I had defeated Sandboy but Chat Blanc had defeated Chat Noir. The world stopped as I watched my partner fall to the ground, having taken one final bullet for me. I capture the Akuma and then rush to my partner’s side. I take him in my arms and hold him as he dies.

“Oh Chat. I’m so sorry, you risked your life for me so many times and all I ever do take advantage of you.” I start crying as his violent shaking slows down and he becomes still. Rena Rouge and Carapace come over and each place a hand on his shoulder. “No, Chat. Don’t leave me, please. Chat, don’t go.”

“He’s gone,” Rena Rouge tells me, “It’s time to go.”

She’s right. I’m about to transform back, but before I need to tell him one last thing. I don’t care if he can hear me or not, but I need to do it.

“I love you, Chat.” And with that I kiss him and I leave. Once I get a fair distance away, I use my lucky charm to set everything back to normal, or well almost normal.

I just sit in the alleyway, pull my knees close to my chest and cry. I sob for a couple of minutes before I get up and make my way back home. The streets are wet and empty, the journey is long and treacherous but quiet. I get up to my room and throw myself on my bed to cry.

The sound of thunder and tapping of the rain makes me laugh just a bit as I glance over at the umbrella Adrien gave me. I grab it and head out to see if Chat Noir was there.

Everyone is sleeping from the long night they had, I wish I could but I can’t. Not until I know that Chat is safe.

I walk and splash through every puddle. I pass the Louvre and the building where I left Adrien. I’m glad to see everything is okay over here and the store owner is back. A coffee shop is setting out its chairs, preparing for the morning rush. I thought back to the time me and Chat Noir had coffee there together.

I’m pulled from my flashback when I hear someone yell my name. It’s Adrien. I’m so happy to see him, at least he's safe.

“Hey, Marinette,” he says, all cheerful.

“Hey.” I try to smile and act as if everything was fine but I failed.

“Marinette, is everything okay?” He puts a hand on my shoulder and grabs the umbrella.

“Ya,” I say, smiling but then I cry. “Actually, no. Nothing is okay right now.”

I put my face in my hands and cry as I explain everything that happened. I just didn’t mention any names other than Chat Blanc because only Chat Noir would know who that is. By the time I finish my story, I’m engulfed by the beautiful aroma of cologne. Adrien was hugging me.

“I’m so sorry, m'lady. I never meant to scare you.”

My eyes go wide. M'lady; only Chat Noir calls me that. I smile and wrap my arms tightly around his neck

“Chat?” I ask, crying

“It's me, Marinette. I’m all right.”

I fall to the ground and he holds me as I sob. I’m so relieved that Chat Noir is alright and taken by surprise that Adrien is Chat Noir; they’re both perfect.

After we sit there for a little bit, Adrien helps me up and we walk home. His arm around my shoulder and my head on his side. I never want this to end. The city comes alive and the streets, empty only a couple hours before, were bustling with people going about their daily lives.

It’s almost 9 in the morning when we arrive at the bakery. From inside I hear my dad yell my name and within a matter of seconds I'm wrapped in a hug and flour. Adrien and my mom are in the back laughing. I guess it's funny, I'm just too tired to laugh. It's been an emotionally draining couple of hours. I've had to fight Chat Blanc twice, I lost my partner, and almost died myself, and I did all this without any sleep.

Adrien follows me upstairs to make sure I make it up okay. He’s so sweet, and I see now how that shows in Chat Noir. I sit down in my chair and stare at the wall while he puts my stuff away. There I go again, taking advantage of him. I spin around in my chair to face him, I don’t know why, but when he smiled at me, I start crying again. He frowns and walks over to me.

“Marinette,” he says softly, “I'm sorry for scaring you.” I can't say anything because that made me cry harder. Without a word, he picks me up and lays me on my bed, stroking my hair as I sob like a baby.

We must have fallen asleep because by the time I woke up he was curled up next to me and the sun was setting. I grab my blanket and lay it over his shivering body, and carefully go to the balcony so I don’t wake him up. I was too busy watching the sunset to notice he was standing right next to me.

“it's beautiful, isn’t it,” he says, “I'm glad I get to watch it with you.”

I was watching the way the light highlighted his face, and the next thing I know we’re kissing. His lips were warm and delicate. I felt like everything around us just disappeared and we were the only people left. It was perfect and I thought it was never going to end, but the rain started. It wasn’t heavy, but light. We looked at each other and laughed, Adrien pulled me into a hug as he tilted his head back and felt the rain.

“You never know how great rain feels until you’ve been cataclysmed several different times and lose all feeling your body.” He said it so casually, as if it’s a normal thing all people go through. It made me laugh. “Thank you, m’lady, for bringing me back.”

“No problem,” I say, smiling at him, “Besides, I don’t know where I'd be without you, kitty.”

He smiled and kissed me one more time before transforming into Chat Noir, gracefully bounding across the rooftops and into the night.