Fanfic / A Small but Stubborn Fire

A Small but Stubborn Fire is a Miraculous Ladybug fanfic by KPG which centers around Sabine. After noticing that Marinette is showing signs of being tramatized, she initially fears that her daughter was sexually assaulted, and tries reaching out to figure out just what is going on... unaware that the root of the problem lies in her daughter's Secret Identity. The more Sabine presses, the more questions she asks that Marinette can't give straight answers to...

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This fanfiction contains examples of:

• Abusive Parents: Flashbacks reveal that Meifen was a Control Freak on par with Gabriel, micromanaging almost every aspect of her daughter's life and verbally abusing her. At one point, she had Sabine followed and discovered she was secretly seeing a therapist, angrily accusing her of being "weak" and betraying their family's secrets while threatening to give her acupuncture with a needle-tipped hairpin. She also threatened to cut Sabine's studies in Paris off over this.
• Actually Pretty Funny: When Sabine mentioned that Marinette had remarked that most of the guys in Gabriel's line of work were gay, Nathalie laughs because it's true.
• Adults Are Useless: As she investigates, Sabine begins to think that the administrators at Francoise Dupont are horrible at their jobs, given how so many students have been traumatized by Hawkmoth's repeated attacks upon the school while they've failed to do anything to protect the kids... or even inform their parents of what's been happening there.
• Anger Born of Worry: Sabine gets deeply upset with her daughter after Marinette runs towards an akuma attack, failing to notify either of her parents that she's okay afterwards. On top of this, she gets a phone call from the school informing her that Marinette's been missing classes, further confirming that something's wrong and spurring her to ground her daughter.
• Blatant Lies:
  • There is a moment where Marinette lies about having a school project with Alya, Nino, and Adrien. Sabine catches this because she had set up a spa day with her daughter and had asked Alya to take notes at school and Alya made no mention of a project.
  • Given that Marinette keeps telling her mother she is fine whenever Sabine asks her how she is doing after she has a trigger moment, Sabine doesn't believe Marinette for a second when her daughter says that the bruises on her chest and shoulders are from falling down the stairs at school. She only lets it go for the time being due to her own trauma from her own mother calling her a liar.
  • When Sabine confronts Marinette as Ladybug over her secret identity, her daughter desperately starts babbling, frantically trying to convince her that she isn't who she thinks she is.
• Big Sister Mentor: A sort of inversion. After she sees Marinette have another trigger moment and she tries to play it off, Sabine confides to her younger sister that she doesn't know what to do and starts to fear that she will become like their mother and lock her daughter up until Marinette tells her what's going on. Meilin calms Sabine down and tells her about a similar experience she had with her own daughter and how a spa day helped fix things and suggests that Sabine do the same thing. Sabine takes this to heart.
• Bilingual Bonus: There is some French, Mandarin, Shanghainese and Italian in the story.
• Blaming the Victim: Sabine fears that her daughter has been assaulted and that the reason why Marinette refuses to say anything or open up about her trauma is that she's convinced nobody will believe her... or that worse, they'll insist it was entirely her own fault.
• Break the Cutie: Marinette is clearly cracking from the pressure on her as Ladybug that she is having night terrors and panic attacks. She is also haunted by Cat Blanc and the death of Sentibug.
• The Cameo:
  • Master Wang Fu makes an appearance in a Flashback greeting a pregnant Sabine while Tom and Gina are moving furniture into their new home.
  • The racist ticket inspector shows up on the route that Sabine and Marinette take for their spa day and his presence makes Marinette uncomfortable. Sabine is sure to stare the man down to make it clear not to mess with them.
• Catapult Nightmare: Sabine comes into Marinette's room right after one as she sees her daughter sitting up looking terrified.
• Compulsive Liar: Sabine's own mother accused her of being one and never heard her out. This is a big reason why she is so hesitant to call Marinette out when it is clear to her that her daughter is lying to her out of fear that she will become like her own mother.
• Confess in Confidence: As is the case with doctor-patient confidentiality, Dr Zhu can't tell Sabine what happened that caused Marinette to have another panic attack. The only thing that could change that is if he felt that there was a threat to Marinette's safety.
• Cope by Creating: While looking at the sketch that Marinette has made of a man in a white suit with words like "love destroys" and "regret" Sabine wonders if this is a silent cry for help from her daughter over being assaulted, not knowing that the drawing is of an akumatized Cat Noir.
• Dating What Daddy Hates: The story brings up what many fans feel that the rice in bread metaphor in "Bakerix" was Rolland not liking that Tom was dating a Chinese woman.
• Dramatic Irony:
  • Sabine sees Ladybug as an avatar of hope and wanting that for her daughter not knowing that they are one and the same.
  • When their conversation brings up Cat Noir rejecting Marinette's feelings Sabine points out to Tom that Cat Noir is in love with Ladybug. What chance does their daughter have against a woman in a skintight outfit?
  • Sabine thinking she should teach Marinette some martial arts so she can defend herself. If only she knew what her daughter could actually do.
  • Sabine compliments that through the connections that her daughter has made that Paris practically revolves around Marinette. Paris also relies on Marinette's role as Ladybug to keep them safe.
  • When Tom is hesitant about Sabine going to talk to Nathalie about if anything has happened to Marinette during her internship due to the woman's coldness, Sabine writes it off and tells him that Nathalie isn't a villain. Little does she know that Nathalie works for Hawk Moth.
  • Sabine talking to her about what it would be like for Nathalie if Adrien was ever recruited as a temporary hero, likely in regard to her own fears of Marinette doing the same thing. Of course, both kids are Cat Noir and Ladybug.
  • Nathalie thinks that Adrien being in a relationship with Marinette would be much better than his obsession with Ladybug.
  • Sabine approves the prospect of Marinette having a relationship with Adrien because he is such a good kind boy, but she disapproves a relationship with Cat Noir thinking him to be a Casanova Wannabe. Doesn't help that Marinette snuck him into her room late at night.
  • After finding out that Marinette is Ladybug, Sabine is unable to sleep and remarks next time instead of coffee that someone should just tell her that Cat Noir is a kid she knows.
  • Cat Noir getting mad at Ladybug for being willing to give the Mouse Miraculous to anyone but Marinette, who is right in front of him.
• Embarrassing Nickname: Apparently Marinette got a public nickname, Pajama Girl, due to her being seen with Adrien in her pajamas.
• Entertainingly Wrong:
  • Marinette thinking that Gabriel and Nathalie are having some secret fling as they disappear to dark corners, not knowing that Gabriel is Hawk Moth and Nathalie is his loyal follower.
  • When Sabine decides she wants to talk to Nathalie about Marinette's situation, Tom is hesitant for a number of reasons, one being Nathalie's coldness. Sabine just tells him she isn't a villain.
  • Though her anger over Marinette sneaking a boy into her room is understandable, the whole moment Sabine accusing Cat Noir of getting cozy with her daughter and asking Marinette if she is trying to get pregnant, all the while Marinette and Cat are getting increasingly embarrassed. Cat rather meekly decides he needs to leave. Sabine gets upset that he runs to avoid her wrath.
• Even Evil Has Standards: When Sabine expresses her concerns to Nathalie over the possibility that Gabriel has assaulted her daughter, Nathalie shoots this down citing that Gabriel is not a monster and would never do such a thing.
• Fainting: Marinette barely gets a word out before fainting when her parents barge into her room after a Catapult Nightmare, possibly due to the stress she is under at that moment.
• Forgiven, but Not Forgotten: Although it seems that Tom isn't holding a grudge against Cat Noir over the "Weredad" incident, he hasn't forgotten about it and is still a little sore over him rejecting Marinette.
• Former Bigot: Rolland makes up with Sabine and apologizes for his past behavior with her. Even going as far as to say he is sorry in Shanghainese. And it is all thanks to Marinette’s efforts to connect with him that got him to see past his old ways.
• Freudian Slip:
  • A rather funny case through a text message, when Nathalie sends a number for Sabine to get a therapist for Marinette and ends it with a peacock emoji. She quickly sends enough one saying she meant a female and briefcase emoji.
  • When Sabine teasingly asks Marinette if she is Hawk Moth, Marinette plays along but ends up saying Nooroo’s name. Sabine doesn’t understand what that means and Marinette quickly comes up with an excuse that it is an inside joke with Alya.
• Innocently Insensitive:
  • Sabine points out to Marinette how Paris seems to revolve around her with all the connections she has made. This hits a little close to home for Marinette as Ladybug with the pressure on her to keep the people of Paris safe.
  • When Sabine makes a joke about Marinette's love life and how Cat Noir seems like a playboy, not realizing that her daughter is Ladybug while knowing for well that Cat is in love with his partner, Marinette doesn't respond to the teasing.
  • Even after being grounded Marinette tells her mother that she loves and trusts her, right after Sabine came so close on whether or not to violate her daughter's privacy and read her diary. Sabine feels so ashamed that she has to go to her room and cry.
  • After the incident above when Sabine tells Tom she is going to talk to Nathalie and he tells her that he will trust her to handle it, those words hurt Sabine.
• Internal Reveal:
  • When Rolland makes a comment how Marinette and Ladybug are a lot alike while watching an akuma attack on the news, Sabine begins to see all of Marinette’s past behavior in a new light. When she goes to Marinette’s room to find her not there, Marinette's diary out right confirming the new revelation and witnessing Ladybug de-transforming into Marinette does Sabine find out that who her daughter is. She does not take it well.
  • A few days later, Sabine confronts her daughter and reveals that she now knows that Marinette is Ladybug.
• Interrupted Intimacy: A brief interruption when Sabine and Tom are getting very intimate in chapter five until they hear some loud thumping coming from Marinette's room and, out of worry, Tom goes to check up on their daughter before returning and reassuring Sabine it was nothing to worry about and they continue where they left off.
• I Take Offense to That Last One: Rolland points out that he is rude and ornery, Sabine jokingly adds that he is a fossil. He takes it in good humor and corrects it by saying he is a collectible.
• Just Friends: Marinette has to insist that she and Cat Noir are just friends after Sabine catches Cat in her room late at night. After Marinette has another panic attack where she says "Kitty" and that he loves her, Sabine mistakenly believes that Marinette is lying to her about this not knowing the panic attack is from what happened with Cat Blanc. Finding out that Marinette is Ladybug only makes Sabine suspect that it was a lie and her feeling for Adrein might be a cover.
• Like Mother, Like Daughter: Sabine is as bad at coming up with excuses as Marinette.
• Locked Out of the Loop:
  • It's because Sabine is unaware that her daughter is Ladybug that she is jumping to the conclusion, with the nightmares and panic attacks, that someone has assaulted Marinette. No longer the case once she finds out the truth.
  • When Cat Noir catches Sabine with the Mouse Miraculous, he gets upset with Ladybug, telling her she is giving the particular Miraculous out to anyone but “her”. The discussion that follows between Ladybug and Cat leaves Sabine wondering who the “her” is. Not knowing that it is actually Marinette.
• Love Hurts: Given how they've seen their daughter as a romantic, Sabine and Tom start to wonder what could have happened that led Marinette to sketch a drawing with "love destroys" written on it. At the same time, however, Marinette is showing no sign that she thinks this which only confuses Sabine.
• Love-Obstructing Parents: Sabine's mother had a firm "no boys" rule on her while she was studying in France. Sabine just opted not to tell her mother about Tom until it was too late to do anything about it.
• Mama Bear:
  • When she hears Marinette screaming in the middle of the night with indications that someone is in her room, Sabine's immediate action is jumping out of bed, grabbing a sword, and running to her daughter's room ready to kill whoever is assaulting Marinette.
  • Sabine gets really pissed off when the delivery boy makes moves on Marinette, who is clearly uncomfortable, and threatens to shove a bread handle up his ass if he doesn't leave.
  • Sabine gets very upset at finding Car Noir in her daughter’s room. Even though she overhears him defending her parenting to Marinette. She burst into the room firing off many accusations over the circumstances that she finds her daughter and Cat in. When Cat decides he needs to leave she is unamused that he escaped her wrath.
  • Sabine becomes increasingly angry when she finds out how people fantasize over Ladybug after she finds out that it also her daughter.
• Mistaken for Pedophile: At first, with the limited information Sabine is getting, all the signs she's getting — from her daughter's nightmare to the sketch of a man in a white suit — tell her that Gabriel is assaulting her daughter during Marinette's internship. However, after seeing Marinette have a panic attack over a guy in a Dark Cupid costume she starts to move away from that suspicion. Nathalie shoots this down completely by stating that Gabriel is many things, but he isn’t a monster.
• My Beloved Smother:
  • Sabine's mother was very strict with her and her sister, often ridiculing her and went as far as to try and influence Meilin's own daughter before getting told to back off. Sabine fears that she will become just like her mother in her desperation to figure out what is going on with Marinette.
  • Marinette is starting to show signs of seeing Sabine as this as she feels her mother doesn’t trust her and is being overbearing. Cat Noir actually defends Sabine and tells Marinette that she is lucky to have a mother who cares about her.
• My God, What Have I Done?: Marinette tells her mother that during the incident with Dark Cupid, some people who were affected by him went and killed their partners and children and they all had a few minutes between being free from the effects and the Miraculous Ladybug undoing everything to see what they had done.
• Nervous Wreck:
  • As the day goes by, after Marinette's nightmare, Sabine grows increasingly concerned with Marinette's well-being that even customers start to notice that something is off. It gets so bad that the second she is able to get free from the bakery she runs to her daughter's bedroom and starts to look for anything that can tell her what happened to Marinette.
  • When she starts to connect the dots that Marinette is Ladybug, Sabine is unable to breath probably and desperately tries to find any excuse to tell herself that Marinette isn't Ladybug. It just gets worst form there when she only gets further confirmation. She is unable sleep due to the revelation.
• Not Helping Your Case: After failing to convince her mother that she is not Ladybug and runs out of time and detransfroms in front of Sabine, Marinette tries one final lie that she is just a decoy to take the hits for Ladybug. Sabine, very much unamused, points out that doesn’t sound any better.
• Papa Wolf:
  • Like Sabine, Tom charges into Marinette's room ready to kill the (nonexistent) assaulter of his daughter.
  • He is not pleased when he hears about the incident with the delivery boy making moves on Marinette.
• Parental Abandonment: A variant in the case of Sabine’s mother. Meifen gave Sabine up to Uncle Wang after Meilin was born so she wouldn’t have to pay the fines that would have been leveed on her due to China’s One Child Policy at the time. Despite being rich and fully capable of paying the fines but made an excuse that you don’t throw away money. Meifen did however keep track of Sabine in order to maintain control over her and direct her life. At some point Meifen did throw Sabine out of her life.
• Parental Hypocrisy: Sabine is worried she is becoming like her own mother who was very controlling over her, something she has tried to avoid. She feels guilty when she starts to wonder if she needs to be more controlling over Marinette to get whatever her daughter is hiding out of her. She is eventually forced to ground Marinette after, in her eyes, her daughter has been acting out too much and Sabine feels she needs to keep a closer eye on Marinette.
• Parental Neglect: Meifen was very strict, unwilling to hear Sabine out over lies being told about her and gave her up to Uncle Wang so she wouldn't have to pay the extra fines for having more than one child.
• Parental Sexuality Squick: After she gets a tease in at Marinette over Cat Noir, Sabine asks her daughter if her father would look good in black leather, she gets the desired grossed-out reaction from Marinette.
• Parents as People: Sabine increasingly trying to figure out what happened to Marinette, having given her daughter a lot of free reign over her life, now starts to dig into Marinette's business when Sabine feels like her daughter isn't opening up to her over possibly being assaulted. When more issues arise, and she feels that Marinette's behavior is becoming worse, she is forced to ground her daughter. As she grows even more desperate Sabine comes close to violating Marinette's privacy by reading her diary but stops herself. She is so ashamed of herself when soon after Marinette tells her how much she loves her and trusts her that Sabine has to go to her room to cry.
• Rape Is a Special Kind of Evil: Nathalie knows full well the kind of things that Gabriel has done as Hawk Moth but even he wouldn't go as far as taking advantage of a young girl.
• Rescue Romance: At some point in her life Sabine had come under attack and was saved by Tom.
• Right for the Wrong Reasons:
  • Sabine is right to think that Gabriel is a cause of Marinette's trauma but wrong in thinking that he is sexually assaulting her. She is unaware that her daughter is Ladybug and Gabriel is Hawk Moth, and that Marinette is cracking from the pressure of the responsibilities set on her and other things like Cat Blanc.
  • After she sees Marinette have another panic attack during her therapy session where she mentions “Kitty” hurting her, Sabine assumes that Cat Noir has attacked her daughter. She is right but it was the future akumatized Cat Blanc, not the present-day Car Noir.
• Saying Too Much: There are implications that Sabine, unknowingly, gave Nathalie information that could lead to her connecting Marinette to Ladybug.
• Secret-Keeper:
  • Alya's behavior, in particular her handling of Marinette's panic attack, cues in Sabine that Alya knows something about what happened to her daughter.
  • Eventually, Sabine finds out that Marinette is Ladybug and confronts her on it. She assures her daughter that she won't be telling anyone, including her father because Tom would have a massive freakout over it.
• Selective Obliviousness: A very short-lived case, when Sabine begins to connect all of the dots to Marinette's recent behavior after Rolland comments that her daughter and Ladybug are a lot alike, she goes into denial and thinks all she has to do to prove that Marinette isn't Ladybug is go to her daughter's room and find her there, right after an akuma attack. Only she doesn't find Marinette in her room. Sabine is still in denial until she reluctantly reads Marinette's diary and sees the hard truth. Then Ladybug arrives and de-transforms only seals the deal.
• Self-Harm: After seeing bruises on Marinette and her running off towards an akuma attack, Sabine is afraid that her daughter is hurting herself to forget whatever psychological pain she is in.
• Shipper on Deck:
  • Sabine can't help but note how attentive and caring Adrien is for Marinette and that he is checking off all of her boxes. She is very supportive of her own daughter's feelings for him. Sabine is also quick to mark him off as a suspect on her belief that Marinette has been assaulted because he has so many green flags.
  • Nathalie as well is supportive of the idea of Marinette and Adrien being in a relationship and finds it much better than Adrien's obsession with Ladybug. She even jokes to Sabine how the two of them should scheme about getting them together.
• The Shrink: After Nathalie gave her the contact information, Sabine sets Marinette up for one to try and help her with every problem she is having. Sabine herself had seen one in her youth to deal with the problems she had with her mother before her mother found out and forced her to stop.
• Skipping School: Sabine and Tom find out that Marinette has been missing partial days of school and if she continues to miss school they will be fined, and if her grades start to fall on top of that they could face imprisonment.
• The Social Darwinist: Meifen is clearly one. She views therapy for barbarians and when she found out that Sabine had been seeing a therapist, she is very angered by it and thinks that made Sabine weak.
• Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: Even though Marinette is Sabine’s daughter (even still a child), Dr Zhu can’t tell her what happened during the therapy session that caused Marinette to have a panic attack due to doctor-patient confidentiality much to her chagrin.
• Survival Mantra: When Sabine has a terrible memory of her mother belittling her and stating how "you don't waste money" as a reason to give her up to Uncle Wang so she wouldn't have to pay fines, Sabine has to remind herself repeatedly that her mother isn't there.
• Survivor Guilt: Sabine wonders if this is an issue for Marinette, having been the only person besides Adrien at school who hasn’t been akumatized and always trying to help those who have been through their emotional issues
• Stating the Simple Solution: Meilin points out if Marinette is suffering so much that Sabine should look at her diary. Sabine is against this because this would make her like their mother. By the end of the chapter Sabine caves upon realizing that Marinette is Ladybug and reads Marinette’s diary.
• Therapy Is for the Weak: Meifen has this view and was furious when she found out that Sabine was seeing one. Sadly, this is a commonly held belief in Asia.
• There Are No Therapists: Averted. It’s made clear that a lot of people in Paris see therapists due to the actions of Hawk Moth.
• Thrill Seeker: After Marinette runs off on her during an akuma attack, Sabine thinks that because her daughter has helped Ladybug and Cat Noir in the past that she might be running into danger on an adrenaline high.
• Training from Hell: Meifen subjected Sabine to this every day to the point of exhaustion, then made her fight full contact. It came to an end when Meifen was diagnosed with osteoporosis.
• Trauma Button:
  • Seeing a guy in a Dark Cupid costume causes Marinette to have a panic attack.
  • Adrien inadvertently triggers Marinette when he acts out how he messed with Chloé in the same manner her nightmare version of him in "Sandboy" did and jumps when he reaches for her shoulder. He is more cautious when he asks to hold her hand.
  • Just about everything Sabine does in her desperation to find out what has happened to Marinette ends up reminding her of how cold and hard her own mother was on her.
  • Alya informs Sabine that many of the people at school have triggers and panic attacks because all of them except for Marinette and Adrien have been akumatized more than once.
  • During her therapy session, Marinette has another panic attack about Cat Blanc.
• Troll: Tom gets a zing in at his daughter over stealing cellphones much to Alya's amusement.
• Truth in Television:
  • France's Civil Code does fine parents for unexplained absences and imprisonment if grades fall on top of that.
  • Meifen's believe that therapy is for the weak isn't an uncommon belief in Asia.
• What the Hell, Hero?: A funny one, Cat Noir gets mad at Ladybug after seeing Duoshu (i.e. Sabine), calling her out on giving the Mouse Miraculous to anyone but Marinette. Ladybug says that her identity was compromised, to which Cat counters that so have many of the other heroes.
• You Are Grounded!: After Marinette pushes Sabine to the ground to get her cellphone and runs off during an akuma attack, stays away from home for hours afterwards with no contact and getting a call from her principal about being absent from school, Sabine is beyond upset with her daughter and grounds her believing that there is a problem with Marinette.
• You Are Better Than You Think You Are: Marinette has very low self-confidence but Sabine tells her that Nathalie spoke highly of the work she is doing which surprises Marinette.
• Your Makeup Is Running:
  • During Marinette's panic attack, triggered by seeing a kid in a Dark Cupid costume, her mascara is running.
  • Happens again when she has another panic attack over Cat Blanc.

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