Something was wrong.

Marinette could feel it in the pit of her stomach. Call it a woman's intuition, but she knew something wasn't right.

After evacuating like Chat had urged, Marinette was insistent on waiting at a distance where she could still see the Agreste mansion. Alya and Nino were hesitant regarding her request and had a good reason for their hesitance. After their near death experiences and the anticipated war that could arise between Hawkmoth and Chat Noir, they wanted to get away as far as possible.

Marinette was just as hesitant, but for an entirely different reason. She was worried about Adrien. She was worried about him wielding both of their miraculouses at the same time. She was worried he wouldn't be able to defeat his father all by himself. She didn't want to leave him behind.

"Is Adrien going to be okay?" Emma asked from within her mother's tight embrace. A bit petrified by the events that had occurred thus far, Marinette hadn't let go of her daughter since she'd gotten her back, and Emma didn't necessarily want her mother to.

"I don't know, Mon Chéri."  Marinette whispered in response.

All Marinette could see from the distance she was at was the top of the Agreste mansion. She couldn't see the gates or even the courtyard. She had no idea what was happening.

Emma's arms tightened around her mother. "I don't want him to get hurt, Mama."

Marinette wanted to assure her daughter that he wouldn't be harmed... but she couldn't make that promise. Adrien being harmed was inevitable. Whether his father inflicted it on him or the miraculouses corrupted his soul...

Marinette shuddered at the thought. She could only hope he heeded her warning.

Alya and Nino stood by each other in silence. Nino had his arms wrapped around Alya, but Alya wasn't hugging him back. She was looking towards the mansion just like Marinette was, a sense of worry clouded in her irises.

Marinette wasn't sure if that worry was for Adrien's sake or theirs. She wouldn't bother to ask.

It look a long time before Chat Noir returned—or maybe it merely felt that way simply because of how anxious she was. When he landed on all fours atop the rooftop she had refused to leave seemingly unscathed, Marinette blinked at him unsurely. He was covered in bruises and scars, and blood was dripping from his brow.

Other than his visible injuries and his blank expression, he looked fine.

Marinette, however, knew better than to only rely on her eyes. She eyed him unsurely because her partner was still dawned as a superhero wielding both of their miraculouses combined. He hadn't de-transformed yet despite her warning.

He didn't speak when he landed in front of her. Marinette felt her daughter's grip tighten around her leg, but she couldn't bring herself to tear her eyes away from him.

He looked up at her and blinked once, his expression completely unreadable.

Marinette's eyebrows pinched together in concern. "Chat...? Are you okay?"

She watched as his throat bobbed when he swallowed. "I'm fine." He answered emotionlessly, but his voice was scratchy, as if he had worn it out by shouting too loud.

Her mouth fell agape as she intended to ask him if he was sure, but Nino quickly stepped forward, cutting off her unspoken words. "Did you defeat Hawkmoth?" His best friend asked him in a rather hopeful tone.

Adrien's eyes remained fixed on hers as he answered Nino. "Yes... I killed him."

There was hatred in Adrien's eyes. Marinette could see it clearly—and although that hatred wasn't directed at her, she felt a chill run down her spine just from his gaze alone.

"You... you killed him?" Alya's voice was uncertain as she spoke up. She looked horrified by learning such news. "You weren't supposed to kill him!"

Adrien's gaze snapped to her as he slowly inclined his head. "Why not?"

"What do you mean 'why not?' You weren't supposed to commit murder!"

Marinette watched as her partner's eyebrows dangerously furrowed. "That man deserved to die. You didn't hear all the things he said to me. You don't even know what he did."

"What did he do?" Marinette interjected quickly and kept her voice calm. She had reason to believe that Adrien was currently under the cursed magic of combining their two miraculouses, and she needed to make sure he wouldn't spiral out of control.

His gaze snapped to her again, his expression not even lightening in the slightest. "You know my father was going to kill me right? If I hadn't killed him, he would've killed me."

"I believe you." Mariette assured him. She wouldn't put that past Gabriel Agreste. Ever.

It was then when she noticed he had relaxed slightly, but it wasn't enough. His anger was still overpowering all of his senses. She could see it in his irises.

"Tell me what he did." Marinette murmured softly. She needed to know what had happened between Gabriel and Adrien during that battle.

Adrien's eyebrows pinched together as what she assumed to be the memories of his father's deeds resurfaced. Without saying another word, he reached into the leather side pocket of his suit and pulled out the butterfly brooch.

But it wasn't just Hawkmoth's miraculous in the palm of Adrien's hand when he extended it out for her to see. It was the peacock one too.

"He had two miraculouses... all this time." Adrien said before she could even question him. "He said the peacock belonged to my mother."

"So, why did he never wear the peacock miraculous?" Nino interjected curiously.

"It's broken."

Marinette's eyes widened at that. There were too many questions running through her mind at the moment. Where had Hawkmoth gotten ahold of those two miraculouses? How long had he had the peacock without her knowing?

Why had Emilie used it in the first place?

Adrien was glaring at the jewel in his hand like he wanted to finish the job and smash it into a million pieces. Marinette swallowed nervously. "Did... did he tell you how it broke?" She asked, "Did your mother accidentally break it?"

"It was no accident." Adrien clenched his fist around the jewel, and she visibly winced. He looked up to meet her eyes once again, his irises laced with fury. "What they did wasn't an accident."

Nino and Alya shared a confused look. Marinette, too, was also worriedly concerned.

"'They?'"

Adrien fixed his jaw. She could tell he was close to grinding his own teeth. "They ruined my life. My father and my mother are both to blame for all of this. They were selfish and didn't even care about me. They never cared about me!"

His sudden outburst shifted the air. It was suddenly chilly. Marinette licked her lips nervously. She didn't know much about what could happen if someone's soul was corrupted by the imbalance of their miraculouses, but she wasn't about to leave anything off the table.

Adrien was unpredictable, and so were his powers.

Gently, Marinette pried her daughter off of her leg. She made careful, steady steps towards Adrien, her hands outstretched towards him. "Chat, your mother loved you a lot. Remember all of the stories you've told me about her? You have good memories with her—how can you say she never loved you?"

"Because she's selfish." Adrien seethed out. "She didn't even bother to think about how I would be affected by all of this when she decided to make me."

Marinette paused at that, her eyebrows pinching together once again. "'Make you?'"

Adrien's eyes narrowed, and he nodded once. "She made me." He repeated sharply, "She took this stupid miraculous..." he lifted the peacock miraculous, allowing it to be visible for them all. "Concocted some selfish desire without even considering anyone else—"

"No..." Marinette shuddered.

"—And created me." Adrien ignored her whispered horror. His eyes had quickly darkened, revealing just how much hatred he held for both of his parents. "I'm a sentimonster."

With a shake of his head, Nino stepped forward to interject. "You're not a monster dude—"

"I AM A MONSTER!" Adrien snapped. Whirling on his heel, he turned to face Nino head on, causing his best friend to stumble back in slight fear. "I'm not even human! My parents made me from magic and have been controlling me my WHOLE DAMN LIFE!"

A series of red and green flashes coursed through Chat Noir's leather, cracking like statics of electricity. The sight caused everyone around him to flinch, but Adrien didn't seem at all phased by the magic.

In fact, he seemed to be embracing it.

"Adrien, please calm down." Marinette tried pleading with him. "The miraculouses are unstable and you might hurt yourself."

"You don't understand." Adrien said as his eyes turned to hers again. "My father has been controlling me all this time. When I had a dream to leave for Paris—to become a professional pianist; to build my own music school... that was never my dream. It was just him controlling me."

Marinette let out a shuddered breath. It was almost impossible to believe... and yet...

"My father made me leave Paris. My father made me leave you." Adrien choked back a sob as he looked at her. His eyes were watering, but his anger wasn't subsiding. It was only intensifying.

"Adrien..." Marinette tried to reach out to him. She tried to comfort him. She needed to assure him that none of this was his fault.

But Adrien took a step back from her and shook his head. His expression radiated his guilt and his anger. "I-I can't. I...I don't even know what to do with myself right now. I'm so angry, and I-I don't want to hurt you."

His caution was valid, but she needed him to relent. "De-transform, Adrien." Marinette's eyes were pleading as she searched his. "Please."

Adrien shook his head at that. His gaze hardened ever-so-slightly. "I can't do that, Marinette."

Her eyebrows pinched together at that. Skeptically, her eyes narrowed at him. "Why not?"

"Because I have both of the miraculouses now. I could make a wish to set all of this right." Adrien explained somewhat eagerly, though his tone still held an edge to it. It seemed he was just as skeptical of her as she was of him. "I could wish myself to be someone real. To be human."

"You are real, Adrien, and you don't need a wish for that to be true." Marinette insisted.

"I'm a sentimonster. Nothing is real about me." Adrien's hatred-filled gaze hardened even further. "People have been controlling me all my life, but if I wished to be human, then that would never happen again. It could set everything right. We could start over."

Marinette's thoughts jumped to her daughter—the beautiful little girl that she and Adrien had created together, accidentally or not. A lot of hard and devastating things had happened since Adrien had left, but Marinette didn't want to turn back time. She didn't want to start over. Her daughter meant too much to her to make such a selfish decision.

"I don't want to start over." Marinette said sternly, "Starting over would mean erasing everything that has happened in the past between us. Including Emma."

Adrien didn't seem phased about the possibility of their daughter becoming non-existent. She wanted to believe it was simply because of the cursed magic of the merged miraculouses were clouding his better judgment, but...

He scoffed at her, revealing an eerie smile on his lips. "And I'm guessing, by that horrified look on your face, that you don't want to erase all the horrible memories of the past?"

She quickly tried to mask her horror by schooling her expression, but Adrien instantly noticed, and he laughed, the sound sending unpleasant chills down her spine. Marinette straightened her posture, hoping to seem determined despite the fear slowly chipping at her bones. "No, I don't, because surprisingly enough, I've grown as a person having to go through all of that."

"Well..." he chuckled darkly, "I suppose that makes you lucky to have gained something good out of all of this, doesn't it? Unlike you, however, luck has never been on my side. I got the shitty end of the stick."

"And despite that shitty end, you still have us." Marinette placed a hand on her chest, but she was referring to them all, even Alya and Nino. He still had her, and more importantly, a daughter who needed him. He still had so much to live for that didn't require the reliving of a haunting past.

"Do I?" His eyes were narrowed at her as he suddenly advanced towards her. Marinette didn't take a step back, as much as her instincts begged her to retreat.

"Yes, of course." Marinette's eyes softened at him despite her fear. "I thought I made that clear when we last talked about our situation."

"That was before you found out I was a sentimonster." Adrien eyes narrowed even further, almost into thin slits, as if he were scrutinizing her for any slight slip up. "But you're telling me that now that you know what I really am, things would still be the same between us? That you wouldn't see me any differently?"

She opened her mouth to instantly assure him that things couldn't possibly change any further, because she loved him, but she hesitated at the last second.

Yes, her love for him would never change, especially after all they had been through, but there were still so many doubts and uncertainties lingering about now that she was aware that he was a sentimonster. She saw him as a human even if he didn't, but it was impossible for her not to picture the horror of someone selfishly creating the man standing in front of her now.

She was tempted to ask him where his amok was... if he knew where it was. She was even selfishly contemplating to ask if she could keep the item that held his amok in her possession just so that he wouldn't ever leave her again.

All of these thoughts hit her right at once... and it all happened at the wrong time. Adrien, reading her hesitance and silence to be the unsaid answer to his question, scoffed and stepped away from her. "I knew it. You don't see me the same way."

Marinette's eyes quickly widened in horror. "No Adrien! It's not that—"

"Don't lie to me." Adrien seethed out. "All that assurance that I'm apparently real, and you don't even believe it yourself."

"You are real." Marinette insisted in a stern manner. "There is no doubt in my mind that you are real. Everything about our relationship was real, wasn't it?"

A flash of hesitance crossed his features as he considered her question. She knew that he would agree that everything about their relationship had been real. They had been undoubtably in love with each other.

They were still in love with each other.

She took his silence as an invitation for her to continue. "I've always considered us to be real, Adrien. The thought of you not being real has never crossed my mind because you are real to me. You always have been."

As she spoke her assurances, Marinette slowly approached him with careful steps. Adrien eyes had lifted to hers as he took in her words, his irises silently pleading with her to swear that what she was telling him was the truth. She silently nodded at him, her own irises pleading for him to believe her, because she wouldn't dare lie to him about this.

He let her approach him until they were centimeters apart. Adrien's breath hitched in his throat when Marinette reached up to place a hand to his cheek.

For a moment, there was a sense of longing and love swirling in his eyes, right in plain sight for her to see. It had her smiling because she believed she had finally reached through to him.

However, something in him snapped.

Adrien's gaze suddenly hardened, and then his hand snapped up to grab hers, his fingers squeezing around her hand unmercifully. "Did you really think that I would fall for this little trick of yours? That you would be able to grab your miraculous?"

It was then when she realized her fingers were only inches away from one of her earrings. She hadn't even thought about it before, but she could've snatched it right out of his ear.

She winced rather audibly when his grip around her hand only tightened. Through gritted teeth, she told him the honest truth. "I wasn't trying to take the miraculous from you."

"I don't believe you." Adrien said dangerously low. He slowly leaned in closer, his chilling breath lightly fanning her face. Marinette squeezed her eyes shut when his nose gently brushed against her cheek. He trailed it across her skin in tensed silence, as if to antagonize her.

Marinette held her breath as he did so. She wanted to pull away from him, but she decided against it.

Finally, after what seemed like a lengthy amount of time, Adrien pulled away from her and created an appropriate distance between them. Without even realizing just how tense she was, Marinette let out a breath she hadn't even realized she was holding. Her heartbeat was beating rapidly and had yet to cease even when she placed an open hand over her chest.

Adrien watched her do so with a smirk. She wasn't sure whether he felt accomplished for making her flustered or for making her afraid.

"I think I have a new wish." Adrien breathed out sinisterly. Marinette's eyes widened in horror when she realized he no longer had the same goal to set things right. "Instead of wishing for us to be how we once were, I think I'll wish for my mother to wake up... just like my father initially planned. Except, when she does wake up, I'll confront her with everything she's ever done to me, and then, I'll kill her."

Marinette's breath hitched in her throat. Her partner wasn't a murderer. The man she loved was not his father.

And yet, the cursed magic of the miraculouses combined was turning him more and more into someone she did not recognize by the second.

She needed to get those miraculouses off of him now.

Adrien's sinister laugh caused her eyebrows to furrow in determination. With a hand outstretched, she demanded him for the miraculouses. "Give me the miraculouses, Adrien. I'm not about to let you waste your wish on murdering someone."

His gaze hardened and his eyes narrowed into thin slits. "'You're not going to let me?'" With a dark chuckle that's intension was mocking, he raised a hand and called out his cataclysm. Black magic instantly pooled into the palm of his hand, flickering like static of electricity. "Who has all the power right now, Marinette?"

She forced herself not to flinch as her eyes darted to his power. She wanted to believe that he wouldn't dare use it on her, but that would be foolish of her.

Adrien had just threatened to revive his mother, only so that he could kill her. There was a good chance that if Marinette stood in his way, he would kill her too.

Her eyes flickered up to his. Adrien was still looking at her, a smirk now on his lips. "If you want the miraculouses, you're going to have to rip them off of me."

Marinette's fists clenched at her sides, and she returned his smirk. "Challenge accepted."

Adrien's smirk widened, revealing just how much of a game he was willing to make this into. It wasn't the first time he had challenged her to something—especially when they were once a duo of crime fighting superheroes.

But this game wouldn't just be all about fun. Accepting it seemed to come with a chilling condition. Because in Adrien's smirk, there lied something else other than amusement. There was a grave amount of loathing behind it too.

Before Marinette could even consider her next move, Adrien suddenly lunged at her with his palm carrying his cataclysm extended. Marinette quickly jumped out of the way, but behind her  had been Alya, Nino and her daughter. She heard Alya scream as she jumped out of the way with Emma pressed against her chest. Nino wrapped his arms around Alya, intending to shield Alya from Adrien if he even tried to advance.

Thankfully, Adrien didn't intend to harm any of them. His gaze was entirely set on Marinette. He now saw her as a threat trying to disrupt his mission, and he wasn't going to let anyone stop him from completing his wish.

Her biggest problem was that she didn't have her miraculous. Right now, Marinette was just a civilian, and that put her in a lot of trouble.

They were on top of a rooftop, and Adrien intended to settle things here. It was her, a simple baker's daughter and independent designer, up against someone who was wielding the two most powerful miraculouses known to any miraculous wielder.

To the common eye, she didn't stand a chance. But Marinette had one advantage.

She knew how to get underneath his skin.

"Get Emma out of here!" Marinette waved a hand at Alya and Nino, insisting with a shout that they leave immediately. Adrien didn't seem interested in harming them, but she wouldn't put it past him if his unhinged behavior caused him to make unnational decisions—like using their daughter as leverage to get what he wanted.

"What about you?!" Alya shouted back despite Nino's attempts at pulling her away. "You don't have a miraculous—how are you supposed to defeat him?!"

Adrien snickered sinisterly. Marinette attempted to discreetly swallow the lump in her throat.

Nino tugged on Alya's arm again, insisting in a whispered tone that they should leave. Alya sent Marinette a hesitant look. Emma had her face tucked into the crook of Alya's neck, too afraid to even look up at her own mother. After a tense prolonged silence, Alya agreed to leave with a silent nod.

Marinette turned to look froward at Adrien again. She didn't even turn to look back over her shoulder to see if her friends and her daughter had gotten down from the roof safely. She kept her hardened gaze focused entirely on Adrien instead, who was wickedly grinning at her from ear-to-ear.

Marinette exhaled slowly to calm her rapidly beating heart. She already had a plan, but it required her to get closer to Adrien.

Adrien's chilling laughter broke through her thoughts. "This would be so much easier if you would just support me, Marinette."

"I've always supported you, Adrien." Marinette made sure to remind him of that. Even when he had ended their relationship, she still supported his dreams to build a music school in America and to become a worldwide known pianist. "But you can't expect me to support you now when you plan to destroy the world."

Adrien mockingly laughed at that. "'Destroy the world?' Now you're just being dramatic."

"What do you think will happen when you make that wish? You might get what you want, but someone else will lose what they had."

His smile didn't falter, but his eyes softened ever-so-slightly. She pressed onward when she caught a glimpse of the real him. "What would happen if because of your wish, I was the one who lost everything? What if reviving your mother killed me? Or our daughter?"

Adrien quickly straightened his posture and sent her a glare. "It wouldn't do that."

"You don't know that! You would be taking an incredibly big risk... and for what?"

With a growl of utter frustration, Adrien lunged at her again. Marinette successfully avoided him, but there wasn't much room for her to run on top of that roof. Her foot slipped as she neared too close to the edge and she stumbled slightly, almost losing her footing, but she quickly regained her balance before she could topple over the edge.

Adrien gave her no time to consider her next move. He whipped out his—her—yoyo and flung it in her direction. The wire wrapped around her ankle and he forcefully tugged, sending her flying backwards. With a loud BANG, the back of her head hit the zinc mental roofing.

She saw stars in her vison for a brief moment before she realized Adrien was looming over her. He was blocking the sun from blinding her with his figure, but that left her having no choice but to stare up into his eyes. And they were a horrifying sight.

"You don't stand a chance against me like this." Adrien said lowly, "You might as well just give up and stand out of my way so that I can make this wish."

Marinette forced out an amused huff despite how much her lungs ached. "In your dreams."

His gaze hardened once again and his voice rose in agitation. "Why can't you just let me have this one thing?! Why do you have to get in the way?!"

"Because I don't want you committing murder... again!"

With another angered shout, his hand which held his cataclysm came soaring down towards her face. Marinette quickly rolled out of the way to avoid his deathly magic.

She stood to her feet and tried to run around him... but Adrien was quicker. He turned on his heel and crossed in front of her, pressing his leather chest up against her own. Marinette's breath hitched for all the wrong reasons, and when Adrien realized this, he grinned.

Without warning, he wrapped his yoyo around her, the wire circling around her body and encasing her to him. Marinette tried to struggle out of his grasp, but with her arms tied to her sides, she couldn't escape the hold of her own yoyo no matter how hard she tried.

Adrien leaned in close to her face. "And you thought you would defeat me, huh?"

Marinette's eyes simply locked with his, refusing to waver. For what felt like an eternity, Adrien and Marinette had a silent stare down where neither of their eyes dared to avert from the other. For a moment, Marinette thought she could put her original plan to rest when his eyes briefly flickered down to her lips several times throughout that silence.

But then he scoffed and slowly moved to pull away, and that's when Marinette realized it was now or never.

Without warning, Marinette surged forward and pressed her lips firmly against his. Adrien's eyes widened in absolute shock, caught off guard by her sudden instigated affection, and that was all Marinette needed. With him caught off guard, the wire around her body loosened, allowing her to wiggle out of his trap and free her arms.

But she didn't pull away.

Marinette wove her arms over his shoulders and around his neck, pulling him even closer to her. Adrien, finally succumbing to what was happening, didn't try to pull away much to her relief. He soon closed his eyes and wrapped one arm around her waist, pressing her to himself as close as he possibly could. She found herself smiling against his mouth when he took it upon himself to tilt his head and deepen their kiss.

They kissed for what felt like an eternity, and during that time, they strived to reconnect. They hadn't properly kissed since he had left all those years ago, and even when Chat Noir had kissed her in her bedroom without her permission, it hadn't felt anything like this.

Marinette's fingers worked their way through his scalp and Adrien pulled back slightly, only so that he could let out a breathless shudder against her lips which fanned her mouth with a cold, gentle gush of air. Marinette audibly sighed against his mouth, even when they separated for a moment for air.

She held him close from the back of his neck as she pressed her forehead against his. Adrien's eyes fluttered closed when their foreheads made contact and he sighed, seemingly sounding content.

She wasn't sure what he was thinking, but she hoped his thoughts had strayed far from murder. The arm which still held his cataclysm was still buzzing at his side.

Marinette leaned in to press a delicate kiss to the corner of his mouth. "I love you, Adrien. I never stopped loving you. I don't care what you are or who you are... I just love you."

Adrien let out a shudder as he listened to her words. She thought he might pull away then, accusing her of lying and possibly not believe a word that left her lips, but instead, she felt his hand tighten around her waist.

"I love you too." He whispered dangerously close to her lips.

Marinette inclined her head slightly so that their lips could brush. Adrien tried to chase her lips for another kiss, but Marinette leaned back ever-so-slightly to catch a glimpse at his face. Adrien opened his eyes, quickly finding hers and searching for an explanation. Marinette moved one of her hands to place against his cheek, and this time, he eagerly leaned into it.

"I need you." Marinette whispered so softly between them that it was almost not heard. "I need you in my life, Adrien. I need you to be mine. I need you to be a father to Emma. I need us to be a family—"

"I need you too." He cut her off just as softly, his voice having an edge of desperation to it. He closed his eyes as if he were savoring the moment. "You don't even need to ask for any of that, Marinette. I'll do anything for you."

"Then let me take the miraculouses from you."

"Do it." There was no hesitance in his voice, but his brows were slightly furrowed. "Do it before I lose myself again... because I don't—I don't think I can do it myself."

Marinette didn't have to be told twice. Without any ounce of hesitation, she quickly reached for her earrings and carefully removed them from the lobes of his ears. The magic of the ladybug dissipated from Adrien and Tikki re-emerged, looking worn and lacking her usual energy.

She crashed atop Marinette's shoulder, panting from her exhaustion, but Marinette didn't have time to console her. She reached for Adrien's hand next, and he let her slide the ring off of his finger. As his black magic dissolved, Plagg re-appeared...

...And looked angry as hell.

"Adrien!" The little kwami was enraged as he floated right in front of his owner's face. Adrien instantly flinched back. "How dare you—!"

"Plagg stop!" Marinette quickly threw her hand in front of the kwami, forcing him to give his holder some space. "Now is not the time."

Plagg's eyes snapped to hers, his rage having yet to cease. "But—!"

"I'm sorry." Adrien quickly cut him off with an apology that was so somber. Marinette instantly placed both of her hands on each of his cheeks when she noticed his tears had started to trickle down from his crestfallen eyes. "I never meant to hurt anyone. I was just so angry and lost and... and I didn't know how to handle any of my emotions."

"It's okay, Adrien..." Marinette tried to assure him.

"No, it's not okay." He shook his head in her hold. "I abused the miraculouses and that was so uncalled for. I almost became my father—"

"You are not your father."

"I know that." Adrien shot her a brief thankful smile, but it soon turned sad again as he contemplated what he had almost done. "But what if I had gone through with that wish? What if you hadn't been there to stop me?"

Marinette's thumb brushed against his cheek, trying to wipe away his lingering tears. "But I was there, and that's what matters. I'll always be there."

Adrien let out a watery chuckle at that. He leaned forward to press his forehead to hers and Marinette met him halfway. His eyes fluttered closed a second later.

"I almost lost myself." He whispered in between them. The fear behind those words was impossible to ignore. "I almost lost everything due to my rage. I would've forgotten everything had I gone through with that wish."

He pulled back ever-so-slightly so that he could meet her eyes.

"I... for a moment, I wanted to forget everything about our past." Adrien admitted shamefully. When he realized how his words might've sounded, his eyes instantly widened, and he quickly scrambled to reiterate.  "I'm sorry—that sounds so incredibly selfish of me, but I was hurting so much and—"

Marinette silenced him with another kiss. She didn't need him to explain. In fact, she knew exactly how he felt.

There were times where, while he was gone and she was raising Emma without him, that she had wished for a similar feat. That she could forget about all of the pain and heartache he had caused her. That she could erase all of that ache from her memory.

But as she grew, she learned to appreciate what pain could teach, and she decided that instead of erasing it from her mind, she would allow it to plant seeds of new beginnings.

"As you can see, I'm not going to let you to forget." Marinette breathed against his lips as she pulled back slightly. "Instead, we can grow from this. Together." She pecked his lips again, so light that it felt like a flutter. "Tell me you want to do this together."

"I want to do this together." He sealed those words with another kiss, promising her something that he had chosen for himself. Something that he had always wanted from the start. Something that he knew he could never be happy without.

Her.

"Okay, lovebirds. I was just abused. So, can I get something to eat now?"

At the sound of Plagg's obnoxious voice, Marinette and Adrien abruptly pulled away from each other. Marinette shot the little cat a knowing frown; a warning that basically said if he didn't shut his mouth, she would personally starve him.

But much to her surprise, Adrien managed to formulate a small smile, even if there was a slight wince behind it. "Yeah, Plagg. Let's get you something to eat." Adrien turned to meet Marinette's eyes next, and she watched as his gaze lightened. "Let's go home?"

It was a question... as if he didn't think he could call her home his own. As if he still thought he didn't belong there.

"Yeah." Marinette nodded to assure him that he did belong as she entwined their fingers. "Let's go home."

_______________________________

...I am a little stunned that this is actually the last chapter to this book. Don't worry though, we still have the epilogue to get to!

But the last chapter?? This doesn't even feel like the end 😅

I lowkey had the hardest time writing this and I'm not sure how I like it... but I'm hoping I did good.

Tune in for the epilogue on (2/10/2023) !!!!

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