Adrien nodded and stood, heading up the stairs to take a look. He scanned the loft and found no trace of them.  "Plagg?  Tikki?" He called.  Where could they be?  He returned to the ground floor and shrugged in confusion. "They aren't up there," he said before scanning the rest of the room and then looking in the closet. "We should go look for them.  I'm not really worried about Tikki, but Plagg can get himself into way too much trouble to leave alone."

He walked to his door, motioning for Marinette to follow, and headed into the hallway.  They didn't get far before they heard the sound of something falling to the floor. Adrien froze. That noise came from his father's room.  His father didn't let anyone in his room.

Plagg gave a sheepish laugh before apologizing, "Sorry.  I didn't mean to drop it.. I haven't found anything either.  Maybe we should just go to the office.  He spends more time there."

Adrien rushed to his father's room and fumbled with the doorknob.  Thankfully, it wasn't locked.  He opened the door to see Plagg and Tikki floating above the dresser. "What are you two doing in here?!" Adrien half whispered and half yelled, trying not to be too loud.

"Uh.." Plagg began.

"Plagg was showing me the house!" Tikki spoke up quickly. "I have never been in such a big house before."

"Ahhh!!" Marinette screamed.

"What's wrong?" Tikki looked toward her owner concern.

Marinette was standing in front of Mrs. Agreste's dresser. She turned around and was holding one of the pictures frames. "Adrien, you were so cute as a baby!"

Tikki nearly fall to the ground. She wished they checked the office first.

Adrien blushed as she held up the picture.  He didn't realize there were so many pictures in his father's room.  "I guess..." he said, not really sure how to respond.  Then he shook his head, remembering the matter at hand. "This isn't the time. We really shouldn't be in here, though. My father doesn't like people going in his room."

"Lighten up. Your father's not even home," Plagg said with a shrug before flying over to look at the other pictures on the dresser. 

"That's not the point..." Adrien began as his eyes skimmed over the room. He would be lying if he said he wasn't interested in what was in the room. It looked so... colorful and lively; just as his mother left it when she disappeared. He vaguely remembered when the house was this colorful, but his father changed everything to the black and white decor in his grief.

Adrien's eyes caught on a picture on his father's nightstand and he slowly walked over to it, staring for a moment before he picked it up. His parents' wedding. His father looked so happy in the photo. He still looked reserved, but his posture was more relaxed and there was a genuine smile Adrien couldn't remember seeing for six years. And his mother.. she was beaming, her happiness magnifying his father's. They were quite a pair.  He wondered why he had never seen it before.

Marinette sat the picture back down on the dresser. She walked over to Adrien to see what he was looking at. She looked shocked to see it was picture of parents and his father actually looked happy. Marinette couldn't help, but smile. "Your mother's dress is beautiful. Did you dad make it?"

Adrien shook his head and smiled. "If I remember the story correctly, dad didn't want a formal wedding but mom wanted a dress so she made one. She wasn't much of a designer, but she was really good at sewing and tweaking patterns."

He looked up as the sound of footsteps filled the hallway.  He knew those footsteps all too well. Plagg and Tikki quickly hid in their pockets just as his father entered the room.

Gabriel was home early from his business meeting.  It ended pretty quickly when his client mentioned how pricey the designs were. Of course, they were in the budget the client gave him, but some people just didn't budget properly and acted like it was the designer's fault. Gabriel didn't have time for such flaky clients and ended the meeting right then and there.

He was not in the mood to find the door to his room wide open.  Who was in there?  He quickly walked the to room and entered, his eyes involuntarily narrowing when he saw them.  He was sure he'd just seen the flashes of red and black as their kwamis retreated into their pockets.  He made himself soften his eyes just a little as he asked, "What are you two doing in here?"

Both Marinette and Adrien jumped at the sound of Gabriel's voice. They turned to face him and somehow Marinette managed to come up with a lie. "Adrien told me that his mother made her wedding dress and I wanted to see it. Sorry for coming here with your permission, Mr. Agreste."

Gabriel paused, his eyes moving to the picture in Adrien's hands.  He couldn't remember if Adrien had ever seen that picture, but chances were Iris had shown him at some point.  His anger dissipated, and he nodded at the explanation.  "Adrien, you know you're not supposed to be in here," he said calmly.

Adrien nodded, relaxing a little as he saw the anger leave his father's gaze. The one true way to disarm his father's anger was to mention his mother. "I'm sorry.  I didn't mean to mess with anything..."

Gabriel held out a hand so Adrien could give him the photo. He stared at it with a very small yet sad, longing smile.  "It's fine. Just ask next time."

Adrien nodded. "Yes sir.  We'll go back to my room now," he said, taking Marinette's hand and leading her past his father.

They returned to Adrien's room and sat back down on the couch. The kwami remained where they were trying to avoid any more questions. Marinette looked at Adrien. "Is everything okay? I hope you didn't get into any trouble."

Adrien shook his head.  "Your luck continues to amaze me.  You chose the only excuse possible to get him to drop it.  I don't think he's ever gotten past my mother's disappearance."

Adrien reached his hand into his pocket to grab Plagg's tail and pull him out.  Plagg gave him a nervous smile.  "You, though, need to tell me what made you think it was a good idea to take Tikki into my father's room.   What would you have done if he saw you?"

Plagg shrugged, "I was just showing her around and got curious.  No one's allowed in there, and he wasn't supposed to be home.  No worries.  Everything's fine."


Gabriel sat down on the bed, looking down at the wedding picture.  He sighed.  "Iris..."  

"You going to be okay, Gabe?"  Lycca asked, landing gently on his shoulder. 

"Just thinking."

Lycca wanted to ask more, but he knew he wouldn't get anywhere.  The best he could do was be there until Gabriel was ready to talk.  

After a while, Gabriel set the picture down and walked around the room to see if they had touched anything.  There wasn't anything in the open that would have given him away, but...

"Lycca, do you think they know?" Gabriel asked.

Lycca shook his head.  "You haven't done anything to indicate your identity.  Besides, Tikki and Plagg would have to know and the Adrien and Marinette would have to guess before Tikki and Plagg could say yes or no.  Your identity is perfectly safe."

Gabriel looked unsure, but he nodded anyway.

"Oh," Marinette replied quietly. She felt Tikki shift in her jacket's pocket. She poked her head out while Adrien was scolding Plagg. Marinette stared at her for a few seconds. She thought about questioning her, but decided to drop it. Something else was bugging her.

She looked up. "Um, Adrien." Marinette wasn't sure if she should ask. But she was dying to know what happened to his mother. "If you don't mind me asking. What happened to your mother?"

Adrien paused, releasing Plagg as he let the question sink in.  He had never thought about how she wouldn't have known.  His mother disappeared when they were ten.  It was all over the news, but he probably wouldn't have noticed either if it had been some other famous person.  Kids don't really pay attention to the news.

He shrugged, "We don't know."  It was a very simple answer, and he probably would have left it at that with anyone other than Marinette.  Sometimes people disappeared; whether through their own will or someone else's darker intentions.  

Adrien sunk a little into the couch, and Plagg quietly landed on his lap.  "She went to a photo shoot at the office.  Everyone saw her there and everyone saw her leave, but no one saw what happened between the building and the car.  The car was untouched, and it was in the blind spot of the cameras on that side of the building.  The cameras at the entrance didn't catch anyone entering or leaving at that time, either.  It's a complete mystery."

Adrien didn't know this at the time, of course.  His father had tried to shelter him the best he could, even with the message being that his mother was gone.  When he was 13, he was pretty much alone and still grieving, so he spent a little time looking into it himself since his father wouldn't talk about it.  Finding such an open ended, yet thoroughly impossible case had forced him to accept his mother wasn't coming back, and he moved on after a few months.  But his father...  He doubted his father would ever move on.

Marinette frowned. She wasn't sure what to say so she lean against him and grabbed his hand. She rested her head on his shoulder.

Tikki blinked. The conversation with Lycca from the party was fresh in her mind. Hawkmoth's wish was harmless and all non magic possbilities were exhausted. Could it be..? She needed to talk to Plagg about this, but that was out of the question at the moment.

Adrien closed his eyes and focused on her warmth against him.  The question had thrown him off a bit, but being so close to her was already making him feel better.  He had no idea how he ever coped without her.  The loneliness would kill him now that he knew what having support felt like.  

Plagg looked up at Adrien and frowned.  He knew what Tikki would want to say as soon as they got a chance to speak.  Gabriel had a motive.  A motive that fit quite well with Lycca's story.

June 12th 2010

Iris was in her sewing room working  on a skirt, when she heard her wall clock chime. It was 8:00 am time to wake up Gabriel for work. Iris rose from her seat and went to their bedroom. A playful smile spread across her face. Waking him up was so much fun. She slid next to him and started to play with his hair. "Gabe, it's time to get up."

Gabriel smiled at her light touch on his hair.  She woke him up every morning; not because he needed to be woken by someone else but because they both loved the silly little ritual.  Some mornings he made it easier for her than others. This morning, was one of those mornings.  He waited a moment longer and propped himself up on he elbow, while grabbing for his glasses with his other hand.  "Good morning, Iris."