It was decidedly hard to concentrate with that much laughter nearby. Still, rather than scold, Marinette Dupain-Cheng was rather more inclined to smile. She found herself looking up. She'd spent three hours considering these documents, going over them time and time again. She needed a break. Getting up, the woman stretched herself, giving her assistant a smile and silent permission to have a few moments rest herself if she saw it fit.

She was quick enough to realize that the noise was coming from outside. Making her way along through the building, she reached the door which lead outside. Growing a little closer, she was able to make out the soft sound of some strings being plucked. A gentle smile traced itself on her face. She was able to picture the scene almost perfectly in her mind before she even set eyes on it. Truth be told, it was rather frequent for them. Anyone who visited their home during the warmer months would have had occasion to witness something similar.

On the grass, gathered in front of a small alcove. Where a statue of a beautiful young woman had once been placed, there was a man. He sat there, strumming the cords of an old and somewhat beaten up guitar. His audience was a group of three. Marinette smiled as she considered the mops of dark hair. The boys were engrossed in the spectacle, at that funny age when their attention was easily gained and caused them to focus solely on the immediate amusement put in front of them. The girl however, older than her companions, did hear the door open. She turned over her shoulder, green eyes falling upon the woman. The girl grinned before asking:

"Are you coming maman?"

"I'm sure I can spare the time."

She made her way down the stairs and towards the little group. The man paused his melody so as to allow her the opportunity to join them. That was enough to be noticed by the boys. Both promptly began to squabble over who got to sit on her lap as she settled down. Eventually, a compromise was found. Both sat next to her, their sibling a little older and more content to stay just a little bit further away from them. She didn't quite feel so obliged to snuggle, although her parent knew that she certainly wouldn't pass up on the opportunity had it presented itself.

The man smiled, waiting until she was settled down and ready to listen before continuing to strum a few cords. She listened to them carefully but found herself unable to place them. She let him play on. It was clearly more than a random few cords of a melody, more composed. Far more work had gone into it. The woman smiled recognizing what she was listening to. As such, she allowed him to finish.

"Is that a new song?" The woman asked him.

"Yes." He replied with a gentle smile. "Did you like it?"

"Of course..."

"There's a bit of you in there and some of Louis, Hugo and Emma of course."

The children's excitement seemed to grow at the mention of their names. Marinette found herself wondering if she could maybe allow herself to take the rest of the day off. She could go upstairs, change into something less formal, send her assistant home with all of her pay and spend the rest of the daylight hours with her children. That was the one issue with having them around. They had something of a distracting effect on her. Right now, all she wanted to do was to take them to the park or just settle down here and play with her sons and daughter.

She was in the middle of pondering such a notion when something drew her attention. Resting against her, the youngest of her children, Hugo had tensed up suddenly. Concerned, she looked down to see him, resting her hand on his shoulder. Almost instantly, she felt him grab a hold of her. The boy's attention wasn't resting on her however but rather on a nearby tree. It unsettled Marinette who found herself pulling the child just a little bit closer to her. On her shoulder, a small red creature perked up, perhaps sensing the same thing.

"What is it sweety?" She asked him.

There was no response. The boy's attention seemed to be entirely engulfed by the nearby tree. She would have been worried, had it not been for the sight that she caught out of her peripheral vision. The man was smiling. His attention was also focused on the tree. She found herself raising her eyebrows, trying to understand just what exactly had been spotted. The look that he gave her was a reassuring one. Her attention turned back towards the tree, desperately trying to see just what exactly had distracted the rest of her family.

She became aware of the man with a guitar next to her once more. His presence was comforting. For all that, he was still gazing towards the tree.

"We have a visitor." He announced.

This time, Marinette saw it. It was like a shadow moving in the branches. Quite a large one at that. She felt almost embarrassed that she hadn't spotted it initially. At first, it was immobile, only just visible through the dense leaves. After a few moments though, when it had become apparent that the family had spotted its presence. It tensed up, lingering there for a few moments. It seemed to be hesitating, torn between leaving or perhaps taking a chance and staying put up there, considering them from afar.

Ultimately, it did neither. It shifted. The branches moved only slightly as the figure came down. Quickly, it became apparent that it wasn't a monster, or some kind of animal but rather a man. A tall mark in a strange dark suit which gave him some traits which belonged more to a cat. Golden hair and a set of bright green eyes stood out. He stayed at a certain distance, a few yards between them. Was it for their comfort or his own uncertainty? The silence made it impossible to say.

It suddenly occurred to Marinette that she had better mind her children. Whilst she was comfortable around the stranger, they likely wouldn't know who he was or what he wanted. To them he was a fearsome monster or a demon. She put her arms around Hugo and Louis, pulling them in close so that they didn't panic. Sure enough, both were keen to snuggle up to her, obviously taking some comfort from her presence. Even their older sister seemed to be unsettled. The musician came closer to them, placing a hand on the girl's shoulder for some comfort.

"It's okay..." Marinette told the children. "He's a friend."

They didn't seem to be entirely convinced. Understandable given the nature of the man before them. He didn't look entirely human, at least to their eyes. Hugo and Louis certainly seemed to be on tenterhooks, about five seconds away from fully-fledged panic. Their sister seemed to have been somewhat calmer, assuming that her parents would know what exactly they were talking about concerning the newcomer.

Marinette fixed the man clad in black. He seemed to be almost bewildered by the spectacle before him but there was something gentle about him. His gaze travelled over the group but rested on the children for a moment, in particular the girl. She gave him some time to pull himself together. She could only imagine what was going through his head. Presumably he found himself to be lost and confused. How long had he been there? She couldn't have said. So the woman did the only thing that she felt that she could to help him along. The woman smiled.

It seemed to be enough to shake him out of whatever trance he'd been trapped in. He turned back to face her. A part of the woman wanted to take a couple of steps towards the man, to take his hand and guide him back over towards them so that he no longer acted as such an intruder. She held off from doing so. All of this would happen in its own time.

"It's been a while..." The man spoke softly after a while.

"Yes. It has..." She replied gently, letting him know that he was welcome here.

Very slowly the man seemed to no longer be so tense. He was breathing a little bit more easily. She saw those broad shoulders of his, seep down and relax. It made him look as if he was less threatening, more human. This must all have been strange, alien for him. What sort of a reunion had he been expecting? Marinette tried not to think about that, choosing to focus on the present. At least right now, he no longer gave off the impression that he was about to spook, bolt over the wall and disappear forever.

"I wanted to see how you were doing- I didn't think-." His attention fell upon the children once more. "I'm sorry if I scared you."

"It's fine." The man assures the newcomer.

"I have called ahead." He shook his head before finally offering them a smile.

"Kids… Why don't you run on ahead?" Marinette suggests to the youngsters.

Her husband takes over, leading the small group a few feet away. Somehow, that makes things a little bit less awkward. Marinette gets to her feet. If Cat Noir seems reluctant to bridge the gap between the two of them, she'll do it for him. He doesn't object. She stops a few feet short of him. The blonde man's attention was focused on the group of children and the man who was doing his best to distract them. After a few moments however, he was finally able to turn around and to fix her. There was an almost confused look on his face, as if he couldn't quite comprehend how he'd come to be here.

This wasn't the world that he'd left behind. Had he been anticipating that nothing would have changed? That everything and everyone he'd left behind would be exactly the same as when he'd left them? It seemed impossibly naive for him. Finally though, he managed to gather his senses together to speak:

"I like what you've done with the place. It feels… Homely."

"Thanks… As you can imagine, we've had to make a few changes." Marinette smiles fondly as she considers her family. "What about you? What happened to Adrien Agreste?"

"I went back to Tibet… There's a new order of Guardians there. Different. I'm trying to bring us into the 21st century."

Marinette was quick enough to realize that she didn't have his full attention. Indeed, a sizeable portion of that was being taken up by the oldest of the children: a dark haired girl with green eyes. The mother smiled thoughtfully as she considered her eldest. The girl was calm and had a heart of gold. Had she been born a few decades prior, no doubt she would have been one of their circle of friends. As it was, she had her own little group that she hung out with. A new generation… But Cat Noir wouldn't know any of that.

No… All that he could do was make a much more simple observation. As she stood there, for the first time since he'd returned, Marinette felt comfortable enough to guess what might have been going through his mind:

"Her name is Emma: Emma Nathalie Dupain-Cheng."

Adrien turned back to look at her with a certain amount of incredulity on his face. She only offered him a smile, which, after a few moments he returned to her. He seemed to be considering the girl in a new light now, as if her mere name was some sort of confirmation. For a while, they just stood there together. She was in no hurry. It was a beautiful day and there was still that generally calming feel to it. Work could wait… She had other more important and more pleasant things to deal with…

"Do you want to stay for lunch?" It seemed like such a simple offer after all these years.

"Yes please." For the first time, he turned back to face her and actually seemed to see her. "I think we have a lot to catch up on."

"We do..." Her voice trailed off for a moment. "Do we have the time?"

"Yes… I'll make sure that we do."

...

I would like to thank everyone for reading this story and leaving reviews. It's been fun.