Chapter Text
Photo byKika Cosplay Photos with Ladybug e Chat Noir (me)
"But where did it go?" Marinette mumbles.
Still in her pajamas, she keeps looking around her room, inspecting every bit of furniture, opening drawers, rummaging inside and closing them again. She opens her jewelry box on the dressing table and then closes it. She opens the drawers next to the sewing machine and then closes them too. Even though she wasn't going to school that day, Marinette had woken up early with one single thought in her mind: finding the lucky charm that Adrien had given her for her fourteenth birthday.
Also missing was the Jagged Stone guitar pick that Luka had given to her some time ago.
"Tikki, did you see my lucky charm?" she asked, looking at the Kwami who was floating around -the room
"No Marinette, I don't think so ... Did you look in your jacket?" she says, landing on the edge of her computer screen .
“It was the first pla…” Marinette says, but she suddenly stops, pursing her lips. “Maybe…. maybe I had it in my hands yesterday when... " She throws herself on the chaise longue and starts searching with her hands through the cushions, putting her hands in the fold and holes. "Nothing," she concludes.
“Wait Tikki, didn't I have it with me when I was akumatized? Maybe I lost it then! Who knows what I've done with it! This is a disaster! If I’ve lost it, everything will go wrong. Sure, it's not as if it's been of much use to me up to now, but if I didn't have it I'm sure things would have been much worse. And now… I don't have it any more! Everything will definitely go really wrong! It's terrible, Tikki! I have to find it!" Marinette says to herself, in a crescendo of panic, staring into space as she imagines the worst.
“Marinette! Calm down, you're making up stories in your head again! " says Tikki. She touches her cheek softly with a paw and interrupts her reasoning.
“Yeah. You're right, Tikki!” says Marinette “but… it’s not here in the house and who knows what happened to it. And… it was a gift from Adrien, I'm so sorry I lost it” she concludes.
"Don't worry, if it's here it will pop out when you won’t expect it to" she cooes, looking straight into Marinette’s eyes.
"Yes Tikki, as usual I worry too much. Better if I get dressed now.” Marinette kicks off her slippers. “Then I'm going to have breakfast. I'll bring you some of daddy's cookies as a snack”.
"No you won't ", interrupts the kwami. "I'll come down too, or you will scoff them all in your mouth before you get them to me!" she finishes to say, making both of them laugh.
Marinette is feeling better already after the events of the day before, even though she tries not to think too much about her secret identity. The day passes quietly, between lunch with her parents, who filled her with attention, and some homework in preparation for her return to school.
Fortunately, no Akuma appears today, and Ladybug's intervention is not needed. She and Chat Noir had arranged for patrols on alternate evenings, and tonight it’s the boy's turn. After dinner, Marinette watches a movie online; then, around 11 pm, she gets ready for bed, since she still has no school the next day.
Already in her pajamas, she is about to go up to her loft and to her bed, when an unusual noise, similar to footsteps on the terrace startles her.
"What the hell ..." she thinks to herself. "Hide, Tikki!" she whispers as Tikki zips to her purse that hangs on the pink coat rack.
Marinette reaches out and grabs from the table the wooden ruler she usually cuts fabric with . Then, she tiptoes her way up the ladder, holding her ruler like a club. She reaches the mezzanine and, very quietly, opens the hatch of the skylight window that leads to her balcony. The noise seems to get louder, so it must be coming from there.
Marinette takes a deep breath, clicks the latch and opens it wide, shouting a loud "Who's there?" while brandishing her ruler like a weapon.
She is faced with a pair of cat-like green eyes and the surprised, slightly scared expression of Chat Noir, who jumped back away from the hatch.
“Aaaah! Prin ... er Marinette, it's me! So-so-sorry!" the blond stammers, reaching to the nape of his neck with one hand, and raising the other in a protective move.
She looks at him, equally surprised, then lowers the makeshift weapon and bursts out laughing. “Chat Noir! You should see your face!" Marinette rests her arms crossed at the opening of the skylight window, placing her chin on her forearm "You scared me, you shouldn't sneak up on me like that." Then she realizes she's in her pajamas, tank top and yoga pants. Marinette turns as red as a tomato, sinking into the opening while muttering,"Stay there, don't move!”
Chat Noir does as he's told, scratching the back of his head a little confusedly, until Marinette reappears, wearing a pink sweatshirt.
"What brings one of Paris's two heroes here?" she asks with curiosity.
He sits on the ground crossed legged. "Well, I wanted to see how you were".
The girl blushes slightly. “Well, thanks Chat Noir, I'm fine now. Thanks to you and to Ladybug”.
The two look at each other for a few moments, a little embarrassed.
Chat Noir darts his gaze around the tidy terrace, and then looks again at Marinette. ' I hadn't noticed that she had freckles on her nose… she's cute' The thought catches him by surprise and he blushes slightly trying to keep his mind focused. . "There's another thing," he says then, slipping his hand into one of the pockets on the costume. "You dropped this yesterday." He hands back to Marinette Adrien's lucky charm.
Marinette's gaze lights up in a bright smile. "You found it!" she says happily, as she takes it from the hero's hand, brushing his gloved fingers. “Thank you, Chat Noir! I looked for it everywhere, and I was afraid I had lost it, you know it's a ... gift from a dear friend of mine." She brings the hand that held the object to her chest and sighs happily. "Really, thank you!" Then, she reaches out from the hatch and kisses Chat Noir on the cheek tenderly. Chat Noir blushes under the mask and looks away, embarrassed.
"Oh ... well ... it's ... it was a pleasure, Princess," the hero whispers, looking at her again and musing, to his own surprise, 's he's so beautiful in this light!' He blushes even more and turns slightly to the side, hoping that Marinette won't notice his red cheeks.
Marinette looks at him, a hand in front of her mouth in a gesture of astonishment, turning red for the umpteenth time. “Well… now… I-I have to go. G-goodnight Chat Noir, s-say hello to Ladybug” she stammers goodbye. She goes back inside, closes the hatch and releases the latch, falling to her knees on the bed.
A couple of minutes later, Marinette is still kneeling on the bed, the lucky charm in her hand, her heart pounding madly in her chest. "Tikki ...." she murmurs "Did I really kiss Chat Noir on the cheek?"
Tikki peeps out from behind the night lamp. "Oh yes, you really did..." she confirms.
Marinette throws herself on the pillow, hands on her face “OhmygodwhatIdid! Now he will think again that I ... and that ... "
Tikki interrupts her monologue "Marinette! You just gave him a kiss on the cheek! Like a friend! Don't overthink it now!”
The girl looks at the Kwami out of the corner of her eye, moving a finger to her lips. "Yes, OK. I calm down. You're right, nothing really happened… but now who knows what he will think!”
"He'll think you did it because he was kind, I'd say," suggests Tikki.
Chat Noir remains seated on the terrace, his hand on the cheek that Marinette had kissed ' What the … ' he thinks ' ... what the hell is happening to me? She had a crush on me, but then we cleared up and well… we remained friends. As Chat Noir. But, after what she said about me… that is, about Adrien… and now... what do I do?'
Adrien, or rather Chat Noir, feels the evening breeze on his face, gets up, dusts off his suit and in two leaps is on the terrace where he gave the rose to Ladybug. The hero in black leans against the railing, looking at moonlit Paris, sighing.
' Yesterday though… when Marinette didn't answer me… Damn. And even before… I didn't… I didn't realize she was so… beautiful. ' Adrien reflects. ' Ok, Ladybug has a boyfriend, she already told me that she doesn't… she doesn't care. But… Kagami… she… damn, what do I do now? I need some advice, but from whom? I definitely can't ask Marinette, she ... damn. Does she like me? I'll think of something. Better to go home now.'
Chat Noir heads home following the usual path, transforming back just inside Adrien's room, as always careful to avoid being caught by the security cameras his father has installed everywhere around the Mansion.