Chloe searched around Marinette's house (despite the fact that she had never been there before) for Adrien. Buzza phased through locked doors to make sure the blonde boy wasn't hiding. Eventually Chloe found him in the basement, sitting on top of some sacks of flour. She made her way over to him as he looked up.

"What do you want, Chloe?" he asked her in a voice that was so emotionally exhausted it sounded blank. Chloe hugged him.

"I want to make sure you were okay," she said softly. "I may have taken advantage of you and been an absolute jerk for the last several years, but you were still my first friend. I care for you a lot."

Adrien sniffled. "Why?" he whispered. "Why does nobody love me?"

"No no no, Adrien. That's not it at all. Your mother loved you a lot! It's not her fault she died and left you! I'm sure she wanted so much to stay and watch you grow up. It's just your father. He's messed up. He probably didn't know it was you who he was hurting."

"Oh he knew all right," Adrien muttered. "Not while he was doing it, but it sure explains his reaction when he took my miraculous for the first time..." There was a long pause as both teens gathered their thoughts.

"After all this time, I never thought it could be him," Adrien started suddenly. "I pretended to be perfect for him. All of the akuma attacks and the late night patrols... It was all an excuse. An excuse to escape being his perfect little puppet. I LIVED with the man I was fighting for two years! I should've noticed! I should've-"

"Stop right there!" Buzza squeaked, saying something for the first time. "Ladybug sat right behind you and you didn't notice! You sat right in front of her and she didn't notice! Your father never noticed you were Chat Noir! There is a powerful magic in the miraculous that keeps people from noticing things, no matter how obvious they seem. It wasn't your fault. Don't feel guilty on top of being heartbroken. Please, for your sake. And the sake of the others. They need you!"

"Nobody needs me," Adrien sighed. "Nobody has ever needed me. And now that I have no miraculous, I'm worthless." Tears began to fill his eyes. Chloe grabbed his hand.

"No, you're not worthless Adrien!You have a lot of people who love you! Alya loves to hang out with you, Nino is your best friend! Marinette is your partner! And I promise that I'm going to become a better person, and a better friend!" Chloe announced, squeezing his hand.

Adrien looked up, a tear finally running down his cheek. "Why did she lie to me? Didn't she trust me?"

"Of course she trusts you, Adrien. Marinette lied to you because she loves you, and she can't bear to see you get hurt. I'm sure she was going to tell you before you guys started planning how to beat Gabriel, but she was stalling. She wanted to find a way that would hurt you the least before she told you. I guess that kind of fell through..." Chloe said. Adrien smiled a bit.

"I guess." There was another long pause. "Why does it hurt so much? I should be used to rejection by now. My mom's dead, my dad is evil. He never paid any attention to me anyway. All of my friends are here. So why does it still feel like I'm empty and lost?"

"I don't know Adrien. But we'll figure this out together. We always do. Remember what we did after you lost your mom?"

Adrien snorted. "Like I'd ever forget that!" he said. Chloe smiled.

###########################################################################################################################################################

Flashback:

Little Adrien was confused. Everything was a blur. Strange people were coming into his house, all dressed in black and with sad expressions on their faces. Five year old Adrien hated the color black. He had no idea that in the future he would relish the feeling of black material across his skin as he traveled across the rooftops.

"Daddy? What's going on?" He asked, tugging on his father's pant leg. Gabriel had a stony expression on his face as he accepted some flowers and turned to Adrien.

"It's none of your concern, son. Go and play with Miss Bourgeois."

"Does it have to do with mommy? Is she all better? Is this a party for her?!" The smiling face of his son broke Gabriel's heart. He desperately thought of what to tell the boy. He couldn't tell him the truth. That the cancer had finally caught up with Emily. That she was dead. And she was never going to come back.

"Um, this is a little going away party for your mother," he lied. "She's going to go on a long trip."

"Oh," Adrien giggled. He paused. "Can I go say goodbye? When is she gonna come back?"

"It's a long trip, Adrien. She may not be back for awhile. She's... asleep right now. Why don't you say goodbye anyway?"

"But she won't know I'm saying goodbye if she's asleep! I should wake her up!" Adrien pouted. Gabriel shifted nervously.

"She'll know you're saying goodbye, son. Mothers always know."

"Okay!" Adrien accepted the answer and ran over to the open coffin that was set up so that people could say their last goodbyes. Emily's parents were standing a little ways away, crying. They watched the little blonde haired boy run over and look at the woman, beautiful even in death.

"Goodbye, Mommy!" Adrien said solemnly. "Daddy says not to wake you, and that you'll know I'm saying goodbye! Please come back soon, and..." He struggled to find words. "And have fun!" he finished. Satisfied with his goodbye (she couldn't be gone that long right?) Adrien ran off to find Chloe.

He finally found her standing next to her parents, in a little black party dress. She looked at him sadly, tears streaming down her face. She had loved Emily Agreste like an aunt, and she was devastated. The happy smile on Adrien's face confused her.

"Adrien, I'm sorry for your loss," she said quietly. Her father had made her practice the line in the car so that she would appear more distinguished and polite. She looked at the ground, her little blonde curls bouncing around her face. Adrien was confused again.

"Mommy won't be gone for very long, right?" he asked worriedly.

"Oh dear, it appears that no one told him!" Mrs. Bourgeois gasped. "Well, this simply can't go on!" She bent down and put a cold hand on Adrien's cheek. "Your mother isn't going on a trip darling. She's going to heaven!"

"Heaven," Adrien repeated. He thought about that for a minute. "But I thought only dead people could go to hea-Oh."

That was all he said. His lower lip began to quiver and then suddenly he burst into tears and dashed away. "Oh my," Mrs. Bourgeois said, placing a hand on her mouth. "I believe the poor little dear has taken it rather harshly." Mr. Bourgeois said nothing, but headed over to offer his sincerest condolences to Mr. Agreste. Chloe ran after Adrien.

She finally found the little boy in the kitchen, doubled over on the floor, crying his heart out. He looked up when she walked over. "Is s-she really g-gone?" he whimpered. "D-dead forever?" Chloe gave him a big hug. Her lip began to quiver too.

"I t-think s-so," she answered.

For the next half hour, two little blonde kinds could be found hugging each other on the floor and crying. The bakers who were preparing a solemn dinner for after the funeral wisely ignored them, stepping around and over them. One such chef was not as lucky.

He was carrying a platter of macarons, and he didn't see the two children until it was too late. He tripped over them, the platter in his hand flying through the air and crashing on the ground. The contents spilled everywhere. The chef got up, very annoyed, until he saw who it was and that they were still crying.

"Here," he offered kindly. "I can't use those macarons anymore. Why don't you two eat them?"

The two sniffling kids looked up at him, before Chloe reluctantly picked up a macaron and offered it to Adrien. "I'm not hungry," he said.

"Well, these all can't go to waste," she said looking around. Chloe was big on environmental safety at the time. She considered what to do with the cookie in her hand. Finally, she grinned and smashed it into Adrien's face.

"Hey!" he shouted angrily, wiping the bits of macaron off of his face. "What was that for?" He picked up another macaron and hurled it at Chloe. She dodged, but it hit her anyway.

"This means war!" she screeched.

For the next two minutes, Adrien and Chloe threw, smashed, crumbled, and ate nearly forty macarons. The chefs winced at the mess, but couldn't find it in their hearts to stop them. Finally, the two kids lay back on the floor, bellies full and extra energy released.

Five minutes after that, the two of the returned to being somber and heartbroken, crying and hugging again. Adrien cried himself to sleep every night after that. Chloe watched him, unable to help. But at least she had made the first day bearable. To this day, Adrien and Chloe always had a love-hate relationship with macarons.

End Flashback.

############################################################################################################################################################

"Marinette probably as some macarons in the bakery," Chloe said, shrugging. Adrien wiped away his remaining tears and smiled a bit.

"We are so not having another macaron fight," he said, laughing a bit. Chloe smiled even wider.

"Perhaps not, but we can eat some. I'm starving. I skipped dinner today!" She took Adrien by the arm and hoisted him up. The two walked into the bakery together. "She wouldn't mind if we eat these, right?" Chloe asked. Adrien shrugged.

"Probably. Her family has to make a living somehow." He watched bemusedly as Chloe pulled out her wallet and placed enough money (plus a generous tip) on the counter and then took a box of macarons and went back into the kitchen.

"While we're here, may I have some food?" Buzza politely requested. Chloe gave her kwami some honey and then handed Adrien a macaron. She bit into one herself.

"Mm, these are heavenly!" She said. "I always avoided the bakery because I didn't want to admit that I liked something Marinette made. Worst mistake of my life."

Adrien laughed a bit before biting into his own macaron. "Yeah, I couldn't get stuff from here because of my strict model diet. Guess I don't have to worry about that now, huh?" There was a long silence.

Finally, Chloe spoke. "Well, now you have to marry Marinette so that I can be the godmother to one of your children and get these macarons all the time!" She watched Adrien splutter and turn red.

"What makes you think I'm going to marry Marinette?"

"May-bee it's instinct," she said. Adrien stared.

"Did you just make a pun?" he asked incredulously. "You really have changed! It's a miracle!" He threw his arms in the air and grinned at her. Chloe rolled her eyes.

"Don't get ahead of yourself, Agreste," she said. Then she shoved her macaron into his face.

###########################################################################################################################################################

Meanwhile, Nathaneal found Marinette lying on her parents bed, holding her earrings in her hand. A worried Tikki floated by her side, but nodded and disappeared into the earrings as Nathan approached. She wouldn't be fully trapped inside of the earrings until Marinette put them into the box, fully rejecting them. So if things went south, she could come back.

"Marinette?" he said softly. She looked up, startled.

"What do you want?" she asked.

"To talk. You shouldn't give up your miraculous," Nathan answered. She shook her head.

'Why not? I'm sure there's some other lucky girl out there who'd love to save the world..."

"Because we need you, Marinette! You're the only one who's used to being a superhero. You know how to fight, the best tactics, and how to lead others. We'd be a bumbling mess without you! And Adrien needs you. He's probably somewhere feeling betrayed and unloved. You have to be there for him!"

Marinette eyed Nathaneal suspiciously. "Why are you saying this, Nathan? I know you have a crush on me, so why are you encouraging me to go back and help Adrien?" Nathaneal swallowed. Here it was. The moment of truth.

"Marinette," he began. "I used to have a crush on you, but your happiness is more important to me than anything else. I know you'll be happier with Adrien. You two were meant to be together. I admit, I was always horribly jealous of him. I thought he was some stuck-up model that stole your heart."

Marinette began to protest, but Nathan cut her off. "I know now that he isn't. He's broken, Marinette. He needs love. And you have so much to give. Of course you'll fight occasionally. And now you're both really stressed. You've made horrible mistakes. But you can work through it together. Please don't give away your miraculous. Adrien needs his lady more than ever right now."

Marinette thought about it, processing Nathaneal's entire confession before smiling softly. "I guess you're right, Nathan. Thank you for never giving up on me." She slipped her earrings back in and Tikki came back out, nuzzling her girl's cheek. "And Nathan," Marinette called as he turned to leave. "Thank you for having a crush on me. I was so flattered when I found out, even though I was crushng on Adrien. It was nice to know somebody else liked me for me."

She walked over to Nathaneal and gently placed a kiss on his cheek. He smiled at her, now positive that he was 100% over her. "You should go find Adrien," he told her. She nodded. They walked out of the bedroom and down to the kitchen together, where they arrived just in time to watch Chloe shove a macaron into Adrien's face.

"Chloe!" Adrien laughed, wiping the cookie off of his face. They both turned when they heard Marinette enter.

"Oh, hey Marinette. I grabbed some macarons from the bakery. I left some money, so I hope you don't mind," Chloe said. Marinette smiled a bit.

"I don't mind Chloe. And I'm really sorry about the way I blew up at you. I make mistakes too, and if you're willing to make up for them, so should I. And I should give you a chance instead of turning you away. That being said," she turned to Adrien. "I'm really sorry Adrien. I should have told you about your dad sooner. I was scared that it would hurt you a lot. I was trying to figure out how to tell you. I guess there never really was a right place or time. I should have just told you. Please forgive me."

"I forgive you," Adrien replied. "I should apologize too. I was angry at my father, not you. I took it out on you though. I should have seen that you were just trying to help. So I'm sorry too."

"Friends?" Marinette asked. Adrien smiled.

"Partners," he corrected.

Just then, Alya and Nino came downstairs. "Are you guys done with all of your apologies and lovey-dovey crap?" Alya asked. "Because we have a big problem!"

"What is it?" Marinette asked worriedly. "And yes, we're done."

Alya sighed. "I always thought I would be the one to bring you two together. Turns out that Nathaneal and Chloe are much better at it. Oh well. And I'm sorry about the way I acted too, Chloe. I heard what Marinete said and she's right."

"I forgive you," Chloe said. "I can only hope you can forgive me for everything I've done. Macaron?" Nino and Alya accepted the macarons as they moved over and turned on the TV to the news broadcast. Marinette's heart sank in her chest as she saw the images flash across the screen.

"Oh no."