"So this is it? The finale?" Chat Noir said, climbing up onto the brick wall that was crumbling bit by bit as the heroes of Paris stood on top of it. He whistled lowly at the sight of those huge, purple clouds of Akumas that had formed above the city they loved, the city that was their home.
Ladybug inhaled deeply and nodded, her arms crossed in front of her chest. Whether to protect herself from the cold or the incoming fight, she didn't know. Maybe she didn't want to know.
Tikki had warned her. The final fight would be bad in a way the heroes couldn't imagine. There would be wounds and tears, pain and loss. And Ladybug knew she wasn't ready for this, even after four years of crime fighting.
Chat Noir bumped his shoulder into hers and made her look up at him. Her best friend, partner and so much more. Suddenly Ladybug felt like their time was running out. There were things she needed to get out, things to be spoken about. Things she wanted to do but there was simply no time. And maybe there wouldn't be a later this time.
Her kitty grinned. "Stop overthinking. We'll win, like we always do."
Oh, she wanted to believe him. So badly. And usually she did, Chat was always right. But this felt different in so many wrong ways. It felt like cataclysm, eating away her heart and soul.
So she shook her head, feeling her chest slump. "I want to believe you," the girl admitted, "but... there are too many what if's, Chat. Too many things I am afraid of. It's different this time." People screamed and as Ladybug turned to look out at their city, she saw those flames. The wind brought the heat over and slapped in it into her face, making her skin burn. Her eyes closed. With that, one thought, a memory, struck her. Something she had thought about from the very beginning, a promise she had made to only herself.
Because in those flames, she had seen him for a split second. Chat, hurt and alone, and now that she saw the image, it wasn't going to go away again. It was imprinted onto her eyelids, burned into her mind and heart.
Ladybug- no, Marinette- wanted to protect Chat at all costs. She wasn't about to let him die because of this. Not when he had a future he deserved, not when he had so much life in front of him. Even without her, he had his friends, their friends, even family. He would survive and she owed this to him. How many times had he thrown himself out there, protecting her? How often had he stood loyal to her, had encouraged her?
Adrien deserved a future, even without Marinette.
"Hey," Chat suddenly said, grabbing her shoulders and turning her towards him once more, his green eyes holding her gaze. It was clear that he had figured out what she was thinking.
She was shaking her head before he started to speak.
"Don't go there. LB, we are in this together. There will be no way I'll let you do this alone!"
"I am Ladybug," she mumbled, her arms falling to her sides defeated but her eyes ablaze, "this is my fight. Tikki told me that it's Ladybug who has to make the final strike. Chat is her partner, but he has he back. And she fights. So I will fight, I will protect you and you will have my back. Like you always have."
Chat huffed and gently shook her. "Yeah, Tikki says a lot. So does Plagg and everyone else in our lives. I have followed rules and orders my whole life, Mari", The girl winced as her civilian name fell from his lips, "and you know that. And I would never, in a thousand years, follow some ancient rule or tradition if it means putting your life in danger like this. You are everything to me, you know that, and I'll be damned if I let you go there alone."
Ladybug opened her mouth but the way he looked at her stopped her short. His eyes held all those emotions she knew her own eyes held. Fear. Dedication. Hope. Fire. And love. God, he looked at her as if she put the stars in the sky.
Marinette wanted to argue with him, to yell at him, to make him stop. But Adrien wouldn't stop. In all those years of partnership, friendship, relationship...Marinette knew that he would rather die than let her go alone even if he tore her heart apart with the mere thought of him going along. Apparently he saw her resignation because he nodded shortly and shakily smiled down at her. "Thank you." And than he leaned down and kissed her forehead, his hands gently holding her face.
Ladybug closed her blue eyes tightly, trying to cut off the problems and the pain, tears slowly rolling down her face and neck. Trying and failing to collect herself, she whispered softly into the night. "I am scared that there will be no happy ending to this, Adrien."
Chat's smile widened, now open and honest as he rubbed her tears away. "I believe there will be, princess. I really do. But... if it will end tonight? If we will go down with him?" He shrugged, holding her close as she nuzzled his chest. His head rested on top of hers, looking over at their burning city. He inhaled and smiled, despite the fight, despite the love of his life crying bitterly into his chest. Because he knew they would win.
With a new strength, he squeezed Ladybug tightly.
"Together. No matter what will happen tonight, we'll go through it together. We always have and always will." The boy leaned back and nodded once she did. Wiping away the last tears, Ladybug stood straight. A fire filled her, a passion and devotion, as she started swinging her weapon by her side. She knew what and who she was fighting for and held onto that. "Let's do this, kitty."
And while she jumped forward, she swore she heard her boyfriend laugh and whisper "That's my girl."