A New Partner | #MLWattysAwards | ✔️

Hamartia

Mirielle left Alya's house from the bathroom window and she left the borrowed phone right on the counter.

Unsure of how Paris would react to her lies, she detransformed in the bushes, where nobody, except Adrien, knew her as Mirielle.

She didn't even want Adrien to see her as Mirielle again, so she decided to make a tough decision she knew she should've done a while ago.

"Mirielle, you can't return the miraculous! Please, don't do this! I don't want to lose another miraculous holder! I know you can do it as Ladybug, Mirielle! I believe in you! Please please don't return the miraculous!" Tikki begged and pleaded.

Mirielle wiped away her tears and tried not to cry anymore, "Tikki, this is a new beginning for the both of us. You'll have a more responsible miraculous holder and I'll be out of everyone's life".

"Wait... Are you saying... after you return the miraculous, you're going to- to do it?" Tikki's eyes widened in horror.

"It's my only choice," Mirielle's voice cracked, a tear falling from her eye.

"No... No! There are better solutions! There has to be a better way! You can't, Mirielle! You just can't!" Tikki yelled.

"Everyone will be happier, Tikki. If I can do one good thing out of every mistake I made, I will do it. I will make a change," Mirielle told her.

"This can't be the only way!" Tikki sobbed.

"I'm so sorry, Tikki... I won't do it right away. I promise you, I'll just enjoy my last few days before doing it," Mirielle whispered.

"No! No! Stop it Mirielle! This can't be the only way!" Tikki attempted to pull Mirielle back by her shirt, but did not succeed due to size difference.

"It's the only good thing I can do before I leave for sure. Let's face it, Tikki. I deserved everything that happened. I had it coming. Now is my chance to end it," Mirielle said with a straight face, holding back her temptation to break down and cry. She wanted to be brave. She had to do it.

She wanted to just sit in the corner and call it off as she bawled her head off with Tikki's comfort, but she knew that she had to do this if she wanted to be a true hero.

With every step, she felt more empowered and dreadful at the same time. She recognized her incoming doom.

"Mirielle! Don't do it! Please, I'm begging you! Don't do it, Mirielle! I can't lose you too!" Tikki sobbed hopelessly.

"This will never work, Tikki. I was never meant to become a hero. We both knew it from the very beginning," she confessed.

"But Marinette chose you! She knew you could do it! You were her chosen! She wouldn't have chosen you if she didn't believe you could be a hero!
Mirielle, you have a good heart. Maybe sometimes you jump at the wrong moments, but that doesn't mean you can't learn to climb! Marinette is very clumsy, and she never thought she would be a good Ladybug. With hard work and good determination, she climbed her way to the top. Please, you can't give up now!" Tikki insisted.

Mirielle looked at her with watery eyes, "Tikki, Marinette has a good heart. She never did anything half as bad as me! She never deserved her death! I messed everything up so badly and now that I told the truth, everyone will hate me. I already told them I was quitting, so let it be. Please!"

Tikki huffed, "Marinette has done bad things, you know!"

"Like what?" Mirielle nearly laughed, trying to imagine her sweet cousin doing something as bad as her.

"She caused Volpina's akuma. She bullied the girl to tears. She embarrassed her in front of her crush. Marinette is a sweet, kind-hearted girl, but she makes mistakes too, you know."

"But Volpina ended up killing her," Mirielle pointed out.

She didn't realize she had stopped walking. Tikki knew and she tried to continue to distract her.

"But she isn't perfect. No one is perfect, Mirielle. You just need to realize that," Tikki told her, "I believe you can redeem yourself and make the world love you! Don't give up now!"

Mirielle was nearly completely convinced, but she held onto that last piece of self-doubt she had.

"No, Tikki. I'm not meant for this. I know I can fix everything if I just do this one thing," Mirielle told her.

She was insecure; Mirielle knew she wouldn't be able to replace Marinette any longer.

She knew it was her time to be a true hero and put away the harmful for good.

It was her time to fix what she had broken.