Connected Skies

Part Three

Adrien and Marinette sat together in her parent's bakery.

"Here's your vol-au-vent." Her father said placing the tray on the table. She smiled happily, "Thank you so much, Papa!" Adrien looked at her, "Do you like baking sweets?" "Huh? No, no. My parents say I'm too clumsy." She says as she starts eating. He rests his hand under his chin and smiles at her while she eats.

She looks at the TV to see the news talking about Ladybug and Chat Noir, despite them not being a team for months. "What a happy duo they were." "What a sad duo they are now." He said which made her smile fade. "Guess they were never true partners to him then." Adrien looks down sadly his eyes full of guilt, "Maybe Chat had a good reason to leave Paris." His hand trembles as he remembers his mom in the hospital bed, "I'm sorry. I'm really sorry." He says quietly which causes Marinette looks at him with big eyes.

"Boy, I'm stuffed." She says as she walks out of the bakery following Adrien who already left. She looks around until she sees him petting the same black cat she saw a few days ago. "A kitty!" She runs over to the boy and cat. "You like cats?" She asks him. "I used to... have... a black cat." He stammers, almost unsure of his words. She pets the cat gently, "Maybe you'll be our new Chat Noir." Adrien's mouth opens as he turns to her, he relaxes a bit when he realizes she's talking to the cat.

"Why did you quit?" She whispers still staring at the cat. She looks up her eyes meeting his and he felt like he was looking entirely through him. Like she knew every secret he had. That's when he knew the whole time she was talking to him.

The cat brushes it's head against Adrien's hand as the two finally break eye contact. "You must have a thing for attracting cats." She says beckoning to how the cat was eagerly waiting to be pet by him. To him this felt like a punishment, to be forced to feel all of his guilt of abandoning Ladybug, without even as little as a reason why. Without ever returning his miraculous. "Why do you look like you've seen a ghost?" Marinette asks him as he finally feels her stare on him. Without him even answering, it's like she was staring right through him again and she knew the answer.

"Whether you're sad, you're a mess or you've hit rock bottom, you still have to fight. That's how people like us survive." She said with her hands on her hips now standing up. People like us, Adrien repeated to himself. "Yeah, maybe that's true for you." He said standing up and wiping himself off.

Nino's words from earlier played in his ears, "It's only natural or the girl you're crushing on to love someone else. That's why she sparkles." Marinette, you're in love with eating baked goods, you're in love with helping people, I guess that's what makes you sparkle. What do you call this feeling again? Probably...

"Why did you leave, Chat?" Marinette says as she picks up the cat. "Marinette..." He says, his hands trembling as he begins to notice all the similarities between Ladybug and Marinette, how Marinette left yesterday and Ladybug appeared. He wasn't ready for this, he wasn't ready at all. "Come back, Chat." She said her cheeks now a slight shade of pink. "I-...I can't..." "I've made my mind up, so accept your fate." She turns toward him smiling, the cat laying in her arms. "I've always been good with cats."

**

Adrien spent the past week desperately trying to avoid Marinette, who everytime she saw him would bring up Chat Noir. Over and over again. He had dashed home from school in hopes of not seeing her and laid in his bed with his miraculous on his finger for the first time since the day he quit. "I just can't..." He whispered to himself as he touched the ring slowly.

**

Marinette was walking home with Kagami, who she's grown close with throughout the past week, despite her weird questions about Marinette's blood type and such. "Don't you think Adrien has been acting weird?" Kagami asked her. She shrugged knowing exactly why, but she couldn't exactly say it, "You really like Adrien, don't you?" Kagami blushed slightly, "I wouldn't say exactly that... To me, Adrien is like a kid brother. Though it does hurt to see him like this, ever since that day..." Marinette raised her eyebrows and looked at her, "Hm?" "Ever since the day his mom passed, he's felt trapped. Time does stop, doesn't it?" Kagami looked down sadly.

The two girls stopped walking in front of the hospital near the school. "My parents said they'd pick me up here, I don't wanna miss them so I'll see you tomorrow, yeah?" Marinette smiled at her. Kagami looked at the hospital and back at her as she nodded, "See you tomorrow!"

She waited until Kagami was fully out of sight before walking into the hospital.

**

After school, Marinette chased after Adrien who was in the swarms of people trying to get away from the sentimonster that had appeared. She grabbed his hand and pulled him into an alleyway where no one was.

"W-what are you doing? There's a sentimonster!" He asked her his eyes wide. "What am I doing? What are you doing? I came to get you! I looked all over for you, we have no time, so let's get going." "I keep telling you, I'm not Chat Noir anymore." "If you're not then who is?" She was nearly yelling out of frustration.

"Even if I went, I'm not worthy of being your partner anymore. I left you. I left you without a reason." "So what? Who are you to decide that? It's not that you can't, you just don't want to. You keep using excuses to run away!" Adrien had tears in his eyes, "I can't." He pictured his mom again being completely haunted by the memory. "You have me! I know you haven't transformed in awhile and you're probably a little rusty. I know everything, I could find a new partner, but I want you. But we have to fight. I'm going to keep fighting so that these people have something to believe in. So that I can be what I was chosen to be. It's my reason for living. I'm a superhero, just like you."

She looked at him with her own tears in her eyes, "So please... Please support me out there, even just a tiny bit. I'm so close to losing my heart right now. So please!" She was breaking down in a full sob and wiping her tears frantically, but they just wouldn't stop pouring.

Adrien touched her hand pulling from her face as she looked at him, "I'll do it. I'll be your partner. Though I can't say I'll be at my best." She smiled at him while some tears continued to pour down her face. He took his hand and wiped her tears as she pulled him into a tight hug. "I missed you, Chat. I missed you so much." She whispers into his ear.

Even in this small alleyway, the town is starting to take on color.

"Ready?"