Sunset ^beta

It started with an itch in the back of her throat. She thought nothing of it at the time, because it was the middle of an akuma attack and Ladybug had just passed her up for being Queen Bee. Again.

Chloe was upset about his, certainly, but deep, deep down, she really couldn’t fault Ladybug for being so hesitant to use her as a hero. Chloe was selfish, and had mainly used her Miraculous so that she would have validation; validation from her mother, for she truly wished to be seen as extraordinary; validation from the people of Paris, who would finally see her as a hero instead of the brat that she knew she was; but most importantly, validation from Ladybug. Her hero. The only human being on the planet who could make her want to be better. Not like her mother, who made Chloe want to be nasty and cruel, so that maybe she could garner her attention for even a moment, but more kind and selfless.

Ladybug was amazing. She stood for everything that is just and good in the world. She was honorable in that she never held it against victims for being akumatized; she was faithful because she could have very easily let Paris rot, and run away with her Miraculous, never to return. That’s what Chloe would have done. Most importantly, Ladybug would save anyone. Even her, the brattiest bitch in all of Paris.

But right now, in this moment, Chloe felt like she would never be Queen Bee again. So many akumas where she could’ve helped, and yet she was left on her rooftop to watch powerlessly as others were chosen. Others got Miraculous, and used them again and again, while Chloe waited for a time that seemed it would never come. An opportunity long since passed, one that she had selfishly squandered.

Chloe wasn’t oblivious. She knew, from Ladybug’s face and attitude during akuma attacks, that Ladybug didn’t particularly like her. And now, since Chloe had shown just how selfish she was when she had gotten that Miraculous, she would never be Queen Bee. She would never have a chance to redeem herself. Ladybug would never like her.

It was just after she had this thought that Chloe was seized by powerful, hacking coughs. Her lungs were contracting so violently that they were practically pummeling her from the inside, finally ejecting a single petal from her throat.

She screamed.

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Her father made absolutely certain to get the best doctors that he could for his daughter. The diagnosis was unanimous among the doctors: Hanahaki disease.

Hanahaki disease occurs when the victim is in love with someone, but they feel that that love will never be reciprocated. It works by growing flowers within the lungs of the victim, who will begin to cough up petals and leaves. If the disease goes untreated long enough, then whole flowers may begin to appear. In its final stages, the victim’s airways will be constricted due to the excessive flower growth within their lungs, and they will begin to cough up blood, along with full flowers. Eventually, the victim dies of suffocation.

The only possible cures are to get the victim’s love reciprocated, or surgery that completely removes the flowers and all love for and of the victim’s love interest, and even sometimes their ability to love altogether.

Chloe could not do the surgery. There was no way. Without her love for Ladybug, she would be an awful brat again. She would be so far up her own ass that not even her mother could retrieve her - that’s how it had been before Ladybug was a superhero, anyways. Without her love for Ladybug, Chloe would have no desire to change and be better - she would always be awful.

Of course, the other option was a far more daunting task - Chloe only loved Ladybug as a hero, as an ideal. How to get Ladybug, one of the heroes of Paris, to respect her as a hero? To look up to her? It could never be done. Of course, Chloe’s feelings towards Ladybug were purely because Ladybug represented what she wanted to be. There was nothing romantic about this.

Right?

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For the next week, Chloe did her best to catch the attention of Ladybug, so that she could regain her Miraculous and be the kind of hero that Ladybug could be proud of.

There was no response at all. Chloe’s coughing only got worse, and she would have to go to school soon anyways, because the doctors had said that she could still attend until she began to cough blood. The class had been informed that she wasn’t contagious, so she still had to deal with the occasional close proximity of people that weren’t Sabrina or Adrien.

But school provided her the answer that she needed, in the form of Marinette Dupain-Cheng. Chloe had never particularly liked her, however, dire circumstances called for drastic measures.

Dupain-Cheng had been called an “Everyday Ladybug” by Adrien once again, because something something saved the fundraiser blah blah blah. It occurred to Chloe that the best way to get Ladybug to notice her and see her as the hero that she could be was by being nice and friendly. Ugh.

Her first real opportunity to be “nice” came when the emo chick Juleka came rushing into the bathroom when she just so happened to be filing her nails. Juleka’s makeup was practically ruined - it was smudged so much that there was makeup everywhere there shouldn’t be, and there was no makeup left in the places where it belonged. Juleka was clearly attempting to fix it, but her hands were shaking too much to apply it with any sort of accuracy.

Chloe graciously offered to help fix her appearance issues, and Juleka refused. Chloe watched as she struggled for a few minutes more, then gave up and allowed Chloe to work her makeup magic. A few moments later, Juleka’s makeup looked impeccable. Of course, it was still incredibly emo, but that was all that Chloe had at her disposal at the moment.

Juleka thanked Chloe and left the bathroom, while Chloe resumed filing her nails. Chloe felt something odd in her chest - it was a nice feeling that came when Juleka had thanked her for fixing the disaster that had been on her face.

It must have been a side effect of the Hanahaki.

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Chloe continued to be nice over the next two weeks. Occasionally, she would catch Dupain-Cheng looking at her oddly - was her niceness offending her or something? Ridiculous, utterly ridiculous. Chloe could be whoever she wanted to be without Dupain-Cheng butting her head in, and if she wanted to be a kind person, then she would be!

At the end of her second week of niceness, there was an akuma attack. Chloe hid in her room instead of trying to find Ladybug to get her Miraculous back - it was pointless anyways, and her coughing always got worse when she saw Ladybug pass her hotel and not even glance at her.

This attack, however, Ladybug actually landed on Chloe’s rooftop lounge - she could see her swing in on her yoyo. Chloe watched as Ladybug looked around - and then caught her eye.

Ladybug walked through the door to Chloe’s room. She walked towards Chloe with a sense of purpose, like she was absolutely certain that what she was doing was going to work. She had a gleam in her eye, the same gleam that Chloe had had the privilege of seeing a few times in person, because the look that Ladybug had in her eye in this moment was the same one that she got when she knew just what to do with a Lucky Charm - it was the look that she got when she could do anything.

“Chloe Bourgeois. This is the Miraculous of the Bee. Do you swear to use it for the good of Paris, and return it to me when the akuma is defeated?”

Ladybug was holding her hand out to Chloe, and within it was a black, wooden box with an intricate red design upon the top of it.

“Yes, Ladybug.”

She took the box and opened it, hugging Pollen when she came out of it.

Chloe transformed back into Queen Bee. She’d forgotten just how much she missed this - the feeling of being transformed was exhilarating.

The akuma was defeated easily, now that three heroes were fighting instead of two. Chloe had been controlled for a bit, a moment or two before the akuma was defeated, but that was alright - she felt that she had proven herself to be practically the perfect hero in spite of it. She returned the Miraculous and then returned to her room at the hotel. Her chest felt clearer than it had in a while. It seemed that being near Ladybug had kept the flowers at bay for a time - not that Chloe was complaining. Petals had been appearing more frequently, and it was becoming increasingly difficult to keep from coughing for more than a few minutes at a time.

When Chloe got into her room, she turned on the news, wondering how her reappearance as Queen Bee would be received by the general public.

When the TV screen came on, she was greeted by an image of Chat Noir giving Ladybug a kiss on the cheek.

Chloe’s heart dropped. Her chest tightened, but it didn’t feel like flowers. Chat Noir was just giving Ladybug la bise, why was she reacting like this? It didn’t make sense!

But it seemed far more intimate than just la bise. Numbly, Chloe heard the newscaster say that this photograph had been taken just before Chat Noir had run directly towards the akuma, while Ladybug was going to sneak over to the akumatized item and break it. It seemed that that was a goodbye kiss to Ladybug, because it looked like he might be in a lot of danger.

And Chloe had seen something like that after the Cure had been cast, hadn’t she? Before returning her Miraculous, she’d seen Ladybug giving Chat Noir a tight hug.

So Ladybug loved Chat Noir. That was fine. Chloe just wanted Ladybug to see her as a hero, an ideal. Nothing romantic. Chloe definitely wasn’t jealous. Everything was fine.

So why was Chloe coughing up flower after flower?

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Chloe had to stay out of school now. She coughed whole flowers now, and couldn’t stop coughing for even a whole minute now.

She couldn’t breathe, either. Not really. Her head hurt, and her fingers were numb. Her lungs took in enough air to keep her alive, but barely.

Now she knew what kind of flowers were in her lungs, at least. Gladiolus flowers, which meant strength of character, faithfulness, and honor. All of these were things that Ladybug was, to a tee.

Chloe was stuck in her room all day, with only Sabrina for company. Sabrina didn’t even show up a lot of the time, mostly just to drop off homework, because Chloe told her to go and have fun with the friends who could actually do things.

Chloe doubted that she’d ever be Queen Bee again, because she couldn’t be an effective hero like this. Therefore, she would probably never see Ladybug again, either.

The day that she realized this was the day that blood began to accompany her flowers.

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It was in the evening when it happened. Chloe had started going outside to watch the sunset a few days ago, because any one might be her last. She still would never do the surgery to save her, because if she didn’t love Ladybug, she might as well be dead anyways.

She had already realized that she loved Ladybug romantically. How else would she explain how it felt when that mangy cat flirted with her?

But now the object of her affections was flying through the air on her yoyo. She had been doing that a bit more lately, so there may not have been a real purpose for her movement tonight.

Chloe suspected that she might not be seeing Ladybug right now if, two days ago, Ladybug and Chat Noir said, on live television, that they were not a couple. It was cold comfort, what with all the flirting and banter that was a staple to the duo’s interactions with each other, but it seemed to appease the flowers. For a bit.

Now, Chloe was watching the sunset, and she was watching Ladybug. She was steadily swinging closer to where Chloe was sitting, until she landed on her lounge space.

Chloe sat up quickly. That was probably a bad idea, because the flowers didn’t like it and ejected themselves from Chloe’s lungs.

“Ladybug! What are you doing here? Do you - ” she was interrupted by a small coughing fit, “ - need Queen Bee again?” Chloe asked earnestly.

Ladybug shook her head no and settled herself on the chair beside Chloe.

“I’ve noticed the change in your behavior recently. How you’ve started being nicer to those around you. At first, I thought that it might just be some ploy to get a Miraculous again - but even after I let you be Queen Bee again, even though you were confined to your room due to some sickness, you still kept being nice. I ran into Sabrina yesterday, and I expected her to be with you, but you sent her off to be with people who weren’t sick. Who could do things with her. She was probably one of the only peers of yours who would have kept you company for as long as you wanted, and yet you sacrificed your happiness so that she could go and have more fun than you believed that she would have with you. I think you’ve truly changed for the better. I really admire you for that, Chloe.”

This - this was incredible! Chloe was ecstatic! Ladybug admired her, the biggest brat in Paris! Though, now, she supposed that she wasn’t the worst anymore.

“That’s not the reason I’m here, though. I’m here to tell you something else.” Ladybug took a deep, shaky breath. “Chloe, you’ve gone against everything that made you the person that you were, you’ve gone against the bad habits and the bad attitudes, to become someone that I could be proud to say that I chose to be a hero. Not only have you become someone that I’m proud to say is on my team, but also someone that I’m proud to say that I love. Chloe Bourgeois, will you make me the happiest superhero in the world and be my girlfriend?”

Ladybug was looking deep into Chloe’s eyes. Chloe’s heart had practically stopped. She couldn’t quite believe it. Ladybug, in all of her perfection, loved her?

“Yes!”

Chloe was grinning so widely that her cheeks hurt from the strain. She ran over to the seat where Ladybug was sitting, and hugged her tight and close. She leaned in close to Ladybug, stopping a few inches away from her lips. Ladybug softly smiled, and leaned in to close the gap herself. They pulled apart a few moments later.

Chloe had almost forgotten what it felt like to breathe properly.