A/N: I had the idea of writing miraculous fics as modern day fairy retellings...let's see how this goes! There aren't many hints as to which one this chapter is... let me know if you guess!

"T-This can't be happening..."

Marinette put her face in her hands, sitting at her desk in her room. She was on a zoom call with Alya, Nino, and Adrien. After hearing what Adrien had said just moments ago, she had muted herself and turned off her video for a moment, needing to compose herself. But she wasn't sure if she would be able to pull it together...

"Are you serious?!" Alya asked, eyes wide into her webcam. Nino just looked solemn, his mouth slightly agape.

Adrien looked down, then nodded slowly. His eyes looked red and puffy.

"Father said that I've been getting myself into too many dangerous situations recently. Too many akumatized villains have nearly hurt me, and I don't think he trusts you guys like I want him to. My last day at school will be tomorrow."

Hearing the pain in Adrien's voice as he said this, Marinette wiped her eyes and un-muted herself, turning her webcam back on. A surge of purpose shot through her. She could grieve losing Adrien later, but he needed her support right now.

"Then we'll just have to make tomorrow the best day of your life!"

Her friends gaped at her for a moment, perhaps shocked by her enthusiasm. Marinette blinked, trying to hold the grin on her face despite the sharp pain in her chest. Her heart felt like it was being torn in two, but she needed to stay strong for a little bit longer.

Nino's face warmed up, then Alya's as well. Adrien sniffled, then smiled at his friends on the screen.

"You're right, Marinette. Until I can convince my father to let me leave my house again...We'll just have to make the most of tomorrow and hold out hope."

Nino and Alya chirped their agreements. Marinette smiled her sad smile and nodded.

"We're here for you Adrien." stated Nino.

"Always," said Marinette. The four chatted for a few moments longer, said their goodbyes, and ended the call.

Marinette nearly collapsed into tears the second after.

Tikki flew from the sewing box along with Trixx and Wayzz, floating over to hug her face in an attempt to comfort their guardian.

"I'm so sorry, Marinette." said Tikki. Trixx and Wayzz shared sad glances at one another.

"This isn't fair at all." said Trixx. Wayzz looked lost in thought.

Marinette choked on a sob.

"It isn't fair. Mr. Agreste has sheltered Adrien his entire life and now that he finally has friends and gets to experience life, h-he-" she sniffed, "he has to go back into seclusion. I feel lonely all the time because I can't be fully honest with anyone other than Alya, and even opening up t-to her can be hard. Adrien may not even be able to talk to us after tomorrow. And he still d-d-doesn't know how I feel."

The kwamis floated in front of Marinette, watching and listening intently as she got all of this off of her chest. The remaining kwamis left the miracle box, heads poking out of the secret compartment of the sewing box to listen as well.

"A-Adrien deserves freedom."

Marinette wiped her eyes, trying to take some deep breaths. She looked up at Tikki who frowned at her.

"Like you said to your friends, you'll just have to make the most out of tomorrow and hope Mr. Agreste will change his mind! Don't take tomorrow for granted and let your sadness ruin a good day. Maybe Mr. Agreste will change his mind soon."

"I hope you're right Tikki.

The next morning, Marinette rolled over in bed to check the time. And per usual, she was going to be late for school.

She jumped out of bed and rushed to get ready, scrambling to throw on clothes and put her hair in her classic pigtails. She starting to open the hatch to head downstairs when she felt like she was forgetting something- something important.

"Adrien's gift!" she exclaimed.

She flew over to her chest full of presents she had stashed for her green eyed crush and quickly grabbed the special gift she had been saving. Wrapped in shiny black wrapping paper with a purple bow, she smiled at the gift, hoping the moment she gives it to Adrien will be as special as she had always dreamed it to be.

With that, Marinette was sprinting down the stairs then out of the bakery and through the streets of Paris to get to school.

Since she was late to school, Marinette didn't have much time to chat with her friends that morning. Class that day had been a lot of silent reading and working rather than class discussions or any group assignments, so she spent a lot of time in her thoughts.

What if Adrien doesn't like the gift? What if I ruin the last moments I have with him for the foreseeable future?! What if I stumble over my words like I always do and embarrass myself?

Trying to keep her cool was becoming harder to manage as time went on. She stared at the back of Adrien's head for a good portion of the morning, attempting to will herself to stay positive. The anxiety bubbling up inside was becoming a little too overwhelming though.

While the class was working on a math worksheet, Marinette opted to pull out her notebook and pass a note over to Alya to express her fears and maybe find some clarity in her best friend's words. Just as she had started to write a few words, Ms. Mendeleiev snatched the notebook off of the table, glaring at Marinette. She took the notebook up to the front of the room and set it down on her desk.

Okay, so she needed to relax without Alya's help and just try to calm her whirring mind down on her own. Totally doable.

With a deep breath, Marinette tried focusing on her algebra rather than her pounding heart and doubtful thoughts. If x^2+17x-79=0, then...

Yeah that wasn't going to happen.

She set down her pencil, putting her face in her hands. Maybe she should just try and enjoy her last day at school with Adrien instead of trying to woo him over with this gift. Maybe he would feel better if she just tried her best to support him while he was hurting. Maybe...

The bell suddenly rang, and Marinette stood up so fast her chair screeched across the floor. Her classmates flinched at the noise but she didn't notice, grabbing Adrien's gift and running out the door to find the nearest trash can.

As she was lifting the lid to toss in the small gift, she felt a hand touch her shoulder.

"Agghh!"

Marinette spun around quickly, eyes wide from the surprise.

There stood Adrien, smiling at his friend.

"Hey Marinette! Are you going to come eat lunch with Alya, Nino and I?"

Marinette turned red, quickly hiding the gift behind her back, grinning a little too wide for her face to look normal (or just not terrifying).

"L-Lunch?! Yes of course! I'd love to be with you-I-I mean go out with you! UH I mean- go with you!"

Marinette squeezed her eyes shut tightly after hearing the words tumble out of her mouth. Why couldn't she act like herself around him? Her words became alphabet soup inside her head every time he looked at her!

Adrien chuckled, seemingly missing Marinette's awkward confessions. "Let's go then."

He took her hand to walk with her to the cafeteria, then his eyebrow shot up.

"What's that present for?"

Marinette felt something in her brain pull a plug, as if it hadn't already already been done before. Any coherent words were thrown out, leaving her with nonsense floating around in her head.

"It-I-It's um, it's for-for..."

No excuse came to her in time. Adrien looked back down at the gift and saw his name written on a tag, right next to the purple bow. He smiled at her.

"It's addressed to me. Marinette, you didn't have to get me anything!" The slightest blush crossed his cheeks, and he let go of Marinette's hand, scratching his head. "I know everything with my father right now isn't great, but I'm sure I'll be able to see you guys soon. I'll make sure it happens, actually. I just won't see you guys at school anymore is all."

Her heart was beating loudly in her ears now. With a flustered look on her face, she gulped and looked down at her shoes. Even though he said they'd see each other soon, this felt like all or nothing.

So she decided to brave through the next few moments like Ladybug would.

She reached her arms up, outstretching the gift in her hands to Adrien. She swallowed and took a deep breath.

"I know we'll probably see each other soon, but it was important I give this to you, Adrien. I'll let you open it and meet you at the table with Alya and Nino, okay?"

Adrien furrowed his brows and nodded, taking the small box out of her hands. He admired the wrapping job, grinning at her.

"Thank you, Marinette."

She returned the grin, then turned on her heels and strolled towards the cafeteria, her heart beating faster than it ever hand in her entire life.

A/N: hehe...what's this present for Adrien?

I'll be back to update soon! I also think that for this fic I'll be doing a few chapters per fairy tale or something like that. so each story could end up being a one, two or three shot maybe? We'll see how my brain plans it all out! Hope you enjoyed!