A boy around 15 years old stood anxiously near the massive fire that towered in the middle of the field. It was cold, the ground frozen beneath his feet, but the flames and the thought of her kept him warm.

He began to pace around nervously, his classmates chattering happily in small groups around the bonfire. Several were divided into happy pairs, lost in their own little worlds.

She was coming, wasn't she?

After several minutes, the boy decided to take a look around to see if she had simply gotten caught up with some friends. He grabbed a cup of hot cocoa for her, just in case, and made his way around the fire. When he reached the other side of the bonfire, he spotted her. There was no denying it was her standing there with her back to him. Her auburn hair shone in the firelight, the waves in her hair dancing as she moved her head.

His breath caught in his throat, then he let out a satisfied sigh, a grin spreading across his face. He took a few quick steps towards her, the hot cup of cocoa firmly in his grasp, when he watched his classmate Vincent wrap his arm around her shoulders.

"Are you cold?" he heard Vincent ask.

"A little," she shivered with a shy smile as she rubbed her arms to warm them.

Suddenly he couldn't feel anything, as if the crisp winter air engulfed him, causing him to go numb. The cup of cocoa crashed onto the grass, spilling out in front of him and all over his pants, but nobody around him noticed.

Mechanically, he backed away and started running in a direction, just any direction that would get him away from the bright flames, away from the sight that caused his heart to pulse erratically and his hands to shake uncontrollably.

He didn't know how much time had passed, but after what felt like an eternity of running, he collapsed onto a carpet of dirt at the foot of the trees. He only had a few moments to wallow in his misery when there suddenly came a voice from inside his head.

"Inferno, I am Hawk Moth," breathed the cold voice. "Your classmates see flames as a symbol of love and companionship, but you see it differently from them, don't you? Steal Ladybug and Chat Noir's Miraculouses, and you can show them just what flames mean to you."

Inferno chuckled darkly. "Of course, Hawk Moth."

Fire was set to the trees outside the city of Paris. It didn't behave like natural fire that only spread by wind or the close contact of vegetation. This fire spread as if each tree was a cannon and the flames a cannonball. Balls of fire shot towards buildings, and the flames licked up the trees at great speed. Firefighters were dispatched to contain it, but plain water was no match for this inferno.

Ladybug and Chat Noir gasped as the city quickly began to glow and flicker with a frightening orange. They spotted Inferno perched on top of a building, laughing away. His hair appeared as if made with fire itself, the tips an icy blue. His mask glowed, laced with fire too. His outfit was as dark as coal, that only lit up when he was about to blast another stream of flames onto the defenseless city.

"What should we do?" Chat asked with a mixture of awe and horror at the magnitude the flames had reached in such a short time.

Ladybug shook her head, her eyes never budging from the scene before her. "I don't know, uhh," she started to think. She began to look over the boy from head to toe, trying to figure out just where the akuma was hiding. She called on her Lucky Charm. It was a sheet of paper with information about a boy, the boy she figured was Inferno.

"To my classmates at tonight's bonfire! Those flames mean warmth, companionship, and love to you. But to me, they only bring pain and destruction! Now I'll give you a taste of what these flames mean to me!" Inferno screamed out to the city, to the cameras filming him nearby.

"What a hot-head," commented Chat Noir.

Ladybug shot him a look. "Really not an appropriate time for puns, Chat. The poor guy's clearly heartbroken..."

"Aww, but I was just getting warmed up! Okay, sorry. No more puns," he said seriously when he saw the glare his Lady was giving him. "Do you have an idea where his akuma is, because I've got nothing."

"I think he has something around his wrist, but I'm not sure. His power is coming from his hands, so that's the best I've got. It's just hard to tell with all this smoke," she coughed a bit,waving her hand in front of her. Chat Noir rubbed her back as he coughed too.

"Ladybug, Chat Noir!" they heard voices calling them from their left. They saw Carapace and Rena Rouge bounding towards them at top speed. The two heroes let out a breath of relief.

"I'm so glad you're here!" Ladybug called over. "I think the akuma is hidden in a bracelet he's wearing, but I can't tell with all this smoke. I don't know if I'll be able to get close enough to get it off him."

"Leave it to me," Carapace stepped up, getting his shield ready. "I can get you there. Rena, Chat, help the citizens in the meantime."

Rena nodded at once, but Chat glanced over at Ladybug, worry and uncertainty written all over his face. She gave him an assuring smile. "I'll be alright Chat, okay?" she took his hand for a moment. That was all he needed to hear. "Take care of her," he said, looking Carapace square in the eyes and clapping him on the shoulder. Then, he and Rena went off to help the citizens caught in Inferno's line of fire down on the streets.

After stealthily making their way across the street, Ladybug stood behind Carapace, his shield held in front of them. "At the count of three, we'll charge him, okay?"

"Okay."

"Stay behind me, LB, don't venture out unless you're absolutely prepared to throw your yo-yo. If it doesn't work out the first time, we'll circle back and try again."

She nodded.

"One…"

"Two…"

"THREE!" they said in unison. Ladybug ran closely behind Carapace, the noise of their footsteps on the roof caught Inferno's attention, and he began firing at them. Flames brushed closely by the two, on either side of them, but because of Carapace's shield, they were untouched.

She just needed a moment, one second's glance to aim her yo-yo at his arm.

Ladybug closed her eyes and took a deep breath before she popped out from the safety of Carapace's shield. She launched her arm towards him, her yo-yo hitting its mark as she yanked him to her left. He struggled to break free, shooting flames into the air.

"Grab his bracelet!" Ladybug ordered through gritted teeth as she continued tugging. Carapace jogged up to the fiery villain and took his bracelet. He tossed it over to Ladybug, who then snapped it in half to free the dark butterfly.

Once the akuma was cleansed, she took a moment to look over the information written on her Lucky Charm. Then she tossed it up in the air, exclaiming "Miraculous Ladybug!"
They watched the bright ladybugs fly all over the city, erasing the damage and destruction caused.

Rena Rouge and Chat Noir joined them for a group "Pound it!" before their attention was brought elsewhere.

"Uuugh," the boy groaned, rubbing his head. "What… what happened? And why do I feel so awful?" he asked weakly, his voice cracking.

Ladybug turned to the boy, a kind smile on her face. "Ruben, right? Are you okay?"

Ruben let the words sink in before he shook his head.

"Something happened at your school's bonfire tonight, didn't it?"

Ruben nodded dejectedly.

Chat appeared by her side. "Maybe we can help?" he offered him his hand, and helped hoist him off the ground. "Mind explaining to us what happened?"

Ruben looked at all four hero's faces, then launched into his story.

A couple of minutes later, they reached the field where the bonfire was being held, his classmates and teachers stood around, looking quite tense.

"Oh Ruben!" his teacher rushed over once she spotted him and the four superheroes, her students followed at her heels. "You're alright! We were so worried about you."

"It's thanks to Paris's superheroes that I'm okay," he glanced back at them with a grin. They nodded and motioned him to go forward.

"Ruben!" a girl's voice shouted as she pushed her way through the crowd of students. "Ruben!" she finally broke through, and rushed towards him. She threw her arms around him. "I'm so glad you're okay!"

He blushed, frozen with shock for a moment before he wordlessly wrapped his arms around her.

"Awww!" Ladybug and Rena exclaimed together.

Carapace and Chat chuckled. Chat Noir inched closer to Ladybug, nudging her with his shoulder. Ladybug glanced up into his glowing green eyes in the firelight, looking intensely down at her. Then her eyes drifted down towards hit mouth that was turned up on one side in a crooked grin.

Her eyes suddenly went wide as her head quickly turned away, her face going red.

"I have a question that's been eating at me for awhile now. Are you two dating yet?" Rena Rouge asked after seeing their exchange.

"No," Ladybug said quickly. Chat Noir cleared his throat, shifting his weight onto his left leg.

"When will you? It was one thing to see you guys fighting akumas and crime together as a regular citizen, knowing you belonged together, but after hanging around you, and after what we found out earlier today-"

"Rena!" Carapace hissed a warning. She just shook her head and waved him off.

"You two love each other, don't you?"

The question seemed to ring through the air. Ladybug and Chat Noir were clearly uncomfortable by their body language, and Carapace felt sorry for them. Alya was always very blunt, but her heart was in the right place. Before today, he knew there was always something between them, but he also knew there must be something in the way to keep them from each other. Unless one of them came to him for help, it was none of his business to get involved.

Chat Noir and Ladybug's Miraculous began to beep.

"Uhh, bug out!" Ladybug waved awkwardly as she turned to leave. Chat laughed nervously and left with only a nod as a goodbye to Rena Rouge and Carapace.

Ladybug quickly headed towards her apartment. She could hear the noise of Chat Noir's baton and breathing behind her. Her heart began to race even more than it had been already.

Rena brought up the subject that both could never bring themselves to mention for one reason or another. Thanks to Rena, there was no avoiding it now.

Thank you so much Jenna for the akuma idea!

I absolutely adore this chapter, so I'd love to hear from all of you! x3