Always Find You

Chapter 27 - "La Recherche de la Princesse du Chat"

  Five minutes pass and there's still no sign of an ambulance coming to the rescue.
Fighting, even in the suit, seems to have torn Marinette's stitches both inside and out, and her blood doesn't waste any time escaping.

Adrien tries to comfort her as much as he can by talking to her and keeping her awake.

"How can I help? I need to do something." Even an octopus wouldn't have enough hands to help all the injuries she's sustained, nonetheless a cat (or turtle.)

"Just... keep talking. I don't wanna be alone when I-" She can't bring herself to say it out loud.

"Okay," Adrien wipes his eyes and takes a moment to think before starting, "When I was younger and my mom was still here, we used to read this book she'd made up called La Recherche de la Princesse du Chat. It was about this princess who'd gone missing. The kingdom searched for her for years, but soon everyone gave up. She had a kitten that couldn't stand to be without her though, so he set out on a journey into the forest to find her. He met all these crazy creatures like trolls and-" Adrien chuckles at the thought, "And these silly little animals my mom called Lima Bears; I refused to eat my vegetables back then, so she created an army of lima bean themed creatures you had to eat to defeat. I never had a problem eating them after that."

Marinette cracks a small smile at the thought of a tiny Adrien downing a plateful of lima beans to save the imaginary princess.

He continues, "So, eventually this cat gets to the edge of the forest. He's fully grown by now and he knows he's getting close to finding her. Once he leaves the darkness of the forest, he finds himself in a large and bright field of wheat that almost glows with the light of the sun. He sniffs the ground, catching the scent of something familiar, and starts darting towards the center of this meadow. He runs right into the open arms of the princess."

Marinette whispers, "She was just there in the middle of the field?"

Adrien nods, "The jist of the entire story was that the princess had left of her own free will and was only waiting for someone to care enough to find her. I-" He hesitates, "That's what I thought of when I found you."
He looks down at her pale face, considering that maybe that wasn't the right thing to say, "Not that anyone gave up on you or that they didn't care enough. I don't know. It's just that a part of me thought I'd be the one to find you."

"You did promise, after all." Marinette does her best to give him a smirk.

"I did. I was actually quoting that book." Adrien says bashfully.

"Oh, I'm the princess and you're... Right." She suddenly gets hit with a wave of exhaustion, and decides to close her eyes just for two seconds.

"Hey hey, open your eyes, no going to sleep yet." He taps her lightly and her eyes flutter open again.

"Sorry, trying. Tell me more?" She asks weakly.

Adrien clears his throat, "Well, once after we'd read that story for the millionth time, I asked her whether the princess wanted to be found or not. I remember her eyes lighting up and looking at me like I'd finally asked a question she'd been waiting to answer. She said, 'Perhaps the princess ran away with another idea in mind, maybe she wanted to get away from being royalty. But at the end of the day, everyone wants to be found eventually. When you meet a princess of your own, don't ever let her feel like she's missing in the first place,'" Adrien sniffles a bit, "I never knew what she meant until I grew up, until she'd gone missing herself. Once you meet someone important to you, you hold them so closely that they never forget you love them; that way they'll never feel like they've gone missing. I always wished I'd realized that before."

He glances down and finds Marinette's eyes closed, "Come on, there'll be plenty of time to sleep once you get to the hospital." He taps her cheek again, "Marinette?" His heart skips a beat, 'Oh no.'

Adrien quickly cradles her head from off his lap and puts his ear to her chest, listening for a heartbeat. Nothing.

"I don't know how to do this, what do I do??" He's seen people to CPR before but only briefly, he never thought he'd have to do it himself.

Marinette's skin looks almost grey.

"Marinette please don't die, I can't-" He grabs at his hair, hoping this is all a dream, "My Lady, wake up!"

He puts his hands on her chest and pushes over and over, trying to copy what he's seen done before.

"Come. On. Don't. Die. On. Me." He pushes down on every syllable. Adrien pulls the Carapace hood down and listens for a heartbeat again. Still nothing. He feels himself starting to hyperventilate.

"Please, don't-" He holds her hand gently to his chest and collapses into sobs.

~ ~ ~

Author's Note:
Yo, I'm back from that Christmas break I took to dish you out this Adrienette pain for the New Year. You're welcome.

Sorry if I've butchered that French, I'm still learning. ✌🏻

Love you all!