Written for Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

Assignment 2, Poetry Studies, Task 4: Easter, 1916 - William Butler Yeats: Write about a conflict that had lasting consequences.

Set after the Season 5 finale. This is my interpretation of what I think would happen next, but writing the ending was like trying to untangle tangled earbuds.

Warning for mild PTSD, because this girl has been through it.


"We are gathered here today to honor the life of Gabriel Agreste…"

Marinette's nails tap against her desk as she stares at her design. Something is missing.

"…fashion mogul, beloved citizen, whose generosity knew no bounds…"

She draws a bow around the waist, but it still looks…incomplete.

"…he was a hero to us all, a beacon of inspiration to many…"

Marinette gnaws her lip, and then snaps her fingers as it comes to her. Nothing on the dress is missing, it's missing another piece. A hat.

"…and he is survived by his son, teenage model Adrien Agreste. Please welcome him to the stage."

Marinette is halfway through a rough sketch of a hat when she freezes, her attention finally snared by the program playing on her desktop. It's a rerun, but not the only time she's watched this.

On the screen, her boyfriend walks onto the stage, looking the epitome of calm. He looks poised, somber. A roll of paper is clutched in his hand, but Marinette knows he doesn't need it. She'd helped him craft it and rehearse it. Without any evil butterflies around, she'd gotten some of her prized time back.

She and Adrien had fallen into a rhythm these past few weeks. She'd prop up her phone on her desk, call him, and they'd stay on the phone for hours — just because they could now. Either they would talk until their voices had become hoarse, or they'd just simply…be. She would sketch or sew or knit and he would write his speech for the funeral. The deft strokes of his pen had become a background noise for her, and it would only pause when he'd needed help thinking of a word or needed to work out a certain phrasing.

Adrien starts speaking, and Marinette's throat closes.

"…my father was a man of upstanding character…while rough around the edges, his dedication to his craft was remarkable, and he turned his grief into something we all could appreciate…"

He had no idea. Marinette could not tell him either. This is a secret she had to keep guarded at all costs. Just like she could not tell him about her secret identity, he could not know about the true circumstances surrounding his father's demise.

No one could know.

She can see it on Adrien's face, though. Though content with the belief that his father had been a hero in the end, he'd still had questions. Questions which Marinette — Ladybug — could not truthfully answer. She'd only fed him a story with carefully woven half-truths and white lies, painting his father as a hero — unable to bear the thought of breaking his heart with the truth, and wishing for him to only relish his newfound freedom.

She'd thought her only problem would be defeating Hawkmoth. Not what had come after.

"…and I am glad to know that he was a hero."

She still dreams about it at night, though. It's as though her mind wants to torture her repeatedly, and she is powerless to stop it. She had been powerless to stop him, after all had been said and done. He'd still snatched the Miraculous from her and had made his wish, and for what? He had been reunited with his wife, but at what cost?

On the screen, the crowd applauds. Adrien walks off stage, to where Marinette is waiting, and the camera captures their long embrace.

"Tikki," Marinette says quietly, shutting off the screen. "Should I have told him?"

Her kwami, settled on her shoulder, murmurs, "I can't tell you that, Marinette. You know what's best for him in your heart."

"I never wanted to lie to him." Marinette's voice trembles. "I just can't — I mean, I don't want him to be — he's been through so much. He's lost both of his parents. And it's my fault."

"It's not your fault," Tikki says firmly, her tone unusually serious. "His father made his choices. He chose to akumatize innocent citizens. You didn't give him the Butterfly Miraculous and ask him to do it. Absolutely none of this is your fault, Marinette. You did your duty, and you stopped him. The city is so much better for it."

"But Adrien." Marinette twirls her pencil in between her fingers anxiously. "And I lost the Butterfly Miraculous." It had slid just out of reach.

"So did Master Fu," Tikki reminds her gently.

"Yeah, and look what came out of it." Marinette throws her hands up and her pencil clatters to the floor. "It's like — no matter what happens, we can't win. Hawkmoth is gone, but so is the Butterfly Miraculous. What if it falls into the wrong hands again? And Adrien has lost his father and Nathalie." She shakes her head, bringing her arms down defeatedly.

Tikki is quiet for a few moments. Marinette's head is spinning out of control. She hates not knowing what to do. She's Ladybug. She should know what to do. Everyone is relying on her.

"I can't tell you what to do," her kwami finally says, unconsciously responding to Marinette's thoughts. "Everyone is responsible for their own choices. You have to decide what's best. Trust your heart. What do you want to do?"

Marinette's mind slows, all of her thoughts solidifying into a concrete one. "I think," she says hesitantly, "he deserves to know the truth. But not right now. It's bad enough that I'm lying to everyone. That Ladybug is lying to everyone right now. I don't want him to have to lie to everyone, while everything is so…convoluted. While his grief is still fresh. This sounds wrong, but it's easier for me to lie than it is for him right now."

Tikki bobs her little head. "I think that's a good idea," she agrees solemnly.

"I'm just…worried that he'll hate me, though." Marinette's stomach turns as she confesses to what might be one of the most selfish secrets she's been withholding. "Especially if he finds out that I'm Ladybug, and I haven't told him anything. I don't want —" She breaks off, her voice hitching as Chat Blanc's baleful blue eyes burn into her own. It's only a memory from an alternate timeline, and it's not Adrien, but…

Tikki seems to know what she's thinking, intuitive as she is, and offers her usual words of comfort. Kind of. "I don't think he'll hate you," she says. "He loves you. He might be upset, and it'll take him some time to come to terms with it, but I don't think he has it in him to hate you."

"I hope so." Marinette picks up her pencil from the floor. "I'm…probably worrying too much, aren't I?"

"You are, but that's not a bad thing," Tikki reassures her. "You like to look at things from all angles. But maybe it's best if you…take your mind off of it for a bit. Finish your sketch, maybe?

"You're right," Marinette murmurs, gazing at the unfinished hat sketch. "I…need to figure this out soon, though."

"You will," Tikki says. "Again, I think your mind needs a break. Why don't you see if any of your friends are free today? But only after you finish this sketch."

"Of course." Marinette presses the tip of her pencil into the paper, before pausing. "Would flowers or feathers look better on this hat?"

"Trust your heart," Tikki says cheekily.

Marinette cracks a smile. "Flowers," she decides. "It's being paired with a summer dress, after all."

"There you go."


WC: 1240