"It's hard to forget someone who gave you so much to remember."

❅ ❅ ❅

    Chat Noir wished that he had the power to turn back time.

    He sat on the edge of the Eiffel Tower, not caring for the height between him and the ground by swinging his legs back and forth as he waited for his partner. His breath exhaled as tiny clouds from his lips and they disappeared into the air. His shoulders shivered and he rubbed his hands together to provide the slightest bit of warmth on that winter night. If only Plagg were able to provide him with a suit with heat packs installed; that would've been an ingenious idea. Perhaps he should ask the Kwami about it later.

    Tonight was an important night; an anniversary, if one could consider it that way. He hoped that talking to Ladybug would get his mind off of it, but since she hadn't arrived yet, he was afraid that he would be stuck with his loneliness for the rest of the day.

    Shattering his thoughts, his black, cat ears twitched as he heard the faint sound of something flying by. A flash of red flew by his sight and in the blink of an eye, Ladybug stood right next to him, recoiling her yo-yo. "Good evening, Chat Noir," She spoke casually and hung her weapon on her waist. "How's patrol so far?"

    The sound of her voice sparked something inside of him. His heartbeat quickened; the mere sight of her caused his face to flush and nerves to tingle. Fireworks sparked in the pit of his stomach. Excitement rushed through his veins and he suddenly became aware of himself around her. The worries he previously had were replaced with his feelings for her.

    "Fine, my Lady," Chat did his best to act casual and hide the tremble in his voice. He got up onto his feet and shifted his weight onto one leg. He folded his arms to make himself seem more confident. "Where have you been?"

    "Secret mission," She quickly brushed him off, as if he were simply wasting her time. Chat Noir knew that this was an excuse to get him to stop pestering her, after all, who would she be receiving the "secret mission" from? The only two who knew about them and their kwamis were, well, them. He never tried to push the conversation; he always respected her privacy and simply accepted the fact that he would be left alone with his questions.

    Ladybug did a quick glance over the sight of Paris while pushing her dark bangs out of her face to get a better view. She seemed to be in a rush to go somewhere, but Chat was happy that at least she remembered to show up to patrol tonight. He instinctively reached out to touch her hair, but quickly withdrew his hand as she turned around to face him. "There have been no attacks, right? If so, I'll be leaving. Goodnight."

    She lowered her hand to grab her yo-yo, but he swiftly grabbed her wrist to stop her in her tracks. She's thin, he thought as he noticed that his fingers could easily encircle her arm. Ladybug looked up at him with a glare of annoyance. "What do you think you're doing?"

    "U-Um," He stuttered, not entirely sure of how to respond. The gears in his mind turned and clicked to formulate a functioning answer. "You just got here. Why not stay with me a little longer, Bugaboo? After all, this is the perfect time for a date." He let go of her hand while giving her his classic wink and she merely rolled her eyes.

    Ladybug raised her free hand in the air. "In this cold weather? I doubt it, chaton." Her head tilted, a habit she never noticed whenever she asked a question, and Chat couldn't help but find it adorable. He held back a snicker, but nevertheless, a smile crept onto his face and his shoulders shook from restraint. Either that, or it was the cold getting to him. She noticed and a frown grew as she straightened up; her eyebrows furrowing and eyes narrowing. "What are you giggling about?"

    She titled her head again.

    How adorable, he thought. "Oh, nothing," He replied casually, folding his arms to look nonchalant when in actuality, he was bearing the cold to talk to her. She merely shook her head in disappointment.

    He had been noticing how difficult it was to talk to Ladybug; she was often wrapped up in the world of fighting that she never really spent a full conversation with him without being interrupted by an Akuma attack or their Miraculous wearing out. She tended to see their nightly patrols as more of a chore than something she willed to do on her own accord; granted, he was sure she had a life outside of saving Paris with matters that were important to her. He just wished that he had one too.

    He choked down his fear and worked up the confidence to ask her, "Do you think... We could talk for a bit?" His playful tone was replaced with one of seriousness. Ladybug, noticing this, took a while to think about it before let out a sigh. She gestured at him to sit, in turn doing so herself. Pulling her legs up to her chest, she wrapped her arms around them and leaned her head onto her knees like a pillow.

    "Alright kitty, tell me what's wrong."

    Chat Noir sat himself back down and went back to swinging his legs, this time, in anxiousness. A flood of nerves paralyzed him and he didn't know how to get his words across. He gave her a nervous smile of thanks in which she returned with her own.

    "What would you think it would be like to have different powers?"

    Ladybug seemed to freeze at the question, slightly taken aback. He instantly thought she assumed he was crazy for asking so and would resent him forever; extreme and over-the-top, but nevertheless he couldn't help but overthink. After a moment of pondering over it, she struggled to come up with a reply and gave him her own question. "Why do you ask?"

    He chewed on his bottom lip, a bit nervous of what she might think. His eyes lowered to the ground as he watched the tourists roam below. "I-I don't know," He stuttered. "I guess I always wondered how it would feel for something in my life to not be destroyed, I mean, maybe the future could be different." He internally chided himself for letting such a dangerous comment slip out; Chat didn't want Ladybug to have a grasp or the slightest understanding that he wasn't as comfortable in his outside life as Adrien Agreste than he was with Chat Noir.

    She stared at him with the big, blue eyes that he loved. Every time he looked into them, it calmed his heart and helped him relax, as if he were standing on the sands of a beach with the waves gently lapping over his feet. Ladybug tugged on her pigtails to tighten them before asking a follow-up question. "Well, if you could have a different power, what would you want it to be?"

    The answer came to him immediately; he had thought of this before. If he had a different power, or even perhaps, a different Kwami... What sort of future would be in store for him? The response slipped past his lips before he could think. "The power to turn back time."

    The girl raised an eyebrow, now fully interested in their conversation. She folded her hands most eagerly as she continued to bombard him with the third question in a row. "Hm, reversing time. How interesting; why so?"

    His voice seemed to falter. His words could barely work their way up his throat, as if they were stuck in molasses. A woman in a blue dress entered his mind and he bit his lip in order to hold back his tears. Ladybug, catching this, gently placed a hand on his shoulder to comfort him in some way. "...I guess," Chat began. "If I messed up, I'd be able to fix my mistakes. I'd be able to bring back someone I lost."

    Who would've known that later that night Chat Noir would desperately wish that he had the power to turn back time than he ever had before?

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buckle your seat belts; the ride's just starting.