"I have never seen you around here before," Bridgette spoke as she batted her eyes at him.

Marinette pushed Bridgette away from Adrien. "He's visiting for the summer. Now buzz off."

"Well excuse me, princess," Bridgette said with a glare. She flipped her hair at Marinette and started to walk off. She stopped and looked back at Adrien. "If you ever want to hang out come find me." She gave Adrien a wink then walked off.

Marinette rolled her eyes. She then looked at Adrien. "That's Bridgette. She's in my class. She hates me and I hate her. Bridgette is very self center and looks down on people."

Adrien nodded as Marinette explained who her not so friendly acquaintance was. This Bridgette girl reminded him a little of his somewhat childhood friend, Chloe.  "I know the type. There's a girl like that in my town. She thinks people adore her and should do everything for her."

Needless to say, he was not interested in Bridgette's offer of friendship. Chloe was bad enough. Having to interact with such a similar girl around on land would be terrible. Hopefully, this meeting was just a one time thing.

"Yuk. I guess there's Bridgettes everywhere," said Marinette and looked disgusted. She then ran into the ocean. She looked back at him. "Let's have a race!"

Adrien's face fell as she mentioned a race.  He had to quickly force a smile onto his face before she noticed.  "Sure! How far?" He asked as he joined her in the water. He would just have to do his best and hope she didn't notice him floundering.

"Hmm.." Marinette looked around. She spotted something far off to the shore."That rock!" she pointed. She decided to make it a one way race. It actually look pretty far so going both ways could be tiresome. "Alright! Let's start from the shore." Marinette was excited. A new person to race with. Alya never wanted to seeing how she wasn't a good swimmer. They stood at the shore. Marinette gave him a playful smile. "Ready, set, go!" she ran into the water and leaped into the water.

Marinette used freestyle. It was it her strongest stroke. As she swim she noticed that she had a good lead. It confused her seeing how Adrien was a good swimmer. She shrugged it off. She couldn't get distracted. She had to win! When she got closer to the rock, she swam faster. She used up all her energy, when she touched the rock. "Yes!!" she sat up on it. "I win!" She gave Adrien a grin.

Adrien tried his best to keep up with Marinette, but it was no contest. He didn't have any skillful strokes or stamina. All he really had was what his mother called the doggy paddle. Apparently, it was the quickest way to learn human swimming.  Needless to say, Marinette was pretty far ahead of him right off the shore. 

He finally got to the rock and pulled himself out, trying not to breathe too heavily from the swim. He did not look like a good swimmer right now. "Good job!" He said with a smile.

"You weren't going easy on me were you?" Marinette teased him. "Because whatever that was that was pathetic." she then just laughed at him.

Adrien laughed with her. How was he going to explain this away? "I wouldn't dream of letting you win. It's disrespectful to your skills. I'm just having an off day. Maybe I won't be as pathetic next time." He grinned while internally screaming. Why did he say that?! It was like a challenge to another race in the future..

"You're so on!" Marinette laughed and splashed water at him. She then leaned back on the rock and enjoyed a gentle breeze. She was about to say something to Adrien, but she heard a voice calling out to her. She looked toward the shore and saw it was her father. Marinette groan. "It's my Papa..." Both Adrien and Marinette came up to the shore.

Her dad studied Adrien for a second. He recognized him at once, but decided to play dumb. "Who's this?"

"This is my friend, Adrien. We met yesterday. His family visiting for the summer," Marinette replied.

Marinette's father looked at him again. His daughter was either playing dumb as well or had no idea that she befriended the prince of the merpeople. "It's nice to meet you, Adrien." He held out his hand for a head shake.

Adrien wasn't sure what to make of the king when he looked him over. He'd never met the king in his life, so there shouldn't be any way for the man to connect him back to his people. But the king had been friends with his parents before the treaty fell through so...

No, it didn't seem like he knew.  Adrien smiled and bowed his head slightly before shaking the king's hand.  "It's nice to meet you too, sir."

Thomas just smiled slightly at Adiren. At least he had manners. He let go of his hand and turned his attention back to Marinette. He decided to give up on grounding her. It obliviously wasn't working. Instead he thought of a compromise. "Marinette, I'm sorry, but you need to say goodbye to your friend. We're going to a dinner party."

"But.."

"No buts. It's apart of being a princess."

"Fine." Marinette looked at Adrien. "I guess I'll see you later." She then left with her father. They walked to the beach's parking lot where their car was waiting for them. They hopped in the back and their driver drove off heading back to the palace. Marinette leaned against the window trying to distance herself from her father.

Thomas sighed. "Marinette."

"What?"

"You can swim in the ocean."

She jumped in her seat and looked at him. "Really!?"

"But you need to have someone with you or there's people on the beach."

Marinette just nodded her head. She still thought that was silly since she was a good swimmer, but she didn't want to argue and have him take it back. 

"And you will arrive to social events on time and look for a suitor."

His daughter frowned. "Do I have to?"

"Yes. We're compromising here."

"Alright, but I get to pick the person I want to marry."

Thomas nodded his head. "Of course you can. I want you to be happy with the person you marry. I got to date your mother before we were married."

Marinette smiled. It was nice that he brought her mother up for once. She leaned back her seat. She didn't feel the need to distance herself from him anymore.

"Um, Marinette."

"Yes?"

"How did you meet Adrien?"

"Oh." She didn't want to tell him Adrien saved her from drowning. That would crush their deal. She didn't want to tell him she saved him from a car either. She could of get hit as well. Now she thought about it she was shock that didn't end up on the news. Maybe no one felt the need to report it to social media? "We met on the beach yesterday. He was collecting seashells. Alya and I never saw him before so we thought we talk to him."

"I see." Thomas paused. "Anything unusual about him?"

"Huh?" Marinette looked confused. "No. Why?"

He stared into his daughter's eyes. He could tell she had no idea that he was merman. That was a real look of confusion. It was easy to read her emotions. He didn't want her near Adrien seeing how the treaty was destroyed. Thomas didn't want to anger the sea king. He felt terrible about everything and regretted his actions. Although. He wondered if his daughter could patch everything up. He just smiled to himself. "No reason. He seems like a good person."

"Oh, he is! I'm glad I met him, Papa. It's nice to have another friend," Marinette gave him a warm smile.

Adrien sighed as Marinette left with her father. He had wanted to spend the entire day with her, but he knew just as well as she probably did that formal occasions were always mandatory so he couldn't fault her for leaving. That just left him with more free time than he knew what to do with. He really didn't feel like going home yet, after all. Too bad he couldn't crash the dinner party. He knew for a fact that was a terrible idea.

He also entertained the idea of practicing his swimming. He could make a fool of himself alone without revealing anything. Maybe he could get a little better so he wasn't so pathetic next time. Plus, no one was around right now to see him detransform if the need arose. Yes, that sounded like a good plan.


Meanwhile Chloe Bourgeois, Atlantis's self-proclaimed most likely future was swimming as fast as she could toward the royal city. A mixture of rage and indignation was pushing her forward far faster than she would normally go. She couldn't believe it. How had Adrien sprouted human legs and gone off to mingle with some nobody on the surface? How had his father not noticed? How dare that girl move in on her future husband?! 

Okay, they weren't officially engaged, but she was the best candidate. She was part of the richest family in Atlantis, the daughter of the king's most trusted noble. There was no way she wouldn't be the best choice. But this land girl was trying to steal Adrien's heart from her. His father was going to hear about this! Everyone knew the king of the sea hated merpeople interacting with humans. Adrien would be punished accordingly.  Sure, it would hurt him short-term, but it was what was best for him.

She was about halfway home when she heard a voice off to her side. "You seem upset, girl. Seashell for your troubles?"

"Leave me alone. I'm in a hurry," she snapped.

"Now, now. That's not a nice thing to say to someone that can help you keep the prince to yourself."

Chloe stopped mid-swim and turned to the older mermaid. "What do you mean you can help me?"

The woman smirked. "I thought you didn't want my help."

Chloe glared at her. "I am the daughter of the king's most trusted noble, and I demand you stop playing around and tell me everything!"

"Hmm. Such a disagreeable girl. No wonder he'd search for someone on land." Chloe looked ready to kill her, so she continued, "But, I guess I could still help you. You see, I know exactly how he got the power to go up there as a human."

Chloe's glare turned to impatience as the woman continued to beat around the seaweed. She crossed her arms, tapping a finger. "Okay. How then? What can I do to make you get to the point already?"

"Fine. Let me tell you a story, and then you'll understand everything," the old mermaid said.  Chloe could tell the woman was taking great satisfaction from this. She bit her lip to hold back her annoyance as the woman continued speaking. "Your prince has a very special item called a miraculous. It's one of seven magical items that can give the user extraordinary powers. These items have been around for millennia, causing chaos every time they appear."

Chloe raised an eyebrow, not completely buying what this woman was saying. "How is turning a merman into a human chaos?"

"Oh, that won't do anything. But your friend has no idea of its true powers. It would be better for him if he did not have the item. Plus, it would be better for you if he could never go to the surface again."

"So... You want me to steal this miraculous thing?"

"Yes. You can get close to him. My guess is he has the Ring of the Black Cat. Take it. Bring it to me and I will guard its power. Then he can never go to the surface again and will be all yours."

Chloe considered it. She could just tell Adrien's father about the ring. It would be way less trouble. But what if he realized she was the one that told on him? Taking it in secrecy so he could never use it again meant he wouldn't blame her. Yes. She could work with this.

"Fine. But you can definitely guarantee he will be mine?"

"Of course, my dear. I'm not a stranger to magic after all. Just make sure no one else knows."

Chloe nodded. She wasn't thrilled about working with this strange mermaid (or anyone for that matter), but she would if Adrien was hers forever. "All right. Who are you, anyway?"

"That is of no concern right now. I will find you when you have the ring in hand," the woman said. 

Chloe didn't argue. She was tired of talking to this woman. "Fine." With that, she swam off toward home.


The old witch watched her go, a malicious smile forming on her face. Children were so simpleminded. Soon she would have the ring. Then all she'd need is the Ladybug's earrings. Having one would be enough to face the Guardian. Having both would give her reign of both land and sea.

After the dinner party, Marinette retired to her room. She took a nice long shower and changed into her PJs. She crashed on her bed and messed around on her phone. Then suddenly she got a phone call. It was Alya.

"Hey!" Marinette said answering the phone.

"Hello," Alya replied.

"So what's up?"

"Just wanted to know how your day was."

Marinette sighed. Of course. Why else would she call? "It was fine. We played video games and had a race."

"A race?"

"Yeah in the ocean."

"Who won?"

"I did."

"Really? But he should be an outstanding swimmer. How did he swim?"

"Uh."

"Uh what?"

"Badly.." 

"Interesting..I'll talk to you later." Alya just hung up.

Marinette frowned and threw her phone aside. This was getting old fast. Yes it was odd that he swum weirdly, but he said he was having an off day. That was possible, right? Marinette leaned over and turned off the lamp that was on her nightstand. She got under the covers. There was no way he was a merman. No way.

Adrien returned to the palace a few hours later, feeling like he might be getting better at human swimming. He sighed, floating down to his bed, as Plagg complained for the millionth time about the lack of cheese in the ocean. He was about ready to steal some from town, but he didn't want to get in trouble.

"For the last time, just stop talking about cheese. I'll see what I can do about getting human money to buy you some. Can you just eat the sea cheese for now? Please?" Adrien murmurred.

"When will you get me real cheese, though? Camembert would be the best," Plagg continued.

"When I have a way to get human money. Now hush. I'm going to take a nap. Swimming as a human is tiring.  You should hide. Someone will come wake me for dinner at some point."

He napped for about an hour before Nathalie came to get him. "Adrien, it's dinnertime," she called in from outside the door. "Make sure you look presentable. Miss Bourgeois is joining you for dinner."

Adrien groaned. Why? Why was Chloe here? All this meant was the rest of his night was going to consist of him having to hang out with her. Not that he hated her. They'd been friends for a long time, but they had very little in common and her attitude was a little too much.

Dinner went as expected with Chloe being the main participant in the conversation. He could tell his father was getting annoyed with her, but the sea king held his tongue. His father and Chloe's father were on extremely good terms, so being polite to Chloe was part of keeping that relationship strong.

After dinner she followed him to his room. "So, what have you been up to?" she asked as they entered the room. Luckily, Plagg was nowhere to be found.

"Just my studies and the occasional trip out of the city." It was common knowledge he went human watching, but saying it seemed like a bad idea. His father did not like to hear bout his lawbreaking trips to the surface.

"I see." She stared at him for a moment, looking him up and down and causing him to frown as her eyes seemed to hover on his hand for a moment longer than anywhere else.

"Something wrong, Chloe?" he asked.

"Nope. There's never anything wrong." She evaded the question and quickly changed the subject, prattling on for hours about how the merpeople at her school were all terrible and how she wished she was homeschooled. She left around bedtime.

"Man, that girl's annoying," Plagg muttered, coming out from his hiding spot.

Adrien nodded. "I've known her since we were children. She's changed a lot. Well.. I guess it's time for bed."

The next morning Marinette woke up and ran downstairs for breakfast. She was still happy about her conversation from her dad yesterday. She had a lovely breakfast with him and before she headed to the ocean he reminded her about the upcoming ball this Saturday. Out of all the social events Marinette didn't mind the annual summer ball. She didn't mind the dancing plus she was allow to invite Alya. As she walked to the beach it dawn on her that she will be able to ask Adrien to come! She smiled. It was great to be able to invite two friends.

When Marientte arrived on the beach, she jumped right into the water. She floated along the water and stared up at the sky. Marinette wondered when she'll run into Adrien.