Night deepened.
The Parisian underground once again welcomed its two uninvited guests.
Unlike their hurried arrival, Ladybug and Cat Noir's steps noticeably slowed on their way back.
The dim emergency lights cast their shadows long and short on the damp walls, like two lost souls wandering in a maze.
"Seriously… that's too stingy!"
Cat Noir's voice echoed in the empty underground passage, carrying a childish, undisguised complaint.
As he walked, he idly tapped the pipes beside him with his metal staff, producing a dull "clang, clang" sound.
"He wouldn't even lend us one miraculous! Do I look like… someone who would hand such powerful strength to some evil villain?"
Ladybug, walking beside him, only sighed helplessly at his words.
"Master Fu must have his reasons for doing this, Cat Noir."
Her voice was more tired than when they were in front of Master Fu. "Don't forget, he once… made a huge mistake.
So now, it's only natural for him to be more cautious than ever."
"You should have put in a good word for me just now!"
Cat Noir turned his head, his emerald cat-like eyes, still bright in the darkness, filled with an accusation of "you're not a good friend."
"After all, you should know who I want to give the miraculous to!"
"How could I say anything?"
Ladybug stopped, turned around, and looked at him exasperatedly.
"Say, 'Master Fu, even though our mission tonight completely failed, not only did we not get back the damaged miraculous, but Hawk Moth also snatched it right in front of us.
But we still want to borrow a new miraculous from you.' "
"What's more,"
She paused, her tone becoming serious.
"Don't forget, Cat Noir. Master Fu, he is the true Guardian of the miraculous.
We… are at most just chosen, temporary 'owners.' We have no right to question his decisions."
She, of course, knew who Cat Noir wanted to give the miraculous to.
Seeing Ladybug's serious expression, Cat Noir exaggeratedly pouted, adopting a cynical tone.
"Alright, alright, you're right about everything."
He slung his metal staff over his shoulder and lazily continued forward.
"In that case, I'm actually… a little looking forward to Hawk Moth conjuring up some stronger villains.
Otherwise, with just the two of us, life would be too boring."
"Cat Noir! Don't joke about something like that!"
Ladybug immediately followed him, warning him sternly.
"Alright, alright, just a joke."
Cat Noir raised his hands in a gesture of surrender. "It's getting late, we should go."
The two quickly returned to the manhole they had started from.
After leaping out of the ground one after another, they stood in the empty alley and exchanged glances.
"So… see you tomorrow?"
"See you tomorrow."
After a simple farewell, the two ran and leaped in two completely opposite directions, quickly disappearing into the night… Ladybug scaled walls and rooftops, arriving in an alley near her home. After confirming no one was around, she detransformed.
A pink light flashed, and Tikki flew out, landing steadily in her palm.
"Marinette, don't be too disheartened." The little kwami's soft voice comforted her owner.
"I'm not disheartened, Tikki." Marinette shook her head, a somewhat forced smile on her face.
But in her mind, she couldn't help but recall the shocking scene at Master Fu's house earlier.
When Master Fu slowly opened the octagonal box filled with mysterious patterns, she and Cat Noir almost simultaneously gasped.
The visual impact of a box full of miraculous jewels, shimmering with various mystical lights, was a hundred times more astonishing than hearing about them from the kwamis!
At that moment, both her and Cat Noir's faces were illuminated by the dazzling, multicolored glow of the jewels.
Then, she saw that guy, Cat Noir, like a cat that smelled fish, his eyes instantly lit up!
He practically scrambled to Master Fu's side, rubbing his hands, his face plastered with a fawning, ingratiating smile.
"Um… Master Fu,"
He said in an almost wheedling tone,
"You see… I have a friend, he's really nice, handsome, and kind-hearted, absolutely… absolutely meets your requirements!
You see, can you… hehehe…"
He wanted to say more, but Wayzz, like a green lightning bolt, instantly flew in front of him,
Using his small body to block the box, he righteously refused:
"No!"
Amidst Cat Noir's instantly crestfallen, utterly disappointed expression, Master Fu merely smiled faintly, then, ignoring his eager, pitiful gaze, slowly closed the box and put it back into the old gramophone.
"I'm sorry, Cat Noir."
Only after the box was completely put away did Master Fu turn around and say to him in a calm yet unyielding tone, "Until I find suitable candidates, I cannot… give any miraculous to anyone other than the two of you."
"Why?!" Cat Noir asked unwillingly.
But at that moment, she had already calmed down. She stepped forward.
"Cat Noir, don't ask."
Her voice was soft, yet it carried an undeniable force. "Bringing you here today was mainly for you to understand the situation here, to understand the Guardian's responsibilities.
And not… for you to 'demand' a miraculous."
As she spoke, she gestured with her eyes at Master Fu's calm, yet slightly weary face.
Although Cat Noir was unwilling, he eventually gave in under Ladybug's firm gaze and Master Fu's profound, ancient-well-like eyes.
"…Alright, I understand." He said weakly.
Now that she thought about it, she had been too calm back then.
Marinette gently shook her head, clearing these jumbled thoughts from her mind. She let Tikki fly into her satchel, then went home.
The Dupain-Cheng bakery was already closed.
Marinette tiptoed open the door, changed into slippers, and prepared to quietly sneak up to her attic on the fourth floor.
However, just as she was about to step onto the stairs, a gentle voice suddenly came from the living room.
"Marinette?"
Marinette's body stiffened abruptly. She slowly turned her head and saw her mother, Sabine, wearing a white qipao, sitting on the sofa, smiling and looking at her.
Her father, Tom, sat beside her, still holding a newspaper.
"Mom… Mom, Dad." Marinette greeted them somewhat guiltily. "You… you're not asleep yet?"
"Didn't you go to Alya's for a 'girls' night'?"
Sabine put down her teacup and asked with concern, "How was it? Did you have fun with Alya?"
"Ah… well…" Marinette's eyes began to dart around. "Alya… she had something come up suddenly today, so… so I came back first."
She told a lie. She couldn't tell her parents that she went to discuss with her partner how to fight a supervillain, and also met the legendary Guardian, could she?
Fortunately, Tom and Sabine didn't suspect anything.
"Alright then, since you're back, go up and rest early. Look at you, you have dark circles under your eyes." Tom put down his newspaper and said kindly.
"Mhm! Okay!" Marinette felt a great sense of relief and quickly turned, practically fleeing up the stairs.
Back in her cozy attic, filled with pink and design sketches, Marinette collapsed onto her soft bed.
She was too tired. Too much had happened today.
Her body and mind had reached their limits.
She fell asleep almost as soon as her head hit the pillow.
In her dream, she seemed to arrive at a meadow full of flowers. The sun was warm, and the breeze was gentle.
And he, under the big tree not far away, was smiling at her, extending his hand to her.
"Roni…"
"Roni…"
She kept calling out, intimately, that special nickname that only existed in her dreams, exclusively for him.
In the dream, they were so close, without any obstacles or shyness… Meanwhile, in Master Fu's room.
After the two heroes left, the solitude belonging to the old man once again enveloped the small room like a thick fog.
Master Fu still sat cross-legged on the meditation cushion, but he was no longer meditating.
His cloudy eyes gazed at the moonlight outside the window, wondering what he was thinking.
"This Cat Noir, really!"
Wayzz flew beside him, still indignant about what had just happened. "How could he make such an unreasonable request? Is a miraculous something you can just lend to anyone?!"
Hearing this, Master Fu's face showed a faint, benevolent smile.
"Young people, they are always full of vitality and wild ideas, it's quite normal."
His voice carried a hint of nostalgia. "Having this spirit to dare to think and dare to act is a good thing."
He paused, sighing softly.
"And I… I no longer have that spirit. Wayzz, I am… old."
"Master Fu! You are not old!"
Wayzz seemed to realize something and immediately retorted loudly, "You are… you are only a little over one hundred and eighty years old! Among the Guardians, you are still young!"
"Yes… over one hundred and eighty years old…" Master Fu's gaze became even more distant, as if piercing through time and space, seeing the distant past. "I should… step down from being a Guardian."
"No! Master Fu! You can't…"
"Enough, Wayzz, say no more."
For the first time, Master Fu's voice carried an unyielding, weary determination.
He slowly raised his hand, looking at his withered palm, covered with age spots and wrinkles.
"The person I love… is still waiting for me. But I… cannot have her."
His voice echoed softly in the silent room, filled with endless sorrow and… helplessness.
"My time… is running out."