The Price of One || Miraculous Ladybug Fanfiction

Chapter Twenty - Nine: A First and a Last

The world suddenly became clearer as Emma's eyes slowly came open, and although it was like all of her senses were on overload, all of them coming back alive again at once, the first thing that she noticed was that for the first time in several months, there was no pain.

In a state of confusion and disbelief, Emma slowly held a hand out in front of her face - testing it as she formed it into a fist and flat again. Were she to do this a few days ago, her fingers would've exploded in agony, but if she was healed, that had to mean...

"EMMA!"

Two pairs of arms were suddenly wrapped around her form like a vise, crushing her gently. Emma didn't know what made her happier more - the fact that she was completely healed, or the fact that her parents were here; together as they always should be.

When the 3 finally separated, a charcoal blur suddenly blocked off Emma's field of vision as Cia embraced Emma's cheek tightly, small tears of relief falling down the kwami's face. Emma gave a cheeky grin, taking her kwami into her palm as she nuzzled her kwami's head with her nose. "I missed you too, Cia."

She took a second glance at her parent's sudden ease with each other. Though they had always been friends as Adrien and Marinette, it was different - in that stiff way of both of them fighting to keep away the other half of themselves. From the way their bodies seemed to relax easily next to each other, mirroring each other's movements automatically and shifting their weight correspondingly, it was easy for her to tell that they now had the kind of ease with each other that they only had with one another as Cat Noir and Ladybug.

Emma smiled sheepishly. "So...I'm guessing you two figured out identities."

Plagg scoffed from his place in the corner, emerging from the shadows with Tikki right beside him. "Take it from me, Swan girl - It wasn't easy getting the two of them together." He said, gulping down another large wheel of camembert. Adrien looked abashed. "Plagg? Wait - you knew about this?"

"I know a lot of things. But know this - your obliviousness tortured all of us." Plagg deadpanned. And some of us quite literally. Emma added in her head. But she only let out another sheepish grin, tucking a stray piece of bubblegum hair behind her ear. "There's...a lot to explain."

So she began. Emma explained how she was entrusted by Bunnyx with the mission to go back in time and repair the timeline by restoring their love for each other - skillfully leaving out the part about how she was their own daughter. Though she didn't think telling them now would hurt the timeline in any way, telling them would bring up a lot more questions and memories that she never wanted to relieve. She wanted to grasp onto her last moments as Emma Bisset before she returned to her place in the future as 'The Girl Who Was Broken.'

"Will...will we ever see you again?" Adrien asked quietly after Emma had finished her explanation. She inwardly chuckled, imagining the look on her father's face some day in the future when he realizes that Emma and his very own daughter were one and the same.

"When we meet again someday in the future." She said vaguely before giving him a sly smile. "Wouldn't want to give too much away just yet."

Shouts suddenly interrupted their conversation, signalling the arrival of a new akuma.

Marinette gave Emma an apologetic smile. "I know...you're supposed to be picked up by Bunnyx soon, but how would you feel about one last battle?"

Emma's grin appeared automatically, stretching from ear to ear as a familiar sparkle appeared in her bluebell eyes. "Let's do it."

And with that, the three superheroes transformed together for the first and a last time.