The Lady in Red

"Tikki, Spots Off!" Ladybug whispered as she landed on her balcony.

Marinette appeared in her pyjamas, immediately feeling weak without Tikki's magic.

It was late. She had been out for too long and now she really should go back to bed. Quietly, so that her parents didn't find out she had been out.

She silently opened the trapdoor to her bedroom and noticed that the lights inside were turned on. She closed the trapdoor again.

Oh, boy.

She was in trouble. How was she going to explain to her parents how she had gone out?

How long had they been looking for her? Could she just slide into bed and pretend that she had been there the whole time?

No... Marinette had been hiding the truth from her parents for years. But this would be just blatantly lying. That would be making a fool of her parents to their faces. They didn't deserve it.

"Tikki, I'm going to tell them the truth." She said, feeling instantly relieved. They would be mad at her for going out, but they would understand. And the danger had passed... What good would come of hiding her secret now? Her parents deserved to be the first civilians to know. She looked at Tikki, daring her to challenge her resolve, but the red kwami smiled broadly.

"I think that is very wise, Marinette."

Marinette smiled back. Tikki's approval filled her with warmth. "Thank you, Tikki." She looked at the trapdoor and breathed in, "Here we go!"

Marinette opened the trapdoor and slid down to her bed. Her parents weren't there, but she could hear them fighting in the living room, downstairs. She never had heard or seen her parents fight like that before. Like every couple, they had arguments and disagreements, but this one was different. She could clearly hear them yelling at each other.

"Tikki, stay here, will you?" She asked and her kwami agreed.

Marinette walked down the stairs, careful not to trip and break her neck. She entered the living room to the sound of her mother ranting "...fallen asleep, she wouldn't have!"

Marinette awkwardly knocked on the door to let them know she was there. The mad faces on both her mom and dad were instantly replaced by relieved ones. They ran to her and hugged her tight.

"Ouch, Dad, my foot!" She said half in pain, half laughing.

"Sorry, honey" Tom backed away from the family hug, but her mom didn't. She hugged Marinette more fiercely.

"Careful, Mom, my head!"

Sabine broke the embrace immediately, "I'm so sorry, Marinette!"

Marinette laughed and soon her parents joined her.

"I'm sorry too," She said calmly, when the laughter died, "I shouldn't have left when I saw dad sleeping."

"No, you shouldn't have, little Lady!" Said Sabine looking upset, "Do you have any idea how worried we were when we noticed you were gone?"

"I'm sorry you were worried, Mom" Marinette mumbled toward the floor, feeling guilty. Her parents were right, she shouldn't have left while she was in convalescence. But even though she was sorry for making her parents worry so much about her, she didn't regret going out. She would do it again.

"Where were you?" Asked Sabine, "What was so important that couldn't wait until tomorrow morning?" Tom and Sabine knew what was so important for Marinette that couldn't wait: Adrien. And that was the reason why they had been guarding her night and day.

"Mom, I don't have any excuse. What I did was wrong." Started Marinette, "But I had to do it and I'm glad that I did." Sabine and Tom raised their eyebrows simultaneously. If she wasn't in so much trouble, she would have found it funny. "I have something to tell you." She breathed in and out, her heart was beating fast. This was it. "But first have a seat, please. This might be a shock for you."

Sabine and Tom eyed each other, surprised. They were expecting a crazy story about how she had fallen asleep in the bathroom, or that she had been on her balcony the entire time.

Eager to hear what Marinette had to say, they sat on the sofa and waited.

Marinette started to walk back and forth, forgetting about her concussion.

"Marinette, sweetie, calm down." Said Tom worried about her condition.

She suddenly turned to them and gesticulated with one hand while she spoke. "There is no easy or soft way of saying this, so I'm just going to say it." She breathed in and she breathed out: "I'm Ladybug."

Their reaction was not the one Marinette was expecting. She'd thought they might have been shocked, she'd thought they might laugh at her as if she was telling them some kind of joke, she'd thought they might think she was crazy. But she had never thought that they would look at her with that proud glow in their eyes and say:

"We know."

Marinette blinked. Twice.

"You- You know!?"

"Of course we know," Laughed Tom, "Do you think we are that blind? You are our daughter! We know you."

Marinette sat down on an armchair, absolutely speechless. Now their crazy timetable to take care of her during her convalescence made sense. They were scared she would do exactly what she had done.

"Yes, we do know you're Ladybug. We've known for a while." Said Sabine frowning, "But that is no excuse for you to do whatever you like, Marinette. We never said anything because you never did anything like this before! You could have been hurt!"

Marinette felt like a huge weight was lifted from her shoulders. Her parents knew and had been supporting her in the shadows. With all the sadness and crying she had experienced tonight, she felt as if her parents were giving her a gift.

"We were really worried, dear." Said Tom trying to soften the harshness of his wife speech. "You have to understand that, more than anyone, you have to recover fast! What if there was another Akuma tomorrow and you'd hurt yourself tonight?"

Marinette slowly grinned widely. Tom and Sabine looked at each other, bothered by Marinette's response to their scolding.

"There will be no more Akumas." She stated with excitement.

"What?" Asked Sabine, followed by a "How?" from Tom.

Marinette giggled, "I can't get into any details, but I have Hawkmoth's miraculous. There will be no more Hawkmoth, therefore no more Akumas."

Tom and Sabine got up to hug Marinette.

"Oh, Dear, that is amazing! You are amazing! We knew you could do it!" Said Sabine, kissing her cheek.

"It was only a matter of time!" Agreed Tom, kissing her other cheek.

"Thanks, guys." She said. But she hadn't done it alone. In fact, she hadn't done anything in the end. Hawkmoth had come to her.

The real hero had been Love.

Gabriel loved his son. He had given up his power because of his love for his son.

Marinette sighed.

Noticing the change of mood in Marinette, Sabine asked gently, "How is Adrien?"

She gently shook her head, "He isn't waking up." Marinette let her head fall into her hands, "I don't know what to do" she cried. Tom gently rubbed her back. "I've never felt so helpless. I'm Ladybug and I can't do anything for him. I should have been able to stop this..."

"Marinette, honey," called her mother, "There is no way that we are letting you believe that this is your fault."

Marinette felt exhausted. She couldn't answer her mother. The last of her strength was being channeled into creating more teardrops.

"What's the point of being Ladybug?" she managed to whine between sobs.

Tom slapped his hand on the table, making the girls jump with surprise.

"Now you listen to me, Little Lady!" He said waving his index finger at Marinette. "What's the point, you ask? For the last few years, you have been the Guardian of Paris. Our Hero. People look up to you. Even when they can't see you, people bravely face the hard times because they look up to you. They never lose faith because you taught them to believe. You are the bravest young woman that I know. And that isn't because you are Ladybug. It's because you are Marinette." Tom sighed, "Without Ladybug, you would be fine. Without Ladybug, we would be doomed-"

"And Chat." Marinette interrupted looking up. Her eyes were swollen and red, but they shone with determination.

Sabine and Tom chuckled and nodded.

"And Chat Noir, of course," Said Tom smiling.

"And Rena Rouge!" Added Sabine giggling.

Marinette nodded, wiping the tears off her face.

"You, all of you, saved our world countless times." Continued Tom, holding Marinette's chin with his hand, making her look at him "You taught Paris to fight for what is right and I couldn't be more proud of you." Marinette's chin trembled, but she managed to smile, "Don't you ever regret being Ladybug." he warned gently, "And don't you dare feel guilty for what happened with Adrien. He knew that was at stake when he put on the mask. He knew the risks and he decided to take them. You are not to blame. You always had his back as he had yours, but accidents happen."

Marinette was stunned." Wha-How?" she let out," You know that Adrien is Chat Noir too? "

"That one took us a little longer to figure out, actually" Laughed Sabine, "What were the odds that all three Paris' beloved superheroes knew each other in real life? Let alone coming from the same group of friends? We were so surprised that Alya went from Journalist to News without hesitating!"

"And relieved too..." continued Tom, "If Chat Noir had left and you'd stayed alone fighting Akumas, it would've been way harder for us to endure the stress."

Marinette shook her head slowly. "Of course you know about Alya too..." She breathed out a single chuckle. "How did I not realize sooner that my parents were this perceptive? And why didn't you tell me you knew?"

"We didn't want to leave you in a difficult position. Until you decided to tell us, we decided we should lay low," said Tom And Sabine nodded, agreeing.

"Thank you." breathed Marinette, voice choked with emotion.

For the rest of her recovery period, Marinette was a model patient. She was frustrated because she couldn't leave the house and she was stuck being quiet all the time... But she was trying. And now that the secrets in her family were gone, she felt lighter than she had felt in the last three or four years. She spent her last days of recovery in the kitchen, talking to Tikki and her mom or dad while they worked. Her parents had grown very fond of Tikki. Because who wouldn't like that adorable red Kwami?

Marinette also spent time with Alya, Nino and Chloe. Though since Alya never visited her alone, Marinette never got the chance to properly talk to her about what happened with Gabriel Agreste a few nights before. They had texted and spoken on the phone about it, but there's nothing like telling the details in person. Truth be told, knowing there would be no more Akumas - EVER - was brightening her days as well.

The only thing miserably ruining Marinette's (and everyone else's) state of mind was knowing that Adrien was still unconscious at the hospital.

By Monday, Marinette was finally able to return to her normal life. The doctor had said that her recovery had been extremely fast. Almost miraculous. And that she could do everything normally now. She still needed to be careful, but she was free to leave the house, go to school and live her life.

The first thing Marinette did with her newfound freedom was walk to Master Fuu's house.

Walk, because once she told her parents where she was going and how she was going, they immediately narrowed their eyes disapprovingly.

Alya met up with her and together they returned the missing Miraculous to Master Fuu.

Words couldn't describe the joy in Master Fuu's eyes. He was truly grateful to have the missing Miraculous back. They spent the rest of the afternoon having tea and listening to all that Marinette had to say. She told them everything. How Hawkmoth had captured her in the Masquerade, making her collapse, as Marinette, with a non-magical hit in the head; How she woke up to a Nightmare, realizing that there was nothing she could do to help Adrien. Then they listened to Alya, describing what she had been doing during Null's appearance and begging Marinette to forgive her for not coming to their aid in time to do something. Marinette quickly dismissed Alya's sense of guilt by saying that even if she had come, she would probably have been as helpless as she had been and that none of what happened was her fault. Plus, she had helped a concussed Ladybug take Adrien to the Hospital. Marinette questioned Master Fuu about what could be done about Adrien, but he just shook his head and said: "Now we wait". Trying not to burst into tears again, Marinette told them how Gabriel came to his senses and gave her both Miraculous, his and his late wife. Master Fuu quickly told them that it was only a few years ago that he had replaced the last Miraculous Guardian, who had died shortly after choosing three Miraculous carriers: Gabriel, Emilie, and himself.

The conversation then switched to another serious business that had been bothering Marinette since she got back Hawkmoth and Peacock's Miraculous: Now that the danger had passed, should they return their Miraculous as well? At this, Master Fuu smiled proudly and said it was up to them. They had fulfilled their mission, but there were always bad guys to fight if they still wanted to continue. Needless to say that the girls decided to keep their Miraculous, as Master Fuu expected them to. Marinette also kept Chat Noir's miraculous. He would decide if we was going to keep it when he woke up.

At the end of the afternoon, Master Fuu gave Marinette more tea and told her that it had healing properties. She accepted it, thankful, and told him that she would return with news as soon as Adrien woke up.

Marinette spent the week working on catching up in classes and answering emails from the famous designers that had courted her work in the Mascarade ball.

She had already received three worth-considering work propositions! And was in the midst of email negotiations. Two of the interested designers had told her to talk to them once she finished her bachelor (they were both eager to give her a good place in their studios), but the third one (Nicolas Ghesquière) was telling her that she didn't need to waste her raw talent in a bachelor program, that it would be a waste of her time. He was offering her an internship to work on the Louis Vuitton studio creative team in Paris and she would learn everything she needed to know there. Marinette was honestly considering accepting his offer, but she wanted to finish her bachelor degree as well, so she was trying to find a way to do both. Attend school at night and work for Ghesquière by day.

Truth was that being this busy was a blessing. Marinette spent most of her time trying not to think about Adrien while simultaneously hoping he would wake up. She visited him every day, not for too long, because she had so much to do. But she would come by night as Ladybug as well. She'd talk for him to listen. About her day. About how things in the social media world were going crazy right now... About how they were on the cover of every fashion magazine, dancing, dressed as Ladybug and Chat Noir... People even asked for her autograph once!... About how everyone was shipping 'Adrienette': "What a silly name" she had chuckled while trying to containing a sob. About how every newspaper had noted that they hadn't seen any of the Paris Superheroes lately... Most unusual after an Akuma attack like the one at the Halloween ball. About how the police force and the politicians were mentioning how strange it was that Ladybug, Chat Noir and Rena Rouge had suddenly disappeared... About how there would be no more Akumas because his father had finally done the right thing... About how she had come to the conclusion that Ladybug should give an official interview for Ladyblog telling people that the Akumas were over, but she really didn't know if she had the strength to do it now, with him like this... And she cried.

She cried a lot.

Ladybug eventually gave that interview to Ladyblog when she realized she couldn't wait any longer. The lack of news was making the people of Paris worried and scared. From now on, they could breathe a sigh of relief and rest easy. Ladybug had finally captured the source of evil. From now on, Paris Superheroes would watch the city from afar, only intervening if the situation required it.

Days became weeks and Autumn became Winter. Current news overtook the old stories and Adrien Agreste's case was forgotten by most of the world.

There was only Dark.

And suddenly, flashes of light were burning his eyes. He tried to make it stop by yelling and crying until he was heard and there was darkness again.

A single spotlight shone on a woman dressed in red. She was talking to him, but he couldn't listen. He started running towards her, but the more he ran, the farther away she looked.

He stopped moving to catch his breath and all of a sudden the woman was standing right in front of him. A mere half meter away from him. He could listen to her breathing and smell her scent. He could touch her if he wanted to, but he couldn't see her face clearly. He knew she was worried, though, and something inside told him he had to help her. A tear rolled down her cheek and at that moment he decided that he would never let anyone harm her. Whatever was making her cry, he was going to take care of it.

She talked again. He couldn't hear.

"What?" he asked, narrowing his eyes, trying to memorize her face. The Lady in Red and the spotlight were pulled away from him the moment she tried to answer his question.

"NO!" He yelled as he watched her disappear into the darkness.

It was moments later that he hears a woman's voice whisper "Wake up, Kitty." and he realized he could open his eyes.

It was dark, but not as dark as it had been in his dream. The windows were letting some warm light in. He couldn't tell if it was early morning or late afternoon.

He was laying down, facing the ceiling. He slowly got up on his elbows and looked around. It was a hospital bedroom. He was plugged into a machine, there were some fresh flowers on the bedside table, there were lots of stuffed animals saying various versions of 'Get better soon', there was an empty armchair near the bed and that was about it.

Feeling tired, he laid down again. He felt so warm. So incredibly comfortable... He was falling into a blissful sleep again when her voice rang out once again: "Wake up, Kitty."

He opened up his eyes and looked around the room, trying to find her. The Lady in Red. He had to help her, he remembered. But she wasn't there... Maybe his job was to find her?

He looked around more meticulously. It was morning. He realized. The light was getting stronger. He turned his face from the window and that was when he found it. The call button. He reached for it and gently pressed it.

Oh, how he regretted pressing that button... For the next few hours, nurses and doctors analyzed him and his body, asking a myriad of questions. So. Many. Questions... The frustrating part was that he couldn't manage to answer a single one of them.

The thing about not knowing anything is that once you wake up, you get to learn a lot.

He soon learned that his name was Adrien Agreste, 19 and a male model. He also learned that he had been attacked by some evil creatures called Akumas, which had been terrifying the city of Paris for the past years. Apparently, while he slept (he had slept for almost two months), some superheroes had fought hard and had won, so no more evil Akumas.

Once the medical tests had been undertaken, he got to meet his father. He looked like a man that you don't want to mess with, but once Adrien started to ask him questions, he turned out to be warm and kind. He learned then that his father was a fashion designer and the owner of a very important brand, Gabriel. Also that he, Adrien, mostly worked for his father as a male model. The stuffed animals covering the walls of his room were gifts from fans.

He had fans.

I must be good, he thought.

Clearly, he didn't have a mother; his father always managed to find something more interesting to talk about instead of answering the questions that Adrien made. And the man always looked so hurt about it that eventually Adrien stopped asking.

A doctor finally talked to his father and told him that Adrien could eventually recover his memory, or not. Bottom line was: the doctors had no idea what was wrong with him. Therefore, they didn't know if he would ever get back the memories he lost.

His father seemed strangely happy about it, but maybe Adrien was looking at it the wrong way. His father was happy that after months without showing signs of life, he was finally awake. The doctor also told Gabriel that memories shouldn't be forced onto Adrien.

Now that Adrien was awake, Gabriel decided that they should go back to Milan, where they never should have left. If it wasn't for them coming to Paris, he said, nothing would have happened to Adrien. The doctor was reluctant to transfer Adrien out of the country when he had only just woken up, but Gabriel was insistent.

By ten that same morning, Adrien was flying home in a private jet with his father and a woman named Natalie.

Don't panic just yet, the story does not end here. xD I did tell you that acts had consequences...

Just to relieve your conscience, when I write "THE END" in the ending of a chapter, then the story with be over. Until then, just expect Weekly updates on Thursdays, Okay?

Hoping you liked the chapter, ^^

AuriMoon*