Stray ~ A MariChat Love Story (Complete)

Chapter 33: How to Heal a Broken Heart

Chat Noir had never felt this kind of pain before.

When Ladybug rejected him he was heartbroken, but there'd always been a reason for that. She often took his flirting as a joke, something playful to keep their fights upbeat and interesting.

With Marinette it'd been different. There's been puns, laughter and jokes. But there was something serious about their relationship too. He'd never felt so sincere before, dreaming about being with her and walking down the streets of Paris with their fingers entwined.

He'd decided that afternoon that while the sun was setting he'd go to her balcony with a dozen roses and leaved them there for her to find. But he'd been impatient, eager to see if she was all right after the akuma attack.

He didn't expect to see her in the Nathaniel's arms, kissing him the way she had.

The mental image was permanently scarred in his mind and he desperately wished to claw it out once and for all. That was supposed to be him. Her in his arms with his lips pressed against hers.

But he wasn't angry. He was hurt, pained and left feeling utterly miserable and broken inside. And he wondered how long it would last for. No doubt they'd be an official couple when they arrived at school the following day. Chat Noir sneered at the thought.

And just when he'd started actually enjoying school.

Chat eyed the rose in his hands and twirled it effortlessly between his thumb and forefinger.

She was like the rose in a way, so full of beauty and color but lined with thorns beneath the surface. Or maybe he was comparing the wrong thing. Maybe it was love that brought the thorns, not her.

He heard a loud crash behind him and jolted off the roof onto his feet. Chat bit into the rose and vaulted towards the commotion. A young girl about fifteen wandered through the streets of Paris, throwing seeds across the pavement.

"Some for you. Some for you. Oh! Can't forget about you too now can we?" The seeds hit the pavement, and large thick green tendrils spilled out from inside them, growing larger by the minute. Large carnivorous plants grew from the soil trying to coil around any nearby Parisians.

Chat Noir launched himself onto the street and swung his baton at the plant, knocking it out of the ground. It's dark purple roots shriveled up and died, and the girl sneered at him.

"I despise Cats." She threw more seeds around her and they grew twice the size of the ones around her. "Bring me his miraculous!" she ordered.

Chat pulled the rose from his mouth and grinned, "Wow, my own escorts? I'm flattered." He leapt over them, allowing himself to forget about Marinette if only for a moment. He dodged the vines skillfully, avoiding their sticky mouths and acid.

But one grabbed him from behind. It's vines circled around his ankle and yanked him off the ground, his rose and baton falling to the road. "Hey!" he whined. The carnivorous plant roared at him and Chat sneered. "You'd look better in a salad."

He reached forward and clawed at the plant, but before he could land a hit Ladybug sliced the plant from behind and Chat fell back on the tar. He groaned and Ladybug walked over to him, offering him a hand.

She smiled down at him and Chat took it graciously. "Thank you, M'lady." Ladybug nodded and handed him his baton. Slowly reaching down for the rose. She raised her eyebrow at him and Chat gave her a half hearted smile. "For you, Bugaboo." he bowed and Ladybug pushed him out the way before another vine could grab him.

"You're no heroes! All these people destroy their environment without remorse, why should it be any different when the tables are turned?"

Ladybug stood up taller, swinging her yo-yo to cut the vines and shield herself from the acid. "People make mistakes and some do deserve to be punished, but Hawk Moth is leading you to cause the harm of innocents as well. Listen to reason." she persisted, "This isn't the way."