Chapter 10

Portant je le ressens

Ce tourbillon de sentiments

Qui nous emporte au firmament

Dans le soleil et dans le vent

Comme une chance unique

Un tournoiement magique

The next morning Marinette woke up with a start, knowing what she had to do. Transforming into her alter ego, she grabbed her yo-yo and called the one person she longed to see the most.

It was early in the morning, that time when the sky is gray but the sun isn't out yet, but there he was, jumping around the city heading towards the arc de Triomphe.

"My Lady," Chat yawned landing on the huge monument, "Why did you need me so early?"

Before saying anything else, Ladybug ran towards him to hug him. At first, he was shocked, he wasn't expecting such a warm gesture from his lady, but he didn't argue, instead, he enjoyed the moment.

"I don't know what this is about, but I like it," he joked hugging her back.

"I'm sorry Chat," she whispered on his chest.

"You're sorry? About wha—" She cut him off

"It was unfair of me to blame you for Adelynn's death, it wasn't—" He quickly caught on to what she was saying and cut her off.

"No, my Lady, I am sorry! You were right, I'm faster, I should have caught her—"

"No Chat, neither of us could have caught her, we— we gave our best! And yet we failed, but we tried, and I— I can't blame you, it's really nobody's fault."

"It is, it's Hawk Moth's fault." The somber sound of his voice made Ladybug break the embrace and look at him in the eye.

"What does he—"

"He was the one who Akumatized her, he is the one to blame, and I'm gonna make sure he pays for everything he's done," he said clenching his fists.

"Maybe, but assigning the blame to another person won't take away the fact that— we failed, Chat." She hugged herself and looked away. "It doesn't matter who's fault it is— the point is, we failed." Chat looked at her in disbelief, unsure of what to do or say. "But we're not giving up," she continued in a soft voice, "We won't let this happen again, we'll be extra careful and make sure people are safe."

"What if we fail again?" He asked apprehensively.

"Then we'll have each other," she smiled warmly at him and he returned the gesture. "Pound it?" She held out her fist, making him smile even more.

"Pound it!"

As they locked eyes with each other they noticed a streak of orange in the sky. The sun was coming out, and the city was starting to wake up. They sat together on the edge of the monument, observing the spectacle of a new day beginning. At some point, Ladybug put her head on Chat's shoulder but the gesture made him flinch a little. Soon Marinette remembered that he was still wounded from his fall the previous day, but Ladybug wasn't supposed to know that.

"Are you alright, Chat?" He took his hand and placed it on his lap sighing and smiling at her.

"Just a little scratch from yesterday, turns out not all cats land on their feet!" He laughed nervously.

"Is it bad? I can heal you if—" She motioned to grab her yo-yo, but Chat stopped her.

"If you do, you'll have to leave soon, and— honestly having you around is more comforting than a healthy wrist."

"Are you stupid or something?" She raised a questioning eyebrow at him.

He laughed "just, don't do it just yet, and stay a little longer," she smiled sat next to the giant dork she called friend, this time being careful not to hurt him again.

"Chat, did you eat breakfast," She asked after a moment of silence.

"You called me so early I didn't even brush my teeth,"

"Yeah, I can see that," she joked, "but look, Andre is here,"

"Are you suggesting we have ice cream for breakfast?" Ladybug's stomach answered for her with a growl to which Chat laughed, but then his stomach growled as well. A little bit embarrassed, Chat used his baton to help themselves down from the monument where they had been sitting, paying no attention to Ladybug's giggles.

They met Andre in the middle of the sidewalk, he gave Ladybug a mint chocolate chip ice cream and Chat had strawberry and blueberry. They eat their ice creams with protesting stomachs but soaring hearts.

o0o

The days passed by without her noticing, and before she knew, Marinette noticed there were posters posted all around the school. When she asked Alya about it she said, "The senior kids are having a party to celebrate their graduation, a prom. The party it's going to be at le Grand Paris, but don't worry about it, we're far from being seniors."

"Don't they have a couple of months until they graduate?" Marinette asked picking up her lunch tray,

"More like a couple of weeks, it's June, remember?" She didn't. These last couple of months had been exhausting for her. Keeping her two lives on point was not an easy feat. She wondered how Chat was able to do it, he always looked so relaxed and didn't seem to miss out on anything.

"Don't look now," Alya elbowed Marinette, "But Kagami is over there, talking to Adrien," She motioned to the couple chatting by the entrance door.

"So?" Marinette answered nonchalantly.

"So? Kagami doesn't attend this school."

"I mean yeah, but she likes Adrien, and Adrien likes her back, it's not like it's the first time she has come."

"I'm so proud of you, girl," They talked as they sat on an empty table, "You said you were over Adrien, and you truly are!"

"Adrien is a good friend, but now I see, that's all we'll ever get to be," Marinette shrugged. Then, Nino and Adrien came to sit with them holding their food trays.

"Dude, she didn't ask you, she ordered you!" Nino argued as he took a seat next to Alya.

"She didn't order me to—" Adrien answered.

"Who forced him to what?" Alya intervened.

"Kagami invited me to go to the graduation party." He overemphasized the word invited.

"No, she didn't!" Nino explained, "She said, and I quote, 'There's a party at this hotel and you'll be coming with me,' then she handed you the ticket and left,"

"She was in a hurry," Adrien defended

"She didn't wait for you to answer though,"

"It's just a party, Nino, I might as well go with her,"

"Doesn't sound like she forced him to me," Alya said, although she was looking at Marinette, who was simply eating her lunch and listening to the exchange before her.

"Well, she didn't ask either," Adrien rolled his eyes at Nino's comment

"I didn't know Kagami was a senior," Marinette intervened swallowing a bite of her meal.

"She's not," Adrien answered, "But you don't have to be a senior to go, you just need the tickets, and to get the tickets you need to attend this school, so I'm guessing she bought them using my name or something,"

"Why would she want to go to that party? She doesn't look like a party person to me," Alya questioned, but Adrien just shrugged,

"She didn't give him time to answer if he wanted to go or not, did you think he'd have time to ask why she wanted to go?" Nino huffed. Was it her imagination, or was Nino a bit more irritated than he should have?

"Dude, it's just a party, I've been to parties with Kagami before, it's really not a big deal," But everyone knew it was a big deal because everyone knew that Kagami was crazy about Adrien.

Later that day when Marinette walked out of her class, eager to go home and sleep for as long as she could, she was yawned and stretched her arms when she bumped into something or more like, someone.

"Careful, Mamamarinette?" Luka smiled down at her.

"Luka? What are you doing here?" Marinette asked nervously.

"I go to school here?" He raised an eyebrow

"You do? I mean, you do! Right! I forgot!"

"This is my last year actually, that's probably why we haven't bumped into each other that much before," He giggled

"Ah, sorry about that—" she nibbled her nails a little, why was she always bumping into Luka? Literally.

"It's alright, I'm used to it." Marinette was even more embarrassed now, how could she be so careless? "Actually, I'm glad I found you, there's something I'd like to ask,"

"Oh, what is it?" Marinette chimed, happy for a change of subject.

"What would you say about going to a party with me?"

"You mean the graduation party?"

"Yeah," He answered simply.

"Why me, though?"

"Because," He shrugged, "I'm leaving town after I graduate, and it might be the last time I get to spend time with my favorite designer," He smiled

"You're leaving? For college?"

"Yeah something like that," he scratched the back of his head,

"Well, if that's the case, then sure! I'd love to go with you!" Marinette smiled broadly, happy to spend time with her friend.

o0o

When the day of the Party arrived, everyone was hyped. It wasn't all the time that their lycée held proms, but it was really exciting to have something to celebrate finishing a stage of their lives.

Adrien and Kagami arrived early to the hotel, wearing matching black, red and white outfits, though Kagami's outfit was more of a traditional kimono than a western dress. They started dancing to a cheerful song that was playing on the background, and even though Kagami wasn't much of a dancer, she seemed to be having fun.

A few moments later, Marinette and Luka arrived. They seemed to be laughing about something and enjoying themselves. Marinette caught Adrien's eye, not only because she was wearing a beautiful pink dress but because she had her hair down. Adrien loved it when Marinette had her hair down.

"Adrien, could we talk for a moment?" Kagami said noticing how Adrien's gaze was wandering around the room.

"Uhm? Sure! What is it?"

"Not here, let's go somewhere more private," She linked arms with him and lead him outside of the ballroom into a corridor where just a few people were gathered. In fact, it was practically empty.

"I've been meaning to ask you, why did you want to come to this party? You don't even go to our school, and you're not a senior, plus you don't even like parties,"

"I wanted to talk to you," She answered looking at him straight in the eye.

"Oh, but you didn't have to—"

"I like you."

Adrien was left speechless for a moment, he already knew that Kagami held feelings for him, but he didn't like to think about it, because there was only one answer he could ever give, and she wouldn't like it.

"Kagami—"

"You said you needed time to sort things out with someone else," she continued, "and I'm waiting for you Adrien, how much longer will you have me wait? I know you like me too,"

He took a deep breath, "Kagami," he scratched the back of his head, "It's complicated—" he mumbled, but then continued loud and clear, "I do like you, you're an amazing girl, and any guy would be glad to be with you—" Adrien hadn't noticed, but Kagami was moving each time closer to him, to the point when she was just about to lock her lips with his. When Adrien looked down and saw how close to him she was, and how her eyes were closed, he sighed and looked the other way. Kagami noticed quickly and stepped away from him.

"You still haven't changed your mind,"

"I'm sorry Kagami, but I don't think I ever will," Adrien explained with a tone of sadness.

"You really hurt me, Adrien,"

"I know, but I can't lie to you. You're still my friend," He smiled awkwardly, but she just huffed, turned the other way and started to walk away. "Wait, Kagami, we can still enjoy the party, can't we?" He stopped her holding her shoulder.

"I think it's better if I just go," she stated without looking back. She shook off Adrien's grasp and continued to walk away leaving Adrien stranded in the corridor.

"Well, that was rough." A voice came from the door behind Adrien, the one that led to the ballroom.

"How long have you been there?"

"Enough," I answered.

"I don't want to talk about it, Alba." He sighed crossing his arms in his chest,

"You don't have to, but there's no reason to let a good party go to waste, would you like to dance with me?" I extended a hand for him, he smiled bitterly but linked his arm with mine.

"What are you doing here anyway?" He asked as we entered the ballroom,

"Chaperoning," I answered simply as the song shifted to a slower one, he put his hands around my waist and me around his shoulder to start dancing.

"Chaperoning? Everyone here is older than you, who are you Chaperoning?"

"Well, I'm not really chaperoning, but he is," I motioned to a corner of the room, where a tall dark-haired man stood looking intently at us.

"Professor LeBeau?" He seemed confused at first, but then his mouth turned into an "o" as he seemed to understand.

"I came because I wanted to spend some time with him. But I think I didn't think it through. Imagine the scandal, a teacher and a student," I giggled, but I noticed that he wasn't listening anymore. "So, when I noticed we couldn't dance together, I started to wander around people's minds just to kill time. Turns out more people than you think would love to be dancing with someone else," He still wasn't listening, so I followed his gaze to see exactly what I expected to see, "You know, some girls would find it rude if you're dancing with them while looking at someone else,"

He seemed to snap out of some sort of trance and finally said, "what? Yeah, you two would make a nice couple,"

"How long are you going to pretend you don't care about Marinette?" I taunted him,

"I'm not pretending I don't care for Marinette, I care for her a lot. She is one of my best friends,"

"You know what I mean," He frowned at me when suddenly, a loud crash and a loud voice came from the door,

"Is this the one you love more than me, Adrien?" An akumatized person opened her way through the crowd of people and pointed at Adrien and me with her sword. Adrien and I looked at each other to see that his hands were still on my waist and mine on his shoulders. We pulled away from each other abruptly,

"Kagami? No, this is Alba, she's just a friend!"

"Is that what you say to everyone? You're just a player! You think you can have any girl you'd like just because you're a model? Think again!" She then used her sword to cut the music cables and break all the lamps, causing all the people to run away In a panic. It was then that Adrien noticed that I wasn't standing next to him anymore.

"Alba?" He called my name, but no answer came.

"And just so you know, my name is not Kagami, it's Oni-Chan, and if I can't have you, then no one will!" The voice came from the darkness of the room, but just as I could read thoughts without my transformation, he was able to see perfectly in the dark and he noticed the exact moment when Oni-Chan jumped out of a window dragging me in a cocoon of vines which gagged me, preventing me from calling for help.

"Pretty sure Alba can take care of herself," Plagg said as he came out of Adrien's jacket.

"She better not, if Hawk Moth discovers who she is— Come on Plagg, let's go help her."

Now, let us pause here and go back a couple of minutes before all of this happened.

Luka and Marinette were having the time of their lives. Dancing to the lively songs and laughing at their dancing skills, when a slow song started to play, and the dance became more serious. They locked eyes and got ready to dance. Staring at each other intently Luka started to close the space between them.

At first, Marinette didn't move, but then, for a split second, Chat Noir's face appeared where Luka's had been. The vision faded but she had to shook her head to recover her sensed, startling Luka. But they had been so close, that anyone who looked at them that moment would have thought they actually kissed. If you know what I mean.

"Luka, I can't," She sighed.

"I thought you said you were over Adrien," He questioned,

"I am, but—"

"Does that mean I'm not even your second choice?"

"Luka, you don't deserve to be mine or anyone's second or third choice," Marinette explained putting a hand on his cheek.

"I sort of hoped that you could give us a chance,"

"Luka, I..." Just when she was about to say something else, Oni-Chan made her grand appearance. Marinette took advantage of the chaos and ran away losing Luka on the way.

"What's going on?" Ladybug asked Chat when she reached the top of the hotel, who was searching the city with his baton.

"Apparently, Oni-Chan is back, and she kidnaped Alba,"

"What? If she transforms—"

"She's not that stupid, but if she is in enough danger she could be tempted to,"

"Well, we have to help her, did you see where they went?"

"No need, she's coming back this way, probably looking for that Adrien kid," He explained putting his batton down,

"What did he do?" Chat Noir froze but sighed in relief when Oni-Chan's sword crashed just inches away from where they stood.

"Ladybug and Chat Noir, we meet again!"

"Where is Alba?" Ladybug demanded.

"She's in a place where no one will find her, not you and not Adrien!" Oni-Chan hissed.

"We'll see about that," Chat charged against her and they started to fence. It had been a while since they faced each other when Oni-Chan defeated him, but Chat's powers were growing stronger, and his fencing skills were improving, precisely from practicing with Kagami, which meant he knew all of her tricks and was able to overpower her.

Sadly for him, Oni-Chan's powers had improved as well, they noticed this when Ladybug captured with her yo-yo, but soon after, she disappeared in a flash of light leaving nothing behind, instead they followed another flash of light that appeared in the terrace of the hotel, where Chloe Bourgeois stood sending the Ladybug signal. They saw how Oni-Chan grew vines from her sword and captured Chloe in a cocoon of vines, similar to the one where she captured Alba. She disappeared again in a flash of light.

Suddenly, a small voice came from behind Ladybug and Chat Noir,

"Mishell?"

"You need to come with me, I know where Oni-Chan's hiding place is!" She hurried,

"I'm glad Alba didn't think of transforming!" Chat sighed,

"She's not that stupid!" Mishell defended her owner,

"Did you get any information about her?" Ladybug asked,

"She's the same Oni-Chan you knew, but now she uses an emotional anchor to teleport instead of an antenna, and it triggers when somebody that claims to love Adrien Agreste is near,"

"That's gonna be a lot of people," Chat mumbled to himself, but Ladybug heard,

"It is... It is!" Ladybug exclaimed, "You're brilliant, Chat!"

"Thanks?"

"If you're gonna do that, you're going to need help," Ladybug nodded,

"Chat, you go to Alba, I'll go get us that help," Ladybug exclaimed as she left,

"I didn't know Alba loved me that much," Chat joked with Mishell, but she smiled,

"You have no idea," but as she noticed the concern growing in Chat's mind, Mishell clarified, "Not the kind of love that wants to be in a relationship with you, so don't worry"

"Great! I didn't want to have to break another girls heart," He lamented, truly concerned for Kagami,

"You better brace yourself then, cause Oni-Chan is gathering all the girls that hold feelings for you in a cage,"

"All of them?" Chat's eyes widened as he asked fearfully, "Do fans count?" When Mishell nodded, he moaned, "This might be harder than I thought."

o0o

Ladybug found Chat near the Pont des Arts hidden behind some cars, keeping watch over the akumatized villain. Rena Rouge and Carapace followed behind her.

"Fill me in," Ladybug said to Chat,

"It seems like she has several people trapped in a hanging giant a ball of thorns and vines. She's not here right now, but she teleports back very often, every time with a new person, I've counted 20 so far,"

"Dang, Adrien sure is popular," Carapace exclaimed,

"Most of them are just fans," Ladybug explained, "which leads me to our plan. Lucky Charm!" Ladybug yelled as a red and black foamboard fell into her arms,

"So, what, are we gonna riot her into releasing the prisoners?" Chat stated,

Ladybug ignored him and started to look around, as she saw Chat's staff, a black marker inside a car, and some tape inside another car,

"Actually Chat, that's exactly what we're gonna do," she took the objects and started to explain the plan to her teammates. They all nodded in agreement and went to their positions,

When Oni-Chan came back to her vine prison with a couple more victims, she was distracted by a giant mob of fans coming her way from both sides of the bridge. On top of them, Ladybug held a sign that read 'we love Adrien Agreste.'

"Get back Ladybug, or I'll cut my vine cage and my prisoners will drown in the river," She pointed her sword to the few thick vines holding the entire cage to the bridge.

(Funny that among the people she was trying to drown was the holder of the fish miraculous, though it wasn't that funny cause I wasn't transformed, nor could I transform, but at the very least it was ironic)

Ladybug paid no attention to Oni-Chan's warnings and kept marching forward, leading the crowd, causing her to stay true to her threat and cut the vines that held the prison. But as the prisoners fell to their doom, instead of sinking, the prison started to float, and a green honeycomb pattern covered the surface of the prison. Soon all the branches fell off because of the water and Carapace led his shelter to the shore.

"No!" An enraged Oni-Chan screamed, shooting daggers with her eyes at Ladybug. "You'll pay for this with your miraculous, Ladybug!" She charged at Ladybug, ready to strike her with her sword, but as soon as she touched her the whole crowd disappeared, and instead stood Chat Noir smiling broadly, holding Oni-Chan's sword with his hand, and the sign that Ladybug had been holding with the other.

"Did you enjoy my illusion Oni-Chan?" Rena Rouge asked as she landed next to Chat with Ladybug. Oni-Chan grunted as her sword disintegrated in Chat's hand. A butterfly flew from it and Ladybug caught it, purifying it and then fixing all the damage they had caused. As Oni-Chan transformed back into Kagami, Carapace leaped out of the river into the bridge.

"Pound it?" he started, and they all pound their fists together. But their miraculouses started to beep.

"I'll take Kagami back home," Chat looked back at her with sad eyes, but before he could go, Ladybug held him by the shoulder.

"Chat, can you meet me at the grand Paris after you come back?" He was taken aback at first but then smiled and nodded. Ladybug nodded back and ran after Rena Rouge and Carapace.

Chat took Kagami in his arms. She said nothing, instead, she stared absently at Chat's chest. Chat left her at her house, but soon after she closed the door behind her, someone knocked, it was Adrien.

"Kagami, can we talk?" She shot the door in his face but he kept talking, "I know you're mad at me, and I guess you have a good reason to be— But—" He sighed, "Kagami, I can't reciprocate your feelings. My heart belongs to someone else, and I can't just pretend I feel the same way with you. You are one of my bestest friends, I've learned so much from you and I've had so much fun with you and—"

"Stop," She cut him off swinging the door open, "I don't want to hear you friendzone me again," Adrien was silent, so she continued. "I always thought that you were perfect and that we were meant for each other, but now I can see that we aren't, and you're not the person I thought you were, so it's best we don't see each other anymore."

"What? There's no need for—" He started, but she cut him off again,

"Don't look for me again, and don't call me, I really don't want to see you again," She shot her door one last time, and this time Adrien could hear her steps getting away from the door.

"I really hoped, you'd understand," Adrien mumbled to himself and sighed,

"Cheer up kid, at least Ladybug is waiting for you," He smiled sadly and transforming back into Chat Noir he went to meet with Ladybug.

o0o

In case you were wondering, I reappeared the hotel when Ladybug fixed everything, Gerald or should I say, Professor LeBeau, who had been pacing nervously around the room, came running the moment he saw me, he hugged me and asked if I was alright, but I didn't have time to answer, because soon students started to flood the ballroom again, and we were forced to part ways for the rest of the evening.

Since my own thoughts were too much to bear, I started to wonder around people's minds again. Most of them were still frightened after the attack, but they knew since the beginning that Ladybug would fix everything in the end. I kept pacing around the room until I saw a familiar face,

"Marinette went back home," I told Luka who had been looking for her since the attack began,

"Why didn't she say anything to me?" He started to calm down, but a frown never left his face,

"Her parents called as soon as they heard of the Akuma attack, she's fine," He sighed and leaned next to a window.

"Was it something that I said?" He asked, not exactly to me, so I didn't exactly answer, instead I put a comforting hand on his shoulder and looked out the window, where I saw Chat Noir arrive at his meeting with Ladybug.

o0o

Ladybug wanted to say so many things to Chat Noir, but she couldn't find the words. When she saw him arrive, she remembered what had happened with Luka and how Chat became the only guy she's able to think about these days... but she found that the words got stuck in her throat, even more, when she saw Chat's expression. He looked as if he was about to cry. Probably, this wasn't the right time to speak to him about her feelings.

"Please, don't leave me too," He hugged her tighter.

Ladybug was startled for a moment, but then she settled into the hug, suddenly feeling a rush of emotions overwhelming her. She felt the urge to protect him because she wondered who or what happened to make Chat feel this way. She was also a bit surprised because she had never seen Chat this sad, though she couldn't tell if he was crying, for once she saw him truly upset. She was even afraid to move or say anything that would make him feel worst, also because the ghost of Chat Blanc still haunted her, even though she prevented him from ever happening. She could also feel empathy for him because even if she didn't know what was bothering him, she knew the feeling of needing a hug all too well. And not so low key, she felt desire for him because she suddenly felt an unusual urge to kiss him and stroke his hair, but overall, she felt love. She loved him, she was sure of it now.

Ladybug was so comfortable in the embrace that she was more disappointed than she thought she'd be when Chat broke the hug and clearing his throat asked, "What was it that you wanted to say?" His voice sounded coarse.

Ladybug gave him a sad smile and caressed his cheek with her gloved hand, "Do you want to dance?" His eyes widened in surprise, but then he slid one hand around her waist and held her hand with his other hand. They began to dance to the slow song coming from the party below them, but for them, it was as if they were all alone, It almost felt as if they were flying. They didn't even notice when the people on the terrace started to light fireworks that lighted up the sky as they danced close to each other.

After some time, the song shifted to one that was lighthearted and upbeat. Chat started to spin Ladybug around the dance floor and improvise some moves which made Ladybug laugh, and consequently Chat laughed too. His smile was back, and it would stay that way. Because no matter what had happened before, seeing his Lady laugh would always, always make him smile.

Yet I feel it,

the whirlwind of feelings

that takes us firmly

in the sun and the wind

like a unique chance,

a magical spin.

[Hello everyone, Luz here!

I apologize for the late update (again) but hey, if you think about it, I was just a few hours late.

Feel free to review and let me know what you think of the story so far, I love to hear what you have to say, good or bad.

Read you later,

-SDG]