Chapter Text
“A billowing skirt,” she whispered to herself.
Her pencil skated across the page, leaving wavy paths of graphite behind it as the dress in her mind came to life on the paper before her.
Bzzzzt! Bzzzzzt!
“Hmm?” She glanced over to find her phone buzzing with a call. She tapped the green call icon lightly and put the phone to her ear. “Hey, Alya-“
“MARINETTE! TURN THE NEWS ON!”
Startled, she fumbled for her mouse. “Wha-Why?”
“YOU NEED TO SEE THIS!”
She clicked her news window open and froze in shock. Her phone slipped out of her hand and fell to the floor.
Breaking news ! exclaimed the news anchor on screen. Leaked footage of Ladybug’s final battle against Monarch reveals the supervillain to be late fashion mogul Gabriel Agreste…
“Oh my god. Oh my god .”
… and Ladybug to be none other than lycee student Marinette Dupain-Cheng!
…
She jolts awake, gasping. It takes her a minute to calm down, and then she leans back in her chair and groans, rubbing her face.
She looks back down at the English homework she’d been working on, then rolls her eyes, gets up, and walks out of her room and into the dark hallway.
Tiptoeing past the other bedrooms, she makes her way to the bathroom, wincing as the door creaks shut behind her. She flicks on the light and studies herself in the mirror.
She’s a bit taller than she was three years ago, but not by much. Her face is more tired and drawn, but it still holds some of its youth. Her hazel eyes blink back at her owlishly behind wired glasses, and she brushes her black bangs out of her face as she inspects the faded scar on her forehead.
“Marie Danielle Chen,” she whispers to herself. Just a normal girl with a normal life.
She sighs and slowly takes off the glasses, setting them aside. Her colored contacts come off, one by one.
Now staring back at her are a pair of azure-blue eyes.
Hi, Marinette.