"Marinette? Can you hear me?"

"Do you think she's okay?"

"Better question is if she's awake."

"What do you mean? Her being okay is the better question because her health is the highest priority."

"But if she's awake and still not better then she can tell us what's wrong and the Doc could do his thing and make her better. By the way, Chat- I mean Adrien. What the heck did you do to her hair?"

"Isn't it obvious? I cut it."

"Dude! Don't you know by now that if you cut a girl's hair, she will literally hunt you down and destroy you? Stuff like this is serious!"

"Nino! Shut up. I think she's waking up..."

Marinette slowly opened her eyes to find three familiar heads staring intently at her face. It took her a second to realize she was laying in the bed in Alya's guestroom. Alya, Nino, and Adrien were seated on the edges of the mattress watching her with concern.

She felt a headache forming at the front of her skull and placed a hand on her forehead tiredly. "What happened?" she groaned. She was grateful to discover her limb no longer felt achy and her voice had returned to normal.

Well...almost normal. At the moment, it sounded more like a frog croaking. 

The three young adults didn't hesitate to hold back enormous sighs of relief. 

"Girl, you and Mr.Golden Boy over here almost gave me a heart attack with your little 'adventure'," Alya laughed. 

"Not to mention you both almost died," added Nino. 

"After you did that...magical healing thing to save me, you fainted," Adrien explained "Your fever was so high that your skin almost burned my hand off." 

Marinette rolled her eyes as Adrien continued, "I carried you out of the tower as fast as I could. It to about a day for us to reach the kingdom, but once we did, I took you to Alya's and called for a doctor. He took care of you and gave you some medicine. And that's really about it."

"How long was I unconcious?" Marinette asked.

"About 5 days, at most," answered Alya. "Oh, and your hair was glowing every now and then while you were knocked out."

Marinette widened her eyes in bewilderment. "You--you know about my hair?" she gasped. She shot a glare at Adrien, to which he rubbed the back of his neck and smiling guiltily in response.

"I figured they could keep a secret. Plus, it was impossible trying to come up with an excuse."

"Adrien told us everything," chuckled Nino. "Gotta admit, your hair is pretty cool. Even though Adrien was a complete idiot and cut it--"

He was interrupted when Alya suddenly jabbed his ribs with her elbow. 

Marinette had forgotten about that part. As a matter of fact, she hadn't noticed the unfamiliar lighter feeling on her head, mostly because her headache was already felt heavy enough.

"So...how're you feeling, m'lady?" asked Adrien gently. 

  Marinette smiled. It was hard to believe that this same guy who now had the resemblance of an angel was once on the brick of death and drowning in his blood. She'll never get used to how his voice was like warm sun rays on her skin and how his smile made her heart go into a wild frenzy. 

"Marinette?" asked Alya. 

Marinette pulled herself from her thoughts and replied, "I feel fine. Besides this really bad headache and my throat, I think I'm okay."

"Good," nodded Alya. "Anyways, we'll leave you too alone. Nino and I have papers to deliver."

Nino scratched his head. "I thought we already delivered the papers..."

"Well, there are more papers to deliver," said Alya as she shot him a look. She slipped her hand in his and led him out of the room before closing the door, leaving Marinette and Adrien to themselves. 

  "Uhh...anyways," said Adrien jokingly, as if Alya and Nino were trying to escape one of the most awkwardest moment of their lives. 

Marinette chuckled. It felt good to laugh again.

Suddenly, the memory of what happened at the tower a few days ago began to settle in her brain, causing her to frown sadly. 

Adrien noticed her change of expression and asked her what was wrong. 

"I was just thinking about Befana...and what happened to you," she said quietly.

Adrien gently took her hand in his. "I know her dying isn't easy for you, and it may take you a few days to get used to it. But if you need to talk or anything, I'm here. And I don't plan on leaving anytime soon either."

"It's kinda weird, isn't it?" said Marinette. "Befana was everything to me. She always took care of me and made sure I was safe. She tried her best to keep me happy even if it meant refusing to let me leave the tower. She even lied about monsters and evil roaming around to protect me. But when I found out she had kidnapped me, I got so angry. I've never felt so enraged and betrayed before. But after she told me why she took me away from my parents..." 

Marinette paused, unsure how to continue. After a moment, she said, "I don't know how to feel anymore. It's-- it's difficult to explain. Like, all of my thoughts are jumbled up inside my head and it's so hard untangling them."

"That's probably why you're having a headache right now," Adrien replied.

"Yeah, probably."

"Well I feel like she was being manipulated by Hawk-Boss and wouldn't have kidnapped you if he wasn't controlling her."

Marinette nodded. "That's what she told me. But why did she let someone as horrible as Hawk-Boss take advantage of her?"

"You'd be surprised at how often manipulation happens in the outside world, m'lady" Adrien answered. 

Marinette didn't respond, for she was pondering what Adrien had said. A new thought began to settle in her mind, one which transformed into a question whose answer she slightly feared. 

"Adrien?" she asked hesitantly.

"Hmm?"

"Have you ever...I mean, has Hawk-Boss ever, you know, manipulated you?"

Adrien smirked. "Moi? The ultimate knight of darkness? Wielder of the mysterious cat mask and blade? The master of stealth and kicking butt? I think not."

Marinette bursted out laughing, resulting in her having an immediate coughing fit and Adrien quickly handing her a glass of water that was resting on the nearby nightstand. 

"You forgot to mention that you're the most stubbornest, unpredictable, and uncooperative escort in the entire world," said Marinette after taking a sip of water.

"Nevertheless, you still managed to fall in love with me," Adrien shrugged playfully.

"Yeah, but not on purpose."

"If you say so..."

A moment of silence passed between them before Marientte finally asked what had been on her mind for a very long time. 

"Adrien, are you going to go back to being Chat Noir?"

He didn't answer at first. Instead, his eyes were focused on looking out the window and studying the activity outside in deep thought. Just when Marinette had thought he didn't hear her, he answered quietly, "No. I think I've had enough of being Chat Noir for now."

"Why?"

"Well," he explained slowly, "Like I told you before, I didn't have much growing up. I used to think that everyone deserved happiness and freedom no matter how they got it. And to me, being a burglar and working for a gang was the only way I could be content and satisfied with my life."

He took Marinette's hand in his and kissed it lovingly, causing her heart to flutter. "But being with you made me realize that there are other ways, much better ways, to achieve happiness and live life to the fullest."

Marinette felt heat rising to her cheeks as Adrien's eyes met her bluebell ones. She was flattered that she was able to have such an impact on his life...just as he had an extraordinary impact on hers. 

A knock on the door startled them. They both turned their heads to find an old man with streaked grey and white hair wearing formal red and white attire, and carrying a medium-sized black medical bag in hand. 

"Hello," he smiled warmly. "My name is Doctor Fuu, and it's an honor to finally meet you, Lucky Charm."

*Author's Note*

*sighs* I know, I know, I know...

"Crystal, where the heck have you been?"  "Crystal, why did you take so long to update?"  "Crystal, why did you make us suffer for so long?"

*clears throat and sips pumpkin pie-flavored tea* (yes i have pumpkin pie-flavored tea -_-)

Well my lovely readers, I actually started on this chapter soon after my horrific and dreadful exams, but I began to feel overwhelmed because it wasn't turning out how I wanted it to, and I had to keep rewriting. Also, anime. *shrugs* AND Amino *shrugs again* ANDDD writer's block *bangs head on wall*

And for some reason, being on the computer for so long is hurting my eyes and giving me really bad headaches, so I try not to be on my laptop often. 

I know it's kind of annoying that I'm not consistent with my updates, but at least I don't really have that many readers yet so I'm not really upsetting a lot of people. And to those whom I'm actually upsetting, I'm really sorry. 

When I first started this story, I imagined myself being on the computer for hours and updating almost every single day. But as I began to write more and more, I began to grow more critical of my writing and realized that writing a good chapter takes time, effort, and skill...the three things I need to work on ASAP. 

Anyways, I'd like to thank all of you for sticking with me and being so patient during this short hiatus. I can't even describe how grateful I am that you're still here<3

As I have said in my most recent post, I am in desperate need of ideas for the very last chapter. How do you think this story should end? 

Please don't forget to comment, share, and vote. 

1 vote = 1 hug for a Volton season 8 veteran (me) who is still mourning

No, I'm still not over a certain SOMEONE dying. Smhhh

One more chapter to go, and then onto my next fanfic and one-shots books! I can't wait to get started on them and I know you guys will love them as much as I do <3

Don't forget to follow me on Miraculous Amino @Crystal Noir 

I love you guys, and I'll see ya in the next chap! Stay Miraculous <3<3<3

P.S. I sketched a drawing of Tikki...take a look! :-D