Disclaimer: I'm not Thomas Astruc or anyone involved with the show. I'm just a humble fan.
Notes: Hello everyone! This is my first attempt at Miraculous Ladybug fanfic. I guess we will see whether or not I'm any good! I hope you enjoy! (Also, this is just the first of two parts. I started with something short.)
In the large plaza just outside the doors of City Hall, a crowd had gathered to witness the ceremony that was about to take place. The mood was festive, excited.
Well, it was that way for almost everyone.
"The Mayor is running late," Ladybug murmured to her partner, Chat Noir. Usually she lived for this kind of thing. She loved greeting the people she was sworn to protect, she loved being a hero and doing her best to keep the city safe. She didn't even mind the occasional events, like this one, that required her presence. She just had a date this afternoon and didn't want to be late. It would require too many questions that she really couldn't answer. After all, Adrien didn't know she was Ladybug.
"He'll be here any moment," he promised, flashing her his trademark grin. She wanted to roll her eyes at him, but managed to stop herself. His flirting smiles had been a rare commodity lately, and she found herself strangely wistful for the days when he had given them freely… when he had referred to her as 'My Lady'. She had never imagined she would miss his playful, teasing banter, but she did. Ever since she and Adrien had started dating, the partnership between her and Chat had changed. They were still a team, still fought well together, but the warm familiarity that had bordered on romance was gone. They were almost like strangers.
She missed the old Chat.
"I have plans this afternoon," she told him, feeling a bit like a whiny child, but unable to stop herself.
"A hot date?" he asked, just a hint of disappointment in his voice.
She shrugged and tried not to notice the way his shoulders slumped in defeat. "It's with that guy I've been seeing the past month or so. Nothing big." It was a lie, every date with Adrien was exciting and special, but she hated hurting her partner, and she could tell that he was in pain.
"Well, I have plans too. A date with a girl from school," Chat said quickly.
Her mouth fell open in surprise and she hurried to close it. Never in a million years would she have thought he had a girlfriend. "You do?" she asked.
It was his turn to shrug. "She's nice enough…" he admitted, but she knew him well enough to know that there was more he wasn't saying.
"She's nice, but…?" she pressed.
He looked her in the eye, his smile for the crowd disappearing as he focused on her. It was so intense that her heart skipped a beat and then seemed to stop beating altogether as he answered her.
"She isn't you," he said.
Never before had she taken his flirting seriously. She assumed he was that way with everyone. Could he… did he actually have feelings for her? His statement has been so sincere and yet filled with such intensity that she was having trouble catching a breath. All of the oxygen had been sucked from the air around her.
She opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out. She wasn't even sure how to respond to his simple admission. Thankfully she didn't have to, because the Mayor's limo finally arrived and she was spared the necessity of a response.
"Terrible traffic today," Mayor Bourgeois muttered as he walked past them to the center of the stage where a microphone had been set up for his use. It was a lame excuse, but neither she nor Chat pressed the issue.
She tried to force a smile in response, but her system was still in a state of shock. She knew that she needed to focus on the event, but it was next to impossible with Chat standing so close to her. She could practically feel the heat radiating off of him. It wasn't exactly helping her concentration.
"Welcome everyone to City Hall! We are here today to honor the great heroes that keep Paris safe, Ladybug and Chat Noir!"
The Mayor gestured toward them, urging them to step forward and greet the cheering crowd. Ladybug pasted a smile on her face, hoping that it looked more natural than it felt, and waved to the people who had gathered there. It wasn't their faults that her entire world view had been shaken to the foundation. They were only there to support her and Chat. It was only fair that she focus her attention now and save her freak out for her own time.
"For the past year and a half, our city has been kept safe by the heroism of these two individuals. They have fought off villains, protected our children and brought a sense of peace to our daily lives. In return for their continuous efforts to keep our great city safe, I have decided to throw a masquerade ball next Saturday evening where they will be the guests of honor."
The crowd erupted into applause and cheers. It wasn't often that the Mayor even celebrated dignitaries with a formal function of this magnitude. It was a rare honor, and it brought a genuine smile back Ladybug's lips.
The ceremony lasted only another few minutes, after the announcement of the ball nothing could quite hold as much interest, and then the Mayor turned to speak with them as he often did.
"Ladybug, Chat Noir, thank you for being here this afternoon. I do hope you'll be able to attend the ball next weekend," he said jovially, shaking each of their hands in turn.
Her thoughts raced, trying to come up with an excuse to tell her parents for why she would be out of the house all evening on a Saturday night. Maybe she would tell them she had a date… it wasn't exactly a lie. She would be expected to go with Chat after all.
"Of course," she promised. "I wouldn't miss it for the world."
"I'll make sure to clear my schedule," Chat agreed.
"Wonderful, wonderful. I'm looking forward to introducing the two of you to some of our visiting dignitaries from England and Italy that will be here. They are looking forward to meeting our famous heroes."
The Mayor took his leave then, waving to them as he stepped inside City Hall and disappeared back into his daily job. It was all over so quickly that Ladybug felt almost dizzy, thankfully Chat's voice snapped her back to the issue at hand.
"So… what time should I pick you up?"
"Um… why would you need to pick me up? We can just meet at the park and walk here together. It's not too far," she suggested nervously. Her insides were screaming at the thought of Chat coming to her house and picking her up like a normal date. Not that it would be anyway. Not when she was adamant about keeping her identity a secret from him.
"Okaaaay," he said, grabbing the back of his neck and tearing his eyes away from hers. "The ball starts at seven, so we could meet at the park at 6:30?"
"Ah, sure. That sounds great." This was awkward. No. It was worse than awkward. It was almost like they were two complete strangers. They could barely look each other in the eye. How had this happened to them?
Chat took a step away from her. "I've got to get ready for my date. I'll see you next Saturday, all right?"
"Unless Hawk Moth akumatizes another citizen before then!" she joked, trying to lighten the mood.
He just nodded and walked away, leaving her with the feeling that she was losing her best friend and there was nothing she could do about it.
Marinette sighed and slumped onto her bed. She wasn't sure her day could have gone any worse.
First there had been Chat's little confession of his feelings, then the awkward parting between them. If that hadn't been bad enough, her date with Adrien had been a complete trainwreck from start to finish. Both of them had been distracted, so the conversation had been lacking to say the least. During dinner they hadn't said more than a few words to each other and what they did say had been about the food. When he brought her home, he didn't try to kiss her, and she didn't push it. It was like being with Chat all over again. She was losing them both and had no idea how to fix it.
She rolled over and groaned into her pillow.
"What's wrong, Marinette?" Tikki asked, slipping free of the purse that had been tossed on the desk when Marinette arrived home. "You look sad."
"I think I'm ruining everything, Tikki," Marinette admitted, rolling to her side so she could look at her friend. "Chat can't even look at me anymore, and Adrien barely speaks to me. I'm not sure what's happening."
Tikki nuzzled up to her cheek. "I'm sure things will turn out fine. You have such a big heart."
Marinette sighed. "Not big enough for two."
Because that was the problem, wasn't it? Chat and Adrien were both trying to take up space in her heart, but there wasn't room for both. The worst part was that even though she didn't feel quite the same way about her partner as he felt about her, they were partners. He was in her life for better or for worse. They needed each other. She couldn't lose him anymore than she could lose a limb. He was part of her. If that was the case, where did that leave her relationship with Adrien? Didn't she deserve to fall in love? Or was that impossible for someone who held the power of a miraculous?
"You really didn't know how Chat feels about you?" Tikki asked, her voice as sad as Marinette had ever heard it.
"No," Marinette said, sadness making her throat tight and her voice thick. "I had no idea."
How had she not known? That was something that had been on her mind from the moment she had left City Hall earlier that afternoon. In retrospect it was obvious, and not just the flirting. It was the intensity of his hatred when he had been hit with Dark Cupid's arrow, it was the way he had hugged her when he thought she had been eaten by the stupid dinosaur, it was the pain in his eyes every time she had mentioned she was seeing someone, and it was the sincerity in his eyes when he had sworn to protect her identity. How could she not have realized that he cared for her? Had she really been that blind?
Tears spilled from the corner of her eyes, trailing down her cheek and soaking her sheets. She couldn't understand why he liked her. She hadn't always treated him kindly. She had rebuffed his feelings time and again, usually brushing it off as a joke. If the tables had been turned, she would have despised him.
"Marinette, don't cry!" Tikki begged. She grabbed a tissue from the desk and dabbed at Marinette's cheeks. "You can still fix this somehow. Don't give up."
"I just don't know what to do, Tikki. I can't just force myself to love Chat," she moaned, throwing a hand over her eyes. "But we can't keep going like this either. I feel like we're not even friends anymore."
"Then you have to show him how much he means to you," Tikki said. "Show him that he's your friend, your partner. Show him that you trust him. He needs to know that he isn't just your partner because we chose the two of you, but because you choose him too."
Trust. Partners. Choices...
Suddenly, she knew what she had to do. It was terrifying, but it was the only way she could imagine rebuilding their relationship. She just hoped it worked.
"Tikki, is there any way we can alter my transformation outfit a bit?" she asked curiously, a thousand ideas already running through her mind.
"Yes? If you can draw it I can create it, but I'm not sure what that has to do with Chat Noir…"
"I need a dress for the masquerade, don't I? It's the next time I can be sure to see him," Marinette said simply. She was already at her desk, reaching for a pencil and a pad of sketch paper. Her ballgown had to be perfect, to flatter her as both Ladybug and as Marinette. After all, a masquerade was about secrets… and it was time for her to share hers.