Once de-transformed, Marinette let out a deep sigh. "Oh, wow, Tikki. I didn't think we were going to get out of that one."

"It was close, to be sure," Tikki said. "But you saved the day, and you got the Moth Miraculous back!"

"Yeah! All thanks to Adrien, Alya, and…I can't believe I'd ever say this, but…even Chloe helped save the day." Marinette handed a cookie to Tikki. "I guess I should go get their Miraculous now, shouldn't I?"

"Actually, I would go straight to Master Fu," Tikki said. "As long as the Moth Miraculous is still corrupted, Gabriel Agreste will be corrupted, too. It will be dangerous for Adrien to have to deal with him for too long."

"You're right. And I've already put him in so much of harm's way today. Have you ever seen anything so sweet and brave and amazing as he is? I love him so much!"

"Focus, Marinette. We have to get to Master Fu."

"Right." Marinette stuck the Moth Miraculous into her purse. "Let's go."

Marinette knocked on Master Fu's door. There was a long pause before he opened it.

"Marinette," he said. "I can tell by the look on your face you have good news. Come in, please."

Marinette stepped inside. Once the door was shut, she clicked open her purse and pulled out the Moth Miraculous. "Look what I've got!"

"I don't believe it," Master Fu said, his eyes wide. "I—I can't believe you managed to do this so easily."

"Oh, it wasn't easy," Marinette said. "I almost got beaten. But I went to Adrien Agreste, just like Cat Noir suggested, and he turned out to be key in defeating Hawk Moth—even when he was Akumatized!"

"Adrien Agreste is a remarkable young man." Master Fu chuckled. "Where is he now?"

"With his father. Gabriel still seemed pretty violence-prone, so I think we should purify the Miraculous as soon as possible. Adrien could be in grave danger until then."

"You are right. But why did you let Gabriel go?"

"Because of Adrien. I couldn't very well take the only parent he has left, could I? He begged me not to. He said that he'd take care of his father. And after everything Adrien did to help win the day, I'm certain Adrien has it in him to keep Gabriel in check—at least until we get this thing purified. So how do we do that?"

"Well, there are two ways. One is to use the Miraculous's power for good ten times for every time it was used for evil—but that would take too long a time, and whoever used the Miraculous now would be corrupted by it."

"So what's the second way?"

"Tears," Master Fu said.

"Tears? You mean, we have to cry on it?"

"Tears of remorse are what begin the process of purification. Ideally, it would be Gabriel's tears of remorse. But he has become so corrupted I doubt he can even feel remorse."

"So…not ideally, would anyone's tears of remorse work?"

"I do not know. I have never come across a Miraculous so powerfully abused."

Marinette hung her head. "I can think of some remorse that I have," she said. "I really regret under-appreciating Cat Noir. I wish he were here so I could tell him how much he means to me. I regret hurting him so badly when I misused my Lucky Charm when we were fighting Recompense."

"I feel a great deal of remorse as well," Master Fu said. "My decisions were what led to the Moth and Peacock Miraculous being lost in the first place, and the destruction of the entire order of the Guardians. I only hope that my remorse is great enough to undo the damage to this Miraculous. Though I have cried many, many tears of remorse in the past, I only hope that I can find some now…" Master Fu squeezed his eyes shut and two tears ran down his face. He caught them with his finger. "Here, Marinette. Give me the Moth Miraculous."

Marinette nodded. She handed over the Miraculous and Master Fu wiped the tears from his finger onto the Miraculous.

Nothing happened.

"I think…maybe…the tears have to come from the misuse of a Miraculous," Marinette said. "Which I have done. I almost killed a man. And I hurt Cat Noir when he stopped me. I can feel the remorse that Gabriel Agreste doesn't."

"You're very brave, Marinette."

"No," Marinette said, as tears started to bead in her eyes. "I'm not. I just know what it feels like to regret something so much that the regret will never go away." With that, the tears began to freely flow from her eyes. Soon, she found herself sobbing, almost feeling as if it was her fault that the Moth Miraculous had been so abused—if only she had been able to stop Hawk Moth sooner, none of this would have happened to poor Nooroo. And then she found herself weeping for Master Fu, too, imagining all the horrible remorse he must have in his heart. She caught all of her tears in her hands, then held out her wet hands for Master Fu to put the Moth Miraculous in. She clasped her wet hands around the brooch and held it tight.

Suddenly, light emanated from inside her hands. She opened them, only to see that the Miraculous was glowing with purple light.

"You've done it, Marinette!" Master Fu said. "Now, you must become Ladybug and purify it as if you were purifying an Akuma."

Marinette almost laughed with sudden joy. She set the Miraculous down, stood up, and called out, "Tikki, spots on!"

Within seconds, she was Ladybug. She took her yo-yo from her waist and slid her finger across the top. "No more evil-doing for you, little Miraculous," she said, as the yo-yo split open. She picked up the Moth Miraculous and set it in the yo-yo, which closed around it. She held the yo-yo high above her head. "I'm freeing you of evil!" she shouted.

A blinding white light filled the room for a split second. Marinette blinked away sunspots as she lowered the yo-yo back down. She popped it open, and inside, just as perfect as could be, was the Moth Miraculous. She could almost feel the positive energy emanating from it now. "I did it!" She practically felt like jumping up and down.

Master Fu just smiled.

"And now Gabriel Agreste will be free of the corruption too, right?" Marinette said.

"He will be as he was before he abused the Miraculous. Whether that means he is free of all corruption, I do not know. But the corruption of the Miraculous will be lifted from his heart."

Marinette breathed a sigh of relief. "That's good to know. Here, Master Fu. I present you with the Moth Miraculous to guard. Though…I have a question for you. If only Ladybug and Cat Noir are meant to have a Miraculous permanently, why do you have the Turtle Miraculous?"

"Ah, that. I was given the Turtle Miraculous by the last Ladybug right before she died. She told me she foresaw troubling times ahead, and that I would need to guard the Miraculous. Since the power of the Turtle Miraculous is the power of protection, she wanted me to protect them at all costs. To say that I failed her…is to say the least."

"But you're making it right," Marinette said. "Don't be too hard on yourself. I think that the last Ladybug was right to entrust it to you permanently."

"You're too kind. Speaking of the other Miraculous…the Fox and the Bee are where?"

"Still with their temporary holders. I need to go retrieve them. I just wanted to make sure we got the Moth Miraculous taken care of first." Marinette started to turn to go, but then thought of something. "Now that Hawk Moth is defeated, Cat Noir can take up his ring again, right?"

"We shall have to see about that," Master Fu said. "The fact remains that Gabriel Agreste knows Cat Noir's identity."

"But…I need Cat Noir. He's my partner. My friend. My best friend."

"We shall see. It all depends on what Gabriel Agreste is like moving forward."

"So what, I have to spy on him?"

"No. It will be Cat Noir's job to spy on him, and decide when it is safe to take up his Miraculous again."

"Is he in a position to do that?"

Master Fu chuckled. "Cats are sneaky, yes? I told you that even without his Miraculous, he is Cat Noir because he is tied to the Miraculous forever."

"Okay," Marinette said, with a sigh. "I just…I really miss him."

"Don't worry. You will see him again. Have no fear."

A little smile crept onto Marinette's lips. "Okay, Master Fu. I trust you." With that, she turned and headed out the door to find Alya and Chloe.