To GuenZhenXuan2020: I think "Old Woman Chloe" is one of my two favorite parts of this story, or at least of the future dystopian setting.

To Rose Tiger: We haven't even gotten to "uh oh" territory yet!

To Speckleflower: Yeah… I really like cliffhangers, in case you haven't noticed yet! Depending on what you consider to be a "cliffhanger," at least half the remaining chapters of this story end on one!

To The Keeper of Woods: I actually didn't think about having young-Chloe and old-Chloe interact. A few of the young and old versions do, but not that one – or at least not in this story. I'm still not sure how to work Bunnyx into the "Mind Games"-verse, though I have a few ideas I'm considering…

"Chloe?" Marinette whispered again, heart thumping in her chest. Surely her eyes had to be playing a trick on her, right? Chloe had only left their table a few minutes before. Her hair had still been in its signature ponytail and she'd been wearing her usual designer clothes. Everything had seemed normal. So what could possibly have happened to her in that time? She seemed to have aged decades in mere moments! "I… I don't believe it."

And yet the woman who had just sat down at their table looked exactly like an older version of Chloe. Marinette had only seen Chloe's mother from a distance on a handful of occasions, but the family resemblance was unmistakable; the two could have passed for sisters. This older Chloe's hair looked different from the Chloe who had just left the coffee shop minutes before, as did her clothing, but her eye color was correct. She would recognize that expression anywhere. If she hadn't been limping while she walked, her stride and posture would have been identical to the Chloe they knew. But still–

"You're not a-a-a shapeshifter or something, are you?" Marinette demanded. "You look like Chloe, or at least an older version of Chloe, but… there's something about you that just feels… different – I mean more than just… you got old!"

"Thanks," Chloe chuckled, kicking her feet up on the opposite chair and leaning back. "As if you would look like a teen model in my shoes! You really think I might be a shapeshifter? Please. I've met a few of them. Even borrowed the Chameleon Miraculous on a trip to Africa once… a lifetime ago. There are always tells if you know what to look for.

"No, I promise it's really me, Mar," the newcomer – Chloe – said, tipping the chair back onto its back legs and folding her arms behind her head. She looked at Marinette with an expression of such affection that Marinette almost turned away in embarrassment. "And as for what's different, a lot has changed over the years. We got to be really close friends in the next couple of years after this moment, for one thing. Working together to expand the Heroes of Paris and build on your connections with the rest of the heroes around the world was a big part of that – while you were away, Alya, Nino, and I had to keep things together in Paris. Then we both matured a lot in university – though I suppose I needed it a lot more than you did. It's been so long, sweetie."

"It's been less than 2 minutes," Adrien observed, looking at the new Chloe with a confused expression on his face.

"For you it has," Chloe answered him with a nod. "For me it's been closer to twenty years since I got up from this very table and walked outside with Alya to wait and see what would happen with you two clueless lovebirds."

Marinette's jaw dropped. "What? Twenty years? What do you mean by that? What's going on here? You'd better tell me or – we can't be friends anymore!"

At this Chloe burst out laughing, doubled over with tears streaming down her face. Marinette looked on with even more bewilderment; across the table, she could see the same confusion on Adrien's face. Marinette couldn't remember ever seeing Chloe laugh so much; Adrien's look suggested he hadn't seen it before, either.

"I'm sorry," Chloe choked out, wiping tears from her eyes. "It's just been so long since I actually laughed. Not that I've really had any reason to laugh in the last decade or so, but still. God, I've missed you, Marinette!"

"What's going on? Why's that so funny?"

"Would you believe I was almost the maid of honor for your wedding?"

Marinette leaned forward. "What? But–"

"Yeah, it was… six years from now, right after the big alien invasion." Marinette's color drained at that. First a time traveling Chloe, and now there are aliens? "Now that I think about it, that was probably why you decided to get married when you did: the invasion scared the whole planet. It wasn't too long after the invasion ended that Ana was conceived, now that I think about it. A dozen of my friends had babies between 9 months and a year after we defeated the aliens – I'm surprised the two of you didn't, if I'm completely honest. I think the world population nearly recovered in that year alone! And as for weddings… I think I stood for at least 20 of them the summer after the invasion alone! You'd just gotten back from the trip where you met the American Guardians of the Miraculous for the first time when the invasion started, and it's a good thing, too. If it weren't for their timely intervention, portalling in from Peru right where we needed them the most, we might not have won. As it is, the aliens controlled almost all of Europe – from the Ural mountains all the way to the Ocean – by the time the American Guardians brought in reinforcements from the States and we finally turned them back."

"Um, I'm sorry, but this is all completely insane," Marinette finally choked out. "I'm not sure which is crazier: an alien invasion, American Guardians, or you being the maid of honor for my – wait, did you say wedding?"

"Right, the wedding," Chloe said, smiling wistfully. "Like I said, everyone was shaken up by the invasion, and you decided right then and there to get married. And I mean right there, on the Atlantic shore when we finally forced the aliens to leave the planet. The minute the last alien ship lifted off, Adrien dropped to one knee, though I'm not sure if that was to propose or because he couldn't actually stay on his feet any longer… It was taking both Alya and I to keep you upright, and not just from the shock! Of course, it took another year or so to get everything planned. You even got M. Agreste out of prison long enough to witness it." Adrien sat up at that. Chloe looked at him and laughed gently. "What? Who else did you think poor, lovesick Mar over here would be marrying, if not you? You realize she already has the whole thing planned out, right?"

Marinette's eyes went wide, her heart stopped, and her cheeks started to burn. She snuck a glance away from Chloe at Adrien, long enough to see his cheeks starting to turn pink also, before turning back to face Chloe. "Who told you that? How did you know that?"

"Girl, you, me, Alya, and Sabrina had so many sleepovers the next couple of years that it would have been a shock if Alya hadn't spilled the beans on your wedding journal at some point! Oh don't worry," she added quickly. "I never told a soul about it until… well, now, I guess. Adrien – er, my Adrien, that is – never knew, so far as I could tell. But I guess your Adrien does now… Um… Sorry about that.

"Naturally Alya was always supposed to be your matron of honor, but the Vulpines – that's a race of fox-like aliens from the other side of our galaxy, they visited us to warn us about the invasion a couple months before it started – came begging for help 2 months before the wedding, and of course no one could help them but the fox miraculous holder. They thought that made her some sort of Messiah-Avatar thing for them. They had fought alongside us during the invasion, so you and Alya both thought we needed to return the favor, even if neither of you was happy about the timing. So off she went to help save their planet from space slugs or something. She hoped to be back in time, but when she still wasn't back 2 days before the wedding, you asked me to fill in. You didn't need to," she added, chuckling. "Alya got back the night before the wedding: she literally crashed the bachelorette party with a spaceship! Good thing the entire wedding party – all the girls at the party, in fact – was heroes; it would have been fun explaining that one!" Chloe sighed. "Listen to me, prattling like some old lady. Oh how I've missed just sitting and talking with two of my best friends. The stories I could tell you about my past – your future, maybe. But no; I have a problem, and you are the only ones who can help me. I need you to save my present, and maybe stop it from becoming your future."

"But, can't you just ask us to do it in your own time?" Adrien demanded. "Why do you need us?"

"That's the thing," Chloe answered, eyes growing darker. "I can't. Because one of you is dead," she announced, eyes shifting between them, "and the other is the problem."