Hello there!

I'm back with another post-season 4 (short) story.

The title has been chosen wisely to fit with the list of titles coming from season 5 (all ending by 'ion') It also means that what is going to happen here fit the mood of the final and what could maybe happen in the first episode of season 5. Of course, it's just my brain writing is own scenario and happy turns of event. I hope you'll enjoy the story as much as enjoyed writing it.


The rain was pouring down on her, the cold wind biting on her cheeks, gnawing at her straight to the bone. And yet, Ladybug had never felt so warm before. Indeed, Chat Noir's hug had brought her some body heat; but the real warmth, the one afflicting her from head to toes, was the one that her partner brought inside of her heart.

Despite the cold, despite the emptiness, despite the feeling of having failed and lost everything, she still felt suddenly heart-warmed.

Chat Noir had that kind of soothing power on her. It only took his presence, a heartfelt «M'Lady» whispered reassuringly, and a comforting hug for her to get out of her spiraling rambling in the blink of an eye.

"We're gonna get them back one by one, until the very last. And we'll make sure this never happens again!"

He sounded so certain they would eventually succeed, and she could only try to believe him. "You... and me?" she whispered, her voice shaking and catching in her throat.

"You, the best superhero there ever was…" He slid out of her embrace and she let go of him reluctantly, still trying to keep a hold on him. Trying to keep a hold on her lifeline in the middle of the storm that was currently washing over the madness of her life.

Chat Noir pointed at the huge crowd of Parisians in the streets below, cheering to encourage their two heroes. "...them, the people of Paris…"

She couldn't believe her eyes, nor her ears, but her partner was right. She hadn't lost him and it seemed that despite her mistakes, the Parisians only remembered all those times when Ladybug and Chat Noir had saved them. They were still counting on them. In fact, they had poured into the streets of the city and were shouting their undying support to them. Their support to her.

Ladybug took a deep breath and stood stern side-by-side with her partner, when he spoke again matter-of-factly.

"...and me, your loyal partner."

Of course, it was them against the world. Always. Something she should have remembered long ago; they were a team, the best team ever, and she would make sure to never forget it anymore.

They both were looking at the butterflies making up Hawkmoth's giant face, the two of them still standing glorious atop of the Palais de Chaillot despite their weak moment.

Her hand blindly searched for his, intertwining their fingers and draining all the support she could take out of him. All the support he was unshakably and unconditionally giving her. He gaped at her, just like he did at the beginning of the day, when she'd kissed him on the cheek and told him he was her favorite Miraculous holder. A roundabout way of telling him that he was the only one she needed—yesterday, today, tomorrow, and for all the other days to come.

Chat Noir squeezed her hand tighter as they watched their enemy's face slowly fading away, and the crowd scattering around the Jardin Trocadéro and the Pont d'Iéna. Soon the place was quiet, except for a few confused tourists.

"Thank you," Ladybug managed to say, her voice barely above a whisper. She lifted their joined hands, waving them slowly. "Thank you for always being the support I need when I'm sinking toward the point of no return."

"You're not alone, you know. If you sink then… I'll sink with you. In the meantime, we'll both do our best to keep our heads above water."

"And if we drown, we still have our aquatic power ups…" she mumbled under her breath.

"You're being very sarcastic. Which means it must be really bad…" Chat Noir stated seriously, his eyes narrowing.

"It is."

The voice that suddenly rose behind them was deep and stern.

"Grand Master Su-Han!" Ladybug cringed as she spun around, instantly letting go of her partner's hand. She gulped, taking the monk in. His arms were folded over his chest, his back straight as he stood, serious and silent, in front of the two of them.

"Miss Ladybug, Mr. Chat Noir. Needless to say, I'm very disappointed."

"I guess you are." Ladybug lowered her head, her hands nervously fidgeting with her yo-yo. "I suppose you're here to ask me to relinquish Guardianship?"

Chat Noir gaped at her, his eyes shooting up to her, but she did her best to ignore his reaction; reading the sadness in his eyes would only make it harder. And that was already hard enough.

"Well there's not much left to guard. But indeed, I'm here for that. You know the words," he urged her, pointing his Celestial baton in her direction.

She stared at Su-Han, completely transfixed by the serious and dashed look on his face before nodding weakly, never breaking eye contact with him.

"I Ladybug, hereby relinq—"

"No! I'm against it!" Chat Noir screamed his lungs out of his chest. His body moved faster than lightning, black suit and golden hair suddenly filling her sight.

"Chaton… you're only making it more difficult…" she whispered, one of her hands settling on his shoulder.

"I don't give a damn!" He turned around, his cat-like eyes darkening and shooting daggers. He took a hold of both her upper arms as he leaned closer, his gaze softening when it locked with hers. "Please, M'Lady, don't."

"I have no choice, Chat Noir." Her eyes filled with tears as she spoke, her voice barely above a whisper.

"You always have a choice. Just like I made the choice to believe in you. You're the only Guardian to me. You're the only Ladybug, to all the people of Paris but above all, to me. My only partner. The only woman I love," he poured his heart out, his arms wrapping around her back as he hugged her tight, holding onto her for dear life.

"I'm so sorry," she sobbed in the hollow of his ears, and his strong hold tightened around her shaking body.

"She might be the woman you love but she failed in the other categories; including the one I had set." Su-Han's stern voice cut off the moment. "She failed the rules when she decided to be both the Guardian and Ladybug. She failed when I asked her to know your identity. If anything, she argued with you and dared to entrust Plagg, one of the most powerful and dangerous Kwamis, to a chosen one she didn't even know. And, she failed again today," the monk stated, pounding his baton against the ground.

"You're wrong!" Chat Noir spat bitterly as he turned around, facing the man again, and Ladybug saw his whole body trembling.

"He's right, Chaton! I failed!" Ladybug cried. "Please, just… Can you just calm down? You're going to attract an Akuma!"

Or worse. Who knew what the Mothman could do now…

"How do you want me to calm down?! He's going to take you away from me!" He faced her and she saw unshed tears of anger glistening deep in his feline eyes as he completely lost it. "You're going to forget me!" His voice lowered, breaking with his last words, just like Ladybug's heart right now. "I can't lose you! If I lost you I'd be more alone than ever." He burst into tears, and she felt her own tears rolling down her cheeks. "You're the only constant in my life, Ladybug!"

Su-Han stepped closer and Chat Noir instinctively drew his baton in a defensive move, which didn't stop the man from getting closer to speak. "I think you don't understand young heroes. I'm taking back both the Mother Box and your Miraculouses. You're going to drop your transformation right here, right now, and this way, you'll know who she is. I will give you ten minutes of privacy to say goodbye. Not one more."

A clattering song echoed around them when Chat Noir's staff fell on the wet ground.

Was this really how it was going to end? They would transform, she would forget but he would not? It was so unfair. He would come to her as a random civilian and she won't know it's him. She won't know that he'd been her devoted and silly partner? She won't remember him. It stung deeply. She couldn't bear the thought of forgetting him; losing him. There must be another way... Everything but that!

"You can't do that!" Chat Noir objected, voicing her thoughts.

"Ten minutes!" With that, the monk vanished in thin air like some kind of Houdini or Copperfield.

Ladybug and Chat Noir's eyes met, anger, grief, and guilt mingling in an intense stare thick with unsaid. The rain still pouring down on them did nothing to disguise the tears that were flowing out of their swollen eyes down their damp face.

Ladybug took a deep, shaky breath, before eventually breaking the silence—10 minutes, she had to make the most of it.

"You should know what happened today," she said as she sat again on the same spot where her partner had found her crying almost an hour earlier—where she was still crying… "The Akuma might have driven me to take a risk I shouldn't have taken," she admitted.


"The Akuma might have driven me to take a risk I shouldn't have taken," she admitted.

She'd wanted to entrust him, well, Adrien him, with the Dog's Miraculous. There was no risk he could see there; only a sense of honor and recognition that affected him profoundly, if just Félix hadn't ruined it teaming with the enemy.

"It doesn't matter what happened. It wasn't your fault. You're not the one to blame; Shadowmoth is, Hawkmoth, or whatever he calls himself now." He sat next to her, a hand coming to rest on her shoulder.

"Still, you're my partner, you deserve to know why we're in such a bad position right now," said Laybug, her voice growing some confidence. "I might have let my personal feelings cloud my judgment." She peeked a look at him from the corner of her eyes, her cheek dusting in a slight red hue before she quickly looked away, and his gaze followed hers. "I wanted to entrust Adrien Agreste with the Dog's Miraculous. His father is forcing him to leave Paris for several months and I know for a fact he doesn't want to, but he couldn't say no; I'm the only one to see that he's not happy. I went for him on the train, only to bring him back here, thinking that I'll use this opportunity to convince him to talk with his father after the fight," she sighed heavily, folding her knees against her chest, and resting her chin there. She sighed again, closing her eyes. "I also did it because I selfishly wanted to confess how I feel about him once and for all. Thinking back at the Akuma's power, it all made sense now; I took risks for the sake of love," she groaned as if she was terribly mad at herself.

Chat Noir's ears perked up, his eyes widening as he looked up at her, but she didn't notice it and continued her explanations, her hands moving frantically as she now spoke with agitation.

"I didn't find Adrien on the train, but his cousin; Félix. He's the one I entrusted with the Miraculous. I've been fooled and didn't realize that it wasn't Adrien. To think I claim to be in love with him and I haven't been able to see through Félix's false behavior. I made a mistake; now, Félix turns out to be on the dark side and I made a fool of myself in front of Adrien, as usual. Plain old me always ends up catching up with me, ruining everything with the boy I love, with my partner, with my duty..." she rambled nervously, her pitch raising. "I'm truly a terrible friend, partner and Guardian!"

"Marinette," Chat Noir scolded firmly. His grip tightened on her shoulder as he felt like his heart was threatening to burst out of his chest any time soon. "You're overdoing it now."

Her eyes shot up at his, wide and flabbergasted, and he couldn't help but smile softly.

"How?" Her breathless question was the only thing she was able to say while staring at him as if she couldn't really see him, still overcoming the shock.

Chat's hand slowly ran down her arms, taking her hand in his and giving it a gentle squeeze. "Today, at school, you were the only one who understood that I wasn't happy. Marinette's always been the only one who saw beyond the glamor, the layers of fancy clothes, the pretty face and the fake smile. The only one who did see me. Who did listen to me. Who understood me," he stated, his voice still thick with emotions, and his vision clouded with tears. His free hand moved up, his fingers slowly grazing her chin as he cupped her cheek. "I've seen your strengths and your weaknesses. I've seen the best and the worst of you. And today, it's my turn to be the one there for you. I'm listening to you. I understand you. But most of all; I see you. Ladybug, Marinette; it all makes sense."

"Adrien…"

He smiled fondly at her whilst all the pieces fell into place; somehow it felt like a lull in the middle of the storm. A ray of sunlight breaking through the tempestuous rainy sky, lightning their soul and warming their heart.

Ladybug—Marinette looked as if she was ready to have a panic attack. Probably because she just confessed that she loved him. She loved him! He went to withdraw his hand but she prevented him from doing so; she placed her hand on top of his, holding tight onto it. After a moment of silence, she eventually closed her eyes and when she looked up at him again, her gaze softened.

"I'm sorry if it looks like I overdid it earlier but… I didn't." He simply shrugged. "I did mean what I said; you're the only constant in my life, Marinette. Ladybug always had been for Chat Noir, and you always had been for Adrien. That's why it all made sense that you're both the same wonderful person. That's why I love you. I meant it and I still mean it; I'm in love with you."


This is a 3 parts story. Part 2 will come tomorrow.
Feel free to leave a review, this is very welcomed. Until tomorrow, Miraculous kisses!