Author's Note:

I do not own any of these characters.


"Finally!" Hawk Moth cried loudly as his two adversaries had finally been defeated. They laid on the floor of his lair, bleeding from multiple wounds and coughing up blood. The battle was difficult and Hawk Moth had his own wounds. But, he was the one still standing. "Let's see who you two really are."

Hawk Moth bent over Ladybug and pulled her earrings off. In a flash of red, Marinette Dupain-Cheng was in her place, still bleeding profusely. "Marinette?" Cat Noir could feel the rage building inside him, pushing him to get up and fight Hawk Moth even harder. Unfortunately, he couldn't even muster the strength to lift his arm up. Hawk Moth approached Cat Noir as he yelled, "You... You..."

"Now, now. Remember, you're the hero," Hawk Moth taunted. His smirked drained away as did all the color that happened to remain in his face from finding out his son's friend was Ladybug. "No... Adrien? It... can't be... son? I saw you and Cat Noir together. How?"

"Son?" Adrien glared at Hawk Moth as Marinette tried to crawl over to Adrien without success. Adrien's eyes widened as Hawk Moth dropped his transformation. "Father?"

Gabriel knelt over his son with tears streaming down his face. "Don't worry, son. After I make my wish, not only will your mother be okay, but you will be too. I... I promise."

"Th... There's a price," Marinette said weakly. "You can't use the wish without paying a price."

"I know," Garbriel said as he knelt over Marinette. "You'll be fine too. I know how to word my wish so that the price won't be too much."

Garbiel stood up and removed the Moth Miraculous. Placing the Cat Miraculous on his finger and pinning the Ladybug earrings to the collar of his jacket, he repeated the incantation he had deciphered from the book. A flash of every color overtook his person and he had finally gotten ultimate power. A wish. A single wish. One wish to fix everything. "I wish to be transported back in time just long enough to stop Emilie Agreste from using the Peacock Miraculous the final time she tried to use its power."

In a rainbow colored flash of light, he was back to being Gabriel Agreste. His face contorted in confusion. How did I get here? he thought. Then he saw the two teenagers lying on the floor bleeding. He didn't recognize the girl, but the boy looked like... "Adrien?" Gabriel ran over to his son and knelt down, lifting him up and into his arms. "What happened son?"

"You did..." Adrien said breathily and then coughed up some blood.

"I don't understand. I was just in your room listening to you play the piano. Something came up and as soon as I walked out of your room to find your mother to help me... I found myself here. I don't understand."

Adrien realized that his father from the day of his mother's disappearance must have traded places with his father who had just defeated them and made the wish. "You're in the future a little over a year. When you left my room, that day was the day mother disappeared. You... You turned evil and started creating super villains. I was given one of the miraculouses you wanted, along with the miraculous that was given to Marinette..." Gabriel turned and looked at the girl's body, assuming that she was Marinette before turning back to Adrien as he continued explaining. "You needed to get them to make a wish... a wish to bring back mother. You... you succeeded in making your wish. That's when you... this you from the past... appeared here. I don't know how much longer we have, but the you from today is likely talking to mother now. Once he's done, he'll have completed his wish and then... hopefully... you'll go back to that day."

"How... how could I have sacrificed you to get Emilie back? I don't understand how I could've been fighting against my own son."

"We didn't know we were fighting each other. But... you have to promise me... promise me that you won't turn evil this time, even if mother disappears again. If you don't turn evil, then Marinette will still be alive."

"Marinette? I don't know a Marinette, but it sounds like you do. It sounds like you care for her very much to choose her life over your mother's. How do you know her?"

"From public school..." Adrien whispered and then went limp in his father's arms.

"No... No... No!" Gabriel sobbed and pulled Adrien into his chest, rocking him back and forth with tears streaming down his face and lost in his ever increasingly strained thoughts. I did this. I killed my own son. I have to fix this. I have to do whatever it takes to keep this from happening. I promise son.

Just then, everything began to shake and the noise being produced sounded like the world itself was being torn in two. Lights of every color started shining through the cracks in the walls. As the cracks grew bigger, the lights grew stronger. Gabriel was enveloped by them.


Gabriel found himself standing next to Emilie. She had her arm over her face, covering her eyes. "Emilie!"

"Gabriel! Is it you? Is it really you and not the you that said he was from the future?"

"Yes. It's me. I must've swapped places with him. I somehow found myself in the lair with two teenagers. They were hurt badly. One of them was... Adrien."

"Then he was telling the truth. He said Adrien's life depended on me not using the Peacock Miraculous again. He told me I'd never wake up if I used it again and that the pain of losing me drove him mad."

"It's okay. I'm back now... and, I'm far from being driven insane by losing you. But..." They looked at each other in horror and announced at the same time, "Adrien!"

They both ran upstairs and burst into Adrien's room. Adrien jumped at their sudden entrance and was shocked when they practically tackled him. He loved being embraced by his parents, but this was much more sudden and much stronger than usual. "Is... is everything okay?"

"Yes, son," Gabriel said with a large, bright smile on his face and a tear on his cheek. "Everything is perfect."

"O...kay. Well... I love you too." Adrien pulled them closer as he smiled, feeling the warmth of their love.

After a few minutes, Gabriel and Emilie sat on the sofa and resumed listening to Adrien play his piano. "You know son..." Gabriel started and coughed slightly to make sure he had Adrien's attention. "You're doing so well with piano, Chinese, and fencing... along with your home schooling... that I thought you might like to start public school and try to make some friends your own age... besides Chloe of course."

Emilie looked at Gabriel with a stunned expression. Gabriel had always been the one against Adrien going to public school, despite her objections. She slowly started to smile, realizing the recent events likely changed his perspective on several things. She looked to Adrien, who hadn't answered yet, to find him looking between the two of them for any signs that this might be a joke or some type of test. Emilie just nodded at him.

"I'd love to! I... I mean I think it'd be good to help me improve my social skills."

"My only demand is that you continue to coordinate your schedule with Nathalie and have your bodyguard take you to school and bring you home."

"Agreed."


Gabriel and Emilie waved goodbye to Adrien as he headed to school that morning. Gabriel turned to Emilie and kissed her. "We're going to make this future better. We're going to do it right this time." Emilie just blushed and leaned into Gabriel, resting her head on Gabriel's chest and listening to his heart beat.

Adrien had been ambushed by Chloe as soon as he arrived. It was nice already having one friend, but she was still trying to get him to be her boyfriend. He loved her, but she was more of a sister to him since they had grown up together. Besides, she could be a little emotionally distant given her relationship with her parents wasn't the best. He wanted someone who he knew would open up to him completely.

Upon entering the classroom, Chloe showed him to his seat, next to Nino. "I saved that seat just for you," she cooed. Adrien tried to introduce himself to Nino, but got the cold shoulder because of his friendship with... Chloe.

"What are you doing," he asked as he turned around just in time to see her having Sabrina put gum on the seat across the aisle.

"The two brats that sat here yesterday need an attitude adjustment. I'm just commanding a bit of respect."

"Chloe?" Adrien pleaded. He knew she didn't like most of her classmates, but he never thought it was her own fault. He bent over the seat trying to remove the gum as Chloe took her own seat and giggled when Marinette and Alya walked in.

"Hey! What are you doing?" Adrien spun around to see two angry girls behind him. "Okay. I get it. Good job you three." Adrien tried to explained, only to be shot down twice in as many minutes with, "You're friends with Chloe, right?"

Adrien hung his head and sat back down in his seat. It seemed to him that having Chloe as a friend at school was going to complicate things, not make them better. However, Nino seemed to appreciate the way he had not ratted out Chloe. He actually got a firm handshake along with the advice, "It's time to make some new friends, dude."

Apparently Alya had given Marinette quite the pep talk over lunch. As Adrien walked back into class, they were seated behind him instead of Chloe and Sabrina. Apparently, Marinette had decided to stand up to Chloe and he had just missed the interaction upon arriving back to the classroom. Unfortunately, Marinette was still upset at him regarding the chewing gum.

As he exited the school, it was just him and Marinette... and the rain. Apparently, she hadn't brought an umbrella and was waiting for it to let up before heading home. Nino's words echoed in his head from earlier, just be yourself.

"I just wanted you to know, I was only trying to take the chewing gum off your seat. I swear. I've never been to school before. I've never had friends. It's all sort of... new to me." She was quiet as he offered her his umbrella. He didn't know how far she had to walk to get home, but he knew he only had to walk to the car waiting in front of the school. She hesitated and looked between him and umbrella before finally taking it. Then the strangest thing happened. The umbrella closed on top of her. He couldn't stifle his laugh to save his life. As she peaked up from under the umbrella, he worried a little that his laughing might offend her, until he heard her start giggling also. "See you tomorrow."


Adrien sat down at the table with his parents waiting for supper to be served. "How was your first day at school?" Emilie asked.

"Very different from what I expected."

"Is that right?" Gabriel asked with a single raised eyebrow. "How so?"

"Well... first of all... I thought Chloe was going to be the only friend I'd have at school until I got to know the others better. But..." Adrien started subconsciously rubbing the back of his neck. "Apparently, Chloe is not the nicest person at school and doesn't really have any friends besides me and Sabrina."

"Well, she does have issues she needs to figure out how to deal with before she can feel like she can let herself be vulnerable enough to have friends," Emilie interjected.

"It turns out, I was able to make two friends, at least... without Chloe's help. Nino sits beside me in class. He's really laid back. And Marinette..."

Gabriel sputtered the coffee in his mouth back into his cup and coughed hard. "Sorry. I swallowed wrong. Please... continue."

"Well, she didn't like me at first, because she thought I had done something that was really Chloe's fault. Thankfully, I was able to explain the situation after school and I think she accepted my apology."

"That's great, son."

"Absolutely, Adrien. It's nice to hear that you already have two friends you've made on your own after only one day of school. And who knows..." Emilie winked at Adrien. "Perhaps one of them might become more than friends."

Gabriel and Adrien both choked on their drinks at that comment, causing Emilie to giggle. She loved her men, but certainly wasn't one to pass up an opportunity to embarrass one or both of them.

"Let's... Let's just see if she really did accept my apology before we start making wedding plans, mother."

Emilie was now bright red. Adrien certainly knew how to dish out the embarrassing comments just as much as she did, and he certainly wasn't going to hold back if she wasn't.

"Well..." she said, trying to recover her composure. "Just be sure to give us enough warning before the wedding so we have time to properly plan for it."

Gabriel looked between the two as they continued bantering. This was it. This was the life he apparently sacrificed everything to have. And the price... the price of remembering how Adrien had died in his arms and knowing it had to have been his fault. That price... was well worth it. Even if he never got a good night's sleep ever again from those memories replaying in his dreams.


Marinette was babysitting Manon, and having a difficult time. She was ruing the fact that she had accepted the job. Alya showed up and announced that Adrien was having a photo shoot. After Marinette gushed over Adrien and was teased about her inability to form a complete sentence with her crush, Manon asked, "Who's that?"

"Oops. I forgot about this little detail." After some persuading, Marinette finally agreed to go to the park with Alya and Manon. "Come on. We're gonna stroll over there real cool as if we just happen to be passing by."

"Then What?" Marinette's tirade immediately commenced starting with asking Adrien for a fruit smoothie and ending with them married having three kids and a hamster. "Let's just start with just happen to be passing by and see if we can get to that smoothie."

They had just given up on trying to act like they were just passing by when Adrien looked over his shoulder and waved at them, to the dismay of his photographer. After some more fangirling, the trio of girls settled down to watch Adrien's photo shoot. Marinette couldn't keep herself from sighing at Adrien, even with Alya's assistance.

Manon was bored. "Marinette! I want a balloon with Mirelle on it! Can I! Can I! Marinette... Marinette!" The photographer quickly shooed the girls away. Marinette took Manon to get a balloon while Alya camped out under a nearby tree.

Adrien was getting tired. The photographer looked around and spotted Alya, hoping to get Adrien to perk up. "You! I need and extra!"

"Who me?"

"Si! To pose with Mister Adrien!"

"Uh... You don't want me. I... uh... I think I'm having an allergic reaction to this apple. I know just the person you need. Hold that thought." Alya ran over to Marinette who had just reached the merry-go-round with Manon. "They need an extra to pose with Adrien."

"What? Seriously?"

Manon asked, "Is that boy your boyfriend?"

"What? No... uh... I mean yes... No!"

After more prodding by Alya, Marinette left Manon with her on the merry-go-round and ran over to the photo shoot. "I heard you need an extra?"

"Si! Perfecto! Go pose with Adrien and look like the two of you are in love!"

Like? Marinette thought to herself. There's no pretending on my part. She walked over to Adrien and blushed brightly as he took her hand and glazed into her eyes. If only I knew he wasn't pretending.

After the photographer was satisfied, he dismissed the teens. Adrien's bodyguard tried to get Adrien to leave. "Can I have a little more time to spend with my friends? We'll just say the photo shoot ran long." His bodyguard nodded and the teens went over to sit on a bench. "Thank you for helping out. It was a real pick-me-up having you there. It... gets a bit boring after a while and you made it more fun."

"Time any... I, uh mean... anytime!" She blushed in embarrassment, knowing she just couldn't talk right around him. How am I going to ask him out when I can't even accept a compliment without messing up my words?

Adrien looked deeply into her eyes, making her blush even harder. "I've noticed you seem nervous around me. I hope me being a model doesn't intimidate you. I'm really just a normal teen... or at least I'm trying to be. I want us to be able to be comfortable around each other. What can I do to help with that?"

"Smoothies?" Marinette asked, hoping to be able to get at least a single word out correctly since she knew she'd never get a full sentence out.

Adrien tapped his chin. "Yeah..." He smiled. "I think that just might do it." He grabbed her hand as he leapt off of the bench and pulled her behind him. Both Marinette and the bodyguard had a difficult time keeping up. However, it wasn't long before they were seated again near the merry-go-round, watching Alya and Manon while drinking their smoothies. "So, tell me about your parents."

"They... uh... bakery the own... I mean, own the bakery... right over there."

"Really?" Adrien's eyes lit up at the thought of having Marinette sneak him pastries daily. "That's great. My father owns the fashion design company named after him."

"Gabriel..." Marinette started and then abruptly stopped so as not to mix up her words.

"That's right. How'd you know?"

"Fashion's into me... ugh, sorry." Marinette face-palmed herself and looked over to Adrien. "I'm into fashion. I love to design and make my own clothes."

"That's great. Maybe I could have you over sometime and I'm sure father would be interested in seeing them."

"That sounds dreamy... I mean... It'd be a dream come true."

Adrien placed his arms across the back of the bench and stretched a little. "It's so hard keeping those poses. Sometimes, I just need a good stretch." Marinette noticed he was starting to get a little nervous. She also noticed he had pulled only one arm back down to his lap... the one not behind her. She let out a small giggle and Adrien immediately turned to see her dazed expression. "S-Sorry." He pulled his other arm back onto his lap and fidgeted with is fingers.

"Don't be." Marinette finally said after a little too much silence had passed between them. "I just can't seem to control my expressions... or my words... when I'm near you. It's not your fault."

Adrien looked at Marinette with wide eyes. Was that actually the first full sentence she had ever been able to say around him since he apologized for the gum on her seat? He decided to press his luck, and said, "I seem to not feel like myself when I'm near you also. You know... smoothies don't really count as a first date... so, how about we go out tonight for supper, and... maybe catch a movie."

"I-I'd love to."

"Great. I'll pick you up at the bakery around 7:00?"

"Yes."

Adrien got up and headed home with his bodyguard. Alya returned with Manon after seeing Adrien leave. Observing the empty cups, she stated, "Looks like Operation Smoothie was a success."

Marinette snapped out of it and practically yelled, "Alya! Help! We're going out to dinner and a movie tonight. What do I wear?"

"Calm down girl! We'll have you ready. Won't we, Manon?"

"Yay! We get to play makeup!" Manon squealed as she pulled Marinette to her feet and drug her home.


It was now a little over a year after that fateful day when Emile had been spared by his future self from going into an endless sleep. He surmised the anniversary of the event from the original timeline must be drawing close as his dreams of that day were becoming more and more vivid. He could even remember the taste of his tears from his dream that night. Gabriel needed sleeping pills, just to force his body to get the rest it needed, even if it meant he'd replay those events over and over in his mind.

"Thank you for having us over, Mr. Agreste," Marinette said, pulling Gabriel out of his thoughts.

"You know Adrien's friends are welcome here any time... especially you, Miss Dupain-Cheng. I look forward to seeing your latest design when you have it ready."

"It'll likely be tomorrow as Adrien and I have a date tonight after school."

Emilie smiled as she walked up behind Gabriel and took his arm in hers. "You two make such a cute couple," she cooed, causing Marinette to blush. "It's the one year anniversary of your first date, right?"

"Yes ma'am. Thank you again, but we have to get back to school before lunch is over."

Adrien took her hand as they walked out the door behind Alya and Nino who were also walking hand-in-hand. Gabriel turned to Emilie, "They're going to have a great future."

"Yes they are. And it's all because you wouldn't give up on saving us."