this is the end! she says, looking at the fic that was supposed to be less than 5k words long. oh well.

I'm so bad at responding to reviews, but I'm so grateful for all the support I've got from all you lovely lovely people. thank you for giving me such an enthusiastic welcome to the fandom ^^

also this chapter is so sappy feel free to play in the rain as you read

see you next time?

anna x

If you recognise it, it's not mine.

Any fears that they'd misunderstood were assuaged the following Monday, when Madame Bustier told the class that Mr Agreste had changed his mind, and that Adrien would be returning to school once he'd fully recovered. This meant until his leg was out of the cast, apparently, so longer than the two weeks they'd heard the other day, but Marinette didn't care, and judging by the rest of the class's reactions, they didn't either. Juleka had actually tackle-hugged Rose, Kim was high-fiving everyone so enthusiastically Max nearly got knocked off his seat, and even Chloe's smile was genuine, with no trace of her usual brattiness. Madame Bustier didn't bother trying to calm them down; she just sat and watched, accepting Kim's high-five when he paused in front of her.

"He's really coming back," Nino said, turning round to face them. "We actually did it."

"I think Ms. Sancouer had more to do with it than anything," Marinette pointed out. "I mean, she threatened to resign and stuff. I think that's what did it. really."

Alya waved a dismissive hand. "That pushed him over the edge," she said. "The first thing we're going to do when Adrien gets back is make sure he knows exactly how much work you did for this."

Marinette frowned. "But I didn't really do-" She broke off as Alya raised an eyebrow, and sighed. "Okay, I did some stuff, but so did everyone. It's not like it was just me."

Alya and Nino gave her identical exasperated looks. "Girl, you got the entire class to work together as a team. Even the teachers can't do that."

"You did good, Marinette," Kim added, skidding to a halt by their desks. "High-five?"

Marinette laughed and obliged.

After that, school more or less returned to normal. Since only the four of them knew about the ultimatum Nathalie gave Mr Agreste, the rest of the class thought that Adrien's return was more or less entirely through their effort. Everyone seemed so pleased by this that Marinette decided it wasn't worth telling them, and as the weeks went by, she was increasingly glad of that decision.

The entire class had changed slightly, and all for the better. Kim and Alix still bickered, but it was a lot more playful- Marinette was amazed when she heard they were actually planning to race each other for charity, rather than competition. Nathanael asked Alya if he could join the group of students who worked on the school newspaper, and didn't stop smiling for the rest of the week when they offered him a place as a regular cartoonist. Rose shook off some of her shyness, coming up to people and complimenting them freely. Even Chloe seemed to have taken a step back; she still seemed to think the world revolved around her, but she had apparently realised that the rest of the class wasn't going to agree with that. With everyone being that much more comfortable with themselves and each other, there was nothing for her to latch onto, and her once biting comments slowly started to lose their effect. When she pointed this out to Alya, her friend just laughed. "Marinette, you've changed too," she said, and when Marinette asked her what she meant, she just smiled.

They tried to visit Adrien after school most days, bringing him schoolwork so he wouldn't fall too far behind. Within that first few weeks, there was a day where she found herself there alone- she still wasn't sure whether Alya had arranged that or not. When she arrived, Adrien was sitting at his desk, looking at the bouquet Rose had given him.

"They're starting to wilt," he said.

"Oh?" Marinette set the copied notes aside and moved closer.

"I wish I could keep them," Adrien said, and Marinette laughed.

"You could always press them," she suggested. "I did that all the time when I was little. You just put them between heavy books and stuff for a few weeks."

Adrien grinned. "Can we try that, then?" he asked, and Marinette was struck by just how much better he looked. If she ignored the cast, she could hardly believe that he was the same person as the pale, exhausted boy she'd helped just a couple of weeks ago. He directed her to where the thickest encyclopedias were kept on his sizable bookshelf, and they spent the afternoon carefully clipping the flowers, laying them between sheets of tissue paper before setting the books aside.

"Yellow roses," Adrien said absently at one point. "I looked them up, by the way. Roses are supposed to mean love, but different colours mean different love, I mean." He paused, and Marinette tried to ignore the way his arm was brushing against hers. "Yellow means friendship," he said, smiling, and Marinette could breathe again.

"That's Rose for you," she managed. "She thinks of these things." Adrien hummed slightly, focusing on the flower in his hands. "What are you going to do with them afterwards?"

Adrien shrugged. "I already gave Nathalie one of the actual flowers, so I thought I could give them to everyone else. You've all been so kind, and you still are, so I guess it's the least I could do. I'm pretty sure there's enough for everyone."

The other thing keeping Marinette busy, of course, were her duties as Ladybug. Chat Noir still hadn't made a reappearance, and she was starting to become seiously worried. She was managing to keep on top of the akumas, but running patrols every night for so long were taking their toll on her. Her parents hadn't noticed how tired she was- if they did, they'd probably suggest she stopped spending so much time with Adrien, and she didn't want that- but Alya had, and Marinette wasn't sure how much longer she could keep it up. As the weeks wore on, she began to wonder if something serious had happened to her partner, if one day she'd end up fighting an akuma alongside a stranger wearing Chat's ring.

Things almost came to a head the day she got to school on time, but dozed off in her seat before Alya arrived. Her friend woke her up gently, but Marinette could see the question in her face. Marinette, are you okay? she was about to ask, and then the interrogation would begin, fueled by concern and the fact that they all knew what total exhaustion looked like by now.

As it turned out, Alya never asked her, because just then, the door opened, and the class exploded with noise. Marinette was so drowsy she didn't realise what was happening until she looked up to see Adrien sitting in front of her.

"Dude, you never told us you were coming back this week!" Nino whooped, clapping his friend across the back. Adrien grinned, accepting hugs and greetings from the rest of the class. He looked a little overwhelmed, but that was easily ignored in favour of the smile splitting his face. As Madame Bustier waited for the clamour to die down, people began to head back to their seats, but Adrien caught Nathanael by the arm before he could sit down.

"Hey, I'm sorry you never got to use your posters," Adrien said softly. "I can't believe you did that for me."

Nathanael shrugged, grinning shyly. "It's fine," he said. "The important thing is that you're back."

"You can celebrate later," Madame Bustier said patiently. She smiled suddenly. "But welcome back, Adrien. It's good to see you again."

There was a spontaneous party that lunchtime, and the excitement from that kept Marinette going for the rest of the day, but when she got home, she was so tired she just dropped her bag on the floor and faceplanted into her bed.

"I'm glad Adrien's better, but you're starting to worry me, Marinette," Tikki said. "Maybe you should skip patrol for tonight?"

Marinette shook her head. "Chat'll be back soon," she said, although she wasn't convinced. "That or- or..."

"He'll be back," Tikki assured her. "Believe me, you'd know if anything like that had happened." She paused. "Take a nap, Marinette," she decided. "We'll work out what to do later."

She went out on patrol anyway, because it was a clear night and going out on a night like this, when it was just her and the stars above the rooftops, always helped her think. She spent the first twenty minutes just leaping around for the fun of it, although she kept an eye on the streets below all the same.

Then she heard a familiar laugh echoing across the city, and saw a figure silhouetted against the lights of the Eiffel Tower for a brief second.

"No," she whispered, and then she heard that laugh again, and she was moving without realising it, soaring across the rooftops without pausing for breath. Somewhere along the way the figure saw her, and shouted something she didn't catch. Before she knew it they were standing on the same rooftop, somewhere wide and flat, the tower lit up behind them.

"My lady," Chat whispered, the sound carrying in the night.

"Chat." She would have said more, but then Chat threw his staff aside and rushed forward, embracing her so tightly she staggered. "Chat?"

"Oh, god," he murmured into her shoulder. "I've missed you, my lady."

"I've missed you too, silly kitty," Marinette said when he let her go, placing both her hands on his shoulders. She'd forgotten how much taller than her he was. "Where have you been? Are you okay?"

"I am now," Chat said. "My- stuff happened. A lot of stuff, and it took a while for it to go away, but I'm fine." He looked at her, cupping her face in one hand. "You look tired, my lady. Is everything alright?"

"I've been busy too, Chat." His face crumbled, and Marinette could see the apology in his face. She put a finger on his lips, effectively stopping him. "Shh, don't worry about it. You being back to normal is more important."

He frowned uncertainly, then his eyes lit up. "I forgot! I have something for you." Fishing in some hidden pocket on his suit, he presented Marinette with a bundle of tissue paper. She unwrapped it carefully, and froze.

Sitting in her palm, faded against the bright red of her suit, was a single dried rose. It still had its yellow colour, although the petals were paper-thin now, and Marinette recognised it instantly, even though every corner of her brain was shutting down.

"I know it's not much, but- my lady, are you alright?"

The flower suddenly seemed unbelievably heavy in her hand as she closed her fingers around it, forcing herself to meet Chat's eyes. Green eyes, different through the mask, but the colour...

"Ladybug?"

And that voice. She had dreamed of that voice for so long- how had she never realised?

"I know who you are," she managed. "Chat, I'm sorry, I-"

"You- how?" His gaze flitted to the little flower, and his eyes widened. "No-"

She didn't know whether she was about to cry or throw up, but Chat caught her by the wrist before she could turn away. "Is there really any point in hiding anymore?" he asked, and numbly, silently, she shook her head.

Their transformations released at the same time, the double flash blinding her for a second before she looked up to see Adrien standing in front of her, one hand covering his eyes. "Chat- Adrien- you can look," she said, something in her chest tightening like a spring. "It's okay."

Their eyes met, and she saw the same look she'd seen that day his father told him he could go back to school. He was scared, she realised, scared that she'd reject him now, that this was the end.

"Marinette?" He was shocked, as well- of course he was. Who'd believe this?

"Hi," she said. "I'm sorry-"

"What are you sorry for?" He moved closer- she could feel the heat coming from his body now. His hands were shaking a little.

"I'm not- I'm not who you'd expect. I'm-"

"Marinette," he breathed, "you're the only person I could ever want." He flushed suddenly, stumbling backwards. "I mean- oh, crap. I mean, you're Ladybug, and I can't think of anyone better."

There was a silence while they looked at each other, taking in the details they'd missed until now- her earrings, his ring, the hair, the eyes- until an exasperated voice interrupted.

"I don't believe this," a small black thing said, poking its head out of Adrien's jacket pocket. "You literally broke your leg, and the thing that gets you caught out is a flower?"

"Plagg, this isn't the time," Tikki hissed, wriggling out of Marinette's purse. "Come on, leave them alone."

"No, it's okay," Marinette said. She felt strangely calm, as if everything had slowed down around her. "You guys can go catch up if you like. It's been a while, right?"

"No kidding," Adrien's kwami said, tackling Tikki midair. "Don't stay out too late, kids."

end.