Ladybug fell to the ground with a scream. She struggled to her feet again, favoring her left a little too much. This did not go unnoticed to Chat.
"M-My Lady! Are you alright?!" She grimaced and nodded. Spinning her yoyo, she yelled to Chat.
"Pay attention to Hawkmoth! We need to focus!" It may have taken three years to get where they are, but that did not mean that they were getting lazy by any means.
Hawkmoth had grown in strength, and in return so did his akumas. It was difficult for the two heroes to keep up with the seemingly unnatural power growth from the Akuma creator. They would often be found coming late to class only to sleep through them. After the second anniversary of when they defeated their first akuma- Stoneheart, Chat remembers that day clearly- Ladybug had fallen asleep on his shoulder, perched on the top of the Eiffel tower. He was taken by her beauty, but was snapped out of his reverie when their miraculouses started beeping. He tried to wake her! He really did! But she just shook him off and huddled closer from the slightly snipped breeze that blew around them.
When they detransformed, the bright flash must have woken her up because those Bluebell eyes opened slowly, and opened to the eyes you would imagine on a little kitten. Big, innocent, clear. He could remember the way his breath caught when he saw her. The real her. The girl behind the mask, whom he vowed to love from the beginning.
Tears brimmed her eyes, and fear clouded them. Looking back, he wanted to laugh, it was a big tear filled messy confession of identities and emotions. But it made his heart swell when he thought of how happy she was when he accepted her. Not to mention when he realized that he had been mercilessly flirting with the girl who sat behind him in class. He had turned so red in front of her when she confronted him on his "Princess" title for her, she did not hold back on the laughter.
He shook his head as he focused back on the man in front of them. His purple coat shimmered like the gossamer of a butterfly's wing, contrary to the wings attached to his chest, which seemed to be made of a rough material. The two had grown stronger as well. Training and sparring, getting some help from Master Fu after they had revealed themselves to eachother to become their prime.
The Ladybug miraculous. Gifted to create and fix. The beautiful, flashy red of the ladybug shell catching the eyes of any passersby. Strong, resilient, and cunning. That was why he loved her. She was so strong, supporting of all of Paris and her people, but yet still able to be everyone's best friend. She was so amazing to be able to do all that and still be a perfectly imperfect daughter. No matter what persona she took on, she could make everyone a friend, if not her, than she got them to find a friend. She had even gotten Lila and Chloe to hang out, they've now settled down on bullying people. It does sound hard to believe.
Bu that's just the power of his Lady.
So courageous. Sacrificing her life everyday for all of Paris, and yet, when she wasn't doing that then she was being a wonderful girlfriend. Today not only marked their first battle, but the day of a total 6 months of them being together. They had officially become a couple 6 months after they had let their identities out to eachother.
He was the happiest boy. But not right now. He watched as the love of his life limped closer to hawkmoth, both of which were battered and bloodied from the countless attacks on eachother. His heart throbbed at seeing her stagger, he could swear that her leg was broken- at least- if her stance was anything to go by. Master Fu had told them of a last resort that each of the two main miraculous had.
Master Fu had told them that they could only harness these at the very most necessary time, but they used up too much energy for a human to use… so it was fatal. Chat was mortified when he heard Master Fu say this. When Fu had said that, Chat glanced at his lady worriedly. He knew she would use it one day. She would have to, that is why Fu told them of it in the first place. She must not have realized it, but he did. That sad glance from Fu proved his thoughts right.
Chat could not lose his lady, his buginette, his bugaboo… his princess. But that is exactly what was happening. Ladybug stood still most of her body weight was still rested on her good leg.
"Princess...No!" He screamed as he dropped his baton and started to run. It was like running through molasses, he couldn't get to her. He could only watch as she seemed to reach through her chest to a brightly glowing pink sphere of light. Chat's blood ran cold when those two cursed words softly flew from her lips.
"Ultime Purifie." they sounded so soft and sweet and warmed him up from the inside out, but yet they left behind an icy cold in his body.
He raced as fast as he could to her through the thick atmosphere. He was forced to watch as she held a ball of pulsing, throbbing, pink light. He knew what this was.
"I love you Chaton~" She turned to face him. "Adrien~"
With that one word, the ball of light combusted into one of the biggest purifications that had ever seemed to occur. It would have blasted him back if not for him sinking his clawed-boots into the floor.
The light died down, and he felt fresh and invigorated, like he could run around all of Europe and still not lose wind. But with that feeling came an empty feeling in his chest, it was almost as if he felt something snap inside of his heart.
He did not stop running, she shook a little, and started to collapse. Chat couldn't comprehend the horrid thought of his wondrous love falling to the floor, so he dived. He jumped to the floor and caught her body and cradled it. Holding her to his chest he looked at her.
Just at the moment of impact of his body to the floor ran in their friend. The blogger. The journalist. Alya Cesaire. With that classic phone in her hands. Almost always recording, like it was now.
She focused the camera on the two heroes on the ground. Not even realizing that one was her close friend.
"No..no. Y-you can't leave me." Chat choked out, feeling for a pulse despite knowing better.
"I-I won't let you die…"
He knew that she would do it.
"Pl-please buginette, come back to me…"
He grabbed her hand and kissed it softly, trembling slightly.
"L-ladybug?" He softly whispered.
"Bugab-oo?" his voice cracked as he asked a little louder.
He was sobbing now. The tears running down his face leaving hot tracks on his cheeks and a nose which he constantly sniffed to clear.
He was a sobbing mess.
"Marinette?"
He shook her shoulders softly.
"M-Marinette?"
He choked out slightly louder.
"M-M-Mar-i-MARINETTE!" He yelled out. He barely noted the gasp of horror from the journalist in the corner.
His thoughts only focused on his darling, brave love in his arms.
She was so self-sacrificing. BUT SHE DIDN'T NEED TO BE! He could have used his power! He didn't care if he died! If only for her to live…
Her earrings beeped.
NO. He can't lose her.
Please!
Holding on to her hand he shakily held it to his lips as he stared at her serene face.
Her Ultime Purifie didn't heal her wounds, as if it knew that would have been a waste.
He couldn't let this happen. He couldn't lose her...But he couldn't save her either.
All he could do was implant her face into his memory, that peaceful yet injury-ridden face.
She was so scratched that he could barely see the few freckles that peaked out from under her mask.
The beeps again… his was just slightly faster than hers, the offtone sound resonating the big expanse of the room.
Then it happened, the green light, his mask and ears faded out in flashes of green light, followed by his suit.
He now sat there on that cold linoleum floor, in his civilian form, holding the...the corpse of the love of his life. Her earrings blinked once more before the detransformation hit. Bright pink light surrounded her, but as she turned into her civilian form, the exposed parts of her seemed to crumble away in a mass pile of purified akumas.
They fluttered around his head, spreading out as more surrounded him. He screamed a sob as he felt her abdomen disappear from ontop of him. The expanse of butterflies spread out once more.
The hand that he held so closely faded too. The worst part was when he felt the weight of her head that he pulled close fade as well.
The butterflies spread out once more, leaving a gap in front of his face for a single big akuma to slip through.
This big beautiful akuma had no face, but he knew, he could feel that it was her. The smaller akumas cleared out from around him. They all flew to the small opening in the window of Hawkmoth's lair.
The big akuma's wings flapped slowly, almost as if it was in slow motion. He stared at her, the tears still falling from his cheeks.
"je t'aime"
He couldn't tell if he said it or not, but the words resonated around the room. Light shining in through the window.
The akuma flew closer to his face, seemingly to softly kiss his nose.
The magic of the akum-no Marinette's stare seemed to fade as she flew to the window.
He stared as she left, slipping through the small opening.
He felt hollow. He couldn't hear. He couldn't tell if he was screaming or not as he stared at his hands. Where she laid just a minute before… he couldn't breathe...
His lady… His Buginette… His Princess…
His Marinette…
She's gone. He looks down and pick up the earrings numbly. Suddenly arms wrap around him.
The police start rushing in, batons at the ready, he don't care. He's numb, He's cold. How can this be life? It feels as if every breathe he takes without her is killing him twice as much than the last. He looks around, His father is being pulled out on a gurney. What was he doing in here?
Alya has an arm around him and she's motioning others around her to come to them.
He numbly registered them set a purple brooch in his hands. With that purple brooch came a little floating creature.
He stared dead eyed at the floating creature, the one they tried so hard to free.
It was done. She had won.
Now Paris was free, but not her…
He somehow found himself at home, in his bed with plagg talking to him.
"Hey… hey kid. Talk to me… Are you alright?" Plagg whispered , brushing the boy's cheek with his paw.
"She's gone Plagg." the boy whispered, "I have nothing left." he curled up into myself.
"That's not true kid, you know that. You have that Journal friend, and your DJ friend who turned into bubbler… you have that lady in the suit and the big monkey guy too…" The Kwami trailed.
"W-what about père? What about my father?"
Plagg looked bewildered, then very sad. "Y-your father was Hawkmoth, they have him on trial for all of the crimes against the people of Paris." That explains a lot actually.
"B-but he did do some good!" Plagg interjected his bitter thoughts. "He made it to where we got the Moth and Peacock Miraculouses back!"
"Peacock?" He asked… could it have been the-... no it couldn't have been, but what about the book that i found next to it?
"Kid, I went snooping around the house, where you told me you found the book and i saw Duusu's miraculous. It's a peacock brooch."
"Mom…" Adrien whispered.
Plagg hands him the pin, "Kid, we're going to the great guardian. Right now. Get up." Adrien stand and he hands me another object, this one being a butterfly patterned locket.
"Nooroo, you're going somewhere safe." Plagg whispers to the stone, setting one paw gently against it.
"Let's go Plagg." He opens the bedroom door to see Nathalie there with no clipboard to be seen. She looks at Adrien, her hair loosened from its usual tight bun to a simple ponytail. He start to try to explain where he was going, but was cut off as he felt the stiff woman's arms wrap around him.
"N-Nathalie?" He asks as he feels her start to shake as she holds him tightly.
"I-I'm so sorry Adrien!" She sobbed, pulling away from the hug, holding onto his shoulders she continues, "Thank you. Thank you so much for protecting all of us. I- we really appreciate it."
She pulls back and fixes her shoulders straight. "Go where you need to Adrien. We understand to the best of our abilities." Adrien watches her walk away.
"What was that about?" He whispers. Putting his hands in his pockets he rubs his thumb against the earrings that bonded he and his classmate.
He feels as his pocket suddenly fills and outcomes another Kwami, this one being red with black dots. Ladybug's Kwami...Marinette's Kwami. Tikki.
"Adrien!" He heard her small shrill cry as she drove herself into his face. She hugged his cheek as tears streamed down her face.
"It hurts adrien! It hurts to have her gone so much!" She sobbed as he rubbed her back with his thumb. His tears renewing themselves as he watches this little god crying over his mortal friend.
"I know it does… It hurts so bad…"He draws up his hoodie and the two Kwamis hide inside beside his head. After 20 minutes of walking he gets to the old man's place, where he and Ladybug had trained.
As he walked he saw multiple people crying and hugging, lighting vigils, putting up posters. Those who saw and recognized him either started crying and apologizing, shook his hands, or hugged him.
He just wanted to get to Fu.
When he got there, he saw that the old man was just coming inside the house.
"Master Fu!" He calls to stop the man.
"Ah, Chat… I am so sorry for your loss." Master Fu shakes his head, "It is always hard to lose the Yin of your life."
"I have some things for you, Master Fu." He gestures into his open doorway and we walk inside. When we get to the room that held the two inactive Miraculouses we stopped. Adrien sat on the pillow on his knees and the tops of his feet and the elder sat opposite of him.
Adrien pulled out Nooroo and Duusu's Miraculouses and they floated alongside their respective stone.
"I believe these belong with you?" He nodded and gingerly took the Miraculouses from the teen.
Adrien reached for his Miraculous but Master Fu shook his head. He walked to the box and set the two back in their respective colour coded pillows. As he did that, the Kwamis disappeared, Adrien sighed in relief. They were back home.
"Let me tell you something Chat Noir. A tale of a Woman and a man in Egypt. Long but not long before us was a Lady of Luck bringing rain, food, and fortune to the cities that she passed. But the man was seemingly cursed, for bad weather, locusts, and droughts followed his path. One day they had met, and no more of his symptoms were seen as he was around her. As it came her time to leave he begged to join her, her blessings overshadowed his misfortunes. She agreed for she had grown fond of her feline themed friend.
They walked the country, gifting the people with safety and goodness and all the likes of it. But she- being of the Ladybug Miraculous- did not live long. He locked himself away and tortured himself mentally over the years, so much had changed by the time he reconnected with the world. Generations had passed, seeing as he was the Cat Miraculous holder, he lived 9 lives of the average person for his time. He had gone mad Chat. He blamed himself for the loss of his Lady. But he did not realize that it was fate's plan, for Ladybugs never live long, but they impact all who they pass. The Black Cat is meant to remind everyone that even when plagued with misfortune someone can find peace.
Chat Noir, this will be a hard time that is coming but you must persevere to show everyone just that. It will be difficult but you must show that you can be strong for all of Paris."
That was almost 6 months ago.
Chat Noir sit at the statue they erected for her. On the opposite side of the park as their statue from all those years ago. It was her holding her yoyo, it's opened like when she purified an akuma, smiling at it with her eyes closed. It was simple, gentle, and it looked so much like her.
It looked exactly like her.
It was so hard to look at. People still leave flowers on her feet every time they pass.
Chat's on his knees, holding onto the statue's feet with his clawed gloves.
"Happy 1 Year Dating Anniversary Marinette. Your parents still miss you. Alya and Nino are together officially now. Lila and Chloe have stopped bullying entirely, they are even starting up a volunteer group. They call it 'Buginette's Coccinelles'. They asked if they could call it that, how weird right? Them asking?" he choked out a bitter laugh. "Tikki insisted i keep the earrings, even if i don't use them. 'You don't deserve to be alone after what happened' she says. She misses you alot you know, sometimes i still hear her whimper in her sleep. My father is sentenced to 224 lifetimes in prison for his endless stream of crimes. I vow to never see him in my lifetime ever again. It's a sunny day again, i could imagine seeing you drawing or sewing another gorgeous dress or...hehe hat. I remember the derby hat. I miss you Marinette." He starts to cry anew.
His head is bowed as he weeps. The watchersby don't move, they don't stare, they don't speak.
They all know that this was not the saviour of Paris that they looked at. They all knew it wasn't Adrien Agreste who wore that mask. They all saw the death of the black cat on that day from half a year ago. When he held his Lady in his arms as she faded away he died. All the grownups knew, and all the akumatized victims knew. They saw it in the hollowness of his eyes afterwards.
There was no one in that body, it was a hollow shell.
When Alya Cesaire ran inside the building that Hawkmoth had used as a lair she had been broadcasting live to the ladyblog.
She hadn't stopped when Chat Noir detransformed, only to be revealed as one of her best friends. Nor had she stopped when she was forced to watch her idol, and her best friend, fade away into butterflies. She hadn't even stopped recording as she hugged the hero as he screamed at the emptiness in his hands. Everyone in Paris, and farther out, had seen the video. One way or another, everyone in Paris - some not noticing- had watched their other hero die as well.
Without his lady He was nothing. He stood up, a grim frown on his face.
He launched himself up to the Eiffel Tower with his baton. He landed right where he and his lady sat when they had finished patrol. He felt another snap in his heart. His pain was renewed as he landed on the surface of the Giant marvel of Engineering.
Chat grabbed his head as burning tears ripped streaks into his face. He was going to therapy to adjust to the loss of his one true love. They claimed that he had adjusted well to his loss, they had given him medicine for his coping. But they didn't understand, he was faking improvement. He always was screaming in his head. When he smiled and played games with Nino or went to the Park with him and Alya, even when modeling- which he continued to do for something to keep his time full- he always wore masks to hide the reality underneath.
That was the only way he could explain what was happening. Screaming. Screaming every second in his head as he talked, laughed, and worked. He suspected that Alya and Nino could tell, they always said things to him, supportive things. But they just never got through.
"We really admire your strength dude."
"You're worth more than money, Adrien."
"Promise me, we'll see you tomorrow, man."
"Stay safe and happy Ok there model-boy?"
"Nothing in the world can replace you."
"We love you Adrien."
"She would be happy to see you doing so well Adrien."
Those and other compassionate phrases. Those running through his head only increased his screaming. He couldn't do it anymore. He can't live his nine lives without her. He can't even live a day without her. Some days would be so bad that he would imagine that Marinette was with him, eating breakfast, laughing at his bad jokes, watching animes and movies with him, and helping him with homework.
What broke him most was the beauty, every day since was sunny and warm with the perfect breeze. Every plant was flowering nicely, children laughed and played. Teachers taught students, and people loved. It was all so beautiful, yet not having his Bugaboo here with him to relish the warmth of the lifegiving sun made each day feel as if it was a hurricane.
He stared down at the people, feeling the power swirl inside his chest.
No, he would never use his Cataclysme Ultime on these innocent people. They did nothing wrong. He did. He couldn't protect his princess. He was so useless that she found it necessary to use her Ultime Purifie. Chat noir growled at himself and clenched his fists.
He vowed that this day was the day. He couldn't live without her.
Chat Noir took a deep breath.
"Cataclysm" he shakily whispered.
His right hand began to pulse with the dark, destructive energy fused inside of it. It pulsed and bubbled above his arm with black spheres rising from it.
"I'm coming Marinette."
With those whispered words, Chat grabbed his chest, right where his heart would be. With that simple touch a painful buzz droned through his skin. He grimaced and screamed. He didn't care, even this pain was close to his heart, he knew this pain was going to bring him back to his love. He would even walk through hell to go to her if necessary.
He loved her too much to even let death separate them.