Also: I realize that parts of this story don't seem consistent or they are confusing. There's reasoning for that don't worry 😉

Thank you for those who have stuck around through my struggles ❤️

She held onto her own arm as a sort of comfort.

She had seen things like this happen before, plenty of times. It wasn't that it hadn't bothered her before, but now it was overwhelming.

People are crazy. Everyone knows that. But the things people will do, for strange, sometimes unexplainable reasons, are insane.

She wondered what the excuse would be for the crime.

Who decides what's valid and what's not?

She watched Chat below, comforting the mother of the young child, who was held tightly in her arms. The cops were quick to restrain the criminals, since they had been in the area. But what if Chat hadn't been there?

Hadn't seen anything.

What would've happened then?

So many questions. Less answered than not. It's unfair isn't it? Or is it?

She felt her head begin to throb.

She closed her eyes tightly, before opening them and watching as the couple was shoved into the police car.

They looked upset. She couldn't understand why.

They knew they were in the wrong, there was no framing done. So why did they seem like they had been wrongly accused? She had seen it with her own two eyes.

Then again... did they really know they were wrong? What if that's what they believed was right?

She thought about it more and more in those few minutes that she was alone. Of course, she wasn't truly alone, there was a whole city in front of her.

But the city looked small in comparison to what she was feeling. If she could describe it, it was muddy. A beautiful swirl of colors that you mixed together into a dark, murky brown.

That's what over thinking felt like. Making something perfectly fine into something that wasn't.

Everything was so easy to explain but so hard to understand. You can make comparisons to millions of things but it's not very helpful when you can't understand either of the things being compared.

Like trying to describe color to a blind person.

If he had said something before he landed on her balcony again, she hadn't heard it. Or maybe she just didn't comprehend it. Whatever it was that he said, she didn't know.

His gloved hand waved in front of her face.

"Marinette?" His face came into focus as she blinked away the fuzziness in her vision.

"Oh sorry." She shook her head in a quick, short motion.

She could play off her zoning out as shock. She was Marinette to him, a civilian. It was expected for her to be so shocked.

But she didn't know what he knew about her. So when he looked at her in worried confusion, she didn't understand. And he wasn't ready to explain it to her.

"They're okay." He finally said, turning to look at the small family in the street, shaking against one another and collecting themselves.

Physically.

She thought, and if it had a taste it would be sour.

What about emotionally? That could've been a traumatic moment for that child...

He noticed her, silently thinking to herself. The way her eyebrow barely twitched, her emotions seemingly leaking through whatever mask she was trying to put over them.

If he wanted to say something, he could've.

But he didn't.

Instead, he studied the way her eyes drifted slowly, like they were on some kind of autopilot. She hadn't moved, not that she could move very easily.

He knew she hated sitting still when there was evil around. Even with her injury, she still didn't take a break. Despite him wishing she would. She wanted to be the hero.

Not for the praise.

Not for her ego.

Not for her pride.

But because she knew that no one else was going to do it for her. And to some degree, she was right.

He knew her more than either of them realized.

He knew her more than a lot of people did.

But he didn't tell her that.

Maybe he should've.

*********

The next day was uneventful. It passed by like a blur. Like someone was flipping pages in a book really fast.

Hawkmoth seemed to have been giving up. It didn't sit right with Marinette or Tikki.

"I just don't get it." Marinette sighed, spinning around in her rolling chair.

"Get what?" Tikki asked, settling down on her desk.

"Why isn't he being consistent?" She used her casted leg to halt her. It didn't hurt anymore, just very uncomfortable.

"Maybe something came up, in his everyday life." Tikki pondered.

"Yes but.....he's a cruel, evil villain. He thrives on the fear and pain of his victims. Why would he stop?" Marinette scrunched her nose, flopping against her desk with a thud.

"He didn't stop..." Tikki began.

But she found she didn't quite know how to finish her sentence. He didn't stop...he's just waiting for the right moment?

Either way, Marinette seemed to get the point. She needed to keep her guard up. But she felt so helpless.

She picked up her phone and texted Alya, a good way to have a good laugh and get her mind off of things.

M- Alyaaaaaaaaa

No less then two minutes later, her phone beeped.

A- Whattttttt????? Do u need somethingggg????

M- Nope, just bored. Wanna hang out?

A- Sure, see you in 10.

M- ok byeee💕

A- byeee💕

A satisfied smile spread across her lips. At least something was going her way, right? A dull ache creeped it's way into the back of her mind, literally.

It wasn't enough for her to take any pain medication, but enough for her to notice it.

She pulled herself up from her chair, waddling over to her trap door. A snack would be perfect right about now, right?

She wanted to be able to simply walk down the stairs, but the eventually just sat down and scooted her way down.

She was too stubborn to worry about her crutches. When she finally made it to the kitchen, she wasn't sure what she wanted anymore.

Check the cabinet first or the fridge? Well the fridge was closest.

The second she touched the handle, she her a faint knocking sound from below, in the shop area of her home. It probably wasn't so faint downstairs.

It was probably Alya. Marinette had left her phone upstairs, and she was sure it had a text from Alya right about now.

She waddled and scooted down those stairs too. But the closer she got, the less it made sense.

She didn't see Alya when she looked towards the door. What she saw wasn't too out of the ordinary, but more so out of character.

"Nino?" She furrowed her brows as she made her way over to him, face pressed against the glass to look inside.

"Oh finally!" He smiled, as she opened the door to let him in.

"What are you doing here?" She laughed.

"Well I was in the area, and I was wondering if you wanted to go with me to help pick out a gift for Alya..." he explained.

"A gift...? What's the occasion?"

She knew all of the important dates to Alya. Her birthday, the day she and Marinette met, the day Nino and Alya became a 'thing', etc.

But none of those dates were today.

"There is no occasion, I just want to get her something special....ya know?" He scratched the back of his neck, a faint pink color glowing against his cheeks.

He was a good guy. She had always known that. She didn't expect any less than good from him. She knew her best friend was in good hands.

He could be a bit awkward at times, a bit loud, or crazy, but he cared for Alya a lot. And the feeling was mutual.

"Well...about that..." She sighed through her nose, leaning against the wall.

"Oh right... your leg...you wouldn't wanna be walking around on crutches for longer than you need to..." He nodded, looking down at the cast that she seemed to keep forgetting about.

"Actually no, it's because Alya is going to be here any minu-"

She must've been a psychic or something, because before the words could escape Marinette's mouth, Alya walked through the unlocked door.

"Hey girl...and guy." She nearly ran into Nino, not expecting him to be there.

"Hey!" Nino held his hands behind his back nervously, as if he was about to give her something he hadn't actually bought yet.

She didn't seem to notice however.

"You didn't tell me Nino was here." Alya set her phone on the countertop, before locking the front door.

"He just got here." Marinette shrugged.

"How about we get some snacks and go sit on the balcony?" Marinette suggested.

The little thoughts of yesterday danced in the back of her mind, and she wanted nothing more than to distract herself.

It would be easier with 2 people around.

They all agreed that some chips would be ideal. Easy to take upstairs without spilling anything. As long as Marinette didn't carry them.

After denying both of their offers to help her get up the stairs, Marinette led them onto the balcony, with a shaky hobble.

She wanted to give Tikki a chance to move around, and if they were in her room Tikki would've had to stay hidden away in a drawer.

"Did you see the news?" Alya asked, turning around from her spot against the railing to address Marinette, sitting behind her.

"The news...?"

"Yeah. Apparently this morning, Chat Noir had to handle an akuma alone." Nino added.

"He what...?"

The two of them explained the story.

Chat Noir had been hanging around early, when an akuma of a little boy came about. He was upset about his early dentist appointment, and began his streak of evil by causing people's teeth to fall out.

Like one of those strange nightmares you had as a child.

Reporters didn't see Ladybug anywhere, and Chat Noir allegedly caught the butterfly in a glass jar a kind citizen had given him.

The story itself, as crazy as it seemed, wasn't what bothered her.

It was the fact that she hadn't known about it. Not once did she check the news that day, nor the ladyblog. She must've scrolled right past it all.

" I hope Ladybug is okay..." Alya admitted.

Usually, during a moment like this, Marinette would assure them that Ladybug was alright. That she would save the day.

Because she was sure of it.

But this time, she said nothing at all.

Alya and Nino continued to be a little flirty, and have a nice conversation right in front of her. But for the life of her she had no idea what it was about.

She should've been upset, that she was a third wheel in her own home. Or even happy that her friends came to pay her a visit.

But no, that was the last thing she was thinking about.

*****

The fluttering conversations in the hallways were interesting to listen to. Only given bits and pieces to try and create a logical story out of. It was quite fun sometimes.

Marinette smelled the air, something about it was familiar. She couldn't quite pinpoint it, but it smelled like school. But not in a bad, sweaty way.

Which made sense, since that's where she was. She felt happy, and smiley, a great change from her mood lately. It was relieving.

She felt freedom she hadn't felt in a while.

Until it all came crumbling down. As fast as it began, was as fast as it ended. The sky almost immediately darkened outside, and the building shook against its foundations.

There was no storm, no opening of the floor beneath her, but rather the rumbling of something huge in the distance.

She ran towards the nearest window to find that a giant mountain was growing into the sky, sending rocks and debris flying as it ripped through the ground. It grew taller and wider, pushing away everything in its path.

People, buildings, cars, light poles, everything went tumbling down the side of the tall hill.

She had been so focused on watching the growing mountain that she didn't noticed the smaller ones sprouting around her.

They ripped through anything in their path, and the bigger they got, the closer they moved together, the less room for anyone to run.

Marinette felt the ground lifting her, standing on the peak of her own growing mountain.

The people around her ran away from her, but the hill was already too steep for her to hope to run down unscathed.

She rummaged through her bag, but found nothing to help her in her current situation.

"It's her! It's her again!" They screamed.

They screamed things she couldn't even make out as words as she was lifted higher and higher.

"Marinette!" A particular voice yelled.

Again.

And again.

And again.

Before she finally broke her trance and
stared into Alya's worried brown eyes.

"You fell asleep, you kept tossing around." Alya spoke softly, Nino by her side.

Marinette shook her head. There were no mountains, just her balcony. No screaming, no terror.

Just her and her best friends. And a raging headache.

It was just a nightmare.

She thought to herself. Collecting her breath and attempting to regulate her heart rate.

This nightmare was shorter than the last one as well. She was alright. She was getting better. She would be back to normal in no time. Yeah, she could believe that.

If only she were right.