Endless Summer (Marichat x Adrienette)

Was it All a Dream?

Marinette's POV:

Time moved in slow motion as I was free falling down the canyon. The wind roared in my ears, louder than anything I had ever heard. The sound was almost deafening, yet there was a strangely calming aspect to it. What was probably 30 seconds felt like a lifetime.

Is this it? Is this how it ends? I was consumed by fear, but also a sense of acceptance. It was too late to change anything now.

I thought of my family, my friends, Tikki. What was going to happen to Tikki?

I remembered the laughter at our quaint dinner table in the bakery, my mom's gentle touch when I was sick, my dad's proud smile when I told him I had finished the day's work. Would they be okay? How will they cope?

I should have told them I loved them more often. I should have chased my dreams harder, been bolder, taken more risks.

A flash of memories: my first kiss with Adrien in the closet, the warmth of the sun on a lazy summer day by the pool, the scent of rain on the pavement in Paris. These moments were so vivid in my memory. They swirled around me, blending into a kaleidoscope of my life.

I felt the cold air biting at my skin, but there was a strange warmth inside me. Maybe it was the adrenaline? Or something more?

I wondered what would come next. Is there something beyond this? Or is it just...nothingness? The thought was both terrifying and oddly peaceful. Until a shout brought me back to the present moment.

"CLAWS OUT!"

Adrien's POV:

Without thinking, I quickly leaped off of the cliff after her as she plummeted rapidly to the depths of the canyon. I used my pole to propel myself off the side of the mountain to accelerate towards her in the air so that I had an actual chance of catching up to her. As I began to get closer and closer to Marinette, I reached out and grabbed her torso in one hand, while using my other to sandwich my pole in between two narrow rock peaks. The pole screeched as it slowly dragged down the structures, digging into them and finally becoming stable.

I let out a breath that I didn't realize I was holding, and gently stroked her face with my thumb.

"Marinette... Hah." I huffed. "What am I going to do with you?"

She looked up at me with her big eyes, and she didn't have to say a word to express her gratitude.

"It's okay, I got you. I'm gonna get us back on solid ground." Just as I was adjusting myself on the beam to lift us up, Marinette spoke.

"Adrien?" She said. "Is that you?"

"I-- Hold on, let me get us up there first." I said, shaking away her words. I brought us both up to a small platform that was just large enough for the both of us to sit, and placed her down gently next to me.

"What were you saying?"

"Adrien. It's you. You... you're Adrien." She said, now more definitively.

My eyes widened and I felt incredibly flustered. I stared at her in a moment in disbelief before I could fully process what she had said. She knew. Marinette Dupain-Cheng knew that I, Adrien Agreste, was Chat Noir. I felt so frozen in my thoughts that I didn't have a clue what to say next. Thankfully, I didn't have to because Marinette continued.

"How did I not realize it sooner?" She sighed, holding her forehead in her hand and slightly laughing as she looked up at me. "It all makes sense now."

"Huh? What do you mean?" I asked, struggling to keep up.