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The first time it happened, Alix was walking through the Louvre with Jalil, listening as he shared another conspiracy theory with her. She had just leaned forward to examine the scroll in question when it burst into flames.
“Jalil?” She had turned, but her brother - the artifacts - the walls - everything - had been consumed by an inferno. Confused and panicked, Alix had transformed and dove into her Burrow, where all the portals showed flames. She rewound desperately, but it was just fire and destruction, until - there! A mix-up in the timestream, a simple fix. Should take no more than five minutes at most.
When she returned, Jalil was looking around for her. “There you are,” he said, “where’d you run off to?”
“The bathroom, sorry,” she fibbed, giving him an uncharacteristic hug, “I thought you heard me say.”
The next time it happened, it was four days later. She was at little Louis’ first birthday party, taking a bite of cake, when the flames appeared. This time, she still felt panicked and shocked, but she knew what to do. “Fluff, clockwise - Burrow!”
Another small slip, ten minutes at most. Louis was gurgling happily when she walked back into the room, and Adrien gave her a knowing glance. She gave him a nod and picked up her slice of cake again.
The tenth time it happened, she was visiting her father.
The fiftieth time it happened, she was patrolling with Viperion.
The hundredth time it happened - the thousandth time it happened -the millionth time it happened -
Eventually, Alix stopped keeping count. If Fluff knew the exact number, she didn’t say. It became ritual and routine - some amount of minutes would elapse before Alix’s world would start burning up and she would transform, hop into her Burrow, find the mess-up in the timestream, and make everything right again.
“Alix, are you okay?” Marinette asked, a gentle crease in between her brows. They were sitting in Alix’s office at the Louvre. “I’m only asking because -” Marinette burst into flames.
“Fluff, clockwise - Burrow!”
An irrigation dam flooded in Mesopotamia. A 2-and-a-half hour fix, at most.
“Alix, are you okay?” Marinette asked, a gentle crease in between her brows. “I’m only asking because you seem awfully tired these days - and you look a little older than the rest of us, no offense.”
“None taken,” Alix sighed, leaning back in her chair. “And I’m fine - or at least, I will be. I was - I am. And yes, I guess I have a few more years than the rest of you at this point. I don’t know the exact number, but those minutes really ad-” Fire again. “Fluff, clockwise - Burrow!”
A plant squashed under the foot of a Tyrannosaurus Rex. 2 hours and 45 minutes, max.
“- but those minutes really add up.” Alix gave a tired chuckle and took a sip of her water.
Marinette frowned worriedly. “You shouldn’t be over-exerting yourself like this. Yo-” Flames.
“Fluff, clockwise - Burrow!”
It took ten more fixes before Marinette could finish her sentence.
Once, Alix had tried to see what happened after her world burst into flames. Apparently, Paris’ fire quickly overtook the world, and then - nothing. She had tried to spot the source, but it was a fruitless search. So, she went back and she went back and she went back and she fixed and she fixed and she fixed and when she returned back to the proper time, she would get a few minutes with her loved ones before everything went up in flames.
Fluff stared sadly as Alix hopped into her burrow after another fix. The hero refused to acknowledge the kwami, who drooped sadly as she munched on a carrot. Alix had been visiting her father, last. She had had ten seconds with him before the fire took over. This time, she had had to go almost all the way back to the Big Bang - atoms were hard fixes to make, but she was getting better at it.
“This won’t last forever,” Fluff had said, once. Back then, Alix had taken it as a reassurance. Now, she saw it for what it was - a promise. Her roots, no matter how many times she dyed them, were starting to show signs of gray. Her hair was a little shaggier than she would like, but she had no time for haircuts. Fluff finished chewing as, around them, portals began to return to normal, the fire fading from existence.
But Alix knew better than to underestimate it - the flames held a promise, too. They would be back. They always came back.
Fluff had seen it all. For some, it came in the form of the undead. For others, everything was drenched in blood. For others still, endless waves of insects. Fluff was not fond of that last one.
The list went on - darkness, squeezing walls, unseen pressures. Alix’s Fire was nothing Fluff hadn’t seen before.
It always got to this point - no more than a few seconds before the Rabbit Hero was needed again. No more than a millisecond of seeing their loved ones. And then, no more - no more.
Fluff’s latest Kit was working herself to the bone, trying to keep her loved ones safe. She was down to four seconds in between each Fire. Soon, it would be three. Then two, then one, and then down to the milliseconds. And then, no more - no more.
Fluff did not look forward to the rest she was allowed in between each Chosen. Fluff would have rather not rested at all - she would rather have been able to stay with her Chosens. Especially this Chosen. Fluff liked Alix. Fluff did not like Alix’s Fires.
Fluff blinked her large, blue eyes as Alix’s father was taken by another Fire. Only three seconds had passed since their return. Soon, it would be two. Then one. Then down to the milliseconds. And then, no more - no more.
“Fluff, clockwise - Burrow!”
No more pain. No more suffering. No more panic. No more shock. No more Fire.
No more Alix.
Rest.
But they still had two more seconds left. And then one. And then milliseconds. And then, no more - no more.