Jitters felt so, so fresh when you were close to the action even when the day was still saved. Rose shook and trembled as she tried to stop freaking out over just everything that had happened. Ladybug had looked like she'd missed, like the Akuma, one that was quite a bit more than just a little more violent than the other ones, looked as if he was going to crush her or at the very least kill her.

Rose's stomach was at her feet, she was convinced, "Rose?" Cat Noir found her. That brand of relief made her knees shake and nearly knocked her over, the stress hadn't worn out yet.

"Y-Yes?" Rose hadn't almost died, even if Ladybug had, Rose would have been safe, she knew, but yet just the thought of losing their superheroine killed Rose, left her so hurt and so scared.

"Are you okay?" Cat Noir's words were soft and not at all judgemental, so Rose let herself melt into his arms.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Rose shook her head to clear it even though that hadn't worked.

"No," Cat Noir paused, looking up at her with sincere hurt and empathy in his eyes, "Are you okay?"

"I-I don't know." She darted into his arms, trusting magical leather, and clawed hands to keep her safe from the fears that clogged her throat and ached so very much.

"We're all a little scared." Cat Noir soothed as he sat down, and when Rose realized that she'd somehow ended up on his lap, it was like she was a child again sitting on her father's lap and needing the kind of assurance and comfort that only a father seemed able to provide.

"O-Okay." Rose murmured, leaning against the superhero, taking what strength she could from it as if she were just a sponge.

"If you don't want to talk about it, just stay close and take deep breaths." Cat Noir closed his eyes and remembered a time when he'd been so scared that he'd lose his parents in the crowd or that somehow he would be eaten up by the huge wave of people. His mother had held him close, told him that she had no experience whatsoever with this, wiped the tears from his eyes, and became his best comfort.

Without her, Cat Noir was positive that he wouldn't even be half the superhero that he was today. His mother had been the kind of comfort and assurance that he'd desperately needed.

"Okay." Rose murmured, "Just what happens if she gets hurt like that?" Rose couldn't quite picture Paris without that Ladybug, whoever she was behind that mask, Rose could never imagine anyone taking her place.

"I don't know. We'd probably get someone else to be Ladybug while she recovers. I'd take that place if I needed to, but I know that I never could be Ladybug like she can be." The awe in his voice melted Rose's heart and reminded her of how absolutely smitten and in love Cat Noir was.

"No one can be Cat Noir the way that you can be either." Her nausea was finally going down as she pushed herself to avoid the negative thoughts that clawed at her every waking breath since the attack and focus on the positives, like trying to be there for the superhero that was comforting her.

"Thank you." The look in his eyes wasn't the pride that Rose almost would have expected, but a kind of humility, a kind of self awareness that didn't become something else. Rose wasn't sure exactly how he could handle it just like that, but she only wished that she could be half as strong or half as sincere with her love as he was.

"You're welcome." She leaned back against his side, letting her thoughts drift far away from Akuma battles and almost had beens. For now, the reality was a far better and a far sweeter place to remain in than every single what if.