"Do I have to go?" Plagg huffed as Adrien got ready to head to school. All the bags were packed the night before with clothes from his father's new winter sports line. It wasn't unusual for his father to stock his closet with his newest clothing. He just wished he could have seen what he would be wearing first.  At least he could wear one of his typical shirts today.

"Yes. I can't leave you here. There'll be no one around to feed you, and I'm not sure I trust you in my room alone," he answered while eyeing his hair in the mirror. It didn't look too bad, but he combed it anyway, knowing his father would comment if one hair were out of place.

"But I hate the cold. I promise I won't do anything." Adrien shook his head and Plagg continued, "Why couldn't your class go somewhere warm? Like Egypt. I always liked Egypt. It's warm, there's lots of sand, and they used to worship cats. Great place to be."

Adrien laughed and shook his head. "Egypt's a little too far away. Also, I don't remember seeing your likeness plastered on anything in that Egyptian exhibit. You sure they didn't worship Ladybug instead?"

Plagg didn't get a chance to answer before he had to duck under Adrien's pillow.  A knock on the door was the only warning before his father entered. "Are you almost ready to go?"

"Yes. I just have to brush my teeth."

"Good. I'll meet you in the foyer. Be quick. I don't want to be late," his father said.

Adrien nodded. "I'll be right down."


Gabriel left Adrien to finish getting ready and headed downstairs. He wasn't thrilled about riding in a bus full of children. In fact, he'd tried to negotiate with the teacher to let him drive seperately, but that was a no go. He couldn't chaperon if he didn't ride the bus.

"Are you sure you want to do this rather than staying home and enjoying yourself?" Lycca asked, sitting inside the collar of his shirt so he could hide if Nathalie happened to walk by.

"I already told Adrien I would go. I'm not backing down now."

"At least take an akuma for the trip. You don't have to stay in that musty old room to use it. It might be fun."

Gabriel shook his head. "There's no reason to. Ladybug and Chat Noir will be in Paris. You're going to be bored. Just deal with it or stay in the room with the akumas." 


They arrived at the school with time to spare and Adrien scanned the loading area for Nino, Marinette, and Alya. He wanted to sit near them on the bus. Hopefully, his father would be pulled to the front and he could avoid the awkwardness of sitting with him.

He saw Nino just as his father went to check in with the teacher. Perfect timing. "Hey, Nino!" He said, running over to his friend.

"Hey, Adrien.  It's great you could make it."

"Yeah. Now I just have to avoid my father for as much of the weekend as possible. It shouldn't be too hard if he has to be in certain places to chaperon. In fact, we should get on the bus as quickly as possible so I can sit we you and maybe Marinette and Alya," Adrien said.

Nino nodded and they got on the bus. They found a seat near Marinette's and Alya's, and the bus filled pretty quickly around them. 


The bus ride was obnoxious in Gabriel's mind. He had gotten stuck in the middle of the bus with Chloe Bourgeois behind him complaining about every little thing wrong with the trip so far and Kim and Alex in front of him arguing about whether or not Kim was actually poking her.

Thankfully, Nathanael (probably the quietest kid in the class) was sitting next to him, drawing away as if the world didn't exist.  The rest of the bus was being so loud he would have akumatized all of them a second time if he could and it would keep them quiet.

They finally arrived to the ski resort and were standing in the lobby of the lodge. Their homeroom teacher was in charge and was talking about the rules and meal times. "And curfew is at 10 pm. You must be in your room." She then pulled out a list. "Now everyone has been assigned a roommate. The girls will be staying on the second floor while the boys are on the third floor. I will now announced the list." Their teacher went down the list and when she announced Chloe would be rooming with Marinette, Chloe let out an outburst.

"Must I room with her?" she protested. "Why can't I have my own room?"

"Chloe, please behave yourself." The teacher then continued the list.

Marinette let out a sigh. Alya patted her on the back. "At least you only have to be with her at night. We'll be out on the mountain during the day."

"That's true.." Marinette mumbled. 

After everyone was assigned their roommate, they got their keys and dropped off their belongings in their rooms. Then the whole grade headed outside. The ski resort was packed. It was filled with families and kids from other schools. Marinette and Alya were deciding what to do, when Chloe walked passed them.

"Oh, look Marinette, they have ski instructors. You could use all the help you need," Chloe said mockingly.

Marinette bit her lip in anger. Why can't she ever leave her alone? "Hmph! For your information I am a good skier. I go all the time with my family."

"Yeah! Marinette is an expert!" Alya said boastful. "I bet she can even beat you in a race!"

A small smirk appeared on Chloe's face. "Oh? Then how about we have a little race? The loser is the winner's personal servant for a month."

Marinette's eyes flashed with panic. "Wait.."

"You're on!" Alya cut off her friend.

"Alright then. Tomorrow after lunch we'll have our little race." Chloe then walked away with Sabrina following her. Both girls were laughing.

"Alya!!!" Marinette whined. "I was bluffing!!"

"Oh..." Alya spoke slowly. 

"Yeah, I was trying to get her to leave me alone! I have never been skiing in my life!!!"

"Sorry," Alya laughed sheepishly.

"My life is over!!" Marinette started to cry on Alya's shoulder. "Maybe I should just leave the country. Yeah, that's it!" She stood up. "I will go and move to Italy and change my name. Alya you can have my sewing machine."

"Girl, just learn how to ski. I'm sure you can beat her. She can't be that good."

Marinette looked unsure of herself.

Adrien dropped his stuff in his room.  He had hoped to room with Nino but ended up with Nathanael instead. Not that there was a problem with Nathanael, but they had very little in common and didn't really talk with each other. Nights would probably be quiet with his roommate sketching while he tried to figure out something else to do.

He zipped open his bag to look over he clothes Nathalie had packed for him and grabbed the ski gear.  He was eager to hit the slopes as much as possible this weekend.  There was no telling when he'd be able to go skiing again after this.  

He turned away from Nathanael (who was already deep into a sketch) to gave Plagg a chance to move to one of the outer pockets. The kwami shook his head and curled up even deeper in one of the inner pockets. He wasn't kidding when he complained about the cold.  Well, hopefully he stay put.

Adrien headed outside and headed towards the ski rental. As he walked, he saw Chloe walking away from Alya and Marinette while overhearing Marinette freaking out to Alya about not being able to ski. It could only mean Chloe had done something, per her usual bullying that included skiing.

Adrien walked over to them and placed a reassuring hand on Marinette's shoulder. "Hey. Do you want me to teach you how to ski?"

"Yes, please!" Marinette replied and hugged Adrien. Her eyes then widen and she jumped back. Her face was completely red. She couldn't believe what she just did.

"Well, good luck," Alya said with a smirk. She then walked off to go find Nino.

After Alya left, Adrien and Marinette went and got their ski equipment. They then moved on to the bunny hill. Marinette was trying so hard to compose herself from hugging him. He didn't seem phased by it. She just took a deep breath. 

"So uhh...I got roped into racing Chloe," Marinette somehow managed to explain the situation to him. She wasn't looking at him directly. "I'm sure she has been skiing before. I hope I can learn enough to stand a chance.."

Adrien reassured her that she will be able to stand a chance and started his lesson. Marinette listen closely and watched him ski. Unfortunately at some point during his listen she fell into a daze and she couldn't help, but admire how cute he was at skiing. Plus those skiing clothes. He looked prefect in them. When it was time for her to go down the hill, Marinette snapped out of her daze. She pushed herself forward and went down the hill. It started out great. Her stance was good and her speed. Unfortunately she had to avoid a kid sitting in the middle of the hill. Her speed increased a bit and she was heading toward a tree. Marinette panicked because she didn't how to stop herself. She missed that part due to being in a daze.

Adrien had been as surprised by Marinette's hug as she was, but it made him happy she felt close enough to him that she could hug him. He didn't understand why she jumped back so quickly, but she didn't try to bail on him so he guessed whatever she thinking wasn't too bad.

He nodded as she confirmed his suspicion that Chloe was somehow involved in what was going on. It was pretty bold for Chloe to challenge anyone to a race. He couldn't remember her ever telling him she'd been skiing more than a handful of times. Not enough times to be as good as she was acting, anyway.  Plus the teachers had restricted them to the blue hills and lower, so a basic stance and skills would be enough to put Marinette on even footing. She would have no problem if she practiced all of today.

He gave her pretty good demonstration of the basics before finally letting her take her turn down the hill.

Adrien's eyes followed her movements as she started down the hill.  She had good form, though she could tweak the position of her feet just a centimeter to gain a little more speed once she practiced a few times. She looked comfortable.  That was a good sign.

Unfortunately, some of his bad luck must have rubbed off on her. Someone had let a kid onto the hill unsupervised.  Adrien watched her as he started down the hill in case she needed help. She did a good job of avoiding the kid, but now she was heading for a tree at the very edge of the ski path. 

He picked up speed, willing her to stop as he went, but he could see from the sudden tension in her stance that she'd forgotten how.  That was enough for him to spring into action. He used his poles to propel him as quickly toward her as he could, hoping to grab her and pull her to safety. 

The speed he'd picked up did a great job of getting him to her, but it only took him a milisecond to overtake her and miss her arm completely.  That left him with plan B which wasn't as great a plan but would work better than nothing. 

Adrien veered in front of her at the last minute, letting himself buffer her impact with the tree and taking a pretty jarring hit to the shoulder as her extra weight and his speed combined to make a very solid impact with the tree.  Thank goodness for the padding in his jacket and his knowledge of hitting a surface in the least damaging way possible (thank you karate).  Even so, he was surprised nothing felt broken.

"You okay?"

It all happened so fast and somehow she ended up in his lap. It took her a minute to process everything. When he asked her if she was okay, for some reason she felt mad at him. Without thinking she took her hand and scooped up some snow and threw into his face.

"I'm okay?" she snapped at him. "What about you!? You slammed into that tree! What were you thinking!?" She then let out a gasp and covered her mouth with her hands. She realized that she was scolding him like Chat.

Adrien stared at her in surprise for a moment before wiping the snow off his face and bursting into laughter.  He had never seen her so mad at him before.  It was one of those times he almost felt like he was talking to Ladybug.  She always scolded him for doing stupid things too.

"I'm fine.  No need to worry," he insisted. His mind briefly wondered if Plagg was okay. The kwami would not have been expecting that impact. As if reading his mind, he felt a small tap in his pocket to indicate the kwami probably fine. 

"That was an ice-iting ride, though. Huh?" He said. Probably the worst pun he could have thought of, but the situation needed a pun to lighten the mood.

Marinette just stared at him for a minute before laughing at his stupid pun. She really liked this side of him. She then found herself going into another daze. They were so close to each other. She couldn't help getting lost in his bright green eyes. Marinette quickly snapped out of it, when a couple of screaming kids ran past them. Her heart began to race and her face was all red. She quickly stood up and helped him up.

"I guess we should continue the lesson?" she laughed sheepishly.

Warmth spread through him as she laughed, and he couldn't keep himself from smiling. All anger at him seemed to be forgotten. It took him a moment to realize she was staring, her eyes catching his and holding them in her focus. He had never realized how deep and vibrant a blue her eyes were. He could probably stare into them forever if left uninterrupted.  But the moment ended almost as suddenly as it began, and she quickly helped him up before suggesting they continue their lesson.  

Adrien nodded. "Let's go over stopping again.  Then we can practice a little and go over a few small tweaks in form that will help you get a little more speed. Your stance is great right now, and I'm certain you'll be able to beat Chloe. You learn quickly."

With that, he showed her how to stop a few more times while making sure she practiced the motion without skiing down a hill at full speed.

Marinette spent the whole day with Adrien. By the end of the day he had her skiing down some blue slopes and she did a pretty decent. She felt her confidence raising. When it was time for dinner, they returned their ski equipment and went inside the lodge. Marinette met up with Alya and the two of them headed to their rooms to get ready for dinner.

Marinette went inside her room and found Chloe was in the bathroom. She quickly got dressed and went to Alya's room. She wished she could stay with Alya and sleep on the floor, but Chloe would tell on her. Plus Sabrina was Alya's roommate. When she knocked on Alya's door, she opened it and was ready to go as well. The two then headed down to dinner.

"You had a lot of fun today," Alya spoke as they were heading to the elevator.

"Huh?" Marinette looked clueless.

"I saw Adrien's daring rescue."

Marinette's face turned red. "You did..?"

"You guys are totally dating."

"We are not!!" They stopped at the elevator and Marinette pressed the button for down. 

Alya just rolled her eyes. "Whatever you say. So how did your lesson go?" She decided to change the topic.

"Good. I think I stand a chance."

"Great!" The elevator arrived and they went into it. Alya hit the lobby button and the doors closed. Tikki popped out of Marinette's jacket's pocket since they were alone.

"Is it possible for me to fly around a bit? I need to stretch. I will be careful," the kwami asked her owner. Since Marinette was practicing all day she didn't get a chance to talk to her.

"Sure," Marinette replied. They arrived at their floor and Marinette placed Tikki inside of a plant. "Let's meet up here after dinner." Her kwami nodded her head. Marinette and Alya then headed into dinning hall. The spotted Adrien and Nino sitting at a table and they joined them.

Tikki flew around the lodge hoping to see Plagg out and about. She hope he wasn't up in Adrien's room hiding from the cold. She decided to look for him through sensing. She noticed his presence was in the dinning hall. Tikki stuck close to the ground, when she entered the room. Plagg's presence was coming from underneath a table. She flew over to it and went under a table cloth. There Tikki found Plagg eating an entire cheesecake.

"Plagg!?" Tikki squeaked in anger. "You shouldn't be eating an entire cheesecake!" Despite her anger Tikki couldn't help, but be in impressed. He somehow managed to steal something without being caught.

Meanwhile Marinette was enjoying a nice dinner with her friends. As she was eating she couldn't, but notice some girls from the other tables were glaring at her. When she looked at them, they looked away from her. She frowned. Why were people didn't know mad at her? Her question was soon answered, when Alya tapped her on the shoulder. Marinette looked at her and Alya showed her phone. She grabbed it and saw it was picture of her and Adrien under that tree. Above the picture the title read, Hearts on Ice: Did Adrien Agreste snag a new girlfriend?

"WHAT!?" Marinette shouted. Now everyone in the room was staring at her. Alya took away her phone and chuckled. Marinette just got up from the table and ran out of the room.

Plagg looked up at Tikki, his eyes glinting proudly. "I found this perfectly good cheesecake sitting around and went for it.  It's delicious!  Want some?" he asked pushing the plate slightly toward her. He was also impressed with himself for not getting caught. It had taken a lot of maneuvering to get around the random caterers that randomly entered and exited the room.

"So, Adrien almost killed me today. How did you do with Marinette?"


Adrien was oblivious to the pointed glares directed at Marinette as he ate. He had gotten so used to being stared at through his modeling that it just didn't occur to him anything was happening.  He did notice Marinette looked a little confused about something, but he shrugged it off.

Until she cried out and ran, anyway.  "Marinette?" he asked, confused but she was already long gone.  "What just happened...?"

"Oh, she just got a little surprise," Alya said. She sounded a little more amused than she should have.  "This is why."  She handed him the phone.

Adrien stared at the picture and the title of the article. He should have expected this. It was the second time he was caught off guard by someone taking pictures, and now Marinette was upset. "I should go talk to her.."

He stood to leave when he heard one of the caterers cry out.  "The cheesecake is missing!  I had it right in here..."

Adrien bit his lip while checking his pocket for his trouble making kwami. Of course, Plagg was gone. He looked to the door Marinette had left though before internally sighing. "But I'm going to get a drink first. Later." 

With that, he worked his way into the crowd so he could go find Plagg.

Tikki stared at the cheesecake. She shouldn't it, but it was calling to her. She took her share and dug in. She then laughed at Plagg's remark about today. "I was completely fine. Have you notice that people think they're dating? And of course they're clueless about it."

Meanwhile Marinette was in the lobby's women's bathroom. She splashing water into her face to cool herself down. It was the ball tabloid pictures all over again. Why can't people respect other people's privacy? Now what was she going to do? Adrien probably has seen the picture. How could she face him again? She splashed more water into her face.

The door then swung open and Chloe walked in. A small smile appeared on her face, when she saw Marinette. She slowly walked over to her and started to fix her make up.

"So," she said and face Marinette. "was your little outburst about that photo of you and Adrien?"

Marinette didn't say anything. She grabbed a paper towel to dry her hands. She felt it was best to leave rather than fighting with Chloe.

"I don't blame you. It's not nice to spread rumors."

Marinette let out a sigh. "Chloe, what do you want?" She turned to look at her. There had to be a reason for her kindness.

"What do I want?" Chloe laughed. "Oh, Marinette. What could I possibly want?" Marinette just rolled her eyes and was about to leave, but Chloe grabbed her shoulder and made her look at her. "I want you to leave Adrien alone. I know you two aren't together, but you're getting closer. He's mine you understand that?"

Marinette pushed her hand of her shoulder. "You can't stop me from seeing Adrien." She then crossed her chest and glared at her. 

"Oh, yes I can. Tomorrow I will beat you and I will make you stay away from him for a month. And of course I'll make sure he thinks you hate him." Chloe smirked and walked past Marinette and left the bathroom.

Marinette just stood there frozen. She felt stupid for not seeing this coming. Chloe clearly planned this from the beginning. She felt her confidence slipping away as she thought the things to come if she lost. She just shook her head and tried to push those thoughts back into her mind. Marinette then left the bathroom and went to see if Tikki was at their meeting spot. She looked through the plant and there was no signs of her. Marinette let out a sigh. She wanted to go back to the room, but she couldn't leave Tikki down here. So she returned to the dinning hall and took her seat. Alya and Nino were talking, when she sat down.

"You okay?" Alya asked her noticing that she looked upset.

"I'm fine," Marinette lied and started to pick at her food. She wasn't sure if she told tell Alya or not. Knowing Alya would she try to punch Chloe.

Alya eyed her friend, but decided to leave her be. She'll ask her again, when they are alone. She then turned her attention back to Nino.

Finding Plagg was harder than Adrien thought it would be.  The kwami had actually pulled off his thievery without anything going wrong, and Adrien could bet on the fact he'd be hiding while he enjoyed his prize.

Unfortunately for Adrien, there were a lot of people in the dining hall.  Plagg could be hiding anywhere, but Adrien had to be inconspicuous about searching.  The last thing he wanted was for someone to ask what he was doing right as he found Plagg and the cheesecake.  

He lifted a few table cloths as he passed by, making sure not to stare for too long and only looking under the deserted tables.

Meanwhile, Plagg and Tikki (mostly Plagg) gad already finished half the cheesecake.  

Plagg nodded at Tikki's comment.  "Well, people aren't completely wrong.  Those two obviously love each other.  They might as well be dating. I can't believe how dense they really are, though.  Usually, when Ladybug and Chat Noir like each other they get together pretty quick.  This is taking forever."

They froze as footsteps approached the table.  Tikki quickly grabbed him and pulled him up to the wood of the table just as the table cloth was pulled up.

There was a pause as Adrien looked under the table before he whispered, "Plagg, I know you're under here."

Plagg quickly showed himself before Adrien had the chance to notice the extra kwami under the table.  "Hey, what's up?"

"You know very well what's up.  I guess I shouldn't be surprised you stole and ate half a cheesecake." He said as he grabbed the cake from under the table.  Plagg darted into the collar of his shirt, and he stood and placed the cheesecake on the table.  Hopefully no one saw.

"You know, I deserve that cheesecake.  I nearly died today." Plagg said.

Adrien rolled his eyes. "I would have gotten you a slice.  Now I think you've had more than enough." 

He ignored Plagg's whining as he walked back towards the table.  Marinette was already back.  Adrien bit his lip.  He had hoped to go find her and talk.

"Hey, I'm back.  Are you okay, Marinette?"