"If you're the one for me, I'll be your hero." Hero ~ Christopher Wilde (Sterling Knight)
Helpful hint; tell the truth, and only the truth!
~~~ 2 years ago ~~~
It wasn't enough. Standing up to Chloe wasn't enough to stop the hurt that managed to flood through Marinette's veins. She couldn't take it anymore. The teasing and taunting, the threatening, and the few times the blonde haired girl had slapped her or shoved her over. And today, she threatened her family. She threatened to buy out her mother and father's bakery and force them out on the streets if Marinette didn't stop talking to Adrien.
"All of this over a boy..." Her thick cat pillow was now wet with tears from all the sobbing she did. Her face felt hot and her eyes stung, after crying for all the years that she's known Chloe. Her throat was swollen and sore from the screams and shouts that were muffled and trapped inside her pillow.
"Marinette..." The puffy eyed girl turned her attention to a very worried Tikki for the first time since she got hom. "I'm so sorry you have to deal with this, but I need you to be strong. You're vulnerable to an akuma in this position.
"You're right Tikki. I'm weak." She spat the word out as if it were poison to her tongue.
"You're not weak Marinette! You are the strongest person I've ever met! But what do we do if Ladybug herself is succumbed to an akuma?"
"Just leave me to terrorize the city," When Marinette caught a glimpse of a hurt Tikki, she sighed. "Right, not funny. I'm sorry Tikki. I didn't mean it. I know how bad it would be if that happened."
"Not only that, but Chat Noir would be so disappointed in you as your partner." Marinette nodded as she buried her face into the soft fabric of her cat shaped pillow. The thought of him of all people being disappointed in her set this uncomfortable flame to ignite in the pit of her stomach. "I think you have company."
She lifted her head up as she saw Tikki dart around in the room to her usual hiding spot. "What do you-"
Knock knock.
"-mean?" She glanced above her, a grinning Chat peering down below at her, waving excitedly. His smile slipped quickly though when he noticed tear stains on her cheeks and pillow, and her puffy red eyes.
"Princess? Princess, let me in." As he demanded access to her room, she slowly got up to grant him it. The superhero backed away from the door as she opened it before snuggling herself into a cocoon of blankets. He frowned as he dropped on her bed. Marinette watched him land on all fours, mocking a cat. His piercing emerald eyes looked over her face, the creases in his temple deepening. "Marinette, what's wrong?"
She didn't answer and instead opted for turning away from his anxious stare, facing her plain pink wall. His dejected sigh seemed close to her ear before she felt a dip in the bed next to her.
She rolled over to be faced with a leather cladded chest that had a clawed hand laying loosely against it. She quietly grabbed the cuff that was wrapped around his wrist, moving it back and forth.
"I know, trust me, I completely understand if you don't want to tell this alley cat what happened. But at least tell me one thing," When she didn't shake her head no, he continued. "Who is the cause of your tears, Princess?" It came out as more of a demand rather than a question, though his tone was soft and comforting.
"... Me." The silence wrapped around the two teens. What Marinette had thought was going to be an awkward or uncomfortable silence, actually turned out to be securing and comforting. Eventually, his arms encircled her and her blanket, dragging her across the mattress onto his chest in one fluid motion.
"Want to elaborate on that?" When Marinette snuck a secret glance at Chat, she saw that he was inspecting her ceiling with inquisitive eyes, curiosity fogging over the usually sparkling and electric green eyes.
"I guess you could say I'm my own worst enemy." The way she said it was like it was being tossed into a casual conversation between two acquaintances. Even so, a blunder of feelings swelled up inside of her. It was like a hurricane's wind was threatening to tear all of her emotions out from inside of her to the open world where everyone could see.
"Why do you say that?" It sounded like such an innocent question, and a very simple one at that, if it had been directed at anyone else but her. She didn't answer as she laid her head against his chest, listening to the calming beat of his heart as the hot blood pulsed out of it and into his veins, warming his body up.
"I'm such a pushover. I let her comments get to me because I'm not strong enough to deal with them. I can't deflect them like Ladybug of Alya can, because I'm me. Plain old clumsy, weak, Marinette. Who can't even form a full sentence to the boy she's supposedly so in love with, useless."
In a sudden rush, she felt a gust of wind next to her as her head fell onto a pillow. Hands gripped her shoulders, claws gently digging into her skin as sharp eyes glowered down at her, the tips of his blond hair brushing lightly like a feather against her temple.
"You're not weak, and you are most definitely not useless. You're Marinette, my closest friend, the person I go to when I'm upset, or pissed off, or just when I want to see you. Who cares if you're not like Ladybug or Alya? You're you. You are everything that everyone loves." ONe, two, three drops. Warm salty tears splattered against her cheeks from the boy above. "Don't tell me you're useless, don't tell me you're weak, please." hearing his voice crack as he pleaded to her created tears of her own.
"I'm so scared Chat."
"What is there for you to be so scared of? You'll always have me to protect you."
"That's why! That's why I'm so scared!" The tears slid from the corners of her eyes to the pillow below her, dampening the pink cloth. "What if you're not there? What if you do something so irrefutably stupid to protect me, and I lose you? What do I do then?"
"Then tell me what you're so God damn afraid of so I can end it! Tell me how I defeat your fears!" Her head was throbbing in a dull pain as she watched the despairing boy above her. "What is it that terrifies you Marinette?"
The mask-like exterior Chat had held for as long as she has known him shattered into millions of pieces as his true emotions overwhelmed his face. His grip on her shoulders moved to her hands, squeezing them as tightly as he could without hurting her. The intense and intimate moment multiplied by ten when she finally said the one thing she's never told anyone before.
"I'm so scared of being weak, Chat. I hate the idea of not being strong enough to protect the ones I love."
"I need to be strong Chat. I need to be strong for you and Alya, and Nino, my parents. I need to be strong for myself." She squeezed his hands back, looking at him with blue eyes that were begging for comfort. "Please, don't let me be weak."
~~~~~
She didn't mean to tell her partner that, to load his already heavily burdened shoulder with her problems. It was a moment of brashness, one she wished she could take back and continue to be the strong person he thought she was, not the fragile porcelain doll he unconsciously treated her like now.
How was Adrien of all people supposed to answer this question correctly?
"So Adrien, what's the answer?"
"Being weak, she's scared of being weak." He watched her blue eyes stare at him in shock, but he didn't care, as long as she didn't get hurt again, he would answer every question honestly and correctly, even if it ruins her image of him, Adrien, even more.
"Correct! Our dearest Marinette is completely terrified of being weak! Which leads me to the final question." There was a deafening silence for a few seconds before he spoke again. "Do you think Marinette is weak, Adrien?"
Adrien's heart dropped dead.
"I'll give you ten seconds to answer, since I like ya so much!"
10...
He couldn't speak, his throat growing dry as he tortured himself over Marinette's powerful gaze.
9...
What was the right answer? What exactly does the Puzzlemaker know?
8... 7... 6...
Why was this question so hard for him to answer? Marinette is strong, so strong.
5... 4... 3...
"You're getting awfully close there, y'know?"
2...
The numbers haunted him as he scurried to blurt his answer.
"I think she's weak! I feel like I need to protect her with every fiber of my body!" His heart exploded at the betrayed look crossing her baby blue eyes. His skin paled as his blood ran cold, as the Puzzlemaker yelled correct around them.
He couldn't shake off the feelings from the look she had given him, as if her were some kind of traitor. Which in a way he was.
"Congratulations, my dear Mari! You get to be reunited with Chat Noir!" Before either of the two could react, a steel shutter closed over the glass wall.
"No! Marinette! You don't understand! Please!"
His blood caked knuckles hit the glass as the evil genius spoke.
"What doesn't she understand, Chat? She now knows that you think of her as weak. So I want to congratulate you. For making her nightmare a reality."
Marinette's nightmare is now a reality? Why does Chat Noir think she's weak?
Word Count: 1,681
Date, January 24th, 2017
Until next time, peace!