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Marinette says goodbye to Alya and Nino as she usually does, holding Adrien's hand and guiding him to his motorcycle.
Her eyes were still swollen from all the crying earlier; she could still hear the millions of voices that had convinced her to accept evil just to get Adrien back.
"How could I have been so weak… so… selfish?"
She gets lost in her own thoughts, barely noticing that Adrien was trying to call her.
"— Mari!"
He calls her a little louder, and she finally looks at him. The usually bright, vibrant blue was now dull, like a waveless, empty sea. He frowns, gently touching his girlfriend's face, a sad smile appearing on his lips.
"— We need to talk… don't we?" she asks in a whisper, her voice quieter, her eyes already filling with tears again. "I don't know how many times I've seen you today it was really you, Adrien, but one of those times you asked me to tell the truth… and really… I… haven't been telling you the truth."
Adrien felt a tightness in his chest; part of him was afraid of anything Marinette might say. The pain he'd felt seeing her copy kiss Nino earlier had almost torn his heart apart. Perhaps he wasn't ready to hear that she truly didn't love him anymore.
He needed at least a few more minutes.
Adrien brushed the girl's bangs aside, placing a kiss on her forehead and hugging her tightly.
" — I know how hard it is for you to find the courage to say the things that are stuck in your heart, Mari… I'm proud of you for being strong right now. Let's just go home first and then we'll have this conversation, okay?"
He said in a calm, low tone. He needed time, and giving the girl more time to choose her words would avoid further confusion during the conversation.
"— Perfect, that's better." She agrees, sniffing and wiping away the tears that had involuntarily welled up. She turns around, putting on her helmet; he does the same, and they both get on the motorcycle, heading towards the Agreste mansion.
Marinette feels her heart pounding. She doesn't remember anything she did while akumatized, but she can feel the coldness and emptiness that has settled in her body since she gave in to the holder of the butterfly miraculous. Throughout the journey to her boyfriend's house, Marinette can't stop thinking about what she's about to reveal, nor can she stop thinking about how she can't continue living like this. Every time in the past, when she dreamed of being with Adrien, she promised to be the best girl in his life, that she would take care of him and be honest with him.
She needed to tell the truth.
They arrive at the house, the automatic gate opening as soon as Nathalie recognizes them on the camera. They both get off the motorcycle and enter hand in hand. Gorilla greets them without a word, as always, and Nathalie immediately leaves the office, noticing the distress on the faces of both teenagers.
"— Are you two alright? Did something happen at school today?" Natalie asks worriedly, looking directly at Marinette.
The young woman holds her gaze, taking her bag off her back and picking up the letter. Nathalie holds her breath for a few seconds and then slowly releases it, closing her eyes and adjusting the position of her glasses.
"— I'll ask Gorilla to bring something from Dupain's bakery for you, go upstairs and take a shower." She approaches them both, placing her hand on their shoulders. "Don't be long in coming to eat… I'll be downstairs if you need anything."
Marinette bites her lip, looking at the floor and clutching the letter in her hands.
Adrien looks at his girlfriend, at the letter, and then at Nathalie, nodding and putting an arm around Marinette's waist, pulling her closer.
"— Thank you, Natalie. We won't be late."
They go up to Adrien's room, putting away their bags. Marinette places the letter on the boy's bed and looks at him. He looks at the letter again, swallowing all the curiosity that insisted on consuming his mind. He wanted to question it, wanted to open it and read what was written at once, but he wouldn't do that until Marinette allowed it.
"— First the shower, and then I'll tell you everything. I promise."
She says, and he obeys, grabbing the towels, sorting out the clothes, and entering the bathroom with the girl.
Perhaps the hot water, or the enclosed space itself, but something makes the problem awaiting them outside disappear for a moment.
For a moment, Marinette becomes adorably shy again. They had been showering together for months, and yet the girl could barely look at Adrien while they tried to wash themselves. It was adorable.
He washes the girl's dark hair, helping her relax after all the stress of the day. He sees when some tears mix with the shower water on the girl's face, but he says nothing; he didn't need to. They hug for long minutes, the stress, anxiety, and fear going down the drain along with the water.
The skin-to-skin contact works its magic, sending all negative feelings away, though only for a few moments.
He loved her.
And he was sure she loved him too.
Whatever she was going to reveal had nothing to do with it.
They leave the bathroom, dressing calmly. Marinette finishes first and sits on the bed with the letter in her hands. She feels the bed sink as he sits in front of her, silently waiting for her to start the conversation.
"— I made… two vows," she begins, and he listens attentively as if, at that moment, only the two of them existed on earth. "One of them broke more times than I should have. The other I tried not to break, but I can't. I can't do that to you, Adrien. It's your right to know the truth, especially when you're so attached to it."
He wonders if she can hear his heartbeat, unaware that she's asking herself the same question.
"— Maybe… I have to break both vows at once with you now, but I won't regret it. You're the person I trust most in the world, I want a life by your side, and I won't build our relationship on lies, omissions, and half-truths." She says it all at once, without stuttering, without faltering. She pauses for a few seconds and finally says what had been tormenting her since that day.
“— Gabriel Agreste… wasn't a hero. He was Monarch."
The silence that follows is deafening. Adrien feels everything inside him crumble at once. He's grateful they're sitting down. He was sure that if they were still at the school gate, he would have fallen to the ground.
A bitter taste rises on his tongue, his breathing becomes heavier.
He was so confused.
"— What… how… how do you know that?" he asks in a trembling voice, looking her in the eyes.
She hesitates again, looking away and then giving up on listening to all the negative voices in her brain, at least this time.
"— Because I'm Ladybug."
There was no ground left to fall from. Adrien felt suspended in mid-air; nothing made sense, but at the same time, everything made sense too. He was right. He just hadn't expected so many layers to it.
And then he remembers.
All the times Marinette was deplorable. Her sunken eyes, the week she hadn't shown up at school that coincided with the theft of all the Miraculous, the week after Monarch's defeat (his own father) when Marinette had lost several pounds and everyone was worried about her mental state.
He remembers that day, he was trapped, unable to help Ladybug in the final direct confrontation with Monarch, how she fought alone, the destruction he had caused, and yet she came out alive…
Alive…
But completely broken inside.
He remembers how he blamed her for not doing anything to save Gabriel…
And how could she? How could she save the being who tried to destroy the world and kill them countless times?
A single tear rolls down the boy's face.
He continues to look at her, watching her extend the letter to him. He feels more afraid to open it now than he did when he thought it was a confession about Marinette no longer loving him.
"My son, if you're reading this letter, it means I'm with your mother. I sacrificed everything to save Émilie. I was Monarch. I did all I could to seize the Miraculous of the Ladybug and the Black Cat. With their powers, I could have brought your mother back, but I failed. My son, it's your turn now to continue my mission. Don't worry, you'll have help. Nathalie will explain. You will seize the Miraculous of that wretched Ladybug and her pathetic partner, Chat Noir, and you will make the wish to bring your mother and me back. You will be perfect. I know these revelations will turn your life completely upside down. It was the case for your mother and me when we first found out about the Miraculous. But we never regretted harnessing the Peacock…"”
He bites his lip hard to keep from sobbing loudly. A stream of tears cascading down his emerald eyes.
Marinette hesitantly approaches, and it is he who throws himself into her arms, finally crying loudly.
Adrien now understood all the coldness, all the malice in the eyes of the man who once dreamed that could love him. Adrien now understood the cruelty, the imprisonment, the extreme control over every step he took.
He never had a chance to be free because his own father wanted him to be like him.
He had already overcome the grief, he had understood that his mother was in a better place, but his father was not. Gabriel was never able to overcome Émilie's death, and Adrien wondered…
“— Was it his fault…? Her death. Was it his fault too?” He asks between sobs.
“— Yes and no… it's not just that, Adrien…”
Marinette was also crying; seeing her beloved so desperate, in so much pain, was hurting her too much, and she was about to get even worse.
“— Your mother couldn't have children, Adrien… and around the same time they found that out, your mother found the Peacock Miraculous… capable of creating any sentient being.”
Adrien didn't need anything more to be said, staring at his own hands in shock.
" — I-I…am I a sentimonster?!" he asks aloud, and Marinette holds his hands tightly.
"— No. You're not a monster. You are your mother's greatest wish, the only thing she ever wanted, and the universe took it from her, but she found a way to have you anyway," she says, tears blurring both their vision. "You are my wish upon the shooting stars, you are Adrien, and just as I had to tell another me, you think for yourself, you feel, and you are, no matter how you came to be. You are human just like anyone else."
For long minutes, Adrien just cries, trying to absorb all the information. They remain in the same position for what seems like an eternity. Marinette holds the boy in her arms with all the strength she can muster, crying along with him.
Because it was indeed the end of the world when she herself discovered all these things, and it wouldn't be any different for him. It's just that she would be the support she herself didn't have.
"—Why didn't you tell me before...?" He asks after a long time of just crying, and Marinette lets out a bitter laugh.
"—Look at how we are, love… Look how much of your life has been surrounded by things you had no idea about. It's too much, and I knew it would destroy you. The last thing I want in my life is to see you like this. I was afraid you would hate me forever, but today I realized it would be worse if I kept hiding it, because then you wouldn't be able to look me in the eyes again." She calmly strokes the boy's golden hair, looking at the ceiling as she continues speaking. " Above all, I was doing exactly what everyone who has hurt you does, hiding from you what everyone hides, and that never was and never will be right."
"—I've had to face so many things alone since I became Ladybug. I thought I could handle this one too, but that's not how it works… I've made this mistake before… with Chat Noir, I never told him anything even though… for all these months he was the only one who was truly by my side through every battle… every time I was afraid I wouldn't be able to fix everything… he was there for me, to remind me that I could… I don't want to make the same mistake with you as I did with him, darling.”
The words hit him twice as hard for obvious reasons. Adrien tightens his arms around the girl's waist, burying his face further in her stomach.
“— He wasn't there for you at several points… especially the most important one, you faced… my father… alone…” Marinette listens attentively to every word so as not to miss anything with Adrien's muffled voice, she notices how convinced he seems in what he says.
“— Don't say it like that. It wasn't his fault… Plagg… his kwami told me he was too injured to help me…”
“— He was imprisoned. Without access to what was happening in the real world, his father imprisoned him once again.”
Marinette doesn't answer, trying to understand where all the certainty in Adrien's voice came from, and then finally connects the dots.
"— C-Chat…?" she calls, and he looks at her, his eyes swollen but still as determined as Chat Noir's always seemed.
"— M'lady," he replies, and soon more tears stream down his face. Adrien hides again, sobbing once more.
And she hugs him tightly. Because at that moment they couldn't do anything but comfort each other. They had the responsibility of keeping an entire city safe from the threats of an adult when they themselves were just teenagers, trying to live their lives and be happy.
Because at that moment, Adrien finally understood that his entire life had been controlled by some object he didn't yet know what it was. At that moment, he discovered that his father had terrorized all of Paris because he never accepted the guilt of allowing his mother to use a broken Miraculous and die because of that mistake. He understood that probably more people knew, that many were unknowingly following in Gabriel Agreste's footsteps, but Marinette noticed and was honest. At that moment, he had gained everything he most wanted from the two people he had left to love unconditionally:
Honesty.
And he loved her for that. Because he knew she would never be able to manipulate his view of the world, even if it hurt her, even if she risked being hated by him if he didn't understand the whole situation, she still preferred to be sincere because she knew he didn't deserve to live with more and more lies.
He stood up again, holding the girl's face in his hands and kissing her deeply.
Because it was the end of the world his father had built for him, dictating his every step and trying to keep Adrien on a leash.
But the beginning of a world built by Adrien Agreste himself, where he could know everything and do whatever he wanted in relation to what he discovered and felt.
They walked to the dining room, both with eyes so swollen it was difficult to keep them open.
Nathalie still didn't ask. She remained quiet when she saw them, when Marinette gave a half-smile, and when Adrien hugged her tightly.
It was the moment for the two young people to understand each other and decide what was best to do from then on. Nathalie would be there for any questions they had later. But in that single instant, she could only watch them eat their sweets in silence, hand in hand.
Because the dawn is darkest just before the sun rises.