Archive of Our Own

A bitter December wind bit Marinette’s nose as she swung across the Parisian city skyline, towards the awaiting akuma swarm atop the Eiffel Tower. It had been a cold winter night when she received an SOS message from Chat Noir, letting her know that Papillon was waiting on the top of the Eiffel Tower.

She could barely make out of the frosted purple wings of the akumas through the flurry of snow that was coming down, coating the city in a dusting of white. A flash of black fabric caught Marinette’s eye and she landed gracefully on the roof, standing next to Chat Noir.

Chat smiled sweetly at her, “Hello, M’Lady.” 

Nudging his shoulder, she smiled back at him before her expression turned serious. “Hi, Chaton. What happened with Papillon? It must be serious if you sent an SOS,”

He grimaced, reaching behind his back to grab his baton, “He sold his soul to dark spirits to gain more powers– I don’t know what they are, but it seems like they’ll help him fighting us,”

“That’s awful,” Marinette said, biting her lip nervously. “Do you think it’s going to be dangerous to civilians, too?”

“I’d be surprised if it wasn’t,” 

Marinette reached for the yo-yo attached to her waist, casting an analytical gaze at the swarm of akumas on the Eiffel Tower. “Well, then we’d better get over there before he does something we can’t fix,” 

Chat nodded at her, flicking his baton as it extended to his height. “Ready when you are, Bugaboo,”

The two shared another look and she gave him a slight nod. They both took off in tandem, flying over the glowing Parisian rooftops.

As they landed on the highest platform of the tower, Papillon turned towards them, a small smirk on his face. “Ah, so the cat and bug team has finally decided to grace me with their presence,” 

“Aww c’mon,” Marinette grinned, “Everyone knows it’s the bug and cat team. It follows alphabetical order and everything,” 

Papillon sneered, shaking his head. “I’m not here to debate your stupid team name. Give me your Miraculous, now. We all know I won’t hesitate to fight you both, or destroy Paris while doing it.” 

“And you know Chat and I can’t do that,” Marinette said calmly, reaching toward the yo-yo attached to her waist. She looked up at the near starless sky and the snow falling around them, the cold numbing her lips. “We’re here to protect this city, Papillon,” 

Papillon narrowed his eye at the two of them, his fist clenching around the cane. Before Marinette could react, he lashed out leaving behind a trail of scarlet on her cheek. 

Narrowing her eyes at him, Marinette moved into a fighting stance and stepped forward.

The corner of Papillon’s mouth twitched up in a smirk. “Protecting it from what, exactly?” 

Chat Noir moved forward to stand next to her, placing a hand on Marinette’s arm. “From people like you,” 

After exchanging a brief glance, she lunged forward, whipping her yo-yo at Papillon as she twisted through the air. She skidded to a stop a few meters sideways of Papillon, clutching her weapon tightly in her hand. 

“You insolent children,” he sneered, “Did you honestly believe you could stop me?”

Chat shrugged, a trouble-maker grin plastered across his face. “Hey now. Considering these two ‘insolent children’ have been kicking your butt for three years, I’d say we’ve got a pretty good shot.”

Without warning, he lunged forward, flipping over Papillon’s head before he planted his feet firmly on the villain’s back. Chat pushed against him and he toppled over as Chat landed safely on the ground. 

Papillon groaned from his position on the floor, his arms shaking as he attempted to push himself up with shaking arms. 

“This is your last chance,” Marinette warned, her hands on her waist. “Stand down,” 

Making his way back to his feet, Papillon shook his head. “I won’t. This will be my city soon. Whether you like it or not.” 

Chat flipped his way back over to her, standing close to her with his hands tightly holding on to his weapon. He raised an eyebrow, “Are you sure about that?” 

Lunging toward them, Papillon bared his teeth and flung his cane towards their feet, attempting to disbalance them. Both Chat and Ladybug jumped and landed safely back down on the ground again before launching an attack of their own.

Chat pressed a full-frontal assault on him while she snuck behind, jumping onto Papillon’s back and wrapping her arms around his throat in a chokehold. He began clawing at her arms but she held on tight, tugging him further back away from Chat. 

His attempts to disentangle Marinette’s arms became weaker, and she let her guard down for only a second to make sure Chat wasn’t injured. As soon as her hold on him lessened, he flung his torso forward, flinging her off his back. 

Her back slammed into the floor and Marinette groaned in pain, curling into a semi-fetal position before forcing herself back up. 

Once her breathing stabilized, she was able to call for a Lucky Charm. Marinette looked down in confusion at the oversized wrench in her hands. The only thing that lit up in her vision was the iron beams of the Eiffel Tower. 

They continued their fight, although Marinette knew she had limited time left before her transformation wore out and they were at a standstill until she was able to figure out her Lucky Charm. 

Papillon kept pushing harder and she could tell the Chat was getting tired. It was when she had only a minute left before her transformation fell that the realization came to her. 

I have to lure him off the Tower. 

She raced over to the support beams of the tower, pretending to be hard at work loosening some of them, while in reality, she was simply staring at the iron lattice-work.

Papillon began edging his way toward the corners of the platform, attempting to get away from where she was working. She followed him toward the outer beam he was standing on, pretending to loosen the bolts while she was at it. 

Just as she was standing on the same beam as him, preparing to force him off the Eiffel Tower and tie him up, he flicked his can and the point grew sharp. In the blink of an eye, Papillon held the pointed edge to her throat, staring at Chat. 

“Give me your Miraculous,” he said through gritted teeth, “Or I swear to God, I’ll slit her throat.” 

Chat glanced between the two of them fearfully, green eyes filled with panic. 

Shaking her head ever so slightly, Marinette attempted to move the knife away from her throat. Her mind began to race, trying to think her way out of the situation, but she only came up with one conclusion. 

“Chat…” she croaked out, “Cataclysm the beam,” 

He shook his head frantically, “My Lady, you’re standing on it,” 

Marinette shut her eyes tightly, trying to keep the burning tears from spilling. “Please? I promise you I’ll be okay.” 

Papillon began pressing the knife more firmly into her throat, and Marinette could feel it begin to cut into her skin, “As if he’d ever do that. The stupid black cat will always care more about you than himself,” 

“It’ll be alright, Kitten,” she said, trying her best to stay calm, “It’s just like any other December night. Trust me, okay?” 

Chat nodded and before Papillon could react, the beam was crumbling to ash beneath them. 

The last thing Marinette remembered before her world went dark was the snow sticking to her eyelashes as it fell from the sky. 

Adrien leaned against the wall haphazardly, staring at the line outside the abandoned theater– every person dressed in red and black, red ribbons laced into their hair. Absent-mindedly toying with the ring on his right hand, he thought back to the last day he’d seen His Lady. It had been nearly two years since she had fallen from the Eiffel Tower that unlucky winter night, and he had never seen her again. 

Even still, after all this time Mayor Bourgeois kept out his reward for anyone who could find and return Ladybug to Paris. This reward was why he was currently staring at a long line of Ladybug lookalikes– not a single one of them convincing enough to really be his Bugaboo. 

He could see women with red hair, brown eyes, or any number of traits that would immediately disqualify them from being Ladybug. Not to say that Adrien didn’t believe she was out there– it was just that Adrien couldn’t imagine a world where she remembered who she was and had just left him. 

This, of course, left Adrien with a very difficult problem–  if Ladybug didn’t remember him, how the hell was he supposed to find her? And perhaps even the worse question: if she did remember him, did he even want to? 

Adrien quickly shook the thoughts out of his head. He did want to find her. He obviously did. He always would. 

Scanning the crowd again, Adrien turned to Nino and shook his head. His friend sighed in exasperation and grabbed Adrien’s hand, tugging him towards a secluded corner of the theatre. 

“What is it this time?” Nino rolled his eyes, “Too short? Different voice? Too many or not enough freckles?– I still can’t believe you actually counted some of theirs, by the way–” 

“They’re just wrong , Nino. They don’t act like her; they hardly know anything about her! And you know that they’d have to convince Mayor Bourgeois,” Adrien hissed, scanning the line of girls again. “None of them could pull it off,” 

His friend just shook his head, “Adrien, we’ve been doing this for months, and you’ve vetoed every single girl who’s auditioned!” 

Adrien shrugged, swallowing the thickness in his throat. His nerves always resurfaced when they auditioned different Ladybugs. Hope would rise, only to sink back down when not a single girl reminded him of her. 

They could wear similar suits or tie ribbons in their hair, but it always came off as a flimsy impression of a girl who’d been anything but. 

He could still picture her crystal blue eyes that night, her comforting smile as she’d told him that was just like any other December night. But it wasn’t; it never had been and never would be. That had been the night he’d lost her. It began snowing as he stood out in the cold London streets, staring at the line of girls, just in case he’d missed her. 

As if he would ever forget her smile, or her laugh, the exact shade of her eyes, or the way her hair fell over her shoulders. But just in case he’d forgotten, somehow, Adrien studied each one of the girls one last time. 

“Bro,” Nino groaned, “If you keep rejecting every single one, we might as well give up now. We can’t go to Paris if we don’t have a girl,” 

Adrien just shrugged again, moving to stand up and walk back to his apartment when a flurry of black hair and pink clothes ran into him. 

He stumbled back a few steps, steadying the girl by the waist before straightening the two of them back out. Once the two of them were standing straight up, Adrien looked up at the girl, only to be hit with a strange sense of nostalgia. 

Her long black hair was pulled into french-braid pigtails, and her blue eyes were strangely familiar to him, although no sense of recognition flashed within them.

“Are you alright?” Adrien asked worriedly, searching the woman for any sign of injury. 

She nodded, “Yes, I’m alright.” 

Again, a pang of familiarity shot through Adrien. “I’m sorry,” he said, “do I know you?” 

The woman shrugged, “I’m not sure. I can’t remember anything from before two years ago. I lost my memory two years ago in December. All I know is that I’ve got someone in Paris,” She fiddled with a silver locket around her neck as her brow furrowed. She tilted her head at him before shaking it off. “I’m Marinette,” 

“Adrien,” he replied, sticking his hand out with a bemused smile. “And I just happen to have three tickets to Paris– but there’s a catch,” 

It was then that Nino joined the conversation. “Two years ago, huh?” He turned to Adrien, raising his eyebrows. “Say, have you ever heard of Ladybug?” 

Marinette nodded apprehensively. “Why?” 

“You look remarkably similar to her,” Adrien explained, beginning to circle Marinette “Same eyes–” 

Nino nodded, joining in, “– hair–” 

“Why are you two circling me?” Marinette complained, “What were you two, vultures in another life?” 

“– similar body type–” 

“–chin–” 

“– and she went missing around the same time you lost your memory,” Adrien finished, nodding decisively. 

“Lemme guess,” Marinette said, “The catch for you taking me to Paris is me being Ladybug, right?” 

Adrien nodded. 

She raised her eyebrows, “Alright, you two are clearly crazy.” Marinette turned to the auburn-haired dog trailing behind her. “C’mon, Tikki, we’ll find another way to get to Paris,” 

Head snapping up, Adrien stared at the dog, “Tikki?” 

Marinette nodded, “Yeah. I found her on the streets a few years ago, and she just started following me around. I don’t know why, but I thought Tikki suited her,” 

Adrien bit his lip, handing Marinette a photo of Ladybug. “Just… consider the possibility of you being Ladybug? She has people in Paris, too. And if you’re not, it’s just an honest mistake. Either way, you get to Paris,” 

She just stared at him, and Adrien sighed, beginning to walk away, tugging Nino along after him. 

“What are you doing?” he hissed, “She was the perfect candidate!” 

“Don’t worry,” Adrien said under his breath, “But walk a little slower will you?” He didn’t look back, but could almost feel Marinette glancing between the photo and him. “And three… two… one–” 

“Adrien!” she called out. 

He turned around, trying to conceal the smirk on his face, “Yes?” 

Marinette sighed, “I mean… if I don’t remember who I am, then who’s to say I’m not Ladybug, right? And if I’m not her, it’s like you said, just a mistake. No harm done, right?” 

“Very true,” Adrien said, nodding sagely. 

She reached out to shake his hand, and Adrien winced at her tight grip. 

“And may I present to you,” Nino said in a deep announcer’s voice, “Ladybug, the Hero of Paris!” 

Marinette turned to her dog, “You hear that, Tikki, we’re going to Paris!” 

“Absolutely not,” Adrien shook his head. “The dog stays.” 

“The dog goes,” 

He shook his head more firmly, “I’m allergic to dogs,” 

Marinette rolled her eyes, “So? Just don’t pat her. I’m… well, Ladybug apparently, and I say she’s going.” 

Adrien sighed, “Fine. The dog can come,” 

Marinette nodded happily and began walking towards the train station. 

Hidden in a crevice in the walls of the abandoned theater, Nooroo snorted. He stared after the trio as they walked away, the auburn-haired dog trailing behind them. “Yeah right. Ladybug? Just one problem with that one, folks. Ladybug’s dead…” 

The butterfly brooch next to him began shaking and glowing; a smoke person floating out from within it. 

Not realizing who he was talking to, Nooroo continued talking, now facing the smoke Minion, “Am I right? I mean honestly, how could that be Ladybu–” 

He cut off with a high pitched shriek as he realized who he was talking to. 

More smoke people began spilling out of the Miraculous, all of them reaching toward Marinette before disappearing once they got too far from the brooch. 

Nooroo frowned, tapping his hands together nervously, “Oh come on, now. Am I really supposed to believe that this thing woke up after these couple years just because some guy claims he’s found Ladybug?” 

The Miraculous glowed brighter and began shaking violently. 

“Okay, okay!” he exclaimed, “I get the message! Enough with the glowing and the shaking and smoke people!” 

He turned to take another look at Marinette, squinting down at her, “If that came back to life, then that must mean Ladybug really is alive.” 

Down below, Adrien shook his head at Marinette, “Would you keep that dog away from me?” 

Marinette turned to scowl at him.“You’re perfectly capable of staying away from her yourself”

“… and that would mean she’s her,” Nooroo continued in amazement.

“C’mon you two,” Nino said, “We’ve got a train to catch,” 

As the trio slowly wandered off, Marinette and Adrien bickering all the while, Nooroo floated back over to the Miraculous, gently picking it up before it took off like a rocket, dragging Nooroo with it. 

The Miraculous dove straight towards the ground, falling straight through it as if it was liquid with Nooroo being pulled along all the while. 

“Yeech, ow, OWCH!” he screeched, eventually crashing into a rock. 

A flash of silver and purple appeared in front of him, and an angry voice began booming, “Who dares disturb my peace! Get out, you foul-being! OUT!” 

The man’s fist tightened around Nooroo’s body, nearly squeezing the breath out of him. “Nooroo?” he paused for a second, his grip slowly loosening, “Is– is that you?” 

Nooroo’s eyes widened, “Gabriel? Master? You’re alive?” 

Papillon shrugged and dropped Nooroo, who only just managed to avoid hitting the floor. “In a sense of the word.” 

This, of course, was true. For while Papillon was technically alive– a living, breathing thing– he looked anything but. His skin was so pallid nearly all the veins along his body were visible, and his hair was disheveled from his usual style. The dark bags under his eyes looked nearly painted on, especially compared to the white of his skin. The red and blue of his veins were the only color on him, as he was dressed in loose and baggy white linen clothes.

“My goodness, sir,” Nooroo exclaimed, “What’s happened?” 

For a minute, Gabriel didn’t reply until his hands began shaking and the room around them flashed in bursts of purple and silver. His head snapped up, platinum hair falling in his eyes; though he made no move to brush it out of his face. “Something has happened up above,” 

“Yes sir, little bit of a problem,” the kwami nodded. 

Papillon clenched his jaw, “The dark forces have been stirring!” 

“Well sir,” Nooroo said in a calming tone, “I’m not very surprised. Adrien was just walking around with her. Ladybug– you know?” 

“What!?” Gabriel thundered, slamming his hands on a rock, “Ladybug is alive!?” 

Nooroo winced, “Oooh, you didn’t know that? I thought you knew, sir,” 

“That damned, insolent girl!” 

Nodding understandingly, Nooroo carefully floated back, away from Papillon. “I know sir. Isn’t that just a real kick in the head? I guess some Miraculous curses just aren’t what they used to be, huh sir?” 

Gabriel grit his teeth, clenching his fists at his side. “This is why I’ve been stuck here in limbo! My curse is unfulfilled! The stupid, stubborn girl has somehow survived,” 

Purple and silver sparks began flying out of his hands as Gabriel screamed, pounding his fists against a slate table, which shattered upon impact. The shards would have gone straight back into Papillon’s chest, but instead phased through him. It was only when they were supposed to hit his chest, when his body shimmered, only to turn translucent. The pieces of rock passed right through his chest, hitting the wall and falling back to the ground. 

“Oh look at me!” he cried, “I’m a complete mess!” 

Nooroo shrugged, patting Gabriel’s hand, “Honestly sir, considering you’ve been dead for two years, you look pretty good,” 

The man shook his head, ghostly hands swatting through the air. 

“No, really sir. You look good. Really, you do,” 

Gabriel looked up, bloodshot eyes boring into the purple kwami. “Really?”

“Oh sir, is this the face of a kwami that would lie to you?” Nooroo crossed his arms, floating closer to Papillon’s face. “Sir, for a minute there, you had your old spark back!” 

“If only I hadn’t lost my Miraculous,” Gabriel snarled, “I can’t do anything without it. The little brat will get away!”

Nooroo smiled, “Oh I can actually help out with that one, sir. I’ve got the old Miraculous right here!” 

His eyes widened, and Gabriel snatched the Miraculous out of Nooroo’s hands. 

“Oh, alright, alright,” Nooroo said, surrendering the Miraculous, “Don’t get so grabby,”

Gabriel’s face split into a grin, pinning the brooch onto his threadbare shirt. “Reunited with my Miraculous!” he exclaimed, “Now my goal will finally be fulfilled, and Ladybug will DIE!” 

Silver and purple smoke figures began surrounding him, now larger and longer– nearly the same height as Gabriel– and he gave them a malicious grin. “Try to spare the boy, Adrien, but kill the girl, whatever the cost. Dark wings rise!” 

Smoke began to fill the room and the figures flew up into the real world, leaving Papillon standing in the slate gray, foggy room.

It was early in the morning, just close to sunrise, while Adrien leaned against the frosted window-pane watching carefully as Nino forged their travel papers. Ink, pens, and paper were carefully balanced on his briefcase while Tikki pawed at the straps, trying to get Nino’s attention.  

Nino smiled at this, lightly scratching behind the dog’s ears before going back to work.

He rolled his eyes at the dog’s antics, tapping his foot impatiently as Nino scribbled out the travel forms. The noise attracted the attention of Tikki, whose head snapped up to glare at him and growled. He, very maturely, stuck his tongue out at the dog before turning his gaze to Marinette, who sat slumped in her seat, fiddling with the silver locket around her neck. 

“Stop playing with that thing,” Adrien said, his voice coming out harsher than he meant it to, “And don’t slouch like that. You’re Ladybug, remember? You’re supposed to have better posture than this,” 

Marinette pursed her lips and raised an eyebrow, “And how would you know Ladybug does or doesn’t do?” 

“I, uh,” Adrien stumbled over his words slightly, “I make it my business to know,” 

He could feel Plagg laughing through his coat pocket, and flicked the area around him as a warning. Even Nino raised his eyebrows at this, before quietly returning to the paperwork. 

“Mmhmm,” Marinette said doubtfully. 

Adrien sighed, turning a little closer to face her, “Look, Marinette, I’m really just trying to help, okay?” 

At this, Nino rolled his eyes at Adrien, giving him a pointed look. 

Although Nino seemed doubtful, Marinette just smiled sweetly at him, “Adrien?” 

“Mhmm?” Adrien nodded. 

Her blue eyes grew wider and sweeter, black hair cascading down her shoulders “Do you really think I’m a superhero?” 

Adrien gave her a lopsided grin, “You know I do,” 

Marinette’s sweet smile dissipated as she snapped, “Then stop bossing me around!” 

By this time, the inside of Adrien’s pocket was shaking, and he could practically hear Plagg cackling. Nino leaned over to him, “Well, she certainly has a mind of her own,” 

“Yeah,” Adrien pouted, crossing his arms, “But I’m not sure that’s going to work out super well for us. She’s supposed to listen to us!”

The girl just stuck her tongue out at the two of them, and Nino turned his notebook around to show Adrien a page full of tally marks. 

Marinette had thirty, and Adrien had three. 

A few hours later, Marinette sat reading a book, while Adrien looked out the window to watch the flurry of snowflakes. He bit his bottom lip, trying to decide whether or not to start a conversation with her. Her eyes flicked toward him but quickly went back to the book, clearly attempting to avoid him. 

Adrien winced before tapping her gently on the shoulder, “Hey, I just wanted to say I think we maybe got off on the wrong foot,” 

“I think we did too,” Marinette said decisively. 

Well, he definitely didn’t expect it to be this easy. Adrien hesitated, “… okay…?” 

“But thank you for your apology,” Marinette said, shooting a smile his way. 

He immediately recoiled, jaw dropping, “A– apology? Who said anything about an apology? I wasn’t going to– I mean I was just saying–” 

Marinette slammed the book down into her lap, said a death glare his way, “Please, A–” 

“We got off on the–” 

She groaned, “Please, Adrien, stop talking. It’s only going to upset me,” 

Adrien pouted, crossing his arms as petulantly as a young child. He wished Nino was here, simply to calm Marinette down, but he was still wandering about the train. “Fine. I’ll be quiet, but only if you are,” 

“Alright,” Marinette nodded begrudgingly, “I’ll be quiet,” 

He raised his eyebrows, gritting his teeth, “Fine, then,” 

“Fine,” she repeated, nodding affirmatively. 

Not to outdone, or to let Marinette have the last word, Adrien stared ahead still not looking at her, “Fine,” 

“Fine!” Marinette snapped, crossing her arms and turning her head in the opposite direction. 

The two of them spent thirty minutes in awkward silence, each with their heads turned away from each other before Marinette broke the silence, fiddling with her necklace again. “Are you going to miss it?” For a moment, Adrien could have sworn she had tears in her eyes, but he brushed the thought away. 

“Miss it…?” Adrien furrowed his brow, “Miss what, your talking?” 

Marinette rolled her eyes, slapping his arm– not enough to hurt, just enough to sting. “I meant England, you conceited idiot.” 

Choosing to ignore her insult, Adrien shrugged, pulling down his shirt-sleeves. “No,” 

“But it was your home,” Marinette frowned, “You really won’t miss your home?” 

Adrien snorted, rolling his eyes. “It wasn’t my home. It was just a place I lived for a while. End of story.” 

“Oh!” Marinette exclaimed, “Then you must mean to make Paris your real home!” 

Turning to face Marinette fully, he threw his arms up in the air, “What is it with you homes, anyways?” 

Marinette moved to get up, but Adrien threw his legs across the cabin, blocking her exit. She just climbed over his legs, stopping at the cabin door, “Well, you know, it’s something that everyone– well, everyone with a heart, I mean– wants, and for another thing, it’s a place where you can…” she hesitated, biting her lip. 

“What?” 

“Oh, forget it!” she snapped, throwing her arms up in exasperation. “Why do I go anywhere with you?” 

Adrien shrugged, “Must be my charming personality and charisma,” 

Marinette let out a quiet scream of frustration, stomping her foot just as Nino entered the train car again, Tikki in his arms. 

“Oh thank goodness, Nino. Can you tell Adrien to stop being such a petty jerk?” 

Nino turned to Adrien with his eyebrows raised, a disapproving frown on his face, “Adrien,” he said in a low, warning tone, “What did you do?” 

Adrien’s jaw dropped, “Me? It– it was her!” 

“Oh please,” Marinette rolled her eyes, “I was just trying to have a simple conservation! It’s you who couldn’t restrain your ridiculous ego for five seconds!” 

Narrowing his eyes at her, Adrien stood up, “Are kidding me?! I don’t have a–” 

Before he could finish his sentence, Marinette had stormed out of the cabin, the door slamming shut behind her. 

“You know,” Nino said, leaning against the door, “For someone who used to have a crush on Ladybug back in high school, you’ve got quite a different reaction to this one,” 

Adrien rolled his eyes, “Yeah, well, she’s not actually Ladybug. I’d be able to tell, remember?” 

Nino shrugged, “You never know, Adrien. Maybe she is.” 

He could feel Plagg begin to laugh at him again, and Adrien stood up quickly, moving to the door. “I need some space. And a room where I haven’t had to deal with Marinette.” 

He opened up the door, ignoring Nino’s snickering behind him. 

“Whatever you say, Lover-Boy,” 

Adrien slammed the door shut behind him, turning in the opposite direction Marinette went in. “Lover-Boy? Seriously?” 

* * *

It was only later that night, when Marinette was curled up tightly into a ball on the seat, that Nino barged into their train compart, frantically rifling through their travel papers. “Yeah, so remember how they just started requiring travel papers? Uhh, ours are the wrong color,” 

“You’re kidding right?” Adrien shot up. 

Nino winced, “Yeah, we should probably move to the baggage cart– quickly, before the guards come and throw us off!” 

“Really?” Adrien asked, raising an eyebrow, “Because I think we should probably get off this train right now,” As he began pulling luggage off the overhead shelves, Tikki propped herself up against the window, growling at something he couldn’t see. He finally managed to pull Marinette’s excessively heavy suitcase off the shelf, moving to put it next to the door. 

He crouched by Marinette’s sleeping form, moving to shake her shoulders gently. “Hello? Marinette? Wakey, wakey, Bug,” 

When she didn’t respond, he began shaking her harder, reeling back when his nose began to sting and throb. He immediately fell back on his butt, bringing a hand to cover his nose. “Ow!!” 

Marinette’s torso snapped up, her hands flying out around her nervously, “Oh my god! I’m so sorry, I must have thought you were someone…” her eyes met his and her worry disappeared, “Oh, wait… it’s you. Well, I suppose that’s okay then,” 

Adrien stuck his tongue out at her, herding Tikki away from the window as she barked and growled. He picked up his luggage, grabbing Marinette by one hand as he pulled her out of the compartment. “Come on, slow-poke!” 

“Hey!” she complained, pulling her arm back but continuing to follow along after him, “Where are we going?!” 

He kept his hand to his nose, glaring back at Marinette. “I’m, like, ninety percent sure you just broke my nose,” 

Marinette pulled on her coat, rolling her eyes in exasperation, “Men are such babies,” 

Adrien turned back to her, “Alright first off, I am not a baby, and secondly, just follow me, okay?” 

Nino finally led the two of them into the baggage car, piles upon piles of luggage stacked up in towers. The walls weren’t insulated, and the cold easily crept through, chilling through Adrien’s bones. He turned back to Nino and Marinette, “This’ll do,” 

His friend leaned over, whispering in his ear, “Uhh, dude, she’ll freeze in here,” 

“She can thaw in Paris,” Adrien said nonchalantly, shrugging Nino’s hand off his shoulder. 

Marinette turned to the two of them, her arms crossed and eyebrows raised, “So, we’re staying in the baggage car, huh? There wouldn’t happen to be anything wrong with our travel papers, now would there?”

“Uh,” Nino floundered, “No, there’s nothing wrong with those– why would there be?”

Adrien gave her an easy grin, “We just figured you might be happier away from all the common folk,” 

“Uh-huh,” Marinette said sarcastically, “Sure,” 

He opened his mouth to respond, but a loud crash interrupted him, throwing them all off their feet. Adrien and Marinette were thrown into a pile of luggage, Adrien landing on top of her. 

Pushing himself up so he was hovering over Marinette, he turned to Nino, “What was that?” 

“I don’t know!” Nino called out, shrugging helplessly, “But there goes the dining car!” 

Marinette glared up at him, shoving his arm, “Get off me!” 

“What do you think I’m trying to do?” Adrien replied, struggling to keep his footing as the train rocked from side to side. 

She began moving the luggage around them, kicking his leg hard. 

“Hey!” he complained, “That hurt!” 

Nino, the only one standing, looked to Adrien with panic in his eyes. “Uh, Adrien? It’s raining fire outside!” 

He scrambled up, wincing as he put pressure on the knee that Marinette had just kicked, “It’s raining what outside?” 

“I think somebody broke our engine,” Nino said, peering out the train car. 

Marinette’s eyes widened nervously as she moved to stand next to Adrien, grabbing his arm, “Is that even possible? Who would do something like that?” 

Adrien shook his head, “I really don’t know. You two stay here, I’ll go check it out,” 

He rushed over to look at the engine room, which was nearly completely engulfed in flames, abandoned by any staff or crew members. He hissed in pain as the fire stung his skin, running back to the luggage cart, panic flooding his system as he looked at Marinette and Nino. 

Marinette looked at him in fear, black hair whipping around her face, “We’re going way too fast! Adrien, what’s going on?” 

Wincing, Adrien looked between her and Nino. Both of their clothes were singed from the fire, and one of Nino’s eyebrows was smoldering in a way that couldn’t have been comfortable. “Nobody’s steering the train anymore! We’re gonna have to jump off!” 

The three of them all looked down out the door of the compartment, staring at the avalanche of snow outside. 

She raised her eyebrows at him, giving him an unimpressed glance, “Did you seriously just suggest we jump?” She waved her arm in a polite motion, “After you,” 

Adrien frowned at her, “Well I’m sorry, what would you suggest?” 

She looked around, taking one last glance outside the train car before her blue eyes lit up. “We should uncouple the car from the rest of the train,” 

If the three of them had bothered to look out at the connection of the train car, they would have seen the purple smoke figures using the purple fire to weld the coupling of the cars, but by the time Adrien had moved to the connection, the figures had disappeared.

The wind whipped around him, throwing strands of hair back into his eyes as he attempted to work on uncoupling the compartments, “Uh guys, I could use a wrench or an axe or something!” 

He tugged on the coupling for a few minutes before Nino managed to toss a hammer into his hands. Adrien tried hammering on the coupling, but as hard as he hit it– which was pretty hard, considering being an ex-superhero made you pretty strong– it didn’t have any effect on the coupling, which was twisted and melded together in a complicated knot. 

Eventually, the head of the hammer snapped off, and Adrien threw the base of it away in frustration, “Oh come on, there’s got to be something better than this!” 

It was less than a minute later when a small, feminine hand offered him a stick of lit dynamite. He raised his eyebrows, impressed, “That’ll work,” 

He shoved into the coupling, making sure it would stick before rushing back into the train car, pulling Marinette and Nino to the opposite end of the compartment. “Go, go, go!” 

The explosion went off, throwing the three of them off their feet and behind a steamer trunk. Marinette landed above him, dropping her head onto his chest in exhaustion with a thunk. He looked at her in awe, moving to pull the both of them up, “Where did you learn that?” 

She shrugged, moving to stand next to him, “I don’t know– lucky guess?” 

Another burst of familiarity rushed through Adrien as he twisted his Miraculous around his finger, “Yeah right,” he muttered to himself, “lucky,” 

Once the shards of debris stopped whipping dangerously through the air, Nino got up to check the brakes, frantically turning the wheel. He shook his head at Adrien, “The brakes are out!” 

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” he said under his breath, turning helplessly to Nino, “Turn harder!” 

When Nino did as he suggested, the wheel snapped off his hands. 

Marinette turned to him, her arms crossed in a slightly frustrated pose. Adrien raised his hands beseechingly, “Don’t worry. We’ve got plenty of track; eventually, we’ll just coast to a gentle stop.” 

He pointed over to the expanse of track ahead of them, although just as he looked ahead, the bridge they were about to go over was engulfed in unnatural purple flames. Panic immediately overtook his body as he seized up, muscles going rigid when he swore he could see butterflies flying up from the explosion. 

However, his panic was disrupted when Marinette turned to him, cocking an eyebrow again, “Oh, I’m sorry? You were saying?” 

The baggage car began to speed up as they went downhill, rushing toward the bridge that had fallen out in the middle. Adrien’s stomach became a pit as he stared down at the purple flames. 

It couldn’t be Papillon, he reasoned with himself. Papillon had been dead for years, but even though he tried to talk himself out of it, he knew that somehow, his father– his very dead, very evil father– had come back to life and was trying to kill him. The only thing that kept him from completely breaking was Marinette’s panicked gaze on him, blue eyes terrified, reminding him very much of Ladybug the last night he ever saw her. 

A surge of determination went through Adrien– he would find a way to save the three of them. Even if Marinette wasn’t really his lady, he couldn’t stand by and do nothing. He couldn’t watch another Ladybug die. 

He frantically searched the compartment for something he could use, eyes landing on a chain holding down cargo. 

“I have an idea. Nino, give me a hand with this,” 

Carefully edging his way out of the train car, he lowered himself underneath the carriage. 

“Alright!” he called out, “Hand me the chain!” 

He reached up, eyes narrowing when he saw Marinette holding the chain in her hands. “Not you!” 

“Nino’s indisposed,” Marinette shrugged, “So you’re stuck with me,” 

“What do you mean ‘Nino’s indisposed’?” He shouted over the wind, staring at Marinette incredulously. 

Marinette rolled her eyes, “He fell into a box,” 

Adrien’s eyebrow quirked up but he accepted the chain nonetheless, hooking it onto the undercarriage. He looked up just in time to see a shard of twisted metal flying toward his face before he felt a tug on his arm, Marinette pulling him out of the way. He landed on top of her, and a pang of familiarity shot through him. He’d been in this position millions of times with Ladybug, having tackled her out of the way of danger. Adrien shook his head, glancing back at a shattered tree that the metal had undoubtedly hit. 

Marinette snapped out of it soon after Adrien did, shaking her head at him, “And to think that could have been you,” 

He grinned at her, thrown back to the easy banter between Ladybug and Chat Noir, “If we live through this, remind me to thank you,” 

Turning back to where the chain was lying, he shook his head, “Here goes nothing,” he glanced at Marinette and Nino– who had, somehow, managed to get himself stuck in a box– to warn them, “Brace yourselves!” 

He threw the other end of the chain out of the back of the compartment, praying that the hook on the end of it would catch. 

For a panicked minute, it didn’t seem like the hook would catch on anything, but then the entire compartment snagged on something. He felt the car become separated from the track before it completely tilted over on its side, throwing Marinette into his side before he managed to steady both of them. 

The three of them grabbed their luggage, Marinette also carrying Tikki in her arms, the three of them stood on the open side to the compartment. 

“Well,” Marinette said cautiously, “I guess this is our stop,” 

They all jumped off the train into the fluffy snowbank just as the train engine and baggage car reached the end of the broken bridge, toppled off of it, and exploded in a ball of fire; smoke and sparks flying up from the ground. 

Adrien took one last glance at the train wreck before turning back around, setting his gaze towards the path ahead.

* * *

Marinette frowned at Adrien, tugging on his shirt-sleeve as she trailed after him, “So what’s the plan now? We haven’t been able to cross the English Channel yet!” 

“We’ll be taking a boat once we reach Brighton,” Adrien informed her before shaking her off again. 

She hurried to catch up with him, moving to walk next to him, “Then we’re walking to Brighton?” 

Her brow furrowed angrily as Adrien snorted, “‘Course not, Spots. We’re taking a bus,” 

“Don’t call me Spots,”

Their small argument was interrupted by Nino, who was smiling dazedly off into the distance, “Oh, Alya, I’m on my way!” 

“Alya?” Marinette said, wrinkling her nose when she felt as though she recognized the name, “Who’s Alya?” 

Nino looked back at her, shock coloring his expression, “Who’s Alya? She’s perfect!” 

“Nino,” Adrien said with a deep, warning tone. 

“I mean, don’t get me wrong,” Nino smiled, “She’s got a tough exterior–” 

Marinette could see Adrien glaring at Nino as he twisted the dark iron ring around his finger, “Nino,” he repeated, “Ixnay on the offesay,” 

“– but once you get to know her, she’s soft and lovely on the inside…” 

She frowned, leaning in to whisper in Adrien’s ear, “Is this a person or a turtle?” 

“She’s Paris’s leading expert on Ladybug!” Nino finished, throwing his arms out at his side, sending a beaming smile toward Marinette. 

Confusion spread through Marinette as she glanced over at Adrien, “But I thought we were going to see the Mayor. Why are we going to see someone else?” She turned to Adrien fully, reaching out to stop him. “Adrien,”  

“Well…” Adrien winced, “No one actually gets near the Mayor without convincing Alya first,” 

Marinette backed away from him, hands beginning to shake with nerves, “Oh no, absolutely not. Nobody ever told me I had to prove I was Ladybug!” 

“Look, Marinette, I–” 

She shook her head, “No. I mean, show up? Sure. Look nice? Fine. But lie? No way.” 

Marinette began fiddling with her necklace– a nervous habit she’d developed in the past two years– the only ones she could really remember, although ever since she’d met Adrien, she had felt memories tugging at the back of her mind. 

“You don’t know it’s a lie, though,” Adrien tried to reason with her, “What if it’s true? Sure, there’s one more step on the road to finding out who you really are. But I figured it was just something you would want to see through to the end,” 

She stared at him incredulously, throwing her arms up in exasperation, “Are you kidding me? I don’t exactly look like superhero material, here, Adrien!” 

Storming off, she wandered over to the small wooden bridge, leaning over to stare into the water. It wasn’t soon after she settled on the bridge that Nino followed her, moving to stand next to her. 

“You’re looking at that water pretty intently, Marinette,” he joked, before sobering up, “Tell me, what do you see?” 

Marinette looked down at her reflection in the still water– the ashes smudged across her cheek, old and baggy clothes, and tired eyes. “I see a scared kid; a nobody without any past…” she sighed, throwing a rock at the water and turning away before the ripples disrupted her reflection, “And no future, either,” 

“Really?” Nino said demurely, raising an eyebrow, “Because I see a strong teenager, full of passion and great ideas– who on a number of occasions has shown such a strong-will and command that it would equal any superhero in the world. And trust me,” he snorted, shooting a meaningful glance toward Adrien that Marinette couldn’t decipher. “I’ve known my fair share of superheroes,” 

She shrugged, running a hand through her hair– the braids had come out sometime during their train ride. 

 “Plus, you’ve managed to get Adrien to shut up more often than I have,” Nino joked, shooting her a small smile, “That’s a feat even in itself,” 

Adrien, having clearly heard that, snapped his head up and frowned at Nino, “Hey!” 

Nino attempted to restrain his laughter, shrugging haphazardly at Adrien. “So,” he said gently, “Are you ready to become Ladybug?” 

While grateful for Nino’s support, Marinette still felt nerves rushing through her, and gave a panicked look to Adrien. She wasn’t sure why, but for some reason, she trusted Adrien with her life. Something told her that he was trustworthy, and there was something so familiar about his eyes…

“There’s nothing left for you back in London, M’lady.” he said gently, placing a hand on her shoulder, “Everything is in Paris,” 

Again, a pang of familiarity shot through Marinette when he used that term of endearment and she nodded. “Alright,” she said, “What do I need to know?” 

Adrien and Nino shared a smile and began leading Marinette along the path. 

“The first akuma you fought was Stoneheart,” Adrien supplied. 

The name seemed familiar to her– several images flashed across Marinette’s vision as she thought about it. A man made of rock with glowing yellow eyes, a red and black yo-yo, the mischievous grin of her partner- no, that couldn’t be right. Marinette didn’t have a partner, but still, the memories came flooding through. 

She looked over at her partner worriedly, wringing her hands. “…He's right, you know. If I had captured Stoneheart's akuma the first time around, none of this would have happened! I knew I wasn't the right one for this job…”

“No. He's wrong, because without you, she'd no longer be here.” her partner replied, gesturing to the blonde hugging her father. He sent her a reassuring smile, putting a hand on her shoulder. “And because without us, they won't make it, and we'll prove that to 'em. Trust me on this. Okay?”

And she did, of course. She trusted him with her life. “Okay.”

“Stoneheart?” she repeated, snapping out of her reverie. 

Adrien nodded, “Yeah. That’s right- Stoneheart,” he had a faraway look on his face. “You stood up to Papillon that day. Stopped a swarm of akumas on the Eiffel Tower.” 

“The akumas…” Marinette muttered, “Purple to white and they’d fly away…” 

“Bye, bye little butterfly!”

“Exactly!” Nino exclaimed, clearly pleased with her, “You’d capture the akumas in your yo-yo! They were purple until you did that- then they’d turn white!” 

Adrien smiled at her, although it was bittersweet. “One of your most famous akuma fights was Timebreaker. Her watch broke, and she wanted to bring it back. She’d tag people and use their energy to travel farther back in time.” 

She had been transformed, staring in panic as Timebreaker skated rapidly toward her partner. “No, be careful, Chat! Don't let her touch you!

Her partner looked over at her, tipping her a wink as he jumped into a split just before Timebreaker ran into him. “Missed me! Just a second too late.” He twirled his baton in his hands, smiling over at her, but she could hardly focus on anything other than the overwhelming relief that he was alive. 

…

It was only after she had watched so many people get tagged by Timebreaker that she finally realized what was happening, “…And the more people she freezes, the more minutes she gets to go farther back in time! Those poor kids frozen in time...They're goners if we don't get that akuma!” 

The severity of the situation hit her like a ton of bricks, thinking back on how close Chat was to disappearing and never coming back. 

…

She turned just in time to see Timebreaker charging at her, malice in her eyes with an arm outstretched. She didn’t have time to dodge out of the way, simply staring wide-eyed at the akumatized victim. It was then that a flash of black dove in front of her, Timebreaker’s hand slamming into her partner’s back as he held her close.  

“No, no, no, no,” she repeated, looking at Chat Noir’s frozen face, determination in his eyes. “Oh, Chaton, no,” 

…

She had been so incredibly lucky that she’d managed to hold on to Timbreaker as she went back six minutes. So incredibly lucky to see her partner again– alive and breathing and alive. “Chat, I can't explain now, but we've got to capture Timebreaker's akuma now! Your life depends on it!”

He raised an eyebrow at her, lips twitching up into a smile. “Which life? I've got nine.”

“I'm serious!” she cried, blinking back tears from her eyes. He had to take this seriously. He had to. She couldn’t watch him fade again. She wouldn’t. “The akuma is in her rollerblades. We gotta release it!”

“Marinette!” 

She heard someone calling her name, and her head snapped up. 

Adrien stared at her worriedly, “Are you okay? You get all that about Timebreaker?” 

“Yeah,” she nodded absentmindedly, her mind still focused on the things she’d seen and voices she’d heard. “Yeah, I got it,” 

“Alright,” Nino said, brandishing a photo of Chat Noir, “Now we’re going to talk about your partner.” 

Marinette took the photo from him, staring at the blonde-haired boy in front of her. “Oh…” 

Nino smiled at her, “Yeah, that’s your partner,” 

“He…” Marinette hesitated, “he was–” 

“– always making jokes,” Nino interrupted.

“He used to call me–” 

“– My Lady,” Adrien finished. 

She focused on the photo for a moment, interrupting Nino and Adrien spewing facts about him. “That gold bell! I remember it! I used to flick the bell when I was annoyed or teasing him!” 

If she hadn’t still been staring at the photo of her partner, she would have noticed Nino and Adrien exchanging a baffled look and Nino leaning over to whisper in Adrien’s ear: “I don’t believe we told her that,”

* * *

Just a day later, Marinette stared incredulously at Adrien as he handed a dress about three sizes too big. 

“Uh here,” he said awkwardly, “I brought you a dress,” 

Marinette raised an eyebrow, taking the dress from him and holding it up, “You brought me a tent,” 

Adrien sighed in exasperation, “Just put it on, would you?” 

She nodded hesitantly, turning back to their room to change. “Alright,” 

He stared at her for a second, tilting his head before turning away and walking up the stairs of the ship. 

Marinette glanced at the dress, narrowing her eyes at it before pulling it into the room with her. While the dress was currently atrocious– all pink and tea-doily lace and ruffles– she was pretty sure she could turn it into something better. Maybe she liked sewing back before she lost her memory? 

She knew that Adrien would be waiting impatiently up on deck, so she got to work quickly, pulling at stitches, taking it in, and stitching lace in different patterns. Marinette worked on the dress for a while before pulling it on and rushing up the stairs and onto the deck. 

Adrien and Nino were in deep conversation, leaning over and staring at something in Adrien’s hands. For a second she swore she saw a black blur floating next to them, but she blinked and it was gone. 

She cleared her throat, not wanting to intrude on a private conversation between the two of them, and the two boys turned around. 

Nino beamed at her, “Oh wonderful! That’s perfect! Now that you’re dressed for it, we’ll teach you how to dance!” 

Marinette frowned, fingering the soft pink fabric of the dress. “Why do I need to know how to dance? I’m a superhero, not a princess,” 

Adrien smiled wryly, leaning up against a wall, “Once Ladybug and Chat Noir showed up, the Mayor decided to throw an annual ball in honor of the two of them. Since they were the guests of honor, they would show up and socialize for a couple of hours, and the two of them would dance as well,” 

He stepped forward to meet her, gently taking her hand and putting his free one on her waist, “I haven’t danced in a while, but for today I think I’ll do,” 

Placing her free hand on his shoulder, Marinette smiled up at Adrien. 

Nino began counting them off, but nearly immediately stopped them as he frowned, “No, no. Marinette you don’t lead the dance. Let him,” 

Adrien smiled at her comfortingly, gently guiding her through the music as Nino counted them off again. “That dress is really beautiful,” 

“Oh,” Marinette said, trying both to decide what to say and focus on the dance steps, “Do you think so?” 

“Yeah,” He nodded, pulling her into a spin. “I mean, I know it wasn’t great when I gave it to you, but… you’ve made it look really wonderful,” 

They were silent for a few minutes, Marinette resting her head on Adrien’s shoulder before he started speaking again. “You know, Ladybug used to like sewing as well,” 

“Really?” Marinette’s head perked up, “How do you know?” 

Adrien floundered for a minute but he shrugged, “I talked to her once or twice. That was one of the things Paris loved about her so much. She always made time to talk to civilians, always cared about them.” 

Something about Adrien’s tone made Marinette think he might have known Ladybug better than he was letting on, and her face softened, “She sounds like she was pretty great,” 

“Yeah,” Adrien said earnestly, his eyes searching her face, “Yeah, she really was,” 

After they had been dancing for quite a while– Marinette couldn’t quite figure out how long– the two of them gradually came to a stop. 

“Oh goodness,” Marinette slowly shook out her head, “I’m feeling a little dizzy,” 

Adrien’s brow furrowed in concern, “Kind of light-headed?” 

“Yeah,” 

After hearing that, he seemed more at ease, giving her an easy smile, “Me too. It’s probably from all the spinning. We should probably stop,” 

“Adrien,” Marinette said softly, trying to focus despite his thumb brushing across the small of her back, “We have stopped,” 

Staring into his green eyes, Marinette felt herself drawing closer and closer to Adrien’s face until their lips were nearly touching. 

“Mari, I…” Because of how close they were, Marinette could practically feel his breath on her lips. 

Her eyes searched his again, “Yes?” 

Just as Adrien opened his mouth to say something, Tikki began barking at him, and the moment ended. He let go of her, rubbing the back of his neck as his cheeks flushed; a habit that seemed strangely familiar to her. “You’re…” he sighed, “You’re doing very well,” 

And with that he walked away, leaving Marinette staring after him in confusion. 

Later that night, getting ready for bed, Marinette sat on the floor, wrapped in a blanket while stroking Tikki’s auburn fur. Adrien was already sound asleep on the floor, curled up tightly with one arm thrown over his head. Meanwhile, Nino was leaning against the beam of the bunk bed, his face twisted in discomfort while a storm raged outside. 

Marinette leaned closer to him, placing a worried hand on his shoulder, “Oh, Nino… are you alright?” 

Nino waved her off, giving her a comforting smile, “I’m fine, ‘Nette, Just a little envious. I mean, look at him,” He gestured to Adrien, “He can sleep through nearly anything.” 

The ship tilted again, and Nino groaned, closing his eyes tightly. Tikki, clearly not appreciating the storm either, had climbed into Adrien’s backpack, disrupting a dark, wooden box with red Chinese characters on them. Marinette picked it up, comfort and familiarity rushing through her. 

Nino smiled at her, “Lovely box, isn’t it?” 

“Just a box?” Marinette frowned, flipping the box over, searching for something, though she couldn’t remember what, “Are you sure that’s all it is?” 

“What else could it be?” 

“Oh,” She shrugged, gently fiddling the box, turning it from hand to hand, “I don’t know. Something else… something special… something to do with a secret,” she snorted, turning back to Nino, “Is that even possible?” 

Nino grinned, climbing up into his bed, “I think anything’s possible, Marinette. I mean, you managed to save us from a trainwreck, didn’t you?” 

She secured the box back in Adrien’s backpack before picking Tikki up and lying down on the bottom bunk. 

“Sleep well, Ladybug,” 

Marinette smiled, “Good night,” 

Marinette was having the most lovely dream. She was standing atop a rooftop with Chat Noir, leaning her head against his shoulder. He turned to smile at her, green eyes lit up even in the starry night, gold hair illuminated only by the lights of the city. 

“What are you thinking about, My Lady?” he asked, cocking his head curiously. 

She shrugged. “I just missed you. It feels like I haven’t seen you in years. I never realized how lost and confused I am without you.” 

Her Chaton raised an eyebrow at her, his lips twitching up into a smile, “Aww, Bug, you know I would never leave you. There’s nothing that could keep us away from each other. We’re partners, remember?” 

Feeling herself begin to shake, her hand tightened around his. “I don't know, Chat. I feel like somehow we’ve lost each other,” 

The small smile on Chat Noir’s face fell, and he gave her a worried frown, “Why don’t we go for a run? That always clears your mind. I’ll race you to the Eiffel Tower!” 

“Chaton, you are so going to lose,” she giggled, grabbing her yo-yo and racing off, ignoring his complaints of her being unfair behind her. 

She flew through the air, the wind hitting her hair, and it struck Marinette as weird that wind seemed to be hitting her face harder than it should be considering the weather. Flipping through the sky, Marinette landed gently on the lattice-work of the tower, Chat following closely behind her. 

He held out a red rose to her, giving her a charming smile, “For you, My Lady.” 

“Thank you, Chaton,” Marinette took the rose from his hands, tucking it behind her ear. 

Chat just shrugged, sending her a haphazard smile, “Do you remember all the times we would dive off the Tower? It felt like we were flying, when we did it, swinging through the sky. Like we could do anything, you know?” 

Marinette shook her head nervously, apprehension flooding her system. 

“Oh, don’t worry Bugaboo,” he cooed, “It’s always been perfectly safe!” 

She looked up at the sky, swearing she could hear a crack of thunder, but the sky was clear, stars shining bright. 

Chat turned around and backflipped off the tower, saluting at her as he winked, before he reached for the baton strapped to his back. He flipped off certain beams for landing safely on the ground, waving up at her. “See, perfectly safe! Don’t you trust me?” 

Marinette giggled, “Silly cat,” before bracing herself to jump. 

Just as she was about to flip off the Tower, Chat Noir sank into the ground, purple smoke filling the air. A man dressed in silver and purple– Papillon, a voice in her head informed her, his name was Papillon– grew and grew until he was nearly the height of the tower, reaching out his giant hand as if to grab her. “Jump!” the man bellowed, “JUMP!” 

Hands wrapped around her waist, and she began struggling and kicking, her voice giving out as she tried to scream for help. 

“Marinette!” a voice called, “Mar! Mari! Wake up, come on, My Lady,” 

Hearing someone call her ‘My Lady’, she jolted awake, but desperately squinting her eyes shut, afraid to see what the world looked like around her. She could feel her body shaking and tears staining her cheeks as someone picked her up and carried her princess style. She threw her arms around their neck. 

She felt safe and warm and dared to open her eyes, met with Adrien’s green eyes, and worried frown. 

“Papillon…” she choked out, “he… oh god, Adrien, Papillon,” 

Adrien’s face turned white, “Papillon– what do you mean? What are you talking about?” 

“I keep seeing these faces, Adrien. So many faces,” she whimpered, digging her face into his shoulder. 

“It was a nightmare,” Adrien said, rubbing small circles on the small of her back, “It’s all right, you’re safe now.”

But despite Adrien’s words, Marinette couldn’t help but feel like she wasn’t safe at all.

* * *

Just a day later, Marinette was pacing anxiously outside of Alya Césaire’s apartment in the First Arrondissement, fists tight with nerves.

Adrien placed a hand on her shoulder, stopping her from pacing more. “Are you alright?” 

“Well,” Marinette said, attempting to smooth out her dress, “Three days ago I didn’t have any past at all, and now I’m trying to remember an entire lifetime,” She looked up at Adrien, admitting softly, “I don’t know if I can do it,” 

He gave her a comforting smile, leading her back to the front door, “That’s what you have me for,” 

The two of them stood to join Nino in front of the pristine white door, watching as he apprehensively knocked on the door. 

A voice came from the other side of the door, sounding exasperated, “Chloé, I’ve told you before, no matter how many times you pretend, I’m not going to believe that you’re Ladybug,” 

Adrien snorted, raising an eyebrow at Nino, “Seems like she doesn’t realize who it is,” 

Nino cleared his throat, knocking again, “It’s, uh, not Chloé. It’s me, Nino,” 

The door flung open, revealing a tan woman with wavy brown hair pulled back into a bun. Glasses were resting on her forehead, and she had her laptop tucked underneath her arm. “Nino? Oh, I’m so glad to see you! And Adrien too! Come in, everybody, come in! It’s so lovely to see you all!” 

She ushered the three of them through the door, Nino carrying Tikki with him. 

Alya wandered over to the kitchen, seeming to put on tea before turning to the three of them. 

Nino and Adrien both pushed Marinette toward the front of their group and she self-consciously tugged at her clothes as Nino cleared his throat. 

“May I present to you… Ladybug!” 

Turning around as fast a whip, Alya raised an eyebrow at Marinette, “Dear god, she certainly does look like Ladybug,” she sighed, shaking her head, “But so did many of the others, I suppose,” She led them all into the living room, dropping down into a chair tiredly, “Now, tell me, what year did you first become a superhero?” 

“2015,” 

Alya nodded, “Correct,” 

The questions kept coming for hours, from simple questions like her favorite color (pink) to much more difficult questions like what the first thing Chat Noir ever said to her was (Nice of you to drop in– which was a pun because of course it was). 

Just as the sun was starting to set, Alya set her coffee down, leaning forward, “And you’ll likely find this an impertinent question, but forgive me. What happened on the Eiffel Tower the night you defeated Papillon?” 

Marinette tilted her head, her brow furrowing while Nino and Adrien exchanged panicked looks. “I…” she looked down at her hands, hesitating for a moment, “I was trying to lure Papillon off the Tower. I thought that way I could take his Miraculous without him being able to fight back too much. But he managed to get a knife to my throat and I just remember Chat staring at me looking so scared–” her voice choked up and she looked up at Adrien, who was slack-jawed, “I got him to Cataclysm the beam the two of us were standing on. I– I thought I had time,” 

Adrien was looking at her with a shocked expression on his face, and Marinette shook her head, laughing nervously, “I’m sorry, that’s ridiculous isn’t it?” 

Marinette turned back to Alya, not noticing Adrien getting up from a sofa, his hands shaking as he rushed out of the apartment. 

Alya was looking at her with an inquisitive face before Nino spoke up, “So, is she Ladybug?” 

She shrugged, “Well, she answered every question,” 

“Oh, Marinette, you did it!” Nino cheered, pulling her in for a hug, before he backed away just a tiny bit to look at Alya, “So when do we see Mayor Bourgeois?” 

Alya frowned, shaking her head sadly, “I’m afraid you don’t,” 

“What do you mean?” Nino asked nervously, and Marinette felt her anxiety begin to grow again. 

“The Mayor refuses to see any more girls claiming to be Ladybug,” Alya said, “He’s told Paris it’s time to give up,” 

Nino shook his head, “But I don’t understand. Surely there’s some way you could arrange even a brief meeting with him for us?” 

There was silence for a moment before Alya’s face brightened, “Have you ever seen the Russian ballet? I’ve heard they’re performing in Paris tonight– the mayor loves to see them perform. He never misses it,” 

Nino smiled at her, “Thank you, Alya.” 

Then he took Marinette’s arm and pulled her out of the apartment and back out into the Parisian streets.

That very same night, Marinette stood in the theatre, dressed in an elegant crimson ball gown, decorated in black lace with a Ladybug mask on her face. She nervously brushed at a strand of her hair that had fallen out of her braid bun before turning to fiddle with her black silk gloves. 

Adrien and Nino were supposed to be waiting for her outside the third entrance, and she rushed down the stairs, hurrying towards them. 

She arrived just in time to overhear the end of a clearly tense conversation, Nino exclaiming, “– you’ve got to tell her!” 

Marinette frowned, tapping Adrien on the shoulder. “Tell me what?” 

Adrien’s mouth opened in surprise as he turned to face her, “I, uh…” he shook his head slightly, “Just how beautiful you look,” 

“Oh,” Marinette said softly, a smile taking over her face, “Well, thank you,” 

Adrien gently laced their arms together before leading her into the theatre, and if Marinette hadn’t felt so attuned to him and his emotions, she might not have even noticed his shaking hands and slightly teary eyes. 

The two of them took their seats, and Adrien handed her a pair of opera glasses, pointing out the box seats to their right, “See that man, right there? That’s him,” 

“I really hope I’m her,” she said, tearing off parts of the ballet program, shreds of paper collecting in her lap. 

Adrien smiled at her, “Don’t worry. Everything is going to be fine,” 

The ballet went by quickly, although Marinette wasn’t even watching it; instead, her eyes were glued to the Mayor. As soon as the ballet ended, Adrien led her over to the mezzanine and the two of them stopped at the entrance. 

“Why don’t you just wait here for a moment? I’ll go in and introduce you properly.” Adrien said, beginning to part the curtain. 

Before he could disappear into the box seats, Marinette grabbed his arm, “Wait, Adrien,” 

“Yes?” he said, raising an eyebrow at her. 

She fiddled with her hands awkwardly, “Look, we’ve been through a lot together and I just wanted to…” Adrien nodded, prompting her to continue, “Well, I wanted to thank you, I guess. Yeah. Just really, thank you. For– for everything.” 

He smiled sadly at her moving to part the curtains again before he suddenly turned back, “Marinette I… I just wanted to wish you good luck. Well…” he sighed, “It goes nothing,” 

And with that, he walked away, leaving Marinette standing alone outside the mezzanine. She could barely make out Adrien talking, his voice muffled by distance and the red velvet curtains. 

“Please inform the Mayor that I have found our missing superhero, Ladybug,”  

Some servant or assistant refused him before she made out the Mayor’s distinct and low voice. 

“I have seen enough Ladybugs to last me a lifetime, young man. And none of them have been real,”  

Adrien kept arguing with the Mayor, insisting that she was the real Ladybug until the Mayor finally lost his patience, and Marinette felt her heart sink at Mayor Bourgeois’s words. 

“Adrien, yes, I remember you now. You’re Papillon’s son, aren’t you? And now you’re back to ruin Paris, following in your father’s footsteps, I assume? I’ve heard about you and your life in London. You’re that con-man who was holding auditions to find a Ladybug look-alike. Weren’t you?” 

Marinette gasped, her heart pounding in her chest. She had trusted Adrien, become so enamored with the thought of having a life, having a family– a partner that she’d been a fool and believed him when he told her she was the real deal. And then what would she make of all these memories she’d been having? And her dreams, too? 

Soon after, Adrien was thrown out, hair disheveled and Marinette stared at him in horror. 

Tears began to burn her eyes as Marinette nearly tripped on her dress, backing away from Adrien as quickly as she could. “This… all of this was a lie, wasn’t it?” 

She watched as his eyes widened frantically as he scrambled after her, “No, oh no, it wasn’t, Marinette. It wasn’t.” 

“You used me,” she added, ignoring the shaking of her voice, “I was just part of a con to get the Mayor’s money!” 

“No, no, no!” Adrien exclaimed, “I mean, yes, it started out that way, but everything is different now, because you are Ladybug. You really are,” 

Marinette shook her head, “Oh my god, Adrien stop it! Stop it! From the very beginning, all you ever did was lie to me. And not only did I believe you but I– I actually…” she laughed humorlessly, “I thought I could be anything other than a hopeless orphan, with no home and no place to go.” 

“Oh, no,” Adrien said softly, “Mari, please. What you said– about that night on the Eiffel Tower, just listen to me, that was–” 

“No!” she cried, “I don't want to hear anything about what I said, or what I thought I remembered. Just leave me alone!” 

And with that, she ran away and disappeared into the crowd.

In Alya’s guest bedroom, Marinette was furiously packing her suitcase, preparing to leave Paris. Her clothes were strewn around the room, as she huffed, blowing a stray strand of hair out of her eyes. 

A knock sounded at the door, and she scowled at the door, continuing to pack, “Go away, Adrien. I’ve told you before, I don’t want to talk to you,” 

Regardless of what she said, the door opened and Marinette turned around furiously before she saw Mayor Bourgeois approaching her cautiously, “Oh, I’m sorry. I thought you were–” 

“Yes,” Mayor Bourgeois nodded, “I know very well who you thought I was. The real question, though, is who are you?” 

Marinette sighed, sitting down on the bed next to her suitcases, “I… I was really hoping you could tell me,” 

Mayor Bourgeois shook his head, “Young lady, I can’t tell you how tired I am of this. Of being conned and tricked. The government may have resisted Ladybug and Chat Noir at first, but the truth is, we need them. It’s not just that I want to find Ladybug, it’s that she’s necessary for Paris. I cannot deal with any more of these tricks and cons,” 

“I’m not trying to con you or trick you,” Marinette said earnestly. 

The Mayor raised his eyebrow, “And I suppose that you don’t want any of the money, either?” 

Marinette slumped down, her eyes stinging, “I just want to know if there’s somewhere I belong. If I belong here , helping people,” 

“Well, you’re a good actress. The best yet, in fact. But I’ve had enough of this.” 

He turned and brushed past Marinette, turning to walk out of the door. A sudden thought struck Marinette of a room in the Mayor’s hotel, where she and Chat Noir would hideout, a place for them to store things and go to meet. 

“Sir?” he turned around, his hand on the doorknob, “Where’s my room?” 

His eyes widened, “Excuse me?” 

“The room,” Marinette continued, gaining momentum as the memories kept flooding back, “Chat and I used to have a room here. We would meet or sleep over, and it was a room that you gave us, right? You told us it was the least that you could do for us, especially after I saved Chloé from Stoneheart.” 

Mayor Bourgeois eyed the necklace around her neck before pointing at it, “What’s that?” 

“Oh,” Marinette sighed, “I’m not sure really. I’ve had it since before I can remember. It feels important, though. I don’t know why.” 

“May I?” He held his hand out, pulling out the black and red box Marinette had seen in Adrien’s backpack. She nodded, taking the necklace off and handing it over to him. 

He opened up the locket, pulling out a key, “When Chat Noir came to me after that night, telling me that you had disappeared, we both agreed that you couldn’t be dead. As you might now remember, Chat Noir has a necklace and key matching yours, so we fashioned a sort of lock onto your Miraculous box, so only you or Chat could open it up. If you’re truly who you and I believe you are, then this key will open up the box,” 

He placed the key into the box, and it popped open, revealing a pair of red and black earrings. 

Mayor Bourgeois picked them up and handed them over to Marinette. “I believe these are yours.” 

And as Marinette put on the earrings, a red glow lit up the room, Tikki (the real one) flew out, and memories flooded back into her mind.

* * *

Marinette peered around the red velvet curtains, looking around the dancing crowd for Adrien, even though she knew he wasn’t there– knew that he’d left earlier that day, taking the million euros with him. 

“He’s not there,” the Mayor said, standing behind her. 

Marinette shook her head sadly, “Oh, I know he’s not, he’s–” she cut herself off, turning to face the Mayor, “I’m sorry, who’s not there, André?” 

The Mayor raised an eyebrow, leaning against the wall, “The remarkable young man who found your Miraculous– who found you .” 

“No,” Marinette snorted, “Of course not. He’s probably busy spending his reward money as quickly as he can.” 

A strange look passed across his face, but it was gone before Marinette could analyze it, “Look at all those people dancing. Some years ago, you were part of this world, superheroes and fights and socializing and parties, but I wonder if this is really what you want. Especially without your partner.” 

“No, it is,” Marinette said softly, “Of course it is. I’ve found everything I’ve been looking for these past two years. I found out who I am. I found out where I belong,” 

The Mayor nodded, “Well yes, and you’ll always have that. You’ll always have Paris and your old life. But I’m not sure if that will be enough,” André sighed, hesitating before he continued talking, “Adrien didn’t take the money, Marinette,” 

Marinette’s head snapped up, her eyes wide with shock, “He didn’t?” 

“Knowing that you are alive,” Mayor Bourgeois continued, “Knowing that you will always be here to help Paris, it is more than I could hope. Whatever you choose, you should know that Paris will always be here for you. We will always support Ladybug.” 

“But André–” Marinette turned to face him, but he was gone. 

Just as she turned again to part the curtains, her dog– who she most definitely needed to rename after all the confusion with both her dog and kwami being named Tikki– began barking before racing through the doors into the terrace. 

Marinette heaved a deep sigh before kicking off her high heels and following her dog. 

It seems that the dog had raced off into the topiary garden, and as Marinette chased after her, the shadows seemed to get even darker and colder, making goosebumps rise up on her arms.

Marinette felt like she had wandered for hours, although she was pretty sure it had only been about ten minutes. It was then that she spotted a flash of auburn fur, and she quickly scooped her dog up into her arms.

They continued walking along the path, searching for a way back when she felt chills go up her spine, as she looked behind her, seeing the gardens move to close off behind her. 

“Great,” Marinette no muttered. “No way out,” 

When she turned back around, the shadows seemed to move ominously as a dark and detached voice called out to her, “Ladybug… Ladybug…” 

She grabbed her skirt in both fists, pulling it up to mid-calf so she could run better. Her eyes narrowed in on a small opening and Marinette rushed toward it, her dog following closely behind. 

When she emerged from the topiary, her eyes narrowed. Her feet burned cold as she stood on iron bars, looking down at Paris from nearly a thousand feet up. “The…” Marinette shook her head, “How did I get here?” 

“Ladybug,”  The same voice she had heard before repeated.

She turned around to face the voice, and a tall, lean figure emerged from the shadows, dressed in purple and silver. 

“Papillon,” 

The man sneered, “Ladybug. Look at what two years have done to us; you a young and lively woman, and me a rotting corpse.” 

Marinette’s eyes flicked across his face, taking in the hollowed cheekbones and slate-gray eyes, nearly matching the mask around his face. “Your– your face,” 

“Yes, last seen on a night like this one,” Papillon nodded. 

Marinette looked down at her hands, “And those spirits…” 

“It was followed by that tragic moment on the Eiffel Tower.” Papillon sneered, “I’m sure you’ve remembered that,” 

 He tossed the cane he was carrying from hand to hand before suddenly slamming in down on the beams of the Tower, causing a purple blast that knocked Marinette off her feet, throwing her back against the metal. 

Fury flooded through Marinette as she transformed, flinging herself back up as her hand instinctively went to the yo-yo on her hip. “I thought I destroyed you years ago!” 

“You nearly did,” Papillon snorted, “But, my dear, what goes around comes around.” 

He burst out into manic laughter as he raised his cane, Marinette standing frozen in shock and fear while smoke began to billow out of the purple glass orb. 

His minions and spirits began to take form out of the smoke. As soon as they formed, they began to fly towards Marinette circling her again and again in a flurry. She could feel them trying to grab at her earrings, but their smoke forms just passed right through her. The smoke forms seemed to be able to push her, though, and they all began to push her back, further and further to the edge of the platform she was standing on. 

Marinette began hitting the smoke figures, and as she fought back against them they began to squawk and disappear, flying away from her rapidly. 

As the smoke figures dissipated, she locked eyes with Papillon again, staring him down in rage. 

“I’m not afraid of you!” 

Papillon shook his head, a cruel smile on his face, “I can fix that. Care for a little trip down to the bottom of the Tower?” 

Smoke began pouring from the orb again, and as the smoke flew towards her, cracks began racing along the iron underneath her feet. Marinette shifted her feet nervously, attempting to keep her weight on the more steady parts of the platform. The smoke burst out again, and the tower began to creak and groan as wind and snow began to appear in the sky. 

Marinette attempted to step forward to meet Papillon, but she was stopped by a burst of snow and ice whipping around her face. 

“Say your prayers, Ladybug!” Papillon taunted, “No one can save you!” 

“Are you so sure about that?” A familiar voice came from behind Marinette.

She turned to see Chat Noir leaning against a support beam, his hands clenched tightly around his baton. Before she could open her mouth to say something, Chat charged at Papillon, using his baton as a vaulting before coming down and landing a punch on Papillon’s face. 

As he staggered back, Papillon raised the cane, blasting the ground beneath Marinette’s feet with purple flames. The ground began to fall out beneath her feet, and she clung to the railings of the platform to keep herself from slipping down. As soon as Chat caught sight of her hanging onto the railings with the ground fallen out beneath her, he leaped over to her side, grabbing her hand to pull her over to safer ground. 

“Hey Chaton,” she said, reaching over to grab his hand, “If we live through this, remind me to thank you.”

He quirked his brow at her, “Yeah, you can thank me later,” 

“Oh, how lovely,” Papillon sneered, “Together again for the last time!”  

He fired another purple blast from his cane, which hit Chat square in the chest. She watched helplessly as her partner flew back in the air before slamming into an iron beam as he slumped over, unconscious. 

She attempted to rush over to him, but Papillon grabbed her arms and threw her off the edge of the platform. 

Marinette scrabbled at a holding, finally catching herself on some of the lattice-work, struggling to pull herself up again. 

“Finally!” he screeched, “the death of Ladybug!” 

Muscles shaking with effort, Marinette moved one arm up, grabbing a beam higher up in an attempt to climb back to the platform. Her vision began to blur and spot with exhaustion, and suddenly she saw a flash of auburn as Papillon yelped in pain. 

She went to grab her yo-yo, slinging herself up back onto the platform, to stand behind Papillon. Once he recovered from whatever injury her dog had inflicted on him, he looked over the edge, obviously assuming that she had fallen over. Marinette began backing away slowly as Papillon cackled, his fists tightening on the cane he held. 

“Yes!” he yelled, “Long live Ladybug!” 

Marinette flipped up in front of him, her jaw clenching in fury, “I couldn’t have said it better myself,” 

She lunged at Papillon, knocking them both to the ground. She attempted to grasp at his Miraculous, struggling against him until she finally knocked the brooch off. Quickly snatching it up, Marinette stumbled away from Papillon, her gaze turning to where Chat Noir was lying. His transformation had come undone, and she felt a pain in her heart when she saw his unmoving body. 

Marinette placed the Miraculous on the floor, placing her foot over and crushing down on it, “This is for Chat Noir,” 

“No, no, no!” Papillon cried, now untransformed, although she couldn’t place a name to his face, “Give that back!” 

She ignored him, stepping down again, “This is for Paris!” 

“I’ll destroy you!” Papillon screamed. 

Marinette stomped her foot down one last time, her teeth bared, “And this? This is for you!” 

“No!” 

“Au revoir!” she called, before the Miraculous shattered under her foot, squinting as the Eiffel Tower was enveloped in purple light. When Marinette opened her eyes again, Papillon was gone.

Once she was assured that Papillon was gone, Marinette raced over to where Chat Noir was lying there, motionless, sliding down to her knees as she cradled his head in her hands. “Oh, no. Chat , no,” 

When his head went to rest in her lap, revealing his face, Marinette gasped, tears falling down her cheeks. “Adrien,”  

She closed her eyes, resting her forehead against his when suddenly she heard him groan. Marinette’s head snapped up as her hands brushed against his cheek, “Oh!” 

Adrien groaned, sitting up with his hand on his head, “Ouch…” 

“Adrien! Chaton! You’re alive!” Marinette flung herself at Adrien, throwing her arms around his torso. 

“Oh ow, ow, ow, ow,” he muttered, “Ease up a little, My Lady. Easy, easy.” 

“Sorry!” Marinette let go of him, sitting back to give him space. 

He began to sit up more, giving her a rueful smile. “Yeah, I know, I know.” he groaned, “All men are babies,” 

Marinette shook her head, stray strands of hair flying around her face, “I thought you were going to London…” 

He nodded. “I was,” 

“But you didn’t take the–” 

“–I…” Adrien sighed, “I couldn’t,” 

Marinette frowned, her thumb brushing against Adrien’s cheekbone. “Why?” 

“I think you know why,” Adrien replied, leaning closer to her. 

Just as their lips were about to meet, a small black blur flew out of Adrien’s pocket. “Finally!” he complained, “I’ve been waiting for this for ages!” 

Adrien’s head snapped up, his eyes narrowing at the kwami, “Plagg!” He shook his head, eyes landing on the glowing building of the hotel in the distance. “They must be waiting for you.” 

Marinette shrugged, settling herself on the Eiffel Tower, “I wouldn’t worry about that too much.” 

She was perfectly content sitting there on the Tower with her partner. As long as he was there, what more could she really ask for?