"Adrien..."

A woman hovered over him, a large hand gently wrapping around his waist and pulling him close to the woman. Her voice was soft and could melt your ears with only a thank you. To Adrien, it was familiar and so nostalgic. She was behind him, but he could see her golden blonde hair and her finger as it pointed outward. Her dress silky against his

"Look, Adrien." Like a que, a black cat poked it's head out, green eyes scanning the terrain. It was sleek and beautiful, but scrawny and small. Its fur clumped up and half of its tail kinked to the right side. Street Cats were rare in the kingdom, mostly due to how short they can live without an owner. If you found one, it was best to be left alone, mostly because they needed to become violent to survive. So, to see one enter civilization was a sight to behold.

Arms took ahold of his sides, lifting Adrien up gently. He didn't look at the woman who held him close to her hip but more focused on the cat and where it was going. Swiftly, it ducked behind a market Fisherman. It hopped up onto a barrel of cod, its paw reaching out to snag a bite. It fought with the dead fish, making sure the fisherman was still looking the other direction, trying to pick the thing up from the barrel. The cat had almost grabbed it, mouth inches away from the tasty food piece. But the fisherman was turning back now. Adrien gripped ahold of the lady's dress top and hid his tiny face, scared of what was to happen. The woman cooed and nudged the top of his head with her chin.

As Adrien looked back, he noticed that the fisherman was smiling. He put his hands on his hips, finger-wagging as he scolded the tiny thing, before giving it a different fish. The cat purred and rubbed up against the man, asking for affection. The man was happy to supply. Gingerly, the black feline picked up the salmon and sat under the worktable of the man, basking in the sun.

They watched the cat all day, him and the lady. She spoke a few times, mostly to get Adrien's attention. It hopped from stand to stand in the market, everyone happy to see it. A passerby would stop and pet the delighted animal every so often. Everyone knew its name. He was like the town's own personal cat. It ate, made its rounds, and was content with life. As the market dwindled, however, it began to have less and less cover. It began looking for somewhere to go, somewhere to spend a night.

Adrien acted, hopping out of the lady's lap and going to the black cat. Adrien could tell was smaller, barely the height of a barrel, but didn't mind it in the least. He held his hand out to it, and sure enough, it pressed its head against his small hand. He giggled, scratching it under the chin and behind the ears. Slowly, Adrien picked him up. The cat didn't struggle, nor did he fuss. Adrien could hear his small voice, asking if he could keep it. The lady chuckled.

"We can take him home, but we cannot keep him, mon Minou." He could feel his lip jut out in a pout and her laughter grew. Adrien looked at her now, but her face was fuzzy. Almost like a picture that was taken by shaky hands. Her hair trailing down her side in a braid. "Adrien, he is not ours to keep. The city is his home. It is his family. We cannot take him away from that, now can we?" He sighed and agreed, still carrying the stray to a big mansion at the end of the road. His father wasn't home, but on a trip far north. They gave the cat a bed and some water, leaving Adrien's window propped open for the cat to come and go as he pleased. The lady smiled as she tucked him in, pressing a small kiss to Adrien's forehead. She was about to leave, but the child spoke up.

"Aren't you going to kiss Chat Noir goodnight too?"

Chat jolted awake in a cold sweat. All he could see was long blonde hair and a sleeping girl in a silky green dress lying beside a tree. Quickly, he blinked his eyes, trying to get the image out of his head. Slowly, the hair began to turn into more of an orange-reddish, and the dress looked more like the style of this year and was a nice lavender shade. Minutes later, a sleeping Marinette replaced the ghostly figure in his head, her features defining reality. A sigh of relief racked his chest as he ran his fingers through his hair. Rays of a yellow-ish hue were just beginning to light the sky as he scanned the terrain. Nothing looked out of place, nothing that wasn't there yesterday.

He turned back to look at Marinette. She didn't seem very comfortable, in fact, she looked like a statue compared to how he had seen her on the duvve. Her hair hugged her frame at all sides, making seem like she was in the middle of a nest. Part of him wanted to nag at her for using her hair as a pillow on the ground, but Mari didn't know any better. Chat knew that. Adrien definitely knew that. A thought flickered in his mind like a lightbulb that wasn't quite out of juice yet. There was one thing he that nagged at him. Chat could have sworn that she was holding something.

The feeling of something fuzzy ran through his fingers and immediately he flinched away, almost hissing at the contact. Lo and behold, Plagg had nuzzled his way up and laid on Chat's lap, meowing for food probably. He pet it absentmindedly. It was odd how much this creature reminded him of the one in his dream. As calmed Plagg down, his mind drifted back into his dream. They say dreams are made up of the past, present memories, and even information you only heard once. But this wasn't the first time he had had a dream like that. It was almost like a reoccurring dream he could never remember, the only memory that stuck in his head was the cat. The Black Cat with Green eyes called Chat Noir. His very namesake as a thief came from his dreams.

Out of the corner of his eye, he watched as Marinette slowly rose from her timid slumber. A small smile rose to his lips. He may not know everything about his dreams, but he had a job to distract himself with as a chauffeur. He chuckled as her eyes suddenly realised where she was and that she was not in her tower any longer. A brief period of fear and alarm glazed her features before she settled down and observed the area. When her eyes landed on Chat, he was delighted to see they were actually happy to see him.

"Good Morning, Princess." Plagg leapt gracefully off Chat's lap and began to pester the poor girl. She grinned and rolled her eyes, reaching for her bag as she responded in kind.

"Good Morning, Chat" He stared with a slightly perturbed look as Marinette. pulled out a piece of cheese he could smell from here. He was surprised he didn't smell it earlier given how strong it was. What puzzled him, was how she gave it to Plagg. Cats don't eat cheese. Not normal ones, anyhow. It almost grossed him out that it almost inhaled the piece that was the size of its paw. Marinette laughed at his expression when she caught notice of it. Quickly, his eyes snapped up from the cat and back to her face, trying to catch a glimpse of her smile. He didn't know why he wanted to see it so much, She had been his kidnapper for a week, after all. But there was something about the sound of her laugh and her large grin that made him want to tell dumb jokes and make stupid faces, just to keep her this way. She looked so much different than she did back in the tower, so much more full of life.

They packed up that morning and headed off into the woods, starting their journey of the day. The walk was calm and they had small conversations here and there, all of them arbitrary and to fill a silence that was so comfortable it scared them both. Chat hoped they would make it to town by the next day, giving him four days in town to show her around. Four days normally wouldn't be enough to show a lady all the sights of one city, but he was determined to try. He would show her the library, the town square, and even the mural. He could take her on top of the wall when no one was looking.

But then he remembered their agreement. He was to show her the lanterns and help her find some guy she has never met. The thought of him made Chat's skin crawl. He could be someone he knew. He could be a paedophile and her "caretaker"- he didn't buy that either, but she was nieve- could have been lying about him being nice. There were so many things wrong with her backstory, so many things he wished he could have helped with. He knew what it was like being alone. Living in a house where life had died the second his mother had was suffocating. But he had his servants to keep him some company. He couldn't imagine not having anyone at all.

"Hey, Chat?" He hummed in response, still lost in thought. "What is that place over there?" Her fingers pointed out into the clearing. My head swivelled nonchalantly in the direction of it. There had been a few things she was curious about on the journey, so he didn't think much of it. That is, until he noticed the familiar building by a river in a nearby clearing. The smell of cooked meat filled his nose, and his mind knew what was about to happen. He couldn't believe how blind he had been. Quickly, he picked up Marinette bridal style. She let out a sound of alarm, but held onto him nonetheless. In the blink of an eye, they were surrounded. Chat cursed under his breath, holding onto Marinette as tightly as he could.

"Welcome home, Alley Cat."

A/N: Yes, another cliffhanger. I promise I am only half doing it on purpose.

This is a longer chapter, mostly since I flaked on the last update so I made this one much longer. I am so sorry about that, classes just started up and I am already drowning in Math. Calculus is kicking my butt, but I am determined to at the least make it out with a B+ or higher. Maybe that is just me being stubborn, but I'd like to think of it as sudden determination I should have had through high school.

I have so many ideas for this story that it is insane, but I think I have found a way to do so much and still have a very well put story. Finally, we see a bit more of Chat. Plus, I think this will be a very good jumping point. Next chapter is going to be very intriguing.

Last but not least, thanks to everyone reading this. I know I say/type this a ton, but I love to see people finding joy and emotion through my writing. It makes me feel like I am doing something good as a writer. Every time a new chapter goes up I can't help but check it a few times over and over. There isn't exactly a word to describe it. Maybe euphoria?

Stay Tuned and Thank You so Much for Reading!

~Pheonix

P.S. What is your favorite Miraculous Character?