Chapter 7: Final Night

Notes:

Sorry for my unannounced hiatus. Several things came up irl along with the madness of the holidays. But, this is finally here. Just one more chapter after this and I've already started drafting it. I have a few ideas for my next project but I'm not sure what I'll work on next. I want to do some S2 stuff, but I also want to do a Princess/Knight AU for MariChat or maybe a PPZ AU. But really, after Glaciator, what's even the point in doing fanfic anymore?

"Chat Noir," Marinette scolded. The small girl was clinging to him as he leapt from building to building. "You shouldn't have done that! It's not safe for you two to be so close!"

Chat grinned down at her. "What? Don't want your boyfriend to get jealous?" He glanced down at her and his grin grew at the dark red that spread across her face, highlighting the freckled galaxy across her nose and cheeks. He had counted every single freckle on her face and his quick glances now where enough to realize that her round, childish face had far few freckles than her adult self did. Truthfully, he had been a dumb kid and he wondered what else he had missed about her in their youth. His hold on her tightened as a grim look crossed his face.

Marinette blinked up at him and he quickly averted his gaze to the path he traveled. After all, everything he worked for would be worthless if he dropped her and she fell to her death like Gwen Stacy. Because with his luck, he would totally pull a Peter Parker.

"Kitty?" The bug girl whispered.

With a heavy sigh, the cat man stopped his momentum and landed on the apartment building roof below. He deposited the girl onto her feet near the entrance to the building they stood upon and paced away from her, his heavy boots crunching in the gravel. "I'm leaving," he blurted towards the panoramic view of their city. Her delicate steps towards him were thunderous in his magically enhanced hearing.

"Tikki said you still had time," Marinette murmured dejectedly. "Did you find your answer?"

Chat puffed out a breath and scratched at his neck nervously. "I'm not sure," he admitted after a moment or two. "The simplest way would be to just tell you kids to not be idiots, but that won't work." He had tried so damn hard to protect her and had failed. And if he told this Mari to not take the attack for him, there's the possibility he could go home to an altered time line. Or, he could go home to the same mess he left while Marinette and his past self created their own altered time line. Or it could fix everything with no paradox. Or she could still somehow get hit with Gabriel's attack because she was always meant to. "This whole mess is just complicated," he admitted.

Marinette moved closer to wrap her arms around his midsection. She nuzzled her cheek to his mid back. It had taken her some time, but his Mari eventually gotten to the point she would be this tender with him as Adrien. She had always been more willing to be physically closer to Chat than Adrien. It had bothered him at first, but once he realized she was probably more use to the physical intimacy with Chat than Adrien, he eased back a little. After all, the two were more comfortable around the other's masked self than the person behind it for far longer than Adrien and Marinette had been close.

"I promise, Kitty, everything will be okay."

Chat trembled as he reached for Ladybug's battered and broken form. "No, no, God please, Baby?" His claws tenderly brushed her soiled bangs from her face. "Bug, please," his voiced cracked. "Marinette, you promised everything would be okay…"

The man spun on his heel and returned the girl's embrace as the memory attacked his mind. He nuzzled her soft hair affectionately. "I wish it was, Bugaboo." There was no way his half-baked plan would work. He was the wielder of destruction and bad luck. There was no possible way for him to save both of his girls. Even if his crazy scheme worked, Marinette had been harboring unequal amounts of energy for so long that it was possible that the damage was irreversible.

It was time for him to grow up.

He moved back from her just enough to lean down to brush her forehead with his own. Marinette blinked up at him with damp eyes. His claws moved to caress her tender jawline. "I love you so much," he murmured. His eyes dropped to her lips and he wanted to kiss her. Would it be wrong to kiss her?

"Kitty?" She whispered.

Squeezing his eyes shut, he pressed a kiss to her nose. Her breathing hiccupped and chewed his bottom lip to keep himself from kissing her. He stepped away from the girl and offered her a two-finger salute before calling upon the unmentionable power he wielded.

"Dark Hole!" He cried and a static black energy encased his hand. Marinette took a shaky step forward while Tikki appeared on her shoulder. In the dusky twilight, Chat could make out the shimmering streaks of fresh tears across her face. Keeping his destructive hand at bay, he made half a step closer to her. "This isn't goodbye, Marinette. Your Adrien is still at the park. It was wrong of me to steal you away from him. I just," he sighed pitifully. "I don't know, My Lady. I just didn't want to be alone anymore. I thought maybe I could tell you the truth, but it probably won't fix anything. I was selfish and I'm sorry." He offered her a crooked grin. "I tend to get that way about you."

"Chat-"

The man made a swiping motion at the air and crackling vortex of static ripped across the roof. Marinette shrieked as the force of the surging power blasted her backwards onto her rear. Tikki screeched and clutched Marinette's sleeve tightly in her small paws. Chat offered them an apologetic smile, his wild hair whipping loose from his bun in the gust and slapping against his broad shoulders. A few meters before Chat, an oval mass of energy like the Cataclysm he possessed formed that was just large enough for a grown adult to pass through. The wind picked up speed as it swirled and pulled towards the center of the oval. Marinette dug her fingers into the gravel below her to uselessly keep herself from moving closer. The force of the energy pulled her body a foot or two closer.

Chat moved closer to the vortex, his bangs partially covering his face and further hiding his expression from her view as he called out her name. Marinette blinked up at him as he continued.

"Please forgive me, Bugaboo."

"Chat, wait-" Marinette reached out her hand towards the man and surged forward another foot. With a scream, she slapped her hand down to the gravel and winced as a particularly sharp piece broke the skin.

He ignored her and proceeded towards the Dark Hole. Without a word or glance, he was swallowed up by the energy and disappeared.

The whirlwind disappeared.

Everything came to a sudden stop and Marinette blinked her eyes rapidly. The howling wind was gone as was the magic. There was no sign that Chat or his magic had ever been there at all. Tears stung in her eyes as she lurched to her feet. Tikki loosened her grip on her charged and offered a soft pat upon her cheek. Traffic from the street below filtered up to her with the sounds and smells of Paris.

She shakily stepped towards were the energy mass had been and waved her arms as if searching for something, some key that it had been there or some way to pull Chat back. "No," she warbled at the stillness of the air. "Come back, you stupid cat!" She hissed.

Marinette fell to her knees like a cut puppet. Tikki floated away from her shoulder at the sudden jarring movement. "Marinette, are you okay?"

The girl shook her head. With watery eyes, she glanced at Tikki. "He had another day, Tikki! How could he…He must be rushing into it! If he had just told me! I could have helped! I could have done something!"

Tikki nuzzled her charge. "Calm down, Marinette. The future's not set in stone. I'm sure we can fix whatever this is."

"We can't."

The two females turned to see their Chat Noir sitting on the brick above the entry way to the apartments. A deep frown cut across his face and it shocked Marinette to her core. She very rarely saw her Chat visibly distraught outside a serious battle. The girl tremblingly stood as Chat gracefully leapt from his perch. "How long have you-"

"Not long," her new boyfriend cut her off. Her brows furrowed as the thought. It would take time adjusting to her crush and partner being the same. Everything had happened so fast she could not actually remember if they had even labeled whatever they were. He had had a whole extra day to adjust to her identity. She chewed her lip at the thought. "I came after you when he took you," he continued as he sauntered towards her. He moved slowly as if he was afraid she would run from him. His tail flicked nervously behind him. "I was a couple block over when I heard you scream."

Marinette's eyes dulled. He had tried to follow them. Why? Why were both Chadriens willing to tear apart the universe for her? For Ladybug? It was difficult to wrap her mind around the fact the boy she had loved for so long returned her feelings. Would they have continued to be in the dark longer if not for Adrien's actions? When would they have revealed themselves if not for his future self? Would she be on her balcony drawing right now? Would Adrien be in his room or running about as Chat?

More tears clouded her eyes. She wasn't ready for this, but she couldn't find it in her heart to be mad at Plagg or either Chat. She had always feared not being enough for Adrien and Chat, but she thought she could handle being enough for one of them. But both? A shaky sob ripped from her throat as her vision swam.

His arms were around her in an instant.

Her kitten held her together as she crumbled apart. She clutched him tight as she wailed.