"Hello?"
"Elle where are you?"
"Sorry Adrien- I had an errand to run! I'm heading to the park now!"
"I just wanted to make sure you were safe, angel."
"I am, I promise. I'll see you in a few minutes." Ella hung up, exhaling a shuddered breath. Kiismet watched the teen from her shoulder perch, concern etched on the kwami's features and in her purple eyes.
"Are you sure you wanna go to this party? You're still shaking from that panic attack..."
"I'll be fine, Kiisy. Worst case scenario, I'll go home early..." Ella's voice trailed off, her mind dancing to the tension still going strong between Ladybug and Raven. Ella was determined not to let that tension bleed over into her civilian life, and if that meant playing a part in front of Marinette and everyone, then that's what she was gonna do.
With a sigh, Ella began jogging to the park, already late and determined not to be any later.
Adrien sighed for the fifth time in three minutes- Nino was counting.
The blond was waiting for Ella to show up, since they hadn't arrived together (like everyone minus Marinette thought they would) and all Adrien said was that Ella had to run some sort of errand once he hung up his phone.
Nino watched the way his best friend was acting. Granted, no one in their class was stupid and knew something was going on between the model and the singer, but also no one was stupid enough to bring it up before either of the two teens said anything about it. But at the same time? Nino wasn't quite as patient as he wanted to be- especially when it came to making sure Adrien was happy, especially with his father being the way he was. And Ella made the blond boy happy- so Nino and Alya were determined to what they could without prying too much into the pair's lives.
"So dude- how's Ella?" Nino asked, deciding it was a safe conversation starter. Adrien startled slightly, tearing his eyes from the park gate to his best friend. Behind the tan boy, the party continued as their classmates gifted their presents to Marinette.
"She's doing good, uh- she's been busy with the music competition coming up next month, and she's been learning to play the guitar Juleka's brother got her. She's caught onto it quick and had been practicing non-stop. I think she's even got a song going too."
Nino opened his mouth to ask more, but Alya and Marinette appeared before them, the blunette greeting them and thanking them for coming; Adrien, in turn at the entrance of the blunette, reached into his pocket and pulled out a little blue box.
"Happy birthday Marinette." The blond smiled, holding out the present to her, "Ella and I made this for you."
Nino and Alya shared a look; Marinette had clearly stopped listening after the first word out of the model's mouth and was stuck in a love-struck daze at the fact that Adrien (and Ella) made her a present, and while Alya had mentioned that there was a possibility her best friend was going to give up on Adrien after what she shared with Alya yesterday, clearly that wasn't the case with how she was off in her own little love-world.
With a sigh, Alya reached over and shut Marinette's open mouth, pulling the girl from her reverie.
"Open it, Marinette!" The redhead urged, causing Marinette to giggle, but before she could open the gift, an older woman's voice interrupted, startling everyone at the party.
"La Befana comes at night, on her shaky broom in flight. She gives candy to those who are dandy."
Marinette stared in horror as she recognized the akumatized woman walking towards her, guilt filling her chest.
"Grandma!?"
"You lied to your grandma, Marinetta."
"No, I- I didn't know Alya was throwing a surprise party for me."
"She's for real, ma'am." Alya defended, standing in front of Marinette.
"And all those candies you pretended to be eating?"
"I'm sorry, grandma. It's just that I didn't want to upset you."
"I'm not your grandma anymore. From now on, I am only Befana! And I'm going to punish you for all those lies!" Marinette ducked away from whatever Befana shot at her; however, Mylène behind her was hit instead... and turned to coal.
"No!"
Adrien peeked around the tree he darted behind, assessing the situation while letting Plagg out of his shirt.
"We didn't even get in on the buffet!" The kwami whined, making Adrien chuckle.
"Party's over, my friend! Plagg, claws out!"
In a flash of green, Adrien transformed into Cat Noir and pounced out into the fray, landing on a speaker with the villain in his sights.
"It's rude to leave while Befana's still speaking to you." The gun Befana toted was pointed at Marinette, prompting Cat to act. He extended his staff, knocking the gun away and gaining her attention.
"Hey, I never knew grandmas could be so nasty." He taunted, smirking and twirling his staff.
"You would look wonderful in white, my pretty kitty." The villain rotated the cylinder of her gun again and fired at Cat, who dodged the shot easily.
"Eh, not convinced. I'm much more into black- makes my eyes stand out, don't you think?" He smiled, making peace signs with his hands and outlining the corners of his eyes like a second mask. Clearly, the akuma didn't think so- considering she began firing rapidly his direction. Leaping up, Cat pulled the attack up and away from the party goers, hoping to distract long enough for Raven and Ladybug to show up.
Ella was panting and sweating by the time the park came into view. It was already 4:30, she was way later than she wanted to be... And imagine her confusion when she saw Cat Noir and Marinette leaving via... pole vault?
"What's going on?" She asked Kiismet, the kwami floating up.
"Probably nothing good. But I don't think you should transform."
"Why not?"
"You just had a massive panic attack- one from which you're still shaking and can't quite breathe right. I know you promised to help fight, but not when your health is on the line."
"I wouldn't say on the line-"
"I don't want you risking anything. Even if when you become Raven, you have enhanced strength. Like Master Fu said, you can't keep running from problems and becoming Raven to escape them. Take some time to recover from the panic attack and then tonight, I say you find Ladybug and talk out everything else."
Ella studied the kwami for a moment, thinking over her words. The little bird was rarely wrong, and Ella did really wanna fix things with Ladybug... and take a nap.
"Alright, Kiisy. Let's go home then."
"And don't worry about Adrien. That boy may be headstrong but he knows to get to safety when there's an akuma attack-"
"Save all the times he's run towards the danger."
"Anyhow!" Kiismet sighed, rolling her eyes. Ugh the sooner her holder finds out who the blond really is, the sooner all this drama can be avoided.
"He'll be safe. Just like how you don't want him to get hurt, he wouldn't want you to get hurt trying to find him amidst an akuma attack."
"...you have a point."
"I always have a point. And it's usually right."
"Watch it, Kiisy- your ego's gonna be bigger than Cat Noir's soon~"
"Just hush up and head home, you stinker."
After texting Adrien but receiving no response, Ella hoped he was safe and headed back to the Agreste mansion. Nathalie asked why she was home early and without Adrien, but Ella said he was still at Marinette's party and that she had had a panic attack while she was out running an errand for Alya and decided to come home. The woman nodded, patting the teen on her shoulder.
"Go rest then. I'll wake you in an hour or so."
"Yes, ma'am." Ella smiled at Nathalie, still hesitant to call her mom yet, despite the adoption being in its final stages. But the address didn't phase the secretary, as she directed Ella towards her room and wished her sweet dreams.
Shutting her door, Ella took a breath before transforming into Raven. Pulling her hook free, Raven left a voice message for Ladybug, asking her to meet at the Eiffel Tower that night at 10pm.
"Touch the ground." In that blue flash, Ella returned and face-planted onto her bed.
"Sleep tight, beany-baby." Kiismet cooed, pulling the blanket up and over the teen.
"Night, Kiisy..."
At 6:30pm, Ella was awoken by Nathalie, who said Adrien had returned home and was anxious to see her. The noirette rubbed her eyes and said he could come in, and not two seconds later, the blond teen barreled into the room and straight to her bedside.
"Elle, geez your text scared me! You should've told me when I called you that you had had a panic attack!"
"I know, I'm sorry. But I didn't want you to leave Marinette's party just cause of me. I came straight home afterwards and have been resting since."
Adrien sighed, sitting at her side and taking hold of her hand.
"It's been a bit since you've had one... I guess I panicked a bit when I read that."
"I thought I was the panicky one in this relationship." Ella giggled, knocking her shoulder into his gently, making the boy chuckle.
"Not when it comes to your health, angel."
The pair smiled and nudged foreheads, as Nathalie knocked once again and said dinner was being served shortly. They thanked her and Ella kicked the blond out so she could shower.
Dinner came and went, and soon, the clock showed ten to 10pm. Ella made sure her door was shut before sliding her window open.
"You ready, Kiisy?"
"Ready when you are, Elly!"
"Alright! Kiismet, touch the sky!"
Raven hopped out the window and onto the wall, her hook already unwound and whipping across the rooftops. The Eiffel Tower was luckily right behind the Agreste manor, across the Seine, so it didn't take her long to jump up to the top deck.
She was only waiting a few minutes when that familiar zipping noise cut through the air and a soft thud alerted her to Ladybug's arrival. "Evening, LB."
Ladybug could barely hold back the flinch at Raven's flat tone. She really had let this tension grow for too long- Tikki was right.
"Hi Raven. Missed you at the fight earlier."
"Let's cut to the chase, Ladybug." The feathered teen met her gaze, those storm grey eyes piercing through Ladybug's own blue ones. The stare made Ladybug worry, as if her partner had figured out something based on the gaze alone... but Raven broke eye contact and stared across the Paris sky.
"There's clearly animosity between us right now." Raven spoke after a moment, resting her arms on the railing, "stemming back from when I told you Cat and I had gone on a date."
"...yeah."
"I still stand by what I said: our romantic feelings and actions are none of your business unless we let it affect our fighting. I swore to myself when I took up my position on this team, that I would always protect you and Cat, and the people of Paris. That hasn't changed, despite my feelings for Cat. Heck, if I liked girls as much as guys, this situation could be completely different."
Ladybug flushed the color of her costume, making Raven smirk. Ducking her blue eyes to meet the ground, Ladybug fumbled over her words. "D-do you and Cat Noir- do you two really like each other?"
"Yes. Does that change how you see us?"
Ladybug shook her head.
"No I... I guess it doesn't. You two have always been flirty- ever since day one. I just... I never would have figured it would turn into more without knowing each other's other selves." Raven nodded at her words, turning around and leaning back against the metal.
"That... in all honesty, that isn't something we've talked about yet. It hasn't come up. At the moment, we're both happy just being with the other. That may change, who knows, when it comes to dealing with that side of things, but for now, we're happy together and don't plan on changing that. We've both discussed what would happen if Hawk Moth tried to use the other against the group: Paris comes first and we trust each other to do the right thing... and we trust you to believe in us." Raven smiled a small grin at the spotted heroine; in her minds eye, Ella's face flashed over Raven's, making Ladybug blink in surprise. Sure, the smile was similar to her civilian self's best friend but there was no way- Raven was too abrasive to be Ella.
"I'm glad you two trust me like that. And... and I have to be able to trust you guys the same way. So... I guess there's really nothing left to say besides I hope you and Cat Noir are happy."
"Thank you, bugaboo~" Ladybug groaned while Raven burst out laughing as the team leader facepalmed.
"Thanks for meeting me, LB. I'm glad we got everything sorted."
"Me too. It made me sad being at such odds with you."
"See you tomorrow? Or whenever Hawk Moth decides to disturb our lives next?"
"Yeah! See ya!" Ladybug smiled and waved as Raven leapt over the railing, watching the girl free-fall for a moment before her grappler flew out and hooked, letting the feathered teen fly out of sight. Ladybug let her smile fall, sighing. While she was happy her and Raven were good, there was still her problem as Marinette... she had lied to Alya, saying she was giving up on Adrien after what she heard at the Louvre on Friday. But honestly? The blunette couldn't give up on her feelings until Adrien himself told her he was in love with Ella. Only then, would she let go of her feelings for him. Only then, would Marinette give up Adrien to Ella.