Chapter Five:

Being waxed from head to toe left Marinette's skin tingling. She breathed slowly, trying to ease herself into a happy place. She thought back to her room, pink and full of life. She remembered the designs that she had wanted to finish. The buttons really had to go on that one piece. She would have to remember to do that when she got home.

If she got home.

Slowly, her mind began to drift toward the thought of Adrien. His perfect hair brushing his forehead, the bright green color of his eyes... Ugh, why did he have to be such a perfect prize?

No, he is not a prize, she reminded herself. He is a human being and deserves to live his own life.

She just hoped she would be a part of it.

Marinette snapped out of her happy place and was forced back to reality when the door to the room opened and closed. Two girls walked into the room. The first had black hair that was dyed purple at the ends. Behind her, the second girl, who was shorter than the other and had blonde hair, was skipping into the room. They both wore outrageous outfits. The girl with the black and purple hair was wearing a bright pink dress that almost appeared plastic. The pixie blonde had an oddly fitting black and pink dress that reminded Marinette of some sort of goth princess dress.

"Hey," The black-haired girl said, waving her hand in hello. "My name is Juleka and this is Rose." She motioned to the blonde. "And we're here to get you ready for the parade."

"You're going to look so good!" Rose squealed, appearing as though she may break out into song at any moment.

Marinette sat up on the bed, pulling her hospital-like gown over her legs. "Oh, well, it's nice to meet both of you."

"So we were wondering," Juleka started, "if it was okay to dress you up in a skin-tight dress."

Marinette furrowed her eyebrows. "Um... why?"

"Because we're going to make you a beautiful ladybug!" Rose exclaimed. She reached into the hallway and wheeled a fashion manikin into the room. She gestured to it dramatically, and Marinette couldn't help but feel like she had been made for it.

The outfit was one part dress, one part skin tight spandex, was red with black spots. It reminded Marinette of the dress she had worn to the Lucky Choosing, which was probably where the girls had received the inspiration. The top was long-sleeved and would hug her tightly, but once it hit the waist, red tool would flare out down to her mid-calf. Underneath that, the spandex fabric had been made into leggings. The details she loved about the piece were A) the beautiful clip bag that hung from the shoulder and looked like a ladybug, B) how the tulle on the dress was cut higher in front than in back, and C) the matching mask to go with it.

"W-woah," She choked out. "That is amazing!"

"We thought you would like it," Juleka said, coming around to one side of the bed. "Now that you're all ready, we can get you dressed up and through hair and makeup."

"You're going to look beautiful!" Rose gushed.

Marinette blushed. "Thanks, guys. And, just out of curiosity, how many designs have you two created?"

The girls thought for a minute.

"About... two hundred maybe?"

"Give or take a little," Juleka agreed.

Marinette's eyes were so big, they could have been two giant doughnuts. "H-how can you guys do that?"

"Well, it's our job, so we have to create at least one new design a day."

"It's actually quite hard..." Rose muttered, rubbing her arm self-consciously. "Most of our co-workers get fired because they can't create designs fast enough."

"Luckily," Juleka stepped in, "we work well together as a team, so we can create at least one design, no matter how crappy it is."

Marinette couldn't help but chuckle. These girls really did work together well. They must have been best friends.

"Well, judging by the time, we need to start getting you into this dress. Can't have you late for the parade, now can we?" Juleka winked. Marinette smiled and got to her feet, the cold floor making her internally shiver. She spread her arms.

"I'm ready."

* * *

"Welcome back to the Miraculous Games Parade!"

Alec's voice echoed through the stands of people that lined the streets, stirring the crowd up with excitement. People had painted banners with their district's names, printed shirts with the Charm's faces on them, and even confetti with the theme printed on it.

Animals.

As Marinette looked out the window, she couldn't help but scrunch her dress's red tool in her hands anxiously. The color scheme was a whole rainbow, with every color ever imagined being represented by one person in the stands. The thought of having everyone's eyes on her made her sweat nervously.

Someone tapped her shoulder. Jumping, she spun around.

"Sorry," Nathanael apologized. "I didn't mean to scare you."

"Oh, no. It's okay."

While Marinette was dressed up like a ladybug with her blue hair up in a bun, Nathan was wearing a fox-themed suit. His ginger red hair now matched his outfit perfectly, his suit being a very similar color. Fox ears stuck out of his hair and a tail accented with white trailed behind him. He looked really uncomfortable in his outfit, but so did every other Charm.

Marinette glanced over Nathanael's shoulder, looking at all of their other competitors. She appeared to be the only one who felt at ease wearing spandex and a dress at the same time. Then again, all of the other designs were so different. Across the room, she could see a blonde haired girl dressed up like a bee complaining that she wasn't going to be the first one that entered the parade. The managers of the event were politely ignoring her while the bee's friend, who was dressed up like a hummingbird, was trying to get her to drop the subject.

Marinette rolled her eyes, but before she could look at all of the other cool animal outfits, one of the managers started shouting to the Charms to get into their chariots. Nathanael glanced at Marinette, giving her a small hopeful smile before he walked away toward his chariot.

Due to the different 'prize' this year, each Charm got to ride in their own individual chariot. Rumor had it that Adrien had come up with the idea. Marinette couldn't help but grin when she saw her personal chariot. It was red and black, like her dress, but the wheels and front part of the chariot had been airbrushed a light pink. A couple helpers assisted her into the back of the ride, and while the horses kicked unhappily, the other Charms were escorted to their chariots.

Marinette thought she would have been at the back of the group, but instead, she was pulled up behind the third Charm, which just happened to have been the blonde bee. When she saw Marinette behind her, she tossed her hair behind her shoulder dramatically, even though it was in a ponytail.

"Well well, look who it is? It's the 'miraculous ladybug'," she joked harshly. "I can't help but wonder how helpless you're going to be, especially being represented as a ladybug! Pah-lease. How lame is that?"

Smirking, Marinette leaned against the side of her chariot. "In all honesty, I couldn't help but notice that you've been represented by a bee. Does that mean you have a sassy stinger under that ugly hair of yours?"

The bee girl gasped, throwing a hand over her heart. "How could you say such a thing to my face? For your information, I am Chloe Bourgeois, the daughter of the mayor of my district, which is saying more than you could ever amount to!"

Rolling her eyes, Marinette decided to ignore her.

"Besides," Chloe continued, examining her perfect nails. "I probably have way more admirers than you do, with you being only a 'ladybug'. On top of it all, you also have the worst district partner of all time! An artist? Useless in my opinion."

Marinette pushed aside her ignoring once she brought up Nathan. Snapping her head toward her, she sent the best glare she could muster in such a happy-looking mask.

"What do you have against Nathanael? His nice, strong, and brave."

"Please, he is just included in this game of cat and mouse because they needed an extra boy. He's dead weight. Then having him dress up like a fox doesn't make anything better, don't you think?" Chloe batted her eyelashes innocently as her chariot lurched forward.

Biting her tongue, Marinette wanted to jump out of her chariot and deck her over the head, but her ride started moving too. The horses started into a gallop. Marinette yelped and grabbed hold of the front of the chariot in order to keep herself standing upright. She had only a couple seconds to collect herself before she was wheeled out into blinding spotlights.

"And here's our 'Ladybug' Charm!" Alec introduced over the loudspeakers. The crowd went wild. Marinette, in utter shock, just stared at herself in the giant flatscreens that decorated the stands. She looked so weak and scared. Clenching her jaw with determination, she stood up taller and put on a confident smile.

Much better.

The crowd cheered so loud, Marinette almost felt like she was a superhero. Her mind flashed back to her family, friends, and little Manon.

She hoped she was making them proud.

* * *

Up in the high-class viewing balcony, Adrien was speechless. His jaw was hanging open, no doubt swinging around his knees as he stared. Sure, all of the other Charms had been impressive -- the bee trying harder than most -- but as the chariots filed out and the Lucky Charm ball was announced, one image was imprinted into his retinas.

Ladybug had been exquisite.

Her hair had been pulled back into a bun, her dress had shown off her fantastic figure, and her smile... Oh, her smile.

He was drunk. That was the only way he could describe it. He was drunk on the impression she had given him. Even when his father had asked him to sit up straighter, Adrien couldn't move. He felt sluggish, weak in the knees, whenever he blinked and saw her confident smile plastered to the inside of his eyes.

He needed to talk to her. If he was who he thought she was, he definitely needed to have a conversation with her. If his father wanted him to be the prize for the winner, he sure as the dots on Ladybug's dress wanted it to be her.

——
Featured Artwork by devdaisydoodles