Summary:
Marinette feels a sense of hope for the first time in a long time; There's a new feeling brewing between two struggling teenagers, and with something new, comes exploring.
Chapter: Do You Feel It? P.3
They don't find the akuma in time. It weeded out a new target before they got there. But it wasn't hard to take the akumatized villain out, Chloé was agile and fast without even using a miraculous, so of course when she puts on the ring and is granted the powers of the black cat, she becomes quite the adversary for the akumatized foe. Even Ladybug is taken aback. Together the Ladybug and Black Cat make quick work of their foe. It felt oddly natural and in sync.
Marinette can't help but admire the blonde for a moment once the battle is done and she de-evilizes the akuma, she can't help but take in the sight of loose wild blonde curls and brilliant, piercing sapphire eyes. It's a magnificent sight, the Dupain-Cheng finds herself thinking. She's almost breathless when she stands in front of Chloé and actually takes her appearance in.
Marinette can't help but feel more at ease suddenly. Chloé performed well as the Black Cat, better than Marinette did. Tikki and Plagg both seemed to be pleased for once, things were handled effectively and efficiently, both kwamis and also Marinette felt something they hadn't felt in what felt like a long time. Harmony.
She had to apologize, she had to apologize the best she could. Sure Chloé had vouched for her and seemed okay when she spoke to Ladybug, but she knew better than to just leave it as that. Marinette knew she hurt Chloé, she hurt a person that was changing for the better. The last thing she wanted to do was damage whatever it was that made Chloé want to change, whatever it was that compelled Chloé to reach out to her finally.
So a thought came to mind, an idea, she was going to make her apology as sincere as possible. Marinette had returned home and baked for the first time in what felt like a long time. Marinette almost felt herself enjoying the effort she was putting into the pastries she was preparing. Her parents both seemed surprised to see her putting the apron on and getting out ingredients, neither of them asked her about it, but Marinette knew they must have had questions. Baking was something she did quite often back then, it was one of the many things she loved to do, but then she lost everything and everyone, and she lost interest. But something in Marinette changed today, the fire she once had for life, had been put out, but now, it seemed as though it was re-lit. Something was brewing.
Tikki looked happy for once, she smiled genuinely, gratefully even, the kwami couldn't help but see a new change in Marinette suddenly, the way blue eyes brightened up suddenly. Plagg had an affect on Marinette, and Tikki couldn't be happier at the moment. There was hope for Marinette to get better, hope for her chosen to let all the unnecessary burdens go. Because when Marinette is happy, loving and living, Tikki is too, and while Marinette is still missing an important thing in the 'big three' things to being human, Tikki isn't too worried, because she knew that Marinette was taking steps in recovering and slowly entering the process of taking her life back. Tikki knew that Marinette needed to be happy before she could love and live fully again. She had faith, she just knew deep down that Marinette would come out on top by the end of this.
It's almost midnight when Chloé is startled from her sleep by a soft 'thud', she almost screams bloody murder when she sees a dark figure moving about her spacious room, but before the scream gets a chance to escape passed her lips, a gloved hand is placed over her mouth, muffling her screams. She reacts of course, slipping into fight or flight mode, her instincts choose fight, and she does, reaching out, she clumsily slaps the late night intruder across the face.
"Ow! Chloé!", comes a harsh whisper half growl in the dark as the figure shuffles away.
And that's all it takes for Chloé to relax and collect herself. She shuffles out from under the warmth and comfort of her comforter and she reaches for the lamp just a foot from her, she turns the light on, and the dim soft orange light partially bathes the room in light. "Dupain-Cheng?", Chloé whispers. Eyes narrowing slightly, arms crossing over her chest.
The intruder was none other than a certain Black Cat miraculous wielder, sneaking about in Chloé's room. The teen looks away, she swallowed thickly as she sheepishly tugs at the silver bell attached to her suits collar, she sighs deeply. "I uh...sorry uh...um well…", she's nervous, unsure of anything right now, insecurity starts to fill her.
Chloé stands before the hero and waits, waiting for an explanation. The blonde feels a little annoyed and irritated, she was startled awake, who wouldn't feel that way.
Marinette sucks in a breath and exhales it, she finally turns back to the heiress and starts to talk. "H-Hey.", she says. She nearly face palms, internally cursing herself. She came to apologize, not cower away when facing the person she came to see.
The blonde can see the teen struggling to speak properly, she decides to take pity on the girl. Chloé sighs deeply, she rolls her eyes and suddenly moves from where she stood, she draws closer and closer to the taller girl, slowly she unfolds her arms and brings a hand up to the side of the flinching Dupain-Cheng's face, gently taking a hold of it. "I really did a number on you huh.", she comments softly. Her eyes take in the bruising on Marinette's face and the split on Marinette's bottom lip.
Marinette screwed her eyes shut the moment she saw the heiress raising a hand, she was starting to get a fear of Chloé lifting her hands in her direction, the blonde truly knew how to slap. The ravenette had thought that Chloé was going to hit her again but no pain came, instead she felt a soft hand take a hold of the left side of her face. She opened one eye to take a peek at Chloé, and she found the teen studying her face with a soft expression. "I...I deserved it.", Marinette admits softly, she licks her lips and winces as she realizes that her split lip had opened up again. Copper once again gets picked up by her taste buds. She opened both eyes.
The heiress sighs, she feels a little guilty, but she didn't have a choice the first time she slapped Marinette, the girl had her trapped between herself and the wall, the second time, was her giving in to her anger, and this time, well, she was scared out of her mind. "The first time you did.", the Bourgeois gently removes her hand from the Baker girl's face. Dropping her hands to her sides, "So, why break into my room and scare me half to death?", she asks, curious as to what brought the girl here at this time.
Marinette hums and looks away for a moment, she thinks before she speaks, gathering her thoughts and putting them into words. "I...I came to apologize.", she answers softly, she returns her gaze to the blonde standing in front of her in...she blushes as she takes in what Chloé's wearing, "Uh, um- S-Sorry-", the teen breaks her eyes off the blonde's exposed legs, she once again turns away, turning her face towards a coffee table on the other side of the room, she feels her cheeks warming up.
Chloé is a little confused as to what threw Marinette off, but she doesn't think on it, she follows the taller teens gaze and finds flowers laying on top of a box. She feels her cheeks warm up slightly, she feels heart heart jump in a pleasant way. She turns her body towards the direction of what had to be apology gifts from Marinette, the reason why Marinette snuck in, in the middle of the night. "You...brought stuff…", she says slowly as she starts to walk over to the just barely dimly lit side of her room. She sees the kind of flowers that rest upon two boxes. She feels a small smile curl her lips. Yellow Rose's, a dozen of them.
Marinette nervously and cautiously trails behind the blonde, "I uh...brought the flowers, um, I made some pastries, a little of everything, I wasn't sure what you liked…", the teen starts to feel herself starting to sweat, she rubs the back of her neck as she gets beside the Bourgeois.
Chloé sighs softly, her gaze softens considerably, she bends down and grabs the yellow flowers to get a better look at them. It's a nicely wrapped bouquet of yellow roses, a yellow bow is tied around it, keeping it together. "These are nice.", Chloé says softly as she brings the bouquet closer, she holds it gently and carefully in her hands.
The Dupain-Cheng merely nods and fidgets in place. She observes the girl holding the bouquet, she can't help but feel something familiar bubbling in her chest. She swats the odd feeling away and focuses on what's happening now.
She appreciates this, Marinette coming here and leaving these things for her. She may feel a little angry over what happened earlier between them, but she knew better than to hang onto that. Marinette wanted to apologize. "Thank you.", she says as she turns her head to the side to face the teen beside her. Her eyes taking in the girls appearance for the second time today. The loose messy unruly hair looked nice and the gentle yet fierce glow to Marinette's eyes were quite appealing. Chloé merely smiled, she was checking the girl out, who could blame her.
Marinette nods sheepishly, she swallows thickly. "I...uh, I just really wanted to say that I'm sorry, that I shouldn't have ever lost myself like that.", the teen breathes out, "I really...really wish that...that maybe...you could give me another chance…I mean, like...be friends...but I understand if-"
"It's fine.", Chloé suddenly waves it off, "Look, these past few months were hard on you, especially with...them hurting you physically. I get it, I do.", the heiress trailed off.
"But?", Marinette says, her gaze growing a little worried.
"Just, don't hurt me like that again.", the Bourgeois says, almost asking.
A moment of silence fills the room for a moment. But only for a moment.
Marinette steps closer to Chloé, she gently and slowly reaches out, she takes a hold of the bouquet of flowers in the blonde's grasp, she takes them and turns to place them back from where they were taken from, she then turns back to Chloé, her body faced the girl. "Chloé.", she starts off, her expression grows sincere, she gently takes in a breath and slowly releases it, she calms herself. "I...I've been in a really dark place ever since Lila showed up, ever since her lies took everything from me, and...I...I've been dealing with some other things as well...things that, I can't exactly reveal to you fully. I'm...broken, and I'm trying my best to put myself together again. To start over.", Marinette sighs as she pauses, she feels her heartbeat picking up, she feels it thumping pretty hard against her chest, she swallows thickly and closes her eyes. "Claws In.", Marinette whispers softly, and as the words softly escape passed her lips, a flash of light momentarily forces Chloé to shut her eyes. The teen opens her eyes and finds Chloé opening her own as well. She stands before the blonde as herself, not as the Black Cat. Because this is more sincere and meaningful.
Chloé softened her gaze once again, she runs her eyes over the ravenette's face. Months ago, she would have never seen this coming, any of this, she and Marinette would have still been fighting over stupid things, arguing for no reason like they always did. Nothing would have changed between them. Save for the fact that maybe she would have still been struggling with her true feelings for the girl before her. It was a tough pill to swallow, a tough truth to acknowledge. She had fallen for the Dupain-Cheng, when? She didn't know and wasn't sure. She never really registered what she was feeling, she just chalked what she was feeling towards the teen up to hate. She wanted it to be hate. But it turned out that guilt and want came hand in hand when the balance of their entire class and circle of friends was obliterated by the arrival and stay of Lila Rossi. She opted to keep her feelings to herself, opted to hide her real emotions behind insults and glares, it would have stayed that way had Lila not shown up and taken everything from Marinette. She wanted to ignore the girl like everyone else had done, but her feelings nagged her day in and day out, eating away at her, reminding her that she cared for the girl that once had everything. She wouldn't say it out loud, but it hurt her to see Marinette hurt.
"I...I promise, Chloé. I'll never hurt you again. I-I-"
Chloé smiled, she raised her hand and once again took a hold of the bruised side of Marinette's face, the pad of her thumb running over the cheek bone. The heiress felt her heart swell with warmth when Marinette relaxed and closed her eyes, leaning into her touch with a look of clear relief. Chloé brought her other hand up and just held the girl's face, "I forgive you, Marinette.", she says softly.
Chloé's words are everything Marinette wants to hear. Chloé's touch suddenly becomes everything Marinette wants to feel. The teen shakily brings her hands up and places them over the hands that held her face. She feels something in her chest ache, she feels a yearning, longing feeling bubbling up. Marinette can't fight the tears that build in her eyes, she keeps her eyes closed, but they still escape, rolling down her cheeks and no doubt over Chloé's thumbs. She feels so many things, it's almost overwhelming.
Chloé feels her heart break just a little bit, she sees the teen trying to keep herself together, fighting whatever feelings she was feeling. She says nothing, she stays quiet, she wants Marinette to feel safe with her, she doesn't want to make the teen feel pressured to share like she first did.
A soft uneven breath breaks from Marinette's throat, it escapes passed her trembling lips. The teen tries evening her breath, she wants to keep it together, she needs to keep it together. She opens her watery eyes and sees the affectionate look that the heiress stared at her with, she could tell how genuine it was. Chloé forgave her, she cared about her. Chloé. Marinette feels her chest fill with warmth, she feels like everything is going to be okay, she feels a sense of hopefulness for the first time in what felt like forever. Maybe there was a light at the end of the tunnel after all. Maybe this was Marinette's fresh start. She finally calms herself, she appreciates this, this moment she had. She almost wants it to last forever.
Chloé meets the Dupain-Cheng's gaze, resolve filling her while she stares into those water blue eyes. She wants to help Marinette put herself back together, she wants to be there for her, to hold her when things got tough, to listen to her when she felt like she was overflowing with bottled up pain. Chloé wanted to be Marinette's sanctuary.
"Thank you.", Marinette whispers softly. "Thank you, so much.", she speaks gratefully and sincerely.
Chloé nods, "I'm here for you now, Marinette. You can come to me whenever you need someone. Whether it's day or night, feel free to come here, you can talk to me, or just hang around.", the blonde's lips remains curled in a soft smile, "Share what you want to share with me, I won't push you. I just want you to know that I'm here and I'll welcome you with open arms."
Marinette smiles, she feels so much better, she feels more...stable, more grounded. She takes her hands off of Chloé's own, she reaches between then and places them over the blonde's hips, she ignores the fact that the girl in front of her isn't wearing pants or shorts. She leans forwards and so does Chloé, she feels hands slide off her head and arms sliding over her shoulders, she feels Chloé's chin on her shoulder when the gap between their bodies completely disappears. Tightly, their arms wrap around each other. Marinette gets goosebumps when she allows herself to be held, when she allows herself to hold. It's almost breathtaking. She releases a sigh of relief when she feels one of Chloé's hands on the back of her neck, fingers playing with the hair that grew there. This is the moment that Marinette feels pieces of herself being put back together.
As the two teens hug, Plagg silently looks on. He can't help but somehow know that Chloé will inevitably become Marinette's anchor. The obnoxious blonde who he thought he knew enough of, wasn't all that she first appeared to be, the girl had much more depth than he would have ever expected. Things would change, they were going to change, they were changing.
But as long as the two teens would have each other from here on out, maybe more change wouldn't be such a bad thing.
Maybe they would balance each other out.
There's an anger brewing somewhere.
A deep seeded one. It's an anger that begins like the existence of a flower. It starts off as a seed, but like all seeds, it will inevitably start to grow and blossom into it's true form.
Emerald eyes glared heavily at the empty 'healers' building space that now had a 'for rent' sign attached to the window, fists balled up. Blonde hair was disheveled. The boy had come to the place he thought he knew he might find the Guardian of the Miraculous, but it became obvious he was expected. The Guardian packed up and left.
And it only made his anger boil even more.
He was stripped of his miraculous, he was set up, he just knew that Ladybug had been the one behind the entire thing. The girl was dead set on not reciprocating his feelings, he didn't understand why, he knew they were fated to be, it was their destiny, the Ladybug and Black Cat always ended up together. Always. Why had Fu taken her side? Why did it seem that the world just kept getting between them? He was handsome, he was smart, he was a good guy, he would have gave Ladybug everything. Everything. They would have been happy together. They could still be.
Adrien growls through his teeth, frustration quickly comes over him. He wanted answers and the one man who could have gave them to him had packed up and left. Neither Fu or Ladybug trusted him, that had became clear, he had always been left in the dark about new developments in their fight against Hawk Moth. They never kept him in the loop despite how hard he tried, despite how many times he risked his life for people that didn't always deserve saving. The boy was furious. This was a betrayal he didn't expect, yet he felt as if he should have. He should have been more alert. He should have paid more attention.
An idea suddenly popped up in Adrien's head, his lips curled into a dark grin. Hawk Moth always sent out Akumas, what if he got caught up in the middle of it?
No doubt Ladybug would show up, she would appear, alone, no backup, he could pretend to be some random civilian, he would catch her off guard, corner her maybe. Maybe even finally unmask her. She wouldn't expect it from him, she didn't know his identity, at least...he hoped so. After all he did wake up in his normal form under some stairs, someone had to have placed him there. He hoped it was Fu, and he hoped Fu didn't expose him.
Maybe he could make Ladybug love him, as Adrien Agreste.
So, here's an update!
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