"I thought you loved him!" Ladybug yelled to Volpina. Cat Noir and Ladybug had followed Volpina to the Eiffel Tower, where they found Volpina dangling Adrien Agreste over the edge by his wrist.
"Not as much as seeing you two defeated. No hard feelings, right?" Volpina asked Adrien, who she brought closer to her face.
"You're bluffing! It's another illusion," Cat Noir said.
"You wanna bet on that?" Volpina asked as she slowly let go of Adrien.
"No!" Ladybug yelled, trying to remove her earrings.
"Don't do it, Ladybug," Cat Noir said as he moved closer to Ladybug. He threw his staff at Volpina and the illusion of Adrien, hoping it would hit them and become a cloud of orange smoke. Suddenly, a strong gust of wind blew the staff off course, making it miss the two by an inch. The same gust of wind made Ladybug lose her balance, making her fall. She screamed before she felt a leather hand grab her's.
"I got you!" he exclaimed, trying to pull her up. He started to tremble at the weight of his Lady. As Ladybug looked down at the ground, then to the illusion of Adrien, then to Cat Noir, she had tears in her eyes. She reached up to her ears with her free hand and started to remove her earrings.
"Ladybug, no!" Cat Noir exclaimed, worry showing in his emerald eyes.
"Sorry, Cat Noir. I'm sorry. I have to save Adrien," Ladybug said, tears lightly falling down her cheeks. A bright flash of pink light emitted from Ladybug. Cat Noir looked away because of the flash which temporarily blinded him. He looked back to Ladybug, letting his eyes adjust. He blinked a couple of times, thinking that his eyes were playing tricks on him, because the girl who was holding onto him for dear life, his Lady, was…
"M-Marinette?" Cat Noir asked, still trembling as he struggled to pull her up.
"I'm s-so sorry, Cat Noir," Marinette said, her voice shaking. She sniffed and looked at Volpina.
"Take it!" Marinette exclaimed, throwing the Miraculous at Volpina. When it hit Adrien, Volpina and Adrien disappeared in a puff of orange smoke, the earrings falling onto a beam on the tower. Cat Noir regained his strength as he pulled Marinette up to the beam he was hanging off of. Once he was sure that she was stable, he pulled himself up to the same beam.
"Be a lookout for me, ok Princess? If you see Volpina, tell me," Cat Noir asked, smiling at Marinette before he started to climb up the tower to retrieve Ladybug's earrings. Marinette sat down, tears falling down her cheeks. If that wasn't Adrien, then where is he? Marinette looked out across Paris, letting her thoughts overtake her.
"Princess?" Marinette felt a shake, the core coming from her shoulder, as she looked over at Cat Noir, who was holding out her earrings. She took them out of his hand, smiling.
"Thanks," Marinette said and put them on. A tiny ball of light shone between them, which was shortly replaced by a tiny, red and black kwami. The kwami's eyes lit up as she flew over to Marinette's cheek.
"Marinette! I was so worried!" the kwami exclaimed as she wrapped her little hands around Marinette's cheek. Marinette giggled at her kwami's touch.
"I was too, Tikki." Marinette smiled, her eyes twinkling before she looked back to Cat Noir, who was smiling at the interaction between the two.
"So... you're Ladybug?"Cat Noir asked, rubbing his hand behind his neck. That nervousness looked...so familiar…
"Y-yeah." Marinette sighed as she lay her head on one of the support beams of the tower. Cat Noir sighed, knowing that he wouldn't be able to get anything out of his princess until they solved the matter at hand. He bended down and got on one knee.
"Look, how about we take care of Volpina, and then we can talk about what happened?" Cat Noir asked Marinette, putting his hand on her shoulder. Marinette looked at his hand, then at him again. She nodded.
"Sure. Tikki, Spots On!" she exclaimed, transforming into Ladybug. Cat Noir smiled as Ladybug stood before him. Extending her hand, Ladybug helped him get up. They smiled at each other for a moment, then were interrupted by a loud, frustrated scream. Across the tower was Volpina, her face outlined with a purple butterfly and a scowl across her face.
"You useless fox! Get their miraculous!" Hawk Moth screamed in Volpina's mind.
Volpina rolled her eyes as the outline disappeared. She climbed up the outside of the tower with the pair right on her tail.
As Volpina reached the top, she lifted her long flute to her mouth and played a short tune. Ladybug and Cat Noir finally reached the top when the tune was over. They looked up and saw copies of Volpina lining the brass beams.
"Lucky Charm!" Ladybug exclaimed, doing her trademark power. A ladybug-patterned wrapped object landed in her hands. She opened it up to see a chocolate popsicle surrounded by silver which made the package shine.
She looked over to Cat Noir, who returned the gaze with a confused look. "I've got an idea to take down Volpina."
"With a chocolate popsicle?"
"Trust me. Get ready."
Cat Noir prepared his Cataclysme and waited for Ladybug to begin her plan. She lifted the wrapping up, making a blinding light from the sun's reflection hit each of the Volpinas. One Volpina flinched at the light. Cat Noir jumped up and used his power on the beams over the real Volpina, trapping her and making the other Volpinas dissolve. The pair jumped up to her cage.
"Trapped, like a fox!" Ladybug exclaimed as Volpina tried to get out. Ladybug reached in and pulled Volpina's necklace from her neck.
"No!" Volpina screamed as Ladybug smashed the charm.
"Your days are over, Akuma. Time to de-evilize!" Ladybug captured the purple butterfly and let it free, turning it into a white butterfly, harmless to the world. "Miraculous Ladybug!" The tower was fixed, and Volpina turned back into Lila.
Ladybug walked up to Lila.
"Lila?"
Lila looked up.
"Ladybug?"
"I totally overreacted and never should have spoken to you like that. I'm sorry."
"Forget it, Ladybug. You were right. We'll never be friends," Lila pushed Ladybug's hand away, picked up her necklace, and walked away.
"Ouch…" Cat Noir commented.
Ladybug rolled her eyes at Lila's attitude and walked over to the edge. Cat Noir decided to join her. He stood next to his lady, smiling as he still tried to comprehend that his lady, the brave, powerful, stubborn girl he loved was sweet, kind Marinette. As he looked and compared the two more, he slapped himself internally for not realizing it sooner. If I had just opened that door at the hotel then…
"There's still one problem we still have to solve...where's Adrien?" Ladybug looked at Cat Noir with a worried look.
"E-Everything's been put back to normal, right, so he must be safely back at home."
"I should check to make sure." She hopped up onto the railing as she prepared to use her yo-yo.
Cat Noir grabbed Ladybug's arm. "No! Don't worry about it. I'll go. You're about to change back. Ladybug's miraculous beeped rapidly as she considered the gesture. Wanting to make sure that Adrien was safe, she noticed Cat Noir's ring and covered her earrings.
"So are you," she commented as Cat Noir looked at his ring nervously.
"No argueing, I'll take care of it." Before Cat Noir could stop her again, she leaped off the tower, using her yo-yo to transport herself towards the Agreste Mansion.
Cat Noir sighed. "That stubbornness, it's so...so…" He looked down again and smiled. "Irresistible…" He leaped after Ladybug, using his staff to try to keep up.
-(This is the point where I kinda improvised and let my writer's muse overtake me, have fun)
Ladybug leaped through an open window in Adrien's bedroom, looked around for any sign of him, and sighed. She looked over to the bathroom and ran over. She pressed her ear to the door.
"Adrien? Are you there?" She opened the door slowly. "Can I come in?" Her eyes widened as she looked at... well… no one because Adrien wasn't there! She gasped slightly as Cat Noir jumped through an open bathroom window. He looked at Ladybug and walked over to her.
"Adrien isn't here! Where could he be?!" Ladybug exclaimed as she tried to search every part of the bathroom.
"Ladybug… Ladybug… Bugaboo…" Cat Noir tried to get her attention as she ran out the bathroom door, looking around for Adrien again.
"Bugaboo!..." Cat Noir exclaimed, getting a little ticked that his lady was so distracted while he was trying to get her attention.
"Marinette!" He yelled, his tail pointed, clearly annoyed. If he had whiskers, they would be twitching like mad. But his ears made up for it. He looked like a ticking time bomb. Ladybug turned to Cat Noir, clearly surprised by her partner's sudden lash in anger and him using her civilian name. Cat Noir breathed in slowly, and breathed out, a trick that Natalie taught him for when he got too stressed with his after-school activities. His tail relaxed as well as his ears, which turned to their normal position. He walked over to Ladybug, clearly confused as to what Cat Noir would do next.
"What, Cat Noir? We have to find Adrien!" She began to try to search for him again, but Cat Noir grabbed Ladybug's shoulders, emitting a small gasp from Ladybug.
"You won't find him the way you're looking."
"Why, Chat? What could possibly be wrong with the way I'm searching?"
"Because...because…" he struggled to get the words out. "Because I'm…"
A loud beeping echoed inside the huge room, the pair looked at each other's miraculous and noticed that their time was up. Two bright flashes of pink and green light emitted from them. When the light show was over, in Ladybug and Cat Noir's place stood Marinette and Adrien.
"A-Adrien?" Marinette's eyes widened as he removed his hands from her shoulders, yet he wanted to pull her closer. He rubbed his hand behind his neck.
"Surprise?" he smiled and chuckled as he watched the growing red blush coming from his partner, but her face was still frozen with surprise. She suddenly began to wobble.
"Room… getting… darker…" Marinette's eyes closed as she began to fall backwards. Adrien rushed over and caught her in his arms. He began to blush. He heard a loud cackling that sounded oddly familiar. He turned to the source to see Plagg and Tikki floating side by side. Plagg was wiping his large eyes with his tiny arms and Tikki looked at the pair with glee.
"This...is...priceless!" Plagg cackled again as he fell on Adrien's bed. Adrien's blush faded quickly as he picked Marinette up and carried her over to his couch. He set her down gently, with Tikki behind him. Tikki flew over to Marinette and pressed her head to her pulse point in her neck. She nodded happily and turned to Adrien.
"She'll be fine." She flew over to Adrien's shoulder and sat down, clearly tired. He turned to the red kwami and put her in his hands. He smiled as he looked at the small creature.
"So you're Marinette's kwami?"
"Yep, Tikki. Marinette has told me a lot about you…" she giggled as Adrien blushed some more.
"You look tired. Do you eat camembert like Plagg does?" Adrien asked, his blush fading once again as Plagg floated over to Adrien.
"Did I hear camembert? Mmmm…" Plagg rubbed his belly as Tikki sighed.
"No, I eat cookies. May I please have some?" Tikki asked Adrien.
"Sure." Adrien walked out of the bedroom to gather the kwamis' food.
Adrien sat on his coffee table, looking at Marinette as the kwamis ate their food. He looked over to the kwamis and smiled at the pair as they sat next to each other. Tikki was about to take another bite when her face scrunched up. She looked at Plagg, staring daggers at him as he took another bite of his cheese.
"What happened to your cheddar addiction in the 1970's?" Tikki asked.
"I have a more refined palette now." Plagg threw his cheese in the air and swallowed it in one bite. Tikki growled as she took another bite of her cookie. Plagg rubbed his belly contentedly as he looked over at Tikki. He scooted closer to her and smiled a catish grin. She smirked as she quickly pecked him on the cheek, making the black kwami turn red. She giggled and turned to her snack again.
Adrien chuckled at the interactions between the lovekwamis. He suddenly heard a loud groan and turned around to see Marinette slowly opening her eyes. She lifted a hand and started to rub her head.
"What happened? Tikki?" She turned her head to see Adrien sitting near her. Marientte's brain switched from sleepiness to OMG MY SENPAI DON'T FREAK OUT mode. She jerked up and began to blush red. She looked around and noticed that she was in Adrien's room. She felt something touch her hand and looked down, noticing that it was another hand. Her gaze followed the hand to the arm to the owner. He smiled at Marinette as he got up and took the seat next to Marinette.
"A-Adrien?" Marinette blushed redder as his hand touched her face.
"It's always been you…" He smiled again.
Frustrated, Marinette pulled her hand away from his and pushed his other hand away from her face. She stood up and sighed, walking away from him to the window. He quickly got up and followed her.
"What's wrong, my lady?" he reached out to touch her face before she slapped it away.
"DON'T CALL ME THAT!" she yelled, a few tears forming in her eyes. She turned away from him, clearly experiencing a wave of emotions.
"Why?" Adrien sounded heartbroken. Marinette's body tensed, as if his voice hurt her. Adrien looked to the two kwamis still sitting on the table, confused at Marinette's emotions. Tikki put down her cookie and flew over to Marinette.
"Marinette?" Tikki asked her holder. "Are you ok?"
"No! I'm not ok!" Marinette yelled again and pushed the kwami away. Tikki floated over to Adrien, her big eyes showing compassion for her friend. Adrien reached over to Marinette's shoulder, turning her around. Her eyes were red and puffy, and her cheeks were stained with tears. Adrien took his other hand and placed it on her other shoulder. She tensed slightly at the touch.
"Marinette, what's wrong?" Adrien asked carefully.
Marinette sighed. "That first day when it looked like you were putting gum on my seat, I just hated you in that second...but when you gave me that umbrella after school, I saw a different side of you, a side that I couldn't resist. I loved you, Adrien. But you never really seemed to return my affections. Now I know that you loved Ladybug more than you liked me. I'm not Ladybug, Adrien. She's brave, strong, and important. I'm just plain, boring Marinette. I just...just…" Marinette started to sob again, turning her head away from Adrien.
He reached over to her cheek and used his thumb to rub away a couple of tears. "It's true. Ladybug did steal my heart. But you were the one who made Ladybug, well, Ladybug! You are a clever, compassionate girl with great determination. I'm happy it was you, Marinette." She turned to Adrien again. Adrien grabbed her hand and kissed it, which made Marinette blush. He looked up to her and smiled.
"Would I ever lie to you, bugaboo?"
Marinette smiled and wrapped her arms around his neck, giving him a hug. Adrien returned the hug.
"I love you, mon chaton."
"I love you too, Princess."
