A Miraculous Love

Chapter 5: Forming a Bond

After another day of boring lessons Adrien was relieved when he was finally allowed to go to his room. Once he was alone he began to prepare for the night ahead. He would be training with the group and he wanted to make sure he brought water and first aid with him. Last time, Le Paon managed to cut his upper arm with his blade and after all that sparing he had been very thirsty so tonight he would be prepared. With his satchel packed and his costume on Adrien slipped out of the castle and headed for the woods.

Once he made it to the meeting place Ladybug immediately split them into groups. She had decided that tonight they would practice defending and attacking against opponents with different weapons. She wanted to prepare them for what they may face when they launched their attack. With that, Ladybug split them into groups. "Chat Noir, Volpina, and Queen Bee you will be one group. Le Paon, Jade Turtle, and Papillon you are with me. Let's get to work everyone." As the two groups headed to opposite sides of the clearing Ladybug took her chance and slipped the note into Chat Noir's bag. Well, at least that's out of the way, Ladybug sighed as she rejoined her group. Her body protested every movement but she knew she had to stay strong for her team. If her teammates knew that their leader had been beaten and degraded they would never respect her, even if they were her friends. Ladybug did not want her friends to know the pain she endured behind closed doors. She couldn't worry them about her own problems when they were getting ready to fight a war.

Across the field, Adrien was busy defending himself against Queen Bee and Volpina as they took turns bombarding him with attacks. "Hey! Don't you think two against one is paws-itively unfair?" Adrien teased as he fought back. The two ladies shared a quick smirk before working to push him up against the tree. Once Adrien was cornered, they pointed their weapons at him and forced him to surrender. "Chat Noir, are we going to have to listen to your puns every night?" Volpina groaned. Adrien flashed them a shit-eating grin as he replied, "I think my puns are meow-velous and if you don't like them that's your paw-roblem." Queen Bee and Volpina shared an annoyed groan as they walked away to join the others. As they sat around the small fire they discussed their sparing and gave each other advice on what they could do to improve their skills. Then, as quickly as it had started, the night ended and the group went their separate ways.

Adrien walked slowly until the others were out of sight and then began making his way towards the castle. As he walked he took in the sounds of the forest around him. Adrien had always loved the sound of the crickets and cicadas singing on a warm summer night so he made sure to listen as the sound drifted through the trees. Adrien stopped and listened as a familiar sobbing drowned out the crickets and cicadas. He realized immediately that he had heard that same sobbing just a couple of nights before. Ladybug! Adrien's thoughts yelled at him as he began to follow the sound through the trees. It didn't take long before he found himself in a small clearing where a familiar figure laid sprawled upon the ground.

"La...Ladybug!? Are you ok?" Adrien asked softly as he knelt next to the sobbing girl. Ladybug immediately tried to flee but the pain in her back caused her to collapse once more. As her body hit the ground she released a pain-filled scream and began to sob once more. Adrien immediately made his way to her side once more. "Ladybug please! Let me help you." he said gently. Ladybug began to sob even harder as she spoke, "Chat Noir please just leave me here. I'll be ok." Adrien just stared at her in disbelief. Here she was laying on the ground clearly in pain and she was telling him to leave her there. No way. Adrien thought stubbornly. "I won't leave you," Adrien said stubbornly. "I know you don't trust me but please let me help you." Ladybug didn't know what to say. She knew she needed help, but that would mean revealing the painful truth about what was happening to the girl behind the mask. Ladybug finally allowed her gaze to meet Chat Noir's. His eyes were filled with concern and determination. He wasn't going to leave her no matter what she said. Ladybug took a shaky breath as she prepared to reveal the secret she had hidden for seven years.