Chapter 5: Concentrate

Yet another crash is heard as more vines sprout from the ground, ripping the young heroine out of her thoughts, she mentally reprimands herself. She can't get distracted now, she's Ladybug. Any... thoughts will have to wait till later. For now, she'll just have to ignore her racing heartbeat.

Giving Chat Noir a bright smile, she (relculantly) pulls her hand away from him, and gets ready for action.

"Alright, the vines absorb our weapons so best not to touch those…although one thing might work, what do you think, Chat?"

Unable to hide his surprise, he blurts out "you're asking me what I think?".

"Of course I am, I don't want you to get hurt" she furrows her brows at him in confusion and her partner responds, shyly.

"It's just…you don't ask what I think usually…so thank you" he ducks his head, unable to meet her gaze, in a gesture that Ladybug finds adorable. Has Chat always been this…cute? She takes the opportunity to look him up and down, he's grown up a lot since their first fight. His muscles are more defined, the green and black fit him perfectly. He's not just cute, he's hot. Marinette feels her face heating up behind the mask, and chides herself, she needs to get it together. She forces her gaze back to her partner's eyes, finding a small smirk on his lips. Did he catch her staring?

He winks.

"Now, my lady, let's get rid of these vines before this akuma rears its ugly head! Cataclysm!"

Chat runs towards the vine cage, eager to set Claire free but just as he's about to touch them with his destructive energy, there's another crash that knocks him off his feet. He recovers quickly using his baton with his other hand and jumps back to Ladybug's side, careful not to touch anything. They both crouch down behind a chimney, careful not to be spotted.

The akuma flies towards his cage, with another victim in his grasp. It's covered from head to toe with vines, which he can manipulate at will, talking to himself.

"Walk in my store without buying anything, this will teach you, for I am now Carnation, ruler of all!"

As the akuma throws another person into the cage, it opens up immediately. Ladybug sees this opening, and makes eye contact with her partner. He nods and at the same time they leap over towards the cage.

Carnation reacts fast, wrapping his vines around Chat Noir's leg as right as he can.

"You're the weak link, disposing of you is going to be easy, then I deal with the ladybug" he cackles, focusing his attention on the cat-like hero.

As much as it fills Ladybug with fury to hear him talk about her partner this way, she forces herself to focus. These girls need to be brought to safety first. The heroine uses her yo-yo before the vine cage has a chance to close up again, tying them by their waist and pulling them out. She lifts them onto her shoulders and hops away.

"You should join me Chat Noir, we all know you're only the sidekick. Do the right thing, and hand over your ring" Carnation says, attempting to rile the hero up, but to the akumas surprise, Chat only smirks.

"You want my ring? Here, take it" he lifts his hand, still covered in the black energy. Before Carnation can even react, Chat touches the vines, and they instantly turn to ash. The man is in shock and as he reaches out to construct more vines, Chat notices that they are sprouting from a gold band and grabs it, sliding it off his finger.

Just then, Ladybug swoops in, returning from placing the girls in a safe place.

"My lady, catch!" Chat throws the ring, and catches the man as he de-transforms to his normal self, placing him on the balcony.

"For me? You shouldn't have!" Ladybug dramatically drops the ring, trying to crush it with her boot. Unfortunately, gold doesn't break easily, time for plan B.

"Lucky charm!"

As her determination and powers grow, she feels the magic bending to her will, giving her the perfect object and not a random object that'll take precious time for her to figure out what to do with. A flamethrower, just like she learned in chemistry. If she can't break the gold, she'll melt it! The small ring is unable to withstand such heat and melts in seconds, the evil butterfly flying out. And as usual, Ladybug catches it with her yo-yo and releases it back, pure.

Jumping onto the balcony where Chat and three victims are, their fists meet as they say the celebratory phrase. "Pound it!"

They then turn to the civilians to sort out the conflict, but the manager is already apologising. He explains his view of Claire, a view he now knows was wrong, he was just so protective of his late wife's store, it means everything to him.

"I hurt you, and I'm sorry…Can you ever forgive me?" He hangs his head in shame.

Claire smiles "I forgive you for your actions, but trapping me wasn't your doing, that was Hawkmoth, so there's no need to apologise for that. Right, Ladybug?"

Ladybug nods, proud of the young woman. Claire grins at her approval and continues.

"Now, I've got several ideas, let's start with a website.."

They turn, walking away in deep conversation. The third girl smiles at both Ladybug and Chat, then heads back to her house. Ladybug's good mood doesn't last for long and she watches them all leave, she remembers the harsh words she spoke to Chat, and turns to face him, sheepishly.

"Chat I-"

"No need, you're right, there's a time and place for joking around, I was out of line" he cuts her off "No more blaming yourself for what the villain does, no more apologies are necessary, we are partners after all. Okay, my lady?" He opens a compartment in his baton, and from it he produces a single red rose, he hands it to her in all seriousness, without his usual flourish. Once more their hands touch, and as his eyes meet hers, he knows it's too late for him. He'll always love her.

A loud beeping startles them both, and they jump away from each other, how did they get so close? Chat only has one minute left, he salutes, bidding his farewell, and vaults away. Leaving Ladybug speechless.

She eventually recovers by the sound of her own earrings beeping and although Chat is long gone, her brain still wants to process a response to him.

"Later, you see! I mean, see you later!" she puts a hand over her mouth, embarrassed and knits her eyes in confusion. "Why am I stammering...?"