The next day, the mayor announced as a national holiday in honor of Paris' heroes, even the newer ones. It was a day of commemoration, and relief at the fact that they would no longer have to fear an akuma attack every other day. Schools and business' closed for the day, and everybody spent time with their friends and loved ones. The mayor also invited (through the Ladyblog, no less, Alya was screaming in excitement) the heroes to make an appearance at the end of the day and receive a medal of honor.

Adrien and Marinette spent most of the free day lying around on the couch, flipping through channels. Eventually, they decided to play monopoly (a horrible choice, honestly, Adrien had not learned nothing from being a business man's son). After Marinette went bankrupt, they scoped out snacks in the bakery and then played video games.

Adrien limited mobility prevented them from doing much. He stayed on the couch for about 98% of the day. Marinette had absolutely no problem with it, and she in fact insisted on most of it. If he pulled the stitched out now, it could cause a lot of problems. Finally, the time came for them to transform.

"Hey Adrien, it's nearly time to go. We should leave early so we can go very slowly. I still can't believe I'm letting you do this," Marinette called as she walked into her bedroom with a glass of chocolate milk. Adrien looked over from where he was lying on the chaise.

"I don't really want to go anymore, Mari," he said softly, hugging a pillow to his chest. Marinette looked a little confused.

"Does it hurt?" she asked. He shrugged nonchalantly.

"Yeah, it does. I mean, I guess I could go, I just… I don't really want to. I didn't do anything to help you guys defeat…. Hawkmoth. And tomorrow I have to go home so we can pull the whole 'my father had a heart attack or something' plan. I just…. I have a lot on my mind. Plus, I don't really deserve the recognition. The rest of you do." He smiled weakly at her and her face fell.

"I… I understand, Adrien. I honestly can't imagine what you're going through right now. I won't push you, but I want you to know that you deserve this just as much as the rest of us," she told him. He smiled before he let his face fall back into a blank expression.

"Thanks, Princess. You go on without me. I'll just stay here and take a nap." He rolled over a bit to hide the tears in his eyes and covered his head with a blanket. Marinette stood there for a few minutes. Her phone buzzed, snapping her out of her thought.

Nino: dude, ceremony is staring

Nino: starting*

Nino: where are u?

Nino: get over here asap

Marinette: I'm coming, Adrien is staying here. He doesn't feel like going.

Nino: what?

Nino: what's wrong?

Nino: if adrien doesn't want to come something is very wrong

Marinette looked back over to the supposedly asleep Adrien. "Adrien?" she asked. He didn't respond. Plagg flew over his head and glanced at her bitterly. "Plagg, do you know what's wrong with Adrien? Please!"

Plagg grunted. "You're lucky he loves you so much I'm villain to answer. The kid's been taking all of this a lot harder than you think. He's an internal wreck. He thinks he's worthless."

"He's not worthless!" Marinette said, shocked. "Why would he think that?"

"He always had them mentality," Plagg explained. "He always thought he wasn't enough for his father: worthless. He thought that his mother left because he was worthless. He always felt like he was a troublesome sidekick who got into you way: worthless. But everything that just happened made it worse."

"He got kidnapped, and he felt like he could've prevented it if he wasn't so worthless. He didn't want you in danger, to the point where he was crying and begging to the night air that you wouldn't come. You were his hope though. And when you missed that meeting, it made him feel even more worthless."

Marinette was crying now.

"He blames himself for his father's death. He thinks his mother doesn't want to stay with him because he is worthless. He doesn't want to be in the spotlight. He's always hated the spotlight. Believe it or not, attention makes him feel worthless!"

"He's anything but worthless!" Marinette cried. "He's worth so much! He deserves a family and recognition and love… Oh god, he deserves everything. He's priceless."

"Tell him that," Plagg deadpanned. "You need to go." He flew back over to Adrien's side and cuddled into the boy's chest.

"Thanks for caring, m'lady," a very awake Adrien mumbled. "But I still don't want to go."

"You should come! You deserve this! I WANT you to be there!" she insisted. He needed to understand that all of Paris cared. He wasn't her sidekick, he was her partner. He deserved more recognition that she did. He was the brave one, he was the loyal one, and he was the selfless one! He was the one that never ever considered quitting!

"I'm not going, Marinette," Adrien said firmly, turning to look at her sharply.

"Please."

"No. You're going to be late."

"I'll miss you. You deserve to be there."

"Just go."

She looked at him helplessly one last time. Then she transformed and leapt out the window. Making her way across the streets, she could feel her anger at everyone who had ever mistreated Adrien flare up deep inside of her. Gritting her teeth, she had no choice but to ignore the voice telling her to go back and make him come. He had enough people trying to make him do things. He needed someone to cut him some slack.

Ladybug could hear the cheers and shouts of the crowd before she even got to the large stage set up in front of the Le Grande Paris Hotel. She halted on a rooftop where her fellow super heroes and heroines were waiting. Jade looked at her inquisitively. "Is Adrien okay?"

She shook her head. "He didn't want to come. I would never make him." They ignored the hot tears in her eyes.

"Are you guys ready to go?" Papillon asked, shooting her best friend a sympathetic look. The others nodded and prepared to make their way over there. Before they jumped, Queen Bee whispered something into Ladybug's ear.

"He's blaming himself for everything, isn't he? Just gave him time and lots of love. I don't know if he'll ever heal from his emotional wounds, but we can try." Ladybug pulled Queen Bee into an unexpected hug and then the Miraculous Team jumped down from the building and landed on the stage. The Parisians erupted with cheers and applause.

"Hello, Paris!" Ladybug greeted, speaking through the microphone that a beaming Andre Bourgeois handed her. I stand before you today with my new allies. Papillon, Jade Turtle, Volpino, and Queen Bee. Chat Noir…couldn't be here today. He's okay, but he needs some time to heal. However, he is not to be left out of the spotlight. This fight was just as much, if not more, his fight as well as ours. We have defeated Hawkmoth, and made the Parisian streets safe again!"

More applause, shouting, whistling, etc.

"This is our promise to you!" Ladybug continued. "Paris has too many criminals living in it still. Every day you hear news of robberies, raping, murder, and drug abuse in the streets of our beloved city! We promise to stand up to all of these minor crimes. Superheroes were not just created to take care of huge threats and gain glory, they are here to keep everyone safer, and that is exactly what we are going to do!"

Andre Bourgeois took the microphone from Ladybug. After a long (and somewhat boring speech) thanking the superheroes for their sacrifices and commending their bravery, he had the military award each of them with a medal of honor. He handed Chat Noir's to Ladybug. "Will you get this to him?"

"Of course," she promised.

"Or I could just accept it myself," a voice rang out. Ladybug whipped around, the mayor taking a slower, more elegant turn, and stared.

Chat Noir was limping slowly through the crowd, who backed up and gave him space to walk through towards the stage. Ladybug felt her eyes begin to tear up as a wide smile spread across her face. "Chat!"

On impulse, Ladybug leapt off of the stage and barreled towards him, nearly knocking him over in a hug. "You came," she whispered in his ear as the Parisians grinned and sighed at the sight.

"I couldn't let you stay up there alone. I was watching the TV, and you seemed kind of, off. I didn't realize me not being there would affect you so much, even if it was just for a speech and a Q&A," he whispered back.

"Silly kitty," she said, smiling. "You balance me out. I need you, and you need me." And to prove it, she leaned forward and gave him a quick kiss while Paris erupted with cheers in the background.

"In that case, m'lday, shall we?" he gestured towards the stage and offered her a hand. She slipped her hand into his and they walked back to the rest of the team. Papillon was grinning like crazy (she would always be the biggest LadyNoir fan) and Jade was stoked that his buddy was okay. Volpino and Queen Bee were too busy giving making eye contact, blushing, and looking away to notice.

The team accepted their medals and took a bow before thanking the mayor and taking off over the rooftops, ready to regroup and work out patrol schedules. The rest of Paris stayed out for most of the afternoon, partying and generally having fun. The future could not look brighter.

############################################################################################################################################################

Emily Agreste walked along the bank of the widest river in Paris, tears streaming down her face. Her husband was gone. She had played a key part in destroying him. After all of these years, his death ended up being her fault anyway. She was scared now. She didn't want to stay around Adrien. What if he ended up dead too? He had nearly died yesterday, and his recovery would take a long time.

Thankfully, the Dupain-Cheng's had offered to take Adrien in for a few months. Emily wanted to be near her son, she really did. She just wasn't ready yet. And she had connections back at her old home. She and Adrien would live together, as much as she feared for him she couldn't bear to be separated again.

She wanted him here, though. It hurt him, but she did. This was where his school and his friends were. This was where Marinette was. He'd be happier here. She'd come to him. It would take a month or so, but she would do it. And she also secretly wanted him right next to the rest of the Miraculous Team in case something did happen.

That was another thing. She looked down at the Peacock miraculous in her hand, clenching her fist. The cool colors of the peacock seemed to shimmer, as she was looking through tears. This was the damned thing that had started everything. She put herself in danger, she put her family in danger, and she put her friends in danger. She was so sick and tired of having the miraculous weigh down her soul.

Emily looked across the water, half tempted to fling the pin into the icy depths, never to be seen again. But she couldn't do that. If not for the magical consequences, then for Pavvo's sake. She had been a good little friend. She sighed. What to do with it?

Master Fu was dead. She had found his remains. She had communicated it to the other miraculous wielders. They were shocked and sad, but none of them had known him very well at all, and most of them hadn't even met him. So now there was no miraculous keeper until Nino became of age and was trained (which she decided to take it upon herself to do). This was a risky and dangerous time. The best option was to keep the miraculous in her possession. The thought of it made Emily feel sick.

She heard muffled sobbing coming from an alleyway to her right. Turning away from the water, Emily moved curiously towards the noise, staying in the shadows. To her interest, it was only a teenage girl. The girl had flaming red hair, glasses, and was bawling her eyes out. Unable to ignore the motherly instinct that still tore at her chest, Emily moved out of the shadows.

"What's wrong?" she asked gently. The girls head snapped up and she furiously tried to dry her tears.

"N-nothing!" she blurted out, looking at the strange blonde lady from beneath the rim of her glasses. Confusion flooded across her face. "Hey, you kinda look like one of my classma-"

"Adrien Agreste?" Emily cut her off. The girl nodded. "I'm his mother. Who are you?"

"Sabrina Raincomprix," the girl sniffed.

"What's wrong?" Emily prodded gently. The girl sniffled again.

"All my life, I chased after another girl. She could be a bit mean, but, but we were best friends!" Sabrina burst into tears again. "And I tried to please her and I worked so hard! And I just wanted to help people! And she needed help! And I couldn't stop her from being mean and I just felt so helpless..."

"You know how you could help me?" Emily asked. Sabrina looked up as Emily held out a pin shaped as a peacock's tail. It glistened in the sunlight from the setting sun. "Protect this for me. Don't tell anyone you have it. It will be safe with an anonymous holder. Tell Adrien you have it."

"I-I will," Sabrina said, nodding. She took the pin from Emily, feeling the cold hard medal with her fingers. "I'll keep it safe."

"Thank you," Emily promised. "And if you ever decide to wear it, you can help more people than one." Then she walked back into the shadows and disappeared, her faint footsteps echoing in the distance. Sabrina cocked her head to one side, confused.

"Might as well try it on," she muttered, slipping the pin on her shirt.