Earlier in Marinette's house...

After a while of hanging out with Ember in the park, they both headed inside. It was getting chilly out, and Marinette felt like she needed some rest. Ember followed back to the family room as she grabbed all of her things. Ember helped her out, which she appreciated. Once she collected all of her things, she had her set them down on her desk. Once she noticed Ember set them down near the Miracle Box's hiding place, she got a little nervous.

Then she stepped away, which got her to relax a little.

She knew that she had to talk to Ember about this soon. She couldn't keep this secret from her much longer, but she had to get some rest first. Marinette felt a yawn coming on and decided to get some sleep.

"You look exhausted," Ember said to her, "Maybe I should give you some space so that you can rest."

"Yeah. I think I need to lay down for a while," Marinette told her, "If you want, you can play some video games down in the family room. I'm sure my mom and dad would love to play with you."

Ember hesitated and clearly thought that it was weird playing video games with her parents.

"Trust me. They're really good at it," Marinette said to her with a smile.

Ember bit her lip, but soon left Marinette's room to give her some space. Soon enough, Marinette felt like she could finally lay down. Once she put her stuff away, she felt another yawn coming on. Tikki followed her up to her bed, wanting to join her. She got up to her bed and laid down in her sheets. The feeling of them all around her felt so inviting that she felt herself fall asleep.

As she fell asleep, she could feel that subtle energy swirling around her. She knew right away that it was One for All. Something about it felt so good as she laid there for a while. Marinette could've sworn that she could see that shimmering rainbow energy as she got some rest. Something about it felt really relaxing for some reason.

Usually it felt energizing when she used it, but this time it was very much the opposite.

She felt so relaxed as the shimmering rainbow tried to reach out to her. Marinette couldn't go anywhere as she tried to do the same thing. She felt a little bit of that energy coming back to her as she tried to get closer to it. It felt so good as it slowly surged through her fingertips. Something was stopping her from getting closer to it however. All she could do was barely touch it with her fingertips.

She could've sworn that something was making it charge up. Then she thought about Midoriya. She wondered if he was using One for All back in Japan. He must've been recharging it without even realizing it. She felt something inside of her feel more energized, but just barely. Since all she could do was graze it, it didn't do much for her.

Marinette noticed something in the corner of her eye. Her Miraculous was glowing from the energy. It was glowing a bright pink, but just barely. She then looked at the energy and noticed how it couldn't reach her. Without thinking, she grabbed her Miraculous and reached them out to One for All. Once it touched the energy, sparks flew.

There were pink sparks coming off of her Miraculous like it was waiting for her. Marinette was in awe at how strong that surge of power got. Something about it seemed to make her Miraculous recharge as she held onto it. She could feel One for All flowing through her and into her Miraculous. It glowed brighter than ever before that she had to shield her eyes from the power.

Marinette felt like One for All was returning to her.

Then she stirred in her sleep, but soon felt that energy flowing through her. Once she opened her eyes, she felt something come over her. It felt like One for All was here. She sat up so quickly that something caused her arm to surge with power. Marinette noticed that her arm was had energy glowing through her just like Midoriya's. She felt a weird pain coming over her and felt like she had to get away. She tried to climb up to her balcony, but felt something coming. Before she knew it, a burst of power came shooting out of her arm.

Luckily, she got to the rooftop in time.

The burst of wind shot out of her arm, feeling her hairbands fall out of her hair. Her hair blew in the wind that she had created, which caught her attention. The wind died down before anyone could notice outside of the Bakery Shop. She stood there, out of breath and confused as to how this even happened. She looked down at her arm, feeling a weird sensation course through her. It soon faded away, and she looked down to see some kids and people around. They were wondering where that breeze came from, but didn't notice her.

Marinette was relieved that no one saw her creating that burst of wind. She backed up before anyone could see her. Tikki soon came from her bedroom looking confused.

"Marinette. What just happened? I felt something weird coming over you," Tikki asked her.

Marinette's eyes widened, noticing that Tikki felt something as well.

"You felt that too?" Marinette asked her Kwami.

She instinctively felt for her Miraculous, not noticing anything different. She still felt the same, but just noticed that One for All was slightly stronger. She felt more awake now and noticed that One for All was somewhat in reach. Just barely, but it was there. It's still felt like something was stopping her from getting it back, but didn't know why.

For now, she was just happy that her room wasn't in pieces.

"Hmm... Weird..." Marinette said under her breath.

"Marinette...?" Tikki asked back, "Are you okay?"

Marinette looked up at her Kwami, and Tikki looked worried for her holder. She couldn't help but smile as she tapped her on the head for comfort.

"Yeah... I'm okay..." Marinette said back.

Marinette noticed how late it was and wondered how Ember was doing. She probably should even check in with Alya just to be sure everything was working out okay. She took a deep breath in and out of the fresh air, and then headed back down to her bedroom. No one had come in to check on her, so she knew that no one heard anyting out of the ordinary. She was glad because she didn't want Ember finding out Ladybug like this.

She walked over to the Miracle Box in the hidden cabinet. Once she opened it, nothing seemed out of place. Everyone had their Miraculous on them, so there was no Miraculous to be handed out or kept safe. She looked at it closer, noticing the little details on it. The designs around it that reminded her of Cat Noir made her feel a little sad that he wasn't coming here any time soon. She hoped that things over there in Japan were working on really well.

Alya was over there helping them out, which made her smile. She was at least glad that Alya was finally meeting everyone over there. She knew how much she wanted to meet AllMight. She knew that she was definitely fangirling over the Symbol of Peace right about now. Just that thought alone made her feel so much better.

She decided to put the Miracle Box back and headed downstairs. Tikki floated into Marinette's purse as Marinette checked to see what was going on with everyone. Ember was surpisingly making dinner, which made Marinette realize how long she had sleeping. Sabine and Tom were showing her how to make crossiants for the soup that they made to go with it. They made the dough and showed how to fold and roll them. Ember tried her best and soon go the hang of it.

"Wow Ember! You got the hang of that pretty fast," Sabine told her, "These will go great with our soup. Marinette will love that you made this for her."

"Yeah. She always loves soup around the autumn season," Tom told her, "This is her favorite soup as well."

Marinette was surprised to hear them talking about Ember doing something special for her. Then she smelled the soup, and it made her stomach growl. That smell of tomato and cooked vegetables gave her so much comfort and warmth just by the smell. She noticed Ember looking like she was enjoying hanging out with her parents. She even could've sworn that she was smiling a little bit.

Marinette felt so good about this that she almost went back upstairs to leave them alone. Then Tom noticed her at the top of the stairs, making him smile.

"Hey Marinette. You're up earlier than we expected," Tom said to her.

Marinette noticed Ember flinch from her showing up. She even turned a little red from what she might've heard just now.

"Yeah. I just smelled that soup, and I had to know what you were making," Marinette said to them, "It made me really hungry. What is it?"

"It's your favorite," Tom said with a wink, "Ember even chimed in and helped out a lot. It was actually her idea to make something for you."

Marinette was surprised and looked at Ember. She couldn't look her in the eye as they stood there in the kitchen. Ember rubbed her arm as if this was embarrassing to tell Marinette. She even noticed that her hair was still in a braid, and her makeup that she put on her was still there as well. That made Marinette so happy.

"Yeah... I-I just... You're doing so much for me... I kind of felt like you deserved something special..." Ember said under her breath.

Marinette kind of felt bad for not explaining why she was bedridden for a while. She was only the keeping this secret from her because she didn't know if she could trust her. After staying at her place for a little while, something about her seemed different. She seemed like all she wanted was to be back home with her family. Whatever she was going through, Marinette wondered if she should tell her the truth. Even thoug Alya didn't tell her anything just yet, she felt herself slipping up soon.

Besides, things were different now.

Marinette noticed them put the crossiants into the oven, knowing full well that dinner was almost ready. Ember went to help with the dishes, but then Marinette went to help her out. She smiled at her, happy to have her here. Ember was quiet, and Marinette noticed her looking a little upset about something. She didn't know what was bothering her, but she wondered if it had to do with leaving soon. To Ember, she hadn't seen Ladybug in a while, and Marinette realized that she was probably thinking that Ladybug abandoned her. Marinette felt horrible, and she knew that she had to do something as Ladybug and soon.

She didn't want Ember thinking that she was never getting to go home. Ladybug was here to help her out, whether she realized it or not.

For now, she had to eat first.

Before she could sit down with Ember, she got a call on her phone. It was Nino, which surprised her a little. She was expecting Alya, but she was happy to hear from him. She answered her phone and stepped away from her family for a moment.

"Hey Nino. Don't worry, I got some rest if that's what you're calling about," Marinette told him.

"That's good... but, that's not why we're calling you," Nino said to her, "We're glad that you're feeling better, but something's come up."

Marinette was confused by the call and realized that he had friends around him at the moment.

"We?" Marinette pointed out, "Nino, what's going on?"

"Well, me and Max have been taking a closer look at those gauntlets from those thieves," Nino explained to her, "You know, just to understand how they work. We even talked to the police to see if they knew anything about this. It turns out, there's been a lot of inventions either similar to this or others that have been confiscated from other robberies."

Marinette's eyes widened in shock and looked over at her parents and Ember. No one was even listening in on their conversation. Marinette felt weird talking about this with Ember nearby however, so she grabbed her jacket from the chair nearby. Her parents questioned her, but she said that she had to step out for a moment to take care something for a friend. She thought she noticed Ember looking a little confused, but she promised herself that she would talk to Ember soon.

"Nino. What do you mean that they've been confiscated? We would've seen them and known about them beforehand if that were the case. Nothing like this has ever come up. Are you saying that the police are hiding this from Ladybug and her teammates?" Marinette asked him as she headed outside.

"It's seems that way. For some reason, they're under strict rules not to tell anyone about this, especially Ladybug and her teammates," Nino explained to her, "The only reason that we know about it, is because they almost slipped up around us. We were lucky that we were able to hide those gauntlets or else they might've taken them."

Marinette stepped outside, wondering if she should transform. She didn't want leave so suddenly, but she had to understand what was going on with those gauntlets.

"What have you found out about those gauntlets?" Marinette asked him.

"Well according to Max, it works similar to Izuku's quirk. The way it releases wind pressure and stores it works almost as if you had his quirk," Nino explained to her, "I don't quite understand it, but whoever made these it wasn't those thieves. It looked like they just bought them from someone who made them. That means there's more out there just like these ones and probably similar to our friends back in Japan."

Marinette's eyes widened, not sure how to deal with this sort of thing. If it weren't those thieves that made them, then she didn't know where to start looking. She remembered something that she would usually do with her own designs.

"Nino. Did Max find any sort of signature or hidden one by any chance?" Marinette asked him, "I sometimes sign my designs with a hidden signature so that no one can claim it as their own. I bet there's something like that in those gauntlets. You wouldn't want anyone just taking your ideas, especially something like these."

She could hear Nino asking Max nearby, and she tried to listen to their conversation.

"Max didn't even think of that. He's looking right now, but he did say that these gauntlets are pretty complex," Nino said to her, "Does Izuku or any of the others known about this? Izuku should at least know what's going on. This is his quirk after all that's being copied."

Marinette realized that she never told him about these gauntlets. She told him about everything else, but not this. It must've slipped her mind since she was so tired. She would've told him if she had known that it was this important. She let out a sigh as she brushed her back.

"No. I never got around to it," Marinette explained to them, "I was so tired that I forgot. Izuku has enough to deal with right now. I can't drag him into this right now. Not when he's trying to help Alya figure out what's going on in U.A."

"If you think that we should keep looking into this, we will. It's up to you Ladybug," Nino said to her, "We don't want to do this without you."

Marinette looked back at her house and worried that she might be pushing Ember away for this. Whatever the case may be, she still needed to make sure things were okay. She's Ladybug after all, and she needed to make sure Paris was protected. She couldn't look after Ember knowing that this was going on with her teammates. She clenched her fists, wondering if there was a certain someone getting involved in this. She hadn't seen him in a while, but didn't crossed him off as someone that would make these kind of inventions.

Marinette walked away, feeling like she needed to take care of something.

"Nino. Make sure Max is getting a closer look at those gauntlets. I need to take care of something real quick," Marinette told them as she walked towards the park.

"Sure, but where are you going?" Nino asked her.

Marinette got behind a tree and looked around to see no one there.

"I'm going to pay our old enemy a visit."

Marinette hung up and transformed into Ladybug. She pulled out her yo-yo, ready to take off towards their old enemy's mansion. Ladybug launched into the air, catching a few people's attention. She focused on her destination, hoping that he had nothing to do with this. She could feel the wind flowing all around her as she kept going. For a moment, she was worried that One for All would act up again once she transformed into Ladybug. She feel any different than before, but she did notice that there was a subtle energy swirling around her yo-yo.

It was there, but just barely. She wondered if she was getting One for All back, but shook it off for now. She had to know what was going on with Gabriel. She hadn't seen him since the day they got back from Japan. She had heard about Emilie from Adrien, but that was about it. She never checked on him or Emilie. She thought that she would let Adrien handle that through his phone calls.

Besides, he never did anything that bothered her. Or at least, she hoped that he didn't do anything. She launched into the air, feeling like she had wings again. Something about going after Gabriel felt like her wings were coming back. She knew that they weren't there, but it felt so refreshing.

Then she spotted the mansion in the distance. She didn't let up and launched right by the front gate. She didn't want to freak out Emilie, so she decided to enter politely. Ladybug let out a sigh and pressed the button outside of the front gate. Before she knew it, the camera turned on to get a good look at her.

"Yes. What I can do--... Ladybug. This is a surprise to see you here," Natalie said through the speaker.

Ladybug stood tall, ready to see Gabriel.

"I know it seems out of no where, but I need to talk to Gabriel. It's urgent and important to a mission that I'm dealing with," Ladybug explained to her.

Ladybug could tell that Natalie was hesitating, but soon went back to the speaker.

"Does this have to do with Adrien?" Natalie asked her.

"No. It doesn't. He doesn't even know about it," Ladybug explained to her with determined eyes.

For a moment, nothing happened. Then the front gates opened, allowing her to come inside. Ladybug walked through the gates, ready to see Gabriel. Then she spotted Natalie walking through the front door to meet with her. She looked like she didn't mind seeing Ladybug after what they've done for Adrien and Gabriel. Even Emilie was feeling much better now.

"Come in Ladybug. Gabriel just finished dinner with Emilie," Natalie explained to her, "He should be ready to see you any minute now."

"Thank you Natalie. I appreciate you letting me in," Ladybug said to her, "I promise that this has nothing to do with Adrien."

"What has nothing to do with Adrien?"

Ladybug flinched, hearing that intimidating voice echoing through the foyer. He came out of the kitchen, standing at the same level as Ladybug. She hesitated to look up, but stood tall as she faced the guy that started it all.

"Gabriel..."

Another amazing chapter!

This was a good chapter to write. I like where this is going, but I still don't have everything planned out. I like leaving things slightly open to see how things tie together. It make things more interesting to see how they come together. I find it interesting that Marinette is kind of the one that's keeping a secret instead of the other way around. You'd think Ember would be the one keeping something from her, but we'll see. I just like how different the story is with her compared to a character like Skylar. I find it interesting. Now Gabriel might be involved with what's going on.

What's going to happen next??

More to come soon!