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“Shhh, easy my Lady.” a strange yet familiar voice soothed, “Don’t move around too much.”
Ladybug groaned softly. Her head throbbed harshly and her entire body ached like it was one giant bruise. A frown pulled at her lips as she realized the last few hours of her life were a jumbled blur. She remembered bits and pieces…like she knew she went to school today, that there was an akuma attack at…some point. It was concerning to say the least. She quickly went through important things she should know intrinsically in her mind. Her name was Marinette. Her kwami’s name was Tikki…she has a partner named…Chat. Chat Noir. Her parents' names are Tom and Sabine. As she does this part of her mind takes stock of her surroundings, or rather what she can feel. She’s being held by someone but they’re somewhere that’s a bit cold. There’s the distinct smell of petrol and rubble in the air and she wrinkles her nose.
Ladybug rolls over in the person’s embrace and finds a familiar scent as she buries her head against their chest,
“Chat?”
“Yes, my Lady?”
“What happened?”
She feels a clawed hand brush hair from her face and she vaguely realizes her hair is down. What happened to her ribbons?
“You don’t remember?” Chat asked in concern.
Ladybug shook her head, wincing as sharp pain lanced across her temples.
“Everything is…muddled. We…beat an akuma? Earlier today? Did I not cast Miraculous Ladybug?”
Chat exhaled against her hair, tickling her scalp,
“You did.” he answered softly, “This is from something-someone else.” His hand runs comfortingly up and down her back, "You were hurt pretty bad.”
Ladybug couldn’t help but smile a little,
“And you took care of it, huh?”
Chat coughed slightly,
“Uh, yeah. You could, uh, say that.”
“That’s my kitty.” she cooed, reaching up to scratch under his chin.
To her surprise, she felt Chat catch her hand and lower it back to her chest. He rubbed his thumb across the back of her knuckles,
“I’m…I’m not exactly yours, Ladybug.”
That got Ladybug’s attention. She’d been content to lay in her partner’s arms, eyes closed against her growing migraine as they spoke. Nothing he had said made her think she needed to open her eyes and look at him but this-this was a huge red flag. He almost never called her by her name. He had also never denied being called “her’s” before. She tried to ignore how it made her gut churn uncomfortably. Ladybug’s eyes shot open and she was met with a wall of white leather instead of the usual black. Her eyes traveled up to his and saw an apologetic golden gaze there. Her breath hitched in her throat. Chat was akumatized. And she was too weak to fight him. As if sensing her thoughts Akuma-Chat raised a hand and pleaded,
“It’s ok, I promise! I haven’t taken your Miraculous and I won’t.”
Her hands flew to her ears and sure enough both her earrings were still there. He smiled at her, somewhat unsure,
“I’m the last akuma.”
“The last one?” Ladybug repeated, baffled.
Chat…Blanc. Yeah, Blanc that’s what she’ll call him. Chat Blanc reached into his pocket and pulled out a shiny, purple butterfly brooch. Ladybug’s eyes widened,
“That’s-”
Chat Blanc nodded,
“The Butterfly Miraculous.”
She stared at him,
“How did you get this?”
The akuma looked a little sheepish,
“I, uh, cataclysmed Hawkmoth?”
“You did what!” Ladybug shrieked
Chat Blanc gave her a little half shrug,
“I wasn’t really in my right mind. Kind of frenzied I guess.” he explained, “Hawkmoth is the one who hurt you then he akumatized your Chat, er, me to try and take your Miraculous. I guess he thought my fear for you and hatred of him wouldn’t backfire spectacularly.”
Ladybug gazed up at him, somewhat amazed. She reached a hand up and cupped his cheek and he leaned into it, purring softly. Giving her palm a gentle kiss he brought her hand to the silver bell that hung where Chat’s golden one usually did.
“The akuma’s in here. You need to purify me…heal yourself.” he said quietly.
Ladybug felt her heart lurch quite suddenly. If she did that, was she condemning this Chat to death? To nonexistence? Chat Blanc didn’t give her time to mull it over. He wrapped her hand around the bell and snapped it off his suit; guiding her to crush it. Ladybug stared at him in shock. The akuma just smiled at her and whispered,
“Goodbye, Ladybug.”
The butterfly that fluttered out of the bell seemed old and worn. It flapped a few times before it fell to the ground and vanished in a puff of glittered smoke. Chat Blanc closed his eyes and the same glittered smoke engulfed him instead of the usual oily purple/black. Then her Chat was back. He groaned, pitching forward and Ladybug let a startled yelp as they both fell the short distance to the dusty floor. Chat all but collapsed on top of her. His arms still wrapped around her and cheek pillowed against her chest. Ladybug couldn’t help the fiery blush that exploded across her face in response. Her hand hovered over his head, unsure, before settling in his hair,
“Chat?”
He twitched under her touch, letting out a pitiful whimper and curled into her more,
“L-Ladybug…”
His voice came out broken and full of grief. Ladybug furrowed her eyebrows together. He wouldn't remember, she realized. Like the rest of the akuma victims. She wasn't sure what his last memory of her was but if what Chat Blanc had said was true then it couldn't have been good. Her hand trailed down to his cheek, caressing the skin with her thumb,
“Chat,” she called softly, “Chat, it’s ok. Wake up.”
Her partner’s eyes flew open, his hand seizing her wrist as his chest heaved in panic. Ladybug tilted her head down, pressing their foreheads together,
“Shhh.” she soothed, her other hand coming up to comb through his hair, “Shhh, it’s alright. You’re ok.”
Bright green eyes locked with hers’ and he let out a choked sob. He reached a clawed hand to her face, terrified that she wasn't real,
“My Lady?” he whispered
“I’m here, chaton.” she murmured
Tears welled up in Chat’s eyes and he wailed, burying his face against her shoulder. His arms tightening around her as he held her as close as he possibly could. Ladybug rocked him as he cried, whispering soothing nothings into his ear. She’s not sure how long they stayed like that but eventually Chat’s cries trailed into small hiccups. He slowly pulled away from her, just enough to search her face,
"Y-You’re sure you’re ok?” he asked softly.
She smiled,
“Thanks to you.”
Her partner tilted his head,
“Thanks to me? But I-I failed you…it’s my fault you were hurt in the first place.”
Ladybug brought her hand back to his cheek,
“No,” she said firmly, gently, “It wasn’t. If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t be here.”
Chat’s face scrunched up in confusion,
“I-I don’t understand.”
Ladybug carefully sat them up, wincing slightly as her body protested. She waved off Chat’s concerned look and told him what Chat Blanc told her. About how she had been attacked by Hawkmoth and how the villain intended to use him for his piece de resistance. To utterly annihilate them. But his akuma had turned on him and had protected her. Had, ironically, ended their battle with Hawkmoth once and for all. Chat stared, wide eyed, at her explanation. She booped his nose, inwardly laughing at how his eyes crossed,
“You did that, chaton. You saved me. You saved Paris.”
He gulped,
“I-I suppose.” he threaded their fingers together, “Does-does this mean we can know who each other are?”
Ladybug startled. She was about to protest but then she really thought about it. There was no danger anymore. She has no idea what will happen with the Miraculous now that Hawkmoth is gone. Will they disappear? Her stomach dropped at the idea of never seeing Chat again because she never found out who he was. Swallowing past her initial fear she nodded and felt her heart do a funny little flip at the hope shining in Chat’s eyes.
“Ah, let me cast Miraculous Cure first…”
Chat blinked, then jolted,
“Right, of course.”
There wasn’t much fanfare with this charm as she usually did. She called it quietly and just as quietly threw it into the air so her Cure could start to do its job. She sighed in relief as a swarm of the magical ladybugs wrapped around her, wiping away the exhaustion in her bones and deep bruises. She was mildly surprised when some of them went over to Chat and heard him exhale softly. He hadn’t said anything about being hurt. She brushed some of his hair from his face,
“You need to stop doing that.” she admonished gently
Chat just kind of shrugged, giving her a crooked half smile,
“Sorry, my Lady. I just didn’t want to worry you.”
She sighed,
“I’ll worry about you regardless, stupid cat.”
Chat chuckled and hugged her. She blushed at the contact but returned the hug, clinging tightly to him. Her face pressed against his shoulder,
“I promise I’ll be more careful.” she heard him murmur.
She exhaled shakily,
“You ready?”
She swears she sees him shaking as he nods,
“On three then?” he offered.
She swallowed heavily,
“On three.”
“One, two, three….transforme moi.”
Sparks and sparkles rush down their forms and the two vaguely notice their respective kwamis exchange looks before disappearing behind a stone pillar to give them privacy. Marinette opened her eyes slowly, apprehensively and she felt her heart trip over itself as she recognized the boy sitting in front of her. His eyes were equally wide, wonder filling his gaze,
“A-Adrien?” she squeaked
“Marinette.” he breathed
Her classmate, crush and partner let out a joyous laugh and closed the small distance between them; enveloping her in a tight hug. Marinette blushed heavily, her face so hot she swore steam was wafting from her head. But…this was Chat too. So she nestled her chin over his shoulder and returned his hug, gradually tightening her embrace on him until she’s holding him just as tightly as he’s holding her.
“It’s really you.” he murmured, nose pressed into her hair.
“You’re really Chat.” she echoed somewhat faintly.
Adrichat chuckled and nuzzled her. She hid her face into his neck in response, somewhat embarrassed. Yet she was happy. Extremely happy as they just basked in each others’ presence. She felt Adrien press a kiss to the top of her head,
“Thanks for staying with me ‘Bug.” he said softly
She pulled away slightly, smiling up at him,
“You and me against the world, chaton. No matter who we are.”
He gave her a toothy smile in return,
“Always, my Lady.”