Marinette sighed, she was looking through a window in her bedroom apartment. The moonlight lighting up the place. She was still living with her parents at the bakery. The room had had pink walls in the past, but now they were blue. She used to have her sewing machine next to the computer, but now it was on the other side of the room. She even had bought shelves to put the tons of books Alya had gifted her, they were there, forgotten, covered in dust. Marinette looked around at the now empty rooftops which would remain just like that. There was not a Ladybug running over Parisian rooftops with her Chat Noir, not anymore. No more Hawkmoth, either. There were no pictures of her surrounded by her friends, they were hidden inside a drawer and there was no way, she wouldn't open it. She just couldn't stand it. All her friends from school were still by her side, all of them but one. ¡Ah! There it was again, that unbearable pain piercing right through her aching heart. Her heart filling of something heavy, as heavy as plomo.
"Today was a good day" She was talking to herself in the empty place.
Marinette looked up, a silent tear fell down her cheek while she was observing the dark blue sky with no stars. It was like a metaphor of her life since that night, that unforgettable night when every single nightmare came true.
"Alya and, and the girls came over. We had a, a good time playing videogames" She told the sky, her voice breaking.
(Why am I here at the balcony? Why am I this masochistic?) She asked herself. There were so many memories of different times. Wonderful memories. Her kitty, her only one standing on that very same balcony talking to her, telling her he truly loved Ladybug, he truly loved her. And then when she finally knew, she knew who the boy beneath the mask was and the wall between them was finally broken. However, now there was another wall, this time? An unbreakable one. The thought made Marinette tremble and not because of the cold night wind. Three years have passed and everything remained untouched inside her mind. So did breakfast her parents gave her every morning. There was so much time could not erase. Marinette barely ate. She didn't smile anymore. She couldn't enjoy her job, her designs were full of melancholy, just like her. Every single piece of clothing Marinette made had something of him in it. Maybe a little detail in black and green, maybe a paw. Once she made a golden scarf. "it makes sense" She had thought. "He was the sun that always kept me warm, like a scarf does" She even had the pattern that had been on his t-shirt as the symbol of her own brand. Yes, Marinette Dupain-cheng had gone far in the world of fashion. She had made a name, she had built a reputation. Well, they had done so.
The girl seemed to tremble a little more with evert thought. Every memory. He had helped her from the start, when, with bright eyes and before "The Reveal" Marinette had told Chat Noir about her ambitions, her biggest dream. After the reveal, they had started dating, they had ice cream from André, that magic dessert which granted you endless happiness with the one your soul loved. "The ice cream seller... he lied. It was just a, a damn stupid lie a-all this time!" Marinette exclaimed to the open sky, between sobs. She couldn't stand on her feet anymore, she fell on her knees, on the floor. She put her head on it, feeling so broken, so defeated she couldn't put it in words.
"I hate you, Gabriel Agreste, I hate you Hawk Moth!" She felt only a little lighter saying everything out loud. At least the man was suffering his own condemn, but he had his wife, she was back from the death. Her longtime enemy had finally gotten away with what he wanted the most, however, he didn't know the price to pay in exchange would be... his own son. What a painful irony of life. Gabriel had recovered his soulmate and Marinette's one had been reduced to mere collateral damage.
"I miss you!" She cried out between bitter tears.
"I miss you so much! I can't do this. I will never be able to, to what? Get over you?" Marinette clenched her fists so much it hurt, but she couldn't care less. Her parents had taken her to a psychologist, trying to help her. The woman had given her such a piece of advice as "You will get over him, it will take some time, but you will heal, you will be alright" And she wanted to scream, to kick something, to pull her hair off.
"I can't! I just can't, Adrien" She whispered his name and it pierced trough her bleeding heart, specially when it started beating faster. Apparently her poor heart, her poor soul, her lovesick soul didn't understand it. Not yet. Why would a living heart beat like that for someone who wasn't there anymore?
"He...he is dead. You're dead. You're n-not here anymore, you will ne-never hold m-me in your arms again and tell me everything will be alright a-and it will NEVER be alright! Not if you're not here" Her aching heart was beating normally. She had to convince herself and then, then what? Marinette didn't know. There was no future, there was no light on the horizon. There was nothing. There was an empty hole inside of her heart, swallowing every single colour away from her. Marinette's phone started ringing. She gasped, scared by its sound , but then she checked what time it was. Three am. It was Alya her best friend who was calling her. All her classmates had agreed on calling Marinette everyday to comfort her, or to talk about something else and try to distract her from the pain that followed the poor girl like a shadow. They called her same hour at midnight. They took turns to do so. Even Chloé was part of it. She had never bullied Marinette or her friends again, not after what had happened. That time, however, Marinette didn't answer. She was so tired of pretending to be... Not even fine, but normal. As if she was not so depressed that she acted like a robot. She couldn't even focus on what the people said when someone tried to talk to her and Marinette wish they didn't waste their time.
"I will not lie this time. I will never be okay, I... I'm so cold" Marinette would have given anything to feel Adrien's warmth again. To smell his cologne, his hair that smelled like lemon shampoo, to see her reflection inside those gorgeous, heartwarming green eyes. Anything.
The emotionally destroyed girl was now crying on the floor. Her blue eyes were so swollen and red because of long hours crying. Her jet-black hair was a mess, a complete mess. She didn't care about her appearance at all.
She desperately needed something to hold on tight to. Running to that drawer she had promised herself she would never open again, Marinette took out the photographies, but not those of them as a couple. There even was one of the happy pair holding a tiny pet. Marinette had always wanted a hamster and her boyfriend gifted her one on her seventeenth birthday. That same day they talked about the future, when Marinette confessed him she wanted three kids their names she had already picked. No, she couldn't bear those pictures, the girl chose pictures from Adrien's photoshoots and fashion magazines. The brokenhearted girl let her fingers run over the printed face. It was everything he had now. No! It wasn't! Marinette ran back to the spot on the floor she had been lying on. Her tears were there, like transparent bloodstains. She seized her phone with trembling hands and played that song, the one they have danced to countless times. It was their song. It would always be their song. Marinette closed her eyes and let the extracts from the past un through her head.
"Go over and ask him, girl"
"Uh, what? Adrien? No! You're crazy"
"Hey Marinette, you want to dance?"
The tenderness in his eyes, the graceful of his movements, the delicacy of his grasp, it was even better than she had ever imagined.
"See? Chloé is on her best behaviour tonight"
The way Alya had made a perfect situation even better.
Marinette sighed, listening to the song on loop. Tears silently falling down in the empty dark room as she reminded the moonlight magic dance and so many others had taken place at the Agreste manor.
"Uh, Marinette?" A voice took her away from her imagination... but it was the very same voice she had been imagining. Marinette abruptly opened her eyes.
"Hello, Marinette" She rubbed her eyes in disbelief.
"Oh no, no, no. Depression really took over me. Now I see you and everything. No, my love, my p-poor little kitty... You-you're dead. Please, go away"
Adrien gave her a sad smile.
"I know it well enough, my lady"
"You know it, so, so you're truly here?" She wiped away her tears.
"I'm afraid a tormented soul is everything I can offer you now, but please, please come here. I want to try something" The ghost standing in front of her opened his arms. Marinette stood up with trembling legs and approached him, hesitantly.
The two melted in a hug that, when Adrien pulled her closer to his body, turned into an embrace.
"Oh, my Marinette, I missed you so much!"
Amazed, she realised she was actually feeling his warmth and smelling his scent as she did in the past.
"I missed you too, my prince, every second... but how? How can I feel you If you...?"
"I-I don't know... I thought I'd never touch you again"
"Because of the Miraculouses" Tikki has appeared, flying to the ghost and the girl. The little creature looked at the pair with melancholy. Even though she was no longer Ladybug, Marinette didn't want to get away from her kwami.
They both gasped.
"Which Miraculouses, Tikki?" Marinette asked.
"The ones of creation and destruction. Their owners bond is unbreakable. Not even, well..."
"Not even death can do us part" Adrien looked at his longtime girlfriend with bright eyes.
"That also means you will not find your way to the afterlife, Adrien. Not until Marinette follows you"
She opened her eyes widely.
"So you have not been in heaven, I was so sure you were an angel, Adrien, the most beautiful of them all"
The young man felt his cheeks burning, to his amazement. He felt almost alive next to Marinette.
"No, I have been wandering around, you know, going everywhere. I wanted to see you since the night I... I died, but I had to let you live your life and well.."
"My life? Adrien, you're my life" She said without trace of doubt in her voice. A sweet kiss on the lips made her words even more steady. Marinette's heart was fluttering like a butterfly. The deep hole inside her chest closed without leaving scars when she felt his lips moving against hers, returning the kiss, when his strong arms pulled her even closer.
"Marinette, my love" He said passionately after years and years dreaming of saying it out loud, watching how his lady's light was fading away more and more. Not anymore. Adrien bit on her lower lip and she let his tongue get in her mouth. The kiss got deeper. He held Marinette and put her on her bed, kissing her non-stop. Adrien climbed on her. He caressed her face and kissed her playing with the jet-black hair he had written about in a love poem.
"Marinette, please, please live" He begged, kissing his way from her lips, chin, jaw and then he covered her neck in kisses.
"A-Adrien I-I never felt more alive" She smiled for the first time in three horribly long years.
"I mean from now on. You heard Tikki, our bond lasts forever, an eternity forever is assured" He said between kisses she gave him.
"I know, I know, but please, please don't leave me again, my prince"
"I won't go anywhere. I'm at home at last. You're my home, Bugaboo" He embraced her and then they sighed.
"I promise, my love. I promise I will be myself again. I hope I die soon, though..."
"Marinette, don't say that" He called her off.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry" He bent to kiss her again. He smirked against her lips. Chat Noir style.
"Now, my lady... I must confess I'm eager to feel you again" Adrien whispered to her ear. Marinette turned red.
"If you're willing to try and make love to a ghost, of course" She laughed at the way he said it. It sounded a little off because she hadn't done so in a long time, but it was a true laughter.
"You silly kitty, of course I am" Marinette's deep blue eyes darkened looking at those emeralds she had been longing for.
"All of me misses you, Adrien" They shared yet another passionate kiss.
"Please, mend my soul"
The end.