Hello again everybody! A little housekeeping before our Tale resumes:

1. I HOPE YOU GUYS ENJOY THIS CHAPTER. I was ALMOST asleep when I woke up with a BURNING desire to finish this story already! The bug has bitten again! Maybe it has something to do with with Miraculous World: New York TV movie debuting in the US next Friday (9/25)?

2. I would like to apologize for how long it has taken to get this chapter up. With writing being more of a stress reliever, quarantine, and not really being in the mood to write Miraculous, Tales kinda fell by the wayside. I did become reimmersed in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles fandom and found a story to write over there. Since that's where my muse was, that was the direction I took.

3. Thank you to those who still enjoy reading Works In Progress and are willing to wait for the conclusion. I assure you that it's coming! Just two more chapters 'til our Tale is told!

Finally, I would like to shoutout to the AMAZING artist on YouTube, Art of Rhues. Her fanimatic of Miraculous Ladybug done to "Know Who You Are" from Disney's Moana was a HUGE inspiration from this chapter. I was stuck for a little bit, but watching this video helped set the stage for this pivotal moment in our story. Thanks Rhues and Disney!

Now that that's out of the way, let's see Who You Are!

The skyline of Paris stood in stark contrast to the smokey orange sky behind it. As Marinette slowly blinked her eyes, all she saw was destruction. She groaned as she attempted to move. She felt a hand press onto her shoulder, keeping her where she was.

"Whoa there, Marinette." Squinting, the girl could make out a blurry blond head. Chloe, now detransformed. The more she blinked, the more Marinette's vision cleared. She could now see the tear tracks down her friends face.

"Everything hurts," She groaned.

Chloe chuckled darkly. "That's what happened when you fall from the top of the Eiffel Tower after fighting psychos. You need to take it easy."

Marinette shook her head as she pushed herself up from Chloe's lap. "I don't need to take it easy. I need to- wait! Where's everyone else?" She whirled her head around. "Where's Tikki?" The blonde sighed as she gestured to where her usual yellow cardigan now laid on the pavement. Two exhausted kwamis curled up next to each other. Pollen blinked languidly as she stroked a passed-out Tikki. Marinette let her tears flow as she reached out to touch her tiny friend.

"As for everyone else," Chloe continued. "They're alive. That's what matters. But, Marinette…" The blue-haired girl turned back to her friend as she choked back a sob, a hand covering her mouth. "Marinette, we've lost. Scarlet Moth… He's got Adrien…"

The full memory of the battle returned with a force as Marinette shot her eyes to the tallest platform of the iconic Parisian tower. There, stood a gleeful man in a red suit with his hench-women on either side. Just behind them was a boy; a stoic boy in a white suit adorned with cat ears.

"Adrien…" She whispered. Marinette attempted to stand. I have to get to him…

Chloe grabbed her arm, pulling her back to the pavement. "It's over, Marinette! He's gone!"

"He's not gone. He's right there. I can get through to him." She shook the girl off, rising from her seated position. Her legs were shaky, but she was determined to get her boyfriend back – and all of Paris while she was at it.

As she dragged herself to the base of the tower, Marinette glanced at Nino and Alya, also detransformed. Nino held Alya in his lap as she started to stir. Knowing what Marinette was about to do, Nino tightened his hold.

Marinette stopped when she could fully see Chat Noir – no, this was Chat Blanc now – from his position behind Scarlet Moth. She raised her gaze proudly.

"ADRIEN!"

No response.

"I know you're still in there, Kitty. I'm not giving up on you!" It took everything within her not to fall to the pavement. There was nothing left in her… but she had to do this.

"I didn't realize I could order a Miraculous to go!" Scarlet Moth chortled. He nodded his head, gesturing to Marinette. "Bring me her earrings. NOW." As if a switch had been thrown, Chat Blanc slunk down the legs of the Eiffel Tower.

Marinette flinched as she heard Alya screaming. She couldn't make out the words, but they were soon muffled, most likely by Nino. She returned her attention to the approaching creature of white.

"I know he dropped a truth bomb on you. You have every right to feel scared and angry; believe me, I'm angry with him too! But Hawkmoth, your father, is using your grief against you." She stumbled backwards slightly as Chat Blanc's wrist was engulfed in a blueish- white energy. Marinette wondered why he didn't attack her already unless… I'm getting through! She stood her ground as Chat Blanc now towered over her, preparing to strike. "Feel your grief, but don't dwell on it."

Just as the blue-eyed boy was about to attack, Marinette reached a hand up to his cheek. He paused. Marinette heard the faint sound of a man screaming, but she blocked it out. This was their world, with just the two of them.

"Focus on my voice. Remember who you are, Adrien." She closed her eyes as she rested her forehead against his. She felt his body soften and the blue light disappeared.

"M-marinette?"

Opening her eyes, Marinette choked out a tearful laugh. "Hey, Kitty." Suddenly, there was nothing holding either teen standing. They both collapsed to the ground in tears. Marinette held the boy as he sobbed for all that he had lost.

The girl quirked her head to the side as she felt a slight nudge. It was Tikki. The spotted kwami pointed to Marinette's earrings and then to the bell around Chat's neck. She nodded, understanding.

"Spots on." She whispered. Thankfully, the transformation didn't interfere with their embrace. Ladybug pulled back slightly so she could remove the bell. "We're going to take care of this, together. Okay?" She wiped away the tears just making their way down the boy's face. He sniffed, nodding. Then, he frowned.

"But you didn't use a Lucky Charm. How are we going to fix all of this?"

"Maybe we'll get lucky?" She tried to lighten the mood.

Chat Blanc groaned. "It takes me being akumatized for you to start making puns on your own?"

Ladybug tweaked his nose playfully. "Just promise me you won't make a habit out of it." She gasped as he gave her a quick kiss.

"Promise. Now, would you mind purifying that akuma? I think I'd like to go back to black now…"

The duo giggled as Ladybug performed her ritual. She took a deep breath as she pretended to throw something into the air. "MIRACULOUS LADYBUG!... Please work… Please work… Please work…" She begged whatever cosmic being that developed the Miraculous to work some sort of miracle.

Just as she was about to run out of air from holding her breath so long, a small swarm of butterflies engulfed her before moving on to Chat Noir. He sighed as the pain in his leg had left him along with the other bodily aches that had plagued him since the battle had started. The butterflies then moved on to Nino, Alya, Chloe, and Nathaniel, as well as their kwamis. All of their injuries had been healed, along with the renewing of their spirits. The swarm circled around Ladybug once more before disappearing into the sky.

"Thank you." She whispered. Ladybug helped pull Chat Noir to standing before pulling him into another hug. "I love you, Adrien."

He tugged on one of her pigtails before tightening his embrace. "Love you too, Bugaboo. Now and forever."

"What? Don't we get some love too, dude?" The duo broke apart as their comrades, transformed now that their kwamis were better, joined them. Carapace squawked as Chat tugged him into a deep embrace.

"I can never thank you enough for saving her." Chat whispered, his voice quavering. Carapace squeezed back.

"There's nothing to thank. She's my friend and you're my bro. You dudes would have done the same thing." The 'man-hug' ended with a clap on each of their backs as they chuckled.

Queen Bee stepped forward, trying to keep her tears from spilling. "As much as I'm happy that we're all alive and ourselves again – and believe me, I am IMMENSELY happy about that – isn't it time that we clip a certain moth's wings?"

"Not without us!" The group swiveled to see the Parisian rebels entering the area surrounding the Eiffel Tower, led by Nora.

"What are you doing here?" Rena Rouge blurted before schooling her expression.

"If you don't want our help, maybe we can go across the channel and see if the Brits have a super-villain we can take down." Nora made to turn around.

Marlana shook her head at her daughter's teasing. "We were able to clear most of the city. The akumas and amucks we missed appeared to head back in this direction. We figured that we can deal with the foot soliders to free you heroes up to confront the generals."

Rocket Rooster snapped his fingers. "That sounds like a great idea. What do you think, Ladybug?" All eyes turned to the spotted heroine as she smiled.

"I think it's time we take back Paris."