I want to make a shoutout to one of my bestest friends, Griffin Stone, for writing a story based in the same universe as ATP! Go read Ash and One Button Eye by Griffin Stone! It's super good and gave me chills the whole time! I think Griff might be more angsty from me…and Griff doesn't even torture their characters!
*Fake laughter* *Slowly fades away to a dull sob* Why, Griffin, why?!
(:)
This is the make or break chapter, me thinks.
Oh, and Griffin? I'm…uh… sorry. I really am... *slinks away into the background*
(:)
You Can Let Go Now Daddy
-Crystal Shawanda
"Marinette!" The all-too familiar voice of Wayzz sounded in her room, looking around frantically for the young teenager.
"Wayzz!" Marinette greeted, waving as she finished a few pieces of her Pro-Chat line, cleverly renamed the Kitty Committee by Adrien. "Is something wrong with Master Fu?"
"Indeed so, Marinette!" Wayzz nodded, desperately, his eyes full of the worry that he usually held when speaking of his master. "Please, come quickly! You know which inn he's staying at; room 339!"
"Don't worry, Wayzz." Marinette comforted, nodding at him seriously, face unreadable. "I'll be there as soon as possible.
The turtle Kwami launched himself from the room, immediately, flashing form the bakery's top bedroom before Marinette could blink.
Marinette, undisturbed and not worried in the slightest, continued on sewing the skirt of the medium-length sundress she was working on. "Pass me the pastel green thread, will you, Tikki?"
"Marinette!" Tikki chastised in horror, flirting about her wielder's head as she neglected to oblige to the bluenette's request.. "You should be going to Master Fu's inn! He needs you!"
"I'll just finish the hem here, Tikki." Marinette sighed, expertly adjusting the lining on the bottom of the skirt as she also swiped up the thread. "I'll be over there so quick; he won't even realize I delayed it."
"Marinette! What if it's serious?!" Tikki scolded, blue eyes widening.
"It's probably not. Just constipation or a migraine again." Marinette pointed out, sighing. "And you heard what the doctor said last time he was constipated; he was completely fine, just over reacted. Like men do."
"I'm very worried about him." Tikki whined, looking urgently out the window. "Once you're done, can we please go as Ladybug? It'll be much faster."
"Tikki, you know how dangerous that is; Hawkmoth could find Master Fu if he ever got it into his mind to track me."
"He's never tracked you home, yet, so I think your chances are good." Tikki pointed out, pressing her top right limb against the glass. She jumped as a raindrop landed on the pane before her, her antennas wiggling in surprise.
"Besides, I'm not going out as Ladybug in that!" Marinette finalized, gesturing with her free hand to the outside world, where a rainstorm was beginning. "We'd both catch a cold, and then where would we be?"
"I suppose I can't argue with that." Tikki relented, glancing to the side at Marinette's half-completed projects, including a Chat Noir-themed winter coat that was decorated just like the top-half of his suit. If it had been ready, Tikki might have been able to convince Marinette to being that along as a shelter from the rain, but, alas, it was a work in progress. And Ladybug could not bring her other coats for they were too recognizable as Marinette's.
Around this time, Marinette finished adjusting the hem on the dress, looking up to smile at Tikki. "Done, Tikki! I'm ready to go to Master Fu's!"
"Let's go!" Tikki said in excitement, buzzing as she dived in Marinette's purse, now equipped with cotton for the cold weather, though it would be removed come summer. Marinette scooped up a light blue jacket, zipping it up as high as it would go. A pink umbrella joined the parade, and she drew her hood around her eyes.
"Alright!" Marinette charged down the several flights of stairs, quickly fixing her hair so that it looked a bit presentable. She flipped open her phone, checking the metro schedule for the next train going to the area surrounding Master Fu's Inn. "We'll be there in no time, Tikki! If we're at the station in ten minutes, we can just make the train! Is my bus pass in there with you?"
Tikki glanced around her enclosed area busily, nodding. "Yes! We have your phone, bus pass, and extra money, just in case!"
"Yes! No stopping for this girl!" Marinette cheered, pumping her fist a few seconds before bursting into the bakery's back corner, where all the pastry-making usually got done.
Her mother, who's turn it was to bake that day, jumped in surprise at her daughter's sudden appearance, before laughing if off. "Oh, hello, sweetie. Good afternoon."
"Good afternoon, Mom! I'm heading off to work!"
"Okay, have a good day!" Sabine waved as her daughter left, smiling. "Remember to text me when you get there!"
"I will!"
When she left the bakery, her mother waving after her as she vanished, and her father calling goodbyes from the front of the bakery, she sighed in relief. It honestly shocked her at how easily she manipulated her parents. They believed she worked as a Personal Support Worker. Helping a client who was disabled and unable to care for himself properly. She told them that she worked with another Support Worker, though the other was the main one. Occasionally, the other one – Wayne was the fake name she selected – had his own personal matters to attend to, so he'd give her a text and she left to tend for the man. All of this was code for Wayzz coming to ask her to help Master Fu.
They believed her, and, after gifting her with pepper spray and a few self-defense lessons, sent her on her way with words of warning.
It hurt Marinette a lot to fool them, but it became surprisingly easier to cope with it as days ticked by; an endless cycle. Marinette sighed in remorse, shaking her head as she took off in a jog towards that station.
"See?" Tikki asked, gazing out of her purse at Marinette, voice just loud enough for her chosen to hear, but quiet enough that none of the surrounding people heard them all that well. "You use lying in your everyday life."
"I see how you changed that two-week old conversation into a lesson in real life, and I am impressed." Marinette relented in the same volume as her Kwami, glancing at the magical entity. "At least I'm lying for good causes."
Tikki only shrugged and ducked into the purse, Marinette taking that as her cue to close it completely. Five minutes later, she arrived at the entrance of the station, walking into by way of the stairs leading underground, walking into the subway casually. Her train was still waiting in its lot, giving her time to purchase a ticket using her bus pass and board the metro.
She found a relatively empty area on the train, and a barren seat.
Pulling out her sketchbook, she sat to work designing the latest prices and adding finer details to already sketched artworks. To the sketch of the sundress, she included a black sun hat to go along with it. On its own separate page, she created sunglasses that could double as a headband to keep hair out of the eyes as efficiently as possible. This design would be given to Adrien, as the teen model had gained shaggier hair, and had yet to be instructed to cut it. It made it hard for him to do school, as his dirty blonde hair kept on falling over his eyes, thus making him unable to bow his head even slightly without his vision becoming covered.
Marinette placed her purse on her lap, opening It up for Tikki so she could see the designs. "How do you like them?" She whispered, ensuring that nobody else heard her talking to her purse that had a weird red head resembling that of a ladybug sticking out.
"They look good, Marinette!" Tikki nodded, smiling. "Maybe lower the skirt just a bit, so it's closer to the ankles rather than the knees."
"I was thinking a wider and higher ribbon might also help the skirt fan out a bit more."
"True." Tikki agreed, nodding.
The two shared ideas in quiet harmony, their thoughts usually corresponding with each other. Marinette made necessary changes to her designs, perfecting them until both Kwami of Creation and Designer agreed about the design.
After a while, Marinette glanced at the time, thankful to see that her train was scheduled to stop at the station closest to Master Fu's inn within the next two minutes. The fifteen minutes had passed rapidly while she and Tikki had been brainstorming fashion ideas. It sure was handy to have the Guardian of Creation as a constant companion; the red fairy-like creature was always full of ideas.
Marinette rapidly folded her sketches into her purse, stashed away her phone, and tucked her pencil away into her jacket's inside pocket. Tikki nestled away the things in Marinette's purse from within, organizing it and keeping the small space neat.
The train lurched to a stop, and Marinette clambered off along with three other people, scanning off the bus with her ticket. She climbed up the stairwell to the outside world, where rain was still heavily pouring. When she was almost out from the underground area, she opened her umbrella, holding it over her head.
The onslaught of rain that hammered upon the fabric mere seconds later was loud, and a bit unsettling, as if something terrible was about to happen. It felt like something from the movie Solitude. The film – shown to her, Alya, and Nino by Adrien – was mostly filmed in the rain, and the movie tended to be tragedy and mystery, dealing with death of close family and friends. And with each new death, the main actress was driven deeper and deeper into grief.
After seeing that movie, Marinette could hardly stand in the rain without guessing something terrible was going to happen any moment. Of course, she knew otherwise, but it didn't help the thoughts of present form occurring. Something terrible, her mind seemed to repeat as she walked towards the inn quietly.
Marinette found the triangular building easily, arriving shortly. She entered the inside of the small-hotel-like building, walking past the front desk.
"Good afternoon, Mademoiselle Marinette." The woman behind the front desk waved, grinning. "Going to see your grandfather again?"
"Yes ma'am, Mme. Storm!" Marinette nodded, once again lying about her relation to Master Fu, closing her umbrella and shaking it over the quick-dry rug.
"Have a good day and tell him 'hi' for me! I haven't seen him in a few days!" Mme. Storm smiled, resuming with her filing.
"Will do! Have a good day as well!" Marinette beamed back, advancing up the nearby stairs. Their conversation ended there, and she climbed up the stairs silently, all the way up to the third floor. She walked safely onto the smooth ground. Turning left, she walked down thirteen doors, to room 339, Master Fu's room, knocking on the door.
"Ma- Grandfather? It's me! Marinette!"
The door jingled, for far too long for Master Fu to be the one to open it; most likely Wayzz unlocking it form within and managing to open it slightly, enough for her to get the hint that it was okay for her to come in.
Marinette pushed open the door, peaking in experimentally. First thing she saw was Wayzz's worried yellow and green eyes staring out at her. He waved at her excitedly, gesturing her into the room nervously.
"Hurry!" He hissed, shivering slightly. "I'm not sure what to do, I think it requires a human touch!"
Marinette entered the room, closing the door behind her as she glanced about the room; Master Fu was nowhere to be seen.
"Down." Wayzz said, buzzing before her.
Blue eyes went to her feet, and there, one foot away from her toes, lay Master Fu, sprawled dangerously on the ground, a box of spices in his hands, contents scattered across the floor.
"Master!" Marinette gasped, landing on her knees and feeling desperately for a pulse, not caring whatsoever that the walls were thin enough to pick up on her words. "Please, wake up!"
Wayzz and Tikki hovered nervously nearby, trembling in midair.
"He still has a pulse." Marinette breathed after a minute, trembling in fright. "Tikki, get out my phone."
Tikki dove within her purse, and Wayzz pried it open instantly. Tikki pulled out Marinette's phone, already on the keypad on the phone app.
Marinette typed in 112, the main emergency contact in Paris, France. The phone rung, the recipient not picking up. "Com'n, com'n." Marinette whispered, keeping her fingers on Master Fu's wrist to ensure his pulse kept beating. "Pick up, pick up, please…"
Oh, Kwamis, how was she going to explain this to Chat Noir? How was she even going to contact Chat to tell him? Did he even need to know? He didn't know Master Fu that well, and…oh, who was she kidding? He didn't need to know because he wasn't even part of the team. She…she hoped Master Fu was okay. She hoped that Chat Noir was okay. She hoped they both were okay and stayed okay. She…if anything horrible happened to even one of them, she wasn't sure exactly how she'd cope or tell the other, and…what if something happened to Chat Noir and Master Fu had to be the one to tell her? What if she was alone because Master Fu died, and then she never knew anything about Chat Noir, and-!
"112, what's your emergency?" Came the calm, friendly reply.
"I…I'm not sure. It's…my Grandfather. He's unconscious, and I think he's been unconscious a while now." She looked at Wayzz for confirmation, and he nodded. "He still has a pulse, though, but it's really rapid and irregular."
"Okay…just tracked your phone call, I'm sending an ambulance. I'm going to need your room number."
"339."
"Thank you. Allow me talk you through it, Mademoiselle."
"Okay. Okay." Marinette agreed, nodding quietly, shuddering.
"Is he breathing?"
"Um…" Marinette watched Master Fu carefully, inhaling sharply. "Barely."
"Does he react when you touch him?"
"No, ma'am. He doesn't even flinch."
"Okay, the ambulances will be there in just a minute or two. Is anyone there with you?"
Marinette glanced at the Kwamis, though she knew that she couldn't tell the woman about them. "No, nobody at all. I just arrived for a visit, and Grandpa was on the floor when I came in."
"How long ago did you come in?"
"Five minutes? Maybe? I'm not exactly sure."
"Okay, Mademoiselle. Stay calm, okay? Take deep breaths. You're hyperventilating."
Hyperventilating? That didn't sound quite right. But…just by listening to herself, Marinette could confirm that…yes, she was absolutely hyperventilating. "Okay. I can…I can take deep breaths. I can do that." She inhaled sharply, then exhaled. Five seconds in, five seconds out. She followed the rhythm nervously for several breaths. "Please…when will they be here?"
"I just got word that they arrived outside; paramedics are on their way up." The woman gently told her, voice maintaining the same calm, relaxed voice she had kept throughout the entire conversation. "Is he still breathing?"
"Yes." Marinette responded immediately, nodding. "And a pulse."
"Good, good. Any blood?"
"No." Marinette said, staring down at him. "No blood at all."
"Roll him onto his back." The woman instructed, and Marinette pushed him softly from his right shoulder blade onto his spine.
The woman continued with her soothing tone, asking Marinette more questions, having her do more relaxing breathing exercises.
Eventually, a knock came from the door, giving Tikki and Wayzz their cue to phase into Marinette's purse. Marinette moved to the side, allowing the paramedics free entrance into the hotel. Despite her moving, they still had to step over her and Master Fu to get the stretcher they carried into the inn room.
"They're here…" She told the woman on the other side of the phone, who, after assuring her everything would be alright, hung up, saying that, although she wanted to stay to help, she had to tend to helping others.
Three paramedics, two large muscular men, and one lithe female, stepped into the room. The two men instantly set about lifting Master Fu onto the stretcher, and the female kneeled over and put a comforting hand on Marinette's back.
"Are you alright, sweetie?" She asked, carefully, blue-grey eyes flashed in concern.
"I'm fine." Marinette whispered, exhaling slowly as she struggled to remain calm. "Will… um…Grandpa be alright?"
"I think so." The petite female assured, nodding. "We'll figure out what's wrong in either the hospital, or in the ambulance. Depending on his age, it could be any number of things. But, it should be relatively easy to narrow it down." Raising her head to stare levelly at the two boys, she stood up. "David, how does he look?"
"I'm not sure." The man furthest from them said, stiffly standing up as he and his partner picked up the stretcher, lifting the unconscious Master Fu from the ground. "He'll be fine in a bit."
David and the other male moved out of the room with Master Fu, rushing out of the hall and descending the stairs, barely managing to keep Master Fu on as they hurried onward as quickly as they could.
"Do you need a breather, Mademoiselle?" The paramedic asked, glancing down at the bluenette.
"N-no, I'm fine." Marinette touched her purse, as if confirming the Kwamis were still within. "I just…need to grab something of his…"
"Be quick, or else you'll have to ride with David and Jedidiah." The woman teased, watching with half-amusement as Marinette frantically looked around, head whipping back and forth.
Finally, she spotted it, pushed half-way underneath the bed. Practically charging it, she grabbed the cooler, opening it a track to peek in. There, buried underneath several cubes of ice, sat the Miracle Box, just 'Chillin'. Chat Noir would have appreciated the pun.
Closing the lid, she turned to the woman who was still standing by the door. "Ready to go." She said, hurrying past the brunette without a word.
She hurried after the men, surprised that they had already gotten as far as the front desk by the time she caught up.
Mme. Storm was on her feet, pushing back her chair, and trying to get a closer look by the time Marinette passed by. She called after Marinette urgently, but the teenager ignored her in favor of jogging beside Master Fu as he was carried out.
Tears stung at the corners of her eyes once again, and she found herself begging him inwardly to hold on, to stay alive, to just breath again. The Kwamis need you to be their Guardian… she found herself squeezing his hand, shaking too hard to be calm.
Daniel and Jedidiah reached the ambulance, parked as close to the entrance as it could get. Another male head stuck out from the driver-seat window, the man leaping out at that short moment's notice to shove open the doors to the backside of the ambulance.
The duo of men pushed in the stretcher, clipping it onto the top of the wheel-version of the stretcher, which would have made it abundantly harder to move up and down the stairs.
They glanced down at Marinette, smiling sympathetically at the sobbing, teenage girl.
"It'll be alright, kid." Said one.
"Yes; the hospital will do all they can." Agreed the other.
Through her blurred vision, she noticed their identical, comforting grins. Brothers. She thought dimly. Always there for one another, never straying far and…oh, where's Chat Noir when you need him?
The female medic arrived a few minutes later, jumping into the back of the ambulance as she secured the stretcher and began wrapping a heartbeat monitor around Master Fu's upper arm, offering a kind hand to Marinette.
Marinette accepted, climbing into the vehicle rapidly.
The four paramedics let Marinette stay in the same ambulance as Master Fu, telling her that, since she was family, of course she could ride in the same vehicle as him.
Phillip – the driver- didn't seem all that jazzed about her tagged along, though he let her. She assumed he were used to having elbow room, even with a patient and Heather – as was the female paramedic's name – and Marinette was only compromised his space.
Marinette didn't care, though. All that mattered in her mind right then was Master Fu; the cheeky, wise, caring man who mentored her throughout her time as Ladybug. He had nurtured her from when she was a confused teen who thought she would always be a pushover until now, a young woman who, though stressed a lot of the time - most of the stress honestly being his fault, but he didn't mean to cause it - was now mature, smart, courageous, and could easily stand up for herself. She met her best friend thanks to Master Fu and could do things she never could before.
She was…honored to call him family, even if it was just pretend.
"Hmm." Heather said, staring down at the screen she was using to monitor Master Fu specs. "I'm not sure yet, but all these seem to indicate a heart attack."
Marinette jolted, paying careful attention. "What are you talking about?"
"His monitors. Irregular, rapid heartbeat, shortness of breath even while unconscious…plus a few other symptoms I noticed, mix those together, and you get a heart attack." Heather gestured busily, typing a few things into her tablet. "He should be stable until we get to the hospital, where doctors can try to tend to him, and then it's in the Gods' hands."
"Okay…thank you…" Marinette nodded, squeezing Master Fu's cold hand once again. Please…I'm not ready for you to leave me.
If Marinette was being frank, she hardly registered when the Ambulance pulled into the hospital lot and unloaded Master Fu. They allowed her to keep holding onto him as they wheeled him down the halls, into an elevator, pulled him up to the second floor.
Heather was the one to push away Marinette's hand when they arrived at the Emergency Room. "Com'n, Sweetie, they need to take care of him. You need to let go."
"N-no, I can't! Please, don't make me! Don't make me, don't make-!" Marinette sobbed, trying to still clutch at him as the nearest doctor closed the door in her face, trying to keep her out.
"Com'n." Heather said, holding her back. "They're just going to run a few tests…see if they can wake him up. Then they'll come get you."
That's about when Marinette snapped back into reality. "Are they going to perform surgery?" She asked, glancing up at Heather.
"It'll take a bit for them to prepare; most likely the surgical doctors will be preparing for any circumstance so that they can move right in once the tests are done. But…surgeries cost a lot of money. So, they'll have to ask you about other family members and discuss forms of payment and figuring out all the paperwork."
Marinette shuddered at the thought. She wasn't very rich and would probably fall short of all methods of payment. Her parents also wouldn't understand why 'Wayne' failed to help with the payment, as well as the agency in charge of the Personal Support Workers. Of course, they'd jump right in to help, but they'd be confused, and if she explained, they'd be so upset she had lied to the doctors and them. They wouldn't understand, they wouldn't get it. She'd be so grounded… how was she going to figure this out?!
She dimly realized that Heather was leading her to the waiting area. The female paramedic's actions showing just how unfazed she was. From her steady footsteps, to her unworried face, she clearly dealt with this sort of thing on an ordinary basis and was hardly surprised with anything anymore.
"I have to hurry off to a few other emergencies." Heather apologized after she had gotten Marinette settled down, giving her a pitying look with a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. It wasn't her job to take care of distressed visitors, Marinette realized. She was just good at temporary assurances before she had to leave again.
"A nurse will explain what's going on to you before your Grandfather heads into surgery. If you're lucky, he'll be temporarily awake so you can talk to him before they put him under again." Heather glanced around, eyes finding the elevator down at the far end of the hallway. "I'll see you later, kay?"
Marinette nodding, knowing she wouldn't be seeing Heather again. It sounded reassuring, but…yet, she wouldn't be back. Too busy to take care of one little girl in a sea of emergencies. Marinette wondered how busy the hospital got after each deadly akuma attack, how many ambulances were dispatched within an hour, and if any were sent out, like with Syren, it would be impossible to get a vehicle out of there. They were lucky the hospitals in Paris had long since become reinforced against the elements to withstand akuma attacks.
Heather was gone before her thought process came to an end. Marinette took the time to glance around the waiting room, finding it surprisingly empty, not a soul in sight. She was alone with her thoughts, her feelings, her all-encompassing worry.
Marinette curled in on herself and began to sob, trembling all over from fear, from concern, from horror, from…everything. Emotions piled up within her chest, tumbling out in the form of tears. Her stress finally let loose, and wails broke from her mouth, bouncing off the walls and coming right back toward her. She ignored them in favor of creating new ones, the room soon filled with the sound of hysterical crying.
How long did she let her feelings get the better of her? Five minutes? Ten minutes? An hour? She wasn't exactly sure. All she knew was that nothing changed in that waiting room, same light blue carpet, same whir of the fan, same beige walls. Same uncertainty. Same pain.
She was fairly certain she had dosed off into a grey area between wakefulness and unconsciousness. For, the next thing she knew, a nurse was shaking her awake, causing her to become completely aware of her hospital surroundings once more. It hurt, honestly.
"Are you okay?" He asked, taking a few steps back as Marinette rubbed her eyes.
"I'm…fine." Marinette shrugged, sitting up as she dried the last, stubborn droplets of tears. "How…how is uh…Grandpa?"
"He woke up a minute ago." The man said, worry pinching at his brows. "Dr. Marshall sent me to get you when he did. He's delusional, though. Thinks Hawkmoth kidnapped him."
Marinette was on her feet instantly, attempting to barrel past the nurse, who stopped her with a single arm.
"I have to warn you," he said, shaking his head. His name tag read Balance, his last name. "He's extremely unstable, he could pass out in a heartbeat, he could die even quicker. His heart stopped beating once already, we were barely able to revive him."
Marinette tried to forge forward once more, but Nurse Balance stopped her again. "We confirmed it was indeed a heart attack. Try not to get him too excited, alright?"
"I'll do my best." Marinette nodded, and Balance finally stood to the side.
He didn't speak or try to hold her back after that, but he did ensure sure that she charged into the right room. Marinette didn't give Balance or any of the other doctors and nurses a second glance as she threw herself into the chair beside Master Fu, fingers curling around his tiny, frail hand.
When she arrived, he had been too busy quietly wagging his finger at the doctor and other nurse, weakly scolding them for teaming up with Hawkmoth. However, when Marinette took his hand, his brown eyes turned to her, relief sparking in them.
"Mar-Marinette…" he croaked in surprise, "wh-what are you d-doing here?"
"This is a hospital, Ma…Grandpa." She stammered, trembling. "You had a heart attack.."
His brown eyes turned to the doctors, and he frowned. "O-oh, my deepest-est apologies, my-y friendss."
"Yes, well, we're glad we could be of assistance, but…Mr.…?"
"Wang." Marinette and Master Fu said in harmony, exchanging a quiet, knowing glance.
"We're going to try to put you in surgery in a few minutes." Doctor Marshall said, glancing at the clipboard in his female nurse's hands. "Staying awake for very long could be quite dangerous for your already precarious health." A nice way of saying that he could die. "We're going to let you two have some time alone while we're doing some last-minute preparations, but…"
"Of course." Marinette nodded, desperate to have them leave. "Go ahead. Please."
The medics nodded, exchanging some looks.
"Enjoy this time with each other." The nurse warned simply, miming her senior's way of speaking with dangerous messages hidden in sweet words. "Mademoiselle, you won't see your Grandfather for a while after this." He can die at any minute. Enjoy the last few minutes.
Marinette nearly choked into tears once more, only smiling stiffly as she bit her lip.
The nurses and doctors hooked up a few last scans, then left the room quietly, sighing amongst themselves as they left.
Marinette watched their retreating forms go out the door, closing the door until it rested against the doorframe, not completely closed, but mostly shut to give them quite a bit of privacy.
She opened her purse, allowing Tikki and Wayzz full entry out of the bag, letting them know it was safe for them to leave.
Wayzz sprang instantly to his master's side, and Master Fu's gaze drifted slightly over to his apprentice, his Padawan, if you will. Marinette.
"Th-there are a-a lot of-of thingss I regre-regret." Master Fu told Marinette; brown eyes dulled with pain as a tight frown enveloped his face. Wayzz lay curled against the old man's right cheek, trembling in fear and remorse.
"I regret…regret not spending as-as muchhh time with-with Marianne as I could. I wish-wish I had loved-loved her dearly, perhaps-haps met-t up with her before-before Hawkmoth had ever come into pl-play. Perhaps, then, she-she and I would-would have moved a-way to Rome to live, and Hawkmoth would have found his attempts-attempts fruitless and given-en up long ago."
"Master…" Marinette rubbed her thumb against the back of his hand, shaking her head in a slow rhythm. Sorrow welled up in her chest, and she wondered why this felt so much like goodbye. "If not for you staying in France, I never would have met Chat Noir, or became who I am today."
"Tr-true." Master Fu relented gently, shrugging, "Cha-Chat Noir wass one of-of the best-best holders in his-history. A fine, stro-strong, young man who was selfless and compass-compassionate, putting ever-everyone else's safety before-before his own. I wish oth-others had taken after hiss ex-example…"
"I do, too, Master." Marinette breathed, green cat eyes flashing across her vision, and she could practically see him standing beside her, one hand laid on her shoulder, the other resting underneath Master Fu's palm. Her dear Chaton. "Chat Noir…was a good man."
Master Fu nodded, squeezing her hand. "Indee-indeed. Ano-another re-gret I-I hold iss not…not train-training him as I-I did for you."
Marinette only nodded at that, not sure what to say. It would have been nice to have her partner with her during training; she would have preferred it. But, it would have made his departure all the more difficult.
"H-he would-would ha-have made a-a fine accomp-accompaniment be-beside you, a-a partner in-in all things-s. I-I be-believe that…perhaps-perhaps h-he would-would have m-made your burden-burden eas-easier. Iff I-I could…could redo it…I would-would trai-train h-him, too."
"It's o-okay, Master. You did the best you did with the time you got. Besides…besides, you still have time. To fix your mistakes."
"Oh…" He smiled, softly, kindly. "You-you know…know better than…than that."
"Oh, Master..." Marinette said quietly, shaking her head. "Please…please don't say stuff like that. Please."
"You kn-know it-t to be t-true." Master Fu continued, quietly. "Acc-accept it."
Marinette cried dully.
"Let me bless you." Master Fu said, regaining enough strength to make his voice clear. "I-I h…have to admit I know…know about you and Aspik's bond. And I bless you. I bless your relationship, and I bless your life. I bless that the two of you will always love and have an abundant time with one another, full of love." With that, his voice broke once more, and tears welled up in his eyes. "D-do wh-what I ne-never did. A-after Hawk-Hawkmoth, please…please tell th-the other-other G-Guardians wha-what hap-happened. Pl-please."
"I will, Master. Please s-stay." Marinette sobbed, clutching him. "Pl-please."
"Dr-dry your eyes-eyes, child-d." Master Fu smiled sadly, tilting his head in sympathy. "M-my time has-s come-come, a-and y-you kn-know it-t."
Marinette let out another cry, shaking her head. "I know, I know… but…I just lost Chat Noir! I can't lose you, too!"
"Ch-chat Noir will n-never lea-leave you." Master Fu smiled. "H-he will-will always be b-by you-your s-side, even if-if you don't kn-know it." He chuckled slowly, pulling his frail, shaking hand from her grasp and touching her head. "A-and my-my teachings will…will be in yo-your mind. Al-always."
Marinette sobbed as his hand fell back onto the bed. He grinned back at her, summoning the last of his strength. "I-I, Wa-wang Fu, g-give up-up my-y role of Guard-guardian," he alit with a bright light, white and blinding, unlike any glow Marinette had ever seen before, "and here-hereby ch-choose La-Ladybug, Mar-marinette-ette Du-pain-Cheng, a-as be-being the-the new Guard-guardian."
Next to her the cooler, which Marinette had constantly kept beside her since she left the Inn, began to tremble, and between the cracks of the lid, the same glow covering Master Fu began to shine, a large similar akin to that of the Guardian symbol spreading across the floor, circling around the cooler. After a few seconds, it shrank back into that which it came.
Peeling her eyes from the cooler, Marinette turned back to Master Fu, "M-master…" she began, opening her mouth to begin to beg him once again. To plead with him to listen to her, and-
The heartbeat monitors lay flat, a high-pitched shriek sounding through the air.
And this time…the doctors couldn't revive him.