This is a free prompt, not from one of my lists, that I got over tumblr! Thank you very much for the suggestion, kurara9!
Also, I did not plan to make it so angsty, please forgive me ;-;
"Sorry, do I know you?"
Marichat
"Sorry, do I know you?", the words hit him like bricks.
"Wh-… What?"
She looked up to him, confused and with furrowed eyebrows. Chat gently caressed her cheek, his eyes filling with tears.
"Uhm-… I'm very sorry, uh-…", she scrambled for words while escaping his hand, obviously bewildered, "… Cat-… Man? I didn't mean to hurt your feelings but, uh, who are you?"
"No, Mari, I-…", he sniffled, "It's me! I'm-… Chat Noir? Bugaboo, c'mon, no time for jokes…"
He tried, he really tried seeing this as if she was kidding him but she wasn't. His heart broke a little more as she shifted away another bit.
"I'm very sorry, but I think you should leave my room now.", she tried, her eyes widely opened at the weird man in a black suit wearing cat ears without any hairband.
"Don't you remember anything?", he asked, making her tilt her head, "You-… You don't remember me?"
"No. I would know if I had interacted with you.", a pointed glance was thrown towards his cat ears, "But I find it very disturbing that you're just here breaking out in tears so please leave."
His ears flattened to his head and he slowly stood up, gulping.
"But-…"
Her gaze slowly softened at him, still remaining bewildered but at least she felt sympathy towards him.
"Okay, tell you what. Give me half an hour and then you can come in again, alright?"
He tried suppressing a sob as he nodded and walked backwards, to the door of her room.
"A-Alright."
As he was outside his transformation fell and he looked into the faces of her parents, Alya and Nino.
"Nothing?", someone asked but he couldn't decipher who since tears clouded his eyes and blood rushed in his ears.
"N-Nothing.", he choked out. Moments later, a familiar perfume filled his nose and he was tightly hugged by Sabine.
"She'll be okay again, Adrien. She'll somehow remember again, in due time."
He sobbed into her shoulder and tightly held onto her, only very slowly regaining a calm state again. His sobs subsided and he nodded.
"… Yeah…"
"I really thought the suit would somehow trigger something if your civilian self didn't already. I'm so sorry, Adrien.", Alya placed a hand on his shoulder and leant back a little, "I'm really sorry."
He felt tears welling up again and parted from Sabine, hugging Alya. He took care of her bulging stomach but still buried his face in her hair, needing the warmth and comfort.
"I thought so, too… I thought so, too, Alya…"
Tom, Sabine and Nino joined the hug, all knowing he had to be held now. He needed this.
Adrien suddenly felt something very small hugging his leg and gently ended the hug, lifting up the little child that made grabby hands at him.
"Hey, Emma…", he whispered, smiling for her but not brushing his tears away. He didn't want to lie to her.
"Dada!", she proudly replied, then touched his cheek. As clumsy as she still was she hit it more than she caressed it, "Dada?"
He hummed and nodded, nudging his nose against hers.
"I'm here, Emma. Don't worry about me, I'll be okay. Wanna see Maman?"
The little girl giggled and nodded, her head immediately turning towards the door. Adrien was amazed every day how much this toddler already remembered.
"Wanna go in with aunt Alya?"
The little girl eyed the pregnant woman for a bit after turning her head in the other direction, obviously thinking about whether she'd rather go with her Papa or her aunt. Eventually, she made grabby hands towards Alya and the woman quickly took her, giving her a little kiss. Nino already itched to take Emma away from her because he wanted to protect Alya's stomach but she merely shot him a sharp glare, making Adrien slightly smirk at their antics. Well… He had been the same with Mari, back then.
Immediately, the reality came crashing down on him again, making him gulp as Alya, Nino and his daughter vanished through the door.
The three of them had fought against an Akuma just two weeks back but unfortunately, the akumatized victim had hit Ladybug with a blow. She had been thrown into a wall with a sickening sound that still haunted Adrien in his dreams and whenever he closed his eyes for a little too long. He had immediately brought her to the hospital but when she had woken up a week later, she hadn't recognized him. She had known who her mother and father were, she had greeted Alya with a hug and Nino with a kiss on the cheek and she had even recalled the name of their unborn child. She had happily said hello to Emma and had demanded her family to lift the little girl up to her bed to cuddle with her.
She had remembered Chloé and Nathaniel and Sabrina and everyone who had come to visit her – but him. Her own husband.
He felt Sabine brushing over his back and Tom placing a heavy hand on his shoulder as he once again lost his composure.
