"I hope this will be a good place for you to sleep tonight." Tikki said making a bed appear.

"Yes it's perfect." Marinette said. She sat on the bed and began to fiddle with her necklace.

"I was a good friend of your mother's." Tikki said.

"Really?"

"She saved me from a fairy trap many years ago. In exchange for her act of kindness I promised to be her faithful friend and look after her." She said. "I was there when she met your father at a ball, I was at her wedding, and I was at her funeral."

"What was she like?" Marinette asked. "Father never really talked about her. It was too painful for him."

"She was young, beautiful, compassionate." Tikki continued. "She was a great queen. Everyone adored her and everyone mourned when she passed."

"I would give anything to have known her, at least for a moment."

"I know." She hugged Marinette and then left. Marinette crawled into bed and fell asleep. Around midnight she woke up to get drink on water from the well outside. She filled up the bucket and drank some of the water. She noticed a fire had been started, Adrien was sitting near it.

"Hello Milady."

"What are you doing out here?"

"Well why are you out?"

"I was thirsty. What about you?"

"I couldn't sleep."

She sat next to him.

"Why do you wear a mask?" He looked at her angrily. "I'm sorry it's just that...I've never seen you take it off. Why wear it?"

"To hide who I once was."

"You weren't always Adrien the huntsman?"

"Yeah."

"Who were you before?"

"Someone long gone." Adrien closed his eyes as he remembered the last time he lived like a prince. He remembered being a small boy, a happy little boy would spend his days reading books in the library with his father and playing in the garden with his mother. He remembered waking up in the middle of the night to hear screaming and metal crashing. He remembered watching his father being stabbed to death by that knight and hearing his mother scream.

"You're from the kingdom that was destroyed by the dark army."

"How did you know that?"

"Your dagger has the kingdom's symbol on it."

"It was my father's." He said. "It's all I have left of him and my mother."

"I was there when that kingdom was destroyed." Marinette said. "That was the night my stepmother tried to have me killed. I was just a child back then. A man took me deep into the woods to cut out my heart."

"How did you escape?"

"There was a boy." She said remembering that night. "A little boy hiding in the trees. He jumped down and saved me." Adrien looked her nervously. Was she the little girl he had saved that night? "We ran off into the woods but he caught up with us. The boy held him off long enough for me to get away. I wanted to help him but he insisted that I keep running. I'll never forget that moment when my hand left his."

Adrien sighed, he took off his glove and looked at his hand. She took his hand and held it gently.

"May I please see you without your mask?" He froze and gripped his other gloved hand. But then eased up.

"As you wish Milady." He removed his mask off. She smiled and stroked the side of his face. "I was the prince of that kingdom." He said. "Well I was until you know."

"I know."

"My life was ruined that day. I watched my father die in front of me, I heard my mother scream in a way that made my heart stop. But the worst of it was I didn't get to say goodbye."

"I'm so sorry." She squeezed his hand. "Why don't you want anyone to know your the prince?"

"Because that's not who I am anymore!" He shouted. She looked at him hurt, his face softened. "I'm not a prince. I'm a huntsman."

He got up and went back inside. Marinette sighed, and continued to stare at fire, feeling it's warmth. She heard a voice coming from deep in the woods.

"Marinette!" It called.

"Father?"

"Marinette!"

"Father!" She followed the voice which led her deeper into the woods and farther away from the house. "Father! Where are you?" Suddenly she heard a strange growl. She froze and listened for something. Suddenly she felt something grab her. "Who are you?"

It was Hawkmoth. "So you're Princess Marinette." He said. "My, my, you certainly are beautiful." He grabbed her face and looked at it. "You really are the fairest of them all."

"Why are you here?"

"Sorry but I must kill you."

"What?"

"Nothing personal just business." Marinette grabbed a nearby rock, hit him across the face, and ran away. "Oh you're going to run? Well that will only make it more exciting for me." He snapped his fingers and two horrible monsters appeared. "Get her."

They chased after Marinette snarling and growling. She ran as fast as her legs could carry her but the two creatures were too swift.

"Help! Help! HELP!"

"Marinette!" Adrien woke up to her screaming. He quickly grabbed his axe and raced outside.

She grabbed a branch off a tree and used it to beat them off. One of them started to pull on her dress while the other pulled on her cloak. She hit the first one on the head with the branch. It yowled, and then opened it's jaws to snap at her. Marinette raised her arm up to block herself and closed her eyes. The monster pounced toward her only to be knocked away by an axe.

The creature tackled him and the two engaged in a fight on the ground. Marinette was still trying to free her cloak from the second one. Tikki and Plagg arrived later. "Marinette! Adrien! Take this!" Plagg said. He tossed Marinette a knife and Adrien his dagger. "Kill it!"

They both got ready to stab the two beasts when they notice something strange about their eyes. They looked sad as if they were suffering, they looked down to see them wearing black moth amulets. Using the knife and dagger they cut the amulets. In a flash of black and purple ooze the two creatures changed into a peasant boy and girl.

"Alya!" Marinette gasped.

"Nino!" Adrien cried. They were both unconscious and had their clothes torn up. "Are they okay?"

"Oh! We better help them." Marinette took off her cloak and covered Alya with it. The four of them helped Nino and Alya inside unaware that Lila had watched the whole thing through the mirror.

"Curses! Curses! Somebody always helps that girl!" She said. "Perhaps if I offer more money the huntsman will kill her."

"Money and gold shall not be enough to convince him this time."

"Why is that?"

"He has fallen in love with Marinette." The mirror said. "Her beauty, kindness, and bravery has pierced his heart."

"No! Now he'll never kill her."

"There's more. He also the young prince who escaped Hawkmoth's attack years ago." The mirror said. "Heartbroken by the loss of his kingdom and family, he chose to forget being a prince and become a skilled huntsman."

"Interesting." Lila said.