⚠⚠⚠ (!!Warning!! Suicide, abuse, self-harm and bullying are mentioned throughout this chapter and I advise sensitive readers to be cautious reading ahead.) ⚠⚠⚠

Lots of love Abs xx

Her fathers voice reasoned through the bakery but was given no reply.

The line stayed quiet for at least 6 minutes but really felt like an eternity before the sound of the bakery bell sounded again, did they leave?

The black screen finally turned to be faced with the fragile and shaking hands of his daughter, the screen was placed across from her face and he couldn't tell much of a difference, keyword being much.

He could see the distance and helplessness in her eyes, he could recognise it anywhere from anyone, he's seen it too many times in his line of work.

"Your still here..."

She let out a light sigh before it went quiet again.

"Marinette, who was that?" he was still concerned and from what he could see, she was still standing on her two feet but he couldn't shake off the feeling that something happened to her.

"To be honest Papa, I don't know, I really don't."

It didn't seem like the right time to push the matter any further, he knew the consequences of pushing her too far even if he was itching for an answer.

Marinette would've said something about what she saw but the thing is, she didn't see anything at all.

The wind must've been really strong and just pushed it open catching her off guard but there was a nagging voice in the back of her head saying it was something much more important and she wouldn't rule it out.

Goosebumps ran up her back and she instantly knew. Whenever that happened, it was a sort of sixth sense that she got after becoming guardian and finding out she was the true ladybug heroine.

Bruce watched as Marinette rubbed her eyes in a motion that indicated tiredness and let out a heavy breath,

"Go to sleep, you need to be up early tomorrow to catch the flight."

She glared at him through her lowered eyelashes. She had told him about how she was assumed to be 'the late girl' despite it being an entertaining charade, they spent weeks teasing her on the matter.

"I won't be late, just you watch. Night Papa." a small smile made its way to both their lips.

"Night Marinette"

Marinette was the one to hang up the phone, he placed it down on the table in the dining room, he was currently waiting for his sons to come eat, they were all tour guides helping with the French classes.

One walked in and a large sip was heard, Tim "Why were you on the phone to Marinette?" the man looked up to his son to find dark bags under his eyes, when did he last sleep?

"Just our normal calls" The lie was smooth and at this point was second nature to do so.

"I missed it... again."

He banged his head on the table groaning, the last two calls they had he was never there and hadn't been seen or heard his sister for the whole week.

"We have another call tomorrow, talk then." small talk was easily picked up while waiting for everyone to gather up. It was a good thing he was talking to a sleep deprived Tim and not a sane and awake one, he would've immediately caught onto his hesitation.

*****

There's a girl who lives in a Bakery.

There's a girl who stands in her bathroom staring at her reflection.

There's a girl whose run out of antidepressants.

There's a girl whose got the world weighing down on her shoulders.

There's a girl who can't seem to find the light in her life.

There's a girl whose thought of giving up and giving into the darkness.

There's a girl who can't see the point in carrying on.

There's a girl who struggles to breath.

There's a girl who paints on a smile to hide her pain.

There's a girl whose screaming deep down.

There's a girl holding a blade dangerously close to her porcelain skin.

There's a girl staring at the oozing red with an emotionless face.

There's a girl who doesn't know how much more she can take before snapping in half.

There's a girl that pleads for her sanity.

This girl doesn't even know who she is anymore.

Marinette walks out her bathroom rolling her down her red jumper sleeve, she glances at the colourful Gods sitting on her white bedsheet.

"Trixx, if you please."

The orange fox nods before flying over to the open suitcase and lowering herself in front of a certain box, an orange light coming from her little paws.

Taking the place of the red and black box now sat an ivory velvet jewellery box that when opened still had the Miraculi but in their camouflage mode. She gives the small fox a grim smile while she flew over to her siblings who watched their Guardian pick up a pair of glasses that once placed on the bridge of her nose changed colour to a metal rose gold, why wear more than one Miraculous? It was simply really.

She felt more safe when she was surrounded by the Kwami, each day she would not only wear her earrings but others too. Ever since she took the black cat ring, she wore it permanently but never used it to transform, she started to take turns in wearing the others and today it was Kaalki, the Kwami of teleportation she would wear. She told the Kwami that she would wear her permanently throughout the two weeks of her stay in case of an akuma attack.

The sound of zipping fills the room, all eyes on the tall yet petite girl that stood in the middle, her bluebell eyes stuck on the gold ring that sat on her middle finger bearing such a weight and burden.

"Let's go."

Her voice was barely over a whisper yet everyone in the room heard, all the siblings gave each other a single look that told a whole story.

Their Guardian was the first female one there ever was and not only that but she held the powers only a true Guardian held, the last one they had like that was over a millennia ago and took his own life from the struggle of the world on his shoulders, they couldn't lose her, not in the same way at least but it seems she's been having thoughts.

All the Gods and Goddess' obeyed, all but three disappearing into her black suitcase, the case nothing fancy but plain glossy black but when shone in a certain lighting you could see her initials, MMW, that no one ever noticed because of how blind they were.

On the shop level, a bluenette girl stares at every inch of the room clutching the handle of her bag with shaking hands, a heavy breath escaped the girl but it was broken and shaky.

Opening her red laced purse she stares at three floating blobs, one red, one black and the other brown,

"You guys coming?" she had a very, very faint smile that they couldn't help but give one back before taking their place in said purse.

Outside the building, the sound of a door locking is heard and the sounds of keys jingling stops as they're placed into an envelope that had a certain someone's cursive handwriting, slipping it into a mailbox.

'Mrs Chamak, Rue Cortot *** ***'

The bluenette's back was now turned to the yellow box nailed to the park metal gate, she walks relatively slow to the nearest bus stop taking in everything from each tree, each bird, each passing pedestrian, each flower and all the buildings.

Every memory flooded her mind, every battle, all her friends, her family, maturing and even the bad one from the first lies, the accusations, the betrayal, the feeling and void of being alone in the world and having no one to rely on.

Her train of nostalgia was interrupted by the sound of tyres screeching against the cracked cement, the bus driver, the same man as nearly all her bus rides recognises the teen and catches a glimpse of the black suitcase standing at her side.

"Going somewhere kid?"

She nods while scanning her card.

"Class trip to America for two weeks, try not to miss me." A small smirk appears on her face which gets a laugh in reply.

"We'll see. From what you've told me, you've never left the country but only time will tell."

Now in her seat, she lets his words sink in, if everything goes according to her plan without any mishaps then how badly will she be missed or will anyone even notice at all?

Will her class finally be happy?

Will Chloe go back to her old self without her best friend by her side?

Will her brothers and father remember her?

Will Paris miss Ladybug?

Will her superhero legacy continue through the ages of the lonely heroine of Paris?

Will the Kwami stay sane and not go on a rampage without their Guardian?

Will Hawkmoth stop without anyone to steal from?

Will she finally be at peace? Can she be her again? Will she be laid down? Will they be disappointed in their disgrace of a sister, a daughter, a hero, a guardian, a human?

The entire ride to the airport is her staring at the normal, busy streets of Paris, she'll definitely miss this place and nearly everyone in it.

*****

Not long later, the bus comes to a stop at an airport that's filled to the brim with business men and woman, tourist's, families and celebrities.

"See you in two weeks Marinette."

The familiar bus driver waves at the girl with a bright smile on his face, she tries her best to hide her wince when he beeped with an equal big smile and a gentle wave.

Breathe in, Breathe out. Breathe in and out.

It's meant to be the most simplest motion that even a new born baby can complete but is hard for a 16 year old, who knew?

Deep breathe in, Deep breathe out.

And just like that, her feet started to move into the busy airport and towards a group causing commotion at the ticket claim desk, who else?

"Lady, are you sure that list is correct? I demand you check again."

The voice of an ex best friend is heard from the front of the group, no matter how loud it never stopped the running feet of the people surrounding them.

"I already said and checked multiple times, there is no Lila Rossi here. Stop wasting my time and move."

The ginger woman at the desk gritted her teeth already fed up of the class. The class reluctantly moved away leaving their teacher to deal with her but she too coming out unsuccessful. Watching the whole ordeal from afar, Marinette decides it's now time that she may give it a go, she did win the trip after all.

"I am so sorry if they bothered you, is the name Marinette Dupain-Cheng on your list by any chance?"

Her voice is light and warming, her smile welcoming and calm, her aura powerful and dangerous yet it made you feel safe, a smile that could and can brighten anyone's day.

"It's alright darling but your class already tried that name and it isn't here."

Okay, she wasn't expecting, what was she meant to do now? They had luckily arrived a few hours early in case of any delays and it's a good thing they did, they didn't even have a name to get the tickets.

A pondering look took over her features as she went into deep thought, what name would their tickets be under?

Her father was the one to sponsor the trip and organised everything. The school played no part and neither did Lila. This is her dad she was talking about and this was his daughter who won the trip.

And just like that a name came into mind but if this didn't work then she would be absolutely stumped and might even have to call her dad who was probably not even awake yet.

"Marinette Martha Wayne."

The name caught the gingers attention as she stopped typing on her black keyboard before turning to the teen in front of her with squinted but wide eyes.

"Is my name on the list?"

The two just stared at one another for what seemed like an eternity before the sound of keys typing sounded again and then it stopped.

A small smile came onto the receptionists face before handing several pieces of paper into the girls hand. "Use your real name next time and we could be finished sooner."

Marinette let out a breath she didn't knew she was holding even though the woman in front of her knew who she was.

Walking to the group crowded around a single brunette, she reads her ticket that had her real name printed on it, of course papa would do this.

"Marinette just had to come on the trip with us didn't she?" it sounded more rhetorical than actual curiosity, karma for being too selfless I guess.

"Here's the tickets Ms Bustier, I've got mine." the pieces of paper were shoved to the red haired teacher who inspected the tickets trying to find some sort of fault in them but found nothing and didn't have enough time to give her student a reply because when she looked up from the tickets the girl was no longer there but walking towards security.

Straight to business and cutting no slack, that was what her student did now and was what Ms Bustier thought was the motto her student believed in.

Boy was she wrong.

Marinette's suitcase went through without any problems with her magical jewellery or the weigh of her suitcase. Was this due to them being a magical artefact that was the first thing to exist before the world even began? Probably.

Even if one girl went in without anything wrong, it doesn't mean that the same goes for the rest of her class. Some of them had problems with what they had packed or the accessories they wore but arriving early had given them the advantage of not being late to board the plane.

Marinette had somehow knew her father would secretly give her an upgrade regarding her seat in the plane and had to threaten him to let her sit in economy, the threat was simple really: she would ignore him when she arrived and even if she knew she wouldn't be able to do that he gave into his daughter.

She sat by herself with a window seat, her father worked his magic in one way she would approve of. She could barely hear the class as they were scattered all around economy and no one sat in at least a radius of 2 metres of her meaning none of them could be mean and ruin the 9 hour flight she had ahead.

All the announcements were made and they finally took off, ripping into the fluffy clouds that tricked all children into thinking it was cotton candy, she stared at the clear sky her thoughts all muddled yet related, the music in her ears fading away as she was left alone with nothing but her and her thoughts.

No one was on the plane, she wasn't moving, she couldn't feel the comfort or pressure each Miraculous she wore had, if she was being completely truthful it was peaceful and maybe just maybe she could get a minute to be her, the real her?

Not the girl that's the dead bakers daughter, not the girl that's playing Charades, not the girl giving up her happiness, not the girl losing hope, not the girl losing her humanity and insanity, not the girl who is nothing but a shell, not the girl whose ruined both inside and out. The Marinette Martha Wayne that was born nearly 17 years ago.

There's a girl whose fought for everyone and kept them safe but whose going to fight for her and keep her safe?

There's a girl who believes there's no one else.

There's a girl whose tried to tame a storm, alas the storm grows stronger wrecking everything in its path.

There's a girl who tries to believe there's another way.

There's a girl who has done trial and error but finds there's only one way to truly succeed.

There's a girl whose been there and done that.

There's a girl whose fought for her whole life.

There's a girl whose seen everything from birth to death to resurrection and everything in between.

There's a girl whose given into the temptation once again but plans for nothing to intrude this time.

There's a girl whose had enough.

There's a girl whose given into the darkness.

There's a girl who can no longer go on.

There's a girl leaving.

There's a girl who doesn't plan on coming back.