I don't know what you're going through, but there's so much life ahead of you.
And it won't slow down, no matter what you do.
So you just gotta hold on.
All we can do is hold on.

Shawn Mendes, Hold On.

They were standing so close to each other, the space between them practically nonexistent, that Chat Noir could easily see each tear falling from Marinette's blue eyes. He could see the despair, the confusion and the pain in her gaze as she was staring at him. He took a deep breath and said;

"What about me, M'Lady?"

The dam broke and Marinette collapsed on the ground, screaming and crying. Chat immediately followed the movement and ended up on his knees by her side, holding her as she completely shattered in his arms. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Tikki push further away the sword that now laid forgotten on the ground. He thanked her with a nod. After all, Princess Justice might have been harmless right now, but he knew that Hawk Moth still had control over her. He could still say something that would bring back all of her rages.

Tikki went to stand behind her chosen, careful so Princess Justice, and therefore Hawk Moth, didn't see her. Of course, Chat Noir and her didn't know that the man was far too occupied screaming at the girl to notice anything else.

"What are you doing, Princess Justice! Attack! You are absolutely useless!"

Princess Justice started crying harder, much to Chat and Tikki's despair. "Please, please, stop, I can't, I can't, I can't, it's too much, please, just stop!"

With each word, with each plea, it seemed to Adrien that his heart was breaking a little bit more. He didn't know what to do, what to say. How could he help her? How could he ease her pain?

"Hey, Marinette. Marinette, look at me."

"You are useless, Princess Justice! That girl was right, don't you think? Miss Rosi was right. You are nothing, nothing! You're just pitiful. What a shame, truly."

Marinette screamed and it seemed to came from the very depths of her being as the dark butterfly on her face darkened. It was a cry filled with anger, pain, resentment, rage and most of all, sadness. A cry of distress. A scream that Adrien knew would haunt him in his nightmares for all of his life. It was at this moment that he realized that, years from now, when someone would ask him what was the most horrible fight he had ever been in, akuma or not, Adrien would immediately answer this one without a second of hesitation.

"He's gonna get her back!" Tikki hissed, just as shaken as him.

"No, he won't!"

He pulled her closer to him, forcing her to practically sit on his laps. She screamed and yelled and cried, but didn't fight him. Her fight was with the man who was telling her so many horrible things. It was with the little voice in the back of her mind that always whispered the same thing at night when she was alone.

Gently, still holding her close to him, Chat Noir put his clawed hand on her cheek and forced Princess Justice, who previously had had her head bowed, to face him.

"Don't listen to him, Marinette. I don't know what he's telling you, but it's not the truth, okay? Open your eyes and look at me."

Slowly, she opened her eyes. Adrien wasn't entirely sure, but it seemed to him that the butterfly on her face had slightly paled when he had spoken to her.

"He's just lying to you. Listen to me, everything's going to be fine, I promise. I'm not leaving you. You're not alone. Never again. You can breathe now, Marinette."

Oh, my god! He was right! The butterfly paled again!

"No, I can't!"

"Yes, you can," he assured, stroking her hair with one hand. "It's okay, I'm here. Take a deep breath."

As she continued to cry, she clung to him more, hiding her face in the crook of his neck. He could barely hear what she was mumbling anymore, only figuring out the same old "please", "I can't" and the new "I'm sorry". He shushed her and with the hand that wasn't in her hair, he held her, pulling her even tighter against him. At this point, it was practically impossible for them to get any closer.

"I'm so, so sorry…" he heard her say in between sobs.

"You have no reason to be."

She lifted her head slightly but didn't meet his gaze.

"I'm sorry Chat, I'm not strong enough for all of this, I can't be -"

He put his hand over her mouth, fearing that she was about to reveal a little bit too much information while Hawk Moth could still hear everything.

"Yes, you can," he repeated, lifting her chin so that she would look him in the eye. "You're strong, Marinette. Unbelievably so. I've never met anyone as smart, and powerful, and resourceful, and beautiful as you. You are more than enough. Now, please, breath."

Surprisingly, she did just that. She followed his advice and, while looking directly into his eyes, took a deep breath. And then another, and another. She closed her eyes again, concentring on her breathing while Chat still gently stroked her hair. He looked at Tikki who was already staring at him, nodding.

"You're doing good," she mouthed.

"You're doing amazing, Marinette," he said to Princess Justice, leaning his cheek against the top of her head. "Keep breathing, just like that. You're safe now."

He couldn't figure out if what he said had worked, or if breathing was really all it took, or if she managed to do it all by herself, but suddenly, a dark butterfly emerged from Princess Justice's bag. He lifted his head just in time to see Tikki flying at full speed to the akuma and, to Chat Noir's disgust, she swallowed it before releasing a purified white butterfly into the sky.

"Okay, not what I expected when you said you could take care of it…" he muttered under his breath.

At the same time, Marinette's whole body went limp in his arms as Princess Justice's transformation vanished, leaving an unconscious Marinette in her place.

Wait, what?

"Tikki, what the hell is happening?" Chat Noir questioned, hugging the lifeless body of his ... friend? Of the one he loved? Of his partner?

Oh, whatever, of Marinette.

His Marinette.

"Seriously, what's happening? They never lose consciousness! Is she okay? Tikki, is she okay?"

"I'm not sure…" the kwami answered, looking at Marinette with concern evident on her face. "I think it might be because she managed to get rid of the akuma by herself. Mostly."

She turned to look at him and smiled. "She wouldn't have been able to without you. You did well, Chat Noir."

"I didn't do anything but uh, thanks? That still doesn't explain why she's unconscious."

"She had to fight the akuma from inside her own mind and won. It must have taken all of her energy. You should just bring her home. I'll take care of her, and her parents too."

"Right, yeah, okay."

He took her in his arms and stood up, positioning her so that, even though she was completely oblivious to everything, she was as comfortable as possible.

"Oh, and Chat Noir…"

He stopped and turned toward Tikki. "Yes?"

"She won't remember anything. They never do. She won't know that you've discovered who she is."

He hadn't thought about that. Akumatized persons never remembered what happened to them. He hesitated for a moment, adjusting his grip on her to hold her more tightly against him. He loathed the idea of letting her go. At this point, he just wanted her to be near her forever. But even though it deeply hurt him, he knew that it was impossible.

"It's fine," he finally said, meaning it. "I think it's better this way. She didn't want us to know each other's identity, and I respect that. I'll wait until she feels ready to tell me herself, and then I… I don't know, I'll act surprised? It doesn't matter, now I know what's happening and I can help her. That's all that I want."

Tikki watched him in stunned silence for a second before coming to rub against his cheek.

"You are such an amazing person, Chat Noir. She's lucky to have you, both in and out of the suit." She then laughed and added: "Even if she doesn't know that yet."

"Thank you, Tikki, it means a lot to me," Chat Noir said. "Alright, let's bring you both home now."

Marinette woke up in her room with a throbbing headache. She didn't dare open her eyes, not yet. She could feel her mother's hand on her head, brushing her hair away from her face. She could recognize her comforting smell anywhere.

"Thank you for bringing her home. We appreciate it," she heard her father say from the kitchen. "And thank you for… telling us what she's going through."

At that, she opened her eyes, pretty sure that her heart had stopped beating for a second. What does that mean? "Telling us what she's going through"? Oh god, what had happened? Did someone figure out who she was? Was her identity out? Did Alya know? Nino, Adrien? The whole school? Chat?

Before her anxiety could fully transform into a panic attack, her mom was on her, hugging her and crying on her shoulder.

"Oh, Marinette, my baby! Tom, she's awake!"

"Take care of her," Chat Noir - CHAT NOIR - replied to her dad from the kitchen.

Oh, this was bad. This was so, so bad. Chat Noir was here? Talking to her dad about what she was going through? Clearly, he had figured out who she was, and he had had the nerve to tell her parents? Was she gonna lose her miraculous? Granted, she was the guardian now and could make the rules, but like, this one was old. Oh god, this was so bad.

Her father walked into the bedroom, and Marinette immediately noticed his red eyes. He had cried. A lot. Marinette pulled away from her mother's arms and found out that she was, without surprise, in the same state as her husband. Guilt immediately started eating her up.

"Maman, papa, I'm so sorry, I swear I was planning on telling you, but -"

"No, no, don't you dare apologize to us!" her father interrupted her.

Huh?

"It's not your fault you're being bullied at school, do you hear me?" he continued, unaware of his daughter's shock. "We are going to take care of this."

"What… What do you mean?"

"We'll talk to your teachers and the administration. You got akumatized because of this girl, and…," Sabine closed her eyes a second and flinched, seemingly plagued by a horrible idea. "It could've been so much worse," she eventually concluded, trying to hold back her tears.

"I don't remember what happened. And why was Chat Noir here?"

Her parents exchanged a look.

"You passed out. Chat says that never happens, but… You know, he had to do it all by himself. Apparently, you managed to defeat Ladybug," her mother told her.

"My little girl is amazing, isn't she?"

She ignored her father's comment, focusing on what her mother had said. "I defeated Ladybug? That's what he told you?"

They both nodded. Okay, so they didn't know that she was Ladybug. That was good. But only Tikki could tell her what she was fearing the most.

"I'm a little bit tired…" she lied, hoping they would get the hint and leave.

"Oh, of course, you are! We will be downstairs, call us if you need anything."

As soon as they left and closed the trap door, Tikki came out of hiding and went straight to Marinette, snuggling against her.

"Marinette! I was so worried, you have no idea!"

"I'm sorry, Tikki."

"Don't be! I should've seen the signs. It's not your fault. And you know, you managed to free yourself from the grip of Hawk Moth! I'm so proud of you!"

"Really?"

"Yes! And Chat Noir was amazing!"

"Does he know?" she finally asked, not daring to look at her small friend and therefore missing the flicker of hesitation on her face.

"No, don't worry!" she lied. "I told him that you were out of commission and that I came to help. He didn't suspect a thing."

Marinette breathed a sigh of relief. Everything was going to be fine.

"Kid? Are you okay? You've been staring at the wall for ten minutes."

No answer.

"You know, I don't usually do this, but… Do you want some cheese?"

Still no answer.

"Are you freaking out over the whole Marinette-is-Ladybug thing?"

Silence.

"Look, I know you might be mad that I didn't tell you, but…"

Was he dead?

"Is it really that bad? I mean, I thought she was your friend! Is it really that disappointing?"

"I'm not disappointed at all!" Adrien finally said. "I know I should be surprised or in shock, but I'm not. It just makes so much sense, Plagg."

"Ok… so we are happy? It's all good?"

"No," he shook his head and turned to look at his friend. "Of course not. She's hurt. She's in pain. How could I be happy knowing that?"

"Aren't you happy to know who the love of your life is?"

"Sure, but… How am I going to act around her? Tikki said she wouldn't remember anything. How can I act normally around Marinette now? I'm in love with her, and I can't even tell her!"

"Welcome to her life…" Plagg said under his breath.

"What did you say?"

"Nothing. So you admit it, you're in love with Marinette. Not Ladybug. Marinette."

Adrien shrugged. "If I love Ladybug, I love Marinette. Simple as that. And no, by the way, I'm not angry at you. I know you tried to warn me. I understand, Plagg. Really."

"Perfect! What do we do now?"

"We help her. We help both Ladybug and Marinette."

"And after?"

"After? We hope that she falls in love with me, I guess."

"Oh, now that's going to be the hard part," Plagg said, sarcastic.

"Yeah, maybe," Adrien answered, completely obvious. "But I gotta try."

"Well then, good luck, kid. Can't wait to see this."

In his office, Gabriel Agreste was seeing red. What the hell had happened today?

"Sir, are you alright?" Nathalie asked.

"I don't understand," he simply answered.

He had heard the almost exclusively verbal fight of Princess Justice and Chat Noir, perfectly heard her when she had claimed to have beaten Ladybug. Had she lied to destabilize Chat Noir? Perhaps. But why was he so hesitant? How had that cat managed to win without his partner? Why had he not attacked? But most importantly, where was Ladybug?

Suddenly, he stopped pacing, facing his assistant. "Wait…"

Could it be that this girl, this poor girl whose heart he had felt was completely shattered, was Ladybug? Could he really be this lucky?

"Sir?"

He had not been able to hear what Chat Noir had said to her to break her like this, but he knew it had to be important. It had to mean something. And Hawk Moth realized, a smirk on his lips, that there were only two options. One, this girl was Ladybug. Or two, even if she wasn't the superhero, this girl was clearly very important to Chat Noir.

"Nathalie, find everything you can about this girl. Her friends, her family, I want everything."

"Yes, sir."

Looking through the window, Gabriel smiled. No matter who she was, from now on, Marinette Dupain-Cheng was the key element of his master plan.