THWACK!

Adrien heard the soft thud sound as his mind started to clear. He wasn't quite sure where he was, or what was happening. His head spun and he felt almost sick.

"Leave him alone!"

He heard someone shouting, and although he knew they were close by, it sounded miles away. Adrien's head felt foggy. He leaned back against the fence and took in a deep breath. The smell of the river filled him. The Seine. That's right. He was walking next to the river.

"Are you alright!?"

Adrien looked up to find a girl in front of him. She looked hauntingly familiar, with black hair and blue eyes. He would have sworn he knew her somewhere, if only his head wasn't spinning.

"Yeah," he mumbled. "What happened?"

The girl straightened up. "That Siren lady. I knew she was up to no good. I had to follow her." She paused for a moment. "This may sound weird, but…do I know you?"

Adrien gripped his head and blinked furiously. The girl started to come into focus. For a second there, he would have sworn it was his lady again, but then his eyes cleared and he nearly fell over. His voice came out so soft that it didn't carry any further than his own ears. "Ma-Marinette?"

The woman tilted her head. After a moment, her face lit up. "Oh! You're the boy from the billboards! That's right!"

"Marinette!" Adrien jumped up and threw his arms around her. He held her as tight as he could. "Marinette! I thought I'd lost you!"

His eyes stung as tears threatened to come. He'd found her. He found Marinette. Master Fu was right. She was alright. Marinette was safe and here and that meant that maybe, just maybe, he could find a way to get his lady back too.

Adrien leaned back and gave her a goofy grin. "Marinette, you're alright!"

She stared at him blankly. "Mari…nette?"

His face fell as he quickly scanned her once more. No, it was definitely Marinette. Her hair was a little longer, but it was her.

"Sorry," her face reddened. She took a step back out of Adrien's arms. "I suppose I should explain. I was in an accident and don't remember anything longer than 3 months ago. I've been following that Siren girl because someone called her 'Akuma' or something like that and it sounded familiar, but she's not very nice. And well, I saw her going after you and I thought you looked familiar-"

Adrien burst out laughing. He couldn't help it. Joy overflowed from within him. Marinette was alive. Even without her memories, she was still alive.

"Sorry!" He laughed again. "I'm just so happy to see you!"

"Oh," Marinette paused, then grinned. "Well, that's good, I guess. Right? I mean, I don't really know who you are."

An idea came to Adrien's mind. He smiled. "Come on, I think I know someone that can help."

Adrien watched Master Fu's face carefully as he looked over Marinette. He wasn't entirely sure that Master Fu could do anything, but it was the best lead he had. After all, he told Adrien that he would see Marinette again. If there was anyone that would know how to help her, it was him.

"So, what's the earliest thing you remember?" Master Fu asked.

"Hm," Marinette tapped her chin in thought. "I was on a rooftop in the middle of Paris. It was nighttime. No one was around. I suppose everyone was asleep. I didn't see another person for a couple of blocks."

"Do you remember the akuma that attacked you?" Adrien asked.

"No," Marinette shook her head. "I don't remember anything at all before that."

"And you ran into Adrien at the river just now?" Master Fu asked. "Chasing an akuma?"

"Yeah, I guess." Marinette agreed. She gestured towards Adrien. "You know, I remember now where I recognized you from. On that rooftop there was a billboard of you. It was next to a little neon sign of a strawberry. I think it was for a fruit shop, but it looked like you were trying to eat it. I thought it was funny at the time."

"A strawberry….?" Adrien's mind raced until he pictured the exact place she was talking about. He knew the fruit store, but it was where he last saw his lady. He had avoided that place ever since the incident. "Wait, you're saying you were on the roof there?"

Marinette nodded.

Master Fu smiled. "Does that place seem familiar to you, Adrien?"

Adrien breathed out slowly. Of course it did. It was the exact place the incident with Ladybug happened. But why was Marinette there? He knew she was attacked by the akuma, but why would she be on that rooftop? "Yes."

"Really?" Marinette asked.

Master Fu groaned as he rose to his feet. "I believe I can help Marinette here get back her memories. But it's going to take some work from you, dear boy."

"Anything," Adrien said without hesitation. It was still his fault Marinette had been attacked. If he could help bring her memories back, maybe she would forgive him.

"You're going to have to bring me Ladybug's earrings," Master Fu said with a smile.

Adrien looked over at Marinette in fear. He knew Master Fu didn't outright say it, but it did sort of indicate that he was Chat Noir. That was a secret he wasn't sure he could share with anyone, especially a civilian like Marinette.

"Uh, okay. I mean, I'll try." Adrien said. "For you, Marinette."

She smiled.

"Is he always this oblivious?" A soft voice squeaked from behind Master Fu.

Master Fu just laughed as the small green kwami flew out to join the conversation. "I think his mind is just preoccupied."

Adrien's eyes widened. He looked between Marinette and Master Fu. Marinette seemed excited by the kwami, and Master Fu simply smiled.

"But-but-but," Adrien stammered.

"Hello, there," Marinette giggled. "Who are you?"

"I'm Wayzz," the kwami said.

Master Fu sighed as Adrien looked between the three of them with a open jaw. "My boy," he said slowly. "Do you know why Marinette only remembers three months ago?"

Adrien jerked back in surprise. "N-no. Why?"

"Because that is when you defeated Kingpin."

That's right! Kingpin was the akuma that hurt Marinette. Of course when they defeated him, she'd come back. It was hard to believe that was three months ago, but then again, all he really remembered was waiting for Ladybug to reappear. "Wait," Adrien said as he started to piece it together. "You said you were on the rooftop, but I…I mean, I know that Chat Noir was on that very roof when Ladybug performed her Miraculous healing. No one else was there."

"Ah," Master Fu stroked his beard.

"Did you wait until the current Ladybug went home and transformed back?" Wayzz asked.

"What?" Adrien shook his head. "What does that matter? Of course not."

"I don't think he understands," Master Fu said.

"That's obvious," Wayzz replied.

"Okay," Adrien said, a little annoyed. "Are you going to explain it to me or what?"

Master Fu nodded. "You see, there can only be one Ladybug at a time. So in order for Ladybug to return, the current Ladybug had to remove her earrings."

"Ladybug?" Adrien shook his head. It surprised him how much it hurt to say her name while he was referring to his lady. "We're talking about Marinette. Not Ladybug."

"Yeah," Wayzz said. "They're the same."

"What?" Marinette asked. "Really? I…I guess that probably would mean something if I knew who Ladybug was." She laughed, and Master Fu and Wayzz joined her.

Adrien didn't laugh. He sat there in a stupor. His eyes glazed over as he lost all focus in the room.

Marinette was Ladybug.

Ladybug was Marinette.

He was such an idiot. The answer had been staring him in the face the whole time. She disappeared right after he killed Ladybug. The whole time she was missing and he never put it together. They had the same hair, the same eyes, the same kindness. How did he-?

"Wait!" Adrien jumped up to his feet and threw his hands out.

Marinette, Master Fu and Wayzz all stared at him.

"I didn't kill Ladybug," Adrien said quietly. He was almost afraid to utter the words, as if saying them out loud would make it not true.

Master Fu nodded. "Correct."

Adrien looked down at Marinette. This time he spoke with a little more assurance. "I didn't kill Ladybug."

She smiled and giggled. "Apparently not."

Adrien fell to his knees in relief. After a quick sigh, he turned and threw his arms around Marinette.

A/N: Well, here you go. There's one, maybe two chapters left (depends on how long it gets). Hopefully you are not angry anymore. Thank you for reading.