A Matter of Time

Part 8

Part 8

I stayed on Marinette's balcony for a bit. The stars were just so beautiful I couldn't go back to my balcony where the sky was half-covered by an awning. I sat back into the yellow hammock. It was the same one that I had sat on in the other world. I had visited Marinette a countless amount of times then. I miss those nights where we would just talk about how we truly felt to each other. It was an unfiltered side of her and she got to see an unfiltered side of me... even though I didn't know she was Ladybug nor she knew I was Chat Noir.

I would never ever forget the time when she came down on her knees crying to me. I still remember her tears on my suit as she hugged me in search of some sort of relief. I wanted to give comfort to her but my guilt overtook me and made it nearly impossible to. I had hurt her as Adrien. I had no idea that she liked me until I started to visit her as Chat Noir. I started to fall a bit for Kagami because all Ladybug did was push me away and it hurt. Kagami was a very good friend to me but she wanted to be more than that... I couldn't do that. Little did I know, I was hurting my lady this entire time. The reason she pushed away me was that she still had a glimmer of hope that my other self would fall for her. It's crazy how the world works... because I was doing the exact same thing to her.

I reached into my pocket to grab the miraculous box that held the Ladybug earrings. I had taken this from Marinette a little while ago when she wasn't home. It was safer in my hands because I knew what it was. If one thing is for sure... I never want to see her cry like that again.

The stars were glistening and the world was so peaceful for a change. I took a deep breath in and exhaled before feeling a sudden chill in the air. The sky darkened a bit with clouds that covered the beautiful view. I decided to go back to my balcony but before I could even leave-

"I have finally found you." A voice said creepily as if it were whispering in my ear. It was definitely recognizable. My head started to ache.

"Who is this?" I demanded even though I could not see them.

"Awe... you don't remember me? That's very sad. I feel very hurt kitty," it was the voice of a woman... the shadow woman who did all of this.

"Why are you inside my head? Notice your little trick didn't work on me!"

"What a shame I guess we'll just have to steal your miraculous little kitty! You will learn your lesson soon."

"What do you mean by 'we'?"

"When did I ever say I was working alone?"

Something about her voice sent chills up and down my spine. Her voice was so cold and raspy. It was as if someone was breathing icy cold air down the back of my

neck.

"There are more shadow people like you?"

"Wrong once again! I am one of a kind, but there are much worse people out there than me... there are killers."

I froze as a pang of pain traveled through my head. She must be testing me.

"Stop," I demanded.

"Awe I was just having a little fun! Don't fret, I'll be back soon kitty but I would watch my back if I were you... shadows can take on many forms you know."

And just like that, she was gone. I went back to my balcony breathing heavily.

This could get real bad.

Marinette's POV

I peeked out my window because I still heard chatter outside after Chat Noir had left. I saw him still on my balcony grabbing his head and talking to himself as if he were in some sort of pain... something is up with him. I just hope he is ok. If I still had Tikki with me maybe I'd be able to help, but I can't tell if he remembers our old life or not... I couldn't tell him that I remember, however, because then we both may get hurt.

To be continued...