The bakery door jingled as Marinette pushed it open, letting the occupants know she had arrived. And even though it had been her idea to go, and Adrien was with her for support, she was still immensely nervous.

These people were supposed to be her family and closest friends. But she remembered none of them.

Oh, she remembered actions and events and incidents, but not the people themselves. Like her parents, they owned a bakery. So Marinette was certain they must have taught her. But she only remember the kitchen, and doing the baking, not any outside help or influence. And what little she remembered about school was with nameless, faceless people. Alya said she was her best friend since they were teens, but the blue haired woman couldn't place her.

She felt Adrien's hand on the small of her back, for support, as they walked farther inside. They were greeted by 4 smiling faces.

Sabine and Tom, Marinette parents, Alya, her best friend, and Alya's boyfriend Nino, who had gone to school with Marinette, even before Alya arrived at school.

They hadn't even been there 2 minutes, and already it would seem the 4 of them had been crying. Which Marinette was sure she would have felt more like them in that regard, if she could have placed their faces. But that was what was going to make this so hard. Because she didn't. They would essentially be starting over from scratch.

Well, Marinette would be. Everyone else still had 10 years plus of memories to draw from. Memories that she couldn't share with them.

Everyone was being so quiet, just staring at her. She wasn't sure what she should say to break the ice. Would it be wierd if she brought up not remembering them right away? Or should she pretend like she did? Or a mix of the two? Was she expected to hug them? She wasn't against it if they wanted to, but it would almost feel wierd if that was how she opened the meet up. Especially since she said at the charity event that she didn't know them. So then she'd just come across as fake. And she was pretty sure that wasn't how she was before. And it wasn't how she wanted to be now!

So instead, she started with a general "Hi," and a small wave of her hand.

Which seemed stupid in retrospect. But too late to take it back now.

She seemed to have unfrozen them all, for they all started chattering at once and rushing forward for hugs.

She glanced from the corner of her eye at Adrien as if to say 'what can you do?!' to which he just smiled broadly.

So, no help on that front then.

Bummer.

"Maybe you guys could let me breath a bit and we can talk." she stated jokingly.

Which prompted everyone to fall all over themselves to back up, muttering apologies.

"We've just missed you so much, sweety."

"We're so glad to have found you!"

"I wanna know all the deets, girl!"

"I just knew they were wrong when the police tried to tell us you were probably dead."

"We never gave up hope."

"That Chloe could have been nice and WARNED US instead of blindsiding us!"

"I about had a heart attack when I saw you!"

"I was sure I was seeing a ghost!"

"It's great to know you kept your sense of style at least."

"We'll see if that bled over to your music tastes as well."

They all bombarded her at once, it was hard not to laugh at them!

Which she did.

To which everyone seemed to let out a sigh of relief. So with the tension gone, everyone felt comfortable enough to take seats around the tables in the bakery that were clumped together.

Finally, to get started, "I'm not sure what you guys expected from me today," Marinette admitted. "But I'm sorry, no, i dont remember any of you."

"What kinds of things do you remember?" Alya quickly asked.

"In what way? Like insofar as what happened to me? Or like, memories from before?"

"How about both?" piped up Sabine.

Marinette rubbed her shoulder a bit, trying to know where to start.

"Well, the first thing I remember after waking up was Chat - I mean Adrien." she glanced at him with a warm smile on her face. "And when I couldn't remember who I was, he nicknamed me ladybug, for all the ladybugs on the walls in my hospital room."

With a pleased smile, Adrien spoke for the first time, "And then I brought in dozens of things to try and see what might jog her memory. Books. Games. Crafts. Food."

"After 2 weeks, the Dr's said they couldn't do anything for me, but I had nowhere to go, so Adrien took me home with him. And I've been there ever since." she finished up.

Adrien chuckled, "That's the short version."

"So then, what kinds of things do you remember, from before?" Tom asked anxiously. He rubbed the back of his neck, which Marinette, for some reason, knew meant he was nervous.

Huh. Maybe this would be more enlightening than she first thought.

"Well," she started slowly, looking around the bakery. "I remember baking in this kitchen. Specifically, macarons. I didnt even need a recipe when I tried it at Adrien's house. I remember more, but that's the only one I've tried."

"Well of course you would remember baking! Your an excellent baker! Learned from the best!" Tom's voiced boomed in the small space.

"I got you into gardening." Sabine declared warmly, patting Tom's arm gently. Immediately, Marinette knew they were always this affectionate. She distinctly remembered feeling loved.

"My balcony garden. I got that from you. We planted alot of aloe." she remembered.

"Yes, we sure did," her mother agreed, "You were a little clumsy. Especially in the kitchen."

Marinette laughed. Why was she not surprised that she had been an awkward clumsy teen?!

"I love Jagged Stone, " she added with a laugh. "I don't know that from before. Adrien just brought a cd to the hospital."

"Well, I should hope so. You've only designed 3 album covers for him so far." Nino spoke up, a huge grin on his face. "Definately kept your sense of music Mari."

Marinette's jaw dropped at Nino's casual statement.

"I did how many now?? Chloe only said one!"

"Yeah dude. You designed your first one for him when you were 14, and he freaking loved it! He comes to you for everything now. Album covers, stage outfits, sunglasses. And he mentions your name at least once in every press conference he does."

Marinette's eyes had gone huge. She had designed multiple times for JAGGED STONE!!

Eeeeee...

She didn't know alot about him yet, had only listened to a few of his songs so far. But just the fact that she was sought out by somebody famous so many times was mind-boggling!

Placing a hand on her chest, she tried to keep her heart from beating out of it.

"God, that's amazing!" she whispered.

"Not only that," Alya started, "Famous fashion designer Audrey Bourgious, who founded Gabriel Agreste, offered you an internship in New York with her when you were 14! You had won a contest, and Adrien modelled your winning hat, and Audrey loved it."

"Hey," Adrien frowned, "I remember that contest. There was a real pigeon feather in it, and I'm allergic, so it had to be switched for a fake one. I can't believe that was you!"

"Well kitty, it seems I've known you alot longer than we realized. " to which she followed up with kissing Adrien on the cheek. Said blondes cheeks bloomed with color as a smile bloomed on his face.

"What about me!?" Tom demanded. "do you remember anything about me??"

"Not really," she admitted sadly. " I remember I can't replicate your coffee. You make an amazing herb bread, which Mister Fu would like a loaf of. And that you used to send me to school with lots of baking. But not actually you."

She watched Tom's chest puff up, like he was proud. Which confused her.

"Well now, it's not the person that's important. It's a person's actions that speak louder than anything else!" he boomed happily.

Huh. She'd never really thought of it that way before.

Unable to remove the smile from her face without a crow bar, Marinette knew why she had once loved these people. And it would not be a hardship to love them again.

Xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

"That wasn't so hard, now was it?" Adrien teased as they drove back to his house.

With a lifted brow, she turned and just stared at him knowingly.

He finally glanced over, and he laughed at her expression.

"I know, I know! I was more worried than you were! I get it. Don't need to rub it in."

Turning back to face forward, she smirked. "I never said a word."

"You might not have uttered a sound, but your eyes were shouting 'liar' at me." came his muttered defense.