On Point

Rehearsals Begin!

By Rena Rouge

It's the first of December which can only mean one thing... rehearsals have started and we're not 22 days away from the incredible spectacular Agreste Dance Company will be putting on to lead us all into the final run up to Christmas Day.

So far we have confirmations from New York, China, San Francisco and London based studios that they will be sending scouts to the gala, each with a possible position for those that have wowed the crowd.

We're quite sure Gabriel will keep hold of Luka Couffaine (21), but everyone else is up for grabs.

However, the dancer we are most interested in is none other than Adrien Agreste's partner, Marinette Dupain-Cheng (19). What has this younger dancer got that won over ballet royalty and what kind of future will she have in store for her after such an interesting selection?

*****

Marinette was eternally grateful for Plagg directing her in the way of Tikki's studio. She needed the freedom to burn off her anxiety more than she'd ever known. Adrien had had a stick up his ass all day, every thing she did was wrong: she turned her head to the left — it should have been the right, she did a grande jeté — it should have been a saut de chat. But the most embarrassing part was almost taking his eye out. As she lifted an arm and jabbed him in the right eye, he'd called it a day. Sending her home and tending to his red rimmed eye. If it wasn't for the sake of her future career she would have walked there and then.

She was meant to be helping him, yet all he was doing was pissing her off!

When she'd tried to call Luka at the end of rehearsals, it seemed his rehearsal was going just about as well as hers. He'd been asked to stay longer to work with Zoé, though he never actually said what the issue was. Marinette's stomach felt the unease of him having to stay to practise.

With The Nutcracker rehearsals suddenly becoming all consuming, she took the opportunity to burn off energy at the Miraculous Studios. She'd been there almost nightly for the past three weeks and she was unsure whether it was to dance or to spend time with Chat Noir. He was just what she needed after such a hectic day.

When she arrived Chat Noir's team were having their usual squad rehearsal, but compared to last time she saw them, it was a mess. She watched Chat Noir turn the music off and march to the girls, his arms extremely animated as they swung around all over the place. He stormed back to the stereo and started the music again. What was going on?

"Tikki?" Marinette questioned, the owner walking over to stand beside her, hand caressing over her swollen stomach. "Is he okay?"

Tikki stood beside Marinette, both studying the dance before Chat Noir turned the music off again and came back to the girls. He waved his hand around a little bit and then sent them off to get a drink or something.

As the dance floor was evacuated, Marinette watched Chat Noir take to the floor, head and eyes down, as he danced the steps alone. He stopped scratching the back of his neck before trying something else, stopping straight away and throwing his head back with a groan. His head twisted side to side before he lowered down to look in the mirror, his eyes meeting hers.

"As you can probably tell, he's a little stressed. He puts too much pressure on himself."

"He just wants it perfect for the girls," Marinette replied as Chat Noir attempted another variation of the routine. "He said last night it was perfect and ready to go."

"The girl who was dancing the lead solo has broken her leg playing hockey at school, which means not only are they a dancer down, but also the lead soloist has gone, so he needs to decide whether to try and teach another girl the moves in a couple of days, or to continue without the solo and adapt what he has."

Chat Noir called for two of the girls to come to the front, asking them to perform something to try and fit it in the gap. He played the music and stood watching as the girls performed some kind of duet. He shook his head half way through, obviously not happy with how it looked.

Marinette had been in this position multiple times in the past, usually helping out Mademoiselle Bustier with the younger troupes and squads when dancers had to pull out from sickness or injury.

She watched as Chat Noir marked something through, the girls copying him a couple of times, before he made his way back to the speaker system and pressed play. The girls began to dance gracefully around each other and across the floor, but it wasn't right – even she could see that.

Chat Noir stopped the music again and called the girls over, sending them to get another drink. He looked defeated and Marinette just wanted to go in there and give him a hug, telling him it was going to be okay and that they could work it out. But it wasn't her business, she couldn't just go in there and interrupt – even if she did have an idea.

"He needs to have multiple sections happening at the same time, either the same routine in different directions, or different duets which can interlink someway, maybe crossing through each other."

Tikki stood silently, obviously thinking over Marinette's idea, as her lips pursed out and she crossed her arms. She was looking between the dancers and Chat, her head turning to one then the other. Finally, she spoke. "Go and tell him."

A surprised gasp left her mouth. "I can't just go in and tell him. It's not my place."

"Why not? You know what he needs to do and I'm sure he could use some help at the moment. "

Looking back into the studio, Marinette watched as Chat Noir took his cap from his head and brushed a hand through his mane of golden, blond hair... blond hair she would recognise anywhere.

"Adrien?" she gasped, Tikki's hand coming out to place on hers. She checked his face for any other signs that it was her partner, his green eyes glowing back... green eyes with one bruised.

"Yes, but please... he doesn't need anyone knowing about this. This is what he wants to do, he wants to choreograph, he wants to create, he hasn't wanted to perform since before his mother's passing, then when she died it solidified his thought process. The girls know who he is, but that's it."

Marinette watched him, and she was positive he knew she'd figured it out.

His hat and contacts had blocked the one piece of him which would have given him away, the piece of him which made him stand out. Her right hand jab to the eye earlier, most likely stopping him from being able to put in his lenses.

But how could this vibrant, charismatic man be the same as the one she'd danced with this morning, the one which just picked and pulled at every single move she made. Why?

"He's free here, Marinette, this is his home. He never wanted to dance for his father, his heart isn't in ballet. When Plagg started tutoring him, he saw a broken boy living someone else's dream under their expectations, but when he came here he shone. There's a lot riding on his career at the Christmas gala, that's why he needed to have the perfect partner."

Marinette turned to Tikki, noticing the knowing smile on her face. "Why did he choose me?"

"He didn't originally, it wasn't until he saw you in the studio late one night — something that started a chain of events. He was meant to be dancing with Alya."

Alya?

Marinette hadn't even considered that the day Adrien and Alya partnered together in the pas de deux workshop was because Adrien had chosen Alya to join the school, for some reason she always thought that maybe it was her, that she was the oddball that Adrien had chosen to piss his father off. To know it was Alya? She wasn't sure how she felt.

"You thought it was you, didn't you? That Adrien felt sorry for you?"

Marinette nodded, embarrassed by how self absorbed she could be. Of course he didn't choose her to prove a point, he chose someone good, someone who would make him look amazing and help break him out from under his fathers control. But then why did he swap to her?

"Plagg chose you," Tikki continued. "Adrien wanted to, but Plagg was afraid his father would pull you from the school or deny Adrien's request, so Plagg got in there first. My husband has a thing for pairing up dancers. It was his choice that I danced with him and look at where we are now." She patted her stomach for good measure — that was definitely not a situation she wanted to end up in herself. Not yet anyway, and not with Adrien.

But she'd be lying if she said that wasn't a dream. To perform with someone and have such a strong connection you almost instantly fall in love. A dancer's dream and the dancers curse. Her stomach dropped as she thought about Luka dancing with Zoé. Were they destined to be together? Obviously fate had reunited them, was it for a reason?

The music played in the studio again, Marinette looking back at the dancers and watching another change to the routine. Adrien stood in front of them, hat now discarded and hair messy and so... him. It was different seeing him here, almost taking an animal from the zoo and replacing it in its natural habitat. He looked so at ease and one with himself. He grabbed his hair, his head falling back again before he stomped over to the stereo and turned it off.

"He needs you, Marinette, and I think you have the answer to his problems."

Without hesitating anymore, she strolled towards the studio door and opened it, watching Adrien's eyes meet hers full of hope and the possibility of help — with a slight tinge of fear.

"Hey," she said nervously, each of the girls muttering around the studio at the arrival of this new girl. "Need a fresh pair of eyes?"

Adrien smiled shyly, dimples forming in his cheeks and making him look so innocent and grateful, she couldn't stop her heart skipping a beat.

"Do you mean it? You're not mad."

She shrugged. "Mad? No, but I do have questions."

He grimaced a little, this wasn't important now. What was important was making sure the routine was perfect and that the girls weren't let down.

"That's not important at the moment, let's concentrate on this."

He smiled, a look of sheer relief. When he smiled, like properly smiled, he was gorgeous. He looked younger, he looked carefree and, most of all, Adrien Agreste looked happy.

"I thought you were going to leave me out to dry after today, I know I came down a little too hard," he responded, his arms crossed over his chest. He looked out the window, her gaze following with it. Tikki and Plagg stood side by side, looking almost hopeful.

"Tikki's spoken to you, hasn't she?" Adrien suddenly said.

Marinette nodded and placed her bag down in the corner. "She has, but what kind of partner would I be if I left you to do this alone." She stood straight, the reflection looking back at her one of sheer determination and confidence. "And I think I have a plan."

*****

Adrien had had a very temperamental day, his father was breathing down his neck each and every second, and he couldn't help but fear the man would turn up and spy on him and Marinette.

He felt caged and constantly wound as tight as a coil and he knew he was taking it out on Marinette, but he just couldn't control it. Making it to the studio tonight was meant to be a break away from the tension, yet here he was pulling his hair out again.

His soloist had broken her leg during a hockey lesson at school, and Tikki had to hold him back from going down there and giving the school a piece of his mind. The whole dance consisted of this soloist — 'Pandora' — from opening and creating her box. Now it was just a box. Who wanted to watch a dance about a plain old box?

Luckily, Marinette had appeared and, as if by magic, created the perfect fix for the routine he was unintentionally destroying with every alteration. As they watched the squad perform one last time, Adrien couldn't help holding his fist out to her, one she greatly pounded back.

He waved the girls off, Tikki standing by the door to release them to their parents as they exited the room.

"Thank you," Adrien said, turning to face his partner. Whatever she wanted for Christmas he would get her in gratitude. A house? A ferrari? He'd even buy her a small island, he was so thankful.

"You're welcome." She smiled back at him, bright and friendly, and not at all what he deserved. She turned and headed back to where she'd placed her bag, removing her sneakers and socks, before rolling the bottom of her tights up and around her ankles.

He followed her, hoping she was as open to listening to him as she was helping him. "I'm sorry about today, it's just —"

Marinette held up her hand, stopping Adrien from continuing. "Tikki explained everything, Adrien. It's okay, I get it. You're under a lot of pressure. Just please, I'm your partner, we need to think about how we're communicating. Don't take it out on me, talk to me instead. Just please, be honest."

He reached up and scratched the back of his neck. "Yeah, that's easier said than done for Agrestes."

"Then it's time to make a change. And you can start right now. How does the routine look?"

Adrien smiled, his hand releasing from where it was rubbing friction burns on his neck. "So much better, and I mean that honestly."

Marinette crossed her arms over her chest and tilted her head to the side. He couldn't help but laugh, a full hearted laugh he wasn't used to displaying these days and something he was finding himself doing a lot more since meeting and spending time with Marinette.

"I swear!" he said, defending himself.

The room began to fill, dancers for the next class entering and greeting each other, some of them double taking as they walked past Adrien, his cheeks flaming from the sudden interest.

"You don't like it, do you?" Marinette asked, Adrien feeling his cheeks kick up another 10 degrees as she called him out.

"Which?"

"The attention," she answered. "You don't like the attention."

He sighed, there was no point hiding in now, she seemed to be reading him like an open book at the moment, finding out his secrets before he even knew them himself. Things were different with Marinette, she never asked for anything or wanted anything from him, yet he couldn't help but want to give her the world. He'd never wanted to give anyone anything before – not like this anyway.

"I just find it a little awkward... especially in places like this where people have an expectation and watch you like the latest episode of 'Dance Moms'."

He felt exposed in a way he never had before, he rarely took his hat off, let alone allowed someone to 'see' him – in this way at least.

"Well," Marinette announced, "if they're going to look, let's give them something to look at."

Grabbing his hand, she all but dragged him into the middle of the studio. Tikki gathered everyone together to explain what they would be working on today. A Christmas duet. Great. He was starting to think his friends and mentors were trying to play a little game with them both.

"What do you say then, partner? Shall we dance our hearts out?" She held out a fist towards him, one in companionship and teamwork, and one he needed more than he could have ever known.

Smiling at Marinette, he lifted his own fist and bumped them together. "Pound it?" he said, her response mirroring the action.

"Pound it!"