Marinette's head throbbed as she sat down in her chair in class, she'd been feeling an odd pressure all morning, and it seemed that Tikki had been feeling the same.

She hoped it was just a really bad cold, but from the look on Tikki's face when she asked about it, Marinette knew it couldn't be that easy.

She had wanted to stay home from school and take care of herself and her kwami, but Tikki had been oddly adamant on going to school today, only finally coercing her with promises of going to Master Fu after school, and reminding her that she wouldn't see Adrien if she stayed home sick.

Tikki had won that round.

Of course, all that accomplished was sitting here miserably while staring blankly at either the back of Adrien's head, or staring at the blackboard, dead to the world as she rubbed her temples, desperate for some sort of reprieve.

Still, she couldn't help but notice that Adrien felt the same, the occasional low groan leaving his mouth as he still diligently wrote down his notes, while subtly kicking at his bag in the meantime.

"Girl, girl, girl, what are you doing at school today?" Alya asked from the corner of her mouth, her tone low enough to just barely be heard over the throbbing of Marinette's head. Marinette tried to give her a smile, but winced as it quickly turned into a grimace.

"It's not as bad it looks Alya," Since when did her throat start getting so sore? ",and I couldn't miss another day of school, even if I am actually sick this time." Her best friend gave her a pitying look and rubbed her arm consolingly.

"Well after this, you better be headed to a Doctor girl, or I'll drag you there myself. You look like death warmed over." Marinette summoned the strength to look at her friend with a deadpan expression.

"Geez, thanks Alya, you always say the nicest things." She said sarcastically, hanging her head in her hands as the pain in her head doubled, the pressure getting tighter and tighter around her temples.

If she'd been more aware of her surroundings, she might have noticed Adrien doing the same.

Or have even heard the whimpers of her kwami.

But, as much pain as she was in, she did not.

There was a flash of light that Marinette could make out from behind her clenched eyebrows, and then all the pressure suddenly abated, as though it had never been there in the first place.

Marinette forced her eyes open, determined to see just what was going on, and thought she'd fallen asleep, or slipped into a coma considering what she was seeing.

The room she was in was clearly a theater, filled with a few rows of beanbags set out in pairs, and what looked like a buffet over to the right. Which, going by the scent, (and she was so happy that she could smell again), was filled mostly with pastries, and something very pungent.

Turning her attention from her surroundings, she quickly noticed that she wasn't the only one in the room. Her entire class was there, and much like she had been, they were knocked out, or in the case of Adrien Agreste, who she most definitely did not pay more attention to, thank you very much, slowly swimming back to consciousness.

Pulling on her Ladybug courage, Marinette bent down and offered her hand to him, determinedly fighting the blush on her cheeks with all her might, now wasn't the time to be a blushing mess, now was the time for action!

And somehow finding a quiet place to transform into Ladybug, as there was no way this wasn't an Akuma attack.

Still, even with that threat looming over her head, she pulled Adrien up, and after the haze of confusion in his eyes lifted, she saw that he was scanning the area just like she had done a few moments ago, his eyes sharp and focused as they flicked over the surroundings.

Forcefully beating down the dreamy thoughts of how this action made him even more attractive, Marinette's resolve hardened as she began speaking to the boy of her dreams, just as he finished taking in his surroundings.

"Adrien! You're awake, good! We need to get our friends, and Chloe somewhere safe, something's going on, and it might be an Akuma attack." Adrien blinked at her for a second, and she could have sworn she saw him fighting a smirk before he nodded seriously and looked around for a door of some kind.

"I'm happy to say that won't be necessary, children."

The two whirled around towards the voice, Marinette's hand unconsciously going for where her yoyo would be, and she thought she noticed Adrien reaching for the small of his back before he stopped.

"Who are you?" Marinette demanded, her eyes alight with determination and the beginnings of righteous fury.

If she wasn't so focused on the one who'd just spoken, she'd have noticed that Adrien had done a double take at her.

The figure stepped out of the shadows, and allowed them both to take in her appearance.

The woman in front of them was very clearly Asian, Chinese, Marinette noted, her dark hair was held in a bun, and she wore white makeup on her face along with a very red lipstick. That wasn't what really caught her attention though.

What did was her clothing.

It was very clearly an Ancient Chinese dress. The sleeves were huge, and allowed her to hide her hands within them, and they were dyed red.

With black spots.

Marinette's eyes widened, and a small smile grew on the woman's face as she saw it.

"Yes, I see you recognize who I am." She said simply, her voice kind, but curt. "I was one of many Ladybugs, Tikki chose me when I was slightly younger than you, long before there were Masters to assist their choosing. My Cat Noir is unfortunately unable to appear at the moment," and from the sound of her voice, both Marinette and Adrien could tell she meant it, "but I have no doubt I'll be seeing him before too terribly long." Her smile grew a wistful quality to it at the mention of seeing her Cat, and Adrien couldn't help but hope that his Lady would one day wear that expression when she spoke of him.

Marinette felt an odd feeling lance through her heart at the thought of how much this Ladybug seemed to love her Cat Noir, but she ruthlessly stamped down the thought of her Cat with thoughts of Adrien, only allowing the one questioning where the hell he was to remain.

"That's nice and all, I've always wanted to meet Ladybug, but why are you telling us this?" Marinette asked nervously, rather proud that she hid the waver in her voice.

Luckily for Marinette, this Ladybug seemed to notice her need for her to play along, and nodded sagely rather than blurt out that Marinette was one of Paris' very own superheroes. "You will see very soon, I will explain once the rest of your class awakens, though for now, I do believe an old friend is wishing to speak to me. Please, wait with the rest of them." Marinette felt a sudden weight leaving the inside of her shirt, and knew exactly who the "old friend" she was speaking of was. She must have moved inside her jacket while she was knocked out.

Smart.

Adrien's eyebrows seemed to be permanently furrowed at this point, and Marinette couldn't help the shallow thought of not letting forehead wrinkles ruin his face, but she quickly shoved it away as the oddness of their situation reasserted itself.

"We should go wait for the rest of the class to wake up Adrien, come on." With that, Marinette walked away with a determined stride.

Adrien couldn't help but think of just how similar to his Lady Marinette was acting.

"Chen, it's been so long!" A squeal echoed through the, thankfully, soundproofed room. The woman soon found her nose being squeezed by an ecstatic kwami. "Granted, I don't know why you dragged along an entire class, especially since you were one of the strictest Ladybugs when it came to identities, until Marinette, anyway."

Chen sighed, letting the illusion of her Ladybug regalia fade away to reveal a peasant's clothing. "I know Tikki, but it couldn't be helped," she gently returned the hug, planting a kiss on the kwami's head. "Trust me, I fought tooth and nail against the other Ladybugs, but even the Neanderthal Ladybugs agreed that this was the way things should be, so in the end, all I could do was volunteer to be the one to greet them." A fond smile crossed her lips as she held the kwami lovingly. "I couldn't turn down a chance to see my own mother, could I?" Tikki's smile grew wider as she placed a kiss on Chen's nose.

"I've missed you too! Though, I didn't think I'd get to see you so quickly, too me anyways." A frown crossed the kwami's face. "Although I'm sure Plagg will be sad he didn't get to see one of his old holders." Cheng rubbed her head with one finger.

"I'll tell Bolin Plagg said hi anyways, even if he acts like he doesn't miss him, I know he wanted to see his kwami again." Tikki smiled at her, causing Chen to return the gesture, until Tikki reluctantly left the embrace.

"You should probably go back in there now, I'm sure they're all awake." Tikki's smile became sad, "We both know that you can't stay here much longer, no matter how much I want you too." Tikki looked at her with a pensive expression, "You do know that I still see you as my own daughter, right Chen?" Chen looked bemused, but nodded anyways. "Good. I just wanted to remind you." Chen smiled fondly and hugged the kwami one more time.

"I'll never forget it. Now, you should return to your holder for now, so no one gets a hint as to who Ladybug is," Chen snickered into her hand. ",Even if they'll find out in less than an hour anyways." Tikki giggled and with a wave, disappeared through the wall. Chen's smile faded to a look of content as she let the illusion of her Ladybug costume fade into existence once more.

When Chen reentered the scene, the best word she could think of using was chaos.

Quite a few of the children were panicking, some were trying to reassure themselves that Ladybug would save them, and one of them was screaming that they better let her go, or she'd call her father.

Chen rolled her eyes at the last one.

"There is no need for alarm, children, you will come to no harm from me, or anyone while you're here." She chuckled at their incredulous stares, and pulled her yoyo from the inside of her sleeve, absently playing with it as the bigger fans of Tikki's newest chosen eyes grew wide. "I'm one of the ancient Ladybugs, and the Ladybug council, much to my own personal disagreement decided that the newest Ladybug was far too protective of her own identity, keeping it from people that could help her, and her own partner." She saw Marinette stiffen from her spot next to Plagg's chosen Cat.

"So," Chen sighed slightly, "it is my solemn duty to show you snippets of the life of the newest Ladybug and Cat Noir, with the help of a show that exists about you from an alternate dimension." She saw a boy wearing suspenders scoff in disbelief. "I know it sounds unbelievable, and believe me, I wish this was a joke, but due to majority vote from the countless Ladybugs before her, the newest Ladybug and Cat Noir will be unmasked here, today, whether they want to or not, and I understand that they don't want to be. I went through almost the same thing with my own unmasking to my partner, even if it was 12 less people learning about it."

She didn't feel like mentioning the moanings of the other Ladybugs who were annoyed that this was the only way to do it, and the ones who were even more annoyed that she got to be the one to see Tikki in person again. Chen cleared her throat loudly to regain the class' attention.

"I'm sorry to both of you, Ladybug and Cat Noir, I fought for this to never happen, as it is the Holder's choice to reveal their identity, and it was taken away from you, so all I can do in recompense is enforce the the fact that none of you outside of Ladybug and Cat Noir will be able to speak of their true identities outside of this room, unless one of them gives you permission to do so." Her face held a stern look as she said this, her yoyo brandished threateningly.

Finally, after she was sure her message had gotten across, Chen felt herself begin to fade back to the afterlife, she could already hear Bolin calling her name. She smiled softly as she became incorporeal, and left with little fanfare. "The Council will be watching, there are bathrooms to your left, kitchens to your right, and the buffet has all you could want on it, including cookies, and camembert for the kwamis. Your Class President has the remote, but if you try to stall, then the next episode will play automatically, or the show will unpause itself." She smiled in the direction of the two newest chosen, who squirmed under her gaze. "Your predecessors are proud of you, Ladybug and Cat Noir, there is no one living more deserving of the title than you two, so long for now." And with that she faded, the last sight she saw the two chosen blushing from the praise.

The entire class turned to look at Marinette, eyebrows raised in anticipation. Marinette smiled nervously, her hands shaking as she rose the remote, and announced the name of the episode for the people around her.

"Looks like we're starting with Stormy Weather."

She really wasn't looking forward to this, even if Cat Noir was in her class.

If she was being honest, that made it worse.

AN: Hello people! I normally would never dream of making a "Watching the show/Reading the books" fanfiction, but I've recently become Miraculous Ladybug trash, and felt the need to, along with trying to make a Danny Phantom/Miraculous Ladybug crossover. I hope you all enjoy this fic in the meantime while I try to work on the other fics that desperately need my attention as well!

I'd like to thank BlackMysticalWolf for inspiring me to write this, with her own wonderful fic of this genre, "Old Stories, New Discoveries". Go read it on FFN, AO3, or Wattpad! It's very good, and I highly recommend it.