Chapter 1

Her heart stopped.

It must have. There was no other explanation. Why else would everything seemingly slow down, why else would it feel like she couldn't breathe, couldn't see? Why else would it feel like she was dying?

In the back of her mind, something noted that their battle just ended, that Hawkmoth was gone, that it was finally over.

But it didn't matter, nothing mattered. Not anymore. Not after He fell.

Marinette gently cradled her unmoving partner close to her chest, "Chat," She whispered, hoping, wishing, praying that somehow, someway he'd just get up and answer with his cheeky grin, that he'd let out a large whoop of victory and hug her hard, that he'd….that he'd breathe.

"C-Chaton," She shook him a little, her own voice breaking, stubborn tears refusing to fall, blurring her vision, "Kitty, please." She asked again, Chat Noir never refused her when she asked like that.

But he didn't move.

"Please," She tried to say something more but she choked up, sobs that she'd pushed back finally broke free. Her chest heaved as she cried holding him close, tears mixed with blood dripped down her face, "Please, Please." She repeated with each breath, "Please, Please.."

She begged whatever power was out there, begged them to give her back what was hers. To let the cure work one last time. Just once.

Tears fell unbidden, forming hot trails over her cheeks.

She'd give anything. If it meant fighting Hawk Moth every day for the rest of their lives, she'd take it, as long as it was with him.

Please.

Who knew how long she cried. It could be minutes or hours. It didn't matter. Nothing mattered.

"Ladybug...Marinette?" A hesitant voice called behind her before a gasp reached her ears. "Oh, no."

Marinette didn't move. She couldn't. She couldn't leave him.

"Is he-?" BunnyX whispered" Counter Clockwise." There was a flash of light and another small gasp probably from Fluff. Footsteps echoed in the empty lair as Alix came to stand next to Marinette.

"Marinette, I'm so so sorry..I….I..."

The tears had dried over her cheeks but her throat closed up again, eyes burning as she tried to find the words to say something, anything. When she couldn't, she unclenched her fist instead, a small object fell to the ground-a purple brooch. She curled her fingers into Chat's overshirt again.

The small clang of the brooch seemed to ring in the empty room. Alix slumped down next to her, a hand dropped on her shoulder, "You-You got the miraculous," She softly said, looking down at the object they'd been searching for for years.

Marinette wanted to move away, to push her away, to scream, to cry, but the words still didn't come out. She couldn't bring herself to do anything, like doing something would make this real, like she could just pretend that this was a nightmare if she just stopped if everything just stopped.

"Marinette," The hand on her shoulder shook her slightly, then a bit more persistently, "Marinette, Look at me."

She didn't want to listen, wanted to ignore Alix, but that small persistent voice in the back of her head wouldn't let her abandon her team like that. So she raised her tired bloodshot eyes to look at her friend, not saying anything but showing that she was listening.

"You need to cast the miraculous cure." Alix told her not unkindly, her voice low but firm, "We managed to get all the people to safety but half of Paris is on fire, and the other half is flooded " She pointed vaguely outside, ", even if the Akuma and the Sentimonsters have disappeared, we need Ladybug." She glanced at Chat, her own eyes saddened," Let's fix this, Bug."

Marinette looked back at Chat, Her one arm under his head and the other over his still chest, she raised a shaking hand and pushed the blonde strands away from his forehead," There's-" She choked a little and had to take a deep breath, " There's no….No cure. Not for…" She trailed off, tears clouding her vision again, " For Paris, Yes but not...not…." She couldn't continue, but she knew Alix understood by her soft 'No.'

Alix stilled then the ever headstrong hero, shook her head in denial, "Don't say that. Don't. It'll work, Marinette." She told Marinette," It always does."

"Not for sacrifices," Marinette breathed out," He...He traded them. He.." She closed her eyes, causing the tears to fall.

"But-But Adrien...It has to work," Alix's shoulders slumped, " It's Adrien." She said like that made all the sense, and somehow it did. Her kitty almost always found a way out of such situations, time and time again..but not this time.

Marinette took a deep breath, steeling her nerves, pushing down the flood of emotions. Ladybug was needed right now, she had to hold herself together at least until she completed her duty.

"Go," She said, her low voice sounding hoarse," G-Get the miraculous. Please. Alix."

"Get the-What do you mean?"

Marinette tilted her head towards a scorch mark on the other side of the repository, where a pair of earrings and a ring lay.

Alix didn't waste a single second wondering what the miraculous were doing on the floor next to a glass coffin or why the room looked like a rampage went through it, she just grabbed the miraculous and brought them to Marinette. She knelt in front of her friend and held out her hand, both the miraculous resting on her palm.

With one shaky hand, Marinette put on the earrings. Tikki appeared but Marinette transformed before the kwami could say anything. The pink light washed over the blue-eyed girl until it was Ladybug cradling her partner instead.

Ladybug mumbled the words, "Miraculous Ladybug,", they felt bitter on her lips even as the swarm of ladybugs disappeared off in the distance.

There was no outward change for a second, there was stillness, a calmness that wasn't there before then Ladybug could feel the bones in her leg resetting, and in her arms, the white of Chat's outer shirt became spotless once more the blood disappearing.

She waited. Despite knowing it wouldn't work, she still waited, for a breath, for a heartbeat that didn't come.

Marinette let go of the transformation, not once moving from her place beside Chat. Tikki was quiet as she flew over to rest on Marinette's shoulder, her eyes teary while exhaustion took hold.

Marinette looked at the other miraculous with unseeing eyes, "We didn't win." She caressed the ring with a finger, answering the question she knew was in Alix's mind," not really," Even as some might perceive this to be a victory, they both knew it was everything but.

Alix stayed silent, letting their leader think and ready to take any actions her friend might think necessary. Marinette's mind whirled as she thought over every option they had left.

Bunnyx could go back and warn them, Marinette thought, warn them who Hawkmoth was-what he would do and then-then...then what? She couldn't guarantee that this wouldn't happen all over again, not even if Bunnyx guided them all the way.

Not unless she herself was there, but Bunny X's powers were meant to preserve the timeline, not change it. If they changed the timeline, this moment wouldn't exist and if this moment didn't exist how could there be a Marinette from this time to go back. They'd both disappear the moment they caused the slightest change to the future, it wouldn't work.

A fleeting thought entered Marinette's mind, the butterfly miraculous, Alix, time-breaker, but it was pushed away as soon as she thought of it. She did not want to go down the same path Hawkmoth did.

"Marinette," Tikki whispered as her eyes stared sorrowfully at the young man laying in her arms," Plagg."

Marinette knew what Tikki meant but she didn't want to wear the ring. It wasn't hers. It was Chats. Chat had to wear it, not her. But as Alix gently took her hand and slid the ring on her finger, she didn't argue. She was tired but she knew when she was being unfair. It wasn't Tikki or Plagg's fault, she couldn't punish them for this and Plagg, Plagg deserved to know that... that...

Plagg let out a low mournful yowl when he saw his kid, he dropped down and curled up on Chat's chest, whimpering. Tikki rushed to join her partner, she cuddled close to the other Kwami, trying to comfort him in his distress.

"Tikki," Marinette finally uttered, "P-Please." Her throat closed up, she couldn't say anything more but hoped that her Kwami understood.

She was Marinette's last hope. If anyone could do something, it had to be the goddess of creation, right?

"Marinette, I would bring him back if I could but sacrifices have their own rules but maybe..."Tikki looked conflicted only for a second before she looked up at Marinette and then at Chat, her face filled with determination," There's something." She finally said, "It's dangerous, but there's a chance it might work."

"Anything." Marinette told the Kwami, the haze in her mind clearing a bit," Anything." She repeated, tightening her hold on Chat.

"Then we'll need all the other Kwami, especially Kaalki and Fluff, and there's a book back home that explains the process." Tikki looked lost in thoughts," It's been so long since we've attempted something like this." Her words made Plagg look up, he was teary-eyed.

"It could go wrong,", it looked like it hurt him to object but for once he was the voice of reason,

"I could also go right,"

It caused Plagg to go silent as he looked at his kid, then he nodded in agreement.

"We need the other Kwami," Marinette told Alix who had been uncharacteristically silent this whole time, listening to them with her whole focus.

"I'll get the Kwami and send them with Fluff to the bakery, they'll be waiting when you get there" She declared," I know where Max and the others are, or more precisely where they were, but that doesn't matter, I'll find them." Alix stood up rolling back her shoulders," You'll fix this," she said with a confidence that Marinette wished she could reflect," You'll see."

"I'll fix this." Marinette softly repeated before shaking her head and trying again a bit firmly," I'll fix this." . because I don't know what I'll do if I can't . She didn't say that but it didn't make it any less true.

"Fluff, Clockwise!" Fluff was sucked in from where she was staring at the butterflies, BunnyX sent one last reassuring look at Marinette then with a quick shout of 'Burrow' she left to look for Max and the others.

"We should go too," Tikki told Marinette, "The sooner we do this the better, the more this future is solidified the harder it will be to change.

"Ï can't….", She shook her head," I can't focus enough for the yoyo." She hated to admit.

Tikki grabbed the purple brooch from the ground and held it out to Marinette," Then, you need wings." Marinette unwittingly moved back a little. Seeing the look on her face, Tikki continued," You could modify your ladybug suit but that takes practice and time, time that we don't have. So, Unify us. It'll be okay, I promise."

Marinette moved as if on auto-pilot, transforming, unifying the miraculous in a state of mindless motion.

The soft throbbing of wings behind her moved her hair, that remained the only sound around her for a while. Marinette with no little reluctance moved back and gingerly moved her hands to a better position to pick up Chat, there was no way she was leaving him behind.

Her legs felt numb, she didn't think she could even walk if she wanted to, so it was a good thing that her wings seemed to have a mind of their own.

She didn't stay there a second more than she had to, her wings flapped and with a powerful burst of air that broke the glass ceiling of the dreaded room, Marinette flew out.

Xxxx

Kaalki and Fluff were waiting for them with the other Kwami when Marinette landed on the balcony. Tikki flew down the latch to look through the book she had mentioned, she grabbed Noroo on her way down.

Marinette carefully placed Chat on the deck chair, smoothing back his long hair. She remembered when he had decided to grow them out, she had teased him for days. Marinette moved back and sat on the ground, resting her back against the table as she stared at him.

If she looked at him hard enough, she could almost imagine that he was just asleep. She could imagine the way his chest would move up and down, the way he'd purr if she ran her fingers through his hair just the right way, the way his cheeks would flush red as she jokingly kissed his nose, the way his eyes would widen and his lips would curl up in a smug smile when she confessed that-that-

Her heart clenched as she realized that she never told him, not really. She was sure he knew, how could he not? But she never told him.

The Kwami flew up the trapdoor before she could break down again. Tikki was explaining what they needed to do. Marinette turned her attention towards her Kwami instead. They needed to save Chat...they needed to save Adrien. She needed to stay focused.

From what she could gather, Fluff would open the burrow, Kaalki would form a pathway, the other Kwami will help stabilize the pathway, Plagg would somehow extract her consciousness (that part sent a few chills down her back), Tikki would give her consciousness the capability to merge with its past self. At Least that's what Marinette could gather, she was too tired to ask any follow-up questions like she usually would.

Marinette wondered how different this could be. How happy she once would have been to know that two of the most important people in her life were the same person. But now, she tried to ignore it as much as she could. It was better to not feel anything at all, or it might be the emotions that end up killing her.

Mariette leaned over Chat, "I'll save you Minou" She whispered to him kissing his forehead, she ignored the fact that his skin felt noticeably colder. "Okay," She said to Tikki, "I'm ready," She squared her shoulders. Tikki went to get everyone in position. They had to get the timing just right.

The Kwami's formed a ring in the middle of the balcony.

"Okay, Fluff, Kaalki, Open the doorway."

There was a flash of light as a small burrow-like doorway opened midair, the white of the burrow was surrounded by a neon green glow of the voyage portal. Beams of light arose from the hands of other Kwami seemingly absorbed into the doorway.

"I'll try not to hurt ya, Buglet," Plag said seriously devoid of his usual antics.

"Promise me not to stop either way, Plagg" She met his eyes as an agreement passed between them, She was willing to suffer anything if it meant a chance to get him back. Plag nodded. Tikki flew near him to join their hands, the two Kwami sharing a worried but determined look.

Marinette chose her last view to be that of Chat, of Adrien. Tikki and Plag glowed brighter and brighter until their glow encompassed her view completely. The last thing Marinette felt was the touch of two small hands on her forehead, and the world faded to nothing.

Hello everyone,

I've had the idea of Marinette traveling back in time to save Chat for ages and I finally got the time to put it into words. I really hope all of you enjoy this and I promise the angst won't stay as strong in the rest of the story. I'd love to know:

1) What did you think about the first chapter?

2) What do you expect/want to happen?

and last but not least, Thank you so much for reading. I love to hear your thoughts even if it is a one-line.

-MS