Chloe sat against the Miracle Box locker, tensely listening to the sound of the fight some streets down. She didn't know who had been akumatized this time, only that they were inside a giant sentimonster made out of a Ferris wheel where multiple people were still trapped inside. As soon as she had seen the news alert she had abandoned her homework, running straight for Ladybug's hiding place for the miraculous. She knew it wasn't like Ladybug needed to get a hero every time a villain appeared, but she couldn't help but hope.

Another large crash sounded through the city, further away than the last one had been. A moment later the red blur of magical ladybugs fixing everything that had been destroyed during the battle flew by,

Chloe sighed and stood up, brushing her pants off and stretching before leaving the area. She had known it was going to be a long shot, but a small part of her was still disappointed with the outcome. After all, how was she going to redeem herself in Ladybug's eyes if she didn't get her to pay attention first?

As she walked out she saw Chat Noir leaping across the rooftops above her, Ladybug nowhere in sight. Her eye's followed him, a dangerous thought flashing through her mind.

'What if I knew Chat Noir's identity as well as Ladybugs?'

She shook her head, loose hair whipping her face. She couldn't think like that. It was a similar thought process, a selfish, privileged, righteous thought process, that had lead her to Hawkmoth last time. Thoughts like those wouldn't get her anywhere. She didn't need to know Chat's identity. Not yet.

Her circling thoughts led her to the rivers edge, ears unconsciously reaching for familiar strains of music. The wind was unrelenting near the water, pushing the sounds of the surrounding areas down the pavement and across the river. She caught the music quickly, her steps speeding up as she listened. A second sound mixed in made her stop. Indistinct, but unmistakably human chatter.

A moment later she saw its source, a group of familiar faces surrounded Luka. Roses bright blond hair stood out from the rest, grown out some and tied into two wispy buns atop her head. Where Rose was Julika followed, her hair now streaked purple instead of tipped and braided down her back, topped with a cap. With them were Sabrina and Lilia, all chatting and laughing with Luka as he played.

Chloe's eyebrows unconsciously narrowed, back stiffening. Her stride switched to a strut and she approached the group boldly, refusing to let her nerves win out. Luka spotted her first, followed by Lila. Then all the others.

"Chloe!" Lila exclaimed with hypnotizing cheer, "What a coincidence. I thought you preferred to drive everywhere, it's sooo great to see you out in the fresh air."

"Thanks Lila," Chloe snapped, stopping in front of them, "but I assure you, your concern is completely unnecessary. I actually walk this way quite often, you can ask Luka there."

He nodded his uncomfortable assent as his sisters' friends all turned to confirm the matter with him. "She sometimes stops by to listen."

Rose smiled and stepped forward, sparkling eyes trained on Chloe's face. "Is that true Choe? That's awesome! I really like Luka's music too. I've been trying to get him to apply for the music program with me, but he just won't budge. Oh, hey, I'm Rose by the way, I wasn't sure you recognized me you know, since it's been so long. Why did you move away in the first place again? Oh well, it doesn't matter. I'm so happy your back! Hey! I know, you should come to one of our concerts. Kitty Section is playing down at the-"

"Don't you ever breath?" Chloe interrupted, silencing the ever-flowing stream of words falling from Rose's mouth.

"Now now," Lila said stepping between them, "Don't be like that Chloe, Rose is just exited to see her old Friend again."

"Look," Chloe said, twirling a bit of hair on her finger, "I don't think any of you except Sabrina here can honestly say you thought of me as a friend."

"Aww, that's not true," Lila said pouting, "I really do think of you as a friend."

"I said Truthfully, Miss Ladybug Signal, and I truthfully don't trust a word out of your mouth."

Lila stepped back, fist lightly clenched as if she felt hurt. "I had no idea you thought of me like that Chloe, I thought we were friends."

"Ya," Rose said, "How could you say that?"

"Don't be so rude." Julika mumbled.

Sabrina stood back silently, her eyes wide with indecision and thoughts otherwise unreadable.

Lila perked up, folding her fingers as it seemed an idea crossed her mind. She leaned forward and quickly took hold of Chloe's hand, looking up at her expectantly. "It was fate that brought me here today," She said with unwarranted conviction, "Mr. Agreste called off my internship meeting after todays akuma attack today, otherwise I would not be here. It must be fate so that I can fix whatever went wrong between us as friends."

"Or maybe," Chloe said pulling her hand away, "it's coincidence."

"Choe," Luka spoke up loudly from his seat, breaking the rising tension between the two girls, "Did you need something today? Of are you just out on a walk. We don't want to take up to much of your time."

"There wasn't really anyth-" She trailed off, an idea occurring to her. This could fix her miraculous problem if she did it right. "Actually, there was something."

They all looked at her, eyebrows raised. She sounded unusually tricky. The shift in tone was so drastic that, though she didn't say it out loud, for a moment Julika wondered if the old bully was going to ask them to kill someone.

"As you know I've just moved back to the city and I've yet to, err, reconnect with everyone." She grit her teeth before forcing a smile, she hadn't reconnected because she had been avoiding them all. "To celebrate my Glorious return I thought I'd throw a costume party on Halloween. I figured I should start by inviting you all."

"Oh," Lila said, putting a surprised hand to her mouth, "I thought you were looking for Luka though, not us."

Chloe took a deep breath, refusing to take the bait. "He's dating Marinette, Lila, I'm planning on inviting both of them but I only have Marinette's number. Of course I was looking for him, I have all of yours."


Authors Note : I RISE FROM THE DEAD. I do have excuses as to why it's taken me so long to update but none of them are good or original so I'll just let them lie. I will say that this chapter is slightly more relevant than it seems and is only a little bit a product of writer's block. let's just say the snow ball of events is getting a little larger as it all tumbles down. As always, thank you all so much for reading. Please follow future updates, I promise it will be worth it. Hope you enjoy!