Day two! After watching the finale yesterday (no spoilers!) this was a very welcome prompt. I hope you guys enjoy! -Colorado

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chat Noir hunched over the piece of paper he held in his hands. It was another night dedicated to patrolling and Ladybug was once again late. Not that he minded, of course, her tardiness allowed him to dedicate more time to his newest project.

His ears flickered as he heard the tell-tale sign of her arrival. He debated on shoving the paper into his pockets, but nothing on it was too revealing, and besides, Ladybug was so creative that maybe she could help!

"Good evening, Chat Noir." Ladybug came to sit beside him, eyeing the paper in his hands skeptically.

"Good evening, My Lady."

"Whatcha got there?"

"Ah, my newest project. I was actually hoping to get your help with it?" He asked, rubbing the back of his neck. Ladybug's eyes lit up at the prospect of a new project.

"Absolutely! What's it about?" She scooted closer to him, reading the names on the paper.

"I came to the realization that the two of us have tons of nicknames for each other, but I don't have anything for my girlfriend." It wasn't the biggest deal when he and Marinette first got together, but they've been dating for months now! He couldn't help but feel a little guilty at the lack of pet names in their relationship.

"Oh! Now that I think about it, I don't think I've got any nicknames for my boyfriend either. Maybe this can help us both, kitty." Ladybug bumped her shoulder against his.

"Sure you do! 'The Other Boy' is a fine nickname." He only got a dirty look in response.

"I can't call him that! There's no way he'd get it without the context and that's a whole other can of worms I can't open." She crossed her arms, but Chat Noir knew she was fighting back a smile.

"It'd be funny, though." He gave her his signature cheshire grin and got a laugh in response.

"It would be until he starts freaking out at being The Other Boy and not just The Boy." Ladybug shot back. Chat Noir only shrugged in response. "So, what do you have so far?"

"Well, so far there's all the usual suspects. You know, babe, cutie pie, honey, darling, my love, but I'm Chat Noir! And she's amazing! I can do better and she deserves the best. The only original one I've thought of so far is sapphire."

"Sapphire?"

"Yeah, her eyes are this beautiful blue." Chat Noir sighed, not caring how lovesick he sounded. "I love them with all my heart."

"I like sapphire."

"But that's only one name!" Chat Noir protested. "I've got like, fifty for you!"

Ladybug deadpanned. "You've got two not including other renditions of my name."

"Two is still more than one, bugaboo."

"Don't call me that." She tapped on his bell as he laughed. 

"But seriously! I want to call her more than just sapphire. Her eyes aren't quite that dark either they're like," Chat Noir turned his face towards the sky, deep in thought, "cerulean." He glanced over at Ladybug and found himself doing a double take. "Actually, yours are a lot like hers."

How had he never noticed that before?

"That's funny, my boyfriend's eyes are like yours too. That same emerald green, they're amazing." A goofy grin crossed her face, and not for the first time Chat Noir felt a mix of emotions rise up in him.

He loved Marinette with all his heart, but it was always a surreal feeling hearing his first love discuss who he believed was his nemesis half a year ago.

"Maybe you should call your boyfriend emerald then."

"Absolutely not. Sapphire could work as a nickname, but emerald?" Ladybug scrunched up her nose as Chat Noir laughed.

"It could totally work! I love you, emerald." He did an imitation of her voice that earned him a slap to the arm, but he couldn't bring himself to care, he was laughing too much.

"You're incorrigible." Ladybug rolled her eyes.

"Why thank you, My Lady. Now come on, use that huge brain of yours, what would you suggest?"

"Are there any nicknames you can use with her name? My Lady and Bugaboo are just play offs of my name."

Chat Noir closed his eyes, trying to picture any nicknames for Marinette other than "Mari" or "Nette." Perhaps "Nettie" could work, but he could've sworn he's heard Nino call her that, and he wasn't about to use the nickname created by someone who used to like her.

"None of them are romantic enough," he groaned. "Why is this so hard? With you it all felt so natural!"

"Well, what made you start calling me 'My Lady' and 'Bugaboo?'"

"With 'My Lady' it was more of our dynamic, your My Lady and I'm your knight in shining armor."

"More like my knight in black spandex." Ladybug rolled her eyes, smiling.

"Same difference," Chat Noir waved her off. "With her things are just different. She's really more of my knight in shining armor than anything. But that's so long!"

"What about My Knight, do you think she'd oppose?" Ladybug drummed her fingers on her knee.

"Probably not, that's another one I can try out. What's the feminine version of knight? I doubt it would matter to her, but..."

"Uhhh," Ladybug pulled out her yo-yo and began to type, "looks like it's dame."

"My Dame? I guess I can put it on the list, it's unique at least." Chat Noir wrote it down. "I just wished it sounded more like knight. I'd like that a bit better. Knightess?" He suddenly lit up, how had he not thought of it earlier? "Princess!" Ladybug shot him a look he couldn't decipher.

"Wasn't that the name you used for the civilian that one time? What's her name? Marinette?" It might've just been his imagination, but Ladybug's voice sounded very strange to him.

"Yeah, but that was just the one time! It could work!"

"You don't think that's just a little strange? Using the same nickname for two girls?" Her voice hadn't lost the edge to it, weird. He never knew Ladybug cared so much about Chat Noir and Marinette's interactions. And besides, technically his girlfriend was Marinette, so it would be fine! Not that Ladybug knew that.

"It's a common enough pet name, I'll write it down." He was too focused on the paper to notice Ladybug face palming. "She's also a fantastic artist, so maybe something with that?"

"I'm drawing a blank here, Chat."

"So far I've got knight, dame, knightess, sapphire, princess, I need more."

"I still don't think calling her Princess is a good idea. What if she somehow connects the dots between Chat Noir and Marinette and you and her?"

Alright, fair point there, he had to give it to her.

"Fine fine, I'll cross it off the list."

"Also I feel like dame sounds better than knightess, historically accurate too." Ladybug pointed out, grabbing the list from him and crossing off knightess. Chat hummed in agreement.

"So we've got dame, sapphire, and knight, a whole three!" He teased.

"That's more than you have for me, you can also use a rendition of her name. If you'd like my honest opinion, from what you've told me about this girl, I think she'll treasure any nickname you give her. I know that's how I'd feel about my boyfriend."

"Oh yeah! You were struggling with nicknames for him too, weren't you?" Chat Noir remembered.

"Yeah, but it's not as big of a deal to me. I've already got one in mind." She grinned tapping a finger to her head. "You must be rubbing off on me, kitty."

"I'm just irresistible like that." Chat Noir pretended to flip imaginary hair over his shoulder.

"That's not the word I'd use for it."

"Hey! And here I thought we were friends, yet you constantly deny my influence on your life. What a sad life it is." Chat Noir sniffled, placing a hand on his forehead.

"Oh my God, you are so dramatic," Ladybug laughed. "Never change, Chat Noir."

"I don't plan on it," he winked at her. "So...?"

"So what?"

"The nickname you've chosen for The Other Boy! Since you've rejected my brilliant suggestion" He laughed as she slapped his chest.

"Shut up or I won't tell you."

"Well? Out with it!" His eyes lit up like a kid on Christmas.

"My Prince," she sighed, that same lovesick look on her face. 

"Ooo, what's with us and royalty themed nicknames?"

"We must be fake French people." Ladybug shrugged, straight-faced for a few moments before the two bursted out into laughter.

"Well," Chat Noir stuffed the paper into his pockets once the laughter subsided, "it has been decided that sapphire and My Dame shall be my nicknames of choice. Maybe My Knight if I'm feeling mischievous." He winked as he stood.

"When are you not feeling mischievous?" Ladybug bit back, standing up as well.

"You know me so well, My Lady. Shall we patrol?"

"We shall."

And so they leapt off into the night, unaware of the domino effect their little conversation had caused.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Adrien was bouncing on his feet as he spotted Nino, Alya, and his sweet Marinette. She smiled at the sight of him, racing out in front of their friends to give him a hug.

"I missed you," she sighed into his arms.

"I missed you more."

"Impossible."

Adrien laughed, slowly drawing away from the girl. He gazed into her eyes, they were so beautiful. Not for the first time he felt himself nearly drowning just in her mere presence. God how he loved this girl, he couldn't wait to use the fruits of his and Ladybug's labor and call her his own special nickname.

"Alright loverboy, let my girl go." Alya caught up to them, shaking her head before going back over to Nino.

"If I must." He sighed dramatically, letting Marinette go. He did, however, slip his hand into hers.

"You're so dramatic." She laughed and something tickled Adrien in the back of his mind.

He had heard that before, and recently, but from where? Just as soon as the memory came, it was gone, and Adrien was left with no choice but to shrug it off. That had been happening more often with Marinette. It was like his mind was inventing memories of the two of them that he simply didn't have. Yet every time he tried to put a finger on it, it flew from his mind. It was quite annoying, actually.

"You know you love me."

"I do," she whispered and Adrien grinned so hard it began to hurt. What a lovely feeling it was to be loved and to love someone.

"I love you too," he hesitated, not sure if he should use a nickname or not. Oh well, he supposed there was no time like the present. "Sapphire."

Immediately Marinette's hand went limp in his. Oh no, had he just screwed everything up? No, he knew Marinette, he knew she'd like nicknames. She was probably just in shock.

"Sapphire?" She turned towards him, eyes wide.

"Yeah, like your eyes. You know, because they're blue and sapphires are blue." If anything his explanation only made Marinette's eyes grow wider. And was that just the light or did she look pale? Blushing made sense, but her face looked white.

"Oh. Oh." She croaked.

"Is that okay?" He whispered, not entirely sure what was wrong.

Marinette nodded frantically, her eyes searching his face. "Yeah! That's fine, it just caught me off caurd I mean! Off guard."

Okay, now he knew something was up. He hadn't heard Marinette stutter like that in forever, he must have really flustered her.

He laughed. "You are adorable, you know that?" He got a shaky smile as an award. "Come on, Alya and Nino are waiting for us." He pulled her towards where the two of them were setting up the blanket.

"Okay, yeah, that's fine, I can do this." She nodded, taking a deep breath.

"Are you sure everything is okay, Marinette?" He squeezed her hand.

"Peachy!" Her grin came out more as a grimace. Something was up, he knew it.

"Did I make you uncomfortable?" The thought suddenly occurred to him, anxiety rising up in his stomach.

"No! No, not at all!" Marinette faced him with a steely determination in her eyes. "I promise you didn't. It's just..." she bit her lip.

"What is it, Marinette? You know you can tell me anything."

"I know, I know, give me a moment, I'm working up the guts to say something." She took a deep breath and gave him a small smile.

She lifted up her free hand moving towards his hair. Adrien bent down as she began to ruffle up the style. What in the world was that girl doing? She pulled back and at the sight of him with messy hair she gasped.

"It really is you, isn't it?" She sounded reverent and were those tears in her eyes?

What was going on? How could one simple nickname cause such a panic? Maybe it was a bad idea, maybe she wasn't ready for the two of them to have special nicknames for each other. And what in the world did she mean 'really him?' Who else could he possibly be? And what did she have to work up the guts to tell him? Was it really that nerve wracking? He was so confused, what was-.

"My Prince."

His heart leapt into his throat. There was no way he was that lucky. Absolutely no way. Nope! He must have just heard her wrong, yeah, that was totally the proper reason!

'There's so way it's' He looked back down at Marinette, at her pigtails, at her smile, at the eyes he knew like the back of his hand. He had stared into those eyes for hours, he knew those eyes. They weren't just Marinette's eyes, they were Ladybug's.

And yet... he couldn't quite believe it yet. He needed proof, definitive proof that it was her and he wasn't just hearing things. That this wasn't some fantasy his mind had concocted for fun.

"I'm really me," he took a deep breath and the last domino fell, "My Dame."

If he had thought sapphire had gotten a reaction out of Marinette, that was nothing to how she was looking at him now. A large smile grew on her face as a tear fell. She launched herself into his arms.

"Hi, Kitty." She whispered into his ear. Adrien felt his legs give out and the two fell to the ground. It was her, her, her. It had always been her. He tried to laugh, but what came out was a sob.

"Hi, My Lady." He whispered back, love and joy and admiration filling every single bone of his body.

"I can't believe it's you. My silly kitty." Marinette pulled back, wiping the tears from his eyes. "I love you so much, you know that?" Adrien placed a hand on her cheek and she melted into the embrace.

"I love you too, so, so much. I can't believe I found you. You've been right in front of me this whole time and-." He stopped, his eyes growing wide.

"What? What's wrong?" 

"I WAS THE OTHER BOY!" He suddenly yelled. Marinette fell silent before cackling. Adrien stared at her, her eyes, her smile, her face, and it was all Ladybug. Wow... how had he never seen it before?

"That you were, My Prince." She laughed into his chest, patting him on the back.

"I can't believe it! You rejected me for me!"

"Oh my gosh." Marinette gasped, "The girl you told Marinette you were in love with before we got together. That was-."

"Ladybug." Adrien nodded. 

Marinette was laughing again, only interrupted by the occasional hiccup. "I can't believe it, you silly kitty! All because you wanted to give your girlfriend a special nickname."

"It worked, didn't it? And now I have even more special nicknames for you, My Lady." He picked up her hand and placed a light kiss on it. He reveled in the way she blushed. Who knew that he was making the amazing Ladybug trip over her feet? Oh if his past self could see him now.

"Yeah, I suppose you do." Marinette gave him a smile, adorable.

"And you have more for me!" His eyes lit up.

"I sure do, kitty. Although, maybe we shouldn't use them too much? We can't have people get suspicious."

Adrien laughed, of course Marinette was Ladybug, how had he not seen it before.

"Of course, My Lady. Or should I say, My Dame?" He wiggled his eyebrows at her eliciting a laugh from her.

"I think I prefer My Lady if I'm being honest."

"Me too." He whispered, leaning his forehead against hers.

"Hey Adrien?"

"Yes, Marinette?"

"Can I...?" She leaned up towards him and Adrien was more than happy to comply.

He and Marinette had kissed before, of course, but this time it was different. It wasn't just Adrien and Marinette anymore, but Ladybug and Chat Noir. Just the pure thought made him giddy. His Princess and His Lady were the same person! And she loved him and always had! And considered the short stint Marinette had with Chat Noir, she loved all sides of him! He always thought that she was the lucky one, but perhaps it was him all along. Or perhaps this was the universe's way of apologizing for all of the bad in his life. Either way, he was content to keep kissing his girlfriend, partner, love of his life, soulmate.

No doubt about it, Marinette Dupain-Cheng was his soulmate.

The two of them broke apart wearing matching grins.

"You mean the absolute world to me, Marinette." He had to tell her, the love he had for her was burning a hole in his chest.

"And you mean everything to me, Adrien." She grabbed his hand and placed a light kiss on it.

"I love you so much, My Lady."

"And I love you, My Kitty."

"And I love the nicknames we have for each other." He laughed, wiping his tears. Marinette snorted, finally standing up.

"Me too. I think I love them even more now, and I didn't even know that was possible." She stretched out a hand to him.

"Just like my love for you." Adrien accepted her hand, pulling himself up.

"Flirt." She was blushing, despite her tease. 

"Your flirt," Adrien winked.

"I wouldn't have it any other way." She squeezed his hand.

"Me neither." He squeezed her hand back.

"Now come on, let's go get integrated by Alya and Nino." She rolled her eyes, dragging him over to where their two best friends were watching them. Alya bouncing on her feet as she held up a camera and Nino looking so utterly confused.

He looked back at his girlfriend, everything about her was Ladybug, everything about her was Marinette.

And oh, how he loved her. 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

God I love them. Thanks for reading!  -Colorado