He stared at the sky in awe.

It was unusual for Adrien to be on the top of his veritable manor in the middle of the night (on a school night much less!) where the harsh wind buffeted him and the stark cold sliced through his skin...yet Adrien loved it up here. He could see the stars and become mesmerized with their twinkling lights.

The stars would beckon to him. They would beg him to come to the unknowable heavens. Most of the time Adrien ignored the call, preferring to sit in his room and work until he fell asleep. But other times? Other times Adrien would crawl up onto the top of his roof and sit there and gaze at the stars. Sometimes he would fall asleep. Sometimes he would stay awake and watch the sun rise (and then, of course, fall asleep at school).

Adrien didn't know why the night called to him. Maybe it was because he was a black cat when in his alter ego form as Chat Noir. Maybe it was because he was a shy and quiet boy most of the time and the daytime was too boisterous for him.

It could be, that Adrien just loved to look at the stars and think about his mother. Was she alive? Was she looking at the stars he was? Was she okay? Was it even nighttime where she was?

Adrien didn't know these things. As much as he wanted to know all of the answers to the questions, he didn't. His father refused to tell him, the Gorilla wouldn't speak, and the other staff around the place wouldn't speak.

Now, Adrien was no fool. He knew that there were sites where you could find anyone you were looking for. He had already tried those sites, hoping, praying, that he would find his mother.

He didn't.

That's what led him up to the rooftops some nights. Failure. Sadness. Anger. Despair. Longing. Adrien needed hope, and the only place he could get it was up in the rooftops of Paris at night when the city was asleep and the stars were awake.

Some nights he'd transform into Chat Noir and climb up the Eiffel Tower and sit at the peak and watch as the city slowly, but surely, came to life. He'd sit at the top rather precariously and balance for hours as he waited to see what the city would bring. Maybe today would bring back his mother. Maybe today he would see his old friends. Maybe today his father would smile.

None of these things happened.

Adrien kept getting more and more dismal as each hope for each day was dashed. He didn't know what to do, other than write in his little journal about his bottled up feelings. After doing so, he would most likely go to bed and try and sleep. He would end up thinking of Ladybug or his mother.

All Adrien remembered of his mother was her happy smile and her beautiful eyes. With each passing day, he memory grew more distant. His father had confiscated all of the pictures of his mother thinking that by not seeing Mme Agreste, Adrien would be okay and get over his mother's disappearance.

That was not the case. Adrien longed for his mother even more. He wanted his family to be happier. His father hadn't smiled in several years and the house hadn't seemed alive.

Sure, Adrien had all the toys and video games he could want. Sure, Adrien was super popular and had "friends" surrounding him constantly. Sure, Adrien was a model student. Was that what Adrien really wanted, though?

No. He wanted his mother. He wanted his father. He wanted a real family.

Psychologists say that only-children make do without having siblings by "adopting" other people as their family. Nino was like a brother to Adrien. He could rely on the other to keep any secrets and help him out in times of need and vice versa. Alya and that other girl, Marinette, they were slowly becoming other "family members" too.

This wasn't a real family, though. This was a make-do one.

As Adrien looked at the stars, he would reminisce about stargazing with his whole family. Once, a long time ago, he remembered his father and mother up on the rooftop with him. His mother was laughing and pointing out the different constellations to him as his father droned on about what the stars were made of. Adrien had interrupted after awhile and asked what that big star was called, and pointed at the moon. His father had laughed before telling Adrien that, in fact, that was not a star but a piece of rock probably pulled in by the Earth's gravity.

"But why is that rock so pretty?" Adrien had asked. "If it's a rock, than why isn't it ugly and bumpy and grey and black like the rocks down here?"

"Because, dear, that is the moon. It was put there for a special purpose." Adrien's mom put her arm around Adrien and hugged him tight. "Do you see how the moon glows?"

"Yes, mama."

"Well, dear, the moon is reflecting the sun's light. It takes the light that the sun shines and shows it to us in a softer tone. When the sun comes up, it tells us to wake up and go do our work and go to school and learn and live!" Adrien's mom had inhaled sharply, her eyes sparkling. "But the moon, the moon, Adrien, it captures the sun's light and it tells us to go to sleep. The moon up there that we see Adrien? It is telling us a lullaby." Her words started to drift together after that as Adrien began to slowly fall asleep.

After the flashback occurred, Adrien would sigh unhappily. That would never happen again. His father would never climb up to the roof with Adrien and sit and show him the constellations. Never again would his mother tell him about the moon's lullaby. He would never have his family back.

When Adrien would shiver unconsciously from the cool night air, Plagg would wake up from where he was sleeping and come and sit on Adrien's shoulder. After awhile Plagg would whisper in Adrien's ear that it was time to go back inside. "You can't save Paris or give me Camembert if you're frozen!"

Adrien would nod and, with one last glance at the night sky, slip back into his bedroom and into his warm bed. He would then lie there for what seemed like hours before he finally fell asleep.

Before Plagg fell asleep in his miniature bed, he would look at the stars and say, "Thank you for keeping Adrien safe."