the next holders//mlb fanfiction

45//after the battle

this is the last chapter. There will still be an epilogue! I hope you enjoyed reading the story (so far) :))

El is shaking, her head is buried in her hands, she's trying not to cry, trying not to show how messed up she feels. She shouldn't be crying over the fact that they caught HawkMoth, but she is. Her mother was HawkMoth. And she lost her. She probably didn't even love or care for her.
Two arms embrace her in a tight and comforting hug, she can feel her head being buried in someone's chest, she knows whose it is. El embraces back, her arms around Autumn while sobbing into her shirt. Autumn rubs El's back softly, whispering things like "It's okay to cry." and "You're not alone."
There're a lot of sounds around them, so much they should be overwhelming, but it's all muted. It's just the two of them in this moment, just El and Autumn, comforting each other like old times, making sure the other feels safe and can call one another home.

"Autumn!" A voice echoes through the crowd, "Let us through, that's our daughter!" A second voice continues. Both El and Autumn look up to face Autumn's foster parents. They're both looking pale and terrified, mixed with anger. Mostly confused.
"We never allowed you to go off and do something dangerous like this, you could've gotten hurt. Or worse, you could've died!" Her father speaks, all cameras filming the conversation.
"But I'm alive. And you always said you admired the heroes for what they do, why does it make any difference if I-"
"Because you shouldn't be a hero. You're just a teen, a child. You shouldn't be burdened by keeping everyone save. The only worries on your mind should be school and boys!"
"Honey, calm down." Autumn's mum tries calming her husband, which isn't working.
"First of all, I've been keeping Paris safe for months because no one else would! You can't blame me for doing what's right. And second of all, I am not an average teenager fantasising about boys." Autumn says back, trying to keep her cool. El mildly squeezes her hand, reassuring she's not alone either.
"I don't like your tone. Come home right now, no excuses!" Her dad says strictly, but Autumn refuses.
"No. I can't leave El, she's having a much harder time than you, me or any other person in Paris right now and I won't leave her alone."
Her dad's eyes fall onto El, who has puffy eyes but still manages to look back with a face filled with anger. "You should have some more respect for your daughter. She's been overworking herself without anyone noticing for the past months, just so she could keep you safe. So how about you guys go to your home and let Autumn finish what she's started. She'll be home when she finds the time." El talks back. Autumn's dad tries talking back, but gets held back by his wife, telling him El's right. With an annoyed glance, he turns around  and leaves. Pushing everyone out of his way.

It doesn't take long before the second acquaintance shows up: Miss Blanchard. She'd squeezed her way through the crowd and ended up in front of the two girls. And the first thing she does is pulling both of them in a hug "I can't believe how strong you have become. I'm proud of you." She says, then lets go of the hug and sits down in front of them. "And I'm sorry for leaving you at Lila's place, El. Even though I didn't know what she was gonna do, I feel bad, it must've hurt you. There's still a space for you at the orphanage, so you can return to us if you'd like." She says, turning to El.
"It's not like I have anywhere else to go." She responds, smiling through her tears and puffy eyes. Even though she act like she doesn't care, both of them know that she'd love to come back.

***

It's Friday now, one day after HawkMoth's final downfall, and even though everything has gone back to normal for most people, life isn't easiest for the two heroes.

When Autumn got home, her parents gave her a three-hour lecture of how irresponsible she's been and how worried she's made them. She kept talking back, telling them she did what she had to do and that she doesn't regret a thing, which resulted in her parents grounding her until further notice. Of course, she didn't like this and secretly left her room multiple times to just be alone for a while.

She hasn't seen El in person since yesterday, mainly because El has been busy with moving back to the orphanage, where she's been getting a lot of attention. Too much. Everyone kept asking her questions or gave her compliments. The little ones kept telling her how they want to be like her. A few hours after moving in again, she tried to stay away from crowds as much as possible, which no one questioned. She found a quiet spot on the roof of the orphanage, where she spends most of her time. She eats breakfast, lunch and dinner there, she practices skateboarding there, she sketches in her sketchbook there, she texts with Autumn there and she catches up with Plagg about everything yet nothing there.

After a few days, El and Autumn decide that they should go back to school again. They wanted to be calmed down and ready first, but they know they can't avoid the questions forever.
As they walk through the front door of the school building, hand-in-hand, they immediately get the attention they expected. All students look at them and either start whispering between themselves or walk up to them. Miles asks for a interview for his LadyBlog, some of their classmates just smile and thank them while others question them. Some students from other classes even ask for their autographs. If it wasn't for Rune telling everyone to back off and give them air to breathe, they wouldn't have made it to their first class.

As they enter the classroom, multiple people stare at them, to which Rune repeatedly says to just leave them alone. Catherine and Roux are there, too. Neither of them has talked to Autumn about what happened, about how she's been Ladybug all along, but they don't seem to mind.
"You guys wanna sit together?" Roux ask, Catherine is already sitting next to them.
"Thanks." Autumn says smiling, Roux and Catherine return the smile.
"But we've missed you here, don't leave for so long ever again." Catherine says jokingly, Autumn smiles "I won't. And thanks for helping us out back then, you were a great help." She whispers the last part, making sure no one else in the classroom could hear them.
"All we did was follow your plan. You're the genius and I think everyone in Paris is lucky to have you two as their heroes." Roux looks from El to Autumn and adds "Both of you."

Hi everyone! So this is the end I guess. This last chapter might've been boring but I needed to have this kind of after-thingy, I hope y'all still enjoyed it. Honestly, I can't believe that it's actually over. I've been working on this book and the one before this sequel for around a full year, it's weird to know it's over now. But I'm glad I finished it since I've been through multiple writersblocks. Also, this is not fully the end, I'll still write an epilogue which will be posted soon. It probably won't be as long as a full chapter but it will mainly be fluff and happiness, no more angst for y'all. You've had enough of that.
Idk which book imma write next, I have some ideas but of course I gotta find the inspiration and motivation to come up with a storyline and actually write. We'll see.
Thank you all for reading this, I really hope y'all enjoyed it! Have fun reading the epilogue still and bug out! :))