Sirens blaring in her ears, the flashing lights set the scene as more of a nightmarish fever dream than reality. Gabriel Agreste laying at her feet, the pendant that housed the butterfly kwami was in her hand and everyone in the city was watching. Her breath was coming in short bursts and the ringing in her ears covered up everything but the steady beep of her earrings. She didn't have any time left, Chat could handle the press and Mr. Agreste. She needed to get the Miraculous to Master Fu and find Adrien.

Adrien.

Was he one of the countless others watching a screen or was he in the crowd seeing it all first hand? The dust filled ruins of the Champs-Élysées was slowly filling with far too many bystanders for her to pick him out even if she tried. She couldn't try though, she had no time.

Chat was on his knees behind the unconscious fashion icon, his head bowed in a way that Ladybug had never before seen. His eyes seemed dead, hollow, as they looked up at her through messy golden bangs. He looked like a husk of a man, a shell of his former more energetic self. She had no time to ponder on the sight of her best friend and most trusted partner either.

She. Had. To. Go.

A tear slid from her cheek as she whipped her yoyo from her hip and began to spin it by her side. Then, she was flying. The reporters slew of questions were all drowned out by the sound of the wind in her ears. She had to hurry, had to be as efficient as possible if she wanted to make it to Master Fu's home before the remaining two spots on her earrings went out, slipping away along with her transformation. She put all of her thoughts on her efforts to avoid the questions in the back of her mind, questions that brought the tears along with them, questions that were best left unasked when she wasn't close to Adrien anymore, questions that would leave her frozen with fear for her best friend, her partner, and the boy who had her heart. All three of them would have to be ignored if she wanted to finish her task. Yet, Adrien still managed to take over her thoughts...

How was he going to react to his father being the number one super villain of Paris for all of these years?

Would he hate Chat and herself now for taking him down?

Chat had come so close to touching Hawkmoths flesh with his cataclysm back there.

Adrien, when would he know about what happened?

Would he show up if there was a trial?

She stumbled on a roof, her mind too far into her unanswered questions for her to pay attention to her surroundings. She missed when she attempted to keep herself aloft with her yoyo, and found herself falling towards the damp concrete below. Twisting her body mid fall allowed her to land safely, with only a small, sharp pain shooting up her right leg as punishment for giving in to her fearful thoughts. She winced and grabbed her thigh in an attempt to soothe the pain. She rubbed it in slow circles as a blinding pink light filled the area around her. Then her transformation dropped, leaving her as plain simple Marinette, alone in the alley but for her kwami Tikki, who was laying pitifully on her shoulder. Still wincing from the pain, she removed her hand from it's spot on her leg in order to scoop the tiny red god into her palm so she could get a better look at her.

"Are you okay Tikki?" She asked around large puffs of air she exhaled to draw her focus off of her leg.

"I'll be fine Marinette," Tikki responded as she turned her eyes on her miraculous holder, "we need to get Duusu to Master Fu." She finished her statement as she shifted her attention pointedly to the winged pendant in Marinette's hand.

"Right." Marinette gritted her teeth and practically dragged her injured leg behind her as she weaved her way through the alleyway crowded with boxes, a faint beeping sound growing louder and louder with each step that she took. She tried to ignore it, her focus on finishing what Needed to be done, but it was all encompassing and grew in volume to the point that her vision began to fade until all she saw was white...

"No!" She screamed as she sat upright in her bed, memories of the same dream that had plagued her for years filling her mind as beads of sweat dripped from her forehead down to her chin. She took a moment to return to reality as a long drawn out breath escaped her lips, then glared at the device making the offending noises. Her phone alarm was going non stop, endlessly beeping, and forcing a headache into her temples at each sound. She groaned and reached over to her nightstand to shut it off before laying back on her bed and releasing a long exhale once again. Her eyes were locked onto the painted white ceiling above her head as she thought over her dream. It was really more of a memory, the day they finally stopped Hawkmoth had been stressful and hectic and so packed with emotions that her brain still had a hard time processing it all. Sometimes she dreamed of the fight, sometimes of what happened after, but it was always of that day.

"Marinette?" She turned her head to see Tikki rubbing her eyes as the small god sat on the pillow beside her. She must have been thrashing in her sleep again, the small kwami would often nuzzle her cheek during the night if her dreams became too much.

"I'm fine," she waved away Tikkis concerns with a smile that did not quite reach her eyes before slipping her blanket down to her knees and sitting up once again. "It was just a dream." she added, more to herself than her tiny partner, as she turned to hang her legs off of the side of the bed. A long yawn escaped her lips as she stretched and looked around her small bedroom. It was packed full of cloth and boxes of thread, yarn, and needles. All things that were needed for her classes at ESMOD, the fashion university that she had struggled for two years to finally join. Two mannequins sat in the corner by her door that lead to the rest of her apartment. Moving out of her parents house had been a stressful endeavor, but the sight of the boxes that still needed to be unpacked filled her with a new sense of pride. She had made it on her own. She was living by herself for the first time in her life and attending a school she had gotten into on her own merits. Her days would be spent in classes and at her part time job that she had managed to get on her own merit. Finally, she was moving forward with her life.

She moved from her bed and to the suitcase by her closet that held the clothes she had planned out for her first week of school. Alya had offered her the piece of advice to prepare the suitcase before she moved out so she wouldn't be rummaging through boxes for a week in search of what to wear. Her best friend of many years had taken on a whole new level of motherly advice after her marriage, and subsequent move in with Nino. Though she greatly appreciated the advice, she wanted to finally be on her own, making her own decisions, and mistakes, along the way. With that thought in mind she began to dress for the first day of school, a warm pair of light pea green wool leggings and a black pencil skirt was combined with a button up blouse to match the leggings and a pair of black, leather, babydoll pumps. Her usual pigtails, that had been a part of her aesthetic for years, was replaced with a long high ponytail that showed off just how much her hair had grown since her days in collège. With a light touch of makeup here and there, she was ready to face her first day with confidence.

"You're looking absolutely ready to run your own fashion line!" Tikki exclaimed as she caught up to Marinette in the bathroom where she was finishing up brushing her teeth.

"To be honest with you Tikki, I am excited." Marinette smiles brightly at her old friend as she wiped her mouth on a waiting washcloth. "This is the first step to my five year plan. Just you wait, pretty soon there will be a little shop right by the Seine. Marinettes Boutique." She let out a dreamy sigh as she leaned against the wall by her bathroom sink. Her mind was years ahead of them now, dancing through a shop full of clothes that she made herself and customers who adored them. Tikki has seen her go through these same emotions for years over many things. In her teens it had been over a certain blonde boy who had infatuated her for a long time, but slowly she grew away from infatuations of love and moved on to focusing on her future beyond just marriage and kids. It was a long and complicated road for her, and she was nowhere near the end of it. Still, Tikki was proud of the young woman her chosen had become: Strong willed and a brilliant young woman who looked ahead to her promising future, rather than focusing on a past she found so painful.

"You're going to do great Marinette!" She cheered as she followed the energetic young woman through the apartment. The young designer snatched her phone from her bedroom before returning to her kitchen/dining area/living room combination and sliding onto a barstool she had received as a housewarming gift from her parents. Tikki watched as she typed furiously on the screen before reaching over to snatch two cookies out of the waiting cookie jar and handing one over to Tikki. For only being in the apartment officially for a day, the two of them had already settled into an easy morning routine. It was simple, given it was their usual morning activities with just a bit more freedom granted to both of them, due to not having to worry about Marinette's parents checking in on her during that time. Yes, Marinette getting her own place was a good thing for both of them.

"My Uber's here." Marinette announces when her phone chimed loudly. She hopped from her seat on the stool and grabbed a small round purse with a bird graphic on it, the same purse she had made when she was fourteen out of the shirt her grandmother had gifted her for her birthday. Without a word, she held it open and Tikki zipped into it happily. Marinette gave her new home one last look over and took in a deep breath. Today was the first day of her new life, not even a haunting dream could hold her back from running head on towards her future.

Adrien groaned as he rolled over in the bed, sunlight streamed through the large windows surrounding his bedroom. Across the bed, on a pillow used by no other human being, slept his Kwami, Plagg, snoring loudly on his back. The tiny god, resembling a black cat, was completely relaxed from their outing the night before, and the wheel of camembert he had received from a completely tired Adrien afterwards. The young man sat up and rubbed his sleep filled eyes, before reaching for a pair of wire rimmed glasses that were waiting for him on his bedside table. Once they were firmly on his nose, he searched in his sheets for his phone and powered it up. The time flashed and a notification of about forty missed calls from his personal assistant, he groaned once again at the sight. Fall was a hectic time for the Agreste fashion line, now his company. It formerly went by his father's first name, but after the battle that nearly killed them both, and had seen him sending his father off to the hospital (eventually jail too), he had decided that it would be best to move the company's focus away from the man that created it. Now it simply went by their last name. It was a simple change, but one that opened the company back up to the public, without the amount of scrutiny that would have come with it being named after a terrorist. He knew he had to get on approving designs that had been submitted for the fall fashion contest, but the ache in his gut told him it could wait another hour or so. He was hungry, he was always hungry first thing in the morning after a patrol night, but before he could eat, he had to freshen up for the hectic day ahead of him.

He slipped out of the bed, careful not to disturb the still dozing Plagg, and made his way to the adjoining bathroom by his closet door. The light in his bathroom was harsh, he found himself cupping his hand over his glasses to shield his eyes for a moment before they adjusted to the light. Only then did he move further into the checkerboard styled room. His feet slapped against the porcelain tiles as he made his way to his large vanity and mirror. The thick black granite sink made a dull hum as the faucet was turned on and his glasses clinked lightly on the countertop as they were placed beside it. He cupped his hands and gathered a fair amount of water into them before bringing it up to splash across his cheeks. The chill of the liquid on his overly warm cheeks had his mind instantly snapping into alertness. The memories of the night before flowed back to him, causing him to let out a long drawn out and defeated sigh. He had been on patrol when a woman's scream had him racing towards the Eiffel Tower. Once he had rescued her from her attacker, and safely returned her to her path home, she had asked him something that was both heartbreaking for him, and something that filled his heart with hope.

"Have you heard from Ladybug lately?"

Surely that had to mean that the red and black spotted heroine was out there somewhere? The people of Paris had to have seen her lately, right? Back in the moment, another round of cold water on his cheeks was done and he decided upon his answer; Ladybug was still out there somewhere, but there was a reason she hadn't shown up for her duty in just over four years. He could remember the countless nights he spent searching for her, calling her from his baton phone as he leapt from building to building and even using Plagg during the day to feel for her kwamis presence. Years had gone by like that with no luck, and gradually school and work got in the way of his search for his partner more and more, until one day he couldn't look for her at all. It had been nearly a year now since he had searched for her, yet now she was suddenly back in the forefront of his mind. All due to that one simple question. He sighed as the image of her bluebell eyes hovered in his mind and he waved his hands before himself as if he could wipe the mirage from the very air in front of his face. She was a ghost, coming back to haunt him after being virtually gone from his mind finally. His cruel Lady who had left him that last day by the back entrance of the hospital, bleeding heavily from his abdomen…

"I am so sorry Chaton, it's all my fault, I-" Ladybug had broken into sobs that rocked her entire body as she laid him gently against the wall of the hospital. The cold breeze was blocked by her body as she crumbled onto him momentarily. He tried to resist crying out in pain as her weight rested on his gunshot wound, but the soft grunt was enough to get her shooting straight up once again. He had never seen her this upset, even months before when they had teamed up to take down his father once and for all. She seemed more stressed and distracted than saddened by the reveal of who Hawkmoth really was. Months of playing at being glorified police officers had ended them up here, a gunshot wound in the right side of his abdomen and Ladybug standing before his hunched figure with tears cascading down her cheeks in rivers. Even with his own nearly blinding pain, he wanted to reach out and wipe those tears away.

"I wasn't p-paying attention my-my lady. I should've kept an eye on the robber." He managed to form the words around painful grunts and gasps that only intensified the flame like feeling licking up his side. She shook her head at his words and wiped at her face furiously to rid herself of the tears that had, at this point, stained her cheeks a soft blush-red.

"Wait right there Chaton, don't move! I'll go grab a nurse, you're going to be fine, just fine." He knew that at this point she couldn't really hear him. Her mind was running a mile a minute, going over all the possible outcomes that his injury could cause. Before he could give her a witty, pun laced answer, she dashed through the double glass doors of the building and slipped out of his sight. He laid against the cold stone wall for a few minutes longer before nurses and doctors were rushing out with a gurney, ready to deliver one of the city's heroes into the operating room without a second thought.

For a split second he thought he saw Ladybug's iconic blue black pigtails while he was being pushed down the wide hallway, but then a baby pink hood was placed over the pigtails that had caught his attention, they pushed him around a corner, and she was gone.

Ladybug had never appeared to help him protect Paris ever again after that night...

He stepped into the shower as the memory replayed in his mind on a loop. He freed himself of his clothes as he attempted to hold on to that last image of the hair: that had to be Ladybug in her civilian persona, but her face was not coming to his mind at all. It was a fuzzy image where only her bluebell eyes stood out along with her ever constant pigtails. The warm water hitting his back and shoulders did little to pull him from his thoughts, and he lathered himself with body wash on autopilot rather than really paying attention to what he was doing. As he rinsed his body, he blinked away the memory along with the sting of tears brought on by both his thoughts and the drips of body wash which had gotten into his eyes. Paying a bit more attention to what he was doing now, he grabbed his shampoo out of the shower caddy and popped open the bottle, inhaling the scent of almonds and vanilla, before squirting out a sizeable portion into his hand. Her smeared it onto his sweat and water dampened tresses before massaging the gel like liquid in. Bubbles ran down his arms as he continued to massage his scalp with the shampoo and he soon fell into the mind numbing task with a fervor that was new to his morning. A low rumble worked its way from his chest to his throat as he hit a particularly (purr-ticularly) good spot near the back of his left ear, he simply scratched and rubbed at that spot for a while, filling the bathroom with very inhuman purring as he did so. His mind was slowly numbing from the attention he was giving his scalp and his purring grew louder and louder as his fingers worked between his skin and lather filled hair.

"What are you doing in here kid!?" Plaggs nasally voice filled his ears, causing him to jump and cease his menstraitions on his head. He glared at the tiny floating black cat that hovered just on the other side of his glass shower wall and blinked a few times before turning his head up to rinse the soapy bubbles from his face. Plagg chuckled as he held up a chunk of camembert before his chest before tossing it up and swallowing it whole, as he had done many many times before over the years.

"P-Plagg!" Adrien sputtered as he hurriedly rinsed his hair so he could snatch a towel and get his naked body covered.

"It's not like I don't know your demensions kid, I am a part of you when you're in the mask and suit after all." The small god of destruction sniggered at his furiously blushing chosen and watched as the blonde stumble out of the room in search of clothes. It only took a few seconds once Adrien entered bedroom before he was back, snatching his glasses off of the counter by the sink and putting them on. He shot Plagg one last glare that had the kwami cackling, before rushing out of the room once more.

"Hey kid, don't be mad, I was worried when I heard you making those weird noises. I thought you were drowning or something." He informed the blonde who huffed in return as he shoved his suit pants on angrily. The room fell into silence as Adrien finished getting ready for the day and Plagg pulled more cheese from his hiding spots around the room, an old cat gains habits that are hard to break after all.

"I don't have time to deal with your sarcasm this morning!" Adrien was the one who broke the silence as he laced up his black leather wingtips with quick and anger filled motions.

"What's the matter?" Plagg asked as he lounged in the air casually, "upset because your assistant is getting too clingy?"

"Ugh," with a defeated breath, Adrien lifted his phone from the foot of the bed where it rested and tapped the screen to bring it to life. Three more missed calls, Abigail was growing anxious about something. He grumbled under his breath before pulling up his contacts and scrolling down to her number. With a pointed look at his kwami and a finger to his lips, he clicked the icon to call her office phone and held his own up to his ear.

Alya coughed after depositing her breakfast into the porcelain bowl of her toilet. Her body still attempted to go through the motions of heaving up anything, but to no avail, she had nothing left to give in her. With one last spit into the soupy substance below her, she reached around the side of the toilet to press down the handle and flush the evidence of her sickness away, watching as it began to be replaced by fresh water once again. With careful movements, she heaved her tired body up onto the seat and glanced down at the drawer in the counter by her. She knew that this habit of losing her breakfast every day could only mean one thing, but the box that rested in that drawer carried with it a burden that she didn't believe she was ready to carry just yet.

"Hey babe, you okay in there?" She jerked her head up to the door as a fresh wave of cold sick rolled up through her body. Nino, her husband of nearly a year, and the one who kept her going late at night when she wanted nothing more than to give up on a story and curl up in their bed for the foreseeable future, was worried about the recent developments in her daily routine. She knew that his worries would only grow the longer she waited to utilize what she had bought only the day before, but just thinking of testing made her body freeze in fear and her blood run cold. She wasn't ready.

"I'm fine now," she called out after taking a moment to catch her breath, "I- I gotta get ready. I'm needed in the office this morning." She stood as she finished her explanation to her husband and reached for the orange toothbrush waiting for her by the sink. She scrubbed away the foul taste in her mouth before pulling her long ombre brown and pink hair into a tight bun.

"You've been feeling sick all week now," the dark skinned amber eyed man had not waited any longer to open the door and make his way into the bathroom. He joined her at the sink and placed his hand against her forehead to feel for a temperature that she knew would not be there. He frowned at his findings, knowing his wife would not stay home, even if he asked her to, without a good reason to. He watched as she reached into her makeup case to retrieve the pallet for her face and felt himself frowning at the sight. She hummed a bit as she applied some deep browns to her eyelids before catching a glimpse of the look on his face in the mirror.

"Look, today is important, I'm cleaning up that Chat Noir piece which is front page stuff." She shrugged as she explained her plans to a still frowning Nino, "I promise that after today I will take it easy for a bit and even go out on that date we have been planning forever." She leaned up to give him a quick kiss on the cheek before turning to apply her lipstick.

"I just want you to take better care of yourself love, you've been so stressed over this story and it seems to me like it's affecting you physically." He moved to wrap his arms around her waist as he spoke, and accentuated his words with a sweet lingering kiss on her temple.

"It's just temporary babe." She assured him as she turned in his arms to drape her own over his shoulders. She gave him a sweet as honey smile as she leaned in close to him, "I promise, you'll see." she gave him a playful wink before brushing her lips against his own in a chaste kiss. He groaned dramatically as she tried to pull away and held her a bit tighter against himself.

"How long do you have to work today anyways?" he asked in a voice almost high pitched enough to be a wine as she giggled in his arms.

"Well, at least until after lunch, I promised to eat with Mari on her first day of University." She answered as she continued her giggling fit, his fingers brushed along her most ticklish spots, not helping her situation at all.

"oh, yeah, today's her first day isn't it?" He asked as he finally ceased his attack on her sides. She snorted as his fingers stilled and rested her forehead against his chest.

"Yes, that's today. You can come if you want," She teased, knowing full well what his answer would be before the words even left his lips.

"Yeah, fuck that. I love you, and I love Mari, but when the two of you together it gets a bit trying. I'm not looking to swim in a sea of estrogen today." They both laughed joyously at his words as she slapped his chest playfully. After that moment they settled into their peaceful morning rituals. Nino styled his short afro carefully in the mirror of the bathroom while Alya laid out a few outfits on the foot of their bed to pick from. He threw on a loose fitting polo shirt and a pair of deep green trousers. While she chose an easy to manage classic orange sun dress that Marinette herself had made her for her birthday. They both moved on to their kitchen, where they smiled fondly at one another over their cups of coffee. Alya packed her laptop into her tote bag along with some handwritten notes on what she wanted to add to the story before sending it off for final edits. Nino gave her a swift kiss on the forehead before moving to their living room to go over the latest mix for the club that he may as well be a co-owner of at this point, while Alya prepared him a quick lunch he could reheat when he got hungry later. With a lovingly called goodbye to one another, Alya was out of their apartment and well on her way to work.

Work was . . . hectic. They were the biggest paper in Paris and extremely busy with negotiations between a high influence fashion company to merge the news with fashion into one two page article. Alya could only guess at who would end up with that article, she certainly wasn't interested in the position. However, there were many young ladies in the office that had a silly crush on the rumored "god-like hottie" who ran the company. Her position on covering the more politically charged and well named "Hero watch" was all she truly cared about, and the article that she had nearly completed for her page had her practically skipping past the gaggle of women whispering about the fashion company CEO. Their excitement brought memories of her best friend in their youth to her mind.

With her thoughts now firmly on her promised lunch with Marinette, she slid into the computer chair before her desk and spun herself in a short half circle as a wide smile played across her lips. She had all but forgotten the sickness she had suffered through earlier in the morning as thoughts of a nice lunch at the hotel her mother had worked as a chef at for years filled her mind. She pondered what she would order as she pulled her laptop from her bag and set it up in the center of her desk, realigning the photo of Nino, Marinette, and herself on her wedding day idly as she did so.

"You seem awfully chipper today." she turned to see the deeply tanned and brunette pigtailed young teen who had called out to her.

"Manon!" she exclaimed as she relaxed further into her chair, "you aren't skipping out on a school day to hang out with little 'ole me are you?" The question was followed with a playful wink that brought a smile to the young girls lips big enough to show off the still prevalent large front teeth that had made her so adorable ever since she was a very young child. Manon had begun to show an interest in writing the year before, and had even won a coveted spot as an intern in Alyas office over the summer.

"You still have another week with me Uni." Manon gave her a playful wink as she called her by a nickname she had somehow given herself way back when she was the same age as her intern was now. Alya could feel the smile spreading across her cheeks at the memory that the name brought with it. With a drawn out, clearly only for dramatic effect, yawn, Alya turned to boot up her laptop. Then waved for Manon to pull up a chair so they could go over what she had written together. She had heard the rumors of the other interns jealousy over Manon's relationship to her, but she also knew that this girl learned best one on one. She loved at least thinking she was helping Alya out with her work.

"Chat Noir still? I thought you were done with this story already." Manon raised her brow at Alya as the reporter pulled up the document that was still being worked on.

"Remember what I told you last week, many drafts make a great story." Alya smirked as she was reminded of the same mantra she had been taught when she was an intern. They shared a smile between themselves as she rummaged in her bag for her notes. "Now, see here how I hint at his past accomplishments that were his and his alone, I went back and actually scrolled through the entirety of my old Ladyblog to find each and every instance where he had to save the day alone, or do the majority of the heavy lifting to allow Ladybug to get near enough to cleanse the akuma, I even looked through my side blogs for instances of them just saving the day without akumas and found everything he had done alone. Now what I have to do is narrow these notes down to a few that really show off his heroism," she explained as she pointed at her shorthand covered papers. "Then I need to pick the best ones out of that list that show off not only his skill, but his humanity, to really show all of Paris that he's just a normal human, albeit with a cool suit."

"I wouldn't say that." They both turned to a very male sounding voice and Alya felt her eyes widen at the familiar face she was met with. Emerald green eyes and a kind smile was the first two features her brain locked onto, the next was the short ponytail of soft blonde hair that was pulled back to keep his hair out of his face. "He also has that cataclysm thing, right?" He asked as he reached up to scratch at the spot just below his low ponytail.

"Adrien, I'll be damned." She quirked her eyebrow at the sight of him, causing him to shove his hands nervously into the pockets of his military styled black jacket. "I was sure you had died when you didn't show up at the wedding, I know Nino had thought you must have at least been comatose, since you know, you two were inseparable to the point that we had some concerns." He chuckled at her words and brought one hand out of its pocket to rub at his neck slowly.

"You would be surprised how much time you lose when you're both a CEO and a medical student." He explained shyly as his eyes locked onto a plant by her desk. She followed his line of sight as she ignored her interns obvious starstruck look and returned her eyes to his face as his words sank into her mind.

"Wait, boy, you're telling me you run your own company already?" She asked as she sat a bit straighter in her chair, she knew he was well off due to the money his heinous father had saved up through the years, but she never thought he would use that money to build a company of his own.

"Uh, y-yeah. I remade father's old fashion company. It was a part of my mom's dream too so it just felt wrong to let it turn to ash. Not to mention the hundreds of people who would've been out of a job if I didn't do something about it." He shrugged as he spoke, seeming more like a meek little boy explaining why he did something wrong than a CEO of a major fashion line that reigned over the Parisian fashion scene.

So, he hadn't made it from scratch…

"I can see where you're coming from." She offered after the awkward silence had stretched on a bit too long, "I don't remember seeing Gabriels billboards around town though."

"Ah, that's because there aren't any." He seemed a bit more open as he spoke this time, pulling his hands from his pockets to rest one on the desk he stood beside casually, "I renamed the company, its just Agreste Fashion now." He gave her a short shrug as he spoke, showing her once again that he was relaxing into the conversation. Which was all well and good, but there were other things more important on her mind than an old school friend she hadn't spoken to in ages.

"Marinette is going to start her own company as well you know," Alya's attention was drawn to Manon, who seemed to have snapped out of her previous state at hearing how someone got her old babysitters dream just handed to them on a silver platter. Her arms were crossed before her chest and her cheeks puffed out like a furious little chipmunk. Usually joy filled her eyes, but now they were narrowed and filled with a cold anger that made itself known without her having to speak a single word.

"I can't wait to work with her when she does, Mari always had the best designs, in my opinion, even back in the day." His words seemed only to help fan the flame of her anger. Manon was strongly loyal to Marinette and believed in her dreams almost more than she believed in her own. Alya felt that this fact said something important about just how kind and true her best friend really was. She also felt that she should get this blonde male to move on as soon as possible before her intern blew a fuse.

Thankfully, she didn't have to think of a clever scheme to get rid of him without being rude.

A soft piano song echoed out from his pocket and he gave them both an apologetic smile as he shoved his hand into it to retrieve his phone. One look at his face told her he was not very happy about whoever was on the other end of the line. His lips pulled into a thin line and his brows had knitted nearly together and his eyes narrowed at whatever he saw on the screen. He glanced up at Alya once again as the song continued to play and chuckled in an odd, nervous manner before motioning to the device that had offended him so.

"Sorry, I have to take this." He stated before looking down at the phone once again and swiping his thumb across the screen. "Hello, yes, hi Abigail." Adrien turned his back to them as he spoke with a tired sigh that worked its way into his tone. "No, I want to look through them all myself. It's important to me that I see each and every candidates work." Alya noticed him scratching below his small ponytail once again as he spoke and raised her brow when his shoulders slumped and a huff dripping with agitation rolled forth from him. "Look, just put all of them on my desk. I finished my meeting already and can be there in fifteen. Good. See you then." He hung up on this "Abigail" with another huff before turning back to Alya once again. "Sorry, I have some business to attend to. Send Nino my love okay?" He asked, reminding her of a puppy dog with the way his eyes grew wide and hopeful for her reaction.

"I can't promise that, he's a taken man and that wife of his is a force to be reckoned with." She smiled at the polite joke as he, in turn, let out a short chuckle.

"I'm sure it will be okay." He seemed to gain his sense of time when his eyes traveled up to the large clock at the back of the office. His friendly smile slipped a bit as he returned his gaze to his now dark and lifeless phone, "I'll see you around Alya." He added before turning and leaving the two women sitting at the desk. He hadn't waited for her reply, so he was either in a serious rush or he had lost a bit of the politeness he was known for when they went to school together.

"He was rude." Manon huffed, looking over much of the conversation in her need to validate her past babysitters journey to become a famous designer herself.

"Probably stressed, come on." Alya hummed as she turned back to her laptop, "let's get to work on this so I can go to lunch on time today." Without another word on the subject of Adrien or his strange actions, they dived headfirst into the story that she planned on turning in by lunch that day.

The bell that rang through the halls of her new school sounded akin to those of Notre Dame. Chiming the next class in a cheery tone that made her lips pull into a smile and her steps to take on a skip to their pace. Marinette has never been happier to be in an institution of learning than she was after her previous class. Her first two had been on the basics of fashion theory and the history of art, but she was finally headed to the class that would allow her to physically create something with the knowledge that the last two had given her. So, even when she bumped into the back of the tall brunette male, the smile still didn't leave her cheeks, even as they both bent down in unison to retrieve her scattered school supplies that now littered the floor around them.

"I'm sorry, I wasn't paying attention. I'm just so excited." She explained without looking up at him. She just felt so right being in this school that it was hard for her to even feel like she was supposed to be embarrassed. The brunette for his part, gave her a soft chuckle as he scooped up her large portfolio-like-sketch pad and held it out to her.

"It's fine," He assured her around a warm smile of his own, " it must be your first day huh?" She looked up into his warm brown eyes and he made a motion to emphasize the smile still prevalent on her face, "I remember being the same way last year. It's exciting isn't it?"

"Oh," she took a moment to try to get the large goofy smile under control. It was a fruitless effort, "is it that obvious?" she asked as she tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear shyly. He finished gathering her scattered pens and tucked them into her waiting hands before resting his own gently on her shoulders. His warm smile caused small wrinkles to spread out from the corners of his eyes as he studied her face with a open interest.

"It's totally fine, refreshing even. After you're here a while, everyone gets so competitive that it's a little disheartening." He waved his hands about as he spoke in a very active manner that caused her to giggle and hide the lower half of her face behind her large sketch pad. His cheeks took on a light dusting of pink as his right hand reached up to rub at the side of his neck slowly. He looked like a teddy bear, sweet, approachable, and with a pair of eyes that drew you in and made you feel safer than you had before you looked into them. She found herself leaning towards him without pondering her actions and smiling even broader with each chuckle that fell from his lips. If everyone at ESMOD was like this young man, she could see her school life going VERY smoothly.

"What class do you have next?" He asked suddenly, pulling her from her thoughts of that smile and back into the present. She blinked away her ideas of a not so far away future and studied his face as she searched her mind for an answer to his question. Distractions had made her mind a blank slate, but he was looking at her expectantly and she knew that the answer should have been a simple one to tell.

"Oh, uh, um…" she stumbled over her own words as she struggled to get something out, "next is uh, um…" Finally giving up on her mental olympics, she felt a moment of relief when a thought surfaced from the mire that had become her mind, "I have Intro to Pattern Cutting next." She mumbled the words as she read them off from the sticker on her book.

"Hey, me too. I skipped it my first year to catch up on some academic courses." His energetic explanation sent a fresh set of giggles falling from her lips as she hugged her supplies to her chest and met his gaze. He took her reaction in stride and gave her a playful wink as a lopsided smirk played on his lips. He bowed slightly to her and offered her his bent elbow as he stood to his full height. Her eyes widened slightly as his locked onto them, full of something she couldn't quite place.

"Can I walk you to your class, my lady?"

Her heart stopped for a moment at his words. Words that she hadn't heard in years, words that she forced herself not to seek out for the sheer shame of how long she had avoided the one who used them so casually with her. She took a moment to study the man before her with a bit more care. His hair was fluffy like Chats, but it fell in a odd angle about his head compared to the black clad superheroes. His warm brown eyes looked the same shape, but nowhere near the same intensity of the emerald green hues that would burn their way into her soul whenever he glanced her way. The smirk was similar, but something about it she couldn't quite place was just off about it. No, it had to be a coincidence that he used those words, a simple coincidence that he had no clue he was tearing her apart on the inside.

"S-s, um, uh, sure." she finally managed to speak after she paused for just a bit too long, this time from a different kind of distraction, and his brows raised in confusion. Flashing him as sweet of a smile as she could manage, she placed her hand on the bend of his elbow and nodded to tell him she was ready to go. He had a skip to his step as they weaved themselves through the crowd of bodies in the hallway. The air about him becoming infectious as they continued through the campus,so infectious in fact, that they were both laughing at nothing until the time they stepped into the room.

It felt like the sound of a pin drop could equate to a canon going off, the room fell into complete silence as everyone stopped what they were doing to look at the pair who stood awkwardly just inside the doorway. Her companions warm smile fell into a thin line as he looked around at all the paired groups scattered about the room at random workstations. She could see the stress causing beads of sweat to pop up along his forehead as he took in the sight. Her heart went out to his turmoil, clearly he was worried that the obviously partnered class would leave him working alone for the year, she decided to set his mind at ease.

"Hey, how about we partner up this semester?" She asked with her head tilted slightly to the side as she glanced up at his face. She could see him snap out of his thoughts at the sound of her voice and glanced down at her as his lopsided smirk returned to his lips. The light that was in his eyes before was slowly returning to them the longer that they held each other's stares. She liked seeing him that way far more than how he looked just a moment before...

"You don't even know my name." He chuckled as he leaned in to whisper the words in her ear.

"You don't know mine either." She giggled as she pulled back to get a good look at his face once again. He scrunched up his nose as he took a moment to ponder their situation before looking around the room once again at all the strange faces.

"I'm Michal." After a long silence he finally introduced himself to her. Her hand slipped into his offered one, he kissed the back of it lightly as a shy smile pulled her lips up towards her eyes.

"Marinette, nice to meet you Michal." She replied with a playful wink. His own smile pulled his teeth apart slightly as they shook hands firmly.

"Marinette, pleasure to meet you, partner." His words had memories pulling at the back of her mind once again, memories of a blonde with blazing green eyes who could handle a fight better than she could most of the time, yet was still humble enough to claim she was the real hero between them.

"Y-yeah." She forced herself to reply to him. She had to turn away from him in order to discreetly blink away the tears stinging the corners of her eyes, Chat was better off without her. He had moved on by now certainly, and probably had a new partner who helped him from the sidelines, plus a string of lovers behind him that made her years at his side barely a blimp on his emotional radar.

They moved as a pair to the nearest empty workstation they could find and settled into their seats just as the professor strode into the room with a phone placed firmly against her ear and a no nonsense frown upon her liver spotted face. She hung the phone up without looking at her quiet as the grave students and began going into a practiced monologue on the importance of a proper pattern cut and how one little miss-measurement could throw the entire project off. Marinette attempted to listen, but her eyes were constantly drawn to the notebook of the young man beside her. He was sketching out casual dresses with soft pok-a-dots along the bottom of the skirt and the rim of the neckline. It was a beautiful design, with a sheer covering to the skirt and soft pearl like lace around the shoulders that accentuated the dots that lined it on the other side. Three large buttons lead down from midway up the chest to the skirt that forced your eye to notice how it flared out around the models legs. He was talented, and the way his brow furrowed and his tongue jutted out from between his teeth showed that he loved what he did enough to give it his full concentration. She wondered if she looks like that when she was immersed in her own work as she rested her cheek on her fist idly. A smile played on her lips as she watched him work, her mind drifting away from the monotone voice of their professor and zoning in on the sound of his pencil led scratching lightly against the paper as he worked.

That sound could make everything else simply fall away….

Chapter one: End