Author's Note: This chapter was written by HiddenEye, and with it, our story has come to an end. Thanks so much for joining us on the ride! We couldn't have done it without all your support :)

Second Chances

Chapter 6

Adrien was going to kill that kwami.

"Uncle Adrien?"

Blinking, he looked up to Madeleine's concerned frown, where he realised that she was scrutinising him and he immediately let up his neutral look. "Are you okay?" She questioned, taking out the corn. "You look kinda spaced out for a while."

He shook his head slightly, forcing his hands to move as he set the sandwiches to the side and started to assemble the salad. "I'm fine, work has been a bit hectic than usually, since it's that time of the year where the seasons are coming out."

She nodded in understanding, not seeing past his white lie. "Must be tough, I heard the pressure could be used inside a pressure cooker," She joked, and he saw the glint of the ring from where the sun shone on it as she started to work, and he resisted the urge to fidget under the mockery of its glare. "And that you could actually turn crazy under the stress."

"Madeleine," Alya warned, giving her daughter a pointed look when Madeleine only shrugged innocently.

"What? It's true."

Adrien chuckled. "She's right, you know," He plucked a clean cloth and wiped his hands, his eyes flickering down to the ring before he shot her a smirk. "It's like a giant pressure cooker in there."

She wiped her own hands when she was done. "You don't suppose there are, ah, people that you would recommend me to meet?" She grinned widely, wiggling her eyebrows. "Young people around my age, or a year older or so, a year younger...?"

There was a snort from Emma. "Dream on, Maddy."

"Oh, come on, Em," Madeleine pouted playfully. "You're suppose to help your super cute BFF meet some people at the fashion industry, where there are, you know, models," She hummed appreciatively. "Or designers, either way is fine, I don't mind because most of them are somewhat up to my taste."

"Madeleine."

"Mother."

Emma shrugged, the corner of her lips twitching into a smile. "Sorry, can't do much. But who knows, maybe when I'll start modelling like Dad or something, I'll show you some people."

As they continued bickering, Adrien saw something moving around Madeleine's jacket from where she had tossed it on the ground, and his breath hitched when he saw a pair of green eyes peeking from the edge of it, catching his gaze that Plagg immediately hid himself again from the hard look on his former charge's face with a muted squeak.

Plagg, why.

Madeleine probably heard it and pulled her jacket towards her, where she shot it a worried glance as she laughed with Emma a bit nervously than before.

Adrien decided to take his chance and was about to ask her about the ring, feign some interest, maybe prod a little here and there, when he heard a shriek.

Just when she was about to enjoy a nice picnic with her family.

Purple beams shot everywhere around them, hitting a couple a few feet away that they were immediately transformed into dogs, and they ran away yelping with tails between their legs as more light started to hit its target.

Emma shot up, grabbing Alya by the arm. "We have to go!"

Suddenly, Emma saw a beam coming towards them and pushed the older woman out of the way that they sprawled on the opposite sides of the target, smoke swirling up from the spot they sat a second ago.

Emma looked up, and felt her eyes widen at what she saw.

That was one big Great Dane.

"How can you not like dogs?!" The akuma infected person screeched from where she sat on the dog, a teenager most likely, as she shot more purple beams from what looked like a bazooka in her hands, her face twisted into an angry scowl. "They're cute and cuddly! So," She aimed the nozzle towards Emma with a smirk. "Let Lady make you love them."

Emma somersaulted out of the away as Lady's aim was a breaths away from turning her into a dog, crouching near Nino as she hauled him up from the ground. "Go! Run!"

Nodding, Nino went and pulled his wife with him, where Alya protested when she tried to capture a video of the massive beast with her phone.

Emma felt a hand clasped firmly on her shoulder, and turned around to see Adrien looking at her with worry in his eyes. "An akuma," They saw Madeleine ran after her parents, and Emma hoped they would be safe. "Be careful."

Emma shot him a tight smile, squeezing back his hand. "I will."

He gave a quick peck on her forehead before running after his friends, and Emma quickly ran behind a tree to hide, where Tikki shot out of her pocket with a grin on her face.

Emma answered one with her own.

"Tikki, spots on!"

Bursting out of her hiding place, Ladybug leaped towards the giant dog and its master, aiming a hit towards the its face with her yo-yo to catch their attention.

The dog let out a growl as she landed on one of the lamp posts, standing on it with a hand on her hip. "You know, some people aren't so keen on dogs like you are."

Lady snorted, aiming her bazooka towards the heroine. "What, you like those satanic feline troublemakers?"

"Hey now, that's no way to talk about a cat!"

Ladybug smirked when she saw Chat Noir landing on the back of the Dane, where she was crouched on it with her tail swaying lazily behind her, a full blown grin stretched across her face. "Cats are absolutely gorgeous in their own way. I should know," Chat winked, standing to her full height as she activated her baton to a wanted length. "I happen to be one."

Lady shot more of the purple beams towards Chat, but the heroine jumped out of the way and landed on the floor. "Come back here, you worthless devil!"

"Woah, someone's rather bitchy today!" Chat cackled as she weaved between the Dane's massive paws, trying to prevent herself from being trampled when the giant dog tried to catch the heroine with its teeth.

Ladybug shot her yo-yo and wrapped it around the bazooka, tugging it with all her might that it was jerked out of Lady's hands and fell to the ground. "Chat, the bazooka!"

Chat nodded and quickly made a dash towards it, but before she could reach it, the Dane had already took it in his mouth and straighten to his full height, where Lady patted his head as she took it delicately from him. "Good boy," She purred as she aimed it towards Ladybug again. "I'm going to take you down, you pest!" The spotted hero jumped out of the way to avoid the beam and landed beside her partner.

"Hello Ladybug, such a purr-leasure to meet you again," Chat grinned, to which Ladybug answered with one of her own.

"Likewise, Chat," Then, her eyes dragged across the body of the dog to find a weak spot. "First akuma we're fighting here," Ladybug shot her a smirk. "Excited?"

"Eh, the mutt's a bit of a downer really, since I can smell the slobber on that thing. So gross."

"I heard that!"

They pranced away to avoid being hit, and Ladybug quickly called for her lucky charm, where a basketball landed in her hands.

"Huh, well, this is going to be interesting," She muttered before looking up to the giant dog above her, where she put two fingers into her mouth and let out a shrill whistle. "Hey boy! Look at what I've got!"

The Dane looked down at her curiously, before the earth started to shake as he dropped down into a crouch and waggle his tail when Ladybug started to dribble the ball on the ground, a grin stretched across her face when she saw the excited glint in the dog's eyes. "You want it, don't you? You want the ball?"

It panted excitedly, ignoring its masters outrage calls from where she kept hitting the dog on the back. "Don't listen to her, you stupid mutt! I'm your master! You do as I say!"

Chat Noir then used her baton to a length until she easily stepped onto the giant dog, one hand activated with her cataclysm powers that was used to scratch the surface of the bazooka, where it immediately rusted into an ugly colour of brown and black. "Whoops," Chat clicked her tongue as she jumped down, leaving Lady to gape after her. "I scratched it."

A purple butterfly flew up from the weapon, and Ladybug immediately captured it in her compact, cleansing everything around her as the massive dog shrunk into a normal sized Dane while Lady had turned back into a normal girl, blinking confusedly around her from where she was kneeling on the ground.

Chat trotted up towards Ladybug and gave her a high five, both had grins stretched across their faces. "We did it!" Chat cheered.

Before she could reply, a swarm of people came running towards them, along with news reporters and journalist alike as they screamed for the heroes attention, mikes and cameras were shoved into their faces as questions upon questions were asked from every direction of the circle that Ladybug didn't realise they had made, and she almost jumped when one microphone suddenly appeared in front of her.

"Ladybug, it's been years since you and Chat Noir had fought together," A middle aged woman quickly said as she squeezed herself between two men to make her way towards the paralysed hero. "Tell me, where have you been all these years? What have you been doing? And is it true that you're new people underneath that mask compared to the old Ladybug and Chat Noir?"

Ladybug heard a beep of her miraculous, and she laughed nervously. "Well, I know there are a lot of questions to be answered but I have to get going."

"Meow too," Chat chuckled as tighten her grip on her baton, and Ladybug knew that Chat was as uneasy as she was as their miraculous gave another warning. "Sorry folks, it looks like we better split."

Ladybug shot her yo-yo upwards as Chat extended her baton, where they flew into the air that crowd gasped as they tried to take pictures of them leaving, the heroines ran towards one of the buildings and made their way up, where they disappeared at the other end of the chimney and away from prying eyes.

"Whew, that was close," Chat commented as they landed on the roof. She turned towards her partner. "They're particularly hounding on us."

Snorting, Ladybug punched her playfully on the arm. "Yeah yeah, Chat, the party's over, dog puns are not necessary anymore."

"True, I prefer my cat puns more. They're purr-fection."

Their miraculous rang at the same time, and Ladybug watched the way one paw print vanished from her ring. "Well, I guess that's that," Ladybug made her way towards the edge of building and did a two finger salute. "I'll see you around, Chat."

Chat nodded. "Catch you later, Lady-"

"Wait!"

There was a burst of a door being opened that cut her off, and Ladybug was surprised to see Adrien, Alya, and Nino at the top of the stairs, and Alya had her phone ready as she started to record the scene before her. "Ladybug, Chat Noir, I need to ask some questions."

Ladybug shot her father a worried look, and Adrien merely pursed his lips into a thin line. "I'm sorry, ma'am, but we have to get going."

"Just for a while!" Alya assured them over the sound of their miraculous beeping again in warning. "It won't take long."

"Ma'am," Chat Noir told her calmly, despite the panic that flashed in her eyes when the camera was pointed at her. "We really have to go."

Nino rested a hand on Alya's shoulder, giving the heroines a worried look. "Come on, Alya, we have to go too."

But she was adamant, shaking her head slightly. "No, no, it's been years, Nino, and I need-"

Too late, Chat let out a panicked squeak as the last warning rang through the space between them, and she quickly ran towards the edge of the building to flee as her transformation started to unveil herself.

"Chat, stop!" Ladybug yelled, but prevented herself from running towards her partner when a black kwami zoomed out of the ring like a deflated balloon, and Chat screeched to a halt just when she was about to jump, realising she wasn't in suit anymore.

Ladybug gasped, taking a step back when she saw the familiar highlights of her best friend's hair from where she stood, and without realising it, her own transformation was up as Tikki floated out of her earrings, the kwami landing on her shoulder tiredly.

"Maddy?"

Chat's -or rather, Madeleine's- shoulders tensed up at her name, where Plagg was already floating in front of his charge demanding for food.

"Emma?"

Emma froze, and slowly turned towards Alya and Nino where they stared at her in shock, seemingly rooted to the spot from where they gaped openly at her, the phone forgotten as Alya dropped her arms to the side. Madeleine swivelled around at her name, where her own surprise was visible in her expression as she took in her partner before her.

Scratching the back of her head, Emma winced. "Um, hi?"

"Emma?" Nino voiced out in wonder. "You're Ladybug?"

"And you're Chat Noir?" Alya spluttered as she turned towards her daughter, and Madeleine avoided her eyes as she took out a piece of cheese from her jeans. Plagg let out a small cheer as he took it from her, taking a large bite at once.

"They are."

Adrien let out a small smile as he met Emma's eyes across the clearing, before turning towards his friends' flabbergasted look. "I should know," He chuckled. "I used to wear the ring Madeleine was wearing."

There was a moment of silence that rang around them, that the sound of traffic couldn't even interrupt the tension that wafted in the air and wrapped heavily around their shoulders. Emma was worried something was going to happen by the way her skin was prickling uneasily, her eyes darting around the adults' faces before her eyes met Madeleine's, still wide from disbelief.

And then, Nino punched Adrien in the face.

Emma gasped, running towards her father as he bent down to cradle his nose, where Nino was glaring down at him with his nostrils flared in rage.

"Man, you better explain to me why my daughter's wearing your ring or so help me I will give you another punch to that pretty face of yours that you'll need plastic surgery to shift it back." Nino threatened as Emma helped Adrien straighten up, his fist raised for emphasis.

Adrien laughed breathlessly, tilting his head up to prevent the blood from flowing out as he pressed his nose with his fingers. "It's been a long time since I've been socked like that, the last time was when I was fighting Hawkmoth."

"Adrien," Alya's voice was small as she stared at him, suddenly looking tired with her arms wrapped around herself. "What are you talking about?"

He gave her a sad smile, dropping his hand to his side.

"That I used to be Chat Noir, while Marinette," His smile wavered and he looked away.

"She was Ladybug."

"Do you think they'll understand if we tell them?"

Adrien looked down to Marinette from where she rested her cheek on his chest, her hair fanned out behind her as she stared at their twined fingers on the bed, where she kept rubbing her thumb across his. He gave her fingers a squeeze.

"I'm sure they would," He murmured, pressing a kiss to her hairline.

She frowned worriedly, her bottom lip gnawed at as she looked up to meet his gaze, where her brilliant blue eyes made his breath catch everytime, and he knew he wouldn't be tired of them at all for the rest of his life. "Are you sure?"

Smiling, he then brushed his lips against her forehead. "Of course, they're our close friends, I'm sure they'd understand that sometimes we wear spandex to save the world."

"Exactly, they're our best friends," She rolled over so that she could look at him the eye, where she rested her chin on his chest with her hands cushioned between them. "I'm afraid they'll feel betrayed because we didn't tell them who we are, and that they'll hate us because of it," She bit her lip again. "And I don't think I can handle that if they do."

He stared at her, running a hand across her shoulders. He had thought of that of course, telling his friends of who they were, but both of them had agreed to themselves since they were first partners to never include anyone that had to do with their personal lives into the harsh life of a hero, for fearing that they would get hurt and used as baits.

But sometimes, knowing that other people knew about their heavy duties lighten the weight a bit.

"They'll understand," He reassured her, tracing the apple of her cheek with the back of his hand that she turned her head slightly to brush her lips against it, a hum whispered between them.

"I know they will."

Adrien watched his friends closely from where they were huddled on his couch, not meeting his eye as the last of his words echoed through the house, with Madeleine sitting beside them as Emma was beside him. Now, he only waited for their reaction to this new information he had exposed to them for the past hour, their patience a remarkable thing to him at the moment as they only listened to everything he said, not once did they interrupt him to ask questions or anything of that sorts.

"You mean to say that," Alya managed to croak as she dragged her eyes up from her lap with pain in visible in them. "Marinette, my best friend for as long as I can remember and I particularly had been in her presence for most of her life, was Ladybug all those years ago? And I didn't even notice it?" She shook her head in disbelief. "And she didn't even tell me?"

Adrien sighed softly. "She didn't want you to get hurt."

"And all those times at school, when she disappeared everytime there was an attack, and those ridiculous excuses and, oh my god you too," She buried her face into her hands. "How can I be so stupid."

"Alya, it's not your fault. The miraculous prevents people from recognising us, even our own partners," He glanced at Madeleine, where the girl met his eyes evenly. "Believe me, I didn't know Mari was Ladybug until we were about to graduate from lycée, and even then, it was an accident. She didn't want me to know either."

"But you wanted to," Nino rubbed his wife's back soothingly. "You wanted her to know who you were, and you wanted to know who she was."

Adrien nodded slowly, trying not to grimace when he remembered the pain and desperation he felt that burned to his core during that time, how he almost pleaded for her to let him show her how he looked like under the mask. But alas, he loved her too much to disobey such a request. "Yes."

"But why did you choose Madeleine?" Alya demanded as she looked up again, where her eyes started to turn red from the beginnings of crying. "Why didn't you choose someone else instead? So that I know I wouldn't lose another important person in my life for a damn butterfly."

"I didn't," Adrien replied quietly. "It's not my place to choose. Plagg did, he thinks she's worthy of being Chat Noir, like Tikki thinks Emma is worthy of being Ladybug," He chuckled bitterly, running a hand through his hair. "I wasn't that happy too. In fact, I would still have been Chat Noir if it didn't hurt so much."

He felt Emma stiffen beside him, and he took her hand and gave her a squeeze of reassurance.

Then, Plagg and Tikki made themselves seen from where they were talking to within each other from another room, and they settled themselves on their charge's respectful shoulders. Tikki faced Alya with a smile. "Marinette loved you very much, she couldn't bare to see you hurt and tried to keep you as safely as she could, even if you run into the fray rather than away from it."

Alya stared at her for a while, a hand covering her mouth to prevent herself from crying, before a silent sob wracked her body, causing her to bury her face again. "Stupid Mari," She hiccuped through her fingers. "You're so selfless when it comes to others, you complete klutz."

Adrien realised that Nino had some sort of half smile on his face, as if he still couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Who knew that you would run in spandex and sprout cat puns? Because honestly man, they suck."

The blond laughed. "Don't insult my creativeness, I think they're cool."

"Yeah dad," Madeleine piped in as she gave them a hesitant smile. "While people cringe, I feel pawerful."

A wicked grin stretched across Adrien's face. "That's catcellent."

Emma groaned. "Stop it you two."

"I second that." Nino snorted.

"All of you are idiots," Alya muttered as she wiped her eyes.

"Finally, someone who agrees with me," Plagg sniffed as he helped himself to some Camembert he brought with him, taking a bite.

"We have to go," Emma stood up, shooting Madeleine a look. "A patrol."

The other girl nodded as she too stood up. "Right," She gave the adults a two finger salute with a grin stretched across her face. "We'll be back in a sec."

They shot each other a smirk that made Alya and Nino stare at them curiously and expectantly, while Adrien merely chuckled under his breath.

"Tikki, spots on!"

"Claws out!"

Alya ran towards the large windows as the superheroes bounded pass them, pressing her hands onto the glass surface to stare at the two figures jumping from one roof to another, slowly disappearing into the night as they became nothing but specks.

Closing her eyes, she rested her forehead onto the cool surface as she slowly breathed in to get her bearings into place, to calm her hectic heart that pounded against her rib cage as thoughts raced inside her mind, and then she breathed out, feeling the invisible weight dissipated from her shoulders, leaving her in control of herself more than she was a few minutes ago.

She felt the two men stood beside her and slowly fluttered her eyes open, a small smile appearing on her lips. "She'll be proud, you know?"

The breath Adrien took was sharp. "I know."

"Good," She whispered, tracing the window with a finger.

"Because I know I am."

Author's Note: Thanks for reading! Let us know what you think :)