Disclosure: I do not own any of the characters of the Tales of Ladybug and Chat Noir Series. This fanfiction takes place after episode 26 when Marinette meets Master Fu as the Guardian of the Kwamis. Please enjoy and feel free to leave any comments or suggestions as to how would you like the story to progress.

Cheers! ^_^

CHAPTER 2: Musical Reverie

After seeing Adrien off, she went into the bakery where she found both of her parents inside the kitchen scrambling around.

"Mama, Papa I'm home" she said as she placed her bags on the counter and took in the mess in the kitchen, "Um… what's going on?"

"Oh Marinette, welcome back darling" Sabine smiled while she pulled a tray of muffins from the oven.

"Welcome home sweetie" Tom replied as he frosted a few trays of cupcakes that were lining on the countertop.

"Wow… so many cupcakes… what's the occasion?"

"Mrs. L'Belle is retiring and her friends back at the clinic where she worked for so many years wanted to give her a proper retiring party. They called us a couple of hours ago to see if we could help them and asked for cupcakes as the dessert. We are just finishing the last batches so we can deliver them"

"Wow that's so nice of you… Need any help?"

"No darling its ok, we are almost done here. Why don't you head up and eat something? Also, don't forget to do your homework, ok? Your father and I will be attending the party so we won't be home till late" Sabine replied as she too started frosting cupcakes.

"Ok Mama, have fun you guys" she replied as she gathered her stuff and headed for her room while grabbing a couple of cookies on the way.

"Adrien, your father just called. He will be late tonight so he asked me to make sure you have everything you need" Nathalie stood next to Adrien in the dining hall reading her Ipad while he finished up his dinner.

"Thanks Nathalie, but I'm ok… I'll just head to my room to play a few games and then go to sleep" he sighed as he wiped his mouth and stood from the table.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes Nathalie… Goodnight" he replied as he headed up the stairs, a routine he knew too well.

He passed by the portrait of himself and his father. Glancing at it for a while, he sighed and continued on to his room. Once he closed the door and made sure it was locked, he flopped on the bed. Plagg flew out of his shirt and glanced at his chose one.

"Hey kid, you ok?"

"Yeah Plagg" he said as he pulled some cheese from his in-room storage and fed Plagg, "I just wished my father would actually care once about me" he sighed as he pulled his phone from his pants and scrolled through a couple of pictures of him and his mother, all three of them together, happier times.

"Kid he just seems really busy at the moment… just give him time"

"Like always" he groaned and looked at the alarm clock by his bedside, "Plagg time to go"

"Ugh come on… can't we just have one night free of Patrol?"

"Plagg… CLAWS OUT"

Closing the door to her room, Marinette went over to her desk and took out her books and pad. Tikki flew out of her purse and landed on her shoulder.

"Here Tikki" Marinette gave her a chocolate chip cookie which she delightfully munched on.

"This is SOOOO good"

"Hehehe glad you like them that much" Marinette replied as she started on her homework. After a few minutes, there was a knock on her door.

"Come in"

"Hi sweetheart" Sabine poked her head inside, "we are leaving now. Are you sure you don't want to come with us?"

"No Mama, I still have work to do… I'll be ok… go and have fun" Marinette smiled.

"Ok, don't stay up too long" she replied as she closed the door.

"Don't think that applies to Ladybug, does it?" Marinette chuckled as Tikki came out of her hiding place chuckling as well, "nope it doesn't"

Marinette glanced at her alarm clock and smiled, "well we better get going before a certain kitty gets desperate" she said as she closed her books and stood.

"Just say the words"

"Tikki, SPOTS ON!"

Paris skies are like no other… Clear skies, endless stars, city lights and a cool breeze that would just want to make you fall in love. Ladybug and Chat Noir took onto the rooftops of the City as they finished their nightly patrol and thankfully, nothing major happened that they couldn't deal with. They ended on the rooftop of the city's library which faced the Eiffel Tower, a sight worth watching.

"Well this night ended a purr… fectly goodnight huh bugaboo?" Chat grinned as he watched her roll her eyes at his pun.

"Chat… the puns… really" she chuckled as she took in the sight and felt the cool breeze that swept through her hair.

"What can I say m'lady… I'm paw..sitevly happy" he replied as he sat down and grabbing her hand, pulled her towards him, sitting her between his legs causing her to blush.

"Chat…" she started but was silenced by his lips. He pulled back after a few minutes and glanced at her flushed face, "you have no idea how happy I am right now" he sighed as he pulled her closer to him.

"Really?"

"Yeah… Nothing is going to ruin this moment"

"Umm Chat, about that… how are we going to act in school… I mean… it's going to shock everyone if they see us like this… needless to say Alya's is going to have my head for not telling her" Ladybug frowned as she chewed on her thumb thinking.

"You're right… Not to mention that Chloe will also have our heads" Chat shivered at that thought, "what do you suggest m'lady?"

"Hmmm…. You might not like the idea, but we should keep it low… maybe build our interest in one another slowly so they can sense it to be natural, you know?"

"Yep you're right… I'm not liking the idea, especially since I can't kiss you at school" he said as he kissed her forehead, "but don't want to put you in that kind of situation either so yeah… let's take it one step at a time" he finished as he pulled her up.

"Time to go Princess" he said as he bowed and kissed her hand.

"Awwww already?" she pouted and he chuckled, finding it cute. Pulling her into a hug, he kissed her deep enough to make her shiver, "I know but we do have class tomorrow and we don't to be late" he sighed as he let her go.

"You're right" she smiled and pulled out her Yo-yo, "goodnight kitty" and with that, she zipped out of sight.

"Goodnight Mari" he whispered and headed back to his house as well.

NEXT MORNING

"Marinette!"

"Oh, hey Alya" Marinette walked towards her best friend, "what's up?"

"That's what I will like to know" she eyes her suspiciously, "you're early girl, are you ok?" she reached out to feel her forehead and Marinette chuckled shoving it away, "I'm fine Alya… just slept well I guess"

"If you're sure" Alya eyed her not fully buying what she said.

"I am, now let's go" she said as they walked inside the classroom.

They both began chatting about other things as they walked into the classroom.

"Hey Babe" Nino greeted his girlfriend while Adrien chuckled, "Morning Alya"

"Hey Nino, Morning Adrien!" Alya chirped as she walked past the guys to take her seat.

"Hey Marinette!" Nino smiled, "Morning Nino" Marinette replied as she walked past him as well.

"Morning Princess!" Adrien whispered and she blushed, "Morning kitty" she whispered back and sat down quickly unable to hide her blush.

"Ok girl, what was that about?" Alya eyed her again as she crossed her arms.

"Ummm I… I don't know what you're talking about" Marinette replied while staring at the floor.

And just about when Alya was going to question her further, the bell rang much to Marinette's relief.

"You do know you are giving me the scoop later, right" she whispered and focused her attention to the teacher.

"Ugh" Marinette groaned as she pulled her pad from her bag and started taking notes.

'Boy is my lady in trouble' Adrien chuckled as he too started taking notes as well.

"Man, I'm starving" Nino groaned as they all filed out of the classroom for their lunch break.

"When aren't you hungry?" Adrien replied earning a glare from his best friend.

"Hey guys!" Alya caught the boys' attention, dragging Marinette with her.

"Hey Babe, what's up?"

"Thinking where to go to lunch, any ideas?"

"Where could be a good place to eat on a short time?" Adrien was in deep thought as well as the others.

"Well, we could head over to my place" everyone stared at Marinette who was surprised at their reaction, "What?"

"You know, that's a great idea Marinette" Alya hugged her.

"Will you parents be ok with this?" Adrien asked worrying that they might get her in trouble.

Marinette only smiled as she pulled out her phone to let her parents know that they were coming over, "trust me… they'll be happy to see us"

Sometime later….

"Man, that was the best Udon EVER!" Nino sighed happily as he sat back and patted his belly earning several laughs from across the table.

"I can't believe you ate three bowls!" Marinette said trying to control her laughter, "Not even my father has managed to do that"

"You should see him when we hang out" Adrien chuckled, "he has a never-ending pit"

"You guys just don't know how to appreciate food"

"Well we better head back before the teacher doesn't appreciate us arriving late" Alya said as she started picking up the dishes.

"Oh, don't worry about dear, I'll take of these"

"But Mrs. Du-Peing…" Alya was about to complaint when Sabine took her dishes.

"Now hurry along, you don't want to be late" Sabine said as she ushered them out of the apartment.

"Thanks Mama" Marinette kissed her mother on the cheek.

"Yeah, thank you Mrs. Chang" Adrien said.

"I'm happy to see you all and be sure to drop by once in a while, ok?"

"Will do Mrs C" Nino replied as they all headed down the street towards the school.

"Man Marinette, I didn't know your mom's cooking was that good"

"Yeah girl, we should crash your house every once in a while"

"No kidding" Adrien chuckled

Suddenly screams and crashes could be heard coming from the school. All four of them looked at each other and ran towards to where the commotion was.

"Sir I'm sorry, but you aren't allowed into school grounds without authorization from the principal"

"Oh really?... Well… can this be considered as an authorization" the akumatized victim replied as he grabbed his violin and rang a tune that went flying towards the school guard sending him flying towards the wall.

"WO" Nino gasped.

"Man, this is awesome… I gotta get this for my Ladyblog web"

Adrien and Marinette, who saw the whole thing, glanced at each other and nodded. Grabbing Nino by the arm, Adrien ran towards the park while Marinette grabbed Alya and ran towards the locker room.

"Mari, let me go… I need to film this" Alya was struggling with Marinette until they reached the locker room.

"But Alya…" she couldn't finish the sentence for Alya had ran out the door to where the akuma was.

"Grrrr will that girl EVER learn" Marinette groaned as Tikki flew out of her purse, "well guess there's nothing we can do about it, right Tikki?"

"Mmmhmmm"

"TIKKI SPOTS ON!"

"DUDE! WHERE ARE THE GIRLS?" Nino asked Adrien as they ducked behind the Carousel for protection.

Feigning not knowing, Adrien looked behind them, "I'll go check on them, you stay here in case they come this way got it?"

Nino nodded and Adrien ran out of the park towards the boys' locker room. Making sure no one was around, he let Plagg come out of his shirt.

"Man do you have any idea how terrible the smell is in here?" Plagg complaint about the smell in the locker room, "Plagg no time to complain… PLAGG CLAWS OUT!"

Both Ladybug and Char Noir emerged from the locker room at the same time.

"Well, hello my lady" Chat smiled as he bowed and kissed her hand.

"Hey kitty… need to focus here" smiling she pulled her hand from his and grabbed her yo-yo to spring into action.

"Oh… right" Chat snapped out of it and followed her towards the akuma.

"WHERE IS SHE?" the akuma screamed as he continued to throw different off key tunes throughout the school.

"Um okkkk?" Chat scratched his head trying to figure out this one, "just who is he after?" he glanced at Ladybug, "Any ideas love bug?"

"Nope, but we're about to find out" she ran up to the akuma followed by her loyal cat, "HEY AKUMA! DOWN HERE!"

Said Akuma glanced down from where he was currently perched on, taking a better view of the school, "WHAT DO YOU WANT?"

"I WANT HER!" the akuma screamed as he fisted his hands, "HER DAYS OF HUMILLIATING ME ARE OVER!" yelled the akuma as he took to his violin again and sprang several notes towards the duo.

"LADYBUG LOOK OUT!" Chat Noir grabbed her by the waist and rolled them both out of danger as one of the notes hit the ground where they stood, leaving a big hole.

Cough, cough…. "You ok?" he asked not taking his eyes from the akuma.

"Yeah"

"Just what the hell is his problem anyway?" he said as he pulled Ladybug to stand up still glaring at the akuma.

"I don't know" she replied uncertain, "not our typical conversational akuma, is he?" she continued to glanced at the akuma and then turned to Chat, "any ideas?"

Taking out his baton he took on a fighting stance, "we need to figure out who is it that he wants and work from there"

"Good idea" Ladybug took out her yo-yo and both went in for the attack.

"MUSICIAN! THERE THEY ARE! I WANT THEIR MIRACULOUS!"

"YES HAWKMOTH"

And with that they started to battle each other, trying to land a punch or a strike with no success.

"We can't continue to fight here or there won't be much of a school left" Chat shouted to Ladybug as he dodged another note thrown at him.

"But how can we get him to leave?" replied Ladybug as she dodged a couple of notes as well.

Glancing around, she spotted the musical room and got an idea, "Chat can you hold him off for a few minutes? I have an idea" she shouted and ran towards the music room.

"Sure" Chat replied dodging a couple of more attacks, "take your time" he groaned when he missed a step and fell on his behind, "great".

Bursting through the doors she ran into the musical room to find clues as to what the akuma wanted. "What could've happened that drove him to despair?" she asked quietly as glanced around the room where she suddenly spotted a torn letter on top of the piano, "what's this?"

She carefully picked up the torn pieces and placed them together as best as she could until she could finally read the letter.

"Dear Leon, I don't know how else to tell you this… but I'm not coming back. Here where I am, I found what I truly wanted and cannot bear to go back to the life we had. I'm sorry. I just can't continue to encourage you into being a musician that you'll never be. Just face it. You do not have the talent to do so and even though I tried many times to make it seem like you had at the end, I couldn't stand it anymore. Please give it up and find something you're truly good at that can make you into a better person. Please do not look for me"

Mina.

"Wow… that's… poor Leon" Ladybug whispered sadly as she could see why he was akumatized, "we need to help him… but how…" she was broken out of her train of thoughts by a loud bang.

"CHAT NOIR!" she scrambled from the room just in time to see Chat falling, jumping from she was she flew towards him and grabbed him just before he hit the ground and swung them to safety, "you ok kitty?" she asked worriedly as she helped him sit to catch his breath.

"Yeah, I'm ok" he replied standing and dusting off the dirt, "find anything?" he asked as he pulled her up.

"Yeah and actually, I feel sorry for the guy" she replied sadly.

"Huh? Hey bugaboo, what's wrong?" but before he got his answer another bang was heard from the akuma's direction, "dammit… can't he just quit it?" Chat groaned annoyed with the situation.

"CHAT THAT'S IT!" Ladybug suddenly realized what they needed to do.

"Huh?" Chat scratched his head having no idea of what she was thinking.

Looking at the direction of the akuma and where the music room was she plotted her plan.

"Chat, are you any good with musical instruments?"

"Well yeah… my father made me play all sorts of instruments when I was four, why?" he asked not liking where this was going.

"Cause you're about to have your first concert, come on" and with she grabbed his hand and they both ran towards the music room.

"WHERE IS SHE? I WANT HER NOW!" the akuma continued to make chaos until his attention was caught by something, "WHAT THE…"

"Hey is someone playing the piano?" asked one of the student from his hiding place.

"It's beautiful"

"I know that piece, very complex in deed"

"Who could it be"

Annoyed by this, the akuma stopped the rampage and headed towards the source of the music. Bursting the doors open, he saw Chat Noir sitting at the piano bench striking at the keys, letting the music play.

"WHY YOU LITTLE…"

"LEON!"

Startled that he was called by his name, he turned to see Ladybug standing there and holding up the letter he had torn and was placed back together with tape, "How did you get that?" he said angrily as he walked towards her.

"Leon, please, could you stop for a minute and listen to me?" when he did, she continued "do you really think that the opinion of one girl can ruin your lifelong dream?"

"But… she…" he did a double take at that fact, "she was the only one that told me how great my music was and then…" he fell to the floor as tears came to his eyes.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING? TAKE THEIR MIRACULOUS NOW!"

"Leon" Ladybug placed a hand on his shoulder and he stiffened, "what if I told you that you can prove her here, right now that you are a good musician"

"How?"

"Listen" she gestured towards Chat Noir who was still playing, "what did the students say when they first heard him playing?"

"they praised him"

"And what do you think they'll say when you two become a duet?"

"Huh?"

At that Chat Noir turned slightly as he continued playing and gestured to Leon to join him, "I bet we'll make a killer scene" he grinned as he continued his play.

"What do you say?" Ladybug encouraged him and after hesitating for a moment, he agreed.

He grabbed his violin and listened to Chat's playing for a moment before he joined him in an amazing melody. Soon students began to leave their hideouts curious at what they were hearing. Slowly they started to fill the room and began to enjoy the concert they were receiving. Leon had his eyes closed the whole time enjoying his true passion, playing his violin. Once they both ended their song, they were surprised with a round of applause coming from the students.

"What…" Leon couldn't believe his eyes, they were cheering him on; tears sprang to his eyes as he knelt on the floor taking in the emotion.

"Well done Leon" Chat said as he stood from his bench and grabbed Leon's violin. Walking towards Ladybug, he handed her the violin and smiled at her, "you too my lady".

Smiling she smashed the violin to pieces to expose the hidden akuma. "No more evil doing for you little akuma" she said activating her yo-yo, "time to de-evilize" she cried as she captured the akuma and released a purified butterfly, "Bye, bye little butterfly".

She then threw her yo-yo into the air while screaming, "Miraculous Ladybug" and just like that everything went back to normal… including Leon.

"POUND IT" they both chuckled.

Glancing at Leon, Ladybug couldn't help but feel sorry for the guy. Sensing this, Chat got an idea and approached him.

"Hey Leon… you ok buddy?"

"Chat Noir? What… What am I doing here?" he asked as he looked around and remembered the reason, "oh" he sighed sadly, "guess she was right"

"No, she wasn't" Chat replied.

"Huh?"

"Dude that was one of the best duets I had played in in a long time, trust me" he said as he pulled Leon to stand up, "If you keep on practicing as you are now, there's no way your music won't hit the charts"

"Really? You… you think I'm good"

"I know so, in fact" Chat went over to the teachers' desk and took some paper and a pen. Writing something down, he handed the paper over to Leon, "This used to be my music tutor back in the days… he's the best of the best… ask him to hear you playing once and trust me, you're going to get the tutoring of a lifetime"

"OH, THANK YOU!" Leon cried as he hugged Chat Noir and then Ladybug, "thank you both" he said once again as he left the room to do just that.

"I'm proud of you kitty" Ladybug said as she walked over to him.

"Yeah… I mean… I know what it's like… you know what he went through" he replied looking into her eyes, which became sad at this revelation.

Deciding to change the mood, he took her by the waist and pulled her closer to him. Several students gasped at this and Ladybug was blushing furiously, "Chat…" she was about to complain when she heard both miraculous beep at the same time, "time to go m'lady" he said and with he jumped from the room towards the school grounds and then towards a nearby ally where they both de-transformed in the nick of time.

"Ugh… I'm exhausted, now gimme some cheese" Plagg complained from Adrien's hands where he rested.

"Yeah, today was a bit intense" replied Tikki from Marinette's hands as well, "Oh Tikki… I'm so sorry" she apologized as she placed her kwami in her purse and handed her a cookie, "here you go".

"Here Plagg" Adrien gave the kwami his camembert cheese and gestured towards the shirt, "now hide" and Plagg did just that.

Making sure the coast was clear, Adrien and Marinette headed over to the park to meet with the others. Silence ruled between them and Adrien couldn't stand it any longer. He stopped and turned to Marinette who only looked at him in surprise, "Adrien… what"

"Mari, what's wrong? You've been silent for the past few minutes" he asked and pulled her into a hug, "you know you can tell me anything, right?"

"I know" she sighed taking in his scent, "It's just… well here" she said and handed him the letter from Leon's ex-girlfriend. After taking a few minutes to read it, he glanced down at his girlfriend and finally understood.

"Mari… you really don't believe that's going to happen to us, right?"

"I… I don't know… I just… Adrien, why do you like me?" she asked glancing at the floor, "I'm not the kind of girl you would see next to a super model and well" she was silenced when she felt Adrien pull her into a nearby ally.

"Adrien what are you" before she could finish her sentence, he had invaded her lips in a desperate way. Feeling her respond, he deepened the kiss as he placed his hand behind her head and his other on her small back to pull her closer.

Hearing her moan only added to his already frustrating emotions making him want her even more. After a few minutes, they parted in need of air and he could her gasping trying to catch her breath… seeing her flustered face he pulled her into an embrace and hid his face in her neck, "Mari… you are all I ever wanted. I don't need nor want anything else… I love you" he heard her gasp and he continued pulling her from him so she could see his flustered face, "why can't you see that?" he asked sadly.

"I love you too Adrien… I can't imagine my life without you" she sobbed and held onto him for dear life.

"Then stop pushing me away… No matter how much you try… I already told you, you're stuck with this cat".

Earning a chuckle and a nod from her made him feel more relaxed, "we better find those two before we get an earful" he chuckled as he took her hand and both headed towards the park.

"Alya, relax, my boy Adrien said he was searching for her babe"

"I know Nino but… HEY, THERE THEY ARE!" she exclaimed excitedly as they both ran towards their friends, "Were the hell have you guys been I was worried sick and…. Uhhh… what's going on here"

"What's wrong Alya?" Adrien asked not sure why the question and hearing Nino's uncontrolled laughter only added to the mystery.

"Alya… what…" Marinette then realized that she and Adrien were both holding hands all the way and haven't let go before entering the park.

"Umm…. I can explain" catching onto Marinette's thinking, Adrien raised his hands in utter surrender.

"You better, cause this is a scoop I'm not about to pass out" Alya grinned, Adrien sighed, Nino rolled on the floor ecstatic and Marinette groaned.

"Ok, but can we do this tomorrow? It's getting kinda dark" Adrien said much to Marinette's relief.

"Ok but you two better meet us at lunch, got it?" she warned as Nino grabbed her hand to walk her to her house and waved, "Later bros"

"Bye" Marinette waved shivering.

"Princess, are you cold" Adrien asked worriedly as he pulled her closer to share his warmth.

"No… just horrified at tomorrow's impending doom" she sighed and he chuckled grabbing her hand to walk her towards her house, "Well I told you were on this together, so I guess that also makes it my funeral too huh" he said as he finished texting his driver to pick him up at the bakery.

"Funny kitty" she rolled her eyes.

"You know you love me" he grinned.

"I do" she smiled, both sharing a long stare into each other's eyes.