Marinette stood silent as Audrey Bourgeois scolded her.
"I give you one job! One! And you fall asleep! If you weren't my stepdaughter, I'd fire you!"
Marinette frowned for a second. Stepdaughter? Audrey must have misspoken, surely.
"If you really thought I'd let you go to the Prince's ball tonight, especially after you did such a lousy job cleaning, you're sorely mistaken," Audrey crossed her arms, then paused. "Well, I am a nice person, so I'll give you one last chance. If you can complete the list of chores I give you before Casserole and I leave tonight, then you'll be able to come along. Although, I don't know what you'd wear, but frankly, that's not my problem. Remember, Courtney and I leave in three hours."
Audrey placed a long list in her hands then strutted away.
Marinette looked at the list, and gasped. Why did this look familiar?
Scrub the floor clean. I should be able to see my beautiful reflection.
Make a fabulous gown for Claudine and help her get ready for the ball. Whatever she says, goes.
The laundry must be done and smell distinctly like lavender.
Also, you must clean the stairs, the chimney, and dust all the shelves.
Lastly, you must make an appropriate outfit for yourself to wear to the ball.
If any of this is not complete or up to my standards, you will not attend Prince Adrien's ball tonight.
Marinette gasped at the last part. Adrien was here too? She supposed it would make sense, he was hit by the akuma at the same time she was. Was he just as confused as she was as to what was going on?
Marinette decided she could ask him at the ball. Though, Audrey said she couldn't go unless she completed the list. She looked at the grandfather clock across from her.
If she was able to fight villains as Ladybug, she'd be able to complete a list of chores, right?
She started with the laundry. That was something that she couldn't control how long it took, so she figured she should start it first.
Next up was the large amount of cleaning. It took her almost half the remaining time; the mansion was huge! Luckily, she found some polish for the floor to make it shiny, but most important, reflective.
Marinette moved onto designing two gowns: one for her, and one for Chloe. She made her way to the sewing room to get started. Both designs were pretty complicated, so she couldn't waste any of the limited time she had left.
She finished Chloe's first. The bluenette figured that she should focus on the blonde's outfit more, considering the other girl would have higher standards.
Marinette entered Chloe's room after knocking. "Finally!" The blonde exclaimed. "It only took you, like, forever to get over here!" She walked over to Marinette and snatched the dress out of her hands. "Stay here while I change."
Chloe walked over to the bathroom for privacy. Marinette stood patiently for a while, but started to get frustrated when the blonde didn't come out for over fifteen minutes. How hard was it to change into a dress?
When the girl finally came out in Marinette's dress, she sighed, "I suppose this will do." Marinette frowned, but said nothing. She didn't want to aggravate the girl just for her to call for Audrey to add on more to the list.
Chloe sat down in front of the vanity in her room. "I want you to curl my hair, but don't make the curls too tight." Grabbing the curling wand, Marinette started to fix Chloe's hair.
It didn't take too long, but she was still running extremely low on time. She rushed back over to the sewing room and began to work on her own dress.
The process took less time than Chloe's, but still ran her time down almost all the way. She put on the light pink gown, then headed downstairs to join Audrey and Chloe.
"Well, it looks like you got all your chores done," Audrey said. "Chloe, inspect her outfit to make sure there's no imperfections."
"Of course, Mommy," Chloe said with a wicked grin. The blonde walked around Marinette with her arms behind her back, looking her dress up and down.
Marinette smiled. Chloe hardly knew a thing about fashion; even if there were sloppy mistakes she wouldn't be able to notice them.
Suddenly, she heard the sound of something tearing. She gasped and turned around to see parts of her dress cut into pieces on the ground and an evil grin on Chloe's face and a pair of scissors in her hands.
"Oops," Chloe casually said, then walked over to her mother's side.
"Well, it looks like your dress is terribly unfit for the ball, so I cannot let you go," Audrey said. "Clara, let's go."
"It's Chloe," the girl informed her mom.
"Whatever," Audrey dismissed, then walked out of the mansion with Chloe right behind her.
Marinette was steaming with anger. Chloe ruined her dress, and ruined her chance to talk to Adrien about what was going on! She stomped outside to a bench and started pacing, muttering to herself some choice words about the Bourgeois family.
"Are you okay?" A little red bug drifted in front of her face.
Marinette gasped with recognition. "Tikki! You're here!"
Tikki startled, "Well, of course I am, I'm here to help you! But, how do you know my name? I haven't introduced myself as your Fairy Godmother yet!"
Marinette blinked. "Fairy Godmother?"
"Well, yes! I'm here to help you make it to the Prince's ball!"
The gears in Marinette's head started turning. Audrey claiming to be her stepmother, a ball held by a prince, a list of chores, and now a Fairy Godmother? Her eyes widened as she realized: she's living through the plot of Cinderella, as Cinderella!
Wait... Audrey said Adrien was the prince!
Marinette shook that thought away. She needed to focus.
Even though she figured she knew the answer, she asked Tikki, "How?"
Tikki giggled, then flew off. She came back with a pumpkin, some mice, and a few other items. With a wave of her hand, the items started changing into a carriage. "Here's your ride! But you'll need a better outfit."
With another wave, Marinette's dress was surrounded by a bright light, and changed into a beautiful baby blue-colored gown. She felt taller, so she looked down to see the classic glass slippers on her feet.
"Now, I must warn you. My magic only lasts until midnight, so you must convince the prince to marry you before then."
Marinette sputtered. "Wait, what? Marry?"
Tikki frowned. "Isn't that what you wanted? To go to the prince's ball to convince him to marry you?"
Marinette, who remembered the plot of Cinderella, went along with what Tikki was saying. "Uh, yeah, sure."
Tikki smiled then ushered her into the carriage. "Good luck! You must leave now, otherwise you'll be late!" The carriage started driving away, and Tikki threw out one last reminder: "Don't forget, the spell ends at midnight!"
Marinette maneuvered her way through the crowds of people until she got to the front, where she saw Adrien looking bewilderingly at Chloe.
Someone gasped, then pointed at Marinette, leading to everyone gazing at her. She shifted uncomfortably; she wasn't a huge fan of everyone staring at her.
She heard Chloe scoff, "Who is that?!" as Adrien's gaze shifted to her. His eyes widened. Marinette offered a small wave to him, which made him walk over to her.
"Marinette? Is that you?" Adrien asked.
"It's me," she replied with a smile.
Adrien sighed in relief. "I'm glad you're okay. Are you as confused as I am as to what's going on here?"
"I was at first," she said, "but I think I've figured it out."
Adrien looked around them. "Let's go somewhere we can talk alone." He grabbed her hand and led her out of the ballroom into an empty hallway. "Before you start, I just wanted to say you look beautiful."
Marinette blushed, "Thanks Adrien." She took a deep breath, then started to explain her theory. "It took me a while, but everything started to add up once-"
She paused. She was about to say once Tikki said she was my Fairy Godmother but she couldn't tell Adrien who Tikki was without revealing her identity.
"Once I was introduced to my Fairy Godmother. Adrien, I- I think we're living the plot of Cinderella!" She finished, then looked up to see his reaction.
"Cinderella?" He repeated. "How is that even possible?"
Marinette paused in thought. "Well, we both got hit by that akuma that was ranting about no one liking fairy tales, right? This is probably her doing. We probably have to go through the whole plot to get out of this mess."
"That does make sense. Or, as much sense as an akuma's powers can make." Adrien replied. "Well, the rest of the movie has Prince Charming and Cinderella dancing until midnight, when Cinderella has to leave. Later, the prince comes to her house and discovers that Cinderella is the one he danced with, and they get married, living out their happily ever after."
"So," he started. "Shall we dance until you have to leave?" He offered her his hand, and when she smiled and took it, he led her back into the ballroom.
Like the original story, they danced all the way till the clock chimed 12 o'clock.
"I guess that's my cue to leave," she said. "I'll see you later!" She gave him one last hug, then dashed out of the ballroom.
She tripped on the last stair, leaving her slipper behind.
Marinette was eavesdropping on the conversation Adrien was having with Audrey and Chloe.
"Your highness, my foot may not fit the slipper, but I can guarantee I'm your true love!" Chloe cried. "You said it yourself, this is the last house you haven't checked in the kingdom! Since there's no one of importance left in the house, it's obviously me who you're looking for."
Adrien caught her slip up. "No one of importance left? Does that mean there's someone else here?"
Audrey cut off whatever Chloe was going to say. "There's my stepdaughter, but like Claudina said, she's not important. She didn't even go to the ball last night, how could she be the girl you're looking for?"
Adrien was persistent. "If there is someone else here, I must insist in them trying on the shoe."
Audrey sighed loudly and dramatically, then whispered something to Chloe that Marinette couldn't hear.
She did hear the stomping up the stairs, though, so she stood up and waited for the door to open.
Chloe glared at her. "Prince Adrien wants to see you," she huffed then stormed back down the stairs.
Marinette took a deep breath, smoothed down the wrinkles on her dress, then walked down the stairs.
Adrien heard her, looked up, and smiled with a little wave, which Marinette returned. When she reached the bottom of the stairs, he gestured for her to sit in the chair Chloe used to be sitting on.
When she sat, someone she assumed was Adrien's butler took her foot, then slid the glass slipper she left on the stairs last night onto her foot.
As expected, it was a perfect fit.
Chloe started to throw a fit. "No way! This is ridiculous, utterly ridiculous!"
No one paid attention to her. Adrien held a hand out to Marinette, whispering to her, "Ready to go back to normal?" She nodded, then he led her out to his carriage.
Next thing she knew, she was standing in a large white gown with flowers in her hands. She heard music begin to play, and someone started pushing her forward through the set of doors in front of her.
She walked forward while looking around and trying to take in her surroundings.
Was she in a church?
She continued to walk until she reached a small set of stairs and a hand being offered to her. Marinette looked up and saw the one offering their hand was none other than Adrien.
Ohhhh. This was the wedding part of the movie, wasn't it?
She took Adrien's hand and climbed up the stairs to stand in front of him.
"I figured this would end once we made it to the carriage," Adrien chuckled, a slight blush on his face. Marinette laughed softly with him, stopping when the minister started to speak.
"We are gathered here today to celebrate the marriage between Prince Adrien and Lady Marinette." He turned to Marinette, saying, "If you could repeat after me..."
Marinette did as he said, her face growing red as the words came out of her mouth.
Next up was Adrien, who also looked a little red in the face as he repeated the minister's words.
"I now pronounce you husband and wife: you may now kiss the bride!"
Marinette didn't hesitate. She thinks she surprised the boy a bit at first, but the two of them melted into the kiss after a brief moment.
A bright blue light surrounded the two of them, then everything went dark.
Don't mind me, casually writing a wedding scene even though I have no clue how to properly write a wedding scene.
In my defense, I thought it'd be cute.
Anyways, hope you enjoyed!
-Ali