Colette Renée Blanchard,
If you want to know the whereabouts of the miraculous of the butterfly and of the dragon, meet me at the top of the Eiffel Tower at half past six at dusk. And no, I'm not going to sabotage you. In fact, you know me well.

Signed,
Beep

"Who's Beep?" Alya frowned from beside, snatching the letter to scan it once again. I shrugged, then winced as pain shot through my shoulderblade. The girl patted my hair sympathetically. "While I do applaud you for catching Monarch, you shouldn't have risked your life."

I smiled, the contrasting feelings of warmth and icicles raining down on me at once. "This life isn't mine own, Alya."

Alya seemed at a loss, so I gave her hand a squeeze. "How do you know it's time to go back?" she whispered, putting the paper to the side and scooting closer to lay her head against the headboard. I was tempted to shrug, but held myself back in fear of the pain that tagged along.

"I can. . . feel it in my veins. You know the saying that everyone's born for a purpose? I feel like I have accomplished it with Monarch done and over with. Besides, I only have you left, if you exclude Marinette's parents, but of course, they have no idea that their daughter isn't theirs."

"Yeah, but," Alya probed, her frown deepening, this time for an entirely different cause. One that made me feel ephemeral jubilation. "You just sent Plagg away with the miraculous. How would you know he no longer cares when you haven't met him after the truth being outed?"

I shook my head. "No, he just lost his dad, the only relative and family he had to call his own. At least, Gabriel wished for his personal assistant, Nathalie, to get better. I can't imagine what Adrien would do without anybody, any moral support to cling on to.

"Besides, it must all hurt. He's going through so much already. I wouldn't wish to bother."

"Even so, how can you get back to being Colette?"

"Alya, Alya, Alya!" I repeated, falling back on the pillow, laughing hysterically. Oh, this girl is amazing! "I guess it's like one of this Cinderella tales where the clock strucks midnight and we revert back to our original selves. It might happen on its own, and I have a feeling it isn't too long!"

Truth be told, I wasn't lying in the slightest. Lately, I was surprising myself with all that I could remember of my identity as Colette.

Starting with how my family tore apart because of workplace restrictions at mum's side, how the boy I crushed on never returned my feelings and how Ariane was the only friend I had because he had bad-mouthed me to the entirety of the class and the teachers.

In more ways than one, Alya was similar to Ariane. Both the girls were loyal enough to trust me with all their secrets, even the fact that the latter was in love with a pretty girl.

I chuckled, fondly reminiscing the times she would be ranting about how the said girl only thought of her as a friend, even though I definitely found a spark between them.

"Are you really that happy to get back?" Alya's voice broke through my musings, and I turned sharply to face her. My neck stung of the movement, but I decided to ignore it and replace the grimace that had formed on my face with an empathetic smile.

"The only person I have left there is Ariane, my best friend, and my pets, Sapphire and Emerald. Of course, I'm going to be very despicable when it comes to leaving you, Alya, but don't you miss Marinette too? I bet he does. I saw the way his face lit up into a thousand lights when they met, back because of the wish."

The thought hurt, but then again, I didn't truly belong to him, or his world. I had no right to muse about them, either. Hence, I had to restrict myself from brooding over the missed opportunity. Perhaps, in another life, was my only consolation.

"I miss my girl, too," Alya started, her eyes taking over a faraway look as she stared at the hatch leading to the balcony above us. Tikki's soft snores, accompanied by the other Kwami's playful noises, were the only sounds at that point. "But I kinda wish you could be here too, in your own body, under your own name."

An involuntary 'aww' escaped my lips as I threw my arms around her in a side hug. She reciprocated it, albeit awkwardly seeing as we were lying on the mattress.

"Thank you, Alya, truly," I beamed, feeling and absorbing every bit of warmth that I could from her, and the string on which this friendship was tied to, invisible, almost non-existent, but still built on a level of trust that hadn't completely been my doing.

"No mentions, girl. What are you going to do about this 'Beep'?" she asked, patting my hair once I pulled away.

"I guess I should confront him slash her too. If they are really telling the truth, I might as well help Marinette wholly and complete the entire collection of Miraculouses," I replied, scratching my cheek. "Maybe I should hide away the rest of them somewhere, and give you one before leaving. What do you think?"

Alya looked mildly surprised, before replying. "I'd be honoured to hold onto one and help you out if you're willing."

I nodded, appreciative of her assistance, before we delved into planning.

Over some tea and a couple of croissants, we made a list of our shortcomings, and worked on overcoming them. Alya had plenty a good ideas as to what might happen, seeing as how Ladybug often received such warnings, which made it easier for both of us to plan things accordingly.

Everything was going smoothly and without a hitch. That is, until there was a thud from above, forcing my heart to throw itself against its enclosure.