Day 28 - Kiss it Better
There's a crater.
A bowing bite out of the earth where Françoise Dupont once stood. Where Marinette wished him luck, and he told her to hide. To stay safe.
Oblivious to Ladybug's struggle, Chat toed the crumbling edge.
No building to search- wreckage to overturn. Nothing.
No outlet for his mounting desperation.
And he could feel it, gnawing, clawing, desperate for an acceptable explanation. Even though he knew the answer. It just... Wouldn't process. Refused to.
No.
It wound tighter.
He tried reasoning. Maybe she returned home.
Left for the danger. Escaped. Somehow.
And how? His mind supplied. Why would she have left when it was safe. You told her to stay. She trusted you.
He rounded on this akuma, snarling, and pursued. Clawing, never letting up, he could actually smell the fear off of his retreat. Somewhere at the back of his mind, Ladybug demanded he calm down.
When the akumatized object was in a million pieces, then he let up. Instead rushing her Miraculous Ladybug.
"Hurry!" The only word in Chat's vocabulary.
When the building restored, Chat wasted no time scouring its halls.
"Marinette!" he called. "Marinette!"
She wanted to be mad. He disregarded half the fight, then went in blindly for the rest. But his distress was scaring her. Taking a second to drop her transformation, Marinette followed his voice, steadily rising in volume and repetition.
Then decided she'd never catch up. "Chat Noir?!" She cautiously returned.
The calling stopped.
And he dropped before her.
She yelped, falling back.
"Sorry!" He bent to his knees. "Y-you're alright? All accounted for?"
"Well," she checked her hands, now slightly pink from breaking her fall. "As much as I'll ever be," she joked.
He didn't laugh. Instead grabbing her palms and placing a kiss.
Her eyebrows skyrocketed. Cheeks a confused red.
"I'm sorry," he murmured between her fingers. "I'm so sorry. You almost- I'm sorry."
His hands quivered. "Chaton," she tenderly addressed. If anything, her kindness broke him further.
Lunging forward, he embraced her, reassuring himself that she's here. She's safe.