21: A Single Tear

                                    

                                          
•••
                          
To say that she came in as swiftly as a wind would've been an understatement. She just stood, still and silent, leaning against the door, fixating her piercing bright blue eyes on the people in front of her.
                          
"She really is something, isn't she, that Marinette?"
                          
The silence that had ensued after Plagg's story was broken up by her voice, and all the heads whipped in her direction.
                          
There she stood, her face betraying any emotion that she could possibly ever feel, staring them all down with her bright blue eyes that made chills run down Adrien's spine.
                          
"Bridgette." 
                          
"Master Fu."
                          
The petit old man stared her down with such ferocity that Adrien didn't think he was capable of ever harnessing.
                          
"What did you do to Marinette?"
                          
"Getting straight to the point, are we?"
                          
Master spoke with such venom in his voice that Adrien was quite surprised that Bridgette didn't already shrink under his gaze. Instead she kept her cool and took a seat, making herself at home.
                          
"I already told Chat what I did to her."
                          
"I am aware of that. But how did you possibly accomplish it?"
                          
"Why do you need to know?"
                          
Suddenly a loud noice of crash echoed through the room. Adrien huffed, his hand outstretched, while a shocked Bridgette looked his way. Tikki and Plagg stared wide eyed at the broken vase on the floor. 
                          
"You know damn well why we do!"
                          
She seemed fazed for a moment, but then reverted back to her old self. Cold and emotionless.
                          
"I do."
                          
"Of all things Bridgette, not even Master Zing would've expected this from you!"
                          
"How can you honestly live with yourself? Even as a spirit? Doesn't the value of someone else's life matter to you?" Tikki questioned.
                          
She just stayed silent, with her face down. Her bangs covered her eyes and everything was silent again. That is, until they all heard a sob.
                          
"It's nothing new, you know," she whispered, "..being a disappointment.."
                          
She was crying.
                          
"Always..as long as I've lived...I've been one. As a daughter, as a friend, as a lover, as a human.."
                          
"So I don't feel that bad being one as a spirit now."
                          
She slowly raised her head, smiling sadly. Any trace of the previous emotionlessness was gone from her face. Now it just reflected immense pain and heartbreak. 
                          
"You are acting like one by saying that."
                          
"Tikki.." Plagg began only to be cut off by her.
                          
"If you honestly live by that motto, then you're not a disappointment to us, but one to yourself. And I feel sorry for you."