A/N: fight sesh! Watch this gif and cry because they're not a couple yet👇😭

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The Dupain training room wasn't that impressive either. It was half the size of the grand hall and the weaponry was all stacked in one corner; whereas the Agreste training room was much bigger and contained far more weaponry and obstacles. The prince did not dare complain about the space out loud in the presence of the Dupain's future ruler.

"It's not much," Marinette said, reading his mind, "but the weaponry is enough. I mean, all you really need is a sword."

Adrien stopped in his tracks, diverting his attention from the window to her direction. The princess noticed his confused look and shrugged, "You do not agree?"

He hesitated, thinking of words that would not come out as disrespectful or offensive to her comment. All you really need is a sword? he thought, Impossible! The prince had grown up surrounded by weapons in which he was taught to treat with the same amount of skill: bow-and-arrows, shields, knives— he had learnt it all at the age of thirteen...along with Hugo...

"Are you alright, Adrien?" Marinette asked, concerned, while waving a hand in front of his face, "Was it something I said?"

The prince blinked hard twice, shaking his head and apologising, "Sorry, I was distracted for a moment. Uhm... No, I do not entirely agree."

"And why is that?"

"The sword isn't the only weapon that can kill."

For a moment, Marinette did not know what to say. In fact, she felt partly stupid. She could not believe she had actually said that! She could only imagine how much of a silly girl the prince thought of her as now. Marinette would have never said anything like that before the prince came. Maybe his presence was making her so uneasy that her words were coming out wrong?

"I suppose you are right," Marinette laughed nervously, "I would not be able to stop an arrow with a sword, nor would I be able to use a sword for the purpose of defense against an oncoming knife-throw... I apologize for that foolish comment."

"You have made a good point, though," Adrien acknowledged, "One sword truly can be the only thing you need...if you know how to use it well enough."

A dark shadow then fell onto them and they both immediately turned to the large window besides the training equipment. It was getting a bit dark inside because grey clouds were starting to form in the sky, blocking out the sun from shining into the room. Marinette found it strange because it rarely rained that time of the month.

Adrien looked to the wall of iron swords and bronze shields, grateful no materials included that of carved wood or rubber like what he had expected. The prince felt guilty for constantly thinking of the Dupain Kingdom as an underdeveloped, poor country, but he wanted to expect the worst because he knew nothing there was greater than what they had in the Agreste Kingdom.

Marinette noticed him staring at the weapons and hesitantly asked, "Would you maybe like to...?"

Adrien turned to her calmly, "Yes?"

The princess changed her mind immediately, "Oh, n-never mind, I was just thinking... I was about to ask my cousin if he'd like train with me once again, but now that you're here..."

He knew exactly what she was asking and did not give her a chance to further explain. The prince took four long strides and grabbed an iron sword from one of the stands— he already had his own sword strapped to his side— before handing it over to Marinette.

Her heart beat irregularly before she hesitantly reached out to the sword. Marinette nodded in gratitude before down-grading herself once more.

"I must warn you: I'm quite clumsy sometimes," Marinette said, looking up at him through her lashes, "I'm not the best fighter either. Compared to you—"

"Don't compare yourself to me, Princess," Adrien said, earning a shiver through Marinette's spine, "Don't worry, you'll do great."

Emotions were caressing her insides and the princess inhaled a deep breath before standing upright again with her chin in the air. His kind words gave her the confidence she needed— Marinette raised her sword, legs spread out in a supportive stance. Adrien unsheathed his own sword, the tip of each weapon meeting in the middle almost as if to signify peace.

"I doubt you want me to go easy on you," the prince said.

"If anything, I should go easy on you," Marinette replied, "I would not want to ruin your uniform."

Adrien did not even notice his attire. In fact, his mind did not even consider that he wasn't wearing his training outfit. It did not really matter to the prince, however, because he had fought with his outfit on before when he had been too lazy to change into his training outfit for sessions with DarkBlade.

"I'll be fine," Adrien said, "Are you ready?"

Without another word, Marinette slammed her sword into his own with such force, Adrien stepped back in surprise. Marinette grinned innocently, "I'll allow you to decide that one for yourself."

Adrien felt smirked challengingly, falling into step with her movements immediately. He was better, they both knew. The prince had much more time and practice training ever since he was a young boy whilst Marinette was barely exposed to such actions at a his age— the idea of a girl Princess wielding a sword at the age of ten was too much to bear for King Thomas, especially since that girl was his daughter.

Nevertheless, Adrien was impressed because even though the princess had only a limited amount of time to train, she was still better at fighting than half of his soldiers combined. She was able to hold him off longer than one minute, which rarely happened. Eventually he'd win, Marinette falling to the floor again and again.

The princess groaned in irritation at each failure, refusing Adrien's offer to help her up. The prince moved so effortlessly— it was if he were waltzing to the beat of sword-clanging. Sometimes he had ended up with her sword in his hand, while at other times he would slam his sword with enough force to make it skid to the other side of the room. He was definitely stronger than her as well.

Marinette would have been jealous if not for the constant reminder that Adrien was not going easy on her and that this was the exact manner he would fight in if he had a man as an opponent.

On her last attempt at trying to get Adrien's sword out of his hand, Marinette leaped forward before using her foot to try and trip him. The prince, who had already predicted that technique, kept his front foot in place to make it impossible for her to trip him. The momentum of her leap made her stagger once their legs made contact with each other.

Adrien managed to catch her just in time, dropping his sword so that he would not be able to harm her while he held her in his arms. The strange sensation passed through him again— where a wave of strength past through his body— when she looked up at him, hands on his chest.

He noticed a faint blush upon her cheeks and turned away immediately so as to not feel any sense of infatuation as he gently pushed her back to standing position. He cleared his throat before asking, "Are you okay? No broken bones?"

"You would never catch your opponent on the battlefield."

Those words came out before Marinette could even think. She bit her tongue, mentally slapping herself at the 'wise' comment to his kind question. Adrien stepped back from her and picked up their swords from the floor. He placed his own sword back his holder before speaking again.

"I apologize for catching you," Adrien managed to say, "and treating you differently from my other oppenents. Maybe it's because you are a woman or maybe it is because I am fighting in a country different to my own... It will take some getting used to. It's just all quite new to me."

He turned around to face her and handed her sword to her, the hilt facing upwards. Adrien took that moment to look deep into the shocked, blue eyes of the princess. She did not expect him to be such a gentleman. All those rumors about him being a cruel prince was probably a fat lie, she thought, looking beyond the sword's surface into his green irises.

Suddenly, a thunderclap sounded in the distance and Marinette widened her eyes at his gentle smile. She reached out to him as butterflies bombarded her stomach and a weight of doubt was lifted from her body. What was this sensation she was feeling? How was she unable to make it stop?

Marinette took the hilt of the sword hesitantly, brushing her fingers with his own. The thrilling sensation passed along each of their bodies in that moment, bringing an unknown spark to life. Their fingers touched again and she gratefully accepted the sword hilt from his grasp.

A second later, she almost lost her grip of the weapon and quickly managed to catch it again, looking down in embarrassment before Adrien burst out in laughter at her clumsiness. The princess blushed before giggling along with him, his laugh giving her joy.

Adrien glanced to the entrance of the training room and felt disappointed when he saw Nino indicating that it was getting late and he needed to be escorted to his new chamber. The prince sighed at the reminder, facing the princess before bowing down to her respectfully.

"I shall see you tomorrow," Adrien said, making his way towards the entrance, "and I hope to do this again with you soon, Princess."

"Y-yes," Marinette stammered with a slight laugh, "S-see you to-tomorrow..."

Marinette bit her tongue in confusion, heartbeat rising. What had gotten into her? Adrien did not seem to notice the mistake, but Nino Lahiffe and Alya Césaire most definitely had. They both exchanged understanding looks before departing to their leaders.

Alya held her hands to her hips while Marinette watched as the prince was guided by his advisor to his chamber. Before walking back to her room with Alya by her side, Marinette silently asked herself, "Why was I stuttering like that?"

~|~|~|~

"I might have an idea," Tikki giggled after listening to Marinette's description of her long day with Adrien Agreste.

Marinette blushed, undressing from her sweaty training clothes to a warm, comfortable night gown. She dared not ask what the Kwami meant by that. The princess thought back to the beginning of the day when she had been confused with the news of Nathaniel Kurtzberg's proposal. After properly meeting Adrien Agreste after a long battle fought as allies, Marinette's mind had completely diverted from the marriage.

"You like him don't you?" Tikki asked.

Marinette felt a chill up her spine, "N-no, I— he's a good person and I can tell he's strong and intelligent..."

"The power of love," Tikki hummed with a similar grin what Alya gave Marinette before leaving her alone, "always so strong."

The princess shook her head, irritated at the Kwami's teasing behaviour. Marinette was too tired and weak to talk about the prince. She needed to rest... Unless...

Marinette glanced to the window of her room. It had been far too long since she had last transformed. The poor citizens were probably concerned about what happened to Ladybug. I'll make an appearance tonight, she thought officially, facing Tikki with a hopeful smile.

"No," Tikki said immediately, chewing on a biscuit, "You are not transforming today."

Marinette frowned, "Why not? It can help me get stronger."

Tikki instantly replied, "You're tired Marinette. The more trouble you put yourself through, the more flaws become absorbed in your Miraculous..."

"What is your concern?" Marinette asked with a shrug, "My powers make me stronger and less tired, does it not?"

Tikki narrowed her brow at the princess and stared hard into her blue eyes as if she could see all of Marinette's emotions through one stare. Marinette leaned back and the kwami could not stop herself from asking, "You're doing it for him, aren't you?"

"W-what?" Marinette gasped, flabbergasted.

"Your decision only miraculously appeared now. After a friendly fight against Prince Adrien in which you wished you could have won. It's almost as if you want to use your powers for your own benefit..."

Marinette frowned before giving Tikki an expression of hurt— how dare Tikki believe that she only wanted to use her Ladybug powers to impress a boy? She found that point of view quite offensive. Marinette folded her arms, angry at Tikki's opinion.

"I'm not doing it for Adrien, I am doing this for my people."

Marinette stood up from her bed and made her way to the window. Tikki did not say anything more once Marinette pushed her hair behind her ear and said, "Tikki, spots on."

* * *

She had saved five people that night, one of them being a famous artist named Théo Barbot who had built sculptures for a living. He had thanked her for saving his life and asked for permission in which to draw and make a sculpture of her.

Ladybug laughed and easily joked, "A sculpture of me? Well, of course you may! If the people are okay with it, that is."

The superheroine laughed at the idea of an artwork made in her name. Théo could not decide whether that had been sarcasm or just a genuine, flattered answer so he accepted the latter, determined to work on his new work as soon as possible.

A few minutes later, Ladybug then discreetly tripped a Dupain guard. The guard had been chasing a poor man who had stolen a piece of bread for his family. Ladybug spoke individually to the poor man who apologized for stealing, but the superheroine made sure that he was able to pay his debt.

Ladybug was getting stronger by the minute, watching her miraculous just in case it was about to lose it's energy. After a whole night of kind actions, Ladybug turned back towards the castle, until suddenly... A bright red light started to surround her.

She gasped and quickly hid in a secluded shadow in a corner of the street. There she fully detransformed into her normal self, nightgown and all, with her Kwami shivering in front of her. At first, Marinette was too surprised to say anything, until Tikki fell onto the ground with a grunt.

Her senses kicked in and the princess immediately knelt down beside Tikki, a confused and terrified expression on her face. What was happening to her? Why did the Miraculous give up so quickly?

The kwami managed to speak in a weak manner, "Y-you pushed your p-p-powers too hard."

"Tikki," Marinette whispered worriedly so that no stranger was able to hear them from their dark setting, "Tikki, why did I detransform so soon? Why are you in so much pain?"

"I told you," Tikki croaked, managing to face her with a strained smile, "The more trouble you put yourself through, the more flaws become absorbed in your Miraculous... I take in all your pain, Marinette."

The princess did not know what to do. She held on to Tikki's hand with all the strength she could muster. She promised to get her to the castle as soon as possible before reaching for her neck and removing the Miraculous jewelry from her earlobes.

Tikki disappeared in front of her eyes. The princess gently set her earrings into a pocket of her nightgown and stood up on her shaky legs. She stared down at her slippers confusedly before looking up at the castle, urging herself not to cry. Instead, she closed her eyes and, with a shaky breath, swore profusely.

~|~|~|~

Chat Noir jumped over buildings of Gollieb country, feeling relieved from successfully passing the gate that separated him from his country— half the men guarding the boarder were fast asleep, but he managed to sneak past twice. When his people asked where he had been, Chat replied that he was traveling the world, saving lives from all over.

In all honesty, he was not completely lying. Chat was visiting the Dupain Kingdom for a while so it was only fair for him to be fighting for the rights of the people of the Gollieb country. Not for his sake, but for the sake of the entire population of Paris. And also for the Princess, he thought, earning him a self-slap to the face.

He could not afford to love— no, he could not afford to enjoy the company of Marinette Dupain-Cheng. Chat thought back to her smile, her shyness as well as her confidence. He thought about the look in her eyes when she fought and the scar above her breast that she was not afraid of showing. Her.

No. He had to stop thinking about it. He had never felt this way before. It had only been one day. One day! And yet he had still been foolish enough to enjoy making her smile like that.

He had to convince himself that it was just an act of the princess so that she was able to persuade enemies to become her allies. He had to force himself to believe that this was all a trick to get him to withdraw his request. Oh, but Adrien knew that no matter how cruel he wanted to make her seem, she was the complete opposite of all his hopeful lies.

He heard a sharp murmur and his ears perked up immediately. A quiet voice came from a distance: exhausted, worried and confused. He could tell by the heavy exhales and shivering intake of breath. Chat's ears only perked up when someone was truly in trouble far away.

The whispering sounded again, a familiar voice... He could not be certain, but it almost sounded like— Don't you dare even think about it. Adrien ignored his assumptions and followed the voice as fast as he did when Hugo was hit on the battlefield. He couldn't reach him. He was too far. He was too late...

Then he saw her, standing there in her nightgown. Marinette looked up to the dark figure upon the roof, her eyes slowly closing before her body gave way to the darkness.

~|~|~|~

Prince Nathaniel paced his room furiously, glaring at the papers of his artwork which he so aggressively tore up once he was told about the news. The one work that was left standing was the painting of her face, the beautiful face of the princess that he loved, nobody else.

Adrien Agreste. He sneered at the name, jealousy pumping through his veins.

He glanced at the pages of incomplete paintings of the boy on the floor. The boy who he thought was his role model and inspiration to work harder. The boy who won three war battles at his age, ready to take on the responsibility as king. Nathaniel had once believed that they could have been friends one day, but knowing that he was near her. With his girl.

Nathaniel decided to sit on the bench outside his palace, head in his hands. He needed to be away from his drawings, separated from all his emotions.

He calmly sorted out the situation in his head after a moment of slow breathing: there was another man in the kingdom who wanted his Marinette. It was impossible for any man not to fall in love with the princess.

How could King Thomas let this happen? Did he not register that Adrien, a young, wealthy and strong prince, had much greater power to marry Marinette? Did Thomas not think Nathaniel was capable enough of ruling another kingdom? He would show them. He would show them all, especially Adrien Agreste.

"Your Majesty," Le Chién Kim— who had been watching Nathaniel fume from the window inside the palace— spoke from beside him, "Are you feeling well? Is there anything you would like me to do for you?"

"Pack my bags," Nathaniel said monotonously, "I shall be visiting the Dupain Kingdom soon."

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A/N: Nathaniel's POV was a last minute thing, but I thought it was necessary to include❤️please vote, comment and follow✨
What did you think of the fight session?
More Marichat or nah?
Excited for Nathaniette?
And, no, sex will not happen immediately in any of my books. Thank you.
Any ideas on cute Adrienette moments I should include? Let me know in the comments below 💬👇

10~~ Tension