Lovebug

Part 18

"It is imperative that you two do not stop to talk or ask questions. We cannot afford distractions or delays, am I making myself clear?" Fu warns. Both heroes nod.

For the next 15 to 20 minutes, Fu performs numerous incantations in a lost language while the heroes sit across from him. He lights candles and incense in an order so random it must mean something extremely important. Things happen around Ladybug and Cat Noir that they could not even begin to understand. 

The room is deathly silent until, after a lengthy amount of time, Fu looks up at Ladybug. "Conjure up a lucky charm"

"Lucky charm," Ladybug says, less enthusiastically than usual. There is confusion in her voice. Through a swarm of Ladybugs, a medium-sized gemstone appears in her hands. It is velvety blue, verging onto dark violet in colour and heavy with importance. The pair look at each other, then at Master Fu. They had never seen a lucky charm like this before.

"This is Tanzanite." Fu quickly reveals his intentions for the beautiful gem. He looks to Cat Noir, "Cataclysm this gem"

Cat Noir shoots Ladybug a look of confusion before giving Fu a chance to continue. "This Gem stands for wholeness, the integration of Heart and Mind, the amalgamation of creation and destruction."

"Cataclysm" Cat Noir says, hesitantly. Black spots appear around his clawed hand and with a gentle index finger, he touches the gem. Almost instantly, it disintegrates into dust and falls into a pitiful pile on the floor between them.

Wasting hardly a moment, Master Fu whips out a brush and dustpan, sweeps up the newly crushed gemstone into a box; similar looking to the Miracle box, only a bit smaller, and thrusts it towards Ladybug.

"Now you two must go quickly before you transform back." Master Fu says, rushing them out of the room. Cat Noir's ring and Ladybug's earrings beep, alerting them that de-transformation is imminent. "Put the box in a separate room and send your kwami's in there by midnight, they will know what to do to complete the ritual."

With that, Fu shoves the two out of his house. Without any time to question or contest, they make their way to the apartment, Ladybug still clutching onto the box. As in their usual fashion, they both swing through an open window.

"What time is it?" Ladybug asks,

Cat Noir looks to the clock on the microwave. "three minutes to midnight. We have to hurry"

The ring and earrings flash. Ladybug's chest becomes tight. "I... I'm gonna go and freshen myself up..." She sprints into the bathroom and just as she shuts the door, she de-transforms. Tikki shakes herself off a bit, she's not used to having this much energy.

"How long until midnight?" Tikki asks, fixing herself in the mirror

"two minutes now" Marinette checks her phone and chews on her fingernails. She feels a wave of nauseousness wash over her whole body.

"Listen... I have to go... or else we might miss it. Will you be alright in here?" Tikki asks, fully-fledged in her own Cinderella moment.

"Yes, of course! You go. Good luck with... whatever you're doing!" Marinette cheers, as she watches her kwami fly out the bathroom without her.

Outside, Cat Noir has transformed back into Adrien and holds the box in his hands, Plagg hovering next to him. They see the ladybug kwami fly out of the bathroom, but there is no owner beside her.

"Where is Ladybug?" Adrien asks, slightly disappointed that she did not show.

"She's just a little nervous" Tikki sighs, "She'll be fine, but we do have to hurry this up a bit"

"Of course, of course," Adrien complies and carries the box into the apartment's bedroom. The two Kwami's fly inside, making the box look deeper than its real-world dimensions."

"Just out of curiosity, how long will this take?" Adrien asks

"No idea buddy" Plagg confesses, "But we will come and get you both when it's over". With that, the lid of the box shuts. No more than a few seconds later, a clock bell rings out, a symbol that midnight has come.

Adrien turns off the bedroom light and saunters back into the living room. The apartment seems empty but in fact, it's the busiest it's ever been. He makes his way to the bathroom door and gently knocks. "Uhh, m'lady? Are you alright in there?"

"yeah, I'm... I'm fine" she replies, her voice is shallow and gaspy. She is clearly not alright.

Adrien slumps down in front of the door. "If you don't want to come out, that's alright. We can keep our identities secret, might be better that way anyway."

"No, I... I want to come out, I want to meet you for the first time as who you truly are. I'm just scared." she replies

"What are you scared of? I won't bite," he giggles to himself.

"Honestly, I'm scared that we've both built this moment up in our heads. What if I'm not who you expect me to be? What if you are not who I expect you to be?" Marinette tells him

"Yeah I guess... I guess this is a big thing. No matter what happens and where we go in life, we will always know this huge secret about each other." he replies

"But at the same time, its still you, its still Cat Noir. We have been through so much together and all this time I've wanted to meet the real you."

"Then just come out the bathroom" Adrien laughs. "Besides, if you don't come out soon I'm gonna have to pee in the kitchen sink."

Through the door, Marinette lets out a giggle. She takes a deep breath, collects herself and prepares to exit the bathroom.

The lock on the door clicks and the handle begins to twist. Adrien suddenly feels nerves in the pit of his stomach that were not there before. This is the moment he has been waiting for his entire life. The moment he would know the true identity of his lovebug.

The door swings open and a figure steps out. They both lock eyes at the same time and neither can say anything in pure shock.

"M...Marinette?!"

"Adrien?!"

     *                                                                                 *                                                                                    *

In the secret security room of the Agreste mansion, Nathalie sits in front of a grainy computer screen, watching the entire ordeal with a mixture of shock and guilt. Without his knowledge, Gabriel had requested that security camera's be put up in Adrien's apartment. When they entered earlier, it set off an alarm, and Nathalie, thinking it was an intruder, got up to check it.

After years of Hawkmoth and her fighting these two teenaged nuisances, how could they never have realised that Cat Noir lived among them? One would think that Nathalie would tell this information to Gabriel straight away, however, she was torn.

She had no idea how Gabriel would react. Would he harm his own son if he knew? Or would this make him stop this ridiculous obsession with the miraculous? It was then that she really looked in closely at the teens, she saw the connection between them, the pure love in their eyes. Miraculouses had already torn apart so many relationships, for once it would be nice to let one develop. Besides, in her mind, Nathalie couldn't bear to break up another couple.

Afer a quick scan of her surroundings, she deletes the footage of that night and disconnects the camera's wireless connection to the Agreste house. Everything around her is silent. "This better not come back to haunt me" she whispers to herself.