Author's Note:

ChubbyUnicornMama had given me a review on my Gabriel Got His Wish story and I responded with how I couldn't bear to see Adrien turned into a zombie... so I had him be the sacrifice to bring Emilie back. I also mentioned that I didn't particularly like killing off characters anyway. She said she didn't mind because they were resurrected for the next story... which inspired the idea for this story.

I do not own any of these characters.

Adrien awoke in a cold sweat. That felt too real. Almost like it wasn't a dream. "Plagg! That was most real dream I've ever had! I dreamed that I found out Marinette was Ladybug because I saw her enter an alley as Ladybug and exit the same alley as Marinette. When I confronted her about it, she denied it at first until I let it slip that I was Cat Noir. We shared the most beautiful kiss and then I woke up."

"Sure kid. Whatever you say..." Plagg replied nervously. He knew what was actually happening, but also knew it was best to wait as long a possible before telling Adrien the truth. "Come on... it's time to go to school... although I still don't know why you'd ever want to go."

Across town, Tikki was yelling at Marinette for her to wake up. "Marinette! You'll be late to school!"

"No... I want to go back to sleep and kiss Adrien some more!" Marinette pouted at her insistent kwami.

"But you won't get to kiss the real Adrien unless you go to school..."

Marinette shot out of bed and grabbed her clothes. As she got ready, she recounted the dream to Tikki. "He saw me detransform and cornered me. Then he let it slip that he was Cat Noir. What a crazy dream... but it seemed SO real!"

Tikki just smiled at her and then hid in her purse as Marinette bolted out of her room.

Marinette charged full force into the classroom and felt her face go ablaze as Adrien stared at her. "H-Hi... M-Marinette."

"H-Hello... Adrien..." The blush on his cheeks did not go unnoticed. Marinette quickly took her seat behind him. The day passed slowly with Adrien making quick glances at Marinette... only to catch her just before she looked away.

The lunch bell rang and Adrien turned around before Marinette was able to get away. "M-Marinette? Co-Could I... talk to you?"

"You sure can sunshine!" Alya answered for her best friend and she took off... dragging a confused Nino out of the room with her so he couldn't jinx Marinette's chance with Adrien.

Adrien stood there silently as the rest of the students filed out of the room. As soon as they were alone, Adrien smiled nervously. "May I?" Adrien gestured for her to scoot over so he could sit next to her. She obliged silently... not trusting her words to come out right.

As Adrien slid in next to her, he began rubbing the back of his neck. "I had such a vivid dream last night... I just had to tell someone... and... since you were in it... I figured you'd be the safest person to talk to about it."

"Y-Y-You me dreamt? Ugh... I meant... you dreamt about me?"

"It was so real... it was like it actually happened."

Marinette swallowed. "I had a really-real dream last night too... with you... also..."

"I wonder what that means?"

"N-Nothing... unless... it was the same dream."

"That's im-impossible... right?" Adrien gulped and tugged at his t-shirt.

"What... what was your dream?"

"It was silly... really... It couldn't possibly... It's just not possible for it to be real... right?"

"Paris has superheroes and supervillains... I think we're past wondering what's possible... don't you?"

"Yeah... I-I guess..." Adrien smiled, melting Marinette's heart. "I still say it's... Uh... I dreamed I saw Ladybug enter an alley... and then you walked out."

"And then you confronted me about..."

"And you denied it..."

"... until you slipped up and told me you're Cat Noir!"

The two teens gaped at each other for several minutes trying to take in the fact they both shared the same dream.

A loud sigh from Adrien's jacket broke them out of their trance. Plagg flew out and was promptly joined by Tikki. "I think that's a record Sugar Cube... Don't you?"

"I agree... They usually stay quiet about it much longer."

"What? About... sharing dreams?" Adrien felt a little defensive about his choice to discuss the dream with Marinette.

Tikki and Plagg eyed each other. Tikki sighed a little. "It wasn't a dream."

"Not a dream? Tikki? What do you mean?" Marinette's eyes were wide.

"It was... a fanfic..."

"A what-what?" Adrien asked in disbelief.

"It was a story written by someone who doesn't write your real stories."

"Our real stories? Who's writing our real stories? I thought we were normal teenagers?"

"That's what it's seemed like up until this point... but now that your story has gotten popular... other people want to write stories about you two."

"Who are these people?"

"It can be anyone... but as a group... they're your fans."

"I have lots of fans..." Adrien protested. "But none of them control my life!"

"The fans you know about are part of your story."

"You keep saying our story... what do you mean?"

"As miraculous holders... you now can see the truth about your world... it's not real."

"Not real?"

"Nope... it's a world created from someone else's imagination."

"But... how?"

"Because that one person... the one who imagined your world... doesn't exist in this world."

"So... you're saying... we're a figment of someone else's imagination?"

"Exactly... but now... because they'd shared that story and it's gained popularity... other people want to write stories for you. That memory you got about that story was what you thought was the dream."

"So it really happened?"

"No... But you remember it like it really did happen... That's why it felt so real."

"Is anything real?"

"For you... real is the story that the original person writes for you... Like the unreal memories are called fanfics... those are called canon."

"So... one person dictates our lives?"

"It started with one person... but that one person can get help."

"Oh... But... I remember growing up... I remember my whole life... Have they been writing my story that long?"

"No... But they can change what you think you remember of your past."

"What! Even our pasts can be changed?"

"The person who writes your canon and change anything they want..."

"So we have no free will?"

"As miraculous holders you're now aware of this reality... meaning you have free will between canon stories... but you also remember fanics... you just don't actually live through it."

"This is so confusing... Tikki? Why didn't you tell me sooner?"

"Sometimes our holders can go their whole lives without ever realizing the truth about their reality... We've found it's much les stressful."

"No kidding! If we give up being miraculous holders... will these unreal memories go away?"

"Unfortunately not... your popularity dictates you'll likely have stories written about your entire life."

Adrien held Marinette's hands and looked deeply into her eyes. "I'll make it as long as I'm with you, My Lady."

"So will I, Adrien." Marinette smiled sweetly. Glancing between Adrien's eyes and his lips. "As I remember... That was an AMAZING kiss." Adrien smirked as he leaned over to Marinette and kissed her just as deeply as they remembered doing... but had not really done until that point.

After Lady Wi-Fi, Adrien and Marinette were lounging around. "That was wild. We both know who each other are... but it was like we couldn't help ourselves when we were finished fighting Lady Wi-Fi."

"That was a canon story," Tikki offered.

"Oh... so that's why we acted the way we did."

"Right!"

"This is so confusing!"

Adrien and Marinette fell silent for a minute as the kwamis watched over them. Tikki and Plagg looked at each other knowingly.

"Really! Mermaids!" Adrien finally exclaimed.

"That was wild! Swimming through the ocean like a fish! Wow!" Marinette's eyes sparkled at the memory.

"Plagg... What the..."

"It's called an AU, kid... AU as in Alternate Universe."

"You mean we'll actually remember stories about us that don't fit into what we consider our real reality?"

"Yep. Some fans have very interesting ideas of what type of world you could live in."

"It's going to get hard distinguishing between these unreal memories and our real memories. How is this not going to drive us insane?"

"Because it's highly unlikely someone will write a story where you go insane from unreal memories."

"But it's possible... right?"

"Unfortunately. Sorry, kid. But... the miraculouses will help keep that from happening outside of any stories."

"So... I could be driven insane by a story... and then be completely sane afterwards?"

"Yep!"

Marinette cuddled up next to Adrien and held him close.

It wasn't much longer before the first death fic occurred and Marinette wouldn't let Adrien go to save her life. "I... I... had... to... watch... you... die... in... my... arms..." she cried uncontrollably into his chest.

"Hey... It's okay. I'm here... it wasn't real..."

"But it felt so real! It was you as Cat Noir... and I didn't know he was you... and he took a hit for me and died... then he detransformed into you in my arms... seconds before you took your last breath..." Marinette continued to sob.

A few minutes later and it was Adrien's turn to cry uncontrollably as he remembered Marinette dying in his arms. "How... How can people write about that? They wrote that I was akumatized and I was the one who killed you..."

"It's okay, Kitty. I'm still here."

The next day they were back to not being able to look at each other. Their faces were ablaze all day and neither offered an answer to anyone the entire day at school. Back at Marinette's... neither teen could look at her parents as they burst through the door at break-neck speed.

"Don't they realize we're only 14!" Adrien scowled.

"How could they write a story like that!" Marinette lamented.

"Some of the fanfic writers are a little bit older than your target fan base... and they write about what they know... If you know what I mean." Plagg smirked at the two beet red teens who cold hardly look at each other.

The next day and Adrien eyed his father suspiciously as he left for school. Marinette and Adrien exchanged knowing glances until lunch. As they ate together... separate from the other students. "Could your father really be Hawk Moth?"

"Either that... or some fan is just guessing." A flash in their eyes and that nodded at each other. "And now... supposedly my father has a twin brother who's Hawk Moth."

"Yeah... The fans don't know for sure. But... what about that soul mate story... it was so sweet."

"Yeah... we certainly get more fluff written about us than anything else."

"To quote Rose... It's so romantic!" Adrien just smiled at his girlfriend and leaned over for a kiss.

The next day brought a new type of memory. "Plagg... What was that? It was like remembering sixteen stories... but they only had slight differences based on some variation."

"Oh, that... That's an interactive fic. The writer let the reader choose how the story would evolve at certain points... You get the privilege of remember all the different variations."

"And I thought it was confusing enough trying to distinguish real memories from unreal ones."

"Tikki! I can't believe I gave Alya a miraculous! What came over me?"

"It was a canon story... you didn't have a choice."

"But now Alya's going to start having these unreal memories too... right?"

"Perhaps... but since she's only using the miraculous on loan... she might get lucky and not be affected."

"So... I just have to wait and see?"

"That would be best."

Marinette watched Alya extra close the following week. When Alya started staring at Marinette... she was certain Alya had remembered the latest fanfic where Alya learned Ladybug's identity. She invited Alya over that evening and the teens played Ultimate Mecha Strike III until Adrien showed up after fencing.

Adrien... who remembered the latest fanfic greeted Alya and she returned a suspicious glare at him. He looked at Marinette who simply nodded so that Adrien would know that she planned to call Alya out on it. "So, Alya... any interesting dreams lately?"

"Why do you ask... Adrien?"

"I'll take that as a yes." Marinette interjected.

Alya eyed both of them suspiciously as her anxiety increased. "Okay you two... spill."

After confirming Alya's suspicions, the pair did their best to help Alya understand what was happening. For someone who was always trying to uncover the truth... it was a hard pill to swallow. After a bout of denial... followed by the three of them remembering another fanfic... Alya was finally willing to accept what was happening.

After a few months of nothing but Hawk Moth is Adrien's father fanfics... the heroes finally accepted that the fans knew something they didn't. There were so many varieties of stories where they would have a grand final battle... Hawk Moth would capture the heroes... They would stumble on his identity... Hawk Moth would get his wish, and it'd work out... Hawk Moth would get his wish with horrible results... Adrien's mother could get revived... Adrien's mother couldn't be revived... almost every flavor of story possible were repeated over and over with slight variations from different writers. But... being forced to live based on canon stories... they couldn't do anything about the knowledge they had.

They also figured Hawk Moth knew their identities also. Tikki and Plagg confirmed that he would be remembering the same unreal memories as them. As could only be done by characters in a story... knowing more than what they were supposed to know... and having no control over the ultimate outcome... they began spending more time with Adrien's dad and visiting his mother's casket. Adrien grew bitter at the person (or persons) writing the canon stories and wanted them to hurry up and either save his mother or bring him some closure.

Adrien, Gabriel, and Marinette were eventually joined by Alya, Nino, Chloe, Nathalie, and many more of Adrien's classmates. Master Fu refused to join them... citing it wasn't appropriate. But, the group just continued to meet anyway and support each other. They all had a deeper understanding of each other than words could explain. They shared the secret of their reality and told stories that only included some of them with the bigger group... provided it was age appropriate of course. They would discuss how creative and varied the writers were and often debated which wedding dress was best for Marinette... though she still insisted she was going to design her own dress and no one else... not even one of their writers... would design it for her.

The stories of epic pranks being pulled on each other had the group rolling in laughter. Especially ones involving cat nip when Adrien was transformed. They had several great ideas for clothes... including fingerless mittens. It seemed clothes were a popular way for writers to do the reveals. They supported each other when writers would go off the deep end and write them doing terrible things to each other. They reminded each other that those memories were not real... and it didn't actually happen... no matter how real it felt.

They got to meet Thomas Astruc... at least the version of him that was written into their story. Tikki confirmed that the Thomas Astruc they knew was based on the real creator of their story... but that he was just as much a character as they were and wouldn't be able to give them any answers. She warned the group not to approach him with questions as he wasn't a miraculous holder and wouldn't believe the truth about their reality.

While most stories kept to a realistic version of their world... they never ceased to marvel at the AU fics and how many different realities writers could dream up. Medieval stories seemed to be Adrien's favorites while Soul Mate stories were Marinette's. From time to time... two rare pairs in the group would blush at the site of each other. None more so than Chloe and Marinette the first time they were paired together. And it seemed like everyone in the group were holding their collective breath to learn what Marinette and Adrien's pet hamster was going to be named as it seemed to be a running gag that Marinette could never get to that part of her fantasy future with Adrien.

The physical injuries from these stories obviously never manifested. But, the unreal memories plagued the group at times. Such as when the Miraculous Cure didn't fix Cat Noir's injuries... causing Marinette to mindlessly stroke Adrien's arm as they cuddled. The vast number of times Adrien ended up being sacrificed unknowingly by Gabriel to bring Emilie back. Marinette and Adrien had been killed off so many times... they figured they couldn't really exist any more. Adrien being driven mad on the one year anniversary of his mother's death and killing off everyone close to him, then ultimately killing himself, was especially hard for Adrien to process. How someone could write such a story was beyond comprehension for him.

They saw the best in the world and they saw the worst. They were mermaids and vampires... werewolves and knights... they lived many lifetimes and they were still only in school based on the passage of time from the canon stories. They got good at spotting a canon story as Adrien would become super oblivious and Marinette would revert to super-creepy fangirl/stalker. So they continued to sit and wait... and talk. Always there to support one another in this crazy reality they lived in.