Missing

The Truth and Apologies

Two Days Later

Mari's POV

    It's been officially two days ever since we defeated Hawkmoth. Thanks to my Lucky Charm, the city didn't need fixing. More like thanks to Adrien and his mom. Anyway, between those two days, I've told my parents about my secret double life. As you can imagine they asked all the possible questions in the world. I tried my best to answer them but there are some things that I need to keep to myself.

    Anyways, I've stayed home for those two days. Sleeping. Watching the News. More sleeping. Eventually, I got a call from the Mayor asking me if I was ready to talk about what had happened. I said I'd tell him later after I have gotten an answer from Adrien. I need to know how he's feeling about this. So I decided to call him.

    "Hey," I say once he picks up.

    "Hey. How you feeling?"

    "Well... not sure. I got a call from the Mayor. He asked me if I'm alright talking about what happened,"

    "Oh and yeah... same,"

    "Look, I'm not going to talk if you don't want to. I know the topic of your father is a bit heavy,"

    "Yeah... it is, but the people deserve to know the truth. That's why I'm saying yes,"

    And this is where we are now. Inside the hotel where the Mayor lives. We're both transformed, unsure of how we should've dressed. Chloe and her mom were nowhere to be seen.

    "I'll go and talk first. You are welcome to stand next to me or wait in here," the Mayor asks us. I look at Cat and he smiles.

    "We'll stand next to you," he says. The Mayor smiles and nods and walks away from us. Cat turns to look at me and smiles. "Everything is fine," he says and places his hand on my shoulder. I look at him and smile back. We get escorted outside and we stand to the right side.

    "People of Paris. I am here today to talk to you about something we've all been wondering. What happened two days ago? Well... I personally do not know. All I know is that our beloved city was once again attacked by the villain by the name of Hawkmoth. And as usual our beloved heroes, Ladybug and Cat Noir, we're there to protect us and defeat him. And they're here today to talk to you about those events. Ladybug..." the Mayor finishes and extends his hand presenting me. As I walk up to the microphone, the people here start to calp. I wait for the clapping to end and then start to speak.

"Thank you, Mayor Bourgeois. As you said, our city was once again under attack by Hawkmoth. Cat Noir and I did everything in our power to stop him. I even sacrificed myself for it. You see, our jewels can merge and give the user God-like powers and a wish. That's what Hawkmoth wanted. We couldn't let him have this power though. So I did what I thought was right and that was use the power to defeat him once and for all." I hear gasps and whispers among the people. "I know what you're wondering. Why he needed this power?" I look at Cat and he nods. "He wanted them to bring someone back to life." Gasps came from the audience again and I heard some "who's." "I know you all saw him that day but if you didn't..." I look at Cat again and he nods again. "His name is Gabriel Agreste and he was trying to bring his wife back." Whispers and gasps came from everywhere. Before the people got any ideas I quickly added, "But this action has a big consequence!" and all brought their attention back to me. "If he wanted to bring his wife back, he'd had to kill someone in her place. A life for a life! I was not gonna let any innocent life be taken for a selfish reason! That's why I gave my life. So Gabriel didn't hurt any innocent lives. That includes his poor son, Adrien Agreste. He's a good person who didn't deserve to go through this. Now, I don't know what happened after I gave my life but I can confirm a few things. Yes... My real name is Marinette Dupain-Cheng and my partner's name..." I say and gesture to Cat to come up. He makes his way next to me and stands to my right. "And this is Adrien Agreste." We say our destransformation words and in seconds we're in our civilian form. "Adrien's mom is right now alive and back with her son. As for his father..." I say and look at Adrien.