A/N Okay so I've never written an ML fanfic before, nor do I usually write anything in Second-Person Narrative. But a dear friend of mine gave me a prompt, and I don't want to disappoint her, so here's this. Not necessarily my best writing, and there's probably plenty of plot holes lol, but I hope people like it!

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Miraculous Ladybug. I'm not Thomas Astruc, unfortunately.

You'd thought you were the last possible person in Paris who would catch Hawkmoth's attention.

You should've known better than to get caught up in your negative emotions. You've been watching the TV show since it came out over two years ago, and you know every episode by heart. Any Miraculer worth their salt is a connoisseur of all the plausible ways a person or thing can get akumatized: maybe they were within twenty feet of Chloe Bourgeois, or they got unfairly told off in an argument, or they lost something precious to them—heck, maybe they just chipped a nail.

And you'd think, upon somehow finding yourself "miraculously" transported to inside the fictional Paris of Ladybug and Chat Noir and somehow becoming fluent in French, that being an experienced fan of the show in your own world, it'd be a cinch to recognize the signs and check your attitude before it's too late.

But you forgot one important thing. As a tourist (in a sense), you make a prime target for pickpockets.

When you first discovered your wallet and credit card to be missing at the base of the Eiffel Tower, you were too stricken to even process what had happened. (Guess that's how it always starts, you muse in retrospect.) Then came the panic. What if someone stole it on purpose? Were they already on a spending spree, racking up thousands of dollars in debt? And even if nothing had happened to it yet, would you ever get it back? You thought about the arduous process you knew you'd have to undergo to seal off your funds—long-distance calling the credit card company to cancel it, going through your spending history to see which payments weren't yours, notifying the company and hoping they'll believe you, then ordering a new card and setting that up—not to mention how were you going to survive your time in Paris without a means to pay for food and hotels?

And that's when the anger settled in. Look at how stupid you were, blindly assuming every civilian in this magical reality (barring Chloe and Lila) was as kind and well-intentioned, if slightly clueless, as the TV show made them out to be. Of course you'd get pickpocketed while you were too busy fawning over all of Paris, not watching your belongings like that! What a stupid idea to get transported here in the first place, you're never going to find a way to meet your superhero idols if you keep screwing up like this! Disgusted with yourself, you looked at the photos you'd just taken from the Eiffel Tower, and you were tempted to throw your phone across the plaza.

It wasn't long until you heard an all-too-familiar flap flap flap.

Reality dawning on you, you looked up.

Fudge. Fudge fudge fudge, you thought, your anger quickly dissolving into sheer terror as you started to back away from the rapidly-approaching butterfly. No no no no this is not what I planned I don't wanna fight Ladybug and Chat Noir I can't—

There was a fwssshhhh, and suddenly your world became a purply-black haze.

Pochevoleur, a deep voice resonated through your very soul. I am Hawkmoth. I can give you the power to seize the pocket contents of those who have wronged you. You may reunite with your precious wallet, but first you must do something for—

"No."

There was a pause. "No? What do you mean, no?"

With every inch of your power, every fiber of your being, you struggled to telekinetically cast the akuma out of your cell phone. "I said no," you repeated, gritting your teeth and vaguely thankful he hadn't realized you don't belong in this reality. "I'm not doing your dirty work just so you can steal some jewelry from two kids."

Hawkmoth didn't reply, but after a split second you quickly realized he didn't need to. Suddenly the most gut-wrenching fiery pain blossomed in your heart, and you cried out and clutched your chest. But still you didn't back down. If he was trying to threaten you by actively removing the akuma, so be it. Doubled over, you snarled, "Go ahead and take it out!" through your grit teeth. But Hawkmoth was clever. No sooner were the words out of your mouth than the pain stopped, and the relief was so great that you physically collapsed to the ground. And with it nearly collapsed your resolve.

Just in time you managed to check yourself from succumbing to the pressure of Hawkmoth's akuma. But a voice of reason shouted over the deafening roar in your mind that you couldn't keep doing this forever.

So you did the one thing you could think of. Pushing yourself to your feet, you dropped your phone to the ground and used the last of your strength to stomp on it as hard as you could.

Immediately your vision cleared. Gasping for breath, you stumbled backward in relief, only vaguely processing your sudden lack of a smartphone. You just rejected an akuma. Congrats, you.

Speaking of the akuma, there it is. It's fluttering in front of your face right now, still a little disoriented from the forceful ejection. But that's not gonna last.

Snapping back to the present, you quit obsessing over your lapse in anger management and slowly back away, your fear returning. The akuma's not flying away, why is it not flying away? you wonder.

And then it zooms forward.

Yelping, you jerk back and take off at a run across the plaza, with for all intents and purposes a butterfly hot on your heels. Hawkmoth isn't the type to give up (duh), and he's not about to let his helpless victim evade such a uniquely-crafted akuma. Luckily, you know exactly where to go for help.

The trick will be making sure she doesn't know that.

As fate would have it, Marinette Dupain-Cheng has chosen that exact moment to leave her parents' bakery in search of some sketching inspiration.

The two of you collide in an epic crash on par with the Big Bang. True to form, Marinette's sketchbook goes flying.

"Omigosh, I'm sorry!" she yelps as you pull yourself to your knees, the back of your head throbbing. "I totally didn't see you there, are you hurt?"

Rapidly shaking your head, you try to ignore the pain and answer, "That doesn't matter, Marinette, it's fine. I just really need to find Ladybug."

Marinette blinks and gasps sharply, and if you didn't know her secret you might've missed it. You assume it's because of you mentioning Ladybug to the superheroine herself, but that's not what she has in mind. "Do I know you? How do you know my name?"

Too late, you realize you let her name slip out of your mouth, even though you'd promised yourself not to act like you knew her. Drat, now she's suspicious. Uh... "W-well, I-I-I...I'm a fan of J-Jagged Stone!" you stammer out an excuse, thinking back to the episode where he became Guitar Villain. "And you're the girl who designed his latest album cover, aren't you?"

Her face visibly relaxes, and you breathe a sigh of relief as you see her buying it. Good thing whatever time you were transported to takes place after that episode. "Anyways," you press on, "I need to find Ladybug because of that."

You point. She turns, and classic Marinette-style her eyes pop out of her head and she leaps back a step or five.

It's a good thing butterflies are such slow fliers, and this akuma is no exception. But though still about fifty feet away, the gap between you and Hawkmoth is ever shrinking.

"I dunno how, but I managed to reject it or something," you quickly explain, "and now it's after me! I don't suppose you know where I can find Ladybug to take care of it?"

Marinette doesn't answer for an agonizingly-long three seconds, but finally she stammers out her own excuse. "Uh, w-uhh...m-my friend down the street runs the Ladyblog. Maybe she can put out an urgent message or something!" she says, backing away before turning around to run down the street. "I'll go get her. Just don't let the akuma get you!"

That goes without saying, of course. Refocusing your attentions on the closing-in akuma, you dodge to the side and run straight past it towards the school building, counting off the seconds it's taking for Marinette to find somewhere to transform.

You don't have to wait long. A whirr and a whizz overhead, and you stop to crane your neck upward as Ladybug flies over the buildings towards you. "Look out! You're being tracked by an akuma!" she shouts.

Right, you remind yourself, gotta refocus. You look back down—

—and the akuma is nowhere in sight.

What—?

Fwssshhhh!

"Let's try this again, Pochevoleur," the deep voice croons, even more tempting than before. "You do want that wallet of yours back, don't you?"

My wallet...my credit card...so much less hassle... The prospect is so tempting. And look at that, Ladybug is even here, just in time for you to take her miraculous...

"NO!" Ladybug drops to the concrete in front of you and immediately tosses her yo-yo up in the air. "Lucky Charm!"

"Oh, wait a moment...oh, this is interesting. I see you are also frustrated that Ladybug refuses to date Chat Noir. They are the perfect couple, aren't they? Yesss, if only they knew each other's identities, maybe that attitude would change. Perhaps taking their miraculous would solve that problem, don't you think so?"

Drat, can't argue with that. Maybe Hawkmoth's right for once?

A small object falls into her hand. "A...a ladybug?" she exclaimed. "Why a—?"

Through your hazy vision, you spot the ladybug take flight and lazily drift off Ladybug's hand.

And you remember.

"And...voila!"

"Ah!" Alya squealed, reading the finished poem. "Don't forget to sign it!"

You rolled your eyes. Knowing Marinette, she was totally going to forget, just like in The Bubbler.

Sure enough, both girls were suddenly distracted by the tiny little beetle that appeared and hovered down to land on the heart-shaped card.

"This is a good omen! Ladybugs are good luck, especially in the looooove department," Alya smirked, sauntering over to the corner of the room to look something up on her phone.

Marinette gasped. "Really?"

"Yeah, you of all people should know about Ladybug."

Uh-oh, cue the Electric Bugaboo Freakout, you thought, popping another handful of dill pickle sunflower seeds in your mouth.

"Uhh, r-really? W-why do you say that?"

Alya began to read from her phone. "Since ancient times, the ladybug has been seen as a symbol of love, guiding hearts on the path of devotion. It was on my blog this week, you read it, didn't you?"

Marinette sighed with relief. "Uh, yeah! Yeah, of course." Once again, you facepalmed and wondered how Alya could've missed all the signs.

... ... ...

"Whoa, someone answered my poem? But I threw it away!"

As Adrien read it aloud, Plagg groaned. "Anyone who writes as sickeningly sweet as you must be your soulmate."

You sputter with laughter. Classic Plagg, forever your spirit animal.

Adrien's face fell. "It isn't signed," he laments, his precious peridot eyes drooping.

Then a familiar-looking beetle appeared out of nowhere and hovered down to land on the card. Adrien gasped in wonder, and you squealed so loud you're pretty sure your parents heard you from downstairs. Just as suddenly, the beetle took flight again and drifted out the open window, and Adrien chased after it.

"Could it have come from Ladybug?"

He sank to the floor, a dorky lovestruck grin on his face, and your heart melted.

"Ladybugs are an omen of good luck and a symbol of love!" you blurt out in a choked gargle. "Chat Noir's gonna love her no matter what, and her very existence means she'll surely realize she returns his feelings before we hit Season Five!"

Ladybug stares at you, her face very red. Hawkmoth mutters, "...?"

The distraction is all it takes for you to come to your senses again. "Ladybug, I think the akuma's in my back jeans pocket!"

She doesn't hesitate. In one swift motion she darts behind you and rips off the pocket. Sure enough, the link with Hawkmoth snaps, and you stumble backward as your vision clears, just in time to see a purple butterfly rise up and hover at your eye level. But this time, Ladybug's here to stop it before it can try a third time. Mesmerized, you watch as her yo-yo glows white and she flings it out to greedily snap up the akuma. It's one thing watching this sequence over and over on the show, but in real life? Utterly miraculous. "Bye bye, little butterfly," you both whisper, watching it harmlessly flutter away.

Ladybug attaches her yo-yo to her side and looks at you with concern. "Are you okay? No one's ever resisted an akuma like you did."

You take a shuddering breath. "Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. I don't really remember what happened, I just...I just knew I didn't want to fight you."

That's a flat-out lie. You do remember what you said, likely because you weren't fully possessed. And if this were an episode, you've just broken the fourth wall. You cross your fingers and hope Ladybug doesn't pry. Knowing how clueless everyone in this show is, she probably won't, but you make the lack-of-memory excuse just to be sure.

She smiles. "That was very brave of you. I appreciate the gesture." Then she blinks and glances around. "Oh no, I think our lucky charm flew away! I don't think I can put back—"

Her apology is cut off by a sudden burst of red sparkles in your hands and around your butt, and the next moment you're holding your intact cell phone with the familiar weight of your wallet back in your reattached jeans pocket. Now it's your turn to smile at the superheroine. "No need, I think it took care of that for you. And believe me, this tourist isn't gonna let my wallet out of my sight again!"

"Glad to hear it," she chuckles.

Naturally, her earrings choose that exact moment to chirp out a warning, and you watch her eyes flicker toward them, once again wondering how still no one in this universe knows about the five-minute warning. "As much as I'd love to stick around and chat with a fan, I gotta bug out," she says, reaching for her yo-yo. "Enjoy your time in Paris!"

"Thanks!" you reply, waving. "Say hi to Chat Noir for me!"

Ladybug groan-laughs. "Will do. Bug out!" And with that, she's gone.

You linger a little longer to watch Marinette jog back to the bakery to retrieve her sketchbook, and you give her a wave from across the street. She waves back, then dashes off to who-knows-where. Chuckling, you continue on your way. You're not sure how much longer you'll be allowed to stay in Ladybug and Chat Noir's Paris, but you intend to make the most of your time here while you can. And with a little bit of luck, you'll get a front row seat to the next akuma fight, because everyone knows Hawkmoth never rests for long...

A/N Hope you liked it! Feedback is appreciated, just please no hate. And do feel free to check out some of my other works, I'd appreciate it!