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She was such a failure!
No matter how much Marinette tried to get the attention of the boy she liked, she couldn’t.
But today, she decided to take her life, – which gave her gifts of magical jewels and as magical enemies, distracting her from what she really wanted, – into her own hands…
Or rather, take it even more firmly in her hands than she did before.
Another failure was that today it was the first day of her period and Marinette felt especially emotional... But she was determined to turn her raging emotions into her own fortune, – at the same time depriving her enemy of the opportunity to use them.
That’s why when the lessons ended, the girl got up from her desk and marched to Felix’s desk before he had time to collect his things. “Listen, Agreste,” She began in an assertive tone. “I’m so tired of your eternal refusals that today is the last time I ask you to go with me to the cinema, and you will agree to it, otherwise I’ll hang you upside down on the Eiffel Tower and go home to drink tea!”
Felix looked at her with wide eyes, – an expression of surprise so uncharacteristic of his forever distant face. And although he didn’t know the secret of her identity and didn’t suspect that she really could carry out her threat, – for a moment the boy looked at Marinette as if he believed her.
Probably because she always spoke to Felix softly, treated him to macaroni since she tricked him into telling her what his favorite flavor was, and quite unobtrusively, – even a little timidly, – invited him to the cinema.
And the way she spoke to him today was a completely different approach.
“That’s my girl!..” Chloe sang quietly, smirking at Marinette.
The blond had already told her many times that Felix needed a good push, but Marinette always thought it was more about love and care than an actual push in the butt. Though now, looking into his face and finding much stronger effects of her actions than she could ever get from him, – Marinette was no longer sure what exactly Chloe had in mind while giving her love advice.
Finally Felix came to his senses and cleared his throat. “Miss Dupan-Cheng, I’ve told you many times that my private time is…”
“Oh no!” Marinette interrupted, grabbed the bag from his hands, and began to put his books there herself. “You’re not gonna sing me that song again!” She zipped up his bag and shoved it back into his hands. “How can you ever fall in love with me if you never give me a chance to communicate with you outside of these walls?!”
“But I…” Felix began, but she cut him off again.
“You’re not in love with me, I get it!” She snorted irritably. “But how can you pass up the opportunity to know a person who is so sincere towards you and not give them a chance?! Maybe after one date you’ll decide that you were right and never want to see me again…”
Felix opened his mouth to argue, but she stopped him with a hand gesture and continued. “But then you’ll know for sure that you were right and you won’t look back all your life on a missed opportunity!” She took a breath, using the fact that the boy seemed to finally consider her words, because his face went from indignant to thoughtful. “Or maybe you’ll find out that you lost a lot of my time and your own time while refusing to go on a date with me and you’ll no longer want to let me go!” She blurted out with a new breath and fell silent, waiting for his reaction.
Felix rolled his eyes, clearly skeptical of the last option, but this time he was in no hurry to send her off.
“You put the question in an interesting way, Miss Dupan-Cheng.” He finally sighed. “Your conditions suit me, although I don’t consider it necessary to spend so much time on something that is already obvious to me.”
Marinette opened her mouth to launch another tirade, but it was Felix who stopped her with a hand gesture this time while standing up from his desk. “I’ll pick you up at seven.”
And before Marinette fully realized that she finally got her date, he left the classroom.
She slowly turned to her classmates, blushing as her adrenaline began to dissipate, and sat down on his desk – suddenly losing all the strength.
For a moment, her friends looked at her dumbfounded – Marinette didn’t expect this from herself, what to say about the others?! Then the whole class burst into applause, loud “Go get him, girl!”, “That takes the cake!!” and quiet “There’s no arguing about tastes…”
But after all, she was Ladybug, she brought good luck to the whole city every day, and she could finally take some fortune for herself!
*
But it seemed that her attempt to catch luck again turned into a failure, because as soon as Felix picked her up and they drove away from the bakery, a white flash swept through evening Paris, and since usually there were no ball lightning here, one could guess that this was a new Akuma...
Felix ordered the driver to stop, jumped out of the car with the short “I’ll look for help, take her home!” – to the driver and even shorter “Stay in the car!” – to her, and ran away.
Marinette didn’t have time to suffer over a ruined date, because Ladybug couldn’t stay in the car while the Akuma was flying around the city, so she told the driver to drop her off and ran to find a place to transform. But before she reached a secluded corner, she was picked up and carried away.
She turned to see her partner, who was holding her in his arms with a very concentrated expression. “You’d better be somewhere safe now, Miss.” He said sternly and jumped over to the next roof, clearly carrying her in the direction of the bakery.
“How do you know where I live?!” She yelled rather than asked, indignant that she had been kept from fulfilling her obligations.
Chat Noir ran without slowing down, and soon they landed on her balcony. “I love sweets from your bakery.” The hero confessed. “Just uhh… memorized your face.” He explained as he lowered her to the floor.
“Hmm.” The girl nodded, thinking about how their lives could easily intersect without their knowledge, and she could probably see Chat Noir without even knowing it was him. “Thank you for… getting me home.” She added and muttered under her breath. “Although you’re not the one who was supposed to bring me home tonight…” Resentment that Felix had run away from her, – even if otherwise she herself would have to do it, – didn’t leave her.
Chat Noir had already turned away to jump off the balcony, but stopped and turned back to her. “Maybe he isn’t worth your attention then?” He suggested, looking at her carefully.
For a moment Marinette stared at her partner in surprise from the fact that he guessed that it was about a boy, then took an aggressive step in his direction. “You don’t know what he’s worth! Maybe he’s worth everything to me!” Emotions raged in her again, jumping from resentment for Felix to boundless love and adoration for him and anger at the cat for interfering in her business. “Maybe he’s worth this whole city just by the mere fact of his existence!”
The hero looked at her dumbfounded, – a blush lit up on his cheeks, – but Marinette was too engrossed in her tirade to give it any special meaning. “Maybe my only chance was to go on a date with him tonight and prove to him how much he means to me and how much I could mean to him! And that stupid Akuma ruined my life! And his life! And he’ll remain alone in a cold house and I’ll remain surrounded by a loving family, but also alone, – because all this is useless when he isn’t with me!”
Marinette didn’t notice how, with every phrase she said, a young man in a black suit approached her step by step, – and woke up only when his arms carefully hugged her and tears flowed down her face.
“I just... just…” She muttered, trying to hide her face on his chest, but Chat Noir lifted her chin towards him and Marenette broke off, staring at his face in confusion.
“He really wasted a lot of time refusing to go on a date with you and hoping that the girl he was in love with would accept his feelings.” He spoke softly, and ran his hand down her cheek, wiping away the tears.
His words seemed familiar, and reminded her of something important, but Marinette’s mind, clouded by emotions – it’s good that Hawk Moth already had a victim today – couldn’t quite place them.
“He really no longer wants to let you go.” Chat continued, and as her eyes widened in overwhelming realization, he leaned down and touched her lips with his.
Marinette froze – too many thoughts and feelings fell on her at that moment, but the softness of his lips quickly replaced the thunder in her head and she surrendered to the kiss, wrapping her arms around his neck and clinging to the boy with her whole body.
“Felix, I…” Marinette began when he finally pulled away from her slightly, looking at her like he’d never looked before, – even when she was wearing a mask and he confessed his feelings to her.
“I know.” He whispered and pulled her closer to him.
“No, listen, Felix, I…” She tried again.
“Even if you say you don’t like me anymore, I won’t let you go, Marinette.” The boy interrupted again. “Because I resisted your pressure with all my might and am no longer capable of it. And even though I still can’t completely forget her, I’ll do everything to make you happy and you’ll never feel alone, because I’ll be with you.”
Marinette pulled away and looked at him, – she never expected to hear such warm words from Felix, and her heart immediately melted from feelings for him even more than before, – when she fell in love with his confidence and tenacity.
But no, she needed to focus. “Felix, I…”
Chat Noir pulled her into another kiss, muffling her words between their lips, then finally let go of her and took a step away. “I really need to go now, there is an Aku…”
“Félix Agreste!” This time Marinette interrupted him herself. “I do love you, but if you don’t let me finish, I’ll really hang you upside down on the Eiffel Tower!” Marinette took a deep breath, inwardly clung to her luck which she accidentally just shared with the boy she loved, and plucked the previously unremovable ring from his finger, letting the magic fall off him and leaving a dumbfounded Felix in his normal clothes. “I’m Ladybug. And I just broke your curse.”
Yes, perhaps today Marinette’s failures have definitely turned into fortune.
And not only for her.