Chapter Text
It happened incredibly fast and yet Marinette was sure that from the outside it looked like those slow-motion videos where you can see the moment disaster strikes. There was no particular reason for her typical Ladybug balance and grace to leave her in that moment, but one moment was all it took.
Even the magic suit couldn’t protect her, she found out. A small, miscalculated step was followed by a searing pain in her ankle and she was falling. But before she could hit the ground, strong arms caught her and she found herself looking into dazzling green eyes. There was no way of knowing which made her heart race - his proximity or the adrenaline coursing through her. Or both?
Before she could dwell on that, another painful throb from her foot made her wince. It was obvious it was absolutely useless to even try to step on it. And trying to fight while in excruciating pain was not something she wanted to try. But did she have any other option?
As usual, Chat could read her very well because he took her in his arms before she could protest and they jumped away from the scene of the battle. It was little consolation but at least the akuma was not a violent one so they could probably use several minutes without it causing too much trouble.
She didn’t expect to be able to notice anything beside the pain and the uncertainty over their next move, but she did. The last phrase she’d ever expected to use of herself was a damsel in distress and she had only needed to be saved by Chat a handful of times. Yet, there she was, nestled in his arms while he sought a place for them to hide. It was not surprising that she felt totally safe and secure in his embrace. She trusted him implicitly after all. But what caught her off guard was how intimate it all felt too,in the best possible way.
She’d gotten so lost in how good he felt and how she wanted to stay like this forever that when he suddenly looked down at her, she was surprised by how close he was. And how much she wanted to bring his head closer to hers and...
“Do you think you can stand on your own?” she heard him ask. She blinked a few times, finally noticing that they’d stopped moving. To her horror, she felt her cheeks warm up. And of course her confusion and embarrassment didn’t go unnoticed by Chat. He cocked his head to one side, looking at her curiously, a telltale smile on his lips. She was sure he couldn’t read her mind but he must have sensed the direction of her thoughts anyway.
“I.. “ Marinette started, looking away. “Yes, put me down. I just need to step on the foot that’s not hurt,” she added. He hesitated, holding her against his chest as if he also wanted to keep her close for just a moment longer. She didn’t dare look at him again, she didn’t trust herself not to do anything stupid. And finally, he crouched allowing her to test her weight on her good foot before letting her go so she could stand freely.
Marinette shook her head, trying to concentrate on the task at hand, but she quickly found out that she struggled to keep her balance
“I need to sit down,” she said, already looking around, but all that met her was a bare rooftop. It seemed to be pretty isolated, caught between taller buildings on both sides, which meant it was a good temporary base for them. But they didn’t have any other choice but to sit on the ground.
“What are we going to do?” Chat asked as she was trying to find a way to sit down, turning this way and that, to no avail. Yes, that, she thought, trying to focus on his words. Their priority was to think of a plan. Although with her hurt and out of commission like that, the truth was there was only one choice.
All of a sudden she was in his arms again and then he put her on the ground, helping her to sit while keeping her ankle out of the way. She smiled gratefully at him, amazed once again by how in tune they were with each other, making it redundant for her to ask for his help.
“Detransform,” she said, sighing as she tried to bring the conversation back on track. She caught the wide-eyed look he gave her. “Here, sit down with your back to me,” she explained. Once his back was against hers, they both uttered their detransformation phrases.
“You’ve got yourselves into quite a situation, kids,” Marinette heard Plagg’s voice as she rummaged in her purse for Tikki’s macaron.
“Quit it, Plagg. No one wanted this to happen. And it could have happened to either of us,” Chat said. She felt a strange warmth at his words. He didn’t accuse her of being careless. He was so incredibly understanding.
“You know that we have only one option, right?” She asked him as her hands removed her earrings. She heard his sigh. Her ears felt so bare all of a sudden. She held the hand palm up with the Miraculous in it away from her. After a second she felt his hand on top of hers, slipping his ring in her palm while taking the earrings. The brush of his fingers sent electricity up her arm and straight to her heart. What was wrong with her?
Before he pulled back his hand though, her fingers closed around his of their own accord, a completely involuntary action. The skin-on-skin contact, one that didn’t last just a second, had a surprisingly calming effect on her. She had always known that underneath the mask he was a normal person, just like her. But it was the feeling of the skin of his hand against hers that finally turned this vague idea into reality, also making her admit that she didn’t want to let him go.
“Be careful, ok?” She said, trying to speak around the emotion welling up inside of her.
“Of course, m’lady,” came his soft reply. She gave a final squeeze of his fingers and pulled back her hand.
“Hey, Tikki, it’s good to see you again,” he said then, but his voice lacked its usual strength and confidence. Maybe he was just as affected by the whole situation as she was.
“Hi…” Tikki began then coughed awkwardly. Marinette’s heart skipped a beat. Her kwami knew his name and had almost said it out loud for her to hear.
“Careful, sugarcube, we don’t want accidents, right?” Plagg said, flying into Marinette’s field of vision. But he grinned teasingly at her. He would totally love it if Tikki caused an accidental reveal.
She and Chat kept quiet as they put on the Miraculouses and transformed. Marinette knew that if she turned around, she’d never let him go. Her heart was already heavy with fear. She expected him to just leave, but then she felt something touch her hair lightly. Her breath hitched in her throat as she realised that it was his lips.
“I’ll be back as soon as possible,” he said. And then he was gone.
What followed were the most torturous minutes of Marinette’s life. If she could walk, she would have been pacing the roof. But if it wasn’t for her injured foot, they wouldn’t be in this situation in the first place.
She wished she could have kept Plagg for company, but of course she needed to be transformed. Otherwise the final exchange of their Miraculouses would be tricky. So she had to sit there, scanning the rooftops for any movement and wait.
She was so worried for him. She knew he could get the job done, she trusted him. But she wasn’t there to watch his back and so many things could go wrong. And why was he taking so long?
It gave her too much time to think about her earlier reaction to him. She wanted to deny the effect he had on her, but it was pointless. Which was so not fair. She hadn’t had such troubles before, when he was flirting with her at every opportunity. But you didn’t know him back then, a tiny voice told her, and you thought it was all a joke. Now she knew it wasn’t. But she knew something else too.
She didn’t want to think about that unfortunate trip to the future. But the warning in her mind had been crystal clear. To avoid that, to prevent him turning into a villain and destroying the world, she had to avoid falling in love with him at all cost. It shouldn’t have been so hard, not when she knew what was at stake. Then why did she have the feeling that it was already too late?
You can do that, she told herself. He’s your partner, you can be professional about all this. Just don’t pay attention to how he looks at you or how good it feels to be in his arms. And totally ignore the way you go weak at the knees when he smiles that soft smile at you. It’s not that hard, right?
She realised that her pep talk had had no effect the moment she saw him drop down on the roof next to her. He was grinning as he dropped to his knees in front of where she sat, his eyes shining with pride.
“I did it, m’lady!” he said. “I-Oof,” he gasped, as she shuffled towards him, bending her leg at an awkward angle, and threw her arms around him, hugging him tightly.
“I was so worried,” she all but sobbed, her face buried against his suit. Relief washed through her but it was still not enough. When his arms wrapped around her and a hand moved soothingly on her back, the tension in her shoulders eased.
“It’s ok, I’m here. I didn’t mess this up,” he said quietly.
“I wasn’t worried about you messing up!” she exclaimed, looking up at him. “I know you can do this, silly kitty. But you were gone for so long!”
“I was? I didn’t notice how much time had passed. But I had to think of a way to lure the akuma in and find a way to defeat them on my own. I guess it took longer than I expected. I’m not as good as you after all,” he said teasingly, trying to lighten the mood.
“I’m glad you’re back,” she said but then winced as pain shot through her leg. It was getting too hard to be in that position and her ankle was starting to protest.
“Here, let’s sit down for a minute. I just used Lucky Charm so I have some time,” he said, guiding her back to a more comfortable position..
“Are you ok? I was hoping that the Miraculous Cure would help you, but I guess since the injury was not akuma-related, it didn’t. But apart from the foot, you seem very agitated,” he said, looking at her with concern.
“I’m fine,” she said too quickly. “Well, it’s nothing you need to worry about,” she added when he looked at her knowingly.
“That’s funny, because I have a feeling that it has something to do with me,” he shot back. How could he be so perceptive, she thought. “It can’t be that I’m finally wearing you down, right?” He grinned, joking. This was something she didn’t have the strength to bear right then.
“Don’t joke about this. You know I can’t be in love with you,” she scolded him, looking away. She hoped it would be enough, that it would put an end to the discussion. Instead she felt a finger under her chin, gently turning her head to look at him again.
“M’lady, this is the second time you’ve mentioned this. Not that you’re in love with someone else. Or that you’re simply not in love with me. But that you can’t be in love with me. It’s strange phrasing it like that. It makes it sound like you want to love me, but something is stopping you? Am I reading this wrong?” The way he was looking at her was disconcerting. Especially with his eyes lacking any magical enhancement and still being the same vibrant green. He must have sensed her hesitation, because he continued. “Tell me. Whatever is troubling you, we can deal with this together.”
“I can’t tell you, you’re not supposed to know,” she admitted.
“If it’s something that weighs this much on you, you should.” It was indicative of how unsettled she felt that she didn’t hesitate before she gave in.
“It was this terrible future. Something had happened and it was because we were in love,” she said, pain slicing through her. She could see the half-crazed, cold blue eyes staring at her. Speaking with such certainty. He pulled back as if she’d slapped him.
“No. No way. You can’t believe that. Who told you?” he asked, desperate to prove her wrong. She didn’t want to tell him that it had been him, that he’d been akumatised. It would hurt him too much.
“Well, the akumatised villain, actually,” she said instead. His eyes lit up.
“Since when do you trust the insane ramblings of akuma victims, m’lady? You know better than that!” He looked so certain that it made her waver. What if he had a point? It was pretty clear that that future version of him she’d met hadn’t been himself. From what she’d gathered, it was no wonder he’d gone a little crazy. What if she’d been too quick to take his words at face value?
“I- I don’t know. It was really scary, I didn’t even think to question it!”
“Think again. So all this time you’ve been convinced that you can’t let yourself fall in love with me?” She swallowed, the need to look away again too strong. He must have seen something in her eyes. “Or has it already happened in spite of that?” He asked, cautiously. She closed her eyes, because she could no longer pretend. It was all too much. His fingers moved, cupping her cheek.
“M’lady, don’t do this to yourself,” he whispered. “If you feel anything, don’t fight it! I assure you, it can’t be wrong!”
“Maybe I’ll think about it,” she said weakly. It was the least she could do. When he didn’t say anything, she opened her eyes. The determination she saw written all over his face made her gulp.
“I’m doing this only because I’m sure you want it too and it can help clear your mind,” he said slowly.
“Wh-” she was about to ask but his lips silenced her. It was instantaneous the effect it had on her. When he kissed her, her heart practically started singing. There was no other way to describe it. She absolutely melted under his touch and she was thankful that she was sitting down, she felt so weak all of a sudden. If there had been any doubt left, it was gone. She really, really loved him. He pulled back much too soon, looking a little dazed himself.
“Promise me you’ll think about it,” he said earnestly. “I’ll wait for you, take as long as you need. But don’t forget that the future is not set in stone.” She could hear the plea in his voice. Just then the final beep sounded from his earrings and they both jumped in surprise. He looked like he wanted to say more, but he just turned around and she did the same. Her mind still reeling, she transformed back and took the ring off. His hand was already waiting with the earrings and they exchanged them wordlessly.
“How will you get home?” He asked, while she was putting the earrings on. She hadn’t even thought about that, she’d been so busy with the emotional turmoil she was in.
“It’s not so bad, I’m sure I can hobble home,” she said, trying to invoke some confidence in herself.
“Close your eyes and give me your hand, I’ll help you up,” he said. She did as he asked. But once they were up, with her trying to favour her hurt foot, she didn’t want to let him go. Not when she’d finally admitted how she felt. She didn’t want to let go of that certainty he’d somehow inspired in her. He might be right. Together they could do things differently.
She gave the hand she was still holding a squeeze.
“Ok. I want to do this, to give us a chance,” she said, surprised by how strong her voice sounded. “But if we’re really doing it, we’re doing it properly.” She felt him squeeze her hand in return, showing that he understood.
And then they opened their eyes.