Marinette scrambled her way back to Adrien, mad at herself for leaving his body for a split second. She cradled his head and positioned it back onto her lap, stroking her hand through his hair.

"I'm sorry, my love. I'm so, so sorry."

The sound of Nino's cries echoed through the room again but nothing could take her focus off her love, including the slow decline of her best friend's heart.

"Marinette?" Luka's voice was quiet, but she didn't want to respond, not at the moment. Adrien needed her, and she needed him. Just holding him made her feel better, even if his body was growing increasingly cooler.

"Little buggy on the roof, all alone without her kitty." She sniffed, before bending down to kiss his forehead. "Us against the world, kitty cat. It's me and you remember, always me and you."

"Marinette?" A hand placed on her back and slowly stroked round in circles. She knew it was Luka and she knew he was in pain, but at least he was alive. What about her kitty? What about the one that mattered?

"I know what you're thinking, Marinette, and I wish it was Adrien here too."

"Stop trying to read my mind," she snapped, causing the teal tipped boy to recoil back in shock. She knew that if she was in the right mind she would apologise. That she would go over to him, make things better and give him a pat on the shoulder, or if she was feeling extra nice a hug. "Little Kitty went away, all alone without his lady." She sang again, this time bending down to press her lips against his greying cheek.

Marinette knew everyone was looking at her, watching her and waiting for the next move, but it didn't matter anymore. Nothing mattered. What was the point? Adrien wasn't here with her, Chat Noir had gone. She was alone.

"Marinette, can you put Adrien down?"

"No!" She screamed, turning around and coming face-to-face with Rose. Her eyebrows frowned and she felt her lips tighten. How dare Rose suggest she left Adrien! She needed to hold him, did they not understand he was hers?

"Here kitty, kitty, come home please. I need you. I can't do this without you, I don't want to do this without you." She felt the next wave of tears leave her eyes without warning, replacing the anger that was there a minute ago with sheer devastation. "I promise we'll go to the cinema when you're back. I'll even make sure we stay for the whole film, I promise. I really promise, but I need you to come back, Adrien. I need you to come home, Chaton. I love you."

She could feel her heart breaking multiple times, an intense pain worse than being thrown at a brick wall. Hadn't she already sacrificed enough? Hadn't she had enough thrown at her in her young fifteen years? She should be living a simple life now, one where her love wasn't lying dead on her lap.

Dead.

He was dead.

Letting out a scream, she placed Adrien back onto the floor and crawled backwards away from him, tripping and tumbling multiple times in her haste. She had been holding a dead person, dead as in not breathing and it was Adrien, her Adrien, but he wasn't hers, they hadn't made it official. One minute they were hugging, next they dropped their transformation and then 'snap' Adrien was on the floor.

"Marinette, please," that was Luka again.

Luka.

Luka, the guy who could have stopped all of this from happening. Damn him!

She turned around and saw he was trying to get to her again. Without thinking, she stormed her way over and slapped the beaten and bruised hero around the face, clenching her fists. She hit his chest, beating him roughly for good measure.

"You! If you had just said! If you had told me all those months ago, we could have stopped this, I could have stopped this, I could have saved him. Did you not think about the consequences? Did you think knowing would just be a little tidbit to hold onto and marvel over? Knowing both our identities when we didn't. I bet you found it funny too didn't you?"

Kim rushed over, grabbing Marinette around the waist and pulling her from Luka, trying to hold her against his body as she thrashed and lashed out wanting the freedom to go let her friend know exactly how she felt.

"Marinette, I swear it wasn't like that."

"Wasn't like that?" She screamed back. "Wasn't like that? Oh look Marinette loves Adrien and Chat Noir loves Ladybug, what a barrel of laughs it is watching them chase each other around in circles."

"It wasn't like that! Marinette, please let me speak."

"Oh you want to speak now do you? You could have spoken up when I was threatened by Su Han, you were there. You could have spoken up when I asked you but you lied to my face ... this is your fault." Suddenly all the fight had drained out of her, and she lay exhausted in Kim's arms. "It's your fault." She sobbed.

The room had gone silent as the two heroes stood glaring at each other, all eyes trailed on their leader as she was let go only to slump to her knees on the floor.

"I'm so sorry." She looked up and saw Luka making his way towards her, his eyes full of tears slowly cascading down his own mask. "I didn't mean for any of this to happen. I understand if you hate me."

"I don't hate you." The words left her hoarse throat barely more than a whisper. "I don't hate you." She said again through bated breaths. "I just want him back."

Luka crept towards her, and she couldn't hold herself together anymore. The sobs wrecked through her body in a way that was harsher than she ever thought possible.

"I should have told you," Luka sat on his knees opposite her, attempting to look her in the eye. "It is my fault, but I can fix it."

Her lack of reply inspired him to continue talking. She had nothing to say at the moment anyway.

"I thought -" he coughed, clearing the thickness of his throat. "You always said no one should know, and I didn't want to disappoint you. I didn't want you to hate me, but it looks like I made the wrong choice and you hate me anyway."

Marinette stretched out and placed a hand over Luka's, "I don't hate you. I hate the situation, and I'm the one who put you in it. I'm sorry. I just - I need him back." She looked over at the lifeless body laying on the floor.

He nodded at her, and she knew he was holding back from trying to take her in his arms. She was glad he did, there was only one pair of arms she wanted to belong in.

"I can fix it, Marinette, I know what to do."

Marinette shook her head not believing what he was saying, she couldn't believe it. If this was true, great, but there was that slight piece of doubt in the back of her mind, doubt that she had lost him.

"Give him a chance," Kagami made her way to Marinette's side, settling next to her, and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "Listen to what he needs to say. Luka has always been trustworthy, believe in him Marinette, just as he believes in you."

Ladybug continued to shake her head and look down. She didn't want to believe he knew what to do, she couldn't stand the thought of him being wrong.

"What's the plan?" Kagami asked Luka. If Marinette wasn't going to do this herself then she would for her friend.

"I need to go back."

"No!" Zoé shouted, making her way over and wrapping her arms around Luka. "Listen, I know you want to help Marinette, but you cannot sacrifice yourself Luka, I won't let you."

Marinette looked up and over at the two cuddled. Zoé was right, Luka couldn't sacrifice himself.

"I'll go." Marinette said, "I have nothing to live for without him anyway."

As Marinette went to stand up, Kagami placed a hand delicately on her shoulder, easing her back onto the floor.

"You both have lives here, you both have loves waiting for you because Adrien will be back, Marinette. You need to be ready and waiting for him."

"How do you know?" Marinette asked, looking her friend over curiously.

"Because I'm going to save him." She slipped her family ring off her finger, before scrambling across the floor to find the peacock Miraculous. Handing them both over to Marinette she gave her friend a hug. "You know what to do?"