Chapter Text
Marinette blinked in confusion. But it was Chat Noir who spoke first.
“Lila?” he said, disbelief coloring his tone. Marinette was inclined to share it. Sure, Lila had still been angry after Marinette had apologized, but...she’d just disappeared, after that. Never returned to school after her first day; word was she was “traveling”, though Marinette supposed it wasn’t too surprising that that was another lie. But to go this far? To attack Marinette, to sacrifice the entire city for a...a petty grudge? Even Marinette wouldn’t have thought Lila would go this far. She hadn’t even given Lila thought much at all since the Volpina incident, really.
But there was something more important than Lila at the moment, and Marinette’s eyes were drawn to the small kwami that had fallen beside the bound Lila.
“Tikki?” Marinette said, feeling a lump in her throat. The kwami rolled slightly towards the sound of her voice, and as her eyes met Marinette’s, they filled with tears.
“Oh, Tikki,” Marinette said, leaving Chat Noir and Lila to glare at one another as Marinette rushed to scoop up the little kwami. She felt tears come to her own eyes as she took in how pale and weak poor Tikki was – she had never seen her so worn down before, not even after the most brutal battles. Marinette cuddled Tikki in her hands close to her chest, before rounding on Lila.
“How could you do this to her?” she demanded of their captive, furious.
“I didn’t do it,” Lila growled. “She never worked right.”
“She’s not a machine,” Marinette spat. “Don’t you see what you’ve done? To Tikki, to the city, to everyone...all this just because you were mad at me?”
“You humiliated me,” Lila said. “You thought you were so much better than me. But all you ever had over me was some special jewelry, so all I had to do was take that from you, and I’d show everyone that you were nothing.” She paused, catching her breath from her venomous outburst. “And I did, almost. No one could even tell the difference between us, you know. No one even noticed that their precious Ladybug had been replaced.”
“I noticed,” Chat Noir interjected, his voice low and dangerous. “And you lied to me. You told me she was dead.”
Lila sneered at him. “And how easily you bought it.”
He made a sharp motion towards her, but Marinette cut him off with a shake of her head. She faced Lila again.
“So you let the city suffer, to prove a point,” Marinette said coldly. Yes, it had infuriated her that no one could recognize that Lila had not been the real Ladybug. But she wasn’t going to give her the satisfaction of knowing that.
“It’s your own fault,” Lila said, “You kept the power from me. I could’ve had everything, but you wanted to keep the glory for yourself. Even in my revenge, you still managed to humiliate me. But that’s what you wanted, wasn’t it?”
Marinette closed her eyes and took a deep breath to stop herself from snapping something she’d regret. She refused to let Lila guilt her – Lila knew nothing of the actual situation, and Marinette knew that there’d been no choice in draining the earrings’ power.
“No,” she said. “That’s not what I wanted. I never wished to make things worse between us, and I regret my initial actions. But that doesn’t justify what you’ve done. I didn’t keep the power away, you ripped it away. You may not have known what you were doing, but it was your doing – and only yours.”
“Keep telling yourself that,” Lila said, “I’m never going to forgive you.”
“Fine,” Marinette said. She set Tikki down gently and reached for Lila’s ears. “But I’m taking back my earrings. And I’m fixing your mess.”
With that, she plucked the earrings free. Lila had given up struggling, but she glared defiantly as Marinette removed the Miraculous from her, so fiercely that Marinette was briefly worried Lila might try to bite her.
But Lila only laughed.
“Take them back, then. Go on and take back your glory and your adulations. For now. But remember that I know who you are now. I can undo you whenever I want.”
Chat Noir stepped forward, his tail lashing behind him.
“You’ll stay quiet if you know what’s good for you,” he said. Lila glared back at him, unimpressed.
“And just what are you going to do?” she asked, her lips curling. “You can’t hold me. You can’t even upset me. Or suddenly I’ll have a little butterfly for a confidant, won’t I?”
Marinette’s heart clenched. She hated to admit it, but Lila was right – even though Marinette had gotten her earrings back, they were at an impasse. Worse, because unless they kept the girl under constant guard, there was nothing they could do to prevent an akuma from reaching her. And – she glanced over at Chat Noir – as tempting as it was, Cataclysming her wasn’t an option, either. Not one that they could take in good conscience, anyway.
“Marinette...”
Feeling a fresh stab of pain at how weak Tikki’s voice was, Marinette knelt back down to the ground to pick up the kwami so that she wouldn’t have to strain herself to speak.
“What is it, Tikki?” Marinette asked, doing her best to keep the worry from her voice. She wouldn’t let Lila have the satisfaction of rattling her.
“You...” Tikki said, trailing off into a weak cough, “we have to take her to...him. He’ll know...what to do...”
Marinette bit her lip. She had little doubt about who he was, but…
“Are you sure, Tikki? She already knows too much, I don’t want to put him in danger too.”
“Trust me...Marinette.”
Marinette screwed her eyes shut, took a deep breath, and reopened them.
“Okay,” she said. Because she did trust Tikki. If Tikki was willing to take the risk of bringing Lila to Master Fu, then there had to be a good reason. Even if Lila’s face reflected a promise to ruin everyone Marinette held dear. “Chat Noir, take her to ground. I’ll meet you there after I get out of this,” she poked at her outfit. After giving him brief directions towards (though not exactly at) Master Fu’s place, he withdrew his staff from the door and set off, a scowling, but still bound Lila in hand.
“Here, Tikki,” Marinette said, shuffling around for the macaron that she’d ended up with earlier. Tikki gratefully took it, nibbling on it at first, gradually gaining the energy to eat with more vigor. When she was finished, she flew up to Marinette to nuzzle her cheek.
“Oh, Marinette! I missed you! And I was so worried...even though the city was suffering, I dreaded the day my power would come back, because you...I would’ve...because of me, you would’ve...”
“It’s not your fault, Tikki!” Marinette said. “If only I’d been able to hold Lila off, this never would’ve happened. And besides...I’ll be alright now, won’t I? Now that I have these back?” She held out the earrings.
Tikki nodded, still sniffling. “Yes, but you’ll have to wear them for the rest of your life. And some things can’t be undone. Channels opened can’t be closed.”
“I know,” Marinette said. “Master Fu told me; this power will remain flowing through me until I die. But as long as we’re together, we’ll both be alright, won’t we?”
“Yes,” Tikki said. “The Miraculous will take the burden of the magic off of you, which will allow your body to heal and rebuild from it. But I’m still...so sorry, Marinette. The Miraculous were made so that this wouldn’t happen when humans wielded our power.”
“It wasn’t your fault,” Marinette reiterated, though she doubted that they’d agree on blame any time soon. “But we should get going, we still need to deal with Lila.”
“What a wicked girl,” Tikki said, shuddering. “She was just...awful. I don’t know how one person can carry such venom in their heart.”
“I’m so sorry you had to go through that, Tikki,” Marinette said, as she pinned the earrings to her clothes – she wasn’t going to put them in her ears without washing them first, and besides, her piercings had long since healed over. She would need to get them redone eventually, but for now, they were staying on her clothing. “We can talk about it later,” she added sympathetically, before Tikki could protest that it wasn’t Marinette’s fault, “Paris needs us, so transform me!”
The familiarity of the transformation, so long missed, washed over Marinette and she nearly could’ve cried from it. But she had a job to do, and so she swung off over the rooftops, delighting in the way the wind rushed against her as she zipped from roof to roof, the exhilaration of near-flight. She hadn’t realized how much she had missed it – perhaps when this was all over, she’d just spend the entire day leaping across the city, taking it in the city again as she once knew it, from high above, as only she and Chat Noir could appreciate it.
After she fixed it, of course.
With a soft thump, she landed next to Chat Noir in his hiding place, though she doubted he would’ve remained hidden if there had really been that many people around, what with Lila’s grumbling.
“Hello, my Lady,” Chat Noir said, his eyes and grin bright at the sight of her familiar suit. “I must say you wear that look well – far better than this one ever did.”
“Oh, you think so?” Marinette teased, feeling lighter, happier than she had in months. “I have to agree, I think it suits me much better.”
“Are you done making fun of me?” Lila demanded. “Don’t forget who still holds the cards, here.”
“Not for long,” Chat Noir said. “Once we see Ladybug’s friend, he’ll...er, what is he going to do, exactly?”
Marinette didn’t know the answer to that. “Let’s just go find him,” she said instead.
She led him, and their captive, down the street to Master Fu’s place, and knocked on his door. It opened, and Master Fu cautiously peeked out, his eyes widening when he took her in, full costume and all, and he swept his eyes over Chat Noir and their struggling captive.
“We caught the thief,” Marinette said, rather unnecessarily. “I wouldn’t have come here, but she knows too much, and Tikki said to come here.”
He nodded warily, and ushered them in. “Come in, then, quickly.” When they had sat down – or in Lila’s case, been propped up, still stuck in her wrappings – he turned to Marinette. “I worried, when you stopped coming here.”
“I know. I’m sorry,” she answered, and indicated Lila, “she found out who I was, and I didn’t want to risk leading her here. I’m sorry to have worried you.”
“A wise decision,” Fu said, “but I wish you had called to explain.”
“I’m sorry, I didn’t think of it.”
He waved it off. “Still, no harm done. And I’m glad you have been able to get your earrings back, Ladybug. Paris will be better off for it, and you as well. As for this thief...” he said, turning to their captive, “do you know the harm that you have done?”
Lila turned on the waterworks. “I didn’t mean to hurt anyone,” she wailed. “But I couldn’t get all the cruel things Ladybug said to me out of my head. I just wanted to do better by Paris...”
“Oh, save it,” Chat Noir cut in, and Marinette was grateful, because she was about to say something far less kind. “Don’t even pretend to be the victim here; you hurt Ladybug, and you wanted to hurt her.”
“No one here is going to fall for your lies, Lila,” Marinette added. To Master Fu, she added, “Lila was akumatized into Volpina all those months ago, and she never forgave me for it. She’s always been a liar, but I never thought she’d go this far.”
“Fine,” Lila said, her tears drying up instantly. “I see you’ve got everyone here on your side, so what’s the point? Your adoring fans will hang on your every word. I enjoyed it, when it was my word, anyway. Is that what you wanted to hear?”
“You really have no remorse for your actions, young lady?” Fu asked.
Lila didn’t answer, so Marinette spoke up. “She’s threatened to tell Papillon everything as soon as she gets the chance.”
“Then I suppose we will have to make sure she doesn’t get that chance,” Fu said. “I hesitate to recommend this, but when her determination to cause harm with what she knows is so apparent, I think we must make her forget altogether.”
Marinette frowned. “Why the hesitation? Surely if it’s possible to make someone forget my identity, isn’t that incredibly useful?”
“I’m afraid it’s not nearly so selective a process, Ladybug.”
“Ah.” So it would erase all her memories, then, leaving her completely amnesiac. Now Marinette could understand why he hesitated to use such a drastic measure.
Lila, too, seemed to pick up on the implications.
“You...you can’t!” she said, and Marinette even felt a bit of sympathy for her in that moment, because that fear was perhaps the most genuine thing Marinette had ever seen from her. “You can’t just wipe my mind; destroy who I am, just because I know something you don’t want me to know!”
“Misusing a Miraculous can have far worse consequences, young lady,” Fu said quietly. “For yourself, as well as others.”
“Do you even know who you are, Lila? Under all the lies you’ve told?” Marinette added, taking no pleasure in it or what they would need to do to her. “Maybe a fresh start could do you some good.”
.
.
.
It was evening by the time they dropped the amnesiac Lila off at her home, the sun drifting low in the sky just enough to glare into their eyes, but not yet bringing out the vivid hues of sunset. Neither of the heroes let that stop them as they leapt and swung themselves up to the highest point in the city that was still standing.
“I don’t know how I feel about it,” Marinette said, rolling the scissor halves between her red-gloved hands as she leaned against her partner. “I don’t feel happy about what we did to her, but I don’t feel bad about it, either. At least, not as much as maybe I should. Mostly, I just feel relieved that it’s over. I don’t think I have room in me to feel anything but that right now.”
“Maybe that’s okay,” Chat Noir said. He leaned into her space, and threaded his ribbon flower through the eyes of the scissors. “I’m just happy to have you by my side properly again, my Lady.”
“I suppose that’s something I’m glad for, too,” she said. She watched as he finished tying the ribbon flower around the scissors. “Things...won’t be the same, though. So much has changed.”
“Whatever happens, we’ll face it together,” he said. “Like this, or at school, or wherever we end up – we’re a team, Chat Noir and Ladybug, no matter what.”
“Ladybug and Chat Noir, you mean,” she corrected with a small, teasing smile. She held out the scissors, tied together with his ribbon, and together they launched it into the sky.
“Miraculous Ladybug!”
The remains of Fakebug’s Lucky Charm burst apart into swarms of ladybugs, which swept across the city in endless streams. Bit by bit, the city was built back up, the months of accumulated damage that had always been not quite fixed finally restored as the ladybugs dove into every crack and crevice. With Tikki’s power united through Marinette and the Miraculous at last, they made quick and easy work of it, the world set right as though it had never been disturbed, not a trace of Papillon’s deeds to be seen. It was beautiful to watch.
The citizens would no doubt be full of questions, and Marinette would have to come up with something to answer them with soon. And Papillon, too, was a concern – had he even noticed the fake? What would he think had happened, when this had happened without him sending out an akuma?
But those were concerns for tomorrow. For now, Marinette had her Miraculous, and her kwami, and her partner, and her city. And for now, that was all she needed.