(ON HOLD) Confused and Hurt

Chapter 16

This is the extra update for reaching 100 votes. Enjoy!

Chapter 16

Marinette's POV

I could hear Rena Rouge, Carapace and Chat Noir fighting the akumatised villain. Slumping against the wall, I gently picked Tikki out of my pouch. She looked a bit better and only occasionally jerked. With a small smile on my face, I stroked her with my fingertip. 

My kwami stirred, then flashed black, before becoming still again. 

"Get better soon, Tikki," I whispered. "I need you."

Placing her gently on my pillow, I stood up and sat down at my desk. Mullo looked sympathetically at me, landing on my computer mouse. "There are many things that we kwamis have not discovered." She sighed, eyes misting over. "Sometimes, I wish that I had a permanent miraculous holder."

Silence was blanketed upon us. "It must be hard," I said, breaking the silence and rubbing my red eyes. "Knowing that you never really have someone that owns your miraculous."

"Don't say that!" protested Mullo. "And besides, I have you, don't I? You're the Guardian, Marinette."

"Is in possession of your miraculous a better word?" I questioned softly, resting my cheek on my desk. The sounds of battle outside were still raging, and I winced every time a thump sounded.

"I guess." Mullo fell silent, her pink gaze drifting over to the open window. She kept her gaze there, and I turned my head, facing the window. 

"It looks like a pretty horrible battle." I closed my blue eyes, exhausted from the day's unexpected happenings.

"It is a pretty horrible battle." Mullo tapped my nose and I opened one eye. "You should go help them, Marinette."

"I'm useless right now. Too busy moping." I lifted my head, blinking against the bright sunshine. "Probably will need rescuing."

"But you're the Guardian!" Mullo exclaimed. "Duties always come first, don't they?"

A sense of loss was beginning to envelop me and I faced away from the kwami. "Not if you don't have anymore."

Shock radiated off Mullo. "You can't be thinking of resigning, can you?" squeaked Mullo. "Master Fu chose you!"

"Well, he chose the wrong person." My eyes fluttered open and I dragged myself to my bed, laying down on it face down. "I'm not cut out for anything." Unlike the other times I had stated this phrase, there was emotion in my voice. Now, there was none. It was dull. Monotone.

"But what would Tikki think?" Mullo asked softly. "She would want you to continue, wouldn't she?"

It was a huge effort to sit up and look at the worried kwami straight in the eye. "I'm behind in all my work. I'm tired all the time because I'm constantly fighting akumatised villains. This isn't what Master Fu would want. And besides, Tikki isn't really in a fit condition right now." My voice cracked and tears poured down my face. "I love being Ladybug, but I need to live my life too."

"But you're the chosen one!" Mullo persisted, fighting hard.

"Wouldn't it be better if I-" I was cut off when my trapdoor suddenly opened, revealing my anxious parents. Mullo flew under my pillow.

"Are you okay, Marinette?" Mum said for the tenth time.

I pasted a convincing smile on to my face. "Never felt better!" I said cheerily, hoping she didn't realise my voice was trembling.

"That's good." Mum and Dad climbed up the stairs and stood awkwardly in my room. She raised an eyebrow. "Where are the photos of Adrien?"

"Oh, I got over him," I replied lightly.

Dad waved his hand dismissively. "Now that you're feeling better, we can finally tell you what we have been trying to tell you for the last three days."

"You have?" I tried to clear my crowded mind. "I never noticed."

Mum sighed, exasperated. "Marinette, I know you've been very stressed lately, but would it be okay if you took on just one more responsibility? Just one?"

I hesitated, my immediate answer flashing in my head. No. Instead, I averted my gaze somewhere else, and that somewhere else happened to be outside the window. The three superheroes were getting smashed basically. There was debris everywhere, and I suddenly realised that I couldn't repair any damage made because of Tikki's unknown illness.

Absentmindedly, I nodded my head, motioning for them to excuse me for a second with a flick of my wrist. I transformed, casting a reluctant glance at the trapdoor, before jumping out. The sunlight that hit me made me lose my balance, falling on to my knees. Was I allergic to light? That was impossible.

I slowly picked myself up, creeping stealthily forward. I took my skipping rope and twirled it around expertly, careful to not slap it against the roof of the building I was currently standing on.

Suddenly, something black flew through the air beside me, bumping against the roof before falling all the way to the ground. My eyes widened, jumping down and found a winded golden-haired boy in a black leather suit. He groaned, hugging his knees to his chest, starting to tremble.

All my anger and sadness towards him disappeared, and I reached out to him, placing a hand on his shoulder. Chat shuddered, eyes squeezing shut.

"It hurts," he whimpered softly, painfully putting his hand on top of mine.

I didn't speak. Instead, I took him in my arms and slowly stood up, staggering under his weight. The only way to cover his secret identity was to take his ring. Checking no one else was about, I pulled off his ring, and with a blinding green flash, he de transformed into Adrien.

"Poor kitty," I murmured, realising he had become unconscious. Plagg was on the ground, looking drained and exhausted. I reached into Adrien's pocket and pulled out a lump of squished Camembert. 

The kwami looked gratefully up at me, devouring the cheese within seconds. "Thank you."

I simply smiled, slipping the cat miraculous on to my finger. "Let's get back home, Adrien," I whispered, jumping onto the roof and running back to his house.

The window to his room was open, so I sailed in, landing on his bed. Adrien shifted, tumbling out of my arms. He groaned and moved into a more painless and comfortable position.

"Sweet dreams, kitty," I murmured. I moved my lips to his but remembered Kagami. Withdrawing, I cast one last glance at the unconscious boy before disappearing out the window.

-Miraculouses4Life