A/N: We are back for Marichat May. 10 chapters, posted daily, three prompts each. ;)
1. Rain
The clouds were thick and black, shrouding the city in darkness. This was normally when Chat Noir had the best time blending in.
But as he stood before her now, up in the high beams of the Eiffel Tower, his brilliant white suit stuck out like a sore thumb.
She remembered the first time he'd been akumatized and turned into Chat Blanc. His blue eyes had flipped between empty and full of pain. He'd been fighting the akuma the whole time, and it had physically pained her to see him like that.
However, that was the difference between then and now. His normal green eyes glowed behind that white mask. No; that was a lie. They held the same green color, but instead of the vibrant life they normally held, they were empty. Hollow. As if his soul had died.
"Chat Noir?"
Her voice sounded weak to her own ears, and had his kitty ears not twitched, she would have questioned whether he'd even heard her.
With inaudible footfalls, he slowly stepped towards her. Once he was close but still out of touch range, he extended his closed fist towards her.
Normally, that would be a 'pound it', but it hurt Ladybug more than she would have thought to know Chat was just wanting to give her something.
She extended her own hand out, and he dropped two things into her hand. Clink clank.
Even in the darkness that hung over Paris, she knew what those were right away. And her gut positively dropped to the bottom of the Eiffel Tower.
"Chat," she started, words somehow failing her.
"I don't want to talk about it," he stated, his voice firm but tired. She only could tell that because she'd known him so long.
Her hand around the two miraculouses, falling to her side as she took him in. "If… if I have the moth miraculous, then… how are you…?"
Her words died out, and Chat didn't add to them, instead turning his head away while his ears flattened back on his head.
Biting her lip, Ladybug fought for anything to say. "Are you okay?"
She already knew the answer. But he still said it.
"No."
"What can I do?"
"Not much," he said, taking a step back. "And frankly… there's nothing I want you to do, either."
She felt cold begin to hit her face, but the oncoming rain was the least of her worries. Even the fact she held the two missing miraculouses was negligible compared to the weight of her heart breaking at the pain her partner was experiencing.
"Chat—"
"Please, Ladybug," he growled, ears pinning flat as he shot her a snarl. But it didn't seem to mesh with the tears that were already forming in his eyes. "I need you to stay out of this."
"But I don't want to just sit here and do nothing when you're—"
"This isn't your battle to fight!" he shouted, shocking her silent. "Hawkmoth was your battle to fight. Mayura was your battle to fight. But the miraculouses are back in your hands, meaning your fight is over."
"It's not over until they're brought to justice, Chat," she countered. "And I'm not going to let you just—"
"He was my father!"
Lightening ripped across the sky, followed by thunder rolling through Paris and shaking Ladybug's entire world.
"It's personal," he spoke, his voice steady once again. "And not anything you will muddy your hands with. I won't let you. You will tell the public that you retrieved the miraculouses and Paris is safe. I will handle the rest."
"Do you honestly think I'm going to just let you handle it alone?"
"You think I'm not capable?"
"I never said that!"
"It's better this way, Ladybug," he said. "That way you won't be lying to the press when you say you didn't know Hawkmoth's real name and therefore cannot release it to the public."
She grit her teeth. She did hate lying, but in this instance, for Chat's sake, she'd do it in a heartbeat.
And he should have known that.
"Then what about you?" she challenged.
"What about me?"
"You think I'm going to do this without you by my side?"
"Yes."
The finality of those words struck her harder than an akuma blow.
His eyes flooded with an intensity rarely seen from him, and Ladybug found herself taking a step back to steady herself.
"Let me finish this," Chat stated. "And once I do, I'm giving you my ring back."
"NO!" The panic that suddenly bubbled up felt suffocating. "No. What makes you think you need to surrender it?"
The rain was coming down harder, but Ladybug hardly felt it. She barely acknowledged the fact they were both drenched by now. All that registered in her mind was Chat's sad and broken expression.
"Sorry," he whispered, barely above the rain. "But I can't be your Chat anymore."
He took a step backwards and away, putting more distance between them before giving her a pained smile. "And… I guess the other thing is I need time away from you."
"Why?" she begged. She was sure tears were streaming down her face by this point, but her cheeks were so wet that she didn't know what was her tears and what was rain. "What are you even talking about? I don't—"
"I know you don't," he interrupted.
"Then tell me!" she screamed. "Aren't we partners?"
He sighed, pained grin still on his face. "We were," he said. "Until Hawkmoth was gone, right? I'm going to go clean up the mess. Think of it as… as my last gesture to you."
Ladybug just stood confused. "What—"
"Good bye, Ladybug," he said, taking out his staff. "We'll meet again, at least once. I promise. After all—" He waved his hand, the one with his ring, in her direction. "I will be giving this back to you."
And with a roar of thunder, he was gone.
2. Ghibli
As Ladybug made her way home in the rain, she so happened to catch sight of a figure sitting in the park across the street from her house. Part of her was tempted to stop and rush over to him, but the other half knew better. Considering what had just happened at the Eiffel Tower, she knew he would run from Ladybug.
But maybe…
Would he run from Marinette?
With the idea in her mind, she ran back home, detransformed the second she entered her room, quickly put away the two miraculouses he'd given her, and then snagged a raincoat and an umbrella before running back out of the house.
Checking both ways before crossing the street, Marinette splashed through any and all puddles without care as she ran towards Chat Noir… er, she supposed he was Chat Blanc now.
It didn't matter to her. That was still her partner no matter what color his suit was. And at the moment, her partner was in pain, slumped over as he sat on the edge of the park's fountain, his head hung low and ears drooping as rain poured over him.
When Marinette got closer, she noticed his ears twitch before he glanced up and looked towards her. His eyes narrowed. "What are you doing out, princess?"
Princess. That was her nickname. That was also a very good sign. It gave her hope he wouldn't turn her away.
She flipped up the hood on her raincoat before extending the umbrella out so that it was covering him. "What are you doing out, Chat?"
"Nothing," he curtly said. "Go home, Marinette. It's cold out."
"Exactly," she countered. "So why are you out here getting soaked?"
He just shrugged. "I have my reasons."
"Reasons you don't want to tell me?"
"No."
"Okay," she said, wracking her brain for ideas on just how she could convince him to get him out of the rain. "Do your reasons allow you to come inside the bakery, then? Or are you out here punishing yourself for being a bad kitty?"
She tried to make it a joke, hoping it would put a smile back on his face if only for a second. But she instantly regretted her words the moment his ears fell again.
"Chat—"
"Please, just leave me alone."
Her heart broke all over again. Something in the way his head was bowed just made her want to touch him, want to comfort him. Part of her knew it was risky to push her luck, but the other part, the part that cared deeply for her partner, just wanted to comfort him any way she could.
She patted his head, causing him to startle in a way that shocked her. His eyes were full of panic at her touch and his body was tense, as though he was ready to run.
"Sorry," she said, tugging her hand away and taking a step back. Please don't run. "I didn't mean to scare you."
He didn't relax fully, but the tension in his body did ease a bit, and then he shifted away, out from under her umbrella. "It's fine. Just leave me alone." Then he looked up, his eyes locking on something behind her. "You should go back home."
"Only if you come with me."
"Marinette."
"I'm not going to just leave you out here in the rain like some kicked cat!"
Lighting flashed in the sky, shortly followed by thunder, but Marinette hardly noticed. Her attention was fully focused on Chat, who was looking back up at her with some surprise.
Eventually, he sighed, his shoulders slumping with exhaustion. "I'll escort you; that's all. Understood."
Better than nothing, and it still gave her a chance to convince him inside out of the rain. "Understood."
He stood, but he ended up stumbling sideways two steps as though he was going to fall over.
"Chat?"
"I'm fine," he said, spreading his feet wide to give him more balance. "It's…" He forced a smile at her. "Just been a long day."
Liar, she thought. It's not just that.
He got close enough to put a hand on her shoulder with the intent of guiding her back towards her house, but Marinette just knew something was off. She dropped her umbrella in favor of holding Chat's head with one hand while the other landed on his forehead.
In spite of the chilling rain, he was warm.
He stepped away, clearly agitated at the touch—that was the other thing; Chat loved touch, so why was he shying away from it now?—and shot her a glare. "Marinette," he growled in warning.
"You're running a fever, aren't you?" she asked, watching as he swayed unsteadily on his feet.
"I'm fine!"
"You are not!"
"I am!" he shouted, voice firm and strong and threatening. She found herself taking a step back out of shock.
He seemed to notice that because half the fight in his eyes extinguished immediately. "I'm fine. I don't need anyone. I never asked for help. I don't want anyone else to end up in this mess. So, leave me the hell alone!"
But he didn't move. And neither could she.
And when he took a step back, as to be the first one to retreat, he stumbled, landing on his knee.
She rushed to his side. "Sorry, Chat," she said, grabbing his arm, both to keep a hold of him so he wouldn't run as well as support him. "But I'm not leaving you alone like this."
"You should."
"I won't."
"I don't need you."
"But you want someone, right?"
"Not in my own mess."
"But do you really want to fight it alone?"
The only sound that filled the space was the rain that continued to pour down.
And after what felt like an eternity, he eventually spoke. "No…" he admitted, voice quiet and weak. "No, I don't, but it would hurt worse if someone was hurt because of me."
She didn't know how to counter that. All she knew was she needed to get him out of the rain as soon as she could. "Come on, Chat." she coaxed. "At the very least, let me get you out of the rain."
He still hadn't moved from the ground, leaving it up to Marinette to pull him up. He had to lean on her substantially, and she hadn't even realized he'd been this unsteady on his feet.
Had he been like this just an hour ago when he met her as Ladybug?
She dragged him back to her home, then slowly up the stairs before deciding the best place to dump him was in the bathroom so he could both get clean and warm himself up. She could only hope she didn't leave her bathroom a disaster as she led him inside. Thankfully, it wasn't too much a wreck. She sat him down on the edge of the tub, then patted his head. "I'll go grab you a towel, okay? You just take your time to clean yourself up."
"Marinette…" he weakly tried to argue.
"Don't even try with me, kitty," she warned. "Warm up. Use whatever you need to. I think I have clothes that will fit you that you can change into. I'll go grab those. Don't worry about it and don't even try to argue with me."
He looked up at her, and she swore she could see the internal debate happening behind those green eyes of his.
Eventually, he sighed. "You're as stubborn as my lady."
Marinette smiled, a genuine one. No matter what front he had tried to put up, he still considered her his lady. That gave her hope. "Thanks for the compliment."
And with that, she walked out of the bathroom and shut the door. Once she did, she heard the water start up.
"Hey!" Chat called out. "Are you still there?"
"Yeah, what do you need?"
There was a pause. "Is… is there any conceivable way I could bother you for some cheese?"
Ah, for his kwami. What did Chat always complain about? Smelling like camembert? She would have to go see if she had any, but she knew any cheese would do. "Sure thing."
"Thank you."
Anything for you, kitty. "No problem."
With that, she started off to collect the needed items only to realize that walking up 2 flights of stair soaking wet was bound to leave dirty, wet footprints on the floor.
Well… guess she knew how Sophie felt now having to deal with Howl.
3. Dirt
Once all the dirt on the floor and stairs was cleaned up, she started collecting the things Chat needed. She did manage to find some camembert in the fridge, though it wasn't much. Surely it would be enough to restore his kwami, though.
After that she grabbed a towel and change of clothes for him. Who knew what shape his clothes were in, and she wasn't going to let him get back into dirty clothes after a nice bath if she could help it. Luckily, he and Adrien looked to be about similar sizes, and she had made an outfit for Adrien since his birthday was right around the corner. She knew he was the son of a fashion designer, but he'd also totally egged her on last month when she casually suggested making him an outfit one day. And so, she did.
Now that outfit would be worn by Chat Noir for the time being, but Adrien didn't have to know that.
Once her arms were full of the aforementioned items, she knocked on the door to the bathroom. "Chat, I have the cheese you asked for, and a towel and change of clothes for you, too. I'm going to close my eyes and slide them in, okay. I won't look, I swear."
"Thank you, Marinette," he said, voice sounding very tired.
With her eyes closed, she cracked the door open and felt around for the counter before sliding the items on top of it. Once she was sure they weren't going to fall on the floor, she quickly backed out and shut the door again. "There you go. Feel free to ask for anything else, okay?"
"Hey, Marinette?"
"Yeah?"
He was silent for a moment, and she opened her mouth again to repeat herself when he spoke. "I… really appreciate this," he said. "Sorry for… pushing you away, and I'm sorry if I hurt you. I'm… I'm really grateful… that you did this for me."
Anything for you, you stupid cat. "You're welcome, Chat Noir. It's always an honor to help out the heroes of Paris when they need anything."
He was silent yet again, but Marinette didn't quite want to leave. "Feel free to take your time in there," she said. "And when you come out, I'll check your temperature again and give you something for your fever if I suspect you have one. Oh! And I know you'll be careful anyway, but those clothes were actually made for a friend. I really don't mind you borrowing them for the time being, but once you're able to return them, I would like them back, please."
"I'll bring them back as soon as I can, princess, in the same condition you gave them to me in. I promise."
"Thanks, Chat. Is there anything else I can get for you?"
"You've done more than I deserve, Marinette," he spoke, voice now solemn. "Thank you."
You're hurting, kitty, and I won't feel like I've done enough until I know how to help you through it. "You're very welcome, Chat."