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At 12 o'clock Adrien got out of the bed as if he was electrocuted. That was it. The end of that awful, horrible year, finally came. He swore to himself that once the year ended he would let things go, so that's what he did. Why did he wait for this specific moment? Because he needed the closure. He wanted a fixed point in time where he could close the chapter and never pick up the book again. He allowed himself to mourn, to grieve, to hate, to suffer, but now it's time to let go.
"Come on, kid! You promised yourself you would let go of what happened. So now it's time to move on and fix thing with Marinette! I hope...I hope it's not too late though...She told you she would meet you on the last day of the year." the usually cheeky god had his moments of being nice too. And knowing the pain his holder went through, those moments of being nice turned into weeks of doing so.
"She said that insinuating we should celebrate The New Year together, she will under-"
But Adrien's words were cut short as a strange light suddenly appeared on his bed, leaving behind a black and green box as it faded away.
"What's t-"
"Oh no...No no no no no...Kid, let's go!" Plagg urged him anxiously, even though he was aware of the fact that it was too late. Maybe...he hoped that, maybe there would be a chance.
Instead Adrien approached the box. "We'll go immediately Plagg, let me ju-" his words got stuck in his throat as he opened the top part only to realize what the box really was. "It's...the miraculous box! But...why?"
"ADRIEN! GO! NOW!" the kwami of destruction yelled at him and now, at 12:02, Chat Noir finally left searching for his lady.
8 minutes
That's how much time I estimated it would take for me to get to the Eiffel Tower, and that only because of a special route I made. How do I know? Well...It's been some time since I became Chat Noir. I always used to run away at night when fath-Gabriel said something hurtful. I've spent so much time on these roofs that I have a full map of Paris in my head. I started exploring as a way to relax...It felt freeing, like I could finally make my own choices. I could choose where to go next, how much time I can spend there. And, after a few months, it proved to be helpful. If a certain part of Paris was inaccesible because of the new villain I always knew the fastest other route. Never knew that it would still come in handy now that we...we've defeated Hawkmoth.
7 new messages
I read the first message she sent me today, the one she sent as Marinette, and I know she sent two more, but...I really wasn't in the mood to read them. I allowed myself to ignore the outside world for one last day, I allowed myself to be stuck in the past for one last time. Now that I'm transformed I see that she sent five messages as Ladybug too, with at least an hour in between each two. That means...she-did she really spend all day waiting for me? If I can't read the other two now that I'm transformed I should at least try to read the ones she sent on the Bug-phone.
6 letters
The messages were so...so sweet, so reassuring, so...Marinette. Even after so much time, so many moments I pushed her away, she's still the same loving and gentle person. I know isolating myself was a bad decision. I know hurting her was the worst thing I could've done. And I know...I know I'm an asshole for this...for being this selfish...but I need her. I still love her, just as much, maybe even more. I love her so much that I'm scared of the possibility of ever losing her and...the last message she sent at 11:30 pm...why does it sound like a goodbye? - 'Love, LB.'
5 decisions
Five decisions I made completely on my own for the first time in my life as Adrien, the ones made as my alter ego aside. I chose to trust Nathalie and let her continue to take care of my family business, after all no one would know things better than her. I chose to have my mother properly buried somewhere in London, where aunt Amelie could visit her and take care of her grave. I chose to trust maman's side of the family and told them the truth of what happened, I had a feeling Felix knew something, but didn't push for more, I told them all I had to say after the funeral and then I left. I chose to continue my studies as normal, give up on modeling and try my best at attempting a normal civilian life. And lastly I chose to stick with Ladybug's lie, after all, I know all she really wanted was to protect me, and I'd be ruining Paris's trust in her if I let them know she lied. As she chose to protect my image, I'll protect hers as well.
4 weeks
It's been four weeks since we last talked...Since she told me that if I wanted to repair things I should meet her on the New Year's eve. These 4 weeks I did everything I could to avoid her, I wanted to focus on me more, so that I can work out the courage and will to get over it, to finally let go. It was dreadful...having her no longer in my life at all was so unusual. Even if, before that, all we did was fight...it was still something, some sort of connection, but now my life felt lonelier than ever. At least I put them to good use, I got to know from Nathalie the real story behind all that happened and I had enough time to make peace with myself. So the time wasn't really wasted, I manage to get my life together, but her absence left a void somehow.
3 words
There are three words that...that I didn't say as I should've. Gabriel as he was, he should've heard a last 'I love you' from me. Maman heard that phrase all the time, and I hope she still does...I hope that every time I look up at the starry sky at night, maman looks down at me, hearing my words. But I know...I know she would be disappointed in me. Disappointed by how I choose to run away from my fears and the way I chose to throw the blame on her...on my sweet little Marinette. Disappointed in how I replaced every 'I love you' with 'I hate you' when the one I actually hated was myself for being so blind.
2 months
From what I got to know, Marinette was always planning ahead for her friends...especially for me. So, this time, I followed her example. If I can't get her to forgive me just by explaining my motifs and what I went through, I have a full list of things to do to earn her favor again. I have such an elaborate plan that it can go on even for two months, if she needs that much to forgive me. Now that I finally made up my mind to earn her forgiveness, nothing will get in my way, the next two months will be dedicated to her completely.
1 meter
I finally got here, I was one meter away from our old meeting spot when I finally realized what was sitting on the ground. Right there, laying down, looking completely peaceful and still, was my princess. Is she sleeping? She must've been tired from waiting for me all day. I slowly approached her before sitting down next to her. I took her in my arms laying her in my lap. She looks so changed...so tired and so...not like herself. I could see clearly how much I hurt her just by looking at her, she wasn't taking care of herself anymore...I slowly leant down to kiss her forehead when I realized something was missing. Where are her earrings?
"Mari-Oh no...NO! It's all your fault! Why couldn't you be here" she took a quick look at the clock "10 minutes ago!" the little red goddess started screaming at soon as she materialized again.
After seeing that the earrings were missing, Adrien detransformed to ask Plagg for help. The little cat didn't even want to look him in the eyes, he figured out what had happened and the disappointment he felt towards his holder was...immeasurable. But at the same time, that was his kitten and he was the only one who knew what his holder went through in the past month, so as much as he wanted to scream at the blond, he couldn't. It wasn't the blond fault, neither the bluenette's, it was their timing. Plagg managed to find the earrings instantly, they were carefully placed in Tikki's old hiding spot, Marinette's purse.
"What do you mean? What did I do?! Why is her miraculous box at my place? And why won't she wake up?!" an alarmed Adrien shoot back at the angry kwami, who's anger now turned into tears.
Now it all made sense in Tikki's head. The last words Marinette spoke, her actions of getting out the miraculous box in the morning and hugging all the kwamis, under the pretext she was wishing them a happy new year. No...she was saying goodbye in case things didn't work out. That was Marinette...once she makes a choice she sticks with it. The least she could do now was honor her holder's last wish 'I hope this year will be a peaceful one.' and that meant making peace with the new guardian, least he turns into his father.
"I...I'm sorry for h-having yelled at you G-guardian. P-please take care of my old h-holder and get her ho-home...She w-won't wake up for a f-few hours." the kwami of creation spoke before being hugged by her other half. If she couldn't turn time back and keep her holder, at least she could keep the grudge.
Hearing those words the blond finally made the connection and his eyes got flooded with tears. "I...She...Will Marinette remember me? At least Adrien me?" he asked, his arms tightening around the girl in his lap.
"She...Since she found out that you were Chat Noir...I'm sorry kit!" Plagg said softly trying his best to keep his composure. After all his heart was torn in between understanding Adrien and his reasonings, but also his other half and the pain she was going thorough.
His plan was nicely done. He had it all figured out, he allowed himself time to get over it, time to let things settle and he chose a good moment to make things right.
Though, unlucky for him, the holder of the black cat forgot that time was never in his favor. He got there 10 minutes too late, and those mere minutes made a big difference.