t deserve yours. You gave it to me countless times anyway.”

“You never lost 15 miraculous in a day.” Her fists balled up and tears threatened to fall again. How could she have not known it had been Felix? She had known last time. Had it been him the whole time? Even back at the train station?

“Master Fu made an even bigger mistake once. The guardians made a mistake in how they trained future guardians and Su-Han nearly made a mistake when-” Her gasp cut him off.

“Su-Han!” She frantically looked around, expecting him to show up any minute. “He’s going to take my miraculous away from me. Take away the guardianship. I’m going to lose everything I have left.” He knew where she lived, knew where the box was. He had no reason whatsoever to trust her anymore. She couldn’t defend herself like last time. She had been far from an exceptional superhero today.

Cat Noir placed his hands on her shoulders and crouched so he could look into her eyes. It was not dissimilar to how Adrien had helped her through her last panic attack.

“It’s going to be ok. He’d be insane to take your miraculous now. There’s nothing else for us to lose. We know Shadow Moth best, or whatever bad new name he comes up with this time. I won’t let Su-Han take away Paris’ greetest hope. I'll stay with you until he shows up if I have to.”

There went her heart again. She took deep breaths. What would she have done without him? She launched herself into his arms and hugged him desperately, tears falling down her face again. “I’m so sorry for not letting you help me more sooner. For not telling you everything.” She could tell him now. He deserved to know. She should have told him a long time ago.

“Let’s worry about that another day. You can tell me when you’re ready.” He held her closer.

She relaxed at that. She was so tired. So exhausted. Physically, mentally, emotionally. She slumped against him, letting him support her. Why had she been so afraid of this? Of letting him inside her heart.

“Cat Noir-" Her bugphone rang and she jumped away from him in surprise. She blushed and grabbed her yoyo. It was Alya. She was probably worried sick for her.

I'm with Cat Noir, I'll call you back. She texted and then put her yoyo away.

Cat Noir eyed her curiously but didn't ask. This much at least she could share tonight.

"That was my backup. She's worried about me."

"Scarabella?"

She nodded.

"Sounds like she's a good friend then. Do you need to go?"

She shook her head and grabbed his arm instead. Resting her head on his shoulder.

"Not yet."

"That's perfectly fine with me." He rested his own head on hers and they lapsed into silence, both observing the clouds part to reveal the rising moon allowing its light to dance off of the river. And with every passing moment that remained quiet, Ladybug worried a little less. If Su-Han hadn't shown up by now perhaps he wouldn't take away her miraculous. And if they were still here, then Shadow Moth hadn't traveled in time and changed the past right? At least not yet. Besides, that wasn't the plan he had stated. He had taken the box once. She had gotten it back. Cat Noir was right. They would get each miraculous back. One by one.

Until she had all of them.

“It was just to help me clear my head because I was - I was just having a bit of a hard day.”

“Oh?” Alya finally eased.

“I had seen Adrien looking upset at the park and I tried to give him a gift and tell him how I feel but I messed it up again.”

“Adrien was upset? Why?”

“I- I don’t actually know but he seemed happier today.” Why hadn't she asked? She should have. Her friend must have noticed she was spiraling because she put a comforting hand on her back.

“Let’s ask Nino, perhaps he knows.”

***** Adrien happily scrolled through his pictures of Ladybug. Perhaps he was kidding himself but it wouldn’t hurt to try. Marinette loved this buttercup guy because he was gentle, generous, and honest. Maybe if he was like that with Ladybug, she would finally love him. At least she was ok with him expressing his feelings in some ways. It would have been difficult to stop calling her his lady again. He liked their new arrangement. He would just stop doing the stuff that she said to stop doing. Really he should have done that a long time ago. Now he just have to find acceptable ways to tell her how much he cared for her.

“Adrien, your phone is buzzing.” Plagg interrupted his train of thought.

“Nino?” Adrien said surprised upon grabbing his phone. “Hello?”

“Adrien! Good I hum, I was asked- no no I wasn’t asked. I just heard that you were upset the other day and wanted to check in on you.”

“What?”

“Yeah Mar-” He heard some shuffling noises. “Hum someone saw you looking upset. Is everything ok?”

Adrien smiled at the Ladybug pictures on his screen as he leaned back in his chair. “Yeah, everything is fine now.”

“Oh ok… hum, did you want to hang out with me, Alya and Marinette anyway?”

“That sounds fun, what are you guys up to?”

“Just a video game sess at Alya’s.”

“I’ll be there if I can.”

****

Alya glared at her boyfriend. He could be so awkward sometimes.

“He said he’d come over if he could.”

She grinned. Thankfully, Adrien was just as clueless as Nino was tackless.

“Perfect!”

Marinette worried at her lip.

“Don’t worry girl, we’re just going to cheer him up with some friend time.”

“Actually he said-”

“And that way there’s no pressure. You’re just there for him and you can build a stronger friendship that can eventually become more, ok?”

“Ok,” Marinette said with newfound optimism and determination. Hopefully, her friend could hold on to that while they waited for Adrien to show up. Alya managed to distract her with a few rounds of her favorite game until the expected freak out at the knock indicating Adrien’s arrival occurred.

“Remember, just be cool.” She reminded her friend before getting up to open the door.

“Hey guys. I have a bit of free time until my Chinese lesson so my father let me come.”

“That’s great dude!” Nino joined her by the door.

“Yeah come on in, we just finished the last round so you can join in,” Alya said, grabbing an extra remote and giving it to him. The oven beeped and Alya’s stomach leaped for joy. Finally, the pizza was ready. “I’ll sit this one out, you guys play.” She said, already walking over to the oven. Her phone pinged and she quickly pulled out the pizza to let it cool so she could check her phone. It was an article from one of her favorite reporters. Her excitement quickly turned to unease as she read it.

“Hum, Marinette, can you help me with something?” She asked, trying to keep the worry out of her voice.

“Marinette’s winning, but I can help.” Adrien got up.

“Hum no that’s ok, I’ll wait.”

Marinette looked up at that and gave her a questioning look.

Alya waved her over, hoping her friend would realize this was important.

“That’s ok, I can just beat you guys next round.” She said and got up. Alya was impressed at how cooly she was able to deliver that line around Adrien. Apparently, all it took for Marinette to be suave was being sufficiently distracted.

“What’s wrong?” Marinette whispered.

“This.” Alya shoved her phone in Marinette’s face. She watched her face go white as she read the article explaining how over a dozen of the Cat Noir and Ladybug billboards had disappeared and all that remained was a pile of black rubble.

“What-”

“Seems like the work of a certain cat don’t you think?”

Marinette nodded.

“Did you guys fight or something?”

Marinette bit her lip. “Not exactly.” She said, blushing slightly.

Alya waited patiently for an explanation.

“I may have yelled at him for annoying me with all that couple of the year stuff.”

Alya winced. Marinette had been incredibly angry at that tabloid piece. Poor Cat Noir, he must have been heartbroken at how annoyed Ladybug had been when she first heard about it.

“But we talked it out and everything is good now.”

Alya nodded, believing that Marinette was ok but doubting that Cat Noir felt the same way.

“Poor boy.” She whispered.

“Don’t worry, he’s fine now. Sure I was a little harsher than necessary but he finally listened to me this time about toning down his bad jokes so maybe it was necessary, you know? But I’ll ask him about the posters next patrol.”

Alya nodded. Despite the time she spent with those two, she still didn’t fully understand their dynamic.

“What’s going on?” Nino approached, grabbing a slice of pizza.

“Nothing, just gossiping about this,” Alya said, showing her boyfriend the article.

“Missing billboards?” Nino said confused, as Adrien walked over to join them.

“Not just missing, cataclysmed.”

“What? Why would Cat Noir be going around destroying stuff.”

“That’s what we were discussing.”

“It’s a shame that he didn’t get rid of the one right outside my balcony.” Marinette gave a small chuckle before abruptly stopping with a look of surprise on her face.

Alya raised an eyebrow. If she didn’t know any better then she would guess that her friend had just figured something out.

“I didn’t think the billboards were that annoying,” Adrien said. “It was your picture right Alya? Did you get any money from the tabloid magazine?”

Alya blinked. Money? “No.” She never copyrighted any of her work. How much could she have gotten? And not just for this image but a lot of the others that she took.

“Oh, sorry I asked.” Adrien blushed. Alya didn’t mind though, she was definitely going to look into this now.

“I read that Ladybug and Cat Noir were having a love spat,” Nino said.

“No, they’re not!” Marinette reacted. Alya refrained from rolling her eyes. She was certain that the real reason she got so worked up over this was because of her Cat Blanc nightmares. Either way, her friend needed to chill.

“It was never confirmed that they were dating in the first place,” Alya said, hoping to help her friend out.

“Yeah, I doubt it’s true. Ladybug has made it pretty clear that she doesn’t love Cat Noir.” Adrien said seeming upset by the fact.

“I guess he’s finally moving on then. Good for him. He deserves to be happy.” Nino said. “He’ll find a lucky girl who appreciates him the way he deserves.”

“Ladybug appreciates him.” Marinette crossed her arms.

Oh, girl. “I think Nino means in a romantic way.” She nudged her friend.

Nino jumped as Alya’s phone pinged in his hand.

“Woah, speaking of which!” He opened the link to show it to Alya. It was an article about how Cat Noir had been spotted on a date with a civilian. Alya immediately grabbed the phone before Marinette could see it.

“It seems Cat Noir has already found his new crush.” Nino smiled at Marinette. Ugh, she was going to kill her boyfriend.

“What?” Adrien was the one to respond.

“Apparently Marinette here went on a date with him.”

“It wasn’t a date!” Both Marinette and Adrien said at the same time and then blinked at each other.

Alya watched both their faces, wondering how Adrien had even heard about it.

“I mean, that’s what I read somewhere,” Adrien said.

“He was just helping me with something.”

“What was he helping you with?” Oh, how Alya wished she could kick Nino and get him to stop asking questions.

“Why don’t we go back to playing the game,” Alya said, grabbing a slice of pizza and moving to the living room.

“Sure.” Marinette immediately jumped at the suggestion. The boys also followed suit and thankfully neither was curious enough to ask Marinette about her outing with Cat Noir again.

Alya eyed Adrien as they played the game though. He seemed pretty quick to believe that Marinette hadn’t been on a date with the superhero. She smiled, perhaps the boy was feeling a little jealous? She didn’t know who to root for anymore amongst all this mess. She looked at Marinette again who was deep in concentration as she pulled ahead of all of them in the game. As long as her friend was happy then she was happy.

***** Cat Noir quietly made his way towards Marinette’s house. It was just a bit past sunset so he wasn’t sure if she would be inside or on her balcony so he only got so close before checking with his staff camera to see if she was out. He let out a sigh of relief when he couldn’t see her anywhere and leaped more quickly towards the billboard facing her balcony.

Funny, he had just been about to get rid of this one right before she had called him over. If she had waited two seconds then her wish would have already been fulfilled. “Cataclysm.” He whispered and then touched the billboard. He didn’t know why she hated the picture so much or perhaps it was because it ruined the beautiful view she usually had. Either way, Marinette had unknowingly helped him and so this would be a small thank you. He nodded proudly at his work and turned around, freezing a the sight of Ladybug leaving Marinette’s room. She spotted him and froze as well before making a beeline for him.

“What are you doing here?” They both asked at the same time.

“You first.” She said.

“Oh hum.” He glanced at the pile of rubble next to him and when he looked back at her, Ladybug was staring at it wide-eyed.

“I heard you had been going around town doing this.” She stated simply.

“Right, you just seemed so annoyed by them that I figured I would… help.” He said lamely.

“That’s… thoughtful.”

Gentle, generous, and honest, Cat Noir repeated to himself. “Alright and because I couldn’t stand them either.” He answered truthfully.

“Really?” She narrowed her eyes at him.

“Yeah they-” He hesitated, how much would she want to hear? “They were a reminder of what couldn’t be.” He said quietly, avoiding her eyes.

He was startled when she put a hand on his shoulder. What surprised him even more was the kindness in her eyes instead of the anger he expected.

“I’m sorry if I hurt you.”

He shook his head. “No, you were right to get angry.”

“You know I care about you right? Even though I got mad.”

He nodded. It would have to be enough. That she cared even if it wasn't the way he wished.

“So what about you?” He asked.

Ladybug blinked.

“What were you doing visiting Marinette?”

“Oh, that.” Ladybug tensed. “She saw me when I was out and about and waved me over. She was actually worried about you and wanted to talk to me about it.”

Cat Noir blinked, his heart melting a little. “She was worried about me?”

“She heard you had been around town destroying stuff and asked me about it. It’s actually how I found out about it.”

“Oh.” He said, blushing a little. “Maybe I should go speak to her myself.” He said, preparing his staff.

“No, she’s getting ready for bed. Besides I already told her I would talk to you about it and make sure you were ok.”

Cat Noir’s insides turned to mush. She wanted to make sure he was alright. After all the annoying things he had done in the last 24 hours. He smiled fondly at her. “Well then, shall we go on a patrol together since we’re both out m’lady?”

Ladybug laughed. “Sure but no more destroying billboards ok. Apparently, they cost a ton of money.”

“Good, that tabloid shouldn’t be in business anymore anyway.” He joked.