After turning the corner, she made a mad dash for home, tears stinging her eyes, but definitely did not fall, and all the way home, she could only remember looking at him only brought back the pain.

The pain the tried so hard to fight back, because she had accepted that, just maybe, she had messed everything up, and would never get to see him again.

But she was just doing her bi-weekly jog (which was recommended by her dance instructor) to keep in shape., and the she was checking her phone for messages from Luka and then—

Then she was looking at Adrien Agreste, watching her with with curious eyes, a flush to his cheeks. Despite the shock, she kept walking until she was only a few feet away from where he was sitting, and took a chance.

He couldn't have been alone, and with the way his eyes glanced over to the side, her assumption was correct, and figured Gorilla was there. She had grown in the six years, and sure, she might not look the same, she doubts her features had changed that much.

Arriving home, she threw open the door to the bakery, greeting her parents quickly, who seemed surprised at her rushed welcome as she immediately went for the stairs to head to her room. Once in the comfort of solitude, she sat down on her bed, breathing heavily.

Did that really just happen?

("Wait!" he stood from the bench, brows furrowing, "What's your name?"

She stared at him, and looking at him, now, she had been correct from many years ago, asking herself if he'd grow to be as beautiful as his mother. Adrien had definitely lost a lot of the baby-fat he once had, and while he took after both his parents, she could definitely see Emilie's features. This was always something that she expected, but not this way. It still hurts for him to not know.

Not know who she is.

Or the promises that they made.

Wanting to just hold him, and tell him what happened all those years ago, about how Gabriel took her out of his life, about their childhood, about everything- instead, she just smiled.

"Tell me, Adrien, what do you think my name is?"

She waited, and when his brows furrowed further and no answer came, she began to jog once again, leaving Adrien behind in the park.)

All she had ever wanted was to see him, just once, to see how he was, if he was okay- and maybe it was too much. Marinette was not an emotional person, she was not sensitive, but maybe this was a wound that would never heal.

As it was not a physical wound, it was wound of the heart.

She grabbed her phone, tapping the screen a few times before putting it up to her ear, and waited.

"Hello?"

"Luka," she whispered, "are you busy?"

-

He had been messing around the ship with his mother, with instruments, and just the little things around the deck. They liked to keep themselves busy, as to not get bored. Usually around this time, he would be in his room, or even on the deck on a nice day, playing his guitar. But his mother had gotten some items on their last stop that she needed help moving to the inside of the ship.

They had just begun to moved the last couple of boxes when his phone began to ring.

"Is it Marinette?" His mother asked, and he pulled out the device to check. Sure enough, her contact photo of her throwing up a 'V' over her eyes with the straightest face was on his screen with 'Marinette' at the top.

"Yeah, one sec, mom," he swiped the answer key and brought the phone to his ear, "hello?"

"Luka," Marinette's voice was soft, out of breath, "are you busy?"

"Not at this particular moment, no," Luka answered, looking up at his mom, who smiled and waved him off, understanding. They definitely moved a lot of the boxes and could take a break. He smiled and went to his bunker for more privacy and sat on his bed, back to the wall. "What's up?"

"I saw him," she said quickly, almost like she still couldn't believe it. Wanted to tell someone before she forgot, even though they both know she wouldn't, "He was at the park and- and we talked. I can't do it, Luka, I don't want to see him. It hurts."

Luka furrowed his brows, the only person that she could possibly be talking about is... "Adrien," he breathed, "you saw Adrien."

"I don't want to see him anymore. Never again. I can't."

"But what if you can't avoid it, Mari?" he asked. "Things happen for reason. Gabriel could have taken him out of the country, but he didn't. Maybe this was just a fluke, but you know I don't believe in that. It's a sign."

"If you're saying this is a sign that he's coming back into my life, then I don't want it."

"That's not what you said six years ago."

"I had just lost my childhood friend, Luka. Of course I wanted him back- but now, I've grown, I've accepted my life without him present in it. I don't want him in my life again."

Luka was quiet for a moment, before sighing. "You can't keep running away, Mari." Running his fingers through his hair before tilting his head back, hitting the wall.

Marinette didn't respond, but he could hear her breathing. It was softer, now, not as heavy as it had been when she had first called.

"Who is there to stop me?" she shot back, though there was no fire to her words, it was more...rueful.

Luka closed his eyes, already knowing the answer, as he had asked himself many, many times before.

"Yourself."