"Kitty..." Ladybug said, staring into his emerald green eyes, flashing a bright infectious grin.
"You know you're my best friend, right?"
"If it's not me, then who would it be?" Cat Noir grinned.
"Marinette, where were you last night? We were worried sick!" said Sabine.
"O-Oh...I-I was at Alya's house, we needed to complete a school project," Mari lied.
"At least give us a call next time, okay sweetie?" Tom said.
"Yeah," Marinette said, hugging her parents before heading up to her room.
"Marinette..." Tikki said, rubbing Marinette's cheek.
"Tikki! I-I...I-I!" Marinette trailed off as she sobbed uncontrollably.
"I-It's not your fault, Mari!" Tikki said.
Anyone could tell that the girl was broken. Hurt. She fell deeper into her abyss of despair. More tears brimmed her eyes as she screamed, trying not to catch her parents' attention, at least.
"T-Tikki?"
"Yes, Marinette?" Tikki replied.
"W-Wait, no-"
"Spots on," the girl said as Tikki zipped into her earrings.
"Ah!" Marinette's voice echoed throughout Paris as she screamed from the Eiffel Tower.
"It's my fault...I-I..Caused all of this, i-it's all my fault!" she screamed, hoping to let all her worries go away.
"Plagg..." Adrien said, sitting on the couch in his room.
"Kid...I know-"
"Marinette is Ladybug," Adrien cut his kwami off.
"How stupid have I been!" He shouted.
"Those bluebell eyes. That love letter..Ladybug wouldn't write a Valentines Day card to Chat Noir!"
"Kid..." Plagg said.
"I brushed her off...I said those stupid mean things!" Adrien contined screaming.
"Kid," Plagg tried saying again.
"I-I rejected the love of my life...A-And I-I caused her to be put under a spell!" Adrien cried.
"Kid!" Plagg shouted, getting silence from the teenage boy.
"I-It's not your fault! You didn't know, Marinette didn't know either, don't blame yourself!" Plagg replied.
"I know that, Plagg!" Adrien snapped.
"A-And...I know that...Ladybug doesn't like the real me! T-The Chat Noir me, you get it?!"
"Even so...Marinette doesn't just love you because of your looks," Plagg said.
"Then what would it be? That I have this amazing dad who is so full of himself and is this amazing designer?!" Adrien shouted, fuming mad.
"She loves you for you!"
Adrien's eyes widened.
"I'm sure your mom would kill you if she saw you beating yourself up!" Plagg added.
"Plagg, please, d-don't pull my mom into this!" Adrien begged upon hearing about his mother.
"I just want to let you know, that everything isn't your fault," Plagg said.
"I hate myself!"
Adrien and Plagg could hear faint echoes from the outside. It was a girl's voice. A familar voice...
"Did you hear that?" Plagg said.
"No, don't-" Plagg said as he saw Adrien getting ready to transform.
"Claws out!"
Cat Noir's jaw dropped as he saw Ladybug. Something was very different. Her eyes were watery. Her hair was down. She was broken. Anyone could tell. She stood on the edge of the Eiffel Tower. He knew something was wrong.
"L-Ladybug..."
Ladybug's heart nearly stopped.
All she wanted was to apologise to him. And that was what she did, indeed.
"I'm sorry," she said, before jumping off the Eiffel Tower. Cat Noir's eyes widened as panic engulfed him.
"Ladybug!"
Marinette could easily hear him say as she sat under the Eiffel Tower. What a beautiful city it had once been to her. Now, it was a city of sin. A city of despair. A city of hurt and angst. To her.
"Ladybug? I need to talk to you!" Chat Noir shouted, but to no avail. Apparently, Marinette had left the Eiffel Tower and headed home.
-the next day-
"Does anyone know where Marinette is?" asked Ms Bustier.
"She caught a high fever yesterday and can't be in school for a week, Mdm." Alya shot up her hand as she said.
"Will you be taking her homework to her, Alya?"
"Yup," Alya said, smile fading as she was worried sick for her best friend.
Mari had texted Alya the previous night, telling her that she had a high fever of up to 40 degrees Celsius, and had to stay home for the whole day. Marinette locked her door, in order to avoid being caught not at home by her parents. The truth was...
She wasn't sick. She just needed very badly to see Master Fu. She needed to be cured from the spell.
Mari and Tikki hurried their way to the Master Fu's shop. However, to Marinette's sheer terror. A sign was hung on the door which was locked.
'Off on a short trip to get more herbs. Will be back on Monday." the sign read. Marinette stared at the sign mouth agape, not knowing what to do.
"3 more days? I-I can't keep that up, Tikki!" Marinette exclaimed.
"There's no other choice, Mari, Master Fu is the only one who can uncast the spell!" Tikki protested.
"I can't keep up being a Cat Noir, detroying everything I touch!"
"Just think of it as...No...Just don't touch people, and it'll be okay," Tikki consoled.
"How?"
"I don't get life. W-Why does it hate me so much?" Marinette whispered as she buried her head into her knees. She sat at a quiet, yet dark alley near her house.
"Oh my, why aren't you in school, dear?"
Marinette heard a woman's voice say. She looked up to see a woman with emerald green eyes. Which reminded her of...Her Kitty...And long blonde hair...She looked a lot like Adrien. As the woman tried to put a hand on Mari's wound from falling a while ago, which was bare and had no protection, Marinette immediately stopped her.
"P-Please don't touch my skin...Y-You'll disappear..." Marinette said.
"Disappear? C-Could it possibly be...The Cataclysm Spell?" the woman said as Marinette's eyes widened.
"U-Um...N-No! I-It's just a little injury and you'll disappear, I mean you'll run away because the injury..Is just to disgusting..?" Marinette stuttered, not wanting her identity to be exposed.
"You're a miraculous holder..." said the woman as she stared at Mari.
"H-How d-do you know that?" Mari asked.
"Master Fu taught me everything. But I think you'll need him to get it treated too, you see...I can't treat your spell, but I can treat your wound." the woman explained as she bandaged Mari's wound. Mari flinched as she touched her wound.
"It's okay, I can touch your skin."
"You were a miraculous holder?"
"Yes. Of the peacock miraculous." the woman replied.
"How come I've never seen you before?" asked Mari.
"I-I've just returned to Paris. I-I'm here to see my son..."
"Oh...I see...What's your son's name, I'm sure it's a beautiful name," Mari beamed.
"Adrien. Adrien Agreste," the woman said. Marinette's jaw dropped as she dwelled on those words. She couldn't believe it. This person was the mother of one of the two boys, Chat and Adrien, who broke her heart.
This person...Is Adrien's mother?
A/N: New chapter as promised. I hope you enjoyed it and thank you for reading! I have a question...Would you prefer Adrinette or MariChat? Let me know in the reviews! Thank you for reading. Have a lovely day!
