Miraculous Ladybug One Shots

Crowded Places

I didn't really have a complete purpose for this chapter, but I like the song Crowded Places by Rynn from "Songland." I just imagined being in the situation like the song described and decided to turn it into a one shot. Also feel free to listen to it while you read! So here it is! Hope you enjoy! -Author

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"So I go to crowded places. I keep seein' you in strangers' faces. Don't know what I'm doing."
-Rynn, Crowded Places from "Songland"

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Marinette's P.O.V.

Another year had passed by since I had last seen Adrien or heard from Chat Noir as Ladybug. I don't know what I was doing anymore. I had lost all passion for the things I had once loved. Everything used to be painted in black and white, but now it was all smeared in gray.

Alya and Nino couldn't figure out what was wrong with me. I always told them, "I'm fine" or "Don't worry," but the three of us knew it wasn't. They didn't push me though; they knew it was better to let me solve this on my own. Like I had always done, solving stuff on my own, but now I truly felt alone.

Today was New Years'. Parisian people rejoiced in the streets, despite the harsh bite of the snowstorm from just a few days ago. Fireworks decorated the sides of the streets, as children rushed to catch a glimpse before they eurpted and shot off into the sky. The harmonious crack and boom sounded from the sky every minute, announcing another child had just got to light a firework.

I tiptoed around racing boys and girls, shoving each other trying to be the first get a sparkler. I heard the steady conversation between the adults talking about the usual - their children, the fireworks, and every so often what I had been thinking about as well.

"I wonder what happened to Ladybug and Chat Noir." I heard a woman standing next to a stroller ask.

"I don't know. I'm sure they'll be around eventually. They always find some way to make a big entrance."

And just like that, the conversation fizzled into nothing, and they began their usual talk of how big their children had gotten in just a year. They had talked about it as if it was the latest weather report. I took a deep breath and let it out slowly, watching it turn into mist from the freezing temperature. How silly of me to think something that means the world to me could mean that to another person.

Freeze.

I saw something - or someone - out of the corner of my eye. Green eyes, not just any green, but electric green eyes that had caught my attention. Golden hair that could rival the sun in how bright it was compared to the rest of the crowd.

I felt so many emotions that I had yet to distinguish what I was feeling. Hot tears that had been burning my eyes for the last year were finally falling. I didn't know if it was out of happiness, sadness, or even anger, but all I knew was that I had to reach him.

Something between a yelp and a sob came from me, but I didn't care. I forced my feet to move foward, even if it felt like I was walking in quick sand. However, it seemed the faster I went, the deeper I sunk, because slowly the green eyes and golden hair were no longer visible.

I pushed, ducked, shoved past a sea of people. I am going to find him again, and when I do, I am never going to let him go again. I heard a chorus of complaints and groans, as I quickly pushed through the crowded place. I uttered short apologizes, but my eyes were still in the direction where he had been. My feet became heavier, heavier, heavier. My heart was pounding, pounding, pounding until-

I stopped.

My eyes darting all around, looking from person to person but to no avail. Everything seemed to shift to him. The strangers that had once been no more than strangers looked like him now. Everything was green and gold.

My head was spinning. The tears that had dried on my face were now threatening to fall again, but this time I knew what emotion it was from - hopelessness.

I sunk to my knees, feeling the cold snow still littering the ground soak into my leggings and make me shiver.

Everything was gone.

I didn't know before, but I know for certain now.

He was gone.