Marinette walked into school the next day and bumped right into Alix. She looked inside her purse where Tikki and Fluff were sitting with the rabbit miraculous. It's time...

"Alix, I need to talk to you," Marinette whispered as she pulled her aside making sure nobody else was in sight.

"Sure what's up?" Alix asked raising a brow

"It seems that I will be gone for some training this summer," Marinette sighed "I need someone to alert me of any akuma attacks so... I'm entrusting the rabbit miraculous to you, which you can merge with your pocket watch to avoid suspicion.

Alix nodded Marinette handed her the miraculous, "you can count on me,"

"This is fluff," Marinette added presenting the white kwami to her friend, she's the one who can help you transform. Make sure to keep her hidden from everyone else. She can tell you the details, or you can ask me later."

"Thanks for trusting in me," Alix smiled taking the pocket watch, "nice to meet you Fluff," she said scratching the white kwami.

Fluff smiled back giving her a small nod before finding a place to hide. The friends entered the classroom separately to avoid suspicion. Marinette's eyes fell on Adrien who smiled at her in return.

"Good Morning Marinette," Adrien's radiant smile greeted her as she sat down in her usual seat beside her best friend.

"Morning Adrien," she replied returning his smile and gave him a small wave

Alya smiled as her best friend confidently greeted her crush, it would only be a matter of time before one of her favorite couples got together

Mrs. Bustier allowed the class some time for self/group study to prepare for the finals

"Free time!" Kim cheered, only to sit back down as Mrs. Bustier gave him a strict glance.

"I've been away on and off, I think I'll need someone to help me review," Lila pleaded glancing at Adrien, practically begging for attention

Not again... Adrien thought to himself, she has better grades in some classes than me

"We can all form a study group together!" Rose suggested clapping her hands together

"Form a study group with that loser?" Chloé snarled, pointing directly at Lila, "ridiculous, utterly ridiculous!" and with that, she stomped out of the classroom

Sabrina glanced between Lila and Chloé only to follow Chloé as she opted to "self-study" in the library.

"I think I'll study with the group with Lila," Alya decided, "are you going to join us Marinette?"

"No thanks," Marinette replied shaking her head, she couldn't stand Lila, "I'll go to the library for some self-study."

"You coming dude?" Nino asked his best friend

Adrien watched as Marinette walked away, "I think I'll go with Marinette," he said grabbing his bag to follow the bluenette

Nino looked at his best friend and shrugged, only to come face to face with his girlfriend.

"Looks like he wants to spend more time with her," Alya smirked looking out the classroom door

"Looks like this little chick is finally breaking out of his shell..." Nino sighed

*****

"Hey Marinette," Adrien greeted her as he took a seat beside her in the library, "mind if I join you?"

"O-Of course not," Marinette managed a small smile, she was still a bit nervous around him at times, but she was definitely getting better, much better.

"What are your plans for this summer?" Adrien asked curiously. He would certainly miss visiting her at night as Chat Noir...

"Oh, uh" Marinette struggled to come up with the right words, I should tell him I'm going to China, but can't possibly reveal my identity as Ladybug...  "I'll be going to China for a cultural exchange program..."

Wow, Marinette will be in China as well? I wonder if I'll see her there? "Cool, I'll be in Shanghai this summer," Adrien blushed, "I wonder if we'll bump into each other."

"Oh I don't think so," Marinette chuckled, "after all, there are so many cities in China, not to mention it houses the world's largest population."

"Right," Adrien sighed with a clear look of disappointment in his eyes, "I guess I kind of forgot about that for a sec."

Marinette saw the pain in his eyes, is he worried he won't have a good time? "Don't worry," Marinette tried to reassure him, "I'm sure you'll have a great time whatever you're doing there..."

"Not really," Adrien muttered looking down, "my father is kind of forcing me to go with him for a business trip, but I guess it beats staying home since apparently both Felix and Lila will be staying over at the mansion this summer."

"Oh..." Marinette paused, she could recognize a hint of sadness in the model's face, for some reason it felt very familiar... "you know Adrien, if you ever need anyone to talk to, you can talk to me." She gave him a soft smile telling him she would be there for him, as a friend, whenever he needed one.

Adrien looked up at Marinette's bluebell eyes and her beautiful smile. Nobody had ever offered such friendship to him before, how could he have been so blind to not fall for this girl in the first place? "Thank you Marinette, I really appreciate it." He returned her gaze with a loving one, a gaze of adoration, the only look he would ever give well... Marinette.

"A-Anyways," Marinette bit her lip nervously, not sure how to react, "should we continue our studies?"

"Yeah..." Adrien breathed, not taking his eyes off her "we should."

*****

After a couple of weeks, it was finally time for finals, graduation, and finally summer vacation! Marinette was able to convince her parents to let her go to China for a "cultural exchange program."

"I've convinced my parents Su-Han," Marinette told the monk when he came back, "I will go to China with you." She had also explained her plan of entrusting a miraculous to someone she trusted and teleporting back to Paris whenever she was alerted about an akuma attack.

"Very well," Su-Han nodded impressed by the young girl's ability to problem solve; for just a teenager she was definitely wiser than most others. "We will leave a few days after you are finished with school, I hope you are well prepared by then," he handed her a plane ticket with the boarding information.

"Will I be in Tibet the entire time?" Marinette asked out of curiosity, would she really be staying in the temple during her entire stay?

"I guess that depends on the need," Su-Han shrugged, and with that, he took off.

Marinette sighed as she took a look at the ticket and put her hand on the miracle box. Hopefully Hawk Moth won't make it too hard for us this summer...

Little did she know that the man would also be in China in search of other miracle boxes...

Since Graduation ended she was anxious to hear back from Isabelle about her confession. Finally, she saw a message

Hi Marinette,

Isabelle here! I wanted to thank you so much again for the dress. As for the confession, well... it was a success! Turns out that he also liked me all this time after all J here is a picture of us at the graduation celebration. Best of luck to your future as a fashion designer!

Isabelle <3

Marinette took a look at the picture of Isabelle and her now-boyfriend and smiled, it worked...

Over the next few nights, Marinette prepared herself, packing essentials, and things she would possibly need on her trip. She looked out at the night sky knowing there was one thing for certain she would miss for sure... her kitty.

Then she saw him heading towards her, those familiar green eyes she had been longing to see for a while.

"Hey kitty," she breathed, "I missed you" never in a million years would she have ever thought she would miss this silly cat and his lame puns.

"I missed you too," he grinned pulling her into a warm embrace.

"I-I'm leaving for China tomorrow," Marinette sighed, "I'll be gone for the summer. I was kinda hoping you would come by so I could say goodbye, for now anyways..."

"What a coincidence, I am too..." Chat winked, "Maybe we'll bump into each other!"

"You wish," Marinette laughed as she playfully hit him, "Even if I did bump into you it would be in your civilian form."

If only you knew, Chat thought to himself, I really do wish we could bump into each other

If only you both knew smh...

*****

"Have a great time honey," Sabine gave a sad wave to her daughter, as Marinette was about to line up at the security checkpoint.

"Remember to face-time us once in a while," Tom reminded her as he gave her a big bear hug.

"Thanks, Maman, thanks Papa, I'll miss you both," Marinette said hugging them both, giving one last wave as she headed in.

After passing through security, Marinette searched for her gate number and bumped into a familiar blonde

Adrien?