Unbelievable, huh?
I've left Breeze up and finished for almost 9 freaking months before uploading the Sequel.
But hey, better late than never, am I right?
So, and here we are, 14 months after I uploaded the first chapter of Breeze, and a new story begins. As you guys may have already read from the tags, this story will be a little more slice of life like, and while it may not be as dark or depressed as Breeze, it'll definitely be angsty enough to live up to the raise of the name, trust me ;)
But the angst will come later! For now, it'll start slower than Breeze :D
I hope to continue the upload schedule but since I'm now in school again I'll try to stick with a 4-day-upload schedule, eventually going up to 5 days if I need to.
Also, again, Wind is - just like Breeze - based on season 1 of the show. I've got a few aspects of season 2 in it but because season 2 is only airing now (very veeeeeery slowly and irregularly) I can't entirely include season 2.
It's based on my ideas and headcanons for the show after watching season 1, even before the Christmas special.
With that being said, let's get right into the story and I hope you'll like it!
Enjoy~
3laxx
"Your friends just stay with you because they pity you…", the voice whispered as Marinette shivered.
"Why are you doing this to yourself?", another one joined in. She wrapped her arms tighter around herself and squinted her eyes, shaking her head. She was back there. Back where she never ever wanted to be again.
"You knew exactly that it's true.", the voices hissed and she groaned.
"So why didn't you just falter?", they asked, sharp and unforgiving, making her feel like she did something wrong, as if it was her fault to still be alive, "Why didn't you just listen and end it right there?"
Sobs took over her body and she breathed through gritted teeth, shaking her head as not a word would leave her lips, not a sound would come from her mouth. She could merely listen and weep silently, powerless against the voices, the demands that held her captive with mere words.
She felt as if she was caught in a cage, a cage of nothing, a forced prison that held her but she didn't see bars.
The voices haunted her and poked her, making her squirm and breathe faster as she tried to move. All her body did was huddling even more into itself, though. Her feet wouldn't work, her mind was slowly stopping to resist. Her arms held herself like steel, her fingers digging into her shirt as if there was something to hold on.
"Why are you trying to live with that, Marinette?", they whispered and yelled, brushing over her skin like feathers but at the same time bruising her, "Why are you trying to live with the hatred they gave you? Why didn't you just give up?"
She sobbed another time, breathlessly even though she hadn't run, her lower arms hurting like hellfire was ignited on them. Her lips formed words but her voice didn't join, her desperate begging painfully blocking her throat.
She was back, she was back there when all she knew were hateful glances and swallowed words of injustice, spoken out behind her back, but still for her to hear. She was back and vividly remembered Alya's back when she had turned, Adrien's frown when he saw her.
She saw all the hidden and open glares, she saw all the pain and hurt in their eyes, the anger and the disappointment and the suffering grief they felt. The helplessness and fear and the suffocating accusation they threw at her, unjustified and at the same time she felt like she deserved it.
The responsibility of having condemned Paris to be destroyed by Hawkmoth, of having left alone Chat Noir and of having terrified all her friends to the point of them showing their back to her.
She was back there and there was no return.
Once again, she watched herself sinking, watched herself losing her footing and falling, as she reached out for a knife that wasn't there. Adrien had made sure not to leave anything sharp except sewing needles in her room, ever since he had seen the new bracelets on her wrists and discovered that she hadn't been over it.
She couldn't help it. Sometimes, it backlashed at her, sometimes she couldn't resist and in a lonely night, left alone to her own devices when Tikki slept, it all came back and tortured her.
He hadn't been mad. He had merely kissed her wrists, the small cuts, and made sure that she got a private hour with her therapist, on his money. Of course, she had protested and scolded him, but she wouldn't lie, therapy and especially his concern helped her feel more stable every day.
But this time she'd been back there, she didn't even know why, and had longed for the day to end to let it all break in above her.
She hadn't been on good terms with Alya about some homework, she hadn't seen Adrien all day because he had been at a photoshoot, and her parents hadn't had time for her since they drowned in preparations for some marriage they should cater at.
It certainly hadn't been a good day.
And when she had walked through the streets to do some last-minute errands for her parents she had walked by the little alley again. Normally, Marinette had made a big way around that dark memory, but today she hadn't paid any mind to it. Suddenly, all the gazes had been hostile, all the faces blank and hateful. She had felt herself shivering despite Tikki's reassuring hug on her thigh, despite her mind telling her she was assuming, imagining things.
Tikki was on her desk right now, eating a cookie and not noticing her wielder's breakdown on the bed above her. She kept it quiet, didn't want her Kwami to know. Tikki tended to take it really badly when she noticed how much Marinette had become broken during her absence.
A knock startled her and she looked up, spotting Chat's luminescent eyes against the darkening sky of the evening. He looked worried as he saw in which state she was in right now.
Quickly, he opened the window and slipped inside, hugging her before his transformation even fell. She smelled his wonderful, mossy scent, the subtle hint of camembert, and her tears fell against his shirt. She heard him saying something but didn't process it, didn't have the chance to separate his words, take them with their meaning, understand what he really said.
A constant waterfall of whispered sounds fell from his lips as he pressed her against his chest, his cheek resting on her hair and her forehead on his neck. She slowly managed to breathe through, hearing another voice joining as she wept against him, now finally letting it out.
Her conscious resurfaced and her shock faded slowly, leaving room for her to finally listen and partially understand what Adrien whispered in her ear.
"… Here for you… Safe… Promise… Not gonna let you get hurt… Ever again… Promise…", her shaky breath got caught in her throat and she nuzzled closer before getting startled by a sudden outburst in Adrien as he whipped around.
"Why didn't you look after her?! I'm trusting you with this, Tikki!", he suddenly shot at her Kwami, his chest tensing as he unconsciously held her tighter, his voice agitated and angry.
"I-… I'm sorry, Adrien, I didn't notice. She was so quie-"
"You know exactly what she went through! Imagine what could've happened if I hadn't been close and decided to visit her! She's still in danger, you're obligated to look after her!"
Marinette shook her head, not wanting him to be angry at Tikki but she couldn't move, couldn't speak.
"I know! I'm sorry, Adrien, but it was just five minutes, I swear I was about to-"
"I don't care, Tikki! She needs you, she needs you to look after her and care for her when she has a breakdown! Damnit, Tikki!"
She could feel the scared sobs vibrate through his chest and hear the tears in his voice. He was scared. For her. Not of her. He was scared of losing her again.
This gave her the last push to lift a hand to his chest, lightly brushing over his shirt to get him to listen to her.
"Adrien…"
His attention immediately was on her. His eyes soft and worrying instead of angry.
"Yes? Mari, are you alright? I'm so sorry I wasn't here earlier, I had a bad feeling and when I saw you-…", he babbled endlessly before Marinette lightly shut his mouth with a nudge of her nose against his chin.
"P-Please-… Don't be mad at Tikki… She did her best today, she deserved a break. And I didn't give her a clue. It was my fault.", he shook his head but she pressed a light kiss to his lips, still feeling exhausted and scared but it got better and better every second he was here, "Adrien, please."
His eyes were hard and stubborn but after asking once more of him to calm down he slowly breathed out, his shoulders sagging.
"Fine… I'm sorry, Tikki, I was just so worried… I'm sorry I snapped at you."
"It's understandable, Adrien.", Tikki reassuringly replied, holding a paw to Plagg's muzzle to keep him from verbally killing his wielder, "We're all worried. I should've been more considerate and I should've kept an eye on her more closely."
Marinette shot Tikki a grateful gaze for calming Adrien down and snuggled against his chest once more, her breaths coming slowly and flatly since she was exhausted after this breakdown. Her boyfriend seemed to notice and sat up on his knees to lay her back down on the pillows on her bed, making himself comfortable next to her. She let him hug her tightly around her waist, their Kwamis joining them on top of their hair. She felt Tikki snuggling close, the poor small creature still shivering on her whole body as she rested atop her head. Marinette brought a hand up to her, brushing over her soft head before allowing herself to hug Adrien as well, bumping her nose against his sleepily.
"… You okay?", she asked, her thumb brushing slight circles on his back. To that he laughed humorlessly and leant his forehead against hers, blinking slowly.
"I should ask you the same thing, even more so than you should ask me. So, are you okay?"
A tired giggle escaped her throat as she felt the tears dry on her cheeks, shrugging slightly.
"You're here.", was all she commented, a shiver going through her body, "I'll be fine."
"Are you sure?", his deep voice drummed against her and she nodded softly, her other hand coming up to his jaw to caress him.
"You're here.", she repeated, "You'll look out for me. I'll be okay."
Later that night, they ran over the rooftops for a patrol. Adrien had let her rest for a few hours before transforming again, wanting to let her sleep but she had woken up. After a discussion that was more playful than anything else he had let her transform as well, joining him on patrol.
Ladybug giggled as Chat hugged her with one arm from behind.
"Hello, my lady."
"Hi kitty. Did everything go alright?"
She turned in his arm and placed a little kiss on his relatively cold and rough lips, from the chilly night air.
"Yeah, nothing special. Except…"
"What?"
He quietly laughed and nibbled at her lower lip, teasing her a little.
"Well, I got something for you."
She rolled her eyes but smiled.
"Chat, this is patrol, not shopping-gifts-for-your-girlfriend, you know.", she scolded but he had already gotten his hand between them, holding a little box. He flipped it open and a beautiful necklace came to light, a little golden Ladybug on a petite chained necklace.
She gasped and he broke his hug around her to pull the necklace out of the box and close it behind her neck.
"How do you like it?", he asked, a big grin on his face.
"I-… I love it! But seriously, Chat, it's patrol and you know very well that I can't-…"
"I know, but I love you too much and when I saw this, I just couldn't resist!", he pouted.
"Ugh, Chat! I'm not your girlfriend just to be gifted."
He laughed, kissing the tip of her nose.
"Say that again, paw-lease. I like the sound of the word out of your mouth."
"Girlfriend?", she lifted her eyebrows.
He sighed and made a dreamy expression.
"Ah, my lady, you're flattering me."
"Sometimes I could just high-five you with a chair or something… And I feel like I'm the boyfriend right now.", she murmured, snapping against his bell to try and get him back to the living again. He pouted but smiled as soon as she kissed him again.
"C'mon, it's getting colder. We should both get home."
"Your home or my home?", he grinned as she rolled her eyes yet again, shaking her head.
"As much as I may want, we're writing a chemistry test tomorrow and I can't afford being late or tired again."
"Aw, princess, you don't wanna kiss me a little longer? You sure?"
"I don't just wanna kiss you, but I would only agree on that if the test tomorrow was about the human anatomy. So… No, kitty, you'll have to go home alone today."
He grinned as she threw her yo-yo, placed one last kiss on his cheek and hoisted herself away. She was right, though. He hadn't learnt enough for the test yet and if he wanted to at least get a few formulas in his head and be rested tomorrow, he would have to get going.
"Until tomorrow.", he whispered lovingly, extending his baton and lifting himself away.
He just wasn't sure if he could concentrate when she would be sitting behind him in class, her scent winding itself in his nose, clearing his mind from everything.
"Plagg?", Adrien asked as he got back into his room, flopping down on his bed after the transformation faded, his Kwami following him right after to curl up on a pillow.
"Yea, kid?", his Kwami replied, opening one eye as he blinked over to his chosen.
"We haven't had as many Akuma attacks as back then. Do you think Hawkmoth is giving up?"
The Kwami sighed heavily, remembering the confrontation with their villain back then, a few months ago.
"… No, I don't…", he finally replied, his words slowing down and his voice getting quieter. Adrien waited for a moment, probably curious if Plagg would add something but the cat remained silent. The boy slowly nodded, folding his arms behind his head as he stared up to the ceiling. A thousand questions swirled through his head, like what Hawkmoth wanted to do when he got the Miraculous or why he attacked less or such things but, in the end, only one question made it out of his mouth.
"Plagg, does Hawkmoth plan something?"
His Kwami huffed and sighed, finally closing his eye again to get some rest.
"Of course he does.", as if the question was obvious.
"… What will the ultimate power grant him, then?"
To this, his Kwami remained silent.
If you wanna check out my other works, you can scroll through my profile here on Ao3, my profile which I keep updated along with this one - also 3laxx - as well as my tumblr profile under the same name.
I also have a Twitter account under the name 3laxx/ ToniWorz and an Instagram account with the name _3laxx_ on which I mostly upload art and a few pics I just make for fun, as well as my projects from work as a glass artist.