"What'd it say, Marinette?" Tikki queried. Marinette knew it wasn't a genuine question- Tikki, while sweet, didn't really offer Marinette much in the way of privacy. Marinette was certain that the Kwami had read the note at the same time as she did, but the girl appreciated that Tikki let her decide whether she'd wanted to talk about it or not.

She released the breath that she felt like she'd been holding for hours. "It says he's sorry," Marinette summarized. She knew that didn't aptly convey all that 'Chat' had said, but it was as good of a start as any, as far as she was concerned. "Do you think it's really him?" Marinette questioned, already knowing Tikki's response.

"Do you?" The words Marinette was dreading hearing. She knew the second she asked Tikki's opinion, that was the response she was going to get. She didn't have an answer. She wanted, so badly, for it to be Chat, but she also was mentally pleading for it not to be him. She couldn't believe it was him after he'd so thoroughly betrayed Ladybug.

That was Ladybug , though. He hadn't specifically done anything to betray Marinette, so there was no reason she should be upset with him. Well, no more upset than any of the other citizens in Paris. She took a breath, hoping to compose herself and stop her heart from feeling like it was going to beat straight out of her chest.

"There's only one way to find out, right?" Marinette rushed upstairs from where it previously felt like she was stuck in the kitchen. She sat down at her desk and wondered how she could possibly respond, both in words and in action. Cat Walker was never out unless there was an akuma, so it was unlikely that he would be able to stop by to pick up a letter.

If it was him, though, leaving something on her balcony was going to be a good way of making sure that it wasn't just a stranger who was going to see her response.

'I'm choosing to believe you,

I don't know if I should, or why I do, but I will. I just… hope you don't let me down. I'm probably setting myself up for disappointment by believing you, but I don't see how believing you could make me feel worse than I already do. So, here we are, I guess.

What happened? I mean, you don't have to tell me, obviously. I don't even know if you can tell me, but I want you to know that I'd like to be here for you, if you'll let me.' Marinette stopped herself from following up that line by referring to herself as his partner. 'You're one of my closest friends, even though I don't know who you are. I don't want you to be going through this, whatever this is, alone.

I know you're strong. Of course you are, everyone knows that, but that doesn't mean you don't need someone looking out for you. I, for one, don't necessarily think that Monarch is going to look out for you, if push comes to shove. I more easily believe that he would manage to try to blame his entire villain history on you if he can.

That's probably not the point, though. The point is that if you need me- a friend, an ally, whatever I can be to support you. I hope you're staying safe, whatever is going on with you.

Paris misses you and we'll be happy whenever you're ready to come back to us.

-Marinette'

She felt a bit unsure about how to end the letter she wasn't even sure if he would ever get, but she needed to. She needed to make sure that he was safe. Asking him to be okay felt like it was a lot to ask of him, but safety felt like it could be reasonable. At least, she hoped it was reasonable.

She thought about the words from his letter again and again, 'back to normal.' If that was what he was trying for, she supposed that should be what she aimed for as well. School was going to be starting soon and she was thankful that she wouldn't have to deal with the responsibilities of being class representative in addition to her courseload.

Speaking of 'normal.' She looked above her desk and looked at the acceptance letter to the Agreste internship. It was something she dreamed about for years and when she applied, she never thought she would actually get accepted. It would count as several credits in her fashion design track in school, but she also knew that M. Agreste was harsh, to put it nicely.

She could remember a dozen of his employees who had been akumatized- not to mention the times he'd been akumatized. She was just thankful that Adrien had never fallen under the influence of Paris' resident supervillain. She tapped her fingers across her desk as she thought through her response email.

'P.S. I got accepted to that internship I told you about. It feels so insignificant in comparison to everything else going on right now, but I know you asked me to let you know how it went, so, yeah, that's how it went.' With that last addition, she decided that was enough of the letter. She grabbed a piece of tape and taped the letter to the underside of the clear table on her balcony.

She didn't know when he would be able to get it, but she hoped that the placement would be visible while also preventing the letter from getting damaged by the rainstorms it felt like Paris was constantly having. She ducked back into her bedroom and wondered how Chat was planning to get her response, if he was planning to get her response.

She looked at the remote in her little bag and pressed the button. Once, just to say hi. She knew that he would think it was from Ladybug, not Marinette, but she wanted to make sure that he knew that he wasn't as alone as he might feel in the aftermath of his switch from Chat Noir to Cat Walker.

"Mrew," Adrien heard from the drawer of his desk, thankful that Nathalie had given him a surprising amount of privacy since he 'changed allegiances.' He waited, 5 seconds, 10, 20 for a second sound to come from the cat toy and couldn't help the tear that sprang to his eye at the knowledge that again, she wasn't reaching out out of desperation.

It felt like he wasn't a disappointment, like he hadn't just been letting her down time and time again. He wondered if Marinette got the letter, if she believed it was him. If she did, did she forgive him? Would she write back? How would he get her response? He probably should have thought about that before, but he was desperate to reach out to one of the girls he knew he let down.