"Milady!" Chat caught Ladybug as she fell to the ground. A few seconds passed. Her eyes flew open. Ladybug, with Chat's help, stood up. She turned to the Paladins.

"We need to get back to Earth now! Paris, no- Our planet is in danger, and Chat and I are the only ones who can stop it." Ladybug stressed.

"How bad is it..?" Hunk worried. "Is it, like ran-out-of-yogurt-because-Lance-ate-it-all-

through-his-nose bad, or evil-aliens-want-to-destroy-your-planet-just-because-they're-evil-and-

they-said-so bad?"

"More like Earth's-inhabitants-are-floating-away-with limited-oxygen-supply-due-to-an-

evil-supervillain bad. Sir, is there any way we can get back to our planet sooner?" Ladybug asked, worry evident in her voice.

Coran scrunched up his face, thinking. Hunk butted in, "I think that if I made a few modifications to the thrusters, we might be able to cut our journey by 25%. So, about 1 ½ days, give or take a few hours."

Ladybug still looked concerned, but Chat put a hand on her shoulder, reassuring his lady. "That would be great. Thank mew for helping us."

Allura smiled. "No problem. It's the least we could do. You both floated a long way from your planet, it's about time someone helped you back."

Suddenly, a thought came to Ladybug. "Wait, what's the date? I mean, how long has it been since we fought that akuma? Moon-Lander was akumatized Friday, the 5th of April." She stated.

Keith sighed. "Today's the 23rd. You've been in space eighteen days. Without food or water, I might add."

Ladybug's pigtails seemed to droop as her eyes widened. Chat's jaw dropped. He ran a gloved hand through his hair.

"We've been missing for over two weeks. It's official. I am a dead man. My father is literally going to kill me. Goodbye, sky. Goodbye, fresh air. Goodbye, school. Man, It was nice to have some sort of freedom before I was slaughtered by my own father."

"What will my parents think? I can't tell them I'm Ladybug, they'd be in danger. I can see Maman's face now, what will she say? Will she think I've run away? I've probably broken poor Papa's heart. I'm a failure!" Ladybug whimpered.

Hunk stared at the two now fretting heroes. "Guys, I've been in space for years. I'm pretty sure when I get home, I'm going to be on banana duty for the rest of my life."

"Banana duty?" Pidge snickered.

"My family makes these amazing banana fritter things, and the job that no one wants to do is cutting and slicing bananas. We make a lot of fritters, and so you have to prepare a lot of bananas. It's boring and painful. But they're soooo good!" Hunk licked his lips, savoring the memory of sweet, crispy Panikeke.

"You bake?" Ladybug tilted her head, a smile tugging at her lips.

Hunk grinned. "Yeah, we do a lot of cooking at my house. It's a fun, er, well, bonding experience."

All of the paladins laughed (or half-smiled, in Keith's case) at that. But for the life of them, Ladybug and Chat couldn't figure out why. No matter.

"Thank you all again for helping us." The pig-tailed heroine beamed.

Shiro smiled. "Thank you for protecting Earth in our absence."

"Well, it's our duty as supurrheroes." Chat punned, a Cheshire cat grin spreading across his face like melted butter.

"So, Chat. We met Ladybug's kwami. Do you have one?" Pidge asked, her head tilted to the left.

Chat smiled. "I do. His name is Plagg, and let's just say that he's not as sweet as Tikki. He's grumpy, selfish, and sarcastic. And, for reasons unknown to me, loves camembert cheese. Like, he won't eat anything else. He's a greedy little-"

"Oh come off it," Ladybug said, playfully smacking her partner in the arm. "I've met Plagg, and sometimes he can be sweet!"

"Sometimes. Key word in that sentence is sometimes." The black masked hero laughed. "But Plagg is dependable. He gives me good advice, and he's a good friend. Without him, I certainly wouldn't be where I am right now."

"Yeah, you'd be back on Earth, on solid ground, probably sleeping right now." Ladybug laughed.

"Sleeping? It's only 10:00! No one should have to go to sleep that early." Pidge complained. Obviously, she was not the "early to bed, early to rise" type of person.

"Akuma attacks can happen anytime, anywhere. I can't tell you the amount of times I've had to get out of school, sleep, even friend get-togethers! I'm one lucky black cat if I can get even six hours of sleep."

"Yeesh. And I used to dream of being a superhero." Keith shook his head.

"Not that we're saying it isn't worth it. If we didn't receive our miraculouses when we did, who knows what Hawkmoth could have done?" Ladybug explained. "It's really cool to be able to help all those people. And swinging on my yoyo? It feels like, better than flying. There's no words to describe how much fun it is. Being Ladybug is a tough job, but I wouldn't give it up. Not until we defeat Hawkmoth and put evil in its place."


It was time to turn in for the night. Allura offered to let Ladybug bunk with her, while Lance took Chat Noir in. These arrangements were only temporary, until they could set up rooms for the newcomers.

"So what's between you and that Chat Noir fellow?" Allura asked, a smile on her face as she tossed a pillow down for Ladybug to use.

"Depending on who you ask, you'd get different results. Everybody else seems to think we're soulmates, but…"

"You like someone else." The Princess finished.

"And I feel bad, I really do. Chat is someone I can rely on to always have my back. He's an amazing fighter, and a good friend. And I would never tell him this, but sometimes, his jokes can be funny. He's always believed in me, even when I didn't. I think… maybe, if I didn't fall for this other boy first, things might be different. We'll never know. Chat is head over heels for me, but... I can't say I feel the same way. I'm in love with Adr-" Ladybug stopped and blushed, aware that she had almost revealed her crush's name.

"OOH! I want to know about this mystery guy."

"But-"

"No. I'm not from Earth, and I doubt knowing his name would make a big difference to me. Spill." Allura smirked. She didn't know what prompted her to act this way around this girl, but it had been so long. Allura didn't have another girl around to talk about boys with. And Pidge didn't fit the mold.

Ladybug sighed. Maybe opening up to this girl would be a good thing? She reminded her of Alya, and well… Alya was probably tired of hearing about how much Marinette was in love with Adrien.

"His name is Adrien. Adrien Agreste. He's smart, talented, funny, generous… He has the kindest heart. Not to mention that he's absolutely gorgeous." Ladybug pulled out her yoyo and used it to look up a picture of her beloved blond boy. She showed the photo to Allura.

"Ooh, he is a hottie. I can see why you like him."

Twin roses bloomed in the heroine's cheeks. "I-It's not like that! He lent me his umbrella the third day of school. It was pounding rain, and he just… Adrien Agreste is perfect."

Allura laughed. "Ah, young love. I'd forgotten what that looked like."

"You won't tell Chat?" The bluenette asked sheepishly.

"No way. Your secret's safe with me."

"And me" Pidge thought. Eavesdropping probably wasn't the smartest idea, but itwas an accident! Who knew that girl talk could be so interesting? Granted, she only caught the tail end of it, but still!

And now, Pidge knew that Ladybug was in love with a model, of all things. Back at her school, she knew plenty of girls (and guys, for that matter) who thought that Adrien Agreste was "the very image of human perfection". Could Ladybug be as shallow as Valentina Harris? But she seemed so sweet! It seemed that Pidge still had things to learn about the heroes.


"So, are you and Ladybug, like, dating?" Lance asked nonchalantly.

Chat narrowed his green eyes, tail twitching aggressively. "Why do you ask?"

"Man, chill. I'm not moving in on your girl. I've just seen the way you look at her. I was just curious." Lance held up his hands in defense.

The leather clad hero sighed, flopping back onto his air mattress. "I wish we were. I love that girl, but… There's 'another boy'."

Lance groaned. "That's the worst. Are they dating, or does he not feel the same way about her?"

"I don't think they're dating. If he doesn't like her back… I can't see how that's possible. That dude must be blind not to notice how incredible she is. She's smart, creative, so amazingly kind-hearted… If he doesn't like her back, he's oblivious to her greatness."

Lance laughed. This teenager was obviously smitten.

"What about you? Anyone you have your eye on?" Chat Noir asked innocently.

Lance paused to think about this. Allura should've come to mind. But instead of fabulous white hair, a black mullet came to mind. Amethyst eyes replaced sky… NO! This was wrong! In love with Keith? That's just… Ew! What was wrong with him?

"I.. Allura. I'm in love with Allura." Lance didn't know who he was stating that to more. He couldn't be in love with Mullet-head. That's insane.

"Ah. The Princess? Interesting."

"But she pushes back all of my advances. I'm literally laying my heart out on a plate, easy for her to reach out and take, but she just turns the other way. I've tried every trick in the book."

Chat's smile was pained. "It seems we're in the same boat."

Lance forced a smile. "I guess so." He faked a yawn.

"I'm thinking lights out. You?"

"I thought you'd never ask."

Pidge sighed. She really needed to stop (accidently) eavesdropping.


Argh! I was supposed to update this yesterday morning, but my dog for the great idea to throw up. (She's fine now though) And life decided to be a jerk today. So I apologize for this slightly late update. But hey, at least I got it up now, right? Thanks for reading! Reviews make my day!

-Bookish Owl