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Bunnyx’s appearance could mean only one thing: something had gone wrong. Very, very wrong.
The memory of Cat Blanc pushed itself to the surface as it always did, and Ladybug pushed it down again. ‘What happened?’ she asked, a little breathless.
Bunnyx lowered her eyes. ‘Something…terrible.’
There was a dramatic pause on the rooftop where they stood on that fine afternoon. Ladybug shared a look with Cat Noir, who got that irritated expression he sometimes did when he was impatient.
‘Are you planning on actually sharing crucial information, this time?’ Cat asked.
Ladybug hit her forehead with the heel of her hand. ‘Cat Noir….’ She trailed off when she saw a shadowy figure come through the time burrow behind Bunnyx. ‘Cat N-oiiiir….’
Their new companion turned to her and gave a bemused half-smile, and she slapped a hand over her mouth, cheeks flaming.
‘Are you…,’ her Cat Noir ventured, his mouth hanging open, perhaps unable to work through the rest of that question.
Future Cat Noir grinned back. ‘Yep.’
Bunnyx elbowed him with the familiarity of good friends. ‘Talking to yourself is a sign you’re getting old.’
He laughed – so like her Cat Noir, but heartier, throatier….
Sexier.
Ladybug’s face got hotter…
…like him…
…and she spun around quickly so no one would see.
‘Everything okay, M’lady?’ Young Cat asked from behind her.
‘I’m frine!’ she yelped.
‘…frine?’
‘Flan! Fine!’
Omigod, is there a lucky charm that can make me disappear and be forgotten forever, please.
She took a deep breath and turned back around to face the others, allowing Bunnyx to take over, giving explanations and instructions. Ladybug didn’t hear a word of it because she was too busy staring…at him.
He was taller – broader in the chest, too. Not that Young Cat didn’t look good for his age. She’d often thought that whoever he was without the costume, he was definitely athletic. But this Cat had filled out in all the right places. His hair was slightly longer – soft and curling at the tips of each spike. His costume was mostly the same, but the bell was gone and so was that stylised cockiness. In its place was poise – quiet confidence – and keen green eyes staring…
Right. At. Her.
She blushed but couldn’t look away. It was like he was surrounded in pink bubbles, like one of those ridiculous animes Alya made her watch.
Omigod, I’m living in a cartoon.
She tried to read the thoughts in his face, but it was impossible. Dangerous, too. What might she learn that she wasn’t ready to know? Not just because he was from the future but because he wasn’t her playful teenage kitty. He was a grown man, in his mid-twenties at a guess…a man who looked at her like he knew things about her.
‘That sound good to you?’ Young Cat asked suddenly.
She jumped. To her horror, it seemed the question was directed at her. Future Cat’s mouth twitched at the corners.
‘I, er….’ She swallowed. ‘Sure!’
Young Cat nodded, seemingly oblivious to her private turmoil. ‘Then let’s go!’ He launched himself up on his staff and catapulted into the sky with Bunnyx following after.
Future Cat ironically stayed behind with Ladybug, who stood on the rooftop, staring blankly after the others.
‘Should we, um…follow them?’ she asked.
‘Nah. You just agreed to stay behind.’
‘I did?’
He laughed that same throaty laugh, sending a shiver down her spine that she hoped he hadn’t seen but knew he absolutely had.
‘You have no idea what’s going on, do you.’ He delivered this as a statement rather than a question.
‘I, um….’ She swallowed again. How was it possible that Cat Noir got to be this hypnotising? ‘Are you really him?’
He glanced in the direction the others had left. ‘Your old partner?’ He looked back at her and nodded, now wearing a more familiar Cat Noir smile on his face. And something else. A kind of tenderness she didn’t think she’d seen before – like she was a cherished memory he held in his mind and took out from time to time to warm him up on cold nights. ‘I forgot how flustered you could become at that age.’
She blinked. Flustered? When has Cat Noir ever seen me flustered? Adrien, sure, but Cat?
Before she could take that thought any further, Cat cleared his throat. ‘I promised you I wouldn’t interact too much with you while I was here, but I think you knew I couldn’t resist.’
There were so many instances of you in that statement that she was, for a moment, confused. ‘We’re still partners in the future?’
He shook his head like she should know better. ‘You and me against the world, Milady!’
‘Yeah, but…even so many years on?’
Cat nodded and parted his lips, like he might add something to that thought, but then sealed them again, burying his secrets.
For a hot, terrible moment, it was obvious from his eyes that he knew she was staring at his mouth – but they were mercifully interrupted by the reappearance of their other two companions.
Young Cat bowed deeply, then straightened. ‘Never fear, M’lady. I have saved the day, once again.’
Future Cat appeared to be smirking at his former self. ‘Not quite. My turn, now.’
Bunnyx slapped him on the back. ‘Good luck!’
‘That’s Ladybug’s department. I’m all style.’ He winked back at her before leaping off the building.
She flushed hard – and then Young Cat was in front of her. ‘Are you…have you been flirting with my future self?’
‘Whaaaat??? I would never.’
Okay, that reaction might have been a little strong.
‘In your dreams, Cat.’ She shoved him playfully, trying to ignore the thoughts she now had about how muscular his chest would be someday, or the angle of his jawline, or….
He landed back on the rooftop with them and announced to Bunnyx, ‘Mission accomplished! Time to go home.’
Okay, some things never changed.
Bunnyx grinned at him, then at the younger pair. ‘Always fun to see you both again, mini-heroes. We’d better scoot before we mess up the timeline any more than we already have.’ She saluted them, then drew a new portal, leaping through with Future Cat just behind, before the portal sealed and the teenagers were alone again.
Cat Noir threw an arm around Ladybug’s shoulder. ‘You know, you don’t need to wait ten years. If you like me so much in the future, why don’t we skip all the time in between and start dating now?’
Ladybug gently removed his arm. ‘Some things are worth waiting for, kitty.’ She smiled at him and threw her yo-yo, leaping off the room with the warmth of his arm like an extra layer of magic under her costume.