Hey everyone!

I hope you are all having the best summer ever! I've been travelling a lot lately which has been amazing, but it has also meant I've not been able to get this chapter written and published. But, after defeating writers block, here it is!

It was great to see some of your guesses as to who the visitor is, so I'll let you see if you were right. Thank you so much for all of your follows and reviews, it means a lot and keeps me writing, so let me know what you think!

Enjoy!

"What are you doing here?"

I don't know what to do. I'm surprised, yes, surprised, to see the one person who I thought I'd never see again walk through the door. Even just the sight of their face brings so many memories back in a tsunami of emotions.

I glare, furious, no, more than furious, at the door.

I'm seething.

In fact, I can feel the rage boiling from my skin. As the visitor steps further into the cell, heels clicking against the cold floor, I follow her movements very closely.

She still hasn't looked me in the eyes since she arrived here.

She's scared of me.

Ha.

Mostly out of hurt, I feel no need to be subtle with her, just extremely blunt. And I know, I know that I'm probably being mean, but to be honest, I feel like I have some right after everything that has transpired between us.

"You're scared," I point out.

She jumps at the sudden sound of my voice. Almost as if she doesn't expect me to talk. To stand up for myself.

Well, I didn't last time.

But somehow being in this cell has hardened me, and after being away and removed from the situation for so long, I can see how silly I was to let myself be bothered by her, and now she can't ruin my life any longer. Now, I'm going to fight back. And that's going to start by finding out why on earth she'd come to visit.

I turn to Lila instead of waiting for a reply. Surprisingly, she seems to know what I'm about to say, so she rolls her eyes and flicks her hair haughtily over one shoulder.

"Fine! You have 10 minutes. Then you're being locked up again and you're leaving," she huffs, turning on her heel and sweeping out of the room, slamming the door shut behind her.

Silence. Awkward silence.

You could cut the tension in here with a knife, and the longer it lasts the more I feel like the elephant in the room is sat on my body and is crushing me.

She still hasn't uttered a word, which makes me question why she's here in the first place.

"Chloe," I begin sharply. She jumps again, this time turning to face me. We're face to face and I can see her expression shaking. It's funny how roles can reverse like this. I imagine how differently this scene would have played out a few years ago.

"Why are you here?" I ask, my tone softer, not angry, just...curious this time.

The apparent change in my tone draws her attention. She clasps and unclasps her hands as she opens and closes her mouth.

"Look, Marinette," she eventually mumbles, "I wanted-"

An exasperated sigh.

"I wanted to come here to apologise. For everything."

I close my eyes, trying to think of how I want to react. It's a silly thing to do, but I'm not sure what's going on anymore. My life has just completely flipped upside down and it was all because of her and now after I'm coming to terms with everything that's happened, she comes back and wants to make peace with me?! I can't-

No. I take a deep breath. I've got to stay calm. Collected. It's the good thing to do, the decent thing to do, and right now, I can't afford to make any more enemies, so I need everyone on my side that I can.

Meeting Chloe's eyes, I steady myself, searching down deep for any kindness I can find.

But I'm only met with the painful memories.

"Why?" I ask, voice breaking, tears slipping down my cheeks. I want to know, I have to know, I have to understand.

"Why, after all of this," I pause, steadying myself, "you ruined my life Chloe. All of the things I've missed out on, because of it, because of you. What, what did I ever do to you to deserve it, huh?"

Chloe puts her hands on her hips defensively, her expression faltering as my words sink into her head. The truth is, I never knew what she was thinking. I mean, back when she got me sent to this cell I thought that there was no one as bad and as malevolent as her, but now, after being in here and facing all of the people I have, Lila, Gabriel, I begin to realise that Chloe is maybe someone who is mean to make herself feel better, and she really wants to be a good person, she just isn't sure how, and getting what she wants has always been normal to her. Hopefully now that I have this time with her, I can make her see what she did was wrong, but also try to teach her to be a better person, so more people don't end up like I have.

I have to make her understand.

She needs to learn.

"In my defence, you've got to admit your powers are freaky. No normal person is capable of that, you know that don't you? It's weird, it's- it's... unnatural, strange, terrifying," Chloe challenges, visibly exasperated.

I step forward, locking eyes with her.

"Yeah I do. But it never had anything to do with you. I never did anything to you, and yeah we might never really have seen eye to eye, but that's no reason to have this overwhelming need to make everyone else hate me too. You never knew what I might have been dealing with, and that I was trying to cope with constantly having to hide a part of myself from everyone. Because I thought that I would hurt people, that I was truly unpredictable. But I know now that I'm not. I'm not dangerous, now that I have my abilities under control, and I was just scared. Yet you still made me out to be a monster to everyone else when you don't even know me. I'm no monster Chloe," I affirm.

Opening and closing her mouth soundlessly, Chloe seems to writhe on the spot, looking for words that won't hurt her ego as much as I just have. She's not scared of me anymore, I can sense that.

No, she's not.

Now, I see something else in her eyes.

She knows I'm right, and she hates it.

"I- well – I was just trying to save everyone else. We didn't know what you'd do. For all I knew you'd go out and kill someone. You were dangerous, Dupain-Cheng. Paris didn't need someone like you. So, I did everyone a favour and got rid of the problem," she snaps, leaning forward to me.

I sigh, closing my eyes. Typical Chloe, never admitting that she is wrong, always looking for someone else to place the blame on. Irritated that she just won't relent, I scold her.

"Don't be so stubborn Chloe, you know I'm right. And you hate it that I can see right through this tough act you put on. You hate it that I know you better than you care to admit."

"You know nothing about me Dupain-Cheng. It's not true," she argues.

I smile at her.

"Then why can I see fear written across your face?" I question, relishing her shocked expression, "remember Chloe, you're not perfect either. Everyone has scars, imperfections, flaws, that's what makes them human. And the important part is, you can't just ignore them, because they make up who you are. So before you point your finger at someone else, make sure that your hands are clean. And that's what you should've done with me."

A pause. A silence. The familiar feeling hangs in the air between us, as I wait for my message to sink into the girl in front of me. I know she'll learn eventually. It will just take some time. Whether she heard my message properly I still don't know, but I guess I never will. I hope she'll come around sometime, but judging by her taken aback silence, I'm guessing that she knows what I mean.

"I- I don't know what to say. I didn't know that's what you were going through. And yeah, I'm not stupid, I know that it was a bad idea now, obviously. Everyone at school hates me because I got rid of you so don't worry Dupain-Cheng, I got my karma if that's what you care about," she huffs.

I shrug at her.

"So that's all you came to say, that you know that it was a bad idea?" I ask.

Chloe sighs sheepishly.

I know it's wrong, but I can't help liking the fact that she's so bothered by me being right. It feels amazing to have been the bigger person.

"No. No, it wasn't. I wanted to come here because I had to say... I'm sorry. Utterly sorry. And the truth is I felt really bad about what... what I did. But I hate feeling bad because Chloe Bourgeois doesn't owe anything to anyone, so I thought that if I could do something for you then I could leave this miserable place and feel better, and then I could just forget you even exist," she blurts.

Trying to digest everything she's said, I'm kinda shocked. I mean, I think... that was an apology? Well, a Chloe Apology. With her it's as good as it's going to get, I think. So, I give her my best reassuring smile.

"Apology accepted Chloe. We all make mistakes. It's our decision to right them that sets us apart from others. So, you're here because..."

"Because I want to get rid of this guilty feeling! Weren't you – don't get all high and mighty Marinette, I just want to know if there's anything I can do to make it up to you. So, is there?" she asks dryly. Obviously being this nice to someone is killing her. It actually just makes me feel bad for her.

But, her question makes me think. I mean, what can she even give me that could make my life here any better. I mean, what is she going to do, do my grocery shopping?! Ha, is there anything she can do for me, well, for starters she could get me out of-

I look thoughtfully at Chloe again. She must see the crazy look on my face because she replies with a look of dread.

"Oh no, Marinette what are you thinking, I'm not going to do something crazy, what is it?"

She's right. It's definitely crazy. My eyes flicker to the block of wood that's lying, discarded in the corner of the room, and then back to Chloe once more.

I grin. She grimaces.

"You know, there might just be something that you can do."

That spark of hope is flickering to life again.

Maybe I have an idea.

Maybe Chloe can help me with something important.

And maybe, just maybe, it will work.