When Walls Crumble

Chapter 26: Shattered Dreams

Marinette wanted to be alone. It was all too much. The fateful moment was on repeat in her head:

She was just about to release the air she had held hostage for the few tense seconds after Cat Noir arrived when suddenly the air was re-filled with explosions.  

Next thing she knew, the world was spinning. When it stopped, she found herself face to face with Luka, his hands gripping her arms tightly...

Luka's face was contorted in pain. His grip on her arms slipped and he fell to the ground. She caught him that time, but her hand behind his back caused him to gasp in pain. When she set him down, there was blood on her hand. It took too long to process and by the time she screamed, Cat Noir had already neutralized the threat. She had held him in her arms, feeling his life drain away for far too long. One moment stretched across multiple eternities as his eyes dulled, his breathing slowed but his love never faltered.

She probably shouldn't have gone to the Sea Serpent yet. The wound was still open and everything in her home reminded her of the pain. His guitar sitting on it's stand...the one he used to play her heart out. The seat where he set her down after carrying her home the night they got married. The framed picture of his proposal. The pair of ice skates. The little toy snake she got him as a gag gift and regretted once he started leaving it around as a prank. The...no...It couldn't...why?

His phone was sitting on top of a sheet of paper on the nightstand. The lyrics and chords for the song...the song which he recorded on his phone.

She hesitated, unsure if she could handle it. She wanted to hear the song again, but it might be too painful.

"Marinette?" Cat Noir asked. " Do you need me to stay or do you want to be left alone?"

He gently rested his hand on her shoulder, assuring her that he would be by her side whenever she needed him. As per her request, he brought her back to her home, but the second he set her down, she suddenly looked lost and helpless.

She leaned into his arm and hugged him.

""Please stay, Chaton. I can't be alone with these thoughts."

"What thoughts, my lady?"

She shook her head. "It was all my fault. I know he wouldn't want me to feel guilty, but I do. I can't clearly remember all that happened, but I'm sure there was something I should have done differently." She picked up the phone. "I want to hear the song again so I can hear his voice, but if I listen to it now, I'll probably feel unworthy of his child."

Adrian's heart bled to see Marinette like this. He had seen a miniscule portion of this side of her the very first day, the day they fought Stoneheart, but that was microscopic in comparison. Here she was, both of his crushes, the same girl, (which he still wasn't sure what he felt about it, but he didn't care at the moment. She needed him) the strong and confident Ladybug, heroine of Paris, the beautiful and caring Marinette, heroine of the every day little struggles, the girl who sat with him and held him as he cried about his mother, the girl who saved his life on countless occasions, the girl who used to be the strongest he had ever known: he watched her confidence crumble and had no guarantee that it would ever be rebuilt.

"Do you remember the day we first met, Marinette?"

"The day we first got our powers?"

"Yeah. I was excited about the prospect of being a superhero, so I charged right in, unprepared and almost got myself killed."

Marinette smiled fondly. "Has anything changed?"

Cat Noir chuckled. "Very funny, princess. My point is, from that very first day, you have had my back and have been able to save me from my impetuousness and keep me alive. You made Paris a promise, and you haven't disappointed anyone. You have kept your word."