Thank you for the favourites and follows so far! I got a review asking if the miraculous would be included or not. To answer your question: perhaps... (insert cliffhanger music here) :D . In all fairness, I have an idea for the miraculous but it is in progress. So I am unsure on whether I want to include it or not!

Also, my twitter is (insert 'at' symbol) fireandfairy !

On with the story!

After a good half an hour, although it felt too soon, Marinette decided to leave the bookshop. She had borrowed another book, one about princesses and frogs this time.

"Ah, shoot," she muttered to herself. "I need to get my 'supplies' before Papa tells me off again," she said a little sadly.

With a new book in her bag, Marinette walked off into the busy market square once more.

It was always chaotic here, she thought with a bored smile. But always the same. Never exciting. The same fabrics were on sale. The same people buying their daily meat and eggs. Simple but the same.

Marinette walked over to the stationary shop. It was honestly a miracle that the creaky door was still standing upright as she carefully pushed it open.

It was pretty much empty. Not many people were here. Even the owner of the shop was snoozing in the corner.

Marinette grabbed the cheapest pencil and rubber and made her way to pay. Deciding not to disturb the owner, she left the money on the table with a little note and her signature on it.

As she stepped outside and tucked the utensils in her pocket, a cry caught her attention.

The girl's head snapped around to the sound and her eyes widened as she saw what the hullabaloo was about.

"Thief! Thief! He stole my money!" The tailor was crying out.

A dash from what appeared to be a hooded figure in front of her confirmed her suspicions.

Without a second thought, Marinette ran after him.

A quiet day, huh? She must have spoken too soon.

"What are you doing, you silly girl!" someone called from behind her. "The royal guards will deal with it!"

Whispers and mutters of how strange she was surrounded her but Marinette couldn't care. She was not a person to sit and watch quietly.

She started to think. Where was this person heading?

As the figure dodged and weaved in front of her, her mind clicked.

Of course. The harbour.

Luckily, she knew a shortcut.

Instead of following the figure straight ahead, she sprinted to the right. Her calves were beginning to burn from the run but she knew she could do it. The cream cloth in her hair fluttered as she ran.

She dashed to the port and swung herself onto the ship, clambering by grabbing onto a ladder stacked on the edge. Luckily, no checks were happening. Most likely because everyone had boarded the ship and the ship had slowly began moving. Landing with a thud, she winced as her knees took the hit but forced herself to hide behind a crate.

Another thud on the ship confirmed the target was here.

Okay, but how was she going to capture him?

Scanning her surroundings, Marinette's eyes landed on a small piece of rope lying on the ground. Huh. Convenient, she thought. She picked it up and wrapped it around her wrist.

Peeking out from the side of the crate, she took a cautious look.

The hooded figure was pacing quietly. The blue-eyed girl followed the direction of the footsteps and realised the stowaway was planning to go down beneath deck. 'Probably trying to pretend he's a passenger or was planning to knock out the captain and steer the ship himself,' Marinette thought to herself.

Before she could move she heard the sound of hooves and shouting.

"Over there! On the ship!''

Cursing under her breath, Marinette realised she had to think quickly. The royal guard that had shouted has just made her life a lot harder because the thief tensed and started to walk faster to the exit. If she didn't hurry, this could get messy.

Bounding to the edge of the ship, Marinette ran to the trapdoor to the captain's steering room before the thief and faced him.

The thief stopped in their tracks for a split second before running up to her.

Almost on instinct, the raven-haired girl dodged the kick and stepped to the side, arms already taking the blows of his punches. Before he could hit her again, she side-stepped and spun behind him, hitting the back of his knee. The figure collapsed to the floor and Marinette pinned herself over him so he couldn't move. With a jab to his neck, Marinette grabbed the hands of the thief and tied them together using the rope on her wrist.

"Sorry for knocking you out cold but you were making everyone's life harder," the young lady said to the unconscious man on the floor.

Keeping her eyes trained on him, Marinette opened the trapdoor.

"Stop the ship!" she called. Sparing a glance to see the royal guard waiting at the harbour, she decided to add, "on the King's orders."

Once the anchor was set, Marinette heaved the thief's body up and carefully lowered him down onto the small boat that a guard had rowed, set right up against the body of the ship.

"You can come down with us!" the guard shouted from below to her.

Marinette sighed. It was two-man boat. Another one, and they'd probably sink. And she had really planned on not getting wet today.

"You go," she said to the guard. "I'll come in a minute."

The ship's captain, who had been shocked and had stood there watching them mouth agape looked at her.

"Don't worry, I'm not planning to be your stowaway," she laughed lightly. "You can go to where you're heading now."

"You-you're under the King's command?" The captain asked her, his voice shaking in awe.

Marinette shook her head. "Nope. Well, yes," she said on second thought, tilting her head to the side. "Indirectly, we all are, aren't we? As citizens of this country?"

The captain just looked confused.

Marinette sighed. Why couldn't people understand her witty comments?

"I figured since the guards were arriving, I may as well say it was under the King's orders because the guards would have done that anyway," Marinette explained, pointing to them waiting at the port. "But I saved them the trouble."

She leaped to the side of the ship and gazed into the water, involuntarily shivering. "Papa is going to be so mad," she groaned as she contemplated on what she had to do next.

"Well anyway, nice meeting you!" she said a little unenthusiastically as she dived into the water.

The captain shook his head in a daze, rubbing his eyes and asking himself if he was dreaming. But sure enough, the raven-coloured hair of a girl came bopping up to the surface of the sea and the astonishing girl carried on swimming to the port.

"I need a cup of tea," the captain said in a shocked daze.

The guard that had rowed his boat to retrieve the thief helped Marinette up from the water.

"Thanks," she said, shivering a little.

"Miss, would you like my coat?" another guard asked.

Marinette smiled. "Thank you, but it's a sunny day today. I'm sure they'll dry. Plus, I don't live far. I can change."

Another guard walked up to her. It seemed he was the captain, as he had special tassels around his shoulder.

"Could you tell us exactly what happened miss?" he asked, his voice stern.

"I, uh, followed the thief after he stole some money from the tailor," Marinette began. "And I tied him up and brought him to you."

The other guards looked astounded as they looked to each other.

"You mean to say, all by yourself?" the head guard asked, a hint of surprise on his voice.

Marinette gulped. "Um, yeah- I mean yes! I have the bruises to prove it," she chuckled as she showed her arms to the head guard. Her petite but lean arms had dark blue bruises already from the fresh fight.

"I see. Next time, I implore that you leave the matter to us," he said strictly.

Marinette bit her tongue to prevent the snide remark that would come out. How would they deal with the matter when the thief would be halfway across the ocean was something she'd love to see.

"But on the behalf of the guards present here, and the King himself, we thank you for your services. Attention, guards!"

The guards stomped on their feet and to Marinette's utter amazement, bowed to her. They curtly stood up again.

Woah. She had not expected that.

"Oh…um thank you," Marinette fumbled. "I was just…trying to help. Sorry for getting in the way," she muttered.

"Not many citizens are as noble as you, Miss," the head guard said, perhaps a little softly than before. "You should also get your wounds addressed to," he added.

"Oh right," Marinette said, looking at her injuries. They weren't too bad, but they'd be tender for a few days. She smiled to the guards.

"Take care of that ruffian for me will you?" she joked and some of the guards chuckled.

The head guard gave a rare smile. "He'll be taken to the prisons. Well, good day to you, Miss," he said, bidding his farewell and commanding his guards forward on their horses.

Hm. So maybe the captain wasn't as sour as he first appeared. Marinette was just about to leave when the guard who had helped her up before stopped her.

"Yes…?" she asked, a little taken aback.

"Please…please take this Miss!" the guard said nervously, pushing a piece of paper into her hands. "It was an honour to meet you!" he squeaked before scrambling off with the rest of the guards.

Marinette just watched him leave, a little bewildered. Was that weird…or cute?

Forget that. She was cold. Although it was summer, the sea was still freezing and the wet clothes clung to her skin, seeping into her body.

Not thinking twice, Marinette stuffed the piece of paper into her pocket, not bothering to read it and trudged her way back to her father's little stall. People gave her odd looks but what was new?

Without saying a word, Marinette sat down in front of the coals where the baked goods were warmed. The Dupain family had positioned their stall next to a fireplace-almost chimney like structure which was used as an oven for warming their baked goods eons ago when this business had started.

Her father just stared at her wordlessly. "Young lady, I think an explanation is due," Tom finally said.

The blue-eyed girl slumped. "I was trying to help the tailor. A thief stole his money and he was heading to catch the last boat out of here. Long story short, there wasn't enough room on the way back from the ship so I swam."

Tom's mouth hung open. And then he shook his head in disbelief.

"Right, a typical day for you, huh Marinette?" he finally said, chuckling a little at his joke.

"Yeah, so typical," Marinette said sarcastically, rolling her eyes. This was the first time anything like this had happened. Although, Marinette's parents had told her that she had always been a righteous kind of kid since she was little. She would stand up to bullies even from a young age at her local school.

"Oh man!" she said suddenly. "My book, it's going to be wet!"

Frantically, she opened her bag and found the book sopping wet. Luckily, it could be saved. She wrapped it in multiple layers cloth and placed it in the coals to warm.

"Phew, wouldn't want to charge for the damage," she laughed but stopped mid-way as her father frowned at her.

"What?" she asked.

Tom scrunched his eyebrows at her. "The bookshop? I thought you went to get supplies!"

"Papa, I did, look I got a pencil and a rubber!" his daughter insisted, showing him.

"Yes but why are you still reading those fairy tales? Don't you have to study?"

"Come on Papa! I have studied and I will! I need some breaks in between too," she pleaded.

Tom sighed. He was too fond of his daughter to ever scold her too heavily. "Ok. As long as you study well my dear."

"I will. Now enough talking. Let me help you."

Immersing herself in the work of warming the breads and taking the cash from the customers, Marinette didn't even realise when it had become the afternoon. The crowds were dwindling and everyone was going back home to rest and make their meals.

Helping her father pack up the horse-cart, she leaped in as her father rode away back to their humble home. The journey wasn't exciting, the same as every single day before it.

"Mama, we're home!" she announced as she leaped down and started removing the carts.

"Welcome back dears!" Sabine exclaimed as she began helping them too. She kissed her daughter on the forehead and Tom encompassed them all in a hug. Marinette revelled in the warmth of her parents.

"Let's all go inside, I'm making dinner," Sabine said.

"Um, I'll join you both later," Marinette said a little nervously. "I'm meeting my friend for a bit."

At her parents concerned looks she put her hands up. "Only for an hour, I'll be back soon and I'll get back to studying, I promise!"

With a single nod of approval from her parents, Marinette dashed off, her heart racing.

She was going to see him soon.

How was it? Let me know with review and by following and favoriting the story!

Thanks for reading!