A/N

Risking ruining a good ending, I'm posting an epilogue to the story. I had an alternative ending in mind. It starts the same as the last chapter, the first two sections would have been identical. The main change would have been the last Marinette POV, instead of her giving a eulogy at the funeral speech she would walk up the aisle to Adrien and the two would get married. Very Hollywoody.

Instead, I decided to write an epilogue, continuation from the previous chapter. I think it is forced, cliche and has many holes in it. But it does have a funky twist. The previous chapter is really the end of the story, and I don't want this Epilogue to ruin that powerful ending. But - if you didn't like the ending, or just curious for a different ending then read this epilogue.

Please note - I made some changes to the previous chapter based on a comment from a reader. But since most of you read that chapter within 12 hours of publishing - you wouldn't have seen the change. Basically Mari gave up too quickly on Adrien being dead. So I changed it that she attempts to transform to Ladybug to take Adrien to hospital, but then Tikki tells her she needs food. This doesn't change the story much but it gives her a more realistic reaction.

I also removed her saying Gabriel deserved to die - I didn't like it. Marinette won't say that - even in grief. Instead, she says: "I did not mean for that, I did not mean for any of this." That feels truer.

Epilogue

Six months later

The waves lapped up against the shore, reaching further with every wave, wetting the hitherto dry sand. The wave broke over the shell of a horseshoe crab lying helplessly on its back. The crab kicked its many legs aimlessly in the air, pushing with his long tail. It ceased kicking, out of exhaustion from struggling to right itself for hours. A pair of barefoot legs stepped next to the crab, two hands gripped the shell from the side. With a practiced move, the hands lifted the crab and placed it face down in the sand. Lacking any energy, it did not instantly move. A new wave brought water to its dry limbs, encouraging the crab to move. A small nudge from the rescuer got the crab moving toward the ocean. The young lady stood still, watching the crab make its way into the water, a smile brightening her face.

"You always find someone to help, even on a secluded beach."

The young lady turned to the new arrival, with an even bigger smile.

"There's always someone to help, you just need to open your eyes and look."

"You're my hero. You've always been my hero," the young man stepped closer and took her hands in his.

"And you are mine," she returned to watching the crab before it disappeared into the water. "Everything deserves help, even a crab."

"Did you know it isn't actually a crab. It might be called horseshoe crab, but that is a misnomer. They are not part of the crab family. They are closer to spiders and scorpions. What's more, they are very useful, their blood is essential to the health industry. Would you like me to explain how?"

She tugged onto his arms forcing him to bend his head as she rose to kiss his cheek.

"You're such a dork."

"But you love me for it."

"True, I love you. But not because you're a dork," she gave him another kiss. "Careful, if you let out too much of your dorkiness I might reconsider this love thing."

"Marinette!" the young man whined. "Don't threaten me like that. My heart couldn't take it."

"Stop whining, Felix," Marinette gave him a small slap on his chest. "You know I love you more than life itself."

Felix flinched.

"What? That was that hard?" Marinette raised a brow.

"I hate that name."

"I'm sorry," Marinette wrapped her arms around Felix and rested her cheek on his chest. Felix wrapped her in his embrace holding her close.

"I don't like it."

"Felix!" Marinette pushed away and looked up. "This is serious. Adrien Agreste is dead."

"I know, I know. We killed him."

"No, we didn't. Hawkmoth killed him. Just like he killed your father."

"That," Felix tilted his head, "is stretching it a bit."

"You're right," Marinette laid her head back on his chest. "But it makes it easier for me to live with the guilt."

"There should be no guilt," Felix caressed Marinette's head. "You had to do it. I don't blame you and I have more right than anyone else."

"Thank you for feeling this way, but the guilt will never leave me and I don't want it to. I killed him. I didn't mean it and I wish it would have ended differently, but I need to accept that it happened. Anyway, Hawkmoth got your father killed. If it wasn't for Hawkmoth your father would still be alive."

"And so would Adrien."

The two stared into each other's eyes for a long time.

"Yes," Marinette said at last. "So would Adrien."

Previously - The Eiffel tower

"Go," Alya whispered. "He wouldn't want something bad to happen to you."

"How can I leave, I can't transform? If I could transform, I wouldn't need to leave."

Marinette looked between Alya and Chloe, pleading with her eyes.

"I'll get food," promised Alya.

Blinking away the tears, Marinette searched for a solution. She needed to transform to stay with Adrien and save her civilian self. Tikki needed food, Alya could get food but not before other people arrive. She looked around; the tower did not lend any obvious hiding places. What about Adrien? She evaluated Chloe. She was acting strange, looking out for Marinette instead of her usual bitchy self. How is she even here, wearing a Ladybug costume? She recalled seeing her limping away from the fight with Alya. She said she loved Adrien, Marinette believed her.

"Tikki, you go with Alya to get food and come back as soon as you can. I will go up to the top floor and hope no-one will go there before you come back. And Chloe," she looked at the blond who still faced away, only her eyes swiveled to look at Marinette. She looked embarrassed, scared maybe. Chloe's eyes held no malice. Marinette was not sure how she knew she could trust her, but she did. "You will take care of Adrien until help arrives. He is the most important person in my life."

"I will not fail you. I will not fail Ladybug."

That was it, Chloe knew her secret and accepted it. She was no longer Maritrash, she was Ladybug. Marinette nodded to her, acknowledging the change in their relationship.

Chloe shuffled next to her moving Adrien onto her lap. Marinette stood, looking down at Adrien, unable to move. How could she leave him like this? Alya wrapped her arms around her, pulling her into a warm hug. They stood together, Alya lending Marinette her strength. They were right. Marinette shouldn't be here. She pulled away and moved to the elevator.

"Ladybug!" Chloe urged. "Have hope."

Marinette turned, "I will."

"I can feel his heartbeat. It's faint and irregular, but it's there."

"That's all I need," came the reply from an unexpected source.

A small, black, cat like kwami flew over and hovered over Adrien. His black fur stuck out in strange angles, reminding Marinette of, well, a wet cat. A silver ring stuck on his oversized head.

"My poor boy. What have they done to you?"

"Plagg! You can help him?" Marinette's voice trembled.

"Here, put his ring back on."

She did so.

"Wow," Chloe breathed, "His heartbeat just got stronger. It's like magic."

"It is magic," Plagg rolled his eyes. "The Miraculous magic will slowly heal him, better than any doctor."

Marinette grabbed Plagg out the air, planted a wet kiss on his head, hugged him to her chest, danced around in a circle calling: "Thank you, thank you, thank you."

"Ok, ok, enough already. I don't want to lose him either. Even if he is a total idiot, throwing the ring like that. I was almost at the bottom of the river by the time I caught it. The things he puts me though."

"Marinette?" a weak whisper.

All eyes turned to the blond in Chloe's arms.

"Chloe?" Adrien's eyes were open a crack. "It's you."

"Of course, who else?" Chloe gave a sharp reply, then smiled. "Don't worry, Marinette's here too." It was the first time Marinette has seen Chloe say her name with a genuine smile. It was quite disconcerting.

"Chloe," Adrien was still very weak. "You saved me."

"It wasn't me, it was Ladybug. I mean, the real Ladybug."

"It was you, Chloe," Adrien insisted. "I had given up. I felt lost and confused, I was going to give away my Miraculous to Hawkmoth. I was so close to betraying you all."

A sudden coldness hit Marinette's core. What was he talking about? He gave up? She sent him over the edge. She's caused more damage than she previously thought.

"Then you came along," Adrien's voice went soft. "You showed me how a hero behaves, what it means to be a hero. You pulled me back from the brink and made me a hero again. Thank you."

"Stop it," Chloe's eyes were glossy. She looked away. "You're embarrassing yourself."

I was right in trusting her; I owe her. Thought Marinette.

Adrien coughed.

"Plagg," Tikki piped up. "Adrien has a lot of healing to do. You will need to assist."

"You're right. I will go into the ring to help things along." Plagg looked askance at Tikki, who nodded. Facing Marinette he continued, "You're going to have to trust me. I will put Adrien in suspended animation. It will take a few days and during that time he will, em, look dead."

"Suspended animation, dead, what?" Marinette asked, head flinching back.

"Believe me, he will be alive and healing," Plagg attempted to reassure her. "It will simply be impossible to see from the outside."

"Marinette?" Adrien called her. He needed her. He is all that's important.

She bent, down her hand out and caressed his cheek. "I'm here."

"Hawkmoth. He's my-" he paused, eyes looking at her, pleading.

"I know. It's terrible, I couldn't believe it when he told me."

"He told you?" Adrien's body shuddered. He took a few deep breaths.

"He was shocked by what the akuma did to you. He didn't want you hurt."

"Bull! He didn't care about me." Adrien's body stiffened. "He would hurt his own son to get what he wanted. He isn't my father. He is an evil man and I want nothing to do with him."

"Adrien." Adrien relaxed at the sadness in her voice. "I need to tell you something."

They locked gazes. She saw into his world, saw the pain. The years of loneliness, chasing after his father's respect and comfort. She could see the cracks behind his eyes, the shattered hopes and desires of having his family back.

"You got him, didn't you?" She gave a slight nod. No more was needed. "He didn't make it, did he?" A tiny shake of her head gave him all the answers he needed. "I am not sure how I feel about that."

"Then don't," Marinette rested her hand on his cheek. "For now, concentrate on healing. Afterward, you can try to sort out your feelings."

Alya gasped.

Three humans and two kwami's turned to the redhead. She had the decency to blush. She was looking at her phone.

"I got a prompt for an important video to watch," she looked back apologetically. "It's you, Adrien. They captured your detransformation in front of Hawkmoth and taking off your ring. There's-" she abruptly stopped, looking at Adrien in worry.

"Continue," Adrien said. "What are they saying?"

"There's speculation if you were planning to give Hawkmoth your Miraculous or it was something else. Some say it was just a trick to get Hawkmoth. The site also has Ladybug dropping out of the sky but they have not been able to see what has been happening on the platform. This is great, Marinette. They haven't seen you, you can still get away. I'll go get Tikki food."

"Food? Tikki you need food?" Plagg looked around in surprise. "Adrien should have some more Camembert in his jacket."

"You will give me your Camembert?" Tikki's voice was higher than usual.

"I..." Plagg paused, mouth open. "Wow, I must be suffering from shock."

"I can't do this," Adrien sighed. "I can't face them." Against logic, his body went even limper than before.

Marinette understood. It was too much to deal with already. Now he would need to deal with it all with the media hounding him.

Adrien looked at Marinette and they shared a look. Like an akuma attack, her mind burnt hot looking for a solution to a complex problem. She looked at Adrien, then Plagg, to Chloe and back to Adrien. Her idea would be a drastic step to take, she wasn't certain it would be their best move. It wasn't her decision to make.

"Adrien, I have an idea which will change your life completely."

"That has already happened," Adrien threw back.

"I really mean completely, would you consider starting over?"

"As long as it is with you - anything. What do you have in mind?"

The following year

Marinette lay in bed looking at the moon through the window. She has been living in this beach house for months. It was a beautiful place with the most amazing scenery in every direction. There was a town less than an hour's drive away where she would buy everything they needed including the inventory for her designs. Besides enjoying nature and the rest provided by the location, she has kept herself busy designing and producing many garments.

She sized everything for herself or for her favorite model. She could create them in different sizes when the time came, but for now, there was no-one else to try them on. Only herself and … Felix.

She must remember to call him Felix even in her head. She watched him, lying next to her on the bed, his arm curled around her. He liked hugs. He liked her holding him close. She could see him relax when he would curl up next to her wrapped up in her arms. Staying at the beach house was more difficult for Felix. Changing his name was the least of the changes. Losing his identity was worse. Losing his parents was crippling.

"You're not sleeping?" asked a drowsy Felix.

"Sorry, did I wake you?"

"Nothing you did, I can feel the tension just being next to you."

Marinette looked away, staring at the wall. "I got a message from Master Fu,"

His arms flexed around her as an involuntary reaction to her words.

"I see. If it was good news, you'd have woken me by jumping on the bed with joy."

"I'm sorry, my love. He said he will keep looking for a cure."

"I shouldn't be upset, I already lost her years ago."

"You should be upset. Finding your mother alive gave you the hope of a family again."

"You are my family. She might be alive, but she is as unavailable as my father was when he was alive. The only good which came out of that was dealing with the estate."

"No, she is still your mother and even if she is in a magical coma, there is some hope. Yes, she made your 'dying' easier since she was there to inherit everything. Natalie has been doing a good job of dealing with her, the company and in helping us."

"Well, she has a lot of guilt to work thought. She will have to work harder now that she gave me the name Felix without asking me first."

"Apparently there was already a Felix Agreste in the family who died young. So she is resurrecting him in you. I don't really understand how it works. She says you could live a normal life in a year or so with only a few cosmetic changes to your appearance."

"So, for now, I'm cooped up here with nothing to do."

Felix has been living here for almost a year and is going out of his mind. The first six months were by himself while Marinette completed school. She was willing to join him but he refused, he insisted she must continue as normal. For her future career and to avoid looking suspicious.

"I got some good news," Marinette changed the subject. "Alya is moving in with Nino. I foresee a wedding. By the time they get their act together, you'll be able to attend. By then we'll be married and you can be Felix Dupain-Cheng, a close relative with a remarkable resemblance to the late Adrien Agreste."

"I'm sorry for complaining. I chose this and I don't regret it. I am so happy to have missed the circus when it all came out. A year later and I still see articles questioning on which side Adrien was on. I'm surprised Natalie kept the company afloat."

"With Gabriel dead there was less of a backlash to the company," Marinette reasoned. "The millions she donated to help fix Paris also helped."

The two lay in silence, reliving the past.

"I miss Plagg," Felix revealed. "I never thought I will miss him so much, but I do."

"I miss Tikki terribly. I love you and I want to be with you forever. But I need my kwami."

"He spent some time here before you came, to make sure I won't lose my mind. I have you here now so it's great. I still wish he was here."

"Fu reported they are making progress with the peacock Miraculous. If they fix it there is more chance they can help your mother. He doesn't see a reason we can't have them back when it's done, even if we choose not to live in Paris."

"I love Paris, but there are too many bad memories. We'll visit your family often, and our friends. Those who know who I am. But we can't live there."

"I understand," Marinette held his hand. "We're together now, we'll move to the city, I'll study fashion and you get your teaching degree. We'll build a home and a family. Tikki and Plagg might be living with us, but it's possible that they won't. They might be needed back in Paris for a new Ladybug and Chat Noir."

"If that happens, you won't go? You are the best Ladybug the world has ever seen."

"I'm not. I failed everyone the last time around."

"I thought we were past that," Felix turned to face her, covering her hand with his. "We talked it out, you even went to therapy. That shrink got a real shock getting a superhero as a patient."

"I did, and it helped. I let go of most of the guilt over things I could not control and things I did when I wasn't whole. That does not change what happened - I still failed. People died. You would still have a normal life as Adrien."

"My father being Hawkmoth put an end of any normal life for me. I lost my real father long before Hawkmoth died."

It was Marinette's turn to put her hand on Felix's. They clasped their hands, leaned in, resting their heads on each other. They lay in that position for a long while, in comfortable silence.

"Either way, I've done my part," Marinette said. "I am ready to move to the next stage of my life. Life with you. Are you ready to start your new life, Felix Agreste?"

"As long as it is with you - anything."

A/N

So that's it. I hope you didn't hate it and it didn't ruin the story. There are many loose ends and their relationship has outstanding issues that they will have to work through. But that's it for me for this story.

So this is the end of my debut story. Thank you for reading it until the end. I hope you enjoyed it. I appreciate all comments or favorites. It seems to me that once a story has no new chapters it gets no new readers, how would they find it. Only is through other people's favorites. So if you like this story and think others should read it, then please add it to your favorites.

I have other Miraculous ideas I will try to write, but the story I have been planning is not a fan fiction, so I cannot post it here. I will post it on AO3 - the same user.

Although I've seen people write unrelated stories just using the names of the characters from the series and it has just become a fanfiction - maybe I'll do that :)

Cheers until next time.