Shanghai was expansive and easy to get lost in. Ladybug, usually competent with directions, had to carefully note the number of streets she passed to ensure she could find her way back to her hotel. If the worst happened, she could always pull up her map on her yo-yo, but there was a thrill in navigating without it.

"Okay, so nuòmǐ ǒu (Lotus root with Syrup) and Tanghulu for Tiki. Shouldn't be too hard to find," she muttered to herself. Even without knowing where to go, she could cover ground quickly. She aimed to be discreet while zipping around—people would notice her when she touched down to buy street food, but she hoped to enjoy the night in relative peace.

That was until she heard a crunching noise behind her on the rooftop. What was this building called again? Jin Mao Tower? She was pretty sure it was.

She ignored the noise, thinking it was just a mouse rummaging through trash, and continued to scan the streets below. But then she heard footsteps. Footsteps too big for a mouse—footsteps wearing boots.

Quickly, she dropped down a level on the staircase-like tower, hoping to avoid any confrontations or accusations of trespassing. To her dismay, the footsteps followed, dropping to her level.

Wait, that's quite a drop for a non-superhero. What was…

"Ladybug?" A voice called from behind her.

Crap, she'd been recognised! She hadn't even found the Tanghulu yet!

She took a deep breath, clasping her yo-yo as she prepared to zip away. Turning her head, she looked back to identify her pursuer.

She expected a window cleaner or a skilled parkour fanatic. But what she didn't expect was Chat Noir, standing there, taller and more muscular than ever, holding a half-eaten stick of grape Tanghulu. His eyes widened and his mouth hung open at the sight of her.

She mirrored his expression, frozen in shock. Because there stood her partner, whom she hadn't seen in two years since her internship in New York.

The partner she fell more hopelessly in love with the longer she went without seeing him. So hopeless and stupidly in love. The kind of love that, as always, betrayed her better judgment.

Oh, how she wanted to cry and wrap him up in her arms, praying this wasn't a dream.

"Ladybug?" he called again, still in disbelief.

"Chat Noir?" she echoed, feeling foolish for only managing that. "What are you doing here?" She hadn't meant it to sound accusatory, but it did.

"Um, holiday?" he replied

"Oh yeah? Me too." She lied through her teeth. "Not searching for lost French girls again?" She tried to sound casual. They'd been in Shanghai before, and last time, he'd searched for a missing French girl (Marinette), not knowing she was his partner after Uncle Wang frantically flagged down the black cat superhero at a pancake stall.

"Uh, no. Not this time," he replied, not matching her attempt at a casual tone. "Where— what happened , Ladybug?"

It was clear she couldn't avoid this conversation.

And only now she realised he wasn't calling her 'm'lady', dubbing her 'Ladybug' in full sounded foreign and unusual on his lips, "I was away," she started, "in America, that is— to train with the American superheroes for a bit."

"Oh."

Ladybug drew in a breath, "And you? I haven't seen you in Paris since..."

"I moved to London," he cut her off.

That's random. "London? Why?"

"Paris was suffocating and didn't need me anymore. Like how you didn't." His words were ice.

She didn't know how to respond to that.

Luckily, she didn't need to when he asked, "How long are you here?"

"Until tomorrow, I think," she replied, feeling confident there was no place for her on the crew anymore. "You?"

"For the better part of this year," he looked away.

Ladybug raised an eyebrow, "Oh? That's a long holiday."

"Call it an extended vacation."

"Right," she replied.

Chat Noir cut to the chase, "You want to take away my miraculous, don't you?" His words were sharp and cold.

She looked away, "That's how I thought it would go once I saw you again," she said honestly because a responsible guardian probably would.

"Of course," his words were biting.

Ladybug hated this. "But not anymore. Keep it. I don't want to give it away to anyone else."

"Even though I won't be in Paris?"

"It's no different from me going to America. I would be a hypocrite if I did otherwise."

"You've changed," he said, his tone more gentle but his expression still cold. When will this ice melt away?

"You think?" she replied, "Right back at you," she said, glancing at him again (totally not checking him out).

"Yeah." The conversation went flat.

Ladybug shifted her weight, "So, where did you get the Tanghulu?"

"Um, at Fuxing Park?"

"Really?" She'd never heard of that place and Ladybug wanted to keep talking to him but not alone. Being in public would be better; he might put on a smile and pretend everything was okay for appearance's sake. And that's exactly what she needed right now. "Take me there."

"Huh?" He shot her a look.

Ladybug plastered on a nervous smile, "I promised Tiki I'd buy Tanghulu or nuòmǐ ǒu (Lotus root with Syrup). Show me where to go."

"Uhhh…"

"Come on, Chat." She pulled out her yo-yo. "Which way?"

"The street next to that tower over there, the pink one" he pointed.

Ladybug nodded, "Okay. Race you there."

Chat scrambled for his baton, "Okay?"

Ladybug followed Chat Noir to the park, purposely losing the race to make sure he wouldn't run away. She took in the familiar surroundings: fountains, covered pavilions, and flowerbeds. Where had she seen this before?

Chat Noir noticed her expression. "It was built by the French in 1909," he explained.

"Ah, that makes sense," she replied, looking around. "The size of French colonialism, all the way to the East, I guess."

"And it's also famous for Tanghulu, apparently," he said, guiding her to a shop displaying what looked like hundreds of candied fruits on sticks: grapes, strawberries, tangerines, kiwi and who-knows-what other obscure fruits.

"Tikki wants a grape one," Marinette said, examining the selection.

"Well, there's plenty to choose from. Red or green?" He pointed at the display.

"Um, red, I suppose? Red is sweeter, I think."

"I suppose." Chat Noir turned to the shopkeeper and spoke in Mandarin.

Ladybug blinked, surprised. He speaks Mandarin too? Why does everyone seem to speak it apart from her?

She snapped out of her thoughts when Chat Noir handed her two sticks of Tanghulu: one grape and one—

"Strawberry. It's your favourite fruit, right?" he said, leading her away from the crowded walkway into a quieter alley.

Ladybug's heart sped up. "Yeah—yeah, it is. You remembered?"

"It's not hard to forget. You always brought slices of strawberry tart to team celebrations, insisted on getting strawberry ice cream at André's, and chose strawberry-infused drinks whenever I offered to grab refreshments after patrol." He explained it as if it were common sense. He knew a lot about her, didn't he?

Well, apart from her identity, obviously.

Ladybug felt her cheeks burn. "Haha, yeah. Um, how much do I owe you? I have some cash in my yo-yo." She reached to open it, only for Chat Noir's hand to intercept.

"Don't worry about it. It's fine."

"Okay." Ladybug didn't have the mental capacity to oppose and took the stick of strawberry Tanghulu out of its cardboard tray. She bit into the treat. "It's sweet," she said while chewing.

"Yeah," he said, observing her. "So you're here until tomorrow?"

"Yeah, I think," she confirmed.

"What's the plan, then?"

"The plan?" she repeated.

"The butterfly and peacock miraculous are still missing, right?"

"Yeah, that's right." she verified. She totally didn't have nightmares about that detail daily.

"So what are you going to do about it?"

"I don't know. I've tried to plan, but I never get anywhere. Tikki has forbidden the subject because it sends me into a downward spiral or something." Ladybug waived her hands as she explained. How pathetic. She had two years to think about this but had no progress to show for it.

Chat Noir looked down at her, taking in every detail. "Your hair is longer. And no pigtails."

"I guess I grew out of it." She suddenly felt very self-conscious.

"Did America treat you well?" he asked, finally steering the conversation away from the miraculous and her failers.

"It was an experience. Good for character building," she said. "What about England?"

"It was good. Kept me busy."

"That's good." What was this space between them? She was leaving tomorrow and probably wouldn't see him again for ages. Pull yourself together Ladybug! She needed to say everything she wanted so she wouldn't regret it later. "I missed you."

He looked up, dumbfounded at her sudden confession.

"And I'm sorry I left you so suddenly and for keeping things from you. I took you for granted. I see that now. I don't want to make excuses for my actions—I was wrong, and I recognise that. I just wanted to let you know. You don't have to forgive me." She spoke, hoping she wouldn't come off as desperate.

"You've changed," he said again.

"I know."

Chat Noir met her gaze. "Give me the recipe for the Astro power-up. Then I can come back to Paris for patrols, and we'll make a plan."

"Huh?" He was definitely one step ahead of her in this conversation.

"I'm going to need to source the power-up myself if I have to use it every other day." Chat Noir noted her weary expression. "It's because Master Fu said it's for guardians only to know, isn't it ?"

"Yeah," she admitted.

Chat Noir looked away, defeated—the same way he did when she'd rejected his feelings over and over again as a teenager. But this time, she wasn't a teenager.

"So you won't give it to me?" Chat Noir assumed.

"I didn't say that," she started, and his eyebrow raised. "I stopped following his rules a long time ago. I'm the guardian, I make the rules." She pulled out her yo-yo and started typing.

"I'm sending it to your baton now," she said, and his baton beeped.

Chat Noir looked at it, in disbelief, obviously trying to mask his shock. "Cool."

Ladybug straightened her back. "Use it to meet at patrols, okay? Don't do anything stupid."

Chat Noir chuckled, smiling for the first time that evening. "You certainly know how to put me in my place, Miss Guardian."

She smiled in response, relieved to feel the weight of the conversation begin to lift. "I've been doing that too much recently."

"Putting people in their place?" he questioned, eating the last grape of his Tanghulu.

"Yeah. And my temper hasn't changed. Just to let you know," she said as she bit into another strawberry.

Chat Noir drew in a breath. "Well, the opposite has been happening to me."

"Oh, you're on the receiving end?" she attempted to tease.

"Yeah, I don't know how to feel about it," he answered honestly.

Ladybug patted his back. "You're a good cat. It can't be that bad. Just be charitable to people. Attacks are only personal if you let them make it personal."

"That's not a bad way of thinking about it," he admitted, as if guilty. "I guess I haven't been thinking about others enough recently."

"I always thought that between you and me, you were the thoughtful one. Always checking on Akuma victims after fights, doing more charity work and day-to-day assisting of civilians than I ever did." Ladybug said, smiling at him, "I admire you for that. You're the better person here."

Chat Noir looked away, blinking rapidly. Was he tearing up? No, that can't be it . Ladybug placed her nibbled-on Tanghulu back in the tray, then on the floor near her feet and reached for him. "Chat—"

He turned back to her, pulling her to his chest and burying his head into her shoulder. "I missed you too, m'lady."

She was going to melt.

Ladybug patted his back as she felt tears of relief fall down her masked cheeks. They stayed there, in each other's arms, in the alleyway until their tears subsided. Not caring about what passersbys thought of them or how much time went past until Chat's boot narrowly hit the Tanghulu tray on the floor, reminding them of the treats.

"You should get going," Chat said, his voice muffled in her shoulder. "Tikki needs to eat her Tanghulu."

"Whoops," Ladybug said, picking the tray up from the floor. "She's going to have a go at me for making her wait so long."

"Yeah. Plagg's like that too," Chat laughed. "Though I don't know how he'd feel about candied cheese."

That was the first proper quip he'd made. Was this progress? Were they going to be okay? Could they be partners again like before?

Ladybug laughed. "You goof."

"Hey, the Ladybug of two years ago would have never laughed at that joke!" he grinned, obviously approving.

"What, you don't like my character development?" she teased, poking his chest.

His grin widened. "I think this new dynamic is purrfect ."

Ladybug laughed again, hit by major déjà vu for the second time in one day. He was right. This partnership between them, though familiar, was different. It was wiser and more knowing.

You don't know what you have until you lose it. It was cliché but rang true nonetheless.

"I'll leave first," she said, getting ready to zip away. "But I'm never going to take off again to another country without notice. I'm not pushing you away anymore."

"Thanks, Ladybug. I—I needed to hear that," Chat said. "Keep in touch?"

"I'll message you when I'm able to meet up for patrol next. Make sure you check your baton, okay kitty?" she said, finally having the confidence to use his nickname.

"Of course."

And she left, swinging among the Shanghai buildings back to her hotel. Detransforming, she gave Tikki her grape Tanghulu and got changed into her pyjamas before turning on a history podcast as she brewed hibiscus to drink while she enjoyed what remained of her strawberry Tanghulu.

For the first time in years, Marinette felt at peace. Well, not completely—she was about to become jobless once again. But that was tomorrow's problem. If the world was a balance of good luck and bad, she'd take being jobless if it meant she got to mend her partnership with Chat Noir.

She loved him, after all. Not that he'd ever find out about that. Definitely not yet, at least.

Marinette was ready to put them first. And that's all that mattered. A failed gig was just that, a failed gig.

But what she wouldn't fail to do was to love Chat Noir, puns and bad jokes included.