#ml-valentines

The cool night breeze of Paris seeped into the crooks and holes of the Dupain-Cheng household and sent a shiver running through Sabine. She snuggled further down under the blankets, her mind mulling over that evening’s dinner. She could hear Tom singing the 80s best pop songs in the bathroom as he did every evening while getting ready for bed.

She waited until he finished the impossibly long note he was singing before saying, “Tom?”

Tom’s head poked through the doorway, instantly attentive. “Is it too cold? Should I get another blanket?”

“No, no. I was just thinking about dinner. And... I feel bad.” Tom squeezed his enormous frame through the doorway and sat down on the edge of the bed. Sabine tucked her toes under his thigh to warm them, and crossed her arms over her knees. “I know Marinette said that she was all right with it, but I could tell that she was disappointed. It’s Valentine’s Day tomorrow; she must have had plans. Even if she won’t tell us what they were.”

“I’m sure they involved a certain model in her class.” Tom smiled, but it quickly fell. He reached out and tucked a Sabine’s hair behind her ear. “If there’s anyone else I could ask to help out tomorrow, I would in a heartbeat. But with Jean out of town and Marie sick with the flu and the mille-feuille…”

Sabine nodded. Tom had been experimenting with new flavors for their pastries, and his little custard slices with a new raspberry-almond hint had become an overnight hit. There was a staggering amount of orders to complete by tomorrow evening and not nearly enough bakers to do it. Every hand was needed, and that meant asking their daughter to give up her Valentine’s Day plans and help out.

Sabine squeezed Tom’s hand. “She’s been doing so well in school lately. Good grades, no complaints from the teachers, very few absences. And now she’s going giving up her day for us. I just want to show her that we’re proud of her.”

“Well, why don’t I bake a batch of her favorite macaroons? Or we can have flowers or a teddy sent to the bakery. Or-” The mischievous grin that Sabine first fell in love with grew on his face. “We can have a certain model come to the bakery.”

A surprised laugh escaped her lips. “And how do you we propose we do- Ai!”

Tom jumped up. “Is it your back? Is it giving you trouble?”

Sabine had had a bad fall when they first moved into this house, and she rubbed now the spot that ached whenever it was cold. She tried to wave him off, but Tom insisted on massaging the area. His large hands gently kneaded her back as he explained to her the idea. Sabine relished the idea and swore to begin first thing in the morning. After more planning and talking, Tom at last turned off the lights. Sabine wrapped her arms around him from behind and drifted off to dreams full of mille-feuille and her loving husband and beautiful daughter.

……  

“Marinette, hurry up! You’ll be late for school!” Sabine yelled up the stairs. Knowing that it would now be ten minutes before Marinette came racing down the stairs, Sabine quickly called Alya and explained their plan. Alya could hardly contain her delight.

“Sure thing, Ms. Cheng!”

Satisfied, Sabine stationed herself at the doorway between the bakery and the house and held out a croissant. Moments later, Marinette came barrelling through the door, grabbed the croissant, and swept a kiss on her cheek. Tom held the baking tray over his head as Marinette skidded by him and doubled back to kiss his cheek.

“Thanks, Maman! Bye, Papa! See you after school!” She yelled, charging out the door.

Sabine and Tom laughed. For how much Marinette has improved in her work, her tardiness was always reliably present. And if her crush on this Adrien boy was equally reliable, then this was going to prove an interesting Valentine’s Day.

……

A long line of customers trailed out the bakery that afternoon. Sabine rang up orders and wrapped up boxes as Marinette expertly applied layers of cream to the desserts and Tom mixed ingredients and threw batches in the oven.

“Come again soon!” Sabine called as a pair of customers left. “But not too soon,” she said under her breath.

Marinette laughed.The bell chimed again, and Marinette’s classmates, Kim and Max strolled through the door.

“Happy Valentine’s Day!” Sabine and her family called to them. She peered around the at the boys line of customers. “We’re not taking any new orders today, but if you see something you like in the display, go ahead and get in line.”

Instead, Kim, with Max trailing after him, walked up to the counter where Marinette was working. “Hey Marinette! We’re here to answer the call!”

Max huffed. “I would have preferred not to spend our Valentine’s Day getting messy by baking, but there’s free desserts here, so, yes, we are here to ‘answer the call’.”

Sabine looked up alarmed and she frantically signaled to her husband to do something. Marinette, already speckled with frosting and cream, folded her arms.  “What are you talking about?”

“Your parents sent out word that if any students could help out this afternoon, then they would give them any free pastries of their choosing.”

“That’s crazy,” Marinette said with a laugh. “My parents never said that.”

Max pushed up his glasses. “Incorrect. Alya made the announcement this morning. You were running seven minutes and thirty-seconds seconds late. This is a frequent habit of yours.”

Marinette opened her mouth to protest when Tom dove into the conversation. “Boys! Glad you’re here! We actually don’t need your help after all, but why don’t I show you, uh, some macaroons!” He wrapped an arm around their shoulders and led them as far away from Marinette as possible. Sabine sighed in relief.

“Maman, what is he talking about?”

Sabine pretended not to hear and quickly jumped up to help a customer with their boxes.

As they balanced the tower of boxes, the bell chimed again and a young, blonde man strolled in. Sabine recognized the handsome features and shy smile. She motioned to her husband as he was waving Kim and Max out the door: It’s him!

Tom’s face split into a beautiful grin, though, a moment he was frantically signaling at her in turn. She followed his gaze.

“AAHH-A-Adrien!” Marinette spluttered as he approached her.

“Hi Marinette! I’m here to help,” Adrien said, smiling. Sabine saw what her husband was pointing at a moment too late. Adrien hesitated and added,  “Uh, I think you got a little something there.” Yep, it was a spot of cream on her cheek. “Here.” He reached across the counter and brushed it away.

Marinette turned a brilliant red. She would have fainted on the spot had Tom not swooped in.

“Glad you could help out! Adrien, was it? Follow me, and I’ll help you get started.”

Marinette waited until Adrien had been led away before clinging to Sabine’s arm. “Maman, what is going on?”

“We needed help today, and we thought your friends wouldn’t mind.”

Marinette’s eyes bulged out of her head. “But I can’t- he’s-. What am I supposed to say to him?”

Sabine cupped her chin. “Darling, you’ve been helping us out here since you were a little girl. You’re an expert baker. All you have to do is show him that. Happy Valentine’s Day, darling,” she whispered before pushing her towards Adrien.

Adrien had his arms on his hips and was grinning. “Your dad says you’re going to show me how to do the layering. This is going to be so much fun!”

Though still pink in the face, Marinette rolled back her shoulders and offered a shy smile in return. “Yeah, you’re great- I mean, this is great! Uh, okay. Grab that tube over there.”

Once the line of customers shortened, Sabine innocently wandered towards the back of the bakery. Tom squeezed her waist as they not-so-secretly spied on the two of them.

Adrien was eagerly following Marinette’s directions, while she struggled not to laugh. “Gently. Gently! Use your wrist-”

They both yelped as Adrien accidentally squeezed out half the cream onto one little pastry.

Adrien froze. But Marinette couldn’t hold back her laughter. For a moment Adrien stared at her; then, he too busted out laughing.

“Aw, they’re so cute,” Sabine whispered.

“Reminds me of us,” Tom cooed.  

Marinette caught her parents spying and glared, and they quickly looked away.

“Which reminds me,” Tom took Sabine’s hand and led her to the little alcove in the corner of the bakery. There Sabine had set up photos of their family and and of her family back home in China. There was one more special than the others, a black and white of Sabine and her father just before she had left for Paris. Every night before closing, she stood in front of the photo and told her Baba how the bakery is doing, how loving Tom is, and how proud he would be of his granddaughter. Now, though, she couldn’t imagine what Tom wanted to show her.

Tom turned her to face him and took both of her hands. “Mon amour, I have fulfilled my lifelong dreams. Owning a successful bakery, having a beautiful family. And it’s all thanks to you. I can’t ever give you a gift that would equal what you have given me. But I hope this shows you in a small way how much I appreciate you.”

He handed her a large envelope covered in stamps. Hesitantly, she opened the envelope and found a stack of letters, crinkled and delicate with age… written in her father’s handwriting.

A sob lodged in her throat. Tom tucked back a strand of her hair.

“Your mother found them in an hidden away box. I asked her to send them over from China so that you could see them. And I thought Marinette might like to know more about her Chinese heritage too. Happy Valentine’s Day, mon amour.”

This time, tears spilled over onto her cheeks. With a warm smile, she said, “Happy Valentine’s Day, mon amour,” and pulled her husband down to kiss him.

Oblivious, Marinette and Adrien worked side by side, laughing and talking.

“There was a party in the Champ de Mars for Valentine’s Day,” Marinette was saying. “Alya and Nino told me to come along...but I’m glad to be here.”

Adrien laughed. “Nino was trying to get me to go too. But this is more fun. And we’ll get free desserts at the end of the day! Your parents’ pastries are the best I’ve ever had. I had to come help out.”

“But don’t you have fencing? Or Chinese or something?” She added quickly to sound casual.

“Fencing was cancelled, and Natalie moved my photoshoot to tomorrow. As long as there isn’t an akuma attack, I’m free for the rest of the day.” Marinette looked up surprised, and Adrien quickly explained, “Because my dad locks me up in the house! Whenever there’s an attack, I mean.”

Marinette nodded understandingly, and Adrien shifted the conversation to the latest update on Ultimate Mecha Strike III.

Sabine wiped away her tears, and she and Tom stood there, watching and grinning.

“Good job,” Tom said.

“You too,” she answered.

Most akuma battles seemed to follow a set pattern, with the akuma monologuing, the both of them fighting as they tried to figure out where the possessed butterfly was hiding, Chat Noir taking a hit for Ladybug when needed, and her finishing the battle on her own with the use of her lucky charm.

The latest battle had completely disregarded the routine, throwing the both of them for a loop.

The akuma, a woman going by the name of Aercian who seemed annoyed that her siblings wouldn’t listen to her, had started following the routine by monologuing about how now everyone was going to listen to her, but before they could get any farther, she had lifted the slingshot that had been resting by her side and launched what looked like a small black marble straight at Chat Noir. He had been shocked, and with no time for him to dodge or grab his baton, he had simply braced for impact, sure that Ladybug would be able to complete the battle without him if it came down to it.

Apparently, Ladybug had disagreed and before he could process it, she was in front of him taking the hit, the marble exploding into a small cloud of black dust.

“Ladybug!” He shouted, covering his mouth as he stepped forward to make sure she was okay, pausing when Aercian started to laugh.

“Don’t bother Chat Noir. She’s not exactly your Ladybug anymore.” She chuckled, crossing her arms with a smirk once the dust cleared fully. “Ladybug, get Chat Noir’s miraculous for me.”

When Ladybug turned to face him, he couldn’t stop himself from recoiling in horror at the sharp purple hue her eyes had taken on as she stared at him blankly.

“Ladybug?”

“Hand over your miraculous Chat Noir.”

Flinching at how calm she sounded, he stepped back, brain scrambling as he tried to think a way out of the situation.

“You know I can’t do that, and you know this isn’t really you Ladybug.”

“Hand over your miraculous or I’ll have to use force.”

Grimacing, Chat hurriedly pulled his baton from behind his back and extended it, using it to launch himself away from Ladybug and to a nearby rooftop. As soon as he landed, he was running to the next rooftop, pushing himself faster as he heard Ladybug land behind him. Without a plan, there was no way he was going to be able to defeat her, and trying to hold her off without one would just lead to him losing his miraculous.

He was making a jump for the next rooftop when her yo-yo string lashed around his ankle and pulled, sending him crashing back to the roof he had jumped from with a spray of gravel and a groan of pain. As he scrambled to stand, Ladybug pulled the string of her yo-yo from his leg, walking toward him with her weapon spinning quickly in her left hand. With her coming towards him, Chat tried to step backwards, but found himself standing at the very edge of the rooftop, an empty alleyway beneath him.

“Don’t do this Ladybug.” He pleaded, trying to catch his breath as she continued to advance towards him, “This isn’t you!”

“Hand over your miraculous Chat Noir.” She repeated, slowing neither her yo-yo or her stride as she continued toward him.

“No! Aercian is controlling you, please snap out of it!”

“Either hand over your miraculous, or actually fight me so I can get it myself.” She spoke, the slightest hint of anger coloring her face.

As she continued forward, Chat looked over his shoulder again to see if there was anyway he could get away, but there wasn’t enough room left on the edge for him to launch himself away, which left him with either going around Ladybug, or being pushed off the edge of the building and hitting the ground below.

“Stop avoiding me and fight!” She finally yelled, swinging her yo-yo at him as he barely managed to bring his baton up to block.

“No!” He yelled, pushed back even closer to the edge with the force of her swing.

“Why won’t you fight me?” She yelled, throwing her yo-yo forward to wrap around his baton and yank, pulling it out of his hands and tossing it behind her.

“Because I love you!” He cried, right arm reaching out to grab her arm as her free hand reached forward to shove him backwards.

Lunging forward, his eyes slipped close as his lips aimed for hers, missing them by mere millimeters as her push sent him slipping off the edge of the roof and crashing to the street below with a gasp of surprise.

Staring straight ahead, Ladybug’s eyes faded to their regular soft blue as the crash of Chat Noir hitting the ground echoed through the air. Dropping her weapon, Aercian’s power over her faded as tears came to her eyes and she started trembling. One moment she had been trying to protect Chat from whatever Aercian had been planning on doing to him, and the next she could only watch through the possession’s fading control as she sent her partner flying off a rooftop and to the ground below, no way for him to stop his fall with his baton laying at her feet.

The tears spilled over her mask and down her cheeks without her noticing, still staring ahead as her thoughts ran rampant.

How injured was Chat Noir? Did he even survive the fall? Had he detransformed or was he still down there in his superhero form? What would she tell his family if he had died? How would she even find his family if he had been killed?

Reigning in the last of her sobs, she wiped her face with one gloved hand, reaching down to pick up his baton and her yo-yo so she could safely lower herself down to check on him, startled when Aercian suddenly appeared beside her. Seemingly ignoring her, the akuma stepped to the edge and looked down, turning to Ladybug with a frown.

“I didn’t want this.” She spoke softly, reaching behind her neck to unfasten the necklace she was wearing. “Here. The akuma should be in this. I’m so sorry, I swear I didn’t want this.”

Dropping the necklace into Ladybug’s palm, Aercian gave her a slight nod and left, leaving Ladybug to stare down at the necklace. It was an incredibly simple thing, with a circular pendant on a leather string, and small dots carved into the circle. Such a small, simple object and yet it was partially responsible for whatever happened to Chat Noir.

Wrapping the cord around her hand, she used her yo-yo to lower herself down, bracing herself for whatever condition she found Chat in. Unsurprisingly, he was laying on his back, a small pool of blood spreading from beneath his head and spreading through the cracks in the pavement. His arms were splayed beside him and his eyes were closed, turned ever so slightly toward her.

Nearly dropping her yo-yo, she raced forward, kneeling by his side to check if he was still breathing, and choking on a sob when she saw that he was. Fumbling with the necklace, she slammed it to the ground, quickly catching and purifying the butterfly that escaped once the necklace had shattered.

Grabbing Chat’s hand with her hand that wasn’t holding her yo-yo, she called for the miraculous cure, gaze fixed to her partner as the wave of ladybugs flew over him before taking off elsewhere, taking the pool of blood and Chat’s shallow breathing with them.

“Chat?” She whispered, squeezing his hand when she saw his eyelids flicker. “Chat Noir, please open your eyes.”

It took a few seconds, but soon Chat’s eyes slowly slid open, letting Ladybug finally breathe as his gaze settled on her worried face.

“Ladybug?” He questioned tiredly, watching as her eyes filled with tears. “What’s wrong?”

Lunging forward, she pulled him into a hug so tight he felt he couldn’t breathe for a moment.

“Don’t ever scare me like that again.” She whispered, burying her face in the crook of his neck as his arms raised to hug her back.

“I’m sorry.” He whispered, closing his eyes as he soaked in the feeling of her held in his arms.

“I love you too.”

Freezing, Chat Noir pulled back from the hug to look at Ladybug, watching as the smallest hint of pink peeked out from under her mask.

“What?”

“I said, I love you too.” She responded, making eye contact as he felt his face heating up. “You told me earlier that you wouldn’t fight me because you love me, and I realized that I need you to know that I love you too.”

Smiling, Chat pulled Ladybug into a kiss, ignoring the tears painting his cheeks as she kissed him back, fingers sliding into his hair to pull him closer. When Ladybug’s earrings began to beep incessantly, she gave him another quick peck before burying her face back in his shoulder.

“After everything that’s happened today, I don’t care about secret identities anymore. I almost lost you today, and I don’t even know your name under your mask. I’ll close my eyes if you want, but I think it’s important that you know who I am.”

“Adrien.” Chat responded, grinning when Ladybug looked up at him. “My name’s Adrien Agreste.”

Blinking, Ladybug stared at him for another moment before a blinding smile took over her face, causing his own smile to widen.

“Hi Adrien.” She whispered, closing her eyes as the pink flash of her transformation wearing off rolled over her.

Opening his eyes, Adrien looked down at the girl in his lap, leaning in to kiss her as soon as he could see properly.