I promise to bring you back

13 - Princess Justice

Word Count: 1228

After Adrien got over the shock of me being in his room, we talked about what to do next. We both knew he was the only person who believed me. We decided that our best course of action would be to prove that I'm innocent, but I couldn't do it alone. I couldn't go into the school to find things to prove my innocence, but Adrien could, so he would be my eyes in the school for the time being.

Adrien would go around and interview everyone involved and see if their stories lined up. We both knew this was all Lila's doing, but we had to find a way to prove it if I wanted to go back to school. While he was doing that, I would be home, trying to figure out why Lila had so much against me. Sure, I knew she was a fake and I wanted to expose her, but there was no point in trying since nobody would believe me, they'd all believe her.

I didn't want to be too late getting home after school, so I had to leave. Adrien walked me to the front door and waved as I left. I could tell he was really trying to get on my good side, and as much as I didn't want to admit it, he slowly was. He was the only person to side with me after all of this, how could I not begin to trust him? He was my only hope.

As I was walking away, I heard a scream. There was another akumatized villain. I hid behind a tree, but I couldn't transform yet, it was too populated. I glanced over to Adrien's window, and I saw a bright, green flash, then I saw Chat Noir fly out of Adrien's window. That's when I pieced two and two together. The boy I loved who was always helping turned out to be the one and only Adrien Agreste who was constantly doing his best to help everyone, including me. In that moment, everything made sense.

I ran into an alleyway and transformed, then I rushed out to help Adrien, I mean Chat Noir, defeat the villain. We rushed to the sound of danger, and when we got there we saw it was only Mr. Pigeon again. We defeated him in less than a few minutes, we've been getting faster and faster after every defeat, it was always the same with him. I captured the Akuma and just before Chat Noir jumped away, he stuck out his fist for a pound it, and my fist met his. We made brief eye contact, and I knew it was Adrien. The quantum masking fell away, all I could see was him.

I flew home and de-transformed before I lost my mind.

"Tikki, what do I do? Adrien is Chat Noir, and I've only been turning down his every advance in my civilian form!"
"Marinette, you're not supposed to know his identity! This will change everything! We have to fix this!"

I didn't want to fix it. I knew who he was now, and that could make us stronger. After all, I only know his identity, he doesn't know mine. Not all hope is lost. Besides, I wouldn't date him as Ladybug, but maybe I could date Adrien as Marinette, and we could be happy together that way. I mean, he has been helping me through this whole issue that Lila has caused, he was the only person to believe me, so he had to have some feelings for me, right?

Was I so disappointed that Adrien turned out to be the love of my life? Surprisingly, no. He has only helped me and tried to be a good friend to me, no matter how many times I pushed him away, ever since we met. I guess I've just been missing out on what a great person he is.

"Tikki, please don't try to fix this. Just because I know his identity doesn't mean he'll know mine, right? Maybe this can work. Just please, don't take this away from me." I pleaded.

I saw Tikki trying to decide if this was a good idea or not, but in the end she decided it couldn't hurt, but the second anything bad happens, we would find a way to fix it. I decided that was it, I would figure out if Adrien had feelings for me while we work on this Lila case, and if he did then I would confess my feelings for him. Afterall, nothing terrible could happen, right?

The next few days were a blur. Adrien did everything he could to help me, and I couldn't figure anything out. My parents were disappointed that I was suspended, and they didn't believe my story either. That only made me more motivated to find a way to prove my innocence. But one positive thing has come out of all of this, I figured out that Adrien does have feelings for me. How did I find this out? Easy, I visited him as Ladybug and asked, it was as simple as that.

I asked Adrien to meet me at the park on Friday after school, and he agreed. I was sitting on the park bench while I waited for him, my heart beating faster and faster. My internal compass was spinning out of control, because for the first time in a long time, I had no idea where this would take us. Sure I had confirmed Adrien's feelings for me, but that didn't mean that they could have changed after all of this influence from our friends, or that he would accept my invitation to date. I looked up and saw Adrien walking towards me, with a big grin on his face. I got up and ran over to him.

"What's the big smile for?" I asked him.

"I may have just figured out a way to get you back in school, let's just say I pulled a few strings with Lila, and she's willing to admit that she lied."
"No way!" I pulled him into a hug. I could tell he was surprised, but he hugged me back. "Thank you," I whispered.

I backed away before he continued, "So Marinette, why'd you call me out here today?"

"Well, you see," I took a deep breath, "I think I finally realized that I was so blinded by our first interaction that I didn't see what an amazing boy I was missing out on. And I hope that you can forgive me one day, I really do. I know I had no reason to feel or act how I did, but I think I've finally realized. I'm in love with you Adrien, and I have been since the moment we met. Now, you don't have to say anyth-"

He cut me off, "I love you too Marinette."

I felt like a little kid who just got given their biggest christmas gift early. My eyes lit up, and I pulled him back into a hug. When I pulled away, I looked up and we held eye contact for a few seconds, and I decided to make the first move. I pulled him in for a kiss, and when our lips touched they sparked like magic. He kissed me back. This is everything I've ever wanted and more. But as we all know, when a kid gets a present early, they feel disappointment to make up for it later.

One day, on patrol with Chat Noir, aka Adrien, a superhero in a bunny costume came out of a shining portal in front of me and dragged me in.

"Woah who are you? And where are we going?" I was in shock.

"Hey minibug, I'm bunnix and you're coming with me. I'm from the future and something happened, I don't know what and I don't know when, but it changed the future. We need your help to fix it."

"You need my help? Who's we?"

"Your and Chat Noir's future selves."

It was only then that I realized where we were. We were somewhere that time and space didn't exist. I looked around at all of the different portals and saw that each one showed the world, either future or present. As I was booking around, I felt Bunnix grab my hand and bring me towards one of the portals. I saw the world in a state of disaster. It was a sight that could chill anyone's blood.