Fate or Chance

Carrying the world on the shoulders.

The three girls landed in the hotel room, checked the time, it was almost 4 in the morning, and sighing at the same time they threw themselves on the bed.

"Pollen, Buzz off"

"Longg, Open sky"

"Tikki, Kaalki, divide.  Tikki Spots off."

The trio of teenagers sighed as their kwamis searched for food to recharge.

"How long do we have left to sleep"  Asked Marinette taking off her shoes.

"About three hours," Kagami replied, to which the others complained.

"Who gets up at seven in the morning?"  Chloe complained muttering.

"My mother."

The three teenagers smiled at the young swordsman's reply.

They lay in bed for a few minutes, enjoying the silence of the night, until Chloe spoke.

"Did I die?"

Marinette and Kagami tensed at the question.

" What do you mean?"

"I'm not stupid, Kagami." Chloe said " I saw Marc's face, something happened to me before Second Chance was used. Am I wrong?"

Both girls held their gaze before turning to see Marinette.

The aforementioned thought for a few seconds.  On one hand, Chloe hadn't died, but she had been seriously injured, she didn't know if that information would do Chloe any good;  on the other hand, since the beginning, Marinette had established a  total honesty policy in her team.  Hiding things was something she didn't enjoy, especially with his team.
Also, Marinette knew that such secrets could cause tensions and misunderstandings that returned at the least opportune moment.

"Yes something happened, you didn't die, but you were hurt."

She then proceeded to explain what Marc had told them.  At the end of the story Chloe was silent for a few seconds before saying:

"Well, on the bright side, now we know that it hurts if our wings are torn off" At the amazed looks of her friends, Chloe snorted "What?  Did you expect me to cry on the corner for something that didn't even happen?  Don't be ridiculous, my makeup would get smeared.

"Wait a minute, " Kagami said, "Did you put on makeup before we left?"

"Better dead than plain, darling."

"When did you have time to do your makeup?"

"When I told you that I needed to go to the bathroom."

"Chloe, you were there only for three minutes."

"Your point is ..."

Marinette and Kagami chuckled at Chloe's antics.  Marinette knew that this was the way Chloe dealt with such situations, fear and anguish could lead to akumatization.

Marinette wished in those moments for everything to just finish, she longed to be with her friends and cry and get angry about the problems of adolescence without having to worry about a villain taking advantage of her emotions.  She just wanted to stop having to carry the world on her shoulders.

The three of them had had to move on after their first love disappointment without a chance to cry.

The worst thing is that the worst traumas they carried came from their secret identities, so they could not talk to anyone about it.

Each of his team members had found a way to keep memories of their less glorious moments as heroes at bay.

In Chloe's case, cunning and pride were an almost perfect mask.