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their-destinys-writer · 5 months

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ML Secret Santa 2023

Merry Belated Christmas @charlietheepicwriter7! I was your Secret Santa for this year's @mlsecretsanta event! Since I was already doing Felinette for another Secret Santa, I decided to go with Lukanette for yours. Hope you like it! Once again, huge thank you to the team behind the @mlsecretsanta page, who have always made this wonderful event possible. Still my favorite event of the year of the fandom! You guys are amazing and deserve all the appreciation in the world. (Also on Ao3)

Can't Help Falling in Love

Playing up Paris’ reputation as the city of love for tourists was something Luka hadn’t expected to do in his lifetime. But as he played his violin under the Eiffel Tower, he soon realized it was a good gig to lean into during the holidays. Tourists loved to gather around, and it seemed to bring a spark in them. A sense of magic in their travels. It also gave him a few extra euros that he could use to give Christmas gifts to his favorite people.

Luka closed his eyes as the bow stick slid across the strings, moving from one song to another. When he opened them again, amongst the crowd, he saw his favorite face in the world. The beautiful features of the woman he loved, just in time for his last song. As he played a violin rendition of ‘Can’t Help Falling in Love’, he watched her pink lips spread in a smile across her face. As if she knew he was secretly dedicating the song to her.

With every note he played, she slowly swayed to the rhythm, tightening the hold on her coat. Whether it was to imitate someone holding her or due to the cold, he wasn’t sure. But the way she closed her eyes made him think it was the first one.

As the song finished, he received a round of applause from the spectators left in the evening, and some approached the open violin case to throw several euro notes. After thanking them and announcing his departure, Luka started gathering his things.

“Hey, Rockstar,” the voice of Marinette spoke behind him.

“Hello, Melody,” he greeted, turning to give her a light kiss on the lips.

“Wanna walk home together?”

“Always,” he responded with a smile as he closed the instrument case and picked it up.

Together, they made their way away from the Eiffel Tower, in the direction of the Trocadéro. It was a slight detour on their way home, but Luka knew it was Marinette’s favorite place in Paris. As they walked through the gardens, he watched her from the corner of his eye, her hands rubbing together, as if attempting to fiddle her fingers through the mittens.

“Hey,” he said, grabbing one of her hands, “are you okay? Are you cold?”

“Oh, I’m f-fine,” she responded, in a tone that was not very convincing. He squeezed her hand, hoping it would reassure her, that she could talk to him whenever she felt ready. They stepped up the stairs and reached the plaza, emptier than usual. Most likely people were hiding from the low temperatures.

“Hey, Luka?” Marinette suddenly spoke.

“Hm?”

“I-I have a confession to make.”

Luka’s brows furrowed. “What is it?” he asked, his heart unsure whether to worry or not.

“I, um… I found the ring.”

He stopped on his tracks, Marinette immediately following suit. Her bluebell eyes were gazing away, in shame. Luka thought he had been careful in hiding it. Then again, he shouldn’t underestimate Marinette’s ability to figure out when there was something amiss. Something must have tipped her off. Or, like many other times, there was an accident that resulted in her finding out.

“Are you okay?” he asked, worried that she thought he wanted to rush things between them.

“W-Why are you asking me?” Marinette finally turned to him, her eyes wide. “Aren’t you upset I ruined the surprise?”

His head tilted. “Why would I be upset?” he questioned. “Aren’t you feeling like I’m moving too fast in buying a ring?”

“Luka, we’ve been together for over a year, and we’ve known each other for far longer,” she explained. “Why would I think us getting engaged at this stge is too fast for us?”

“I thought you said you weren’t ready.” He fully turned to her, wondering if he was hearing correctly.

“Well, no, because I hadn’t perfected my wedding dress, but I’m absolutely ready to be engaged.” Marinette instantly bit her mitten, like she hadn’t intended to let him on to that secret.

The smile that spread through Luka’s face was hard to hold back. This whole time he had thought she wasn’t ready in general. Yet it seemed he had misunderstood what she was saying. He couldn’t help but grab her around the waist and twirl her around, making Marinette let out an initial squawk, followed by giggles as they made several circles.

“Does that mean it’s a yes?” Luka asked, finally stopping and placing her back on the ground.

“Of course it is!” Marinette laughed.

“Wait!” he suddenly said, letting go of her. She gave him a look of confusion, but nevertheless, Luka carefully placed down the violin and took out the small box he had been carrying around for almost two months already. He heard her gasp as he dropped down to one knee, excited to finally say the words he had been wanting to say for so long.

“Oh my gosh, you’re doing this now?!” she yelped.

“Why not?” Luka breathed, still smiling widely. “You love this place, there’s few people, it’s snowing, and you look gorgeous. I can’t think of a more perfect moment than this one. Can I?”

Marinette made a giddy laugh as she nodded, her eyes already filling with tears of joy.

“Marinette—”

“Wait!” With rapid movements, she pulled on her mittens and stuffed them in her coat’s pocket. “Okay, I’m ready.”

Luka chuckled. “Marinette,” he started again, his tone quieter, “we’ve known each other for years. I have loved you for almost as long, but I know you’ve only loved me recently. I have been ready to ask you to spend the rest of your life with me for so long, but I didn’t want to pressure you. Even so, I have held onto hope that you would be ready someday, to share more than just a living space with me, but a lifetime.

“Now that I know where you stand,” Luka opened the box, “Marinette, my Melody, would you be willing to spend that lifetime with me?”

“YES!” Marinette practically yelled, tears of joy finally falling down.

Luka’s smile widened as he took the ring out of the box and delicately placed it on her finger. As soon as it was properly placed, Marinette grabbed his face and pulled him up to a kiss. He gladly returned it, rising to his feet for a better position to properly hold her in his arms.

“You were right,” she sighed contentedly against his lips. “This place and moment really were perfect.”

“I’m glad you think so,” he hummed. “Do you want to go home, or do you want to grab dinner to celebrate?”

“Dinner actually sounds nice.”

“Anything in particular you’re craving? My treat,” Luka announced.

“How about Italian?” Marinette suggested. “That restaurant by the park we always say we’re going to try out. I think this is the perfect moment for that.”

“As you wish,” he said softly, giving her a kiss on the forehead.

Gently, she laced her fingers with his as he took back the violin to continue their walk. The smile wouldn’t leave Luka’s face. And with the cold, he wondered if it was possible for it to remain stuck that way. As he rubbed a thumb against Marinette’s hand, he noticed something.

“Aren’t your hands cold?” he asked.

“I’m not hiding my new ring just yet,” Marinette responded with a skip in her step.

“Okay,” Luka laughed. “But please put on your mittens if it gets too cold.” She hummed to signal she heard him. Changing the subject, he added: “I’m sorry you didn’t get to finish your dress before getting engaged, though.”

“Don’t worry, I already did.”

Luka tilted his head, a lopsided grin forming on his lips again. “When did that happen? I thought you were still working on it.”

“After I found the ring,” she explained, watching him from beneath her lashes. “I felt very inspired and finished it in less than a week.”

“Wait,” his brows furrowed, “when did you find the ring?”

“About a month ago,” she said with a shrug, yet a mischievous smile curled her lips. “I wasn’t going to bring it up, but you were taking too long to ask me.”

A laugh blurted out of the newly engaged man. “You really are full of surprises, Ma-Ma-Marinette.”

“You know it, Mr. Therapist.”

Luka gave what felt like the tenth content sigh that evening. “I swear, every day I fall more and more in love with you.”

“And I promise you, you’re not the only one.”

With a content hum, Marinette wrapped her arms around one of Luka’s, but he decided to wrap an arm around her instead, allowing her to be as close as she wanted. Snow continued to fall as they made their way to the restaurant, yet Marinette hadn’t touched her mittens, not once.

As he looked at her pink face, he could stop thinking about what awaited them. He was already looking forward to start planning the rest of his life with the most amazing woman the universe had to offer.

#mlss 2k23 #mlss2023 #ml secret santa 2023 #charlietheepicwriter7 #lukanette #luka couffaine #marinette dupain-cheng #mlsecretsanta

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