Ladybug kissed Adrien's temple and made sure the window was closed before she made her way back to her room. After everything that had happened, she should feel tired, exhausted even, they had taken down a well-known villain, saved Paris, saved everyone.

And yet, her brain was spiralling nonstop. They had won, they had defeated Hawkmoth after so long. The butterfly miraculous was safe, Paris was free of akumas, and she had finally come to the decision she did not want to give up on protecting the city.

It had taken a long time for her, after all, it wasn't an easy choice, but in the end, this was something she felt good for. Adrien was on board as well and to think she wasn't going to do this alone was a great relief for her. She felt ready. At some point she would have to end up telling her parents, maybe, but she still had to waive those risks and perks because, again, lots to think about.

The miraculous were carefully placed inside her drawer, ready to be given back in a few days, by agreement of everything around Adrien's life turned upside down.

Still, to her surprise, the news hadn't said anything yet. While the police knew who Hawkmoth had been all along, it was a good idea to not slip that information to the public just yet. They may have cleared Adrien out of any possible connection but media was vile and needy for anything to broadcast.

They had to come up with something because Alya and Nino knew of who had been Hawkmoth, and Adrien, bless his acting skill, pretended to be so shocked and unaware Marinette almost fell for it too. They were more than glad to see the Gorilla, Adrien's bodyguard, taking place in the legal aspects, as to keep the disappearance of Gabriel Agreste as swift as possible. Nathalie had also been there, but Adrien had the suspicion that she hid more than she showed, the gnawing sensation of her knowing her dad's secret identity. And yet she had been on the clear, so there was no way to prove it true or not.

And then of course, was the removal of Lila from Paris. She was still a minor and there wasn't real evidence to put her under arrest for helping out, but once word got out of all her lies about school being closed and fake injuries, her mother had decided to send her back to Italy.

The aftermath of their class wasn't as hard as they had feared, but it didn't take away the bitter taste in some of them after finding out Lila had been playing with them. But it did take away the attention of civilians not really knowing Hawkmoth was gone.

So, it wasn't until almost a week after all the events that they were finally free to give back the miraculous.

Marinette hurried up, aware that Adrien was going to be right outside so they could go with Master Fu first thing in the morning, her nerves toning down the moment she saw him by the door. They started their way towards the tea shop, her parents thinking they were just going out on a date like usual.

"Do you think he'll know what to do about my mom?" Adrien asked out of nowhere when they were at the crosswalk.

That was a new thing too. To find out that Adrien's mom had been underneath him all that time, not dead but not alive, was a shocking call he got at six in the morning. She was currently at a hospital, declared in an unknown coma and under strict observation.

It made sense, that Gabriel Agreste was looking for a way to bring her back.

With horrible execution to achieve it but Adrien tried to understand it.

"If it's because of miraculous then maybe" she squeezed his hand as they reached the shop "let's not lose hope, ok?"

H e nodded at her with a faint smile and opened the door of the tea shop so they could enter and have a formal talk.

Returning the miraculous wasn't the difficult part. Master Fu was beyond grateful when he took the butterfly miraculous and placed it in the box, the set now complete for them to see.

The recounting of events wasn't difficult either, with them detailing everything that happened, including the arrest and that authorities were going to make their best to keep hidden the identity behind Hawkmoth.

Adrien took a deep breath and talked about the part about his mom, about their suspicions that was what Gabriel was looking for and how she was now in a comatose state in a hospital.

"I fear, that is related to the peacock" Master Fu looked up at Adrien "while the physical miraculous is already fixed thanks to you bringing it soon, we are still missing the spiritual part to have it fully restored."

"Wait" Adrien looked at him "so that means we can save her?"

"Yes" he stood up "but I do not have that information with me,"

"Wh-"

He raised a hand to signal he was not done.

"There is a chance, to find the information where old temples of the Guardians used to be, but it is a too long trip, far too dangerous for you to take."

Adrien wanted to answer back that after all they had done, a trip didn't sound so dangerous.

"Which is why I would have to be absent for a while."

Marinette and Adrien exchanged looks.

"Now, I remember you would decide on the offer I laid out for you some time ago," he turned to face them "with this at hand, I do not seek for you to be swayed in your choice, whether you accept or decline I will still look out to help your mother."

Marinette kept her eyes on Adrien, knowing how he was taking all of this new information. She could tell now, the train of thought going inside his mind.

"About that,"

Adrien squeezed her hand and offered a smile. One look at his eyes was more than enough for her to see he hadn't changed his mind. They were together in this no matter what.

"We want to become guardians" Marinette looked at Master Fu "officially."

"Yes," Adrien added "and we have really talked about it, this is not a sudden decision."

He knew it wasn't, even with this new information on them. The secrecy, the knowledge, the responsibility. After what it had done to his family, anyone would think Adrien would be done with it, but he didn't think of it that way. Adrien wanted to do better, be better, and he wasn't alone to do it.

It didn't surprise him the pleased smile on Master Fu, as if the man knew from the very beginning what they were going to say.

"Very well, in that case, we might have to do some changes if I make this trip as soon as possible, so you are not left on your own during my absence."

Adrien was beyond ecstatic at that point, so much that he was still grinning hours later, when both were walking down the street, holding hands and Adrien even swinging them a little.

"You look like the cat that took the cream" Marinette smiled at him "may I ask why?"

"Well, my fair lady" he kissed her hand "you were also there with me today, so many good things piled up? I am allowed to be smiling."

"I was" she poked his nose "and I am also excited, don't be fooled."

"You were always the cool one of us," he leaned towards her and gave a small peck on the lips, only to halt when he heard someone squealing not far from where they were.

"Oh my god!"

Both pulled away, ready to find a place to hide and transform, instincts kicking in, only to see in front of them no other than Juleka and Rose who were, just as casual as them, walking hand by hand. Except that Rose was squealing in delight while Juleka just smiled at them.

"Oh…" Adrien felt his ears turning pink "I knew we were forgetting about something."

Marinette couldn't help but to laugh.

~3 weeks later~

Ladybug and Chat Noir still patrolled around the city, just in case of something pulling off, some minor things that would require their help, keeping Paris safe. It was also a good routine to work out their strength with their Miraculous, now that they had more instructions on how to wield them, how to start unlocking powers from them.

It didn't take away that sometimes they would just, goof a little bit.

"Is this your way of saying you are quitting to join a circus?" Ladybug smiled from her spot on the rooftop, watching Chat trying to balance himself on his extended baton.

"Balance is very important" Chat replied, doing a somersault and landing perfectly on one foot "see?"

"Show off,"

"Hey," he looked around "now this place is oddly familiar."

"How come?"

"Maybe it's a case of Deja vu but," he turned to her "I could swear we met around this place."

"I think so?"

"You fell from the sky" he grinned "like an angel to my arms."

"Oh, bug off" she stood up and made her way towards him, careful not to fall because it was still a delicate surface to walk around "I more like crashed into you."

"Yes, but that had to be the best incident of my life."

"It was" she kissed his cheek "but we should get moving, it's studying time."

"Ah, right" he pulled her close by the waist and jumped out, grabbing his baton in time for them to leap to another rooftop "will you be ok with the Miraculous in your home?"

"I already have a few fool proofs cases in mind" she said, never letting go of his neck "you better make sure to remember the passwords."

"No offense my lady, but you make them near impossible sometimes,"

"What can I say, it's a talent" she smiled just as they reached her balcony to transform back.

Three weeks was what it took for Master Fu to find a possible lead to fully fix the Peacock miraculous, which meant he'd have to leave Paris for a while, travelling to the southern region of the continent first to meet with said person. He could have left sooner, but he made sure both Adrien and Marinette had at least the basic information to translate the grimoire and continue their own studies while he was gone, a task that they had taken very seriously.

Things were slowly working their way out. They had each other, in and out of the mask, they were together, unstoppable.

Sure, things were not perfect, but, as Adrien cuddled up next to Marinette on her chaise, the grimoire, the physical book that Adrien managed to sneak out of his home again, open in her lap, he figured, things weren't so bad.