1: Giving Up

"This is a disaster." Tikki mumbles as she fights the urge to tear up. She keeps looking at her heartbroken master who has been staring off to the Eiffel tower for an hour now from her rooftop porch.

"Aren't you cold up here?" Plagg suddenly appears out of nowhere surprising Tikki. The little red kwami yelped but was able to hold her voice in.

"Could you please pipe it down?" she complains.

Plagg notices Tikki's sullen look and decides to follow where the little lady was gazing upon. There he sees the other little lady who looked like a lifeless doll. Beautiful but with cold marble eyes.

"Marinette sure has it hard now, huh?" adds the little black kitty.

Tikki looks away and glances at Plagg, "I knew at some point this was bound to happen but...I never wanted Marinette to feel this way."

"What did Marinette say?" Plagg probes.

"She said she doesn't have any regrets and that she knows there are more important things to worry about especially now that she's the new guardian of the box." Tikki's eyes start to well up so she immediately covers it with her tiny hands.

Plagg pulls Tikki into a hug to comfort her. Normally the little red kwami would push him away, but right now she too feels how her beloved Mari is feeling and needed the hug more than ever.

"Duty over heart, huh?" Plagg whispers as he looks at the pained Marinette who hasn't noticed the two kwamis sympathizing her.

As we grow old, we realize life doesn't give us all the gifts we hoped it would. Including those we wish to cherish. Experiencing loss is a part of life, but it doesn't define it. Because what really matters isn't whether you win or lose. It's when we accept changes despite when life doesn't give us the gifts we hoped it would. The real gift is life itself.

Master Fu losing his memories about her and Cat Noir was already painful by itself. Heavier as she holds the responsibility of protecting the miracle box. And now comes a turn of events in which she has to accept the fact her beloved Adrien is with Kagami.

"Are you okay Marinette?" said Tikki as she floats above her shoulder. Mari notices Plagg who trailed behind her and smiled at the two little ones who looked really worried at their new master.

She tugged Tikki near her cheek and gently tugged Plagg along too. "I'm fine you guys. It's just....a lot of things had happened and I don't know where to start."

"Can I tell you something Marinette?" Plagg floated in front of her.

"What is it Plagg?" her eyes lit up.

"Master Fu never doubted you. He was not wrong when he said you are the best Ladybug he's ever been with and I too can attest to that. And I bet you'll also be one of the great guardians like how Master had taken care of us for all these years." his glowing green eyes squinted from his smile.

Marinette had never been able to express how thankful she is with Master Fu's guidance. It has always been at the back of her mind that it was her fault that the old man had no choice but to transfer the guardianship to her when he got cornered by Hawkmoth. She knew it was her fault that they were found when she was not able to transform back before she met him. But even in Master Fu's last moments of intact memory, not once did he blame her. He even reminded her of how proud he is that she was the chosen Ladybug at the moment along with the current Cat Noir. Hearing those words from Plagg ignited the fire in her once more.

"Thanks, Plagg. I'll keep that in mind." she replied with determination.

"That's the spirit!" the black kwami spun himself around in excitement.

Tikki felt relieved hearing Marinette say that. She always knew her owner was strong. Just this time, all the painful occassions seemed to have piled up on Mari. She's only human and it's normal to feel dejected after all the fear and doubt she had in her.

"You're finally smiling." Tikki spun herself around Marinette stopping beside Plagg. "We were so worried you might have regretted being the new master of the box especially with everything that had happened."

"I'm sorry for worrying you guys. I absolutely do not regret it. Like what Master Fu said, life may not have given me what I wanted but I know all of this has a reason and I should be happy with it because life is something to be celebrated no matter what hardship or pain I may experience. All of that is part of growing up. And growing up means I should not be afraid of change."

"Well said Marinette!" Tikki cheered.

"Now that that is settled, we better start worrying about Miraculous Queen." Plagg interrupted.

The two ladies looked at each other realizing what Plagg had suggested. He was right. Now that Chloe has sided with Hawkmoth, there's no telling what's gonna happen next.

Mari crossed her arms and pinned her chin up analyzing the situation, "Chloe is too clouded with her emotions right now which will make it harder for us to convince her on switching sides. It would have been all better if her trip to New York hadn't been postponed."

"As long as she does not have the Bee Miraculous, she won't be a threat as to what happened last time when she got akumatized while being Queen Bee." Tikki added.

"You're right Tikki," Mari affirmed, "As long as the Bee Miraculous is with us, even if Chloe does get akumatized we can still handle her. The real threat right now is―"

"Kagami!"

"What?" Marinette panics a little with what her kwami finished her sentence with.

"No, no! Really, it's Kagami!" Tikki glances down at the lit up phone on the side table of the porch.

Marinette immediately grabbed her phone and truly Kagami's name did pop up as a message bubble.

"Isn't that the water dragon user?" Plagg added floating above the screen.

Mari nodded and hesitantly clicked the message open. It made her heart skip a beat.

『Are you free tomorrow? I want to talk.』

Mari stared at the message. She kinda knew what this was about and she kinda didn't want to talk to Kagami just yet knowing what she's going to tell her. She knew she wasn't ready, but she also knew that for her to fully focus on her job as Ladybug, one must learn to let go.

"Well? What you gonna do?" Plagg added.

"Marinette you don't have to do this just yet." Tikki followed.

Mari shook her head and smiled at the two, "No, it's okay. It's high time this puppy love of mine dies down for good. Besides, after this, it's all duties and responsibilities. Plus I'll have to focus on my dream fashion career."

Tikki and Plagg looked at each other. They knew they could trust Marinette but it was too painful to watch her type a reply without batting an eye or maybe rethink her next move.

『Sure. I'm free after school.』

『Great! Let's meet at the

riverside near the ice cream

stand. That from last time.』

『Okay. See you.』

There was no response after that. Plagg and Tikki looked at Marinette as she locks her phone dimming her face once more. Although it was a bit dark out, the two could see Marinette's serious face. There was no time to lose. She knew what she had to do.

Mari takes a deep breath and stretched like there's no tomorrow. Her joints snapped and she felt the heaviness escape from her back. She landed on her two feet fixing her blouse and nodded strongly to herself. The sky had no stars but she looked at it so intently and smiled.

"It's time to give up."