When Walls Crumble

Chapter 12: Ice Skating

Given that Hawkmoth was in conference with his record-breaking akumatized soldier, Espionne, no dates or movies were interrupted by any unpleasantries.

"You gotta loosen up, Mare!" Luka laughed as she fell again. He was trying to teach her to do a basic toe loop. "Here look: This toe, this heel. Then you need to have them about this far apart and push off from here. Get a little momentum and then use this foot..." he demonstrated a quick jump. "And when you land, make sure you land with your foot like this or you'll fall. You gotta slide into the landing."

"Ok. I think I got it this time," Marinette laughed as she started moving. She went around gaining speed and then planted the toe pick while pushing off with the other heel. She went airborne, spun around and landed. Then she wobbled and fell.

"Almost!" Luka called. "You hit a little too hard on the heel. Try to land on the middle of the blade."

She went around again and jumped. This time she didn't make it all the way around, but she landed.

"And the crowd goes wild!" Luka joked.

Marinette flew by him, grabbing his arm and pulling him with her. They just skated around the rink, laughing.

"Your turn," she called, letting go and sliding to a stop at the edge. "You do the tricks now."

"Get over here," he said, grabbing her arms and spinning her into a dip. He gave her a quick kiss before pulling her back up and continuing around the edge. "Remember this?" he teased, lifting her above his head exactly the way he did last time they were on the ice together.

Marinette laughed so hard he almost dropped her. "There's no way I'd forget it. That was the moment I was sure I loved you."

He put her down. "Really? But after the whole thing, I advised you to go talk to Adrian because I thought you liked him."

She looked at him, tears welling in her eyes, but a smile on her face. "You liked me that much and still told me to talk to him?"

Luka pulled her into a tight hug. "I wanted you to be happy."

"Oh, Luka..." she sniffled. "You're just wonderful."

Luka's heart began a crescendo. "I love you, Marinette."

She pulled out of his arms and looked directly into his ocean blue eyes. "I love you, Luka. More than you love music."

"Well, I love you more than I love music," he quipped.

"Oh shut up," she said, pulling his face closer and kissing him.

Phillipe stood uncomfortably at the gate for a few minutes before interrupting them.

He cleared his throat. "I hate to interrupt, but we're closing."

Luka and Marinette made eye contact and laughed. They glided to the exit and took off their skates.

"Thank you, Phillipe. We'll be back again soon," Luka promised.