"She had to go on this quest. The fate of the world might depend on it. But part of him wanted to say: Forget the world. He didn't want to be without her."

❅ ❅ ❅

Adrien was scared.

Scared for his princess' life.

Marinette's life.

A week had passed. The hospital wouldn't allow let him see her without the supervision of a parent or guardian, in which Adrien knew that his father would most definitely refuse to go, much less allow his own son to go. He waited for his Nathalie, his father's secretary, to return from her business trip. The day she returned, while he was eating breakfast with her, he began to plead and bargain with the assistant. Thankfully, since she had a heart of gold, the dark haired woman promised to go with him if Adrien would participate in another photoshoot for a popular clothing brand. Adrien agreed full heartedly, knowing that he'd do anything to see his friend again.

He didn't worry about Ladybug's Kwami; not out of insensitivity, but that Plagg swore to watch over the creature in the time Adrien would be gone. He trusted his friend. So that very morning, before school started, the three of them with the Gorilla behind the wheel, rushed over to the hospital as quickly as they could.

His hands felt sweaty and Adrien attempted to wipe his palms on his scratchy jeans in a worried mess. He wasn't showing it, but internally, he was practically hysterical. She's going to be okay, He tried to convince himself. She's tough as steel, and besides, this hospital is well known for saving lives... In the midst of his anxiety, the blonde reached by his seat and picked up a bouquet of flowers he bought as a "get well soon" present.

He touched their delicate petals as if he was examining their life; he had bought these flowers in particular because they looked similar to the ones Marinette had given her uncle a while ago.

Forget-Me-Nots.

They symbolized memories; the hope that receiver would not forget the giver, said the florist whom he purchased them from. A hopeful message. Mixtures of blues, purples, and pinks blended together to create a gorgeous assortment of flowers. Adrien gave a slight grin as he lifted the flowers and smelled its sweet scent; if it could make him smile, maybe they would make her smile as well.

A rap on the window snapped him out of his trance and the car door was opened. "Hurry now, Adrien," Nathalie said with her clipboard in hand. "You don't have much time before your school starts. We wouldn't want your father to hear that you were late."

"I'll be quick, Nathalie," Adrien assured her. With his fingers trembling from nervousness, he unbuckled his seat belt and leaped out of the car with the bouquet in hand, running down the parking lot at full speed. The automatic doors slid open and he charged down the hall as fast as his feet could take him and nearly slammed into the entrance's desk. "May I help you?" The woman who sat behind the desk hardly seemed fazed, as if she's seen a charging adolescent run through her building on a daily basis. The tone of her voice sounded completely deadbeat.

"Marinette... Dupain-Cheng..." Adrien said between huffs of air. "What floor is she on?"

"One moment," She typed something up on her computer. Adrien's shoe tapped impatiently against the tiled floor. The woman looked up at him with the same monotone voice. "Third floor, room fifty-nine. I'll give you a visitor's pass. Got any parents or guardians with you?" Adrien merely pointed at Nathalie who had just entered the building at her usual pace and tapped at a watch on her wrist. "Have a name?"

"Adrien Agreste, ma'am."

"Alright then," The worker blew a piece of her bangs out of the way of her vision before handing him a badge. "Write your name here and you can head on up." Picking up a plastic pen, Adrien swiftly scribbled his name on the badge, hung it on the collar of his shirt, and headed for the stairs being too impatient to wait for the elevator. He clutched the bouquet tightly to his chest so that the flowers wouldn't be damaged. Each new step echoed the pounding of his heart against his ribcage.

Thud,

Thud,

Thud.

He thundered down the hall of the third floor, dodging patients and doctors with swift-like actions. His eyes scanned over each door number with quick precision. 51, 52, 53... Adrien read with his breath caught in his throat. He swallowed down his anxiety and continued to read with persistence. 56, 57, 58... His pace slowed to a halt. His grip on the bouquet grew tighter.

59.

"She's here," He breathed, either out of relief or out of pure stress. He couldn't tell. Adrien slowly reached for the doorknob and wrapped his fingers around its bronze handle. He paused briefly before mentally willing himself to turn the knob and pushed the door open.

As he entered the room and closed the door behind him, Adrien noticed that the curtain was slightly drawn. A short doctor seemed to be examining the person who laid in the bed hidden behind the curtain. He had a gray, receding hairline with a mustache the same color, wore some sort of Hawaiian print shirt under his uniform which hardly seemed appropriate for the situation at hand, and wore a jade-like charm on his wrist; Adrien couldn't see it clearly. The man seemed familiar, but he couldn't exactly place a pin on it.

Adrien wasn't entirely sure if he should leave them alone if it was an examination, but he had already come this far. There was no turning back. Quietly, he stepped towards the bed and pushed the thin wall of fabric which separated him and the girl behind it.

His breath hitched when he noticed her eyes were closed. Tubes ran through her body like thorns piercing her skin. A princess in distress. Her arms were practically sticks; she was even thinner from when he met with her on the Eiffel Tower. She was as pale as cloudy water; colorless and tainted. Her two, usual pigtails were let down into a waterfall of waves that slightly passed her shoulders. Her lips were chapped and chalky as if they were made from desert sand.

He fell to his knees and dug his nails into the bouquet's stems with his thoughts immediately possessing him. How could he do this to her? How could he leave her defenses and unable to fend for herself? Why couldn't he catch her in time? He shouldn't have released his emotions onto her; it only caused her to leave with such a heavy burden.

The doctor noticed his imminent distress and chuckled. "Don't worry; she's alive," He said with a heavy Asian accent. "She's only sleeping. I'm surprised that she got away with so much by that drop." He scribbled down a few notes onto a clipboard he had on hand. He was right; however, the only sign that she still lived was the ever so slight movement of her stomach; rising and falling, rising and falling.

Adrien's curiosity got to him and he managed to get himself back onto his feet. "What do you mean? Did she gain any injuries?"

"By that fall, of course she did," The doctor looked up from his sheet. "She earned herself a nice concussion, a few bruised ribs, and a fractured arm. Her legs were slightly twisted, but not broken." He wrote down some more. "From what happened, I'm actually amazed that she even survived; it's as if she had superhuman abilities." He raised an eyebrow with his eyes that seemed to smile.

"Hah..." Adrien merely let out a heartless laugh. The suit that their Kwamis provided did allow them to sustain more than a regular human could, but even a fall off the Eiffel Tower could bring major harm to them.

The doctor set the notes down onto the counter beside him. "Juggling her daily life alongside her hero one must've overworked her..." Said the old man as he lifted the covers up to the sleeping girl's shoulders. "The stress must have gotten to her. Her health deteriorated, or rather, self-destructed. She couldn't focus her full attention at the situation on hand."

Adrien shook his head miserably. "I didn't know she was going through that; she seemed so confident. And the accident was my fault. She lent me her yo—, wait," He took a step back and his left hand immediately flew over his ring. He immediately raised his guard. "How did you know who she was?" Could it be? No... Their enemy wouldn't reveal himself just yet.

The doctor merely smiled with a slightly raised eyebrow. "Bring the red Kwami over to this address," He held out a green business card between two fingers. "She must be in a bad state as well, I presume."

Adrien hesitated before reaching out and taking the card, scanning over its contents.

"Dr. Fu?"

The doctor grinned again; his smile made up of mystery and riddles like the Cheshire Cat. "I hope to see you soon." He walked by the astounded boy who was paralyzed by this strange man.

"Wait!" He exclaimed. Dr. Fu paused in his tracks. Adrien raised his hand with the silver ring on his finger. "You know who I am... Right?"

Dr. Fu remained silent for a few seconds before conjuring his answer. "Who knows?" His shoulders shrugged before exiting the room. Adrien couldn't see his expression, but he could imagine the tricky smirk played on the man's face.

"How did he figure it out..?" He muttered before turning his attention to the sleeping girl. Adrien pulled up a chair and sat down next to her, leaning his head against his hand as he watched her rest. He could physically feel all the weight from stress and worry lift off of his shoulders.

She was alive, and that's all that mattered.

Even though he could see that she was breathing in front of him, Adrien couldn't help but feel guilty. "It's my fault," He whispered, reaching out to gently hold her hand. He laced his fingers through hers as carefully as he could. She felt so fragile. A glass figure with veins of cracks and scars all over its body. A single touch could send her shattering to pieces and no matter how hard he'd try, he wouldn't be able to put her back together. He raised her hand and pressed his lips against her cold skin. "I'm so sorry," His voice trembled and his vision blurred. "I had no idea what you were going through and just shoved all my problems onto you. I should've held it in. I'm sorry."

He muttered his apologies over and over again as if he was put into a trance. He could only blame himself. No matter how many times he could say it, it would never make up for what he did. He could never forgive himself for being unable to save her; he could only wish that she could instead.

A slight shift in his hand caused him to look up. His eyes met with the two crystals that he loved and knew; if only he knew sooner. Now they were hardly recognizable. Dull life was spoken through her aimless stare. Who was this person? The Ladybug he knew had bright and vivid eyes; he felt like he was looking at a corpse. Marinette slowly drew her hand out of his without any change in her gaze. His hand was left cold. "Oh! Um," Adrien tried to break the suffocating tension by lifting the bouquet of flowers into her field of vision. "I, uh, got these for you. I hope you like them."

The petals seemed to be wilting right in front of him.

She peered at him with those big, blue eyes with a sort of blank stare. Her cracked lips slightly parted and three words quietly slipped by.

The sentence startled him to the point that he dropped the bouquet and was left with a numbing shock. The flowers fell to the ground and crumpled to the floor. A single petal fell from one of the flowers and hit the floor. Her words were like swords piercing through his heart. Adrien could only stand helplessly in front of the girl, completely unable to defend himself from the sentence she uttered:

"Who are you?"

---
okay whoever knows where that quote's from gets a kudos from me.

thoughts on the book so far?