"Are you excited the be leaving here finally? Nathalie and I already have your room set up, and we got all your stuff from your old apartment."
Adrien rambled, excited Ella was finally able to leave the hospital tomorrow- on New Years Day, no less!
"Yeah..." came the girls distracted reply, drawing the blond's gaze up from his book.
"What's up, angel? You've been distracted all day."
"Just thinking... tomorrow's gonna be busy..."
"Besides coming home? What's gonna make it busy?"
"Oh."
Adrien frowned as Ella seemingly zoned back in, turning from the window and leaning against the cold glass.
"Elle- I told you not to lean on that, it's too cold-"
"I turn sixteen tomorrow."

Time for Adrien's brain to reboot.
"Wait- what?! Tomorrow's your birthday?!"
"Yeah."
"Why didn't you say anything, Ella? We gotta celebrate!"
The girl shook her head with a small sad smile, moving back over to the bed.
"I haven't celebrated my birthday since I was four."
Adrien's frown morphed more into disgust. Since she was four? Twelve years ago...
The realization hit.
"Oh..."
"But it's okay! I never felt like I was missing anything!" Ella waved her hands in front of herself, smiling, but Adrien couldn't help the ebb of sadness working its way into his chest. The teen closed his book and stood, moving over to Ella and wrapping his arms around her.
"I'm sorry angel..."
"You have nothing to apologize for, mon étoile..."

Ella convinced Adrien to move back to the couch and continue reading while she took a shower. The blond agreed, though his face still held a tinge of sorrow- one that ate at Ella. She hadn't meant to make Adrien upset at the fact that she's not celebrated her birthday for twelve years- it was just something she was used to by now. Plus- her mother hung herself the day after her fourteenth birthday...
The noirette sighed, turning on the shower and sliding the oversized t-shirt (curtesy of Adrien) over her head. The stretch pulled at her wound, making her wince; just another scar to add to the mix.
"Beany? You okay?" Kiismet extracted herself from the teen's hair, cocking her head in worry.
"Yeah, I'm good. Thanks, Kiisy."
Finishing undressing, Ella stepped into the shower, almost groaning in delight at the warm water. She stood under the stream for a bit, just letting the warmth wash over her, before starting on her normal routine. After a few minutes, the silence got annoying and Ella began to sing the song she gave Adrien for Christmas.
"Let it all out, let it all out. Never feel you need to act brave when you're hurt..."

Adrien smiled at the sound of Ella singing echoing out of the bathroom. His book forgotten beside him, the teen basked in the positive words and angelic voice. It still made him blush that she trusted him enough to let him hear her sing, and it didn't take much for the girl to enchant him, he realized, humming along with Ella's melody.
It had been hard- harder than he thought it was going to be. Adrien had been having nightmares about what he saw, and all the stories he heard. He dreamt of what might have happened if he hadn't gotten to Ella in time...
The teen was constantly waking up in a cold sweat, panting and scrambling for his phone to call the girl- just to make sure she was okay. And not once did Ella complain. She had confided in him that she had been having similar night terrors, waking up paralyzed in fear. Just another thing for the teens to share in common.
Adrien sighed. He didn't know if or how he was gonna manage to keep his hands to himself once school started up Monday, considering Ella wanted to keep their new relationship quiet- and the fact that she was going to be living with him and his father- but her wish was his command, as he stood to grab another one of his shirts and a pair of shorts from Ella's little closet; the girl calling out from the bathroom that she had forgotten to grab a change of clothes.

Visiting hours ended an hour ago and the night nurse just finished the final check-up.
"You ready?" Ella whispered, sliding the window of her room open.
"As ever!"
"Kiismet, touch the sky!"

Leaping out the window, Raven cheered a moment at the rush of winter wind... before her heart dropped as she realized she was plummeting towards the ground and she couldn't sense her wings on her back.
"Merde!" The heroine cursed in panic, snatching her grappling hook off her waist and flinging it at the rooftop. The hooks caught on the edge and allowed the teen to swing up and back on solid ground.
"WHERE ARE MY WINGS?!" Raven screeched, her arms scrambling over her shoulders to find those familiar appendages. The girl couldn't feel them, instead there was a feathered version of her Miraculous sitting between her shoulder blades.
"Touch the ground..!"
The purple light flashed and faded, leaving Ella standing in the snow and Kiismet floating above her.
"My wings... they're gone..."
Kiismet frowned in distress at her holders disbelief.
"You knew this was a possibility- losing your wings. I told you the suit becomes what you desire deep down... you wanted those wings to fly away from your problems, to be free- and you are now! So your suit has... gone back to the basics..." Kiismet half shrugged, not really knowing a better way to explain it as the kwami settled on her users shoulder. Ella nodded, going into a little bit of shock at the realization. The teen stood there for a minute, her unfocused eyes showing the panic and thoughts soaring through her mind, until her body released a horrendous shivering tremor.
"Let's go back inside, Ella... You shouldn't be out here in the cold. Especially without a jacket or shoes." Kiismet nudged the girl's cheek, her little tone toeing the line between suggesting and pleading. Ella was quiet for seconds more before she nodded.
"Okay, Kiisy..."

The girl transformed once more, only long enough to jump back down to her room before the light flashed and the transformation gave out. Kiismet immediately collapsed on the bed, Ella grabbing a small bag of walnuts for her before snatching her phone from the table and moving back to the window. Making herself comfortable on the sill, Ella sat and stared at the moon high above, as she heard parties and fireworks going off around the city. Glancing at the clock on her beside table, the glowing numbers read 11:57 PM.
"Three minutes till I'm sixteen..."

Ella watched the fireworks she could barely see over the roof of the hospital, as the clock clicked down until midnight. The city erupted in lights and cheers, all Parisians excited for a new year. Ella couldn't help sharing their sentiments, happy a new year meant a whole new world for her...
Her phone dinged, signaling a text- the first of many for the next hour or so. But Ella only opened one: from Adrien.
'Happy birthday Ella 3'
The girl smiled, typing out a thank you. Adrien replied with 'go to sleep', making Ella giggle but she answered with 'yes, mon étoile' and she climbed down from the window and headed towards her bed.
"Happy New Year, purrincess~"
Ella startled at the voice, panic filling her chest but quickly spun to see Cat Noir perched on the window sill.
"Cat Noir, you scared me!" Ella scolded him, placing a hand over her heart to calm her breathing and heartbeat.
"Sorry, my lady- I was in the area and thought I'd check on you, and wish you happy new year."
"Thank you, kitty- happy new year to you too!"
Cat smiled and hopped down, stepping into the room.
"How have you been? I've stopped by a couple times before tonight but you've always been asleep- which is good."
"I've... I'm better than before, I promise... Now it's just- basically a new life to adjust to. I'm getting out tomorrow and I'm staying with Adrien and his father while the police search for a relative or someone willing to take me. I don't see why though..."
"Why not, purrincess?" Ella giggled at the nickname before answering.
"Well... it's technically January first, so today's my birthday-"
"It is?! Happy birthday, beautiful! Why didn't you say anything?" The girl playfully rolled her eyes at the excitement in Cat Noir's voice.
"You sound like Adrien when I told him earlier- I haven't celebrated my birthday since I was four."
Cat frowned but nodded, stepping up and wrapping his arms around Ella's shoulders.
"I'm sorry such an event was never celebrated with you, princess..." He spoke, dropping the puns in genuine sorrow for the girl. Ella sighed, wrapping her own arms around Cat's middle and hugging him tight.
"There's nothing to apologize for, kitty... but thank you."

"So why do you think the police don't have to find a relative for you to stay with?" Cat asked a few minutes later, the pair sitting on Ella's bed.
"Well, I'm sixteen. Technically, there's still two years until I reach age of majority, but I could petition for an exemption and gain economic self-sustainability with the inheritance of the family business."
Cat couldn't help the look of utter bewilderment that adorned on his face, trying to follow the sudden technical turn of conversation, but he's glad about the giggle he gets from Ella at his confusion; even if it's punctuated by a yawn.
"I'll let you go for the evening, purrincess- you've got a big day ahead of you. You can explain all that another time."
Ella nodded, hiding another yawn behind her hand, and walked with Cat to the window. The feline hero hopped onto the window sill, before spinning on his heel and taking Ella's hand in his.
"Good night, beautiful~" he gave her knuckles a kiss before pouncing off into the night.

The move from the hospital to the Agreste mansion went quick, Ella mused, as she finished putting away her meager possessions in the room designated as hers for the foreseeable future. Kiismet was flitting around the room like a child, excited by all the new things and the wide open- "IT'S CLEAN, BEANY!"- space. The kwami was absolutely thrilled by this turn of events, since she had never looked this far into Ella's future, and couldn't stop expressing the joy she felt for her holder.
"I heard you the first time, Kiisy! But you've gotta keep it down! I don't want Mr. Agreste or Ms. Nathalie thinking I'm nuts by all the noises!" Ella pleaded with her friend, collapsing on the bed. She sunk into the mattress and the soft, cotton sheets. Her hand swatting at the head of the bed, Ella managed to grasp a pillow and pull it down to smush her face into. The entire situation was still a shock to her: she was living with her fated partner (and boyfriend) Adrien Agreste, for who knows how long...
"EEEEEEEEE!" Ella squealed into the plush pillow, the sound muffled by the memory foam. Kiismet smirked playfully at her holder, settling down on the headboard.
"All that squealing is gonna make them question your sanity, Elly~"
Ella didn't grace the comment with a reply; she just pulled the pillow down from her face and surveyed her new room (the previous guest room) once more. It wasn't as large as Adrien's but it was nicer than what she was used to. Sky blue walls and a white ceiling were complimented by a dark oak desk (complete with computer monitors) and chair, a matching coffee table and a dark blue chaise. Adrien had mentioned there was a sofa and matching love seat but he asked his father if they could replace it with a piano for Ella to use; the girl had blushed furiously and scrambled between saying thank you and chastising Adrien for asking such a thing.
In the walk-in closet were two similar looking dressers and a display for her shoes. Her few sets of clothes were already hanging up and made the closet look rather pathetic, but Ella was okay with that. She didn't need a whole bunch of fancy clothes, when she was comfortable in the outfits she had.
"I feel like I'm living in a dream, Kiis..."
The kwami opened her little mouth to respond, when a knock echoed through the room and made the creature vanish into Ella's pocket as she sat up and called out for whoever it was to enter.

"Hey, Elle." Adrien smiled as he pushed open the door. The girl smiled as he approached and sat beside her on the bed.
"What's up?"
"Just wanted to check on you- I know it's a lot."
"...It is. I'm not used to having so much like this..."
"Better get used to it- cause if you want, we can live in a place just like this in a few years." Adrien watched Ella nod initially, before the sentence actually settled in and... yep- there's that 'Ladybug' red he loved.
"A-A-Adrien!" She stuttered, swatting at him with the pillow. The teen laughed, letting her smack at him; this was the most riled up she'd been in weeks!
"Ah..." But the fun was cut off by Ella wincing and placing her hand on her side, just over the surgical wound- the skin still tender despite the stitches having dissolved a few days prior. Adrien frowned, remembering she was still healing from her assault. The staples in her scalp had only been removed a week ago, too.
"You okay?" He asked after a moment.
"Yeah- just pulled at it a little. No big deal. Don't give me that look." Ella scolded, poking at Adrien's nose.
"What look?" Had he been making a face?
"You make this wounded kitten face when you're upset about something. Lately it's been because of me, and I hate seeing you make that face."
"I can't help but worry..." Adrien spoke, his voice dropping to a whisper and his eyes moving to his lap. He heard a soft sigh and rustling, before Ella's arms were wrapped around him in a gentle hug.
"I know... that's just how you are. You worry about everyone and you try to take on other people's worries. You're a people-pleaser. I just want you to remember to worry about yourself. I know these last few weeks have been hard, and I know I can't apologize for them without you getting upset, but you've been dealing with all this alongside me and I know I'm stressed and tired... I can't imagine how you're feeling..." Ella's grip tightened, and Adrien wrapped his arm around her waist, pulling her into his lap.
"I'm doing better than I was three weeks ago..." He admitted. It was true, he wasn't as tired or emotionally drained as he had been when everything happened; being able to just be at her side and relax for the past three weeks has done an amazing job for his anxiety (minus all the stressing over Ella).
"Please... just tell me when you've had enough. I promised you I would say something when I was reaching the end of my rope- I want you to make me that same promise." Ella's hand reached up and cupped his cheek, pulling Adrien's gaze down to meet hers.
"I promise, angel..."
"Good..." Ella smiled, her hand dropping to his chest as she rested her head in the crook of his neck. Adrien mimicked her smile and gently laid back, cradling her close.

Nathalie, having not found Adrien in his room when she went to fetch him for his photoshoot, gently knocked on Ella's door.
"Adrien? Ella?" She called through the wood, but received no answer. Trying the knob, the woman slowly opened the door and couldn't help but grin at the sight.
Adrien and Ella were curled up in each other's arms on the bed, asleep. Nathalie tiptoed into the room, carefully snapping a photo for Adrien later, and gently shook the teen's shoulder.
"Adrien. You have a photoshoot in a half hour."
The blond boy groaned slightly, blinking awake. He peered bleary-eyed at Nathalie before he nodded and shifted. Beside him, Ella made a little noise, seemingly searching for the vanishing warmth. Nathalie watched Adrien smile down at the girl before collecting her into his arms and depositing her properly in her bed under the covers.
"I'll see you in a bit, angel..." The teen whispered, leaving a feather light kiss on Ella's forehead before he followed Nathalie from the room.

"You're quite attached to Ella."
Adrien startled from his daze, his eyes dancing from the window over to his father's assistant.
"...is that a bad thing?" Adrien muttered, lowering his gaze. Nathalie glanced over at her bosses son, inwardly smiling at the soft smile on his face and the rosy blush dusting his cheeks.
"No. It's not."
"...I really love her." Nathalie nodded, her eyes moving back to her tablet.
"I'm happy for you, Adrien."
"Thanks, Nathalie." The blond's smile grew, his gaze returning to the view outside his window.

That night, Ella snuck out her window and transformed. She wanted to visit Adrien- not as Ella- to get a true sense of the teen's state. She knew he was hiding things and thought there was a chance the blond would be a bit more honest with a third "outside" party.
So jumping up to the rooftop across from the Agreste mansion, Raven maneuvered her way to the building across from Adrien's window, took a seat and waited for the teen to notice her there- let him think she was just in the area and not actively looking to talk to him. Who was she- Marinette?

With a sigh, Adrien shoved away from his computer and rubbed his eyes. With a click, he closed the 'Ladyblog' and pushed himself out of the chair. Alya had posted once again about no akuma's appearing as well as lack of Raven sightings. He was worried too; what was causing the feathered teen to not even appear for nightly patrols?
"Plaaaaggggggg..." Adrien whined, moving towards his couch. The kwami just sighed at his holder's predicament, barely looking up from his cheese, but a gasp and "Plagg- hide!" startled the kwami under the bed covers.
Adrien ran to his open window, his eyes trained on the silhouette sitting on the chimney across the way.
"Raven!" He called, a wide smile on his face as the girl turned to see who called her name. Seeing the teen, the heroine slid down the shingles and leapt across the road to the mansion wall.
"Adrien? Is that you?" She called, her soft voice playing through the air like a wind chime to his ears.
"Yeah!"
At his confirmation, Raven finished the jump, landing softly just behind Adrien in his room.
"How are you? It's been a while since we've seen each other." She spoke with a smile. Adrien felt his heart skip a beat at the expression and he hurried to answer her question.
"I-I've been good, just getting through! How- how are you? No one's seen you for almost a month!" Raven cocked her head at his words, her arms crossing over her chest.
"There's... there were some things I had to deal with before I could keep being Raven. But I'm back now. And visiting on a personal level. I've been hearing through the grape vine about your friend Ella."
Adrien felt his expression drop slightly at the mention. Even Raven had heard about Ella's family trouble?
"I've heard she's gotten better, and that you've been at her side this whole time. But..." Raven stepped closer to the teen and placed a hand on his shoulder.
"How are you doing with all this?"

Raven watched a myriad of expressions play on Adrien's face before look of exhausted depression settled. The teen looked ready to sleep for a week, but at the same time, too alert to sit around.
"I...I've..." Adrien sighed, sitting on his couch; Raven joined him, sitting just close enough to provide comfort if he wanted it.
"It's been tough... Ella's doing better-"
"I asked about you, Adrien. Not Ella. What's going through your mind with all this?" Raven reiterated, placing her hand back on his shoulder. The blond met her gaze, before dropping into his lap.
"...I have nightmares... about what happened to her, what could have happened if I hadn't been there... Sometimes, I'm in her place... I can't sleep after I wake up from one of those. I keep thinking there was more I could've done, maybe something that could've prevented all this- but everyone keeps telling me there was nothing I could do besides be there for her-"
"And that's what you can keep doing. People who go through abuse like that need a strong support network, or one person they know they can trust with anything. But while you're that for Ella, you still need someone to be that for you. You can't continue to push your own wellbeing aside. I know I'm not quite the most reliable when it comes to being reachable via cellphone or anything, but I can stop by a couple nights a week if needed so you can talk or just need some company." Raven smiled gently, her hand giving the teen's shoulder a squeeze. Adrien stared at the heroine (inwardly chuckling at the height difference even when sitting like this), before he nodded and hung his head. The pair stayed quiet, just letting the situation sink in and the presence between them became comfortable.
"...Is there anything immediate you wanna talk about?" The heroine asked after a few minutes, her gaze remaining on the view outside the window; the moon was rising high, its bright shine reminding the girl of a lullaby from her childhood...
"Oh! Uh..."
"You don't have to right away. Just know I'm here for you." Adrien nodded, his own eyes moving to the moon.

"Wandering child of the earth, do you know just how much you're worth? You have walked this path since your birth, you were destined for more..." Raven began to sing after another minute or so of serene silence, her voice soft and comforting. Adrien's gaze shifted to her, just taking in her profile as she sang the lullaby. Her voice lulled over him, and the boy couldn't fight the heavy feeling of sleep overtaking him after a few minutes.

Adrien awoke a few hours later, the display on his DVD player reading it was just after midnight. He rolled over and stretched, realizing the comforter from his bed was draped over him and a note on the table before him. Sitting up, Adrien smiled down at the blanket before reaching for the note.
'Sleep well, my brave soldier. I'll see you another night -R'
Blushing pink, Adrien collected the blanket and the note, moving over to his bed. He placed the blanket on the mattress and the note by his computer before heading into the bathroom to brush his teeth.
"You good, kid?" Plagg's voice drifted into the air as Adrien returned and changed for bed.
"Yeah, Plagg... I think I am." The blond smiled at his kwami before crawling into bed, pulling the comforter back up to his chin. Plagg floated over and nuzzled Adrien's cheek before curling up on his own pillow.
"Night kid."
"Good night, Plagg."

*WELCOME BACK EVERYONE! Here we begin with season two in "The Raven Saga: A Raven's Bonds"! There is gonna be a new update schedule! I'm gonna aim for a new chapter every three days or so, to allow for only two parts to an episode which equals longer chapters. Non-episode interludes will still be one chapter. Also this gives me more time to get chapters perfected for you all! So strap in everyone! This season is taking off!*