(This chapter might get confusing. Keep in mind the font changes, that'll help. Read the chapter very carefully or you'll get lost.)
She let go.
She heard their screams.
She was falling.
Down.
And Down.
And Down.
"I will avenge you, my sweet kitty." She closed her eyes.
No.
Midnight dropped him.
Experiencing loss is a part of life.
Marinette hated herself.
She sobbed and sobbed.
But good things happen too.
She couldn't live like this.
She could not let him die
"MARINETTE! NO! IT'S NOT YOUR FAULT!" She heard the echo of her mother's voice.
Expect the unexpected and embrace it.
Miraculous.
Simply the best.
She was NOT the best.
She was the WORST.
Each first time is an adventure.
"ADRIEN!!!!!!!!!!" The terror-filled voice rang throughout Paris. Originating from the topmost floor of the Eiffel Tower.
Up to the test.
Why did this happen to him of all people!?
He was a good person! Why did it have to be him!?
When things go wrong.
Things WERE wrong.
Why wasn't she able to set things right now!?
And who knows how far these adventures will lead you.
You find people to whom you entrust your heart as much as they entrust theirs to you.
Adrien made a mistake.
He fell for Ladybug.
Marinette made a mistake.
She thought that she should've been better off dead.
Instead of him.
"Mari! Please!" Alya hugged her best friend from behind.
That trust is sometimes broken.
That conversation with Adrien as Midnight haunted her.
"I CAN NOT BELIEVE HOW I FELL FOR YOU AGAIN!"
"Mari, I-"
"ALL YOU SAID WAS A LIE!"
"No! It wasn't! I meant every single thing I said back there!" Adrien roared in his defence.
"HOW CAN I BELIEVE THAT WHEN YOU JUST BROKE WHATEVER LITTLE AMOUNT OF TRUST I HAD IN YOU!"
Miraculous.
But it can always be restored.
He died without she had the chance to restore that broken trust.
Yes. Sometimes, the road can be winding.
You might even get lost on the way.
She WAS lost.
She just wanted to be with him again.
To love him again.
To be free of this guilt.
And to do that...
"Please." Alya chocked on her tears.
"Don't."
"It's not your fault."
She heard them.
Her conscience pricked at her.
Pierced through her chest.
Through her heart.
Still, with the help of the right people, you'll always find your destination.
Or did she do right by listening to Alya?
No.
She should have jumped after him. At least tried to save him.
She was going to set things right.
As we grow old, we realize, life doesn't always give us all the gifts we hoped it would.
The luckiest.
Was she really Lady Luck now?
Was she really Paris's best superheroine now?
When she wasn't able to save her kitty?
Experiencing loss is a part of life. But it doesn't define it.
She wasn't ready.
"Marinette no! Mari! Where are you going!?"
"..."
She got up. And left quietly.
Because what really matters, isn't whether you win or lose.
Because what really matters, is that she would avenge him.
Because what really matters, is that she could be with him at last.
It's the ability to accept changes in ourselves.
The power of love, always so strong.
"Please forgive me, Adrien. Chat. Kitty."
"I can not live like this!"
"Then what are you going to do!? You can't bring him back to life even if you wanted to!" Alya tried desperately to change her mind.
She was very well aware of what she'd do next.
"I won't ask for any more wishes. He died protecting his miraculous from ME. I will not let his efforts go in vain. Instead... If I can't live without him, I won't live."
"Mari no."
Sobs and tears. Disappointment. Shattered heart.
She was used to that now.
"There's no point now. I'm already dead."
It's accepting that even if life doesn't always give us the gifts we were hoping for,
"The real gift is life itself, bugaboo."
Her eyes shot open when she heard the voice.
Mid-air.
She realized.
She wasn't dead yet.
She wasn't on the ground.
She was in HIS arms.
"C-Chat!?"
"Falling for me again?" He said with a wink as he whisked her away towards a nearby building.
"Y-You're alive." She mumbled, eyes wide and mouth agape.
"How?"
"You wanna know?" Chat asked her in a soothing voice.
Trying to settle down all the suicidal thoughts she might still possess.
She could only nod.
"Promise me first that you'll never ever do something like that again." He pointed towards the Eiffel Tower.
She dropped her gaze to the ground.
"M'lady, I love you too much to lose you and I hope you would respect that and never try to yeet yourself off a tower, okay?" He chuckled and then, smiled affectionately.
She nodded.
A stray tear fell from her eye subconsciously and Chat wiped it.
"Silly kitty." She cried.
*
"Hawkmoth is Gabriel Agreste." He said with a grim voice.
"..."
"My father."
"..."
"He knew you'd lost control. He knew you were upset with me and he knew you'd hurt me."
"I-"
"It's not your fault, bugaboo." He put her on the ground. Finally releasing her from his arms.
"He rescued me. Right when I was falling. The people didn't find my body because I wasn't even dead, m'lady!" He said cheerfully.
"He gave up on being Hawkmoth now, though. Maybe he'd had enough."
"Chat." She said.
"Yes?" He smiled at her lovingly.
"C-Chat." Her voice broke.
His smile didn't.
"Adrien." She sobbed.
"Adrien." She chocked on her tears.
"Adrien!" She could not hold it in anymore. She ran towards him and engulfed him in a huge hug.
"It's okay, bugaboo."
"It's okay. You're alive! You're not dead."
"It's okay. I'm alive. And so are you."
"Promise me, Chat, we'll always be together. You'd never leave me again."
"I purromise, m'lady. Marinette. Princess. Bugaboo."
"Silly kitty."
*
"Experiencing loss is a part of life.
But good things happen too.
Expect the unexpected and embrace it.
Each first time is an adventure.
And who knows how far these adventures will lead you.
You find people to whom you entrust your heart as much as they entrust theirs to you.
That trust is sometimes broken.
But it can always be restored.
Yes. Sometimes, the road can be winding.
You might even get lost on the way.
Still, with the help of the right people, you'll always find your destination.
As we grow old, we realize, life doesn't always give us all the gifts we hoped it would.
Experiencing loss is a part of life. But it doesn't define it.
Because what really matters, isn't whether you win or lose.
It's the ability to accept changes in ourselves.
It's accepting that even if life doesn't always give us the gifts we were hoping for, the real gift is life itself."
- Master Wang Fu
The End