Your Weakness (2006 words)

Start from the beginning
                                    

"Woah, hey, what are you doing?" Chat catches her hands, holding them back, feeling a bit of resistance.

She looks up at him with her big blue eyes, "You've always wanted to know more about each other, and I think I'm finally ready to show you who I am." She attempts to break free of Chat's grasp on her but to no luck.

"I don't think that's a good idea." He pins her arms to her side, still trying to keep up the illusion. Chat takes a deep breath, trying to hold off fighting Ladybug as long as possible, knowing she won't use her full strength while trying to keep Chat interested and 'fooled'.

Her face turns slightly sour, "But this is what you've always wanted." Her smile wavering, she tenses up.

He cracks a smile, "I've just changed my mind. You've convinced me after all this time, it seems."

The purple halo around her eyes brightens, painfully vibrant, as she breaks free of his hold. "I see how it's going to be. Taking the hard route as usual, Chat Noir." She steps backwards, eyes glowering at him.

"This was a new low, even for you, Hawkmoth." He poises his staff at her, keeping her at a safe distance.

She raises her eyebrows, "It was an obvious opportunity. Did you at least enjoy my little show? Or should I say, our little show?" Ladybug says before batting her eyes and looking longingly at Chat. Her eyes, themselves, dead, as if she were a literal puppet in the hands of Hawkmoth.

"Let her go!" He demands, suddenly enraged.

She rolls her eyes, "Chat Noir, always so emotional; you almost make this too easy." She backs up to the edge of the roof, winking before back flipping off over the side.

"No!" He roars, launching himself over the edge to the street below. Just before her head would have smashed into the pavement, he catches her, holding her tight against this chest. "Ladybug, I know you can hear me," he whispers to her, "please fight it." For a split second he catches a glimpse of the rose in her hair, the akuma. But before he gets a change to capture it, Ladybug punches him in the face, breaking free.

"I'm afraid Ladybug has been fighting very valiantly, but she's all worn out with nowhere to run, leaving me in charge." Chat notices her hand lift in attempt to reach the akumatized rose before it falls limply to her side. "See?

"Now if you would so kindly hand over your Miraculous," her hand reaches out, palm up, "all of this can end. No more fighting, no more stress. You and Ladybug can grow up together as normal teenagers... Doesn't that sound nice...Chat?"

He feels a lump form in his throat. He knows that the words are not Ladybug's, but hearing them in her voice cuts him deep. "This...this is our normal. I love her. You have threatened to kill the only person I love in this world. Are you so far gone that you don't know what that feels like?"

There's a pause. "Yes. I have loved and been loved before... and felt its loss." A silence. "I know exactly what I'm putting you through." An overwhelming sinister tone radiating from the words. He sees tears streaming down her hardened face, reflecting in the street lights.

He throws himself at her, pinning her to the ground before she can evade him. "When we find you, Hawkmoth, I will personally end you." He holds his staff against her throat, keeping her down.

A dark chuckle rises from her chest, a sound he'd never heard from Ladybug before, sending chills down his spine. He snatches the rose from her hair and crushes it in his hand. The akuma flies out, free.

A yoyo zips out and captures the akuma, releasing the pure butterfly in its place. Chat's eyes follow the yoyo as it recoils back into Ladybugs hand and up as she declares a weak "Miraculous... Ladybug,"

The rose reforms in his hand as he looks down on Ladybug, collapsed on the ground. He picks her up and takes her to a nearby rooftop, out of the way of most prying eyes. He lifts her head onto his lap, smoothing some of the hair away from her face. In attempt to not say something stupid, he simply blurts out, "Hey,"

She looks up at him, trying hard to focus on his face, still taking heavy breaths, "Hey".

"You, uh, alright?" He asks, knowing that she probably isn't. He helps her up to a more seated position.

She gives a half-hearted shrug, "I've been better."

"How did this happen?" He genuinely asks, as she starts to regain her composure.

She turns away from him, hiding her face. "I-it's hard to remember."

Chat accepts this until he catches a glimpse of the previously akumatized rose on the pavement next to them, causing his thoughts to start churning. "Were... were you mad at me? Frustrated after the other day?" He asks, saddened that he may have been the cause of her suffering at the hands of Hawkmoth.

She shakes her head, "Not with you." She turns back to him with a look of longing.

"Then... what?" He picks up the rose and holds it between them.

She wipes the earlier tear streaks from her face, "I was...mad. I was upset with myself." She can feel his questioning eyes on her; her cheeks growing warm. "I haven't stopped thinking about last week, with the candles, with you. But when I was getting ready to meet you earlier, I saw the rose and everything from that night just flooded back to me.

"I... I..." she hesitates, trying to find the right words, "I wanted, wanted to love you." She pauses, daring to sneak a peek at Chat. His pensive face revealing nothing at the moment, she continues, "A big part of me does...feel that way about you. But there was another big part of me that... that couldn't accept that. The majority of my anger and frustration stemmed from... me hating myself. Hating that I couldn't let go and just be with you.

"Every instinct told me that 'we can't be together', 'it would never work', 'what about our identities', and it drove me over the edge. Next thing I know I'm screaming and fighting against my own body, against Hawkmoth." She closes her eyes, covering her face with her hands. "The sad part is that part of what I said while akumatized was true. I do want to make it up to you. I do miss how we used to be. I do..."

He wraps his arms around her, pulling her close so she buries her face in his chest. "You don't have to. You don't have to say it. I don't think I can take any more false hopes." He whispers, tilting his head down towards her. "Only say it if you're sure. You're not helping by lying about how you really feel about me. Its fine if, at this moment, you don't want to reciprocate anything." His arms loosen his hold on her.

Ladybug's arms reach up and wrap around the back of his neck. "It's not a lie," she kisses him slowly, gently, on his cheek, "it's not an illusion," another kiss on the corner of his mouth, "it's real." She tilts his head to place a soft kiss on his lips; still hovering there she whispers, "I do love you".

He suddenly pulls away from her, allowing space between them so he can look her over. He searches for face for an explanation.

"Chat?" Ladybug queries quietly, becoming unsure of herself.

His face softens, "Sorry, I, uh, I'm just making sure you're not akumatized again or something." He cracks a smile, looking down at her wondrous eyes. She smiles back at him as he pulls her close again, their chests pressed together. "I'm glad you're finally giving me a chance."

"I just had to recognize what I had right in front of me."

He chuckles, "Now that's too cheesy, even for me."

She pecks him on the lips, "Oh hush, you silly cat."

He dips her down in his arms before giving her a, long overdue, passionate kiss.





Inspired by this fanart:

http://alliando.tumblr.com/post/170224012324/found-your-weakness


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