A few years later

"-the powercouple of New York has returned to Paris. Dubbed as the Prince of Music and Princess of Fashion they have taken the world by storm for the last few years. Both are known for working closely with famous icons such as Jagged Stone, Clara Nightingale and Thomas Astruc. They finally tied-"

Marinette switched channel on the radio.

One of Clara's new songs started and she went back to the boxes.

She hummed and gave a little twirl as she took up a few books and put them in the bookcase.

It continued like that for a few songs and the pile of boxes quickly shrunk.

Then she opened the last box and the first thing she pulled out was their wedding photo.

She stopped moving and it was like the music wasn't playing anymore.

It was a simple photograph with all of them on the stairs outside the place they had the reception at.

She was standing in the middle of the picture in a beautiful wedding dress holding a bouquet with red flowers. Luka had his arm hooked around her waist and the love in his eyes was palpable.

Unnoticed, a smile made it's way onto her face.

On each side of them stood their respective parents.

Maman and papan were both smiling widely and proudly.

Anarka was caught in the middle of a laugh and it somehow fitted her perfectly.

On the steps behind them were their bridesmaids and groomsmen.

They had three each.

Chloe was trying not to look too happy and failed quite miserably at it, Rose was fangirling and Juleka just had that fond look on her face.

The groomsmen were three of Luka's friends from school.

"What are you thinking about?"

She was very proud for not jumping straight up in the air.

He'd managed to sneak up on her again.

Marinette furrowed her eyebrows and smiled a bit wider. "I'm just thankful that you came to New York." And she was.

Luka had surprised her one day by turning up at her front door.

Some weird sense of luck had made it so he'd gotten a scholarship to an art school in NY.

It was dedicated to helping artists, musicians and other people with a talent for some kind of art to further their talents and eventually get jobs within their area.

He had applied more than a year earlier, but didn't think he'd actually get in so he didn't tell her about it.

And instead of telling her when he got the letter like a normal person, he decided to give her a small heart attack.

While she was still gaping by the door he had handed over a postcard with the Statue of Liberty on the front.

She had told him she expected postcards, but this was not what she meant.

Luka hugged her from behind. "I'm thankful for that too. Otherwise I might not have had the world's most amazing girl as my wife."

They'd dated for a few years and married six months ago, but he still managed to make her feel like a lovesick teenager whenever he said things like that.

Worse was that he knew and took full advantage of it.

Good thing she knew how to tease him back.

She twisted around with the agility of a cat and gave him a quick kiss before disappearing from his reach to appear at the bookcase and put down the framed photo on the shelf.

It all happened in seconds.

His arms were hugging air and his eyes was just a bit glazed.

Then he shook it all off and turned his eyes back to her.

She would never get tired of that loving look.

This time he didn't take the bait, but that was okay.

They ended on even grounds.

"How's the unpacking coming along?"

Right, the unpacking.

She looked around the room.

They were in the living room and nearly everything was in it's place.

"I only have one box left," she eventually answered.

He bent down and picked up another cardboard box.

She hadn't noticed it until then.

Luka came over to her side of the room and put the box down on the sofa. "Your parents sent over some things they thought you might want to have from your old room."

Marinette frowned.

There wasn't really anything worth bringing over from her childhood home.

Everything worthwhile had been brought with her to New York.

She started digging through the box.

Could you blame a girl for being curious?

Nothing really grabbed her attention until her hands reached a very familiar object.

She took it out of the box and turned it around in her hands.

Her wonderful husband looked, oh so very confused. "What kind of box is that?"

"It's my diary." Her voice was barely louder than a whisper. "I'd completely forgotten about it."

Luka put a arm around her shoulders. "Well then you'll have loads to write about by now."

"How is the police handling the constant threats to Paris' safety?"

"Have you been hiring more law enforcement personnel to cover the growing criminality rate?"

"What about our own superheroes? Are they getting the training needed?"

"Do you have courses to learn how to handle the less normal criminals of our beloved city?"

"Will Paris get any more heroes in the close future?"

Alya allowed herself a moment to take it all in.

She was in the middle of a large horde reporters.

Everyone was trying to get as close as possible so they would have a bigger chance of getting their questions answered.

Questions were coming from all directions.

Together with the sound of pens writing and paper pages being turned it drowned out all other noises.

A few cameras were going off and that looked like it was a news station going live.

It was loud, hectic and staggering.

Good thing she was used to situations like these.

"The police are handling it with great care. We do have a few more officers than normal because of the unusual situation and have all been prepared accordingly. Regarding Paris' superheroes we can't say more than that they are independent and outside the police department's jurisdiction." She pushed by all the reporters and made sure her partner followed her. "Further questions will have to be answered by the chief."

They both walked away with firm steps and a bit faster than usual to get away.

To think that she always wanted to be a reporter when she was younger.

It had been a real eyeopener when Lila's lies had been revealed.

She hadn't reacted well at the time.

Ignorance was bliss, but it didn't last forever.

Being expelled made sure of that.

Her parents had been furious and she didn't blame them.

She'd bullied her best friend out of the country without a second thought.

It had changed a lot of things.

All that was left when the denial and anger passed was the heartbreaking reality.

It made her realise that she didn't want to be a reporter.

She wanted to know the truth, but sharing it for sharing's sake didn't have any appeal anymore.

And a reporter's truth wasn't necessarily true.

She'd published stuff on her blog without fact checking.

The very thing she'd accused Marinette of.

The Ladyblog was taken down within the hour.

It wasn't worth it.

She still didn't know what had become of Marinette, but she hoped her former best friend was happy wherever she was.

The girl deserved happiness.

Now she was one of Paris' best detectives.

The truth was worth finding if it helped people.

Her life might have taken a different turn than she expected, but she had it good.

They didn't slow down until they were four blocks away and had taken seven different turns.

"I thought reporters only went after famous people." Nino's breathing were just a bit louder than normal. "They should put it down as an occupational hazard in the job description."

She didn't even bother trying to hide the snort. "Come on. We're already late."

Lila watched as Alya and Nino escaped from the press.

She was sitting on a bench in the park opposite the police department.

It was a coincidence that she even noticed them.

This was the first time she'd seen them since the day her carefully crafted empire came crumbling down.

They'd changed, but then so had she.

She hadn't been to Paris since everything happened.

By now she'd put down her roots in Switzerland.

Her life was there now.

This was only a short trip.

Nothing more.

She turned her attention to the other occupants of the area.

A few girls surrounded the bench beside her.

There was a girl sitting on the backrest.

The girl had brown hair, coppar skin and golden brown eyes.

"Chat Noir asked me to be his girlfriend once. I had to explain why I couldn't enter a relationship with such a big age difference. It was difficult breaking his heart like that."

The girls that were flocking around her listened attentively and soaked in every word.

It felt so familiar.

She couldn't help, but keep listening.

"I gave him some advice regarding a certain superheroine and we all know how that turned out."

The audience all awed.

This continued for a few minutes until the girl's fans eventually had to leave.

The girl stayed.

"You shouldn't lie to them." Lila didn't know what possessed her to say that.

The girl immediately went on the defensive. "Who said I was lying?"

This truly was ironic.

She snorted and turned so she was facing the younger girl. "Well, for starters you wouldn't react so strongly if I was wrong."

It was comedic how the girl's entire posture ended up changing. "What's it to you?"

That was a good question.

One she didn't really have an answer for.

Why did she care?

The girl reminded her of herself.

That's why.

"It doesn't bother me." She shrugged. "But when your friends find out they'll never talk to you again. Lies are an awful ground to build friendships on. It doesn't last."

"That's if they find out."

"Believe me. They will." She spared a look towards the direction Alya and Nino had disappeared. "They always do."

The girl didn't seem to believe her, but then she wouldn't have either.

Sometimes you just had to learn the hard way.

"Come on, Manon. We have to get going." One of the reporters was looking towards them.

The girl beside her got up. "Coming, mum."

Lila watched them walk away.

At least she tried.

They had awful luck.

It was the only possible explanation.

Of all the places there could be a hostage situation it had to be at the one place where all of Paris superheroes were.

It didn't help that they were in their civilian identities and had no way of getting away unseen either.

Really, what kind of robbers took a coffee shop hostage?

She'd call them stupid, but since they had five superheroes at the ends of their guns without even knowing it that probably wasn't the best idea.

Good thing they weren't the only heroes in Paris anymore.

She assessed the situation.

Five armed men.

One at the door, two by the hostages and two at the cash register.

This would be easier than she first thought.

Step one: Make them point their guns away from the civilians.

"You couldn't have waited for just one hour before you decided to rob the place? I was in the middle of a date."

It was more of a make out session, but they didn't have to know that.

She achieved her goal though.

All weapons were at an instant pointed at her.

No visible reaction made itself known on any part of her body.

She was sitting on a bar stool with her legs crossed.

In her hand she had a cup of coffee that she'd made when they weren't looking.

"Ladybug?!"

All the other occupants of the place did have very visible reactions to her presence.

There was a lot of wide eyes and unbelieving mumbles.

The now identified Ladybug rolled her eyes and took a good sip of coffee before slamming down the cup onto the table.

Step two: Kick butt.

Her yoyo flew through the air and wrapped around one of the robbers by the till.

One yank of the string and he was sent spinning into a wall.

One.

By now the others had started reacting.

The two by the hostages came running at her from each side.

She stood her ground as they came closer.

The one on the right reached her first by a second.

She grabbed his arm and flipped him over her shoulder.

Hard.

He was knocked out cold.

Two.

The one on the left noticed the new obstacle in his path too late.

He tripped over his fallen comrade and came tumbling at her.

One push and he was sent straight over a table head first.

ducked as a punch flew just were her head had been moments before.

She didn't hesitate to sweep him of his legs.

Four.

Only one left.

It was the one by the door.

At least he was smarter and didn't run in blind.

He aimed his gun on her instead.

And was promptly hit in the head by a harp.

Five.

She knew she had that fond look on her face again.

Viperion stepped out of the shadows.

He moved around the room with ease despite the five unconscious people laying around.

Her husband somehow made his way to her side and handed her the coffee she hadn't been able to finish yet.

She hadn't even seen him pick it up.

It was an automatic response to take the beverage and drink it.

He handed her her coffee every morning when she was too tired to function like a human being.

Her eyes roamed around the room.

The mess was minimal.

That was good because the coffee was incredible.

It would truly be tragic if they had to close for reparations.

She might even take Luka here someday for a real date.

Her eyes connected with Adrien's for a split second.

It meant more than a look could possibly convey, but he obviously caught the gist of it.

That was enough for now.

She put down the empty cup on the closest table.

A bill and a few coins joined it.

She made sure to look at the cashier. "Keep the change."

Viperion opened the door for her and she heard him adress the hostages. "The present detectives might want to take a look at the van parked at the back. I have a feeling the unconscious getaway driver would love to share a cell with his friends."

They left together.

"You didn't tell us Ladybug was back in business." Rena Rouge was caught somewhere in between fangirling and accusing.

It was an odd mix.

Chat Noir took a step back and raised his hands in front of him. "I didn't know. I swear."

If Rena hadn't known that he was a terrible liar she probably wouldn't have believed him as easily.

Instead she turned to Chat's fiancée. "You didn't know anything either?" A shake of the head was her only answer. "Master Fu didn't tell you anything when he swapped out your miraculous?"

Sometimes the detective in her shone through.

"I've told you before. Master Fu and Tikki told me the dragon miraculous would suit me better. The only reason I had the ladybug for so long was because someone needed to cleanse all the akumas." Dragona was fed up with it all. "Nothing more."

The fox themed superheroine narrowed her eyes and tried to pick out any untruths.

She didn't find any.

"Ladybug hasn't been active in years." Alya clearly was in detective mode. "What changed?"

Carapace was the only one who'd ever succeeded in bringing her out of it when she got like this. "Does it really matter?"

His girlfriend span around on her heel and locked eyes with him. "It does when the first appearance she makes is at the one situation where all of us are unavailable. That's not a coincidence. She knows all our identities. Not just yours and mine. How did she find out? Did someone slip up? Did anyone tell her? Is she trustworthy? That's without even entering the topic of her unknown partner!"

Sometimes even Carapace failed.

"She could be the new guardian. Master Fu was training someone to take over when he died. In that case he obviously needed her to know." Chat Noir shrugged. "We'll have to see tomorrow."

His words did nothing to calm the stressed hero.

Dragona was hit with a realisation. "That's not what's bothering you. You're worrying about something else."

Chat tilted his head. "What else is there to worry about?"

"We're talking about Ladybug." Rena's voice was a lot quieter than before. "She gave me my miraculous. Out of everyone she chose me. What if I disappoint her? I might even have done it already without realising it."

It was surprisingly Mousette that answered. "I don't think you have anything to worry about."

He opened the door and the four of them walked in.

Juleka had told them she'd meet them here.

It was a whole other place than what they'd gotten used to.

The walls were now in shades of light pink, but that wasn't the biggest difference.

Not even close.

He actually had to rub his eyes to make sure he wasn't seeing things.

This couldn't be real.

It could not be more obvious that this wasn't a massage parlor anymore.

There was mannequins with all sorts of outfits on.

On the walls cloth hangers were hung up with dresses and suits for all kinds of occasions.

Hats, jewellery and bags were on stands at a few places.

He was in no way a fashion expert, but even he could tell these were more than simply mass produced clothing.

Further in there was a counter with a high tech computer.

What he wouldn't do to have such a beautiful piece of technology.

There was a few armchairs in a waiting area of some kind with fashion magazines neatly stacked on a tiny table.

None of this had been here a few weeks ago.

Alya was looking around in wonder. "Wow."

Wow indeed.

"They're waiting for you in there." Not one of them had noticed the woman behind the counter. She was blonde and wore fancy, but casual clothes. Something at the back of his mind recognised her except he had no idea who she was. She was pointing at a door beside her. "You can go right in."

Kagami nodded and went to the door with confident steps.

She didn't turn around until she had her hand on the door handle. "Are you coming?"

They scrambled to catch up to her as she went in.

On the other side of the door was yet another place fit for a movie screen.

This time they had walked into a workroom.

It was big, but not empty.

Most of it was meant for sewing.

There was fabrics, buttons, zippers and a lot of stuff he had no idea what it was.

Three adjustable mannequins were in the corner with half finished dresses pinned on them.

There was a big table in the middle of the room with weird measurements drawn on it and at least three sewing machines in the back.

This had to be the dream for fashion designers.

His heart clenched a bit.

On the right wall there was mirrors and chairs he'd only seen at barbers before.

Shelves on either side of them had different kinds of supplies on them.

To the left he saw more makeup products than most shops had and to the right there was brushes, clips and other hair related things.

Two girls were by the table.

One was standing up and the other was sitting on a weird chair with wheels.

At closer inspection the one standing was Juleka.

She was standing with her arms right out while the other girl took her measurements.

The girl had her back to them so they couldn't see her face, but her hair was dark blue.

That had to be Ladybug.

They were less than ten feet away from her.

Adrien looked like he stopped breathing for a moment there.

Nino knew they hadn't ended things on good terms, but the blonde had never told anyone what really happened.

Then the world came to a screeching halt as she turned around and he just knew it had been worse than a simple fight.

Because standing in front of them was Ladybug, but that's not who they saw.

No, in front of them stood none other than Marinette with a measure tape around her neck and a pin cushion on her wrist.

Marinette Dupain-Cheng was Ladybug.

It had been tense, but they worked through it.

He hadn't expected it to go half as well as it did.

He'd expected yelling.

There hadn't been any.

It had been unpersonal though.

Marinette made it very clear from the start that they might all have history together, but other than that they were just like strangers at this point.

So much had changed since he last seen her.

Gone was the bubbly girl that always stuttered and in her place was a confident and successful woman.

She'd always wanted to be a fashion designer and now she was.

Marinette was in her element.

The boutique was her dream that she now shared with Juleka and Chloe.

He'd always seen the good in Chloe.

In hindsight he hadn't done anything to help her become a better person.

He might not have encouraged her behaviour, but he hadn't objected too much either.

Adrien was proud of his childhood friend and a bit surprised.

Who knew she'd become a hairdresser?

Juleka hadn't said anything about her new job, but he didn't really blame her.

The goth probably had fun working with two friends with somewhat similar professions.

A fashion designer, a hairdresser and a makeup artist.

It was a good mix.

And then there was Marinette's husband.

When she had brought Luka as her date to the ice rink all those years ago he certainly didn't expect them to get married.

He was happy for her.

She deserved it.

Chat Noir shifted his weight a bit.

The meeting had mostly been spent on exchanging information and getting everyone on the same page.

Master Fu had chosen and trained her well.

She was up to date on eighty percent of the criminal activity in the city and the rest had been easy to explain.

Then they discussed the future of Ladybug, Viperion and Queen Bee.

Chloe said she would be on stand by if they ever needed her since she already had the comb and Pollen, but she wouldn't be an active hero.

Ladybug and Viperion would though.

A patrol plan had been made that worked with their schedules.

Luka had a few concerts and Marinette had her fashion shows that they needed to work around.

Marinette had been very clear at pointing out that there would be one week in a few months where they would be in Achu.

Apparently Marinette, Juleka and Chloe were going to be Rose's bridesmaids when she married Prince Ali.

He'd have to remember to send a card.

"What are you doing here kitty?"

He smiled as she took a seat next to him. "I needed a bit of air."

Ladybug was taking in the view. "Me too."

And in that moment it was like they were back exactly where they left off.

He wasn't naive enough anymore to believe everything would go back to the way things had been.

Too much had happened between them for that to be possible.

But that didn't matter right now.

Because right now they were just sitting on the top of the Eiffel Tower enjoying the view.

Just like old times.

Dear Diary,

it's been a while since I last wrote anything and a lot has happened since then.

My life has changed in ways that I never expected it to. I never thought I'd be where I am today.

I'm living the dream.

Husband, apartment, Ladybug, boutique...

I have it all.

Though I haven't gotten here without my fair share of life lessons.

One in particular stands out to me.

I've learnt that life has it's good and bad moments.

They're both equally important.

The good teaches us the beauty of life and all that comes with it.

The bad teaches us to appreciate it.

Then there are the bittersweet moments.

Those that are both good and bad at the same time.

They teach us the importance of knowing when to let go and walk away.

We might feel empty, anguished, sad, regretful, resigned, unvictorious, hopeful, determined or any other emotion, but in the end...

That's okay.

It's a part of living we can't escape from.

The important thing is that we keep looking forward.

Keep living.

- Marinette Couffaine ne. Dupain-Cheng

The End

And that would be the end of Bittersweet. This was supposed to be a one shot. 13.000 words, 10 chapters, 56 reviews, 78 followers, 64 favourites and more than 9.500 views later and I can proudly say that it's been a pleasure writing.

The response has been incredible and all comments have made my day just a little bit brighter. Thank you so much for all your kind words.

One last thank you to brave kid for the help with both chapter 6 and Lila's part in the epilogue.

If you've enjoyed this you might like my other stories too so remember to take a look. If you are familiar with Avatar: The Last Airbender you should check out Floating White Lotus too. It's written by A-Marlene-S with me as beta.

Thank you for reading, but it's time for me to take my leave.

ProudGeek4Ever