Adrien looked at himself in the mirror. The reflection that stared back at him had no similarity to the one that had stared back at him only a few months ago when he was just back in Paris and his only worry was how his hair was going to look on his first day as a teacher.

He wondered, how after all this time, after all the horrible scenarios he had gone through and after all the pain he had suffered, how was that not enough for a lifetime? Because life kept throwing him more and more mysteries and question without giving him answers.

Why did he have to be a part of them? Was there no one else available for it?

He had no answer to those question. It was only him, he had learned that already and because of it, he was really good at hiding how he was really feeling, if he hadn't mastered that ability, his life would be even messier.

He was able to go through his days pretending he was in one piece when he actually was falling apart slowly. It was so easy to fool everyone around him.

A little bit of concealer, hair gel, a nice outfit, and of course, the perfect accessory to complete the look was his warm, but fake, smile. That's how he had been able to survive his job, how he had kept his head above water when he was surrounded by colleagues and students, and how he had fooled himself to think that he could keep going because no one seemed to notice, so no one pointed a finger.

Today was different.

He could see it on his reflection, this time the mirror did not lie; he was an absolute mess.

He touched the bandage around his forehead, close to his right temple and his ear, he felt the bump that had formed from the hit against the wall. The pain was still fresh, so he made sure not to press down too harshly.

The bags under his eyes were so prominent, that no one would believe that he had been sleeping for a whole day. He did not believe it himself, because he still felt exhausted.

The magic he had used had been so strong and powerful that it had taken almost every piece of Adrien's soul and magic. The last time he had used it, it had cost him his life.

How was he still on his feet was still a mystery, like everything happening around him.

Adrien pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed.

Did he really have to go to work? Yeah, he had. He really wanted to skip, but he had already missed a day.

Alya had called his supervisor and informed him that Adrien had been on a car accident and that he would go back as soon as he could. That was today because Adrien couldn't miss days at work, he had the feeling he would have to ask for vacations soon, something big was approaching and he couldn't put his job at risk for a series of simple reasons. One, he really liked his job; two, Marinette would be enraged if he lost his job because he had stayed to take care of her. Skipping work was not an option.

Adrien pressed his hands against the bathroom sink and leaned down. This was just the start of a horrible day.

He fixed his hair as much as he could, but the bandage did not help his goal. He did not try to put concealer under his eyes, it was not going to work, so he put special effort on his outfit. Nothing out of the ordinary, a nice sweater with a simple shirt underneath. Pants and one of the blazers Marinette and his father had designed for him.

He washed his face four times before leaving the bathroom, an attempt to look as awake and alive as he could.

He did not have a big breakfast, he was not hungry but he forced himself to eat to restore energy anyways.

He sat down on the kitchen stool and rolled his phone on his hands. He had been waiting for a call the whole morning.

Nino brought him home last night, a few hours after waking up. He said that he had to be away from Marinette.

Their energy was tied together, balancing each other, and while in other occasions that would have been fantastic, Marinette's energy was acting in chaotic ways that could damage them both, so he had to leave.

They did not allow him to see her. He did not leave without a fight, but he did not win, and he was still angry about it.

He just wanted to see with his own eyes that she was okay. He did not expect any of them to lie to him about something so important, but what if they were trying to protect him? He really wanted to see her, and hold her, and take care of her. But they wouldn't allow it.

Nino promised to call him if something changed, he promised he would be the first to know. No matter how little the change was, if something happened to Marinette, he had to know.

He was also worried about what could potentially happen with Nooroo, but it was not his priority.

Also, he had seen Willem before leaving. He looked as exhausted as he felt, but he was calm. He said everything was going well, and that Nooroo would probably wake up in a few days. He was back on his stone, recharging, the only thing left was to wait.

He still couldn't believe what he had done.

It was still hard to believe that Nooroo had been inside Marinette this whole time. They had talked about it and planned for a week, only focusing on that theory but it only felt real when his hand was piercing through Marinette's chest and when he started hallucinating.

He looked at the palm of his hand, another scar had appeared just on top of the old one. Another reminder that he should not use catastrophe for any circumstance, yet he had made use of it again.

The decision had been taken under the rush and adrenaline of the moment because it had been a terrible and dangerous decision. He had been so worried about Marinette, and so against the plan and he had been the one that almost ruined it.

But, it had been the right call, so it was better if he did not cry over it because it was over, they were way past that.

Marinette only had to wake up and things would be bright again.

"Ugh," He grunted. He pressed his cheek against the cold table and repressed a scream.

He wanted to see Marinette, it wasn't fair that he was here while Nino was taking care of her.

He was her partner! And her boyfriend! Well, sort of.

They had not talked about it but after all the conversations they had shared and the love confessions he thought there was no need to ask her out. But it had been brought to his attention that Marinette had never said anything about breaking up with Nathanael, and she had been with him only a few nights ago. He was the one she ran to when she had questions. So, where did that left them?

He was sure that there was nothing going on between them, but he hadn't asked, he couldn't assume, he couldn't label her feelings for her, he had done that when he was younger. But, this time was different, things had changed and they were not teenagers anymore.

He grunted one more time. Life was a constant frustration state and is love life shouldn't be on his mind right now. He had to focus on her recovery and the mystery that surrounded them. That was bigger than what their relationship status was, they could discuss that later on.

He looked at the watch on his wrist and sighed. He really did not want to go to work, but at least it was going to work to distract himself for a few hours.

xx

When Marinette opened her eyes she did not saw the starry night sky she had last seen. It was a white roof.

And she was not lying on the harsh cold ground, all the opposite, she was in an extremely soft and warm bed.

Before she could freak out about it, a snap of a memory appeared on her mind.

Marinette touched her left cheek with her fingertips and created a pattern until she touched her lips, her nose, her brows and then her other cheek.

Marinette jolted, and in one move she was sitting on the bed.

She looked around, trying to place herself in time. She recognized the walls, she recognized the bookshelves and those big windows. She recognized this bedroom, but it did not make any sense.

No.

She touched her face again, this time with both of her hands, then she touched her neck, then her chest, her stomach, her legs, and swiftly came back to her chest, unbuttoning the pajamas she was wearing and touching between her collar bones where she felt the residues of energy.

She couldn't remember what had happened, but she recognized that energy.

She looked around one more time, trying to find where the magic creature irradiating that energy could be, but it was nowhere to be found.

Marinette rubbed her eyes, to adjust her sight. She opened them and looked around once again, her vision had not changed, she was still on Adrien's bedroom.

"No, no, no, no, no," Tears started streaming down her eyes.

This wasn't supposed to be happening. She wasn't supposed to come back, she wasn't supposed to be set free.

Marinette rubbed her temples. Slowly but steadily, strange memories were building upon her mind.

A part of her was telling her that she was not supposed to be there, while the other understood perfectly what was going on, and that this was exactly what it had to happen, that the plan had worked perfectly.

It was a strange thing, something she couldn't explain, something she did not think possible until she realized it was happening.

She took a deep breath and bit her bottom lip. This was crazy, but it was happening. Now what?

Marinette sat on the edge of the bed, her legs hanging off the mattress. She gave a little jump and touched the wood floor with her feet.

She had been here before, a long time ago, but also just a few months ago.

Marinette sighed.

How could a single person get in so much trouble?

Marinette touched her face and her arms once again, trying to find any differences, but she would need a mirror to be sure. Marinette walked to the bathroom to look for one.

She closed her eyes before stepping in front of it, already knowing what she was about to see, but still scared of the new discovery she was going to do.

She stood in front of the sink, she swallowed and opened her eyes.

There she was.

The "her" she knew was an unknown person at the very same time. She knew she had seen it before and she recognized herself, but it was still unfamiliar.

She reached to touch her hair, it was in braids, she untied them and let the hair fall on top of her shoulders and lower. It was wavy and it looked longer than she had ever worn it before.

Her skin was pale, and her under eyes were as grey as the weather behind the windows.

There had been ice, right? Maybe she had not fully recovered of that.

She tried to remember what she knew she had read because that strange part of her brain was telling her that she had done research about freezing and dying of hypothermia, but it was useless, she couldn't reach it, all the information was gone.

She looked at herself again and sighed with relief, as confused and worried as she was, she could find a little bit of comfort by seeing herself in the mirror.

She had been in the back of her own mind all this time, watching a strange version of herself become the owner of her body. She realized that she had not forgotten the essential parts of that new Marinette.

If she tried to reach for a memory of the past six years, it came back to her, it appeared like an old movie that she had borrowed from someone else, but she knew it was her.

She had been trapped for so long, yet it felt like only hours ago she had been running for her life but really it had been six years, she knew that but she couldn't understand it, she could not dimension it.

For her, all the things she had seen had been a bad dream. A bad dream where she was constantly screaming for release and trying to keep herself chained. A constant nightmare of watching through your own eyes how you were taking all the incorrect decisions, how you were suffering when you did not need to be.

It was like watching a puppet show from the inside of the puppet. While she was in there, another part of her brain, another entity of her had been controlling her and all the time she knew she had been an impostor.

Those memories belonged to her, and she felt the parts of her that had been created as parts of her too, but it was like an odd piece in a puzzle. That part of the puzzle fit, but it was a different color, a different picture, it was not completely right.

This part of her had existed for six years, and it had pieces of her own self but also new ones. She couldn't explain it, she felt like she was two Marinettes, all in one vase.

She couldn't be twenty-four, but it did not make any sense for her to be eighteen. She was not one nor the other.

The memories of the past six years were slowly filling her head. It was like her head was a computer, slowly downloading new archives.

They felt real and hers but they still felt far away. She could see them as a movie, as a viewer but not as the protagonist she was supposed to be.

She kept staring at her reflection. It was still her, but she felt like an impostor in her own life.

How was she going to explain this? Everyone around her had had enough of her, and now she will throw more problems at them.

Her parents would probably be overjoyed because she would actually remember her childhood, but all the new memories, all the bonds they had tied in this past six years, they felt so far away, they were so impersonal that they would have to pass again that awkward stage that had separated them.

Alya would go crazy, she had done everything in her power to make her remember, if it wasn't for her effort they wouldn't be friends today, and all of that for nothing? For Marinette to have these new memories but not feel anything but disgust towards them, because that wasn't actually her? All the new bonds and secrets Alya had shared with her, all gone. Once again she would hurt her.

And, Adrien... Adrien.

Her stomach twisted, the bitter taste of jealousy and anger filled her.

He loved her, Adrien loved her.

Well, he had always loved her, as Ladybug and as Marinette. And in all the different ways a person could love, Adrien had loved her. But now he was in love with her. In love with this…. this parasite.

Marinette's whole body shook. She felt sick, nauseous, she felt like puking.

Why? It wasn't fair!

She was a good person, she always put other people first, she spent her teenage years fighting evil! She only wanted peace and quiet, she only wanted to be happy and that's what she got in return?

Marinette sobbed. The tears blurred her vision, she tried to clean them away with the back of her hand, but they kept coming and falling, falling, falling.

"Oh, Tikki," She whispered.

The sense of alert took over her body, remembering when she had last seen the kwami, and at the same time memories of new-Marinette let her know that she had lost her. That she had left her behind.

She had not been strong enough. She had not been wise enough. She had not been enough to deserve the superhero title she had.

She wasn't supposed to fail. And if she did, she wasn't supposed to be found, she wasn't supposed to be back. She had ruined everything, and now she was ruined too.

Everything was in vain.

Marinette couldn't control it anymore. She let it all out.

She fell on the ground, hitting her knees against the white tiles. She hugged herself and sobbed uncontrollably while the tears fell like rain showers.

She did not deserve this, she did not deserve this, she did not deserve this!

As the tears fell down, the sadness started to go away, letting space for rage to take over Marinette's body.

The tears did not stop falling, but they were full of new feelings now.

Marinette stood up, she felt her knees aching, and her heart contracting but that didn't stop her.

She looked at herself in the mirror one more time and then she punched it with her right fist.

It didn't shatter immediately, but after three punches there was a crack in the middle of it, and that only made Marinette punch harder, with both of her hands.

She felt the pieces of glass piercing through her skin, she felt the pain running through her and she saw the red blood dripping, first slow, and after every new punch a little bit faster. But it didn't matter, because she was feeling good, she was letting it all out.

Old Marinette, new Marinette, she wasn't sure which was angrier, which was more confused and which one of them was the one that kept punching the mirror. She wasn't sure if she could ever be one, if she could ever be the real her again, the only thing she knew was that moment and how right it felt to canalyze her anger towards something.

She had kept every emotion locked down for so long.

After the fight with Papillon, after Chat Noir's death -Adrien's death-, after defeating Papillon, after discovering who he was and what he wanted, she wanted to scream, she wanted to punch everything, she wanted to let herself be imperfect, she wanted to stop being Ladybug for five minutes and just be a teenager, an angry and emotional teenager. But she did not allow herself that privilege.

Adrien needed her to be the stable one. He never asked, but she knew she had to.

He had died, he had discovered that the horrible villain that they had been hunting down for years was obsessed with his mother and trying to bring her back, and he couldn't talk about that because Marinette was still afraid that something else could happen and had not let him tell her who he was. Even if she did know who he was!

She had fucked up so badly, and she had tried so hard to keep everything in place.

And then he left! He left her and she was angry and sad and desperate to ask him to stay with her but she couldn't do that. And then everything else had happened, and now there she was, in the same place she had been after he left. Nothing had changed, everything was the same horrible mess she had tried to leave behind.

She heard the door opening but her emotions were too overwhelming to pay attention to anything else but the falling mirror in front of her.

"Marinette!"

"Marinette!"

She recognized those voices. But to which Marinette were they calling? Which Marinette were they looking for?

"Marinette!"

Someone took her from her waist and pulled her away from the mirror. She tried to resist, she jostled, she hit the arms of the person dragging her away of the bathroom, but they were stronger than she was, and their hands were not hurt and soaked in blood.

"Let me go!" An agonizing scream came out of her.

"Marinette stop! I don't want to knock you out!"

"Ah!" Marinette

"Help! Willem! Naomi!"

Marinette kept fighting. Punching, shaking and biting her attacker. But she did not free herself.

"Let me go," She begged. She stopped moving and with the surprising change of approach, she fell to the ground.

"Marinette," She felt the hands on her again, tender than before. "It's Nino, everything it's going to be okay, I promise,"

"No!" Marinette gave a strangled scream "No!"

"Nette," Nino hugged her. She did not move, now that she knew who he was, she couldn't. "Whatever it's going through your mind right now, I promise you, we'll figure it out. Is what we have been doing these past months, we'll just add this to our list, okay?"

Marinette did not answer. Nino's voice and his presence were soothing, they always had been, but she was still overwhelmed by her feelings.

"Marinette," Nino said her name with care. "Please let me see your hands, you're bleeding,"

Marinette rolled on her back and sat down on the floor. Still not talking, still not looking at him, she put her hands up, for him to look at that.

"Oh, Marinette," He said, not touching her hands but placing his hands very close to them, "C'mon, let's go back to the bathroom, I'll need water,"

"Don't wanna," Marinette mumbled.

"Please, I need water to heal your wounds, Marinette," He said.

Marinette chuckled, but there was no sign of happiness in it, "Of course, now you have powers too,"

Nino looked at her, eyes widening "What do you mean?" Then he kneeled, still looking her from above, but closer, with accusatory eyes. "Mari, your… your me- what do you remember?"

Marinette let out a bronx cheer "Everything? Nothing? I wish it could be one or the other, but to have both is driving me mad," Marinette let out a big laugh, again no emotion was contained in it.

"Mm.."

A door crashed open and Marinette heard steps approaching, then she saw the man standing from above.

"Oh jee, what happened?" He asked.

"I punched a mirror," Marinette laughed again. She was starting to sound mad.

"Something is wrong," Nino whispered, "Her energy is all over the place, Willem," Willem, yes, that was his name, the memories of him were forming on her mind.

"I can sense that," Willem said. "But I don't think that's it, her energy is acting out because it's balancing, that's normal,"

"Maybe we need Adrien," Nino said.

"Maybe," Willem nodded, "I'll call him,"

"No," Marinette said, looking at Willem. She liked him, Willem was nice, he had been the nicest to Marinette, he was still unfamiliar but she knew Willem was not going to do anything if she opposed to it, "No Adrien. I don't want anything to do with Adrien,"

Marinette realized her bad choice of words too little too late. The look on the men faces was enough for her to tell that she had only managed to worry them more.

"Now, I don't want any- I don't want to see Adrien now," She said, and then something popped in her mind, "Nor Alya,"

"Okay, I won't call him but, you should follow Nino to the bathroom, those are some serious wounds, Marinette,"

Marinette sighed, "You're nice,"

Willem furrowed his brows. Was it really that easy to realize that she had changed?

"I'm sorry I can't stand, my hands are starting to hurt pretty badly," She said in a tiny voice.

"Don't worry about it, Nette,"

xx

If Marinette hadn't been on Nino's arms when she entered the bathroom, she would have fainted by the amount of energy that the square space was irradiating. She had been so overwhelmed by her own emotions and by her own magic, that she did not feel the other energies swirling around, but now she did.

Feeling energies had not been something that came naturally to her, it took her time to dominate the ability. She wasn't like Adrien.

For him, it was inherent and to this day he probably did not know about it, because his normal was to feel every energy on the universe. A consequence of his destructive magic, since most of the energies that existed, leaned more towards their creative and positive sides than their destruction counterparts.

Marinette looked around and did her best to identify every energy she was sensing.

It was easy to recognize Willem's, not only because it was the only energy similar to Chat Noir's, but because he was standing next to her and Nino. It was just as easy to recognize Nooroo's energy.

She had cohabitated with him in her body for so long, that she couldn't mistake it for anything else.

"Where's Nooroo?" She asked.

"Resting," Willem said, "He is back on his stone, and Nino made a water bubble for him so he could heal faster,"

"Is it cold?" Marinette looked at Nino, "Butterflies don't like the cold,"

"Oh, we noticed," Nino's eyes bugged out. "You went crazy when the temperature of the bathtub severely dropped down, I assume that was all his doing,"

"So he won't be cold?"

"He won't be cold," Nino smiled.

Marinette felt the new energy before seeing it. And when Wayzz entered the bathroom, she couldn't help but smile.

"Hi, little green one," She waved at him, which wasn't the smartest option because her hands were still stained with blood.

"Marinette!" He flew towards her and landed on her cheek. Leaving a soft kiss, "I remember you now! I remember you as Ladybug, I remember when Master Fu chose you!"

"You do?" Nino asked surprised, "So that's down too?"

"Apparently," Willem said, looking at the green kwami, "Let's talk about this later, we need to treat Marinette's wounds,"

And so they did.

Nino transformed and opened the tap of the bathtub so he could get some water. He made a big bubble and immersed Marinette's hands on it. Then it started glowing. Marinette could feel the magic radiating from Nino's hands towards hers.

"Marinette, can I ask what happened when you woke up? It's okay if you're not ready to talk, we can do it later,"
"I know you need to know," Marinette said, still looking at her hands, "But I'm still trying to understand it myself. I don't think I ever will, but I'll have to try," She sighed, "I'm gonna say something and I don't want any questions after that, we will change the subject,"

"I promise," Willem said.

"I woke up, in my mind, I'm not supposed to be here, I'm supposed to be away. In my mind, I'm eighteen, but I also know that I'm twenty-four, and I look myself in the mirror and that's me, I recognize myself but at the same time, that's not me, that's an impostor,"

She felt the mood change, the tension growing.

"Are you… are you sure you don't want Adrien?" Nino asked in a fearful whisper.

"A hundred percent sure, don't bring him into this. Not yet,"

"Listen, I'm not trying to make you angry, and I understand your stand because I always try to put Adrien's safety and well being first, but he must be losing his mind at work thinking about you, and I really think-"
"I don't care what you think, Nino," Marinette interrupted before he could finish. "I know you all are involved in my problem now, but I never planned for you to be. I'm thankful for what you've done, all of you, really, but this is my problem to solve, so I'll do it as I want to. And I don't want Adrien yet,"

"But,"

"I think we should do as Marinette says, Nino," Willem put on a face that Marinette laugh.

"Yeah, I think I like you a lot," Marinette smiled.

"I think you are taking this too lightly," Nino said, "We did this plan because you begged us to, you know? You wanted to do it as fast as possible because you wanted to be able to help us. I understand that you're confused and angry but I think it's selfish and irresponsible that you want us to keep us in the dark. Especially Adrien and Alya who are the ones that have suffered the most,"

Marinette clenched her teeth so hard they chirped.

There were so many words that crossed her mind at that moment. So many things that she could say back and let out all her anger towards Nino.

What did he know?

He had his miraculous for what? Five years at most? What did he know about anything? How could he say that Adrien and Alya were the ones that suffered the most? How could he know anything about her when he had left just like Adrien did? And who was him to order her around and call her selfish and irresponsible? She was Ladybug, she had been protecting the city of an insane old guy obsessed with his old crush. She had saved his life a handful of times! He knew nothing, nothing at all!

She was so ready to say everything that crossed her mind but at the moment that she opened her mouth, nothing came out, something stopped her.

Marinette looked at her hands, still glowing, surrounded by water, there was no more dripping blood and a few scars were already appearing on her knuckles.

Nino was doing his best to help her, but he had emotions too. He had been losing nights of sleep trying to help them out, he was probably still training to caught up with Adrien (and now her). Nino's words came from a really good place, they were the words of a friend, he just did not choose the best time to say them.

Marinette blew a raspberry. She was used to be the bigger person, she could do that for Nino too.

"When are my hands going to be okay?" She asked, managing to leak a little bit of her anger in the tone of her words.

"Five minutes, I can't cure them completely, you'll have a few scars left,"
"New ones for the collection," She shrugged, "Once we're done here, I wanna go to my apartment," The apartment she knew she had, the apartment she could see in her head, but calling it hers was odd.

Nino's eyes popped open, then he furrowed his brows.

"Did you hear a wo-

"Nino," Willem called out.

"Marinette just woke up, and we still need to know about Nooroo. Adrien and Alya are coming back in the afternoon, I think she should stay here until they arrive and get a say in this,"

"I'm my own person and I just really need to go to my apartment," Marinette said. Don't let the anger win, don't let the anger win, be as sweet as you can.

"Marinette, I don't think you're understanding the situation here. I think the best course of action right now is for you to stay here, and maybe run some tests on you-"

"I'm not a guinea pig," Marinette spat. "And I know you're worried but I just need a time with myself. Alone. Stop judging my decisions. I'm asking you to please take me to my apartment, but if you won't, I'm going there myself and there's nothing you can do to stop me, Nino,"

"Ma-ri-nette, listen to what I am saying. We drove you to the edge of death only to bring you back, you were unconscious for three days and when you wake up, I find you smashing a mirror, freaking out and bleeding. You're not in your right state of my mind,"

Marinette burst into a big laugh that died down rather quickly.

Oh, Nino was clueless.

"Nino, I have not been in my "right state of mind" since I fought Papillon. I think I started losing my mind even before that," She clenched her teeth, "I woke up realizing my plan had failed and I have memories of the catastrophic consequences of that fail, so give me some slack, and please do as I say without questioning me, alright? Just because this plan from three days ago worked out, doesn't mean everything is ready and set to go. I have to figure out some things first, and you're in no position to order me around. You know nothing about the miraculous, you know nothing about me, no matter how hard you are trying to act like a guardian, you are years overdue. So, do as I say and take me to my apartment,"

Nino narrowed his eyes, a shadow crossed his face before looking at Willem who looked taken back by Marinette's words.

Nino sulked at her but finally spoke "Alright, let's do as Ladybug says,"

xx

The road to her apartment was uncomfortable.

She regretted the words she had said. It was what she felt and she did not think they were wrong, but it was the way that she had said them what had been wrong. She had tried to keep it, but in the end, her emotions took the best of her (as they always did).

She wished Willem could have driven her, but he had to stay in the house, close to Nooroo so it could keep his energy balanced as he recovered.

Marinette wanted to pass by the room Nooroo was staying, to see how it was doing but they wouldn't allow her. Her energy was still all over the place so it could only hurt Nooroo. She did not refuse, she wouldn't do anything to hurt Nooroo, she already did enough.

She only hoped Nooroo could recover soon so she could see the little kwami again. She had so much to say and so many things to apologize for.

When they arrived to the building, Marinette was ready to say goodbye, but Nino parked the car and got out of the car with her.

Marinette stood in front of the building's entrance and could not help but smile.

She touched the door and felt the energy come from the knob to her fingertips. And it was just like that when she was in and started going upstairs.

Her energy and Adrien's energy was stronger and stronger at every step when they reached the last floor the matching energies were collapsing into each other, but Adrien's energy was definitely the strongest one.

"This place reeks of Adrien," She whispered. It was an expression she had taken from Tikki, who instead of feeling energies could smell them. She always described her energy as sweet caramel and Adrien's, well Chat Noir's, like dark chocolate, so she couldn't help but think of that when she felt his energy once again.

It had not been this strong in his house, the energy there was mostly from his powers and that felt different, not as personal as his own energy on the space he lived felt like.

"Yeah," Nino nodded, "So, we're here. I have to go, I'm having lunch with Alya," A warning.

"Don't tell her," Marinette begged, "Not yet,"

"I can't lie to her, Marinette," He spun on his heels and started walking to the stairs.

"Nino," Marinette called, he turned back, "Give me five, no, six hours. Then you can inform everyone that I'm awake and a little crazy,"

"Five hours, Marinette?" Nino said, "I'm already breaking my promise to Adrien, don't ask me for more, I can't keep it from Alya, she'll ask"

"Please, I need my time alone and she-

"Then ask her for time alone," Nino said, "She is worried sick about you, I won't sit in front of her and act like everything is fine and that you're still sleeping. I can ask her to give you time, to wait for you to call her but I won't lie to her,"

"Beg her," Marinette answered, realizing she wasn't going anywhere. "Beg her not to come, and take care of her while she freaks out… please,"

"Five hours, Marinette," Nino said, "I won't call Adrien in five hours, but as soon as the clock ticks and those five hours pass, he'll know,"

xx

Marinette sighed.

She shut the door with anger and fell to the ground, pressing her back on the wall next to the entrance.

Nino had never been so cold towards her, and it hurt.

She deserved it after what she said to him, she did not expect him to be as kind as he always was, but she was still taken back by how harsh one look could be. Nino had the sweetest resting face any person could have, and to get such a different and cruel expression from him was painful.

She was trying to do her best so she could fix all the broken things around her, but she was only making them worse.

She hid her face behind her hands and let out a muffled scream.

The following scream was not because of frustration, but because of fear.

She felt a furry creature rubbing on her legs, and she could not help but jump startled and crawl away from the creature, but it followed her.

Marinette looked at the black cat in front of her, pressing its body to her leg.

A cat. A cat had scared her. A cat that was looking at her confused.

A cat named Adrien. She saw the memories quickly enough to remember the embarrassing detail.

Could she be any more pathetic? Apparently hanging pictures of him on the wall had not been enough, she had to rescue a cat from a shelter and name it after the boy she loved.

She took the cat on her arms and paced across the room as she petted it.

The black cat would work as a substitute for her real black cat. Maybe that's exactly why, unconsciously, she had adopted the animal.

She gave two rounds around the apartment, looking first the living room, dining room, and the kitchen and then going to her room and bathroom.

The apartment was nice. It was spacious enough and the decoration was just as she liked. She had been afraid that the memories she was getting were fallacies and that the apartment would be anything but what she liked it.

"It seems like I kept my good taste, kitty," She looked at the cat and kissed the top of his head, almost getting scratched in return, "You're mean, I was only asking for some love,"

Marinette let the cat on the floor and followed his path to her room. He jumped from the carpet to her bed and stayed there after finding a comfortable spot to lie on.

Marinette leaned on the frame of the door and looked around, it was the third time she analyzed the room and it was okay, nothing to whine about except the lack of pictures on the walls but that could be fixed. What really had her uneasy was what her closet would look like.

She took regrettable decisions in the six years she had been trapped and another part of her had been remaking her life. Working for Gabriel Agreste, for example, was a horrible choice, she swore she would never ever in her life work for someone who treated his son like that, so considering that bad decision, she was prone to have many more, especially in fashion.

She wasn't afraid of her clothes, those were easy to throw away and replace, she was afraid of the designs she was going to find in there, and she was not prepared to see that. The uncertainty of what her designs and her technique could be like now was killing her.

If she changed, if she lost, her designing style, her way of creating art, she was going to be devastated. That was what made her, her, that was essential for her identity if she didn't have her art, she was nothing.

If she took into consideration what she really wanted, she would have ignored the closet and waited until she was calm and at ease to start looking at it, because she was feeling like a hot wire about to snap and she was desiring some peace and quiet, but what she wanted was not what she needed. She needed to sort her thoughts and not use all her anger and energy to smash things as she had already done, she had to canalyze her frustration, she had to make it useful, make it a way to organize her thoughts. And if "parasite-Marinette" was not a liar, she had a notebook that could help her with that.

She had not kept a diary in the six years after the accident, which was another of those bad decisions Marinette wanted to punch herself for, but at least she had written down all her worries, dreams and guesses on a brown leather notebook that she hid in a box inside of her closet.

So, with eyes closed, Marinette opened the doors of the closet and kneeled down so she could reach the box. She did her best to not look up at the hangers and the shelves where all the designs that she would have made over the course of six years could be.

She had to move a few pairs of shoes and a basket with belts until she reached the box at the end of the closet.

She dragged the box out of the closet and closed the doors with a strong thud so she would not peek by accident.

The box was nothing extravagant, just an old shoe box but when she opened it, it revealed how special it actually was. Maybe it was more special to "this Marinette", the one that remembered her past because just by taking one glance to all the objects, a wave of love hit her.

Marinette had been trying to find answers with this items, taking them home, not knowing what they really meant to her, but seeing them now, she understood perfectly why each object was there.

Especially, the stack of pictures on top of everything. She took them out of the box and untied the ribbon, watching the first photo of the pile. She had seen this one only a week or two ago but now she smiled from ear to ear, instead of staring at it with confusion.

She remembered that day.

Alya had seen her and Adrien discussing a school project, Marinette had used her sketchbook to explain Adrien what they had to do and because of it, he had seen a few of her drawings. He spent half an hour looking through the pages and asking her questions about her designs. Alya had portrayed a mundane moment, but for Marinette the moment was precious.

Marinette kissed the picture and put it back in the box, she tied the ribbon around the stack and took the stained leather notebook out. She set it at one side and closed the box, putting it right next to the doors of the closet, but not placing it back on its spot.

Marinette crawled to her bed, she reached for a pen on her nightstand and came back to pick up the notebook from the floor. She sat in the rug at the side of the bed, leaning against the bed, she took a big deep breath before opening the notebook.

Marinette started reading the notebook on a random page. She twirled the pen between her fingers and started reviewing her annotations. She went forward and backward, trying to see if there was a pattern of sorts or if she had created a timeline somewhere, but she only found senseless scribbles.

Between all the "dreams" and "fake" tags she had added to her notes, the notebook was a mess. A mess that represented how desperate she really was for getting answers.

Marinette sighed. It made more sense now that she could see it from both points of view. She, the impostor, was so reluctant to find more about her past because she, real Marinette, had been inside preventing her to do that.

It was still odd to think of her as two different entities, but she still couldn't feel like one person.

It had been shocking when she woke up, but now she was serene, not completely at ease but she could be more logical at least, and the "other Marinette" was not so different of who she was.

She still made horrible, regrettable decisions and had a terrible character at times, a non-like-Marinette-personality, but all of her loved ones loved her still. The change wouldn't have to be so abrupt if they still enjoyed her presence.

This was probably the consequence of her magic and Tikki's collapsing with that energy. She had tried to protect herself, and Tikki had tried to stop her of doing an irreversible mistake, while whatever creature was inside of that stone had tried to keep her with it.

Marinette bit the top of the pencil and gave another look to the messiest pages in the notebook, looking for clues or parts of her unconscious that could help her out to sort her mind or find a piece of information that she could not be able to get now.

After half an hour of reading and reaching for answers, Marinette was defeated.

There was nothing new on those pages, or at least nothing unsolved. All the questions she had highlighted were answered by Marinette's past memories, others had been only dreams and thoughts that she had confused with a past that did not exist.

Marinette threw the notebook away and let her head fall back to the bed.

Everything was useless.

She still felt like two people, she was back on square one when it came to her original plan and Tikki was not with her.

She growled. Nothing could put her mind at ease. She had tried so hard to fix everything, she had done her research and she did what she believed had been the perfect -and the only- plan, but she had failed. She had failed stellarly!

She had mentally written a list of things that could not go wrong by any means, and all of them had gone wrong!

She had not defeated the mysterious energy.

She had not managed to save anyone.

She came back.

Adrien knew!

Adrien was never supposed to know! The plan was winning and defeating, and never tell him a word about it, the other option was to die and then he would never have his answers. But there she was alive and with every memory intact in her mind and with the repercussions of her failures following her.

Marinette laughed. Her thoughts were the ones of a crazy person, but wasn't she one? After all, she had gone through it would be impossible for her mind to remain healthy. She would need a good therapist and intense psychiatric care once everything was over.

Because it had to be over right? Her plan had not work but she wasn't dead and that had to mean something. It was actually a good augury, she escaped the powerful enemy force and none of the other miraculous holders had done that before, all of them had succumbed or died fighting. But not her, she had survived. It meant that there was a way to defeat it, she just had to find that way. Tikki had been skeptical about it, but now Marinette was sure that there should be a way to win.

Marinette crawled on the floor until she reached the notebook, she passed through the pages really fast, just peeking and trying to remember if any of the things she wrote sounded familiar to what had been happening to her.

She probably was not going to find anything of sorts on the newest entries, because Adrien had been around, and the calls had not been loud when he was still by her side.

That didn't mean that she had not been listening to the voice before, but his energy had been protecting her for those months and once he left, the calling was unstoppable, finding new ways to reach her every day.

There were flashbacks of what she had lived on the cave, but those didn't tell her anything that she did not know, and she could not trust those images either because nothing that had happened there was reliable.

There was no callings or dreams similar to the ones she had before written on the diary. She wondered why. Could that be because Nooroo was inside of her? Nooroo and Tikki had not been able to sense anything until they were extremely close to it, it had been Marinette who had guided them the whole time. That could explain it, but she'll had to test it. She would have to wait until her energy was in balance and ascertain if the theory was valid.

A shiver went down Marinette's spine, cutting her train of thought.

She dropped the notebook and stood up. She looked at the watch on top of the nightstand. It had only been an hour and a half, she must have been imagining things.

Marinette pinched the skin on her arm. The sensation did not leave.

He was here, she could feel him. It was not his past energy, the tingling sensation was not produced by energy residues of him, it was him.

Adrien's energy had been comforting before, but now the embrace was peace in a bottle and she was ready to drink it.

She ran to the living room and then to the door. She heard the footsteps of her cat following her and stopped to look back at him, being reminded of something that as unfamiliar as it was made her laugh with true joy.

Cat-Adrien hated human-Adrien. Actually, the cat looked a little bothered, more confirmation that she was not dreaming about his presence.

She pressed her body to the wood door, with her hand on the knob, ready to open. He was still walking up the stairs, she could not hear it but she could feel the energy growing and filling the space and also her heart.

She knew she had only seen him a few days ago, but she also had not seen him for a month, or technically six years, whatever the time she had been separated from him actually was did not matter, she missed him.

The division of herself made the waiting longer, but when Adrien's magic and the sound of his footsteps reached her flat, the overjoy was louder than any other feeling.

Marinette opened the door so fast and with so much strength that the door squeaked.

That made Adrien turn a little to his left and look over his shoulder.

When his eyes reached her profile, the surprise on his eyes was clear. He did not expect to see her here.

He still doesn't sense me.

Adrien's mouth opened wide and he took a step back, crashing into his door. He looked at her as if she was an spirit. He looked scared and confused, like he was trying to put the pieces of a puzzle together and he had another picture to follow that the one that was printed on the pieces.

"I begged Nino not to tell you," Marinette said, running over her words. But she had to say something and she needed to take him out of that confusion state.

"Mari?" He asked. He reached for her but did not move from the place he was standing.

Marinette took three short steps in his direction, standing close to him but not breaking into his personal space, thought she was actually dying to be all over him. He was there, in front of her and she was desperate to touch him.

He was looking so incredibly handsome, so grown, so beautiful and changed but somehow still the same Adrien she always loved.

The butterflies in her stomach were out of control and the tears (she could not believe she still had any water left to tear up) were picking her eyes.

"Oh my.. you're awake! You're awake and, and here!" Adrien cupped her cheeks, a smile so wide was drawn on his lips that Marinette could not keep the tears from falling.

"I'm here," She nodded vigorously and threw herself to his arms. "I've missed you so, so much!" She bawled.

Her whole body was shaking and the sobs and tears made it impossible to keep talking so she closed her mouth, there was going to be time to talk later, now the only thing that mattered were his arms twisting around her, his lips pressing a kiss on her forehead, and his hands caressing her back.

"Oh, princess," He hugged her tightly "It's okay, I'm here, love,"

And in that moment it didn't matter if she was one or two or a million people inside one, because she loved him, every part of her, every version of her was in agreement that she loved Adrien, and that was enough for her to know, that things would get better, because just as every dimension of her loved him, he loved every part of her too.

And maybe she had been wrong before. He could put her mind at ease.

xx

Marinette sat in her bed, hugging her legs and pressing them close to her, pressing her cheek against her knee.

Adrien was lying right next to her, one elbow against the mattress to hold his weight, his head resting on his hand, his other hand was holding one of her hands, and he was creating patterns on top with his thumb as he read the notebook she had lent him.

Marinette had stopped crying a few minutes ago, after a tight and warm hug and a million kisses all over her forehead and hair from Adrien. Her anxiety levels were on the low side now, and the sobbing had completely disappeared. She was still hiccupping a little though.

Adrien had not asked anything, he just listened as she babbled about the parasite that had been living her life and that was now inside of her and how it felt like every time she tried to absorb that part of her and made her fit into her identity she felt sick to her stomach. He didn't doubt her, he didn't try to dig deeper, he just held her and comforted her.

It would have been easier if he acted as curious as she knew he was because, she had to talk, but where could she begin? There was so much to say, so many secrets she had kept and would explain the situation but she had no idea what she had to say first, unsure of how he could react. It would be easier if he just asked.

Marinette looked at him. He was immersed in her words, he was doing the most to get a clue she must have missed.

That was him, always doing his best, always taking the extra step to please her, to make her happy. How had she been so lucky to get him in her life? Adrien was worth all the bad things that had happened to her. If someone made her an offer to erase all the damage, all the missing opportunities and all the pain from her heart but in interchange, she would have to erase him too, then she would say no. She wouldn't doubt it. Absolutely no hesitation.

A thought crossed Marinette's mind. Maybe the best thing to start with was with an apology.

"Adrien,"

"Princess," He closed the notebook, and lifted his chin, his eyes locking with hers.

Marinette's breath got caught on her throat; Adrien was looking at her with stars on his eyes and Marinette felt herself melt into a gooey puddle of love.

He was so handsome, he did not look like a kid anymore, he was manly and gorgeous and the glasses he was wearing, oh, they made him look so cute!. Marinette felt like she was going to collapse.

The memories of the past days, the words he had said, the hugs and the love they had shared were filling her mind, making her cheeks burn and her heart want to go out of her chest, because being around Adrien was safe haven, it was quiet like the water on a lake, the type of feeling you get only when you are deeply in love; but the part of her that was still eighteen years old was having a stroke just by looking at the handsome man in front of her, who looked at her with so much love that his eyes would have been shaped like hearts and it would have been subtler.

The duality of the experience was both fascinating and frustrating. It was the blend of adult feelings and teenage hormones, that should not be there, going crazy and making her feel things she did not know she could still feel.

But she did her best to keep her head on top of her shoulders and do what she had to do.

"I can't begin to explain how sorry I am for all of that I've put you through," She whispered.

Adrien paled and started blinking really fast.

"I decided to do this alone because I really believed it was the best choice. I wanted to end with it quickly and I thought I was strong enough to deal with it by myself," Marinette bit her lip. Tears were threatening to fall once again. "I never meant to hurt you, it was the last thing I wanted,"

"Oh, bug," Adrien sat and looked her from her eye level. He cupped her cheeks and kissed her nose, "I know, Mari. There's nothing for you to be sorry about,"

"There is, Adrien, there is so much," She nodded. "Once you hear the whole story you will see,"

Adrien kissed her forehead, he dropped his hands at each side of her and kept the distance between them. Silence took over the room.

Was he expecting her to talk? Probably. Was she going to? She had to, but she didn't want to, not yet. Being with Adrien like that was more magical than any other experience, that had actually involved magic.

"I don't know where to start," She broke the silence, not saying exactly what she wanted to say.

"Wherever you want, wherever you consider important," He said.

Marinette nodded. This was it, she had to say something, anything that could help her keep talking. Adrien wanted to know and he deserved to know, right now her personal desires did not matter. She could talk, she could tell Adrien what he had to know, what he was supposed to tell him years ago.

Marinette opened her mouth but no words came out. She did it again and Adrien gave her a look.

"Or if you don't want to start, that's okay too," Marinette's sighed of relief came too fast, and once she realized how obvious she must have been, she blushed, embarrassed.

"I'm sorry, I-"

"Marinette, stop apologizing," Adrien cut, "You have no duty to talk, bug. You can say what you need to say, whenever you're ready,"

"I just need calm before the inevitable storm arrives," Marinette's mouth set in a hard line.

"I understand that,"

"I know you do, but is still not what I should do, you're way too understanding. It's wrong to keep things to myself just because I'm scared or feel unprepared"

"No it's not. You're a person Marinette, you're allowed to put yourself first," Adrien insisted, "When you're ready, I know you'll talk to me,"

"I was ready to talk to you once and then I backed out," Marinette sighed. "When things started happening I wanted to keep you out of them. I was in a bad place but you were finally getting the chance to breathe, to start a new life away from villains and away from your father, I knew that if I made you stay I would only ruin you, so I kept it hidden. But after you left, the situation just grew, it was eerie and I was frightened. I had to tell you, I needed you here so I started considering it and when I was trying to make out my mind, I… the problem involved you and I knew I had to tell you," Marinette hid her face behind her hands, Adrien took them and left a kiss on her knuckles, encouraging her to keep going, "I couldn't tell you as Ladybug, you would guess how reckless the situation was if I did, so I did not use our phone and when I tried to call you, you never answered. You had no social media profiles whatsoever -except that Instagram account that I'm sure was managed by people at Agreste's- and I doubted that Alya could call Nino and ask for you, so I went to my best next option: Chloé,"

"She told me about this,"

"Then you know that I made her promise not to tell you a word,"
"Yeah," She could see that that stung him.

"She made me change my mind. She told me all about your life in the US and how happy you were and I couldn't destroy that. I can be so selfish when I want to, it's a flaw of mine, but I could never be selfish if that would break you," Marinette let out a sigh "So, I decided to do it alone,"

Adrien's jaw clenched. Was because he was angry at her? Was because he was angry at himself? That sounded like a thing Adrien would do, put all the blame over his shoulders, but this time he had to understand that there was nothing to feel guilty about. All the wrongs were hers.

Adrien did not speak and long minutes passed, the tension lingering in the air.

Marinette could not take the feeling, he was the only thing that was keeping her from losing her mind, to see him so distressed and quiet was playing tricks on her mind.

"You're not saying anything," She said, waiting for an answer.

Adrien shrugged "I have a lot of crazy thoughts and I want to say a thousand words but you will reject every single one of them, and because I don't want to push you, it's better if I don't say anything. As I said before, I know you'll tell me every secret when you're ready," Adrien threw his head back, he shook his head, his hair jumping everywhere, and he came back to the same position he had before "It's been a week of heavy emotions, and right now you're not feeling your best. I have not been the most understanding partner in the past two days and I've added more stress than the one you already are feeling, I don't want to do it anymore,"
"You're allowed to ask, you're allowed to push me and get your answers. I can talk about it, it's just hard, as I said, I only want to be calm for a moment before the inevitable mess that it's around the corner hits me in the face, but if you ask-

"How long do you think you can be at peace before you start stressing out because you're keeping things a secret?" Adrien asked, completely changing the mood of their conversation.
Marinette rose a brow, confused. Adrien rose a brow too, accompanied by a smirk and a challenge written on his forehead.

"I don't know, Adrien. A day? Maybe two if I really really try? This is really serious, and I said I want to ignore it but not that I really can, so-"

"A day it's fine," Adrien, threw himself back, bouncing on the mattress. He rolled on the bed, and pulled her by her hand towards him, embracing her in a hug when she fell. "Tomorrow we'll have a normal day. So, so, so normal you'll get bored of how mundane it is. Your calm before the storm, alright?"

"But… do you really think I should do that?"

"Yes," Adrien nodded, "There's no rush. Tomorrow we are not superheroes, tomorrow we won't be involved with any kind of magic. Tomorrow we'll live like we have all the time in the world, and the day after tomorrow we can go back to worry and stress out about this, but tomorrow it's another reality. Are you in?"
"I don't think we should, what if-

"Stop worrying about what you should do, it's been six years and nothing irreversible or catastrophic has happened! I think we can give us a little bit of time to figure this out, so, do you want to spend a day with me, being a normal person?"

Adrien tilted his head to the side, he leaned closer to Marinette and a rose a brow. There it was again, that challenging look.

Marinette chewed her lower lip, she tried to avoid Adrien's sight and think about his offer using the logic side of her. But there was nothing logical about it, it was everything but what they should be doing. It was selfish and pure emotion and she should not say yes, she should keep her mind on track and do her best to organize her thoughts and give Adrien all the information he needed, so they could figure it out this together.

However, Adrien had asked her what she wanted, not what she had to do, actually he had been very serious about her brushing off her duties and focus on her desires. And after that analysis, the answer came quickly.

"Yes. Yes, I do,"