Dragon Fyre sees Cat Noir land on the roof where he'd set everything up, Marinette in his arms, and quietly clicks her fingers to relight all the candles. At her brother's glance, she gives him a smile before leaping away - and steadfastly ignoring the pang of loneliness in her own heart at the sight. If her brother's happy, then she's happy - besides, the one guy that showed any interest in her practically ran off screaming when he learned she's the fire-throwing superhero that helps save Paris on a daily basis.

You have your little family, dammit. That's all you wanted for four years, after all. She's a greedy little creature at heart, isn't she? Her brother and best friend start getting together, and she wants that for herself to - dammit all to hell, why can't she ever be satisfied with what she has?

Longg's voice sounds in her head, saying There's nothing wrong with wanting someone by your side, Hatchling. You'll find someone eventually.

Dragon Fyre scoffs - she's not going to cry, she's not - and asks "Who in the world would stay when they could get set on fire at best or even killed by those four weirdos if they ever decide to take everything from me again? Kwamis, I'm such a drama queen…"

No, that's Chloe. Your magic is fueled by your emotions, of course you feel everything so strongly. There WILL be someone, Hatchling. Karma may be cruel at times, but just as there's a price to pay for misusing a Miraculous there's a boon granted to those you use them for good. Always.

"And…do you know what that boon will be?"

It's taken many forms, Hatchling. Good health, prosperity, true love…whatever the Holder's greatest wish or need is, it comes to them in one form or another.

One of his Holders wanted a family of her own, for instance, but was barren and had nothing to her name - she ended up taking in an orphaned trio, married a successful, prosperous man who loved her and cared nothing for the detail that she had so little, and lived a long life surrounded by children and then grandchildren before she passed peacefully in her sleep.

When Marinette opens her eyes…it's like a scene straight out of a romance book - flower petals strewn all along the floor of the roof, candles lined up along the railings, a basket of food and some pillows on a red blanket, and the Eiffel Tower all lit up in the distance. This must've taken…a while for her Kitty to set up.

Oh, Kitty…I'm so sorry… She's so blown away by it all - every little detail just screams that he's been planning this out for weeks, she's never seen this side of him before - it takes her a full minute to find Cat Noir leaning against a rail.

He glances around, asking "What do you think? Would she have liked it?"

Marinette nods, swallowing a few times to get rid of the lump in her throat, and says "Yeah, I think it would've shocked her speechless." What else can she say? 'Oh, Cat Noir, I'm Ladybug and I'm absolutely floored by all this, I'm so very sorry I forgot about your offer, please forgive me?'

She hurt her Kitty tonight, and badly, but she's no idea how to make it up to him. Unsure about what else to do, Marinette…hugs him. Wraps her arms around his neck because she can't think of anything else to do that won't give herself away.

After a moment, one where he goes stiff as a board before slowly relaxing, she feels his arms move around her, one hand resting on her back the other burying itself in her hair and running through it.

"I'm sorry she never showed up, Cat Noir. Maybe she had…I don't know, a problem of some kind?" Like having a hormone-fueled meltdown over something that's happened twenty times before, making her best friend forgo her own ice cream to keep her from getting Akumatized.

Cat Noir shrugs, resting his chin on the top of her head - and, incidentally, fighting to keep from purring louder than a car engine - and says "I know she said she might not make it, but I had my fingers crossed." Kwamis, he wants to simply curl up around her and never let go - he just can't stay upset with this woman when she's so clearly upset at hurting him. Kwamis, he loves his Lady - and the revelation of who she is only made those feeling stronger somehow.

Of course, true to form, his father has to ruin literally everything. Because a gigantic snowman walks past, rhyming and searching for Marinette.

You gotta be kidding…

Marinette whispers "Andre the Ice Cream man?!"

Ladybug and Cat Noir are walking towards Glaciator, arm in arm and hoping they look like they're in love. And it seems to be working, to, because the gigantic snowman says "I can't, Hawkmoth, they look so in love!"

And then both heroes stop in their tracks, staring up at an orange glow on top of a roof behind Glaciator.

Ladybug murmurs into Cat Noir's ear "Is that…Dragon Fyre?" From the light of that glow, something really set her off this time…

Cat Noir has to shield his eyes thanks to the enhanced senses his Miraculous gives him, disguising his discomfort as pressing a kiss into Ladybug's hair, and says "Yep…"

And then the living inferno leaps and lands squarely on Glaciator's head…which starts melting. The two superheroes can only watch as Dragon Fyre starts melting through the ice cream…and then suddenly Andre gets quite literally tossed out, landing squarely on his behind and an Akuma-colored ice cream scoop flies out of his hand and hits the ground hard. Hard enough to break it.

Ladybug catches the Akuma, purifies it…and the Ladybugs reveal Dragon Fyre under all the ice cream - and she looks upset, almost like she's been crying. Except, with her healing abilities and the Cure…there's no evidence whatsoever. No puffy red eyes and the ice cream would've taken any tears away with it when the Ladybugs cleared it away.

And then Andre comes to, so to speak, and starts geeking out over Ladybug and Cat Noir - and the love he claims he can sense between them. To be fair, he's not wrong - they do love each other, and now the Love Square is just a Triangle.

But still, how this man can accurately tell who loves who is a mystery to the red-head - he hasn't got any magic that she can sense, and yet he's famous for getting it right all the time with his ice cream.

Kwamis, she needs to be away from him right now - nothing against the friendly man, but she just does. Neither of her partners get a word in before she says she'll finish up Patrol and leaps away, but they both noticed something…brittle about her expression as she did.

Cat Noir stares at his Lady, up at the rooftop he set up for her - he didn't think he could love her anymore, but the knowledge that she doesn't want to play with his feelings, lead him on…look at that, he could, and he does.

It takes every ounce of willpower not to simply melt into a puddle of lovesick goo at that, keep his expression somber, but he manages as he walks up and tucks the rose behind her ear. "I understand, M'Lady. Your friendship means everything to me." He kisses her on the cheek, internally sighing at the way her cheeks burn red as the suit, and adds "You can keep the rose, by the way. It goes with your outfit…purrfectly."

He sees Ladybug's hand move to her cheek as he vaults away, and Plagg groans in his head Cue the mushy, gushy stuff from before…times ten.

It's the next day at school when Adrien realizes knowing Ladybug's identity and needing to keep it a secret has some major drawbacks. The first being…his Lady sits right behind him every single day. Gets peeved at Chloe, laughs at Bloom's dry jokes…all of it. His Bugaboo is right there, apparently with a massive crush on him, and he can't say anything or act out of the ordinary. He feels a warm squeeze on his shoulder, silent support from his sister, and just knows she heard his thoughts.

Mari corners Bloom during lunch, asking if she's alright - she seemed a little upset last night. Bloom shakes her head, saying "I'm alright, Mari. Just something I'm coming to terms with." Namely, the detail that she's probably going to be alone as everyone else pairs up. Forever. At Marinette's concerned look, she says "I gotta deal with this one on my own, Mari."

Adrien sits down next to Marinette right then, making the dark-haired girl freeze in her seat, and asks "Deal with what, Bloom?"

Bloom gives the two of them a deadpan 'you gotta be effing kidding me, drop this now' stare, and says "Like I said, nothing. Nothing anyone else can help me with, anyway."

Longg growls from Bloom's hair, and says "I told you, Hatchling-"

Bloom stands up, tossing the bag she had some food in for lunch, and says "See you two in class." Once she's in the - mercifully empty - art room, Bloom scoffs and asks "Longg, who's going to be brave enough to be around a living fire hazard? I kiss someone, I'm likely to set their hair on fire!"

Longg sighs, mentally conceding that she has a point there, and says "Perhaps a new Miraculous Holder."

Bloom mutters "That's a massive risk though, Longg. The instant we put another Miraculous into play, Hawk Moth will know we didn't just come from somewhere else. He'll know there are more Miraculous' in Paris."

Longg nods, and says "It'll come to that point though, Hatchling."

"I know. Magic can do a lot of things…but even magic can't do everything." They're getting tired, to quote the Lord of the Rings movie…thin, like butter scraped over too much bread. Between the daily Akuma attacks that can happen at any time, training, and Patrol, they've got full-time jobs with no pay and the worst hours ever. And that's without taking into account school, homework, and anything and everything her partners' families expect of them.

And after Plagg's performance that first time she recharged her brother's Miraculous, she's more than a little wary of giving the Holders a boost and making them OD on her magic in some way.

They need help, more allies…but that would put all of them in even more danger as soon as they were chosen. And who would they even choose anyway? She's wary of picking some random adult, both because they might not listen to a trio of teenagers and because they'd have a job they'd likely get fired from after a while.

AN: Ta-dah! Hadn't really planned on giving Bloom a meltdown of her own when it comes to romance, and yet it just happened. Like, really hard, to. Well, anyway, enjoy! More updates coming soon!