This is by far my favorite chapter to write and I hope you enjoy it too!
Chat Noir was watering the plants, humming to himself, when he heard footsteps behind him. He set down the watering can and turned to see Marinette. "Princess?" he said, edging towards her. "Did you come to see my claw-some watering skills? Sorry to disappoint, but the show's almost over. You can always come back tomorrow though."
"Chat..." Marinette lowered her head and hid her hands behind her back, the way she always did when she was nervous. Chat Noir immediately sensed that something was wrong.
"You okay?" he asked, putting a paw on her shoulder. "If you need to talk about something, I'm right here. Don't hold back."
"Can we sit down?"
"Of course, my lady."
Marinette and Chat Noir sat down on the chairs outside. They were kept there in case Marinette had guests up on the balcony which was rare, but now was a good time to have them. She and Chat Noir sat across from her almost as if they were in a formal meeting. He patiently waited for her to speak while Marinette tried to organize her thoughts.
"Chat," Marinette finally began. "It's about you."
"Me?" Chat Noir's ears perked up. "Is this about that pillow of yours I destroyed? I swear it was an accident. My claws just kinda got stuck and by the time I pulled them out, the whole thing was shred to pieces."
"Pillow? No, nothing like that," Marinette shook her head, though now she knew what happened to her favorite pillow. "It's a bit more serious. Tikki and I think we might have found a way to learn about Prince Adrien's whereabouts, but it involves magic. And that magic has to be cast on you." Chat Noir said nothing and Marinette took this as a cue to explain.
"While I doubt you did anything to hurt Prince Adrien, it's hard to deny that you two aren't connected in some way. The fact that you appeared with amnesia when he disappeared... it's not a coincidence. There's a chance you might have gotten caught up in the spell Prince Adrien was trying to cast. Tikki found a way to reverse it, but..."
"But what?"
"It's risky. Tikki's said it time and time again: Magic is unpredictable. We can't be sure of the spell's effects especially since we don't know how the original spell affected you. We're not even sure why Prince Adrien would be casting that spell in the first place. That's why I want to give you the-"
"I'll do it."
"You didn't even let me finish," Marinette retorted, slightly dumbfounded at Chat Noir's quick response.
"You don't need to. I know what choice needs to be made."
"There isn't a choice that needs to be made! Chat, you need to decide what's best for you and not anyone else. I can tell by the look in your eyes. You weren't thinking of yourself when you said that."
Chat Noir reached out his paw and brushed a stray piece of hair behind Marinette's ear, giving her a sweet smile. "Marinette..." he said quietly, green eyes meeting blue. "What's best for you is always what's best for me. I'm selfish that way."
"Please Chat..."
"Everything will be fine, my lady. If you're watching over me, I know I'm in good hands."
Marinette's lip puckered out as she tried not to cry. She understood the magnitude of his promise. She reached over and hugged Chat Noir, her head resting in his shoulder. She wrapped her arms around his torso and squeezed tight as if she was afraid he might disappear again. "Chat..." she breathed, her voice slightly shaky. "Thank you."
"Anything for you, princess."
Chat Noir held her close and rested his paw on top of her soft, silky hair. He could hear her heart beat loudly while her body shook. Her skin was warm to the touch just as his probably was. Seeing Marinette like this only affirmed his decision. To make Marinette's dreams come true, he would submit to his own demise if necessary. This hug might be the last he ever got once Prince Adrien came back into the picture so Chat Noir would savor every moment of it.
"We shouldn't waste any time then," Marinette said weakly as she pulled away from the hug. "Tikki's waiting for us. If we're lucky, we'll learn some valuable information to tell King Gabriel tomorrow and we'll be one step closer to the truth."
Chat Noir gave her a cheshire style grin. "I'll follow your lead then."
When they arrived back at Prince Adrien's grave, there was nobody as expected. The catnip Marinette had thrown out by the entrance was still sitting in the same spot when they arrived. Everything was exactly the same aside from the clouds which had gone from a pale white to a darker grey. Marinette prayed it wouldn't rain. She didn't need any more worries.
"We'll cast the spell in front of Prince Adrien's memorial," Marinette explained to Chat Noir. "There's plenty of room to draw the rune and hopefully it will bring us good luck." Hiding inside her purse was a piece of chalk needed for the rune and the spellbook was clutched tightly under her arm. Having the items on her person made her more anxious even though they couldn't do any harm on their own.
They walked to the statue which cast a looming shadow over the area. With the change of weather, it had suddenly become ominous. Prince Adrien's face wasn't quite as bright. It almost seemed foreboding. Petals were scattered across the ground, but even they seemed to have lost their luster.
Marinette opened up her purse and Tikki came flying out, chalk in hand. Neither said anything. Tikki went to hand the chalk to Marinette when Chat Noir shouted, "Wait! I want to do it. I mean, I have to cast the spell on myself, right? It only makes sense I should draw the rune too just in case."
"Just in case," Tikki nodded as she dropped the chalk in Chat Noir's paw.
"Can I have the spellbook?" Chat Noir asked, turning to Marinette. She bit her cheek and reluctantly handed it over. As much as she wanted to see Prince Adrien again, she didn't want to risk Chat Noir's safety. If she lost him for good, she didn't know what she'd do. Already, all kinds of negative outcomes were running through her head.
After tossing away his cloak, Chat Noir knelt down onto the brick and opened the book to the spell. Its rune was complex, but nothing he couldn't copy. He carefully drew the illustration from the book onto the ground, making sure to include every detail. He didn't want a sloppy error to lead to a greater mistake. Chat Noir wanted to come back to Marinette in one piece, so he would make sure everything was perfect.
"All done," Chat Noir announced as he wiped the chalk dust off his paws. "Does it look okay?"
"It matches the one in the book," Marinette nodded. "Next is to recite the spell, but now's the time to call it quits. We can always go back home and figure out something else. You don't have to do this!" she shouted, her distress obvious. She became more unsure with each passing moment.
"Chat Noir would never back down from a fight and he'd never back down from this either," Chat smirked, one hand on his hip. "A little magic never hurt anyone. It'll all be over before you can even blink."
Though he spoke confidently, Chat Noir's stomach was doing flips. He didn't believe in his own words. "This is what I get for wishing to get my memory back," he internally groaned. "I'll finally get the answers I've been searching for, but I hope it's all worth it. Marinette better have the biggest smile on her face when this is over."
"I'm going to hold you to that, chaton," Marinette smiled although it was forced. She looked up at Prince Adrien's statue and silently prayed. "Please don't let anything happen to Chat. He's the most important person in my life, cat or not. If you're out there watching Adrien, please keep him safe..."
Chat Noir picked up the spellbook and cleared his throat. "I'm going to start!" he announced, giving Marinette and Tikki a thumbs up. The girls nodded and carefully backed away. Tikki advised staying far away from the magic to guarantee they wouldn't be affected by it. Sometimes magic had a bad habit of latching onto whatever was nearby.
"Here I go," Chat Noir thought, book tight in his hands. "It's now or never! Prince Adrien, you'd better be worth it!"
He began to recite the spell, trying to pronounce each word as best he could. The moment he started to speak, the rune glowed a brilliant white. Taking this as a good sign, Chat Noir continue to read the spell, his voice becoming louder and more confident.
The wind began to pick up, but it wasn't a violent wind. It was gentle and pleasant as it picked up the flower petals off the ground and began to swirl around Chat Noir. As the wind passed through the rune, it gained a white, luminescent glow. The scent of flowers filled the air and calmed Chat Noir's nerves. A warm, almost ticklish feeling came over him as the wind brushed past his body. The warmth continued to spread until he could feel it from his ears to his toes.
Marinette and Tikki watched from a nearby bush, stunned by the beauty of the scene, yet equally terrified. Surrounded by white lights and flower petals, Chat Noir looked like an angel descended from heaven against the grey backdrop of the sky. But the spell wasn't complete yet and there was still much that could go wrong.
An ancient chant filled the atmosphere, beating against Chat Noir's ears. The voices sounded sweet as they echoed around his head. Chat Noir felt his eyelids grow heavy, but he tried to keep them open as he continued to read. The white light was so comforting. It made him tired and it was difficult to resist the urge to sleep.
Nearing the final lines of the spell, Chat Noir took a deep breath and chanted them loudly, holding his paw to the sky. "Please work!" he begged as the spell's last words left his tongue.
Suddenly, there was a bright flash of white lightning that struck Chat Noir head on. He collapsed to the ground, feeling like his body had been hit by a giant boulder. His mind was starting to go dumb as he desperately tried to claw his way out of the rune, but found himself trapped. The warmth from before had become even stronger, tempting him into a deep slumber.
Chat Noir's eyes began to flicker shut as he gazed out at a screaming figure from the other side of the ruin. He weakly held up his paw and smiled. If she was the last thing he ever saw, death wouldn't be so bad.
"Marinette..."
When the rune exploded in a blast of light, Marinette began to scream. "Chat!" she cried, her shouts tearing her throat apart. "Chat! Chat!" The wind picked up and threw dirt at her face, but she didn't notice. Instead, she raced towards the rune, begging for Chat Noir to be okay.
"Marinette, stop!" Tikki cried, tugging on the girl's dress. "Don't get too close or you'll be hurt too!"
"Chat!" Marinette's screams echoed through the air. Salty tears ran down her face accompanied by violent sobs. She had bitten her lip so hard that it had begun to bleed. Her head started to pound as she cried again. "Chat! Chat!" She collapsed onto her knees, red streaks down her face. And then she heard the sickening thud of something hit the ground and her mouth went dry.
"Chat..."
Marinette turned her body away, not able to look at what she feared was lying in the center of the rune. "Tikki..." she sobbed, clutching her body. "Chat... H-He's... h-he's..." Marinette could imagine it all. The cold, lifeless body of her best friend, still a cheeky smile on his face. She didn't want to bury somebody she loved again. Why had she agreed to this? This was all her fault. He sacrificed himself for her selfish wishes. He had been so good to her yet he had been taken away. It wasn't fair. It just wasn't fair...
But hope was not lost. Chat Noir slowly began to regain consciousness despite his fierce headache. His body ached all over. He thought his muscles might rip apart if he tried to move. Clutching his head, he tried to recount what just happened. "I was casting that spell..." he thought, running his hand through his hair. "And then there was that explosion and..."
That was when he noticed there was something different about him.
His heart skipped a beat as he held his hands in front of his face. Not paws, but actual human hands. "What are these?" he thought in awe. "I've got... human hands?" Then, he touched his head and didn't find the usual cat ears, but human ears on the side of his head. He looked behind him and there was no tail. Taking a closer look at his body, Chat Noir realized that even his clothes had changed.
He wasn't wearing his usual outfit. Instead of his signature black suit, he was wearing a white tunic and tan pants. Chat Noir touched the area around his eyes and only felt the warmth of his skin which meant "My mask... it's gone! But what... what happened?"
Chat Noir forced himself to sit up and admired his new body. "I'm..." he thought, teeming with excitement. "I'm completely human! I've got human hands and feet. There's no cat ears or tail. I'm not Chat Noir anymore, I'm..."
He spied a silver ring on his finger which looked eerily similar to the black ring that appeared whenever he transformed. "It's my miraculous, but why isn't it activated? It's always black when I'm in my human form. This doesn't make any sense... What's happening? What did that spell do?"
Chat Noir's thoughts were interrupted by the sounds of heavy sobbing in the distance. "Marinette!" he remembered in alarm. Ignoring the raging pain in his body, Chat Noir sprinted towards her. The sound of his lady crying was more painful than anything else.
"Marinette!" he shouted as he hugged her from behind. He threw himself against her back and pulled her close, his arms locked against her chest. "Marinette, I'm okay! See? I'm alive! You don't need to cry!" As he rested his head against her shoulder, her crying began to calm.
The sound of a deep, familiar voice filled her heart with hope.
Feeling his hands around her torso, Marinette grabbed them, embracing their warmth. "He's alive..." she sobbed, a rush of relief flooding over her. "He's really alive. Chat..." But then she noticed the hands she was holding were not the hands of her kitty. They weren't sharp like claws, but instead soft like normal hands. Marinette quickly turned around and saw a much different face than she was expecting.
"C-Chat?" she stammered as her heart stopped.
"It's me," he smiled, caressing her cheek to wipe away the tears. "I'm right here, princess. There's no need to cry anymore."
"B-But you can't be Chat Noir," Marinette said, shaking her head. Her face was pale, but her cheeks were still flushed. "There's n-no way..."
"What do you mean?"
"You're... you're Prince Adrien."
Marinette had seen that face a thousand times in her dreams and could recognize it anywhere. The boy sitting in front of her was Prince Adrien yet he claimed to be Chat Noir. Prince Adrien cocked his head to the side and frowned, confused by Marinette's words. In that moment, she knew they were one and the same. Only her kitty could have expression like that.
"It was you all along," Marinette smiled, setting her head against Prince Adrien's chest. "This whole time I thought you were dead, but you were by my side instead. Adrien... Chat Noir... I'm so glad you're okay! You're alive!" She began to cry again, but this time they were tears of joy.
"Adrien?" Chat Noir thought as he rubbed Marinette's back, trying to keep her calm. "Even after I've narrowly escaped the claws of death and somehow became human in the process, she's still thinking of him. What can I do? She loves him too much... She's even confused the two of us. Marinette, why do you tease me like this? Why pretend I'm your prince when I know I can never be especially at a time like this?"
"Marinette," Chat Noir whispered softly. "I'm sorry. I don't remember anything about Prince Adrien. And I don't even understand what's happening. All I know is that I'm here alive and holding you with human hands. That's all I could ever ask for so please don't cry. I'm sorry I let you down."
"I'm not sure he understands!" Tikki piped up. "That's why I brought this!" She flew into Marinette's purse and pulled out a small hand mirror stolen from Marinette's vanity. She held it front of Chat Noir's face and said, "Take a look at this!"
"What? This... it can't... Is this really me?" Chat Noir asked, admiring the reflection. A stranger's face was looking back at him. His blonde hair was parted neatly on both sides. Instead of slitted cat eye's, they looked like a normal human's. His skin was slightly tanned with some redness around the cheeks, revealing what had been hiding under that mask for so long. Something about this face bothered him. Chat Noir could swear he had seen it before.
And then it struck him.
He turned and gazed up at the statue of Prince Adrien. It was the same face. Which meant he, Chat Noir, was actually Prince Adrien.
It took a moment for that realization to sink it.
Chat Noir or rather, Adrien, went silent. "I'm the missing prince?" he thought. "H-how? I always assumed I was a worthless alley cat, but I'm a prince?"
"Plagg!" Tikki shouted, jolting Adrien from his thoughts. Marinette pulled away from him also startled by Tikki's cries. They watched the kwami fly over to the rune and hover around something lying on the ground. It appeared to be a black kitten who was currently unconscious.
"Plagg!" Tikki cried, tears now spilling from her eyes. "Please wake up! Plagg!" She nudged the body, praying for a response.
Marinette and Adrien raced over in worry. They had never seen Tikki so upset before. "What's wrong?" Marinette asked, kneeling beside the kitten. "Tikki, who's this? Is he okay?" Carefully, she picked him up and held the body in front of Tikki. It felt cold which wasn't a good sign.
"Plagg!"
"T-Tikki..." The kitten's eyes slowly opened before closing again. It seemed like he was in a fight for life.
"Plagg!" Tikki exclaimed, grabbing her friend's paw. "You're okay! Don't close your eyes! I'm right here. We're all right here."
"Tikki... I... I..."
"What Plagg? Please don't die on me. Keep fighting!"
"I... I'm hungry. Got any camembert?"
"You idiot," Tikki smiled through her tears. "We haven't seen each other in hundreds of years and you almost died, but all you ever think about is food."
"Yeah, so do you have any?"
"Mind introducing us?" Marinette interjected. "Since I see he's clearly okay, I don't think we've ever had the pleasure of meeting. I'm Marinette otherwise known as Ladybug. You must be Tikki's little friend. I've heard so much about you."
"That's me!" Plagg boasted proudly, sitting up in Marinette's palms. He suddenly seemed to be all better. "Call me Plagg. I'm the lord of destruction or rather, Chat Noir's kwami." Plagg's eyes traveled past Marinette's face to Adrien who was standing behind her. A huge smile erupted on the kwami's face as he left Marinette's hands and gave Adrien a giant hug on the cheek. "Speaking of that idiot, you're okay! You owe me so much camembert when we get home after this ordeal!"
"Wait!" Adrien shouted, peeling Plagg off his face. "I don't think we've met before."
"Ha ha, very funny, kid. Stop yanking my chain."
"..."
"Adrien? What's with that vacant look? You're starting to scare me."
"So I am the prince..."
"Of course you're the prince. Did you knock your head on something? You're acting funny."
Marinette put her arm around Adrien's shoulder and bit her lip. "Prince Adrien has amnesia. He doesn't remember anything about being a prince. For the past year, he was Chat Noir and the entire kingdom thinks he's dead! Maybe you could help us fill in the details. Until he found me, he was running around as a street cat. Why did Adrien turn into Chat Noir?"
"A prince like him surviving in the streets of Paris?" Plagg howled, slapping his side. "That sounds priceless. I wish I could'da been there to see it. But as a cat, eh? Guess that spell really was bad news. I wanted to say I told you so, so I will: Told ya so!"
"Plagg!" Tikki hissed, scolding the kwami. "Adrien is having a tough time adjusting so please don't be rude. He hasn't recovered his memory yet. Up until now, he and Ladybug were fighting akuma and trying to defeat Hawk Moth while you have so conveniently been absent. Adrien should be the one harassing you instead of the other way around."
"It's his fault! I told him not to cast that spell. I knew something would go wrong. It sounds like there was a mix-up and he somehow gained my kwami powers in combination with powers of his miraculous. And to top it off, he transformed into a cat! This is why I said not to mess with runes. Ancient magic should always be a no-go!"
"Enough fighting, you two!" Marinette laughed, petting Plagg on the head. "All that matters is that everyone is okay now. There's no need to fight, right Adrien?"
It took Adrien a second to respond before he curtly nodded. He wasn't used to Marinette calling him anything other than Chat Noir. He was still having a hard time believing his name wasn't Chat Noir. It was like the story of the frog prince except he had been a cat and there were no kisses involved. But prince or not, he had a special princess that had managed to save the day just like she always did.
"What are we still doing here!" Marinette stood up and released Plagg from her hands. "We need to tell King Gabriel that Adrien is alive! We need to tell the entire kingdom!"
Marinette's heart was still aflutter whenever she glanced at Prince Adrien. She could still hardly believe he was the same dopey cat that she had been living with. She was so happy that she wanted to tell all of Paris!
"King Gabriel?" Adrien said hesitantly.
"That's right. He's your father."
"My father..." Adrien remembered Hawk Moth's cold glare and a chill ran through his spine. Since becoming Chat Noir, he had been running away from his own father. King Gabriel had selfishly placed his own kingdom in danger and threatened Marinette. In Chat Noir's eyes, King Gabriel could only be a villain. How could he now see him as a father?"
"Adrien..."
There was a faint gust of wind that blew the clouds away, letting through stray rays of sunshine. Marinette straightened out her dress and tugged on her pigtails nervously. Her heart was beating so fast, she thought it might explode, but she had made a promise to herself and she intended to keep it.
"Marinette? What is it?"
"I...I..." The words wouldn't come out. Marinette wanted to say them so badly, but they made her feel dirty. She had rejected Chat Noir and broken his heart. To say "I love you" to him as Prince Adrien was a betrayal of both his and her feelings. Of course she loved Chat Noir, but he was always a friend. And she loved Prince Adrien, but he had always been unattainable to her. Now that she could have them both, Marinette didn't know what to do.
"Marinette?" Adrien noticed the uneasiness on her face. Prince or not, he wasn't going to let his lady be sad. He might not be Chat Noir anymore, but he would forever be her partner and her friend. There might be a palace waiting for him, but he preferred to be by her side. Wanting to comfort the girl, Adrien grabbed her hand, giving it a squeeze.
"Don't be sad," he whispered, running the back of his hand along her cheek. "This is a dream come true. I've finally discovered who I truly am because you helped me break the spell. We should be celebrating!" He let out a quiet cheer, but it didn't seem to amuse Marinette.
"I'm sorry," Marinette said softly, in a voice almost too quiet to hear. She hung her head in shame and started to cry again. "I'm so selfish. I want you all to myself, but I don't deserve you. I-I rejected you and-"
"It's okay, Marinette. This doesn't have to change anything. Even if it hurts, you have the right to reject me. I want you to find your prince charming and be happy. That's all I could ever want. I finally found my own dream. It's for you to be happy."
"But my prince charming is-"
"..." Adrien turned away from her, his heart stinging at the reminder. He claimed to be okay, but it wouldn't change the fact that he was the loser.
"My prince charming is you."
And in that moment, Adrien felt like he had died and gone to heaven. He, the same boy that had pining after Marinette for months, had actually been her prince charming the entire time. He had been his own worst enemy. But here he was, gifted with a human body and the face of her prince. And although he couldn't remember anything about his past, the name had to at least count for something.
"I'm... your prince charming?" Adrien repeated carefully, making sure he had heard every word correctly. Then a smile spread across his face as he began to whoop and holler. "I'm her prince charming... I'm her prince! Marinette, you've been in love with me this whole time?"
"Well yes, but-"
Her words were cut off as Adrien swept her off her feet and hoisted her high into the air as he spun her around in a circle. "Adrien!" Marinette cried. "What are you doing?" Her question could barely be heard above the prince's joyous laughter. "Adrien! Put me down!"
"Sorry, princess!" Adrien apologized, returning Marinette to the ground. "I just got so excited!"
"About what?"
"Don't you see? We can finally be together now. We've been in love with each other this whole time. There's no need to hold back anymore. Marinette, I can proudly say I'm in love with you and I have been almost since the moment we met. Will you return my feelings this time?"
It was strange to hear Chat Noir's words coming from Prince Adrien's mouth. They were the same, but Marinette still struggled to wrap her head around it. And the feeling of guilt kept growing in the pit of her stomach. Despite her furious blush which was an obvious indicator of her feelings, Marinette felt conflicted.
"How are you okay with this?" she smiled sadly. "Isn't it wrong of me to be in love with you as Prince Adrien and not as Chat Noir? I was in love with an illusion of you from only one meeting, but not the real you I saw everyday. How can that be true love?"
"Why can't it be? You were always by my side and acted as my closest ally. We were best friends and partners. Isn't that a form of love? It is to me. Marinette, I love you more than anything in the world and you know that. Chat Noir, Prince Adrien, it's all me. So won't you love me too?"
He looked at her with bright, emerald eyes just like on the day they met. Suddenly, Marinette remembered why she had fallen in love with him in the first place. "It was his kindness and that smile," she thought. "And as Chat Noir, neither of those things changed. I tried to deny that I could ever feel anything for Chat because I was so focused on Prince Adrien, but perhaps the things I loved about Prince Adrien were the things I loved about Chat too..."
"I do love you!" Marinette exclaimed as she threw her arms around Prince Adrien in a warm embrace. "I'm sorry for hurting your feelings before, but now I know I've been in love with you this entire time." Marinette felt Adrien's hands wrap around her body, pulling her close.
Their foreheads touched, though she was slightly shorter than him. Both were beaming, unable to contain their delight. Their cheeks were painted pink and their breath hot from the final realization of their feelings. They laughed at their silliness until their eyes met and both went quiet. Adrien's hands left Marinette's back and traveled up to her chin where they rested delicately underneath. He lifted her chin and drew even closer, seizing the chance of his dreams.
"May I?"
"Absolutely, chaton."
Marinette closed her eyes, inviting Adrien in. He was frozen in place for a moment, still wondering how he had someone how won the prize of his lady's kiss. He pulled her waist close and took a deep breath. And then, he leaned in close and closed his own eyes.
Their lips connected and jolt of electricity shocked them both. Marinette's lips were soft and sweet like Adrien always imagined they would be. His were rough and chapped, but Marinette didn't mind. The kiss was gentle, a sign of their hesitation. Neither had done anything like this before, but even for the first time, it still felt so right. The wind blew past their ears, edging them on. Nature seemed to celebrate their connection as a warm ray of sun illuminated the area around them.
They pulled away to catch a breath of fresh air. The kiss had been oddly refreshing and once they separated, both found themselves laughing again. They were high on their own happiness and it was the greatest feeling in the world.
"Have I ever told you how beautiful you look under the sunlight?" Adrien grinned, relishing in his victory.
"Have I ever told you what a flirt you are?" Marinette retorted, throwing her head back in giggles. "I didn't know princes were the kittenish type."
"I'm more of an alley cat than a prince," Adrien sighed, holding his head in his hands. The mood suddenly dropped. "I still can't believe it. I have a father waiting for me in a giant castle. There's an entire kingdom mourning my death. I'm a prince who probably has royal responsibilities and duties. How can I handle all that? I don't remember a thing. I'm a stranger to my own life."
"But you won't be alone." Marinette gave him a reassuring smile. "We're partners, aren't we? I'd never abandon you. You'll always have me by your side."
"And me!" Tikki interrupted, flying in between the two lovebirds. "I might not be your kwami, but you're one of the best Chat Noir's I've ever seen! You were always a friend to Marinette and me. Consider Ladybug's luck on your side whenever you need it!"
"Thanks, Tikki." Adrien patted the kwami on the head as Plagg came into view, arms crossed and pouting.
"You really don't remember a thing," he frowned, his whiskers bouncing up and down.
"I don't. I'm sorry."
"Guess I'll have to fill you in on everything," Plagg sighed. "You and I were best friends. You gave me camembert whenever I wanted and let me sleep on the nicest pillows in the palace. You basically treated me like a god among cats, practically bowing at my feet and obeying my every command."
"I thought I told you enough teasing!" Tikki flew over and clamped her hand over Plagg's mouth. "Sorry about him. He gets out of hand easily. Don't listen to a word he says except about you two being friends. You two seem like the types that would get along."
"That's good to know," Adrien laughed. He offered his finger out to Plagg with a friendly smile. "I should probably reintroduce myself. I'm Chat Noir or rather Adrien. It's nice to meet you again."
Plagg shook Adrien's finger, pretending to be unamused. However, he was secretly grateful that Adrien was alive and well. If anything had happened to his kitten, Plagg would've never been able to move on. It was heartbreaking for him to see Adrien fumble around as practically a new human being, but maybe this was an opportunity for a new beginning. Perhaps the memories would come back with time.
Grumble
"That's my stomach!" Plagg groaned as he patted his tummy. "I'm still starving. Let's head back to the palace and get some cheese. I can already imagine the delicious, gooey camembert..." Small dribbles of drool fell from his mouth.
"Food isn't the only business we need to take care of," Adrien said, standing up tall. "It's about time I go meet my father."
We can't have a happy ending just yet, now can we?