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The sky outside was dark, and thunder rumbled in the distance, thick clouds obscuring what would have been a beautiful night sky in Paris. But in the ballroom of Le Grand Paris, the night was alive. Chandeliers shone, and elegant gowns glittered, young men in suits and tuxedos turned red with nerves, and young ladies gushed at each other's outfits, giggling behind their hands. It was the graduation party for the seniors of Francois DuPonte high school, and for most, it was an exciting night, full of accomplishment, and hope for the future. But not for Marinette Dupain-Cheng.
At this precise moment, Marinette was stood behind a podium, her red silk dress hugging her silhouette but still managing to hide the tremble in her knees. She smiled weakly and took a deep breath, preparing herself. She had known this night was coming, and it had been a shock when she had been approached, and asked to speak. But she didn't think she would ever truly be ready to read these words to her friends, or at all for that matter.
"It is not the critic that counts,"
Marinette's voice trembled as she glanced down at the speech in front of her. The cursive that scrawled across the page was not her own, but it was painfully familiar. A single tear trailed down her cheek, and she let it, taking a deep shuddering breath, memories of that night flooding back to her.
Hawkmoth cackled as her tore the ring off Chat Noir's finger, carelessly tossing the boy that wielded it to the side without so much as a cursory glance. His eyes fixated on Ladybug as he slipped the ring into his pocket, hope fluttering across his face like a butterfly.
"For you, Ladybug, there will be no mercy," he spat, lunging for the red clad heroine "a life for a life, and I will gladly sacrifice yours!"
"Not the man who points at those who stumble, or how the doer of deeds could have done them better,"
Hawkmoth was quick, but Ladybug was quicker. A confused frown adorned her features as she dodged the older man, moving the battle away from where Chat had been thrown, hoping he would be able to escape now that he didn't have his Miraculous. But this was the first time Hawkmoth had offered anything about his plans for their miraculous.
"A life?" She questioned, "Who..?" Her voice was equal parts confused and demanding as she continued dodging his attacks. Hawkmoth barely acknowledged that she had spoken, her only answer being a shake of the head and some laughter as he continued to attack.
"The credit belongs to the man in the arena. The man whose face is marred with blood and sweat and tears. Who strives valiantly, who errs, who comes short, again and again,"
Ladybugn kept dodging, but Hawkmoth was observant. As she moved out of the way of his cane, he swung his leg around the other side, connecting with her middle, and sending her over the ledge to land on the next floor down. She landed hard on her back, gasping and gaping as the air rushed from her lungs, her diaphram spasming painfully. Hawkmoth pounced.
"Ladybug, look out!" Chat's voice rang through the room. Time stopped. She saw the knife in Hawkmoth's fist, the glint of victory in his eyes, and then suddenly she was staring into familiar green eyes framed by silky blonde hair. Recognition and realization dawned on her face as his contorted in pain.
"Chat..?" she managed to choke out as her lungs began to work again. "A-Adrien..?"
He slumped onto her and she scrambled to sit up, cradling him in her arms. Hawkmoth was flat on his ass some feet away, a hand lifted to his face in horror, the dagger he had intended to kill Ladybug with now lodged in Adrien's back.
"Because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasm, and great devotion; who spends himself in a worthy cause."
Ladybug saw red. Not just because of the blood quickly seeping through Adrien's once-white coat, but because of the hot rage that screamed from her core, engulfing her. Her body moved of it's own accord, quickly yet gently moving from beneath her injured partner, only to fly at Hawkmoth, who was surprisingly still unmoved. Even as ladybug's fist connected with his jaw – were those tears running down his face? - Hawkmoth didn't fight back. His gaze was still fixated on the blonde boy he had stabbed in Ladybug's place.
"No..." His voice was thick with emotion as he stared. Ladybug tore the butterfly miraculous from his throat, but he couldn't bring himself to care. His transformation dropped, and he was vaguely aware of the heroine gasping and stepping away from him. The tension was thick as Ladybug watched Gabriel Agreste crawl across the floor and pull his son's barely breathing form into his lap. Gabriel rocked back and forth with Adrien – Chat. Her partner, her friend, the love of her life.
His son.
Tears flowed down his face as he pressed frantic kisses against Adrien's paling forehead.
"No, no, not Adrien... Please no..." he muttered. Ladybug finally moved. She stood across from the man who had been her idol, and her enemy, a look of sadness and disgust in her eyes as she held out her hand expectantly, an odd sense of calm emanating from her.
"Give me his ring." It was not a request, and Gabriel barely hesitated before pulling the ring from his pocket and placing it into her palm. No sooner had the cool metal touched her skin than she dropped to her knees and slipped the ring back on Adrien's finger. The black kwami of destruction zipped and phased back to reality.
"Plagg," her voice wavered ever so slightly, "Plagg, Adrien's... He's hurt an- And you have to transform him into Chat Noir so he can heal."
Her voice broke as Plagg only shook his head at the scene before him.
"Ohh, Pigtails... It doesn't work like that. You know it doesn't." His voice was barely a whisper.
"Please, Plagg... Please!" She was sobbing now, tears rolling down her cheeks unchecked "Please, he's... He's dying, Plagg..!"
"Who at best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement."
Fuelled by love and desperation, Ladybug called for her Lucky Charm – a box of tissues – instantly throwing it back into the air for the miraculous ladybugs. The swarm appeared in a flurry of pink sparkling magic, flying around briefly before fizzling away, everything exactly as it had been. Adrien completely untouched by their magic healing. Plagg shook his head again.
"The ladybug's fix damage caused by Miraculous magic; not things done by the bare hands of Miraculous wielders," his voice was heavy "I'm sorry, Ladybug."
She dropped back to her knees, wrenching Adrien's form away from Gabriel, Plagg's words not seeming to reach her.
"Hey, Chat, wake up." Her voice was barely a whisper, "Adrien, come on, please..."
A ragged, shallow breath was the only response she got.
"And who, at worst, if he fails, at least fails daring greatly,"
Ladybug watched in eerie silence as Gabriel Agreste was arrested, a faraway look in her eye as she leaned against the cold cement of the property gates. She was only vaguely aware of the bustle around her, the reporters had long since given up on any interview.
"Can you believe Chat Noir was Hawkmoth's kid?" The voice cut through the night air, piercing Ladybug's thoughts. Her eyes snapped to the culprit. "D'ya think that's why he was always so... you know? Secretly helping dear ol' Dad?"
"How dare you." Her voice was cool and calm, and she barely realized she had moved until she heard herself. "How, DARE you. Chat Noir gave his life for this city, for you-" her voice broke as she realized who it was she was reprimanding; it was a paramedic. The paramedic, who was currently wheeling Adrien out of what had been his home, wrapped in thick black plastic. She didn't bother to hide the disgusted sneer that took over her face, instead choosing to fight the urge to lift Adrien – Chat – her friend, her partner – off the gurney and disappear with him into the night. Leaving him there was the second hardest thing she did that night.
"So that his place can never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory, nor defeat."
Marinette didn't remember going to Alya's, but she did remember the girl's shocked expression when a soaking wet and crying Ladybug knocked on her window. She remembered her confusion as she opened the window, and she remembered her warm embrace when Ladybug fell apart in her arms, recounting what had been the worst night of her life.
"That knife was meant for me, and now he's gone, Alya, they're both gone, it was supposed to be me!"
The shock hadn't left Alya's face before Ladybug's transformation fizzled out, and her arms were suddenly filled with a soaking wet and sobbing Marinette instead. The only part of Alya's reaction that Marinette can remember is a quiet sigh, and the other girl murmuring into her hair as she held her tighter.
"Oh Marinette... Of course it was you."
Marinette's jaw set in determination as she looked up from Adrien's speech to the crowd.
"These were the words that Theodore Roosevelt said in his address at the Sorbonne in 1910, and these are the words that Adrien," She swallowed as her voice cracked over his name, "wanted to say to us today, at our graduation."
The silence was total, and the air was thick with emotion. Tears gathered in everyone's eyes as they watched Marinette take another shuddering, calming breath, and glance back at the speech he had left behind.
"He wanted to remind us that we are in the arena. We have the choice, every day, to either sit on the sidelines and watch, or to be the doer of impossible things. We have the choice every day to make a difference. Dare greatly, fail miraculously. Be amazing." Her face was flushed, and the tears flowed freely now. A sob broke free of her throat, and she covered her face with her hands. Her shoulders shook as she cried, and Alya rushed to her side, grabbing the speech from its place on the podium and escorting Marinette to the washroom.
Not a single person could bring themselves to applaud. Not a single eye in the building was dry.