Marinette was dreaming.

The scene was her 16th birthday. Her mother, father, and several of her friends surrounded the dining room table. The table had a pastel pink cover over it, decorated with pretty white flowers. A cake sat in the middle, with the numbers "1" and "6" neatly written on the top using frosting. It had three tiers, each tier a different flavor. There was also a cluster of candles above the sixteen, each of them having intricate designs etched onto the wax. Plates were passed out and placed in front of every person, as well as utensils.

Marinette sat at the far end of the table, bouncing up and down giddily in excitement like a small child. The sweet, sugary scent of the cake wafted over, making her mouth water. She adjusted her birthday hat and dress, which was a gorgeous white-fading-to-pink dress adorned with sequins and the occasional flower pattern.

"Is everyone here?" Tom asked, turning to his wife. The baker had a blue birthday hat and was holding a camera.

"Oh! What about Adrien?" Sabine told them, "he was supposed to arrive her earlier…"

"Don't worry, I'll just text him!" Nino said, taking out his phone.

But before Marinette could even react, a hand firmly gripped her shoulder. Marinette struggled, trying to jerk free, but the person's grip was surprisingly strong. In fact, so strong that Marinette was frozen in place. Marinette didn't even know if it was from fear or if it was because of the person's strength anymore. She could see the outline of white fingers from the corner of her eyes. They dug into her skin, as the dress didn't have sleeves but only straps. Marinette stood frozen, feeling the claws pierce through her shoulders like knives.

"Mom! Dad! Help!"

The whole scene turned to chaos. The party guests started frantically calling out her name, but it was like they couldn't hear her at all when she responded. Her voice got sore from screaming, but even if she wanted to, she couldn't say another word. White gloved hands pressed against her mouth.

"Marinette…" A voice whispered into her ear. The bluenette already knew who it was even without seeing his face.

Marinette closed her eyes. "Chat Blanc." She said, noticing that he must have removed his hand.

"Yup."

She turned to face him, staring into his cold, crystal blue eyes. His figure slowly started to fade away. He was saying something but Marinette could no longer hear him…just a high pitched ringing sound.

"Marinette. Marinette, wake up."

Marinette's eyes fluttered open.

"Maman, for Pete's sake it's a Saturday-" Marinette gasped upon seeing that the person in front of her wasn't her mother at all, but rather the very person who kept appearing in her nightmares.

"Oh my God. This isn't real. This isn't real. This isn't real." Marinette repeated, putting her head between her hands. "I'm dreaming. Wake up. Wake up. Just wake up."

"No, you're not. You just hit your head hard when you fell." Chat Blanc deadpanned, dabbing her head with a piece of gauze. Unlike Marinette, he was perfectly calm. Marinette jerked back, hissing in pain. She touched her head with a finger and winced, noticing that the tip was stained crimson. Her hair was also open, and the two red hairbands who usually held her pigtails in place were nowhere to be seen.

"Why are you helping me?"

Chat snorted. "Really? This is the kind of question you ask, of all things? Ladybug, do you seriously think I'd let you die? I might be akumatized, but I'm still me. Your boyfriend."

"But that's the problem. You're not my boyfriend. I don't even know who you found out my superhero identity."

Chat Blanc narrowed his eyes, ears drooping. "Now you're just being rude, I could have stolen your Miraculous and let you to rot away in this hellhole if I wanted to. But, mind you, I'm not that cruel."

"I-I don't have it." Marinette sputtered, knowing very well that he'd never believe that. "Just leave me alone."

"Don't be stupid. I saw it on your ear. We're the last ones alive. Just give it to me. We don't need them. We'll merge the Miraculous together and go back to how life used to be. And we won't have the responsibility of dealing with superhero identities, crappy villains, or anything of that sort. If you just gave me your Miraculous, our life would be perfect. I love you, Marinette. Which is why I'm doing this. Please, give me your Miraculous."

"Stop! Please! I can't do this anymore!" Marinette breathed shakily, "I'm not from this time period, nor am I from this universe. However, I did create it. I delivered a letter to someone, and somehow everything just spiraled out of control. Chat Blanc was the outcome. Bunnix came and dropped me off here to fix it. And I did. I don't know why I'm back here. The Ladybug of your time is dead, Chat. I'm sorry, but she really is. I saw her myself underwater. I- I think Bunnix was showing me her burrow…and maybe I accidentally fell through one of the portals. After all, she does have access to all possible moments in time and possible event outcomes."

"It spiraled out of control because of my father. But that's not important now—"

"WAIT! Your father is Hawk— er, Shadow Moth?! If you could tell me his identity, I could go back in time and—"

Chat Blanc crossed his arms, "Bunnix must have already told you that tampering with time is dangerous. You should listen to her. I'm sure you'll find out later who he is in your universe. Everything will be fine there."

Marinette shook her head, "It's okay. I won't tell anyone. I want to know."

"If you're really not from my universe and don't know my identity, I have no intention of revealing myself nor of revealing others identities to you."

"Fine. I really am from this universe. I just didn't want to give up my miraculous." Marinette lied. Even though she knew that this could have disastrous effects for the future, Bunnix would be sure to erase everything later, so it wasn't like it mattered anyway.

"Ugh. What an elaborate lie you've created, and for what? Just to piss me off? For a second there, I thought you were being serious about the Bunnix portal thing." He held out his hand. "Now, the Miraculous."

Marinette placed her hands over her ears, ready to shout the words that would transform her, but instead Chat Blanc lowered his hand.

"Maybe you just need a bit more time. Come on, I'll take you to my family's house. It's pretty close by. The whole place is flooded but maybe the top floor where my room is still remains intact. If not, we can just stay on the roof."

"Okay." Marinette agreed reluctantly. Maybe there, she could get close enough to break Chat Blanc's bell and free the akuma.

Chat Blanc scooped up Marinette. Marinette became somewhat relaxed in his arms, reminded of Chat Noir. Only then could she feel how sore her limbs were, as if she had engaged in an intense fencing match with Kagami right before she had somehow ended up in this nightmarish situation.

"We've arrived." Came Chat Blanc's voice.

Marinette cracked open her eyes again, realizing that she must have fallen asleep. She sat up groggily, brushing a hand through her tangly hair.

"I'm going to go check if the second floor is completely underwater. Don't go anywhere."

"Like I could if I wanted to." Marinette scoffed, crossing her arms. Chat just leapt away, leaving Marinette alone.

It's his fault, anyways. She thought. Yeah, that's it. It's Chat's fault, not mine. He could've resisted. He should've resisted. It's his fault. His fault his stupid father is like this.

Marinette looked around the roof. The building had been turned completely white like all the other ones, courtesy of Chat Blanc. The home seemed rather large, like a mansion. It felt rather…familiar, in a way.

Too familiar.

Marinette squinted, leaning down further but careful not to fall off. The building's lower half was completely submerged in water, but she could still make out the faint outline of a gate. Looking back, Marinette noticed the shape of the roof. The ridges. The shape. The design…

Suddenly, it dawned on her: This wasn't just any mansion. It belonged to the Agreste's.

Marinette swallowed thickly. Chat Noir was Adrien.

ADRIEN.

The bluenette buried her head into her hands. That's why Chat Blanc always said he loved her. That's why they must have become an item in the first place. Not only did Chat know Marinette's identity, but Marinette knew his.

It horrified her. It horrified her that something like this would happen to them. That Marinette could let something like this happen. Just moments ago, she was blaming Chat and now…everything had changed. Would things have gone differently if she'd known that it was Adrien under the mask all the time? Would she have ignored him less? Cared for him more?

I already care for him, Marinette tried to reassure herself. Chat Noir was one of her closest friends, even without the knowledge that he was Adrien.

Still…

I could have done something. I could have prevented this. Bunnix, please, if you're there..help me.

Something was wrong. Something was very wrong here. Bunnix would have most definitely shown up by now, unless…

…Unless this wasn't an alternate universe. No, this was the future.

Bunnix was dead. There was no other explanation. She'd dropped Marinette off in the future on accident, therefore jumping into the future herself to try and find her. When she'd tried to jump back, Chat Blanc had turned her into stone with his cataclysm.

"Bad news, Marinette." Marinette heard Chat's footsteps behind her, "The second floor is underwater, including my room. I'd get some furniture for you up here, but everything is soaking wet."

"That won't be necessary, Chat." Marinette said quietly, standing up. "I…I've made up my mind. I'm not giving you my miraculous."

"Why?!" Chat Blanc was visibly getting more and more frustrated, "Our lives would be perfect again!"

"No."

"Fine, then!" Chat Blanc finally snapped, "I'll have to take it by force! And it won't be pretty, Marinette!"

"Listen to me." She grabbed Chat by the shoulder, "Be logical. If anyone did survive this besides us, then I'd imagine something terrible would happen to the survivor when we use the combined miraculouses to make a wish."

Chat pulled away, "I don't care. Don't tell me one random Parisian's life is more important than your life. Than our lives." He questioned, And how do you know if anyone survived or not?"

"Even if nobody survived, then one of us would die. Or at least get injured…or have something of great value taken away from us…" Marinette looked away, "although, I don't know what else they could take away considering we've both lost nearly everything."

"Everything except each other."

Marinette argued, "Making a wish comes with a terrible price. Combining our miraculouses will just create more problems." Marinette took off her earrings slowly, holding them out in her palms. She turned to the edge of the roof.

"Marinette?! What are you doing?!" Chat Blanc flattened his ears, "MARINETTE STOP-"

Marinette threw her earrings off the roof.

Chat Blanc stood there, shaking in fury. "That was our last chance! Everything is GONE!"

"We never had a chance in the first place, Adrien. Gabriel ruined it." Marinette didn't even bother making eye contact with him. Instead, she stared right at his hand. She could tell they were thinking the same thing.

Wordlessly, Chat Blanc held her hand in his own, gazing at what remained of Paris.

Still holding Marinette's hand, he said only two words.

"Mega Cataclysm."