Marinette groaned, and rolled over in her bed back home in her Paris loft. She pulled her pillow over her head to block out the sun. The calls from her father in the living room below just got louder, until he finally poked his head up through the hatch in her room.

"Marinette? Hun, I've been calling you over and over. You're usually running late, but this time are you even going to make an attempt to get to school today? I know it is the last week of high school, but shouldn't that make you even more determined to finish off strong?"

"Sorry Dad," Marinette croaked groggily. "I'm just so tired from getting in so late."

Her father's face creased with concern. "You know your mother and I realize that you're nearly an adult now, and will be making some important decisions…but you've been taking off with Adrien or engrossing yourself with your internship nearly every weekend this term…Both of which are of course wonderful, but where is your balance my dear?!"

Marinette slowly sat up in her bed, and rubbed her eyes with the back of her hand. "You know me…" Marinette tried to casually play off her tendency to take on too much.

"I know you…and that is what worries me!" her Dad pressed.

Marinette climbed down from her bed, and crossed the floor towards her worried Dad. "You're right," she admitted. "Everything has gotten away on me, and I've been missing out on other parts of my life that make me whole…like time with you and Mom."

Her Dad put his hand on her shoulder, and looked down at his little girl affectionately. "Maybe it is just hard for me to believe that you've suddenly grown up." His eyes welled up, and Marinette squeezed him into a hug.

"Aw Dad, it's not like I've got everything figured out yet!" Marinette smiled up at him.

"Oh, you don't?" her Dad smiled.

"I still haven't perfected your famous tangerine soufflé!" she reasoned with a giggle.

Her father brightened, and added, "well, we can start tonight, as long as you finally show me how to do a 'Mega Optic Blast combo' for Mega Strike 3!"

"You're on!" Marinette hugged her Dad and stood on her tiptoes to kiss him on the cheek. "And I promise I won't get so caught up with everything that I forget what is important! See you after school!" she added, descending the stairs.

"Marinette honey," her Dad called after her.

"Uh, huh?" she answered.

"It might be one of those 'important things' not to go to school in your pajamas."

"Oh!" Marinette glanced down at her Chat Noir themed pajamas Adrien had got her as a joke. "Right!" she marched back past her Dad, shaking his head as he climbed down the stairs to finish breakfast with his wife.

"Thanks Dad!" she called down after him.

"No problem," he responded back, and then sat down next to Sabine with a smile, "She still needs me once in a while."

"Dear, she'll always need you…You're thinking about her graduation again?" Sabine kissed her husband's cheek, and got up to refill her tea.

"I'm just not sure she realizes what the world is like out there," he sighed. "Is she ready?"

Sabine paused, taking a sip out of her tea, and smiled, "she's more ready than us."

Oooo

Marinette did work hard to balance things better that week. Things were busy with her internship with new deadlines quickly approaching, and the pressure mounting. Adrien would pop in now and then, but it was Komar who always seemed to be hanging around, looking over her shoulder. Whatever time wasn't tied up with working for Style Queen, she divided between school, chats with Alya and the girls, stolen moments with Adrien, and she even managed to fit in a couple nights of video games with her parents.

By the end of the week her graduating class looked at the window on the outside of their classroom of their school. Class lists were posted for everyone to see, providing student ID numbers, matched with test scores. Anxiety pricked in everyone's mind as the scanned the pale sheets that seemed to hold their future ransom.

While others had their eyes glued on the pages, Marinette was more concerned with the expressions on each student's face.

"Aren't you going to look? You're not nervous are you?" Adrien whispered, coming up beside her.

"I just wanted to make sure…" Marinette responded distractedly, watching Rose intently as she stood on tiptoes to find her score.

Adrien looked up towards Rose, and sighed, taking Marinette's hand. "You're worried someone will be vulnerable to an akuma attack aren't you."

"There is a lot riding on those tests…many students who are unsure what the future might hold," Marinette looked back at Adrien. "I can't let Falfalla get to them…not after the years everyone here has been tormented through Hawkmoth's akuma attacks. I have to protect them!"

Adrien brought her hand to his lips, laying a kiss on the back of her hand. "Don't worry. We will stop her, and because of you all of us will have a future to plan for."

"We have to!" Marinette said in a strained voice, "but I'm not sure how!"

Suddenly there was a yell from the far end, and Marinette and Adrien's heads jerked up to spot the student who had reacted. They saw Ivan holding his head and muttering again and again, "I just don't believe it!" Milan squeezed his hand next to him.

"Don't worry Ivan! We're here for you!" Marinette ran to him, trailed by Adrien.

"Yeah Ivan, don't worry about it..it can't be so bad!" Adrien encouraged, thumping him on the back, trying to convey an easy-going façade while scanning the room for a akuma on the loose.

"Not bad at all!" responded Ivan in surprise. "Actually this is the best mark I've ever gotten!"

"Wha…what…oh…well then, that's fantastic Ivan! Good for you!" Marinette said picking her jaw up off the floor.

"Yeah, Max has been helping me study for weeks! Thanks to him I might actually go to college!" Ivan beamed.

"It is without question that you yourself achieved the desired outcome to increase your percentages!" Max joined them. "You put in the hard work and it payed off!"

"I'm proud of you Ivan!" Milan snuggled up next to him.

"Aww, thanks!" Ivan turned red, and shrugged his shoulders happily.

"I guess all that is left is to celebrate!" Adrien threw his hands up in the air.

"You said it Dude!" Nino whooped. "Chloe's Dad has totally opened up the hotel for us to host a party tonight! Chloe said it is going to be a crazy scene!"

"There is usually not so much of a fuss at the end of a school year, everyone just heads off for their summer plans," Alex commented.

"Yeah, but our class has actually survived, like literally survived high school after endless attacks!" Alya reasoned. "I think that calls for a bigger than average celebration!"

Adrien had already witnessed the early preparations at the hotel as Chloe "negotiated" with her Dad about some of the elements of the "biggest bash of the year!" (As Chloe put it). Chloe had even called up celebrities and performers from all over to come! Adrien had kindda hoped that it might have just been a small party with his friends, but when he mentioned this to Chloe, she had brushed the idea down. "The who's who of Paris have got to be there!"

"Chloe really is trying to make everything perfect," Adrien smiled. "It'll be fun to all be together…" he was interrupted by a phone call. He looked at the number, and his eyebrows shot to his forehead. He swiftly clicked the green button, put his phone to his ear, and headed around the corner while the caller spoke to him.

Minutes later he returned, and distractedly threw the strap of his book bag over his shoulder looking down.

"What's wrong?" Marinette whispered, drawing close. She could pick up immediately that whatever the phone call had been about had made Adrian's face drain of all happiness.

"It's my mom," he replied in a shocked voice. "One of the nurses just called to tell me they're concerned about fluctuations on her heart monitor."

All the friends glanced at Adrien sympathetically, and offered their support. Touched, but still putting up a strong front, Adrien said he would let them know when he found out more.

"I'm sure it's fine, I just need to get down there to check on her," Adrien tried to reassure them, as much as himself. Then he put on a smile, and swiftly slipped away with Marinette at his side.

Marinette squeezed his hand once they got out of school. "I'm coming with you," she said determinedly.

"It's really fine," Adrien shook his head. "The clinic just wants me to check in. Most of all I just want to spend some time with my mom on my own first," Adrien said. "Her care is my responsibility now."

"You know you don't have to take this on by yourself," Marinette urged gently.

Adrien gazed affectionately at Marinette and kissed her cheek, "I'm so grateful for that. I'll see at the party later okay."

"Okay, see you soon," Marinette conceded, watching as he waved, and headed off in the direction of the train. "I love you!" She called after him.

He smiled back at her, blowing her a kiss, before turning the corner out of sight.

Marinette sighed deeply, left alone on the sidewalk. She hated the feeling that fell to the pit of her stomach; Adrien shouldn't be facing the uncertainty ahead without her. They had been partners so long, and now that she knew her Kitty was Adrien, she was all the more protective of him. She kicked herself for not insisting more on going with him...but then maybe he did need some time alone with his mom. She knew Adrien had visited his mom frequently since discovering her the day Hawkmoth was defeated. Just as Marinette was wavering in her decision to follow Adrien or return home to await news, Marinette's phone started buzzing frantically in her tiny purse, making poor Tikki vibrate.

As soon as she took the call, she knew something was seriously wrong. There were crashes, and the sound of the wind howling. Then yells of alarm. There were muffled voices calling out in the background before Kagami's breathless voice could be heard over the receiver. "He has come for Fei! He's back! You've got to get a message to Ladybug! He's going to use the prodigious to..." Then the line went dead.

Panic jolted through Marinette's chest, as she cracked open her purse, and ducked into a nearby alley. "Tikki! Fei and Kagami are in trouble and that means that the dragon miraculous and the Prodigious are also on the line too! I don't know what is happening yet, but I've got to find out and help them!"

"What about bringing Chat Noir?" Tikki asked with concern.

Marinette opened her mouth about to speak, and then closed it again. "I'll get a message to him when I find out more," she decided. "Right now he has enough to deal with, and I can always pop back if I need to."

Tikki's look of concern didn't ease. "But if Merlin...or the Mosquito Kwami...or Falfalla, or any of them get ahold of a miraculous or the Prodigious I don't know if you will be able to..." Tikki warned.

"Adrien is needed by his family right now. I can't ask him to leave his mother's side in a crisis!" Marinette declared firmly. "Ladybug is needed in Japan, but Adrien is needed here this time."

Tikki bit her tiny lip, and couldn't help a thin nervous hum that escaped her mouth.

"Tikki, Spots on!" Marinette called on her transformation, and then quickly merged with Kalaki as well. She channeled a portal to Japan, not wasting any time on indecision. "I've got to take care of this on my own," she murmured to herself, psyching herself up to walk through into the unknown without Chat Noir at her side. Not daring to hesitate, she slipped through the portal to Japan, vanishing off the street.

oooo

Meanwhile, Adrien arrived breathless at the clinic that had been monitoring his mother. A petite looking nurse greeted him warmly at the reception. "Why Adrien! You were just here yesterday, and now you're back again?! We weren't expecting to see you till next week!"

"How is my mother?" Adrien asked urgently.

"Oh..ah...welll, the same as always dear," the nurse's surprised face transitioned into sympathetic concern for the tragic young man before her.

"But I was just called, and told that her levels had fluctuated, and that there might be concerns. They told me I needed to come down right away!"

"That can't be." the nurse said puzzled. "I've been the only one with Emilie Agreste all morning, and there hasn't been the slightest change. I never called you today."

Adrien froze, and then robotically passed the desk, and made his way to his mother's side. The nurse followed behind. Adrien knelt next to his mother's bed where she lay motionless and frozen in magic. Supported on machines, her monitored heart rate and slow breathing made Adrien sigh in relief...but his relief only lasted a mere moment before the wheels started turning.
You didn't call me?" Adrien asked the nurse looking startled.

"I'm sorry, no I didn't," she said.

"Then who did?...and why?" Adrien asked, then he clamored suddenly to his feet, and grabbed out his phone hitting the button to dial Marinette.

Adrien dropped his hand to his side when a monotone recording said "This number is unavailable."

ooooooooo

Merry Christmas everyone! I hope you have been enjoying my story. If you've liked the chapters so far, please like or follow so I know you're still interested...or I love getting encouraging reviews:)

I left you on a bit of a cliff-hanger this Christmas, but here is a hint: Ladybug and Chat Noir are "unstoppable" together. I hope that this chapter helps show how our villains' are working to divide and conquer our heroes.

I'm off to work on the next chapter where Ladybug and Adrien are facing different challenges/adversaries divided between Japan and France;) Thank you again so much for taking the time to read!