Forgotten

1

"Chat Noir, this is..." Ladybug started, but was cut off.

"Grandmaster Su Han," the man said. "The mighty guardian of the motherbox."

Chat Noir scrunched up his face in confusion. "What? I thought you were the guardian M'lady?" he asked, looking over at her.

"Listen when I'm talking to you," Su Han commanded, holding up his hand. "First of all, you both give me your Miraculous."

"What? That's a bad joke. And I'm familiar with bad jokes."

"We can't do that," Ladybug argued. "How are we supposed to defeat Shadow Moth without our Miraculouses?"

"I'm carefully giving them to chosen, competent adults. Just like any responsible holder would do."

Chat Noir stepped forward. "We can't give our Miraculous to someone who suddenly appeared out of nowhere."

"I... I don't know," Ladybug replied, unsure. "The kwamis confirmed that he was the original holder of the box. Maybe Grandmaster Su Han is right. Maybe Master Fu was wrong. Maybe that's why we can't defeat Shadow Moth."

"That's ridiculous," Chat Noir argued, turning to her and placing his hands on her shoulders. "You were always victorious. Trust yourself, Ladybug, just like I trust you. If I have to give him my Miraculous, I'll do it. But only if you tell me to do so. You're the only holder here."

Ladybug looked down.

"Then, go on," Su Han insisted. "Order him to give you his Miraculous right now. Then you deny being the holder so I can take the motherbox."

"But won't my memory be erased just like Master Fu's?" Ladybug asked Su Han.

Chat Noir gasped and looked at her. "Does that mean that you won't remember me?"

She looked down again.

Then Chat Noir looked down. He opened his mouth to speak but Ladybug interrupted.

"I think he's right," Ladybug said quietly. "It's been so long, and we haven't gotten any closer to defeating Shadow Moth or discovering his identity. We're stuck in an endless cycle. Maybe this will finally change things."

"Are... are you sure M'lady?" he asked hesitantly.

She nodded. "Yeah, I'm sure."

Su Han half smiled. "You're making the correct decision. Now, hand them over."

"We will, just not right now. There's one thing I need to do first. I'll meet you back at my house in an hour."

"Should I give you my Miraculous right now?" Chat Noir asked Ladybug. "You can finally know who I am."

Her eyes teared up as she looked at him. "There's no point. I'll just forget who you are anyway."

He slowly nodded as tears welled up in his eyes too. "Can I at least know who you are?"

"I think it's better that you don't know. If you ever got akumatized you could tell Shadow Moth who I was. And then I'd be in danger."

A tear fell down his cheek.

"I'll see you in an hour," Su Han told Ladybug. "Chat Noir, I'll follow you to your house. Then you can give me your Miraculous there."

"Could you give us a minute?" Chat Noir choked out.

Su Han closed his eyes momentarily. "One minute." Then he jumped a few rooftops over to give them some privacy.

Ladybug looked over at Chat Noir. "I'm sorry," she whispered, overcome with emotion.