Have you ever had a moment in your life when you can clearly say you're having an outer body experience? Yes? Well I can tell you now, being unconscious is nothing like that. I can hear someone screaming next to me. Someone wants me to come back, but I can't move, I can't feel. Everything is stuck; stuck in time and space. I am floating and all I can hope is that my body finds its destination soon, because I don't know how much longer I can hold on.
•••••
"We're bringing in a young girl, sixteen years old, ICD-10, upper thigh close to the femoral artery, with foreign body. Left side, she will need blood and an emergency team at the ready." The paramedic, who was talking on the phone, looked over to Adrien.
"What's her name?" he asked.
Adrien looked up in shock, what did he say?
"Um-" a hand placed on his lower arm and he looked to see the second paramedic trying to calm him.
"Her name?"
"Oh, it's Marinette, Marinette Dupain-Cheng."
The sound of the sirens were giving him a headache, and the beeping of the heart rate monitor was excruciating. Why did they make such a horrible noise? The beep beep beep was diabolical, there must have been a nicer noise they could have used, like a twinkling noise. Yes, that would be nicer. It wouldn't have his nerves on edge as much as this was.
He felt like he was drowning. His head and ears were fuzzy and he couldn't quite understand what was happening around him. He began to piece together his day. He had a soulmark, he still hadn't seen it properly. He filmed an advert with Marinette and she was the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen. She was his soulmate, always, she was his Lady, always, it was always Marinette. Kind and caring Marinette who was currently bleeding an insane amount in the back of an ambulance.
His phone began to ring. He could feel the vibrations pulsing next to his thigh. It rang once, twice, three times, but his hand couldn't move to his pocket where it sat. He looked down towards his leg and noticed it was covered in Marinette's blood. As if remembering she was there, he looked up into the pale face of his soulmate, his love, his future.
Future!
He pulled his phone from his pocket and stared guilty at the missed calls before pulling up an empty text box and finding a name.
Alix Kubdel
He quickly sent off a message asking her to meet him in the hospital. If anyone had the answer, Alix would and if not she could just go back in time and fix it. She had her Miraculous now, she could help.
Hope began to spread through him as he pulled up the missed call notifications. A few from his fathers personal phone, a dozen or so from Nathalie and the rest from Tom and Sabine. With his fingers trembling he made his first call.
"Where are you?"
"I'm in the ambulance still."
"Do you know when you'll arrive at the hospital?" Adrien could hear the fear in Tom's voice, but nothing broke his heart more than hearing Sabine's sobbing in the background. This was their daughter. He had no right to feel the heartache that they did, especially after everything that had happened.
He turned to the paramedic who indicated five minutes until they were at the hospital.
"Five minutes, Sir."
"Adrien, stay with her until we get there please."
"Yes, Sir."
He shut the phone down and considered whether to call Nathalie or his father. Final decision was neither as a low tone beep sounded from the machine currently monitoring Marinette.
The paramedics around him flew into action. One man on his phone, another pressing buttons on the machine, and a third, who he didn't even know was there, began to press down on her chest.
Adrien watched, bile rising to his throat. He caused this. He knew this was his fault, Plagg had warned him. Warned him so many times, there was no reason for him not to have listened to the wise kwami's words.
In a blink of an eye they were at the hospital, paramedics running around shouting words he didn't understand at each other. He was smart, he should be able to figure out what they were saying, but at the moment he was underwater again. His vision was blurred, his hearing muffled. Turning his head he watched them take Marinette out the ambulance and towards the double opening doors that led to the operating theatre within intensive care.
Adrien stepped off following, only to be guided in the opposite direction by an older lady in scrubs. She was gentle and kind, Adrien made a note to thank her at some point. After all, that's what you did wasn't it? Thank those who helped you through the worst days of your life.
He found himself in a small seating area, alone. The lights were classic fluorescence, each admitting a faint buzz as it lit up the room. The smell of cleaning products hit his nose, causing the bile to rise once more, burning his throat. He noticed sick bowls on the small table next to him, heaving into it and his stomach emptying. It happened again. Once, twice, three times before the sobbing took over.
Adrien was an emotional child which fed into his teenage years. He wasn't afraid to cry, he just didn't like doing it in front of people. Especially people who needed him to be strong, and she needed him. He had always been her strength, she relied on him daily and he would never let her down. But she wasn't here at the moment so he'd let the weakness take over him. Just for the moment, just whilst he could.
He rocked in his chair letting out every ounce of pain he'd felt since the day he lied about his soulmark. He'd hurt Kagami, he'd hurt Marinette, and in conjunction, he'd hurt himself. He felt something big on his back, hand shaped and he hit it off.
"I'm not leaving, you can't make me." A sob rattled him again and he grabbed the bowl ready for the next intense stomach action.
"Adrien, it's ok. We're not making you leave."
He recognised the voice. It was big, and, at the moment, brave considering everything happening around him.
"I can't leave. She's mine, I need her," he broke down again as he was pulled into a warm body, "I need her." He whispered again.
Tom Dupain was always an affectionate man, there was no doubt to Adrien that's whose arms he was currently in.
"They made me leave her, sir. I didn't want to, but they did." Adrien looked into Tom's bloodshot eyes. The big bear of a man was broken.
"I know," Tom began to rock him, "I know."
Adrien had no idea how long Tom held him for, it could have been seconds, minutes, maybe hours, but for once in his life Adrien felt secure and loved. He felt comforted.
"Adrien, sweetheart." A small hand with a cup of water was being held out to him. He looked up to who it belonged to and came face to face with Sabine. "Here, drink some of this."
Adrien laughed bitterly.
"I should be the one looking after you two, it's your daughter."
Sabine placed the cup next to him and bent down, stroking his blood covered hair.
"She's your soulmate."
Adrien looked up into her eyes. How did they know? Has someone told them?
"How?"
Sabine moved to sit next to her husband, wrapping herself around his big arm. It reminded him of how Ladybug would sit curled up next to him, head resting on his shoulder. Ladybug, Marinette, his Lady.
"You know when you read a fairytale and you want that to be your life, like the music playing, everyone singing kind of romance? Well that's how he makes me feel. I'll listen to a song on the radio and it'll take me to a memory of him. I'll see something in a shop and want to buy it for him, I see someone shoving an ice cream down their throat without an ounce of care for the coldness and it reminds me of him. Heck, I've found myself repeating things he says and start laughing to myself, my friends think I'm nuts. I just know I'm in love."
She had been talking about him. Everything he wanted someone to say about him, was actually about him. He stood up and walked to a wall resting his head against its coolness. He'd told her he had decided on his girlfriend, that he was going to make it work with her, that he was going to marry her.
Adrien never swore or used foul language, but in that moment an abundance of not too kind words about himself appeared in his mind. Not only that, he was quite sure his father was going to kill him. Speak of the devil, and he shall reveal himself.
A vibration made its way through Adrien's leg. Another call, and he was sure he knew who it was on the other end. He pulled the phone out of his pocket and squirmed. Bingo, it was his father. He looked over to Tom and Sabine, and turned his lips up before accepting the call. Maybe, if he remained looking at them he'd feel the strength he needed. The strength to stand up to Gabriel Agreste.
"Father." Adrien answered, his eyes never falling from Tom's. For some reason, having the support of Marinette's father meant more to him than the support of his own.
"Why does Mlle Tsuragi tell me you won't be coming to our pre-arranged dinner? Why aren't you here?"
Adrien took a deep breath. Kagami. He'd forgotten about that spanner in the works. He owed her so much. Once all this was over he'd make sure he apologised. She was a good friend, he never wanted to hurt her, he never meant to at least.
"I'm with Marinette and her parents at the hospital, she was shot-"
"I know what happened Adrien, surprisingly something like that does not bypass the news, but that is not what I asked you. I asked why you weren't here?"
Adrien looked down at his blood stained clothes. His father knew Adrien and Marinette were close, hell, they'd spent the whole day together.
"She's my friend, I found her."
"You should have left that to the police. Do you think you're invincible or something?"
Oh how he wanted to say yes. To tell his father it was his duty to protect and serve Marinette, but he didn't want his father to know.
"I demand you come this instant, Adrien. Stop trying to play the hero, it doesn't suit you."
He could have laughed, broke down and laughed so much at Gabriel's words. Not the hero? He hadn't got a clue.
"She's my soulmate father, I'm staying."
"Adrien, you should really reconsider, if you know what it's worth."
"No father, you don't understand -" His father cut him off and began to scold him down the phone. Adrien's eyebrows creased as he listened to his fathers fable attempts to make him leave. In the midst of all the shouting, Adrien never noticed Tom stand up and make his way over. Before he registered the big man, the phone had been removed from his hand and was now placed against Tom's ear.
His face morphed into shock at what he was hearing, before giving Adrien such a sorrowful look. Adrien then knew Gabriel was still going on his 'Adrien assasination train'.
"Now, listen, M. Agreste. I don't care who you think you are but you do not speak to your own son that way. He saved our daughter today, he saved his soulmate. The boy is a hero and doesn't need a costume to show it."
Tom went silent for a moment, his face betraying the silence and showing every last expression regarding his conversation.
"Adrien, will be staying with us until you can prove you're worthy of such a fine son. You know the police won't intervene when it comes to soulmate bonding as it is a right of passage, so I suggest if you want to speak to Adrien again you do it in a more fatherly way, actually a more human way would be a step up. Good day, M. Agreste."
Tom turned the phone call off and handed it to Adrien. The teen stood staring, is this what it's like to have someone care for you? To look after you and, dare he say it, love you?
"Thank you." Adrien whispered, taking the phone from (hopefully) his future father-in-law.
"Your welcome, son. Now go and get cleaned up a little and I'll contact Alya or Nino to get you some clothes."
Adrien stepped forward and wrapped his arms around Tom, before heading to Sabine and kissing her on the cheek.
"Thank you both. I won't be long. Please ring me if you hear anything."
Adrien left the room and headed towards the toilets. He needed to wash the blood from his hands, face and hair. He needed to see if Alix had responded.
Tom sat next to Sabine and wrapped an arm around her shoulders.
"Should we tell him we know?" Tom asked.
"No," the frail woman replied, "there's enough going on at the moment without him knowing we know his identity." She sighed and rested her head against her husband. "What if we lose her?"
"We won't. There's no chance our daughter is giving up without a fight. She's too stubborn." He placed a kiss on his wife's head before finding Alya's number in his phone.
•••••
Adrien's hair was no longer streaked with red. The remains of his last minutes alone with Marinette washed down the drain. Was it crazy that he wanted to keep it on him? That he wanted to keep part of her with him? He looked down at his clothes, they would be changed soon too. Alya had messaged to let him know herself and Nino were picking up some for him, along with other supplies. He guessed she knew about the Dupain's taking him in.
He placed his hands on the sink and grasped hard, turning his knuckles white.
"I have a secret, so big it'll change your life."
Too right, Adrien thought. He needed to make sure she was going to be ok, he needed Alix and he needed her now. Checking his phone for any messages, he saw she'd finally replied.
[Alix] Meet me on the roof as CN. Call me when you're there.
Without a second's hesitation he'd made it out the door and into the hallway of the hospital, the bright white of the walls blinding his eyes. He began to search for the nearest stairwell, turning left and right, moving up and down corridors. The thought never crossed his mind about how he was going to get back to the ICU.
One last turn and he stopped dead in his tracks. His bodyguard stood at the door, Nathalie standing next to him. He checked his phone for the time, he needed to get to Alix. He started to edge away towards the stairs when a wave of adrenaline engulfed him. It was now or never, she would want him to do this, she believed he could do this.
Turning back to the desk where Nathalie was making a scene, Adrien took a deep breath, he had to believe he could do this.
"Nathalie, I told father I would be staying with the Dupain's."
"And I'm telling you you're being unreasonable and you're coming home." Nathalie, as monotone as ever, looked down at Adrien under her glasses. Gorilla staring at the boy in sympathy. At least one person in his household cares.
"I am here with Marinette and I'm not leaving until I have to." Adrien's voice began to raise. It's time he put his acting lessons to good use. His father was the one who had insisted he took them.
"Adrien stop acting like a child and come with us this instant."
The commotion had caused people in the area to stop and stare. Many realised it was Adrien Agreste and pulled out their smartphones. He was quite sure he was about to go live on Instagram.
Sorry Father, he thought, but the man had only brought it upon himself. It was time Adrien made a stand, a time he became his own man.
"Firstly I am sixteen now, I have moral obligations to my soulmate, as by law." He could hear the chattering around him and saw the approach of the hospital security. Gorilla stood off to the side looking, dare Adrien say it? Proud.
"She is not your soulmate. Mlle Tsurugi is, and she is waiting for you to announce your impending betrothal." Nathalie glared at Adrien with a look he had never seen before. She was pissed off,
"No, Mlle Sanceour, Marinette is my soulmate. We have matching marks and a very strong bond, and at the moment she is bleeding to death in surgery. There is no way I am leaving her, there is no way I am coming home. I will be staying with her family until father is willing to apologise:"
The sound of clapping echoed through the hallway. Adrien looked around and saw Gorilla slamming his beastly hands together. Even though the guy never spoke, Adrien knew he was cheering for him for finally sticking it to his father.
"Adrien-"
"I'm afraid we need you to leave." A security guard approached Nathalie and placed a hand on her shoulder, gently trying to guide her out of the hospital.
"He is a minor under my care. He is coming home with me." She hissed. Adrien was suddenly seeing a new side to Nathalie and he wasn't fond. What the hell was she doing? What had changed?
"Monsieur Agreste, is your soulmate undergoing emergency surgery?"
"Yes, Sir." Adrien spoke, making sure to channel all his inner charm.
"Then I'm sorry, Ma'am. He needs to stay. They may need a donation from him."
Nathalie was defeated. Soulmates were priority for helping each other, with or without parental authority. Adrien crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow.
Check, Adrien's eyes read.
It's not over yet, Nathalie's replied, and he was quite sure she was right.
The Gorilla made sure Nathalie wasn't watching as he took Adrien into a bear hug. The grunt in his ear was one of care, one of pride. Adrien patted his back and let him go.
One huddle jumped, a thousand more to go.
Finally reaching the stairwell Adrien hid inside, releasing Plagg from his inner shirt.
"I'm so proud of you Kid."
"Thanks Plagg, but that's only one wrong I've put right so far. There's loads more to go." Adrien looked defeated and there was no way Plagg was standing for that. The kid had finally done what was right, he had finally stood up for himself, he needed to celebrate.
"Adrien, you've started to make amends and it's not easy to admit your mistakes. I'm proud of you. This is only the beginning."
A tear streaked down Adrien's pale skin, the wise words from his little friend lightening his heart.
"Thanks, Plagg."
"Now come on, we've got a bunny to catch."
Adrien called his transformation and once again became the unstoppable Chat Noir. Bounding up the stairs he reached the rooftop and pulled out his phone, finding Bunnyx's contact. After ringing twice she appeared beside him, the same tear streaks adorned her face. She launched herself into Chat's arms, giving him the fierce hug he needed.
"I know what you're going to ask me, kitty, and it pains me to say but the answer is no." Bunnyx released Chat and took a step back, wiping under her mask with her finger tips.
"This can't be the way it goes." Chat was exasperated. There is no way this was how it was meant to go. Ladybug was not meant to be hurt by something so, so human.
"I can't help you, I'm sorry Adrien but everything's going as it should."
"It's such a mess though."
"Don't I know it." Bunnyx snorted a snot laced laugh. She'd seen it and lived it multiple times. "Listen, Kitty, in this universe this is how it goes. In others you're the one pushed to the side, or betrayed by your friends. I've even seen universes where you're a sentimonster."
Chat gasped, holding his baton tighter.
"Just believe it ok. Do you love her?"
"With all my heart." It came out as a whisper, but he'd never been so sure of something in his life.
"Then believe in the power of love. Remember I am only a last resort. I will only show up if it can't be fixed."
Chat could have kicked himself, he really thought it would have been as simple as calling Alix and resetting time. No wonder she had been so smug recently. She'd seen it all.
A thud was heard on the other side of the roof. Chat looked over to see Rena Rouge with a bag in her hand. Alya, that has to be Alya. She walked over greeting Bunnyx and handing the bag to Chat.
"I managed to get into your room to grab you some supplies."
"How do you know?" Chat asked.
"Because I was there to comfort her the night you told her you were getting engaged to your girlfriend."
Chat winced, that night was becoming one playing on his mind on repeat. He closed his eyes, remembering how broken she was when he'd left, and the next day at school.
"Love shouldn't be a game, yet here we are another love story with more issues than the Beano!"
Rena pulled out his hand and placed the earrings in his palm.
"Tikki's read the grimoire, she can help Marinette heal as long as she's wearing the earrings, she's also set a protection spell up over the bakery. You'll all be protected staying there, and Marinette will be protected here."
Chat nodded, taking in all the information.
"Thank you, thank you both so much."
Chimes of 'you're welcome' circulated the rooftop, as the two heroes said goodbye. Bunnyx stopped and turned back to Chat.
"Have you checked your messages?" She asked.
"Yeah, but most were from my father shouting at me." He replied.
"I meant on the Cat phone."
Chat pulled out his baton and flicked it open. One message was waiting for him.
"I suggest you listen to that before you do anything else."
With one last smile she was gone.
"Here goes nothing." He pressed the phone to his ear and listened, nothing could prepare him for what he heard.
•••••
Five hours ago - The Dressing Room en-suite
Hey Kitty, I have no idea if you'll transform today but surprise I'm your soulmate *nervous laugh* I hope you don't mind how big the mark is. I know it's a bit of a monstrosity but at least we now know we're made for each other. We need to talk about this at some point as I know you're engaged, but I love you. I love you with all my heart, so please, if you can, let me have a chance to make you fall in love with me?
Anyway, that's not why I'm calling. I ... I think someone knows who I am, Kitty, and I think they might be Hawkmoth. I'm not going to lie, I'm scared. Really scared. I just have a feeling something is going to happen, like, something big. *A sniffing sound is heard* I'm really scared, Chat, I know this person has power and I know he has resources. Just please be careful, I don't want anything to happen to you, I wouldn't be able to carry on without you by my side. *A noise of a door being knocked is heard in the background* I've got to go, my love. Hopefully see you later, but if I don't make it, please just know that I love you.
•••••
Adrien's back slid down the wall. He was shaking, he was cold, and he was numb. She knew. She knew something was going to happen. He called off his transformation before cupping his arms around his legs, hiding his head in the middle of his knees.
"I'm stupid. So, so stupid! Why didn't I transform? I could have protected her, like I'm meant to. I'm so stupid, stupid, stupid."
"Woah," Plagg said, as he and Tikki flew to Adrien. The red kwami taking on the role to console the young boy.
"This is not your fault. There's only one person to blame here and it's Hawkmoth."
"Adrien, Marinette would hate you blaming yourself. She knows this is just one of those things." Tikki said, settling into Adrien's hair to stroke it.
"It was Hawkmoth. The shooting. Obviously, he can't beat us magically so he had to send a hit on a sixteen year old girl. What the hell is wrong with this man?" Adrien could feel the anger burning inside of him. He'd never felt an emotion so strong before and he was worried the enemy in question would take advantage.
He began to slow his breathing. Regulating it to stop the panic attack, or akuma, he was sure it was coming for him. Take a deep breath and count to four.
One ...
Two ...
There it was. The little purple butterfly of his nightmares heading straight towards him. He was stronger than this. The only thing that mattered was downstairs going through a lot more than him.
Three ...
The akuma had slowed down. He closed his eyes. He needed to concentrate, he could not allow himself to be akumatised. Marinette needed him. She loved him. He couldn't let her down.
Four ...
He opened his eyes to find the akuma was no longer around.
"Great work, Kid." Plagg hugged onto Adrien's cheek.
The theme to 'Attack on Titan' blared out of his pocket, taking them out of their moment and thrusting them back into reality. He pulled it out slowly, thinking his father was probably calling to tell him why he was such a terrible son, but to his shock, it was Tom.
"Adrien, they've finished the surgery and are about to bring her out. You'll be allowed to see her."
"Is she ...? Will she be ...?" He didn't want to complete those sentences, he didn't want any answer to be finalised, not unless it was good news.
"She's stable. It seems it missed the femoral artery, and once the bullet was removed from her leg she stabilized quickly."
Adrien let out a breath he didn't know he was holding.
"I've just grabbed my things from Alya. I'll be on my way back to you now."
"And Adrien,"
"Yes."
"Thank you. You saved her. Apparently the tourniquet you made saved her life."
He smiled, grateful that he could help his soulmate. Tikki cuddled into his cheek, placing a kiss there in gratitude. He did it, he saved his soulmate. Ending the call, he made his way back downstairs and into the main hospital. The dark cloud which had positioned itself over his head had finally made way for the sun to shine. HIs sun was ok, and once again he could glow.
Surprising himself, he made his way back to Tom and Sabine with ease. They both stepped forward and engulfed him in their arms as he entered the small waiting room. How could he feel so different in such a short space of time? Only twenty minutes ago he was sitting on the chair wrenching his guts up, thinking he'd never see his soulmate again.
"What happens now?" Adrien asked, stepping out of the Dupain-Cheng embrace.
"They say it will be two weeks to heal, but up to six months for Marinette to be back to normal." Adrien nodded. Perhaps with Tikki's help this could be halved, maybe even quartered, who knew what l special powers the kwami held.
To be without Ladybug for so long, and now with the added pressure of Hawkmoth possibly knowing one, or both of their identities there was no way he was going to leave her. The considerations of what he could do played on his mind, he was already thinking about sneaking back in at night as Chat Noir, when a surgeon stepped into the room.
"Marinette is out of surgery and doing well. We've taken her into ICU to keep an eye on her for the next twenty four hours, but there should be no issues with moving her into a private room after that. The bullet remaining in the wound, plus the tourniquet prevented her bleeding out as badly as she could have."
Tom slapped a hand on Adrien's shoulder.
"This is the man that saved her. Her protector and soulmate."
The way Tom said protector sent a shiver down his spine. Did they know? He looked up to see awe and gratitude on the big man's face.
"Well, Sir, you should be very proud of yourself." With a final word to Sabine, the surgeon left them.
Sabine wrapped her hands around Adrien's waist and rested her head into his chest.
"I'm honoured to have you as our daughter's soulmate."
"Do you ...? Do you know?" He asked her.
"We only know what you want us to, sweetheart."
"But know that what's in the past is in the past." Tom added on.
Adrien rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment. Hopefully this time it won't lead to an akumatised Tom, hopefully he understands that he turned Marinette down for Marinette.
"I'll just go and get changed." Walking into the toilets for the second time that day, Adrien slumped against the wall. The feeling of relief washing over him, along with such incredible tiredness he thought he was going to collapse there and then. He'd never been through so many emotions in one day, he was completely and utterly exhausted.
"You ok?" Plagg and Tikki appeared in front of him. Adrien couldn't even find the ability to nod. Every inch of his body aching from emotion.
"Marinette's going to be ok," he sighed out, removing his clothing. He held up his once white over shirt and figured the best place for it would be in the bin. It was destroyed.
"I knew she would be." Tikki responded. Adrien finally noticed Tikki seemed back to health. She must be mirroring Marinette.
He put on his new, fresh clothing and headed towards Marinette's room to find her parents waiting outside.
"Ready?" They asked.
He went to respond when a new wave of fear washed over him. She knew about Chat Noir but not Adrien.
"Marinette doesn't know about me," he said, "she only knows about her partner. Would it be ok if we kept it that way for a while?"
Tom and Sabine looked at each other. A silent conversation passed between the two of them.
"She'll need to know at some point," Sabine responded, "just promise us you'll tell her soon." Adrien nodded before handing them his bag, turning around and moving to the hospital exit.
Finding a quiet alleyway, he called on his transformation and made his way to Marinette's room, climbing through the window and taking the seat opposite Tom and Sabine.
She was still under the influence of the anaesthetic, resting peacefully after going through so much trauma. Her pale skin had a slight sheen to it and she looked like a porcelain doll. Even with her Chinese accents she looked like a wax model of Snow White.
Lips red as a rose, hair black as ebony, and skin white as snow.
How he wanted to be her Prince and wake her up through true love's kiss. But this wasn't a fairytale, things like that didn't work in real life. She wasn't under the influence of a spell or Akuma, this was something irreparable by lucky charms and Miraculous Ladybugs, this was life and death. There would be no riding off into the sunset, just the inevitable battle to finally end this. To defeat Shadowmoth.
He leaned forward, oblivious to her parents and the fact he was currently in disguise as a black cat and whispered in her ear.
"I love you, My Princess."
He closed his eyes and placed his warm lips upon hers. It was sweet, soft, and innocent. Everything perfect for the ending of a Disney fairytale. He moved his forehead onto hers, keeping his eyes closed to savour the feeling. This was his first kiss with her he'd remember, and he never wanted to forget it. The build up of the day's emotions evident in the tingling which remained on his lips. Everything suddenly changed. It went from almost perfect, to perfect in the matter of five words.
"I love you too, Kitty."