Hi. It's a bit late. Was a bit sick during the weekend and I had a few stuff to do.
Also, I don't know why but this week I just really couldn't be asked to do much even though I had a lot to do. It's one of those things.

"Adrien."

Adrien woke up hearing an angelic voice he hadn't heard in over a year.

But... he had heard the voice wishing him sweet dreams the night before.

Or was that just a dream?

Maybe this is a dream and I still need to wake up, he thought as he blearily watched the figure walk closer towards him and eventually settle herself at his side on the bed.

"Mother?"

"Hi sweetheart. Did you have a nice dream?"

He didn't say anything. Just nodded, his mouth slightly parted.

"Adrien, you don't want to miss your first day at school."

"My first day?"

"Silly boy. Your father finally agreed that since you are turning 18 this year you could go to school as you have wished. You don't want to be late now, do you?"

She brushed the stray hairs- that had been a result of his deep sleep- out of his face and kissed his forehead. He sat up, watching her walk out of the room as everything flooded back to him.

His father is- was- hawkmoth. Shadowmoth. Monarch. Whatever.

His father had gotten his hands on the miraculous.

His father had made the wish to bring his mother back.

But that isn't just what he had done had he?

No.

Memories of two different lives, both overlapping at one point- last night, yet both parallel and having never met.

There was this one. The one where his mother had never used the peacock miraculous. Never gotten sick. He had never gone to Françios. Had never met Nino and Alya and the class and...

And... Marinette.

Marinette. His sweet, brave Marinette, who in the other world was also his lady. His princess. His love. His life. His miraculous ladybug.

The other world was now gone because of his father's selfish desires.

Or maybe this really is a dream.

And at what cost?

The world had changed.

Nathalie didn't exist anymore.

And neither did Ladybug and Chat Noir.

The world didn't remember the superheroes who sacrificed everything to protect them. They didn't know that his father was a power hungry terrorist who would stop at nothing to get their miraculous.

He suddenly glanced at his finger and almost sobbed at the realisation that Plagg wasn't there. The thought that he had never met the small God and his best friend- the one being that had been there for him through thick and thin- in this life, pulled at his heart.

For a moment, he clutched his finger and rubbed over the space where the ring used to be.

He wished he could find Plagg again. Maybe ask Marinette to help.

"Adrien, get ready. You need to go soon."

But it was useless.

Because Marinette wouldn't remember their time together.

With Marinette

Waking up today had been one of the worst experiences of Marinette's life.

Her mind fought with two sets of memories from two different worlds, their catalyst was the night Hawkmoth had finally won.

Last night.

He had won and he had changed the world to his will.

She had lost the miraculous. Lost all of them just after she had gotten them back. Lost Tikki. Lost Plagg. Lost her Kitty.

She lost Adrien.

Her chaton. The boy she loved.

They had never met in this life.

Never even crossed paths once.

Because whilst she lived a normal life, going to school (and in this life she wasn't close to her friends as she was in the other one), helping her parents at the bakery, doing her homework and dabbling in a little designing, Adrien wasn't part of this life.

He was still homeschooled, still only friends with Chloe (and maybe Kagami). His mother was alive and always had been. His father seemed a little more invested in making sure Adrien didn't go out much.

As if he was actively trying to prevent his son from meeting her.

Regardless, his efforts would be redundant.

Because Adrien wouldn't remember their time together.

Time skip

She sighed into her desk at the back of the class, hoping to catch her breath from running to school. Luckily, she had gotten there on time.

Well, why wouldn't she? She wasn't ladybug anymore.

There was no excuse... no akuma to fight... no people to save.

At least it gave her more time to design. All the ideas that had been cooped up in her head. And since she had been surprisingly caught up with her classwork, that's exactly what she decided to do.

Miss Bustier wasn't here yet. (Another thing she noted at what was different in this world- Miss Bustier wasn't pregnant). Marinette just assumed that she probably had some teacher things to do before the term fully started.

Her hands moved on their own on the sketchbook. It etched fluid lines that were familiar to her, shaded in the dark tones she knew oh too well. The lines joined together to form a memory from her other life in her other world.

The world where she had everything.

It's funny really... she thought bitterly, How Lila of all people, predicted this. She said I'll lose everything, and I did.

She dropped her pencil and quickly wiped the tear that slid down her face.

It's not like anyone will notice.

She traced the outline of his face, so bright. So full of love. Yet his eyes looked so... sad.

She remembered when he had come to her just weeks before when she had a solo patrol. He broke down and told her just what his father had done. Just who his father was and what he wanted. He knew it wasn't right. That if his father got what he wanted, everything would change. The consequences would be perilous.

Even if this new world seemed like mercy to his father, it was an everlasting hell to the unsuspecting people of the world.

At that point, she had figured out who Chat Noir was. She had told him who she was and for those few weeks they knew of each other and remembered every good and bad memory (barring memory wipes because of akumas), they basked in the light of knowing.

And she drew what she remembered when he found out who she was. How even with the hint of sadness festered by his villain of a father, he couldn't be happier that she was his ladybug.

"Of course I'm ecstatic. My everyday ladybug is also my miraculous lady. How could I not be over the moon?"

He looked beautiful that night. Relieved and comfortable around her.

Now.

Now only she knew and she wasn't basking, in his sunlight,  no. She became hidden in the shadows of remembrance and for all that could have been.

Would there ever be a day where she would see her Adrien again?

All of this was because of his father but really? She was to blame too.

She failed to protect her miraculous and his.

She failed to protect Paris.

She failed to protect him.

"Class, we have a new student who is joining us today."

Marinette, whilst obviously hearing her teacher, didn't look up. She was too focused on the sketch on front of her, wishing that she could see him again. The tears in her eyes had nothing to do with not looking up.

She almost stopped breathing when she heard his voice.

"Hi. I'm Adrien Agreste."

Finally, she looked up, and she felt like the (non-existent) wind had knocked her of her desk and left her to fend for more air.

There he was. The one person she yearned to see more than anything in the world and she could only look at him with a beavy heart and eyes blaring with sadness.

She was glad she was at the back as it made her unnoticeable to him. He would probably find it weird that a random girl in his new class looked at him like she felt guilty about something.

"Adrien, you can choose to sit next to Nino here at the front," she gestured to the dj (at least that was something that didn't change), "Or you can sit next to Marinette at the back. I heard you can catch up really qu..."

Marinette didn't hear anything else she said as she quickly slammed shut her sketchbook and layed her head to face the window, trying to hide her teary eyes from the rest of the class. As the sunlight glared at her, she brought her head in to face the table and, silently, she let the tears rush down.

She didn't even notice that he took his seat beside her, looking at her with a worried expression as he heard the soft sniffles she was trying to hide. It worked, mostly, but Adrien still had some remnants from his time as Chat Noir, meaning his hearing was still better than most.

He wasn't going to sit next to her- he thought he would feel too sad. But when he entered the classroom, his eyes immediately moving to find her, he saw her distraught expression and knew he had to investigate.

Even if she didn't remember him, he wanted to be there for her.

For a few minutes he just watched her, not even paying attention to what Miss Bustier was saying. (Not like it mattered much anyway.) She may have been hidden from most people, but he could see how her face glistened with her precious tears as she constantly shifted to find a more comfortable but unnoticeable position.

He hesitated when his hand reached out for her. What would she think of the new kid touching her?

She'd probably punch him in the face like she had once done to his overbearing cousin. (And boy did he love hearing the story of her put Felix in his place after what he put her through!)

Before he could, she sat back up, quickly drying her tears and raised her hand in the air.

"Marinette," Miss Bustier asked and, though she had tried to hide the tears, it was evident to the teacher that something was wrong with her student, "You look unwell. Would you like to go to the nurse's office?"

Decidedly, Marinette nodded, unable to find her voice.

"I'll take her Miss Bustier," multiple heads, including Marinette's, turned to the blond boy sitting next to her.

"Are you sure Adrien? Do you know where it is?"

"Yes Miss."

Miss Bustier agreed. Even though he was a new student, Adrien seemed quite responsible and determined to help out a fellow student. And, since this lesson was really going over basic rules in the class- ones that Adrien already went over when he enrolled- she didn't see any harm in letting him help Marinette.

She may or may have not also noticed the worried look on his face when he saw her. Whatever it was, she hoped that they would be able to sort it out soon enough.

Miss Bustier is the real mvp.

Skip to after Adrien and Marinette have gone to the nurse.

Marinette walked slightly behind Adrien, her head hung low as she tried to stop more tears from falling.

The nurse had told Marinette that she could go home and rest and come back at lunch and Adrien, being the kind person she knew him to be, took that as an invitation to walk her home.

They were out of the school and walking down the steps when Adrien froze, causing her to stop abruptly and trip onto his back.

As if he saw it coming- she didn't know but his instincts took over- he turned around and swooped her into his arms, steadying them, before both of them could fall to the ground.

He said nothing as she scrambled out his hands, trying to apologise for what happened. Instead, he grabbed her forearm- lightly but still strong enough that she couldn't escape his grasp- and dragged her all the way to the an alleyway near their school.

She felt at a loss.

He hadn't brought her to just any alley- no. It was the one where they had shared their first proper kiss. One that they remembered and one that she cherished with all her heart. That day the akuma had been more harsh and had hurt him badly. If it hadn't been for the miraculous cure, he would have probably been dead and she hated that. She hated how sacrificial he was and how he hurt for her. When they had reached that alleyway to detransform, she had attacked him with her lips on his, communicating with him wordlessly how desperately she needed him.

Her heart stinged seeing him bring her here, not knowing how precious this measly little alleyway was to her. How much it hurt to be back and relive the memories that he didn't remember.

"Wh-why did you bring me here?"

"It was the first place I could think of where no one would find us."

"But- but why? Why are we here? Why do you care? Why? Why? Why?"

She knocked her fist on his chest, the tears spilling once again, and for a moment it felt like she was Ladybug, screaming at Chat Noir for sacrificing himself once again.

He caught her hands in his own, causing her to look straight at him.

She expected pity and confusion but that wasn't what she saw on his face.

"You probably won't believe me but I know you Marinette. I know how you act and how you feel and even if I may not understand why you are feeling this way, I know that deep down, you can feel that I'm here for you no matter what."

"H-how can you..."

He brought her closer, this time not even hesitating to rest his hands on the back of her head and run it up and down in a way he knew always had a calming effect on her. Her breath became steadier with every second that passed.

"Because you are my lady, and even if you don't remember it, I have and always will be there for you."

"Remember?" She whispered in awe and looked into his eyes. She could see the raw emotion swirling in the green speckled with yellow and brown, one of determination so intense that it urged her to step back a bit in shock.

"Someday you will understand. Maybe even remember everything like I did. But right now I just want you to know that if ever you need comfort, I am here. Always."

She gasped and her eyes widened. The thought of her looking like a gaping fish crossed the back of her mind, as her jaw dropped away if it was trying to reach the floor.

"Chaton?"

As if gravity wanted both of their jaws to hit the ground, Adrien mimicked her previous expression as a look of recognition settled in his eyes.

"You- you remember," he said, finally finding his voice again.

She rushed towards him and embraced him properly.

"I remember everything."

And I'm going to leave it there.

I would of written more but I thought it would be better to leave it as a bit if a cliffhanger. Never done that before. Maybe I'll do a part two. Maybe not.

For some reason these oneshots become more angsty than I originally plan so next one is going to be something lighthearted. Maybe. Idk yet.

Bug out lovelies 😘.