"Okay, I'll go first," Ladybug says, her hand slipping into mine in the darkness. "Truth Or Dare?" "Truth." "What do you like most about my body?" I'm glad the darkness of our shelter hides the blush on my cheeks, though a sliver of moon peeks in through the cracks. Perhaps she thinks I'm going to give a romantic or sexy answer, but after all, she did ask for the truth. "You always willing to give a hug when I need it, or a hand to hold when I am scared. Though, I have seen your body, and I think your the most beautiful girl in the world." Ladybug giggles and clears her throat. "You may change that answer, come morning, but for now, I accept. Okay, your turn."

"I'll take truth." "What did you think when you first met me?" she asks. "As I recall, I met you flying through the air, and your yo-yo bonked me in the head! But I thought you were sweet, and crazy awesome." "Oh, rice and pudding! You remember that?!" "I wouldn't forget those moments for the world, Bugaboo." On and on we play until our eyes grow heavy and we fall asleep.

Dawn's chorus of birds wakes me up, and I slip away to splash my face with water. Cat is still asleep, and I'll give him a few extra minutes. I try to untangle my long hair, but I feel its in one big rats nest.

"Heavens, M'lady, what happened to your hair?!" I turn around find Cat watching me, with a playful teasing grin. "I just wanted to put it up and its one big snarl!" "Well, as long as you don't snarl, I think I'll be able to help."

Cat hums under his breath as he carefully combs through my hair and ties it in two buns. I turn to look at him in surprise. "How'd you do that?" "I've spent plenty of time looking in a mirror." I hand him a cold piece of fish. "How vain are you? Or are you grooming yourself in front of the mirror?" "I can either confirm or deny those questions. But the sun is up, and we should get moving."

We head back on the path, and I like the morning mist that hangs in the air like a soft protective blanket. The going is reveality easy, but I feel my heart beginning to work harder and I realize we're starting to climb up a very steep hill.

We don't talk much to converse our energy, but by lunchtime, our legs ache and are shaky. "I'll try to find some berries or plants. You want to scout ahead for a stream?" I tell Cat. "Sure. But to keep in contact, let's do a whistle every five minutes so we don't get separated. "Good plan."

I bite my lip, knowing if Cat and I want to keep up our strength, I'll need to find something other the berries.

A scratching scrambling sound as me whirling my yo-yo instinctive, and I glance up into the treetops. A squirrel leaps from branch to branch, and Kagami's words float back to me. Your not killing for sport, your hunting to keep yourself alive. I stop spinning my yo-yo and re-hook it to my belt. I take one of my arrows and take aim carefully.

The squirrel is still a good distance away from me, but it has defiently spotted me. It stops and begins to chatter angrily at me. I peer down the shaft and take a deep breath. Then I let my arrow fly, silently telling the creature only for a meal I take its life.

Just then I hear a whistle and I whistle back and I unhook my yo-yo once again, for I need Cat's help. Cat comes crunching through the bushes. "You texted?" "I shot lunch. A squirrel. Can you clean it while I set up the fire?"

Without waiting for an answer, I quickly walk away. Cat helps me to put the squirrel on the spit I've made, but then turns to me. "Why did you run away back there?" he makes his voice soft and gentle, and it makes it even harder to answer. "I've always been able to repair things with a Lucky Charm but today, I didn't have that option." "Love, you weren't killing out of hate or spite, its different." "It will still take time to get to all this."

When the squirrel is done, I do find it delicious. We drink water from our packs, but not much as we don't know when we'll find more.

I can see hear a few birds tweeting, but Cat and I are seeing less and less creatures. Then I find out why. A huge mountain looms above us, and we're only at the base. Still, we keep trudging forward. Cat tells me stories of his younger days, apparently he was a model. Though I love hearing his stories, my heart starts to ache for the only another true friend I had, Adrien Agreste.

Did Adrien escape the fire? He must have, he was so clever and brave, and so thoughtful….we come to another stream, this one wider then the one in the woods, and the day's dirt and dust make my skin itch. "Mind if I take a quick dip?" I ask Cat. "The water does look refreshing. If you need anything, I'll be around the stream bend."

When Cat is out of sight, I sigh with relief when I say, Spots Off. I hang my clothes on a low hanging tree branch and carefully lower myself into the water with a bar of homemade soap. Bubbles and foam appear and I sigh with pleasure as I duck underwater in the cold swift current.

Ladybugs don't shed their skin, but I feel refreshed and revitalized. Just then, Cat comes wading back his hair sopping wet and covering his eyes. "Bad hair day, love?" I brush his hair back so he can see. Then I'm acutely aware that I'm still naked and my clothes are still hanging on the branch out of reach.

"There's a waterfall up head, and it doused me," Cat grins. His eyes take in my body. "You are so pretty." "Yeah, pretty wet. Come on, turn around so I can find my clothes and dry off."

I rub myself dry with one of the sheets I took from my room. So far, its still intact. Then, its back on the trail again. While Cat takes a short nap, I practice my archery on a nearby tree trunk. The better my aim becomes, the less chance we'll spend nights with growling tummies. And with a sickening lurch, it may the way I take down Hawkmoth.

Digging in my bag, I find a few mint leaves to chew on, and I calm down. Just then, I hear a far off rumble and I leap up, scanning the area around me for hidden danger. But the sound isn't coming from the forest, its coming from the sky. Dark clouds sit on the horizon and I'm sure they'll be here before this evening.

I shake Cat gently, for we need to get to higher ground, as the area we're in at the moment could flood. "Cat, there's a storm coming. We need to get to higher ground."

We don't waste time climbing higher until the light above turns a green color. "Ladybug, this way!" Cat has to yell above the howling wind that sprang up like a roaring lion. "Quick, into this tree!" Cat helps me wiggle into a hollowed section of the tree and my nose is filled with the scent of dust and pine.

Cat wiggles in after me, pulling a large branch across the entrance, which blocks out some of the wind. Still, we can hear it plus the thunder is now right above us, and I curl up into a small ball. I never cared for storm as a child, especially when the lights went out but Papa always had a way of chasing the dark away.

"Marinette, honey, the thunder can't hurt you. Come downstairs, I have a surprise for you." I stubbornly hug my stuffed pink pillow under the blanket. I want to stay right here, but I trust my Daddy.

Papa leads me downstairs by the hand, and I gasp as we walk into the living room. Candles. Many, many candles light the room and chase away the darkness and the air smells like warm spices. "See, when you have light the darkness scurries back into the shadows. Its the same with love and hate."

My eyes open, I must have fallen asleep. I can still hear the rain and thunder, but the wind has calmed for now. Cat sleeps beside me, a comforting arm around my waist. I sigh, brushing his hair gently. We never did that haircut, did we? I wonder what Cat would think of the girl beneath the mask, a different girl who's often shy and clumsy.

"Ladybug, you awake?" Cat shifts a little on our bed of leaves. "Only just. Will have to stay here until the storm passes." "You want to cuddle?" he asks me, holding out his arms. The tension leaves my body as I fold myself to Cat's chest. Safe. Warm. Protected. Loved.

These little flickers of love grow hot, but then I have to get serious and it quickly snuffs out. Either that, or I just don't want to be rejected, which is a thought more scarier then any akuma I've ever met.

Unfortunately for us, the wind picks up again and I tell Cat we might be spending the day in the tree as we eat some leftover berries I picked yesterday. "Well, the perfect solution for a rainy day is to teach you how to play cards. I have a deck right here in my bag." "Hold on, did Felix give those to you?" Cat gives a grin and wink. "Go fish isn't the only game I'll teach you, Ladybug. Cards can be also used for magic."