Blue Hearts And Paper Cuts

i v

After school was almost the same. Adrien had fencing practice and Marinette had to go show another design with their father. By the end of fencing practice, Adrien joined Marinette at Le Grand Paris, where he met with other various designers and had dinner.

Dinner seemed especially lean today, Adrien could feel Nathalie's eyes on the two of them. Did she knew they cheated their diets? Either way, Nathalie remained silent as they ate.

Once they got home, Marinette stalled, as much as she could. "How did you know about that bakery?" She asked, catching him by surprise.

"I've always seen it and I tried their food once when Nino had brought some for Alya." He didn't like to lie to her, but there was no other alternative.

"Remember when I said that I was having some sort of identity crisis dreams? That lady, the one who helped us at the bakery? I see her often, it's weird." Adrien looked down at her.

"That is weird, but then again, she is a really nice lady. I wouldn't mind if she showed up in my dreams either."

"Adrien? Do you think Mom will ever come home?" Adrien froze.

"Mom?"

"She left when we were six almost... She hasn't come back. You think that's why I dreamt of the lady?" Adrien didn't know what to think. SHe knew his mother too. Even in this world, she's gone. Even with an adopted daughter, she - "Adrien?"

"I think... It's time for you to go to bed, Mari." He spoke softly, leaning closer to her and leaving a gentle kiss on her forehead. "Good night." She was hesitant but murmured a good night.

Adrien laid in his bed, his thoughts jumbled, regarding his mother. What was the purpose of her leaving? Why would she leave them at such a small age? With a father that works them to the bone without rest, where is she to take care of them?

Maybe she had her own reasons. Maybe she left a note. Who knows but Adrien had no right to be so selfish towards his mother like that.

Adrien pulled out his phone, going into his photo gallery. There were unfamiliar albums, some that had covers of them, then group photos. He continued scrolling until he reached the album titled "Agreste's".

Pictures, formal pictures of him, picture previews of Marinette and him, old photographs of his father and his mama. He scrolled through the pictures of him and his mama, her blonde hair that cascaded over her shoulder and her beautiful smile and green eyes.

"You'd think she would be here." Adrien glanced over his shoulder, seeing the black kwami floating over his shoulder. "A world was created and altered. Marinette became your sister. Tikki did that so you could protect her but perhaps she could only change so much."

"I'm grateful Tikki did this. However, it still makes me question... Why? How did this happen? What happened that Mama Cheng said, 'If I had my daughter'?" Adrien went to his window, looking out at the night sky.

"Are we going out tonight?" Plagg asked, following behind Adrien.

"The outside world is a little more fun now. Why don''t we go stir up some trouble?" Plagg's tail swished slightly as Adrien shook his head.

"You enjoy this, don't you?"

"It's been centuries since I've been the 'bad guy'. It brings back memories." Adrien rolled his eyes.

"Memories of almost killing of an entire civilization in the 14th century?" Plagg gave a knowing smile. "Plagg, transform me."

The night was much more cooler than the day had been. Chat Noir vaulted across the cloudless sky, from roof to roof, towards the Eiffel Tower. He stood at the top, taking in the whole city.