DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN MIRACULOUS TALES OF LADYBUG AND CHAT NOIR! DO NOT OWN!
Somewhere in the midst of my mind I am screaming at myself because god this chapter killed me.
However I want to tell people that if you ever had a loved one ever in the hospital or had been facing difficult times, my heart goes out to you. I want you to know that you will be alright and everything will be okay.
Without further ado, here is our chapter.
Note: I apologize for all missed grammatical and spelling mistakes.
His Lady, was dying.
His tiny angel that had given him the best past two years of his life, was slowly succumbing to something that her luck could not fight against.
At fifteen the two of them continued to work in the darkness of night to fight against the Akuma sent out by a strange figure by the name of Hawkmoth who was after their Miraculous, his ring and her earrings. During that time he had learned that his Lady had the brightest smile and the most beautiful laughter, even more so than his mother's. Their fights were a struggle and hiding his double life from his family was a challenge especially as his father began to pressure him a bit more.
As the oldest son it became apparent that his father wanted him to take over the family business or at least lead a successful life as he grew up. Felix held no desire for fashion or was into modeling. He was too stiff and his expressions too forced or stony, his father often taking him aside and expressing his distaste of his inability to adapt. This led to lots of arguments between him and his father.
He had grown into loving literature over piano, business, and fashion. His mother was much more supportive about his obvious interest and gently assured him that his father just needed time to cool down. After all, he was still a child and the future was undetermined. Even Adrien himself had began to notice the odd tension between his big brother and their father and would try to give Felix some comfort. Holding his hand or even hugging him out of the blue gave Felix a moment to breath before he was suffocated again by his father's high expectations.
He was the oldest son of Gabriel Agreste and he had to fulfill a role...
When he saw his Lady and fought beside her, his home life and the stress of his identity as Felix Agreste would fade as Chat Noir protected his city alongside another hero who had stolen his heart. It had taken him a year to truly understand his feelings from that first meeting they had, it had been love that he had felt when she had appeared before him.
Love that made his desire to protect her surge as he stepped in just to take a hit for her, it was love that fueled him to try and get close to her, and it had been love that made him so blind.
She had hidden it well, her smiles and laughter always a cover when he noticed she was quieter than usual on their nightly patrols at times. He had been so blind not to notice the odd sway in her frame after they had defeated an enemy through the entire night and how her face was just too flushed as she swung away from him as the sun began to rise. His blindness and his never ending way of viewing her as a glowing angel made him miss everything.
An angel was what she was, and an angel she was slowly becoming as he slowly began to notice how she was starting to fall.
It had happened during a rather lengthy Akuma fight that she had suddenly lost her grip on her yo-yo and began to plummet below towards the streets. He reached out to her and grabbed her just in time.
He noticed how much she trembled in his arms as she rested her forehead against his chest. Through her suit he could faintly feel her too bony frame and felt the odd wash of dread at the realization of how tiny she was compared to his still growing frame. It had always been his dream to embrace his beloved tightly in his arms, but this wasn't what he had hoped for. He became all too aware that despite the way she appeared in battle, she was much more fragile than he had ever would thought possible.
She only smiled at him when he inquired her light frame.
Had she been eating alright?
Why was she always so tiny compared to him?
"Silly kitty, ladybugs are always tiny," was her reply before she gently pressed a hand right over his heart, "Thanks for the save...Don't worry about me kitty. I'll see you tomorrow night." She held her yo-yo much tighter this time as she swung away from him. At the time he merely pushed the incident away and never thought of it until the next few times he had to save her again.
Her grasp on her yo-yo seemed to get much weaker as time passed on and while he enjoyed holding her, he became concerned and noticed things about his Lady that he had failed to before.
While her face was a sight to behold he began to notice just how pale she looked at times with her lips trembling as she tried to keep her hold on her yo-yo or how pink her face got from just a few swings over the rooftops before letting out a few gasps of breath. How her reflexes once making her as agile as he were becoming slower and how she seemed to struggle to keep up with him on patrols. How her legs trembled before she collapsed on top of a roof and laughed lightly that she was just too tired and needed a moment.
It had been difficult for them as of late as the Akuma seemed to be growing stronger and stronger which made their fights last up to the point of daybreak. It was getting risky and he feared that one day an Akuma would show itself in the daytime where he would have to find a way to transform without anyone noticing.
They had tried to be as quick as they could and even if the toll of battle was hard on him, it had been much harder for his Lady.
It had been a long fight, one of the few that lasted as the citizens of Paris were getting up from their sleep and they had to finish up unless risking the chance of being seen.
He had a few bruises that were slowly forming underneath his suit that made him wince as he attempted to snatch off the possessed item from their opponent. He was certain that when he got home his mother would be fretting over at how tired he looked and he would try his hardest not to wince as Adrien gave him his morning hug before heading to school. Ladybug herself had taken a few hits, but it seemed to be doing worse damage to her.
She was again, slower, but she was also out of breath as she quickly caught the tainted butterfly with her yo-yo and quickly purified it. Releasing it up into the light of the day, she had suddenly collapsed right into the dirt as her Lucky Charm erased the night's damage done in the park they had fought in moments ago. He gasped as he watched her weakly moan in pain and stared in shock as her arms shook as she tried to push herself up. She wobbled back into the dirt again and curled herself into a ball as her breathing came out in short gasps.
"My Lady!"
He dashed over to her and without so much as a second thought scooped her up into his arms like a bride and took off as fast as he could before the first round of morning joggers saw the two of them.
From the first rooftop to the second rooftop he tried to think of where to go as Ladybug let out coughs, "Kitty cat...?"
"Do not speak my Lady."
Her voice sounded too soft, too weak...It wasn't like the voice he had grown used to that shot back equally flirty compliments at him as he tried to woo her. He was used to hearing the sound of firmness in her voice just as when she would talk down to an Akuma who tried to make themselves deem reasonable for trying to harm their city. In his arms he could hear her try to giggle and he almost did believe that she was alright had she not coughed again right after.
The way her body shook and her gasps didn't calm him as he landed on the roof of a building just across from the hospital.
She needed medical attention, but how could he bring her into the building without revealing himself to her or rather Felix Agreste walking in with a strange teenage girl his age in a red and black polka dot suit?
He blinked as he watched Ladybug slowly lift her right arm, her hand shaking as she forced her index finger to point out towards a window on the sixth floor towards the right. Peering at it he noticed that it was open and immediately went towards it, not even thinking why Ladybug had pointed to that window in particular.
Slipping into the white curtains he landed on his feet and glanced around frantically before breathing a sigh of relief at the sight of a nearly empty hospital room. There was evidence of someone preoccupying the space with the large vase of yellow sunflowers and stack of books on the nearby table by the bed. He could make out an open book on the bed and quickly moved it out of the way as he set Ladybug down.
He watched as she allowed her head to fall right onto the pillow before breathing out shallowly as she stared up at him with half lidded blue eyes. He stared back at her and without thought grasped her hand in his. They stayed like that for a few moments, her mouth turned upward into a smile as she finally let out a soft giggle, "Chat...Thank you..."
"Anything for you my Lady," he whispered before gently planting a kiss onto her knuckles, "I'll always be there to catch you."
"You've always said," she lightly scoffed before the beeping of her Miraculous snapped him out of whatever peaceful feeling he had.
"My Lady I don't know when the patient of this room will be returning," he quickly released her hand and began to pace a moment, "Ah! I'll leave and release my transformation and attempt to get a doctor here. I'll be long gone so you don't-"
"...Chat."
He stopped as she said his name and froze.
The way she said his name made him stop his pacing and he stared at her. There was a trembling in her lips as she tried to keep her smile up as another beep echoed in the room, "Don't...Don't worry I...This is my room. A doctor will be here soon to check up on me. It's you that should leave soon."
His mouth went dry as she let out a cough and the beeping of her Miraculous seemed much louder to him as he took in what she said along with many other observations he had made. Even as she smiled at him, Felix just couldn't feel the normal sense of warmth he often got when she smiled at him. Felix could only rush to her side, falling to his knees as he took her hands, "My Lady...What's...What's the meaning of that? Your room?"
His Lady only smiled and with one final beep, he came face to face with the angel whose wings were slowly growing too weak to help her fly.
Her name had been Bridgette.
Bridgette had been in the hospital ever since she was little, her health very delicate and while she knew that her time on earth was limited she vowed to always smile and look forward to every passing day she had. The lines between his Lady Luck and Bridgette had faded immediately on the day she had revealed herself to him and while he himself couldn't rid of his mask, she never urged him too.
"When you feel ready or never at all," Bridgette laughed quietly as he made a show of deciding on revealing himself or not to her, "Kitty cat, it's your choice. I can't make it for you."
"But my Lady! It is only fair!"
Bridgette let out another laugh before sinking down into her pillows while sighing, "What I did was hardly fair to you thought Chat Noir. I felt like I cheated myself and you with how I did reveal myself. Even if you ever decide to show me yourself, you'll always be my black kitty cat." He melted at her words and nearly swept her out of bed into a hug had it not been a sudden coughing fit throwing him back to the present.
The little kwami who was in charge of his Lady's transformation was a tiny little red ladybug who went by the name of Tikki.
Unlike Plagg, Tikki was much more patient if not polite when she had spoken to him on the first night Bridgette revealed herself. Thankfully she didn't seem fond of cheese when he offered it to her and instead informed him that she preferred sweets which he had wished Plagg had a preference to. The smell of cheese could only be masked for so long before he was suffocated by the awful smell...
Tikki had informed him that Bridgette's illness hadn't progressed as quickly as it had before thanks to her transformation into Ladybug.
It was thanks to that magic that she had managed to even live two years longer than what her doctors had told her. Yet it wasn't enough to truly stop her illness, it only slowed down the process for the time being. Now she didn't have much time as it seemed her illness had finally caught up to her and it was predicted she wouldn't be able to live much longer, how much time she had left they were unsure.
It was a definite thought to him that there wasn't a lot of time for Bridgette.
She couldn't fight anymore despite the transformation allowing her to at least be more mobile compared to her civilian form. It couldn't stop the strain of exhaustion and she couldn't last as long as before while fighting against difficult enemies without collapsing on her knees or faltering for a second as she tried to catch her breath.
Instead as Chat Noir he spent all night patrolling the entire city as well as he could.
If he ran into an Akuma he would capture the tainted butterfly in a jar, much like he had before when he worked alone, before dashing off towards the hospital to get her to purify it.
When he had time at night from patrols or battles, he would stay with her until the first rays of sunlight slipped through her curtains.
He would tell her how the city was or how the battle went all the while admitting a few times of getting hit. Bridgette didn't waste time to scold him with a light smack to his arm if she learned he had gotten hurt or held no restraint into giggling at how much effort he was putting into his tales just for her with some dramatic flare to it. Sometimes when he came by she would already be asleep and he would sit on the edge of her bed, his fingers slowly threading through her hair as he lightly hummed an old lullaby his mother used to sing.
During the day Felix spent most of his time just staring at the hospital she resided in, his eyes focused at the window leading into her room and often times sent her gifts on days his allowance was enough to spoil her. He never placed his actual name on the notes and cards with his gifts and only signed them with a small cat paw in hopes she would enjoy them.
Bridgette would often thank him with a smile and a gentle touch to his hand. The shine in her eyes mesmerized him as he would watch her touch the petals of the flowers at her bedside or how a bright pink colored her cheeks as she hugged the black cat plushie toy he had gotten her. He even gave her some old books of his and often times he would lull her to sleep by reading the stories to her. The time they spent together was something they both cherished and the smiles he had been graced with by her were beautiful rewards.
Felix was truly amazed over how Bridgette was so positive...How she continued to smile just as she had as Ladybug despite the knowledge of how little time she had left...
"She's a pure heart," Tikki had told him one night after Bridgette had fallen to sleep from another tale of his, "Bridgette has never once looked at the world and blamed anyone for her condition. She's always kept a smile on her face."
Felix only gripped Bridgette's hand tighter as he watched Tikki's eyes turn a bit glassy as she kept looking at him, "She just tries to keep going forward..."
It was true...
Bridgette never spoke a single word of hate towards the world or her condition. Never had Felix heard his Ladybug open her mouth and hurl insults to their enemies. Instead she tried to encourage them to stop their rampage through the city, to listen to her and tell her what was wrong so she could help them. The way there was a fire in her eyes when their opponents angrily told her to back off and how determined she was in a fight to free the victims from Hawkmoth. How she was gentle to the possessed after she rid the Akuma and checked them over before signalling him to flee away before their transformation wore off.
Bridgette was truly an angel...
And what was he?
All he could do was stand by and watch as she slowly slip out of his grasp as she began to slowly become worse. She was running out of time, and he was frantically begging whatever deity above to slow it down.
The ring he had gotten her was part of a matching set he had purchased with all his allowance money and earnings he had gotten from the modelling jobs his father insisted he do. It had cost him almost the entire amount of his savings, but it was worth it.
It was an impulsive action on his part.
This was something Chat Noir would do, not Felix Agreste.
Yet the fifteen year old had entered the jewelry store with the intention of buying the objects that caught his attention in the window. Both rings were made of a simple white gold band, but the ring he had intended to give to Bridgette had a bright red gemstone cut into the shape of a heart. Bridgette would surely think his gift to her that night would be too much, but he just had to get them.
Something told him to buy the rings, that her face would light up as he presented it to her and how she would laugh as he would wave his hand where the matching ring to her own would be on his ring finger.
It was a purchase that he had to hide from his family and he would have succeeded if not for the fact that Adrien accidentally jumped onto his bed and noticed the dark purple box that was set tumbling to the floor from his jump. Felix hadn't even noticed his five year old brother finding it before he caught sight of him opening the box as he looked up from his textbook when he noticed how silent the room had become.
He practically threw his book across the room as he flung himself forward to snatch the box right out of his baby brother's hands before holding it tightly up in the air. Adrien stared at him in shock before opening his mouth, "Are you going to get married?"
He nearly fainted on the spot.
No, no, no, no, no!
"D-Don't be ridiculous Adrien! Just because I have rings doesn't mean I'd get married!" he exclaimed before hiding the box in the top drawer of his desk before sitting down, "Just go back to playing. I still have-"
"What's her name?"
"Adrien stop it. I'm not-"
"Papa and Mama wear rings, Chloe made me wear a ring too yesterday when we played House."
The older Agreste son could only sigh before spinning around to face Adrien, taking in his brother's large green eyes and curious expression carefully before speaking up, "Don't tell anyone about this Adrien...Okay?"
Adrien only nodded at him before turning his attention again towards his book that he had left lying on the carpet and read in silence as Felix breathed a sigh of relief.
Marriage?
How on earth could his five year old brother even think he was going to marry Bridgette just because he saw a ring? Then again his brother was still young and probably just made the assumption that two people with matching rings meant they were together. But...But...
It was too late to return the rings and he knew that there was no way he'd give them away. Perhaps he should actually slip the ring onto her left finger, just to see her reaction. Bridgette's face would flush a dark red, a shade similar to her Ladybug suit, before verbally lashing at him to stop joking. He would reach out and plant a kiss on her cheek because after all...She was his Lady.
He fought back the laugh that he could sense bubbling up and wanting to slip out of his mouth as he forced himself back to his schoolwork.
Being around Bridgette had practically ruined whatever mask he had as Felix Agreste. It was like his rationale was fading just as it did when he turned into Chat Noir, but perhaps even worse with how his mind began to trail off more when he thought about her. How he just couldn't think well or was sent into a ramble of words in his brain as he tried to organize his thoughts on her.
Ladybug was Bridgette, Bridgette was Ladybug. The lines were gone and he only saw the smiling face of the one he loved. As young as he was, Felix knew he had found his soulmate.
The box containing the rings seemed heavy in his suit pocket as he began his journey to Bridgette's hospital room as he also kept an eye out on any signs of Akuma activity.
When he had arrived he nearly fell flat on his face when he noticed her standing by her bed, her legs a bit shaky as she leaned against her I.V. all the while ignoring Tikki who was urging her to sit right back down.
Now this wouldn't do at all!
"My Lady, I believe that you were ordered to stay in bed," he finally spoke up as he strode over and offered his hand to assist her to which she took before stumbling forward making him tense up before allowing both his arms to wrap around her. Again he was in a state of shock upon realizing just how tiny she was as he waited for her to speak, "Chat...I want to go outside."
"That won't do at all," he immediately tried to pull her over to her bed, "My Lady you're in no condition to-"
"Chat Noir...I want to go outside, please."
Her tone was much firmer than the gentleness he had gotten used to with the passing months.
This tone was something she used when she was Ladybug, Lady Luck facing an impossible battle who gave him an order before jumping in right after him to save the day alongside him. Yet there was something mixed into it as well, desperation. A plea in her words at her request as his heart ached as he stared down at her before taking a moment to glance at Tikki who was hovering right in front of him, "She kept trying to get out of bed today," she told him as she pressed her tiny hands together as she stared at her Ladybug in worry before looking to him.
The kwami flew closer to him until she was right by his ear to continue, "She got some news from the doctors today...It wasn't..It wasn't good..."
Inhaling sharply he looked down at Bridgette who pressed her forehead to his chest, her shoulders shaking from the cold of the room and from the weight possibly on her shoulders about her condition. The way her fingers clung tightly around his upper arms and how she kept whispering that she wanted to go outside...It was so different from the smiling girl he saw every night.
So far from the confident girl clad in red and black that took down Akuma and flew alongside him towards something they both yearned.
His freedom from his restrictions and her freedom from the fate she couldn't escape from...
"Tikki..."
"The transformation won't help her much," the kwami quietly informed him and she gently touched the top of Bridgette's head as she finally lifted her face to look at them both. Tears had been running down her face and her lips trembled as she hiccuped quietly as she watched them, "Tikki, please? Just once more...Please?" Tikki stared at Bridgette and Felix quickly stepped away as the kwami silently was pulled into the earrings and Ladybug stood before him once again.
The sight of Ladybug sent a shiver down his spine and he refrained himself from purring in delight as a confident smirk lit up her face as she glanced towards him. She let out a chuckle before rushing over to the window and throwing her yo-yo out, "Let's go Chat!"
He needed no other command as the two superheroes took off into the night, his heart racing as he watched Ladybug carefully swinging from rooftop to rooftop while laughing loudly as she flew in the air. It was much like how he had felt himself on his first night of freedom as Chat Noir. He hopped on top of a chimney and watched as she did a cartwheel onto the roof across from him and flashed him a smile, "Hey kitty cat why are you all the way over there?!"
The light of the moon behind her made her glow, her blue hair dancing in the wind as she stood with her hands on her hips. From his place he swore for a second that he envisioned a pair of white wings right behind Ladybug before shaking his head and giving a low chuckle of his own at her words.
"My Lady I think the most proper answer is-" He leaps into the air and lands right next to her, his arms circling around her and pulling her close to him, "-Why were you all the way over here?"
"Oh Chat!" Ladybug laughs only to let out a tiny shudder as a cough escapes her mouth and on instinct he hugs her and slowly eases her down until she sits on the tiled roof, "Ah, I...I might have to go back to bed soon huh?" she shakes her head and rests her body against his, "At least for tonight I got out...Even if it's probably the last."
He stiffens and keeps his arms around her, "My Lady...Bridgette," he whispers which startles her as she turns to look at him, "I...I have a gift for you."
"Again? Chat you've spoiled me rotten," his partner lifts her right hand up and presses it against his cheek, "Sending a girl flowers, books, and chocolates...The hospital staff talk a lot and I'm afraid one day they'll catch on and try to snag you."
"Tsk, tsk," he scolds her as he shifts his position until he is on one knee and holding the box up. Ladybug gives him a look and his heart only beats louder as he sees that old Ladybug air around her. Those blue eyes narrowed as one eyebrow is raised at his action and her mouth pulled into a pout as she waits for him to give her the gift.
"Ladybug, my Lady Luck, Bridgette my angel," his voice is almost a whisper as he opens the box, "You've stolen my heart."
Felix takes in her expression.
How wide her beautiful blue eyes grow as she stares at the rings and how her hand slowly raises up to her lips as her mouth opens a moment. A lovely shade of red much darker than her suit instantly colors her cheeks, "You..."
His face is burning, he can just tell even before she reaches out to him, both her gloved hands pressing lightly against his cheeks as her eyes slowly turn glassy. "Dear God kitty cat," she whispers as she stares at him, "Just why are you spoiling me so much?"
"...Because I love you."
Bridgette wears her ring on her left ring finger while he keeps his own hidden in his shirt with a chain hanging around his neck during the day. The cold metal pressing lightly against his heart as he remembers her throughout his day. When night comes he wears it proudly on his left finger, the band glowing just as his Miraculous does as he patrols the city and often Bridgette grasps his left hand with her own when he visits her.
By the end of winter, Felix wears both her ring and his own on the chain...The two rings often rattling against each other as he tries so hard not to cry.
Who's a very horrible clap your hands? Yup it's me.
Forgive me for all the possible broken hearts and tears you have. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please take care!
Until then~!
