It had been six years since Chloe had seemingly dropped off the map. It had been an eerily quiet exit for the famously flamboyant girl, but no one had really missed her. It only took a month for rumors to die down and a year for her classmates to practically forget that she had been part of the class. Soon she was no more than a faded memory they were happy to forget. Even the mousy Sabrina was quick to move on, clinging to Layla for the rest of their educational careers. Chloe was no longer even on the list of Marinette's problems.

"Tikki, what am I supposed to do?" Marinette groaned leaning back in her chair, her dark pigtails swinging down behind her having grown out over the years. "I applied thinking there was no way I would get accepted and now I am accepted and I have a scholarship but it's out of Paris but we're closing in on Hawkmoth so I can't leave Paris but I really want to go but I can't because I have Ladybug responsibility's and besides even if I did go people would be able to put two and two together as soon as Ladybug appears there and everyone will find out that I'm Ladybug but-"

"Marinette! Breath," Tikki interrupted, flying in front of her panicking partners face, "This is supposed to be a good thing."

"I know Tikki, I know, but this is a real problem. It's the best fashion school in the US and it's my dream to go there, but I can't just drop everything and leave Paris. They need me, they need Ladybug. Especially now."

"You can't do both," Tikki said, round red head wrinkled a bit in concern, "I'm sorry Marinette, but you have to make a choice."

"That's just it Tikki, my choice is already made. I have so much responsibility now, I've had it since Master Fu left the Miracle Box in my care. I can't just abandon Paris, I can't abandon chat noir, I can't abandon Ladybug. I have to turn down the opportunity."

"I'm sorry Marinette." Tikki said quietly, sinking down to sit despondently on the desk.

"Cheer up Tikki," Marinette said, forcing herself to look on the bright side, "It's not all bad. Now I can continue hanging out with Alya, Nino, Kagami, and Adrian. And besides, I can't even speak English. Don't feel bad."

"And stay close to Luka?" Tikki asked, giggling as a light blush tinted Marinette's cheeks.

"And Luka." Marinette confirmed.

Marinette's phone started ringing. Glancing down she saw that it was Alya and picked up.

Alya didn't even wait for a hello. "Girl, you are NOT going to believe this scoop I got."

"What is it this time Alya," Marinette asked, used to this type of conversation.

"Okay, okay, I know I say that a lot, but this time I mean it."

"Alya, I'm at the edge of my seat, hurry up and tell me!"

"Chloe's back."

Marinette choked. "Chloe, as in Chloe Bourgeois."

"Ya girl, and that's not all."

Marinette leaned forward in her chair, biting her thumbnail as she listened.

Alya continued. "She somehow weaseled her way into the same university as Adrian."

"Where did you even get this info Alya? How do you know that it's true?"

"I got it directly from the source. I overheard Mayor Bourgeois talking to his wife about it while I was shadowing Nadia Chamak for my internship. This is for real."

"But why now? We haven't seen her since the whole Miracle Queen incident."

"I don't know girl, but I'm going to find out. Look, I gotta go, Nino's been trying to plan his schedule around mine for the past hour and I just got off work so I'm gunna help him out. I'll contact you when I know more."

Marinette grabbed a jacket and her earbuds as soon as she hung up, Tikki watching worriedly.

"What's going on Marinette?" Tikki asked, settling into her coat pocket, "What's this about Chloe?"

"She's coming back to Paris," Marinette answered, handing her a macaroon as and apology for her abrupt behavior, "Which means we have to keep an eye on her as well as Hawkmoth. Now I really can't leave."

"Mabey she's changed." Tikki offered.

"That brat? I doubt it. She's the only person I know of besides Lila who willingly teamed up with Hawkmoth."

"She's also the only person who ever successfully refused getting akumatized."

Marinette sighed and smiled down at Tikki. "There is that. But I still think we need to keep an eye on her. What if she tries to steal the Bee Miraculous again?"

With that she left her room and passed her parents down the stairs, grabbing an extra cookie on her way out. It had been years since Chloe last crossed her mind and she was still processing the information that she was back. How? Why? If only she could just clear her head. That's why she had decided to go on a walk, but things were never that simple anymore. Instead she contemplated what she was going to do about her career since she couldn't leave Paris as she walked, the other half of her brain focused on the news broadcast playing on her phone in case anyone got akumatized. It was happening more and more often lately, as if Hawkmoth was building up to something.

'Or,' a little voice inside her head said, 'or maybe he's getting desperate.'

She shook off the thought. She had no proof and normally when Hawkmoth akumatized so many people it was in preparation for a larger plan. That was far more likely. She did not know Hawkmoths goal, why he wanted her and Chat Noir's Miraculous. Considering their power it could be for any number of reasons. He had been doing this for years, there was no reason for him to become desperate now.

'Unless,' the little voice nagged, 'unless he's running out of time'.

She shook her head and looked up at the sky framed by the Parisian roofs. "I need to talk to Chat Noir." She murmured, watching her breath rise above her head. It was still only fall, but winter seemed to be coming early this year.