I'm sorry this chapter ended up taking a week to get out, but I got sick and could not focus long enough to write more than a sentence or two. Chapter seven should hopefully not take as long.

Also - I apologize in advance for the puns, but I couldn't resist.

Chapter Six: Gaia

Marinette worked on a new design before school the next day. She and Alya were in their seats, both working on their own things. Alya was working on a draft for her next Ladyblog post, and Marinette was drawing out a design for a new jacket. When Adrien walked in, however, her eyes were drawn upward. He held two boxes in his arms. One was small, which she assumed was Chloe's new pearl earrings. The other was larger. This one he placed on Nino's side of the desk.

"Hey, Chloe," Adrien said. Marinette watched him approached the pampered girl, who sat in her seat as if she ruled the world.

"Adrien!" Chloe exclaimed, jumping from her seat and wrapping her arms around his neck in a hug. His eyes widened, and he made no move to reciprocate, but he waited out the hug.

"I brought you your Christmas gift early," Adrien said. Marinette hoped he'd explain why - giving her some hint to what his father had said over the phone - but she had no such luck. "It's been a while since I got you earrings, so I thought I'd get you a pair."

Chloe opened the small box and emitted a high-pitched squeal. "Oh Adrikins, they're beautiful! You have such a great taste in jewelry!" She continued to gush over the earrings and Adrien for several more minutes. It only ended when Nino walked in and Adrien extricated himself from the situation.

"Hey, Nino," he greeted his friend. Marinette cast her eyes back to her paper and pretended to work on her design while actually watching the DJ. She hoped that he would like the CDs she and Adrien had picked out.

"'Sup Adrien. What's the gift for?" Nino asked.

"It's your Christmas gift. I figured I'd give it to you early," Adrien said with a smile.

Nino grinned, tearing open the box. "No way, dude! These headphones are killer!" He pulled them out, examining them carefully. Then he went back to the box and started digging through the CDs. Marinette forced herself to hide a small smile at his excitement.

"Whoa Adrien, that's a pretty sweet gift. You must've spent a ton of money on it," Alya said. The girl was looking at the table in front of them.

"Oh, it was nothing," Adrien said with a shrug. "I went shopping yesterday and knew you had to have the best pair."

"These are the best headphones available in the city!" Nino said in awe, quickly replacing the ones around his neck with his new pair. "And these CDs are going to be fantastic for my gigs!"

The corners of Marinette's face went up into a small smile at hearing that. She was glad that Nino approved of her and Adrien's music choices. Of course, she would have to watch what she said. None of them could know that she had a hand in choosing them. Especially Adrien. To help her pretend, she leaned forward and inspected the gifts, putting a look of awe on her face. The look wasn't hard, not with Adrien a few feet from her.

"You have a, uh, g-great taste in m-music," Marinette said.

Adrien smiled. "I had some help in picking it out, actually. Oh, I almost forgot! I've got gifts for you two as well." He looked up at Marinette and Alya, then started digging in his bag. Marinette's eyes widened, and she gave Alya a euphoric look. The girl rolled her eyes in response.

I'm getting a Christmas gift from Adrien! she thought elatedly. She felt her mouth fall open slightly, unable to do little more than prevent her squeals. Thankfully, Alya reached over and pushed her chin up for her with a chuckle. The movement helped her gain a little bit of her composure back, but Marinette still felt like every atom in her body was having a party.

"Alright class, everybody take your seats," Ms. Bustier announced.

Adrien looked up apologetically. "Sorry. I've got a photoshoot at lunch, but I'll give them to you after school." He sat down, putting his bag on the floor next to him.

Marinette felt her smile fade, her mind suddenly in conflict. One one hand, she was still getting a gift from Adrien Agreste. On the other, she had to wait hours until he actually gave it to her. Alya patted her shoulder consolingly, then they all started class. She did her best to focus, but her mind kept slipping back to Adrien and Ladybug's shopping excursion. They'd gone to four different stores, but she couldn't recall him buying anything for her or Alya. Nino, Chloe, even his father's assistant and his bodyguard, but nothing for them. He must have kept shopping afterward, she thought.

When lunch came, Marinette hurried home and ate quickly. She came back earlier than she normally would have to wait for Adrien. Alya and Nino ignored her as she sat next to them, watching the door to see if Adrien would return. Her sketchbook was on her lap, and her pencil in hand, but she ended up erasing everything she added. She was just too distracted.

Adrien ended up returning a few minutes after class started again, ruining Marinette's hopes that he would return in time to give them their gifts before.

The last half of the day went by slowly. Marinette took notes but was mostly unable to focus on the work. Finally, the bell signifying the end of class rang. Once they had been officially dismissed, everyone started talking animatedly and pulling out their scripts for the very first practice. Marinette followed suit, but thoughts of the play immediately left her mind when she set it down. Adrien had walked up the few steps to her desk, his hands behind his back as he looked at her and Alya.

"Sorry it took so long, but there just didn't seem like a good time earlier," he apologized.

"N-n-no probl-lem," Marinette said.

He pulled his right hand out from behind his back and handed a piece of paper to Alya. Startled, Marinette realized that it was the photo Adrien had asked Ladybug to sign. "I ran into Ladybug and thought you might like an autograph," he said.

Alya took the photo almost reverently, her eyes wide. "No way! Adrien, how did you get this!" Alya exclaimed, her eyes glued to the photo and Ladybug's autograph across it.

"Oh, uh, I just ran into her the other day while she was patrolling. I asked her to sign and she did," he said. He turned his focus on Marinette, causing the blood to rush to her cheeks as usual. "You like fashion right, Marinette?"

She opened her mouth to speak, but it immediately became obvious to her that anything she said would not be coherent. Instead, she chose to simply nod.

Adrien smiled. "Awesome. I don't know how much you like my father's line, but that's all I could get access to. If I tried for anyone else, my father would kill me." He removed his other hand from behind his back and handed Marinette an envelope.

Marinette took it in shaking hands and pulled out a single ticket from within. A ticket to a Gabriel fashion show in two months. Her eyes widened to the size of saucers, and a squeak actually escaped her lips. "Y-y-you- th-this-"

Alya looked over, her eyes widening as well. "Whoa. Adrien, your father is her favorite designer!"

Looking up at Adrien, Marinette had to force herself to keep breathing. "A ticket to Gabriel Agreste fashion show?" she said, her voice high pitched. She could hardly comprehend what was happening. Not only did she just get a gift from the love of her life, but the gift was a ticket to a sold-out fashion show for her favorite designer. She would almost swear she was dreaming.

"Well, I'm glad you like it. It can be a bit hard to find the location, so I can pick you up if you want," Adrien said.

Marinette hadn't thought it was possible for her to be more shocked, but here she was. Her eyes threatened to bulge out of her head, and her heart rate increased tenfold. Was he saying what she thought he was saying? She looked over at Alya to see, and the blogger seemed shocked as well. "Y-you'll pick me up? And take the fashion show to me? Ah! Wait, I mean take me to the fashion show!"

Adrien smiled at her. "Sure. I'm going to be in it, so you'd be a little bit early, but that way you don't have to worry about transportation. I might be able to take you backstage after if you want. Anyways, I'll see you in a bit for practice." He gave her a wave and went to his stuff - and a staring Nino.

"Stall!" Alya commanded him, immediately dragging Marinette into the hallway. Marinette was too stunned to do anything but clutch the ticket in her hand and stare at Alya.

"Girl, do you even realize what just happened?" she asked excitedly.

"D-did he just-"

"You totally have a date with Adrien!" Alya exclaimed.

"I-I have a date with Adrien," Marinette said breathily.

Alya put a hand to her chin, glancing in the window back at Adrien who seemed confused as he talked to Nino. "Assuming he knows he asked you, anyway."

"What?!" Marinette clamped a hand over her mouth. That had come out much shriller than intended. She made more of an effort to keep what she said next quieter. "How am I supposed to know what he meant? I can't exactly go ask him if he meant to ask me on a date!"

Alya patted her on the shoulder, thinking hard. "The ticket says it's not for a while, right? That means we have some time to figure out if he means this to be a date or not. For now, you need to focus on getting through rehearsal without passing out."

Shortly after a very confusing conversation with Nino about his gift to Marinette, Adrien and the other actors were ushered to the front of the room. Alya and Nino put them all into pairs to practice lines, then went to talk with all of the backstage people. He turned to Marinette, whose entire face was red.

"You alright?" he asked, worried about why her face was such a color.

"What? Uh, o-of course! J-just nervous," she said. At first, her stammering had been odd, but after a while, Adrien had gotten used to it. For a while, Adrien had almost thought she still hated him after the whole gum incident. She didn't seem to act that way in front of anyone else, and Adrien had come to realize that his being friends with Chloe didn't help his case. However, after so long in her class he now knew that she didn't hate him. He saw how she acted, and knew that she would not hide her feelings of disliking someone. Adrien just attributed her little quirk to him being a model.

"What scene do you want to practice?" he asked, looking down at the script he held. The quiet weekend had given him some time to look it over, but he was still a long way from having it memorized.

"Uh-uhm. H-how about the o-opening scene?" she suggested, looking at her own script.

Adrien nodded, turning to the first page. "Alright… 'Chat Noir saunters over to Ladybug.'" Saunters? Do I really do that? He took a few steps back, then walked back up to Marinette. All the while, he was far too aware of how he moved. He couldn't tell if it was how he would have as Chat or not.

"Hello, Milady," Adrien read, struggling to keep a mix of Chat and himself in his voice. If he slipped into his Chat Noir vibe too easily it would set off alarm signals.

"'Ladybug turns to face Chat Noir,'" Marinette whispered to herself. She looked up at Adrien briefly, turning as if she just noticed him. Then her gaze went back to the pages. "Nice of you to show up, Chat Noir."

Looking at the instructions, Adrien smiled as instructed, though he couldn't lean on his staff like it said. "You know me, I've got to look presentable," he said.

"Just don't take so long when there's an actual akuma," Marinette read. Her ears went slightly pink, and she pretended to flick the nonexistent bell around Adrien's throat.

Adrien couldn't hold back his chuckle. It should have been strange to have someone ring his bell other than Ladybug - even if the bell wasn't even there - but for some reason, it felt natural with Marinette. Lucky for him, there was actually a laugh in the script. "Of course. I would never abandon you in your time of need."

Marinette rolled her eyes almost robotically, clearly not used to acting. "L-let's get started on our patrol. W-we need to be ready. In case there's an akuma." She groaned, momentarily covering her face with her hands at her stutters and pauses.

Placing an arm on her shoulder, Adrien took it upon himself to comfort the girl. She looked up at him, her eyes frustrated. "Don't worry so much, Marinette. Just act like it's you saying the words. You are the character, you are the person saying these words. You are Ladybug here."

Terror flashed momentarily before her eyes. "O-okay. I'll try." Adrien moved his hand and she took several deep breaths. When she spoke again, her voice was much steadier.

"Let's get started on our patrol. We need to be ready in case there's an akuma." Her words were so strong, it stunned him. It was as if she actually was channeling Ladybug somehow. He could almost swear that if he closed his eyes and opened them again his partner would be standing before him.

"Paris awaits our presence," Adrien said. The words came half out of reflex, and half because of looking at the script. He internally cringed at hearing it. It came out much more like Chat Noir than he would have liked. When he was Adrien he was supposed to be more careful, but for some reason the situation had him disarming in the way his mask did. This play was going to be more difficult than he thought.

Several hours later, Adrien collapsed onto his bed. He had just finished practicing the piano his father required of him, then eaten his dinner alone as usual. The sun was still out, though it was beginning to set when he got an alert on his phone.

"No way, now?" Adrien forced himself to sit up and look at his phone. It seemed there was an akuma attack at the Louvre. He looked around for his kwami, finding him on a half-empty plate of camembert cheese.

"Plagg, claws out!" The kwami was dragged groaning into his ring, and Adrien transformed into Chat Noir. He opened the window and was gone. Nathalie and his father would not be worried that he was gone. Adrien rarely had a reason to leave his room after he ate. His room was the only place really built for entertainment.

It took only a few minutes for him to approach the Louvre, and what he saw definitely came as a surprise. The normally pristinely-clean glass pyramid was covered base to tip in vines, bushes, and trees.

Ladybug landed next to him almost immediately after he arrived. "Looks like we've got good thyming," he said.

"Not now, Chat, people are in danger. There's an elementary field trip in there right now," Ladybug said, her face serious as she looked at the museum. "It looks like she's barricaded herself inside with the kids. There has to be a way to get past these defenses."

Chat Noir held up his hand. "Cataclysm?"

She shook her head, leading the way up to the barrier of plant life. "We shouldn't use it so early in the fight, it might be useful later. Let's try just pulling it." The two of them approached the doors and started tugging at the vines in front of it. It very quickly became obvious that it would not be moving.

Chat held up his hand again, and Ladybug sighed. "Fine. Let's just hope this goes fast."

"Cataclysm!" Chat lifted his hand, feeling the raw power of destruction in his grip. The power manifested as black magic in his palm, spreading over the plants as he traced his fingers along them. They shriveled and broke within seconds of the contact. Chat opened the now-free door and held it for Ladybug.

They walked through the Louvre slowly. Flowers and vines covered most of the space, but there was a trail where it was thicker. Both followed this trail, carefully picking their way through the undergrowth.

"How do you know there's a field trip in here?" Chat asked, looking around a corner to look for the akuma.

"I know one of the kids as a civilian," Ladybug said simply. He wanted to press further but knew that his precious Ladybug would never say anything more if it would risk her identity. She was stubborn in that way. It was one of her most annoying and most attractive qualities.

Suddenly, the branches of a tree behind him shot out towards them. Chat hurried forward and pushed Ladybug to the ground, causing the branches to wrap around him instead. It got his right hand first, then his torso, tightening until he could barely wriggle in its grip.

"Chat Noir!" Ladybug exclaimed. She stood up and turned, looking for the akuma. It didn't take long.

A woman wearing a long, flowing dress made out of seamlessly put-together leaves appeared. Her arms were covered in wooden arm bracers. Her long dark hair had flowers woven into it, and a wooden circlet resting on her head. A golden locket hung from around her neck. The glowing outline of a butterfly vanished from in front of her face.

"Well if it isn't Ladybug and Chat Noir. Paris's 'superheroes' come to save the day," she said in a singsong voice. "I am Gaia, and I can protect them without you. Just give me your Miraculous and you can be done with fighting akumas every other day."

"You're barking up the wrong tree, Gaia," Chat Noir said, reaching his left hand down to try to free his waist from the tree. The ring on his finger beeped, signaling four minutes until his transformation fell. "Uh, little help, Ladybug?"

Her yo-yo wrapped around both of the branches and she tugged. They snapped, dropping Chat to the ground. He landed as lithely as possible, grinning. Together they ran at Gaia, who lifted her hand with a gentle smile. Chat felt his own smile fade as a tree popped up in front of him. He smacked into it, falling to the ground. He groaned, pain blossoming in his head.

"You okay, Chat?" Ladybug asked, helping him up.

"Floral intents and purposes," he grumbled, rubbing his head.

"Don't beet yourself up, Kitty Cat," she joked, looking back towards a very angry-looking Gaia.

Chat stood up, his body facing the akuma, but his face was looking at Ladybug. "Nice pun. It seems like we're mint to be." He winked at her.

Before Ladybug could respond, his full attention was drawn by a vine shooting at them. "Give me your Miraculous!" Gaia roared, her gentle tone becoming harsher. She glided towards them on vines, the plants around her shifting as she moved.

Another beep from his ring made Chat's heart speed up. Three minutes to deal with this akuma and get home. "Any ideas on where the akuma is?" he asked Ladybug as they dodged more attacks. The pain in his head made it hard for him to focus on what she wore.

"I'm guessing it's in her locket," Ladybug said. She moved next to him and looked at his ring. "Looks like we should've saved that Cataclysm after all."

He nodded, smacking an incoming vine to the side with his staff. "Just means we have to hurry." Chat charged, Ladybug right behind him. He swung his staff, but his and Ladybug's attack was blocked.

The pair jumped back to get some distance. "We've got to end this fast. Lucky Charm!" Chat watched as she threw her yo-yo into the air and a red high heel fell into her hand. She stared down at it in confusion for a moment, then quickly looked around the room.

Every time she had a plan and was preparing to execute it, her face became so determined. The set of her jaw and the look in her eyes reminded Chat Noir of how amazing she was. She started working, running to the corner of the room they were in, dodging several attacks Gaia sent after her. Chat ran with her, blocking things while they went. She was laser focused on their goal - what seemed to a small knife on display. She broke through the glass case and grabbed the knife. She used the end of her yo-yo to tie the knife onto the heel.

Chat Noir ducked and turned as she through it. He watched it soar, the knife allowing it to lodge itself into one of the vines directly in front of Gaia.

"You really think that you could stop me with a shoe?" she laughed. She continued forward, but her foot caught in the shoe. Gaia looked down angrily, then glared up at them. Before she could get another word out, however, Ladybug yanked on her yo-yo.

The shoe - and Gaia's foot - were jerked forward. She fell to the ground. Ladybug and Chat ran forward as there was yet another beep on his ring. He leaned down and pulled off her necklace before she could get up. Chat threw it onto the ground and smashed it with his heel.

Ladybug's yo-yo caught the purple butterfly that emerged. "Time to de-evilize!" she exclaimed. Then she released a pure white butterfly.

"Miraculous Ladybug!" Red and black magic flew around, clearing the museum of the plants, and removing the pain in Chat Noir's head. A mass of purple fell away from Gaia, revealing a woman who would not otherwise have stood out.

"Pound it!" Chat Noir and Ladybug bumped their fists.

"W-where am I?" she asked, looking up in fright. Both heroes knelt next to her. "The last thing I remember was finding out my kids were going to the Louvre without my permission."

"Don't worry, you and the kids are safe," Ladybug assured.

Chat Noir nodded in assent. "Why didn't you want your kids to go to the Louvre?" he asked.

She looked down, shame crossing her face. "I… I was worried about them. So many akuma attacks happen at the Louvre… But my husband signed their permission slips anyways, so they came."

"Don't worry, everything is okay. Both you and your kids are fine. Chat Noir and I will always protect you and everyone else in Paris from akumas," Ladybug said.

Chat's ring beeped again. One minute. "That's my cue. See you later, Bugaboo!" He ran off as fast as he could to get somewhere to hide. He barely made it to an alley outside the Louvre when his transformation fell.

Plagg flew out, groaning as he landed on Adrien's shoulder. "That was exhausting!" he exclaimed, lying across his shoulder as if he were dying.

"You're fine, Plagg. I'm just glad my head stopped hurting. An akuma has never done that before," Adrien said. "Hawk Moth must have put quite the punch in this one."