Copycat was not a dummy.

If one wanted to catch a little mermaid, one had to think like a fisherman and set a trap.

He chuckled at the irony of a fish trusting a cat.

He grinned as he landed in front of someone. He assumed it was some random person who could persuade to help him. It turned out to be Sabrina, Chloe's servant. She looked utterly miserable until she saw Copycat and was startled.

He grins at her. "Hello~" he purred. "I need a little help, just need to pick up someone Lady Chloe tipped me off to… a woman being carried by another cat man… my imposter…"

"L-Lady Chloe? " He nods, "Find the woman and lead me to her… I am sure Lady Chloe would be so proud you helped find her. You see, she shouldn't be here and she and your mistress don't like each other."

Sabrina thinks on this. Her mistress was extra angry about someone new with Adrien. That must be the woman. "I know where she might be…" She then directed him to Adrien's house and was about to leave to go home when he grabbed her arm "You did the right thing, Miss…"

"Sabrina."

"Well Miss Sabrina… tell your Mistress the one formally known as Théo Barbot thanks you for your…. Services in finding a troublesome little fish and cat." He said cryptically as he sees something in the distance.

"Go home," he tells her in an ominous tone that scares Sabrina and she quickly runs off.

He confidently strode over to the form just a bit away from where Sabrina left him.

There somewhat hidden was Marinette in her mermaid form, waiting for Adrien. He had to quickly grab food for their Kwami and he couldn't carry both the food and her, so he left her to wait just outside the gate.

Marinette tensed when she heard a noise and Tikki instantly flew into her bag. She then relaxes when she sees Copycat.

"Oh you're back!… but why are you in your Chat form? I would've thought Plagg would whine at you to eat more of his beloved cheese." She giggles as Copycat gives a chuckle. He had no idea who "Plagg" was but he wasn't going to show that.

"Well … uh he wasn't that hungry."

Marinette stops mid giggle. That didn't sound right; not at all. Something was wrong. "Chat, is something wrong with Plagg…..? I may not know Plagg as well as you or Tikki but he is such a cheese hound…."

Tikki peeks out from her purse and glares. She whispers to Marinette, "Plagg would NEVER not be hungry. Be careful Marinette."

Copycat falters; Marinette's voice and posture screamed "defensive" she was not being fooled. She knew he was not the right Chat. Still it didn't matter, she was left alone, which was foolish of the stupid cat. He simply grins wickedly and scoops her up.

She screams and starts pounding on his back with her fists.

"LET ME GO, YOU FAKE!"

Adrien was returning with food and Plagg was happily munching on cheese when he heard Marinette's scream. His eyes grow wide and he bolts. He gripped the bag of cookies, hoping he could get them to Tikki in time.

"Plagg! Have you eaten enough to transform?!"

Plagg inhales the cheese, "Yeah, yeah."

"Plagg! CLAWS OUT!"

Chat Noir nearly breaks part of the iron of the gate, and sees… another Chat Noir with a struggling Marinette and hears her order to be let go.

"Ya know, the little lady has quite a set of claws. Ya better let her go, or it could be a pawsitively bad time for you!"

"Chat! The real one! I know those bad puns anywhere!"

"Me-ouch Princess! You wound me with your words!"

She playfully rolls her eyes "Help a girl out… I am awfully hungry for cookies. Can't fight on an empty stomach."

"Of course~" He uses his baton to stab Copycat in the stomach and he drops Marinette. The two cats engage in battle and Marinette uses the distraction to escape. She finds a bag of cookies Chat dropped for Tikki and she lets Tikki eat. "Come on Tikki! Let's help Chat. I bet that fake Chat is an akuma!"

Tikki nods and quickly eats.

Copycat was a very aggressive Akuma. He seemed to flat out ignore Ladybug and was constantly trying to get rid of Chat. It was clear that Chat was the target of the Akuma's rage.

"Chat what on EARTH did you to anger him?!" Ladybug said as she pulls Chat up and over and a ledge to escape a dangerous attack.

"Bugaboo when I find out, I'll let ya know!"

Copycat glares, "Of course, you sneaky conniving cat would deny what you did to me!"

"Remind me what I seemed to have done to you. I've never met you!"

"You stole her! MY mermaid! I found her and you stole her in the night! I want her back! I want her NOW!"

Both Ladybug and Chat Noir halt, and Ladybug takes a step back and observes the Akuma who now launches himself toward Chat.

All Chat can do is block Copycat's attack. "What makes you think I stole her?"

"I saw you carry her away! I have been trying to catch you for days but I kept getting stuck… but no longer! Where are you hiding her?"

Chat Noir glares, "I didn't kidnap her; that was YOU... I was just helping take her home like she wanted! She was miserable, and you know it!"

"If given enough time, she would have been comfortable."

"That's bull and you know it!" Chat Noir shouted.

Their fight was pushing them closer and closer to the sea.

Ladybug looks at the akumatized artist and tries to find something off about him and sees something she never noticed, a small satchel that was pure black and blended perfectly with his suit. It looked similar to the bag she remembered him having, but it was no way smaller.

"Bingo!~" she muttered. "CHAT! The BAG!" she calls, and Chat looks to find the bag. Before he could even make a swipe at it though, Copycat uses his baton to hit him into a sand dune.

Chat winces, "He is clawfully fast! And he hits hard."

"Not enough that you stop punning," Ladybug comments dryly as she runs to Chat and helps him up. We need a plan. He is just as good as you."

"I noticed, so what is the plan?"

"We need a distraction… and not you. He is focusing on you…. DUCK!" They both dodge another vicious attack.

"The only thing he is after is a certain mermaid, and no way in hell am I gonna risk her." He said giving her a pointed stare. It felt odd pretending Marinette and Ladybug were the two different entities, but Copycat couldn't learn that the mermaid was closer than he thinks.

"Maybe the mermaid should be given an option!" she said in a huff. "We need a break! We can't keep this up!"

"Absolutely NOT! Too Risky!" he shouted as he kept dodging. He was not going to risk her safety or even her identity to this Akuma especially. He would fight until he was beaten… not that he planned to lose this imposter.

Suddenly a melodious tune played on a flute began to play. Copycat looks up and stops in his tracks "You sneaky… she was here this entire time! "

The Lady and cat's eyes grow wide as they at first think Copycat somehow figured it out but they are stunned when he jumps over them and runs toward the sea. They blink and jump up to see what caught Copycat's attention and were floored when they see Marinette as a mermaid in the sea.

"T-that's impossible…"

Tikki screeches in Ladybug's mind, "Questions later! Lucky Charm now!"

Ladybug nods and yells out her lucky charm. A large ball made of rubber bands that was red with black spots falls into her hands.

"What am I supposed to do with this!?"

She looks around and a plan forms in her head. "Chat, get ready… I am going to play ball!"

She uses her yoyo to launch the ball as fast and hard as she can at Copycat. Chat had already started chasing down Copycat, so when he saw the ball go overhead he grinned. Oh his little imposter was gonna be in a lot of pain in a second.

The ball hits Copycat with such force that his bag goes flying, but somehow it gets caught in a loose rubber band. Copycat hits the ground with a hard and loud smack and blacks out. Chat Noir untangles the tiny black satchel from the ball and throws it to his lady. While in the air, he launches himself into the air and uses a Cataclysm on it, and a little black butterfly is released.

"No more evildoing for you, little Akuma! Time to de-evilize!"

She catches the little butterfly and purifies it.

"Bye bye, Little Butterfly" she then throws the rubber band ball in the air. "Miraculous Ladybug!"

"Well… that was interesting" Said a familiar voice. The two whip around, and sitting on a rock holding a flute was a foxlike mermaid. Her orange tail with black and white patterns reminded Chat of a fox, especially when said mermaid sported fox ears. The mask on her face concealed her identity.

"So you are the two heroes… One of you HAS to be Adrien and I am gonna bet it is the boy in black," she said with a smirk.

Chat Noir chokes a bit, "Well, there goes my secret identity." he thinks.

"Your look of distress confirms it, human boy. Where is Marinette now?" She looks at the now restored Théo. "He was the one who took her, wasn't he?"

Chat Noir releases his transformation. "Well, well, well… Trixx finally woke herself up after nearly a millennia, and Kwamis call me lazy!" Plagg snickers.

Trixx didn't even wait for Alya to release the transformation. "Oi! Cheese brain! Don't be rude!"

Alya glares at Adrien "Seriously where is she? … I swear if….!"

"Alya! Calm down! She's here!" Adrien said waving his hands in the sign of surrender.

Ladybug gulps; her time of judgment had arrived. She was vaguely aware of Nino watching nearby with an unimpressed look at Adrien.

"Where? Cause the only Marinette I saw today was an illusion made by Alya when she was Volpina," Nino said.

Ladybug walked into the water with as much bravery as she could. When the water was at her waist, her legs were replaced by a tail, but before anyone could say anything-

"Tikki, Spots off."

A pink glow of sparkles encase her and her mask and ladybug suit disappear, and Marinette is left in her human disguise, the skirt billowing out in an amusing way.

Alya and Nino are in shock as she removes the skirt and blouse and tosses them to Adrien on the shore. She is now as she should look, with her usual mermaid top and her beautiful tail visible.

Marinette now cowers in fear of a VERY agitated Alya. She has just dropped her transformation and is glaring daggers at Marinette.

"Uh… H-Hi Alya?" she responded weakly with an even weaker wave.

"Don't "H-Hi Alya" ME Marinette Dupain-Cheng!... put that hand down," she ordered.

Marinette smacks her hand down so quickly it sent water flying.

"Do you have ANY idea how WORRIED I WAS?" She shrieks while gripping Marinette's shoulders and shaking her roughly.

Incoherent squeaks were released from the terrified mermaid. Adrien wanted nothing more than to save his friend, but he knew it was his funeral. Nino just backs away slowly; this was Marinette's punishment and he knew Marinette had it coming. Trixx just watched the fireworks; this was amazing.

"So when where ya gonna tell us about THIS!?"

"Err… of what exactly?" she asked nervously. There were quite a few things she could be referring to. Marinette kept a lot of secrets.

"Oh you know… your VERY illegal activities and your whole "I am a magical girl now" thing. ANYTHING ELSE I AM MISSING! Cause if I find out one more thing so help me I will ring your teeny tiny neck!"

Marinette had no doubt Alya would do just that and no one would find her body, "W-well… I may have had healing powers since I was young… and I had healed my parents, Nino and especially you at night …. Among other powers? "

Alya simply blinks and rubs her temples, "OF COURSE YOU WOULD! OF COURSE!"

Nino puts a hand on each of the girl's shoulders, "Let's just find a nice secluded area where we won't be discovered. Let's talk about this like civilized merfolk…" he then turns to Adrien and Plagg. "And civilized humans and Kwamis."

Alya takes a deep breath and releases Marinette.

Adrien looks a bit nervous, "Let's go back to my place… not many people will stop there. We have a lot to tell you." He nods to Marinette, "You know the way right? Stay hidden till I give the signal, ok?"

Marinette nods and ducks into the water and Alya and Nino follow. As they leave, Théo Barbot begins to awake. Adrien jumps and Plagg hides.

"O-oh Hi! You ok?" he asked, helping the older man up.

"Yes… but what happened …how did I get here?" Théo asked rubbing his head.

"You uh… turned into some clone of this cat hero and chased them here… one of them broke your bag and a butterfly came out and it was purified." Adrien said feigning ignorance.

"I see… did you see where he went?"

Adrien stiffens, "I think they went back to town, but they disappeared so quickly. I was just taking a walk along the beach… debating where to put new nets, I am a fisherman you see." Adrien quickly lied.

"I see… Thank you, sir… That cat has something that is mine."

Adrien bristles at that comment but bites his tongue. He wanted nothing more than to give him a piece of his mind and yell that Marinette is NOT his property. She is a living being with thoughts and feelings. Just because she was a mermaid she was not a pet.

"I see… well yeah, they went back in the direction of the town." He said in a controlled voice.

"Did I say anything… when I was the cat?"

"Something about mermaids…, which is silly! Those are only in legends!" he said quickly trying to cause Théo doubt in his head, but Théo only smirks at him and waves. Théo turns on his heel and leaves.

Adrien watches him leave and bolts back home before he does something stupid.

Adrien arrives to the others and takes off his shoes sits down near the rock formation reserved for Marinette. He then puts his feet in the water and drops a rock into the sea. In less than a minute three heads pop up and meet him.

"Took you long enough, pretty boy." Alya sassed.

"I ran into …some trouble."

Marinette gulps, "That human artist?"

He nods and she pales.

"Whoa whoa… let's start from the top, ok? Alya and I have NO idea what all this means. Explain from the start….. Yes Marinette, that includes how you met Legs over here. We know you were sneaking around before you were captured, don't deny it."

Marinette flushes but huffs out, "I wasn't!"

"Good, cause I would have to strangle you," Alya threatens.

"I'll keep that in mind," Marinette said nervously.

Marinette begins to recount her story with Alya constantly interrupting.

"SO … THAT is how you managed to get yourself taken care of. Legs here patched you up!"

"My name is Adrien…."

"Hush Sunshine," Alya said.

Nino shrugs and looks apologetically at Adrien.

She than describes her rendezvous with Adrien.

"Girl, you best be happy WE are the ones who caught you that day. You always tell ME to not take any risks and here you are BREAKING THE BIGGEST LAW ever."

"…. Uhhh … Well…you are too?"

"Hush Child, this is about YOUR bad decisions, not mine."

Adrien snickers at this, and Marinette glares at him.

"Well I am gonna admit it, Nettie… I do not like this… at all. I do not like you putting yourself in danger like this. This is even worse than Alya and her treasure hunts… at least if we get caught we just get a slap on the wrist… you can get banished or ki-"

Marinette cuts him off by covering his mouth, "I get it Nino! I get it!"

"MMMPPPHHH," he whines and she uncovers his mouth slowly.

"What I mean to say. Do I approve of this? NOPE … but I will support you …"

Marinette smiles and gives Nino a side hug, "It will be fine, I am good luck… especially now with Tikki!"

"How DID you meet her anyway?" Alya asks. "I found Trixx here on a fancy smancy sunken ship. She was like in this necklace," She shows off the fox tail necklace.

"After I was caught by the human artist, Tikki appeared to me in the tank I was trapped in and gave me the earrings." She moves some hair so they could easily see the now black earrings. "I became Ladybug when I could and escaped. I found Adrien after awhile and we fought our first Akuma."

"What the shell is an Akuma?" they asked, and Trixx looks upset.

"An Akuma… you mean Nooroo is behind this?" Trixx asked.

"Who?" Nino and Alya asked annoyed at not getting answers.

Trixx sighed and settled down in Adrien's head so she could look at the two clueless ones.

"Nooroo is a sweet cinnamon roll of love and sweetness. Easily controlled, and can help someone be easily controlled. The kwami of change… it makes sense though, since they are the patron kwami of butterflies: the symbol of change. He's also fun to relentlessly tease, but that is beside the point. Let me guess…" she turns to her fellow kwamis. " Nooroo's chosen is a jerk face again? Why do they attract such bad people?"

Tikki shakes her head "No… someone forcibly awoke Nooroo somehow. This is NOT Nooroo's true chosen. I am not sure WHO it is, but whoever has Nooroo now is NOT the chosen."

Trixx blinks, "But how? That's near impossible!"

Plagg groans, "Ask us a question we DO know. All we know is that our chosen and us need to save Nooroo, and see if we can locate the others and their chosens. A misused Kwami is very dangerous."

"Agreed."

"It's three against one! It will be a piece of cake!" Alya said confidently.

"Fight your first real Akuma lil kit, and then tell me if it will be as easy as you think."

"Oh come on, that Copycat guy was easy!"

"Yea because we weakened him first!" Plagg replied.

Before Alya could retort, a very familiar screech filled the air.

"OH ADRIKINS~~~ WHERE ARE YOU~~"

"Quick hide!" Adrien hissed as he tried to push Plagg in his pocket.

Marinette thought fast, If Chloé got her slimy little human hands on Adrien, she'd never let him go and they had a meeting to do. That was her story and she was gonna stick to it. She was NOT acting like a jealous little guppy.

Absolutely not! All her motives were purely professional. She pushes herself onto the rock closest to Adrien and nearly tackles him into the water as she roughly grabs him and kisses him. He is stunned and he topples into the water and out of view of Chloé.

"Adrikins? You aren't back home yet? Uggghhhh," She stomps her foot childishly after a few minutes of searching and leaves to walk along the beach where Adrien had been earlier.

Alya and Nino raise their eyebrow in perfect unison. Seeing their sweet and innocent friend just roughly kiss the human and drag him underwater was a shock. It was even a bigger shock when they see him breathing perfectly fine underwater. Marinette blushes as she notices her friend's open mouthed expression.

"W-Well … I had to… s-s-save him …."

Nino somehow raises his eyebrow further, "Save him from what exactly?"

"You don't know Chloé. She might as well be part banshee… and part octopus," Marinette mumbles bitterly and Adrien snorts.

"… Giiirrrlll …. How the shell did you know that making out with a human allows him to breathe underwater?…" Alya smirks.

"It wasn't making out… it was just one kiss," she looks away blushing and Adrien rubs the back of his neck nervously, a blush was on his face.

"Yea Mari… I gotta know … how did THIS happen. I am sure this is not the first time, you grabbed him roughly," Nino said, a sly look on his face.

Marinette looks mortified. " I-I !" she makes intelligible noises when Alya and Nino share a look.

Marinette looks at Adrien with a look of " HELP" on her face.

"It… was an accident? "

"Ahh so Blondie speaks, tell me how was it an accident? I am dyyyinnng to know~"

Adrien is deeply regretting his life choices as he begins to tell his tale of how during a rather animated discussion he leans in too much to the sea and she rises to much meet him. He slipped and she was pushed up by a rogue wave.

"So… uh… yea… it was an accident and I fell head first in … and when I panicked a bit I learned I could breathe underwater?" He said in a nervous voice.

"So…. Was it nice?" Alya said trying to hide a smug little smirk when she sees the two were going really red.

"A-ALYA! " Marinette cried, utterly mortified that her friend asked.

Tikki giggles, "It isn't SO strange. That ability used to be very common thousands of years ago, just like singing that can lure the other species to them… although the trait was more common in merfolk." She looks at the three merpeople. " Merfolk have more magic than humans."

Plagg makes a face of disgust and shivers, "Don't remind me, Tikki. Those two abilities gave me nightmares for eons."

Trixx laughs, "I am sure my kits were more creative than your cats, mine all had the ability !~"

Plagg gags while Adrien looks confused. Marinette looks scandalized and Alya and Nino laugh their heads off with Trixx.

'Guys.. I don't get it" Adrien said, clearly bewildered.

Alya pets Adrien's head. "You poor innocent sunshine child, Maybe Marinette can … demonstrate better" Alya's old rage to the human was quickly starting to ease up. This human was far too innocent, and messing with him would be quite fun.

Marinette shrieks. "A-ALYA!" she is now beet red.

Nino grins "Careful, Marinette might make the water boil with how much heat she is producing."

"N-NINO!" Marinette tries to shush her friends as Adrien looks at them, clearly not understanding any of the implications.

"Whoever was supposed to teach you the ways of the world REALLY messed you up, dude." Nino said with a smirk.

Sounds of Marinette's embarrassment and mortification intensify.

"You brought this on yourself Marinette, and we are just taking advantage of the situation." Trixx said deviously as Marinette buries her face into her hands. Alya and Nino just to laugh and hi five Trixx. Tikki just pats Marinette's back trying to soothe the poor mermaid.

Eventually, but not fast enough for Marinette, the kwami and her friends finally stopped laughing at her and her impulsive actions and get down to business. Discussing the mission seemed to mostly serious and they got a lot of planning and information sharing done until Marinette had to kiss Adrien again so he could continue to breathe.

"N-not a WORD" she said as her everyone laughs at her red face "not a single WORD"

'Your reaction IS …." Adrien started.

"If you DARE pun … I-I-.."

"What make out with him to death? Ooohhh he is shaking, aren't ya pretty boy," Alya teased.

"I wouldn't be opposed to it~" Adrien grins.

"UGH," she does that crazy flustered arm motion she does and huffs. "Meeting adjourned. I AM GOING HOME!" She tries to swim toward the kingdom and somehow ends up on her face.

"I HATE MY LIFE," she said in a muffled yell.

"GO HOME BEFORE WE ARE ALL HUNTED BY YOUR MAMA!" Alya yells out and Marinette makes some noise as she swims off.

When Marinette is gone Alya and Trixx laughs "You really are a fox aren't ya" Trixx said to Alya.

"I guess I am … or maybe I am just surrounded by teasable people~."

Alya faces Adrien. "Now then ~" Adrien suddenly gulps. "Let's get to know each other… we are gonna be part of a team… same with you, Lahiffe! You are part of the team!"

"Uh? But I don't …"

"You are part of the team… even if you are the mascot and moral support!"

"Gee thannnkksss, Babe." he said sarcastically. "Glad to know you think of me as a mascot. " There was no real bite in his voice though.

Adrien snorts at this.

Marinette is nearly tackled by her parents. She felt horrible lying to her parents about her location but she could never ever reveal her little adventure in the human world.

She wasn't going to lie to herself, she was still a bit nervous Alya and Nino knew it all. It was a big risk not only for her but for them now as well.

After her parents stop fussing over her and she has convinced them Alya and Nino were right all along, she goes to her room and makes herself comfortable.

"Tikki…How will we know when Nooroo is active again?"

"I'll feel it, Plagg and I can usually sense when another Kwami's power is activated for a few seconds. We are the most powerful after all…" She nuzzles Marinette's cheek.

"Rest for now, if I am right, it will take a while for Nooroo to charge again. Their power is being abused and this "Hawkmoth" has sent out a lot of Akumas all at once."

Marinette shudders at the memory of meeting Hawkmoth through a flock of corrupted butterflies. He talked to them and threatened them. He was going to take their miraculouses away by force if he had too. She would never give up Tikki to be hurt and neither would Adrien.

"Hey Tikki… Do you think Hawkmoth will go after Alya and Trixx?"

"I bet my cookies he will. He seems like a power hungry man, and extra power to do … whatever he is planning to do … will be ideal I bet." She looks down at her worried charge "Hey… it's ok… We'll keep each other safe… You will be a great team! I just know it!"

"I know… I just… am worried… Hawkmoth seems so dangerous, and he might know who I am…."

"It's going to be fine… We will cross that bridge when we get there, ok? Just relax and get your strength up… You haven't been in the ocean for days. We want you to be in top form when he attacks again! We also need to collect the rest of the jewelry and that is gonna take a while I bet."

Marinette smiles and cuddles the Kwami, "Yea, we'll get him and fix everything."

"Marinette! Who are you talking to?' Her mom calls out.

Marinette shrieks as Tikki hides. "UH! M-Myself! Talking to my self! Eh he he!"

Her mom raises an eyebrow "Are you … alright sweetie?"

" R-rest! I need a nap! Long day! Night!" she waves nervously as her mom looks at her skeptically, shrugs and swims off.

"My poor sweet but weird daughter…"

Marinette sighs and hugs Tikki, "That was too close…" She whispers. "Hopefully I can spend a few days here and just visit Adrien tonight. Hopefully Alya didn't mess with him too much…"

Tikki agrees and snuggles against Marinette and they both fall asleep.

It was pretty late when Marinette visited Adrien for the third night in a row.

What she expected was Adrien sitting on the shore with that sweet smile on his face patiently awaiting her arrivial. What she saw was far from that. He looked exhausted and his eyes were bloodshot. He had such a faraway look in his eyes it broke her heart. Something happened.

"A-Adrien? …" she whispers moving as close as she could to him, "Adrien… what's wrong …"

He doesn't answer for a few moments and Marinette just holds his hand, tracing patterns into his palm.

"The nightmares…. They are back…."

"Nightmares?"

"On the days leading to my mother's disappearance…. I get nightmares…. About her… it is almost as if… one of those nightmares is what really happened…. But…. I don't know what happened … what if…. One of them is a sign of some kind? … What if it's all just in my head? …. "

Her poor kitten.

He seemed absolutely miserable at all these nightmares that seemed to be pelting him.

She gently kisses him and drags him into the water. She keeps him close and rubs his back. She does her best to soothe the boy.

It seems like being underwater with her seemed to calm him.

"We'll be ok… it's …o-ok. The nightmares will end soon…"

"I miss them"

"I know…"

"I shouldn't feel like this, I should be over it by now…it's been years Marinette… YEARS."

His voice is super thick, like he was trying to stop himself from crying. "This is the fifth anniversary of her disappearance…" he couldn't seem to finish.

"You… You will never stop missing your mother… or even the man that was once your loving father. "

He doesn't say anything as he just snuggles into her.

"You will be ok… I promise… You are so strong… so, so strong… You've been through so much Adrien. And look at you. You are the sweetest most wonderful human in the whole world. You could have grown up to be so bitter and angry." She threads her fingers through his hair in a soothing manner. She pauses for a bit and continues.

"And in those moments you can't be strong, I will be right here to support you. Just like you support me. You also have Plagg, Alya, Nino, Tikki and even Trixx. You aren't alone anymore and we won't allow you to be alone anymore."

She watches him as small amounts of tears escape from his eyes and float upward, "Shh… let it out… it's ok… it's ok…"

They stay floating like that for a bit longer until he has fallen asleep.

Marinette smiles sadly at him and gently pulls him up toward the bank and lies him down. She hoists herself onto the bank toward his bag and pulls out his blanket and a towel. She dries him off as best she could and puts the blanket over him. She gently kisses his forehead and as she goes back down she bumps into Nino.

"Is he…. Gonna be ok?"

She nods, "I think so… he just… went through a lot, and it affects him more than he knows. You saw it didn't you?"

He nods "I am not gonna ask what happened but… If he ever needs a dude to listen to him… let him know I am available… the human… well he isn't as bad as I thought, and seeing him that upset…. It seemed like the worst thing to witness. He seems so happy and carefree ya know?"

She nods, "It feels like a crime for him to be so hurt doesn't it? I think though… he will get through it. He needs as many friends as he can get… so you offering to be there for him will mean the world to him."

He blinks, "Why would he need friends? He seems like the kind of guy who'd have tons of friends."

Marinette sighs and sits on the sandy ocean floor. "He's been put in a forced isolation… not only by his own father but by his town… he has … a reputation for bad luck. Not many people want anything to do with him…" she replies sadly.

Nino looks almost horrified, "Dude… that sucks… forced isolation seems like torture." He then makes a determined face. "That's it, he may be a human but he is an ok dude and he saved my adopted lil sis, so…we shall become Bros!"

Marinette giggles, " I am glad you feel that way."

Author's Note

PokeTennyson25: hohohohho who knows~~ I have ideas but nothing is too concrete yet XD

Also I want to let everyone know YES I do know certain spoilers (specifically names) but no worries I have a way to address the issue.

This chapter actually does have art for it ~~

I did make a master list on Tumblr for all my art for the series~

sakuramarie. tumblr post /164577943471/ master-list-for-when-the-land-met-the-sea

just remove all the spaces and hopefully it will work XD if all else fails you can find the link in the archive of our own version of the story.