Tattoos ➳ 𝓜𝓲𝓻𝓪𝓬𝓾𝓵𝓸𝓾𝓼 𝓢𝓸𝓾𝓵𝓶𝓪𝓽𝓮 𝓐𝓤

It's me, Marinette

I sprung into action. There wasn't a second to waste. 

With the remainder of my diminishing strength, I pushed myself further and further with each painful leap I took. Even as ladybug, I could barely handle it. But each time I thought I could take no more, I tried harder. Went further beyond the agony my body was experiencing. Ignoring the pain in my chest. The searing soreness that over came my legs. The loudness of my woeful thoughts.

The area was dark, the atmosphere still, dead and windless. Not a person in sight. Just the distant sounds of cars in the distance and my labored, hitched breathing as I made my way to the bridge.

The further I pressed on, the more I felt like life was testing my limits. I had been oblivious to the increase of fog that shrouded me. It was as though it came out of nowhere, obscuring my view and limiting my visibility so suddenly and significantly.

I swung my yo-yo swiftly and repetitively in a circle to create a forceful flow of air in front of me. The sharp, determined look on my face slashed at the fog. Clearing the path, I pushed forward.

At last, the stairs to the bridge emerged before me. My heart skipped a beat as I kicked hard off the floor, my hand reaching out fiercely as though waiting to grab the boy the moment I saw him.

But of course. He wasn't there.

"Why," I huff out, feeling the chilling air I inhaled hit the back of my throat. "Why isn't he here?" I spoke out loud this time, completely isolated on the desolate bridge

I was finished. Depleted. Done. I was ready to drop dead where I stood. Ready to-

"Ladybug?"

My head snapped around faster than it ever had before, reacting quicker to the sound than I had time to process it.

In the dream-like atmosphere, a boy with messy blonde hair immerged from the fog as it parted both ways before him. My eyes widened, and I leapt forward just at the sight of him. With his black cat ears and suit, most nights it was hard to see him in such darkness. But the moon shone bright, casting a radiant light onto the atmospheric fog. You couldn't miss his figure, it was hard to believe I didn't see him standing there before.

"Chat!" I breathed in relief. I sprinted towards him, his figure getting closer and closer.

"What are you-"

I slammed into him, cutting him off completely. Gripping him by the shoulders, I pulled him in close.

His eyes, though covered by his mask, were red and noticeably puffy- no doubt about it. He didn't beam a smile at the sight of my presence. He wasn't racking his brain trying to summon the best possible cat pun. Nor a flirtatious joke. He didn't reach out to hold my hands, but instead grew distant, pushing me away.

"Chat, listen to me. There's something we need to-"

"Ladybug. Now's really not the time," he uttered. My body shrank at the sound of his quiet voice. Corse and broken.

"No. I just-"

"Please. Can you leave?" He turned the other way and leaned against the railing, staring emptily into the deep body of water beneath us.

I grew nervous and antsy. Just tell him. Tell him. You're his soulmate. His real soulmate. I don't even believe it myself. I gripped my covered wrist and squeezed my eyes shut. Would he believe me?

"Please. Leave," he said again. But this time with a chuckle. He just sounded so... miserable. As though the life itself had been drained from his soul.