Marinette's POV
Adrien lays on the ground, knocked out by the previous fight. I feel betrayed as I see his body lying there.
He helped Hawkmoth.
He risked the Miraculous.
He betrayed me, Chloe, and ultimately, Paris.
So I had to fulfill my duty as the Guardian of the Miraculous.
I raise his hand above the ground, and take off his ring.
"Ladybug! What are you doing?" Princess Honey asks me.
"What has to be done." I answer back, not even glancing at my best friend, unconscious on the ground. I know if I do, I'll cry.
Chloe nods, and hugs herself tightly, probably feeling the same things I am.
Plagg swirls out. "Bugaboo, I couldn't stop him. I tried, believe me—"
"I know Plagg. He dug his grave, and now he has to lie in it." I try to comfort the mini god of destruction.
"Is he dead?" Nightwing asks, looking concerned.
"No," Chloe snaps at insensitive comment.
Nightwing is astounded when he looks at Adrien's face, and sees the leading model for the Agreste brand. Robin looks mildly suprised, but then
like he's trying to remember something. Something like it's on the top of his tongue, but he can't remember it.
"I can't—I can't," I take a deep breath to collect myself.
"Ladybug... we can't let him get tossed away like an alley cat. We can't let him rot with his father." Princess Honey brings me back to reality.
There's only one option at this point.
"Is there any way you can wipe his memories?" I ask Nightwing, looking at the ground.
"I'll call in a favor," Nightwing says, pulling out his electric baton.
"That's not what I meant," Princess Honey says in exasperation. "There has to be another answer. Please," she begged.
"Princess Honey, what else can we do? He betrayed us once, who says he won't do it again? Blackmail us with our identities, or expose us to the world. He wants to save his mother, and he'll turn into his father to do it." I told her. Adrien would do anything to save his mother, and earn his father's respect."
And after tonight, we could never fully trust him.
"I hate that your right." Princess Honey's voice wavers.
"Me too." I express, "We can save him the guilt he'll carry with him for the rest of his life for turning on us and losing Plagg. We can do that for him."
Nightwing looks up from his baton, saying, "Someome is on the way for help."
"Okay," I say pathetically.
It's been well over five minutes, so I'm surprised that my suit hasn't timed out, but maybe after this battle Tikki knows I need some extra time.
I look away, trying not to let my emotions bleed through.
In only a few more minutes, a hero appears to help.
The Martian Manhunter.
If it was any other situation, I would be in awe, but I can't help but feel sorrow.
What's happened in the last 12 hours is real, and Adrien really did betray me. He's going to forget everything.
"Manhunter," Nightwing solemnly says, "Thank you for coming."
"Of course. I was a bit surprised though, seeing as Wonder Woman and Aquaman have advised us to stay out of Paris for the time being." He stated carefully.
"That time is over," I say confidently. It was fake, because even though we drove the Black Mask out of Paris, he'd return to Gotham.
And then I realized that Gabriel's assistant, Natalie was long gone, and probably the peacock Miraculous with her.
I should've been more focused. Everything I do, it's still never enough.
"We need your help. One of the heroes of Paris was comprised, and..." Nightwing looks to me for an answer.
"The best thing to do is to erase his memories. After all he's sacrificed, this is not what he should be known for." I kick the dust, avoiding all the eyes trained on me.
"I understand. Are you prepared for this?" The Martian Manhunter asks.
"No." I look at Princess Honey. "But we have to be."
Robin looks upon the boy on the ground, looking almost sorry for Adrien. His silence isn't guilt, it's now respect.
"You realize by erasing all of his memories of the Miraculous, I'll know all the secret identities that he knows?" Martian Manhunter questions me.
"Yes, I do. I trust you," I say, giving him the final go ahead to make Chat Noir ever forget he was one of the heroes of Paris.
He doesn't deserve to be locked up next to his father, but I can't let him keep his Miraculous. Plagg is deathly quiet for once, hugging my arm, digging his face into it so he doesn't have to watch.
Plagg has lost another owner. At least this time, it wasn't to death. But this almost feels worse.
Martian Manhunter crouches next to the boy, and places his hand on his temple. In a few moments, he stands. "It is done."
"Thank you. I owe you one," I try to say in a gracious tone.
Martian Manhunter puts his hand on my shoulder in a comforting way, "You don't owe me anything, Guardian. You did what was best for the sake of Earth, and ultimately, the Universe."
"I hope so," I say, ny confidence wavering.
Martian Manhunter looks at me, and then at Robin. "Don't worry, the future will hold interesting things for you." He turns to Princess Honey. "And for you."
Chloe looks just as confused as I do, as we thank him for his help one last time.
Martian Manhunter floats into the air. He nods at Nightwing, "I'll see you at the next League meeting."
"Thank you Martian Manhunter," Nightwing thanks him one last time, and we see him fly away, phasing through the ceiling.
The cavernous like space is left feeling eerie, and empty.
Police sirens sound off, and I know that they are here to imprison Hawkmoth, along with Lila.
Everyone knows.
Which leaves one final question.
"Who is he going to live with?" Nightwing asks us.
"He can go live with his aunt and cousin in England." Princess Honey says, walking towards the rest of the group.
"We should probably move him upstairs before he wakes up." Nightwing says softly. Without a response, he picks up the sleeping boy, and we lead him to Adrien's room.
It's exactly how I remember it, with his giant bed, and bookshelf, a basketball hoop, and a piano. I had a feeling this would be the last time that I would be in this room.
Nightwing carefully places him on the bed, and we say our final goodbyes.
I drop to my knees before my partner. "I'm sorry, Adrien."
Chloe kneels next to me, as we both mourn the hero, and person we once knew.
꧁꧂꧁꧂꧁꧂
With Hawkmoth defeated, the streets of Paris were crowded with celebration.
The word traveled quickly that it was over. School was cancelled for a week.
I watched through social media and the news as people were allowed to express themselves freely.
People were gleeful, they were crying, they were angry; they were themselves.
Paris was back to normal.
I'd lost any sense of normalcy years ago. I couldn't force myself to feel anything. I was numb. Chloe was the same. I holed myself in my room, I just didn't want to go outside. My parents were concerned, but they couldn't get me out of bed.
Damian came over earlier this week, to tell me that he was leaving.
He was going back to his home, Gotham City.
Today.
I got out of bed, and tried to look presentable. I got ready, and rode my motorcycle to the airport.
I would miss Damian, with whatever was left of my heart. I liked him. He was more real than anything I had ever allowed myself to experience.
I had started making him a present, but I thought that I would have the rest of the year with him, so it was only half finished.
I didn't want to show up empty handed, so I got some macarons that I knew that he and Dick would like.
I parked my motorcycle, and wandered aimlessly through the airport, trying to find his flight. A hand lands on my shoulder, and I turn around to find the person I was looking for.
"Marinette! You came," Damian says.
"Of course I did. I couldn't let you leave without saying goodbye."
"Come follow me, I have to get to the jet."
"The jet?" I questioned, as he pulled me through the bustling crowds. He took me outside and it clicked. He was Damian Wayne, duh. "You have a private jet."
"After what's happened in Paris, my Father thought it was necessary to get us back as fast as possible." He explains.
"Oh."
He reveals, "I would stay if I could."
"Nah. I'd go with you." I tell Damian.
"You want to leave Paris?"
"Maybe. I'm not sure yet. I don't know what the future has in store for me." I say, because it's true. I don't know what the next step in life for me will be.
After a moment of silence we begin, only to interrupt eachother.
"Damian—"
"Marinette—"
"You go first," Damian tells me.
"I like you." I blurt out, confessing first, I can't hide my feelings any longer. "I really do."
"I like you too," he says.
We both lean in, and share a short kiss.
It feels like we have exchanged moments like these a thousand times between our eyes before our lips ever touched.
He wasn't the first guy I had kissed, but he was my favorite. I smiled into the kiss, because I was kissing Damian.
But then I realized why I was here, and where Damian was going, so I pulled back suddenly.
"Damian," I whisper in regret.
"Angel?" He asks in confusion.
"You're about to leave for Gotham City." I state the obvious.
"Yes." He looks away and answers me.
"But I can't do long distance. That's not fair to me or you." I finish.
Damian immediately answers, "I can visit."
Marinette sighs, "You're still going to be busy and have a life of your own at home. I don't want to be a distraction, or something that holds you back."
"Please don't do this, Marinette." He begfed me. Damian Wayne, begging. This is probably new territory for him.
I try to fight the tears trickling down my face, pattering to the ground, "What else are we supposed to do? I don't know where I'm going to college, and I can't rip you away from your life at home. That's not fair, it's selfish of me." I say.
"Be selfish for once!" He suggests, but he knows that he's losing me. I'm forcing him to.
My hands cover my face, "I can't, you know that's not who I am Dami..."
Damian mutters, "I can't just watch you walk away."
"You might have to," I mutter, and he hugs me. He hugs me as if this is our last time seeing or touching each other.
Because it might be.
He'll move onto to some richer, prettier girl than me in Gotham, and I'll live out the rest of my life here, in Paris, protecting the Miraculous.
Damian pulls away, "We can work this out. We can still be friends." He said, but I could tell that the word friends physically hurt him to say. At this moment, I realized that was just as bad as Adrien, if not worse because we had both confessed our feelings.
"Of course Damian, I'm just saying we can't be anything more. Not now." I couldn't break his heart more than I had already broken my own.
"One day." Damian swears, no, he vows.
I give him a small smile, and breath out, "I can't promise anything."
Damian stops for a moment, thinking through his words. He looks me straight in the eye, so passionately, I feel like he can see my soul. "I can, beloved."
I knew the meaning behind his words.
"Damian—"
"Just think about it. Let's finish our senior year of high school, and then we'll figure it out. But don't ruin whatever we can have because we're not ready now."
"Okay Damian. We'll figure it out. Together." I say, but I feel like we're only going to hurt each other.
"We'll call, and text." He says, taking my hands in his.
"Okay," I say, even though I knew the time difference might be too much.
"Goodbye Marinette." He says. It hurts. It's supposed to hurt, I think. He didn't call me Mari, or Angel, or Beloved.
"Goodbye, Damian." I say back, and watch as he boards the plane where his brother is.
I'm there long after his plane leaves, but I only leave with half of my heart.
꧁꧂꧁꧂꧁꧂