A/N Whelp, her we go with the final chapter of this fic. To be honest I've got a bunch of dribs and drabs that relate to this fic, but were not included as they would have blown it all out of proportion, almost doubling it's size. Some of them will find their way into the light of day, I hope.
'nuf said, here we go.
Epilogue
The last five months had been both busy and uneventful. Busy with the evidence and testimony collection in conjunction with the charges against Gabriel Agreste, aka Hawk Moth and uneventful with a lack of akumas. Another aspect of busy was Adrien and Marinette finishing up their last year of high school. With no akumas to deal with, prepping and studying for final exams was much easier.
Adrien had been spending his time getting used to being the CEO of a major fashion house, and Marinette settling in as part of the design team at what used to be Gabriel Fashion, but was now Miraculous Designs.
Adrien stood in the lobby of the building that held Miraculous Designs, and turned when he heard the elevator ding, announcing it's arrival at the ground floor. He smiled when he saw Marinette and one of the other designers emerge from the car.
"I don't know, Renee, I don't want it to look like I'm getting special treatment just because I'm dating Adrien." Marinette was saying as she and the blonde woman stepped out of the elevator.
"Trust me, no one would have that idea." Renee Beaumont said. "Over the last few months you've more than proven yourself, and your qualification to be lead designer."
"I hope you have better luck with that argument than I did." Adrien said as he walked up to the two women. He gave Marinette a quick hug and a peck on the cheek, then walked along with them to the reception desk. "Even before things went badly for my father I told her she would quickly move up to lead designer with whatever firm she decided to work with. Her being the Designer of Note for the Spring/Summer line made it plain to me."
Marinette scoffed lightly. "They've all been Designer of Note." she said as she turned in her ID badge and signed the log.
"But not at your young age, honey, or without attending Design School." Renee said. "And with the way your MDC line is taking off, Miraculous is lucky to have you."
Just then Adrien's phone rang. "Hello. Yes, Jean-Pierre, what can I do for you?" Adrien listened for a moment. "Okay, umm, how about a meeting in conference room two at nine on Monday morning? Okay, good, make sure the entire team is there." he said then chuckled at something the caller said, and he looked over at Marinette. "Yes, I'll make sure she's there and on time. Okay, have a good weekend, bye." Adrien ended the call and put his phone away.
"Meeting, Monday at nine, conference room two with you and the design team." Renee said, and Adrien nodded.
"Any idea what they want to meet about?" he asked.
"Maybe, but I'm not lead so it's not my place to say anything." the blonde replied, but gave a pointed glance over at Marinette.
Adrien sighed, and again tried to think of a way to convince the board to remove him as CEO. "Ah well." he said, then took Marinette's hand. "We have a dinner date to get to." he said. "It's just a quiet dinner with her parents." he added to Renee.
They walked out of the building, and Marinette smiled softly when she saw the big, burly man she and Adrien affectionately called Gorilla standing by the town car, holding the back door open for them.
"Do you trust me, Princess?" Adrien asked once they got settled.
"You know better than to ask that." Marinette replied. "Why do you ask?"
In reply, Adrien held out a blindfold. "There has been a change in plans, and it's a surprise."
Marinette sighed, and turned as far as she could with her seat-belt on, and Adrien put the blindfold on.
"I promise to keep you safe, my love." he said, kissing her cheek, and putting an arm around her shoulders.
Marinette sighed softly and relaxed as the car drove along. She was surprised when Adrien had to nudge her awake.
"We're here, sleepyhead." he teased. "Long week?" he asked and she nodded.
She heard him open his door, and waited until she felt the door beside her open. "Mid-line designs coming due, and I am the rookie of the team, despite what Renee and you might think, so I worked late a few nights."
"So, are you caught up?"
"Uh-huh, I even submitted a few extras to make sure." she replied as Adrien helped her out of the car. "What?" she asked when she heard him chuckle.
"Honey, those aren't due for two more weeks." he said with a laugh. "And just so you know, I've reviewed and approved everything you've submitted."
"And there is my. . .concern." Marinette said with a huff. "What if someone says that my designs get approved simply because I'm your girlfriend?"
"Well, lets see." Adrien mussed as he guided her. "First you submit your designs to another of the design team, and if they like it they submit it to Jean-Pierre, and if he approves it then I see it, without the name of the designer, so I don't know who it's from until I approve or disapprove it."
"If you say so." she said, causing Adrien to laugh.
"I had forgotten how stubborn you can be once you have your mind set on something happening."
Marinette was surprised when she realized that they had entered a building, but Adrien didn't have to open a door. After a short walk they stopped and she heard Adrien's phone speed dial a number.
"Yeah, we're just outside." he said to the person that answered the call.
Marinette heard the beep of his ending the call, then his hand took hers again and a door opened in front of them, and he led her into the room.
"Okay, here we go." he said softly and kissed her cheek. "Now, close your eyes." he instructed.
Marinette smiled and giggled. "Okay, they're closed." she said, and felt the blindfold removed.
"Okay, now open."
Marinette opened her eyes and was stunned. She recognized the main dining room of the Grand Paris hotel, and that it was empty with the exception of a cluster of tables directly across from the door, and they were filled with what looked to be everyone she knew.
"SURPRISE!" they all shouted, and Adrien chuckled as she stood rooted to the spot with her deer in the headlights look.
"You gonna just stand there or what, Dupain-Cheng?" a snarky voice asked.
Marinette turned to her left, and broke into a huge grin. "Chloe!" she cried and wrapped the blonde in a huge hug.
Adrien smiled fondly as he saw the look of surprise on his old friend's face, then Chloe closed her eyes and rested her head on Marinette's shoulder, basking in the welcoming feeling.
After a moment, Marinette broke the hug, and pulled back taking both of Chloe's hands in hers. "Don't get me wrong, I'm really glad to see you, but how?"
Chloe smiled. "It's all thanks to my therapist actually." she replied. "Evidently I'm doing well enough that she's pushed up my house arrest. It's supposed to start on Monday, but with Adrien asking if I could attend this party, I started today."
Marinette nodded, and her eyes swept over the blonde appreciatively. She was wearing a pair of white denim bell bottom pants, that from the knees up looked as though they had been painted on her. With them she wore a horizontally striped yellow and black tube top with a lemon yellow blazer, and instead of her signature ponytail, her hair was simply brushed out, flowing over her shoulders and halfway down her back. "I like the new look," she said, "It suits you." she was surprised when Chloe giggled and blushed.
"Thanks." the blonde said. "It does have the added perk of hiding my newest accessory." she added, lifting her right pant leg revealing her tracking device. "The furthest I can go is across the street." she said, then looked over her shoulder. "We'll talk some more later, you've got guests to see."
Marinette nodded, then turned to walk over to where Adrien was talking with her parents. As she did she remembered her first full day at the hospital.
Flashback
She had finished her breakfast and was sitting on her bed flicking through the TV channels and found that the only thing to see was what little video and information about the battle with Hawk Moth. With a sigh she turned off the set when there was a knock at the door. With Alya, Nino, and Adrien at school, and her parents at the bakery she was curious as to who would be visiting her, and impatient for them to visit that afternoon so she could ask one of them how her father was.
"Come in." she called, and looked over at the door.
"How are we feeling this morning?" a nurse asked as she entered the room, and Marinette was surprised to see Sabine in the hall.
"I'm okay." she replied. "A little bored though, nothing on TV." she said, then almost laughed at the look on the nurse's face. "Okay, yeah the capture of Hawk Moth is big news, but I was there, so not so much for me."
"Right." the nurse said. "Now I have a question for you. Are you up to having non-press visitors?"
Marinette's curiosity increased. "Yeah, I guess so. Who is it?"
"We have a program that allows married adult couples to spend time with our pediatric patients whose parents can't visit them. Now I realize you're not a little kid, but I'll wager you could use the company."
Suddenly things clicked in Marinette's head. "Yes, I could. Thank you."
The nurse nodded and went back to the door and opened it. "Come on in, folks." she said.
Marinette watched the couple walk into the room, and she fought hard to keep her tears at bay and the sob that threatened to escape back.
The couple was her own parents, and this was the first time seeing her father since he was tied to a chair in Hawk Moth's lair.
"Hello, Ladybug. My name is Sabine, and this is my husband Tom."
"Hi, thank you for coming." Marinette managed to get out.
"Well, I'll leave you to get acquainted." the nurse said then left, closing the door.
"Papa." Marinette said tearfully, and lifted her good arm in the invitation of a hug.
"Oh, my baby!" the big man cried and gently hugged his daughter.
"I've been worried." Marinette said wiping her eyes. "I know that Carapace had freed you and led you to safety, but I wasn't certain. . .I hadn't seen you since then, until now."
The three family members comforted each other for a while, then calmed things down when it was time for the nurses to come in and make their checks and distribute medications.
"It was nice to spend time with you, sweetie." Sabine said as she and Tom prepared to leave.
"It was nice to meet you as well." Marinette said. "Please feel free to come back when ever you want."
End Flasback
Marinette sighed as the memory ended. Remembering what Chloe said, she made a circuit of the room and greeted everyone.
"Please, everyone, take your seats." Adrien called. "Dinner is served."
Everyone took their seats and talked quietly among themselves as they ate, and during the dessert the room fell silent as Adrien stood tapping the side of his glass with his fork.
"If I may have you attention, please." he said as he walked behind Tom and Sabine to stand beside Marinette. "Almost six years ago I started attending Franciose Dupont, and I met many new friends, but there was one in particular that would grow to be my closest friend." he said then looked toward where Nino an Alya sat. "No offense, Nino." he added. "I have no excuse for friend zoneing her for so long, but about six months ago I came to my senses and asked her to be my girlfriend. When I did that, and got to spend more time with her I learned that she was even more amazing than I thought." he paused for a moment and bowed his head for a moment as he put his hand on Marinette's shoulder. "The last six months have been rough to say the least, and through it all, Marinette has been by my side, lending support, and sharing what laughs there were, and the tears, she even overcame her dislike of being in the spotlight enough to organize and hold press conferences with me to cut off rumors. In short I've discovered that I don't want to be without her in my life."
There was a collective gasp from the crowd as Adrien dropped to one knee and took Marinette's left hand in his as he took a small box from his pocket.
"Marinette Dupain-Cheng, will you do me the honor and agree to be my wife?" he asked, holding the open box up.
Marinette gasped loudly her right hand going over her heart as if to keep it from bursting out of her chest. "Oh, Adrien!" she gasped. "Yes, yes, of course I'll marry you." She watched as he took the ring from the box and slid it onto her ring finger.
The couple stood and hugged to a light round of applause.
"Maman, look!" she squealed, holding her left hand out for her mother to look at.
"Very nice sweetie, and congratulations." Sabine said.
Marinette turned and found herself surrounded by the girl squad from school, which was joined by Ilsa, Kira, Jenna, and Amber.
"That's quite a rock, girl!" Alya gushed when she saw it.
"That's even bigger than mine." Jenna said.
"It's a half carat, princess cut stone in a plain 24 karat yellow gold setting." Marinette read from a slip of paper that had been in the box.
"So, will you be designing your own wedding gown?" Penny Rolling asked as she walked over. "I know what you designed for Jagged and I were simply wonderful."
Meanwhile, Adrien had been pulled aside by the guys.
"I'm still your best bro, right?" Nino asked.
"Absolutely." Adrien assured him.
"She's quite a little lady, and totally rock-n-roll, so you take care of her." Jagged said, shaking Adrien's hand.
"Don't worry, Jagged, I'll treat you niece right." Adrien replied, drawing a laugh from the others.
"And believe me, I know you'll take care of me." Marinette said as she made her way to Adrien's side and hugged him. "He already does." she added drawing a laugh from everyone.
"Excuse me."
The laughter stilled when Nathalie walked up, her tablet under her arm and a courier pouch over her shoulder.
"I don't mean to break up this celebration, but I must speak with Marinette and Adrien alone for a moment."
The couple shared a look, and Marinette nodded slightly.
"Of course, Nathalie." Adrien said, and they followed her to a more private area away from the others. "What can we do for you?"
Nathalie gave them a brief, soft smile. "First of all let me congratulate you both."
"Thank you, Nathalie, but that didn't call for any level of privacy." Marinette commented.
Nathalie sighed softly, and looked down. "No, it didn't." she said. "Seeing as you are now eighteen, Marinette, there are some documents from Gabriel that I can now present to you."
Marinette was thoughtful for a moment. "My birthday was Wednesday." she said.
"Yes." Nathalie said. "Well it took Gabriel's legal team a bit longer than he thought to process them." She explained, then held up her tablet. "This is a prerecorded message."
Marinette reflexively pulled back a bit when Gabriel's face appeared on the screen.
"Greetings, Miss Dupain-Cheng," he said, "seeing as you have reached your eighteenth year, I have prepared some support for you in your wishes to open your own design boutique. Among the documents Nathalie has for you, you will find the deed to a loft. It is in your name as owner and you will find it fully equipped and stocked. The address and key are included with the documents. Despite everything between us I do wish you the best of luck.
"These are yours." Nathalie said, handing Marinette a thick manila envelope. "And these are the keys to the loft with the address on a card."
"Thank you." Marinette said softly as she took the envelope.
"And again, my congratulations on your engagement." Nathalie added with a small smile.
Marinette nodded her thanks as she thumbed through the documents. She looked up when Adrien gave a chuckle.
Seeing her questioning look he smiled. "I guess this will change that meeting with the design team on Monday."
MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM
It was a couple hours later and Adrien and Marinette exited the town car outside a darkened building. They approached a door, and Marinette unlocked it and they went in, then up a flight of stairs where Marinette unlocked another door. Since the door opened inward and to the left, Marinette felt along the wall and found a set of three switches, throwing them resulted in lights coming on in the room.
"Wow, he wasn't kidding when he said it was fully equipped." Adrien said as they walked further into the loft. "Three sewing machines, and several dress forms."
Marinette looked at the three machines closely. "No, Adrien, only one sewing machine." she corrected. "This one is called a serger, and this other one an embroidery machine. That one I'm going to have to learn to use, but it will eventually make embroidering simple."
They continued to walk around the loft finding a computer terminal linked with a tablet running the same design software that Miraculous Designs had. They continued past a compact, but fully equipped kitchen/dining area and where a bed had been set up.
"What's this?" Adrien asked as he picked up a small remote control from the foot of the bed.
"A remote for the window blinds." Marinette read from the card that had been under it.
Adrien pressed one of the two buttons on it, and they both startled when a section of the wall seemed to split into slats then withdraw to the ceiling, revealing floor to ceiling windows presenting a spectacular view of the Parisian skyline including the Eiffel Tower. Pressing the other button did the same for the opposite wall, but with a view of the Seine. Further down and taking up the width of the loft were cubbies with bolts of cloth in them.
Marinette looked over some of the bolts, then turned to Adrien. "What?" she asked seeing his unhappy face.
"The look on your face." he replied. "I've seen it before, and I guess I'm a little down because I'm not the reason for it now."
Marinette went over to him and gently pulled him into a hug.
"Aid, you make me much happier and I know your love for me will be more permanent than this will ever be, but surprisingly Gabriel knew just what to put in here."
Adrien sighed and returned the embrace.
"Umm, I am going to take this opportunity to turn in my two weeks notice." she said softly into his neck. "I'll call Liliana tomorrow and let her know I've got a backer and ask if she wants to join in."
"So, congratulations on beginning your dream." Adrien said motioning to include the loft.
Marinette took his hand, making sure he could see the ring on her left hand. "This is the true beginning of my dream, having you as my fiancee and soon to be husband. Everything else is just icing on the cake." she reached up to cup his cheek. "I love you, Adrien Agreste, nothing will ever change that."
"I love you too, Maribug." he said and kissed her.
~fin~
A/N And there you have it. I will take this opportunity to thank my readers for having the patience to endure my non-existent posting schedule and the long delays between chapters. Those of you who took the time and effort to comment, I have a special place in my heart for you
Until I decide to polish something to the point of publishing it, I bid you all a fond adieu.
BAC
