A/N: Hey everyone! I'm back! Sorry, I had a family thing, but I'm home now and back to writing! I have quite a bit to catch up on, but no fear, this story is being written. Just a reminder, you can find updates and info on my tumbler (akirhenwrites). Feel free to drop me a line too. I love you all so much you have no idea! 3
The late afternoon air was slightly chilly, and Adrien didn't have a jacket. In the back of his mind he wanted to let the cold attack him and hoped it would devour him completely.
He hated himself. He hated Paris. He hated Ladybug. Both Ladybugs. How could she do this to him? How could she just leave him? And it wasn't even her fault. It was his fault. He destroyed her. He killed her. He was responsible. He hated Chat Noir. He hated Adrien.
Adrien found himself walking alongside the river, his hands deep in his pockets with his head down. The city lights were starting to turn on as the sun set, and they shimmered off the calm waters. But even as peaceful as the scene was, the anger inside him only grew. Maybe it would be best if he just left. With his ring back in his room, someone would find it eventually. Plagg could have a new Chat Noir. One that wouldn't hate the new Ladybug so much. He sighed and stopped to look over the fence down into the water. Maybe that wasn't a bad idea.
A shimmer of red rippled behind his reflection. He'd given up hope so long ago, that now anything that reminded him of Ladybug only made him angry. He turned around slowly to glare at whoever dared to wear that shade of red near him.
His breath caught in his throat.
Ladybug stood there, only, it wasn't the Ladybug he'd been working with earlier that day. Her hair was done more like his lady wore hers. Her eyes were big and blue. She looked so much like his lady that he couldn't breathe. He just stood there, staring at her, while she cocked her head to the side. She looked at him like he was a puzzle. After a moment, her quizzical gaze softened, and she curled her lips into a smile.
"You're Adrien Agreste," she said with a purr. Her eyes blinked slowly as she took a step towards him.
"I..uh…me? You…you…." Adrien stumbled a half step back and felt his heel kick the stone fence that guarded the river. Somehow in the back of his mind he registered the fact that he wasn't in costume. "You're Ladybug?"
"Perhaps," she said as she rested her hands on the fence on either side of him.
She was so close to him that he could see her eyes were different. They were blue, but they were swirling. Almost as if they were swimming around him. It was incredibly calming, even if he knew they didn't belong to his lady. Adrien found he couldn't look away, even as she leaned forward and touched her nose to his.
"Some call me Siren," she said calmly as she placed a hand on his shoulder. He felt her fingers drift slowly down his arm. "But to you, I guess I'm Ladybug."
He knew her statement was strange. There were warning bells going off somewhere in his head. But her eyes…they were so blue. And she said something about being Ladybug. Maybe she was his lady. Maybe, if he just stayed lost in those swirling, spinning eyes, he could just be with Ladybug.
Her fingers ran over his elbow and down towards his hand. "I could be anything you…oh!"
Adrien blinked. His thoughts slammed into the front of his head as she stepped back in surprise. He shook his head lightly. What had happened? He looked over the woman in front of him in compete confusion.
She wore red, but it was more like a red overcoat. Her hair wasn't even black, it was blond. And she looked nothing like Ladybug. How had he gotten confused in the first place? Her eyes, which were green, stared down at his hand. She gripped his wrist tightly as she frowned.
"H-hey!" Adrien tried to tug back his hand, but her grip was firm. She was far stronger than she should have been.
"He said you had a ring," she muttered. "He most definitely said you had it."
"What?" Adrien froze.
She sighed and let go of his hand. "Oh well," She leaned towards him once more. Her eyes spun and swam and Adrien felt himself getting light headed.
"Wh-wait!" Adrien tried to hold himself together. "Who said that? Who said I had a ring?"
"Why, Hawkmoth, of course, dear," she cooed. "But forget about him. Let's talk about us."
"I…us…." Adrien felt heavy. He could feel her getting closer to him, and his vision started to blur. Was it Ladybug afterall? Her black hair in pigtails with red ribbons. His Ladybug. She smiled at him and his heart melted. Of course this was his lady. He'd recognize her anywhere. Her blue eyes, red mask, spotted earrings….
His lady was here with him, and nothing else mattered.