Chapter 7

2.3K 48 21
                                    

Oh, hold on just one more day
Hold on, you know you'll find a way
Hold on, you've got stars in your eyes
so let's paint the sky.

- Extreme Music, Hold On

There's this old saying that says "un jour d'allégresse, et dix de tristesse" which could be translated to "one day of happiness and ten days of sadness". As far as we know, it means that for every day of pure joy, ten days of misery will follow. Some would say that it might be a bit on the pessimist side. Is life really this hard, this miserable? Would an amazing day be worth the following ten days of pain?

At this particular moment, Marinette would say that no, it is not.

Let us explain.

Only a few weeks before, her whole life went downhill. Becoming the Guardian had been hard, but she thought - no, she knew - she was gonna pull through. She just had to adjust. She needed time. But then, the whole Lila thing had happened and it was just too much. Her words had run on repeat in her head like a cursed melody. Thankfully, she didn't remember much of her akumatization. Only the seconds before and the minutes after were crystal clear. She remembers waking up in her bed, freaked out, next to her crying parents who didn't know that their daughter was in so much pain. What had happened?

(Turns out, nothing much. At least, that's what she thought.)

Unfortunately for her, Marinette didn't even have that much time to get over her emotions and her akumatization before duty called her. She didn't know why Hawkmoth had become so intense in the following days. Her whole body was aching, begging for some well-earned relaxation. The only thing she was sure of is that she wouldn't have been able to go through it all without him. Without Chat Noir.

He had been her lifeline. Holding her over the water so she wouldn't drown.

Unknowingly, she was doing the same for him.

Adrien had been sure that he could've collapsed from exhaustion. As if being a superhero wasn't enough, he had his dad who, for some reason, absolutely loathed it when his son had free time. But hanging out with Marinette, who he knew was his Lady... Well, it helped him breathe. As he said to Plagg one night, she was the most precious thing in his whole world. And that's why when Lila transformed after accepting her deal with Hawkmoth, Adrien's first reaction was to jump in front of Marinette to protect her from danger. Of course, they rapidly jumped apart, Marinette struggling to find an excuse.

"I need to use the bathroom, I promised my parents... Wait, no, that's not... What I mean is that my parents need me to use the bathroom at my house, WAIT, NO, ARGH."

Adrien almost laughed at that but somehow maintained a cool face (probably thanks to those many years of modelling). "Yeah, we should all run home, right?"

"Absolutely, yes, that's exactly what I meant of course."

He seriously wondered what he would do without her.

When Chat Noir appeared on the battlefield, almost the whole school had been evacuated, with only a few students like Alya (who Nino desperately tried to protect) staying to watch.

"Please, let's go! Alya, c'mon!"

"No way, I need to film this! You go!"

"I'm not leaving you!"

"Well then, that sounds like a you problem."

"Dammit, Alya..."

Tuning out his friend's conversation, Chat Noir scanned the scene in front of him. As soon as he had landed on the ground, Volpina had jumped far away from him. She was now smiling at him and waving.

Holding On Where stories live. Discover now