Guys! We got an ice skating episode! Dreams come true. Also, low key did not trust Luka till this episode. Can't tell you why, but I didn't.

So, the ice rink in this story will not be based on the one in the show because I have already had one image in my head for 2 years now? 3? Has it been that long? Yikes. Sorry friends. The good news is I graduate in the spring! I'm also starting to make some headway in my original content, both art, and writing. My capstone, I believe, will help with marketing and creating an online presence. I'll also be in advanced printmaking. I have one fanart print idea I'd like to do, as well as original content. We'll see how things go. I'll hopefully be selling art in two shows at the beginning of December, as well as have a table at a comic con in the spring and a couple in the summer. But my best friend is getting married in March, and I have to start looking for jobs.

Anyway, here's this short and sweet hopefully. I probably won't be able to get anything else out for a while. It's sadly unpreventable.

Chapter 9 Centered

Sneaking out had been no different that night than any other night he snuck out to practice as Chat Noir. But he was definitely more nervous than he had been in a while.

When he reached the rink, he second-guessed if he'd understood Nino's text. It was dark from what he could tell. More pitch black than it should have been even with all of the lights off.

There was nothing unusual about the first set of doors, but he inspected the second set and could see that they had been covered on the inside with a black material. He stuck his head through the door and was greeted with bright lights and yells of "Surprise!"

His mouth dropped open seeing all of his new friends standing around, smiles on their faces as he pushed the rest of the way through the door. Nino left the crowd to join him throwing an arm across his shoulders.

"Hey birthday boy," Nino said. "Welcome to the party."

"Nino," Adrien said. "What's going on?"

"What's it look like dude? Your surprise party, duh," Nino said, his free arm gesturing to the balloons and streamers decorating the bleachers.

"Thank you Nino," Adrien said. "Everyone. I can't believe you were able to get permission to do this."

"Uh totally dude," Nino said and several others looked away from Adrien. "Alriiight! Let's get this party started," Nino shouted, moving away. "I'm gonna go start the music. You just stay here and enjoy yourself."

Yep. Adrien realized. Nino is definitely hiding something. As is everyone else.

Alya and Marinette waved at him from next to a snack table, and he waved back. His plans to join them and ask if they'd actually gotten permission was stopped when a familiar blonde barreled into him with a squeal. By the time he was able to detach Chloe from his neck, Marinette was gone, and Alya had joined Nino. A slow song started, and Chloe again attached herself to him before he could get away.

He wanted to get away and talk to Plagg. Find out what the plan was for practice.

The slow song ended abruptly, replaced with an upbeat song. Adrien pulled Chloe's arms away and moved toward the DJ booth where Nino was frantically messing with the controls.

That had happened a couple of other times. Each one being Plagg taking over for practice.

A whistle echoed throughout the rink and everyone looked up at a figure on the bleachers. His partner stood there, hands on her hips, smiling, brow creased. The picture of confidence he had grown to love.

"Hey everyone, while I love a great birthday party as much as the next person, I'm pretty sure you all don't have permission to be here," Ladybug said, voice clear.

Nino and Alya made their way out of the sound booth and to the front of the crowd. The blogger's phone was already out and pointed at Ladybug, and Nino's face was set in determination, their other friends standing around them in support. It warmed Adrien inside, but his partner was right. If they didn't have permission, this wasn't okay.

"Be cool Ladybug, I just wanted to throw a party for my best bud Adrien," Nino said. "He's never had one before."

Adrien tried to scoot to the back of the crowd without attention, but her blue eyes met his green and she sent him a small smile.

"Happy birthday," she said, then looked back at Nino. "It's very kind of you to do all this for your friend. But, I doubt he wants any of you to risk getting in trouble for this."

With that Adrien slipped away.

"That's so not fair! I don't care if I get in trouble for this," Nino argued back at her.

"But do you really want the others to take the fall with you?" Ladybug asked.

"They agreed," Nino snapped. "Besides, it was my fault. I'll be the one to take the blame."

"That's not typically how it works," Ladybug said, her patience beginning to run thin. She wished Chat was with her. "If they all agreed then they are involved, they'll most likely get in trouble too. Please, see reason. Some of them rely on their jobs here. Others train here and are trying to fulfill their dreams. Start a career."

"And what about you?" he spat. "Do you even have permission to be here? It's after hours. No one ever sees you train. My friend is the one who locks up but doesn't ever see you or your partner. I bet you just break in."

Her heart stopped and her confidence plummeted. This was supposed to be quick and easy. If she was the role model Tikki thought she was, then they would have listened and left. Instead, it felt like they were rallying against her.

"How un-fur-tunate. I didn't realize you all saw us as mangy cat burglars." Chat's voice rang out, scaring several people in the back of the group. They all turned to face him and parted as he started walking toward his partner. Spinning the belt tail with a smirk on his face. "Purr-haps you should get your facts straight before accusing us. We actually do have permission to be here." He stopped next to Ladybug and draped an arm over her shoulder with a wink. "Sorry, I'm late my Lady."

"I had it under control," she said with a smirk as she shrugged his arm off. "But thanks."

"So you dudes have an excuse. So what!" Nino shouted at them. "The point is, we're not doing any harm. Can't you just be cool for like an hour?"

"It doesn't really matter," Chat said with a shrug. "Your friend, Adrien, he left."

"What?" Nino deflated then looked around, everyone following suit. "Why would he…"

"I talked to him on my way in," Chat continued. "He said he really appreciated the gesture, but didn't want you to get in trouble for him. He also said he got a text from someone who was looking for him at home and had to go, but he'd send you a text and see you tomorrow."

Nino slumped over and Alya placed a hand on his shoulder. It weighed heavy on Chat's heart. They'd tried so hard to do something special for him, only for him to be the party pooper. But Ladybug and Tikki were right. Even though it was out of kindness, they did it the wrong way.

His partner moved over to Nino, placed a hand on his shoulder and looking up into his eye, she gave him a gentle smile. "People say, it's the thought that counts. And while that is a big part of it, actions speak louder than words," she said. "I think it's amazing that would do all of this for one of your friends. But, you should have asked permission. Rules are in place for a reason. I'm sure if you explained it to M. Damocles he would have been happy to let you throw a small party."

"That's one of the issues though, I didn't want to get adults involved," Nino said quietly. "Adrien's had adults controlling every minute of his life, he doesn't have any freedom. So I wanted to try and do something without adults around."

"What if you had something small during public skate tomorrow?" Chat chimed in. "If each person brought something to the concessions room and cleaned up when done, it would probably be okay."

"And the room has speakers connected to the DJ booth, so you could still play your music," Ladybug added.

"I wouldn't mind bringing the cookies again," Alya said. Others began to chime in that they would do what they could to help.

"How early can you be here?" Ladybug asked Nino.

"My shift doesn't start till ten, but I don't have anything before it, so I could be here earlier," Nino said with a raised eyebrow. "Why?"

"Be here at opening," she said. "I'll explain then. For now, you all should clean up and clear out."

While others started to move to clean up, Nino still seemed doubtful, so she placed a hand on his shoulder and smiled in a way that she hoped would reassure him. He finally returned the smile, though it felt somewhat defeated. He straightened and fixed his hat, gave her a nod, and joined the others.

Ladybug took a deep breath, jumping slightly as her partner placed his hand on her shoulder. She looked up into his bright green eyes and he smiled, lifting a fist.

"Pound it," they said calmly as their fists bumped.

"Excuse me." They both started. Alya was still there, camera raised and ready. "Hi. Alya Cesaire. I do the rinks social medias."

"We know," Ladybug said with a smile.
Chat's head bobbed in agreement. "You've got some great pieces," he said.

The blogger's jaw dropped. "You read my posts?"

They nodded.

"Wow, I'm honored," Alya said, her voice breathless. "Would you mind if we did an interview?"

"We would, but we need to practice and can't stay much longer," Ladybug replied. "And you should probably help out so you and your friends can leave before it gets too much later." Alya's face fell, so Ladybug continued. "But, when we have more time I would be happy to do an interview."

"Thanks!" Alya said, beaming as she ran off to join the others.

The duo watched for a moment, a little guilt that they weren't helping, but glad that they had resolved the situation.

Chat turned to his partner and admired the contentedness in her bluebell eyes. "So," he said, breaking the silence and those blue eyes focused on him. "To the ice my Lady?" he asked, offering his hand.

She smirked and crossed her arms. "To the ice Chaton."

- Author's Note -

Again, short and sweet. That's all I have for now.

-SPOILERS FOR THE FINALE EPISODES-

Nino has slowly become one of my favorite characters. He was perfect as Carapace. And Plagg! My sweet boy. Him trying to carefully use cataclysm. So cute. I'm so proud of him the second time. I keep thinking the bad writing and unreliability will eventually make me stop watching, but I can't let go of some of these characters.

So that was some finale huh? Answered a lot of questions, but also left me unsatisfied. Don't get me wrong. The episodes were great and I loved the team up and fight scenes. But as a finale, I was less than whelmed with it.

And because of the sudden change in who I thought Nathalie was, this story is going to go even farther off script. I've had this vision of Nathalie as secretly caring for Adrien and not liking how Gabriel treats his son, and overall a really great person. Now, I'm semi-terrified of what her motives are. She's almost got a creepy vibe with her dedication to helping him save his wife, even though it really looks like she's in love with him? I'm really starting to wonder if she's planning something behind his back.

Is it also odd that he seems to care about her a lot too? Like, wow Gabriel, you don't want your minion to use the broken miraculous and get hurt? What a stand up guy. Just let your son fall off a building to see if he's Chat, but protect Nathalie. Guess we should give him the "not as big of a jerk as he could have been" award.

Chameleon...was just all kinds of poor writing...we're not gonna talk about it.

Well. I hope you all are having a wonderful fall. See you hopefully over winter break.

Centered: A spin that stays in one spot on the ice. A good spin is always centered. The opposite of centered is traveling (where the spin moves from where it starts), it's not something you want to do in a technical competition.