La Magie est Perdue à Minuit

Part Two, Chapter One

(This section will most likely be significantly shorter than the Part One)

Part Two

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JANUARY

When not doing her chores, Marinette Dupain-Cheng spent her Winter Break sulking in her room, writing in her journal. Christmas came and went, being ignored in her room while Chloe and Sabrina were overwhelmed by love and gifts. She didn't love the situation at the house, however, she was not anticipating going to school again. Just thinking about facing her dance partner from that night made her want to bury her head in a hole and never come out again.

Adrien didn't know it was her, but he still had her bracelet. She needed it, the last present from her parents before the accident. But she couldn't tell him it was her, this simple and awkward girl, who was the owner of the bracelet and the recipient of his deepest feelings and memories.

Sunday evening, the day before school started again, Marinette rolled over on her bed to open a drawer in her nightstand. She pulled out Adrien... or Chat Noir's leather gloves she felt the seams, the high quality material and looked inside to see if they had an artist's mark. There was nothing in one, but in the other glove, there was a small tag. It said in messy chicken scratch writing only a simple word- Plagg. Plagg, where has she heard that name, that word before?

"Maaaaarinette!!" Chloe stomped upstairs to the bottom of the ladder. Without even bothering to climb up or open the trapdoor hatch, she belted out her demands. "My birthday party is tomorrow, and Daddy needs you to set up everything this week!!! Only two hundred people are coming!!"

The sound of Chloe's heels going downstairs slowly faded away. Marinette gritted her teeth and grumbled under her breath. "Daddy needs you to set up everything this week! Pssh. I bet she can't even figure out how to make toast." The girl put the black gloves back in their secret spot in the drawer and climbed down the ladder to make dinner for the family.

Adrien picked up his phone, where six new messages from Nino awaited. As he was about to read and reply to him, Nathalie loudly cleared her throat.

"No phones at the table during dinner, Adrien. You haven't eaten anything all day!"

Adrien put his phone on the table and sighed. It was a long, lonely school break. He was even more anxious than ever, thinking all about this mystery girl Ladybug he met at the dance. Her eyes captivated him, more beautiful than any fabric or color he has ever seen. She was so sweet, so kind and caring towards him. She had more love in her heart than he's seen in so many years. His daydreaming made Nathalie concerned, and two counselors and a therapist later, she was still stumped with his goofy smile plastered on his face 24/7.

Adrien stood up from the table, startling Nathalie as she looked up from her spot at him. "Nathalie, may I be excused? I'm not that hungry... again."

Without even waiting for an answer, the young model pushed his chair back, leaving the almost-empty room. In his rush, Adrien slammed the door behind him with a loud bang as he speed-walked to his room.

Pacing the room, Adrien Agreste thought of the mysterious girl and who her identity really could be. Remembering the bracelet, he reached under his pillow to pull out her charm bracelet. It was lightweight, and delicately carried three charms on the slim-fitted chain. The charms were unique, possibly handcrafted; one was a silver heart, and contained only an initial, a capital letter M. The other was a Chinese symbol, and the third an Eiffel Tower.

So, whoever she is, her name starts with an M, he thought. Adrien absentmindedly opened up his laptop computer and hit the search button. He looked up what the symbol was, and after no successful results, he realized that he could just take a picture of it. Duh. Adrien snapped the bracelet, uploaded it up to the computer, and learned it read Princess.

Marinette closed her last book and dumped it in her backpack, zipping it up for school the next day. Studied up for the big Physics test and finished with an overloading list of chores, she felt relaxed and had a free night. Picking up her sketchbook and phone, she walked over to her light pink window seat and started sketching for the final portfolio. Marinette was not mentally ready for tomorrow, but as Tikki said, stressing about it would help nothing. She looked out as the stars for her inspiration. The bright moon behind the Bourgeois' illuminated the big modern house in front of her as she drew fashion ideas.

Adrien closed his laptop with a satisfying deep breath. Though he didn't find what he was looking for, he pictured it as a quest to find the princess locked in a tower. His mission to find her was just starting. Like a lightbulb going off, he was hit with an idea. Adrien unlocked his phone and texted Nino with his idea.

About a half hour, two phone calls, and an email later, Adrien finished his mission for the day. Calling it a night, he cleaned up the scattered papers, laptop and books into their proper places. Making sure he could hear Nathalie snoring downstairs, he silently opened his window and crept out, still in shorts and a sweatshirt. Their house had a ledge right outside that was perfect to watch the night sky. Almost catlike, he snuck onto the ledge, his bare legs getting scratched by the gutter and roofing material.