I do not, and will probably never own Miraculous Ladybug
Thank you all for all the support you have given me. I hope this makes you smile, like you guys make me smile, with every favorite, and every review. I would love to know any suggestion you may have for this series, or for any other story you would like me to write. The more prompts and reviews I get, the more I'm likely to write more fanfiction. I love you all, and thank you again for all the support. - Alice O'flynn
The next day the news continued to be about the stone statues. Marinette was beating herself up about it all night, and got very little sleep. She knew it was her fault. The thing that upset her the most though, was not that she failed Paris. She felt like she failed her father. Adrien was also worried about it all night. He felt like he failed. He should have known what to do. He was usually the one who came up with plans in his life. And now he didn't know what to do.
"What's wrong honey?" Adrien's mother asked, as she noticed him staring down at his bowl of cereal.
"I'm just worried about all those stone creatures…." Adrien said, stirring his cereal.
"Oh, honey, you don't have to be worried. Our superheroes will take care of it."
"But what if they fail?"
"They won't. I believe in them. Now you better get going. School starts soon, and I don't want you to be late."
"Okay, Mama," Adrien said, putting his bowl in the sink, and heading to school.
"What is that girl doing?" Nathalie wondered aloud, opening the door to Marinette's room. Empty.
"You didn't see her leave? If anything happens to her, I will hold you personally responsible." Sabine said, when Nathalie told her.
"I thought you didn't want to be a superhero. Did you change your mind?" Tikki asked, as Marinette was running through the park, on her way to school.
"I don't, I can't be a superhero…. I know it's a little selfish. But I want at least one day. Will you give me that? One day that I'm a normal girl, with a normal life. I'll….. I'll return the earrings to the guardian tomorrow. But I wanted at least one day of freedom. I don't care if after this I'm grounded for the rest of my life…. Just give me this one day, please Tikki." Marinette said, as she came to the edge of the park. Close to the school.
"Of course, Marinette. If that's what you want." Tikki said, her heart going out to the young girl. And she hoped Marinette would change her mind.
The first thing Adrien saw when he entered school, was Chloe pestering Ivan. He couldn't exactly hear what Chloe was saying, but he saw Ivan walk away. He followed Ivan, finding him sitting in the locker room.
"Hey, are you alright?" Adrien asked, and Ivan shook his head.
"She's scared of me….." Ivan lamented. "And everyone else hates me now."
"I'm sure Mylene isn't really scared of you." Adrien said, wanting to comfort the boy. "And who cares what Kim and Chloe say anyway. It's not really important what they think. And just for the record, I still think you are awesome."
"Thank you…. But you should have seen how Mylene looked at me…. And even if she's not scared of me, it still isn't like I can tell her how I feel. I'm no good with words…."
"Then why don't you pick her flower…. Or write her a song… I heard that girls dig that kind of thing."
"I'll try it. Thanks again." Ivan got up, and smiled at the blonde boy.
"Any time."
"Marinette, please don't do this. Your mother will be furious!" Nathalie called out to Marinette, just as she was about to enter the school.
"Tell her you got here too late…." Marinette swallowed a lump in her throat. She wanted just one day. She needed this one day. "Please." She wiped a single tear from her eye, before turning back to the school, and taking a step inside.
"I'll handle it." Nathalie said to Gorilla, who was staring at her strangely. Since she returned to the car without Marinette.
Marinette walked inside the school, her face partially covered with her hands, as she took a deep breath. She couldn't cry in front of everyone. After she took a few steps, she was almost tackled by a Blonde.
"You came!" Chloe said, joyfully.
"Yeah… I came…." Marinette said, her voice low and sad.
"What's wrong?"
"This will probably be my only day of freedom. There is likely no way my mother will let me out of the house again."
"Well then, let's make the most of your day of freedom. Come on." Chloe said, trying to cheer her friend up. She pulled Marinette's hands away from her face, taking hold of one of her wrists, and dragging her forward. As soon as the other kids saw her, they started crowding around her, asking for autographs. She put on her 'professional' fake smile, and signed a few, before Chloe pulled her away.
"I'm not going to let you go all professional on me. You put on your public face again. This isn't about that. Today is your day. I'm not going to let your fame spoil it." Chloe said, pulling her up the stairs.
"Thanks Chlo…" Marinette said, grateful for her friend looking out for her.
"No problem. Now, this is our classroom. I saved you a seat. It's right in front of me!"
"Thanks…" Marinette sat down in the seat that Chloe motioned her too. She noticed the girl who was now sitting beside her. "Hey… I'm Marinette…."
"You're Chloe's friend?" The auburn haired girl said, and Marinette nodded. The girl looked pointedly away, and Marinette frowned. She turned towards Chloe. At least Chloe seemed to like her. And she was shocked when she saw the Blonde girl putting gum on someone's seat. That wasn't the Chloe she knew.
"Chlo, what's that about?" Marinette asked.
"The boy who sat here yesterday needs an attitude adjustment. I'm just commanding a little respect, that's all"
"You shouldn't do that, Chlo."
"You don't know the first thing about being in school. This is just something you have to do."
"I don't believe that. That's not nice."
"Well tough. You'll learn soon enough…." Marinette went over to the other seat, and started trying to take the gum off the seat, but it was too sticky. Her fingers got covered in it. Unfortunately, that was the exact moment the boy who sat there came in.
"Hey, what are you doing?" An annoyed voice came from behind Marinette.
"Uhhh….. I…." Marinette stuttered, wondering how to explain herself. Chloe was laughing from her seat.
"Oh, I get it. Very funny you three. Good Job!" The blonde boy said, with anger in his voice.
"N….. no…. I was…" Marinette stuttered. Her shy side showing through. She got up, shaking a little. She didn't want the day to go like this. This was the opposite of what she wanted. She wanted to make friends, not enemies.
"Oh really?! You're friends with Chloe, right?" Marinette nodded dumbly. "I knew it. Only Chloe's friends would do something like that. Well, besides Chloe herself."
"Why do people saying stuff like that?" Marinette muttered to herself, returning to her seat.
"Now do you see what I mean about respect?" Chloe leaned forward and whispered into Marinette's ear.
"I knew I've seen her somewhere before… Of course. She's the daughter of the famous fashion designer, Sabine Cheng. The model whose face is plastered all throughout paris." Adrien said, flipping through photos on his phone.
"Teen supermodel, and Chloe's 'Best friend'? Forget it! She's probably even worse than Chloe herself." Nino said.
"Why don't you tell him it was Chloe's idea? That you were against it, and were just trying to take the gum off?"
"Chloe is my only friend. I've known her since I was a little kid. I know she's not perfect, but I can't throw her under the bus. She's kind to me, at least. She's always been kind to me….She's the only one who my Mother let's me be friends with…."
"I'm Alya. And girl, it's time for you to make some new friends." The auburn haired girl said.
"Cheng, Marinette?" Mme. Bustier said, calling role.
"You say present," Alya said, and Marinette stood up.
"Present!" Marinette said loudly, and everyone started to laugh. When she sat down again, she was bright red. She didn't have too long to be embarrassed until Stoneheart burst through the wall.
"Mylene?" He said, stopping over to her, and picking her up. Marinette was shaking with fear, guilt eating away at her. Stoneheart was back because of her mistakes.
"Let go of me Ivan!" Mylen screamed.
"I'm not Ivan anymore. I'm Stoneheart." The rock creature said.
"Why are you doing this?"
"So you and I can be together forever!"
"Daddy, the monster is back!" Chloe said into her cell phone. Before the stone creature grabbed her as well. Marinette let out a small squeak, worried for her friend.
"Put us down Ivan!" Mylene screamed.
"Come on, let's follow him!" Alya said to Marinette.
"Uh.. Oh no. You go. I'm finding myself a safe place to hide. Why do you want to follow him? It's not safe. You should be hiding as well."
"Nope, where the supervillain is, the superheroes are bound to be there. As the person who runs the Ladyblog, I'm required to be there."
"The Ladyblog?"
"Yeah, I created a blog dedicated to Ladybug."
"Oh…."
"Sorry to run, but Duty calls. You really should come with me though."
"No way…" Marinette said, hiding under her own desk.
"You're going to miss Ladybug in action! It's your loss." Alya said, running out of the Classroom. Marinette followed a bit behind. Watching Alya. Now both her friends were in danger because of the creature. She had to do something. But she didn't know what. She wasn't a hero…. She had proved that before. But she couldn't let her friends get hurt.
"Plagg, claws out!" Adrien said, transforming into Chat Noir. He went out in search for Stoneheart, and soon found him. With Chloe and Mylene still within his grip.
"You have no idea who you're dealing with. My daddy, the Mayor, will bring in the police, the army, the entire cavalry!" Chloe screamed, just as Chat Noir reached them. Now Chat had to admit that he didn't like Chloe. But that was no reason to let a civilian get hurt. So he immediately jumped into action.
"You forgot the superheroes." Chat smirked.
"You want the cavalry? Well here it is!" Stoneheart said, and all of a sudden, they were surrounded by other stone beings. "Seize him!"
"If you can hear me Ladybug, I can use a little help!" Chat Noir screamed, just loud enough for Marinette to hear it, as she chased after Alya. She had a choice to make. Go help Chat Noir, or make sure Alya was safe.
"What is she waiting for?" Alya muttered, and Marinette made up her mind. Alya, Chloe, and Chat Noir would all be safer if she was Ladybug. Even if she wasn't cut out to be a superhero, she could at least make sure her friends were safe.
"I think I need Ladybug!" Marinette said, ducking into an alley.
"I knew you'd come around!" Tikki said joyfully.
"Well, I'm still not sure I'm up for this, but my friends are in danger. I can't sit back and do nothing! Tikki, spots on!" Pretty soon Ladybug was swinging through the city, towards the sound of rumbling that came from the stone being's stomping around. She soon found where Chat was, being held tightly by a stone creature, and she helped him escape. But ended up accidently tying him to a light pole, where he was dangling upside down.
"Sorry I was late!" Ladybug said. "And sorry for this. I still don't have the hang of it all."
"It's alright… Did I ever tell you that you turn my world upside down." Chat Noir joked.
"Oh, you're quite the jokester, aren't you?" Ladybug said, before noticing the stone creatures gathering around them. "But your comedic timing needs work. We gotta get out of here!"
"Aren't we going to take care of them?"
"No. If we want to save them all, we got to the source. That one!" Ladybug said, pointing towards the Eiffel Tower, where Stoneheart was standing.
"I demand my daughter's safe return!" Mayor Bourgeois yelled at the stone creature.
"You know what? You're welcome to her!" Stoneheart said, annoyed with Chloe, throwing her at her father. Ladybug felt lucky that she was close enough. She dove in, her body working on automatic, as she saved the life of her friend. Placing Chloe down. Chloe ran to her father, who hugged her tightly.
"We're clear to attack!" A police officer said, and Ladybug tensed.
"Wait! No, don't attack them! You know it'll only make it worse!"
"I have a new plan, unlike you! Move aside and let the pros do their thing. You've already failed once!" The police officer yelled in response, and Ladybug turned to face Chat Noir.
"He's right, you know. If I had captured Stoneheart's akuma the first time around, none of this would have happened! I knew I wasn't right for this job…" Ladybug said, her eyes downcast.
"No! He's wrong, because without you, she'd" Chat pointed at Chloe. "No longer be here. And because without us, they won't make it, and we'll prove that too. Trust me, my lady. Okay?"
"Okay…"
All of a sudden the air was filled with black and purple butterflies. The butterflies swarmed together, to make a… a giant face.
"People of Paris, listen carefully. I am Hawkmoth" The face said.
"Hawkmoth?" Both the superheroes said at the same time.
"Ladybug, Chat Noir, give me the Ladybug earrings, and the Cat ring now. You've done enough damage to these innocent people!"
"Nice try, Hawkmoth! But we know who the bad guy is!" Chat noir said, jumping up to where the butterflies were. "Let's not reverse the roles here. Without you, none of these innocent victims would be transformed into villains. Hawkmoth, no matter how long it takes, we will find you. And YOU will hand us YOUR Miraculous." Chat said, bravely. Extending his stick out so that Ladybug could grab onto it, she did, and he pulled her up beside him. "Can you purify these akumas?" He asked, aside. Ladybug nodded, starting to use her yo-yo to cleanse each of the butterflies from evil. When it was all done, Chat Noir gave her the brightest smile.
"People of Paris, let me make this promise to you. No matter who wants to harm you, Chat Noir, and Ladybug will do everything in our power to keep you safe!" Chat Noir said.
"Whoever he is, beneath that mask, I love that boy…." Ladybug said to herself, in awe of Chat's bravery and kindness.
"Oh, they're so made for each other!" Ladybug said, smiling at Ivan and Mylene.
"Just like us." Chat Noir joked, and Ladybug blushed, thankful when her miraculous beeped.
"Uh oh. You see that? Time to split. See you soon, Chat Noir." Ladybug said, leaving as quickly as possible. Afraid she might combust if she had to be around him much longer. He was just so…. So…
"Can't wait, my lady." Chat said, as he watched Ladybug leave. He was looking forward to seeing her again. Although she seemed very unsure of herself, she was kind. And he wanted to get to know her better.
"You disobeyed me, Marinette." Sabine said, as she was video chatting her daughter, who was sitting in her car, right outside of school. "Take a look at that school."
"Yes, mother." Marinette said, hanging her head. She knew this was coming. She only wished that her one day of freedom might have been… less life threatening.
"You will never, I say, never go back there again." Sabine said, her voice angry.
"Mother…." Marinette lamented.
"Without your bodyguard. He will drop you off, and pick you up every day. Nathalie has offered to organize your new schedule. You'll be continuing your music, gymnastics, art classes, and your photoshoots."
"Thank you Nathalie. Thank you Mother." Marinette said, getting out of the car. She was overjoyed. She hadn't expected that at all.
"No, wait." Adrien said, as Nino started walking towards the seats they had been in the day before. He went up to the seat that was usually his.
"Uhh… You're in the wrong seat. Go on, get lost!" Chloe said, when she entered and saw Adrien in her seat.
"Nope. I'm not putting up with this anymore, Chloe. I'm not going to let you walk all over me again. So take your attitude, and go on, get lost!" Adrien said, and Nino smiled.
"I knew you had it in you, dude." Nino said, happily.
Marinette entered the classroom, and saw Adrien sitting in a different seat. He looked pointedly away from her. Marinette was almost tackled again by Chloe.
"I'm so glad you're here. What made your mom see reason?" Chloe said, actually happy for Marinette.
"I don't know. But she said I can come here regularly!" Marinette said, a genuine smile on her face.
"Smiles look good on you, Mari. Real smiles." Chloe smiled, glad her friend was happy. "Now, we probably should go to our seats. I'm not sure your mother would be too happy with you getting in trouble your second full day of school."
"You're right, Chlo. Talk to you later." Marinette said, as the Blonde gave Marinette a quick hug, before going back to her seat. Marinette sat down in her seat as well, right next to Alya.
"She really is different around you….. Hey, you want to make even more friends, right? Well, go talk to Adrien. You know, about the chewing gum. He's a pretty cool guy, I'm sure he would be chill with it, if he knew the truth." Alya said.
"But what should I say to him?"
"Why don't you just be yourself?"
"You mean the me who is so shy she becomes bright red whenever someone looks at her for too long? That version of being myself. Or the perfect, charming model. Who never does anything wrong." Marinette said. Her voice light, although she was slightly sour about the fact that people usually didn't know the real her.
"Who you are now. Right now, you're not the same person who is in front of the camera. But you're still talking. I know you can do it."
"Alright, Alya. I'll try."
Marinette stepped out of the school, opening up her umbrella as soon as she was out of doors. She didn't usually like getting rained on…. Okay, well, she did. She loved it. But it 'wasn't good for her image'. So she usually carried a little umbrella in her bag at all times, because of how unpredictable the weather always was.
"Hey," Marinette said, as she saw Adrien standing, looking out at the rain. "I just wanted you to know that I was only trying to take the chewing gum off your seat. I swear. I've never been to school before. I've never had many friends. It's all sort of… new to me." Marinette said, before getting an idea. She held the umbrella out to Adrien, just thunder sounded. Adrien's eyes went wide. She really didn't mean to be rude. And… she was offering her umbrella to him. She was not at all what he expected, and he liked it. Another thing that intrigued him about her, was that she was blushing. Like she was too shy to even speak to him. Why would a supermodel be shy about talking to a regular kid? He wondered. Was the famous Marinette Cheng really just shy?
"See you tomorrow," Marinette said, with a smile. And Adrien realized how much he loved to see people smiling. Well, maybe not 'people' in general, maybe it was just Marinette that he loved to see smile. It was something he loved so much, that he started figuring out ways in his head to make her smile again.
"See you to…. Mo… tomo…. Haha! Whoa, why am I stuttering?" Adrien said, as Marinette was walking away, and he was waving at her.
"Why do I have to get stuck with yet another love sick kitten?" Plagg complained, and Adrien blushed.
"First day of school, and you may already have a boyfriend." Tikki lightly teased.
"It's not like that…" Marinette blushed at the implication. "He's just a friend… another friend…" Marinette smiled brightly, as she got into her own car.
"Excellent choice, Master. On both of them," Wayzz said, floating by his master's head.
"Those two are made for each other," Master fu agreed, smiling at his kwami.
