Marine groaned. Everything hurt. Arms, legs, sides- definitely her sides. But not as much as they had hurt previously. She sat up. She looked down at herself. She was wearing different clothes- a red, loose shirt, and black trousers. No boots, just her stockings. She felt that her side wounds were wrapped, and she noticed that her arms and leg were both dressed where her old wounds were. And, she was on a bed. It was better than the one in the inn. This room was bigger too, with nothing much inside, except a wooden vanity. Everything else was clay-brown walls and a bit of light coming in from a wood-lined window. Marine could not help but scowl to herself. It seems that in some aspects, even the King's prisoners fare better than his subjects.

She swung her legs off the bed, and noticed her cloak, folded on the ground next to her boots, her bag, and an assemblage of her weapons, mostly daggers which she had thrown away when fighting Noir. She narrowed her eyes and frowned. Prisoners do not get weapons.

Suddenly, a hollow knock sounded at the door. Marine raised her eyebrow, but gave a polite invitation. And then, Adrien entered. He was wearing simple clothing, more of a commoner than a prince. A black vest, over a white tunic, along with black boots, and trousers. There were a couple silver threads shining in his clothes, but nothing extravagant. He smiled softly at her. She replied with a soft "Hi".

He came to sit next to her on the bed. "How are you doing?"

"I'm alright," she spoke softly. Her eyes drifted to his shoulder. "How are you?"

Adrien followed her gaze, and kept his smile. "I'm good. Apparently… I still had a bit of healing powers left over. Only required a stitch or two. Bleeding had even stopped by the time the physician looked at me. I bet you have some questions though; you've been out for a while."

Marine crinkled her eyebrows. "How long?"

Adrien shrugged. "About a day." When she did not speak for a moment, the prince asked her next most likely question. "King André has decided to pardon you. You saved his life, and he now believes you were never going to kill his daughter. So you're allowed to leave."

Marine's eyebrow crinkled even more. "I killed his soldiers…" But as she looked at Adrien, she knew that the King did not care. She sighed and bounced to a new topic. "What about you?"

Seeing the worry in her eyes, Adrien chuckled. It was a fake laugh. "They don't blame me. They blame Hawk…" He paused. "You… he said you 'found him out'. He said… that he was sorry. Why?"

"I don't know," Marine looked at her hands and then elaborated. "In order to distract him for a moment, to come find you, I made him think you were his son, because he was in love with your mother. I don't know if it's true. But if he thinks it is…"

The prince ran his hands through his golden hair and sighed. "He's going to be hung."

The two of them sat in silence for a few moments. Then Adrien spoke up again. "It's best you leave though."

Marine glanced at him. "Why?"

He shook his head. "The guards don't like you, whatever the King says. They… they don't like me anymore either."

He heaved a shuddering sigh, and Marine watched him worriedly. She slid closer to him, and put her arm around his shoulders, leaning her head against his side. "Adrien…"

"I remember all of it," he started, his voice wobbling. "Not as me, but as the wolf. I still feel him swarming around inside of me, and I still can see straight through his eyes. Everything tinged in purple. I can feel bones snap between my teeth; his teeth, it doesn't matter. There's no difference. If you hadn't shown up in the woods, I would have been lost long ago. I would have killed even more people. You brought my human self out from the wolf, and yet still, I killed. So many. I maimed, and I murdered. I guess I really am Noir…"

Marine frowned, and moved so she knelt in front of Adrien, gripping his wrists. "And I'm the Red Lady. So what? Our names and our pasts do not have to be the only thing that define us, Kitty. I learned that long ago. I've killed too, so many more than I wished to, and so many more than what's necessary. And I chose to kill each time. It's a part of me, there's no getting away from that. But I don't have to let it consume me, or define me, or be me. I can be something else too, I can be myself."

He looked back at her, and she smiled, and continued, holding his attention with her bluebell eyes. "And when I first met you, I knew something right away. On the very inside, you're a good man. I could see it in your eyes. That green, that was your inner self. All the ugly on the outside was not who you truly were. You were innocent, growing… So even if you are Noir, there's nothing wrong with that. You can grow beyond him. You are truly a good person, whoever you are. Truly."

Adrien cleared his throat and glanced at his hands for a second. One hand reached up to tug at a necklace that was no longer there, and he paused. Then he looked back at Marine. "Do you… Marinette, do you want to run away with me?"

Her delighted laugh rang out, and she stood up, pressed her forehead to his, and still gripping his hands. "I would love to, Adrien. I would love to."

They hugged, and as she sat down on the bed again, she tapped his nose, causing him blush furiously. "I like the nickname, by the way, Kitty."

In two seconds, they had two heavy bags full of things. Adrien went to fetch his cloak from his room, and Marine followed, her own ragged cloak skittering out behind her. They bumped into Chloe along the way. The princess balked at the sight of their bags for a moment, and then rushed to Adrien, enveloping him in a hug.

"I have to go, Chloe. I can't be here. For so many reasons."

Princess Chloe looked up at him teary-eyed. "I know. I know, I know. Just… come, find me, if you ever need help. Send a message, Adrien. You've been my family for so long."

The prince nodded furiously at Chloe's words. And then Chloe turned to Marine.

"I never liked you," she started, slight distaste in her eyes. "I always thought you dressed horribly. But… you're stronger than I am. And stronger than he is. Keep Adrien safe, won't you?"

Marine nodded once, and Adrien pulled up to her side. "Of course she'll keep me safe; she's my knight in shining leather."

He smiled, and so did Marine. Chloe repeated the warrior's once-nod, and added at then end, "If he ends up hurt, I'll release all the world's bees on you; I know you're afraid of them." Then, she went scurrying down the halls.

Adrien watched her go. Then he turned to Marine. "You're afraid of bees?"

She blushed, and he got his cloak. "C'mon, Kitty, we should head this way."

The made it out a servants' entrance without anyone spotting them. And then, quite quickly, they were on the road.

Adrien spoke. "Where to first?"

Marine thought for a moment. "We should lie low for a day; the King may send guards out looking for us- no one wants to lose a ward. I think I might know a turtle and a fox who could be of some assistance. And, I ought to tell them the whole story anyways. They deserve to know."

The two smiled at each other again, and then went off towards the woods, and towards adventure. His hand gripped hers, and she squeezed his palm. They were one. And they needed each other.

A/N: Well, That's the end. Thank you all for sticking with me, and thank you so much for your support. It means the world! Now, I'm going to take a break for a little bit (AP testing season has me pinned down this year), but soon I'm going to post another multi-chapter fic for miraculous ladybug- probably in two weeks or so. So if you're interested, stick around! I don't plan to stop writing anytime soon. And if you're curious about what I'm going to be writing, just ask, I'll be happy to give the deets. Thank you again, and I hope I'll see you all soon!