The Ending We Deserve

Chapter 3

Okay. So I'm a moron and forgot to update again. So I'm going to post this chapter and the finale both tonight! Hoorayyy!!

"Tikki?" Marinette cried, "Tikki, where are you? You can come out now. We won."

Marinette checked where she last saw the kwami, but she was gone. And she couldn't have picked a worse time to disappear.

"Marinette?" her kwami answered, "We really won?"

"Yes, but I'm not sure it was worth it... And where were you?"

"I flew to your bakery, to get cookies for my strength so I could transform you again. But by the time I got back you already cataclysmed Hawkmoth's miraculous. I'm so proud of you Marinette!" Tikki gave her owner a quick hug before pulling back, another question already pouring out of her mouth. "Why wasn't Chat using his own miraculous?"

Marinette bit her lip, trying to keep the tears at bay. "He got-" Marinette, wiped at her eyes. "He was hurt really bad during the fight and couldn't hold his transformation." She shook her head in an attempt to clear her cloudy thoughts. She was still so shocked about all the events of the day. Chat being Adrien, Hawkmoth being Gabriel Agrest, Hawkmoth's defeat, and Chat... dying.

She couldn't put it off any longer. If there was a chance to bring him back, she needed to know. "Tikki?" She asked tentatively.

"Yes, Marinette?"

"Can the miraculous ladybugs really bring someone back to life if they were hurt during a fight with other miraculous users?"

Tikki furrowed her brow. "Marinette, you have to understand this is a very dangero-"

"Can they heal someone or not, Tikki?!" Marinette yelled. She immediately regretted it after seeing the look on her kwami's face. "Oh Tikki, I'm sorry. But I need to know, please." Marinette was ready to get on her knees and beg for her best friend, her partner. After everything Chat had done for her, she owed him this. She would rip the world apart to get him back. Ladybug needed her Chaton, and she would do anything to make sure he was back where he belonged.

Marinette looked at Tikki, tears filling her desperate eyes once again. "I don't know." Tikki whispered so softly Marinette almost missed it.

"What do you mean, 'you don't know'?" A malicious venom seeped into Marinette's voice.

Tikki didn't shy away, "It means what I said. I. Don't. Know. It has never been done before. If a person died during an akuma attack, yes, the ladybugs would heal them. But if this was done separate from an akuma attack, I don't know what would happen." Tikki took a long look at Marinette, wondering what had caused her owner to ask these questions and act so uncivil. "Chat didn't just get hurt, did he?"

Marinette didn't respond. She couldn't. She felt like if she said it aloud again, any hope she had left would crumble beneath her feet.

Tikki started to argue. "Marinette! You can't tamper with things you don't understand!"

"No, Tikki! I do understand. I understand that if I just let him die, I will lose not only my partner, but my best friend and love of my life! I will lose both Chat and Adrien, and I can't let that happen. I need them both too much." Marinette took a deep breath. "I couldn't stand being on this earth without either one of them, and now that I know they are both the same person, it hurts even worse because it's double the loss. I am going to do this, Tikki. I have to try."

"Marinette-"

"Don't Marinette me, Tikki! I am doing this whether you like it or not. I'm sorry." Marinette wondered momentarily if Tikki would ever forgive her. "Tikki, spots on!"