Chapter Text
A voice spoke out.
“Alya, you’re going to have to trust me with this. Please.”
They were standing in her room, near her bed, and she was holding a strange box. A very, very colorful one, at that. Her lips were curled down in a frown, and her eyes reflected a mixture of sadness and urgency. Alya stood before her, looking confused and mostly concerned for her friend.
“Of course I trust you, Marinette. It’s what you’re doing that I don’t understand!”
It was only when the words spilled out that she realized how desperate she sounded.
“I… I just can’t anymore,” she told her, her grip tightening around the round box’s edges. “This is the opportunity of a lifetime for me, and I know it’s not like me to give up—”
Alya shook her head in understanding, talking over her, “It’s not giving up—”
“—but I finally got a chance I never even dreamed I would get. I mean, getting scouted for a fashion school abroad? It’s something I can’t really just… pass up on.”
Then it cuts forward. At least, that’s how it felt, since her position was the tiniest bit off from a moment ago.
“I know, I know. I can’t possibly imagine how stressful it might’ve been for you,” Alya sighed, and then it cut forward again. Maybe the memory wasn’t as clear as she thought.
Which is strange, because she remembers what happened pretty clearly.
The box was no longer in her hands, instead in Alya’s, and the brunette carefully placed it on her bed.
“I’ll be back, Alya. You know I’ll be back. I just can’t handle all of the pressure right now.”
Cut.
“I understand your decision, Mari.”
Cut.
Alya crossed her arms, smiling. “But don’t you dare cut off contact the moment you get there, got it? I’m still your BFF.”
She stepped forward and the two hugged, her arms wrapping tightly around her friend as she held onto the embrace and buried her head into her shoulder.
“Thank you, Alya…”
The gaps of sunlight coming from the window remained still on the girl’s eyes, causing her to begrudgingly awaken. Once she remembered the tiniest detail from the night’s dream, her eyes darted around her surroundings, and she relaxed when she realized she was in her room and not anywhere else.
Something was buzzing near her head, and it took her a moment to realize her phone was ringing. Maybe the buzzing was why the dream was so weird?
That wasn’t a question she could linger on, however, as the memory of the dream faded bit by bit as she started her morning. Getting up, seeing her bed hair in the mirror, trying to fix that bed hair in the mirror, going to brush her teeth, washing her face, all of that took up the space in her head that previously held onto whatever she saw in her sleep.
She looked at herself in the mirror again, still in her pajamas, but with a satisfied smile. Not too shabby. Having a break from fashion school was definitely nice every once in a while.
Only when she was standing there, in total silence, did Marinette remember that someone just called her .
“Oh no!” she exclaimed, hurrying to the phone on her bedside drawer, swiping away the lockscreen to check who rang her.
Lots of texts… a call from Aeon, two calls from Jessica—why would they call her? The three of them live under the safe roof—a call from Alya, even a call from Ms. Keynes…
Wait, a call from Alya?
She opened her texts, seeing the very specific groups that were currently bombarding her phone. Was she forgetting an important occasion or something? Nah. She figures they just want to hear more stories from New York.
“Marinette?” the familiar, robotic voice called out from beyond her closed door.
“You can come in!”
And come in she did, holding an envelope in her hands. “Good morning. Jessica and I were sure you were still asleep,” the android told her, then extended a hand for Marinette to take it. “Mom said to give you this.” An envelope that looked oddly familiar. She had to pause for a moment, just to look at the envelope in confusion.
“Ahaha, I was. I woke up just now,” she admitted, flustered. “Is that for me?”
Last she checked, she wasn’t expecting any mail. Still, if Ms. Hill had Aeon bring it to her, surely it was important.
She reached out to take it, then carefully tore it open. Inside was a neat card, and she recognized her own handwriting right away. She wrote this? And had Ms. Hill deliver it to her… today? Weird. She would’ve remembered writing something like this to herself.
“Hi there, future me!
Alya had me write this just in case, but I doubt I’m that forgetful. I’m sure I definitely don’t need this reminder that the reunion party is back in Paris on the 27th. I don’t forget things that easily.”
By then, the card had fallen from her hands, both of which had moved to hold her head as she panicked.
“I totally forgot!”
On one hand, it made her feel very happy that Alya knew her so well, but on the other hand, it meant that she was so forgetful she let other things occupy her brain when she should’ve been remembering that the reunion party is on the 27th!
Wait…
She sprinted to her calendar, which was basically a meter to her left, and pressed her index finger onto the surface. The realization that it was the 25th had her gasping in horror and falling to her knees.
“I’m doomed!” Marinette cried out, exaggeratedly dramatic but for a justified reason this time. “I probably had flight tickets prepared, because of course I would prepare everything in advance, and I can’t believe I forgot this was happening, because I was working on this dress for the meetup like a month ago, and it turned out good, and—”
“Marinette, are you good?”
That was Jessica. Oh, no, did everyone hear her panicking?
“Marinette’s forgotten about an important event she prepared for,” Aeon informs Jessica, gesturing at the girl on her knees. “She’s worried it’s too late.”
Jessica sighed, running a hand over her face in exasperation. This girl…
“Uh, you do know your flight tickets are still with my mom, right? You had her hold onto them until last minute so you could focus on that fashion school project you had.”
Marinette raised her head up very, very slowly to look at Jessica, with a semblance of hope in her eyes. Of course she did. That hope very quickly turned into disappointment in herself. Marinette from back then took care of everything so she could focus on the project she had due all that time ago, and she just had to forget all about the very important thing she took care of.
She really was hopeless, wasn’t she?
Her hand reached down to pick the card up again, to read the bottom line that she missed before she resigned to her fate.
“By the way, left the tickets with Ms. Keynes so I don’t lose them somewhere.”
Without warning, the girl bolted up and sprinted out of the room, crying out, “Ms. Keynes!”
The married couple that so graciously agreed to house her while she was studying abroad was sitting in the living room, sharing a cup of coffee now interrupted by the teen. They both raised an eyebrow at the peculiar but not unusual sight of her fretting over small things, though Barbara could tell what it was about right away.
“Your flight is tonight,” the woman told her, rising from her seat and disappearing down the hall to the master bedroom. A few moments later, she came back with two tickets: back and forth. “That’s quite the… timing, for remembering your plans.”
Say no more. Marinette already had her head in her hands out of embarrassment. She couldn’t believe she forgot about the reunion so easily.
“What would I do without all of you?”
“Well, miss your little reunion party, for one,” Barbara commented.
The comment alone almost made Marinette go back to despairing over her abysmal failure there. There was no mercy with this woman.
Olympia laughed and tilted her head towards her wife. “Come on, Barbara, take it easy on her. She’s just jittery because she’ll be going back to meet old friends.”
By then, Jessica and Aeon had also joined them in the living room, curious to find out what everything in Marinette’s room was about. The two probably overheard the part about her “going back to meet old friends”, but they didn’t comment on it.
She decided on what to do pretty quickly, “I really need to start packing if the flight’s tonight.”
The blonde woman nodded her head with a wide smile. “That’s a great idea, Marinette! The girls would be happy to help you with packing,” she offered, looking at the two girls in question.
Aeon responded positively, nodding.
Jessica was taken aback by being volunteered to help her with packing, but just sighed and shrugged in response. “Sure, yeah.”
The three chatted while they turned around and went back to her room, allowing the couple to go back to enjoying their morning. Once there, Marinette kneeled down to pull her pink carry-on suitcase out from under her bed.
“It’s just four days, so I won’t take too much with me,” she said, mostly to herself. “The dress, some clothes, my hygiene stuff…”
Truth be told, Jessica and Aeon had no idea what they were supposed to do. The latter tried to be of help at first, but the former immediately gave up on actively helping with the packing and just sat down on the bed.
“Oh, yeah, what did you call me for earlier?” she asked, all the while sorting out the clothes she wanted to take with her to Paris.
“We were gonna go eat outside, wanted to invite you,” Jessica told her. “We can still do it after you’re finished.”
That wasn’t a bad idea at all. Packing up wouldn’t take her too long, and she still had the whole day to pass before she had to get to the airport.
With a fair share of enthusiasm, Marinette nodded, saying, “That sounds great! Any place in mind?”
Aeon, who was actually in the bathroom gathering Marinette’s toiletries the whole time, walked back in with a small toiletry bag and nodded.
“There’s a nice cafe not too far from here if we take a bus,” the android informed happily.
“Then it’s settled,” she concluded, then focused on what she stuffed in her suitcase so far.
Clothes and a pair of pajamas, check. The dress for the reunion, check. Toiletry bag, check. That was pretty much all she needed, since she’d have everything else back at home already.
The thought made her pause.
Home.
It’s been so long since she’d been home. The time moved by so fast, about three years already. Sure, she kept in contact with her parents and got them to fly over once or twice, but she was actually going home . A new kind of excitement blossomed in her chest, and she sprung up on her feet.
“Ooookay! Time to go eat!”
The girls, both baffled but also not really surprised by her enthusiasm, simply went along with it. They told Olympia and Barbara that they were going out to eat, and promptly got on a bus to take them away from the American heroes’ residence.
The journey, in the end, went beyond just going to a cafe to get breakfast and some hot chocolate.
They were strolling around town after eating when a few criminals were in the middle of robbing a nearby bank, leading both Jessica and Aeon to gear up and bust their asses while a very impressed Marinette stood off to the sidelines.
She always thought it was pretty awesome that her closest friends in NY were legit superheroes. Friends with the Eagle and Uncanny Valley? So awesome. She could never imagine herself in their shoes—she was too clumsy to be a proper superhero.
After that was done, they decided to find a nice park to sit in so they could report back to Barbara and Olympia, which also shocked her when she found out that the couple were literally super moms, and Marinette thought it was a good chance to check out all the texts from the morning. She took out her phone, scrolling through the sea of messages. Of course the girls were going wild over something.
Gang of Secrets
rosesarepink
think she saw it yet?
julius.cesaire
Her letter to herself or our spam?
bestintheworld
i bet she’s still panicking all like
“nooooo i’m doomed i’ll miss my flight”
amirite
JulekaCouffaine
Alix that’s a bit mean
rosesarepink
ooooh we need to change your name jules!!
JulekaCouffaine
Change my name?
What’s wrong with Juleka?
You never said you didn’t like my name…
rosesarepink changed JulekaCouffaine ’s name to gothqueen
gothqueen
Oh.
rosesarepink
no silly! just the name here
i would never ): juleka is beautiful
gothqueen is typing…
bestintheworld
lol u broke her rose
fakeparisian sent 1 photo
julius.cesaire
Speak of the devil
bestintheworld
shocker
fakeparisian
Hi guys!!
rosesarepink
marinette!!!
gothqueen
It looks like you’re having fun
That’s good, Marinette
fakeparisian
Thanks Juleka!!
Wait why is my name that
julius.cesaire
Well you weren’t answering ANY of my calls
fakeparisian
I’m sorryyyyy
I slept in and only woke up because Ms. Keynes called
And then Aeon came in and I got my letter that you had me write Alya
julius.cesaire
Called it
Pay up Alix
bestintheworld
what
no way she didnt say she forgot
fakeparisian
I completely forgot about the reunion!!
bestintheworld
damnit
julius.cesaire
Told you
fakeparisian
And then I started stressing out because today’s the 25th
And then Jessica told me Ms. Keynes has the tickets
And I can’t believe I forgot!!
So I started packing with Aeon and Jessica
Well it was just me packing but still
Because the flight is tonight and I have to be prepared
Also the dress came out really pretty I have to show it to you guys
greenpeace
I almost forgot Marinette can be like this…
rosesarepink
no one can stop her after she starts! >:D
fakeparisian
Then we went to get breakfast outside
And now we’re at a park!!
julius.cesaire
Done?
fakeparisian
Done
gothqueen
If your flight is tonight, will we see you tomorrow?
fakeparisian
Yeah!!
bestintheworld
water bucket challenge when shes sleeping?
gothqueen
Alix.
rosesarepink
water bucket challenge when she’s sleeping!!!!
fakeparisian
What
julius.cesaire
So Marinette how’s New York?
greenpeace
Do they have enough trees over there?
fakeparisian
It’s awesome!! But it’s also kinda an environmental disaster
O gotta go will update you all in Paris!!
rosesarepink
that was more than usual
julius.cesaire
Usual has her neck deep in fashion school stuff
rosesarepink
true!
guyysyssss i’m so excited for the reunionnnn
gothqueen
Me too.
Marinette smiled to herself as she looked down at the screen. She tried as hard as she could to stay in contact with everyone from middle school, but it wasn’t so easy now that she was so far away from them, all the way in New York. This group was her biggest achievement. Well, not that Alya would’ve let her cut off contact anyways, but! She was still so happy she stayed in contact with those five.
It was about then that Jessica called out to her, suggesting they use whatever time she had left in New York for more than just sitting in a park. She didn’t need to be told twice, and immediately followed her lead to have fun elsewhere.
By the time it was evening, the three had returned home so Marinette could get her suitcase and personal belongings, and what was originally supposed to be a long bus trip to the airport quickly became a ride through the sky with none other than the USA’s darling superhero, Majestia. It was like a rollercoaster, only way scarier.
They landed in a spot not too far from the airport but also not too crowded, so as to not draw suspicion or attention, and Olympia bid the teen farewell with a smile, prompting Marinette to do the same.
She grabbed her suitcase tight and began to walk down towards the airport, her luggage rolling in tow. The process itself was pretty tiring, with all the border control and security checks and what not, but in the end she had a while to herself before she needed to board the plane. She took a seat in the rows next to the reception, slumping onto the metal chair and sighing.
Still, her lips were set in a smile.
She was going home, a chance to see so many faces she hadn’t seen in a long, long time.
Marinette wondered how everyone was doing, how they looked, since she never had the time to ask the girls for status updates on the others. She knew Kitty Section was doing well, so at least that was something.
“Oh! That reminds me…” she thought to herself, quickly taking out her phone and making sure she had their album downloaded. “Can’t think of something better to listen to while in the air.”
The airport worker then called on the people nearby that her flight was now accepting passengers aboard, and she quickly moved with her suitcase to get a good place in line. The sooner she was in her seat and comfortable, the better the flight home would be. Basic flight rules, really.
She was ushered into the plane, then moved between the rows of chairs until she found hers. 14A, by the window. It was a direct flight, about seven and a half hours, so she could hold it in, probably.
After she shoved her carry-on into the compartments up above, she squeezed into the narrow space and got comfortable in 14A, plugging in her earphones and pressing PLAY.
Paris, here she comes.