Marinette's Choice

[peppermint_shamrock]

 

After defeating Style Queen with Alya’s help, Marinette is offered the chance of a lifetime! But it’s not easy to decide between her dream and her duty.

A Queen's Battle Rewrite focused on two premises: What if Marinette had been successful in giving Alya the Bee Miraculous, and then given more time to consider the decision to go to New York?

Thanks and credit to imthepunchlord and ryanidious on Discord for the names of Bee!Alya and alternate Akuma!Chloé, respectively.

AO3 link

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Alya wasn’t hard to find. Of course she had been making her way up the tower to get a good shot of Style Queen. But right now, Marinette needed her help, so she jumped down to her and pulled her aside. Alya scrambled to put away her phone as Marinette procured the Miraculous, her whole face lighting up with recognition and excitement.

“This is the Bee, rather than the Fox,” Marinette began. “I need you to…”

Style Queen interrupted, and Marinette shoved the box at Alya, quickly whispering:

“Pollen will explain the rest. I’ll keep Style Queen occupied while you transform!”

Alya nodded and ducked away, as Marinette went to challenge Style Queen, dodging her blasts and drawing her away from Alya. Once again, she called on Lucky Charm, and received a glue tube. She didn’t have much time to figure it out under the relentless attacks, however, so she continued to scale the tower until she reached the area where Adrien and the akumatized rose were. It was there that she saw the flag, and got an idea.

Moving quickly, she snatched it up and covered it in glue, just in time to be cornered once again by Style Queen. Behind her, she could see Alya, now transformed, coming up the tower. Marinette smiled, knowing that her plan was falling into place, and charged the villain with the flag.

Style Queen became distracted as she realized that part of her glitter was now stuck to the flag, and Marinette saw her chance.

“Now!” she yelled, and Alya struck from behind with her power, freezing Style Queen into place.

“It worked!” Alya said excitedly.

“Yeah!” Marinette agreed. “Now we have to figure out how to get past this shield thing – the akuma is in that rose.”

“I can take care of that.”

Marinette turned, and wasn’t really all that surprised at what she found.

“Plagg! But Mas…the Guardian said you weren’t supposed to help!”

“Yeah, yeah, what does he know? It’ll be fine, I’ll be careful. And you’re just gonna fix it anyway, right? Besides, how are you gonna break this thing without me?”

Marinette frowned. She didn’t want to go against what Master Fu said, but Plagg had a point – the shield needed to be destroyed.

“Aww, aren’t you just the cutest thing!” Alya cooed, moving towards Plagg, looking quite like she was about to try to pet him. “Are you Chat Noir’s kwami? Where is he, anyway? How far can kwamis go from their Miraculous? What…”

“Not now!” Marinette cut Alya off. Both of them had used their powers, and were on a time limit, after all. She turned back to Plagg, coming to a decision. “Okay. Do your thing.”

“Yes!” he said, delighted. And with the lightest tap of his tiny paw, he invoked Cataclysm.

The shield shattered. And so did half the city.

“If that’s what happens when you’re being careful, I don’t ever want to see what happens when you’re careless,” Alya said, bracing herself against the destruction.

“You definitely don’t,” Plagg agreed. “Of course, you probably wouldn’t survive long enough to see much of it anyway. Ladybug, you’d better hurry up.”

Marinette nodded, grabbing the rose and snapping it in two. With a quick motion, she captured the akuma, then sent the glue into the sky to restore the city. As the ladybugs swept over the city, she, Alya, and Plagg jumped down to a lower level, and the three of them shared a fist bump.

Alya detransformed.

“It was a pleasure to work with you, my Queen. Farewell for now,” Pollen said.

“I already told you, you don’t need to call me ‘my Queen’,” Alya said. “But yeah, it was good. I hope we’ll see each other again!” She looked hopefully at Marinette as she removed the comb and handed it back.

“We’ll see. It depends on what I need to fight the villain, after all.”

“How many Miraculouses are there?” Alya asked. “And what happened to Chat Noir? Is he sick? And…”

“I can’t answer that, Alya. As for Chat Noir, apparently he misplaced his Miraculous.” She glanced over to Plagg. “I hope he finds it soon…”

“He misplaced it‽” Alya said, incredulously. “What, did it fall down the drain or something?”

“I’ll get on his case about it,” Plagg said, and zipped off.

“Time for me to be heading out, too,” Marinette said, tucking the Bee Miraculous away.

“See you!” Alya said cheerfully. “And if you ever need me again, don’t hesitate to ask! Hmm…I need to come up with another superhero name, it wouldn’t make any sense to be Rena Rouge when I’m a bee…”

“That it wouldn’t,” Marinette agreed, and she bid Alya goodbye. She had a Miraculous to return.

But first…it wouldn’t hurt to see if Adrien wanted a ride back to the show…

 

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“Come to New York with me!”

Marinette could hardly believe that she’d heard those words come out of Audrey Bourgeois’s mouth. She hadn’t even expected her to like the hat. And to offer Marinette the chance to jumpstart her career under a famous fashion critic? This had to be a dream.

But it wasn’t.

Before Marinette could even begin to form a response, Chloé spoke up, objecting loudly to the situation. She and Audrey argued for a bit, before Chloé stormed off in a rage. Marinette winced. She knew well that that kind of thing usually ended with akumatization, and while she had fought multiple Akumas in one day before, if Chat Noir still hadn’t recovered his Miraculous…

Well. It wouldn’t be a pleasant situation, to say the least.

“My helicopter will be leaving at eight,” Audrey said, as though nothing had even happened.

“Now, wait just a moment,” Tom spoke up. “This is a wonderful offer you’ve given my daughter, of course, but she can’t just take off in an evening. There’s all sorts of things that need to be worked out first, with the school, with…”

Audrey frowned, clearly unaccustomed to being challenged. Fortunately, she did not shut everything down with a “how dare you speak to me!” as Marinette feared.

“Ugh, fine, I suppose there are considerations,” Audrey said. “I’ll give you until the end of the week, but that’s it. I have no desire to stay in Paris any longer than I have to.”

“Thank you! Thank you!” Marinette said.

“Perhaps in the meantime,” Gabriel spoke up, “Marinette could put together a more representative portfolio of her work. The competition in question was a very short-term project; I’m certain that a designer of her potential has much more to show.”

“Hmm, yes, do that,” Audrey said, and walked off.

“Oh, I will!” Marinette said, unable to contain her excitement, her mind already whirling as to what to put together to show. Oh, would it be good enough? She liked the hat, but what about the rest of Marinette’s work? Would it just disappoint her? Or could Marinette dare to hope that this was her chance, her real chance?

There was just one problem.

Well, that wasn’t exactly true. There were several things that had to be dealt with, and before they had even gotten home, her parents were already discussing them. What they would do about the bakery, how quickly they could get over to New York, perhaps one of them could go with Marinette while the other remained behind to deal with the loose ends, etc. Marinette was extremely grateful to her parents that they would even consider going through all this just to make her dream happen. It certainly wouldn’t be easy on them.

But for Marinette personally, there was one issue that stood out above the rest. One that Tikki didn’t hesitate to remind her of as soon as they were alone.

Paris needed Ladybug. Needed her. If she did leave…she’d have to pass the job on to someone else. Alya, who had proven herself with two Miraculouses already, would be the ideal choice, but that wasn’t her call to make. Marinette needed to talk to Master Fu.

So, she slipped away, all the while trying to think of a good way to broach the subject. She didn’t manage to come up with anything by the time she replaced the Bee Miraculous to its rightful spot.

As the box sank back down, Tikki looked at Marinette expectantly, and Marinette took a deep breath.

“Master Fu,” she began hesitantly, “I…”

“Is something bothering you, Marinette? There is no need to worry about Chat Noir, I am certain he will retrieve his Miraculous soon enough.”

“It’s not that! And, it’s not bothering me, exactly – it’s a good thing. Sort of. I mean it is. It really is, but…”

“There you are!”

Marinette and Fu both turned to see Plagg zipping in through the wall.

“Hey! Aren’t you supposed to be helping Chat Noir find his Miraculous?” Marinette asked, surprised.

“Eh, he can survive another hour without me,” Plagg said dismissively, but his expression quickly turned serious. “But you! You’re not really gonna just pop off to New York, are you?”

“New York?” Fu asked, eyebrows furrowing.

“Yes…that was what I was about to tell you,” Marinette said, sheepishly. “I…Audrey Bourgeois was impressed with this hat I made, and she invited me…hang on, how do you know about that, Plagg?”

“Uh…I was bored! Figured whatever you and Tikki were doing would be more interesting than watching my wielder turn his room inside out for the fifth time. So I followed,” Plagg said quickly.

“Right,” Marinette said, deciding it was better not to question the motivations of the kwami of destruction, and turned back to Fu. “So, Audrey Bourgeois kind of…invited me to come to New York with her as a way to, well, break into the fashion industry. I know…” Marinette hesitated. “I know Ladybug is needed here, but…this is something I’ve always wanted. It’s my dream. So it’s…not so easy for me to say no…”

The room was silent for a few moments as Marinette trailed off. Finally, just as Marinette was on the verge of nervously backtracking, Fu spoke.

“If this is what you truly want, Marinette, I can’t ask you to stay. But I hope you have given thought to the consequences.”

“I…have thought about it. Enough to not be sure what I’m going to do,” she admitted, wringing her hands. “I have until the end of the week to make the decision.”

“And if you do go?” Fu asked, patiently.

“If I do go to New York, then…I can’t be Ladybug anymore. Someone else will need to take over the job, because Paris can’t be left without someone who can purify akumas. I was thinking, maybe…I think Alya would be a good choice. She’s already done well with the Fox and the Bee – I know she’s capable and trustworthy. But of course, it would be your decision.”

He gave her a careful, calculative look.

“Your friend’s performance with the Fox and the Bee are certainly admirable,” he said. “But the Ladybug requires a particular sort of ingenuity few possess. Do you believe Miss Césaire is up to the task?”

“Yes,” Marinette said firmly, though she flushed slightly at the indirect compliment.

“You’re not going to let her just leave, are you?” Plagg interrupted, looking between the two of them in concern. “What about my wielder? What about…?”

“Plagg,” Fu admonished, as Marinette shrank back. “This is Marinette’s choice, not yours, not mine, and not Chat Noir’s.”

“But…”

“Listen to Master Fu,” Tikki cut in. “I don’t want Marinette to go, either. But forcing her to stay for any of us would be wrong! It needs to be her decision.”

Plagg fell into a sullen silence, and Marinette felt guilty. She hadn’t exactly intended to disappear without saying a word to Chat Noir, but considering how spontaneous akuma attacks were, and the fact that he still didn’t have his Miraculous, it would seem entirely possible to Plagg that she could’ve ended up doing just that.

“I’ll talk to him before I make a final decision,” she promised. “I won’t leave without saying goodbye. Maybe I can even make an anonymous email or a private social media account so we can still talk sometimes?” After all, he was her friend – her other friends she would be able to keep in contact with easily enough, but with Chat Noir…she’d definitely want to set something up.

“…okay,” Plagg said finally. He flew off to the wall and stopped short, turning around. “For what it’s worth,” he said, hesitating, “I don’t think you can be replaced so easily.”

With that, he disappeared through the wall.

“Wow,” Tikki said, sounding genuinely surprised. “For Plagg, that was downright nice.”

Marinette smiled. Plagg was certainly an interesting kwami, and it sounded like Tikki had known him for a long time. She wondered what kind of a history they had shared.

The smile fell from her face as she realized she’d probably never get much of a chance to hear about it.

“I promise I’ll think about this more,” Marinette said. To Master Fu, to Tikki, and to herself. “I just wanted to let you know.”

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Marinette returned home, her excitement tempered. She wanted this, she did, but she wanted to stay and be Ladybug, too. No matter what choice she made now, she would hold regrets. She had never, to her memory, had to make such a choice before. If only there was a way to give everyone what they wanted…

She was especially aware of the tight expressions on her parents’ faces. They would support her going to New York, she knew that, but when either they would have to leave behind their business and home, or she would have to leave them behind, they had a painful decision to make as well if she chose to go.

It was her choice, they all said. She should choose what she wanted, what was best for her. All the same, she couldn’t stop thinking of how it would affect everyone else. Intellectually, of course, she’d been aware of her role, but now she could feel it. She could feel the weight of two lives, feel the holes that her absence would leave. No…not holes. Strings, strings pulling on her, tying her not only to her family and her friends, but to every single person in this city.

Holes were easy to fill. But strings? Cut strings would make for a mess, and new strings would have to be painstakingly tied anew.

Marinette had assumed all she’d be leaving were holes. Couldn’t Alya easily step into that role? But, after talking with Master Fu and Plagg, doubt began to grow in her mind. She didn’t know what exactly it was, but clearly they had thought of something she hadn’t. Something that wouldn’t be easy to replace.

Marinette didn’t get much sleep that night.

The next day at school was not pleasant. Unsurprisingly, the news had spread to the entire class, and Marinette was swarmed with congratulations and questions and “we’ll miss you”s to an overwhelming degree. She could hardly get the chance to get the words out to say she hadn’t made up her mind yet. In the minds of her classmates, her decision was already made.

Maybe it was easier for them to think that, so they could prepare themselves for the adjustment.

Chloé, of course, acted as though nothing was happening, except to be especially and relentlessly cruel to Marinette far more than usual. It went on until Mlle Bustier pulled Chloé aside to talk to her alone, after which Chloé settled for resolutely ignoring Marinette instead, which Marinette had to admit was a welcome improvement.

Things were calmer in the afternoon, when Alya came over to her house to help Marinette put together her portfolio.

“That’s a nice design.”

“What? No, no I can’t use that one, that’s terrible! Oh, this is going to be a total disaster, all my work is so awful, she’ll rescind the offer, and…”

“I swear to God, Marinette, I will invite Adrien over here to tell you that your designs are fine if you keep this up. ‘Cause maybe I don’t know fashion that well, but he definitely does, and I’m sure he’d say the same.”

“You don’t need to do that,” Marinette said, embarrassed. “This is just a big deal, Alya! Audrey Bourgeois could make or break my career with a word.”

“Well, you already impressed her, and you’ve got way more in you than just that hat. You’re gonna be fine,” Alya said, lounging back on the chair as she set down the designs she was holding.

“You’re right,” Marinette said, “but it’s just so hard to tell myself that, you know?”

Alya shrugged. “Guess I’d better prepare myself for lots of midnight calls to talk you down, huh? Unless you find some other poor soul who knows how to handle your anxiety.”

Marinette laughed, knowing it was all teasing. Besides, she’d probably be fine, Alya wasn’t the only one who knew how to talk her down, after all. Tikki often…

A lump rose in her throat as she remembered that she wouldn’t have Tikki, either.

“Though, I have to ask,” Alya said, dropping the teasing tone from her voice. “Are you sure you want to go off and work under…well, Chloé senior? You know how awful Chloé is, and it’s pretty clear where she gets it from…”

“I…I’ll manage. I dealt with four years of Chloé already, so I’ve got plenty of experience. Besides, for my dream, it’s worth a little misery.”

“You don’t sound too sure,” Alya pointed out.

“I’m not,” Marinette admitted, though it had very little to do with Audrey having an attitude similar to Chloé. “I don’t know if I want to do this, but I don’t want to not do it, either, you know? It’s everything I ever wanted, but I just…have so much here, too.”

Alya patted Marinette’s shoulder sympathetically.

“Even if we’re halfway across the world from each other, I’ll only be a phone call away,” she said, but Marinette wasn’t reassured. It wouldn’t be the same, and, though she couldn’t explain it to Alya, there were friends that she couldn’t reach simply by phone.

“Thanks, Alya,” Marinette said, and hugged her. “I haven’t made up my mind yet. I still have time.”

But not that much time. She had to make a decision soon. And there was one person, more than any other, that she wanted to talk to before she did.

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Talking to Chat Noir, however, proved unusually difficult in the days to follow. Not that Marinette wanted people to get akumatized, but the lack of attacks was suspicious, and, she had to admit, currently inconvenient. Busy as she was, she didn’t have time to just go out and wander the city as Ladybug, hoping Chat Noir would show up eventually. And that was assuming he’d recovered his Miraculous (she certainly hoped that he had).

“Do you think Papillon is planning something, Tikki? It’s too quiet.” If Papillon was planning something big, how could she let Alya (or whoever was to take up the mantle of Ladybug) deal with that?

“I don’t know,” Tikki said, frowning. “It is concerning, but maybe he’s just ill or something.”

“It’s just weird,” Marinette said, flopping down onto her bed. “I know it has to be a coincidence, but it’s so odd that this happens right as I’m considering leaving. I know Chloé has been upset enough lately to be akumatized several times, but she hasn’t been.”

There had been her initial reaction, of course, but earlier today had been a ripe time, too. Marinette had been over at the hotel to finally present her portfolio to Audrey. To her surprise and nerves and delight, Gabriel Agreste had been there as well to look it over.

It had been going well; both adults were impressed with what she had to show. But then Chloé had to walk in, and the policy of ignoring each other was promptly dashed to the ground. Chloé had shouted at Marinette, attempted to tear apart the drawings, and stormed out the room when the adults prevented her from doing so.

Audrey hadn’t even watched her leave, turning back to Marinette’s work with an unimpressed huff. M. Agreste, however, had watched Chloé leave with a strange expression on his face, his fingers twitching up towards his tie for a moment before they had stilled.

“Um…” Marinette had said hesitantly. “Are you alright, sir? If you want to take a break, or go make sure she’s alright, I can wait…” Especially if she needed to get away to fight an akumatized Chloé after this…

His eyes then refocused.

“No, I’m perfectly alright. Let’s continue.”

The rest of the presentation had gone well, and uninterrupted. Marinette should’ve felt happy and excited, and in a way, she was. But that was overshadowed by the strange lack of trouble, and the final decision looming. Most everyone – except Tikki and Master Fu – treated it as though the decision to leave had been already made. It had been okay, at first, but now it was getting annoying, as though they were making the decision for her.

And she wasn’t going to make a decision until she’d talked to Chat Noir.

“Tikki…” Marinette started. “Do you think Chat Noir’s found his Miraculous by now?”

“I’m sure he has,” Tikki said. “Don’t worry about that, Marinette.”

“Then, do you think you could go to him and arrange a time for us to meet to talk? Right now, even? I know it’s late, but that just means he shouldn’t be busy, right? And if there’s no attacks, I won’t be able to arrange a meeting myself…”

“Master Fu doesn’t want us leaving our wielders side,” Tikki said. “What if there’s an akuma?”

“You’ll be with Chat Noir, so you’ll know right away and come right back. Please, Tikki? I can’t go without talking to him. Besides, there hasn’t been any attacks lately, so most likely…”

Marinette was interrupted as the dark sky outside grew far too bright. Shielding her eyes, she moved to the window, squinting out it to see if she could make out the source of the light.

“I think you may have spoken too soon!” Tikki said.

“I think so too!” Marinette agreed. “Let’s go check it out. Tikki, transform me!”

As Ladybug, Marinette climbed up to the roof, still shielding her eyes against the harsh, unnatural light as she scanned the horizon as best she could. Quickly, she deduced the rough direction that it seemed to be coming from.

It did not surprise her in the slightest that that was the direction of the Bourgeois’ hotel. The only thing that surprised her was how long it had taken to get to this point. Without a moment of hesitation, Marinette leapt off her balcony and swung into the sky.

Acutely aware that this could very well be one of the last times she would ever get to experience this, Marinette soaked in every moment. She was focused on her task, of course, but she let herself appreciate the way the wind felt on her face, the small thrill as she flung herself into the air and alternately working with and against the pull of gravity to make her way across the rooftops. This, this was something incredible, and she had never fully appreciated it until this moment…

“Long time no see, my Lady!” Chat Noir’s cheerful voice rang out as he appeared beside her and matched her pace.

Marinette smiled.

“I hope you brought your sunglasses, kitten, because it’s looking a little bright tonight.”

“Well, I always did want a suntan,” he said, returning the grin.

“Ha! You would burn long before you’d tan, kitty-cat.”

“Probably true.”

They both came to a stop on a roof across from the hotel, barely visible against the harsh light. Even from this distance, Marinette could hear the mayor’s pleas.

“Chloé, my dear, let’s talk about this…I’m sure your mother didn’t mean…”

“I’m not Chloé anymore! I’m Limelight! And I’m going to show you that I am exceptional!”

“Of course you are, of course my jewel; you don’t have to do this…”

Audrey’s scoff cut through the air. “Exceptional? Please, half this city has been akumatized, there’s nothing special about that – AAUGGH!”

At her pained scream, Marinette leapt, Chat Noir with her, and they burst into the room. She squinted against the light until her eyes were barely more than slits, as she scanned the room. She found that she could not manage to look directly at Limelight, even squinting. Across the room, Audrey was on the ground, clutching at her eyes in pain as the Mayor tried futilely to help her.

“Stand down, Limelight!” Marinette said, spinning her yo-yo. It never worked, of course, but she always wanted to give the supervillains a chance to stop on their own.

She wondered if the next Ladybug would do the same.

“Not a chance! Once I achieve what no one else has, and get your Miraculouses, everyone will acknowledge me! Everyone will see me for the exceptional person I am!”

“You’ll never be getting our Miraculouses,” Marinette shouted back.

“We’ll see how well you can stop me once you can no longer see!” Limelight charged on her last word, and both heroes narrowly dodged the glowing mass that rushed at them. Blinking away the afterimage, Marinette readied herself for another attack. She launched her yo-yo, but, unable to look directly at Limelight, her aim was off, and she reeled it back as she dodged again.

It was too hard to maneuver in here, with the tight quarters and the brightness of Limelight herself. Marinette frowned, plotting her next action. She needed to lure Limelight out into the open, but with her target right here…

Still, Limelight did want to get their Miraculouses, or at least Papillon would insist upon it, so getting her to follow was still doable. Marinette launched herself out the window, shouting taunts along the way to ensure Limelight was sufficiently riled up to follow.

She rolled as she hit the ground, and jumped up. She could see the corner of her vision obscured by the harsh light, and she dodged, hoping for the best. It was a lot harder to fight when she couldn’t look at or even near her opponent.

As Limelight gained on her, Marinette heard her partner’s shout of “Cataclysm!”. Reacting instantly, Marinette swung herself into the air just as the ground crumbled beneath her feet. She circled back to Chat Noir and landed beside him.

“Nice work, kitten,” she said fondly. He responded with a pleased grin, but their celebration was short lived, and they once more had to shield their eyes as Limelight rose out of the hole in the ground.

“You really think you can hold back light?”

The heroes began running and dodging again, as Limelight gave pursuit down the streets.

Grabbing Chat Noir’s arm, Marinette abruptly changed direction and shot them up into the sky and onto a roof, where they could observe Limelight (as well as they could when they couldn’t look directly at her) searching the streets for them in frustration.

“So, got any ideas to dim her rage?” Chat Noir asked. “I don’t think sunglasses are gonna cut it.”

“No,” Marinette agreed. “But this might. Lucky Charm!”

Power swirled from her yo-yo, and soon Marinette found herself holding…

“A welding helmet?”

“That’s certainly useful,” Chat Noir said. She nodded. Usually she received something more enigmatic, but a welding helmet was fairly straightforward. The only question was, which of them should wear it? Her, Chat Noir, or should they try sticking it on Limelight herself? Unless the light was emanating from her head area, the latter option was probably not helpful. And if either she or Chat Noir wore it, their field of vision would be very limited. Unless Limelight kept still, they’d never be able to use it to get to the akuma, and it was very unlikely that she would…unless, of course, they made her keep still…

“I have another idea,” she said, setting the helmet down. “Go recharge; I’m going to go get backup.”

His eyebrows raised in surprise, but he smiled and nodded and gave a salute as he leapt off the building. Marinette took off in the other direction.

Only a few minutes later, she was leaving Master Fu’s with the Bee Miraculous in hand, and with Tikki refed, she transformed again and took to the skies. As she traveled, she scanned the streets, looking for a potential ally, and hoping for one in particular.

“Ah ha!” she muttered to herself as she saw Alya running after Limelight, phone in hand, and Marinette swung down to her level, holding out the Miraculous. “Just the person I was hoping to see! Thought of a name yet?”

Alya lit up – figuratively, unlike their opponent – and Marinette handed her the box, which Alya eagerly opened.

“Greetings, again, my…Miss Alya,” Pollen corrected herself. “I apologize for taking you away from your pursuits.”

“Are you kidding?” Alya practically squealed. “Being a superhero beats chasing after them, any day!”

Alya’s words, though she could not have intended it, brought Marinette’s conflict back to the forefront of her mind. She knew, of course, that Alya’s calling in life was journalism, much like her own was fashion. Yet Alya so easily set aside that for the chance to be a hero – it wasn’t even a question in her mind.

It wasn’t the same, Marinette told herself. Alya was giving up a moment, not an opportunity. It’d be different if, say, she had an offer for an internship with a news network. But even so…looking at how readily, how eagerly Alya embraced this – it seemed clear what Alya’s choice would be.

This isn’t Alya’s choice. It’s mine.

But she couldn’t help but consider it all the same. Because Alya had a point, didn’t she, unintentional as it was? There would be other opportunities for Marinette to pursue her career – maybe not as life-changing as this one, but still…they would be there. But superheroing…that was an opportunity that Marinette might be giving up forever. She could still help people, she could always help people, but never again in this capacity. It was a burden, a duty, of course, but she couldn’t deny the thrill…

“…Ladybug?”

Marinette started, and looked up at Alya – when had she transformed? – and pushed away her inner struggle to refocus on the task at hand.

“Sorry,” she said quickly. “I’m sure you’re aware of Limelight…she’s hard to miss. And hard to look at. That’s where you come in. We need her paralyzed so we can search her for the where the akuma is hiding. Got it?”

“Got it!”

Marinette led the way back to the building where she and Chat Noir had parted. He had returned before they had, and he waved as they approached.

“Hello again, my Lady. And who’s the newbee?” he said, playfully.

“Call me Andrena,” Alya – Andrena – said, equally playfully. “And I’m not entirely new,” she continued with a wink. “But since you misplaced your Miraculous last time, I suppose you wouldn’t know that.”

“Since I…?” Chat Noir started to echo.

“Not the time for small talk,” Marinette admonished the other two. “We’re going to need to split up for this. Andrena, do you know how to get your earpiece?”

Andrena shook her head, and Marinette demonstrated with her yo-yo as Chat Noir retrieved his from his baton. Once all three of them had firmly placed the earpieces in their ears, Marinette continued.

“Andrena, you’ll need to stay out of sight, activate your powers, and keep your eyes closed. Prepare to sting when I give the signal. Chat Noir…” Marinette scooped up the helmet that was still sitting on the rooftop. “…you and I are going to play a little game of ‘catch’ with Miss Limelight.”

They separated, and Marinette watched as Andrena slipped into the alley and Chat Noir disappeared into the night.

“In position!” Andrena’s voice came over the headset.

“Found her,” Chat Noir said not too long after, and Marinette immediately sprung into action, making her way over.

“Hey, Limelight!” she shouted, “Catch!” And she tossed the helmet into the air – probably not exactly at Limelight, considering how she couldn’t look in that direction very effectively, but that didn’t matter – in fact, it was probably better. Chat Noir’s staff came flying through the air, snatching up the helmet before Limelight could reach it.

“Oops,” he said, unconvincingly. “Looks like you missed.” Squinting her eyes, Marinette could just barely see him toss the helmet straight up, and swing his staff like a bat to hit it back towards her. She readied her yo-yo, and plucked it out of the air as it reached the peak of its arc.

“Really, how can you expect to capture our Miraculouses if you can’t even capture this?” Marinette said, teasingly.

“Are you making fun of me‽” Limelight growled, and Marinette swiftly dodged her charge.

They continued this game, dancing just out of her reach, as they slowly led her towards their trap.

“Closing in, activate your power,” Marinette said quietly into the earpiece. “And keep your eyes closed!”

“Copy that!” Andrena’s cheerful voice rang in her ear.

Marinette caught the helmet one last time, and pulled a maneuver that left her suspended upside down for a moment before hurtling into the alleyway. With a few flicks of her wrist, she strung her yo-yo between the buildings as Limelight charged in after her. Marinette barely slid through a narrow opening in her net before closing it behind her. She heard a grunt and felt the tug on her yo-yo as Limelight crashed into the net.

“Now, Andrena!”

Marinette quickly put on the helmet, and turned around just in time to see Limelight go still. She whistled, impressed – Andrena had succeeded, even working blind. Retracting her yo-yo, she walked forward and searched Limelight’s paralyzed form. Her fingers closed around Chloé’s familiar sunglasses, and she yanked them off and snapped them in two. Immediately, the light faded, and Marinette removed the helmet and tossed it to Chat Noir so that she could purify the akuma. The three heroes then shared a fist bump, and Marinette took back the helmet to toss it into the sky.

“Chloé, huh?” Andrena said, peering down at the girl, who was looking around in confusion.

“Ladybug!” Chloé said eagerly as her eyes met Marinette’s.

Andrena’s comb beeped.

“Sorry, Chloé, another time,” Marinette said, already taking steps backwards. “Chat Noir can take you home.”

He nodded in confirmation. Chloé grumbled, but offered no further protest. Marinette turned away to leave with Andrena, then hesitated as she remembered her original reason for wanting to meet with Chat Noir.

“Chat Noir…” she said, turning around. He looked back at her, meeting her eyes with a patient smile. Again, she hesitated. Another beep sounded through the air. “I…” But the words wouldn’t come. After all, now that it came down to it, did she really need to talk to him at all?

Deep down, she’d already made her choice, hadn’t she? It was a hard choice, but a clear one nonetheless.

“…I’ll see you around,” she said, and left with Andrena to find a secluded spot for that latter to detransform.

“Thank you, Ladybug!” Alya said as she handed back the Miraculous. “I love being a superhero with you!”

“No, thank you, Alya,” Marinette said.

“For what?”

Marinette smiled gently. “For helping me out.”

She waved goodbye and took off into the night back towards Master Fu’s, and detransformed.

“Why didn’t you ask to meet up with Chat Noir later?” Tikki asked immediately. “Didn’t you want to talk to him?”

“I did,” Marinette said. “But I’ve made up my mind now, Tikki. I’m not going to New York. I have so much here, and I can’t give up being Ladybug for anything!”

Marinette didn’t think she’d ever seen the little kwami so happy, as Tikki practically danced around her.

“That’s wonderful, Marinette! I’m so glad you’ve decided to stay, I won’t have to say goodbye to you!” She snuggled Marinette’s cheek.

“Me too, Tikki! I would’ve missed you a whole lot. Let’s go tell Master Fu.”

He, too, was pleased to hear Marinette’s decision as she returned the Bee Miraculous, and Marinette was warmed by the relief and approval clear on his face. She left with a spring in her step and a smile on her face.

“Hopefully my parents are still up so I can tell them my decision,” Marinette said to Tikki. “I know they’ve been worrying a lot about it, I’m sure this will be easier on them as well.”

“Let’s go home right now and you can tell them,” Tikki said. “And then we can celebrate! With cake!”

Marinette giggled.

“I don’t know about cake, Tikki, but we can certainly celebrate. I’m sure the girls will want to celebrate too, once I tell them. But that can wait until tomorrow.”

As would telling Audrey herself. That’d be intimidating, but Marinette was certain she was making the right choice. Even if Audrey didn’t take it well, there would be other opportunities. Other chances, ones that didn’t involve leaving Paris.

Of that, Marinette was also certain.