A Parisian Romance

Chapter I - Prologue; MariChat

After kissing Adrien on the cheek, Marinette didn't sleep a wink. She spent the night tossing and turning in her bed and alternately staring out her skylight like she hoped that the twinkling stars would offer her some solution to her problem.

Although, calling it a problem was a bit too much. She was just unsure on how to face him come tomorrow. She'd never really considered on having to face Adrien again whenever she tried to do something to gain his attention or confess her feelings. This was pretty stupid she knew, but when it came to him her brain refused to work right and she lost the ability to think ahead. And when she was in his presence she lost the ability to think, period.

How she wasn't used to it by then, she didn't know herself. She was better, though. She could hold at least half of a conversation with him without getting flustered beyond belief. But he just had to smile at her and she was reduced to a stammering, nonsense muttering mess again.

The two things she could do without making a fool of herself were PMs and Face Time. Somehow looking at his face on her phone wasn't the same as seeing it in person. And if they were PMing she could just pretend he was Nino or Nath or any other guy in her class. It was pathetic still, but it was something. Adrien never made her feel like her awkwardness towards him bothered him or made him feel uncomfortable. He never even looked at her strangely. He'd just flash his sweet, kind smile at her and she'd be close to fainting.

But as it was, he saw her as a friend and nothing more. Alya swore up and down that he was attracted to Marinette, but she'd never seen a sign of that. He'd even asked her on how to approach Kagami, though luckily that has not led to any more dates for the two. At least not that Marniette knew of.

And then there was Chat.

Of course, she wouldn't be able NOT to think of her cat-eared partner whenever she thought about Adrien. Chat loved her, well loved Ladybug in any case, and Marinette couldn't help the twinge of guilt every time she thought of Adrien. She wasn't leading Chat on, wasn't giving him any kind of hope for a relationship beyond what they had, but she still felt responsible for his feelings. At least with their identities still a mystery to the other he didn't know she had feelings for Adrien. He knew she liked someone, but an abstract, unknown person was harder to feel jealous of than if he had to see Adrien's face wherever he went.

What a mess her life was!

She was lying to the people closest to her on a daily basis, keeping a humongous secret to herself. But it wasn't like she could just tell anybody that she was Ladybug. It would put all of them in danger. That was the reason Chat couldn't know her civilian self either. If he knew he might become even more of a target than being a Miraculous holder already made him, and it could put her in danger as well. But that was the least of her worries.

Chat had a tendency of throwing himself between her and any potential danger with no regards to himself. He was doing so to a somewhat lesser degree when he tried to protect Marinette as well. If he knew that Marinette and his Lady were one and the same person he'd get himself killed trying to keep her safe. And she couldn't allow that to happen. Chat was her partner, not her shield, not the fall-guy. They're supposed to watch each other's backs, in equal ways. It was her duty to protect him just as diligently as he was protecting her.

The problem here was making Chat see it her way.

Biting back a frustrated scream, Marinette kicked her covers off and sat up. She had to face it, she wouldn't be sleeping that night.

Leaving her warm, comfy bed was easy; staying in it was making her even antsier. So she crawled out, wrestled the hoodie on the foot of the bed onto her shoulders and went for the trapdoor leading up to her roof terrace. Might as well enjoy some fresh air if she wasn't going to sleep.

Standing at the railing she looked out towards the city she loved. It was peaceful and so very beautiful. It was one of the reasons she fought so hard as Ladybug, she couldn't allow Hawk Moth to tarnish the beauty of her city with his selfishness. She was the protector of Paris and she was damn proud of it.

Lost in her thoughts she failed to see a shadow bounding up on the roof next to her house and shrieked as the lithe, lanky form of her partner perched on the metal railing just inches from her.

Chat smirked, obviously delighted that he'd managed to surprise her and saluted cheekily. "Bonsoir, Purrincess!"

It took Marinette a few seconds to calm her racing heart and find her voice again. That mangy cat!

"Was that really necessary, Chat?" she demanded, crossing her arms on her chest.

The leather-clad hero was unperturbed and just shrugged. "What's life without a few excitements, right?"

Marinette huffed, not about to allow him to get off so easily. "I can live without a potential heart-attack at 16, thank you very much."

Chat just looked at her, with those big, impossibly green eyes and she melted right there. Out of her Ladybug costume, she was a sucker for those eyes. Ladybug could just roll her eyes and dismiss him, but Marinette had a huge soft spot for the playful kitty.

"You're forgiven," she muttered. "Just this once though, Chaton."

He grinned and jumped down to stand next to her. "Obliged, Princess."

She smiled back and relaxed, letting his presence clam her as it usually did. "So, what are you doing out so late, Kitty?"

"Couldn't sleep, and I get bored easily, you can imagine the rest!"

Marinette had to laugh a little. "Yeah, I know the feeling."

They smiled at each other and just stood there gazing at the lights of the most romantic city in the world, comfortable and at peace.

AN: Wow, it's been ages since I last posted anything. And here I am, with my first foray into the Miraculous fandom. This just proves how amazing this show is. This is not gonna be a long story, 10 chapters max, though they'll be somewhat longer than this one. I'm gonna try to work all 4 ships into it, but MariChat is my favorite so it might just stay that way until the big reveal if I decide on one.

I'll try to post the next chapter tomorrow.

Your thoughts mean the world to me, so please drop me a line or two and let me know if I should continue to write for Miraculous or not.

Disclaimer: Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Chat Noir, and all associated characters don't belong to me.