All rights to Miraculous Ladybug belong to Zagtoon, Method Animation, Thomas Astruc, and Disney. This is my own creative work.
Marinette was supposed to dance. She remembered that much.
Her mind had been turned into some weird bubbling combo of jelly and lava. A warm touch had been breathing its way up her left arm and up her cheeks, which was the last thing that came to her. Now there she was in the middle of the park ground, swarmed by partygoers periodically glancing and the echoes of a ground-thumping remixed song. She blinked in time with the constant changing of colors in the lights. She was supposed to dance, here.
With the boy of her dreams. Dressed up as the one reality saddled her with.
What was she supposed to do, again? Oh, right. Dance.
Marinette bobbed her shoulders in tune to start. Her fists soon followed pumping in time, but anything more was impossible when she found her forearms locked in place. Her strained Seine-wide smile broke out without control. Any iota of clear thought was spent screaming at her body for its classic lack of grace in Adrien's presence.
Adrien kept staring back at her, seemingly mimicking her movements with about the same energy. It was clear. He was totally thinking on how lame a dancer she was.
"Uh, sorry." Adrien laughed. "I'm pretty lame, huh?"
Yes, she was lame. Wait, no, reversed course. She caught the change in pronoun.
"What, are you kidding!?" She scoffed. "Y-You're great! I mean, I'm the one who's not g-great. At dancing, I mean…"
"No, I really stink." Adrien dropped the effort and rubbed his arm. "The only dance experience I really have is with ballroom dancing. Waltzing and classical, everything my father recommended. I don't… really know how to do this."
"It's not hard." The girl blanched. "I mean, you're too easy. No! IT'S easy, ha. Just move in rhythm to the music!"
Marinette's body became more energetic at that point, or rather, too energetic. She had dug up her true dancing skills from the dirt when she started shuffling her steps and doing drill-like twirls. Her arms began flashing out and after another twirl she caught herself swinging her arm and pointing in disco-dancer style.
Nothing would ever be powerful enough to wipe that from her memory.
Adrien laughed. "I guess you're having fun, now?"
"Uh… yeah. Totally…" She face-palmed, hoping the red of her suit would give some color to her pale face.
"You sure? I mean, you still seem pretty on-edge."
The girl stopped herself and breathed a deep breath for her frayed lungs. She slapped her cheeks for the extra push. "Yeah, really. I'm fine…. Thank you by the way, for saving me back there."
Adrien let out a breath she had never caught him breathing. "Heh, I'm glad. I know I don't have the best ideas, but I think I've taken the crown for bad ones wearing a Cat Noir costume to the ball."
"I don't know. It can't be any worse than wearing a Ladybug costume."
"Maybe we should switch?"
They both laughed. Marinette, in Cat Noir's costume – Alya would never let her live that one down.
Somewhere between their chuckles the music changed from the grinding remix to an upbeat Clara Nightingale chart-topper. The auto-tune guided people's hips and hands to sway and their bodies to hop in an ocean of movement. Adrien and Marinette just eased back into moving in rhythm now that the feeling in their bodies was returning.
On the tail-end of his last chuckle, Adrien asked. "So, I wanted to ask. Alya had mentioned you had another costume to wear to the Heroes' Ball, before the, uh, Ladybug one. What was it? Do you mind telling me about it?"
"Oh, uh… you wouldn't be interested in that silly get-up. I'm embarrassed just thinking about the thing."
"You shouldn't be." Adrien took her hand in his. She could swear she had caught him almost leaning in, but a second later he was back to his full height. At least she recalled the source of that warmth from earlier. "You're super talented, Marinette. If you made it, then I'm sure it would have been stunning."
"W-Well…" Marinette could curse the boy for his uncanny talent to make people feel good. "It was… actually a Chinese version of Majestia. You know, Alya's favorite superhero besides Ladybug? I thought I could put a new spin on it."
"That sounds cool. I kind wanted to… well…"
"What is it? You can tell me." She smiled no less kindly than he did.
"The thing is, I wanted to get a costume like this main character in a JRPG I played once." Something not even the most obsessed die-hard fan of Adrien Agreste knew, barring her, was that he was secretly the biggest closet dork on the planet. A fortress of a house and iron grip security system meant he would never be caught spending hours streaming anime or speed-running something out of his library of video games. The paparazzi should be so lucky.
"You mean like that remake that's been on all the forums? Or the updated version of that one from years back?"
"The updated version, definitely."
They laughed again. What was not a secret was her own expertise on games.
The rest of the time was spent talking over little things and dancing as the mood called. Eventually, though, the feeling of thousands of pairs of eyes on her and one autotuned song too many on a clearly dad-picked playlist were stirring the start of a headache in her. She welcomed back reality with a dull wave and shut eyes, nerves held at bay for only so long.
They settled by a tree near the snack table. Marinette's limbs toppled over as she sighed and hit the bed of grass at the roots. Her breath escaped dreamily as the softness seeped through and blades tickled her legs.
Adrien sank down as well but did so with a few inches of distance between them. She jolted, her temperature now able to set the tree behind them on fire with a touch. The mischievous lights twinkling between the leaves and branches almost surged in brightness leaning in to expose her. She could only pray the evening shadows would side with her and hide it to give her pounding chest mercy.
"Well, after everything that's happened, I'm glad we could actually dance at the ball." Adrien spoke, oblivious.
"Totally. Uh… dancing was great. So great."
She gratefully took the newly poured cider cup he offered. The girl guzzled the drink down caring little for flavor.
"You were really thirsty, weren't you?"
"Oh! Uh…" Now he must have thought she was some uncultured slob. "Just… all that exercise! Dancing really gets the blood pumping, you know?"
"Yeah, if this is what Cat Noir and Ladybug go through every day, I admire them a lot more."
Marinette blinked and swallowed, the cider in her throat vanishing into non-existence. She looked into her cup and leaned it so the remaining liquid gave a window to his features. "Did you… did you really mean all that stuff you said about Cat Noir? Do you really… see him that way?"
"Of course." Adrien spoke unflinching, but then blushed and leaned away. "Don't you?"
"Oh, uh… I do, but… I mean, he's a bit…" Her voice, enthusiastically loud at first, slipped into a wavered whisper.
Cat Noir… where did she begin to talk about her feelings for the guy? Normal, platonic, friendship-esque feelings by the way. More importantly, in a manner that didn't offend the boy she loved who admired him so much.
"Well, I admire him, no matter what anyone says."
"Really?"
"Yeah. I know what the critics say about him. Ladybug probably doesn't think too highly either… she just sees him as some dorky goofball." He rubbed his arm, almost taking it personally.
"She doesn't-"
Marinette held her tongue with the truth. It dragged it out and pushed her down to where she huddled with the cup in her hand. "Okay, she does… a little. Or… a lot, I guess. But it is not hard to see why! He gets himself into so much trouble with that cocky attitude of his!"
"You think he's… cocky?" Adrien turned to her.
For a moment, with that costume, she thought it was the devil himself.
"I mean… we can agree that he messes around more than a bit." She scooted away to the side of the tree. "All those jokes when they're fighting villains, the flirting at the worst possible times, the endless amount of puns…"
"Uh, I… guess that's one way of looking at it." The boy looked ashamed, scratching his neck in the way he did.
"You… don't think of it like that?"
"I always saw it as him staring danger in the face like it was no big deal. Like there's no problem too big for him." Adrien scooted to the side opposite of her. For whatever reason, the music was gone, and the air had been stilled into silence. "The way he goes into battle and protects people, and does it all with this big, bright smile. That smile, it's for real and it's so warm and bright. Like… he…"
"Like… he what?"
"…Like he doesn't get to smile like that all the time."
Marinette's mouth hung open. Her voice had wandered for a moment before speaking again. "You think… Wait, what? You think it's all some kind of act?"
She caught his shoulders shrug from her peripheral. "Maybe it is. He's probably used to wearing different faces, pretending to be someone he's not. That kind of thing can hurt, more than you know, in fact it can be exhausting. But at least there's one face that lines up a little more with… the person he wants to be, I guess?"
Her eyes felt opened for the first time, shut as though glued before.
It made sense. It made so much sense, it near brought her to tears.
His admiration had struck upon a personal chord and played a tune all too familiar, like that obnoxious classical piece burned into the boy's fingers from piano practice. A strict upbringing where the things most teenagers took for granted seemed like precious treasure to Adrien made him a sensitive soul. He saw the oddities, the reasonings and chinks others missed, like with Chloe. Still, Marinette never thought that would lead to even a superhero shrouded in mystery being an open book to him.
But maybe Adrien was more on the mark than she had cared to admit. She never thought of Cat's civilian life, dangerous territory that it was. As much as she wanted to write it off as tomfoolery, she couldn't anymore. She had to ask.
Was Cat Noir… lonely? Was he sad, or trapped?
Maybe, just as she needed the mask to be strong, he needed it to be free.
The raking of something against tree bark turned her to Adrien rising. "It's not hard to imagine he'd rather be Cat Noir every day, where he can do things that matter, make a difference in people's lives."
Honestly, she wished she looked at it as optimistically as he did.
"And maybe you're right, too. Maybe Cat Noir himself is just another illusion and he's just a big goofball." She saw him offering his hand, a saddened expression painted on his face.
Despite every instinct screaming at her and would assault her otherwise, she didn't take his hand.
Instead, she held her arms close to herself as she stood and wandered to the grounds again. Adrien wordlessly followed, leaving her to her thoughts. Still several feet away from the crowd, they stood side-by-side again.
The music had changed again. This time, it became a slow song that opened with the tender touch of piano keys.
"Cat Noir has to be the bravest, strongest person I know." She spoke with a wistful smile. "If anything, Ladybug is the one who needs him."
"Seriously?" Adrien near-yelped. "Ladybug!? She's courageous, smart, caring. She's incredible!"
"That's what everyone says." Marinette admits, the praise a sweet and sour taste in her mouth like one of her mother's homeland dishes. "They see her swinging around, beating up bad guys and fixing everything. They just think she's all those things. They don't ever think that maybe she's a scared girl behind the mask. She doesn't even know what she's doing half the time!"
"I'm sure that's not the case."
"That's also what they say…"
As soon as her hands fell to her sides in defeat, his touch enveloped one of them.
"Then maybe she shouldn't hide it then." He led her to the main grounds once more as the partygoers had paired, every girl's hand found a male's shoulder and a man's hand took the waist of a pretty lady. Their steps slowed and circled in prolonged rapture. It settled her as much as I could with her face flushed staring into his cat-like eyes once again.
She'd wanted to melt again. To fall in and let go of fear and duty for the first time in so long. But for whatever reason, the gap between them remained as wide as it ever was.
"I mean it. Though, I guess it doesn't matter if she's not here." Adrien said. "But there's nothing wrong with letting people know that she's struggling. It means she's a person too."
"What if… she can't?"
That was not even a serious question to ask. Pedestals and thrones were there for a reason, to make people look up. With Hawk Moth out there, creeping into the hearts of good people and breaking the dams on their inner darkness to further his goals, people needed a symbol of hope. They needed a hero, to tell them not to give in, who had all the answers and knew what to do, someone who was… perfect.
Too bad they got saddled with her. She, Ladybug, was no immaculate saint, just a girl figuring out life.
"Do you hate her?"
"H-Huh?"
Adrien's smile was gone, swiped away, leaving a serious frown. They had stopped dancing as well.
"Do you hate that she tries to be perfect?"
"…I don't know." She spoke with pure honesty. To say she hated Ladybug was to hate what others loved. A piece of herself, Tikki had always told her. "She deals with… so much. But… it's probably helped her grow too. I mean, I can't say I hate her. I think she just… tries too hard to be something she's not."
The warm smile returned to her crush's face. Suddenly, his hand fell on the small of her back and her blood erupted to her face. It pressed her into his sturdy chest, her hand catching onto the firmness of his body. He had the scent of sunflowers and the slightest hint of… Camembert. She blinked and froze at the warmness in those slits.
"She shouldn't try to be then." Their feet moved to the song once more. "Don't be a hero, or a saint, or a goddess. Just… a girl who helps out."
"L-Like an… everyday…?"
Adrien nodded. "Yeah, an everyday Ladybug."
Her breath hitched. What was he trying to say? She prayed it was what she wanted him to say.
It was Marinette's turn to speak again. That frozen breath would have to pick up words and head out the door. Her eyes darted everywhere, settling for his chest again. She breathed in and spoke with caution.
"I…"
"THERE THEY ARE!"
Both teens broke apart. The sound of screeching tires came like an unholy wail as vans careened onto the street edges. The media clown cars' doors blasted open with five to ten people emerging from each one. Before either of them knew it, they were crowded by people in suits with microphones, cameras, official badges, and the like.
Not the least of which was Nadja Chamack, the most notable newscaster and reject for free cupcakes at the Dupain-Cheng bakery. "Don't be bemused, it's just the news! Nadja Chamack here at the Heroes Ball where superheroes Ladybug and Cat Noir are here joining in the festivities!"
"Ladybug, Cat Noir, a comment?" One reporter called.
"When did you arrange to meet at the Heroes' Ball?" Another cried.
"Ladybug, is there any truth to the rumors you and Cat are dating?" Now camera flashes were appearing.
"Cat Noir, have you considered changing your angle to something funnier?"
"Ladybug, have you considered running for mayor?"
Marinette shielded herself from the onslaught of flashes and questions, the latter growing more ridiculous by the minute. Every second became another reason this evening was a bad idea. "Please, stop! We are NOT the real Ladybug and Cat Noir!"
"OMG, that's the REAL Ladybug and Cat Noir!?" Someone from behind the reporter army cried.
The girl recognized the voice as one of the other guests from earlier. Now the partygoers were getting involved as well. The camera flashes doubled in frequency from phones, and the murmurs and shouts of professionalism became intermingled with the hyped squeals of fandom. Interview questions came side by side with people squeezing through for a chance at a selfie with them.
"They're so cute!"
"Cat Noir, Ladybug, can you discuss the rumors!?"
"Can we get some autographs!?"
"Ladybug! Cat Noir!"
The two jumped at the familiar voice. Celeste peeked out of the cracks in the wall of bodies, face lit and notebook pressed to her chest. Marinette and Adrien backed away paling at the ravenous tone her innocence now had. The fan forced her way through In front of the others. "I knew it was true! I knew it was the real you!"
It became a rallying cry for the army of media and fans to push forward. Microphones and lenses were smooshed against their cheeks despite pushing back. Their rebuttals were stuck to syllables now.
"Ladybug, please!" Celeste asked. "If I could just get your-"
"STOP!"
Marinette screamed. The boom of her voice pushed the news crews and fans back. Her head was shaking and she was sure the ground did as well. "I AM NOT THE REAL LADYBUG! I'M NOT PERFECT, I'M NOT A HERO! I'M! NOT! HER!"
.
A heinous cackle filled the silence. Everyone turned to the obvious source: one Chloe Bourgeois.
"She's certainly got that right!" Chloe cackled again. "Sorry folks, but at least you've got one heck of a headliner: Marinette Dupain-Cheng, biggest loser in all of Paris!"
"Wait, what?" Celeste blinked.
"Ms. Bourgeois, you're the one who called me at the news station!" Nadja charged towards the girl. "You told us that Ladybug and Cat Noir were here at the Heroes' Ball."
"Chloe, what did you do?" Adrien glared towards the girl. Marinette was no less livid.
"So what if I called the media?" The girl scoffed. "I thought they would get a kick out of seeing this sorry joke of a designer strut around like she thinks she's Ladybug. Besides, she was getting much too cozy with my Adri-kins. If you people still want a story, you can talk all about she tried to dupe everyone and throw in a full exposé on her sorry little rags for good measure!"
"But, no… I thought…" Celeste was on the verge of tears now. Chloe never failed to remind Marinette and others there were evils in this world besides Hawk Moth. "I… thought I could meet them just once. I came all the way from across the city for this…"
The eager fan's notebook was torn from her grasp, now victim to Chloe's selfish whims.
It was brutally torn in half and thrown into the mud.
"Puh-leese! As if the real Ladybug would ever waste her time on some random nobody like you. She only surrounds herself with the best, like me! Maybe you'll be given the utmost honor to have her spit in your direction, like this!" She spat in the girl's face and laughed even more.
"Chloe!" Adrien yelled.
As always, the girl was blind to her own cruelty. "Come on, Adri-kins! Let's leave 'Ladybug' to her press time and dance the night away! Be sure to make me look good!"
Marinette could bend steel and imagine it was her snobbish rival's neck at that moment. She wanted to march over and slap the girl hard for her great lengths to inconvenience and torture the people of Paris once again. As much as she wanted to do all those things, she had her eye on someone else at the moment.
The poor girl who scraped up the pieces of her notebook in her embrace and ran away in tears.
And we're done with another one. It came out shorter than I expected, but this is what I consider to be a standard chapter length for me nowadays so it's fine.
As I believe I mentioned last time, this was the chapter I looked forward to writing most. I think it was one of th central reasonings behind my writing this short fic – I wanted to give Ladybug and Cat Noir the perspectives of their civilian selves on their superhero selves. A reasoning behind their actions, hidden truths that not everybody gets seeing them in the spotlight. I hope I got that right as well. It should be a factor going into my next work.
I was able to upload this in time today, but I still ran a little late. Well, beyond that, let's get some reviews covered:
LunaWolf44: Their hero selves are a bit too easy to slip into in those costumes. And I envision this is exactly the kind of thing Chloe would do, since Lila won't be in this story. Sorry to anyone who would like me to give her a well-deserved bashing. I also was getting used to half-troll Jim, but let's see how he does in the upcoming movie as a make-up.
HopeGiver07: Will I reveal them or won't I? People have long tackled the question of how that will go? Will they both only like one side or will they bring themselves to accept both sides of the other. In my opinion, I think it's enough that they understand each other a little better.
KaliAnn: Alya is a journalist, and pushiness is part of her character. I saw a video that suggests that Alya may be the one to figure it out before anyone else. She's gotten close before.
Gnostica: I hope in this chapter they dug deep enough. Things are getting personal.
Sophia: I'm glad you're liking the story. Yeah, clearly this wasn't the best idea these two have ever had. Ladybug in particular since she's supposed to be the smart one. Sometimes crazy ideas can lead to unexpected things, though, like this. Again, though, glad you enjoy it and hope you'll stick around.
XTheauthorthatneverwasX: It's reassuring to hear that I'm writing this so well in the eyes of longtime Miraculous fans. I tend to worry too much about prose and text before story and characterization, when really it should be the other way around. I'm feeling better about my work now.
Anyway, Chloe made a young girl cry. We all know what's going to happen next. See how it goes down by next update.
As always, review, favorite, follow! Until next time!