Miraculously Tangled

Author's Note: For this chapter, I suggest having the Tangled kingdom festival music playing in the background for the best reading experience.

Disclaimer: I Do Not Own Tangled Or MLB. Those belong to their respective owners.

Chapter 9

The sun shines brightly in the sky, lighting up our main duo's campsite. The fire was now out, with only a pile of ashes of the wood left. Adrien lay asleep in his long hair, Plagg curled up next to him, while Marinette rested her head on a rock, Ticki tucked in her pocket. A purple butterfly flew past Marinette's sleeping face. She felt a wet drop on her cheek and slowly opened her eyes…to be met with the wet, glaring face of Lila the horse, snorting angrily at the raven-haired thief.

"Well,I hope you're here to apologize," Marinette answered calmly, not seeming fazed by the horse's presence.

A second later, Adrien woke up to the sound of shouting. He sat up and saw a horse dragging Marinette by the foot with its teeth, Ticki pulling Marinette's hand to keep the horse from dragging away her master. The blonde boy quickly ran over to assist Ticki, scaring Plagg awake in the process, and grabbed Marinette's other hand, pulling her back.

"Give me back my guide!" Adrien demanded the horse as the two played tug-of-war with the blue-eyed girl.

"And my master!" Ticki added.

Both sides kept pulling with all their strength, till eventually Adrien and Ticki managed to pull Marinette back, falling to the ground and the horse taking one of Marinette's boots in the process. The horse, seeing that she only took a boot, spit it out and started charging towards Marinette.

Adrien quickly got up to his feet and held out his hands defensively to keep the horse from attacking Marinette. "Woah, easy there! Down, girl!"

The horse stopped and glared at Adrien, her nostrils flaring.

"Take it easy." Adrien said in a soothing voice, gesturing with his arms to calm down.

The horse looked up to see Ticki floating above Adrien's head, gesturing for her to calm down as well. With a grunt, the horse lowered her head and sat down.

"Now drop the boot." Adrien told the horse.

With some reluctance, the horse let go of Marinette's boot.

"Good girl." Adrien petted the horse's mane gently, making the horse wag her tail like a puppy and instantly taking a liking to the blonde boy.

"Good girl? It tried to drag me away!" Marinette fumed, crossing her arms.

"And has been chasing us all this time." Ticki added, crossing her tiny arms as well.

"Meow." Plagg, who just sat on the side the whole time, chipped, licking his paws.

"I get that." Adrien replied with a glance at the two. "But today is a special day." he turned his attention back to the horse. "You see-" he read the name on the horse's collar, "Lila, today is my birthday, and I need Marinette and Ticki here to guide me to the kingdom so that I can see the floating lanterns," Adrien grabbed Marinette by the arm and pulled over to stand in front of Lila. "So just for twenty-four hours, I need you two to get along. Afterwards, you can chase each other to your heart's content, okay?"

Marinette sighed and reluctantly held out her hand for a shake.

Lila turned her head away with a glare.

"Please?" Adrien pleaded with the horse, giving her sad-puppy dog eyes.

With a grunt, Lila grabbed Marinette's hand with her hoove, and the two shook on it.

Adrien smiled at this agreement, then turned his attention into the distance when he heard the faint sound of bells ringing. He picked up Plagg and started walking towards the sound of the bells.

While the blonde boy's attention was away from them, Lila shoved Marinette in the gut with her hoove, smiling in satisfaction. Marinette was about to do the same thing back, before Ticki flew in between them and reminded them of their agreement.

With that, the three followed Adrien down the cobblestone bridge and to the kingdom's gates. As he passed through the gates, Adrien paused and stared in awe.

The whole street was decorated with flowers, streamers and banners, each banner having the kingdom's butterfly symbol embroidered on them. People of all ages and sizes walked around, stall owners lined the street selling bouquets of flowers and fresh fruit, and children ran around, laughing and playing.

Adrien was fascinated by everything, but he also got frustrated as people kept stepping on his hair and strands getting tangled in carts. Marinette helped, gathering as much hair as she could in her hands, but it was clear to both of them that they needed a solution.

Marinette spotted twin girls sitting by a nearby fountain, braiding each other's hair. She whistled, grabbing their attention. When the girls saw the amount of hair needed to be braided, they gasped in excitement.

In a matter of minutes, the girls had woven Adrien's long golden hair into a thick braid, decorating it with flowers and feathers.

Marinette and Ticki watched the process while also ducking to avoid being seen by guards, with Plagg pawing at a nearby bird by the water fountain.

When the girls finished, Adrien smiled in awe at the great fine job they did, twirling happily with his now braided hair. "Thank you so much." he said gratefully to the girls.

Marinette couldn't help but smile at the scene, with Ticki and Lila giving the blue-haired girl knowing looks. Marinette rolled her eyes, lightly shoving Lila and poking Ticki, the kwami giggling.

Adrien grabbed Marinette's hand, dragging her from stall to stall, wanting to explore all that is at the festival.

While they waited in line for croissants, a certain mural caught Adrien's eye. He walked over to it to get a closer look. The mural depicted a king and a queen smiling, the queen holding a baby in her arms. A few people surrounded the mural, placing flowers and feathers by it to pay respect towards the royal couple.

A little girl with brown pigtails placed a blue feather by the mural. "This one is for the lost prince." she explained to her mother.

Lost prince?

Adrien gazed at the baby in the mural. There was something familiar about him, but the blonde boy couldn't put a finger on it. Before he could think about it further, a group of musicians began playing music. Adrien followed them to the center of the kingdom square and started dancing.

Marinette paid the stall-owner, and took two croissants. As she turned around to give Adrien one, she saw him twirling in the center of the square. She chuckled to herself as she watched him twirl like no one was watching, his long, blonde braid flying behind him. When no one was looking, she handed a croissant to Ticki, who happily munched on the treat.

As the music picked up, Adrien gathered people to join him, forming a human chain and moving around the pavement, which had the butterfly symbol formed with the pavement bricks. More people joined hands, clapping and dancing to the music's rhythm. Adrien extended a hand for Marinette to join in, to which the blue-eyed girl shook her head, being far too clumsy to dance. Lila shoved her into the dance circle, which earned the horse a glare from Marinette, to which Lila snorted smugly and Ticki giggled. The crowd rotated between partners, linking arms for a couple twirls then repeating the movement with another partner. At some point, Adrien and Marinette linked arms, but rather than finding another partner, the two continued into a waltz together, the crowd understanding the change and moved back, forming a circle around the dancing duo.

The two of them shifted among activities;

Drawing the kingdom's butterfly symbol on the pavement with chalk for everyone to see, Adrien being glad to put his artistic skills to use,

to Marinette purchasing a small purple cloth with the butterfly symbol embroidered on it for Adrien as a birthday gift,

to sharing macaroons in an alley while hiding from some guards passing by,

to visiting the kingdom's library, Marinette showing Adrien storybooks of the miraculous heroes that Master Fu would tell tales about, and Adrien showing her the stories of the brave knights that Mother Natalie read to him as a kid,

and lastly, the couple concluding their waltz in the kingdom center, the crowd cheering for them.

Eventually, evening fell upon the kingdom. Adrien and Marinette rowed out on a canoe to the middle of the lake, Ticki sitting on the back mast. The floating lights should appear soon.

"This has been the best day of my life," Adrien said with a big smile on his face. "I can't thank you enough for all of this, Marinette. You've made this birthday truly special.'

A small blush dotted Marinette's cheeks. "Oh, it was nothing."

Adrien gently took her hand. "I'm serious. I'm glad I met you," he held up the cloth she got him. "And thank you for this."

Marinette smiled. "Just wait. Your real birthday present is about to come."

Over at the castle, King Gabriel and Queen Emilia stood on the balcony, the queen holding the lantern ready to light it. Gabriel sighed. It has been 18 years since their son was kidnapped. Eighteen years of releasing hundreds of lanterns in hopes for him to see and come back, but to no avail. Why should tonight be any different?

Emilia put her hand on her husband's shoulder, giving him a reassuring smile. She has never lost hope of her son returning, and she wasn't going to lose hope now. Gabriel smiled back at his wife. Together, they lit the lantern, and let it float high into the sky.

As Adrien picked up flowers and feathers out of Marinette's hand, placing them on the water's surface, he caught a reflection of a glowing lantern. The blonde boy looked up to see a lantern floating in the evening sky. He paused, watching the lantern in awe. Soon, hundreds of lanterns followed afterwards, lighting up the night sky. They were brighter than Adrien remembered, more beautiful than they seemed from the tower window.

Adrien was so happy to see his dream finally come true; he began to sing.

"All those nights, watching from the windows,

All those years, outside looking in,

All that time, never really knowing,

Just how blind I've been,"

Adrien took Marinette's hand and excitedly pointed up at the lanterns, the blue-eyed girl smiling and nodding.

"Now I'm here, blinking in the starlight,

Now I'm here, suddenly I see,

Standing here, it's all so clear,

I'm where I'm meant to be."

Adrien went to the front of the canoe, grabbing onto the mast and watching the lanterns, a joyful smile spread on his face.

"And at least I see the light,

And it's like the fog has lifted,

And at least I see the light,

And it's like the sky is new."

The lanterns rose and shined, seemingly dancing across the sky. It was magical and mesmerizing in Adrien's eyes. He felt so lucky to see it all up close. One might say it was the lucky power of the ladybug miraculous that brought him and Marinette to this event.

"And it's warm and big and bright,

And the world had somehow shifted,"

No words could describe the gratitude Adrien had for Marinette at this moment. He turned around to thank her once more, to find her holding two lanterns in her hands.

Another unexpected surprise.

"All at once, everything seems different,

Now that I see you,"

Adrien sat back down across Marinette. "I have something for you too." he reached behind him and held up the satchel. "I've had it with me this whole time. I should have given it back to you earlier, but I was afraid. But now, I'm not afraid anymore." he rubbed his neck nervously and added, "Do you know what I mean?"

Marinette nodded. "I think so." She handed Adrien a lantern.

Together, they released their lanterns up in the air.

"All those days, chasing down a daydream,

All those years, living in a blur,

All that time, never truly seeing,

Things for the way they were,"

Marinette looked at Adrien, who seemed to radiate with light and warmth. He really was handsome, even with the flowers and feathers in his hair. She watched as he reached for a lantern that floated near their canoe, then lifted it back in the air, grinning in delight.

"Now he's here,

Shining in the starlight,

Now he's here,

Suddenly I know,

Since he's here, it's crystal clear,

I'm where I meant to go,"

Adrien and Marinette joined hands, smiling and singing together.

"And at last I see the light,

And it's like the fog has lifted,

And at last I see the light,

And it's like the sky is new,

And it's warm and big and bright,

And the world has somehow shifted,"

Some lanterns moved close together over the canoe, forming a heart shape in the sky.

"All at once, everything seems different,

Now that I've seen you,"

Adrien and Marinette were inches away from each other's faces as their duet came it's finish.

"Now that I see you,"

The two wrapped their arms around each other in a hug, enjoying the sentimental moment.

Ticki watched from the mast, smiling sweetly at this heartwarming scene.

End of chapter 9

Author's Note: It's 2022, beautiful readers. I don't know about your new year resolutions, but mine is to start writing more fluffy/wholesome fanfiction, because this chapter has been full of it, and I love it. Absolutely my most favorite chapter so far. Too bad things will be going downhill soon. Anyways, leave reviews, live your dreams, and have a great weekend.