"For our annual play, we will be doing our version of The Little Mermaid!" Ms Bustier clapped her hands and the class erupted into excited chatter. She shushed them quickly. "Now, I want you to pick a role that you haven't done before. So, Marinette will not be doing costumes for the third year in a row-" Marinette groaned and dropped her head onto the table. "Chloe will not be acting for once-" Chloe gasped in horror. "And Nathanael will not be doing scenery again." Nathanael quietly groaned and rested his head on his hand again. "Actually, to make sure that you three don't pull any strings, Nathanael will be on costumes, Chloe will be on scenery and Marinette will be acting. Now, get to work!"

Marinette stared blankly before registering what the teacher said, and stood up as she left the classroom. "What?!" She yelled, getting all the attention of her classmates. "I was going to volunteer to do scenery or producing, but no, I have to ACT?! I can't act for my life! That's it. I'm doomed. We're all doomed. Ariel won't get her voice back because the play will NOT go on and I'll probably fall off the stage before it begins, give myself a concussion, the play will be ruined, we'll all get bad grades, it'll all be my fault, everyone will hunt me down for revenge and I'll have to go into hiding for years, I'll never make it as a fashion designer, MY LIFE IS OFFICIALLY OVER!" While saying this, she dramatically stalked around the room, using hand motions and facial expression to reenact the end of her life.

While all of her other classmates chuckled at her antics, Adrien just raised an eyebrow and folded his arms. "And you say you can't act." Marinette froze in her pacing and turned to look at the blond boy.

"U-uh... I can't act. In any case, I'm so clumsy I'll just fall every second of the performance!" She slipped out of her stuttering in her panic, imagining the embarrassment and the failing herself, her parents and her classmates IN FRONT OF HALF OF PARIS. And what if they ask Ladybug to come?! How is she going to do that?!

"You literally just reenacted the end of your life, using dramatics and emotion, and you can't act?" Adrien asked flatly. Marinette shrank back a little. "You're acting. Now, what are the roles?"

Alya flipped through the script. "Ariel, Prince Eric, King Triton, Flounder the fish, Sebastian the crab, Ursula, Chef Louis, Scuttle the idiotic seagull, Max the dog, Grimsby that one servant guy, Flotsam the electric eel, Jetsam the electric eel, and... that's it!" She grinned mischievously, and Marinette's eyes widened as her head shook rapidly. "I vote Marinette be Ariel."

Marinette pouted and whined. "Alyyyyaaa why can't I just be someone like, one of her sisters or something? Why do I have to take the lead role?"

Alya threw her best friend a smile. "Like Prince Charming over here said, you can act, and you're not too bad at it. Who knows, maybe this will help with your confidence too!" Marinette sighed.

"I'm not getting out of this, am I?" She rubbed her temples as Alya and Nino shook their heads. "Alright, who's Eric?"

Alya's grin grew. "What did I just call Adrien?" Marinette's eye widened before she gave up and slammed her palm to her forehead.

"For god's sake, Alya... You're not going to give me a break are you?" She sighed again. 

"You know, if we're doing the Little Mermaid, shouldn't we check if Marinette can sing?" Nino piped up, sending Alya a grin. The two nodded excitedly, and as Marinette deadpanned, she slip herself up to be sitting on her desk and opened her mouth.

Chloe interrupted her. "I bet she sounds like a dying seal!" She and Sabrina started laughing maliciously as Marinette smirked and started to sing.

"Look at this stuff, isn't it neat? Wouldn't you think, my collections' complete? Wouldn't you think I'm the girl, the girl who has everything." Her melodic voice captured the attention of the class as she stared up at the ceiling. "Look at this trove, treasures untold, how many wonders can one cavern hold? Looking around here, you'd think, sure, she's got everything."

Alya and Nino grinned at each other, noticing Adrien's starstruck look.

"I've got gadgets and gizmos aplenty. I've got who-zits and what-zits galore. You want thing-y-ma-bobs? I got twenty. But who cares? No big deal. I want more." Marinette took a deep breath and slid off the desk to stand. "I want to be, where the people are. I want to see, wanna see 'em dancing! Walking around on those, what do you call 'em? Oh, feet." She smiled to herself, remembering a childhood spent with ages singing that song and watching that movie. She grabbed Alya's hands and the two twirled, giggling.

Adrien was just watching her every move, every graceful step, with awe. This clumsy, shy, girl had all the grace of a swan, of Ladybug herself and the voice on an angel.

"Flippin' your fins, you don't get too far. Legs are required for jumpin', dancin'. Strollin' along down a, what's that word again? Street. Up where they walk, up where they run, up where they stay all day in the sun! Wandering free, wish I could be, part of that world." She twirled once or twice, grinning at her shocked classmates for a second before singing again. "What would I give if I could live out of these waters? What would I pay, to spend a day warm on the sand. Betcha on land, they understand, bet they don't reprimand their daughters. Bright young women, sick o' swimmin', ready to stand!"

With a slight laugh, Marinette let go of Alya and she jumped up on a desk and spun, caught up in the song. 

"And ready to know what the people know! Ask 'em my questions and get some answers! What's a fire, and why does it, what's the word, burn?" Her voice swelled and everyone in the room was entranced. "When's it my turn? Wouldn't I love? Love to explore that shore up above? Out of the sea. Wish I could be, part of that, world."

And with that, Marinette bowed to a shell-shocked classroom.

"Unless dying seals sound like a frickin' angel, then Chloe is so wrong!" Alix cheered. "Nice singin' Mari, and nice job putting the witch in her place!"

Marinette stepped down from the desk and fist-bumped Alix. Alya clapped her hands together. "She can sing, she can dance, she can cook and bake, she can design her own clothes, is there nothing she can't do?"

Chloe scoffed as Marinette blushed. "Bet she can't do a flip-" Before the blond could even finish, Marinette had done a cartwheel into a flip, landed in a handstand and done some push-ups with her arms supporting her entire body weight. Falling back onto her feet, she spread her arms in a flourish to 15 or so open mouths.

"HOW?! YOU ARE THE CLUMSIEST PERSON I KNOW!!" Alya exclaimed through a triumphant and proud grin. Marinette shrugged innocently and sent her a smile.

"What, do you think I spent my life baking and designing? I did ballet for six years, you know. Flips and splits were my thing." To prove her point, she lifted a leg straight up beside her head before bringing it down into a leap. A smirk played at her lips.

"Okay, you are definitely Ariel." Nino broke the shocked silence. "Are we sure about giving Mr Model new guy the male lead? He has enough on his plate with photo shoots and lessons." He turned to Alya, who smiled.

"Have you forgotten that we practice this in class, so pretty boy doesn't miss any rehearsals!"

Adrien's face grew hot at being called pretty boy, and sneaked a glance at Marinette to see her face nearly as red. The blunette let out a sigh, trying to cool her cheeks with her palms, before lifting her head. "Do we have scripts, or are we writing them ourselves?"

"We have scripts, but we can modify them." Rose piped up, holding wads of paper. Nodding, Alya took them, flipping through the scenes before resting on one with a huge grin on her face. Marinette knew that look, and paled the slightest.

"Alya, write it out." She begged, only earning a sly shake of her best friends head. Adrien looked confused at Marinette's desperate expression.

"What is it?" His eyebrows furrowed in concern as she faced him, face flushed and eyes wide. She couldn't meet his eyes, dropping her gaze to the floor and shuffling her feet slightly. 

"There's a kiss scene." She mumbled, still avoiding his eyes. His emerald green eyes flickered, although she didn't see it was with slight giddiness, and he carefully arranged his face into a professional smile.

"Ah. Well, w-we can just, uh... If it makes you uncomfortable we can write it out." He stuttered slightly, rubbing the back of his neck. A mischievous smile formed an Marinette's face as she glanced at Chloe, who was scowling. She leaned over to Alya and whispered something in her ear, to which the the brunette split into a huge grin.

"Marinette, you evil mastermind!" She fist-bumped the smirking blunette, all the while Adrien and Nino looked very confused. Nino glanced at them, then at Chloe, before getting it and he too formed a huge grin.

"Dudinette, you are evil." Nino chuckled, just making Adrien more confused. "Hey bro, did you hear how Madame said we weren't allowed to write out the kiss?" He said loudly, causing Alya to burst out laughing and Marinette to snicker. Adrien, being the idiot we all know he is, didn't catch on.

"What?"

"WHAT?!" Chloe stomped over, expression furious. "THERE IS NO WAY I'M LETTING MARINETTE KISS MY ADRIKINS!!" Marinette covered up her snickering and replaced it with an innocent expression.

"But Chloe, there's no way we can avoid it. And you're not producer, remember? You're doing scenery." She said with an innocent frown, a smirk tugging at her lips. Adrien finally got it, and played along.

"What's the big deal, Chlo? It's just for the play." He shrugged, getting the angry blond to turn to him. "Mari's right, there's no way we can avoid it, so just accept it." When Chloe wasn't looking at him, he shot Marinette a wink and a grin, to which she giggled. Nino nudged Alya, muttering in her ear.

"Look at those two. So made for each other." Nino whispered with a smirk. Alya shot him a grin.

"Don't you think he went along with this a little easily?" She whispered back, watching as the two went over a script, discussing how they should act and what emotions to try and express. Nino looked over at a sun-filled Adrien and Marinette glowing with joy.

"Yeah. I'll interrogate him after class ends." The two of them nodded before joining their friends once more.

Chloe had an unpleasant scowl plastered on her face as she watched Adrien laugh with Marinette. Honestly, he acted like he liked that thing more than her! She tore her eyes away from the two, only to have her dull blue orbs land on Nathanael, who was busy drawing up outfits. A sinister smile worked its way onto her face as she strode over to the red-headed boy.

"So, Nathanael." She purred, covering up her maliciousness with a sickly sweet tone. The poor boy looked up, slightly terrified to see her towering over him with a sly smirk. "Isn't it so unfair that Madame made you do costumes? And Marinette has to wear whatever you design?"

Nathanael rolled his eyes, trying to cover up his nervousness. "What do you want, Chloe?"

She slammed a hand down on the table and narrowed her eyes. "I want you to design something Marinette would never wear so she gives up her role." At his hesitation, Chloe whispered. "You don't want her to kiss Adrien, do you?"

He let his eyes trail over to the two. He'd be lying if he said he didn't like Marinette anymore, and he'd be lying if he said he was fine with her kissing someone else. Eventually, he let jealousy and anger overrule his desire to make her happy. "Fine. I'll play along."

Chloe stood up straight with a victorious smirk. "Good. Now get to it!" 

~*One Week Later*~

"What the heck is this?!" Marinette held up her costume. Which consisted of a green tail and a very revealing top. "Nathanael!" 

The red head hurried over to her. "Yeah?" His face was slightly red with nervousness and embarrassment. Marinette turned on him, trying to be nice but she could not keep the anger out of her eyes.

"What were you thinking?" She pointed at the top, which was practically just a bra. He flushed even redder and stumbled over his words as he tried to get her attention away from him.

"I-uh th-the uh movie had her, uh, I w-wanted to, um, follow the movie as close as possible! Uh-"

"Chloe made you do this, didn't she?"

"I... Yeah." He hung his dejectedly, avoiding her gaze. Marinette sighed heavily.

"She's trying to get me to quit my role, huh?" She ran a hand through her hair as Nathanael nodded, still looking at the ground. "Well, she failed." She swallowed her anxiety and stood up tall, walking into a change room to make sure it fit. He looked up, astonished, to see her push past her insecurities to prove she couldn't be taken down by Chloe. And he found himself admiring her even more for her strength.

He was busy making sure all the other costumes fit when she came out, but he did hear the gasps of other students and Kim's whooping. Which was probably due to the fact that Marinette had a six-pack.

"Marinette, you are ripped! You're so on my team next time in sport!" Kim slung an arm over her shoulders, to which she playfully rolled her eyes and shoved him off. 

"I could pick you up if I wanted to, what makes you think I'd be on anyone's team except Alya's?" She placed her hands on her hips and smirked. Kim scoffed.

"I dare you to pick me u- whoa!" He yelped as Marinette swung him over her shoulders and above her head with a grin. By now, most of the class had gathered around to see what the fuss was about. "Okay, okay, I give! You're stronger than the average woman, wait scratch that, man!" With a victorious smile, she placed Kim back on the ground.

"Damn right."

Chloe fumes in a corner while Alya squeals at Marinette. She pulls Nathanael over. "I told you to design something she wouldn't wear!" The blond girl hissed.

He cowers under he gaze. "She figured you made me design it that way and put it on! I didn't know she would, I swear!" Chloe sneered and stalked away, anger coiled in her every muscle.

"Girl, girl, girl! When did this happen? You're not just adorable, you're hot!" Alya poked her with a grin plastered on her face as Marinette blushed pink and rolled her eyes.

"Honey, this baker's daughter gotta lift flour if she wants bread." Marinette cocked a hip and placed a hand on it, her sassy Ladybug side showing. Alya burst into giggles as she flexes her arms mockingly, even though the muscles were real. 

Nino nudged a wide-eyed Adrien with a chuckle as Marinette complied to Alya's request and did one-armed pull ups on a steel beam above them. "Looking a little bug-eyed there, bro."

He snapped his head to face the bespectacled boy. "Of course I'm bug-eyed, Marinette has abs and she's... she's..." He fumbled for words. "Her."

Nino laughed. "I get what you mean, bro, but that doesn't mean you stare." He tutted as Adrien's eyes once again found their way to Marinette. "So rude for a Prince."

~*One week later*~

Marinette and Adrien practically knew the lines like the back of their hands. Somehow the former had convinced Nathanael to make her ballgowns... not as revealing as her first costume. And, oh lord, they were gorgeous! Pink really was Marinette's colour. Even the dress that was supposed to be made out of a ship's sail was beautiful in a rugged way. 

Of course, Marinette may have tweaked the dresses a bit... Especially the one she was wearing (the sparkly gown). 

The play was one week away, and there was one scene they didn't practice.

The kiss.

Of course they had to practice it, it's a play for heaven's sake. 

And Marinette had two weeks to prepare herself for this.

So why were both Adrien and Marinette freaking out?!

"Alya, we're doing this in less than twenty minutes! I know the script and everything, but we-we practically forced him into agreeing with this!! Oh god, oh Jesus in a freaking boat, oh can someone find me a shovel so I can dig my grave?!"Marinette overreacted just a little while Alya stood a safe distance away and chuckled.

"Come on, you weren't this flustered when you were about to kiss him for that video a while back."

"THAT WAS ONLY SUPPOSED TO BE ONCE!! IF WE'RE PRACTICING, IT'S GOING TO BE MULTIPLE TIMES!!" She creamed into a random pillow, which lowered the volume to regular talking. She and Alya were in an empty classroom which they had adopted as 'Marinette's Dressing Room'. Marinette herself didn't know why she needed a dressing room, but the rest of the class (minus Chloe and Sabrina) had agreed she should have one.

Meanwhile, Adrien was in a similar situation, pacing in his room as Nino watched with an amused look on his face. 

"What if my breath stinks? What if it's really awkward and unnatural? What if she actually doesn't have a crush on me like I thought and hates me? What if she hates me?!" He ran a hand through his blond hair while Nino chuckled.

"Dude, you could never make Mari of all people hate you." He grinned as Adrien's head snapped towards him.

"What's that supposed to mean?!" He whined as Nino burst out laughing.

"God, you looked like a startled cat!" Nino choked out, barely noticing the minor panic flash through Adrien's eyes. If only you knew how true that is. 

"Yeah, well, you shouldn't've said that." He grumbled, folding his arms. He had to admit, the costume was very realistic, and suited him in a weird way. 

"At least you've stopped pacing, bro, you were going to break the floor at your rate." His best friend winked and slung his arm around his shoulder before speaking again. "Go get 'er, tiger."

They performed, they acted like they had done it their whole lives, and then... it was time.

Marinette was in the sparkling dress that King Triton had made when she was gazing at Eric. She had bounded over, absolute joy written over her face. Eric had swung her around in his arms, brought her down and dipped his head...

They kissed.

It was only about three seconds long, but enough to make Marinette's heart speed up and enough for Adrien to dreamily notice that her soft pink lips tasted of mint chocolate. 

Nino was pretty sure by Adrien's slightly dazed look that she was a damn good kisser and he fell for her right then and there. 

Aaaand he let it out as soon as they went back to the privacy of his dressing room.

"Nino, how the hell is she so good at kissing? And she smells so nice, like sweets and freshly baked goods... and wow, she tastes like mint chocolate, do you hear me, she tastes like my favourite sweet!" 

"God damn it, Adrien, you're as love-struck as Eric."

"It's called getting into character."

"No it's not, you're just love-struck."

"Dude, no-one's heard of love at first kiss. It's not a thing."

"You just went on about how she tastes like mint chocolate - which I'm sure is your favourite now."

"Nino, sometimes I really don't like you."

"Yeah, but you like Marinette, right?"

"Screw you."

"HE DIDN'T DENY IT!"

"Shut up, Nino!"

Marinette was no better - she was laying down, staring dreamily at the ceiling while Alya squealed.

All the blunette could think about was his glazed over eyes, and how the possibility that she had done that to him was very high.

~*One week later*~

Night of the play, everyone was coiled tight with excitement, anticipation, and nervousness. Marinette thankfully did not trip over and ruin the whole thing, in fact, she was the calmest of them all. Little did her classmates know, she was busy channeling Ladybug to cover up the butterflies that fluttered in her stomach. 

She sang 'Part Of Your World', which earned much applause, and played out when she first saw 'Prince Eric' aka Adrien Agreste aka Prince Charming as dubbed by Alya and Nino. She did the heart-warming scene when she saved him, and sang the reprise of 'Part Of Your World', earning another round of applause, 

"Okay, Nino's just done 'Under The Sea' and that means he goes and reports to Triton and spills her secrets. Kim, you're up." Alya waved them onstage as Marinette took a breather.  "Max, take over, I'm up again."

Alya was playing Flounder and producer, so she and Max shared the role of producer. Marinette and Alya waited about five minutes until they were on stage again, this time in the her treasure trove. Blah blah blah, 'Poor Unfortunate Soul', human Ariel, romantic falling against Adrien (totally didn't fluster Marinette in the slightest). Most of the night was a blur. Marinette had a blast though, especially in the scene with 'Kiss The Girl', as Nino kept sending her winks.

And once again, there was the kiss scene. 

It started with Marinette gazing longingly at her Prince, sitting on a rock. Triton had sighed.

"She really does love him, doesn't she Sebastian." Kim had done a good job on this role, mainly because he was affectionate towards the blunette as everyone was. Nino cleared his throat.

"It's like I always say, Your Majesty. Children got to be free to lead their own lives." Nino too had done an amazing job. Much as he didn't like being uptight, he fit the role quite well.

"You, always say that?" The two chuckled, as Kim let sadness bleed into his features. "I guess there's just one problem left."

"And what would that be, Your Majesty?"

"How much I'm going to miss her." And King Triton used his magic to turn her tail into a beautiful sparkling dress. She looked up at her father, complete and total joy in her expression before being pulled off-stage to change very quickly for the last time that night. She came back, jumping into Eric's, no, Adrien's arms. It was always Adrien in her eyes.

They kissed to the sound of wild applause. Adrien and Marinette once again lost themselves in the short kiss, falling deeper and deeper into a new feeling. 

It was after the play had finished. Everyone had gone home. Marinette was congratulated on her fantastic role, and was sitting on her balcony, sipping hot chocolate. And a certain kitty cat came to visit.

"So, Princess, how'd your play go?" He said casually. Marinette's head jerked up and her eyes met his.

"How'd you know about my play?" She narrowed her blue eyes at him, watching him rub the back of his neck nervously.

"Uh... I-I heard about it from my friend... Adrien? Yeah! Adrien!" While he silently kicked himself, Marinette turned red and looked away with a smile on her lips.

"Well, you can tell Adrien he's a good kisser." Chat froze in his mental scolding and looked to see her staring at the ground, pink lips curled in a smile. He processed what she said and let a grin slowly spread across his face. 

"Of course, Princess."

Phew! That took AGES to write!! It's practically 15 words shy from 4000 (not including this note) This was longer than most of my essays! Anyway, catch y'all later! Peace out!