Like a small boat, on the ocean. Sending big waves into motion.

She had fallen. Two years ago, she had fallen. She had fallen when she defeated Hawkmoth, but her identity had been revealed in the process. Alya had been shocked in the bad way. Her parents felt betrayed. Her partner left. Her partner ran. So she did too.

Like how a single word can make a heart open. 

She ran from her past, from her future. She ran from her family and her friends and her enemies. She ran across the world until she decided it was time to run back. It was time to run back home. 

I might only have one match,

And she was ready, oh she was ready to face them all. She wouldn't even hesitate. She would make the biggest entrance. She had planned this on the weeks coming back. She would show up on the Eiffel Tower behind the mayor during his speech and she would laugh.

but I can make an explosion.

"Hello Paris!" She yelled, a laugh in her voice at their shocked expressions, especially the mayor's after he ended his speech. He looked so funny just starting to walk off the stage but turned around to gape at her. "So, guess who's back in town?" The collective gasps  were entirely too amusing as she walked on a beam on the famous tower. "I mean, Venice is wonderful, and New York is just spectacular, and don't get me started on Sydney! Did you know they have the best fireworks at New Years? But there's no place like home, right? So watch out - Marinette Dupain-Cheng's back in town, and she's ready to make some noise." 

And all those things I didn't say,

"It's blowing up! Everywhere, so many videos, so many views! Been on the news, blogs, everywhere, everyone's seen it and it's been two days!" Marinette laughed, spinning around in her chair in her beautiful apartment. "Tikki, just wait 'til someone sees me outside."

Wrecking balls inside my brain

"But Marinette, what about your friends? What about your family? Aren't you going to visit them?" Tikki said through a cookie, watching her holder's face change from glee to smugness.

"That was my hello. Now, if they want to talk, they'll find me."

I will scream them loud tonight, can you hear my voice this time?

Every time someone saw her and recognised her, she sent them a smirk and a wink before disappearing. Pictures were all over the media, photographing the return of Marinette Dupain-Cheng, aka Ladybug, aka the mystery girl from around the world. She was internet famous without her mask, known simply as the girl who ran from one interview that managed to catch her. 

This is my fight song.

She had said she was running, running fast and she would keep running around the world until she ran right back to where she came from. She had said that she was running from her biggest fight yet, and she would face it head on after she stopped running. "There's no shame in running, it's just leading your enemy right where you want them. So I'll keep running, and until then, look out for me." Those were her words. 

Take back my life song.

She walked with confidence, with her head held high, because she knew she was strong and nobody could touch her. And boy, they tried. But nothing hurt anymore.

Prove I'm alright song.

She was not afraid. She was not broken down. She was ready to put up her fists and fight, because she knew she'd win.

My power's turned on. Starting right now I'll be strong.

"I'll play my fight song, Paris." She muttered as she sewed a new suit, one that Tikki agreed to alter her suit to be. 

I'll play my fight song,

There she stood, on the top of the Tower, spotlights on her. In her new suit, a new design, with two yo-yos, blue sleeves and a black bodice, she smiled. She spread her wings and she jumped.

And I don't really care if nobody else believes,

And she flew. 

Because I've still got a lot of fight left in me.

-^-

Adrien had been shocked when she returned. True, he had been shocked, but what shocked him more was the confident smirk on her face. That wasn't Marinette. Marinette wasn't confident, she was a mouse!

Losing friends and I'm chasing sleep.

But...

Everybody's worried 'bout me. In too deep.

All those pictures across the internet, the video... she said she was running. And she said it with a smile, and she had taken off in a sprint with a smirk after she said her piece.

Say I'm in too deep.

And her speech atop the tower... saying her name like it was no big deal...

And it's been two years, I miss my home.

Where had that fire come from?

But there's a fire burning in my bones

She was small. She was nervous. She was jittery, she was just another fangirl. She was so, so nervous and so shy, it was impossible that she was his lady. 

Still believe, yeah I still believe.

And yet, another picture of her standing there in the rain, black tank top and jeans soaked and hair splattered across her head, laughing at the sky... daring someone to come out and touch her... that fire...

It was impossible not to belong to her. 

And all those things I didn't say, wrecking balls inside my brain.

Would she take kindly to him showing up? Or would she scorn him like he scorned her?

I will scream them loud tonight, can you hear my voice this time?

Guess he'd have to see.

-^-

"Chat Noir. How I have been graced with your presence." She took a low, mocking bow, confidence glittering in her eyes and a smirk on her lips. She straightened before the black cat themed hero, eyeing his straight posture and folded arms with a pout. "You're no fun anymore."

This is my fight song.

"I'm not fun because my partner left." He snarled. He snarled. He had the audacity to snarl at her? 

Take back my life song.

"Ah yes, tragic how the girl ran. Only 18 and already torn from her friends and family. How hurt she must've been." Marinette, in her spots, clicked her tongue and leaned back on a chimney casually. "To know that being someone she couldn't change was the reason she was hated, who would do that to such a young girl, only just beginning her life? If only they stopped to realise that the Ladybug they so admired would have been so much different if only the kwami had chosen a different- more deserving person." Flicking her wrist and swinging her yo-yo around, she shook her head. 

Prove I'm alright song.

"Are you saying the fact that you left was my fault?!" 

"Not everything is about you and your ego, y'know!"

My power's turned on.

"The person I so admired, the people I so loved turned their backs on me. So what more could I do? I ran, and I ran to every corner of the Earth. I've seen so many people, learned so many names, spoken so many languages because I ran and I didn't look back."

Starting right now, I'll be strong.

"The city of love broke me, so I ran from that beautiful city until it could not break me again."

"So, you just up and decided to leave because you were hurt? You were supposed to be a hero-"

"Have you met the people on the streets of Sydney? All of them, every single one believed their place wasn't set in stone. In fact, there were so many tourists, you could hardly tell which were locals! And New York - the city that never sleeps, everyone I spoke to mentioned a dream to be bigger, better than they are. There was this one man in Hong Kong, he told me about legends and prophecies and I asked him, do you believe in any of them? He answered no, because it's not the legend or the quest that makes the hero, it's the journey that makes him into a man worth fighting for." Marinette pushed herself off the wall, not looking at him.

And I don't really care if nobody else believes.

"All those people... it doesn't take much to be a hero in the times when lives are at stake, Noir. When you're a hero for someone who's lost and trying to find their place in the world, when you're a hero for someone who was looking for a reason to live, when you buy a crying child an ice-cream and help them look for their mother, to me, that's a true hero. And all those people were heroes."

'Cause I've still got a lot of fight left in me.

"And I can tell you, once you're done believing that I've betrayed you in some way, I'll be waiting. Because even though the villain's been defeated, there's a lot of evil out there. And I've still got a lot of fight left in me." 

A lot of fight left in me.

With those words, she jumped away with a laugh and she glided into the night.

-^-

Like a small boat, on the ocean.

"Hello again Paris! This is Marinette, or Ladybug if you prefer. I'm just here to inform you of something."

Sending big waves into motion.

"I've been broken, beaten down and gagged. I've struggled and screamed and kicked and I've survived, because you know what?"

Like how a single word can make a heart open.

"When all else failed, I ran. I ran as fast as I could, as far as I could, until I was ready and I had a plan and my enemy was tired out. It's okay to run, to walk, to turn around and face it as soon as you can."

I might only have one match

"But you have to face it someday, and once you've run, you'll be ready to turn around and punch someone in the gut because they hurt you and you're ready to fight back."

But I can make an explosion.

"Can you hear my voice this time? Because all this? The sudden reappearance, the showing off, the new suit? This is my fight song. And I'm fighting against everyone who says I don't deserve this because I beat the bad guy and I saved the day and you? All you saw was the baker's daughter. But I am not just my father's daughter. I am not just a girl who doesn't have a past worth making her into a hero.

I am Marinette Dupain-Cheng, and I fought the world, and I won. Who are you calling weak?"

This is my fight song!

That video went viral too. Her message to Paris. Everyone saw it. Everyone was outraged. 

Take back my life song!

But some people listened.

Prove I'm alright song!

There were people on the street who asked for autographs. Who laughed and shook her hand and asked for selfies. Who joined her when she stood in the rain.

My power's turned on!

There were people who held up banners saying 'My hero is Ladybug. Are you going to make me run too?' There was a symbol for her now. It was spray painted on walls and doors.

Starting right now I'll be strong!

And in the night, when she stood on top of the Tower again, waving to the people on the streets below and Chat Noir landed behind her, he had no anger anymore. Just a question.

I'll play my fight song!

"Why'd you come back? Why now?"

And I don't really care if nobody else believes.

She had turned around with a smile. "Because you can't run forever. And while I ran, I figured something out."

'Cause

"What?"

"I've still got a lot of fight left in me."

She had fallen. Two years ago, she had fallen. She had fallen when she defeated Hawkmoth, but her identity had been revealed in the process. Alya had been shocked in the bad way. Her parents felt betrayed. Her partner left. Her partner ran. So she did too.  

But she came back. And she shocked Paris again by sparking a movement dedicated to their heroes and the recognition they deserved instead of the hatred they received. She sparked the hearts of the citizens of her home, and she inspired them because they had a lot of fight left in them. And she knew that, and they knew her too. Now.

Know I've still got a lot of fight left in me.

I WAS INSPIRED AND WROTE THIS IN AN HOUR YOU'RE WELCOME AND THANK YOU VERY MUCH