Dark; Well, Adrien deserves having all the support he can! If that means two Kawmis, I'll give it to him! LOL Also, cutting out right before you say that hamster's name? Absolute perfection. Please, be my new best friend. XD

SassyAdeline; Salmon Eggs. It was in the rough draft of this chapter, but was deleted.

Everyone seems to be curious about that. This was written before Party Crasher, but shapeshifting is important to the plot, so…yep.

Thank you! I shall!

Guest; Thanks! Oh, goodness! I realize now that particular line about best friends instead of married sent people into a panic. It was actually meant to lay people's mind to rest; as a "Don't worry, no matter what happens, they'll be fiiine. They're at very least be best friends!" However, I didn't realize… how much it was freak them out. I SWEAR, I WILL NOT KILL OFF THE LOVE SQUARE! I LOVE THEM TOO MUCH! I SHIP THEM SO HARD! They will end up together, I swear.

(:)

THIS WAS WRITTEN BEFORE PARTY CRASHER WAS RELEASED! I DIDN'T KNOW WHAT THE SNAKE POWER WOULD BE, THUS MADE IT INTO SHAPESHIFING. I ACTUALLY REALLY NEED IT TO BE SHAPESHIFTING FOR THE PLOT TO WORK!

I HAVE A PLOT BUNNY FOR WHY IT'S DIFFERENT THEN IN CANNON, AND WILL BE FIXING THAT! I'LL REWRITE THE 5TH AND 8TH CHAPTER TO MAKE UP FOR THIS! PLEASE BE PATIENT AND KIND!

(:)

The Wall Between Us

-Lou and Lenni-Kim

It was quarter-past five, almost thirty minutes to the second since the time which his new Miraculous was bequeathed to him, that Adrien appeared on the Eiffel Tower, fully clad in teal leather.

His landing, or, at least the noise his landing emitted, was so similar to that of Chat Noir's, that Ladybug, her back turned to him, nearly believed the newcomer to be her old partner; her best friend.

Nearly, however, was not completely.

Ladybug knew it was Adrien, or was pretty sure it was he, due to his non-tarty arrival – Chat was usually a minute or two late – and lack of a jingling bell singling his every movement. The ringing noise was ever-present, though very, very quiet unless he wanted it to be louder, but Ladybug had gotten used to hearing it at all times.

All of these were very good tell-tale signs that her partner was not the one meeting her now.

Ladybug pivoted to face Adrien, the smile upon her face crumpling to a gape as she saw his costume. It was incredible, actually.

Adrien had donned a leather, skin-tight, turquoise costume, complete with a pattern of scales across his arms and legs, some even crossing his body. Body armor, hardly visible but there, nonetheless, was strapped across his chest. His mask didn't stop at his forehead and cheekbones but spread across his whole head, pressing his hair so close to his scalp he appeared bald, or, at the very least, wearing a swim cap.

Nobody could ever recognize him as the blond, teenage model Adrien Agreste, so much of his features were covered.

Ladybug stared at him; eyes full of bewilderment. She approached him slowly, looking him up and down. Softly she began to grin. "Wow."

"So, you like it?" Adrien asked, reaching to touch the scales on the side of his head.

Ladybug's eyes went to his shoulder pads, the thread-belt that Ladybug and Queen Bee before him had both used, the harp hung from said belt, strapped to the backside of his costume, his dark boots, and the yellow scale below his neckline that oddly reminded Ladybug of Chat's bell. But, no, that couldn't be. Gold diamonds sat across the top of his head, the back of his hands, and his knees; so, it must be a kind of design he wanted on his costume.

"Yes." She finally hummed her approval, her eyes trailing up to meet his. "It suits you."

The inner Chat Noir in him tried to push to the surface, willing him to say, 'Don't you mean it suits you?' and to do a drumroll afterwards.

He swallowed inner-Chat back, pretending a wave of wistfulness hadn't just crashed into him as he beamed at her. "I'm glad you like it! I wasn't sure about the mask, but…"

"No, no, it looks good! Someone probably would have recognized you if you kept the hair; there are some weirdly obsessed fans out there who would have guessed instantly. But i-it looks good on you! Amazing, really. Chat would totally be upset about you having pockets like you, though." Ladybug gestured wildly to said design, prompting Adrien to begin to fiddle with them.

It was incredible, really, how Ladybug's nervous stammering and blushing vanished in only thirty-minutes of getting used to the idea of having Adrien as her partner.

Adrien, however, didn't seem to be having as much luck as she, since he was still flustered. "Oh, oh, uh…yeah, yeah! Um, did he brag about his pockets a lot?" Adrien never had stammered around Ladybug as himself or as Chat Noir, and, quite frankly, he wasn't sure why he was now. He could only assume it was because he was nervous she might guess he was Chat Noir. When he fretted, he became a reckless, stuttering mess, just like he was now.

Ladybug noticed his rushed, unsure speech, but she didn't notice his discomfort, much less the reason for it. No, she was distracted in her own memories of her feline-partner.

"He did. He bragged about it constantly." She fondly recalled, a smile pulling at her lips.

…it seemed like a long, long time ago. And, while yes, it was in the past, it was only a week previous. Chat was no longer her partner. Though she referred to Adrien as her 'temporary-partner' she feared that his stay would become permanent.

She loved the boy, cherished him, felt very lucky to not only know him but to be in his class. He was one of the two best people – the other being Chat Noir – that she knew. Adrien was her sun; she often said that she couldn't survive without him. An obvious exaggeration. But she thought it to be true. He was handsome, kind, considerate, brave, smart, his random bursts of wisdom were truly remarkable, and he helped her get through hard times, like with Lila. He was trustworthy, too. The whole package, plus some. Oh, how she wanted to grow old with him.

Even so, he wasn't Chat.

Chat Noir was all the things Adrien was, with an addition of a few talents. He had been given the rare ability to make her laugh, even at the stupidest of things. Let it not go unsaid that Chat Noir was the only one to always know when she was upset, the only one who knew just what she needed to hear.

Many believed he annoyed her to no end, but that was not true. Even with Silencer, when she was left voiceless, Chat Noir made stupid jokes to distract her. Sure, she acted annoyed and whacked him on the head a few times, but she appreciated it. She forgot her lack of speech a few times due to his jokes, and, once she remembered, it was easier to bear, for she knew Chat would stand by her, voice or no.

If Chat had caught her eye first, before Adrien and Luka, things would likely be different.

They may be dating right now.

Now standing before Adrien, answering his innocent query, Ladybug wished Chat was beside her, mock-pouting and complaining that pockets were "his thing".

Adrien noticed her sorrow, awkwardly shuffling his feet. "Well, if I don't tell him, and you don't tell him, he might not notice."

Ladybug snorted at that, shaking her head. "Good luck. He's…he's got eagle eyes."

Adrien blushed slightly at that, thankful his mask covered up that part of his face.

"Well, on to a new…new matter, we're going to have to learn to get synced up with one another to battle Akumas properly."

That shouldn't be a problem. Adrien thought, hiding his mirth as well as he could. What will be a problem is getting used to this costume and power switch. I'll probably try to use cataclysm on something; seriously confusing Ladybug.

"So, I presume Sass explained it to you?" Ladybug questioned, interrupting his train of thought.

At his blank look, she elaborated. "Your powers. He explained your powers to you, right?"

Powers? What are my powers again? Did Sass explain them?

…oh, wait, of course he did. Shapeshifting. Transforming. Well, duh. Why'd I forget that? "He did." Adrien confirmed aloud, nodding once. "Shapeshifting. Morphing. Transforming. Other names for it."

"Changing?" Ladybug shrugged, unsure. "That's not as ornate as the other words, but it's one."

Suddenly, Adrien frowned, eyebrows furrowing. "I'm not sure he explained the phrase to me."

"If you don't know the phrase, he must not have even mentioned the phrase."

No, he did not. Shoot; should have asked him.

…why do I get the feeling that's she about to ask something that might give me away?

"How do you know there is a phrase?"

"I was Aspik previously." Adrien responded. "I'm going to assume there's a different phrase."

"Ah." Ladybug sighed, relief pulling at her shoulders. "That makes…sense. Sorry, I just… ugh. Sometimes I get paranoid."

"Oh, yeah, yeah…me too…" Adrien agreed, voice drifting off. "I mean, it's hard not to be paranoid, I'm sure, when anyone you know could be Hawkmoth."

She gazed at him for a moment, nodding. "Yeah. It is."

"What is the phrase?" Adrien asked, shifting his weight from foot to foot.

"Switch Scales." Came the answer from the heroine, her arms folded. "With those, you can turn into anything with the same melody. It only matters what your intent is."

"Really?"

"Yep. Fun fact, Chat Noir's Cataclysm works the same way. It destroys as much as his intent is. I, however, have no control over Lucky Charm. I have no control over it."

"Wait, the same melody?" Adrien unhooked the harp from his belt, clutching it in one hand. "Does that mean I have to know how to play it in order to transform?"

That wasn't right. Adrien knew, his absolute certainty, that Alya had no idea how to play the flute, just the tuba. And there was no possible way she could have learned how to play in the short time she was being retrieved. Maybe she had went into training before Ladybug had summoned her for a mission?

Then she would have mentioned at some point that she played the flute…at least to Marinette. And, having the excellent hearing he did…he would have overheard it. He listened to a lot of random conversations while being bored, and everyone had no idea.

He heard a lot of weird things that more-or-less confused him, and he spent way too much time trying to make sense of them. For example, Alix liked unicorns. Was obsessed, even. She just… didn't like mentioning it, for fear she'd lose her status as the 'butt-kick-girl'.

And instantly Alya had argued that Ladybug had that rank, but Alix sassed back 'IN OUR CLASS'.

And Marinette promptly choked on her food.

Confusing, but okay.

But, in all seriousness, he would have found out if Alya actually played the flute.

And she played it pretty well as Rena Rouge…maybe it was an instinct thing. He'd bet it was.

Ladybug's voice brought him back to the present, her blue pig tails swinging back and forth as she shook her head. "The Kwamis take care of that. At least, Trixx – Rena Rouge's Kwami – did. From what I've learned, all Kwamis with musical instruments do. All you really need to know is where to put your fingers. The rest will come to you." She took his hand, guiding his fingers to the proper cords. "Here, and here, and…and…"

Ladybug's face heated as she realized she held Adrien's fingers in her own, literally touching his hand without thinking of it hardly at all.

How much she had dreamed of it, had hoped for it, had prayed for it as Marinette. How often she wished she could touch him with no excuse at all, but simply because she wished it to be so. Without receiving any surprised, agitated looks from anyone, no suspecting glances, but just being a couple on the street holding hands.

It wasn't much, was hardly worth thinking about, but she had always longed for it. Even just sharing an ice cream cone would have been enough.

Now, as she stared blankly at her hand laid atop his, staring in shock, she could only wonder how she hadn't noticed what in the world she was doing ten seconds earlier. They were literally touching, and she had been oblivious.

Adrien remained blissfully ignorant to her cause of hesitation, staring blankly at their hands intertwined as he slowly processed the pause. "…did I do something wrong?"

They gazed dully at their hands, before Adrien suddenly perked up.

"Oh." He whispered in realization, still stunned.

Ladybug let go of his hand, clearing her throat in worry. "Um…and th-the last one goes on the-the third cord…"

"Okay…" Adrien agreed quietly, moving his finger to the proper position. "I'm sorry, I should have—"

"—no, I was the one who did it first—"

"—I should have payed attention better—"

"—It wasn't your fault—"

"—I'm sorry!" They both chimed the last one together, blushing fiercely.

The two stared at each other, then both began to laugh, shaking their heads in amusement.

Maybe it wouldn't be so bad after all.

I can use this opportunity to get to know Adrien better. Ladybug smiled to herself, looking awkwardly down at her hands.

I can try to win my lady's favor, but, as Adrien. Not as Chat Noir. Adrien thought with glee, still red in the face.

Yes, this just might turn out to be something beautiful.