Hello! This is all very new to me. I've written regular novels and stories before, but this is the first time I've ever tried my hand at a fanfiction. This uses the characters, settings, and some of the plot from Miraculous Ladybug series; I, by no means, own anything of the Miraculous Ladybug universe (sadly enough). I love this cartoon series so much I couldn't help but write a fanfic, and the friends who have read it told me I should post it, so... here it is! *fidgets nervously*

Please, feel free to comment and review it! If you have any suggestions, feel free to send them my way. I may try to incorporate some into this 'side-series' I have planned. :)

Episode One: Lady Heartless

Part One

Marinette tripped on the doorframe as she rushed out of the bakery, yelling behind her, "I love you, Mom! See you later!"

"Be careful on your way to school!" her mother called back in her usual cheerful voice.

Marinette grinned, rushing through the streets of Paris to barely make it in time to her class before the bells rang out the start of the school day. Despite the year that had passed since she had started high school, she still found herself rushing out the door of her home more often than not.

Adrien gave her a friendly smile that warmed her insides and sent her stomach into performing acrobatics. She grinned back, waving slightly as she collapsed in the seat behind him, fighting back a wistful sigh.

"Careful, girl," her best friend, Alya, whispered to her. "You're about to start drooling again."

Quickly, Marinette swiped at her mouth, checking to make sure that wasn't the case. Her mouth was clear. She glanced at her friend in gratitude, knowing she would have been mortified if Adrien had noticed her complete adoration of him.

At the end of the day, Marinette clenched her fists, determined to follow out her plan she had concocted the night before. "I'm going to do it!" she said aloud.

Alya raised an eyebrow, amused. "Do what?"

"I'm going to tell Adrien how I feel!"

Alya rolled her eyes, and Marinette already knew what she would say; it's not like this was the first time she had tried doing something like this, after all. However, this time, she felt as if it will work.

Chloe happened to take this moment to stroll by. She scoffed at Marinette's statement, picking at her fingernails in feigned indifference. "As if. You do realize you're not more than just a wallflower to him, right? Just a spot on the wall when he walks by. He won't even notice you." With this, she flounced off, her little lackey Sabrina trailing after her with both of their schoolbags.

Marinette barely even spared the mean girl a glance before confidently striding forward. Alya followed, a bit startled at her reaction. "Whoa, I know it's best to ignore her, but you must be pretty confident in yourself."

"I am." A sliver of uncertainty wormed its way into her subconscious, and she squashed it instantly. "My plan is foolproof. No matter what, Adrien is going to know how I feel!"

Last night, Marinette had written a letter to Adrien and made sure three different times that she had signed the dratted thing. Just in case that failed, she had texted herself the entire message, planning on getting Adrien's number from Nino if she couldn't work up the courage to say it to his face or hand him the letter.

Essentially, if her first plan - confessing out loud - failed, she would hand him the letter. If that failed, she would approach Nino and ask him for help. One way or another, she was definitely going to get her feelings across to Adrien this time!

She clenched her fist again in determination and courage. Just then, Adrien walked into the main area, closely flanked by his chill best friend, Nino. Suddenly, her mind blanked and she just stared at him, enamored. Butterflies twisted in her stomach again.

Alya waved her hand in front of Marinette's face. "Earth to Marinette," she called out before Adrien noticed. "Get yourself together."

With extreme will power, Marinette shook her head and opened her bag, fumbling with the letter. It fell out, landing face-down on the ground. She scrambled for it, mentally cursing her clumsiness.

A hand reached forward and picked it up for her. She followed it up to see a white sleeve covering a perfectly shaped shoulder, blonde hair brushing along his neck. Green eyes pierced into hers.

"You dropped this?" Adrien said, smiling at her.

Ohmygosh, what do I do?! Marinette screamed internally. She couldn't fathom speaking her feelings now - she felt like she was already tongue-tied. Plan B, then.

Marinette laughed, but it sounded a little weird. "Yeah, I did. You can do whatever with it. I mean, it's for read to you. Uh, for you read to." Her face flushed a bright pink. Nope, words were failing her. Glancing at the palm of her hand, she quickly recited, "It's for you. Let me know what you think."

Unable to stand there any longer, she pivoted on her heel and walked away, Alya following her and congratulating her quietly on the victory.

Adrien watched Marinette walk away, her posture slightly stiff. He glanced down at the letter in his hand as Nino leaned over and examined the envelope with him.

"Oooh, dude, you're in for it," he said, fingering his headphones and smirking. He walked towards the entrance. "Enjoy working up a reply."

Curious, Adrien flicked open the envelope just as his alarm went off for one of his study sessions after school. "Drat it," he muttered to himself, stuffing the letter into his bag. "I'll read it later."

Plagg poked his head out from within Adrien's shirt and glimpsed the letter before Adrien closed his bag. "Oooh, a love letter?" he teased, grinning slyly.

Adrien scoffed at the catlike kwami. "No way. It's from Marinette."

Plagg snorted. "If you say so."

Later that night after all of his extra lessons and tutoring sessions, Adrien collapsed onto his couch, exhausted. Plagg munched on some camembert on the table as the news droned on about some jewelry thief in the area.

"I feel like I can just pass out right here and now…" he groaned, his eyes sliding closed. Tonight was Ladybug's solo patrol night, so he wouldn't feel guilty if he really did hit the sack early…

Plagg paused in his munching to glance at him. "What about Marinette's letter, though?"

Suddenly full of new energy, Adrien sat up. "Oh, that's right! I better see what that was about."

He ruffled through his bag, pulling out the half-opened envelope and sitting back on his couch. He unfolded the simple paper and began reading out loud to Plagg.

"'Dear Adrien, I have been wanting to tell you this for a long time, but I never worked up the courage until now. How could I if I keep stammering, after all? Haha, looks like I'm rambling again. Anyway, would you like to go to the movies with me some time? I really… like… you…'"

He trailed off at the end of the letter, realizing Plagg had been spot-on with his assumptions. "Marinette… likes me?" he breathed, emotions whirling around inside him. While Marinette was a very nice girl and one of his friends, he already liked someone. Someone whom he didn't even know the true identity of. He wondered if this confession would impact his and Marinette's friendship.

"Uh oh," Pragg mumbled, his mouth full of cheese. "What will you do, Adrien?"

Adrien set his jaw, thinking of the only thing he could do in a situation like this with one of his friends. "I'll just have to tell her."

Marinette fidgeted as she waited by the park bench, wishing this nerve-wracking day would be over with already. At lunch, Adrien had asked to meet her here after school to talk to her about her letter. Both she and Alya had taken this as a good sign; he might just want to have a better location to be able to ask her out!

Adrien came into view, something tucked underneath his arm. He waved slightly to Marinette, looking slightly uncomfortable but otherwise fine.

She waved back, embarrassed but excited at the same time. Unable to look him straight in the eyes, she shuffled her feet and asked, "So what did you… you know. The letter."

Adrien laughed nervously, rubbing the back of his head. "Ah, yeah. I'm so sorry, Marinette, but I really like someone else. No hard feelings, right? We can stay friends?" His voice held tones of hope and even a tinge of desperation.

Marinette's smile felt as though it was plastered to her face. For a good several seconds, she couldn't move or speak a word. Finally, she stammered out, "O-oh, yeah. I-it's fine. No biggie. Friends. Yeah. Sounds good."

Almost mechanically, she turned around and walked away, not looking back even once as her heart felt as if it was splitting into two. Her vision blurred.

Tikki zoomed out of her purse and hovered by her ear in concern. "It will be okay, Marinette. Maybe…" she paused, unsure how to continue.

Marinette collapsed on a park bench, pressing her face into her hands. "I can't believe I did that. I'm so stupid."

"You're not stupid, Marinette," Tikki tried to reassure her. "Just - "

"Tikki," Marinette interrupted, "Leave me alone for right now."

Tikki's little hand patted Marinette's cheek, sensing her holder's desire to not have her around. Marinette stayed where she was, sniffling to herself.

A soft brush against her ear had her tucking a stray lock of her hair back to feel that something was off. Frowning, she touched her earring to find that it was gone.

Gasping, she stood up, feeling the other side. The other earring was there, but she knew that if she didn't have both of the earrings, she couldn't transform into Ladybug. She glanced around, catching a glimpse of a man dressed in casual street clothes slipping out of the park.

"Hey!" Marinette shouted, chasing after him. "Stop! Give that back!"

"Buuuuurned," Plagg dragged out the word, staring after Marinette as she wandered down the path away from them. "She must have really liked you."

Adrien stared at the letter he had written her, wondering if he should chase after her to give it to her. He chewed his lip, uncertain.

"Hey! Stop! Give that back!"

Marinette's desperate voice yanked him around as if invisible strings had just pulled at him. He looked up just in time to see her darting out of the park as if in pursuit of someone. Before he realized it, his legs were moving after her as his hands curled around the letter.

"Maybe we shouldn't involve ourselves," Plagg said, uncertain. "After all, you did just break her heart."

"I can't just leave my friend if she's in trouble," Adrien responded quietly, chasing after Marinette and the thief.

Marinette, despite her clumsiness, was extremely fast and agile. With a start, he wondered how much of her clumsiness had been an act when she suddenly tripped over nothing and sprawled onto the sidewalk.

Plagg zoomed in front of him before he could approach. "Approaching her like this might not be a good idea, Adrien. Maybe - "

"Got it," Adrien breathed, stepping into a corner out of sight of the road and holding up his hand. His silver ring glinted brightly. "Plagg, claws out!"

"This wasn't what I was thinking!" Plagg whined as he was sucked into the ring. Adrien flicked his hands over his eyes and head; two black ears and a mask appeared, his green eyes slit like a cat's underneath the black material. His clothes turned into leather and a tail materialized.

He rushed over to the fallen Marinette, offering her a hand up. "Easy there. You okay? Want a hand?"

She took it as she looked at him. Tears streaked down her face, and she cut back a sob with a sharp breath.

Adrien froze. Had he really hurt her that badly with his words?

Relief coursed through Marinette when she saw Chat Noir. Gripping his hands tightly, she choked out, "Please help me."

Chat Noir stared at her as if appalled. Disgusted with herself, she swiped at her tears and tried again. "That thief - he stole my earring! It's really important - " She bit her lip, trying to cut back another sob.

She had already checked her little purse. Tikki was nowhere to be seen, which meant that all it took was for one earring to be taken out for her to disappear.

Chat Noir glanced down the road at the escaping thief. "Earring…?"

Marinette bit back her sharp retort, having to remind herself that she was not in her Ladybug form. "Chat Noir, you're faster than me. Please help me! I'll - I'll do whatever you want in return."

His gaze returned to her, analyzing and gauging. For some reason, his look gave her an odd feeling. "W-What?" she demanded, drawing her hands back.

He grabbed her wrists, holding them against his chest. "I'll do what I can," he said in an unusually serious voice, no hint of flirting in his voice. He took off down the street, using his extending pole to launch himself forward even faster.

Marinette slumped on the ground, her vision blurring again as fresh tears race down her cheeks again. Now that Chat Noir was chasing after the thief and her mind was no longer distracted, she remembered the rejection.

"I'm so sorry, Marinette, but I really like someone else."

She clutched her hands near her chest, feeling a burning sensation there. She tried to hold back the sob.

"A broken heart in the midst of a crisis," a dark form said in the middle of a room full of white butterflies as a round metal shutter opened in the circular pattern. "Such a poor girl in a trying time. Perhaps my akuma could help her."

Hawk Moth's hand encompassed a white butterfly. It absorbed the darkness emanating from him, turning a vivid purple. "Fly away, my evil akuma, and evilize her!"

The little butterfly flapped out the small opening, flying with purpose over the city.

Little did anyone know the danger Marinette was in without her kwami protecting her.

A/N: Hope you liked the first part of Episode One: Lady Heartless! I had a ton of fun writing this episode. I'll try to keep it all regularly updated at least once a week.