Warning: Lots of breaks ahead. Hope everyone had a happy and safe fourth!


I'll definitely ask Adrien to the fireworks! Marinette thought as she glared at the back of the blondes head in anticipation.

Every year on the fourth day of July, the Americans who lived in Paris would get together and throw a huge party that would end in a great colorful fireworks show. Normally, Marinette would go with her family just for the fun of it but this year was different. This year she wanted it to be special.

Just she and Adrien Agreste, sitting side by side on a picnic blanket. They would gasp at the fireworks and their hands would touch.

They would gaze at one another and start to lean in slowly, slowly, slowly until their lips would tou-

"Marinette Dupain Cheng! What on earth are you doing?!"

Marinette shouted in surprise as the science teacher, and the entire class stared at her. She felt the blood rush to her face and chuckled nervously.

"Sorry! It won't happen again!"

The teacher hummed and turned back to the board to continue her lesson. Marinette glanced at Adrien, who had given her a concerned look before turning around.

Marinette groaned to herself and put her head down.

Can it get any worse?


"You've got it, girl! Just be casual!" Alya patted her friend on the back as she guided them towards their targets. Nino and Adrien were standing outside of the school, chatting about the day as they waited for their rides.

"What's up, Alya! Marinette!" Nino greeted. Marinette smiled in return before turning to Adrien. He gave her his all-star smile and she thought her heart would burst out of her chest. "You girls going to the fireworks tonight?"

"Of course, what about you two?" Alya asked. She winked at Marinette, making sure the tone was set for her friend.

"I'm going and I can't wait!" Nino responded. Adrien, on the other hand, shrugged a shoulder.

"I was actually planning on asking my dad if we could go together." He scratched the back of his neck, feeling slightly embarrassed. His answer deflated Marinette and she couldn't help but feel a little disappointed.

"I hope you have fun," Marinette replied, putting on a fake smile.


Fire Squad Building

"But Pops! I'm ready to actually join and be apart of the team!" A boy with a slight country accent said. In his hand was a homemade firework he wanted badly added into the show. His father, a tall olive toned man with hazel eyes shook his head.

"We've talked about this, Cole. You aren't ready to handle the fireworks like we do! This is serious. One wrong move and people could get hurt!"

"I'll be careful!" Cole followed his dad as he worked, organizing the fireworks for the Independence Day show they put on every year. "If you would just give me another chance!"

"No!" Cole backed away when his father turned and glared at him. "The first chance I gave you sent your little sister to the hospital! She isn't here today because she didn't want to be around you during this time of year! You should be back home in America; not her!"

His fathers' word stung Cole. Without another word, the teen turned and hurried away from his father. Tears streamed down his face when he remembered the permanent burn on his sister's arm. He didn't mean to get her hurt! It was all an accident.

If she wasn't standing so close...

Cole gazed down at the firework he made. It was a simple one. Shaped like a candlestick and wrapped with an array of colors.

Why won't he give me another chance!?

Across Paris, a man wearing a dark suit and mask smiled as a giant circular window opened to reveal the city of Paris.

"Ah...a boy wanting to prove his father wrong. Full of guilt and anger. A perfect victim for my Akuma."

Hawkmoth, the most feared villain in Paris, wrapped his hand around a bright butterfly and infused it with dark energy. A sinister laugh left him as he released it.

"Fly, my little Akuma, and evillise him!"

Cole drew his arm back, ready to throw the firework as far as he could before something stopped him. A dark and powerful feeling embraced him. He felt strong. He felt confident.

He felt superior.

"Hello, Bomber," the voice of Hawkmoth entered Cole's mind and the boy, drawn by the power, paid attention. "I am Hawkmoth. I understand you want to feel appreciated. You want to prove your father wrong, is that correct?"

"I do," Cole looked down at the firework and squeezed it tightly. "I want to show him that I can help! That I'm ready!"

"Then, how about I give you that chance. In return, you must bring me the Ladybug and Cat miraculous! Do we have a deal?"

"Yes, Hawkmoth..."


"Are you coming, sweetie?" Sabine asked as she and Tom stood at the door. Marinette stumbled down the stairs in a hurry, trying to get ahold of her purse while she messed with her hair. She wasn't sure why she decided to wear it down. Maybe she wanted a change after her fail of asking Adrien out.

"Ready!" she said, snatching a couple of cookies for Tikki.

"You look lovely, pumpkin," Tom said as he touched her hair. "You should wear that style more often. It makes you look like a lovely young adult."

"Thanks, dad," Marinette kissed her father on the cheek before the family left to the Eiffel Tower.


"Absolutely not, Adrien."

Adrien stared at his father in shock. He had hoped that tonight would be a good chance for he and his father to actually spend some quality time together. After all, he had given up a chance to go with his friends in hopes that his father would agree to go with him. But clearly, he was wrong.

"But, father. I'm sure you'll love it!" Adrien followed Gabriel Agreste into his office and rested his hands on his desk as the man sat in his chair. He picked up his tablet and started to swipe trough important emails from other designers as he listened to his son. "The fireworks are going to be beautiful. You may even find inspiration from it!"

"Adrien," Gabriel put down the tablet and put his hands together, starting to become slightly impatient. "What purpose do we have of going to see a bunch of metal explode into colors in the sky?"

"Well...I was hoping we could spend some time together..." Adrien said, his head down. Gabriel stared at his son for a moment. He knew that they didn't spend much time together. Of course, he wanted to; he loved his son after all...

But he had another important matter to deal with...

"I'm sorry, son...however, if you want, you are allowed to go with your friends. I'll have Natali-"

"Don't bother," Adrien cut his father off and left the office without another word. Natalie watched the blond teen march to his room, fists clenched and face in a permanent frown. He entered his room and slammed the door shut, his heart heavy.

"Well, at least that wasn't so bad. Look on the bright side," Plagg said as he left Adrien's pockets to go to his cheese stash. "I can spend the night eating this wonderful, delectable treat." He tossed a piece in the air and hummed as he chewed it up.

"I don't understand, Plagg." Adrien plopped down on his couch with a deep sigh. "Why doesn't he ever want to spend time with me? That's all I ask of him." He grabbed the remote and turned the tv on. He didn't feel up to going to see the fireworks anymore.

"—destroying all of Paris apparently in the name of America! He calls himself, the Bomber."

"What!" Adrien sat up and looked a the screen that displayed a news outbreak. The reporter, Nadja Chamack, was standing not too far from the Eiffel Tower. Behind her was pure chaos. Citizens were running blindly away from where the fireworks were supposed to start. Two light beams were pointed at the tower, illuminating a guy wearing red, white, and blue face paint and a cape with firework patterns. In his hand was something that looked like a stick.

"Happy Independence day!" he shouted before pointing the stick at a nearby building. Adrien watched in horror as a ball of light shot from the stick and exploded on the side of the building, sending chunks of brick and debris raining down onto the street below.

"Well, that doesn't look good." Plagg said as he swallowed another piece of cheese.

"It sure doesn't," Adrien stood up and gave a smirk to the Kwami. "Guess we're going to see the fireworks after all. Plagg, claws out!"


Marinette and her parents arrived at the Eiffel tower, finding a comfortable spot in the grass. They laid out their blankets and picnic basket, excited to see the show. Sabine and Tom went to talk to the neighbors they spotted, leaving Marinette with the goodies.

"Are you excited, Marinette?" the girl looked down at her purse to see her Kwami peeking out. Her tiny jaw moved as she snacked on one of the cookies Marinette put in the purse for her.

"I want to be but..." Marinette looked around the area, trying to spot the one person she wanted to see the fireworks with. However, there wasn't any blonde or green to be seen.

"Don't worry, I'm sure he'll show up!" Tikki said, trying to cheer the girl up. Marinette smiled in return but still, she couldn't help but feel slightly disappointed. Suddenly, the ground seemed to rock and a huge booming sound like thunder spread throughout the area.

"What was that!?" She quickly stood and tried to find where it came from. As if on cue, another explosion went off, this time at the top of the tower. She looked up as two beams shone on a man dressed in a onesie that looked like...

The American flag?

"Happy Independence day!" he shouted. He aimed a stick-like object in his hand at a nearby building and watch a ball of light leave it and cause part of the building to explode and crumble. Screams and shouts of terror resonated around her as people ran from the spots that took to find shelter from the attack. The man laughed and grabbed his cape that had a firework design on it and jumped from the building.

He spotted Marinette and with a sickening grin, pointed the stick at her. She froze in fear as she saw the ball of light leave the stick, aiming right for her. She put her arms up, covering her face and bracing for impact before she felt someone tackle her. The two of them rolled out of the way of the attack and it slammed into a fountain, sending tile and water into the air.

"You okay, Princess?" Marinette opened her eyes and gazed up into green opens, surrounded by a black mask.

"Chat!" she gasped in surprise as he helped her stand.

"At your service!" Without warning, he picked her up, bridal style and jumped into the air. They landed on top of a nearby building and he put her down gently. "Get as far away as you can. I'll try to hold him off, alright?" Marinette nodded before watching him jump back down to the ground. He swiftly took out his baton and extended it, facing off with the Bomber.

"Alright, Tikki," Marinette opened her purse and let the Kwami out. "You ready to end this show?"

"Always!" Tikki flipped, ready for battle.

"Tikki, spots on!"


"Here you go kitty cat! I'm sure you'll have a blast with this!" Bomber pointed his stick at Chat, sending ball after ball at him. Chat dodged each one but he couldn't help but notice the destruction it was causing behind him.

"Leave the puns to me, pal!" He replied before dodging another attack.

"Seems like you have everything under control," Chat Noir glanced at his side to see Ladybug land next to him. He smiled and felt his heart begin to beat faster at the girl of his dreams. He felt a blush consume his face when he noticed her hair wasn't in its usual style. Instead, it was down, softly touching her shoulders like a midnight waterfall. He shook his head, trying to get back with the situation.

"Just about but I still wouldn't pass up an opportunity to fight beside you, bugaboo." He flirted. "Watch out!" he said as they jumped apart to avoid an attack.

"You two might as well hand over your miraculous or I'll blow this city to pieces!" Bomber said. He aimed at another building, making it explode with colors and brick.

"We've gotta stop him," Chat said, baton at ready. "I'm pretty sure the Akuma is in that stick in his hand!"

"No problem," Ladybug grabbed her yo-yo and tossed it in the air. "Lucky Charm!" Her yo-yo shined brightly before making the item that she would need appear. However, in her hand dropped a bucket...

An empty bucket.

"What!?" she said, looking at it in confusion.

"Well, not exactly what I was hoping would appear." Chat said, staring a the bucket in mild disappointment. "But I'm sure you'll figure out what to do with that."

Ladybug hummed in thought as she looked around the area, trying to spot the components that would link up with the bucket.

Fountain

Cape

Baton

Face Paint

Got it!

"Chat, get your baton ready but keep him busy!"

"As you wish, milady!" Chat said and without hesitation, he ran towards bomber, making sure the attention was on him. Ladybug hurried to the broken fountain and found a trickle of water still coming from it. She placed the bucket under it and waited for it to fill up. Behind her, grunts and shouts of fighting could be heard as Chat keep the Bomber busy. She flinched everytime an explosion went off, her mind hoping that one wasn't aiming towards her.

"Finally!" she said as the bucket was filled up enough. She grabbed it and carefully ran back to battle with it. Chat had the Bomber's back towards Ladybug, so the enemy wasn't able to see her come up behind him. "Hey!"

The bomber turned around only to get a face full of water. His paint began to run and get into his eyes, temporarily blinding him. He yelled in pain as he tried to wipe his eyes but to no avail. Ladybug grabbed his cape and tied it to Chat's baton.

"Extend it!" she said. On command, he extended his baton, sending the bomber high into the air. The sudden lift shocked bomber and in his panic, his hand opened, releasing the firework. Ladybug caught it and snapped it in half. A smile spread across her face as a black butterfly flew from the destroyed object. "No more evil doing for you little Akuma."

Yo-yo in hand, she spun it and captured the Akuma. With a sigh, she opened it and watched the newly reborn butterfly fly away.

"Bye-bye, little butterfly." she picked up the bucket and tossed it in the air. "Miraculous Ladybug!"

A wave of ladybugs coated with a light spread out in a wave, bringing all the destruction that was caused back to normal. The bomber's outfit disappeared and in his place was a boy not much older than the heroes themselves. Chat shrank his baton until the boy was softly placed back on the ground.

"Are you okay?" Ladybug asked him. He blinked his eyes a couple of times before finally looking at her.

"What...what happened?" he asked in English, throwing off Ladybug. As a villain, he had spoken French the entire time but now she couldn't understand a word he said. Luckily, Chat understood what he said. After all, he had to study all types of languages.

"Don't worry about that," Chat replied in perfect English. Ladybug stared at him, stunned by his bilingual talent. "Just know that you're safe. I can help you get back to your family if you want."

"That would be nice..." The boy said with a weak smile. Chat gave ladybug a wink and before he walked away, he put his fist up. "Until next time."

"Pound it!" they said before Chat guided the American boy away.

Ladybug sighed in relief and hurried to find a place to detransform.


"Marinette!"

The girl turned around and smiled when she spotted her parents running towards her. They tackled her in a hug, glad that every one of them was safe.

"I'm so sorry! We came back to our spot but couldn't find you!" Tom said, gently holding her face. Marinette smiled and held her father's hands.

"It's alright, Dad. Chat got me away from danger. I'm just glad that you two were safe."

They hugged, their hearts slowing in relief.

"Do you want to go back home, sweetie?" Sabine asked. "I heard that they were still continuing with the fireworks but after the event just now..."

"I think I do want to stay," Marinette replied. "After all, this is a family moment."

Slowly, people began to head back to the area they had chosen. Some picked up their things to leave while other decided to stay, relieved that the danger was over.


"Cole!" Cole and Chat stood in the entrance of the Fire Squad building as his father hurried to him, an angered look on his face. "What on earth were you thinking?!"

"I was just—"

"This is why I didn't want to give you a second chance!" his father cut him off. Cole ducked his head, his shoulders tense. "You could have hurt so many people tonight! How could you have been so selfish!?"

"But...I just wanted to show you that I was ready to work with you..." Cole said softly.

"But you weren't, son!" his father snapped. "Which is why I'm sending you back to America first thing tomorrow! Go upstairs and stay in the lounge until the night is over. We'll talk about this more when we get home!"

Defeated, Cole shuffled away from Chat and his father, shame consuming his heart. Chat watched, knowing exactly how the boy was feeling. He knew why Cole did what he did. He understood everything that was going on...but the father didn't...

"Thank you so much for saving my hardheaded son." Chat turned his attention back to the man, who held his hand out to shake. "I don't understand why he insisted on trying to prove himself. All he's done was make a fool of him and me. I'm very sorry for all this trouble." Chat stared at the man's hand and went to shake it...but stopped himself.

"With all due respect sir, he was trying to prove himself to you for a specific reason." Chat said. His heart sped as he watched the expression on the man's face flatten. He retreated his hand and listened as CHat continued to speak.

"Oh, and why is that? So he could blow up any firework he wanted?"

"No...he wanted to spend more time with you. Especially on an important day for you." Chat watched as a frown appeared on the father's face. "I know that the way he went about it was wrong but he only wanted to show you that you could have trust in him. That you two could work together...like a family..."

Chat's own father came to mind. He was positive the man was still sitting in his office, slumped over his tablet. His chest squeezed in pain but he pushed it aside. If he couldn't fix the relationship between them he at least wanted Cole to have what he always wanted.

"I see..." He looked towards the steps that his son took upstairs and sighed. "Maybe I was a bit too harsh on him..."

"Just talk to him. I'm sure you two can work something out...and maybe you could even agree to take him on as an apprentice..." Chat said before turning to leave. "Just...let him be around you more...it's what he wants..." And with that, Chat jumped off into the night, heading towards the Eiffel tower.

He found an alleyway near the area and detranformed, sighing deeply from exhaustion.

"Seems like someone is having a few family issues," Plagg said with a small smile. Adrien frowned at the Kwami before leaving the alley. he gazed around, spotting people still sitting and waiting for the show. Suddenly, someone caught his attention. A girl with dark hair that fell around her shoulders was standing at a cart, waiting for ice cream. Adrien hurried over to her and without thinking, he placed his hand on her shoulder.

Marinette turned around and jumped in shock when she came face to face with Adrien Agreste.

He touched my shoulder!

"Oh, hey Marinette!" Adrien said. He did feel a bit disappointed that it was his classmate but he was still happy to see a familiar face.

"Adrien! Me near, I mean," Marinette stuttered. She mentally slapped herself and chuckled nervously. "You're...here..."

"Yeah, I decided to come on my own. Father was too busy..." he said. She noticed his face sadden a little but he quickly recovered, hoping that she didn't see his disappointment.

"Oh well, um...you can watch with me, I mean my family!" she pointed to the blanket where her mother and father were sitting, munching on the pastries that they packed. "We won't mind."

"Really?" he asked, his excitement spiking. She nodded, a blush covering her face. The ice cream vendor, Andre, handed two cones to her and two cones to Adrien.

"Oh, I only ordered two!" she said. She went to hold the two she had in one hand as she reached for money.

"No, no. Please, enjoy this night, Mademoiselle et Monsuier!" Andre replied with a smile. "This is on me! Go now! Before the show starts!"

With a grateful nod, they headed back to the blankets with the cones. Sabine and Tom welcomed Adrien without hesitation, causing the boy's heart to feel...

Full...

"Thanks, Marinette," Marinette looked at Adrien, taking in his thankful expression. "For letting me do this with you guys."

"Of course..." she replied softly.

Suddenly, a loud boom echoed throughout the air but this time the two knew what it was from. They looked up and gasped as a spray of gold and blue filled the air. One after another, the fireworks went off above them. Red, blue, green, and gold lighting up the midnight blue sky.

Marinette took a chance to glance at Adrien and she felt her lungs freeze as she noticed him already staring at her. She wasn't sure if it was the sound of the firework exploding or her own heart as they gazed at one another. However, she knew that she would give anything for this moment to stay the way it was.

Just her, Adrien, and this explosive feeling blossoming in her chest.


Wrote this while I was deployed last year. For July 4th, the love of my life and I climbed on top of our little rooms and sat on the roof to watch the fireworks. It was an amazing and calming night and I'll never forget it. This time around, we (along with my best friend) went out and ate 3 pounds of seafood. I hope everyone had a safe and fun filled fourth of July.