Marinette decides to use her powers to try to find a way to get together with Adrien, but the lucky charm gives her what she needs, not what she wants, so a of the charms are related to Chloe.
If you're still willing to do the snippet, I'd like that.
"I'm not sure you should be using the Miraculous like this, Marinette."
"Tikki, as long as I'm useless around Adrien it's a danger to the city! I need to do this... for Paris!"
That is how it began.
Spots on in her bedroom, followed by a lucky charm. Down came a diamond studded polka dot belt. Ladybug recognized it instantly, and could even hear the owner's high pitched voice in her memories.
How is this supposed to help... wait! She's known Adrien for years. I can get to know him better by talking to her. That will help!Ladybug had swung off, a mix of negative emotions and unease stewing in her belly. The first meeting had been... halting. Ladybug had questioned her choice more than once. Chloé Bourgeois was prickly at the best of times, and recently her dislike for Ladybug had only grown.
Before she could even begin to bring up Adrien, Ladybug had to clear the air between them. There was a lot she wanted to say, and even more she wanted to know. It turned out they both had the same question at the core of it all.
They bickered, each trying to justify themselves. Each with their next argument ready even before the other could respond. Arguing, shouting, gesturing, both even close to tears at times. A bang on the door, Jean checking about the noise, had given Ladybug her chance to escape.
She had stewed for a day. Not looking Chloé's way had become a habit, but now there was an unresolved undercurrent. Marinette had done her best to put it from her mind, but her friends had noticed she seemed off. She blamed it on being tired and retreated back to her room that night.
Okay, new plan. Come on Lucky Charm!down came... a knotted mass of action figures. Ryuko, Miracular, Queen Bee, Hawkmoth, Mayura, Diktator, and more. they were twisted together, arms and legs, hard to tell where one ended and the other began. One thing stood out though. Each wore a miniature diadem, just like Miracle Queen.
What the heck Lucky Charm?!
Ladybug knew what it meant. She felt what it meant. It was the same path as before. The path she wanted to abandon. Lucky charm was lucky charm though, and Adrien was worth it.
She had been surprised to find Chloe already out on her balcony, empty tea cups littering her table. Ladybug landed and round two began. It was instantly raw this time, but Ladybug was determined. It seemed Chloe was too, there was no stomping off, no 'Daddy!', plenty of yelling though, on both sides, and this time tears fell too.
Eventually they were both wrung out. Ladybug was left to sit on what she'd learned. The other girl was surprisingly silent now too, waffling as she paced the balcony aimlessly, staring out over the city. their eyes would meet and bounce off. There was still so much to go, things Ladybug couldn't bring up. There was one thing she could do. One thing she had to do, because she was Ladybug. She was Marinette.
Chloé had whipped around, fists clenched and eyes wide. She shook. Ladybug distinctly remembered that for years to come. Chloé was shaking. Ladybug held her breath. The firsts unclenched, the shoulders slumped, those flashing blue eyes looked down.
“I’m sorry, too.”
Neither knew what came next. Ladybug was full up again with thoughts and emotions she couldn’t wrestle with. She’d mumbled something about the time and a goodbye before retreating once more to her room. Only later did she realize she was still no closer to learning more about Adrien.
I’ll get there. This is just something on the way.
She went back. This time there were cookies out and untouched tea, though the tea was cold. Ladybug started with a goal. If she got Chloe to open up, it would be easier to ask about Adrien, she might even learn things without asking directly. It was halting at first. They would nibble cookies and sip cold tea until one blurted out an observation. It would lead to a flood in reply, but it would always peter out. Ladybug kept trying to find a way to steer things towards Adrien. It never seemed to work.
She left Chloé with a date and time. Hot tea was better than cold.
Ladybug checked her lucky charm before the next visit. A blank script fell into her hands. A play with two names and no lines.
Ladybug went back with blank lines and no plan. It was easier the more she let go. Conversation began to flow; fashion, heroing, her partner, Chloé’s family, the bully in Ladybug’s life, the isolation in Chloé’s. The tea was cold long before Ladybug left.
The next time, Ladybug ended up dressed in haute couture selected from Chloé’s closet. It clashed mightily with her costume, sending them both into giggles. The time after Chloé had on her Queen Bee cosplay.
“I know. I know. Just let me pretend, for a couple hours?”
She began to see she wasn’t the only one wearing a mask. The girl on the balcony was not the girl in class. One was curious, probing, even a little timid. The other was peevish, sharp, and still a bit cruel. Ladybug listened to stories about school events she had lived, told from a very different perspective. She saw what she hoped was an opening.
“You know, happiness isn’t a competition. You can win without anyone else having to lose. Think of all the time that could be better spent being happy yourself rather than trying to make sure anyone else is less happy.”
It was only hours of long talks and fledgling rapport built up over weeks that gave her words any hope of sinking in. Ladybug didn’t get a direct answer, but there was a shift in class. The shift was matched by a change in the tone of Chloé’s stories too. Ladybug found herself smiling through the stories now. She found herself smiling thinking of the stories to come. She simply found herself smiling.
They talked a lot, and about personal things. At one point Ladybug feared she’d said too much. Marinette spent a week glancing nervously Chloé’s way in school, wondering if the connections would be made. She had collapsed in her bed for an entire night, battling butterflies in her stomach and delirium in her mind when she realized what she was feeling wasn’t fear… it was anticipation.
Fear was making the conscious choice to abandon her long forgotten mission. Fear was buying roses, chocolates, every silly thing she could think of. Fear was standing there like a spotted Cat Noir on the balcony. Fear was coming clean.
“I have a secret, I hope you don’t hate me when I tell you.”
Fear was dropping the mask. Fear was being Marinette, and all the vulnerability that entailed. She’d peeked under Chloé’s mask though, and they were both the better for it. Marinette could hope. She just couldn’t breathe.
