When Mrs Chamack said that Manon could be difficult to take care of at times, Marinette dismissed the idea. After all, how much trouble could one five year old girl be? A lot of trouble, it turned out. She'd learned that over the few months she'd been Manon's babysitter.

When she'd taken the young girl up to her room things were simple enough. Until she caught sight of the new hat Marinette was working on. She'd started running around the house with the hat on and Marinette was struggling to catch her. Manon could be fast and evasive when she wanted to be.

After hitting her head on the underside of the table in her efforts to catch the elusive girl, Marinette lost sight of Manon. After a few frantic glances about the living room, Marinette spotted a little-girl-sized bulge behind the curtain. Thinking she'd finally found her target, Marinette tiptoed over so as not to alert Manon of her presence. Pulling the curtain back with a triumphant cry, the teen was shocked to find a doll wearing her hat. She'd been outwitted by a five year old.

"I'm gonna vote for Mireille. She's the best!"

"Hey, my phone!" Marinette came over with the hat and took her phone off the girl.

While she was thinking of places to hide her load, Manon took the hat straight out of her hand and ran away with a giggle. The surprised girl could only groan in frustration, "Why did I agree to do this again?"

She began to look for Manon when the doorbell rang. "Alya!" She exclaimed when she opened the door. She wasn't expecting a visit. Did they have something planned that she forgot about? Before she could ask, Alya suddenly reached towards her with excitement, startling Marinette for a moment.

"Hey, I gotta huge scoop for you! Guess who's on a photoshoot in the park!?" Alya shoved her phone in Marinette's face to show her a picture. But the first thing she saw wasn't the picture, it was the ladybug charm hanging off the phone that wasn't there before.

'Must be new.' She thought. She felt a pang in her heart at the sight of it. A mixture of satisfaction and sadness. Before she could think further on it, Marinette focused on the picture and Alya's words really registered in her head. On the phone was Adrien Agreste leaning against a tree, a photographer taking his picture, and a large man holding a round mirror. All thoughts of before vanished in her own excitement. "Now? Adrien is in the park right now?" She looked past the phone at her friend for confirmation.

Alya put the phone down and hummed an affirmative, "As we speak."

Thoughts began running wild through her head, "Oh Gosh. Wha... What would I say to him?" 'If I could actually talk to him.' She thought with remorse.

"The same thing as usual," Alya leaped up in another one of her wild demonstrations where she used her whole body to get the point across. The girl always had energy and she was always moving in one way or another. "I-ulgh-uhh-dai-gwao-uuhhh."

"Stop it." Marinette poked her in the arm and she cheekily froze in a position with an arm over her head and her tongue sticking out. Marinette stepped back with her hands on her hips to tell her she did not look like that at all. The feeling of someone holding her legs and a questioning sound brought her attention elsewhere.

Manon was standing between her legs and looking up at Alya, "Who's she?"

Marinette could've face-palmed. She forgot she was watching Manon. "Woops, I forgot about this little detail." With anyone else she would've been almost ashamed for forgetting she was babysitting, but she wasn't afraid to admit mistakes with Alya. Except for one big mistake.

Alya spoke before she could think more on that thought, "And who's she?" she waved.

"This is Manon. One of my mom's friend's daughters. I'm watching her all afternoon." Marinette gasped as a new thought came to mind. "Which means I can't go out." She pouted.

"Lemme guess. Another, 'you couldn't say no' favour." Alya knew better than anyone that Marinette had trouble saying 'no'. The girl just always wanted to help.

"No, I just couldn't..." She tried to defend herself. "...say 'no'." She drooped in defeat.

Alya rolled her eyes, "Look. No problem. I'll look after your little detail for you."

Manon, bored of the conversation, ran away giggling and trying to find something fun to do. Marinette watched her for a moment, hoping against hope she wouldn't cause any trouble. She turned back to Alya, "Thanks. But I'm responsible for her." And she didn't want to do the wrong thing again. "Besides, I couldn't do that to you, she's..." What was a good way to describe Manon? "...an absolute angel." No sooner than she'd finished speaking, there was a clatter of pots in the kitchen. She took off to take care of the problem. Manon had captured a pot and a turning spatula and was running around with them. "Manon! Put that down-ulgh" She was able to take the pot off her when she climbed over the lounge but the turning spatula was still in her hand and she was rushing out of sight again. She put the pot down and followed but couldn't find her yet again. Marinette heard a sound behind her and turned in time to see Manon take off with the pot she'd just taken off her. She took off after the speedy girl and caught her after some more ruckus.

With a firm grip on her hand, Marinette dragged Manon back over to Alya who'd walked in and taken a spot on the back of the couch, "You're just a pushover, Marinette. I have to babysit my sisters all the time." Manon sat down on the ground in her efforts to get away, Marinette was tugged down and had to look up at Alya. "Which makes me an expert in dealing with angels." She smirked down at Manon who was now standing.

"Who are you anyway?" She defiantly spoke to the girl. Alya could see a pride in the little girl. Her smirk tried to widen as she knelt down to her height. "I'm a mythical unicorn from the world of Rispa, disguised as a totally fabulous human girl. I grant magical wishes, but only to little monkeys who behave." She tapped the girl on the nose. Her defiant expression now replaced with one of humour as she laughed. "No you're not." She blinked, "Are you?"

Alya replied in picking the girl up and carried her around like she was flying. She did it to her sisters all the time and they loved it. Manon was no different. She was still laughing when Alya placed her on Marinette's shoulders. She fixed a surprised Marinette's hands on Manon's little legs to stabilise her. "Okay, let's all go to the park." She lifted Marinette's chin with a smug and satisfied look. 'There you go.' Her eyes seemed to say

Marinette blinked after her. She knew Alya had experience in babysitting her sisters, but had no idea she could reel Manon in so easily. Marinette laughed, "Okay!" She giggled and followed her best friend out.

LINE BREAK

The three of them were hiding behind a tree and watching the photoshoot take place. "Come on. We're gonna stroll over there real cool as if we just happen to be passing by."

"Then what?" Alya liked having a plan and knew Mari was gonna need one in this situation.

"Then... I'll try inviting him out for a fruit smoothie at the end of the photoshoot." Marinette's nervousness fuelled her excitement and soon she was rambling. "And then we'll get married, live happily ever after, have a beautiful house, have two or three kids. A dog! Maybe a cat. Forget the dog, we'll have a cat. And hamsters. I love hamsters." Stuck in her daydream, Marinette hadn't realised she'd abandoned her cover and that the two she was with were looking at her with varying degrees of what's-happening and oh-dear-god.

Alya shook her head and pulled her out of it. "Let's just start with 'just happen to be passing by' and see if we can get to that smoothie." Marinette pulled her pigtail sheepishly and giggled.

The trio walked behind the fountain Adrien was sitting at. "Remember... Cool. Be cool." Marinette said. Alya rolled her eyes again. Marinette was the only one who wasn't acting cool with her large steps and overly cheerful expression. Alya looked over at Adrien who was completely focused on the photographer.

"Uhh... We couldn't be more invisible." When Marinette saw that Adrien had no clue they were there, she hesitated. She didn't know if she should keep on trying. Alya saw her hesitation.

"Okay, let's start over." She pushed Marinette and Manon back to where they'd started. Before they could get there, Adrien turned towards them. He must've heard. Marinette froze when he looked towards her which caused Alya and Manon to freeze as well. Alya pulled back from her pushing position and Marinette giggled, embarrassed. Adrien gave them a sweet smile and waved at them, which caused his photographer to stand up and glare angrily. Adrien grimaced and turned back around. The photographer smiled as if nothing was wrong and continued taking pictures.

Marinette gasped and nudged Alya, "Did you see that!? He waved!" She gave that over-excited grin again and continued waving even though he wasn't looking at them anymore.

Alya rolled her eyes, "Yeah. I saw it too. Pretty normal since we're in the same class." Alya wasn't going to be satisfied until Marinette asked for that smoothie. But it seemed her best friend was more than happy with a simple wave. Alya looked over to see that she was still waving so she slapped the hand down. Marinette barely noticed. Alya huffed. She pretended to be annoyed but she really loved her best friend's quirks.

LINE BREAK

Since Adrien knew they were in the park, they felt it was okay to watch out in the open. Alya had already lifted Marinette's gaping jaw twice when she gave up and just let it hang.

"Marinette! I wanna balloon with Mireille on it. Can I, can I?" Manon tugged on Marinette's hand but her babysitter didn't respond, too enthralled by the photoshoot going on, "Marinette?" Manon spoke in a quiet voice and let go of Marinette's hand when she didn't respond. "Marinette!" Manon's shout snapped the girl out of it. Alya watched in amusement as Marinette tumbled and shouted in fright.

The photographer turned around with a growl, "Silencio."

The large, burly guy stalked over to them and Alya acted, "Come on, small fry. I'll get you that balloon." She didn't want them to send Marinette away when she was clearly enjoying herself.

Then Manon jumped up on Marinette's leg and refused to budge. "No! I wanna go with Marinette."

Marinette was surprised that Manon wanted to go with her, and as always, she couldn't say no. Especially not when two male adults were glaring at her like that. "I'll deal with it. I am her babysitter." She started walking off with Manon still attached to her leg.

"But what about Adrien?" Alya asked. She watched Marinette go and wondered why she couldn't say no. Why she was always trying to do the right thing. They'd barely known each other a week but Alya had been able to pick up a lot about her first best friend in that time. She'd never made a decision for herself in that week and it made Alya wonder when was the last time she made a selfish decision. Alya got the feeling that she was trying to prove something. But she didn't know what, or to who.

"Come on. Let's go back." Marinette said as she paid for the balloon. But Manon had other ideas.

"I wanna go on the merry-go-round!"

Marinette chased after the girl. 'At this rate I'm gonna be a pretty good runner.' She thought. "No, no, no, no. Not right now. I... I gotta get back to Adri-oh." Marinette was incapable of turning away from Manon when she looked at her with those big golden eyes.

"You promised. You aren't going to break your promise are you?"

Marinette sighed. She sounded so sad. "Please, please, not the Baby Doll eyes. You know I can't say no to the-"

Manon's eyes got even bigger and her bottom lip poked out. One 'aww' from Marinette was all it took for Manon to shout in triumph and drag her babysitter off.

LINE BREAK

Alya saw Manon drag Marinette off to the merry-go-round and sighed. While it was a good thing that she was being a good babysitter, Alya wished her friend could say no sometimes. Her eagerness in making everyone happy might just get her into trouble one day. 'If she could say no to Manon, she might just be able to say no to others. And maybe then she'll be able to do something that makes her happy.'

"You!" Alya was startled out of her musings when the photographer stepped right in front of her and practically shouted. "I need an extra!"

"Who... Me?" She pointed to herself.

"Si. To pose with Mr. Adrien."

Alya gasped in delight. This was exactly what Marinette needed! The photographer seemed satisfied when she stood up, obviously thinking she was happy to be the extra. 'Sorry buddy, but I've got a mission.' She thought. "You don't want me, I uh..." 'need an excuse'. She looked at the apple in her hand. "I think I'm having an allergic reaction to this apple." She threw it behind her and stuck her tongue out for emphasis on the 'allergic reaction'. "I know thust the perthon you need. Hold that thought." She ran straight to the merry-go-round where Marinette was helping Manon onto a white and pink unicorn.

She was out of breath by the time she reached them. "They need an extra to pose with Adrien!"

"What? Seriously!?" Marinette put her hands to her face in glee.

"Is that boy your boyfriend?" Manon asked.

'Not yet, little monkey.' Alya smirked.

"What! No. I, I mean yes?" Thoughts of calling him her boyfriend made her nervous. "No."

"Go on! What are you waiting for!?" Alya was incredibly excited for her friend.

But Marinette wasn't sure. "But... What about Manon?" She placed a hand on the little girl's back.

Alya's temper flared. She wasn't going to let this girl give up the chance to do something that would make her happy so that someone else could be happy. Not again! Alya stepped up onto the platform with Marinette, "You take care of Prince Charming and I'll take care of Miss Unicorn here." She nodded to Manon. "You don't know how to control her anyway.

Both girls saw how Manon's face turned sad for a moment before her defiance came back. "No way! Marinette's my babysitter."

Alya was about to add something to sway Manon when Marinette climbed on. "She's right. I'm her babysitter. I should be responsible for her."

Alya couldn't believe Marinette was going to let this chance go. "But it's a photoshoot with Adrien Agreste!"

"I know that. But I promised Manon a merry-go-round ride and I'm her babysitter."

Alya grabbed Marinette by the arm and dragged her away from the ride, "Marinette!" Manon called out.

"Hang on, I'll be back." She called out, still tugging on Alya's firm grip.

"I cannot believe you're going to let this opportunity slip away." Alya lectured. "Why do you always do what everyone else wants, but never what you want?"

"Well I don't want to be selfish. I'm not important enough to forget about everyone else. That sounds like something Chloe would do." Marinette argued.

"And I'm grateful you're nothing like her but Marinette, it's okay to do something for yourself every now and then." From the look on Marinette's face, she didn't agree. "I'm happy that you're so kind but I know that you can be happier if you did something for yourself, I mean... What are you trying to prove?" Marinette's face paled at her words and her eyes turned sad. Alya was shocked at the depth of emotion in them. 'So you are trying to prove something.'

Before she could ask again or read the deeper emotions in her eyes, there was a scream and frightened voices. They followed everyone's stares and points to the sky where a girl in a purple outfit and pointy white and purple pigtails floated. She pointed her purple umbrella to the ground and icy cold air surrounded the merry-go-round

"Manon!" Marinette shouted. She tried to run to the little girl but a hand on her arm stopped her.

She turned to glare at Alya who blinked at hard look in her eyes. She shook her head, "Marinette, that wind will blow you away. Manon will be fine."

They both looked as the wind settled and revealed an icy dome covering the merry-go-round. The akuma left to continue causing mayhem and the girls ran straight to the dome. Manon was alone inside and was banging against the ice. Marinette nearly lost it at the sight of her tears.

"Marinette! Get me out of here!" She cried. Marinette put her hand against the ice and waited until Manon returned the gesture.

"Don't worry, Manon. Everything's gonna be okay. " Marinette looked at Alya who was looking around frantically. She knew what she was looking for, so she gave her an answer.

"Alya. Why don't you go see if anyone else needs help."

The girl looked at her and nodded. "I'll be right back. And if I see Ladybug I'll point her in your direction." She ran off.

"I'm sure you will." Marinette whispered.

"Marinette?" Manon was quiet as Marinette turned to face her. "I'm scared." She sniffled.

"You don't have to be afraid Manon," Marinette spoke calmly, "I'm going to stay right here and we're gonna get you out soon." Manon nodded.

Behind a tree nearby, an elderly man in a Hawaiian shirt watched.