Marinette

Three days after Adrien was admitted to the hospital, the Doctors cleared him for release. The doctor's who knew his secret promised to keep it as long as it meant keeping Paris safe. The news articles were split between the sudden disappearance of Chat Noir from the hospital and the injuries of Paris' favorite model. The doctors told Adrien and his father that while Adrien was good to go home, he still needed to rest. Gabriel Agreste conceded and canceled all of Adrien's appointments outside of school for the next week.

All the business of the even had swept Marinette up into a whirlwind of half lies and excuses. She was almost as popular as Adrien. Questions such as, "Aren't you Adrien Agrete's girlfriend?", "What were you doing with Chat Noir that night?" and "Do you know Chat Noir's real identity?" swirled around her. Even Alya was relentless. Only Adrien and her parents knew the truth and that was the only thing she could take solace in.

The door clicked shut as they walked into the house's living room. Adrien had been released that day and Gabriel had insisted they go home to rest. Marinette of course would go to visit him under the guise of Ladybug later that night.

"So this is why you have been missing classes." Marinette's mother spoke softly as she looked at her from across the table. The were sitting at the dining table across from each other. Marinette just nodded as she fidgeted in her chair. "Sweetie, why didn't you tell us in the first place?' Her mother had been asking all the questions with a calm and gentle voice. It was obvious that she was very concerned.

"Tikki said I couldn't tell anyone, and if I did you would have been worried sick everything I went or when you saw me on T.V.. And what if you had made me stop being Ladybug. So many people would be hurt or worse without me and Adrien doing our duty as Ladybug and Chat Noir." Marinette explained, getting excitably defensive. Her voice raised a little with the last sentence and she started to rise from her seat.

"Marinette, darling, calm down," Her father said with a chuckle, "There is no need to be defensive. We just wanted to know the truth. You have always been able to come with us with anything you struggled with before, we just wanted to know if it was something we did that changed that." Mr. Dupain Cheng's smile was gone and he almost looked hurt. Marinette instantly realized that they thought she didn't trust them.

"No, Papa, Mama," She rose from her seat and went around the table over to them, "You didn't do anything wrong. I do trust you guys, but I also wanted to keep you safe." Her parents embraced her in one large family hug. They broke apart smiling. Marinette sat back down.

"Ok then," her mother continued gently wiping a tear from her eye, "That just leaves us with two more things. First is that we need to talk about your school. You have been keeping your grades up lately but barely. We need to talk about some ways to keep you super hero-ing from making you fail a class."

"Well now that Adrien and I know each other's identities, we can make sure and study while we are on patrol and cover for each other when an akuma makes us late." Marinette moved her hands about in the air."Plus it'll save a whole lot of time not having to go a separate way then him on the way back to school so that be nice." Her parents chuckled at her little quip.

Suddenly, Marinette's parents got very serious. They looked at her quietly.

"Also Mom, You can't tell Adrien's dad that he is Chat Noir." Marinette pleaded.

Tom and Sabine's eyes grew as they shared a glance. 'You mean he doesn't know either?" Her father asked with a incredulous tone.

"Well Adrien had the same rules as me. Don't tell anyone, not even each other. The only reason that we found out was because of a fluke. All because it rained," Her parents gave her a weird look, "Anyway, Adrien's dad Can't know. He barely let Adrien attend public school, if he found out he was Chat Noir, he would probably place him under civilian arrest. And Mom I can't do it alone, I need Chat Noir to be by my side when I fight."

"Okay honey we understand, but then we need to have this same talk with Adrien in his father's place. I wouldn't feel right as a mother if I didn't." Sabine said seriously. Marinette snickered at her mother's dedication.

"So what's the second thing?" Marinette asked nervously, remembering that there were two things. Her hands tugged at the end of her shirt, fidgeting again. A deep pit grew in her chest as she watch the change in her parents' countenances.

"We are concerned about your safety. Your's and Adrien's." The pit in Marinette's tightened as her mother began. "What happened for you two to be hurt so badly?" What happened to Adrien? Are you sure…" Her mother paused for a moment, "Are you sure it's safe for you to keep being Ladybug?" There it was. Marinette's stomach churned. It grinded itself into a pit into her stomach, sucking all the air from her stomach.

"Mom," Marinette choked out the words only as fast as the pit would permit. "You can't expect me to quit being Ladybug. Especially now that…" Marinette's voice stopped. She suddenly realized why a pit had grown in her stomach. It wasn't because she was nervous about what her mom was asking, it was because she was afraid. She had been to busy to think about Phoenix or what she had said. But now that things were slowing down, now that her mother had reminded her, she was terrified.

Marinette grew pale with fear and suddenly felt the urge to hurl. Being closest to the kitchen, it was easier for her to rush to the garbage and puke. Her parent's were soon at her side, concerned for her health.

"Oh My Marinette," Her father said as he pulled back her hair while her Mother went for a towel. Marinette took it and wiped her mouth. Her father took her up into her arms and carried her to the couch. Marinette Suddenly felt seven years old again. He placed her on the couch between himself and her mother. She suddenly felt safer.

"Sweetie what is it?" her mother whispered. Marinette took a deep breath and then spoke.

"There was this villain,"

"You mean Hawkmoth right?" Her Father interjected.

"No. Yes? Yes and No. It was just Hawkmoth, but now there is this other villain. She's working with him, or for him or he's working for her. I'm not sure but, like, she's really bad. She had us in her clutches Mom," Now it was Sabine's turn to go pale. She looked at her husband with dread but said nothing. "She could've killed us right there or stolen our miraculouses' and exposed us. She knew who we were!" Marinette's voice went soft with this last sentence. "But she ," MArinette gestured her hands forward, " just Let. Us. Go. She didn't really hurt us or anything. She just let us walk right out of there." Marinette paused for a moment, the urge to vomit returning. She swallowed her nerves and carried on.

"But," she looked up at her mom and dad, "I can't stop being Ladybug. No matter how scared I am."

"Marinette you're fourteen you don't have to be the savior of Paris." her father stated, his face now stricken with a disheartening complexion.

"Dad, I can't just give the job to someone else. Tikki and the Miraculouses were given to me for a reason. I wasn't just chosen to be Ladybug but I chose to remain Ladybug so that I could make a difference, so that i could stop the evil. I made a vow to the people of Paris." She grinned slightly at her parent, "and you guys raised me to always keep my promises."

Tom and Sabine looked back at each other and couldn't help but grin. "Look at our little girl Sabine, it seems she is all grown up already." Tom said, a bit of pride in his voice. Then he grabbed both the ladies of his life and pulled them into his arms tightly. The all started giggling and smiling.

"Okay," Tom broke the hug apart by just a little, "But i gotta ask, Who the Heck is Tikki?"

"Tom! Language!" Sabine shot him a glance.

Almost as if on cue, Tikki popped out of Marinette's purse which had been strewn across the table upon arrival. She zoomed over to the cuddling family and right into the middle of them, inches from each of their faces.

"Hi, I'm Tikki." The little red Kwami said sweetly. Tome and Sabine looked dumbfounded at what they thought was a bug.

"Mom, Dad, " Marinette finally broke the silence, "This is Tikki, She's My Kwami."