"Weakness? Chat, what is he talking about?" He didn't get to answer as Sandman shoved him down onto a nearby car, straddling the hero's chest with his hands gripping tightly around Chat's threat. Chat's own hands wrapped around his attacker's neck in a futile attempt, wringing the skin as he dug his claws into the villain's flesh.

It was a battle of will.

Well, at least it was. Until Ladybug pulled Sandman off of him and onto the road. "You didn't really leave her protected. Did you Chat?" A coarse laugh escaped Sandman's swollen throat, a wild and psychotic look glinting in his deep brown eyes. With his raspy voice, he continued. "I mean, come on!" Did you forget I'm not alone Chat? Did you know, that while you left your precious princess stranded on that roof, that someone was watching you? Something?" Sandman let out another chuckle as the look of dread and realization washed over Chat Noir's face.

"Oh yes! That look, oh that look! That's a good look for you, Chat Noir."

"Princess? Who's he talking about-"

Ladybug didn't get to finish her sentence as her partner rushed forward, tackling Sandman to the ground. A sickening crunch came, followed quickly by a dull throbbing in his knuckles, but that didn't bother him as he held Sandman by the shoulders and snarled at him. If looks could kill, the glare that Chat was giving his enemy would have already killed Sandman.

"What did you do to her?!" Chat seethed in pure hatred. His hands shook as he violently jerked Sandman closer to his face as he repeated his question, yelling louder than he's ever done before. But this only made the teen beneath him guffaw into even more laughter.

"Like hell I will." Sandman spat, wheezing as he tried to calm himself down from his self-induced giggles. He was well aware of the claws digging into his shoulder blades. "By the time we get done with her, her pretty little body will be so scarred that no man, not even you, could love her let alone look at her." Watching the anger surge through Chat's tense body and pour out in thick waves, Sandman continued with a smirk.

"Or we might just torture her. To death." Chat Noir had reacted so fast, he hadn't even had the time to register the fact that his leather cover fist was connected to Sandman's face before he retracted his arm and sucker punched him in the stomach with his other. He watched the brown eyes widen in surprise, not giving Sandman any time react he delivered a swift kick with his right into Sandman's side. The villain was flung as if he weighed no more than a feather into the same apartment they had previously broken into on accident.

"Chat!" He ignored Ladybug's cry as he advanced on towards the other boy. He heard a faint 'Lucky Charm!' Be called but he acted nothing of it as he continued forward to the billowing dust the shattered bricks had made as they split into tiny pieces beneath Sandman.

Speaking of the devil, with a groan he had launched himself back at Chat, his arms looping round the blond boy's torso as his momentum shoved Chat back a few steps who had quickly regained his balance quick enough to see Sandman's knee jutting up to meet his rib cage.

Suddenly, hundreds of white feathers began to float around them, causing them both to sneeze at a ridiculous rate.

"He's allergic to feathers?!" Chat saw the purple magic flood over Sandman's body before he returned back to Jace as Ladybug stood proudly behind him, swinging her yoyo to catch the akuma and purify it.

The spotted heroine held out a fist but Chat ignored it as he began to interrogate Jace, his hands curled angrily around the confused teen's collar.

"Where is she?"

"What? Where is who?"

"Where's Marinette?!" The grip on his shirt tightened as Chat glared harshly at his classmate the hatred he felt for him radiating off of his body.

"Marinette? Why would I know?"

"Chat-" once again she was cut off, but by something different. She was cut off by a scream. A girl's scream to be more precise. And one that Chat was all too familiar with.

"Marinette!" His grip was released on the teen as he darted off to find the source, Ladybug swinging closely behind him before turning away, claiming she was about to detransform. Coming across the Seine River, there Marinette was, hanging from Mireille's grip, an akumatized Mireille. She was dangling above the Seine, a look of worry in her eyes as she glanced down at the rushing water below her.

"Your the reason Jace doesn't love me, Marinette!" Little surges of electricity flickered out of Mireille's yellow eyes and suddenly the river had more powerful and stronger bursts of rapids beneath them.

"Stop it!" Chat cried out, running to Marinette's aid just before Mireille had released her, wind spiralling dangerously around the akuma as it formed a cyclone.

Didn't we already have a weather akuma?

He quickly threw out his question as he dived in after his flailing Marinette, into the murky water.

"Chat!" He could here her gurgled cry as her head bobbed above the water before a rapid crashed down on her and forced her back under. Swimming and trying to use his night vision, to no avail as he swam against the current to get to her.

He can't break his promise. He had to save her. He had to protect her. Running out of air in his lungs, he had to return to the surface to take a deep breath before returning back under, reaching blindly for Marinette. His hand clasped around something soft, to what he would soon realize was her wrist, and tugged it strongly to his chest, bringing her body along with it. Wrapping his arms around her waist protectively he swam up. With much difficulty he began to swim to the edge of the river, laying her cold body against the cement as he panted beside her.

"Marinette, it's okay. I've got you." Receiving no reply, he turned at her worried. Her lips were already blue, her skin looking paler than usual. But one thing really shocked him. The fact that her chest, was no longer rising and falling.

Reacting quickly, thinking back to what he had learned for the year he became a lifeguard, he placed his hands on top of her still chest and began to push down thirty times. Getting nothing, he plugged her nose with his fingers as he covered her mouth with his, breathing air into her lungs.

It's the kiss of life. It has to work. It has too.

He tirelessly repeated these actions for minutes on no end, hot and salty tears streaming down his face as he continued to give the girl he loved CPR.

"Wake up, Marinette! Wake up!"

"C-Chat..." a hand gripped his shoulder as he turned to see Ladybug staring at him in pity and grief. "I'm so sorry... if only I was here quicker."

"What are you saying?... she-she's not dead! She can't be! She's not dead!" He continued to attempt at bringing her back, and as he keeled over to kiss her once more and give her oxygen, he noticed something glistening against the cement. Something red.

Cradling her head gently to his chest, he finally saw what was quite possibly the final blow for his girl. A red hole was on the side of her head, just above her pigtail and blood was slowly leaking from it.

"No... no no no no no." He kept chanting the word under his breath as if it were a mantra, tears silently falling down his face as finally felt the coldness her skin had brought.

"Chat-"

"No! MARINETTE! COME BACK! You can't be gone! You said we'd be together forever! WHY DID YOU LIE TO ME?!" His wails filled the city of Paris, rain drops slowly pitter pattering onto the cement before a full on sleet came, soaking the three bodies.

It was as if the city had heard his heart break, as everything went silent, except for Chat's pained screams. His throat tore at the loud sounds leaving his mouth as he held her closely to him, his head tilted up to the dark sky as he openly sobbed in front of his partner.

"Save her Ladybug! Purify the akuma and save her!" He turned to her with pleading eyes, his grip tightening on the cold body of his love. The pain being too much for Ladybug to bear, she turned away, staring solemnly at the sidewalk.

"I'm sorry Chat... The Miraculous of Creation can only do so much, but not even it has the power to bring back the dead... I-"

"Just do it! You don't know that! You don't-you don't-you don't understand! You don't know how much she means to me, Ladybug! I LOVE HER! SO SAVE HER!"

The cleansing light filled the city in a desperate attempt, fixing all of the damage and calming the fast river. Chat watched hopefully as the ladybugs surrounded Marinette's body, circling around her before disappearing.

"M-Marinette? Marinette, are you okay?" He jolted her slightly in an attempt to get her to open her pretty blue eyes.

But they never did.

"Why aren't you waking up? Marinette, wake up!"

"Chat... the ladybugs only healed her wound... I'm sorry... but she can't be brought back." The rain continued to pour on them as he stared painfully at her peaceful face, her blue lips parted slightly.

"No..." his thumb swiped under her eye, brushing off the droplets of rain that had collected there. "No... please."

•••••

He had been there. By there, he means he went to her funeral and watched her be buried beneath in the ground. It was too nice, too beautiful of a day for her funeral. It was as f the universe hated him, and was mocking him for not being able to protect her. The sun shined down on him as he dropped to his knees at her tombstone, a dozen of red roses in his hands, tied together by a red string.

A red string... I never got to see if ours ever got mended, huh?

He smiled ruefully at the grave, his grip tightening around the bouquet he had for her.

"Adrien, dude. I know you miss Marinette, but you've been here for three days... you're freaking us all out." Adrien shrugged off his best friend, gently laying the bouquet next to her stone.

"If I die before you Nino... I want you to put me next to Marinette."

"What?"

"I said, I want you to put me next to Marinette. I want to be by the one I love's side for the rest of the afterlife, so please do it, okay?"

"Adrien, you're scaring me man. Why are you talking about dying?" He turned to his best friend and faked a smile.

"It's nothing, don't worry about. You're right, I shouldn't be here any longer." Without another word he turned and left the cemetery that Marinette was in.

•••••

"Adrien, you're being stupid! Don't do it!"

"I'm sorry Plagg. I just can't."

"Adrien no-"

•••••

Breaking news! Adrien Agreste, just now discovered as Chat Noir, has drowned!
•••••

Tears ran down Ladybug's face as she read the letter set against the ledge of the bridge where he had jumped off, a silver ring holding the paper down.

I'm sorry LB. I know you'll be sad, and that Plagg will be pissed off at me, and Nino will be upset, but I had to. I couldn't take it, the guilt of not being able to save her, and not having her at my side- it hurts. Well, at least it did. I know people will find out that I'm Chat Noir, but I'm completely okay with that. I'm sorry if I wasn't who you were expecting. I wanted to tell you when I loved you, and I still did when you stayed as my best friend as I moved on to Marinette, but I knew that you didn't want to.

One of my many regrets, was not telling Marinette while I had the chance. I loved her, and still do, and wanted to do everything with her- including get married and having kids.

I also regret not being able to say sorry to Plagg, and everyone else, so I'm going to write them here, if that's okay with you.

Plagg, I'm sorry. I love you so much buddy, no matter how I acted. But I know you'll move on soon and be able to get a knew holder just like you've always wanted. I wish you all the luck and hope you can get a better one then me.

Nino, I'm sorry I never told you. I love you too, and I want to thank you for always being there with me, even though you had a crush on Marinette at one point, it's okay. You don't need to be sad about me, because you still have Alya.

Dad, I don't have much to say to you, unfortunately. I love you, so much, but I don't know what I have to be sorry for, other than the fact that you'll need to find a new cover model, so I guess I'm sorry.

And Ladybug... I'm sorry you lost your partner. I'm sorry I can't be there for you anymore to watch you back, and I am sorry for this most of all. I love you too, and you will always be my best friend.

Adrien.

•••••

The rushing wind passed his ears as his hair whipped wildly. His heart was pounding erratically, knowing he was going to be dying, but yet he still couldn't wipe that smile off his face.

He gets to be with her-

Cliffhanger for the next book, which will be coming out sometime after Thanksgiving! The book will be called Stitches!

I admit, at times I did grow bored with this book, but I still love it with all my heart. Thank you all for sticking with me this long and for reading my books! I love you so much!

Until next time, peace!