Work Text:
Sabrina slammed her bedroom door closed, crumbling down onto the floor. The rain outside was pouring down,
“Hey, hey, it’s okay!” Tikki said, following.
“No, it’s not! I’m such a failure!” she sobbed, looking over to see the now empty Miracle Box.
“Sabrina, please don’t be so hard on yourself. You’re—”
“Don’t you get it?” She screamed at Tikki. “I gave Chloe ANOTHER chance, and she betrayed me again! She gave my yo-yo to Shadowmoth! And we don’t even know for what?! Now she’s up and disappeared!”
“We couldn’t have known she would—”
“We should’ve though!” Sabrina looked Tikki in the eyes. “I should’ve. Matou Noir even tried to warn me! And now—all of Paris will suffer by my hands.”
---
Ivan backed up in the alleyway, hands shaking.
“I—he—” he stammered, hyperventilating.
“Kid, it’s not your fault, you were under Risk’s influence,” Plagg fretted.
Ivan leant his back against the wall, almost falling over. His breath was quick, and eyes wide.
“No, I—I—I cataclysmed Risk! He was a kid…he turned to ash in my hands…how am I a hero?!”
“But you weren’t you! It was Risk’s power. To make you take risks!” Plagg retorted.
“Risk can’t make you do things you didn’t think to do. He only brought things to the surface. How am I a hero if that was even an option? How many times have I had that feeling?” Ivan dismayed.
“We don’t know that! And besides, he’s okay now! Ladybird fixed everything!” Plagg reassured.
---
“There were so many warning signs! I spent so long with the snake miraculous just TRYING to get Chloe to help with Zombiezou. I gave her chance after chance, miraculous after miraculous. No one could get through to her. Everyone else gave up on her. Why did I keep trying?!”
“Being kind is a wonderful Ladybug trait!” Tikki pleaded.
“Then why did I lose all the miraculous, Tikki! I’m a horrible Ladybug holder. I’ve thrown Paris into disarray and helped Shadowmoth get far too close to his ultimate goal,” Sabrina wept.
Sabrina whipped her head towards a photo of her father.
“What would papa think of me?” she sobbed.
---
“I promised.” Ivan said weakly, twisting his ring back and forth.
“Huh?” Plagg said.
“I promised that I wouldn’t hurt anyone. You SAID I could do things peacefully, and that others wouldn’t get hurt!”
Plagg batted his tail and looked away, “It’s more complicated than that. You should know.”
“Then find someone else.” Ivan said.
“What?” Plagg stammered.
---
Sabrina shakily stood up, and made her way over to her desk. There, framed in a gold case, was a photo of her and Chloe in kindergarten.
“Do you know the first time I saw chloe?”
Tikki shook her head, remaining quiet.
“She was crying. All alone on the first day of kindergarten. I didn’t find out til later, but her mother had left the week before, and there she was, all alone and scared.”
“I approached her and told her everything was going to be okay. And that however scary it was, I’d be there to help her,” Sabrina said softly.
She sneered. “Little did I know how much helping I’d be doing.”
---
Ivan pulled the ring off his finger.
“I said, find someone else,” Ivan said, thrusting the ring towards Plagg before dropping it onto the stones. “Find someone who actually cares. Find someone heroic and empathetic. Someone who isn’t just a brute.”
Plagg frowned, “but I already did.”
Ivan exhaled, and walked off, leaving Plagg alone in the alleyway.
“No. You didn’t.”
---
Sabrina opened the window, watching the rain pour outside. She slowly took off her earrings and placed them onto the desk.
“Sabrina?” Tikki said, alarmed.
“Find a new holder. One who won’t let themselves be betrayed by their emotions,” Sabrina said, looking away.
Tikki shook her head, flying over to Sabrina. “No! I’m not going to leave you! You didn’t do anything wrong, we can still—”
“Leave! Or I’ll renounce you and leave Paris to burn!” Sabrina snapped.
Tikki paused, before turning around and picking up the earrings.
“I—I won’t give up on you.”
Sabrina sighed, “That makes one of us.”