Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

In the weeks leading up to their vacation, Adrien remembered staring outside of his bedroom window wistfully and wishing they had a pool in the backyard. 

This summer was going to be different.

This summer, Adrien was looking forward to being a normal teen. 

It happened very suddenly, with little planning. 

It was stiflingly hot in Paris and everyone had left the city to go to the seaside. Of course they never left Paris, his father had work to do.

“If only I could convince my father to get a pool…” he mumbled to himself. 

To make matters worse, his father did not permit him to use the public pool (too unsanitary) or the artificial beaches (too crowded) and doing laps his resistance exercise spa bath in his room was not quite the same. 

Eventually his father agreed that he could use the public pool, but when he got there he found out that his father had reserved the entire centre just for him. Deflated, he sat in the empty bathing hour and let his feet dangle over the edge before diving in, doing enough laps so that he didn’t feel too guilty for depriving Paris of a swimming pool for the afternoon.

Adrien sighed sadly as he put on his earphones and got back into the car. His bodyguard gave him a pitying look before driving him home. He pressed his cheek to the cool glass, he observed out the window of the car the people in Paris; couples in love, mothers pushing prams and fathers playing catch at the park and he felt an acute pain in his heart. 

Every summer without his mother was punctuated by her absence. She was the orchestrator of fun, and without her, his father became more distant and more obsessed with his job. The last few summers his father would keep working and Adrien would continue his study - home school meant that there were no set schedules; and it meant that he had time for more photoshoots. When he wasn’t studying or working, he might stay at home and play basketball, alone, or find a video game to play with. But aside from that it would be business as usual.  

But when he arrived home, his father was standing in the foyer waiting for him. To his surprise, his father explained that he had already cancelled his lessons for the week and that they would be going on a vacation, something which was very out of character. The teen was told to go pack his bag.

Excitedly he pulled out an odd suitcase from his wardrobe and started to grab whatever he could find and shove it into the bag. When he returned to the car he was even more surprised to find his father behind the wheel.

“I asked Gorilla to take the week off,” his father said, the corners of his mouth lifting in what may be a smile. Adrien nodded and motioned to open the car door to get into the back seat, but his father shook his head and patted the leather seat next to him. 

“You can sit next to me,… son.”

“Oh… thanks, he said awkwardly and slid into the seat, secretly thrilled to be sitting at the front.

“So where are we going?” He asked nervously.

“I rented a chalet near the alps for the week,” his father said and Adrien nodded, barely containing his excitement. 

It was a strange drive, bordering on uncomfortable as they both tried to find common ground. 

They first began talking about the traffic.

“Yes, it is bad,” his father agreed.

Then they started discussing the weather.

“It is good,” the older man said as his fingers tapped the steering wheel lightly.

Adrien ran out of ideas and searched his teenage brain of interests for something else to say but since he was also home schooled, he found that he didn’t have enough people skills to carry a conversation with a closed-off, reclusive, eccentric.

Finally they agreed on the type of music to put on so that they didn’t have to converse any more.

As the scenery moved from the city to the suburbs to the countryside, Adrien could make out the occasional smattering of castles in the distance and rolling fields as they finally entered the motorway, efficiently speeding along towards the Swiss border. It was strange not having the Gorilla for a driver, but Adrien was fascinated as well, watching his father change gears and press all the strange buttons on the wheel.

“This is cruise control,” he explained, and Adrien watched, delighted to have the privilege of sitting in the passenger seat. He wondered how soon would it be before he was able to drive himself.

It would be nice to be able to drive himself instead of being chauffeured everywhere. 

The car exited the motorway at the turn-off and slowed down as the roads began to twist, his father carefully turning around the bends as they approached the lake. Finally they approached their destination, and it was to their relief, because a moment more in close quarters might have driven him mad. The village was set on one of those idyllic inland lakes that reflected the blue of the sky and the snow caps on the Alps. It was exactly the kind that his father would like, expensive and remote. The engine purred as they approached the small village, if you could call it that. It was essentially one street with about four houses and one restaurant.

Little boat ramps dotted the edge of the lake, and Adrien felt himself actually get excited at the prospect of going for a swim in the water. It had been a stuffy summer in Paris, and swimming in a chlorinated pool indoors was not as fun as in a beautiful lake surrounded by pristine mountains and forest full of fresh smelling pines.

His father even smiled a small fraction and promised to take him fishing. Adrien started to think that this trip might actually be fun after all. But as they settled in and had breakfast the next morning, his father soon went to his study and spent the next few hours working. 

Disappointed, Adrien began to explore the lake on his own. Looks like it wasn’t actually going to be any different after all.

But he was outdoors on his own - his father said he was old enough to be trusted around the lake, and it made him feel more grown up and that cheered him up.

There was an isolated track that lead to some rocks that stuck out of the water that he soon got to know over the next few days. With each day, Adrien became more confident and explored just a bit more of the track and a little closer to the rock pools. 

He wanted to see if anything lived in there and the reeds that grew out of the shallow water along the water’s edge. 

Today was like any other and Adrien dipped his foot into the cool water and sighed. He thought miserably about how he had hoped this trip would be a significant milestone for them. But this was in more character anyway. 

Adrien was used to his father’s dismissal of him; in fact, if his father had decided to be best friends with him right this moment he might not even know how to react. In fact, he might think he had lost his marbles and run for the hills.

He opened up the photo of his mother he kept on his phone and sighed. “Maman, if only you know how much we both miss you.” 

His heart ached everyday for her and he knew his father did too. It was good to be away, since she died the house became a mausoleum to her, and every portrait and every photograph was a reminder of her passing. It had been like this for so long that he had forgotten what to even talk about… they were just lost. 

For the past few years, Adrien’s father did the bare minimum of parenting. What he substituted it with were lessons, shunting him from tutoring, to Mandarin lessons, piano and fencing lessons and then from there to a photoshoot, all supervised closely by his bodyguard of course.

In fact, this holiday would be the most he would have seen of his father in months, and that was only in the brief moments they had at breakfast and dinner, in between the moments where he shut himself off in his study. 

At least he didn’t have to model.

“He loves you so much,” he added softly, speaking to her as if she was still there. “But I don’t have a father anymore. Just a shell of who he used to be.”

A small splash in the water caught his attention as he looked up. He couldn’t see what it was that made that noise through the turbidity of the water but the ripples gave evidence of its presence… and it was probably large.

There was another splash, but this time it was further out on the lake. The scales caught the light like a kaleidoscope as it sank back into the water. Without thinking, he ran to the cabin, excitedly rambling to his father about how big it was.

His father raised an eyebrow with a sceptical expression and Adrien blushed, suddenly feeling foolish. He didn’t know anything about fish, since he was a city boy. But he promised that they could go fishing tomorrow, when he was free. 

He looked back outside again as his father went back into his office.

From where he sat he could overhear his father’s conversation over the phone. Something about some lost legend about making a wish… which confused him, but then the word earrings came up. 

Adrien sighed. It’s always about work. 

The blonde’s eyes darted to the window and looked out, catching a flicker of pink and orange. 

The light danced across the water and he felt his heart race with anticipation. 

He wanted to know what it was that he saw.

Whatever it was it was huge - as big as he was; and it was beautiful.

The next morning Adrien woke up with a start; today his father was going to take him fishing, and they were going to find out what he saw out there. The intrepid explorer in him burst with joy as he ran downstairs, putting on the life vest and hauling the little boat out from the little tin shed to the boat ramp. 

The day was warm and a slight breeze ruffled his hair as he hummed to himself as he worked on the knots - he had spent all night watching YouTube videos and making sure he knew all the basic knots for the fishing trip. He had a pretty good sense of rhythm and could sing passably - his piano teacher might have complimented him once or twice, and he was enjoying this modern pop song that he had been learning in secret - his father didn’t approve of anything that was written after 1850. Classical is for Agrestes, he would say definitively and that was it. 

Forgetting the box of fishing lures, he rushed back inside the shed to grab them. He broke out into song and enjoying the echo in the metal box but something was off - he stopped his humming and heard the sound of singing before it abruptly stopped. He got that feeling like someone was watching him as prickles on his back formed. He looked around to see if anyone was following him, but the room was empty. 

Weird.

But he shrugged it off. He was probably just imagining things. He sang as he carried the tackle box out of the shed, wondering if they needed to collect any live bait or if the plastic shrimp and fish looked realistic enough.

He was finally prepared and ready to go when he approached the chalet. His face fell when he saw his father there standing next to his photographer. 

Adrien squinted at them suspiciously as the photographer waved. “Ciao, Adrien!” 

His father looked at him apologetically.

“Vincent offered to take some photos of us spending time together, father and son.”

Adrien pursed his lips together. So this was why they were out here? It was all some PR stunt so he can win father of the year? He couldn’t believe it. 

His father looked at the T-shirt and shorts he was wearing. The way that man can look over his spectacles. “Adrien you have to change into something else, we cannot have you looking like,” and he practically spat out the words, “you’re on vacation.” 

Miserably, Adrien headed back to his room to change, on his bed was a white long sleeved shirt and Gabriel trousers all laid out for him.

Adrien came back downstairs and followed his father onto the little boat as they took an oar each to paddle to the centre of the lake. Close behind, Vincent followed in a separate kayak as the photographer loudly directed where he wanted them.

Ignoring the photographer (as he was directed to do), Adrien tried his best to tie a plastic lure on the wire. It was a strange shaped object that looked as though a preschooler had coloured it with highlighters. His father took one out of the tackle box and looked at it in disdain. As best as he could, he tried to tie a non-slip loop knot like the video he watched and laughed as his father attempted to do the same. 

His father scowled as his lure fell down into the water with a plop. “Merde!” 

Adrien tried to hide his smirk at hearing his father swear. He finished fastening the plastic lure to his hook and dropped the line over the edge of the boat.

“Very good, young Agreste! You can make a very good fisherman!” The photographer shouted, snapping away happily. “Smile Mr. Agreste! You are having a fun holiday with your son!”

It appears as though his father was not as good at faking his emotions as he thought. “Yes! Smile like you’re thinking about eating your grandmother’s pasta!”

“Adrien doesn’t eat carbs,” the fashion designer said, but Vincent paid him no heed. 

The photographer snapped away before he stopped, clicking his tongue. “The life vest will have to go, it is covering too much of your body. We want to see the outfit… that glamour and the elegance!”

The blonde bit his lip and looked at his father for permission. The photographer raised an eyebrow and waited. 

“Just for a few minutes,” his father agreed with authority in his voice and Adrien nodded.

He would be safe, he thought. Father always had my safety at heart.

Besides, he was a strong swimmer.

Shirking off his life vest, he felt the breeze kiss his skin and he sighed. It was getting too hot sitting on a boat in the sun with no hat on, so taking off the life vest felt nice.

“Okay now hold the fishing rod like so!”

Adrien followed the instructions and his father gave him a small approving smile. 

“You are quite good at this.”

Adrien felt himself flush with pride. It’s the first time his father had seen him modelling and he was happy that they were finally spending time together on this trip. 

“Wonderful! Bravo!!” Vincent snapped away excitedly, moving so much his kayak bumped into their boat. It was a little nudge, but the boat started to rock as his father held onto the edge sending dark looks across to the photographer. Just at that moment, Adrien’s fishing line must have snagged something, his hand almost loosing purchase as the rod jerked to the side.

“Whoa!” Adrien yelled.

The boat wobbled a few times before it corrected itself. Feeling the danger had passed, Adrien quickly reeled the line back in. He was disappointed but also relieved to find a clump of sea grass. 

He looked over the edge of the boat curiously. 

The water was a strange aquamarine colour that appeared to be opaque, probably the particles from the limestone and silt as the melted snow filled the reservoir in summer. The cloudy water was like a mirror and gave a perfect reflection on the still surface, but as he examined closer the contours of his face started to ripple and change. To his surprise he was staring at a girl on the other side of the water. 

With a startled cry, he sat up with fright, rocking the boat again in the process. 

“For goodness sakes, what is it!?” His father scolded irritation in his voice.

“A… it was a…” he tried to think and pulled at his lip. Words ! 

“Out with it boy!” His father said impatiently.

Something hit the boat again and this time it succeeded where it failed before. The boat capsized. Adrien gave an unmodel-like scream as he fell in. 

Perhaps it was the suddenness of being plunged into the icy cold water that shocked his senses. But he lost his head as he floundered helplessly, his voice lost as he spluttered, gulping mouthful after mouthful of water. The cold ever present, acting like a vice-like grip to constrict his lungs.

“Here!” Vincent yelled, passing an oar to him. His fingers stretched out in a desperate attempt to grab it, but as the photographer pulled him in, Adrien lost hold and slipped under again. 

He gave another cry, and tried to find something to hold onto. Every so often his head would dip below the surface and he would resurface, briefly but not long enough. Always ebbing between submersion and treading water.

The water was not that deep, probably only just deep enough for an adult to stand underwater. Something pulled at him from beneath and he kicked at it to free himself. He looked down and realised that his ankle had become entangled in some sea grass. 

The fear was kicking in now. In his panic he gasped for air only to feel the burn as the water invaded his lungs, causing him to cough involuntarily and making the situation worse.

In his weakening state, he gave one more attempt at the weeds, bending down to grab at the plants. He tried shaking his leg again, but it was futile as the tendrils tangled haphazardly around his leg. Large handfuls of green clung tight - or maybe it was because his hands were losing strength. 

The sunlight filtered down to the bottom of the lake where he was suspended in the water, his body’s buoyancy fighting against the weeds. From the bottom of the lake he looked up to the bright flickering light of the sun. He couldn’t see or hear anyone anymore. His father and Vincent perhaps went to get help.

He opened his mouth again and the last of his bubbles expired. 

It was actually serene. 

He felt so, so tired.

A song began to fill his head and his eyes became heavy. Do you hallucinate when you drown? That was what he remembered thinking. The singing worked like a lullaby as his eyes began to close, that haunting melody growing louder with every second that passed. Adrien smiled. 

“Maman, wait for me. I’m coming.”

He was no longer scared. He felt safe and happy. 

Even now, barely conscious he began to feel the pull and tug of someone hauling him to safety. With superhuman strength, the figure pulled off the tangled weeds and dragged him away from the bottom. 

Adrien opened his eyes a small amount. Enough to see a girl, with long dark hair that cascaded around her pale face.  

So beautiful. 

Maybe he even said it out loud from the way she looked at him. She pursed her perfectly shaped lips critically and he felt bad that he offended her, even though he was dying and probably should care less about pretty girls. So he was taken aback when the girl cupped his cheeks and pressed her lips against his.

It wasn’t the kind of kiss that he had imagined from watching romantic movies. It was like an exchange, a life force of energy as he felt himself brought back from the brink. Instantly he felt his lungs clear of water and filled with air. His mind was no longer hazy and foggy. In the muffled silence under the water he could hear her siren’s call as clear as if it was said above water. 

Come with me.

Chapter Text

He just had his first kiss. 

By a mermaid, of all people. 

When she had kissed him for some reason he could breathe in the water just as easily as he did above land. 

They were swimming away from the shore where the boat and his father was waiting and against all reason he followed. Staying close behind, he admired the way she could move so effortlessly, the coral colour of her tail stark in contrast to the aquamarine waterscape. 

Every now and then the girl looked over her shoulder to check on him, her hair floating gently around her face like an aura with an amused smile on her lips.

He didn’t know why he trusted her, but he didn’t have much choice. If she left him now he would be done for. But if he was being honest with himself, it was because he wanted to stay by her side. He was infatuated by the way she moved, strong gliding movements in the water and her laughter that echoed in the watery depths. It was her song that brought him back. With her lips against his, breathing life into him, and filling his lungs with air. 

She must have been the fish that he saw the day before. He wondered if she had put sea grass on his fishing hook. As if reading his mind she giggled, little bubbles escaping her mouth as she pulled him up to the surface, her powerful fin working effortlessly. 

There they resurfaced, somewhere on the opposite end of the lake, far from the restaurants and the little holiday homes that his father had rented. 

Exhausted, Adrien dragged himself up onto the rock, clinging on desperately to the comfort of dry land. He wiped away the freshwater from his eyes and looked back at the young woman who was watching him from the water's edge.

Her arms were crossed over the rock with her chin resting on her hands as she watched him. 

“You’re a mermaid!?” he said, stupidly.

As if to confirm his accusation her tail splashed in the water. 

“But how?” he gasped, looking around in astonishment. “I could breathe?”

The girl looked at him, perhaps second guessing herself for saving him if he was going to ask her inane questions. Maybe he was a dimwit. Albeit a good looking one. “You are safe as long as I’m with you.” 

Not that it helped him understand anything. Stupidly, he put it down to mermaid magic. Her tail splashed again. It seemed to be an action she did without thinking, like a reflex.

“I’ve never talked to a human before,” she said casually. It was probably her turn to take the conversational lead, and they probably needed it because he was still staring at her with a flabbergasted expression. 

“What’s your name?” she asked. 

“Adrien,” he responded automatically and remembered his manners. He knew that much. “…and you?” But before he finished the question he quickly wondered if mermaids even had names.

“Marinette.”

It was fitting. Marina meant from the sea. Marin-ette was the diminutive form. She pulled herself up next to him and let the sun bathe her. From all appearances she was about his age, with bluebell eyes and long dark blue hair that trailed down her back and covered the swell of her chest. 

He swallowed nervously, his throat suddenly dry as the mermaid laid down, shamelessly stretching on the warm rock. Her tail was on full display and the scientist inside him took the opportunity to really look at her. Mermaids are real! he thought to himself. 

As she laid there on the rock, he found himself mesmerised by her tail. It wasn’t what he imagined mermaids from books to look like, dainty and delicate. Her tail looked muscular and strong, and from the way she swam he knew of the sheer power it was capable of. It was like a weapon that was covered in armour consisting of a million fish scales, each one giving off an iridescent shimmer. He tried to remember the names from his studies, a dorsal fin ran along the outer edge and from her shoulder blades were her pectoral fins, the bony spikes connected by a thin gossamer-like webbing. 

And then the mermaid hummed.

Her voice was beautiful, exactly as he remembered and he recognised that it was the song he was learning. She had to have been the one following him the day before; no mermaid would know Clara Nightingale.

“You said you’ve never spoken to a human before… but do you always watch them?” he accused, even though he didn’t want to know why. By now, he had been a model for so long that he was used to stalkers. But she wouldn’t know who he was, so why him?

The mermaid stopped humming and looked up at him shrewdly. “I was intrigued...”

“What by?” he asked, giving her a crooked smile and hoping it came off as charming. The girl bit her lip, which was soft and sensual and looked up at him through her lashes. 

“I recognised a part of you that was like me.”

With that she unclenched her fist and raised her hand to him. There, sitting on her palm was his father’s wedding ring. 

He gasped, recognising it immediately. It must have slipped off in the commotion, but when did she get it? There was an indescribable pull as his hand reached over, as if drawn by a magnet to take it and paused- 

“What do you mean?” 

His eyes followed the mermaid’s motion as she took the ring between her thumb and forefinger and held it up to the sun, squinting as the light shone through the hole. 

“It’s magic… like my earrings,” she blushed and tucked some dark blue hair behind her ears to show him the plain black studs. “You are not human, you are a magical being… like me.”

Adrien couldn’t believe his ears and laughed incredulously. “No!”

“You can deny it all you like but this ring’s fate is linked with yours,” the girl said flatly and against reason he believed her. 

He looked at his father’s wedding ring. This made no sense. Well, about as much sense as meeting a mermaid and her telling him he was a monster. 

“I had to retrieve it for you.” Marinette gave him a sad pitying look but Adrien still didn’t understand and his expression told her so. Even with her limited experience with humans the girl knew what that meant. “When it fell in the water… If it was lost or destroyed, you would die. Do you understand?”

He frowned. “I’m not human?”

The girl shook her head slowly. “No, you’re not.”

“But… why?”

“I’m sorry, Adrien.”

The way she said his name felt soothing… and knowing this now explained so much. Why his father resented him, why he always treated him like a prop, without feeling and kept him away from the rest of the world. To him he wasn’t a human, he was a thing . 

“Is that why he hates me?”

Marinette shook her head. “Adrien, your parents went to great lengths to have you. This means that they love you dearly.” 

A sob escaped him as the girl continued to reason with him, her words gentle and soft. “The fact that you’re made differently doesn’t make you less,” she said comfortingly. “It means that you were wanted. So very much.”

Something clicked as his eyes opened wide. “Did my mother’s death have anything to do with it?”

The mermaid shook her head. “I don’t know.”

Adrien tried to take everything in. Today he nearly died. Then he learnt that mermaids are real, and now he learnt that he was not, in fact, human. 

He suddenly felt so cold, and he wrapped his arms around himself. Seeing his distress, she moved in closer to him on the rock, and he shuffled slightly to make room for her. 

Adrien sniffled. “I’m a monster aren’t I?”

Marinette tilted her head to the side. 

“Define monster?” she asked. 

“Like… evil or bad?” He recalled that in the original legends, mermaids were seen as monsters that lured sailors to their watery deaths, and he regretted saying this. He hoped he didn’t offend her. 

“I have seen many humans over centuries,” the mermaid said after careful consideration. “And the one thing I’ve noticed is that there are good humans and bad humans. Being human doesn’t make us good. It’s what we do with our lives that define us.”

Adrien nodded, understanding that much.

Here he was speaking to another non-human and she had saved him. And in the space of an hour she had said nicer things to him than everyone put together since his mother died. 

He basked in the comfort of being here with her by the peaceful lake and wondered if he needed to go home. Her could get used to this. 

Without thinking, the girl flicked her tail across the surface of the water, sending ripples over the surface. 

“Thank you,” he said, breaking the silence.

“What for?” she said softly, her eyes as blue as the sea in which she lived.

“For saving me, even when I tried to catch you.”

The girl choked. “You tried to catch me?” 

He blushed and rubbed the back of his neck nervously. “I’m sorry?”

She laughed, clutching at her sides as she keeled over as if in pain. “How dumb do you think I am to fall for that fake shrimp on the hook??!” 

“I- I thought it was a squid.”

“It was ugly, whatever it was,” Marinette laughed so hard that she had to wipe away a tear. “It wouldn’t even fool a carp!”

“Would you say I had you hooked ?” he grinned at his own pun. 

“Not likely,” she smirked, flicking water at him.

“I might be fishing for a compliment?” he asked, pushing his luck. She shook her head and laughed prettily. 

“Right. I’ll stop!”

He started to hum it to her as she flicked her fin in time and they bathed in the sun like that. His shoes had long since disappeared and he was loving the feel of the cool water on his feet. 

“Hold out your hand.”

Without thinking he did as he was commanded. It was exactly how it felt when his father demanded something. This ring was why he had a hold on him. His eyes must have betrayed his thoughts because the gave him a sympathetic look.

Carefully, she motioned to give him the ring.

But before he took it she rubbed it again, as it glinted, catching the light from the water’s surface. “Keep it safe with you, and never give it to anyone.“

A chill went down his spine as her words took effect, then she put it in his palm, closing his hand around it. Silently he stared at the ring as they sat there, letting the information sink in and as miraculous as it sounded, he felt whole. It was like there was a piece of him missing and without knowing, he had found it. 

“You are free.”

It was getting late. By now, Marinette’s hair was dry and billowed around in the breeze as it cascaded down her shoulders. Adrien’s shirt and pants were also dry. 

The summer heat was still burning as he found some shade on the bank as he collected some rocks while the mermaid basked in the sun’s rays, the other half of her muscular tail dangling into the water. 

Bringing the small rocks back, he smiled at her, letting his boyish charm come across strong and hard as he showed Marinette how to skim the rocks across the surface. 

“That was six bounces!” she exclaimed, clapping. She tried to do the same but it was slightly harder to skim pebbles without legs and she pouted as her rock fell with a plop.

The mermaid discarded the last of the pebbles, this time managing two bounces and she grinned, pleased with herself. Adrien gave a tired, but satisfied sigh as he laid on the rock next to her.

He had never spent time with someone his age before - even though she said she had watched humans for centuries. She sure looked good for someone centuries old. He turned to look at her and caught her looking at him with such intensity that he blushed as she looked away. 

Curiosity must have won over shyness as he coughed to speak. “How old are you?”

“In mermaid years or human years?” she asked.

“Oh umm…” he stammered as she giggled.

“I think humans calculate years by rotation around the sun?” she said, biting her lip in concentration. She looked adorable as she tried to calculate. “Is that about 450 rotations?” 

He could feel his cheeks burn and couldn’t help but gawk a little - that was a big age difference.

Marinette smiled as she pressed her hand to his cheek. Her skin was cool to touch.

“Doesn’t it get cold in winter?” he asked. Marinette crawled up to him, her delicate hands playing with his hair as he gulped, he had never been this close to a half naked girl before. Or mermaid. 

“When the lake freezes over, I stay under the surface on the bottom of the lake. The temperature doesn’t change much there. But I prefer it like this…” she snuggled up next to him and he felt his heart beat faster; he was a sheltered teenage boy afterall, and a red blooded one at that. 

“I- I like it too,” he stammered. “It’s warm.”

“Warm.” The girl repeated the word and smiled, completely oblivious to his adoring gaze as she threw back her head and giggled. Innocently, she shimmied closer to him, the softness of her hair brushing against his cheek.

The peaceful tranquility was broken by the shrill sound of a siren. From where they were he could see an emergency vehicle rushing down the hill to the valley and Marinette looked at him sadly.

“They’re looking for you…” she said, concern in her brow. She turned to him. “You should go back.”

Adrien sighed, wondering if he had to. “Can’t I just stay here with you?” He hadn’t been this happy since his mum died.

Marinette shook her head sadly and bit her bottom lip. “He is worried for you.”

With a splash she dived into the water and he sighed. He realised that his father had enough resources to dredge the lake if he wanted to, exposing all the mysteries of the lake and his new friend. Marinette swam back to the edge of the rock where he sat and looked at him with a longing look. He knew this look, it was the kind that meant goodbye. 

“Kiss me,” she said. 

He did, but this time it was more like a movie kiss. It was the kind that involved lifting her chin to let her lips meet his. The kind that was soft and lingering, waiting for the opportune moment for her lips to part just enough so that he could slide his tongue into her mouth. It was the kind that involved the exchanging of breaths, but in a good way, that left him wanting more as the mermaid pulled away.

“Will I meet you again?” he asked, but she never gave him an answer as she pressed her lips back to his, her tongue exploring his mouth as they tasted each other. All he could see were the blue of her irises and feel her breath on his skin and a blush, as pink as her tail and she looked at him shyly. Adrien craned his neck to hers to meet her lips, wanting more of that sweet ambrosia.

The next time he opened his eyes he could see that Marinette’s pupils were blown wide, making her eyes appear like black pools. Little fangs protruded from her canines that he never noticed before and before he could think, pale arms reached up and grabbed his face by her hands. She retreated back into the lake and just like that she dragged him under the water, slipping silently beneath the surface. 

He was submerged again. This time he was expecting the icy water. So that’s what they call the lure of the siren’s call. 

Her pull was strong and steady, with her fangs grazing along his jaw and neck, ready to sink into his flesh. But even then he trusted her, this creature that was both beautiful and treacherous. 

And then he realised that he was able to breathe and he saw Marinette’s tail diving further below, and he followed. There was so much to see as he looked around the aquatic world beneath the surface with wonder. This time he was fully conscious and blissfully aware of everything. From the stroke of his arms to every flick of her tail. He could see her ahead of him in her natural habitat and she enthralled him. Her eyes had gone back to the azure blue as before, the blacks gone and so too were her fangs as she gave him a mirthful smile. 

Little bubbles escaped his lips as tiny fishes darted past them and as they swam, his eyes narrowed a little at the sight of the seagrass, having learnt the hard way to stay away from it. Marinette held onto his hands firmly and led him away, kissing him again to pass him more air. 

As they made the swim back, he marvelled at the magic that she worked. She was right, he was safe with her. Together they surveyed the lake’s depths. Just as he was slowing down, she swam up and kissed him again, passing more life giving oxygen to him as he blushed. 

He could do this for the rest of his life. Get kissed by a pretty half-naked girl with every breath he took seemed pretty good.

They flitted playfully in the water before they broke into a race. He was not as fast as she was with his clothes that dragged and without a tail, but he did his best to keep up as the mermaid twirled around him.

To his dismay, they made it back, and he wished the moment could have gone on forever. There, they bobbed back to the surface of the water. They were back where he fell off the boat and in the distance on a boat ramp he could hear his father yelling at Vincent.

“You idiot! If you weren’t so clumsy!” the older man yelled at the photographer and the emergency response team. 

“I’m so sorry Mr. Agreste,” the photographer said, eyes red rimmed.

“Now he’s gone…” Gabriel Agreste dug his hands into his white hair and to his surprise, he began to cry. 

His father pulled his hand back and looked in shock at his bare finger, realising that the ring had fallen off. Realising the fate of his son and the rings were inextricably entwined, he fell to his knees with the weight of its loss hitting him hard. 

“My son…”

Adrien felt touched by the sight… Now he knew that his father did care about him. It seemed like all of this happened at the perfect time, for a moment sooner then he wouldn’t have seen that he was loved, in the strange way that only a grieving widow could love his supernatural son. He stood up and walked towards him, tucking the ring into his back pocket before he approached.

From a distance, Marinette watched as Adrien knelt down, putting his hand on his father’s shoulder. The older man looked up, with surprise and joy in his eyes and she watched as father and son embraced. 

The paramedics came up to wrap the boy in foil as the blonde pointed at the spot they had been.

Marinette ducked under the surface stealthily to avoid notice. From where she was, she could see the older man squint at the lake one more time before the paramedics drove off. 

“Hey dad,” the blonde said conversationally as they walked away. “Can we get a pool in the backyard?”

His father looked at him dotingly and smiled. “That’s a fantastic idea.”

The blonde paused and ventured to ask another question. “Do you think I could go to public school?” he said hesitatingly, half expecting the answer to be no.

But the older man continued to smile and nodded. “It would be good for you to make friends your own age.”

Adrien looked excited, and Marinette giggled from where she was watching him. He was probably the first boy in history to be happy to go to school.

“I would miss seeing Nathalie about,” the older man said off-handedly.

Adrien’s eyes widened. “My tutor?”

Marinette could make out a faint blush creeping on the older man’s cheeks. 

“Why don’t you ask her out on a date?” Adrien nudged. “I have been thinking how you and Nathalie have been getting closer lately.”

“Since when did I take dating advice from you?” The older man looked serious and Adrien began to panic before the older man’s face split into a grin. 

“You know, I think I might.”

They went inside and she could not hear the conversation anymore. Marinette felt a tinge of yearning for the sad boy with the kind eyes; a boy who was more than what he appeared to the naked eye, whose soul was as pure as the melted snow that filled the lake. 

She knew that they would not be back. Over the centuries humans have come and gone. In search of a legend and wanting a wish, but none have succeeded. 

But they almost never leave empty handed. 

Sometimes you just have to lose something you already have before you realise how precious it was; it would be hard for them to forge a new life together without his mother, but Adrien was going to be fine. 

Marinette sat out of the water long enough to let her fins completely dry and watched as her tail turned into legs. Perhaps she could do with someplace warmer this winter. School could be fun.