Two chapters in two days?! I spoil you guys just as much as you spoil me with your support!
It has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that I'm currently sick and can't do anything else right now. Nope.
Enjoy!
Chapter 11
Marinette's favourite time of the year was spring. She couldn't help but celebrate the coming of all the new flowers, the smells she was extra sensitive to due to her Ladybug-esque nature. As the weeks went on and she regained some semblance of normality, she found herself smiling more often than not. Her time in the 1920's almost seemed like a dream, but the ruined dress in her closet served as a reminder. She wanted to find a way to repair it somehow.
Her and Adrien spent almost every free moment they had together. At first they'd tried to research exactly what had happened to Mary and Johnny but most sites turned up a strangely blank. There had been a few articles about Johnny and Mary's early retirement from the stage. There was also a short statement about their child being born which had made the pair leap up into the air, hugging each other ecstatically before they realised exactly what they were doing, awkwardly stepping away from their embrace with red faces and nervous chuckles. However, after the news of the baby girl, Marian Jones, being born on January 18th 1928, the articles ran dry. It seemed the media didn't care about the lives of a few former Broadway stars. Their Kwami's were no help either. Both of them had kept their old memories but the new ones they had were fuzzy and, whenever they tried to think about them in more detail, they ended up feeling weak and dizzy. Eventually Marinette and Adrien decided to stop asking them (especially after some rather harsh words from Plagg). After all, the new memories were becoming clearer by the day. They just needed to be patient, they'd have their answers soon.
Once that had been decided their research sessions turned into study sessions, which then became gaming sessions, finally developing into hanging-out-just-because sessions where they talked about nothing and everything. Although both were still rather nervous around each other, a new sort of familiarity was settling in. The days were brighter, the sunshine never seemed to stop kissing the city. Everyone seemed to be in a better mood. Adrien certainly was. His father had been away on a business trip for the past two weeks and even Hawkmouth hadn't shown himself (or his Akumas) recently. Aside from the odd modelling shoot, he felt a sense of freedom he hadn't felt since he'd been released from the prison of his home-schooled life.
In short it seemed like a perfect time for a picnic.
"Would you guys hurry it up already?" Alya called out to Adrien and Nino, as she waved from a blank patch of grass at the usually packed Champ De Mars. The Effiel tower shone down on the three, reaching up to the endless blue sky. Nino and Adrien set out the picnic blanket, playfully trying to whip it into the other's face using the cautious noontime breeze to aid them. Alya rolled her eyes, wincing when it aggravated the bruise on her cheek.
Just as Adrien had the upper hand he heard Alya call out "Ah! Little Miss Late, good to see you finally arrived!"
Marinette was hurrying over to them, wearing a short cream floaty dress adorned with tiny patterns of roses, which Adrien was sure she'd made herself. Her trademark twin tails poked out from beneath the brim of eggshell-coloured floppy hat. In her arms she struggled to hold two large wicker baskets and fumbled with them, almost tripping up, but the gigantic beam across her face never wavered. Cute Adrien thought with a blush so, so cute.
The picnic blanket smacked him straight across the face and he yelped in surprise.
"HAHA I win bro! You snooze you lose!" Nino cried puffing out his chest. Adrien ignored him, his ego stinging more than his cheek. With relief he realised Marinette hadn't witnessed his blunder.
"Sorry I'm late everyone, my dad was just finishing up some extra things to give us! Look!" Marinette puffed as she placed the baskets down onto the blanket. Rummaging around, she lifted a plethora of pies, cookies and croissants out of them. The delicious smells wafted up in the air, turning the heads of a few passers-by, and Adrien's eyes lit up. He'd been wanting to try Dupain-Cheng cookies for months! Nino squealed in excitement as they all settled down more comfortably. Adrien shifted a fraction closer to Marinette, leaning back so he could rest his arm behind her. It wasn't quite touching, but with the way his body reacted he might as well have been running a race. Or sticking his finger in a plug socket. Both were less than ideal alternatives.
"Woah. I am so looking forward to stuffing my face with those cookies until I gain, like, 20 kilos," Alya cried happily, then frowned. Reaching up, her fingers brushed against the mottled yellow bruise dashed across her cheekbone "well stuffing my face as much as I can anyway, this stupid bruise still hasn't gone away! So much for hippies being all about free love!"
"I didn't know hippies could punch that hard," Marinette replied, trying to hide the guilt in her tone as she helped herself to a croissant. Adrien looked at her with a concerned frown but his partner refused to meet anybody's eyes, her head lowered enough so that her hat covered half of her face.
"Yeah well I punched harder," Alya grinned wickedly. Briefly distracted from his worry, Adrien snorted. He was glad that the feisty reporter handled herself so well.
"It had to be worth it though!" Nino leaned into her and she raised her eyebrow at him. "Come on! You got to see Hendrix! HENDRIX man! At Newport '69! I'd kill to be there, that was one of the biggest festivals next to Woodstock!"
"I preferred seeing Marvin Gaye, that guy is smooooth," Alya retorted with a sassy wiggle. Nino gaped at her, appalled.
"WHAT?! You take that back!"
As the pair began their usual round of bickering Adrien leaned in close to Marinette and mumbled into her ear.
"You ok Princess?"
Marinette gave a short "eep!" at his pet name for her, not quite used to it falling from Adrien's lips instead of Chat's. She still refused to meet his gaze, biting her lip, yet Adrien didn't miss the way she glanced over at Alya, the way her eyebrows crinkled. His hand brushed over hers in comfort.
"It wasn't your fault," he whispered and she shrugged. The corners of Adrien's mouth fell as he watched her. They'd been over this before, and it seemed that there was nothing he could do to change her mind. He'd seen Marinette's horror-stricken face the day they went back to school, when she'd seen Alya's bruise for the first time and the blogger proudly told the story of how a hippie had tried to mug her and she beat him down. How could he make her see that she wasn't to blame for her getting hurt? What could he do?
He reached up and lightly touched her chin, turning her head towards him so that her eyes finally met his own. They were filled with sadness, and seemed to be an even deeper shade of blue than usual because of it, despite the pink glow on her cheeks.
He didn't like it. He preferred when her eyes were light and carefree like the Spring sky above them.
"Princess," He began "you-"
He was interrupted with the sound of a cough and, still not letting go of Marinette's chin, the secret superheroes both twisted around to face the source of the noise. Nino and Alya were staring at them, their arguments halted. Both looked like they'd been slapped in the face. The slice of pie in Nino's hand slipped and fell onto his leg with a loud splat. He didn't notice.
Adrien and Marinette leapt away from each other, turning the same colour as the roses on her dress, but the damage had already been done.
"Hey, would you look at that, silly me forgot to pick up the drinks!" Alya forced the words out through gritted teeth. Reaching out she grabbed Marinette by the arm and yanked her upwards, "Marinette would you be sooo kind as to help me? Kaythanksbyeguysseeyainasecond!" and before Marinette even knew what was happening, she was being frog marched right through a tree lined path and down a street where they'd be out of earshot of the boys. But not before they heard Nino yelling-
"DUDE WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?!"
"Ow, ow, ow, Alya! Calm down!" Marinette cried as she struggled in her best friend's steel-like hold. Alya swung her around next to a corner shop and placed her hands on her the black-haired girl's shoulders. The young girl gulped as she stared at, what she inwardly referred to as, Alya's truth-seeking face.
"Deets. Now."
Marinette tried to swallow, but her mouth was suddenly itchy and dry "I- I don't know what you mean! Heh, heh. Now you said something about drinks? Jeez I'm super thirsty all of a sudden!"
"Marinette. Girl. Please. Don't even," Alya shook her head, her long brown locks mimicking her movements as if even her hair was trying to seek out the gossip "do you think I'm blind? Just because some stupid hippie punched me in the face doesn't mean I've lost half my brain cells! I've seen the way you two have been looking at each other ever since our little field trips through time, I know he was with you when you went to give your statement to the police, and now this? What is going on?!"
When Marinette refused to answer, simply because she couldn't quite understand what was going on herself, Alya continued.
"You know what I think?" She ventured "I think once Adrien knew you went missing he realised his feelings for you. I talked to Nino, apparently he took it really hard when he found out you were missing. He stared at your empty seat like it was something from a horror movie or something, and he barely spoke to anyone and practically ran out of the classroom the first chance he got. It's so perfect you know! It's like that old saying, you don't know what you have until it's gone!"
Marinette didn't know how to react to that. Sure she'd known Chat had missed her, she'd known he'd taken it hard when he found out she'd gone missing. He'd said so himself the night they were reunited. It stupidly never occurred to her that Adrien must have felt the same, she was still trying to put the two together in her head.
"I don't know; I mean sure we've gotten closer ever since I came back. But I think he just cares about me a lot," Marinette shifted from foot to foot, playing with her fingers "you know, like friends?"
"Marinette," Alya gave a near strangled response, putting her face in her palm in utter exasperation "aside from the million other things wrong with what you just said, I'm just gonna be straight with you," Her hands moved from Marinette's shoulders to her biceps and she leaned in so that their noses were almost touching "friends. don't. call. friends. Princess!"
Before Marinette had a chance to respond, the pair were bumped roughly by a man in a large trench coat. They stumbled and Alya span around, glaring at the man who hadn't even acknowledged them.
"Hey!" She yelled "watch it!"
The man stopped and turned back towards them slowly. His eyes were pale and oddly unfocused, yet furious and cold. Marinette instinctively struck a silent fighting stance, but she needn't have bothered. As soon as the man glanced at them he swung his coat and marched off, disappearing into the crowd like he'd never been there to begin with.
"What a weirdo!" Alya scrunched her nose in disapproval "I tell you this city gets stranger by the minute," When she met Marinette's troubled expression, she placed her hand on her shoulder. "Hey I'm sure it's nothing. Come on, the sooner we get those drinks the sooner you can get back to lover boy,"
Marinette followed Alya into the store, spluttering like mad as her friend cackled at her embarrassment. The man in the trench coat was forgotten as they re-joined the boys. Adrien's grin was rather sheepish and he reached up to scratch the back of his head. Nino and Alya shared silent looks between each other as Marinette settled down beside him, closer than before, and offered him a cola. Pretty soon the sounds of all of their laughter filled the air, dancing with the birds on the breeze, attracting the attention of strangers; some smiled at them whilst others shook their heads, thinking they were just obnoxious teens. If only they'd known just what the four had had to go through recently, perhaps they would have been more lenient in their judgements.
Not that any of the four cared either way, all they needed was the bright Parisian day and each other's company to feel better again.
The sweets were a bonus though.
"Ok this is getting obnoxious," Plagg complained "how long am I gonna have to put up with you being all lovey-dovey?"
Adrien's arms wrapped around his pillow, his head poked out from the top where he'd buried his face into it. Previously squealing in delight, he was now pouting at his Kwami.
"Oh, sorry I'm actually happy Plagg" He answered back "I'm sure you'd much rather I was all mopey again."
"Honestly yeah, mopey you was a lot easier to take," Plagg snapped leaning on the pillow "you being all love sick over Maribug is making me nauseated!"
"It's probably 'cause you ate too much cheese you pig," Adrien retorted, falling back onto his bed with a sigh of content. "And I can't help it, she's just so, argh, she's so amazing! And smart! And funny! And talented! And cute! And I just want to see her all the time! This is incredible! I can't believe she's Marinette and Ladybug all rolled into one amazing person. It's the best thing ever you know?!"
"Yes, I do know," The Kwami face-planted on the bed beside him with his own sigh, albeit a long suffering one "I knew the first time ya told me, I knew the eighth time ya told me, I knew the one thousand, three hundred and ninety fifth time ya told me. Now would you PLEASE give it a rest? I'm going to lose my lunch!"
"I'm going to go see her. I have to go see her. Tonight!" Adrien scrambled off the bed, rushing to the mirror to check his hair.
"Are you for real right now?!" Plagg looked at him like he'd gone mad.
"You think she'd mind? That I'd visit her?" His heart raced, excitement filled his body to the brim so that he felt he might burst from it.
"Kid are you even listen to me?"
"I'm sure she wouldn't mind, or would she? It's evening time, I guess I wouldn't be able to explain it to her parents. Nah I'm sure it'd be fine! I'll just say she forgot some homework and the teacher asked me to pass it on to her!"
"Oh yeah GREAT plan," Plagg flew straight into his face "All that fuss of calling your driver, making up a lie, going allll the way to her house, only to spend the two minutes it would take to give her this supposed 'homework', you're lucky Ladybug is the brains of your partnership!"
Adrien stopped in his tracks, smirking all of a sudden. His green eyes twinkled.
"You're right Plagg, it would be stupid to do that. I'd only get a few minutes with her as Adrien," he began in a sly tone, leaning towards his Kwami "but as Chat…"
Plagg backed away from him, his own green eyes wide and fearful.
"Oh no. Nope. No, no, no, no, no, no, NO! Leave me out of this! I wanna stay here, I still have supper!"
But Adrien was not to be deterred. Once the idea was in his head, he couldn't let himself forget it. The vision of Chat Noir romantically showing up on Marinette's balcony for a secret Romeo-and-Juliet type rendezvous (only with less death) was formed in his mind and there was no removing it.
"Come on Plagg, it'll be romantic!"
"You sicken me. To think you'd put romance over food."
"Plaag."
"No!"
"Plaaaaaag."
"Nu-uh!"
"PLAGG!"
"Ok, ok! Fine! But I am never doing this again you hear me? NEVER!"
"This is a disaster!" Marinette cried, waving her hands in the air as she spun in her seat "a huge disaster!"
"Oh Marinette, really, it isn't at all," Tikki smiled, trying not to giggle at Marinette's latest Adrien-Chat Noir related freak-out. So far it had been the third one this hour. The little pink Kwami watched Marinette, her homework forgotten, as she paced like a caged animal. The golden light of the setting sun filled her attic room, the perfect juxtaposition to her anxieties. Dust particles danced lazily as they caught the rays of the light beams. Everything around her seemed relaxed, ready to end the day. She was the complete opposite. She'd never been more awake.
Sitting back down she buried her face in her hands.
"Tikki I don't know what I'm going to do! I can't get Alya's words out of my head and I don't want them there because they aren't true UGH!" She began to hit her head on the desk repeatedly with every word "stupid Alya, stupid Chat, stupid Adrien, STUPID ME!"
"You know what Alya said was true Marinette!" Tikki flew up and landed next to her, holding up Marinette's forehead to prevent her from bashing it against the desk even more. "He has feelings for you, you even admitted to me that he was looking at you differently."
"Yes but it's because he knows I'm Ladybug now." Marinette argued "Of course we're going to get closer because of that. It has nothing to do with-"
She was silenced by a knock on her window. Her and Tikki glanced at each other, both wearing matching expressions of confusion. Marinette leaned back in her chair, not quite believing her eyes when she saw Chat Noir on the other side.
"Chat?!" She cried "what the- AHH!" Marinette yelped as she attempted to stand up, instead falling backwards as her and the chair tumbled to the ground. Her legs stuck up awkwardly. Groaning, she righted herself, ignoring Chat's laughter as she opened the latch and pulled him inside, her voice shifting into a whisper. "What are you doing here? Is there and Akuma? Do we need to fight?"
"No Akuma's to report. But are you alright Princess? It seems like you've taken two trips in recent weeks. That one looked slightly more painful," He chuckled, sauntering up to her with a playful grin.
"Ha, ha Kitty. Hilarious," She rolled her eyes, inwardly cringing (understatement of the century, what she really wanted to do was crawl under her bed, screaming until the end of the world happened and everyone forgot about what a clumsy moron she was). She couldn't believe that he'd seen her do something so un-Ladybug-like.
A strange silence settled over them, a silence that spoke a thousand words. Marinette wanted to ask why he was here, but lost the nerve to do so. Truth be told, despite all her worrying, she was glad to see him. She was always glad to see him no matter what guise he donned. He was like coming home, the only person in this time who knew who she really was and she loved it. It thrilled her, all of their secret knowing looks, their silent in-jokes whenever Alya mentioned the Ladyblog and her theories on who Chat Noir and Ladybug were. It was a story only they could read, a piece of art only they could comprehend, their own secret world of magic and wonder and Marinette allowed herself to get lost in it.
"Hey, I want to show you something," She said finally breaking the silence. "Follow me,"
"As always, my Ladyness," He replied as she led him up her ladder towards her skylight.
Marinette stopped in her tracks, peering down at him with a dubious look.
"My Ladyness?"
"I'm trying to find a way to combine my nicknames for you," He explained, and now it was his turn to be mortified "Plagg calls you Maribug now!"
After a few torturous seconds, Marinette responded with an endearing softness to her voice.
"Princess is fine, as is My Lady for when I'm Ladybug. You don't have to combine them. Dork," She wasn't chiding him, no instead she was smiling from her to ear and he beamed back at her.
"Princess it is, Princess," He acknowledged as she helped him through to her balcony. The view was breath-taking, the pinks and golds and faded blues scattered across the sky like a lovers painting. The lights of the city sparkled as people began turning on their home lights and streetlamps started to light the way for Parisians out and about for the evening. Chat grinned, proud that this was their city, his and hers. Together they'd protect it for as long as they needed to. His eyes switched to Marinette, who was leaning over her railing, the evening air caressed her hair as she gazed out at the horizon with a lazy expression, resting her hand on her cheek. He forgot what he was going to say next.
"Sometimes, when I'm feeling down or worried about something, I just come out here and look at it all," She sighed, figuring that Chat's line of vision was following hers. It wasn't. "Look at how, because of us, this city is safe. It reminds me that even though we still have a lot more to do that we've already managed to accomplish so much as Ladybug and Chat Noir, and that makes me feel a lot better!" She stood up turning to face him. Her smile was wiped off her face as though someone had rubbed their hand across her mouth when she noticed the way he was staring at her. Finally, she dared broach the subject. Her breath becoming shaky and uneven. "Why are you here, Chat?"
He swallowed, deciding to be completely honest, even though he felt like his muscles were going to shatter from the tension in them. "I wanted to see you."
"And it couldn't wait until tomorrow?" She tilted her head up as he stepped towards her.
"No," His voice was rougher, deeper. It sent a shiver straight through her. Marinette's mind flashed back to two weeks ago, when he'd held her so protectively, when his purrs had soothed her. A crazy thought entered her mind about making him purr in other ways. She leaned up to his face, standing on tip-toes.
"Why not?" She didn't even know what she was saying anymore. Their faces were so close; what little breath they had was shared between them. Marinette hoped he was feeling steadier then she was, she was ready to collapse at any moment.
"Because," He whispered "I-"
"MARINETTE!" Her mother called up to her and, for the second time that day, the pair scrambled away from each other. Lightning might as well have struck between them the mood had shifted so suddenly "DINNER TIME SWEETIE!"
Both of them were panting, trying to regain the breath they'd lost in the moment they'd just shared. It took Sabine calling up to Marinette again, this time in a slightly more worried tone, before Marinette snapped out of it.
"C-coming Mama!" She yelled back down through her balcony, unable to settle the tremor in her voice. She inhaled once more, deeply, and closed her eyes to calm herself. Wrapping her arms around her torso, she turned towards Chat with a guilty smile "well- I bess I getter bet bo-ing. I mean I guess I better get going."
Chat reached up and scratched the back of his head. Marinette felt something flutter within her at the familiar gesture, one that he shared both as Adrien and as Chat.
"Yes, absolutely. I wouldn't dream of depriving you of a meal, especially not when your parents are the finest bakers in all of Paris!" He walked up to her and reached out to place her hand in his, pulling it up to his lips to kiss it delicately. His eyes remained fixed on hers the whole time. All the breath Marinette had regained left her in one big rush. "Goodnight, Princess."
"Goodnight, Chat Noir," She rasped and only when he left did she manage to climb back down the ladder with shaking legs and quivering lips. Tikki rushed up to meet her.
"You can't tell me he doesn't have feelings for you after that!"
Marinette couldn't respond. She didn't think she'd ever be able to speak again.
I think this was one of my favourite chapters to write so far apart from chapter nine (but for VERY different reasons lol) :) once again folks, we still have quite a ways to go! Don't you worry!
P.S I cannot take full credit for Plagg's new "Maribug" nickname. User CheetosPotato came up with it in a review of mine and I simply adored it, so credit where credit is due!
I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, like I said before romance isn't my strongest suit so I'm always nervous about posting it!
Until the next time!
