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10 years later...

"And that's why the partnership of Ladybug and Chat Noir is a fundamental basis for us all to aspire to. Their support, loyalty and friendship spread, not only between themselves, and Paris, but also their enemies. The power of their love was often seen as their greatest weakness, but ultimately proved to be their greatest strength."

Emma closed her notepad, and placed the pen in the corner of her mouth before standing up and heading towards her school bag. Pulling out her pencil case, she put her favourite pen back inside and zipped it up safely. Heaven forbid she ever lost it.

A knock on the door had her turning, only to see her father standing there with a strange smile on his face which made her eyes roll.

"What do you want, papa?"

"Do I not get a hug anymore?" he asked, pushing open the door and leaning on the frame. "You're only 10, and by my calculations, I still have at least 20 more years of warm hugs."

"Maybe if you weren't dressed as a giant cat."

Chat Noir looked down as if he hadn't realised he was still in his super suit, a wicked smile encroaching on his face. "I used to purr you to sleep for hours when you were a baby, you know. You were such a little daddy's girl."

Emma huffed and rolled her eyes, sitting back down on her chair with a sigh. She opened her book once again and looked back over her essay. The whole study of the heroes seemed pointless, but she supposed it was like learning about the wars; hopefully through education, the actions won't be repeated. But to everyone else they were just stories — historical events. They didn't know her mother and father were almost killed and that she almost died along with them.

Miraculous: The Tales of Ladybug and Chat Noir – memories or myths?

Myths, indeed!

"What's up, sugar plum?" Chat Noir walked forward and sat himself on the chaise lounge in her room, the one which had been her mother's many years before.

"Was it all true?" she asked, looking down at her work and her textbook. "I mean, I know a lot of it's true, just look at you and maman, that's all the evidence I need. But when I read about it, I never know what is fact and what is fiction."

Chat Noir stretched forwards and grabbed the textbook from on the table.

The Tales of the Miraculous

"What do you think is true?" he asked, flicking through the pages delicately so as to not rip them with his claws. She watched as he stopped on a picture of the original team in the days just after they'd defeated Monarch, a pain shooting through his eyes she'd seen many times in the past. It was like she lost him for a couple of seconds before he returned to his normal happy self.

"I don't know, you never talk to me about it!"

Chat Noir sighed, turning his attention to the door. "Marinette!" he shouted, the sound of feet against wood came almost instantaneously. His wife's beautiful form came into view, only... "Why are you suited?"

His wife passed through the doorway, baby in arms as she moved to seat herself beside him. She placed Hugo down and Chat Noir watched as the baby, with green eyes and blond hair, began to crawl around the room.

"I needed to use the yo-yo to contact Alix at the Temple," she said, Chat Noir stopping her before she could call her transformation off.

"Leave it," he said with a smile. "Emma has some questions for us."

Ladybug turned to look at her oldest child, the daughter they cherished so much after everything that had happened. She was here, against the odds, and the miracle everyone needed had needed to push forward. She had become a ray of sunshine and hope in everyone's lives — their lucky star after so much pain.

Myléne and Madeline were doing well considering. Myléne had finally opened her heart once more and was currently happy in a new marriage. They all missed Ivan tremendously, nothing would fill the void he left, but to see Myléne happy after everything really helped bridge gaps in their group.

Rose had come back to them. Juleka's pain for her brother had become overpowering and all consuming. She'd distanced herself from everyone, Rose included. They hadn't spoken to her in years, all they knew was that she no longer lived in Paris.

Nino was looking better, him and Alya getting married within a year after the accident — neither wanted to risk this happening again without them being officially joined. The burns had damaged more than just Nino physically, the two of them now in the process of adopting.

Chat Noir watched as tiny Hugo moved quickly over to his sister and clambered up her leg, attempting to get his chubby little legs to hold him and failing miserably, collapsing into Emma's waiting arms. She pulled him up into her lap, kissing him delicately on the head before nuzzling the fluff on his head which apparently was his hair.

"I want to know what it was like! I want to know it all!"

He felt Ladybug stiffen beside him, his body reacting in defence, by swooping an arm around her shoulders in an attempt to calm her down. Her body collapsed into his, claiming his support the best way she knew how – no words, just actions.

They looked at each other, silently conversing before calling their transformations off, Adrien and Marinette left sitting ready to answer their daughter as Tikki and Plagg occupied Hugo. Luckily, Louis (their second child) was at a friend's house.

After Emma's birth it had taken them a while to readjust to life. The loss of friends. The loss of family. The loss of their independence. Knowing that Luka, someone so close to them, had been the reason for the terror and the deaths, consumed them with fear — especially Marinette.

Adrien had never been so glad for his job, Marinette's mental health plummeting rapidly after everything that happened. He hadn't fared much better. She blamed herself. She blamed the guardians. And at one point, Adrien was scared she was going to blame him — that never happened.

The statue of them had been reimagined. Memorials had been built in honour of those killed, and no villains had approached Paris since. The Miraculous heroes were now just a part of the city's rich history; a pull for tourists and something for the children to learn about in school. Miraculous: The Tales of Ladybug and Chat Noir.

Emma had made it obvious how she struggled with her history classes, especially when it came to superhero studies. She personally knew these people, her mother and father the main protagonists and her grandfather their first villain. She knew her father and uncle had been created by the peacock (her reaction to the teacher calling similar beings 'Sentimonsters' almost had her expelled). She knew one hero turned against the others, killing their own before trying to kill her and her father. She also knew her mother would only ever refer to him as Uncle Luka.

She took the book from her father as Hugo continued trying to catch the kwami's. She turned to a page which showed the many kisses of Ladybug and Chat Noir. Even when they said they couldn't remember it, or when it was done for battle, they still looked so in love. Is it true that love was the strongest power? Is that what saved her?

Over the past year, the questions had begun and together her mother and father had tried their hardest to share the truth with her. Emma knew their secret identities now, she knew everyone's. Louis would too, in a couple of years, which would eventually be followed by Hugo.

Her mother always said they had a right to understand, and she was glad for it. But that didn't make it any easier.

Standing up, Marinette called on her transformation before opening her yo-yo and pulling out a book. Their book.

"Your papa and I started this just after I found out I was pregnant with you. It goes back 20 years to when we first were trusted with our Miraculous." She then reached into the yo-yo again and pulled out the Guardians book. The Grimoire. "This is the history of the Miraculous, it's the only one ever made — the only paper copy at least. It describes how the cat and the ladybug are two halves of one whole, and are destined to be together, whether good or bad, no matter the universe. It's the cat and bug that work and love together, that's why you're so special. You, and your brothers. You are made from that unique and pure love."

Emma sat in silence, before climbing off her chair and sitting on the floor, grabbing Hugo and placing him in her lap.

"What does that mean?" Emma asked, as she tickled her brother's tummy.

"It means one day, this will be passed onto you."

Emma felt her lip tremble, Adrien moving forward quickly to take her into his arms. "We're sorry that this burden will be placed with you, we're sorry for what your future will become. But it won't just be on you. It's you, your brothers, your cousins– Madeline has already had the conversation with her Maman, — all the kids of the Miraculous. If the time ever comes you'll be ready to take over from us."

"So, is the book true?" she asked, Adrien and Ladybug exchanging looks before he handed the scrapbook over to her.

He knew Emma would find it hard as she learned the truth, the boys too, maybe even thinking they were too young for it all. But the truth could make them understand in a way that would make them braver.

There was still a lot for the children to know, to understand, and Adrien knew one day, he would have to explain his nightmares — his voids.

He would have to explain why the memories of their past events would never go away, not when they're so significant to their lives. To their love.

Emma continued to flick through the book, Hugo pointing out his parents every time he saw them. The young boy already understood their superhero form.

"How did you get through this?" She'd turned to a page with Monarch centralised, a picture of Gabriel Agreste, her grandfather, beside it.

"We made up a game." Ladybug dropped the transformation and held onto Adrien's hand. "We list all the people we helped."

As Emma turned the page again it was filled with pictures of every single akuma victim, right up to every single victim.

"Is it a big list?"

Adrien nodded, climbing onto the ground to sit beside her. "It is! And we do it over and over again until we can name every single person saved."

She turned the page again and saw the end of the list... herself and her father.

"Doesn't that take a long time? To name them all?" Emma asked, turning to a page of their friends.

Her Uncle Ivan smiled back at them, as Uncle Luka had his arm around her Maman's shoulders. She heard the sniff come from beside her; the pain was still there, even all these years later.

"It does," Adrien choked out. "Especially as we've been doing all this for so many years."

Her mother walked over and took her father's hand as she settled down beside him, giving it a squeeze, a stray tear escaping down her cheek.

"Although it doesn't seem like the most fun thing to do; there are definitely worse games to play."