Archive of Our Own

Soulmates were rumors, not really believed. After all, the only way to really know a soulmate was to remember reincarnations.  Even that was rare knowledge

And well, appearances and names did not always match up over such things. 

So, few people ever found their soulmates across the multiverse. They just reincarnated and kept finding each other in every life. 

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Marinette collapsed on her bed. "What are we going to do about Monarch, Tikki? We don't seem to be any closer to defeating him, and he's just getting smarter. I don't know about Chat Noir, but I'm just a teenage girl, how am I supposed to defeat him?"

"You will, Marinette, I promise." Tikki paused and sighed. "Actually... there is something we can do. I didn't want to bring it up. You won't be the same afterwards."

"What is it?" Marinette sat up. 

"Every person has been someone else, not necessarily here in the past, but maybe in a different universe. I can help you recover all your memories, and you can even handle it with my help. But once you remember your past lives, you won't be the same."

"What do you mean?" Marinette asked, curious.

"Well, you'll have a bunch of memories of being someone else. Maybe you're confident and make puns all the time in one life, and with those memories, you might be more like that. And sometimes, it's hard to separate yourself from your past life, you'll think of yourself as each person you were, and in some ways, it's like your past self has woken up. But that usually settles and you become who you are."

Marinette sighed, looking down. "I don't want to be anything other than who I am now... but who I am now isn't enough to stop Monarch. I think I have to do it, Tikki. You think it will help?"

"I think so. But I think if you're going to do it, Chat Noir should too. You need to be on the same level if you are going to work together, even if you're not soulmates. And usually the Cat and Ladybug aren’t soulmates, Plagg and I know how to work with that.”

"That makes sense... do you want me to talk to him, or are you going to talk to Plagg?"

"I'm going to talk to Plagg. That way there can be no miscommunication. If I go now, we can do it tonight when you go to bed."

"Really?"

"You need to sleep through the memories returning anyways, Marinette."

"Alright." Marinette held up a hand and rubbed cheek with Tikki. "Be quick and safe."

"I will."

.

Adrien was a bit surprised when Tikki showed up. "Tikki? Is something wrong?"

Tikki shook her head. "Ladybug was talking about how she doesn't know how to defeat Monarch... So it's time."

Plagg floated over to her. "Not that..."

"You know it's best if our holders experience it at the same time."

"But it can go so badly!"

"If it helps, I want to do it, Plagg. Nothing we've been doing is working. We've made no progress in figuring out anything about Monarch. What is it?"

Plagg looked at the stubborn face of his holder and sighed. "Alright... reincarnation. You'll relieve every single memory your past selves have lived, and it's not just from this earth, but every earth and even places that are not earth at all. And it will change you. You won't be the same person after going through all of that. And it won't even be every reincarnation. The human brain can only hold so much, even when your kwami helps you."

Adrien frowned and nodded. "Ladybug thinks this is our best option?"

"She does." 

"Then, I shall have to go for it. What can I expect, Plagg?"

"Do it tonight," Tikki told Plagg. 

Plagg nodded. "Got it, Sugarcube." He turned to Adrien and started explaining.

Tikki left.

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Marinette laid down in bed and held up the charm. "It's that simple?"

"It is."

"Alright." Marinette took in a deep breath and thought about her life so far. She took one last look around her room before she laid down and placed the charm on her forehead. "Good night, Tikki."

"Good night, Marinette." Tikki watched her close her eyes. The kwami sighed sadly. She would miss Marinette as she was. She would be so different once she had the memories. They always were.

Tikki flew up to the charm and started the ritual. When she was done, she curled up next to Marinette. She just hoped that her holder and Plagg's would be different for the better, not the worst. This was such a risk to take, knowing how some holders changed.

.

Adrien was more nervous. He was worried about how his father would react. How everyone would react. But... it would work out. It had to. 

"Good night, Plagg."

"Good night, Adrien." Plagg waited and then started the ritual, not wasting any time. He couldn't think too hard about what this might do to his kitten. It would make him sad.

.

Marinette dreamed. Her memories had arrived in a flood, person to person.

Being animals. Being human. Being something else. All informative about who she was at her core.

Then came the last set of memories, the furthest back they could go in her chain of reincarnations. 

She was Obi-Wan Kenobi... and she was going to be a Jedi. Life as a Jedi was difficult, but rewarding. Serving the Force and the galaxy. Growing up with others like her, no matter the species. 

He had friends... and a bully. He failed out of being a padawan, there was an... incident, and then he was finally a Padawan. There were communication issues with his teacher, Jedi Master Qui-Gon, but they made it through years of missions together...

Until Qui-Gon threw him away to teach a youngling. Until Qui-Gon died in his arms and he had to commit to teaching that same youngling that would have replaced him.

Being a Jedi, Obi-Wan put it all aside and let go of all resentment and focused on raising Anakin to be the best Jedi.

Only, things went wrong. There was war. And at the end... Anakin was no longer Anakin... but Darth Vader. 

And Obi-Wan lost everything. His family. Anakin. His friends. His troopers. His dear friend Quinlan, who was more like his partner, who he was quietly dating. He lost it all.

He gave the galaxy a message of hope before he discovered it was Anakin who led the massacre of the Temple. And he lost all hope for himself.

He wallowed in despair for ten years before he had to rescue Anakin's daughter, no, Bail's daughter. 

Obi-Wan regained his identity as a Jedi and relearned what had been such a part of his life for so long until it had been ripped away. 

He learned that Quinlan was still out there in the galaxy. 

He spent the last nine years of his life preparing to teach Luke and waiting patiently for Owen to let him. 

Owen never let him. 

Droids showed up looking for Obi-Wan, with a message for him. 

Luke's aunt and uncle died. 

Obi-Wan took Luke to rescue Leia with the help of a smuggler.

He became one with the Force, giving them the chance to escape. 

He manifested his spirit and watched over Luke, and guided him through lessons.

Until he was given the option to reincarnate.

Obi-Wan opened her eyes to the beeping of an alarm clock.

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Adrien drifted through his memories. They were not all peaceful. But a lot of them were better lives. 

Every time the person he ended up with was amazing. Even if they did not get to live the rest of their lives together.

And then he arrived at his furthest back memories.

Quinlan Vos was a Kiffar and that meant a lot of things. Psychometry. A high need for touch and affection. He wasn't actually human.

His parents were murdered in front of him when he was four. He was next. If he hadn't panicked and grabbed his mom’s necklace, they might have succeeded. But the memories that flooded his young mind drove him to lash out with the Force and then, once Jedi Master Tholme was able to calm him, he withdrew into his mind. He needed the help of the Jedi in the Jedi Temple

There, he recovered, and joined the Jedi Order. Eventually he met his best friend and later boyfriend, Obi-Wan Kenobi. He never had to worry about whether or not he would be picked to be padawan, as Master Tholme was going to be his master. They both knew it.

His years as an initiate and a Padawan were filled with laughter and pranking. He wasn't dumb, he just liked to have fun. It was a good distraction from the way his skin itched and crawled when he wasn't getting enough cuddling in. It was a good distraction from how brushing against anything could give him impressions. How even anything touching his lips meant he would get the echos. 

Quinlan hid a lot of pain, but he overall was happy anyways. As time went on, he became a Jedi Knight. He did his best to succeed at his missions and became one of their best investigators. He trained his own Padawan at the same time Obi-Wan was training Anakin. 

Life was good.

Then the war hit and he was constantly stressed and working. Constantly trying to figure out who the Sith was. Constantly trying to figure out what the next targets were. Constantly low on the needed affection.

The bright parts of the war were when he got to spend time with Aayla and with Obi-Wan. 

And then, abruptly, it was gone. Jedi were dying. He almost died. The Order was gone. The Republic was gone, and in its place was an Empire.

Quinlan fell apart. He almost went Dark (again), but then he discovered that there were younglings still alive. 

They needed him. 

Quinlan found them good places to hide. And he never stopped. He founded the Path. He did his best to keep all younglings safe. He listened for rumors of Obi-Wan and wished they didn't have to live apart.

He missed having people around. He missed the Jedi Order. But his duty, his responsibility was far more important. He couldn't go to Obi-Wan, no matter how much he longed to. 

Grief hit him hard when Obi-Wan died to Vader. 

Then he laughed when Luke Skywalker came into the scene.

He laughed harder when, years later, it was revealed that Leia Organa was his twin. 

He lived many years. He never go back to how he felt during his years in the Temple. He never felt as comfortable in his skin. If he was not so determined to keep helping people, if he did not cling to duty so much... 

Quinlan might have just gotten too depressed to live. It was rough, after all.

Eventually... he died in protecting younglings at the age of 90, ten years short of the average lifespan of a Kiffar.

Quinlan opened his eyes to the alarm clock. 

.

At the exact same time in Paris, France, both Obi-Wan and Quinlan groaned and asked, "Why am I alive?" 

It took them a bit to remember the other incarnations, and to remember their current lives. 

Neither were too impressed to be in control.

Both immediately wanted to meditate, being able to connect with the Force or not. 

. 

"Marinette, just so you know... the most prominent of your memories can give you extra abilities. I one had a holder who could bend fire when he remembered his past lives!"

Obi-Wan blinked, then grinned. "If I could still use the Force, that would be fantastic." She went up to the roof and kneeled, closing her eyes in meditation.

The Force greeted her like an old friend.

Obi-Wan relaxed and started sorting through the memories. She was certain that the sooner she did that, the sooner Marinette would come back. Or at least it would be easier for Marinette to come back. She already felt a bit different that how she felt as Obi-Wan, after all. Marinette was just buried under all the memories.

Obi-Wan was quite content to let the tenacious teenager she was now live her life, he had lived quite enough already, thank you. 

In the Force, there were the echoes of all the Jedi of the past... she recognized each of them, but strangely, she could not feel Quinlan at all. 

Disappointed, Obi-Wan reached out and felt Tikki in the Force. Then, she expanded his senses slowly. She was not able to get far before she had to stop. She would have to practice for a long time to be able to do that again like she had before. 

But, at least she only had a single planet to worry about, not an entire galaxy this time.

Marinette still felt like Obi-Wan as she got ready for her day automatically. 

She kind of wished she hadn't done that on a school night, but it was too late now. She'd just have to get through it and hope no one noticed.

She climbed down and realized she still needed to get through breakfast and talking to her parents. Oh no.

Obi-Wan tried to keep calm but she stuttered the first excuses that came to mind when they questioned why she decided to drink tea that morning. 

For some reason they accepted it. She grabbed some sweets and slipped them to Tikki. 

When it was just her and Tikki again, Tikki giggled and flew up to talk to her face to face. "That's not the strangest excuse Marinette has come up with."

Obi-Wan stared at her. "Oh, really? No wonder they accepted it... I wonder why they do not press for the true answer." 

"I don't know. I think they trust that Marinette, well, you will tell them when you're ready."

Obi-Wan hummed. "But they cannot know that I am Ladybug, correct?"

"It isn't a good idea, not so long as Monarch is out there. If either of them told Monarch..."

"Right. That is understandable." Obi-Wan frowned. "Well, you better hide so I can get to school. I did pack everything, correct?" 

"You did. Um, Marinette?"

Obi-Wan took a moment to respond, remembering that was her name. "Yes?" 

"You need to stop speaking so formally. Marinette is a teenage girl not an old Jedi master."

"Ah, yes, thank you." Obi-Wan took in a deep breath and let it out. "I hope these memories integrate soon. I do not want to be the one 'in charge' so to speak for long."

"The longest it's taken is a month," Tikki assured her. "You'll figure it out soon. I promise."

"Very well. Thank you, Tikki. We better get going." Obi-Wan watched her hide in the purse before setting off to school

She pulled her memories to the front of the mind and studied them, trying to be sure she could handle it, then sighed. Maybe she should use some other excuse. Exhaustion? No, Marinette would be worse with exhaustion. She needed something else to explain any strange behavior. 

She made the mistake of falling asleep watching an old movie? That could be convincing, and Marinette had done stranger tings in the past. 

Yes, that would have to be her excuse, if anyone asked. 

Obi-Wan really hoped no one asked.

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Quinlan paced the room poking and touching everything.

"Uh, is that really necessary?" Plagg asked. 

"Yeah, it kind of is," Quinlan answered. "In my oldest life, as Quinlan Vos, I had psychometry. It carried over."

"Oh, of course! It's pretty common to get abilities from the most prominent of your incarnations. Why do you want to know about your own life though?"

Quinlan hummed. "Psychometry right now feels more real than Adrien's own memories, and some of these things you touched, or others touched, so I'm getting some of that. It helps build a clearer picture so that I can make better choices in how I approach how controlling Adrien's... well, my father is."

"Ah, very smart. You know, you're a lot like Adrien and yet you're not my kitten."

Quinlan chuckled. "I never was constrained the way he was. I imagine I would have been a lot like he is if I had to grow up like him. Or he would be a lot like me if he wasn't so limited."

"Oh, of course. And you'll be closer to my Adrien once the memories settle and all that."

"From what you described, it sounds like it." Quinlan smiled at him. "And I would like that. I am far too exhausted from my life to keep living. I'd rather see Adrien succeed." 

"You do make a fair point. You ready for this?"

Quinlan groaned. "No. I am not. I am glad I meditated but I am not the most obedient person, so I do not think that I can pull off seeing anyone right now, at least not until I get to school."

"Oh... yeah that's a good point." 

There was a knock on the door.

"Good luck!" Plagg hid, leaving Quinlan to deal with it on his own. 

Quinlan just sighed and picked up his bag. "Come in?"

Gabriel opened the door. "Adrien! There you are. Aren't you going to eat breakfast?"

Quinlan offered him a small smile. "I just got distracted is all. Yes, I'll come get breakfast." He followed Gabriel to the kitchen, mentally trying not to panic. 

Nathalie was already there. She gave a short glare to Gabriel but smiled at Adrien. "How are you this morning?"

"I'm good... I had some weird dreams, is all. Needed to figure something out before I could get rid of them." Quinlan sat down and started eating. He didn't flinch when he got feelings off of the fork as usual. He did pause, though. There was something… off. He would parse through them later, but he had a feeling he was not going to like them. 

The more he thought about Gabriel, the more he thought his father here was hiding something. And he had a strong feeling he was not going to like it. This was not going to be good at all.

Quinlan finished his food, just as Gabriel and Nathalie told him at the same time it was time for school.

He thanked them for breakfast and collected his bag. It was weird not going for a hug immediately. But that would certainly raise questions. Adrien had learned long ago that his father would not hug him.

He did not relax until he was at school. Now this, this he could probably do with little trouble. Even if it was weird to be at school.

The day went well, until it was time for a partner project and he and Marinette were shoved together. He knew that Marinette was acting strange and everyone was worried about both of them, so he decided to try to be nice to her. They were supposed to be friends, anyways, right?"

Marinette just slumped into the seat next to him. "How do you want to do this?"

Quinlan shrugged. "Let's see what movies we're supposed to study for..." he glanced at the sheet of paper with the project  information on it again. "The influences popular media have on society over time." He made a face.

"Ugh," Marinette groaned. She looked at the movies. "Star Wars? The… original trilogy?" 

Quinlan pulled up Adrien's memories. "Aren't those really old American movies?"

"Yeah, like forty years old or something," Marinette nodded and frowned. "I guess we're going to have to spend time outside of class watching them if neither of us has seen them, huh?"

Quinlan nodded. "Yeah. And we need to plan a whole presentation on the topic." He sighed. "Got any ideas?"

"No... not really," Marinette admitted. "Is there a rubric?"

Quinlan rifled through the stack of papers they were given. "Ah ha, yes, a rubric for grading."

"Okay, good. And it looks like there's a lot of questions we need to answer in our presentation... but creatively it's up to us."

"Yep. We should probably just start with watching the movies. I know we have a whole month and a half but we won't get anywhere until we actually know the material we're dealing with." 

"Right." Marinette nodded. "So... my place or yours?"

"Um... yours, I think. My dad is being weird and I don't know how he'd react."

"Even for a school project?" Marinette asked, making a face that Quinlan almost laughed at. It was the exact same one Obi-Wan used to make. 

"He's being... nice and taking an interest, you know? And it's... I like it but it's weird and I can't predict how he's going to react anymore."

"Oh. I'm sorry. That sounds rough?" 

Quinlan smiled. "Thanks. Let me text him and let him know I'll be home late since I got a class project and we want to work out the details? You're the one with the cool planning skills so I think he'll accept that." He frowned. "I hope."

Marinette smiled. "That works... will you stay for dinner/"

"I could, I think, if your parents don't mind."

"They'll be thrilled. ...we'll just have to make sure they know it's not a date."

Quinlan grimaced. "Right. We're watching a movie together for a school project. A movie apparently most of our classmates have seen?"

"Yeah, they've been talking about it. Alya can't believe I've never seen it. And of course that means we're the ones who got it instead of anyone else."

"Of course. Sometimes I think I have the worst luck."

Marinette laughed. It was a cute laugh. And it reminded Quinlan of Obi-Wan. Again. Kriff. He was in trouble wasn't he?

He searched his memories. Ah, Adrien was hiding a crush on Marinette behind a bigger crush on Ladybug. Of course. Teenage love drama. 

Well. They would get through this together. It would be fine. 

Quinlan hoped he could go back to being Adrien soon. He knew Adrien would never be the same, but being himself was a bit much after his 90 years of life, more of that spent on the run than with his family. 

.

Obi-Wan was nervous as she led Quinlan up to her room. It had been interesting at school with everyone noticing that she was not acting like her usual self, especially around Adrien. Her stuttered explanation was accepted with a roll of eyes. 

Being Marinette wasn't so bad, at least. It was easy to use her clumsiness and stuttering to cover up her uneasiness.

She told her parents Adrien was staying for a project, and asked if they had Star Wars. Thankfully, they had all six movies. Six whole movies, but they only had to watch the original trilogy. But… because

Obi-Wan led Adrien up to her room. "We can't really figure out the details, but I think we can lay out how done we want the project to be each week leading up to the due day, right?"

Adrien nodded. He was looking around curiously. He picked up Marinette's journal to put it out of the way, and froze. He stared down at the journal then looked up at Obi-Wan. 

"What?" 

"Obi-Wan?" Adrien whispered in disbelief, dropping the journal.

Obi-Wan blinked a few times, mouth dropping open. Adrien hadn't even opened the journal. How would he know? She nodded slightly, eyes widening as a familiar greeting reached her in the force.

Adrien tackled her. "Obes!"

Obi-Wan laughed as her eyes flooded with tears. "Quin!" She hugged him tightly. "I never thought I'd see you again!" 

"Me either, everything was so awful for so long but-" Quinlan pulled away. "Wait a minute. You have your memories too. From last night." 

Obi-Wan nodded slowly, then sighed. "Tikki? I think it's obvious now."

Tikki flew out from her hiding spot.

Plagg joined her. 

"So... does this mean we're soulmates?" Quinlan asked them.

"Probably. Any of your other lives coincide?" Plagg asked.

Obi-Wan started with the first one that came to mind. 

Each life was a match.

Quinlan grinned. "Of course we're soulmates. Should have known. Too bad there's no good way to know without something like that." 

"Unfortunately," Obi-Wan agreed. "But that does not mean much in the grand scheme of things. We are here now."

Quinlan nodded, then his eyes widened. "That's right! I can tell you!"

"Tell me what?"

"Obviously my psychometry followed me, and well. I ate breakfast this morning."

"Okay..."

"So my dad is kind of... well, if he were a Jedi, he'd be a Sith. He's possessive. I belong to him, my mom belongs to him. But here's the weird thing. He was thinking when he got me my fork that he would bring my mother back." 

Obi-Wan frowned. "How would he do that?"

"I don't know, but I think it might have to do with Monarch. I want to investigate further."

"First we need to adjust to our circumstances and make sure our memories are integrating properly."

"And that we come up with a story for why we're dating now. Then we can investigate." Quinlan nodded. 

"Exactly." Obi-Wan grinned. "Oh, we get to be Ladybug and Chat Noir together!"

"Well, Sugarcube, you were right that doing the reincarnation thing was necessary if we wanted to defeat Monarch any time soon, I see. Not often that our holders are soulmates."

"The last time that happened was with Joan of Arc." Tikki nodded. "And their experiences didn't really help them that much. Not like this."

"At least they didn't actually change too much. Well, my kitten didn't. What about yours?"

"Eh... She's different and not different. I think they are very similar but Obi-Wan is someone who had years to learn how to handle insecurities in a way that Marinette still had to learn. So they appear different but in the end they are kind of the same. And I’m pretty sure Obi-Wan wasn’t nearly as creative as Marinette is."

"You're not worried that they'll spill?"

"Come on Plagg, I'm not stupid. We've had holders who wouldn't spill before, and their memories have experience. If they work on those skills before their memories fully integrate, they will never betray the other."

"I know I know, just wanna be sure we're on the same page. That's been difficult with these two... but regaining their memories was the right choice. Maybe we'll actually see an end to Monarch."

"I hope so. I can't stand to see Marinette despair anymore."

Quinlan pulled away from Obi-Wan and looked her up and down. "I like this look."

Obi-Wan huffed and shoved him away lightly. "Come on, we should figure out our project plans and then get to watching these old movies."

"And we'll talk more about this?"

"Of course," Obi-Wan assured Quinlan. "I just want to be sure we don't get too far off track."

"Ah, right. Of course."

To their relief, they were able to start the movie without an akuma alert going out. 

As soon as he saw the opening crawl, Quinlan started cackling. Obi-Wan stared at the screen in horror.

"Oh no."

"Looks like we're fiction here!" Quinlan laughed harder.

Obi-Wan just started looking into the franchise, looking at what was in Star Wars so far on the internet. It was disturbing how much of it was their lives, and yet how far off base it was at times. 

By the time Obi-Wan was over the shock, Quinlan had stopped laughing and was patting her shoulder. 

"Hey, it'll be okay. We just gotta... treat it like fiction. Not like our lives."

Obi-Wan sighed. "You're right. Let's just get this over with."

They both found the movie rather engaging. Obi-Wan thought it was way better than she was expecting. The storytelling was rather good, actually.

Alderaan had just blown up when they got the akuma alert.

They exchanged looks and pulled out their phones to check it.

Obi-Wan grimaced. "Alright. Let's go. Tikki, spots on." She was already thinking over their opponent.

"Plagg, claws out." Quinlan grinned excitedly. Being a superhero was pretty awesome. 

The fight ended up rather easy that day. They grabbed some ice cream from Andre to share and found a rooftop to sit together on. 

"Monarch didn't give her any powers from the Miraculous." Ladybug said, contemplating the horizon.

"Yeah. I was thinking that. So what was so different about her compared to all the others since he started doing that?"

Ladybug hummed and thought it over more as they shared the ice cream. 

They tossed out some ridiculous ideas for the most part. Monarch wasn't that petty when he chose his victims. But they were all pretty random. 

"They all used Alliance rings," Ladybug said, then paused. "...but she didn't today... everyone else has an Alliance..."

Chat Noir sat up straight. "My father created those with Kagami's mother... and she was the one who got a Miraculous power first..."

"And my friend, Socqueline, was accused of being Ladybug after I borrowed her ring and ended up fighting while using it..." Ladybug stared at Chat Noir.

Chat Noir stared back. "Monarch tracks people through the rings... he found a way to transfer power to the rings... Oh no. Is it... the feeling I had this morning... is Monarch my father?"

Ladybug wrapped an arm around him. "Breathe, Kitty cat. We need to think this through. We can't rush off without knowing more. Investigate first. Isn't this what you're good at?"

Chat Noir smiled. "Thank you, Milady... The memories seem to be a little more distant right now but... I still have his experience... it's a good thing we haven't fully integrated those memories yet. I don't know if we could have figured this out otherwise." 

"I want to be wrong," Ladybug admitted. "But my gut, the Force... it's telling me that we figured it out. We just need to know more before we rush in." 

"Right. And we need a solid plan of action as well." Chat Noir sighed. "And we cannot tell anyone."

Ladybug winced. "About that... I told Alya that I'm Ladybug. I'm not telling her about reincarnation, that's way more private."

"Of course Alya knows... Does Nino?"

"I ended up telling her after I became guardian because I'd been so overwhelmed with the responsibilities. Nino shouldn’t know, he’s a bit obvious when he knows things so, I don’t think he does."

"That makes sense. I wish you could have trusted me."

"Sometimes I'm not certain I should have trusted her, though she has gotten me out of several tight spots."

"That's understandable. I can't say I'm exactly happy about it but..." Chat Noir shrugged. "Having mature adult memories, especially a Jedi, really puts perspective on these things."

"They do." Ladybug nodded. "But that doesn't mean I didn't hurt you, and I'm sorry for that." 

"Well. We've got each other now. We're soulmates. And classmates."

Ladybug grinned. "Here's something ridiculous. You've been crushing on me, Ladybug, but I've been crushing on Adrien."

Chat Noir grinned back. "Is that so, milady? Oh. Wait that explains a lot." He put a hand to his head. "Kriff, I was oblivious."

"It's not like I wasn't behaving in awkward and embarrassing ways,” Ladybug teased. "Although please don't mention it. It is actually really embarrassing how I couldn't talk to you."

"But after we got memories of our past selves... you started being able to talk to me."

"It was some much needed perspective." Ladybug smiled. "You haven't been flirting with me nearly as much today."

Chat Noir shrugged. "Much needed perspective. But now that we are clear about our feelings... Chat Noir and Ladybug can date, and our civilian selves can date." 

"Not at the same time... let's have our civilian selves appear to be better friends... and drive our friends nuts." 

"I like the way you think... can we kiss now?" 

"Yes." 

Chat Noir and Ladybug kissed. They pulled away and gazed at each other for a bit.

"Was it everything you wanted?" Ladybug asked breathlessly.

"And more." Chat Noir smiled softly. "Now, I think we should be returning before your parents worry too much."

"Ah! It's nearly dinner." Ladybug jumped up and offered him a hand. 

Chat Noir took her hand and grinned at her. "Lead the way." 

.

That night, after Quinlan went home, Chat Noir and Ladybug met up for their nightly patrol. There was no akuma, this time. So they spent some of the night kissing randomly. Where people were able to capture pictures of them.

Obi-Wan realized her mistake the next morning when Alya confronted her with the pictures. 

"What happened to Adrien?" she hissed. "I didn't think you were that serious about liking Chat Noir!"

Obi-Wan looked around and pulled Alya into a quiet spot. "It's complicated, okay? We talked yesterday and... We might have something for defeating Monarch but we need to be sure."

"Really? What is it?"

"I can't tell you that, Alya. Not this time. It's too risky. Who knows what will happen if Monarch knowns any of it." 

Alya sighed. "Alright, alright, spill girl. What did you and Chat Noir talk about that had you all over him last night?"

Obi-Wan blushed, though not nearly as much as she would have before the memories. "That's... private. I might tell you in the future but it's just been a day... I need some time."

"Alright. And what about Adrien? You know he's just starting to notice you."

"I'll figure something out." Obi-Wan shrugged it off. Inwardly she was busy thinking about how she could handle it in the future. No one would suspect anything of Chat Noir and Ladybug dating at the same time as Adrien and Marinette. Aside from Alya who knew that Marinette was Ladybug. She'd have to discuss it with Quinlan. 

That day she did not stutter around Quinlan, though she did keep acting shy. They had agreed that they would take the friendship slowly. Let people come to their own conclusions. It seemed to work. 

.

"Claws in."

Obi-Wan looked up at Quinlan's voice. It had been two weeks. She was finding herself thinking of herself as Marinette more and more. The memories were integrating, but had not finished the process, not yet. 

Quinlan flopped onto a chair with a groan.

"That good, huh?" Obi-Wan asked, glancing up from her work. 

"My father is a pain in the ass," Quinlan grumbled. "Controlling. He's constantly surprised that I'm rebelling. He and Nathalie are constantly arguing. I guess she's on my side now. I was such a pushover."

"Because like me back with the Jedi, you are a people pleaser at heart. Only, now you have the memories to back up having a spine and you recognize that you and him do not want the same things in life."

Quinlan grumbled more. "You know how Felix disappeared? I found something of mine he'd... borrowed. I do not like what I found."

"Oh?" Obi-Wan asked, giving him her full attention.

"He knew that Father is Monarch. That's how he was able to bargain for the Peacock Miraculous."

"Why did he want it?" Obi-Wan tapped the table.

"Because he believes that he is a sentibeing." 

"What?" Obi-Wan froze and gaped at Quinlan. "You're certain?"

"I am. Why?"

Obi-Wan bit her lip and pulled up her notes from the grimoire. "I remember... Ah-ha. I glossed over it before and kind of didn't really pay any mind because obviously but..." He sighed. "Sentibeings, monsters or not, can't fully mimic actual animals. If examined by a doctor, there will be some medical impossibility."

"So he can't be a sentibeing, not if he's been to the doctor..." Quinlan sighed. "Good. But why is he convinced he is?"

"I don't know... You say Nathalie is on your side now... what are the chances she knows what your father is up to as his assistant?"

Quinlan hummed in thought. "I think she knows. What are you thinking?"

"Slip her a note and have her meet us somewhere as Chat Noir and Ladybug. We'll see what she knows. Do you trust her?"

"I don't know... We'll see how the conversation goes. If I think I can trust her, I'll reveal myself, but you don't have to reveal yourself, Obi. I think we're better off if one of us is still secret."

Obi-Wan tapped her notebook. "You're not wrong. When do you want to meet with her?"

"Middle of the week. Less of a chance they'll suspect us as teenagers, I think."

"Good idea." Obi-Wan considered it further. "Are you ready for this?"

"No, not really, but I think it's for the best we do this sooner rather than later. The sooner we can take care of Monarch, the better. Especially while he's terrorizing Paris."

Obi-Wan nodded. "Alright. Next Wednesday in the middle of the night?"

"Yep. I'll take some cat naps. My schedule has been so much clearer since I gave up modeling."

Obi-Wan smiled. "And I'm happy for you... unfortunately for me... I still have work to do." 

"Anything I can do to help?"

Obi-Wan hummed. "How good are you at sewing?"

"As Quinlan, I was brilliant. As Adrien... well. Anything I can try?"

Obi-Wan rummaged through her projects and pulled out one. "Try this one. My notes are right there." 

"Got it. Thanks." 

"If you can help me... I think I'm the one who should be thanking you."

"Maybe."

They worked in silence. Quinlan's skill was a bit better than Adrien's was, he just needed practice for the muscle memory.

.

Nathalie frowned at the invite to meet up with Ladybug and Chat Noir. Why did they want to meet up with her? Was it because she had been akumatized in the last few months? They did seem to be more thorough these days. 

She put it out of her mind. She knew that Gabriel's path was foolish. She knew that both Adrien and Emilie would hate him if he succeeded. She knew that the Wish was not worth it. 

In the end, she was an enemy of Monarch's for Adrien's sake. So that meant that Ladybug and Chat Noir could be her allies. She would wait and see what they wanted and decide how best to handle this.

The time of the meeting arrived. She glanced around the park. 

Chat Noir and Ladybug joined her. 

"Ladybug, Chat Noir. You wanted to meet with me?" 

They looked her over. She noticed they were specifically looking at her hands. She had chosen to leave her Alliance at home. No reason for Gabriel to suspect anything. It wouldn't be the first time she left the home without it. Had they become aware of Alliance playing a key role lately?

"We did," Ladybug spoke. "We're going to go somewhere we can guarantee privacy for our talk." 

"Very well."

.

Chat Noir was very nervous as they sat with Nathalie on a roof that no one else could reach.

"What is this about?" Nathalie asked. 

"We know who Monarch is," Ladybug said bluntly. "And you do not seem to be working with him. Where do you stand?" 

Nathalie looked between Chat Noir and Ladybug, astonished they had figured it out. "I... well. I was not expecting that."

"Can you help us? We need everything we can to beat him- including his motives." Chat Noir stared at her pleadingly. "The sooner we can defeat him, the better. For everyone."

Nathalie sighed. "It is... Monarch is a madman. He wants to use the Wish to revive his wife." 

Chat Noir flinched. Ladybug looked at him worriedly.

"He wants to bring her back? But that could ruin everything." 

"I understand that now," Nathalie said. "It was not what she wanted." She pulled out the cracked phone she had been carrying with her lately. 

She played one of Emilie's last videos. It was about how she did not want Gabriel to keep pursuing the Miraculous. They had miscalculated, and she was paying the price. She had made her peace with that. He had to make his peace with it as well.

Nathalie was surprised when Chat Noir took the phone, staring at it. His expression was a bit horrified, but also a bit wistful.

She was even more surprised when he murmured, "Plagg, claws in." 

His transformation faded away. He absently fed his kwami a piece of Camembert. 

"Adrien?" Nathalie asked, stunned. Her mind flashed to every time Chat Noir had been weirdly in tune with her or Gabriel. Every excuse Adrien had that ultimately was brushed over. His recent rebellion. "Oh, I am so sorry..." She drew him into a hug. 

"My mom... knew she was dying... it was the Peacock, wasn't it?" Adrien asked softly. 

"Yes, it was. It is why I am... dying as well."

Adrien nodded slowly, still staring at the video.

"Your mom left a video for you. I was forbidden from showing it to you... but it is clear it doesn't matter." Nathalie took the phone gently and played the video.

"Hi, Adrien. There is so much I wish to tell you... but first, I need you to know that you are loved. I love you so much, my son. I am just so sorry I left you with Gabriel. I know he is not a good man... and I am sorry I ever got caught up with him, though I cannot ever regret you." 

Adrien stared at the phone.

Ladybug stayed nearby, listening, but wanting to give them some privacy.

"When you were born... it was a miracle. I was already sick, even then. There was a good chance neither of us would make it. But I suppose I should start at the beginning. Hopefully, Nathalie has already given you a basic lesson in the Miraculous. When we found the Peacock and the Butterfly, and found the book... we knew we were onto something wonderful. We didn't consider the consequences. We were going to do good. Only... the Peacock... it started affecting me immediately." 

Emilie looked away and wiped away a tear. "Gabriel was distraught. But I pressed on. I wanted to do something good. I wanted to do something right. Eventually, we were talking about children, and we realized I might not be able to carry a child to term, even if I was careful and never used the Miraculous again. So, out of desperation, Gabriel suggested we make a son. That I use the Miraculous one last time to make a son. I didn't like that idea, but I was seeing the seeds of madness. I was planning on leaving. Amelie wanted to help me."

Emilie took in a deep breath and smiled. "And then I found out I was pregnant after all, at the same time as my sister. It was a miracle. She was pregnant to a one night stand, and of course, Gabriel is your father. I was going to tell him, but then he hovered over me when I had a coughing fit, and I realized... he would be insufferable if he knew I was pregnant. I wasn't sure how he would handle a real child. So... I took the Peacock Miraculous, and went on a several month vacation with my sister. At the end of it, you and Felix were born. I lied to your father and told him that both you and Felix were Sentibeings I created and that my sister demanded her own child when she learned what I was doing. I faked an amok to control you, and then made up a story about how you had to act a bit like a little kid. If you obeyed every order it would look suspicious." 

Adrien's jaw dropped. 

Ladybug was listening and frantically thinking over all the ramifications of this knowledge.

"So, your father believes that you are able to be controlled. I had plans to get out, but I was never able to make them work. I wanted to take you with me. I am so sorry, Adrien. Look after Nathalie and your cousin for me. Please. And be careful with your father."

"She left you more videos, separately. Your father ordered them erased after watching them all. I barely managed to save them. I'll make sure you can see them as soon as I can do so without suspicion. This video, though, he has no clue exists. She left it with the videos she left me. I refused to let him see any of them."

Adrien nodded numbly. He wiped his eyes. "I need a big fight to get out of the house. I can't stay there anymore." 

Nathalie nodded. "I have a few ideas. The 'amok' is split between his ring, and this one. If you disobey, he'll believe I countered his order." 

"Oh, that's convenient." Adrien let out a sigh. "It's probably best he keep thinking I'm a sentibeing... we need to find Felix. He thinks he's a sentibeing."

Nathalie raised an eyebrow at Adrien. "And how do you know that?" 

Adrien hesitated, glancing at Ladybug.

Ladybug sighed. "If she's kept that big a secret from Gabriel Agreste, she might as well know everything. Tikki, spots off." 

Nathalie stared at the teenager. "You two just started dating."

Marinette blushed. "We did. For a reason, actually, which is actually the real thing Qu-Adrien wanted my permission for."

"Have you ever heard about soulmates? As a real thing that exists."

Nathalie blinked, looking between them for a few seconds. "I believe I saw some references on it in some of our research into the Miraculous... usually in the descriptions of reincarnation. I am not certain I ever saw a full explanation."

"People reincarnate, Nathalie. Only we don't usually remember it. There's a kwami ritual that unlocks memories from past lives. The person who was most prominent tends to be more influential than the rest until the memories settle and integrate. That life can also give a gift in terms of abilities. Like, if I was a superhero with super strength in that life, it would give me super strength."

"The other component is that soulmates? They're drawn to each other each life, usually ending up dating or partners in some way. So, if you meet a person you knew in a previous life, and you both remember that? Then you can compare the other lives to see if that is something that happens every time." Marinette smiled at Adrien.

Adrien smiled back. 

"You both chose to do the ritual. And discovered each other." Nathalie said, stunned. She had thought they fit well together. Gabriel had not been happy about them dating, but thought that they were young and would break up eventually. Few stayed together after high school, after all.

She had thought him wrong. They listened and communicated far better than most teens, and had both always shown a higher levels of maturity than one might expect of that age. 

Now... Now she knew they were soulmates. And they knew it. Of course they were making things work.

She thought back. Adrien had been rebelling recently. "It was recent, wasn't it? That's why  you started standing up to him."

Adrien nodded. "It was. We were... both struggling with our feelings anyways, and we couldn't figure out Monarch."

"Tikki suggested this. She didn't want to because even after memories settle, no one is the same," Marinette added. "Even now... I still feel more Obi-Wan than Marinette." 

"...as in Obi-Wan Kenobi?" Nathalie was still processing everything, and that was the first question that came to mind. 

Marinette groaned. "Yes."

Adrien cackled. "I'm Quinlan Vos. Was barely mentioned in the movies." He didn't say more. If Nathalie knew who he was, then, well. She would say something.

"...I see..." Nathalie blinked. "Did you not say that you retain abilities from the lives most prominent...?"

Marinette nodded seriously. Most signs of teenage girl were gone now that Nathalie knew. 

"Yes, I can use the Force. As can Quin-Adrien. It's going to stick around."

"That explains some oddities in the recent fight." She saw their alarmed faces. "Nothing that is too obviously out of place, just things that are improbable but not impossible. In the chaos of an akuma, it is not something Monarch will look into." 

"Well, that is good news." Marinette sighed. 

"And that brings us to how I know that Felix believes he is a sentimonster... I have psychometry." 

"You can read the history of objects?"

"Back in the galaxy, it didn't quite work like that." Quinlan looked down at his hands. "And being a Kiffar, I didn't even have the normal Force psychometry. But yes, I can leave the echos people leave behind, usually in strong emotions. But I can also feel emotions off a person just by touching bare skin."

"That is how you figured out Monarch. You knew right away that there was something, didn't you?" Now that she knew, she could pinpoint the exact morning. Adrien, Quinlan, had taken a bite and frozen, staring between the plate and Gabriel. He had recovered quickly, but it had stood out as a strange moment.

Quinlan nodded. "And then I figured out Obi-Wan, well, Marinette, that same day when I moved something of hers to work on a project and... well. We've been figuring it out since."

Nathalie pulled him into a hug. "I am so proud of you, and I know Emelie would be too. You have come a long ways." 

Quinlan smiled and leaned into the hug. "Thank you, Nathalie. Now we just need to figure out how to find Felix and how to bring Monarch down." 

"We know he's using the Alliance rings," Obi-Wan stated. "We just don't know how or why. And any fight with him... it's going to be hard to face him head on. We need to find some roundabout way to defeat him. Set up traps, remove things that will help him. The question is... how? What?"

Nathalie considered that. "Give me some time. I will give you the information. Monarch will not suspect a thing." 

.

Almost a month since the reincarnation ritual. Things were in motion. Plans were mostly in place. They still had to find Felix, but that was okay. They would get there eventually.

Obi-Wan and Quinlan sat together in the top of the tallest tree they could find that wouldn't get them noticed. 

Quinlan leaned on Obi-Wan, sighing. "Finally... almost there. I don't really feel like Quinlan most of the time. This might even be the last time."

"I am feeling the same way," Obi-Wan admitted. "That's why I wanted to do this date. So much has happened. We are so different. We faced so much together, and then the Empire tore us apart... and you had to live alone for decades... and I wish you hadn't." 

"You know I had my responsibilities as much as you did," Quinlan said quietly, looking up at Obi-Wan. It was still strange, seeing a teenage girl, but at the same time, he saw Obi-Wan. "But I wish we could have had more time together. Many of our reincarnations fared better." 

"And this one will too. Once we take down Monarch."

"Once we take down Monarch."

"Let's just have this night to ourselves, Quin. You and me. Doing the things we used to as padawans, when we didn't have others counting on us, when we could just be because true responsibilities were still years away." 

Quinlan smirked. "That's why we're up this tree isn't it?"

"You always went up a tree if you needed to think. And I thought it was a good place to connect."

"You are right, as always, Obi."

Obi-Wan chuckled. "Of course I am. I always did know you best."

"Just like I know you. So, how's being a girl? We have not discussed that yet."

"Weird, but meh." Obi-Wan shrugged. "I'm getting used to it, and anyways, we're the same person. Just need to wait for the memories to finish settling and then I'll be more her than she is me."

"You know that somehow actually did manage to make sense?" Quinlan asked. "But yeah, I get that. Being Adrien is weird. I never had such a controlling dad before... I'm considering running away if we don't figure out how to handle Monarch."

"I hate seeing you deal with being controlled. You're chaos. Of course you're Chat Noir. No one can control you."

Quinlan smiled. "The tricky thing is he believes he can control me. Which is... Love my mom but wow that was a choice she made. On one hand I don't blame her, it would have been hard to leave him especially since he would have custody of me at least part of the time, but on the other hand... He thinks he can control me. That's not really any better at all."

Obi-Wan nodded. "You're right. This whole thing is... It's crazy. But let's be together here, Quin. We're getting off track."

"Alright, alright. And I don't need to ask what happened to you considering we are discussing the Star Wars movies as our project."

Obi-Wan groaned. "I cannot believe how actually accurate it is. And too bad looking to see how much more there is to Star Wars led to the fandom..."

"Do not remind me. Fandom can be fun. Just not about our actual lives. Even if that was really a long time ago in a universe far far away."

Obi-Wan shoved him.

Quinlan laughed. "Sorry, I couldn't resist. This feels like a second chance."

"It does. And we've started ourselves on good patterns for the future."

"And good dating examples," Quinlan cackled. "Can you believe no one has figured it out even though you're not blushing every time you see me anymore?"

"There's still some blushing... but no, I can't believe it." Obi-Wan shook his head in amusement. "Teenagers."

"Oh come on, like we haven't been acting more like teenagers to being with."

"True, true, though we did need that break, after everything."

"Well. You're right." Obi-Wan leaned on Quinlan. "I missed this. Just spending time goofing around and teasing each other. Hanging out in a tree like nothing else is going around... Just being."

"No wars threatening us, no need to worry about undercover missions or behaving professionally... no worries about anything." Quinlan smiled. "Just one annoying Monarch and we'll be free to be teens in love again. And this time... we get to keep each other."

"Not that either of us regret choosing our duty."

"Of course not. They needed us to make that choice, and I can't imagine how much worse things would have been if we did not do our duty repeatedly. But now... our duty is to Paris... once Monarch is gone, we don't have much left to do."

"Well, besides protecting the kwamis and the Miracle box... but that is an easier duty than being a Jedi, from my understanding. Not that we will ever entirely leave the Jedi way behind us."

"I don't think we could if we tried, now that our memories have been awoken. I love you, Obi."

"I love you too, Quin." They kissed and smiled at each other, then resumed their sitting and cuddling, up a tree where no one could find them.

It was a perfect date for these two. Everything they had ever liked to do together, right here. They did eventually leave and enjoy some mischief, of course, but that time to just be was important to both of them.

.

Marinette woke up one morning and was half way through her morning routine before she realized she felt like herself again. She didn't feel like Obi-Wan. His memories were distant. Clear, there, but it wasn't like she had just lived them anymore either.

She let out a sigh of relief as she leaned on a wall. 

"Is everything okay?"

Marinette smiled at Tikki. "More than okay! I feel like Marinette again!" 

"Oh that's good! What does that mean for you?"

Marinette put a finger to her lips in thought. "I don't know yet. I guess we'll just have to figure it out. But first! Meditation!" 

She could still feel the Force around her, curling around and assuring her all was well. It was a comforting feeling.

But most importantly, she would be able to sense Adrien if they meditated at the same time. 

She sat down and closed her eyes. Meditation came easily.

It seemed one of the things she learned from her past lives was patience. It was a lot simpler to sit and wait than it had been in the past. And she quite like the routine of meditating after spending the last month doing so. It would feel weird not to sit down and meditate in the mornings.

Marinette smiled when she felt Adrien's greeting from across the city. Yes, it felt like he was himself, not Quinlan anymore. Great.

Now they just needed to make sure their plan to take care of Monarach worked. 

They had several plans, some rather simple, others very complicated. 

In the end, it came down to a few simple things. They needed to find a way to warn people about the Alliance rings. They needed to find Felix. They needed to see if there was any way to free any of the kwamis. They needed to get Adrien out of that house; he was going crazy and would not make it much longer. They needed to be ready for anything. 

Marinette let go of all the worries that thinking of their plans brought her. She could not control what happened. Worrying wasn't going to help. She let go of the fear of what would happen if she failed. She let go of her love for Adrien, and of her parents. 

She found that space of meditation where it felt like she was everything and nothing all at once. Where the Force was with her and helping her. 

Tikki got her attention once the hour was up.

Marinette smiled and stretched. "Whoa, that really helps! I need to keep doing that if I want to handle things without messing up!" Now that she was done, she could feel her feelings again without worry. The whole point of letting go was so that her feelings would not get in the way of being Ladybug. They couldn't afford for her to be affected at the worst possible moment.

Especially not with the Force. They still hadn't done anything to reveal it yet. But it might be necessary in the final battle. Marinette just didn't know. But she would not risk drawing on the Force using the wrong emotions. She was not going to use the Dark side. 

She glanced at her notes and then grinned. "That's right! Today's the day!"

"Today's the day?" Tikki asked, confused.

"It's the Diamond Dance! Adrien couldn't get me a ticket but we found a way to sneak me in anyways thanks to Nathalie. We're going to have fun and afterwards we're getting him out. Gonna use the chaos of his dad realizing I'm there to get him out and then he's going to find any other excuse to stay gone until Monarch is defeated."

"Oh that day! I was there when you planned it, remember Marinette? You don't need to tell me all the details."

"Sorry, I think my memories are still a little jumbled." Marinette blushed. That and she always did do her best when she spoke her plans aloud. Sometimes it showed her she was crazy.

"Are you going to tell Alya anything?"

"No, I think it's better to let her be as surprised as everyone else... she didn't even notice I was acting different. She hasn't noticed that Adrien and I are dating, despite teasing us for working together. Maybe after we get Adrien out of that house I can tell her something. But this is too big for her when she has no protection." 

"You know she's been your biggest supporter."

"I know. I just..." Marinette sighed. "Having memories of living to adulthood and into my sixties has given me a different perspective and I regret how I've handled a lot of things. I should have not treated Chat Noir the way I did, and it was unfair to trust Alya. You know, he never told anyone his identity? Yes, I know I told Alya because being the Guardian was a big responsibility and I was struggling with it, but..."

"You're still upset about her telling Nino she was still Rena, aren't you?"

Marinette groaned. "Yes, I am. I don't know that we would have ever won the way Monarch set that day up, but it certainly did not help that Carapace knew where she was." 

Marinette resumed getting ready for her day, making sure she had all her work. "And I guess... well. I'm more upset in a way now," she admitted. "As a Jedi? That would never have flown without consequences. Obi-Wan may have never shared it with Quinlan, or he might have... but Quinlan was better at hiding things than that even as a teenager. They both kind of had to be, really. Because Jedi were in danger just for being Jedi." 

She glanced over some of her projects and chuckled at the Jedi influenced ones that she had started designing over the next month. She would have to rework some of them but... they had some merit. It would be interesting to work out. 

"So you're not sure you can trust Alya with this?"

"Knowing that she told Nino that she was still Rena... I'm surprised that she never told him about me. At least she can keep that a secret but... If she hadn't told Nino, he wouldn't have protected her, and she wouldn't have felt like she had to give back the Miraculous, which was the right decision I just couldn't see it at the time, which means that we would still have that Miraculous. Maybe Monarch would realize that she is the holder, in which case I would have to have found a different holder for Trixx temporarily but one less Miraculous is good." 

Tikki sighed. "I know, Marinette. It's good that you're thinking over the best way to handle things now that you have memories of more experiences but don't dwell on it too much, you can't change the past."

"I know. But sometimes studying the past is a good way to avoid mistakes and problems in the future. It's also a good way of predicting how people will react and how they will react to similar situations. And I can't afford to make mistakes right now, Tikki. I can't trust Alya with this. She's a good support and I don't like shutting her out like this but I can't risk any of this. I can't risk myself, I can't risk Adrien. I can't risk Monarch finding out we're onto him."

"Right. So today you're going on a date with Adrien, right?"

Marinette sighed happily, smiling. "I am. It's going to be amazing. He's so sweet and mischievous and I can't wait to see what he's like as he starts learning to be his own person instead of the person his dad wants."

Tikki laughed. "It is going to be great."

Marinette opened up her purse. "Time for breakfast!"

Tikki flew in to the purse and got settled. "Marinette? I think you're just the same as always just a bit more mature, and I like it. You're still you."

Marinette grinned at her. "Thanks, Tikki. I'm glad I'm still me... prolonged changes would've been so hard to explain."

.

Adrien spun around happily. "Plagg things are looking up."

"Yes yes, you're making me dizzy. Seems like you woke up on the right side of the bed today."

"I just feel very optimistic today. I woke up feeling like myself, and I'm really not that different, just got mature memories and I'm a little different because of all the people I was in the past. And we have something of a plan for Monarch, and I'm getting out of this house soon! I can't wait!"

"You're a bit too cheerful."

"That's okay. You know that the dance tonight is one of the times it's likely that Felix will show up. It'll be fun." 

Plagg sighed. "Well, if you're happy and this is the last time you're going to be here... I guess you can be so cheerful."

Adrien laughed. "Come on, it's time to go." He almost danced out of the room but he stopped himself and took a deep breath and looked around his room one last time before leaving calmly. No need to alarm his father. 

Not even Nathalie knew their plans, on her request. She was working on ways to help them as she was, and so far, the information she had got them was interesting. It wasn't helping them make progress on defeating Monarch. But it did help them understand him better, and that was most important.

Adrien allowed himself a quick grin when he saw her glaring at Gabriel. Then he covered it up to greet his father before starting to eat. Quinlan's memories were the most useful for keeping things hidden. Adrien was grateful for that. And for Quinlan's memories teaching him how to be unashamedly himself and stand up for himself.

Now wasn't the time of course. It was hard not to stand up to his father, though. Which was a nice change of pace. The reincarnation ritual was just what he needed to fully see his father for what he was. On top of the psychometry. 

.

Felix snuck into the dance. At least he had a back up plan. Something was different about his cousin. He couldn't get Adrien alone as he'd planned. This would be easier if he could just pose as Adrien the entire time, but apparently Adrien had gotten smarter.

Felix supposed that only made sense after he posed as Adrien and gave away almost all the Miraculous.

Oh well, he would make his plan work anyways. He looked around and found that girl, Marinette, that Adrien had seemed to like posing as Zoe. Clever. Trying to get at his cousin, was she? She did have a massive crush on him.

Adrien was sitting where he was supposed to and pretending to enjoy himself.

He was doing a better job of not looking uncomfortable, Felix noted.

It was almost time for his plan. 

To his surprise, both Marinette and Adrien glanced at each other and then him. ...had they noticed him?

"Hello! Can we dance?" Marinette asked him chirpily.

Felix blinked in surprise. "Well, it is a party... yes."

Marinette smiled and let him lead the dance.

"Clever of you to sneak in with someone else's mask. But I do not believe you will get your goal."

"Oh, I already have, Felix," she responded softly. "Adrien and I have been looking for you. He needs to show you something."

"What?" Felix almost gaped at her but remembered himself just in time. "No, I'm here with a plan."

"With the Peacock Miraculous."

"Yeah, I- How did you know that?" he demanded.

"Did you know that Ladybug went to Adrien to get the Dog Miraculous back? And Monarch hasn't used any amok. It's not hard to put together... especially with what Adrien wants to show you. You need to see it, Felix."

"No, I don't!"

Marinette stepped in closer and whispered in his ear. "It's a message from his mother explaining some things. You need to see it."

Felix stiffened and decided that his plans could be put on hold. A message from his aunt? Was it about...? Yes, he had to know what she had to say about the position she had put him in.

"Fine. I'll put my plans on hold. But it better be worth it."

Marinette smirked. "Oh, don't worry, we have a plan to ruin this event."

Felix didn't get a chance to protest as Kagami and Adrien finally took the dance floor. 

.

Adrien danced with Kagami as planned. They had not included her on the main plan, but they knew she would be on board with causing chaos and standing up to their parents.

Once they were out, he planned to give her a little more information. Although, Felix being around did make things a little harder. Marinette would have to distract Kagami. But maybe this was for the best. 

Adrien and Kagami knew full well what was expected of them here. Neither wanted to be together. Kagami was just starting to find herself. She didn't want to find herself as part of a relationship. 

Adrien spun Kagami, fully aware of all eyes on him. 

Kagami met his gaze. "You're planning something. Go for it."

Adrien grinned. "Thanks, Kagami. You won't regret this." He spun her over to Felix and Marinette. 

Marinette quickly traded with Kagami. 

Adrien had to bite his tongue to keep at laughing at the shock Felix was projecting unknowingly in the Force. 

The intense anger from his father, and displeasure from Kagami's mother sobered him up, though. He was playing with fire.

He smiled at Marinette. "Thank you for this."

"Of course. You're welcome. Soulmate," she whispered.

"Soulmate," Adrien breathed before kissing her. 

She wrapped her arms around his neck as she returned the kiss, prolonging it. 

The shock was palpable though no one moved or said a word at first. They were too stunned to do anything.

Adrien and Marinette resumed dancing, eyes only for each other. They had been looking forward to this for a long time. A nice proper fancy dance. 

They both sensed the moment that Gabriel had enough.

"Who is she?" Gabriel demanded.

Marinette smiled and took off the mask. "Hello." 

Adrien took his mask off as well. "Father, I'm dating Marinette and there is nothing you can do to stop me." He threw the mask at his father's feet.

Chloe gasped. "Dupain-Cheng?!"

The two teens took off running, only pausing to grab Kagami and Felix before continuing on the way out. 

Nathalie ensured they had a clean getaway by accidentally getting in the way.

Adrien laughed as he pulled Felix to his room. He grabbed the last of his bags. "Out the window!"

"What? Are you insane?" Felix asked, gaping.

"I'm dramatically running away," Adrien informed him. 

He opened the window. There was already a mattress under the window. 

Marinette didn't hesitate before jumping out the window.

Kagami followed, though her look at Adrien promised she would be demanding an explanation later. 

Felix stared after them. He heard the door opening and jumped after them. He was not going to be the last one there to face the wrath of the adults. 

"Come on!" Marinette waved. "This way!" She already had changed out of her fancy shoes. 

Adrien handed Kagami a pair of shoes like the ones she normally preferred. She quickly put them on.

"Where are we going?" 

"My place," Marinette said. "My parents are okay with it, we figured it all out earlier."

"Isn't that the first place everyone will look?" Felix asked. 

"It's the most obvious place, but they won't be surprised we're not there. Why would we go straight there, knowing my dad's going to be looking for me? Oh, but don't bring an alliance ring. We can be tracked that way." 

Kagami made a face and pulled hers off immediately. She threw it to the side. 

Felix stared at both of them. "What happened to you?"

"That... is a long story." Adrien rubbed the back of his neck. "And I might tell you, but first you need to see the message my mom left for me. Nathalie had to keep it secret from my father and didn't get a chance to show it to me until recently, and made sure I got copies of everything she was able to hide from him."

Felix frowned. He didn't like not having all the cards. Just what was the secret? Yes, they apparently knew about the Peacock Miraculous, but did they know about everything else?

He followed them to the bakery anyways. 

Marinette's parents were happy to see them, asking them how it went and how much trouble they were in.

Adrien grinned. "I don't know and I don't care. Thanks for letting me crash here for a while until I figure it out."

"It's not a problem. It's just too bad we can't get your father arrested for being too controlling."

Adrien shrugged. "I know. I hope it'll work itself out. But if not... Well. We'll see what happens. I really needed a break, though." 

"Which is perfectly understandable. You kids go enjoy your own little party. We'll give you a warning if they try to go look."

Marinette grinned. "Thanks Mom!" She hugged her mom and then kissed her dad on the cheek before leading them all upstairs. 

"Are you sure you're not going to invite more of your friends over?" her mom called. 

"Oh, I hadn't really thought about it," Marinette responded. "We need to talk some stuff out since we picked up Adrien's cousin Felix unexpectedly. I'll let you know if anyone is joining us! After people have already checked if we're here."

"We'll let you know." 

"You're the best." 

With that, the four teens finally made it up to Marinette's room. Adrien stopped at the guest room to hide his bags. 

Marinette spread out the food on the floor. "If they do come up looking for us, we'll slide this under the desk. Two of us can hide in the closet, and two can hide on my bed under the blankets. Unless they're looking really closely, they won't see us." 

"How long have you been together? How long have you been planning this?" Why didn't you tell me?

They heard Kagami's unspoken question. 

"We started dating a month ago after getting put together for a class project," Adrien answered. "We've only told her parents before today, and that was last week when I decided I needed to get out."

"You certainly chose to leave in style." Felix was nibbling on one of the pastries. "Can I see the message now?"

"It's better if we go up to the roof," Adrien decided. 

Felix nodded and followed him up the ladder.

Adrien pulled out his phone as soon as he was up there. He found the video and pressed play.

He politely didn't watch Felix, giving him privacy to react and have his feelings about this new information that had to be startling. 

And... he just wanted to enjoy hearing the sound of his mother's voice once more. 

Felix almost dropped the phone more than once before the end. After the video ended, he handed the phone to Adrien, shaking.

"I should have told my mom I overheard Uncle talking about us being sentibeings and the research I did after that..."

Adrien looked at him. "So that's why you went after the Peacock Miraculous. You never wanted to be controlled."

"I was going to free us both today," he admitted. "But it turns out you were a step ahead of me. Why?"

Adrien chuckled. "That is a long story I'm not ready to tell you. I understand why you're the way you are but you've hurt me a lot, and I can't forget Ladybug's panic when her yo-yo disappeared. You caused the current situation with Monarch."

Felix winced. "Um, about that. He's your dad."

"Obviously." Adrien gave him a look. "The Peacock and the Butterfly were together. Of course if my mom had the Peacock he had the Butterfly."

"Then... why haven't you told anyone?"

"Who would believe me? He's gone to great lengths to hide it. He's let himself get targeted before. One villain made him think he was a plane and nearly take off of a building."

"...oh. That is a good point. He has hidden himself well.  But you and Marinette figured it out."

"We did. Come on, let's go back, unless you need more time to process?"

Felix lay back and stared at the sky. "One moment... Not much time. My world's just been flipped upside down."

"Yeah, I know the feeling." Adrien went silent and let Felix have his time. 

It was actually nice to be spending time with Felix where Felix was not trying to manipulate him. It was nice to see a different side of Felix all together. 

Adrien just hoped it lasted. It looked like the reason Felix was like that was because of the sentibeings thing, but it could always be something else. But usually, the simplest explanation was the correct one. He had no reason to believe anything different here. He'd just be ready in case Felix did turn out to be that much of a jerk in the end.

"Alright. I'm ready. I need to find a way to contact Ladybug or Chat Noir. They need to know."

Adrien hummed. "That's going to be just about impossible, not if you want to keep dad in the dark."

Felix huffed. "Do you have any better ideas?"

"Maybe." Marinette?

Yes?

Felix wants to get in contact with Ladybug and Chat Noir to warn us about dad. 

Ah. I was wondering if we should just come clean to him and Kagami. But there are risks.

We know the Alliance rings are key. And we're just about ready to take him down. We've almost got a plan... having people available to help out could be useful.

In that case... while I don't want to tell everyone... we should tell Alya and Nino. I'll call them over, once we know we're in the clear. 

Good idea. 

"Adrien?" 

Adrien smiled at Felix. "Don't worry about it. I'm fine. I just zone out sometimes, thinking. Come on, I'm sure the girls are waiting."

It turned out that Marinette had found out that Kagami had not seen Star Wars at all, after discussing the project that got Adrien and her together. So they were just about to start the movie.

Felix frowned. "Star Wars? Isn't that overrated?"

"It has some good messages," Marinette responded. "And... Jedi control their emotions and don't let it get in the way. Sith let their emotions run wild and go for power or immortality or similar greedy goals."

Felix frowned. "Okay...?"

Adrien laughed as he sat down next to his girlfriend and wrapped an arm around her. "She means that Monarch exploits his victims through using their emotions. The Star Wars movies, and a lot of the associated media, showcase that controlling emotions instead of giving in is the better way to do things."

"But that is not enough to fully avoid his allure."

"No, it's not," Marinette replied. "But it does give some wisdom on the subject. We both started meditating after seeing the movies. It's really helped. And it could help you two, too." 

"I suppose it can't hurt." Felix crossed his arms. He didn't want to give Monarch any advantage. And if meditating helped? Well. He would have to meditate. 

They settled in to watch the movie. There was a tense few minutes when they heard some yelling downstairs, but no one came near the bedrooms.

The credits rolled on the first movie.

Marinette jumped when her phone chimed. "Oh, it's Alya." She answered the phone. "Hey, Alya."

"Girl, have you heard?"

"Heard what?" Marinette asked. 

"Adrien was dancing with some strange girl at the Diamond Dance tonight and then they ran off along with Kagami and someone else. Now they're all missing!"

"Oh, really?" Marinette said calmly.

"...Marinette? Why are you not concerned?"

"Have they left your apartment yet?"

"Well yes, but why-"

"Great. Once they've visited Nino, grab him and come spend the night, we'll explain when you get here," Marinette said cheerfully. "Oh, and do not, under any circumstances, wear your Alliance rings EVER again. So DO NOT bring them here. We'll explain after you get here."

"Wait-"

Marinette hung up, snickering to herself.

Felix stared. "I didn't agree to this."

"We'll be telling them the long story of how we know my dad is Monarch, do you want to hear it?" Adrien asked with a smirk.

Felix grumbled. "I suppose I can stay the night."

Adrien grinned. "Great! You'll love this story." 

"Sure I will." Felix eyed him. Adrien was different. More openly happy instead of pretending to be happy. It was weird and Felix did not like not knowing his cousin.

"I do not know that I can stay," Kagami said uncertainly. "But I do wish to stop being controlled by my mother, so I suppose I will stay. Your father is Monarch?"

Adrien sighed and nodded. "Unfortunately. I'm glad I know but it's made things difficult. I couldn't stay any longer."

"I understand. Marinette, your parents will not mind?"

"No." Marinette shook her head. "We discussed maybe having a big sleepover the first night and they knew it might happen depending on how this all went."

"Alright. I am intrigued to hear the explanation."

.

Alya stared at Marinette. "You're hosting a sleepover with Adrien. And Kagami. And Adrien's cousin? What's going on?"

Marinette just smiled. "Once Nino's ready, I'll explain. The boys will be sleeping in the guest room where Adrien is going to be staying for a while."

"Since when?"

"Tonight? We've been planning this for a while," Adrien spoke up, taking Marinette's hand.

"Wait a minute..." Alya looked between them and how Marinette was not blushing nearly as hard as she should have been.

Nino came in. "Okay so what's up dudes?" 

Marinette and Adrien exchanged looks. 

"It's a long story, but there's one place to start..." Marinette fiddled with her earrings.

Adrien fidgeted with his ring. "I'm ready when you are."

Alya's eyes widened. "Marinette, you can't-"

Marinette raised an eyebrow. "We know who Monarch is. This is important Alya. It's time to stop keeping secrets." She took in a deep breath. "I'm Ladybug."

"Prove it." Felix said. 

Alya glanced at Adrien. He was unsurprised. Marinette had told him?

Marinette gave Felix a smile. "Tikki. Spots on." 

While Nino, Kagami, and Felix gaped at Ladybug, Adrien backed away and quietly transformed. 

Alya's eyes widened as she stared at Chat Noir. That explained so much... and then she had to laugh at them. No wonder Marinette had also fallen for Chat Noir. He was just another side to Adrien. 

"You're really Ladybug." Kagami looked her up and down. "I suppose that explains a lot, such as your strange behavior at times." 

"Whoa..." Nino gaped at her. "Wait, do you know who Chat Noir is, then?"

"That would be me." 

Alya snickered at the way Felix, Nino, and Kagami jumped and turned to face Chat Noir, sitting cat like right where Adrien was. Their faces were priceless. 

"Plagg, claws in." Adrien rubbed a finger over Plagg's head and offered him some cheese before turning to everyone else.

Marinette grinned at him. Chaos in their reveal was something they had wanted. Their past selves had influenced them a lot. Tikki flew over to the desk to watch the conversation. Plagg joined her.

Felix found his voice. "You're Chat Noir?" He carefully did not look at Marinette. She was Ladybug, and he gave away the Miraculous. She was being rather generous with him right now, and he did not want to risk triggering her ire.

Adrien grinned. "Yep. I am."

"Oh, I see. When you were making all those excuses, you really just had to leave to deal with akumas. You were no intentionally trying to ditch me." 

"Sorry, Kagami. I never wanted to hurt you. I just... I have a responsibility to all of Paris."

"I understand, now. It makes a lot of sense. You are not the type of person to come up with excuses not to hang out with someone. You prefer to tell it like it is if you truly do not want to go on dates or hang out. I am sorry for ever believing otherwise."

"It's okay, Kagami. I get it. Taught me a valuable lesson about what I can and cannot handle as a superhero."

Nino looked down for a moment. "This explains so much. Both of you, always showing up quickly when villains appear... usually because you're right there."

Marinette nodded. "It's been hard not telling the truth for so long. I don't like hiding it, but what choice have I had?"

"So... if you didn't know who Chat Noir is, when and how did you find out?"

Marinette exchanged a grin with Adrien. 

"A bit more than a month ago, the night before we got that project that paired us together, we decided to do a ritual that would bring us memories of several of our past lives. There are a few advantages to this."

"...is that why you were acting differently?" Alya asked. 

"So you did notice! Yes, it was. The most prominent, strongest memories kind of are in charge, I felt like a different person for a while. And a nice side effect is that we get to retain any special abilities."

"Like what?" Nino asked eagerly.

Marinette gestured and the popcorn bowl rose from his hands to go to hers. She happily took a handful of popcorn from the bowl.

Adrien lifted his hand and concentrated, bringing the bowl to himself. 

"I got a bonus ability. I can get memories and emotions off of any objects. It's called psychometry. That's how I knew what you believed," Adrien told Felix. "And that's how I found out about Marinette."

"After getting assigned the project, we came here that afternoon and he touched my journal, and got flashes of the person I was at the time. Who happened to be someone Adrien's past self had dated."

"In legends regarding reincarnation, people who repeatedly find each other time and time again are considered soulmates." Kagami asked more than stated.

"That's true," Tikki spoke up. "They're soulmates."

Alya narrowed her eyes. "If you're soulmates, why aren't you dating?"

"...we started dating that day," Marinette admitted. "I'm still surprised no one noticed."

"We were still handling the whole integrating memories thing so we didn't want to draw any additional attention to ourselves by pointing it out," Adrien added. "So we thought it best to just let people figure it out."

"Only, none of you ever did." Marinette finished, smirking. "Which, considering how invested you all were in us dating, is kind of impressive."

Alya groaned and shook her head. "I can't believe... it's so obvious in hindsight... you even stopped blushing so much." She sighed. 

Adrien snickered. 

Marinette threw a pillow at him.

Alya clapped her hands together. "Right. What's your plan for Monarch? Who is he? When... how did you figure it out?"

Adrien looked down, then took a deep breath. "The morning after the ritual, I went down to breakfast, and after dad handed me my plate... I knew that he's Monarch."

Nino gasped. "No! But... that makes too much sense... and no wonder you don't want us to wear the Alliance rings anymore."

"Oh it gets better," Marinette said quietly. "The Alliance rings are how he's giving everyone the powers of the Miraculous."

"Oh. That explains that mystery..." Kagami mused. "I had wondered how it was possible." 

Marinette nodded.

"And on top of all that, it turns out the reason my father is doing this... He can't let go of my mother and wants to use the Ladybug and Cat Miraculous to bring her back. He even has her in a cryo chamber in his secret base, according to Nathalie."

"I've seen it," Felix said quietly. "It's true. Looks like she is the same as she was the day she disappeared."

Alya looked at him sharply, having forgotten he were there. "And why are you here anyways?"

"Apparently, my mother and her sister conspired to hide that Adrien was a real baby in order to protect him from some alarming behavior she saw from Gabriel. They made him think we're sentibeings instead. Which means that Monarch believes he can control us. My goal has been to free us. To be in control of my own life. I learned today that I did not have the full story and I am reevaluating my plans for the future."

Alya stared at him. "That is a bit more complicated than I was expecting."

"I know I have made no friends here with my actions. I do not intend to stick around too long. But first, Gabriel needs to go down."

"What are we going to do?" Alya asked. "What can we do?"

"If we can get any of the Miraculous free, I need one of you three to take it, regardless of which it is. We'll go over all of them and their strengths and weaknesses ahead of time and identify which ones you would be most comfortable with, so I can try to get that one to you when it happens."

"There is good news," Adrien added. "I got Monarch with a cataclysm, and since he took the lucky charm created to fight him that time, it hasn't been healed. It's slowly spreading." 

"It doesn't bother you that you might have killed your own father?" Kagami asked bluntly.

Adrien shook his head. "Chat Noir used Cataclysm on Monarch in an effort to take back the Miraculous he stole. I do not regret that action. And..." he sighed. "He's only really started to truly feel like a father recently... becoming Monarch changed his personality and I hate it. It feels false, like his true nature is going to be revealed at any moment. And that was before I knew he doesn't truly care for me because he believes me to just be a sentibeing." 

"...oh." Kagami looked to be deep in thought.

Adrien knew that she was often conflicted about her feelings towards her mother, and they often discussed things just to be sure they weren't the only ones, even if their reactions to those emotions tended to be different. 

He hoped this helped her figure out how she wanted to approach her life. Caring about family and doing things for them was all well and good. So long as they cared about their children in return. Like how Marinette helped out in the bakery, but her parents still let her live her own life and encouraged her passion with fashion.

Nino gave Adrien a sympathetic look. "Dude, that's rough. What can I do? When are we going to take down Monarch?"

Adrien lit up and smirked. "Actually, I have an idea... we lure him to a location of our choosing because I'm there. I refuse to budge because I'm only moving if he's going to take me home. Something about wanting him to prove he does actually care about me."

Marinette nodded slowly. "The rest of us can be in hiding, me as Ladybug, Felix as... Argos, was it?"

Felix nodded. 

"And the three of you as yourselves. I want to see what Gabriel does when talking to Adrien, hopefully we can get him to transform into Monarch if we have a private enough location..."

"If I ask about Mom... Maybe Felix told me something and I want to know the truth from my dad... That might get him to reveal himself."

"Then when he transforms, you three attack with... hmm. A water gun, paint bombs, a paint gun, something that will throw him off balance and make him angry."

"At that point, I'll slip away to become Chat Noir, and since this is meant to be our final encounter with him, if I can't slip away, it doesn't matter that much, I'll transform anyways."

"I'll join the fight, and before anything else, our goal is to get as many of the rings off of him as possible, if you could come up with a sentibeing that could help, Felix, that would be perfect."

"Why the rings first?" Alya asked.

"He could unify as much as he wants. The more he does the harder it is on him, even as an adult but he could do up to I think five without much issue. So, the more rings we take away, the less he has access to," Adrien explained.

"Actually," Marinette said, tapping her chin. "You two could say you know Adrien wants to confront his father, but also doesn't want to go home and get most of our classmates on board. They can assist in getting the rings. Plus Luka. Yes, we'll want Luka..."

"Why Luka?" Alya frowned. 

"We'll need Viperion." 

Nino stared at Marinette, then looked between her, Adrien, Kagami, and Alya. "Oooh, have all our classmates been a holder?"

"Yes." Marinette nodded. "And I'm not going to specify who. It is going to be a free for all once we free the Miraculous."

"Nathalie will help. I'll consult her on the status of the kwamis. We might want to come supplied with food."

"That's a good point." Marinette agreed. 

"...considering the planning, and you being Chat Noir, I'm surprise you didn't rebel against your father sooner," Felix told Adrien.

Adrien sighed. "I should have," he admitted. "I knew he was wrong. Especially after seeing how everyone else's parents were not so strict with them, even when in trouble... but Felix... you have to understand. After Mom disappeared? All I had was that house, Nathalie, Gorilla, and sometimes Chloe. And my father. When I went for shoots, I was not allowed to linger and actually talk with people. Everything was business. I was used to it. He controlled my life and I did not know how to handle anything better." 

"Oh... I guess that makes sense. Hard to break out of what you consider normal."

"Yeah. I was rebelling, not much, but a little. I occasionally had parties and snuck out. I was Chat Noir and not in my room all the time like he thought. I was becoming my own person, just not at the rate people expected of me."

Felix winced and looked away. "I'm sorry I pressured you so much to be like me. It's clear you never could be, and I should have tried other methods to get you to see."

"It's okay. You're not the only one to make that mistake. Right now? I just want to take down Monarch so I can start figuring out what my life even looks like." 

"Right. So let's get cracking on the details." Alya said, grinning. She had been waiting to be able to take down Monarch, and Marinette and Adrien had a good idea. She just hoped it would work.

.

Ladybug looked over those who could make it and smirked. This would be a good team, even without Chloe and Sabrina. She was not getting into Lila, not even close. She and Adrien still needed to devise a plan for that, but that was for after Monarch's defeat.

"Um, why isn't Marinette here? This is for Adrien." Mylene asked shyly. 

"There's a good reason for that, and you might know by the end of the day," Ladybug responded calmly. "We don't have time to focus on something like that. For now, let's help Adrien with his father."

"And what about him?" Rose pointed at Argos.

"I'm Argos. I'm the one who traded the Miraculous for the Peacock. I have realized my mistake and I will be making up for it the rest of my life. I count myself lucky that Ladybug is giving me a chance," Argos replied smoothly as if he had rehearsed it. Knowing him, he probably had.

Those who were in the know were not surprised when Monarch showed up rather than Gabriel.

Adrien looked up, frowning. "You're not my father." He really could be a great actor when it counted.

"Oh, yes I am, Adrien." Monarch briefly dropped his transformation before going back. "Now, where has your cousin gone?"

Adrien's eyes widened. "I-I don't know. We had some... things to discuss. Then he disappeared. I swear!" He was channeling Quinlan's memories to get the act right. There was no way he could handle it otherwise.

Monarch hummed. "I do believe you are telling me the truth... But it is time you come home Adrien."

"I don't want you to take me home. Not when you're Monarch."

"When I get the Ladybug and Cat Miraculous I will get a wish that will bring your mother back, and we better both be there!"

"No! You're just hurting a lot of people because you're selfish and unable to let her go!" 

"But I am going to bring her back! Don't you want your mother Adrien?"

"Of course I do! But this isn't right!" Adrien felt like he was getting too emotional. He could feel tears coming to his eyes. He didn't have room for emotions here. He had to calm down. He drew on his practice at meditating and letting go to calm down. Being a Jedi in a past life was very useful.

Monarch sighed. "So you would like to do this the hard way? Adrien, I am not asking. I am ordering. You will come with me."

Adrien took in a deep breath and lifted his chin. "No." It was hard to tell his father no, even now, but his father appearing as Monarch made it a lot easier.

"What?" Monarch gaped.

Adrien smirked. "Felix and I had a good conversation. My mom lied. We're real kids, not sentibeings."

"Then..."

Adrien crossed his arms. "Congrats, I knew just who you were before you arrived, Father. I'm not going home."

Crossing his arms was the signal.

The only ones not surprised by all this, Argos, Nino, Alya, and Kagami started with their weapons of choice first. 

Admittedly, it was rather comical seeing Monarch getting splattered with paint balls, water balloons, and water guns. 

He was very surprised as he spun to face the attack.

Adrien ducked away to transform and wait his cue.

Ladybug watched the rest of the group plus Luka, Zoe, and Marc join in and advance on Monarch. She was proud of them all and their willingness to face Monarch without a Miraculous. That, more than anything, proved that they were worthy of Miraculous. 

She spotted Chat Noir, ready to go.

Ladybug jumped in, got her yo-yo wrapped around him.

Chat Noir rushed in and started yanking off rings, tossing them at Alya, Kagami, and Nino. 

Alya glanced at the Kwami that appeared. She was relieved the trickiest part of the plan had worked. They had to rely on Nathalie to convince Gabriel that if he was going to go out as Monarch he should make sure to bring the powers of all the kwamis with him.

"Luka! Catch!" she called. 

Luka spun and caught the ring, surprised. He stared down at the ring, and at Sass, who looked exhausted but relieved to see him. Remembering the stash of snacks with oddly specific food, Luka darted over and grabbed one for Sass. 

Ladybug glanced over, relieved. "Good! Luka! We'll need you! Don't worry about identities. We intend to make this the last fight."

Luka let out a sigh of relief. He had wondered why Marinette had shown up as Ladybug for Adrien confronting his father. They had to have known. And now he didn't need to worry about protecting those identities anymore. That would make this far easier. 

By the time Luka was Viperion, Alya had claimed the Goat, Kagami had the Tiger, and Nino had the Mouse, of all Miraculous.

Another few minutes, and Juleka ended up with the Dragon. Viperion had a moment of worry for his twin, but she didn't hesitate before slipping the ring on and going for it. Zoe got the Monkey, to her surprise, though that did not stop her. Nathaniel got the Horse. 

Chat Noir got the Rooster and tossed it blindly. Mylene grabbed it and hesitated only for a second before putting it on.

It was then that Monarch broke free of Chat Noir and Ladybug.

"Now, Viperion!" Ladybug called. 

Viperion activated Second Chance.

Time to defeat Monarch.

.

At first, things were going well. Monarch stuck with only the Bull. Then he added the other remaining ones and the fight got so much more difficult.

The chaos of everyone fighting with a Miraculous they weren't used to was difficult to follow at first, and Viperion had to use Second Chance multiple times to sort it out and start helping Ladybug with directing them.

Everyone was determined to fight off Monarch, so much so that even those without Miraculous did not hesitate to fight back. 

Monarch used Fetch, and bounced the ball off of Ladybug's earrings.

Viperion prepared to use Second Chance once more, but he spotted smirks on both Ladybug and Chat Noir's face and decided to wait.

A few second later, Monarch had the ball and the earrings. He stared down at Marinette. "You!" He seethed.

Marinette smiled cheekily. "Me." 

The others came to a stop, stunned to see Marinette was Ladybug.

"You corrupted my son! You stole him from me!"

"I did no such thing," Marinette countered swiftly, drawing herself straight, tall and confident. It was different than any time any of the others had seen her as such. "You drove him away yourself."

Monarch moved to strike at her. 

Marinette, faster than should have been possible, stepped out of the way, smirking. It was like she knew it was coming.

"What?"

Marinette laughed. "There are secrets to the Miraculous that you will only unlock if your kwami trusts you enough. Few references exist, which means you won't know the right questions to ask to order them to tell you." 

"So there is more I could learn, huh..." Monarch was very thoughtful.

Marinette used his distraction to pull two more rings off without touching him. She then flung them. Rose got the the Bee. Max got the Fox. He looked a bit bewildered about to get the Fox but went with it. It was the best way to help, after all.

Monarch yelled with rage and attacked Marinette again. She started jumping around and dodging without hesitation.

"How dare you!"

Marinette laughed. "Come on, Monarch. We've been fighting for months. And you've been being bested by a teenage girl your son's age. How does that make you feel? Besides... you haven't even put the earrings on."

"Wait, where did Adrien go?" Monarch stopped, looking around frantically. 

"I'm right here." Chat Noir said firmly, staring his father straight in the eyes. "So I know just how much you're willing to sacrifice for me. I refuse to let you do this." 

Monarch was adequately distracted by this revelation.

Rose rushed in with Venom.

Monarch froze.

"Nicely done." Marinette grinned. 

With Chat Noir's help, they removed each of the Miraculous

Marinette placed the earrings back on. "Tikki, spots on!" She spun happily once she was transformed.

Then she made a Lucky Charm and used it so that the damage the fight caused was gone.

Gabriel stumbled and looked down at his hands. "What did you do?" he demanded. 

Ladybug placed the Butterfly Miraculous in her yo-yo. "We won," she said simply. "You lost."

"No one's going to believe you. You have no proof."

"Except they do." Nathalie said, walking over. "I have been recording the whole time. Police are on their way to the mansion as we speak. You are done, Gabriel." 

"You can't do this to me! I'm dying!"

"Are you?" Nathalie raised an eyebrow.

Gabriel lifted his sleeve and stared at the unmarred skin. "How?"

Chat Noir leaned on his baton. "It's simple really. Nathalie got us the Lucky Charm Ladybug used that day. Ladybug used it right before setting up for the trap. I'm surprised you didn't notice."

Gabriel growled and rolled down his sleeve, facing his arrest with dignity. 

Ladybug turned to the gathered people. "You may claim your Miraculous and transform if you wish. I see no reason to keep them from you, for now. You have all proven worthy of them, for how none of you hesitated when confronted with Monarch. Nor did you hesitate when you got the 'wrong' Miraculous. Good job all of you. We could not have done it without you."

There was a mad scramble as they called out their Miraculous and claimed it, delighted to see their Kwamis once more.

Ladybug chuckled at some of the surprised reactions as her friends realized who was who.

Chat Noir wrapped an arm around Ladybug. "We did it. We finally did it, Milady."

"We did. All thanks to you, Kitty Cat."

"You did most of the work."

"You pulled off a Paw-tastic purr-formance."

"Ooh, trying your paw at puns are you?" Chat  Noir teased.

Ladybug elbowed him. "I had to do it at some point." 

They didn't have anymore time to tease each other as an impromptu interview was requested. 

"Can you confirm your identities?"

Chat Noir and Ladybug shared one look.

"Yes, we can." Chat Noir nodded once. "Plagg, Claws in." He caught Plagg and fed him some cheese. "I'm Adrien Agreste."

Marinette was already herself. "And I am Marinette Dupain-Cheng." 

As the interview really got started, Marinette was grateful they had made the choice to tell her parents that morning and explained that due to some special holder thing, knew that they were soulmates. 

It would make things a lot less awkward after they finally got out of this chaos.

.

It took a long time for the chaos in the aftermath to die down. 

After all, they had revealed all identities with their plan. Including their own. 

Learning that Chat Noir and been going against his father the whole time and hadn't realized it brought a lot of skepticism.

With Marinette's support, Adrien agreed to an interview where he explained it all.

He laid out how lonely had been. How he almost didn't get to go to school, and some of the instances where his father considered removing him from school. How it was a good thing he got Plagg at that time, or he might never have had the courage to grow into his own person. Being Chat Noir was freeing.

Adrien then explained all the oddities of his father, all the reasons he never suspected his father was Monarch, particularly that one time Monarch let himself be targeted by a villain and ended up almost flying himself off a building, believing himself to be an airplane.

And then suddenly he was out of words, holding back tears and looking down.

Marinette finished the story for him, explaining the truth about his mother's disappearance, how they did put it together, but knew they had to be careful how they proceeded. After all, Gabriel did try to claim no one would believe them at the scene of the arrest. 

Adrien then added he was seeking therapy but being Chat Noir and famous as his civilian self was making it difficult to find the right fit. 

There were still people skeptical as to how he didn't know his own father was Monarch. Surely he had covered it up for his father until enough was enough, right? 

But most of the group who had believed that went silent after the interview. It was clear that Adrien had not had a normal childhood and that it affected his own view of his father, making it difficult for him to move on.

With Nathalie advocating for Adrien and cooperating fully, she was able to get off with hefty fines and community service. 

Adrien was grateful that this meant that Nathalie could be his guardian. He had been nervous about having a stranger be in charge or people he wasn't so certain about it. And he couldn’t impose on Marinette’s family; it was a little weird with them dating.

School didn't change much, although their class was now famous for being all Miraculous wielders. Well, aside from Lila, Chloe, and Sabrina. 

Sabrina didn't say anything, but Marinette quietly gave her the Dog Miraculous one day when they were alone so that she could continue being a part of the team if they were needed.

Everyone knew Chloe had a Miraculous at one point. How she blew all her chances looked even worse knowing that Ladybug was one of those she bullied, and Chat Noir was actually Adrien.

Lila was furious. Now she knew why so many of her plans regarding Chat Noir, Ladybug, Adrien, and Marinette kept falling apart. They saw sides of her that most didn't. And now she had no good way to get a hold of the Butterfly Miraculous like she'd wanted. She had a whole plan that had to be scrapped now that Gabriel had been outed. Worse, Adrien and Marinette were now untouchable. Lila didn't think she'd be believed against them, not without getting pictures and videos that couldn't be proven to be faked.

There wasn't much use for Ladybug and Chat Noir with Monarch defeated, but since superheroes existed for more reasons than a Miraculous getting out of hand, well. They expected they would be needed eventually.

So they kept in shape, alongside the other superheroes. 

One night, months later, Chat Noir found Ladybug on the Eiffel Tower. He dropped down to sit next to her.

"Been a wild year, huh?"

"No kidding." Ladybug wrapped an arm around him.

Chat Noir sighed happily as he leaned in. "Wonder what the rest of our lives will bring."

"Who knows. What ever it is, we'll face it together as partners and soulmates."

"Together." Chat Noir agreed.