Epilogue

Rose had gone up the stairs a couple of minutes before, but to the rest of the kids, it felt like it had been hours ago. As they waited for her to come back, they heard the other kids telling the people they had come with how great or how awful their trial had been, and that just made them even more nervous.

"How long has it been since she left?" -Kim asked, as he kept walking in circles.

"Five minutes… and asking that every 30 seconds won't make time go any faster, Kim." -Max told him. –"Plus, if you keep walking in circles, you're going to gouge a hole on the floor." -he said, as he grabbed his Game Boy Colour and started to play on it. Being the videogame fanatic, he was. Max had almost every single gaming console that was ever made, and on that day, he had brought his old Game Boy Colour.

The waiting was killing them all. They wanted to know just how things went with Rose, some more than others.

"What I wouldn't give to be able to see what's going on up there." -Marinette said.

"Yeah, but to do that, you'd have to be a fly." -Alix told her.

"Or a bee…" -Sabrina suggested, as she looked at Chloé. –"You could use your powers and go up there, to see if everything's okay with Rose." -she whispered at the blonde.

"That's a great idea!" -Chloé exclaimed.

"Or, you could use your powers and turn yourself invisible, enter the room and see what's really happening." -Ivan suggested

"No!" -Juleka said. –"We can't do that."

"She is right, you know?" -Tamara told them. –"Not only you would be using your powers for your own personal reasons, but you would be intruding in a moment that is Rose's, and Rose's only." -the raven kwami went on. –"How would you like if Rose, or any other person, intruded in a special moment of yours?"

Tamara's words touched them, and made them realize that though they had the power to find out what was going on, they had no right to do so.

"I guess we wouldn't like it." -Ivan said.

"Indeed… I wouldn't, that's for sure." -Chloé agreed with Ivan.

"Look, let's just wait and see. Besides, there's nothing we can do for her now. It's all up to her. We helped the best we could, but now, it's all in her hands." -Marinette told them both.

"Or her feet, as the case may be." -Nino said.

"We'll just have to wait, and hope for the best." -Sabrina said.

And wait they did. They tried to come up with ways to pass the time, while waiting for Rose to come back. But their nerves were getting the better of them, and not even a conversation they were able to carry without going back to the same topic, Rose. Finally, Alya decided to use the tablet Max had also brought with him and logged in on the Miraculous Blog, to show everyone something a guy had caught on camera during their fight with Haute Couture and sent to the blog. She figured that would keep their mind busy long enough for Rose to come back.

"Check this out." -Alya said, as she started the video. This one began with all of Haute Couture's diabolical mannequins returning to normal, as well as having someone else as its star.

"That's Reptile!" -Nino exclaimed.

"So? What's the big deal? A guy filmed one of Hawk Moth's goons instead of us." -Kim said.

"Do you think I would pester you with something that was absolutely pointless?" -Alya raised her eyebrow at Kim.

"I don't know, we're trying to pass the time, so…"

"That was a rhetorical question, Kim." -Alya told him.

"If my girl says it's important, then it is. Trust me, I know what I'm talking about." -Nino said. –"Go ahead, Alya, show us what that guy found."

"Thanks, Nino." -Alya smiled at him. –"But as I was saying, take a closer look to what happens now." -she told the others, as Reptile lift the manhole cover and entered the sewer.

"He… he went into the sewers." -Chloé said.

"So? Big deal, if I was a half-man, half snake creature, who just had his sorry behind beaten by a bunch of superheroes, I would also crawl back into the place I came from." -Kim joked.

"No! Don't you get it? If he went into the sewers, that could mean one thing. Hawk Moth's hideout could be in the sewers." -Alya declared. –"The guy who sent me this to the blog, has also sent it to the police, saying that Hawk Moth could really be hiding in the sewers, in the hopes that they might investigate it.

"That's an interesting theory." -Juleka said.

"But, do you really think Hawk Moth could be hiding in the sewers?" -Marinette asked. –"He doesn't look like the kind of guy who would be caught dead in the sewers." -she said. –"Do you remember how he dresses?"

"Maybe not… but who knows? He could have a hideout that can only be accessed through the sewers, or something like that." -Alya said.

"Let's not forget that the sewers are not the only thing that's underneath the earth. We've got sewers, underground stations, both working and abandoned, old deserted bunkers from World War II, among other things." -Max said. –"Some people say that if a person wanted to go to the other side of town without be seen, it could use the sewers and underground passages to go all the way, without ever having to go up into the street."

"It's not hard to imagine. There are thousands of kilometres of sewers, tunnels and such, under Paris." -Sabrina said.

"Well, whether the guy who sent you this is right or wrong, we should try and see if there's some truth to it, when we can." -Adrien said.

"You go and check out that smelly sewer if you want to." -Chloé exclaimed. –"I'll check for Hawk Moth's presence, somewhere where it doesn't stink." -she said.

"You know what it would be funny? If his hideout was in Disneyland." -Nathaniel joked. –"I mean, think about it, what would be the last place you think a supervillain would show up? The answer is simple, Disneyland, the happiest place on Earth."

That joke from Nathaniel managed to crack up a couple of laughs from them all. Still, the idea that Hawk Moth and his minions were hiding somewhere in Paris kept them thinking about it. If they could find where Hawk Moth was hiding, they could try and fight him directly, instead of dealing with the akumas he created, or his minions.

"I agree that we should investigate this, when we have the time. But before that, maybe we should talk to Master Fu about it." -Marinette said.

"Marinette's right." -Tikki said, as she peeked out of the blue-haired girl's purse. –"You should talk to Master Fu first. He'll know if you should or shouldn't do that right now." -the little kwami said.

"Indeed. If you happen to find Hawk Moth's hideout and a fight breaks out, you need to be prepared, and there's no one better than Master Fu to tell you if you're ready or not." -Wayzz said.

"Do you think we're not ready to face him again?" -Ivan asked him.

"You have evolved much in very little time, but…" -Muria told his holder.

"But we're still not strong enough to take him on, are we?" -Alix asked.

"Not yet, and I think I speak for all kwamis here, when I say that you're very talented and you are on your way to become the best miraculous holders ever." -Wayzz said. "But you still have a long way to get there."

"Then, there's only one thing to do… we've got keep training." -Marinette told them all. She agreed that they should ask Master Fu for his opinion, regarding their chances of defeating Hawk Moth in single combat. And furthermore, she knew they all still had a long way to go, when it came to master their powers and abilities. Their battle against Haute Couture showed they still had a lot to learn.

"They say practice makes perfect." -Tikki told her.

The conversation regarding that subject could have gone for ours, if Ivan had not spotted Rose coming down the stairs.

"Hey, look, Rose's back!" -he pointed out.

Coming down the stairs, Rose looked a little down. You could not see it at first, unless you were looking her directly in the eyes, but she was. Her eyes revealed that something had gone wrong. None of them said a word, and felt that the first thing they should do was go with he to somewhere where they, including the kwamis, could all talk without anyone seeing them. Finding a place where they could do that, they all took a seat and Flint, Rose's kwami broke the ice by asking:

"So, how did it go?"

"Fine…" -she sighed.

"Rose, what happened? Did you forget your routine? Did the dress gave you any trouble? Come on, girl, tell us!" -the flamingo kwami insisted on the matter. He knew there was something bothering Rose, he just did not know what exactly.

"No, everything went okay, Flint…"

"But?" -Alya asked her.

"But… I don't know if I was good enough to be accepted." -Rose sighed.

"What makes you say that?" -Nathaniel asked her.

And then, she told them all about it. She told them that there were four judges watching her performance, all of them teachers of that school. Two of them were men, and the other two were women. They watched her dance silently, as she performed the routine, without saying a single word. The blonde thought she had caught one of the male judges whispering something to one of the others, when she began her second part of the routine, but was not sure. When she finished, there were no applauses, no nothing. The only thing they did was thanking her, and telling her that the results would be posted in the school's lobby.

"But that doesn't mean they didn't like it." -Marinette told her.

"Have you ever had the feeling that something bad is going to happen, and then it really happens, Marinette?" -Rose asked her. –"Well, I'm feeling that right now…"

"That's just stinking thinking. You'll see, everything will turn out okay." -Mylene told her.

"I wouldn't be surprised if they loved it and did not say a thing, just to look professional." -Flint told her. He, more than anyone else in that group, believed Rose was going to be accepted into that school.

"I want to believe that, Flint, I really do, but something inside my heart is telling me that no matter how much I believe in it, it won't come true…" -Rose told him. You could hear the sadness and the anguish in her voice.

The sadness and the nerves were killing Rose from the inside. If the others were nervous to find out if she had entered the school, then she could not even stand still for a second, walking from side to side. In her head, she was imagining all possible scenarios and that was just making her go crazy. Seeing her like that, Juleka decided to do the only thing she could think of… buy Rose an ice cream. Rose had told her once that every time she became stressed to the point of insanity, the only thing that would calm her down was an ice cream. Telling Marinette and the others to try and calm her down, she went outside looking for a place that sold ice cream. They were in October, and most places had stopped selling ice creams already, but usually, there was always a place or another that would sell them until a bit later in the year. It took her almost 10 minutes, but she found a café nearby that still had her favourite ice cream selling and bought her one. Running back, she gave it to Rose who opened it and started to eat as fast as she could. After the first bite, she began to calm down to the point of allowing herself to sit down on the ground, as her heart began to slow down a bit, and her mind stopped conjuring all kinds of crazy thoughts.

"Better?" -Juleka asked her.

"Yes…" –Rose answered, as she kept eating the ice cream. –"I was really needing one of these."

"Thank God you only need ice cream to calm your nerves down. If we were talking about Chloé here, she would probably need to eat something like caviar or Belgian chocolates to calm herself down." -Nino joked, earning a couple of laughs from the others and a deadly glare from Chloé, who did not find that funny.

"For your information, I find caviar disgusting, and Belgian chocolates are too sweet for my taste, Nino." -Chloé shot at him, upset about that joke. Just because she was richer than some of them, that did not mean she had some extravagant tastes that could only be satisfied by exotic and expensive foods. –"And usually, when I'm nervous, the thing that calms me down is a bowl of cherry tomatoes." -she told him.

"Come on, let's not start fighting, okay?" -Alya begged both her boyfriend and Chloé. –"Do you want to get Rose even more nervous than she already is with a fight?"

"No…" -they both said in chorus.

When she finished her ice cream, Rose let out a sigh of relief. The icy treat had done its work, by calming her down a little. Still, she was still feeling the fear of anticipation inside her heart. Seeing that, Juleka sat right beside her and told her:

"Look, when they post the results, one of us will go there and see if you got in or not. Unless, you want to check it yourself."

"I don't think I can, Juleka." -Rose said with a nervous voice.

"Then, I'll go." -Juleka told her with a warm voice. –"I'll do that for you."

"If you are accepted, then we'll laugh with you… if you're not, then we'll cry with you." -Alix told her. –"No matter what happens, we've got you back, okay?"

"And no matter what, after this I'm paying you all lunch, back at the hotel, okay?" -Chloé told her. –"Winning or losing, you'll still have to lunch, right?" -she tried to make her laugh. The blonde had never been known for cracking up jokes, and this was a first for her. To her surprise, she made Rose smile, who appreciated the gesture.

A couple of minutes later, a school official showed up in the lobby holding a sheet of paper, which he then posted on an information board. As he did this, everyone tried to look if their name was in it. Some were so nervous, that they asked the people that were accompanying them to check it for them. The same thing happened with Rose, who asked someone to check the board for her.

Trying to get to the front of the information board proved to be quite the challenge for Juleka. The amount of people trying to see what was written on the sheet was quite big, and it took her longer than she expected to get to the front. While she did this, the rest of the gang tried to keep Rose calm, by talking with her and telling her that everything was going to be fine. When Juleka came back, she looked at them with a gloomy and serious face, which made them all fear the worse

"Well?" -Rose asked her.

"I'm afraid, I've got some bad news, Rose." -Juleka told her with a gloomy voice. Hearing that, everyone knew what she was going to say.

"I didn't get in, did I?" -Rose asked her, on the brink of tears.

"I'm afraid you're going to have to divide your free time between superhero duties and training, and ballet practice, from now on." -Juleka told her seriously. Those were not the words Rose, or the others were expecting to hear, when she told them that she had bad news.

"Y-You mean…" -Rose said, as the tears began to roll down her face.

"Yes." -a smile appeared on her face. –"You were accepted, Rose!"

When Juleka said that she had been accepted into that ballet school, to Rose it felt like a weight had been lifted from her chest. Crying out of joy, she practically jumped into Juleka's arms and hugged her as hard as she could. Her friends were also happy with the news and began to celebrate, by shouting and whistling into the air, while also joining in for a group hug.

"I was accepted! I was accepted! I was accepted!" -Rose exclaimed in Juleka's arms.

"See? What did I tell you?" -Mylene said to her.

"We told you could make it." -Nathaniel smiled at her.

The kwamis were also celebrating inside the backpack they were hidden in, and were counting the minutes for their holders to get out of there, so they could congratulate

"I'm really proud of you, Rose. You're going to be a great ballerina, and today, you showed them just that." -Flint thought to himself. He could be happier for Rose, even if he wanted to.

While he thought about it, Rose kept being hugged by her friends, as tears of happiness rolled down her face, smudging her make-up. She felt like on top of the world, right then. In fact, she felt like she could do anything. The only times that happened was when she transformed into Flamingo and fought against evil, surrounded by her friends, so, it felt nice to feel that very same feeling, without wearing a mask.

"Sorry… I guess I smudged all my make-up, and after all the hard work you had to do it."

"It's okay, you earned the right to smudged it all with your happiness tears." -Juleka told her, as she wiped the smudged mascara from her eyes. –"I never want to see you cry, except, out of happiness, Rose. A face like yours, is too pretty to be seen crying out of sorrow." -the Goth thought to herself.

"Thanks, Juleka." -Rose smiled. –"I'm so lucky in having you as a friend. You know just what to say in each occasion." -she thought to herself.

"So, does this mean lunch will still be on you?" -Kim asked Chloé with a joking voice.

"Of course! I do keep my promises, you know?" -Chloé told him.

"Well, you never did, until a while ago." -Kim told himself.

"Okay, maybe I haven't keep my promises, until a while ago, but that was the old me. The new me will always keep her promises." -Chloé thought to herself.

"Come on, let's hear it! Three cheers for Rose, the best ballerina of Collége Françoise Dupont!" -Alya exclaimed.

"Alya's right! Come on, everyone!" -Marinette exclaimed enthusiastically.

"Hip hip hooray! Hip hip hooray! Hip hip hooray!" -they all exclaimed in chorus.

It was time to celebrate, and right then, Rose felt like the luckiest girl in the world. She had been accepted in Centre de Danse du Marais, where she would begin her journey to become a full-fledged ballerina, she had a group of friends who had halped her get there… right then, she did not need anything else. For once, she was in perfect harmony with the universe, and there was nothing that could spoil it.

The End… for now

And here you have it, the end of the second part of this series. I have to admit that I loved to write this one, as much as I loved to write the first one. In this one we found out just how things are progressing as our friends begin to master their powers, and how Hawk Moth intends to rule the world. But, if you think that this is the end, you are mistaken... our story is just beginning. To find out what happens next, you'll have to read the third story, Miraculous Team: Secrets Keepers

P.S. I'll try to write the first chapter as fast as I can, I promise you.