"You sure you're okay dude?" Nino asked behind the screen as he Marin, Adrien, and Alya were on a shared video call. Marin was sitting in his room surrounded by various crumple up papers and pens but was grateful none of it would show on camera. "You ducked out pretty fast the other day."

"Give me a little credit here, what would you have done if you saw an Akuma flying around. I'm not apologizing for getting the heck out of there." Marin said as-a-matter-like, crossing his arms defensively.

"Dude, once she put gum in his hair just because she you'll ever grow out your hair life that again?" Nino asked.

"Probably not, it'd give me too much anxiety. Like, what if someone tries to cut it from behind?"

"Then call the police." Nino said simply.

"Wait, how long was his hair?" Alya asked suddenly interested Adrien looked curious as well.

"I don't think it's that important-"

"Mid-back, but he kept it braided up most of the time."

"Nino!" Marin snapped, trying to disregard his younger years of thinking it was a good idea.

"What?" Nino said innocently, even though he knew exactly what he did. "Every girl was heartbroken when you cut it, Rose especially. I got pictures, you guys want to see?" He asked as Alya immediately jumped on that train.

"So- Adrien would you like to maybe change the topic?" Marin asked anxiously as his tragic past was about to unburied.

"Heck no I wanna see pics."

"Adrien!" Marin snapped as Adrien giggled.

"Alright well, I'm going with my father and my friend Kagami to England this weekend for some wedding in a few hours."

Marin's stomach fell as he heard that, his previous shame almost gone. But even so, pushed a smile through despite the fact that the person he liked was going to a wedding with the girl he spent alot of time with. "Ooo a wedding, how romantic." He said cheekily, batting his eyelashes while resting his head on his hands.

"Lucky Kagami, getting to venture out with our Adrikins." Alya said with a sly smile, followed up by Nino banging on his desk.

"How could you cheat on us?! I thought we had something special!" He then turned away shedding crocodile tears as Adrien looked overwhelmed with his friends' jokes as he just sighed with a smile on his face.

"It's not like that, our parents are friends, besides Kagami's my fencing buddy."

"Hear that? He's trying to cover his tracks." Marin remarked as Adrien stared at him, as if to say, why are you like this? "Anyway, I have to work on something, see you guys." Marin waved as the call ended, leaving him in his room alone as he turned back to the various letters that he had written.

Marin chewed on the back of his pen, trying to formulate how exactly he should explain the situation to his partner. However, whatever he wrote didn't seem right, it was either underwhelming or too dramatic.

"You need to write from the heart." Tikki advised, sitting on his jewelry box, privy to all his previous failed attempts. "You're thinking pragmatically, like Ladybug. You think to think like Marinus."

"First of all, Marinus is a silly verb, and a name." He remarked now balancing his pen on the bridge of his nose. "Second, I can't take this lightly Tikki. Revealing the Master's identity to Chat Noir places him in danger if Hawkmoth ever decides to make contact. I don't even know if this is a good idea." He sighed resting his head on the back of his chair as Tikki then sat on his head.

"But you trust me don't you?" She asked, right in his sightline. "I would never advise you to do something that wasn't in your best interest." She remarked kissing his forehead as Marin smiled at his Kwami.

He took a deep breath, writing what was in his heart, fear along with sincerity, and the words flowed naturally until he was finally finished. He placed the letter in a plain white envelope as both he and Tikki were suddenly surprised.

"Marinus!"

They both turned to see a familiar green Kwami phasing through the wall and towards them with a concerned expression on his face.

" Wayzz?" Marin asked, "You're not supposed to be outside." He said pocketing the letter.

"You must come with me; Master Fu needs you!" The turtle Kwami said with haste as he then phased back out of the wall, leaving the two confused.

"Do you think it's serious?" Marinus asked.

"Master Fu wouldn't send Wayzz if it wasn't!"

Marin sighed, recalling the previous times Wayzz had visited, mostly because Master Fu had locked himself out of his house. But digressed as he then grabbed his messenger bag, walking out to check on his master.

Marin walked into the shop, growing concerned as he saw the Master lain down on the ground nearby a doctor who was writing something down. The master looked to be in pain as he groaned out.

" Marinuuussss!"

Marin quickly took off his shoes, kneeling down next to his Master. "Is he okay ma'am?" He asked.

"Who are you?" She asked curiously, slightly tilting her head.

"Uh...I'm his grandson." Marin said with a nervous smile as the doctor smiled at him.

"Don't worry, he'll just being a little dramatic."

"My time has come!" Master Fu groaned as then held his stomach in pain.

Marin sighed in relief as the doctor handed him a prescription. "Here you go; fetch this from the pharmacy and he'll be back on his feet in no time. And don't forget to eat more veggies, Mr. Chan. You need fiber, for guts' sake!" She chuckled as she left the room.

Marin grumbled to himself as Tikki flew out. " Again, "Mr. Chan?" I thought you said you were going to eat better." He scolded, but still adjusted his blankets until Master Fu placed his hand over his, looking at him seriously.

" Marinus, if anything happens to me, I want you to take care of the Miracle box — you'll be the new guardian and—"

"Come on, Master Fu, you're overreacting; it's just a little bellyache, that's all!" He said patting his hand in return.

"I am 186 years old, who knows when the day may come."

Marin smiled softly at him, "If you have enough strength to backtalk me then you'll be just fine. I'll go and fetch your medication then-"

"That's not why I called you here." He said as Wayzz flew over with a white letter in hand. "Go to the address written here down on the river banks at 11am. You'll see a woman there wearing a pretty brooch shaped like a Chinese ideogram. Give her this letter."

Marin looked over the letter, noticing it had the name, Marin, on the back. "Who is she, Master?"

Master Fu looked up at the ceiling with whistful eyes. "Someone I've always loved but have never seized the moment to tell. Perhaps I've waited far too long. But all I know is I don't know how much time I have left and I don't want to waste another moment." He said seriously as he then noticed Marin smiling down at him with glee.

"Master, you've got a sweetheart?!" Marin said excitedly.

"Is that the only thing you took from my story?!"

"Wayzz did you know?"

"Of course, a day hasn't gone past that he hasn't thought or talked about her." Wayzz said.

"Awww, that's so sweet." Marin remarked, standing up. "Don't worry about a thing today Master, you just rest." Marin said reassuringly as he placed the letter in his pocket.

Marin dashed out of the shop but abruptly ran into someone accidentally, not realizing one of the letters had fallen out of his pocket.

"OW!"

As Marin lifted his head, his face heated in embarrassment as he realized who he ran into. "Adrien?" He asked, as he helped the shorter boy to his feet. "I thought you were supposed to be on a train today.

Adrien nodded, surprised to see his friend, but not unhappy. "I am, but I wanted to pick up some camembert while the car is stuck in traffic. What are you doing here?"

"Oh uh," Marin mumbled, "Helping the elderly?" He offered as Adrien's expression lit up slightly.

"That's very kind of you considering how busy you always seem to be." He remarked as Marin felt a little shame even though he wasn't exactly lying.

"Well, I won't be keeping you, okay bye!" He said, then sprinting off trying to hide his red face.

Adrien watched his friend sprint away down the street as he noticed a white envelope on the ground. He looked over it, seeing that it had Marin's name on the back. He suddenly grew panicked, looking around for his friend who had disappeared.

"Uh oh."

Ladybug ran across the rooftops, using the momentum from his yo-yo to help him close the space between him and the river.

As he landed, he recognized who gasped in surprise but looked back him as his attention was focused on an elderly woman with the broach that Master Fu mentioned earlier.

"Hello ma'am." He greeted, falling down on one knee before her as he pulled a letter out of his yo-yo, handing it to her. "I uh, have a letter for you; the mailman asked me to give it to you because there was something wrong with hi—"

"I know perfectly well who sent you, young man." The elderly woman said with a smile as she gently patted his head as though he were a small child. "Thank you, Ladybug. I've been waiting for this moment for a very long time.

Ladybug nodded, standing up, "You're welcome, ma'am! It was very nice meeting you." He said politely, bowing his head respectfully before he used his yo-yo to jump towards the Pharmacy.

Adrien tapped his foot as he sat next to Kagami on the train, his father had stopped the train for some reason, so they probably weren't going anywhere for a while. No one would mind if he ducked out for a little bit.

"I, uh, need to use the restroom." He said as Kagami simply glanced at him, returning her attention back outside.

As soon as he entered the restroom be sighed heavily as Plagg flew out.

"Well? Aren't you going to open it?"

"I can't open it, it's not mine."

"But you're curious aren't you? It's not even sealed, so he'd not even going to know that you opened it." Plagg said in a tempting voice. "Here, I'll help." He said snatching the letter from Adrien's hands and flying up as high as he could out of reach.

"Hey- Plagg!" Adrien called out in annoyance.

Plagg skimmed the letter over but gagged as he finished, tossing the letter back down. "Yuck, it's just some dumb confession."

"Confession?" Adrien asked curiously as he picked up the letter in his hands. He read what was a heartfelt array of words, signed Fu at the end. He wasn't certain what to do with this information placed in front of him. So then sat down with the door to his back as Plagg flew down.

"Isn't it great though." The Kwami remarked as Adrien just stared at him.

"How is this great?" He asked bitterly, not certain as to why he felt sour. Probably because Marin was his friend, and friends probably shouldn't hide the fact that they were confessed to and then proceed to ignore the matter entirely. What if someone were to find the confession letter and the wrong idea about the context of the situation? This entire scenario was just going to get more complicated as Adrien realized that he had to return the letter, no matter how he felt about the contents within.

"Now you know what's in the letter." Plagg remarked with a cheeky smiled as Adrien sighed in exasperation at his Kwami.

Marin transformed back behind an alley, feeding Tikki a cookie within his bag as he turned into the Pharmacy. "Morning, ma'am!" He said as he handed out the prescription paper.

She looked over it, nodding as she walked deeper in the shop. Marin sighed in relief as he placed his hands in his pockets...feeling nothing. His eyes widened in a panic as he patted down his pockets again, but there was nothing. Meaning, his heartfelt, bittersweet letter was out there in the city. Suddenly, he sensed an Akuma nearby, turning towards the door as he saw a few cars being driven in reverse.

"Here you go." The pharmacist said, handing over a bag as Marin nodded his thanks. He placed the medicine in his bag as he ran back out onto the streets. His eyes widened in shock as a new villain jumped past him, feeling a pang of guilt as he recognized the emblem she bore. Running back into the alley, Tikki flew out of his bag, still chewing on her cookies.

"I've made a horrible mistake Tikki." He said panicked as he held his head shamefully. "Marianne must have gotten my letter to Chat Noir."

"How can you be so sure, maybe Fu's letter was just that bad?" Tikki suggested even though it didn't sound like she believed her own words.

Marin groaned into his hands before lifting his head. "This is my mess, I'll be the one to fix it. Tikki, spots on!"

At Place de la Concorde, the clockwork looking villain with cracks on her face, placed her can on the wheel, forcing it and all it's passengers to move backward. She quickly avoided Ladybug's attack as the two then jumped to the ground. Ladybug noticed one her cracks disappearing as she smiled at him sinisterly.

"There you are again, you ghastly bug! Once I've touched you, all I have to do is wait for you to transform back!" The Villain said pointing her weapon, a clock hand, towards him. "You're the key to reuniting me with my lost love, your Guardian." She said with a sinister smile as Ladybug's eyes widened in shock. Every Akumatized victim had direct contact with their creator, he learned that. Meaning...

"He's been hiding from me, under a false name for a long time, but now thanks to you, Hawk Moth, I'm going to find him again at last and make up for all that lost time." She said as she tried to stab him with her weapon, to which he evaded, jumping back as he threw his yo-yo in the air.

"Lucky charm!" He called out as a tube of paint fell into his hands. He looked over it for a moment curiously, humming to himself as the villain pointed her weapon towards him.

"Once I've defeated you, you'll lead me straight to my beloved." She stated as she charged towards Ladybug who seemingly had his guard down. But as she drew closer, Ladybug popped the cap off of the red paint, squeezing it all on to her face as he used his yo-yo to break her glass and her pin, releasing the Akuma.

"No more mischief from you little Akuma. Time to purify!" Ladybug said as he swung his yo-yo towards the possessed Akuma, capturing it in one motion. Then opening it once more, watching the newly purified Akuma fly away. "Bye-bye, little butterfly. Miraculous Ladybug!" Ladybug called out, throwing up the lucky charm as everything turned back to normal.

Marianne looked around in confusion as Ladybug picked up the fallen pin, handing it back to her as he helped the elder woman to her feet, leading her towards a bench as he knelt before her.

"What happened to me?" She asked in confusion.

"I'm sorry ma'am, this is my fault. I accidentally gave you the wrong letter." He apologized, hanging his head in defeat.

"Then this..." She murmured as Ladybug gently took it from her hand.

"Was never meant to be ready by you." Ladybug finished. "I'm sorry, but I have no idea where the letter that Master wrote went. I...I won't ask for forgiveness as I can't do anything to change the past but, would you let me try to correct my mistake?" He asked, however, Marianne placed her hand under his chin, lifting up his head as she smiled gently at him. There was no anger, or sadness in her eyes, simply understanding as she gestured for him to sit down next to her. As he did so, she held his hand while holding the letter he gave her earlier.

"This letter is incredibly sad my dear. Won't you tell me what's wrong?" She asked gently as Ladybug's heart wavered, gripping her hand back.

"I...I wrote it for my partner, my Chat Noir." Ladybug stammered as he felt exposed. "I thought that we would be stronger together if he knew everything I did about the master and the Miraculous."

Marianne nodded, "What is it exactly are you scared about?"

Ladybug thought for a moment, his expression growing more sullen. "I'm afraid about what would happen if Hawkmoth were to track us down. If either Chat Noir or I or even Master Fu had to fight him alone. I failed my partner before because of my own mistake, and it was only because of someone else that he was actually saved. If I make another mistake like that again, if I crossed that line...I don't know what would happen. And I can't bear the thought of losing either of them..."He murmured as fear took hold of his heart. But the negativity was softened as Marienne placed her hand on his cheek, smiling.

"You're such a sweet boy." She remarked as Ladybug chuckled, feeling a semblance of comfort in her presence, starting to understand why Master Fu held a torch for her for so long. "So long as you can trust in yourself, and allow yourself to be vulnerable with your allies, I believe that you will be just fine." She said confidently as Ladybug smiled. He then flinched as he heard his Miraculous beep immediately, standing up.

"It was very lovely to meet you Ma'am." He said respectfully.

"The pleasure is all mine, Ladybug." Marianne said as she sighed with a content expression on her face.

My dearest friend, when you care for someone you must never hold back from telling them the truth when you have the chance. Because one day you might realize that it's too late and that all your hopes and dreams are ruined with no way to go back in time and do it over. Even though may never know each other, I hope you don't think badly of me when you hear what I need to say.

I've wanted to tell you the whole truth for a long time now, I thought I was being held back by my obligations, but I now realize that it was my own fear and weakness. I don't know what may happen in the future, but no matter what you think of me from now on. I sincerely hope that you will never blame yourself for what may come at the price of knowing that truth.

Marin read to himself. as he internally cringed at his own wording, the letter that got Marianne akumatised as he sat with his back to stone railing, overhearing the reunion of Master Fu and Marianne. He felt a pang of immense guilt, realizing that it was because of him that they couldn't be together anymore, even after being reunited after so many years.

"Why doesn't he just tell her?" Tikki inquired as she looked down at the two lovebirds.

"Because it's probably not the right time yet." Marin said as he placed the letter back in the envelope.

"How about you?" Tikki asked curiously. "Chat Noir can still be a powerful ally if you only let him in."

Marin closed his eyes, lifting his head and he focused his thoughts. Hawkmoth had found his direct connection to the master in Ladybug. The situation was different than before, he had compromised the master's safety, and with it had to accept any responsibility that came with it.

"I'm sorry, Tikki." He murmured under his breath as he ripped up the letter in two. As he stood up, he tossed it away in the trash as Tikki gasped. She looked up at her partner sadly before returning to his bag. He then faced forward, walking on home.

Marin went straight up to his room, throwing his bag to the side after Tikki flew out. She retreated to his bed for a nap while he sat down at his desktop with a heavy sigh. For a moment he rested his head in his hands, uncertain of what to do now.

All of a sudden, his computer played a few musical notes as a call icon popped up. Marin hummed for a moment; didn't particularly want to talk to anyone at the moment, then again maybe he could use a distraction. He clicked the green icon and was met with Adrien's face as he was calling from his cell phone from within a hotel room.

Marin wished he had ignored it as his face reddened. "Hi." He said simply as he clutched his pants.

"Okay you can't get mad." Adrien said, bluntly, surprising Marin.

The taller boy tilted his head curiously, "Alright?" He said, but then his heart raced as Adrien held up a familiar white envelope.

"I didn't steal it I swear. I found it when we bumped into each other this morning, and I had every intention of returning it." He explained nervously, "But I kinda got curious, so I opened it, and read it..." He admitted, looking guilty as he averted his gaze.

Marin sighed heavily, handing his head for a moment. "So that's where it went." He remarked, holding his head in his hands as Adrien looked at him in concern.

"I'm...sorry, I was going to call you earlier, but, y'know." He said.

"It's alright Adrien, it doesn't matter anymore." Marin said, feeling a pain in his heart. "You can rip it up for all I care." He said apathetically, shocking Adrien.

"Is everything alright?" He asked, worry now growing on his face, but Marin then slapped his cheeks.

" I'm alright." He chuckled, smiling at his friend. "I'm just realizing how scatterbrained I am for losing that." He said trying to reassure his friend, but only served to worry him further.

"You know, if anything's wrong, you can talk to me, I'm always here for you." Adrien said gently, but Marin shook his head, still smiling.

"It's fine, don't worry about. I'll see you Adrien." Marin said as Adrien looked conflicted for a moment but then nodded.

"Yeah, see you..." He said, but still stared down at his phone even when the call ended. He gripped the letter in his hand, uncertain of what to do with it now. It seemed like this piece of paper had caused his friend a lot of trouble today, simply tossing it seemed...underwhelming. He turned to his Kwami who was lazing around on the bed gnawing on a wheel of camembert.

"Hey Plagg do you wanna destroy something with no repercussions?" He asked as Plagg's ears perked up, his eyes practically sparkling as he flew towards him in glee.

Notes:

-Marianne and Fu are Marin's adoptive grandparents, and I would add her more if she was a more prominent character.

- I moved over a season 3 episode to this for story reasons, I think it builds up what I'm planning pretty well.