Guess Again [A Miraculous FanFiction]

Chapter One: A Present for Adrien

There was the sound of a knock on the door. It swung open before the boy sitting on his bed could get up and answer it. Entering the room, the blue-black haired girl adjusted her grip on the box in her arms.

"Hey," Adrien Agreste greeted his visitor with a smile, sitting up straighter.

"Hey," Marinette Dupain-Cheng replied shyly, blushing after meeting his bright green eyes. She paused next to his doorway, unsure of herself. He gestured for her to come over and patted the bed next to him.

"Sit," he invited. She shrugged and walked to his bed, cautiously sitting down next to his blanketed legs.

"How are you feeling?" She looked him over, trying to be casual about it. He grinned, noticing her quick examination.

"Fine. Great, actually, considering everything that's happened. I've been healing pretty well. I'm sure you heard, but I was only in a coma for ten days. The doctors' opinion is that I should be almost completely healed in time for school, whenever it starts again."

"Good, good," Marinette said, looking at her feet as she swung them off the edge. "Alya said it should be up and going in a week or two," she glanced at him and away.

"I wanted to..." she trailed off, and they were quiet for a minute.

"Marinette..." Adrien prodded, tapping lightly on her shoulder as she faced away from him. "What's in the box?"

"Uhm, it's something for you. From Alya and Nino and I." This was a lie of course; it was actually from just her.

"Ooh, I get a present," he grinned broadly and she placed the medium-sized, wonderfully decorated box on his lap. He looked down at it for a long moment and he thought he heard a snicker from under his pillow.

He sent a subtle glare at his hidden friend and turned back to Marinette.

"Really, you didn't have to get me anything, Mari," he smiled kindly at her. She met his eyes with her bright blue ones for half a moment before looking down, a blush deepening the color in her already-flushed cheeks.

"Just open it already. You can't give it back," she said quietly.

With a chuckle, Adrien carefully tore open the beautiful wrapping paper to reveal a plain cardboard box. He glanced up at Marinette, but she just gestured for him to keep going. He turned back to the box and opened the lid.

Brightly colored fabric met his gaze, with a pattern that he couldn't quite see. A warmth flared unexpectedly inside his chest as he pulled the fabric out of the box, surprised at how large her gift was. The warmth spread to his whole body as he examined it.

"It's..." Adrien stopped, unable to keep going as his breath caught in his throat.

"It's a quilt," Marinette said simply and smiled, helping him smooth it onto his lap. The two of them looked at the design, Adrien drinking in every piece. It was made of a collage of pictures of their friends, ranging from the last few years to a month before the fire. There were many of the four of them, Alya and Nino falling over each other while Mari and Adrien laughed wholeheartedly. On the outside of the pictures were designs that screamed of Paris: the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, Notre Dame, and especially Ladybug and Chat Noir.

Adrien sat, looking at the quilt, for several long minutes. He seemed speechless and Marinette slowly became uncomfortable.

"If you don't, uhm, like it...I can always-"

"No!" Adrien cut her off, meeting her gaze while wrapping his arms around his gift. Marinette was stunned to see tears in his eyes. He continued before she could say anything else. "It's the best gift ever. Thank you."

Their eyes caught and held. Slowly, because she simply couldn't stop herself, Marinette reached out and wiped away some of the tears from Adrien's cheek. He jumped a little at the touch, but he didn't pull away. His hand went to hers and pulled it down to his lap. Marinette shivered at how warm his hands were as they wrapped around hers.

"Thank you." he repeated, sincerity choking his words again. "You're an amazing friend."

Marinette blushed again, unaware of the tears that had begun to leak from her eyes as well. "I've missed you," she said quietly.

"Me too."

The two teenagers sat for several long moments, simply drinking in the feeling of being with their friend. They didn't realize, but a tiny feeling in their chests unfurled at that moment. They felt whole, as they hadn't in weeks. They were together again, Chat Noir and Ladybug. But neither one's consciousness acknowledged this fact. They simply sat quietly, without knowing why they were suddenly so happy once again.