Our Tale As Old As Time

Chapter 13

        Chat Noir was tired, and he could feel the leather of his suit plastered to his body by blood and rain. He hadn't expected to have a bullet in his side tonight, an arrow maybe, but a big piece of lead, no. His wounds throbbed as blood rushed to them and then outside his body. He was beginning to get light-headed from the amount of blood he had lost, but he couldn't give up now. Gaston had a hold of his ankle, meaning that the fight wasn't over. Chat could feel his strength fading and his grip loosening as he tried to shake Gaston off. He was thankful that Marinette was there to back him up, it was thanks to her that he hadn't slipped of the edge of the balcony and plummeted to the ground in a true death. Chat Noir never purposefully killed anyone, but it would be here where his record would be forever scared. Then again, was it really his fault? Gaston was an animated character, though in the reality of the fairytale the man seemed so real. So, would it really count against him as killing someone? Here he was bleeding out to death, hanging off the side of a balcony, with a murderer clinging to his leg, and he was questioning whether his reputation as a hero would be faltered because he killed the guy that was trying to kill him!? In one last ditch effort, Chat slammed the side of his calf, Gaston's fingers included, into the side of the balcony. Gaston reacted in pain and made the mistake of letting go of Chat Noir's leg. Flailing his arms and with an expression of fear plastered to his face, Gaston dropped through the fog and disappeared out of sight. Relieved of the pressure, Chat felt his body shut down and relax. The weight of the fight finally catching up to him and taking its toll. He went limp and collapsed into Marinette's arms. He didn't want her to have to lift him on her own, but all of his strength had dispersed from his body. She heaved and with some effort she was able to hoist him over the railing and lay him down on the solid ground. The water in his suit pressed into his skin as Marinette laid him down on his back. It was cold against his spine and he could feel his legs going numb. It wasn't a pleasant feeling, though neither was the sting of the gunshot wound or the fresh stab wound in his back just underneath the shoulder blade. Excruciating wouldn't even begin to describe the pain his body was experiencing. Chat wheezed as the pads of his fingers grazed over the exposed flesh on his side. The blood still sticky to the touch as it began to dry, acting as glue between his skin and his suit. The metallic scent of it stinging his nostrils. Curse his strong sense of smell.

"Oh cookies, Chat." Marinette said, kneeling beside him as her hands traced his upper body and landed upon the blood stain. Her tone of voice was of definite concern, the same emotion etched into her face. The blue eyes he adored a comforting familiarity that would send him off. Adrien would get to say goodbye to Marinette, and Chat Noir to Ladybug. The two girls were so similar, and his thoughts all blended together into one anyway, it wouldn't be hard to fool himself one last time. Chat lifted his hand to Marinette's face again and she obliged taking his hand in her own and pressing it to her cheeks. Screw the bloodstain it would smear across her pretty face.

"Marinette....." His voice was hoarse and croaky. Huh, even minutes from death he was still making puns. His lungs were beginning to give up, each breath harder and harder to take in.

"Shh. Save your breath. You'll be alright." Chat could tell that his friend was trying to remain strong, but that was just the façade she was putting up. There was little to no hope for him now, that's how Beauty and the Beast goes anyhow. He was supposed to die from Gaston's sudden raid on the castle, that's simply how the story is told and there was no escaping it. Chat Noir didn't dare to think about the reality that nagged him. He and Marinette had to truly love each other in order for the spell to break. They couldn't just be words. Chat had had plenty of time to think over his feelings for his friend, and the more he thought the more he came to understand. He knew his answer, but did she know hers?

"No, I've got to use it to say what needs to be said." All of his strength was now focused to speaking, what little of his strength he had anyway. Fresh tears began to run down her cheeks, soft and slow, like the rain that had lightened up after the battle. "I'm grateful that I got to see you one last time." His thumb beginning to gently rub her cheek.

"Don't say that Chat! You'll be fine, I promise." Chat knew this was hurting her, but what more could he do than tell her the honest truth of the situation. There was nothing she could do for him now except have true feelings for him. A truth that he didn't know but could only hope for.

"You shouldn't make promises that you can't keep Bugaboo." The name slipped out before he comprehended that he had spoken it. Marinette didn't respond the way he expected her to though. She didn't sit back confused or dazed, instead she leaned closer to him, like a new fire lit beneath her as she began to cry even harder.

"Don't you dare do this to me Chaton! I need you! You're my partner!" Her partner? She had said it earlier, but it hadn't registered to him in that way. Then again, he wasn't sure how he could have registered it in any other way. The pieces suddenly clicked into place. What fabulous timing this was. He figured out the identity of his lady just as he was about to die. Marinette was Ladybug! If it wasn't for the fact that he'd be dead in a minute or two, he would have been jumping for joy. Chat knew he was fading quickly now, he only had a few gasps of air left. He needed to leave her with something valuable. Something that she could take with her, whether or not they got out of this fairytale or not.

"At least I got to fall in love with you all over again M'lady." With that he felt his arm go limp and it slowly dropped from Mari's cheeks across his chest. This was it. His last breath. Just like that, Chat Noir said his final goodbye to the fairytale of his life.