Shattered - A Miraculous Ladybug fanfic

Chapter 5

Adrien let his eyes get used to the sudden light change. In the meantime, he contemplated how different his experience was from what he thought death should be. He didn't feel pain when it happened and despite knowing and feeling that he didn't exist anymore, it was like nothing changed. Nothing except for his environment that is.

He looked up and saw a forest right in front of him. Between him and the forest, there was a woman. When Adrien opened his eyes, the woman started walking towards him. At first, he didn't know who it was, but as the woman got closer Adrien's shock became more apparent.

"Hello, Adrien," she said when she stood right in front of him.

"Mo... mother?" his tears started falling without his knowledge or care. "How... What?"

"Slow down my beautiful boy" Emilie pulled the sobbing and shocked boy into a tight hug. "I'll explain everything in due time. For now, we need to hurry." She broke the hug and looked toward a pond at the edge of the clearing. "Your friend is about to make a big mistake."

"Marinette" Adrien let go of his mother and ran to the pond. He didn't know what he should be doing but somehow he knew the lake was the answer. His mother walked up behind him and sent an encouraging look his way. Adrien looked into the water and watched in horror as Lady Noire made her way across Paris.

"No matter what, I love you Bugaboo" he whispered as he watched her stop for a second. He knew what she was about to do and memories of an alternate timeline showed him that he had already done it. "Don't make the same mistake I did" he quietly begged Marinette, hoping she would somehow hear him.

***

Lady noir had to stop because her tears blurred her vision too much. Her stomach clenched as she wiped them remembering what she was running from. Because she was running from Alya, who no doubt would make her realize her feelings. She refocused or at least tried to which made her think about the events of the night.

She shook her head in an attempt to get rid of the last glance Adrien gave her. Because it wasn't Chat. The pure love and understanding in his eyes and the smile on his lips were all Adrien. She didn't succeed as the image stayed with her. She saw it as clearly as the first time as if he was still standing in front of her. Her tears kept falling as she resumed her running toward the home of her late love.

A flash ran through the sky and a loud crash followed it almost immediately. The rain was gentle at first, but after a few seconds, Marinette couldn't tell where her tears ended and the rainwater started. The sky was now mirroring her insides which made her feel a little more comfortable.

"No matter what, I love you Bugaboo" his words echoed through her head. His last words. Did he know? Was he ready to die? As she ran in the rain her anger melted like foam, leaving an unexplainable vacuum in its wake. She felt as if he was right behind her begging her not to do it.

"Think about what Adrien would want" Plagg's words finally caught up to her. She couldn't kill Shadow moth. Adrien would want her to stay a hero.

"That was gone when I had to be the one to kill him" she gritted her teeth and leaped over the huge metal gate of her destination. The sight of the mansion brought back the red-tinted thoughts to her.

She entered the basement finding all the heroes there with Gabriel tied up. She had a simple plan. Use cataclysm and kill him. The way he killed his own son. She could hear the heroes trying to call out to her through the comms to no avail. She knew Alya would warn them and she was also aware that she was outnumbered.

She quietly called on the power of destruction and hiding in the shadows inched closer to Gabriel. She was going to avenge him. She made eye contact with Gabriel and something in his eyes just hit her the wrong way. He had the same glint in his eyes as he looked at her that she felt. He wanted to kill her.