"when you had that really long, stray string on the sleeve of your red hoodie, and you asked me to get it off, i kept it. i tied it on my necklace that i wear every day. sometimes i like to think that you're on the other end of that string." -hl

☾ ☽

Adrien knew something was wrong when he saw the flying bus soar past his window. Before that, however, he was a little busy. His string was gone, and he had no idea how or when it disappeared. Flipping his hand over and over again, he still was unable to find the thread. "I mean, isn't that a good thing?" Plagg chirped, doing miniature backstrokes in the air, "Chloé being your fated partner isn't entirely the best thing in the world."

"Yeah," Adrien said, twisting his hand around as if it would bring the thread back, "But the string is supposed to constantly be there. And unbreakable. Why is it gone?" A sinking feeling yanked in his chest. It was heavy and weighted, dragging him down into what seemed like an eternal abyss.

"Maybe you're cured," The kwami said, floating over to his small cheese tray to grab a slice of Camembert, "That's good. Romance isn't as yummy as cheese."

The poor boy was absolutely lost. True, he didn't want to end up with Chloé, but with a missing string, does that mean he will never end up with anyone? A certain dark haired girl came into play, and his shoulders slouched. It was an impossible thought anyways; to end up with Ladybug. Adrien was still staring at his hand when a flash of yellow flew past. His head swiftly turned around, seeing giant bus fly past. "What in the world..?"

A loud crash thudded by the mansion, and the model immediately jumped out of his bed. Right after dropping a slice of cheese down his throat, Plagg was immediately caught by Adrien and shoved under his white shirt. "This is abuse!" He yelped, "I refuse to leave my food behind!"

"Calm down, Plagg. Let's take a quick walk around town without the Gorilla or Nathalie noticing; hopefully we'll figure it out," Adrien whispered, grabbing his nearby bag and slinging it over his shoulder. Quietly pushing the door of his room open, he popped his head out to see if anyone was watching. No one was there, suspiciously. Not even Nathalie, who was constantly by his side.

Unlike his father.

His eyes locked onto the painting of his mother who stood tall and pure, with her emerald eyes shining as if hiding a secret. He shook his head; time to figure out what was going on. Adrien tiptoed quietly down the marble stairs, making sure to keep his guard up. His steps echoed, and he froze each time. Nothing happened. Having nothing to lose, Adrien made a mad dash out the doors of his house and past the gates. Looking around anxiously, he tried to find the source of the flying bus.

But there was none.

There was no yellow flying bus. No yelling Akumatized person floating in the air and wanting the Miraculous. In fact, people were walking without a care in the world down the streets of Paris. All with red threads on their fingers.

"Huh... That's strange," Adrien said, cautiously pacing down the street, "I can still see everyone's string. Why not mine?"

Plagg popped out of his shirt, with his round head dangling like a bobble-head figure, "And you're not going to worry about the bus?" Adrien shoved the kwami back under his shirt. He decided to remain outside; not like he was going to have a sad longing to do a photo shoot.

☾ ☽

While walking down the street, a girl with long, brown hair caught his eye. She was anxiously holding her phone up to her ear, but the person she was calling didn't seem to pick up. Her foot was tapping against the ground impatiently. When the call ended, she quickly left a string of text messages behind. "Bæ, why aren't you picking up?" The girl bit her thumbnail with unease, "What is going on?"

"I wonder what's wrong with that girl," Plagg peeped out of Adrien's shirt, "She seemed to be having some problems, if you're asking me."

"Her name might be Sage," Adrien frowned, trying to remember who she was, "She's on a lower grade, I think." He shook his head with his blonde, fluffy hair bouncing up and down, "Never mind. I'll walk around the city to see if there will be another Akuma attack."

"Why stick around?" Plagg lulled, "Nothing seems wrong. I say we go home so we can eat and relax. Sound like a plan?"

"Plagg-," Adrien was just about to complain about the ridiculous kwami's obsession when a blur of red zoomed by. He looked up only to find the girl of his dreams flying through the air. Her pigtails ruffled as she swung away on her yo-yo, only to disappear behind the school. "I can't transform here; there are too many people. I'll follow after her though; hopefully I'll be able to help out some way." His feet automatically took him to the school, which was only a few blocks away to his luck. He scrambled up the stairs, his heart racing with exhilaration. Pushing the doors open, he found Ladybug standing in the middle of the gym.

"No, I could've sworn I saw it here..." She murmured to herself, "Was I imagining things?"

Adrien wanted to say something, but the words couldn't come out. She was right in front of him, all poised and confident while slightly leaning on her right leg. He couldn't function properly when she was around, sort of like a compass being pulled by a nearby magnet. "U-Uh," He stuttered, unable to string his words together. Ladybug managed to hear this and turned around only to be caught by surprise.

"H-Hello!" She stuttered back, awkwardly waving her hand and immediately placing it behind her back. "Adrien, was it? What brings you here on a weekend? I-It would undoubtedly suck if school you had-, I mean, you had school."

"I s-saw you here," Adrien nearly slapped himself in the face. Regain composure; you're an Agreste! He told himself. "And I was wondering if you needing any help..." He looked at her and instantly noticed that something was wrong.

Her eyes were tinged with red.

The only possibly way for her eyes to be so bloodshot is if she was crying... No, that couldn't be it. She was the all positive, cool headed and sophisticated Ladybug; there's no way a girl as elegant as her would cry. He took a step forward, and almost synchronized, she backed away. "Ah," She noticed what she did, "I'm sorry. No, I'm sure I'll be fine." She held up her hands. And Adrien froze.

She had no string.

It was there the last time they met, he could've sworn it. After all, she did try to show it to him. What did this mean? Did Ladybug also have no fate, since she didn't have a thread? Or was it actually that the string on his finger was actually connected to hers, and not Chloé's..? A sense of weight was lifted off his shoulders, and a sigh escaped his lips. What a sense of freedom it was to not worry about it anymore!

But then another thought sneaked in. If both of their strings were gone, what does that mean for them? That they will never end up with each other? He pushed the thought aside; no need to worry about that for now. "Are you sure? Because it seems as if you need someone to talk to," Adrien attempted to give Ladybug the most consoling smile he possibly could.

Ladybug looked around anxiously, making sure that no one was around, "I-I don't think I can talk to you about it."

Adrien gestured towards the green bench, "I'm sure I know a lot more than you think. Besides doing model shoots, being a straight A student tends to help," He tried to toss a bit of humor to lift her up. Ladybug gave a light laugh which tickled his heart.

"Alright, hear me out then," She made her way towards the bench and sat herself down. Adrien did as well, although his fists were clenched on his knees and they were extremely sweaty. He didn't have his cool demeanor like he usually does with Chat Noir, so Adrien felt as if he was in a bit of a tight spot.

"So what seems to be the trouble?"

Ladybug opened her mouth, but no words came out. She tilted her head, as if she was trying to figure out how to explain it. Adrien held back a chuckle; she was too adorable for him to handle. He could feel a blush growing on his face and looked down at his lap so she couldn't see. "It was around the time your principal was Akumatized," She began, "I got hit pretty bad and began seeing things. Especially this thing called a "red string". Have you heard of it?"

He nodded.

"Anyways, I recently figured out to where it led..." Her voice caught. She coughed, "Sorry. I figured out to where it led..." She tried to say it again, but Ladybug couldn't finish the sentence. Her blue eyes began to fill up with tears, and Adrien was afraid. He didn't entirely know how to comfort a crying superhero, but he was going to have to do his best.

"Led to where?" He asked calmly, placing a hand on her shoulder for support.

"T-To someone. Someone I didn't entirely want to be with," She choked up, the tears falling from her face and painting over her cheeks like watercolor so. "He was a good friend, a loyal partner, but just wasn't who I was expecting."

"There's nothing wrong with that," Adrien said, not finding anything wrong. "It's not your fault that the string ended up that way."

She shook her head, "That's not it." Ladybug looked up at Adrien, and he saw the fear and sadness hanging in her gaze, "I cut the string, Adrien. I cut it."

Cut.

It all made sense. Actually, it didn't. The string was to be indestructible; at most not possible to cut through.

"I didn't think the string would actually cut," She buried her face in her hands, "It didn't the last time I tried, so I was sure it wasn't going to happen again. It was absolutely selfish of me to even think about doing so." Her voice broke into sobs.

Then she cried.

And he held her.

---

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xoxo,
arisa