Disclaimer: I do not own Miraculous or any of its characters. I'm glad to be doing this challenge because oh boy, there are so many characters I haven't written for before…
Lean on Me When You're Not Strong
Even before she had started dating Marinette, Kagami was horrible at handling her mistakes.
Her family was one that didn't take mess-ups lightly, so whenever Kagami fumbled with a task or slipped up during a rough sparring exercise, she knew what to expect for her actions. Chastising, precise manipulative words, small punishments for the small mistakes she had made… It kept her on edge most of the time, and any time she made a mistake outside of her family's view, she would always punish herself for the slip-up as she had been taught to do.
That routine stayed, until she met and began dating Marinette.
The other girl was more than okay with making smaller mistakes. Little slip-ups were fixed with a simple apology and that was it. No matter if it was a dash of the wrong ingredient in a dish or a forgotten commission request lost amid the chaos of Marinette's daily life, the girl always handled her mistakes well and made sure to quickly remedy the situation before it got further out of hand.
Even bigger mistakes were handled better.
If Kagami made a huge mistake, she would feel the shame clinging to her like a second skin. Saying apologies meant nothing at first, and if there was a chance that the girl could pass her opportunity to someone she thought was better capable of handling it, she would do it without a moment's hesitation.
When it came to Marinette however, her girlfriend wanted to address the mistake and talk it through.
Marinette's alter ego required almost unnatural perfection. Ladybug had to be perfect, because one slip-up meant Papillon getting his hands on the two most powerful Miraculous in the world. But Marinette, the simple bakery girl, could afford to make a few bigger mistakes.
It translated well in crafting their relationship.
If either of them had made a big mistake that hurt the other, Marinette would immediately call them together to talk it out. Feelings would be shared, something Kagami thought she had to suppress, and they would work through it in a mature way that didn't leave shame hanging onto Kagami's shoulders. They always understood each other better after a mess-up, and their relationship got stronger with every discussion and make-up.
Kagami started getting better at handling her mistakes after that. Each one hurt to make, but with her girlfriend as her guide, Kagami opened up more and cared more for the emotions that came with mistake-making.
And in the end, five years down the line of their relationship and almost four years since she had started practicing better resolution tactics, Kagami couldn't have been happier.
Thank you all for reading, and I hope you all enjoyed! :D