Well.

Marinette: This isn’t a date. I said I was going to the store.

Chat Noir: Then why did you invite me?

“Chat! No!”

He was familiar with that echo. A scream that usually cut off into nothing when he ultimately faded, but buzzed in his head once she brought him back. It stung when she hurt, but it was proof that he’d saved her. He never minded that it was at the expense of himself.

It echoed louder in here, wherever ‘here’ was. Not nothingness, but dark. The smell of salt lay heavy in flat air. It didn’t take him long to realize that he was standing in water up to his ankles.

Like the sudden flicker of a lightbulb, the moon appeared above him, turning the black landscape a hazy white. When he looked up, he saw the crack in the rock, like a grimace of pain.

“Where…am I?”

“A nightmare,” his own voice answered. The tiny hairs on the back of his neck stood on end.

Then, he saw the monster.

All white, but for the blue eyes peering out of the mist. His head was cocked, his tail swinging like a metronome behind him, gaze unmoving, focused. With those eyes on him, Chat felt as though he couldn’t move an inch.

“You’re not Marinette.”

Chat blinked. “Marinette? What does she have to do with this?”

His counterpart blinked right back and even smiled, too wide, gaze suddenly too narrow. The swishing of the tail becomes playful. I know something you don’t know.

“This is her nightmare, of course. You are her nightmare, Chat Blanc.”

“No…no, that can’t be.” Adrien shook his head. “She has no reason to be afraid of me. Marinette…she has to know I would never hurt her.”

Even as he spoke, the words felt wrong, even if he meant them. But a question rose in his mind, Why Marinette? Why would she feel this way? And as he stared at the white cat in front of him, that eldritch grin turning into something even more mocking as the creature laughed.

“No, of course not. You love her. Your Princess. Your Bugaboo. Your Lady.”

The realization cracked him over the head and shattered like glass, the pieces raining down over his eyes. Of course. Of course it was her. But the elation he always thought he’d feel was immediately buried in horror, building up in his throat like bile as he finally looked around at the ruined world. The water began to rise, icy fingers creeping up his legs while the nightmare continued to laugh.

“Look around!” he cried. “This is what happens when Ladybug falls in love!”

The water was rising faster, already up to Chat’s waist. “No! We’ve always been stronger together, this wouldn’t happen! She doesn’t have to be afraid!”

“It’s already happened once, silly cat. She knows it could happen again.” The nightmare was unfazed by the rising water, now lapping at their collarbones, crawling its way up their necks. Chat tilted his head up, trying to stay above the rippling waves.

“I won’t let it!”

The monster’s cackle filled the space, echoing against the sky. Chat was forced to look up at the broken moon as the water rose up his chin, threatening to push him under.

“I won’t let this happen, Ladybug! I swear!”

Chat caught his breath just in time. The water overtook him, swallowing his counterpart’s laughter first and then his consciousness, leaving him in darkness once more.

Chat Noir drew a long, desperate breath when he finally opened his eyes again. The sky was blue above him, the moon no longer in sight. The akuma was gone, and those who’d been vanished were once again wandering the streets, relief clear on every face.

Blue eyes found Chat’s, and his breath escaped his lungs again. There she was. His Lady. Marinette.

“Chat, are you okay? You had me so worried!”

He took her offered hand, and tried not to let his knees shake when he stood. He couldn’t remove his gaze from hers, awed, like he was seeing her for the first time.

He swallowed before replying, “I’m okay, Milady.”

She sighed in relief. “Good! Where did Dreamwalker send you, anyway?”

Chat looked at her a long time, his tongue refusing to obey him. Did he tell her? How could he? What did he say? What could he do?

He swallowed again. Took a deep breath. It was hard to keep meeting her gaze.