Hello! tumblr user charme-miraculeux here! Prompt drabble for soulffles which I took forever to finish so I thought I might as well post it here!
Disclaimer: the characters of Miraculous Ladybug do not belong to me!
Ladybug had died.
No, she wasn't dead. She had just died. Being dead was present tense and permanent. Until he defeated the Akuma, he refused to accept her death as present tense. After all, Adrien never saw the future as definite. Nothing was ever set in stone. The possibilities were endless—but when it came to Ladybug, he only wanted one outcome.
And if he could save her, there would be no stopping him.
His world seemed to have frozen. The moment Ladybug jumped in front of him, he swore time itself had stopped. His heart, which had previously been racing with adrenaline from the ongoing battle, clenched with a fear he had never felt before in his life. Her red polka-dotted body was no longer solid. Her furrowed eyebrows and closed eyes, braced for the impact, looked like a shadow of what they once were. Vitality, life, breath—gone in an instant.
It can't be. She's not dead.
"Wow! Six minutes in one go!"
His blood boiled at these words but her taunt didn't matter because Ladybug wasn't dead. With a deep breath and a gargantuan effort, he forced his head to clear. He had to tackle Chronogirl with extreme focus and without the crippling emotions in the way—exactly how Ladybug would have done it.
"Give me her miraculous before she vanishes!" Chronogirl shouted, now circling back around towards him. She skidded to a halt and gasped as Ladybug's figure vanished completely.
She's not gone.
Don't worry, Ladybug. I'll save you.
"It's just you and me now," Adrien said, sounding much more confident than he actually felt. His current target turned around and began skating around him.
"I've got my eyes set on something bigger than you just now!" she called out, gaining speed with every second.
Gearing himself up, he crouched low as Chronogirl began to skate faster and faster, ready for the pounce. The moment she flew by he grabbed onto her waist, gripping her midriff tightly and shutting his eyes against the wind rushing past him as they accelerated through the empty square.
In a blinding flash, he felt the space around him shift—darkness engulfed him, his head whirled, his stomach churned, but he maintained a firm grip on Chronogirl until—
Another flash. The sun shone against his closed eyelids and he dared to open them.
His heart leapt with joy. His classmates were there—together, alive. From this, only one fact stood out to him: Ladybug, too, must be alive.
And he wasn't going to let her die again.
As sure as he was that everyone including Ladybug hadn't died yet, a small part of him still feared. When the second Chronogirl appeared, he waited for her while his other self transformed into Chat Noir. Please appear. I won't let you down this time.
And then, she showed herself. Adrien thought he would be prepared for the relief he would feel when he saw Ladybug—in the flesh, breathing and alive—but he was wrong. He had never fully appreciated just how beautiful her dark hair glinted in the sunlight or how bright her blue eyes shone when they blazed with determination, ready to capture the Akuma. And when she called him out into battle, he stepped forward with unwavering devotion.
"Glad to see you, milady," he saluted to her.
"Now is not the time!"
But she needn't say anymore. He was not about to let a slip-up happen again.
At last, after using their powers, the Akuma was purified and Alix returned to normal, as did everything else. Ladybug held out her fist with a dazzling smile but Adrien couldn't return it. Instead, he threw his arms around her and held her close.
"Whoa, what's wrong, kitty?" she laughed, surprised. She tried to take a step back to break away from his embrace but he tightened his hold, allowing himself to feel her warmth—proof that she was really indeed alive.
"I almost lost you," he whispered in her ear. "I'm sorry, it was my fault. But I fixed it. You're okay."
"I'm okay," she repeated reassuringly, patting him awkwardly on the head. "Did I—er—miss something? I figured with two Chat Noirs today, Chronogirl must've—"
"No," he said, still unwilling to let go of her. "I almost missed you, though. But you're alive and that's all that matters."
"Did Chronogirl do something to you?" she asked, her voice laced with concern. "I guess time travel does funny things to our brains."
"It does," he said, then pulled away to get a better look at her face. "Time passes slower without you."
They stared at each other for what felt like an eternity; Adrien in admiration and Ladybug confused. He could have all the time in the world for the rest of his life and still not have enough of it to appreciate just how amazing Ladybug is to him.
Beep-beep.
Ladybug jolted out of her reverie and touched her earring. Panicked, she wiggled out of his arms and backed away.
"Bien joue, mon chatton!" she cried out as she ran towards the stairs beyond Trocadéro square. "Until next time!"
The timeline was fixed. Ladybug was alive. All was right in the world again.