Ladybug hadn't expected another cat, but what had she got now?

Ladybug finally rose from her spot on the roof as the sky peaked into an inky darkness. She put her hand on her yoyo, swung it, and threw it to another building so it could wrap around the chimney. After that, she leaped up the building and ran across the roof. If she were to be honest with herself, her patrols were lonely without Cat Noir, but what could she do? The pressure of finding all of these people rested on her shoulders. How was she supposed to find someone who had vanished without a trace? Sometimes she wanted to lock herself in her room. She wanted to hide Ladybug from the stress and the accusations. She was hurting as much as everybody else.

Maybe Paris didn't need Ladybug if there were no villains to fight. What if she shouldn't be Ladybug if she didn't have a partner? It was as though everything was crumbling. Everybody she was closest to had gone, and she had nobody to confide to for questions. With no support, sometimes she just felt lonely. She felt strangely and sadly lonely.

As Ladybug ran, she jumped over a gap in the roof. She heard a small, plaintive meow, and she nearly skidded off the edge of a roof as she listened out. She knew it couldn't be Cat Noir. She heard the noise again, she she walked to the other side of the roof and looked over the edge.

A little, shivering cat was pressed against the wall. Its fur was wet and damp. It looked up, seeming to finally see somebody, maybe it hadn't in a long time, and it drew a long, pleading mew. Its emerald eyes flashed in the luminescence, and Ladybug felt a stab of pity. She wrapped her yoyo around the chimney of the roof she was on and scaled down the building slowly.

Ladybug held out her hand in a welcoming, reassuring gesture. The cat immediately propelled itself into her arms. She hugged it close to her and scaled back up the building's side. She suddenly had no idea where to put this cat—the shelter? No. If she were honest with herself, the little cat reminded her too much of Cat Noir. She was also a bit unnerved to detransform in front of it, so she wondered what to do with it.

An idea flicked into her mind as her bluebell eyes landed upon the bakery. She clutched the little cat her her grasp and ran along the gleaming rooftop and jumped into the street below, which had no oncoming traffic, and stopped in front of the bakery door.

She sat the cat down, murmuring, "Okay, stay here, all right? There's a nice girl named Marinette that lives here, and she'll take you in. There will definitely be loads for you to eat," she smiled, "I'll go . . . get her."

She swung away, up the building opposite, and flashing down onto the bakery and and quickly detransforming. Hoping that the small kitten had stayed, she opened the trapdoor and shut it behind her. Tikki flew alongside her as she exited her room and hurried down the stairs. Marinette jumped the last few steps and opened the bakery door.

The cat had stayed.

It meowed and then turned in a cat-like manner, stopping and waiting, as though being a polite little gentleman. Marinette smiled slightly and picked up the cat, closing the door behind her. She immediately ran into her mother, who looked bewildered.

"Oh, who is this?" she asked. Marinette looked down at the cat.

"He—he's a stray. I found him," she responded, "mind if he stays here for a while?"

"Of course not!" her mother said, "Go ahead and take him to your room, and grab some leftovers from the stands."

"O-okay," said Marinette, surprised at her willingness. Either way, she took it and hurried up to her room. Tikki had been waiting for her by the trapdoor and Marinette sat the cat in her room after entering.

"Oh, look how cute he is!" Tikki said, flying around, but still keeping low. Even if an animal, only she and her chosen must know her masked identity.

Eventually, Marinette had went downstairs and grabbed a few croissants. She'd given them to the little cat, who had vigorously devoured the food. She thought for a moment, wondering if she should give the tom a name. She abruptly smiled, and, turning to Tikki, she asked, "What do you think about Noir?"

"Noir?" echoed the Kwami. "That's nice, Marinette. You miss your friends, don't you? I miss Plagg, I'll say that."

"Aw, I do, Tikki. I really do," she murmured sadly as the cat, Noir, finished eating his last croissant. He sat up, his whiskers quivering, and meowed.

"Okay," she murmured tiredly, "should we get some sleep? I'm exhausted."

Tikki agreed, and so did Noir; the cat yawned, arched his back, and curled up simply on the floor. Marinette climbed into her bed and Tikki lay at the foot of her bed. Marinette's vision swam dreamily, and a moment later, she dripped slowly into sleep.