Author's Note: This type of story is new to me, so I could really use some feedback to improve it. I would appreciate your reviews.
I dedicate this fic to my bestie, who quite conveniently though accidentally shares the first three letters of her name with Ladybug's civilian form. Thank you for encouraging me and for the inspiring ideas!
Prologue
Adrien was in his personal hell. In just a few days his live turned into a disaster, his heart was shattered and he was on the verge of a break down. He sat on a rooftop of one of the highest skyscrapers in Paris as he took in the view of his city, wounded and bleeding just like his soul.
Buildings and monuments wrecked, some of the bridges ruined, fallen into Seine. Here and there a blazing fire. Scars in the city tissue that would take months if not years to heal. But him? He was beyond healing, already dead inside.
It felt like a nightmare, though it wasn't one. It was real this time, and it was his fault. He couldn't stop this, he failed. There was nothing he could do now. Marinette taken captive, like many others. Ladybug gone. His city in ruin. It started with an attack a few days earlier.
No.
It started way before that, when all of the sudden came those persistent dreams of his.
OoOoO
It's the middle of the night, when he wakes up, covered in cold sweat, shivers climbing down his spine. There was that dream again.
He hears her voice, calling him, he feels her hands on his hair, he sees her emerald eyes watching him. She says something, but he can't hear her.
'Wait! Please! Don't go!' He calls.
He runs after her, but his mother is out of his reach.
OoOoO
At first, those dreams appeared from time to time, once every few nights maybe. Then they got more and more frequent and intense. Maybe if he could see past his bewilderment, pain and grief he would be able to notice that he wasn't the only one affected by this strange phenomenon. Maybe he could do something, anything, before it was too late.
In whole of Paris people were having nightmares more and more often. Not everybody clearly, mostly those vulnerable, unhappy, pained, lonely, somehow compromised. And with those fragile and tortured minds Hawk Moth had a true feast. Akumas whizzed in the air like missiles, bringing havoc into everyday life of the city. Chat Noir and Ladybug hardly had time to sleep at all with this sudden turn of events.
Yet every time Adrien drifted off, he felt that dream coming. God only knew how he needed his rest with all that madness around, but he started to dread the moment of falling asleep. As without failure, every time he closed his eyes he looked up and unmistakably saw the eyes of his mother, silently boring into his soul.
Soon the dreams were ripping his heart apart every night. Every night he was dying slowly watching his mother abandoning him.
OoOoO
Another dream. Flash of saddened green eyes, his mother's hand on his cheek. But now he senses there's someone else. There's someone new with them here.
Soft lips peck on his forehead, and the gleam of sapphire meets his emerald stare of surprise. Her hand, covered in skintight red black-spotted glove brushes his shoulder. Whisper, barely audible by his ear, 'Goodbye, mon Chaton'.
Now he sees the two of them, the blonde and the dark haired. Their eyes wet with tears, sadness curving their lips. Hand in hand they take a step back, and another, and another.
'Take me with you! Please!'
They are already out of his reach, despite his cries, despite his hands trying in vain to seize them.
And with that saddened look in their eyes they dispel into the night just like they were never there.
He throws himself to his knees, felling his head is about to explode with grief, his heart already stopped. There's no way anyone could take so much sorrow at once. He must have died already. But if so then why is he hurting so much?
OoOoO
That was the first time when Adrien dreamed of Ladybug standing by his mother's side. That was the day the hell broke free. That was the day when the Dreamcatcher had arrived.