Hello Again! Welcome to the second and last part of this fanfic. I really hope you enjoy it!

Thanks so much to anyone who reviews and favorites! It means a lot to me.

To the Guest who left a whole freakin' novella in the reviews (you know who you are) - Wow, I'm reeling. Thanks so much for your feedback! Just so everyone knows, I actually copied that review into a document to get the word count, and it was over 1,000 words. I'm glad you had so much to say! I agree that there's not enough hanahaki fics about Adrien! That's why I wrote this one, haha. You brought up a lot of good points, and now I'm kind of sad I only planned and wrote two chapters of this. There could be so much more! Hope my shorter fic is still a good read, even without all that amazing content you brought up. I did actually go back and revise chapter two after I read your comment, because you brought up a few really good points I wanted to address, so thanks!

~W&V

Four months later, Adrien wasn't sure how long he could keep this up. He barely slept anymore. Each and every night was spent vomiting flowers, the yellow slowly dyeing a deep red as it tore his throat. Adrien was really starting to hate the sight, the smell, the feel of daffodils.

He constantly Googled hanahaki, an impulse he was unable to curb despite having memorized most of the articles. The nervous habit of scrolling and searching was almost comforting, if it weren't for the constant reminder of his upcoming decision.

He couldn't just give in and die. He absolutely couldn't leave Ladybug to defend Paris alone. He had to have the surgery. But the thought of doing so made his toes curl with dread. He was so, so selfish, wanting to keep this love that was eating him from the inside out. He just couldn't bear the thought of losing the way Ladybug's laugh made the air light and sweet. The way seeing her fight made him breathless with awe, the way her witty banter made his chest swell with glee. (And his daffodils climb up out of his chest.) It all just meant so much to him.

People had started to notice his frequent excuses to leave, when he would hole away somewhere hidden to choke and cough up daffodils until he could breathe again. Between these short disappearances and his much longer outings as Chat Noir, everyone was starting to think of him as some sort of pretentious delinquent, constantly skipping class and running off on his friends out of the blue. Teachers scolded him. Classmates gave him odd looks. His friends were starting to worry, but they were kind enough not to ask. The expression on his face every time they went to say something must have been enough to quiet them. His outings with Ladybug were starting to become unbearably difficult and painful.

Being with her, laughing and talking with her, it all made his chest burn horribly, and the fighting was no help. After each fight, and usually at least once right in the middle, he was forced to dart off to some dark alley or broom closet and violently hack the flowers out of his lungs and throat. At first, he was fast enough that she barely noticed. But he was gone for longer and longer each time, and he could tell she was getting frustrated and concerned.

"Chat, where were you?" she snapped, panting after a particularly difficult battle made no easier by Adrien's disappearance. "I could've used your help out there!"

Adrien flinched, exhausted and woozy, face heating in shame. He should have been there. He felt those annoyingly telling cat ears of his pressing to the sides of his head, but he knew every emotion was showing plainly on his face anyways, despite his best efforts. Ladybug's expression softened as she looked him over.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have snapped at you… look at you, you poor kitty, you're barely standing…" Her anger was quickly melting away, a look of genuine concern replacing it. "Chat, I told you to stay home if you weren't feeling well. Are you hurt?"

"N-no! No, m'fine, Bugaboo," he stammered, a bit too defensively, "just feline a bit under the weather! Nothing to worry your purr-etty little head about!"

Hoping his puns covered his lack of conviction, Adrien gave a big, cheesy grin, tucking his hands behind his back to hide how much they were trembling. Ladybug, unfortunately, looked unconvinced.

"No, really, Chat Noir, you look terrible…"

"Just what every man wants to hear from his L-" Adrien broke off in an unexpected cough, frantically covering his mouth with his fist, keeping those incriminating daffodils trapped inside.

Ladybug quickly closed the distance between them, placing one hand on his arm and slipping the other under his bangs and resting it on his forehead, presumably feeling for his temperature through the thin fabric of her costume. Her touch was bittersweet, an electric hum that both sent wonderful shivers down his spine and sent him into another desperate coughing fit, his hand now clamped determinedly over his lips. This was not how Ladybug would find out.

"God… you're burning up, you silly cat…" she muttered, rubbing slow, lightning inducing circles on his back, attempting to comfort him. "Let's get you home, okay?"

Adrien wanted to respond, to smooth over this horrid situation, but his mouth was full of daffodils. Full, damp flowers, the kind that ripped up his throat and felt like death. Could he… could he swallow them? Daffodils were slightly poisonous. He knew that from his obsessive Googling. But it wouldn't kill him, and he was dying anyways. What did he really have to lose?

Taking a deep breath through his nose, Adrien forced the mouthful of wet, balled up flowers down his throat. And it hurt. It burned and scratched at his throat, bringing tears to his eyes, nearly choking him. But he did it, successfully straightening up and smiling weakly.

"You don't have to go to all that trouble," he told her, horrified by how hoarse his voice sounded as it clawed its way out of his weathered throat. "I'll just head home and get a good long cat nap."

Ladybug shook her head, "Absolutely not. I'm not letting you go home alone in this state in the middle of the night. What if something happened? There'd be no one around to help you this late."

"But-" he started, and his ring beeped urgently at him. He held it up to her imploringly.

"No buts, kitty," she responded, thinking for a moment as her own miraculous gave its insistent warning. "I'll go down the street a little ways, and we can both feed our kwamis and I'll meet you back here. Don't leave until I get back, okay?"

Adrien, slightly guilty, nodded, knowing he'd book it down the street the moment she was out of sight. Smiling gently, Ladybug gave him a reassuring squeeze on the shoulder, a gesture that was painfully intimate and yet not enough. It would never be enough. Not in the time he had left, at least. He smiled back as best he could, fighting the tearful burn in the back of his throat.

As she turned and sprinted down the street, his miraculous gave a final beep, and Chat Noir once again became Adrien Agreste. His power drained away and he immediately felt about three times worse. His joints ached and his chest felt so tight it was hard to breathe. Plagg appeared before him, looking exhausted but infinitely better than Adrien.

"Here," he mumbled, pulling a small piece of camembert cheese out of his pocket.

"You look awful," Plagg said, an absolute master of sympathy, and began to devour his meal.

Adrien rolled his eyes, honestly too tired to respond. His mood, however, was somehow slightly improved by seeing his sour-tempered kwami. Though he may act as if he didn't care, Plagg had so far been Adrien's greatest source of support. The kwami had at this point given up urging him to seek medical help, and instead tried his very best to minimize the whole situation, doing wonders for Adrien's constant fear. Stifling a cough, he waited for Plagg to finish his food and then, with waning enthusiasm, called for the transformation. Strength flooded his veins and breathing became slightly easier.

Then, like the hero he was, Chat Noir turned tail and ran down the street away from Ladybug. He ducked into an alleyway and started his way home, but instantly realized that it may take longer than he anticipated. He didn't trust his body enough to use his staff, and he was already panting harshly from running the short distance to the alley. He'd have to walk the whole way. The ground tilted treacherously under his feet, causing him to stumble. His head was spinning, but he just kept walking. He had to get home.

Feet dragging against the pavement, Adrien was decidedly starting to feel worse. He hunched over slightly, trying to alleviate the harsh burning in his stomach, but it didn't seem to do much. He felt vaguely nauseous, but there were too many other sensations bombarding him to put much stock in it. His chest was so tight, his breath coming in short, desperate gasps.

Suddenly, without warning, the ground sped upward to meet him, and the impact was dull as his shoulder slammed into the concrete. The relief on his weak knees was instant, but the prone position made it even harder to breathe. He felt thick, wet lumps sitting in his airways and deteriorated into a violent coughing fit. They were deep, desperate chest coughs, rattling his aching bones and forcing daffodils up through his throat and onto the cold pavement. Tears of pain leaked from the corners of his eyes.

He had half a mind to regret swallowing those flowers earlier, but the pain was overshadowing everything. He just wanted Ladybug. Wanted to see her, feel her, to know she was there. She was always the solution. She fixed every hurt, assuaged every fear.

"Ladybug…" Adrien shuddered, beyond caring what she did or didn't see.

Pulling out his staff, he dialed her and clutched the cold metal close, waiting. She picked up almost immediately, her voice ringing through clearly.

"Chat? Chat where are you? Are you okay?" she said, voice slightly frantic.

"Hey, M'lady…" he rasped quietly.

"I'm pinging your location."

"Don't hang up."

"I won't. Oh, Chaton, you shouldn't have run off," she told him, and he could hear the wind rushing past her as she ran and swung her way towards him. "I'm almost there."

He coughed loudly, curling in on himself, trying to preserve heat. The cold from the ground was seeping deep into his bones.

"Chat!" Adrien heard Ladybug call, both through the staff and from nearby.

Then her footsteps drawing near, and then she was there, wrapping her arms around him, her yoyo clattering to the ground.

"Oh, God, Chaton… Chat Noir…" she whispered.

She was lifting him into a sitting position, opening his lungs to more air. Gasping, Adrien trembled uncontrollably, clutching one of those horrid daffodils in a shaking fist.

"I- I guess the- the cat's out of th-the bag, h-huh, M'la-" he broke off his weakly attempted humor as his lungs seized up again, demanding he turn and vomit more bitter yellow flowers onto the pavement.

"Oh, Chaton… why didn't you tell me?" Ladybug's voice was shaking.

He looked up at her, vision slightly blurred, and wasn't surprised to see tears forming in the corners of her eyes. She was so good and compassionate, and she cared so much.

Her voice pitched up as she spoke, strained, "Who is it, Chaton…? Who could ever…? No, I… I'm sorry… that's really private, isn't it?"

Adrien almost laughed, despite everything. She was so oblivious it hurt. He certainly wasn't subtle, and he flirted constantly, if the way he melted like putty in her hands wasn't enough. Of course, she was in love with someone else. Love made everything else fade away, made her forget about anyone else, even herself.

Talk about the pot calling the kettle black, he thought, wasting away in the clutches of his own love.

"Ladybug…" Adrien paused, unsure whether or not it was selfish to tell her. He didn't want to force her to know the weight her own irrevocable feelings had on him. But, God, didn't he deserve to be a little selfish? "It's you, silly," he finally said.

For a second, Adrien was sure Ladybug stopped breathing. He could just imagine the thoughts in her head, the pain he'd just caused her. He desperately wished he could take it back. He wished he could die with the secret buried in his lungs, safe where it couldn't harm anyone but him.

"Ladybug, I-"

"You mean I… I did this to you?" The horror in her voice was unbearable.

"No… no, Bugaboo," he rasped desperately, speaking becoming difficult around his exhaustion. "It's not… not your fault."

It was then that she pulled him into a tight embrace, and she was so safe and warm and strong. He wanted to stay there forever, hugging her back with the meager strength his shaking arms could muster, memorizing everything about this moment.

"How…? Chaton… we… we don't even know…"

She didn't have to finish for Adrien to know what she was thinking about. It had been on his mind since the very moment he fell for her. How could he love her if he didn't know who she was behind the mask? But love couldn't be explained sometimes, and a little mask wasn't going to stop it. She was right, though. A relationship couldn't be built on secrets. And in this moment, when everything hurt so badly and saving Paris seemed a million miles away and she was right there, he knew what he wanted.

Who cared if it was stupid? Certainly not him. Not now.

"Claws in, Plagg," he whispered into Ladybug's hair.

"Chat Noir-!" Ladybug cautioned, freezing up in shock.

But already, there was that flash of green light, and he felt his hair flutter around his ears, falling after the transformation. The wave of pain and exhaustion came over him like a hood, rushing up from his back and over his head, his whole body sagging. With some inexplicable drive, he managed to take Ladybug's shoulders and push himself back, bleary eyes looking into hers for the first time as both Chat Noir and Adrien Agreste.

"Hello, Ladyb-"

But then she was crying all over again, harder, but with a curious lightness. It felt, to Adrien, like some sort of release. She was blushing and weeping, a sob that almost sounded like laughter bubbling out of her.

"My Lady?" he whispered, hopelessly confused.

"Adrien… my Chaton…" She really did laugh then, a sort of hysterical thing, tears running freely down her cheeks. "My Chat Noir is… you're…"

Adrien let his hands drop slowly from her shoulders, afraid of what her bizarre reaction could even mean. Was she a fan? Was she… disappointed? Was is really so funny that he could be Chat Noir?

"I- I'm s-sorry, Bu-bug-" he was trembling so hard it was difficult to speak, fear and pain causing him to stumble over his words.

"No, no, my Chaton. You… Adrien Agreste…" she took his hands in his, that odd, disbelieving laugh sitting on her lips in the form of a tearful smile, "Adrien I've been in love with you since the moment you lent me your umbrella."

Adrien froze for a moment, sure he was dreaming. She loved him? His Ladybug loved him. She loved him for who he was before she'd known he was a superhero. She loved him, she loved him she loved him. He was smiling, beaming. His heart was soaring, tears were welling up in his eyes. She was his moon, his stars, his whole world, and she loved him.

And then the rest of her words sunk in. "you lent me your umbrella", she'd said.

"M-Marinette?"

She was nodding and laughing and crying all at once. Her face was all kinds of pink, adorable even though her eyes were puffy with tears. His Ladybug… was also Marinette Dupain-Cheng. The kindest girl he knew, the one who stood up against Chloe, the one with those big blue eyes and those freckles like stars. The one who made his heart skip a beat in that curious way he could never understand. The one who was always late the same days he was, and was always missing when Ladybug was there.

God, he was so stupid. How had he not realized?

He was grinning like an idiot, his whole face alight with dizzying joy. It was terribly silly, this whole situation. The relief made him sag into her arms, releasing four months of pent up terror. She'd loved him back all this time: He was going to be okay.

Better than okay.

"Let's get you home, okay, my Chaton?"

Adrien nodded and watched with wonder as Ladybug's spotted uniform disappeared in a flash of light, leaving Marinette there, arms still wrapped safely around him.

"Yeah," he whispered, pausing for a moment to push back so he could look into her eyes, "I love you so much, Marinette."

She smiled gently, that pink blush creeping back into her cheeks.

"I love you too."

And then those hideous daffodils, four months' worth of growth deep in his lungs, began to wither and die, Marinette's soft voice heralding the beginning of something Miraculous.

Hope you enjoyed! Please review if you did, or if you have any critiques you want to throw my way. That would be really helpful!

~W&V