I know, I could have done it in one part, like a classic one shot. But it was way much funnier to post it in 3 parts and have you waiting for more. (evil tease, I know) I'm not sorry at all, ahah

Thanks for the support though.


"...You're going to do what you should've done months ago; help us," Adrien said firmly.

Marinette felt a wave of gratitude surge through her. Adrien was fighting heart and soul for her. For them. For the city and the people they had protected for more than a year and for what they still longed to protect. For what they had built so far, but also for everything they still had to build together.

Seeing her partner taking the lead when she was totally distraught made her realize that they were really made for each other. The perfect balance. As always, he was there to reassure her, to help her keep her cool and to regain her confidence so that together they could look in the same direction and face the problem.

She could only think that they would make it.

They could make it.

"You're going to do what you should've done in the first place. Instead of pointing out the mistakes of a teenager who always did her best with the little she knew, and blaming her for what she should or should not have done, you will teach and guide her. Teach and guide us." Adrien stated seriously. "As a matter of fact, let me tell you something more. We both admitted and accepted today's failure, and that's okay, because we did fail. However, there's also another person to blame, and you know perfectly well who that person is." He pointed his index finger toward the Celestial Guardian, leaving no room for doubt whom he was referring to.

Adrien ran his fingers through his hair, obviously nervous. Grabbing on his wrist, Marinette slid her hand in his, squeezing it gently and giving her partner some reassurance. He also gave her hand a squeeze, silently thanking her for her support. As if he needed to do it; she was the one who should thank him for what he was doing.

Clearing his throat, Adrien spoke again matter-of-factly, "You also made some bad choices, Master Su-Han. You chose the easy way when you first met us, preferring to blame a teenager for mistakes she had no way of avoiding. And tonight, you've chosen the easy way again by not getting your hands dirty, forcing us to clean your path. But let me tell you a truth hard to swallow: if you had done what was right and you had trained us instead of threatening us, we wouldn't be in this mess today!" Adrien's pitch raised.

There. It looked like he'd poured out all that was on his mind, and Su-Han still didn't let on, which slowly got under her skin.

"Are you done, young man?"

"I am." Adrien remained as stern as Su-Han was, not letting the anxiety she was able to feel in his shaky hand show on his face.

"You may be, but I'm not." Marinette grew some confidence. She wasn't going to let her partner do all the work for them whilst he was also giving her strength; again, he helped her to keep her head high by standing by her side no matter what. "Adrien has listed more than one true fact that proves you've failed as the mentor you should've been for us. And since we're willing to give you a second chance to take the leadership despite your reluctance to do so from the start, I don't think it's too much to ask to give us both one last chance and get everyone off on the right foot."

The ball was in Su-Han's court now.

"Grand Master Su-Han, please," Tikki pleaded with lovely kwamis' eyes. For good measure, of course.

The monk tilted his head, his jaw clenching. "Before I say anything else, I want to make something very clear: I will do what I'm going to say only because you have made good arguments about the safety of the City of Paris."

Su-han took a step closer toward the two teenagers and cleared his throat. "Also, I accept your accusing words, I should have taken things in hand as soon as I arrived in Paris; it is fair that I take my share of responsibility in this failure," he conceded. "From now on, both of you will be trained as Guardian and Defender. You will share responsibility for all your actions, pledge to recover all the Miraculouses and put an end to the Giant butterfly's terror. If you fail again, I will not give you a second warning. Have I made myself clear?" He raised a stern brow, holding out his hand to them.

"It couldn't be clearer," said Marinette as she grabbed his hand and shook it.

"We won't disappoint. We have a definite advantage now with the knowledge of our identities; no more secrets and miscommunication." Adrien also shook hands with Su-Han before turning to Marinette.

She smiled a bit awkwardly, approving his statement. This meant it was time for her to let her last walls come down and speak truthfully with her partner.

Su-Han must have sensed it too, because he stared at her, nodding, before bowing his head at both. "I will leave you to that. See you very soon." And with that, he vanished as suddenly as he had arrived.


Adrien turned to face Marinette, a triumphant smile dancing on his lips as he almost shouted for the world to hear, "We did it!" However, his enthusiasm quickly faded when he saw that she still looked as helpless as ever. His eyebrows furrowed into a frown, worry creeping up inside of his guts as he reached out to take her hand.

"Are you okay?" he inquired.

"Y-yes… Yes. It's just… What you said… No more s-secrets…" She stumbled over her words, chewing on her bottom lip. "T-there's something I need to tell you."

Marinette took a deep breath and let go of Adrien's hand as she started pacing the ground. "I've been hiding a lot from you lately; Rena Furtive, Scarabella… Both of them were Alya, by the way. The burden on my shoulders which was always weighing heavier. My impromptu choices during fights without warning you… I was just so scared to drag you with me into this and to lose control of the things I had set up. I'm the Guardian, and I wanted to do everything on my own; I thought I could do everything on my own. But I couldn't."

"Marinette." He tried to get her attention while his eyes played ping-pong in their sockets, following her frantic pacing and gesticulations; to no avail.

"I kept you at a distance, I didn't listen to you, I never took the helping hand you were offering, and I ended up hurting you without seeing it. I'm so sorry for putting you into such a tangle of lies and secrecy… And I'm so sorry because… There's still something… T-there's still something you deserve to know, and maybe you're going to hate me, maybe you won't ever forgive me for keeping such an important issue strictly for myself…"

The flurry of words continued to flow out of her mouth at such a frenzied speed that it was difficult for him to keep up. In her rant, he somehow managed to catch something about Chat Blanc, well him, and their love destroying the world as well as her being such a fool to believe what an akumatized said.

"Marinette, you're overdoing it again." His words passed her by as she continued to speak nervously.

At some point, Adrien started to be alarmed about Marinette's ability to breathe, and he did the only thing that seemed right to cut off her rambling; he stood in her way, both his hands cupping her cheeks as he kissed out the word vomit pouring out from her lips.

He instantly felt her relax against the soft touch of his lips and his arms wrapped around her waist, pulling her close in his reassuring and comforting embrace.

"It's okay," he whispered against her lips as he slowly pulled back. "Sure, you should've talked to me, but I'm not mad at you. I won't ever be mad at you for doing your best," he reassured her, trying to keep his tone gentle. "You've bottled up a lot, and we're going to catch up together on everything I need to know; one step at time."

Her gaze shot up, tears glistening under the moonlight as she looked at him. The air around them still felt heavy and filled with untold secrets, but it didn't matter; Adrien didn't doubt Marinette's truthfulness and now knew he was going to find everything out afterwards. They had already made great progress and the evening had been emotionally charged; it was enough for tonight's rollercoaster. Now, all he wanted was to look after her—both of them. They had some wounds to lick; nothing that some good, warm hugs couldn't eventually fix, so he just did that. He buried his face in her shoulder and tightened the vice of his arms around her petite silhouette, holding onto her for dear life.

At that very moment, all that mattered was that after a defeat, they had still won an important battle. And, together side by side, Adrien knew they could end up winning the war.

They could and they would.


Thanks for stopping by and reading this story.

I wish you all a good episode tomorrow! I can believe we're already going to have the 5th season!

Stay connected 'cause I'll soon be back with more content for LadyNoir July.

Miraculous kisses!