As it turned out, the museum was both in the middle of nowhere and in the centre of the city. Marinette had never been here before, not even for some sort of field-trip. Whilst it was signposted, she'd had to check the address a couple of times to make sure that this was the right place. It was only when she remembered that Adrien's face was all over Paris, that it made some more sense to her. He would want somewhere secluded to be able to talk in private, even parks could be too open as they had both discovered during their younger years. Why this place? Asian art maybe. At any rate, it was small enough to look little different to any of the other buildings around them. She shrugged, entering and getting her ticket. There didn't seem to be anyone else in here apart from the staff.

Climbing the large staircase, she made her way into the first room, Chinese antiquities. He was standing there, staring at what she could best describe as a large bronze vessel of some kind. He seemed to sense as soon as she entered the room, turning slowly to face her. His eyes widened upon seeing her, fixing her as if he couldn't quite believe that she was actually here. The young man didn't speak, a slight, almost nervous smile crept onto his features. She didn't return the gesture, appearing neither hostile nor overjoyed to see him. Indeed, the young woman remained too confused to feel strongly one way or another. It didn't prevent her from approaching. She did so steadily, her arms folded across her chest until she joined him in front of the display cabinet.

There was a silence which formed between the two of them. Marinette didn't even read the plaque explaining just what the strange vessel was, she contented herself with fixing it, admiring its unusualness and wondering just what it might have been used for. It allowed her to try and gather her thoughts together. Standing this close to Adrien, it was almost like he was giving off some strange frequency which served to disrupt her own ability to think clearly. Standing side by side, it took her a few minutes to relax somewhat. The anger, frustration and resentment might not have disappeared but it became less enveloping, more of a secondary concern. Her companion seemed to sense the tension, allowing it to ebb away gradually before finally speaking in a hushed tone:

"I didn't think you'd come."

"For a while, neither did I."

Even after her conversation with Luka, doubts had plagued her. Even walking out here, she'd come close to turning around twice. It wasn't just resentment at his actions. Nerves made her somewhat fearful about showing herself. Eventually, it had been with a deep breath to give herself some courage that she had dared to penetrate into the museum, knowing that somewhere inside, Adrien Agreste was waiting for her. Even know, she didn't really know what to expect. Her former friend seemed to be relatively relaxed, she certainly wasn't detecting any hostility from him. Things remained awkward, neither too sure what to say and so preferring to remain silent. More than once, the young man opened his mouth, words hanging on the end of his tongue but refusing to come.

There were only a handful of people in the museum. A couple of visitors asides themselves and a few members of staff charged with ensuring that nobody got a little too close to the exhibits. It made things awkward in that Marinette found herself hesitating to speak. She wasn't the same fourteen year old that she had once been, she knew what some people would assume if they saw the two of them together in a place like this. As quiet as it was, she found herself wondering why he hadn't just invited her round to his place if he was so worried about being troubled by the press (that was assuming that he cared at all). Finally, after a few minutes of silence, Adrien spoke, hesitating and uncertain but no longer able to bear the empty space which had formed between them:

"I take it you got the flowers?"

"I did." She turned to look at him out of the corner of her peripheral vision. "Red roses? Seriously?"

"Did I do something wrong?" She could tell that the innocence was real, not him trying to wriggle out of a mistake he had made by playing dumb.

"Roses mean love. Now my parents are completely freaking out. Pretty sure they think we were dating..." She'd explained herself several times to the best of her ability but somehow, she wasn't convinced that it was entirely effective.

"Sorry. I just didn't know what to do. People give flowers to each other, don't they? I mean, you see it in all the cartoons and-" He stopped himself, catching sight of her aghast expression. "Next time I'll check with Nathalie..."

"Please do."

In truth, her anger over the flowers was more of an irritation. She didn't entirely mind the gift but the fact that it had gone through her parents' hands first had only caused them to become suspicious. Their questions about young Adrien Agreste had become somewhat more frequent, less guarded. She knew them well enough to know that they had never suspected that he might have been part of his parents' sinister plot. As such, they didn't have the same concerns which some might have had. Their interest was annoyingly personal, eager to know just how close the two of them were. For the time being, she was relatively confident that she had been able to convince them that they were nothing more than old friends and that he was a little confused…

She let out a sigh, there was something about Adrien which made it very difficult to stay angry at him. Maybe it was that innocence which he seemed to have both cultivated and maintained during his time away which made her feel like she was kicking a puppy. The notion of him going through Nathalie before dealing with anything personal was one which struck her as being almost comical. The young woman shifted, trying to keep her mind roughly on track. She had many questions, least of which was whether or not her companion was going to be willing to play ball:

"I've never been here before." She confessed glancing around her surroundings. "What made you pick it?"

"Honestly? I wanted somewhere quiet but not too public. Not many people come to this museum." He hesitated a few moments before tentatively adding. "This was the last place I remember coming with my mom before she vanished… Stupid really, it meant so much to me but she was probably just searching for stuff to do with the miraculouses and her condition."

"Do you hate your parents?"

She surprised herself with her own boldness. She bitterly regretted her words. They had slipped out. A moment of unguarded curiosity was to blame. It was a question she had often wondered. She remembered Cat's rage when he had fought both Hawk Moth and Mayura for the final time. It had seemed out of place at the time but they'd put it down to desperation: the urge to end things once and for all. That had been a decade ago, once the masks had fallen, they'd all had plenty of time to wonder about Adrien Agreste's state of mind. None of them could even begin to relate to what it must have been like for him. It was an insensitive and potentially foolish thing to ask him, she realized. There was no saying just how he would react and if it would potentially reopen some painful old wounds.

It was clear that it was something which hurt the young man to think back to. His eyes lowered, fixing nothing in particular, simply lost in the past. There was silence for a few moments before he finally let out:

"I thought I did. I want to..." His turned around to face her, his face for once not betraying his emotions. "Nathalie keeps on saying I should go and see them but honestly I don't really trust myself."

He let her make what she would of that statement. She couldn't. Perhaps lacking the will to do so.

It was a subject which Marinette decided against pushing any further. She could already tell that it was something which was sensitive and liable to upset her old friend. It wasn't as if she was short of questions to ask. Once more, she decided to let silence settle in so that things calmed down at least somewhat. She bitterly regretted asking something so personal, especially after such a long time apart. Adrien's face was stony. He wore a slight frown, fixing the vase once more. She wondered if they held any actual interest for him or were merely objects which brought back memories from a time when things seemed simpler. She found herself looking around for something more innocuous to discuss. Ironically, it occurred to her that they were surrounded by potential themes:

"Are you actually into all this stuff?"

"It's grown on me a bit." The young man confessed looking around him. "I used to study the book with Master to try and decode it."

"Did you manage?" She questioned genuinely curious.

"We did about three quarters before he passed."

"Maybe you should try getting into it or something." It wasn't an entirely serious suggestion, she knew full-well it wasn't something that he could easily do. Not in his current situation.

"Thanks but I think a job as a "pretty boy" is what I can look forwards to."

The young man chuckled, almost as if he found the notion amusing. After a few seconds, he dared to turn to face her. There was a timidity behind his eyes which she remembered well from when they had both been teenagers. In that respect, he barely seemed to have changed at all. Still the same boy who'd spent most of his life cut off from the rest of the world and who now found himself treading on eggshells every time he went outside. Was it cute or sad? She wasn't entirely sure. He tried his best and unfortunately it wasn't always enough. A somewhat graver sense of what had happened seemed to take hold, causing him to look away again. His eyes spoke of regret as he fixed the same vessel mindlessly. He finally let out a few words, still refusing to look at her:

"If you want, we can go somewhere more private. Any questions you have, I'll answer them."

"Lets do that." She didn't even think about the notion for more than a couple of seconds.

Adrien nodded once, departing with her in silence.

They didn't go far as it turned out. Just to the neighbouring park. It was pleasantly quiet. There were some people, families for the most part, out with their children. They paid the two young adults little attention, too wrapped up in their own affairs to notice Adrien Agreste and Marinette Dupain-Cheng out for a walk. All the same, the former Ladybug couldn't help but notice that her companion had pulled the hood of his sweatshirt up so that it covered a good part of his head, in particular his hair. Perhaps its golden locks were too noticeable, he feared. It didn't bother her too much, although she would rather have been able to see his whole face as opposed to only that which wasn't concealed by the hoodie but was willing to put up with it if it meant that they didn't get find their faces suddenly on the front of some tabloid paper.

The two of them settled down on a park bench in a secluded spot: not so much as to seem suspicious but well out of the earshot. There was still a part of all of this which felt somewhat unreal to her. Not necessarily dream like, not like that first night (or at least the beginning of it) when he'd shown up on the steps of her school but still bizarre. Perhaps it was because it was all so natural, sitting there, it was something she could have imagined herself doing with him if he'd never left. The reality hit home once more when he asked:

"What is it you'd like to know?"

"Easy." She responded looking the young man dead in the eye. "Why did you chase us away?"

"It seemed like the right thing to do." His voice trailed off for a moment as he thought about the matter. "It's complicated but there's a life I'm supposed to live now. You guys, it's not fair for me to ask you to have to become a part of it."

"But we want to. You're our friend Adrien!" She paused wondering how she could possibly get the point across. "I get it. You went through a lot but we all missed you like crazy whilst you were away… Honestly after a while, I sort of wondered if you were even still alive."

It was something that she'd never before confessed to. It was possible that others had guessed or at least suspected. After all, the worries seemed justified when the months of silence had turned into years. Adrien's silence, as well as that of Master Fu had become more than slightly worrying. Had they gotten into some sort of trouble? Even if they had, with no clue as to just where the two of them had disappeared to, it would be impossible for their friends to stage any form of rescue. They had been forced to fear the worst and hope for the best. The lack of communication had hurt. There was nothing worse than the uncertainty of not knowing, except perhaps the fact that they were unable to do anything to change the fact that their friend had vanished into thin air and was likely never to be heard from again.

Adrien lowered his head. His shame was obvious. Now, over a decade later. Marinette felt as if she might have been about to get some answers, an explanation as to just why silence had prevailed for a decade. It took him a few seconds, not because she got the feeling that he was reluctant to answer but simply to try and find the right words, the correct way of expressing himself. When he spoke, it was slowly, the regret easily discernible:

"I meant to write. Master encouraged me to. I must have tried like a hundred times but whenever I tried, I don't know. It's like I could never- I could never apologize enough."

"Apologize for what?" She fixed him with confusion.

"Everything… Hawk Moth and Mayura, both of them, they harmed so many people. Think about everything they cost you and I didn't even know…" He hesitated a moment before adding in a mere whisper. "I didn't want to know. I couldn't face you, any of you, after all that, so I ran."

"You didn't have to… We never blamed you."

"Maybe… But then who would have taken Master Fu's place? I think he knew his time was coming to an end. I thought I saw a way to redeem myself, to make amends for everything my parents did." He let out a sigh, throwing his head backwards so as to look at the sky. "I was willing to give up my life for that. I couldn't and can't ask any of you to do the same."

Marinette simply stared at her friend. He'd run away so quickly into the night, only showing them his face for a few seconds. She could remember the pain behind his green eyes. Pain and shame. If it weren't for Master Fu, she suspected they would never have known where he was going. He would have vanished into thin air. She couldn't have said whether she felt compassion or resentment for the young man. A part of her could understand, he'd left for Tibet. It was something which Adrien could afford to do: all of his ties to the city had been rather violently severed, he didn't have to concern himself with how his family would cope without him. It wouldn't have been so easy for his friends. If nothing else, emotionally, at the time, the former Ladybug found herself unsure if she would have had the emotional maturity to be separated from her parents.

She found herself wondering just how much he had been forced to sacrifice atop that mountain. It wasn't just the vows, whilst she didn't know the entirety of just what he had promised, her best guess was that he'd been able to adapt well-enough to the restrictions. It was more his former life which he had been forced to say farewell to. Not because his mentor asked him to but because he felt that it was the only path forwards. Just what had caused the young man to come to such a radical conclusion was beyond her but she felt certain that it must have hurt him. The young woman spent a few moments looking for the right words. How to make him understand that he had been wrong? Cutting them off had not been and wasn't the solution.

"We'll always be here for you. We're your friends. You didn't have to run…" She closed her eyes, letting her shoulders slump down slightly as she did so. "I don't know if you think you're protecting us but you really don't need to. What you're doing is hurting us. Can't you let us in?"

"I can." Adrien's gaze remained fixed somewhat vacantly on those enjoying themselves in the park. "-but you've got to understand, I can't give up my responsibilities. Some of it's going to seem strange – believe me, I know – but it's the way I live my life now."

"Of course…" She cast her mind back to the limited amount of interactions she'd had with him so far. "Does this have anything to do with the plain noodles and training regime thing Nathalie was talking about?"

"Amongst other things. I really shouldn't have come out here at this time." He added hastily as something of an afterthought. "It's throwing my routine into disarray but I thought I could get away with it just for today."

"Really?" Her tone was light-hearted enough to let him know he hadn't caused any more offence. "So what should you be doing?"

"Right now? Working… It can be pretty varied."

No doubt she could have come up with a thousand questions for her friend both about what his life now resembled and what it had been with Master Fu. She suspected that he must have had some tales to tell. For the time being however, the young man appeared to be somewhat distracted. His gaze wasn't resting on anything in particular but he none-the-less seemed preoccupied. No doubt his thoughts were to blame. She abandoned her interrogation so as to give him the opportunity to finish his reflection in peace, allowing him as much time as he needed. Something must have changed, she realized, to cause him to come back so openly to her. It was after a minute or so that he finally asked, hesitantly:

"The others… Do you think they could forgive me?"

"Of course." She assured the young man both honestly and confidently. "We don't hate you but you did kick us out of your house."

"I know… I'm sorry." He paused, visibly contemplating something. "Do you think, if you talked to them, they'd want to come for dinner?"

She frowned, raising an eyebrow. Was that a dinner invitation? It certainly sounded like one. She only had to think about her answer for a few seconds. Alya, she knew might still resent the way that she had been treated but would ultimately agree to pretty much anything if she thought it might get her a scoop (even if in this case, there was no chance of her publishing it). Her curiosity, whilst it made her a force to be reckoned with in the journalistic world, could also be something of a weakness. Nino, she doubted would pose much of a problem, if he'd been offended enough to snub an invitation – something Marinette doubted – his girlfriend would twist his arm, convincing him to go along. Chloe was admittedly somewhat harder to predict although something told the young woman that in this instance, they had relatively little to fear. The maire's daughter had always been remarkably patient and forgiving as far as "Adrikens" was concerned.

She was relatively sure that all of them would show up if he invited them. Just what they could expect from their former friend was another matter all together…

"Yeah. They'd come." She spoke confidently, even if they were initially reluctant, she felt that she would be able to talk them into it.

"So… Say, next Friday?"

"I'm free. I'm pretty sure the others are as well." It was mostly true, although she wasn't exactly completely up to date with all of her friends' schedules.

"Great!" In a flash, the young man seemed to have cheered up, a broad smile occupying his face. "Hopefully I can make things up to them."

She nodded once. Agreeing with him. The young woman was rather inclined not to guarantee that everything would go smoothly, at least not initially. Like her, her friends would need a little while to forgive him and to let the bitterness go. The first few minutes might be awkward. Alternatively, they were talking about a date a little over a week in the future, it was perfectly possible that emotions would have died down by then making it nothing more than the reunion of friends that it should have been initially.

They chatted for a while longer. As before, the young man seemed more interested in her life than anything else. His questions, whilst not so personal as to seem offensive, lead her to believe that he genuinely didn't have much of a clue as to what had occurred during his absence. She asked him about Nathalie, wasn't she keeping him up to date? She had, he informed her. At least to the best of her ability. As a woman who was so freshly out of prison, she herself had struggled to get her head around everything that had happened. As far as the former miraculous holders went, she had sought to keep as far away from them as humanly possible – and failed miserably when the son of her former boss had dumped himself on her doorstep. Even now, she remained unwilling to do much research into that sort of thing. It would look suspicious, she had informed him on more than one occasion. That left him still preciously isolated from the rest of the world.

"I'm still not entirely confident with going out there. I don't want to do or say something stupid." He confessed looking down at his lap.

"You're not going to learn until you try." She informed him, feeling some sympathy.

"Now you're sounding like Nathalie..." It was a bemused grumble.

"Please don't say that..." Her few memories of the woman, weren't entirely pleasant.

"I actually mean it as a compliment." The young man chuckled briefly. "Bug her enough and she gives some pretty good advice."

"I'll keep that in mind."

His expression softened. There was a gentleness behind his green orbs which brought her back to the steps leading down from their school all those years ago. For the first time, it actually felt as if she was in the presence of the same young man. The coldness which he had displayed in his manor a few days ago had been banished into the realms of a bad memory. This was the way that things – that he, should have been.

In a split second, the spell was broken. There was a loud beeping sound originating from somewhere on her friend's person. His eyes widened abruptly. In a flash, the young man whipped out his cellphone. It was an alarm, she quickly realized, as opposed to an incoming call. Adrien was quick to silence it. His expression betrayed the verdict however. He didn't even attempt to hide his disappointment, letting out a sigh. She'd already guessed that their time together was coming to an end for the day. It was with an apologetic smile that he turned back to face her. She nodded slowly, understanding, allowing the action to speak for her.

"I'm really sorry..."

"Don't worry. I understand..." She was sincere. "You have responsibilities now."

"Yeah. I do hope we can see each other again." He added quickly afterwards. "Soon."

"Sure. Do you still have my number?"

"No..."

They exchanged them, with the promise to stay in contact. She would let him know what the others said about dinner. It was with a wave of the hand that Adrien walked off. He offered to drop her back off at the bakery but she politely refused. She would prefer the walk, the young woman told him, adding hastily that it was nothing to do with him and that usually she would love to, in fact she would and-… It had been a long time since she had ended up in such a tongue-tied situation. Her friend seemed to be just as baffled as he had always been, at least for a few seconds, before laughing it off as her being "funny". Not exactly what she was going for but there were worse things to be called, she supposed.

They parted with a smile and for the first time since their reunion, the feeling that there might still be something there.

/

Thanks again to Mayuralover for the review.