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Wake up on the sidewalk; the sky is grey and unpleasant, except for one tiny patch of blue.
Screaming, always so much screaming.
Sits up carefully and checks his head for blood, but there isn’t any. There never is.
Marinette is the first person he sees, arriving out of the blurry shadows as his eyes find focus. Her eyes are wet, her mouth pulled down. Her hands tremble as she reaches toward him, “Adrien, are you ok? You got hit by a car! What were you doing, chasing after that cat anyway? It’s a cat! You’re a human!”
It’s the same thing she always says. Word for word, every time, exactly the same. “I was saving it,” he says, like he always does.
It’s how every memory he has begins. The memories from before are dim now, faded with the immeasurable distance behind them. Only one stands out against the darkness that is the past—a black cat, sitting on a park bench, talking. It’s absurd enough that it could have been a dream, except the monotony of his life is a constant reminder that it must have been real.
“I’m not a cat, I’m you,” it had spoken. “I’m you from tomorrow.”
It had talked to him about magic and what might happen and had warned him not to make a bad choice. It had been so many years, so many lifetimes ago, that he no longer remembered the specifics, except for a few key parts: the cat was him if he failed. He had enough magic to return to himself the day before and afford him infinite do-overs until he got it right. He had to kiss the girl he loved to break the spell. If he kissed the wrong girl, he would turn into a cat, and never go back.
It should have been easy to avoid the trap that was awaiting him and end this whole disaster—just find Ladybug and lay one on her. The problem was that the day he got stuck repeating was completely Ladybug-free. No akumas, no patrols. He’d tried transforming into Chat Noir and calling her all day long. He’d tried putting himself in mortal peril. Nothing. It was like she had fallen off the planet.
And so every day began again, him laying on the pavement, looking at the tiny blue patch of sky, sitting up, talking to Marinette, being checked out by the doctor, cleared to leave, being shuffled home to recover, and eventually the black cat would dart across his path, he’d turn to chase it, to catch it and tell it to release him from this purgatory, and then…
Wake up on the sidewalk.
“Adrien, are you ok? You got hit by a car!”
He interrupted her. For the first time in eternity, he interrupted her, “No, I’m not ok. Something seriously wrong is happening.”
And for the first time in eternity, she said something he didn’t expect, “Oh no, let me help you!”
That was the first time he spent the day with Marinette instead of going to the doctor and then home to be tended to by Nathalie. It took convincing, but Marinette eventually took his word that he did not have a concussion or any broken bones.
The monotony had ended! At least for a day. The next time, he said “No, I’m not ok. Something seriously wrong is happening,” and then the same exact day proceeded. As he walked home and the black cat appeared, he chased it halfheartedly. Repeating a day with Marinette for eternity was only marginally better than repeating a day of doctor’s exams or trying to find Ladybug.
At least she had macarons.
And she was nice. He learned that on the third time through his day with her. Of course, Adrien had always known Marinette was nice. But that time, it really struck him.
“You don’t want to go home? Ok, that’s fine. You can stay with me. I’ll have my Maman phone Nathalie so she won’t be worried.”
It was a small gesture, but Marinette thought about other people. Not just him, but about Nathalie and her parents.
He noticed again the next time through, when she thanked the police officer who was helping them in the road. Was it normal for people to thank everyone they came into contact with? People who were just doing their jobs?
That’s when Adrien became obsessed with learning about Marinette Dupain-Cheng. Every day, she surprised him. Usually only once, but it became a game to him—a long, eternal game—what would she say today? What look would she give to someone? What would catch his attention and not let it go?
Would it be the warmth of her hand as she helped him up?
Would it be the blueness of her eyes, or the tear she shed for him?
Would it be the way she stammered after he complimented her?
Would it be the twig that got caught in her hair, that she laughed about as he picked it out?
As the day turned into weeks, turned into months, turned into years, and faded back into lifetimes, Adrien changed. Gone was the flirty Chat Noir, young, naïve. Gone was the teenage heartthrob, eager to please, loyal to a fault, blind. Adrien now only had one purpose in life—to find out how Marinette would surprise him that day.
Eventually, he forgot the cat. He forgot the deal. He forgot Ladybug. He forgot before.
Eventually, the blue patch of sky was no longer the first thing he recognized. Eventually, it was her eyes—their blue became his sky. Her smile his world. Her laugh the only sound. Her presence the only thing he knew.
The cat was a dark stain now, the termination of a moment with Marinette and the reset to the sidewalk. It was no longer full of hope. It was no longer a question of how or if or when, but now it was an omen of doom.
But Marinette would welcome him back to life, over and over again, perpetually surprising him.
The time that she tripped, and he caught her, and it felt like his hands were burning with joy.
The time that she held a cold compress to his forehead and checked the dilation of his eyes—so close he could feel her breath as it escaped her lips.
The time that he curled up next to her and she fell asleep watching a movie.
The time he tried to tell her exactly what was going on and she believed him, but the cat showed up early and he was sent to the sidewalk unceremoniously.
The time she broke down and admitted she’d been in love with him since the day they’d met.
The time when her parents offered to adopt him if it meant he could get away from his father.
The time he tried to introduce her to his father and discovered just how heartless Gabriel really was.
The time he told her about his mother (what little he remembered of her, at least) and she cried and cried.
The time he lost it the second he opened his eyes and didn’t stop sobbing until the cat showed up again, and she held him through it all.
The time he found her ticklish spot.
The time she slapped him.
The time he said nothing at all, and she said nothing in response, but didn’t leave his side either.
And after what may have been eons or may have been no time at all, Adrien existed only to know her, and he was happy.
Then the black cat darted in front of him as he held Marinette in his arms and gave him a piercing look. The cat had never looked at him before, in all the millions of times he’d seen it. Something stirred, deep down, something he’d lost from a distant past—kiss the girl you love.
Wake up on the sidewalk; the sky is soft and blanketed in lavender clouds. A single oculus of blue light radiates down on him. And then, her face, emerging from the blurry background. She’s worried, the wrinkle between her eyebrows as familiar to him as his own, and this time, he doesn’t let her speak. There is something vitally important he must communicate to her.
He caresses her cheek. He no longer cares if he is doomed to a life as a cat for all eternity. He’s already faced an eternity without her. Certainly, there could be no worse torture than a single second without her in it.
Adrien sits up slowly and kisses her. She gasps in surprise, but doesn’t pull away.
The fog crashes down. Sound erupts. The world jolts. He holds on to her as his universe re-centers around her gravity of love. He opens her eyes—she still has hers closed. He is surprised to see a tiny freckle on her cheek that he has never noticed before.
She opens her eyes slowly, each lash fluttering independently of the others, and then she smiles, “Wow, um, I thought you were hurt,” she stammers.
He shakes his head. “No. I saved the cat?”
She nods, “Yes, the cat is fine, see?” she points to a black cat sitting on the other side of the street. Adrien looks at it. It nods once, and then fades away into thin air.
The next day, Adrien looks at the bright blue sky, kisses Marinette again, and finds a new life, full of hope, wonder, surprises, love, and her. He never misses a day of loving her, learning about her, and being surprised by her. He never finds out what brought the black cat into his life, but it never bothers him. As they grow old together, Adrien realizes the magic’s true gift was her, and if he had to face another eternity of loneliness to find her again, he would. She is worth every second.