Summary: When the fire breaks on the roofs of Notre Dame there’s not much Ladybug and Chat Noir can do. No jewel in Master Fu’s case can assist them today. But then they are reminded that even in the darkest times there’s always hope. Hope as fragile as the wings of a butterfly, yet powerful enough to vie with fate.
A sincere thank you to @tempomental-fanfics for beta-reading this story, as well as to Tempo, @lilaflyy and Remasa for brainstorming with me.
Tears stung her eyes and rolled down her mask and cheeks, marking their path with sooty lines. She no longer knew if they came from the smoke or from her helplessness. Because Ladybug failed Notre Dame, she failed Paris for the first time in years.
Chat grabbed her hand, grounding her firmly in place when she wanted to return to the roof once again.
‘We’re superheroes, my Lady,’ he whispered hoarsely. He got his fill of smoke in the last hour or so. ‘But we’re not fireproof.’
She clenched her teeth and squeezed her eyes shut to stop the tears from coming.
‘This is beyond us now,’ Chat Noir said. His thumb rubbed soothing circles over her forearm.
She didn’t notice when she drowned in his embrace, powerless and defeated. He held her and purred softly under his breath until her shoulders stopped shaking and her weeping subsided to the occasional sniff.
‘You’re almost out of time again, Bug,’ Chat whispered into her ear at the fourth beep of her miraculous. ‘Tikki needs to recharge. You both need to rest.’
