Frosty here with another fic! So I know I should be working on TSW and whatnot but I've been sitting on this fic since literally the day I joined the ML fandom.

Anyway, enjoy!

"Duck!"

Chat Noir rolled forward, and then vaulted himself onto a lamplight using his baton. A strand of thick ivy whipped through the spot he had been moments before. The ivy swerved suddenly and began wrapping itself around his lamplight, the metal turning into hedge and wood as the plant wormed its way up.

He cursed and jumped to the terrace of a flower shop (oh, the irony). Ladybug swung her yoyo around the now useless lamplight and landed next to him.

"So," He began, but he was cut short as a green blast hurtled towards them. They both leaped up in opposite directions, just in time to avoid becoming giant plant-like versions of Paris' superheroes.

"What's the plan, or should I say, plant? I think we might be running out of thyme." Chat yelled, dropping low and bouncing off a café's umbrella.

"Follow me!" Ladybug ignored his puns and wrapped her yoyo once more around the lamplight. "Head to the tower."

Chat grunted. "Great, another trip to destroy Paris' iconic landmark." His enhanced hearing picked up a whoosh from behind him, and he hastily followed his Lady's path. The green light splashed against a café, and it suddenly became greenery, with giant man-eating flowers snapping at him and thorny arms of ivy thrashing in the air.

The akuma hadn't said a single word besides introducing herself as Gaia, and floated serenely behind them. Her face was the epitome of tranquility and if Chat hadn't been there to see it, he wouldn't have believed that she was the being responsible for turning half of Paris into some sort of a magical jungle.

Buildings had become walls of ivy and flowers; cars had turned into rocks and trees. Even the people had changed into hedge or wooden sculptures.

He reached the tower a second after Ladybug, and she smirked at him. "Taunt her until she turns the tower into a hedge."

Chat gave her an incredulous look, "One, she doesn't seem to need any taunting. She pretty much turns things into plants without any prompting. Two, are you sure you wanna purposefully turn the Eiffel Tower into the Eiffel Flower?"

She rolled her eyes. "Hedges aren't the same thing as flowers. And besides, have I ever failed you?"

He grinned. She never had and she never would.

"After you."

Ladybug flicked his bell. "Then let's play." She began swinging up the tower.

With a dreamy sigh, he followed her.

They scaled the tower with ease; almost out of habit based on the sheer number of times an akuma had led them there or vise versa.

Gaia drifted after them, hands outstretched. Her eyes were closed, and they had been for the past hour since her creation. Her skin was a mottled grey green, and vines and flowers flowed out of her scalp like hair. A green toga of moss and flowers trailed behind her.

As she neared the iron structure, green started creeping along the ground towards the tower. The two superheroes raced up.

The green akuma, still smiling her serene little smile, came to a stop underneath the center of the Eiffel Tower. She silently raised both her arms up and her plants moved with her. They swarmed up like living creatures chasing after food, which happened to be Chat and Ladybug in this situation.

Metal beams groaned as it twisted into thick branches of wood and vine. Carnivorous plants snapped through the gaps in the greenery.

The two reached the top, and without a word, Chat grabbed his Lady and pushed them up with his baton. Precariously balanced, Chat sat cross-legged as Ladybug dangled from his knee. She tossed her yoyo up.

"Lucky Charm!"

A flamethrower landed in her arms.

"On three, I need you to vault off, ok kitty?"

"Bring on the heat!"

She groaned. "I'll get you for that. Un…Deux…Trois!"

Chat extended the baton even more as Ladybug swung back, legs hooked under his knee, and hung upside a grunt, she blasted the flamethrower at the tower, now completely comprised of plant material.

Flames engulfed the top of the plant tower and began speeding down the mostly wooden structure. With a final push, Chat retracted his baton and let Ladybug flip out from under him. He grabbed her hand as she hooked her yoyo around falling plant bits, somehow finding enough momentum to swing them safely to the ground as the tower began to collapse from the flames eating at it.

Gaia, who had still been standing under the tower, let out a silent scream as flaming pieces of vegetation rained down towards her. Ladybug chucked her yoyo under the tower and grabbed the akuma, yanking her back just in time to avoid a massive flaming branch that crashed into the ground.

Dazed and still wrapped up in Ladybug's yoyo, the akuma simply knelt to her knees. Ladybug quickly snatched the button that had been pinned onto the shoulder of Gaia's toga.

Chat spotted a picture of what looked like a penguin, and the words, "Save Our Mother Earth".

His partner snapped the button with a flick of her fingers. With a quick twist, the yoyo released Gaia and popped back into Ladybug's hand. A simple throw later, and a white butterfly flew peacefully into the sky.

Ladybug grabbed the fallen flamethrower and chucked it into the air. "Miraculous Ladybug!"

The customary ladybugs fixed the Eiffel Tower and turned the forest back into a city. Chat turned to his Lady with a grin. "Bugaboo, that move you did with the flamethrower was unbeleafable! Pound it!" He held out his fist and she tapped it against his, laughing.

"Merci Chaton." Her earrings beeped. "Well, looks like I gotta blast. See you at our meet up tonight?"

"Of course," He smiled as she swung away.

Chat dropped into an alleyway and detransformed behind a large stack of crates. Adrien Agreste walked out, hands stuck in his designer jeans as he whistled casually.

Plagg, hidden in an inner pocket of his jacket, pinched him. "How many times do I have to tell you that whistling is not inconspicuous at all?"

Adrien whacked him (which just looked like he was hitting himself in the chest). "Neither is a talking pocket."

He could basically feel his kwami roll his eyes, but thankfully the little god didn't speak up again. His phone chimed.

25 text messages from Nino and a phone call. He frowned when he saw the time. "Crap, I promised I would meet Nino to study for that history assessment. I'm forty minutes late."

He stowed his phone in his bag and ran around the corner, making his way to the library.

It's weird that he called though. Normally he understands.

Nino was waiting for him on the one of the benches in front of the library, scrolling on his phone with his headphones plugged in. Adrien approached and sat down next to him.

His friend jumped slightly before grinning. "Dude! You're finally here."

Adrien shrugged nervously. "Sorry about that, I should've called or something."

"Nah man, I should've known. I got here before the akuma showed, so I had no idea that you were busy. Normally I'm pretty good about that stuff, so no hard feelings. Heroes gotta hero and all that."

The two stood up and made their way into the library. Nino was the only person that Adrien had told, albeit by accident.

"So, what was it this time?"

"A girl was upset when the environmentalist rally she was gonna hold at her school got canceled because no one wanted to go. Transformed into an earth goddess and turned half of Paris into a garden. Actually, you're super lucky. This arrondisement was basically the only one left unscathed."

"Huh, who woulda thought."

Nino gave him a sideways look, and Adrien internally groaned. It was the same look his best friend gave after every single time he encountered Ladybug. "No, I still haven't said anything."

"Dude! It's been three years," Nino said, exasperated. "Do ever plan on telling her? Or are you just gonna wait until ten years later when she's married with kids."

Adrien cringed at the thought. "I just don't want to force her or anything. She can't help it if she doesn't like me back."

"It's kinda hard to like a guy who's wearing a mask."

"Yeah, well from the looks of it, it doesn't look like we're going to be sharing our identities anytime soon. She's being responsible and all that."

Nino rolled his eyes. "Hey, I walked in on your flying magical black cat thing and found out that you moonlight as one of Paris's superheroes. Old Hawky hasn't come after me yet. What's the harm of sharing your names? There's millions of people in Paris."

Shaking his head, Adrien took out his history textbook at the table they stopped at. "We've been over this thousands of times Nino. It's just not gonna happen. Come on, we came here to study."

With a small sigh, Nino sat down and pulled out his own notes.

The sun was setting by the time Chat arrived at their usual meeting place. Red and gold streamed over the tops of the buildings as he joined his partner on the rooftop of an old museum. Ladybug watched the city from her perch, dangling her legs off the edge of the building. The highlights of the setting sun tinted her hair and skin. He settled himself next to her and crossed his legs.

"Good evening, My Lady."

She barely turned to look at him, but a small smile appeared on her rosy lips. "Evening Chaton."

Normally at this time, the two would patrol the city together, but they had long since agreed that on the days akumas attacked, they would simply watch the city from their high perch.

He sighed with contentment at the perfect (and romantic) scene in front of them, but he could tell from the narrowness of his Lady's eyes that her mind was filled with duty and responsibility.

A sad gleam made its way into Chat's eyes.

He had once promised himself that he would always love the girl under the mask. But Ladybug had never let him in. He would flirt, and she would push back, firmly establishing their relationship as nothing more than professional.

Could he say that he was truly in love with a girl who didn't even let him get to know her?

He wanted to say yes. He wanted it to be real.

"What's on your mind kitty?" Ladybug turned her attention to him, twisting her body until she faced him completely.

You, he wanted to say.

"The light of the sun truly makes you radiant Bugaboo." He grinned cheekily, but a part of him waited in anticipation for her to push back.

She didn't disappoint and raised an eyebrow as she pushed a finger at his nose. "Silly Kitty. That sounds like a cheesy line on a makeup or perfume advertisement."

He winked. "You're pretty enough to be on said advertisement."

"Flirt."

"Ah, but only for you, My Lady."

She rolled her eyes, and with a pang, Chat realized that she really didn't believe that he only flirted with her.

A thoughtful look suddenly overcame her features.

"You know, if I wasn't wearing this mask right now, I'd probably have an aneurysm if a pretty boy tried to flirt with me."

"You think I'm pretty?" He waggled his eyebrows and leaned closer.

She pushed him with her shoulder. "Like a Barbie doll."

"Meowch." He placed a hand to his chest in mock offense. "But in all honesty, I don't believe that for a second. Your definitely all confidence and the pretty boys probably all come flocking underneath that mask."

She cocked her head. "Kitty, you don't know enough about me to say that."

That stung. But it was the truth. He really didn't know enough about her to say anything.

"Then let me get to know you."

"No," Ladybug replied, shaking her head firmly, "It'd be irresponsible of us to share any sensitive information about that until Hawkmoth is taken care of."

"Then I eagerly await the day we can kick some butterfly ass. You promise though?" The last part came out weaker than he wanted.

"You're one of my best friends Chat. Of course I would love to get to know more about you after its safe. But only after its safe." With that, she turned back to the city. The sun had completely set at this point, and lights danced around Paris.

As she started idly kicking her legs again, eyes trained on the city, Chat felt his heart sing out to her, and it physically hurt to be so close, yet so far.

It's okay though, he thought as he listened to the sounds of the night. It was okay to not be in love with all her as of now. He knew that he was in love with the girl under the mask either way. Hopefully she would let him love all of her one day.

Adrien was checking his answers over. Number twenty-eight looked debatable. He read through his work, and then nearly dropped his pencil when the phone's ring sliced through the silence.

Ms. DeFonte glared at the device, as if offended that it was daring to interrupt her test, but sighed and picked it up. "It's Marina. Could you make this quick, my students are in the middle of an exam."

Focusing on the test once more, Adrien realized that he had made a mistake on the second-degree derivative, and it had messed up the rest of his work. He erased it.

A sharp gasp from his math teacher drew his attention. It was quiet enough that most of the class wouldn't have heard it. But as Adrien sat at the desk closest to his math teacher, the intake of breath was noticeable.

Marina DeFonte was a no-nonsense sort of woman, and Adrien had never seen her exhibit much emotion. He was surprised when her eyes widened and her eyebrows pinched in. Her voice shook when she responded. "Of course, she'll be right there. I apologize for my earlier snappiness."

Adrien's own eyes widened. As she stood up, he ducked his head, pretending to work on the last problem. He heard her stop at the desk right behind him.

"Marinette," she began in a surprisingly soft tone, "It'd be best if you gathered your things and headed to the headmaster's office."

"Now? What about the test?"

Adrien wasn't terribly close to Marinette, but he still considered her one of his friends. They often worked together in calculus, and she was nice enough to him, if a little shy at times. She was a little intimidating though, not only because she was class president, but also because she seemed to friends with everyone. Like literally everyone claimed to be friends with her. For a previously homeschooled boy with very little friends, it was a little scary.

He had always admired her ability to care for others, and hoped that nothing bad had happened.

"The test can wait. I'm sure the headmaster will be able to explain. Your parents are down there too."

"Oh." Marinette sounded confused and slightly worried. Ms. DeFonte did nothing to try and reassure her.

A slight shuffling could be heard as Marinette gathered her things. The students pretended to be focused on the test as Ms. DeFonte headed back towards the front of the room.

Marinette made her way towards the desk and placed her test paper in front of their teacher.

The woman's eyes softened, and she told Marinette, "I probably shouldn't be saying anything, but don't worry about making up the test. I'm sure you'll want to take a few days off."

Marinette's blue eyes were furrowed with concern now. She gave their teacher a sharp nod of thanks and rushed out of the room.

Adrien felt a beat of curiosity and worry settle in his chest, but shook it off and finished correcting number twenty-eight.

That night, Chat had been preparing for patrol when Ladybug sent him a message on his staff.

Hey kitty. I've got family emergency. Might be away this week. Could you take care of patrols yourself, I don't think I'll be able to slip away very easily these days. If an akuma shows, I'll do my best to be there. Thanks.

LB

With a concerned crease in his eyebrows, he set off on patrol alone, hoping nothing bad had befallen his Lady.

Adrien slid into a spot next to Nino as they waited for their first class to start.

His best friend was currently throwing crumpled papers onto his desk as he dug through his bag for the homework. Adrien ran an exasperated hand through his hair.

"Dude, you really need to get a notebook, or a folder, or even a Goddamn paper clip."

Nino raised an eyebrow at Adrien's own neatly stacked, color coordinated books, but didn't stop his search. "I'm perfectly organized thank you very much. Besides," Nino pulled out an old wrinkled t-shirt, "I have–" an old candy wrapper joined the pile on his desk, "–everything–", Adrien winced at the many broken pencils making an appearance, "–I need." Nino finally whipped out one more crumpled paper, "Found it!"

"What you need is some serious help." Adrien couldn't help the slight discomfort he felt at the mess of papers (and other stuff) on Nino's desk. He had always been a rather organized and neat guy. Growing up with Nathalie as a caregiver left little room for sloppiness.

Nino smiled smugly before shoving all his junk back into his bag. "At least I did my homework today."

A click of high heels at the door informed the two that Chloe Bourgeois had just arrived. Her eyes lit up when the landed on him, and she pranced over, designer bag swinging by her side.

"Hey darling." Adrien rolled his eyes, but Chloe ignored him as she hopped onto the edge of his desk and crossed her legs. After knowing Chloe for years, he saw the gleam in her eyes. The gleam that told him that Chloe was here because she wanted something.

"Is it true?"

"Is what true?"

She sighed exasperatedly, as if she had expected more from him. "About Marinette. You're in the nerdy math class with her aren't you? When she got the call?"

"Okay, first, not nerds. Secondly, I have no idea what you're talk about," Adrien said, frowning when he saw that her bag was currently wrinkling a corner of his assignment.

"Bro, you haven't heard? I thought you knew already, being in her class and all that." Nino piped in, earning a flippant look from Chloe. The two had an odd truce that came from being Adrien's closest friends. They didn't bother each other, but they also weren't the biggest fans of each other.

"Adri, honey, if you're no good at spilling the tea, then you're absolutely no fun to keep around," Chloe said.

Adrien shot a sharp look at Nino. "Can someone just explain to me what happened?"

Nino opened his mouth, but Chloe beat him to it

Pretending to examine her already pristine nails, the blond began, "Poor darling. Sabrina said that Rose said that Alya told Juleka that Marinette's uncle has had cancer for ages now, but that's it been getting worse. Sabrina said that Rose thought that it meant that yesterday, you know… " Chloe raised her eyebrows and pursed her lips, but she didn't finish the thought. Instead she crudely cocked her head to the side as she gestured across her neck.

It took Adrien a minute to follow. Then he immediately sobered up. "Oh, wow, I'm sorry, that's terrible. I mean, I wasn't very close to Marinette, but that's actually horrible."

"Don't apologize, especially not to me. Besides, we don't even know if it's true."

"Don't be rude Bourgeois. For all you know, she just lost her family member," Nino chastised.

Chloe frowned. "What? I lost my mother five years ago. Just because I don't show it doesn't mean I can't be empathetic. Trust me, I know what's she's going through."

The bell rang, and right on cue, Alya Cesaire walked in, looking like she hadn't slept a wink. Dark circles were clear under her eyes, and she hadn't bothered with makeup or with brushing her hair out. Without a word, she made her way to the desk she shared with Marinette. The one that was currently empty.

Nino shot the mayor's daughter a dark look as the despondent girl passed them. "Look, I know you carry the title Queen Bitch with pride, but Marinette probably lost her uncle, so be a little nicer today."

Alya made it to the desk behind them before collapsing into an exhausted pile, oblivious to the curious and concerned glances from her classmates.

Shrugging, Chloe slid off their desk and straightened out her skirt. "She won't be in school for awhile. Don't worry about Marinette and me; even I can't hate the school Princess. Everyone loves her." She emphasized the last bit with a roll of her eyes, joining Sabrina at their desk across the aisle.

Marinette didn't return to school for another week.

As a fairly present member of the school community (second only to Chloe Bourgeois), her disappearance was the talk of the student body for days.

Everyone in their class had learned that her uncle had indeed passed away, and that the Dupain-Cheng family was busy getting their family's affairs in order.

According to Nino, who had probably talked to Juleka, Marinette had been really close with the man, who had worked in the fashion industry as a marketing director. Rose had whispered to Adrien that he had been the one to inspire her fashion dreams.

He thought of the infamous pink sketchbook, the one everyone knew contained Marinette's work.

The week seemed quiet, even though Marinette wasn't a particularly loud person. But her presence had been constant cheery warmth; now everyone felt the heavy cloud that loomed at the mention of her name, unsure with how to proceed respectfully.

When she did return, she brought someone with her.

At first glance, it wasn't hard to see how the two were related. They both had dark blue-black hair, petite forms, and pale skin. Similar facial structures and head shapes made it hard to see the difference from the back.

But the similarities ended there. Bridgette Cheng had almond-shaped brown eyes that were set wider apart and was shorter than her cousin. She lacked the constellations of light freckles that Marinette had, and her hair reached her lower back. There was a stiff air about her, but Adrien was sure that came from grief.

The first couple days were quiet. Marinette seemed tired, and her eyes were slightly red and puffy. Other than that, she didn't say much. She participated in class, and she smiled at those she passed in the halls. But the enthusiasm and perkiness of their class president was missing.

People were constantly crowding her with apologies and condolences, offering their help and gifts. She accepted it all with the elegance of someone much older than her years. Honestly, he was kind of impressed with the mature way she was handling it all.

Adrien didn't think he was terribly close to Marinette, but he could see the emptiness in her words, the hollow look in her eyes. He knew grief when he saw it, and this girl in front of him was hurting inside. Deep, deep inside.

He knew because he had also hid his grief in the disappearance of his mother.

But Adrien wasn't sure what to make of Bridgette. The girl stuck close to Marinette, yet even with her cousin, there was an odd coldness in their interactions.

She hadn't said a single word in class yet, at least what classes he shared with her and Marinette. But the girl was a bit odd.

It was probably nothing, but it bothered him how Bridgette tried to be like Marinette. She started wearing similar clothes, watching her cousin for cues, and even began wearing her hair parted in two. At least she wore it in two braids.

It was probably nothing. But it definitely bothered him.

And too often for his comfort, he found those brown eyes focused on him.

He tried to shrug it off. He was sure Bridgette was a lovely girl once you got to knew her. Maybe she was just shy. But something about her….

You're overreacting, a voice that sounded a lot like Plagg would remind him whenever his thoughts strayed in that direction. You don't even know the girl.

Instead, he tried to focus on people he did know.

Adrien could tell that Nino was concerned for Marinette, despite not being a close friend of hers.

Friday morning, as literature ended, Adrien caught Juleka's elbow. "Hey, do you wanna get lunch with Nino and me today," he lowered his voice, "Dude's really worried about Marinette, hopefully you can reassure him?"

"Sure. Is it okay if Leo comes? I promised him lunch today."

"Of course."

They met up with Juleka and Leo at the front of the school as the lunch hour began, and they made their way to a small café around the corner.

Juleka brushed some hair behind her ear as the two boys across from her at the café table looked at her expectantly. "Well, what do you want to know?"

Nino shrugged awkwardly. "Man, I don't know. I just kinda want to know what happened and all that without being an insensitive little shit. And I don't think we're close enough to Marinette or Alya to really ask. But you're friends with her, and well, we're friends with you."

Adrien nodded. "We'd like to help, you know."

Juleka smiled her small, careful smile. "Marinette's doing okay, I think. I mean, she's been throwing herself into her designs more than ever, but she's a strong one. When her Papa's grandpa died, it was the same. She threw herself into her designs, but she's amazingly selfless. She always seemed more concerned about how others were feeling."

Nino nodded. "I remember that. Marinette did that even in preschool." Nino sighed, "I wish we stayed friends."

"I'm sure she would love it if you reached out to her," Juleka commented, "she's got a big heart and lots of love."

Leo laughed. "I been here half a year, I already know Marinette is Fairy Princess. She has big heart to give lots of gifts." Juleka and Nino nodded at Leo's broken French. Marinette had enough room in her heart even for those she was only acquainted with.

But Adrien frowned a bit. He had always seen Marinette's amazing-ness and the way she reached out to others, but she had always seemed awkward around him, even when they worked on math together. He could never figure out why.

Leo tapped his chin. "So Marinette's cousin, why is she at our school now?"

"Bridgette's mom died when she was younger, so it's always been just her and her dad, who is Marinette's mom's brother. She lived on the other side of Paris, but now that her dad's gone, Marinette's mom has custody over her. Since the school year just started, they didn't think it would be too awful for her to start now."

Nino snapped his fingers. "Wait, I think I remember her at some of Marinette's parties when we were younger. She didn't talk much then."

Juleka shrugged. "She doesn't talk much now. Marinette says she's still grieving and that she won't let anyone in."

Adrien sighed. "Everyone goes through grief differently. When Chloe's mom died, Chloe went on a shopping spree, blew close to three thousand dollars, then locked herself in her room for a week."

He didn't tell the other three how his form of grieving had looked surprisingly similar to Bridgette's.

Their orders came, and Nino picked up his sandwich as he said, "I hope Marinette isn't bottling it in. She's always been too concerned about others for her own good."

"That's what Alya's been trying to tell her, but the girl's too stubborn," Juleka poked at her salad. "She insists that she's fine. Al said that besides crying over a call the night of, Marinette's been avoiding the topic."

"I miss her. She is," Leo frowned as he searched for the right tense, "she was, so bubbly and colorful. She reminded me of mi ciudad natal de Barcelona." He slipped into his native tongue without noticing, but the others understood.

Juleka patted his arm. "She'll bounce back. Mari's strong."

Marinette was fine.

Really.

Actually, how fine she was almost making her not fine.

But she knew that Uncle Alex would never have wanted her to grieve too much. Her uncle had been diagnosed with lung cancer a year ago, and in a rather late stage.

They had had a year to come to terms with it.

So yeah, Marinette was devastated. But she was fine.

Uncle had told her that she had to take care of Bridgette, who was three months younger than her. Bridgette wasn't talking much and the two had never been especially close to begin with.

Marinette wasn't sure how she was supposed to 'help' Bridgette when the girl didn't want help, but she didn't want to give up on her uncle's last request.

And she felt as if everyone was just waiting, waiting for her to break down and cry. But she had cried plenty the first four nights. She didn't want to think about it anymore.

She wished people would stop asking her if she was okay.

Cause really, she was fine.

She was fine.

She didn't want to think about it anymore.

Fine.