"... you know I believe that we were meant to be."

"Can you please stop pacing back and forth, Marinette?" Tikki sighed. The girl glanced over the kwami, her lips curving upward.

"But Tikki!" she bit her lower lip, suppressing a squeal, "It's a ball! With all those gorgeous dresses – delicious food – and Adrien will be there for sure! He'll be so handsome, I just know it."

"I bet he'll ask you for a dance!" Tikki landed on top of Marinette's shoulder.

A faint thud on the table was heard, the lead of the mechanical pencil broke into pieces as Marinette slams her forehead with her palm. Great, another thing to worry about. There's only four days left before the Christmas ball. Marinette glanced at her right side; there stood a mannequin with an unfinished gown on it. The gown was one problem, she can absolutely finish it in four days without interruption… but practicing dancing will take half of her time to finish the gown.

"There's no way I can handle making a dress and learning how to dance in just four days! Not to mention, if Hawk Moth attacked again…" As if on cue, a loud shriek echoed throughout her room. Slamming the table, Marinette abruptly stood up. That villain really has the worst timing, "Spots on!"

"Pound it!" Ladybug breathes a sigh as she stood beside Chat Noir. The wind blew past their hairs as both of them wiped the sweat that started trickling down on their forehead. Beating the akuma this time took longer than usual.

"So Milady," Chat grabbed her right hand, his left foot was bent down on the ground, kissing the back of her hand. Afterwards, he stood up and winked at her as he reaches for his baton. "I'll be on my way then."

"Wait!"Her hands shook as she grabbed Chat's wrist. Her mouth opened to say something, but the beeping sound on her earrings alarmed her. People started to come out of the buildings. I have to say it!

"D-Do you know how to dance? I mean those kinds of dances people do in a Ball... you know, when a slow song comes up," she averted her gaze, gripping his wrist tightly, "Our school will have a Ball in four days and I don't know how to dance properly without stepping onto the other person's feet so..."

Her face burned up. People are piling in. Not a single word from her partner was heard. Damn this alley cat! Why isn't he responding? Her miraculous is running out of power! If she had other choices, she'd definitely ask Alya to teach her but then again, the brunette was busy.

"You know what? Nevermi –"

"Of course I do!" A hand was gently placed on top of her head. Now he's treating her as a kid? "I'll teach you to dance… If you want to"

"Alright, we'll meet at the Pont Des Arts at midnight."

Ladybug shudders at the chilly air of the night, the whole city was awfully quiet at this hour. Pulling her yo-yo back, she landed swiftly on top of the bridge, hoping Chat was already there but he was nowhere to be seen.

"Milady. The moonlight that was rather bright that usual – along with the street lights – made the padlocks shine. Recognizing the owner of the voice, she immediately faced the person behind her. His emerald colored eyes immediately locked to her bluebell ones, while his dishevelled golden hair glowed under the starry sky as he took a step forward.

"Can I have this dance?"Chat's lips tugged upward, not forming a grin or a smirk but a smile. For a moment, Ladybug was taken aback; her heart skipped a beat at this small gesture! Although she swore it to herself that it should only skip or race for Adrien. Absent-mindedly, she took Chat's outstretched hand.

He is totally going to enjoy this kind of set up.

A few minutes later, Ladybug had been already at her limit. For the past thirty minutes, she kept on stepping on Chat's feet and wasn't making any progress at all! Who knew the basic steps at waltzing could be so hard?

"It's getting late. I have to go, I still have school later." Ladybug let out a yawn, she was about to reach for her yo-yo when Chat grabbed her right hand – making her turn around to face him. He placed Ladybug's left hand on his shoulder, he then placed his left hand on her waist – while he held her right hand – Ladybug just stared at him.

"One more time," Chat stared right at her bluebell eyes. He swore he saw that pair of eyes somewhere. "I promise you'll get it right this time –just follow my lead, LB." He winked at her and both of them started waltzing.

"Don't look down at your feet, Milady!" Chat chuckled; Ladybug rolled her eyes as she followed Chat's movement.

"B-But if I don't, I'll step on your feet again and make no progress at all!" A lie. That wasn't the only reason why she's looking down at her feet – her heart was racing too fast and she wouldn't want Chat to see her face lit up in bright red –just like her mask. Chat laughed as he lets go of Ladybug's right hand and lifted her chin gently – causing her to stare directly at Chat Noir's familiar green eyes.

"Why are you looking down? I'm right here." He smiled, noticing the short distance of their faces, he immediately pulled away – leaving their faces in a deep shade of red.

"Adrien/Marinette!" Alya and Nino shook their best friends – for the nth time – hoping to wake them up. The teacher noticed this of course – for the past three days, Marinette would always come late and then fell asleep during classes. It's not just her, though, there was someone else who had been up till 3 a.m. – to practice dancing – Adrien Agreste.

"What?" Marinette straightened her posture as she rubbed her eyes – yawning in the process. Adrien did the same thing – unfortunately for them, the teacher was already glaring at their direction.

"Ms. Dupain-Cheng and Mr. Agreste, lately you've been coming to school at late hours and sleeps in my class for three consecutive times. This is the third time, I'm not going to tolerate this kind of behavior anymore– go to the principal's office!" The teacher slammed the table as she pointed at the door of the classroom, indicating them to get outside, "Now!"

"Dude, we've been waking both of you up three times already," Nino shrugs. Marinette let out a sigh as she lazily grabbed her bag and left the classroom with Adrien following her – since they're both going to the principal's office anyway.

"It's locked," Adrien turned the doorknob again, but it still won't open, "I guess he's not here today."

"Let's just go to the... library," Marinette let out a yawn again as she dragged her feet in the direction of the Library, "If we go back to the classroom, we'll only fall asleep again, right? She's pretty mad."

Fortunately, the Librarian was asleep as well, so they were saved from tons of questions onto why they're here when classes are still going on. Both of them made their way to the farthest table from the Librarian to avoid waking her up.

"So... you're going to the ball, right?" He glanced at her, but Marinette had already fallen asleep, her sketch pad was underneath her head on the table. She's so tired that she had no time to fangirl over how she's alone with Adrien right now, "I guess she's too tired today."

"You know, you should double the Camembert that you give," Plagg floated out of Adrien's blazer when he saw that Marinette and the Librarian are fast asleep. "Considering the fact that you go out every midnight –"

"Shh!" Adrien interrupted his kwami's rumblings as he caught a glimpse of a small pink object floated out of Marinette's purse and onto the table. Its eyes were half closed and looked like she's just as tired as the two of them were, well three if we include Plagg.

"Marinette, I'm hungry." She rubbed her eyes.

"What?" Plagg followed Adrien's gaze and gaped. He didn't expect to see her here, "Tikki?!"

The pink kwami's eyes snapped open, surprised at the sudden noise. Someone called her name, and it definitely isn't Marinette.

"Plagg? Why are you," Before she could even complete the question, she noticed Adrien behind the black kwami titling his head in confusion. "Ah…" Nervously, she took a glimpse at a sleeping Marinette beside her.

Oh.

This is bad. She just woke up so she thought Marinette was already at home or at least by herself, that's why she showed up.

"You're here, does that mean he's…?" Tikki pointed at Adrien, "Chat Noir?"

But at least it's Chat Noir.

"Well, duh."

"Um, this is?" Adrien raised his eyebrow, "A kwami?"

"Ladybug's kwami." Plagg stated as he gulped down a slice of cheese down his throat. Adrien was about to react, but Plagg interrupted him. "Obviously, the sleeping girl over there is the love of your life."

"Marinette, you're so beautiful!" Tikki floated beside her. "I'm sure Adrien will surely ask you for a dance... or even for a date!" She added.

Marinette stood in front of her full body mirror, examining her appearance. Her make-up –which was done by her mother – perfectly concealed those pairs of bags under her eyes due to staying up late for three days. Her hair though was curled and was let down to the middle of her back – since it was just medium length – her fringe was braided to the right side of her head, like a small headband – causing her forehead to show. Her royal blue gown's beads looked like they were shining when it was hit by a light – especially when she twirled around her room. The color she picked really matched her hair and eyes for once.

"I don't know Tikki, I'm not used to having my hair down – it feels weird – I look weird."

"Um, about…Chat Noir's…" Tikki mumbled as she fidgeted her paws nervously. "…identity."

"Chat Noir? What about him?" Marinette twirled around in front of the mirror, admiring her appearance. "I didn't catch the last part you said."

"N-Nothing!" A lie, Marinette stopped and looked at the kwami unconvinced. "I mean, he told me that he'll be the one to tell you – yeah, that's it."

"Tell me what?"

"You'll find out soon enough."

When she arrived at the venue, she felt like backing out already. The hall was flooded with people and she couldn't find Alya anywhere. In the end, she ended up standing in the corner of the room as some people started to gather around the dance floor when a slow song came up. She felt so out of place – everybody's dancing and here she was, standing there awkwardly.

A blond hair boy caught her attention; it seems to her that he was running away from someone. It turns out that it was Adrien, he was running away from Chloe – at the same time, looking for Marinette. When he finally saw her, he couldn't recognize her at all; maybe because her hair wasn't tied as usual – but she looks so beautiful.

"M-Marintte?" Marinette glanced at her left side to see Nathanael standing there; his cheeks were a bit red as he averted his gaze from her. "You look beautiful."

"Thank you."

"W-Would you lik–" Nathanael was cut off by the sound of someone clearing their throat. Marinette turned around and there he was, standing there with his golden hair and gorgeous green eyes.

"Milady," Adrien bowed and offered his hand. "Can I have this dance?"

Milady?

She hesitantly glanced back at Nathanael, who nodded back at her as a response. She mouthed a 'Sorry' before turning back her attention to Adrien.

"I would love to." Marinette took his hand as they walked towards the dance floor.

The song changed to The Words by Christina Perri; Marinette and Adrien bowed formally and started waltzing.

All of the lights land on you,

The rest of the world fades from view,

The two seem to have caught everyone's attention since it was probably the best match they saw this evening – they really suited each other, a handsome boy and a beautiful girl standing in the middle of the hall.

And all of the love I see, please, please; say you feel it too,

"Everyone's staring," Marinette whispered as both of them arrived at the center. "It's embarrassing."

"Don't mind them – they're probably just jealous."

"Jealous of what?"

"Because I will be dancing with the most beautiful girl," Adrien winked at her – he was giving her signs that he is Chat Noir but Marinette doesn't seem to catch it.

"Who does she think she is? Ugh!" Chloe stormed out of the hall when she watched the whole scene unfold before her own eyes.

Alya and Nino, who was dancing near them, snickered at the poor girl's reaction, "Serves her right."

And all that you need to say

To make it all go away

It's that you feel the same way too

Marinette had her heart racing the whole time, but it felt like it was about to explode when her left foot slipped on the floor accidentally and Adrien caught her in time – causing her to stare directly in his green eyes, reminding her so much of...

And I know, the scariest part is letting go,

'Cause love is a ghost you can't control,

I promise you the truth can't hurt us now,

"Chat...?" It came as a whisper, but Adrien heard it – causing him to smile at her.

So let the words slip out of your mouth

"Hello Bugaboo, you really improved at dancing after all."

The next day, Marinette came to school a bit earlier than usual. As she entered the classroom, she saw Adrien waved at her. She waved back and headed for her seat.

"Marinette." She nearly jumped at the sudden voice behind her, causing her to abruptly turn around, only to see Nathanael holding an Oslo paper in his hands.

"You scared me." She breathes out a sigh. "Is there something wrong?"

"No, I just want to give you this as a present." He held the paper in front of her. Why would he give a blank paper? "Even though there's no occasion at all. I… just want you to have it. Adrien has the exact copy by the way."

Marinette took the paper and turned it around – it was a drawing of Adrien and her dancing last night. It was the scene when she slipped and he caught her in time.

"Wh-What is..." Marinette stuttered, her cheeks turning beet red from the picture, "I mean, don't get the wrong idea! I uh...nothing's going on between Adrien and I.."

Nathanael laughed at her reaction and said smiling, "Sure, whatever you say Marinette."

"N-No, really, I..." giving a sigh of frustration, she gave up being all defensive and smiled at Nathanael, "Thank you."