Disclaimer: I do not own Miraculous Ladybug or it's characters.
Chapter 18,
Marinette couldn't believe her luck. Cat Noir put a letter in her locker today! She raced straight to her room so that she could read it right away.
"My! You sure are excited Marinette." Tiki said and Marinette giggled.
"Look, Tikki, Look." Marinette said, pulling the letter out of her bag and showing it to the little red Kwami.
"A black envelope with a bell sticker. Now who would... Cat Noir?" Tikki asked and Marinette bit her lip and nodded.
"Of course, who else Tikki? Wanna read it with me?" Marinette asked. She sat down on her bed and Tikki flew over and sat in Marinette's shoulder.
"I wonder what ol' Cat has to say, now?" Tikki said as Marinette opened the letter.
"Let's see 'Dear Bluebell,' Oh, he used the nickname he gave me yesterday." Marinette said. Tikki giggled and she went ahead and took the letter out of Marinette's hands.
"Aww." Marinette said disappointed and Tikki smiled.
"Perhaps I should read it to you." Tikki said and Marinette a pillow in her lap and hugged it tightly.
"Ok." Marinette said excitedly and Tikki began reading.
"I probably should have waited to talk to you again, but I can't help but feel like we left things unfinished. Last night, I brought you home and tucked you in bed without a proper goodbye. I think you'll be kind enough to excuse me for that." Tikki paused when Marinette giggled.
"I don't know about you, but I had a lot of fun last night. And then I started to feel bad, because we both agreed that it wouldn't be wise for us to hang out everyday. But the thing about that, is that I want to be stupid and see you every single day." Tikki paused again to look up at Marinette. Her friend looked too shocked to speak, so the Kwami continued.
"As usual, you're probably smarter then I am, and so I thought perhaps you should be in charge of when I can come over or not. I was thinking that you could use something simple, like rocks. You can place black rocks outside of the window to your balcony to let me know I can come in; and you can use white rocks to let me know to stay away." Tikki read.
"I actually like that." Marinette said.
"Hopefully you'll like that idea, and we can spend more time together. I look forward to becoming better friends with you. Sincerely, your cat of the night." Tikki finished and Marinette blinked. She reached over and grabbed the letter out of Tikki's hands.
"Wow. 'Your cat of the night'? Sounds like the poem I wrote yesterday." Marinette commented and Tikki flew over to her.
"You mean the poem you threw off your roof?" Tikki asked and Marinette nodded.
"Yeah... Do you think Cat Noir found it?" Marinette asked and Tikki shrugged.
"I don't know; but anything is possible." Tikki said. Marinette pondered this for a moment, but then she just smiled.
"I won't dwell on that right now. I better see if I have some black paint." Marinette said and Tikki perked up.
"Ooo! Can I pick out the rocks?" Tikki asked.
"Oh, alright. Just remember that they need to be wide enough for Cat Noir to see them from the air, ok. Now please don't worry me by taking so long." Marinette said and Tikki hugged her face.
"I'll only take a moment." Tikki said and Marinette giggled as she watched the cute red thing fly away. Then Marinette turned and she started looking in her drawers for black paint.
"Hmm." She found ribbons and lace and fabric squares, but no paint. She looked up and she saw her personal calendar of Adrien's schedule and she quickly looked away. But then her eyes landed on her trunk; the one filled to the brim with future gifts she made for Adrien's next few birthdays. She suddenly felt like that was a waste of time, and she turned and noticed all of the pictures of Adrien on the wall.
"I'm back! I got- Marinette?" Tikki asked when she returned and Marinette sighed.
"As excited as I am with becoming good friends with Cat Noir, as Marinette, I can't help but get reminded of Adrien when I look around my room." Marinette said and Tikki flew over and handed Marinette the rocks.
"Perhaps you could put these out now and talk to him about it." Tikki suggested and Marinette stared at the rocks.
"These rocks are like black sand dollars. And that is really cool, but I don't know if Cat Noir would really be interested in de-Adrien-izing my room." Marinette said and Tikki held up her hands in defense.
"Possibly. But you'll never know if you never ask." Tikki said and Marinette stared at her a moment.
"Heh, why are you always right?" Marinette asked and Tikki giggled.
"I'm just older then you, that's all. I've learned a lot of lessons that you'll learn one day too." Tikki said, making Marinette laugh as well. Marinette opened her window to the roof and gingerly placed the rocks along the windowsill. Marinette scanned the skyline briefly, looking for any sign of Cat Noir, before she closed her door again.
"Come on, Cat, I know you're out there somewhere." Marinette whispered aloud. She placed her hands on the wooden panel simply waiting, almost begging, for Cat Noir to show up.
"Come on, Cat Noir. Come on, come on, come on, Cat. Come on, Cat." She whispered before resting her forehead about her hands. She was silent for a moment, and then her heart skipped a beat when she heard something land on her roof. Cat Noir went over and did the 'shave and a haircut' knock. Marinette laughed and knocked twice to complete the sequence and then opened the window to let him in.
"Hey, Marinette. I- woah." Cat Noir was cut off when Marinette reaches over and gave him an incredibly warm hug.
"Thank you for the letter Cat Noir." Marinette said with a content hum, and he couldn't help the pink dust that appeared on his face.
"You're... um... you're welcome, Marinette." Cat Noir said, before returning her hug.
"You know, you didn't have to do that." Marinette said and Cat Noir smiled as he took a deep breath of her sweet perfume.
"I wanted to." Cat Noir whispered. Marinette allowed herself to be held for a moment longer, before pulling away from him.
"I'm glad to see you." Marinette said and Cat Noir nodded as she approached her trunk.
"With a hug like that, I'm not surprised." Cat Noir said and Marinette smiled.
"Well, I'm always happy to see you, but I meant 'I'm glad to see you' because maybe you can help me." Marinette said. Cat Noir couldn't help but Chuckle at this remark since it sounded like such a Ladybug thing to say.
"What did you want help with?" Cat Noir asked and Marinette let out a deep sigh.
"I was thinking of removing some things from my room." Marinette said and Cat Noir rose an eyebrow at this nervous comment.
"What kind of things?" Cat Noir asked and Marinette rocked from side to side.
"Just... well... things that make me think of Adrien." Marinette said and Cat Noir's eyes widened.
"Wha-why? I thought you loved him. At least that's who your ice cream represented." Cat Noir said and Marinette hugged herself.
"Listen, Cat Noir. I got to thinking about what you said yesterday. And you're right, there are several people in Paris who have pink lips and green eyes." Marinette said and Cat Noir couldn't believe his pointed ears. He just found out Marinette was in love with Adrien, and now Cat Noir has to go talk her out of it?
"Is there someone else?" Cat Noir asked and Marinette simply stared at him.
"I wouldn't go so far as to say that. It's just my feelings for Adrien are a bit complicated and... I think I should go cold turkey for a little while. At least, until things get better." Marinette said and Cat Noir sighed.
"What did you want to start with?" Cat Noir asked and Marinette smiled warmly at him.
"Probably the trunk." Marinette said.
"What's in there?" Cat Noir asked and Marinette bit her lip in hesitation.
"Promise you won't make fun of me?" Marinette said and Cat Noir smiled sweetly.
"I might make jokes, but I wouldn't make fun of you." Cat Noir said and Marinette bashfully tucked some hair behind her ear.
"These are presents I made for Adrien's birthday." Marinette said, lifting the lid. Cat Noir's eyes widened and he whistled as he walked over to the box.
"Wow. How many are there?" Cat Noir asked.
"Um... not sure... I think the last present I made for him, was for his 65th birthday. That means there's about 50 gifts in there." Marinette said and Cat Noir blinked at this.
"But you didn't- I mean... you said you've been crazy about him for a while, right? What did you get him for his birthday this year?" Cat Noir asked. Marinette chuckled softly and sat on her couch.
"Actually, I knitted a scarf for him. You know what's funny? I forgot to put my name on it, so when The Bubbler showed up to give Adrien a party, I put my name on a sticky note and put that on the box. I guess it fell off for something, because Adrien thought his dad bought him that gift." Marinette said with a giggle. Cat Noir was a little hurt by this revelation. He remembered being so happy when Nathalie handed him that box and told his father got him the present.
"Why did you let him believe that?" Cat Noir asked. Marinette leaned back on the couch with a loud sigh.
"I just couldn't. You should have seen how happy he was, thinking his father bought it for him. He would have been crushed if I walked over and told him that I was the one knitted the scarf." Marinette said and Cat Noir gave her a small smile.
"Well, I suppose you can keep these cool boxes and donate the gifts to the less fortunate. You know, if you don't want to give them all to Adrien at once." Cat Noir said. Marinette blinked at this comment and sat up.
"I actually love that idea." Marinette admitted and Cat Noir beamed with pride.
"Well then. Let's dive right in, shall we?" Cat Noir asked, as he tried to crawl inside the trunk with the presents. Not only was this reaction unexpected, but it was so stupid that Marinette couldn't help but laugh.
"I don't think we'll both fit in there." Marinette said and then they laughed together.