Chapter Text
age 4:
gripped tightly onto her mother’s leg with one arm, and pulled her ladybug stuffed animal closer to her chest with the other. With large, unblinking eyes, she watched as the other children squealed and ran around chasing each other.
Sabine stroked her daughter’s hair soothingly. “It’s time for me to go now, sweetie.” She tried to take a step away, gently easing away from Marinette’s strong hold, but the toddler’s grip didn’t loosen.
“But I don’t want you to go, Mama,” Marinette whispered. “I wanna go home and help Papa make yummy cakes.” Her voice trembled at the end, and she felt the tears stinging in her eyes. She tore her eyes away from the other kids and looked up at her mother. “Please don’t make me stay here,” she pleaded.
“Marinette, honey, it’s okay. I’ll come back in a few hours and then we can go home and help Papa with the cakes.” She pulled the tiny arm away from her leg crouched down. “You can go play with the other kids and make friends. It’ll be fun. Okay?”
Marinette scrunched her nose and tried her hardest not to cry, but a tear rolled down her cheek anyway. She hastily wiped it away and looked away from her mother. Her gaze fell on a blonde boy that was running towards her. She noticed earlier that he seemed to be playing by himself. Marinette took a hesitant step back toward her mother.
The boy skidded to a stop in front of her. “Hi,” he said breathlessly. His bright green eyes met with hers, and he pushed his messy blonde hair away from his forehead, only for it to fall back to where it was. “My name’s Adrien.” A smile stretched across his face.
Marinette looked at her mother, who nodded at her in encouragement. Turning back to Adrien, Marinette said in a small voice, “Hi.” Gathering her confidence, she said a little louder, “My name’s Marinette.” She returned his smile tentatively, only for his to grow even bigger.
“Wanna play superheroes with me?” he asked. “You can be” —he glanced at her plush toy— “Ladybug!”
Marinette giggled a little and pointed at the black cat on his shirt. “And you can be Chat Noir!”
Adrien joined in on her giggles and took her hand, pulling her toward the play area. Sabine smiled softly at her daughter and her newly made friend before slipping unnoticed out the door.