Hey guys! Guess what? Paula the Llama back at it again! I've learned if I make promises to not mess with Carly's stories too much in a way to mess with people's characters, she doesn't care if I write my own fanfiction. Don't get me wrong, if Emilie or Lila ends up being Mayura, I will be writing a chapter for Fireheart, and Rise of Papillon will have another chapter once I finish editing, but here is this to keep you occupied. And a chapter of Fireheart should be out tonight, maybe Papillon if the WiFi is good.

Prologue

After eleven years, Ladybug and Cat Noir found Hawk Moth: Gabriel Agreste.

They were sickened; really, both had been living under the same roof as this man! They let him near their daughter, Emilie, nicknamed Emma.

"It's over, Hawk Moth." Cat Noir growled, brandishing his staff.

Hawk Moth chuckled, "I think not, Cat Noir, I have many tricks up my sleeves." He snapped his fingers and missiles appeared out of nowhere and launched at the two heroes, who twirled around them with some effort, while fighting a saber-wielding Hawk Moth.

Ladybug flung herself at him and almost got his Miraculous, when he threw her to the side, knocking her down.

"Ladybug!" Cat Noir called to his wife as Hawk Moth raised his sword above his head to end her life. And that was when he made his decision. He ran and covered Ladybug, causing the sword to pierce through his ribcage; but he was able to grab the Moth Miraculous in the process. Ladybug blinked the blur from her eyes and saw her husband with the moth in his hand, gasping for breath. Gabriel stood there, looking smug, about to remove his ring. She threw him back and cradled Cat Noir, "Kitty...why would you do that?"

"I—" he coughed up some blood, "I couldn't let our daughter be without a mother..."

"But she needs a father too! She needs you! I need you! Hang in there, we've won...it's okay... I'm so sorry...I'll get you help."

"It's okay, Bugaboo..." He exhaled, stroking Ladybug's cheek, "I love you both..." his hand fell limp and his transformation wore out as he took his final breath.

And there Ladybug was, cradling the dead body of Adrien Agreste.

Gabriel screamed, sprinting over and trying to take his son from Ladybug, only for her to tie him up with her yoyo, "Stay away from him!"

"He's my son!"

"Who you killed!" She detransformed as well, "You tried to kill me and leave Emma without a mother, just like Adrien was; and now you not only murdered your own son, but leave his daughter with no father."

"You don't understand." Gabriel begged, not bothering to stand when his restraints vanished, "I just want to use the Miraculous to bring my wife back, so our family could be complete! I never wanted this to happen." He broke down in tears, staring into Adrien's closed eyes and taking in his bloody, lifeless form, "I never wanted him hurt, much less dead."

Marinette glared at him and transformed once more, dragging her father-in-law out the window and to the police station, Adrien cradled to her chest with a cloth. She saw Officer, now Chief, Roger and threw Gabriel at him, "Here's Hawk Moth..." she gently showed him Adrien, "And here is the son he murdered alongside Cat Noir in the final fight."

Roger gasped and handcuffed Gabriel, who didn't bother to fight; it was as though someone drained him of his life force. But the knowledge you murdered your own son and nearly orphaned your granddaughter would do that to someone. Roger dragged him away and had others take Adrien for an autopsy.

Then Ladybug ran, breaking down on the roof of the building the love of her life died in: her own home. She knew she wouldn't move, Emma still loved it here, and it was the best, but that lair would become a memorial for her lost love.

She detransformed and texted Alya, Nino and Chloe.

M(Marinette): Guys... it's over. Hawk Moth has been revealed as Gabriel Agreste and we won.

A(Alya): Yay!

N(Nino): Awesome!

C(Chloe): Congratulations!

M: I wish it was a cause of celebration... he killed Adrien...

Marinette broke down when typing it, and the response was clearly the same from her fellow heroes, who she wished she had brought as backup.

N: No!

C: Adrien...

A: What about Emma?

C, N, A: I'm coming over.

M: Thank you...how do I break the news to Emma? That her grandfather killed her beloved Dad.

C: Tell her the truth. That Gabriel was Hawk Moth and her father was Cat Noir. Maybe use a Star Wars reference to make it easier. But Nate and I will be over with Caitlin when you need us.

A: I'll do the same with Peter.

M: Thank you guys.

Marinette turned off her phone and held the Moth Miraculous in her hand. She wanted to return it to Master Fu, but she couldn't...she would get the ring when the autopsy was done, but for now, this had been her life for so long...she wouldn't get rid of it.

"Are you okay, Marinette?" Tikki asked, but Marinette couldn't bring herself to look at her kwami. She pulled out the box and removed her earrings, "I renounce you." Tikki gasped and flew into the earrings. Marinette wasn't going to give them up, but she couldn't bring herself to be Ladybug right now.

She walked into the house, pocketing the Miraculouses, and saw her five-year-old daughter run up to her. Emma looked so much like Adrien—with her golden blonde hair, rosy cheeks and pale green eyes—it hurt. She ran a hand through her hair, it was time to break the news.

"Where's Daddy?" Emma asked, "I can't find Grandpa anywhere? But I think I saw Ladybug."

Marinette sat her daughter down on the couch, wiping the tears from her eyes, "Emilie... something happened to your Daddy."

"What happened?" Emma asked worriedly, knowing nothing good came when her real name was used.

"Well...it turns out...Grandpa was Hawk Moth, but Daddy was Cat Noir."

"Really?!" Emma asked excitedly, thinking of fairy tales with happy ending and redemption arcs, "So Daddy convinced him to be good and we'll all live happily ever after!" She giggled in glee and imagined asking her wonderful Dad to let her meet Ladybug and bring her on a patrol and maybe be a superhero one day too!

Marinette shook her head, Emma was too pure for this world, "No. Grandpa is going to jail... and your Daddy was very badly hurt. So he's going to stay with his Mommy for a while."

Emma looked up to the painting of her father when he was about thirteen, sitting while his parents were standing, all of them smiling; it was her favorite picture of her Daddy's family. But...she thought Grandma Agreste was in heaven.

Then it hit her.

"Daddy's in heaven...isn't he?"

Marinette couldn't hold herself together anymore and held her baby girl, "Yes."

Emma wrapped her head around it and began to sob with her mother. She would never see her Daddy again, and Grandpa took him away. There was no happily ever after. She clung to her Mama tighter, fearing she would vanish too.

"I want Daddy..."

Marinette stroked her daughter's hair, "Me too, baby. Me too."

OoOoO

The funeral was a quiet service, with Adrien's friends from their graduating class only; since they were all still in touch. Though Marinette secretly grabbed Adrien's body and made sure the coffin was airtight to preserve the body like what had happened with Mrs. Agreste, and had the coffin removed of her body and placed it in the lair, directly where Adrien had lost his life. She placed his body within it and placed his hands over his stomach, having changed him into different clothing to hide his horrific wound. Emilie thought her Dad was cremated and her ashes were in a vase above the fireplace. So both women would place a bundle of bluebells—Adrien's favorite flower—next to where they thought or knew Adrien was laid to rest on the anniversary of his death.

Gabriel had been given a life sentence for the murder of his son and a superhero, and terrorizing Paris, but he died not a month later, having lost his will to live with his son dead and his granddaughter wanting nothing to do with him.

Nino, Alya and Chloe—as well as Nathanael, Sabine and Tom—were very comforting and helpful to help take care of Emilie. Alya and Nino's son, Peter, loved to hang out with Emilie, and Chloe and Nathanael's daughter, Caitlin.

But the true tragedy was that Marinette went to get the ring, but it was gone. The coroner said he remembered taking it off, but when he went to put it back on, it just wasn't there. So, the Cat Miraculous was lost.

Tikki remained dormant, because Marinette couldn't bring herself to look at the ladybug kwami after failing to save Adrien. Meaning Ladybug was retired, followed soon by Rena Rouge, Carapace and Queen Bee. She had also made sure to insist when giving Master Fu the Peacock—she lied and told him the Moth had been lost with the Cat—to never give one to Emma.

Marinette also took control of Gabriel, renaming it Miraculous, in memory of the lost heroes. People didn't turn their backs on the fashion designer family like Marinette had partially expected, because it was proven they weren't all evil because they were told Adrien stood up to Gabriel alongside Ladybug and Cat Noir, losing his life at the hands of his own father; nobody would do that is they had dark intentions.

So, these were the reasons why she was about to make the mistakes of her life in hopes of saving her beloved.

OoOoO

Today was the ten year anniversary of Hawk Moth's defeat, and Cat Noir and Adrien Agreste's tragic deaths. Everyone cheered for Gabriel's defeat and mourned the two lost; for some reason, nobody ever figured it out that they were one in the same.

But it was merely somber in the Agreste mansion.

Emma had grown into a beautiful young woman. At fifteen, she was a model like her father had been and did the same activities; wanting to be just like her brave Dad. Sadly, over the years, as Emma grew to look more and more like Adrien, Marinette began avoiding her daughter, much like Gabriel with his son; only referring to her as Emilie in favor of Emma as she preferred to be called so as not to be confused with her grandmother.

Though Emma was allowed outside the house, it was limited where she could go—either her grandparents' bakery, the Lahiffe household, school, or Le Grande Paris, aka the Bourgeois household; Chloe and Nathanael had gotten divorced and Marinette only let her daughter go to Chloe's place as Nathanael had moved to Germany.

But today, neither of them talked to anyone, not even each other really, and mourned the important man in their family.

Emma stared longingly at her favorite painting, which had been moved to her room—Adrien's old room, with some minor decor changes, but not much as Emma wanted as much of her Dad as possible. A painting of a black cat with green eyes was in its place in the living room, and the large painting of Gabriel and Adrien in the front hall had been destroyed and replaced with the picture of an adult Adrien, Marinette and four-year-old Emma.

The blonde girl placed another bundle of bluebells by the urn,

"Happy DeathDay, Dad." She said to the painting, "I know you probably can't hear me, but I want you to know I still love you and want you to come home. I know it's been ten years since Mother told me what happened, but I still hope you'll open my door and tell me it was a mistake and you're home." She broke down in tears, "I miss you."

And that was how she sat for hours, crying or eating her Dad's favorite foods—i.e. anything from the bakery—or browsing the internet for every picture of him, collecting them all and keeping them in a scrapbook much like her mother before her, back when it was an obsessed crush. She flipped through her scrapbook and added some she discovered from one of Sabine's own scrapbooks, such as a picture from her parents' wedding day.

She let herself wallow in her own misery for a bit, when she heard a scream outside.

Meanwhile

Marinette cried beside the coffin her dear Adrien rested in. Ten years, and she still couldn't move on. She had tried seven years prior, with Luka Couffaine, resulting in their son, Hugo—who switched between parents' houses every two weeks—but it hadn't worked out as her heart still yearned for Adrien.

She couldn't live like this anymore. Her daughter was so painful to look at it made her want to scream; she loved Emilie, but it was so hard. She dully wondered if this was how Gabriel felt when he had lost his wife, willing to do anything to get her back.

Then she got an idea. She had reached the point of her despair where she didn't really care about much other than having her precious husband back; she still cared about her friends, but she needed him back. She left the lair and grabbed the Moth Miraculous from where it rested behind a painting, now of Adrien—the painting of Mrs. Agreste was moved to the storage unit—in the same safe where the Ladybug earrings remained. She had the Ladybug, now she only needed to find the Cat. And who cared who the balance would sacrifice? Finally, Adrien would be with her once more and they could be happy again!

Marinette looked at herself in the mirror, reminiscing for her teenage days. She hadn't changed too much, as she didn't really have wrinkles, but she was only thirty-five, so that may change; her hair was no longer kept in pigtails, instead her waist-length hair was either down her back, in a braided ponytail, or in a messy high bun; her figure hadn't really changed either, though it had grown into an adult version; her clothing consisted of a light pink pantsuit, the color of cherry blossoms, with black high heels.

She walked back to the lair and pinned the brooch, which now looked like a mere gemstone, to the side of her suit and Nooroo appeared.

"Hello Marinette." Nooroo greeted, "What is it?"

"I need to bring the Cat Miraculous out of hiding. And the only way to do it is to create supervillains."

"But Marinette," he protested, "Adrien died fighting supervillains, don't you think this would make his death in vain?"

"No." Marinette replied simply, "Because he won't be dead. And I will not hurt this Cat Noir or any other wielder. All I need is the Miraculous. What do I do to activate this to create villains?"

"It's pointless arguing with you." Nooroo said despairingly, "It's: dark wings rise."

Marinette nodded her thanks, "Nooroo, dark wings rise!" She felt the transformation cover her body and she looked at herself in the reflection of Adrien's coffin. She looked like Hawk Moth used to, but it was a dress suit and tight black leggings, wings made of fabric rested upon her back; her mask was a silver butterfly mask, instead of covering her whole head; and her hair was in a braided ponytail over her shoulder.

She grinned, "From now on, I shall be Mariposa!"

Mariposa looked to the rest of the room and saw the white butterflies around. She cupped one in her hand and waited for her first prey.

Oddly enough, she didn't have to wait long. It turned out Lila's son, Miguel, was awful and would usually be given what he wanted; basically, a nasty Chloe. He had just beaten down Jagged Stone and Penny Rolling's daughter, Belle, for not doing rock and roll as her parents, she wanted to do orchestra.

Mariposa cupped the akuma in her hands, "Fly away, little akuma, and evilize this girl!" The akuma reached an orchestra baton, "Orchestra, I am Mariposa. I'm giving you the opportunity to show your true talent, but in return, you must bring me the Cat Miraculous, the ring previously wielded by Cat Noir. Do we have a deal?"

"We have a deal, Mariposa!" Belle transformed into Orchestra and Mariposa turned to Adrien's coffin, stroking the glass,

"I will save you, my love." She said, "Nothing will keep us apart."

A/N: And there we go. Prologue. And I am in desperate need of akumas ideas, so spit them at me in reviews, and fire as many OCs at me as you want. Ghost83 recommended one for Carly to use in Fireheart, but I might steal it, while still giving the credit to said Ghost83, who Carly says has great ideas.

And I have realized the appeal of reviews! So please do so.