Marionette woke up to a huge beeping that definitely wasn't her alarm.
Yawning, she blinked and glanced outside her window, and startled in surprise. "Tikki, what's with the traffic?" Her little friend peered outside with her. "Some kind of accident, I think. Anyway, you need to hurry up and get to school before you wind up being late again!" Marionette slapped her forehead. "Right! Though I do wonder how I always end up being late every day… never mind!" She grabbed her purse and her textbook, a little magazine added to the mix. Tikki fluttered inside it.
"Let's go!"
Rushing, Marionette ran down the stairs and skid into the kitchen. "Mom? Dad! I need to go!"
A sleepy Tom poked his head out of the bedroom door. "Marionette? What are you doing up so early?" She frowned. "Early? But-" She glanced at the clock. "THREE?"
Sabina joined the rest of her family. "What are you doing so early, hon?" Marionette blinked. "Well, the cars woke me up, and the sun was shining pretty brightly, and I thought that I would be late for school again, so-" Tom clapped a hand over Marionette's ever talking mouth. "All right, we got it. You can go back to sleep now."
Their daughter frowned. "But if I do, won't I end up being late for school again?" Sabina smiled and shook her head. "Check the calendar. It's a Saturday."
Mentally, Marionette scolded herself for being so stupid. "Haha, um… it is?" she said sheepishly. Both of her parents nodded.
She gave them a cheeky smile as she headed up the stairs to her room. "Well, I'm sorry I woke you up… I'll just-" She ducked into her room as her parents' faint laughter floated through.
She turned to Tikki. "Did you know it was a Saturday?" Tikki shook her head. "No, I would have sworn that today was Friday…" Marionette sighed. "Shame, though. I would've seen Adrien today…" She started to trail off in her own daydreams. Tikki clucked and tapped her forehead. "Hello? Earth to Marionette."
She shook her head. "Sorry Tikki, it's just… I had the most wonderful dream last night…" And with that, she fell asleep.
In the streets of Paris, a blonde-haired boy was having the exact same problem.
"What do you mean, it was a mistake? How can you wake up three in the morning and not have a single clue on how you woke up so early?" said an exasperated Gabriel through a glowing tablet. "I'm sorry, Dad, but I really don't know how I woke up this early," said Adrien.
Gabriel sighed. "Anyway, go back to sleep. You have a photoshoot at nine today, and I don't need you to have a bedhead in such a terrible-starting day. Go on."
Sighing, Adrien trudged back to his room.
Once inside, his kwami, Plagg, fluttered right in his face. "Talk about a control freak." Adrien sighed. "Yeah. He's a regular freak too." Plagg blinked his luminous green eyes. "Anyway, why were you waking up so early today?"
"I dunno. I just had this feeling…" He stared out the large glass window. Plagg bumped his ear and said, "So what were you dreamin' about?" Adrien choked. "What?"
Smirking, the kwami explained, "You were smiling and singing in your sleep, Ladybug, ladybug!" Blushing a bright crimson, Adrien swatted at his friend. "Quit it, Plagg. I didn't do anything like that."
Plagg frowned. "Why are you so obsessed over that one Ladybug, anyway? It's not like she returns your feelings or anything." He sighed. "Yeah, but remember Valentine's Day?" Plagg threw up his hands in exasperation. "For all we know, that was from some weird fangirl who's as word-throw up-y as you!"
Adrien shook his head stubbornly. "Ladybug sent it. She must've." Plagg shrugged. "Yeah, okay. But all this girl talk is making me hungry. Got any-"
"No."
Marionette yawned as she and Alya went window-shopping to get ideas for the next semester. "No. No. Boring. Huh. No." Alya commented on each design as she looked through them with her glasses.
Marionette was falling asleep. Suddenly, a pair of caramel-colored fingers snapped under her nose. "Wha- oh! Alya! Sorry, I was just… uhm…" Alya sighed. "Girl, you have got to stop looking for photos of Adrien online during midnight. It's creepy and doesn't give you the beauty sleep you deserve."
She blushed. "I wasn't looking! Well, not last night, at least…" Alya snickered. "So what's your excuse today?" Marionette frowned. "I woke up at three today. Annoying cars kept beeping, and they woke me up." Alya nodded enthusiastically. "I know! Me too! Ha, wonder if this is some joke… Adrien, Nino, Chloé, and Sabrina woke up too, and who knows how many more."
Marionette frowned. "This can't be a coincidence. Hope that Ladybug comes here to check it out," she said, hinting Alya. "Oh my gosh, you're so right! Thanks for the tip, Marionette. I'll see you at the crime scene!" And with that, Alya bounded away.
Marionette snuck off into an alley, where she whispered to Tikki. "Patrol time, let's transform."
Tikki flew into her earrings. "Tikki! Spots on!" As soon as the bug-like creature flew and got sucked inside the Miracle Stones, she swept a hand over her face, a mask appearing. Her usual outfit disappeared as her costume stretched tight, and a little pouch appeared at her waist.
She muttered under her breath. "Let's see what everyone is up to."
With that, she bounded to the rooftops and disappeared like a last light blinking out.
She scanned the entire city for any disturbances. "Huh, no akumas here…" She landed on the roof of a car.
A surprised Adrien stared back at her. Adrien! His green eyes reminded her of Cat Noir's- startled, wide, and filled with surprise.
She immediately blushed and leapt to the next car. Meanwhile, Adrien yelled at his driver, "Stop! I need to get out!" He frowned. "But Mr. Auguste…"
"Forget about my father, just let me out."
In a few seconds, Adrien had scurried off to an alley much like the one that Ladybug had transformed in. Speaking of transforming…
He hissed to Plagg, "Plagg! Claws out!" His buddy was chewing down some cheese when a surprised kwami was sucked into the ring. Immediately, a green pawprint imprinted itself on the black ring.
Adrien swept a hand over his eyes, a latex mask suddenly on. Cat ears twitched, and a tail grew out. He was now Cat Noir.
He muttered to Plagg, who was inside the ring. "Did you see Ladybug? She was totally blushing when she saw me!" His ring shook, indicating him to be quiet. "Yeah, yeah."
He ran after Ladybug.
She stood at the top of the Eiffel Tower, gazing at the setting sun that leaked pink, purple, and orange into the sky. "So beautiful…"
"That's only the second most beautiful thing I have seen today."
Ladybug turned to see Cat Noir with his cocky smile, and he swiftly grabbed her hand and kissed it before she could recoil. "You bad kitty, you," she teased before scooting over to give him some room.
Cat Noir swung his feet over the edge like he had no care in the world- which made sense, as he was a cat. "Did you notice anything suspicious lately?"
"Besides you kissing my hand?"
"Ha, ha."
Ladybug frowned. "Actually, there was something. I fell asleep and woke up at three today, and about four other people did the same. Was it all just a coincidence?" Cat Noir tapped his tail. "Nah, probably just downtown traffic. Besides, don't you think you overreacted a bit?"
Ladybug laughed and played with his tail. "Yeah, maybe you're right," she smiled. "Then how come you came here?"
Cat Noir shifted. "Can't I just tell my beautiful bug how much I love her?" Ladybug snorted. "No, really. You came because of the same reason, right?"
He was the one frowning, now. "No, I just really wanted to see you. A kitty is always curious, remember?" Ladybug tapped him on the nose. "I also remember that curiosity killed the cat."
Cat Noir smirked. "So all he needs is a little satisfaction." He leaned in for a kiss.
Ladybug put a finger to his ever-waiting lips. "Not today, loverboy. Maybe sometime, when you prove that I could give you the satisfaction." She blew him a kiss as she leapt away into the young night.
Cat Noir sighed as he murmured, "I'm totally gonna do that to you one day. When you accept me." He stayed to watch the sunset, the pink and orange still streaking the black sky.