Riposte 2

An Ending

"You shouldn't have done that Marinette. You shouldn't have jumped in front of me" he said, still holding on to her.

She sighed. "You would have done the same for me" she said quietly.

He paused and then nodded into her shoulder. "You're right, I would have." After a minute he finally let her go. "So what happens now?" he asked.

"I guess things go back to normal. You'll have your Miraculous back and I'll have mine. And we'll just keep doing what we've always done. The only difference is that you know who I am. So if anything, it will be easier for you to find me if you need me."

"I always need you Marinette" he whispered.

She looked down. "You know what I mean." There was silence for a moment before she spoke again. "Well I'm sure you want your ring back." She slid the Miraculous off of her finger and handed it to him. "Thanks for letting me borrow it." She turned to Plagg. "And it was great seeing you again."

Plagg flew up and hugged her cheek before moving over to Mister Bug.

"You ready?" Marinette asked the superhero.

He nodded at her.

She closed her eyes and held out her hand.

"Spots off" he said, detransforming into Adrien. He took off the earrings and placed them in Marinette's hand. She quickly put them on.

"Plagg, claws out" Adrien said.

Marinette waited a moment and opened her eyes. "It's nice to see you again Chat..." she started before the words disappeared from her lips.

Chat Noir wasn't standing in front of her.

Adrien Agreste was.

He was holding up his ring between his thumb and pointer finger. "It only works if you're wearing it" he explained softly.

Marinette didn't say anything. She couldn't. She blinked as tears came to her eyes.

Adrien continued speaking. "I didn't think it was very fair that I know who you are, but you didn't know who I am."

Tears fell down Marinette's face but she remained silent. They both stayed looking at each other until she suddenly wrapped her arms around his neck in a hug. He quickly hugged her back.

"Maybe we should go inside" Tikki suggested to Plagg.

"Lead the way Sugar Cube" he said as they flew to Marinette's room.

Adrien smiled and wiped the tears off of her face when she pulled back to look at him.

"I can't believe it's you" she cried, smiling up at him. "We've been right next to each other this whole time."

"Well technically we've been right in front of and behind each other" he joked.

"You're right" she said, tilting her head into his shoulder and sighing. "This is crazy. One of my best friends turned out to be one of my other best friends. I guess I need to make more friends."

Adrien laughed. "Me too. I thought I had five friends. You, Nino, Alya, Kagami and Ladybug. But now I only have four!"

"And Kagami doesn't really count because she's your girlfriend" she teased, looking back at him.

"Kagami's not my girlfriend" he said, suddenly turning serious.

Marinette's face dropped. "She's not?"

Adrien shook his head. "I only started hanging out with her because I was trying to get over you."

Tears came to Marinette's eyes again at a sudden realization. She took a step back. "I... I'm sorry" she whispered.

He reached over and grabbed her hands. Finally, he could actually feel them. "But I only stopped thinking about Ladybug when I fell in love with you Marinette."

She looked at him. "You're not in love with me" she insisted.

"Yes I am. That's why Kagami got akumatized today. Because she found out that I was in love with you."

Silence for a minute before Adrien continued. "Marinette, I need to know if you're dating Luka."

She slowly shook her head.

"You're not dating him?" he asked hopefully.

"I'm not dating him. I only started hanging out with him because I was trying to get over..." she trailed off. She couldn't bring herself to finish the sentence.

"The boy you love?" Adrien offered.

Marinette nodded.

He sighed before speaking again. "I love you Marinette. I've fallen in love with you twice now and I want us to be together. Please give me a chance."

She paused momentarily. "One of my friends once told me that having someone be in love with me is not a good enough reason to date him."

Adrien's heart sank. He let go of her hands and lowered his head.

Marinette reached up and put her finger under his chin, lifting his head so he would look at her again. "Lucky for you the boy I happen to love is named Adrien Agreste."

At hearing his own name, his eyes widened and the smile returned to his face. "Are you serious?" he asked incredulously.

The blunette nodded. "Yes" she laughed. "I mean, it's kind of funny if you think about it, huh?"

Adrien didn't have time to verbalize his response. He was too busy leaning in and kissing the girl in front of him.