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giuliafc · 3 years

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Panic Attack

Written by: JuliaFC

Betas: Khanofallorcs, Agrestebug, Etoile-Lead-Sama, Genxha and NalaFontaine. Thank you all so much!

Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by (c) Thomas Astruc, TS1 Bouygues, Disney Channel, Zagtoon, Toei Animation. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

Written for the Facebook h/c group “Hurt/Comfort Italia - Fanart and Fanfiction - GRUPPO NUOVO | Groups | Facebook”, weekend challenge, “Atonement 2.0”. I was asked to write a *coughs* drabble about character A being stuck somewhere and character B having to help them. If you speak/read Italian and are interested in the genre, join us! We’ll be glad to see you!

oOoOoOoOoOo

She knew it wasn’t a good idea. It really, really wasn’t a good idea. Her guts had warned her. She had felt a very bad sensation in the pit of her stomach and a growing sense of anxiety the more she tried to convince herself that it was okay. That it was only a boat, that they were safe. That it was a hot and sunny afternoon, that Bois de Boulogne was full of people and nothing could have really happened.

When Adrien had said that he had never rowed a boat before, Alya had winked at her. Her friend had poked her in the ribs saying, “That’s a great idea, Sunshine! Let’s rent two. Nino and I will take one, and you and Marinette the other!”

Marinette had tried her best to not think too much of it, or rather she had tried her best to not have a panic attack because she was going to go on a boat, alone, with Adrien. He was going to row and it was going to be all so romantic and she wanted to die.

Because even though he had now made it clear that he wasn’t in a relationship with Kagami, so Marinette knew she wasn’t betraying her friend’s trust, he was still her crush. She had tried so hard to move on. She had genuinely tried to reciprocate Luka’s feelings. However, the trip to New York they had been on two months ago had given her time to reflect and the heart to heart she had with Luka upon her return had cemented their break up. She couldn’t deny the feelings she had for Adrien anymore. She loved him too much to let him go.

They had been alone, facing each other as they sat in the small boat. Adrien had been happily rowing. The silence between them had been deafening. Her insides had been melting every time he had been giving her one of those looks; those looks that he had always given her, but that strangely enough had become more intense and more languid since they had that dance under the moonlight in New York. Her face was so red that she started fearing the colour would become permanent.

And then, of course, it had to happen. The loud bang echoed in the air like a clap of thunder. The akuma appeared out of nowhere and started billowing gusts of wind all around, making the water of the river sway in big waves and the boat they were in began swinging dangerously. Marinette saw Adrien putting the oars down and clenching his hands on the boat while looking at her worriedly.

“Are you okay, Marinette? Can you manage?” he said.

She nodded. “Yes, it’s an akuma. We need to find a way to get to safety and hide.”

The akuma had the shape of an enormous swan; it had walked through from the back of the park and now started uttering high pitched squeals. “You won’t disturb the flora and the fauna of this park any longer!” it screamed. The bird twirled its neck and started flapping its wings, creating wind that was becoming stronger and stronger.

Marinette was panicking. She knew she had to find a hiding place and transform but she couldn’t do that because she was in the most exposed location possible, in the middle of a river, and she couldn’t go anywhere or hide from the view. She couldn't even hide inside the boat, because Adrien was with her.

Adrien must have misinterpreted her pallor, because he moved one of his hands and grabbed Marinette’s arm, holding it firmly. “I’ve got you,” he shouted, trying to make his voice heard through the wind. But Marinette couldn't answer because the wind suddenly picked up even stronger and their boat, together with a few more, was captured by a column of what looked like water mixed with wind and they felt like they were floating in mid air. Then it all happened very fast: the boat (with them inside) rose higher and higher, and the downblast of wind threw everything around. Marinette felt Adrien’s body wrapping around hers protectively, and next thing she knew, she was slammed down on the ground somewhere and lost consciousness from the impact.

oOo

It took her a couple of minutes to open her eyes again, and when she did, her gaze was met with darkness. She didn’t know what was going on, but she felt that she had something very heavy pressing on her body and she could hardly breathe under its weight. Slowly, her eyes got accustomed to the darkness and she started making out the shapes of the things around her.

She seemed to be… underneath the boat? Yes, she could actually see the top part of one of the oars that Adrien had been using to row the boat just millimetres from her temple. She tried to move to push the boat up, but soon realised that the heaviness was actually clenched, almost wrapped around her body. She tried to detangle her arms from underneath the heavy load, so that she could move and touch around to understand where she was, and as she did that, she had a horrible thought going through her mind.

“Tikki!” she whispered. The red and black kwami had been resting inside her small purse, but now Marinette didn’t know where her purse was.

“Shhhh!” she heard the voice of the small kwami whisper into her ear. “I’m okay, Marinette, but you’re stuck under the boat and a whole load of branches and trees.”

Marinette’s eyes opened wide. “Oh no! I don’t have time for this,” she growled. “Damn Akuma! We need t—” she started saying but Tikki put her little paws on her mouth, then flew back to her ear and whispered, “You’re not alone, Marinette!”

“Wha—” she started, and as she did that, she felt something moving on her chest, right between her breasts.

“Uuuuuuh what happened?” She couldn’t be mistaken. This was Adrien’s voice.

“Adrien?” she asked, already knowing the answer.

“Marinette? Where are you?” She felt something moving from her side and she thought that probably Adrien had moved a hand to his head, maybe rubbing the nape of his neck. Or maybe he was just massaging his head where he must have gotten hit when they landed on the ground. She could feel a tender spot on her own head too, just on the top of her left ear. Then she felt the pressure of limbs trying to detangle from the top of her and something started to feel and squeeze her chest.

She immediately tensed, her eyes going wide as her face felt suddenly hotter than ever. “S-stop. Now!” she managed to say and felt him freeze on top of her and what was frantically touching her all over stopped immediately.

“Sorry, I was trying to figure out what I was laying on.”

Oh God, could he hear the furious beating of her heart? Of all the scenarios she had dreamed of in her mind of Adrien checking her out, being stuck under a boat buried under a load of trees definitely wasn’t one. She was cold. And sore. And an akuma was on the loose and now Chat Noir was probably fighting against it and wondering why his Lady hadn’t arrived yet. A surge of adrenaline rushed through her veins at the mere thought of it. No, she couldn’t leave her kitty alone! Besides, he had no way to purify the akuma and she definitely didn’t want this particular akuma to multiply!

“It’s know, you okay… I mean you knew okay, uuuuuh I mean, It’s okay you didn’t know.” She nearly felt her face combusting on the spot when she felt his nose on her skin. “Adrien. Th-that’s my ch-chest,” she managed to say before getting completely breathless when she felt his breath in between her breasts as he gasped loudly and tried in a mad frenzy to detangle himself.

“So sorry, Marinette! I’m stuck, can’t move at all. I’m trying to pin myself on my elbows, but my neck hurts, I must have banged it quite hard, can't lift my head much. Can you move? I’ll try to lift myself up a little.” As he said that, she felt a bit of the pressure coming off her body and she could finally breathe. She tried to wiggle underneath him to squish out and felt that her body wasn’t tangled anywhere.

“If you could hold that position and maybe lift yourself up a little bit more, maybe I can get out.” She felt what now she had identified as his body tense and lift just slightly further up, so she took that as a cue to start wiggling even more. With enormous difficulty, she untangled her legs and pulled the top part of herself out from under the boat. Her foot got stuck for a second, but the thought of the effort that poor Adrien was doing to lift himself up added to her panic and desperation and she managed to get herself out. She looked at her foot and noticed a big scratch on it. She had also lost one of her ballet shoes. As soon as she took her foot out, she heard a gasp and the boat crashed even more on top of Adrien, burying him further and leaving him nearly no gap for air. She heard the boy whimper underneath it.

“Are you all right, Adrien?” she shouted. She tried to lift the boat up, but the wood wouldn’t move at all. So she started trying to remove some of the branches that had fallen on top of the boat, to free it.

“I… I’m not. I’m c-claustrophobic, Marinette. I c-can’t breathe!” He started coughing and Marinette started panicking outside the boat.

Merde! That’s the last thing she needed now. She was hoping to go look for help and transform at the same time and get rid of the akuma. But she couldn’t leave him like that. Her whole soul was screaming inside her that she couldn’t possibly leave Adrien on his own (or any human being to be honest, but especially Adrien!) while he was at his most vulnerable.

“Oh no! Adrien, don’t panic. Close your eyes and concentrate on breathing!”

“I can’t!” His voice was hoarse, almost a whisper.

“Shoot! Adrien, please listen to me.” He coughed once more and her heart doubled its speed in her chest. “Please, Adrien, listen. Listen. Close your eyes. Imagine the most beautiful thing you have ever seen.” She heard him whimpering. “Do it, Adrien. Think of what you love the most. Picture it in your head in detail.”

“Uuuuuuh…” he whimpered again, but his voice wasn't as hoarse and he didn’t cough any more.

“Are you picturing this beautiful thing, Adrien? Do you want to talk about it?” As she was talking, she kept looking around. She tried to pull up the boat again but she couldn’t even lift it a millimeter. So she gave her attention again to the branches on top. There were some big trunks among the smaller branches and they were too heavy for her to lift, so she knew that it would have been impossible for her to get Adrien out of the boat without help. But she didn’t want to leave him there. She eyed her phone thoughtfully, but the signal bar was showing ‘only emergency calls’. When she tried to dial the number of the boulangerie, no sound came out and after about half a minute, the phone hung up by itself. No, they were too deep into the woods, or maybe the akuma had damaged the phone wires; maybe a combination of the two.

No, there was only one thing to do. She went back on her knees and put a hand on the wood of the boat. “Are you okay, Adrien?”

“I’m a little better, but I won’t resist much longer,” he said, his voice still very shaky. No, she definitely couldn’t leave him there.

“Forgive me, my friend, I have no other choice!” she whispered and then said much louder, “TIKKI, SPOTS ON!” As the sparkle of pink energy wrapped all around her, she could clearly hear a loud gasp coming from within the boat. “I’m sorry that you found out like this, Adrien.”

She started working at the branches, lifting a much heavier load now that she had her suit on. However, the heaviest ones were still too heavy for her to lift, even as Ladybug. “Damn it! Adrien, I still can’t free the boat!” She looked around, almost hoping that she would see a sign that everything would be okay. She needed something. Someone. Yes, she definitely needed someone. Someone she knew way too well. “Where is that bloody cat when you need him?” she cursed loudly, more to herself than to anybody else.

“Don’t!” she heard a voice that didn’t sound Adrien’s one coming from inside the boat. She opened her eyes wide and froze on the spot, resting one of her ears against the wood of the boat and listening very carefully. Surely she had just imagined it, Adrien was alone until seconds before! “I said don’t. Don’t you even th—”

“PLAGG, CLAWS OUT!” boomed Adrien’s voice. Blood drained completely from Ladybug’s face.

WHAT?

“CATACLYSM!” As soon as he said that, the boat, and all the trees and trunks at the top of it, were rendered to ash. And immediately after, her stunned gaze was met by the shiny green eyes of her masked partner.

“Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu... Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?” she managed to say. Her eyes were still as wide as saucers, her heart skipping several beats as her mouth gaped open in a small o.

Chat Noir bowed theatrically in front of her and then picked her hand up and kissed her knuckles. “The ‘bloody cat’ is and will always be at your service, My Lady!” he said in a joking tone, his eyes never leaving her own. Then he tried to move and she saw a gleam of pain in his eyes. “Ugh… although I won’t be of much use today, I’m afraid, not until you release the Miraculous cure. My leg—” He cringed and she finally managed to wake up from her shock induced stupor. First thing she did was wrap him in a massive hug.

“You're okay!” she whispered in his ear, hugging him so tight he could hardly breathe.

He smiled softly in her embrace. “Yes, Buginette. I’m okay.”

“Thank God!” She started sobbing against his shoulder and he couldn’t do anything more than hug her tighter, while with one hand he was patting her hair in a soothing gesture. They held the hug for a long time, lulling in the reassuring feeling of each other’s breath, and each other’s warmth. Then, they heard loud bangs and crashes in the distance and broke the hug, as if waking up from a dream.

Chat Noir saw that Ladybug wanted to say something, but he put a finger to her mouth and shushed her. “We can talk later, Marinette. Now we need to take care of the akuma.” He tried to move his leg and winced. “Actually, you will have to take care of the akuma because… as I said, my leg needs your Miraculous Cure. Ouch.”

She sniffled and stroked his cheek, before nodding decisively. Then, her eyes got an amused gleam to them and she cupped her hands on each side of his face. “I will, minou. But there’s an even more urgent matter that needs to be addressed before I go.”

“What m—” he started to say, but he couldn’t finish, because his lips got suddenly busy kissing the lips of the girl he loved.

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Author’s note

Whoho! I finally managed to write something short! *Jumps around happily* Not sure if it can be considered a ‘drabble’ as I was asked, but… that’s the shortest I’ve written up to now! *JOY*

Hope you liked this little story. Please feel free to drop any compliments, screams, insults, kisses… incoherent rambling… anything you want in the comments and click send. I love reading your feedback, please be nice with this poor sleep deprived soul who writes at 3 am for tort—, I mean to delight you with these loads of rub—, er, these beautiful stories of mine. *Coughs*. Good news is (oh well, good… depending from the point of view), I have more prompts for the challenge I’m taking part of, so before the end of the weekend I’ll tort—, I mean I’ll delight you with some more.

Aren’t you happy? :D

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giuliafc · 3 years

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Nightmares

Written by: JuliaFC

Betas: Khanofallorcs, Agrestebug, Etoile-Lead-Sama and Genxha. Thank you all so much!

oOoOoOoOoOo

The sound of her frantic whimpers woke him up. He looked around wildly and, at first, panicked because he didn’t recognise anything. It took him a few minutes to realise that it was Nino’s lounge. He was sleeping in a sleeping bag on the floor.

Yes, the memories of the day before came back in a flash.

~~That morning~~

Marinette looked very tired that morning at school. Alya looked at her worriedly and told her that she shouldn’t stay awake all night working on projects all the time. She needed to sleep. So she acted instinctively, as she usually did, and decided that the only way that they could ensure that Marinette would have a full night of sleep was to be physically there to check up on her. Easy as pie. Alya was a master organiser when she had something in her mind. And she had decided that she wanted Marinette to have a sleepover with them at Nino’s. So in literally five minutes she cleared her schedule and Nino’s, rang Tom and Sabine and asked them for permission to ‘kidnap Marinette for a night’ and organised for Nora to look after Chris and the twins.

Marinette tried to complain. She really did her best to get out of the situation. But Adrien didn’t like that. Exactly like Alya, even he worried about the growing bags under Marinette’s eyes, and about how easily she fell asleep during their school day. She looked exhausted. He had asked her a couple of times in the last few weeks to slow down, because he really didn’t like how tired she looked. It seemed as though every time after, he saw her coming to school looking more exhausted than before. This time she literally fell asleep the second Mlle. Bustier’s lesson started and stayed asleep (aided by the fact that he and Alya explained to their teacher that Marinette’s health would benefit from the nap) for the whole lesson.

So when Marinette tried to complain about not wanting to take part in the sleepover and tried to get out of it, Adrien blatantly lied. He hated lying, and he wouldn't do it normally (except to protect his identity, of course), but Marinette was too dear a friend for him to worry about menial ethical concerns.

“It’s a shame that you don’t want to have a sleepover, Marinette,” he said. “I just texted Nathalie and she gave me permission to come too. But if you’re not going to be there, then the sleepover is usel—” He beamed when Marinette interrupted him.

“Oh no, you’re okay,” she muttered. “I mean, it’s okay. You’re perfect. I mean, it’s perfect. Yes, you’re not perfect, that would be weird. But mareding, I mean amazing. If you’ll be there, I’ll marry you, I mean I’ll come with you. Yes. Of course. I’ll be there. Right. Definitely!”

“Cool!” He gave her a soft look and took hold of her hand, causing Marinette’s face to flush deep red. “I’m looking forward to it, then!”

Alya and Nino looked at him with wide eyes, and Nino walked him to his car on purpose to ask him, “Did you really get permission for..”

“Nope,” he admitted. “But I will find a way. I may not get there very early and I may need to leave at the crack of dawn, but I’ll be there, Nino. See you tonight!”

When he closed the door of the sedan and was waiting patiently to return home, Plagg peeked out of the pocket of his shirt to give him a curious stare. “How are you going to pull this off, gamin?”

“I’ll pretend to have a migraine, go to bed and sneak out as Chat Noir.”

Plagg raised a disbelieving eyebrow. “Where is my holder? Tell the aliens to give him back to me. He buys me the best of cheese,” he asked. When Adrien gave him a dubious look, Plagg continued, “No, honestly. I’ve never seen you rebelling like this before. I'm proud of you, Adrien!”

Adrien chuckled. “Ha, thank you, buddy. It’s not rebellion. It’s just—”

“What?” interrupted the little furball.

Adrien sighed. “I’m worried for Marinette. I knew that she would agree to the sleepover if I was going to be there.” Plagg raised an eyebrow so Adrien blushed a little and looked away. “Don’t look at me like that. She’s always wanted me to get some freedom and experience things, so I knew she wasn’t going to give up on the opportunity to make me experience a sleepover.”

“Ah, okay,” commented Plagg. “Go figure…”

So that evening Adrien put his plan into action and, for once, everything went smoothly. At exactly nine o’clock he pretended to have a migraine and locked himself in his room, transformed into Chat Noir, turned his shower on in the bathroom (just in case. After all, Nathalie had a master key to all the rooms in the mansion!) and left to reach Nino.

He didn’t get disappointed. They had great fun playing a couple of games before going to bed. They even had a pillow fight, because Adrien had always wanted to do one. Then, nice and early (so that Marinette could get as much rest as possible), Alya set up four sleeping bags in the lounge and they all went to bed.

It didn’t take long for Marinette to fall asleep. He kept a watchful eye on her and saw that she tossed back and forth a few times. She also muttered things to herself a little bit, but in a matter of minutes, she was gone. Adrien smiled and exchanged conspiratory looks with Nino and Alya, happy that their plan had worked. Hopefully, it meant that finally Marinette would get some sleep.

A moment later, though, he raised an eyebrow as Nino and Alya got up from their sleeping bag.

“Where are you going?” he asked, a little surprised.

“Not to be funny, Sunshine, but Nino’s bed is much more comfortable than the floor and we would also like some privacy. So if you don’t mind…” Alya winked at him. “Would you look after Marinette for us?” They hadn’t even waited for him to say yes before walking away.

“Huh, great friends they are,” commented Plagg. “But at least I can get out from your pocket.”

“Be careful, though, Plagg. If they come back, or if Marinette wakes up, I don’t want anyone to see you.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll stay inside the sleeping bag,” retorted Plagg.

It didn’t take long after that for Adrien to fall asleep.

~~End of Flashback~~

But now, the sound of whimpers and muffled cries woke him up. He looked around, wondering if Alya and Nino had come back, but their sleeping bags were empty. There was only one person who could be whimpering, then.

He quickly got up and moved closer to Marinette. Her eyes were closed, but she was tossing and turning, the sweat pumping out of her. She was white as a sheet.

“She must be having a nightmare,” whispered Plagg, floating sleepily out of the sleeping bag and reaching the pocket of his pyjamas top.

“I know,” whispered Adrien. “Should I wake her up?” At Plagg’s agreement, he called out to her a bit louder, grabbing her shoulders and giving her a small shake, “Marinette? Marinette?”

“Nnnnnnnnnh, no, please,” Marinette was muttering. “You're wrong! I'm not Marinette! It's impossible, I never told you anything!”

Adrien’s eyes went wide. What kind of nightmare was she having? Why was she saying that she wasn’t Marinette? “Marinette? Please, it’s me! Wake up!”

“Nnnnnno! Don’t touch me, chaton, please!” she screamed and of course Adrien let her go and sat on his knees, his heart pounding in his chest.

“Chaton?” He sucked his breath in, his heart in his throat. Was she really talking to him or was she still dreaming? Had she figured him out? And if she hadn’t, why on Earth was she having nightmares about Chat Noir?

“It-it’s time to de-evil—” she started to say and then she crouched on herself, as if she was trying to duck a hit.

Plagg moved a little closer to Marinette and stared with massive concern at the girl asleep on the floor. His gaze darted from the sleeping girl to the stunned face of Adrien, and the boy could clearly see that his kwami was worried. No, worried wasn’t the right word. He was terrified.

“Never! LUCKY CHARM!” shouted Marinette and then she erupted into a massive scream that drained all blood from Adrien’s face. His heart skipped several beats as Alya and Nino ran in the room giving Plagg barely enough time to zip back behind Adrien’s head.

“What’s going on, Sunshine?” asked Alya running next to him.

“I-I don’t know. She started talking in her sleep and screaming, I think she’s having a nightmare but I couldn’t wake her up. I don’t know what else to do!”

Alya put a hand to her chin and frowned. "She had mentioned a couple of times that she was having nightmares. I wonder if that’s what has been keeping her awake or making her so tired. I’ll go make some camomile tea, for when she wakes up. You don’t move away from her, Sunshine. Nino, come with me.”

Adrien gave them a grateful look as they walked out of the lounge. “Plagg?” he asked after a moment. The little black kwami came out of his hiding place and gave him a sheepish look. “Don’t look at me like this, Plagg. Have you maybe failed to mention that—”

“OKAY! OKAY! I'LL GIVE YOU MY MIRACULOUS, CHAT NOIR!”

“Plagg!” Adrien put his hands into his hair. By now he knew that it couldn’t be an accident. The gravity of his discovery hit him like a big punch in the stomach. Marinette was Ladybug. There was no other explanation for what he’d just heard. But he didn’t have a chance to panic about it. The realisation hit him that his Lady was having a nightmare. A nightmare about facing… him? Chat Noir? Wanting to steal her Miraculous? Why was his Lady tormented with nightmares where he was an akuma? He looked at her again and saw that she was crying in her sleep. His heart broke. “What’s going on? What is she talking about? I’ve never b—”

“You will always be Chat Noir to me.” The way she said it. The sentiment that vibrated in each and every word. Tears were starting to worm their way out of the corner of Adrien’s eyes as he grabbed Marinette’s shoulders firmly and gave her a big, massive shake.

“BUGINETTE! Can you hear me? Please wake up! Wake up please!” He hugged her and couldn’t stop sobbing. “Please, My Lady. Please wake up…”

As he kept hugging her and gently patting her hair with his hands, he felt her body relaxing before tensing again. Until suddenly, she started hugging him back.

“Chaton?” she whispered. “Is that you?”

He broke the hug and looked her in the eye. He saw the surprise in her gaze and how wide her eyes and how pale her face had become. He wiped his tears with the back of his hand.

“It’s me, yes. Hi,” he said tentatively and waved nervously.

She sucked her breath in and gasped loudly. “I must still be dreaming. Yes, that’s it. I’m still asleep. Now I’m going to pinch my hand and I will wake up still laying in my sleeping bag and you will be sleeping too and nothing will have happened and I will just think of how stupid I have been in having yet another silly nightmare with Chat Blanc and… oh my God, usually I just see what had happened in the future again, not wake up with Adrien hugging me and claiming to be Chat Noir; it must be because I’m at this sleepover, and he’s sleeping in the same room as me, and I must have mixed things up and—”

As she was saying all that avalanche of words, Alya and Nino came back inside the lounge, carrying four mugs of piping hot herbal tea. Alya sat down with her legs crossed next to Adrien and cautiously gave the mug she held in her right hand to Marinette.

“What are you rambling about, girl? Here, have some camomile, it helps against nightmares.”

They sat down in silence. Nino gave Adrien another mug full of piping hot liquid.

Marinette’s gaze was literally glued into Adrien’s, her face as white as a sheet. She absentmindedly took a sip and winced, forgetting just how hot camomile could get. She started blowing gently on the liquid, but her eyes never lost sight of him.

“Sorry, Alya, I was having a nightmare,” she said eventually. “That’s why I didn’t want to come to the sleepover. I… I’ve been having nightmares for some time now.”

“What kind of nightmares, girl? I didn’t understand what you were saying, but you were screaming bloody murder a moment ago. Luckily, Chris is at my house with the twins, or we would have had three overtired children to deal with by now.”

Marinette moved her gaze briefly and met Alya’s worried brown eyes. “Sorry, Alya. My nightmares are nothing special, something about me failing my exams and my commissions. Nothing to worry about.”

Adrien glared at her. He knew that she had to lie, but he still didn’t like it when she lied that blatantly. “Are these nightmares the reason why you’re so tired?” he asked, sniffling a little. He couldn’t stop the mad pounding of his heart.

“Ah, no, don’t worry. I’ve just worn myself out too much recently, that’s all.” She made a dismissive gesture and smiled nervously. Right. As if he bought that. He and his Lady would need to have quite a long chat, as soon as—

Marinette put the cup back down on the ground, empty. “Thank you for the camomile, Alya. I feel better now. Shall we go back to sleep?”

Alya yawned and picked up the mug from the ground, standing up in a gracious gesture. “Are you sure you will be okay?”

“Yes I will, don’t worry. You and Nino go back to bed.” She smiled when Alya gave her a sheepish look. Marinette eyed her amusedly and continued, “Did you think I hadn’t realised you were gone?” She chuckled a little and a light blush dusted her cheeks. “You two go back to doing whatever you were doing. Don’t worry about me; Adrien’s here.”

Adrien saw clearly how Marinette winced when Alya’s eyes grew wide. To what must have been her great scorn, rather than going away as she had been asked to, Alya moved closer to Marinette. She sat back down crossed legged next to her and put a hand on her forehead. “Okay, where have you put my Marinette? Give her back, please.”

“What are you talking about?” asked Marinette, plucking Alya’s hand from her forehead and moving it back to her friend’s lap.

Alya folded her arms over her chest and raised an eyebrow. “Do you need to ask? We come back in the room and find you in Adrien’s arms muttering nonsensical stuff that we couldn’t even understand,” said Alya as Adrien took a big sigh of relief that neither of their friends had truly heard the secrets spilling out of Marinette's nightmare. “Then you don’t stutter at all in his presence and you dismiss us saying that you’re okay because you’re with him? Tell the aliens that I want my girl back. Please.”

Marinette blushed deep red, lowering her gaze to the floor. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m tired and want to go back to sleep. So if you don’t mind, Alya…”

Alya sighed. “Okay, okay, I got the message.” She got up again and gave her a look full of mischief. “I’ll leave you to it, then. Good luck!” Then she grabbed Nino by the arm and walked straight out, turning the light off.

They waited for a few minutes in the darkness, still like salt statues, listening carefully to ensure that Alya and Nino were really gone. After a few minutes of waiting, Adrien stood up and went to the door. He put an ear to the door and then looked at Marinette with an annoyed frown on his face. He slammed the door open and Alya and Nino both fell on the ground.

“Ouch, what was that for, Sunshine?” complained Alya.

Adrie sighed. “I thought Marinette told you to go to bed.”

Alya smiled nervously. “Uh, yes, we were just…”

“Picking something from the floor,” muttered Nino at the same time as Adrien said, “...spying on us. Do you think we don’t know your ways, Alya?”

Alya looked at both her friends sheepishly. “I know, sorry. We’ll go to bed now.”

“You’d better, Alya, I’m tired!” said Marinette with an exaggerated yawn. Alya and Nino waved goodnight and Adrien closed the door. He stayed near the door for a few minutes, tapping his foot on the floor nervously. Then he opened the door again. This time everything was clear. He closed the door and sighed.

He turned around and, without looking at Marinette in the eye, went back in front of her and sat down, legs crossed. His fingers started fidgeting with the silver ring on his right ring finger, bringing Marinette’s attention to it. He started slipping it off his finger, but gasped when Marinette grabbed his hand and stopped his gesture, wrapping his hands with hers firmly.

“Don’t you dare,” she commanded. He gulped, the grip that had already held his throat since he’d discovered the truth became even more painful. He breathed heavily, his hands falling listlessly on his lap.

“Who’s Chat Blanc?” he eventually asked. “Is he the reason why you’re so tired?”

Marinette sighed. She started fiddling with her own fingers now and looking at her hands with great interest. “Chat Blanc is… you. In another timeline you were somehow akumatised. I would rather not talk about it, minou, it’s not a nice memory of mine.”

“I’m sorry,” he muttered and grabbed her hand, causing her to give a startled gasp. He brought her hand to his lips and kissed her knuckles softly. Marinette’s face lit like a lightbulb and she gave him the expression he had been so used to seeing on her face up to then, that sort of grimace between a smile and a cringe that she reserved only for him. “I wish I could do something to help. I don’t even remember having been akumatised in the first place. When did th—,” he started, but then he gasped and put a hand on his mouth, his cheeks dusting slightly with pink. “Uh, sorry M’lady, you didn’t want to talk about it.”

Tikki flew between them and started floating right in front of Marinette’s face. “Although maybe you should, Marinette.” Marinette hugged herself and started rocking back and forth. Her eyes filled with tears as she sniffled loudly and shook her head in denial. Tikki sighed. “Really, Marinette, you’ve been having horrible nightmares for months. You can’t get it out of your head. Discussing it with him could—”

“NO!” said Marinette louder. “I’m so useless, Tikki. I had promised to myself to never let him know about it at all, and here I am, revealing myself to him because of a nightmare about his akumatised self that he doesn’t know anything about. It’s not fair. It’s not fair to him, to taunt him with a future that doesn’t exist. He doesn’t deserve it!”

“But talking about it can help you, Marinette. Adrien is your friend, he’s been worried for you. Alya and Nino have been worried for you. You know that this is the reason why Alya organised this sleepover. You haven’t slept more than an hour or two per night for months. You keep burning the candle at both ends. You’re taking on a burden as massive as the memory of this timeline, and the nightmares that came from it, all on your shoulders without asking for any help. It’s not healthy.”

“B-but I don’t want to burden him with it, he’s got enough in his plate already!”

Adrien cleared his throat causing both Marinette and Tikki to turn towards him. “‘He’ has a name, Marinette, and ‘he’ would love to support you and help you, you know? Me and you against the world, that’s how it’s always been, right, Buginette? Why do you never trust me with anything?”

Marinette paled, giving him a terrified look that broke his heart a little. “So-sorry, I do trust you, Adrien. I trust you with my life on a daily basis.”

“Only because I force you to, by putting myself between you and the danger. But you’ve never trusted me with anything else.” He pouted.

Marinette raised an eyebrow. “Yeah? You’re sure of that?” She gave him a tongue-in-cheek look and folded her arms on her chest. He gulped and his gaze fell.

“Uh, I know what you mean. The New York incident. You know who I am now; you know that I couldn’t not go. And you were the one to make it happen for me. I did try to ask my father if I could stay, but he had already packed my bags.” He saw her raising an eyebrow at him and pouted again.

“It’s not the fact that you went on the trip that disappointed me, Adrien, but the fact that you never told me anything.”

He blushed and was going to retort something. But then, he saw the disapproving glare that Tikki was addressing to Marinette and he gasped, realising what she was doing. “Don’t change the subject, Marinette. You’re trying to distract me, aren’t you? I have already apologised for not having told you anything when we went to New York. You promised me after that incident that you would try to trust me more. Why are you breaking your promise, Buginette?”

Marinette’s eyes filled with tears. “I’m not breaking my promise!”

“You are! You’re not letting me help you. I can see that you’re hurting, Marinette. I had been feeling that there was something wrong for weeks, and now I feel as if I’m only seeing the tip of the iceberg of what’s troubling you. It must have been a really traumatic experience. I want to help you. I’m your partner, right? You said so many times that we’re equals?” He put a hand on her chin and forced her to look up. Her face gained a deep shade of crimson when bluebell eyes met forest green.

“You are my equal, chaton, and I do trust you. It’s just… just…” She cupped her hands on her face and started sobbing loudly. He reacted on instinct and moved closer, wrapping her up in a tight embrace. He felt Marinette tensing for a moment under his touch, but immediately after, she relaxed and hugged him back. She cried for a very long time, her muffled sobs and his tentative ‘shhhh’ the only sounds that could be heard in the silence of the lounge.

“It happened three months ago,” she eventually whispered. “The day of your fifth name day celebration, remember?” He nodded quietly. “Bunnyx came to me a little after I left your room and brought me to this future where the world had been destroyed. You had even Cataclysmed the moon. The entire city was underwater and you were sitting atop Montparnasse tower, alone. You were completely white, including your hair, and had these icy blue eyes that shone with madness. You attacked me and tried to get my Miracu—”

He gasped loudly and broke the hug, looking at her with his eyes wide. “I attacked you? I would never attack you!”

“You were an akuma, Adrien. You had destroyed the world. You had… you had Cataclysmed Hawkmoth. And me. I found what I thought were the statues of myself and Hawkmoth underwater and when I touched them they shred into powder. You said it had been an accident.”

Adrien started breathing hard. “This doesn’t make any sense! Why would I Cataclysm Hawkmoth and you? I thought Hawkmoth gave orders to the akumas, they’re his champions. How can an akuma possibly kill him?” He put his hands into his hair. “No, no, no! I would never Cataclysm you, Buginette. Never. After what I did to Aeon,” he started, but Plagg appeared from his hiding spot and flew to his face.

“It’s happened once in history already where an akuma created by the Butterfly holder fought back. Hawkmoth no doubt severely underestimated the power of the Black Cat Miraculous, gamin.”

“Hi, Plagg,” said Marinette when the little God of Destruction finished speaking.

“Hi, Pigtails. Where has Sugarcube g—?” Plagg looked around, but he didn’t manage to finish what he was saying, because something red zipped to him and wrapped him in a hug.

“I’m here, Stinkysock.” She let go of him after a few moments and looked at Adrien. “You’re right in what you’re saying, Adrien. She’s been terribly traumatised. She can hardly sleep at night.”

Adrien’s worried gaze went from Tikki’s concerned eyes to his maskless partner. “You faced hundreds of Akumas, Marinette. Why was I any—”

“You really need to ask?” she interrupted him. She glared, her eyes full of tears that she wiped angrily with the back of her hand. “It was you. The other akumas don’t matter to me, chaton. You do. You mean the world to me.”

‘You will always be Chat Noir to me,’ he remembered her saying just before she woke up. His heart started pounding in his chest again.

“Every time I close my eyes I see those icy blue orbs staring coldly at me. You were calling me with my name, so you knew who I was. And you told me that our love had destroyed the world.

His face felt suddenly very hot as his heart took residence in his throat. “Our… love?” he said in a choked whisper.

“You told me that your heart was broken, that because I didn’t love you anymore then you would destroy yourself, me, our memories, everything. You tried hitting me with a really powerful Cataclysm that you were throwing at me like a blast of energy from your hands. That’s usually when I wake up, but I think this time I reached the end, or nearly. I only woke up because you hugged and then shook me.”

Adrien’s brain had switched off hearing Marinette say ‘I didn’t love you anymore’. He didn’t hear anything else. “You love me?” he asked out of the blue. Marinette’s face turned crimson.

“Uuuuh… you see, the b-boy I was telling you about when we fought Glaciator?” He nodded. “That b-boy was you. Adrien-you. I fell in love with you when you gave me your umbrella.” She sniffled. “A-and to be honest, recently the line between Chat Noir being my partner and me having feelings towards him had become so thin that I couldn’t see it anymore. I was terrified to love my minou because of what I had seen in the future but… I couldn’t stop myself. I have been so confused since we came back from New York, chaton. I still loved Adrien, my heart was doing somersaults every time I caught you looking at me in class, but I couldn’t help being fond of my partner. Not after having nearly lost him. I tried to forget you both by dating Luka and trying to reciprocate his feelings, but it was going nowhere. We broke up a couple of weeks ago.”

Adrien pinned his elbows on his thighs, passing both his hands in his hair. He was trying very hard to ignore the sudden jolt of happiness that ran through his very being the second she said that she was, in fact, in love with him. All of him. She loved Chat Noir-him and Adrien-him. And she had just recently broken up with Luka, so she was available. How had he managed to hit the jackpot so perfectly? His heart was fluttering on its own little spot between cloud nine and ten, but the matter at bait now was that his Lady had been having nightmares. About him. The akuma version of him he didn’t even know that existed. And those nightmares had been taunting her sleep and exhausting her. He could squeeze her into his arms and kiss her senseless later.

“This is so messed up! So in that universe we were together and you broke up with me. I freaked out and got akumatised,” he said.

“Essentially, yes, I think.” She sighed. “I don’t know what happened, but it must have left you devastated.”

He grabbed her hand and forced her to look at him in the eye moving her chin towards him with the other hand. “You left me. That’s what happened. My heart broke.” He said that with such determination that Marinette couldn’t dismiss it. “I can relate with myself on that.”

It made total sense. Absolute and total sense. Yes, the fact that she left him broke his…

Hang on a second. Marinette paled as her eyes widened. “Y-your heart b-broke? Because I left you?”

“Aha. That’s what akuma-me told you, right? You know that I love you, My Lady. My heart breaks a little every time that you reject me. I don’t know if I could take you breaking up with me.”

Marinette’s heart went into her ears. Then, what he said registered in her brain and she noted that he had said, ‘My Lady.’ She deflated and slumped her shoulders.

“Right. Yes, chaton. I know you love your Lady.”

What happened? Adrien frowned as he scrutinised Marinette’s pout. Was she disappointed that he loved her? But she had said that she loved him too. What was the issue? He had felt the tension building within her and she had looked happy for a fraction of a second and then, out of the blue, her mood had changed. He saw her eyes filling with tears and his heart sank. What had he done wrong? Why was she upset? He kept going through what she had said, and what he had said, trying to find a clue, a reason why her mood had changed so much. Then, it suddenly struck him.

“Oh no… no no no no no, Marinette. You’re Ladybug. You’re the one I love.”

“I know you love Ladybug, Adrien. Don’t dig the blade deeper, please.” Her spiteful tone was the last clue he needed.

He grabbed her by the shoulders and gave her a shake. “Marinette, how many times did I tell you how amazing and great you are? How many times I praised you the same way Chat Noir praises Ladybug? God, I also called you my Everyday Ladybug once! You’re Ladybug, Marinette. Ladybug is you. You’re not a different entity from her, you’re her. Now it’s so clear that I really don’t understand how I didn’t see it before!” Her gaze was still looking down, the sparkle in her eyes completely absent.

“Please,” she muttered. “I’ve always been ‘just a friend’ until you discovered I’m Ladybug.”

His heart sank. His gaze started darting around, not knowing where to focus. He tried to say something at least four times, but every time he opened his mouth he changed his mind about what he wanted to say. Eventually, he met Plagg’s electric green eyes. The black kwami raised an eyebrow and folded his paws over his little chest. Adrien blushed and looked away. He knew what he had to do. He took a big breath and looked at her.

“You have never been just a friend for me, Marinette.” He felt his face getting really hot, but he knew that he had to say it. The time had come for him to tell the truth. He gulped. “Plagg can confirm what I say. He’s always been frustrated with me because I didn’t get it, and when I got it, it was too late and you had started dating Luka.”

He cringed at the sound of his own voice, so hoarse that he could hardly recognise it himself. “Rejection stings. Ladybug rejected Chat Noir’s advances so many times that it bruised my heart. I-I didn’t want to be rejected again, and by you, and ruin our friendship. Our friendship is so important to me; you’re my first friend. You’re so precious to me, Marinette.” He looked at her briefly; she stared back with glassy eyes, a big frown on her beautifully flushed face. “So I kept my mouth shut. But lately it has been getting more and more difficult to keep away from you, especially after New York. I was so happy when we had that dance under the moonlight. Somehow I felt that I still had a chance. But then,” his voice cracked, “when you didn’t stop me from leaving, I got heartbroken. I felt that both girls I loved had abandoned me.”

She gasped loudly. He fell silent for a long time, trying to fight the tears that were prickling at the corner of his eyes and the sobs that were itching to pour out of his clenched throat. “Little did I kn—” he tried to continue, but he had to stop. He couldn’t see anything any more because of the tears that were falling off his eyes. His throat had completely shut and didn’t allow his voice to come out. He wiped his eyes with the back of his right hand as his bottom lip quivered badly and the sobs he had been trying to hold came out, loud and clear. He panicked and his gaze darted around, the shapes of his surroundings dancing in front of him following the flow of his tears. When his green eyes met her bluebell ones, he saw that she was crying too. As soon as their gazes met, Marinette jumped on him and wrapped him in a massive hug.

“I’m sorry, I’m so so sorry!” she cried as she hugged him, and he hugged her back, desperately, as if he was being billowed away by a tornado and she was his only handhold. “I was shocked because Chat Noir—uh, you—had given up your Miraculous and I couldn’t think straight. By the time I gathered my thoughts again, your car had started to go. I ran after you for ages, Adrien, I picked up a bike lying on the tarmac and I followed your car screaming at you to stop. But the rain had made the ground slippery and I fell. And you were gone. That was the worst moment of my life! I had lost the two boys I loved the most in the entire world.” Now her voice was hoarse and cracking too. “I’m so sorry, chaton. I messed up so much!”

They hugged for a long time, happily lulling each other in the warmth and sensations that the close proximity to the other gave. Adrien’s hand was patting Marinette’s hair gently, the delicate smell of coconut (probably her shampoo) intoxicating his senses. He had to physically prevent himself from sniffing her neck. She smelled of vanilla and baked goods, maybe a hint of wildflower. It was absolutely divine. As he passed his fingers through her hair, he undid her pigtails and happily plunged his fingers in the soft silkiness of her corvine strands. The rhythmic sound of her breathing was grounding him, regulating him and helping him calm down.

“Can I kiss you?” he eventually asked. He felt her tensing at the question and regretted having asked. Maybe it was too early for her? Maybe she wanted more time to get used to the idea? “I-if you don’t want, it’s okay, you don’t have to.”

She broke the hug and looked at him, giving him such a soft look that his insides melted as a tingle running through his whole spine. But when she moved quickly and removed all gaps, meeting his lips with hers, the tingle was renewed in its strength. The butterflies (the right kind of butterflies) took residence in his stomach as he deepened the kiss. He felt his heart explode from the surge of electricity that ran through his core when Marinette, after a little gasp, allowed him to. Her hands moved to his hair, and Adrien learned that he really liked Marinette’s hands combing through his bangs.

Then, as suddenly as their lips had met, they had to break the kiss to breathe. They looked at each other, panting hard. Adrien touched his forehead tenderly with Marinette’s and stroked her cheek with his thumb.

“I love you, chaton,” Marinette whispered in his ear, causing him to shiver. He held her stronger and placed a soft kiss on her temple.

“I love you too, Marinette.” He stroked her hair gently some more. “Can I sleep next to you? I promise I will be a gentleman. I-i just want to feel you next to me.”

Marinette nodded and they laid down on Mariette’s sleeping bag, still wrapped around each other. Marinette fell asleep almost instantly, her head resting happily on his chest, one of her ears pressed against his ribcage right next to his heart. He placed another soft kiss on her hair and started feeling his eyes closing from the exhaustion.

And that was how Alya found them, a few hours later. She had entered the lounge to wake Adrien up and tell him it was time for him to go back home, if he didn’t want to get caught. Alya erupted into a big, huge, massive grin and tiptoed her way back to Nino’s bedroom to grab her phone. She beckoned for Nino to follow her and they both sighed, looking tenderly at the two lovebirds fast asleep.

“I knew that my little birdie would leave his nest eventually,” whispered Nino with a big smile on his face.

Alya beamed at him. “I’m nearly sorry to wake him up,” she whispered back. Nino gave her a curt look and she sighed. “I know, I know, he risked a lot to come here and we don’t want to blow his cover. But first,” she said and messed with her phone, putting the camera on and taking a picture, “There. For the wedding album!”

Then, she gave Adrien a big shake and was thankful that she caught his surprised blushing face as soon as he opened his eyes.

‘That's another good one for the album,’ she thought, taking one last shot when Marinette also opened her eyes at Adrien's surprised gasp and her face became the colour of Ladybug’s suit.

Those two. Honestly, they'd never learn.

Fin

Author’s note

There you go. A bit later than I wanted to, but here’s the second story for that challenge. Which sadly ended before I finished the story, but never mind, I post it anyway ^-^

Hope you liked this story. Please feel free to drop any compliments, screams, insults, kisses… incoherent rambling… anything you want in the comments and hit send. I love reading your feedback, please be nice with this poor sleep deprived soul who writes at 3 am for tort—, I mean to delight you with these loads of rub—, er, these beautiful stories of mine. *Coughs*. Good news is (oh well, good… depending from the point of view), I have more plans in my head, so I’ll tort—, I mean I’ll delight you with some more very, very soon.

Aren’t you happy? :D

#miraculous #miraculous ladybug #miraculous adrien #miraculous les aventures de ladybug et chat noir #chatnoir #adrienette #adrienagreste #adrinette #adrien and marinette #marinette dupain cheng #chat blanc #marinette needs a hug #identity reveal #ladybug reveal #chat noir reveal

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