s c e n t

An hour passed uneventfully, and each second that Marinette wasted felt like an eternity. Too many things were crossing her mind, the biggest two being that Paris was frozen and that someone knew her identity.

Out of all the people who could have found her identity out, why did it have to be one of the people who willingly cooperated with Hawkmoth? It was just her luck.

Marinette shook her head. Right now wasn't the time to think about this. She had a city to save. But how was she going to deal with this later? Questions plagued her mind as she slumped back into the bed.

She nudged her head into the voluminous pillow and inhaled a large breath of air. A nice masculine scent took over her senses. She took another deep breath. The scent left an incredibly comforting feeling. It took a while for Marinette to realize whose bed this was.

She jumped out of the bed immediately and put her hands on her flaming cheeks.

Oh god! What was she doing...? She couldn't believe what she just did.

It took a while for Marinette's body temperature to settle down again. By the time it did, Tikki had eventually come back.

"Marinette, I'm so sorry! I was exhausted and fell asleep." Tikki exclaimed as soon as she saw Marinette.

Marinette looked at her little friend, relieved that she seemed alright. "Tikki... it's okay, I'm glad you're fine. I'm all rested up. We should head back now."

Tikki nodded. Marinette immediately transformed and headed to the window. As she opened one of the panes, a freezing gust of wind entered the warm room sending her into shivers. She couldn't go outside like this. Marinette looked around the room for something that could help her and immediately spotted a black coat.

'He won't mind if I borrow this...right?'

Marinette reasoned with herself and shrugged. She was going to have to see Felix again and she would be able to return it later on anyway. Saving Paris was her top priority right now anyway.

She grabbed the coat and immediately knew it would get the job done. As she slipped the thick coat on, her sense of smell was immediately ambushed by the comforting masculine scent.

Marinette's cheeks went aflame instantly. She then shook her head. Now was not the time. And with that, the heroine of Paris headed back to save her city, making sure she closed the window behind her.

As Ladybug soared from building to building, she found no sign of life. It scared her so terribly. There was no light in any of the windows of the buildings near her. Ladybug looked back. Only the mansion she had come out of was lit with light. Looking around the neighborhood, she realized she was in the incredibly wealthy area of Paris. Ladybug had been all over Paris but she didn't recognize this area. Just where was she...?

Ladybug pulled her yoyo back from the ledge of the next building she was going to swing on to and turned on her GPS. She gasped. Just how far had Stormy Weather blasted her?

Ladybug was on the other side of Paris, where all the extremely wealthy lived. The area was called Auteuil-Neuilly-Passy. No wonder she hadn't been here before. All access to this area was extremely restricted.

Ladybug turned off her GPS and stared swinging from building to building. According to her device, she would be coming across a large gate that surrounded the entire area.

She kept swinging and looked around. There!

Ladybug landed in front of the gate on the outer area of the neighborhood. She looked around her surroundings once more and was astonished.

Right in front of her was DelaCour lycee, the school she would be attending months later. She blinked as if she couldn't believe her eyes. Even though it appeared empty and lifeless, it was still a huge and immensely beautiful building.

She wondered how it looked during a normal day. It was grander than her current school.

Did Felix attend here? It would make sense if he did since he lived in this area. She shivered at the thought.

Now was not the time to waste precious minutes. Marinette would be able to come back later after the Akuma was defeated. Ladybug checked her GPS once more and started moving. As she made her way closer to the Eiffel Tower, she could see Cat Noir's symbol getting closer to hers. He must have been looking for her.

A few minuted later, both met each other.

Cat Noir immediately embraced Ladybug. "You're alright! I thought you were gone!" he said tearfully.

Even though she wanted to cringe at his embrace, she consolingly patted his back. "I'm sorry kitty. I was knocked unconscious but I'm all right now."

Cat Noir realized what he did, embarrassingly but regretfully backed away from her. Ladybug immediately started speaking in a business-like tone. "Do you know where Stormy Weather is?" Since both were alright, she didn't need to ask how he was okay.

"...Yeah. I've been watching her from the home of a civilian named Nino Lahiffe. She's been waiting at the Louvre for quite a while. From what I know, she keeps expanding the area that's been frozen."

Ladybug nodded. So that was why a wealthy and restricted area like Auteuil-Neuilly-Passy was frozen. "Cat Noir, when we arrive near that area, I want you to confront her while I prepare my Lucky Charm. We'll then start fighting her together, and come up with something along the way. Just stay a good distance away from her so that she cant blow you away again. Got it?"

Cat Noir nodded in understanding. A complex expression took over his face as he examined Ladybug and noticed the coat. He opened his mouth the say something but Ladybug didn't give him the chance.

"Let's go. I'll go this way. I'll see you at the Louvre in seven." She called out as she swung away.

Cat Noir shook himself out of his trance as he followed her directions.

Seven minutes later, the superhero duo put the plan to action. Cat Noir immediately began confronting and taunting Stormy Weather while Ladybug began to formulate a plan with her Lucky Charm.

The Lucky Charm, which was a Chinese finger trap didn't seem to fit into the plan yet. Ladybug sighed, frustrated with her complicated power.

When she looked up, she realized the Cat Noir was chasing Stormy Weather to the Eiffel Tower. Ladybug also began her pursuit.

By the time both superheroes made it to the tower, Stormy Weather was ready to blast cold air once again. "Hand over your miraculous, before you freeze from my wrath!" she exclaimed.

The duo, who had surrounded the akuma slowly closed in with their weapons out. Ladybug looked around. Instantly, her Lucky Charm vision flashed ladybug colored objects. One of those objects was a loose metal bar near Cat Noir. With a plan in mind, Ladybug put the finger traps on one of her fingers.

"Cat Noir, pick up that metal bar next to you and throw it at her!"

Cat Noir immediately followed Ladybug's directions. Stormy Weather, not knowing what to do, blasted air towards the bar. Ladybug, predicting this, immediately dodged the blast and pounced at the akuma. She took the akuma's free hand and placed one of her fingers into the trap. Ladybug then pulled with all her might.

As Stormy Weather stumbled towards Ladybug, Car Noir grabbed her umbrella.

"Cataclysm!"

Immediately, the umbrella crumbled to dust. Ladybug, with knowledge of figuring out the Chinese finger trap, released her other hand. She then captured the akuma.

"Miraculous Ladybug!" she exclaimed. Almost instantly, Paris turned into its original form.

"Pound it!" both heroes exclaimed victoriously.

After making sure the Aurora was alright and would be able to go down by herself from the elevator system, Ladybug, who had exactly three minutes before she transformed back, walked towards the edge of the Eiffel Tower. Looking down, she gave a sigh of relief as she saw that Paris was back to its original state.

"M'lady!" Cat Noir exclaimed behind her.

Ladybug turned around. She supposed she had a minute to spare. "Yeah, Kitty?"

"Are you sure you're alright? You were gone for a really long time." Cat Noir asked. He had the same expression he had before she left for the Loruve.

"Yes, I'm sure. I got help from a... um.... acquaintance." Ladybug reply, unsure. She then realized that she was still wearing Felix's coat that was still giving off the comforting scent. Her face, for the (probably) hundredth time, blushed again.

Cat Noir, seeing the expression on Ladybug's face, felt a wave of jealousy. Just who was this acquaintance of hers? Judging from the scent she was giving off, it was definitely a male. The way she reacted was not normal for someone who she was just acquainted to.

"Uh... who is this acquaintance of yours? We should probably thank him." Cat Noir said, thinking of ways to get information about this guy from Ladybug.

Ladybug detecting what Cat Noir was doing, blushed a deeper red. He couldn't be thinking something weird, could he?

She shook her head. "I should keep that a secret. I'll go thank him later, I have to return his coat anyway." she said, realizing once again that Felix knew her identity.

"What!? No, I mean, ugh... You should let someone else give the coat back to him! People shouldn't see Ladybug visiting civilians unless it's necessary!" Cat Noir exclaimed, upset that his question brought exactly the opposite of what he wanted from Ladybug.

"I see... then I'll give it to a friend of mine to return to coat with my thanks." Ladybug replied with no intention to do so. She had no idea why Cat Noir was acting like this but hopefully, it would stop.

Cat Noir gave a sigh of relief. "Okay, you should do that."

Ladybug nodded. Her earrings began to beep on its fourth minute.

"See ya, M'lady!" Cat Noir called as he began to leave the scene.

Ladybug smiled and swung to yoyo. "See ya! Bug out!" she called as she swung away.

Paris was saved by the hands of the superhero duo once more.