"I'm sorry. But I'm sure, I didn't mean to hurt you."
Forget me not (because I will)
oOo
Akuma battles were loud. Deafening, one could say. There were demands and threats thrown across the battlefield, there were the screams of innocent filling the air. There were Chat's and her very own shouted warnings.
There was never silence.
The more jarring it was when all of that sound just-
stopped.
It was the first thought crossing Ladybug's mind as she got flung through the air. The sounds of the ongoing battle were familiar, comforting almost, and when it was suddenly all substituted by nothing but the howling wind...
(...and the shouting inside her own head and the panicked scream from Chat and the warnings and the laughter and the booming voice, but she couldn't hear it, she couldn't really hear it!)
...Ladybug found herself frightened.
In fact, she was absolutely terrified.
And then she slammed into the concrete and suddenly, there was only white noise.
A haughty fog was clinging to every corner of the city of light, dampening the faraway shouting and disorientating her. She could feel the air get knocked from her lungs and for a short second she thought she could hear a ringing in her ears, before even that was gone.
And all that was left was white noise.
Ladybug knew she was panting, taking in shallow breaths that felt as suffocating as the fog, but she couldn't hear it. Every single bone in her body groaned from pain and she was unable to move, paralyzed by the impact.
She was about to transform. Her suit was slowly failing her.
She was about to transform back. She had to run.
But she couldn't get up. The air was still knocked from her lungs and her hands gave away from underneath her whenever she struggled to at least sit and the tiredness of the last few days threatened to take her over and the fog's clamminess weighted her down like a thick blanket.
She felt like she wasn't part of her own body anymore. She felt as if there was Body-Ladybug and Ghost-Ladybug was floating on top, unable to move, unable to feel, unable to hear because she was nothing.
It was scary. Horrendously scary.
Her entire being screamed for her to rest as the white noise slowly faded, leaving nothing but dampened silence
(and the dampened sound of a battle fought without her, but she couldn't hear it, she couldn't hear it! ).
And then Ladybug noticed the heavy steps of the Akuma growing closer – the booming shaking the very earth to its core and sending shivers across her body. She felt herself float in in a strange in-between of battle sounds and the silence of a pained body and-
It was almost peaceful.
The air was filled with anticipation and for a second, all the heroine did was stare at the looming shadow from behind the wall of fog, ever so slowly growing closer.
The world seemed to stand still.
And into that silence, that undisturbed peacefulness, there came a single, shattering sound.
Beep.
High-pitched and familiar and enough to shake Ladybug to her very core. Her eyes widened and her mouth fell open in a silent plea for help, her body having caught up to the sound faster than her thoughts had.
I have to get up.
Another beep broke through the silence. Ladybug struggled to sit upright, her head lolling around in a sickly way.
I need to hide.
Another beep. Her arms collapsed beneath her and once more, Ladybug slammed into the concrete, the pain driving tears into her eyes.
No one can see me!
The beeping became a constant now. A few loose stones started jumping at the sound of the giant Akuma, it's shadow was a stark contrast to the thick fog surrounding her.
It loomed over Ladybug like a castle made from bones.
A shiver ran down her spine and she managed to push herself up on her arms, starring at the titan in something akin to awe, casting her motionless.
Her thoughts were screaming.
She had to move. Now! But her muscles still groaned whenever she moved and, even now, she barely managed to stand, instead heavily leaning on her left leg and waiting in horror for her transformation to fade away. There was fog everywhere. No one could see her. This was alright, she simply had to move a bit, make it seem like she was a civilian, lost on the street, not finding home due to the fog. This was al-
"...unbe...a..le, right?...sorry can't see anything....fog...Yes, I think...to battle."
No.
"...anything for the Ladyblog!"
No!
"I'm pretty sure I can hear the footsteps of the Akuma now...From what I have heard, it's supposed to be huge and – Ladybug?!"
Panic coursed through Ladybug's blood. She struggled to stand upright, ignoring the pain as her eyes widened and she stared at her best friend in horror.
"Alya..."Beep, beep, beep. "Alya, are you livestreaming?!" Beep, beep, beep. "Guys, Ladybug just..." Beep, beep beep.
The steps got louder. The Akuma grew closer. Ladybug stumbled forward, holding her hands out in front, a mockery of the grace she was so well-known for.
"Alya, turn off the live stream!" "What? W-Why?" "Turn off the live-stream!!!"
Another step forward. They were steadier now and she had almost reached Alya, ready to rip the phone from her hands, to stop it herself, if only Alya knew it'd be ok and-
Beep.
Ladybug froze.
"M-M-Marinette?"
And with that, her entire world shattered.
---
This story has been posted up to Chapter 15 on both, ff.net and AO3 (under the same username) - you may prefer to read it on either of those sites. Additionally, chapter lengths will vary greatly.
Please leave a comment if you enjoyed!