A Whole New Life

Chapter 8

A/N: Just to clarify Ke— I mean, Adrien (yeah it's TOTALLY not Keefe) has the main POV for this story so if I don't have another POV in the title, then it's in Adrien's POV. On to the story!

Marinette was beautiful. Adrien admired the way her pigtails bounced and how her eyes sparkled when she was talking about something she loved. The two had decided to ditch class, Adrien was too overwhelmed to take on the horde of students combined with the regular stresses of school. He needed to adjust before his life got back to normal.

And so the two of them roamed the halls while Marinette gave him deeper info about his past life. How he had become a superhero, how they had fallen in love, and so forth. There was still one thing Adrien still hadn't been answered.

"How did I fall into a coma?"

Marinette's eyes went dark, but he needed to know so he didn't stop her. "You see, we were fighting an akuma, like usual. This time Hawkmoth and Mayura showed up, which was really rare. There was something different about him, he normally wouldn't have been so murderous. Yeah, he was evil, but there was just something off. Anyways, you were fighting him and it was getting really intense, I was starting to worry. That's when he did it." She needed a moment before she could go on. "I didn't see it happen myself because you both went into a dark alley and I was busy fighting Mayura, but all of a sudden the yelling and fighting stopped. We went into the alley and it looked like you were both dead. We found out that Hawkmoth was your evil bastard of a father and we also found that you were barely alive. The butterfly miraculous was missing, which is still a mystery. We have had recent akumatizations which means there's a new Pappilon."

They walked in silence while Adrien soaked in the rush of information.

"Do we know who the new Pappilon is?"

"No, all we know is that they're out there, and this time it's a girl."

They found a bench to sit on just outside the school and they sat there in silence for a little while, basking in the humid heavy air and letting the dark thundering clouds speak for them.

"We still haven't figured out why my eyes are blue," Adrien said, curiosity getting the better of him.

"Actually, the doctors said there might've been a genetic change from the coma, which is impossible, but there isn't exactly much to go off of, is there?"

Something deep inside of him told him it was something more than that. This wasn't where he belonged, he belonged somewhere else. The memory of the strange swan pendant flashed into his mind, telling him that there was something he was missing. A life forgotten. Memories gone. Flashes of people danced in his mind, but none of them stayed long enough for him to remember.

Only one of them stayed.

"Adrien, are you ok?" Marinette's voice startled him back to the present.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he muttered, not fooling Marinette in the slightest.

"No, you're not," she whispered, placing a hand on his shoulder, "You don't need to explain. I can't imagine how hard it's been for you. Just remember that we go through this together, ok?"

Marinette's bluebell eyes were so convincing, so sure that she could help him. If only she knew that she couldn't. No one could help him, no one understood. He couldn't explain or people would tell him he was crazy. He just had to suffer. For how long? He didn't know.

Marinette took his silence as an invitation to lay her head on his shoulder, to which he didn't protest. This had to be hard for her too. Her boyfriend had gone into a coma and didn't remember her.

"I'm sorry."

He didn't know who said it, but the words were out.

Then flashes of the blonde girl with warm brown eyes came back, but there was something wrong. Black cloaked figures were hurting her. Torturing her. He couldn't hear anything but it felt like a plea. He wanted more than anything to go find her, to take her from the torturers and have her tell him why she was always there in his mind. Why her eyes have been haunting him for as long as he could remember, which wasn't long, but that was beside the point. Why was she so important to him when all he knew is that he called her Foster?

"I have to go," he said, bile rising up his throat.

"Wait! Adrien, I understand you don't want to talk, and that's ok. I just need you to tell me how I can help." She seemed so sure as she stood with him, needing to help him however she could. Adrien knew that she couldn't help with this, so he gave her the only affirmation he could.

"I just need some alone time, ok? I understand you want to help and I'll let you, but right now I just need to be alone." He tried to be as gentle as he could, and even though he could see that Marinette understood, he could still see the flicker of hurt in her eyes.

"I get it, I'll leave you alone," she said, not fully meeting his eyes, "It's just different. I've been trying to ignore it but you're different ever since you've woken up. I keep telling myself that it'll just take time, but I need my Adrien back." Her voice hitched, and Adrien stepped closer, cupping her cheek in his hand.

"He will come back. I promise."

He wanted to believe those words so badly, but deep inside he didn't believe them. He didn't think Adrien Agreste would ever come back, as much as he wanted him to. As much as Marinette wanted him to.

He gave her the only confirmation he could as he kissed her forehead, watching the silent tear streak down her face. He wiped it away with his thumb, giving her a bittersweet smile.

"It will all be fine in the end." He forced himself to believe the words he said as he pulled away, leaving Marinette standing there in the firmness of his words.

~~~~~

Adrien had no idea where he was going. All he knew is that he needed to find her. He could hear her voice, rattling around his head.

Please.

I need you.

Please remember.

For me.

It's Foster.

Her voice was melodious and Adrien knew he had heard it many times before. He followed the sound that he could hear, but not hear. It was almost like only he could hear it. He must've been insane, he had no idea where he was going and he was following a voice inside his head.

A chilling voice cut off his concentration. A voice he wished he'd never hear again. The woman stood yards away from him on the sidewalk, but his blood still froze when she uttered two words that changed everything.

"Hello, son."