A/N:

Thank you all for your support of this series! I get so excited when I see a new fave or follow. If you have any headcannons or 'what if's that stem from an episode that you would like to see, please let me know! I can't guarantee that I'll do them, but I would appreciate the inspiration!

Guest: Thank you for both of your kind reviews! In your second one you mentioned the fake feather. Good catch! I purposely left it as the real one though, since substituting it was a big deal to Marinette later in the series. I'm trying to make this one shots cannon compliant and chronological (as much this series can be), so I left it as is for now. Since my goal is to be as true to the series as possible, please let me know if you see anything else that may not be! Hope you enjoy this next chapter!

.o.O.o.

Marinette is in hot water when Manon and Alya question how she is able to get ahold of Ladybug so quickly. An interrogation takes place after the end of Stormy Weather.

.o.O.o.

Place des Vosges was filled with laughter as a young girl was swung by her arms between her two babysitters. "Higher, higher!"

"Alright, Monkey, that's enough. We can't feel our arms anymore," panted the teen wearing glasses.

The brunette child snivelled as she turned toward her other caretaker, "Marinette, you have to. You promised!" Her brown eyes widened as she pouted her lips into a perfectly practiced beg.

"No, Manon, not the baby doll eyes!"

Alya turned to her friend, shooting her a warning glare. "Manon, how would you like a piggyback ride from a magical unicorn instead?"

Her eyes lit up as she exclaimed, "Okay! Let's go!"

A muffled ringing came from Marinette's purse. Digging out her phone, she answered, "Hello, Mrs. Chamack?"

While Marinette continued her conversation, Alya entertained her passenger by racing in circles nearby.

"Manon, your mom is going to be by to pick you up soon. We need to head back to my house," informed the teen as she placed her phone back into her bag.

Before the young girl could begin to whine, Alya quickly chimed in, "I'll give you a piggyback ride the whole way there!"

The babysitters laughed as Manon cheered in response.

.o.O.o.

The trio sat in a circle on Marinette's floor and shared a plate of cookies, reminiscing over the day.

"It's a good thing you're best friends with Ladybug! It was scary." Manon shuddered, then laughed, "Being trapped on the carousel was just like that one part of the story of the princess and the cursed potato!"

Marinette looked bewildered and nervously giggled, "Yeah, Ladybug came just in time, didn't she? What is this about a princess and a potato?"

"Uh-uh, no you don't girl," her best friend replied while crossing her arms. "You don't get to hold out on us. How did you get ahold of Ladybug?"

"Yeah, did you call her on your phone?" Two pairs of eyes blinked at Marinette as she backed away, suddenly feeling very cornered.

"N-no, I don't have Ladybug's phone number! That's ridiculous! As if I would call Ladybug, hah!" She waved her arms frantically as she tried dismissing their claims.

"Then you certainly won't mind if we take a look at this!" The auburn exclaimed, quickly snatching the designer's phone.

Cries of "Hey, give that back!" and "Stop it, you two!" filled the room as Marinette chased the girls. Alya then sat down on the chaise and began flipping through the phone with Manon looking over her shoulder.

"You won't mind us looking if you have nothing to hide!" she sang, challenging her friend to counter her argument with a smirk.

"Fine," she groaned back, "But don't delete anything!"

"Marinette, why do you have so many pictures of that boy from the park? I thought you said he wasn't your boyfriend," Manon asked with a furrowed brow, genuine curiosity filling her voice.

Immediately the designer's face went red as she lunged for her phone again. "Alya! You don't need to go through my photos!"

"A good reporter leaves no stone unturned!" was her confident reply. "Though girl, you really should get rid of some of these. Imagine if you lost your phone and someone else saw how many pictures you have of Adrien!"

Images of being accused of stalking began to fill her mind. The other two listened amusedly to her mutterings of "court", "search warrant", and "life sentence", punctuated with a cry of "die alone" at the end.

"Girl, I have no clue what just went through your mind, but you need to relax. Take a joke!" the reporter laughed, observing her friend's internal crises.

Her blue eyes peeked out from under her hands that she had slapped over her face. Letting out a sigh, she resigned, "Okay, Alya. I get it, I'll delete some later. Are you done going through my phone now?" She juggled the device as she attempted not to drop it after it was thrown her way.

"It's clean. What a shame; I thought I finally had a good lead on discovering Ladybug's secret identity. However," her eyes shifted to her friend with a self-assured smile, "I get the feeling that there's more to this story that I haven't uncovered yet."

Blanching at the assertion, Marinette grew silent. When a knock on her trap door echoed in the room, she let out a held breath and quickly opened it.

"Mrs. Chamack! Manon was very well behaved today and we had a lot of fun."

"Oh, good. That's great to hear," responded the red haired woman. "Manon, please say thank you to Marinette for watching you today."

"Thank you, Marinette! Thank you, Uni!" the girl called out as she was carried down the steps by her mother.

"Phew, what a day," Marinette sighed, closing the door.

"You can say that again, girl. I've never doubted Ladybug, but being trapped in an ice cube this afternoon was terrifying."

"I'm so sorry Alya," she remorsefully replied. Seeing her friends targeted by akuma always affected her. "I should have never had you take Manon. She was my responsibility."

Her friend gave her a small smile. "Don't sweat it, girl. It was my idea anyway. When Adrien's photographer said they needed an extra I wanted you to have that chance. Unfortunately, that didn't go the way I thought it would."

Marinette giggled, "It's okay, Alya. Thank you for trying to do that for me. You're the greatest best friend a girl could ask for." She slung her arms around her neck and the girls tightly embraced.

"Awe, Marinette!" Alya stepped away from her friend. "I suppose it's for the best. You probably would've just stood there like a statue drooling over him anyway!"

"Hey! That's not true!"

"Fight me if you want girl, but there's no denying it! Luckily you don't need the real guy, you have all those pictures to keep you company!"

"Alya!"

.o.O.o.

Next time: Marinette's parents continue celebrating their anniversary after the end of Timebreaker. Their story is retold over a photo album of the past three decades.