"Stupid Christmas, stupid cold, stupid snow..."
Ella cursed, wrapping her coat tighter around her carefully. It was currently 1:40 in the morning on Tuesday December 11th, and the girl was already headed to school- her father had once again kicked her out of the condo.
Her ribs, she could tell were fractured this time, and the bruises were deep in the muscles now. Her black eye and her bruised jaw ached and the scarf around her neck covered the handprint imprinted on her skin.
The night before- only a few hours ago, rather- had been awful, as the time drew closer to both Christmas and the anniversary of her mother's suicide. The jewelry store and company were swamped with orders and Ella's father was letting his stress out more and more. Plus Ella was supposed to model jewelry for Mr. Agreste on Thursday, which made her father reiterate what would happen to Adrien if Ella ruined anything- this time, Gabriel Agreste be damned!
The girl shivered, both from the increasing cold and from the wave of panic that washed over her remembering what her father had planned if she made a mistake...
"Ella, this is beyond dangerous. You have to tell Adrien at school today."
"Kiismet- for the last time, if I tell anyone, I'm more than likely not gonna live long enough to see the outcome."
"Ella Aurora- STOP!" Kiismet screamed, floating in the air before the teen. Ella froze, eyes wide at her kwami.
"You can't keep doing this! Every excuse is worse than the last time! And every time your father hurts you worse! Look at you right now! Walking to school at almost 2 in the morning! You can't even stand up straight- your ribs are close to broken, you can barely talk! It's getting dangerously cold and you have no idea if the school is even unlocked- with this weather, they've shut the roof too! Why do you keep delaying this!? You can't keep pretending this will end on its own cause it won't! Adrien Agreste is the end of this pain but you won't accept that you need him for that! It's okay to be scared from your father's threats but you know I would tell you if something like that was gonna happen! Please just tell Adrien about the abuse and let it end!"
The kwami was panting as her little shouts were deafened by the falling snow. Ella's grey eyes were wide in surprise, frozen in shock at Kiismet's outburst. But after a moment, the teen's gaze dropped and tears filled her eyes.
"I know, Kiisy... I'm sorry, I'm just... I'm so scared..!-"
"And it's okay to be scared, beany! What you have to do is not easy! You've been hiding this for almost twelve years and now suddenly letting someone in? Normally you wouldn't know Adrien's reaction but you have me, and I can promise he will support you and help get you out."
Ella was silent for a few minutes, the snow collecting in her hair and on her shoulders. Kiismet couldn't help but compare. It was almost like looking into a mirror, to back when her holder was a little girl at the start of all this...
Finally, Ella sighed and shook her head. The snow fell from the wet strands as the girl started walking again- this time towards the park. Kiismet frowned, flitting after her human and landing in the skirt pocket with her cell phone. The little kwami hit the touch screen, doing what she knew her handler needed.

The white phone buzzed and rang at two in the morning, making both human and kwami groan awake. Plagg groaned about being awake, burying himself under the pillow while Adrien scrambled for the device. He hid his eyes from the light for a moment before he finally looked at the single text message.
'Please come to the park. I need to tell you something important. -Ella'
Adrien sat up straight, sending the pillow and Plagg flying.
"Why are you moving so early?" The kwami complained, opening his eyes to see his holder scrambling around for clothes.
"Ella texted me."
"At two in the morning?! What is wrong with her?!"
"That's what I'm going to figure out, Plagg! She said the other day she had something to tell me before Volpina interrupted!" The teen grabbed a jacket and threw it over his t-shirt, sliding on his boots instead of his normal converse for the snow falling outside his window.
"Ugh... how do you even expect to get out of the house at this time? It's not like your dad's gonna let you wander out the door." At his kwami's words, Adrien froze. Dang it... wait!
"Maybe Nathalie will help me! She likes Ella too!"
With a plan in mind, Adrien grabbed Plagg and ran from his room, down the stairs and around the corner to Nathalie's door. Knocking loud enough to wake her but not loud enough to wake up the rest of the house, the teen waited just a minute before the older woman opened the door.
"Adrien? What is it?"
"I know it's two in the morning but I can't exactly ask my dad this but I need to get to the park-"
"Adrien-"
"Ella needs me! Something's wrong!"
Those words, Adrien realized, made the woman stop. And one long agonizing minute later...
"Go wait in the foyer."
"Thank you Nathalie!" The teen almost sang, giving the woman a hug and running back to the foyer to wait on pins and needles.

Ella shuddered against the wood bench, wrapping her arms around her knees and burying her nose into the fabric of her tights. The snow was coming down harder, encouraging the teen to curl into a ball to at least keep her kwami warm. Said creature was in the book bag, wrapped in the jacket all in the middle of the human ball.
"The sun will be rising soon... then the school will open... then you can get warm..." Ella whispered to herself through chattering teeth and turning-blue lips. She shook her head again, dislodging a good amount of snow but her hair was soaked and turning to ice by now. Her jacket was sopping wet, along with her tights and skirt while her shoes were the only thing keeping a part of her body dry, but not warm. She knew she was fading- she wanted nothing more than to sleep- but she had to stay awake till dawn..! So she forced herself to think about the situation in one of the only ways she knew how.
"I can't stop the pain that runs through my veins
But I can keep it from you
And I think of nothing else as the blows rain down
Because I can't let him hurt you too

The black tugs at my consciousness
Threatening to pull me down
I fight as hard as I can
Because I am afraid I will drown

I can't stop it though,
Can't fight the pull anymore
And the last thought that I have
Is that for you I could endure more..." Ella whispered, her body feeling weak as she tilted to the side. Her head hit the bench, as the cold and the pain finally got to her, rendering the girl blissfully unconscious...

Adrien couldn't sit still in the backseat of the car, quite literally bouncing as he kept his eyes out the window for the park sign. Nathalie sat beside him, her head against the headrest and her eyes closed while the Gorilla drove with a yawn every few seconds. Finally the park by the school came into view, and Adrien was out of the car before it actually stopped. The teen sprinted through the gate, green eyes scanning the white canvas for that familiar purple, blue and black...
There! By the carousel!
"ELLA!" Adrien bolted across the park, his boots skidding at times, before he slid to a stop before the bench. The girl was as pale as the snow, with her lips and fingertips blue and going onto purple. Her breathing was shallow, her chest barely moving. Adrien pressed a hand to her cheek, flinching back at the freezing temperature. And what had the boy raging the most were the bruises on his love's face and the handprint around her neck when he moved the scarf to take her pulse.
Adrien heard Nathalie running up behind him as the snow crunched but he didn't take his eyes off Ella. He stripped off his jacket, removing her soaked one and wrapping her in his own, pulling her off the bench against his chest.
"Get her to the car, Adrien." Nathalie spoke curtly, taking off her own jacket and placing atop Ella's front. The teen nodded, moving as fast as he could for the warm car. As he shifted Ella, her book bag hit the snow and her journal tumbled out.
"Nathalie, can you grab that? Ella would kill me if I left it!" Adrien asked, barely turning his head as he hurried to the car. The woman grabbed the bag and journal, following her charge. Adrien clambered into the car carefully, keeping Ella in his lap as close as humanly possible.
"Hospital as fast as you can, please!" Adrien begged, slamming his door shut as Nathalie climbed into the passenger seat. The Gorilla grunted, shifting the car into drive.

The drive to the hospital was quiet. Adrien clutched Ella to him the whole time. Once the trio got there, a nurse whisked the teen away for warming and an examination. Adrien paced the waiting room with Gorilla watching over him. Nathalie walked off on the phone; Adrien knew she was speaking with his father.
In his arms, Adrien clutched Ella's bag and journal. When his mind danced too fast with too many possibilities, the teen finally sat. He opened the journal and read, taking in Ella's lyrics and poems. The familiar handwriting calmed his crazy thoughts and gave him an idea. Pulling a pen out of Ella's bag, Adrien flipped to a blank page and started writing.

"For Miss Aurelle-Maunt?"
The doctor stepped into the waiting room an hour and a half after the Agreste party arrived. Adrien bolted up, journal and bag in hand, running over to the man. Nathalie moved slower, placing a hand on the teen's shoulder to calm him.
"Is she okay?!"
"Adrien."
"Miss Ella is suffering from moderate hypothermia- if you had brought her in even 30 minutes later, she would have been diagnosed with severe and could have died. We have her on an active core re-warming regimen and she should be awake within the hour. What I do wish to discuss must occur behind closed doors, so ma'am?"
"Nathalie."
"Miss Nathalie, would you mind following me? Adrien, you can head up to room 1326."

Adrien nodded and ran off, Gorilla following. Nathalie watched him go before following the doctor to his office. She sat as the doctor picked up a chart.
"What relation do you have with Miss Maunt?"
"She is my employer's son's girlfriend. She also will be working for my employer."
"We have some concerns and we wanted to make them known before we contact Miss Maunt's parents. But the teen came in with more injuries than just the hypothermia. She has multiple rib fractures, poorly healed previous breaks, a bone bruise on her jaw, multiple deep contusions, scars, her larynx has been bruised and her throat is swollen from someone seemingly... well- throttling her."

Nathalie nodded, glancing at the recording app on her tablet.
"Naturally, with suspected child abuse cases, we do not want to let the suspected abuser near the child, but until Miss Ella wakes up and either confirms or denies the hospitals suspicions, we are required to contact the parents- since she is underage, if only by a few weeks."
"Of course."
"Thank you for understanding, Miss Nathalie. If you would like, you can join young Adrien in Miss Maunt's room. Once again, the re-warming regimen should help her regain consciousness within the hour."
"Thank you, doctor."
Nathalie ended the recording and sent it off to Mr. Agreste, exiting the office and heading up to the room. Locating the room, the woman pushed the door open, finding Adrien sitting on the bed against Ella's side. One hand was writing in the journal from earlier while the other clutched tight to Ella's un- IV'ed hand. His gaze danced between the journal and the sleeping face. It warmed her heart to see Adrien caring so much for this girl, after being alone when his mother passed... The tablet beeped, signaling an incoming video call.
"Adrien."
The teen barely glanced away.
"Your father wants to speak with you."
"But-"
"Adrien. You won't be away for long."
She understood his hesitation, but the video call was already started.
"Alright..." The teen sighed, squeezing Ella's hand before sliding off the bed. He clutched the journal tight as he approached Nathalie, Gorilla following the pair out the door and down the hall for privacy.

Kiismet let out the breath she had been holding for hours once silence fell over the room, save the machine noises. The little kwami crawled out of the bag, moving slightly slower than normal as her body still shivered from the cold.
"Elly-bean..." Kiismet lamented, moving up to her holders shoulder. Of all the paths Fate laid out, this had to be the one chosen... why did it have to be the worst possible ending before the freedom could come?

A little whine escaped the oxygen mask, as Ella's hand twitched and her eyes blinked past the lights above. The teen couldn't tell where she was for a moment, just absorbing all the sensations of her body, before a sound outside the room sent a spike of fear through her chest.
'Oh god... I'm gonna die...'
The footsteps, those scarily familiar footsteps... they echoed down the hall towards her room. Ella was sweating -her heart monitor spiking- scared out of her mind as the door shut behind him- like the Grim Reaper come to claim her.
The first hit blurred into multiple, it was all Ella could do to protect her head and chest. After a moment of fury, it stopped.
"You told someone, didn't you child."
"I-I didn't... father-"
"You clearly did. Or the hospital wouldn't be accusing me of giving you what you deserve."
The man grabbed a fistful of hair and pulled Ella from the bed, her weakened body hitting the tile floor hard. There was no time for a reaction as a foot caught her ribs, sending her back into the bed frame. Air escaped, making her lungs struggle, but it was only for a moment before hands were around her throat.
"I'm done with you, child."
That was it.

Ella screamed.

Adrien's grip couldn't get any tighter around the journal as he followed Nathalie down the hall. Finally finding a quiet corner not too far from the room, Adrien found himself facing his father on the tablet, looking extremely angry.
"Fa-"
"There are no words for how angry I am with you, Adrien."
"I'm so-"
"Leaving the house in the middle of the night, even with Nathalie."
"Father- I know Nathalie told you what happened to Ella! How could I not go to her?!"
"There was a better way to go about this besides leaving the house at two in the morning."
"I was not about to leave Ella out in the snow when the doctor said thirty minutes more and she would have died!"
"I know you care for the girl, son-"
"Father, I love her! Like how you love mom! I want to protect her and make sure she's safe! And that includes from her own father! I know it's him- the signs have been there since I first met Ella! I've just been too scared of pushing her away to say anything! But I can't just stand by and-"
A scream pierced the air of the hall, making everyone's hair stand on end and Adrien's heart drop to his shoes. The teen spun on his heel and sprinted back to the hospital room, flinging the door open.
"ELLA!"

Ella had been yanked from the bed, and was on the floor, trying to defend herself from the assault. The man delivering the attack had his hands wrapped around her throat, cutting off her air and slamming her head into the metal frame of the bed simultaneously.
"GET OFF OF HER!" Adrien screamed, leaping forward, pushing the man away. Somehow he had the strength to do so, making Mr. Maunt stumble to the side and release Ella. Adrien stuck himself between the girl and her father, glaring daggers at the man.
"She was the only thing keeping you safe, boy."
Mr. Maunt must not have heard the Gorilla or the hospital security running into the room, because he stood tall... and punched Adrien.
The teen's head snapped to the side, making him fall back atop the semi-conscious form of the man's daughter. But that hit was all he got in, because Gorilla had his large arms wrapped around him and the security team was already handcuffing the man and wrestling him from the room.
"Adrien- are you okay?!" Nathalie kneeled beside him, the tablet still shining bright with his father's face in her one hand while the other pressed against his cheek.
"I'm fine." Adrien spit out, turning to Ella. He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her against him as doctors and nurses swarmed the room. He wouldn't let her go, his grip tightening every time a doctor or nurse tried to pull him away. Tears fell from his eyes as Adrien buried his face in Ella's neck; fear overwhelmed him- that if he let her go, she would vanish, as if she was a dream...
"A-ad...rien..." Ella's voice whispered from his shoulder. Adrien's heart clenched in his chest...

It was now or never.

"I'm afraid that if I let go of you
I'll realize that none of it was real
You never existed
And it was all a dream

I'm afraid if I tell you I love you
You won't feel the same
You won't be ready
Even though I know it's insane

I saw the way you cared
When you thought Volpina took me
How you hugged me so tight
When it was over and you found me

I need you to stay with me
For you to stay by my side
I love you, Ella Aurora Maunt
And I can't lose you...

Adrien's voice broke and he sobbed, holding onto Ella as if his life depended on it. The hospital room was silent, everyone having heard the boy's confession and some couldn't help but wait with bated breath for a reply.
"Son... we need to check Miss Maunt for further injuries..." One of the doctors approached finally, resting a hand on Adrien's shoulder. The teen shied away from the touch, his arms shielding Ella from every adult.
"...ad-adrien..."
"E-elle..."
"i... lo-ove you too..."
Those four words flooded Adrien's chest with warmth, the tears falling harder now in happiness. He had no words, curling around her form as her head hit his shoulder; the doctors abruptly moving and pulling her from his arms.
"ELLA! NO! GIVE HER BACK! ELLA!" Adrien screamed, his voice cracking as he fought the arms around him, as he fought to get back to her side. He scratched and thrashed, his emotions through the roof as he watched her unmoving on the mattress and blood soaking the pillow beneath her head.
"Adrien."
His father's voice cut through the chaos and the large arms of the Gorilla around him forced the teen's gaze to the tablet.
"Let the doctors do their job, and let one of them look at your face. Ella will be fine, son." Gabriel spoke calmly, even if his own eyes raged- a wildfire of anger. Adrien shook like a leaf, everything catching up with him. Eventually, the teen nodded and allowed Nathalie and Gorilla to lead him out of the room. He sank, back against the wall and knees to his chest, as the sobs reclaimed his emotions and Adrien couldn't help the wails of anguish that escaped him as the doctors wheeled Ella down to surgery.

Needless to say, Adrien didn't go to school that day.
His phone was blowing up with texts and phone calls from Nino, Alya, Chloé and Marinette, but he ignored them all.
The teen was still curled up against the wall outside Ella's room at nine am, waiting for her to come back from surgery. The doctor had checked his face, confirming that nothing was luckily broken but he would be very sore for a few days and the bruise would take about a week to fade. The man had also explained that Ella had suffered a laceration to the back of her head, moderate to severe damage to her esophagus, luckily mild damage to her vocal cords, as well as internal bleeding in her abdomen. She would be kept at the hospital for at least two weeks before she could be released into someone's care; Nathalie informed the doctor that Mr. Agreste would be housing the teen until further decision could be made.

Finally around 11 am, Ella was brought out of surgery to a private room- one with heavy security, just in case. Adrien plastered himself carefully to Ella's side while his father, through the tablet, delivered instructions to the officers and Gorilla. He laid beside his crush (his girlfriend now?), his left arm snaked under her neck and around her shoulders with his head resting above hers on the pillow. Adrien could feel Plagg shifting under his jacket, the little kwami head peeking out for a moment before crawling into the mess of Ella's hair and vanishing; Plagg blended in very well.
It was a few minutes of silence before Nathalie approached, placing Ella's journal on his side.
"Try and get some sleep, Adrien." The older woman spoke, petting some of Ella's hair from her face before she left the room, leaving the teens alone. Finally, Adrien pulled out his phone and checked his texts. Most of them were asking where he was, since he didn't say he was gonna miss school today... but then two of the most recent had the teen seeing red.
'Dude! The school just announced that Ella's dad was arrested for child abuse! What's going on!?'
'Adrien! Are you with Ella!? Does she have her phone? Marinette and I are freaking out!'
Adrien growled, opening a new text thread with Nino, Marinette and Alya only.
'I'm at the hospital with Ella. I can't say more than that. Don't try and visit- my father has the room locked down. For right now, she's okay.'
Locking his phone, Adrien tucked it back in his pocket and grabbed Ella's journal. He propped it against Ella's leg, opened it to a random page and began reading aloud...

Two hours later, Ella pulled herself from the depths of unconsciousness. She whimpered as any movement caused pain, but she froze as something shifted to her right.
"Ella? Angel?"
'That voice...' Ella instantly relaxed, turning her head to see that blond head of hair and beautiful green eyes at her side... and the ugly deep purple bruise on his right cheek.
She opened her mouth, aware of the oxygen mask on her face but a pulse of pain made her flinch.
"Don't try and talk... the doctor said it would be a couple days..."
Ella watched Adrien's eyes fill with tears as they stared at each other, her own filling as well. After a moment, the pair broke and cried into each other's arms. The weight of everything collapsed on their shoulders; all the pain, the secrets, the realization that everything was going to be so much better now...
"Everything's okay... you're finally safe... I've got you and I'm never letting go..." Adrien whispered in her ear, pulling her as close as he could without hurting her. Ella nodded against his shoulder, wrapping her non- IV arm around his middle. She tapped the journal and motioned for a writing tool. Adrien wiped away a few tears before grabbing a pen from her bag on the bedside table and helping her hold up the green notebook. Ella scribbled three words before tilting the page for Adrien to see. The teen read those words, that familiar loving smile on his lips before he wrapped his arms around her again, nodding in agreement.

'I'm finally free'

~~End of 'The Flight of the Raven'~~

*OMG it's done 0-0 season one is complete! I just want to say thank you to everyone for following and reading this- I wish I could message every single one of you to say thank you! I'd also like to thank Starsight (on Quotev) for the two poems used in this finale, for inspiring a good chunk of this!

Now for the other news: I'm going to take August to re-charge myself and to get ready for season two. There will be a Christmas special coming out probably by in a few days.

Once again, thank you everyone for reading- I hope you all enjoyed it and I hope you all stay tuned for season two: 'A Raven's Bonds'!*