Unmasked

Chapter 11

Marinette had taken a few more days off from school to help her parents around their bakery. They had opened up again, and Marinette helped them out in the back kitchen, and greeted a few fans that came in. Though she had declined any and all interviews with the media. They were persistent, but Marinette remained polite and would ask them to leave if they weren't going to support her parent's bakery in any way.

Alya had visited her after school every day and gave her homework and assignments given by their teacher to help her from falling behind. After dinner, Adrien would come in and visit, thought disguised as Chat Noir of course. They sat and talked about the plan and what they should do. It wasn't the best deal, but with Marinette so insistent that he keep his secret, they decided that Marinette would openly date Chat Noir, and not Adrien. Though they decided to act as close friends at school. Their cover story was that since she rescued him from Hawkmoth, they got to know each other on a higher level.

Their story for Hawkmoth was that he was an Akuma who had taken over Gabriel, and that they were still looking for the person behind the Akuma's. Both Adrien and Marinette didn't want the grieving Gabriel to be possibly jailed for his actions, so they stuck to this story.

Gabriel had returned to being the kind and loving father Adrien knew. Adrien was surprised to find his father present for breakfast and dinner. No matter how busy he was, he always made time for Adrien at meal time. Adrien was even more surprised when his father cut his modeling hours, to only twice a month. Adrien was also allowed to quit any activities he no longer enjoyed. Though Adrien had decided to stick to most of his after school activities.

Marinette was given the pink Kwami's miraculous, and charged with being its protector. With Tikki's help, she hid it in her room in a place she knew even her mother didn't know about. Marinette had a routine of checking it every single day when she woke up and before her nightly patrols with Chat Noir.

Though all this was well and great, Marinette now had to face one more thing. She had to return to school. She was caught in front of her mirror, checking herself out. She was wearing a dress with tights underneath, and a long jean jacket. She hoped she was dressed alright. She wanted to look nice for her return to school. And the snow had finally begun to fall. She'd wear her winter jacket over it of course, but she still wanted to look nice. She worried about what her classmates would say. She knew that Chloe would say something. She expected that, but she didn't know about her classmates.

She looked at Tikki for strength, and the Kwami giggled. "You faced a Kwami so powerful and mysterious we don't know his name. And you defeated him as yourself. There is no reason for you to be scared of going to school."

"I know logically, I shouldn't be...but ark, I am," Marinette sighed. "Facing your peers is so much harder!"

Tikki laughed and smiled. "You'll be great. You can handle anything."

Marinette smiled at the kwami. "Thanks, Tikki."

Tikki flew into Marinette's book bag and hid away. And Marinette grabbed her shoes and her winter jacket. She hurried down the stairs to meet her parents. They were already working away in the bakery. Her mother, Sabine, looked at her first and smiled. "Nervous?"

"A little bit," she said nervously.

"You'll do great. Adrien and Alya will watch out for you," Tom told her as he peeked his head around the corner.

Marinette blushed a little and reminded her parents they weren't to mention they were dating to anyone. They laughed and told her that they knew, and the secret was safe. Marinette exited through the backdoor, and crossed the street. She was relieved that there were only a few people out front today. Mostly news crews. They filmed her from afar, but luckily no one ran up to her or approached her. Most of the flowers and gifts had been cleaned up by Marinette, Alya and her parents over the weekend. And no more seemed to appear. It seemed, to Marinette's relief, the offerings weren't for a shrine to her, but rather, wishing her a safe return home. Once she was home, the residence of Paris were relieved.

She stepped onto the school steps, and her heart raced in her chest. She was suppose speak to the principal upon her return, so she was still a little early. That meant very few students were around. Though the students who were around, noticed her rather quickly. They gasped and pointed. Marinette answered this by trying to act as natural as she could. She smiled at the students and waved. This caused them to smile and wave back.

She entered the school office, and the principal was waiting for her. He was smiling at her, and invited her into the office. She took a seat as she waited for him to move around the table and sit down. He continued to smile at her. "Miss Dupain-Cheng, how are you feeling today, good?"

"I am," she smiled. "And you, sir?"

"Very good, thank you for asking," he politely answered. "I trust you've completed all the work your teacher sent home."

"Yes, I am all caught up," Marinette explained. "And it will not happen again." She bowed her head, and waited for him to say anything else.

"Well then, I wish you all the luck for the remainder of the semester, and I personally would like to welcome you back," he told her. "You've done many services to this school, so if you need anything, just ask."

She stood and nodded her head. "Y-Yes, Sir! I promise I will."

She turned to leave, when she saw her homeroom teacher, smiling at her. "Welcome back, Marinette, I'm glad you're safe."

Marinette felt her heart warm as her homeroom teacher greeted her. It was nice to see her teacher concerned for her. She never got the impression that her teacher particularly liked her, but now she saw that she cared for all her pupils. "Thank you," she was finally able to get out. "I'm sorry I missed two weeks of classes. I completed all my work though, and I'm ready to return to class."

Her teacher placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "I'm glad to hear it Marinette. Now, it's time for class, why don't you come with me?"

Marinette followed her teacher into the hallways. They were mostly empty now, but a few students lingered. Her teacher entered the classroom first, and placed her jacket down on the desk and briefcase.

"Good morning class," she greeted. "I have some great news for you all. Marinette will be returning to our class today." She extended her arm out in the direction of the doorway, and Marinette took that as her cue to enter the classroom. One of her hands grasped her shoulder bag's strap as she entered. She felt all eyes on her, but she tried to look confident and calm.

"Good morning, everyone. It's good to see you," she gave a little wave as she looked around the room. She was surprised when she saw it full of smiles. Mostly, anyway. Chloe has an unimpressed stare on her face, and Sabrina looked unsure how to react, but everyone else was smiling at her. "I'm glad to be back. Please treat me no differently than before. I'm just like everyone else."

Her eyes fell on Adrien in the front row, who nodded at her slightly, letting her know that he approved. Alya gave her a thumbs up as well. Marinette walked to her seat and sat down. She got her books out, and class began as any other day.

It wasn't until lunchtime that Marinette had several students and a few teachers come up to her, thanking her saving for saving them over the last two years. And wishing for her to spread the thanks to Chat Noir when she saw him. She assured them she would, though her heart still raced in her chest. She turned to Alya and the two took a seat on the stairs outside the school as always for lunch. And Marinette felt like nothing had changed. Except for perhaps, Chloe. Though she seemed to not approve of Marinette returning to school and everyone could tell that Chloe wasn't happy with her, she still stayed away. Marinette supposed that was because of a certain blonde boy's outburst at her a week earlier. Or maybe it was because she heard about the mayor who was planning on offering Marinette and Chat Noir a medal for their great courage and strength through their battles with the Akuma's and Chloe didn't want to look bad.

Marinette didn't know, all she did know, was she liked the peace and quiet. "Hey Alya, hey Marinette." They turned to look at Nino who was greeting them. Adrien was with him, and he smiled at the two girls.

"Hey there Nino," Alya greeted. "What's up?"

"Not much, we just got back from lunch," he explained, and then turned to Marinette. "How's it going for you? Anyone bothering you?"

Marinette shook her head. "No, not at all. Just a few people greeting me, telling me their a fan, not much else."

"Glad to hear it," Nino said. "I was talking to Adrien about it, and I really just want to say thanks for all you do for us. You've done so much for us."

"It's nothing," Marinette stated, shaking her hands. "No need to thank me."

"Well, thanks anyway," Nino said with a grin. "Oh, by the way, after school, Adrien and I are planning on going over to your parents place for a few sweets for a gaming evening. Can you believe it? I'm going to Adrien's for a gaming night. Could you give us some recommendations after school?"

"Of course," Marinette explained. "I'm helping my parents out after school, so I've love too."

"Fantastic, see you then," Nino waved, and then the two left the girls sights.

"Mind if I tag along?" Alya asked Marinette. "I'd love to do that interview you said we could do for my new blog."

Marinette laughed. "Yeah, we can do that."

With Marinette's blessing and permission Alya put back up the Ladyblog. Only it was completely reshaped. Alya would be officially in charge of all the Ladybug news. The only place to get one-hundred percent accurate information about Ladybug. Marinette had agreed to do an interview as Alya for the blog. Nothing too personal or anything.

Afternoon classes was easy enough, thought Marinette was held back after school for a few extra minutes by her teachers to pass in her two weeks' worth of homework. She was talked to about the importance of attendants in the future and they let her go. Alya had waited outside the classroom, and Marinette came out looking relieved. "First day down."

"You survived," Alya assured her. "Let's go, the guys said they'd meet us at the bakery."

"Alright."

The girls walked to across the street to the bakery, and stepped inside. No one was there. No media or fans outside. Marinette thought that was exciting. Until she stepped inside the bakery. She nearly jumped when she saw her entire class inside and were shouting, "SURPRISE!" to her. She looked at Alya confused who was smiling at her.

"W-what is all this?" she questioned.

Alya placed a comforting hand on her best friend's shoulder. "You're birthday party of course."

"B-but...that was two weeks ago!" Marinette exclaimed.

"And you ran away," Alya explained. "We're finishing it."

Marinette's eyes were wide, and she had no words to express. Though a smile then crossed her face, and she looked at all her guests. "I...I can't even express how I feel."

Alya gave her a shove forward towards her classmates. "You don't express it, you enjoy it."

Marinette's eyes fell on her classmates, and then to Adrien who was purposely standing at the back. Her heart fluttered. 'Everything is alright. It really is.' "Alright, let's get this party started then! And everyone, I promise, I won't run away again."

A/N: Okay so this was the final chapter. I have a one-shot sequel that I'm going to upload right now. SO you can pop over to read it when you want. Its called Removing the Mask. I hope you enjoyed. I hope to enjoy rewriting it, post season 3.