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Phoenix steadied himself as he jumped over the rooftops, feeling the ground quaking beneath him. The akumatised villain and accompanying sentimonster were wreaking a great deal of chaos across the city. Ladybug and Phoenix had quickly collaborated on a plan, and she had entrusted Phoenix with the lead in handling the pair.

"I'm approaching the crossing now, Ladybug!" Phoenix spoke into his wrist communicator, jumping over the last brick chimney into a crossroad and looking down the two intersecting roads.

"Great. As soon both targets get in range, you know what to do," Ladybug responded. Phoenix looked down at the long red skipping rope in his hand with black spotted handles. He was curious why Ladybug couldn't be here personally, but he needed to have faith that she had a good reason. And any questions he had could wait until Paris was saved.

His thoughts stopped as he felt the rumbling getting heavier, and turned to look down the street. Chat Noir was scampering on all fours away from the 20ft tall baby chasing after him, babbling out 'kitty' between giggles.

"That right, this way! We have a big surprise for you!" Chat Noir jumped onto a light post, jingling his bell a few times to keep Gigantitan's focus on him.

A rumble from the other direction caught Phoenix' attention, and he turned to see Oviseer trying to rein in a sentimonster; an equally giant baby buggy. The Stroller sentimonster had been on a significant shopping run, with it's seat filled with sweets and lollipops for its master. Oviseer was standing on the top of the canopy, using scraps of golden material to try and steer The Stroller towards the meeting place.

"This is definitely not like Penguino Kart!" He complained, yanking one of the golden scraps to keep the Sentimonster in the middle of the road.

"Chat, Oviseer, I'm in position!" Phoenix called over his communicator, having tied the rope across the intersection using two lamp posts. He had called his Energise egg and was holding it in hand as the two titanic villains converged on the crossing.

Ladybug was leaning against a chimney to catch her breath when she heard the crash, and a massive amount of sweets were flung into the air. She threw her yo-yo to continue swinging to the battle. She tried to land on the edge of a rooftop, but she missed her footing and slipped, rolling down an awning and managing to land in a three point stance.

"Nicely done."

She looked up where the rest of her team were standing waiting for her. Oviseer had the deakumatised August in his arms, calmly sleeping in a golden blanket. Phoenix and Chat Noir had their hands closed together, keeping the akuma and amok from escaping. Ladybug smiled, taking a second to steady herself before tapping her yo-yo.

"Time to de-evilise." Her voice wasn't as enthusiastic as she swung her weapon to catch the butterfly and feather. Even as she released them and threw the lucky charm into the air, it really looked like she was just going through the motions.

Then again, there had been six akumatisations this week and it was only Wednesday. So nobody couldn't blame her for being exhausted already.

The magical ladybugs swept across the city, cleaning up the sugary mess created by the sentimonster, fixing the uprooted streetlights and repairing the cracks in the roads.

"We did it. Good work, team." Ladybug nodded, opening her bugphone to check on something.

"Pound it?" Chat Noir offered, holding his fist ready with the other heroes. Ladybug made a slight noise of surprise, before walking up and raising her fist to meet with the others. And now Chat was concerned by her lack of enthusiasm for this. The fist bump was a tradition for them since the very first battle; it was a celebration that everything was set right and the city had been saved.
"Are you okay, m'lady?"

"I'm great. Come on, the job's not over yet. Chat, you take August back to his mother. I'll get the Miraculous back from Phoenix and Oviseer. Bug out."

She looped her yoyo onto a chimney and jumped up onto the roof to find a place where the identities of her friends wouldn't be revealed when they detransformed. Oviseer handed the baby to Chat and offered him a reassuring smile before jumping after Ladybug with Phoenix. He waved at them, then sighed as he looked down at the sleeping child in his arms.

"At least you would tell me if something was wrong," he sighed, smiling just a bit as August made a cheerful gurgling sound in his sleep. He walked over to the bus stop and sat down. He didn't need to use Cataclysm, so he had all the time in the world. And he didn't want to risk waking the baby by jumping over the rooftops.

"Hit the hay."

"Fleece off."

Orikko and Ziggy emerged from their Miraculous, returning the heroes to their civilian forms of Nathaniel and Marc. As Marc was removing the clips from his hair, he saw Ladybug leaning against the wall. She was looking unstable on her feet, and now that Marc had a better look, she did look a bit pale.

"Ladybug, are sure you're feeling alright?"

"I'm fine. I just need to-" she paused, looking at the two friends she had trusted with Miraculous. Throughout every mission they had joined, it always worked out in the end. Nobody knew their identities, they even had plans ready for akumas before they happened.

So she could trust them with this.

"...no. I'm not. My kwami isn't feeling well."

Ziggy and Orikko gasped immediately and flew on either side of Ladybug's head, checking her earrings. They had just beeped down to one spot, leaving just 60 seconds left before she transformed back.

"What are you going to do?" Ziggy panicked, pulling at their ears anxiously. "If Ti- erm... your kwami gets worse then nobody will be there to save Paris from danger!"

"Have you gone to see the Master?" Orikko asked, floating over to gently pat Ziggy's head.

"I went this morning, but then the sentimonster attacked. There wasn't enough time..."

"Why didn't you want to tell Chat Noir?" Marc asked, fiddling with the clips in his hands.

"It would worry him... Hawk Moth can't-" Ladybug was interrupted by her earrings beeping again. "There's no time. Ziggy, Orikko, you're going to have to stay out a bit longer."

The two kwamis looked at each other and nodded, before flying back to Marc and Nathaniel, who were still holding the camouflaged Miraculous, ready to give them back. Ladybug reached out, closing their hands and pushing them back to them.

"Marc, Nathaniel, I'm counting on you two to keep things under control. Be careful with hiding your Miraculous and make sure to feed your kwamis." She nodded at them before throwing her yo-yo at a ledge to start zipping away.
"Oh! And make sure you let Chat Noir know about this!"

The two boys both called out for her to wait, but she was already several rooftops away, leaving them in the alleyway with their Miraculous and a lot of questions. How long would they be on call? What do they do if there's an attack? How do they contact Chat Noir? And what do kwamis eat anyway?

"I guess... this makes us full time heroes now?" Marc shrugged, putting the clips back into his hair and pulling his hood up to conceal them.

"For now. Until she gets back from whoever the Master is. Who would have thought Ladybug had a boss?" Nathaniel slipped the ring back on his thumb, tugging on his sleeve to obscure it slightly.

"I wonder who it is..."

Nathaniel looked up at their kwamis. Ziggy covered their mouth and Orikko folded their wings and looked away defiantly.

"I guess it's not for us to know... Want to go grab a victory coffee?"

"Sure. We can get snacks for Ziggy and Orikko too," Marc lifted the side of his hood slightly so Ziggy could hide. Nathaniel lifted the lapel of his jacket so Orikko could conceal themself too.

Ladybug crash landed through Marinette's skylight and flopped onto her bed.

"Ugh... Spots-" she groaned, before her transformation timed out and she was suddenly Marinette again.
"...off."

Unlike the other times, being Ladybug while Tikki was unwell felt so groggy and disorienting. It felt like her head was clouded with a dense fog that only started to lift once she was Marinette again. Tikki emerged from the earrings and curled into a shivering ball by Marinette's pillows.

"M-Marinette... a-are y-"

"I'm alright, Tikki. We'll get you back to Master Fu now. He should be able to heal you." Marinette sighed, remembering how she had gone to see him that morning. But as soon as she arrived at the massage shop, The Stroller smashed through the building. Master Fu went to hide in the store room with the Miracle Box to avoid being found out, but not before Marinette grabbed a couple of extra Miraculous to deal with the threats.

"I-I'm so s-sorr-"

"No, it's okay. It's been a tough week, and Hawk Moth hasn't gone easy on us. It's not your fault you got sick this morning."

She scooped her kwami into her purse and jumped down the ladder, quickly racing down the stairs.

'They'll take care of this,' she reassured herself, sprinting down the street.
'Phoenix and Oviseer are a good team. And Chat... He's always been reliable. I can trust him.'

"She doesn't trust me..." Adrien moped. He was laying across his bed hugging the black sock cat doll that Plagg made to his chest.
"Obviously something's wrong, but she doesn't want to tell me."

Plagg opened the cheese cabinet and hovered around, trying to find something that would be comforting for him. Comforting and distracting.

"I think I might sample some of this exquisite Sainte-Maure de Touraine today. Would you like some?"

"No thanks. Usually you offer me the Pont-l'Évêque when you want to distract me."

Plagg grumbled, wondering how someone could be so perceptive and oblivious at the same time. He looked guiltily at the wheels of delicious dairy next to him and grabbed a single wedge of camembert to recharge before flying over Adrien's bed.

"She's probably just tired. Just this week there's been the return of Pharaoh, Frightningale with the Stageblight, the Sapotis...

"We've had tougher battles before. She's never faltered once; not like this. There's another reason. And whatever it is, it's serious," He sat up and set the sock doll down behind one of his trophies.

"So... what are you going to do?" Plagg fiddled with their paws nervously, thinking back to when Adrien threatened to quit from being kept out of the loop. He watched anxiously as Adrien fiddled with his ring. He sighed, then swung his legs over to sit up from the bed.

"...Nothing. If she doesn't want to tell me, I won't pry. Hawk Moth has been ramping up the attacks this week, so she's under a lot of pressure. I don't want to add to that."

Adrien walked over to his computer and opened a few files, starting to play some music while he got started on some extra Chinese homework that needed to be finished before the afternoon.

"I just wish she trusted me enough to tell me things. We've been fighting together for a long time... We've always had each other's backs."

He sighed, shaking his head and trying to focus only on the questions on the page. But once Ladybug was ready, he knew they needed to talk about this.

"So the kind of food doesn't matter, as long as you eat." Nathaniel spoke in a low voice in case anyone else was around. He was sitting with Marc in the grass under a tree. Both of them had takeaway cups of coffee, and a muffin was placed on the ground between them so their kwamis could share it. Ziggy was making sure to divide the blueberries evenly between them.

"That's right. Some of us have preferences... or obsessions in extreme cases," Orikko cringed as they recalled something, although they quickly smiled again as they accepted a tidbit from Ziggy.

"What do you two like the most? Maybe we could try to find your favourite foods next time." Marc took out his notebook and turned to a hidden section near the back for superhero notes.

"Ooh, I like flowers!" Ziggy perked up, clapping their hands together eagerly. "Some of them are sweet and others are peppery!"

"You might not find mine anymore," Orikko shrugged, having another bite of the muffin. "It was a special grain from the southern Americas, harvested and dried, then heated to burst it into a crunchy morsel."

"Oh, popcorn. Yeah, we can get you some." Nathaniel stifled a laugh at the way Orikko's eyes widened and lit up. He finished the last of his coffee and took out his phone to check the time.

"So what are your plans now?" Marc asked, licking some foam off his lip.
"I was going to meet up with Ivan and Mylene. They volunteered to plant some new flowers at Jardin des Tuileries."

"I think I'll just go home and spend some time with my mother," Nathaniel scrolled across to his calendar.
"She has to work late a lot, and today she has some time off so I want to spend some of it together."

"That's really sweet, Nath. You really care about her a lot." Marc smiled and reached over to brush some of Nathaniel's fringe off his face.
"I could come over later if you like."

"That would be great. She loves it when you visit."

Marc nodded, then tugged the hood of his jacket slightly for Ziggy to hide inside. Nathaniel did the same with the lapel of his jacket for Orikko to conceal themself.

"I'll see you tonight, my prince?"

"I might message you before that, mon ange."

They leaned in for a quick kiss before going their separate ways.

"Earlier today, restaurants and cafes in the ninth arrondissement came under attack from an akumatised Gigantitan," Nadja reported on the TV, alongside video footage taken from what looked like a drone shot. "Accompanied by a giant stroller equipped with mechanical hands, the duo were ransacking many local eateries for sweets. But our heroes were able to neutralise the threats in time for the lunch service, thanks to the help of Phoenix and Oviseer,"

Shira Kurtzberg had another sip of her tea as Nadja crossed to Clara, who was interviewing a couple sharing a slice of cake. Life in Paris was certainly a lot more exciting than she anticipated, but she was glad to be living here with helpful superheroes looking after them.

She was dressed in her usual pastel blue shirt dress, with a long white knit cardigan over the top and matching white Mary Jane shoes. Her long strawberry-blonde hair was neatly swept back off her face, and a small sea glass pebble hung from a cord around her neck. Her son had found it years ago when they had gone to the beach and given it to her, excitedly saying it was the same colour as her eyes. She made it into a necklace and had worn it every day since.

As the news report passed to guest sport commentator Didier Roustan, Shira set her tea down and returned her attention to the pile of mail that needed to be sorted through. It was the usual mishmash: a few catalogues, coupons for a pizza chain, bills, a VIP promotional coupon for a nearby stationery store, more bills, an invitation to a traditional Chinese painting course...

Her heart stopped cold as she picked up a hand addressed envelope. She recognised everything about it, right down to the curls on the serifs. Without even looking at the return address she knew who it was from and what the letter was likely to contain. She set it aside at the edge of the table and tried not to think about it. She hadn't thought about them in so long, so she wasn't prepared or willing to now.

Then she saw the next letter addressed to her, but this one called her by the wrong surname. Only one person in the world ever tried to use that name. One person she was never willing to speak to again. Like the first letter she cast it aside, only this one was thrown a bit more violently from the coffee table.

The TV news report continued, but all the words blurred together into a droning buzz in Shira's head. She stopped and looked at a photo resting on the window ledge. It was taken a few years ago, on the day of her son's Bar Mitzvah. He was smiling so brighty. She always found comfort in her son, especially when her mind drifted back to her life before she came to Paris. It was one of the reasons she started scrapbooking; to hold onto those happy memories for as long as she could.

She continued to sort through the mail. But as she was separating out her son's letters, one of them caught her attention when she saw the monogram on the stationery.

The University for the Creative Arts in London.

And her mind lurched from one anxiety to another.

Nathaniel wasn't that young anymore. He was growing up, quite fast. The photo on the window felt like it wasn't taken that long ago. Was he already getting university offers? From universities abroad, no less.

Of course, she was incredibly proud of him. He was becoming such a fine young man; his grades were improving since the start of the year, he was going out and making more friends, he was making a top selling comic book with his partner...

It all seemed to happen overnight. It was as if she blinked and suddenly her shy little boy wasn't so little anymore. And now it wouldn't be long until...

Shira was pulled out of her thoughts by her phone ringing on the table, and her son's portrait appeared on the screen. She set the letter down and picked up her phone to answer the call, trying to hide the tremble in her voice.

"Hi chamud."

"Hi ima! I was on my way home and I'm wondering if I should pick up some things for dinner."

Nathaniel was getting so mature. He could practically care for himself now, so he wouldn't have any trouble if he went away for

"That would be wonderful. So what's on the menu tonight?"

"I was thinking about making the Venetian style pasta we had when Marc and his brother came over. That way we can use the rest of the golden sultanas. I might grab some fish as well..."

Shira lowered the phone slightly from her ear. It was just a conversation about dinner. Why was she feeling like the entire world was falling away from her feet? She could barely register the words until she heard him stop speaking.

"Yeah. That sounds... lovely..."

"Are you okay, ima?"

"Hm?"

"You sound a bit distracted. I didn't call at a bad time, did I?"

"I..." she turned to the photo again, then looked down at the mail being sorted on the table in front of her. Whatever this was she was going through, she wasn't going to unload it on her son.
"I'm alright, Nathaniel..."

Hawk Moth had another swig of his coffee, finishing what was left in the paper cup before crumpling it in his hand and throwing it against the wall. He had been throwing akuma after akuma at them since the start of the week, while Gabriel Agreste was away on a 'business trip'. The heroes had to slip up soon.

And now he had a prime target for his akuma, someone with subdued feelings that he could easily nudge to suit his needs.

"You say everything is fine, but I know how you truly feel. You desire a perfect world where everything will stay as you remember. As do I."

He closed his hands around one of the butterflies hovering around his lair, imbuing it with the twisted energies from his Miraculous before sending it out..

"Fly away, akuma, and evilise her!"

Nathaniel slowed his pace down the street, listening to his mother on the other end of the phone.

"I promise, everything is fine, chamud. I-"

Her voice abruptly cut off, and Nathaniel quickly checked that the call was still connected.

"Ima? Are you still there?"

"No..." Her voice was suddenly shaky and insecure. She sounded fearful about everything.

"What's wrong?"

"No, I don't want that. I won't do that. You won't make me..."

"Hawk Moth!" Nathaniel yelled into his phone, realising why his mother suddenly became scared.
"Hawk Moth, stay away from my mother!"

"I... I need to protect..."

"Ima! I'm here! Don't listen to him! You can fight back! Ima!"

The sound through the phone suddenly became loud and distorted, prompting Nathaniel to pull it away from his ear. His mother's portrait on his phone suddenly became engulfed in the purple smog of akumatisation. It spread over his entire phone in an instance and then wrapped around Nathaniel's hand.

Nathaniel did his best to push all negative thoughts from his mind. He couldn't be akumatised now, not when he had a Miraculous on him. He kept his focus on everything positive in his life: completing a comic, making dinner with his mother, going on dates with Marc...

The smog dissipated without affecting Nathaniel directly, and he sighed with relief. But as he looked back at his hand, he saw that his phone had been transformed into a white metal bracelet, locked onto his wrist. He had a closer look at it, seeing a screen displaying his usual phone background. Did Hawk Moth turn his phone into a smart watch?

But then he saw an alert pop up, and he instinctively scrolled down on the screen to see it.

Transmitting location...

His phone was a tracking bracelet. And his mother was akumatised after saying she needed to protect something...

[The phone signal indicator]

[The Metro station]

Nathaniel quickly ran down the stairs into the train tunnels, hoping that being underground would dull the signal enough to make it harder to find him.

The mass of purple smoke in the Kurtzberg living room dissipated, revealing the akuma's form. Her face was projected on a floating screen, with the image washed out and glitching occasionally. The rest of her body was a translucent wire frame, draping below the screen like a lace curtain caught in a draught.

"Mémoiselle, I'm giving you the power to preserve the world the way you want it. Use your power to protect your precious memories; keep everything as you remember it. In return, all I ask is for my world to be kept the way I want it, with Ladybug and Chat Noir's Miraculous in my hands."

Mémoiselle's face stayed a static image on the screen, unfeeling and expressionless. The screen turned to face the open window, gazing out at the Paris skyline.

"I will protect my world."

She raised a hand in front of her, projecting a light map of Paris from her fingertips. A flashing spot on the map showed her son's location, entering the Concorde Metro station. There was an ominous whistling of the wind as she flew out of the window, racing to find and protect her son.

As the train sped through the tunnels, Nathaniel looked anxiously at his wrist. The signal was definitely reduced down here, but he was still getting a sporadic network connection. He could see the tracking symbol flashing occasionally, so he wasn't safe here.

Luckily he had the entire carriage to himself so Orikko could rest on Nathaniel's shoulder as he paced up and down trying to think of a solution.

"Anything I send with this might be intercepted," Nathaniel thought aloud.
"So I can't call for help, I have to keep moving, and if I transform and she finds me, then Hawk Moth will know I'm Phoenix..."
He fidgeted with the camouflaged Miraculous on his other thumb, deciding it would be safer to just take it off and hide it in a hidden pocket inside his jacket.

"What if... Orikko, as a kwami you give me my powers, yes? Could you use them now? If I had an Energise egg I could get away much faster." He remembered that if he used his power on a civilian, they would receive Miraculous-level athletic and acrobatic ability for about five minutes.

"No, I can't do that," Orikko bowed their head apologetically.
"It's dangerous for a kwami to use their power without a holder. There can be all sorts of unintended side effects. For instance, using my power could result in crowds of people suddenly gaining superhuman strength and speed, or demolished buildings suddenly being repaired and destroying whatever took their place... O-of course, this is just conjecture. I've never had to resort to that...in a long while..."

"Wait, can Energise fix objects?"

"Oh yes. We wield the power of regeneration, after all. Repairing and reinforcing what was broken isn't hard for me. And I'm sure you could do that too."

Nathaniel looked back down at the tracking bracelet. That certainly gave him ideas on how to escape his predicament.

"Duly noted."

"And done! That's the last seedling!" Marc handed a cloth to Ivan so he could wipe his hands after they finished the last tray of plants. Now that the winter chill was gone from the air, Ivan and Mylene had volunteered to start planting new seedlings at Jardin des Tuileries. Marc was eager to join them, since they were always very sweet to hang out with.

"Great job, guys! In a couple of months, this little patch will be full of colourful flowers," Mylene smiled as she pulled off her gardening gloves and left them in the empty plant trays with a nearly empty watering can. Then she reached into a pouch on her waist for a tube of organic sunscreen.
"Time to reapply! The days are getting longer, and while the sun is good for these little plants, it's not so good for us."

While Marc was applying the sunscreen, he watched as Mylene reached up to apply some down Ivan's nose, claiming he missed a spot. He responded by taking hold of the cord on her sunhat and gently pulling her into a quick kiss.

There was a little awkwardness, but they were so cute that Marc didn't mind being the third wheel. It was widely known throughout their school that Ivan and Mylene were couple goals; two people who communicated their issues and helped each other grow.

Then the three of them heard a joyous song and a ringing bell.

"Ooh, Andre's setting up his cart nearby!" Ivan turned his head, seeing him setting up near the Carrousel Arc du Triomphe.
"Want to get some ice cream, Marc?'

"Sure!"

The three of them eagerly made their way over to the cart, where Andre was already serving someone.

"Ah, such a wonderful young couple. I'll pick out the perfect flavours for you," Andre was beaming as he reached into his cart, scooping out flavours onto his signature sweetheart cones.
"Neapolitan for beauty in variation. Fruit punch with gumdrops for individuality. And some peppermint bark for festive spirit, even out of season!"

The shorter of the two scooped out a sparkly purple gumdrop and fed it to the other. As Marc watched the couple giggling and sharing the ice cream, he couldn't help but miss the presence of Nathaniel beside him, even though they had seen each other barely an hour ago. He fondly took his phone from his pocket, typing out a quick text to his boyfriend

Hey <3

hey marc, can I talk to you later?

Okay. Is everything alright?

the proofreader moved the meeting up a couple of hours. something about an appointment with jena from new york

Marc covered his gasp with his hand, glancing back at Ivan and Mylene, who had just been served their usual chocolate with praline and nougat. He quickly sent his reply.

Got it. Love you <3

love you too

"Sorry to bail, but Nathaniel needs my help with something. I'll get some ice-cream next time! Bye!" Marc called out, giving a quick wave before turning to jog up one of the paths. As soon as he was out of earshot of everyone, Ziggy poked their head out from Marc's jacket.

"What's going on, Marc?"

"Nathaniel said the proofreader moved the meeting," he explained, making a quick turn into an alcove in the gardens.

"But why does Nathaniel need help with a meeting?"

"It's a code, Ziggy. Nathaniel's in trouble!" Marc triple checked that nobody could see him as he lowered his hood, revealing the rainbow clips in his hair.

"Ziggy, fleece on!"

Mémoiselle held her hands out in front of her, projecting a screen of light. Lines of text appeared as she intercepted the texts from the tracker on her son.

M: Okay. Is everything alright?

N: the proofreader moved the meeting up a couple of hours. something about an appointment with jena from new york

M: Got it. Love you <3

N: love you too

"This is wrong... my son is entitled to his privacy," she muttered to nobody in particular, dismissing the display.

"For the safety of your son, you have the right to see what he does," Hawk Moth spoke through the light mask, trying to fan the flames of her insecurity. He expected to feel the drain of sadness resonate in his akuma, and was surprised to sense disgust coming from her instead.

"What sort of parenting is that? Do you think breaching your child's trust is acceptable?" Mémoiselle glared into the light mask around her eyes, seriously questioning if she should continue working with this supervillain.

"You're losing focus. Don't forget why you're doing this."

Her son had someone else who loved him. So it fell on her to protect that too, so he would never lose that love.

So he would never experience the hurt that she went through.

After finishing most of his assignments, Adrien was taking a break by playing a farming game on his console. He had just collected the 130th golden nut on the secret island and was about to open the hidden room when he saw something flying past his window outside. Some sort of ghostly figure with a wireframe body.

"Plagg, go ahead and have that Sainte-Maure de Touraine." Adrien saved the game and stood up to turn off the TV.
"You'll need to keep your strength up with all these akumas."

"Alright, but I'm saving half for you." Plagg hovered over with half the log of the ashy white goat's cheese. They downed it in one gulp and floated with their paws on their hips, ready for him to transform.

"Plagg! Claws out!"

There were fearful cries as Mémoiselle flew through the Franklin D Roosevelt Metro station. The tracking signal showed that Nathaniel was just arriving now, and like any good mother she wanted to be there to pick him up. The framed billboards lining the walls whizzed past her vision, blurring together as she sped towards the platform.

But one of them caught her eye and she hovered to a stop. She floated up in front of an advertisement for the latest edition of the Ladybug comic; Nathaniel's comic. She felt such a sincere flood of pride knowing her son had created this. She had to keep this memory. Mémoiselle floated backwards to frame the billboard with her hands, holding her thumbs and forefingers at right angles.

There was a flash of light, and the frame on the wall was empty. The monitor briefly displayed an image of the billboard ad before Mémoiselle's face returned. With the memory saved, she continued to the platform.

As the train pulled into the station, people on board saw her and cowered away against the far wall. She didn't care about them, she was just looking for her son.

But as all the doors opened, and people started running for their lives, she couldn't find him anywhere among the fleeing crowd. And she would have recognised him anywhere. She brought up the tracking display, showing that he was definitely still in the station. And then she saw the emergency door open on one of the carriages.

"Such a shame... I'll have to remember this." Mémoiselle raised her hands again, framing the entire train. With another flash of light, the vehicle was gone from the tracks.

Nathaniel watched from the far platform as the train was captured into the screen of the akuma that had taken over his mother. He had hidden from view as best as he could, but it didn't seem to matter since everyone on this platform was safe, even the people that could have been seen through the windows.

'There's a limit to what she can capture,' he thought as he quickly tried to blend into the crowds, escaping from Platform 1 into the station tunnels. Line 1 was out of commission, so his best chance to escape was a train on Platform 9. He ran through the tunnels as quickly as he could, catching a glimpse of something in a bin on the way.

[A foil chocolate wrapper]

He grabbed it right before making a sharp turn onto the Line 9 Platform. According to the signs, the next service would arrive in two minutes.

Nathaniel jumped in fright as the band on his wrist started buzzing and ringing, and the screen showed an incoming call from the akuma, Mémoiselle. The reject call button was ominously greyed out, giving him no option but to answer the call.

"Where are you, my treasure? Why are you hiding from me?" His mother's voice was eerily distant and grating, lacking the warmth that he heard so often.
"I'll keep you safe, safe in my memories where no one will ever hurt you again. No one will ever hurt us again."

"Sorry, I'm about to catch a train. I'll talk to you later!" He blurted out, mananging to end the call just before realising he had given away his position.

One minute left, and she was getting dangerously close. There was no other escape off the platform. He tentatively felt the lump of the Miraculous hidden in his jacket. Nathaniel really hoped he didn't have to face his mother, and reveal to Hawk Moth his identity as Phoenix.

But then he heard another voice from the tunnels.

"End of the line, akuma!"

Chat Noir! Nathaniel breathed a sigh of relief as there were sounds of a battle, gradually fading as the train arrived. He quickly hopped on and ducked into one of the seats.

"Be safe, Chat Noir."

The black cat hero leaped from the Metro tunnels, holding his staff ready as the akuma hovered out after him.

"You are getting in my way. You will not keep me from my son," Mémoiselle raised her hands to make a finger frame, and her eyes started to glow. Right before she could unleash the capturing light, Chat Noir jumped out of frame and she ended up capturing the tree behind him instead.

"Sorry, I wasn't ready. Let me show you my good side!" He turned and extended his staff towards her, hoping to knock her backwards. Instead the weapon seemed to partially phase through her body, and she just floated to the side to prepare another shot.

Luckily a shepherd's crook looped around his staff and pulled him out of the way of the second snap, which put a traffic barrier onto Mémoiselle's display.

"Oviseer! Back in the fray so soon?"

"About that... I'll explain everything, but first we need to escape!"

The two heroes quickly jumped away from each other as the light flashed on an advertisement for Adrien's fragrance. It was uploaded into the akuma's memory, and showed that it had been posted over one of Mayor Bourgeois' campaign posters.

Escaping was easier said than done when running away just made it easier for Mémoiselle to frame them. Chat Noir was doing his best to keep them moving around the nearby trees as cover. But Mémoiselle quickly started clearing the area into her memory bank, framing and flashing each tree in turn.

"Hey! Don't you care about the trees?" Chat Noir called as she snapped another tree onto her display, with the pigeons flapping about confusedly as the branch beneath them suddenly ceased to exist.

"They are safe, stored in my memory where they won't be harmed." Mémoiselle finished capturing the last one, and raised her hands to where the two heroes were left without cover.

"But where are the pigeons going to perch?"

"I know just the place," came a voice from behind her. Mr Ramier held up his pigeon call and blew into it, prompting all the displaced pigeons to start swarming around the akuma. He turned to the heroes and gave them a confident smile.
"Leave this to me. It's about time we were the ones to save Paris!"

"Cheers, Mr Ramier!" Chat Noir waved before quickly taking off with Oviseer. Mr Ramier blew his call again, summoning more pigeons from the rooftops.

"Fly together, my birds of a feather!" He called out proudly as the pigeons completely engulfed the akuma.

"Fine! You and your birds certainly are memorable!" Mémoiselle exasperatedly flew backwards, spreading her hands wide and capturing all of them, including Mr Ramier, in a single snap. As the memory filled her screen, she stayed still for some time as the much larger image was saved. And once it was cleared, her adversaries were nowhere to be seen.

Mémoiselle raised a hand to view the tracking menu again. There was a brief pause, before the screen displayed an error message.

ERROR: SIGNAL NOT FOUND

"I take it back, Ms Mendeleiev," Nathaniel grumbled, finishing wrapping the tracking bracelet with the foil wrapper as a makeshift Faraday cage.
"Your science lessons are useful."

He took a small sigh of relief and sat down on the ground, leaning back against the wall. Orikko hovered out of his jacket again.

"You're certain that he'll understand?"

"Of course. Marc will transform and find Chat Noir, and then they'll find me based on the clue I gave him. Once that happens, we can start properly planning how to save my mother."

"You have a lot of faith in him. What if something goes wrong?" Orikko folded their wings in front of them defensively before hovering slightly lower.
"My apologies. I don't mean to be so negative."

"No, I get it. Ladybug is still out of action so we're on the back foot. We can stall for time until she returns, or we can work around it and find a way to-" Nathaniel stopped babbling as he saw Orikko bowing their head with their eyes closed. His kwami was always the picture of confidence, almost to the point of cockiness. So seeing them suddenly so meek was unexpected.

Without another word, he gently held his kwami in his hands, gently brushing the comb on their head.

"We'll be okay. Marc and Chat Noir will come through for us."

Maybe it was the anxiety of the situation, but the sound of Master Fu's healing gong felt like it was pounding through Marinette's skull as she watched over her kwami. It was agonisingly slow, especially since Alya had updated the Ladyblog with details of the new akuma. So far a train and several trees had been captured, along with Mr Ramier and his pigeons.

Marinette had even considered going to the Miracle Box to take another one to help out. But she knew that right now, she needed to wait for Tikki to be fully healed. One who is burning with impatience can never eat hot porridge. Jumping recklessly into battle with another Miraculous was a surefire way to lose.

So she stayed kneeling down next to the bed, silently hoping that Chat, Phoenix and Oviseer had the situation under control.

"Ladybug's kwami was unwell?" Chat Noir clarified, while looking through his staff like a telescope.

"She's gone to see the Master, which is why I still have my Miraculous." Oviseer had detached a section of his crook to use as a spyglass as well.
"We have to find Nathaniel Kurtzberg. He's important to stopping the akuma. He mentioned Jena from New York. That has to be here."

The two of them were keeping a low profile on the Eiffel Tower observation deck, as they scanned the Trocadero; the place where the Jena Bridge crossed New York Avenue.

"She told you about her kwami, huh?" Chat sighed, lowering his staff for a second. Oviseer quickly looked across and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"She didn't want to tell us either. We had to pry it out of her. She was trying to appear strong so we wouldn't worry about her. If we started acting differently..."

"Then Hawk Moth would have found out," he raised his staff again to continue scanning the gardens. "So we have to handle this as best as we can so her kwami can recover."

Oviseer nodded, going back to searching. Before too long, Chat Noir nudged Oviseer and pointed down at the ground.

"There! That scrap of paper tucked into the manhole cover!"

"Nathaniel must be in the sewers. Let's go!"

"Nathaniel!"

He tucked Orikko back into his jacket and looked up as Chat Noir and Oviseer came running through one of the tunnels.

"Chat Noir! Call your Cataclysm!"

"Wait. Why?"

He quickly remembered that he was Nathaniel right now, not Phoenix, and Chat wouldn't immediately believe he had plans in motion.

"Mémoiselle has a tracking bracelet on me. We need to break it or she'll find us."

"Do it, Chat." Oviseer nodded, and at his insistence Chat Noir raised his hand.

"Cataclysm." He said suspiciously. Nathaniel peeled the foil off his wrist, exposing the shackle on his arm. Chat reached out to touch it, being careful not to miss.

But that brief moment of hesitation was enough for the tracking symbol to light up a split second before the material disintegrated.

Nathaniel cringed, knowing that Mémoiselle was on her way.

"Right, Plan B..." he knelt down to scoop up the pieces, tucking them into his jacket pocket. At the same time, he pulled out his thumb ring.
"You deserve to know anyway. Orikko! Rise and shine!"

Chat Noir's jaw dropped as soon as he saw the Miraculous on Nathaniel's thumb, and his mouth stayed agape as his quiet classmate transformed into his strategic teammate, Phoenix.

"Chat Noir, I need you to play along. Energise," Phoenix caught the golden egg and handed it to Chat.
"This plan hinges on keeping her off our trail for a bit. Get ready to make a getaway for us."

"O-okay." Chat nodded, still with a half surprised look on his face. Phoenix was Nathaniel? But then- wait, plan first. He cracked the egg in his hand and restored the use of his power, then turned as he heard the dreaded whistling in the air of the akuma flying through the sewer tunnels.

Mémoiselle had seen the brief signal emitted by the bracelet before it was destroyed, and zoomed to his location. But instead of her son, she found three heroes waiting for her.

"Where is my son?" she demanded.

"He's with people he trusts," Phoenix replied. Mémoiselle raised her hands to capture them, but Oviseer was faster.

"Guidance!"

The golden blanket formed in the air between them, shielding the heroes from the camera flash. As Mémoiselle's head display only showed the mass of golden material, Chat took the chance to make the team scarce.

"Catalcysm!" he called, striking the wall of the sewer next to him. Mémoiselle looked up as the tunnels started collapsing, barely escaping was the heroes used the distraction to flee.

The three heroes climbed out of a manhole and quickly hid inside the Museum of Modern Art. The city had gone on lockdown from the akuma attack and everyone had evacuated, so it was easy to find a place hidden enough to transform back.

"Hit the hay," Phoenix called, reverting back into Nathaniel. He turned to Oviseer almost expectantly, but then remembered that Chat Noir was there.
"Oh. Um, Oviseer, you should hide and transform back to recharge your kwami. There's still more we have to do and-"

"Wait." Chat Noir looked from Nathaniel to Oviseer and back again as everything started lining up in his head. Nathaniel was Phoenix, who was dating Oviseer. And Oviseer had contacted Nathaniel about the akuma, and Nathaniel was Marc's boyfriend and...
"I... No, you two are..." he stuttered through his stunned expression.

Oviseer and Nathaniel looked nervously at each other as Chat started raising his hands to his head. His shock quickly became delight as he clapped his hands to his cheeks and made a squeeing sound.

"My two favourite couples are the same couple?!"

Oviseer sighed, double checking all the doors were closed.

"I guess the cat's out of the bag. Fleece off." He transformed back into Marc, catching Ziggy in his hand.

"But, I thought that secret identities had to be protected at all costs. How did you two find out?" Chat's expression changed from his excitement back into shock and confusion.

"Ladybug didn't have a choice. It was back when Isolation Queen attacked and you were controlled," Nathaniel explained, thinking back to the first time he knew for sure that Marc was a hero, and Marc found out the same of him.

"I-it wasn't your fault!" Marc quickly reassured him, seeing how his green cat eyes dropped from shame.
"But, we had to hide from an army, so she couldn't get them to us separately."

"That makes sense," Chat nodded. It was out of necessity, not special treatment. And until now they had both kept their secrets very well guarded.
"Are you sure it's alright to tell me?"

"You're not going to tell anyone, are you?" Nathaniel rested his hands on his hips with a little grin.
"Besides, if we had to tell anyone in the city, it's you. You're always working hard to help save Paris, so of course we trust you."

"I... um, thank you," Chat Noir fidgeted with his ring a little. 'We trust you'. Just hearing those words, it felt good knowing that they did.
"That means a lot to me."

His ring started beeping to alert him he had one minute left.

"You should go hide and recharge. We definitely can't know who you are," Nathaniel advised, reaching into his pockets for some spare change.
"We'll meet back here in a few minutes."

Chat Noir nodded and hopped over a handrail to run to a broom closet while Nathaniel and Marc made their way down to the cafe. Marc let Ziggy nibble on a couple of the flowers in a vase, while Nathaniel bought a bag of popcorn from a vending machine. Orikko was trilling with delight as they dived head first into the bag, crunching on several morsels before floating out, shaking loose crumbs from their feathers and pretending they didn't just make a complete fool of themself.

As they made their way back to the gallery, Marc held Nathaniel's hand.

"Nath, the akuma... is she-"

"Yeah, it's ima," Nathaniel solemnly replied.

"Ima... your mother?" The holder of the Cat Miraculous asked from inside the broom closet. As a result, they ended up having the strategy meeting through the closet door instead.

"I was on the phone to her when she was akumatised, and that's how my phone became a tracker. I don't know what was wrong, but it felt like she didn't want to tell me."

"Maybe she didn't want to worry you," Marc thought aloud, fidgeting with one of the hairclips in his hand. "Mémoiselle has been talking about keeping things safe in her memory all this time."

"And that definitely includes me. Maybe we can use that."

"Just say what you need us to do, Nathaniel," Adrien spoke from inside the closet. He remembered what it was like before his mother disappeared, how she tried her best to be strong but didn't say anything to him. He always wanted to do something, anything, to help her. He just never knew what to do.
"We'll help you get her back."

"Thank you. Chat Noir. I'm going to need both of you for this. We're going to give her exactly what she wants."

Plagg finished savouring his cheese and perched on Adrien's shoulder, nodding to him that he was ready.

"Plagg! Claws out!"

"Ziggy! Fleece on!"

"Orikko! Rise and shine!"

People were doing their best to stay in cover as Mémoiselle flew around Paris, snapping memories of everything in a frenzy. Roofs and walls and other parts of buildings were being snapped up into her memory as she tore through the city in search for her son.

Then she received an alert. She was picking up the tracking signal again. She abruptly turned and started speeding towards her target.

Marinette had just made it back outside with Tikki when the ghostly figure whooshed past her. She quickly ducked into an alleyway to transform.

"Tikki! Spots on!"

Ladybug leaped back into the street, spinning her yoyo by her side, but the akuma had completely disappeared. She zipped up onto one of the rooftops, but there was no sign of her.

"She was going somewhere... but where?"

After being out of the loop for so long, she decided she needed to expedite her return.

"Lucky Charm!"

"Energise," Phoenix called on his power, summoning the golden egg into his hand. Then he called out his detransformation words.

"Hit the hay."

Nathaniel hid Orikko and his Miraculous inside his jacket again, and took out the cataclysmed pieces of the tracker. He tapped the egg against it a couple of times before it cracked, and the energy swirled around it. He watched the pieces repairing themselves, forming back into the bracelet around his wrist.

He saw the tracking signal start sending again, and he took a deep breath. His mother was fighting back against Hawk Moth during the call. He just had to convince her to do it again.

As he expected he could hear the whistling of Mémoiselle flying down into the Petit Palais gardens where Nathaniel was waiting. He chose the place because he hoped it would help calm her down.

"Nathaniel... I finally found you... my treasure..."

"Ima. I'm... I'm scared." Nathaniel stayed where he was on the steps, letting Mémoiselle drift closer to him.

"Don't worry, nothing will ever hurt us anymore." She raised her hands to prepare to capture him, but Nathaniel reached out and grabbed one, stopping her from taking the memory.

"I'm scared that you aren't talking to me."

For the very first time since her creation, the projection of her face changed from its neutral expression. The monitor glitched slightly as a look of dawning realisation settled on her face.

"I'm scared I can't help you with whatever it is you're dealing with. You've always been there for me, listening when I talk, staying when I don't..."

There was a small flash of gold from the corner of his vision, which was Oviseer quietly calling his Guidance blanket. Nathaniel held both of his hands around the spectral form of his mother's, barely able to feel any warmth from the contact.

"You always helped me fix the messes I made of things, no matter how bad it was. I... I want to do the same for you, ima."

Mémoiselle hovered lower and lower as Nathaniel spoke, until their eyes were level. How did she think this was the right thing to do? To trap her son in her memories so he wouldn't change, that wasn't what she wanted. It wasn't anything like her. It was-

Her spiralling thoughts suddenly stopped as some golden material was draped over her back. The two other heroes she faced before were holding the blanket around her.

"I never wanted to burden you with my problems... I promised I would never do that to you."

"But you're not burdening me. I want to help you. And the heroes do too."

The purple light mask appeared around her face as Hawk Moth spoke to her.

"These heroes aren't part of your world, Mémoiselle. They're something new, something unknown. As long as they're here your world will keep changing, and you'll lose the world you have now..."

Mémoiselle started to concentrate, and the light mask started quivering and flickering, as if the connection was struggling.

"Maybe... I'm okay with that."

"What?!" Hawk Moth snarled as he gripped his cane tighter, feeling his grip on his akuma loosening with each word.

"Nothing will stay the same forever. And I'd rather appreciate everything I have now... than desperately cling to things I'll never get back."

"But you can get them back! My power will let you keep everything as you want it! I need you to fight back! Crush these heroes!"

"...No. My son needs me more than you." Mémoiselle stated, before gasping as she broke free of her akumatisation, shattering the mask of light on her face. The purple smog enveloped her form as she transformed back into Shira, who collapsed in her son's arms.

Shira was panting for breath, feeling completely drained from her time as an akuma, and then pulling herself out of her transformation.

"Ima, it's okay. It's over..." Nathaniel wrapped his arms tight around his mother. He was amazed, but moreso relieved that she had broken free on her own.

Oviseer gently laid the Guidance blanket around Shira as Chat Noir helped her to her feet. She held her phone out to Chat Noir, where the akuma was still held inside. There was also a gallery of all the memories she captured while she was akumatised.

"Cataclysm." Chat Noir touched the phone, destroying it and releasing everything in the gallery, along with the akuma. The interior of the Petit Palais became much more crowded as suddenly there were posters and pieces of buildings and uprooted trees everywhere. Ladybug had just arrived when Mr Ramier was dropped unceremoniously on the ground, along with all his pigeons.

"Nicely done," Ladybug complimented, taking out her yoyo and doing a few extra spins to make up for her lack of energy that morning.
"No more evildoing for you, little akuma!" She caught the akuma and purified it, then took out the lucky charm; a postcard for the Petit Palais.
"Miraculous Ladybug!"

The summoned ladybugs flew over the city, returning the memories to their proper locations; all of them except Mr Ramier, although his pigeons did fly dramatically from the gardens along with the ladybugs. Shira's phone was also repaired, while the tracking bracelet on Nathaniel's wrist turned back into his phone.

"Great job, everyone. You really pulled through for me today." Ladybug gathered the team for the fistbump, with Shira insisting that Nathaniel join them. Mr Ramier was watching the pigeons flying away when he heard Chat Noir call his name. The three heroes and the boy were all standing with their fists ready, waiting for him.

"What are you waiting for? You helped save Paris, just like you said you would."

His face was a picture of total joy as he joined in with the team fistbump, delighted that for once he and his pigeons were the ones defending the city instead of terrorising it.

"Pound it!"

Chat Noir was careful as he carried Ms Kurtzberg back to her apartment building, setting her down by the door.

"Are you going to be alright, ma'am?"

Shira shrugged off the golden Guidance blanket and folded it up to hand back to him.

"I'll be fine. Thank you for all your help, Chat Noir."

As she approached the front door she looked over to where Nathaniel had been dropped off by Oviseer. It looked like they were having a whispered conversation for a second, then Nathaniel shook his hand before hurriedly walking to his mother.

The Kurtzbergs went inside, leaving Chat Noir and Oviseer to dash to a nearby doorway so he could transform back into Marc. He fed Ziggy a flower he saved from before before removing the clips from his hair.

"Marc, did you get the-" Chat Noir asked, looking back towards where Nathaniel had gone inside.

"Got it right here," Marc took the Rooster Miraculous from his pockets, having taken it from Nathaniel during the handshake. Chat Noir took both the ring and hairclips back from him, storing them in a compartment inside his baton.

"Amazing as always, Oviseer. I'm looking forward to the next time I see you. And Phoenix."

"Me too, Chat. See you next time." Marc flashed him a grin before quickly running off to go do something. Chat waved after him before extending his baton to the ground to meet up with Ladybug for a debriefing.

She had taken Mr Ramier back home and was waiting under the arches of the Pont Marie bridge. It was a nice private place where they could listen to the river Seine as they spoke.

"Here, they gave them to me." Chat Noir opened the side of his baton to retrieve the Goat and Rooster Miraculous.

"You know who they are?"

"Yeah... They had to or we would have all been caught. But Phoenix had plans for everything, and Oviseer had everything under control. You really do surround yourself with only the best."

Chat Noir handed the Miraculous to Ladybug, who stored them in her yoyo as Chat continued talking.

"They might work as well together as the two of us. Both of them can practically sense what the other is thinking. And they tell each other everything, especially the important things that might get in the way of being a superhero."

"Chat, listen..." Ladybug started, but Chat shook his head with a resigned smile.

"It's okay. You were trying to be strong for us, and if Hawk Moth knew you were weakened he would have made things a whole lot worse. You did the right thing."

"No, I should have told you directly. I know how much it hurts you when I have to keep secrets from you." Ladybug glanced to the side as her earrings beeped down to two spots.
"I promise, we'll find some time to talk properly about everything; about what we expect of each other and how we can support each other. And I'll speak to the Master about including you in more of our decisions."

"Whoa, really?"

"Yes. I should have done this a long time ago."

The two superheroes shared one more fist bump before Ladybug left to return the Miraculous, and to have a very important conversation with Master Fu.

"Here, ima."

Shira looked down into the teacup her son was offering her. She accepted it with a smile, but just held it in her lap and stared at her reflection on the surface of the tea.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Nathaniel sat down and gently lifted the living room blanket around her shoulders. She looked up at her son. He really was growing up fast. And somehow, unlike this morning, it felt like a relief. Like she didn't need to shelter him as much, and she could trust him to make his own decisions.

"I guess... I was letting all my worries get away from me." She looked over at the table, where all the mail was where she left it. Nathaniel followed her line of sight, seeing the letter on the table from the University in London.

Was that what she was worried about? University was still at least a couple of years away. Nathaniel had been thinking about it, and he had talked to Marc about what would happen. But he wasn't sure how to bring it up with his mother. Maybe that's why she ended up being akumatised.

"Ima... Don't worry, I'm not going anywhere,"

"Chamud," Shira placed the cup down on the coffee table, turning to place her hand on her son's arm. "That's exactly what I didn't want you to say."

Shira opened the drawer of the coffee table, moving the contents to the side to reveal a hidden compartment at the bottom. She retrieved an old vintage photo album that looked like it hadn't been looked at in years, and took a deep breath before opening it.

Inside, there were various photos of Shira when she was younger, taken at piano recitals and concerts where had performed. Every page was a photo of her on stage, with her fingers on the keys and a smile on her face as she sang into a microphone. She looked so different, so happy and energetic, as if she didn't have a care in the world.

"I didn't know you were a singer," Nathaniel looked closer at one of the photos. It was an over the shoulder shot of her performance, letting Nathaniel see his mother's fingers on the piano keys and the sheet music for November Rain on the stand.

"It was a long time ago. I used to love singing. I loved listening to music and learning to play it, learning to sing along, and seeing people smile as I performed. But it... it wasn't good enough for my mother and father," Shira sighed as she turned the page. Over time, the smiles in the performances gradually became more hidden and subdued, to the point where it looked like she was barely smiling even when receiving an award.
"They kept asking me why I wasn't studying or trying to settle down with a nice man who would take care of all my problems. Every time I practised I would hear them telling me I was wasting my time, that it wouldn't lead me anywhere."

Shira closed the album and set it down on the table. She cast a sideways glance at one of the letters she received that morning. Her parents never contacted her about any good news, or with anything nice to say.

"I was so desperate to follow my dreams, to do what I wanted with my life. And one day, I met someone who I thought would help. We had so much in common. I thought I could trust him."

"My father?"

Shira nodded solemnly.

"We were together for a few years. We were happy. But as soon as he found out we were having a child... he just left. He didn't even say anything. He just packed all his things while I was out and left a letter. I honestly thought I had lost everything that day. I was alone, I had no support from my family, and I had just left my job because..."

Her voice cracked slightly, and she stopped to wipe a tear from her face before looking up into her son's eyes, pushing his fringe off his face.

"I couldn't give up. I had to find a way to keep going. I moved to Paris and found work, and I promised that I would do everything I could to raise you well. I wanted you to have the life I never had. I wanted you to pursue your interests, make your own decisions and mistakes, and I would always be here to support you."

Nathaniel had to wipe tears from his own eyes before pulling his mother into a tight hug.

"That's why your name is נְתַנְאֵל, because you were a gift. You are the greatest gift of my life, chamud. I want you to spread your wings and fly, follow your dreams. I want you to be free to make your own choice with your future. So please... don't say you'll stay for me. Because I want you to live your life for yourself, not me."

"Ima..." Nathaniel leaned back from the hug, taking a tissue from the table so his mother could dry her tears again.
"I'm not going anywhere... yet," he amended, offering her a smile.

There was a knock at the door and Nathaniel immediately got up to answer it. He had a pretty good idea who it was, since he had gave him his house key along with a thumb ring earlier.

After a quick greeting at the door, Marc came in with a couple of grocery bags.

"Hi, Ms Kurtzberg!"

"Hello, Marc. What a surprise to see you," Shira replied with an amused lack of surprise in her voice. She glanced at Nathaniel, who was taking one of the bags into the kitchen.

"I was just in the area and thought I'd stop by," he half-lied. "I... heard about what happened. Are you feeling alright?"

"I'm fine now. Thank you for your concern, Marc," Shira leaned forward to set the old album back into the drawer of the coffee table.
"When you were in the area, were you going shopping by any chance?"

"Oh yeah. When I heard about the akumatisation I went to grab some groceries. I thought that maybe Nath and I could make dinner for you tonight, to let you rest after... today. I got most of the stuff to make that pasta dish you made last time I was over with Tom."

"Oh really? You just happened to be thinking of making that dish?" Shira leaned back on the sofa with her tea.

"Maybe a little bird might have suggested it."

They both shared a little chuckle before Marc joined Nathaniel in the kitchen, where he was starting to boil the pasta.

A few minutes later most of the meal was prepared. When he was confident the sounds of sizzling and bubbling would drown out their conversation, Nathaniel pulled Marc in close to his side while he was stirring a pan on the stove.

"Thanks for getting everything," he spoke softly, leaning slightly against his boyfriend.

"Of course. She's your mother, so she's important to me too." Marc nodded, resting his head against Nathaniel's.
"She definitely figured out you asked me to go out shopping, you know."

"I know. Do you think she'll figure out we're heroes?"

"Maybe. After all, you're my hero." He brushed Nathaniel's hair behind his ear to kiss his cheek.

"Hey, I'm cooking," Nathaniel jokingly protested. Marc reached out to take the wooden spoon from Nathaniel's hand, stirring the pasta for him. Nathaniel immediately turned to wrap his arms around Marc's waist.

"I love you so much."

"I love you too."

From the living room, Shira took a secret photo of the two of them at the stove on her phone. She gazed fondly at the screen, already having ideas to add it to her scrapbook of Nathaniel's memories.

The clock struck midnight. A black cat figure vaulted himself towards the top of the Eiffel Tower with his stick. He'd only received the message a few minutes ago, asking to meet here for an important discussion.

"M'lady?" Chat Noir looked around, eventually seeing his partner in red sitting inside Gustave Eiffel's room. She had her knees pulled up to her chest, and seemed lost in thought.

She raised her head as the door opened, and her partner stepped into the room.

"Everything okay?"

"Yeah. I'm just psyching myself up for this."

"Would a joke to lighten the mood help?"

"It might."

"You've never had to psych yourself up to turn down my dates, so I guess you're saying yes this time. Lucky me."

They both laughed a little as Chat Noir sat down next to her.

"I've been thinking about it for a while now. I can't always be there right away to fight villains. And Hawk Moth is growing stronger by the day. So, I talked with the Guardian about it. And he thinks it would be okay to have other permanent Miraculous holders like ourselves, just in case."

"That sounds great! It's always easier when there's more of us. But... why are you hesitating?"

"...Because I'm not supposed to tell you who they are."

Chat Noir paused as Ladybug held his hand, feeling her gripping it just a bit tighter than usual.

"But you've always been a kind, supportive partner for me. And I know how much it hurt you when I had to hide things from you. So, I'm not keeping you in the dark this time. You deserve to know who I've chosen to become the new permanent holders."

"Holders... more than one?" Chat Noir tilted his head inquisitively.

"Two, to be precise."

"Are you thinking of who I'm thinking of?"

"Two reliable allies, who work as well together as the two of us."