A/N: Hello dear readers, I'm sorry this update was a bit late. RL caught me in a bind and I had to focus on my studies. Unfortunately, the mood struck me to write something sad, so here it is! ^^

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Momijifan Low-Ki: Thank you so much for the compliment! :) I hope they won't get terribly boring with time! :)

Prompt: Where Marinette comforts Chat but has to be comforted herself.

Rated: T (mentions of death, sad scenes)

Of Ladybugs and Chat Noirs

"Hey, Plagg…" sensing his charge had a question burning at the tip of his tongue, Plagg allowed himself to indulge in his smelly delicacy before finally turning to a curious-looking Adrien.

"What?"

"Uh…" he scratched at the back of his neck, an action Plagg recognized Adrien was uncomfortable with whatever he was about to ask, "That time…when Cataclysm nearly touched me…" Plagg's eyes widened in understanding, "You said, you couldn't lose more kittens…" Adrien bit his lip, "What exactly happened to…the other Chat Noirs?" his vibrant green eyes looked solemn and Plagg tried not to look as sad as he felt.

He felt his heart tighten, flashes of memories, of days and times long gone, zipped through his mind, of adventurous lives, exhilarating swordfights, risky situations involving a certain cat burglar and sappy romance confessions to all those past Ladybugs.

But most of all, it were the endings to each of them that made him feel as old as he actually was and his heart twice as heavy as it actually was.

Plagg tried remaining indifferent, "Why would you wanna know something like that?"

He didn't want to talk about it, Tikki was better at talking than he was, he was good at passing snarky remarks and demands for more cheese.

Adrien hesitated, "Well, I…you…I don't know anything of the past, who the past Chat Noir's were and what they were like," he shuffled his feet, shifting his weight and it made Plagg only more nervous.

"It's in the past Adrien, you don't need to know that," he hoped very hard that Adrien would drop the subject.

Did he mention he was also one of the most stubborn Noirs?

"Please Plagg, it may help me understand everything a little better," Adrien's voice was soft and pleading and Plagg felt a familiar but unwelcome tightening in his chest.

Turning his back to the youth behind him, Plagg exhaled, it wouldn't do good if Adrien saw the solemn expression on his face, or the heartbroken look in his eyes, "…You know, how cats have nine lives?"

There was a moment of hesitation, before he heard Adrien quietly whisper, "Yes,"

Plagg sighed, a small smile on his lips, "Well…none of my kittens lived long enough to experience all of them," he regretted the words as soon as they left his mouth, no doubt Adrien would have even more questions to ask.

He hated digging up the past, he hated having to talk about all of them, about all his past little kittens. He sometimes envied Tikki, for her ability to openly express herself and talk her pain out, Plagg could not. It pained him talking about them, about how he was too much of an incompetent kwami to protect his own dear kittens, how letting them do their own thing ended in peril. How it left both him and Tikki without charges. How it left them heart broken.

He could feel Adrien's breath hitch behind him and he wondered what sort of an impact his words may have had on him, "Each of them were unique in their own way. Some did questionable things to survive, but they were all good at heart. If Chat Noir was a thief, he stole to give to those who had nothing. If Chat Noir was a rogue swordsman exiled from his country, it was in defense to the unfairly treated common folk in the city and his forbidden feelings for the princess, Ladybug." He chuckled lightly, the sound oddly hollow, "Chat Noir and Ladybug always find a way to meet and stay together, it's the way things are. I don't blame Tikki for what happened, I never could," his voice lowered.

He heard Adrien take a deep breath behind him, "…What did happen?"

It was Plagg this time that took a deep breath, "My kittens died protecting Ladybug," the room suddenly felt a bit colder and Plagg wrapped his tail around himself, trying to curl in on himself.

But then, warm, large hands wrapped around him and cradled him gently but cozily against a equally warm chest, the heart that beat beneath signaled him that his charge, this Chat Noir, Adrien, was alive and well.

"I'm sorry Plagg, I'm sorry I asked," Adrien's mumbled voice sounded loud in Plagg's ears and the kwami nuzzled his face against the fabric of Adrien's shirt.

"You have a right to know," in a rare moment of vulnerability, he allowed himself to enjoy the soothing rubs Adrien's finger administered on the top of his head and back, calming the little kwami's anxiousness and the pain from old memories.

Plagg shut his eyes tightly closed, ignoring the stinging in his eyes. Flashes of memories, of places and people, most importantly the faces of his precious kittens, resurfaced in his mind like a film and his claws dug lightly in Adrien's shirt.

"I can't lose more kittens," Adrien tightened his hold on Plagg, hearing the whispered, broken confession of his usually cynical and sarcastic kwami.

Adrien was scared, it was so very unusual to see his kwami like this, but Plagg was ancient, he had seen things and times Adrien only ever heard of in textbooks. Judging by Plagg's gloomy state, the fates of all the other Chat Noir's must have been terrible and Adrien couldn't help but think that this time, history just won't repeat itself.

He loved Ladybug, he would protect her with his life, but if he gave it his all in order to watch after himself and his lady, then the life or death situation wouldn't occur. He wouldn't need to sacrifice himself and neither would Ladybug, maybe they could break the unfortunate back luck that's been hanging over the past line of Chat Noir's.

For now, he only hugged his kwami tighter.

Marinette was trying to not let her nerves get the better of her, she was about to call Adrien and ask him out for a date to watch a movie.

It was all thanks to Alya, of course.

Marinette knew she would lose the bet, even with Tikki's good luck, but she couldn't resist.

If Marinette had won the bet, Alya would have been forced to finally confess her feelings for Nino and go to dinner in a restaurant with him.

Now, Alya's original plan had involved far worse things than Marinette was ready for, so the reporter settled for a date to the movies for starters.

Marinette wanted the ground to swallow her up.

"You can do it, Marinette!" Tikki's ever bubbly, encouraging voice brought a smile to her face.

"B-but what if he doesn't pick up?! Or if he's super busy with modelling?!" Marinette gripped the phone in her hands tightly, the device shaking so hard in her sweaty hands she had half a mind to throw it on her bed before she could accidentally break it.

Tikki smiled, floating up in front of her charge's face, "Marinette, you have Adrien's schedule on your wall, you know he doesn't have anything today. This is your chance to finally confess your feelings to him!" Tikki did a quick pirouette in the air, giggling at the blush covering Marinette's cheeks.

She sighed, looking at her phone, "But Tikki…what if…what if he rejects me? I wouldn't ever be able to go to school anymore! I mean, I'm not like Chloe, I'm not rich or pretty! Adrien definitely can't like me!" she buried her face in her hands, groaning loudly into them.

Tikki frowned, gently nudging the frustrated girl, "But Marinette, you'll never know if you don't try. And he doesn't even like Chloe! And I don't think Adrien is the type that only likes rich or pretty people, trust me Marinette, you'll be fine! Now call him!" her kwami looked far too eager, a kind, beaming smile on her face as she stared at Marinette expectantly.

Marinette took a deep breath, rubbing her sweaty hands over her pants to wipe away the moisture, before resolutely looking at her phone, "Alright…it's now or never, Tikki,"

Tikki smiled and leaned forward eagerly, eyes fixed onto Marinette's moving finger toward the 'call' button until a sudden thud outside made Marinette jump.

Tikki quickly flew off the bed, at her chosen's side, Marinette looked all around, "What was that? An akuma?" she looked at Tikki.

The red kwami shook her head, a small, secretive smile on her lips, "No…but I don't think you'll be disappointed," she giggled before disappearing inside Marinette's desk drawer.

"What do you mean-" she was cut off by the familiar rasping on the hatch door.

Cautiously, Marinette stood up, grabbing her pillow on the way, not that a pillow would stop a thief or a burglar, but maybe distract him long enough until she called her parents for help?

With tentative footsteps, Marinette slowly opened the hatch door, and the door swung open to reveal messy blond hair and a pair of vivid green eyes staring back at her.

Marinette shrieked in surprise, slamming her pillow full force into the confused face of none other than Chat Noir, startling the poor superhero and making him stumble down the wooden ladders and into Marinette's bedroom with painful yelps.

"Marinette! Are you alright, sweetie?" Mrs. Dupain-Cheng called from downstairs worriedly and Marinette quickly tried to calm down her racing heart.

"I'm fine mama!" she called back shakily, her eyes flying down to the sprawled boy in a leather suit on the floor.

In her room.

"C-Chat Noir?" she blinked rapidly, stunned, "W-What are you doing here, kitty?"

Chat Noir groaned, one hand moving up to cradle his head, "I came by for a visit princess, but it seems like you're not in the mood for guests," he jumped to his feet, shaking his head to get rid of the dull pain from colliding with the floor.

Marinette crossed her arms, "If my guests include an annoying cat," as soon as she spoke those words Marinette realized she may have been a bit too harsh on her kitty this time, watching as the ears atop his head drooped, the small smile was still there, but the familiar twinkle from his eyes was gone, "No, wait, I'm sorry Chat-"

Chat held up a hand, "It's alright, Marinette, I'll drop by another time," moving to brush past her, Marinette firmly grabbing his wrist and the leather-clad hero stopped dead in his tracks, looking back at Marinette.

Her expression softened, apologetic and guilty, "I'm sorry Chat Noir, I was too harsh, I didn't mean it like that kitty, you can stay,"

Chat Noir looked at her for a moment, gauging her reaction, before a grin settled on his features, his bravado back, "Sounds good,"

Marinette sighed, slumping into her chair with Chat Noir settling on her bed, the scene had become something too familiar over the past few months, something Marinette was sure wasn't supposed to happen between a superhero and a civilian.

But here they were.

Alone in her room.

Staring at each-other.

Marinette made a dash for the cookie plate on her desk, "Do you want some cookies?"

Chat Noir's eyes immediately lighted up like a Christmas tree and Marinette had to giggle when he nodded his head rapidly, squirming in his seat from trying to contain his excitement as Marinette handed him the plate full of chocolate chip cookies.

"How sweet of you princess, even a full plate!" he grinned widely, licking his lips.

Marinette rolled her eyes playfully, "You act like you were starving yourself for the past few hours, you always eat a whole plate when you come here," she couldn't help but smile in amusement at the embarrassed blush coloring the masked hero's cheeks, "Eat up kitty, there's more where that came from,"

At the prospect of more food, Chat purred happily, eagerly munching on the cookies at hand.

However, she noted his tense shoulders and the previous saddened expression on his face.

Maybe she was imagining it, but she didn't think he'd looked so sad from her words earlier. There must be a reason for it.

"Are you okay, Chat?" she looked at her secret partner expectantly and the cat swallowed the cookie in his mouth before answering her.

"Of course! Why do you ask, princess?" he rose an eyebrow and Marinette's hands kneaded into her pants leg.

"You…you just seemed a bit sad earlier," she tilted her head to the side, the action too endearing to the cat's eyes, "You know, you can talk to me about anything, right? Just like you promised me a while ago," she tried to encourage him to speak to her, to tell her what was wrong.

And finally he did, with a few more cookies and a few more, too hard swallows.

Chat's gaze saddened and grew visibly more serious, Marinette already had a weird feeling settling into the pit of her stomach, "It's…actually something my kwami told me today," his eyes were slightly distant and she couldn't remember if she ever saw him like that, "About…the previous Chat Noirs," his clasped hands tightened and Marinette's eyes widened.

Previous Chat Noirs?

"The previous Chat Noirs? The ones before…you?" Marinette remembered Tikki speaking to her about it a few times, but she couldn't put her finger on why her kitten looked so saddened. What did his kwami tell him?

Chat's ears drooped, "Yeah," he sighed, "It wasn't what I expected. They…they weren't all that lucky," he chuckled, "Unlike my lady, us black cats are cursed with bad luck," he grinned, but the grin seemed so hollow, "And it seemed like their bad luck caught up," he swallowed thickly, "I'm sorry Mari, I didn't mean to scare you. It's…I just had to tell someone, I guess…"

Marinette frowned in concern, reaching forward to touch his forearm, "It's alright kitty, you know you can always come here," briefly thinking it over, Marinette pulled the sulking cat into her arms, gently running her fingers through his hair and rubbing his ears.

The familiar, low purring sound vibrated against her neck and Marinette felt Chat weakly wrap his arms around her before they tightened suddenly, claws lightly prickling her through her shirt.

"Shh…it's alright, kitty cat." The purring continued and Marinette took comfort in the fact that Chat Noir trusted her, plain old, clumsy Marinette to sought her out in his time of need.

After a while, she finally dared to ask the question that's been burning on the tip of her tongue since he entered her room, "What…what exactly happened to them?"

Chat fell silent for a while, obviously thinking of what to say, until his grip tightened around her again and he nuzzled into her neck, "They…all died protecting Ladybug,"

She froze, her fingers stilling in his hair, eyes wide open in disbelief and horror, a feeling of dread filling her heart and making it feel as heavy as lead.

All the previous Chat Noirs…they died protecting her? Protecting Ladybug?

She didn't even notice when her own grip around him suddenly became as tight as a vice, she didn't notice her trembling state, nor that now her kitty stiffened in her embrace at her sudden shaking, she didn't even notice the hot tears sliding down her cheeks and over the leather material of Chat's suit.

She only noticed the strong arms around her, hugging her tighter now and her own embrace tightening around him.

She also noticed the whispered words she frantically kept whispering into his ear over and over again, "Please, kitty, please stay safe, please don't die. Please Chat Noir, I can't bear to lose you, please kitty, please,"

Chat Noir didn't quite understand the true depth of her words, but her last whispered words struck a chord in him.

"Please don't die protecting me,"

And suddenly, it all made sense.

"M-Marinette…"

"Y-you're…" his eyes widened.

Her grip around him only tightened, "Please,"

The end T_T I'm sorry, I've been in an awful mood myself lately and this was the product. Prompts are still welcome and loved! :)