You and me against the world

"It's time."

So, over 100 reads in a week huh? We must be doing something right.

Thank you for the support, and as a token of gratitude, here's the next chapter. It is rather short compared with the other chapters, but it is what it is.

And without any further ado, enjoy :3

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It was hard to see anything, aside from the glass coffin and the occasional butterflies flying here and there, and of course him, who was standing right in the middle of the repository. Despite the room being dimly lit by the moonlight filtering through, one could almost see a tear trickling down Gabriel's cheek. His head was cast downward and his eyes were closed, with a solemn expression on his face as he basked in the solitude of his lair with his hands held in front of his chest. A man praying, it seems.

He slowly lifted his head to look at the lifeless body of a woman he promised life at the cost of his moral campus.

He admired her beauty for a moment with a frown, reminiscing the time when his family was happy. It felt like it had been so long since he'd been genuinely happy. Then he spoke with a voice that was a touch shakier than his usual monotone voice:

"There is not a day that goes by where you are not in my mind. I miss you and I need you more than ever. I am barely holding this family together and Adrien grows more distant and resentful with each day. He's acting rebellious and disobedient and I don't know how much longer I can put up with this antagonizing behavior he's adapted towards me. You were what anchored us and kept us together, but every time I seem to have those damned superheroes right where I need tem, that pesky ladybug always comes up with a plan to turn the tides. But not this time, what I have in store for those brats will surely bring me victory. Fear not my love once I set my plan in motion, you will be back with us in no time, and ladybug and chat noir will be no more."

Gabriel seemed to wipe another tear before he left the repository and went to see Nathalie who was in her room typing something on her tablet. She looked at him with a look that spoke volumes of her determination, already having an idea of what he's here to tell her.

"It's time."

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They stood still with their eyes closed for a few moments, relishing in the contact before Marinette pulled out first, Chat was a little disappointed before she put her forehead on his and looked him in the eye. They both had a small, gentle smile on their faces before Marinette started blushing. But she didn't care; right now she was too happy to care for anything. And Chat Noir was happy too, evident by the cheeky grin that took the place of his smile.

He looked deep into her eyes, trying to search in her soul for something he yearned for all his life. Then he spoke with a voice so confident and low: "Marinette, over the past months you have become someone so dear to me, and all the time we've spent together made me realize that you are one of the most important people to me and I trust you with my life, because you are one of the kindest most selfless people I know who always knows what to say and do. And I guess what I'm trying to say is, Marinette Dupain-cheng, I love you."

Marinette's eyes widened at the sudden declaration of love that completely took her off by surprise. The red on her cheeks seemed to deepen and her heartbeat quickened. She was panicking and Chat noticed that so he tried to take a step back with disappointment, but she took his hand to stop him from moving and abruptly pulled him in for another kiss that was a lot shorter than the first one and awkward.

She then looked him in the eyes and said, trying her hardest not to look like a mess and praying that her voice, and knees that were shaking so bad, wouldn't fail her: "Chat I-

Before she could say anything, their moment was interrupted by an akuma attack alert. Chat Noir sighed in disappointment, while Marinette sighed in relief. She's going to need a lot of mental energy to prepare for what she wants to say but

"Duty calls"

"Go"

First, Hawkmoth rarely ever sent a night akuma so that's kind of weird. Second, the akuma would usually remain in the object until either the villain disobeyed Hawkmoth, or Ladybug and Chat Noir defeat them and break the object.

So it was weird that amidst all the destruction that the villain was causing, they just stopped what they were doing the minute Ldybug was sighted.

What was even weirder was that Hawkmoth immediately withdrew the akuma, so Ladybug easily caught it.

"Well that was easier than expected." Chat Noir announced, happy that he can quickly go back to Marinette.

"That's suspicious." Ladybug said already deep in thought. "I had barely started the evacuation and you didn't even engage it"

"Relax bugaboo, Hawkmoth probably knew that it was a lost cause and he saved himself the effort."

"Maybe, but this akuma didn't seem to have a purpose, and it disappeared immediately after destroying a few cars and benches, I didn't even get to summon my lucky charm to fix it." Chat could see the gears turn in her head. "And it didn't seem to have much destructive power."

"Ladybug, you're overthinking this, it's simple: hawkmoth created a weak akuma and recognized he would fail the moment he saw us, so he decided to save himself the trouble, and thankfully there wasn't much damage, only a few cars and benches, and perhaps a broken tree or two. Go home, rest, you've been working hard lately. Now if you'll excuse me I have to get back to someone." Chat Noir comforted her briefly before he took off and went back to Marinette.

Ladybug however, was so concentrated she only heard half of what he said. She furrowed her brows and stayed even after Chat left, trying to analyze the scene for anything.

She knew her partner was probably right, but still she couldn't shake off this bad feeling in her bones.

It's almost like, she thought to herself, he's experimenting.
Eventually, having learnt nothing she just went back to her room.

Unfortunately though, since Chat left before her, when he got there and found no one, he just assumed that she just went to sleep and returned to his house.

Once he was in his room, he detransformed and was about to freak out about his kiss, no, KISSES with Marinette when Plagg interrupted him: "You know what they say, third time's the charm, and finally it took 3 kisses for you to remember one. Or rather, four kisses for you to remember 2."

"Go bury yourself in cheese or something." Adrien ordered as he jumped to his bed.

"I don't need to be told twice."

In the darkness of their rooms, sharing the moonlight that filtered through their windows, both teens were freaking out about what transpired in Marinette's balcony, before her thoughts were interrupted by a nagging feeling that wouldn't let her be at ease.

Then not, so far from where the akuma attack took place, Hawkmoth stood, looking satisfied as his lips curved into a malicious smile, before he let out a sinister laugh.