Hi. This can be as canon divergent as you want but in this one-shot, this is set during the summer after they graduate from Du Pont.

She hadn't really realised until he had pointed it out.

Chat Noir had pockets. With zips.

Pockets!

With zips!

She was definitely feeling resentment towards Tikki for making her ladybug outfit so plain. Because she wanted pockets too, she thought, her face pouted as she looked up at her partner who was playing with the zip. Yes, Tikki could argue that she had something similar to purse in the form of her magical yoyo, which could hold more than she even needed it to.

But... pockets!

He looked at her and noticed her obvious annoyance, "Uhh, M'lady," he started as he rubbed his neck sheepishly, "Did I do something wrong?"

He looked sort of like a child who had been scolded for trying to climb the shelf to get their favourite treats. It made her frown more but then she realised it made her look like she was actually annoyed at him so she shook her head and dropped her frown, with a thought to quickly alleviate his worries that he was in trouble.

"No kitty. You didn't do anything wrong! It's just," she paused and stretched her hands in his direction, "Pockets!"

That got a raised eyebrow out of him and he repeated, "Pockets?"

"With zips! It's not fair! I want them!"

A laugh burst out of him, much like how Adrien had laughed when his umbrella snapped shut on her but again, she shook her head of their similarities, stubbornly not wanting to make any connections between the two.

Chat Noir, meanwhile thought that as of now, his Lady reminded him of Marinette who would constantly rave about pockets and how designers should stop being so lazy as to not put them (though she understood why a lot of the times they didn't- it just wouldn't work with the design). Marinette always got very excited when she found a dress with pockets and it was that excitement that he saw in Ladybug right now.

"You are very adorable right now, do you know that M'lady?"

And, in all honesty, Marinette was also rather cute when she was talking about pockets. Only recently she had shown him (Adrien) a dress she made, because Alya and Nino as well as almost all of their other former classmates had been away for the summer and he was the only one that could hang out with her. Which, he didn't mind at all. In fact, they had become much closer in the last year or so and he had found that Marinette had truly become comfortable with his civilian self. 

He too, felt mote comfortable with her.

She had shown him the dress and then showed him her favourite part, the pockets. And she had squealed happily as she did so, causing him to smile so widely that if she had been looking directly at him, he probably would have felt a tad bit embarrassed. Though, not as much as he would have if he had been younger.

Maybe Ladybug was blushing at the compliment but that didn't matter, "Do you think if I ask her, Tikki will give me some too?"

And just as she was thinking about before, he said, "You have a yoyo which doubles as a purse which acts like it's made for a Time Lord-sorry- Lady! It's bigger on the inside! That's cooler than pockets which barely fit anything. Seriously. I think Plagg just put it there for the aesthetic."

"Why does a creature who loves nothing but cheese have better taste than most people in Paris?" She murmured, though his fake ears were able to pick it up anyways. She leaned on the railing of the roof they were standing on.

He snorted, "Contrary to popular belief, apparently Plagg has always been the more fashionable one."

"For some reason, I believe it."

It made sense, really. She had seen the pictures of some of the former Cat holder's that had been gladly recorded in history, and a lot of their outfits were quite the more eccentric than their ladybug counterpart. And Kuro Neko (Though Marinette would never let Plagg live down that ugly hair) also had quite a cool and unique design. Even when she had been Lady Noire, her appearance had changed quite a lot and on more than one occasion Chat had asked if they could bring her back, even for just a short period of time.

Which, when he asked, she let him. Because even with the simple design, there was just something about Mister Bug which made her want to continue seeing him wear her miraculous almost as much as she liked the cat suit.

"Yeah, and, don't tell him I told you," he leaned down and raised his hand to his mouth to playfully whisper to her, causing her to giggle, "But I've heard him say Tikki's name in his sleep."

She slapped his hand lightly with a laugh, "No way!"

"Yes! And speaking of Tikki, I think she probably could put some pockets on your suit. I actually think it could look pretty cool. And maybe you could actually fit a couple of things in yours."

"Well..." she hesitated, even though they had known each others for years now, but she still never wanted to invade his privacy, "What do you even put in there then?"

"No need to be shy about it M'lady," he said as she bit her lip- he knew she felt rather reluctant to ask.

"I know," she rubbed her neck, "It's just. I know there are some things you don't like talking about or you maybe can't since," she gestured between them, it was enough for him to understand.

"Since we don't know each other's identities," he finished for her.

"Yeah..."

"I think no harm will come to showing you what is in my pocket. It's only actually one thing."

"Really? But how can you be sure it won't compromise your identity?" She asked.

He reached into the pocket but didn't take whatever was out just yet. Instead he rubbed his thumb over the smooth beads in a way that comforted him, it always did. It was something he carried everywhere and just holding it reminded him of Marinette's sweet and consoling smile. 

When his father had neglected to acknowledge him on more than one occasion and he would run as Chat to try and get away from just... everything, if not Ladybug or Marinette herself, it was the object he carried which would sometimes remind him that he wasn't as alone as he felt. That there were people that cared for him and would always welcome him into their arms and their lives no matter what. And just having the object as a reminder of that had really made him realise that he did not need to fixate on his father's actions. 

And yes, sometimes there were still times when he wondered if his father loved him or not. And a lot of the time the negative thoughts hurt. It was only natural to feel that way. Even if he didn't want to.

But he could just reach into his pocket and look at the gift he had been given by arguably the most important person (other than Ladybug) in his life, and even for just that small moment, he could feel happy.

"It-It's not something that everyone would have. It's a one of a kind gift which I cherish with my heart," she could tell he was serious about this. That whatever was in his pocket was truly important to him.

"You don't have to show me Chat. If it's something that important to you, I won't force you- no?"

He was shaking his head which had caused the question to be asked by her. Though he was smiling which told her that he wasn't being too overly serious, "No. You aren't forcing me to. I want to show you. Because you are important to me M'lady and so is the person who gave me this. So I just want to make sure you won't be jealous that I carry a gift from someone other than you," he cheekily said.

She made a small scoffing sound even though she knew he was messing with her, "As if!" He gave her a grin and waggled his eyebrows in response, causing her to roll her eyes- though a small smile had clearly crept up her face- and turn her head to the side, "Whatever."

He gave out a small chuckle and took out what was in his pocket, holding it in his palm, hidden away from her sight, "This gift is sort of like my own lucky charm. But it works more than once I assure you."

"Blame Tikki for that, not me," she absently mumbled, her focus on his hand, though in the dark of the night, she couldn't really see too much.

And then he brought his hand on front of her face, where she could see something wrapped around his finger, before he dropped released the object so it was only hanging on the one finger, revealing a gift that she knew all too well. Given that she had been the one who had given it, it wasn't hard to realise what exactly it was. A red string, adorned with pink and white beads, as well as a large green, square shaped one, etched with a flower, was what he had shown her. And out of everything that could have been in his pocket, it was the one thing she had least expected.

It had been her gift.

To Adrien.

Because who else could Chat be?

Her jaw dropped as every single memory she had of Chat, started to merge into the realm that was Adrien Agreste. And she just stood there. She just stood in shock as even with the amount of denial she had done in the past, there was no longer a way she could even try to reason with herself that Adrien Agreste and Chat Noir were not the same person. 

The evidence on front of her was all she needed.

Finally, after minutes of just standing there and thinking, Chat on front of her wondering but not stopping her from whatever was taking her time up (Ladybug was the type who needed to think through things before coming to a decision), she took a deep breath and looked at him.

She bit her lip again, and if she didn't stop, he was sure she would bleed, "M'lady?" Her breath shuddered when he said it, causing him to drop the hand holding his lucky charm and raise the other to her shoulder in genuine concern, "Is-is everything okay?"

"You know, it doesn't really matter anyways," she said meekly.

"What doesn't?" He was confused.

She shrugged, "Our identities?" It was so blatant, almost too blatant. And if he didn't know her better than most he wouldn't have noticed the quiver in her lip as she contemplated whatever was going on through her mind. He wouldn't have realised she had been going through several sets of emotions in the matter of minutes as she tried to come to a conclusion of what seeing the gift did to her.

And what did their identities even have to do with it?

"Uh-Bug?"

"I mean. Why should it have mattered? We're partners. We should have been allowed to know from the start."

"Whilst I agree, what even brought this on?" He wasn't sure he would get a response but he asked anyways. He was completely lost with what she was trying to say.

He almost dropped his precious charm bracelet when she grabbed his face with both of her hands and pulled his face closer to her so they were looking right at each other, "I'll tell you a little story, okay."

His eyes were squinted slightly as she squeezed his cheeks, though she may have not even realised she was doing it, but he nodded, "Okay," the word came out slightly muffled.

It prompted her to speak, "One day, when I was younger, the guy whom I had a crush on came to my house for the first time. Why? Because the two of us had been selected to take part in a competition."

"And you are telling me this, why?" He felt slightly annoyed. 

Whether it was due to his cheeks hurting or because of the irrational jealousy he felt towards the guy he knew had held her heart for quite a while. He had even learned that more recently, they had actually become more closer and he wasn't sure what he should think. Part of him wanted to scream and shout to the world that he didn't want her to like the guy. But the other, more rational part of him just wanted her to be happy. Even if it wasn't with him. Because Ladybug was first and foremost his partner and best friend. She was someone he would always hope would be happy.

Besides, there was someone else who had slowly but securely placed herself into his heart. And he hadn't even realised until recently. But he didn't want to make a move when he still had some lingering feelings for Ladybug. He couldn't do that to Marinette.

Ugh, why does love have to be so complicated?

"Shush. Let me finish," he pouted at her, his nose scrunching as he did, but let her continue, "We had to take part in a competition for a game and so he came over to practice with me for the tournament."

For some reason, this sounded familiar to him, "And then what?"

"Well. We kept on winning. But he believed that it was all because of me. He called himself lame compared to me."

This sounds so... so... why does it sound so...

Oh.

And it finally clicked in his head why it sounded so familiar, "And soo... what did you do?" but he wanted confirmation. 

Even though he was pretty sure where this was going, he still wanted her to say it. He moved her hands so they were around his neck and he pulled her closer to him by wrapping his own arms underneath her ones.

"So," she whispered, now aware that he was physically close enough that they could- she shook her head slightly, her eyes still trained on his ones, wanting to give him the confirmation he so clearly wanted, "So I gave him a charm I made. Nothing too over the top. In fact, it looks just like the one you are holding. Just something that would help him believe in himself a bit more."

"It's a shame he didn't actually get to do the tournament with you. I know for a fact that if it wasn't to make his classmate happy, he would have."

And he really would. He still remembered just how much he had been looing forward to doing the tournament with Marinette. How, he had been so excited to go to her house to practice but not because of the game. It was more about how he would be able to spend time with the sweet and passionate classmate who sat behind him. He had wanted to learn more about her.

And now, more than ever, he knew exactly who she was.

His Lady and his Princess. His lucky charm.

She smiled and said to him finally, "Hi, Adrien."

He smiled back and he gently moved his hands down so the were around her waist instead, "Hi Marinette. So I've been buttercup all along?"

She snorted but no matter how unladylike it was, she was still the most beautiful, with or without the mask, "Yes."

"Am I still buttercup to you now?" He asked, even though by the way she had relaxed in his arms, he was sure that the answer was positive.

"You're more than that Kitty. So much more."

One of her hands came to caress his face tenderly and he closed his eyes as he leaned into her hand in pure bliss, "I was wrong," he said.

"About?"

He opened his eyes, bringing a hand to where her one was and he held it, letting his lips graze over her fingers as he looked at her, "I always thought that perhaps just having the charm and looking at it was what made me happy."

"It doesn't?" She seemed only a tiny bit hurt so he kissed her hand, this time pressing onto them for a few seconds. She shivered at the sweet, yet somehow so intimate, touch.

"It's not the charm itself that made me happy or feel luckier-no. It was you, Marinette. It was always you. The charm was a reminder of the person who gave me it. And every time I would think of that person, it would be like all of the negative in my life, everything that I didn't want to think about, would be replaced with thoughts of you. It may be too early for me to say this but I know in my heart and I know in my mind that, Marinette I-"

She cut him off by pressing her lips against his for a few seconds, muffling any words he was going to say as she shocked him by her actions.

She moved away before he could respond to the kiss, but only to declare, "I love you."

Though he was still dazed, he pouted at her teasingly, "You couldn't let me finish?"

"I wanted to say it first."

She was about to move back in but he placed the finger, still holding the charm, on her lips and shook his head, "So eager aren't we."

Behind his finger she let out a whisper, "Aren't you?"

He nodded, "I am. But first I want you to know. I love you."

His finger moved away from her lips and his hand snaked it's way to the back of her neck. Before they knew it, their lips were crashing together and they were doing it again. At first, they just stayed still, neither of them knowing what really to do. They had experienced kisses, yes. But never had they felt or remembered the ones which were reciprocated. Always the leader, Ladybug started to move her lips first, before Adrien followed until he took over so by the end of it, he was leaving her breathless.

They tried to put as much feeling as they could in this kiss even though they were certain that there would be more to come. But it was a matter of wanting to express to each other just how much they meant to each other because before this moment it had rarely been said. They knew... they knew that they were important to each other, being partners, having spent so much time together. But they had never been able to properly tell each other everything they felt. And when their feelings for other people had come into play, it had become so much harder. However,  love didn't have to be so complicated when the two and only people they had ever truly loved romantically, definitely turned into one.

Kissing each other in this instance was more than enough for them to know that this feeling was real. And yet, they were closing their eyes in order to savour the moment, worried that if they opened them, all of it would just be a dream.

When they would finally separate for a few moments, their foreheads held together as they took in this new, yet so old, feeling, they would finally open their eyes and once again look at the person who made their life worth living.

"You are my lucky charm, M'lady," he would continue to tell her even when they were old and grey. 

And each time she would blush and smile and look at him as if he was her world, and say to him, "And you are mine."

(And yes, she did get pockets- with zips as well! It was one of the happiest moments of her life.)

................

Awww that was really sweet. I love the ending it's really cuteee.

I have also posted the second chapter of Realms Against Us, We Chose This Destiny, so if you are interested in a miraculous fantasy au, you can head on over there now.

See you soon lovelies<3