As I swung to the scene of the akuma, I saw Chat vaulting from the opposite direction towards me. He had certainly grown in the time I had known him. He was no longer the scrappy, wide eyed boy I had met all those years ago. Of course, he was still goofy, and had an awful habit of making puns, but he seemed more confident in himself. Along with that, he had grown, physically speaking, a considerable amount. Instead of being a mere inch taller than me, he now loomed a good six inches over me. He had also filled out. Chat wasn't buff by any means, but he had a strong figure. I had no doubt that his civilian self was popular and would be able to grab the attention of almost anyone. He had stopped prying about sharing identities a good while ago, and we seemed to have come to a comfortable understanding. If it were to happen, it should happen naturally. Our teamwork had improved tremendously once we had reached this consensus.

"It's about time bugaboo," he gave his long running nickname to me, "this one seems to be a student upset about the abysmal dining hall food. The poor soul was forced to eat what she claimed to be akin to dog food," he finished with a queasy expression.

Well, that just about ruined my excitement to finally fill my stomach. I looked around and noticed giant versions of food: pizza, cassaroles, biscuits, and other comfort foods. The akuma was holding a plate that shot out a ray, turning whatever laid in its beam into some sort of food. She was dressed in a retro, short sleeved dress with a checkered apron over it. It was almost as if she were a waitress at a 50s themed diner.

"Well, we just can't let her take a bite out of us, can we?" I stated, trying to mimic Chat's signature smirk.

"Ah, bugaboo, all these years and your puns still can't match mine. I guess I'm simply too pawsome."

"Uh huh. As if you haven't used that one before," I returned with a laugh. It felt good to be with Chat again. It had not been that long, but it was still nice to see him. I guess he provided some sense of normalcy, as ironic as it sounds with us being superheroes and all, as everything had been changing so fast. I had spent the month prior to that akuma attack preparing to leave home and enter Paris, and barely had time for any of my old friends. I guess it was nice to have Chat, he was always a constant in my life.

"I think," he brought me out of my thoughts, "that based on her outfit, she might be a little homesick. She's probably from the countryside. Maybe we could lure her in by going to a kitchen? We could say we are going to whip up some dinner. That might get her attention."

"Good plan, lets go," I shouted as I swung over towards the dining hall. Chat followed behind me, yelling for the akuma's attention.

We arrived into the kitchen area, and she soon followed. She began to rapidly fire her ray, turning all of the appliances into different versions of food. Chat and I dodged as we assessed the area. Her ray had gotten to almost everything. I gave a quick glance to Chat, and he nodded in response.

"No need to get all hangry," Chat said with a laugh as I activated my lucky charm.

It materialized in the form of a simple cooking spoon. I would never get over how useless my lucky charms looked at first. After all, I was a superhero that could create anything, why couldn't I get something cool? With a sigh, I examined my surroundings. Chat was trying to break her plate with his staff, but she managed to launch a ray with his every attempt, forcing him to dodge. I took that opportunity, waited for the moment after she launched the ray, and threw the spoon at the plate as Chat dodged. The plate shattered, leaving the girl to return to normal as the purple butterfly was released from the plate. I purified the akuma, and Chat and I did our famous fist bump.

After returning the girl to safety, and calming her down, I stopped Chat.

"Hey, it's been a while. Want to meet on the Eiffel Tower after feeding our kwamis?" I asked awkwardly. It really had felt nice to see him again, and I wasn't quite ready to go back.

"Sure, but we have to be quick. I don't want my roommate getting too suspicious," he responded, then vaulted off.

I swung to an abandoned alleyway and released the transformation. Tikki flew out, and flew straight towards the cookies in my purse. Her cheeks somehow looked rosier as she devoured the sweet treat. My parents had given me a large stock of baked goods for college. Papa claimed he wanted me to stay strong while I was out. As Tikki finished her last bite, she flew up to face me.

"Marinette, you know you should get back to your orientation group soon. Erin will be worried sick if you're missing for too long. That Alya girl also seems to be quite attentive," she lectured.

"I know it's risky, it has just been so long since I've seen Chat. I guess I miss him."

She gave a knowing nod as I transformed, and swung towards the Eiffel Tower. Chat and I hadn't talked in quite a while, not really. I had been so busy preparing for college, I hadn't really made an effort to talk after akuma attacks for the past few months. While I knew we couldn't share personal details, I still wanted to know how he was doing.

When I arrived he was already there, perched on one of the highest support beams. I swung over and took a seat right next to him. He acknowledged me with a friendly smile.

"It seems Hawkmoth is finished with his little vacation," he noticed. "While I can't say I'm too excited to come up with more excuses for going missing during akuma attacks, I did miss you bugaboo."

"I missed you too, Chat. How have you been this past month?"

"Hmm…" he looked to his left, "well it's certainly been an interesting month. A lot changed in my life, but I feel good. I feel free," he finished, cryptically. He had always said his life at home was suffocating. Maybe he had finally moved out? I didn't want to pry, so I left that thought unsaid. "I did miss seeing those spots around the city, though. You are quite a meowvelous superhero."

Something seemed off with Chat. He was happier for sure, but he seemed distant and distracted. I nodded, and laid my head on his right shoulder. I didn't have much to say, and neither it seemed did he. That was okay, though. I had become used to silence with him. We couldn't divulge too many details about our personal lives, and with the lack of akuma attacks there was only so much we could talk about. I was content to just have him with me, with his comforting presence surrounding me. We stayed there like that for about five minutes, before he decided to get up.

"Well, I have to head back. Otherwise there will be a whole search party tracking me down. People can only go without my wonderful presence for so long, " he stated with a wide grin.

"Okay," I said, ignoring his cocky statement, "Want to start our weekly patrols again?"

"Yeah, that'd be nice."

With that we left, and returned to our civilian selves. I found my orientation group near our dorm, and ran over to them. Erin looked relieved to find me. I had told her that I had just gotten separated in the chaos and hid in the Arts building. Alya quirked an eyebrow at that, but chose not to say anything. I knew I would have to be more careful in the future. Alya was smart, and she was the one running the Ladyblog, so she would know much more than the average citizen about my partner and I. We couldn't risk her finding out. If she were akumatized she could reveal our identities, ruining any sense of normalcy Chat and I have.

As we grabbed lunch and then continued our orientation tour, I couldn't help but think about Chat. Had we grown apart over time? When we first met, we were fumbling through life, trying our best to be Paris's saviors. We bonded over this new responsibility that had been placed into our admittedly way too young hands. As time went on, however, the whole superhero thing became routine, it became easier. We had figured out what to do and, in a way, we move on from the part of our lives where we were two kids playing with incredibly dangerous toys. Instead of reveling in the newness and strangeness of it all, we would simply purify the akuma, and move on with our days. I wasn't ready to share my true identity with him, I didn't know if I ever would be. There was still a part of me, however, that wished I could be closer with him, to really know him. After all, we had gone through so much together, it was only natural for me to want to know what was behind the mask.

Putting my superhero worries aside, I returned to my dorm after orientation activities ended, and prepared myself for dinner. I shot Nino a text telling him I was coming over and headed out. I was excited to see him again. I wanted to see how he had settled in and see if he had made any potential friends in his time here. With a knock on the door, I awaited his arrival. He opened the door, and greeted me with a massive hug.

"Mari! It's so good to see you. I've been stuck with this loser all day," he said as he jokingly pointed at the familiar blonde boy sitting on one of the beds behind him. My face flushed as I remembered how I had completely embarrassed myself in front of him the day prior. He had messy blonde hair, and wore thin rimmed glasses. He had a little bit of stubble on his lip and chin, and wore a green flannel shirt with some Agreste brand jeans. It was so odd to see such a casual looking guy wearing designer jeans. Oh how it must be to be rich.

I took a deep breath and responded, "It's good to see you too," I paused, looking over to the blonde boy, "and nice to properly meet you…"

"Adrien," he responded to my unspoken question. "Nice to meet you too, Mary, was it?"

"No, it's Marinette," I corrected, "Mari is just a nickname from high school. You can call me that if you'd like, though."

He gave a little nod, not really giving any hints as to what he would call me in the future. I continued to look around the room as Nino and I made idle chit chat. They had a large television with many game systems hooked up to it. It looked a bit tacky in the small dorm space, but a part of me wondered if they had Ultimate Mecha Strike. Nino never had many of his own video games, he usually just borrowed mine. I assumed this all belonged to the blonde, Adrien. Other than that, posters lined Nino's walls of different musicians. Adrien's side seemed to lack decor, which was odd for a seemingly wealthy kid.

"Well I for one am starving. You guys want to go to the dining hall?" Nino asked, inviting both of us. I was taken aback, not because I disliked Adrien, but because I barely knew the guy outside of my one embarrassing encounter with him. Adrien and I gave a nod and we made our way towards the dining hall.

So here is chapter 3! I'm not a huge fan of how I wrote the akuma attack, and I promise we will see a lot more of Adrien in the future. I hope you guys enjoy!