Marinette's thought processes were usually two things: short and not specific enough, or long and obviously too intricate for any sane person to handle. The signs that she was thinking too hard were obvious, particularly as she sat at the table stirring her cold cup of tea.

She suddenly wondered about why cold tea was so frowned upon. It tasted bad for most people, but did that give them a right to judge a drink based solely on temperature? The ingredients were the same, after all.

Oops, she took a sip. That meant that she was not only making the mistake of drinking cold tea, which disgusted most people, but she was slowly sipping away at what was once a full cup of tea. Surely, this experience would scar the poor tea for the rest of its life.

Of course, if she drank all of it, then no one would have to know of her conquest of this single cup of tea. Maybe the tea even wanted to be gulped down with reckless abandon, its mark on the world limited to staining on the cup that was so easily washed away. After that, more tea would move into its former home of the cup, creating generations of tea that will either go cold or not.

Then again, who was Marinette to assume whether or not the tea was a pessimist? The easiest solution was just to drink half.

That way, she could see if the tea thought it was half-full or half-empty.

...Clearly, Tom and Chat had far too much influence on her.

Breaking her tea-ridden thought process, Tikki flew into the room, calling out to her, "Marinette?"

"Huh?" Marinette snapped to attention, glancing over. "Yeah?"

Tikki smiled, a hint of concern behind it. "I wanted to check on you. You've been thinking ever since yesterday, and it's already getting late."

Marinette looked out the window, just to confirm. Indeed, the sky was growing increasingly dark, the moon bright and shining its light through the glass.

She frowned. "Ah, I've just been thinking about everything that's happened. That's all."

She chose not to comment further, aware that Tikki wasn't experienced in human interaction. The time since meeting Chat was unique, and Marinette thought it best to sort out what to do next on her own.

Offering that Chat visit or stay at her house whenever he wanted was obvious. Having him meet her parents was obvious. And yet, what was the next step if Wayzz was unable to help? Would Chat be satisfied having only three people in his life while being unable to truly explore the world? Was that something she could just ask him?

Well, at the very least, Marinette could think of at least one thing she could offer.

"Tikki? Can you ask my parents to come over here for a bit?"

One nod and a minute later, Tom and Sabine walked in, having just finished cleaning up the bakery part on the house.

Sabine stepped forward first, wary eyes peeking into the nearly full cup of tea on the table; an obvious sign that something was on Marinette's mind. "Something wrong, Marinette?"

"Not really wrong," Marinette replied, trying not to look too deep in thought. She placed her hand over the cup to hide its fullness. "I was wondering if you could help me with something."

They stared at her expectantly. Even Tikki had taken a seat on Tom's shoulder, equally curious.

Marinette chewed at her bottom lip, waiting the moment out and considering how much she wanted to say. She shifted in her seat, then glanced up the stairs. Her bedroom door was closed, as it had been since she'd started thinking.

"...Hold on." Marinette stood, heading over to the stairs. She walked up to the top, then knocked politely. "Chat? Can we talk?"

A few seconds passed. There was no response. She hesitated, fearing ruining some semblance of Chat's privacy, but curiosity won over. She opened the door.

The room was devoid of both Chat and Trixx, confusing Marinette further. Upon closer inspection, she also noticed that the window was open, the night sky dark and ominous.

She peeked out of her bedroom. "Did Chat say anything about going anywhere?"

Tom shook his head. "Don't think so. He didn't leave a note?"

Marinette checked, but found nothing. It worried her, but she also trusted Chat and had a feeling that he wasn't in any sort of imminent danger.

Though it did mean she would have to make her decision without him.

Marinette left her room, pausing as she held onto the door. She stared, as if the simple act would make Chat reappear, but it did nothing. She shut the door behind her and walked back downstairs.

She breathed up, shaking the experience off as she looked at her parents resolutely.

"I want to find Missus Agreste."

An invisible Trixx smiled calmly as an equally invisible Chat walked through the village. "No blanket this time?"

Chat didn't smile, but his tone remained light. "It's dark out. It feels safer in the dark."

Trixx hummed. "You left pretty suddenly."

Chat sighed, shaking his head. "I know. We'll go right back afterward."

The village at night was exactly how Chat remembered it. With so few people around and nearly all of the shops closing up, it had been the perfect time to make a getaway back when he was young. Though the last getaway had weighed heavily on his mind, the scenery itself filled him with pleasant memories.

He stopped as he arrived at his destination: Nino's house. It was moderately-sized, but not overly to the point where one might think that the owners had substantial wealth. Conveniently, it was also close to the forest.

Chat's shoulders stiffened, but he kept walking. He stepped around the house strategically, now between the forest and the house itself. This way, there wasn't anyone in eyesight anymore.

Chat peeked through the window, sighing in relief when he realized that it was just Nino inside. Though, unfortunately, it now meant he had to go through with this.

Raising a shaky hand to the window, he knocked. Nino's eyes darted towards him, Chat flinching instinctively before remembering that he was invisible.

Nino raised a brow, likely confused that there seemed to be no cause of the knocking. Chat knocked again. Finally, Nino stood up, approaching him.

Chat slipped away from the window, bracing himself against the wall. He heard the window giving way to Nino's pulling.

"Hello?" Nino called out, looking left and right.

Chat steeled himself up. It'd be so long since he'd heard Nino's voice. He'd missed it.

"H-hey, Nino."

A long silence followed. The leaves on the forest's trees rustled. Chat began to fear that he hadn't been heard.

He opened his mouth to speak again, but was interrupted.

"Adrien?"

Chat's breath hitched. Nino; he recognized Chat's voice, even after all these years. Chat had been so certain that the years of time and his transformation had made it too different.

"A-adrien?" Nino called again. Chat finally glanced over, seeing Nino look around more frantically.

Chat felt an encouraging pat against his neck, courtesy of Trixx. He nodded to himself. "Y-yeah, it's me. Sorry, I can't really show myself yet."

"You—what?" Nino shook his head, now overwhelmed. "Wait—but you're okay? You're alive? You're back after all these years?"

"Yeah," Chat answered softly. "I'm sorry. I should've told you when you were at Marinette's house."

"Marinette's..." Nino paused. "Marinette knew you were here?"

"Only for a while now, and I asked her not to tell you yet."

"What? Dude, why?" Nino didn't sound offended, but certainly shocked.

"I... I wasn't ready to tell you," Chat admitted. He hesitated, not sure if Nino would believe him when he said it. He said it anyway. "I missed you though."

"...I missed you too." Nino took a moment to breathe. "Where have you been?"

"There's this abandoned castle in the forest. I stayed there all this time. Marinette found me a while ago by accident."

Nino was quiet.

"There's... other stuff too, but I don't think you'd believe me yet." Chat chuckled weakly. "At least not until you see me."

"Then why are you hiding?" Nino paused, then shook his head. "Wait, sorry—I don't mean it like—"

"I know," Chat assured. "It's just... the day I disappeared, a lot of things happened. I was afraid of showing myself to anyone."

"Even me," Nino muttered. It wasn't a question.

Chat cringed. "That's why I don't want to show myself right away. I figured you were already mad at me for leaving, so I..."

Nino huffed, crossing his arms. He sharpened his gaze. "Show me."

"W-what?"

"Come on, man!" Nino gestured outwards, not angry, but impatient. "Show yourself already!"

Chat wanted to protest, but stopped himself. Nino had always been firm and unmoving when it came to something that he was serious about.

He glanced at Trixx, then moved, standing directly in front in Nino. Trixx left his shoulder, likely flying off a small distance. Chat felt a tingle as the spell wore off.

Nino's impatient expression vanished, his eyes going wide. Chat willed himself not to break eye contact. If Nino was going to yell at him, he'd take whatever he deserved to get back on Nino's good side.

Nino relaxed after a moment, not afraid, but curious, now eyeing Chat up and down. It was as if he was unraveling some sort of puzzle. Chat's tail and ears twitched nervously, but he willed himself to stay still.

Eventually, Nino shifted, one hand on the windowsill. His other hand extended towards Chat.

Chat braced himself, only for Nino to simply touch his shoulder. Chat was about to ask questions when Nino cut him off abruptly by pulling him close.

Nino hugged him, and tightly.

"N-nino?" Chat uttered, his voice barely a whisper.

Nino's voice wavered. "Don't ever leave me again, okay?"

Chat inhaled sharply. All the forgiveness he could ever ask for was in those few words. He smiled and hugged Nino back, so much so that he almost pulled Nino right out of the window.

"I'm sorry," Chat mumbled into Nino's shoulder. "I was just… really scared. I didn't know what to do."

"It's okay, bud," Nino assured. "You're here now, right?"

Chat smiled sheepishly. "Yeah."

After a long moment, Nino began to pull away. He looked around, both outside and in his house, as if checking to see if they were being watched, then glanced back at Chat. "Do you have to go though? It's not safe out here for you, is it?"

Chat sighed. "Probably not. There's other stuff I could tell you too, but I better get back to Marinette's before we get caught."

Nino smiled, reaching up and patting Chat's head to cheer him up. "Alright, but only if you promise to show me that castle later. Deal?"

Chat chuckled. "You got it."

As Nino slipped back inside, Trixx reappeared on Chat's shoulder, making the two vanish again.

"Missus Agreste?" Sabine echoed, glancing up at Tom, who glanced right back.

Tom hummed, then looked at Marinette with an unusually serious expression. "You mean Evelyn?"

"Eve—" Marinette shook her head. "No, her name is Emilie." She paused, seeing how sure her parents seemed. "...Isn't it? Did she change it?"

Tom and Sabine kept their straight faces on for a few extra seconds. Then, they smiled.

Marinette suddenly remembered what she'd been told by Nino; Chat's mother took him to eat sweets all the time. The most popular place to eat sweets was… and her parents were so outgoing that it was only natural that they'd...

She gasped. "You know where she is?"

Sabine smiled. "We still send each other letters. Would you like me to write to her?"

Marinette practically lunged forward, one hand on Sabine's arm and the other on Tom's. "YES!"

Realizing her outburst, Marinette flushed and backed away, backpedaling. "I-I mean, if that's okay with her? I don't want to force her or anything, but—"

The bedroom door opened behind her, Marinette shutting herself up immediately. She turned to see Chat standing at the top of the steps.

Trying to maintain innocence, Marinette asked, "Where'd you go?"

"Oh, ahh..." Chat grinned sheepishly. "Sorry. I visited Nino."

Marinette felt a sense of relief. Chat was more comfortable. That was definitely a positive.

Chat stared down at the family, suddenly feeling awkward. "Sorry, did I interrupt something?"

"No!" Marinette answered a little too quickly. "It's fine. We were just talking."

Chat somehow bought it, nodding his head. Marinette honestly couldn't believe this adorable dork fell for her lie when she was the queen of being unconvincing.

Chat smiled. "I just wanted to let you know that I'm alright."

Marinette nodded, watching Chat slip back into the bedroom and shut the door behind him. She breathed a sigh of relief, then turned back to her parents.

"A-anyway, I—"

Sabine placed a finger to her lips, letting Marinette know that she didn't need to speak anymore. "We know exactly what to tell her. Don't worry."

Marinette blinked. She didn't understand, but couldn't complain about the results.

In the brightly-lit entrance room of the Bourgeois mansion, it wasn't hard to notice Sabrina dashing across the white floor. Her footsteps filled the quiet atmosphere, disturbing it.

"Chloe! I saw it!"

Chloe was lounging on her massive chair in the living room, one of her servants tending to her nails. At Sabrina's call, she turned her head. "What did you find?"

Sabrina reached Chloe and stopped running, now hunched over. She panted, needing a moment to catch her breath. "It's about Marinette."

"Marinette." Chloe seethed, biting down on one her nails. "That wench, embarrassing me in front of everyone."

The servant didn't hesitate to care for Chloe's bitten nail as Chloe looked back at Sabrina. "So? You found out what's making her act so not-her?"

"I think so, but..." Sabrina faltered. "You won't believe it."

Chloe's gaze sharpened with interest. "Tell me."

"I-it was..." Sabrina paused, trying to gesture with her hands. Finally, she just burst out, "a huge cat!"

Chloe blinked, surprised.

Sabrina continued, "I'd thought that Marinette's house was too closed off, so I tried to pursue her friends instead, thinking that they might've done it."

"And one of them had a cat?" Chloe pressed.

"No! When I found it, it was hugging one of Marinette's friends, and then it talked!"

"Wait—" Chloe straightened. The gears in her head seemed to be turning. "It... talked?"

"Yes! It said it had to go back to Marinette's house!" Sabrina replied.

Chloe placed a thoughtful hand to her chin, mulling over the information. Her mouth was a thin line.

"And then it just... disappeared!" Sabrina sighed. "I know it's hard to believe, but—"

Chloe raised a hand, stopping Sabrina from talking. "I believe you."

"You... really?"

"Of course. As my best friend, I trust you." Chloe raised her head, staring at the ceiling as she crossed one leg over the other. "Besides, only something magical could get that stupid little nuisance to stand up to me."

Sabrina bent over, nodding her head. "What are we going to do?"

"Easy." Chloe stared down at her nails, the shine of them matching the shine of her malicious grin. "We'll just have to put that kitty down."

The servant flinched, gazing at Chloe with wide eyes. At Chloe's glare, she pretended not to have heard anything.

Sabrina however, wasn't fazed at all. "What do you need me to do?"

Chloe leaned over. "Find a place where that cat'll go that his pathetic owner isn't."

"Right."

Chloe looked back at her servant, then tilted her head in Sabrina's direction. The servant tended to Sabrina's nails immediately.

Chloe chuckled lowly. "We'll see how confident little miss Marinette Dupain-Cheng feels when her pet's no longer in the picture."