Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Ladybug gritted her teeth, and closed her eyes. Her hand was clenched tightly around Chat Noir’s… no, Adrien’s miraculous. It pulsed slowly, deafeningly, and in time with her earrings. It didn’t feel like it, not like how it was described in Master Fu’s book, but Marinette knew that she held the ultimate power, one that could change fate, in her hands.

She imagined a world where she was strong enough not to make a wish. She imagined opening her eyes, seeing Adrien’s green ones, broken as they looked desperately at her, not able to give her any answers. In a way, his position was worse than hers.

She imagined opening her eyes and seeing Hawkmoth… no, Gabriel Agreste standing across from her, standing beside his wife, Adrien’s mother, as she lay dying. The beeps signalled the strength of her fading heart. “I won’t do it,” she imagined saying, “It’s not right. We can’t alter fate like this!”

“But fate has already been changed,” Gabriel would reiterate to her. Ladybug already knew, the story had been burned onto her heart, only less scalding than it must have been for Adrien. “She had to save him; he was born with a countdown on his life and she traded her health for his.”

Ladybug teared up as she was drawn away from her imaginings, the all too real beeps of the heart monitor counting down her own pulse as well. If Gabriel and Emilie had made the choice that Ladybug knew she had to make now… she would’ve never met Adrien, would’ve never met Chat Noir… he would have already been dead.

Again the pulse of the ring of destruction and the earrings of creation plunged her into her future. If she made no wish, Adrien’s mother would die. Gabriel Agreste would never stop hunting the miraculous’ down to have her back. The world would never find peace.

But every wish had it’s price.

But maybe not making one did too.

What would Adrien think of her? Would he ever forgive her for choosing not to save his mother? Even if he knew that it was the right choice?

Would she ever forgive herself?

Although she loved him, although she thought he could love her… this… this would forever haunt them. Be a blemish on their shoulders, a dark spot in their vision. They would try, try so hard, but it would be too much. They would drift apart.

It had seemed like a miracle when she had discovered that Chat Noir and Adrien were one and the same. Now it felt like the end of days. This decision wouldn’t just hurt one person whom she loved more than anything; it would hurt two.

But she had to make it. The decision was hers and hers alone now. Her earrings pulsed in synchrony with the ring in her palm.

She was the one with all the power now.

“Ladybug…” Adrien’s voice shattered Ladybug’s musings as she snapped her eyes open. He was trying so hard. He was trying so hard not to cry although she knew that this was tearing him apart. His mother had chosen to sacrifice her life for his and his father was trying to do the same.

Ladybug couldn’t help the softening of her gaze as she looked at him. Even if they did drift apart because of this, she had been so lucky to spend over two years of her life by his side whether it be on the roofs of Paris or studying furiously for the next test. They had shared so much laughter together. They had already shared so much love. She was being selfish for wanting more.

“Give me the miraculous’ Ladybug,” Gabriel murmured holding out his hand. The strength and determined resolution in his voice came from the years that he had spent sitting by his wife’s bedside watching her die, knowing that he was going to switch his life for hers the moment he got the chance and that he would never see his son again. “I will make the wish.” It was sick and twisted but it had still come from love… the discovery that Gabriel was pushing his son away so that he would happy when his father was gone and his mother had returned. Pushing him away so that his son wouldn’t be sad when he was gone unlike how Adrien had been when his mother had “disappeared”.

Ladybug’s heart ached for Adrien. Gabriel hadn’t wanted his son to know, but his son was Chat Noir. His son was actively trying to stop his him from bring back his wife, from bringing back his own mother. It had been heartbreaking to see Hawkmoth and Adrien meet eye to eye for the first time after it had all come out. And then Hawkmoth had lost control of his own transformation and had appeared as Gabriel. That had been even more heartbreaking.

Ladybug swallowed as she refused to look at Gabriel. Her eyes were only for Adrien now. She only cared about how her decision would affect him. “Adrien…mon minou.”

Adrien reached out for her, but she stepped back, she couldn’t, not now. She wouldn’t be able to do what she was going to do if she took in his affection. It would kill her to be so selfish as to accept him before betraying his trust. “Gabriel Agreste, give your son your miraculous.”

Gabriel’s eyes narrowed.

“And the miraculous of the peacock.”

Gabriel’s eyes hardened. The miraculous’ belonged to him and Emilie. They stood for the time that they had once fought side by side.

“And I will give you back your wife.”

“No Ladybug!” Adrien shouted as he tried to dive for her. But without his miraculous he wasn’t swift enough, couldn’t catch her, couldn’t hold her in his arms.

Ladybug gave Gabriel a pointed look. He saw it in her eyes. He ripped his miraculous from his lapel and gingerly detached the peacock brooch from Emilie’s sweater. Her breathing was only getting more shallow, the heart monitor was beating more erratically. “Faster!” If she didn’t make her wish soon, the price would be greater. Bringing back a life had many more consequences to pay than simply saving one.

“Son!” Gabriel held the two miraculous out to Adrien. Adrien, more torn than even before, looked back and forth between his father and Ladybug, the woman he loved. “Take them son, please.”

“Adrien please,” Ladybug reiterated. The buzzing in her soul was getting louder as the time was coming. She could hear the miraculous’ speak to her. She had the ultimate power. She could choose the price to pay as long as it was enough.

Adrien looked at her, the world in his eyes before he looked at his mother, then his father. Clenching his fist he bounded towards his father and ripped the butterfly and peacock miraculous’ from Gabriel’s hand and quickly backed away again. When Adrien felt like he was far enough he shouted desperately at his partner, at his hero, “I have them. Now don’t do it Ladybug!”

“Adrien!” Gabriel nearly snarled, taking a step forward.

The heart monitor stopped beeping. All there was left was the monotonous sound of a life lost.

Everyone in the room froze as the sound pierced through them. Adrien broke his gaze with his Lady and stared wide eyed at the body of his mother. With tears streaming down her cheeks, Ladybug looked at Adrien looking at his mother and smiled softly at him, “Make sure that they return to their proper place, all of them.”

Adrien snapped his gaze back to look at her. He wanted to shout to her, tell her that she shouldn’t have to tell him to do it because they would do it together, but then a bright flash of white light flooded the room. Adrien wanted to scream.

“A life for a life.”

“I know.”

“Ladybug will cease to exist.”

“I understand.”

“Then it’s done.”

When the white light was gone, so was Ladybug.

She had made her wish.

Adrien collapsed to the ground, his father and mother’s miraculous’ in his hands and the slowly forming miraculous’ of creation and destruction at his feet. She was gone… she was gone and he had never even found out who she was under the mask. Would never know if by his hesitation he had taken someone precious from this world. Would never know how to find her… or her grave stone.

The heart monitor pulsed back to life.

And Emilie opened her eyes for the first time in over two years.

Chapter Text

Adrien slipped on his shoes at the door, tapping the toe on the ground to make sure they were on properly before he went to open his door.

“Pancake?” Adrien spun around as Nathalie wheeled Emilie out of the dining room, “You forgot your lunch.”

Adrien smiled widely at his mother as he raced to her side. “Thank you maman,” Adrien murmured as he took his lunch from her hands and leaned down to kiss her on the cheek, “Have a good day. I’ll be back later tonight.”

“Are you going out with your friends?”

Adrien smiled, “Yeah.”

“Good, good,” Emilie beamed as she pulled her shawl more tightly over her shoulders. Adrien looped his lunch bag higher on his forearm and reached forward to help his mother adjust her shawl so that it sat properly and warmly over her form. “You baby me sweetheart.” After thirteen years of sickness and three years being prone, two years of rehab had only gotten her unsteady on her feet.

Gabriel had insisted that she still use her wheelchair when he was not around to support or more likely catch her and she complied… most of the time. Adrien was slowly redeveloping his Chat Noir reflexes because had his mother always been this impulsive when he had been a kid?

“Be safe maman, don’t try to go up and down the stairs by yourself,” Adrien smiled and simply kissed her on the other cheek before he took off out of the house, no longer needing to be accompanied by Nathalie or the Gorilla.

“Don’t worry darling, I’ll just simply skip around the garden! Oh hush Nathalie, Gabriel will never know.”

Adrien had arrived at his school a little early, but it wasn’t unusual anymore for that to be the case. Either way, he wasn’t the only one that was there early in the morning. “Hey dude!” Nino waved him over from his spot on the steps, Alya seated by his side, “Over here.”

Adrien pushed through the groups of other students that had arrived a little early and made his way to his best friend and his best friend’s girlfriend. “Good morning,” Adrien grinned, “How was your night?”

Alya frowned at him as she curled in on herself and pressed her body against Nino’s in a dejected fashion, “Another dud.”

“Turns out that the lead on Chat Noir and Ladybug led us to Chloe’s hotel again,” Nino shrugged, “I don’t know why you’re still trying.”

Alya’s frown deepened, “I’m not having this discussion with you again Nino.” Nino and Adrien looked at each other, ready for what Alya was going to say next. Indeed she was going to have this discussion. She always did, no matter how many times her leads had led her to a dead end, “I know that with Hawkmoth defeated that Ladybug and Chat Noir don’t need to save the day anymore, but they must still be around right? They have to still exist.”

And like every other time Alya failed to find her heroes, tears pool in the corner of her eyes. And like every other time, Adrien felt as though thick, viscous syrup was sliding down his throat.

“They probably just went back to their normal lives and want to be left alone. It must have been traumatizing fighting those akumas day in and day out. Maybe they’re just over it and don’t want to be found,” Nino reiterated for what must have been the hundredth time. He had tried so many different ways to comfort Alya in the years after Ladybug and Chat Noir has disappeared, in the end the cold hard truth was what he had found to be the best. Keeping her hopes up would only slowly break her.

“But doesn’t the city deserve to know what happened to their heroes?” What she meant was “Don’t I deserve to know what happened?”

Nino grabbed her hand, although he was exasperated and tired, and he felt that this whole endeavour was fruitless, he always helped Alya with her leads, he always stayed by her side as she combed the news stations and papers and investigated any lead she found. “I miss Wayzz too.”

Alya looked away from them both, one sole tear tracking down her face, “Oh Trixx.”

Adrien looked away from them both. He knew that it was kind of unfair that he knew that his friends had once been Carapace and Rena Rouge, but revealing his old superhero identity to them also meant revealing what had happened… would also mean revealing that he didn’t know where Ladybug was either. And Adrien couldn’t stand that. After two years, he still couldn’t come to terms with it.

She was just gone.

At first, he had hoped against all hope that she had simply lost her superhero form, after all when he had slipped his miraculous back on that fated day, he had not been able to summon Plagg. He believed that maybe this was the sacrifice they had to pay to make the wish, but she had known his civilian form. She could have sought him out after. But she hadn’t.

He had never been able to identify who Ladybug was either. It was like she had slipped right out of his mind, right out of his clutches.

He was happy now. That he couldn’t deny. It had taken a while, to appreciate what Ladybug had done for them, what she had done for him, but he had gotten there. He had decided to honour her decision rather than question it. Whatever she had decided to do that day, he would have honoured it to the end of time. She had been forced into a position he knew that he wouldn’t have been able to handle. If she had chosen not to make a wish, he would have respected that and would have loved her forever nonetheless. But he didn’t have forever with her anymore. She was just gone. His family was whole, his friends were the best one could have, but everytime he thought of her he felt that something was missing, that in a way he was broken.

“Alya! Are you crying?” The trio turned towards the last member of their group as Marinette stumbled up the school steps, losing her breath and trying to catch it by bracing her hands on her knees. Adrien affectionately placed a hand on Marinette’s back as she took a couple deep breaths before she looked up at Alya, “You weren’t able to find anything again?” The looks from all three of them said it all. Marinette’s tired eyes shone, “I’m so sorry Alya.”

When he had told his mother that he was hanging out with friends that night, he had actually meant that he was hanging out with just Marinette. And although Emilie Agreste had nodded, she knew her son enough to know better and had simply played along just like every other time he would tell her he was just visiting a friend. Emilie knew that he would tell them when he was ready and had kicked Gabriel in the back of the knees when he had tried to call his son out on it. Adrien knew that his mother would tease him later when he caught her falling over as she attempted to walk around the hallways without his father by her side to support her yet again, but it was a fun dynamic they had and Adrien reveled in it. He had never realized how much his mother had balanced out his father, and visa-versa, until the day that she had returned.

Marinette and Adrien had gotten closer over the years. There was a time two years ago where her stutter around him had seemed to return at full force, but he had managed to dissolve it by sheer tenacity and because Nino had Alya and Alya had Nino, Adrien and Marinette were naturally, simply, stuck together. Stuck being the wrong word because there was really no other person in the world that he would rather be with now. Over the two years after Ladybug had disappeared, he had fallen so deeply in love with his classmate that his want for his Lady was only the need for the return of a dear one, a friend.

He hadn’t told Marinette of his feelings for her yet of course, because he didn’t want to break the balance they had, but he was sure that she would get it all out of him soon.

With the way that they would exchange glances in class, blue meeting green and flushes blooming on both of their faces, he knew that there was something more there. When they brushed up against each other in the hallways and his hand would always find hers, or her’s his, he could feel the undeniable electricity and want spark between them. It had come to a crux when they had went to kiss each other at the same time on her rooftop terrace after finishing homework one day, their noses clashing and their teeth clinking. The second try had gone a lot more smoothly.

He fancied that she felt just as strongly about him as he felt about her. Why else would she be okay with all those things? But he enjoyed the way they were taking their romance, nice and slow, in a way where they didn’t have to say those things, because they just knew. Everyone else just assumed they were already going out and they neither confirmed nor denied it.

The thing that had initially bonded them together tightly had been the missing. It had felt crazy at first, when Marinette had cried to him on that fateful night, spilling all of her worries and woes, but he had returned her feelings in kind and they had found solace in each other. They were each other’s only outlet. No one else could understand. They discussed it often still.  Like on this night.

“I’m sorry that the lead went nowhere. I know that you were hoping Alya had found the one this time,” Marinette murmured as she leaned her head on his shoulder.

“I feel bad for not telling her I’m Chat Noir…” Marinette was the only one that knew his old superhero identity. After all, Chat Noir was part of his missing. “But I can’t have her ask me. It’s too hard to say that I don’t know where--”

Marinette’s eyelashes fluttered as she squeezed his hand tightly, “I understand. You don’t have to say it.”

“Are you sure that you’re okay with this?”

“That you care about someone else? Of course,” Marinette smiled serenely. She appreciated that he asked her this often, that he was sensitive to her feelings, “We are all meant to care about more than one. I just hope I’m special.” A flush brushed across her cheeks at her own words.

“You are,” Adrien murmured as he brought their clasped hands to his mouth and kissed her knuckles. She turned her head on his shoulders, her loose midnight blue hair clinging to the fabric of his shirt, and nuzzled his shoulder tenderly, her eyes still closed.

She was the only one who knew that he too was desperately searching for Ladybug. “I wish I had known her,” Marinette whispered, “She sounds like a fabulous person.”

“She knew you. She asked me to protect you once.”

“Hm…” Marinette hummed, “I don’t remember.”

Now it was Adrien’s turn to squeeze her hand. “That’s okay. If you ever forget our memories together, I’ll remind you.”

Marinette’s eyes fluttered open, “Thank you Adrien.” The way she said his name, he was sure that she loved him too. But there was something that was stopping her, just as there was something that was stopping him. He was okay with it though, because he knew her and she was there with him and he couldn’t wish for anymore.

Emilie Agreste had more or less taken a hacksaw to the large dining room table and had reamed her husband out for buying such a silly thing in the first place. Gabriel had looked to his son desperately for help but Adrien actually agreed with his mother on this, and most things, so he left his father to cower in her rage. With a smaller, family sized table now in their dining room, dinner conversation was a common occurrence. Adrien had forgotten that this was how it used to be before his mother had fallen unconscious, but the last two years of having his mother back had made him realize just how much his father had been affected by her missing.

“So my sweetest Pancake…” Emilie smiled between bites of food, “When are you going to bring your girlfriend home to meet your poor parents?”

“Yes son, it has been a long time now.”

Adrien nearly spat out his food as he looked up at his mom who was grinning at him with twinkling eyes and his father who was pointedly not looking at him although there was a smirk curling at the corner of his lips. He thought there had been an unspoken agreement between himself and his mother but apparently she had just been biding her time. Gabriel simply coughed awkwardly at the continued eye contact. “Maman, Père, I don’t have a girlfriend!”

Emilie waved her hand in dismissal, “You can’t tell me, Pancake, that she’s just a friend.” When Adrien winced slightly at that, because he remembered that he had once called Marinette exactly that, Emilie only replied with a tinkling laugh. “Are you ashamed of your parents, my dear?”

“No of course not!” Adrien replied automatically, but nobody missed the look that he shot at his father. Even two years after the wish, they were still not close. To everyone else, Hawkmoth had been defeated and had disappeared from the world, but Adrien knew that the man who had created all of the akumas was still here, and right in front of him. Superficially Adrien understood why his father had done what he had done, but Adrien still had yet to forgive his father for all of the strife he had unleashed on the world in order to attain his goal. Hadn’t forgiven his father for letting Ladybug make that wish.

“Then why have her parents been able to meet you but we can’t meet Miss Dupain-Cheng?”

‘Because they make the best croissants,’ Adrien wanted to reply but instead he said, “How do you know I’ve met her parents? Wait how do you know about Marinette?”

His father simply scoffed, or maybe snorted, but Gabriel Agreste didn’t snort… or did he? “Quite obvious who the young lady you’re courting is, son.”

Emilie gave Adrien a pointed look that more or less said mother knows all but she humoured him too, “Tom and Sabine are wonderful people. They deliver pastries here often. Have been since they found out that I had woken up,” Adrien did not know that; would they be able to get croissants delivered too? He wondered. “And they talk about you often. It's nice to know how highly they think of you. Though of course, you are the sweetest Pancake.”

Caught incredibly red handed and pleased that Marinette’s parents genuinely liked him rather than regarded him as a scavenger in their bakery, Adrien muttered, “Because she'll probably faint at the sight of father.”

“Oh he’s not that scary,” Emilie laughed as she turned to her husband who seemed to have a frown on his face, “And if she truly thinks he is, we can make him wear a propeller hat or something,” Emilie teased.

“Absolutely not.”

“We’ll see,” Emilie teased.

“No.”

“Oh it’s not that. Father is just her hero.” This was true, even after Adrien had eventually told Marinette that his father had once been Hawkmoth.

When Adrien had informed her, he had been scared of what she might think of his father, what she might think of him. Instead, they had both discovered that Hawkmoth was part of her missing, not fully, but she knew so little of him that it erred on the side of strange. Both of them had cried together that night, him for the choices his father had made and her for the emptiness she hadn't known was there.

She had tried to be indifferent to Gabriel Agreste since then but her adoration of his work often shone through anyways. Adrien smiled at the memories of her staring at his father’s fashion spreads when they walked by bookshops together but then she would always shake her head and march off with unnatural resolution and sumo steps.

She had felt so guilty for continuing to idolize the man that had caused so much conflict, though she couldn't even remember most of it, so Adrien had told her that it was alright. That she was allowed to feel however she wanted to feel. Gabriel Agreste, the man who had nearly destroyed Paris for his wish, could be considered different to Gabriel Agreste the fashion designer. Meeting him though would mean having to bring those two images together. Maybe Marinette not remembering Hawkmoth and seeing Gabriel as he was now would help Adrien someday forgive his father.

“Oh! That’s even better! How about you bring her here for dinner tomorrow. We’ll prepare her favourite meal. What is her favourite? Dear, you must prepare some of your portfolios for her and...”

His mother was giving him zero room to wiggle, so with a resigned sigh Adrien muttered, “She loves bouillabaisse… also she's not exactly my girlfriend.”

“Oh Pancake.” His mother genuinely sounded disappointed in him.

“Help me Nino. My mom wants me to bring Marinette home,” Adrien muttered, his arm thrown over his eyes as he lay in the shade of a tree.

Beside him Nino lowered his headphones, his eyebrow buried deep in his hairline, “Dude, I thought that she wasn’t your girlfriend.”

“She’s not.”

“So she’s just a friend? One that your parents happen to want to meet?”

Adrien hesitated, “No.”

“Still about the most definitive answer I have ever gotten from either one of you two dude. Congratulations, your wife is about to finally meet your parents.”

Adrien simply shot Nino a dirty look as the man patted himself on the back for his wit, “How was it when Alya met your parents for the first time?”

“Prepare to have all of your baby photos out on display.”

Adrien winced, “My mom would do that.”

“Pro-tip: burn the photo albums the night before.”

“My mom wants Marinette to come over tonight.”

“Well… I guess Marinette is going to see your baby butt cheeks man. I kinda want to see Adrien Agreste’s baby butt cheeks now too. Is that weird?”

Adrien just groaned and ignored Nino’s teasing as he pressed the heel of his hands into his eyes. “Ugg, my mom has probably already blown up one or even four of the most embarrassing photos and hung them in our dining room! Oh god, maybe she’s been getting oil paintings done and now they’re finally finished and this is why she has decided to strike now. Oh god Nino, this is going to be a disaster, you have got to get me out of this.”

“Right… rich parents have so many additional avenues to embarass you by. Oh man, what if your mom like… creates Adrien through the years coasters? Like pictures of you with missing teeth, and spaghetti on your head, or even worse… messy hair!”

“Arg! She's definitely going to show Marinette the picture of me dumping syrup on myself when I was two! Why can’t my mom just make the best croissants in town instead?”

“I hope you’re talking about my papa.”

Adrien’s eyes snapped open to see Marinette and Alya had joined them. “Of course I am.”

Marinette smiled her big, dazzling smile as she leaned over him, her hands clasped behind her back, “That’s good. You wouldn’t want to break my papa’s heart.”

Adrien, meanwhile, was completely star struck by his not friend, not girlfriend’s smile. “You know, maybe his mother won’t even have to do anything, maybe he’ll just embarrass himself,” Alya murmured to Nino.

“Yeah didn’t mention that so that he wouldn’t try to police himself.”

Alya giggled, “And this is why I love you.”

“Yeah you do.” Nino wiggled his eyebrows. Then he paused looking into Alya’s eyes as she stared into his. Without saying a word he hugged her tightly, “I’m sorry it went nowhere again.”

Alya sighed, her shoulders slumped as she slowly broke in front of him, “We really tried.”

“I know you did. I know,” Nino murmured and stroked her hair as Alya rested on his shoulder.

“What were your parents like when I first came over?” Adrien asked quietly when he finally managed to break out of Marinette’s smile spell. Both of them knew better than to interrupt their best friends’ private moment.

“You came over the first time when we were practicing Ultimate Mecha Strike III, remember? They kept on peeking in on us and trying to feed you.”

“And you wouldn’t let them,” Adrien snorted.

Marinette laughed, “Sorry, if I had known you wanted the croissants that badly I would have said something. We had their tarts in the end though!”

Adrien’s eyes softened as he remembered sitting beside her on the bench all those years ago, “You almost got hurt by the Gamer that day.”

Marinette blinked as she tried to recall what had happened after she had consumed that tart. She couldn’t, the glow in her eyes dulled, “I don’t… I don’t remember that.”

Adrien reached up for her hand and ran his thumb firmly over the back of it, “Don’t worry, if you want to know, I can remind you.”

Marinette kneeled down on the grass as Adrien pushed himself up, “Thank you,” she murmured and leaned in close.

“Of course…” Adrien murmured as her warm breath washed over his lips.

“Dude have you two actually been married for fifty years or something cause sheesh,” Nino shouted, interrupting their tender moment.

Adrien and Marinette simply stuck their tongues out at him, both of them flushed at the near PDA.

“Obviously it’s been sixty years,” Alya interjected, her eyes a little bit more red, but her voice a little bit more happy.

The moment Marinette had stepped into his room after what he considered to be a disaster of a dinner, she burst into giggles, hugging him around the shoulders as he flushed brightly. “Pancake! That’s so sweet Adrien!” His mother had indeed shown her the syrup picture. He counted his lucky stars it wasn't an oil painting though.

“Please don’t start calling me that, my mother only gets a pass because--”

“Because she’s your mother,” Marinette smiled, her blue eyes sparkling in glee, “I didn’t think that Gabriel Agreste could be out-fabulous-ed, but she’s just so smart, and beautiful, and sassy.”

“A little bit like someone else I know,” Adrien murmured as he placed his hands on her waist and kissed her gently on the nose. And also like someone else he knew.

Marinette burst into a fit of giggles again at the sign of affection and buried her hands into his hair. He let her pull him down into a chaste kiss before they broke apart so that Marinette would be able to greatly invade his privacy. “I’ve never seen your room before.” She clasped her hands behind her back and looked around his room curiously.

Adrien raised an eyebrow. It was uncharacteristic of Marinette to not automatically dig into everything that was him. He thought it was endearing how much she wanted to know about him, even if she was a bit overzealous at times. “Something else on your mind?”

Marinette turned on her toes to face him, a teasing smile on her face, “Well Pancake…” she pranced out of the way of his dive for her and then her face softened, “Your father really seems to love you and maybe… from what I can tell is trying to make amends. From what you said, he seems to also be trying to adjust to the fact that he’s still around too.”

Adrien swallowed at her statement. It wasn't like he hadn't noticed but it had become instantly more real when Marinette had said it. Without saying a word he stepped forward again and she didn't move out of the way as he enveloped her in a tight hug, burying his face in the crook of her neck. Like many times before she simply hugged him back, the two of them basking in the warmth and comfort of the other, before she tapped gently on his neck. “Can I explore?”

Adrien chuckled, “You can.”

“You have a skateboard ramp! I didn’t know you boarded! Or… did I?”

“I don’t. You didn’t.”

“Then… why…?”

Adrien shrugged, “I wanted to learn when I was… five? And my mom just kind of…”

Marinette looked at him deadpanned, “And she brought you what can be described as an indoor skatepark?”

“Yep.”

“Your mom is weirder than she lets off and that’s pretty weird. Please tell me you actually like music though, because a second story of random CDs is complete overkill, even for a mom who loves pancakes.”

Adrien laughed, “I do.”

“Thank god.”

Afterwards they sat together on his couch, his head on her lap and both of them feeling more content then they had ever been before. “ Marinette?”

“Hmm?” Marinette smoothed her fingers through his bangs.

“Go out with me. Be my girlfriend Marinette.”

The fingers dragging through his hair stopped for a moment and he feared the worst before her nails scraped at his scalp again. “Okay.”

Adrien sat up bewildered, “Okay?”

Marinette giggled, a deep flush on her cheeks, as she met his eyes “Yes.”

Adrien resisted the urge to pump a fist into the air and instead leaned forward to capture her lips in his own, the happiness swelling between the two of them. “I’m so happy Marinette,” Adrien murmured between kisses, “I can call you mine.”

“Not sure about that one.”

“Then I’m just happy, how about?”

Marinette giggled and cupped his cheek in the palm of her hand, “As am I mon minou.”

The world shattered.

If Marinette had noticed the change in his behaviour during the rest of the night, she hadn’t said a single thing.

His mother had insisted that she stay over, in a way that would embarrass him the most too. She had bribed Marinette with the Adrien coasters that had been present at dinner and had promised that all of his photo albums would be out in the morning, including the home videos. Adrien sweated, not realizing there were videos.

When Marinette had asked her parents for permission, they had given no opposition, even promising to deliver croissants for breakfast tomorrow morning and joining in for the embarrass Adrien Agreste screening.

So this was how he found himself in his bed with a Marinette asleep beside him, snuggled into his side for warmth, and wearing his shirt as a nightgown. He was sure that his mother had her ear to the door.

Marinette’s breathing was slow, deep, and steady, a calming beat to what he was sure was the racing of his heart. The moment she had said it, had said that pet name that he had not heard in years, he had seen it. Over her eyes was that red, black dotted mask and it just fit. In that moment, he knew instantly that she was his Ladybug.

He had tried to shove it away, what it meant, so as not to scare her with what would for sure have been his whirling panic, but now in the middle of the night, past the time of simple panic, all his mind could do was wander.

And he had figured it out. It should have been so obvious. Everything Ladybug was so Marinette. He had simply thought he had a type, and maybe he did, but what he thought was an n of 2 was actually an n of 1, so maybe he just doubly loved Marinette. He definitely just doubly loved Marinette. He couldn’t believe that he had been so blind to it before.

They had all heard it, the voice of the miraculous’ telling Ladybug a life for a life . But no more. But now he knew.

Ladybug had given herself in return for his mother.

But he had always known that.

What he hadn’t known was that the miraculous had only taken that life and had left an incomplete one behind.

Adrien had always assumed that some of Marinette’s missing memories was from before him. He wouldn’t have been able to help her with them or even identify them even if she did speak of them, but she never had and he had made a wrong assumption. He had confirmed it from her earlier; her parents hadn’t found anything missing from her childhood. All of her missing memories started from the day that she met him, from the day that they had become Ladybug and Chat Noir.

Marinette had lost part of herself for him, had broken herself for him. He was responsible for her missing. He was responsible for the reason that she cried for her memories which were gone and the memories that she believed could someday be taken away.

Adrien’s eyes hardened as he clutched her closer. She snuffled quietly at the movement but her palm had simply splayed out on his chest as she pressed her nose closer into his side, seeking him even in unconsciousness. His shirt that she was using as her pajamas was rough against the palm of his hand. He revealed in her warmth, in the movement of her chest, in the beat of her heart. Beyond all else he was so glad that Marinette was still alive, that the miraculous’ hadn’t taken more and hopefully would take no more from her. She didn’t deserve this.

He had found his missing.

He knew where he could find hers now too.

He would do anything for her.

Anything.

Now he understood. He could finally forgive his father.

Chapter Text

Adrien pushed open the door to Master Fu’s studio. It was still the same as it had been two years ago when Adrien had come to return the four miraculous’, including the old man who was sitting cross legged on the floor waiting for him, “I have been expecting you Adrien Agreste.” It was like an echo of a time long ago.

“How did you know Master?”

Master Fu gave him a sad smile, “Plagg sensed your strife and has been acting up.”

Adrien’s eyes widened, “Plagg?”

“Their period of recovery ended a year ago. They were never gone, they were simply dormant after the power of the wish.”

Adrien swallowed and nodded. His gaze immediately drifted towards the miraculous box. He hadn’t seen Plagg in over two years.

“Come sit my boy and tell me why you are here.”

Adrien hesitated, not knowing if he could say what he wanted to say. He had even hoped that Master Fu wasn’t there waiting for him and he would simply be able to take the miraculous’, but it seemed like Master Fu had known that this was a long time coming. The Master’s eyes pierced through him and continued to urge him to sit. “I want the ladybug and cat miraculous’.”

“Why?” Master Fu looked at him with empathy.

Adrien’s hands clenched around the fabric of his jeans. “For Marinette.”

“And what would you wish for if I were to give them to you my dear boy?”

Adrien swallowed the syrup that was coating his throat, “For her memories back.”

“And what would you sacrifice in return?”

Adrien’s eyes hardened, “Everything.”

“You would plunge the world into peril to have what you want?”

Adrien shook his head, “No, I would give my everything.”

Master Fu’s eyes softened, “You love her.” Adrien stayed silent knowing that he was quivering under the gaze of such a wise man. “My boy, love is a miraculous thing," Master Fu chuckled under his breath before turning serious again, "So how do you think that she will react when she finds out that you have done so for her?” Master Fu had said the one thing that would stop Adrien from razing the world to get the miraculous’.

Adrien opened his mouth and then closed it. For the first time in a long time, he empathized with his father’s plight. Marinette had once sacrificed herself just for him to have a family again, for the chance that he would not have to live through heartbreak. He wasn’t naive enough to think that she wouldn’t do the same again, wouldn’t do more for him than she had already done. He felt the tears well up in his eyes, the hopelessness that he had been trying to push out of his soul finally boiled over. He had known before he had come that he would choose not to make the wish, but he had hoped that there would be an easy answer. “What can I do for her then Master? How do I help her?”

Master Fu stood up. He turned towards the box and walked over to it with his hands clasped behind his back. With a look over his shoulder, the Master summoned the box. Adrien swallowed as he saw it appear. He hadn’t stayed to watch the last time. It had been too hard to watch it all get locked away.

Master Fu opened the miraculous box and gently took the out a miraculous. For two years the collection had been complete. Master Fu swallowed trying to brush away his irrational worries. He wasn’t making the same mistake again. Turning around slowly the Master returned to Adrien and sat back down. He held out one hand, “Do you want to say hello?”

Adrien didn’t even realize that tears were running down his face until he had the ring in his palm, and the drops hit the silver and made it sparkle. With some hesitation he slowly slid the ring on his finger. It still fit perfectly.

“Adrien!” He felt a soft blob hit him in the face. A feeling he hadn’t realized how much he had missed.

Adrien brought both of his hands up to cuddle his old friend, “Oh Plagg, I’ve missed you so.”

“I have too!” Plagg sobbed as he rubbed his furry face into Adrien’s cheek not minding that Adrien’s tears were soaking his soft black fur. “Did you bring me some camembert?”

Master Fu had allowed for the two of them to go out on a short excursion to the local market where Adrien brought Plagg two big wheels of camembert, one for every year that they had been apart. It seemed like Adrien hadn’t needed to tell Plagg a single thing about his life, the kwami had continued to watch over him in dormancy and from the kwami realm. “You’ve grown a lot Adrien,” Plagg muttered as he stuffed a large slice of camembert into his mouth.

“You haven’t changed at all,” Adrien murmured as he scratched Plagg behind the ear still holding him close to his chest, not minding that he was once again smelling like cheese. Plagg purred in delight, holding the snark he usually possessed for a different time.

Plagg stared at him with big, green eyes, “You shouldn’t blame yourself you know.”

“For what?”

“For anything. I know how you like to take burdens on yourself and feel that you have to right all wrongs, it’s what made you such a great superhero, but that’s not who you are anymore. You don’t have to do that anymore.”

“Oh Plagg.”

Plagg shoved another giant chunk of camembert into his mouth, “I’m glad you figured it out, that Marinette was Ladybug.”

“That’s right, you know.”

“Yeah, and ever since that moment that I saw her, I knew that you would be okay.”

“Yeah?”

Plagg floated out of Adrien’s hands and nuzzled against his nose, “Yeah… bring me camembert more often though.”

Adrien chuckled, “Alright Plagg.”

It had been hard giving the ring back to Master Fu after Adrien had promised to try and go see Plagg at least once a month if not every single week. The Master had been patient and had given Adrien his time. After all, when Adrien had first thought he would never see Plagg again, their parting had been so fast. They were both scared now that despite the optimistic circumstances that they would never meet again.

“I will always be here when you want to see him my boy,” Master Fu murmured as he replaced the ring back into the box. Slowly he picked up another.

Adrien blinked fascinated when Master Fu turned around with the ladybug earrings in his hands, “What?”

Master Fu reached out, “Just hold them in your hands… I think it is best you know.”

Adrien swallowed and reached out his hand. He could see it shaking. As though in slow motion, Master Fu opened his palm and slowly gravity took the earrings and placed them in Adrien’s grasp. There was no dramatic flash of light, but there was suddenly a red and black kwami hovering in front of his nose, “Hello Adrien, my name is Tikki and I was Marinette’s kwami.”

Adrien had already known the truth of course, but to see and to hear the proof of it be presented right in front of him made his throat nearly close up. The look on the kwami’s face said everything. She already knew that unlike him and Plagg, she would not get her reunion with Marinette. Slowly Adrien reached out, and Tikki needing some solace raced into his hands. He brought her close to him and tucked her gently into his grasp as she cried. “Do you… do you still have the memories of when you and Marinette… when she was…”

Tikki nodded against the fabric of his shirt, still sniffling and shaking. “The miraculous magic doesn’t affect us ancient beings.”

Adrien nodded and stroked the kwami gently on her back, “Someday I’ll bring her here to see you.”

“I would like to see her.”

“I’ll do my best.”

“Adrien?”

“Yes Tikki.”

“She loves you very much.”

Adrien felt himself tear up for what he felt must have been the hundredth time that day, “I know.”

“And you?”

“I love her too.”

“Then she’s in good hands.”

Adrien sincerely hoped so.

Adrien found his father that night. Had sat beside him as his father worked on another design, had allowed the tension that had encapsulated them for two years to wriggle and then slowly fade. Gabriel Agreste coughed when he felt that the time his son had spent staring at him was overwrought. Adrien just simply shook his head and smiled, “You love mom more than anything don’t you?”

“There is one other.” Adrien raised his eyebrow in question, “You, son. You.”

As much as Adrien tried to prepare for this moment, he still didn’t have a clue what he was going to say to her. How did you even tell someone that they were once a superhero? How did you tell someone the person they had been searching for all along was her?

Adrien had invited Marinette to the Eiffel tower for an evening, his father had pulled some strings so they could have late night access. He thought it was the best place to tell her. They had so much history there as Ladybug and Chat Noir.

But when her bright blue eyes turned to him in concern, because maybe he hadn’t been too subtle about avoiding her after her night in his mansion and because he was definitely not acting normal this night, he couldn’t help but simply hug her. “Are you okay?” Her hands gently rubbed his arms, “You have goosebumps!”

He wanted to cry, for what emotion, he did not know, “I… I think I found my missing.”

Marinette pulled away from him with wide eyes, “You found her? You found Ladybug? Oh mon minou!” Her hands squeezed; her eyes were so excited for him.

He held her shoulders firmly as he searched her eyes. They were such a beautiful blue-bell, “I did.”

“Where was she? Why didn’t she come and find you?” Marinette asked reaching up to touch his cheek.

He swallowed deeply, “She couldn’t find me.”

“Couldn’t?” Marinette’s head tilted in confusion.

“No… but I found her.”

“After all this time! Alya will be so happy. What did she say? Why couldn’t she find you?”

“I found your missing too.”

Marinette looked up at him startled, “What?” she asked, shock in her voice, “Why are you changing the subject? This is about you and Ladybug.”

Adrien nodded his head slowly, “Your missing is about me and Ladybug. Marinette, my sweet, you’re Ladybug. Your missing is Ladybug.”

He hadn’t known what to expect from her. He hadn’t known what to expect from himself. He didn’t know if he told her the way he should have, but it was said and done now. Her blue-bell eyes were shining at him, the Parisian light surrounding them like a sea as the warm wind curled around them.

“I’m… Ladybug?”

Adrien swallowed, “Yes.”

“The super heroine?”

“Yes.”

“The woman you once loved?”

“Still love!” Adrien shouted before he could stop to think. It was true after all.

“She’s why my memories are missing. This woman that you still love...”

“The memories that you’re missing are from your time as Ladybug,” he murmured again, watching her face, wondering what was going through her mind. For the first time in a long time he couldn’t tell, “You… you wished them away… for me. You are Ladybug.”

Marinette paused, the gears in her head slowly turning. Adrien waited with baited breath, waited for his elation, and his heart dropped when her eyes suddenly dulled instead, “Are you only with me because I was once Ladybug?”

Adrien spluttered, “What?”

Marinette tugged out of his hold, “Are you only with me because of this woman that I can’t even remember?”

“No Marinette! You are Ladybug!”

“But I’m not! I’m not Ladybug, the person who I am now… I’m not her.”

Adrien’s eyes softened, “But of course you’re her, you always have been.”

“Have you just been with me this whole time because I remind you of her?” Tears were pooling in her eyes. The hurt there was indescribable. He hated seeing it on her.

“No, I mean you are her, but she’s also… she’s also always been you!” Adrien surged forward and enveloped her in a hug. When she pushed at his chest he backed away but kept his hands at bay, “Marinette, don’t… don’t think like that.”

“What am I supposed to think? You say that I’m the woman you once loved, but I’m not… not anymore and yet you still love her when I’m no longer her…”

Adrien realized his mistake, “No Marinette, please listen. I only still love her because you are her… not… not the other way around. If she had been anyone else, anyone, I wouldn’t, I couldn’t… I… I...” He ached to hold her but she was curling away from him.

“Adrien, I can’t right now. I just can’t.” And he watched, watched as she turned around, turned away from him, and walked away. He couldn’t follow.

Chapter Text

Adrien stared blankly at his ceiling. He hadn’t seen Marinette for days. She hadn’t even come to school. His heart felt like it was twisting, getting ripped out of his chest again and again with every passing day that he didn’t see her blue-bell eyes and hear the joy that was her laugh.

Adrien had expected that when he found her missing, that when he gave back the part of her that was just gone, that she would be elated. He had expected her to ask him all about her past as Ladybug, to be happy that she had always been special to him.

He hadn’t expected this.

He had tried calling her and texting her. He knew that she received his messages, but she hadn’t once replied back.

Both Alya and Nino had contacted her for him. She had replied to them, but had stated outright that she didn’t want to see him right now. The look in both Alya and Nino’s eyes had simply been questioning. The guilt in him had only furthered. He could tell them now who Ladybug and Chat Noir once were, because he knew, but still he couldn’t, because Marinette was right, she wasn’t Ladybug anymore and shouldn’t be seen as her. Alya, even would all the good intentions in the world, would probably only hurt Marinette even more if she wasn’t ready.

Today he had asked his mother if he could skip school. She had frowned at him, more worried about the bags under his eyes and the exhausted slump of his shoulders than his desire to miss his classes, and had asked for no more, giving him permission to stay home for the day.

Adrien’s limbs felt numb as he lay in bed. They had gotten into fights before, but nothing to this extent. Usually by the end of the night one was calling the other and the other was ready to pick up with apologies and promises of kisses and dates.

The idiotic part of him blamed this whole situation on the fact that he had asked Marinette to be his girlfriend. That definitely had not been the stupid thing he had done to result in this situation, but he had to admit that it had all been so good before he had upset the balance they had.

He closed his eyes, dreaming that it hadn’t all gone wrong. But he didn’t even know where to start. Did he wish to go back and fix just their most recent fight, or did he want to go back and imagine that she had never made the wish at all? Was he even considering imagining a world where he had never become Chat Noir and she had never become Ladybug and they would have just met in school and had fallen in love like normal teenagers?

In the end, the thing that he determined he would dream about was the most recent fight. Because although becoming superheroes had turned tragic for both of them, and although Ladybug sacrificing herself for him had been maybe the most heartbreaking thing ever, both of them had ended up creating wonderful memories for him. He would never regret running along the rooftops of Paris with Ladybug. He would never regret falling in love with Marinette.

He hated that they were fighting though. Absolutely loathed it. In his dreams he could change that. He closed his eyes and tried to imagine how that night on the Eiffel tower could have gone differently.

A knock sounded at his door. “Adrien?”

Adrien’s eyes snapped open, “Père? Um… come in!”

Adrien threw his legs over the side of his bed and sat up to watch his father slowly push open the bedroom door and then look at him. “Your mother told me that you were taking a day off school today.”

Adrien sighed and rubbed his eyes, “Yes, sorry Père... I just...”

Gabriel seemed to hesitantly saunter over to his son and then to Adrien’s shock took a seat beside him on the bed. “Take the time to rest today son.”

“Really?”

“This is about Miss Dupain-Cheng?”

“Um…”

“Was she Ladybug?”

“Uh…”

“I saw it at the dinner,” Gabriel murmured, took off his glasses, and rubbed the bridge of his nose, “Quite instantly actually. I’m not sure why I didn’t make the connection before, maybe it was because she used to stutter around you so much all the time.”

“I can’t believe you figured it out over one dinner,” Adrien groaned as he toppled back on his bed not helping the smile that tugged on his lips despite his moods at the memories of Marinette failing spectacularly in holding it together in front of him. He turned his head to stare at his father’s back and swallowed, “How did you know this was about Marinette?” Adrien shot up, “You’re not going to… not going to do anything to her are you?”

Gabriel sighed and shifted, obviously uncomfortable with what he was about to say, “Of course not son. She… she gave me my family back. I don’t think I will ever be able to repay that kind of a debt. I just know a boy in love when I see one.” Adrien slowly lowered himself back down onto his bed.

“God,” Adrien muttered and turned his gaze back up to the ceiling, “You must think I’m pathetic.”

“I know one when I see one because I used to be one.”

Adrien shot up again, “Excuse me?”

Gabriel looked at him flatly before something akin to a smile pulled at the corner of his lips. Adrien faulted a bit as her recognized that the reaction had mirrored his own, “Your mother was… she is an enigma, and I love her so.”

Adrien didn’t know how to react. His face though was twisting of its own accord, “Is this really something I need to know?”

Gabriel chuckled, “I suppose not,” but then he placed a hand onto Adrien’s knee, “I guess what I’m trying to say son… is don’t spend your time worrying or agonizing over what to do. You should go apologize to her sincerely, and earnestly. It might not happen right away, but as long as your heart is in it… it’ll all work out.”

Adrien gave his father a look, “Are you… are you really giving me relationship advice, Père?”

“This is more your mother’s thing I suppose. Much more eloquent with emotions and words,” Gabriel even winced, “I’m sure she would have handled my whole situation much better.”

“Did she make you come in here?”

Gabriel sighed, “Yes.”

Adrien smiled and placed a hand on his father’s shoulder, “Thank you.” Gabriel simply turned to his son, a brightness in his eyes that Adrien rarely saw, and placed his own hand on top of his.

Adrien wondered if Tom Dupain was going to stuff him into the oven and then serve him on a silver platter. He loved the Dupain-Cheng bakery, but he really didn’t want to be the special of the day. He swallowed deeply as he stood out on the street, preparing to enter through the bakery door. Before he could make his charge, Sabine stuck her head out of the shop and waved him in, a small smile on her face, “Come in dear before you get cold.”

All of the adrenaline immediately drained out of Adrien’s body as he slumped and ambled into the bakery. “Would you like some fresh baked croissants son?” Tom asked from the back already knowing the answer and pulling out some freshly baked ones. Adrien never refused the chance to eat his croissants.

Adrien nodded nervously, his eyes flicking to the door at the back of the shop, leading up to the apartment. Tom and Sabine simply exchanged a knowing look, “She’s not home dear,” Sabine murmured gently as she led him to a stool and placed two piping hot croissants in front of him.

Adrien groaned and put his elbows on the table, running his hands through his hair, “She’s really mad at me isn’t she?”

“No dear, I think she was just… just a little lost.”

“Do you know where she is?” Adrien looked up with hopeful eyes and watched as Tom and Sabine exchanged yet another look.

“She’s looking for you.”

Before he could jump out of his chair and bound out the door, a large hand dropped onto his shoulder and held him in place. He swallowed as he brought his gaze up to that of Tom’s. Contrary to what Adrien had been expecting, there was no animosity in his gaze, just love, understanding, and what he was learning was the universal sparkle of parental humor. “Eat first son. You’ll probably need the energy. You must know what a spitfire our little Marinette is.”

Adrien couldn’t complain, “Thank you.” He quickly nibbled the croissants. At one point in his life he had believed he had no fathers. And suddenly, proven on the same day, he found that he had two.

She was waiting for him on the steps of the Trocadero. They had taken so many walks together there as Adrien and Marinette; it was a place where they had created memories together even in their missing. If he had thought about it properly, taking Marinette to the Eiffel tower had meant nothing to her. It had been short sighted and almost cruel. That place wasn’t the place that represented them and he only now realized how much that alone must have hurt her.

He saw her long before he could speak to her. And she him. She was beautiful with her loose midnight hair blowing around her shoulders, her eyes sparkling even from a distance. He could tell that she was tired. He wondered if she had stayed up for as many late night as he.

He made his way up to her and her body language continually shifted to adapt to the changing of his own. Their movements were flawless, natural, and in sync.

When he finally found his way to stand in front of her, he wondered why he had ever tried to seek for more.

She pushed stray locks of hair behind her ear before she wrung her hands. Her gaze wouldn’t meet his now, swinging down to her feet and up towards the Eiffel tower. “I went to school today… and you weren’t there,” she paused and wrung her hands again, “I hated it. I hated not seeing you. And when I tried to see you and you weren’t there and then the feeling that I felt, oh god… I’m so sorry. That feeling of sitting there and not having you there too. It was awful. I’m sorry if I made you feel that way.” The breeze blew gently around them, dislodging the locks she had tried to tuck away. Her eyes finally met his. “I missed you.”

Adrien swallowed, feeling the weight of the world slowly lift from his shoulders as he gazed at her eyes and heard her voice. It was like all of the terrible feelings he had harboured for the past couple of days were simply washing away, “I missed you too.”

“I’m so sorry,” Marinette whispered, “Running away like that… it was heartless and pathetic.”

Adrien shook his head, “No, I should be the one who’s sorry. I… I didn’t think it through. I should have… I should have tried to tell you some other way.”

“I… I’m never going to be her again, you know? Even if you tell me my memories, they aren't mine anymore. I’m just me now.”

Adrien nodded, “I know.”

“Is that okay?”

“Marinette, you have always been everything. With or without her.”

Her lips quivered, “A-are you sure?”

Adrien nodded, a small smile on his lips as he lifted his hand towards her, palm up, “I have never been more sure of anything in my life.”

“Someday… someday I might be ready, but not… not now.”

“All I want is you Marinette. If you’re ready, you’re ready, if you’re not, then you’re not. I’ll respect that for the rest of my life.”

Marinette took a step forward and slowly lifted her hand. She paused for a second… and then placed her hand in his. He closed his hand around hers and gently pulled her forward and wrapped his other arm around her waist, her other automatically flew to his shoulder. He nuzzled her cheek gently and held her close. “I love you Marinette.”

She let out a breath, the most beautiful breath he had ever heard, “I love you too Adrien.”

It had been months later, when they had been sitting beside each other on a bench staring out at the Seine. They were holding hands, their sides pressed together, her head on his shoulder, and her eyes closed. It had been simple, just barely a whisper, “Will you tell me about her… about me?”

Adrien squeezed her hand and looked at her face. He could feel his heart thumping in his chest. There was a peace in her voice, on her features. “I’ll tell you anything you want my love, but before that, I think there’s someone you should meet.”

Marinette’s eyes fluttered open, “Meet?”

“Her name is Tikki and she’s been wanting to see you for a long, long time.”