Chapter Text
“Where’s the tape gun?!”
Marinette was squeezing a box together between her legs and shoving down the flaps that made up its lid, trying to keep everything packed within.
Tom’s head popped up from behind a wall of boxes.
”Oh, sorry Marinette! It’s here.”
He made to stand but Sabine placed a hand on his shoulder, stopping him.
”No no darling, let me. There’s too much at risk of falling if you try to move to the other side of the room…”
Sabine smiled down at her husband where he sat on the floor as he handed her the tape gun. She turned and shimmied her way past stacked boxes and over to Marinette, helping her tape the box filled with bobbins and spools of various thread.
”Heavens, more craft supplies in this one?! How on earth did you manage to fit all of this into this small room?”
Marinette smoothed the tape down the side of the box and looked around the room. Boxes were everywhere, and the sheer amount of them felt overwhelming. It did not seem the least bit possible that all that was contained within them could possibly fit in this space without being a cluttered mess.
Yet, it all had.
She shrugged, sighing as she took it all in.
”Lots of drawers, I guess. Good thing I’m taking all my furniture.”
Sabine stood and took the two steps required to get close to her daughter, and wrapped her in a tight embrace. Tears filled her eyes, but she was careful not to let out her emotions audibly, lest Tom knock over every box in the room trying to join their hug.
They held each other tightly, still holding one another’s arms as they pulled back to look in the other’s eyes. Sabine nodded solemnly.
”A good thing, indeed.”
Looking around, it seemed that that may have been the final box. Sabine pulled away from Marinette, wiping tears from her eyes and bending to lift the box from the floor, carrying it over to nearer the trap door.
”Tom, when are we supposed to pick up the moving truck?”
Slowly standing, Tom glanced at his watch.
”In about a half hour. We should probably get going.”
He smiled at Marinette, shaking his head and turning away when he felt tears start to prick at his eyes for the hundredth time that day. He started to descend the steps out of Marinette’s room and Sabine followed, looking back at Marinette before she was completely out.
”I know we’ve both said it already, but you really can come back any time. All your stuff will fit right back in the way it was.”
Marinette smiled softly at her mother, wrapping her arms around herself comfortingly.
”I know, Maman. It means a lot. But I promise, this is what I need and what I want. It’s time for a new chapter… and I’ll come back to visit all the time.”
Sabine bit her lip as another sob threatened to escape, lifting a hand to her mouth and holding it there until she could compose herself. Once she felt she could do so without her voice breaking, she lowered her hand and spoke.
”You better.”
With that, she left, following Tom down the stairs.
Marinette stood staring toward where her mother had just been, her eyes filling with tears when a tiny red blur slammed into her cheek.
”Oh, Marinette!!”
Tikki hugged her cheek as best she could, offering all the comfort her tiny body was capable of. Marinette sobbed and patted Tikki gently, going to the ladder and climbing up to her loft bed, which at that point was just a bare mattress. They had already packed all her bedding, but she only really cared about being there, and getting to look up and see the sky.
Marinette sighed deeply as she lay flat on the mattress, letting her tears fall down the sides of her face.
”I’m going to miss this.”
Tikki moved to lay on Marinette’s chest, staring up at the sky along with her.
”Me too. But I know how excited you are about what’s next.”
Nodding slowly, Marinette smiled.
”I am. New job. New apartment with some of my best friends…”
She sat up, opening the window and standing to make her way out onto the balcony. She had already packed up what little she kept out there, but the lounge chair remained, and she curled up on it. She let out a deep sigh, relaxing and enjoying being somewhere familiar.
”Tikki?”
The little kwami perked up from where she now relaxed on her holder’s shoulder.
”Yes?”
Marinette looked out over Paris, her eyes not focused on any one particular thing.
”Do you think he’ll ever talk to me again…?”
Tikki frowned. It had been two years since Adrien Agreste had spoken a word to Marinette. She couldn’t tell her that she spoke to him as Chat Noir nearly every day, but that wasn’t even the worst part.
There was seemingly no reason at all for it. They had seen each other. They’d been at the same functions. He’d even smiled at her whenever they’d been near one another.
But he wouldn’t say a word.
One day they talked like normal, and the next he wouldn’t speak if she was in the room. It quickly got to the point that she just avoided him altogether, feeling that at least that way he could interact with their other friends as normal.
A dart of black across the rooftops caught her attention, and Marinette’s eyes focused on her partner, leaping from rooftop to rooftop. She quickly stood and rushed over to the railing, leaning over and yelling.
”Chat Noir!!!”
She hadn’t talked to him as Marinette in forever. She couldn’t even remember the last time. They were so much more careful now about transforming in public spaces or having any overlap between their private and heroic lives. Technology was insane, and there were whole groups devoted to tracking them and trying to reveal their identities.
Chat stopped when he heard her yell, scanning for a moment before realizing where it came from, and launching himself toward her balcony. He landed spectacularly, doing a tuck and roll before popping back up in a one-handed handstand, then double flipping back up into a casual stance, leaning against his baton with a wide grin on his face.
”Hi, Princess.”