Marinette sat in her room, lying motionless on her bed. Her phone rang, and she reluctantly answered it. Alya announced the bad news that Marinette already knew - Adrien was missing. Alya was convinced that he was somewhere around Paris, just like he had during Christmas. Another wrong theory. But Marinette didn't have the heart to tell her friend she was wrong.

The girl stared at the butterfly miraculous. Nooroo sat by her side, making soothing sounds that might have been words had the girl been paying attention. Instead, she could only stare at the brooch and see Adrien. Tears escaped her eyes, and Nooroo wiped them from her cheeks. "Adrien," she whispered, the sadness clutching at her very heart.

Nooroo suddenly fell silent, staring at his master.

The days from then on went like this: Marinette would wake up, and wait for her mother to bring her breakfast. She would have a bit of it and then sleep some more before lunch was brought. She would sleep even more before dinner. She rarely left her room, and never stepped foot out of the house.

One day, she sat, holding a picture of Adrien, laying on her bed, staring at it. Pictures were all she had, an endless supply from his modeling career. Hundreds of photos of the boy who went missing to the land of nowhere.

It was a picture of him smiling, but in a sad kind of way, like nostalgia for something that will never happen again. He stared at Marinette, and the girl stared back, before she gasped, a lightbulb lighting in her brain. "Why don't I just use the ladybug earrings and cat ring, and then I can bring him back?" she asked, feeling suddenly reinvigorated, sitting up straight.

"But we don't know where they are!" protested Nooroo. He had a point, that was true.

She chuckled, "but I know who might have them... Master Fu, of course, the Great Guardian!"

Her parents were thrilled to hear she was getting out of the house. She practically bounced out the street, running to the dojo where he lived...

Only to find a "to rent" sign. She felt like crying. "He's not here..." she whispered.

Nooroo sighed. "The Great Guardian can't stay in one place. It's too dangerous - he must have moved," the kwami explained.

Marinette fell to her knees. She stared at that "to rent" sign like it was a death sentence. "Can you find him?" she asked in a strangled whispered.

The purple creature answered with a shake of his head. No, of course not. That would be too easy, wouldn't it? Marinette thought bitterly, swallowing that sinking feeling.

She let out a desperate, crazed laugh. "That's it... I'm never going to get Adrien back. He was my everything, and now he's gone forever!"

"Don't say that, Marinette!" Nooroo exclaimed, hugging her. "It's going to be okay, I promise..." And he faded out, just like always.

Marinette stumbled home, the feeling of defeat weighing her down. Her parents were saddened to see her like that but didn't object when she went back to staying in her room most of the time once again.

The girl began to think... If Ladybug's earrings and Chat Noir's ring were the only things that could bring Adrien back, and the Great Guardian, the only one who might have a clue as to where they might be, was missing, how else could she find them?

And it came to her like lightning. Like, duh. She hopped up and smiled at Nooroo. "What if... What if we found the ladybug earrings and the cat ring?" she asked, and the kwami gave her a confused look.

"But, we don't know where they are..." Nooroo protested.

Marinette's eyes widened. "But we could find them, right? If the Great Guardian has them and he only gives them out when there's a threat, then... Maybe we could make a fake threat!" she tried, with a smile.

The purple creature shook his head. "Master Fu wouldn't be fooled by that. He's really wise," he added unnecessarily.

The girl nodded, "you're right," she sighed, staring at the shrine she had made for Adrien, consisting of many pictures of him and some poetry she had written for him. She swallowed hard. "I guess I'll just have to live alone up here, for the rest of my life..." Nooroo went on to tell her otherwise, but she never was really listening to him in the first place.


And so the grieving process went on. Marinette was inconsolable, but her parents didn't give her any grief about it. She slept most days and most nights and left her room only to go to the bathroom, never saying a word to anyone.

It was a sleepless night, one night, that the bluenette girl was staring at the ceiling. "Oh, Nooroo... Is there anything I can do?" she whispered, voice stricken with sadness.

The kwami hesitated, "well, there might not be anything you can do..."

She glanced at him, frowning. "What do you mean?" she asked softly.

"I have a psychic connection with Wayzz, Master Fu's kwami," Nooroo explained.

"So you can find them?" she asked, looking more excited than he had seen her in a long time.

He hesitated. "Well... No, I can't do that. But I might be able to able to establish synchronization between you and Master Fu - that is, a dreamlike state where you will be able to communicate! All I have to do is ask Wayzz..."

"Well, what are you waiting for! Do it already, Nooroo!" the girl shouted, with the inkling of a smile.

Nooroo nodded. "Of course, Mari!" He shut his eyes, floating in front of her, silently.

Marinette watched with excitement. Finally, she could get some answers...

The purple kwami slowly opened his eyes, before smiling softly. "He said yes," he announced, with joy.

The teenager squealed with joy. "Yes! Let's do it now, Nooroo, please?"

"Just say 'dark wings synchronize!'," Nooroo told her.

Taking a deep breath, the bluenette repeated, "dark wings, SYNCHRONIZE!"

In a split second, Marinette's world was once again swapped out for one of pure white.