Miraculous One Shots

The Scars We All Bare

Wow, we love a good fanfic haitus, don't we?

~~~

Marinette let out another heavy sigh, leaning on the railing of her balcony as she stared off into the nighttime of Paris. For a second, she unfolded her hands, shifting her bluebell eyes down to glance over the callouses littering her skin. With a tired hum, she returned her gaze to the city that she protected.

Just thinking about it made her subconsciously reach a hand up to feel one of her earrings. She felt the back of the miraculous dig into her thumb much like the stress digging its claws into her shoulders.

Being Ladybug wasn't easy, but - ironically - being Ladybug wasn't the hard part.

Being Marinette was.

Everywhere she looked, people worshiped Ladybug. They loved her, they believed in her. They thought she was strong, and amazing, and extraordinary. People didn't see Marinette like that. They barely saw Marinette at all.

Even the boy Marinette loved only loved Ladybug. And Marinette may have been Ladybug, but at the same time, she wasn't.

Marinette pushed herself off the railing, turning back towards her room. It was just something she had to live with.

~~~

Adrien jolted awake from the nightmare that always seemed to work its way into his sleep. He held his breath, eyes locked on the kwami that was dosing on his dresser. After no movement showed from Plagg, Adrien exhaled.

His hand found the familiar shape in seconds, pulling his phone towards him to flick on the screen. After the initial light blinded him, he bit his lip.

His mother's face stared back at him, her warm smiling promising him everything would be alright and he so desperately wanted to believe it.

"Please come back. . ." He whispered out. "Father needs you. I need you. . ." He squeezed his eyes shut, trying to stop the tears from rolling down his face. It didn't help. They came down and he covered his mouth to stifle the sobs.

Adrien never knew where his mother was. He never knew why she left or when she would come back. But when she disappeared, so did his father. All that was left in his place was a cold, unfeeling man who loved no one and cared for nothing. He pushed everyone away - Adrien most of all.

Leaving Adrien alone. And that was just something he had to suffer through.

~~~

Alya watching the screen for the third time, still feeling an elated sensation when she saw Ladybug fly by, winking at the camera.

She let the screen go black and sighed. Ladybug was her hero. A strong, independent female who was making a difference in all of Paris.

Alya wanted to do that. She wanted to be strong like her. She wanted to be an inspiration like her. She wanted to help people and change the world like Ladybug did.

But she couldn't.

She was no superhero. All she was was a junior journalist. And she couldn't even get that right. She prided herself on bringing truth but lately, it seemed like everyone had secrets she couldn't crack. Even Adrien Agreste, the boy who's every waking movement is filmed and posted, and her best friend, Marinette Dupain-Cheng, who told Alya everything, both seemed to be hiding things from the ombré.