Hello my lovely readers! I'm finally back with a new chapter! I want you to know that this chapter has my blood sweat and tears put into it. I went through many different versions of this chapter that I completely had to scrap because I just didn't feel like it was going in the right direction. Hours upon hours. A great deal of pages. All gone.
I tell you this because I want you to know that I have been working on this chapter tirelessly. Yes, I know it took a long time. And there were moments when I knew I had to start all over again that I almost felt like giving up. But I didn't. I pushed through it, and I am really pleased with my final product.
As you read, I truly hope that you find the wait was worth it…
Disclaimer: When I am writing in the perspectives of Marinette and Adrien, I will ALWAYS refer to them by their real names, regardless if they are transformed or not. So try to not let that confuse you. Just try to be mindful of the situation and if I have stated their detransformation or not.
Also, I would like to give a big shout out to my beta readers, Tashers581 on Wattpad and Sylvia. Thank you HappGorl for drawing my villain once again!
(PSA: Make sure to read my note at the bottom of the chapter!)
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Eight years.
When Marinette was a child, eight years seemed like a lifetime. Heck, eight years was a lifetime for someone so young! In eight years, one could go through both collège and lycée. If you had a favorite TV show, well, there would be enough time for all eight seasons to be completed.
Eight years had always been such a large amount of time.
So it was only natural that Marinette had thought the years would continue to move that slow. She didn't have to worry about the future she had once visited. That Adrien who had cried on her shoulder - it didn't matter yet - he existed in a future that was way off in the distance.
There was no use in thinking too much about it. All Marinette had to do was simply live in the present.
And oh boy! Had she ever lived in the present!
Day after day, Marinette lived her life to the fullest. Had everything been perfect? Certainly not. But she always had the promise of that beautiful future in order to help her get through it.
When Gabriel had threatened Marinette when she and Adrien started dating, she had been strong, never losing sight of the promise of her career in fashion. When Adrien decided to break all ties with his father, forfeiting the right to his inheritance, Marinette stood firmly by his side, remembering the promise of their adorable cottage. And even when they had been forced to hold such a small, secret ceremony in fear of Gabriel trying to ruin it, she never let that weigh on her shoulders. She had the promise of the most beautiful marriage.
For eight years, Marinette blissfully worked towards these assurances: Adrien, her rose garden, their baby. All of that was waiting for her in the future.
Until - it wasn't.
Her knowledge of the passing of time had betrayed her. Eight years wasn't a lifetime. It was hardly even a moment.
And now Marinette had somehow aged into a twenty-five year old woman. She had a beautiful cottage, a drop dead gorgeous husband, and her precious first born child, Emma, on the way.
No longer were these the guarantees of the future. Somehow, somewhen - they had turned into her present day. And as she sat on the plane from Milan to Paris, Marinette, for the first time in a little over eight years, was fearful of what was to come.
She sighed, looking out the tiny window, the bright morning sun glinting off the airplane wing.
If only she could go back to living for all of the future promises. If only she knew how things would turn out. Then maybe, just maybe, she would be able to enter this new challenge with confidence; just like she had done when she was seventeen.
»»-►
There was a plan.
A simple, easy-to-follow plan.
First, defeat the Akuma. Marinette knew that, of course. She had gone over it plenty of times with Alix.
That wasn't so hard to start with.
Was it?
So why, upon exiting the portal, had Marinette not only completely neglected to look for the villain, but impulsively and ridiculously thrown herself right into the arms of Chat?
Yep. That was the position in which she currently found herself. Marinette couldn't even go for five whole seconds without completely flinging herself at Adrien.
She hadn't meant to, obviously. She really had planned on jumping straight into action. But as soon as she had seen him - the somewhat awkward, lanky Chat Noir that was her partner, reaching desperately in her direction - all rationality completely faded.
Because he was here. Right in front of her. The love of her life - her future husband - Adrien Agreste was right here, and he was hers for the taking.
So what if the so-called villain was about to attack. If they were hit, so be it. Bunnix would always be there to save them, and Marinette wouldn't mind spending the rest of her life begging, the somewhat meticulous heroine, for her forgiveness.
This moment. This embrace. It was completely worth it.
Not only had Marinette managed to crush her arms around him, burrowing her face in his chest (since when had it been so defined?), but Adrien had effectively followed in like manner, enveloping her in the biggest bear hug she believed he had ever given.
His response hadn't been immediate, granted, but it didn't take more than a few shocked, stiff seconds before he relaxed, completely melting into her embrace. The hug in return then happened so quickly, yet fluidly that Marinette could only determine that he had been waiting entirely too long for this exact moment.
To say her heart was now running a mile a minute would be a massive understatement.
She simply had to take in this euphoric moment to enjoy their closeness, slightly snickering at herself for ever believing this Adrien could ever pale in comparison to the one she had previously been hugging. If the pure giddiness and buzzing throughout her body wasn't enough to confirm her prior idiocy, then the tingling, burning sensation she felt as Adrien's cheek pressed softly against the top of her head certainly did it.
Because this hug, this embrace, it was completely different. Before, she had simply been comforting, receiving all the sorrow of the man that would one day be her husband. But this time - she could feel it. This Adrien, no matter how quickly and unexpectedly she had thrown herself on him, this Adrien was pouring all his love and devotion into the girl he was holding right now. There was no other woman. No other 'future Marinette' in which he 'split' his affections. This was all for her, and Marinette didn't know, if, once completely released, she would be able to stand under the weight of all these beautiful emotions.
Because he had still yet to discover her identity. How much more would his love spill forth once he knew it's not only Ladybug but Marinette that he was holding?
"M'lady," he softly breathed into her ear, the slight huskiness in his voice causing a shiver to run down her spine. Was he trying to be this seductive? "Not that I'm not enjoying this, because believe me, I am. Especially after seeing you get hit by that attack and forgetting, for a second, that Bunnix could bring you back." He somehow managed to squeeze her even tighter. "But could you please fill me in on what clawsed this sudden little display of affection?"
Ba-dum.
"Ooh no." She unwrapped her arms from around his back, pushing against his chest, hoping the distance, no matter how small, would somehow calm her racing heart down. "That pun was bad for even you, Adrien."
Immediately, his arms stiffened around her. Then, after a brief moment, he visibly relaxed, as if whatever had been on his mind had simply slipped away.
Without warning, he raised his brow, tilting his head down slightly, as he peered up over his lashes, his eyes looking playful, yet somehow… mischievous.
Ba-dum.
"What?" she nervously giggled, ignoring the tightness in her chest as she slightly raised her index finger, tapping his bell.
A strange light flickered at the edge of her vision. Turning to face it, she barely had enough time to slip from Chat Noir's grasp, unclasping her yo-yo and spinning it in front of them, barely preventing the blast from sending them both on a little field trip into the future.
Right. She took a deep breath, glancing back at Chat, her yo-yo still spinning, her breath strangely uneven. "We seriously need to focus," she spoke more to herself than she did to Adrien.
"Do you have any deets on the villain? Well, besides his ability to send people to the future. That was fun and all..." she flicked some stray hairs over her shoulder as she tried to keep her mind on the task at hand and not on her most previous adventure. "But I'm a bit more curious at this point about a potential weakness."
Chat stood there unaffectedly, staring point-blank right at Marinette, smirking and crossing his arms as if saying, Oh? There's an akuma? So what about it?
"Maybe I'll tell you what I discovered," he raised his fist, propping up his chin as he somehow managed to arch his eyebrow even higher than earlier, "if you tell me how you found I was Adrien."
Ba-dum.
Marinette's heart stuttered and her eyes widened as her mouth automatically popped open.
"W-what?!" Her yo-yo mindlessly began slowing. "When did I? H-how did you-"
"I thought you said we needed to focus," he bantered, jumping in front of her, whisking out his baton in order to block another burst of light. "Or were you really planning on just openly gawking at my model figure for the next hour."
"I-I..." her breath caught slightly, her eyes wandering over his suddenly near-perfect-looking features.
She swallowed hard, internally berating herself for her previous dismissal of Chat Noir's appearance. Was he tall? Definitely. But how on earth had she ever deemed Adrien's obvious gorgeous body as anything less than perfection?
It was as if a filter had finally been lifted. She didn't know if all these years she had simply just been ignoring Chat's clear attractiveness, or if somehow, unconsciously, all of her focus on Adrien's particular body had left her completely blinded.
"Oh so you were?"
She guiltily snapped her eyes back up to his face, her ears searing in embarrassment.
He playfully wagged his eyebrows, all the while making sure to keep his baton spinning as he faced back, keeping her the center of his entire focus.
Marinette scoffed. Why that teasing little-
Thud!
Marinette and Chat both turned their attention towards the sound, only to see that the Akuma had finally made his grand landing on their little rooftop.
»»-►
This is useless. Marinette dropped her pencil, rubbing circles against her temple.
She had assumed the hour and a half long plane ride was the perfect time to touch up on some of her latest designs, and she'd attempted to do just that. But for some reason, her mind was just too gosh-darn stuck in the past!
It had been a while since she had thought about her and Adrien's official beginning, but she supposed since things were about to come full circle there really was no way to avoid experiencing a certain amount of flashbacks.
Just like Alya had stated, Marinette had no trouble taking Adrien as her boyfriend almost as soon as she had returned home. That next day at school had been priceless, what with everyone's freaked out reactions. Marinette had been sure to hold onto Adrien's hands as much as she could, and seeing the gaping mouths of each and every person they passed never got old.
For those first few days after the reveal, it had been painfully obvious that Adrien was still trying to let everything soak in. It was as if each and every morning he woke up, he had to convince himself that it hadn't all just been a dream.
Had it been a dream? Sometimes, even Marinette had caught herself wondering the same thing.
After those first few days of initial shock (or whatever it had been that Adrien experienced), things finally seemed to click, and more and more Marinette caught his Chat shining through in their day-to-day interactions.
Adrien really was such a gentleman: holding doors, Chat-like bows, making sure Marinette was comfortable with their rapidly growing relationship, the works. And even though he openly flirted with her a lot more than she would have ever expected, it was honestly really cute coming from Adrien.
Not that it wasn't equally as cute coming from Chat…
And boy oh boy had she fallen for that smarmy cat. No longer was Ladybug immune to his wild and coquettish antics, but she seemed to swoon with almost his every movement. To say that it took a while before their teamwork was back up to par would be quite an understatement.
And it wasn't like things were automatically magic and roses, either. Even though they had been quick to admit their feelings to one another, it was quite another thing entirely before they experienced any real sense of closeness. There was still so much they didn't know about each other. So many years had been wasted, just skirting on the edges of a real relationship, that once they started dating, it was almost as if they were stuck in their habits and unable to emerge from the depths of years of piled up secrets.
They had known each other for so long - experienced so much pain, fear, and even happiness together - but they had never, ever been able to break beneath the surface.
The reveal had broken the ice, but it wasn't as if all their memories would fling themselves out of the water like salmon heading upstream. They still needed a fishing pole and lots of patience.
It wasn't until several months later, when Adrien finally openly talked about the disappearance of his mother, crying in Marinette's arms for the first time (well, for him) that there was a huge emotional turning point in their relationship. Because no longer were they just in love with each other, but they were actively acting in love with one another. Sharing their burdens: their deepest, darkest fears and traumas. No longer did that pain only belong to Adrien. It was Marinette's as well, and she would do everything in her power to be there for him.
Marinette closed her eyes, taking a deep breath, allowing the hum of the airplane to lull her into a state of relaxation. She hadn't really thought about it before, but she had been right when she had stopped the future Adrien from telling her about his mother. That really was something that she had needed to hear from her Adrien.
Timing was everything.
»»-►
Focus, Marinette! She reminded herself, attempting to analyze her foe while desperately trying to stop thinking about that stupid cat with his stupid perfect abs and stupid dancing eyebrows.
It was the first time that she had truly gotten the chance to take a good look at the villain, and if he just happened to hear the slight snicker coming from her mouth, she wouldn't have minded. Because, seriously, this guy just looked plain stupid.
With the body of a fly, and the black and white striped outfit of someone who looked like they had just escaped prison, Marinette could only jeer at Hawmoth's clear lack of direction. The giant analogue clock on his chest clearly pointed to the fact that his powers had something to do with time, but Marinette couldn't get over the fact his getup was literally a representation of the tropes stealing time and time flies. Like, really, Hawkmoth - just pick one!
"Oh, don't stop flirting on my account," the villain devilishly grinned. "We've got all the time in the world."
Chat stopped twirling his baton (a strange decision), using it rather for support as he lackadaisically leaned against it, his arms folded against the top, his legs crossed in an almost comical, exaggerated manner. "Then why, perchance, Sir Fly, haven't you hit us yet?"
The Akuma faltered, tapping the clock on his chest, causing a green projection of a clock to appear in front of him. "I did!" He stretched his hand forward, twisting the virtual clock as if he were turning a doorknob, looking very much, Marinette noted, like Tony Stark manipulating holographic data on the movie Iron Man. "But something must have gone wrong!"
Marinette tried to suppress a laugh as she stepped forward next to Chat, placing her hand on her hip. "Oh, it worked." She grinned. "In fact, I had quite an ameowsing time in the few days I got to just paws in the future, discovering some quite unpurrlievable secrets." She winked at Chat, delighted to see his flustered, red cheeked reaction at her clear insinuation that she had spent some... if not all of that time with him. Since the cat was already out of the bag. Why not just roll with it?
"That was, until my friend brought me back," she turned her focus back on the villain, not missing Chat almost completely losing his balance out of the corner of her eye. "You realize that's what happened don't you?" She slowly shook her head, half mocking him and the off-kilter cat trying to save face right next to her. "No matter where, when, or how many times you try to send us - she will just bring us back."
"You're lying!" The Akuma roared, a beam of light blasting from the projected clock in front of him.
Somersaulting out of the way, Marinette quickly righted herself, flinging her yoyo towards the now-exposed clock on his chest. However, just as it was about to hit, the green virtual projection thrust out once again, knocking the yo-yo out of its path.
"Chat!" She called out, annoyed at seeing him nonchalantly peering over the edge of the roof. "We need to come up with a plan. Now would be a good time to tell me what you've already figured out."
He whipped his head back in her direction, a giant cheshire grin spreading across his face. "Sure thing, Bugaboo," he waved her over in his direction, extending his baton and vaulting over to a neighboring rooftop.
Hurriedly following suit, and putting a little bit of buffer distance between themselves and the villain, Marinette found herself hiding with Chat, crouching behind a large air conditioning unit a few buildings away.
"I've got a theory," he pointedly stated after checking to make sure the villain had lost sight of them. "But first," his eyes bore into hers, "I need you to answer a few questions."
Ba-dum.
Of course he did...
"Not now, Chat!" She poked his chest, dodging his hypnotic gaze as to not be tempted to immediately start spilling all her secrets. "We really need to-"
"Shh…" his gloved finger pressed against her lips, the unexpected contact causing her eyes to jump back to his. "I know," he softly cooed, the sincerity in his expression reminding her once again that, yes, this was Adrien.
Ba-dum.
"I'll forget about that other thing, for now." He gently traced his claw towards the edge of her mouth, her breath hitching and lips involuntarily parting at the new, intoxicating sensation. "But I really need to know how far into the future you were sent. Was it hours? Days? Month-"
"Years." Marinette managed to squeak out, grabbing onto Chat's, no Adrien's, hand and lowering it from her mouth. "I won't tell you how many," she could practically feel her own eyes glisten, "but it was years, Adrien."
His ensuing red-faced-sputtering was almost too cute for Marinette to bear. Were those even words trying to come out of his mouth?
"What?" She playfully cocked her brow, pressing his hand against her bosom. "Ladybug got your tongue, Kitty Cat?"
At that, he jerked his hand from hers, balling it into a fist and using it to cover his mouth as he hunched over, choking.
Flirting with him had never been so fun.
Suddenly, Marinette could hear new screams as they erupted in the street behind them.
A little too close for comfort, she frowned, miffed at herself for, yet again, wasting so much time. Never, besides maybe her time spent as Lady Noire, had she ever allowed herself to become so distracted in the middle of an attack. Her idiocy this morning (although it had been evening when she left) seemed to have no limits.
"I'm sorry," she placed her hand on his shoulder, hoping the comforting gesture would help in calming him down. "I shouldn't have goaded you on like that. Was my answer helpful at all? Talk to me, Minou."
"M'hem," Chat cleared his throat.
He looked like he was about to have another coughing fit, but, surprisingly enough, that simple, soothing contact seemed enough to restrain it. He raised his head, an almost comical grin plastered across his face and rested his free hand on top of hers, squeezing it gently.
"It was."
"Come out, come out wherever you aaare, little bug and kitten," the villain sang, his voice no more than a schoolbus's length away.
"And?" Marinette kindly prompted Chat, trying not to display her nervousness at the rapid flashes of light now dancing at the edge of her vision.
"His weakness is time." Adrien matter-of-factly stated, winking (How dare he be so flirtatious yet still so heart-melting?!) as he stood up and pulled her along. "Just follow my lead, Bugaboo."
But all she could do was to simply watch as he ran from their hiding spot, lengthening his baton and launching himself towards the unsuspecting villain.
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Alya was the first person to discover their secret. It took her all of point five seconds to piece together Ladybug's strange behavior around Chat alongside Marinette's newfound confidence with Adrien.
Being aware that Alya knew of their identities in the future, made it that much easier for Marinette to own up to her discovery.
The plane jolted. Relaxation time was over. Marinette's eyes burst open and she had to suppress a giggle, remembering the hilarity of that little exchange.
It had happened approximately three days after her return from the future. Alya stormed into her bedroom right after the first Akuma attack in which she fought alongside her boyfriend.
The battle had been a disaster, naturally, because Marinette just couldn't stop looking at him.
Of course Adrien was in the room with her when Alya barged in. He had been more than excited at the chance of being able to detransform together. And his presence just added that much more fuel to Alya's fire.
"I've had my suspicions for a while already," she huffed, barely having made it to the top of the stairs. "But that poor performance out there today certainly nailed it."
"Hi Alya," Adrien had greeted. "It's nice to see you, too"
"Can it, Agreste," she sauntered across the room, poking him in the chest. "Not only was Marinette totally incapable of completing her job today because of her sudden fascination with ogling you, but don't for one second think that I didn't catch glimpses of you checking out her butt, too."
Adrien had tried to feign innocence, but Marinette knew it was pointless. Alya had caught them, and there was nothing left to do but accept it.
Clearly, it was within her right to tell Nino as well. They were Rena Rouge and Carapace (her words) for crying out loud. Marinette had to draw the line after that, but it didn't take more than a year for their other crime fighting partners to discover their secret as well.
Apparently once romantic feelings were added, it was much easier to recognize the sappy, lovebitten pair.
One month of dating was all it took before Marinette's mom, Sabine, walked in on the duo detransforming in her bedroom. And was she surprised? No. Apparently she had figured it out years ago. Adrien's identity had been a mere guess until they became an official couple, but such is life.
Marinette's so carefully guarded identity wasn't so secret afterall.
Marinette paused her reminiscing, closing her notebook. Honestly, having her friends and family know she and Adrien were Ladybug and Chat Noir was so much better than having to shoulder all of the burden on their own.
And whatever it was that was lying in the path ahead of them, Marinette knew she and Adrien had an abundance of shoulders to lean on.
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That's usually My line. Marinette pursed her lips, hardly managing to suppress the urge to burst into giggles as she quickly lost all sight of her partner.
Over the years, Chat had often taken on more of a leader type role, but no matter how many times it happened, Marinette was never any less amused to watch him in action. Her heart swelled with affection, thinking of how her pupil never ceased to rise to the occasion.
Deciding now was as good as ever, she quietly summoned her Lucky Charm.
"What the heck am I supposed to do with this?" She pouted at the polka-dotted Chat doll in her hand. It was cute and all, but seriously, how was she supposed to use a stuffed animal to defeat a villain?
"You're going to have to do better than that, Chat Noir," the Akuma bellowed not too far off in the distance.
Peering around the corner, Marinette quickly found a crouching Chat Noir on the adjacent rooftop - the still airborne villain launching a flurry of attacks directly towards him.
"Maybe," Chat countered as he gracefully weaved back and forth, dodging each and every blast, making Marinette's jaw drop at just how beautiful his movements were. Had Chat Noir's fighting style always been this fluid? Not that she should have been surprised - Adrien had long since been one of Paris's top fencing students.
"But," Chat slowed his pace as the barrage ended, "you have a few things to improve upon, yourself, Monsieur Flying Bandit."
In fact, she giggled to herself, almost completely tuning out their conversation - all of the city's fangirls would completely flip out if they knew that not only was Chat Noir France's most dashing and roguish superhero but that he was the Adrien Agreste, teen heartthrob of Paris, all rolled up into one, extremely gorgeous, and breathtaking package.
"The name's Time Stealer to you," the villain retorted, reaching once again towards his projection. "I won't stop until I've taken everyone's precious moments!"
Well, Marinette dreamily smiled, at least she would be taking him off the market before he added France's most eligible bachelor to his ever growing list of titles.
"So that's what you were trying to do," Chat balked, hurriedly backflipping to dodge another attack. "From the looks of all the people who have already come back," he glanced towards the street, "I wouldn't say you have been very successful."
Wait. Marinette shook her head, trying once again to make herself focus on the present. What is he talking about?
She followed Chat's gaze, having to step a bit closer to the edge in order to get a full view of what was going on. Sure enough, people were materializing in the streets, one after another.
How had she missed that before?
"What would you know?!" Time Stealer's howl quickly drew Marinette's attention. "A person can miss a lot in just a few minutes."
"Maybe if they had the lifespan of a fly," Chat shouted as Marinette watched him masterfully elude another series of blasts. "But with the little trips you've been sending people on, you've simply been a mere annoyance."
Oh!
Marinette stifled a laugh, recognizing the daring in Chat's tone. It wouldn't be long now, and the Akuma would do exactly what Chat Noir wanted.
Reverse psychology always performed wonders.
But the question was - why hadn't Time Stealer been sending everyone else as far into the future as he had sent her? If he truly was trying to make them miss out on their 'precious moments,' then why was he settling for sending so many forward by just a few minutes?
And then there was the other factor that Marinette didn't quite get. Why would Adrien even want Time Stealer to up his game? So what if he was being a lame villain? Wasn't that a good thing?
"Ha!" Time Stealer reared his head, adjusting his virtual projection once again. "Not all my victims were quite so lucky. And it looks like you're about to be one of the unfortunate ones you annoying feline!"
"Only if you can catch me!" Chat mocked. But Marinette could hear the resignation in his voice. Adrien wanted the Akuma's attack to hit him.
Her heart skipped a beat.
But why?
Having her partner disappear into the future was not exactly something she would deem as being particularly helpful.
Waiting for the seemingly inevitable, Marinette turned her focus back towards the villain. But, instead of immediately attacking, like she expected, Time Stealer hesitated.
It was then, even though his back was to her, that Marinette saw it: the all-too-familiar faint purple glow of her apparently-not-too-happy arch villain. Evidently the idea of sending another Miraculous far off into the future wasn't quite what he wanted. Talk about counterproductive. She wondered if Hawkmoth had even thought about this power before so carelessly granting it to this misshapen villain.
Another movement caught her eye, and she switched her gaze just in time to see Chat Noir flying (catapulting?) back towards her rooftop. Upon landing, he pointedly looked in her direction, nodding as if saying, "This is it. Time to get your Ladybug on."
She swallowed hard, still not quite grasping the entirety of Adrien's stratagem.
Her eyes wandered to the Chat doll she had been unconsciously squeezing in her hands - a Lucky Charm that didn't seem useful in the slightest bit.
But, the thought flashed into her head, maybe it didn't need to have a purpose. Maybe it was just trying to tell her something - to let her know that she should have faith in Chat Noir's plan.
That seemed reasonable enough. She had received plenty of Lucky Charms like this in the past. But the problem was, she still didn't know what was going on in that devious cat's head.
Ugh!
If she hadn't been so caught up in teasing him earlier, then maybe he would have actually had the chance to explain. Why had she been so stu-
Beep, beep, beep! Her earrings chimed.
Marinette straightened her shoulders. Berating herself wouldn't get her anywhere. She had to figure out what Adrien was thinking and she had to figure it out fast.
She looked back out to him, hoping he might give her some kind of hint. But it was too late. Because at that exact moment Time Stealer was already propulsing another stream of light.
And it was going directly towards Adrien.
There was no more time to think: Marinette's body launched into action. And no sooner than Adrien had disappeared, Ladybug was already there, thrusting her yo-yo towards the unsuspecting villain.
This time, however, his projection didn't get a chance to appear, and the exposed clock on his chest completely shattered - a darkened butterfly emerging from the pieces.
Well, that had been a lot easier than she had expected.
Time Stealer dropped to his knees, making Marinette thankful that he had still been hovering over the adjacent building instead of over the several stories-high crevice.
"Oh no you don't!" Marinette quickly retracted her yo-yo, pressing it and saying her signature phrase.
"Time to de-evilize!" She spun her yo-yo, quickly catching the fleeing Akuma. "Gotcha!" She pressed her yo-yo again, releasing the now purified insect. "Bye-bye, little butterfly."
Without a second to waste, she (reluctantly) threw the tiny Chat Noir doll in the sky, incanting, "Miraculous Ladybug!"
She watched, smiling, as the familiar pink shrouded ladybugs darted throughout the streets of Paris, happy cries following the path of their magic.
»»-►
Marinette wasn't sure when she had realized that she was living the future that she had visited. Was it when she had turned twenty-five? Or perhaps the moment she had found out she was pregnant?
Things about her experience in the future were certainly starting to make more sense. Painting and decorating the room for baby Emma, of course Marinette had made sure to lock it. Why, even the conundrum of the missing feminine products had been solved when Marinette had given them to an overworked Alya. Her new job at the news station had really put her through the ringer and she had hardly had any time to shop for months. Sending Nino to the store had been an option, but as soon as Marinette had heard of Alya's dire plight, she had been more than happy to provide a donation. Besides, with the pregnancy and nursing, who knew when she would have her next period.
It wasn't until Plagg had sent her a certain video of a rather shocked, terrified, and very naked husband that she remembered the young girl staying at her home and the, previously forgotten, fact about her period starting.
Booking her ticket to Milan had pretty much been the final nail in the coffin. This was it. She was finally the Marinette that she had met in the future, and was about to live the same time period all over again just from a different perspective.
Had she made some mistakes in how she had treated her husband? Certainly. It had been too easy to forget the emotional side of things when she was literally hundreds of miles and eight years removed from the situation. Adrien had been really good at hiding his hurt feelings from her in the past, and honestly until he had called her, she had completely forgotten the advice that the future him had given. Yes, her blunders had been plenty.
She just hoped calling Gabriel hadn't been one of them.
»»-►
"You did it, my Lady!" Chat's voice suddenly appeared behind her. "I knew you'd figure it out!"
Ba-dum.
She jerked around, words hastily toppling out of her mouth. "Y-yeah! It was an accident- I mean, I beat him, ya'know, but my body just kind of acted on its- wait… I really don't have a clue what just happened," she sputtered, shaking her head in disbelief that she had actually managed to defeat the villain.
Chat Noir chuckled, stepping forward, nearly closing all distance between them, and quietly whispered in her ear, "You're cute when you're nervous."
Ba-dum!
She jerked back, only for Chat to catch her arm, his eyes pleading, begging for her to just stay with him in that moment.
Those eyes. Her heart shattered. Those beautiful piercing, yet desperate eyes. If only she could take back time - to all of those moments she had shoved this poor precious boy aside. If only she could have chosen, rather, to wrap her arms tightly around him. Then maybe, just maybe she could have prevented that look from ever entering his eyes.
But as it stood, this Chat Noir, this Adrien, was still afraid that she would one day no longer be by his side.
She could see it now - in his present and in his past actions. She had been so blind! Every little glance. At the end of every battle. He had been terrified! Just when was it going to be their last good-bye?
He loved her. Oh, gosh did he love her.
And she had just thrown all of his feelings aside!
And what?! They were just supposed to forever to keep their identities a secret? To just casually one day say good-bye? Hey, it was nice knowin' ya, kid. Catch you never!
Right… like she could have ever really done that. Even without knowing Chat Noir was Adrien, she would be devastated without him in her life! How had she never thought of that before? How had she thought that keeping things secret would just be alright?
Because it wasn't. And she had somehow deluded herself into believing that lie.
"I'm sorry." He reached up to her cheek, tucking a stray hair behind her ear, and she couldn't help but to blush furiously in the process. "That was thoughtless of me. Just because you figured out my identity doesn't mean that you would suddenly have-"
"Shhh, Kitty." She pressed her finger to his lips. If he could do it, so could she.
This is it. She smiled, her entire body buzzing, responding to the fact that this was the moment. She was about to confess everything to Adrien.
All she had to do was simply say the words. Then her entire life would be different.
Adrien's life would be different. Because from this day onward, she would be his, and Chat Noir would no longer be some lost and lonely stray.
Pushing aside her wildly roaming thoughts for the moment, Marinette decided to admire the visage of Adrien standing so vulnerably in front of her. She sighed contentedly, softly removing her finger from his lips, gently placing her hand upon his cheek. The tips of her fingers grazed the edge of his mask, but Marinette felt as if she could finally see everything that was held underneath. His eyes no longer looked at her with despondence, but more with a natural cat-like curiosity. Having him bare himself in front of her like this, she could almost swear that she could feel him draining away all of her nervous energy.
Because there was nothing to truly be afraid of. He was her partner - her best friend. They were two halves a whole - made perfectly for one another.
Marinette fluttered her eyes, hardly believing the way in which the mid-day sun perfectly framed him. It was almost as if even the heavens were happily waiting for the moment of their union.
Unable to wait another second longer, Marinette took a deep breath.
"Adrien, I-"
"My baby!"
She flung her head towards the unwelcome interrupter, her heart sinking as her hand fell limply to her side. Of course she had forgotten to take care of the Akuma victim. Her job wasn't finished.
She sighed, looking at the previously akumatized man, who was now freaking out as he peered over the edge of the adjacent roof, scouring for a way down.
He couldn't have been much older than twenty-five, Marinette decided, having spent so much time recently with the twenty-five year old Adrien. He was tall and slender, she noted, with auburn shoulder length hair.
"I've got to get to the hospital!" He continued, now pacing frantically. "My baby! Oh gosh! My wife is going to kill me; I've missed the birth of our first child!"
A hand pressed against her shoulder. "It looks like you're going to have to save that thought for later. Right now, we've got to take care of this guy."
Yep. She nodded her head, looking back towards Adrien.
Her earrings beeped for the second time.
Nothing was going at all like she had envisioned.
»»-►
It happened the day before she had talked on the phone with Adrien. The day before she realized how hard he had already been taking all of this.
She had thought about it for months, talked to Tikki, prayed for hours; and every single time she came to the same conclusion. She had to tell Gabriel.
Everytime she brought it up with Adrien, he completely shut her down. Of course, she understood his resentment; she had lived through enough threats and fear from that man to once vow that she would always hate him.
How could there even have been another option? He was terrible. Escaping from his grips had all but broken Adrien. He had been left with nothing: no penny to his name and no love from his father. If it hadn't been for Marinette and her family, and of course, all of their friends, Adrien may have never recovered. But thankfully, that hadn't been the case, and their love had been enough to support and carry him.
But Marinette had always been able to see the residual pain. Even though he claimed that he was over it, she knew better than that. Chat Noir had never been able to truly hide his emotions.
And now that she was pregnant, with that man's grandchild, she knew they wouldn't be able to keep their distance forever. Regardless of her opinions of him, wasn't it only courteous to let him know that his only son was about to become a father?
Because there was no world in which both Gabriel and Marinette Agreste existed that he wouldn't discover their secret.
No.
Scratch that. Her pregnancy was not some sort of classified information. And regardless of Adrien's delusions, or maybe just selective ignorance, there would be no way that Gabriel wouldn't get wind of the pregnant woman who just happened to share his last name attending the world's fashion designer conference.
Of course, he wouldn't be there. He always sent Nathalie to represent him at such things. But Marinette knew. She had to get to him first. Beat all the press. The gossipers. It was best that Gabriel found out on her terms. Not someone else's.
Since she had become pregnant, at least noticeably pregnant, things had been pretty quiet. Certainly, she had plenty of work to do back at the shop, but it wasn't as if she had needed to make any public appearances.
And while her business was starting to really take off, it wasn't as if her brand was quite popular enough for her to be considered famous. Adrien had been out of the spotlight for a long time. So really, besides the whole secret superhero thing (which she was taking a break from anyway), their life was relatively unnoticed and quiet.
Getting the invitation to this prestigious event was honestly quite the shock to Marinette, and she had made sure that she and her employees would have plenty of time in Milan beforehand to completely prepare for it.
She really hadn't meant to wait until the day before Gabriel would inevitably hear of her pregnancy to tell him. But with how busy and stressed out she had been, that was just how it had happened.
She tapped her fingers on the edges of her notebook, absently-mindedly looking out the window and thinking back to that terrifying moment.
Calling him had been one of the scariest and hardest things she had ever done in her life. Granted, it had been a while since she had transformed. Maybe that had something to do with her seeming lack of courage.
His voice had been cold and void of all emotion just like she had expected. And if he was at all surprised by her news, he didn't express it.
Heck! It was almost as if they had been talking about some kind of business transaction - not the fact that he was about to be having his first grandchild!
Honestly, the only thing good that had come from that conversation was the fact that he had asked for them to no longer speak using such "useless" honorifics. "We share a last name," he had said. "It will be easier if we speak to each other using our first names."
Easier indeed. Marinette huffed, lazily watching the clouds slowly pass by below. She suspected he just didn't want to accept the fact that she was actually married to Adrien. Saying the words Mme. Agreste was most likely like poison on his lips. A complete blasphemy by his standards. He had never approved of their marriage. Why would he honor the name that had come with it?
"Attention passengers," the flight attendant's voice projected over the intercom. "We will be arriving at our destination in five minutes. Please everyone, remain seated and buckle your seatbelts."
Five minutes. Marinette tucked her notepad back into her bag, suddenly feeling a bit lightheaded. You can do this, Marinette. Just breathe!
╔═══━━━─── • ───━━━═══╗
Ladybug had never been the one to make mistakes in battle. That just wasn't her thing. She had the freaking power of luck on her side for Pete's sake. Chat was the unlucky one. He was the one always being hit by the akuma's attack, not Ladybug.
At least, that was what Adrien had always thought.
But today had proven that Ladybug - oh, his sweet, amazingly awesome Ladybug - welp, she wasn't perfect after all.
Not only had she managed to be struck by Time Stealer's attack straight away (Adrien's didn't count because he had allowed himself to get hit on purpose), but she had completely ignored the Akuma and forgotten about her obligation to take care of him once he reverted into civilian.
Okay, Adrien conceded. It hadn't helped that he teased her when she admitted to not having figured out Time Stealer's actual weakness (which was the fact that it took a significant amount of time for his power to recharge after sending someone an extreme distance into the future or the past, by the way). But come on! How was he supposed to know that for the first time in four years of working together that his words would finally manage to make her flustered.
Alright. Maybe that last part was a bit of a lie. She had been acting strange ever since she had stepped out of Bunnix's portal. And maybe just a tiny little part of Adrien wanted to see the difference in her new reactions. Clearly, her discovering his identity had been a good thing.
Right?
"Have a good afternoon, Chat Noir," the hospital receptionist greeted him as he headed toward the door. Walking Thomas, previously known as Time Stealer, all the way to his wife's hospital room hadn't been exactly what Adrien had wanted, but the poor man had gotten more and more frantic with each passing second. With that state of mind, Adrien doubted he would have been able to find the room on his own. And heaven knows, they didn't need the same man to be akumatised twice in the same day.
He strung his fingers through his hair as he finally made it back outside.
Ladybug was waiting for him.
Ladybug. The Ladybug - queen of secret identities and only seeing each other for business - had actually agreed to meet with him.
And to be quite honest, Adrien was a mess!
He had tried to hide it - to play it cool. Flirt with Ladybug a little. It wasn't a big deal that she had somehow figured out he was Adrien.
Except, well, that was a complete lie.
He may as well have been dying inside.
Ever since she had first said his name, his entire body had been burning, feeling as if tiny little insects were marching and fluttering all over his insides.
Because his Lady, the love of his life, the guardian of all the Miraculous and of all their secrets. She had called him Adrien.
And now she was actually planning on telling him everything?
Because that was what she had said. She would go and recharge Tikki, and after he had safely delivered Thomas, Adrien was supposed to find a quiet place to talk to her. And she had promised to tell him everything.
Adrien's stomach rolled as her words continually replayed in his mind.
Everything.
He rounded the corner, boosting himself to a nearby rooftop, hurriedly scurrying from building to building so as to not be followed by the paparazzi.
Everything.
The rushing air lashed at his cheeks and the midday sun illuminated everything.
Everything!
What the heck did that even mean?
Was she just planning on telling him what happened in the future? Or had she meant she was going to tell him everything, everything?
Adrien's head was spinning, making it harder and harder for him to breathe. He stopped running, finally taking a moment to let in his surroundings.
Of course. He leaned against his baton, panting. Why not?
Dropping down to the open courtyard, Adrien couldn't help but to snicker. He wasn't sure what exactly had led him to this destination, but for some reason he couldn't ignore the feeling of its significance.
Well, better now than never. He clicked the button on his baton to call his Lady.
It was time to learn everything.
༺═──────────────═༻
"I'm here, Kitty," Marinette turned her screen around to show Adrien the school courtyard below. "I'll see you in just a second."
With that, she closed her yoyo, placing it back on her hip and let out a deep breath. Chat Noir was sitting on the bench just under the terrace where she currently stood. Marinette wasn't quite sure why Adrien had chosen their former school to meet up, but she figured since it was a weekend, and was pretty well closed off from prying eyes, it actually kind of was the perfect location.
"This is it, Tikki," she bounced on her heels, speaking more to herself since she hadn't detransformed yet. "I'm going for it."
I'm finally going to make Adrien Agreste mine.
She closed her eyes, her breathing controlled, but not quite silent. "Tikki, spots off."
With a flash of pink, her transformation fell and Tikki appeared smiling in front of her.
"Oh Marinette," she whispered, "I'm so excited for you!"
"Ladybug?" Adrien's voice wafted from below. "Is that you?"
"Can you take care of the cameras, please," Marinette whispered, batting her lashes at Tikki. "I'm standing in a blind zone right now, but I'd rather keep the rest of this little rendezvous a secret."
"Of course," Tikki saluted, "got it covered."
Nodding her head in thanks as the deity flitted away, Marinette took in another deep breath.
She could hear footsteps coming up the stairs. Patience had never really been Chat Noir's thing.
And honestly, she was done with waiting.
༺═──────────────═༻
The phrase "curiosity killed the cat" had never really deterred Adrien. If he wanted to check on something, he sure as heck wasn't going to let a silly little superstition dictate his actions.
Sure he had sometimes chosen to suppress his inquisitive instincts when it came to things such as honoring Ladybug's desire to uphold their secret identities, but right now, for some odd reason, he no longer felt bound by that obligation.
Ladybug was somewhere on the balcony above him, and he had endured the lingering suspense of this conversation for too long already.
His heart slammed against his chest as he ran up the stairs.
Just one more second and he would be there: face to face with his lady.
All it would take was one more step. One small turn of the head and-
Boom!
A body crashed into his, its small yet firm arms tightly wrapping around him.
"Oof!" Adrien instinctively muttered at the impact, barely managing to keep his balance and the both of them from falling down the stairs. "If I had known you would be this eager to hug me again," he glanced down at the black haired head pressing against his chest, "I would have come up with a more clawsome location than my collège
balcony for our little rendezvous, m'la-," the girl in his arms peeked up at him, smiling.
No mask.
That's the first thing he noticed.
His throat tightened as everything inside him suddenly became void of all oxygen.
Blue.
Apart from realizing there was no mask, a pair of bright, dazzling bluebell eyes were the only thing in his focus.
Ladybug's eyes. He smiled, getting lost in their gentle vastness. It was as if he were in the middle of a calm ocean. The serenity of the waters aiding his body once again allowing him to breathe.
Blinking, Adrien tried to take in the rest of her bare-faced features. Freckles dotted her nose, dancing onto the tips of her cheeks. His heart swelled. He had seen some of these freckles peeking beneath her mask several times before, but to finally be seeing every single one of them was such a surreal experience.
Next, came her Starburst pink lips, and Adrien suddenly found himself wondering if they tasted anything like the candy.
Blinking once again, and trying desperately to push that last thought out of his head, all the pieces slowly morphed together. After all these years, Adrien was finally seeing Ladybug's face. And it was so beautiful. So strikingly… familiar?
His eyes widened as realization dawned on him.
He knew this face.
He had seen it every day throughout all of his years in collège and lycée.
"M-Marinette?" he muttered, his mind reeling in confusion. He had been so convinced that he had been looking at Ladybug. But- had he really been that desperate to see Ladybug that he had been willing to confuse her features with Marinette's?
And just how had he not recognized her sooner?
"Hi, Chat!" She beamed, squeezing him even tighter.
He scrunched his brow, looking at her a little closer.
No. He hadn't been imagining it. Marinette and Ladybug really did look astonishingly similar.
"That was you I heard up here?" He half-heartedly asked, losing himself in her eyes once again.
"Yep." She giggled, suddenly dropping her embrace and stepping back shyly, effectively breaking Adrien's gaze.
Instinctively, Adrien stepped forward. He needed to see more. How had he never noticed how much Marinette had looked like Ladybug before?
He froze, shaking his head as if trying to evict the preposterous thought that was forming within.
"I-I thought Ladybug was here." Adrien deflected, scratching the back of his neck. Surely his mind was just playing tricks on him. While, certainly Ladybug and Marinette had some similar traits, that didn't mean anything. Did it?
"She was." Marinette glanced to the floor, tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear.
At just that moment, a ray of sun broke through the clouds, softly illuminating the already radiant girl in front of him, a slight breeze making a gentle dance partner with her loose hair.
Adrien's breath caught in his throat as the intense desire to run his own fingers through her midnight locks to see if they were truly as silken as they looked suddenly overtook him.
"D-Did you happen to see where she went?"
He swallowed, unable to ignore the ever-growing uneasiness in the pit of his stomach.
"I did." She slowly closed the space between them, batting her lashes up at him, as all the nerves in Adrien's body turned electric - a response that, until this point, had only been elicited by Ladybug.
But now, something was completely different.
Marinette. She was different.
"Could you please tell me where she went?" He searched her eyes for an answer.
Those large, familiar bluebell eyes.
His heart stuttered and his breath hitched.
Ever since he had realized where he had inadvertently landed, Adrien knew he had ended up at Collège Françoise Dupont for a reason.
Because that was where they had met as civilians, wasn't it?
"I think you already know the answer to that question, judging from your expression." She timidly reached for his bell, fumbling with it between her fingers.
It was something Ladybug often did anytime she was nervous around him, and Adrien hated to admit that he had placed her in that position more often than he cared for. As he had gotten older, he had become more and more restless with the angst of their relationship, and he had, more often than not, been apt to sweep Ladybug into his arms and overly express his not-so-hidden emotions.
It had always ended the same: Ladybug nervously playing with his bell as she gently tried to let down his feelings.
But she had been right.
Because after all this time, he had failed to recognize her as the amazing friend that has always been right there beside him. He hadn't deserved her love any more than Adrien had been willing to give it.
His eyes had only ever been for Ladybug, and due to that fact, he had been blind in seeing the Ladybug that was right in front of him.
"Of course it's you," he caressed her hand on top of his bell. "We're such idiots."
"Stop it." Marinette's eyes softened. "I know what you're thinking. And don't you dare start blaming yourself for all these years of miscommunication." She softly pressed her free hand against his cheek, making Adrien revel in the fact that there was finally no glove between them. "It's just as much my fault as it is yours, and I'm not about to let your mind go down that road. Believe me, I spent enough time thinking about it when I discovered who you really were in the future. Regretting the past won't help anything. And trust me when I say, this is how our reveal was supposed to happen."
She smiled, removing her hand from his cheek and sliding her other from underneath his. Then, as if it were something commonplace between them, she slid her arms around his back, resting her head against his chest.
Adrien wanted to say something - to say anything. But his thoughts were just too jumbled up in his head.
Marinette was Ladybug.
Ladybug was Marinette.
He had always been in love with Ladybug. That much was certain. But did he really feel the same way about the girl beneath the mask? And if the answer to that question was no, then how much of his love in the first place had been any more than simple misguided affection?
Adrien had to think, and he had to think fast. He took a deep breath, revelling in her familiar, warm sugary scent.
Did he love Marinette?
He had always felt comfortable, safe around her even. But did he love her?
Marinette: the kind, the brave, the compassionate. Paris's own everyday Ladybug, as he had called her. Marinette had been the one he had instinctively gone to when he had needed love advice. She was the girl with whom he had shared his first two dances. When he was lonely and heartbroken after Ladybug hadn't shown up on that candlelit rooftop, Marinette was the one in whom he had found solace.
Time after time it had been Marinette who he had turned to, and it had been Marinette that he had always trusted to be there for him when all he had wanted to do was cry..
Yes, even as Chat Noir, he had turned to her more than once on his toughest of nights.
But why had it always been her. Adrien had never really thought about it much before. He had Chloe, Alya, Nino even. Why had it always been Marinette that had drawn him to her side?
Deep down, Adrien supposed, he always knew the answer. Even without knowing Marinette was Ladybug, his heart pulled him in her direction. She had been his comfort, his inspiration, his friend. And in those times he hadn't required anything more. Because Marinette had always been exactly what Adrien needed.
Did Adrien Agreste love Marinette Dupain Cheng?
Yes. His heart soared as he finally enveloped his arms around her. He supposed he did.
"I love you, Adrien Agreste." She boldly stated as if in response to his revelation, lifting her head up off his chest, her sapphire eyes once again meeting his.
She loved him.
His body burst ablaze, searing heat seeming to pulsate throughout every nerve ending.
"I'm in love with you," she continued, as the fire flared even hotter. "I always thought I did. You were always that other boy." She beamed up at him, giving Adrien a second to take that last part in. "But I didn't really know what love was. Not like this."
Marinette took one hand from his back moving it to trace the outline of his mask, the trail of her fingertips like embers drifting across his forehead. "Learning you were Chat Noir, that changed everything. I know you might not feel the same way right now, but I can't hold it in." She rested her palm against his cheek. "I have to tell you."
She paused, her eyes and hand dropping to his chest.
"No. Ladybug has to tell you."
Her arm fell to her side, leaving the other pressed firmly against his back.
"Tikki," she called on her kwami, saying the magical phrase to elicit her transformation.
"Chat Noir," she softly stated, her eyes pouring into his just as the breathtaking pink magic began. "I love you."
And just like that, Adrien caught the back of her head with his hand, the other caressing at the side of her neck as he gently guided her lips towards his.
No more waiting.
No more wondering.
His lady had declared her love. And words were not enough to express his.
╚═══━━━─── • ───━━━═══╝
She couldn't do this!
Marinette gripped the armrests of her seat as the plane quickly descended. Her heart pounded erratically against her chest and her breaths were labored as she constantly had to remind herself, Breathe in, breathe out.
She had made the correct decision in telling Gabriel.
Adrien had told her not to worry too much about it. This needed to happen.
Right?
He hadn't been referring to some other life altering decision that she had somehow missed? Had he?
Finally breaking through the clouds, Marinette could see the shimmering city below. It looked so beautiful in the midmorning light, almost as if it were sparkling in a welcoming effort to say, Hi, enjoy your stay in Paris. You are going to have such a pleasant and wonderful time here in the city of love. Nothing bad ever happens here...
But Marinette wasn't fooled in the slightest. Because she knew, more than anyone else, that at any moment another Akuma could appear, laying everything to ruin. And she knew that somewhere in the vast city below a single man was on his way to her house and there was nothing but pain and sorrow to follow.
She closed her eyes, remembering the despondent look in her husband's gaze, hearing the gut wrenching sound of his hopeless wailing. Eight years had done nothing to quell those memories, and knowing that she was about to experience it all over again was enough to make her feel as if she were about to vomit.
Yes, Marinette had chosen this path knowing it was going to break Adrien, and even though she knew he would forgive her and that he asked for nothing to change, she had no idea how on earth she was going to prepare him.
Or herself for that matter.
It had been one thing witnessing Adrien's lamenting from a somewhat emotional distance, but now, having lived with him, being married to him, falling deeper and deeper in love with him, she wasn't sure she would be able to bear it.
All she knew was that she had to make sure Adrien knew just how much she truly loved him.
Yes.
Marinette opened her eyes just in time to look out the window as the plane landed.
I'll shower him with affection. And then… and then I'll tell him everything.
Because that was the only thing she could do, wasn't it?
She was in the end game now - a few more treacherous, lamenting hours of the future she had once visited. Years of wondering, anguishing over what exactly must have happened, and now - it was her turn to live it.
The plane slowed to a taxi and Marinette looked over to the observation platform. Of course Adrien was there, smiling and waving, looking very much like the child she still knew he was within.
Marinette's heart clenched and she wished, no, she longed for anything that she could do to protect that innocence.
But all she could do was let him hold onto it for just one more moment.
She would offer him one more blissful second
And then, then she would watch, helplessly, as all walls crashed around him and she hopefully, found the courage to endure the moments of her future that she had most dreaded.
⋅•⋅⊰∙∘ ༓ ∘∙⊱⋅•⋅
Ahhh! That's it folks! I really hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please let me know in your comments.
Also, I know the next chapter will take at least as long as this one. We are finally all caught up with the day young Marinette left. That means we are finally going to learn about Gabriel's visit from the older Marinette's perspective.
No. I have not started writing the chapter yet. Yes, it is going to be really hard to write. I'm also starting an online class on top of my full time job.
So please don't ask me when my next chapter is going to be ready. That only bogs me down and makes me feel like a useless writer. If you want to let me know that you are enjoying my story and that you are looking forward to the next chapter, please do, but please don't beg for me to update. I promise you. I am doing the best I can and giving this story the best I have.
Now that that's been said, drumroll please…
It's time for some more reader voting!
Last time, you all decided that Adrien and Marinette's baby was none other than baby Emma. During that poll, many of you put forth your opinions on what Emma should look like, and while I wasn't keeping track of those ideas at that time, it inspired me.
So… I need you guys to help me decide what Emma should look like! All you have to do is comment with your preferences for baby Emma.
Here is a list of information I am looking for. You can answer all of these questions or just a few!
Hair Color:
Hair type: (ie. curly, wavy, straight)
Eye color:
Freckles: yes or no
Dimples: none, one, or both
Will she need glasses? Yes, no, just for reading
