When he saw Nathalie fall, Gabriel had been momentarily terrified that she was hurt. He'd rushed over, finding it was only a dizzy spell.
The moment she'd met his gaze, relief had washed over him.
Now, they sat together in silence, her head on his shoulder. He was fairly certain that she'd fallen asleep, as her breathing had deepened. He didn't have the will or the energy to move her.
While his own eyes grew heavier, his thoughts turned to their nightmares. If Nathalie's worst fear was that she meant nothing to him and Adrien, he worried he was doing something wrong.
Gabriel observed their linked hands. It seemed to be a rational fear to have, but there was something else she wasn't telling him. Whatever it was, she had a reason, so he would wait until she was ready to say.
Adrien's heart was still pounding. Though he'd been denying it before, he knew he'd always seen Marinette as more than a friend since the moment they'd met. And her admitting her own feelings had finally helped him realize that.
When he reached Nathalie's door, he opened it and peeked his head inside, ready to run to her rescue. Instead, his smile widened further at the sight in front of him. Both she and his father were sitting by the wall, fast asleep. They were leaning against each other.
"I guess they don't need help," Alya said from behind him. "Wait, are they holding hands? How much more obvious can they get?"
"Aww," Marinette added, standing on her tiptoes to see over his shoulder.
"Should we just leave them?" Nino asked.
Adrien looked back at his friends, eyes meeting Marinette's for a moment as he quietly closed the door. "I don't see any point in waking them, I'm sure they're exhausted."
"We should go back to sleep too," Marinette suggested.
In the morning, Marinette tentatively knocked on Adrien's door, swallowing.
"Come in!" Adrien called cheerfully.
She entered, biting her lip. Adrien was standing by his bed, packing his belongings into his bag. Plagg sat beside it, looking bored. "Adrien, is now a good time to talk?" she asked.
Adrien put down the shirt he was folding and turned to face her, smiling. "Of course, Marinette." However, he sounded just as nervous as she felt.
"Are you sure? If it's not, then-"
"I'm sure. I'm new to this too, so forgive me if I'm nervous." He rubbed the back of his neck.
"So . . . how exactly is this going to work?"
Adrien laughed. "Well, not much has to change between us." He came closer, taking her hand in his. "What we have now is based on our friendship, which I believe is important."
"Right."
"We can take it as slowly as you want, okay? Whatever makes you happiest." He frowned when he saw her tearing up. "Oh no, did I say something wrong? I didn't mean-"
"No," Marinette assured him. "I . . . you're just so sweet, I feel like I don't deserve this."
"Marinette," Adrien began, pulling her into a hug. "I can say with absolute confidence that you are one of the people I care for the most. You're so kind and brave. If anyone deserves to be loved, it's you."
"Adrien!" his father called from down the hall.
"Looks like I've gotta go, see you soon, Marinette!" He squeezed her hands before jogging out of the room.
"Tikki, help me, I think I might faint," Marinette breathed, putting a hand to her chest.
"That's what it's like to be in love," Tikki told her, hopping on the blanket next to Plagg.
"What? So I'm going to feel faint all the time?" Marinette groaned. "I want to be able to act normally around him, Tikki!"
"And you will," Tikki assured her. "You're both still new to this, so it's going to take some time. But don't worry, things'll be fine, I promise."
"They better be," she sighed. "I can't believe how lucky I am. Have you ever been in love, Tikki?"
"Kwamis don't fall in love."
"Really?" Marinette looked between her and Plagg. "Never? What about you and Plagg, then?"
Tikki stuck out her tongue. "Me and Stinky Sock? I don't think so."
"Even with my irresistible charm?" Plagg teased, swishing his tail.
"Even so," Tikki replied flatly.
Marinette laughed. "Okay, if you say so, Tikki. Come on, we should finish packing."
"Adrien, how are you feeling?" Gabriel asked once his son had entered the room.
"I'm great!" Adrien gave a wide smile. "Are you and Nathalie okay?"
"I'm alright. I can't exactly speak for Nathalie, though," Gabriel replied with a sigh.
Worry overtook his son's features. "Oh no, what happened, Dad?"
Inwardly, Gabriel once again smiled at the word "dad". But he was reminded of the gravity of the situation. "I don't know much, but her nightmare involved her with the two of us. Apparently we told her that . . . we don't care about her."
"Does she actually think that?" Adrien cried. "I'm going to go tell her-"
"Hold on." Gabriel stopped his son from leaving, putting a hand on his shoulder. "I already spoke with her. She seems alright for now and I don't want to bother her."
Adrien sighed in exasperation. "But you know Nathalie, Dad. She says she's okay even when she's not."
"I do know that. But I also want to give her some space."
"Fine," Adrien groaned.
"On a more positive note, I noticed how happy you were when you came in this morning. Did something happen?"
"Oh, uh," his son stammered, rubbing the back of his head as his cheeks reddened. "So, about that . . ."
"Did Miss Dupain-Cheng finally confess her feelings to you?"
"What? How did you know?"
"It was rather obvious, son," Gabriel replied with a straight face.
"Was I the only one who didn't know?"
"It would seem that way."
Adrien sat on the bed, pinching the bridge of his nose, reminding Gabriel of himself. "Well, I know now and that's all that matters."
"Based on your reaction, I assume you feel the same way about her?"
"Uh, I guess so?" his son squeaked.
"I trust you to make the right decisions, Adrien. I have raised you to be a proper gentleman and I expect you to act accordingly."
"Wha-Dad, seriously?" Adrien buried his face in his hands. "Why are we talking about this now?"
"It has to be done sometime."
"Someone kill me, please."
"Am I interrupting something?" They looked to the doorway where Nathalie was standing.
"No!" Adrien said quickly, jumping to his feet. "We weren't talking about anything important!"
"You weren't?" She observed his bright red face with a smile.
"Marinette confessed her feelings to him," Gabriel said before his son had the chance. "Since he feels the same way about her, I was about to give him a talk on proper behavior."
Nathalie met his eyes, understanding dawning on her face. "I see."
Adrien pouted. "Dad-"
She covered her smile with her hand, attempting to keep a neutral face for Adrien's sake. The boy looked between the two, sighing. "Can we do this later? Like, when there's no chance of anyone else hearing our conversation?"
"So we're embarrassing you?" Nathalie asked, ruffling his hair. "That's our job."
As Gabriel watched them interact, a warm feeling came to his chest. "She's right," he added.
Adrien laughed, trying to smooth his hair. "Okay, fine, you win. But how do you explain how you and-" He stopped himself. "Uh, never mind." He shared a look with Nathalie, both of them clearly knowing something Gabriel didn't.
"How do we explain what?" he asked.
"Well . . ." Adrien trailed off, looking panicked.
"He was probably talking about our nightmares," Nathalie said calmly, not quite meeting his eyes. "I assume he knows what we experienced."
"Y-yeah," Adrien added.
She was still hiding something, he could tell from her expression. They both were, but he would let it slide. "Adrien, have you finished packing?" he asked.
"Not yet."
"You should get to it, we'll be leaving soon."
Volpina snarled in frustration. She couldn't reach them now that they were inside the Tsurugis' house.
However, Félix had been most helpful, telling her where the group was headed and all about each of them.
She couldn't do much at this point. But patience was key in this game. Gabriel Agreste was faltering and would soon join her, Volpina was certain.
"Mom, what in the world happened?" Chloé demanded as soon as her mother entered the house.
"What are you talking about, Clara-uh, Chloé?"
Chloé huffed. As always, Audrey could never get her name right. "You decided to retire and let some girl take over? She's only a teenager!" she continued anyway.
"I saw potential in her. Besides, I'm tired of listening to squabbling mermaids all day long. I want to enjoy my life."
"You saw potential in her?" Chloé repeated.
"That's right, Claudette. She's special. Now, I have things to do."
Chloé watched her mother leave, her eyes stinging. "Am I special?" she whispered to herself.
This Volpina girl was bad business and she had to go. No one else seemed to be willing to do what must be done, but Chloé was.
"Are you sure leaving almost all of our stuff behind is a good idea?" Adrien asked, peering into the ocean as they all stood at the shore.
"It's best to only bring what we need," Tikki said. "Otherwise everything'll get soaked."
"That makes sense."
"What about our shoes?" Marinette asked.
"Just leave them on, unless you want to be barefoot when we go back on land," Nathalie told her.
"Let's go!" Alya said, splashing into the waves. "Oh, it's cold!"
Nino trudged in after her. "So how long until it drops off- whoa!" He stumbled, face-planting into the water. Adrien burst into laughter, uselessly trying to stifle it.
"Adrien, be nice," Nathalie scolded lightly.
"Sure, Mom," he replied absent-mindedly, going after Nino, who'd been helped up by Alya.
"Nino, you good?"
Mom? Nathalie stared after him, shocked. He probably hadn't even realized what he'd said, but she knew she'd never forget it.
Marinette followed him, Tikki in one arm and Plagg in the other.
"Nathalie, did you hear me?" came Gabriel's voice.
"What?" She brought herself back to the present. "Sorry, no."
"I asked if you were ready," he repeated.
She nodded, mind still far away. "Yes, I've missed the ocean."
They both made their way over to the rest of the group.
"Let me explain how the transformation is going to work," Tikki began. "You must be completely submerged in the water. Other than that, it's very simple."
"So," Alya said, "it's a kiss?"
"Correct."
"And it can't be on the cheek or something, right? It's gotta be a proper kiss?"
"Yes."
Alya shrugged. "Sounds good to me. You ready to get flippers, Nino?"
"Uh, I guess-"
"Good, let's go." Alya took his hand and stepped off the deep end, pulling her and Nino underwater.
"Should we go too?" Adrien asked.
"Why not?" Marinette said. "Come on, Tikki. I'm sure you want to be a fish again." She, Adrien, Plagg, and Tikki all followed after the other teens.
Nathalie stared blankly at the ocean, knowing what came next.
"Are you-?"
"I'm fine. I've just . . . never kissed anyone before." With her rapidly reddening face, she quickly said, "Are you ready?"
"I am."
"It might take a minute to get used to breathing underwater," she warned him.
Adrien peeked his head out of the water. "You guys coming?"
She nodded. "Did Nino's transformation work?"
"Yep, he looks pretty cool. He's got green scales." He looked between her and his father, a smirk on his face. "Don't take too long!"
As soon as he was back under the water, she sighed. "Let's go."
Time for her to stop stalling and get her feelings under control.
With him right behind her, she sank under the water, smiling slightly at the familiar feel of her scales and fins.
She met his eyes, still hesitating. Despite being underwater her face was hotter than ever. But she only had so much time before he needed air again.
Determined, she swam toward him, took his face between her hands, and kissed him.
Become a merman.
It lasted a total of three seconds before she quickly pulled away.
His merman form included purple scales, black fins, and silver hair. And that was all she saw before she swiftly looked in a different direction.
"Wow, Father, you look so cool!" Adrien said excitedly.
From the corner of her eye, she noticed Gabriel watching her oddly for a moment before he looked at himself, surprised. "I wasn't prepared for this."
Nathalie stared into the distance, thoughts racing. The kiss had meant nothing, they both knew that, so why did she feel this way?
It had been a mistake, now she would never be able to act normally around him.
"Nathalie?" Adrien waved a hand in front of her eyes. "You still there?"
She shook herself slightly and focused on his face. "Yes, I'm sorry."
From his expression, she could tell he knew exactly why her mind was far away.
"I've never seen your full mermaid form in broad daylight," Gabriel told her, not fully meeting her eyes. He looked embarrassed, an emotion she'd never seen on him before. His voice quieted to a whisper. "You're . . . beautiful."
What?
"Wow, I haven't seen a mermaid like you before!" Alya added.
"Yeah, you look so pretty!" Marinette said.
Without knowing how to reply, Nathalie couldn't do much more than blink.
Coming to her rescue, Tikki said, "We should discuss our next steps."