After getting something to eat from a local market stand, Marinette and Chat Noir made their way to the pond to wind down and have a relaxing picnic breakfast. The sun was out, but it was the perfect temperature accompanied by a light breeze. It was the first time she and Chat Noir had gotten to sit down and spend time with each other while not having to worry about their hero duties since he ran away.

"I didn't know kittens liked croissants," Marinette laughed, pointing at the giant pile of croissants Chat Noir was hoarding in his paws. The bakery made croissants on the daily, but Marinette never bothered to give any to Chat Noir since he seemed more keen on cheese than anything else. But when Chat Noir saw some freshly baked croissants for sale, he looked like a starved prisoner coming back from war. He practically begged Marinette to buy some for him.

Chat Noir nodded, his mouth full of flaky goodness. "I just had a sudden craving," he explained, accidentally spitting out pieces of croissant. "These are delicious!"

"They're not as good as the ones Papa makes, but they are pretty good," Marinette agreed, starting to eat her own breakfast. That's when she noticed Chat Noir had crumbs all over his mouth like a messy child. Apparently proper table manners weren't a priority to alley cats.

"Come here, chaton." Marinette gestured for Chat Noir to come closer. "You're making quite the mess. You have crumbs all over your face!" She reached over and gently dusted the food away, her fingers rubbing against his cheeks.

"I-I can do it on my own!" Chat Noir shouted, pulling away. He turned bright red as he wiped the food off his face. Realizing how awkward she had made the situation, Marinette also began to blush and covered her face with her bangs, hoping Chat Noir wouldn't notice. She wasn't used to being conscious of him in this way.

"I have to stop acting so weird," Marinette cursed herself. "I don't like Chat Noir in that way. There's no need to feel embarrassed so why does he make me nervous? We had no problem having a normal conversation before, but now every time he gets close, I can hardly think straight."

"Isn't the weather purr-fect this morning?" Chat Noir asked, desperately trying to change the subject. "And look up at all the clouds. Doesn't that one look like a dog?" He pointed up at and oddly shaped cloud that if you squinted might look somewhat like a dog.

"I think it looks more like a an old man," Marinette decided. "See? There's his eyes and mouth. And over there is the outline of his chin and his beard!"

"I kinda see it, but I still think it looks more like a dog. What about that one over there? It kinda looks like a butterfly!"

"Keep it away!" Marinette giggled. "I don't want to see another akuma for the rest of my life!"

"You don't have to it. Isn't it crazy to think? We really defeated Hawk Moth. A few months ago, we could barely beat an akuma and look how far we've come!"

"It helped that Hawk Moth didn't put up much of a fight. I never expected him to be King Gabriel and I never realized how much pain he was in. He remained so strong for the public, but underneath was a broken heart. That was enough to drive him to evil."

"I wouldn't call it evil," Chat Noir disagreed as he grabbed another croissant. "Just desperation. If you were in his position, wouldn't you make the same choice?"

"I don't think I could bring myself to put others in danger for my own desires. This is world is bigger than just me. I'd feel too guilty."

"Classic Marinette," Chat Noir chuckled. "But that's where we disagree. If something happened to you, I'd send a thousand akuma if I had to so I could get you back. I can't admit that to her though. She'd only laugh and brush it off."

"Yo! It's Marinette!"

Marinette and Chat Noir both turned around to find Alya and Nino running down the hill towards them. In their path was a small rock which Alya gracefully jumped over, but Nino wasn't as fortunate. He caught the edge with his foot and came tumbling down. He screamed for help as he continued to roll, finally falling face first behind Marinette.

"That was certainly a special welcome!" Marinette laughed as she picked up Nino's glasses which had fallen in the grass. She handed to him and then offered him a hand while Alya was holding her sides, nearly dying of laughter.

"You should've seen your face when you fell!" Alya grinned. "It was priceless! You were even clumsier than Marinette!"

Nino rolled his eyes. "Why do I love you so much again?"

"Who knows? But for real, are you okay? That was a nasty stumble. You're lucky you don't have stains on your pants otherwise your mother would kill you!"

"Nothing's broken, right?" Marinette asked, pretending to be the doting parent. She tapped his knee and made sure his arms were still bending in the correct direction. After a quick evaluation, she deemed him injury free much to everyone's relief. He'd probably just have a few bruises tomorrow morning along with the shame of falling down in front of his girlfriend.

"Thank goodness," Nino sighed, adjusting his cap. "I'll try and be more careful next time. I didn't mean to cause such a ruckus. Sorry for interrupting your date, Marinette."

"D-Date?" Marinette exclaimed. She looked back at Chat Noir who appeared as confused as her. "It's not a date!" she protested, biting her lip anxiously. "H-He's just my friend. Yeah... a friend!"

"Why haven't I been introduced to this friend?" asked Alya as she raised an eyebrow. She leaned in closer to Marinette and whispered in her ear. "Seriously girl, you don't have to hide it. Did you finally find yourself a new prince charming?"

"We aren't like that! I promise! He's just a friend I met recently and I haven't had the chance to introduce you two. That's all."

Marinette never planned on Chat Noir meeting her friends in his human form. She hadn't given much thought to that conversation. The cloak only covered his ears and tail, but the mask was still clearly visible. Knowing Alya, she'd have lots of questions and insist Chat Noir take of his cloak. How was Marinette going to explain that?

"Wait a minute..." Nino said, approaching Chat Noir who was turned away from the conversation. He, like Marinette, was in a bit of a panic. He didn't usually interact with humans unless it was to fight or protect Marinette. Nino placed his hand on Chat Noir's shoulder and smiled, "I remember you. You're the guy that came into the music shop before. I'm Nino! Remember me?"

"Yeah..." Chat Noir replied timidly.

"Marinette, did you know he's a musical genius? I'm so jealous! He said he hadn't ever played the piano, but then totally rocked it! He could be a pro!"

"Really?" Marinette crossed her arms. Chat Noir had mentioned playing the piano before and it wasn't the first time the cat had discovered a hidden talent. In fact, he seemed to be full of surprises and secrets. Honestly, Marinette wouldn't be surprised if Chat Noir also knew how to fly.

"I never got your name before," Nino continued. "You were about to tell me before you bolted."

Before Chat Noir could open his mouth, Marinette dashed between him and Nino. She clamped her hands over Chat's mouth and gave Nino a nervous smile. "His name's Chat!" she shouted, louder than she intended. Her voice always got a little loud when she was forced to improvise.

"Chat?" Alya frowned. "Like a cat?"

"It's a nickname. All his friends call him that."

"What a rad name!" Nino grinned, digging the nickname. "But what's up with the weird garb? It's supposed to be hot today. You've got to be sweating to death underneath all that. And is that... are you wearing a mask?"

"It's to prevent sunburn!" Marinette lied, pulling Chat Noir behind her. He ducked his head down so Nino and Alya couldn't stare at his face. Marinette didn't have a lie to explain the cat eyes. She playfully patted Chat Noir on the head and said, "He has really sensitive skin so his parents make him wear a cloak and mask every time he goes outside. It's excessive, I know, but it's better to be safe than sorry!"

"You make the strangest friends," Alya laughed. "Anyways, Nino and I will leave you and Chat to your date. Swing by later once you're free! We wanted to hang out for a while, but it seems you have better plans." Her last statement was accompanied by a wink.

"Sure," Marinette nodded. "By the way, how'd you know to find me down here?"

"Marinette, you're too predictable. When your mom said you weren't home, this was the first place I looked. You're always doodling or designing something down by the pond. And it looks like my guess was right on the money!"

"Oh and Marinette," Nino interjected, his tone turning serious. "Alya told me about your cat. We've been on the hunt for him, but there's been no sign yet. Sorry..."

"About that..." Marinette's eyes drifted over to Chat Noir before turning back to Nino. "He came home last night, safe and sound!"

"I told you!" Alya said, leaning onto Marinette's shoulder. "You loved that cat way too much for him to abandon you. Go figure he'd come back home once he got a little lonely." The unintentional accuracy of Alya's words shocked both Marinette and Chat Noir. Luckily, Alya and Nino didn't seem to notice the faint blush on either of their faces.

"I... umm.. g-guess you did." Marinette nervously rubbed the back of her neck, a bad habit she had picked up from Chat Noir. "Thanks for helping me look for him though. I'm glad that I have such a great friends."

"And it seems you have a more special friend here waiting for you. See you later, Marinette!" Alya saluted as she took Nino's hand and the two of them headed back up the hill. Once they were gone, Marinette fell onto the ground in relief. That had been a close call.

"Sorry about that!" Chat Noir apologized. "I should've disappeared when I saw them coming or at least turned back into a cat."

"It's fine, kitty," Marinette smiled as she sat up. "No harm, no foul. It's not like they figured anything out, but now might be a good time to head home. And I could use a handsome escort."

"Say no more."

Chat Noir helped Marinette up and the two headed home. They exchanged casual small talk, not knowing that Tikki had been woken up by Nino's clumsy fall. The kwami was sitting in a pile of flowers thinking to herself. Something about the conversation she had overheard struck her as odd. Nino mentioned Chat Noir being talented at the piano although Chat Noir claimed to have never touched one in his life.

"There has to be some explanation," Tikki mused. "And I think I might be getting close. Chat Noir and Prince Adrien aren't as unrelated as we first thought. King Gabriel was right to think they had some connection. It wasn't a coincidence Chat Noir was there the night Prince Adrien disappeared, but I can tell Chat Noir isn't lying either. Whatever happened to Prince Adrien must be in Chat Noir's forgotten memories. I'll need to talk to Marinette about this in private once we get home."

Once they arrived home, Marinette had planned on heading back out to meet with Alya and Nino. She would find something for Chat Noir to do around the house. She'd prefer if he could clean up her room, but felt that might be a little mean. Maybe she'd find him a ball of yarn to play with instead. In the meantime, Marinette had sent Chat Noir up to the balcony to tend to her plants which were suffering from a lack of water in his absence.

While rummaging through her drawers for some string, Marinette felt a light tap on her shoulder. "Tikki?" Marinette asked quizzically. "Is something wrong? You've got a weird expression."

"Marinette..." Tikki whispered into her ear. "I need to talk to you about Prince Adrien."

"Prince Adrien? Looks like Nino and Alya can wait a bit longer. Chat Noir's on the balcony watering my plants. I'll go get him real-"

"You mustn't!"

"What do you mean? Chat Noir promised to help us find Prince Adrien. I know he might be a little jealous, but he has good intentions."

"It's not about that." Tikki shook her head. "I need to talk to you about Chat Noir too."

"I see..." Marinette stood up and closed her drawers. She sat down on her bed and Tikki landed on her knee. "So what's going on?" Marinette asked, drawing Tikki in close. "I'm not following."

"I think Chat Noir might have something to do with Prince Adrien's disappearance!"

"What? But Chat Noir insisted he didn't know Prince Adrien and he wouldn't lie to us like that."

"He didn't say anything like that," Tikki argued, pointing out the flaw in Marinette's memories. "Chat Noir said he couldn't guarantee he wasn't responsible. You were the one who put words into his mouth."

"I'm sorry, Tikki, but I trust Chat Noir. He wouldn't hurt anyone especially Prince Adrien."

"And I'm not saying he did, but I do think there's a connection. Remember the rune that was drawn on Prince Adrien's floor? That was a spell for increasing magical power and I think Prince Adrien was the one who cast it."

"And then something went wrong..." Marinette answered in a somber tone. "Magic is unpredictable. The magic got out of hand, but where does Chat Noir fit in?"

"Marinette, do you recall what you read about black cats when we read the origin story of Ladybug and Chat Noir?"

Marinette had to dig deep in her memories for that. She remembered the story in fairly good detail. The original Ladybug had been betrayed by her Hawk Moth and was forced to seal her miraculous magic along with the magic of her friends to defeat him. The original Chat Noir had been her pet cat who was gifted with part of her magic. And then Tikki had said something... something about...

"The story further explains that black cats are naturally magic beings. While they can't practice magic themselves, they are powerful which is why magicians in the past often had them as pets. If this cat was Ladybug's pet, he was probably the most powerful black cat of them all! But in order for him to fight and use that magic, she had to give him a human form!"

"That was it!" Marinette remembered. "Black cats are filled with magic, but can't use it. However, if they were transformed into a human, they could take advantage of their magic and become a powerful magician. That sounds kinda familiar... almost like Chat Noir's situation..."

"Chat Noir!" Marinette suddenly exclaimed.

"Exactly," Tikki nodded. "Chat Noir must be a result of Prince Adrien's magic."

"But how's that possible? Was Chat Noir some kind of creature summoned from hell? No, he's too nice for that. Maybe Prince Adrien had a pet black cat that got transformed by the spell? But that doesn't explain what happened to Prince Adrien. Why would the Prince even be practicing magic? Oh, Tikki... I feel like we've discovered something important, but we don't know how to connect it to what we already know." Marinette let out a frustrated sigh.

"Don't give up hope just yet!" Tikki cheered, grabbing onto Marinette's finger. "There might be something in that spellbook that could help us recover Chat Noir's memories!"

"We can't use magic on him!" Marinette stood up in protest. "It's dangerous! The only magic we can trust is your miraculous magic! What if something happened?"

"But don't you want to see Prince Adrien again? This might be the only way to find him!"

"I do, but... but... Grr! This is so frustrating!" Marinette sank down to her knees and held her head. She didn't want to put Chat Noir in danger, but the longer they waited, the greater the chances that Prince Adrien would be in danger. And they were going off only a hypothesis. There was a chance Chat Noir and Prince Adrien weren't associated. What if their guess was wrong?

"Let's see if we can find a spell that might work first!" Tikki flew over and tried to grab the spellbook which was sitting on Marinette's desk. She grabbed it with her tiny hands and only was able to fly a few feet before dropping the book onto the floor. It was too heavy for her.

"Let me help." Marinette picked up the book and opened it. She couldn't read any of the spells in the book. Luckily, there was a short description in French at the side, but the actual spell was written in a foreign language. Not to mention, a book this size would be filled thousands of spells. Searching through each one could take an eternity.

"How are we going to look through all of these?" Marinette moaned. "And Chat Noir's going to come back any second. What are we going to tell him? We promised not to keep anymore secrets."

"I can handle this!" Tikki smiled. She closed her eyes and hovered above the book's withered pages. Marinette leaned back to give her some space. She watched Tikki remain silent almost as if the kwami was deep in thought. Marinette had no idea what Tikki was doing until Tikki opened her eyes and began to flip through the pages of the book.

"Um... what was that?" Marinette asked while Tikk continued to search.

"Just an old magic trick I learned from somebody. It makes it much easier to read through long books. Ah! Here it is!" Tikki turned the book around and sat down on the page. "This spell should do the trick!"

Marinette carefully picked up the book and skimmed the spell's summary. "A magic reversal spell. It says that it'll turn back the time of even the most powerful of magic. This means whatever spell was cast on Chat Noir would come undone. But that doesn't necessarily mean he'll get his memory back?"

"It's a good idea, but I don't know if this spell will work," Marinette frowned. "What if we end up turning Chat Noir back into a normal black cat? Then we'll be down a partner and a prince. We might not be able to recover his memory either."

"Marinette, you have to trust me. I'm confident that with this spell we will find Prince Adrien." Tikki gazed up at Marinette with hopeful eyes that the girl couldn't say no to.

"Alright... but we have to get Chat Noir's permission first. If he says no, then we aren't casting the spell. It'll be his choice to take this risk or not."

"I agree," Tikki nodded though she knew exactly what decision he would make. Chat Noir would do anything to make Marinette happy. He would even sacrifice himself. And while that type of thinking was reckless, Tikki knew it would come in handy. It was what had protected Marinette from all those akuma and Hawk Moth. Chat Noir might not be Marinette's prince charming, but he was her knight in shining armor.

"When should we cast the spell?"

"As soon as possible. You might have to put off your plans with Alya and Nino a bit longer."

"I'm sure they'll understand. We can't cast the spell in here though. You saw what a mess magic made of Prince Adrien's bedroom. We'll need a larger space without any people."

"What about Prince Adrien's grave?" Tikki suggested. "It's fenced off and there's nobody around. Aside from the statue, there's plenty of space! And it'll be good luck!"

"Sounds good. Hopefully, we won't cause too much destruction. I don't want to explain to King Gabriel why all of his son's flowers were suddenly unrooted. Wah! King Gabriel!" Marinette shouted as she grabbed her cheeks. "Should we tell him the plan? We agreed to work together after all. If it's about Prince Adrien, he deserves to know."

"We should keep it a secret! If everything goes well, then we can tell him, but I don't want to get his hopes up. We can't afford to upset the poor man even more."

"You're right..." Marinette agreed. "Maybe we can sneak in and visit him tomorrow to see if he's feeling better. Last night's fight really sent him into shock. I want to go back to him with good news! I'll go get Chat Noir then. Wish me luck!" Marinette stood up and headed up the stairs to the balcony, disappearing outside.

"I'm sorry for lying to you, Marinette," Tikki thought once the girl left. "I didn't want to get your hopes up, but I think I'm right." Tikki had a theory in mind that explained everything: Prince Adrien's disappearance, Chat Noir's amnesia and his mysterious hidden talents, the strange appearance of the destruction miraculous, and even Plagg.

"If we cast this spell correctly, we won't just be getting Prince Adrien back, but Plagg too! And then we can finally lay this story to rest once and for all."


Things are starting to get exciting, aren't they?