Ladybug holds on to her yo-yo with all her strength, Cat Noir holding on behind her, as they are dragged through the air with the flying Eiffel Tower. Mr. Pigeon has been akumatized once again and this time, he's determined to find a new place for him and his pigeons to live.
"Since Paris doesn't want us, we'll just go to the Moon," Mr. Pigeon yells, "just like in Jules Verne's book!"
"How do you figure you'll breathe in space, birdbrain?" Cat Noir yells up to the akuma.
Ladybug narrows her eyes at the book Mr. Pigeon holds, thinking about how she could possibly use her lucky charm.
"Come, my dear pigeons!" Mr. Pigeon calls. "In space, no one can hear you coo!" He coos.
Ladybug spots one of the pigeons, the tower itself, and her lucky charm (a stapler this time). She sets her jaw, determination flowing through her, and has her plan set.
She gasps, "I know how to use my lucky charm!" She pulls her yo-yo back, sending her and Cat Noir free falling, "Let's bring him back to Earth before he hurts himself!"
She takes out her space power up, eating the macaroon, as Cat Noir does the same with his camembert.
"Power-up!" They call.
They quickly transform into Cosmobug and Astrocat before flying towards the Eiffel Tower to save Paris once again. They make quick work of Mr. Pigeon, using Ladybug's lucky charm, and breaking the akumatized object before setting everything right again with the Miraculous Cure. They check on Mr. Ramier before retrieving the book, and heading into the Eiffel Tower.
Ladybug places Jules Verne's book back where it belongs and turns to Cat Noir.
"There you go." They say at almost the same time as Ladybug turns and sees Cat Noir holding out a yellow flower towards her.
"Oops! You've said that already." Cat Noir says, still holding the flower out.
Ladybug rolls her eyes, "Cat Noir, I've told you to stop bringing me flowers!"
"Yeah, I know. When I tried to offer you a red rose, you told me that in flower language, that red symbolizes passion, so you refused it." He explains, "And I offered you a white rose, but you said that white stood for pure love, and you refused it too." He flourishes with the rose towards her again, "So now I'm offering you a yellow rose because I've looked it up and yellow represents friendship." He smiles at her, offering the rose, "Here's to a perfect partnership."
Ladybug narrows her eyes, placing her hands on her hips, "Are you sure yellow roses don't represent jealousy?"
Cat Noir stumbles, eyes wide, "Uh… No. That would be blue roses." He panics, "Hang on, no, purple! Or was it orange?"
Ladybug chuckles lightly and takes the, frankly gorgeous, yellow rose, "You don''t need to give me flowers." She begins walking away, but turns back to look at him, "I already know that you're the best partner ever, Cat Noir." She says sincerely.
Ladybug smells the flower with a hum, "It smells really good anyway. Thanks, kitty!"
She shoots her yo-yo out and swings away from the Eiffel Tower. Leaving Cat Noir behind. She quickly and carefully jumps into an alleyway and calls off her transformation.
"Spots off!"
Tikki lands softly in her hand and Marinette gives her a cookie before carefully placing her swami in her bag. She wastes no time running from the alley and towards school, but she's also quick to get distracted by a picture of Adrien.
"Oh!" She gasps, "A new poster of Adrien!" She takes a picture of it with her phone.
"Marinette, you're gonna be late for school." Tikki calls to her from her purse.
"Ah! He's so perfect!" Marinette gushes.
"I thought you'd stopped collecting photographs of Adrien." Tikki says, exasperated.
Marinette stammers, "A-ah, but it's different this time, Tikki! This is… uh, for work!" She explains, "It's, um, research for my future designs! Adrien and I are done!" She declares, "See? I can even look into his beautiful green eyes without getting mesmerized!" She declares, attempting to do just that, but clearly getting mesmerized. "Ah…"
Marinette!" Tikki calls, pulling her out of her mesmerized state.
"Yes!" Marinette yells, turning fully around and back towards school, "Let's get going!"
She runs into the school quickly and meets up with all her friends.
~A few hours later~
Marinette sits on the floor of the library with the rest of her class as their film ends.
"And that's how the friendship between George Washington and Frenchman Marquis de Lafayette was born," the film says with the sock puppets on screen, "between two men who believed that freedom should have no boundaries."
Ms. Bustier turns to their class as the movie ends, clapping for them, "Congratulations, that truly was a sensational student film!"
"And completed just in time for our departure to French-American Friendship week in Metropolis!" Principal Damocles adds.
The class cheers together.
"Ah!" Chloé says loudly, "Good thing my parents aren't letting me go with you!" She brags, "Not seeing you all for a week will feel like a vacation!"
"But, Miss Bourgeois," Principal Damocles says, "your parents already gave the authorization . You are coming along with everyone."
"What?!" Chloé exclaims, "You're gonna hear from Daddikins!" She pulls out her phone.
"I, on the other hand, regret to inform you that I can't come with you after all." Ms. Bustier announces.
"Oh, no! But why?" Marinette asks, concerned for her teacher.
"I just have a few medical exams I couldn't postpone, because…" she places her hands on her stomach, "I will soon be having a baby!"
The class cheers for their teacher, excited for Ms. Bustier.
"Ms. Mendeleiev will be substituting for Ms. Bustier." Principal Damocles announces.
"Aww…" The class sighs.
"She's not cool." Kim complains, "New York with her will be so lame. She won't let us do anything!"
"Something wrong, buddy?" Nino asks Adrien from the back of the group.
"My father isn't going to let me go. As usual." Adrien answers, clearly upset.
Lila butts into their conversation, "I'm stuck in Paris too. I have obligations because of my charity work," she lies, "but we could see each other, if you'd like."
Marinette scowls at Lila from her spot on the floor.
Adrien chuckles awkwardly, not at all interested in Lila's offer, "Uh, thanks, Lila!"
"No!" Marinette yells, jumping to her feet.
Everyone gasps and stares at her.
"Uh, I mean…" Marinette explains awkwardly, "no, we made that film together, all of us, which means Adrien must come with me! Ahhh." She fumbles, "I mean, us!" She corrects, "He's our friend and you don't let a friend down!" She gestures to the screen their film played on, "Just like in the film, when sock-Lafayette comes and helps his friend sock-Washington find freedom." She says determinedly and points at Adrien, "Adrien, you're our sock-Washington!" He looks at her with wide eyes and smiles as she continues, "You're our friend, and as your friend, it is my duty to go and see your father and convince him to let you come with us!"
The class cheers once again, "Yeah!"
"And we're coming with you!" Rose declares.
"Thank you, Marinette." Adrien says with awe before his face drops, "But my father's a difficult man to convince."
"I will never let a friend down!" Marinette says with conviction.
~A few moments later~
Marinette's friends stand in front of her as she sits on the stairs in their school.
"Adrien, your friend?" Alya asks.
"Absolutely!" Marinette declares, "It was time I moved on! It was so painful, not being able to tell him how I felt." She explains, "It made me act completely crazy!"
Alix coughs, "No kidding!"
Marinette stands, spinning between her friends, "Oh! It's so liberating to finally just be Adrien's friend instead of the girl who's in love with Adrien!" She states, "I no longer get lost in his beautiful green eyes, I no longer spray his Adrien n.4 cologne on my pillow, and I even stopped binge-watching my montage of his best ads!"
"What about your poster collection?" Alix asks, disbelieving.
Marinette stutters, "T-that… that's strictly for research purposes!"
"But are you sure you'll be fine spending a week with him in Metropolis?" Alya asks. "Isn't that too romantic?"
"No! Of course not!" Marinette assures nervously, "We'll have a great time as friends!" Marinette worries, "But first, I've gotta convince his dad."
~At the Agreste home~
Marinette stands in the foyer doing her best to convince Mr. Agreste as her friends wait outside. Gorilla keeps the door open so they can all see in.
"And that's what makes our friendship so precious! And since your son is my friend, I mean, our friend," she gestures outside, "that means he has to come to Metropolis with us!" She finishes.
"Young lady, I—" Mr. Agreste begins.
"I won't leave this place until you've—" Marinette interrupts.
"I've decided to let Adrien go along with his classmates." Gabriel Agreste states.
Marinette blinks, "Uh… you have? But usually…"
"You've convinced me." Mr. Agreste explains. "You really are a good friend to my son."
Marinette decides not to question him any further and thanks him profusely before turning around and heading out the door and to her cheering friends.
~At fencing with Adrien~
Adrien does his best to keep up with Kagami, but she's able to quickly and easily knock him down. Pointing her saber towards his chest as he sits on the ground. She helps him up a moment later as fencing class ends and they make their way to the locker room.
Adrien sits alone for a while, still in his fencing gear, thinking about the trip his friends will be going on without him. He knows that Marinette went to talk to his father, but as great as Marinette is, his father is a difficult man.
Kagami walks up to him, fully changed, "What's wrong, Adrien?"
"My whole class is going to Metropolis tomorrow." He explains, not bothering to look up, "I wish I could be going with them."
"I'm sad for you, but happy for us." Kagami states, "This'll give us more time to practice." Adrien looks at her slightly, still upset, "When you're as weak as you were today, the pleasure of beating you is lessened."
She places a kiss near his lips, but not on them, and Adrien gives her a small smile. They're not quite dating, but he is interested to see where a relationship with her might go.
"I'll see you tomorrow." Kagami says with a wave.
"See you tomorrow, Kagami." Adrien responds, but he sighs once she leaves.
Going to Metropolis with his friends would be a great way to clear his head and decide if he truly wants to move on from Ladybug, or if he should remain faithful to the lady of his dreams. Not to mention, he would have a great time exploring the city with his friends. Seeing the city for the first time and maybe even catching sight of Superman!
Master Fu had communicated with Wonder Woman herself to keep any and all superheroes or meta humans out of Paris at all costs. It was deemed too dangerous with Hawkmoth around. Miraculous magic is powerful, and they did not need Superheroes or metas getting akumatized. They already feared Paris' residential meta human population getting akumtized. Thankfully, it seemed that they had a relatively low number.
After Ladybug became the guardian, they called Wonder Woman and spoke to her for the first time, explaining the heartbreaking events that led to Ladybug becoming the guardian of the miracle box. She offered her assistance, but they decided against it. After all, it still wasn't safe. Thankfully, Hawkmoth seemed to only be interested in their miraculous, and they were doing well keeping Paris safe. Aside from that incident in Shanghai, Hawkmoth has never left the city.
Adrien sighed before finally standing to change his clothes and head home. At least he'll have Ladybug during patrols and akumas.
~That evening~
"You're going away?" Cat Noir asks, disbelieving as he and Ladybug sit on a rooftop viewing the Eiffel Tower.
"Only for a few days." Ladybug assures him. "It's nothing important, kittycat! But I can't tell you anymore."
"In order to protect our secret identities." Cat finishes for her, sadly. "I know the drill, Milady."
"But in case anything happens in Paris, and akumatised villain, a sentimonster, anything…" She pulls a bag from behind her and reaches into it, pulling out an adorable cat shaped toy and a remote with a button on it, "all you have to do is click here," he grabs the remote, "and I'll come back as fast as I can!"
Cat Noir presses the button and the cat toy meows. He does it again and again with a huge smile on his face. Finding the little toy to be adorable and amusing.
"For emergencies only, of course!" Ladybug says.
"Of course!" Cat Noir agrees, "Just go and rest easy. I'll be Paris' substitute guardian!" He declares, "Am I not the perfect partner after all?"
"I'm counting on you." Ladybug states, "No funny business, ok?"
Have I ever struck you as the funny kind?" He asks sarcastically, "I'm as serious as they get!" He presses the button and chuckles lightly as it meows.
Ladybug groans and they finish patrol.
~The next morning~
Adrien sets down his tea, surprised, and turns to his father, "I… I can go to Metropolis? Really?" He asks.
"You can thank your friend Marinette for convincing me." His father responds, still standing in the doorway to the dining room.
"But, actually, I hadn't planned on…" He thinks about Ladybug stating how she was leaving Paris. There's no way they can both be gone, "What about my fencing lessons? And Chinese?" He tries.
"Nathalie has already packed your bags." His father informs him, "Your bodyguard will go with you. You take off this afternoon."
Adrien watches as gorilla turns green and his father turns to leave.
"Uh… yes, very well, Father." He says.
He forces himself to take a few more bites of his breakfast before heading up to his room. Plagg instantly flies from his hiding place in his shirt.
"I've been dreaming about this ever since the special Metropolis edition of the Gentlemen's Cheese came out." Plagg exclaims as he flips through his magazine and Adrien walks to his couch sadly, "Blue Marble Jack, Cougar Gold, the legendary Monterrey… All those wonderful American Cheeses are just waiting for us to taste them!"
Adrien sits on the couch, "We can't go, Plagg. I promised Ladybug I'd watch over Paris, and I don't want to let her down." He explains.
Plagg flies right up to him, "But your father will never let you stay. You want more freedom, and, for once, your father is letting you have fun!" PLagg tells him, "Enjoy! You'll be in Metropolis with your friends!"
"She's gonna be so disappointed." Adrien says sadly, looking at the remote she gave him and preparing to press the button.
"Of course not!" Plagg says, "She can't be disappointed if she doesn't know!" He takes away the remote, surprising Adrien. "Besides, she told you not to call unless a supervillain shows up." He flies high, looking around, "See any supervillains in the house?"
"What if something happens while we're gone?" Adrien asks his kwami.
"Don't you have an akuma alert on your phone?" Plagg asks.
Adrien smiles, "Of course." He pulls up the alert, "And in case of emergency, I can transform into Astrocat to fly back quickly!"
"Perfect!" Plagg purrs, tossing the remote to Adrien, "And then you can tell Ladybug!"
Adrien catches the remote, "That way, she'll never be disappointed!"
They fist bump, "Pound it!"
~That afternoon~
Marinette holds on to Luka as he rides his bike after the bus. She sits behind him on her suitcase and groans.
"Ugh, I'm sorry, Luka. We'll never catch up to the bus!" She says.
"Of course we will," Luka says, "I know how important this trip is to you."
"You're saying it's important because of Adrien, right?" She says, "But what's important is not that Adrien will be there, you know?" She shakes her head, "I mean, it's important to me, it's important to Adrien, because it's and important trip, but it's not important to me because he's just a friend!" She finishes with a nod.
Luka speeds up and they ride beside the bus until it finally stops. Luka carefully stops beside it and Marinette jumps off his bike, grabbing her suitcase. She removes her helmet and places it in Luka's basket at the front of his bike.
"You know what's important, Marinette?" He asks her, smiling softly, "That this trip helps you get some clarity."
"Thank you, Luka." Marinette says with a soft smile.
She and Luka haven't crossed the line into dating quite yet, but she's working on her feelings for Adrien so that they could get there.
She gives Luka a kiss on the cheek before turning to the bus and getting on. The door closes and she walks towards her seat. She blushes bright red as her eyes catch on Adrien's smiling face. He's seated right across from where she will sit next to Alya.
She takes her seat and the bus takes off towards the airport.
~On the plane~
Adrien sits beside his bodyguard on the plane and looks at the magazine in front of him. He sighs when he sees the picture of him and Ladybug. He feels guilty about leaving Paris. He turns his attention to the screen in front of him, but the first movie to pop up is the one based on him and Ladybug.
He swipes through the movies and his heart skips a beat when another movie shows the destruction of Paris. He leaves the movies and looks at the music, but sighs again as the first song to pop up is the one about them. He groans and turns off the screen completely. He perks up as he sees Marinette walking down the center of aisle of the plane.
"Hey, Marinette!" He calls, leaving his seat, "What's your seat number?" He runs to her.
"Uh… Baby… BB… 32B." She stammers, wide eyed.
He grabs her bag from her, "Oh, great! You're sitting next to me!" He exclaims, excited to have company on the plane ride.
Marinette gasps.
"Awesome, Marinette. Go and sit next to your friend!" Alya says from her seat beside Nino. "So you two can enjoy a nice flight together. A very long flight."
Adrien chooses not to question Anya's weird tone of voice, and turns to bring Marinette's bag to their seats.
"Uh. Sure! Next to my husban… my friend… no problem!" Marinette stammers behind him.
Adrien stows her bag in the overhead compartment and takes his seat beside his bodyguard. He smiles at Marinette as she sits beside him, but she's sitting uncomfortably and seems to be struggling.
"Uh… Everything ok?" He asks, worried.
"Oh, yeah, yeah, great!" Marinette says with two thumbs up, "Ohh, hoo-hoo! It's just a little hot in here, isn't it?" She nervously giggles, fanning herself, and moves to turn on the air.
Adrien moves to help, "Here, let me help you." He places his hands on hers and she gasps, falling to her seat like he shocked her.
Suddenly, her chair flings back and her legs kick his, knocking him on top of her.
"Whoa!" He yells as he falls.
He jumps back as he realizes the position they're in, with him laying on top of her.
"Oh, sorry!" He says, sitting on the floor as Marinette turns beat red.
"No, I'm fine!" Marinette says, fixing her seat, but clearly not being fine.
Adrien returns to his own seat, "Are you feeling cooler now?" He asks.
Marinette jumps out of her seat and stands in the aisle.
"Gee! No! Not at all!" She yells, "It must be the seat! It's a warming seat, right?" She touches the seat and hisses like it burned her, "Ohh! It's burning hot!"
Adrien looks at her confused, feeling the seat for himself, "Um… no… it's a regular seat." He smiles at her, "But you can have mind if you'd like." He stands, "Come on, Let's switch!"
Marinette runs away from him. Adrien looks after her, his face screwed in confusion. He hears as Alya explains Marinette's air sickness to Ms. Mendeleiev.
He holds back his disappointment as Ms. Mendeleiev switches seats with Marinette and he's forced to sit between his bodyguard that doesn't talk and his teacher that probably won't talk to him either.
"Guess I'll see you later, then?" He says to Marinette.
"Right, later! Much later! I mean, see you later!" Marinette says back, sitting in her new seat next to their principal.
"We are about to take off. Please secure your tray table and fasten your seatbelt." The announcer says over the intercom.
Adrien sighs as his bodyguard places headphones on his head. Adrien places his own in his ears and the plane takes off.
He's able to get some sleep in as the plane flies, but he's woken up by some turbulence. He looks around and sees Marinette walking back to her seat before she turns around and heads to the back of the plane once more.
Adrien decides to follow her and carefully shimmies past Ms. Mendeleiev before making his way to Marinette. He smiles at her, chuckling to himself at the sight of the paper in her hair. He turns to the window and admires the view before speaking to Marinette.
"It's beautiful, isn't it?" He asks her.
Marinette startles and jumps toward him as the plane shakes once more, "Ahh! Forry, I… I mean, sorry!" She says as she jumps away from him.
Adrien smiles at her, "Sorry, Marinette."
She chuckles and they return to looking out the small window together. Admiring the sun and the clouds surrounding it.
They're quiet a few moments before Adrien speaks, "My father told me everything. The only reason I can enjoy this beautiful sunset is you. I thought it would be impossible, but you believed in it." He says sincerely, "You're always willing to take a chance on something or someone, even when no one else is." He looks up at her with admiration in his eyes, "You've got something, Marinette."
"Som…Something?" She asks awkwardly.
Adrien decides to lighten the mood and make a joke, "Yeah, there. In your hair." He says, grabbing the paper with a chuckle as she gasps.
Marinette tumbles into a long explanation into how the paper got into her hair. Adrien does his best to follow along, but frankly, her retelling of the situation is very jumbled and all he can really get out of it is that some turbulence caused her to stumble in the bathroom.
He smiles at her and listens attentively regardless as she giggles.
"Okay, then…" She finally finishes, "So…" She turns back to the window.
Adrien follows her lead before speaking once again, "Well, what I meant to say was…" He turns to her, "thanks for managing to convince my father."
He acts purely on impulse and hugs her tightly. He's beyond grateful to have her as a friend. He was worried for months that she didn't like him. After their first meeting, that time at the wax museum, and all her stuttering, but he is glad to know that she really does care for him enough to convince his father to let him on this trip.
"Ooh! Sure thing! Ha, ha! Don't mention it!" Marinette says awkwardly, "That's what friends are for! For holding each other really tightly in the delicious aroma of cologne." She giggles before melting into the hug.
Adrien holds back his own chuckle at her nonsense words. Fully appreciating Marinette and all her quirks. He continues to hold her with his eyes closed softly. She always smells like cookies and macaroons. He knows he's hugging her longer than he should, but he can't bring himself to stop.
Unfortunately, he's not given much of a choice as a sudden jolt to the plane has them flying apart and falling to the ground. Adrien's eyes widen as the plane suddenly starts to fall to one side. Him and Marinette slide across the floor and hit the wall hard near the window they were once looking out of.
"Don't worry, sweethearts. We have this under control." A robotic voice says to them over the intercom closest to them.
They look out the window and are shocked to see red tornado looking in at them.
"Dear passengers, the Justice League is here to protect you. Please remain calm and fasten your seatbelts." Red Tornado says to the entire plane over the speakers before he focuses on saving the plane with the help of Superboy and Superman.
Adrien and Marinette stare wide eyed out the window at the heroes coming to save them. The plane finally balances and they snap out of their shock and hurry to return to their seats.
Adrien looks at Plagg in his shirt, debating on if he should transform to help them or not. He's not sure how he would get away with being in the United States and being on this specific plane.
He watches out the window as best as he can and sees Batman and Robin land on the wing of the plane after jumping out of the legendary Batwing. He watches as the heroes fight against a tech themed villain that Adrien had never heard of before.
He has too many akumatised villains in Paris to even think about the names of the villains the other heroes of the world may face.
Adrien sighs in relief as Batman easily apprehends the villain and Superboy helps Red Tornado solder the engine back on the plane while Superman holds them up. Robin stands near them, doing something on his wrist computer thing, before the engine suddenly begins working again. Adrien assumes Robin had something to do with that, but the boy, who looks about his age, seems bored at the situation.
Superman flies to the windows of the plane and speaks way louder than anyone should be able to, "I'd like to welcome you to the United States, enjoy your stay!"
In a blink of an eye, all the heroes are gone with the villain apprehended. Everyone on the plane cheers.
"Good thing the Justice League was here." Adrien says to Plagg, "I couldn't have transformed. I'm supposed to be in Paris."
"Relax, Adrien." Plagg responds, "Let the local superheroes handle their own problems."
Adrien looks at his phone, "So far, nothing to report from Paris."