Disclaimer: I do not own Miraculous Ladybug. It belongs to its respective owner.
Glimpse
"Wayzz, I think I've got it now!"
Master Fu pours his concoction into the teapot sitting above his short-legged table, mixing it with the steaming hot, special blend of tea inside. After swirling it around a few times, he pours it into a teacup, serving it to his kwami, who floats just above the table.
Wayzz drinks the tea down to the last drop, and Master Fu waits for something—anything—to happen.
But instead, he gets nothing.
He and his kwami let out an exasperated sigh at the same time, lamenting the former's fifth (or sixth?) failure. Master Fu pushes the teapot aside and pulls out the list of ingredients from his pocket.
"I could've sworn I had the right ingredients this time," Master Fu says, scratching his head. "I shouldn't have called Marinette over, but I was so confident…"
"I believe it's best we clean up while waiting for her to arrive," Wayzz suggests, noting the mess Master Fu made while concocting the potion.
With a nod, Master Fu gets up from his seat and makes his way over to the other room, leaving the teapot and teacup behind.
"Master Fu?" Marinette calls out as she walks through the door of the humble little massage shop.
She looks around for the old man in question, but he's nowhere to be seen. Tikki flies out of her holder's purse to help her look around the room.
"He doesn't seem to be here," the kwami says, setting herself on top of the short-legged table. Her nose picks up on a fruity and flowery scent, and she follows it all the way to the teapot sitting right in the middle of the table.
"Marinette, over here!" Tikki exclaims.
Marinette walks over to the little table and sits herself down. "Found something, Tikki?" she asks, taking her backpack off and placing it next to her.
"There's tea," Tikki says, lightly touching the teapot. "And it's still hot. Master Fu must've been here recently, he should be back soon."
"Maybe he left this tea out for us to drink while we wait for him to get back," Marinette says, pouring herself a cup of tea. After blowing on it to cool it down, she takes a sip, and automatically tries guess its flavor. The tea tastes very slightly of jasmine, or lavender, with a touch of citrus maybe, to give it some tanginess.
"Ah! Marinette, you're here."
Marinette looks up to find Master Fu walking towards her with a welcoming smile. He makes his way over to her, immediately noticing the teacup in her hand upon sitting down.
"Did you like the tea?" he asks with a laugh.
"It was good. Sweet, and a little tangy," Marinette laughs. "What kind of tea is it?"
"Actually, it was meant to be a potion for a new kwami ability," Master Fu explains. "But I seemed to have made an error, as it did not do anything when Wayzz drank it."
"Uh… is it safe to drink?" Marinette blanches, putting the teacup down.
"It should be fine," Master Fu laughs. "When the potion fails, it, for lack of better word, disappears. So, if you were to infuse a failed potion into macarons, it would simply end up tasting like a regular macaron. In this case, it just turned into regular tea, Wayzz' favorite drink."
"Thank goodness, I was getting a little worried there," Marinette says, sighing in relief.
"I apologize for making you come all this way," Master Fu says. "I was so sure I succeeded."
"No worries," Marinette smiles. "Classes don't start for another thirty minutes, and I can get to school in fifteen."
"Still, you should hurry," Master Fu says, motioning for her to run along.
With a nod, Marinette gets up and slips her backpack on. "Have a good day, Master Fu!" she exclaims, waving goodbye as she disappears behind the door.
Marinette makes it to class in exactly seventeen minutes.
As expected, Alya, Nino and Adrien are already sitting in their usual spots, chatting away. She walks over to her shared desk and sets her back down before joining in on the conversation.
"Good morning," Marinette greets.
Alya and Nino are ever the morning birds and greet her cheerfully, while Adrien opts for a calmer greeting. She's quick to notice the bags under his eyes—a very obvious indicator of his lack of sleep. With piano, fencing and Chinese keeping his hands full, he definitely doesn't get much time to breathe, but he rarely ever shows his exhaustion. He always manages to give her a nice smile in the mornings, and sometimes, they're enough to get her out of a bad mood.
Mme Bustier suddenly walks into the room, and everyone quickly makes their way back to their seats.
Class goes by as usual—Mme Bustier introduces a new short story to the class, they have a class discussion, she hands out some homework, and announces upcoming evaluations.
The bell finally rings, signaling the end of class, and Marinette starts packing up for study hall.
"You guys ready to go?" Adrien asks.
"Nino and I will meet you guys there," Alya says, making Marinette turn to her with wide eyes. "We have something to take care of first."
"Oh, alright," Adrien says, turning to the nervous pig-tailed girl. "Ready to go, Marinette?"
"M-me? Us? Go? Together?" she babbles. "Uh—"
"She's ready," Alya says, pushing her best friend forward. She gives Marinette a look that practically screams don't mess this up.
Nino and Alya slip out of class, leaving Marinette and Adrien behind. He turns to her, and she shoots him a nervous grin that's a bit too wide. She avoids eye contact with him completely, knowing that she'd trip all over her feet if she were to look into his eyes.
She skips down the steps to join him, and they walk out of the classroom side by side.
It's quiet while on their way to the library, and while Adrien takes it as a comfortable silence, Marinette convinces herself that it's an awkward one.
"I'm so glad we have study hall," Adrien says when he notices Marinette looking around nervously. He feels like he always makes her uncomfortable—hopefully, he can get her to open up a little more. "I was falling behind on our Science homework. Mme Mendeleiev gave us a few pages too many."
"Y-yeah…" Marinette says. "She's always like that."
It goes quiet again, and Marinette mentally beats herself up for not being able to carry on such a simple conversation. She finally gets the chance to be alone with Adrien, and she messes up even when she isn't saying anything.
Before she can say anything more, they make it to the library, waving hi to their classmates as they pass by. They settle down at an empty table with four seats and sit next to each other, knowing that Alya and Nino would want to sit next to each other as always.
"I'll be right back," Marinette says. "I'm just going to pick up a few books."
She gets up from her seat and walks over to the far-right of the library, where the Math and Science books neighbor each other. She finds Max and Ivan in that section, the former flipping through a Math textbook, and the latter scanning the titles for a specific book in mind.
"Hey, Max," Marinette greets. "Catching up on some homework, too?"
"Affirmative," he replies, looking away from his book to look her in the eye. "Yourself?"
Marinette opens her mouth to answer, but the second she and Max have eye contact, for some unexplained reason…
Everything goes foggy.
Marinette comes home to an empty apartment.
She makes dinner for two, but she always ends up eating alone at the table. She wraps the other plate in plastic and puts it in the fridge before washing the dishes and taking a hot bath. She walks out of the bathroom in pink and white polka-dotted pyjamas, ready to finally lie doing and relax after a long day. She watches old movies and sketches down a few new ideas, but once the clock hits eleven in the evening, she shuts off the lights.
And she sighs because, even after all this, he still isn't home.
Max is one of the best programmers out there, which means he works for one of the best tech companies in France. The problem is, he's often on business trips or doing overnight shifts, so he never comes home while she's awake.
And when she wakes up in the morning, he's fast asleep.
Marinette sighs as she gets out of bed to prepare for another day at work. After a quick trip to the washroom, she returns all prepped and ready to go.
"Are you leaving?" asks a tired, husky morning voice.
"Yup," Marinette replies as she curls her hair by her white vanity table. "I start at nine."
She hears a loud yawn and some shuffling. "What time will you be back?" Max asks.
"Five-thirty," she replies.
"Would you like to go to a restaurant for dinner?"
Surprised, Marinette turns around to find her boyfriend sitting upright while rubbing tired eyes.
He continues, "I've taken a day off today, as I feel my quality performance has decreased due to exhaustion. It's been exactly twelve days since the last time we've gone out together. Does it interest you?"
"It does!" Marinette exclaims happily.
Once she finishes curling her hair, she unplugs her curler and walks over to her boyfriend, who's still sitting on the bed.
"I'll be looking forward to dinner," she smiles. "Have a good day! Rest well!"
"Have a good day, too, Marinette," Max grins, fixing his glasses.
Before leaving the bedroom, Marinette tucks a few strands of hair behind her ears and leans down, puckering her pink lips to kiss her boyfriend goodbye.
Their lips are a mere two inches apart, when—
"Wah!" Marinette screams as she stumbles backwards and bumps her head on a nearby bookshelf.
She falls to the ground with a loud thud, causing the bookshelf to shake and cause a bunch of misplaced books to slip out of their place. Marinette shuts her eyes, waiting for the dozens of books to fall all over her—but it never happens. She opens her eyes and turns her head, her face contorting in panic when her eyes meet Ivan's.
It's blurry.
Marinette wipes away the tears from her eyes, only for fresh, new tears to come spilling out again. She rubs her eyes some more, looking down to find herself sitting on the ground as raindrops fall around her, creating ripples across the puddles nearby. Her short, black dress is soaking wet, and her ankle is throbbing—most likely a result from her broken heel.
She soon comes to realize that the raindrops aren't hitting her head, and when she turns to her right, she sees Ivan kneeling down next to her, holding his jacket above both of their heads to shield them from the rain.
"I told you not to run," Ivan says, eyeing one of her red shoes.
"And I told you I never want to see you again," Marinette cries. "I saw you with her."
Ivan looks down.
"I'm sorry," he says. "I… love Mylene. I always have, always will. I can't keep lying to you. I can't keep pretending I love you."
Marinette buries her face in her hands. "I-I wish you had just told me from the beginning," she sobs.
"You should've told me that you didn't feel the same way either," Ivan says firmly.
Marinette looks up, and gasps. "How could you say that—" she begins.
"It's true," he says. "I see the way you look at him."
"Him?"
"You know who I'm talking about."
Marinette looks down. "I… I was hoping you and I could work things out," she says quietly.
"It was never going to happen," Ivan says bluntly. "Not when we've already given our hearts to someone else."
"I guess you're right," she sniffles. "But I don't regret a single second of being with you."
Ivan smiles. "Neither do I," he says.
Marinette blinks, and jumps in surprise to find herself back at the school library. She's just about to yell… but Ivan beats her to it.
"Wh-what was that?!" he exclaims, alerting those nearby.
Marinette quickly jumps to her feet and runs off, bumping into Adrien in the process. She instinctively closes her eyes and throws her arms in front of her.
"Marinette? Are you all right?" Adrien tries, holding out a hand to help her get up. "I heard a scream, so I thought I'd check up on y—"
"G-get away from me!" she yells, making Adrien's outstretched hand freeze. Realizing how rude she sounded, she attempts to correct herself, "No—I didn't mean it like that! There's this—something's happening, and I don't know—oh, what a mess…"
She gets up on her own, peeking between her fingers to help her find her way out of the library. Before the doors shuts behind her, she says, "I-I'll see you later, Adrien! I'm sorry!"
"What was that all about?" Adrien asks out loud.
"Ugh, can she be any louder?" Chloe asks out loud. Adrien turns to his childhood friend to find her sitting at one of the tables filing her nails, while Sabrina sits across from her surrounded by a pile of books. "Sabrina—I-I mean, I'm trying to do my Math homework here!"
"Chloe, were you able to see what happened?" Adrien asks.
"You might want to ask those losers over there," she replies, pointing her thumb behind her. Adrien looks past her to find Max and Ivan scratching their heads in confusion. "She looked at them and then ran off screaming. But then again, who wouldn't?"
Adrien dismisses her rude behavior, and he makes his way over to his two friends.
"Hey, guys," Adrien waves. "Mind if I ask what happened with Marinette?"
"What's going on?!" Marinette asks out loud as she runs through the streets of Paris. She finally finds an empty alley and places her hands on her knees to catch her breath.
Tikki peeks out from her purse. "What's wrong, Marinette?" the kwami asks.
"Every time I look into someone's eyes, I see… the future?" she tries to explain. "Well, not exactly—more like, I saw my future with Max and Ivan? And they saw it, too? Oh my gosh, they saw it, too… How will I ever be able to talk to them again?"
"Oh no," Tikki blanches. "We need to hurry back to Master Fu's. It might have something to do with the 'tea' you drank this morning."
"What?!" Marinette exclaims.
"Master Fu will explain, we need to get there fast," Tikki says.
Marinette nods, flipping the strands of hair around her ears.
"TIKKI, TRANSFORM ME!"
A flash of pink later, Ladybug swings out of the alley in the direction of the little massage shop she'd just been to that morning. After finding an adequate hiding spot, she lets her transformation go and rushes right into the shop.
"Master Fu!" Marinette exclaims, swinging the door wide open.
Master Fu is sitting at the short-legged table, but he gets up upon seeing the panic on her face. "Is there something wrong, Marinette?" he asks.
"D-don't look!" Marinette shouts, throwing her hands over her eyes. "I see something… weird whenever I look someone in the eye! Tikki said it might have something to do with the 'tea' I drank this morning?"
Master Fu's eyes widen. "Oh, dear," he says. "What exactly do you see?"
"The… future? Well, like, future with whoever I look in the eye?" Marinette replies uncertainly. "I was in the school library, but then all of a sudden, I wasn't because I looked at my friend Max and we were in an apartment together, and then Ivan was shielding me from the rain and I hurt my ankle—oh, that broken heel really hurt my ankle…"
"That means I…" Master Fu trails off, nearly falling over. "This is not good. I was trying to create a potion that would grant you and Chat Noir the ability of thunder and lightning, but it seems I made Coup de foudre instead."
"Love at first sight?" Marinette asks.
"Quite literally," Master Fu says. "It's an ancient spell that allows the person to see their future love life with whoever they look in the eye, as long as it's someone of the opposite sex. This was used a long time ago by people whose hearts were indecisive."
Marinette's face turns bright red at this—she swears her heart belongs to Adrien, but she'd be lying if she said she didn't feel a little something for Chat Noir and Luka.
"I didn't realize I had mixed the ingredients for that potion together. The recipes are very similar, hence its name," Master Fu says. "For example, fallen tears can be interpreted as raindrops, or an actual person's tears."
"How long… will the potion last?" Marinette gulps.
"Not long," Master Fu assures, making her sigh in relief. "It should be gone by tonight."
"Tonight?! Are you telling me I have to go through my entire day with this spell?!" Marinette exclaims. "I have classes!"
"The only thing I can tell you is to try to avoid looking people in the eye as much as possible," Master Fu says. "All you can do is wait for the spell to wear off."
"Well, at least now I know that if I pursue a romantic relationship with Max or Ivan, it wouldn't work out," Marinette says, sneaking out of her hiding spot behind a bush after letting her transformation go.
After leaving in the middle of study hall and missing the entire lunch period, Marinette makes her way back to the lockers to gather her things for her next class. Thankfully, there's no one there, and she sighs in relief knowing that she doesn't have to worry about accidentally having eye contact with someone.
"Hopefully, your vision with Adrien will much better," Tikki giggles.
Marinette drops her pencil case. "Adrien? Adrien?" she gasps, slapping her hands on her cheeks in realization. "Oh no, I just ditched him back at the library, and he must've thought I was rude for reacting the way I did! I'm such a disaster!"
"Calm down, Marinette!" Tikki hushes.
"I'm going to go to class and he'll ignore me, and then everyone will get suspicious and Chloe will probably start spreading rumors about me, then when Gabriel Agreste hears about these rumors, he'll blacklist me, and I'll never get to become a fashion designer or marry Adrien!"
Marinette holds the sides of her head as she screams in both horror and frustration.
"My life is ruined!" she yells.
Suddenly, someone taps her on the shoulder, making her jump in surprise. She instinctively turns around, her hands still over her ears, and she's 99.4% sure that the person thinks she's gone completely insane.
"Marinette, are you okay?"
Before she realizes who it is, it's too late.
"Give it up for Kitty Section!"
Marinette looks up to find the members of Kitty Section, all dressed in her homemade kitten masks and armor, performing live on the school stage. The lights are flashing pink, yellow, and blue, and the stage itself is littered with confetti and props in the shape of rainbows and lightning bolts to make the scene livelier.
The instruments amped up to full volume and the crowd cheering nonstop makes for loud buzzing in her ears—and it doesn't help that she's standing right next to the speakers. Marinette instinctively throws her hands over her ears to try to block out the sound.
She so wants to cheer for her friends, but she wasn't used to being in such a cramped and noisy environment. Marinette puts her hands down when the song ends, sighing in relief when she finds that her ears aren't blocked.
"Encore! Encore!" the crowd chants.
"Since you're all such a great crowd," Rose screams into the microphone. "Here's one last song!"
Marinette lets out a groan, preparing to place her hands back on her ears—but she feels plush material press against her ears before she can lift up a hand.
She turns her head, shocked to find Nino smiling before her, and realizing that he placed his headphones over her ears to help her get through the noise. He takes his phone out, and plays a soft, yet upbeat song, and Marinette can't help but mouth "thank you".
However, from the corner of her eye, she can see Alya standing a few feet away from them with a heartbroken look on her face. The look switches into one of anger instead, and she stomps off, wiping away what Marinette can guess are angry tears.
"Alya…!" Marinette whispers before taking the headphones off and sprinting after her ex-best friend.
She finally catches up to her, but Alya refuses to turn around. Marinette is left to stare at her back.
"I know I said that Nino can date whoever he wants after we broke up," Alya begins. "But I really hoped that it wouldn't be you."
"Alya—"
"Save it," she snaps. "Do whatever you want. We aren't friends anymore, after all."
Marinette rushes forward to place a hand on her ex-best friend's shoulder, but Alya forcefully swipes it off, causing Marinette to fall to the floor.
"Alya!"
Marinette looks up to find Nino standing by her side, glaring holes into the back of Alya's head. His fists are clenched tightly, and so are his ex-girlfriend's.
"What, Nino?" Alya spits.
"You were the one who left. There's no reason for you to be treating Marinette this way," Nino says, helping the fallen girl up.
"Not fair?" Alya asks, turning around to glare back at him. Tears fell from her eyes, but she refused to wipe them away. "I left because you couldn't fully get over her. What wasn't fair was you treating me like some second choice."
With that, Alya spins on her heel and sprints out of the building. When she disappears past the door, Nino turns to Marinette.
"I'm sorry about all that," he says.
"I didn't want to lose my best friend," Marinette cries. "I want to be with you, but not like this."
Nino sighs. "I… I know," he says quietly. "Not like this."
Blink.
Marinette blinks a few more times and looks at her surroundings to find that she's back at the lockers. Nino is standing in front of her, frozen, and with a look of absolute horror on his face.
"M-Ma—" he stutters.
"Nino, listen—" Marinette starts.
"I know I said I used to like you, but that was in the past!" Nino explodes, arms flailing and face turning a deep crimson. "I'm one hundred percent in love with Alya!"
"Busy shouting to the world about your undying love for me, I see."
Nino and Marinette shriek at the sound of the familiar voice, and they both jump back, striking crazy poses as if to defend themselves. Marinette is the first to go back to normal upon seeing who it is.
"Alya!" Marinette exclaims, rushing to her best friend to give her a hug. "I'd never do that to you, I promise!"
"Marinette? Are you okay?" Alya asks, patting her back. "I heard a bunch of weird things from the guys—"
"I'm fine!" Marinette interrupts, letting go of her best friend. "It's just been a weird day…"
"Huh," Alya says with a shrug. "Also, mind telling me why you left Adrien? I set the whole thing up for you and you just leave!"
"I had… something to take care of!" Marinette says, laughing nervously. "It completely slipped my mind, and it was really important."
"Well, can't be helped. There will be other opportunities, just leave it to me," Alya says cheerfully. She then turns to her boyfriend, and asks, "So? Ready to go?"
"Uh… sure thing," Nino says, rushing to his girlfriend's side.
After a quick exchange of goodbyes, Marinette watches the couple go, receiving a text not too long after.
Nino
we do not speak of this ever again.
Marinette miraculously manages to avoid looking at her male classmates in the eye for the entirety of the afternoon. Sure, she ended up bumping into a bunch of desks, lockers, and janitor equipment, but she's known for being clumsy, so everyone just viewed it as "typical Marinette".
When Mme Mendeleiev finally dismisses class, Marinette purposely slows down her pace so that majority of her classmates can leave before her. The plan is to wait until majority of the school left for the day so that she can walk through (mostly) empty hallways. This would definitely lessen her chances of accidentally catching a glimpse of her future love life with some random boy in the hallway.
"You guys want to go get some ice cream?" Alya asks. "It's been a long day, I say we treat ourselves!"
"Sorry, I have fencing today," Adrien says. "Maybe some other time?"
"Boo," Alya teases before turning to her best friend. "What about you, Marinette? You coming?"
"Uh, a-actually, I have, um, the… art project to work on! That's right, I barely worked on it, I-I don't want to keep falling behind," Marinette bumbles. Well, it wasn't entirely false—she did have to work on it, but today isn't exactly the best of days.
"Oh, alright," Alya says. "Well, if you ever change your mind, just send me a text!"
"Will do," Marinette says as she continues to look at anything but the trio before her. "See you tomorrow?"
After a quick exchange of goodbyes, Marinette sighs in relief when she finds herself all alone in the classroom. It's been a tiring day—avoiding peoples' gaze isn't as easy as one thinks.
She slips on her backpack and starts heading for the door, stretching out her hand to grab the door handle. However, before she can even lift up her arm, the door swings open at full force and a panting, sweaty Kim emerges from it.
"Sorry! I forgot my—"
Marinette closes her eyes immediately, but when she opens them up… she knows she was too late.
"What… are you wearing?"
Kim stands in front of her, striking a ridiculous pose while wearing a full-body swimsuit adorned with flashy colors and lightning bolts.
"It's my lucky swimsuit," he grins, proudly showing off his attire. "They say that wearing a full-body swimsuit makes your swim faster."
"I don't think that's quite true," Marinette laughs, pulling him close and hugging him tightly. "Good luck out there."
Kim flashes her a pearly-white grin. "I'm going to win first place," he says confidently. "Just you wait!"
He waves goodbye to her one last time before disappearing behind a door, and Marinette makes her way over to the spectator benches. She takes a sweat near the middle, since the front-row seats are already occupied by a whole family screaming with cameras and banners.
Marinette finds herself at the national swimming competition finals, where Kim is to compete against swimmers from different countries while proudly representing all of France.
Just as the competition is about to start, someone asks her, "Excuse me, is anyone sitting next to you?"
"Oh, no, feel free to sit—" Marinette says, stopping mid-sentence once she looks up to see an old schoolmate of hers. "O-Ondine?"
"Marinette?" Ondine asks with shocked (and sad) eyes.
"What are you doing here?" Marinette asks as Ondine takes the seat next to her. She shamefully rubs an arm after realizing what she said. "I'm sorry, that was rude of me. I should've started by asking how you've been."
"Don't worry," Ondine says with a friendly smile. "I'm here for a friend. He moved to Germany when we were young, but we still kept in touch. I just thought I'd cheer him on."
"That's nice," Marinette says with an awkward smile. "I'm, uh… here to cheer for—"
"Kim?" Ondine says with a sad smile. "I figured. I saw his name on the list of competitors."
"Yeah…"
All of the participants walk through a door and to their assigned diving board. Kim goes into his diving stance, his swimsuit being the laugh and the talk of the spectators around Marinette and Ondine.
"He hasn't changed, huh?" Ondine asks with a chuckle. "Always a goofball, that Kim."
"He hasn't changed one bit," Marinette says. After a moment of silence, she continues, "Ondine… I'm sorry—"
Ondine interrupts her by lifting a hand. "Things happen," she says. "Kim and I didn't work out. That's all there is to it."
The competition soon comes to an end, and Kim keeps his promise of winning first place. After a couple of pictures and interviews, he changes out of his flashy swimsuit and into his regular hoodie and joggers. He meets up with Marinette by the entrance, where she's waiting for him with a smile and his favorite drink.
"See? What'd I tell you?" Kim laughs, holding up his trophy. "First place!"
Just as he's about to lift her up and twirl her around excitedly, his eyes flicker upwards to see his ex-girlfriend talking animatedly with the boy next to her. She excitedly cheers at his second-place trophy, while he shyly scratches the back of his head. Marinette notices the light in her boyfriend's eyes dim, following his gaze to find him staring at his ex-girlfriend. Her face falls slightly, but she refuses to show any sign of sadness.
"Do you want to go say hi?" Marinette offers.
"To whom?" Kim asks.
"Ondine," she says.
"…No," Kim says, turning away when he and his ex-girlfriend accidentally have eye contact. "There's no need."
He walks ahead, and Marinette follows behind silently as they make their way towards the subway. Marinette watches as Kim passes by Ondine without saying a word, but she doesn't miss the longing gazes they shoot at each other as she walks by.
Marinette eventually catches up to Kim, but they miss the subway by seconds. She sneaks a glance at her boyfriend, thinking how sad he looks for someone who had just won first place.
"You miss her, don't you?" she accidentally blurts out. She instantly throws a hand over her mouth, cursing herself for allowing it to slip out.
Kim looks at her with shock. "No! How could you think that way?" he asks, grabbing her hand. "I'm dating you! I don't want to make you feel that way!"
Marinette smiles sadly.
Kim may have won first place in the competition, but Marinette has yet to reach that spot in his heart. But deep inside, she knows that it'll always be taken by his first love.
"Go."
Kim looks down at her with surprise, but she looks up to grin at him.
"If you hurry, she might still be there!" she exclaims, pointing towards the subway exit leading to the stadium.
"Marinette—"
"I said I'd always cheer for you, didn't I?"
With a nod, Kim turns around and starts sprinting towards the exit, but before he can disappear up the stairs, he turns to his now ex-girlfriend with a smile.
"Thank you, Marinette," he says.
"Hurry!" she cheers, cupping a hand around her mouth to amplify her voice.
When he's gone, her hand drops to her side, and she sighs as the subway cart zooms past her. She'd been too distracted to realize that the subway cart was right in front of her. Before she can take a step forward, the doors shut, and the subway lets out a knowing tune to indicate that it's finally leaving.
She sighs.
"I missed it again."
Blink.
Instead of finding herself at the subway station, Marinette finds herself back at school. In the Science classroom. In front of a panting and sweaty, but now also confused, Kim.
"Uh…" Kim begins.
In a panic, Marinette pushes him right past him and sprints down the hallways.
Before turning the corner, she covers her face in embarrassment when she hears Kim yell, "WHAT THE HECK WAS THAT?!"
She quickly runs into the first classroom she sees, slamming the door behind her after entering. Marinette places her hands on her knees, panting heavily as she tries to catch her breath. Ivan, Nino, Kim—she wanted to at least avoid the ones who were already taken.
"Marinette? Are you here to catch up on the project too?"
This voice makes Marinette freeze, and she quickly throws her hands over her eyes to stop herself from looking at the person.
"N-Nathanael?" she asks nervously. "I'm guessing I'm in the Art classroom?"
"Uh, yeah," he says. He pauses for a second before continuing, "Why are you covering your eyes?"
"My, um, eyes are strained!" Marinette lies, slowly backing up to get to the door. "They're super sensitive to the light today, I think it's because I spend too much time in front of my phone and computer. So, I'll, uh, go now and head home to rest my eyes and I'll see you tomorr—ow!"
Marinette yelps in pain as she clumsily trips over a bucket full of paintbrushes, sending her falling to the floor. Nathanael hurries to her side to help her up, resulting in them making eye contact for 1.2 seconds.
"No, no, no—!" Marinette says under her breath as she gets back up on her feet.
She makes a run for the door, but even those 1.2 seconds were enough to trigger a vision.
"Are you cheating on me?"
Marinette freezes at the door.
She turns around to see Nathaniel's back facing her, while he stands in front of his painting—a portrait of her that he so proudly worked on every day for the past month to display at the annual art exhibition. He wanted to demonstrate various styles in that one painting in hopes that it would catch the eye of someone in the animation field. He wanted to draw something that he loved dearly because he truly believed that you could see the emotions behind the artwork.
Looking at it now, the painting leaked of heartbreak and distrust.
"Nathanael, I'm not—" Marinette tries.
"You never show up to my art exhibitions even when you promise you'd be there," he begins slowly. "And when you do… you disappear. You come home late. Sometimes, when I wake up in the middle of the night, you're gone. I never know where you are—you're never where you're supposed to be."
Marinette flinches at the familiarity of it all.
For a moment, she's fourteen years old again, being scolded by her parents for having skipped classes because she's off to save Parisians from disaster.
But she isn't fourteen anymore. She's twenty-three, where late-night study sessions, going to the washroom, and putting pillows under blankets don't work anymore when she has to get away.
"I'm sorry," is all she can say.
How could he ever know… that she's Ladybug?
She knows it's not exactly the best idea to keep such a big secret from him, but it's for his safety. She can't risk putting him in danger.
"I don't want an apology," Nathanael says, turning around to face her. "I just want you to be honest with me."
"I…" she falters. "I can't tell you everything… but I promise, I'm not cheating on you."
Nathanael slumps his shoulders in defeat.
"Forget I said anything," he says quietly. "You can go."
"I… I'll be there tonight," Marinette promises. "At the exhibition."
"No need," Nathanael says, picking up a bucket filled with black paint. "I won't be there."
Marinette's eyes widen as she watches him splash black paint all over her portrait. All those weeks of hard work—those sleepless nights, those paint-stained clothes, those floors littered with crumpled draft paper—gone to waste.
She runs to his side, pulling on the bucket of paint to stop him from doing anymore damage.
"Why would you do that?!" Marinette yells.
"The concept for this year's exhibition is love," he replies. "I loved you because you were honest. Now, all I see is a liar."
Marinette freezes.
"Liar…?" she echoes.
If there was anything Marinette absolutely hated, it was liars. But she wasn't one, she refused to ever be one. Their old classmates—Chloe and Lila—they were liars! Not her!
"I'm not a liar!" Marinette fumes. "I'm not cheating on you! Why won't you believe me?"
"How can I when you refuse to even tell me where you disappear off to? There's no communication in this relationship," he mutters, tossing the bucket aside, where it spills black paint all over the plastic-covered floors. He sighs and walks away, but Marinette calls out his name one last time before he can disappear behind the door.
"It's fine," Nathanael says, turning to look her in the eye. "I don't want to hear it."
Blink.
They're back in the classroom.
The Nathanael in front of her is back to being shorter than her, with longer hair, and a baby face that's a perfect shade of cherry red. And rather than looking angry, he looks absolutely mortified.
"I-I… I would never… to you…" Nathanael stammers, each word getting quieter and quieter.
"Wh-what do you mean?" Marinette asks, feigning innocence.
"Didn't you see that—?"
"See what? I didn't see anything! Nope, absolutely not!" she laughs nervously. "Well, anyway, I should probably go, my eyes hurt and all, so… bye!"
Marinette runs out of the classroom and down the hallway blindly, looking down at the floor to avoid eye contact with anyone. She turns a corner and crashes right into someone, sending her flying to the floor.
"I'm so sorry!" Marinette cries, opening up her eyes on instinct to help the person up.
Unfortunately, it's another boy.
She lets go of him as if burned, she and falls to the floor as she trips on her own feet.
"Why does this keep happening to me?!"
"I'll be home soon."
"You always say that."
Marinette frowns, clutching her phone a little tighter as she watches her boyfriend sigh and rub the nape of his neck.
"I know, but," Marc begins, fixing his camera angle. "I mean it this time. We're almost done filming."
"It's been weeks."
"I know."
Marinette curls her legs a little closer to her body, lying sideways as she tries to pretend that he's lying right next to her. Marc is a scriptwriter—a good one at that. Of course he'd be offered to write for famous directors. That, however, also meant that he'd be travelling from one city to another to ensure that the actors were delivering their lines exactly how he imagined them to be.
"I'm sorry," he says. "I haven't exactly always been there for you."
"I'm all right. I always am," Marinette says, faking cheerfulness. "I just want you to do well."
It's a half-lie, she thinks to herself. She wants him to do well, but she isn't always all right.
She thinks back to those lonely nights in bed, staring up at the ceiling, and feeling cold, and feeling like the bed is too big and empty. She thinks back to those sad mornings and how hard it was to get up because her designs weren't chosen for the runway. She thinks back to those afternoons she spent walking around the city, and the sighs that escape her lips when she passes by happy couples.
She loves Marc, don't get her wrong. But he likes to pile up empty promises.
"I'm going to be in Tokyo for a few more days. Is there anything specific you want?" Marc asks.
Marinette frowns. Marc always brings her expensive gifts and souvenirs from wherever he's been, but honestly, she'd rather just have him around for a couple more days.
"I can't think of anything right now," Marinette says.
"I know what you like," he says. "But just let me know if you think of something."
"Hm."
Neither says a word, and instead just continue to look into each other's eyes. Marinette notices how hard it is to talk to him now; not like before, when topics used to easily roll off heir tongues.
"Marinette… I—"
"I have to go."
Marc jumps slightly at the interruption.
"Oh," he frowns. "It must be late there."
"It is," Marinette says. "And I have work tomorrow at nine."
"I'm sorry for calling so late," Marc says. "I'll try to call earlier tomorrow."
"I'll be waiting," Marinette smiles sadly.
After a quick goodbye, the call ends, and Marinette rolls onto her back to stare blankly at the ceiling again. With a heavy sigh, she turns off her lights, and closes her eyes to finally get some sleep.
Marinette opens her eyes to find herself staring into green eyes. She lets out a yell before quickly hoisting herself up, accidentally slamming her forehead against the person's.
"M-M-Marc?!" Marinette exclaims, rubbing her forehead to soothe the pain.
"Marinette," Marc says nervously, rubbing his eyes. "Did you… see that?"
"S-s-see what?" she stutters pathetically.
"That… vision," he says quietly, clutching his notebook in his hand. "We were—"
"Vision? What vision? You must be imagining things," Marinette says with a nervous smile.
"I swear I—"
"I have to go!" Marinette interrupts before running down the hallway. "Bye, Marc, have a good day, see you tomorrow!"
Marc watches her run down the stairs while looking down, flinching when he sees her trip down the last few stairs while trying to make her way down to the courtyard. He watches as she keeps her eyes glued to the ground, yelping every time she bumps into something or someone. When she's finally out of sight, Marc thinks back to the vision and turns beet red.
"That was weird…" he says to himself.
Outside, Marinette repeatedly slaps her cheeks with her hands, asking herself how she even gets herself in these types of situations. Max and Ivan were honest accidents—she wasn't even aware of the spell during those times. But to bump into Nino, Kim, Nathanael and Marc after she found out about the spell? It must be a talent.
"Oh, why'd I even bother waiting for everyone to go? I should've just sprinted home the second class ended," Marinette says in embarrassment. "No point in hurrying now."
While on her way home, she passes by the Place des Vosges park, reeling back when she sees a familiar boy with teal hair sitting under a tree. He has his back against the tree's trunk, fully focused on the piece he's playing on his guitar.
"Luka?" Marinette asks out loud, making her kwami poke her head out of her purse to see. "What's he doing here?"
"Should we go say hi?" Tikki asks.
"I don't think it's a good idea to go see him right now," Marinette says. "Not with this spell still in effect—"
"Bridgette!"
A blond boy suddenly slides into her view, and Marinette can only groan as her surroundings start fogging up.
"It's been so long! It's me, Wayhem! Don't you remember?"
"You're really the sweetest—"
"Most beautiful—"
"Smartest—"
"Most perfect—"
"Person I know."
"I love you, dearly."
Marinette looks into Wayhem's eyes as they clutch each other's hands tightly. Their eyes sparkle as their stares linger on one another, but slowly, their eyes flutter shut. The gap between them is soon to come to a close—but before their lips can touch, they turn away at the same time to open their eyes and look up to admire the enormous billboard standing at the top of the building before them.
It's the new ad for Gabriel Agreste's latest perfume, and Adrien poses in the middle, winking with a finger pressed against his lips, as if asking them to hush. Just add angel wings and a halo, and you'd be looking right at an angel.
"Adrien…" Marinette and Wayhem sigh dreamily.
Blink.
Marinette looks at Wayhem. Wayhem looks at Marinette.
"You know," Marinette says thoughtfully. "That wasn't so bad."
"Uh… wh-what…?" Wayhem stutters.
"Nothing," she says, brushing it off as if normal. "I think you've mistaken me for someone else, by the way."
"O-oh, I'm sorry, you look a lot like an old friend of mine," he says, confusion still written all over his face. "I'll… go now. Have a good day, sorry about that."
"No worries," Marinette replies, waving goodbye as he walks off, scratching his head.
With a sigh, she turns around to find that Luka is no longer in his spot under the tree. She sighs in both relief and disappointment, thinking of how lucky she is to have one less person to worry about if she were to accidentally look into their eyes. Then again, it's Luka, it would've been nice to have at least waved to him from a distance.
"Hey, Marinette," a voice behind her says.
"Wah!" she yells, jumping three meters in the air. She immediately closes her eyes before she can mess up yet again. But knowing her clumsiness, she can never be sure. "L-Luka? Is that you?"
"It's me," he confirms. "I saw you from a distance, thought I'd say hi."
"I-is that so…" Marinette says, laughing nervously.
"Is there something wrong?" Luka asks, concern dripping in his voice. "You look a little on edge."
"It's been a weird day, is all," she tries to explain.
"Want to talk about it?" he asks.
"It's hard to explain," she replies, shifting from one foot to the other. "In short, I can't really look at you in the eye. Or anyone, for that matter."
"Want me to take you home?" Luka offers. "I don't think it's safe to walk all by yourself if you won't be able to fully pay attention to where you're going. I brought my bike with me—you won't have to worry about making eye contact with me if you sit in the back."
"What? No, no, you really don't have to," Marinette says. "I don't want to take time out of your day."
"I don't mind. At least this way, I'd know you got home safely," Luka says, his words making her ears burn. "I'll go get my bike, one second."
"S-sure."
When the sound of Luka's footsteps can no longer be heard, Marinette excitedly open her purse to tell her kwami.
"Did you hear that, Tikki?" she beams. "Luka offered to take me home!"
"Don't you want to see your future love life with him?" the kwami asks. "Of all the possible futures you saw today, none of them were with the guys you actually have feelings for."
"And who might those guys be?" Marinette narrows her eyes.
"You know… Adrien, Luka… Chat Noir," Tikki teases before retreating inside her purse and snapping it shut.
"Chat Noir?" Marinette repeats, face flushed. "I do not—"
"Are you ready to go, Marinette?" Luka asks, interrupting her retort. "You can turn around and hop on, I'm facing the other way."
"Oh! R-right," she stutters, turning around to find Luka's back facing her. She carefully gets on the back of his bike and grips onto the sides of the rear rack, feeling way more nervous than she should be.
"Good?" he asks.
"Good," she answers.
Luka kicks the ground and takes off in the direction of the Dupain-Cheng Bakery, which isn't anything more than a five-six-seven-minute bike ride. A sudden jolt on the way makes Marinette wrap her arms around his waist to prevent herself from falling, causing her to bury her face in his back in an attempt to hide her red cheeks from passers-by.
Her mind is all over the place because all she can think of is how loud her heart is beating her chest, and how Luka smells of mint and sea breeze. Disappointment is an understatement when they finally reach the bakery.
Luka stops next to it so as to not block the door for coming and leaving customers. Marinette gets off the back of his bike, thanking him nonstop for the ride.
"It's no problem," Luka says.
Marinette hesitates. "Um, Luka?" she asks. "If I tell you what's going on… would you, uh… look me in the eye?"
"If you like, Marinette," he answers.
"Um, you see, I accidentally drank this ancient Chinese recipe that'll allow me to see my future love life with whoever I look in the eye," she explains, playing with the hem of her shirt. "So, I was kind of thinking… you know…"
"If you can see ours?"
Marinette turns bright red. "Uh huh," she answers, looking at the ground.
"Well, then," Luka says. "Should I turn around?"
"I-if you like."
Marinette waits.
And when she sees Luka turn himself around, she looks up from the ground, and into his eyes.
A clear blue sky. A field of grass. Flowers. Guitar chords.
Marinette fixes her sunhat and hoists herself up with her elbows, turning to find Luka lying right next to her. He's strumming away at his guitar, stopping when he notices her staring at him.
"Something on your mind?" he asks with a smile.
"No, it's just," Marinette says, smiling as she admires the view. "It's nice to run away from it all every now and then."
Marinette smooths out her white dress, and she plucks a pink flower from the grass to place it in her boyfriend's hair.
"It looks good on you," she laughs into her palm.
With a smirk, Luka sits upright, gently placing his guitar next to him. He lifts up a hand to tuck stray hairs behind Marinette's ear before resting his palm against her cheek.
"Oh, does it?" he asks, leaning in.
"Uh-huh," Marinette laughs.
She leans in closer, and they're just about to kiss, when a gust of wind suddenly hits them, making Marinette's sunhat fly off. The couple share one look, and then jump to their feet to chase after it, laughing as they tease each other and roll around the grass. Luka manages to finally catch it, and he walks over to his girlfriend, carefully placing the sunhat back on her head.
After doing so, he leans down and steals a kiss from her lips, making Marinette playfully push him away.
"Hey, no fair," she laughs, pulling him down by the collar so that they're at eye-level. "I wasn't ready!"
Luka smirks.
And then he kisses her again.
Blink.
It takes a few seconds for the vision to register in Marinette's head.
And when it finally does, her face turns completely red.
Luka, on the other hand, looks completely fine; in fact, he's laughing. "You're all red," he chuckles, making Marinette a deeper shade of red that could rival even Ladybug's costume.
"I-I just didn't expect to see that kind of vision with you," she bumbles, eyes suddenly widening at how mean that sounded. "Wait, I didn't mean that in a bad way! It wasn't bad—actually, it was close to perfect—but I can't… with you…"
"You still haven't gone to see Adrien, huh?" Luka asks.
"You can tell?" Marinette asks, shrinking in her spot.
Luka smiles knowingly. "You should go see him," he says.
"But…" Marinette begins.
She wants to accept Luka's feelings; she'd be lying if she said she didn't feel her heartstrings tug a little whenever they're together. The vision promises a happy love life for the two of them, but deep inside, she knows that her feelings for Adrien will always be holding her back.
And she refuses to do that to Luka because he doesn't deserve that.
"Thank you, Luka," Marinette finally says. She stands on her tippy-toes and plants a kiss on his cheek before running off to look for Adrien before the spell wears off.
Luka watches her go, allowing himself to smile and wish her luck before biking away.
Marinette knows Adrien's schedule by heart, so by now, he should be done with fencing and making his way out of the school. She forces herself to run a little faster to catch him before he leaves for him because she knows she's going to regret missing out on seeing their future love life together.
Hopefully, it's just as she imagines—a big house, three kids (Louis, Emma, and Hugo), a dog—maybe a cat—or even a hamster!
Marinette slows down when she sees Adrien in the distance.
She quickly hides behind the stairs leading up to École Françoise-Dupont's entrance to try to catch her breath and slow her beating heart. Marinette nervously looks out from her hiding spot to find Adrien patiently waiting for his driver to come pick him up.
Marinette takes in a deep breath.
She starts walking towards him, and she opens her mouth to call out his name—
—but someone else beats her to it.
"Adrien!"
Before he can turn around, Marinette stumbles backwards, but luckily catches herself before she can hit the ground. She hurries back to her hiding spot and takes a peek, feeling her heart split in two when she realizes that Kagami was the one to call out his name.
"Oh, hey, Kagami," Adrien greets when she stops in front of him. "Good match today."
"It certainly was," Kagami answers. "Are we still meeting up later on?"
"Of course," he replies, and Marinette's shoulders droop at his words.
She doesn't want to assume things—maybe it's just a study date for their upcoming mid-terms.
Oh, who is she kidding? Even something as simple as that is enough to make her heart ache. She can't even be in the same room as Adrien without becoming a bumbling, clumsy mess. She envies Kagami for being able to talk to him so easily, and she envies how close she's gotten to him, even when Marinette knew him months before she transferred to their school.
Sighing in defeat, Marinette casts one last glance at the two before walking off in the direction of home.
Maybe it's a sign.
Maybe fate is saving her from seeing an even more heartbreaking sight.
It'd probably be similar to her visions with Kim and Ivan, where Adrien would leave her for Kagami. It'd probably be something as dramatic as an arranged marriage, or Adrien leaving her after realizing he'd been in love with Kagami this whole time.
Marinette laughs bitterly. She's just hurting herself more by making up a bunch of scenarios in her head.
"Marinette?" Tikki asks, poking her head out of her holder's purse. "Don't you want to see your future with Adrien?"
"It's all right," Marinette answers sadly. "I think I already know how it'd turn out. And there's no room for me in his."
Marinette finds herself standing against the rails of her balcony after a long and crazy day, sighing as she looks over the city of Paris. She shivers at the thought of going to school tomorrow, anticipating awkward stares and avoidance from the boys in her class. Hopefully, she can come up with an explanation for those visions by morning…
The railings suddenly shake, snapping her out of her thoughts. She turns her head to the side to see what could have possibly caused it, and when she sees even just the tiniest glimpse of black leather, she immediately looks the other way.
"Chat Noir?!" Marinette exclaims. "Wh-what are you doing here?"
"Hey, Marinette," Chat Noir greets, sitting on her balcony's railings. "I saw you from a distance, thought I'd say hi."
"I-is that so…" Marinette says, laughing nervously.
Chat Noir immediately notices her odd behavior. Marinette usually greets him politely and maintains eye contact as she strikes up a conversation. This time, she's avoiding eye contact completely and keeping conversation to a minimum. Did he do something wrong?
"So… any reason why you're avoiding me?" he asks, performing a flip in the air to land on the railings her head is turned to. This makes Marinette turn her head in the other direction, making him raise an eyebrow in confusion.
"You probably won't believe me," she says. "It's pretty crazy."
"Ladybug and I defeat evil with a magical yoyo. Can't be any crazier than that," he laughs. "Try me."
"I, um… accidentally drank a 'potion' this morning," Marinette begins slowly.
"A potion?" Chat Noir echoes. "What kind of potion? Like the ones in fairy tales and video games?"
"Well, it's more like an ancient Chinese recipe," Marinette explains awkwardly, not forgetting to omit Master Fu from her explanation. "The French alternative for it is Coup de foudre—"
"Love at first sight?" Chat Noir asks. "Does that mean you'll fall in love with me if you look me in the eye?"
"Not quite," Marinette says, and Chat Noir raises an eyebrow in confusion. "It allows me to see my future love life with whoever I look in the eye."
At this, Chat Noir goes quiet.
"So, that's what Max and the others meant when they said they saw weird visions after looking at Marinette in the eye…" Chat Noir thinks.
"Well, you weren't kidding when you said it was crazy. How long do you have until this 'potion' wears off?" Chat Noir asks curiously, still keeping his balance on the rails.
"It should be gone by the time I wake up," Marinette replies.
"I see."
Marinette continues to avoid eye contact by looking for something—anything—that could possibly interest her. Chat Noir doesn't move from his spot on the rails, and while Marinette's looking away from him, he just can't help but keep his eyes on her.
He finally moves from his spot by jumping off the rails, making a flip in the air, and landing right behind her.
So, maybe he is a little curious to see how their love life would turn out.
Chat Noir's been admiring Marinette for a while now, or rather, Adrien has. He can't keep his eyes off of her whenever she jumps in to help a classmate in need, or when she calls out bullies like Chloe on their nasty behavior. When the days are long and the nights grow cold, she makes Chat Noir feel warm just by giving him the attention he lacked back at home as Adrien. He visits her most nights before patrol because, weirdly, she's her normal self around Chat Noir. He likes talking to her without feeling like there's a wall between them—for some reason, there's a huge one between her and Adrien. He'd like to break that wall eventually, but for now, he'll let Chat Noir take the spotlight.
"Marinette?" Chat Noir asks.
"Y-yes?" she stutters.
"Would you… look at me?"
Marinette almost turns her head around to look at him, but she stops herself before she could do so. The delivery of his question—what sounds like longing, like hope—definitely threw her off-guard.
She knows that she's in love with Adrien, but Chat Noir definitely has a spot in her heart, too. They've been battling akumas together for months, how could she not feel something for the boy who's been with her every step of the way? Adrien may be the one who makes her excited to go to school in the mornings, but Chat Noir's the one who makes her wish the day could go by faster so she can see him again, whether it's during patrol or during his short visits on her balcony.
Marinette doesn't realize that she's been spaced out for a little too long, and so Chat Noir naturally takes her silence as a rejection. Ouch, he thinks. Getting rejected by both Marinette and Ladybug does hurt quite a bit.
"If you don't want to, it's all right," Chat Noir says. "I was just—"
"I want to," she suddenly interrupts, throwing him off-guard this time. "Would you let me?"
"I would," Chat Noir says.
"But what if… it isn't good?" Marinette asks quietly.
"Glad to know I'm not the only one who'd be disappointed if it turned out that way," Chat Noir laughs. "It'll be all right."
Somehow, in the craziest way, their conversation sounds and feels like a confession. But Marinette doesn't deny her feelings, not this time.
"I'm going to turn around," she says.
After a deep intake of breath, Marinette turns herself around, and she looks him in the eye.
The night sky is filled with stars.
Ladybug turns away from the view to find Chat Noir next to her, gazing at her lovingly like he always does. They're sitting at their usual spots at the top of the Eiffel Tower with their legs dangling right over the edge.
It's like any other night, but at the same time, it isn't. The love, the trust, the promise; she can practically taste them in the air. With this Chat Noir, there are no more secrets, no more hiding, and no more doubt.
When she turns to look at him, Chat Noir lifts his hand up and gently cups her cheek.
"I love you, Ladybug," he whispers.
"I love you, too, Chat Noir," she whispers before closing the gap between them.
Kissing Chat Noir is nothing short of bliss. It's playful, it's risky, it's passionate, it's competitive—their relationship is reflected in their kiss. Luka's kiss, she felt, was too hesitant and safe. Neither of them wanted to make the first step closer, and she knew that it was due to her fear of breaking down his expectations of her and his want to simply go along her pace. But with Chat Noir, she was fearless.
Suddenly, there's a flash of pink and green.
When they pull away from the kiss, Adrien and Marinette find themselves smiling at one another. They press their foreheads against each other and grin as they intertwine their fingers together.
Blink.
"You… you're…" Marinette and Chat Noir bumble in unison.
"A-Adrien?" Marinette whispers, throwing her hands over her mouth as her eyes widen and her cheeks burn at the realization.
"Ladybug…?" Chat Noir mouths as he staggers backwards.
"WHAT?!" they exclaim at the same time.
"Do you mean to tell me—"
"This whole time—"
"You were right there?!"
"No, no, no, not like this," Marinette says, covering her face with her hands. "We're supposed to keep our identities secret! What was I thinking? I really let my feelings get in the way, oh, I'm such a…"
"Don't blame yourself. It's no one's fault—neither of us were expecting to see that," Chat Noir comforts. Marinette looks up at him nervously, making him ask, "…What? Something wrong?"
"No, I'm just surprised you…" she pauses. "Aren't you in love with Ladybug?"
"What do you mean?" he asks.
"I mean… I'm sure you weren't expecting it to be, you know… me?" Marinette frowns. "Your clumsy, bumbling classmate who can barely even form a coherent sentence around—"
"No matter who's behind that mask, I love that girl."
"Wh-what?"
"That's what I told myself when I saw you for the first time," Chat Noir smiles. "Despite what you think, you are Ladybug, Marinette. You aren't two separate beings. You're the same confident girl I fell in love with."
"It's funny," Marinette laughs. "I actually… have liked Adrien from the start."
Chat Noir nearly falls backwards. "What?" he exclaims.
"It happened the moment you passed me that umbrella," she confesses. "That also kind of explains why I could never form actual sentences around you…"
"I… don't know what to say. And to be honest, feel like my reaction should be a lot bigger. I'm surprised by how calm I am right now," Chat Noir says slowly.
"It's the shock," Marinette says. "It still hasn't hit us."
"Most likely. Maybe it will tomorrow," he says as he jumps back onto the railings. "I guess I'll head out now, then. I'll see you at school tomorrow, Marinette."
Chat Noir unclips his staff from his belt, but just as he's about to jump off the balcony, Marinette rushes to his side.
"Wait!" she exclaims.
"What is it?" he asks.
"I know it's been a long day for me, and I know this is a lot to take in, but…" Marinette says softly. "Just for tonight… would you stay?"
Chat Noir's eyes widen at her words, and they're enough to make Marinette regret saying them.
But then he smiles… and that's all the reassurance she needs.
He nods.
"I'll stay."
With a smile, Marinette turns away from him to lean over the railings to look up at the starry sky, just like in the vision. Chat Noir jumps off the railings to do the same, and he moves a little closer to her, allowing her to rest her head on his shoulder.
Tomorrow, Adrien would be the first to talk to Marinette. Tomorrow, Ladybug wouldn't reject one of Chat Noir's advances.
Nevermind that it's going to be awfully awkward with the boys in her class. Nevermind that Nino and Alya are going to try to figure out why Adrien and Marinette have suddenly gotten so close. Nevermind that Chloe's going to voice her suspicions and try to get something out of either of them.
Those are tomorrow's problems.
She's been focusing on the future all day.
Just for tonight, with Chat Noir by her side…
She'd rather live in the now.
A/N: I've been working on this story on and off for weeks, it feels great to finally finish writing it, especially since I suffered a whole two years of writer's block. Feels good to be back!
This story is an AU, set around Season 3 of Miraculous Ladybug, before Master Fu passed on the Guardianship to Marinette. I just wanted to clarify that in case there's some confusion!
For my non-French speakers, there's actually a pun in the story. Master Fu was trying to create a kwami ability involving thunder and lightning. Coup de foudre is a French saying that means "love at first sight", but its literal translation is "lightning bolt", hence why he said that the recipes were similar.
Thank you for reading! Feel free to leave a review letting me know what you think. :)
Stay safe, and take care.