bonus prompt: I'm only brave enough to say how I feel when I think you can't hear it. (Thunderstorm? Fireworks? Rock concert? Roller coaster? Drowned out by the sound of Adrien's shower? etc, your pick.)
Thunder crashed, the Seine overflowed, and Ladybug couldnātsee Adrien in the river. She swam up to the surface, took a gaspingbreath, and dove back in.
The current was fast and rough, the river water cloudy fromdirt and debris from the akuma-induced storm, and it was so much harder than itshould be to findā
Adrien, her Adrien, floating and tangled in impracticalhaute couture and not moving.
Ladybug swam faster, hooking her arm around his waist so shecould tug him up into howling winds and choppy waves. Pointing his face to thesky, she quickly threw out her yoyo and snagged a bridge railing.
A hard yank sent them both flying out of the river, Adriencold and limp in Ladybugās arm, and it canātāthis canātāthis couldnāt be happening.
Her feet hit the pavement hard, then her knees as she carefullylaid him out on the ground. The streets were deserted; everyone was takingshelter from the storm, and Chat Noir was nowhere in sight. It was just her andAdrien and not a single breath between them.
āPlease,ā she said, pressing two fingers to his neck andsobbing when she felt nothing. Overlapping her hands on his chest, she leanedover and started doing chest compressions. āPlease donāt do this, Adrien. Wakeup. Wake up.ā
Thirty compressions; no change. Tilting his head andpinching his nose with a shaking hand, Ladybug gave him a breath, two, beforecompressing his chest again.
āYou canāt die yet, we have a physics test tomorrow,ā shepleaded. āYou promised to help us study. You canāt let us down.ā Two breaths,back to compressions. āNino and Alya and your dad. You canāt leave them. Wakeup!ā The cycles were blurring together, and so was her sight. āIām not lettingyou go, Adrien. I havenāt even told you how much Iā¦I love you. So you canātdie. You canāt, pleaseāā
A gurgle, and suddenly Adrien was rolling over and coughingout a lungful of water. He was shivering and dazed, his wet hair and clothessticking to his skin, but he was alive.
āCan you breathe?ā she asked, one hand on his back to feelhis shuddering inhale. Ladybug tried not to collapse in relief when he nodded.
Adrien turned his head to look at her with tired eyes,taking her other hand between his and squeezing.
āThanks,ā he rasped, his smile as weak as his grip.
Ladybug sniffed, wiping the tears from her eyes before givingin and wrapping him in her arms.
āLetās get you out of the rain,ā she said, lifting him tocover up the motion of her hug.
But it didnāt matter. Adrien hugged her back as Ladybug ran forthe nearest building, his face buried in her shoulder and muffling his words.