A Watching Feeling

Page 11

 "Chat? Where are you?" I asked, looking around. A white shape came out from under my bed and swiftly jumped into my bed. I was now face to face with Chat Blanc, who was gazing at me softly.

"Will you answer my question now, Princess?" He asks, amused.

"O-oh! Sorry. Um, I'm feeling better, thanks." I tell him, flustered. "How are you?" Chat bursts out laughing and when his eyes roll back, I could have sworn they were green instead of blue.

"I'm good." He says, still smiling. I marveled at his good mood. It was very contagious. I found myself smiling at him. He frowned slightly, keeping the smile. "What?"

"Nothing." I say, still smiling. "Absolutely nothing. That's weird, right?" I ask, giggling. Chat smiles. "I don't know. Something about you." His expression turns sad and I can tell he's trying to keep the smile on his face. He was struggling, however. "What is it? Was it something I said?"

"It's fine." I was horrified to find a tear falling down his cheek and I sat up.

"Chat, what's wrong?" He holds stock still as I reach out and wipe the tear off his cheek. "Kitty, are you okay?" Chat Blanc sucks in a breath.

"Marinette?" His voice breaks and he starts sobbing. He falls forward and I catch him in my lap. He cries into my blanket as I stroke his hair.

"Oh, my poor kitty."

Wait. What was I doing? Kitty? Where did that come from? But it sounded right and it felt right, too. Comforting him was right. Everything about this was right and familiar. But how? Why?

"Chat, are you okay?" I ask him. He nods into my blanket and I can't help but chuckle. "Silly kitty. That was a ridiculous question. Of course you're not. But that was an even more outrageous answer." I tell him.

He mumbles something into the blanket and wraps his arms around my waist. I smile and continue stroking his hair. I sigh, reveling in how amazing and perfect this feels. We stay like that for a while and at some point, I fall asleep. When I wake up, I find Chat fast asleep on my lap.

"Marinette." I turn, shocked. Felix was standing with my parents and a couple policemen right below my bed. A chill went down my spine as I realized they had seen Chat Blanc and were here to take him away.

"No." I said, shaking my head. "No!" I said again, louder. My dad reached out a hand to me.

"Sweetie." He said, softly, and I realized they were trying not to wake Chat Blanc. My eyes widened in horror and I wrapped my arms around him tightly. He woke up and yawned.

"Princess, what-?" His ears twitched and he sat up straight and stared down at the group below us. I felt him bristle like a real cat and a low growl rose from his throat. He glared down at the crowd beneath us.