Her navy blue locks were scattered beneath her, resembling her life's state, in a fit of rage she had hacked her hair off, furious at herself, her actions, the outcome of Hawkmoth and the identity of Chat Noir. She didn't want to be recognised anymore, her miraculous was stuffed away angrily in her apartment and now her badly hacked her hair made her unrecognisable, which was something she needed, looking in the mirror one last time, Marinnette vowed to make a trip to the hairdressers to fix her amateur job. She placed her scissors on the bathroom sink and limped out into her now half empty apartment. She had moved in only a week ago after everything had happened seeking an escape away from Alya and her family and worst of all Adrien, she was now residing on the outskirts of Paris where her friends or family barely visited.
Marinnette stared at the bags of clothes she had splurged some of her savings on, needing a change in appearance and everything else, she needed her outside to resemble her inside and she needed to be unrecognisable to anyone who ever knew her or loved her, especially after Chat noir knew her identity after she had almost beaten his father half to death in a fit of pure rage when he had hurt Chat.
She could no longer handle being Ladybug or herself, the world had decided to destroy her in that moment of catching Hawkmoth, her destiny was to end in a path of destruction and pain and Marinnette was only starting to get back up on her feet. Maybe in a few years she'd be ready to see Chat, Adrien, her family or even Alya but for now, she couldn't handle the pain she had handed to them all on a silver platter almost as if it was on purpose. She had never resented herself more than she did in that current time frame.
At least Paris wouldn't even need her again, she sourly thought, half relieved and angered at the city itself for needing her in the first place.
Three years, it had been three years since Hawkmoth, since Ladybug and Chat and since her absolute isolation before she saw him again, him with his arm wrapped around in a friendly gesture around Ayla, ironically enough staring at the Chat noir and Ladybug statue situated in the park they had once fought in against an akuma.
She stopped in her tracks almost as though time had stopped itself, her short hair blew gently in the wind messing itself up, her phone was gripped within her calloused hands from endless designing and sewing, her heart hammered in her chest and her breathing came out in short shallow pants as if she'd ran a marathon.
She had thought she was over them, forgotten them, pushed them back in the deepest depths of her mind, but here she was on the verge on tears from just staring at the backs of the duo.
And to make matters worse, he looked over his shoulder almost as though he could sense her stare, his green and now dull eyes clicked with her own blue cold eyes.
She was the one who had made them look so lifeless she thought sadly, trying to think on what to do, should she run? Or put on her tough and cold act and approach them? In the three years she had taken the same route to her small company building and in that time she hadn't seen them here until now.
What should she do?
What should he do?
His long lost friend and Ladybug was right behind him, meters away staring, should he alert Alya who was still chatting away? Should he ignore her? Run to her and hold her?
Adrien was staring at the ghost of Marinette the once shy and stammering girl he had cherished who had turned out to be Ladybug his partner in saving Paris, who had brought down his own father.
The girl who's life he had ruined by one nasty comment he hadn't meant to let slip past his lips.
"You've ruined my life. Marinette." The phrase echoed in his guilty mind.
The girl, who's eyes were now cold and empty all because of him and Chat, the girl who didn't even resemble herself, Adrien wouldn't have even noticed her if she hadn't stopped in shock to stare at him and Alya.
Her navy blue hair was now cut short into a trendy undercut that suited her well, instead of her usual bright colours she once wore were now replaced with a pair of black ripped jeans and a crimson red shirt with strategically placed slits on the sides. She didn't look like Marinette, she had looked like a completely different person and perhaps even more mature.
Adrien couldn't help but think it was because of him, Chat and lastly his father, the thought almost had him on the verge of tears.
Marinette Dupain-Cheng, hadn't been seen around Paris for three solid years, Marinette Dupain-Cheng hadn't contacted her parents, Alya, Nino, Adrien or even Chat in three solid years and neither had Ladybug.
Yet on the one day he had decided to visit the familiar statue of his alter ego and her own with Alya he'd come across her and by the looks of it she'd come across them.
However, before Adrien could attempt to make contact with her or even tell Ayla, the girl was running, running from him, running from the Park and Paris once again.
Adrien so badly wanted to chase her to tell her to come back, to speak to them to go back to her old self, to fix things between them all, to come back into their lives and to accompany Chat noir on his rare patrols once again.
Yet he failed, she was gone once again, out of his life, probably never to be found again unless it would be by accident, next time he told himself, next time he'd do all that.
"Are you okay?" Ayla's question registered in his mind, snapping back to stare at her, Adrien sighed.
"No, I miss them both so bad," Adrien answered referring to Marinette and her alter ego.
"Me too, I miss them both," replied Ayla completely unaware that they were behind her moments ago, missing them both just has hard as all of her repressed feelings reawakened into blind panic urging her to run.