Marinette should have told him no. When he wanted to deliver cookies to the entire apartment, she should have told him that that was a little too much work and left it at that. Instead, she had allowed him to talk her into making more cookies and delivering them to every door. She knew part of the reason she allowed Adrien to do what he wanted was that she was afraid of being controlling, but she also had to admit that making and delivering cookies was something that she used to do all the time. It made her feel a little more like herself. She also admired Adrien's joy of life. She had created a sentimonster with the miraculous, but he had created a person himself. He was developing a personality and compassion. Those were things she couldn't create on her own, and after spending weeks feeling lonely and depressed, she couldn't help but enjoy the life and joy he brought with him.

However, now he was lying at the bottom of a flight of stairs experiencing pain for the first time, and Marinette didn't know what to do.

"I don't think my leg is supposed to go that way," Adrien hissed, trying to sit up. It seemed strange to Marinette that although Adrien didn't have to sleep or eat, he still did feel pain. And based on the awkward angle his leg was in, she assumed he was feeling quite a bit of it.

There were many things that Marinette knew how to do. She was a good student back when she was in school and had received good grades, despite her many absences to be Ladybug. She could design clothes, posters, and even album covers, as well as defending Paris from Supervillians on a daily basis. However, one thing she couldn't do was fix broken legs.

"You'll have to go to the hospital," she muttered, worry filling her. How was she supposed to take him to the hospital and try to explain to the doctor that he wasn't actually Adrien Agreste, since he had died months ago, but that he was just a sentient being that she had created with the magic of a miraculous? She couldn't. Even if she could, she didn't want to because then everyone would know.

"Sounds like an adventure," Adrien said through gritted teeth. Marinette was surprised he hadn't passed out yet, but she supposed sentimonsters lived differently than she did.

"You could try something else," Duusu suggested, flitting above her head. "Power up again and improve your sentimonster."

Marinette stared down at Adrien, her heart pounding in her chest. "All right, Duusu, we'll try it. Spread my feathers."

The transformation was quick, but it felt different than her transformation into Ladybug ever had. It made her ache to transform, and she wondered if it was just because of the inner guilt she was feeling. She didn't have time to fret about the fact, however. She had to be quick before anyone decided to use the stairs and found them.

"Can I see your bracelet?" she asked Adrien, crouching beside him.

Adrien took it off without a second thought and handed it to her. She took it into her hand and closed her fist around it. Taking a deep breath and closing her eyes, she pictured Adrien with a healed leg rather than a broken one, but still the same sentimonster Adrien she had come to know over the last few days. When she opened her eyes again, Adrien was sitting up, smiling just as brightly as ever.

"That's a cool trick," he commented, apparently unconcerned with the fact that she had just mended his broken leg.

"I suppose," Marinette responded, dropping her transformation. Once again, she felt the ache in her chest and she cleared her throat. "Maybe we should head back to the apartment?"

"Sure," Adrien said, picking himself off the ground unconcernedly.

Marinette watched him for a moment before she walked up the stairs as well. She gripped the railing as she went, suddenly feeling very tired. She had Adrien had done a lot of walking today, and she was feeling it. She supposed it was because she wasn't doing her patrols as Ladybug anymore to keep her in shape. She'd have to get out and exercise more.

"Are you feeling all right?" Adrien asked as she fumbled with the key at her apartment.

"I'm just tired," Marinette said, pushing the key into the lock at last. She pushed the door open and Adrien followed her inside.

"You should rest," Adrien said. "I'll do the dishes."

Marinette simply nodded and collapsed on the couch. She didn't remember falling asleep, but darkness engulfed her the second she closed her eyes.

ooo

"You once told me I was irreplaceable."

Marinette whirled, her heart leaping at the voice. She was on her balcony back at home, overlooking Paris. She had often done that when she needed to think, and sometimes she would have a visitor if he caught her.

"Chat?"

The boy across from her scowled at her, and Marinette's excitement faded. He was upset with her.

"You replaced me pretty easily," he continued, glaring down at his feet. "So I guess I really was replaceable."

"I didn't replace you," Marinette whispered, creeping closer to Chat Noir. How was he here? She had watched him die. She had mourned him for months-all of Paris had.

"No? Then who's your new friend?"

Marinette furrowed her brow, and the scene around her changed. She was no longer on her balcony, but in her apartment. Her mind struggled to keep up, but she didn't have time to think through it before Chat was gesturing to the boy sitting at her table, laughing as he made cookies.

"Oh."

It was all Marinette could say, because she realized what was happening. Chat Noir wasn't real. None of this was. She had to be dreaming, or she was once again picturing an imaginary Adrien.

"It's all right, I understand."

The voice sent chills down Marinette's spine. She had been watching her sentimonster version of Adrien for the last few minutes and hadn't noticed Chat leaving. Nor had she seen Hawkmoth enter.

"What are you doing here?" she demanded. Dream or not, she didn't want the supervillain in her mind.

"It's your dream," Hawkmoth laughed, leaning on his cane.

"Then get out!"

"Perhaps I'm a manifestation of your guilt," Hawkmoth mused, not moving from his spot. "A reminder of what happens to those of us who use miraculous for our own purposes."

"I'm not hurting anyone else," Marinette pointed out desperately. "It's contained to me."

"Perhaps," Hawkmoth said, his grin unnerving behind his full face mask. "But this is just the beginning. What happens when others come and tell you to release your hold on him? To move on and let him go? Will you back down without a fight, to ensure you don't hurt anyone? Or will you put up a fight?"

Marinette hesitated. Adrien continued rolling cookie dough into balls across from her, blissfully unaware that either she or Hawkmoth her there watching.

"It won't come to that," she said. "I won't have to hurt others to protect the ones I love. No one would force me to do that."

"That's what I thought too," Hawkmoth laughed. Marinette picked up a vase and threw it at the man, but the vase and the man simply disappeared into a void. She cried out in frustration, wishing her dream would at least let her hit the man to make her feel a bit better.

"Marinette?"

Marinette squeezed her eyes shut. She knew the Adrien talking to her wasn't real. He was part of a dream she had lost control of.

"Marinette."

This time Adrien's voice was firm and she could feel his arm on hers. She wanted to keep her eyes shut, but as he pulled her close, she found herself unable to resist looking up at a familiar face. Her eyes filled with tears as Adrien looked down at her, giving her the same soft look he had given her for years.

"I want you to know that it's okay."

"What is?" Marinette croaked, knowing there wasn't much that felt okay in her life right now.

"You know what. I'm glad you're moving on."

Marinette felt like Adrien had poured a bucket of ice down her back. "What? I'm not moving on, Adrien! I...I made you."

"No," Adrien said, looking up as if he could see something from outside the realm of her dream. "You didn't. But that's okay."

Marinette wanted to argue more, but her mouth couldn't form words. Adrien disappeared, and the scene changed once more. She stood in the rain outside her old school, shivers running down her spine. She looked around, trying to figure out why she would be there, but nothing came to mind. She looked back to the doors, wrapping her arms around herself. After a few minutes of staring at the doors, she wondered what it was she was waiting for.

Adrien wasn't going to come out of those doors with an umbrella and an apology. He wasn't going to laugh at her clumsiness or wave at her before leaving. He wasn't going to come out of those doors at all because he was gone. Holding back a sob, Marinette picked up the bag at her feet and started down the steps. Part of her still waited for someone to exit the doors and call to her, but it didn't happen.

No one ever came, so Marinette trudged home alone in the rain.

ooo

"Marinette!"

The voice snapped her out of her dream and Marinette found herself face to face with Adrien. But not the real Adrien...only the one she had created. She let out a long breath and Adrien took a step back.

"You were making weird noises," he said sheepishly. "Duusu said you were having a nightmare."

"Duusu was right," Marinette said, sitting up and rubbing her tired eyes. "Thanks for waking me up."

"I've never had a nightmare," Adrien said thoughtfully. "It didn't seem pleasant, though."

"It wasn't," Marinette acknowledged.

"What was it about?"

A knock on the door cut off Marinette's response and she felt a rush of gratitude for whoever was on the other side of the door. She hadn't really wanted to get into the details with Adrien. She gestured for Adrien to hide in her room and then moved to open the door.

"Marinette!" Alya said as she opened the door. "I heard about what happened, and I am so sorry! I didn't know that they would use that against you in the work place, and now I can see it and I feel awful and-"

"Alya," Marinette said, cutting off her friend's frantic rambling. "It's all right. I quit."

"You quit?"

"Yes. I'll look for a new job soon, but right now, I'm taking a few days to myself."

Alya peeked inside the apartment and the mess of a kitchen that Adrien had left. She furrowed her brow and pushed herself in. "Have you been baking?"

"Alya," Marinette said as her friend walked into the kitchen. She let the door close behind her, trying to direct her friend away from the bedroom.

"Your parents would love to hear that you've taken up baking again," she said. "You should head back there! I bet they'd let you work at the bakery for a while until all this Ladybug stuff dies down."

"Yeah, maybe," Marinette said, desperately to get her friend out the door as nicely as possible.

"They miss you, you know. They worry tons, but they don't want to bother you, so they text me. Not that I mind. I love your parents. I just hate to see them so distraught. You should really-"

Whatever suggestion she was about to make died in her throat as she looked at something over Marinette's shoulder. Her face paled considerably and Marinette's stomach dropped. Alya looked like she had seen a ghost. As Marinette glanced over her shoulder, she realized shy. Alya was, as far as she was aware, looking right at a ghost.

"I heard the door close," Adrien said. "I thought that meant I was good to come out."

Alya still didn't move from her spot, her eyes wide behind her glasses.

"I can explain," Marinette squeaked out.

She didn't have time to explain much of anything, however, because at that moment, everything proved to be too much for Alya. With a shaky exhale, her eyes rolled back and she promptly passed out in the middle of Marinette's kitchen.