Here it is! The epilogue and the end of this story full of unexpected turns.
Btw, I wish y'all a happy new year and only the best for 2022. (And a lot of Miraculous Magic )
It had been a long and eventful day for the two heroes. They had lived five years in what was in fact only a few minutes. Fortunately for them, the Parisians didn't remember anything. They didn't even remember the dome and the last attack that led to Shadowmoth and his accomplice's arrest. All they knew was that Paris' worst enemy had been arrested by Ladybug and Chat Noir, and that their nemesis was none other than Gabriel Agreste.
As a result, Ladybug and Chat Noir were interviewed by the police, as was Adrien. The latter had been cleared of any complicity, as well as of any knowledge of his father's actions. It had been the same for Emilie Agreste. However, she hadn't been able to return home with her son, because the doctors who had examined her had wanted to keep her under observation for 48 hours.
So it was lighthearted but with their head pounding heavily that the two heroes collapsed into bed in their headquarters late that very night. Right after they had taken care of Marinette's wound with a new, clean bandage.
"I still can't believe we've kept these five years spent in this alternative life in our memories…" Adrien murmured in disbelief.
He lay down comfortably and drew Marinette into his arms. She rested her head against his chest, and put a hand on his arm, her fingers slowly caressing his skin.
"I can't believe I fell in love with you three times…" she whispered, her voice divided between uncertainty and wonder.
A smile stretched Adrien's lips and he bent down, kissing Marinette's forehead, while his fingers combed some of her midnight colored locks.
"On another continent, on another planet, in another life, and even if we had to go through the worst hell... You and me... we will always find each other, Buguinette. One does not separate the inseparable," he whispered. "And then… we also must admit that you cannot resist my charm. It was thus inevitable," he eventually chuckled.
"Hey!" She propped herself up on one elbow, looking him straight in the eyes, before gently tapping her finger against the tip of his nose.
"May I remind you that you fell in love more than once too!" She protested, trying to pout. To no avail.
"Under the rainfall, by offering you my umbrella… It's what you also admitted to me, isn't it? That was that very day that—"
"Yes, that's how I fell in love with you," she murmured. "I had to believe that we will have now both had our 'coup de foudre' under the rumbling thunder…" she added, some nostalgia palpable in her voice.
"I might as well have fallen in love with you that day, Marinette... And actually... I did fall in love with you anyway," he said. "You are Ladybug. I didn't fall in love with a name, or an appearance, but with a heart. And even if it took me a little time... I ended up realizing that this very heart was also that of my best friend," he explained serenely.
He placed a hand against her cheek and stroked it tenderly. "I'm blessed to have fallen in love with Ladybug and Marinette. I'm blessed for the five more years I've spent with you and... I'm glad that I was able to declare my love to Ladybug, but also to Marinette and, I meant what I said to you: I think we have a future ready for us and I really want you to be a part of it. Would you be my girlfriend? In this life and in all others?"
A soft, intense kiss was the answer that sent Adrien's heart into overdrive, beyond cloud nine, until Marinette's phone rang and brought him back down to earth.
"It's Alya," she exclaimed as she picked up the phone and put her finger over his mouth, beckoning Adrien to be quiet.
"Marinette, what the hell was that! Just this morning, I was watching the news as my best friends sacrificed themselves to save Paris. Then the earth started shaking, the dome collapsed and... I..." On the other end of the phone, Alya was painfully trying to contain her sobs. Marinette could hear it in her voice. "I knew it was over for... you... for us... I knew we lost... and then... complete blackout! I feel like I blacked out for years and when I woke up... You had won. You were here. We're all here... I… damn, Marinette! Why doesn't anyone else remember the dome? The Parisians all seem oblivious to the events that took place!" She delivered it all with agitation, not even taking a single breath.
"Alya, please breathe," Marinette told her softly. "What exactly do you remember? The dome? What else?"
"Nino and I both have memories. Our research and patrols, my failed mirage, the angry Parisians, you and Adrien surrendering... the shaking ground, the shattering dome, the red sky... then... nothing."
Adrien frowned and gave his girlfriend an inquisitive look. He knew about Ladybug and Alya. Besides, he mentally chastised himself for not having made the link with Marinette right away. On the other hand, Alya now also seemed to know Chat Noir's Identity...
Marinette sighed and gave Adrien a contrite smile, murmuring a weak "sorry", before switching her call with Alya to speakerphone mode.
"Adrien is listening too, Alya. He's with me right now. He...he knows. About me. About you. There are no more secrets," she confessed, casting a tender glance at her boyfriend.
"Adrien! I'm so sorry about your father! Nino went crazy the second the news came out! In fact, now he's gone to the Manor to see you. How are you? How's your maman?"
"They've kept her under observation for the next couple of days, but by the looks of it, she's fine. She's just as confused by the events as we are. The Manor is enclosed for the time of the investigation. Mari and I are at headquarters."
He glanced in Marinette's direction, a silent question floating in the air, and after what seemed a second of thought, she nodded.
"I think you should come and join us now. Both of you. Call Nino and tell him to turn around. We'll meet in 15 minutes, in front of the café a few steps from headquarters," Adrien suggested. "We'll talk in person. There are several things we need to explain to you," he added in a determined voice.
"Fine. We're coming."
Marinette put her phone away in her pocket and turned to Adrien.
"Are you ready to reveal yourself to Nino as well, and tell them both about what really happened there?"
"Well, he's my best friend and Alya already knows everything since a little mouse has already whispered in her ear…" he said, before pausing for a moment, then resuming with a smile.
"By the way, it was very nice to see Multimouse in my room the other day," he admitted, winking to his girlfriend.
Marinette's eyes widened before her cheeks flushed.
"It wasn't what you think! I wasn't spying on you!" she protested. "Besides I make a poor spy, I completely missed the secret basement," she mumbled while hiding her dismayed face between her hands.
Adrien sighed, his lips curling downward. He leaned toward Marinette and put his hands on hers, before slowly praying them away from her face.
"That's why it was a secret basement, Marinette," he murmured in a soft tone.
"Maybe, but I should have seen it. Be more thorough. We could have taken Shadowmoth by surprise and avoided all this mess..." She sobbed, lowering her head.
Adrien caressed her face and ran a finger under her chin, forcing her to look at him straight in the eyes.
"Shh. It's not your fault. Besides, I don't regret anything," he confessed. "Veni vidi vici; We fought together, we went through all this mess together and we triumphed and saved Paris together. If I had to do it again, I would do it a hundred times. Because I have a blind trust in us, m'Lady."
Marinette's lips curved into a soft smile, before they quickly found themselves pressed against Adrien's cheek, then against his lips.
"Thanks, Chaton, that's all I needed to hear. Let's go join our friends now," she declared, taking his hand in hers.
Marinette and Adrien arrived at the meeting point, hand in hand, their fingers intertwined with each other. Alya and Nino were already there and, before losing all her courage, Marinette squeezed boyfriend's hand and immediately took the plunge.
"Thank you for coming," she thanked them, while embracing her friends in turn. "What we have to tell you is rather delicate," she explained while glancing at the passers-by in the surroundings. "Follow us, we'll talk in a quieter place."
Nino frowned and chuckled softly.
"You guys aren't exactly discreet. Besides, we all knew it would end up like this," Nino enthused, a teasing smile dancing at the corner of his lips.
He slapped his fist encouragingly on Adrien's shoulder and pointed to their joined hands.
Adrien gave him a half-smile as his free hand nervously rubbed the back of his neck. "What we have to tell you is much more...sensitive..." He whispered, his voice slightly hoarser than usual.
They just walked a few steps before a gasp echoed behind them. A hand came to rest on both their shoulders, stopping them in their tracks.
"No way, Dudes!"
They both turned to Nino, cheeks flushing.
"I know you've both been head over heels for years, but isn't it a bit too soon!?" Nino's eyes were wide open, eyes almost popping out of their sockets. "Bro, I love you, and I'll always respect your decisions, but this is Marinette. I mean, she's like my sister," he confessed, his gaze stern. "I don't want her to be hurt if you realize you proposed too soon. I know that in your life you haven't had a concrete example of what a real, healthy and balanced relationship is. Blame your asshole father but this is far too—"
Adrien quickly interrupted his best friend's rant as he saw Marinette's face turning into a traffic light.
"Nino! You misread us! Yes we're dating but I didn't propose, I'm not such a lovesick fool. I know we're young, in love, and besides, everything is…complicated…" He casted a glance at Marinette before resuming their walk. "You'll soon understand Nino."
They walked some more before Nino interrupted them again.
"Marinette, you're not pregnant, aren't— ouch! It hurts babe!"
Marinette squeaked and Adrien turned again, mouth agape, and saw Nino rubbing his freshly-punched arm whilst Alya glared at him sternly.
Before Nino could say anything for his defense, his jaw dropped, mouth wide open.
That's when they realized where they had arrived; in the alley where the main door of Ladybug and Chat Noir's headquarters was.
"Oh boy! What the f— Pinch me, I must be dreaming!" Nino exclaimed, completely shocked. "Ouch! Alya, stop it!"
"You're not dreaming," his girlfriend whispered, shrugging.
Meanwhile, Marinette had bent over the retinal scanner, unlocking access to their HQ.
"You are Ladybug and Chat Noir. My best buddies are the heroes of Paris," he marveled, tone still filled with surprise.
"So if I understood everything; you spent five years in this sort of post-wish alternate universe?" Alya raised an eyebrow, taking a sip from her third bottle of beer.
"That's right. That's why you have that blackout feeling. Something did happen, but Adrien and I are the only ones who remember it," Marinette explained calmly.
"Except for the dome, we remember it, but not the Parisians…" Nino added. "Because we were actively part of your plan and the attack."
Adrien and Marinette nodded simultaneously, confirming what their friend had said.
"What was it like there?" Alya asked. "Were you...?" Her eyes sparkled with curiosity and a bit of tipsiness.
"If your question is whether I stammered and was a clumsy mess in front of Adrien then, no change there. I was still the same odd Marinette," she sighed, spinning an empty beer bottle on the table.
Nino pursed his lips and held back a chuckle, before turning to Adrien. "Still so dense and blind even in another life, Dude?"
Adrien muttered through his teeth, taking a long sip of beer, before beginning to give more explanations. He explained how he'd thought Marinette didn't really like him before they'd finally become very close and he'd been afraid to break what they'd built. He explained how Marinette had been an invaluable support when his family had been shattered, realizing at the same time that this was the price his father had to pay: the closer he and Marinette came to each other, the more unstable Gabriel's wish was and the more he was going to lose. And he finished by explaining how they had ended up dating and how their love had broken his father's wish, bringing them back to reality.
"And what a reality!" Nino whistled, finishing his bottle of beer, slamming it down on the table.
Adrien put his arm around Marinette's waist and pulled her close. "It's true. Although in a way, it wasn't so bad. But still, I'm glad to be back here. Plagg and Tikki are with us again, my father is going to be sentenced for his crimes, and Maman isn't just a mirage. She's here, alive and with us," he murmured, kissing his girlfriend's temple tenderly.
"All's well that ends well," Alya cheered, raising her glass. "Let's toast to Ladybug and Chat Noir and their success! You really are extraordinary heroes."
"To us!" Marinette and Adrien exclaimed with relieved smiles.
"To you! But my bottle is empty so if I could have another one…"
"Nino!" they all protested, before bursting into laughter.
Absolutely everything was back to normal. A normalcy... well deserved.
A few weeks later…
Being Ladybug had some disadvantages, but also some privileges. Like being able to have a five-minute visit with an inmate in a high-security area, without being tapped.
The heroine took place behind the glass of the visiting room with a severe and determined look. Her presence here was necessary: it was something she had to do to be at peace with herself because she wasn't a heartless monster. Not like him.
"Mr. Agreste."
"Ladybug," he answered. Her name had rolled off the tip of his tongue like the most perfidious venom spat by a rattlesnake.
"My time is short, so I'll come straight to the point; why didn't you reveal our secret identities?"
"And being forced to admit that I've been humiliated by my own son all this time? Never," he spat with disdain.
"If there's anyone who's been humiliated these past few years, it's Adrien, surely not you. You've made his life a living hell, whether it was before or after your wish," she snarled, her teeth and fists clenched. "You've always controlled and manipulated your son as if he was just one of your employees. You isolated him from the world. You forced him to fake smiling all the time and to keep his emotions sheltered, even the most painful ones. You even forced him to have plastic surgery against his own will!
Ladybug was ranting.
"I did it for him and his mother. For our family!" Gabriel retorted sternly.
"There's one thing I'd like to know: who are you trying to convince with this mealy-mouthed excuse? Me or yourself?" Her gaze darted to his, her bluebell eyes challenging his icy one and Gabriel remained completely impassive.
"The only good thing that you did for your family is to have pleaded guilty for your crimes," she noted sternly. "For the record, in this life or another, your son and your wife are happier without you!" she added, while striking firmly a finger against the table to emphasize her last words.
"Emilie…"
Ladybug saw Gabriel swallow and his gaze changed, softening like that of a wounded animal.
"Is she...?"
"She is alive. That's why I came here today. I thought it was fair that you know," she said impassively.
Hands flat on the table, propping herself to stand up from her chair, she turned her back to her interlocutor, ready to leave the room.
"Miss Dupain-Cheng?"
The heroine sighed and without bothering to completely turn around, she glanced briefly over her shoulder, waiting to know what Gabriel had to say.
"Take care of my son."
She nodded once and left the parlor without ever looking back.
She never looked back again and left the past in the past, moving forward only toward the future. A happy and peaceful future at Adrien's side.
The end.
Feel free to leave your comments.
Thanks y'all for your support since the beginning of this fic. You're all pawsome.
See y'all tomorrow for my new story: Step back in time, a story written for the MLB big bang 2021 in collaboration with a wonderful artist who draw some arts for the fic