Love Remains - Ch 7

Written for @thelibraryloser‘s birthday, which was way back in July! But I'm making steady progress again! Woot!

Chapters: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |

Read on Ao3

Chapter 7

Forty-three days since Marinette lost her memory. 

Like some kind of cosmic joke, Adrien seeks her out the next day constantly. She tries, but she can’t seem to avoid him. 

“Marinette,” he whispers in math class. “Can we please talk?” 

“I don’t know what there would be for us to talk about,” she says, refusing to look at him. Instead, she pretends to focus on her notes, though she’s still so angry she can barely read any of it.

Is she being unreasonable? 

Probably. 

Does she care? 

No. Adrien had done nothing wrong. She knows that, but he is also there, an easy scapegoat when she can’t actually lash out at the person who is actually ruining everything.  

Her former self. 

But she also doesn’t owe Adrien anything. She doesn’t have to talk to him. 

“Marinette, please,” he begs at the end of class when she skirts around him. 

Something within her snaps, and she whirls back around to face him. 

“What?!”

Love Remains - Ch 6

Written for @thelibraryloser‘s birthday, which was way back in July! But I'm making steady progress again! Woot!

Chapters: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |

Read on Ao3

Chapter 6:

Forty-Two Days Since Marinette Lost her Memory

Marinette blocks out Chat Noir’s form on a blank page of her sketchbook. She’s starting to lose count of how many pictures of him she’s drawn, but she hasn’t captured what she’s going for yet. There’s a softness to his eyes and his smile when he looks at her whenever she’s talking to him. An expression that makes her forget to breathe and her stomach flutter with giddiness. 

And so she keeps trying.

She hasn’t told him how she feels yet. Her diary said that he loved her, but she’s still nervous because she’s not certain he still sees her as his partner and friend. Maybe she only serves as a painful reminder of the dear friend he had lost. 

She shades in the iris of his eye. She erases it almost immediately. It’s still not right. 

She doesn’t know how to live up to the memory that everyone has of her. 

Is she still that person? Or is she a whole new person? 

She doesn’t know. She’s not even sure what she wants the answer to that question to be. 

But she hopes that Chat Noir still loves her. 

She hopes she can give him the chance that old Ladybug denied him. 

“Tikki?”

“Yes?” 

“Why don’t I love Adrien?” 

Love Remains - Ch 3

Written for @thelibraryloser‘s birthday.

Chapters: 1 | 2 | 3

Read on Ao3

Chapter 3:

Zero Days Since Marinette Lost her Memory

She woke up for the first time held in black clad arms. His masked face was the first thing she saw. She was cradled to his chest as he shook with heartbreaking sobs.

“I’m sorry, m’lady,” he was saying over and over again. “I’m sorry I wasn’t fast enough. I’m so sorry.”

She didn’t know what he was talking about. But she knew that in his hold she was forever safe and cared for. She also knew she couldn’t stand to see him sad.

She reached up and brushed his tears away. “Please, don’t cry, kitty.”

His cries only intensified. He buried his face in her shoulder, leaving her with a face full of blond hair.

She didn’t mind. She squeezed him harder, knowing without understanding how she knew that he needed her.

Love Remains - Ch 1: Prologue

Written for @thelibraryloser‘s birthday. Happy Belated! (Again!)

Chapters: 1 | 2

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Chapter 1: Prologue

Eight Days Since Chat Noir’s World Ended

Chat Noir sat on the edge of the Trocadero. It had been a week since his world had figuratively ended. But if there was one thing Adrien had mastered long ago it was pretending that everything was fine.

Because Adrien had no reason to be upset. No, it was Chat Noir’s world that had fallen to pieces. And Chat Noir had nothing to do with Adrien.

Obviously.

Which meant he had just survived a week of following Nathalie’s schedule, going to school, photo shoots and extracurriculars, while forcing himself to smile through all of it. Attending class was especially painful because he was all too aware of the empty seat behind him.

Marinette had been out all week, and Chat Noir knew what was wrong, but no announcement had been made, so Adrien had to pretend like he didn’t know anything.

Alya had been crying a lot, and again, Chat Noir knew why. But Alya didn’t know Adrien and Chat Noir were the same person. So Adrien could be a concerned friend, but he couldn’t break down in tears next to her as much as he wanted to. And she had remained tight lipped with him as Adrien, which made sense. She couldn’t explain what had happened to Adrien.

But she had been completely transparent with Chat Noir, and that’s why he was sitting here waiting for Rena Furtive.

But in moments where there was no one next to him to serve as a shield against his feelings, when there was no reason to perform or pretend everything in his world was perfectly-fine-thanks-for-asking, he lost the battle against his grief.

His cries came silently and softly at first. Hot tears welling at the corners of his eyes. Then they came harder and faster in crashing waves, each stronger than the one before until it knocked him over and he couldn’t breathe through the convulsing violent sobs that took over his body.

Except he couldn’t be crying right now. He had to get a grip because Rena Furtive wasn’t coming alone today.

Ladybug was supposed to come with her.