A/N: Miraculous Ladybug has also taken over my life. I think my favorite side of the Love Square is MariChat. I don't know why. But I love it.
Again, find me on Tumblr as Empress of Everything!
He used to roam the streets at night, master of the darkness. His glowing green eyes ensured he had no trouble navigating. The black leather of his catsuit blended into shadow and alleyway alike.
He hadn't been alone during some of these nightly excursions. Sometimes, she was with him. His Lady, his precious Ladybug. At least, he had thought she was his, his forever. But no. She had vanished. Watching over Paris...it didn't seem right without her. Chat Noir sighed and leapt across the rooftops to his destination.
There, at the school he attended as Adrien Agreste, his life had changed irrevocably.
Chat brushed his hand over the small marker adorning the wall of the school.
Marinette Dupain-Cheng
2000-2017
A girl had died in the street nearby, a girl who'd been in the same class as him. Her name was Marinette. He hadn't even really noticed her until Ladybug asked him to protect her that one time. She had just been another classmate, a girl he saw everyday but not anyone special. The black haired girl who had stuttered and blushed around him, but yet could have moments of fiery boldness. Boldness that reminded him of his Ladybug.
His hand tightened, a spasm of pain running through him like an electric current. There had been no news of Ladybug in weeks. The girl who used to run the Ladyblog, Alya, had quit after the death of her best friend. She'd been practically catatonic with grief and he hadn't bothered her.
His Lady...how desperately he wanted her back. He had no idea where she'd gone off to or why she had suddenly left him alone, but life wasn't the same without her.
And Marinette...
Chat missed her, too. Actually, he missed her more than he missed Ladybug, if that was even possible. He'd grown close to the girl. Had it been right or fair that he'd been the last person to see her alive?
"Oh come on, Chat, you have to go! I have to get ready for bed. See you tomorrow?"
"Aw, Princess, just a little longer? This night would be purrfect if I could tuck you in." He murmured, bumping his face against hers and purring lightly as she played with his hair. Marinette groaned and tugged on a lock of blond hair. "Bad kitty. You need to go home. I'll see you tomorrow."
Chat whined pettishly, wanting to stay with his Princess longer but not willing to anger her. He sighed and pressed a kiss to the back of her hand. "Very well, Mari, I will see you tomorrow night." He bounded over to the railing, ready to leap off into the darkness. He turned and sent the girl a rakish grin. Marinette just rolled her eyes and waved him off. He waved back and with one last glance, leapt over the edge.
Chat hummed a light, cheerful tune as he headed back home. For now, all was right with the world.
Until a piercing scream tore through his little bubble of contentment.
Chat's clawed hands curled into fists as he leaned against the school roof. He knew his memories would come back the longer he stayed here. But didn't he owe it to Marinette to remember her? Why would he forget her? She had been a light, like Ladybug but different, a light he had needed in his life. No, Marinette hadn't been a light. She was the warmth of a hearth fire that burned no matter what. In her arms, Chat had found refuge from the world. She had warmed his life.
Even if no one else remembered, Chat Noir would remember Marinette Dupain-Cheng.
"MARI! Mari, hang on!"
Her enormous blue eyes met his, sparkling with terror as she hung by one hand off the school's roof.
"Chat…"
He threw everything he had into getting to her before she fell. The Akuma wasn't even on his radar anymore. The full focus of his energy was on saving the girl who had befriended a lonely cat. The girl who didn't know his real identity but didn't care. The girl who had welcomed him into her life without a second thought.
Chat believed he could save her.
Right up to the moment her hand slipped and she fell four stories to the unyielding pavement below.
He tried to ignore the tears sliding from under his mask. Marinette deserved to be remembered.
But why did it have to hurt so badly?
She wasn't dead.
Marinette hadn't just fallen to her death because Chat Noir was too slow to grab and save the only other person in the world who cared about him.
At least, that's what he told himself.
But the puddle of blood seeping into the pale sidewalk smashed that self imposed delusion.
Red. So very red. Like Ladybug's suit.
Suddenly,
both girls,
the sunlight he longed to touch but didn't dare risk an attempt for fear of a burn
and the warm fire of home that filled him with contentment and gave him peace,
blended into one horrifying picture.
Marinette. On the ground. Crimson blood soaking her dark hair and the ground around her.
People didn't recover from wounds like that.
Chat slumped against the roof as the full enormity of the situation hit him.
He would never see Marinette again.