CHAPTER ELEVEN:

KWAMI COMEDY

Night time was usually Adrien's favourite time of the day: the soft chatter of crickets in the gardens, the stars coming out in a sea of colours and sizes, and the moon glowing like a jewel that illuminated the entire city.

Night was peaceful and full of beauty.

But it was also filled with loneliness.

Adrien looked up at the sky from the railing of his chamber balcony, and he couldn't help but feel cold and empty. He hadn't felt this way since before he met Marinette; before she had brought light and warmth into his world.

Everywhere Adrien looked, he saw Marinette's face, heard her voice, and felt her hand intertwined with his. But then reality would come crashing down, and Adrien would see nothing but a dark expanse, hear nothing but the crickets, and feel nothing but a solemn breeze blowing in from the desert beyond.

Adrien sighed. He knew he shouldn't worry so much. All it was doing was keeping him awake, and it had already been an exhausting night.

Tikki had finished fixing the royal pavilion, with some extra help from Adrien, Alya, and Trixx. Nino and Wayzz were busy organizing new patrols in the city, Master Fu was guarding Duusu's Miraculous, and King Gabriel and Nathalie were hosting the wedding guests. All that was left to do now was set up extra security in case the Forty Thieves decided to strike again. The friends all agreed to hop to it first thing in the morning.

But now that Adrien was alone, he realized sleep wasn't going to come easily to him tonight. Part of him wanted to stay awake until Marinette returned, but then he imagined her berating him for worrying so much, and that thought made the prince chuckle.

"That didn't sound very convincing," came a squeaky voice from behind him.

Adrien quirked his eyebrow at Tikki, who flew over to sit on the railing beside him. "Better than nothing, I suppose," the prince said before looking back at the starlit sky.

It seemed like only yesterday when a beautiful, masked blunette hung upside-down on her yo-yo from this very spot, inviting the astounded prince to escape outside the palace with her.

Do you trust me?

Adrien ran a hand through his golden hair. Of course he trusted Marinette, but he still felt guilty about letting her go up against the Forty Thieves alone. Okay, with Plagg... but still.

"Tikki," Adrien said, looking at the ladybug kwami with disheartened eyes, "you would know if Marinette was in trouble, wouldn't you?"

Tikki fiddled with her tiny hands, her big, blue eyes staring down at nothing.

Adrien sighed again. It wasn't the answer he was hoping for, but he really shouldn't have expected anything better. Tikki was powerful and creative, but she wasn't omniscient. "I'm sorry," the prince murmured. "I didn't mean to make you feel bad."

Tikki smiled up at him. "It's okay. I understand."

The little, red bug was so much different than Plagg, yet Adrien could see the same empathy and hopefulness in her that he occasionally saw in the black-cat kwami. Plagg carried himself with more casual coolness than Tikki, but he still genuinely cared about his friends.

Adrien pushed himself off the railing with a newfound sense of purpose. Moping around wasn't going to make the time go by any faster. "I'm going to go check on the others," he said. "Want to come?"

Tikki was instantly on his shoulder, and they headed back inside together.

Since the hallways were bustling with servants and guests, Adrien found it difficult to avoid too much attention. He greeted some of the nobles kindly but kept the conversations short and to the point before setting off again.

Somewhere along the way, he passed by his father, who was showing the Queen of Couffaine and her son an exquisite, family tapestry. Gabriel caught Adrien's eye and gave him a soft smile. Adrien did the same. If my father can have the slightest trace of hope, he thought, then so can I.

Finally, Adrien reached the pavilion, which was technically off-limits until the wedding was back on track. That being said, the prince knew he would find the people he was looking for here.

Sure enough, Tom was pacing around with his arms folded, his head lowered at the new, un-chipped marble floor. Sabine was sitting with her head in her hands on the bottom steps of the altar, which was once again gleaming with his tiny columns and golden dome. Alya was speaking softly with Marinette's mother while Trixx hovered over both their heads. Once again, Nino and Wayzz were nowhere in sight – probably still going over security measures with the guards.

Sabine straightened up when she saw the prince. "Anything?" she asked hopefully.

Adrien knew what that meant, and he shook his head.

Tikki was the one who responded. "Not yet. If Plagg was back in the city, I would know."

Tom sighed and stopped pacing.

Sabine glanced down at the new carpet again, her hands in her lap and her lip trembling. "I thought she'd be back by now," she said weakly.

Adrien saw Alya's amber-eyes, and she nodded at him.

The prince kneeled in front of Sabine and took her hands in his own.

She looked up and studied her future son-in-law with her glossy eyes. "How can you be so calm?" she asked with half-a-laugh. "How can you not be worried?"

Adrien's mouth curled upward. "I am worried, more than you can imagine. I'm just better at hiding it." He then gave Sabine's hands a gentle pat and said with unwavering faith, "But I know Marinette will come back. She always does."

Alya nudged her head to the side in agreement. "That girl does seem to have an infinite streak of luck," she said perkily.

Even Tom managed to smile a bit.

But Adrien still felt a throbbing pulse of depression in the air – not the cold kind, but the muggy and sticky kind that was hard to get off.

Just then, Tikki's eyes shot wide open, and she wore a smile bigger than her tiny mouth could handle.

Before Adrien could question her, the ladybug kwami zoomed over to Trixx and whispered in the fox's long ear. Trixx beamed and winked at Tikki.

Then, the little vixen flew over to the group of humans and cleared her throat. "Listen to the kid, Mrs. S – he knows well," she said. "You've got to get your mind off of this incessant waiting."

Tikki zoomed over with an excited nod. "Here's a sure-fire way to cheer up a gloomy groom and a bride-to-be's pouty parents." She rubbed her hands together, and they started to glow red. "A heaping helping of matrimonial magic!"

ZAP!

Adrien almost reeled back when jets of pink light shot out of Tikki's hands, and several miniature POPS sounded throughout the pavilion.

Emerging from the invisible pockets of space where an assortment of wedding adornments and prizes: rose wreaths, tiered cakes, balloons, kitchenware, dress racks, baby carriages, and... What was that strange-looking, light-up cart on four wheels called again?

Tom staggered over to Sabine, but his eyes were lit up with something like amusement. His wife was also looking more cheery now.

Alya reached to pick one of the roses, but then an orange-haired clown with a goofy grin popped out of the wreath and tried to kiss her. Alya jerked away laughing.

Adrien was mostly trying to hide the embarrassment showing on his face.

Trixx flew over wearing a French hat and smoking a cigar. "Hey, that's no good," she said with a heavy, posh accent. "What the wedding needs is a theme!" Then, she whispered to Adrien in her normal voice, "Needs a bride too, but let's work with what we have."

"Trixx!" Adrien scolded, his eyes narrowing.

The fox kwami brushed it away with a frown. "It's a joke – I do that."

Tikki reappeared with a tiny brush and palette in her hands, working on a canvas and easel and painting what looked like a portrait of Adrien and Marinette at the altar.

"Okay," Tikki said to the prince over her shoulder, "this will be the second wedding for the both of you." She scratched her head with her brush and turned around. "I'm thinking we need something a little more simple, a little more elegant... and less grey."

At that word, a grey elephant sprouted out of the ground, looking utterly distraught.

"Whoops!" Tikki chuckled. "Sorry." She yanked on the elephant's trunk, and the poor creature vanished instantly.

Now Tom was laughing, and that made Adrien's spirits light up more.

Trixx zoomed to her redheaded partner, holding a bunch of fabrics. "Al, I'm going to throw some colours at you," she said quickly as she shoved a few of her wares into Alya's arms. "Maeve, teal, and... salmon."

The last one wasn't a fabric, but an actual pink fish.

Alya grimaced and looked away from the wet, slopping thing she now held. "Trixx, you know I don't like fish, right?" she muttered while holding her breath.

The sly fox grinned, but she shrugged. "Okay, fine – no salmon." She grabbed the fish and threw it away, only for it to smack against a column.

Adrien shook his head with a snort. Nathalie would have a camel if she saw this, he thought.

Both kwamis emerged together in front of the humans.

"I've got it: Madonna!" Tikki pleaded with big, glossy eyes to her companion.

Trixx hummed with thought. "Don't keep it. Just put a little in the mix. Wink." She said that last part with an actual wink, a grin, and a shoulder bump.

Tikki squealed and clapped her hands again.

Suddenly, everything went dark.

Then, millions of flaring bulbs of light appeared in various colours, presenting light-up pictures in the air and gigantic words that flashed "CHAPEL OF LOVE" and "3 PULPITS" and "NO WAITING".

"I see lasers!" Tikki cheered from somewhere in the darkness. "Oh, it's a miracle! He believes, he believes!"

POOF! The ladybug kwami reappeared dressed in white with a tuff of black hair on her head and carrying a microphone. "Thank you very much," she said in a manly fashion.

Adrien chuckled and then muttered, "I... don't think so."

Tikki's fake hair dropped, and she turned back into her normal self. "Très gauche, right?" she asked sheepishly.

"Told ya," Trixx groaned as she pulled a plug out of seemingly nowhere.

The neon lights went out.

Adrien folded his arms, but that smile remained. Tom and Sabine were trying to contain their mirth, and Alya had her hands on her hips and an eyebrow raised at her fox friend.

Trixx rubbed the back of her neck. "Maybe... you two could elope," she suggested to Adrien, only to frown. "Nah, you can't elope... but oh, honeydew!"

A large melon popped into her paws, but – being bigger than Trixx – it slipped and bounced along the ground before...

POOF! It transformed into a sparkling, white carriage.

At the same time, a swirl of magic dragged Adrien over to the carriage. Then, it spun around him until his white jacket, black shirt, and blue pants transformed into a white, gold-lined jacket with matching gloves and red pants. Not to mention his hair was now sleeked back perfectly.

"Sorry!" Trixx called. "I didn't know where to put the carriage under: Props or Produce."

Alya burst out laughing.

Adrien glared over at her, but stopped when he saw Marinette's parents also giggling.

"Ooohhh... Nice outfit, Adri," Tikki said as she flew around the handsome prince.

POOF!

Adrien shook his head from the dizzy spell, only to see that the carriage was gone and his new outfit was a white tunic, a blue vest, brown boots, a red cape, and a feathered hat.

Trixx appeared as a marketing announcer. "Whether you're singing with beautiful girls or watching them bite the apple, it says "I'm a prince!"" she stated proudly.

Now Alya was bending over, cackling.

Red-faced, Adrien glanced over at the fox kwami. "Umm... Trixx..." he began.

"Hey, it's synergy!" the little vixen insisted. "The marketing guys are very excited; tests really well."

She pointed over to three Tikkis dressed in business suits and glasses. One was hovering over a bar graph, and another by a computer. The third was matching a bunch of princely outfits with a picture of Adrien. All three Tikkis finally looked up and shined a big, toothy smile.

Then... POOF! The pavilion was back to its boring, empty self.

And Adrien was back in his normal clothes. He let out a gushing sigh of relief.

Alya straightened up, dabbing her eyes. "Sorry, Adrien," she said, "but at least now you know how I felt." She smirked and high-five Trixx when the little vixen flew over.

Tom eased his chuckling and wiped his brow. "Phew! That was fun."

"Oh, indeed," Sabine said, her face brighter than ever.

Adrien couldn't help but smile as well. Despite the minor humiliation, he was glad Marinette's parents were in good spirits again. And so was he.

The prince walked over to Tikki and patted her on the head. "Thanks for cheering us up, Tikki," he said. "I'm sure everything will be great."

The ladybug kwami beamed.

Then, someone put a hand to Adrien's face and kissed him on the cheek.

"And thank you, Adrien," Sabine said softly. "My daughter is lucky to have someone like you."

Adrien rubbed his cheek, already feeling the heat rising in it. "Oh, yeah. You're welcome."

Tom nodded and put an arm around his wife. "You know what?" he said confidently. "I bet both of our daughters are on the road back to Agreste right now."

Adrien nodded in agreement, and he looked out into the open, night sky.

Knowing his lady, and the promise she gave him, the prince no longer carried a single trace of doubt.