Ladybug announced her arrival with the whirring of her yoyo as she swung across the courtyard to land at Chat Noir's side. "Sorry for the delay Kitty, I got trapped in my civilian form for a bit."
"No problem Ladybug, nothing to report while you were gone. Are you ready to do some pruning?" Chat's voice sounded falsely cheerful and his pun felt forced.
Ladybug dodged a vine and turned slightly to look at him while still keeping an eye on Exposure, "Are you alright Chat?"
"Fe-line as fine as I can when fighting an akuma for an extended period of time as a solo act. Glad to have you back, but how about we focus on some berry picking for now." Chat dodged low, extending his staff and swinging it in an arc at Exposure's feet, forcing her to jump and drop the berries she'd just picked off of her skirt.
She stared at him a moment longer before shaking it off and stepping back a few paces. "Cover me for a minute Chaton." Mouth tight and cheeks slightly flushed, Chat Noir nodded at her and launched his own offense.
Trusting him to keep Exposure busy, Ladybug threw her yoyo into the air, "Lucky Charm!" When the magic cleared, a pair of mirrored sunglasses fell into her hands.
Chat glanced back towards her at her call and she saw his forehead scrunch up in confusion, "You got a plan for those specti-cools?"
Ladybug rolled her eyes but otherwise ignored him as she scanned the area. Chat's hand lit up immediately, as did Exposure's skirt, but it wasn't until she'd turned all the way around to see the open doors that her ladybug vision gave her the final piece: the snow-covered field outside. "Chat! We need to get her out of here!"
"On it!" Baton spinning, Chat attacked Exposure, forcing her back, step by step towards the main doors.
Sliding the sunglasses onto her face for safe keeping, Ladybug flung her yoyo out to wrap around Exposure, pinning her arms to her sides and giving the string a hard yank. Exposure came flying towards her and she had to quickly step to the side, releasing the yoyo with a practiced flick of her wrist as Exposure flew past her and out the doors.
"Nice one, m'lady!" said Chat as he came up beside her and flashed her a grin.
"Why thank you kitty." When she smiled back at him, his face suddenly turned bright red and he looked away. Ladybug blinked in confusion, but didn't have a chance to follow up as Exposure had regained her feet.
"That's quite the plan there Ladybug, but how are you going to get to me now?" she taunted. Bringing her hand to her face, Exposure blew sharply across her palm and sent a series of berries flying towards them. They scattered across the door frame, stairs and railings, immediately sprouting into a maze of mistletoe as she laughed at them. "In case you haven't figure it out for yourselves, your time between mistletoe exposure and freezing shrinks with every hit. You'll be statues before you even get close, and then your miraculouses will be mine!"
Narrowing her eyes in concentration, Ladybug scanned the sidewalk for the nearest lamp post. A steely glint flashed in her eyes when she spotted her target, "I wouldn't be so sure about that Exposure!" Left hand extended towards her partner, she gave him a saucy grin, "Do you trust me Chaton?"
Chat reached out to take her hand, then hesitated and pulled his own back slightly, "Yes, but I need to tell you something–"
"Akuma now, talking later." She took his hand and pulled him flush against her. Despite her assumed confidence, Ladybug couldn't suppress her blush. Nor did she miss the fact that Chat's face had managed to become an even darker red. Here goes nothing! With a last check to be sure of her target, Ladybug threw her yoyo and wrapped it around the lamp post. Before she could lose her nerve, she wrapped her left arm tightly around Chat Noir and stretched up on her tippy-toes to press her lips to his and gave her yoyo string the tug that would retract it to pull them free of the school.
As they zipped past the mistletoe covered stairs, Ladybug could feel berries spitting seeds at them and tendrils trying to latch on to pull them down. Protected by their kiss, the seeds rebounded and the tendrils were unable to find purchase. Ladybug opened her eyes to check how close they were to the lamp post and flinched in surprise at how close Chat's face was to her own. Idiot! Of course he's going to be close! I'm kissing him! Twisting to ensure they were clear of the mistletoe, she broke the kiss and released Chat Noir. A flick detached her yoyo from the lamp post and allowed her to land neatly on the sidewalk facing Exposure and yoyo at the ready. Chat's landing was a little less graceful as he stumbled when his feet hit the ground, his face a strange mix of pleasure and guilt.
"Chat! I need you to melt the snow!" she said, gesturing towards the park with a jerk of her head.
Chat regained his balance and gave her a confident nod. "Cataclysm!" The dark, bubbling magic surrounded his hand as he leapt across the road and into the park. He slammed his hand down into the snow and the magic spread across the park, melting the snow into a giant puddle around him.
"Come on, come on," Ladybug murmured to herself, watching as the water slowly drained down into the holes scattered across the park.
A small stream of bubbles appeared and Ladybug watched intently as a tiny black nose broke the surface of the water, closely followed by a small brown body with black stripes running down its back. It was quickly joined by dozens of other chipmunks. "Yes!" Pulling the sunglasses off her face, Ladybug twisted them around until they caught the sun, reflecting a bright patch on the water. One of the chipmunks spotted it and started to chase it. With a few flicks of the light across the water, Ladybug was able to attract most of the chipmunks and direct them out of the sudden lake and across the road towards Exposure.
"What are you doing?" Exposure demanded, using her vines to try and chase off the chipmunks. Unfortunately for her, the chipmunks – cold, wet, and hungry since they'd been disturbed from their hibernation – had just spotted the mistletoe berries covering her skirt. With excited squeaks, they eagerly swarmed up the vines to reach the tempting berries. "No!" Exposure fell to her knees as the last berry disappeared and a dark marbled purple butterfly flew up into the sky.
"I don't think so," said Ladybug as she quickly replaced the sunglasses on her face in order to free her hands and retrieve her yoyo. "Time to de-evilize!" With a sweeping throw of her yoyo, Ladybug trapped the akuma and snapped it back towards herself. "Gotcha!" She traced her finger across the yoyo shell and it opened to free the now purified butterfly to fly away across Paris. "Bye-bye little butterfly!" Pulling the sunglasses off her face with a flourish, Ladybug threw them high into the sky and called on her healing power: "Miraculous Ladybug!"
The magic flew out from her yoyo, soaring through Paris in a wave of red and black, removing mistletoe and turning ice statues back into people. The lake in the park became a snowy field again, and a final sweep scooped up all the chipmunks and returned them to their burrows.
Chat Noir walked up beside her and held out his fist for her to bump, "Bien joué!"
The last of the dark magic faded away from Exposure, leaving a woman in a knitted sweater and crumpled skirt. She blinked in confusion as she looked around and climbed slowly to her feet, "Where am I?"
Ladybug hurried forwards and touched her shoulder gently, "Don't worry madame, you were akumatized, but it's going to be alright now."
The woman's eyes filled with tears, "Akumatized? I'm so sorry Ladybug! I was so mad when I saw Victor kissing Julie…" she trailed off before laughing bitterly, "So much for promises and love and commitment! What a waste of my time." Her voice caught on the last word and a hiccuping sob escaped her.
Instinctively, Ladybug reached out to hug her, "I'm so sorry you had to go through that–" she hesitated for a moment, pulling back to look the woman in the eyes.
"Jacqueline."
Ladybug smiled kindly, "Jacqueline. I may not know you, but I can tell you this: he didn't deserve you." She squeezed Jacqueline's shoulders in comfort, "Don't give up on love and commitment. It is real and one day you will find someone you can trust with your heart, and he will give you all the happiness you deserve."
Jacqueline tentatively returned the smile and reached up to brush the tears off her face. "Thank you Ladybug. And thank you for saving me." She glanced over Ladybug's shoulder and Ladybug twisted to see Chat standing nearby, "My thanks to both of you."
Chat bowed, "Our pleasure madame." He flashed her a grin as he straightened up and half turned towards Ladybug, "I'm sorry to have to cut this short, but we're out of time." His eyes flicked deliberately to Ladybug's earrings and her hand jumped up as though it could tell her how many spots she had left by feel alone.
Ladybug gave Jacqueline another quick hug, then released her and stepped back, pulling her yoyo off her hip, "Right. Best wishes madam. Bug out!"
A/N – Thank you for all the likes, follows and comments! Don't worry, it's not over yet. There's still all sorts of aftermath to deal with. ;)