Chapter 14: Something Fishy

The first thing Ladybug noticed when she opened her eyes was the light blue hue that surrounded everything. Taking a moment to adjust to the lighting, Ladybug walked over to the giant glass screen in front of her.

"We're at the L'Aquarium de Paris aren't we?" Ladybug inquired as she watched the various schools of fish swim past the glass. Chat Noir nodded in head in confirmation.

"This brings back memories, I used to love coming her as a child with my parents." Ladybug enveloped herself in the nostalgic feelings.

"Me too," Chat Noir replied as he joined Ladybug at the edge of the tank. Linking his right hand with hers Chat Noir continued. "I used to come here all the time with my mother. We'd spend hours walking around, learning about all the different kinds of fish and where they originated from. It didn't take long before this became our special spot."

"Used to?" Ladybug replied. "What happened, did you grow out of it?"

Ladybug felt Chat Noir tense at the statement and turned towards him with a look of concern.

"Chat…" Ladybug warily began, squeezing his hand in reassurance.

"Um, it's nothing, no big deal." Chat pulled his hand out of Ladybug's grasps and placed it on his arm. "My mother just isn't around anymore."

Ladybug's expression changed to one of pure horror as she realized the implication of Chat Noir's statement. "You mean she's dead?"

"What no, I mean, I don't think so." Chat Noir explained. "She just kind of disappeared one day without a trace, but it happened a while ago so I'm already over it."

Ladybug placed a comforting hand on Chat Noir's shoulder. "I'm sorry, I had no idea."

"No worries, I'm fine, really." Chat Noir attempted to assure Ladybug with a smile; however, she remained unconvinced.

"You know it's okay if you're not fine. You can talk to me about it if you want to."

"I appreciate that, but I really am okay with it. I know it may sound strange that I'm okay with the fact that my mother is missing, but I am. Somehow I just know that she'll return one day and we'll be a family again."

"You're stronger than me. I don't think I could handle the disappearance of one of my parents as well as you do. Would you tell me about her?" Ladybug asked.

Chat Noir hesitated. He was on his first date with Ladybug and the last thing he wanted to do was ruin the mood by talking about his mother; nevertheless, he found himself wanting to talk to Ladybug.

Great plan, Adrien. Chat Noir thought to himself. Take Ladybug to the special aquarium that you used to go to with your mom and mention that she's gone, completely ruining the mood. What was I thinking taking her here?

Chat Noir's decision to have their first date at the aquarium came about because it was such a special place with deep meaning to him. He wanted them to experience the magic and joy he felt every time he visited with his mother.

I guess it's okay so long as I don't give her too much detail. This secret identity rule is becoming cumbersome.

"Growing up, both my parents were pretty busy with work so they didn't have a lot of time for me. Despite this, my mother would always make time in her busy schedule at least once a week for me. There were a lot of different places we went to, games we played, but my all-time favorite place was here." Chat Noir intertwined his hand with Ladybug's once again, finding a surprising sense of relief in the enjoyment of the conversation with Ladybug about his mother.

"Sometimes when she came home after the aquarium closed, we would build our own little aquarium in my room. I'd put up all my drawings of the fish I'd seen and we'd walk around my room admiring them. Kinda dorky I guess." Chat Noir placed his free hand behind his neck, his mind still able to recall the laughter of those days. The sound of the paper rustling, the tape being pulled, and the way his mother's fingers traced each and every one of this drawings, like she was committing them to memory. His mind's eye saw her turn to him with a smile on her lips.

"I think it's adorable," Ladybug's voice entered his thoughts, bringing him out of them. He blinked as she rested her head on his shoulder. "Thank you for sharing."

Chat Noir beamed at Ladybug before continuing through the aquarium, his hand in hers, gently pulling her along. "Next let's check out the coral reef exhibit. It's only supposed to be here for…guard!"

Chat Noir ducked behind the wall, taking Ladybug with him.

Why are we hiding from the guard…no wait, more importantly where is everyone? Ladybug thought as she glanced around the aquarium. L'Aquarium de Paris was a pretty popular spot in Paris, often overrun with excited children; however, she noticed a suspicious lack of people, let alone children. They had been there for a while, but hadn't run into a single person.

What time does this building close again? Ladybug pulled out her yo-yo and checked the hours of operation. 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., it read.

"Ok, looks like he's gone," Chat Noir whispered as he turned towards her. "Shall we continue on my lady?"

"Chat," Ladybug stated giving him a disapproving look. "Please tell me we did not just break into the aquarium after hours."

Chat Noir shot Ladybug a nervous smile, nervously placing his arm behind his head. Ladybug smacked her forehead in disbelief. How could it have taken me this long to notice?

"It's not as bad as you think, it's not like we're stealing anything or destroying stuff. We're just observing the exhibits in peace. Besides," Chat Noir continued desperately. "It's not like we could come here when it's actually open. I mean can you imagine all the attention we'd be getting?"

Ladybug frowned, but couldn't deny that Chat Noir had a point. As Paris' famous hero duo trying to go anywhere public without be swarmed by fans would be impossible. Plus what harm was there in them just being there. She was enjoying her date with Chat Noir and didn't want it to end, especially since he brought her some place so important to him. Nevertheless, she simply could not ignore that they were still breaking the law.

Ladybug contemplated for a moment before replying. "While I agree with what you said, I'm still not convinced. I mean this place is a business and we did enter without paying."

"Oh you don't have to worry about that. I bought two annual tickets this year; one for me and one for my mother. It's become a habit to buy two every year."

"I guess if we've already paid then," she reluctantly agreed.

Chat Noir's face lit up as he led Ladybug to the next exhibit. The two spent the next two hours exploring every inch of the aquarium, talking about the various kinds of creatures, exchanging a memory or two of past visits, they even had a small competition to see who could name the most fish and place of origin in a particular tank. Chat Noir won of course, but Ladybug fought valiantly and only lost by two fish.

"I never knew the aquarium could be so much fun." Ladybug exclaimed sitting on the roof of the building alongside Chat Noir.

"What can I say, I'm pawsitively purrrrfect at choosing date locations. After all, I am Paris' number one most charming feline."

Ladybug laughed at his affronted look. "That may be true, but it doesn't mean much considering you're the only cat in the race."

Pulling out her yo-yo, she checked the time. "I guess it's time to start patrolling," she sighed.

Chat Noir pouted, but nodded his agreement anyways as the two took off in different directions. After their patrol, they concluded the evening with a kiss goodbye.

Author's Note: I screwed up the time on the Aquarium, it doesn't close until 7 p.m.

Ladybug swung onto the roof of a nondescript bakery and dropped through the trapdoor. Dropping her transformation, Marinette plopped down on her bed with a huge grin on her face.

"Looks like someone's date went well," Tikki giggled, hovering around Marinette's head.

"It was amazing! We ended up going to the aquarium, which has a special meaning for Chat, and we…" Tikki listened attentively as Marinette relayed the entire date from start to finish.

"I'm glad you enjoyed yourself and it looks like you and Chat became closer."

"Yeah," Marinette's face darkened. "I had no idea that he had lost his mother. He's always so energetic and optimistic, I just figured his life matched his personality. To think we've been fighting together for almost a full year now and there's so much about him that I don't know."

"It can't be helped," Tikki reassured her. "You guys don't really spend any time together outside of hero work and those times aren't exactly suitable for sharing information about yourselves."

"True," Marinette agreed.

"But now that you are spending more time together hanging out, I'm sure that there will be plenty of opportunities for you to learn more about each other; within reason."

"Right." Marinette mumbled. Can't share too much, have to keep our identities a secret, she thought quietly.

Buzz

Marinette pulled out her phone when she felt it vibrate. Immediately she saw all the missing calls and unread messages from Alya.

"Wow!" Tikki exclaimed, peering at Marinette's phone. "Alya must have called you at least 10 times over the past several hours. She must really want to know how the date went."

Marinette looked at the clock. 1:07 a.m. It's a bit late, but Alya's probably still awake waiting to hear back from me. Marinette dialed Alya's number.

"Hey Alya."

"Marinette!" Marinette cringed at the volume of Alya's voice. "You finally called me back, I was getting worried."

"Worried?"

"Yeah. I figured you'd call me right after the date ended. When you didn't I decided to call you, but kept receiving no answer. I did my best to stay calm and avoid calling your parents, hoping that you were just enjoying yourself and not tied up in the back of that guy's trunk."

"Eh? I told you I've known him for a year already and have spent time with him in person. It's not like I was meeting some stranger online."

"I know, I know, but when you didn't answer my panic and imagination took over." Alya clarified. "So I'm guessing the date when well then."

"Yeah it was amazing!"

"I'll say. It must have been for you to spend so much time after hours with him." Alya teased. "So how was your first time?"

"Alya!" Marinette cried, pouting at Alya's crystal clear laughter.

"Relax girl, I'm just messing with you. But seriously, I want to hear all the details."

Marinette frowned, still a little annoyed, before conveying the details of her date with Chat Noir. Soon she found herself smiling as she remembered the time they spent together.

"Yes!" Adrien cried as he pranced around his room with joy, dropping his transformation.

"So your date went well with Ladybug, big deal." Plagg stated as he went to the mini fridge to grab a bite of camembert. "It's just a date."

"It's not just a date Plagg, it was a date with her." Adrien sighed as he lay on his couch.

"Whatever," Plagg replied nonchalantly before swallowing a chunk of cheese, his own grin spreading across his face.

"Why do I even bother trying to explain it to you," Adrien sighed while rolling his eyes. "You'd never understand, seeing as the love of your life is always one mini fridge away."

Plagg simply nodded in acknowledgement of Adrien's statement, mouth too full of cheese to even respond properly.

Step 1 in getting Ladybug to fall in love with me complete. Adrien thought with a smile.

Buzz

Adrien pulled out his cellphone, discovering several missed calls and voicemail messages from Chloe and Nathalie.

This can't be good. Adrien thought as he recalled how he simply left Chloe in the middle of their outing without a word. I should just get this over with.

Bracing himself, Adrien pressed play on the first voicemail.

Adrien sighed after listening to the last voicemail on his phone.

"What's eating you kid?" Plagg inquired. "You were literally bouncing around the room in joy just a few minutes ago."

"It's the messages I received from Chloe and Nathalie." Adrien solemnly answered. "Between Chloe flipping out about me ditching her and Nathalie worrying about my sudden disappearance, I know I've managed to dig myself an even deeper hole with my father. I don't even want to think about having to speak with him tomorrow."

Adrien cringed at the thought.

"Was it worth it?"

A huge grin spread across Adrien's face, replacing his once grave expression. "Definitely!"

Making sure to let them know he was okay, Adrien left a voicemail message for Chloe and called Nathalie. When she finished berating him over the phone, Adrien slipped into his pajamas and headed off to bed.

Author's Note: Sorry for the long delay, let me know what you think about their first date and how everything panned out in the comments.