Chapter Text
The team sat upon the rooftops of the Place des Vosges, encircling the square. Feuerté could see Manon standing in the middle, controlling Coltalier.
“Everyone in position?” comes Sangulady’s voice through Feuerté earpiece.
“Yep,” she replied, twirling her quill.
“Okay, 3, 2, 1-”
“Feuerté, wait!” Sirpents voice came out, stopping her before she could jump. She watched as everyone else leapt in to the square, before she tapped her ear piece.
“What’s up, snake boy?” she replied casually.
“You, uhhh, need to wait- for an opening,” he said, quickly and nervously.
She sat down, and made herself as comfortable as she could be on hot bricks in direct sunlight.
“When is this opening?” she replied, smirking.
“In a few minutes!” he replied hastily.
“Uh-huh, sure,” she retorted.
Silence fell between them.
“Have any questions?” she asked, casually glancing down to the battle.
“Well, I mean- It feels weird you can remember it, right? I knew that was the point, I just didn’t expect it to be like this…” Sirpent said, stammering through the lines.
“Mmhmm, it did take some getting used to,” Feuerté replied, wondering how long it was going to take him to get to the point.
Sirpent groaned, before finally speaking his mind, “I saw you die. I saw you die, and now I can’t unsee it.”
Feuerté sat up, “Oh, that’s what happened. I mean, it’s…not rare, even with the normal miraculous, right? Usually it’s just turning into gold dust or stone or something. How many people got hit by Style Queen or the Collector during their attacks? But if it involved Puppeteer and Coltalier. It was-”
“Yeah.”
“For what it’s worth, I’m here now. That reality literally doesn’t exist. It’s like a nightmare, or a movie,” she replied.
“But I still saw it, Feuerté. I heard your screams. It was horrific,” he said, sniffling.
“I…I don’t know what to say,” she mumbled, looking at the ground.
“It made me feel like Nino again,” he said.
“What?”
“You don’t get it. You’re fantastic. You chase after the Akumas and fight them with chairs. But, as Nino, I’m useless. I couldn’t protect you, ever. Trying isn’t good enough. When I got the rooster to fight Anasi, I was finally able to protect you,” He sighs, “I can trust you to protect yourself. When you're Sèpan, everything is great. You can come up with the plan, and I can be your loyal soldier. But I can’t trust myself here.”
Sirpent pauses and Feuerté struggles to find what to say.
“I’m not the solutions person, I’m just a guy.”
She feels her blood running cold, desperately trying to find any words. All her methods can’t work. She can’t distract him until the problem goes away. She can’t give him a hug until he feels better. He can’t even reassure him. Anything she does will be mute, because what he is feeling is grief, and that isn’t something you can fight. It isn’t something you can solve. It just is.
“Nino,” she whispers, realising the 5 minutes must be nearing their end.
“...yes?”
“I-I can’t help you. Because I don’t actually have a solution. I’m not the solutions person here either.”
She fiddles with her wrist, looking for a bangle that isn’t there. She knows the feeling he’s describing all too well. She buried it, for days and weeks after she first got the miraculous. Because in order to be useful, in order to live her dream, she couldn’t deal with the vexing emotions of grief.
“Do you remember the sleepover we had back after Stormy Weather reappeared?” she probed.
“With the volcano? Yeah, why?” he quizzed.
“That was the first time I saw you die. I-I watched you get hit by lightning. I tried to reverse time before it hit you, so I wouldn’t see it. But my hand slipped, and you…”
Feuerté listened to Sirpent’s breathing on the other end of the line, as she tried to force down the thoughts.
Feuerté continued, “We had that sleepover because I was just so scared of losing you. I don’t have a solution because I never found one, I just got better at pushing through. But I promise you, we’ll find a solution together. Whether it’s therapy, giving up the snake, or something else entirely. We’ll find it,” she declared, hearing 5 beeps on the other end of the line.
“It’s a shame we have to give this conversation up. I want you to be able to remember this,” Sirpent said softly on the other end.
“I’m sure I already knew. Now go, let’s save Paris,” she said, as she sat on the edge of the building, waiting for time itself to end.