Disclaimer: Everything belongs to their respectful owners.

A/N: I got hooked with the idea that 2D Ladybug and Chat Noir are Sabine and Gabriel, which is kinda sweet and more angst would probably occur due to the fact that their love square isn't actually completed like their respectful child has. Also that Gabriel isn't Hawkmoth in this for reasons (that headcanon is so popular that at the beginning I thought it was canon tfw). Anyhow, since we have yet to know Adrien's mum's name, I'd like to call her Leslie, for the sake of the story.

Old friends/past lovers catching up is my aesthetic.

Sabine is blessed.

She has a wonderful family with the man she loves, a beautiful daughter who is the light of their lives, and a successful business in making the most delicious goods in Paris that anyone could have ask for.

She is content with the soft dough which compresses easily under her hands as she kneads, she enjoys the smell of freshly baked bread every morning everytime she comes downstairs as much as she enjoys the way Tom playfully dusts her nose with flour at every chance he has since the first time they baked together. She is thankful for the tinkle of laughter Marinette makes ever since her voice echoes through the household, reminding Sabine again and again that miracles, indeed, happen and she must cherish them at all costs.

She enjoys her life, she loves her family, and though her past life has excitement she sometimes yearns for, she is thankful for what she has at the moment.

Sometimes, she sees herself in Marinette. Her daughter is a carbon copy of her, except for her eyes and the freckles that splashes across her nose. Those are the things that she inherits from Tom, and one of the reasons Sabine loves him in the first place.

The compassion in her daughter is Tom as well, the passionate love for baking, the easily red cheeks that Sabine always pinches and causes laughter to rupture. Though, the spunk Marinette has is from her, the determination and haughty attitude that shows how much they are the same. Sometimes, Sabine laughs quietly at how similar they are, it reminds her of the old days when she is like that, now that she mellows down after years has passed.

She doesn't mind leaving it all behind, her past she means, she doesn't precisely like to dwindle on it when it only makes her distressed, as it only brings up the how's and the what if's that could happen if she ever did twinge things a little differently, if she had made another choice, another road she would take that another life would occur.

Which is why she is surprised when he walks through the door of the shop in his usual crisp suit he always dons since long ago, the bell rings quietly in the quiet shop as there are no customers, when the blue black sky outside is the reason why.

She remembers him of course, even though it's been years since she sees him face to face, since she lasts talk to him after the death of his wife, she still remembers him.

How can she not, when he is the first part of her life she cherishes.

She slowly puts down the rag she has been holding on the counter, her wide eyes meets his calm ones from where he stands rigidly at the entrance, his hands clasps behind him.

"Gabriel," She breathes, almost letting the name Felix, his middle name, to roll past her tongue. She blinks, because what in the world was he doing here in the middle of the night, where shops are all but closing. "What brings you here?"

He purses his lips, looking away briefly that she sees some familiarity in him again. His shoulders slumps the slightest bit, his blueish grey eyes looking duller than usual. "I need to talk to you about Ladybug and Chat Noir."

She stiffens, it's been too long since they have talk about that particular topic, why bring it up now?

Then, Tom comes out from the back, where he has done the last of the cleaning from the kitchen. "Sabine? I heard the door opening-" He cuts off the last of his sentence when he sees the designer standing at the doorway, and Gabriel immediately straightens when he hears the sound of the large man's voice. "Gabriel," Tom greets with a smile. "It's been a while."

Gabriel responds with a small one of his own, and Sabine doesn't remember the last time she sees him smiles like that. "Likewise," He pauses, his eyes flickering between the couple. "If you don't mind Tom, there's something I'd like to tell Sabine, and I require some privacy if you please."

Tom is suspicious of course, staring at the man with platinum coloured hair with a guarded look on his face. Sabine rests a hand on her husband's arm, giving him a reassuring smile. "It's okay, we have some things to catch up to."

Tom gazes down at her, giving her a smile before nodding towards Gabriel, and then makes his way upstairs.

Both of them watch him go, where they could hear the sound of a door closing before Gabriel walks slowly towards her. "You never did tell him, did you?"

She shrugs, pulling a stool for him to sit on as she occupies another. "It's in the past, and it's for his safety," She gives him a pointed look as he makes himself comfortable on the seat she gives him. "You should know that."

He gives a short laugh. "I know, you have been telling me that for years."

She smiles softly. "I did, didn't I?"

He smirks a bit, and she finally sees the real him shining through the armour he builds up after his fame, where the billboards and news would never catch what's behind his cold-like demeanour that she has glimpses of in their earlier years.

Where, somewhere along the way, she almost falls in love with him.

Both of him.

"An earful might I add," He continues lightly, making her roll her eyes. "And I assume, the new Ladybug would do the same to Chat Noir."

She snaps her eyes towards him, where he meets her prodding gaze with a sardonic smile. "It's been too long since we touch that subject."

"Ever since that day." She says quietly, remembering the heat of past fires and the screams of various people echoing through Paris around her twenty year old self. She remembers praying that it wouldn't be the end of the world, that they could still stop the madness that spreads itself through the city where terror has been planted into the hearts of men, where akumas upon akumas bursts into the sky and shields the sun from touching the ground as those tainted butterflies corrupt the sky with its dark wings, where Paris is captured in a dome-like structure where none shall leave, and none shall come in.

As victorious as they were, it was agreed to themselves to never again bring it up after it was over, never to speak of it again after they part.

Even after they revealed their identities to each other.

Internally shaking herself out of her reverie, she looks at him sharply. "Why bring it up now?" She asks almost demandingly, because she doesn't want to think about it, she rather not, when the what if's is still lurking among them, when the dark thoughts she hides is still attached to them. "After all these years, after we defeated Hawkmoth, why come to me and talk to me about it after almost twenty years later?"

He stares at her, his eyes flickers around her face and she is hit with the realisation that they are filled with sadness. It's not obvious, since he has mastered the ways of concealing ones emotion if he wants, but she knows him, and she knows how to read him for the longest time. "Because it concerns your daughter."

She clamps her mouth shut. She knows of course, that the new Ladybug is her own daughter ever since she feels the familiar energy radiating through the whole house a year ago, and she has a feeling that the new Chat Noir is his own son, but she says nothing of it to Marinette.

There are times even after her retirement, Tikki would visit her once in a while, while they would talk about anything they want as Tikki waits the right time to find another person to be worthy enough of holding the Miraculous. But the kwami never actually tell her that the next Miraculous wielder would be Marinette herself, and Sabine is worried sick when she finds out in the end, knowing full well the consequences that could occur at anytime and place, and the probability of getting injured is very high.

She purses her lips. "I don't suppose Plagg chose Adrien as well."

He sighs softly, pinching the bridge of his nose. "He did, that little bastard," He growled quietly. "Imagine my surprise when my cheese kept missing even after I gave back the ring to him, and only to find it around my son's finger."

She giggles softly. "He never changes."

He snorts. "I don't believe that glutton ever will."

She taps the counter with a finger, pursing her lips again. "We can't do anything about them."

"No," He agrees. "Even if I've scolded Adrien for leaving in the middle of his photoshoots to save those pests, he still won't listen to me, now that the sprite had anything to do with it."

"Maybe Plagg thinks he's as worthy as you were."

He lets out a huff of dry laughter. "I didn't think I was worthy enough, sometimes I still wonder why Plagg chose me."

Her finger froze in mid air. "You never told me that."

"I didn't think it was important, and besides, Adrien is much more worthy than I ever will be," He licks his dry lips. "I thank god that he inherits most of Leslie's traits than mine."

She stays quiet, because Leslie has always been a cheery woman, when the sudden death took her away from both Gabriel and Adrien, leaving the boy motherless for the past ten years that Sabine cannot offer anything but sympathy to them, and Gabriel shut the world from what has left of his family that he didn't even answer when she called, until Tom had told her gently that the grieving man needed space, even then she was reluctant to let go.

After a decade, he's in her shop again, talking to her as if nothing has passed.

"Hawkmoth is still out there," He continues gravely, a frown marring his brows. "I thought we disposed of him forever."

"Unfortunately, he's not done yet," She sighs, rubbing her face with her hand. "The corrupted kwami had time to heal and probably found a new host weak enough to be fully under his control, and then starting havoc again."

He clenches his jaw, his fingers wrings together tightly. "I hope Ladybug and Chat Noir defeats him again. This time, I hope it's permanent."

"You know it'll take a while to defeat him again, another less than five years maybe?" She shakes her head. "Who knows? Hawkmoth has been playing with Ladybugs and Chat Noirs for centuries, I wouldn't be surprised if he's taunting them like he did to us when we could still fly around on roofs."

"When we were still young," He says quietly, and she avoids his stare as she looks down to her hands, where she's playing with the silver band around her ring finger. "Do you miss it?"

She gives a grim smile, looking up to meet his eyes. "I try not to."

"Why?"

"You know why."

He straightens his spine. "Are you still angry about that?"

"Of course not. I wasn't even angry in the first place," She replies with an edge, trying not to reveal anything. "I moved on, I married Tom, we have a beautiful daughter we couldn't be more proud of," She purses her lips. "Now, she's going through what I went through." She does not tell him of Marinette's crush on his son, or the way Marinette gushes about the boy as Sabine had about Gabriel long ago. She notes almost bitterly that history is repeating itself, and she doesn't want her daughter to go through the same twisted fate as she has.

Hallow laughter escapes his lips. "Irony brought me to Leslie in the end. As I was starting to love you, you were already with Tom," She flinches, as if struck physically by his words, and his mouth twists into a mock smile. "But then, I met Leslie, and like you said, I moved on, I married her, we have a son we couldn't be more proud of," He looks away, as if pained by the thought. "But then, she was gone too."

She doesn't say anything, she doesn't know what to say. He finally admits to her that he once loved her, but even then he was too late. She was far out of his reach back then as she is at the moment.

Tikki has once said that the relationship between Ladybug and Chat Noir has always been complicated. It doesn't matter if they fall in love or they don't, one way or another, they will meet each other and they will go through the hardships of defeating on what the universe has been given to them. Each of them is half of a whole, complete opposites destined to be.

And it seems that theirs are one of those who does not have all the luck in the world.

She feels sadness for the man in front of her.

"Felix," She calls out softly, where he's taken aback at the name. "If my daughter happens to be with your son," She pauses, letting the words sink in fully. "Would you allow it?"

He studies her. "You don't want your daughter to have the same fate as you do."

She almost snarks at him, but she doesn't. "I don't want her to go through the pain as I have when I was chasing after meaningless dreams," She replies bluntly, the satisfaction of seeing the guilt in his eyes almost makes her feel smug. Almost, but not quite. "Would you?"

He sighs. "Even if I won't, there would be a chance that he won't listen to me, and there would be a chance that he wouldn't be as blind as I was. He's a smart kid, he'll figure it out," Suddenly, he stands up, and she quickly follows. "I'm afraid I've overstayed my welcome, thank you for your time, Sabine."

She gives him a small smile. "It was nice seeing you again, Felix."

He nods, before they walk towards the entrance where he pushes the door open, his limo already waiting outside. Turning around slightly, he smiles softly at her.

"Farewell, My Lady."

She watches him make his way inside the limo, before it starts driving towards his home, leaving the former Ladybug at her doorstep.

She takes a shuddering breath, shaking her head to have a grip of herself as she locks the bakery door, the bell tinkling lightly above her head.

"Stupid cat." She mutters, slightly angry after his visit as memories starts to flash in her mind, memories she would rather throw at the bottom of a pit and never to be seen again.

"Why did you have to come?"