💀 pour oublier ma peine immense

[bonnechance]

It had been a long and hard three years.

Ladybug had run out of fingers with which to count the sticky situations she and Chat Noir had been in because of Hawkmoth. But finally, finally, she and her partner had him dead to rights. As time went on, they had grown desperate, and they'd made mistakes - but nothing they hadn't been able to fix. He'd made mistakes, too, and that was how the two of them had managed to track him down.

Heart pounding, she cast her gaze down at the man that had been their adversary for so long. Hawkmoth stared back at the both of them with a dark glare full of loathing. There were a lot of things she had wanted to ask him when she finally caught up to him, but there was only one question she was actually able to form.

"How could you?" She whispered, her voice ragged. She was breathing heavily - the fight had taken a lot out of her. Out of her partner, and out of their enemy, too; had it gone on much longer, they all might have dropped dead out of exhaustion. "You hurt so many people."

Hawkmoth's eyes glittered, and he pressed his lips together into a thin line. Ladybug felt something roll down her cheek - sweat, she hoped, and not blood or tears, but she'd taken a hit to the temple earlier and she couldn't be certain that it wasn't bleeding (and in fact it was). But she was in better shape than him, at least. He was beaten down, he had lost.

All that remained was to take his Miraculous and make sure that Nooroo's power never, ever fell int the hands of someone like him ever again.

His refusal to answer stirred anger in her where there had once been pity.

"Men. Women. Children. You used them all - and for what? What on earth could have been worth it? I don't understand. Explain yourself, Hawkmoth."

He didn't answer. He looked between the two of them, seething. Ladybug scowled and knelt down in front of him, curled her fingers around his brooch, and yanked it away from his suit.

The magic holding his transformation together fell apart, and Nooroo emerged from the butterfly Miraculous at long last. Ladybug cradled him in the crook of her arm and watched as the facial features of their nemesis became clear.

A well-dressed man, middle-aged. Nobody she recognized. Without his Miraculous, he should have been powerless. Defeated. Done for.

She didn't catch his smirk until it was too late.

His hand darted into the suit jacket that hadn't been there before, and his fingers closed around something she couldn't see. "I'll make you understand," He snarled, and the next thing she knew his hand emerged from the jacket and the crack of a gunshot split the air. "Perhaps now we'll share the same wish."

There was a gun in his hand, Ladybug realized, as a dull roar and the man's twisted, bitter laughter filled her ears. He hadn't aimed at her. She turned toward her partner with dread.

He had aimed at him, and his laughter was not the laughter of a man who had missed his mark.

Comments

[sunsoutpunsout]

Adrien nodded again, fairly sure about what she meant to beat the eggs. The wrist movements were going to be a little tough because he was still store, but he was determined to manage it.

"Ready when you are, partner."

[bonnechance]

Partner.

Marinette's eyes widened, and for a moment, her hand trembled - but she managed to steady it before dropping the egg, and instead, nodded and rapped it sharply against the side of the bowl.

Miraculously, the shell came apart in two pieces, and the egg plopped right in.

"Y-you're up!"

[sunsoutpunsout]

Miraculously.

Adrien smiled up at her. "Tag in," he added, and stirred slowly, only managing to get a little egg on his fingers before he figures out how to do it more gently, keep it from splashing out of the bowl before he stirred it into the rest of the mixture. The butter had been difficult to blend earlier, now it evened everything out.

"Switch!"

[bonnechance]

She beamed at him, rolling the second egg over in her palm as he beat the first into the dough.

"You're a natural at this!"

Cookies were easy, but he was managing this as an amnesiac, so he had to have some kind of natural talent.

Marinette giggled when he tagged her in, and struck the egg on the side of the bowl before pulling the two sides apart.

"...And you're up again, partner!"

[sunsoutpunsout]

"I have a good teacher."

Marinette's giggling was the cutest thing ever. It chased out a laugh of his own, and he stopped the spoon to accept the second egg, breaking the yolk before he stirred everything in. It smelled sweet, but still looked kind of gross.

A little bit splashed on his hand, so he reached out, threatening to wipe it on her arm.

Of course, she was much more mobile than he was.

[bonnechance]

"Eep!"

She was indeed more mobile than him, but... she didn't actually want to get away. She shifted to dodge, but didn't quite make it, and then, with a giggle, she scooped up a bit from her arm and reached out to tap his nose with it.

"...gotcha."

It wasn't like they could have a pillow fight with him laid up like this, but - a little bit of cookie dough? This was fine.

[sunsoutpunsout]

Adrien made a sound that broke his voice a little, squeaked, then laughed breathily. His ribs were starting to hurt so he had to stop, just grinning, getting his breath back as he wiped it off, tasted...

Ugh.

He pulled a face. Sugary egg was not that tasty.

"Ew," he muttered, as if Marinette were to blame.

[bonnechance]

"They'll taste better once we're done, I promise."

Had he ever eaten raw cookie dough before? She wasn't sure. Probably not, knowing Gabriel. Well, they would fix that.

"Next is to stir in two teaspoons of vanilla extract, which will make it taste amazing. Let's call a truce on the food fights until we get all the good stuff mixed in, okay?"

[sunsoutpunsout]

"Truce," he agreed, holding up a hand to illustrate his sincerity.

Cat's honor, My Lady.

It echoed unsaid in the air, as Adrien moved on to the mixing without a glimmer of recognition, at least not outwardly. He was doing everything naturally, and every once in awhile these things would pop up.

He moved the spoon aside, held the bowl out for the good stuff.

[bonnechance]

Two teaspoons of vanilla made their way into the bowl, and Marinette looked up to meet his eyes.

...he was okay. This was working. He wasn't hurting, and he was enjoying himself, and they were both thinking about something other than his injuries.

In other words? It was perfect.

While he stirred in the vanilla, she shifted away from the bed so that she could dissolve some baking soda in the measuring cup of hot water she'd brought up. "...let me know when you're ready, and I'll have more to add to the bowl."

After that, it was salt, flour, and chocolate chips, and soon enough, the batter would start to thicken up into dough.

[sunsoutpunsout]

The bowl grew increasingly more difficult to mix, the more they added things, but it also stuck together, so less made it out of the bowl and onto the sheets, or either of them. Adrien's arm was starting to get a little tired, but he held out until they finally added the chocolate chips, and it looked like cookie dough.

"I could eat the whole bowl of it right now," he decided, staring at it with utter seriousness, lips pressed together.

Maybe don't, Adrien.

[bonnechance]

"Half of it," she corrected, "because I'd get the other half."

Only... yeah, don't, because they would make themselves both sick. But just a little bit couldn't hurt, and she scooped out a small amount before offering it to him.

"Try a small taste. It's like a preview of the cookies."

[sunsoutpunsout]

Adrien's stomach was still very sensitive from his all-liquid diet, but a taste couldn't hurt him too badly. Besides, they did need to wean him off it.

With a laugh, he accepted, and leaned forward. No need to get his fingers messy. His lips touched Marinette's fingertips, and he let the cookie dough spread over his tongue with a sigh.

"Mmmmh..."

[bonnechance]

"Good, right?"

Marinette beamed at him. Somehow - and probably because she hadn't really thought about the way his lips had just touched her fingers - she wasn't flustered. Instead, she was pleased as punch.

"These are the cookies I grew up on - they're Papa's recipe. Even the dough tastes amazing."

[sunsoutpunsout]

"I'm amazed any of these ever get into the oven."

Adrien leaned back against his pillows, staring longingly at the bowl, knowing he needed to have some self-control or he'd throw it right back up. Considering how much that would hurt, he managed to talk himself out of reaching for more.

"Do we put them on the tray now?"

[bonnechance]

"Yes," she answered. "We'll need to smooth the dough out so we can use the cookie cutters on it, too... I'll get the dough down, you pick out which cutters you want to use, okay?"

Mixing the dough had been strenuous enough - she would handle getting it out there. He could do the fun part, and then they could both eat the cookies once they came out of the oven.

"I set the oven to preheat, so once these are ready to go, we'll just pop them in and we'll have warm, fresh cookies in ten minutes."

[sunsoutpunsout]

Nodding, Adrien picked through the cutters. Some were the usual, like rabbits, ducks, little-kid shapes. He picked up a cat immediately, set it aside with a smile, followed by what could only be a ninja turtle, then several more animals.

(Unfortunately, there were no ladybugs.)

"Ten minutes?" he asked, startled, then smiling. "I remember them taking years."

[bonnechance]

"It always felt that way," Marinette agreed.

Patience was hard enough when you were a kid. But when you were a kid waiting for cookies? A short wait felt like an eternity.

With a smile, she brushed her fingers against the cat-shaped cookie cutter.

...it seemed like he knew, without knowing.

"But I promise, it'll only be ten minutes."

[sunsoutpunsout]

Adrien watched her smile, watched her think about things he had no way of attaching to memories, and wanted to ask. Wasn't sure if he'd accidentally stumble over something, or make her sad by asking something he should already know.

"Have we cooked together before?" he asked, straining to remember.

It hurt, but he pressed his mind for details, frowning to himself.

[bonnechance]

Marinette paused, startled by the question, and then smiled softly.

"Kind of," she answered. "I taught you how to make hot chocolate from scratch when we were in school together."

Nothing so elaborate as a gourmet meal, but...

[sunsoutpunsout]

Adrien's eyes widened, then narrowed as he tried to remember. It sounded familiar, but he wanted to be sure, to make sure he wasn't making it up.

"Vanilla?" he asked quietly, as he helped Marinette to cut shapes from the dough to put onto the cookie sheet. "Or peppermint?"

[bonnechance]

Her whole expression brightened, and he would likely know from the look on her face that he'd hit the nail on the head even before she spoke.

"I taught you how to do both," she answered. "We went with peppermint that night, though."

[sunsoutpunsout]

"Let's try vanilla next time."

It slipped out before he could think of it, but he had the notion that Marinette liked vanilla. He couldn't say it aloud, for fear of getting it wrong, of disappointing her, but he still wanted to try-

Adrien remembered the way she'd kissed him on the cheek, and his heart sped up.

[bonnechance]

It was a good try, because Marinette beamed, nodding eagerly.

"That would be great... I'll look forward to it."

She was looking forward to him being mobile enough to walk to the kitchen about as much as she was looking forward to having hot chocolate with him, honestly. They were both exciting prospects, albeit for different reasons.

Soon enough, their cookie sheet was filled with shapes, and they'd used the last of the dough.

"Okay," she said quietly. "I have to take these now, but I'll be back."

[sunsoutpunsout]

Making plans for the future gave him something to look forward to, to make the future a little brighter, less confusing. He smiled back at her, warm and the beginnings of truly happy.

He nodded, setting the bowls and things aside. No way she could carry it all back and the baking sheet.

He looked up at her hopefully, half wanting her to kiss him again.

"I'll be here."