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It had been a few years since Hawk Moth had been defeated and revealed to the public; the two young preteens who were chosen to wield the Ladybug & Cat Miraculous had grown to now be in their early 20s and weren't needed like before. However it didn't stop Ladybug who while relieved that she finally had the free time that she was lacking in before; still found the time to make patrols even if they were 3 times a week and when there was a big accident or incident could be counted on to appear.
Chat Noir was mostly absent from incidents and would join a patrol once a week to catch up on Ladybug and to flirt/try to ask her out on dates. However when they were younger while also turning down his advances; Ladybug did appreciate bantering and quipping especially to help give levity to situations, however she grew more frustrated over time and was now ready to snap at any given situation.
Chat Noir in turn became more annoyed and frustrated with Ladybug turning him down; beleiving them to be destined.
Right now they were dealing with a group of high tech weapon wielding terrorists who were holding up a robotics building and Chat off course giving his usual flirting. Much to Ladybug's frustration as the terrorists had blown a hole in the wall and pushed people out; Ladybug had rushed to tie them up and was now trying to pull them up. "So after this; how about a nice picnic..." Chat asked and then Ladybug turned to him with a face screaming that she was close to hanging him outside the building herself.
"Chat; if you want to be helpful can you please allow Ladybug to save these people while we give her cover?" Viperion suggested putting a hand on his shoulder from behind and Chat glared at him but relented as he took his frustrations out on the terrorists; he was still not thrilled about Ladybug using the temporary heroes without consulting him when she finds a new one.
Soon they were done and Chat put out a 'Pound it' motion but Ladybug glared at him leaving him hanging. "What's with you..." Chat asked as that was cleary the wrong thing to say.
"You dare say that after what you pulled? This is why I have grown to DESPISE your stupid flirting; it's not cute! It wasn't cute nor at the right time years ago when I was shielding us from getting our memories erased allowing Hawk Moth to win but right now you don't have the excuse of being a teenager anymore... We are adults so you should be respecting my boundaries as I say this for the final time... We... Will... Never... Be... A... Couple..." Ladybug retorted with emphasis to her words.
"Do you really not feel anything after all the time we spent as partners..." Chat asked as Ladybug shook her head.
"All those times I had to cover for you goofing off or deciding to throw a tantrum and not showing; you saw being a superhero as a game especially without a main villain to fight. Guess what; this is and always was a responsibility! The truth is... It's been a long time since I considered you a partner or even a friend!" Ladybug told him before leaving with Viperion leaving with her silently as Chat was left open mouthed as the police came to arrest the terrorists.
All this time; they fought together and had eachother's backs... Him helping to find and utilise the Akumas' weaknesses and trusting them... Ladybug threw it all away...
He decided that he needed to continue this discussion at once and began following and was now on a scaffolding overlooking the alleyway where Ladybug and Viperion were talking. "...I take it you are using this as further proof that he shouldn't be told?" Viperion asked and Ladybug sighed but Chat was wide eyed.
What secret could they be hiding from him?
"After all the tantrums... I hate to imagine him reacting to me being engaged..." Ladybug replied and Chat gasped getting their attention as he jumped down with Ladybug clearly not being happy to have him hearing that.
All those times he gave her his heart; not only was she dating someone else but it had gotten serious that she was proposed to and accepted? Viperion knew?
"You were planning on keeping this a secret from me forever; weren't you? Unless I heard about you making a statement that you were on a maternity leave?" Chat accused glaring at her but she stood firm. "You could have told me..." Chat asked but Ladybug laughed humorlessly.
"And what? You throwing a big tantrum; you never wanted to hear it when I kept telling you that I was in love with someone else so how was I supposed to explain this to you? WOuld you have accepted or tried to find out and sabotage whole thing?" Ladybug asked and CHat tried to find his words; okay she did tell him that but he never thought that it was serious.
Apparently it wasn't just the excuse he thought it was...
"You know what... If you can't trust me to let me know this... That I was making a fool out of myself for trying to win a heart that someone already claimed... Never letting me know that you were taken... All those secrets you always kept from me, the Guardian stuff... If you don't even consider me a friend...Perhaps you should find a new cat!" Chat yelled much to their surprised as he ran to the end of the alleyway and turned the corner as he took off his ring and threw it right back.
Was heat of the moment; his lady cared for him too much to let him do this and would call for him to come back and they could talk about this some more with cooler heads. However he heard the sounds of them going up the buildings and he checked and they were gone with the Ring no longer there.
In a heat of the moment he threw away any hope of reconciling with Ladybug as well as Plagg; without even giving them a proper goodbye...
He went home with tears down his eyes...
The next day Adrien Agreste was all alone with his thoughts; no one in the manor besides him as his father and Nathalie in prison along with their underlings Lila Rossi and Chloe Bourgeois. It had been a shock to discover that as Ladybug once claimed (and his father found a way to get around) that his father had been Hawk Moth all along; father and son enemies in super powered personas all along. His friends gave their support to him during this troubling time; as other people questioned how much he knew about all this.
His father and Nathalie who he considered like a 2nd mother were sentenced to who knows how many life sentences; all that time they endangered Paris and the actions in New York was more than enough for them to be tried as war criminals in the UN. Lila and Chloe were over 18 after they were taken in after being defeated in the final battle; too many witnesses showing that they were gleefully serving Hawk Moth off their own free wills. Chloe's father had been voted out of office before and his attempts to try and get Chloe a lighter sentence if not freed of all charges only got him scorn.
Chloe had burned all bridges with all of Paris at this point save for Ms Bustier; even Adrien didn't have it in him to make excuses for his first friend anymore.
His mother was found and moved to a hospital for her coma and trying to save her didn't win his father any sympathy with the court as he made his testimony; his actions and the consequences outweighed his goal in everyone's mind.
He decided to meet up with Nino to take his mind off things and they went to the cafe; "This is unbelievable... I never thought that anyone could be as stubborn as Mum but your grandpa is keeping up!" Juleka told Marinette who laughed as she was with Luka whose hand she was holding and Alya.
Marinette had definitely grown into a beautiful young woman; much more confident and becoming an up and coming sensation in the fashion world. The media was declaring that she was going to be Paris' replacement for Gabriel Agreste. Luka himself was becoming a rock star on the rise and performed with his father Jagged Stone on stage.
"Adrien; guess who got proposed to? Too late; it's my girl and I'm head bridesmaid!" Alya squealed noticing Adrien who knew that Marinette and Luka were dating since they were in school. After all this time Adrien thought it might come to this; truth be told Adrien thought about considering Marinette to pursue if he gave up on Ladybug but Luka was a lucky guy.
Marinette was his good friend and Luka who he knew to be Viperion; while apparently knew about Ladybug's own engagement and kept it from him as Chat didn't mean that he wasn't a cool guy as a civilian.
"Really? I don't remember giving you that position Alya..." Marinette told Alya with an eyebrow raise.
"If the position is up for grabs..." Juleka asked as Alya gave her a look asking if she really wanted to fight back on this but Juleka having grown more confident herself gave a look that wasn't backing down.
"Come on; we don't need you two fighting since we already have my mum and Marinette's grandfather fighting over who gets to be the head planner." Luka laughed seperating the two as his and Marinette's phones got an alert. "Dad wants to see us about which songs he would like to perform at the wedding..." Luka said as Marinette nodded having gotten the same message.
"Happy for you both; I hope you can be the guy that Marinette deserves Luka." Adrien told them with a smile as the engaged couple left.
"That's all friends notified now and now to see future father in law... All those years I spent as a Jagged Stone fan and now I'm going to marry his son..." Marinette laughed.
"Glad that it worked out with your ex-crush fiding out." Luka whispered to her and Marinette nodded who sighed as there were fans coming towards them.
Marinette then whispered back "I am definitely glad that he took it much better than Chat Noir did..."