Marinette Dupain-Cheng awoke with a headache. Just yesterday she had transformed into the superhero Ladybug and, along with her new partner Chat Noir, had saved Paris from the villain Hawkmoth for the first time.

"Tikki? Are you there?" She asked feebly, gesturing slowly with one arm.

The little red god raced up to her almost immediately.

"Oh Marinette," she said near her chosen's cheek, "I should have warned you this was going to happen."

"Tikki I feel awful."

"I know. This is your body reacting to transforming for the first time. You need to get plenty of food and water and you'll be very sore today."

"Shouldn't the Magic prevent this?" Marinette asked, confused.

Yesterday during the fight she had felt incredible, strong, and fast. Why was today any different?

"The magic of the Miraculous does enhance your physical abilities to a certain extent, but it uses the energy from your own body, which is very draining. So on top of having experienced a hard workout, you are also very drained. In time, you'll get stronger and your body will adjust, but you'll have to help it along a lot."

"How will this affect me when I'm Ladybug? I'll still be able to help people like I did yesterday, right?"

"Oh yes, the Miraculous' magic will make sure of that, but in the future, your suit won't be able to protect you as much as it did.

"Why is that?" Marinette asked as she slowly made her way to her closet, to get changed, cringing with every step.

Every muscle was so sore, especially those in her arms and core.

"Well, normally you aren't supposed to be protected as much as you were. But because it was your first time and you weren't trained, the Miraculous protected you from harm."

"Okay, so now I'm a newbie superhero and I won't be able to protect myself? Great!" Marinette said in o voice more over it than she had ever sounded before.

"Well, in the past, Ladybugs and Chat Noirs have trained together to become a stronger team. It's worked out pretty well." Tikki said.

"I still don't know how I feel about Chat Noir. But if you think that training together will make us a better team, then I'll ask him." Marinette oofed.

Later that morning, Marinette slogged into her seat at school, barley on time.

But what else was new?

Alya was freaking out about the new superheroes, as was seemingly everyone else. Luckily, Mademoiselle Bustier started class before the truly bizarre conspiracy theories could begin circulating.

Marinette took notes in a haze, barely noticing the tired slouch of the normally put-together boy in front of her.

It was a looong and onerous day before Marinette was able to speak with Tikki about her symptoms again.

"Do you think I should call Chat Noir and see if he wants to discuss this training we should start?" Marinette asked as she slogged through a history assignment.

"I think that's a great idea Marinette! You'll have to transform to access the communication device in your yo-yo, and Chat Noir won't see your message until he transforms as well." The small god chirped as she hovered above Marinette's tablet, fixing the many grammar errors in her essay.

"Okay. Tikki, Spots On!"

Transforming for the second time was slightly better and more fluid for Marinette, and she managed to stay upright.

The teenage hero fumbled with her yo-yo for a minute before she was able to stumble upon the call feature. As expected, she got Chat Noir's voicemail.

"Uh, hi Chat Noir, this is Ladybug. From what my kwami told me, you're probably feeling just as miserable as I am today. Tikki, that's my kwami's name, said that this is all normal but it would help us a lot to train and practice being superheroes together. Anyway, call me when you transform next, and we can work out the details. I'll talk to you soon. Bye!"

With that voicemail all finished, and not bothering to change out of her suit, Marinette flopped on her bed and accidentally fell asleep. The hero's impromptu nap only lasted about five minutes before a buzzing in her yo-yo woke her suddenly.

"Hello?" Ladybug answered groggily.

On the other side of the call, she swore she could hear yawning.

"Good evening M'lady. I just listened to your voicemail and I would love to not have to feel like this again. Training sounds purr-fect."

"So you're as dead as I am huh?" The spotted hero replied.

"Yeah. I really wish I knew just what I had signed up for yesterday. My kwami only seems to mention things after the fact. And all he eats is cheese! Not that I would want to give up being a hero or anything..." Chat Noir seemed hesitant, as if he still had something to add.

"But yesterday morning we woke up normal and now we have to protect all of Paris" Ladybug finished.

"Exactly. So how about that training?" Chat Noir suggested energetically.

"Yeah! It seems like a good idea, but where would we do it? And when? How do we balance being superheroes with our normal lives?" Ladybug asked.

"Well I know I want to take a nice catnap tonight. How about tomorrow? We could meet at the Eiffel Tower at 6:30 and maybe there's a warehouse that we could use at the edge of the city somewhere. As for balance, I think we'll have to figure it out as we go along." Chat Noir said.

Wow, he seems to know what he's doing. I really admire that...I'll never be that confident.

"So 6:30 at the Eiffel Tower? I guess its a date then!" Replied the now impressed hero.

"Yeah its a date...I'll see you tomorrow M'Lady."

"haha, Goodnight Chaton"

With that, Chat Noir hung up and smiled.

It might be just a figure of speech, but I wish it was a real date.

"Plagg, claws in."

The small god bounded out of Adrien's ring and went straight to the minifridge, which Adrien had stocked with cheese the night before.

"She's so amazing Plagg, I hope I don't disapoint her during our training session tomorrow. I really want to be a partner Ladybug can count on!" Said Adrien with conviction.

"Believe me kid, you won't disappiont her. Ladybugs and Black Cats always have the strongest bonds. In time you'll be great partners. Don't sweat it. You really should be making friends. That Nino kid is cool. And has that girl Marinette forgiven you yet? Maybe you should ask if everything is cool between you two tomorrow at school."

"You're right Plagg. I need to enjoy being a superhero and a civilian! I'm going to school to make friends and while I'm not wearing the mask, that will be my goal!"

Plagg snorted at the anime boy, who despite having sore muscles, was doing the most ridiculous pose on his couch.

"You watch too much TV kid. Now go to sleep. You'll need to rest up for tomorrow."