Disclaimer: I don't own ML.
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"Wait, really?" Marinette's mouth droops. "But he promised you could come to the concert!"
"I know he did," Adrien's voice says rather bitterly through the phone. "Apparently, I'm not good enough for him."
"That's rubbish!" If Marinette's hands weren't occupied with her phone and a cardboard box, she'd either be crossing her arms firmly or tugging on the hair that she's left loose around her face today. "You're a better pianist than half the people our age put together!"
"To be fair, I'd probably be better if I'd stop playing recordings to pretend I'm practicing while I actually go see – uh, go and do other things."
Marinette snorts. "You sure you can't sneak out? Put your foot down? It just won't be the same without you here."
"I would if I could. I'm sure Gorilla would cover for me if I asked, but there's no getting past Nathalie. And she wouldn't cover for me this time. She saw how annoyed Father was at my performance. Even if I could sneak out through my window, he'd know where I went, so there'd be no point. I wouldn't want him to ruin your concert."
"I'm sorry, Adrien. I know how much you were looking forward to it."
"Yeah, well…I'd better go practice. Maybe if I'm up to his standards, he'll let me come near the end. Better than nothing, right? And I was really looking forward to seeing Luka."
"Luka? Who?"
"Juleka's brother."
Marinette blinks. "Juleka has a brother?"
"That was my reaction too," Adrien says. "But he saved me and Kagami when we snuck out of fencing the other day and nearly got mobbed."
"I'm not sure why they think chasing you down and demanding you marry them will make you want to do that," Marinette snorts. "Anyway, good luck with your piano. I know you'll smash it!"
"Don't tempt me," Adrien jokes. "Have fun, Marinette."
"I will."
The line goes dead a moment later. Marinette sighs and pockets her phone.
"Cap'n Anarka speakin' to ya!" announces a rough woman's voice. Marinette whirls around to see Juleka's mother standing next to Rose with her hands on her hips, making Rose jump while adjusting the microphone stand with her sudden appearance. "So, how's it comin' along, me young pirates? Ready to celebrate the –"
Marinette gulps when Anarka's blue eyes narrow at her. The older woman adjusts her red glasses before striding straight over to Marinette.
"Whatcha up to there, lady?" she says, snatching the box from Marinette. When Marinette explains that she's cleaning the houseboat for the concert, Anarka laughs long and loud and then starts scattering the contents of the box everywhere on deck. "We never pick up in this house! Didn't me daughter tell ya? We love the lived-in look! We have no rules on the Liberty! Out of chaos comes creation! Messiness is life!"
Huh. Maybe that's why Marinette's a hot artistic mess. With a smile, she heads with Alya and Nino into the steering room for a few minutes of quiet while Rose, Juleka, Mylène, and Ivan continue their loud preparations outside.
"Dude, don't tell me Adrien's dad put him on lockdown again," Nino complains while Marinette rifles through a box on a shelf. She grimaces when a layer of dust billows out and coats her pink wrap-around top, white T-shirt, and blue jeans
"Afraid so," she says, frowning as she pulls out a strange metal statue of a hand with its index and pinky fingers out. Nino groans.
"Bummer. I was lookin' forward to hanging out with him for once."
"We all were," Alya says. "Man, and I thought my older sister was overprotective." She takes the statue from Marinette, squints at it, then dumps it on the compass. "Wow, that's creepy. I see where Juleka gets it from."
"Juleka's not creepy!" Marinette says. "She's just…quietly punk." When she reaches up to tuck a lock of hair behind her ear, her bracelet gleams in the sunlight, and her eyes are irresistibly drawn to it as it brings back the vivid memory of Chat Noir and his confession to her on her birthday over two weeks ago. She hadn't been lying when she'd said that she's got strong feelings for him, but she also hadn't been lying when she'd said that she's not completely sure of their nature yet, although she'd be deceiving herself if she insisted that they were definitely not romantic.
And yet…she can't get Chat Noir's confession out of her head. The thought of him is enough to send tingles down her skin and butterflies through her stomach, but what if this is just a rebound thing? The only downside about romance built on friendship is that if the romance goes sour, what if the friendship does too? And she'll be damned if she loses Chat Noir's friendship, especially after all the nights they've spent together being utter dorks.
And none of this would have happened if not for André. She never would've had that conversation with Chat Noir when he came to comfort her. He never would've tried to start moving on from Ladybug and fallen for her instead. Heck, he probably wouldn't even have been as cool as he was on her birthday.
What if…André's ice cream hadn't been referring to Adrien, but rather to Chat Noir? After all, Chat Noir's lips are also peach pink – not that she's been thinking about them, ha, not at all – and his hair and eyes are also gold and mint green. In that case, is André's ice cream really magical? Had he really been predicting her soulmate?
"Oh, ho ho, sailors!" Anarka once again appears out of nowhere, this time to snatch the statue off the compass as Marinette and Alya jump and clutch their chests. "Never put a metal object next to a compass! Ya hear, lass? Metal attracts the needle just like a magnet, which is why ya can't get 'em anywhere near each other."
"I'm pretty sure there's a deep literary metaphor in there somewhere," Alya says sarcastically. Marinette and Nino conceal their laughter behind their hands.
"We're ready, captain!" Rose salutes from the foot of the stairs, Juleka just behind her. Marinette can't help but smile at what a cute couple they make. "Uh…but Luka's missing!"
Anarka squints at Marinette. "Marinette, right? Since you're free from yer cleanin' duties, could ya go and tell Luka that we're waitin' for him to start rehearsals?"
"Of course!" Marinette says, then frowns. "But, uh…where is he?"
"In his cabin, of course!"
It's a treacherous journey through the living room of the houseboat, what with the various musical items and other items scattered all over the floor. But there's something comforting and warm about the mess; something that invites you to come in and revel in it. Marinette shrieks and jumps when she slips through a doorway and comes face-to-face with a boy sitting cross-legged on a bed, his eyes closed and his hands resting on his knees. Between his thumbs and index fingers are two black guitar picks, which make a lot more sense when Marinette catches sight of the black guitar next to him.
She jumps again when she realises that he's opened his eyes and is staring straight at her with a smile. His eyes are the same shade of blue as his mother's, also matching the teal tips of his black hair, and he's wearing ripped black jeans and a short-sleeved blue jacket over a white Jagged Stone shirt.
Holy crap. He's gorgeous.
"Hey!" Marinette blurts out. "My name's Mama – Ma-Ma-Marinette!" Oh god, she's stammering again. Why is this her life? She takes a deep breath to compose herself and pushes on. "Your mum sent me down here. The groove – ah, the group's waiting for you."
"Hello, Ma-Ma-Marinette," the boy – Luka – says in a cool voice, then snickers behind his hand. Marinette's heart drops. Great. He's gorgeous, but he's also a jerk. This is really Juleka's brother? Her feelings must be painted across her face, because Luka's smile vanishes, and he adds, "Sorry. I tend to make more sense with this."
He pats the bed next to him. Marinette accepts the invitation, while he slings his guitar around his neck and then strums a few chords.
"That's strange." Luka frowns at her. "It seems you have something like this in your heart." He plays a short tune, rising and falling in pitch, somehow exactly matching the utter chaos that's currently got Marinette's heart in a vice grip. She closes her eyes and rests a hand on her heart, losing herself in the sweet melody, and it takes a moment for her brain to register that Luka's stopped playing.
"How do you do that?" she says in awe. Luka smiles at her when she opens her eyes.
"Music is often simpler than words," is all he says. Marinette hums and jumps up to get a closer look at the pick collection underneath his Jagged Stone poster. Her eyes are drawn to a pick with Jagged Stone's face, which she grabs so that she can get a closer look.
"You like Jagged Stone?" she says.
"He's my favourite singer." Luka slides off the bed to stand next to her.
"Mine too!"
Luka's smile widens, and he looks at the pick in her hand. "You can have it if you like. I've got plenty."
"Thanks!"
"I think I'd better go and join the… "groove" you said," Luka says, rolling his eyes with a smirk. Marinette whines and facepalms.
"Did I really –? Oh no! At least Adrien wasn't here to see that. He'd never let me live it down, the dork."
"Adrien?" Luka tilts his head. "You know him?"
"Yeah, he's one of my best friends. You're the guy who saved him from being mobbed, right?"
Luka nods. "He wasn't ready for a child just yet."
"Uh…what?"
"An inside joke. One of his fans was screaming for him to have her babies."
Marinette shudders. "Ick. I can't believe I used to be like that."
"That's not the impression I get." Luka plays a few oxymoronic notes, somehow both chaotic and gentle. "You have a passionate heart. You just struggle with your chaotic brain. You're not the kind of person to behave like that."
"Seriously, how do you do that?" Marinette complains as blood rushes to pool in her cheeks and stomach.
"Just like I told Adrien, I can hear people's heart songs," Luka says. Whoa. Seriously? That's…how is that possible? "And just like I told Adrien, I talk to Juleka. You're a funny girl, Marinette."
With that, Luka heads out of the room, leaving Marinette scrambling to catch up so that she's not left all alone with her whirling thoughts because nope, nope, this is not happening. Although what happens only minutes later is enough to push all thoughts of Luka from her mind, when Anarka is reprimanded by Roger Raincomprix for pretty much blowing the sound barrier with Kitty Section and their instruments. Apparently, Hawkmoth doesn't take a day off, because Marinette can't even enjoy a music festival with her friends without him being a bastard and akumatising someone. Before anyone can so much as blink, Anarka has became the pirate Captain Hardrock, with a sentient ship totally under her control that chains up Marinette and her friends when they try to reason with Captain Hardrock and point out that maybe Roger had a point about the volume.
"Ow!" Rose cries when her head knocks against the wood. Groaning, Marinette struggles to sit up, pushing back against Luka to as a counterweight; thankfully, he catches on and adds his force to the equation to help them sit up. Around them, the other bound pairs are doing the same.
"Well," Alya says when they've all rolled to a stop in the ship's hold. "That was fun. Now what?"
"I guess we wait for Ladybug and Chat Noir?" Nino says. Marinette's eyes dart down to her purse, not that that'll do much good since she can't very well transform in front of a bunch of people, especially someone she's only just met. Luckily, Tikki's skills extend beyond magical transformations, as she's able to zip out of the purse and phase through the padlock securing the chains around Marinette and Luka.
"Wow!" Luka exclaims when their chains fall away. "How'd you do that?"
Marinette freezes and fumbles for an explanation. She dips her hand into her purse to make sure that Tikki's back inside, and her fingers close around the pick that Luka had given her. Perfect! "Uh…with this!" she says, showing him the pick. Luka smiles as he climbs to his feet.
"You're a real magician, Marinette," he says, helping her up. Marinette scoffs.
"Oh, it was nothing! Just – you know –" Her face grows warm under Luka's awestruck gaze.
"Ahem." Alya clears her throat. "When you're quite ready?"
But before Marinette and Luka can work on freeing the others, Captain Hardrock comes stomping down the stairs. With a hasty apology, Marinette and Luka sprint through the door behind them and secure it shut with Luka's guitar, and while this isn't enough to keep Captain Hardrock out, it buys them enough time to get the window open. Luka immediately pushes Marinette towards the bed and points at the slim but long drawer built into the base. Catching on, she races over and shuts herself inside, and not a moment too soon.
"Run, Marinette! Quick!" Luka calls when the door smashes open. Marinette's heart leaps into her throat at Luka's pained cry when Captain Hardrock's chains capture him again, but his sacrifice works; Captain Hardrock storms out of the room a moment later, clearly under the impression that Marinette had escaped through the window, dragging Luka with her judging by the scraping sound that accompanies her.
"Phew! That was close!" Tikki says when Marinette pushes the drawer back open and clambers out.
"I have to save my friends!" Marinette clenches her fists. "Tikki, spots on!"
Chat Noir's already arrived when Ladybug finally manages to sneak up to the deck. Although the battle against Captain Hardrock and the Liberty is fairly straightforward as far as akuma fights go, it's made far more difficult by the fact that Ladybug's got a constant chanting of don't flirt with the cat in her head to keep her on track because if Ladybug is one thing, it's not a hypocrite. She can't exactly flirt with Chat Noir after lecturing him about inappropriate timing in the wake of Green Giant, especially since he doesn't even know that it's her civilian form that he's caught feelings for and vice versa.
With the help of the metal clasp of her Lucky Charm chain and Chat Noir, they chain Captain Hardrock to the ship's compass and, just like when Alya had put the statue on top of it, the compass goes haywire around the clasp. This time, though, the entire ship is affected by the compass going out of control, and they manage to steer the ship up one of the slopes on the bank of the Seine and crash-land on a patch of grass. With the ship out of commission and the prisoners in the hull no longer in danger, it's a simple matter for Chat Noir to Cataclysm the compass and disintegrate the ship, freeing the akuma for Ladybug to purify.
Pity, though, that Chat Noir has to book it as soon as Captain Hardrock turns back into Anarka. Ladybug wouldn't have minded a bit of post-battle banter with him, along with asking what was up with him earlier. But really, it's probably for the best for her headspace, considering that she's only ninety-nine percent sure that she wants to be with him and it's that one percent that's shrieking inside her skull that she's going to mess everything up.
"You okay, girl?" Alya says when Ladybug's detransformed and re-joined everyone as Marinette.
"Uh huh," Marinette mumbles. Alya raises an eyebrow but she thankfully doesn't push the issue.
An hour or so later, while Kitty Section is still rehearsing for the music festival, they're pleasantly surprised by a familiar face boarding the houseboat, waving and beaming at everyone.
"Adrien! Hi!" Marinette bounces on the spot and waves. Adrien's face lights up and he waves back, then immediately trips and sends a long, thin black case flying, and Marinette can't help the flutters inside her and the giggle that escapes her at what a dork he is.
"Adrien!" Nino runs over to help Adrien sit up. "You okay, bro?"
"Nah, it's all good, I –" Adrien pauses rubbing his head to open the case he'd knocked over, revealing a keyboard inside. "Whoa, an original ZX20.4? I love the sound of this instrument!"
"Aww, that old thing?" Anarka scoffs. "No one knows how to play it."
"I know how to play it," Adrien says.
"Great." Luka holds out a hand to help Adrien to his feet. "Welcome to the band, Adrien."
Adrien beams. "Really? Thanks, Luka!"
Luka and Adrien still haven't let go of the other's hand. An odd look passes between them, making Marinette squint, until Adrien catches sight of her and quickly lets go of Luka's hand.
"Looks like I could make it after all!" Adrien says to her. Marinette grins and gives him a thumbs-up.
"Your dad caved in?" she says. Adrien shrugs.
"Yeah. I think I impressed him enough."
"Can't wait to see how you impress us, then," Luka says. Adrien jumps, his cheeks pinkening, and Marinette raises her eyebrows and bites her lip when Luka smiles and winks at him as well as her.
Well. One thing's for sure: the future's going to be very, very interesting.