Epilogue - Change

The next few weeks were a bit of a blur. Nathaniël returned the Ladybug earrings to Marinette when they were finally alone.

"You know I can't give you a Miraculous again, not now that Lila knows you're Vulpes. Although you could be a stand-in for me sometimes, as Renaise."

Nathaniël nodded. Although he would miss being a superhero, being Vulpes or Renaise, he could live without a secret identity. "Give the Fox miraculous back to Rena Rouge," Nathaniël told Marinette. "I think she deserves a second chance… to prove herself."

Marinette nodded. Alya and Marinette were friends again, but Nathaniël noticed that they weren't as close as before. Alya was trying, but she couldn't classify as a best friend anymore – not after the whole Lila incident.

Lila herself announced that she was switching schools. She apologized to the class, and Nathaniël noticed that unlike all the other times, her final apology seemed true. Although he couldn't forgive her, he felt that Lila was changing.

"I talked to her," Marinette whispered to Nathaniël. "She had… reasons behind what she did, and… she's genuinely sorry."

Marinette was finally back on good terms with the rest of her classmates, and for that, Nathaniël was thankful. Even Adrien – Nathaniël was grateful that Adrien had been the final straw in revealing Lila to the class, but he couldn't help but be a little jealous of the blonde.

Nevertheless, when he listened in on a conversation between Marinette and Adrien, he heard none of her usual stutter, saw none of her usual blush – maybe things were changing for him as well.

It would take a while, but they'd soon fall into the routine they had before Lila arrived, with more knowledge, with more experience… all of them learned something from this, even him and Marinette.

The students of Collège Françoise Dupont had finally unmasked Lila, and her last apology and good-bye gave them a glimpse of the raw, scared girl underneath… they had unmasked Marinette, who through everything stayed as strong as ever, only giving up when Nathaniël fell in harm's way… they unmasked Nathaniël, who under his shy exterior was extremely passionate about the things he cared about.

But most of all, they unmasked themselves, learning that Lila's lies had evoked a part of them they never even knew existed – the part that wanted someone to look up to, someone to follow – it's what Lila relied on when she made her debut, and what caused the class to grow oblivious to her deeds.

Together, through their last year in collège, Marinette and Nathaniël watched the class grow.

And when they reached lycée, and saw a familiar green-eyed brunette in their class, this time without her lying mask, they learned one more lesson – forgiveness.

- END -

A/N: Hope you liked Unmasked! Next update will be a mini-story detailing Lila's past, and why she chose to become a liar. It'll include the scene where Marinette talks to Lila. It's longer than usual updates, around 1500 words, so you can look forward to that :)

There will also be Marinette POV (how she was hospitalized), Adrien POV (working up the courage to expose Lila as Chat Noir), and Alya POV (owning up to her mistakes).