Adrien's POV
After a long game of would you rather and two truths and a lie, we all just decided to sleep in the giant game room, with Alya and Nino taking the L-shaped couch, Marinette taking the floor because everything else was too soft, and I took the smaller couch on the other side of the room. After trying to fall asleep, but failing because of anxiety of my father coming in and scolding me for sleeping here, I just decided to sit up and ponder on things for a while. I glanced over at the couple on the large L sofa, they seemed to be sound asleep, even with the thrashing of the sea outside. I look down to the pile of blankets of the floor and notice it's missing some midnight blue hair. I get up and look around, and after determining she wasn't in the room, I went looking around the ship for where she might be.
After looking around the ship for a while, I walk through a door and find myself with the indoor pool. I see a blob of red at the bottom, knowing that's where Marinette went. I threw off my shirt and slowly dipped myself into the water, swimming over to the red spot in the deep end. I dive under and she doesn't notice me, so I gently put my hand on her shoulder to let her know I'm there. I suddenly feel a gut punch and see a flash of red before being launched to the other side of the pool. I groan from the impact as she emerges from the water.
"Adrien? I'm so sorry, I thought you were some random person! Are you okay?"
I take a minute to catch my breath. "Yeah I'm good, just, didn't expect to be thrown tonight."
She swam up to me, looking around me, most likely for any injuries. "I'm sorry if I worried you, I came here to think because it's really calm under water for me, but I guess I fell asleep."
"Note to self, don't wake sleeping mermaids."
"I said I'm sorry! Here, does this feel better?"
She lifts one of her hands up to my bare chest and rests it gently on top. The pain leaves my body down to a distant ache, which also eventually fades out. I sign in relief, almost instantly relaxing after whatever she did to me.
"I've been working on a more recent discovery of being able to heal, I usually use it on bruises I get from being clumsy, so I'm not the best at it."
"No, you're basically perfect, It feels so nice even I might fall asleep in the water."
She sighs in relief. "Okay good, I was worried I broke a rib, I'm told I have a powerful tail."
Remembering that I told her that as Chat, I naturally feel that I must get as much out of the situation that I can. "Oh? By whom?"
"Oh, um- no one really, just someone special."
"Last time I recall, Alya hasn't swam with you yet so unless she has, the no one is more important because only me and her know."
"Okay fine! You need to keep a secret, but it was Chat Noir."
"Mmm, what were you doing with one of the heroes of Paris while swimming?"
"Ugh okay, if you must know, he was the first to find out besides me. He vowed to help me out and as a promise, he gave me this."
She lifted her necklace into the air, the silver heart one with a ruby in the center.
"Seems you are very fond of this gentleman, maybe you have feelings, hmm?"
Her face turned the color of her tail in an instant after realizing what she said. "N-No! It's not like that at all! I just, ugh-, I just really care about him you know? I had no idea what to do and he was so sweet, kind, and understanding. He helped me out and I really don't know how to thank him for that."
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.