Marinette walked into class and was immediately attacked by Alya as she had expected. "Girl, did you see what went down last night?" Alya exclaimed, waving her hands all over the place. "Chat Blanc and Ladybug almost fought each other to the death! Then with the power of love, Ladybug saved Chat Noir, but then she collapsed and the last time anyone saw her, Chat Noir was running away with her in his arms! This is freaking insane!"

"She's making it sound more dramatic than it was," Marinette thought. "But the big question is if Ladybug is still alive," Alya continued. "No one has seen her since last night. Paris is in a panic!"

And it wasn't just Alya talking about Ladybug. The entire class was in a uproar.

"Did you hear about Ladybug and Chat Noir?"

"Yeah, that was so scary! Do you think she's okay?"

"What are we going to do if she's hurt?"

"Everyone, quiet down!" Alya shouted at her classmates. She folded her arms and smiled. "You can all chill out since I have this!" Alya turned her phone around and had a video loaded. Her classmates crowded around wondering what Alya wanted to show them.

Marinette raised an eyebrow and Alya winked in response. She pressed play on the video and it to everyone's surprise, it was Ladybug on screen. She looked a little tired and had a few cuts, but for the most part was completely fine.

"Hello," Ladybug said as she struggled to adjust the camera. It shook around a bit, making the footage a bit blurry, but it eventually came back into focus. "Ah," Ladybug said with a satisfied grin. "That's much better. Anyways, it's me, Ladybug. I wanted to let you all know that I'm okay and everything's back to normal. All the support Chat Noir and I have gotten from the citizens of Paris has not gone unnoticed. We want to personally thank you all for what you've done for us. We'll keep fighting to protect you! And thanks to Alya for letting me post this on her blog. I really appreciate it!"

Ladybug waved good-bye to the camera and shut it off. The video ended and the students looked up at Alya with shocked eyes. "Ladybug sent this to you?" Rose asked, excitingly. "That's so cool!"

"I know," Alya said proudly. "She and I are pretty tight. If she needs help, she can always rely on me!"

Marinette tried to stifle her giggles. Alya had been a little too excited when she received that video from Ladybug last night. Marinette remembered trying to film it. She was awful with video cameras and ended up having to record the video three times. The first time, she was zoomed in way too close to her face and the second time she forgot to press the record button. It had been a hassle, but she wanted to let Paris know that she and Chat Noir were okay. They both owed their city that much.

"I guess this means Ladybug is a-okay!" Nino smiled. He gave Alya a fist bump in celebration. "Maybe we could go out for some ice cream to celebrate after school?" he winked. Alya nodded in agreement. "I think that could be arranged," she replied.

As Nino and Alya chatted to themselves, Marinette noticed Adrien walking into the classroom. He was later than normal, but she expected that. He had a long, stressful, and emotional night. She was honestly surprised he came to school at all. Marinette was happy to see him though. She could still hardly believe that Adrien was actually Chat Noir and that their feelings were mutual. She wasn't sure how to act around him at school anymore. Perhaps trying to not be a bumbling fool was a good place to start.

"Hey, bro!" Nino shouted when he saw Adrien. He put his arm around his best friend and said," We missed you yesterday. Were you home sick or somethin'?" It was a crazy day."

"Yeah?" Adrien smiled. "I... err... caught a cold and spent the day in bed. You'll have to get me up to speed. I'm still a little sick though, so I'm gonna sit down." Adrien went to his desk and took a seat. There was a distant look in his eyes. Marinette could tell there was something on his mind. His smile from before had been forced. He wasn't acting normal.

"Let's get started, class!" Miss Bustier clapped her hands together happily. "With everything back to normal, I think we can safely do our quiz! Everyone take out a pencil and paper." The class let out a loud groan. Maybe having things back to normal wasn't always for the best.

Lunchtime rolled around and the students began to leave to go eat lunch. "Sorry, Mari," Alya apologized as soon as the lunch bell rang. "I promised Nino we could go out to eat. He wanted to treat me since I got such a big scoop on Ladybug. Don't be mad!"

"It's okay," Marinette laughed. She noticed a slight blush on Alya's cheek. This was a little more than a lunch date. "Have fun and tell Nino that he has my blessing."

"You got it," Alya smiled. "You're the best friend ever! See you after lunch!" Alya ran out of the classroom to join Nino. They were walking with their hands interlocked and laughing to themselves. Marinette knew a while ago that it was only a matter of time since those two got together. Nino must have manned up and asked her out while Marinette was busy handling the situation with Chat Blanc.

Her eyes strayed over to Adrien who was still sitting at his desk. He was biting his lip and looked anxious. Marinette stood up and approached him. She put his hand on his back, trying to comfort him. It took a lot of courage to do that, but she needed to put his feelings first. She wanted him to know she was there to support him.

"Adrien, is everything okay? Do you need to talk?"

"Oh, it's you, Marinette. You scared me. Actually, I wanted to talk with you about something."

"..."

"It's not about what happened yesterday, don't worry!" To prove his point, he stood up and kissed her on the cheek, sending them both into blushing piles of mush. Marinette still wasn't used to Chat Noir's advances coming from Adrien and Adrien wasn't used to being able to openly kiss Marinette.

Adrien grabbed Marinette by the hand and led her out of the classroom. "Where are we going?" She asked as they exited the school. "Someplace quiet," he said. He took her to the park and they sat down on the green bench facing the fountain.

"It's about my father," Adrien said seriously. Marinette tightened up. She was expecting this conversation, but still didn't know how to handle it. It still seemed like a bad joke. Marinette could barely wrap her mind around it. She couldn't even imagine how Adrien was feeling. He had to be crushed.

"My father and I talked last night for the first time in years. When he saw that I was okay, he... he cried. I felt like for once, I actually had a real father. I finally felt like he cared about me."

"That's good, isn't it?"

"If only it was that simple, Princess. He told me why he did the things he did. He didn't want to be the bad guy, but he said that he was willing to play that role if it meant..."

"Meant what?" Marinette leaned on Adrien's shoulder and looked up at him. She could see him trying to think things through. As Chat Noir and Adrien, he had the same expression when thinking. Adrien opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out. Marinette stroked her hand across his, trying to calm him down. "Take your time," she whispered.

"He wanted to find my mother," Adrien said finally. Marinette's eyes widened. She didn't know much about Adrien's mother. Nino mentioned in passing that she had vanished, but she knew nothing more.

"He thought with the power of more miraculouses, he could find her. I want to see her again too, but that was selfish of him. He took advantage of our friends, your family, and innocent people to achieve his own goal. I can't forgive that..."

"It's okay to be upset," Marinette said. "You don't have to forgive him now. You don't even have to forgive him soon, but at least you understand now. I think your father held more love behind that emotionless mask of his than you think."

"Hmm..." Adrien sighed. "He promised to stop creating akumas. Once he saw what happened to me, he said he couldn't bring himself to do that to someone else again."

"I see..."

"Does that mean this is it for Ladybug and Chat Noir? I don't want to stop being Chat Noir. He's a giant part of my life. I don't want to give it up. When I'm him, I'm free..."

"This isn't the end, you silly cat," Marinette smiled. "We're Paris's superheroes. We'll protect this city from everything, not just akumas. I won't be forced into retirement that easily."

"Thanks, m'lady," Adrien said. "You always know the purr-fect thing to say." After a ridiculous cat pun, Adrien was silent again. Something else had overtaken his mind. "Now that all this has happened, I don't know if can be so carefree. It feels wrong to make jokes," he said quietly.

"Who are you and what have you done with Adrien?" Marinette said, sitting straight up. "Do you realize what just came out of your mouth? You're Chat Noir for heaven's sakes! You're the most carefree guy in the world. It's your job to tell jokes at inappropriate times."

"I'm just scared, you know, about the future. What if I mess up again? What if I..."

"Stop right there!" Marinette said, putting up her hand. "You won't mess up because you have me. I won't let you. It's part of my job, cat sitting. It's right there in the description. So relax..."

Adrien took in a deep breath and then smiled. He stood up and with a firm resolve, said, "You're right. We're a team after all. I trust that you won't let me get too far gone. I'll be counting on you, bugaboo."

"Even though we know each other's identities, you still don't have permission to call me 'bugaboo'."

"Do I have permission to do this?"

Adrien grabbed Marinette's waist and pulled her close. He quickly kissed her on the lips, catching her by surprise. She turned bright red. "Damn cat," she mumbled under her breath. Quiet snickers came from Adrien's shirt and Marinette's bag. Tikki and Plagg were definitely watching everything. Adrien knew Plagg would give him so much crap when they go home.

Adrien looked to his lady and into her beautiful, blue eyes. Now that they had found each other like this, he never wanted to be separated again.

"Will you let me stay by your side like this forever?" Adrien smiled. Marinette turned away, embarrassed by the question. It sounded like a proposal.

"Yes..." she whispered softly.

"What was that?" Adrien said, pretending to not be able to hear. "I couldn't hear that. Could you speak up?"

"Yes."

"Nope, still can't hear you, Princess."

"YES!"

"That's my girl!" Adrien landed a kiss on Marientte's cheek. She rolled her eyes. She let herself get roped into a long-time commitment, but she didn't mind. It would be a dream come true to be with Adrien forever.

"Let's go back to school," Adrien said, letting go of Marinette's waist. He grabbed her hand and the two headed back to school. "You owe me food," Marinette laughed as her stomach began to rumble. "We didn't get to eat lunch!"

"Anything you desire," Adrien bowed. "It'll have to be after school though. We don't have time to stop now. Class starts in five minutes."

"I'm going to hold you to that promise," Marinette smiled.

They went back into the classroom and were met by Alya and Nino. "How was your lunch date?" Marinette asked. Alya and Nino both blushed. "It was good..." Alya said slowly. Nino nodded in agreement. Adrien raised an eyebrow. "Am I missing something here?" He asked.

"Not a thing," Marinette laughed. Until Nino and Alya decided to come out publicly, Marinette would keep it a secret. Adrien deserved to hear about it first from his best friend. "I'm going to go sit down," Marinette said. She let go of Adrien's hand and walked away.

"See you later, my lady."

"Am I the one missing something now?" Nino leaned towards Alya and whispered. "They beat us to it," Alya pouted. "I mean, us going out wasn't really a secret, but I wanted to get some hype going before we announced everything, but it looks like Marinette and Adrien stole the show."

"Wait, are we like actually going out?"

Alya got on her toes and kissed Nino on the cheek. The boy turned red from head to toe. "Wow, you can be dense," Alya smiled. "Good thing I think that's cute."

Later that evening, Ladybug met Chat Noir on the Paris rooftops for a late night patrol. They had only been apart for a few hours. Adrien took Marinette out to eat after school ended and they ended up hanging out for a little while afterwards. They promised to meet up again later as Ladybug and Chat Noir.

"Isn't it beautiful?" Ladybug said, admiring the Paris skyline. "It'll stay like this for a while since there aren't going to be any baddies running around for some time."

"I guess we get a break for meow," Chat Noir chuckled. "So what do we do in the meantime?" Ladybug shrugged and said, "I don't know. I mean, there has to be something to do though."

"I could think of a few things." Chat Noir wiggled his eyebrows cheekily. Ladybug rolled her eyes and sighed. This idiot was the guy she was in love with. She had to be crazy.

All of a sudden, there was a blinding flash of yellow light coming from the area near the Eiffel Tower. "What the heck?" Ladybug exclaimed. "I thought you said your dad quit his job!"

"He did!" Chat Noir said. "Looks like someone else came to fill the vacancy and we're needed to go save the day, my lady!" Chat Noir had a giant grin. He was excited to be back. Ladybug put her hands on her hips and smiled. "What are you waiting for then?" She replied proudly. "Paris isn't going to save itself on its own!"