A Tail of Adventure

Chapter 17 - The Calm Before the Storm

Thankfully, the water cover the fact that I began crying tears of happiness after hearing what she said. 'I never knew I meant that much to her.'

Chloe's POV

I try not to show my fear as I'm surrounded and pressured to walk towards the back of the boat. I made a bet Kim couldn't possibly win at polo, and that was a mistake.

"Ugh, pathetic, he must've cheated, there's no way he could've won!"

"Actually, factoring his constant athleticism and the fact that he goes swimming 3 times a week, Kim only had a 4.7% chance that he would lose."

"Yeah Chloe, I won. It's just a little bit of water, why are you so afraid?"

"This is a designer swimsuit! It's not meant for the icky ocean water, this is utterly ridiculous!"

As I'm reaching edge of the diving board, I go to snap another retort back, but a giant wave knocks me off before I get the chance to say anything. The scream I let out after falling made everyone laugh, which had me fuming. Thankfully, the hair comb with diamonds didn't fall out yet, but I was pissed. I start swimming awkwardly towards the ladder on the boat but stop in my tracks after seeing a butterfly outline on my face.

Marinette's POV

We swam back over to the deep end of the pool, giving my tail more room to move. We were floating in the center of the pool to avoid being thrashed into the sides with the ship's movement.

"Follow me, I wanna show you something Adrien."

I dive underwater to the bottom and as he makes it down, I create an air bubble that barely fits both our heads and upper bodies.

"Wow, this is so cool!"

"I love it down here, it's easy to calm down and there's not a lot of noise to disturb me. Sorry I couldn't make the area bigger, it takes a lot of concentration."

"It's perfect, don't worry about it. Thank you for showing me, it really means a lot."

He leans in and hugs me tightly, and I quickly replace my shock into holding him into a tight embrace. After a few moments, he pulls back just enough for me to make eye contact with his electric green eyes.

"I need to tell you something Mari."

"Hmm? What is it?"

"I-I like you Marinette."

I smiled. "I like you too Adrien, you've been very kind to me."

He shakes his head. "No, not like that. I mean I like-like you."

I freeze and my lips part in surprise. While stuck in this dumbfounded state, I can only watch as Adrien moves closer to where our noses almost touch. He whispers so quietly that if he were any further away, I wouldn't have believed what he said.

"I love you."

I was swiftly taken aback when our lips met with a warm, soft welcome. He was very gentle and moved with caution, being careful not to overstep any boundaries that might have been there. Before I could reciprocate back, he slowly pulled away until we could look at each other. As I was about to respond, the boat abruptly shook, effectively ruining whatever moment we had just experienced. We were both thrown to one side of the pool, successfully ejecting us out of the water and on the ground. Without hesitation, Adrien stood up and ran in the direction of a pile of towels while I began trying to dry myself off as fast as I could. As he ran back and rapidly dried the end, I decided to break the tension.

"What in the world was that?"

"I'm not quite sure, it might be the storm my father was talking about."

"But if it was predicted to be this bad, wouldn't the trip have been moved to another date?"

After a sudden pink flash, he helped me up and we left that room before the progress we made could be undone.

"I would assume so, let's go up to the deck to see how bad it is."

We ran through the boat, trying to counter all the shaking and constant movement without falling down. When we reached the top, it wasn't raining, so it was safe to go out as long as a wave didn't decide to throw me overboard. I spotted a figure in the distance over by the cruise boat our friends were on.

"We have to do something, we can't just let out friends drown!"

Right after Adrien spoke, the boat suddenly jerked and we held onto the small railing of the boat and each other tightly. Realizing my only options, I made a hasty decision which had to leave Adrien in the dark.

"No. You can't do anything, I have to do something. I'm the only one that can."

"No! I won't let you! Ladybug and Chat Noir can find-"

"You really think they can make it out here in time?! I have to take action!"

Adrien's POV

She pulled away from me and before I could protest, I had to hold on to the ship as tightly as I could to avoid falling off. When I opened my eyes, I looked all around for her until I spotted her near the edge and had the worst gut feeling of what she might do. I turned to Marinette as she was on the ledge of the top of the boat.

"No, Mari! Don't do it!" She looked back at me with tears in her eyes. "I'm sorry Adrien...I must save everyone, including you." She jumped of the ledge towards the ocean.

"No!"

Yeah I know. I disappear for a year and a half and then make THREE posts on the same story within 24 hours of each other. As long as you promise not to murder me, I'll continue the best I can.