Part 28: Total Reset
Possible Spoiler Warning: this part picks up after season 4. At this point, this might turn into more of an AU than anything. It's hard to say.
-After season 4-
Three teenagers and two kwamis landed with a thud on the floor of Marinette's room. Kat groaned. So many things had happened, and yet none of them had actually happened. Or maybe they had. Kat's headache worsened with confusion. Adrien and Marinette both sat up with confused looks on their faces.
"Ooh, what was that?" Kat asked no one in particular.
"Who are you?" Marinette asked. "And what are you doing here Adrien?"
"I don't know, Marinette."
"Come on, guys. That isn't funny." Kat shook her head. Then she noticed that the kwamis were nowhere to be seen. "Where are Plagg and Tikki?"
"Wh-who?" Marinette and Adrien both nervously pretended that they didn't understand.
"You both know…" Kat looked from one friend to the other. "You both don't actually remember me?"
They shook their heads. Kat could see the apologies written on their faces. She tsked. Obviously, she had been akumatized for nothing. Whatever had happened had caused both of them to forget everything. Maybe it was magic. The evidence did point in that direction. Especially considering the fact that she could remember what had happened while she had been unconscious. There had been a portal, but not some ordinary portal. It hadn't just transported her through space, but time as well. It was the only explanation for the two extra seasons of the show in her memory. Perhaps whatever magical force had transported her had decided that she had changed too much. She would have to be more careful this time.
"Are you all right?" Adrien asked Kat. Kat heaved a sigh.
"Yeah. Sorry to cause you any inconvenience."
"You're not causing an inconvenience at all!" Said Marinette. "What's your name? Maybe an akuma made you come here?"
"I'm Kat. And it wasn't an akuma."
Suddenly, Kat couldn't handle her friends' lack of memories. She stood abruptly, barely holding back tears.
"I'm gonna go." She booked it down the stairs, past Mari's parents, and out the front doors. She could hear Mari and Adrien yelling at her to wait, but she just kept running. Tears streamed down her cheeks. She was back to where she started. No friends in a familiar and yet completely foriegn place.
Kat ran and ran, not knowing where she was going. Right, left, right again, across a crosswalk, honk! A car almost hit her. She didn't care. Her lungs burned from the exertion, but it was nothing compared to the tightness in her throat and the pain in her heart. She ran straight into someone, which sent both of them flying.
"I'm so sorry!" Kat cried. "I didn't mean to-"
The apology that had been tumbling from her lips disappeared. Bright red hair. Beautiful blue eyes. Timid expression.
"Nathaniel?" Kat threw her arms around the boy and sobbed. "Nathaniel."
"Um…" Nathaniel didn't quite know what to do with the crying girl, so he just patted her back. "Are you...are you all right?"
All Kat could do was sob. She had just gotten to where she fit in, to where her friends were happy, and it had all been taken away from her. If only her dad were here, he would fix everything. Or at least make it a little better. If only none of this had ever happened. Maybe she was just dreaming. No. That wasn't possible. Kat's dreams were always so vivid that it never occurred to her to question whether she was dreaming. This definitely wasn't a dream. Her thoughts flew around her head like that for a few minutes, until she calmed down a bit. She sniffed and let go.
"I'm sorry. You probably don't know who I am, do you?"
Nathaniel frowned and furrowed his brows.
"You seem familiar, but I don't think I know you."
Kat picked up the art supplies that had scattered and gave them back.
"Sorry again." Then, acting on an impulse, Kat gently took a pen and doodled a panther symbol on Nathaniel's wrist. She walked off after that, leaving Nathaniel staring at his wrist with a mixture of confusion and familiarity.
Golden sunbeams turned to oranges and red by the time Kat stopped walking. She didn't actually know where she was, and she didn't care. Her feet hurt. She pulled out her phone to check the time. It turned on, but glitched horribly. She didn't know what to do. At last, she stopped and slumped over in the doorway of a closed shop. Kat glanced around and was surprised when she recognized the building across the street. It was about half-way between Marinette's house and the school. At least she knew where she was now. That thought brought a little bittersweet comfort to her as she drifted off to sleep.
Hey guys! It has been so fun to jump back into this fic. I decided to reset a little bit, which I know is probably really frustrating to you (my readers), but I have changed both in writing ability and ideas over the last couple of years. I thought it would be best if I restarted a little bit. Sorry if that's not fun for you guys. Rest assured, progress will be made (or re-made, as the case may be).