When Marinette had seen tears well up in Lila's eyes simply because people were showing kindness, she became very concerned. She had to admit she didn't know a lot about Lila, but she knew that it wasn't normal to become emotional over that sort of thing. Marinette was used to affection from friends and family; they both showered her with it.

But Lila had been affected by it so much more. So much that she'd nearly shed tears. And so Marinette had asked, curious about why Lila had been so surprised. And she'd wanted to know exactly why. She could only think that perhaps Lila didn't get much affection from anyone. But to have so little that she was moved to tears at the first sight of it?

Lila said nothing, and even if she did, her words would have been masked by the sound of the building exploding, showering debris all over the street and them. Through the dust, Marinette could make out the vague shape of a person standing in one of the floors where the wall had broken, but nothing more than that.

Marinette's first thought was how to get away so she could transform, but before she could even form a plan, another large part of the building began to collapse.

"Look out!" Adrien's voice called. She moved to duck out of the way, but someone else was ahead of her and seized her wrist, pulling her out its way. But she had been pulled hard, and she fell on top of whoever had saved her, barely escaping the massive chunk. She blinked, trying to see who was beneath her, but there was a hand pressing her head down into the body. Then the debris hit the ground behind her, landing with a deafening crash. Before any other bits could land on her, whoever was beneath her rolled over so that it was Marinette lying face up on the ground. Marinette opened her eyes and squinted, trying to see among the dust and debris. But all she could see was a shoulder, because a hand still cradled the back of her head, and an arm was wrapped around her middle.

She was entirely pressed against the mystery savior. Marinette had to close her eyes again because there were still fragments of rock falling down. She was protected from it by the other person.

WooOAAH there. Marinette's heart was racing. Who was lying on top of her? But then she no longer heard anything hitting the ground, so she cracked open her eyes. There was still dust in the air, but everything that had been going to fall had finished falling. Marinette blinked a bit, and then saw long brown hair.

"Lila?" She said, muffled by the shoulder, heart picking up even more speed now that she knew exactly who it was that was holding her close. But Lila wasn't getting up. Marinette was about to lift an arm to tap Lila when all of sudden she was aware of being held even closer. Lila's arms were tightening around her.

Marinette froze, her brain on the verge of shutting down due to too much blood rushing to her head. Both the hand cushioning her head and the arm around her waist suddenly seemed burning hot. And then all of a sudden Lila shifted her arms from underneath Marinette and lifted her body so she was on her hands and knees, looking directly down at Marinette. Her palms lay flat on either side of Marinette's head. Similar positions had happened in her life before, both of which occurred with Chat Noir and Adrien. The former had elicited no emotion but annoyance, the latter some embarrassment and joy, but nothing could compare to the surprise and unexpected satisfaction she felt right now.

First and foremost she was surprised that Lila had held her close. Then she was even more surprised that even though she was embarrassed, she actually didn't mind the situation. In fact, she was surprised to find she was actually appreciative of it. Of Lila being so close to her. Because now as she looked up she saw only Lila above her, her beautiful face full of unreadable emotions but staring directly at Marinette with an intensity that made her want to look away.

But she couldn't. She was entranced. And in the moment she realized how easy it would be to cup Lila's face in her hands and bring it to hers.

Before she could do anything she might regret in the future, Lila's mouth suddenly widened in shock and her face became as red as her own, and she scrambled off of Marinette, spewing apologies.

"Oh my god Iamsosorryohmygosh." She was saying, looking mortified at what just conspired. Marinette sat up, still kind of in shock over the whole thing. But then Lila pulled Marinette up to her feet, bringing her back to reality. Then she stepped several feet away.

"I-it's okay!" Marinette said. "You saved me!" She seemed to be unable to control her voice, which was a bit high-strung and nervous. Lila, in complete contrast to her previous flirty and confident expression, was freaking out and looked like she wanted nothing more than to just pass out right then and there. As Lila was facing away from her, Marinette saw dust and dirt covering her entire backside. She looked to the side, where part of the building had crashed down and created a wall of debris that separated the two of them and the rest of their friends. The very debris that Lila had pulled her away from. And she felt a wave of appreciation course through her as she calmed down.

Marinette realized this was an excellent opportunity to run away and transform. But she couldn't just leave Lila like this. She approached Lila and touched her lightly on the arm. Lila jerked and turned her head. Marinette's face fell when she saw worry written all over her face, and then she felt resolve as she saw Lila look ashamed.

"Hey." Marinette said in a quieter voice as Lila turned all the way around, head tilted down.

"I'm really sorry. I didn't- I-I didn't mean to do that." She was trying to say. "Please don't hate me. Just… just forget it happened." Lila looked away as she said it, hands curled into fists. It hurt to hear Lila's voice like that. Marinette reached out a hand and rested it on one of Lila's. She jerked to attention and looked at Marinette, tears welling up yet again.

"You saved me." Marinette repeated firmly as she took Lila's hand in both of hers and looked her in the eye. "Thank you." Lila's eyes widened a fraction.

"But I… you…" She began before lifting free arm to wipe at her eyes.

"Marinette! Lila!" Alya's voice came from beyond the wreckage that lay beyond them.

"Are you okay?!" Alya was followed by Nino, and then Adrien all calling for them. At least they were okay.

"We're fine!" Marinette yelled back, and then looked back at Lila. She was just as much of a wreck as the building that had fallen. Marinette squeezed Lila's hand. "Thank you." She repeated, and then smiled.

"You don't… hate me?" Lila breathed, as if in disbelief.

"Of course not." Marinette said, and then she blushed because she realized the exact opposite may or may not have been happening. Or you know, she was becoming best gal pals with Lila. Because clearly that was always what happened with two girls who held hands. Then Marinette realized she was still quite actually holding Lila's hand with both of her own.

"We're coming over!" Alya's voice came again. Then they heard a clatter and a yelp of pain. "Okay, maybe you should come over!" Alya amended her previous statement.

"It's too steep for us to climb here!" Nino explained for her. Marinette let out a breath; they were fine. "Also, my foot hurts."

Clearly Nino had been the one to attempt the climb.

"I'll look for another way around." Adrien said in a quieter voice.

"We'll try to look for a way, too!" Marinette shouted again, and then when she looked back at Lila she saw complete and utter relief in her face.

She's glad that I don't hate her, Marinette realized, and then the follow-up realization was that Lila really liked her. How much, she wasn't sure, but it was a fair amount. Then Adrien flashed in her mind, and Marinette then recognized that she didn't really feel anything more than a desire for friendship with him. And the desire that she had felt for him had abated, and perhaps it had switched targets.

Marinette blushed harder as more feelings made themselves known. Then she remembered that she absolutely needed to get away so she could become Ladybug. She pulled Lila in for a quick hug of comfort.

"We need to get back to the others." Marinette said as she withdrew. Lila looked surprised again, and then she laughed.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't be crying." Lila said. "I try to be cool but in reality I'm just… this…" She gestured to herself as she dried her face. "Normally I can keep it together but every time I'm around you I just…" Then she stopped herself and blushed, as if having said too much.

"Don't be like that." Marinette folded her arms sternly, despite another rush going through her at the words Lila spoke. Around me... "You are cool. You saved me, remember? Now, let's try and get over to the others. I'll check for a way over here, you can around that way. The akuma left, so I think we'll be okay." For some reason, Lila's face fell the slightest bit at her words, but she nodded.

"Be careful." Lila said, and the two split up. The moment Marinette had moved out, she remembered the feeling she'd had before during the last akuma attack. She'd felt like Lila knew about her being Ladybug. Lila probably suspected her but she let them split up anyway.

Marinette didn't know what to think about that. Because Lila hated Ladybug. But despite that, it seemed as if she liked Marinette. Even if she suspected they were the same person.

"Looks like there's a new Adrien." Tikki teased as she flew out of Marinette's purse, and then she blushed again.

"Now is definitely not the time for that, Tikki." Marinette scolded. "Transform me!"

When the building had collapsed and Lila had seen that Marinette was in its path, she hadn't thought. She had just acted and pulled Marinette out of its way. And when Lila had pulled too hard in her haste and fallen down, she'd rolled over instinctively to protect Marinette from the debris.

But then she'd realized how nice it was to finally hold Marinette close. To be in such proximity with someone she liked and who liked her back. She'd gotten too into it, though, and she'd had the gall to hold Marinette tighter.

Lila had started this day with the goal to woo Marinette. She really had. But when she'd tried to be cool and confident around the girl it had all just fallen apart. She wanted to be forward and flirtatious. But when she had, she felt like she had gone too far. Like she'd gone beyond what was allowed and she was being creepy. Like Marinette wouldn't like her anymore. Because she'd gone and ruined it by stepping past the bounds of friendship. Lila hadn't even known if Marinette reciprocated her feelings and she'd just went and held her anyway. She'd even done the token anime romantic scene where she'd been on top of the dang girl.

Lila had wanted to kiss her. She knew it. But when she thought that, that was when she snapped out of her daze and realized that she had gone too far.

And even despite everything Lila had done, Marinette had accepted it all with compassion. How did someone so kind even exist?

But then Marinette had suggested that they split up. And then all of Lila's suspicions had come back to her. That no matter how sweet and kind Marinette was, she was also Ladybug. She may have been the girl to shine light in Lila's life, but she was also the girl that had pushed her down into the ground.

Lila thought about this as she looked around the wreckage. How much did she believe Marinette had actually gone around to look for a way over the fallen chunks of rock?

She didn't.

And when she saw a red blur leap out from the direction that Marinette had gone, she put her head in her hands.