Chapter Text
Chloe Bourgeois stood at the front of Le Grand Paris anxiously playing with a strand of her long, perfectly blonde hair. Breathing in deep, Chloe shifted her backpack to stay more firmly on her right shoulder while her left hand grabbed her pale yellow carry on. She strutted into the hotel, her lightly heeled ballet style shoes clicking uncomfortably noisily. The shoes weren’t Chloe’s style anymore, but her mother bought them for Chloe, and even though Chloe was a fully fledged adult (freshly turned 23), she was still afraid of disappointing her sour mother.
As Chloe entered Le Grand Paris, the front desk worker (Chloe didn’t know his name, though to be fair Chloe hadn’t been to Paris in five years) anxiously jumped to his feet.
“My apologies Miss Bourgeois, I hadn’t realized you had arrived! We thought you would get here in an hour, I had a limousine scheduled and everything,” he rambled.
Chloe smiled gently.
“It’s perfectly all right, during my layover they switched me to a quicker flight.”
“If I had known I would have rescheduled your car!”
“Please don’t worry about it, I just took the Metro.”
“You took the metro?” the front desk person asked incredulously. Chloe couldn’t imagine the warnings he got from other employees. Apparently, employee turnover had decreased by over 70% since Chloe left Paris.
“Yes, I did. I took it every day back in New York, it’s really no trouble,” Chloe replied, internally cringing. Sometimes, she forgot how much she changed from the last time she saw her family. She didn’t think anyone she knew in her past life would even recognize her.
“Chloe!?” A voice shrieked from the direction of the staircase. Tensing up, Chloe initially thought it was her lovely mother until she turned and saw her half sister, Zoe. Wow, Zoe really has grown up , Chloe thought. Instead of the pink streak, Zoe’s hair was split dyed, one half blue and one half pink. She had a nostril piercing and impressively winged eyeliner. She still wore her typical leather jacket and ripped yellow jeans, but boasted combat boots instead of her signature converse.
“Zoe,” Chloe began, unsure what to say. Zoe cautiously made her way down the staircase, coming face to face with Chloe. This close, Chloe could see that Zoe was wearing the daisy earrings she made her half-sister in her art class last year.
“Where are the rest of your bags?” Zoe asked, taking in the backpack and carry-on rolling bag that Chloe brought.
“Oh, I don’t have any more. Everything I own should be here… unless the shipment hasn’t arrived yet?” Chloe squeaked out, the familiar feeling of anxiety clawing up her throat.
“Oh, no, the shipment came, it’s just less than we expected.” Zoe said in a calming manner.
“Everything on the manifest I wrote arrived?”
“Yes, Chloe. I promise, everything you sent over is here.” Zoe gently put her arm on Chloe’s shoulder, and only then did she realize how much taller Zoe was than her - three inches, at least. “Is everything okay?”
“Yes, everything is fine,” Chloe said hurriedly, but Zoe didn’t look impressed. “It’s just that moving across the world is nerve wracking, and I’m a bit of a control freak.”
Zoe’s face softened.
“Hey, I get that. Can I grab your bag?” Zoe asked, gesturing to Chloe’s rolling bag.
“Sure,” Chloe responded, pushing it closer to her half-sister. Zoe gave Chloe a big smile, and easily lifted the overpacked bag. Chloe followed Zoe to the elevator, where Zoe hit the “up” button, and, once the doors opened, the correct floor.
“Your room is exactly the way you left it!” Zoe said brightly.
“Oh, that’s nice,” Chloe murmured, slightly dissapointed. See, Chloe hated who she used to be. Hell, even when she was that girl she hated herself. Chloe was deeply, truly afraid that she would revert back to that awful person who wanted her mother’s impossible-to-achieve approval. Chloe was so afraid that she felt like she needed to barf.
Zoe hummed, leading Chloe down the family’s sparsely decorated personal hallway after the elevator doors opened.
“Here we are!” Zoe proclaimed as she flung the doors to Chloe’s room. Yep, everything was the exact same. The bedroom that was bigger than the New York apartment she shared with three other girls. The massive pink tufted sofa, the TV that’s three times bigger than any TV should be, and the obscenely large bed. Chloe unceremoniously dumped her backpack on the slightly musty bed and sighed.
“It seems like you’ve changed a lot,” Zoe said gently. “Dad and Mother said that you can change the room however you want.”
“There’s no need for that,” Chloe said, walking towards the massive balcony just off of the living room.
“What do you mean?”
Chloe pulled open the massive glass door and stepped outside, her sister following. Once the fresh French air hit Chloe’s nose, her anxiety loosened its hold.
“I won’t be staying here long. Once I secure a job, I’ll be getting my own place.”
“You don’t want to stay with us?” Zoe said, sounding a little hurt.
“I doubt any of you want to live with me,” Chloe snorted. “Don’t worry, I’ll be out of your hair soon.” Chloe took a deep breath as she looked over Paris. God, she missed this view. She could see the Eiffel Tower from her room, which is so much better than a view of the Statue of Liberty. Once a Paris girl, always a Paris girl.
“And if I want you to stay?” Zoe asked, settling in next to Chloe.
“I can’t be around Mother,” Chloe whispered.
“She leaves us alone most of the time,” Zoe started.
“I hate who she turns me into,” Chloe snapped, interrupting Zoe. Chloe felt guilty after seeing Zoe’s face show a flash of hurt, but she still continued. “I hate who I am around her. I hate who she raised me to be, and I hate how long it took me to become a halfway decent person. The only reason I moved back is because you asked me to, Zoe.”
Zoe looked shocked.
“I didn’t know you felt that way,” Zoe replied gently, twisting a ring on her finger.
“How could I not? I was a terrible person, and she raised me to be that way. Yes, I took it too far. I bullied you, I bullied my father, I bullied everyone. I am the reason why half the city was akumatized.” Chloe felt her voice crack as she mentioned the memories she repressed so deeply. Chloe led to people being killed - sure, Ladybug fixed everything with her lucky charm, but what if Ladybug wasn’t able to fix everything? What if something hurt Ladybug and Chloe triggered the end of the world?
“I didn’t mean that part,” Zoe laughed, pulling Chloe out of her dark thoughts. “I didn’t know you decided to move back because of me.”
“Oh,” Chloe said, her cheeks turning pink. “Well, of course. You’re my sister.”
“What about your friends?”
“None of them are staying in New York. I can’t blame them, it’s barely affordable and most of them can work from home. I figured I could move back home, but I don’t think I would have if you didn’t ask me.” Chloe was proud to admit that she actually had friends. Sure, the first year of college was beyond awful, but once she met some cool people, Chloe found herself being dragged out every weekend.
“That’s nice,” Zoe smiled. “I didn’t know you cared about me that much.”
“I hate how I treated you,” Chloe admitted. “The people I regret hurting the most are you, Dad, Sabrina, and Marinette. God Zoe, I am so, so sorry. Can you ever forgive me?” Chloe turned to her sister, tears welling up in her eyes.
“Of course I can,” Zoe laughed, pulling her sister in for a hug. “I know it’s because of Mother. You changed, and that’s what matters. Besides, you bought me these super cute earrings!” she finished brightly, showing off the earrings Chloe made her.
Chloe laughed, wiping the tears off of her cheeks.
“I made those earrings, actually.”
Zoe stopped and looked at Chloe, delicately touching the earrings.
“Really?” Zoe’s voice was cracking.
“Yes,” Chloe said, squeezing her sister’s hand. She looked at her un-manicured fingers next to her sister's black-painted ones. “Through therapy, and believe me, I’ve been to a lot of therapy, I’ve found that my love language is gift giving. My therapist suggested that as a way to make up to myself for the way I treated people is to make meaningful gifts. So, I took a special studies art class last year and made gifts for everyone I’ve treated poorly. Well, not everyone. It would be impossible for me to make gifts for everyone I hurt. Just the people I hurt the most.”
“That’s amazing Chloe,” Zoe responded. “I am so proud of you. You have come so far, and I am so proud to call you my sister.” Zoe pulled Chloe in for one more hug, this one lasting longer than any hug Chloe had ever had.