Chapter Text
Five years have now passed after Marinette had moved on from Adrien and discovered his identity, only to keep it to herself for much of that time, and they were still fighting Hawkmoth.
Hawkmoth was still somewhat active after all. Instead of attacks being a day apart, it could be weeks between attacks, but they had grown more dangerous than ever. Mayura would only appear every few months, and that was when they needed the full team.
Over half of the Miraculous now had permanent holders now, and having them just come to the battles ended them faster, something that they needed to do so that they wouldn’t be missing from their adult lives for long.
It was almost ironic looking back, because less than a month after Ladybug’s and Chat Noir’s one-time date five years ago, Adrien Agreste asked out Marinette Dupain-Cheng.
What he hadn’t known at the time, was that she had asked Luka Couffaine to be her boyfriend just two weeks prior.
Adrien really did have the worst luck, after a brief period of sadness and jealousy, he found a way to be happy for them, having realized that he had idolized Ladybug for too long and it was probably a consequence of that.
Marinette and Luka themselves dated since then and while they started out slowly, they became more serious about each other over time.
Luka of course became a backup guitarist to Jagged Stone for the start of his career, eventually becoming the opening act for him as Marinette started her own online boutique. On their fifth anniversary of their highly negotiated first date, not that anyone but they knew that, Luka proposed to her.
Their friends were happy for them.
Including a long-suffering Adrien, who was now really good friends with both of them.
Kim had gone on to a career as an Olympic Swimmer, just like his long-term girlfriend Ondine.
Alix shockingly became a historian and not so shockingly, a part time street artist.
Max built his own gaming empire with the help of Markov.
It almost seemed like everyone had moved on happily in their lives.
Life hadn’t been easy for everyone though.
Rumor was that even Lila found a profession that suited her back in Italy, she became a lawyer with aspirations to become a politician. There were rumors of some sort of scandal involving her now and then, but everyone had come to expect that. Thankfully, it all happened far from Paris and no one really cared when she was arrested for falsifying documents of her qualifications or whatever.
Most of her classmates were not surprised at all.
Kagami eventually had to move back to Japan, her mother had decided that it was time that she settle down and she gave her a choice between three perspective Japanese businessmen’s sons. At first Kagami didn’t want to do it, but after mutually deciding that Adrien was just a friend, after he never seemed to open up after losing the girl he loved so long ago, whom Kagami assumed was Marinette at first but now wasn't' so sure, Kagami thought that she didn’t have a choice. So, she gave each of the three guys a chance and finally found someone who could be more than just a friend with when she met the third guy. They were planning on getting married in a few months after they got to know each other better and Marinette was going to make her the wedding dress.
Chloe herself dated several different people, but just couldn’t find someone acceptable to her standards and followed her Mother to New York to find herself there. Her father joined them after he lost an election to be the Mayor.
Alya and Nino had been married for well over a year, but had been saddened by the fact that while they had been trying to have children, they just found out that they were infertile and Alya was unable to have children. They eventually decided to foster and then adopt once they were ready.
Adrien of course had gone on to be a supermodel and would leave Paris from time to time, entrusting Plagg to Viperion while he was out of town, and vice versa for the snake miraculous. They had been pleased to find out that some of the miraculous could be used together at the same time when necessary, but never for more than a brief period since it was draining on the wielder.
While Adrien’s life was lavish, he still couldn’t find someone that came close to his heart like Ladybug, Marinette or even Kagami had. He accepted that Marinette was now with Luka and he tried to be happy for his friends and not kick himself for his bad timing, which he had to do with Ladybug and Marinette and their boyfriends, err, fiancés, too.
Adrien sadly had allowed his father and Nathalie to arrange his dates for functions for the most part, but that was business, his life was still happier up on the rooftops when he ran patrol with his heroic friends. It was hard, but there was a part of him that felt like he would forever be alone.
…
Eventually, Chat Noir was surprised when Ladybug offered him an invitation to her wedding.
“I think it’s time Chat.” Marinette told Adrien, “this is an invitation to my wedding, and I’d like you to be there, knowing who I am, but I won’t force you to go if you don’t think it’s safe or if you’re not ready. I-I’ve finally decided that I want you to decide if you want to know who I am.”
Chat Noir remembered when she had told him three years prior that she knew who he was and had known for a long time already, but didn’t think that it was safe yet for her to tell him who she was. Ladybug hadn’t told him that she knew at first because she didn’t want to upset him and she felt certain that they wouldn’t have worked out.
Adrien felt like a heel that she may have been right to not trust him at the time with that fact.
Chat Noir still didn’t know why they wouldn't have worked out, but he trusted her now above all else and he knew that he still had a lot of growing up to do from when she found out, so he had no ill feelings about the matter.
He remembered how supportive she had been when he was seriously trying to give Kagami a chance to win him over, but it didn’t feel right and eventually they had mutually decided to separate.
Adrien appreciated that Ladybug gave him this chance to decide for himself and the opportunity to say no as he looked at the proffered enveloped.
So, Adrien had understood and apologized to her, for making her feel like he wouldn’t understand before and surprisingly, he did. It wasn’t a secret to him that she had begun dating Viperion’s secret identity either, and he was okay with that, now.
It reminded him how he had gotten annoyed when Marinette and Luka started dating just as he had finally begun to move on from Ladybug.
Adrien had never had a chance with Marinette, but Adrien had grown to understand that was his own fault now, he had focused on Ladybug for far too long and never even tried to ask her out or realize that Marinette deserved the world, just like Ladybug did.
He was fairly certain that if he had asked her out immediately after Lila’s exposed lies and her eventual move to another school, that maybe, just maybe, they would have had a chance. That is if he could give up on Ladybug and apologize profusely for his blindness, but he was a stubborn cat and that fact came back to haunt him.
Luka though, he was the smart one. He had waited until Marinette was ready and let her choose him, just as Adrien began to let go of Ladybug.
Adrien knew that he shouldn’t be jealous of the pair, but he was. They had a bit of a rough patch over that, the three of them that is, and he knew it was mostly his fault, but they worked through it and were good friends now. They even double dated a couple of times after Adrien found a girl that he was willing to date more than once, but he never took a girl out more than three times besides Kagami and he never had a steady girlfriend other than Kagami, because none of them could compare to a certain blue haired girl. Either side of her, not that he knew that.
As he looked at the invitation envelope that Ladybug was offering him, he finally realized that they’d all grown up and he would be an adult about this, make the Ladybug decision etc.
Which was why Chat Noir sighed as he pushed the invitation back towards Ladybug, “Milady, while I am honored that you would invite me, it’s enough for this cat to know that you’re happy.”
…
Eight months later, Kagami Ito and her husband greeted Adrien at Marinette and Luka’s wedding reception.
All of their friends were there.
Alya and Nino had the happy news that they’d been accepted as foster parents and now had twins, a set of fraternal twins to foster, a boy and a girl. A boy and a girl that Alya’s twin sisters were now watching while they attended the wedding, after their parents loaded them up with ice cream. Pay back was fun.
The garden that Luka and Marinette had rented for the reception was gorgeous.
Jagged and Penny came, after finding sitters of their own of course for their two kids and Fang, who was now too big to travel from their large estate, much to Jagged’s disappointment.
Still, the wedded pair greeted everyone and then they started the party, dancing the night away.
Luka insisted on taking a break to play a few songs with Jagged, since he wasn’t much of a natural ball room dancer, and passed his wife off to their good friend Adrien for a song as the two rockers tuned their guitars.
It was a long song during which Marinette thanked Adrien for coming, “thanks for coming Adrien, but you know what, I’ve changed my mind.”
Adrien looked at her quizzically, breaking out of his daydream that this party could have been for them if he hadn’t been so blind. Slightly uncomfortable about dancing with his gorgeous friend and for having such jealous thoughts, he allowed his Chat side out to tease her, “changed your mind about what Marinette? I mean, you’ve already signed the marriage certificate and had the Mayor marry you, right? It’s a little late to change your mind i think, and what would we tell Luka!”
She laughed, “you goof! But part of that’s true.” She glanced over at her husband, who just smiled and nodded at her knowingly to encourage her, “but I don’t regret marrying Luka, we’re good together and love each other.”
“Oh. Well, I could have told you that.” Adrien chuckled, “so it’s not about that though huh? Care to enlighten me?”
Marinette giggled and smiled up at him, “I just decided that after all,” she stood on her tip toes and whispered to him, “it wouldn’t have felt right if one of my best friends wasn’t here Kitty.”
Adrien’s mouth opened just so as that clue made him blink back his surprise once more as everything came together and he finally knew that he was holding his Lady in his arms, who wasn’t his anymore. She was Luka’s.
He swallowed and looked away from her as he tried to recover from the shock.
Adrien was quiet as they swayed to the song that was only half way through. Marinette gave him a minute to process, but she was getting nervous.
“Chaton, please say something.” She whispered.
“I’m, I’m putting the pieces together My Lady, just give me a moment.” He quietly pleaded.
She nodded, understanding how hard it was to comprehend. She only had a few years to paste together when she found out, but he had almost three times that amount of time to add Marinette to Ladybug to get Buginette, where the two people became one in his eyes.
It pained Adrien to admit it, but it made sense. Luka had always been there for her, for Marinette.
While he had only really been there for Ladybug, who while she was a part of Marinette, she wasn't the whole woman before him and never was.
Adrien sighed before he whispered as he pulled her closer to hug her as they danced, “tell me one thing My Lady.”
“Anything.” She whispered back.
“Are you Happy?”
He felt her relax as she nodded, “yes, yes I am.”
Adrien sighed once more contentedly, “then that’s all that I can ask.”
…
Of course, Marinette and Luka welcomed their first child two years later.
Strangely, after a bad storm took out all of the power in Paris for three days, Hawkmoth retired. He had a notice delivered to one of the team’s well-known meet-up places fifteen years after his reign of terror began that he would hide away his miraculous, unwilling to totally give it up. No one knew who he was or where the Butterfly or Peacock miraculous went, or at least that’s how it seemed.
Gabriel and Nathalie moved out of the mansion to a new mansion and were married quietly a few months later, much to Adrien’s pleasure. The old one was refurbished, had a basement and attic added and finally was sold as there were too many ghosts living there for either of the Agreste men to keep it.
Marinette and Luka would grow and be happy together, with their soon to be four children.
Adrien was a doting if sometimes absent Uncle to their children as well as Alya and Nino’s three. He did have a company to run after all now that he no longer modeled after his father began to turn the company over to him. He also would visit Kagami and her husband when in Japan, acting the part of uncle to their two children as well.
Everyone on the miraculous team would patrol once or twice a month, just to keep in shape and to reassure the citizens of Paris that they were still there, but it was an unspoken rule that the miraculous stayed in Paris, so when people left on vacation or moved, they would be left behind.
Occasionally there would be instances when the heroes would be needed, but in the end, Paris was safe and everyone was happy, and most importantly life went on… because it never ends.
- fin -