Work Text:
"Cataclysm!"
The earrings shattered into a million pieces.
Marinette wailed.
Chat Blanc sneered. "And now you're nothing, Baby-nette. You are nothing without Ladybug. The suit."
She didn't say anything, uncomprehending. Stung, raw. The miraculous, gone. Ladybug no more. In horror she stared at the remainder of her earrings, dust in her partner’s hand.
"You think you're so heroic ," he spat. "Prancing around—"he fluttered his arms, mocking— “ Lucky charm! Lucky charm! You make me feel sick! Doing it all for the city - What has the city ever done for you?? What makes you feel you owe them anything? And now you want to stop me from getting my family back? How inhumane is that? Tell me, oh great Ladybug . Wait—” he laughed with no humour. Accusing. “You’re not! Ladybug any more. You never will be .”
“Even without my miraculous.” She whispered. “I am still Ladybug.”
She flung herself forwards before he could react and brought him into a hug.
“I am a hero.”
He gasped as he was hit by the first human contact he had felt in a year.
“The city has done everything for me.” She whispered into his hair.
A white-clawed hand rose to strike her.
“I am Ladybug. With or without the suit.”
She closed her eyes, a hot tear squeezing out. Her voice became stronger.
“But I am also Marinette Dupain-Cheng. Daughter to the best bakers in Paris. Clumsy designer. Best friend.”
His hand faltered.
“And you are Adrien Agreste. Breathtaking model. Kind hearted friend. The boy I fell head-over-heels for.”
Chat Blanc’s body un-tensed.
“I do wish you could have your family back. But the means is wrong. It wouldn’t work without a price. A price that cannot be paid.
“I’m so sorry she’ll never come back,” she continued. “Your mother. There’s nothing that can replace her. But we—your friends—we can give you ourselves. Our love. It won’t match up to having her back. But it’s something. Something to make the dark world a little brighter.”
Chat pulled back from the hug, holding Marinette at arm’s reach. Expression unreadable. She bit her lip, expecting the worst. Flinched as his hand raised.
Her mouth opened in shock as he gently wiped the tear from her cheek.
And wrapped her in a hug.