"Marinette."

He called me Marinette.

She was whirling. There was a boy with blond hair and eyes like the most verdant of forests, a perfect balance to the bright reds and whirling blacks around her, deep in her own mind. Who was he? Where was he? Why couldn't she talk back, save for a token two words which had ripped her throat apart?

"Almost…. There!" The friendly voice chirped, and something snapped. Her connection to Hawkmoth gone, Marinette felt herself collapse in her mindscape, the small scrap of the outside world drifting away from her.

The noise screaming in her mind stopped in an instant. The pain dulled to a throb which pulsed with her heart, but subsided with each beat, and when she tried she could breathe again.

"Help," she whispered.

Adrien ran.

Down side streets, up inclines, around buildings old and new, one eye trained on the sky. Plagg was still tired from the first transformation, hidden in his ring, but he had to keep track of her. It was worrying that Ladybug hadn't yet shown up, but he had no choice. He followed her away, barely looking ahead save to dodge cars and curious passerby, as she headed somewhere familiar.

The Dupain-Cheng Bakery.

He twisted his course and soon flung himself inside. "Sorry, Akuma, gotta go Marinette's room sorry sorry!" He cried hastily to her parents. Tom Dupain-Cheng blinked, and Sabine Dupain-Cheng turned so quickly to follow his path that she nearly dropped the macarons in her hands, but he was already bounding up the stairs and leaping towards the hatch leading into Marinette's room.

He crawled inside, immediately turning for the stairs climbing up towards her balcony. He scrambled up and stood on Marinette's bed to push it open, pulling himself up and out to wait.

Soon enough, Marinette appeared, leaping gracefully over the rooftops. Her eyes widened upon seeing him, and she vaulted over to land gently on the balcony next to him.

"Hello, my prince!" she chirped, seemingly unbothered by his presence. "What are you doing here? Where's Chat Noir?"

Adrien tilted his head. "I don't know, does he live here?"

"I… I don't know," Marinette paused, her eyes losing a bit of their intense focus, as she seemed to drift far away for a moment. "Why am I here…?"

After a beat, she shook it off. "Oh well. My Minou will be here tomorrow, I hope. How are you, my Prince? Did anyone bother you when I was away?" She circled him slowly, eyes flicking along his form as if checking for injuries. "Rest assured I will pun-ish anyone who dares to hurt you, my prince. All you need's to say the word."

Adrien thought quickly. "There… is a way you can help me," he suggested gently, smiling as her acquired ears perked up just as his sometimes did as Chat Noir. He took a moment to search her for anything that might possess an akuma. For some reason, Ladybug hadn't showed up, but once he broke the akuma's hiding spot, he would be able to follow after the akuma until she found him. And even if it managed to get back and multiply, he didn't feel too bad about a pile of protective Marinettes.

There!

Standing out from her black, red-lined outfit, her ladybug earrings were still hooked in, completely unchanged. After a brief glance, he decided it must be the hiding spot; it couldn't be in her yoyo, nor in either of her ribbons - both of them had changed to a silky black which blended into her hair.

"May I borrow those earrings?" he asked as kindly as he could, lifting a hand to hold out. Marinette stopped and stared at him, one hand going to her earring, then flinching back.

"...my prince, you ask a great deal of me," she whispered. Adrien winced. Not good. "These are not mine to give. If… if I ever take them off… I would never be able to defend you again!" She dropped to the floor and tucked in her knees.

Adrien slipped down next to her. "Are you alright, Marinette?" he asked softly.

She sniffled and shook her head. "I don't want to choose," she admitted. "These earrings mean a lot to me. I can finally talk to you," she added, briefly awed by the prospect. "I- I can defend you! And we can hold conversations! And I don't have to worry at all!"

"Why not?" Adrien asked, confused.

"I never feel afraid like this," she answered, shooting him a grin. "No fears. No worries. I'm as carefree as a cat, doing whatever I want to do!" She chuckled, a cheery sound which fluttered through the wind. "I don't have to worry about what I'm doing, because I know what I'm doing is right. I know that you'll watch my back and make sure I don't do wrong." Her feet wiggled in her metal boots. "I can spend time with Lady Alya and do homework and have fun doing it, never worrying I won't have time. I can dance and sing and make witty remarks without a moment of doubt! I can fight when needed, never scared of the consequences. Why would I ever give that up?"

Adrien dug for reasons. He needed to answer her. "Your shyness is a part of your charm," he insisted. "It's part of what Alya and I love about you, Marinette. And if you never worry, you could get hurt. I don't want you to get hurt."

Marinette turned to him, eyes shining. "Do you think so?" She asked, and for the first time since she'd been akumatized a crease of genuine concern leaked into her face. "Does Alya truly like that about me? Do… do you really like that about me?"

"Yes," he answered immediately, and she smiled, cupping her cheek with one claw and smiling giddily. "You're a wonderful person, Marinette."

She swiped playfully at him, turning away to hide her face, which had flushed scarlet.

"It's sweet that you want to defend me," he began to add, trying not to offend her. As he was now, he was quite vulnerable - all she'd have to do is snatch up his hand, and he'd be screwed. "But Marinette, what if I want to defend myself?"

"But- but-" she stammered. This seemed a bit more like the Marinette he remembered, so he forged on.

"I know I don't always do so great, especially against Chloe," Adrien admitted. "But I want to do this for myself, Marinette. So… please? You don't need to defend me, and I miss the girl beneath the armour," he poked at the plates pinned to her belt. "So I'd like your earrings, just for a moment, I swear!"

She gazed at him, blinking slowly. "I don't want to worry again." she murmured, barely audible over her soft breaths.

"I won't let you worry," he promised. "I know you can do this, Marinette. We'll do this together. Please?"

"You can do this, Marinette."

She was so close. The spinning colours seemed miles away, when she was basking in the gaze of kind green eyes.

"You can do this, Marinette!" cried the friendly voice, breath recovered and sounding overjoyed. "I believe in you! Listen to him!"

She listened for him again. "May I please have the earrings, Marinette?"

Her hands didn't move, at first. She couldn't. Something in her screamed the moment she tried, hissed and spat and refused to move. It felt wrong, moving to take them off. But why?

There was something important, so important, that she was forgetting. But what? What was she forgetting, what was making her very heart recoil like a spring?

"Marinette?!"

The voice.

It clicked.

Don't leave me, she thought to herself.

"Don't leave me," she whispered to the world, and it narrowed down, held her close.

"I won't!" the voice cried. "I swear, I WILL come back to you, Marinette! But only you can make me detransform!"

De-transform?

Adrien, she thought, a brief spurt of terror launching through her at revealing herself to him.

Revealing myself?

"It's okay! He won't know!" the voice reassured her. "Please, Marinette? Just this once?"

Marinette's hands found her ears.

She reached for both clasps.

There was a click, and the world was flooded with light.

The moment Marinette's earrings fell away from her ears, the transformation melted away into the ground and the Akuma fluttered off to escape. Adrien moved to catch it, but quick as a whip, something red flicked past, and it was gone.

What was that? He fretted. Was that... Ladybug? Or something else?

Marinette made a small, worried noise.

Trying not to worry, he turned to Marinette. She was still curled up next to him, but now her teeth were worrying her lip in a familiar action.

He gently rested a hand on her shoulder. "Hey, Marinette," he murmured. "How do you feel?"

"Aah," she voiced, sounding rather close to panic.

"Take your time," he added belatedly, slowly moving to rub circles into her back. "Deep breaths."

"Right! Right. Deep breaths," Marinette repeated. "In, out, in, out…"

"Slowly," Adrien reminded her. She listened, and soon she was breathing somewhat normally again.

"Sorry," she murmured at least, turning away. "I- I- I was just so angry!" she whispered, sounding horrified at herself.

"Hey, hey, it's alright," he reassured her when he noticed her breathing pick up again. "Chloe isn't the nicest girl, and what she said today was miles over the line. You deserve to be angry."

"Yes, but, but… I shouldn't have given in like that." Despite her defensive pose, he managed to wrap an arm around her and pull her close.

"Marinette, I've never seen anyone fight an akuma like that, and be so sweet even after they were transformed," Adrien said honestly. "You're amazing and strong, and I couldn't imagine a soul who wouldn't be proud of you for how you resisted."

Marinette said nothing, but sniffled a few times, trying to restore herself. "You're too sweet," she accused.

"Not really," he replied bashfully. "There are plenty out there sweeter than me."

"Like who?" Marinette sniffled again.

"You," he admitted freely, deeply enjoying her bright smile and cherry-red face as she gasped in surprise. "After all, you dough live in a bakery."

Marinette groaned and Adrien laughed.

After a beat, Marinette held out her hand, and Adrien returned her earrings, now cleaned - somehow - from the akuma. She took them hastily and tucked them back into her ears, breathing a sigh of relief.

"Thank you, Adrien," she said, managing to look flustered and sad at the same time. "...did you mean it? About helping me?"

"Of course." he said, not missing a beat.

"I don't deserve you, you… dork," she accused, but huddled closer.

Adrien pulled her in and counted that as a win.

A/N:

Thanks for reading this little plot bunny, I had fun writing it! I've been in a creative ditch lately but MLB managed to drag me out of it again, and I've fallen back in love with the story and characters of this show (though I've yet to have a chance to see season 2). While at the moment I don't have any plans to continue this story further, if I get an idea and there's enough interest I'll see about writing a sequel. In the meantime, you're free to write extensions to this story or suggest how things might go after this event! Until next time!