Chapter Text
“Want some more ice cubes, Marinette? Kagami?” asked Luka, tray in hand.
Marinette inched up a bit higher on the deckchair and smiled at him. “No, thank you. I’m fine,” she said.
“I’ll take one,” said Kagami. She stretched the glass over Marinette towards Luka, and Marinette lifted her hand up to support the bottom.
“One ice cube coming up,” said Luka, knocking one out of the tray and into the orange juice. A couple tiny droplets flew out, but they dispersed in the mild summer breeze. “Just say if you want more, okay?”
Kagami pulled the glass back as Luka walked away, and took a sip from it. “You know, Marinette, you didn’t need to help me with that.”
“I know. But I wanted to.”
They were lying side by side on the deck of the Liberty, shaded by a parasol, and surrounded by – because this was the Liberty, after all – several cardboard crates filled with junk. Kagami used one of them as a table, because it was stacked with shoeboxes that themselves were filled with books. It was a lazy Saturday morning, the first day after the end of collège, and the world was finally slowing down after a rollercoaster week.
Sunday – after they’d escaped the news and the public – had been the most intense. She returned home to crying parents, with Alya and Kagami in tow. She brought them for emotional support in case her parents were disapproving, but that support was washed away by a torrent of approving tears, and they all dissolved in warm comfort in the middle of the floor.
Then they told her about the state of her room. That the cure hadn’t fixed it, either the one Alya cast in the Burrow, or the one she cast herself by the Eiffel tower. She had no idea how to react to that, so in the end she just… didn’t. She floated through the rest of the evening, unmoored, until Alya and Kagami left – and then she slept heavily on the living room couch.
Monday had been lost entirely in the explosion of an entire school reacting to Sunday’s news, but the most significant part of it had been when she attended Kagami’s enrolment meeting in the principal’s office, before strict school hours. The people present were Kagami, herself, Mr Damocles, and also Anarka.
The irregularities were numerous – Kagami didn’t have an application from her guardian, because she was still legally Tomoe Tsurugi’s daughter; Mr Damocles was reluctant to sign up a student with just a week left of classes; Anarka had not prepared any documentation whatsoever. However, Mr Damocles was nothing if not a sycophantic pushover, and he quickly realised that Anarka wasn’t going to just go away. Kagami would be officially signed up as a student by the middle of the week, and was allowed to sit in for classes in the meantime.
Class itself dissolved the moment people saw Marinette. Some had already sent her supportive messages on Sunday – but they also joined in on reacting to her in person. Alix also got a lot of love from the class, which alleviated the tension on Marinette – but Marinette was the one everyone had to talk to. Not even the teachers managed to hold up any pretence of educational attainment, and they ended up playing games or intermingling between grades for most of the day. The class was also down two students: Adrien, who had said he’d come back halfway through the week; and Lila, who hadn’t.
On Tuesday, the teachers had tried to reestablish order. While their attempts were mostly successful, they were disrupted when Alya and Nino revealed their own hero identities. This seemed to bother Chloé, but not to the point she exploded about it; she did, however, leave the room with a sad look on her face. But for the most part, the day was filled with the teachers’ pre-planned activities.
Later that day, there was an unofficial, but incredibly important meeting – with Nathalie Sancoeur, at the Agreste mansion. Marinette attended it with Adrien, Alya, and Heianeko: they put everything that had happened upstairs on the table, and explained their plans for how to proceed. Nathalie would not be exposed as Mayura, and she would take over as Adrien’s guardian following the public reveal of Gabriel’s death.
That was Adrien’s own request – to which Nathalie gratefully agreed. They’d clearly talked together about what the past meant for their present and future, and while Adrien seemed deeply shaken about everything regarding his father – including his death – getting to keep Nathalie seemed to help him. He also asked for permission to tell Sabrina and Nino about Gabriel; Marinette could not have granted permission faster than she did. Adrien deserved to pick for himself who to trust.
The conversation also turned to Marinette’s still-destroyed room. Nathalie immediately promised that arrangements would be made to pay for the room to be restored, and Marinette’s possessions replaced. Looking into Nathalie’s apologetic eyes, Marinette couldn’t believe that this woman had ever been Mayura – because what she saw was someone who, despite her name, had a big and beating heart.
Of course, Nathalie was weak – a result of the broken peacock Miraculous. The injuries had stabilised, but they also wouldn’t get less severe. With the Agreste fortune, they could pay for housekeeping and medical treatment – but the conversation still left her worried.
On Wednesday, all the Miraculous – which were now stored in the cracked sewing box, aboard the Liberty, where Marinette had temporarily relocated while repairs were ongoing – had returned to their original forms. This became evident when Roarr acted as her alarm clock for the day, half an hour before her phone alarm, by shouting excitedly into her ear about it.
School was less feverish at first that day, but blew up again during lunch after a televised speech from mayor Bourgeois – who must have come straight out of two full days of intense political meetings, judging by his haggard appearance. Police lieutenant Raincomprix was there with him as he spoke, nodding along to every word.
“The city of Paris calls on Marinette Dupain-Cheng to peacefully relinquish the Miraculous to the city,” the mayor announced. “Their powers must be put to use by responsible adults, such as the fine members of our police department. We have already dispatched officers to the Dupain-Cheng residence and hope that the honourable superhero,” he pronounced ‘honourable’ in the same way he’d pronounce ‘poverty’, “agrees peacefully to our request. It’s for the good of our beloved city!”
Despite the mayor’s bluster, though, the officers were held up outside the bakery by a large and steadily growing mob of incensed Parisians. Sabrina had a very vehement phone call with her dad. An impromptu protest formed outside City Hall and was so loud and intense that less than three hours later, Bourgeois again appeared to make a short statement that the city would ‘of course’ support Ladybug in all her efforts, and he apologised for the ‘unfortunate misunderstanding’.
Thursday had been the day when someone tried to break into the Liberty. Unlike the police, the thief had actually found out Marinette’s temporary location; the thief didn’t get far, however, and Anarka catapulted them off the side of the boat after the kwamis sounded the alarm. Anarka described the thief as a teenage wisp of a girl with long brown hair; the kwamis grinned when Marinette asked them about it, but didn’t say a single word.
During lunch, Marinette sat at a table with Alya, Alix, and Kagami. While they talked, she saw Chloé approach Sabrina and Adrien’s table, looking intensely meek – and observed the brief conversation between them, before Chloé almost turned around, and then Adrien grabbed her by the sleeve and said something. Chloé sat down a short while later.
“Nature is healing,” Alix commented, nudging her in the side.
“What?”
“Oh, nothing.”
Alya sighed, lifting a spinach leaf out of her salad with her fingers and waving it around. “She talked to me yesterday. I think she tried to be nice, but she’s not very good at it.”
Marinette recalled the messages Chloé had sent her that weekend, while she was akumatised. She had only read them Sunday night, when she was about to sleep. The first one had been ‘Can we talk?’ and the second one had been ‘Never mind. You’re stupid and I hate you.’ And then, as she watched, a speech bubble had appeared like Chloé was typing something more – but five minutes later, there was still no message, and the bubble was gone.
“What did she say?” she asked Alya.
“Oh, doesn’t matter. Watch out, though, she’ll probably try and talk to you eventually.”
Alix looked a little sad. “Don’t make it hard on her. She’ll just go back to being Queen Bitch, and that’s no fun for anyone.”
“Yeah, sure.” Alya put the leaf down again. “I guess she tried. And I guess Adrien’s willing to let her.”
“And Sabrina.”
Chloé did send Marinette one look that lunch period – one that ended immediately, when she saw that Marinette was looking back. It wasn’t an olive branch, but it was maybe the soil that could host the seed that would one day, if watered, grow into an olive tree, from which a branch could be cut and extended between them.
In the evening, Marinette went to the Agreste mansion on her own. Nathalie wanted a second meeting, completely private and confidential – even Adrien wouldn’t know, she’d said. Therefore, Marinette used Kaalki to get there, Voyaging straight into Gabriel’s old office. Nathalie stood her in front of the large painting of Emilie, and pressed some hidden buttons among the brush strokes – and the two of them went downstairs into a hidden basement, deep inside the earth.
It was a worrying trip down, and Marinette was made very aware that she was stuck in a small lift with a woman who had attacked her several times. The cavernous dark space they arrived in – lit mostly with greenish fluorescent tubes that only illuminated part of the way – filled her with a deep sense of unease. In the distance, she could see a metallic podium that was lit up independently, surrounded by greenery and fluttering butterflies.
“I’m going to sell the estate once it comes into Adrien’s possession,” Nathalie explained as they walked towards the podium, across a bridge over troubled water. “There are too many memories here for both of us. A smaller place, closer to friends, will do him well.”
“I see,” said Marinette. She waited to say anything else.
“Also… the risk is too great. There are things here that Adrien must never know. But also… this place must never be known to anyone else. Only you, and me, and Tomoe Tsurugi. That’s why I’ve asked you to come, Marinette.”
They were at the centrepiece of the room now – and Marinette saw that the podium was more like a raised dais. There was a raised section on it, like a cylinder halfway merged with the platform underneath, wrapped in metal that folded around it like double doors. Nathalie walked up and pressed her hand to a glowing button at the base of the cylinder.
The doors split apart, revealing a glass cage – under which lay the body of Emilie Agreste. Marinette gasped, and took a step back: the body was somehow perfectly preserved, dressed in a gorgeous two-piece suit. She might have looked alive, if not for the situation, or the location – she looked like an uninhabited shell, but the most pristine shell that had ever existed.
“How…”
“Biological stasis. Tsurugi technology. Until this pod is deactivated, she will not… truly die.” Nathalie sounded choked-up, but her head was turned away from Marinette, looking straight at Emilie’s face. “Gabriel had it made for her before she passed.”
Marinette let her eyes go wide. “She’s not actually dead?”
“No. She is." Nathalie, who felt like she should be... distant, sniffed. “But I sometimes prefer to think she's just locked in there, ready to get out.”
Marinette waited, listening helplessly as Nathalie swallowed a sob. She wasn’t unsympathetic – she was just out of her depths right now, standing next to a woman that used to be her enemy, in a place that was so much a representation of Gabriel Agreste’s mind. It was a dark, secretive prison, with Emilie the prisoner. Maybe it could have been beautiful, a shrine to someone he loved so deeply, but there was no love – just possession, an enclosed cell to hold someone he should let go of. Just like the Agreste mansion had been an enclosed cell to hold Adrien.
When Nathalie turned back around to face Marinette, her eyes glistened – but they also shone. “I’m ready to let her go,” she said. “And I want your help to put her to rest. Adrien has already said goodbye… this is just for me. I’d like to bring her out quietly and bury her where nobody can find her. And if you can, I’d like this cavern to be destroyed.”
That was the moment Marinette was fully convinced that Nathalie wasn’t Mayura. She had been, sure, but there was no trace left of the person who had tried to destroy the city to get Emilie back. She was baring her heart while the shadows of the man she had followed still loomed around her – but here, bathed in the ugly and sterile light from the coffin, she was free from that.
“I’ll help you,” she said, smiling. “But… for Adrien’s sake, maybe you could take a picture of her. In the future, if you decide to tell him – I’m sure he’d like a memento.” Nathalie agreed, taking multiple and selecting one that they both agreed was beautiful.
They went together to a deep forest in the countryside, far from people, and brought the cylinder and a spade. It was a solemn burial, but Nathalie smiled as she watched Marinette dig the grave with her superhuman strength. Once the cylinder was deposited, Marinette smashed the glass covering, shattering its hold on the body. Nature would reclaim Emilie and build new life out of the remnants of the one she’d lost.
She would come back to the Agreste basement another day with Plagg and Kaalki, and cataclysm the entrance. Hopefully, nobody would ever find the basement again – at least not for many years.
Friday had started with Nino coming into the girls’ lavatories while Marinette was checking herself in the mirror. Nino wasn’t wearing the usual baseball cap that day but rather a fetching knitted cap, which covered the ears almost completely.
“Oh – hey, Nino!” she said. “What’s going on?”
Nino looked a little bashful – mouth opening and closing, eyes shifting between her and random spots on the walls. Then, the door opened again, and Alya popped her head in. “Need any help, babe?” she asked.
“Yeah, I… think I do,” Nino said.
Alya stepped inside, and put her hands on Nino’s upper arms. “Hey, Marinette, Nino has something to say, and it’s kind of personal and important, okay? So don’t go blabbing to anyone.”
Marinette opened her eyes wide. “Secrets? Hold on a minute.” She turned towards the stalls, all of which were open, though some had their doors nearly shut. She tiptoed over to them and pushed on the doors, revealing absolutely nobody. It was just the three of them there.
“Sorry,” she said, a little awkward as she walked back to the couple. “The last time I shared a secret in here, it got spilled accidentally.”
“Juleka, right?” asked Alya.
“Yeah. So, um, Nino… what’s up?”
Nino took a deep breath. “Yeah, so like, you know… we’re friends, right?” She nodded. “And like, I love how you just dared to… come out as Ladybug in public, y’know?”
She smiled, just a tiny bit confused. There had to be something else making Nino nervous, otherwise they’d probably be holding the conversation elsewhere. “Thank you. But… what’s on your mind?”
“Sorry. I just… I realised since Sunday I feel kinda…” Nino sighed. “I’m not sure I’m a boy. We got the girls group chat now and Juleka calls me an honourary girl… and I think I don’t really mind? So I kinda wanna try how it feels. So Alya’s calling me she now and she calls me Nina, and I’d like if you could… do the same?”
The look she gave Marinette was pleading and insecure, but to Marinette it wasn’t even a question; with a smile, she stepped forward and hugged her. “Of course I can, Nina. Thank you for telling me.”
When they pulled apart, Nina was beaming. “You’re, like, the reason I started thinking about it,” Nina replied. “Like the whole coming out thing. Also, when you took me in here to give me the cat ring, I was just like, it’s the exact same as the boys’ room, and…”
Marinette giggled. “I’m glad I could help. But… who do you want to know?”
“I’m gonna tell… Adrien, and Juleka and Rose. And it’s fine if you tell Kagami. But I’m just trying things out for now, so no, like, telling random people. I’m still Nino in public, and I dunno if this is going anywhere. I’m just, like, giving it a shot. Maybe I’ll try makeup.”
“I’ve got so much I wanna try on you, girlie,” laughed Alya, stroking a finger under Nina’s chin – and Nina jolted. “I’m so proud of you. And you just tell both of us whatever you’re comfortable with, okay?” She planted a kiss on Nina’s cheek, and Nina looked exceedingly comfortable with the present moment.
Kagami appeared to have a less comfortable day, however, and for good reason. After the half day at school – which was mainly spent on farewells, adieus, and also goodbyes – she had a court hearing about the transfer of custody, which necessitated the presence of Tomoe Tsurugi. Marinette was at Kagami’s side the whole time – though she expected she wouldn’t have been allowed to, if she wasn’t also ‘that girl who’s Ladybug’.
The atmosphere inside the courtrooms and offices was incredibly tense, and it was easy to see that Kagami struggled to keep herself coherent, having to stay so close to the person who had controlled her life for so long. Marinette took every chance she could to wrap her arms around Kagami, whisper in her ear, and kiss her.
Her presence also mattered in another way – having ‘Ladybug’ there lent some urgency to the proceedings. She was approached a handful of times by excited clerks and officials, asking her for autographs; she told them she wouldn’t sign anything also long as her girlfriend was still waiting. Of course, the process wouldn’t end just in one day – bureaucracy was never that kind or forgiving.
“I hate this,” Kagami moaned after the hearing was over. They sat side by side on a bench outside, waiting for Anarka to exit too.
“We could try one of the other solutions,” Marinette said. She also hated this. “If she’s gone, you won’t have to deal with her anymore.”
Kagami sighed, and leaned closer into Marinette’s side. “No… I don’t want to make a mess…”
“Okay. It’s up to you,” said Marinette, briefly wishing that it wasn’t. Where she got admiration and cheers from the public, a precious girlfriend, and the joy of never having to deal with Monarch again – Kagami still had potentially months ahead of her, depending on the court’s schedule. “But I want you to know that I love you, and I’ll do anything to help you through this, okay?”
“I love you too,” said Kagami, rubbing her head against Marinette’s chest. “And I love how okay you are with saying that now.”
“I’m just being more honest,” said Marinette with a little giggle, placing a kiss on Kagami’s forehead. “And you deserve it. You mean so much to me, and I’m sorry you’re going through this.”
“Mmh.” Kagami nestled even closer. “As long as you’re going through it with me.”
They sat in silence for a little while. Marinette was struck with the realisation that Kagami had only found out about Ladybug by accident. The same with Alix – or Juleka, for that matter. If not for those accidents, she wouldn’t have given up the earrings to Alya. The past two months would have gone very differently.
“You know,” she said, running her fingers through Kagami’s hair, “it’s kind of an accident we ended up together.”
“Mm?” said Kagami. She sat up, looking Marinette in the eyes. “Then it was a good accident.”
They kissed until Anarka came back outside, and then they went back to the Liberty for evening cocoa.
And that led back to today, on the deck of the Liberty, in the lazy late-morning sun. In just a couple of hours, they’d head out to Alix’s celebratory coming-home party. The whole class would be there, practically speaking, along with Luka, Zoé, and many more.
Right now, they were waiting for girls to arrive – and Adrien, who’d be tagging along with Sabrina. Juleka had been at Rose’s for a sleepover, and was coming back soon; Alya and Nina would also be coming. They’d go together to the party.
“I like when you want things,” said Kagami, and Marinette had to think back past the chasm of memory to realise she was referring to the comment about wanting to help. It sounded wistful, though, and not like a compliment. “It’s a lot better than when you don’t want things.”
The akuma. Marinette could scarcely recall her own mind from that time, but she did recall the horrible voice in her head that ate all her wishes. “… Yeah. I prefer that too. And I like you much better when you’re not trying to attack me.”
“You’re just saying that.” Kagami was back to her mild-mannered jokes already; Marinette, however, flushed.
“I… guess I did like it when you held me. Not in a weird way! But you had big hands and they were soft, and I kinda enjoyed it because I liked not having to think so much about what to do, and I knew I could trust you, and I wasn’t scared and it was pretty warm, and –”
Kagami interrupted her with a giggle. “I can still hold you. I don’t need to be large to do that.”
“Yeah.” She smiled, and took Kagami’s hand. “I definitely prefer your hands now.”
There was some hollering from the riverside. When they turned to look, Alya and Nina were coming onto the boat, hand in hand. “Hey, girls!” said Alya, making a straight beeline with her girlfriend in tow.
“Hey Alya, hey Nina,” said Kagami.
Nina turned a little darker. “Hey,” she said – and Marinette thought she spotted a tiny hint of eyeliner in the corners of her eyes. She was still wearing the knitted cap, too.
“How are you doing?” asked Alya, looking down at Marinette’s and Kagami’s interlocked hands. “We didn’t interrupt anything, did we?”
“No, don’t worry,” said Marinette. “We’re just talking about stuff. Did you try some makeup on, Nina? You look pretty.”
Nina also looked suddenly very happy, which had the added effect of making her look even prettier. “Thank you!”
“Yeah, I’m decking her out, little by little,” laughed Alya. “Just the subtle stuff for now, though. I bet only Chloé would pay it any mind at the party, and I don’t think she’s in a look-people-in-the-eye mood yet. She’ll get there eventually, though.”
“But why Nina?” asked Kagami. “Why not a different name?”
“Uh, well, it’s just to test things. Like, a test name. I’ve been thinking about names if I do go for it, though,” Nina said, and Marinette saw Alya’s expression change into mild horror. “Like… Nora. Nora’s a nice name.”
Alya nudged Nina in the cheek with a finger. “And I’ve told you, you can’t pick my sister’s name. Sanaa was a much better idea. Or Sofiya. Okay?”
“Yeah, okay,” said Nina, chuckling. “I won’t use Nora…”
“Good.”
At that point, Sabrina and Adrien arrived. They, too, were holding hands now – which didn’t really surprise Marinette, but it also wasn’t exactly what she’d expected. “Hey, everyone!” said Sabrina, waving as they came over.
“Hey, lovebirds,” said Alya.
Kagami jolted upright. “You are dating?”
Adrien shrugged. “Not officially. Don’t tell anyone…”
“We are not dating,” said Sabrina, with a certain amount of finality that nonetheless sounded like a play for the camera. “We are just… friends.” Here, Adrien squeezed her hand, and she jumped a little. “Don’t tell anyone.”
“Not even me?” said a sudden voice, and practically everyone started – except Kagami, whose hand remained steadfast against Marinette’s. When Marinette looked at where the sound had come from, she saw – Alix, as Bunnyx, stepping out of the Burrow and onto the deck. The portal quickly closed behind her.
“… Alix? What are you doing here?” she half-stuttered. “Aren’t you supposed to prepare for the party?”
“Yeah. I did do that. Then I took the watch and came back here so I could walk to the party with you, ya doofus. Fluff, counter-clockwise.”
“When exactly did you leave?” said Alya.
“Oh, we’ll see me when we arrive. I’ll basically say hey, and then I’ll leave, and then whatever time paradoxes you’ve imagined happening won’t happen because there’s just going to be one of me.” Alix grinned. “Hey, sorry, but I did overhear that thing you were talking about.”
Adrien looked a bit like he had just seen a train careening down the tracks he was skipping along on. “Uh, that’s fine,” he said, and Sabrina clutched his hand a little tighter.
“It’s just a test, okay? Don’t think too hard about it,” she said. “We’ll know when we know, if we know.”
“What’s with all the secrets, though?” Alix asked, sitting down on the side of Marinette’s chair. “I thought our lovely Ladybug,” she held out a hand and circled her index finger not at all subtly above Marinette’s leg, “showed us that being open and honest is the best strategy. If everyone knows, nobody can hurt you with it.”
“Sometimes we just need a little time,” replied Sabrina, looking a little bit indignant.
“Sometimes a secret is for yourself,” said Alya, squeezing Nina’s hand and smiling at her with the corner of her mouth.
“Sometimes a secret is good,” said Kagami, taking a sip of juice.
Alix smiled, a little bit softer now. “Okay, sure. Don’t worry, I’m not telling anyone, anyway, not without permission. Just – I like being open. I’m very open about how I’ve missed you guys a lot, okay? Even you, Kagami, even though I barely knew you before. And you, Sabrina, even though you were kind of a pest before I left.” She put her hands on her knees. “Ah, sorry, don’t mean to be a downer. I like you now.”
Sabrina blinked. “Um, thanks? I like you too.”
“Aw, thanks! Friends?”
“Yeah, s-”
Suddenly, there was an eruption of noise from the road above the riverside promenade. Everyone turned around to see – there were five teenagers there, probably late lycée age or possibly university students, pointing at them and hollering. “Hey! Ladybug!” they shouted. “You go, Ladybug!”
She waved back at them, a little embarrassed. “Thank you!”
“Hey! Kick Mathéo’s butt for us, will you? He’s evil, he’s a jerk!” one of them called, noogieing his friend. Then they laughed, waved, and the five of them left with loudmouthed goodbyes.
Once they were out of earshot, Marinette groaned and put her hands on her face. She felt Kagami’s hand on her shoulder soon thereafter.
“Gotta be pretty rough with all that attention,” said Nina sympathetically. “Yeah?”
Marinette sighed. “It’s… not that bad. It’s nice. It’s nice when people are… nice,” she said, feeling a little helpless, and also more than a little ungrateful. But…
She’d had to deal with news and interviews a lot since Sunday. All the occurrences had just melted together, in a way, but there’d been at least three separate groups trying to get in touch with her every day, for comments or pictures or reports for various news items: sometimes TV, often newspapers, frequently bloggers. There’d been two international outlets speaking in accented English. Not to mention all the attention she got from random people on the streets, many of whom wanted selfies or autographs, while others just wanted to thank or congratulate her, or cheer her on.
The attention was almost uniformly positive, but it was also a lot to deal with. And complaining about it didn’t feel right, either, when she was here next to all these people who weren’t ready to tell their own secrets yet, or who had to deal with a lot of explicitly negative attention. Like Kagami.
“I’m glad I told people,” she said, fully honest. “And I think it’s a good thing people know, because then I can just jump into action whenever and not have to worry about hiding myself. And when everyone’s so supportive… I shouldn’t complain.”
“Well, if you need a break some time – just tell me. I’ll fight people to keep them off your back,” said Alix.
“Same,” said Alya.
“Me too,” said Sabrina. Adrien and Nina nodded. Kagami put her hand on Marinette’s thigh, and said “I’ll hide with you.”
Marinette looked at her strange, wonderful group of friends. They were all classmates, strictly speaking – but the connection she had to them right now, amazing though it was, felt almost accidental.
Nina had been inspired to test her gender because Marinette ran into her while looking for Alya, and now they shared a secret. Marinette had dared, almost on a whim, to stand up to Chloé on Sabrina’s behalf – and now she and Sabrina were friends. Alix had showed up from the Burrow at the exact time she detransformed. And – now she saw Juleka and Rose coming across the gangplank, and waved at them – Juleka had overheard a conversation in the bathroom and also learned about Ladybug. And Kagami had happened to call Marinette at exactly the wrong time.
All those things were accidents. But in the aftermath, they’d all chosen to grow closer together, each in their own way. They’d built trust and honesty, together, in spite of the man that had tried to push them all apart. It had happened inadvertently at first, maybe, but it was also just… good. They were good accidents.
“I love you all,” she told them. “More than I can possibly say.”
Because maybe… accidents could also be miracles.