Ch 16

Nathanael seemed different. Lila noted. He walked with more confidence and he had an ever lingering smile…She wondered what had caused Nathanael such happiness. She doesn't think she's ever seen him this giddy…

"Well what's got you all happy?" Lila asked politely. Duly curious on what had Nathanael in such a good mood.

"Oh just excited for that science test I'm pumped. Me and Marinette did a lot of studying. I'm sure to pass!" He lied with a smile. He wasn't going to tell her how he was happy Marinette and him were becoming closer friends now after the study session when he revealed he knew her secret.

"Wow the world must be ending! Nathanael excited for a test…and a SCIENCE test none the less!" Lila exclaimed with a teasing smile.

"Haha very funny…" He replied sarcastically with a good natured smile.

The day proceeded in a hazy flash. Nathanael was spacing out more than usual. Lila wondered what was going on in his head. Nathanael was always quite…not necessarily in a shy way more in like I'm guarding my emotions kind of way. He was always hard to decipher, but his body language often gave himself away. He could have the most stone poker face but you would just have to see how his body reacted to find out what he was truly feeling. Right now, Lila noted, he was feeling blissful. Nathanael's bored apathetic expression would say otherwise but his relaxed posture, quite humming, distant gaze, they all were telltale signs of what he was feeling….now the question was why was he feeling this way….Could it have something to do with the study session he had with Marinette? Lila wondered as a small grey clouded loomed over her at the thought.

She didn't want Nathanael to become distant from her…she felt as if a small rift was forming between them…and she didn't know why. This made her nervous. Nathanael is the only person she truly cares for…she doesn't want to lose him…She needs to do something before the rift becomes too big to gap…I mean….They were making progress and now all the progress is getting taken away! Lila thought…I mean…He treated her out to a lunch and was duly worried for her safety during the akuma attack and they had their friendly squabbles and less then platonic moments like when she pinned him to the wall ….She really thought maybe he had started to like her a bit more…a bit less platonically...But it seems as though she was wrong…That just meant she would have to try harder to get him to like her!

"Psst…" She whispered silently. Nathanael didn't hear her so she tried again this time gently jabbing her elbow on his hoping to catch his attention. "Psst…"

"Hm…" He hummed out curiously. Lila merely gestured to the small sheet of paper she had slid to him.

Yo Nath I'm not getting this mind if we have a study session after school?

Nathanael thought about it. He wasn't practically good at English but he did understand the material fairly well…at least well enough to get a decent passing grade. It would be nice to have a study session with Lila. He wrote down his response and slid it back to her.

Sure why not…

Lila smiled excitedly; she could finally hang out with Nathanael and gap the rift that was forming before it was too late. Maybe even get in a pickup line or two…She thought happily as she made her way through the rest of the school day waiting for the bell to dismiss them home.

Unfortunately it seems as though another one of Chloe's victims was turned into an akuma. It was a girl with short black hair and brown eyes, if Lila recalled correctly this girl was the current weathergirl. Mireille was her name, a shy and kind girl who was friends with a good portion of the school. It also seems Mireille had a crush on Adrien she was planning on handing him a love letter. Chloe used this against the sensitive girl stating how a handsome guy like Adrien would never be caught dead near her and saying things like I'm better than you, Adrien likes me, I've known him since we were kids you don't stand a chance it actually surprise me you were even nominated for weather girl. With all the insults the girl ran off embarrassed, hurt, and humiliated….perfect for the taking…

Mireille had been akumanzied shortly after her encounter with Chloe the black butterfly softly landing on the girls' unread love letter. The butterfly possessed her being turning her warm kind heart into a block of ice. Her skin turned an icy blue and she had a dark blue teardrop tattoo in the corner of her right eye. She wore a heavy navy blue winter dress with long sleeves, a white fur shawl which hid her love letter and sitting on top of her now snow white hair was a royal blue Russian Cossack hat. She called herself the Ice Queen.

Ice Queen immediately went in search of the one who wronged her, Chloe, who was in their class… The school was in total panic as students raced towards the exit which was blockaded by a thick wall of ice the Ice Queen made…

"Marinette…! You have to transform!" Tikki said urgently as she saw the Ice Queen turn innocent students into ice sculptures.

"R-right!" Marinette said her blue eyes attentively searching for a hiding place to transform.

"Marinette…!" Marinette let out a 'offh' as she was tackled to the ground just as an icy cold ray flew past her freezing the wall.

"W-wha…?" she said confused.

"You okay?" Nathanael asked. Marinette simply nodded and Nathanael let out a sigh of relief. "Come on we got to find a place so you can transform I'll be your look out!"

"Right!"

AUG! What is it with akuma attacks and their lousy timing? Lila though bitterly as she ran for cover from the incoming ice blasts, all the while searching for the bright red hair that belonged to only Nathanael.

"Come out Chloe! Let's see who the true ice queen is!" Ice Queen proclaimed her patience drawing to an end. Of course it had to be Chloe. It was always Chloe. Lila thought as she rolled her eyes.

Nathanael was nowhere in sight…She grew worried…What if he to was turned into an ice sculpture! She hated to admit it but they need Ladybug's help…So where was she?! The Ice Queen's back was turned against her, but the exit was blocked by a thick ice wall, furthermore she wasn't leaving until she found Nathanael…But if she moved out from her hiding place she would no doubt be hit by an ice ray…What was she supposed to do? She had to think….Perhaps if she moved quietly through the shadows she could…no that wouldn't work….maybe if she directed the Ice queen's attention somewhere else…but how….

"Hey, Ice Queen, over here!" A heroic female voice called out, it was Ladybug. Lila couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief as the few students who remained cheered for Paris's hero in red.

"Out of my way, my quarrel isn't with you!"

"Oh you won't attack me but you will attack innocent civilians?!" Ladybug snapped back.

"A means to an end." Ice Queen hissed out coldly as the temperature dropped sharply the wind blowing harshly as small flakes of snow fell.

Lila shivered….She needed to get out of here or risk being collateral damage…after all something told her Ladybug didn't have her safety in mind…Maybe she could hide out in a storage closet until the fighting was over…That seemed like a good idea. The problem was how was she going to do that without drawing attention to herself? She wasn't allowed to think about the situation anymore because Ice queen tried blasting an ice ray towards Ladybug who gracefully dodged it. However, the ice from the blast managed to seep into the walls of the building causing it to crack as the ice spread causing chunks of debris to start falling down like hail.

"Lila, get down!" Before she could react she was tackled down to the ground pushed out of the way from the walling debris. It took a while for the dust to clear but once it she was able to stare into the green eyes of her savior.

"A-Adrien!"

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