Miraculous - Dark Days

I do not own, nor am I making money off of, The Miraculous Adventures of Ladybug and Cat Noir. Thank you to Harmony Bennet for creating the beautiful cover image for this story. You're the best, best friend ever! =^-^=

Chapter 4: I'm Here

Ladybug scoured the city in search of Cat Noir that night, after her declaration upon the Eiffel tower. The white clad feline, however, did not appear that night. By the time she got home she nearly passed out from exhaustion and was so glad that she still had a day or two before she had to go back to school. Her parents didn't want to push her too hard after everything that had happened after all. She was glad for that. It gave her that little extra time to search... to find him and try to fix all of this.

Her sleep that night was littered with nightmares of glowing golden eyes and fanged smirks. He prowled her dreams and chased her through her mind's eye. His laughter echoed in her head as she tossed and turned in bed, whimpering softly and waking the small red Kwami that slept slightly more peacefully next to her.

Tikki blinked and groaned as she tried to orient herself before her eyes went wide and she looked to the struggling girl. The Kwami frowned before sighing as she moved to paw Marinette's cheek, "Marinette..." she said quietly, "Wake up... you're having a nightmare..." It didn't, of course, make an ounce of difference and the Kwami sighed, calling louder and trying to shake Marinette's head a bit, "Marinette!" she let out to no avail before moving to the girl's ear and snapping out, "MARINETTE!"

The dark haired girl snapped up with a yelp at this point, sweat dripping down her brow as she panted, eyes wide. She sucked in air before looking around, her eyes settling on Tikki who gave a worried look, "Sorry, but you were having a nightmare..." the Kwami explained and Marinette smiled weakly and nodded, "It's okay, Tikki... thank you... I was... I was dreaming of..."

"Of him?" the red entity uttered and Marinette sighed and nodded, "Yes... he was chasing me... his hand was ready with a Cataclysm... No... It was a Catastrophic Cataclysm," she murmured, shuddering as tears welled in her eyes, "Tikki... I don't know what to do... How am I supposed to save him if I can't destroy the akumatized item?" she finally managed out, laying out her worries to her spotted friend as tears welled in her eyes, "I don't think I can do this, Tikki... I feel like there's no path that can lead to us winning this. I... I can't fight him... I don't want to hurt him... and I don't know how to save him."

"Oh, Mari... I wish there was something I could say that might make you feel better but... I don't entirely know how to fix this either. Maybe we'll be lucky... Maybe Cat... Adrien... is stronger then Hawkmoth's control? Maybe you just... need to get through to him?" she suggested, "Or maybe it's time we focus on finding Hawkmoth's lair and finish this..." she added.

"You think he can fight Hawkmoth's control? M... Maybe... We just need to give Adrien more of a reason to fight? He's angry right now... maybe he just... needs a little hope?" Marinette whispered, blushing slightly, "Maybe it's time I finally tell Adrien how I feel?" she mumbled, feeling nervous but having a feeling it might be just what they needed to get through to him... After all... that silly kitty had been trying to worm his way into her heart from the beginning... little did he know... he already had a place there the entire time.

"That might work... but remember that you need to make sure that you don't do anything that might reveal yourself to him... Hawkmoth can see everything that he sees, remember that," Tikki reminded as Marinette nodded. The little Kwami smiled at this point before patting her chosen's cheek and nuzzling her a bit, "It's time to go back to bed now though... you need your rest if you're going to save your partner... he needs you as aware and alert as you can be."

"R... right Tikki... you're right... sleep... going back to sleep... hopefully with no more nightmares," the blue eyed girl mumbled as she shifted to curl up in bed again, "Thank you, Tikki... You always seem to know what to say... goodnight..." she said as the Kwami smiled warmly and shifted to rest next to Mari's face, nuzzled up against her cheek before murmuring back, "Goodnight, my little Ladybug."

"Marinette! Come and have some breakfast, sweetie," came Sabine's voice as she called to her daughter. It was almost nine and she figured it was time the other got up. She'd have to get back into a regular schedule soon enough anyway, so might as well start now. She still worried about Marinette going back to school... about what the other kids would say or do... she didn't need reminders of what had happened. The girl had been through a lot and needed to put it all behind her... at least that's what she and her husband believed.

Marinette, meanwhile, wasn't ready to put this behind her yet. She still had work to do. The voice, however, managed to get through to her as she yawned and shifted to sit up, stretching a little and sighing, "Hnn... I haven't slept that long in a long time..." she mumbled and Tikki smiled warmly to her and nodded, "You needed it though. You should head down to eat though and then maybe we can head out for a walk. You need to get your strength up and exercise will do you good."

The dark haired girl nodded and sighed, "Ya, you're probably right, Tikki. Besides, it might be a good idea to do a quick patrol around the city. Cat is still out there somewhere and I have to find him... he needs me... even if he doesn't realize that right now," she said with a weak smile as she slipped out of bed, putting on her slippers, before she headed downstairs in her pajamas for breakfast.

Once fed, Mari bid her parents good day and headed out, after reassuring them that she would be okay. She knew they were worried and she couldn't blame them. After what had happened, they were afraid to let her out of their sight but she needed to find Cat... find Adrien. He needed her, and as much as she knew her parents worried, she needed to do this... to find him... and if need be... to fight him.

The blue eyed girl sighed as she walked down the street, glancing over towards the school and frowning. The construction crews were there, trying to clear the rubble at the very least and ensure the place was safe. The students had been moved to another school for the time being and everyone was looking to her to stop Cat Blanc and fix the damage he'd done... She was just so worried that she'd let them all down. She'd never had to fight alone before... Cat had always been there... right at her side...

She suddenly felt guilty... she felt like she'd taken him for granted... just assumed he'd always be there. She pushed him away all the time and just assumed he'd still be right at her side, fighting to protect Paris and fighting to protect her... and taking hits that were meant for her. How many times had he been badly hurt and played it off as nothing? She couldn't possibly know for sure... but she had a feeling it had been a lot more then she'd realized. That stupid... stupid boy... would do just about anything for her... he'd even give his life for her... and she had pushed him away over and over and assumed it didn't effect him.

She could pretend that his anger at Chloe had had nothing to do with is frustration over her own constant rejection of him... that it was just because of the constant akuma attacks and his already busy schedule... but she knew... every time she turned him down, it had to hurt. She'd always just assumed he was fooling around but... That wasn't Adrien... he wouldn't do that... even if she didn't know him as well as she thought she had... she knew that much. He was a sweet, kind boy who would never do anything to intentionally hurt anyone. He'd never play with someone's feelings like that.

She sighed and shook her head, "I'm coming, Adrien... I'm going to find you and i'm going to save you... one way or another," she uttered as she finally slipped into an alleyway. She ensured the alleyway was empty before taking a deep breath and nodding, "Okay. Tikki, Spots on!" she let out, transforming in a flash of pink light before taking to the roofs, "I'm here, Cat... come and find me..."

She searched for hours, taking a break for lunch and supper before heading out again. She wasn't ready to stop. She just told her parents that she really needed the fresh air and they'd reluctantly let her go out again. She was glad... it was hard enough lying to them all the time without having to argue just to get out of the house. She could always just sneak out through her balcony but she didn't like doing that during the day. It was too dangerous... someone might see her.

It was dark by the time she stopped to rest again, sitting down on a rooftop and pulling out the small bag of snacks her mother had insisted she bring with her. She smiled warmly and sighed as she munched on a croissant. She also had a couple of cookies for Tikki left for when she was running out of energy. She wished that she was here sharing snacks with her partner... getting to know the real him the way she should have a long time ago. Her head hung as she frowned again, "Adrien..." she murmured out.

"Looking for someone, My Lady?" came a taunting voice from behind her, suddenly, causing a chill to run down her spine as she shot up, dropping the remains of her snack to the ground as she narrowed her eyes, "Cat..." she let out, taking a shuddering breath, "Adrien... Please... I'm here to help you. Please, let me help you. Hawkmoth's controlling you. You can't listen to him. Please... I just want my partner back... I care about you."

Cat chuckled at her words and shook his head, "Sure you do... you cared so much you pushed me away again and again... Do you have any idea how isolated I've felt for so long... you were the only person I could talk to about all of this... other then my Kwami who was pretty useless to begin with. I wanted to know you... to spend time with you... but no... You wouldn't have any of it... Not that I should be surprised... I'd never be good enough for someone like you. The boy who has to wear a mask just to be himself... What a fucking joke..." he let out, eyes narrowed.

"Oh, Cat..." Ladybug murmured as she tried to move towards him, "Please... I've been looking for you... to help you... I do care about you... I swear..." she let out, tears stinging her eyes. She felt horrible. She had caused him pain... worse then Chloe ever could... It wasn't Chloe who had akumatized him... she'd just been the final catalyst. No... It was her... Marinette... Ladybug... who had caused this to happen. The exhausted boy was fed up with being rejected... fed up with constantly fighting and feeling like no matter how hard he tried, it still wouldn't matter in the end because he just wasn't good enough for her.

Cat backed up at her words as snorted, "nice try... I'm not stupid," he said before shaking his head, "you wanted to find me... now you've found me... I'm here... My Lady... what are you going to do now?" he asked with a smirk on his face, his golden eyes dark and filled with malice. Any love he'd had for her was either gone... or locked so deep inside of him that she would have to dig real deep to find it... but dig she would... it was her only chance to save him.

The dark haired heroine finally sighed and nodded at the blond haired akuma, looking him in the eyes despite how cold and frightening they were, "I'm glad that you're here... and I'm glad I'm here with you... I'm here, Adrien... I'm here for you... I'm here to make things right... I'm here to save you, no matter what it takes... I'm here to tell you how I really truly feel. I'm right here..."

Thanks so much for reading. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. If you could leave me a review, that would be great. Reviews inspire me to write more. =^-^= It doesn't have to be long. Just knowing you enjoyed it is enough. Constructive criticism is always welcome as well.