In an effort to be a more responsible Guardian, Marinette decided that she would not keep Tikki out of the loop this time. As soon as she had arrived back in her room after the Akuma battle she detransformed and immediately began to explain her reasoning to Tikki.
"I know I shouldn't go back," Marinette said as she handed her Kwami a cookie, "but I told him that I would. Accidentally! And I can't break his heart by canceling on him. He was so excited."
"In all honesty, at least part of him probably expects that you'll cancel," Tikki replied between bites.
"Okay, fair enough," conceded Marinette, "but just because he expects it doesn't mean it wouldn't be disappointing. Adrien gets disappointed by his father all the time because Gabriel cancels things last minute. I don't want to be just another person in his life who he learns he can't depend on."
Tikki really hated that Marinette had brought up a rational point. If she had simply said she wanted to go back to Adrien's house to kiss him again it would have been easy to tell her not to go. But when she made points about Adrien's mental well-being, which Tikki knew was also Chat Noir's mental well-being, it was more difficult to stop her. While the Kwami doubted that Ladybug standing him up or canceling would cause Adrien to be akumatized, both teenage heroes were in delicate emotional states right now and anything having even minor negative effects now could lead to something more problematic later.
"Okay, what about this… You go over to his house when you know for a fact he won't be there. You leave him a gift as a thank you and then scribble out a note saying you're sorry that you missed him but it's too dangerous to keep coming back. Without signing your real name of course," Tikki added teasingly.
Marinette's shoulders visibly fell at Tikki's suggestion. That was definitely the most responsible option and it reasonably dealt with her concerns about disappointing him. She knew that she should do as her Kwami suggested, but at this point she wasn't even trying to lie to herself about why she wanted to go back. For almost a week she had been craving that sense of peace and security that she had felt in his arms. There was no doubt in her mind that brief respite had definitely had a positive effect on her attitude for these last five akumas. Once again she found herself justifying her selfish desire with a more selfless outcome, fully aware that she was doing it.
"Okay, Tikki, I will admit that you are right. That is what I should do," Marinette began. Tikki's smile and attempt to congratulate her holder on making a responsible choice quickly disappeared though as the girl continued. "But I'm going to make a slight adjustment to it. I am going to take a gift, but I'm going to go when he is there. I'm going to give myself more time than last time because if only 10 minutes could make me feel as good as it did, then I can't even imagine how it will feel if I'm there for an hour."
"That's not a slight adjustment!" Tikki exclaimed, "That's an entirely different plan! And once again you're putting your identity at risk!"
"Only if I talk about fashion, play Ultimate Mecha Strike 3, or reveal I know anything about our school or his personal life. If all I do is say thank you, ask him how he's doing, and… well, kiss him again, then there's no more risk than there was last time."
"It's still irresponsible and dangerous," mumbled Tikki sullenly. "You know I can always just leave and hide every night so that you can't transform, right?"
"Nice try, Tikki," said Marinette with a smirk. "I know you wouldn't dare risking another Sandboy incident."
The grumpy expression on the normally sweet Kwami's face showed that Marinette was correct in calling her bluff. Still though, seeing Tikki upset did make her feel a little guilty.
"I'm sorry, Tikki. I don't want to hurt you or upset you. But I'm going to go through with this again. Yes, for selfish reasons. But also because I hated how depressed and stressed I've been since Master Fu left. I've felt like a disappointment and failure so much, and having someone look at me like I'm good enough as I am is so refreshing. Add in the fact that it's Adrien and it becomes addicting."
"You act like Chat Noir doesn't still look at you like that. I don't see you rushing to spend time with him," Tikki said, hoping the irony didn't drip through into her voice.
"That's different," huffed Marinette. Tikki didn't ask for an explanation on how it was different, but her expression clearly challenged Marinette to give her one. Rather than lose that argument, she instead headed downstairs to bake something special for Adrien, tempting Tikki with the offer of taste testing. The homework she had been working on before the Akuma could wait a little bit. After all, she thought with a giggle, I've got a date tonight.
Marinette had spent much of the remainder of the day patching things over with Tikki. She apologized to make sure no feelings were hurt by her stubborn insisting on going through with another visit, she promised to be careful, and she let Tikki sample one of the profiteroles she had made. The remaining pastries were now tenderly packaged, with Marinette intentionally using a box that did not have the bakery's logo on it. She had also chosen profiteroles since as Marinette she would either bring in macarons or croissants as a class treat and bringing either of those tonight could be recognizable. There was no way she was going to give herself away because of pastries. All she had to do was tell a little white lie about how she picked up the pastries instead of making them. Easy.
Swinging through the city was a little more time-consuming while being careful not to jostle a box of profiteroles. She hadn't taken that into account and had arrived at the Agreste mansion a few minutes later than intended. Reminding herself that it was alright because they hadn't actually set a time, Marinette gently dropped onto the window ledge.
I hope this is a good time, she thought. I know I said I'd come soon, but I didn't say tonight. Nevertheless, she gathered all her Ladybug confidence and knocked on the window. There was no response. Peering inside, she couldn't see Adrien anywhere. His lights were on, which meant that he was probably home, but there was no guarantee that he would be back soon. She couldn't afford to sit and wait. Someone on the street would be sure to notice her eventually.
Maybe I'll have to go through with Tikki's idea after all. She couldn't help the feeling of disappointment as she carefully opened the unlocked window. Yes, leaving the pastries and a note was the safe and responsible action but Marinette still wished she could have actually talked to Adrien again. And kissed him. That definitely would have happened. Resigning herself to her dismay, she quietly dropped into the room. Now she just had to find a piece of paper and a pen. Figuring Adrien would have both on his desk, she crossed the grand room awkwardly. A quick investigation of the desk's surface revealed both items and Marinette picked up the pen, thinking about what to say in her note.
Before she could put the pen to the paper though, voices on the other side of the door caused her heart to jump up into her throat. From the sound of it, Adrien was fast approaching. Frantically looking around the room, Marinette knew she only had a second to figure out what to do. There was no way that she could make it to the window in time, hiding somewhere would be super awkward and embarrassing when she inevitably would have to reveal her presence, and hanging out in the open was risky if someone like Natalie followed Adrien into the room. As she heard the door handle begin to turn she did the first thing she could think of and flung herself into Adrien's desk chair with a speed impressive even for her Ladybug powers, spinning it to face away from the door. As the door opened she struck what she hoped was a self-assured and flirty pose and channeled every drop of Ladybug confidence that she could muster. She heard the door close then took a deep breath and donned a coquettish grin before spinning the chair back around to face the door.
Marinette had to fight to maintain a straight face at the way Adrien jumped in shock, but she did manage to keep her composure and confident air for the most part. She couldn't help the slight giggle that slipped out as she spoke in a voice only a couple levels above a whisper.
"Surprise."