At last, the Plagg and the Butterfly Costume sequel! Yippee!

I came up with the idea for this/started writing it back when we were only a few episodes into S2, so some of the development since then (the creepy AF basement, Nathalie and her recent shenanigans) has been completely and utterly ignored.

Also- I did try to do some research about Tibet when writing, but if I mucked anything up please let me know and I'll do my best to fix it!

"Are you sure you have enough clothes packed? That's really not a lot. I thought that we were going to be gone for weeks."

Marinette laughed and tossed a pair of socks at her boyfriend instead of putting them in her suitcase. They sailed past his head and hit one of her mannequins instead. "We're not planning on being gone forever, kitty. And we can wash stuff in a stream or something while we're in Tibet. I think I have enough."

"Besides, if you're successful, you guys will probably spend the whole trip back to the airport transformed," Tikki pointed out from where she was perched on Marinette's desk. "To keep your identities safe and all that. And you might spend part of the trip out to the temple ruins transformed, too, if we can pack enough food. So you wouldn't have to change clothes as often if you do that. Outer clothes, that is."

"I've just never really traveled much before," Adrien admitted, settling down on Marinette's chair and watching as she rearranged the clothes in her suitcase so they would fit better. "I don't know if I packed enough, or too much, or what. Plagg isn't any help."

Plagg made a rather half-hearted noise of protest from where he was lounging in the remains of a bowl of cheesy popcorn. Marinette laughed again.

"We can go check on your packing after I finish up here, okay? We can use the packing list Maman gave me to make sure you have everything you need." Marinette glanced at the list again and then set it aside so she could zip up her backpack. "And to make sure you didn't over-pack. We're going to be carrying everything for a while, you know. Anything too bulky will cause problems."

Adrien nodded. "Yeah, I know. And Nino's already been sure to remind me that I'm not going to be able to shower as often as normal." He let out a huff. "And his definition of my 'normal' is several times a day, and nothing I say can change his mind- and now my girlfriend is laughing at me again!"

Marinette was cackling. "Oh, it's your own fault!" she managed. "You and your habit of hopping into the shower whenever akumas were after you!"

Adrien was still trying to protest that that wasn't fair, she knew that he hadn't actually been in the shower those times, what other choice had he had when Marinette's mom popped up into her room to check on them, Nooroo perched on her shoulder. She raised an eyebrow at the socks draped over the base of one of the mannequins and Marinette scrambled to pick them up.

"I rather thought you were packing," her mother said placidly as Marinette stuffed the socks back into their drawer. "That didn't look like packing to me."

"I'm done," Marinette said quickly, pointing to the suitcase. "We were just talking about going over to Adrien's house so I could make sure that he hasn't packed too much. Or too little, we don't know what to expect."

"Nathalie hasn't insisted on doing a check herself?" Mrs. Cheng looked surprised. "I would have thought that she would. She seems the type."

Adrien just shook his head. "She doesn't actually know where we're going, so she would be suspicious if she looked through and didn't see, like, dress shoes or something. She wouldn't see a problem with having a lot of weight because I overpacked. And she already has enough to take care of right now without supervising me too much."

"Okay, then maybe you should go over right away and get that done," Mrs. Cheng told them. "After all, Alya and Nino will be coming over later, and you know you won't want to leave once they're here. I know you could do it a little later in the week since we still have a few days yet, but it's better to be ready early."

"Yes, Mom," Marinette said immediately, and Adrien echoed with a "Yes, Mrs. Cheng."

Five minutes later, Ladybug and Chat Noir were racing over the rooftops towards Adrien's house. There were a lot of crowds below as kids milled around, enjoying the summer sun. Some pointed up at the superheroes, but most only spared them a glance. Now that Hawkmoth was in jail- well, on trial and being held in jail in the meantime- and there was barely any need for the superheroes, people didn't pay quite as much attention to them as they had before. Besides, they had become quite the common sight over the last year, and the novelty of the superheroes had finally started to wear off a bit.

It wasn't long before the two of them reached Adrien's house and slipped inside, unseen by a few lingering reporters by the front gate. Despite laws that had passed banning harassment of family members of criminals especially when those family members were minors, some reporters still seemed to think that those laws didn't apply to them and hung out near the mansion walls in hopes of a scoop in the form of an interview with Hawkmoth's son. Adrien wasn't sure if they just wanted a tearful story of betrayal or if they were hoping to trick him into 'confessing' that he had actually worked alongside his father, even though the police had already long since cleared him of all suspicion.

(It had helped Adrien's case greatly that he had been targeted by akumas several times and almost died, and it also helped to have both Ladybug and Chat Noir vouch for him, though of course Chat Noir had had mysterious family obligations to attend whenever Adrien had to show up. Still, that didn't dissuade some people on the prowl for a scandalous story.)

The two superheroes dropped in through Adrien's open window and detransformed. Plagg and Tikki made a beeline for the combination cabinet/fridge under Adrien's desk while Adrien led Marinette towards his suitcase and the piles of clothes set up in and around it on his bed. He hadn't been quite sure what to pack (other than not fancy clothes, which was pretty obvious), so there was a bit of everything set out. Marinette groaned at him and dove into the piles, packing some things into the suitcase and shoving other piles into Adrien's arms so he could put them away later on. Adrien did as he was told, happy to have the guidance.

"Part of me wishes that there weren't so many of us going on this trip," Adrien said as he put away the set of hand towels that he had gotten out just in case, Marinette, I didn't know if they might come in handy for something, stop rolling your eyes at me. "I mean, it'll be fun to spend time with the other Miraculous holders, and I know we need all of us to free my mom, but I'd love to be able to go on a vacation with just you and your family."

"It's not exactly a vacation," Marinette pointed out, tossing a jean jacket towards him. "It's a trip, yeah, but think more business trip than vacation even though we'll be doing a lot of hiking. And it'll be fun to hang out with Nino and Alya."

"I know. I think I'm just worried about having to spend so much time with Chloe while we're out in the wilderness. She doesn't do wilderness, and I'm worried that she might get really prickly after the first few hours." It had been a surprise when Master Fu had picked Chloe of all people to be a Miraculous holder for the bee, but she really did come through for Adrien after Mr. Agreste was arrested. Instead of pestering her father for a larger allowance or new dresses like she normally did, she tried to persuade her father to up the enforcement of a law that was supposed to keep reporters following Adrien around at all. She also pestered him to pass a law that kept anyone from cornering Ladybug and Chat Noir in search of more information than they had already given the police, even before knowing that Adrien was Chat Noir and that he was in no mood to be hounded for any information.

Pollen had been pleased- she liked her holders complicated and prickly, and it was probably the best match in centuries since the temple monks always weeded out people who weren't nice all the time. She had been working with Chloe to redirect the snark and the rudeness towards people who actually deserved it and while the two of them hadn't been together terribly long, only for a couple weeks before the end of the school year, Adrien had already seen some change- actual permanent, consistent change, not the little bits of improvement that vanished immediately afterwards like Chloe had been showing earlier in the school year. She had even apologized to people on her own accord, without throwing in any backhand insults.

Still, bad habits were hard to break, and it would be all too easy to fall back on those bad habits when they were tired and footsore and out in the middle of nowhere. If Chloe went bratty and spiteful on their journey, she would make it very, very unpleasant for the rest of them.

"Ooh, do you think we should stop over there to make sure her packing isn't as ridiculous as yours?" Marinette asked, pausing partway through re-folding a shirt. "If she ruins her expensive shoes or stains some designer shirt on our hike, we'll never hear the end of it."

Adrien winced at the thought. "Oh, yeah. That's probably a good idea."

"What did she tell her father about the trip, do you know?"

Adrien could only shrug helplessly. Chloe hadn't told him exactly what she had told her father, she just turned up at the bakery one morning waving seven plane tickets and telling him and Marinette that her father would be paying for the plane tickets and for any hotels that they would be staying at. Adrien would have argued and insisted that his family pay, since his parents were the reason that the seven of them even had to go to Tibet in the first place, but his father's accounts had been largely frozen and any large spending would be questioned and examined, both by Nathalie and the police.

On top of that, as far as Nathalie was concerned, Adrien was tagging along with Marinette and Sabine and only Marinette and Sabine on their trip to visit Sabine's parents. She would seriously question any other expenses, especially when he was supposedly staying with Marinette's extended family. They didn't want to tip her off about Adrien and Marinette and the others being Miraculous holders, just to be safe.

"We'll go over to visit and check on her packing after I've gotten you straightened out," Marinette decided. "And speaking of which- Adrien, why on earth would you need a winter jacket like this? It's summer! And if we go through any cold areas, we can just transform and speed through. It's too bulky"

Adrien just shrugged and took the jacket so he could set it aside.

"And- Adrien! Do they never teach rich people how to pack? You are not bringing your entire pillow!"

"I come bearing gifts," Alya droned as she and Nino pushed their way through the trapdoor into Marinette's room. She was carrying what looked like a duffel bag attached to her back and was carrying another. Nino was carrying another one- and on second glance, the bags looked more like a hybrid between a duffel bag and a backpack. "Come over here and help, you two."

Adrien rolled off of Marinette's lap and onto the floor so he could push himself up and head over. He took Alya's second backpack and hauled it over to where Marinette was still sitting.

"Are those backpacking bags?" Marinette asked, leaning forward to get a better look. "Oh, sweet! Those will be easier to carry than suitcases, for sure. Especially if we can't get everything to fit in Master Fu's shield."

"My family has five," Alya reported, shrugging her backpack off. Nino did the same. "One that's mine, my parents' current backpacks, and then their old ones. I figured Nino and I could use two of them, and then you two and Marinette's mom could use the other three. I was going to offer one to Chloe, but she said that she was going to get a new one instead of using a ratty old thing." She paused. "But she said thanks for the idea, so there's that."

Adrien hastily muffled a laugh.

"I just wish I had one for Master Fu," Alya added on. "But I think they would all be too big for him anyway."

"He'll be transformed most of the time," Marinette reminded her. "And he can just carry bags in his shell, too. But it'll be nice to not be piling seven suitcases into the shell behind him."

"And the bags will vanish if you're wearing them when you transform," Duusu piped up, flying up to perch on Nino's head. "Which it wouldn't do with a suitcase, because you can't wear those. So this is definitely a better solution."

Adrien let out a sigh. "And just when I had gotten my suitcase packed up nice and pretty, too," he said, pretending to be mournful. "Now I gotta go and rearrange everything again."

Marinette poked his side. "You mean just when I had just gotten your suitcase all arranged nice and pretty, kitty," she teased. "I'm not sure that you had all that much to do with it!"

"I put things that you said I wouldn't need away!"

"And who took those things out in the first place, I wonder?" Nino joked. He grinned when Adrien made a face at him.

"Wait, when did you tell Chloe about the backpacks?" Marinette asked Alya as the two boys made faces at each other. "Adrien and I were just there!"

"Really? When?" Alya exclaimed. "We didn't see you at all! We were there maybe half an hour ago."

"We left an hour and a half ago," Adrien piped up. "After making sure that Chloe wasn't going overboard with her packing." He grinned. "All we learned was that she took the opportunity to go shopping and ran with it. I swear everything she has for the trip is both new and top of the line hiking stuff, and she'll probably only use it this once." Some of the things that she had bought made sense, because she hadn't owned anything that she could use instead- new hiking boots and a tent, mostly- while everything else was just cute outfits made with hardy fabric that would be easy to hike and climb in but wouldn't tear or stain as easily as normal stuff, and that also had sun protection worked in. Chloe had spent most of their visit modeling the pieces she had bought, arranging her stylish yellow sun hat on her head as she spun around on an imaginary catwalk.

He was glad that she was having fun with it now. Somehow he suspected that Chloe wouldn't be so cheery once they got to the actual hiking part of the trip, but that was a problem for later.

"Did she tell you what she's told Sabrina about why she'll be gone?" Alya asked. "Or has she pulled another thing where she doesn't tell anyone anything and yet everyone just accepts it?"

"The latter, I think," Adrien said with a laugh. Chloe had a talent for that, as annoying and pushy as it could be sometimes. She didn't ask for permission, she told people something and made it very clear that she would be giving out no further information, so clear that people often didn't bother asking for clarification because they knew they wouldn't get it.

Nino let out a huff. "Man, I wish I could do that. My parents almost didn't let me go, and that would have sucked."

Alya just shook her head. "As much as I wish that I could get away with that, I think I prefer having to deal with my parents wanting to know where I'm going to be and why."

Adrien had to nod in agreement. Chloe got away with things because her father was too busy to pay her much attention. It wasn't something to be jealous of.

"I can't wait until we go," Alya said after a few moments of silence. "I've spent a chunk of my allowance on portable battery rechargers and extra batteries for my camera, so that I won't run out at all on the trip. I've looked up photos from the region, and they're all gorgeous."

"I've been telling her what I remember!" Trixx piped up, popping out of Alya's hair and grinning when they all jumped. "About how pretty everything is, and all of the mountains. It'll be nice to go back and see everything again, but it'll be sad to see the temples all smashed."

"I'm glad it was smashed," Plagg grumbled from the desk. He burped loudly. "That wasn't how the Miraculous were meant to be used. They weren't meant to all be collected and kept in one place."

Tikki gave him a reproachful look. "It would have been better if they just disbanded on their own like we were telling them to do, instead of being attacked and destroyed. There was some good information that they were discovering, and a lot of the research was lost. And there were a lot of deaths."

"A sign from the universe, then."

Tikki looked like she was about to explode.

"I'm looking forward to it, too," Marinette said a little loudly before the kwamis could start arguing. "Until we found out who Hawkmoth was, I was thinking that the fights might go on for years and I wouldn't be able to leave Paris at all until it was all over, so it's nice to do a trip like this now even if we were only tied to the city for less than a year. Besides, Master Fu keeps telling us more stories about what it was like, and I bet he'll tell more once we're actually in Tibet."

"That's going to be great," Alya said, grinning. "Ooh, I know I'm going to record it all, but I so wish that I could put it on my blog. But I can't, and I know I can't, and not just because my parents think that I'm going with you to visit your family and would wonder when I had the time to wander off and find an old Miraculous holder."

"I'm officially jealous that you don't have to lie to your parents, Marinette," Nino told her. "We're all going to have to make up stories except for you."

Marinette raised an eyebrow at her friends. "You forget that I had to lie to my parents for a year. At least for you it's going to be a one-time thing."

"But a big one-time thing," Alya countered.

"Hey, at least you have a cover story in place now. And you're getting out of babysitting." Adrien grinned when Alya pumped her fist in victory. "And you aren't missing class and getting in trouble like Mari and I did."

"I just really hope that my parents don't talk to Nathalie at all," Alya said after a moment at all. "Or Nino's parents. That could make things really difficult."

They all cringed at the thought of what Nathalie might do if it came out that Adrien wasn't the only one traveling with Marinette and Mrs. Cheng. She would probably interrogate whatever poor parent had made the mistake of talking to her, and then storm right over to the bakery and demand to speak with Marinette's dad. She was sharp enough that she would be able to figure out that the extra people on the trip probably wasn't the only thing that they were hiding from her.

"Well, Nathalie will probably be pretty busy," Adrien pointed out after a moment. "There's all sorts of paperwork for the business that she's trying to go through. My dad isn't in charge anymore but since he was the founder, she has to figure out what parts of it we might still have. I think there's shareholder stock or something like that, and my mom had a higher-up position there as well, but..." Adrien shrugged. He hadn't really been interested in the details, and Nathalie hadn't really given him more information than that anyway. "She trusts Marinette's parents, so I doubt that she would actively go looking for you or Nino. Or your parents."

"Is that a very long-winded way of saying that Nathalie won't be out and about to run into our families anyway?" Nino joked. "I'm not surprised. She was always busy before, and everything with your father has got to be an absolute pile of paperwork."

Adrien just made a bit of a face and nodded. No one missed how Adrien shifted slightly closer to Marinette, brushing his fingers against Marinette's hand. She took his hand at once, twining her fingers with his.

The whole topic of his father could still be a bit touchy, but he was slowly getting over it. Slowly.

"Speaking of being busy, what if your dad doing with you mom on the trip?" Nino asked Marinette. "He's not trying to run the bakery by himself, is he?"

Marinette snorted with laughter. "He never runs the bakery by himself- or with just him and my mom, either. They have helpers in the back to prep in the morning and early afternoon every day. But yeah, he's hiring someone to cover the counter for the summer. Once we get back, then my mom will just work in the back. Or she'll do the decorating out front, but just not cover the counter unless the worker needs a break."

From there, the four of them settled down to play some board games before dinner. Conversation jumped from topic to topic as they talked about the end of the school year and what their other friends were up to. Nino talked excitedly about some new music that had come out that he just couldn't wait to mix, but it would have to wait until after their trip. Alya showed them all her camera and all of the settings it had. The kwamis chimed in, bringing the number of players from four up to seven (Plagg had decided not to play, instead spending the time savoring a chunk of Gouda that Adrien had handed him).

It was normal and it was fun and relaxing and best of all, Adrien wasn't going to get called away for a photoshoot or some other activity that he didn't really want to attend.

The day before the seven of them left for Tibet and their Mrs. Agreste rescue mission, Mr. Agreste was finally formally sentenced. He got fifteen to twenty years in prison, which Adrien didn't think was entirely enough, considering that he had engaged in magical domestic terrorism and, had Ladybug not been there, people- a lot of people- would have died in the attacks.

But Ladybug had been there and there was no lasting damage from the attacks, and the public didn't know about the "equivalent exchange" that would have occurred had Ladybug and Chat Noir failed to win. The people in charge of the sentencing had been swayed a bit by the fact that the attacks had been fueled by love- Mr. Agreste was just missing his wife, some people had said. And while yes, most people dealing with loss and grief didn't resort to terrorizing a city in an attempt to get magical artifacts to recover their lost family members, the changed timeline, had he achieved that, would have resulted in the erasing of the akuma attacks entirely.

Adrien was sour about that, just a bit. After all, he knew about the exchange that would have been required and so had his father, which meant that he knew that someone would have died or at least been trapped like Adrien's mother had in her place. Adrien knew that his father had deliberately provoked people to get upset so that he could akumatize them, knew that he had endangered people and hadn't cared, even if Ladybug's Cure would fix it if she won and that the altered timeline would make it never happen if Hawkmoth had come out on top.

But at least his father would be locked up until well after when Adrien would have moved out and gotten a job and established his own life well enough that his father wouldn't be able to ruin it. That was a positive, at least.

"I won't tell your father that you're out of the country," Nathalie promised Adrien as she helped him carry his stuffed backpack out to the car, where the Gorilla was waiting to bring him over to the Dupain-Cheng house. "If he even tries to contact us at all, which I'm not entirely sure that he'll be allowed to. I'll just tell him that you aren't interested in being in contact with him at the moment."

That much was true, at least. Grinning, Adrien thanked Nathalie, gave her a hug (she had gotten better at not stiffening up when hugged over the past few months), said good-bye and promised to give her at least a little heads up before coming home, and then hopped in the car. The Gorilla pulled away smoothly, giving the reporters lingering near the gate a glare. Several hastily beat a retreat- Nathalie had called the police on them before, and it was an experience that none of them would really want to repeat- while others brazenly surged forward, lifting cameras to snap a photo of Adrien for whatever story they were going to run.

Adrien ignored them, making sure that he looked unbothered as he leaned one arm against the window and checked his phone. Chloe had sent a picture of her new backpacking bag and was showing it off along with one of her hiking outfits. The pack was so very Chloe- how she had managed to get a yellow and black backpack on such short notice, he had no idea- and it definitely went with her outfit. He sent back a text telling her so before leaning back and watching as they drew closer to the bakery, where he would be staying overnight with Marinette and Nino and Alya before leaving for the airport bright and early.

They pulled up to the curb, and Adrien hopped out. The Gorilla handed him his backpack and escorted him to the steps, staying there like a protective, looming shadow until Marinette answered the door and ushered Adrien in. His stern expression brightened when Marinette gifted him with a box of assorted pastries from the bakery. With one last wave to Adrien, the Gorilla hopped back in the car and left.

"Nino and Alya are coming over after dinner," Marinette told Adrien as they headed upstairs. "Because their families wanted to have a few more hours with them. And Chloe is just going to meet us at the airport."

"And Master Fu?"

"We'll pick him up on our way to the airport tomorrow."

Upstairs, Adrien spotted Tikki and Nooroo perched in front of the TV, watching a cooking show. They each had a bowl of snacks set out for them, and there was a third bowl filled with cheesy popcorn for Plagg. Plagg zipped off with a squeal, and Adrien and Marinette continued up to Marinette's room.

"I'd set up my sleeping bag up, but I think we all know that I wouldn't use it," Adrien joked. He grinned at Marinette's blush. "So shy, buginette! It's like we haven't been sharing a bed most nights for a couple months now."

"It's different when Nino and Alya are going to be in the same room!" Marinette protested. "And it was only most nights at first."

Adrien was trying not to laugh. "How does Alya and Nino being here change anything? Your parents always know when I'm sleeping over."

"It just does! You know that they're going to take pictures of us sleeping."

Adrien stretched out across Marinette's lounger while she sketched out a few designs at her desk. It was a bit warm in Marinette's house- a side effect of being located above a bakery- but not yet unbearable. He watched his girlfriend sketch, occasionally muttering to herself as she changed something or came up with a new idea. There were periods of silence as Marinette regarded a design, and occasional periods where her pencil scribbled frantically.

"You're bringing sketchbooks on the trip, right?" Adrien asked during one of Marinette's longer pauses. "You'll probably get inspired by the scenery."

"I am, but I don't know if I'll actually have the time to design." Marinette regarded her notebook again. "We'll be hiking pretty much all day, and then once we stop, it'll be too dark to sketch."

"I could carry you while you design," Adrien offered. "I mean, I would transform first," he added quickly when Marinette shot him a dubious look. "Or I suppose you could hop into Master Fu's shell for a few minutes if he's transformed and just float along with the rest of us while you get your ideas down."

"But if I got into the shell to ride for a bit, I don't know if I would want to get back out and walk," Marinette said with a laugh. "And I don't know how well I'd be able to draw if you were just carrying me along. My drawing might come out a bit bumpy."

Adrien grinned, wide enough that he was sure Marinette could see it. "Aw, but Princess. Don't you know that I have a catlike stride? Purr-fectly smooth."

Marinette laughed.

By the time Marinette's mother called them down for lunch, the two of them had long since abandoned the designing and lounging in favor of playing Ultimate Mega Strike 3. The two of them fought together in the game world as seamlessly and effectively as they had during akuma fights, meaning that they defeated their online opponents every single time. Marinette had taught Adrien her attacks, so now Adrien could do more than frantically mash buttons at the speed of light and hope to win.

Now, he strategically button-mashed. It made a world of difference.

"Has Nathalie let your instructors for all of your activities know that you'll be out of town?" Mrs. Cheng asked Adrien as she handed him a sandwich.

Adrien nodded. "Mr. D'Argencourt wasn't happy about it," he added. "I've never been out of town before. Sometimes I've had to miss a day or two of class here and there, but never weeks. And he's also not thrilled that I'll be missing a couple fencing matches. Thankfully none of them are qualifiers, so it doesn't really matter, but it's nice to get the practice in with people I don't fight with every week."

"And your other instructors?"

"Well, Nathalie is in the middle of trying to find a new Mandarin instructor for me. The last one quit." His former instructor had quit only shortly after Mr. Agreste was arrested, and it had come as a bit of a shock to Adrien. The man had been the first person to treat Adrien as though it were somehow his fault that his father was an ass and a criminal to boot (and unfortunately, had not been the last). Nathalie had told Adrien that if the instructor were going to be that stupid, Adrien would be better off without that man anyway. Now Nathalie was looking for a new instructor, one that would stand up to the quality that Adrien needed. "And my piano teacher always goes on vacation for a month in the summer anyway, since she has kids in school and they go to see her husband's family in southern France."

"And your basketball coach?"

Adrien laughed. "He's used to people running off during the summer. We would have had fewer practices anyway."

Mrs. Cheng returned to the stove to retrieve Marinette's sandwich. Nooroo flitted to her shoulder as she did, settling down happily and accepting a bit of fruit as a snack. Adrien grinned at the sight.

Nooroo definitely deserved to have a nice holder like Mrs. Cheng after having to deal with his father for so long.

"I don't know how you keep on top of all of that during the school year," Mrs. Cheng told Adrien as he and Marinette settled down at the table to eat. "Plus photoshoots and being a superhero! Utter insanity. You must be very good at juggling everything."

"Well, basketball and fencing and Mandarin and piano were only one lesson each per week during the school year," Adrien told her. "And Mandarin and piano were only an hour each, not counting homework and practice. It wasn't that bad, but it'll definitely be easier next year without having to run off for attacks. I might try to cut back on some of my other lessons too, but... I mean, what I'm allowed to drop depends on who I have to persuade." Nathalie would probably allow him to drop an activity or cut back on how often he had a teacher come over for lessons, but his mother might not.

"What would you drop?" Mrs. Cheng asked. She looked interested, as did Nooroo. "Anything in particular?"

Adrien gave it a couple seconds' thought. "Well, I might cut back on piano lessons, because I'm already pretty good. And I want to change my Mandarin lessons to be more conversational and less homework, because I'm pretty good on paper. I don't think that several hours of homework per week is going to help me grow that much at this point."

Mrs. Cheng perked up. "Oh, if you wanted to come over and help me behind the corner some days, we could practice conversational Mandarin. Or perhaps Master Fu would be willing to practice with you. He knows Mandarin as well, after all."

"So I could do that instead of lessons?" Adrien considered it. He really liked that idea. "I like that. I might text Nathalie and tell her, so she can stop looking for a replacement instructor."

"It would be more fun than homework for sure." Mrs. Cheng snuck an impish look at Marinette. "And perhaps Marinette will pick something up. I tried teaching her Mandarin when she was younger, but I don't think she remembers much."

Marinette pouted. Adrien grinned. His girlfriend's expressiveness was the best and never failed to amuse him.

As the two teens ate, Mrs. Cheng bustled around the kitchen. Nooroo zipped after her, sneaking bites of whatever she was working on. Tikki and Plagg floated over to join their Chosens, and Plagg tried to steal the cheese from Adrien's sandwich when he wasn't looking. Adrien swatted him away.

"Can Marinette make me a cheese bread bowl today?" Plagg asked, undeterred. "I know it's not Thursday, but we're going to be gone for weeks and I'll be getting stupid mushrooms for most of the trip. Dried mushrooms and Cheddar and Parmesan, at best."

"Or Gouda and Gruyere," Adrien added. "If we can find all of that at the grocery stores. It really depends on what's available, so... it might just be all Cheddar. We can't bring cheese across the border, so we can't just stock up here."

Marinette giggled. "We're going to be the weirdest shoppers ever, between all of the kwamis' foods. Chocolate and sugar cubes for Tikki, cheese and dried mushrooms for Plagg, honey for Pollen, dried fruit for Trixx-"

"But can I get a cheese bread bowl today?" Plagg interrupted. "Pretty please?"

Mrs. Cheng glanced over at them. "Are you two all packed and ready to go?" They nodded. "Then I think it would be nice if you make the bread bowl. And then you could make white chocolate-lavender cookies while that's baking."

Tikki perked up. Plagg cheered.

"So that's the rest of the afternoon for us, then," Marinette said with a laugh. "Adrien?"

Adrien was sitting up eagerly. "Yeah! I love learning how to bake."

"I'd say that we can take any leftovers on the plane, but..." Mrs. Cheng glanced over at Plagg. "I'm not sure anything will be left."

Plagg looked like he was thinking about making a rude noise. Thankfully, he reconsidered.

"I need to get back downstairs to check up on our summer counter worker," Mrs. Cheng said once they were partway through their lunch. "But you know where the recipes are, Marinette. Just make sure that everything gets cleaned up, okay?"

"Of course, Maman," Marinette promised.

"And Tikki- I'd like at least a couple cookies left over for the trip tomorrow."

Tikki giggled. "Of course, Madam Cheng!"

A/N: Yay first chapter! This will end up being about 22 chapters long.

As always, reviews make my day!