To armadas: It's nice to be able to give people hope after all the sadness and grief of the last… five stories(?)!

Replies to Reviews of "In the Ashes of Paris" chapter 19:

To armadas: I really like Leïla, too! And for Gabriel to stay behind while the others escape, only for them to end up back in exactly the same situation is pretty amusing.

Marinette leaned back against one of the wooden crates that she had claimed from the depot, listening to the rain patter against the canvas tent overhead. The whole time they had been here, the weather had been almost perfect, only for it to start raining a little after lunch today. And of course it hadn't started until after Adrien left… He had gone on a run with Nino along the canyon wall, first to make sure that the Red Cross trucks parked on the south end of the cliff were secure, then to double-check the pathways – the last thing they wanted was for someone to get hurt while trying to leave the camp. Then they were planning to go through the woods and check on Hunda-Beekaa's old camp since they had cleared it out and converted temporarily into a space-plane landing strip for Iron Maiden to practice. The camp had been deserted since the Heroes of the UK had left earlier in the week, though some of the backup repair and maintenance supplies for the space-planes had remained there, waiting to be brought back to the main refugee camp. She frowned as the rain intensified. The refugee camp itself wasn't likely to flood; Mihaela had assured them early on that the drainage in Miradouro da Luawas efficient enough to take care of any rain. And the refugees themselves had plenty of options for cover. But Adrien and Nino were out in this. What if Adrien slipped and fell? What if he was hurt? What if he caught a cold and–

"You're catastrophizing again, girl." Alya flicked her in the forehead. Marinette started, turning on her with an irritated glare, only for Alya to arch an eyebrow in amusement. "You've really got to stop doing that."

Mylène gave her a sympathetic look. "You do worry a lot," she agreed.

Marinette pursed her lips. "Considering how badly it's raining and how slick the pathway can get, I'd say worry is justified," she pointed out.

Sabrina closed her eyes for a moment and let out a breath. Bee-atrice nuzzled against her hand insistently, until Sabrina scratched behind her ears and opened her eyes. "I don't sense anything wrong," she assured Marinette. "And Hato Gozen is with the Initiates watching the base of the trail."

"See?" Alya asked, giving Marinette a carefree grin. "Sunshine will get back fine." She stifled a giggle. "My man will make sure of it!"

"And if Nino gets in trouble?" Marinette argued, frowning.

Alya shrugged. "One word and he's protected from literally anything – or at least anything short of a Tarasque…"

"That's not exactly comforting," grumbled Marinette.

Chloe shook her head ruefully and scoffed. "You've been married less than a week and you're already panicking over him!? You act like an old married couple." She rolled her eyes. "Of course, you were already acting like an old married couple, and you weren't even dating!"

Marinette cocked her head in confusion. "What are you talking about?"

Alya snorted. "Did you even watch any of my Ladyblog footage from your first couple years?" she demanded. "I sent you like every video I ever shot!"

"I didn't need to watch it; I was literally there for all of it!" Marinette rolled her eyes in exasperation, but as she did so, she frowned. "Do you think I'm too controlling?" she wondered. "Do you think I shouldn't be worrying about him?"

"I mean, not if it's going to cut into our girl time," Alya replied, stifling a smirk. She shook her head soberly. "Otherwise, though, I don't think it's too much. Especially considering his line of work."

"Because the fashion industry is so cutthroat," Marinette muttered. Alya gave her a deadpan look.

"Well, the way Gabriel and Mother do it…" Chloe began, snorting. Bee-atrice let out an excited yip, and Chloe scratched behind her ears as she nuzzled against her side. "I swear, there were a couple fashion shows where I thought Mother was about to strangle a model!"

"Right…" Alya rolled her eyes. "Anyways, I suppose if I'd experienced some of the crap you've seen over the last few years, I don't think I'd be any better off," she admitted. "So no, I'm not going to say you can't worry. Just… you can dial it back, okay?"

"I think it's sweet that you worry about him," Mylène interjected, smiling softly.

"I think it's ridiculous," grumbled Chloe, rolling her eyes. Bee-atrice whined, tugging on her fingers, and she picked the puppy up, plopping her on her lap and cradling her tightly. "Not like you, no! You're just perfect!"

Sabrina elbowed Chloe, shaking her head ruefully. "It's wonderful that the two of you have each other," she told Marinette quietly. "Your emotions toward each other…" She sighed. "They're like… a balm on a scorching day. With all the stress and anger and depression in the camp, you and Adrien make it more bearable."

Marinette let out a breath, giving Sabrina a sympathetic look. "I'm sorry we're not always so… happy lately," she apologized. "It's just–"

Alya put a hand on her shoulder. "It's not just you, girl," she assured her. "I think everyone is feeling it."

Chloe frowned. "Some days it just seems to hit more than others – where we are, and why."

"Did you know that Ivan and I were supposed to sign the lease on our first apartment next week?" asked Mylène, her shoulders slumping. "It was this cute little studio loft that a little old lady was trying to rent out. I'd even picked out furniture for it. But now… who knows if the building is still standing – or if Mme Marais even survived. I haven't seen her in the refugee camp at all, so…"

Sabrina sighed heavily, placing a consoling hand on Mylène's shoulder. "We can't know for certain," she told her. "But I'm sure it will work out – at least you and Ivan still have each other."

Mylène's eyes widened, and she looked away guiltily. "I'm–I'm sorry," she apologized, swallowing hard. Suddenly she threw her arms around Sabrina in a tight hug, sniffling back tears. Sabrina gasped involuntarily. "I shouldn't be talking like that – not when you–"

"It's okay," Sabrina cut her off, returning the embrace. "I–well…" She frowned, staring down at the floor beneath them, a hitch in her breathing. Bee-atrice hopped up into her lap, rubbing her cheek against Sabrina's stomach, moments before Chloe wrapped an arm around her, followed by Marinette. Finally Alya joined in the group hug, and Sabrina sighed, melting into their embrace. They sat there on the ground for a long minute, quiet as the rain beat a steady staccato against the roof of the tent. Sabrina rested her cheek on Marinette's shoulder and gave the others a squeeze. "Thanks." Sabrina swallowed, sniffling. "One minute I think I'm okay, but the next…"

"We're here for you," Marinette assured her, rubbing her back consolingly. "You aren't going through this alone."

Sabrina nodded jerkily, swallowing hard and starting to withdraw from the group hug. "I'm–I think I'm okay now."

Marinette gave her a sympathetic smile, sighing. Still it had only been a week since Sabrina returned to them, since Marinette had made the decision to return the Butterfly Miraculous to her. Before they left, Bandruí had asked her to look in on Sabrina, to make sure that she was okay. With a twinge of guilt, Marinette thought back on the days right after their arrival here, when she had been so busy and distracted with everything else that she hadn't even thought to ask Sabrina how she was feeling. She had been so wrapped up I her own grief and worry, nothing else had managed to penetrate that bubble. But Sabrina had had it so much worse. She had lost her boyfriend, her father was missing, and she could feel everything that the rest of them were feeling, so of course she–

"I'm okay, Mar," Sabrina insisted, putting a hand on Marinette's arm and stirring her out of her thoughts. "I promise."

Marinette smiled, letting out a breath, and reached inside her crate to pull out a small box. "So… does that mean that you don't want these 'macarons' that I made this morning?" she asked, opening the box and passing the cookies around.

"Ooh!" Mylène cooed, selecting one of the macarons and nibbling on the edge. "It tastes just like home!"

"Damn, girl!" Alya moaned, taking a second macaron. "How did you figure this out without an oven?"

Marinette giggled. "It's amazing what you can do with a pot and aluminum foil!"

"Thank you!" Mylène beamed brightly. "Can I take one for Ivan?"

Chloe snorted. "Only if there are any left after we get through with them!"

"If there aren't, I can always make them again," Marinette assured her. "I can even show you how!"

"Really?" Mylène's eyes widened. "That would be fun!" The corners of her lips turned up slightly. "We haven't had that much 'fun' in a while…"

Marinette smiled fondly, rummaging around in the box and coming out with a couple of bone-shaped cookies, one of which she placed on the ground in front of Bee-atrice. As the puppy attacked the treat, Marinette stroked her fur. There were still a half-dozen macarons left in the box, and she slipped two of them out and returned them to the crate to save for later. She had always enjoyed baking, especially when she could do it for her friends. And it would be even better when she got to see the look on Adrien's face when he tasted one of her macarons.

Eyeing Marinette carefully, Alya hummed, raising an eyebrow at her judiciously. "I can't be the only one who sees it," she mused.

Marinette cocked her head. "Sees what?"

Chloe gave Alya a dubious look. "I'm pretty sure there are a lot of things that only you see…"

"Sabrina? Tell me I'm not seeing things," Alya pleaded.

Sabrina nodded slowly. "You are a lot happier this week," she told Marinette. "Certainly more than last week… on some level, even more than you were in Paris before the Tarasque!"

Alya giggled, wagging her eyebrows at Marinette. "I guess being an old married woman suits you, girl!"

Marinette smirked. "Maybe you should try it!"

Alya rolled her eyes and shook her head. "No way."

Chloe raised an eyebrow languidly. "And yet Daddy told me that you and Nino had approached him about getting a 'quickie marriage ceremony' like he did for these two!" She jerked her head toward Marinette, who stifled a laugh. "I swear, he's done at least a dozen of those a day since you opened the floodgates on it, Mar… It's getting a bit ridiculous!"

"Why'd he have to tell you that?" Alya demanded, frowning in annoyance.

"Wait, you weren't going to tell me about it?" Marinette pouted, folding her arms. "And I thought we were friends… I thought I was supposed to be your maid of honor!"

"But you can't be a 'maid' of honor anymore," Mylène pointed out, raising an eyebrow at Marinette.

"Fine; matron of honor." Marinette rolled her eyes. "So spill."

Alya groaned, blushing slightly despite her dark complexion. "Fine… we thought about it… but… I don't know…"

Mylène patted Alya's hand. "It's not a bad thing; Ivan and I talked about it, too," she admitted. "But in the end we decided not to change our plans, just because it looked like the world was going to end two weeks ago."

"Still looking at next year, then?" asked Alya curiously.

Mylène nodded. "May 21, after school ends and before we leave for Kitty Section's summer tour – that's going to be our honeymoon."

Chloe raised an eyebrow. "A 'working honeymoon'?" she demanded incredulously. "Whose idea was that?"

"It was mutual." Mylène shrugged. "The tour is going to happen one way or the other, and we could either get married before or after. At least this way we get a honeymoon." She sighed. "It's not so bad; we'll be seeing the sights with friends. And we'll probably slip away for a few days between stops for some alone time…"

Sabrina smiled wistfully, looking off into the distance. "That sounds nice…" she whispered, sniffling quietly. Marinette put her hand on Sabrina's shoulder as Chloe did the same on the other side. Sabrina glanced over at them and nodded, wiping her eyes with one hand.

Marinette swallowed hard. They had suffered so much. They had lost so much. But they were together. She had Adrien. She had her friends. And even those they lost were still with them – the memory of them living on in their deeds. Life would never be the same as it had been. But it would get better.