"You look amazing." They said at the same time, laughing. They let the transformations drop and hugged, held each other as best as they could, gone was the familiarity of the adult bodies they were used to. The strength was different, the fit was different. But it still felt good.

"I told my parents everything." Mari looked up at him.

"Me too. Wayz said Tiki could tell you if your..." Nino took her hand, and Mari shook her head. "I'm sorry Mare." He kissed her head.

"We both lost a baby Nino, we both lost our lives, we both have to live with the memories of what was and then what do we do now." Mari held him tighter, he let her. 

"I know Mare, I'm sorry their wish took everything away from us. I should have insisted we stay." He held his head in guilt. 

"Nino! No! We both wanted to, we had no idea this would happen. But we have to choose what we do now." She walked towards the edge of the Arc De Triomphe and sat against the edge of the wall. 

"They won't understand. They're still the 19-year-olds we left, whereas we are 27-year-olds in 19-year-old bodies." Nino knew it sounded mean, but who could they, they had lived alive time without them. 

"I know, I love you, Nino. But I loved Adrien." She sighed

"Do you think you could love him again?" Nino joined her and placed his hand on hers. 

"I think I could." She paused like she realized what she said, "Not that you're easy to get over Nino! But..." She let out a frustrated sigh. 

"Mare, I understand. I was thinking the same thing about Alya. I loved her once like she was my everything, she was the air I needed to breathe. The movement in my music. My world, the reason I fought for Pairs so she could be safe." He smiled at the memory.  "And I would never let Adrien miss out on the chance to be loved by you." he smiled at her. 

"I could never do that to Alya." Mari let that realization hit her, "After all we lived in paradise, our dreams were ours for the taking. We had no worries." 

"You think we wouldn't have fallen in love otherwise?" Nino had wondered that a time or two in the short time they'd been home. 

"No, my love for you is real, just like my love for Adrien is real. But we fell in love with no worries, we fell in love with them while fighting a freaking super villain... Adrien was my rock, my sword. He was the inspiration for my work, the reason I fought through a creative block. He ironically helped me find my voice." They both chuckled. 

"So we learn to love them again?" Nino looked at her. 

She sighed, "I think that's the only choice we have. I can't break them like that." 

"Me too." Nino pulled her close. "But I promise, that if anything happens to Alya, I'll wait for you." 

Leaning into him, "Same for me." 

With that settled they talked about how neither of them wanted to go to college anymore, so came up with a plan to present to their partners. They had a plan that they thought made sense as the sun was setting. "So we will tell them on Sunday?" Nino looked down at her. 

"Ya, I think that would work, I don't want to tell them about Dou Luna, they will feel so guilty..." Mari shook a bit. Nino looked away for a moment, He'd love watching her anxiety fade in Dou Luna and now that they were back to their young selves, her anxiety seemed to be back. 

"Then we won't, they will respect that. We will them then it's just too hard." Now, what do we do about this? He chuckled. 

There is nothing we can do, I guess, we will just have to learn to control how often we use it. She shrugged. "With everything settled, we should probably go home, we likely have a fox and kitty planning to come to see us." She giggled. 

"Ya, you're not wrong." He stood and helped her up. Tiki and Wayz who had been quiet most of the visit smiled at them. "Looks like we're ready to go. Wayz Shell on!" 

"Tiki Spots on!" Her new outfit looked amazing Paris would love it, Mari would be getting all kinds of new commissions for cosplay. She turned to swing home, Nino couldn't help himself, he took her by the hand and pulled her back into his body. He placed his hand on her face and caressed her cheek, and pulled her into a kiss for the last time. He would always love her, but their love was not for this world.  As they broke apart for one last time, "Goodbye Nino." She ran her thumb across his cheek and jumped away. He watched her go. Then he turned and head home, even with his new suit and new upgrades Wayz had shared with him, he still couldn't move like the other heroes, he was just slower. 

He landed on his family's apartment balcony. He was grateful his bedroom window was right next to it, he could climb in and out of the window onto the balcony. "I was wondering when you'd get back." Alya's soft voice filled his ears. "Had to make sure your home was okay?" 

"Something that" He smiled softly. "Like the new suite?" he teased as Alya's eyes trailed him up and down. 

"It's amazing Nino." Her voice was full of awe, "You must have gone through some stuff to get a new upgrade. Trix was telling me we only get upgrades as we age or as go through hard things." She chuckled, "Mari's gonna have new commissions for copies." Her hands roamed across the leather. He let his transformation drop and pulled her into a tight hug. He felt all the ways she was different from Mari, soon he'll stop comparing the two, but it was kinda like breaking up with an ex, something are hard to forget. He took in her smell, her feel. His muscle memory kicked in and he kissed her like she was his everything. 

"I thought I'd never see you again." He kept her face a few inches from hers. 

"Will you tell me what happen to you?" Her voice was soft and full of understanding. 

"No Alya, it's too much. I just want to focus on you." They hand in hand sat against the railing of the balcony. 

They talked till Nino yawned, "Oh! You're probably beat eh? I shouldn't be sitting here keeping you up. Trix" Nino stopped her. "Nino, what is it?" 

"Stay with me tonight? I don't want to sleep alone." Her smiled was soft. She nodded and they slipped in through his window. Nino lent her one of his shirts, and a pair of clean gym shorts, he slipped to the bathroom to give her privacy while he changed. They quietly crawled into bed, Nino set an alarm so Alya could slip back home before her mom found out she was gone. 

Alya sighed contentedly, "Can we do this more often?" She cuddled into him.

"Ya, I think we should." He pulled her close, "Why don't you tell me how you and Chat beat Jaded?" He played with her hair while she told him all about Turtle Noir and Lady Fox. Nino smiled to himself. I told you so. Nino sighed, ya he could learn to love this girl again, no question about it. Alya was everything he remembered her being. 

***

Mari knew Nino watched her leave, she let her tears fall, it hurt. She was angry and sad, she knew they were making the right choice. But it hurt losing the life she had grown to love and having to figure this all out again. She knew Chat would be waiting for her. So she stopped just outside of his range of night vision and composed herself. Then she leaped into his view and landed on her balcony. "Hi, Kitty." She smiled and let him take her in. 

"My Lady! You look... wow" He circled around her. "Beautiful." He took her hand and kissed it. She pocked his nose. He pulled her into a hug, She noticed how much smaller she felt in Adrien's arms than Ninos, he was taller, broader, but she fits well. Their transformations dropped. 

"I thought I would never see you again." She whispered into his chest. 

"Do you wanna talk about it?" He scoped her up, "You looked pretty upset when you stepped through the portal." He sat them on the chair on her balcony. 

"No, I really don't Adrien, please don't make me." She looked at him pleading. 

"Never My Lady. I love you and trust that if you don't want to re-live it then it isn't worth pushing." He hugged her again, and lifted her chin up and kissed her like he was trying to help her forget. She melted into the kiss. Her muscle memory reminding her of how she moved with Adrien. 

They spoke in soft tones. Adrien helped calm her down. "Well, Princess you need your beauty sleep, I should go." He attempted to stand but Mari clung to him. "Marinette?" his hand rested in the swell of her back. 

"Stay. Please?" Her voice was small. 

"Like till you fall asleep?" They'd done that before, he smirked Mari knew he was going to tease her about kitty snuggles.  

"No all night, I don't want to sleep alone." His smile softened. 

"Oh, Mari of course I'll stay." He helped her up and they walked down to her bedroom. She handed him a pair of men's pyjamas she had made for him but had yet to give him, he changed while she slipped into the bathroom. When she came out he was laying in bed waiting for her. "I set an alarm so I can be home before my wake-up call." 

With his arm help open for her to come cuddled in, she crawled in as his arms wrapped around her protectively. "Tell me a story?" 

"Oh! I'll tell you how we won against Jaded. Alya become Lady Fox and I become Turtle Noir..." he told her the story. I told you so. Nino's voice teased her. 

Ya ya, shut up. She cuddled closer to Adrien. Ya, she could love Adrien again. He was the wonderful boy she remembered. He loved her and she could love him. 

***

The two couples soon graduated and the group had agreed with Mari and Nino's new plan, Mari and Nino would not be going to college right away, they would try their skill and be self-employed, and support Adrien and Alya while they studied. The four of them had been unable to stop Hawkmoth, so didn't leave Paris, but they got a two-bedroom apartment and all four of them moved in together. Adrien would be studying to be a teacher, his father wasn't happy but Adrien agreed to model on the weekend and breaks. The money helped pay for the apartment and helped him save for his future. Alya studied journalism and found some side gigs in writing. Mari found her modern victorian style was quite popular here, she had a good business and brand going. Nino worked with Luka and Kitty Section and slowly he filled his producing roaster and found several regular gigs for DJing. As hero's, they got better at fighting. They even learn how to use the unified Miraculous. Only Adrien and Mari never shared Miraculous, it was too dangerous. But this way no matter what was happening they could have all four power sets in any given battle. And shortly after Alya and Adrien graduated college, it was time for wedding bells to toll...