It felt like she was walking on clouds.
She'd just gotten married!
They had been planning for months and tomorrow it would all be over. Planning their wedding had been such a large part of their lives lately. It would feel weird not doing it anymore.
Everything would be different from now on.
"Penny for your thoughts?"
She turned around and looked right into a red tie.
It didn't make any difference that she was wearing heels.
He was still a head taller than her.
She put on her best fake angry face. "My thoughts are worth much more than a single penny."
The snort that escaped him was considered a win in her book.
Félix moved forward so he was standing to her right.
His arm found it's way around her waist. "Well, of course they are." Then he pulled her a bit closer to him and smirked. "But I've got husband discount."
That was just the kind of think he'd say.
Sometimes he was too smooth for his own good.
He might look gloomy and uptight, but he was quite the romantic.
She looked up into his eyes. "I'll miss planning our wedding."
"I won't." He gave a fake shudder. "I could quite happily go the rest of my life without ever wondering if the table cloths matches the serviettes or if they clash with the flowers ever again."
Marinette chuckled.
Félix could add numbers in his sleep, but table cloths were apparently out of his expertise.
But that was fine.
That's why he had her.
She leaned a bit more on him and gave a content sigh.
They stood there for awhile.
Not doing anything specific. Just being and watching.
The reception had been going on for a few hours.
The dinner had been eaten and the cake served.
There had been some speeches and dances in between.
Now everyone was eating cake and mingling.
It was a big, mismatched bunch of people that were having a good time together.
There had even been a toga line earlier.
It didn't surprise anyone that Chloe was the one to start it.
The surprise was that Kagami was in on it and somehow managed to make most people join in.
"I know we sent the invitations together, but I didn't expect this many to actually make it," Félix admitted slowly.
Marinette took a good look around.
"Your right." Her eyebrows rose. "I'm surprised that so many people could come. I don't think anyone we invited couldn't."
She started checking people off her mental guest list.
Félix seemed to have the same idea. "Your parents are obviously here."
She snorted. "Like they's ever miss this. They were planning the cake from the moment I brought you home for dinner." Her eyebrows scrunched up. "Have you seen uncle Wang? I don't think I've seen him."
He pointed to a corner. "He's talking to your grandmother over there. I think I've seen everyone in your very extensive family tree." He paused. "Your great grandfather asked me when he should be expecting great-great grandchildren."
She blinked.
She was not dealing with this at her own wedding.
Note to self: avoid great grandfather.
Marinette shook her head. "Okay, so all my family is here. Everyone else I think I've seen."
"I think we can note that everyone you meet love you so much that they don't want to miss your wedding," Félix remarked.
She couldn't really argue with that.
Everyone had come after all.
And the guest list was mostly made up by her friends and family.
Well, she and Félix had the same best friends.
And her family had basically adopted him already.
And most people that she had met from her work had met him too.
He got along fantastically with Penny Rolling.
She and Jagged thought it had something to do with their shared love of organising everything to the last detail.
But he hadn't wanted to invite anyone that she wasn't already inviting.
He didn't have any friends from before he met her.
His parents had died in a plane crash when he was ten years old and he had gone to boarding school from then on.
The only family he had left was his uncle and his cousin.
Gabriel and Adrien Agreste.
He told her they didn't deserve any invitation.
Especially since with Adrien Agreste came Lila Agreste.
She personally couldn't understand why he had married that egocentric liar, but Adrien had always been and would probably always be first and foremost a doormat.
She couldn't bring herself to care.
They deserved each other.
"-y got kicked out by security."
She must have zoned out again.
Marinette winced. "Could you take that again?"
Félix rolled his eyes, but he didn't look irritated at all.
He was used to her mind wandering after all.
"Nadja Chamack came up to me earlier," he began telling the story again. "Apparently she had witnessed everyone from your old class storm into the building yesterday and nearly knock Mrs Agreste's door to the ground. They had been yelling loudly at her about some lawsuit for slander. In the end they got kicked out by security."
Something smelt fishy.
"What lawsuit could they be talking about?"
He just put on his innocent face. "When a person or persons spreads lies about someone which can destroy their reputation it counts as slander. They all had connections to an article that never got printed because your lovely husband has allies within the newspaper."
It took a while for it all to sink in.
She had left her old class and Lila in the past.
They didn't bother her after a few futile attempts when she just had transferred class.
Now she didn't care about them at all.
But this was different.
What Félix was hinting at was serious.
If Lila tried to destroy her reputation she would pursue this as if she was a complete stranger.
It didn't carry any significance that they had history together.
If Lila tried to attack her, because that's what slander was, an attack, then she wouldn't let it go so easily.
Her old friends might still believe Lila for all that she knew, but that didn't bother her in the slightest.
It wouldn't change anything.
They had already made their choice ten years ago and they hadn't chosen her.
She had moved past that ages ago.
There was only one way for her to handle this situation.
"Good. I hope you'll dig your heel in with this lawsuit," she told him.
"Always," he reassured her before leaving her alone again.
Marinette mentally thanked her lucky stars that she wasn't on Félix's bad side.
Multiple people could testify that it was a downright terrible place to be.
He might share some blood with Adrien "Pushover" Agreste, but he didn't agree at all with the golden boy's pacifistic ideals or "see no evil" attitude.
She had learnt quickly that crossing him was a very bad idea.
Félix was calm, collected and smart.
If angered it was a truly dangerous combination.
The only rule he followed was that if someone threw the first punch they were free game.
It didn't matter if it was a literal or figurative punch.
She thought it was undeniably sweet that he was so protective of her.
That reminded her of something.
Marinette turned her eyes up to the beams.
She had hidden a tiny little blanket and some cookies up there before all the guests arrived.
You wouldn't be able to see them if you didn't know what to look for.
And looking down at her with those big, blue eyes was Tikki.
She gave a slight smile before turning her gaze away.
No reason to make people suspicious.
Tikki had been there for her through everything.
Both the good times and the bad.
Her support had kept her from having breakdowns when everything was at it's worst.
She had Félix and her friends now, but Tikki was different.
Tikki was a constant presence that knew her better than herself.
Félix didn't mind sharing.
It helped that they got along splendidly.
That had certainly been an ordeal.
Ladybug wasn't needed anymore since Hawkmoth had disappeared.
She didn't know what had happened, but somehow Chat Noir had gotten hold of the butterfly miraculous and the peacock miraculous that apparently been missing and given them to Master Fu.
He turned in his own miraculous at the same time.
They're partnership had slowly been falling apart at the seams for some time.
Chat thought she didn't trust him and was visibly irritated by the whole secret identity thing.
She hated how he would flirt in the middle of battles and then throw and tantrum when she didn't feel the same.
They had argued a lot and both said things they didn't mean or maybe they did mean them, but just couldn't handle it.
In the end he'd told the guardian that he couldn't do it anymore.
They never found out each other's identities.
She got the option to hand in her miraculous too considering Ladybug wasn't needed any longer.
Marinette hadn't hesitated to decline.
Her kwami was too important to never see her again.
Félix had found out about her past as Ladybug at the same time as their friends.
It took a whole lot of explaining, but it was impossible to cover up.
Chloe knew what kwamis looked like.
She probably wouldn't have tried even if that wasn't the case.
It felt good to talk about it with someone.
That it was her boyfriend and their four best friends was just a bonus.
Then Master Fu died.
He was an old man and he had been prepared for it.
Enter guardian of the miraculous, Félix Agreste.
One morning he had walked into her apartment with a box and a letter explaining everything.
It was one of those few times she'd seen him shocked.
He'd been unresponsive for ten minutes.
For being a person with an impressive poker face, his expression had been hilarious.
It was a mix somewhere between uncomprehending and confused.
She's taken lots of pictures.
"Enough thinking." Chloe yanked her out onto the dance floor. "It's your wedding. Have fun and let loose for once in your life."
Marinette didn't even try protesting.
It would be a losing argument anyway.
Kagami came out of nowhere and joined them. "I have to agree with Chloe. Weddings are for celebrations. You can save your philosophical thoughts until tomorrow."
They were right.
Reminiscing she could do later.
Now she had a wedding to get back to.