Hello, Miraculers! It is with great joy that I present to you my new story. I have been working on this for several months and I put all my heart (and all my energy) into it. I will be regular in my publications, you will have a new chapter every Friday or Saturday.

Disclaimer: This story is based on characters created and owned by (c) Thomas Astruc, TS1 Bouygues, Disney Channel, Zagtoon, Toei Animation. No infringement of copyright or trademarks infringement is intended.

BETAS: Etoile-Lead-Sama, AgresteBug, JuliaFC and Alixe. Thanks girls!

First of all, a few details:

— This story could be categorized into several categories: Drama - Anguish - Hurt/Comfort - Friendship - Romance. Concretely, this story should take you up an emotional rollercoaster. However, I insist that my stories always end well and smoothly.

— Adrien has just turned 19 and Marinette has 18.

— This is a rated M story so there will be (very) explicit sexual content. However a Warning will be placed before the scenes, giving you the possibility not to read them. They bring a plus to the story, but are not indispensable and the understanding of the story can be made without reading these scenes (which will only happen after several chapters).

— English is not my native language but I handle it pretty well and also my English betas do a great job on this story.

I wish you a very good reading,

Chapter 1 : How I lost you

Ladybug stared longingly at the Black Cat ring she was holding in her gloved hand. A lonely tear rolled down her mask, but was stopped by a familiar black paw, belonging to the Kwami of destruction. "Are you sure?" he breathed at her with concern.

She knew perfectly well what the price to pay was, Le Grand Gardien had explained it to her very clearly: Chat Noir would not be the same anymore. That would be her price to pay, her burden. She was going to have to repair the damage her partner had suffered. Damage of unknown proportions, but no matter what, she had to bring him back, she had to do it, she would do it.

"Yes," she replied, "Tikki, Plagg, unify!"

Ladybug instantly became BugNoire.

A long black braid with bluish reflections danced along her back, two black and red cat ears stood proudly on her skull, her usual red mask with black dots now underlined with a very intense feline green gaze.

Her suit was made of an identical upper part to that of Ladybug, except for a different detail: a symbolic golden bell that dominated the base of her neck, just under her chin.

The lower part of the costume was black, similar to vertiginous thighs boots which were finished with two imposing green cat paws on the top of each of her thighs.

A black belt with red outlines underlined her waist and allowed her yo-yo to be hung on her left hip and her stick to fit in the bottom of her back.

She took one last look at what had been once the landmark of Hawkmoth and Mayura, as well as the place where she had last seen her partner, almost two months earlier.

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, then she opened them again, a glimmer of unfailing determination appearing in her gaze.

"I wish to find Adrien Agreste," she whispered.

A luminous orb formed in front of her and stretched until it became a portal, which she passed through with trembling legs and a heavy body. She had made many unifications between The Kwamis before, but the one between Tikki and Plagg was by far the most powerful of them. It took a lot of energy for the heroine to use their two powers in order to be able to pronounce her wish.

8 weeks earlier…

"Ready, Chaton?"

"Always when you are by my side, m'Lady." He purred.

Ladybug put her hand on the doorknob, ready to push it open, but Chat Noir's hand rested on hers and stopped her movement.

"Wait."

"I thought you were always ready, Chat Noir." She said sarcastically, turning back to face him.

The feline hero looked into his partner's eyes and took a deep breath to give himself courage.

"I am." He replied, pressing his lips against hers.

It was a shy kiss, soft and tender but of a mind blowing intensity.

This was neither the time nor the place for that : yet the electricity that ran through her body, vibrating to the depths of her soul.

Totally prevented her from protesting the silk feel his lips pressed against hers.

She had been so surprised that Chat Noir kissed her, that she barely had time to realize and blend into the kiss, that he was already stepping aside. Then he slowly moved and left his nose to rest against hers.

Their hot breaths were intertwined. In a whisper, slightly touching and caressing his partner's lips, the three words he had held captive for far too long fell fervently from the depths of his heart: "I love you."

She instantly opened her eyes and was caught by two shiny feline orbs bigger than she had ever seen them before.

"I.. I don't kn..know if.. if.. " She stammered, her lips always brushing against his.

"Ssht.." He interrupted her, "You don't need to answer anything, nothing compels you to share the feelings I feel for you. I just… really had to tell it to you before we go into this final battle."

"You sound a little bit dramatic, Chat Noir."

"Sorry, it's just that…" he paused to put a rebellious piece of hair back behind his partner's ear. "I'm afraid of losing you, or that something will happen to you. I care so much about you, m'Lady."

It's true that Hawkmoth and Mayura had become stronger over the years, but they were going to defeat them, right? They were going to win this war, just as they had won each of their previous battles.

"Nothing will happen to me, I promise you. Together, we're going to go down there, and do what we've always done, defeat the villains."

"You are right, it's you and me against the world, Bugaboo."

What Ladybug didn't know was that since they arrived here, Chat Noir had a bad feeling. A strange and negative intuition with which he didn't want to worry his partner but that had exacerbated, despite his will, his protective and sentimental side.

Perhaps it was related to the fact that he was going to have to fight against his own Father? Or the fact that his partner would soon discover that he is the son of their enemy and was afraid of her reaction?

Chat Noir had discovered a few hours before, by chance, a surprising conversation between his Father and his assistant. That he was Hawkmoth, and that Nathalie was Mayura. It was almost midnight, and Adrien was just going to get a glass of water. As he went down the stairs, he had heard about Miraculous searches. Then he heard two other voices and Plagg suddenly came out of the hood of his holder's sweatshirt, completely alarmed. The Kwami cat recognized the voices of Nooroo and Duusu.

Immediately, Adrien sent Plagg to notify Tikki and her holder.

The Kwami of destruction had returned quickly after his mission to transform Adrien so he could join the meeting point he had given to his partner.

He had revealed to her the identity of Hawkmoth and Mayura, and had simply told her to trust him, that he knew it from a reliable source. They had decided to act immediately in order to completely surprise their enemies.

And that's how they now found themselves in Adrien's room. The young man had been put somewhere safe by Chat Noir before joining Ladybug. Well, in fact, it was what he was forced to tell her.

The feline hero stayed nose to nose with his partner. He was dying to kiss her again, but he didn't want to take the risk of going too far or rushing things.

Even though tonight's adrenaline of the final battle had encouraged him to take a step forward to open his heart to Ladybug, he knew that she remained the woman who had refused his advances for 5 years. Which meant that she was unlikely to share her true feelings about him. But for some reason he didn't know, his instinct yelled at him, that it was now or never.

Delicately, he recoiled and dropped a slight kiss in his partner's hair. "Ready, m'Lady?"

"Always when you are by my side, Chaton." She replied, echoing his words a few minutes earlier.

Chat Noir was in combat position, en garde, with an elongated stick that he held like a fencing sabre.

In front of him Hawkmoth had adopted the same posture, perfect slot and cane pointed forward, ready to hit his target. Hawkmoth was the first to shoot (attack in fencing language) and the feline hero blocked his shot with a perfect Parade, before doing a Riposte. His opponent dodged the attack and immediately counterattacked while Chat Noir did the same, both Tireurs (two opponents in fencing) being in a situation of simultaneous attacks (two opponents shot simultaneously). Chat Noir dodged the blow, while his stick hit the flank of his enemy.

"Touché" , exclaimed Chat Noir.

His opponent frowned, clearly astonished by the knowledge and the good level of fencing of the feline hero.

Hawkmoth made a call by hitting his foot on the ground to execute a feinte de coup droit dégagement (feint movement in fencing to cheat the opponent). That is to say, in this way, Chat Noir would think, wrongly, that he would hit him on his right flank, and would be forced to execute a Parade to block the blow on his right side. However, despite the precision and speed of his opponent, the feline understands the Feinte and blocked the blow to the left, picking up, in return, a frustrated growl out of Hawkmoth.

Chat Noir at Slot distance attack by right hit and his opponent counterattacked immediately. The attacks followed one another for several minutes and neither of the two opponents managed to gain control over the other.

Ladybug, meanwhile, was engaged in a hand-to-hand fight with Mayura. She had a slight advantage over her enemy, but her concentration was often destabilized by the long sighs of exasperation from the two men who had engaged in a fencing fight and could hardly touch each other. She was also quite disconcerted by her partner's fencing skills and her ability to handle his stick like a Sabre. It was skills she knew in another young man, but not in her feline partner. However, she came to the conclusion that the tactics employed by Chat Noir were not the right ones if he wanted to get closer to Hawkmoth, he was going to have to move to another type of fight.

"Chat Noir ! We need to switch, now!"

The hero was surprised, but did not protest. He jumped to the side, as his partner drove to get away from Mayura and exchange opponents with him.

Chat Noir quickly gained the upper hand over Mayura. After a few exchanges of blows, he struck a powerful stick hit into her abdomen and sent her to the other end of the room. With her breath cut, the holder of the Peacock Miraculous tried to recover before trying to get up.

He looked away to see the situation in which his partner was and his blood froze in his veins. Hawkmoth had an undeniable advantage over the heroine in terms of size, weight and strength. Ladybug may have been incredibly powerful, nimble and fast, but that was not enough to take over in a hand-to-hand against an experienced man and tall man as Gabriel Agreste.

The young woman appeared to be exhausted and her movements were slower and less accurate. Hawkmoth took advantage of an opening to hit his cane directly behind the knees of the heroine who fell to the ground.

"M'lady!"

The young woman got up at once, but Hawkmoth had already adjusted his position and his cane : He was about to hit her again, this time, in the chest.

With an agile and rapid leap worthy of the feline of which he was named, Chat Noir jumped between Hawkmoth's weapon and Ladybug, taking the blow directly in the head.

He got up painfully and as quickly as possible, his head turning a little and slightly altering his balance. His partner was already standing and from the corner of her eye gave him a worried look.

Hawkmoth took advantage of Ladybug's obvious distraction to grab her face between his two hands.

"I hope that I didn't punch you too hard and that the ground does not rotate under your feet Chat Noir, I want you to be fully aware of the revelation of the identity of your precious Lady," mocked Hawkmoth while placing his gloved hands on Ladybug's earrings.

"Cataclysm!" Chat Noir tried to punch him with his hand loaded with energy, a quick punch but too approximate because his head was still turning. Hawkmoth pushed Ladybug and easily blocked the feline's punch with his cane which disintegrated. He took advantage of the position of the feline in front of him to take the control. Using a very fast and perfectly executed arm key, Hawkmoth held Chat Noir completely blocked, his hand open and carrying the Black Cat Miraculous just under the nose of his enemy. With a sharp gesture, he removed the ring from the feline's finger and pushed him to the ground, a flash of green light enveloping him instantly.

"Chat!"

The un-transformed hero stood up and faced his opponent who was completely stunned and confused.

"Good evening, Father," said Adrien.

Hawkmoth opened his mouth and closed it, no words coming out.

Ladybug took advantage of his shock to kick him in the abdomen which pushed him back, just next to Mayura.

The heroine advanced to Hawkmoth, but Adrien stopped her.

"Stay back, I will deal with it, it's between him and me," he said, moving quickly and with determination towards his Father, the latter still paralyzed by the shock.

"Gabriel?" Mayura was concerned. "Would it not be time to use our back-up plan!?"

The man moved one step back away from his son and turned to her. In response, he nodded once to approve.

Mayura opened her feather fan and turned on herself, creating a luminous orb all around her. Hawkmoth receded towards the orb, while Adrien confidently advanced towards him.

A malicious rictus was drawn on the face of the villain as his son approached him. It stopped just at the edge of the large circle of light that had stretched out and had now the diameter of a human's height.

"Adrien! Back off, it's a portal! It's a trap!"

Adrien turned to Ladybug, but it was too late. Hawkmoth put an arm around his waist and drew his son to him.

"The fact that you are Chat Noir couldn't make me happier, because now, you are here and I can take you with me, son," Hawkmoth whispered.

The man took one last step back and penetrated completely into the light. Adrien struggled to escape, but in vain, as the gate closed on them he screamed:

"You will find me, m'Lady! I have faith in you!"

"No! Adrien!" Yelled Ladybug, falling knees on the ground.

As the portal disappeared under her eyes, the young woman sobbed and screamed. She picked up the ring that had fallen to the floor. Tears flooded her eyes and hard pressure on her chest made her breathing difficult and painful: she hyperventilated.

" Spots off," she whispered painfully.

"Marinette!" Shouted Tikki, exhausted, but terribly worried about her holder.

The little red kwami slipped against Marinette's cheek, rubbing her little paws against the damp skin of the young woman and whispering soft and soothing words to try to calm and comfort her. Plagg, meanwhile, had wrapped himself in Marinette's hand, holding his Miraculous between his little paws and sobbing at the departure of his holder.

After several long minutes, Marinette found her breathing almost normal. Forcing herself, she then got up, trembling and exhausted.

"Bunnyx, I have to find Bunnyx! Tikki, we…" she couldn't finish her sentence because a portal suddenly opened in front of her.

"Adrien!" She screamed before seeing a blue and white figure with rabbit ears come out of the light.

It was Bunnyx's burrow.

"Marinette! What happened? Chat Noir, Hawkmoth and Mayura have completely disappeared from the future! There is no trace of them! No matter how much I have come back in the past to try to change things, we always arrive at the same result: their total disappearance!"

Bunnyx paused, scratching the back of one of her rabbit ears and taking a moment to gather the rest of the information she could still give to Marinette.

"They were suddenly erased from their own future, without me knowing how or why! even your kids disappeared from my screens just as their father..."

Aware of the mistake she had just made by giving this information, Bunnyx put her hand against her mouth.

Marinette choked a sob and whispered: "Adrien…"

Bunnyx understood that she was already aware of her partner's identity and that she had not accidentally revealed it to her.

"Our children... Adrien... Bunnyx, we must find Adrien," she sobbed.

"Tell me what happened, Marinette?"

Marinette explained all that had happened since Plagg had landed at her home to inform her that Chat Noir knew the identity of Hawkmoth, realizing at the same time that if he knew from a reliable source this information, it was because he was his son and that Adrien had therefore discovered the secret of his Father. She mentally noted for herself that Chat Noir was acting strangely and seemed worried after kissing her, probably because he was going to fight his father. Oh my God, Adrien Agreste kissed me and said he loved me! She absorbed this information and tears flowed down her cheeks again as she explained their battle to Bunnyx and the end result of it.

"A portal? It's impossible. If they had used a time portal I would be able to locate them somewhere in time. Mayura had to open another kind of portal."

"Teleportation?" asked Marinette

"No it doesn't fit, even if they were at the other end of the world I could still see their future. But here they simply disappeared from it."

"Do you think she could have opened an inter-dimensional portal?"

"I don't know at all, I have never seen or heard anything about it. But that might explain why, despite my many attempts to change this future, the result is invariably the same: there must be a gap that prevents me from intervening."

"Did you try to ask help from Ladybug of the past? As with... with Chat… Chat Blanc…" She stuttered.

"Several times... but it always ends in failure. It is as if events were inevitable…" Bunnyx breathed bitterly.

Marinette took a deep breath and exhaled as calmly as possible. She had to think like Ladybug, find out more information and develop an action plan.

"I have to find Adrien."

"We will find him, but first you need to rest," Bunnyx buried herself in her burrow and before it closed she cried out:

"I will come to see you tomorrow morning."

That evening, Marinette did not have the strength to go home. She stayed in Adrien's room and lay on his bed, broken hearted and lost inside her own head.

To be continued...

I really hope that this first chapter makes you want to read the next one.

Please let me know what you thought about it. Comments are a source of motivation for the author and are therefore highly appreciated.

It is a pleasure to read your opinions and it is also a pleasure to answer them. (I will take the time to respond to each of the reviews at the beginning of the next chapter).

I wish you a good weekend in advance and I will meet you here in a week.

Miraculous kisses to all.