Our Tale As Old As Time

Chapter 17

         Chat Noir had always dreamed of doing things like the heroes in movies. Today he got to do just that, he got to live out his own motorcycle chase scene. To say that he was just showing off was an understatement, no, Chat Noir was theatrically showing off. He wasn't sure what he was exactly trying to show off, but nonetheless he was being as dramatic as usual. On top of that, Ladybug...Marinette.... had an extra eye for him now. Chat was going to have to get used to that. Actually, that explained a lot. He was showing off more now because he really wanted to impress the girl of his dreams. Yup, no matter what anyone said, that was what he was going to believe. Chat leaned over the bike and peered up at his...girlfriend? Where they official now? Would they be a thing at this point? Chat shook the thought, that would be a discussion for later. Ladybug sat upon the back of a white horse, the akumatized girl in front of her.

"Hey Chat, I think I found something for your princess." A smirk spread across Ladybug's face as she sat up straighter and snatched the tiara off the little girl's head. The fairytale theme giving away every element of her akumatization. Chat Noir knew what his lady wanted him to do. With a quick toss, the tiara flew toward Chat's hands. He didn't want to brag, but it was an easy catch. He held it in his hand for a minute, pretending to examine it.

"Hm...you know? I really don't think this is M'lady's style. I think she'll prefer it cataclysmed." He grinned at his partner as he leaned back over the motorcycle, before clenching the tiara in his magical fist. Adrien always found it so cool to have magical powers, and though he could destroy anything he touched, he still found it awesome to have his own magical abilities. If you excluded the fact that he had to have extreme responsibility for them, his in particular were dangerous. Unfortunately, even though quite a bit of time had passed since then, the events of New York still scarred him. However, he was more responsible with his duty as a superhero of Paris. The tiara faded to black before dissipating into tiny fragments and falling like grains of sand from Chat's hand. Just like many other akuma fights before, the destruction of the akumatized object was satisfying, but this one was far more satisfying that Chat Noir had imagined it to be. He and Ladybug had been through so much to get to this point and to finally reach the conclusion of the long fight was a welcomed relief. Chat could feel the weight of the past few days come off his shoulders, and he was sure Ladybug was feeling just as he was in that moment.

"No!" The girl whined before falling over the neck of her horse. With a simple flick of her yoyo, Ladybug was easily able to catch the akuma. It was always a sight to see when Ladybug released a purified butterfly and Adrien couldn't help but feel mesmerized by it every time. Once it flew off, Chat Noir watched as Ladybug dismounted and took a few steps toward him. The child wasn't going to be going anywhere at this point. Wrapping his arm around her waist, Chat pulled Ladybug into him, using the motorcycle as a balance for his own backward lean. At first Ladybug was startled, but she quickly eased up and settled to lean against him briefly.

"You know I love you right?" Chat's ears pricked up at the sound of Ladybug's voice. It was solemn, firm, and the weight of them struck him to his core. Chat lifted his chin from the top of her head and gazed down at her, allowing her to step back just enough that they could look each other in the eye.

"Of course, I do! At least I hoped so." Great! He made this awkward didn't he!? His hand quickly found the back of his neck, a nervous reflex that was unmistakably an obvious habit. It must have been a dead giveaway to Ladybug on how he was feeling because the first thing she did was taken his hand in hers making sure to give them a light squeeze of reassurance.

"Well, I hoped you loved me too, but..." she trailed off glancing down at the lucky charm in her hand. Chat didn't like the vibe that was coming off of her. It was too sad, and he was afraid of the words she had to say. "Do you think we'll remember any of this?" The sentence stung. She was right, when an akuma was cleansed, the miraculous ladybugs restored everything back to normal with a memory wipe. The new revelation was painful to think about. The two of them had gone round and round for so long and now when they finally knew who each other where, it was about to be lost again. It was just his luck. That's when the idea struck him.