Chapter 15

*Marinette's POV*

"Father," I heard Adrien's voice say through the camera system as I watched him sit down on a metal chair opposite his father. He sounded a lot less nervous than he actually was. On the other hand, I was a nervous wreck, struggling to stand still and wringing my hands together.

"Adrien. I wasn't expecting to see you. This is not how any of this was supposed to end," Gabriel replied. He was chained to his chair, dressed in a loose pair of trousers and a plain white t-shirt. He wasn't wearing his glasses and his hair was hanging limp, giving him the appearance of a very tired old man, all of his previous stature diminished completely.

"How was it supposed to end then?"

"Well with me in possession of Ladybug and Cat Noir's miraculous and your mother alive and then everything would go back to normal."

"You really are delusional aren't you. I've spent the last 4 years of my life believing that my mother was dead. If she suddenly reappeared with no explanation, nothing would go back to normal! I'd accepted that I was never going to see her again. Do you even understand how hard it was to see her like that? Preserved and not able to rest in peace. Plus, you should know that she was never dead, she's been in a magical coma that is reversible with the proper knowledge. If you had bothered to do any research you would know that."

"I did know that she wasn't dead. I knew she had a chance to survive. Why do you think I wanted the wish that came with merging the two miraculous together?"

"So this whole time you really didn't need to be torturing Paris?"

"I guess not. I've been wondering that ever since Cat Noir mentioned it yesterday. I really have enjoyed controlling people."

"What the hell father. Why couldn't you focus on me? Why did you have to have the Miraculous?"

"It wasn't just me. Both me and your mother wanted the collection. To have the whole set. That's how your mum fell into the coma. She used the Peacock Miraculous when it was broken."

For already knowing this information, Adrien was acting really well. Although I don't think he was pretending to be angry. I could feel the waves coming of him through the screen

"How can I ever forgive you father? You have been absent for years while forcing me to do things that I never wanted to do. And how do I know that you're not blaming this on mum? Yes she used the Miraculous, but that could have been because of the freedom, not to collect the rest." He was now pacing the room, fully showing all his anger.

"Well you have to understand that I was doing it for you. You needed a whole family unit, including your mother, and this was the way that I knew how to achieve that goal."

"I DIDN'T NEED MY MUM! I NEEDED YOU! Yes I miss her with every cell in my body but I got closure, it just took me way longer than it should have because I didn't have your support."

Gabriel's face was one of pure shock. It looked like Adrien's outburst struck a nerve.

"I didn't know that. I guess I have been a bit absent. But it was for a good reason. But I needed her. My life was empty."

"Thanks father, it's not like you had a teenage son to fill your life. I've had enough of this now. Don't expect to see me again. Oh and you should know that it was Marinette and I who called Ladybug and Cat Noir to come and defeat you. It was the best decision of my life."

With that, Adrien walked out of the newly opened door, leaving behind the look of shock and slight anger on Gabriel's face that soon faded into one of deep thought. Hopefully he was now developing regrets and realising that he lost the chance to properly get to know the best person that he ever could. As soon as the door in the other room closed, I ran out of the monitoring room and straight into Adriens arms, wrapping my arms around his neck. I could feel hot tears running down onto my shoulder as the adrenaline from his anger wore off.

"I can't believe it," he choked a little. "I'm sorry for crying again but he made me so angry. I don't believe that he could be so cold. He focused completely on himself for years, justifying his goal by saying that he was doing it for me which he wasn't."

"Hey, it's ok. Why don't we go back home now. It's getting late and we can then talk properly there," I whispered into his ear, softly twisting my fingers in his hair.

"Yeah that's a good idea," he replied, letting go of me and wiping his eyes.

*Adrien's POV*

I couldn't sleep that night, the conversation with my father playing on my mind until the early hours of the morning. Marinette's head was laying on my chest as she slept peacefully, every now and again shifting a little deeper into me.

Once we voyaged back home, Marinette and I sat talking for hours, snacking on the last of the treats her parents left out for us after school. For a while she was comforting me as reality hit me. My father was truly evil and I don't know what part my mother played in it all. I realised that I didn't really let him talk and the visit was more for me to let him know the way his actions have affected me over the last few years. It seems that I gave him something to think about by the way Mari described his expression when I left. But it felt good. I'd finally confronted him and now he knew. I could have done without the outburst but I couldn't help it. As soon as he said his life was empty, all I could see was red. Did he really not care about me? I'm his son. His only child.

Soon enough it was midnight and I could see Mari's head starting to droop so I suggested that we get ready to sleep as we still had a busy week before the press conference on Friday. She protested in the way I knew she would but eventually gave in when I showed her the time. But that all led to now, 3 am, and me still lying awake and staring at the ceiling. Plagg said that the kwami's were close to figuring out how to wake up my mum and should be able to update us by the time we got back from school the next day. That was also weighing on my mind. I have no idea what to expect from her when she wakes up. Will she be really confused? Will she agree with everything my dad has done? Should Marinette and I tell her the full story or the one we told her parents and my dad?

I felt Mari stirring on my chest, blinking her eyes open to look up at me.

"You're still awake?" she asked sleepily, grogginess creeping into her voice.

"Yeah, I can't sleep. But I'll be ok, you can go back to sleep now," I whispered back to her, placing a soft kiss on the top of her head. She shook her head and pulled herself up to a sitting position, rubbing her eyes as she moved.

"I'm ok actually. After the last few years we've endured, I'm used to surviving on only a couple hours of sleep and I also happen to be an expert in sleepless nights and how to deal with them."

"Oh really? How do you deal with them then?"

"I'll show you."

With that, Mari stood up and pushed open the ceiling hatch, gesturing for me to follow her as she pulled herself onto the roof.

"Transform and follow me," she said before transforming into Ladybug and throwing her yoyo into the distance. I followed her lead and called for Plagg, vaulting across the rooftops of Paris to catch with My Lady. Once I did, we ran and leapt off buildings, letting the fresh early morning air rush past us, allowing us to forget our worries and feel like the carefree teenagers that we are. After an hour, the sun was about to rise over the city, so we stopped on top of the Montparnasse tower to watch, sitting with our legs hanging over the edge of the building, safe in the knowledge that we were completely safe and alone. My arm snaked over Ladybug's shoulder, pulling her in towards me.

"Thank you for this, it really helped get my mind off everything," I said. She moved her head to look up at me, reaching a gloved hand to my face.

"No problem, I thought you'd need this. And you did say that being Cat Noir allowed you to be free. Also you do realise that this is the second time we've watched the sunrise from a rooftop in 10 days. At this rate, we're going to make the normal romantic spots in the city of love seem boring," she deadpanned, causing me to burst out laughing.

"I don't think we need to worry about that! We're Ladybug and Cat Noir, there will always be a new secluded place for us to explore and make unique memories in," I said between laughs. Then an idea hit me. "For example, there's one thing that I've been wanting to do ever since we found out what happened during the Oblivio battle."

"Oh yeah. And what may that be?" she asked, a hint of amusement in her voice. I stood up and held out my hand for Ladybug. She took it and stood up as well, allowing me to lead her to the middle of the roof. The same roof that we defeated Oblivio. The same roof that was the scene of the first proper kiss we shared (not counting the one that happened during the Dark Cupid battle as that was to save me), one that neither of us can properly remember.

"Let me set the scene for you," I started as we arrived at the middle, taking Ladybugs hands in mine. "Two blind naive kids had been blasted with a memory loss orb and could not remember who they were or why they were dressed in weird costumes. The costumes then disappeared, leaving the kids really confused. They felt a connection between them and worked together to find answers and hide from a villain chasing them through the building. Soon enough, they discovered the reason behind the connection they felt and assumed that they were together, opening the floodgates to the feelings between them. Eventually, they figured out how they could defeat the villain and then, right here on this spot, they realised that they would not remember anything and gave in to their feelings, culminating in a kiss, one seen by millions and the cause of much speculation. I think it went rather like this." My head tilted down and inched closer to Ladybugs, our lips meeting in the middle in a re-creation of a kiss that gave me hope once before. I pulled her in closer so our fronts were flush with each other, placing my hands on her back and deepening the kiss. We stayed like this for a little while until we were both out of breath. Ladybug pulled away, resting her forehead against mine.

"As much as I want to continue with this, I think we need to head home now," she whispered. I nodded against her forehead and moved to walk to the edge of the building again, ready to make the journey back to Marinette's, but I felt a yoyo string wrap around my waist and spin me straight back into Ladybug's arms that she stretched round my neck to pull me down for another deep and passionate kiss. This time I was the one to break the kiss and, before she could react, I swept her off her feet and started to vault the way home, both of us laughing the whole way back.