Does he remember?

Chapter Two

Taking place after the season 5 episode "Elation"

8 years ago...

"Marinette, are you okay?" Tikki nudged her side as she lay in bed, her face buried in her pillow.

"How can I be okay, Tikki?" Marinette questioned, her voice muffled from the fabric of the pillow. 

"I still believe in you."

Marinette sat up a little and faced towards Tikki, her eyes puffy and red from her sobs. "I lost all the miraculouses. Every single one of them."

"You and Chat Noir are perfectly capable of doing this on your own, you've done it before", Tikki reassured her.

"That was when things weren't as difficult, Tikki. Now, Shadowmoth has access to the miraculouses which means he has even more power than before", Marinette stressed.

"You and Chat Noir's partnership is more powerful than Shadowmoth will ever be."

"Yeah...Chat Noir", Marinette whispered, recalling what just happened between the two of them.

"Marinette?" Tikki poked Marinette's shoulder. "There's something else that's on your mind, isn't there?"

"um", Marinette scratched her head. "It's just that- I don't know. Ever since- um", she stuttered, trying to explain what she was thinking about. "Here's another issue."

"Oh boy", Tikki sat beside Marinette on her pillow to listen in.

"When we kissed", Marinette jumped right in. "It was sooo magical."

Tikki facepalmed, but let Marinette continue dreaming about him.

"That night in it of itself was just...amazing. When we were on top of the city on his baton, when we danced, when we kissed. I know there were also a lot of negatives that evening, but my mind just thinks about the moments where my heart was on overdrive."

"But, you almost got akumatized. You don't think it could be a bad thing to be in love with Chat Noir?" Tikki questioned.

"Of course there are always pros and cons to every decision you make, but I've never been happier. And I can't believe I'm saying this, but I really do like him. And this has been going on for a while, but I've only discovered it recently. Like when I felt something when he held his hand out to me, I felt something when he wrapped his arms around me, I felt something when he said that it was just us again."

Tikki said nothing. Marinette was expecting her to judge, but that never came. Instead, Tikki smiled and waited for Marinette to continue.

"I always thought I found him repulsive and annoying. I definitely find him annoying, but repulsive?" Marinette questioned. "He was just there for me. There when I thought I had no one left and was alone. He was always there, loving me unconditionally."

"So, what are you going to do about this?"

Marinette glanced at Tikki. "What can I do? I mean, yes I wish I could be with him. But if I'm actually being realistic about this subject, I don't know if it's going to work out. I need his partnership now more than ever and plus, our dates would be fighting akumas."

Tikki giggled. "You're already thinking about your dates with him?"

"Ye- no. no, no, no. I'm just saying what it would be like...", Marinette trailed off, unable to find the words to convince Tikki otherwise. 

"So, what about Adrien?"

"Adrien?" Marinette's eyes widened at the name. "Right, Adrien. Um, that's not going to happen."