"What about you? What did you want to be when you were young?" At Ladybug's question Chat Noir suddenly went quiet.

What had he wanted?

Nothing - as far as he could remember. There was nothing coming to his mind. He didn't remember ever having some kind of dream. Not like everybody else. His mind did not only come up empty when thinking about what he wished for for his future, no, it seemed the same throughout all his life. There was nothing he wanted. That was honestly kinda sad...

Ladybug didn't seem to have realised his sudden change in mood, as she teased: "You're making fun of me, but you're too embarrassed to tell me."

Chat Noir wished that were the case. Because being embarrassed about his dream would mean he had had one in the first place. He hadn't, though, and it wasn't as if he wanted her to know that.

He settled on just telling her he couldn't remember. Somehow she didn't seem bothered by that, replying with how he had probably just forgotten. Chat Noir wasn't sure if he should be relived that she didn't question it or upset about how untrue this was.

Ladybug immediately came up with an idea of what a childhood dream of his could have had entailed. Fireman or magician. For a moment he considered them for his career paper, but then quickly dismissed the idea. Though they might be fitting for Chat Noir, he couldn't see himself in either role as Adrien. Besides, those weren't options his father would ever agree to...

While Ladybug went away to fetch Viperion, Chat Noir distracted Wishmaker by staying well in his line of sight, teasing him and generally capturing his attention. But unlike usual his heart wasn't in it; he was too distracted by his thoughts.

All the people around him that had been hit were now living their oldest dreams. He honestly thought most of them were somewhat ridicules. Almost no one had even remotely realistic or just useful wishes, and he could lively imagine how his father would have reacted if he had ever had (or voiced) such a farfetched future vision for himself, even as a child.

But... they all seemed so happy...

Though their wishes might have been strange, at least they had had dreams when they were young. Chat Noir was painfully aware how it wasn't normal to have none at all.

He jumped out of the way of one of the villain's shots and deflected another with his stuff. As he charged at Wishmaker, the akuma tried to distract him by saying: "Are you sure you don't want me to make your childhood dream come true?"

That actually got Chat Noir's attention to waver shortly and a slightly pained expression crossed his face. "Don't waste your breath, I didn't have any." It came out less defensive and more sad than he intended.

Wishmaker didn't seem to believe his words, but he immediately jumped at the opportunity of getting an advantage out of them. "You just need to get your memory back," he said. "Just let me touch you, then your childhood dream will be revealed to you."

At that Chat Noir hesitated. His defence went slack and he felt his fighting spirit crumble. The akuma was right, if he wanted to remember his dreams, he would just have to let the villain hit him. He tried to shove the thought that there was nothing to remember, that he just didn't have any dreams, to the back of his mind.

Wishmaker smirked, satisfied at the reaction his word had gotten out of the hero. The black cat miraculous user jumped back to get some distance between them. He needed time to think. Time he didn't have...

Would it really be that bad if he got hit? Maybe his dream (there was one, there had to be) wasn't even something that would reveal his identity. Many people had had some kind of imaginary figure, like a robot. Maybe...maybe it would be okay...and he would know...

Somewhere at the edge of his mind he registered Viperion calling out to him to duck.

Right, Viperion had joined the fight. That meant if this should actually end up revealing his identity, the snake hero would turn back time anyway. It didn't matter in the end. Even if Chat Noir would let himself find out his wish, he would forget it again. But he felt like he really had to know right now. He just had to! So, was it worth the risk?

He didn't get a chance to decide. He had been distracted for too long. He felt the mild and somewhat warm impact as one of Wishmaker's shots hit him square in the chest.

For a second everything was swallowed by a swirl of colours. Than an image began to form in his head. A long forgotten memory from when he had still been a baby. His parents standing above him at his crib, looking down at him with love and pride in their eyes. An expression he could barely remember ever seeing on his fathers face.

Suddenly he was detransformed, standing there as Adrien, eyes far away and mouth pulled into a small, sad smile. "When I was a kid, I always wanted to be what my parents wanted me to be."

Did something go wrong? Everybody else had seemed so happy when living their childhood dreams, so why was everything Adrien felt overwhelming sadness? Why was this worse than not remembering ever having had any wishes at all?

Everything in Adrien cramped together at the image in his head. He missed his mother, but somehow the expression on his fathers face hurt more. Because he wasn't sure he would ever be able to see it in real life. He would never be able to fulfil all his father's expectations, and, somehow, he found himself not wanting to anymore.

He was just so sick of letting every aspect of his life be dictated by his father and decided for him. He wanted to craft his own future, his own path – even if he didn't know were it would lead, yet.

At that moment Adrien felt everything go black and his thoughts and memory slipping.

Later that day he collapsed on his bed, exhausted from the long day with all his extra classes in the afternoon. Now he finally had some time to himself, some time to think.

Plagg slipped out of his shirt pocket, but to Adrien's huge surprise the Kwami didn't immediately fly over to the cabinet to get himself some camembert. That was enough to make the boy sit up again

The black cat Kwami's brows were furrowed and he was starring at Adrien with an oddly troubled expression. A strange look for Plagg, who usually pretended not to care about anything that wasn't related to cheese. It almost looked like he was worried.

"Is everything okay?" Adrien asked, confusion clear in his voice.
"No." Plagg crossed his small arms over his chest as he flew directly in front of Adrien's face. "Are we seriously not gonna talk about today? You've been avoiding the topic."

It sounded more like an accusation that it probably should and Adrien found himself unable to look at his Kwami.

"What's there to talk about?", he mumbled. "We defeated Wishmaker and no ones identity got revealed. Everything is fine."

Plagg let out a low grumble that almost sounds like a hiss. "Nothing is fine! You don't remember ever having had dreams a child! Seriously, kid, that's more than a little concerning."

Adrien absentmindedly spun his ring around his finger. The miraculous that had given him freedom for the first time in his life. That had made him think about what he wanted for the first time. He avoided Plagg's gaze as he said: "Please don't make a big deal out of it. It doesn't even matter, I want to focus on the future."

"It is a big deal," Plagg snapped so fiercely that it made Adrien flinch. "Ever child should be free to dream whatever the want. Don't pretend like you don't know why you didn't." The little creature flew around him so he could look him in the eyes. "This is because of your father! I see the shitty way he treads you. Putting all this pressure and expectations on you, only to always stay cold and distant in the end. That is not healthy, kid"

Another flinch went through Adrien at that. He knew all that. He'd always been aware of it on some level, but hearing it out lout was painful. He's sure his father loves him. He just wants the best for him.

"He doesn't mean it like that," he finally whispered.

"That doesn't make it okay!" Plagg hissed. "Hell kid, I'm pretty sure your dream always was for your father show affection to you, to be proud of you."

That...actually sounds like it could be true.

"You should be free to live your own dreams," Plagg added quietly. His words were followed by long moments of silent while Adrien processed them.

"I've only ever been doing what father wanted me to. I...I'm not even sure what I'd want for myself," Adrien finally whispered and his voice grew choked as he tried to blink away tears.

"Yeah, 'cause your dreams didn't matter, that's why you don't have any."

Plagg was right. Adrien had never realised how messed up this actually was before today. He had been living his life for his father, never even as much as dreaming of anything for himself. At that thought the tears spilled over and Adrien fought back a violent sob.

The little cat god's eyes immediately softened when he saw his kitten starting to cry. He flew into the crouch of Adrien's neck and pressed close like some kind of mini hug.

Adrien appreciated the gesture, it was calming.

"I...I just don't know what to do about it, Plagg," he hiccupped between sobs. At this point he had tangled his hands in his hair, the pull a grounding feeling. "It's...all I've ever known, and...and I don't know how do...I don't know...find out what I want."

His head was spinning and he felt overwhelmed by so many long surprised emotions suddenly resurfacing.

"It's okay, kid. I'm here for you and I can, I will, help you figure it out. You don't have to do this alone."

Plagg's voice was so much softer than Adrien had ever heard, but his presence and support were grounding, and Adrien felt himself slowly breathing easier again. At some point he realised that Plagg was purring. He had never heard that from him before, but the calm, steady rumble next to his heart helped him clam down further. Adrien couldn't ever express how grateful he was for his little friend's presence.

"Thanks, Plagg," he said after a while. "For helping me be Chat Noir. That was the first time I really got out and had a chance to explore who I am and what I wanted."

Plagg gave him a long look before he answered and when he did his voice was oddly cloaked. "Anytime, kid." His voice and look were uncharacteristically soft and caring.

Adrien felt a lot better now and finally managed a small smile again. He got up, Plagg still held close, and went over to his desk. He picked up a picture of his mother. He had missed her smile for so long, but he had come to terms with that feeling, so maybe he could manage to with what was ahead of him as well. He wasn't alone after all.

"I may not remember my childhood dreams," he said to Plagg with a growing smile. "but that's okay. It's time to focus on the future and find my inner music, like Luka said."

The destructive being smiled back fondly. "That's the spirit! Just never forget that you're your own person and can do whatever you like."

Adrien nodded. He would do that from now on. First he would need to find out what he wanted to do, but than he wouldn't let his father, or anyone, stop him from following his new dream.