Dear Journal,

You know that warm happy feeling you feel when you first get up in the morning? Well, that's the way I felt this morning thinking about Marinette. I said her name on my lips and I felt the happiness running through me.

Even brushing my teeth, I can't stop thinking about her that I doodled her in the condensation on the bathroom mirror. I even added a little heart, because my heart is warm and happy. My head really is in a happy fog and I lean against the bathroom door frame. Marinette. "Marinette? Marinette is all you can think about. What about Ladybug?" Plagg asks me. "She shouldn't be tossed away like a old cheese," he says. Its cute how Plagg's first and only love is cheese. At least, that I know of.

"No, Plagg. She's still wonderful, but she's not in love with me. So, its high time I leave her be and let her choose the cheese she wants."

Agreste, did you really just say cheese? My head is so far up in the clouds, that even I'm talking cheese. Don't get me wrong, Journal. M'lady is still my best friend and I still love her, but things are different now.

"And what if Marinette isn't in love with you?" "The only way to find out is to ask her," I tell him confidently. And, I really like her, Journal. I don't care if she babbles about buttons, or has a clumsy moment. I think its cute, and her funny moments make me smile.

I start to whistle as I walk into the kitchen, where once again, Father is at the stove, cooking breakfast and I love the cozy sound of the sizzling of pancakes in the pan. Wait, Journal….when was the last time I whistled? Its a bit foggy, but I think it was when I was eleven and Mother and I were doing school and some birds landed on the windowsill. They were chattering and twitting, and Mother showed me how to whistle and the birds fell silent, listening to her. She had a beautiful voice, and at night when I was small she'd sing me to sleep.

"How nice it is to see so happy in the morning, Adrien," Father says. "Bananas on your pancakes?" Even Father noticed! I have my own personal ray of sunshine inside my heart, and her name is Marinette…..

"Yes, Father, thank you." "Dad." I say the next words more softly, as I still can't believe this happening like I will wake up from some dream. Though, if I'm being honest, I like my pancakes plain. I guess some habits die hard, as I wasn't allowed to have sweets very often when I was a model.

I'm staring at the banana, torn. I want to tell Father, but I don't want to hurt his feelings either, as he made this for me.

Natalie comes in and says, "Gabriel, if you spent more time with your son, you would have know he prefers his pancakes plain." "Adrien, if you didn't want bananas, you could have told me," Father says, a smile on his face. I might be getting better at speaking up for myself, but I still need to work on it.

"No, no, I like them. I was just lost in thought. You see….there's this girl I like…" "Adrien, don't force yourself to eat them to please your father," Natalie interrupts. "Its not that," I start to say, but Father jumps in. "Natalie, leave Adrien to his pancakes and let me know how you want yours." Father says then we eat together, and I look down seeing a ring on Natalie's left hand. That makes me happy. "Yeah, like family."

Both of Father's and Natalie's Alliance rings beep and they both say, "Adrien, time to go to school." I giggle with delight, but then realize…. "My school bag! I forget to pack my schoolbag!"

"Did you see the ring Natalie's wearing?" I ask Plagg as I start to pack my schoolbag. "I'm glad she and my dad are getting along so well." "A ring! How about I get Marinette a ring?" Plagg, however, is not impressed as he sighs. "Ah, don't tell your going to prospe to Marinette?" "No, Plagg that would be over-dramatic How about a poem?"

Journal, I am going to do that, just as as soon as I find the time. "A Poem? For Marinette? My dear Adrien, poems are for declaring love for cheese," he says, then shoves the piece into his mouth.

"Thanks for your help, but I think I'm going to need some real advice."

I knock on the door and hear a "come in". "Natalie, I was wondering…." my voice fades away as I realize she is sad. "Is everything okay?" I ask, and for the first time that moment the dark clouds roll in and my tummy feels a bit funny. (And no, it wasn't the pancakes.) "Yes, everything's fine."

"There's this girl at school I like, should I tell her in person, or write in a poem like they do in books. What about you? When was the first time you fell in love?" "Well, I spent most of my youth fighting snakes for antiques . Falling in love was complicated."

Nathile starts to cough, and I grab at her arm to steady her. "Natalie, is what happened to my mother going to happen to you?" I don't want to ask this question, nor do I want the answer. But I must be brave and know. "No, no, not at all. It will be okay. Don't worry about me, Adrien."

But I am worried, Journal. Since I share all my secrets with you, I can tell you that Natalie became like my mother after she disappeared. I love her too, Journal.

The car ride to school is quiet and I think about Natalie, wishing there was something I could do. I feel a little lost when I get out of the car, like a little boy on his first day of school expect my mother isn't here to guide me….

However, Marinette is here, and my eyes scan the crowd, searching….searching for the warmth in those bluebell eyes.

I sigh and crash right into her as I walk forward, sending her papers flying. "Marinette?" She starts to babble and she crouches down so she can pick up her papers and squat down to help as well.

I keep my eyes on the ground and Marinette asks, "Adrien, is something wrong?" "No, no. Everything's fine," I say, but my eyes sting and don't want to keep secrets from her. "No. Everything isn't fine. Someone I care about is sick and there's nothing I can do." Even as a superhero, I can't do anything. The clouds settle in bringing the cold rain until I hear Marinette speak.

"You know, when there's nothing you can physical do for the person you love, just being there sometimes just being there is enough."

The rain in my head is just a passing shower, her soothing words causing the sun to burst from the clouds in triumph. So simple, but so powerful.

"Your right! Its just like with you, Marinette. Just you being here makes me feel better already." Like I was half and she makes me whole. Patching up the holes in my heart, her needle and thread kind and gentle words and a soothing touch.

"You...you always find the right words. Your...your really special, Marinette." "Me? No, no, I'm not special at all."

Does she know how wrong she is, Journal?

"Wow, that was some confession of love that didn't go quite as planned," Plagg says. "Since there's no hope left, how about you move on." "Even at a time like this, she makes me feel smile. She really is extraordinary."

There's a akuma alert during class, so I go hide so I can transform and then meet Ladybug on the rooftops.

"We lost him," I say to Ladybug and we twirl our baton and yo-yo creating a back-to-back shield so that Time tagger can't surprise us.

"We need to be on our guard, he could pop up anywhere," Ladybug says. "Or he's figured out he's not getting anywhere with us and gone back to his own time for good."

"Your probably right, and you know what? Why don't we make the most of it by seeing a movie together?" "Are you serious?" I ask. How many have I asked that? Though now…..

"A movie together?" I repeat. "Did I say movie? Did I say that? No," Ladybug squeaks as she turns away. "Oh, what's happening to me," she says out loud to herself, while I stand there, slack-jawed.

A yellow beam of light comes out of nowhere, hitting Ladybug. "M'lady!" I can another beam coming but I'm ready with a cataclysm.

Yet another bolt comes towards me. "Hey, that's not fair!" I grumble as I leap onto the nearest rooftop with M'lady in my arms.

The beam is persistent, and I slide lower on the roof. "Please stop following me!" I grit through my teeth.

"I'm not even an influencer!" "Hashtag, run!" "Okay, that bolts only after me, is it in love with me or something? Leave me alone bolt, my heart is already taken you know!" I yell as I use my baton, springing into the sky.

"You've got the wrong guy!" I yell as I duck beneath one of my statues at the cinema. I peek through the statue. "There's the archer. Natalie," I breathe. "Venom, search!" "I will save you, Natalie," I vow and I take off again.

I jump down into the sewers and my ring starts beeping. "No, no, this isn't the time!" I glance down at Ladybug, still frozen in my arms. "I'm sure if you were here, you'd have a brilliant idea like you always do. But I'm just a foolish Kitty about to transform back. Without you, I fail."

I wait for the beams to hit me, eyes closed when Plagg says, "Adrien, everything's okay!" "The bolts are gone?" I ask, looking around. "Apparently, they only had eyes for Cat Noir."

I need to unfreeze Ladybug so I set her against the wall, hiding around the other side. "Now, Plagg," I say, as Plagg takes her earrings.

"My earrings!" I hear Ladybug say. "Don't worry, I have your Miraculous, Ladybug." "Cat Noir?" "I didn't see the real you. Plagg helped me. We can't transform, the akumatized villain a powerful hunter. With those magic bolts, she can locate us wherever we hide." "She can find Ladybug and Cat Noir, but not LadyNoir." "Or, Mister Bug." I open my palm with both of our Miraculous sitting there.

"That's why I have your earrings." "We really are on the same page, Kitten," I hear her say. I rub the earrings and picture Natalie. "M'lady, since our two Miraculous combined can grant any wish, how about we make one ourselves?"

"We can fix everything that's wrong with the world. We put an end to Monarch, wars, injustice, disease. We can finally stop fighting and be happy. Right?"

"Uh, no. It doesn't work that way. There's always a balance between creation and destruction. For every one thing we fixed, another would be destroyed. For every sick person we cure, another would become ill. For every villain defeated, something else more terrible would be created to replace it."

"Let's trade our Miraculous," I say with a heavy voice.

We go back to rooftops to see Safari on the next roof over and feel LadyNoir staring at me. "You look good with red and black spots. Really brings out your eyes."

LadyNoir uses her cataclysm, but the akuma isn't there. "How am I supposed to catch a megakuma when it's not here?" "You can always try to catch this, Bug," Safari says, as a chimney hurtles towards us. "Hey, don't you flatten my partner's gorgeous face!" LadyNoir yells.

We duck and dodge billboards and signs ending up at the cinema doors. "I told you going to the movies was a good idea," LadyNoir says, before a bus crashes through the doorway.

We have destroyed everything but her suit. "The akumatized object isn't on her, maybe its back where she came from."

"We don't even know who she is!" But I do. "Lucky Charm!" A perfume bottles falls into my hands. "The akumatized object must be at the Agreste manor." "Hold on. Where you get that idea?" "The perfume? Gabriel Agreste? It all makes sense! Do you know how many times you've come up with questionable plans based on a radiator? A whistle? All without explaining any of it to me? Well, today, you have to trust me."

I leap in through window, lassoing the mannequin in Natalie's room. With a sharp tug, it breaks and akuma files out. "No more evil-doing for you, little akuma. Time to DE-evilize!"

"Miraculous Mr. Bug!" Order is restore, and Natalie's almost falls to the floor. "Watch out, Nat-ma'am," and LadyNoir helps me catch her.

When I get to the house, I knock again on Natalie's door. "I'm sorry, I'm the reason you got akumatized. I asked about your illness without thinking and-" "You didn't mean any harm, Adrien."

I start to sniffle and wrap my arms around Natalie's, not wanting to let go. "You mean so much to me. And even if I can't actually do anything, I'll always be there for you."

"So, why don't you tell me about this girl you like?"

I'll close these pages here, Dear Journal. I love you and I'll write soon. I'm glad everyone I love is safe today.

Adrien Agreste

-Cat Noir