Chapter One

Anthem of the Lonely

What was life? Why was it worth living? How did one live?

Dark thoughts echoed through the mind of the girl. They always had. How long had she been thinking like that? Day? Months? Maybe even years. The days just blurred together giving her no real sense of how long she had been doing what she was doing.

Ladybug slid her hand covered over the wrought iron of the Eiffel Tower and sighed for the millionth time that day. She let her feet dangle freely over the side as she looked at the city that she would have so loved to go to. The worst part wasn't that she couldn't go, it was that she was thinking such depressing thoughts before the sun had yet to reach it's peek. The day, or rather the morning, seemed to drag on. How could one day drag on so long? It wasn't something she had to ponder, she already knew the answer.

Five hundred long years of saving, not just Paris but, the entire world was starting to take it's toll. And as much as she told herself that she loved helping others, every time she did so Ladybug couldn't help but to feel the swell of loneliness. Sure she had friends, such as her kwami Tikki, but it had been over a century or so since she felt human. Not that she was, well, not completely anyways. Not like she had once been. But her heart still longed for companionship that she hadn't felt since she was young. She yearned for any sort of physical intimacy, whether it be a hug or, what the younger people called, a fist bump. To have someone to share even a single moment, out of the long days, with. A sense of kinship.

Most of all, Ladybug longed to feel human. But something so simple, was too far for her to reach. It was selfish of her to ask for something that one might consider so mundane.

"Tikki." She called out, closing her bluebell eyes. "Spots off."

She was tired, she didn't want to see the beauty in front of her anymore. She didn't want to see the red swirl of magic as her kwami, her small red friend zipped away from her, taking the red skintight body suit with black spots with her, leaving the teen aged looking girl in her normal everyday attire. She was so tired that she didn't want to see anything. As if not seeing it would make it go away. As if closing her eyes would just solve all her problems.

Tikki was another story. She looked up, worried black eyes gazed up at the olive skinned girl. "What's wrong Marinette?" She called out, using the name that had been abandoned centuries ago.

"I just-" She stopped herself. What right did she have to complain? She had Tikki, Plagg, and all of the other kwamis to keep her company over the years. Even if a kwami or two disappeared from time to time to do their own thing, she still couldn't complain about being alone because they were there for her when no one else was. But still, they weren't human...

"Are you lonely?" Her small spotted friend asked, as if reading her mind. Marinette had always been told that her emotions showed on her face. "Master Fu hasn't been around much lately. So if you are, you can always tell me."

Tikki was right. The old man, not that Marinette should call him that since she watched him grow up, had been coming over to her house less frequently lately. But after seeing her for a hundred and sixty-eight years, he could have just wanted a break. Or maybe he had a date, he was kinda a hopeless romantic. But he was still the only human that Marinette knew. And the only reason she knew him was because he held a miraculous like her.

Marinette shrugged. Her blazer cover shoulders slumped after a few seconds. "I was just wondering where Duusu and Nooroo have been. It's not as lively without them." Her mouth formed a thin wiry smile. Her house really wasn't the same when Duusu wasn't around. The sweet blue kwami could be so over-emotional at times, but that just made the home feel lively. And Nooroo, well what could she say. He was helpful and a great source of inspiration whenever Marinette felt like designing some new clothing.

"I have't felt Duusu's presence in a while." The kwami informed her. The blue kwami had left quite a while ago and probably just hadn't found her way back home yet. From time to time each of them, who didn't have owners, would leave just to see the world outside of Marinette's home in the forest.

The blue haired girl stood, brushing off her pants as if there were dust on them. Which there wasn't. The tower was always clean, even if it wasn't Marinette who had done it. "And Nooroo?"

Tiki smiled, floating up nest to her. "We can go see Master Fu on the way home and ask Wayzz."

"Yeah." Marinette nodded in agreement. She then brushed her hair back and away from her earrings. "Tikki spots on!"

She felt the magic flow through her. Her heart skipped a beat as it did. Though she had been Ladybug for half a millennium every time she changed she felt the rush. It was something that never got old, and she loved it. Every transformation made her feel alive.

With one last glance at the beautiful city of Paris, she swung her spotted yo-yo as far as she could and zipped away from her beloved perch on her favorite tower in the world.

Nooroo's purple eyes looked up at the blonde, almost silver, haired man that held his brooch. He hadn't meant to let anyone find his miraculous, and thought that he had hidden it well, as he searched for Duusu.

The man placed the item on his desk, not letting the brooch leave him reach, but not closely holding onto it. He raised a bushy eyebrow at the purple butterfly who had made the terrible mistake of making a sound when he noticed his item in someone else's hands. "And who are you?"

"I am Nooroo, a kwami." He answered politely. "I can grant you the ability to make normal people into superheros."

The tall man scoffed at him. He lifted his hand away from the brooch to push the black, thick-rimmed, glasses back onto the bridge of his nose. "I have no need for superheros."

Nooroo smiled hopefully. If he, the obvious owner of the house that the kwami had hidden his brooch in, rejected him then he could easily continue his search for Duuru without worry.

"But," The man said, a deep frown etched into his face, dashing Nooroo's hopes. "this intrigues me. Tell me, what exactly is a kwami."

Nooroo sighed. Judging by the look on the french man's face this wasn't good. But the power of the brooch compelled him to answer the man. His search for Duusu would have to wait, unless someone came looking for the both of them.

Edit 7/9/17

Ann and I have found the majority of this story. Though we plan to change a lot of it. It will still be mainly canon related.

SK