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Chapter Text

In a far away land, long ago, lived a king and his fair queen. Many years had they longed for a child and finally their wish was granted. A son was born, and they called him Adrien. Even at his birth, he filled their lives with sunshine.

Then a great holiday was proclaimed throughout the kingdom, so that all of high or low estate may pay homage to the infant prince. And our story begins on that most joyful day…

As her parents’ carriage bumped along the cobblestone street, six-year-old Princess Marinette didn’t know what to think.

She was being dragged all the way to a neighboring kingdom of God-knows-where--France, her father had said--to pay homage? What the heck did that even mean? And to a baby, of all people. Marinette figured she had no business “paying homage” to a baby. Babies should be left alone to squall and poop; paying homage to one sounded uncomfortable for everyone involved.

She peeked out the little, square window of the carriage. Its pace had slowed to a crawl as the driver navigated the crowded market streets, so Marinette was free to marvel at the sights.

Thatch-roofed cottages seemed to be shoved against each other, almost landing on top of one another. The streets were paved with cobblestones and looked like they’d recently been washed; Marinette couldn’t smell any dust, anyway.

Marinette had taken a bath before traveling (and after playing in the mud, so very much unlike a princess, her father had said), so she should still smell fine. She lifted her arm as best she could in the cramped carriage, like she'd seen adults do, and took a whiff. She didn’t smell bad, just her normal scent of clean sweat, travel dust, and starched clothes. Satisfied that she was as clean as she should be, Marinette went back to observing the city.

The city was alive and happy. City people swarmed around the carriage, purchasing flowers and clothes, going about their daily lives as well as any of them could, loving or hating their neighbors, and generally ignoring the poorest among them.

Marinette was fascinated with the “commonwealth,” whatever that meant. She wanted the best for the people she would be ruling someday. They deserved the best.

There were no trees or yards until Marinette’s carriage arrived in the richest neighborhoods. Pretty, green trees with their trunks painted white stood in rows fenced in by black wrought iron. The grass looked perfectly trimmed, which Marinette thought was silly.

The palace, with its glass spires and twisted towers so delicate they could only have been constructed by magic, loomed in Marinette’s vision outside the little window of the carriage. Her kingdom of England was rich, but Marinette had still never seen so much gold, especially not lining the bricks of a building. It glinted in the strong summer sunlight, nearly blinding her.

The nobles here breathe riches, she thought, glancing around at the other rich people that had been invited to pay homage to the baby.

Servants in colorful livery and holding flags marched outside other carriages, which were all gorgeous, locked boxes that kept their contents well-hidden. One servant looked like a peacock, with feathers sprouting from their back.

Marinette laughed.

“What’s so funny, sweetling?” Tom Dupain, the king of England, leaned forward and ruffled her hair.

“Tom,” Sabine Cheng said, smoothing her hands over Marinette’s scalp. “Don’t mess up her hair.”

Marinette ignored her mother’s smoothing as best she could, focusing on her father. “One of the servants looks like a bird. Squawk, squawk!”

Tom’s eyes twinkled. “I bet a great many servants will look like birds. Squawk!”

“Oh, Tom,” Sabine said, sighing even as she smiled. “You’re so indulgent.”

Marinette wrinkled her nose. “What’s ‘indulgent’?”

“It means I’m too nice.” Tom winked at his daughter. “Never you mind, though. Are you looking forward to seeing Prince Adrien?”

Marinette couldn’t lie to her father. “No, Papa. Babies are cute, but this is a lot of fuss just for one prince.”

Sabine tutted. “People made this much fuss when you were born, Marinette.”

Marinette was tempted to blow a raspberry at that, but she knew she had to “comport herself with dignity befitting a princess,” which basically meant her mom would tsk at her if she did.

Instead, she leaned her head back against the cushions and pretended to take a nap.

Soon, she wasn’t pretending.

***

Marinette was unable to whittle, her usual method of passing the time, for fear of littering the gold-inlaid tile of baby Adrien’s summer palace with wood shavings. The floor was the most complicated pattern she’d ever seen in her life, with tiny blue and purple tiles placed with care in a swirl.

Looking at it gave her a headache, so she looked at the walls instead. They, too, were made of rich-people’s wood, covered in expensive-looking tapestries showing the usual scenes of soldiers marching off to war or nobles hunting boars. The palace even smelled rich; lavender and some sort of cleaning agent oozed from the walls.

Marinette’s seat, despite being made of wood and red velvet, was terribly small and uncomfortable. Looking down on the people who’d chosen to invest in a glorious, golden floor rather than a bigger chair didn’t even occur to Marinette. She was more concerned with when she’d get to see the baby so she could go home and whether she’d ever stop sweating in the overly-warm palace.

Clearly her mother had overdressed her. The dress was a stiff bunch of fabric she wouldn’t have chosen herself. But her mother used to be a peasant, so she was always worried about making a good impression on people who had been born to royalty, like King Gabriel and Queen Emilie.

Marinette would have rather been a peasant. She was always encouraged to embroider or play piano or study languages.

Boring, boring, boring.

But there were upsides to being a princess, too. She had her own archery and sword-fighting teachers because Tom had insisted she be able to fight for herself. She didn’t have to do chores. And she could eat whatever she wanted whenever she felt like it.

Sword practice was the best. Marinette dreamed of the day she’d be able to join her father on a boar hunt or something, like the tapestries showed. She didn’t know if he’d ever gone on a boar hunt, but it sounded like something a king should enjoy doing.

By the time their little family was called in to the main room, Marinette had started picking at the threads of her dress--trying to do so secretly so as not to be sighed at by her mom.

Finally, Marinette thought, blowing her bangs out of her eyes. She stood from her uncomfortable chair and followed her mother into the throne room of the palace where everyone who had come before had gathered.

The Lord Duke who announced them had a jiggly belly. Marinette was mighty tempted to reach out and poke him, but she refrained because he was just doing his job and shouldn’t be distracted.

“Their royal highnesses, King Tom Dupain, Queen Sabine Cheng, and Princess Marinette Dupain-Cheng!” the Lord Duke called, gesturing them into the chamber.

Her father walked straight up to King Gabriel and bowed to him. Gabriel stood and welcomed the family with open arms, embracing Tom.

Marinette thought Gabriel looked like a killjoy. But he was hugging her father and making him laugh, so Gabriel clearly couldn’t be all bad.

Marinette’s eyes wandered around the room. The walls were solid gold, and the floor was the same headache-inducing pattern as the floor in the hallway. The overlapping smells of perfumes from all the nobles were sick-making, but the scents of a huge feast on tables lining the sides of the room were delicious. The combination made Marinette heady.

Sabine gently pushed Marinette onward towards the cradle. Marinette nearly stumbled; she was madly clumsy in her normal, everyday life, much less in a starched dress with a cinch around the waist. Sabine reached out and caught her by the shoulder with a knowing smile, and Marinette felt her cheeks grow hot.

Finally, she made it over to the bassinet holding the tiny person they’d all come to see. Adrien looked like a fragile, little doll. He was swaddled in a purple blanket with gold trimming that seemed like it was about to swallow him up. He was nearly bald, with only a wisp of blond hair spread like thin mortar across his misshapen head. His face was squished and red, and if he weren’t asleep, Marinette knew he’d be whining for something.

She wrinkled her nose.

This is who we came to see? she thought, huffing. The food is more interesting than him.

“The most honored and exalted excellencies, the three good fairies,” the Lord Duke called, and Marinette whipped her head towards the doorway to the hall, seeing no one, “Mistress Mylène, Mistress Rose, and Mistress Alix!”

On cue, a beam of heavenly light flowed down from the stained glass windows. The fairies arrived with sparkles, floating down into the throne room and landing on the floor. One had pink hair and was dressed in a green gown, the other was a blonde wearing blue, and the third still had dreadlocks of all sorts of colors in a red dress.

Marinette had never seen a real fairy before. “How important is this baby?” she whispered to her mother, who shushed her and dragged her away from the cradle.

The fairies flew towards the cradle by the throne and immediately started gushing. “Oh, the little darling!” the blonde said, before they as one turned to curtsey to King Gabriel and Queen Emliie. “Your majesties.”

“Each of us the child may bless with a single gift. No more, no less,” the one with dreadlocks said, and floated over to the cradle. “Little prince, my gift shall be the gift of beauty.”

He sure needs that, Marinette thought, huffing. She folded her arms, but her mother took her hand to get her to unfold them.

The one with dreadlocks, Mistress Mylène, Marinette remembered, raised her wand and waved it, which made sparkles fly up in the air.

Oooh, Marinette thought. Magic!

Marinette was spellbound. The magic flowed into the cradle, blanketing the little boy with glittery light.

“One gift, beauty rare,” Mylène sang softly, swinging her wand back and forth. “Full of sunshine in his hair. Lips that shame the red, red rose, he’ll walk with springtime wherever he goes.”

Neat!

Mistress Rose, the blonde, flew to the cradle next. She had a squeaky voice, which almost made Marinette laugh. But Marinette figured she shouldn’t laugh at a fairy, so she kept her mouth shut. “Tiny prince, my gift shall be the gift of song.”

Rose, too, waved her wand and covered the prince in sparkles. “One gift, the gift of song.” Rose’s voice was a clear as a brook as she sang. “Melody his whole life long. The nightingale's his troubadour, bringing a sweet serenade to his door.”

The gift of song? Singing is useless, Marinette thought, nearly rolling her eyes. Better to give him the gift of shooting a bow or something.

Lastly, Mistress Alix flew to the cradle and hovered in front of it. “Sweet prince, my gift shall be the--”

A gust of wind blew the doors to the castle open. Lightning and thunder roared, and Marinette covered her ears from the booming sounds. Flags whipped in the wind. She stared straight ahead as a woman dressed in blue and pink appeared in a ball of navy blue fire, followed by her pet raven, who landed on her fan.

Is she another fairy? Marinette thought, feeling herself rooted to the spot. The woman oozed evil; Marinette’s heart ached to find a sword and fight, but her body kept her frozen in terror.

Rose gasped. “Why, it’s Mayura!”

“What does she want here?” Alix whispered, but Mylène shushed them both.

“Well, quite a glittering assemblage, King Gabirel.” Mayura smiled icily. She gestured around the room. “Royalty. Nobility. The gentry. And--” She chuckled. “--How quaint. Even the rabble.” She made a sweeping motion towards the other fairies.

What’s rabble mean? Marinette thought, furrowing her brow. What’s an assemblage?

Alix started forward, her face twisted in a sneer, but Mylène held her back.

Mayura continued. “I really felt quite distressed at not receiving an invitation.” Her smile hadn’t left her blue, blue lips. Even her skin was blue, Marinette thought. Creepy.

Alix shook off the concerned arm of her friend. “You weren’t wanted!”

Mayura’s eyes widened. “Not wa--?” she started, her mouth opening up into an ‘o’ of surprise. Then she chuckled again. “Oh, dear, what an awkward situation. I had hoped it was merely due to some oversight. Well, in that event, I’d best be on my way.”

Is she going to leave? Marinette thought, cocking her head to the side. The evil fairy didn’t seem like she was going to leave, but what did Marinette know about the minds and wills of fairies?

Queen Emilie stepped forward. “And you’re not offended, your excellency?”

“Why, no, your majesty,” Mayura said, bowing her head. “And to show I bear no ill will, I, too, shall bestow a gift on the child.”

Her smile became a wicked smirk, and Marinette’s instincts flared to life and demanded that she move. She had to protect Adrien. She must! Marinette tried to fling herself in front of the cradle, but her mother still had a grip on her shoulder and roughly dragged her back.

“Marinette!” her mother whispered. “What are you doing?”

“The b-baby...” Marinette whimpered. Her mother’s grip was too tight! “She’s going to--”

“Listen well, all of you!” Blue flames licked Mayura’s fan. “The prince shall indeed grow in grace and beauty, beloved by all who adore him.” Marinette couldn’t take her eyes off the witch. “But before the sun sets on his twentieth birthday, he shall prick his finger on the spindle of a spinning wheel…”

She swirled her hand around her fan, and a vision of monsters and a spinning wheel appeared in the orb. Marinette bit back a terrified gasp. “And die!”

The last image showed Prince Adrien--or someone who could be Prince Adrien--on his deathbed. Marinette set her jaw, grinding her teeth. This witch had to go down. Marinette wouldn’t allow anything to happen to the precious Adrien.

“Oh, no!” Queen Emilie cried, ripping Adrien out of the cradle and cupping the back of his head against her shoulder. Mayura laughed triumphantly as the baby began screaming.

King Gabriel pointed at Mayura. “Seize that creature!”

“Stand back you, fools!” Mayura spread her arms up in the air. Blue fire exploded out from her. The guards--and Marinette--watched in shock and fear as Mayura disappeared in a flash of lighting, cackling, as her raven flew out of the castle.

Tears pricked Marinette’s eyes. She’d only met Adrien, and now he was cursed to die? He was just a baby! He didn’t do anything wrong! She turned to her mother, throwing herself against her legs. Marinette wrapped her arms around Sabine’s waist and buried her nose in her mother’s belly.

“It’s not fair!” Marinette’s voice was muffled by Sabine’s dress, but the girl’s wail was loud enough to be shushed. Marinette choked out a sob. Adrien was still crying; there was no reason she shouldn’t be, too.

“Don’t despair, your majesties,” Mylène said, and Marinette jerked her head up to see the fairy gesturing to her friend. “Alix still has her gift to give.”

“Then she can undo this fearful curse?” Gabriel said, placing his hand over his heart.

Oh, please! Marinette thought, hope curling in her chest. Adrien’s piercing cry rang out among the stone and gold bricks, bouncing off the walls and tiled floor. Please say she can!

“Oh, no, sire,” Alix said, and Marinette’s hope plummeted down like a stone in her gut falling to the floor. Nausea punched her in the throat; she gripped her mother’s dress even tighter, until her fists were white and bloodless.

“Mayura’s powers are far too great,” Mylène said, and Marinette’s breath hitched twice. She was crying for real now, tears streaming freely down her too-hot cheeks.

Then Rose said something that cracked the stone of Marinette’s hope wide open again. “But she can help!”

Alix looked uncertain, twisting her wand in her hands. “But--”

Rose laid a hand on her friend’s shoulder, her wings fluttering. “Just do your best, dear.”

Mylène gestured towards the cradle, where the queen had laid the squalling Adrien. “Yes, go on.”

Alix approached the cradle. Marinette bit her lip. “Sweet prince,” the fairy said, waving her wand. Adrien calmed, but still hiccuped a couple of times. “If through this wicked witch's trick a spindle should your finger prick, a ray of hope there still may be in this, the gift I give at thee.”

Marinette released Sabine from her death grip and stepped forward, her lips slightly parted. All her attention was narrowed down to the end of Alix’s sparkling wand. “Not in death, but just in sleep the fateful prophecy you’ll keep,” Alix said and a rush of gratitude overwhelmed Marinette. “And from this slumber you shall wake when true love’s kiss the spell shall break.”

Marinette wrinkled her nose again. True love’s kiss? Better than nothing, I guess.

But she didn’t care how the curse would be broken, just that Adrien had a chance to live. Relief flooded Marinette, making her dizzy. She sat down on the floor, but her father swept her into his arms and held her aloft.

“Papa,” she whimpered. “Papa.”

“It’s okay, Marinette,” Tom said, patting her back. “It’ll be okay.”

Gazing down at the wriggling bundle in the cradle, her sweet prince, Marinette wasn’t so sure.

Chapter Text

But King Gabriel, still fearful of his son’s life, did then and there decree that every spinning wheel in the kingdom should on that very day be burnt. So it was done.

Mylène was supposed to be drinking tea. She was supposed to be celebrating the birth of France’s heir. She was not supposed to be stressed and anxious about a curse they had no hope of breaking.

Pacing near the table where her two fairy companions and a cabinet sat, Mylène ground her teeth. “Oh, silly fiddle faddle!”

Rose gestured to the teacups. “Now, come have a nice cup of tea, dear. I’m sure it’ll work out somehow.”

Alix scoffed. “Well, a bonfire won’t stop Mayura.”

“Of course not,” Mylène said, twisting her hands around her wand. If she wasn’t careful, she’d break the elm wand with a phoenix feather embedded in it. “But what will?”

Rose, ever the optimist, smiled a little and pointed to the sky. She rose from her seat. “Well, perhaps if we reason with her…?”

“Reason?” Mylène said, her brows shooting into her multicolored hairline.

Alix seemed to agree. “With Mayura?”

“Well,” Rose said, plopping down on her chair again. “She can’t be all bad.”

“Oh, yes,” Mylène said, pursing her lips. “She can.”

Alix stood and stomped her foot. “I’d like to turn her into a fat, ole hoptoad!”

Rose tutted. “Now, dear, that isn’t a very nice thing to say.”

Mylène entertained the idea of Mayura hopping around, warts on her toady butt. Mylène allowed herself a small smile before shooting down the idea. “Besides, we can’t. You know our magic doesn’t work that way.”

Rose clasped her hands together next to her chin. “It can only do good, dear, to bring joy and happiness.”

“That would make me happy,” Alix said, and Mylène stifled a laugh. Alix was such a character. Their trio was well-balanced with Alix as the ever-consuming fire, Rose as the quenching water, and Mylène as the steady earth--despite their gowns not being color-coordinated in that way. Mylène favored pinks and reds, Alix for some ridiculous reason wore blue, and Rose enjoyed green.

But that didn’t solve the problem of what to do about Prince Adrien. He was such a lovely baby; Mylène didn’t want anything to happen to such a precious child. “But there must be some way…”

She tapped her chin with her wand, pacing back and forth and back and forth. What would Mayura not expect? she thought. There has to be a way...Then an idea struck her. “Oh, there is!”

Alix choked on her tea. “There is?”

“What is it, Mylène?” Rose asked, blinking owlishly at her with those large, blue eyes.

“I’m going to… shh, shh, shh! Even walls have ears,” Mylène said, sneaking around the corners, her companions rising from the table and trailing behind. “Follow me!”

With a wave of her wand, Mylène minimized herself and flew into the cabinet resting on the table. The cabinet contained a variety of useful things: sewing notions, a silver saucer, a brush, fabric, and needles. All in all, it was a pretty place to be small, but Mylène didn’t care in the slightest about that. She’d had an idea to save Adrien.

“I’ll turn him into a flower!” Mylène said, holding her wand aloft.

“Oh, he’d make a lovely flower,” Rose said, her voice more of a coo than normal.

“Don’t you see?” Mylène said, bouncing in the air. “A flower can’t prick its finger!”

Alix’s eyes widened. “It hasn’t any.”

“That’s right,” Rose said, covering her cheeks with her hands.

Mylène allowed a satisfied smile to cross her lips. “He’ll be perfectly safe.”

Then Alix dashed her hopes to bits. “Until Mayura sends a frost.”

“Yes, a… oh, dear!” Mylène said with growing horror. That would be terrible. Adrien can’t die in a frost!

Rose sighed. “She always ruins your nicest flowers.”

“You’re right,” Mylène said, setting her jaw. “And she’ll be expecting us to do something like that.”

Alix threw her hands in the air. “But what won’t she expect? She knows everything.”

“Oh, but she doesn’t, dear.” Rose laid a hand on Alix’s shoulder. “Mayura doesn’t know anything about love, or kindness, or the joy of helping earnest.” Rose shook her head, taking on a faraway look. “You know, somehow I don’t think she’s really very happy.”

Something Rose had said pricked something in Mylène’s mind. But would Mayura expect…? Mylène’s shoulders straightened. An epiphany struck her. “That’s it, of course! It’s the only thing she can’t understand and won’t expect.”

Her wings buzzed behind her as she zipped around the cabinet. “Oh, oh, now, now… we have to plan it carefully. Let’s see, woodcutter’s cottage, yes, yes, the abandoned one, of course the king and queen will object, but when we explain it’s the only way…”

“Explain what?” Alix said, raising her brows.

Mylène clapped her hands around her wand, a broad grin stretching her lips. “About the three peasant women raising a foundling child deep in the forest.”

Rose smiled. “Oh, that’s very nice of them.”

Alix appeared more skeptical, as well she should, Mylène thought. “Who are they?”

Mylène made a circle with her wand and pointed at the saucer. “Turn around!”

As Alix and Rose turned around to look at their reflections in the silver surface, Mylène smirked. She waved her wand and changed Alix’s blue gown into a pink peasant’s outfit. Rose’s green-themed outfit morphed into a drab brown and orange dress, and Mylène patted herself on her back for the pleased look on Rose’s face.

Rose squealed. “Why, it’s… us!”

Alix groaned. “You mean, we, us?”

Rose whirled to Mylène, her eyes shining. “Take care of the baby?”

Mylène shrugged. “Why not?”

“Oh!” Rose clapped her hands. “I’d like that!”

Alix glared at the saucer. She dragged her wand across the air in front of her, changing her pink dress to blue. “Well, yes, yes, but will we have to feed it?”

“And wash it and dress it and rock it to sleep,” Rose gushed, pressing her knuckles together under her chin. “Oh, I’d love it.”

“You really think we can?” Alix asked, biting her lip.

Mylène patted Alix on the shoulder. “If humans can do it, so can we.”

Mylène didn’t know what Alix was worried about. Surely the care of a human infant couldn’t be that difficult? And Adrien seemed to be a good baby, in so much as any innocent baby could be considered “good.”

“And we have our magic to help us,” Alix said, plucking at her peasant garb.

Rose nodded firmly. “That’s right.”

“Oh, no,” Mylène said, frowning. “No, no, no, no magic! I’ll take those wands right now.”

She stole Rose’s wand, who gave it up with an alarmed raising of the brows. Alix’s wand was a bit harder to retrieve; the pink-haired fairy dodged out of Mylène’s attempt to grab it from her.

Mylène used her wand to zap Rose’s wings away. “And better get rid of those wings, too.”

“You mean, live like mortals? For twenty years?” Alix asked, turning away from Mylène in order to preserve her grip on her wand. Mylène removed Alix’s wings, prompting an outraged squawk from her. “Now, we don’t know how. We’ve never done anything without magic.”

Mylène smirked, feeling smug. She made a grab for Alix’s wand, but Alix dodged out of the way. “And that’s why Mayura will never suspect.”

“But who will wash and cook?” Alix protested, holding her wand above Mylène’s head.

“Oh,” Mylène said, dragging Alix’s hand down. Alix, crafty girl, wriggled out of Mylène’s grip. “We’ll all pitch in.”

Rose bounced on the balls of her feet. “I’ll take care of the baby!”

“Let me have it, dear,” Mylène said, still hunting for Alix’s wand. Alix disappeared Mylène’s wings, but Mylène finally snatched the wand, much to Alix’s displeasure. “Come along now. We must tell their majesties at once.”

She hurried out of the cabinet and changed herself to normal size, starting to run to the throne room.

“Mylène!” Alix and Rose both called, stopping her in her tracks.

“Oh!” Mylène didn’t even notice that she’d forgotten to enlarge her companions. She waved her wand, and sparkles covered her two fairy friends, changing them into their normal sizes.

Convincing King Gabriel and Queen Emilie was less difficult than Mylène had expected. They wanted the best for their son, and so the king and his queen watched with heavy hearts as their most precious possession, their only child, disappeared into the night.

***

Many sad and lonely years passed by for King Gabriel and his people. But as the time for the prince’s eighteenth birthday drew near, the entire kingdom began to rejoice. For everyone knew that as long as Mayura’s domain, the Forbidden Mountains, thundered with her wrath and frustration, her evil prophecy had not yet been fulfilled.

Mayura snarled at her amoks, her search patrol of eight armored pigmen, who cowered at her rage. Thunder shook the castle walls, and lightning lit up the stones.

“It’s incredible, eighteen years and not a trace of him!” Mayura fanned herself as she strode across the floor of her throne room, her jaw set and her teeth grinding. “He couldn’t have vanished into thin air!”

She only had two more years to fulfill the promise of the curse, when Adrien would turn twenty. And she knew--she just knew--the three rabble-rousing fairies would try something to prevent Mayura from getting her way. They always did.

Her amoks cringed as she rounded on them and her raven bobbed its head as it clung to her shoulder. “Are you sure you searched everywhere?”

The amok in charge tapped his polearm on the floor. “Yeah, yeah, everywhere. We all did.”

The second servant chimed in. “Yeah, yeah!”

Mayura sighed. Amoks were stupid at the best of times; while her skill had grown exponentially in creating them, she’d still only just figured out how to make them communicate. Each amok was infused with her own energy. It was a shame her own intelligence didn’t carry over to each of them.

Mayura was beginning to lose patience. If she didn’t rein in her anger, she would do something she’d regret. “But what about the town, the forests, the mountains?”

The amok in charge snorted, his snout wrinkling. “We searched mountains, forests, and houses,” he said, and Mayura whipped her fan back and forth so she wouldn’t smack him, “and let me see, in all the cradles.”

Mayura’s brows rose. “Cradles?”

“Yeah, yeah,” the servant said. “Every cradle.”

Mayura just about bit a hole in her lip. “Cradle?” She turned to her pet raven. “Did you hear that, my pet? All these years, they’ve been looking for a baby!”

Mayura gave in to a vicious laughter that bounced off the walls. The amoks joined in, nervously at first, but then growing in volume.

She abruptly stopped laughing. “Fools!” The amok leader covered his mouth as the rest of the goons flinched back in terror. “Idiots! Imbeciles!”

Mayura slapped the air with her fan, sending lighting bolts at the search patrol. The amoks fled in horror, squealing as they were struck. The nauseating smell of roasted pig flesh filled the singed air along with the odor of ozone from the lightning.

Once they were gone, Mayura slumped miserably in her throne. “Oh, they’re hopeless. A disgrace to the forces of evil.”

It was times like this that made Mayura doubt her commitment to this quest. Prince Adrien had done nothing wrong to her; it had been that wretched King Gabriel and his wife who had slighted Mayura.

Mayura stretched her hand out. Despite being centuries old, she was shaking more from spite than old age.

It wasn’t as if Mayura hadn’t been slighted before. She’d loved Gabriel once. They’d been betrothed. He was the only human man she’d ever loved; the only human man she ever would love. She was willing to watch him grow old and die long before she did if she could only be a part of his life, which was as fragile as a candle flame and just as bright.

But then he’d chosen Emilie, a human woman, over Mayura. “I don’t want you to suffer my growing old,” he’d told her, as if it was entirely his decision. “I want to grow old with someone.”

And wasn’t that the crux of it? That Mayura was an immortal, old spinster and Emilie was a fresh-and-vibrant, young woman? Not receiving an invitation to the presentation of their son had been the last straw. Gabriel had probably thought to spare Mayura’s feelings upon seeing the blond results of their union, but Mayura would have liked to have been acknowledged as a part of his life.

While waiting for the invitation, she’d fancied herself as Adrien’s godmother. She crafted small enchantments that would amuse a toddler, wanting a child of her own. Butterflies made of smoke. Tops that never stopped spinning. Flowers that bloomed at night and glowed.

And she’d waited.

And waited.

And waited.

But it was not meant to be. The invitation never came, and Mayura had to figure out from the rumor mill that Gabriel’s son had been born.

She turned to her raven, Corbin, stroking his inky feathers with her long-nailed fingers. “My pet, you are my last hope. Circle far and wide. Search for a lad of eighteen with hair of sunshine gold and lips as red as the rose.”

She lifted her arm, sending Corbin fluttering up into the arched ceiling. “Go, and do not fail me.”

Chapter Text

And so, for eighteen long years, the whereabouts of the prince remained a mystery, while deep in the forest, in a woodcutter’s cottage, the good fairies carried out their well-laid plan. Living like mortals, they had reared the child as their own and called him Chat Noir.

Princess Marinette clung low to Tikki, her mare, as the horse darted through the forest. Sick of being cooped up in the castle while her father rubbed elbows with King Gabriel, Marinette had gone for a ride to soothe her ruffled feathers.

She was sure she wouldn’t run into any trouble this deep in the woods, but just in case, she’d brought her sword and donned her mask. Both Marinette’s ponytail and her spotted cape in the form of a ladybug’s wings streamed behind her. She sweated in her light tunic, but paid no mind to it as the wind rushed in her face. Tikki surged between her muscular thighs, dodging trees until they became too thick to really gallop through.

“Whoa, girl,” Marinette said, gently pulling back on the reins to slow the powerful animal. Tikki huffed and dropped down to a trot. She was only slightly winded, and Marinette was proud of her warhorse. She’d insisted on riding her all the way over to France, which she hadn’t visited since she was a child.

Now that Tikki’s pace was slow, Marinette could take in the sights. Summer sunlight dappled through the trees, shining on the emerald-green grass and soft, babbling brooks. Tikki picked her way through the pathway between the trees, and Marinette released the reins to throw her arms up and stretch.

Marinette breathed in the fresh, clean air of the woods. Everything smelled better out here; Paris smelled of smoke, bread, and urine but the woods smelled of soil, water, and green, growing things. The piece of wood she’d found that she planned to whittle later burned a hole in her belt pouch.

Then Marinette heard a curious sound. Is someone… singing? The voice was a man’s tenor, so sweet and lovely that Marinette had to pause to listen. She strained her ears to listen to the gorgeous song, which sounded more like nonsense than anything.

“Hear that, Tikki?” Marinette said, stroking her mare’s neck. “Beautiful! What is it? Come on, let’s find out.”

Marinette pulled on the reins to turn her horse around, but Tikki struggled against the command. “Oh, come on!” Marientte smiled down at her horse, leaning forward. “For an extra bucket of oats and a few carrots?”

Tikki nodded and Marinette dug her heels into Tikki’s sides. “Hop, girl!”

Tikki flowed across the grass like water down a hill as Marinette sat astride her. Then Tikki jumped over a log, and branches from a nearby tree seized Marinette. “Whoa!”

She felt herself falling before she saw the water of the brook rush up at her. Her hat fell off, and her cape draped around her body, soaking wet. Tikki sheepishly returned to her. Marinette scoffed and sprinkled some water at her. “No carrots.”

***

Chat loved his animal friends. They were his only friends except for his aunts, and the animals never judged him.

Except for the chipmunks. Those little rascals were terribly judgmental.

“I wonder, I wonder,” Chat sang as he strolled barefoot in the woods he called his own, “I wonder why each little bird has a someone…”

Chat held onto a thin, spindly tree, swinging around it to chase his brightly-colored feathered friends. “... To sing to, sweet things to…”

As he plucked berries to place them into a basket, he popped one into his mouth. The juice burst onto his tongue, and he nearly moaned aloud in delight. He swallowed the berry and continued singing to his animal friends, who’d follow him all during his stroll. “... A gay, little laugh melody.”

He approached a clearing in the woods, which revealed a beautiful castle afar off. “I wonder, I wonder, if my heart keeps singing, will my song go winging,” he sang, leaning his arms and his chin on the branch of a tree, “to someone who will find me and bring a love song back to me!”

Sighing happily, Chat adjusted his mask and turned to the birds. “Oh, dear, why do they still treat me like a child?”

The owl, Chat’s ever-present companion, hooted at him. “Who?”

“Why, Mylène and Rose and Alix,” Chat said, picking his way across the grass. The soft, cool blades rustled under his feet. “They never want me to meet anyone.”

The squirrel wound its way under Chat’s feet, and he walked delicately around it without tripping, naturally graceful. “But you know something? I’ve fooled ‘em,” Chat said, leaning forward with his hands on his knees. “I have met someone!”

“Who?” the owl hooted, fluttering in front of Chat. “Who? Who?”

“Oh, a princess.” Chat hummed noncommittally as his animal friends hollered and squawked around him. He chuckled at their enthusiasm. “Well, she’s tall and strong and… and so romantic.”

The rabbits hopped in place, the owl flapped its wings, and the squirrel bounced. They were all asking questions. “Oh, we walked together and talked together, and just before we say goodbye,” Chat murmured, setting his berry basket down to hug himself, “she takes me in her arms and then…”

The animals leaned forward, but Chat frowned. “I wake up.”

The animals cooed at him, lowering their heads and sinking down to the ground. Chat felt awful for them, so he tried to cheer them up. “Yes, it’s only in my dreams.” He held up a clawed finger. “But they say if you dream a thing more than once, it’s sure to come true. And I’ve seen her so many times!”

Then Chat noticed a curious thing. Some of his animal friends were missing. The owl, the rabbits, and a couple of the birds. He peered around trees for them and spotted the rabbits approaching in a pair of boots. The owl fluttered over, wearing a feathered cap and a red and black-spotted cape spread out by the other birds.

“Oh, why, it’s my dream princess!” Chat laughed, bowing to his animal friends. “Your highness! No, I’m not really supposed to speak to strangers. But we’ve met before!”

He took the cape by the “waist” and the “hand” and twirled around the woods with it and the owl. Chat sang, his voice as pure and clear as the brook. “I know you, I walked with you once upon a dream. I know you, the gleam in your eyes is so familiar a gleam.”

Alix and Rose had taught Chat to dance one night in the winter when they were all bored, and Chat put his skills to the test now. It was just for fun; surely no one was watching, though Chat did wonder briefly where the boots and cape had come from.

“And I know it’s true that visions are seldom all they seem,” Chat sang softly, pulling up close to his “princess,” as if to share an intimate moment between them. “But if I know you, I know what you’ll do: you’ll love me at once, the way you did once upon a dream.”

Chat closed his eyes and spun away from his animal friends, embracing his own shoulders and swaying on his feet. “But if I know you, I know what you’ll do: you’ll love me at once--”

A woman joined Chat’s singing. “The way you did once--”

Chat’s eyes shot open, his heart slamming into his throat. He choked around it, his hands turning slick with sweat.

The woman finished the song. “Upon a dream.”

Chat whirled around to see a stranger in a red and black-spotted mask that matched the cape. Her tunic was red and her breeches--breeches? She’s wearing pants?--were made of supple, black leather. She had comfortable-looking boots and spotted gloves, along with a sword strapped to her side.

“Oh!” Chat said, his eyes flicking to the deeper part of the woods.

“I’m awfully sorry,” the stranger said, raising a hand. “I didn’t mean to frighten you.”

Chat hands trembled. He’d never seen someone his own age and height--his aunts were all shorter than he was and significantly older. “It’s not that. It’s just that you’re a… a…”

“A stranger?” The woman looked more amused than she had any right to be, Chat thought petulantly.

“Mmhmm,” he hummed, rubbing the back of his head with a gloved hand.

“But don’t you remember?” she said, flashing a grin. Her teeth were white and quite pretty, Chat thought. She sure has a beautiful smile. “We’ve met before!”

“We…” Chat started, his eyes wide. He couldn’t ever remember meeting a stranger. Never. He had begun to think that he and his aunts were the only people who existed. He’d heard stories of other people, but they were only stories. But this woman completely upended his theories about being alone. “We have?”

Being in the presence of this stranger was taboo. It was forbidden.

It was exhilarating.

Peering at the woman from beneath his lashes, Chat felt his heart fluttering in his chest.

“Of course!” she said, placing one hand on her hip and gesturing with the other. Her brash confidence was inspiring. “You said so yourself: once upon a dream!”

Her voice rang out, not as clear as Chat’s but clear enough, and on key. “I know you, I walked with you once upon a dream.”

She offered her gloved hand, and Chat hesitated, but only for a moment. Placing his hand in hers, he was stunned as she pulled him into a dance where she led. He was hypersensitive to her touch, his every nerve on fire. “I know you,” they sang together, Chat’s voice growing more and more solid, “the gleam in your eyes is so familiar a gleam…”

They waltzed by a lake, Chat finding himself completely swept away by this dangerous stranger. Her footwork was flawless--as was his--and though they’d never danced together before, they could predict each other’s steps. The couple moved as one, completely in sync, as if they’d fought a thousand battles together and knew the lines of each other’s bodies.

The woman spun Chat, and he whooped, gladly allowing himself to enjoy the free-falling feeling of being twirled about. Dancing with a partner was so much better than dancing with animals; Chat knew he’d be spoiled from now on.

Chat could see the way her eyes sparkled with amusement, crinkling slightly. He could see the way her pretty, pink lips turned up at the corners. He could see the way she was looking at him--and heat rose in his cheeks.

They spun and spun and spun, dancing around the forest with the stranger in the lead. As the waltz came to a close, they were both panting with effort and, on Chat’s part, no small amount of excitement. Chat’s fingers lingered on hers, as did hers on his waist.

Her lips parted, and Chat wanted nothing more than to hear what she had to say. “Who are you?” she said, cocking her head. “What’s your name?”

“Hmm?” Chat murmured, too enraptured by the cadence of her voice. “Oh, my name. Why, it’s, it’s…” Chat remembered the warning of his aunts: never ever speak to strangers. He stepped back from this dangerous lady, covering his mouth.

“Oh, no, no,” he spoke through his fingers. “I can’t, I… Goodbye!”

He began to run off, but stumbled when he heard her call after him. “But when will I see you again?”

Chat knew he should run. He was terrified his aunts might find out and that they’d be angry with him for circumventing their warning. But he didn’t want to run.

He didn’t want to leave behind this opportunity to get to know someone else, someone he already felt a deep connection to. This woman had a magnetic pull on him; she’d reached into his heart with her brash confidence and pulled.

But he must run. He must. He hugged himself, staying rooted to the spot. He had to answer her question, though: when would they see each other again? “Oh, never, never!”

“Never?”

Chat turned back to her, biting his lip. “Well, maybe someday.”

“Someday sounds good to me,” the woman said, chuckling. “If that’s okay with you.” She reached out and then pulled her hand back. “But you seem nervous. I don’t want to force a friendship on you.”

“Oh, no!” Chat said, his eyes going wide. The woman’s own eyes glinted with mirth. “I want to be your friend! I mean… I would like that very much!”

She offered her hand then, and Chat took it, intending to bow over it and possibly kiss her knuckles, like he’d been taught. Instead, she shook his hand, taking him aback.

What a strange woman, he thought, a smile tugging at his lips. “What’s your name?” he asked. “I can’t give you my full name yet.”

“Do you really think that’s fair?” She laughed, and Chat wanted nothing more than to make her laugh always. “Well, if you can’t give me your name, I’ll give you only one of mine: Ladybug.”

“Chat.” That smile grew wider and wider, threatening to run away with his heart. He hadn’t let go of her hand, and from the lighthearted grin she was giving him, she didn’t seem to mind. Feeling squirmy, Chat pulled his hand back quickly. Am I touching her wrong? He’d never touched anyone but his aunts before, so he was uncertain as to whether he’d been doing it correctly.

“Well, Chat,” she said, and Chat luxuriated in the way her tongue rolled over his name, “I have some snacks with Tikki, my mare. Would you like some?”

“Oh, would I!” Chat bounced on the balls of his feet. He leaned forward into Ladybug’s space. “I love snacks.”

Ladybug laughed again, her voice as clear as a bell, and Chat knew she was laughing with him rather than at him. It endeared her to him even further. “Take it easy,” she teased, pushing him back by his nose. “The food isn’t going to bolt.”

She turned and walked to her horse, who had been tied up and hidden in a copse of trees. Chat followed, and Ladybug rubbed the animal on the neck, whispering nonsense words to her. Chat’s new friend retrieved some hard cheese, some grapes, and some delicious-smelling bread with a platter from the saddlebags. “Baked fresh this morning by my papa.”

“What’s it like having a father?” Chat wondered aloud, causing Ladybug to blink at him. “Sorry, all I have are my aunts.”

“Depends on the kind of father you get, I suppose. I was lucky; my papa’s great.”

She sat down under the shade of a tree and offered him some grapes. He popped the juicy, purple fruit into his mouth and chewed, closing his eyes. “Mmph, that’s good.”

“Do you not often get fruit?” Ladybug asked, pulling a knife out of her boot to start slicing the bread and cheese. She carefully set her sword on the ground next to them. “I saw you were picking berries before.”

“I don’t often get anything I don’t pick myself, no,” Chat said, shrugging. He thanked her for the food and tore into the bread, moaning in delight when the yeasty deliciousness melted on his tongue.

The crust of the bread was perfect, with just the right amount of crispiness. The mouthfeel of the inside was spongy and soft, and the taste! Oh, the taste was divine, sweet and salty all at once. It had a flavor he could both smell on the air before he bit into it and see as a slight gloss on the inside and a deep, golden brown color on the outside.

“This is sooo gooood.” Chat stuffed his entire piece into his mouth, and Ladybug laughed again. He beamed at her, feeling slightly sheepish but content.

Ladybug cut him another slice of bread, which he scarfed down as well. “Do you do all the baking at home as well?”

Chat nodded. “I do. I can follow a recipe, but none of my baking creations have heart, you know? My aunts are useless in the kitchen, especially…. Well, I can’t give you their names either.”

Ladybug shrugged, popping a piece of cheese into her mouth. She chewed and swallowed. “I don’t mind. I’m just glad to get to know you, Chat.”

“Likewise, Ladybug.” Chat felt warm, and not from the summer heat. He felt warm from the inside out.

He was hyper aware of her presence beside him, watching the rise and fall of her chest as she breathed and the flicker of her eyelashes as she blinked. She was fascinating to him; he wanted to be a part of everything she did.

Why am I feeling this way? Chat wondered, hesitantly accepting another piece of bread from Ladybug. I’ve only just met this woman. She’s… She could be anyone. She could even be a bandit. Do normal people carry knives in their boots?

Chat lowered his hands to his lap, watching her own, delicate ones. The food is good, though. I don’t think she’d come all this way just to poison me. He blinked down at the bread on his thigh. What if it’s poisoned?

“Chat?” Ladybug asked, cocking her head at him. “Are you all right?”

Chat blurted out the first thing that came to mind. “You’re not trying to poison me, are you, Ladybug?”

Ladybug sputtered. “What? No, of course not.” She let loose a soft laugh. “I’m eating the food, too.”

Chat eyed her suspiciously. “What if it’s a poison you’re immune to?”

“Give me one good reason why I’d come all this way to poison a random boy in the woods.”

She’s got me there. Freed from his fears about the food being something that could kill him, Chat dove into eating the bread and cheese and fruit with gusto.

Between the two of them, they polished off the snacks quickly, with Chat eating the bulk of it. He didn’t realize how hungry he’d been and was sorely disappointed when there wasn’t any more food.

Chat rubbed the back of his head. “Maybe I can bring the snack next time.”

“Bring enough to feed an army,” Ladybug teased, her eyes glittering. “You’re a growing boy who needs his strength.”

“Hey!” Chat puffed his chest out. “I’m eighteen tomorrow!”

“Happy birthday!” Ladybug said, clapping her hands together once. “I should make you a cake!”

“I’ve never had a cake,” Chat said, already feeling his mouth water.

Ladybug furrowed her brow at him. “Never? You’ve missed out on a lot. What else have you missed out on?”

Heat crept up from Chat’s chest to his neck and settled in his cheeks. “Well, um, you’re my first friend. I’ve never seen anyone outside of my aunts.”

Ladybug’s jaw dropped. “No one? No one at all?”

Chat rubbed his cheeks. “No one. Which is why it’s so weird that I’m so comfortable around you.”

Ladybug smirked playfully. “Aside from the worries about poisoning.”

“That was a one time thing!”

Ladybug giggled at his surliness. “Well, I’m in France for a while, staying at the Tuileries Palace in Paris. I’ll come back tomorrow and bring you a cake.”

Chat stared at her, eyes wide. “You will? Really, you will? You weren’t joking?”

“I keep my promises,” Ladybug said, taking his hand to shake it again. Once again, Chat was hypersensitive to her touch, worried if he was holding her hand wrong.

He wanted to show her his gratitude. He wanted to show her he cared about her as a friend. So he kissed her gloved palm, feeling a rush of heat in his cheeks. “Thank you, Ladybug.”

She flushed just as deeply as he was sure he was, her cheeks turning a beautiful, dusky rose color. “Oh, um, sure.” She extricated her hand from his loose grip, collected the empty platter, and stood. “Tomorrow, then?”

Chat liked the way she’d said the word, as if she’d intended to keep the promise. He beamed. “Tomorrow.”

Chapter Text

On Chat’s birthday, Marinette spent all morning baking two small gingerbread cakes out of honey, breadcrumbs, ginger, cloves, and pepper.

She gently heated the honey in a pan and brought it to a boil, scraping off the scum that appeared on the top. Then she stirred the breadcrumbs into the hot honey and let it cool, blending the spices in the mixture. Marinette transferred the batter to a small baking sheet and let it cool so she could cut it into two square cakes.

It was a simple enough recipe, but one she’d enjoyed eating in birthdays past because of how spicy it was. She paired the cakes with coffee that she’d poured into two spelled cups with lids, so that the drinks would remain hot.

And all the while, she thought and thought and thought about Chat. He was a strange boy in the woods, eager for friendship and almost a bit too excitable, more like a puppy than a cat. And while she couldn’t fault him for dressing like he did--she dressed like a ladybug, after all--she wondered why he felt the ears and claws and tail were necessary.

In short, Marinette was charmed by her new friend.

She’d never tell him she thought the ears were cute.

Just as cute as he was.

Marinette had never found boys to be interesting before this one. She’d found boys to be people to beat in archery contests and in the sword-practice ring. There was her old crush, Nino, but he was more like a brother to her, a childhood friend, rather than a love interest.

As Marinette bid her goodbyes to her mother and father, she marveled at the fact that Chat had only seen his aunts for eighteen years. Well, eighteen years, minus one day. She was the first person he’d ever seen outside of family, and she didn’t know what to feel about that.

“Hyah!” Marinette told Tikki, clinging to her with powerful thighs. “Giddyup!”

Marinette wanted to see her friend. She wanted to learn more about him; wanted to find out why, exactly, he thought she was poisoning him; wanted to find out why he’d been so alone and barefoot in the woods. He was fascinating to her--and she wanted a word with his aunts.

As Tikki darted through the underbrush, Marinette smiled. She’d get to know Chat. They might end up good friends, and since Marinette was going to board at King Gabriel’s palace in Paris for the next two years, she may as well make a friend during that time.

Unfortunately, she almost ran her new friend over with her horse. “Whoa!” Marinette pulled back on the reins, jerking Tikki to a stuttering stop.

Chat had darted out of the way with an inhuman grace; Marinette wondered absurdly if he’d had to walk with books on his head in deportment lessons like she’d had to.

“Chat!” Marinette said, leaping off her horse, reins in hand. Marinette’s heart slammed in the back of her mouth as she panted. “Are you okay? You scared me!”

“I scared you?” Chat said, resting a clawed hand on his heaving chest. His other hand gripped a picnic basket covered with a white cloth. “You scared me, Ladybug!”

That’s right, she was Ladybug to him. She reached out and drew back when he flinched. He seemed hypersensitive to every touch, so she realized she couldn’t be as bold with him as she’d been before. He was like a skittish cat, and she knew she’d have to approach him carefully.

She led Tikki over to a brook and allowed her to drink. Chat followed at a distance. “Well, now that we’ve both scared nine lives off of ourselves,” Ladybug said, “how are you?”

“Aside from being momentarily terrified, I’m fine.” Chat gave her a soft, wry smile. “You do know how to make an entrance.”

Ladybug didn’t know what to say to that. She adjusted her mask and reached into her saddlebags. “Cake, as promised.” She held out his gingerbread cake, which was wrapped in cloth. “Happy birthday, Chat.”

“Bug,” he whispered, his effervescent, green eyes shining. “You didn’t have to make me a cake, but I’m glad you did.” Chat set his basket down on a rock and unwrapped the cloth as if the cake was the most precious present he’d ever received. “What’s it made of?”

“Honey, breadcrumbs, and spices.” Ladybug reached into her saddlebags for her own little cake. The time was nearing noon, and she was famished.

“So what you’re telling me is,” Chat started, but Ladybug couldn’t put a finger on his tone, “that this bread was a pain to make?”

Ladybug bit back a laugh. “That’s terrible and you should feel terrible.”

Chat sniffed. “I’m not a piece of paper, Bug.”

“Not tearable!” Ladybug gently slugged him in the shoulder. “Terrible, T, E, R, R, I, B, L, E.”

“Is this a spelling contest?” Chat teased, his smile bright and infectious. “Because I’ll have you know I’ve never lost a game.”

“Prepare to lose,” Ladybug informed him primly. “After lunch, we’ll play Knucklebones. And I guarantee you’ll lose at that.”

“I’ve never played--wait, you brought lunch?” Chat grinned broadly. “So did I!”

“Maybe we’ll have enough food to keep up with your voracious appetite.” Ladybug laughed. “Speaking of food, let me feed Tikki and retrieve the sheep’s bones, and then we can eat lunch and our cakes.”

Ladybug tied Tikki’s reins to a tree and gave her an oats bag, which she happily munched on. Then Ladybug brought out the mylates of pork--a pork pie the chef had made just yesterday.

Chat had made a lunch of baked potatoes and fresh rainbow trout, which he’d fished up and roasted over a fire just before being almost run over by Ladybug’s horse. The coals of his fire were nearby and still hot, but the summer afternoon was warm enough for a roaring fire to be stifling, so they let the coals be.

Marinette picked bones out of her trout and chewed the meat gladly. Chat had used no butter for the potatoes, but he had salted and peppered them. The skins of the potatoes were crispy and delicious, and the insides were hot and fluffy, melting on Ladybug’s tongue in a burst of flavor.

After they’d polished off the fish, potatoes, and pork pie, it was time for the cakes and coffee. Much to Ladybug’s amusement, Chat had never tried coffee before, and the face he made at the bitterness set her to laughing.

“It’s good!” she insisted, but ended up drinking both cups.

She wasn’t sure she wanted to see a hypercaffeinated Chat anyway.

And then he took a bite of her cake.

Chat sat cross-legged in the grass, a look of child-like wonder on his face. Ladybug was amazed at how peaceful he looked, how present and in the moment. He closed his eyes slightly, tilting his chin up, with the smallest of smiles on his lips as he chewed.

“‘S good,” he mumbled around another bite and then shoved the entire cake in his mouth as if he’d never get a chance to eat again.

“Whoa, whoa, slow down.” Ladybug placed her own cake in her lap and held up her hands, chuckling. “It’s not going to run away from you, Chat.”

Chat swallowed. She wasn’t sure he’d even chewed. “I know, but it’s so good. It’s delicious, thank you. Best birthday ever.”

He had some crumbs and sticky honey on the corner of his lip. Ladybug reached out with a gloved hand, and gently wiped the crumbs away with her thumb. Chat tilted his face into her hand, causing her to drag her fingers across his lips.

She drew her hand back, rosy heat building in her cheeks. The day was suddenly too warm to be weaning a cape shaped like ladybug wings; Ladybug shed it. Chat, too, was flushing, and Ladybug wondered how he could sit there comfortably in a suit made entirely of black leather.

A suit that left nothing to the imagination on an eighteen-year-old boy used to hunting and fishing for his dinner and talking long runs, barefoot, in the woods.

What a wild child he is, Ladybug thought, considering the unruly way his hair brushed over his forehead. She wanted to smooth his bangs. Not a child. A man.

Ladybug was instantly aware of his knee sitting inches from hers, and about the shapely calf that knee was attached to. She tore her eyes away from him and focused on her cake.

To save herself from further damning thoughts, Ladybug broke her cake in half and offered it to him. Chat pointed at his chest--a nice chest, Ladybug’s traitorous mind reminded her--and smiled with white teeth.

“For me?” Chat said, taking the cake with all the reverence he’d give to sacrament. Their fingers brushed, and Ladybug drew her hands back, biting down hard on her lower lip. “Thank you.”

“Is it hot out here, or is that just me?” Ladybug stammered, fanning herself with a hand. The motion did nothing to help her flustered state.

Why am I so affected by him? she wondered, finally indulging in her cake. The earthy ginger and sweet honey coated her tongue, and the pepper was just spicy enough for the cake to have a kick to it. It’s not like he’s magically beautiful or anything!

Ladybug peered at him. Is he?

Chat shrugged, popping the entire half of her cake into his mouth. He chewed and swallowed. “It is summer.”

Ladybug wondered what he was referring to and then abruptly remembered she’d asked him a question. “Oh, yes, summer. It’s so warm outside it makes me want to take a dip in the lake.”

Chat blinked at her. “We… could, if you wanted to.”

Ladybug gulped. “Oh, um… I mean, we could. It’s not like we’d be skinny dipping or anything.”

Chat choked. He pounded on his chest with a clawed fist, coughing. “Did you still want to play Knucklebones?”

That she could have a similar effect on him that he was having on her cheered Ladybug up immensely. She offered him a sly grin. “You sure you wouldn’t rather go swimming?”

Chat’s eyes flicked over her. He turned to face her fully. “I’m up for whatever my Lady wants to do.”

Ladybug raised a brow. “Your Lady?”

“You are a Lady, aren’t you?” Chat pointed at her bow. “No peasant carries tools that nice.”

“Ah, yes,” Ladybug said, shifting her sword at hers side. “But am I your Lady?”

Chat sat up straight, looking stunned. He glanced away, into the trees. “We’re moving a little fast, aren’t we?”

“We are,” Ladybug agreed. “Is that okay?”

Chat turned his gaze to her, his eyes searching hers. “I don’t know.”

“Just so you know,” Ladybug said, shifting away from his knees and standing to retrieve the sheep’s knuckles, “I don’t know either.”

She sat cross-legged again and cleared her throat. “But if you don’t know and I don’t know, it’s probably better to just be friends for now.”

“Do friends move fast?”

Ladybug shook her head, laying out the five bones. “Not usually? But I’ve never… Well, I’ve never met anyone quite like you.”

Chat offered his hand to her hesitantly. “Friends?”

Ladybug shook it. “Friends.”

“So, how do we play this game?”

“Knucklebones isn’t too complicated,” Ladybug said, and showed him how to choose his playing piece--the taw--by jockeying. She threw all five bones in the air and tried to catch as many as she could on the back of her hand. She caught three. “It’s easier if you spread your fingers a bit.”

Chat tried, and remarkably caught two. She didn’t think he’d be able to catch any, being a novice at the game, which made her wonder if he was magically gifted with grace, too.

The way he moved was inhuman and ethereal; he never missed a step. He’d even darted out of the way of her horse with reflexes that seemed unnatural. Even though his speech included the usual human stammers, his body flowed like supple leather sliding over skin.

Ladybug was tempted to challenge him to race. Or a swim. She really would love to see him in the water.

As he threw his taw into the air and swept the other knucklebones into his waiting hands, beating her for the third time in a row over an afternoon of games, Ladybug’s competitive edge rose in her chest.

“A race, then,” she said abruptly, causing a grin to bloom on his too-pretty face. “You versus me. To the lake and back, and no cheating.”

Chat gave her a cat-like smile, his eyes slightly closed. “I know the woods better than you.”

“You do.” Ladybug stood and returned the knucklebones to her saddlebags. She turned to him with a smile and cocked her hip, curling her fingers around it. Watching him rise to his feet in the graceful way he did everything set her heart to pounding. “But I’m curious to see how fast you run. And I’m very, very fast when I want to be.”

Chat approached her, leaning into her space. She felt his breath on her temple as he leaned forward to whisper into her ear, “Deal.”

Up close, he was even taller than she'd expected him to be. But Ladybug refused to be distracted: she had a race to win.

She placed her sword and her cape on Tikki’s saddle and removed the oat bag. Once her horse was settled, Ladybug stretched her arms over her head and arched her back. She was used to sitting on the ground, but not for an entire afternoon. She needed to move.

Chat took up a position near Tikki in the middle of the clearing, his legs slightly bent at the knee. “Ready?”

“You’d better believe it.” Ladybug mimicked his position, crouching a little, with one foot pushed forward and her other slightly behind. “One…”

“Two…”

“Three!”

Ladybug was off like a shot, pumping her powerful arms and legs as she bolted across the clearing. Chat met her step for step, his long stride eating up the distance between them. They burst together into the forest, dodging trees and scattering birds and small animals in their wake.

Chat leapt over a bush; with his legs spread and him doing the splits in the air, he looked like a ballet dancer performing a petits jetés. He landed on one foot and kept running, nearly overtaking Ladybug as she had to move around the bush.

A burst of speed from him had her staring at his muscled back. Chat glanced back at her over his shoulder, and the grin he flashed made her blood boil. Ladybug flew over the grass, rocks, and dirt, knowing her frantic footfalls were the loudest noise the forest had heard in a long while. She felt each step jar her bones, but soon caught up to Chat as he turned his shoulders to slip between two trees.

He bounded to the lake and stopped at a ledge, nearly falling into the water. Ladybug skittered to a stop, but accidentally checked him with her hip, unable to slow her momentum in time. With a yelp, he fell right into the water, sinking down like a stone.

“Chat!” Ladybug screamed, waiting with bated breath until he surfaced, laughing. He splashed her with water, causing her to shriek as the cold liquid covered her from head to toe. “Ohhh, you’re going to get it!”

Ladybug leapt into the lake, diving underneath the surface of the water and swimming down to his feet. She grasped his bare ankles and tugged viciously, dunking him under. She heard his squawk of outrage as he was dunked and smiled to herself.

Chat was as lithe under the water as he was on the land; the only ridiculous thing about him was the way his cheeks were puffed out. He swam to her and tickled her waist. She laughed, bubbles escaping her lips, and had to surface for air. Chat popped his head above the lake as she did, gasping for breath.

They looked at each other for a moment, both wearing stupidly-sheepish grins.

“Think fast!” Ladybug said, splashing Chat in the face. He sputtered and rubbed his eyes with a clawed hand, and then started splashing her back, his long, lean arms causing waves in the water to strike her in the face.

This could not stand. Ladybug buffeted him with lake water, her legs kicking below the surface. Just when she couldn’t deal with being splashed anymore, as she was giggling too much to properly splash back, she dove underneath again.

Chat hadn’t noticed her dive and was still splashing thin air, causing ripples on the lake. She grabbed his foot and started tickling with the other hand, and he kicked, trying to get away from her as he laughed long and hard. She let him go and surfaced, resting the back of her hand on her forehead.

“Admit it,” Chat said, smiling broadly, “you just wanted me in the lake.”

Ladybug winked at him. “The best kept secrets are the ones you never tell.”

Chat squinted at her. “Well, that’s not suspicious.”

Ladybug shrugged, spreading her hands as best she could while treading water. “The day was hot. And while this was initially an accident, you have to admit we’ve been having fun in the lake.”

“True.” Chat smirked at her, a playful challenge. “Race you to the end of the lake and back?”

“You’re on.”

Chapter Text

During the fall after Chat had met Ladybug, the rains came. The leaves were gilded and scarlet, falling in torrents to the forest floor as the rain weighed them down.

As Chat went out to meet Ladybug, hail pelted his hood and he regretted going barefoot. Mud squelched under his feet and between his toes, and while normally he didn’t mind the feeling, he worried that Ladybug might look down on him for being filthy and enjoying it.

Chat enjoyed everything when it came to meeting Ladybug. From the way she lit up when she challenged him to a game to her delicious cooking to the way her laughter utterly destroyed his ability to remain poised. He’d join in, his head thrown back and his mouth open wide, gleefully chortling as long as she’d let him.

The first time she came, she didn’t seem real to him. Even on the second meeting, Chat had thought she was some sort of fever dream, some fairy that had blessed him with her presence and would disappear right away.

Then she’d touched his lips, and Chat realized that Ladybug was indeed a human girl who had decided to become his friend.

He was grateful. Beyond grateful; Chat couldn’t even find the words to express how grateful he was for their friendship. He’d never had a friend before, and every time they played Knucklebones or ran a race across the forest or went for a swim, Chat treasured that time they’d spend together.

He approached their usual clearing, rain dripping off his chin. Despite his best efforts, his face was fairly soaked and very cold. Chat shivered in the chilly fall air, rubbing his arms.

As Chat rounded a large tree, he saw Ladybug standing with her back to him, soothing her horse. He called, “Ladybug! Hello!” but his voice was drowned out in the rain. Apparently, however, she had heard him, as she turned to face him with a broad smile and a little wave of a gloved hand.

“Some weather we’re having!” Ladybug’s teeth glinted as she shouted over the sound of the downpour. “A real cloudburst!”

Chat giggled. He’d never heard the word cloudburst before, and he liked it. He liked every word Ladybug said. “Yeah! We should find shelter!”

Ladybug cocked her head. “Do you know of a place?”

Chat considered that. He searched his memory of the woods, and realized he did know the perfect place: a cave a little ways from the lake, tucked into an outcropping of rock that he’d have to squeeze his way into.

Chat flashed her a thumbs up and cupped his hands around his mouth so she could better hear him. “Follow me.”

Chat heard Tikki’s pitiful whinny as Ladybug led her after him. Horses don’t like rain almost as much as I don’t, he marveled, picking his way across the matted grass and stomping through the mud.

Thankfully, thick trees surrounded the little cave, offering shelter to Tikki as well as Chat and Ladybug. Not all the leaves had fallen from the branches yet, so the canopy provided protection from the rain.

Ladybug tied up her horse and dug a cloth-wrapped club and some flint and stone out of her saddlebags. After striking the cloth against a tree, a blue flame burst into existence on the end of it. Chat’s eyes grew wide. He whistled and tipped his head towards the rocks. Ladybug trailed behind Chat, sheltering the spelled fire, as he approached the cave.

The opening was tinier than he remembered. Chat had to turn sideways and shimmy his way into the dark cave, but the small entrance made for a warm place. The cave was just tall enough for him to brush his head against the rocky ceiling. He ducked anyway.

Ladybug squeezed into the cave behind him with a grunt, her sword clattering against the side in its sheath. She held up the torch and lit the cave, showing a tunnel in the back of it.

Being wet, Chat shivered in the cold, and Ladybug set about gathering sticks and pine needles for a fire. She handed him the torch, which was cool to the touch, and flicked the flint against the stone to start the blaze. The kindling caught, and soon Ladybug began blowing on the small embers, coaxing heat out of the fire.

Chat pushed his hood back and sat cross-legged by the comfortable fire, holding his gloved hand out to warm it while the other hand grasped the torch. The rain pattered outside the cave, soothing him, and the crackling of the fire bounced off the rock walls. The scent was delicious; sulphur and pine-scented smoke, which thankfully escaped out the entrance to the cave so he and Ladybug didn’t suffocate.

“You can probably set that down now,” Ladybug told him, shedding her cape that looked like a pair of insect wings. She spread it out on the cave floor near the fire to dry. Chat, having set the magical torch down on a rock where it burned merrily, followed suit and took off his cape, laying it out.

Chat shook his head rapidly, causing water droplets to fly off in every direction, and Ladybug laughed. She held her hand up to keep herself from getting even more wet from his hair and smiled at him.

Chat placed his hands on the cave floor behind him and leaned back on his elbows. “Not how I expected to spend today, but it’s not bad.”

“I brought us a new game,” Ladybug said, raking a hand through her hair to clear it of rainwater. “I’ll have to go get the board and pieces from Tikki’s bags, but I think you’ll like it.”

Chat brightened, grinning at her in the semi-darkness. “I’m sure I’ll love it. What game did you bring?”

“It’s called chess,” Ladybug said but then whipped her head to the side. “Did you hear that?”

Chat’s feline ears flicked sideways. “Hear what?”

As Chat concentrated, he could barely hear the sound of heavy breathing over the rain and the fire. The breathing became a guttural growl, one of an animal. He turned his wide, alarmed gaze to Ladybug. “Something’s here.”

Ladybug stood slowly, drawing her sword as she faced the tunnel. Chat rose to his feet just as slowly, but she stepped in front of him, throwing her arm out to keep him from advancing.

Chat was struck by how wrong that was. He didn’t know how to fight and possessed no weapons, but he wanted to protect Ladybug.

Then he heard another threatening snarl and his belly turned to ice.

“Lady--” Chat started to whisper, only to be cut off by his own scream as a mountain lion leapt upon his friend. The two opponents scuffled on the ground, rolling around and through the fire, scattering coals and light everywhere. Chat dodged out of the way, skittering backward and pressing himself against the cave wall, his heart hammering in his throat.

The lion roared and then backed off as Ladybug swiped its face with her sword. Chat could practically taste the coppery scent of blood in the air. The lion lunged again, its dark claws extended.

Then the fight was over almost before it had begun. With a battle cry, Ladybug slipped under the lion in its leap, and stabbed upward, wrenching her sword between its ribs. The lion went slack, falling on top of Ladybug.

Chat panted, his body vibrating with fear and repressed emotion. He wanted to cry. She needs me! The thought galvanized his shaking muscles into action and he jumped forward to drag the dead animal off his friend.

In the light of the scattered embers and the spelled torch, Ladybug looked spitting mad. She slithered out from under the lion and stood, her sword rattling in her trembling grip. Gritting her teeth, Ladybug turned to Chat.

“Are you okay?” she said with a rough edge to her voice. Chat knew that if she started crying, he wouldn’t be able to stop.

“I should be asking you that question!” Chat said, flinging his arms around her. Ladybug jerked in his hold, but then seemed to realize where she was. The hand not holding her bloody sword came up to cup Chat’s head.

Ladybug’s fingers threaded their way through his damp hair. “I’m okay.”

Tears stung Chat’s eyes. “Ladybug, oh, my gosh,” he whispered, pressing a kiss to her cheek. “That was so dangerous. And the poor creature. I could have talked to it.”

Ladybug drew back, staring at him with wide eyes. “You can talk to animals?”

Chat wiped at his eyes with his fingers. “Of course. Can’t everyone?”

“No.”

“We invaded the lion’s home.” Chat whimpered. “And now it’s dead, all because we looked for shelter from the rain. I could have asked it if we could stay here.”

Ladybug frowned deeply. “I’m sorry, Chat.”

Chat sniffed. “Can we bring it back to life? Do you have any magic?”

“Aside from spelled torches, no, I don’t have any magic,” Ladybug said, glancing down at the dead animal. It had evacuated its bowels in death, so the cave was beginning to really stink. “We can bury it. Is that okay?”

Chat nodded dumbly, biting his lip.

Ladybug sheathed her sword but winced as she did so. With growing horror, Chat looked her over for injuries, searching for the source of the scent of blood. His eyes landed on her forearm. The elbow-length glove showed four identical scratches, a sweep of the lion’s claws. The cuts oozed blood; Chat felt faint.

“You’re hurt.” He took her wrist in his clawed hands, careful to not to touch the wounds. “Oh, Ladybug, you were hurt because of me.”

“It’s not your fault, Kitty.” Ladybug’s tone was far gentler than Chat thought he deserved. She cupped his cheek. “Hey. Look at me.”

Chat dragged his gaze from her lacerations to her face.

“I’m sorry the lion is dead. You’re right, we could have asked,” Ladybug said, her eyes soft and her touch softer. “And these are just… surface wounds. I have some herbs that can help speed the healing process. And bandages. I’ll need your help to make sure the bandages are tight, okay?”

“Okay.” Chat could do this. He could help her. He wasn’t completely useless.

“And after that we’ll bury the lion.”

Chat felt numb from the eyes down. “I can go get a shovel from my home once the rain lets up. And I can ask the other animals if anyone else lives here, and whether we can use the cave.”

Ladybug’s thumb traced his cheekbone. “There’s my smart Kitty.”

Ladybug left his side and the cave, taking the reassuring warmth of her touch with her. Chat almost cried out at being left alone, but she returned quickly enough with supplies to dress her wounds.

She had a small burn on her neck where a coal had touched her, and hissed as Chat applied a yellow ointment. Other than that and the abrasions on her arm, Ladybug was unharmed.

As she had directed him, Chat carefully peeled her glove off. He hissed at the nasty scrapes and carefully washed them out with a wet cloth. Ladybug gritted her teeth as he applied a green salve. Then Chat wrapped her arm, trying to be as gentle as he could be.

“That’s no good.” Ladybug held up her arm, where the bandage dangled. “The wrap needs to be tighter.”

Chat sucked a breath over his teeth. “Okay, I’ll try.”

Ladybug smiled at him, a smile which soon turned into a pained grimace as Chat tightened the bandage as best he could. The cloth gripped her injured arm, causing her fingers to swell slightly and turn white.

Ladybug chuckled. “Oof, that’s probably too tight.”

“Aah, I’m never going to get this right!” Chat sighed, undoing the cloth once again.

Ladybug shook her head, dabbing at the claw marks with the wet rag from earlier. “It’s okay, Chat. Just try, okay?”

Her scratches had started bleeding again and had stained the wrap already during Chat’s attempt to apply it. Chat cast the bloody cloth aside and unrolled a second bandage.

“We’re lucky you had more than one of these.” Chat grunted at the way Ladybug’s pain twisted her lips as he tightened the second wrap.

“Poor Tikki, having to carry all my stuff everywhere,” Ladybug joked, sticking her tongue out at him. “I always bring extra supplies to dress wounds and create fires.”

Chat smiled a little, feeling tension bleed out of him at her teasing. He tugged the bandage in place. Relief flooded him when she praised him. “Good, Kitty.”

Chat drew a deep breath through his nose. That turned out to be a mistake; the smell of death haunted the cave. “We still need to bury the lion. The rain’s let up, so I’ll go get a shovel.”

Ladybug picked up her sword and cleaned it off with the previous bandage. “All right. I’ll wait here for you and prepare a snack for afterwards.”

“How can you eat after burying a dead thing?”

“Trust me.” Ladybug nodded firmly. “Digging a grave will make us hungry.”

She’s such an enigma, Chat thought, wondering just what her experience with death had been to be sure about something like that. Sometimes I feel like I don’t know her at all.

***

Ladybug had been right. Burying the lion and cleaning out the cave did, indeed, make them hungry. And tired.

Ladybug’s arm ached fiercely, but she’d refused to make Chat do most of the digging for the animal she had killed. So she’d gritted her teeth and had pushed through the sting, telling herself that she could rest afterwards.

True to his word, Chat was able to talk to animals. After Ladybug had recovered from her shock, she was able to watch him ask an owl, a rabbit, and a squirrel for the use of the cave.

The animals primly--at least, Ladybug thought it was prim; who knew with squeaks and hoots--informed Chat that the cave belonged to him and Ladybug due to the rule of the forest: kill the previous occupant and take their territory. Chat had cried, twisting Ladybug’s heart in her chest.

He’s so softhearted, she thought, patting his shoulder awkwardly as tears streamed down his cheeks. Would that we were all like that.

After the animals dispersed, Ladybug pulled Chat aside. “Did you tell them that I am sorry for killing one of their own?”

“Yes.” Chat sniffled, scrubbing his clawed hands over his masked face. “They were… unsurprised. You’re apparently very dangerous, according to them.”

Guilt sank a stone into Ladybug’s belly. “Dangerous to animals. That’s me.”

“Hey, listen.” Chat shook his head, taking her hand in his and brushing his lips across the backs of her knuckles. “You were protecting me. You didn’t know that I could talk to animals. And the lion attacked first.”

“It did.” Ladybug felt like worms were eating away at her heart. “But I still feel guilty for killing it.”

Chat pulled her into an embrace, wrapping his arms around her shoulders. Ladybug nuzzled her nose against his chest, breathing in the delicious scents of leather, soil, and his sweat. He smelled like the outdoors, wild and free, with a hint of charcoal from the fire in the cave and rainwater from the downpour earlier. She knew she probably smelled the same way.

I’m as untamed as he is now. Talking to animals and everything.

Ladybug’s hands came up to cup Chat’s shoulder blades, and she relished in the contact, never wanting him to let her go. When he spoke, she felt the vibrations of his deep voice under her cheek. “Did you still want to play chess?”

And Ladybug laughed.

Chapter Text

The French royal court moved around quite a bit, Marinette realized.

In the summer, Gabriel conducted court at the Palace of Versailles, requiring attendees to ride from Paris to there on a daily basis. In the fall, he held court in the Tuileries Palace in Paris. In the winter, everyone traveled to Fontainebleau Palace.

The perfumed bodies of the courtiers and court officials crowded together in the throne room of the Tuilieries, making Marinette dizzy with the cloying, overlapping odors. Gabriel’s court was always packed.

The courtiers were a rather silly bunch, Marientte thought, after being invited to attend King Gabriel’s court to observe how the French system of government worked. It was the reason she was in France in the first place.

The French courtiers shared everything. Menstrual cycles were frequent topics of discussion, and the women also compared their nipple piercings and hair removal technicians. For someone as private as Marinette, these open attitudes came as quite a shock.

Marinette sat on a chair near the thrones of King Gabriel and Queen Emilie. The three of them were the only people allowed to sit; everyone else must stand. The almoner, the official who was in charge of distributing money to the poor, was presenting a case to King Gabriel.

“And with the upcoming winter, the peasantry will need additional assistance,” the almoner said, drool flying out of his mouth when he talked. Marinette agreed with him, but wished he would stop spitting in her direction. “Winter is always a difficult time for everyone, but especially the poorest among us.”

“I agree,” King Gabriel said, and turned to his intendents, the young officials responsible for overseeing the financial and political health of different regions. “How are our finances in Île-de-France?”

One intendent, a young woman with elaborately-coiffed hair, stepped forward. “The Région Parisienne is well-supplied,” she said, tossing her head and causing her locks to bounce. “Your majesties’ increased barley tax this year filled our coffers.”

King Gabriel nodded, and she stepped back. Marinette wondered what his proclamation would be, though she could probably guess.

“Princess Dupain-Cheng,” Gabriel said, causing Marinette’s head to whip in his direction. “What do you think about funding the poor’s needs?”

Marinette’s heart slammed in her throat. She hadn’t expected to be asked a question in the court; her opinion as a foreigner and a princess was unnecessary. But King Gabriel apparently wanted to hear it. She hoped she didn’t look as shocked as she felt.

Queen Emilie smiled down at her from the throne. “Go on, dear.”

Marinette drew a quick breath through her nose. She thought about her words carefully while she said them, not wanting to make a ruling in haste. “I believe funding the poor’s needs is an altruistic good.”

King Gabriel inclined his head but said nothing, so Marinette continued. “The health of the kingdom depends on the peasantry that grow our food, tend to our livestock, and sew our clothing. We depend on them, so they should be able to depend on us in their time of need.”

“Very good.” A smile accompanied Gabriel’s praise, warming Marinette from the inside out. “Now, on to the next order of business…”

Papa, Marinette thought, beaming. I will make you proud.

***

“Marinette!” Tom said in English, approaching his daughter with open arms in the courtyard of Gabriel’s palace. Traveling during the winter was dangerous, so he had apparently chosen to come during the fall months.

Marinette, excited to see him after half a year of staying in France, lit up with a smile.

“Papa!” Marinette said, rushing to him, her bow in her hands. She’d been practicing shooting targets, feeling as if her skills had slipped ever since she’d stopped daily practice to play with Chat. She was still planning on visiting him that afternoon. “It’s so good to see you! I’ve been waiting for so long!”

She reached her father and he wrapped her up in his arms, lifting her off her feet and squeezing her tightly. He shook her back and forth, sending her feet waggling. “It’s good to see you, too, sweetling. How are your lessons coming?”

"My lessons are fine, Papa," Marinette said, beaming down at him from her position held above him. Speaking her native language of English after six months of speaking French felt great. "My embroidery has improved and King Gabriel has invited me to observe the court."

"Pesky stuff, embroidery," Tom teased, his eyes shining. "Never could get the hang of it myself; my large fingers are more suited to baking."

"I think your fingers are lovely."

Tom laughed. "That makes one of us." He set her down and took her shoulders in his hands, his expression somber. "But I have something to tell you. Is there tea?"

Marinette nodded and led him inside the palace to a living room. "What's wrong, Papa?" Anxiety begun licking at the back of her brain. She hadn't expected her father to visit in person, so whatever he had come for had to be serious.

Tom settled in a recliner by a roaring fire in a fireplace, turning to a servant. "Tea, please, and biscuits. Thank you."

When Marinette continued standing, Tom told her to sit. She calmly took a seat on the floor at his feet, though if he disapproved, his feelings didn't show on his face.

What could he want to tell me? Marinette wondered, setting her bow in her lap and running her hands along the shaft in an effort to calm her nerves.

Tom waited until their snack had arrived from the kitchens to speak. "I think it's high time your mother and I told you why we've sent you to France."

Marinette straightened her shoulders. She cradled her teacup in her lap. "I thought it was to learn how the French conduct their courts and take the knowledge back to England."

Tom shook his head, indulging in his tea. "That's part of it, but we have experts in the field for that. No," he said, and Marinette's heart beat in her palate. "You're here not to observe but to be observed."

Marinette didn't like the sound of that. "What do you mean, Papa?"

Tom beamed down at her. “You’re betrothed, sweetling. Gabriel is seeing if you’re still a suitable match for his son, Adrien.”

Marinette’s stomach plummeted through the floor. “W-What?”

Tom picked up his dainty teacup and sipped at his hot drink as if he hadn’t just pulled the rug out from under his daughter. “You met Adrien once, do you recall? The arrangement between the kingdoms was made then.”

Marinette searched her memory. “Adrien the baby?”

Tom laughed. “Oh, I imagine he’s much bigger than a baby now. Nearing nineteen, in fact.”

What about Chat? Marinette clamped down on her budding tears. It wouldn’t do to shame herself in front of her father. “Do I have a choice?”

Tom winced. “Well… No? It’s an arranged marriage for a reason.”

Marinette set her undrunk tea down and placed her hand on her head. “I feel faint.”

“Oh, no,” Tom said, raising his hand to get a servant’s attention. “I’ll have you escorted to your room.”

Marinette stood on weak legs, gripping her bow. “Thank you, Papa.” She clung to the arm of the summoned servant but glanced over her shoulder at the door. “I won’t shame you.”

“I know you won’t, love.” Her father raised his teacup. “I trust you.”

Marinette swallowed hard. “I know.”

Chapter Text

Chat Noir had a dilemma.

Ladybug had visited everyday that summer and fall, but the winter season had brought a flurry of snow too deep for her to ride Tikki into the woods and too cold for him to walk around barefoot.

Without his friend to play games with him, Chat was bored and restless around the cottage. His aunts were his last hope. He tried Alix, the most playful aunt, first. “Aunt Alix, would you like to play Knucklebones?”

“We don’t have any bones,” Alix answered absently as she cooked the day’s stew. They never ran out of food at the cottage, regardless of how snowy it was, something Chat had never considered before due to their storehouse out back.

Then Alix blinked up at him. “Wait, when did you learn how to play Knucklebones?”

“I, uh,” Chat said, rubbing the back of his neck. “I read it in a book?”

Alix squinted at him. “Hmm. You’d better not be talking to strangers, Chat Noir.”

Ladybug isn’t a stranger, Chat thought, nodding eagerly to his aunt. Not anymore. “Yes, Aunt Alix.”

He skedaddled pretty quickly after that, finding himself in his room. He’d read all the books he had available, thrice, and couldn’t find it in him to start Beowulf again. Chat had a vague notion that books were expensive, but since he didn’t know how much things like food cost, he couldn’t possibly price out the books.

Still. If I had to sell something to strike out on my own…

Not that he would ever leave the cottage with his aunts. They were just protecting him from the world.

But Ladybug had shown him that the world outside wasn’t as bad as his aunts had told him. He marveled at Ladybug’s stories of the gentry and the peasants outside his woods, and never before had he yearned to go meet them. He wanted to be a part of their stories and make them part of his.

Chat flung himself across his bed, slowly kicking his feet in the air behind him. He sighed, resting his elbows on the bed and his cheeks in his hands. “What to do… What to do…”

He wished he could go to the cave. There he could play chess and Knucklebones and Fox and Geese with Ladybug and spend his days trading banter with her.

Well, why couldn’t he go to the cave? The blizzard had let up yesterday, and the snow wasn’t waist-high anymore. He could go there, start a fire, and pretend his friend was present. He could even go ice fishing and cook himself lunch over a fire.

He’d just have to squeeze his feet into the much-hated boots.

Chat bounded off his bed and tore about his room, looking for his mask, his fur-lined cape, and his nice, warm gloves, all of which he donned. He packed a bag with a pocketknife, a flint and stone, a fishing line and hooks, so he could make a pole to go fishing out of a sapling. Lastly, he put on two layers of socks and his boots.

He had his hand on the doorknob to the front door when he was arrested by Aunt Rose’s voice. “Where are you going, dear?”

Chat lowered the mask. “Hi, Aunt Rose. I’m heading out to go ice fishing. Okay, I love you, bye!”

Rose caught his cape and tugged him back. “Wait! Won’t you be cold?”

Chat nearly choked, and she let go of his cape. “That’s what I’ve got my warm clothes for.”

“Why not take a blanket?” Rose asked, smiling at him. “You’ve got room in your pack, don’t you?”

Chat considered that. A blanket would be nice to snuggle up under in the cave. Maybe I can leave it there from now on.

“Sure, that’s a good idea,” he said, grinning as Rose let go of his cape. “Is there a spare blanket in the closet?”

“Yes, a thick, wool one. Should wick the moisture away from your skin after being out in the snow.”

“Thanks, Aunt Rose.”

Chat retrieved his blanket and set out, stopping by the lake to chip away at the ice so he could fish. Sitting on a rock in the lake and shivering in the cold, he quickly caught four fish. He cleaned and gutted them, deciding to cook them at the cave so he could be warm under the blanket and near a fire.

Whistling in the crisp, cool air that smelled of fresh snow, Chat plowed his way through the drifts over to the cave. Giggling, he kicked up snow into the air, his breath leaving him in a white puff of condensation.

Maybe Ladybug and I can build a snow fairy, he thought, growing more and more excited at the thought of a winter spent with his friend. I bet she knows some great games we can play with snow…

The stillness the winter brought was calm and peaceful. There were no sounds aside from his boots crunching along the snow; the forest almost seemed lonely without the animals skittering about and making their usual happy noises. Chat missed his bird friends, who had migrated south for the winter.

Out of respect for the animals, Chat decided to tiptoe his way to the cave and make as little noise as possible. He crunched his way along, trying to pad along close-to-silently.

Then he heard a curious, familiar sound: a horse nickering. Tikki! Chat thought, throwing caution to the wind and bolting towards the cave. As he rounded a thick copse of trees, he did indeed see Tikki tied up in her usual spot, her hot breath exiting her nostrils like steam rising in the air.

“Tikki!” Chat called, patting the horse on the neck. She sniffed him, and he laughed. “Where’s Ladybug?”

Tikki whinnied, tilting her head towards the cave.

“Inside, I see.” Chat beamed. “Thanks, Tikki. Remind me to get you some carrots.”

Chat’s long stride took him to the cave’s entrance in a flash. He turned sideways and shimmied inside, cheerfully announcing himself. “I’m here, Ladybug!”

She didn’t answer. She was lying on the floor, curled up on her side, insensate under a thin, brown blanket. In the spelled torchlight, he saw her lips were blue and chapped and her cheeks were bright red.

Chat dropped his fish and his pack, tearing off his glove. He placed his hand next to her mouth and felt her cool breath. Pressing two fingers to her neck, he searched for her pulse.

Weak, Chat thought, but there.

Chat dove into his pack and pulled out the thicker blanket. Her skin was freezing cold, and he had to warm her up. “Why’d you come out in the snow, Ladybug?” Chat wondered, quickly tucking the blanket around her shoulders and legs. “Have you been here all night?”

Chat drew the knife that Ladybug had often used to whittle out of her boot. He exited the cave to break some branches off the trees, using the knife to trim them into smaller pieces for a fire. Kindling in hand and heart in his throat, he shimmied into the cave again, starting the fire with Ladybug’s flint and stone, which she’d set down next to the dead coals.

He exited the cave again to find Ladybug’s pot that she kept in Tikki’s saddlebags, so he could make fish broth. Chat quickly found the pot, filled it with snow, and reentered the cave, picking up the fish he’d foolishly dropped. Biting his lip as he glanced at Ladybug, he brushed the dirt off them and set them to cooking. The pot also found a place at the fire, and the snow quickly melted.

Chat knelt by Ladybug, pressing his ungloved hand to her neck again. Her skin is like ice… He had to warm her up. He must. He didn’t know what to do other than crawl in beside her and heat her up with the warmth of his body.

But that would be wrong, he thought, frowning down at her chapped face. Wouldn’t it?

Checking her pulse and finding it just as thready as before, Chat cast propriety aside and snuck under the blanket. He curled around Ladybug, pulling her back against his chest and chafing her arms with his fingers to warm them up. Her hands were slack in his grip, causing his heart to rattle around in his ribcage.

“Wake up, Bug,” Chat whispered into her hair, which smelled of soap and fresh snow. “Please wake up.”

With the heat of the fire and Chat’s worry beating at him every moment, he soon found himself exhausted. He wanted to stay up just in case she awoke, but the reassurance that she wasn’t going anywhere made him settle down against the floor. He wrapped his arms around her shoulders and closed his eyes, feeling drowsy.

Chat dozed, sure he’d be able to wake up if she did.

Chapter Text

Ladybug awoke in a curious position.

She was pressed up against something warm and hard, her arms pinned down and someone’s legs tangled with hers. She felt a heartbeat at her back, pounding slowly and steadily.

And she was warm. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d been so warm.

Ladybug smelled cooked fish, dying embers, charcoal, leather, and the unique, wonderful scent of her friend’s sweat. She didn’t even have to turn around to know who held her. Chat…

Abruptly, Ladybug remembered where she was. The cave! She didn’t know how long she’d been asleep on the floor, but her body ached and her lips felt dry and chapped. Has it been a whole day?

Ladybug had come to the cave on Tuesday, but soon found herself exhausted from the cold ride. She'd thought she could come see Chat, but a wicked blizzard had covered her and Tikki in snow.

When she'd finally arrived at the cave, she’d shivered, trying to start a fire but finding herself madly clumsy. She’d tried speaking to Tikki, but Ladybug’s speech had been slurred. And she’d been dizzy and had forgotten why she’d come.

Hypothermia, she deduced, lying in Chat's arms. Her second deduction was that Chat had come and found her passed out on the cave floor and had tried to warm her up. Hence why he’d clung to her like a limpet, and from his soft snores, had fallen asleep himself.

That wouldn’t do. Ladybug squirmed a little, turning in his hold, only to bump her nose against the hard planes of his chest. She snaked her hands out from under her and grabbed his shoulders, hauling herself up to see his face.

Chat’s grass-green eyes snapped open. “Bug,” he said, tears welling in his eyes. “It’s so good to see you awake.” He redoubled his efforts to embrace her on the floor, squeezing her tightly.

“Good to see you, too,” she rasped, her throat beyond dry and scratchy. “Do you have water?”

Chat nodded. He let her go and kicked the blankets off, causing her to shiver at the blast of cold air. “Sorry,” he said, covering her up again. “Just a second.”

He left her alone then, exiting the cave, but only for a moment. He returned a moment later with a cup full of snow. “I can melt this over the fire,” he said, rubbing the back of his neck. “And I was planning on making fish broth with the heads after we eat them.”

“Fish sounds great.” Ladybug coughed into her fist. “What day is it?”

“Wednesday. Were you here all night?”

Ladybug sucked a breath over her teeth. “Yeah.”

Chat cursed. He busied himself with melting her cup of snow and striking up a new fire, passing her the cup as soon as it was full of water. Ladybug sat up, ignoring the full-body aches and the protests of her shoulders, and sipped the water.

She’d never tasted anything better. Ladybug downed the cup as quickly as she could, gulping the water down. Frowning, she looked at the inside of the empty cup, tilting it to the side to see if there were any drops left.

Chat chuckled beside her. “More?”

Ladybug sighed. “Please.”

Chat took the cup from her and retrieved more snow and more wood for the fire. He placed the cup on the heated rocks and the wood besides the coals, feeding the fire one stick at a time. As he blew on the coals, Ladybug regarded him with amazement, wondering why she’d never seen how reliable he was before.

After she downed three more cups of water and two fish, Ladybug felt significantly better. Chat was sitting beside her, stirring the broth he’d started making out of the leftover bits of fish. His hand, which was missing a glove, weirdly enough, hovered over hers, reaching out and drawing back multiple times, as if he wanted to reassure himself that she wasn’t going to disappear on him.

After they’d woken up together on the floor, Chat never touched her. Ladybug didn’t know if she wanted him to.

“Chat,” she whispered. You saved my life, she wanted to say. “What happened to your glove?”

That… wasn’t what she meant to say. Not at all.

“Oh.” Chat stared at his bare hand as if he’d never seen it before. “I took it off to feel your breath and check your pulse.”

Ladybug’s gaze flicked to his hand. She’d never seen him without the clawed glove, and seeing his very blunt, very human nails filled her with wonder. Not recognizing what she was doing until she’d already done it, she reached out and took his hand in both of hers, tracing his long, delicate fingers and the lines on his palm.

Chat’s hand was unexpectedly and inexplicably beautiful. So enraptured by the loveliness of his knuckles, Ladybug didn’t notice his wide eyes on her until he cleared his throat. “You okay?”

“Yeah, I just--” she started but released his hand as if he’d burned her or she’d burned him. “I’ve never seen your hands before.”

Chat’s eyes narrowed in pleasure. “If I had known taking off my glove was all it would take for you to hold my hand, I would have done that a long time ago.”

Ladybug snorted, slugging him in the shoulder. “You’re terrible.”

“I’m not a piece of paper, my Lady.”

Despite herself, Ladybug laughed. She laughed long and hard, relief at being alive bubbling up from her chest and filling the cave as it exited her mouth in a guffaw. Leaning against Chat, she giggled until tears rolled down her cheeks.

And then she was full-on bawling, sobbing, choking on her cries. She didn’t know what had come over her, what caused her to lose control like this. I’m embarrassing myself! she thought, but she couldn’t stop the waterworks.

Chat, for his part, set the spoon down and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. He pulled her into his side, threading his bare fingers through her hair and stroking her head. “Ssh. You’re okay. You’ll be okay.”

“I-I could have died,” Ladybug blubbered and then the truth was out. Her fears had stripped her as naked as the day she’d been born, twisting her gut and forcing her to whimper.

Ladybug wasn’t brave like she wanted to be, like she’d thought she was. When it came to truly facing death, she was just a mewling babe lost in the woods.

Chat used his ungloved thumb to wipe the tears from her eyes, and she swallowed the urge to continue bawling. She allowed herself one last, giant sniffle, scrubbing her hands over her face.

Ladybug leaned into Chat, wrapping her arms around his waist. He’d been there for her when she needed him. Knowing that she had to tell him, she opened her mouth. But no words came.

Huddling together with Chat on the cave floor, Ladybug tried again and again to tell him how important he was to her, how much she adored him, but the words dried up in her throat and never left her lips.

After some undignified squeaking, she finally got his name out. “Chat?”

“Yeah, Bug?”

The way he was looking at her, so open and trusting, just about undid her. She didn’t know what she’d done to deserve a friend like him, so brave and compassionate and caring. “I… I lo--I mean… I…”

Chat smiled. It was the brilliant smile of a boy who’d never been hurt, who would die if it meant the animals of the forest could live peacefully, and who loved with his whole heart. “I know, Bug. I know.”

And that was the crux of it. No words needed to be said between them. He knew. She’d known he knew, and had tried to force the words out anyway.

Ladybug bumped his shoulder with hers. “Good.”

Chapter Text

"How are your lessons coming?” King Gabriel asked, popping his head into the sitting room at the palace.

Marinette hadn’t expected him to come. She’d been counting down the time until she could go change out of the accursed, stifling dress and into her breeches so she could ride out to meet Chat. Her embroidery was half done and pooling in her lap.

“They're going well,” the tutor, a prim and stuffy woman, answered for Marinette. “But they could be better; the lady is distracted.”

Marinette would bite her lip, but that wouldn’t be proper. Heat crept up her neck at Gabriel’s assessing stare. She secretly hoped he’d decide she wasn’t good enough for Adrien, that some other woman would suit the mystery prince she'd been betrothed to.

Gabriel's bespectacled eyes pierced her. "What's distracting you, princess?"

Marinette had to answer honestly. Anything less would be beneath her, and Gabriel was probably excellent at detecting lies anyway. "Thoughts of a friend."

Gabriel's lips twitched. She couldn't tell if he was amused, sad, or disapproving. "A friend? Where did you meet this friend, perchance?"

Oh, Marinette's face was so hot, she was like to choke on her blush. "In the woods, sir."

Gabriel's brows rose. When next he spoke, his voice rasped across the words in a whisper. "And this friend… what does he look like?"

"Blond," Marinette answered immediately. "Tall, with grass-green eyes and leather cat ears."

A smile tugged at the corners of Gabriel's lips. He raised a hand, addressing the tutor. "Carry on. I'm sure the lady will redouble her efforts not to be distracted so she can go see her... friend."

Marinette nearly let loose a gasp but strangled it before it could leave her lips in a rush of air. As Gabriel left, whistling a merry tune, Marinette craned her neck to watch him walk down the hall.

The tutor frowned. "Geography next."

"Yes, madam."

***

Winter passed with one last, lingering gasp, the bony fingers of cold clinging to the days.

Ladybug shook off the chill of the spring morning, leading Tikki across the new grass to the cave. Ladybug had planned to meet Chat there that afternoon, and she had a surprise for him: a top with a string that he could pull to set it to spinning.

The toy was a childish amusement, but Chat had experienced so little over his short life that he saw everything with a sense of childlike wonder. The quality endeared Ladybug to him; never before had she had a friend that felt the zeal for life that he did.

As she rounded a copse of trees, Ladybug approached the cave, seeing him standing in front of the entrance in bare feet and the blue scarf she'd knitted him. She released Tikki's reins and ran to him, tackling him in a hug. "Chat! Aren't you cold?"

Chat caught her easily, clutching her to his chest. "Oof! No, I'm fine! You know I can't stand boots. It's so nice that the weather's warming up!"

Ladybug laughed, seeing her breath in the frigid air. "If you say so."

She backed off, tucking some strands of hair behind her ear. Ladybug hadn't meant to tackle him; she'd done that on impulse. She was still unaware of where they stood on touching each other, though Chat seemed as comfortable around her as she was around him.

Still, they'd talked about moving too fast, so they weren't going to do that.

Moving too fast into what? Ladybug thought, digging her toes into the soil of the clearing. We're just good friends.

She couldn't bring herself to admit that maybe she wanted more; he was comfortable with her now, but he may not be if she told him her heart's desire.

"I've brought you something." Ladybug turned back to Tikki, who had patiently awaited her return. "It's a new toy. But it requires a flat surface."

"Ooh," Chat said, following her. "What is it?"

"A top." Ladybug brought out the green, wooden top and showed him how to work the string. Chat's eyes lit up like she knew they would.

"Thank you, my Lady!" Chat bounced on the balls of his bare feet. "I'll treasure it always."

Chat crossed the clearing to the entrance of the cave, where he'd left his pack, and placed the top inside the bag after a long, joyful look at the toy.

"So what's on the schedule for today?" Chat asked, cocking his head at her with a grin. "Swimming?"

"I wish," Ladybug said, sighing. "But it's too cold to swim. Not everyone can be a polar bear like you."

"What's a polar bear?"

Ladybug blinked. "Oh, they're, uh… great, big, white beasts that live in the northern parts of the world, where there's always snow. My tutors showed me a picture once. They have black noses."

“Neat,” Chat said, flashing her a thumbs up. “So what’s the plan?”

Ladybug scuffed her foot against the snow-dusted ground. “I was thinking… We could play Fox and Geese? Or tag?”

“Tag would be good!” Chat’s eyes brightened. “Or even hide and seek? I used to play that with my aunts when I was really little, but they thought I grew out of it.”

Ladybug chuckled. He can be so ridiculous sometimes, she thought, a smile finding its way to her lips. But didn’t I just think that his childlike wonder endeared him to me?

Ladybug reached out to pat his shoulder but drew back before touching him. “I haven’t played that in years. So you want an adult game of hide and seek in the forest?”

Chat grinned. “Sure, why not? Do you want to count or should I count first?”

“I’ll count.”

Chat turned out to be impossible to find. She only gave him a minute, but even after following the direction she’d heard him bolt off in, he was wily and the forest was huge.

Plus, he knew the woods better than she did; he’d lived here all his life.

She checked the lake. No Chat. She checked the clearing where they’d first met and danced with each other. No Chat. She checked the cave again.

No Chat, no Chat, no Chat.

After searching for him for about an hour, Ladybug just about gave up. Then she heard the giggling from above her. She whipped her head up to see him perched like a doll on a store shelf in the branches of a particularly thick tree, somewhat hidden by the new, green leaf buds that the spring had brought.

“You!” Ladybug shouted, pointing up at him with a squeak of mock-outrage. “I didn’t even think to check up!”

“I know.” Chat dissolved into joyous laughter, making her heart light.

Ladybug placed her hands on her hips and tapped her foot. “Have you been following me this whole time?”

“I absolutely have,” Chat said, his teeth shining bright white with his grin. “Leaping from tree to tree as silently as I could. I’m amazed you didn’t hear me.”

Ladybug pointed at the ground. “Come down. I’m going to pound you.”

Chat’s grin broadened even further, narrowing his eyes in pleasure. “That doesn’t give me any incentive to come down. Why don’t you come up?”

Ladybug folded her arms. “Climbing a tree is a lot easier when you have claws.”

“Meowch!” Chat waggled his brows. “Me thinks the lady doth protest too much.”

Ladybug grumbled some unkind things under her breath, gripping a branch above her head and hauling herself upwards. “When I catch you, I’m gonna show you a thing or two!”

“Just be careful,” Chat called, already leaping to a second tree. “I wouldn’t want you to fall and break your fragile bones! You are so old, after all!”

Ladybug snarled, carefully gripping another branch and tugging herself up, cautious about her footwork. “I’m only six years older than you! I’ll show you old.”

Chat, with his inhuman grace, had no problem evading her. As soon as she reached a branch where he rested, he vaulted to another tree like a real cat. He stood on a thick branch, swinging his tail as she growled at him from the tree he’d previously been on. “Having trouble?”

Ladybug grunted as she carefully stepped from tree to tree, forcing him to leap across the canopy agan. “I’m going to… First, I’ll… And then I’ll…”

“Your threats are terrifying,” Chat said in a sing-song voice, laying the back of his hand on his head and pretending to swoon. “Truly. I’m quaking in my boots.”

Ladybug grit her teeth. “You’re not wearing any boots!”

Chat glanced down at his purple toes. “Oh, yeah.”

“Just let me catch you.”

Chat snickered. “Why?”

“I’ll…” Ladybug had to come up with a threat or incentive that would either cow him or make him come running. Carrot or stick, carrot or stick… Suddenly, she knew exactly what would bring him to her side. She gave him a sly smile, forcing him still. “I’ll give you a kiss.”

Chat’s brows rose, making his mask raise with them. “Ladybug,” he breathed. “Do you mean it?”

Clinging to her tree branch, her knees knocking from how high up they were, Ladybug nodded.

As fluid as water, Chat sprung over to her tree, edging around the trunk to the thick branch she stood on. Seeing him coming, she sat down, her legs dangling over the edge, and patted the seat beside her.

Chat still looked suspicious. He squinted at her. “This better not be one of your tricks.”

“It’s not,” Ladybug said, drawing an X over her heart. “Cross my heart and hope to die.”

“Don’t die, Bug,” Chat said, his eyes impossibly soft. He sat down next to her on the branch, making it sway. Ladybug clung to the wood, her fingers digging into the bark. “I’d miss you.”

Ladybug wasn’t scared of heights. Not exactly. She just didn’t like to be perched fifty feet in the air on a branch that could break at any moment. She squeezed her eyes shut until Chat grasped her chin and drew her gaze up to his eyes.

“Bug,” he whispered, “you okay?”

Ladybug gulped. “I’m fine. Just… a little nervous.”

Chat misunderstood what she meant. He glanced at her from under his lashes. “You don’t have to be nervous about kissing me. But if you want to walk back on it, I wouldn’t--mmph!”

Ladybug seized his face in her hands and gave him a quick peck on the lips, intending to shut him up and succeeding marvelously. Chat’s cheeks glowed red under his mask. Heat pooled in Ladybug’s belly and crawled up her tight chest to her neck and face, making her feel feverish.

They stared at each other, eyes bright, lips parted, and both silent. Something had changed in the air between them. Ladybug hadn’t expected a simple kiss to make her see her partner in a new light, but as she traced her bottom lip with her tongue and Chat mimicked her, she wondered what he tasted like.

She knew his scent--charcoal, leather, and sweat--but couldn’t get a sense of his taste just from a peck.

Ladybug leaned forward, as did Chat. As their lips barely brushed, an electric current shot through Ladybug. She gasped against his mouth, breathing in his sweet breath, her eyes wide.

She had to ask the question. She must. Ladybug spoke against his lips. “What are we doing?”

Chat pulled away, shaking his head. “I don’t know.”

The heady rush of oxygen that flooded into the space he’d left made Ladybug dizzy. She gulped down air, desperate not to fall out the tree. Her shaking hands gripped the branch.

Ladybug drew a slow breath through her nose, closing her eyes. “No more hide and seek.”

“No,” Chat agreed, “no more hide and seek.”

Chapter Text

“Happy birthday, Chat!” Ladybug said, tackling him from behind in the clearing by the cave and ruffling his hair. At his grunt and forward lean, Ladybug eased off of him, backing off to allow him to straighten up. Tikki whinnied beside them, and Ladybug rubbed the horse's neck the way she might pet a rabbit.

He still wore the scarf she’d knitted him, even though in the summer there was no need. Chat sniffled as he turned to her, wiping his runny nose on the back of his glove. “Guh. Hey, Ladybug.”

Ladybug blinked at him. His eyes were red and watery, and he coughed into his fist. “Chat. Are you sick?”

“Nah.” Chat waved a hand. “Just… Just a cold.” He gave one huge, drawn-out sniff.

Ladybug frowned. She cupped the back of his head in her hand, drawing his face down to her height. Standing on her tiptoes, she kissed his forehead, and what she found distressed her. “You have a fever.”

Chat leaned back and turned his head so he wouldn’t cough into her face. “I’ll be fine.”

Ladybug pursed her lips. She seized him by the feline ear and tugged him towards the cave. “You’re going to sit under a blanket and do nothing until you’re well.”

“Ow, ow, ow.” Chat let loose a pitiful whine. “That hurts, Bug.”

Ladybug let go of his ear immediately. “I’m sorry, Chat,” she said, her eyes wide. “I didn’t know. I thought they were just leather.”

Chat rubbed his ear. “They are. Magical leather.” He offered her another sniff and a crooked smile. “They were a gift from my aunts when I was little.”

“Are your aunts magical?”

Chat’s laugh was broken up by another cough. “No, not at all. They’re just people.”

Ladybug wasn’t so sure about that. From what she’d heard of his aunts, they seemed to provide for the household without having any sort of jobs. And Chat had said she was the only other person he’d ever seen; he hadn’t even seen a farmer or someone selling tinctures. They have to get their food from somewhere.

Poor Chat, though. Ladybug regarded him with a bitten lip. Never seeing anyone…

Chat let loose a spate of coughing, breaking up her reverie. She took him by the hand and dragged him into the cave, settling him on the floor. She tucked the blanket around him. “Stay here. I’m going to go hunting for something for our stew.”

“Not the rabbits.” Chat’s whine hurt her ears. “They’re my friends. What about fish?”

Ladybug sighed. She’d yet again forgotten his connection to the forest. “Fish it is, then.”

Before exiting the cave, she picked up his fishing pole. Ladybug rode Tikki to the lake, dismounting at the edge of the water and digging for worms for bait. She found some, baited the hook, and fished up four rainbow trout.

By the time she returned to the cave, Chat was fast asleep on the cave floor, breathing through his mouth, as his nose was snotty. Setting the newly-cleaned fish aside on a rock, Ladybug knelt beside him.

Soft, she thought, looking at his pale skin and blond locks. Giving into an impulse, she took off her gloves. Her hands froze over his head, hovering there as if they, too, were uncertain about what she was planning to do.

Chat sighed in his sleep. Ladybug drew her hands away from his head quickly, as if she’d been burned. What’s wrong with me? she thought, furrowing her brow. I can’t touch him in his sleep!

Chat blinked his eyes open and smiled at her. That smile soon faded. “Bug?” He struggled to sit up, but she pressed his shoulder down. The cool contact of her fingers against his leather suit set her face ablaze. I could have touched him then. He wouldn’t have even known.

Maybe I should have touched him.

While she was deliberating, Chat made the decision over whether to touch each other for her. He tugged his arm out from under the blanket and tucked her hair behind her ear. The touch was casual, intimate; Ladybug leaned her face into his fingers, craving the caress, and he cupped her cheek.

They stared at one another for a long, spellbinding moment. It was almost as if there really was something magical between them.

Then Chat coughed, and the spell was broken. Ladybug jerked away, turning to the fire and their cooked fish. She glanced over her shoulder at him, heat spilling into her cheeks. “I made lunch.”

Chat sniffed. “Thanks. I’m… not that hungry, but I’ll try to eat anyway.”

“I’ll save these fish and make broth from the remains of mine.”

Chat laced his fingers behind his head and leaned back on the rock. “That sounds good, thanks.”

Ladybug ate her fish, the salty, white meat and crispy skin melting in her mouth. She set Chat’s fish aside and started in on the broth as promised. “Chat.”

“Yeah?”

“Do your aunts ever get sick?”

Chat blinked up at her. “I’ve never seen them sick, no.”

Ladybug knew it. She knew there was something going on with his aunts. “Not even in nineteen years?”

Chat beamed, sniffling. “I’ve only just turned nineteen today, so I couldn’t tell you about the whole year.”

“That’s right,” Ladybug said, standing to brush her knees off. “Happy birthday, Chat. I brought you a cake.”

Chat sat up, his eyes wide and fever-bright. “Thank you, my Lady. You didn’t have to, but I’m glad you did.”

Ladybug sighed. “You’re not going to be able to taste it with a blocked up nose.”

Chat stuck his lower lip out. Ladybug was tempted to poke it back into place. “I can still eat it, right?”

“Of course, you silly cat.” Ladybug chuckled. “I’m not going to pitch it into the lake.”

They’d celebrated her birthday in the fall, and never had Ladybug felt so old. Chat was a mature nineteen, but she was still six years older than he was. Sometimes the gap felt impassable; other times she felt she was nineteen right along with him. Her own parents had a gap of eight years, so she knew it wasn’t impossible to want to marry--

Marry? she thought, sucking a breath over her teeth. Where did that thought come from?

It’s not like Chat wasn’t marriage material. He was kind and compassionate. Loyal to a fault. And with her being a princess, they’d never want for anything, so his lack of practical skills in terms of being able to get a job meant they’d never go hungry.

Besides, he could always fish for their dinner.

Watching Chat watch her, Ladybug started listing off his good qualities in her head. Chat was willing to swallow his pride and apologize when he was at fault. He was a great communicator. He was dependable and kept his promises. He understood the importance of growth and the importance of play. And he treated her like an equal.

Chat was a force for good in her life. She’d never been bored around him. She’d looked forward to seeing him every day she could.

And she wanted to spend her life with him.

But she couldn’t. She was betrothed, wasn’t she? To some random prince of France she’d only met as a baby and her parents had rarely mentioned: Adrien Agreste.

Her being here in France now was all about Gabriel’s getting to know her and approving of her relationship to his son. And she’d hared off and spent her time with a boy in the woods every chance she could.

Ladybug cursed herself for starting to cry.

“My Lady?” Chat said, catching her tears on the backs of his fingers. He sniffed. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” Ladybug lied, scrubbing at her eyes with the heels of her hands. “Nothing at all.”

Chapter Text

Marinette cut into her filet mignon with care, using a gold knife. She'd been invited to sup with King Gabriel and Queen Emilie in their private dining room, and Marinette needed to make a good impression.

Despite trying to focus her attention entirely on the dinner conversation before her, Marinette itched to mount Tikki and dart off into the woods to meet Chat.

Paris and the surrounding villages were holding a week-long fall harvest festival in honor of her birthday, which meant her time was not her own.

She'd been presented to various visiting dignitaries, had kissed infants, and had kicked off multiple celebrations for both peasants and nobles. One of the gatherings for the common folk had involved a bonfire and dancing, and Marinette had longed to join in--but only if Chat had been there.

Throughout the parties, Marinette had wished more than anything that Chat could be by her side. She'd thought she'd heard his laugh once, and her heart had fluttered in her chest until she realized he hadn't come.

As her time in Paris neared a year and a half, more and more demands had been placed on Princess Marinette. She'd visited Chat less and less, explaining that the people she'd been boarding with needed her around the house.

She yearned to go back to the carefree days of her and Chat's first year together, where she'd be his Ladybug and he'd be her Chat, swimming and playing games as often as they could.

But no, she was a princess, and she'd best act like it.

Which brought her to the present moment. Marinette sliced a piece off her choice cut of meat, carefully placing the bite in her mouth without opening her lips overly wide. Gabriel and Emilie were making polite small talk about the festivals. Marinette tried to tune in, but her mind was filled with Chat, Chat, Chat.

He'd probably get overwhelmed by the crowds, Marinette thought, absentmindedly consuming her steak. The woods are so quiet, especially at night. A big party would probably scare him.

She yearned to introduce him at court, though she realized he'd have to wear shoes and he'd probably hate every minute. Chat was open and honest; he had no mind for intrigue or political machinations. The court would eat him alive…

It wasn't until she saw Gabriel's mouth moving in her direction that she realized he'd been addressing her.

Marinette bit back a flush. "Pardon?"

"I said, what's on your mind, Princess?" Gabriel said, his smile warm and his eyes warmer.

Queen Emilie chuckled. "Distracted again?"

Marinette gulped. "I apologize. The parties… I suppose I'm a bit worn out."

Gabriel raised a brow. "You certainly didn't look as if you'd been thinking of parties."

Marinette couldn't very well just leave the challenge untaken. She straightened her spine, throwing her shoulders back as much as her stiff dress would allow. "I was thinking of my friend, sir."

"Your friend?" Queen Emilie asked but then turned to her husband. "Ah, yes, the… boy you told me about."

Something about Queen Emilie's gaze looked strange to Marinette. The queen's eyes had tightened and her forehead had puckered. Her lips pulled back in a pained grimace.

If Marinette didn't know any better, she'd think that Emilie was about to cry.

Gabriel set his hand on top of his wife's and shook his head. Her face smoothed immediately, and she took on a beatific expression befitting a lady of high breeding.

"If you'll indulge an old man and his wife," Gabriel started, and Marinette nearly choked on the casual way he spoke, "we'd like to hear more of your friend."

Marinette tried not to stammer out an answer right away. She wanted to ask why, what's special about Chat, but she knew what was special about him to her. She knew what to say.

"He's loyal to a fault," Marinette began, planning to extol the virtues of her friend but also explain his vices. "He's gentle, knowing when to use his strength and when to be compassionate.

"But he can also be somewhat childish," Marinette continued, a smile stealing across her lips unbidden. "He's playful, and fun, and experiences everything as if it is new to him. But he does know when to swallow his pride and apologize."

Marinette sighed dreamily. "He's my friend."

King Gabriel laced his fingers under his chin, his eyes boring into her own. "Do you love him?"

Queen Emilie sounded scandalized. "Gabriel."

She wasn't the only one. Marinette dropped her hands to her lap, if only so she could bunch her napkin in her hands under the table. "I… don't know."

"You don't know?" Gabriel asked, his steel blue stare piercing her through. "Are you sure?"

Queen Emilie tsked. "I'll not have you torture the poor girl."

Anger straightened Marinette's spine. "I don't know if I love him, sir," she whispered. "But I do know that I'd die for him."

Marinette craved movement. She wanted something to do with her hands. Whittling, maybe. Or even embroidery. She wanted to rage and scream and stomp around the table.

But she wouldn't shame herself. She sat there quietly, a muscle in her jaw twitching, her appetite completely fled.

Gabriel took one look at her and smiled. His eyes were soft and warm on her, confusing her entirely. "That's all I wanted to know, Princess Dupain-Cheng. You’re dismissed."

What? Marinette thought, with growing alarm. What?

But she didn’t have time to ponder that. She’d been summarily dismissed from the table. Princess Marinette stood and curtseyed to King Gabriel and Queen Emilie, feeling shame twist knots in her belly.

She’d chastised him! Even though she’d whispered, she’d practically shouted!

As Marinette hurried to her room--while trying to take small steps befitting a lady--she realized that the day after tomorrow, she’d be free and could go see Chat. Finally, she thought, putting Gabriel’s strange reaction out of her mind. I’m coming, Chat!

Chapter Text

Chat sighed, tossing his third stone into the lake. He’d tried whittling like Ladybug had taught him, but his creations were never as good as hers and he didn’t have the patience to not cut his thumb with the blade.

Eight days. He hadn’t seen Ladybug for eight days. She said she’d be gone for a while, but he hadn’t even gotten to spend her birthday with her. Today was the ninth day and he couldn’t bear being alone. Being without her.

The leaves glowed with a gold lacquer tinged with scarlet, occasionally loosening from their stems and falling to the ground. The morning air smelled of rain and lightning, and Chat knew he’d better find shelter quick or he’d soon be soaking wet. Pressure had built up in the air, giving Chat goosebumps; pressure had built up behind his eyes, giving Chat the sniffles.

But he didn’t want to move. It’s not that he’d been struck by laziness--Chat was never lazy, per se--but he’d been struck by apathy, indifference, and a lack of concern or enthusiasm for anything. Ladybug was the very breath in his lungs; he didn’t know what to do with himself without her.

Sighing, he lay back in the grass, spreading his arms out over his head. “Why won’t you come, Ladybug?” Chat said, feeling tears sneak out of his eyes and roll down his temples into the grass. “What’s keeping you?”

Then her beautiful face appeared in his vision. She popped her head over his, leaning over with a smile. “Hi, Kitty.”

“Ladybug!” Chat almost sat up but stopped himself just in time to not bonk her nose with his skull. He beamed at her, rolling over to the side and scrambling to his feet so he could take her in his arms. She placed her hands on his chest and laughed at him, but he was laughing, too, so everything was good. Better now that she’s here. “Happy birthday!”

She leaned back in his hold, his hands sliding to the small of her back to let her do so. Ladybug looked at Chat, her cheeks rosy and her smile soft. Chat’s heart skipped a beat. She’s incredible.

“You were gone for so long,” Chat said, cursing himself for how whiny he sounded. “What happened? I was starting to get worried.”

“Harvest festivals,” Ladybug said, rolling her eyes. “I like them, but not when they…”

“When they?”

Ladybug looked away, nibbling on her lip. Her cheeks glowed a dusky rose color that Chat thought looked rather pretty on her. “When they take me away from you.”

Chat was still holding onto her, his hands having moved to her hips. He stepped closer into her space, their chests almost brushing. He craned his neck down, wanting to see and smell and feel nothing but her. His words were soft and breathy, an impossibly tender whisper. “I missed you, too, my Lady.”

Ladybug stared up at him, eyes wide and searching. She furrowed her brow, and her tongue darted out to moisten her lower lip.

Chat was fascinated by that tongue. It was pink and small and probably soft and wet. He’d never wanted to touch a tongue before--what a weird thing to think, he thought--but in that moment he wanted nothing more than to play with her tongue with his own.

These thoughts were scary. These thoughts were dangerous.

Ladybug couldn’t want him. He was fairly useless as a person; he had no practical skills and couldn’t provide for her. He didn’t know how to secure employment or even hold down a job if he did get one. And he was childish, always wanting to play kid’s games like hide and seek. What kind of a man played games like that? Especially if he was trying to woo someone?

Chat had no idea how to woo someone. Until this moment, he didn’t even know he’d wanted to woo her.

But even if he knew how, he knew he couldn’t. He couldn’t be the partner she needed.

She was so amazing, he couldn’t hold a candle to her.

Chat sighed and let go of her, stepping back. “Sorry, I… I don’t know what came over me.”

Ladybug blinked up at him, her hand coming up to touch her mouth. Chat wished she would stop drawing attention to her lips; he couldn’t kiss her the way he wanted.

Not that she would want him to kiss her, either. He was a useless man.

“Chat…” Her voice was so soft and gentle, Chat couldn’t stand it. He felt like she was trying to tame a skittish cat, and he refused to be soothed by her.

He looked away. “No, Bug, I’m just… I’m fine.” Chat forced a smile to his face, though he still couldn’t meet her eyes. “What’s on the schedule for today?”

Ladybug pressed her hand to his cheek, turning his gaze to face her. Her brow was puckered and she was biting her lip, drawing Chat’s attention to her mouth again. She rubbed her thumb over his lower lip, making him gasp. “What’s wrong, Kitty?”

I want to be with you but I can’t, Chat almost said, almost telling her the truth. “You don’t…” ... want me. “I’m…” ... useless.

Despite himself, Chat took her hand off his face. “I can’t, Bug. Can we just play?”

But even that was a bad idea. He wanted to show her he was a grown up, and wiling away the time by playing games wasn’t a good way to prove he was an adult.

She shook her head. “My kitty’s tangled himself up in knots and I don’t know why.”

Chat couldn’t refuse a request like that. She hadn’t asked him to explain himself, but the implication was there. “I…” he started but then buried his face in his hands. “We can’t start anything between us.”

Ladybug drew a deep, heavy breath. “I know.”

Chat stared down at her, a pit opening up in his stomach and threatening to swallow him whole. “You know?” You agree that I’m useless?

Ladybug simply nodded.

Chat’s chest held shards where his heart used to be. He rocked back on his feet, closing his eyes. With his eyes closed, his senses opened up. He could smell the soap on her skin. He could taste the electric currents in the air. He could hear a flock of geese flying high above them.

“Chat,” Ladybug said, touching his arm. “I--”

And then she shrieked.

Chat’s eyes shot open. He took her shoulders in his hands, trying to discover the source of her distress. When he realized what had happened, he bit back a laugh.

Ladybug was covered in geese poop.

Ladybug wiped at her forehead, her fingers leaving trails in the white excrement. She spat and sputtered, glaring up at the sky. “May your mothers drown in weasel’s piss!”

Chat struggled mightily not to fall over giggling. He bit his lip and covered his mouth with his hands, making a high-pitched wheezing sound. This wasn’t funny, he told himself. This wasn’t funny. This wasn’t funny.

Okay, it was hilarious.

Ladybug gave him the stink-eye. “Oh, so it’s funny to you, is it?” A smile that was so wicked Chat had to gasp bloomed on her face. She took her feces-covered fingers and waved them at him. “C’mere. You deserve to have some of this, too.”

“No way!” Chat darted backwards, giving into a spate of laughter. “I escaped unscathed and I plan to remain that way!”

Ladybug stalked after him, but Chat turned away from her and broke into a run, dodging trees. He heard her booted feet stomping in the underbrush behind him. The snarl that escaped her lips gave him goosebumps.

They ran for a while, Chat giggling and Ladybug cursing his name. Chat could run all day, if he had to, though he didn’t particularly want to. Ladybug had to get cleaned up sooner or later.

“You’ll never catch me alive!” he called over his shoulder once they’d passed the cave, only to see her right behind him. “Eep!”

“I love your ugly face so much I want to smear bird poop on it!”

“Ugly?” Chat said as he bolted around a rock, hoping it would trip her up. “How dare you?”

Ladybug hesitated. When she spoke again, he could hardly hear her, despite her pulling up beside him. They were both panting at this point, having been running for a bit. “You’re focusing on the wrong word.”

Chat slowed to a crawl, recognizing that they were well and truly pretty far from the lake at this point. He didn’t think she’d actually smear bird poop on him anymore, even though she’d never made an empty threat in her life.

Ladybug hadn’t stopped running. She accidentally ran into him, bowling them both over. Chat wrapped his arms around her and they rolled in the grass, ending with Ladybug lying on top of him and their foreheads touching.

Chat was hyper aware of the way her soft body molded to his. Their mouths were centimeters apart. He gasped and breathed in her breath, tasting the cream and raspberries she’d had for breakfast.

All he had to do to close the distance was crane his neck…

But then he felt something cold, sandy, and gel-like on his face. Ladybug had spread the stool all over his cheek. She cursed again. “It’s dry.”

He slid his hands down from her shoulders to her hips. “I didn’t think you’d actually do it.”

“You doubt my threats?” Ladybug scoffed. “I’m appalled.”

“You’re appalled?” Chat raised his brows at her. “I’m the one who should be appalled! You just plastered me with poop.”

Ladybug grinned evilly down at him. “So I did.” Chat huffed, but she continued. “I’m kind of surprised you didn’t hare up into a tree. I would have decided plastering you wasn’t worth climbing.”

“Pfft.” Chat blew a raspberry at her. “Had I thought to climb a tree, I would have done so.”

Ladybug shifted her leg so her knee was between his thighs. Then she sat up, straddling his hips. The pressure of her hips on his was terribly distracting.

Ladybug placed her hands on Chat’s chest, and he gulped. “We need to get cleaned up,” she said. “Let’s go back to the lake.”

“The lake?” Chat asked, cocking his head at her. “It’s going to rain soon. Why not just wait for the downpour?”

“No.” Ladybug shook her head. “To get this out of my hair, I’m going to need a full bath. And I want you to watch my clothes.”

Heat flared to life in Chat’s cheeks. “W-What?” he stammered. “You’re going to take off your clothes?”

Ladybug gave him a measured look. “I’m covered in bird excrement, Chat. Of course I’m going to take off my clothes. And use soap.” She poked him in the sternum. “And I need you to watch them.”

“Why?”

Ladybug furrowed her brow. “Why do you need to watch them?”

Chat nodded, swallowing hard.

“Your friends from the forest made off with my clothes before, remember?”

Chat cast his mind back to when they’d first met. Ladybug was right--his animal friends had taken her clothes to come dance with him. “We should dance again,” Chat said but that was not what he expected to say at all. He went with the sentiment, charging ahead full-boar. “It’s been a long time since we’ve danced.”

Ladybug’s cheeks colored. She turned her gaze and nodded. “Yeah. Maybe after I’m clean?”

“Of course.” Chat snorted. “I wouldn’t make you dance when you’re filthy.”

Ladybug climbed off him, and Chat felt he could breathe deeply again. He stood and offered her his arm, and they walked side by side back to the lake, where they’d left Tikki. As Ladybug rummaged around in her saddlebags, presumably for soap, Chat rubbed the horse’s neck.

“Aha,” Ladybug said, retrieving a block wrapped in a cloth. She unwrapped it to reveal a creamy, white soap, replacing the handkerchief in the saddlebags, after which she brought out two apples. “Here, I brought these for us, but you can eat one and Tikki can eat the other.”

“Okay.” Chat took the apples and bit into one. He pierced the crisp skin with his teeth, and broke off a piece of the sweet, yellow innards. “Mmph, this is good.”

Ladybug made a circular motion with her finger. “Turn around, Chat.”

Chat’s mouth suddenly ran dry. “You’re stripping here?”

“Where else would I strip?”

Chat whipped around, jamming his eyes shut. Tikki nickered at him, amused. “Well, she needs her privacy!” he answered the horse. Tikki whinnied. “Of course you don’t understand; you’re naked all the time.”

Ladybug giggled. He heard the rustling of her clothes being removed and screwed his eyes shut even tighter. Ladybug splashed into the lake with none of her usual grace, probably intending to let him know she was in the water. “Okay, Chat. Now, don’t look.”

Chat was affronted that she thought she even had to remind him. What kind of man does she take me for? “Of course I won’t, my Lady.”

Hearing Ladybug swim out further into the lake, Chat opened his eyes and offered Tikki her apple. He’d never fed a horse before, though he’d seen Ladybug hold her hand out flat when feeding Tikki, so he mimicked the action. Tikki’s nose and lower lip brushed his hand, and he giggled at how warm and soft she was.

“You know?” Chat said, watching with delight as Tikki chewed the apple. “I’d never seen a horse before you. I didn’t realize how big you guys were.”

Tikki drew in a deep breath and let it loose from her mouth and nostrils.

“No, you are a beautiful animal,” Chat confirmed, patting her shoulder. “And I’m glad we’re friends. I’m glad you and Ladybug came to my forest.”

Tikki snorted.

“You’re right,” Chat said, taking another bite of his apple. “This isn’t just my forest. It belongs to all the other animals, too.”

Tikki nosed his chest, nickering again. Chat laughed. “Okay, fine, you can eat this apple, too.” He held his hand out flat and waited for Tikki to nibble his offering off his hand. She drooled on his hand, and he wiped it off on his leg goodnaturedly. “Gross, Tikki.”

Tikki inhaled quickly, then puffed the air out through her nose so it made a soft purring sound. She raised her head and chewed on his hair, leaving him covered in drool. “Again, gross,” Chat said. “How would you like it if I chewed on your hair?”

Tikki let loose a neigh, which sounded like a bugling, ringing sound. Her confidence was reinforced by forward-pricked ears and a slightly-lifted tail; even without knowing how to talk to animals, Chat knew she was teasing him.

Chat grinned at her. “Yeah, yeah. Laugh it up, fuzzball.”

Tikki gave him a scandalized neigh.

“Okay, you’re right,” Chat said, laying his palm flat on her neck. He dragged his hand down her shoulder with a long, even stroke. “You’re not fuzzy at all. You’re gorgeous.”

Tikki huffed at him and lowered her head to the grass to start eating some of that instead. Chat let her go, realizing even without the huff that she didn’t want to be petted anymore.

Chat heard splashing. From the sound of the water dripping onto the ground and Ladybug’s grunt, Chat assumed she’d pulled herself up onto the bank. “Okay, Chat,” she called. “I’m done. Close your eyes and I’ll get dressed.”

Chat stepped away from Tikki and sat down on the ground cross-legged, shutting his eyes. “Was it a nice bath?”

“Yes, thank you. A little colder than I’d like, but that’s the fall for you,” Ladybug said, padding over to her clothes. He heard the sound of them rustling, but didn’t dare open his eyes until she gave the go-ahead. “It’s your turn. Go dunk your head.”

Chat opened his eyes and turned to her, watching as she started tying up her damp hair into her usual ponytail. “Your hair is beautiful when it’s down,” Chat murmured, heat flooding into his cheeks.

Ladybug blinked at him, lowering her hands. “You think so?”

Chat nodded. Her hair looked so soft; he wanted nothing more than to run his fingers through it. He gave into the impulse, scooping up a few strands and letting them slip through his fingers. “Yeah.”

Ladybug gasped, but then she leaned into his touch, pressing her head into his hands in an implicit demand for comfort. He scratched her scalp with the pads of his fingers, mindful of his claws.

“There was a point,” Ladybug said, closing her eyes, “when I wanted to touch your hair, too. You were asleep, and I decided against it.”

“I wouldn’t have minded.”

Ladybug shook her head. “It’s still crossing a boundary. And I wanted our… friendship to be based on mutual trust.”

Thunder cracked above them, and the rain began sprinkling down, but neither of them minded. Chat brought some of her hair to his lips and kissed it, causing her to open her eyes. “I trust you more than anyone.”

Ladybug gave him a wry smile. “Even though I covered your face in poop?”

Chat chuckled. “How many people would I trust to do that?” He bowed his head to her. “You can touch my hair now, if you like.”

“Are you sure?”

“Absolutely.”

Ladybug was hesitant at first, her gloved fingers shaky. Then she seemed to grow in confidence, stroking the strands of his hair. She mimicked his earlier actions, scratching his scalp in small circles with her blunt nails.

Chat’s eyes fluttered closed. The petting felt so good, he started purring.

Ladybug laughed, drawing her hands away. “You’re such a cat.”

Chat smiled. I can make her laugh.

She trusted him.

Maybe he wasn’t so useless after al.

Chapter Text

Ladybug let loose her snowball, which flew across the clearing between her and Chat and pelted him in the thigh as he ran. He giggled, scooping up snow to hurl at her, and Ladybug did her best to twist out of the way.

Chat’s aim was good, however, so she ended up covered in snow more often than not during their snowball fights.

Laughing, his breath leaving him in a white puff of condensation, Chat ducked behind a tree. Ladybug approached him at a dead run, holding her weapon of choice high.

But when she rounded the tree, he wasn’t there. “Chat?” she called. “Come out, come out, wherever you are!”

Snow struck the top of her head, sliding down the back of her neck. She gasped, feeling the cold, wet, unpleasant sensation of being hit by a snowball. Ladybug glanced up only to see and hear Chat cackling up in the tree.

“Hey, no fair!” Ladybug said, hurling her snowball at him. It bounced harmlessly off the branch. “You know I don’t like climbing trees!”

Chat shimmied down the trunk headfirst, looking very much like a cat as he dug his claws into the bark. As soon as he reached the middle of the trunk, he flipped over, landing on his feet on the ground. “You have to admit that was great.”

Ladybug was too busy marveling at his grace to acknowledge his words. He moved like an animal, all supple ease and fluid poise. Chat was eminently aware of his body and its capabilities, so Ladybug had begun to be aware of them, too.

He waved a hand in front of her face. “Bug?”

Ladybug blinked up at him. “Yeah?”

“You seem lost in thought,” Chat said, smiling down at her. “Should I come find you?”

Ladybug shook her head. “No, I’m just… distracted.”

Chat cocked his head at her. “What from?”

Ladybug’s cheeks bloomed with heat. She couldn’t say something like “how attractive you are.” She’d go to her grave first. “Never you mind.”

Chat peered at her suspiciously. “Hmm. I think I know what’s distracting you.”

Ladybug gulped. “Y-You do?”

Chat nodded, his expression somber. Then he beamed. The smile was like a sunbeam coming out of a cloud. “You’re worried it’ll snow too much for you and Tikki to get home!”

Ladybug heaved a sigh of relief. “Of course! Yes. I’m absolutely worried about that.”

“You could stay the night in the cave?” Chat scuffed the ground with his booted foot. “With… With me?”

Ladybug smiled a little. “I could, but I promised the people I’m boarding I wouldn’t be out all night again. That time I got trapped out here last winter really scared them.”

Chat traced a clawed finger down her cheek and across her lower lip. “That scared me, too.”

With the serious way he was looking at her, Ladybug’s breath caught in her throat. “Oh… I’m sorry, Chat.”

Chat shook his head and looked away, breaking the spell he’d had her under. “You woke up.”

“All thanks to you.”

Chat turned his head back to her with a smile. “I did what anyone would do.”

“I doubt that,” Ladybug said, grinning up at him. “Not everyone would curl up beside a lady.”

Chat flushed, rubbing the back of his head. “I never asked you if you minded.”

Ladybug took his free hand in hers, dragging his gaze down to her. “I didn’t mind. I said it then and I’ll say it again: you saved my life, Chat.”

Chat blinked down at her. “You never said that.”

Now it was Ladybug’s turn to flush. “I didn’t?” She thought back, trying to recall if she’d ever said the words but couldn’t remember. “I’m sorry. I thought I had. I’ll say it now, then.”

She reached up and cupped his cheeks in her gloved hands. “Chat, you saved my life. Thank you.”

Chat’s breath came slowly, shown in the air as a white puff. He covered her hands with his, keeping her warm fingers on his cheeks. “You’re welcome, Bug. I couldn’t very well do anything else.”

Ladybug nodded, but he continued. “You’re precious to me, my friend. I couldn’t bear it if anything were to happen to you.”

“I feel the same.” Ladybug stood on her tiptoes, rubbing her nose against his. She slipped her hands out from under his and released him, stepping back. “So clearly, nothing should happen to either of us.”

Freed from her grip, Chat laughed. “I don’t think it quite works that way, my Lady. Sometimes things happen.”

“That’s somber.”

“Indeed.” Chat’s soft, sad smile quirked his lips. “But we’ll just look out for each other. We’ll be alright.” He blinked at her. “Won’t we?”

“Of course we will be,” Ladybug said, her eyes widening. She poked him in the chest. “What’s with you? You’re being so serious.”

“Just a bit melancholy for no reason,” Chat said, that sad smile not leaving his lips. “Been thinking, though. It’s been a year and a half since you first came to me. And I wouldn’t trade that time for anything in the world.”

He furrowed his brow. “But you won’t always be with me, right? You’re just boarding with someone. France isn’t your permanent home.”

“It’s not,” Ladybug admitted, casting her gaze to the side. She peered up at his frowning face. “But it could be?”

Chat brightened. “It could?”

Ladybug drew a slow breath through her nose. “I don’t know. I don’t really control where I live. It… all depends on whom I marry. And I’ll soon find out where I’ll be living.”

“Marry?”

“Chat… I’m…” Ladybug’s heart slammed in her palate.

She had to tell him she was engaged. She’d put it off for long enough.

Ladybug tapped her index fingers together. “I’m betrothed.”

Chat raised his brows, dawning horror etching on his features. “You’re what?” he whispered and then his voice grew in volume as his eyes hardened. “And when were you going to tell me this?”

Ladybug winced. “I didn’t want to tell you at all. I don’t want it to be true.”

Chat scowled down at her. “Who is he?”

“I don’t actually know.” As Chat turned away, tears stung Ladybug’s eyes. “I’ve only met him once, when he was a baby and I was six.”

Chat folded his arms, his breath coming quick and fast. “Is that why you’ve come to France? To marry him?”

Ladybug couldn’t refuse to answer his questions. She’d already kept him in the dark long enough. She nodded, sniffling. “Yes.”

She wished she could tell what he was thinking. Ladybug knew he was displeased, but she didn’t know if he was angry at her or not.

What he spat next broke her heart. “No wonder you didn’t want to move too fast.”

“I didn’t know at first,” Ladybug said, coming around to his front. He turned away again, almost spinning in a full circle in an effort to get away from her. “I wasn’t told until last fall.”

“All this time?” Chat whispered, finally meeting her eyes. Hurt lined his gaze and tugged down the corners of his mouth. “You’ve known all this time?”

“Chat,” Ladybug said, placing a hand on his arm. He tugged himself away. Hot tears rolled down her cheeks and off her chin, landing in the cold snow and melting it in spots. “Please forgive me. I have no choice but to marry him.”

Chat muttered something under his breath that Ladybug didn’t catch. His tone was distressed and sad, so Ladybug yearned to hear what he’d said. She leaned into his space to see if he’d repeat himself. “What?”

“Never mind,” Chat said, facing completely away from her. “Just forget I said anything.”

“I didn’t hear what you said.” Ladybug came around to his front again, and though he looked away, he didn’t physically remove himself from her. “What did you say, Chat?”

Chat stared at her then, tears welling in his eyes. “I wanted to marry you.”

Ladybug gasped. She pressed a hand to her heart. “You did?”

Chat dashed away at his tears with the back of his hand. “Of course I did, my Lady.” He sniffled, scrubbing at his eyes with his fingers. “Of course I did.”

Ladybug was tempted to bury her face in her hands, but she didn’t want to take her eyes off of Chat, the man who loved her.

Ladybug knew what she had to do. Swallowing hard, she took his hand and placed it on her waist. He allowed her to manipulate him however she saw fit, which made her heart twist in her chest. He still trusts me?

She took his hand, clutching his shoulder in her free fingers. “I know you,” she sang softly, turning them in a slow waltz. “I walked with you once upon a dream…”

Chat gave her a pained grimace. Tears streamed freely down his face. “I know you,” he sang, just as quietly while they danced. "The gleam in your eyes is so familiar a gleam."

"And I know it's true that visions are seldom all they seem," they sang together, their voices only broken by soft sobs. Their steps grew slower and slower, until they were mostly leaning on each other and swaying.

“But if I know you, I know what you’ll do…” Chat sniffled, gently pressing his lips to Ladybug’s temple. She leaned into the touch, blinking slowly at him. “You’ll love me at once, the way you did once upon a dream.”

Ladybug pressed her cheek to his leather-clad chest, wetting it with her tears. As he wrapped his arms around her, Ladybug’s hands cupped his shoulder blades.

Chat rumbled underneath her, his voice both tender and bitter. “It’s not fair of you to tell me you love me when you’re marrying someone else.”

“I know.” Ladybug sighed against him, pressing her lips together in a frown. “This isn’t fair to you at all.”

Chat released her, stepping back. He wiped at his eyes with the back of his wrist. “Goodbye, Ladybug.”

Ladybug’s stomach bottomed out. “Goodbye?”

No! Ladybug thought, her eyes burning. Don’t leave me…

“I can’t be with you.” Chat turned away, but she caught his arm on instinct. “And I need time to think about what to do. I don’t want…”

“You don’t want…?”

Chat shook his head, tugging his arm out of her grip. “Goodbye.”

He bolted off into the forest. Ladybug stood in the snow, tears dripping off her chin.

“Goodbye."

Chapter Text

He’d run away.

Chat had run away from Ladybug back in winter, and not a day went by that he didn’t regret it. That day, he’d curled up in his bed and bawled his brains out, giving into his misery. He’d told himself he’d be fine the next day.

He was not.

He was a mess.

Chat hadn’t felt better for weeks. The day after he’d run away, he’d returned to the cave in a panic, hoping she’d be there. She hadn’t been. He checked the cave, the clearing, and the lake every day that winter, hoping beyond hope that he’d find her in those places and he could beg for her forgiveness for running away.

But she never showed.

Now it was mid-spring, and Chat was beginning to doubt what they’d had was real. I asked for space, he thought bitterly, tears pricking his eyes as he rounded the trees to check the cave again. As he expected but did not hope, there was no sign of Tikki or Ladybug.

He sighed, scrubbing at his face with the heels of his hands. And she’s giving it to me.

Chat turned sideways to shimmy into the cave, his bare feet striking rock. The spelled torchlight cast a blue glow over everything, a perpetual light, and Chat saw that the cave was empty aside from their fire pit, ashy and dead.

He curled up next to the ashes, dragging his clawed finger through them. What if she’s come everyday and we’ve just missed each other? he wondered, rubbing the ash off his fingers. He didn’t dare give voice to his thoughts. Wouldn’t she wait for me?

Chat pulled his knees up to his chest and rested his head on them. His tears stained his leather suit. “She wouldn’t bother waiting for me. I told her to leave.”

His voice sounded rusty from disuse and cracked around his words; aside from reassuring his aunts he was fine, he hadn’t spoken much since the winter.

“I told her to leave,” he repeated, cementing his mistake in the air. The cave smelled of dust and old fires, nothing like her scent, which Chat was already forgetting. Raspberries, he knew, and wood oil, and the unique aroma of her sweat. Chat couldn’t recall what her sweat smelled like, which only served to make him more miserable.

All he wanted to do was bury his nose in the crook of her neck and breathe her in. Thinking on her smile, the smile she might never give him again, a stone took up residence behind his breastbone. Chat couldn’t get enough air; he raised his head and gulped down precious oxygen, lightheadedness stealing over him.

His breath hitched twice. Chat was trying not to give into tears again; he’d cried so much over the winter and spring months. He’d fallen into a hole and could take no more.

Chat had to accept that Ladybug was gone and wasn’t coming back, and he was too much of a coward to go after her. He’d never gone to Paris, and never would; he didn’t belong in a city. The people were too scary, aside from Ladybug.

Whom he loved.

Chat couldn’t deny it anymore. He was in love with Ladybug. He loved her, loved her laugh, loved her cleverness, loved her way of always putting him at ease. Chat couldn’t imagine ever loving anyone but Ladybug; she’d wormed her way into his heart with so much skill, he’d been left breathless.

Ladybug was gone. She was never coming back.

But hope, that dangerous thing, flickered to life in Chat’s chest.

What if she’s waiting on a sign from me?

The thought was no more than a whisper in the back of his mind. Chat raised his head. “What if she’s waiting on a sign from me?” Saying the words gave the thought form, made it a tangible thing, one he could almost reach out and grasp in his ashy fingers.

Chat leapt to his feet. “She’s waiting on a sign from me!”

He paced in the cave, nearly cutting his bare feet on the rocky floor. What sign should I give her?

His first thought was something flashy, something exciting. He could make fireworks!

No, Chat thought immediately, biting his lip. “I’d burn the forest down. And I don’t know how to make them anyway.”

Think, Chat, think… He gently pounded his forehead with a clawed fist. “What could she be waiting for?”

Chat couldn’t sit still. He leaned on the cave wall and pushed himself off again, stomping his feet and wringing his hands. All he wanted to do was show Ladybug he still loved her and wanted her around. That was all.

Why can’t I think?

Chat thought about growing plants for her, but realized he was too impatient for that, and she might not notice a different plant in front of the cave.

But she might notice flowers. “Flowers! Of course!” Chat jumped up and smacked his head on the cave ceiling. “Ow!” He rubbed his swollen skull. He ran from the cave, pausing only to turn to the side and shimmy out the exit.

Chat ran all the way home, bursting through the door. “Aunt Alix! Aunt Rose! Aunt Mylène!”

His aunts came rushing into the room from the kitchen, where they’d presumably been having tea. “What’s wrong, Chat?” Mylène said, her eyes wide and fearful. “Did something happen?”

Chat picked his tiny aunt up and swung her around, prompting a surprised squeak. “Do you still have that book of flower symbolism?”

“Put her down, dear,” Rose said, laying a hand on his arm. Chat did as he was told, setting Aunt Mylène back on her feet. She looked nonplussed, and Chat bit back a smile.

“One moment.” Alix left the room, presumably to go get the book from her bedroom. Chat jogged in place, pumping his arms and legs. He was so excited to leave a message for Ladybug, he couldn’t possibly settle down. Mylène and Rose exchanged a glance.

Alix returned with a small, red book. Red, like Ladybug’s tunic, Chat thought, grinning at the auspicious sign.

“Thank you, Aunt Alix!” Chat said, holding his hands out for the book.

She held up a hand. “One moment, Chat.” Alix squinted at him. “Something happened to you. You’ve been mopey all winter and now you’re excited. What’s going on?”

Chat slowed to a stop, rubbing the back of his head. “Oh, uh, it’s spring! The animals are all having their babies.”

He swallowed under Alix’s scrutiny. “And I just love babies?”

Mylène shook her head. “Give him the book, dear.”

Alix sighed and passed him the book. Chat hugged it to his chest. “Thank you, Aunt Alix!”

Rose opened her mouth, but Chat darted upstairs before she could ask him any more questions. He flung himself on his bed on his belly and started paging through the book. “Bluebells…” The picture reminded him too much of Ladybug’s eyes, so he skipped that page. “Flowers that say ‘I miss you,’ hmm…”

Apparently the flowers that best said ‘I miss you’ were roses, pink carnations, white orchids, and stargazer lilies. He decided against roses due to their connotations of love; she was marrying someone else and didn’t need a declaration of love from him. Especially when he was just trying to tell her he missed her… as a friend, of course.

Chat thought back to all the places that he’d seen those flowers growing in the forest, and realized he could make his bouquet that very day. Setting the book on his pillow, he scrambled off his bed and bolted out his window to go pick up the flowers.

The carnations were easy to find; there were some growing by the blackberry bushes by the lake. The lilies were nearby the cave. But the white orchids were tricky. Chat knew Rose had grown some flowers along with their vegetables in a little plot nearby the cottage, but could he steal from his aunt?

Holding the lilies and carnations, Chat approached the vegetable plot. The orchids grew along with roses and a spate of baby’s breath. Chat crept over to the orchids, keeping an eye out for his aunt. She won’t miss one stem’s worth, right? Nerves fluttered his stomach. Surely not.

Using his claws, Chat cut one of the stems of white orchids and darted off, contraband flowers in hand. He wished he had a ribbon or something to tie the stems with, or even a vase. He decided on a long strand of grass to bind them, and left them at the cave.

Now all he had to do was wait.

Chapter Text

Marinette sniffled.

She’d been prone to crying all winter. Now it was mid-spring, and she hadn’t seen Chat for months. To her horror, she’d begun to forget certain things about him: his smile, his laugh, and the scent of his sweat.

Marinette hadn’t smiled for weeks. She’d been lonely and despondent. All she wanted to do was race back to the woods and bury her nose in the crook of Chat’s neck, breathing him in.

She loved him. She couldn’t deny it anymore.

She was head-over-heels infatuated.

And she was marrying someone else.

Marinette couldn’t stand sitting next to King Gabriel and pretending she was fine when her still-beating heart had been ripped from her chest and buried in the woods. She was doing that now, sitting at breakfast with the king and his wife, barely tasting the meal the chef had cooked… oatmush? Or was it eggs?

Marinette looked down at her plate. Eggs, then. She picked up a thick slice of bacon and placed the meat in her mouth, not tasting it. The eggs needed salt. Marinette wondered if she could salt them with her tears, and then chided herself for being melodramatic.

You’re being ridiculous, Marinette chastised herself. There’s no reason for you to be so upset. Just because you love a boy...

She watched Queen Emilie smile at her husband and touch the back of his hand, her fingers alighting gently on his knuckles.

Did you marry for love, Queen Emilie? Marinette wondered, feeling her heart squeeze painfully in her chest. Or did you learn to love the husband you were given?

Marinette knew that’s what she should do, to learn to love Adrien. She hadn’t even given him a chance.

It’d be easier to give him a chance if my picture of him weren’t a baby. Marinette noticed her thoughts becoming more and more bitter as she chewed her eggs. She again chastised herself for being ridiculous.

You could just ride out there and see Chat, a little voice whispered in the back of her mind.

Marinette had valiantly resisted that little voice for the entire winter. She hadn’t given in to temptation, and she knew she shouldn’t now. He asked for space.

Four months ago, Marinette argued with herself. Surely that’s enough.

It was an old argument, one that filled her with so much hope that she couldn’t bear it. She’d rather be lonely, pining, and despondent.

No, you wouldn’t, the little voice said. Just go see him. You know you want to.

She frowned down at her eggs, feeling tears sting her eyes. She’d cried so much over Chat, she thought she’d cried herself out. But apparently not.

“May I be excused?” Marinette said when there was a lull in King Gabriel and Queen Emilie’s conversation.

“Of course, dear,” Queen Emilie said. “Are you quite well?”

Marinette sniffled. Befitting a princess, a single tear rolled down her cheek and dripped off her chin. “No. But I will be.”

The only way you will be is if you visit him.

Shut up.

Marinette stood and swept from the room, trying to walk with decorum when all she wanted to do was bolt. She planned to fling herself into embroidery or sword practice or whatever else she could do to distract herself that she could think of.

Feeling sad was boring. She was boring.

Chat doesn’t think you’re boring.

Marinette bit down hard on her lip. Clearly her mind was just running away with her. She crested the threshold of the door out into the hallway and leaned against the gilded palace wall. She hugged herself around the middle and sank down the wall, burying her head in her knees.

What if he wants you to visit?

That thought was like a rough, mushy spot on her lip--she couldn’t stop tonguing the spot. She didn’t want to stop tonguing the spot; if she did, it would heal, and the tantalizing hope that her thoughts gave her would stop.

What if… she thought, wiping her eyes. What if he does?

Marinette couldn’t bear just waiting around anymore. She’d always been a woman of action. She was going to visit him--to clear the air at the very least.

Once she had a plan, she ceased crying. She sprang to her feet and went to get changed into her riding breeches and ladybug cape and mask. Once she was properly dressed, she stopped by the chef to request some food. Ladybug couldn’t very well see Chat without snacks. He’ll ask. I know he will. Has he been eating well while I’ve been gone?

Then she ran to the stables to find a fully-groomed and fed Tikki. Marinette mounted her. “Hup, girl!”

Chat. I’m coming.

The ride took ages. Marinette wanted to get to Chat’s woods as soon as possible, but out of love for her horse, she didn’t push Tikki as hard as she could run. Marinette gripped the reins in bloodless hands, urgency slamming her brain as if her heart was crammed in her cranium and still knew how to pound.

Finally, finally, Ladybug reached the cave. She breathed a sigh of relief and slid off Tikki’s saddle, landing with both feet on the ground. Breathless, she looked around for the leather-clad boy who owned her heart.

But Chat wasn’t there.

Ladybug’s heart sank until she saw the flowers.

She approached the entrance to the cave swiftly, picking up the dried bouquet he’d obviously left with care. Stargazer lilies, pink carnations, white orchids… Ladybug was schooled in flower symbolism like any good noble, and these were all flowers that said ‘I miss you.’ A smile found its way to Marinette’s lips as she cradled the bouquet to her chest.

She pressed one of the petals between her index finger and thumb, accidentally grinding it into a brown dust. Where did he get white orchids in a forest?

Then she heard the gasp behind her.

Already knowing who it was that stood at her back, Ladybug whirled around. Chat had his arms full of firewood, which he dropped immediately to run up to her. Just before he reached her, however, he skidded to a stop, raising his hand in an awkward little wave. “Hi, Ladybug.”

Ladybug didn’t hesitate. She threw her arms around him, crushing the flowers against his back. She dropped them in favor of cupping his shoulder blades with her hands and pressing him to her chest. “Hi? Is that all you have to say?” she teased. “Can’t you come up with something more original?”

Chat enveloped her in a hug so tight, she couldn’t breathe. He buried his nose in the crook of her neck and inhaled deeply, his breath hitching twice. Don’t cry, Chat, she thought, clinging to him and breathing him in as well. He smelled of leather and charcoal and sweat--his sweat, which was delicious and uniquely him.

She’d missed this.

“I’m so nervous and tangled up,” he whispered but then his voice turned up with a teasing lilt, “that I’m a frayed knot.”

She could punch him, she really could. She threw her head back and groaned, prompting a laugh from him. His laugh was beautiful, she realized, and all she wanted to do was to listen to that laugh for the rest of her days.

You’re marrying someone else, her brain cruelly reminded her.

But, Ladybug decided, I can worry about marriage when it comes.

Ladybug tapped Chat’s nose, causing him to wrinkle it cutely. “Don’t ever tell me you need space again.” When he squinted at her, she backpedaled. “I mean, don’t tell me you need space without a time limit. I need to know when I can come back.”

Chat nodded, his hands sliding to her waist. “I don’t ever want you to leave me for so long again, so that’s something I can agree with.”

“Can we dance?” Ladybug asked abruptly but then drew back. “I mean… I understand if you don’t want to, the last time we did was fraught with emotion and--”

“I know you,” Chat sang, his voice as clear and pure as a babbling brook and his smile just as beautiful, “I walked with you once upon a dream…”

Ladybug took his hand and his shoulder and allowed him to lead them in a sweeping waltz around the clearing. Never before had she felt so alive, so happy. “I know you,” they sang together, tears in their eyes, “that look in your eyes is so familiar a gleam.”

This. This was how her life should be. Ladybug was in Chat’s arms, and everything fit right, like the last piece in a complicated puzzle, like a sword to a sheath, like tumblers in a lock. Their dance was perfect. They knew each other, and knew nothing but each other.

“And I know it’s true that visions are seldom all they seem…” Chat’s hand spread across her upper back so he could dip her down deeply, and she giggled. “But if I know you, I know what you’ll do…”

Chat pulled her up, so they were nose to nose. His hands slipped into hers, and they laced their fingers together. The last line was a bare whisper on both their lips, and they could breathe in each other’s breaths. “You’ll love me at once, the way you did once upon a dream.”

Chat rubbed his nose on hers, the closest thing to a kiss Ladybug figured he would give her. “Ladybug,” he whispered, cupping her cheek. “I have something to tell you.”

“Yes, Chat?”

She would listen. Anything he could tell her would only be to her good.

“You taste like eggs.”

Ladybug dissolved into giggles and smacked him on the shoulder. “I didn’t exactly take the time to brush my teeth before rushing out here!”

Chat smirked down at her, all clever mirth. “What forced your hand?”

Ladybug flicked his bell. “Got tired of waiting.”

“That’s it?” Chat said, raising his brows. “I’ve been tired of waiting for months!”

Ladybug almost countered with, “why didn’t you find me, then?” but realized that would be a fool’s errand for him. He didn’t know her real name; he couldn’t just walk up to a random Parisian and say, ‘have you seen Ladybug? Wears a ponytail, stands about yea high?’

“Marinette,” she said abruptly, taking his hands in her own. “My name’s Marinette.”

“Marinette,” Chat breathed, and Marinette loved the way his tongue rolled over her name, practically purring. His was such a French pronunciation. “Can I still call you Ladybug?”

“Of course.” Ladybug grinned up at him. Dang, he was tall! “You could call me ‘Crooked-Nose Knave’ and I’d answer to the name because it came from you.”

Chat groaned softly. “Don’t give me that kind of power. I might decide to call you Churl.”

“Low-born Peasant?” Ladybug tweaked his nose. His hands slipped down to her hips as she bounced on her feet. “Oh, I know, how about Cox-Comb!”

“You’re really into being insulted, aren’t you, Gloss Pautonnier?” Chat chuckled. “I didn’t know that about you.”

“Hey now, don’t call me gluttonous.” Ladybug pouted. “Of the two of us, you eat like a horse, Mandrake Mymmerkin.”

Chat ducked his head, his eyes narrowing in pleasure. “Guilty as charged. Did you bring any snacks, Putrelle?”

“You just want me for the snacks, don’t you, Skamelar?”

“Parasite? You wound me.” Chat placed the back of his hand on his forehead and pretended to swoon. “Surely I’m good for more than just eating your snacks.”

Ladybug sighed. “I suppose I can concede that you’re a good person overall.” She beamed up at him. “After all, you wouldn’t be my friend if you weren’t.”

Chat sobered up, giving her a somber look. “I am honored to be your friend, my Lady.”

“And I yours,” Ladybug whispered, raising up on her tiptoes to give him a kiss on the cheek. Chat turned his head, catching her lips with his, but immediately turned his face away again.

“Sorry, I--” he started, but then choked on a blush. His hand came off her hip to cover his mouth as he stared at her, eyes wide. When next he spoke, his voice came through his fingers. “S’rry.”

Heat tightened Ladybug’s chest. “I should be the one apologizing. I shouldn’t have…” She was going to say “kissed you,” but she wanted to. She wanted to kiss Chat more than anything she’d ever wanted before in her life.

This is dangerous. He’s dangerous.

She broke away from him, and he let her go. Ladybug approached her horse, who nickered quietly at her, and retrieved her paper-wrapped crépes. “I brought something sweet and savory this time. Crépes with melted Brie and honey-roasted ham.”

“Oooh.” Chat clapped his hands together once. “I approve of sweet and savory.” He accepted the crépe with a murmured thanks and bit into it immediately. “Mmm. You’re a good cook, Ladybug.”

“Oh, I didn’t make these.” Ladybug waved her crépe around before putting some into her mouth. She chewed and swallowed. “But I could if I wanted to. They’re just flour, eggs, white wine, water, and salt.”

“I assume all the alcohol cooks out.” Chat stuffed the entire crépe into his mouth and chewed happily.

Ladybug nodded, taking her time with her food. She wasn’t going to give him hers as usual; she was going to enjoy this. “Imagine getting drunk off a crépe.”

Chat chortled. “You’d have to eat a lot of them.”

Ladybug nibbled a bit of her savory dessert. The ham had been perfectly preserved in brine and honey, leaving it a salty, sweet flavor that melted on the tongue. The Brie was earthy, nutty, and grassy, sticking to her palate. The crépe was light and fluffy, eggy and delicious.

She surreptitiously glanced at Chat to make sure he hadn’t lost any weight since the winter without her snacks. He looked as fit as ever, assuaging her concerns. Ladybug ate the rest of her crépe with enthusiasm. “How’s the cave?”

“Want to go inside?” Chat beamed at her, gesturing to the cave’s entrance. She didn’t answer in words, merely stalked to the entrance, turned sideways, and shimmied inside.

The cave looked exactly as she remembered it, except a bit dustier. She sneezed. There was the blue, spelled torch on the floor where she’d left it months ago, the ashes of a dead fire, and a chessboard which had seen better days but was well-loved.

Chat still hadn’t entered. Ladybug begun to have an attack of self-doubt. Does he… not want to be with me in here? Am I not… good enough for him anymore?

Chat came in, arms full of the firewood he’d gathered, preserving her from going down a spiral of self-recrimination. Ladybug heaved a deep sigh, as pleased to see him as the first time she’d laid eyes on him.

Ladybug pinched his cheek and shook his head back and forth. “I was worried about you, you know.”

“Ow! Sorry.” He set the firewood down and rubbed the back of his head in a very Chat-like movement. “I just figured you’d want a fire. It’s a chilly spring day out there.”

“Not too chilly.” Ladybug grinned, already setting wood into the ring of stones that served as their fire pit. “I bet we could go swimming if you want, and warm up afterwards by a fire in here.”

“Swimming?” Chat’s ears swiveled to face her as he perked up. “Can we race back and forth across the lake?”

Ladybug laughed. “You’re on.”

Chapter Text

“Can I open my eyes?” Ladybug asked, one hand covering her eyes and the other firmly ensconced in Chat’s grip. On the summer night before his twentieth birthday, she’d stayed until late in the evening because Chat had wanted to show her a surprise at night.

"Not yet," Chat said, tugging her along.

The rustling noises around them and the soft, springy texture under her boots told Ladybug they were somewhere--probably a field--with waist-high grass. The subtle, intoxicating scent of wildflowers filled her nose along with the strong, masculine aroma of Chat himself. Owls called softly on the edge of her awareness.

Ladybug stumbled over a rock, and Chat turned to catch her. Her cheek rested on his chest and quickly heated up with both his warmth and her embarrassment. She felt the vibrations of his chuckles under her jaw and pushed off him with a huff. "Now can I open them?"

"All right. Now."

Ladybug blinked her eyes open, letting them adjust to the near-darkness. Chat looked like liquid tar, a black-suited smudge on a field of yellow and blue flowers. His green eyes practically glowed, as did his white teeth.

"It's so dark," she said, highly amused by his pleased, smug-seeming grin. “Are we out here in the dark for a reason?”

“Watch.” Chat swept his hands through the grass, and tiny, flashing lights flooded up into the air all around them. The lights meandered in random, lazy patterns in a dance known only to them.

Ladybug gasped, clapping her hands together. “Fireflies!” She cupped her hands out in front of her, trying to get one of the bugs to land on her palms. No such luck. “I’ve never seen a real firefly.”

“Really?” Chat said, holding out one finger. One of the glowing insects landed on his index finger immediately, causing good-natured jealousy to flare up in Ladybug’s brain. “They always come out at this time, when everything’s warm and muggy.”

“I’ve lived most of my life in a city.” Ladybug shrugged, tracking the indolent, swirling movements of the lightning bugs. Chat’s beautiful face was lit up in flashes on his chin, nose, and cheeks. “You knew that.”

“Yeah, but…” Chat shook his head, his gold locks bouncing. “I still can’t wrap my head around living in a city. I’ve never been. The woods is all I know.”

“Well,” Ladybug said, cocking her head to the side. “When you come to visit me, I’ll show you around Paris.”

Chat beamed. “When I come visit you?”

Ladybug gazed up at him from under her lashes. “You will, right?”

Chat glanced at his feet. The fireflies started fading out, so he swept his hands through the tall grass and scattered them into the air again. “Yeah. Yeah, I will. Someday.”

Ladybug internally squealed. She couldn’t wait to show Chat the kitchens at the palace. “I’m looking forward to it.”

Chat gave her a lopsided smirk. “You still haven’t seen my second surprise.”

Ladybug blinked. “Second surprise?”

Chat stepped into her space, causing her breath to catch in her throat. Still smirking, he grasped her chin in his hand and turned her head up, up, up towards the sky. Ladybug’s eyes widened. The stars were gloriously bright--she could see a million of them out in the woods.

Ladybug drew a breath through her nose. “Wow.” Chat released her and stepped back, still watching her rather than the sky, or so she could see out of the corner of her eye.

Chat folded his arms. “You know about the constellations, right?”

“Of course.”

“Which is your favorite?”

“Perseus, the hero,” Ladybug answered immediately, craning her neck to grin up at Chat.

Since when has he grown so tall? she thought, admiring the lean muscles of his chest. He must have had a growth spurt in the spring--if I were going to kiss him, I’d have to stand on my tiptoes.

… If I were going to kiss him.

“The hero, huh?” Chat said, chucking. “Even with the demon star?”

“Algol isn’t terrible.” Ladybug huffed. “Just because it dims every three days doesn’t mean the star is cursed.”

“Oh?” Chat poking her in the shoulder with a grin. “And why would you know better than the astronomers?”

“I’m a woman of science as well as magic,” Ladybug said, shaking her head and bouncing her ponytail. “There has to be an explanation that makes sense.”

“Tell me, oh, wise wanderer,” Chat teased, leaning into her space with his hands clasped behind his back. Overcome by the sudden wafting of his scent over to her nose, Ladybug let him. “What explanation would that be?”

Ladybug threw her hands into the air, careful not to smack Chat in the face with her fingers. “I don’t know! I’m not paid to study the stars!”

Chat adopted a look on his face very much like a cat about to pull a thread on a sweater. His ears perked up and his eyes brightened. “What are you paid for?”

“That gets into identities, Chat.”

Chat sighed and drew back. “Yeah. Sorry.” Then he managed a soft smile that stole Ladybug’s breath. “Look.” He pointed upward. “It’s starting.”

“What’s starting?”

“Just look.”

Ladybug turned her head to see what he was trying to show her and gasped. Stars were sliding across the sky, leaving bright streaks behind them. The sky was falling! “What? What’s happening?”

“My aunts called it a ‘meteor shower,’” Chat said, sounding unperturbed. Because he was unworried about the event, Ladybug relaxed. “They also say the Earth revolves around the Sun.”

Ladybug scoffed. “That’s ridiculous.”

“It’s about as ridiculous as Algol not being cursed.”

Ladybug didn’t know what to say to that. So mesmerized by the meteor shower and so excited every time a star fizzled and burned away in the sky, Ladybug could scarcely breathe. Her voice came out in a breathy murmur. “What’s your favorite constellation?”

“Lyra, the harp.” Chat lowered himself to the ground and leaned back on his elbows. He raised a hand, indicating that she should follow him. “There’s something beautiful to me about music that could soothe anyone’s heart.”

Ladybug took Chat’s hand and curled up beside him on the grass, stirring up fireflies. Keeping her eyes on the night sky, she rested her head on his chest. “Orpheus ended up mad with grief because he couldn’t save his wife from the underworld.”

“Just because the owner of the harp met a tragic end doesn’t mean the beginning wasn’t pretty.”

Ladybug remained silent after that, save for the occasional sigh when her gaze caught another dying meteor. Chat was warm underneath her, so despite the slight chill of the summer night, Ladybug was cozy snuggled up to her friend. She hadn’t let go of his hand, and dragged his fingers over to herself to toy with them. “Oh, did I tell you?”

“Hm?” Chat sounded sleepy and content. Ladybug vowed to keep him that way.

“People finished sailing all the way around the earth last September.”

Chat turned his head to her, so she raised her head and turned to look directly into his eyes. His brows were raised and his gaze was intensely curious. “They did what?”

“Yeah!” Ladybug said, continuing to fiddle with his fingers as she sat up, sending the lightning bugs into a tizzy. Chat remained where he was, blinking up at her. “They started in September, 1519, and just finished up last year. Magellan, the leader’s name was, though he didn’t live through the entire trip.”

“That’s a shame.”

“It’s called circumnavigation--circle navigating--of the globe,” Ladybug said, starting to rub Chat’s fingers rather than just playing with them. She used her thumb and index finger to squeeze his, and he let loose a soft hiss, very much like a cat. “The journey was troublesome. They started out with 5 ships and full crews for each--270 men in total--and only 17 men made it back.”

Chat furrowed his brow. At least, Ladybug thought he did; she couldn’t see very well without the light of the fireflies, and they’d calmed. “What happened to them?”

Ladybug kneaded his palm, prompting another hiss. “Mutinies, scurvy, storms, people killing them, probably sharks--it was a whole thing.”

“Huh.” Chat let loose a yawn. His next words were thick with sleep. “You’re my whole world, Ladybug.”

“Pfft, Chat.”

“I mean it,” he said so soberly that Ladybug had to pay attention. “You show me everything I never knew I needed. You tell me all about the world out there when I’m living in a very small one of my own.”

Ladybug smiled. She released his hand to gently touch his cheek. “Who broadened whose horizons, here? You’re the one who showed me the meteor shower.”

“So that’s it, then,” Chat said, his voice a teasing lilt. “We’re just good for each other. I never want to leave your side.”

Ladybug drew a slow breath through her nose. That sounds like a marriage proposal.

And what if it was? Chat had said he wanted to marry her. And would marrying Chat be so bad? It wasn’t like she hadn’t considered the prospect before. Who was Prince Adrien to her, anyway?

Maybe Papa will understand…

“We are good for each other, Chat. We really are.”

Chapter Text

On this, his twentieth birthday, the Good Fairies had planned a party and something extra as a surprise.

“Well, now, how about this one?” Alix said, hovering over a book of tunic patterns on the table of the cottage.

Mylène nodded, a smile finding its way to her lips. “That’s the one I picked.” Of course I picked this one, she thought. It’s the best.

Rose sighed happily. “Oh, he’ll look beautiful in it.”

Mylène drew her finger down the page. “Now I thought a few changes here…”

“Aha,” Alix said.

Rose squealed, bouncing in place. “Don’t forget a pretty bow!”

“Yes,” Mylène said, tapping the book. “And there’s the shoulder line.”

“We’ll make it blue,” Alix said, grinning.

“Oh, no, dear,” Mylène said, shaking her head. “Pink.”

Alix wrinkled her nose. “But…”

Mylène leaned over the table, placing both her hands on it. “Of course, we’ll need a few ruffles.”

“Yes,” Rose said, nodding rapidly. Then she paused. “But how are we going to get him out of the house?”

Mylène pursed her lips. “Oh, I’ll think of something.”

Chat chose that moment to stroll into the room from his upstairs bedroom, beamng happily. Mylène was pleased for him; he seemed back to normal after that awful winter he’d had last year. She wondered if he’d been depressed because of the weather, though that didn’t make sense because he’d been fine in previous winters.

Regardless, he was better now.

“Well,” he said, his deep voice gifted with melody, “and what are you three dears up to?”

Alix whirled from the book. “Up to?”

Rose shut the book and clutched it to her chest. “Up to?”

Mylène held up her hands. “Up to? Eh, eh, eh, we, we, well, we, we…”

“Want you to pick some berries!” Alix piped up, much to Mylène’s relief.

That could work. Mylène smiled. “Yes, that’s it, berries!”

Chat peered at them curiously. His expressions were always so open and harmless. Mylène patted herself on the back for raising a boy who would never harm a single creature. “Berries?”

“Lots of berries!” Rose said, setting the pattern book down on the table. She headed over to the windowsill to pick up Chat’s berry basket.

“But I picked berries yesterday,” Chat said, squinting at his three aunts.

Oh, no, Mylène thought. It won’t do to let him get suspicious!

“Oh, we need more, dear,” Mylène said, taking the basket from Rose and pressing it into Chat’s hands.

Rose clasped her hands together under her chin. “Lots, lots more.”

“Yes!” Mylène said, starting to push Chat out of the house. Alix and Rose joined in and gently shoved Chat out the door. “Now don’t hurry back, dear.”

“And don’t go too far,” Alix said, waving her handkerchief at him.

“And don’t speak to strangers!” Mylène warned, shaking her finger under his nose. Chat offered her a cryptic smile, which she ignored.

“Goodbye, dear!” Rose said, clapping her hands together.

Alix tucked her handkerchief away. “Goodbye!”

“Goodbye!” Mylène said.

Chat beamed at all three of them. The suspicious, teasing glint hadn’t faded from his eyes, but he seemed to be pleased with the order of events. He tucked his berry basket under his arm and raised his other hand to wave. “Goodbye!”

After he skipped off, Alix closed the door. “I wonder if he suspects.”

Mylène crossed to the table and opened the pattern book again, the pages falling open to the page she’d marked earlier. “Of course not. Now, come on. Will he be surprised!”

Alix smiled. “A real birthday party.”

Rose’s hands fluttered around her face like caged birds with nowhere to go. “With a real birthday cake.”

“Yes,” Mylène said, holding up the book. “And a tunic a prince can be proud of.”

Alix darted towards the stairs. “I’ll get the wands.”

“Yes, you--” Mylène started, but then gaped at Alix. “The wands?”

“Oh, no,” Rose said, her face falling.

“No magic!” Mylène huffed, setting the book down on the table.

Alix frowned fiercely. “But the twenty years are almost over.”

Mylène matched her expression, drawing her brows together. “We’re taking no chances.”

“But,” Alix said, folding her arms. “I’ve never baked a fancy cake.”

Mylène shook her head. “Oh, you won’t have to, dear.”

“I’m going to bake the cake!” Rose said, her enthusiasm bubbling out of her in the form of a happy squeal.

Alix squinted at Rose. “You?”

“She’s always wanted to, dear,” Mylène told Alix, “and this is her last chance.”

“Well…” Alix started, trailing off as she glanced at the floor.

“I’m going to make it fifteen layers with pink and blue, forgive-me-nots…” Rose gushed, already heading over to the kitchen counter in the open room plan. She plucked a large bowl from the cabinet and set it down on the counter with a soft thunk of ceramic against wood.

“And I’m making the tunic,” Mylène said, pulling out a chair for Alix to stand on. Mylène pushed the other woman to the seat, and Alix, confused, refused to take a step up onto it.

“But you can’t sew,” Alix said, pointing at Mylène, “and she’s never cooked!”

Mylène shrugged. “Oh, it’s simple.”

Rose opened their massive cookbook, which had dogeared pages from Chat’s frequent perusal. She set it up on a canister of oats. “All you do is follow the book.”

Mylène again directed Alix to stand on the chair. “Up here, dear. You can be the dummy.”

Alix sputtered. Her shoulders slumped, and she climbed on top of the chair and folded her arms. “Well, I still say we ought to use magic.”

Mylène retrieved a sheet of pink cloth from the closet and threw it above Alix. Careful not to cut her friend, Mylène began snipping holes in the cloth with a pair of scissors.

Rose gathered the ingredients for the cake, including flour, sugar, milk, and eggs, and laid them out on the table. “Flour, three cups,” she read from the book, and then began searching for mugs. “Cups, cups, cups, cups, cups…”

Mylène chuckled as Rose found three cups of different sizes and scooped flour into the bowl with them. “One, two, three.”

Alix pointed to the circular hole in the cloth resting on the floor beneath her. “What’s that for?”

“Well,” Mylène said, brandishing her scissors, “it’s got to have a hole in the bottom.”

Rose pointed at the cloth. “That’s for the feet to go through.”

“It’s pink!” Alix objected, stomping her foot on the chair.

“Oh.” Mylène sighed. “Lovely shade, isn’t it?”

Alix furrowed her brow. “But I wanted it blue.”

Mylène threw the cloth over Alix’s head, completely covering her. “Now, dear, we decided pink was his color.”

“You decided!” Alix huffed.

Rose read from the book. “Two eggs, fold in gently. Fold? Oh, well.” She picked up two eggs and placed them into the bowl. Then she took the batter and folded it over. Mylène heard the shells cracking and wondered if Rose was doing this right.

Alix was completely hulled into the pink cloth. “I can’t breathe!” Mylène cut the cloth open at the top, freeing Alix’s face. “It looks awful.”

Mylène tutted, booping Alix on the nose. “That’s because it’s on you, dear.”

“Now, yeast,” Rose said, searching for the ingredient. “One tisp. Tisp?”

“One teaspoon!” Alix shouted, practically growling the words.

“One teaspoon,” Rose said, finding the measuring tool. “Of course.”

Mylène plucked up her marked tape and drew it across the side of the tunic, measuring how long the article of clothing was to be. “Oh, gracious. How the child has grown.”

“Oh,” Alix said, sniffling. “It seems only yesterday we brought him here.”

Rose paused in stirring the cake. “Just a tiny baby.”

A tear escaped from Alix’s eye, and she dashed it away angrily.

“Why, Alix!” Mylène said, gasping.

“Whatever’s the matter, dear?” Rose asked gently, turning from her cake. Mylène noticed Rose’s fingers were sticky with the batter.

“After the day,” Alix said, her lower lip quivering, “he’ll be a prince, and we won’t have any Chat Noir.”

“Oh, Mylène!” Rose cried, patting her cheeks and smearing batter there.

Mylène heaved a deep, lingering sigh. “We all knew this day had to come.”

“But why did it have to come so soon?” Rose said, turning back to her cake and picking up the spoon.

“After all,” Mylène said, plucking up a needle and thread, “we’ve had him for twenty years.”

Alix sobbed quietly. “Twenty wonderful years.”

“Good gracious.” Mylène frowned. “We’re acting like a lot of ninnies! Come on, he’ll be back before we get started.”

Chapter Text

Chat hummed under his breath, approaching the cave with a smile. It was his birthday, and Ladybug would undoubtedly have baked them some gingerbread cakes. He rounded a corner and spotted her, his smile growing broader on his lips.

“Chat!” Ladybug said, straightening from her lean against a tree. She’d been whittling as he approached, and set the wooden carving in her breeches pocket, kneeling to replace the knife in her boot. “It’s good to see you. Happy birthday!”

“Thank you!” Chat hurried forward, brandishing his berry basket. “I picked some berries for us.”

Ladybug’s eyes took on a teasing gleam. “No wonder you were late.”

Chat barked out a laugh. “I wasn’t that late, was I?”

Ladybug shook her head, her ponytail bouncing. “No, not at all.” Rather than reaching into her saddlebags, as he’d thought she would do, she reached for his hand instead. Chat gave it to her, twining his gloved fingers with hers. “I want to give you your birthday present. Then we can celebrate with cake, provided...”

Chat blinked at her. Is she giving me a carving? he wondered, curious about the way she was peeking at him from under her lashes. Her lips were pulled up at the corners, but despite her smile, she seemed like she was about to bolt. It was as if she had some awful secret she wanted to tell him and feared him rejecting her.

Never. He could never reject her.

“What is it, my Lady?” Chat set the basket down at their feet and stepped into her space, cupping her cheek and gently threading his clawed fingers through the hair at her temple. His hands were huge on her petite face, and her lips looked eminently kissable with the way they puckered at his touch. “What do you need to tell me?”

“Chat, I…” she trailed off, and swallowed hard. She drew a breath through her nose. “I just have to say it, don’t I?”

Anticipation curled in his gut, making him sick. Whatever she had to say had made her afraid to come to him, and Chat started fearing her potential words himself. “Please,” he whispered, brushing her temple with his lips. She stilled under his touch. “Please, just tell me.”

Chat leaned forward, pressing his cheek to hers. Maybe if she wasn’t looking into his eyes, she’d be brave and bold?

Ladybug shuddered against him. He felt more than saw her close her eyes. As she pressed her chest to his and cupped his shoulder blades, her shaky breaths curled in his ears. Her hands trembled against him.

Then she whispered a question he thought she’d never ask. “Marry me, Chat?”

A gasp tore its way from Chat’s throat. He pulled back from Ladybug’s face to look her in the eyes, cupping both of her cheeks. “Marinette.” He breathed her name with all the reverence she deserved. “Do you mean it?”

She gave him a single, slow nod. Chat’s heart skipped a beat at the wide, fearful look in her eyes. She’s still worried I’ll reject her? Chat thought, a smile erupting on his face. Never.

“Yes!” He tugged her against him, embracing her and cupping the back of her head. “A thousand times, yes!”

Ladybug bounced in his arms, her hands sliding to his shoulders. She pulled back just enough to pepper his face with beaming kisses. “You mean it?”

“Of course, my Lady!” Chat tried to kiss her back, but she moved across his face too quickly for him to get a lock on her lips. “I’m honored that you’d ask me. Me, of all people!” But then he blinked. “What about your betrothal?”

“I’ll…” Ladybug furrowed her brow, looking hesitant. “I’ll figure that out. Hopefully my father will understand.”

Chat picked her up and swung her around, making her kick her feet and laugh. “Chat!” she said. “Put me down!”

He did as she’d demanded, but nuzzled her cheek with his nose. “I’m just… I’m so excited, Bug. We’re getting married!”

Ladybug’s smile was a soft, tender thing, making Chat fall in love with her all over again. Her hands slid down his shoulders and gripped his elbows. “I’ll do everything in my power to make it so, okay? I promise.”

Chat shyly kissed the corner of her mouth. Ladybug turned her head and met his smile with her own, chasing him down. Her hand snaked up to the back of his neck and tugged his head down to her height so she could glide her lips against his.

Chat wasn’t complaining. There was nowhere he’d rather be than kissing Ladybug. His Ladybug, now; she was his and he was hers and they’d come together in a meeting of playful equals. She led the kiss, keeping it chaste and gentle, and Chat gladly followed.

She tasted like coffee and bacon, and as Chat giggled against her mouth, she laughed with him. “What’s so funny?” she asked, pulling back to look at him.

“Just… you. I’m happy.” Chat couldn’t stop smiling. “I’m so happy.”

“Believe me,” Ladybug said, drawing him down for another kiss. “I’m happy, too.”

Chat peered into her lovely, bluebell eyes. There was only one thing he wanted to do. He took her hand and moved it to his shoulder, placing his other hand on her waist. “I know you,” he sang, starting the familiar dance steps. “I walked with you once upon a dream…”

Ladybug joined in gladly, her smile soft and broad. “I know you, the gleam in your eyes is so familiar a gleam…”

Chat waltzed with his future bride, spinning her about and causing her ladybug cape to flare off her back. “And I know it’s true, that visions are seldom all they seem…”

Ladybug rested her head on his collarbone, wrapping her arms around his neck. “But if I know you, I know what you’ll do…”

Chat slowed their steps, sliding his hands down to her hips. He leaned forward and stole a kiss, but remained singing against her mouth in a breathy whisper. “You’ll love me at once…”

Ladybug breathed into his lungs. Chat couldn’t get enough of her. Threading his clawed fingers into her hair, Chat stroked her head, which rested on his chest now. She sighed happily, toying with the short hairs at the back of his neck. Her hair was so soft; Chat yearned to feel the inky strands with his bare hands.

“The way you did once…”

“Upon a dream.”

Chapter Text

As Chat was out picking berries, the three fairies tried their best to create a birthday party he’d enjoy. Their efforts, however, went awry. Rose had frosted the cake with pink frosting and added candles, but as she lit them with a long match, the tiers sagged. Mylène’s pink tunic wasn’t faring much better; Alix had grown more and more sour as the day dragged on, and the stitches were thick and uneven. The tunic was a misshapen lump on Alix’s body, which she’d had no compunction about pointing out.

“Well?” Rose said, holding the cake up with a broom as it dripped onto the floor. “What do you think of it?”

Mylène bit her lip. “Why, it’s a very… unusual cake, isn’t it?”

“Yes,” Rose said, her cheer only slightly dimmed. “Of course it’ll be much stiffer after it’s baked.”

“Of course, dear.” Mylène nodded, poking Alix with the needle, who shrieked. “What do you think of the tunic?”

Rose sucked a breath over her teeth. “Well, it’s not exactly the way it is in the book, is it?”

“Well, I improved it a bit!” Mylène said, chuckling as she tugged on the thread. “But perhaps if I added a few more ruffles. What do you think?”

“I think so,” Rose agreed, struggling mightily to keep her cake from completely falling over. “What do you think, Alix?”

Alix struggled out of the tunic, which fell to pieces. Mylène let out a cry as Alix lambasted her and Rose both. “I think we’ve had enough of this nonsense. I think we ought to think of Noir, and what he’ll think of this nonsense. I still think what I thunk before.”

She hopped off the chair and stomped her foot again. “I’m going to get those wands.” Mylène sighed as Alix hustled off upstairs, and Rose sniffled as the cake melted completely into a pile of sludge.

“You know?” Rose said, wiping her sticky hands on her apron. “I think she’s right.”

Mylène didn’t have anything to say to that.

Alix returned, holding up the three wands, which gave off sparks. “Here they are, good as new.”

“Ah-ah-ah!” Mylène said, leaping away from the dissembled tunic. “C-C-C-C-Careful, Alix! Quick, lock the doors. Rose, you close the windows. Oh, block up every cranny. We can’t take any chances!” Mylène turned to Rose. “And now, you take care of the cake…”

“While I…” Alix asked, handing Rose and Mylène their wands.

“Clean the room, dear,” Mylène said, gripping her wand and feeling it flare to life in her hand. Holding the wand again after so many years was comfortable; it felt as if Mylène had been living in a second skin, and everything had just now snapped back into place, as it should be. “And I’ll make the tunic. Well, hurry!”

Alix scowled. “Come on, bucket, mop, broom, Mylène says, clean up the room!” Alix waved her wand, causing sparkles to flow from the tip, and the cleaning tools sprang to life. They leapt to serve, sweeping and mopping the hardwood floor.

“And now to make a lovely shirt,” Mylène said, using her magic to lift a second piece of pink cloth, “to fit the grace of fair prince.” The heady rush of power she felt while using her wand filled her mouth with sweetness. She flicked her wand, and the scissors began clipping of their own accord, shaping the cloth into an appropriate shape for a tunic.

“Eggs, flour milk!” Rose waved her wand, and the ingredients in their ceramic canisters came walking over. Rose tapped the cookbook with her wand. “Just do it the way it says here in the book. I’ll put on the candles.”

The flour divvied itself into a new bowl, followed quickly by the sugar and milk. A wooden spoon stirred the batter by itself, and two eggs cracked on the edge of the bowl and deposited their yolks into the mixture. Soon, the cake began baking and frosting itself.

The tunic was almost complete when Alix frowned. “Oh, no, not pink. Make it blue.” She whipped the tip of her wand forward and transformed the color of the shirt into a ghastly periwinkle color.

“Alix!” Mylène cried. “Make it pink.”

Mylène’s wand snapped forward in her hand, sending bright, yellow sparkles to surround the tunic and turn it pink.

“Make it blue,” Alix said, covering the tunic with her color of choice again.

Mylène changed the color back, growing more and more irritated by the second with Alix’s insubordination. “Oh, pink!”

Alix wouldn’t take no for an answer. “Blue.”

Mylène leapt in front of the tunic and took the sparkles, her outfit turning hideously blue itself. “Alix!” she cried, sending sparks over to Alix’s outfit to change her clothes pink.

Alix and Mylène fought viciously to change the color of the tunic, until something went horribly wrong: sparks shot out of both their wands and slammed into the shirt at the same time, with the result looking like two paint pots had been emptied onto it.

“Ohhhhh!” Mylène scolded, shaking her finger under Alix’s nose. “Now look what you’ve done!”

Alix reared back, opening her mouth to clap back, but Rose interrupted.

“Ssh!” Rose shushed them with a finger to her lips. “Listen!”

Mylène cocked her head to the side. She heard Chat Noir humming a song to himself, his melodic voice carrying through the closed window.

“It’s Noir!” Alix said, bolting over to the stairs.

“He’s back. Enough of this foolishness.” Mylène quickly bled the color from her and Alix’s outfits, changing them back to normal, and changed the tunic’s color to pink. “Make it pink. Now hide, quick.”

Alix hid with the rest of them by the stairs, but not before one last, parting shot at the shirt. “Blue.”

Outside, Chat Noir’s footsteps hastened towards the house. “Aunt Mylène!”

Inside, the mop was still wetting the floor. “Good gracious,” Mylène said, her eyes wide. “Who left the mop running?”

“Stop, mop!” Alix said, waving her wand to force the mop still.

Chat Noir burst through the door, berry basket empty. “Aunt Mylène, Rose, Alex!” Chat beamed, but his smile soon faded. “Where is everybody?” Mylène watched for the moment when he noticed the dress and the cake, seeing his face light up. “Oh!”

The fairies leapt from their hiding place. “Surprise, surprise!”

“Happy birthday!” Rose said, clapping for Chat, having pocketed her wand.

“Oh, you darlings!” Chat gasped, pressing his hands to his heart around the berry basket handle. “This is the happiest day of my life. Everything’s so wonderful, just wait ‘till you meet her.”

“Her?” Rose asked, her brows raising.

Alix’s jaw dropped. “Noir!”

Mylène set her jaw. “You’ve met some stranger?”

“Oh, she’s not a stranger,” Chat said, twirling about the room. He set the empty basket down on the table. “We’ve met before.”

“You have?” Mylène asked, prying for details.

“Where?” Alix asked, folding her arms again.

“Once upon a dream!” Chat grasped Rose’s hands and begun dancing. “I know you,” he sang, “I’ve walked with you once upon a dream…”

Being spun, Rose glanced over her shoulder at Alix and Mylène. “He’s in love.”

Alix groaned. “Oh, no.”

Mylène held her face. “This is terrible!”

“Why?” Chat Noir jerked to a stop. He gave them a pained grimace. “After all, I am twenty.”

“It isn’t that, dear,” Mylène said sadly.

Rose laid out the truth to the poor boy. “You’re already betrothed.”

At the crestfallen look on Chat’s face, Mylène’s stomach bottomed out. “Betrothed?” he whispered, tears welling in his eyes.

Rose continued, being the only one bold enough to crush Chat. “To Princess Dupain-Cheng, dear.”

“But that’s impossible!” Chat broke away from them, his clawed hands flying to his face. He paced about the room, shaking his head and groaning in his distress. “How could I marry a princess? I’d have to be a…”

“A prince,” Alix told him.

“And you are dear!” Rose agreed.

Mylène took Chat’s arms in her hands, causing him to come to a stop in front of her. “Prince Adrien. Tonight, we’re taking you back to your father, King Gabriel.”

“But, but I can’t!” Chat tore out of her grip, covering his mouth with his fingers, dawning horror growing in his eyes. “She’s coming here tonight, I promised to meet her.”

“I’m sorry, child.” Mylène gave him a pained grimace. “But you must never see that young lady again.”

“Oh, no, no! I can’t believe it,” Chat cried, bolting towards the stairs. Tears streamed down his reddened cheeks. “No, no!” He ran up to his room, leaving the fairies behind.

Rose sniffled. “And we thought he’d be so happy.”

Chapter Text

Tom Dupain was a simple man. He liked straightforward rules and straightforward baking and his straightforward daughter. He especially liked straightforward food, like the turkey leg Gabriel’s chef had provided that Tom was currently gnawing on.

Gabriel stood at the window in the palace’s dining room, looking forlorn and worried. Tom didn’t understand why the man was fretting about, though as Gabriel opened his mouth, Tom figured the other king would enlighten him.

A sigh escaped Gabriel’s lips. “No sign of him yet, Tom.”

“‘Course not,” Tom said, waving his turkey leg at the window. “Good half hour ‘till sunset.” He took a giant bite of the meal, getting a mouthful of perfectly-seasoned, juicy meat. “Ah, excellent bird!”

Gabriel sighed again.

“Oh, now,” Tom said, patting Gabriel on the back. “Come on, wake up, battle’s over, boy’s as good as here.”

“I’m sorry, Tom.” Gabriel rested his forehead in his hand. “But after twenty years of worrying, never knowing…”

“The past, all in the past.” Tom set the turkey down on a plate on the long table festooned with them and clapped his hands, summoning a servant. The Minstrel arrived with a bottle of wine. “Tonight, we toast to the future with something I’ve been saving for twenty years.”

Tom uncorked the wine. He scooped up two wine glasses in one hand and filled them, the wine sloshing over the edges. “Here, to the future!”

Gabriel took one of the glasses with a smile. “Right, Tom, to the future!”

“Skumps!” Tom said, raising his glass.

“Skumps!” Gabriel and Tom both took a drink. The wine was a full-bodied vintage from the Bordeaux region, with undertones of mushroom and oak barrels. It puckered Tom’s lips with the dryness of it, tasting very much like the best grapes France could produce.

“A toast to this night,” Tom recited, and Gabriel took up the mantel.

“The outlook is rosy.”

Tom grinned around his glass. “The future is bright.”

“Our children will marry, our kingdoms unite…” Gabriel said, raising his glass three times along with Tom. “Skumps, Skumps, Skumps!”

Tom took the wine bottle from the Minstrel, who twanged his lute, and refilled the glasses. “Ah,” Tom said, smelling the bouquet of the wine. “Excellent vintage. And now, to the new home, eh?”

“New home?” Gabriel asked, raising his brows. He took a sip of wine.

“Children need a nest of their own, what?” Tom said, waving his glass around grandly. “Place to raise their little brood, eh?”

Gabriel looked like he was going to fret again. “Well, I suppose in time…”

“Of course!” Tom said, raising his glass. “To the home! Skumps!”

“Skumps!” Gabriel said, taking a sip.

Tom drained his glass. “A toast to the home.”

“One grander by far than a palace in Rome,” Gabriel said, his eyes twinkling.

“Let me fill up your glass, that glass was all foam.” True to his word, Tom tipped the wine bottle into Gabriel’s glass, filling it to the edges.

“Skumps, Skumps, Skumps!” Both men drained their glasses.

Tom set his glass down and clapped his hands. “The plans!” The Minstrel held a castle’s plan in front of Gabriel’s face. Tom was proud of these plans. He’d had his architects draw up a grand palace that would be perfectly comfortable for two young people just starting out on their own.

“Well?” Tom said, watching Gabriel for any hint of his reaction. “What do you think? Nothing elaborate, of course. Forty bedrooms, dining hall. Honeymoon cottage, really.”

Gabriel goggled. “You mean you’re building it already?”

“Built, man!” Tom said, slapping Gabriel on the back and nearly upending his empty glass. Tom was feeling warm from the inside out, and his words were harder to say properly. “Finished. The lovebirds can move in tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow?” Gabriel said mournfully. “But Tom, they’re not even married yet.”

“Take care of that tonight.” Tom pointed to the ceiling. “To the wedding!”

Gabriel set his glass down on the table and held up his hands. “Now, hold on, Tom. I haven’t even seen my son yet, and you’re taking him away from me.”

“Getting my Marinette, aren’t you?”

“Yes,” Gabriel said, “but…”

“Want to see our grandchildren, don’t we?” Tom pressed, giving Gabriel the hairy eyeball.

“Of course, but…” Gabriel hemmed and hawed, and Tom would have none of it.

“There’s no time to lose!” He patted his belly. Now where did he leave that turkey leg? “Getting on in years. To the wedding!”

“Now be reasonable, Tom.” Gabriel frowned. “After all, Adrien knows nothing about this.”

Tom shrugged his massive shoulders. “Well?”

Gabriel’s lips twisted in a moue of disappointment. “Well, it may come as quite a shock…”

“Shock? My Marinette a shock?” Tom bumped Gabriel with his belly. “What’s wrong with my Marinette?”

Gabriel tried to soothe him with a hand on his shoulder, but Tom wasn’t of a mind to be soothed. “Nothing, Tom, I only meant…”

“Why doesn’t your son like my daughter?” Tom demanded, stomping his tiny foot as he pulled away from Gabriel.

Gabriel patted the air with his hand. “Now, now…”

Tom growled. “I’m not so sure my daughter likes your son!”

“Now, see here,” Gabriel said, wrinkling his brows.

Gabriel being calm was aggravating Tom. He had to do something about it. “I’m not so sure my grandchildren want you for a grandfather!”

Gabriel drew himself up to his full, impressive height and bellowed. “Why, you unreasonable, pompous, blustering, old windbag!”

Tom hissed. “Unreasonable, pompous…” He grabbed a fish and held it like a sword. “En garde, sir!”

Gabriel seized upon a golden plate and started blocking Tom’s strikes with the fish, using the plate as a shield. “I warn you, Tom, this means war!”

Tom got a couple of good hits in, the fish smacking wetly against Gabriel’s saucer. They fought, fish against plate, then abruptly broke into laughter. “What’s all this about anyway?”

Gabriel set his plate aside and clasped Tom by the shoulder. “Nothing, Tom, absolutely nothing.”

Tom tossed his fish behind him, hearing it land on the table with a splat. “The children are bound to fall in love with each other.”

“Precisely,” Gabriel said, nodding along. Tom was glad Gabriel was finally seeing sense. “And as for grandchildren, I’ll have the royal woodcarvers start work on the cradle tomorrow.”

“Splendid!” Tom clapped his hands together. “King-size, of course.”

“Certainly.” Gabriel raised a fist to the sky. “To the woodcarver’s guild!”

A twanging of lute strings caught Tom’s attention. He peered under the table cloth and found the court composer in a drunken stupor, snoring with his head inside his lute. The lute strings broke as Tom heard an announcement outside by the Lord Duke.

“Her royal highness, Princess Marinette!”

A crowd cheered outside, loudly, and Tom smiled. His Marinette was beloved by the French--a good sign for their continued political relationship.

Tom left Gabriel and ran down the stairs into the courtyard to meet her. “Marinette?”

Marinette arrived on her horse, Tikki, and pulled the reins to force the animal to stop. She was wearing leather breeches and a red and black-spotted cape that was split to look like ladybug wings. Her hair was slightly mussed and her lips were swollen.

“Marinette!” Tom cried, before she could bolt off. “Marinette, Marinette, hold, Marientte!” She held still, and Tom ran to her. “Hurry, girl, hurry, and change into something suitable. Can’t meet your future husband looking like that.”

“Well, I have met him, Father,” Marinette said, dismounting.

“You have?” Tom said, blinking. “Where?”

“Once upon a dream.” Marinette sighed far too dreamily for Tom’s liking. She began to sing, taking Tom’s hands in hers and spinning him around. “I know you, I walked with you once upon a dream…”

“Oh, Marinette, stop it, stop that, why, Marinette, let go!”

Stunned, Marinette let go of him.

Tom harrumphed. “What’s all this dream nonsense?”

“It wasn’t a dream, Father.” Marinette placed her gloved hands on her own cheeks. “I really did meet him!”

“Prince Adrien?” Tom asked, his brows shooting into his hairline. “Good heavens, we must tell Gabriel! Why, this is the most--”

“I didn’t say it was Adrien.”

Tom blew air out his nostrils in a blustery mess. “You most certainly did. You said--”

“I said I met the boy I was going to marry.” Marinette’s demeanor turned frosty. Tom recognized her stance as obstinate-Marinette, the one who’d dug her heels into something and refused to bend to anyone’s will. “He’s a peasant.”

“A peasant b-b-boy?” Tom’s brows couldn’t rise any higher. “You’re going to marry a… Why, Marinette, you’re joking!” Tom turned to Tikki. “Isn’t she?”

The horse shook her head. Sometimes Tom wondered if Marinette’s horse was smarter than she let on.

But Tom couldn’t worry about horses. He had a bigger problem. He placed his hands on Marinette’s shoulders. “You can’t do this to me! Give up the throne, the kingdom, for some, some nobody? By Harry, I won’t have it! You’re a princess and you’re going to marry a prince!”

“Now, Father.” Marinette’s expression was stone cold. Tom flinched. “You’re living in the past. This is the sixteenth century. Nowadays--”

“Nowadays, I’m still the king, and I command you to come to your senses.”

“... and marry the boy I love.”

“Exactly!” Tom pointed at the ground.

Marinette turned on her heel and mounted her horse. “Goodbye, Father!”

“Goodbye, Father! Marry the boy you…” Tom’s jaw dropped. Did he really just give permission to Marinette to hare off to marry some peasant boy? “No, no, Marinette, stop! Come back! Hold, Marinette!”

By the time Tom reached the gate, Marinette and Tikki were long gone. “Marinette!”

Tom’s shoulders slumped. He staggered back to the steps and sat down, dejected. “Oh, how will I ever tell Gabriel?”

Chapter Text

Tonight was the night Mylène had worked towards for twenty years.

She and her fairy companions had raised the child, Adrien Agreste, into a gorgeous, young prince who deserved to be with his family. They fairies scurried through the woods and approached the palace along with Prince Adrien, keeping their heads down and their hoods raised. He was wearing the blue tunic they’d made him, but he hadn’t touched the cake.

Wand at the ready to defend them from Mayura, Mylène snuck across the castle grounds and checked that the coast was clear. She motioned for Rose and Alix to follow her, flanking Adrien. Tears were still streaming down Adrien’s face; he’d stopped openly sobbing because Mylène had told him not to make noise, but he still cried beautifully.

Everything he did was beautiful. That had been Mylène’s gift.

Soon, they approached a tower on the south side of the palace. Mylène opened the door and gestured her friends and her charge inside. They all walked up the stairs until they came to one of the castle’s hallways.

“Come along, now,” Mylène whispered as they side-stepped against a wall. They entered a private room at last, one with a vanity and a window and a crackling fire. “All right, in here, dear.”

Alix closed the door behind them and sighed, leaning up against it. Mylène told her to bolt the door, which she did.

“Rose,” Mylène said, “pull the drapes!” Rose shut the curtains, and Mylène took Chat’s hand and led him to sit at the vanity. "And now, dear, if you’ll just sit here.”

Chat took a seat, staring into the mirror. Mylène flicked her wand and conjured a golden crown for his head. “This only last gift, dear child, for thee, the symbol of thy royalty. A crown to wear in grace and beauty, as is thy right and royal duty.”

Mylène set the crown upon his head. Chat bit his lip and broke into tears again, pillowing his head on his arms.

Rose placed her hand on his shoulder. “Now, dear.”

“Come,” Mylène said, taking her companion’s hands. “Let him have a few moments alone.”

They left Chat behind, with Alix shutting the door behind them. “It’s that girl he met.”

Rose sighed. “Whatever are we going to do?”

Mylène didn’t know.

***

Chat couldn’t stand this.

He wasn’t supposed to be marrying some princess. He was supposed to be marrying Ladybug.

And now he’d never see her again. The thought was enough to drive him to despair.

Chat was useless. He’d done nothing but weep bitterly since his aunts--the fairies!--had told the news of his royalty and betrothal. A stronger man would fight for her, he thought, peering at his swollen, red eyes in the mirror. A stronger man wouldn’t just let this happen to him and the woman he loves.

But Chat was not a strong man. Not at all.

His eyes ached, his head ached, and his heart ached. Feeling like he’d submerged his head in sand, Chat scrubbed his face with his ungloved hands and tried to breathe properly. He couldn’t; his breath hitched twice as he tried to compose himself.

Wiping his blocked nose with the back of his wrist, Chat gave his reflection a pained grimace.

Ladybug… I’m sorry.

The light of the fire dimmed. Then the flames completely snuffed out, and out of a shadow, someone Chat had never seen appeared in the mirror. It was a woman wearing navy blue and waving a fan made of peacock feathers in front of her light blue-skinned face.

Chat tried to scream but his jaw was sealed shut. Panic licked at the back of his brain. The woman faded into a ball of light, and Chat’s limbs moved of their own accord, his eyes glazing over.

“Chat…” the ball of light called. “Chat…”

No! Chat thought, feeling his breath quicken on his upper lip from his nostrils. His breathing was the only thing he could control, and as he moved across the room towards the fireplace, he shrieked in his head. Please, no, don’t!

***

Out in the hallway, Alix huffed. “I don’t see why he has to marry any old princess.”

Mylène sighed. Alix always been the most opinionated of all of them, and that didn’t seem to be changing anytime soon.

“Now,” Rose said, her tone more placating than Mylène liked, “that’s not for us to decide, dear.” She titled her head, looking very much like sand in the hourglass of her head was filling up the other side, Mylène thought uncharitably. “Maybe we should tell King Gabriel about the girl."

“Well!” Alix perked up, leaping off the gold and glass stairs. “Why don’t we?”

Mylène was about to interject with why that was a bad idea when she heard a faint noise from inside the room. “Listen! Mayura!”

“Chat!” the fairies called, opening the door. “Chat!”

Chat Noir walked as if possessed, his features schooled into a blank, flat expression. His eyes, however, looked terrified. He crossed through the fireplace, and the fairies tried to follow him, but the wall reappeared.

Mylène gasped, feeling the wall for cracks. “Oh, why did we leave him alone?” Alix began swearing, and Mylène recalled that she was a fairy and could use magic. She flicked her wand at the wall and opened the passageway.

“Chat, Chat!” Mylène called as she rushed into a hallway that split off into more hallways and staircases, followed by Alix and Rose. “Where are you? Chat!”

***

Helpless to do anything but watch, Chat followed the ball of light into a room in the tower, his legs tingling and painful from trying to resist his climb up the stairs. He was hyperventilating, his lips sealed shut but his nostrils flaring.

The light landed on the floor and an ethereal, green spinning wheel sprang into place from it. Screaming internally, Chat felt more than saw himself reach out to the spindle with his left hand.

“Chat!” his aunt Mylène shouted in the distance. “Don’t touch anything!”

Chat didn’t know if it was Mylène’s magic, but he was able to hold his hand back, a true victory. He inhaled sharply through his nose, his trembling hand stilling right before his fingers landed on the spinning wheel.

“Touch the spindle,” a voice that could only be from a nightmare commanded in his head. “Touch it, I say!”

No! Chat thought, desperate to hold his hand back from the spindle. He didn’t know what would happen if his fingers came in contact with that needle, but clearly he was cursed: his middle finger reached out against his will and poked the spindle.

Pain ricocheted through Chat’s body, rocking him back on his heels. He found he was able to drop his mouth open, but no sound came out. As he fell, he tried grabbing onto something, anything, to no avail. His knees hit the stone floor with a crunch.

A woman appeared in Chat’s blackening vision. She was blue-skinned and held a giant, blue fan made of what looked like peacock feathers. A cackle erupted from her lips, and she cupped his cheek. “Poor, poor Prince Adrien. Doomed at the mere age of twenty.”

Chat tried to growl at her but couldn’t. The touch burned.

Then everything went totally black.

***

Mylène heard a tell-tale cackle and her hair stood on end. It came from up above, or so she thought; the stone passageways were twisty and her and the other fairies’ footsteps echoed.

“Up above!” Mylène called, rushing up yet another staircase, Rose and Alix right behind her. They burst through the door, only to see Mayura standing in the tower room.

All three good fairies gasped.

“You poor, simple fools.” Mayura waved her fan and flames licked the air. “Thinking you could defeat me! Me, the mistress of all evil!”

Mayura threw her head back and cackled again, causing Mylène to gasp once more. Then Mayura abruptly stopped laughing. “Well, here’s your precious prince!”

She turned, whipping her dress aside to reveal Prince Adrien lying facedown on the floor. Mayura disappeared in a glowing ball of light, laughing triumphantly.

Rose slapped her own face, her wand trapped between her palm and her cheek. “Chat!”

“Oh, Chat!” Mylène cried, tears pricking her eyes. “Oh, I’ll never forgive myself.”

“We’re all to blame!” Rose said, throwing an arm around Alix, who let loose a keening wail.

The three of them sobbed and sobbed and sobbed, until the last rays of the setting sun shone in deep red.

Chapter Text

Tom Dupain's nerves skittered along the thin ice of his brain.

He had no idea how he was going to explain the break in their alliance, that Marinette was being foolhardy and stubborn. King Gabriel and his queen sat on their thrones, eagerly awaiting a glimpse of their returning son, and Tom was loathe to break the heart of his friend and fellow ruler.

So Tom almost hid. He almost found a twisty passageway and camped out there like an ostrich, until he reminded himself that he was Tom Dupain, King of England, and nothing could keep him from explaining the truth.

“Gabriel,” Tom said, weaving through the crowd of nobles in the room and approaching the throne. “There’s something important I have to tell you.”

Gabriel’s eyes flicked over to Tom and then back to the door where the fairies were supposed to be bringing Adrien. “Not now, Tom.”

Tom persevered. He had to, for the sake of their own alliance. “But it’s about Marinette.”

“Marinette?” Gabriel said, turning his attention to Tom at last. “Oh, yes, of course, Marinette, why, where is the girl?”

Tom was bold enough to place his hand on Gabriel’s shoulder. “That’s what I’m trying to tell you.”

Gabriel pulled away. “Well, send for her immediately!”

Tom bit his lip. “But--”

“Shh!” Gabriel held a finger up to his lips as a fanfare sounded outside. Trumpets pierced the dusk air.

“The sun has set!” the Lord Duke, the announcer, called. “Make ready to welcome your prince!”

Tom heard the crowd outside cheer and saw multi-colored fireworks going off. Oh, he thought. Oh, no…

***

Chat looked so frail in bed, Mylène thought, placing a red, magical rose in his hand as he lay on the conjured down mattress. The fairies had covered him up with a blue blanket and fluffed his pillows, still crying all the while. They’d made him as comfortable as they could for his long, deep sleep. But Mylène had noted with alarm that he still looked like he was in pain, his expression drawn and pinched and his pale forehead slick with sweat.

Mylène couldn’t bear to see him like this any longer. She strode over to the balcony of the tower, Alix and Rose following behind.

Rose was the first to speak. “Poor King Gabriel and the Queen.”

Alix sighed, scrubbing her eyes with the heels of her hands. “They’ll be heartbroken when they find out.”

They can’t find out, Mylène thought, cutting off another sob. They can’t know we failed. An idea occurred to her. A half-baked plan, but it could work. “They’re not going to.”

Alix glanced up sharply. “They’re not?”

“We’ll put them all to sleep, until Chat awakens.” Mylène gripped her wand and flew into the air. “Come!”

Putting everyone to sleep wasn’t too difficult between the three of them. The fairies had an untapped well of magic; they hadn’t used much in the past twenty years, and their reserves were high.

Mylène flew past drinking nobles, trysting couples, and the people manning the fireworks, waving her wand. A massive quantity of sparkles erupted from the tip, casting the spell she weaved with her very breath.

Soon, she found herself in the throne room. Tom Dupain was there, as expected, and she cast the spell on him and the rest.

Apparently Tom had more stamina that most, as he was still able to sleepily speak. He fought hard against the spell, but it still took hold of him, just slowly. “Well, just been talking to Marinette. Seems she’s fallen in love with some peasant boy.”

Peasant boy? Mylène thought, thinking that couldn’t have been a coincidence. “Peasant boy? Yes, yes? The peasant boy, who is he? Where did she meet him?”

Tom blew a bubble of snot out of his nose. “Just some peasant boy she met.”

Mylène placed a tiny hand on his cheek. “Where, where?”

“Once upon a dream…” Tom trailed off, finally succumbing to sleep.

“Once upon a drea--” Mylène’s hands ripped away from Tom to cover her mouth. “Chat! Princess Marinette!”

Luckily, Mylène always knew where the other two fairies were due to their magical bond. She flew to them as fast as her wings would take her. “Come on!” She panted. “We’ve got to get back to the cottage!”

Oh, I hope we’re not too late!

Chapter Text

As Marinette sat astride her horse and weaved deeper into the woods, the princess was excited.

Chat had finally agreed to introduce her to his aunts--as his fiancee, no less. Just before they’d parted for the evening, he’d given her directions to the cottage he lived in. The house was deep, deep in the forest; no wonder no one had ever found it, Marinette thought.

Though how did his aunts get food and clothing all these years? Marinette thought, whistling ‘Once Upon a Dream.’ That was a mystery best asked directly to them, which she planned to do tonight.

She reached the house and gave it a once-over. It was small and cute, with a little vegetable and flower garden on the side. White walls and a thatched roof didn’t surprise her. Neither did the brick chimney; every house had to have a wood stove, otherwise how would anyone cook anything?

Marinette hopped off Tikki and tied her reins to a tree branch. Giddy with anticipation, the princess knocked on the door.

“Come in!” a woman’s voice said warmly, which Marinette thought was odd. Why would they be inviting me in?

Her hand ghosted over her sword’s pommel. She opened the door with her other hand and stepped in, keeping a close eye out. The door slammed shut behind her, and creatures she could only describe as pigmen in the dim lighting ambushed her.

Acting on instinct, Marinette whipped her sword out of her scabbard and stabbed a hole in the first pig’s belly. He squealed, blue blood leaking out of him. Then, accompanied by the smell of flesh burning, he disappeared in a puff of magic, and a feather floated down to the floor.

Marinette didn’t have time to process this; she was already cutting down other pigmen. She sliced one’s throat open--puff, burning smell, feather--and cut off one’s hands, forcing him to drop the rope he was holding.

“Enough!” a woman cried, and a magical net fell over Marinette, one as thin as a spider’s web and as strong as steel. Marinette tried to slice her way through it, but her sword bounced off harmlessly, rattling in her hand. She touched the net, and felt painful sparks wherever her skin brushed against it.

Marinette thought absurdly that she probably looked wild in the dark; her mother would never approve of her being covered in blue blood. Who dares attack this place? Marientte thought, baring her teeth. She was thoroughly pissed.

A candle was shoved in Marinette’s face, and she blinked away the sudden intrusion of light. Her eyes glazed over momentarily as she tried to focus on the holder of the candle: presumably the same woman who had welcomed her into the house before.

“Well, this is a pleasant surprise,” said the woman, who was blue-skinned with a peacock-feather fan. “I set my trap for a peasant, and lo! I catch a princess.”

That blue skin was distinctive, as was the fan, which licked with flames in the air. Her purple eyes bored into Marinette, dark blue lips turned up in a smirk.

Marinette’s jaw dropped and fer licked at the back of her brain. She recognized this woman. She’s the fairy that cursed Prince Adrien! Marinette thought, rearing back with her sword in hand. She would kill her! What did you do to him? Marinette dropped her sword and gripped the net with both hands, feeling a shock travel down her arms to her belly. She gasped and let go.

“Away with her!” Mayura said, waving a hand. The remaining feather-goons scooped up the net, sending shocks of pain bouncing across Marinette’s skin where the filaments touched her. “But gently, my pets. Gently. I have plans for our royal guest.”

Marinette hissed. She quickly reached into her pocket and tossed a gold coin onto the floor. As she'd calculated, the ring of the metal striking the wood was seemingly lost in the squeals of the pigmen.

If Chat came back and saw the coin and the blue blood on the floor, he'd surely piece together what happened: Ladybug had come and left against her will.

Then a thought occurred to her that made her stomach bottom out with anxiety and bile rise in her throat. You better not have done anything to Chat!

I’ll kill you!

Chapter Text

Mylène burst through the door of the cottage, scarcely registering that it had been left open. With a horrified cry, she took in the scene before her.

Searching the floor for anything that could give her a clue as to what happened, Mylène stepped in the congealed, blue blood characteristic of the amoks. "Mayura!"

Alix lifted a coin from the floor. "She's got Princess Marinette!"

Mylène's frown cut rivelets into her face. "At the Forbidden Mountain."

"But we can't," Rose said, starting to pant. She wrung her hands around her wand. "We can't go there!"

"We can." Mylène slammed her fist into her palm. "And we must!"

***

The first problem that greeted Mylène at the Forbidden Mountain was nausea. The sickly-sweet scents of mold, unwashed pig, and sulphur filled her nostrils, forcing her to bite back a gag.

Her companions fared no better; Rose looked green and AlIx actually retched.

They all knew the way to the Forbidden Mountain, which hadn't always been called that. Centuries ago, Mayura had been their friend. She'd invited them to the Crystal Palace and feted them on the very best crops the land could offer.

But then humans had ravaged the mountain, turning the gorgeous valleys into fetid wastelands. Mayura had tried to defend herself without killing any of the invading humans, but eventually she found herself destroying each and every last one.

Sad, Mylène thought, as she sped towards the mountain, that Mayura committed herself to evil after having evil done to her. Mayura was a broken soul with too much power; Mylène knew she had to be stopped.

Through the fog, Mayura’s castle stood solitary. Acid hung in the air from the gaseous swamps surrounding it. The fairies cautiously approached what had been the once-glorious Crystal Palace, now twisted and blackened.

Mylène gestured for her companions to stop flying when she saw a goon coming, and the fairies hid behind a chain to the drawbridge. Grunting, the pigman entered the main door to the castle, pulling it open with a creak.

Once he was out of sight, the three fairies shrunk themselves, following Mylène’s lead, and flew through a chain housing. There, they avoided two goon guards and flew straight into a courtyard of stone gargoyles and column head decorations of grotesque-looking human and demon faces.

The fairies retreated to a perch, and Mylène let out a sigh of relief that they hadn’t been spotted. Hearing shrieking laughter and seeing flames in a nearby window, she placed a finger to her lips, commanding silence from her friends. Rose and Alix nodded.

Mylène flew to a window and peeked inside the hall. Mayura was hosting a feast and her minions were dancing around a huge bonfire. Squeals reverberated off the walls and the disgusting odors of pigmen sweat and rotten meat floated up from the room. Mylène gagged.

Mayura stroked her raven, Corbin. “What a pity Princess Marinette can’t be here to enjoy the festivities.” She smiled. “Come, we must go to the dungeon and cheer her up.”

As Mayura swept from the room, Mylène tipped her head after her, indicating to Rose and Alix that they should follow the wicked witch. Still shrunken, the good fairies flew to the window of the dungeon and peered inside.

Chapter Text

Marinette was so angry, she could spit.

She’d only given up her sword after Mayura had set it on fire, burning Marinette’s hands and forcing her to drop the scorched, useless weapon. The sword that had been a gift from her father layp twisted in the courtyard of this hellish place, probably collected by some random pigman who would hang it above his mantle or something.

Fat lot of good a sword will do me against magic, Marinette thought bitterly, pulling on her chains again. She’d been chained to the wall by her wrists, and the cuffs chafed. Her hands stung; burn blisters had exploded across her palms and fingers.

The windows were small, bathing Marinette in moonlight and doing nothing to filter the odor of putrefaction out of the dungeon. The stones were covered in mildew but were intact; she’d tried pushing against the back wall but it was indeed a wall, as solid as it should be to keep people imprisoned. Even if she weren’t chained to the wall, there were solid, iron bars that sparked when she touched them.

The only consolation was that Marinette could sit on a stone bench protruding from the wall. Small mercies. How are you going to get yourself out of this one?

The door opened, and Marinette looked up so sharply, she pulled a muscle in her neck. Mayura entered, waving her fan in front of her face, which did nothing to conceal the smile in her eyes.

“Oh, come now, Princess Marinette. Why so melancholy?” Mayura said, and Marinette grit her teeth. “A wondrous future lies before you; you, the destined hero of a charming fairy tale come true.”

Mayura waved her fan, creating an image above it. “Behold, King Gabriel’s castle, and in yonder topmost tower, dreaming of his true love, the prince, Adrien.”

Marinette’s eyes widened. The image showed Chat sleeping in a bed with a blue blanket, a red rose clutched in his hand. His face was twisted up in a pained grimace. Chat! Marinette thought, her heart pounding in her throat. Chat… is Prince Adrien?

Everything made a sickening amount of sense. Adrien couldn’t come visit her in Paris; he was stuck in the woods to protect him from this monster. Marinette clenched her fists, popping one of the blisters on her left hand and causing pus to leak out. She snarled at Mayura, who laughed.

“But see the gracious whim of fate,” Mayura continued. “Why, ‘tis the self-same peasant boy who won the heart of our noble princess but two years ago.”

Mayura’s image shifted to a picture of Chat dancing by himself. “He is indeed most wondrous fair. Gold of sunshine in his hair, lips that shame the red, red rose. In ageless sleep, he finds repose.”

How dare you? Marinette thought, feeling the same protective urge she felt when Adrien was a baby rushing upon her. I’ll kill you for sure!

Mayura cackled as her image transformed to picture a decrepit Ladybug riding out the gates to this castle on an aged Tikki. “The years roll by, but a hundred years to a steadfast heart are ‘bout a day. And now, the gates of the dungeon part, and the princess is free to go her way. Off she rides on her noble steed…”

Mayura’s voice dripped with sarcasm. “... a valiant figure, straight and tall, to wake her love with love’s first kiss, and prove that true love conquers all!”

Marinette lunged forward, her hands outstretched to strangle Mayura. The chains rang out, holding her back and jerking her towards the wall again. Growling, Marinette watched Mayura’s raven turn towards the window and wished she could kill him, too.

“Come, my pet,” Mayura said, turning away. “Let us leave our noble princess with these happy thoughts.” Just before she closed the door, she said, “A most gratifying day. For the first time in twenty years, I shall sleep well.”

The door locking signaled Marinette’s doom. She sank onto the bench in despair, holding her face and smearing blood and pus onto her cheeks. Tears pricked her eyes and her breath hitched twice. What do I do? She’s done it. She cursed Adrien.

“Marinette,” a familiar voice said. Marinette glanced up to see… three tiny fairies.

I know her. What’s her name? … Ah, yes, Mistress Mylène. Hope built up in Marinette’s chest, nearly choking her with the force of it. They’re here to rescue me!

“Ssh,” Mylène said, holding a finger to her lips. “No time to explain.”

She waved her wand and Marintte’s chains fell away. Her skin knitted back together where the blisters had been, and the stinging in her hands stopped as she was completely healed. Mylène dissolved the bars and unlocked the door.

Marinette leapt to her feet, facing the three fairies.

“Wait, Princess Marinette,” Mylène said, holding her hand up. “The road to true love may be barriered by still many more dangers, which you alone will have to face. So, arm thyself with this Enchanted Shield of Virtue--” A large, golden shield and a brilliant, glowing sword appeared in Marinette’s hands. “--and this Mighty Sword of Truth. For these weapons of righteousness will triumph over evil.”

Fully armed, Marinette beamed. She didn’t have time to thank Mylène, however, as Mayura’s pet raven flew off, screaming. Marinette bolted up the stairs to the tower, not looking back to see if the fairies followed.

Pigmen came streaming down the stairs, javelins at the ready. Mayura's servants jabbed their weapons at Marinette, who began lopping off the points methodically and stabbing the goons who held them. Feathers littered the floor and the tower was filled with the scent of burning flesh.

"There's too many!" Marinette glanced around for a solution and spotted a giant, stained-glass window. She slammed her shield into it, shattering the colored glass, and leapt through. Her cape caught on the sharp edges, shredding it.

As she slid down a long trail of vines growing up the walls of the castle, Marinette saw the fairies growing larger again out of the corner of her eye. She pumped her powerful legs, knowing that if Mayura’s servants caught her, she wouldn’t have the chance to escape again.

“Marinette!” Rose wailed. “Watch out!”

Marinette glanced over her shoulder and up to see boulders being hurled at her from the ramparts of the castle. Just as one was about to crush her, Mylène waved her wand and turned them into soap bubbles.

Marinette didn’t have time to sigh in relief. Tikki was chained up in the courtyard of the castle and was Marinette’s last hope. A wall of arrows streaked towards Marinette, but Rose turned them into flowers.

Alix flew ahead of the group and used her wand as a makeshift torch to destroy Tikki’s chain. Marinette leapt astride her horse, clinging to her with her thighs as Marinette’s hands were full and she couldn’t grab the reins. She rode Tikki towards the gate, where Mayura’s servants poured boiling oil down from the towers, blocking the way.

Mylène turned the oil into a rainbow, and Marinette glanced over her shoulder just in time to see Alix transforming the screaming raven into one of stone. Marinette gasped as Mayura appeared in the doorway of the tower the raven had been shrieking at.

“Silence! You tell those fools to…” Mayura called, and Marientte looked away. “No! No!”

Urging Tikki onward, Marinette approached the drawbridge, which the pigmen were in the process of raising.

“Watch out, Marinette!” Mylène cried, but Tikki was just able to clear the gap. Marinette leaned close to Tikki’s neck as the faithful warhorse charged onward towards Gabriel’s castle.

Rose gasped. “Hurry, hurry, Marinette!”

I know! Marinette almost shouted, but she didn’t have the time. Mayura was plotting something.

“A forest of thorns shall be her tomb, born through the skies on a fog of doom!” Mayura commanded her magic behind Marinette. “Now go with the curse and serve me well! ‘Round Gabriel’s castle, cast my spell!”

Tikki stuttered to a stop as a black cloud appeared above the castle. Bolts of lightning struck everywhere, even on Marinette’s shield, which repelled them as she held it over her head. Every place the lightning struck, with the exception of the shield, thick, thorny bushes grew. Soon, they towered above her head.

Tikki whinnied, stamping her feet. Marinette jumped off her horse and began cutting through the bushes. As Mayura cackled behind her, Marinette’s arm began to tire, but she had to press on. I must! Chat is trapped there!

Her sword arm didn’t fail her. Marinette hacked her way through the thorns, pressing ever onward. Despite Mayura’s loud, grating laughter behind her, Marinette moved on, sweat drops gathering on her temples and beading on her upper lip. The thorns closed in on her, scratching her face and looming higher than her head.

Marinette lost track of time. She hacked, slashed, and sliced; all that was left to her was her drive to get through Mayura’s trap. Finally, when Marinette could no longer handle one more cut, she burst through to the other side.

She staggered forward, blood streaming down her cheeks from small nicks and tiny gashes, and nearly fell to her knees. She was so relieved that she was through the thorns that she almost forgot about the threat behind her.

Tikki pulled up beside Marinette, and the princess, exhausted, pulled herself into the saddle.

“No, it cannot be!” Mayura appeared in front of Marinette in a gush of blue fire, causing Tikki to back up into the thorn forest. “Now you shall deal with me, old princess, and all the powers of Hell!”

Fire streaked to the sky in a massive column, surrounding Mayura. She guffawed as she rose with the fire. Marinette could barely make out her form until Mayura transformed into a massive, winged beast.

A dragon. Marientte’s stomach bottomed out. I’m going to die! i

Chat… No! I can’t stop here!

Acting on instinct, Marinette kicked Tikki in the sides, forcing her horse towards the dragon. As Marinette raised her sword, Mayura blasted a jet of blue fire at her. Marinette barely raised her shield in time, and the resulting wave was enough to knock her off Tikki.

She hit the ground on her back, knocking the wind out of her. She barely had time to roll out of the way of Mayura’s claws as she landed. Marinette scrambled to her feet as Mayura sent a fireball screaming towards her. Marinette raised her sword and the fireball ricocheted off it and slammed into the nearby bridge, destroying Marinette’s path forward.

The heat was immense. Bright pinpricks of pain stabbed at Marinette as coals burned their way through her clothes and the soles of her boots. Her exposed face felt charred and the stench of her own burned and blistering flesh made her retch.

Mayura snapped her jaws at Marinette, who nimbly dodged out of the way. Tikki whinnied in terror as Mayura peered through the flames. Marinette slapped the dragon’s snout with her sword as Mayura ferociously bit down on the air near her.

Mayura leaned upward, buffeting Marinette with her wings, and sent a torrent of flames towards the thorn forest, setting it ablaze. Marinette retreated until her back struck a canyon wall.

Marinette realized with horror that she had nowhere to go. She pressed her back into the rocks, her breath coming in thick, fast pants. Her heart slammed in her throat, choking her in the smoky air. Mayura narrowed her eyes and opened her massive jaws, preparing to release more flames.

“Up!” Mylène called from above Marinette. “Up this way!”

Marinette scrabbled up the cliff, only to find that she was now trapped atop it. She nearly fell off the opposite edge as Mayura’s jaws closed around where she’d just been. Desperately, Marinette waved her sword back and forth, feeling the burn in her arm from her slicing through the thorn forest.

Mayura cornered her on the cliff, lunging forward and snapping her jaws. Marinette barely evaded her. The dragon breathed another jet of fire, which slammed into Marinette’s shield and made her lose her grip. Marinette watched helplessly as her shield tumbled off the cliff into the flaming forest below.

Mayura laughed sinisterly. Marinette stood on shaky legs, prepared to face her doom. Mylène, Rose, and Alix pulled up beside her, all three waving their wands. “Now, Sword of Truth,” Mylène said, “fly swift and sure. Let evil die and good endure!”

Please, Marinette thought in wretched anguish. Please, sword, save me!

Using the last of her strength, Marinette hurled the weapon forward. Mayura screamed as the sword embedded itself in her chest. She clawed at her green underbelly, raking scratches into her scaly flesh. With one last shriek, Mayura snapped her jaws at Marinette, who dodged. Mayura slammed down onto the cliff and rolled off it, landing on the ground below.

Marinette fell to her hands and knees, hyperventilating. She glanced over the cliff’s edge to see a black smudge on the ground with the sword’s point stuck in the middle of it: all that was left of Mayura.

Marinette rolled onto her back, clutching her pounding heart. She coughed, her aching chest tight. Every inch of her was burned, even her eyes. Her head pounded from a lack of oxygen and soot clogged her nostrils. She couldn’t even summon the tears she wanted to cry from the pain.

She wanted to sob. She wanted to vomit. She wanted to die.

“Oh, Marinette,” Rose said, waving her wand over her. “Be healed.”

The first things to return to Marinette were her tears. They streamed down her temples and landed in her hair. As soon as Marinette could breathe properly again, her nose clear and her chest freed from its constrictive vice, she gasped aloud. The pain faded, and she felt more than saw her burst blisters and charred skin knitting itself back together.

Her clothes, however, were not restored.

Marinette threw her arm over her head and closed her eyes. “Thank you,” she croaked to the fairies, still coming down from her panic and terror even though the aches had subsided. “Thank you.”

The fairies seemed to recognize that she needed a moment, and left her to sob her fears away. Marientte rolled onto her side, curling into the fetal position and biting her knuckles. She cried piteously, letting loose soft, keening wails.

Weak, she thought, her chest shuddering. You’re so weak.

She scrubbed her face with her hand, wiping her eyes and lips in one quick stroke. Rising to her feet was the hardest thing she’d ever done, but somehow, she stood.

Marinette saw Tikki grazing in the newly-grown grass; apparently while Marinette had been indisposed, the thorn forest had dissipated. The bridge to Gabriel’s castle was also back.

The fingers of dawn gripped the clouds, chasing twilight’s dawn away. With a lack of smoke in the air, Marinette saw that the sunrise was going to be beautiful.

Chat… I’m coming, Chat. Marinette mounted Tikki and allowed the horse to carry her towards Gabriel’s castle. Now that Marinette could breathe again, she regained her impetus to save her love.

Her love. Chat was Prince Adrien, a fact that Marinette had yet to fully accept. She’d planned to marry him regardless of his princehood, and now that she knew that she was supposed to marry him anyway…

“Yah!” Marinette spurred Tikki onward. Tikki ate up the distance between Mayura’s remains and the castle, galloping like her life depended on it.

Passing through the gate, Marinette dismounted her horse and saw hundreds of nobles and guards asleep on their feet. The fairies led her up to the topmost tower, which glowed scarlet in the rising sun. Exhausted from the battle, Marinette struggled to climb the tower’s stairs, but she still ran as fast as she could. The fairies flew ahead of her as tiny, glowing, colored lights.

When Marinette crested the top of the stairs and saw Chat lying in peaceful repose, she just about collapsed weeping. He’s safe. Her breath caught in her throat with how beautiful he looked, his chest rising and falling gently in a blue tunic. His hands were bare, clutching a rose no redder than his lips.

Marinette slowed her step. She didn’t want to spook him, which she recognized as a ridiculous thought. Kneeling by the bed, Marinette gently swept Chat’s bangs off his forehead. She leaned forward and pressed her warm lips to his cool ones.

A spark of power passed between them.

Chat’s eyes fluttered open. He smiled. “Ladybug.”

Chapter Text

Chat’s eyes fluttered open. Ladybug filled his vision; she was kneeling next to his bed. A bed? How did he get here? It doesn’t matter. He smiled. “Ladybug.”

“Chat.” Ladybug whimpered, tears streaming down her cheeks. He sat up immediately and tugged her onto the bed. She fell gladly, wrapping her arms around his chest and burying her nose in his tunic.

“Sssh. It’s okay. We’re okay.” Chat stroked her hair as she let out a soft, choked-off sob. She clung to him so tightly, he couldn’t breathe. She trembled like a leaf in the wind and her clothes seemed scorched in places. Her beautiful ladybug cape was shredded. “What happened?”

“Mayura cursed you as an infant,” a tiny Mylène said, floating into his line of sight along with Rose and Alix. “Mayura wished for you to touch a spindle of a spinning wheel and die, but Alix made you fall into a deep sleep instead.”

The spindle. Chat shuddered in Ladybug’s grip. He breathed heavily, burying his nose in Ladybug’s hair and inhaling the scent of smoke. Coughing softly, he cupped her chin and turned her face up. “You fought her?” he said. “For me?”

Ladybug closed her eyes briefly. When she glanced back up, she nodded. “Yes.”

Rose flew forward. “She was so brave, Chat. Mayura turned into a hideous beast: a fire-breathing dragon.”

Alix spoke up next. “But Marinette was the victor.”

Chat’s breath hitched. He kissed Ladybug’s temple and tasted salt. “I’m so proud of you,” he whispered. “And relieved that you’re okay.”

“I’m relieved that you’re okay.” Ladybug ran a gloved hand through his hair, tucking some wayward strands behind his ears. “I… I didn’t think I would be able to save you.”

“Of course you would,” Chat said, rubbing his nose on hers. “You’re brave and selfless and know how to fight. You’re a hero, Marinette.”

Marinette smiled a little. She pressed her lips to the corner of his mouth. “And now we can get married.”

Sudden tears stung Chat’s eyes. He swallowed hard. “Ladybug, I’m sorry, I’m…” He didn’t want to tell her. He didn’t want to dash her hopes like a babe’s head on the stones. “I’m betrothed.”

But Ladybug did not react in the way he expected. “I know.” A grin stole over her features, and Chat gasped. She’s gorgeous. “To me.”

“W-What?” Chat said, hope nearly blinding him. “To you? But… You’re Princess Dupain-Cheng?” Chat turned his head to Mylène. “Is this true?”

“It is,” Mylène said, the truth written all over her face as a maternal smile.

Ladybug bowed her head, drawing his attention to her again. “Marinette Dupain-Cheng, at your service.”

Chat threw his head back and laughed. “I was the other boy all this time? That’s just my luck.”

Ladybug giggled with him, and he wiped the remains of her tears away with his thumbs. All he wanted to do was kiss her senseless, but being in the presence of his aunts dampened the fires of his ardor.

“Our parents are downstairs,” Ladybug said, gesturing to the stairs of the tower. “You should go meet yours.”

“I have parents?” Chat wiggled in place on the bed. Ladybug laughed and stood, allowing him to throw the blanket off. “Your clothes are burned, though. Must have been some fight.”

Ladybug twitched in place, glancing down at her blackened outfit. “Ah, yes, it…”

She shuddered violently, and Chat threw his arms around her, cupping the back of her head. Ladybug was back to trembling again. “We’re okay,” he whispered. “We’ll be okay.”

Chat felt Ladybug’s throat move against his shoulder as she swallowed. “Bug,” he said, rubbing her back. “You survived, and we never have to talk about this again, okay?”

Ladybug didn’t answer for a long while. Chat smelled salt, and was alarmed to hear her sniffling. “O-Okay,” she finally said. When next she spoke, her voice was firm and confident, just like the girl he’d fallen in love with. “Okay.”

She pulled back from him, dry-eyed but her cheeks wet, and offered him a shaky smile. Chat threaded his fingers into hers. “You can change clothes, and then let’s go.”

“Yes,” Ladybug said, nodding to the three fairies and Chat. “Let’s.”

***

Tom roused sleepily, rubbing his eyes. All around him, people were in various states of awakening. What just happened?

Gabriel stirred beside him, and Queen Emilie yawned. “Oh, ah, forgive me, Tom,” Gabriel said muzzily, stretching. “The wine… Now, you were saying?”

“I was?” Tom blinked blearily. “Oh, yes. Well, after all, Gabriel, this is the sixteenth century.”

Gabriel nodded. “Yes, you said that a moment ago.’

Tom yawned and then shook his head rapidly to clear it. “Well, to come right to the point, my daughter Marinette says she’s going to marry--”

He was interrupted by the first notes from the Royal national anthem of the Kingdom of France. He heard a sniffle and glanced up, seeing the three fairies up above the throne on a balcony.

“It’s Adrien!” Gabriel rose from his throne, followed by Emilie. Tom whipped his head to the left, spotting Prince Adrien and Princess Marinette descending the stairs arm in arm. “He’s here!”

Tom wiped his eyes, his jaw dropping. “And Marinette!”

Marientte and Adrien knelt before the throne. Adrien fondly embraced his mother.

Tom furrowed his brow and addressed Marinette. “What does this mean, girl? I don’t…”

Adrien next turned his embraces on Tom, who sputtered. “But, but…”

Marinette and Adrien took each other’s hands. Adrien placed his hand on her waist and began twirling her around, humming an unfamiliar tune.

Tom shook his head again. “I don’t understand.”

But upon seeing how happy his daughter was, Tom let bygones be bygones and swayed along with the dancing couple.

***

Up on the balcony, Mylène sighed dreamily. The two young people were together and all was right in the world. Then Rose lost a tear. “Why, Rose!” Mylène said, patting her shoulder. “What’s the matter, dear?”

“Oh, I just love happy endings,” Rose said, wiping her eyes with a handkerchief.

“Yes, I do, too,” Mylène said, beaming from ear to ear. Then she noticed something funny about Adrien’s tunic. “Oh, blue?” She swung her wand and whispered, “Pink!”

The tunic changed colors, but the couple didn’t stutter to a stop; no, they grinned all the more broadly at each other.

“I know you, I walked with you once upon a dream,” Adrien sang softly, and Marinette joined in.

Alix shifted on her feet in Mylène’s peripheral vision. “Blue!”

“I know you, the gleam in your eyes is so familiar a gleam,” the lovebirds sang, still twirling.

“Pink!” Mylène called, transforming the tunic back to its rightful color.

But Alix wasn’t done. “Blue!”

Mylène could not stand for this. “Pink! Hmph.”

Surely Alix would stop now that Mylène asserted herself!

***

Marinette was highly amused at the way Adrien’s tunic kept changing colors. She herself had donned a new outfit, something befitting a princess--sort of. Her sleeves were red and puffy, but she was still wearing black breeches and comfortable boots. Chat had approved of the outfit, cheering her on when she emerged from behind the changing screen in her room.

His approval was all she ever wanted anyway.

And now they were to be married. She’d defeated the dragon--which she was trying very, very hard not to think about, lest her throat close and she curl up on the floor to weep--and had saved her love.

Chat seemed no worse for the wear after the spell had been broken. Ladybug had catalogued his injuries from the curse, smoothing her hands over his face and arms and empathizing. Neither of them wanted to dwell on their hurts.

So instead, they entered the throne room and danced.

“And I know it’s true, that visions are seldom all they seem,” she and Chat sang, capping off their two-year relationship. Marinette had never been happier that her parents had dragged her to France all those years ago. Seeing Prince Adrien as a baby--and fighting the evil fairy who’d cursed him--had set everything in motion.

Then she’d met him as an adult, and her life changed. She’d fallen head over heels with this man, who was playful and smart and kind and reliable and compassionate.

Now she planned to never leave his side, just like he’d asked.

“But if I know you, I know what you’ll do…”

Chat’s hand slid to the small of her back. He tugged her in close, his other arm wrapping around her shoulders. Ladybug followed gladly, taking the initiative to glide her lips against his. For the sake of the observers, they kept the kiss chaste, but oh! What a kiss!

Chat’s mouth moved on hers, sending sparks down her spine. His hand roamed her back, pulling her in close and pressing her chest flush against his. Ladybug’s eyes fluttered closed, and she tilted her head, opening herself up to him fully. Her hand toyed with the small hairs at the back of his neck.

She never wanted this moment to end. It was the culmination of everything she’d ever yearned for. This… This was love.

Chat pulled away, leaving Ladybug panting as she opened her eyes. “You’ll love me at once,” he whispered, pressing a kiss to the corner of her mouth as she joined in the song. “The way you did once upon a dream.”

And they lived happily ever after.

THE END