Reunited (A Miraculous Ladybug Romance)

26: Advice

7/18/18

"Marinette! MARINETTE! Are you okay?"

The voice was coming from on top of her. Marinette groaned - the weight that had been pressing her down gradually shifted until it was completely gone. Had that been a person who had knocked her to the ground? Almost certainly, Marinette had thought she had been hit by a car, but now that she was lying face-flat on the ground, with only her rapidly beating heart and the slight pain from landing so hard, she could see she had not. Someone had saved her, albeit ungracefully, but hey, at least they managed to knock her out of the way.

Finally managing to open her eyes, Marinette could barely make out a pair of feet coming around. Everything was spinning - her chest squeezed tightly as she was being smothered by the grass.

She felt herself being lifted, gentle hands beneath her arms moving her into an upright position. Her body swayed, but was caught as those hands firmly placed themselves on her shoulders. Marinette wished she could see who was clearly in front of her, but the world still spun as if she had just gotten off a tilt-o-whirl.

"Geez Marinette, you're trembling and your forehead is soaking wet with sweat. Come on. You have got to get up. We can't just stay here in the grass."

That voice sounded familiar. Well, it should since this person knew her name. Marinette tried to focus on her savior's face, but everything was still out of focus. Slowly, the spinning seemed to be calming down - she could barely make out dark skin and slightly reddish hair.

"Are you hurt?" the voice asked, panic clearly rising. "I swear to Ladybug and Chat Noir if you are injured just because I knocked you down, I am seriously going to injure somebody."

There was only one person that would swear to Ladybug and Chat Noir.

"Alya?" Marinette sheepishly asked.

The gentle hands released her shoulders, instead pulling her into a tight warm embrace. "Of course," Alya cooed. "Who did you think I was? Just some random citizen? No one else gets to save my best friend."

Marinette sighed, relief and a sense of calm sweeping through her bones. This hug was exactly what she needed - like listening to the first waves gently crashing against the seashore at the beginning of a much needed vacation. As the trembling of her body stopped, she backed away - noticing that once again her vision was sharp.

Sure enough, Alya was there, worry laced deep within her light brown eyes.

"So..." Marinette hesitantly began, scratching the back of her neck, "what exactly happened?"

Alya's eyes tightened, lips pursed as she spoke, "You mean you don't know? Marinette, you were almost hit by a car! It was barreling straight towards you. How could you not have even noticed that? Girl, you have got to pay attention! You were extremely lucky that I was around!"

Alya stood, outstretching her hand, ready to help Marinette off the ground.

Marinette grabbed it, pulling herself up, and then dusted off her blouse as a faint dizziness swept over her once again. With a slight step, she stabilized herself - secretly hoping that Alya wouldn't notice.

"Speaking of," Marinette replied, "why are you here?"

Alya crossed her arms and jutted out her hip. "Well, lucky for you," she sassily began, "I was just on my way to see M. Gabriel Agreste. I have to do an article on this new charity fundraiser that he is running. I was actually planning on stopping by to visit you first; I didn't expect to see you so soon."