My Kitty

11| Hopeless And Numb

The day passed by, and the incident has been stuck on everyone's tongue. The moon shone like steel in the sky, Marinette standing in the balcony gazing straight at it.

After having been de-akumatized, she told Chat Noir to meet up at ten. They couldn't even look each other in the eye, then.

They knew how much baggage they had to work out, and how many things left for them to explain. But the last time they tried to do just that, their emotions got the best of them, which resulted in a mess that couldn't have been simply fixed. That was mainly why she dreaded his confrontations. A small problem could blow way out of proportion the second you give in to the power of your feelings. It was a mistake Marinette had promised herself never to fall victim to when she first became Ladybug. Yet she failed.

Maybe Chat Noir was a lot more special to her than she'd thought. More than pity, and more than sympathy, she loved being by him. Fighting by him.

She was the one at fault. And she was ready to take all the blame just to mend the broken pieces of his heart. She couldn't bear seeing him so dejected.

"It's almost time," Tikki reminded her. She was so disappointed with her owner, and hardly spoke to her after what happened.

Marinette sighed, straightening her slouched posture. She opened her phone to check what time it was. Surely enough, it was fifteen minutes till ten. "I guess you're right." The girl hid at a corner, squatting down so she wouldn't be seen. "Tikki... spots on."

Atop the Eiffel tower, Chat Noir awaited her. "Little kitty on the roof," he sang, his voice dull, "All alone without his lady."

"Kitty cat." She turned up beside him, sitting herself down by the edge. Before he could speak, she blurted out the one question that has roamed her mind free since this morning. She rested her hand upon his shoulder and they turned to meet eyes. "Did I... hurt you?"

"Depends on the context." He averted his gaze, sounding bitter. "Do you mean mentally? Cause that you did. Or do you mean physically? Because also yes."

Her eyebrows furrowed, her features overtook with empathy. "Could you maybe... explain?"

"You really don't know?"

"I do, it's just... I want to hear your feelings loud and clear. So I could fix what I did."

"It's beyond fixing, Ladybug. You only regretted things because I was the one who brought them up. But did you ever think of how I'd feel while you were lying to me?"

He was blaming her again. But who was she to talk? She deserved all of it. "I didn't think you'd find out this way."

"Oh, no, Bugaboo." He mocked her and she grimaced. The nickname he'd used to tease her was now the same nickname used to make fun of her. It shattered her. "You didn't think I'd find out at all. You wanted to keep me in the dark, but when the cat got out of the bag, you took defense."

"How did you even know? About all this..." she asked, unsure if her question would offend him further.

"It doesn't matter," he snapped, shutting her down completely. She knew he'd take it the wrong way. But it wasn't her intention.

Unable to force the words out of her throbbing throat, she nodded. "I'm really sorry, Chat Noir."

"I didn't come here for your apology, Ladybug." He stood up, gazing down at her with droopy eyes. He took a breath before he let his next sentence slip. "I came to give you back my miraculous."

"What?" Ladybug couldn't believe what she'd heard, and she rushed to her feet, stumbling into his chest. "You can't do this!"

"Yes. Yes, I can." He backed away, a saddened smile on his face. His fingers wrapped around his ring, prepared to pull it off.

"No!" She placed her hands over his to stop him. "I told Rena Rouge in a moment of weakness, Chat Noir. I was vulnerable, and stressed. I wasn't thinking clearly."

"If I were there at that time, would you have told me?" Doubt laced his voice, because it was almost like he knew the answer. Her silence gave it away. She didn't know. Or worse, she wouldn't have. "See what I mean? We don't make a good team. The misunderstandings, the lies, the damaged trust between us. It just can't work out."

"Yes, it can! If we clear those things up, then it will. Don't give up on me, kitty. Please." Tears glistened in her bluebell eyes, and she clutched her heart. She couldn't take the pain anymore.

"It's about time I do, m'lady. I fought so hard to be with you but... I clearly was fighting for the wrong thing."

Ladybug was lost. Shaking her head in denial, she couldn't fathom what was happening. Her world was crumbling. Without him, she wouldn't be Bugaboo.

Without him, she couldn't be Ladybug.

She opened her mouth to speak but he cut her off before she got the chance. "Don't make this any harder on me, m'lady."

"Don't call me that!" she cried. "Not when you're leaving-I..." She reached out to him. "I can't do this without you."

"Ladybug..." he whispered, watching her take a few steps close. She rested her palms on his chest, and he sucked in a breath. "You deserve a Chat Noir you can trust. And it's not me."

"No, it is you! It is... And I'll do everything it takes to make it up for you, my kitty."