Quiet Ice, Silent Nights

And Then it Rang

It was easiest to describe in terms familiar to the both of them, something that symbolized the completeness of the picture as it was presented to them all at once in front of a crowd of several thousand people.

It was like a bell falling to the ice.

The impact was hard, sudden, and chilling. The force was so sharp, you think the bell would dent or crack as it connected.

But it didn't.

It was like a bell falling from a great height, dropped from a boy's hand the moment he knew in his heart he wanted her to know. It fell from his grasp as soon as it was decided, falling earlier than even his most conscious choice, tumbling free the moment he peered over the edge of that building and looked out over the ice.

It turned and fell silently, each second the passing days where he became more and more sure of his choice. And then, all at once.

It connected.

And it rang.

For Marinette that's exactly how it seemed, because as she met Adrien's familiar green gaze from across the ice she could almost swear she heard it ring.

She was grateful that in her extreme shock everything slowed down, and it was almost as if for that one second she was stood still on that ice she relived thirty straight days as everything fell into place.

"If I can prove it! If I can prove to you without a shadow of a doubt that Adrien thinks the world of you could you show all those people what you showed me."

She could see that in his eyes as the polite applause of the crowd reached her again and the intimacy of their moment was fleeting. She could see him saying 'Show them.'

Marinette was aware that the crowd had fallen silent, and she felt the absence of his eyes as he turned towards the piano. It was too fast, it was so... it was so much.

Because it was him. It was Cat Noir, it was Adrien. All along... every shy glance, every quiet night.

It had always been him.

However, even as she was frozen in place there was still something about the moment that was just the two of them. Even though thousands of people were gathered around, even though judges watched her every move, it was still just the two of them. Alone, in the silence of their nights, with only the sound of a piano to guide her.

So... even when his name weighed heavily on her mind, even when everything had come to light, ringing clearly like a bell in an empty room... she let it guide her.

She shifted her feet effortlessly across the glassy surface and extended her arms gently with the first notes of the song, knowing them as deeply as she knew herself. She danced, her eyes sliding closed like they might have if they were truly alone.

Maybe they were...

It was just like their practices in the early hours of morning, where it was still dark and the sounds of passing traffic were few and far between. The hours where the moon made the ice glow and the cold made her shiver. The hours where Cat Noir would sit on the barrier separating her stage from the rest of her world, bridging the gap between everything she had been before and everything she had become when she had danced for him for the first time.

Because that's what it was. For everyone to see, just as he had seen.

The first dance, spotted by a cat peering at a graceful stranger and transformed into the song that wrapped around her, keeping her warm as she danced blindly with no fear of faltering. She knew this dance, like the notes of the song. Cat's dance. Adrien's... dance.