Warning! This is the last part with Season 1 spoilers. This time quite a lot quotation, because this time not words but background (or interpretation) is changed. Again, I omitted most of the episode details that aren't important for this story, so that I could focus only on the scenes that are crucial for "True Love Kiss" :-)

***

"It can't be like that anymore, dude!" Nino patted Adrien on the back on Friday afternoon. "You're totally exhausted."

"I'm fine..." Adrien sighed apathetically.

This wasn't true. He felt torn. Whenever he saw Marinette at school – and he saw her practically all the time – all his heart was bursting to her. And at the same time, he knew that he wasn't allowed to say anything. He couldn't tell her that he was Cat Noir. And he couldn't say that he guessed she was Ladybug. But the worst part was that he couldn't hug her, kiss her, hold her hand – just be with her. It was a torture – have her at his fingertips and couldn't even touch her.

"Sure..." Nino didn't buy it. "I'm not blind. You're not yourself from Valentine's Day. First, some euphoria, and now you look like hell."

"You won't understand. I don't get it myself."

"You need entertainment!"

If this could help for my problems... Adrien thought ironically.

"We're going to the zoo today. With Alya and Marinette. And you're going with us." Nino said, and it was neither a question nor a suggestion.

"Does this trip to the zoo have any hidden purpose?" Adrien asked with a sly grin.

Nino blushed.

"I see that even a prospect of going out has improved your mood." he commented. "And there is no hidden purpose. I wanted... I wanted to invite Alya somewhere, but... it was safer to organise a group journey... Because you know..."

"Actually, I don't. But I'd be glad to know." Adrien smiled. "You said something about the Valentine's Day, but it would be nice if you tell me something more."

"Eh..." Nino sighed. "I'll tell you about the Valentine's Day, but only on the condition that you go to the zoo with us."

"Okay. Deal." Adrien agreed. Anyway... Going out with Marinette was a very looked-for perspective for him. For many reasons. And each of them was also strongly connected with the Valentine's Day.

***

"Hey!" they greeted each other when they met at the spot.

And there was embarrassing silence. Adrien gave his friends a quick glance. Nino had informed him that he had planned a joint going out to spend some time with Alya. But they forgot to discuss how to divide the group into pairs that the friendly trip to the zoo would turn into a date. For Nino and Alya, of course. Although Adrien wouldn't mind if he could spend some time with Marinette in private as well.

Before anyone spoke, their classmates, Kim and Max, joined their group.

"Hey there! You came to see the new panther?" Kim asked.

"Kind of..." Nino murmured in reply.

"I was wondering if it's faster than me." Kim boasted.

"Panthers can run at speed in excess of 60 miles per hour." Max informed everyone.

"60 miles per hour? That's all? I bet I could beat it in a race!" Kim laughed.

"I'm not so sure..." Marinette whispered.

"If we count it..." Max began, but Kim interrupted his calculation and said:

"Come on, let's see that cat!"

"We'll join you later." Alya said coldly. "I think it's the feeding time now. It's forbidden to disturb animals when they're fed. My dad told me that once."

"Your dad!" Marinette spotted, observing Kim and Max who had left them in the direction of panthers' area. "He works here, right?"

"Yes, and he's responsible for the new panther." Alya informed her friends.

"And he isn't afraid?" Adrien joined the conversation.

"Afraid of what?" Alya laughed. "My dad loves animals and they feel it. If you show a fear or aggression they can attack you, of course. But if you're..."

She stopped suddenly, because at that moment Kim ran into them screaming:

"Wild panther!!!"

They froze in horror at the sight of the wild animals that passed them and chased Kim. A second later, Nino pulled Alya towards a safe hiding place, and Adrien – well... He didn't behave knightly towards Marinette, leaving her in the middle of the alley, but he knew that he had to give her space to transform into Ladybug.

A moment later they stood side by side – Ladybug and Cat Noir – between Animan and Kim.

"If you value your life get out of here. Now!" Ladybug ordered to Kim.

Kim started running as if it was a sprint, and the superheroes took care of the super-villain. Ladybug tied him with her magical yo-yo and they were about to reach for the bracelet in which the akuma was hidden, when Animan called the other animals to help him. Wild animals started to attack, and Ladybug and Cat Noir had to save themselves by escaping.

"We need to put them back in their cages." Cat Noir noticed.

"Oh, really?" Ladybug snorted irritably. "I'm sure they will let us lead them without a fight."

He glanced quickly at her. She had to be very tensed up if she was so sarcastic. No wonder – she had left her yo-yo with Animan.

Suddenly Ladybug gasped terrified when she saw a gorilla chasing Alya and Nino. Cat Noir felt his heart stopped beating at the sight of his friends in danger.

"I think we'd better split up." Ladybug said.

He looked at her with delight. Even at that moment, she was thinking about her friends. What a wonderful girl!

Ladybug caught Alya and Nino at the last moment. She placed them in an empty cage and before she closed the door she said:

"Stay. You'll be safe here."

And she returned to her partner.

"There are too many of them." She sighed, watching the wild animals surrounding them. "We can't capture them all."

"So, what are we going to do?" he replied with a question.

"Back to plan A. If we can destroy his bracelet I can capture the akuma. Everything will get to normal."

"Sounds like a good idea, M'Lady." Cat Noir smiled and kissed her on the cheek.

But the panther disappeared, and the yo-yo was lying undamaged in the alley. They had a puzzle to solve. They also had Kim to find before Animan got him. They ran to the city centre. They saw Kim and the super-villain literally at the last moment. Panther dangerously approached to the boy and it was about to catch him when Ladybug caught it with her magical yo-yo. Meanwhile, Cat Noir told Kim to hide in a building. He patted him comfortably on the back, placing the locator on his shoulder.

"You'll never get me." Animan muttered and transformed into an eagle and disappeared.

Ladybug and Cat Noir exchanged glances.

"Now we know how he got away earlier." Cat Noir sighed, jumping on the railing and observing the sky.

Ladybug came closer to the railing and stared at the sky as well. She had no idea what to do next. She suddenly remembered Kim. Where was he now?

"Where's Kim?" she asked her partner.

He smiled under his breath and without a word showed her a flashing spot on the map on his communicator. She looked at him with appreciation, and he felt happy.

"Good job Kitty." She whispered and knocked his bell.

"Have I earned a kiss?" he asked her as he had already done during the fight with Antibug.

"You don't have to make any special efforts to get one, Cat." She winked to him and kissed him on the cheek. "Get to work!"

And they ran toward the spot on the map.

Ladybug stopped suddenly when she realised that Kim had hid in her parents' house. Oh, it was getting harder and harder.

"He's safe inside the building. Panthers can't open door, so it won't get inside." Cat Noir noticed.

"Panthers can't but what if he morphs into something smaller? Animan will smell him out sooner or later. We have to plan the next move."

"I'm listening, Bugaboo."

They entered finally the Dupain-Cheng's bakery.

„Hi Mo... a'am..." Ladybug stuttered, and Cat Noir didn't miss that.

He glanced at her quickly and then looked away. While Ladybug was informing Kim about their plan, he stared at the family photo of Marinette and her parents. It was obvious that they were a wonderful family. Such as he'd never had. He remembered last Saturday, when he'd come here to prepare the presentation, and Marinette and her mom were making waffles in the kitchen together. He suppressed a sigh. He had to focus on the mission.

Ladybug's plan worked perfectly – as always. They managed to lure Animan near the Dupain-Cheng bakery and then imprison him on the bus. They noticed that the transformations costed him more and more energy and they wanted to tire the super-villain out, to finally catch the akuma. They didn't foresee one thing – that dinosaurs were also, well... animals.

"Since when do extinct animals count?" Cat Noir exclaimed in indignation, then pulled his partner to hide behind the car.

"There's no sense in focusing on biology lessons, Cat." Ladybug muttered. "Lucky charm!"

After a while, she was holding... a car jack.

"Too bad that Animan doesn't have any flat tires." Cat Noir commented, and Ladybug only rolled her eyes. Those his jokes...

"You climb on the top of him to distract him. Then I'll get him down."

"Sounds like a good plan. I can be very distracting." He whispered leaning over her.

"Cat... duties first, don't you remember?" she sighed.

"A huge tyrannosaurus will eat us in a minute, Bugaboo. Don't you think we should kiss for the very last time?"

"Nice try, Kitty!" she laughed in reply and kissed him on the cheek. "Recently I've kissed you more often than I catch the akumas, Cat."

"The average kiss on the akumas grows." He nodded. "I like this statistic."

"Well, enough flirting. Get to work!" she jumped from the ground.

After a moment Cat Noir tried to deal with the dinosaur, and she just discovered what her car jack was for. Before her partner could react, she jumped into the jaws of the tyrannosaur.

"Ladybug! NOOO!" Cat Noir shouted and felt like his heart stopped terrified. "You're so gonna pay for this!" he drawled toward the dinosaur.

Suddenly the tyrannosaur froze. Ladybug immobilized his jaws with the jack, then calmly walked to his paw and destroyed the bracelet. Akuma flew only to be caught by the magical yo-yo.

"No more evildoing, little akuma!" Ladybug muttered and purified the butterfly.

Then she approached to Cat Noir to say, as usual:

"Pound it!"

But her partner didn't join her this time. He hugged her tightly and whispered in her ear:

"Don't do this never ever again, Bugaboo..."

And she felt her heart melted when she heard the tone of his voice.