Phoebe's recovering was all over the news, it was a miracle. Suddenly her tumour was the size of a grain of sand, actually, it wasn't there anymore. Adrien kept thinking about it even as he reached the auditorium, even as he grabbed a script and walked on stage. He thought about Phoebe's recovering and the akuma. But Ladybug was also on his mind he just couldn't figure out what he was thinking.

"Okay people, places!" Ms Etourdissant clapped her hands and sat down.

"Romeo that's your cue!"

Adrien walked onto the stage and said his lines waiting for Marinette to appear.

"Juliet!..." Ms Etourdissant called. After a moment she furrowed her eyebrows and repeated.

"Marinette that's your part!" Ms Etourdissant stood up out of her seat and repeated herself.

'Beep Beep Beep!' Marinette made a noise of displeasure and groggily opened her eyes.

"Marinette wake up!" Tikki said. Marinette snapped her eyes opened when she heard the urgency in Tikki's voice. She got up hitting her head on the backboard of the bed.

"Ow!" She rubbed the back of her head making her bed head worse.

"What's wrong Tikki?"

"You're late," Tikki stated.

"I don't have classes." Marinette got out of bed and neatly fixed the covers and placed the pillow nicely.

"Yes, but you have rehearsal." At that Marinette rushed out of the room. Grabbing a pair of washed out jeans and a black v-neck. Once she was changed she grabbed the little bag that she's had for more than three years, her phone her wallet and pink cardigan.

When she left her room she saw Alya on the couch with a cup of coffee watching tv. Marinette grabbed her keys and said goodbye to her roommate. Alya looked over the couch.

"Where are you going?"

"Rehearsal." And then Marinette slammed the door.

Marinette walked quickly. She tried not to shove anyone's shoulders but bumped into someone and grabbed their arm before they fell.

"I'm sorry, I didn't see where... I- Master Fu?"

"Hello, Ladybug." Master Fu nodded his head in greeting.

"Is there something you want to talk about?" Marinette asked.

"I'm afraid so..." His smile left his face and his eyes were filled with worry.

The doors flew open.

"Sorry."

"It doesn't matter. You're here now." Ms Etourissant excused Marinette.

The morning was long and the drama class grew tired. They got through the lines and skits for their class. Ms Etourdissant smiled at her class. She hasn't been teaching for long, but she knew how to teach.

"Okay, so if Romeo and Juliet could just practice the balcony scene and that will be all for the day." Ms Etourdissant walked out of the room and threw the papers in the air.

"Where are you going?" Marinette held her arms in the air. The whole class was surprised at their teacher's little 'display'.

"That's the end of rehearsal." Ms Etourdissant called over her shoulder walking out of the auditorium.

The long morning ended and the short afternoon began.

'The things Master Fu said...' Marinette thought to herself leaving the auditorium.

Marinette walked home. She looked at cars and people moving about. She sighed worriedly with what was to come. She couldn't get the words out of her head. She couldn't get the theories to stop coming. The more she thought the more she worried for the people of Paris.

~Flashback~

There the two miraculous holders sat drinking tea in the space of Master Fu's home. He didn't speak and his expression was calm but Marinette kept wondering what he wanted to talk about. Things have been good, nothing major with akuma's. No one has died, in a while. And she's been doing well. She realized she forgot about Chat Noir coming back to Paris and that's what she guessed Master Fu wanted to talk about.

"Things have changed, Marinette." Master Fu said suddenly, putting his cup slowly down on the wooden table.

"I know. Chat Noir's back." Marinette followed his actions.

"How do you feel about that?" Master Fu asked. Marinette smiled a bit at the question. Recently Master Fu had been the only person Marinette could come to since Chat Noir left.

"I don't know." She looked at her lap, finding her jeans more interesting than the conversation.

"Would you let him be your partner again?" There was the question Marinette was dreading. That was the question she had the answer to but didn't want to say it because she thought it was unfair.

"In time, probably. But now I don't know. Master Fu, you trusted him to be a protector and he left. I don't think I could trust him again." Marinette looked Master Fu in the eyes and he sighed.

"That's what you think, Marinette. But people are beings of habit. Some do not like change and others do not accept it. It scares people that things have a chance to be different. Change happens in different ways but something that all change have in common is the unexpected." Marinette let the words sink in."I still trust Chat Noir even if he has failed to help you and the city. But it wasn't something that surprised me. The unexpected is scary, Marinette, but you have to accept it otherwise you will always be scared."

"I don't understand. Chat leaving was more than unexpected, it was more than scary. Master Fu, people died."

"All people die in the end. Some do not accept that and that is what scares them. Yin and yang are very different, one is greater than the other. Which do you think is greater?" Marinette thought about it.

"Yang."

"Why?"

"Because... it's good."

"But what do you think the black circle represents?"

"That... all good has some bad. It's just the way it works. Some people may think that something is bad but others may think it's good." Master Fu smiled and nodded.

"And what do you think Chat Noir coming back is?" Marinette smiled.

"Good."

"Embrace the unexpected, Marinette. More change is to come."

~.~.~.~

Marinette entered her apartment to find Nino on the couch with a controller in his hand.

"What are you doing?" Marinette hovered over Nino's shoulder.

"What does it look like? I'm trying to defeat your high score."

"He's been going at that for hours. How was the rehearsal?" Alya said, making Marinette acknowledge her presence in the kitchen.

"Tiring." Marinette flopped on the armchair and closed her eyes.

"Ha! Too tired to beat me?" Nino cocked his head.

"Beat? You're not competition." Marinette put her bag down, grabbed a controller and took a seat next to Nino.

The short afternoon was fun, but a dark evening was soon to come.

"Okay, that's it. Sorry, but I have to finish some work." Marinette got up and walked to her room.

"Uughh, but the party was just starting," Nino whined.

"Babe, the party ended after the 7th time you lost." Alya laughed. Marinette opened her door and laughed at her best friend's comment. Shaking her head she closed her door shut.

"Okay Marinette time to get to work." She said to herself. Tikki looked over at Marinette from her desk.

"How'd you get in here?" Marinette asked.

"I left after the 3rd round."

"Tired, huh?" Marinette sat in her chair at her desk and grabbed her sketchbook with her designs. Tikki made a sound of agreement and soon fell asleep.

"Adrien you have a modelling shoot on Friday." Natalie followed after Adrien as he walked up the stairs.

"Yes, Natalie you told me this morning."

"Your father is flying out to Macedonia tonight, so he is not going to attend dinner."

"It doesn't really matter." Adrien walked into his room, opened his door and closed it shut. Plagg flew up to Adrien and waved his tiny arms in Adrien's face.

"Yeah, yeah I hear ya." Adrien walked to the mini fridge and pulled a slice of camembert out.

"Give me, give me, give me!" Plagg snatched the cheese out of Adrien's hands.

"Hurry up and eat." Adrien walked into the bathroom and started stripping.

"Why?" Plagg spoke through a mouthful of cheese.

"I want to visit Marinette."

"Okay." A smirk crawled onto Plagg's face. Adrien had a bad feeling had popped his head back into his room to look at Plagg and flushed.

"No, not like that Plagg." Plagg smiled and finished his cheese.

"How are you and Marinette?" Plagg asked.

"That's what I want to find out. I mean, I haven't seen her. As Chat. No doubt that she doesn't want to see me but I want to know what's happened to her in a year. Maybe she'll talk to Chat Noir if she doesn't want to talk to me. May-"

"Stop overthinking it. I'm sure something will happen. Good or bad. It's better for something to happen than nothing." And those words never left Adrien's mind in and out of the shower.

"What if I draw a little picture of you, Tikki?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because, if someone finds it then they might find out about me." Marinette frowned. She new Tikki was right. It was always her answer when Marinette asked. Marinette hugged the tiny bug, smothering Tikki.

"Marinette!" Tikki giggled.

"Okay, okay." Marinette smiled and walked to her bed, lying down.

"Don't you have to start your designs?" Tikki asked.

"Yep, thanks for reminding me. I just need a little rest though."

"No! Get up. You'll get a longer rest if you finish it sooner." Tikki got under Marinette's head and pushed her up.

"Once again you're right, wise one." They both giggled and Marinette started her design for her last theme.

Through the dark night, bad luck jumped the roofs of civilians. The green eyes of destruction looked out to the young girls' apartment complex. He looked through her window and saw the young girl working hard at her desk and jumping back and forth from fabrics. He jumped to the balcony of her room. A glass door covered with white curtains and a large tree to the left. On the balcony, there was a rocking chair with a little wooden glass coffee table with a sketchbook on top. He picked it up and went through her designs. Pages of colourful clothes and sketches filled the book. Not all designs of clothing some faces of people and other's plants or nature.

'Wow.' Chat thought to himself. He put the sketchbook back on the table and looked around. He saw worn out marks near the left side of the railed balcony. 'I guess she stays out here a lot.' He guessed.

He looked at the trees and saw it was decorated with little paper rings and twinkle lights. Some of the paper rings and writing. He walked to the tree and could see the writing more clearly and read the rings.

'I wish that Chat Noir returns to Paris.~Marinette'

He looked at the piece of neatly cut paper and took a deep breath.

'I wish Ladybug survives the next akuma.~Alya'

That really knocked the wind out of him. He understood what the rings were now. Wishes. His throat burned and an unexpected tear rolled down his cheek. He knew it was hard he never guessed that it was going to be easy. But the writing on the paper made it seem like there was no possibility of something good happening. His thoughts on how Ladybug unlocked her powers came back and more tears filled his eyes.

A wave of sadness hit him swallowing him whole and drowned him in emotion. He kept reading.

'I wish I beat Marinette at gaming this year.~Nino'

At that Chat smiled, a sad smile, a small smile. It was good to know that even though times got bad, really bad, that his friends stayed together. But that also made him sad. Through the year he didn't really talk to any of his friends from high school beside's an email to Nino every now and then he didn't know what was happening. And Nino didn't tell him any of this. 'Guess he didn't want me to worry.' It did make him think if he could still be called one of their friends.

But then he remembered. Of course, he can. Marinette didn't seem the happiest to see him again but he wasn't expecting her to jump up and down. They were still there and welcomed him back with opened arms. They even celebrated with him. And all his doubt of their friendship vanished.

Chat heard a door opening behind him and when he turned around he was knocked out with a book.

Chat woke up with an ice pack on his head and pillows stuffed under. He looked to his right and saw Marinette working at her desk. He saw her turn around and whipped his head back around and shut his eyes tight.

"I know you're awake." Marinette crossed her arms.

"Why did you hit me with a book?" He got up holding the ice pack to his head.

"Why were you on my balcony?" Marinette asked. Chat was ready to answer the question but the words vanished as soon as he opened his mouth, his mind blank.

"Was it to apologize?" She suggested. Chat closed his mouth and let Marinette speak. This is why he came. To listen to her, to hear her story. To understand.

"Was it to check up on me? Or was it to actually say goodbye this time?" She spoke softly. And though the words were supposed to hit him and they were supposed to be filled with anger, the words sound broken.

"Answer me." She looked down. Her words bearly above a whisper but Chat Noir could hear them.

"I just wanted to see how you were." He spoke softly.

"Do you want a lie or the truth?" She still didn't look at him. Chat got up and walked over to her. He slowly and gently placed his fingers under her chin and gently pushed her head up. He smiled at her.

"The truth," He whispered.

"The truth is that while you were gone. No one has felt safe." She paused. "Yes, we had Ladybug but she almost died. Sometimes we weren't even sure if she was alive until the next akuma. I don't think anyone has felt safe since you've left." She spoke all her words a whisper. Chat didn't like what he was hearing.

"They should trust Ladybug."

"Chat, they do! That's not the problem. Chat Noir they don't trust you..." her words were hard and she could barely say them but they were the truth. She really regretted her next words. "I don't trust you." She whispered. Chat Stepped back.

Those words hit him harder than the few that she had said. It's amazing how four words could have such an impact on someone. Marinette could see the pain on Chat's face. She could see it in his eyes as he took her hand and looked through his lashes into her deep bluebell eyes.

"I hope I can gain your trust again purrincess." He bowed and kissed her hand. His lips were soft and the kiss felt like a feather.

"Good night. Sweet dreams, puurincess." He walked past her and she turned in her chair standing up.

"Chat wa-" A knock on Marinette's door interrupted her and she snapped her head to the noise.

"Hey Marinette, you okay with Chinese for dinner?" Alya said through the door her voice low. Marinette looked out her open door. Chat Noir, no longer there and her white curtains flapping in the wind. Marinette took a deep breath, a shaky exhale and a tear slipped through her lashes.

"Yeah. Chinese sounds great."

A half an hour or so dinner arrived and all evidence of Marinette crying was not seen when she pulled out a chair and joined the couple at the table.

"So, what's got you going all vampire in your room?" Alya asked through a mouthful of food. Marinette chuckled a weak laugh.

"Just working on my first outfits." And it wasn't a lie. Her fingers were covered in bandages because she couldn't see through blurry eyes sewing.

"Is Adrien going to model for the show?" The whole table went silent at Alya's question and all eyes were on Nino. He looked up from his plate to meet the girls' eyes.

"What?"

"Is he?" Marinette pushed.

"I don't know!" Nino shrugged stuffing more food into his mouth.

"Well, you should. He's gonna be your roommate soon." Marinette said picking at her food with her chopsticks.

"Wait. Your roommate? When was this declared? And how come you didn't tell me?" Alya looked at Marinette asking the last question. Marinette stopped eating and started laughing. She covered her mouth with her free hand and put down her chopsticks, almost choking on whatever was in her mouth.

"What's so funny?" Alya asked, concerned for her friend because it seemed like she lost her mind. Across the table, Alya could hear the soft laugh of Nino.

"Okay, someone please explain the joke." Marinette swallowed roughly and explained.

"It was the night Adrien stayed over for drinks. You suggested that Adrien moves in with Nino. Since Nino has the spare room and the big apartment and Adrien doesn't have to work under the rath of his dad."

"I did?" Alya's eyes widened and looked and Nino. "Did you make me do something while I was drunk again?!" Nino leant back in his chair with speed making the chair screech on top of the tiles.

"You're the one that danced on the table at that party! I was trying to get you down."

"And I was making sure you didn't take off your shirt," Marinette smirked eating a piece of chicken.

And the night went on explaining drunk and wild times, eating food and cleaning up. Nino left and said goodnight to the girls as they agreed to end the night watching comedy movies with a bag of chips.