Adrien woke up at the sound of an opening door. He rolled and opened his eyes to see the same sight he saw every morning.

"Good morning, your Highness."

The same servant as before entered with the same tray, setting it on the same table. Was everything just the same as every other day?

But no, it wasn't. Something was different. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, but something else had taken over his mind. Perhaps it was the knowledge that he'd been out in the night, but it seemed like something more.

He would have continued this train of thought if the servant hadn't cleared his throat gently.

"Sir?"

"Mhm… Morning. What time is it?" Adrien said with a yawn. The servant only hesitated a moment before saying

"Half-past nine, Highness. Your tutor said-"

Adrien jerked his head up and bolted for the wardrobe. He was dressed in record time and down the stairs before he'd even had time to rub the sleep from his eyes, let alone touch the hot chocolate sitting on the low table. He cursed himself for staying out so late the night before and only hoped that he wouldn't get caught running late by Nathalie. He started thinking of a plausible lie he might be able to tell, but nothing he could come up with would even begin to satisfy her, so he just prayed he might be able to avoid her.

And he was only just in time to do so. He was turning a corner when he saw her austere bun walking down the hall the same direction he was. He quickly turned the other way, waited for her footsteps to fade slightly, then walked briskly down toward the study, hoping she wouldn't come back around the edge of the hall. Just as he was looking around cautiously before stepping through the door, Plagg reached a hand out and caught him by the arm, pulling him inside and shutting the door behind them with a snap. Adrien stumbled slightly, then turned to glare at his tutor. He wasn't entirely shocked when Plagg turned and glared right back at him, his black hair bristling up on his head.

"Care to tell me what you were pulling with that stunt, kid!?" He whisper-shouted at him, green eyes blazing. "I had to face the dragon this morning and explain to her that we were awake until all hours of the night training, for some inexplicable reason! She thinks you were off training with me at one in the morning, by the way. What were you thinking going off with that girl?!"

Adrien was about to launch into the requested explanation when he suddenly caught onto the meaning in Plagg's words.

"What do you-? How do you know about that?!"

Plagg gave him a condescending look that very clearly said "How stupid can you get?"

"Kid, you started this Chat Noir thing when you were fourteen years old. Did you really think I was going to just let you leave the castle and run around as a black-clad vigilante without keeping tabs on you?"

Adrien felt his jaw drop in shock and betrayal, and for a moment he couldn't speak a word.

"You… you've been following me every time I go out?!" he hissed finally, keeping his voice down only because he knew his secret identity was on the line - if they had been anywhere else, he would have shouted.

"Oh, don't be so surprised." Plagg snapped as he strode over to the table. "You're the crown prince. One false move, one wrong word to the wrong person, and you'd have had every criminal in the city fighting over you. And no matter how competent you are with that staff of yours, it doesn't prevent people from overpowering you by sheer brute force, or from putting the pieces together if they get too much evidence. They haven't, by the way, no thanks to you."

"Were you following me last night, Plagg?" Adrien demanded, his chest suddenly feeling very tight. Plagg rolled his green eyes in exasperation.

"No, I went out in the middle of the night to pick flowers - of course I was following you! And no, before you ask, I didn't get a good look at the girl. Care to tell me who she was?"

"A girl who needed help, that's all." Adrien knew that his voice was overly nonchalant, and wasn't surprised when Plagg's glare, which had died down slightly, flared up again.

"You are supposed to be getting engaged to a princess this week, what kind of trick do you think you were playing at with that girl? I saw what you were doing - she sent you packing and you still followed after her. What, were you walking her home? Doesn't she have a family who'd be concerned if a strange man in a mask showed up with their daughter?"

In all their years together, Adrien had never been closer to hitting his tutor. It took all his self-control to simply ball his fists and keep them at his side.

"I ran into someone who happened to be a girl and happened to need help and support, okay? Isn't that what I'm supposed to be doing, helping people who need it? I was making sure she got home safely, and no, for your information, she doesn't have a family. Or at least not one that cares - something we apparently have in common."

"An awfully long time to have taken walking her home." Plagg said dryly. Adrien ground his teeth and crossed his arms belligerently.

"She didn't know I was following her and so she stopped off to see someone on the way." Plagg looked skeptical, but Adrien continued on, glaring at him all the time. "Then she walked to her parent's graves and I caught up with her there before walking her home and helping her get back in - apparently her stepmother is an old witch who's willing to lock her stepdaughter out just to prove a point. So you can get your head out of the gutter and just say what you mean to say."

"Look, I don't particularly care what kind of vigilante justice you enforce in the city, I don't care that you stopped to help this girl out when she needed it. In fact, I'm proud of you and your moral compass. I just don't think you thought this through, Adrien! This out-of-castle experience was supposed to be so that you could see how the other half lives, not so you could walk a pretty milkmaid home!"

Plagg's next sensation was that of being socked on the jaw. He found himself stumbling back and crashing into a chair, holding his face and looking up at his student. He saw Adrien's eyes blazing and his mouth set in the thinnest of lines. Plagg saw, for the first time in over a decade, the temper the prince had inherited from his father and had tried at every turn to curb. He groaned and sat forward, massaging his cheekbone.

"Nice hit." he said begrudgingly. "But it just proves my point. What happened to you last night, Adrien? Something happened to put you in this defensive mindset, and I'm willing to bet it's got something to do with her, right? What did this girl do to you in less than two hours?"

Adrien's wrath had died down and he dropped his hands to his sides, seeming defeated even by his victory over his tutor. He slumped into the other chair and held his head in his hands, running them through his neat locks and thrusting them out of place.

"I… I don't know, Plagg. She needed help, I helped her, and all of a sudden it was as if I couldn't leave her side - I mean, I obviously could, but I didn't want to. I haven't felt like that in years. It was almost like…"

Adrien stopped talking, his eyes staring down at the knots in the wooden table. Plagg sighed and raised his eyes to heaven, wondering what he'd ever done to deserve this.

"Nice girl?" he said, shifting his tone to that of the confidante his pupil clearly needed. Adrien gave a little smile and sat back in his chair, looking into the fire.

"Really nice, but it's more than that. Somehow I was there exactly when she needed me, and not just because of that awful guy on the bridge. I don't know what she might have done if I'd just left her there. She's living with this terrible family and she's somehow managed to keep herself afloat all alone, but she was so overwhelmed that she just blurted out her life story to any kind stranger who would listen. She's clearly been hurt, she couldn't stand me touching her, even something so simple as a hand on the shoulder, and… and despite all that, she's honest, and kind, and funny, and she's got this streak of mischief in her! Plagg, you should have seen her - she was ready to climb up the wall to get into the house. She's just… she's a good person. I'm glad I could help her a little bit. It felt a little like the old days, you know?"

Through this monologue, Plagg had been looking to the heavens in plea, as it finished he turned and took in his pupil's whole demeanor. Plagg suddenly went pale and jerked upward.

"No… No, Adrien, you've got to be kidding me. You've known this girl for what, two hours? You're crazy!"

Adrien shook himself and sat up again.

"... you're right. I'm just overwhelmed and don't want to deal with things here, I guess I was looking for some kind of outlet and she just happened to be there. It's just… It was a stupid thought anyway."

Plagg blessed every star above personally and by name as the boy beside him dropped the subject.