A/N: Lots of personal stuff kept this from being published. Sorry! Enjoy!

Take My Hand

Epilogue

Marinette landed on her balcony, and slipped inside her balcony window. As she landed on her bed she untransformed and landed gracefully. Tikki flew beside her, and gave her a proud smile. Marinette smiled at her as well and then looked down to see her mother fast asleep on her little lounger, a blanket over her. No doubt she had fallen asleep while waiting for Marinette to return. Her father, Tim had placed the blanket over her when this happened.

Marinette climbed down her ladder and approached Sabine. She placed a hand over her mother's shoulders and pulled down her sweater hood from her head. Sabine's eyes slowly opened and then she gasped and sat up when she saw her daughter standing before her. She grabbed her daughter on either side and pulled her down toward her. Marinette ended up falling to her knees in front of her mother who still sat on the lounger, but she remained there and embraced her mother.

"We've been so worried about you," Sabine cried. "Not tonight, but ever since the incident at the school and you were sent to the hospital. We didn't know why. We didn't understand. We…we just couldn't…"

"Mom," Marinette cut her off, and gave her mother an assuring smile. "It's okay. I'm okay."

Sabine nodded as fresh tears spilled down her cheeks, but she smiled as she looked at her only child. She noticed Tikki and looked at the tiny creature. She clearly didn't understand what Tikki was, but she knew enough from witnessing the events from earlier. She held her hand out to Tikki and she floated over to Sabine's hand.

"You helped my daughter, didn't you?" Sabine asked.

Tikki nodded. "Whenever your daughter need's me, I'm there."

"Tom and I have your gratitude," Sabine told the kwami. Sabine turned back to her daughter. Tears of relief were still falling down her cheeks, but she was smiling. "So, you're a superhero."

It wasn't a question. She was stating a fact. Marinette nodded. "Yeah, I'm a superhero."

"And that boy you like from school, he's your partner?" Sabine asked.

Marinette nodded. "Yeah."

Sabine wiped away her tears with her hands. "You and he didn't know though."

She shook her head. "Not until after…he became infected with an Akuma."

Sabine nodded. "I won't ask why that happened, because I doubt it would be easy for you to explain. What I will ask…is he alright? You thought that the Eiffel tower fell on him. Is he hurt?"

"Some broken rips, and a lot of bruising," Marinette explained. "He's going to go see his family doctor tomorrow, just to be sure."

"Where is he now?"

Marinette looked down, biting her lip. "He said he couldn't go home, not yet. He's at our classmate Nino's home. He'll be going home tomorrow."

Sabine placed a hand on his chest. "I'm sure when he's not possessed by those black butterflies, he's a lovely boy. You're father and I won't hold it against him. However, we expect him to come over for dinner soon. It's the least he can do after kidnapping us."

She looked at her mother with concern. "He…didn't hurt either of you, did he?"

Sabine shook her head. "A lot of verbal threats, but that's it. He told us that he had you captive…so we went along. Then he chained us up, and called you. We knew he had lied…but he didn't hurt us."

Marinette nodded as she felt relief fall over her. She climbed up on the lounger and joined her mother. Tikki climbed into Marinette's hood, and leaned over her shoulder. "I'm glad you two are safe. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if something happened to either of you."

Sabine placed an arm around Marinette and leaned on her. "Well, since our daughter if such a great hero, I know that you will be able to keep us safe."

Marinette smiled and nodded. "I promise, I will."

8 8 8

Adrien landed on Nino's window. He had been waiting for him, and swiftly climbed to his feet, and let his transformed friend into his bedroom. He climbed in, and let Nino close the window and then draw the curtains. Once he was inside and settled, he untransformed, and caught Plagg in his hands. He turned back to look at Nino who was smiling at his best friend.

"It's good to see you, man," Nino greeted.

"It's good to be back in general," Adrien answered. He moved over to the couch in the corner, and took a seat. Nino took a seat at his computer desk, and turned his computer chair to face Adrien.

"So, why aren't you home? Not that I'm not happy you're here," Nino stated.

"Because I can't go home right now," Adrien answered. Plagg curled up on the blanket that was still out on the couch from Nino sleeping there the day before, and was going off to sleep. Adrien looked at him and smiled before he turned back to Nino, a serious expression fell on his face once again. "I'm kind of scared to face my dad. He'll be even more protective when I return. He probably will make me do home school again."

"I still think you should go home," Nino stated. "Your dad must be really worried, even if he usually doesn't seem to care."

Adrien shook his head. "You don't understand. He never reported me missing. While I was Chat Blanc, I kept wondering why. I even found out that Natalie tried to report me missing, but my father stopped her. Why wouldn't he do that if he actually cared about me?"

"I admit your dad isn't the easiest to talk to, I know from experience, but you have to talk to him. At least call him."

Adrien knew his friend was right and nodded. He pulled his cellphone out of his pocket. It was dead. Of course it was. It had been days. He looked at Nino, who was already offering up a charger for him.

"Thanks man," he replied. He plugged it in and decided to wait a few minutes before calling his father.

"So, what did you think of Marinette's daring rescue?" Nino asked.

"If she told me as an outsider what she was going to do, I would have called her crazy and told her she had a death wish," Adrien stated. "I'm glad she did though. Hard to believe she's Ladybug."

"Are you disappointed? I always knew you were crushing hard on Ladybug," Nino stated. "Your phone is littered with pictures from the Ladyblog, or it was."

Adrien chuckled. "Still is, but no, I'm not disappointed. Just very surprised." Adrien laid back on the couch and looked up at the ceiling. "I did a lot of unforgiveable things."

"Don't be so hard on yourself. I did some crazy stuff as the Bubbler," Nino expressed. "I don't remember a lot…but I do remember kidnapping most of our class."

Both boys were silent, until the sound of Adrien's phone began to buzz like crazy. Adrien sighed. It was more than likely all the missed calls and texts coming in now. Nino stared at the phone, and pointed at it. "It's your father."

"My dad…or Natalie calling?"

"It says Dad's cell on the caller ID," Nino stated. "It's not a missed call. He's calling right now."

Adrien's eyes went wide, and he stared at his cell phone screen. Both were frozen and unsure if the phone call should be answered or not. Slowly Adrien reached for the phone, and picked it up. He pressed answer, and brought the phone up to his ear.

"…Dad?"

"Adrien!" the voice gasped from the other side of the phone. "You finally answered! I've been so worried about you! Are you alright?"

"Y-yeah, I'm alright."

"Where are you? I'll sent Natalie to pick you up."

Adrien was silent for several moments. "I'll be home soon. I'll come on my own. I need some time alone."

"I don't understand. Ladybug saved you. Why aren't you coming home?"

"I need some time before I come home," Adrien explained.

"Adrien, I don't care what you did while possessed by that Akuma. I just want my son home safely with me."

Adrien's eyes went wide. "How did you know about that?"

Gabriel sighed heavily into the phone. "Adrien, I've known for months now that you're Chat Noir. Ever since that Akuma came after me. I know a miraculous when I see one."

"How could you know all that?" Adrien gasped. "A-are you Hawkmoth?"

"No," Gabriel replied. "But I know enough. I am not going to stop you from fighting with Ladybug. I understand that you've been chosen, and this is your fate. I cannot stop that. And I will not stop that. I am your father. And I want my son home, where I know he is safe, at least when he's not battling or going to school."

Adrien looked at Nino, who could hear the conversation from nearby. Nino's expression was just as puzzled as he was. "You're not going to try and lock me up to protect me?"

"No. You're mother, bless her wouldn't want me to do that. So, will you be coming home?"

Adrien was at a road block. He didn't know what to do. He thought he should talk to Marinette first. Maybe Tikki and Plagg together could help come up with an idea of what was going on.

"Tomorrow. After school. I'll come home on my own. No Natalie, or driver," Adrien stated.

He heard his father sigh, clearly in disagreement with his son, but he didn't press on. "Alright, but I do not want you out any later than 6pm, unless there is an Akuma attack. We will have dinner together, and talk."

Adrien felt a cold sinking feeling in his chest, but he agreed. "I'll let you know should anything come up to prevent me from coming home."

"That is fine. Stay safe tonight…and Adrien, remember that no matter how harsh I may seem, I still care."

Gabriel hung up, and Adrien ended the call, and put his cellphone down. Nino looked at it as well questionably. He looked at Adrien a moment later. "Dude, so your dad knew this entire time?"

"It seems that way…" Adrien suddenly sat up. "Do you have Marinette's number? I realize I don't have it in my phone. I want to call her about this. I think I should tell her."

And so Nino gave him Marinette's phone number. And with a quick call, he asked Marinette to meet him on Nino's roof. She stated that she would meet him up there in about half an hour. Despite Plagg being exhausted, he greedily ate some of the cheese offered to him, and Adrien transformed, and climbed onto his friend's roof and waited.

It didn't take long for Marinette to meet him onto the roof. Despite having seen her only an hour and a half earlier, he still had a pit of excitement fill him as he saw her. Once she was on the roof, she brought her yo-yo back, and placed it back onto her hip.

"So, what happened? Did Hawkmoth contact you? Or make a threat?" Marinette asked with a concerned tone in her voice.

He shook his head. "N-no…it's my dad actually."

"You're father? Is he in danger?"

Adrien shook his head. "No, he just called me before I called you. It seems…he knew beforehand that I am Chat Noir. How, I don't know. But he said that he wanted to talk to me about it tomorrow over dinner. I'm a little nervous as you can imagine."

Marinette took a moment to process the information. She gave him a supportive smile. "Do you want me to be nearby, just in case?"

He nodded. "I'd feel safer if you were. I have no idea how my dad could know, or what he has to say. I'm a little nervous."

"I understand," Marinette assured him. She placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. "I'll be there."

He saw a light bit of pink cross a visible part of her cheeks when he reached up and cupped the hand on his shoulder. He nodded. "Thank you. You've been there for me for so long. I cannot thank you enough."

Marinette had no words, though she did bring him into a comforting hug. He gave her a tight squeeze. When she pulled away she took a step back. "It's late, and we've had a long last few days. We both deserve some rest. Will I see you at school tomorrow?"

"Yeah, I wouldn't miss it," he replied.

Marinette gave a little wave, and with a swing of her yo-yo, she was off. Adrien felt instantly better knowing that she would be there for him, and so he climbed back down into the house. Nino had left the window open for him. Nino was on his computer, but he was smiling. "Seriously you two are so cute that I think it will give me cavities."

Adrien playfully flicked Nino on the back of his head, before he untransformed and then caught a still sleepy Plagg. He placed Plagg back down on the couch he was sleeping on before, and left the kwami to rest.

Nino looked at Adrien as he sat down on the couch beside Plagg. "Do you want to borrow some pj's?"

Adrien smiled. "That would be great."

For the first time since his possession, Adrien had slept soundly.

8 8 8

Marinette nearly choked on her morning drink when she heard the news anchor talk on TV the next morning. Alya, Nino and Adrien had decided to come over for an early morning breakfast, gladly provided by Marinette's parents. Everything had been fine, until they showed the new footage of Marinette with Chat Blanc trying to free him.

The camera was to the back of her. Her hood had remained up, having used it to disguise herself earlier from being noticed by Nino and Alya on the street when she ran off. She hadn't pulled the hoodie back. The footage didn't show her face. Her mouth hung open. "There is no way I'm that lucky," she stated under her breath.

The four watched on, their eyes watching the footage. It showed Marinette pepper spray Chat Blanc, and then transform. Nothing. Her face hadn't been shown. The crew got the full shot of her freeing Chat Blanc, and then there was Adrien. Except, it wasn't clear. The TV crew was at another angle. He was now blocked by the chimney her parents had been chained too. Tom's large body taking up most of the shot.

Adrien's mouth dropped open now. "And there's no way that I'm that lucky."

The video showed the unseen teenager transform into Chat Noir, and then the rest of the rescue. They freed her parents and let them down onto the ground, and the two heroes were on their way like it was any other Akuma battle. The video cut out and went back to the news anchor. She talked with another reporter about the unusual circumstances of the video. Alya and Nino looked back at the two stunned heroes. Alya giggled. "Wow, looks like Ladyluck was on your side after all."

Adrien was still stunned, but he opened his mouth. "I guess, Ladybug's power of luck rubs off on Marinette outside of transformation as well."

Marinette could only lightly nod. She had never had such great luck in her life as she did before. She looked at Nino and Alya. "What about class? They must all know by now. You said Chloe figure it out and was freaking out!"

"She did after you both left last night," Nino stated. "Went on about how she would have known if her Adrikins was a super hero or not. Marinette…I think she suspected after the while classroom incident. I'm pretty sure everyone does actually. They all seemed pretty concerned when you fled the other day. I got texts all last night."

Alya nodded. "I had a ton of our class text me about it as well. I mean, it makes sense. Paris did just see Chat Blanc kiss a mysterious girl who turned out to be Ladybug, and our class witnessed Marinette confessing her love to Chat Blanc. Plus, Nathaniel asked me if it was Marinette on the Eiffel Tower before it collapsed. They have a lot of evidence."

Marinette's face fell, and she frowned and looked down at her lap. She was pretty worried now. If they news hadn't figured it out on their own, she was sure someone would go to them soon with her identity. Adrien could sense her fear, and leaned over and placed a comforting hand on hers, grasping her hand in comfort. He lightly shook her head, telling her to not think negatively. "We can handle anything after this."

She sent him a tiny smile, and squeezed his hand in hers. She heard Alya giggle like this, but she ignored it and continued to look at Adrien. "So, you are going to the doctor after lunch?" Marinette asked Adrien.

"Yeah, but I already feel like I'm healing thanks to transforming with Plagg. I still may need some pain meds though," Adrien explained.

"Well that's to be expected. You're lucky you weren't killed by any of the tower's beams," Alya stated. "Frankly you both are."

"Yeah, yeah, I know," Adrien stated.

Nino who had been glancing at his phone, put it in his pocket. "We should be heading to the school now."

So the four grabbed their bags and headed into the school. Marinette lived practically next door, so it didn't take them long. Adrien felt his heart race in his chest as he entered the school. He was scared that someone would recognize him and scream and run. This was even harder than when he had first tried to confess his feelings to Ladybug. He gripped his shoulder bag. There was very little he could do.

Nino kept giving him assuring smiles, but he just didn't seem to get how worried Adrien was about this. Marinette glanced back at him, and sent him a smile. It was enough to give him the courage he needed. At least they could face this together.

They climbed the stairwell, and entered into their classroom. Their class mates were scattered about the class room like they normally were. Everything seemed normal, and in its place. Except for two things. There were two boutiques of flowers. One on Marinette's desk, and the other on Adrien's. They looked around the classroom, but everyone was acting like they normally did. Adrien looked back at Alya and Nino, but they only smiled.

They walked to their desks like normal, so both Marinette and Adrien did the same. When Adrien reached his desk and took his seat, he pulled out the card from the boutique. He opened it and found only one message on the card.

We wish to tell you how glad we all are that you're feeling better.

You were missed. We are looking forward to seeing you back in class.

Signed around the card was several of his classmate's signatures. He felt touched. They all knew, but they didn't care. Well, they did care. They just didn't care to make a big deal about it. They were just glad that he was alright.

He turned in his seat and looked at Marinette, who was blushing in her seat, looking at her card. "What does it say?"

He leaned over and read her card.

We wanted to thank you.

As our class president, you have gone above and beyond the call of duty for our class,

and should be proud.

We're lucky to have someone as talented as you as our president.

We hope you'll continue to look out for us all.

Adrien smiled as he looked at Marinette. "That's really sweet."

Marinette leaned in. "This means that they do all know."

"And they're choosing to not say anything," Adrien expressed. "I'm pretty relieved. Do you think it was Nino or Alya's handwriting?"

Marinette shook her head. "This isn't Alya's handwriting."

Adrien leaned over and studied the cards. They were matching handwriting, but it wasn't Nino's either. Adrien knew who's though. He smiled and looked over at his childhood friend, Chloe. She didn't often let her kind side show. And truth be told, Adrien hadn't seen such a side to Chloe in a great number of years. Marinette seemed to sense who he meant, and her mouth hung open as she turned to look at Chloe.

Chloe clearly was having a hard time trying to not look at the two, and was pretending to fix her make-up with her little compact. Adrien, stood and looked around the room. He was smiling. "Thank you everyone for the boutiques and the cards. Marinette and I can't thank you enough."

Many of their class mates began to approach them, and greet them. Some separately, and some together. However, there was one thing that the class mates all did. They all acted normal. They were treating them no differently than normal. This was a huge relief. And it was the one thing that Adrien needed to get back to normal. He still wasn't one-hundred percent sure if he had the public's trust again, but he was glad his class mates were at least being welcoming to him. And so, the school day went about as normal. When lunch came, Adrien headed to his doctor appointment, and came back with a prescription of low dosage of pain killers. A quick x-ray showed that his ribs were healing nicely, and he could go back to school. With only an advisement of taking it easy for the next few days.

After school was when things were beginning to take an interesting turn. Both Marinette and Adrien had escaped into an alleyway, and had transformed. They climbed to a roof top, and moved about through the city.

It was just as they talked about last night. So when they landed on the roof across from Adrien's home, there wasn't any surprises. They knelt down, and Ladybug looked at her partner, her eyes were full of concern.

"You ready?"

He nodded. "I'm ready."

"Do you want me to stay here?" Marinette asked.

He nodded. "Yeah. If something goes wrong, I'll scream as loud as I can."

Marinette nodded. "Alright. I'll stay transformed."

Adrien, while still transformed jumped down into the courtyard. Once landed, he untransformed, and then hid Plagg in his shirt. He opened his house door and entered. Natalie was at her desk near the doorway. She stood up and looked around the corner. Her eyes fell on him. "Adrien!" she cried.

She dashed to his side, but stopped herself from bringing him into a relieved embrace. "A-Are you alright!"

He nodded. "Yeah. Dad said he wanted to have dinner with me at 6pm, and have a talk. I'm early, but I figured everyone would want to know I was safe."

"Your father is upstairs! I'll let him know you're here," she expressed. She dashed back to her desk, and pressed a button on her intercom, and spoke into it. "Mr. Agaste, Adrien has returned home! He's here now!"

There was a moment of silence, but then a voice replied. "I'll be down right away, tell him to wait for me in the study."

Adrien had heard, and already turning to go into the study. He went to the door, and tried to turn the doorknob. It was locked. Adrien looked at it in surprise. "Hmm, this is never locked."

Natalie was behind him with a small set of keys. "You're father said that this room was to be locked at all times until you returned home."

She put the key into the lock, and clicked it open. She pushed open the door for him. "Your father will be down in just a mo-"

She stopped as the sound of someone running down the stairs were heard. Both turned to see Gabriel hurrying down the stairs. Adrien's eyes went wide as he saw the sight of his usually calm and collected father out of breath, and flustered looking.

"I will take it from here, Natalie."

Natalie quietly went back to her desk. And Gabriel motioned for Adrien to go inside. He did, and his father followed, closing the study door behind him. When Adrien sat down, he couldn't help but look at a photo of his mother on the desk. His father walked over to the hidden safe, that Adrien knew about, but didn't know the code to, or what was hidden inside. His father cracked it open without a word. He pulled the safe open, and motioned for Adrien to come over and look inside.

Adrien walked over to the safe, and looked inside. There were only a few books and a few random objects. Then his eyes fell on a strange object. It looked like a fan fashioned to look like peacock feathers. He felt drawn to it, and reached for it, and pulled it out. He examined it closely.

"What is it?" he asked, turning to look at his father.

"What does it look like to you?"

"It looks…like a miraculous," Adrien whispered under his breath.

As soon as he said it, he felt the usually still Plagg begin to squirm inside his shirt. His father reached for it, and took it into his own hands. "That's because it is. Though the kwami inside hasn't come out for just about twenty years. Its chosen user having both no need for it, and have passed on a short while ago."

Adrien's eyes were on it in his father's hands. His eyes went wide as he realized what his father was trying to tell him. "That…was moms."

"Indeed," Gabriel replied.

He placed it back inside the vault, and closed it up, locking it up once again. "That's how I met your mother back then. She saved my life, at the cost of her secret being exposed. I was quite smitten, and we began to date. I kept this secret all this time. And decided to protect it in her place after her passing. I have no means to use this power, but I thought I could keep it safe, along with the other person I cared most for."

"So when you saw my rings those months ago…?"

"I recognized it as a Miraculous," he stated. "I wanted to take it and hide it away, to protect you, but I knew your mother would never forgive me for that. I regretted that decision when I found out you were processed by an Akuma, but I see you have a strong ally in Ladybug."

Adrien nodded. "She means the world to me."

Gabriel nodded. "I see."

Gabriel stood and walked back to the study entrance. He opened the door. "Dinner will be ready at 6pm. I have just a little bit of work I need to finish for the day, but I will be down at 6pm sharp. You should invite your friend outside for dinner. I already made sure the chef made extra."

Adrien was stunned. His father left the study, and he was left stunned. Once along, Plagg popped out of his shirt. He looked at Adrien seriously. "He's telling the truth, I could sense the sleeping Kwami inside."

Adrien had a million questions running through his head. He turned to his Plagg. "I need to tell Marinette."

He quickly dashed to his bedroom. He pulled open his bedroom blinds, and opened his window. He could see Marinette still on the roof where he left her. She had been watching the house carefully and noticed him at the window. He waved at her, and she wasted no time in jumping into the bedroom.

"Everything alright? You didn't scream," she stated.

He nodded. "Yeah, it's alright. My dad understood. He knows, because…my mom had a miraculous."

Marinette's eyes went wide. "R-really?"

"Yeah, I saw it, and Plagg said he was telling the truth," Adrien explained. "He understands that I need to continue fighting the Akuma."

"Adrien! That's wonderful," she cried.

Plagg zoomed around Adrien and then chuckled. "Also, his dad wants to invite you for dinner."

"Me?" Marinette gasped. "N-no, I couldn't."

Adrien smiled and as the ever mischievous cat, bend down on one knee, grabbed her hand, and placed a gentle kiss upon it. "My Lady, it would be my honor if you joined me for dinner with my father this evening."

Before she knew Chat Noir was Adrien, she would have laughed at Chat Noir for pulling such a dorky stunt. Upon now knowing that Chat Noir was the guy she loved, and he was doing this, she went beet red. And she only felt more flushed as he looked up at her with those deep green eyes. "A-Adrien," she gasped.

He stood to his feet, and with a slick moment pulled her to him. It was exactly how Chat Noir would have tried to woo her. It really was true that Chat Noir was who he really was. Except his usual goofy self was having an entirely different effect on her. Even as Ladybug she was overwhelmed. And then he kissed her. She almost felt her knee's give way, but he pulled away before that could happen. She was almost at a loss of words. "A-Alright…dinner couldn't hurt."

She thought he would now release her so she could calm down her flushed face and racing heart. No such luck. He moved in for another kiss, but not before whispering. "I guess my finally found my princess."

A/N: Well, I hope this ending is better than the last. Over all I feel much better about this one. Everyone have a great weekend! You're support has been amazing!