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Two weeks.
Two weeks since Hawkmoth’s defeat. Revealed indenties. The world crashing around them in chaotic, turbulent waves. But storms subside. Waters settle. Picking up the pieces is a process that takes time.
Two weeks.
That is how long it had taken them to decide to leave Paris. To abandon the city that no longer needed them. Moral support? Healing? Damage control? Their faces, sans masks, posted across Paris. Adrien had been used to the attention. Marinette was overwhelmed by the sudden unwanted attention.
So they left. Ran away. They said goodbye to the ones that mattered. Her parents. The temporary heroes.
And suddenly, Ladybug and Chat Noir were no more.
Adrien had suggested getting away from people all together, and Marinette had followed him. She would follow him to the ends of the Earth. Beyond. And that was possible, thanks to the Miraculous they both still held onto, unwilling to part with the only other friends that had been with them from the start. Tikki. Plagg.
So a road trip, a train ride, a long journey through small towns and even smaller villages. They found their peace. A small cottage, tucked in the woods and at least two hours away from the nearest sign of civilization. Adrien had bought it, quickly and quietly. False names and lots of money could do almost anything.
The sounds of the city were gone. The only sound Marinette heard was the music of the babbling brook and the splashes of rocks on the water as Adrien attempted to learn how to skip rocks properly. Not a word needed to be spoken. Cool air and a gentle breeze. Her toes dipped into the flowing stream, and Marinette leaned her head back basking in the moment.
This was the most peace she had ever felt. For the first time in her life, Marinette felt there was nowhere to go and nothing to do. Her eyes closed as she soaked in the world around her. This was their lives now. Her and Adrien’s.
She could smile and cry and be angry and scream at the world…and the echoes would fade away in the distant mountains.
“What are you thinking, Bug?” Adrien asked as he fished for another smooth, flat stone.
“That I can finally breathe again.” A long deep breath punctuated her remark.
Adrien grinned at her, and her heart skipped a beat. This man in front of her had been her partner for five years. And while she had endured long nights of Guardian duties and Chat Blanc nightmares…he had found out his father was the same man who had killed him hundreds of times, tormented their friends and families, and kept his mother locked in a glass coffin in the basement. Yes. The man smiling at her now was stronger than anyone she had ever met.
“You’ve got that look again…what are you thinking about now?” His head tilted to the side, eyes shining with mirth. He was unkempt but still so attractive. Maybe even more so. His Chat Noir persona had filtered in more and more until the lines between Adrien and Chat were blurred.
“You.”
A pause, and he gave her a classic Chat Noir smirk. “Me?”
“Yes. You.” She smiled at him with affection. “And how important you are to me. How strong you’ve been…and how much I love you.”
Marinette allowed the words to flow, knowing that they only had each other. The truth would come out eventually. How could she live another moment dreading tomorrow?
“You…” He paused, and his brow furrowed slightly. “Wait…I thought…but…the other boy?”
“You think I would have left Paris without him?” She chuckled.
His look of confusion slowly morphed into recognition.
“It’s always been you, Chaton. Always.”
His smile grew and her heart fluttered. No more evil butterflies, just the ones in her chest.
Marinette realized that she had been wrong. This moment right here…this was the most peaceful she’d ever felt. The weight lifted from her chest. The love shared between them would survive a lifetime.
Ladybug and Chat Noir. Marinette and Adrien.
It was no longer ‘us against the world’. The world no longer mattered.
It was just…
Us.