As Marinette and Adrien run to find a corner to transform in, Tikki and Plagg fly out of their hiding spots in Marinette's purse and Adrien's jacket pocket and exchange nervous glances.
"What? What is it?" asks Marinette. "What's with the weird expressions?"
"It's just…Marinette, you haven't transformed since you had your growth spurt," says Tikki, with a frown.
"And neither have you, kid," adds Plagg. "Basically, we just want to warn you that things might not go as planned tonight."
"What is that supposed to mean?" asks Adrien, brows furrowed. "Why didn't you explain this to us earlier? We could have practiced."
Plagg shrugs. "We were on holiday! I didn't think an akuma would show up until we got back to Paris. Why bother making the effort?"
He sighs. "We were having such a good run, too."
Tikki interjects. "Usually, we talk to our chosens and make modifications to the suit based on their individual physical changes, but as you both know, we haven't had the chance to do that yet, for either of you. So I'm a little worried!"
Marinette frowns. "Is it really going to be that bad? We're running out of time—Adrien and I need to get back in there as soon as possible or the wedding will really be ruined. The Heartbreaker doesn't seem like a very patient akuma."
Tikki tries to shake her head reassuringly. "No, no—not necessarily! Um…let's just see how it goes for now?"
Marinette and Adrien shrug.
"Let's go for it then!" shouts Adrien as Marinette nods.
"Transforme-moi!" they yell in unison, and Plagg and Tikki gulp before diving into the ring and the earrings.
Everything seems fine and dandy at first…until they start moving.
As Ladybug pulls out her yo-yo, Chat Noir pulls out his baton and tries to leap, but immediately keels over onto Ladybug and knocks her over.
"Ow!"
"I'm so sorry! I—I think I've lost my center of balance—this hasn't happened since I first got my Miraculous. And I haven't been back to fencing practice in at least a month either."
Ladybug rubs her arm and frowns. "I think it's because you're so much taller now, you have to reorient yourself. I don't think you're going to have time to figure this out. Maybe we should just run there instead?"
Chat Noir nods. "Good idea. It's not that far from here anyway."
He gets up and extends an arm to Ladybug to help her up. But as they start rushing back towards the reception area, she suddenly makes a face and stops running.
Chat Noir, who is several paces ahead, realizes that she's stopped moving and runs back to her. "What's wrong? Is everything okay?"
"It…it hurts to run," says Ladybug, grimacing.
Chat Noir furrows his eyebrows. "Did you twist your ankle? Do your legs hurt? Should I carry you?"
She flushes underneath the mask and groans.
"Uh…no…it has nothing to do with my legs at all, actually."
"What do you mean?"
"What I'm trying to say is that there's no support in my suit. Not even a sports bra."
"Um…"
"I'm jiggling, Chat Noir."
Sweat beads form on his temples as he fully processes what she's saying.
"So you mean—it's your—it's your chest that hurts…?"
"Yeah." She looks down and frowns. "How on earth am I supposed to do flips like this? What if I get hit in the face and get a black eye?"
Chat Noir gulps. "I don't think—I mean—they're big but they're not—they're not that big—I—"
Chat Noir stops talking as he hears Plagg's voice echoing through his mind.
Kid, quit while you're ahead.
Ladybug stares at her partner for several seconds before looking back down at her chest as a steely expression settles on her face.
"You know what? Screw this. I don't care. I'm going to fight anyway. I don't care if it hurts. I can handle this."
"Are…are you sure?" asks Chat Noir hesitantly, as he backs away and accidentally knocks over a large vase, cringing as it falls over and shatters. "Is there anything I can do to help?"
Ladybug shakes her head. "No. But I'm just going to deal with it. Something tells me we won't have to try too hard to capture the Heartbreaker. And maybe—you shouldn't try to use your baton too much either? Until you get control of your limbs again, that is."
Chat Noir snorts. "I don't doubt that. If he's anything like the other high society guys I've met at Père's company events, he's all talk."
When they arrive back on the scene, it's pretty clear that Chat Noir was right; The Heartbreaker is an akuma whose bark is far worse than his bite.
And even the bark isn't that threatening.
He looks like a mannequin mixed with a caricature of some Greek statue of Eros, chalk white and barefoot with red eyes, wearing a bowtie, cuff links, and a little loincloth.
He's carrying a golden bow and arrow as he runs around, shouting petulantly as his sister stares in dismay at the mess he's making of her wedding reception.
"Where's that baker's daughter? I'm gonna show her how a real man kisses and break that other dude's face!"
When The Heartbreaker finally shoots a bunch of golden arrows at several female guests, the only effect it seems to have is to increase their disgust at his behavior, and they stalk away, scowling at his antics.
Chat Noir stares in disbelief at the sight as Ladybug tries to hold back her laughter.
"I think I liked it better when I was fighting Dislocoeur. At least he was a real threat."
"Probably because you got to kiss me, isn't it?"
Ladybug rolls her eyes. "Don't get cocky, minou."
"Hey, you know you enjoyed it."
"And you didn't even remember it!"
Chat Noir smirks. "Well, I guess you'll have to remind me what it was like then, won't you? Anyway, I think his akuma is in the bowtie."
"Are you sure it's not the cuff links?" says Ladybug, frowning.
"Definitely. He was wearing that before, but he didn't have the cuff links. You didn't notice?"
Chat Noir is surprised. His lady always notices every little detail on an outfit.
Ladybug flushes. "Honestly? I was too busy waiting for you and imagining what you were wearing to pay attention to him."
"Oh—well…wow," he replies, blushing as well, feeling his pulse start to race.
The fact that his lady wants him as much as he wants her still doesn't feel quite real; even though he knows that their feelings are mutual, he's still not sure he's ever going to get used to it—it still almost seems too wonderful to be true.
"But I think you're right," she says. "I think the best way to get him is to distract him—we need to get his attention first, though."
Chat Noir nods, but they don't have to make any moves, as The Heartbreaker finally takes notice of the two heroes standing at the entrance of the reception area and walks up to them with a scowl.
"HEY! BUG QUEEN AND CAT BOY? WHERE'S THAT GIRL?"
Ladybug shrugs and smiles smugly. "I'm afraid Marinette can't come here right now."
"If you don't tell me where she is right now, I'm going to have to take your Miraculouses."
"I'd like to see you try," says Ladybug, narrowing her eyes as she glares up at him, arms akimbo.
"Why, you little—"
As The Heartbreaker lunges for her throat, Chat Noir pounces to the ground.
"CATACLYSM!"
The attack creates a fissure in the marble terrace, shaking the ground and causing The Heartbreaker to lose his balance and fall flat onto his face.
"You broke my nose!" he howls, writhing on the ground. "My perfect face! How could you?!"
Ladybug sighs. She's never going to get ahold of the bowtie if The Heartbreaker is rolling around on the ground like a three year old who's just been denied candy at the grocery store.
"Heartbreaker, you're breaking everyone's ears with your shouting, not their hearts. It's time for this little temper tantrum to end. LUCKY CHARM!"
Two mannequins dressed exactly like Marinette and Adrien fall from the sky and land face down on the ground right in front of her.
"What am I supposed to do with these?!" says Ladybug.
"Definitely not what I was expecting," comments Chat Noir, staring at the mannequins with surprise.
Ladybug looks back and forth between the mannequins and The Heartbreaker, when she suddenly realizes what she needs to do. She looks at her partner and he immediately makes the connection as well, and they both run over to the mannequins.
Ladybug lifts up the one that looks like Adrien while Chat Noir lifts up the one that looks like Marinette, and they pose them like they're kissing in a nearby corner.
Ladybug winks at Chat Noir and places both of mannequin Adrien's hands on mannequin Marinette's rather well endowed posterior, earning herself a blush and a cough from her partner before he realizes he can exact revenge, and he moves mannequin Marinette's arms from their chaste position around Adrien's neck to his butt as well, arranging her hands in a rather suggestive position and tousling her hair.
Ladybug sticks out her tongue at Chat Noir before turning back to The Heartbreaker, who is still writing around on the ground, concerned only with his ruined physical appearance.
"Hey Heartbreaker!" she shouts, pointing at the mannequins. "Look, aren't those the two people you were looking for?"
"HOW DARE THEY KISS IN FRONT OF ME? DO THEY KNOW WHO I AM? I'M GOING TO GET THEM!"
The Heartbreaker gets up and rushes furiously to tackle the mannequins, blinking in confusion when they fall over as soon as he touches them.
Quickly realizing that he's been fooled, he turns around with a scowl.
"You tricked me!" he shouts, getting ready to tackle Ladybug, when Chat Noir slides behind him and pins his arms behind his back.
"I don't think so," he whispers into the villain's ear. "Game over, Heartbreaker."
Despite his desperate writhing, it's clear that The Heartbreaker is no match for Chat Noir's strength, and he hangs his head as Ladybug approaches him with a grin and undoes his bowtie, ripping it up and releasing the akuma inside.
In a flash of light, everything is back to normal, and a sheepish Jacques Montmorency slinks off like a spurned tomcat, trying to avoid his older sister, who is furious at her little brother for making such a scene at her wedding reception, and all for a girl he doesn't even know.
After severely scolding Jacques and sending him to his hotel room like a disobedient child, Celine and Pierre approach Ladybug and Chat Noir with grateful smiles.
Celine reaches out to Ladybug and grasps her hands. "Thank you so much for saving our wedding reception—you don't know how much it means to us! Jacques has always been a bit of a wild child, but we never imagined that he would have lost control like this. We are so thankful that both of you came here in time."
Pierre turns to Chat Noir. "How did you know to come here, anyway?"
Chat Noir looks at Ladybug, who nods at him with a smile.
He turns back to Pierre.
"No matter where we are in France, if our citizens are in danger, we will be there!"
As Celine and Pierre walk away, a fashionable looking man in a tight shirt and jeans enters the reception area, and Ladybug immediately notices Chat Noir tensing up and trying to hide behind her.
She bites back a laugh; at 6'2, her silly kitty is more a foot taller than her at this point, and he wouldn't be able to hide even if he tried—not only is he super tall, he practically radiates handsomeness like a Greek god, and even though she's pretty sure he's stopped noticing when people are ogling him, she certainly hasn't missed the dazzled expressions on the faces of many of the wedding guests who have been watching the two of them. Her partner might be a black cat, but he would need an actual eclipse to hide the sunshine he radiates.
At 5'1, Ladybug cannot be that eclipse.
"Why are you trying to hide from that man?" she asks, trying unsuccessfully to hold back giggles. "Do you need me to get rid of him?"
"That's Giuseppe, he's my photographer for the photoshoot tomorrow—I don't want him to see me!"
"Mon chaton, I doubt he would recognize you. You look completely different when you're transformed."
"No, no, that's not it—he's always looking for ways to jazz up the photoshoots. He's the one who always insists on adding props or posing me with sexy female models. I'm afraid he's going to ask 'Chat Noir' to join him on set tomorrow, and you know I can't do that."
"Oh."
"Actually, I think you should hide too—something tells me that he would really like you…"
"Uh oh," says Ladybug, interrupting, as Giuseppe's gaze falls upon them.
"What is it?" whispers Chat Noir.
"I think he's noticed us. You wanna get out of here? We're about to detransform, anyway."
"My lady, I thought you would never ask."
Chat Noir leaps into the darkness, accidentally knocking over yet another vase as he moves, but just as Ladybug pulls out her yo-yo to make her own escape, the photographer calls to her.
"Ladybug, wait! I just have one question for you, please!"
"I'm sorry, but I don't have much time—"
"It will take but a moment, I promise!"
"Okay, quickly though. You have thirty seconds."
"I am here to shoot Gabriel Agreste's new summer line—you must be familiar with the face of the line, his son, Adrien Agreste."
"Yes, why?"
"We are shooting the sportswear line tomorrow, but none of the girls I have found match with his looks or his physique. But you, you are bellissima, just what the shoot needs! It won't take long, only a few hours at most, and you will be compensated. Would you consider it, please?"
Ladybug quickly does the mental math and weighs the pros and cons of doing a sporty outdoors photoshoot with Adrien.
On the one hand, she will have to spend several more hours in the suit that clearly doesn't fit her well anymore, and she won't have time to redesign it with Tikki before then—it's already getting quite late, and Adrien has mentioned before that the shoot will start very early in the morning.
On the other hand, she will get to spend several more hours of quality time with Adrien as Ladybug, away from all the responsibilities and eyes that are constantly on them back home in Paris.
Not to mention the fact that she's realized by now that her minou has a thing for her when she's wearing the suit.
Ultimately, the pros outweigh the cons, and she says yes.
Ladybug smiles as Giuseppe walks away, practically dancing with glee at his photographic conquest. She's pretty sure that she made the photographer's night, and even though she knows her silly kitty isn't fond of the man, she's still happy to be able to do one nice thing for a civilian tonight that doesn't involve akumas or battles.
Adrien walks back out of the darkness. "Well, looks like someone's on their way to becoming France's next top model! How do you feel, Mademoiselle Ladybug? Excited about spending all day in the sun?"
In a flash of light, Ladybug's transformation wears off, and Marinette is left standing in the darkness, her midnight blue gown sparkling in the moonlight.
A fond smile spreads across her face as she gazes up at her not so petit minou and reaches for his hands, lacing her fingers through his.
"Well, I don't know if I'm excited to spend all day in the sun, but I do know I'm excited to spend the entire day with you."
Adrien beams. "Me too."
