Christmas rolled around faster than Adrien had expected to the extent where he actually found himself wondering if he still remembered the date correctly. His friends laughed, assuring him that a centuries old tradition hadn't suddenly changed days in a decade. It was still celebrated on the 25th of December. As if the lights which had been hung up since the middle of November weren't enough of a clue, he had come home one day to find a piece of tinsel carefully wrapped around the doorhandle of the front door. A reminder that they might want to get started with the decorating. Nathalie denied all knowledge, finding it more likely that "Mr. Lahiffe" was responsible.

He hadn't argued about the matter and instead had departed the very same day to get a tree or at least attempted to. One glance at his car had been enough to convince him that there was no way he was going to get a decent sized tree in there. Thankfully, one of the many benefits of owning one of the world's biggest fashion companies was that it was relatively easy to have a near perfect one delivered right to his very doorstep. In the space of three hours, which he would usually have dedicated to work of one kind or another anyway, Agreste mansion found itself decorated for the first time in over a decade. Even Nathalie, usually one to bury herself in work as much as she could, lended a hand, to his surprise, voluntarily and without being asked discarding her tablet to aid him with putting up the lights. He might have been imagining it but there was a certain festive atmosphere around the house which he couldn't recall existing since that one time his father had suffered a coup de folie and allowed him to have his friends and their families in for dinner.

It was somewhat later that evening when he departed to go and meet up with his friends. He couldn't afford to spend every single day of the week with them but meeting up at least twice had become something of a routine this past month. Slowly, it felt as if they were building something. It wasn't what it had once been. Whilst there was no hostility or mistrust between them, they weren't the same group of enthousiastic and innocent youths they had started off as. Perhaps that would have happened anyhow. They had all grown up, shaped not only by the events that they had survived as teenagers but by a further decade of life experiences: many good but some painful. They would never know for sure but it was possible that what they were experiencing now was merely the natural evolution of their friendship.

Marinette wasn't about to complain about anything other than the freezing Parisien temperatures in mid-December and the icy wind which was blowing that night. If Nino and Alya had each other to snuggle up to as they walked along, the other three didn't. A warm scarf, hat and pair of gloves was what she was going to have to make due with. Chloe had already spent the best part of half an hour complaining about the numerous ways that this was terrible for both her look and her skin. Whilst ordinarily, the aspiring fashion designer would have been rolling her eyes by now, tonight, she was rather inclined to agree with her friend. Her attention fell upon Adrien, the only one who didn't appear to be trying to shrink away inside of his jacket:

"Aren't you cold?" She asked the young man.

"Not really..." He shrugged his shoulders indifferently. "It could get seriously chilly in Tibet. Summer was nice though."

He offered her a soft smile as they continued their little walk. The chill in the air was undeniable and encouraged the little group to remain perhaps more quiet than they usually would have been in other circumstances. Adrien in particular, was uncommonly quiet. He had scarcely spoken that evening other than when one of his friends asked him a direct question. His mind seemed elsewhere. Specifically the rooftops... Something up there seemed fascinating. More than once they'd asked him what it was. Nothing... He would assure them. Or once, "just a bird" he had claimed. She found it odd but otherwise didn't question it. He would no doubt still have an awful lot on his mind, not all of which he was willing to share.

She focused on the others' discussion instead, hoping that it would be enough to shake their friend out of whatever world he seemed to be drifting off to tonight. They were on the last leg of their journey. Living all within about half an hour's walk from one another, it was a relatively simple affair for them to go their seperate ways. Alya and Nino would break off as they went back to their flat, then Chloe, Marinette and finally Adrien who would make the last part on his own. The order might change depending on the route they were following but more often than not, they found themselves doing things in that order.

"So, you dudes ready for Chrismas next week?!" Nino spoke as they chatted a while in front of his street door.

"Of course, it's our busiest time of year at the bakery!" Marinette reminded them, her parents had been working almost non-stop trying to keep track of all of the orders.

"Daddikens is planning something so big... Not even I know!" Chloe answered fighting against her chattering teeth.

"What about you Adrien?" Alya questioned the young man, once more in a world of his own.

"Me?" He smiled fondly as if it was his automatic response to anything. "Christmas with Nathalie is an exchange of stationary items."

Marinette giggled slightly. As harsh as the description might have seem, she knew it to be largely accurate. She'd only seen an Agreste Christmas the once and knew that it had been under somewhat unusual circumstances. With just the two of them, she dared to hope that things might be a little more open and friendly not that the assistant was the warmest of people. For a moment, she contemplated inviting him round. Her parents wouldn't mind. On the contrary, they would probably welcome the young man if they thought it would mean he wasn't spending the day by himself or otherwise not making the most of it. They'd already gingerly drifted the idea past him. Once more, he'd seemed luke-warm about the concept. He'd been polite about the matter but he'd rather not be a burden on them.

They bid farewell to their two friends, promising to meet up at least once more before the holiday. Even once they had dropped off Chloe, Adrien still seemed to be quiet. They had grown somewhat accustomed to him drifting off to some place distant where they couldn't follow. It wasn't quite a common occurrence but for some reason, some days he just didn't seem to be entirely present. Tonight was different however, it was as if something had captured his attention and he was having a hard time ignoring it. More than once, she'd allowed her gaze to wander, trying to pinpoint whatever was disturbing him. So far, to no avail. A part of her was inclined to let things lie and assume it was just another one of the number of quirks which had followed him back from Tibet.

It was when they were about half way back to her house that she finally dared to ask, growing somewhat concerned and unnerved by the behaviour:

"Is everything alright?"

"It's nothing… I thought I saw something back there, on the rooftops, probably just a bird." He let out a brief but dry laugh. "Everything's so big and noisy here. It can be too much at times."

"You're still having trouble adjusting?" There was some genuine concern there, after a month she'd hoped he would be largely back to normal.

"Even when I lived here, it's not like I was allowed to go out a lot." His gaze fixed the space ahead of them absently. "I'm out of touch."

"Maybe you need to get out a bit more." She suggested cautiously.

"Maybe..."

For perhaps the first time that evening, his eyes rested on her for a few moments. His thoughts were a mystery. She'd grown somewhat accustomed to the fact that those green orbs weren't the same lively and enthusiastic ones which she'd known as a teenager. Something, somewhere had changed. Maybe he was just older now. He'd been forced to deal with more hardships in the space of one year than many would face in their lifetimes. His world had been turned on its head. That had to change a man. As of yet, they had tiptoed around the matter, unsure just what, if anything, Master Fu had done to try and help him through it. It was possible, although she prayed the old man would have been a little more sensitive, that nothing had been done and he'd been left to his own devices to heal.

She bit her lip, unwilling to say anything else about the matter. With time, he might open up some more. At least they hoped. The rest of the walk was spent in relative silence. She wanted to say something, anything to alleviate that fact but couldn't even begin to think of what would be able to break the ice. From time to time, his eyes would drift down to rest on her and then flicker away as soon as he realized he had been noticed so that his gaze rested somewhere else. Again, atypical behaviour for him. It was hard for her not to compare this young man to the teenager she'd fallen in love with. Even after the month or so since they'd been reunited, he still didn't quite feel right…

They were at the door before she was able to think about the issue any further. Adrien paused, fixing her as she stood there but remained quiet. He seemed a little lost, as if tonight he couldn't quite remember what he was supposed to do from here on out. All that was required was a simple 'goodbye' and 'see you around'. Yet there he was, green eyes wide and confused. The way he stared at her, it was almost as if she was a stranger to him. She hesitated on the doorstep, unable to do anything but gawk back. It must have looked awkward to anybody passing by. Hopefully her parents hadn't decided to chose that specific moment to look out of the window… It was with a somewhat nervous laugh that she decided to break the silence and put an end to the somewhat peculiar behaviour:

"Well… Goodnight."

"Goodnight."

It was a quiet statement. She waited until he had begun to turn away and walk the rest of the relatively short distance separating them from his house before turning back in turn to unlock the door and step in from the cold.

A hand on her left forearm stopped her in her tracks. Its hold wasn't violet or even rough. On the contrary, it was gentle ensuring that there was no possible way that he could hurt her. She turned back around to face the young man, wondering just what had gotten into his head. Marinette received no immediate answer. Whilst he might have grabbed her, Adrien still refused to raise his eyes to meet hers, instead fixing some part of the sidewalk a few feet away. She frowned, waiting patiently for an explanation. Time trickled by, her concern mounting with each passing second. When it seemed as if he was going to remain silent, she opened her mouth ready to ask. Curiously, it was then that he chose to speak:

"Marinette..." He spoke quietly, barely more than a whisper before leaving a pause. His green eyes rose to meet hers. "I'm sorry… I know I'm not who I was- Who you guys wanted back."

What to say to that?

For a few moments, all Marinette could do was stare. As her presence of mind gradually returned, her first instinct was to assure him that he was wrong. He was exactly the person they had waited for for over a decade. His fears were misplaced. Something stopped her however. It caused the denial which had formed on the tip of her tongue to get stuck. Instead, she found herself agreeing with the statement. At least in part. Given the choice, he wasn't the Adrien they had wanted back. They had longed for the cheery and innocent fourteen year old. He no longer existed. It had been both wrong and foolish of them to wish for him back… Now, faced with the lost young man who had returned, nobody seemed to know just what to do. She spoke, uncertainly desperate to find a way to express herself clearly without potentially breaking his heart:

"You've grown up. We all have..." She felt the heat rise to her cheeks with the awkwardness of the situation. "We just weren't with you when it happened. That's all. We must seem different to you too."

"No… Not really." He shook his head slowly. "It's like everything's stayed more or less the same but it's all so strange to me now."

She stared at him, unable to respond. It was the first time he'd ever expressed such doubts or confessed that he was having trouble adapting. As such, she found herself woefully unprepared to deal with it. She blinked a few times, struggling to think of what words of wisdom and comfort (if any) she could call upon. A part of her simply wanted to run over to her, slip her arms around his neck and let him know that it would be alright. They'd work something out together. The words didn't quite make it to her mouth however as he let her go, pulling away. He seemed to linger there for a second before out of nowhere, summoning a soft and gentle smile one which completely failed to match what he had just said:

"It's stupid. I know. I'll get over it!" He met her with a beaming smile. "Anyhow, see you around!"

Her mouth was open, waiting to call after him but it seemed as if he had already gone, moving quickly through the night and back towards the manor in the distance. For a moment, she contemplated charging after him but thought better of it. Something didn't quite feel right about tonight, she didn't know what it was. She would call or go to visit him in the morning. He could simply have been feeling a bit rough she supposed. They only ever saw him for couple of hours at a time and as Nathalie had informed them, it was almost always during his free time towards the end of the day after he'd been up since some ungodly hour and spent a large portion of his time training. In short, he quite often was running on fumes. It would be comforting to put his odd behaviour down to something so mundane…

"Marinette? Are you okay down there?!" She heard someone call out from above her.

"Fine!" She looked up to see her parents, somewhat concerned glancing down at her, they must have heard some of the exchange, she realized. "Be right up!"

She gave the young man a sorrowful glance as he disappeared off into the distance, deciding that she would be better off trying to talk to him sooner rather than later.

Adrien arrived home not long after. He walked briskly through the streets, not so much bothered by the cold as eager to find some shelter in one of the few places that seemed familiar. The mansion, where he'd grown up, was an island in the middle of the city. It offered the possibility to escape, to find some tranquillity. The only other occupants wouldn't bother him – other than for something essential to do with the business or cheese – even then, more often than not they could tell when he needed some time alone. Nathalie, diligent as ever let him in. Her eyes followed him as he made his way into the building. His own gaze flickering around outside rapidly, desperate to get one last glimpse of the city before the door was shut once more.

"You seem on edge..." The woman noted, some concern in her voice.

He simply shrugged, unwilling to deny the fact that something, somewhere was wrong. He simply couldn't put his finger on it.

Instead, he allowed himself to drift listlessly into the living room instead. He flopped down uselessly on the couch, his head dangling off of the end so that the world appeared to be upside down. Nathalie followed. At this time, she would usually have been contemplating retiring to her quarters for a quiet read before bed. There was a certain routine, a tradition almost of her bidding her employer goodnight. She wondered if he would even make it back to his bedroom given how utterly spent he suddenly appeared to be. Watching him as he lay there, she found herself wondering if he might have actually fallen asleep. It was only when he opened one eye, peering at her that she realized he wasn't:

"Nathalie, can you tell me something?"

"I can tell you a good deal, much of which I doubt you'd be interested in and some I'm certain you'd find offensive."

"About girls." He clarified a second later, not put off by her response.

"Girls in general, one in particular or Miss Dupain-Cheng?"

He signalled her with three fingers. For once, Nathalie didn't even attempt to hide her disgruntlement, letting out a frustrated sigh as she rolled her eyes. It wasn't lost on the young man, who turned over slightly. There was still an expectation behind his eyes as he fixed her, apparently the not-so-subtle hints that she was giving him weren't quite enough. She'd been afraid that something like this would happen and now found herself faced with the consequences in the form of a 24 year old with little to no experience of matters of the heart. She knew that in his youth, he had been something of a hopeless romantic. The man? She was less sure about but she found it hard to believe that he had changed quite that much.

She found herself thinking back to simpler times, before miraculouses and superpowers… When she'd just been an assistant to a wealthy businessman with a young son who needed looking after:

"This is one of the three discussions I swore to your father I would never have with you!"

"The others being?" The young man queried, despite everything, he remained remarkably curious about certain aspects of his parents' past.

"The birds and the bees and just why your parents were trying to destroy Paris." She replied thinking back to the discussion.

"See, you've already told me about both those things!"

Nathalie frowned. She was quite close to giving him a forceful "goodnight" and leaving matters there. She knew the young man well enough to know that he wouldn't chase her or hold it against her. Still, there was something about the innocent confusion which caused her to linger there. If nothing else, the assistant reasoned, if she could prevent a mistake from being made. It would spare her the headache and hardship of having to try and repair (or help her boss repair) the damage later on if he somehow managed to make a mess. With a resigned sigh, she allowed herself to collapse into a nearby armchair. Trying to ignore what she was about to do, the woman spoke:

"So what's the matter? Have you unintentionally insulted the poor girl again or do you just need tips on how to do so?"

"No!" He raised his hands defensively. "I don't think so, at least… It's just. I really like her."

"Look, Adrien…" She was done with the sarcasm for the time being, treating the issue with some seriousness. "I'm not exactly the best person to be talking to about this kind of thing, you'd probably be better off with your kwami."

"You must have been in love before." The young man argued back before turning to Plagg. "The only thing he cares about is cheese!"

"Love, as you know, is a very powerful word..." The assistant reminded him. "Look, if you like her. Talk to her. Go on a date! Do what most people your age would."

She could see him thinking the notion through. Running it over in his mind. It shouldn't have been such an alien concept to him, perhaps it wouldn't have been at one time or if he'd been allowed to enjoy a regular youth. She was rather inclined to excuse herself, to go upstairs and give in to the tiredness and get some sleep in preparation for yet another day of trying to drag a fashion company back up from the depths. She was half-way to pushing herself up when she realized that Adrien wasn't quite done yet. She fought the urge to roll her eyes and tell him to get a move on. Instead, summoning what little remained of her professional demeanour as he finally asked:

"And how would I do that?"

Marinette looked up at her ceiling mindlessly. Sleep wasn't coming as easily tonight as she had hoped it might. Her mind was troubled. The image of her friend, so lost and confused haunted her. There was little doubt in her mind that she had to try doing something… But what? It would be hard to convince him to change his ways, especially when she couldn't immediately think of just what she could advise him to do. Opening up would be a good start, making an effort. It was probably arrogant to assume that he wasn't doing that much already. A month, she reasoned, wasn't a lot of time in the scheme of things. It might take a good deal longer before he was healed completely or at the very least had gotten used to his surroundings once more. Maybe time really could mend all…

Still, his confession lingered on her conscience.

It was yet another one of those circumstances where she found herself longing for Tikki. Whilst Alya could and often did provide good advice. There was something about the kwami's insight which Marinette had found herself deeply missing these years. It hadn't just been Adrien who had left that day after all… Her strange little companion had left a strange hole which she'd never ever tried to fill and she sensed would have been of much use to her at a time such as this. She always seemed to know just what to do and what to say, even in the most complicated of situations. Marinette let out a sigh, wondering if perhaps the new guardian of the miraculouses might let them see their former partners. Not to wield their power but simply to talk…

She was disturbed by her phone which abruptly began to ring, causing her to sit bolt upright in her bed from fright. Who on earth would call her at such a time?! She grabbed the device, eager to silence it before it woke up the entire household. Somehow, she wasn't all that surprised to see the name Adrien Agreste pop up. Rubbing her eyes, she answered slightly concerned:

"Adrien?"

"Hi, Mari..." He sounded unsure, nervous even. "Is this a bad time?"

"What? No..." A lie, she would rather not have been dealing with him this late/early in the day. "Is everything okay?"

"Yes. It's fine…" His voice trailed off, leaving a slightly uneasy pause. "I was just wondering… Would you, maybe like to- Go for a drink or something?"

"It'll depend what day and you'll have to check with the others but yeah-"

"No." He cut her short before adding in a timid voice. "I meant just you and me."

"What?" Surprise caused her to raise her voice slightly, waking her up completely. "Like a date?"

"Yeah..."

At one time she would have jumped at the opportunity. Said "yes" without even thinking about it. She had dreamed of such a chance for over a year, sitting in class and daydreaming about the golden haired boy with green eyes.

To her surprise however, she found herself hesitating. She couldn't have said what it was but something caused her to think the matter over twice. He wasn't that same boy whom she'd stared longingly at. He was a very different person. Not a bad one, not by any means but changed enough for her to be more than aware of the fact. That asides, she found herself wondering if given his current state of mind, it would necessarily in his best interests. The last thing she wanted was to end up one way or another confusing him any more than he already was. On the other hand, what harm could one date do? She was hardly committing to spending the rest of her life with him. It might let the two of them come back to terms with just what their feelings were after a decade.

"Okay…" She replied in a quiet voice, too sleepy to think about the matter any further. "What time and where?"

"I uh… Can I get back to you on that?" She got a slightly nervous laugh from the other end. "I may have forgotten to think that one through – Oh come on, don't roll your eyes!"

"What?"

"Sorry, not you. I was talking to Nathalie..." He explained a little sheepishly.

"Okay." Despite everything, she couldn't help but giggle in response. "I tell you what, you know the Café at the corner near the Place des Vosges?"

"Yeah..."

"How about there?" She suggested eager to sort things out as opposed the leaving them in uncertainty.

"Sure…" He sounded enthusiastic, cheerier than he had been. "Maybe, Wednesday at 7?"

"Sounds good." She agreed feeling exhaustion taking over her once more.

"This isn't a good time to be calling, is it?"

"It's a little early." She couldn't help but comment.

"Sorry… Anyhow, see you on Wednesday!"

"Goodnight Adrien."

"Goodnight."

She hung up. A part of her wondered just what on earth she'd just done and couldn't help but be concerned that she might end up regretting her decision. In the morning, she would likely be able to think the matter over a bit more clearly. For now, she found herself longing for sleep. Her head found the pillow and she was out like a light a few seconds later.

/

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