Author's Note: This is a fic based off of a comic written and drawn by hogeky on tumblr by the same name. Please go there to view images and support her comic!

Permission was received to write this fic.

It was dark.

It was exceedingly dark and Adrien couldn't figure out why. He wandered about, fumbling in a darkness he could not see his own hand in. It was unnerving to experience, especially as he had become so spoiled by Chat Noir's night vision.

"Where am I?" he wondered out loud, though it was in fact unclear as to weather or no he had moved his lips.

"Don't touch me!" an angry female voice screeched. The sound of it sent painful shivers up and down his spine. It was not the owner of the voice which scared him, but the tone. Something in it's expression made him want to whimper.

"Mom?" he cried, now walking in the direction of his mother's voice. It was an unsteady pace, and he seemed to be waddling ever so slightly.

"You ruined my life!" she continued. He wondered to whom she was speaking, but he could only walk closer. A narrow stream of light poured harshly into the darkness, and Adrien was drawn toward it. "And you'll ruin his life too!"

"Don't bring Adrien into this!" It was his father's voice that countered hers. Adrien couldn't help but cringe away just a little bit. He wasn't sure how, but he knew he was young again. He knew that he would only stand at the height of the door handle in front of him. He knew he was watching his mother argue with his father again, as he had the night he couldn't go to sleep.

The door frame at which he stood loomed over him.

"If you care so much, let us go!" she yelled. She had sounded more demanding than he had ever heard her.

"Mom?" Adrien heard his voice whisper.

"Adrien?" Her voice was had lowered, though the sound of desperation had not left it. Two sets of eyes darted toward him, but he only looked into hers. His mother's face had been warped with sadness, tears streaking her flushed cheeks, hair damp with sweat and tears. She was trembling as she tried to put on her warmest voice. "What are you doing here? Go to bed!"

Adrien would never forget the look in his mother's eyes. Something about it felt so raw and vulnerable that he was scared for her. He, a small child at the time, fearful for his mother.

"Mom!" he cried. His hand reached out to hold her, but by then, there was nothing but a bright light. There was nothing more to see. There was nothing more to do.

Take care of yourself my sunshine.

"Help!" a girl's voice screamed. The sound was enough to bring him back from the nothingness, and it rung in his ears.

There was Marinette, and the man who held her up by the neck. Adrien's voice burst out of his chest, thrown out without a second thought. He ran toward her, fear filling every fiber of his being.

"Don't touch her!" His voice cracked, and it was then that he realized that there were tears in his eyes. Despite his running, he got no closer. This only made him want to sob.

Even from the distance, he could make a significant fact that seemed to freeze his blood. She wasn't moving this time. No part of her moved. She hung limply in her attacker's grasp.

Then the burglar spoke, though he couldn't be sure it was him who was speaking.

"You couldn't save her. You won't be able to save anyone."

"LET HER GO!"

Adrien didn't remember falling asleep.

Jerking up from his bed, he grasped at his bedsheets, grounding himself to anything he could find. His heart was pounding, and he struggled to catch his breath. Sweat dripped down his temples.

It was just a dream. It was just a dream. It was just a nightmare.

Marinette is fine.

He must have screamed, because Plagg came rushing to his side.

"Hey! Are you okay?" his kwami asked, a hint of panic in his voice which came so rarely, Adrien was touched. "You were screaming all night." As much as he was touched, it did little to improve his mood. Frustrated with his dream, and himself for having it, Adrien threw his covers to the side and made way for the window. "Hey, where are you going?"

"Plagg… Transform Me!"

"Marinette." Tikki floated up between the girl and her desk, suppressing a yawn that threatened to interrupt her.

"What is it Tikki?"

"It's getting late, you should go to sleep!" the kwami suggested. Marinette shook her head as she looked down at the paper laying on her desk, only a line of scribbles decorating its face.

"But I have to write a reply to Adrien's letter." She sighed deeply, slinking down her arm until her chin met the desk. "I've been putting it off long enough." Sighing again, she turned her cheek to the paper. She had heard somewhere that if one sighs too much, they'd sigh all of their happiness away. At the thought of it, she quickly shut her mouth. "I've stayed home from school for a week healing from that injury, and I've had a lot of time to think about what I want to say."

"Are you sure Marinette? Maybe you should take more time…"

Tap! Tap! Tap!

Marinette's nerves shot right through her spine and she jolted up from her desk, the paper falling away from her face as she did. Tikki rushed to hide.

"Salut Maman! I'm going to bed now!" she cried out in a panicked response. But there was no word from her mother. The tapping only continued, as if whoever was trying to get her attention couldn't hear her. "Maman? Is that you?" Marinette called out. Still, there was no response except for the raps that came in threes.

"It's out there!" Tikki's voice sounded, floating over to the far wall of the room. Marinette turned around just in time to miss the bright green light that glowed in the window, but she did however, hear the buzz of magic that accompanied it.

"What is going on out there?" she wondered out loud, her brows furrowing with curiosity. She reached out and whipped back the pink curtains to find… nothing.

The only thing beyond her window was the street below and a view of the roofs beside her home.

"There's no one out here?" She wondered if it had been a bird. When she opened the windows, fresh air poured into her room. Marinette stuck her head out, searching for anything nearby that could clear her suspicions and satiate her paranoia.

It was only when she looked down, and her heart nearly stopped from the shock, that she was given an answer to her question. Having leaned out from her room far enough, she found herself face to face and inches away from Adrien Agreste, hanging off of the ledge of her window, up on the third floor of her home, in his pajamas.

Author's Note: Dreams are hard to write but this was super fun. Having the visuals already there makes the imagery easier obviously lol. Also, sorry for the delay on this chapter. Been working on Secret Santa things (participating one and organizing another…), and job things so… yes.