Super long chapter for ya! Please tell me what you thought about the fight scene and the akuma! It truly makes my day!

    Unfortunately, the rest of the day was just as eventful. After they got all of the sticky notes and placed them in the recycling bin, Chloé had made it to class before Mme. Bustier, and everyone was sitting in their designated seats. It almost seemed as if nothing happened. But something did happen, something big. And Adrien just couldn't get his head wrapped around it. Marinette hadn't said a word since the incident, scribbling away on her touchpad the second the professor had stepped in the room. Alya was giddy, literally bouncing in her seat, momentarily pausing to shake Nino until Madame told her to stop, and then returned to jumping. Adrien, on the other hand, was staring straight at the blackboard, pondering.

    Marinette kissed him, and in his civilian form too! The experience was exhilarating to him, and he wanted more. Her fingers had left behind trails of goosebumps on the back of his neck, and he could feel her cool skin underneath the fiery tips of his fingers. He could have felt her hair, something that he had no doubts would be the softest thing he'd ever feel. He wanted to feel greedy when it came to Marinette. He didn't want any restrictions when it came to her, whether it be as Chat Noir or Adrien. He wanted to be with her whenever he wanted, whenever she wanted. And it made the desire to reveal his secret to her even stronger. By God, he wanted to, but he knew his partner wouldn't be too happy about someone knowing his identity. So, he'd just have to do a little purr-suading when they met up for patrol later in the night.

    And it was then that a loud crash resounded throughout the room, Madame Bustier rubbing her head in annoyance. She had just started the lesson, and already something was going on. She told the class what their homework was before they all filed out of the room. Who was she kidding? She knew fully well that none of them would do it anyways.

    Once he was out of the class, the rest of the teens broke into sprints, racing out of the school to get to their house as fast as they could. Making sure to go unnoticed, Adrien slipped into the male restroom, checking the stalls to make sure he was alone. "I guess we could have a little chat with Ladybug after this," Adrien snickered, Plagg rolling his bright green eyes at his chosen. Really, the only bonus of this kid was the Camembert. He couldn't even make puns as good as his! Plagg really needed to teach the kid how to make some amazing puns.

    "Yeah, yeah. I want a wheel of Camembert after this." Plagg grumbled, slightly ticked that the akuma decided to attack before his hourly snack. This time it was Adrien's turn to roll his eyes at the cat-like kwami before calling out his transformation. In a flash of neon green, Chat Noir took Adrien's place, a casual smirk carved on his face. "Let's take care of this, shall we Plagg?"

   Marinette briefly flashed in his mind but he knew he wouldn't let himself be distracted by it. He knew that if anyone in Paris could take care of herself against an akuma, it would be her. He had always known that, especially after the Evillustrator. It made him even more disappointed in himself that he had actually believed Sandman's fake reality. Sandman had seen Marinette as a weak little girl who couldn't fight for herself, and Adrien had let himself go along with it. That should have been his first clue that it was a nightmare, and then the fact that Marinette would fall for Jace, of all people.

    A cloud of darkness shadowed the cheerful mood he had been in, replacing it with a grimace. He wouldn't let this get to him, he wouldn't let this affect him anymore than it already had. He had Marinette now, and was back to the truth. No matter what he had thought, no matter what he had wanted to do then, it's all in the past. It's a new leaf, a new page for him. And he was going to make Marinette and Ladybug proud.
Adrien took a deep breath before plastering a charming smirk on his face, refusing to let the negative feelings get him down. There was a loud thud, and suddenly a soaked Ladybug was flying through the bathroom's door, right into Chat Noir. Adrien yowled in surprise, sounding like a cat whose tail was just stepped on. He was forced to the ground by Ladybug's unexpected weight, cushioning her fall. The spotted heroine groaned quietly, shaking her wet hair before lifting herself off her partner. She looked down at him in surprise, her cobalt eyes widening considerably.

    "A-uh Chat Noir! What are you-" Ladybug cut herself off as she frowned in confusion. "Why are you hiding in the bathroom?"

    Adrien chuckled under his breath, taking her outstretched hand as she helped him to his feet. "Someone's gotta cat-ch you." Adrien brushed off the invisible dust on his belt-like tail. He expected his partner to roll her eyes, or call him a dork but she did none of those. Instead she smiled softly and shook her head.

    "Ladybug!" The akuma boomed, and for the first time, Adrien got a look at who, or more like what, their opponent was. It was a body of water. Literally. He could see through the male's body, because he was made of actual liquid. Now, he had seen a person changed into stone before, Stoneheart, but he didn't think that Hawkmoth could actually change their physical body into liquid! It was as fascinating as it was disturbing. It defied all laws of physics!

    Not having much time to ogle the physics-defying person, Chat Noir let out a loud hiss at the male as a squirt of water was shot in his direction, jumping on top of a stall for safety, glaring at the akuma. Ladybug was looking at him strangely but she was cut off by a stream of water hitting her directly in the face. She sputtered, holding her hands in front of her face to block it as she rolled out of the way.

    "Listen here, Aquaman-"

    "It's Aquafiend!" The akuma corrected, steam rising off the top of his head, the only way to show his agitation.

    "Geez, no need to get so steamy about it," Chat Noir snickered as he ducked underneath a boiling stream of water aimed at him. "It was a simple mist-take." At this, Ladybug groaned, smacking the palm of her hand to her forehead as she shook it. He'll admit, that one was a bit of a stretch.

    Aquafiend's body became a tidal wave as he yelled at Chat in anger, the small bathroom filling with water quickly. It didn't scare Adrien too much, him knowing how to swim and all, but when he turned to Ladybug all that confidence he had was instantly drained out of him as he saw the look of fear in her startling blue eyes. He knew that look. That look had been engraved in the back of his brain ever since the first time he had seen it in identical eyes. That was the same look that Marinette had held when he found out that she didn't know how to swim.

    Reacting quickly, Chat Noir leapt off the stall, his arms circling around Ladybug's slim waist as he broke through the wooden door. The water that had been pooling in the restroom quickly splashed onto the concrete floor, diminishing the threat immediately. His partner's tenseness relaxed, regaining her cool composure. He thinks he heard her murmur a quiet thanks but not even a second later she had broken out of his arms, yo-yo spinning at intense speeds as she glared at the akuma.

    "Let's get this done and over with, shall we? I have some work I need to get done," Catching the unspoken message, Chat Noir nodded a wide grin splitting his face. He was just glad that she wasn't acting as awkward as she was the last akuma. It felt good to get his old partner back, his best friend.

    "As you wish, My Lady."

    Aquafiend rose from the puddles on the ground, growing taller than he already was as more water was added to his liquified body. Adrien scrunched his nose in disgust, taking wary steps back from the akuma. "Gross, dude. That's toilet water!" Aquafiend shot another blast of water at Ladybug and Chat Noir, both of them gracefully leaping out of the way. Ladybug landed on the rim of the basketball hoop, her partner on the railing of the second floor.

    "You missed!" Chat Noir taunted, keeping the akuma's attention focused on him. He knew Ladybug was already searching for what could possibly be the akuma-infected item, and it was probably going to take some time to figure out, considering they could barely see him as it was. The stream of water that was directed at them hit a sprinkler, setting off the rest of them in time. Aquafiend smirked a slippery smirk, the water inside him swirling viciously as he gurgled a laugh.

    "Did I though?" Chat Noir's grin slipped and Ladybug frowned, watching the little droplets of water spray onto the ground. She paled as she watched Aquafiend slowly disperse into the puddle that came out of the bathroom.

   "I really don't have a good feeling about this, Chat." Ladybug said. The water rained down on them, matting their hair to their foreheads and Adrien could feel his inner cat coming out. He hated being wet, especially with cold water. The hairs on the back of his neck were raising and he could already hear Plagg complaining about it later. Ladybug turned to him when she heard a low growl emitting from him. Adrien hunched over, sitting back on his haunches as his bright eyes searched for Aquafiend.

   Ladybug turned around when she heard a quiet rippling sound behind them. Acknowledging the issue, Ladybug tackled Chat Noir off the railing down to the first floor, the duo landing hard. Boiling water splashed where her partner had been, sizzling until it evaporated into nothing more. They rolled from the momentum, and she felt the wind leave her, making it hard to breathe for a few seconds. When they slowed to a stop, Ladybug was on top of Chat, the latter then twisting them out of the way of another steaming blast of water.

    "How do we beat an akuma who's item we can't find?" Adrien asked, helping his Lady to her feet as she regained control of her breathing.

    "We call for a Lucky Charm, that's how." She answered before doing exactly that. After the bright light faded, a jar about the size of a gallon milk jug fell into her awaiting hands. The two looked at the object that was supposed to help them in confusion. "I..." Ladybug trailed off, inspecting the red and black spotted jar before admitting, "I really don't know what I'm supposed to do with this."

    Using her vision, the only thing glowing in spots was Aquafiend himself and the jar. "Are we supposed to put him in the jar?" Chat Noir shrugged.

    "Seems like a tight fit." He joked before a drop of cold water landed on his cheek. He hissed and scrambled away from the cold droplets.

    "Does our little kitty cat not like the cold?" Aquafiend mocked, holding his liquidy hand up towards Chat Noir as he appeared from a random puddle mere centimeters away from the heroes. Another stream of water jetted from his open palm. But instead of boiling water hitting Chat Noir, it was nearly freezing water. Adrien felt his breath leave him as his abnormally warm body unwillingly embraced the frigid aqua. His body went stiff until Ladybug's yoyo circled his abdomen and yanked him to safety. And that was when an idea popped into his head.

    "I think I know what to do," Adrien said, teeth chattering loudly as he spoke.

    Ladybug didn't get to say what she wanted to as she watched Chat Noir bound off towards the second floor. Instead she turned to face her opponent, trusting her flamboyant partner as she took on the akuma who was literally the embodiment of her worst nightmare. Her earrings beeped, one of the five dark spots flickering until it disappeared. "I hope he makes it quick, or I'm going to have to bug out."

    Aquafiend quickly splashed out of existence before reappearing in a puddle next to her, a wicked grinning splitting the water.

    "I wonder, can the little bug swim?"

    "Guess you'll just have to find out," Ladybug responded, her blue eyes flashing with conviction as she sliced through his liquid body with the unbreakable string of her yoyo. The water fell instantly, sloshing against her feet. Her eyes narrowed onto a thin chain bracelet that stayed a second longer than the water before melting into the liquid. Two more versions of Aquafiend reformed on either side of her, quickly multiplying, creating more until she was completely surrounded by the watery beings.

    "Which one is the real one, Ladybug?" They asked in unison. Ladybug didn't let this deter her, flicking her wrist as she got her yoyo to start spinning quickly. She hurled the small object, twirling as the taut wire diced through the figures, making them disappear for a split second, only for them to be replaced nearly instantly. She took a giant step back as one advanced on her, kicking her foot up. She nicked it's chest, making the water disperse as she followed her kick into a backflip, yoyo still spinning wildly in her hand. She moved elegantly, never ceasing to move. When they got too close for comfort, she swung her yoyo up to the metal bars on the railing and vaulted out of the bunch.

    "Aw, don't fly away just yet, little Ladybug. The floodgates are just about to open." Aquafiend sniggered. His laugh sounded like wet gurgles and made Ladybug want to cringe in disgust. Her earrings beeped again, letting her know that she had three minutes left until her transformation subsided. Chat Noir came running back, ice melting slowly in the giant bucket he held, and in his other hand was a bag of sodium chloride that their science teacher kept for experiments. He arrived just in time to see exactly what Aquafiend had meant when he talked about the floodgates being opened. Ladybug reacted instantly, her yoyo whipping up to a support beam above her and she used her weight to help swing her up to the roof of the school. Chat Noir followed quickly behind, extending his baton as he held the items he had acquired, landing softly next to his partner. Through her vision, the bag of salt and the bucket of ice lit up with spots, along with her jar and the water Aquafiend was rapidly rising.

    "What do we do, Chat?" She can relinquish her leadership. Just for a bit. She hopes.

    "Just get that water into the jar and watch the magic happen." Aquafiend sprayed some more water at them, creating a puddle near them so he could appear next to them once more. Using her yoyo, Ladybug swung off the roof. She pivoted herself so that she was heading towards the water, and swallowing her fear, she kicked her legs in front of her to keep them above the surface. The hand holding the Lucky Charm became fully submerged in the water, and instantly she could feel the appendage going numb. And just as quick as it entered the freezing water, she left, her jar now full of the liquid.

    Chat Noir was doing his best to balance his items while swinging his baton at Aquafiend, stumbling back whenever the water got too close. Seeing his partner rotating herself to land next to him, Adrien threw the bucket of ice at Aquafiend, shocking the akuma long enough to keep him still as he jumped into the air above the water akuma. He used his cataclysm to destroy the bag holding the salt, the sodium showering down on Aquafiend. The villain looked at the cat-themed hero in confusion.

    Catching Chat Noir's drift, Ladybug threw the below-freezing water on top of Aquafiend. As soon as the icy water touched him it froze, quickly making its way up Aquafiend's body, freezing the akuma in place. One of the toes on Adrien's ring disappeared as he landed on the ground.

    "No!" Aquafiend screamed a bone-chilling scream before he completely froze. Ladybug yanked off the chain she had seen earlier, easily snapping it in half. The purple akuma fluttered out, trying its best to get away from them and back to its master. She captured it quickly, purifying it back into a butterfly, and then releasing it into the air. She smiled at their job well done, before turning to her partner, holding out a fist.

    Adrien bumped his against hers with a wide grin.

    "Good job!" They said in unison. Their miraculouses beeped in unison, and Ladybug's cobalt blue eyes widened considerably as she had two minutes left. "I'll see you later, Chat! Great thinking today!"

    He watched as she swung off into the distance before turning away to find a place to detransform. He'll just have to tell her about his plan to reveal his identity to Marinette later then.

2,900 words later... Anyways, hope you enjoyed! Please, let me know what you thought! It always makes my day!

Until next time, peace!