Work Text:
Liar.
Marinette Dupain-Cheng was nothing but a liar. The proof was everywhere: on television, on social media, on the people around her who wonder how everything happened, on every corner of the city infested by posters and monuments dedicated for the big hero Gabriel Agreste.
Marinette used to loved her city. She always went to Trocadero to get an art block out of her, to do picnics with her classmates on the square, to study art and its history in the Louvre. Now, though, Monarch's face was in every single one of those points, as if it was mockering her, rubbing her own dirty lie on her face. Her stomach churns.
At the end of the each day, she's exhausted, as if she was carrying concrete on the mask of her face, carrying one tonne on her shoulders, hands tied by herself.
"Have I done the right choice?"
With each passing day she was less sure about it, but it was too late to change her decision.
Or not.
It would be so easy. The bunny miraculous was on her reach. She could, if she wanted to. She is the guardian, she can.
She could even go back to the start. Avoid everything for happening, avoid Adrien's suffering. She would fix everything, like always. She's the only one who can, only Ladybug can.
"The whole world will know only what ladybug will tell it. Her words will be the truth."
And what a fucking shitty truth.
The urge to vomit hits her stronger.
Deep down, she knew. She knew what she should have done, she knew there was no going back, that there was no way to avoid Adrien's suffering. That pain had been prepared for him before either of them were even born. Adrien was doomed to destruction from the very first moment. One day he would find out, one day his heart would be broken into pieces by things he couldn't have controlled. Marinette was not only postponing the inevitable, covering a deep cut with a band-aid, but now she was also part of it all. Part of the people around Adrien who lied to him, manipulated him, treated him like a helpless child incapable of fighting for himself.
She picks up her phone, even though she knows it will hurt her even more, and rereads Adrien's last message.
My Prince: Thank you so much, my love, for being by my side. Everything is feeling like hell, everyone is acting strange, except you. You will always be yourself, the bravest and more honest girl I know. I love you.
Marinette can't hold it in anymore. She runs to the bathroom and vomits. Her throat burns, all the lies bring the metallic taste of blood to her mouth, tears run down her face without her realizing it. She gasps.
"What have I done? What have I DONE?!" She repeat it to herself, hysterically, until her voice loses its strength and becomes just a hoarse murmur.
She loses track of time. The tears on her face dry, her body gives slight spasms that she doesn't notice. Sitting on the floor, resting her head on the toilet seat, Marinette types almost robotically.
You: "You are strong, my prince. You can trust me, I won't change. I love you."
She always say the truth. Her words will be the truth.