Epilogue

And here we are. The final stand. Is everybody ready? Here. We. Go!

Adrien's Point of View

Today was the day.

A day of new beginnings. New truths. New livelihoods.

Today was the day everything would change.

I adjust my grip on my stuff, smiling to myself. This was the start of my college career. Today, I was moving in to my dorm. My father had been less than eager to let me go, but when my girlfriend, Marinette Dupain-Cheng, told him she'd be close by and that she'd keep an eye on me, he relented.

And my girlfriend. Marinette Dupain-Cheng, aka Ladybug. Up-and-rising designer by day and super heroine by night. She doesn't know that I know her identity. That's because only Chat Noir knows that, and she doesn't know I'm Chat Noir. It's complicated, and something I feel guilty over, but once I learned her civilian identity, I was determined to do things right.

Now, I had gained confidence. After dating for the rest of high school, I was ready to tell her who I was. I was going to reveal myself to her, tonight.

If her disappearance had done anything back then, it made me realize just what I had lost. I couldn't be luckier to have both of my partners be the same girl, and I was ready for her to know.

Especially since Ladybug was suspicious of my distinct lack of attempts to woo her since then.

I also am meeting my roommate for the rest of this year today. Apparently he's an art major, so we won't see each other much; after all, I'm attending university to become a physics teacher, though my father has forced me to do a double major in business management as well. It was the only way he would let me go, so I suppose it will be worth it. Besides, at this rate it's likely I will have to take over the company for him eventually - though if things go as I hope they will in the future, I can pass that on to my then hopefully wife - and I'm sure what they teach me has to be useful in some way besides running a company.

Reaching my dorm room, I manage to adjust my hold on my boxes so that I can open the door.

"Adrien Agreste?" As I open the door, I nearly drop my belongings on the floor at the sound of my name.

Oh no. Did they pair me with a fanboy? Someone like Wayhem? I enjoy talking to them, but living with one? What if they're psychotic? Or what if it's incredibly awkward? Perhaps I should have taken my father up on his attempt to get me to take a private dorm room.

Looking up, I meet the startled gaze of Nathaniel Kutzenburg, and breathe a sigh of relief. "Nathaniel! Long time no see!"

The ginger stares at me for a moment like a deer caught in headlights, before stuttering out a, "Uh huh, ya."

"How have you been since school let out?"

"Fine." Now that his initial shock has died down, Nathaniel's response comes across as almost passive aggressive. I turn away to set my stuff on the bed he hasn't taken, wondering if I did something wrong. "How about you?"

"I'm doing great! Glad to be out of the house and away from my father, even if it's not too far." I chuckle, pulling a few items out of the box I was carrying. "Marinette and I are still going strong and-" A noise that sounds somewhat like a grunt causes me to stop and glance back at my companion, whose turned away from me. He's gripping a pencil in his hand rather aggressively, almost as if he intends to snap it. "Nathaniel, are you alright?"

After a moment, he sets the pencil back down. "I'm fine."

"Oh," Then it dawns on me, "I'm sorry, I...Well, I forgot that you and Marinette stopped getting along." He grunts, going back to sorting his things, so I turn back to mine. "Whatever happened between you two anyways?" After a few minutes, there's still no response, which I guess is all the answer I'm going to get. "Sorry, I didn't mean to pry. I know we weren't all that close either."

"Mhm."

I stand there awkwardly, fiddling with one of the flaps on the box. I don't know what I was expecting when I thought about meeting my roommate for this year, but this certainly wasn't it. To be paired with someone I know was already a surprise; to be paired with an old classmate even more so. But Nathaniel? That's something I never would have predicted.

It's definitely going to make hanging out with Marinette awkward, at least if we try to hang out in my dorm. I guess we just won't be able to. I don't want to upset my roommate, especially someone I used to go to school with and consider a friend.

Though, with the way he's acting, you'd think I'd personally offended him. Maybe he doesn't view me in the same light.

"Nathaniel?" A male voice calls from down the hall.

I glance back to see him stiffen. "Unwanted family?" I guess, thinking of my own fight to keep my father - well, Nathalie, because my father wouldn't have bothered to actually show up, and it honestly would be even worse if he did - from escorting me.

Nathaniel shakes his head. "No. What makes you think that?"

That throws me off. "It's just that-"

He cuts me off before I can finish. "No entourage for you?"

"I told them not to come. I didn't want them to."

"Nathaniel?" The voice from before calls out again.

"Who is that?" I incline my head towards the door as he turns to face the door.

"My sister and her boyfriend. They wanted to come help me settle in. You don't mind, do you?"

"Of course I don't!" Not that it matters if I do. Something tells me that even if I did oppose the idea, Nathaniel wouldn't care.

Maybe it's due to the stern expression on his face.

"I didn't know you had a sister though," He frowns at the statement.

"You never asked."

Fair enough.

"But you did have a cat at one point, right?" I'm desperate to gain some sort of ease with this boy, but nearly smack myself when I realize that Adrien never knew that. Only Chat Noir did. Hopefully I can play it off as something I overheard, or that someone like Rose or Juleka mentioned once.

"No." Any thoughts of covering my butt are thrown completely out the window after that response. "Where did you get that idea from?"

"I..." I trail off and shrug helplessly, deciding it's a losing battle. Maybe Nathaniel is just having a bad day. Or perhaps this is just who he is now. He never did see the same after Marinette's disappearance and subsequent reappearance. Honestly, he didn't seem the same especially after Marinette's reappearance.

But why'd he tell Chat Noir that he had a cat then?

It doesn't matter. After all, Marinette told Chat Noir a bit of what she managed to remember from her disappearance. It was an akuma behind it, though she couldn't recall who or what it was. The last thing she says she remembers is brown eyes before being knocked out, only to reawaken in the middle of the streets in Paris. From what she's said, there's nothing that could trace things back to Nathaniel. Even if he acted oddly, there's nothing connecting him to the crime.

The door opens, and while I can see two sets of legs, the first person to enter blocks the second. It's a fairly tall guy - a little taller than me - wearing a simple, white t-shirt with a blue jacket over it. He has black, ripped jeans and black shoes - boots, maybe? - and his hair has blue types. It's definitely a look. In his hands, he has a medium-sized box with two smaller ones, one of which appears to be a wooden art kit, sitting on top of it.

"Hey Nathaniel," He says, smiling, "Where do you want these?" He glances around, eyes landing on me. "I see your roommate is here. Luka Couffaine." He nods towards me, probably since he can't extend his hand while he's holding those things. "And you are?"

I open my mouth to answer, but am caught off by Nathaniel. "Where's Bridg-"

The person behind Luka that I still can't see but who I assume is Nathaniel's sister pipes up, "I'm right here!"

Luka steps out of the way to allow a girl to step into the room. "Hi! I'm Bridgette Kutz-" She cuts herself off, nearly dropping the bag she's carrying.

I'm not as lucky. The clothes I had managed to gather as I was speaking with Nathaniel fall to the floor in a heap as I gape at her.

Bridgette Kutzenburg. She's dressed in a red flannel crop top and a black skirt, a brown belt looped around her waist. A strand of orange-red hair that's only slightly lighter than her shirt dangles in her face, and though it's similar, it doesn't look like it's the same shade as Nathaniel's. She looks to be about the same age, despite her hair being pulled back into two, short ponytails behind her, showcasing the two sets of earrings in her ears.

But there are three things that really capture my attention with this girl.

Firstly is the scar on her forehead. It's faint, barely noticeable, and yet my eyes feel drawn to it. It sits above her right eye, making one wonder what she did to gain it in the first place. How does someone get a scar like that?

Secondly are her earrings. One set is completely ignorable; they're bright blue jewels. A bauble; nothing more. But the second set is a whole different story. They're bigger and simply a dull black. And they look so familiar...

But the third thing is the most familiar. Bluebell eyes finish off the face of Bridgette Kutzenburg, but this is not the only place I've seen those eyes. And, as I think about where else I've seen eyes like this, I realize they are more than strikingly similar to the ones I've seen before. It's more than an uncanny resemblence.

Those eyes are the exact eyes of my girlfriend: Marinette Dupain-Cheng.

I know it's not her, but I can't help myself from whispering, "M-Marinette?"

For a moment, it felt as if everything had frozen. Yet, when I say those words, it's as if a trance is broken for everyone else in the room. There is a rage I have never seen before on Nathaniel's face as he launches himself towards me. Luka throws himself forward as well, though for a different reason; he moves to grab Nathaniel, looking as confused as I feel. I hear the startled questions he asks Nathaniel, but I don't process them. They're background noise for while I stare at the one person who has yet to move: Bridgette.

Her face, for a brief second, seems filled with hope. She stretches out her hand, about to take a step forward - and then suddenly stops. Her hand wavers in the air for a moment, but then her face contorts as she yanks it back towards her body. There's fire and pain awash in her gaze, and as I look at those bluebell eyes, I see a girl who has scars all over, scars that are unlike the one on her forehead. Scars that can't be seen. I see a girl who is broken, who has seen torment that no one else can even imagine. I see a girl who can barely manage to stand, who is so fragile that she could break from the nearest gust of wind. I see a girl who has traveled thousands of miles and has had to grow up far too fast. I see a girl who has seen more than anyone should in her time.

But most of all, I see a girl that I've seen before.

I see Ladybug, as she stood on the rooftop and greeted me on the anniversary of her disappearance. Haunted bluebell eyes still greet me now, the ghosts of the things she'll never unsee lurking in their corners. Whispering of the millions of years she's aged since her time gone.

That same look is on Bridgette's face, but there is no one here for her to offer a strained smile for. The tired grin Ladybug once offered me is absent from Bridgette's expression; though she has traveled a long way, there is no one at the end to greet her. There is a dull ache in her eyes, suggesting that she is tired of leading an existence that maybe, just maybe, she should never have had to lead.

"You promised," It's a whisper, but somehow it still sounds like she screamed the words at me as I watch her point her accusatory finger at me.

Then she's running from the room, and Nathaniel is cursing as Luka tries desperately to calm him. Apparently he knows nothing of the matter at hand. As the two tussle, I escape the room in the chaos, chasing after the girl.

I find her two hallways later, seated on a windowsill and laying her head against the window as she stares outwards.

"Who are you?" The queston stumbles out before I can stop it.

"You already know that." She doesn't turn to look at me. "I'm Bridgette Kutzenburg. Nathaniel introduced me."

"But...But before that-"

She gives a tired laugh, finally looking back at me, and I'm not sure whether it's despair or rage that is contained in her eyes. "According to you, merely a fraud."

I blink, the implication of what she's just said taking a moment to sink in. "How did you-"

"Does she know?" She cuts me off once again, her voice more intense than before. "Does she remember it?"

"Remember what?"

"What happened?" I stare at her, eyes wide, and she chuckles, shaking her head. "I thought not. Well, I do. It took me some time, but I remember now. I remember all of it." She pauses for a moment, and though I'm terrified, I can't bring myself to flee. "And what about afterwards? Does she remember that day on the rooftop? The day I told you I loved you?"

"How do you know about that?"

And then suddenly she's on her feet right in front of me, staring me directly in the eyes. "Because I told you that. It wasn't the one you chose. It was me." Her mouth quirks upwards into a smug smirk. "Ask her for me, would you? Ask her if she remembers what happened when she found you on the rooftop, throwing yourself into a chimney." Then she turns away again, and I can't see her face when she says, "You made so many promises to me, Kitty. It's a shame you never kept any of them."

I found myself bounding straight to Marinette's home after that, terrified of what I'd find.

She was up on her balcony when I arrived, almost as if she was expecting me. She turned and smiled, though it quickly slipped off when she saw my panic.

"Chat?" She asked, quirking her head. "Is everything alright?"

"No." And suddenly my lips are colliding with hers.

It takes me a moment to truly process what's happening. When I realize, however, my blood runs cold. I just kissed my girlfriend as my other identity. To her, it's a different guy kissing her. And she's not resisting. She's not pushing me away.

She's...reciprocating? Enjoying it?

I yank myself away, staring at her as I struggle to catch my breathe as I pull my hand from hers, where she was thumbing my ring. "You-You have a boyfriend."

"I'd dump him for you, Kitty. You already know that."

"No!" I turn away from her, running my hands through my hair. "No, that's not what you're supposed to say!"

"What do you want me to say?" She actually sounds upset. I turn back to her, hesitant to meet her sweet, scared bluebell gaze. "What did I do wrong?"

"M'la-Marinette, do you remember when you told me that day, when you talked about what you'd been through? Do you remember what you said got you through it?"

"Of course I do. You're what got me through it. Only you. I never once wanted to give up, not when I knew you were still out there."

"That's wrong."

She stares at me, wide-eyed. "What?"

I turn away again, tugging at my ears. "No no no, that's wrong!"

I should've recognized it sooner.

Because then, Ladybug had made it clear that she knew what happened to her. She was intimately aware of what had happened during her time as a missing person. Furthermore, I wasn't the only thing that got her through. That's what she said at first, but she said her kwami had too. And even more than that, she said she wanted to give up a lot of times. Yes, she said she wouldn't give up, because I was waiting for her, but she made the fight that she went through to convince herself not to very clear.

This has to be a mistake. She has to just be remembering wrong.

I have to test he ragain.

"Do you remember what you told me after?"

I turn back to her, and she shrinks away, actually looking afraid. "What do you mean, Chat?"

"Do you remember what you told me after we talked about that?"

"Well, I...I suppose I probably said goodbye. Why is this so important to you, Chat? What day are you even referring to? We've discussed this several times."

I fall to my knees, weeping. She doesn't know. She has no idea what I'm talking about.

That was the first time she sad she loved me. More than that, that was the first time she'd kissed me without an akuma being involved.

Ladybug had screamed at me to stop, pulling me out of the darkness of my despair. She'd embraced me, listened to me as I sobbed about how I had failed. When I should've been comforting her, she comforted me. I'd lost her, and was so caught up in thinking I should've tried harder, yet while she was in pain, all she could think about was me.

"None of what happened is your fault, Chaton. None of it. Do you understand?"

What have I done?

"Do you understand, Chat? It wasn't your fault! I can't bare te thought of you blaming yoruself."

What have I done?

"Please, Kitty, please understand that it wasn't your fault..."

"What have I done?" I choke out, digging my fingers into Marinette's balcony.

She puts her hand on my shoulder, but I violently throw it off. "Don't touch me!"

I glance back to see her cowering by the wall, crying. "What did I do wrong?"

"I'm not going anywhere again. I promise."

And yet I sent her away.

"I promise, you won't lose me again."

But I did. And it's my own fault.

"I won't leave you again, Chaton."

But I left her. I tried so hard to find her, yet she had to find me. And now I know just how deeply I failed her.

Because when it mattered most, I chose wrong.

I stare in horror at the Marinette on the balcony before me and run a hand across my face. "My gosh, what have I done?"

"Chat-" She reaches her hand out, but when it reaches mine, it doesn't squeeze it. Instead, her fingers wrap around my ring.

I rip away, staring at her as if it's the first time I'm seeing her. "What are you?"

She stares at me, tilting her head curiously. "I'm Marinette Dupain-Cheng. And I'm going to need your Miraculous. I remember what you did to me, and I swore to Hawkmoth that I'd stop you."

Grabbing my baton, I launch myself away, breathing heavily.

What have I done?

And there we have it kids! The big reveal and ending. Even back in the original version of this story, this was always the plan for the ending. :p What do you guys think? Did you expect it? This chapter was a blast to write. I had the most fun writing this than any other chapter, except for maybe chapter one or chapter four. Those were also fun. c;

What are some questions you guys still have? I intend to write a companion story at some point, with Marinette being the main point of view. That would, most likely, span to be a sequel as well and cover some of what happens after this chapter as well. What would you guys like to see answered? Have any speculation for it? Let me know in a review!

Until then, thank you all for your support! This story has had a good run, but I'm glad to see it finished. I've been dying to write this part and it's been so hard to write the rest to build up to it. I'm not one hundred percent pleased with everything I wrote, but for the most part, I'm happy with how it went. Hopefully you guys are too! Thank you for sticking with me; I hope you guys will stick around and check out some of my other stories as well.

Thank you once again!

~ Dagger