To Lyger 0: His power doesn't come from the staff; this is actually the second one he's had. But he absolutely deserves whatever punishment Aisha dishes out to him!
"Nooroo, Kaalki, Divide… Bright wings fall," whispered Sabrina, as first brown, then violet light enveloped her. She knelt on the churned-up bare dirt ground, Sent-Bee's arms wrapped tightly around her shoulders. Sabrina let out a sniffle, hardly putting up any resistance to the hug. As her transformation wore off, Sent-Bee placed one of her hands on the side Sabrina's head, pulling her cheek down onto Sent-Bee's shoulder. Weakly, Sabrina wrapped her own arms around Sent-Bee, taking in shuddering breaths that began to even out. Two Kwamis hovered directly in front of Sabrina's face: Nooroo wringing his hands and watching her with wide eyes, Kaalki with her arms folded and looking off to the side at the battle still continuing in isolated pockets around the warlord's camp. Sabrina's stomach clenched on watching them.
"It's okay," whispered Sent-Bee, her voice soft and soothing against Sabrina's ear. Slowly she moved her hand in gentle circles on Sabrina's back. "You are with friends. You are not alone."
Sabrina's arms around Sent-Bee's neck tightened. She felt tears start to form in the corners of her eyes, trickling down her cheeks. Raising a hand to wipe the tears away, her palm came away wet and grimy. As Sent-Bee continued to whisper, Sabrina slowly began to calm.
A familiar throat-clearing over her head drew Sabrina's attention, and she looked up to find Ladybug staring down at her, Cat Noir at her side. Sabrina gulped nervously as Ladybug folded her arms, letting out a breath. "Sabrina, you–"
"Can't you just give her a minute, Bug?" Sent-Bee interrupted, squeezing Sabrina's shoulders protectively and glaring up at Ladybug. "Hasn't she been through enough?"
"Haven't the rest of us been through enough, too?" Ladybug shot back, placing her hands on her hips.
Cat Noir frowned, an uncomfortable look on his face. His eyes trailed around the battlefield before coming to rest on Rugindo Leoa and Cackle, fighting the last few gunmen left standing. As one of his men fell, Dembo turned and raced away, Tenedaw in hot pursuit. Cat Noir's sighed and shook his head, refocusing his attention on Sent-Bee and Sabrina. "I'm sorry, but after all of this we need to decide what we're doing sooner than later."
Sent-Bee's grip on her shoulder tightened, and she opened her mouth to retort. Before she could say anything, however, Sabrina shook her head. "No – they're right." Her shoulders slumped. "I don't deserve this anymore…" she whispered, looking down at the sad face of Nooroo, who had alit on her elbow and was now staring up at her with big, round eyes. "I'm–I'm sorry, Nooroo," she told him, tears starting to slide down her cheeks. "I betrayed you – and after Hawk Moth, too…"
"M–Mistress," Nooroo began, his voice trembling. Kaalki placed a paw on Nooroo's shoulder, her lips turning down into a frown.
Sabrina sighed heavily, looking away from the two Kwamis who had been there for her ever since this whole thing had started. Nooroo had been through so much – he had been misused Hawk Moth, who had been twisted by his grief and pain, and she had promised him never to do that. But she had. She had allowed her own grief and pain to turn her toward something so terrible – to turn her against her friends! How could she ever face them again after what she had done? Carefully she unpinned the Butterfly Miraculous from her shirt and held it out to Ladybug, followed by the Horse Miraculous. Her eyes wide in surprise, Ladybug wordlessly held out her hand. Sabrina gave the two miraculous a long last look but dropped them into the outstretched hand and turned away, burying her face in Sent-Bee's shoulder.
She could hear Ladybug's and Cat Noir's quiet footsteps moving away from them, followed by the high-pitched voices of the Kwamis. The sounds of fighting continued around them, though they were beginning to die down, returning an uneasy calm to the surrounding camp. But that was it. The emotions that had been pressing in on the edges of her senses – the guilt and fear from Chloe, Marinette's anger, Adrien's worry – all of it was gone. For the first time in over a year, the only emotions to which she was privy were her own. In a way it was liberating – she was no longer responsible for everyone's emotional wellbeing. She didn't feel sad for no reason, or happy for no reason. She wasn't expected to make everything better. She was no longer the emotional receiver to warn the Heroes when someone was in trouble. For a fraction of a second, she felt… relieved. Free.
And yet, it also felt as though a major part of herself was now missing – almost as though someone had cut off her arm. She had grown so accustomed to knowing Marinette's, or Adrien's, or Chloe's, or – her throat closed – Max's emotions, and by that knowledge guiding and supporting them to be the best they could be. Taking in her friends' emotions, alleviating what she could, and releasing it into the atmosphere as Emilie had taught her – that had become as natural to her as breathing. But now it was gone. What was she now, since she was no longer Impératrice Pourpre?
Her eyes widened, tears springing unbidden to her eyes. She hadn't realized how integral that had been to her identity, not until it was taken away. But she had lost it all – thrown it all away. And the worst part? It was her own fault. She had betrayed her friends. She had betrayed Emilie. She had betrayed Nooroo. She had even – in a moment of clarity – she had even betrayed Max's memory! What would Max think if he knew what she had done when he died? Emilie had cut Gabriel out entirely; would she do the same… if she was still alive? Sabrina's gut churned, another sob escaping her throat. If they all abandoned her, they would be perfectly within their rights.
It was no more than she deserved.
Sent-Bee rubbed her back consolingly. "It's going to be okay. I'm here for you. I promise, Sabrina: you will never be alone again."
Sabrina shuddered, sniffling, and leaned into Sent-Bee's arms, tears pouring down her cheeks. Suddenly, Sabrina froze, her breathing hitched. A set of small arms had wrapped around them both, squeezing tightly. Sabrina looked to find Aisha's face centimeters from her own, her arms around both Sabrina and Sent-Bee. Bandruí and Iron Maiden stood behind her, though first Bandruí and then Iron Maiden knelt on either side of Aisha, joining the group hug. Heavy footfalls clumped in their direction from the edge of the camp as Hoda stumbled over to them. A long gash running down her check and neck wept blood, matching a fresh cut across her face that had missed her eye by only a couple centimeters. Hoda collapsed to her knees in front of them, her chest heaving, and caught herself with one hand, revealing a set of puncture wounds on that arm.
Aisha gasped, her eyes widening on seeing Hoda's injuries. "What happened!? Are–are you okay?"
Hoda let out a short laugh that turned into a cough. "Let's just say that Raqassshan and I had some unfinished business," she replied, clenching and unclenching the claws on her uninjured hand. Bandruí pulled a handful of seeds from a pouch on her belt, dropped them to the ground, and covered them with her hand. Moments later, she pressed a handful of fresh herbs to the gash on Hoda's, slowing the bleeding. As she did the same to her other injuries, Hoda nodded. "Thanks."
Sabrina looked around at them in surprise. "What–what are you all doing here?"
"I would have thought that was obvious," Bandruí observed, still packing her poultice into the bite marks on Hoda's arm.
Hoda winced, holding the poultice in place with her good hand. "We figured you needed help out here."
"You helped us so much," Aisha told Sabrina. "Now it was our turn."
"I would probably still be a mess from last autumn if you hadn't talked me through it," Iron Maiden added. "You've been such a friend, ever since that… I only wish I'd realized sooner just how badly you were hurting. I–I'm sorry we didn't come and find you right away."
Sabrina's eyes widened. "I–I don't–" She swallowed hard, tears streaming down her cheeks. "Thank you," she finally whispered, looking down at the ground. Arms wrapped around her tightly – warm and soft, scaled and rough, smooth and metallic. Sabrina let out a breath, disappearing into her friends' embrace. How could she ever have thought that she was alone? How could she have ever thought that she didn't have people around her who cared about her?
Soft footsteps approached them from the edge of the camp, and Sabrina looked up to see Ladybug walking back toward them with Cat Noir at her side and Nooroo and Kaalki both sitting on her shoulders. Ladybug stood with her back straight and her arms folded, eyeing Sabrina carefully, her mouth set in a scowl.
"Mar, I–" Sabrina began before Ladybug cut her off.
"I don't want to hear it," she interrupted, waving her hand to silence her, her mouth set in a thin line. "You betrayed my trust. You hurt people – you even used your own mother. I won't forget that." Sent-Bee and Bandruí both opened their mouths to protest, but Ladybug held up her hand to stop them. Sabrina watched her silently, her shoulders slumping in shame. Ladybug met her eye. "According to Nooroo you never wanted to hurt anyone, and you even protected us – although given that you'd gotten yourself into that situation…" She let out a breath and glared off into the distance before refocusing on Sabrina. "That doesn't change the fact that you did hurt people. Under any other circumstances, you would never, ever see this miraculous again – even though Nooroo says that he is willing to give you another chance."
Sabrina's eyes widened in shock, and she stared at Nooroo, her mouth open. He would take her back? He would forgive her? After everything she had done to him? Nooroo gave her a tiny nod of encouragement. Her breathing hitched, and her eyes snapped back to Ladybug.
Ladybug continued speaking. "You will have to regain my trust after this," she told Sabrina, her mouth set in a thin line. "And you will have to do a lot to earn it back."
Sabrina nodded, sniffling. "I understand. And… I'm sorry."
Ladybug nodded heavily. "I – I'm sorry, too: I should have come to you. I was so lost in my own grief, I didn't think about yours." She held out the Butterfly Miraculous to her. "Sabrina Raincomprix, this is the Butterfly Miraculous. You will use it only for the greater good, as a member of my team. Do you understand?"
Sabrina nodded. "I do." She pinned it back to her blouse, and Nooroo settled onto her shoulder. She gasped as the familiar sensation of the emotions around her returned. "Thank you," she whispered, cupping her hand around Nooroo and hugging him to her chest.
"Good," Ladybug told her. She sighed. "With everything that's happening… I need my Butterfly back. If we're going to defeat the Tarasque, we will need everything we've got. And we don't have the time to train a new Butterfly. Or a new Horse, for that matter," she added, looking down at the Horse Miraculous pensively. Sitting on Ladybug's shoulder, Kaalki arched an eyebrow, jerking her head toward Sabrina. With a sigh, Ladybug placed the glasses in Sabrina's hand. "For now."
"I won't let you down," Sabrina assured her, nodding firmly.
"I'll hold you to that," Ladybug replied, placing a hand on Sabrina's shoulder. "But I think there's someone else that you also need to apologize to for all of this," she added, as Sabrina's mother stumbled in their direction, led by Ryoku and Ngarayap.
"Sabrina?" her mother gasped on seeing her kneeling with the others. "What–what's happening? How did I get here?"
Sabrina swallowed, guilt almost overwhelming her. "Mom? I–I'm so sorry. All of this? It's all my fault…"