A Daring Mother's Day

Chapter 1

A Daring Mother's Day

Written by: JuliaFC

Beta-read by: Agrestebug and Speckleflower. Thank you SO much! You're the best! :)

Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by (c) Thomas Astruc , TS1 Bouygues, Disney Channel, Zagtoon, Toei Animation. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

oOo

Paris was cold tonight. Chat Noir shivered against the gush of cold spring wind slapping against him as he landed between two gargoyle statues atop Notre Dame. He sat, legs crossed, watching the thin scythe of the crescent moon fight its way across the cloudy overcast sky. Soon it would be dark, the last shades of crimson and gold light from the setting sun sending strokes of light up towards the darkness. He sat there for a while, observing the city lights slowly twinkling back into existence, and allowing himself to breathe regularly and relax. He let out a shaky breath, trying to hold back the tears.

Today had been tough. Being a Sunday hadn't brought its usual amount of delight. He typically looked forward to the prospect of having no lessons planned for the day, or homework to do. He could have dedicated his whole day to be with her. But not this time.

Last year had already been bad. No, who was he kidding... it had been terrible. For the first time since she disappeared, it really hit home. He had missed her more than anything else in the world, but last year, the agony and desolation had hit him by surprise. The wound of her disappearance always hovered, and that pain simply reopened it anew, drawing fresh blood out of it like a vampire.

Last year he had locked himself in his room, told Nathalie that he was feeling sick and spent the whole day and night on his bed, positively bawling. After all, he had nothing better to do and nobody to call or to ask for help. It had crossed his mind to call Chloe... but he had quickly scratched that thought from his mind. His emotions were too fragile to endure her constant attention-seeking whine. Not that day. So, he had been by himself, and the day had just come and gone. The wound had slowly healed itself in vain, knowing it would never be able to heal completely.

This year was different though... first, he now knew that he would be an emotional wreck today and had spent the better part of February and the beginning of March dreading it with all his might. Second, he now had friends who actually cared for him and who wouldn't have abused his patience to complain about their latest badly performed haircuts but would have been there to support him and cheer him up.

If only his father would allow them to visit.

He remembered well what had happened the day of the anniversary of his mother's disappearance. Father hadn't allowed him to see his friends, and his frigging cousin had nearly managed to make him lose them all by impersonating him and insulting them. And even worse, he had deleted the video they had sent to cheer him up. He didn't expect a visit from his cousin this time (although he hadn't expected it even that time, so he was taking no risks!) but he had decided he didn't want to tell his friends about today. He just didn't want to burden them with it.

Not that it hadn't been difficult. Even Kim of all people had asked him what was wrong with him. Ladybug had looked very worried for him the day before on patrol. She hadn't said anything directly, but she had implied... that he looked quite off. He hadn't been able to joke or throw around his usual puns. He had tried to fit in a couple of them, but he too had cringed at how stupid and utterly unfitting they were. He wasn't good at hiding his emotional status, especially not from his Lady.