A/N: I have no business working on this. I should be doing NaNo prep. But here's a chapter anyways, because this story will not leave my head. It needs to be told.
They were nine when they first met in the field beneath the fireflies that sparkled and danced in the branches looking like stars close enough to touch.
He was a boy, dressed in black with a pair of cat ears atop his head.
She was a girl dressed in red, her cloak filled with black spots.
Neither of them should have been in that place, for it was the eve of the Winter Solstice. A time for family and friends to gather in peace and harmony. Two little ones such as themselves, should have been wrapped in their parents arms. Yet there they stood, staring at each other with one question in mind.
"What are you doing here?" They asked in unison, then laughed with the innocence only a child could have.
Separated from her family the girl, who introduced herself as Ladybug, had lost her way.
"Then I shall be your knight and lead you back to the village!"
With confidence the young boy took Ladybug's gloved hand and pulled her onto a path that would lead them back to the small village. All the while, the boy not once gave an answer to Ladybug's question.
"Who are you?" Ladybug asks when they've successfully made it to the village gates.
"You may call me Chat Noir." The boy bends to kiss the back of Ladybug's hand. "This is where I leave you, princess."
In the blink of an eye, he was gone. He'd disappeared back into the shadows, mysteriously as he appeared.
Ladybug squinted into the growing darkness, looking for a sign of her knight. Even as her family called her name, rejoicing in her safe return, Ladybug searched. Searched for the boy who's green eyes shined with a loneliness Ladybug knew she would never forget.
Indeed she did not forget, in the night those green eyes haunted her. She would wake up in tears, crying for a boy she did not know but somehow loved so deeply.
Years later she would find her way to that lonely field once more, but there was no sign of life. Even the fireflies had gone.
Throughout the years she would often visit their place of meeting, hoping from the bottom of her heart that Chat Noir would once again appear. She wore her the cloak from that day, even when her mother said she was far too old.
If she didn't wear it, would he remember her? Would the Knight Chat Noir remember his Princess Ladybug without her cloak?
She has to find him. Has to see him one more time before she succumbs to death. He saved her on that cold lonely night, how can she die knowing she never returned the favor?
His lonely green eyes haunt Ladybug on her deathbed. She never found him, never got the chance to repay her debt. Nearly half her lifetime, she spent looking. Ignoring those who said she was crazy, ignoring her doctor's insistence that she should not push her already frail body.
It's only fitting, Ladybug thinks to herself, that she fights for her breath on the eve of the Winter Solstice. It's a time for family, and they're all here now. A time for peace and harmony, hopefully within death she will find peace from the eyes that haunt her.
Darkness falls over her, finally freeing her.
One.
Two.
Three.
"Princess?"
He died before he met her.
Life had given him a bad hand. Chat Noir was orphaned from a young age, stuck wondering the streets to beg for help. Life was cruel in that time, even in his small village. He'd run away, thinking no one would care. This was true, as his body wasn't found until the spring thaw. When the villagers found him, no one could identify the body.
It was said that the line between the Natural World and the Spirit World is blurred as the Solstice appears. Perhaps that is why he so easily walked out of his body to find Ladybug.
Her laughter filled him with a warmth he'd never known, her smile like the sun. She was like a Princess, standing in the glow of the fireflies. She was alone like him, but only in that moment. She had family who were surely looking for her.
Well if she was a princess, he would be her knight. He would not rest until she was safe back with those who loved her.
It was in helping her, that he found his closure. In the blink of an eye, he went from a dark cold night to basking in the warmth of a bright light. That's when he realized it.
He had died.
Chat Noir didn't find it a surprise, he had been a starving youth after all. He didn't think he'd make it to see the new year, but at least her met Ladybug before he truly passed on.
Even in the afterlife, he could fill her warmth. The thought of her smile, the memory her eyes that shined so bright, tears flowed as he thought of them. Chat Noir didn't know or understand the emotions that filled him. He had only met her once, barely exchanged words, but he missed her. He wanted to see her again. He needed to see her again. He couldn't continue on without her. Without a chance to meet his princess again.
So he waited.
And waited.
Until finally she appears in front of him, just in time for him to be reborn.
Ladybug is once again a child, just like him.
"I searched for you. My entire life. I tried so hard to find you, Chat Noir. Where were you?"
She had looked for him. Ladybug had wanted to see him again. He can't let it end like this, he won't let it.
Chat Noir smiles sadly, "I'm afraid it's my time to go. But I'll find you again, I promise."
"You died." Ladybug realizes. "You died before I could meet you again."
Chat Noir shakes his head, taking her hands in his as he slowly fades. "I was dead long before I met you, princess. I'm sorry that I troubled you. I only...I only wanted to help you that night."
"I'll find you again. I swear will."
Just before he fades completely, Chat Noir places a kiss on her forehead. "Then it's a promise."
And so began the cycle of their souls.
