Everyday Ladybug

Chapter Two: Forgiveness

Third Person pov:

"---arinette... Marinette!"

Shooting upright, Marinette struggled to catch her breath as images of pale bodies floating up to the surface invaded her mind. Syren had taken its toll on most of Paris' residents, but Marinette felt the weight of her responsibility every time she passed one of the civilians she witnessed drowning that day walking the streets.

Her miraculous cure may heal physical damage, but everyone has to wrestle with the knowledge of what happens after each Akuma attack.

Marinette rubs her face as tears slip down her cheeks. She just wishes she could make it all stop. She just wants the pain to go away... for everyone.

Tikki flies over to her chosen and hugs her cheek in an effort to comfort the broken girl. She can only do so much, but Marinette appreciates the support anyway. She doesn't know where she'd be without Tikki in her life. They've gone through too much together to be separated.

After these past four years of relentless attacks, the heroes of Paris are exhausted and no closer to catching Hawkmoth than at the start of all this madness.

Chat Noir has been injured too many times for Marinette to count and it kills her every time her partner takes a serious hit. He shouldn't have to go through that. No one should.

Pushing her negative thoughts away while wiping her tears, Marinette sent Tikki a pained smile and scooted out of bed.

When she glanced at her clock, she let out a groan. It was time for another day in the pit of despair, also known as school.

Ever since Lila Rossi came to Francoise Dupont College a few years ago, Marinette's life has just kept going downhill. She was the first to see through Lila's lies and call her out on it, which earned her a spot on the Italian girl's shit list.

Lila promised to make Marinette's life miserable and started her reign of terror by making all Marinette's friends believe that the girl was a bully.

The only people that stayed by Marinette's side were Nathaniel and Marc. Adrien learned about Lila's deceitful nature, but was forced into a strained friendship with her by his father.

Gabriel Agreste threatened to pull Adrien out of the school and away from his friends if he didn't bend to Lila's will. So, Adrien kept his friendship with Marinette under the radar, but she understood. She knew how much school meant to the sunshine boy, and she wanted what was best for her friends.

After getting out of bed and fixing her blankets, Marinette forced herself to stop thinking about negative things before an Akuma came to visit her. She couldn't afford to be akumatized. She was used to shoving all her emotions into a box at the back of her mind anyway. Most Parisians were at this point.

Heading to her closet, Marinette dressed in a pair of pink overalls and a white t-shirt, slipping on her favorite converse before going down her ladder to grab breakfast.

Her parents were already baking downstairs, so she was alone for the morning. She didn't mind the silence at all. She actually enjoyed it. It was peaceful.

Marinette grabbed a croissant and poured herself a large cup of coffee into her travel mug. She knew that she'd need the energy to get through today. After the string of Akuma's that have worn her out these past few days, it was a struggle to keep her eyes open, let alone deal with her moronic class all day.

After grabbing a few cookies and putting them in her purse for Tikki and letting the small goddess fly into her purse, Marinette said goodbye to her parents and headed out the door. She still had plenty of time before school started, but she wanted to get there before everyone else anyway.