Edges in...

Heye, it's been a while... I literally have no excuse. Yes I've been doing daily August prompts and other writing stuff, but this is the first fanfic I've ever written and it kinda should have priority?

I'm literally the author and I've forgotten half the stuff that happened in this story and have had to reread- I feel like it shouldn't be like that... not saying that I haven't enjoyed writing it though! Fanfic should never feel like an obligation, and it doesn't to me :P

On another note, there are only 2 chapters left of I Waited! At first I didn't really know how to end it, then for a time I made it suuuper confusing, but I think the way I've chosen to end it is... okay? Though I'm not sure when I'll be posting the last chapters, so I can't promise anything...

Also if I have the incentive, I'm planning a sequel o-o

Sorreee for the rly long author note (read: ramble), and thank you for reading :)

Marinette had exhausted her body of tears, and now she just stared blankly at nothing, eyes trained on the grain of her desk, cheek squished against her hand. Her sewing machine lay untouched, scissors and scraps of fabric hastily shoved against where the wood met the wall as she scraped a space clear to make way for her head to collapse in despair. Tikki had all but given up trying to console her, however she still remained a comforting warmth on Marinette's shoulder.

Suddenly Marinette thought she heard a tap at the window, almost too quiet to hear. But she ignored it, only shifting her head slightly, her undone hair flopping even more over her face. "Marinette?" Tikki ventured carefully, "I think you should check the window."

With great effort Marinette lifted her head; it felt to her like being forced to lift a massive boulder. Then she heaved herself out of her chair, crossed her room and drew her curtains. She winced as the bright daylight stung her retinas and cold rays streamed into her room, illuminating how unkempt it was, which wasn't normal for her. After her eyes had adjusted, they focused on a green blob hovering just outside the glass, mere centimetres away from her nose. It was-

Wayzz?" Tikki squeaked, then threw an apologetic glance at Marinette, and relaxed as she realised that she hadn't annoyed her. Marinette's eyebrows furrowed in confusion as to why the turtle kwami was here.

Wayzz hadn't phased through the window out of politeness, even though he could easily have done, however he hovered nervously, eyes darting around and fidgeting, not able to stay in the same place. Marinette waved him in, and he came into clearer view as the glass seemingly liquified to allow him through. After quickly scanning the room, large eyes focusing Marinette's tear-streaked face, Wayzz took a breath and got straight to the point, as he could see the pain the girl was in. "Marinette, you need to come and see master Fu right now."

Marinette cocked her head, eyes squinting. "What? Is there an akuma? I-"

"Relax, relax! There isn't an akuma, or any danger. It's just something really important."

"What would I be able to do for him right now? Look at me, I'm useless, I'm-"

"No, you're not. And Master Fu just wants to talk to you. To… explain something. That you need to know. He understands that you aren't feeling the best at the moment, but this really couldn't wait"

"Ok.. I'll come," Marinette agreed, "Um, I'll have to travel there as Ladybug, my parents…"

"Will they come and check on you? What if they find that you're not here?" Wayzz asked.

"They checked on me a lot after I came home from school yesterday…" Marinette trailed off.

"But after a while, they understood that she needed to be left alone," finished Tikki, "and the bakery's pretty busy at the moment, so they'll probably come up here only after they finish work later."

"Alright," said Wayzz.

"Are you ready?" Tikki asked tentatively.

Marinette sniffed. "Yes."

"Don't forget to detransform before you go into Master Fu's house," the kwami said.

"Don't worry, I will," Marinette sighed. "Tikki, spots on." She said her transformation phrase almost wearily, with none of her usual flair.

"Thank you Ladybug," Wayzz said. "This means a lot."

A minute later, a heavy-footed Ladybug stumbled over the rooftops of Paris.

The spotted hero dropped into an alley and placed a hand against the wall to steady herself, before detransforming. At this point she wanted nothing more than to sink down to the ground and cry. But she had told Wayzz she'd go and see Master Fu. She steeled herself before walking round the corner, and entered straight into the apartment block that the guardian of the miraculous resided in- she hadn't specifically meant to do stop here, but call it luck, subconscious intelligence; whatever guided her actions had made sure that she wouldn't have to suffer any unwanted human contact.

Her fist had barely scuffed the wooden door when it opened, revealing Master Fu's kind face. But something about his expression worried her as he beckoned her in to sit with him on a mat on the floor.

He opened his mouth, the wrinkles lining his face creasing, "Marinette, thank you for coming. Given the events over the last two days, I am saying to you now that I wouldn't have called you unless I felt it was absolutely necessary. Do you understand?" he prompted, raising his eyebrows at her seemingly glazed over expression. She nodded, so he continued. "I recently discovered the identity of Hawkmoth." Marinette's eyes widened, sending a silent question. "I learned it from Chat Noir." At the mention of his name, Marinette gasped. "Where is he? The last time I saw him was on patrol, but then he just ran away, after I told him Mayura knew his identity. After that he didn't respond to my calls. But… who's Hawkmoth?"

"First, Marinette Dupain Cheng, let me ask you a question. Have you ever thought about why Hawkmoth wants the miraculous of the Ladybug and Black cat?"

"I thought he just wanted to rule Paris, that if he got the miraculous he would use it to craft his own terrible world based on his messed up morals. That's the impression I got, I mean, the things he does, the people he exploits, how could he want something good? I never understood why he was doing what he was doing! If he really wanted something, he should have approached us peacefully!" She paused for a second. "Do you know? What would he wish for?"

"Unfortunately, I don't. But I don't think that it was as terrible as he made it out to be."

"Why? You know what he does. Wait…" Marinette paused, "Was? What do you mean, was?"

"I have reason to believe that he has given up being Hawkmoth. For just over a year, he has caused much damage, but it was never permanent. Your cure always fixed everything. But it couldn't bring Adrien back to life."

"What?! Hawkmoth was- was responsible for… Adrien…" her voice dropped to a whisper, "Adrien's death?"

"Yes," Master Fu breathed.

"How? Adrien- how could he! How did it happen? That's so- killing a teenager…he…"

"He didn't." At an enraged look from Marinette, he continued. "Kill him… directly. Not by his hand. But actions, words. They can be more painful, incredibly more damaging, than physical force."

"Does that make it any better?"

"No." Then after a second, "It's more complicated than you know."

"In what way?"

"I'll explain. One thing at a time."

"So how did he fall off the building?"

"He didn't… fall."

"But if there was no one else around, then… no. No."

"Yes. It was the events before that caused it, but in the end, it was Adrien that decided to step off the edge of the building."

"No," she breathed. "Adrien… he wouldn't."

"You don't know why."

"Whether Hawkmoth physically pushed him or not, that's un unthinkable, despicable act! To cause someone's death!"

"I imagine Gabriel Agreste feels the same."

Marinette wondered why Master Fu had started talking about Adrien's father, and processed this information for a long moment. Then she gasped. "Gabriel Agre- He's Hawkmoth?!" She looked wildly at Master Fu, hoping that she was wrong.

But he nodded. "Yes."

"But- no! Gabriel Agreste was my idol! I always wanted to be like him- start my own fashion company, be incredibly successful like him. But now… No, no, no. That means… all this time… Hawkmoth was Adrien's father! Did he know? Adrien, did he…?"

"Yes, he did."

"Why didn't he tell someone?! His friends, me! We're all here for him!"

"I would think the news was just so overwhelming that he didn't know what to do, and by then it was too late. For fear of worrying her, just like the selfless young man he was, he could never tell… his Lady."

He paused for a second, looking at Marinette's face pointedly. At first her features registered confusion, but then her eyes widened as what he had said started to sink in. He mouth fell into an 'o', then it shut, and a hard look entered her eyes; clearly not wanting to believe it, she breathed in sharply. "I'll call Chat," she said quickly, her eyes darting in panic, "I'll get him to come here and then we can talk. I'll ask him why he ran away from our patrol on Thursday. I'm sure it's fine, there's a reason, he'll explain it. Tikki, spots-" she looked incredulously at Master Fu, who had gently extended an arm and put a finger to her lips, preventing her from finishing the transformation phrase, reaching out his other arm to take her hand into his own.

"I'm afraid," he stared straight into her eyes, apprehensive brown into azure. "You will never hear from Chat Noir ever again."

She froze.

He hated to tell her this, to give her even more pain, but it had to be done. The kwamis were right- he couldn't leave it until later. But the effect was still great. Urgently he turned her hand over in his and traced circles into it soothingly as her eyes glazed over in shock. She began to stammer, "A- Adrien is-" Marinette let out a sob, bringing her voice down to a wavering whisper. "Chat?"