"The last akuma..." his father. Pain filled him, but he pushed it down, very good at acting and hiding his pain at this point, "had the power to make each person he affected see a terrible nightmare. It didn't take time for each one," he explained. "And he wasn't the only akuma to have that kind of power." He could recall one very painful one that had given him and Ladybug the most amazing dream... it still hurt, some days, to wake up and realize that it wasn't real, that their children had never been real...

But he reminded himself that what he had with Marinette was real. And solid. She could even say she loved him now without falling all over himself. And thinking about that, and her, made it easier to turn the fake but convincing smile into a genuine one. It was wonderful to be in love for once with someone who felt the same that he did.

"But you're saying anyone can create dreams? Even without an Akuma or an Amok?"