Chapter Text
She always came just after the sun dipped below the sky, taking the reddish clouds with it and leaving behind the dark blue night. Lila kept the balcony door unlocked for this express reason. In the beginning she didn’t know what to think of it.
After the Volpina incident, Lila hadn’t wanted anything to do with Ladybug ever again. No one knew who the villain had been other than Adrien and the two heroes, and she wanted to keep it that way. She wanted to leave that memory behind forever.
But Ladybug thought otherwise.
One day Lila was walking home from school, and all of a sudden Ladybug dropped down in front of her.
“Wh- Ladybug?!” Lila scoffed as she stepped back. Ladybug blinked and Lila realized that the heroine was holding something. The girl thrust the object towards Lila.
“Hi. Um, here.” Ladybug said sheepishly, glancing away. Lila looked curiously at the item and saw it was a wrapped box. It was small and covered in pink wrapping paper.
It looked like a present.
Lila wasn’t one to let her pride fall.
“What is this?” She asked suspiciously. Lila folded her arms and looked down at Ladybug with disbelieving eyes. Why would her greatest enemy come to her with a gift? Ladybug looked around the street; luckily, there was no one around. Then she turned back to Lila.
“I… I don’t blame you if you don’t believe my apology.” Ladybug began, and then she frowned. “But I really am sorry about what I did.” She confessed, and Lila was momentarily stunned.
Before she could say anything, Ladybug placed the box in Lila’s hands, and then she was gone.
When Lila went home and opened the box, she found an assortment of chocolate. Lila suddenly had a nagging feeling that she was the person who ought to have apologized, not Ladybug. She closed the box and went to bed, but not before reopening the box to have a piece.
It turns out the next time Lila saw Ladybug wasn’t too far off. Only a couple days passed until another person was turned into a supervillain. This occurred at the park, where Lila had been passing through on her way home from school.
And of course, none other than Ladybug and Chat Noir showed up to save the day. But before they saved the day, Ladybug personally came over and saved her, delivering her safely back to her house.
Lila was skeptical and confused over this behavior, and didn’t think she’d see Ladybug again.
But she did. Again and again. Chance meetings turned into nightly visits. Jeers turned into witty banter turned into support and compassion. Somewhere along the way Ladybug had stopped being the antagonist in Lila’s life and had become her shoulder to lean on.
To cry on.
Lila looked up as a shadow moved in her window, blinking through her tears. A red hand pushed open the glass, and Ladybug stepped into her room.
“Lila!” The heroine exclaimed lightly at the sight of tears in Lila’s eyes. She moved over to the bed, where Lila was sitting. Ladybug’s arms came around her shoulder, soothing her trembles.
“L-Ladybug.” Lila whispered, bringing her own arms around Ladybug. “Could you just- could you take me away from here?” She asked, pulling the heroine close.
“Of course.” Ladybug answered.
Relief coursed through Lila, and then she was clinging tightly to Ladybug’s side, arms wrapped snugly around the spotted waist as the heroine used her yoyo to travel through the sky, swinging past buildings and lit windows and winking stars.
When they finally stopped atop an empty roof, Ladybug asked the question.
“What’s wrong?”
Lila bit her lip.
“It’s them, again.” She replied, trying put her hair back where it belonged. The voyage here had been exhilarating, but very windy.
“Your parents?” Ladybug inquired sympathetically, and Lila nodded bitterly. She watched as Ladybug sat down. “Come here.” She said to Lila, gesturing with her hand.
Lila went, and then she was pulled down in Ladybug’s embrace, face pressed against her chest.
“It’s like I don’t even matter.” She said as her eyes began to well up again, hands clutching at Ladybug’s shoulder. “It’s like they don’t even love me.” She said, choked as Ladybug’s arms held her tighter. “No one does.”
There was a pause.
“But I do.” Ladybug said, barely audible.
Lila’s eyes widened when she heard it. She didn’t think- she didn’t realize that her own affection could ever be reciprocated. After Ladybug’s visits became more frequent she’d known she was developing feelings. But Ladybug liking her back?
“I- really?” Lila said in a small voice, refusing to look up as color flooded her cheeks. “You’re not… joking?” Because she kind of didn’t think it would be real.
“Really.” Ladybug answer, and Lila heard the heroine’s heart thrum in her chest. “I’ll prove it to you.” She continued, and then she was lifting Lila’s head up, fingers under her chin and locking eyes. Lila’s mouth fell open in shock and embarrassment; she didn’t know what to do.
But there wasn’t time to think before Ladybug moved in and gently touched Lila’s lips with her own, warmth curling through her cheeks. Lila made a noise of surprise somewhere in the back of her throat but it was lost in their kiss. It was warm and full of affection and it made Lila’s heart soar.
And then the contact was lost. Ladybug moved to withdraw and the cold night air replaced her lips. Lila didn’t waste anytime before she covered the distance that Ladybug lost and then they were kissing again.
Lila didn’t want it to end.
When she finally made it back to her bedroom, an hour or two had passed. But as she slipped under her comforter and watched Ladybug wave and close the window as she exited, she fell into a deepest sleep she’d had in weeks.