Adrien let his eyes get used to the sudden light change. In the meantime, he contemplated how different his experience was from what he thought death should be. He didn't feel pain when it happened and despite knowing and feeling that he didn't exist anymore, it was like nothing changed. Nothing except for his environment that is.

He looked up and saw a forest right in front of him. Between him and the forest, there was a woman. When Adrien opened his eyes, the woman started walking towards him. At first, he didn't know who it was, but as the woman got closer Adrien's shock became more apparent.

"Hello, Adrien," she said when she stood right in front of him.

"Mo... mother?" his tears started falling without his knowledge or care. "How... What?"

"Slow down my beautiful boy" Emilie pulled the sobbing and shocked boy into a tight hug. "I'll explain everything in due time. For now, we need to hurry." She broke the hug and looked toward a pond at the edge of the clearing. "Your friend is about to make a big mistake."

"Marinette" Adrien let go of his mother and ran to the pond. He didn't know what he should be doing but somehow he knew the lake was the answer. His mother walked up behind him and sent an encouraging look his way. Adrien looked into the water and watched in horror as Lady Noire made her way across Paris.

"No matter what, I love you Bugaboo" he whispered as he watched her stop for a second. He knew what she was about to do and memories of an alternate timeline showed him that he had already done it. "Don't make the same mistake I did" he quietly begged Marinette, hoping she would somehow hear him.

***

Lady noir had to stop because her tears blurred her vision too much. Her stomach clenched as she wiped them remembering what she was running from. Because she was running from Alya, who no doubt would make her realize her feelings. She refocused or at least tried to which made her think about the events of the night.

She shook her head in an attempt to get rid of the last glance Adrien gave her. Because it wasn't Chat. The pure love and understanding in his eyes and the smile on his lips were all Adrien. She didn't succeed as the image stayed with her. She saw it as clearly as the first time as if he was still standing in front of her. Her tears kept falling as she resumed her running toward the home of her late love.

A flash ran through the sky and a loud crash followed it almost immediately. The rain was gentle at first, but after a few seconds, Marinette couldn't tell where her tears ended and the rainwater started. The sky was now mirroring her insides which made her feel a little more comfortable.

"No matter what, I love you Bugaboo" his words echoed through her head. His last words. Did he know? Was he ready to die? As she ran in the rain her anger melted like foam, leaving an unexplainable vacuum in its wake. She felt as if he was right behind her begging her not to do it.

"Think about what Adrien would want" Plagg's words finally caught up to her. She couldn't kill Shadow moth. Adrien would want her to stay a hero.

"That was gone when I had to be the one to kill him" she gritted her teeth and leaped over the huge metal gate of her destination. The sight of the mansion brought back the red-tinted thoughts to her.

She entered the basement finding all the heroes there with Gabriel tied up. She had a simple plan. Use cataclysm and kill him. The way he killed his own son. She could hear the heroes trying to call out to her through the comms to no avail. She knew Alya would warn them and she was also aware that she was outnumbered.

She quietly called on the power of destruction and hiding in the shadows inched closer to Gabriel. She was going to avenge him. She made eye contact with Gabriel and something in his eyes just hit her the wrong way. He had the same glint in his eyes as he looked at her that she felt. He wanted to kill her.

As the silent battle went on she realized why. She had felt it ever since the cat ring made contact with the pavement but only now, looking into the eyes of the man she wanted dead did she comprehend it. She had killed him. She had been the one to deliver the final blow. But he had been the one to hurt him. She had no doubt about his intentions.

"I hate you" she whispered through gritted teeth.

"The feeling is mutual" Gabriel spit out. "Why do you hesitate Ladybug?"

She didn't know the answer, but the mockery in Gabriel's voice made her want to throw all morality away. She had to kill the one responsible for Adrien's death and she knew that would take more than taking out Gabriel. She stepped out from her hiding place and a sad smile crossed her face as her hate-filled eyes pierced Gabriel's similar expression.

Before she could do anything though, her body went numb. She could see Gabriel's expression flood with relief and she knew what happened. Queen Bee appeared in her line of sight soon enough with a disgusted expression, proving her theory.

"You have got to be kidding me Ladybug," she said as she held a piece of paper to Lady Noire's right hand. "Revenge is ridiculous. Utterly ridiculous. You should know that"

Chloe was right and Marinette knew it. She had no right to kill Gabriel. She still wanted to, badly. The supervillain was already taken away from the scene by Purple Tigress so she couldn't see him. Queen Bee was also standing right in front of her and thanks to her power, Lady Noire had no other choice but to look at her.

"Please, don't sink to my level. You are better than that" the heroine continued quietly. Lady Noire could feel the spell breaking, although it wasn't fully broken yet.

She had to get away from there. Queen Bee saw her eyes and nodded at her while releasing her transformation effectively breaking the spell. Lady Noire didn't look around. She didn't care who was watching or who would follow her. She couldn't stay there. She couldn't stay near her friends.

Now she had no destination but she ran. Away from her family, her friends, and anyone she could hurt. Because in a twisted irony of fate she finally understood Gabriel too. She wanted the Ladybug Miraculous. She craved the power to make everything right. It was like a hunger that she couldn't satisfy. A fire that never burnt out and yet left her cold and freezing.

To top it all off, she wanted revenge more than anything. She wanted to use the power of the cat Miraculous to find Gabriel and then kill him. She was now scared of herself and she wanted to get as far away from everyone she loved as she could.

With a sudden thought, she headed toward the Eiffel tower. There was only one way to make sure she didn't hurt anyone ever again. Only one way to avenge Adrien without more casualties. She had to join him. How she would do it was still a debate in her own mind but she knew she couldn't use the cat Miraculous. Plagg would refuse.

She arrived at the top of Paris' monument and let her transformation go. Plagg, as she thought refused to even look at the food offered to him until Marinette took off the ring and offered that too.

"You have to go Plagg. I don't want to hurt you so go find Alya" she said as the kwami looked at her shocked. "Tell her to take the Miracle box and be the Guardian. And please forgive me."

Plagg slowly took the ring and the food offered before leaving. Marinette wanted to end it right there and then but she couldn't. Not mentally, but physically. As soon as Plagg left, her legs gave out under her and unexplainable exhaustion washed over her. She could barely pull her knees up before sleep claimed her and took her toward the dream realm.

***

Adrien watched through the pond as Marinette sent Plagg away. He knew what she was planning and he wished he could talk to her. He needed to tell her that he forgave her. Relief washed over him as the girl fell asleep, although the rain that was constantly pouring onto her did leave some worry in him.

"Come, Adrien," his mother said motioning toward the middle of the meadow where he arrived. "She will be here any moment now"

"What?" Adrien asked as they walked back.

"This is the existence between life and death. She is hanging on a tightrope right now, so her dreams will bring her here. She has to choose. See that creek?" Adrien nodded but didn't say anything. "It starts at the lake and ends at the waterfall over there."

"The lake is life and the waterfall is death" Adrien understood finally. "Could we go back?" he asked looking back to the lake. His mother shook her head.

"My physical body is too weak and you don't have one. There has to be an anchor to go back to" the conversation was cut short as they saw Marinette's sobbing figure appear closer to the waterfall than Adrien had been. The boy looked at her with understanding and slowly walked up beside his love.

A/N:

Hey there, hope you enjoy this chapter. I kinda created a mystical setting where Adrien and his mother could meet Marinette. Tell me what you think about the concept.