Chapter 9: Epilogue

"Marinette, wake up!"

Marinette heard a constant and periodic buzzing as she slowly opened her eyes, only to squint and shield them from the bright sunlight that shone through the windows. She blinked several times before her eyes had become accustomed to the room that she was in. The buzzing continued until her hand reached out and felt a familiar, rectangular device that vibrated in her hand. It was her phone and its alarm was blaring.

She immediately shot up and glanced at the screen. Sunday morning, 7:02 a.m. Her thumb instinctively went for the snooze button; she was almost about to drop back into bed when a most familiar voice called out to her again: "You're going to be late, Marinette!"

Tikki hovered barely within an arms reach of her. Behind the little red spotted kwami, a large poster of Adrien Agreste stared back at her while wearing a set from the latest summer collection. As her eyes adjusted to the warm and familiar sight of her room, she spotted and recognised even more pictures of the young boy model plastered all over the wall and in frames propped up on her desk.

"Tikki," Marinette said as she cupped the little kwami and brought her to her cheeks for an affectionate nuzzle. Her eyes were wet when she felt the familiar sensation of her kwami's face and hands on her cheek. "I'm home."

"Marinette?"

"Don't worry about it. I'm just glad to see you again, that's all." Marinette smiled as she continued to caress Tikki in her hands.

"I'm uh… happy to see that you're awake too, but you're going to be late."

"Late?"

The kwami zipped out of Marinette's hands, crossed her own arms and stared at the girl with a raised eyebrow. "Marinette, don't tell me you have forgotten about today?"

"Oh right, that's today!" Marinette scrambled out of bed and into the bathroom. Despite already being late, she took extra care in washing herself up before slipping into her casual clothes. Today was the big day. She was going to meet up with Chat Noir and she had to look her absolute best. It either did not occur to her that everything was going to be hidden behind the mask anyway, or that she didn't care. All she had on her mind when she climbed the loft stairs leading to the roof was Adrien Agreste. After spending a moment to take in the early morning Parisian air in her face, she looked to her kwami and said the words that she had longed to say ever since the day of her predicament.

"Tikki, transform me!"

Ladybug swung round and up the Eiffel Tower, making stops on each platform to search for her elusive black-clad partner without success. She wondered if she wasn't the only one to be late. Dismissing that possibility, she landed on the top platform and took a quick stroll around the structure. "Chat?"

"I didn't know that you were the fashionably late type." Chat Noir dropped down from above, landing behind her with the grace of a cat. If not for him personally outing himself, she would not have picked up the slightest creak of metal from the spot where he landed.

Ladybug spun around to find her partner's—Adrien's—face just barely inches from her own. She could almost smell his breath from that most mischievous grin of his. On other days, she would just press her finger onto his nose and push him away, but today was special. Indeed, today was unlike any other day in the lives of these two Miraculous holders, so much so that without further hesitation, she reached out to him and pulled him in, pressing her lips onto his.

The kiss was the most innocent of sorts, and it lasted for just barely a moment, but it was enough to leave the black-clad hero speechless. His eyes were wide open, blinking several times before he finally seemed to regain composure of himself. "My—My Lady?"

Ladybug giggled. "Sorry about that." She leaned onto the rails of the platform and looked down at the bustling city beneath them. The wind that blew into her face was invigorating; she felt alive and here she was, all alone with her long-time crush and she had just stolen a kiss. She felt the warmth in her cheeks when she realised exactly what she had done. "It's just that things have been so crazy of late, and I really wanted to do this. I wanted to tell you how I feel."

"I—I'm happy that you feel that way, I—I think?"

"Chat, there's something I need to tell you, but I don't know how."

Chat Noir closed his eyes. His voice was solemn and low, as if he was no longer his usual, chipper self when he spoke. "Ladybug, if you're feeling the pressure of what we're about to do today, you can talk to me. It's all right to be scared. You didn't have to… uh… you know. I mean, it's unfair to me if you—"

"Chat, stop." Ladybug placed a finger on his lips and gently pressed them shut. "That's not what this is about, and it's not what you think. I truly and honestly feel this way about you. Also, we aren't fighting Hawk Moth today."

"We're not?" Chat Noir asked the moment she lifted her finger.

"No. You see, we've already fought him. You have fought him twice and both times, we lost. He's been preparing for this and we're just walking into a fight that we cannot win head-on."

"My Lady, I don't understand…"

Ladybug sighed. She knew this was going to be difficult, but it was something that needed to be done. She reached out and took his hand in hers. He didn't object nor resist, but simply gazed back into her eyes with a slack jaw. "I've seen the future, Chat. Today, we tried to fight Hawk Moth directly but instead of facing us, he unleashed a terrible swarm of Akumas upon the city. He knew we were coming. He had already prepared for this. He threatened to raze the city with his army of supervillains if we continued to fight him and so, we had to let him go. We had to fight, recapture and purify all those Akumas and… and…" Her voice trailed as those painful memories filled her mind.

"And?"

"You died, Chat. You died trying to protect me, and I was stupid. I was so stupid. I did something that I shouldn't have done. I—I don't really know how to explain it, but I changed the world, Chat. I changed the world for you and, in this new world, I wasn't Ladybug. But at least you were still alive and well, fighting supervillains alongside another different Ladybug. But there was no happy ending for you or for me, even in this new world. After fighting so hard, the outcome remained the same and I wasn't able to do anything to change it. And so here I am again, for the third time, hoping to make things right this time."

Chat Noir ruffled the hair on the back of his head. He looked so innocent, what with the way he played with his hair like that. "I—I'm not sure how I should process all this. It's quite a story you've got there, Ladybug."

"I know." Ladybug looked away from his gaze. She looked down at the city—her beautiful city she called home—and watched as people went about their busy lives, completely oblivious to what was coming if she had continued the path she and her partner originally chose on this ill-fated day. The thought of what would happen made her heart ache. She bit her lips and held her elbows close and tight. "I know that it is a lot to take in and I don't even blame you if you didn't believe a single word of it. But trust me, Chat. Trust me as you always have. You see, Chat, you're the most important person in the world to me. I was blind to it, and I should have realised sooner, but sometimes you don't learn to cherish the things that you hold dearest to you until they're gone. Until it's forcibly taken away from you, as you were from me. I have already watched you die twice in my arms, and it would kill me to see you die another time. I love you, Adrien Agreste, and it took two lives for me to realise that."

"I… you… me… how…"

At this point, the boy was just babbling incoherently so she leaned forward and silenced him with another kiss. As the pair were lost in each other, she quietly let her own transformation down. In that one single moment, she didn't have any other care in the world other than to share this moment with the love of her life. When they had finally separated, she was taken aback by the green glow that wafted over Chat Noir as he undid his transformation also, turning into the boy model that she had already known for so long.

"Marinette?"

"Yes, Adrien." She leaned forward and buried her face in his chest, so that she could hear his heartbeat, and so that he could not see her own face. She felt his hand come up to the back of her head, his fingers slowly tangling with her own hair. "Are—are you disappointed?"

"No, never," he whispered into her ear as he continued to hold her in his arms. "How could I ever be disappointed in you? Marinette, I'm glad that it's you. I'm glad that you're the girl I'm in love with. You—you're…"

"No, Adrien." Somehow Marinette knew. Whether it was intuition, sixth sense or some unknown super power within her, it triggered her instinctive response. "Don't you dare—"

"You're purr-fect."

She could only stare dumbfounded at that playful, silly grin of his. She should have already gotten used to it after so many times, but it still managed to take her completely by surprise at a time when she had least expected it, so much so that the didn't even know how to respond to it.

"Cat got your tongue?"

"Adrien Agreste, you make one more pun and I'm going to throw you off the side this very instant!"

"You know you love my puns." Adrien's smile could melt the heart of any girl, and he used it on her with deadly precision. She was completely speechless when he leaned forward and pressed his lips on hers.

"Ugh, that's just gross," Plagg said and was immediately smacked in the back of the head for it.

"Manners, Plagg!" Tikki's high-pitched squeal reminded Marinette that she wasn't alone with her partner at the topmost platform of the Eiffel Tower.

"Hello, Plagg." Marinette smiled as she bent down to greet the tiny black cat hovering beside Tikki. "It's a pleasure to finally meet you again. Well, not that we've actually been formally introduced in this world, but uh… you get the idea."

"Whatever, as long as I get my share of cheese." It spun around and faced Adrien and said, "You owe me a whole lot today for making me sit though this lovey dovey thing of yours."

"That's all you ever think about." Adrien chuckled. His eyes fell upon Marinette's own kwami. He gave it a courteous bow and said, "Well, I don't think we've yet before, Ladybug's kwami."

"I'm Tikki," the red spotted kwami said as she bowed in return. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Adrien."

Marinette was happy. How could she not be? She and Adrien were together now, and that meant the whole world to her. After everything that had gone wrong, things were beginning to go right for her. But there was still one last matter to settle and she was very hesitant to bring it up. Despite her reservations, it was still an elephant in the room that would need to be addressed sooner or later. "Adrien, there's one other thing…"

"Hawk Moth," Adrien stated bluntly. It was very obvious that he had his own reservations about the supervillain and, now that Marinette had already gone through the experience twice, she completely understood why Adrien was so uneasy with the subject. "What do we do about him?"

"We wait. We slowly wear him down. Even though we cannot face him head on, we can still fight him from the sidelines. Sooner or later, he's bound to make a mistake. His confidence will be his own undoing. One day, he'll let his guard down and when that happens, we'll strike from the shadows. We might even be able to take away his Miraculous without needing to start a fight. And then, and only then, would we win and rid the city of his influence once and for all."

"Those are big words, My Lady. Are you sure you're up to it?"

"Of course. With you by my side, we can stand up to anything that threatens the well-being of this city and everyone who lives in it. We're heroes, and heroes will always triumphant against evil."

Monday morning at school would be a little awkward, what with Marinette's newfound relationship with her long-standing crush, Adrien. Even if they had tried to pretend that there was nothing between the two of them, but their closest friends would notice. Alya would notice. Alya always notices.

"Well, what have we here, girl?" Alya said the moment she entered the classroom together with Nino while Marinette sat at her desk, not slumped over it nor fast asleep, but having a lively conversation with Adrien. It was an act that Marinette was probably regretting already. Alya's wide open eyes only cemented that fact. "Someone's being particularly casual with you-know-who even. You have got to fill me in about it later, girl."

"Uh… n-nothing's going on." Marinette was pretty sure that her excuse would never get past Alya, but something was better than nothing at all. "I'm just… me. Being me."

"Sure you are." Alya winked as she put her bag down and took her seat. "But I'll give you a free pass today, because you won't believe what I'm going to tell you."

Nino, who was standing behind her all this while, gave a weird look that could only mean, "Oh no, here she goes again."

"What's up?" Marinette tried to sound curious, despite Nino's vehement yet silent protest in the background.

"I had the strangest dream last night." Alya clasped her hands together, as if a tall hand handsome fairy tale prince had swept her off her feet and asked for her hand in marriage. The girl stared blankly towards the ceiling as if that handsome prince himself was calling to her from the saddle of his horse. "I dreamt that I was Ladybug!"

The mere mention of the spotted superheroine made Marinette's heart skip a beat. She probably didn't notice until much later, but she also began to hold on to Adrien's hand tightly. "L-Ladybug?"

Nino tilted his head to the side and give them a look which could only mean, "Yeah, she's been yapping to me all about it all morning and now, it's your turn."

"Yeah, it was weird. You were there, and Nino too. Even Adrien, and guess what? He was Chat Noir!"

Marinette could feel Adrien tense up behind her. Who could blame him? Alya was tethering on a very tight rope. "So what exactly did you dream about?"

"That's the weird thing," Alya said as she continued to stare at nothing in particular. "I mean, I get that it's just a dream and it's hard to remember all the details. But there were feelings, girl. Like—like the wind in my face, the thrill of swinging around from building to building, and the anticipation of going up against a big supervillain. It would have been so cool if that was all real, because I could get used to a life like that. Also—also then there was some kind of sadness, like the feeling that you've lost something… or someone. That part was really weird, but everything else was awesome."

Marinette shrugged. "Dreams can and do sometimes feel real, even though they really aren't."

"Yeah, I get that, girl. It's just that this is the first time I've ever experienced something like this and I can't shake off this strange feeling like… like…"

"A vibe?" Nino asked.

"I don't know where you get your strange terminology from. I was thinking more like… déjà vu."

Nino made more weird faces that almost had Marinette and Adrien in laughter. "That word. I do not think it means what you think it means, dude." He would then receive a punch in the shoulder for his troubles.

"Well, that's quite the dream indeed." Marinette felt relieved. She wouldn't know what to do if Alya were to suddenly suspect Adrien and herself to be the two famous heroes of Paris. Well, the girl did occasionally have her suspicions, but being reinforced by past memories that once was would just complicate things onto a new level that rocketed straight out of her comfort zone. She had already put all the weird moments and awkwardness behind and was finally beginning to take control of her life once again. In the end, things were just about to settle down, at least until Chloé Bourgeois entered the classroom.

"Adrikins, good morn—Eeek!" The high-pitched squeal of the mayor's daughter brought the whole class' attention towards her and, following her gaze, towards Marinette and Adrien. "Marinette Dupain-Cheng! How dare you hold Adrien's hand!"

That was the moment when Marinette felt the gaze of the entire classroom upon her. She and Adrien let go of one other as quickly as they humanly could, but the damage had already been done. Chloé noticed and, through her, Alya noticed. Nino's funny face in response to it could only mean, "Finally, dudes!" The rest of the class all probably felt the same way too, going by their cheers and over-the-top standing ovation, as if it was one big secret that they could finally let out.

It took quite a while for life to settle down and go back to normal for Marinette and Adrien after that incident, though only the first couple of days had a few rough patches to iron out. Alya, especially, would constantly hound Marinette for details. It took longer for Chloé to finally come to terms with their relationship. But those two aside, it was business as usual for the two heroes of Paris.

Heroes, Marinette thought. I like the sound of that.

"Hmm…"

Master Fu brought a cup to his lips and taste a sip of warm tea while his eyes were locked onto the pattern of black and white pieces that were strategically laid out on grid of squares. Without taking his eyes off them, he brought a new piece into play by placing it on the board with a satisfying tap.

Marinette tried to study the board, to decide if she should continue with her present strategy or make changes in anticipation of the old man's latest move. However, she was thoroughly distracted. She had already told him what amounted to her entire life story and he hadn't offered a response just yet. With a sigh of resignation, she placed her piece down where she had originally intended and hoped for the best.

"That's quite an interesting story, Ladybug." The old man took another sip of tea, taking his time to savour the bitter tastes in his mouth. "Who knew that the Miraculouses could be so powerful in the right hands?"

"Indeed, it is unheard of throughout the centuries of past Miraculous users," Wayzz said as he hovered by the table and watching their game intently. "But perhaps we are over-analysing it too much. Perhaps this is just a one-off chance, or that the significance of it is much simpler and subtler than we are meant to think."

"Perhaps, Wayzz. After all, Marinette Dupain-Chang has proven time and time again just how capable a Ladybug she can be."

"But what about Hawk Moth then?"

"Patience, Wayzz. One thing at a time. Everything comes one step at a time." Master Fu moved to place his piece on the board, eliciting an almost inaudible gasp from the holder of the Ladybug Miraculous.

"So, you aren't disappointed in me?"

"Not at all, Ladybug." Master Fu said. "Not at all."

END.

Author's Note: And with that, that's a wrap. First of all, I'd like to thank everyone who's followed this story from the very beginning until its conclusion. It has been quite a ride for us all (or at least I hope so). I don't know what other miraculous adventures I'll eventually put these two young and adorable idiots up with in the near future, but until then, À la prochaine!