MARINETTE

"General Hugo really knows how to find the rats in his system."

Monarch sighs disappointingly over the phone and I frown. I know that he's taking what recently happened hard.

"Don't remind me..." He merely murmurs. "I can't shake the feeling that it's my fault."

"Monarch, it is not your fault. There are times when committing mistakes are inevitable-"

"But not during the start of a war, Marinette!" Monarch speaks, his voice raised. I look around the shower room in fear that someone might have heard his sudden outburst. Thankfully, I have my allies to stand outside and inconspicuously guard the area. Monarch stays silent after what he just said, and I wait patiently for him to continue. Well, the truth is...I do not know what to say.

"This is the start of a war, Marinette." He whispers. "And we can't afford to lose more good men like Colonel Glenn. I can't commit any mistakes from now on."

"Monarch, you're going to lose your sanity with your way of thinking." I tell him on the phone.

"Then come back and keep me sane." He pleads. My breath hitches in my throat with his sudden statement and my heart started to beat in a rapid manner.

"Monarch-"

"It's hard, Marinette, to forget you. If you want me to erase every memory of you, you're asking me to erase 10 years of my life. I can't do that."

I forcefully close my eyes and try to steer away from this conversation. But I can't seem to...in fact, I feel drawn to it. I'm not going to deny it, but I have this part of me that still misses him.

And it is killing me.

"Monarch, and I can't promise to always have you in my thoughts. I-I don't have the time to-"

"Whether or not you have another man in your thoughts..." He interrupts. "that's not going to stop me from wishing for your safety in the next two days. We're all praying for this to work."

The dispatch of selected soldiers and nurses to the rebel base. Rather, the faux dispatch. It's a plan that will either give us the opportunity to win or the chance to lose everything that we have been fighting for.

"And my team and I are ready. We've assigned ourselves to different tasks and dispersed the information to our fellow allies." I inform him on the phone. I'm thankful that he shifted the topic, it lessens the guilt I feel towards him.

"Remember that death is also inevitable. It is either you die later or sooner. Don't bring back dead bodies to our base. I want all of you alive."

"Yes, sir." I utter, starting to feel tense and pressured. The target date is nearing and also my time left with Adrien.

I know he is going to learn the truth, and I'm sure that at that moment I'm going to lose him.

That is another thing which is also freaking killing me.

"I would have to end the call now. Disseminate the information to your other members that we're praying for the success and safety of all of you. I'll see all of you soon, Marinette."

"Will do. See you, Monarch." He ends the call without saying anything else. I carelessly drop the phone into the sink. I bow my head in frustration and place my hands on the sink to keep my stance. This is taking a toil on me.

Sometimes I feel foolish when I am with Adrien, remembering the reason why I am accepting his infatuation for me. And sometimes, I feel like a new person around him. I can't help myself but to love such a feeling.

But my fight is not for equality. I fight for justice and equity. The ideals of the rebels and the mutiny are wrong. I am on the winning side.

"If only I could convince Adrien." I whisper to myself in realization. "But he would have to face the hard truth first."

Now I know the harsh reality- I'm a nurse, a nurse that should not have Lieutenant Agreste as my patient.

----------------

"Hello? Marinette, do you copy?"

"Huh?" I exclaim once I instantly stop spacing out when Alya snaps her fingers at my face. I orient myself with where I am right now and what I am doing.

Alya looks confusingly at me and I know that she is starting to feel concerned over me. We are at the canteen, eating our lunch. While her plate is empty, mine is not even done. I just ate one-third of the meal.

"Something's seriously bothering you. You're not even eating well."

"I was just daydreaming." I tell her without a care, hoping that she would drop the topic.

"You never daydream." She says with a shake of her head. "You are really bothered with something, Marinette...maybe your boyfriend could help you." Just as she was about to shout for Adrien, I lean over and clasp both of my hands on her mouth.

"Don't call for him, please." I beg. She looks at me and starts to talk despite my hands tightly holding her mouth. Her words come out muffled and I try to decipher what she is saying if whether I should let go or not. Suddenly she licks my hand and I let go with the weird feeling on my palm. "Really, Alya?"

"Don't hold my mouth closed ever again." She scolds, pointing an accusing finger at me. "If ever you will do it again, I will seriously bite you."

"Then don't call out for Adrien." I fight back. We continue to glare at each other for a moment, then Alya snorts out loud and starts to laugh. I start to laugh along with her.

"What in the world is wrong with us?" She laughs, wiping her eyes to take away the non-existent tears.

"It's like as if we are on our periods." I say.

"And we're enjoying it!" She says with glee. We burst out laughing again and completely forget the tense moment we had just a while ago. One of the reasons why I love Alya, she always finds a way to lighten the mood.

I really need to surround myself with people like her or else I'll die because of stress.

"Hey, there's the smile I've been waiting for." She says, pointing out the evident beaming smile on my face. "Look at yourself, you look better with a smile rather than having your eyebrows furrowed."

I look down bashfully and timidly agree with her, "Y-You've got a point."

"So," Alya takes a sip from her water. "would you know if Adrien will be taking you out on a date later?"

"Why would he take me out on a date?" I question.

"It's tradition." She shrugs, "Two nights before soldiers are dispatched to a battlefield, they would be with any woman they like to stay with for the night. Nino is taking me to the movies so we're leaving early. Not everyone does it though, like Adrien would just plan for the battle during that night in the past years. But maybe this time might be different..." She trails off, leaving a wink at me.

"Why can't they do it the night before?"

"Marinette, they have to be in the right minds already. They seriously don't talk to anyone on the night before they dispatch. They are clouded with their own thoughts." Alya rolls her eyes, "So is he taking you out or what?"

"I am taking her out." A familiar voice behind me answers her question instead. I turn to look at the man behind me. Adrien gives a shy smile and kneels down to be the same height as me, sitting down.

"Would you like to go out with me tonight?" He asks softly.

I can't stop my heart from fluttering with just those words and I've been fighting the smile that is about to take over my face. "B-But the nearest restaurant is 50 kilometers from here."

He chuckles lightly and grabs my hand. He brings it near his mouth and plants a gentle kiss on it. I'm sure as hell that my cheeks are flaming red.

"We're not going out of the garrison. I'll see you at the obstacle course at nine tonight. I would want to see you in your nurse uniform."

"Okay." I squeak out, not finding my voice.

"I bet you'll look beautiful tonight." He whispers with a grin before standing to greet Alya. "Good day, Alya."

"Mhmm." Alya raises an eyebrow at him and rolls her eyes at him. "Aren't you busy with all the preparations?"

"Y-Yeah." Adrien stutters then bites his bottom lip. "I...I have to go ahead. Just like what Alya said, I have a lot to prepare." He grabs my hand and gives it a light squeeze. "See you tonight." He says with a smile before walking out of the canteen. I follow his figure until I could not see him anymore.

"Alya!" I exclaim, turning to look at her. "You made him uncomfortable."

She shrugs nonchalantly. "I just asked him if he was busy."

"It was clear that you did not want him here." I speak with conviction and clarity. "You wanted to get rid of him."

"Because...because I had to remind him about the tradition! I'm still mad at him for not remembering it!" She stammers, spilling the reason of her rudeness towards Adrien.

I gasp, "So it's like you forced him to prepare a date for me?"

"Something like that, yeah."

I rub my eyebrows in frustration. I'm taking precious time away from Adrien. "Alya, he must have forgotten about the tradition because he's really busy with what's going to happen in just two days." I say, trying to speak some sense into her.

"Well, too late. He's asked you out already. You might as well enjoy your moment together."

I sigh in defeat and gulp down my water. Wiping my mouth with a paper napkin I agree with her, "You're right. We might as well enjoy our date."

"Yeah, because it might be your last."

----------------

After putting on the white stockings that gave me a weird feeling of having tight clothing on me, I put on my white uniform for lady nurses next. It's been a long time since I've worn the dress uniform since we only wear it during special occasions and events...what I'm about to attend is special, for me.

I walk in front of a mirror and button the white belt around my waist, then smoothen out the dress from my waist down to my knees. I turn a bit to see what I look like from the back and smile at the outcome. Dad is right. Nurses do look pretty with their dress uniform on.

And I'm not going to deny it. I really want to look pretty for Adrien tonight.

I fix my hair into a neat bun and pin the white nurse cap on my hair. A red cross is shown boldly on the cap and it gives us, nurses, an identity.

I just apply light lipstick on my lips since I do not want to go too over-the-top. I put on my white closed shoes with its heels only an inch high. Fixing myself whilst looking at the mirror for one last time, I collect and fold the clothes I was wearing before I changed and exit the showers. I walk quickly to my assigned bunker in fear that others might see me and ask me why I'm dressed up. It would be embarrassing for me to explain to them the real reason.

I take deep breaths as I've finally reached the bunker and close the door behind me.

"Someone's ready for a formal occasion."

I quickly turn to the direction from where the voice came from and come face-to-face with Rose. "Goodness, it's just you."

She eyes me from top to bottom and folds her arms. "It's weird to see you look like a real nurse," She teases. "Can I borrow that after you use it? I would also like guys to ask me out with me wearing that."

I laugh and walk to my bunk bed, "Go ahead. Knock the men out." I place the folded clothes at the edge of my bed and grab a matching white shawl and place it over my shoulders. I clip both ends in front of my chest and present my finished look to her. "What do you think?"

"Girl, you're slaying it. Adrien will totally be speechless."

"How did you know that I'm going out with Adrien tonight?" I asks, feeling cornered with her statement. Just as she was about to answer, I stop her with a raise of a hand. "Let me guess...Alya?"

"No secrets are kept as secrets for her, Nurse Marinette." Rose playfully answers. "So...since I've turned down every guy that asked, I'm going to toil with you. What time are you seeing Adrien?"

"At nine." I answer, applying a small amount of gel on my hair bun.

Rose looks at her watch and her eyes widen, "I hate to break it to you but it's like three minutes to nine."

"Oh, shoot? Are you serious?"

"My watch is not lying, Marinette." She shows me her watch as proof.

I frantically brisk walk to the door since I have heels on, "Thanks, Rose! See you!"

Thank goodness for the shawl, it is somewhat keeping me warm in tonight's cold air. I could see the highest building of the obstacle course and I continue to walk, passing through the back of the bunkers. As I've said before, it would be totally embarrassing for me for anyone, other than Adrien, to see me right now.

A group of four soldiers are walking towards my direction and I scramble to hide behind one of the big trees for them to not see me. I hold in my breath as they pass by, their voices roaring with wild laughter. They did not even notice my presence for once. I lamely pat myself on the back. You're getting good at this, Mari.

I continue my way, with some newfound confidence and in just enough time, I am finally in the open clearing of the obstacle course. Its flood lamps are tuned on, but it seems like no one is here.

To my left are stacks of sacks, the same sacks that Mylene carried on our first obstacle race. Then I pass by the muddy ground under barbed wire, my station. Far ahead is the wall for climbing and I have a hunch that Adrien might be there, waiting for me.

I move faster yet carefully to the area and ask my clumsy self to not trip on anything because dirt is the greatest enemy of white clothing...and unfortunately, that is entirely what I am wearing. I pull the shawl closer to me as it is starting to get more chilly.

Standing in front of the wall, I look around me and try to find a mope of short blond hair. I walk around the wall and see a man, with his back facing me, wearing an army dress uniform for officers.

Is that...

"Adrien?" I ask, voicing out my thoughts. He turns and my breath gets caught in my throat.

I am staring at the most good-looking man I've ever seen and he has clearly taken my breath away.

"Wow," He sighs. "You look more than beautiful tonight, Mari." He eyes me with that wide smile of his. "I...You're breathtaking." He stammers.

You too. I wish I could say but I'm finding myself speechless as of the moment.

"Are you okay though, Marinette?" He asks, walking near to me. "You look petrified..." He points out.

"More like speechless." I whisper. I can't stop myself from looking at his figure in his uniform. From the cap to the cufflinks on his army green coat to his black dress shoes. He has never looked so formal and to me, I can't stop myself from falling.

"I-I didn't know that you owned a dress uniform..." I murmur.

"Well, I am an officer." He rubs the nape of his neck. "I am required to have one." I stay quiet, just staring at him at awe. "I can see why you're speechless." He continues, "Is it your first time to see an officer up close with his dress uniform on?"

I've seen Monarch wear his uniform for countless times, but this is my first time to see a man pull it off so well.

I decide to just nod and walk closer to him. I bring a hand to his chest. "May I?" I ask quietly, looking at his cap. He obliges by taking it off and handing it to me. I take it and trace the embroidered decorations and insignia on his peaked cap. On top is the insignia of the Special Forces, the Army infantry troop. Between two golden stripes on his cap is a jungle green band that also signifies his troop.

"Special Forces..." I whisper, tracing the two crossed arrows on his cap.

"Yes, the right arrow over the left." He says. I place the cap back on his head and proceed to touch the epaulettes adorning his shoulders. Its design signifies his rank in the army and golden braided strips of cloth hang from the shoulder boards. "They are gold because of my rank in the army." He tells me with a light laugh.

"You do know that I'm getting tensed up with you examining me like that." He says.

"I like it when you're like that." I utter, placing my fingers on his fourragère, a braided cord that is connected from his chest to his left shoulder board. "You have a military award already? Even with your young age?"

He does not answer as he shivers under my touch whilst tracing his service ribbons displayed on his left chest area.  "Look at all those colors." I whisper.

"But the more ribbons I receive, the more lives are taken away." He says back in a painful tone. He gently pushes my hands away from his service ribbons.

"Adrien, don't think of yourself as the bad guy. You deserved such ribbons because of your service to the army and the nation. And for that, I'm proud of you."

"Really?" He asks breathlessly. I nod once and smile at him as my answer. He smiles back and gestures to what I'm wearing. "And look at you. You're like an angel." He exclaims.

I giggle, feeling flattered with his compliment. "Oh, stop it. It's just the typical uniform of nurses."

"But you seem to glow in it."

I playfully push him away and we laugh as he moves backwards with force. "So what's the agenda for tonight, Romeo?"

"Romeo?" He says skeptically. "If I'm Romeo, then you're my Juliet?"

"Hopefully without the tragic ending." I add.

"I'll take my chances." He shrugs. "Honestly, I prepared this place for us to dance on and talk with each other like normal people with normal problems. No deployment in our way...just the two of us enjoying our moment together."

"I would love that." I sigh. He beams with pleasure and sets up an old cassette player on the ground after taking off his peaked cap. He presses a button to start the song and a familiar tune starts to play.

Oh, my love. My darling. I've hungered for your touch...

"Unchained Melody?"

"Why? Don't you think it's romantic?" He asks.

"It will be once I do this." I loop my arms around his neck. He smirks down at me.

"And once I hold you close to me like this." He wraps his arms around my waist and gently pulls me closer to him. He leans his head closer to mine until our foreheads are touching each other. I close my eyes and savor the moment of our bodies swaying to the rhythm of the song and our noses brushing each other every once in awhile.

Are you still mine? I need your love...I need your love. God, speed your love to me...

"Do you think that we are actually dancing?" He asks softly.

"Not really...but I'm not complaining." I whisper back. I feel a smile fighting its way to my lips. "You're such a dork. You know that, right?"

"W-What?"

"You didn't have to prepare a date for me. Instead, you let Alya push you around." He pulls his forehead away to look at me.

"How...how did you know?" He stammers. I pull my head back as I laugh.

"From the scheming witch herself." I answer gleefully.

"Ah," he drops his head to my shoulder, "now I'm embarrassed."

"You don't have to be. I would have understood if you were pre-occupied with all the preparations needed for the dispatch-" I could not continue since Adrien places a finger against my lips. He does not have his head on my shoulder anymore.

"Remember, normal people with normal problems. We're not here to think about our deployment. I'm here to cherish the woman I'm holding right now." He moves his finger away and I kiss his cheek swiftly.

"Okay. I could go with that."

Lonely rivers sigh, "Wait for me, wait for me". I'll be coming home, wait for me.

"I would be singing along to the song, but the problem is that I don't have such a talent." He whispers at my ear and I chuckle with his confession. I lean to his ear and also whisper, "Me too."

"Don't you think that makes us compatible with each other?" He grins.

"You are too cheeky, Lieutenant Agreste." I utter in disbelief, grinning back at him.

"Mari, I've been thinking..." He trails off and I wait for him to continue without saying anything. "You would make a great combat medic."

His statement takes me by surprise and it catches me off-guard. "Why would you think so?"

"You're strong." He enumerates, "You're courageous, and yet you're compassionate at the same time. We need people like you in the battlefield."

"No one has ever said that to me."

Actually, everyone I knew before never wanted me to become a combat medic. Especially Monarch, he was very adamant on his disagreements of me becoming one.

But what they never knew was that it has always been my dream to become one.

All the more my heart longed for Adrien after finding out that he is the only person who sees me as a successful combat medic.

"I'm the first to mention it to you?" He asks in confusion. He does not believe what I just said to him.

"And apparently the only one who seems to support me..."

"Damn those people who do not allow you to become a combat medic."

I laugh, "Too much of the support, but thanks Adrien."

"I promise, when we get back here from the rebel bases, I will train you to become one." He says with such seriousness and conviction.

"Really?" I ask, guilt feeding on my soul. We're not coming back here, Adrien. I wish I could say such words.

"I won't forget it. Should we head back? The song ended ages ago and we've got a long day ahead of us..." He pulls away from me to grab the cassette player and his cap.

"May I place the cap on you?" I ask quietly from his side. He hands me his cap and bows his head at me. I fix the cap on his head and lean in to press a kiss on the side of his head, "There's my handsome lieutenant."

He grins bashfully at me and starts to unbutton his coat. He takes it off and places it over my shoulders. "You looked cold." He merely says before intertwining his fingers with mine. "Allow me to bring you back."

We start walking close to each other and there would be times when I would find myself glancing at his white long-sleeved polo and black necktie. How in the world did I get the chance to hold hands with this handsome man?

We arrived at the back of my assigned bunker but we do not have the heart to let go of each other.

"If only I could dance with you longer. I will be reliving that moment for many times." He tells me.

"I would say the same about singing, but we're lacking in that area." The both of us laugh quietly.

"Thank you for your coat." I take it off and give it back to him. He takes it and drapes it over his arm. "Army green suits you really well." I compliment. "And one more thing..."

"What would that be?"

I tug his black necktie towards me and loop my arms around his neck as our lips touch. I must have taken him by surprise since it takes him time to kiss me back sweetly.

He pulls away, smiling in a dream-like state. "Goodnight, Nurse Marinette or rather, my future combat medic."

I peck his lips for one last time this night, "And goodnight, Lieutenant Agreste..."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I've been craving for fluff from these two for a long time. So I'll fulfill such cravings for you and me :)

Hope you liked the chapter :)

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