"I'll message your father and let him know you're home early."

"Thank you Nathalie," Adrien replied, tossing his bag onto the bed as he trudged towards his desk. He had the feeling his father's personal assistant had a few more questions on the tip of her tongue, but had the good sense to recognise he wasn't in the mood to talk. Adrien was thankful for that.

"Well, in any case, it's good that this wasn't a more serious incident. I'll ask the chef to fix you an early lunch." He heard, rather than saw, Nathalie turn on her heels and head out the room.

As soon as the door was shut, with a gentle click, Plagg flew out of his pocket to the already waiting plate of cheese beside Adrien's monitor. He grabbed a slice and began to devour it with a lot more savagery than usual, to the point where little flecks of cheese and spittle began flying everywhere. Deciding to ignore the repugnant sight, and sound, Adrien settled in his desk chair, leaning back with a huff.

"Ya knowh," Plagg thought aloud, his mouth full to the brim, "We shoul' try an make the Akumah come by the schoo' more of-en, if ih gets us a day off!"

Adrien didn't agree. He liked school and didn't want his friends getting hurt, even if he knew Ladybug could save them after the fight. Sure Garbage Man had been easy enough to deal with; a janitor, fed up with how he was treated, deciding HE was going to be the one to make a mess for a change. However, he'd never felt such a startling inner conflict in the midst of a battle before and didn't wish to repeat the experience. Knowing he couldn't ask too much after Marinette without seeming suspicious, he'd been distracted and clumsy. However, he managed to snap himself out of it by forcing himself to remember Ladybug's promise. His Lady would never let him down and, once again, she'd proved it as she cleansed the Akuma and sent the little white butterfly on its merry way.

After the battle, he hadn't gotten a chance to talk to either Ladybug or Marinette. The former had hurried off with a quick wave and the latter had been swarmed with classmates once she reunited with them. The teacher hadn't been pleased that Adrien had snuck off during the Akuma-drill but he was adamant he'd found a good place to hide. She was a bit more forgiving towards Marinette, who claimed she'd tried to get back to the classroom when she heard the commotion but, once she saw the Akuma, decided to hide in the bathroom instead. Alya had dragged her off, asking questions about what she'd seen, not knowing that Adrien had had a full conversation with Ladybug.

And that had been that.

Quietly, Adrien leaned back in his chair, staring at his Kwami. Plagg had been acting strangely ever since their history class. Not that he'd had much of an opportunity to talk with him, instead Adrien was going by instinct, a vibe he was picking up. Something just felt off.

"Plagg?" He asked.

"Don't start," The Kwami snapped uncharacteristically, causing Adrien to sit up in surprise.

"I just wanted to know if you were ok," Adrien retorted, keeping his tone soft and fighting the urge to bite back, "It couldn't have been easy to hear about the Ladybug and Chat from World War Two."

"Who? Catherine and Edward? Look I get you're worried but I don't want to talk about it. What's the point? It's in the past, can't be changed," The words came offhandedly. Adrien might have believed Plagg's words, might have given up on the whole endeavour, were it not for the fact that the Kwami's little black ears were plastered against his head and he was staunchly refusing to meet Adrien's eyes.

"I know but, sometimes talking helps doesn't it?" Adrien inquired gently, tilting forwards. Nervousness crept up his arms and across his neck. They rarely talked like this, and whenever they did it was always Plagg listening to Adrien go on about his problems. At that moment, sitting in his cavernous room, his loneliness and fears seemed trivial. Adrien had known Plagg was ancient for quite some time, but now the weight of that history descended upon him, as something he couldn't quite fathom but could feel. It was sharp and raw, like picking at an ageing scab. He watched the Kwami sadly. How many Chat Noirs had Plagg watched die over the years?

"Well what do you want me to tell you kid? What'll make you happy? What will help?" Plagg questioned, spinning around to fly up to Adrien's face. Anger darkened his eyes, "You want me to tell you about them? You want me to tell you how Fu had to cut them open when we found their bodies because they both swallowed their Miraculous, just so the Nazi's wouldn't discover their secrets? You want me to tell you how Edward made me hide as he was tortured for eight whole days, until he barely had enough life to lose? You want to me to tell you about how Catherine's screams were the last thing he heard before the Nazi's shot him in the head?"

Adrien leapt up, his stomach lurching. He stomped away from the desk.

"Stop it."

"Well what do you want?" Plagg repeated with a violent jerk of his body, "Like I said. The past is in the past, and those two…those two were the biggest idiots I've ever met. Even more so than you."

Ignoring the sudden faintness in Plagg's voice, Adrien span back around. A wave of anger rose up in him and he faced Plagg with a scowl.

"They were heroes! They sacrificed themselves for the good of the whole world. How can you call them idiots?" He cried, clenching his fists, "Why are you being like this? Didn't you care for them at all? Don't you care for any of us?"

The silence was deafening. It made it seem as though Adrien was trapped in a concrete box with no way to join the outside world, slowly suffocating as the box grew smaller and smaller. He sighed. Why did he bother? He should have known something like this would happen. Since when did Plagg EVER talk about his feelings?

"They loved each other, you know."

Adrien looked up, not daring to speak. Plagg was still in the same spot, floating by the desk, but the anger was gone. He looked so far away.

"Neither of them wanted to admit it. They didn't want to tell each other because of the war, because of what it might mean. Chickens- the both of them. And look where it got them. Heroes, thrown to the bottom of some river in the middle of nowhere, their bodies left to rot, never knowing how much they cared for the other. Like I said. Idiots."

"Why are you telling me this?" Adrien wondered, unsure of what to do, but knowing that Plagg had never looked more like his age than in that moment. He looked ancient and sad, and so very tired. Adrien swallowed the lump in his throat. How could he even begin to comfort someone who'd been through so much, and lived through more than he ever would, even if he lived until he was a hundred years old?

"Because the world is different now Adrien, it's been better but it's also been a hell of a lot worse too. And I don't want you to be an idiot like Edward. Especially when you don't have to be."

He didn't say anything else but Adrien got the meaning behind it anyway. Stepping towards his sofa, he laid down on it with a sigh, suddenly exhausted. Flipping onto his back, Adrien stared into space, thinking, feeling. He stayed that way for a while.

"You wanna play some foosball?"

A smile began forming in the corners of Adrien's mouth. Same old Plagg.

"Plagg you don't have fingers."

"I still kicked your butt last time though," The Kwami shot back and Adrien sat up, leaning on his elbows. Plagg was in front of his face again. They shared a look.

"Yeah. You did," He agreed.

Plagg floated to the table, picking up the miniature football and placing on the plastic field. Adrien swung his legs over the sofa and watched.

"Hey," He called and Plagg glanced up from beside the plastic foosball characters. Adrien had to admit, there were times when his Kwami looked rather cute. Sitting on one of the metal bars, his black paws kicking out absent-mindedly, was definitely classified as one of those times, "I'm sorry. For what I said. I know you care."

Plagg snorted.

"You wish kid, now are we playing or not?"

Marinette lounged back on her pillows, allowing the cat cushion to curl around her comfortingly. She sighed and wiggled, knowing she was fidgeting but too nervous to say or do anything else. Beside her, Tikki sat on the mattress, staring at some indiscriminate spot on Marinette's blanket. Marinette bit her lip, not sure where to start.

"Her name was Catherine," Tikki whispered.

Marinette shifted up slightly so that she had a better view of her Kwami. A part of her didn't want to hear, was scared to hear, because that made it real. Yet, despite that, she shoved her fears to the base of her stomach and promptly ignored them. Tikki needed her.

"Catherine's a pretty name," She said and, as soon as she'd uttered the words, felt incredibly stupid for saying them. Mentally crossing therapist off of the list of undiscovered talents she might possess, Marinette waited patiently for Tikki to continue.

Tikki smiled warmly, staring up at the ceiling as if it were a projector showing memories of the life she was forced to remember earlier that day. 'How can a smile be so sad?' Marinette thought as her heart tightened in sympathy. Her hands reached up to play with her hair, but stopped as she realised she'd put it up again before the fight with the Akuma.

"She was beautiful, Marinette. I wish you could have met her," Tikki replied, "She was small and quiet. Most people thought she was reserved and a little cold. But she loved. She cared so deeply; for England, for her family, for her team. Everyone. But she loved Chat Noir, Edward, the most. She loved him so much."

Marinette sunk lower into her mattress, pulling her legs towards her painfully constricting chest. To know a Ladybug had loved a Chat Noir…

"Did he love her?"

"Oh yes," Tikki nodded, landing on Marinette's knee, "They loved each other. It's not always that way. There have been times where Ladybugs and Chats have worked against each other, and the world always suffers because of it. The Black Death, Spanish Influenza, the Great Flood, the First World War. And sometimes the partnership between Ladybug and Chat falls apart, and there are terrible consequences, like with Joan."

"Joan?"

"Joan of Arc."

"JOAN OF ARC WAS A LADYBUG?!" Marinette sat up, knocking Tikki off her knee. She squeaked and bent forward, picking her up and cradling the dazed Kwami in her hand, apologising repeatedly.

"It's alright Marinette. No harm done!" Tikki chirped back. She then paused, twisting her head away and looking down. Without using her hands, Marinette shuffled backwards again. She pulled her knees back up and rested her open palms on her lap. It was as if her legs created a barrier between them and the outside world. Their own little bubble. Marinette felt dazed by how much she didn't know, but for the first time she felt the Ladybug legacy stretching before her, the spirits of all the past Ladybug's converging in her mind's eye. It was daunting but also made her feel proud.

Not that she deserved to stand beside any of those amazing people, what had she done that could possibly compare to the sacrifices of Joan of Arc, or Catherine?

"Though it's not always bad. In fact, it's usually amazing," Tikki carried on, "Most Ladybug and Chat's love each other you know, and not just in the romantic way. Some have loved each other as friends, others like siblings, some have even been married. I wish that Catherine had gotten the chance to tell Edward how she felt, they never told each other before they died."

It was odd how crushed one could feel without being physically injured.

"So they never got to be together?" Marinette whispered, her voice quivering. Even though it was summer, she felt ice gnaw at her skin, as though she were walking outside in the midst of winter, with nothing to shield her from the bitter wind. Her thoughts went to Chat Noir before she could stop them and she winced inwardly.

When she heard a sniffle, she forced her thoughts away from her own fears and instead concentrated on Tikki's.

"I'm sorry it ended that way, I wish I could do something to make it better," She said helplessly, letting out a shaking breath.

Tikki smiled.

"You are making it better! Just by being you Marinette," She replied, "Like I said, it was a long time ago. And I like to think that wherever Catherine and Edward are now, they're together and at peace."

Marinette smiled, lying down in a foetal position. Without saying another word, Tikki nestled into her stomach. Despite the fact that it was the early afternoon, and the sun shone brightly through her windows, Marinette felt the tiredness from last night seep into her. She closed her eyes, surprised by the wetness she felt behind her lids.

"Tikki?" She said. The Kwami hummed in response, lazily, and Marinette could tell she was falling asleep too, "I know I won't always be around. I know I'm just another Ladybug in the long list of ones that came before me, but…I really, really love you, you know. And you're always going to be part of me."

It was a while before Tikki spoke, but when she did Marinette could hear the emotion laced in every word.

"Oh Marinette, I love you too."

When she woke, it was dark outside. Her parents had gone out on a date and left her some dinner, which she ate unceremoniously. Tikki was still upstairs, asleep, which left Marinette alone with her thoughts.

She found she didn't much like being alone with those thoughts. Not when they filtered through her mind like a plague, impossible to remove no matter how hard she tried.

Pushing the half-eaten dinner away from her, Marinette leant forwards on her elbow, tugging at her hair. Her earlier interactions with Adrien (both as Marinette and Ladybug), and her frank conversation with Tikki were taking their toll. The extremes highs and lows she'd felt, the rush of love, the weight of sadness, the coils of fear, all of that and so much more, flipped her world upside down, then upright, then upside down again.

Quite frankly, she was getting fed up of feeling like she'd been stuck on a spinning-top for hours on end, with no way to get off. So really, it should have been nice to finally get some peace and quiet.

But it wasn't.

Taking her plate to the sink and resting her hands atop the metal surface, Marinette stared at her distorted reflection. Adrien had been worried about her, had come back for her when nobody else had. He'd even gotten in trouble for it. But she was sure he'd do the same for any of his other friends. He was just like that. It didn't mean anything. It didn't mean anything. It didn't mean anything! And she was sick of hoping that it did. It hurt too much.

Which is why her thoughts kept wandering back to Edward and Catherine.

Climbing back into her room, she prodded Tikki awake gently, giving the Kwami a cookie and a question. Tikki smiled at her and Marinette sighed in relief at just how well the Kwami knew her. She didn't even need to give her reasons. Tikki just knew, and transformed her without a second thought.

Ladybug looked at her phone. Knowing her parents wouldn't be back until midnight at least (they were trying salsa dancing for the first time, at the insistence of their other married friends), put her mind at ease. She opened her yoyo to search for a familiar green paw on her tracking system, finding it strangely stationary in a place which piqued her interest. Something about going to see him, when she shouldn't be, thrilled her. It wasn't quite fear or excitement, but an invigorating in-between.

The night air was crisp against her face as she swung towards her destination, admiring the few stars and the way the waxing moon bathed Paris in its tranquil glow. It seemed dissimilar to the night before, despite looking much the same. Maybe it was because Marinette was seeing things differently now.

It wasn't long before her feet landed gracefully on the roof of the Notre Dame Cathedral. The front face lit up like a beacon of hope, but the Cathedral itself had long since shut its doors for the evening. Ladybug checked her yoyo again, and saw that Chat hadn't moved from his spot, but she couldn't see him anywhere. Surely he hadn't gone inside?

An unlocked door, which looked like it had been picked open by a clawed finger, told Marinette that he had. Cautiously, Ladybug began the long journey down the spiralling narrow staircase, her fingers brushing against the old stone walls as she went. She found herself wishing she had Chat to guide her, or was at least granted his night-vision. The staircase was precarious and if she'd been Marinette at the time, there wasn't a doubt in her mind that she would have tripped by now.

When she arrived at the base of the stairs and looked at the vastness of the cathedral before her, she felt a sense of calm befall her as though she'd been doused with warm water. Notre Dame was dark, quiet and soft despite its size. The light of the moon shone through the stained-glass windows, giving the place an otherworldly blueish hue. Her eyes lingered over the flying buttresses, the statues which were comforting as opposed to scary (like they'd been when she was a child), the alter which loomed unthreateningly in the night.

And then her eyes rested on a mop of messy blonde hair, and a pair of broad shoulders hunched forwards in his seat. She let out a breath she'd been holding. Chat was there, he was real and he was sitting right there. He wasn't dead in a Nazi prison; he hadn't betrayed her or abandoned her. He was there, sitting in the front row of the second seating section, right at the cross between one half of the cathedral and the other. She smiled, watching him.

"You know I know you're there right?"

Ladybug was pretty sure she lost a year of her life as Chat's voice echoed off the capacious walls. Leaping back, she clutched her chest, trying to re-start her heart. Him and his damn super-hearing cat ears!

After a few moments, she walked to Chat and crossed by him to settle on his right hand side. She raised her eyebrow at him.

"So what brings you here when you should be patrolling? Slacking off to go and pray? I never had you pegged as a religious man," She teased, simply because it felt good to tease, to feel some sense of the normality she'd lost over the past couple of days.

"I'm not. It was quiet tonight. And might I ask what brings My Lady here on her night off? Couldn't wait to see me?" He retorted playfully, flicking his hair in his usual show-boating fashion.

"You shouldn't flirt in a church," She chided, dodging the question entirely, thankful the semi-darkness hid her reddening face.

He grinned, sitting back and looked at her then. Chat's gaze glowed, not in that unsettling cat way, but in an entirely different, deeper way. Ladybug bit her lip and suddenly Chat was felt both empty and filled at the same time.

"I'm glad you're here," He breathed, moving closer to her without knowing he was doing so, "It's been a rough day."

"So serious, Chaton," She replied, leaning her head against his shoulder, his whole body flushed with the contact. His Lady was touching him, his Lady was touching him, oh god what should he do? "But, I'm glad I'm here too. I didn't have the best day myself."

"And…you thought I might cheer you up?" Ladybug expected his question to be teasing in nature. But his voice was rough and unsure, filled with hope. She closed her eyes and smiled, letting the warmth from his shoulder seep into her skin.

"Perhaps."

She missed the little fist pump he made.

"Well I am always at your service, My Lady," He said, sighing at the weight of her head on his shoulder. It was so perfect. Why couldn't they stay this way forever? "How might I make you smile? A joke maybe? I have several stored up that I haven't used yet."

"I will leave," She warned, but there was no trace of threat in her voice. He chuckled lowly.

"Ok. No puns or jokes, what then? Shall I serenade you?"

She giggled at the thought, turning to burying her head in his shoulder, and Chat thought he might die of happiness right then and there.

"No, I was actually thinking of something quite simple Chat," She replied, tilting her head back to a normal position, "Tell me some things about yourself. Like what your favourite colour is, what your dreams are. I already know you like flirting with me, so that makes us even on that question," The warm humour in her voice trickled through him like honey and he fought the urge to purr, "But you know my answers to the other questions and I don't know yours. It hardly seems fair."

Chat paused, thinking.

By instinct, he'd probably tell anyone his favourite colour was green. But, now that he was really thinking about it, a different colour filled his head; the colour of the sky the first time he'd become Chat Noir, the colour of freedom and peace, the colour of her eyes.

"My favourite colour is blue," He said, already knowing the answer to the next question, "And I really want to be a stay-at-home dad."

The absence of Ladybug's head on his shoulder felt more like missing a limb, and he turned to stare at her surprised expression with worry. His arms pinned closer to his sides and his shoulders stiffened in defensive of her reaction.

"Really?" She said and Chat couldn't tell if she was judging him or not.

"Well- I don't have much of a family," He rushed to explain, "So it would be nice, to stay at home and look after any children I had. I don't care about careers or anything like that. I could work if I needed to, of course, especially if money was a problem. I'd do whatever it took. But, my dream is to be able to stay at home with them, make my house nice and warm for when my wife gets back from her probably incredibly successful job. Of course I'd still take the odd mode- the odd job here and there so I could spoil the kids."

Ladybug wrinkled her nose at that.

"You shouldn't spoil children, Chat, that's how they become rotten."

Chat chuckled, leaning down to meet her gaze with a sly grin, "Don't worry," He replied, "I'd spoil you too you know."

It took approximately three seconds for Chat to realise what he'd said.

He wanted to die.

"I- I mean- errm, I…" He spluttered, not daring to look at her, "That is, I'd spoil my wife, n-not that I think that you'd be my wife or anything. I didn't mean to presume that was in our future I-"

"Really? Spoil me?" Her voice cut across him and, to his immense disbelief, she laid her head back on his shoulder. When he refused to say another word, not trusting himself to speak for fear of further damnation, she continued "Tell me more Chat."

Was he dreaming? He had to be dreaming. No way was he awake right now, no way was Ladybug asking him to tell her more about his imagined future with her.

"W-well," He began, leaning his head against her and taking in a deep breath to calm himself, spurred by the fact she wasn't rejecting their closeness, "I want a house that's cosy but big enough that it's not a chaotic mess. I've always thought there might be a lovely garden with roses and maybe an apple tree, and a swing set."

"That sounds lovely," She sighed and was she nuzzling into him? The urge to die had gone, mainly because he was sure he was already in heaven, "What else?"

Was he trembling? He thought he might be, but wasn't quite sure what was real anymore. "Recently I added a room, with lots of fabrics and sketches. Your room."

"My room?"

"You said you wanted to work in fashion, I thought you might like a room,"

From the corner of his eye, he saw a red-gloved hand lift up from her lap and, for the wildest moment, thought Ladybug was going to slap him, that she'd finally come to her senses and realised what accepting his dream actually meant. Instead her hand slipped across the lingering space between them, and into his own, giving it a gentle squeeze.

"I would like a room," She whispered before standing up, leaving Chat to sit up straight, dazed, confused, and incredibly afraid, "Now that all sounds perfect Chat Noir, the house, the garden, everything. It sounds wonderful, but there's a bit of a problem you see. B-before you can make that dream come true, there's something you have to do."

She wasn't lying. Something deep and fresh, something beautiful and real, like an opening bud in spring, bloomed in her heart as she'd listened to his earnest words. They were music and song and hope, hope for a future not tarnished by fear and doubts. She stepped into the light from the North Rose Window and it bathed her in all of the colours of the rainbow. All at once she felt exhilarated and at peace as her next words bubbled nervously in her chest, ready.

Chat gazed at her. Wonder and adoration filled every inch of his expression, his heart, his soul, as he watched the colours dance across her body, the light of the moon kissing her hair. She was so very beautiful and he yearned for her the way cherry blossoms yearned for spring, the way birds yearned for the sunrise, the way waves yearned for the shore, even though she was right in front of him. So close. So far.

"What do I have to do?" His voice was quieter than a whisper, but it reached her and Ladybug smiled, tilting her chin up toward him, knowing what she was about to say would change their dynamic forever, and for the first time in three years, not caring one bit.

For now, she was done being scared.

"You have to find me first."