AN: Sorry it's a short chapter. I'd like to say thank you to Tiger Priestess, CocoChanelly, and gleamqueen for writing continuous reviews. Even though I don't always reply, I read every one I get, and it makes me happy to see them! c: Longer chapters will resume after this.


Chat Noir barely turned his head to his left, catching a glimpse of orange from the corner of his eye.

"Hi, Vixen," he greeted, his voice monotone, while continuing to stare at Marinette's balcony.

"Rough day, huh?" she asked, taking a seat next to him.

Chat snorted. "Rough life, more like... Did Emerald Turtle tell you...about...?" he emphasized, making sure not to let his tongue slip.

Vixen sighed, pulling her legs to her chest, and wrapped her arms around them. "He did... and I'm so sorry Chat..."

Chat turned to face her. "And what about you? You two are the best, best friends I've ever seen. I've always admired your friendship."

"We are best friends... but so are the two of you. You know, I've always admired Ladybug and Chat Noir's partnership and friendship, and when it turned out to be the two of you, I knew that there's never going to be a relationship out there as powerful as yours. You're higher up on the best friend list than I am, and I'm okay with that."

A comfortable silence filled the air, before Vixen spoke again.

"I did a lot of thinking last night. About pretty much everything, from how I didn't figure out that all my friends were Paris's superheroes, to you and Ladybug, and the accident and my part in it," she whispered, "I honestly don't know how to feel about it all. But one thing I know for sure, is our girl will come back to us. She might not remember us right now, but she'll come back. She's a fighter. I mean she's Ladybug after all." Vixen grinned, her eyes gleaming.

He gave a sad chuckle, continuing to stare off into the distance.

Vixen hoped her words would perk him up just a little, but his mood remained unchanged.

"What's up, Chat?" she asked, her tone sorrowful. "Clearly there's more going on with you."

Chat clenched his fists, his jaw tightened.
"...Everything's just so messed up. I've been worried about my mother for so long, and now Ladybug, and I..."

Vixen leaned her head on Chat Noir's shoulder. "We'll find your mother. We will, okay?" she nudged him with her shoulder. "And Ladybug will recover, and she'll remember who we are. I know things in your life have been really grim, but you're back now. And you have us. Like you told Emerald Turtle earlier, we'll get through this."

"I almost didn't make it back to Paris," he mumbled abruptly.

Vixen sat up straight. "What?"

Chat looked around, making sure nothing and no-one was around before he spoke. "I made a deal with my father. I had to pretend I was dating this model, and succeed before he'd agree to let me come back. One wrong move, and my sentence overseas would be extended."

"So that's what those tabloid photos were about... Ladybug wouldn't even look at pictures of you in magazines while you were gone. Good thing, too, I don't think she would've handled it well, had she seen them," Vixen crossed her arms, annoyance flickering on her face. "So what happened?"

"I was going through this phase. The more time I spent with Courtney, the more distant I felt, and the harder it was for me to keep up the pretense. She's a really great friend, don't get me wrong," he rushed, "but all I could think was 'I should be with Ladybug right now' or 'why can't she be Ladybug?' Unfortunately, the media noticed my smiles were harder to come by, and noticed I seemed more distant, caring less, and started the online speculation of us on the verge of breaking up. I only managed to get through it with her help."

Vixen looked extremely unhappy. "You know, it disgusts me what the media and rich executives and stuff make people do to make more money. Real journalism is about getting important messages out there, sharing the truth. Not sleaze like that," she grumbled.

He laughed freely for the first time that day. "Oh, I agree with you 100%. I may not know what I want to do with my life yet, but I know it has nothing to do with that world."

"Good, because I don't think it really suits you, handsome boy," she gave a sly grin. "Now, someone inside is seriously worried about you, and I told him I'd come and make sure you're alright. He wanted to come talk to you himself, but I figured the only other person she can't remember would be the best person to understand how you're feeling. How about we visit her together later, maybe jog her memory?"

Chat smiled, standing up to stretch, "sounds good to me," he said, before they went back to join their classmates for the remainder of the school day.