"Tikki!" She practically screamed. "Tikki, please!"
The Kwami came flying out of her hiding place by her hip, frantically making her way towards her. "What's wrong? What's the matter? Is everything alright? Are you okay, Marinette?"
"Tikki, the scarf was exactly the same. Exactly. The. Same," she hissed through her teeth.
It felt as if the whole world was crashing down on her, like everything was caving in and she had so little room to breathe. She took in large, gasping breaths, trying to bring as much air into her lungs.
She had run.
She hadn't even bothered to look at his face, hadn't bothered to see his expression, just put one leg in front of her, then another, and suddenly she wasn't in the school anymore. She couldn't even remember leaving the building.
Her body was shaking, goose bumps rising to her skin, yet an entire sheen of sweat coated her body. She wobbled her way to her chaise, legs unable to support her weight anymore.
She collapsed.
There was a buzzing in her ear, like something was trying to get out of it, but she didn't know what. She shook her head to try and stop it. Were the girls memories finally coming back? Was she remembering who she had been?
She clamped her hands over her ears, rocking herself back and forth. It wouldn't stop, it wouldn't go away! Nothing new-old, whatever-was coming to her mind. Why wouldn't the ringing stop? She ground her teeth. Fuzzy images flashed through her head, too quick to make any sense of. Spots of color, blips of sound. But nothing she could hold onto. It was like trying to grasp water. She nearly fell over as if the world was a table and it had unexpectedly lost a leg.
She needed to stop this, to make it go away. "Tikki, please," she begged.
The Kwami hugged her shoulder, rubbing little circles on her back. "What do you want me to do, Marinette?"
An idea flashed through her mind, she shut her eyes.
"I need to see my diary."
The world was spinning, colors mixing into one another, sounds melting into nothing. Gravity pushed her sideways and she fell down.
Down, down down.
Her head hurt. Everything hurt really. But especially her head.
Her muscles were sore from flinging herself over rooftops, her head hurt from the killer migraine that decided to befriend her (intimately she considered) on this particular outing, her teeth felt loose from all her rough landings, knees aching in protest.
But she needed to move, needed to escape.
She wasn't sure what from.
What am I doing here?
A stabbing pain cut it's way through her head and she nearly shrieked.
Seriously, why would she have done this with such a splitting headache?
She doesn't even remember transforming.
She threw her yo-yo angrily. What the hell was she doing out here, dammit?
God, her chest felt as if it had been ripped open.
She landed on the rooftop of some random hotel and slammed her yo-yo onto the ground, unable to take anymore of this. Her body refused to hold her up and she came slamming into the tiling, but that was fine she decided. She curled herself up into a ball and let herself take the deep breaths she deserved.
Something cracked several meters away and her head snapped up.
"What do you want?" She groaned, forcing her body into a standing position after snatching up her yo-yo. "Dammit, why'd you have to come now?"
Oh no. Standing had not been a good idea.
"What a warm greeting, prey," he sneered. "It's nice to know you missed me."
"Just answer the question," she ground out.
It felt like everything was tilting sideways, her body suddenly lurching forward. Her arms flailed widely for something to grab, but nothing but air greeted her. She stumbled, foot stepping forward, only just catching her fall.
There were two Chat Blancs standing in front of her now, weaving in and out of her vision. She clamped a hand over her head, squeezing her eyes shut. "Stop moving," she murmured.
"I'm not."
She opened her eyes at that, looking up and noting that he still stood a good distance away from her. Yet, his body (bodies?) was swaying from side to side, blurring around the edges. Shaking her head, she sank to her knees.
"Can't you just leave me alone for the day? I don't think I can handle another fight." She paused, considering it for a moment. "I'd still beat you though," she added. If it came to it, she would do it. She'd have to.
She froze.
He was still Akumatized.
She had to fix that.
Grinding her teeth, she forced herself back up into a standing position. For now, her headache or whatever it was not important, she needed to save him.
Damn that stupid cat!
He watched her as she struggled back to her feet, keeping his distance. Why in the world hadn't he taken the opportunity to attack? She eyed him, studied the relaxed way he stood. The only sign of tension was in the way his shoulders hunched forward.
She took a step forward-
"Do you remember yet?"
-and she stopped.
He asked her this question every time they'd met and to be frank, she was sick of it. How did he even know she had forgotten her memories? It wasn't like he knew her citizen form.
She stopped.
No, no.
No.
She wouldn't think about that, not right now. It was better to go with the simpler question.
"How do you even know about that?" Much better.
"I know everything."
She glared. This was easier to think about she decided. "That's what you said last time!" And she remembered last time, remembered the way he had stared at her then, a hard expression settled over his face. His eyes had felt as if they were piercing right through her.
He ignored her. "Do you remember or not?"
She looked at him, wondering what she should say. If she said yes, she'd be lying and he'd probably find out. Or he'd take her word for it and start attacking her. If she said no, he would get angry, probably yell at her, and then he'd start attacking her. Ugh, she really didn't want to fight. Her head pounded and she swore she was going to blackout in the next few minutes. His body refused to merge back into one, which meant that probably wasn't a good sign for her.
She took a step back, hand gripping her yo-yo.
But.
She needed to help him.
"Well?" He shouted impatiently.
Okay, no. She had her limits. She knew she did, but she still wanted to help. But right now, her body was too much of a hindrance. She wouldn't be able to do any good like this.
She bit her lip, taking another step back. Even if-if!-he did know her civilian-self, it wasn't like he had visited her in the night and tried to kill her. If she escaped right now, she'd probably be safe until the next encounter. She'd most likely be in better shape too. She took another step back.
His body blurred and then he wasn't standing in front of her anymore. She yelped. Something gripping at her arms hard, keeping her there. Sharp nails dug into her suit.
Oh.
It was him.
Shit!
She tried to yank away from his hands, tried to throw her head back to hit him in the jaw, but apparently doing even that much was too much. Her vision darkened, knees giving out, but she didn't hit the ground. His tight hold on her kept her in the air.
It felt like her arms were being crushed, cracking and breaking from the pressure. Her head sagged forward. Why was she so weak? Angry tears rushed to her eyes, but they just made everything ache.
God, her chest hurt.
Why wasn't he saying anything? Wasn't this usually where the villain shows signs of having at least a little compassion, asking why the hero was so weak or whatever.
"Let go of me," she hissed.
"Not until you answer my question."
"At least let me sit."
This asshole.
His grip tightened around her for a minute before he lowered her to the ground, letting her adjust herself so she could sit crisscross. However, he kept a hand on her shoulder, squeezing her collarbone uncomfortably.
At least the world had decided to stop spinning. Unfortunately, his twin continued to sway in the corner of her vision. She tried to blink it away, but it only made it worse.
"God, why are you such a jerk?" She looked up at him, not even bothering to hide the disdain on her face.
He grinned at her.
Well.
She hadn't been expecting that.
"Do you always wear your heart on your sleeve?" He quipped.
Huffing, she answered. "Only when people like you deserve it." She crossed her arms for extra measure, ignoring the sharp sting of his claws. Everything leaned sideways for a second, but she managed to stayed put.
"People like me?"
"Assholes," she answered.
He barked out a laugh and she jerked back in surprise. She hissed as his claws dug tighter into her shoulder.
"You sure don't tiptoe around my feelings."
Something about that phrasing made her freeze. She had heard that before. Somewhere. She looked back up at him, studying his face. He had a straight nose, sharp jawline. It looked vaguely familiar, but for whatever reason she couldn't place it.
He was so close, she realized. His body was leaning forward so he could keep his hand on her. She could see the different tints of red in his eyes, how his iris darkened as it neared the pupil.
They had been green at some point.
Her head pounded sharply.
She tried to imagine them green, wincing through the pain.
"What, no reply?"
The world faltered.
She remembered. The conversation she had had with Adrien so many months ago.
"Why do you have to be such a prick?" She croaked out, echoing the words she had said all that time ago.
And then she realized. He did know her civilian-self.
And she knew his.
His eyes focused on her intensely, pupils shrinking into slits. He stared at her as he licked his lips. He released her before crouching in front of her, a faint ache left behind on her shoulder.
"Princess?"
The world went black.
"Ladybug," he begged. "Please."
She blinked down at him, red eyes looking up at her desperately. Her hands were clamped around his throat. Her breath hitched.
What was she doing?!
His hands gripped at hers, keeping her in place so she couldn't stop herself. Tears were falling down her cheeks, landing on his face with tiny splashes. When had she started crying?
"Chat?" She rasped. "What's happening?"
"Destroy the bell," he answered.
Her hands were shaking when she reached for it, fingers wrapping around it weakly. She tugged. It popped off.
"Hurry," he pleaded.
She held it in her hand, lifted it high above her head, and smashed in into the ground.
A butterfly came out, wings fluttering frantically.
What was she supposed to do again?
"Yo-yo."
Her hand flew to her hip, taking the yo-yo. She aimed it for the butterfly and it caught it.
When she tapped the center, wings like soft cotton expanded into the wind and then it was flying.
The words came pouring from her mouth before she even thought to ask. "Bye-bye little butterfly."
A light pressure squeezed her wrists and she looked down, seeing him lying beneath her. His breathing was rough and shaky and he was coughing harshly, but he was smiling at her, the sides of his masked crinkling.
"You know the rest," he whispered.
And she did.
Like before, the words came to her and, just like that, it was Chat Noir looking up at her, eyes as green and lovely as life itself.
so i haven't looked over this chapter much in a month or two so sorry if it seems...worse than the others. next chapter should be the end if i can eventually write that one part i've been meaning to rip
sorry it takes me so long to update! i'm more of an artist than i am a writer ;-;