Chapter Text
Marinette picked a loose thread on her pink sweater and let it fall on her denim skirt before brushing it off. She played with the little silver hoop earrings Alya had gotten her last Christmas while waiting for said girl.
It had been a long while since the power granting, black miraculous stones had left her ears; yet, here she found herself, reminiscing.
She thought of Chat Noir almost every day, even if it got less frequent and less painful over the years. It didn't consume or overwhelm her with a painful variety of feelings anymore.
Today, though, would be their 10th anniversary, and, on days like these, Marinette needed all the distractions she could get.
"Hey girl!" Alya greeted upon arrival.
"Hey! Finally!" The designer said good-naturedly, eyeing her friend's flowy purple dress, black biker jacket, and matching booties in approval.
"Listen, I have something to show you..." Alya said, cryptically.
"Uh, okay..." She answered slowly, narrowing her eyes.
A waiter came over and they ordered coffee before Alya looked at Marinette excitedly.
"Look!" The happy girl shoved her phone in her friend's face.
"Alya, you're kind of blinding me right now. Um, that's a very nice phone...?"
"Girl. Please." Alya deadpanned "Look at all these e-mails!"
"Is that good?" Marinette often got overwhelmed at her own overly full mail box.
"Yes! Because-"
Their coffee arrived, the girls thanked and paid the waitress and, when she left, Alya quickly stirred the hot beverage a bit before blowing on it and gulping it down in one go, like a shot. She always did this, whilst Marinette always waited for it to cool down while calmly stirring it.
"Because...?" The now curious girl asked, black eyebrows rising.
"Because! These are all about a Chat Noir and Ladybug comeback!"
"What?!"
"Yup."
"Why?! Did a Miraculous get stolen again? That's highly unlikely, and I think I would've heard about that."
"Nope. But the crime rate has been getting stupidly high in Paris, and the people are demanding a comeback."
"That's ridiculous!" Marinette rasped, incredulously. "The police can surely handle that. It's been six years since Chat and I left the scene... Why would they need heroes now? How did this idea even start?" The girl painfully rolled her eyes "Besides, you know Master Fu won't hand out Miraculous unless strictly necessary. We hopefully still have a lot of time until the next gen."
"Marinette," Alya whisper-shouted "the people have spoken! They want their heroes back. And believe me - this is starting to blow up. I'm nothing but the administrator of a barely active blog and look! I got hundreds of e-mails. The people want this, and they - we - won't stop until we get it."
Marinette sighed audibly. "Alya, don't be ridiculous. Master Fu won't be won over by a mass tantrum that isn't even directly associated with him or affects him in any way. He's a wise, patient man."
Alya smirked, "We'll see."
★★★
"I can't believe this is actually happening," Marinette whispered, eyes shut tightly.
"I told you..." Alya retorted in a small, dazed voice.
Both girls were currently looking down at a pair of very familiar polka-dotted earrings, carefully stashed inside a wooden box that had magically appeared on Marinette's bag, for the second time in her life.
Marinette looked tentatively at Alya. "Do you think, you know... that Chat got his too?" She fixed her gaze on the table in front of her. "Wherever he is. Or if I'll have a new, um, partner..."
"I don't know, honey...we can't know, we can only hope."
"I don't wanna do that. I don't want to hope. If I'm being honest, I don't even know if I even want to see him again." She looked back at her friend. "I'm nervous, Alya. I'm gonna see Tikki again...I can't believe this. Maybe it's just- just a cruel joke. We didn't even see Master Fu at all today and...I don't know. This can't be."
"I get that you're nervous...it's a part of your life that took a lot for you to leave behind, and now it's coming back, out of thin air. But think of this as an opportunity, girl. To accept things, to have closure..." Alya sighed "And...you said it yourself that you believe in fate. Maybe have a little more faith in fate, you know?" She paused. "Also...maybe Master Fu sent someone, like that boy you helped today, to test you again, no?"
Marinette looked pensively at her journalist friend. "Maybe..."
All those years ago, the day after she had spilled her guts to Alya about everything, about a month after Hawkmoth's defeat and Chat Noir's disappearance, Marinette had gone to Master Fu's.
Eyes still red and puffy, she had said one last teary goodbye to the wooden box that contained the earrings - and the kwami - that had changed her life and had enabled her to do so much for her city.
That day, she and Master Fu had talked a lot about many things, some questions had been answered, including how the wielders were chosen.
At first, it had sounded a little silly to Marinette, but, with time, she understood that maybe it had been a stroke of pure fate. She definitely didn't feel like the jewels had been left in the wrong hands, so perhaps fate should be a little more trusted.
Ever since that day, she went to visit the old man at least once a month. Usually more, unless she got lost in a work spiral where she forgot she was still a human being with needs. Thankfully, she had people to remind her of such fact, and get her out of said spiral.
She had been at Master Fu's about a week ago, and none of them had even mentioned anything miraculous related. Marinette had happily gushed about having finished a commission she was proud of, and the man himself seemed proud of her too, and happy. Everything just seemed normal.
But now, here she was, holding both her past and her future in her hands.
Despite missing being Ladybug, Marinette's life hadn't stopped at all. She was happy, had many good friends, an amazing family, and a well-paying job she loved, even if it was a bit of a risky career path.
The first year after both Tikki and Chat had left her life had been rough, but she had had Alya and Master Fu to count on and talk to through it all.
The girl had had a few brief relationships but didn't really feel the need to have a romantic partner in her life. Truth be told, since both Adrien and Chat had left, she hadn't truly liked anyone romantically, despite the casual flings and dates.
After Ladybug and Chat Noir had unmasked Gabriel Agreste, Adrien had moved to Canada to finish his studies. He hadn't said a word to anyone apart from leaving a carefully typed letter for Nino, Alya, and Marinette. He'd deleted all his social media, changed his number, and went off the radar for years.
Even if she hadn't been hung up on him anymore when he left - seemingly forever - it had been disheartening, and she had never felt as much hate for Hawkmoth as when she sat next to Alya on her and Nino's dark orange couch and listened to their friend read the cold sounding letter, tears silently streaming down his face.
She and Adrien had become very close friends over the years, and she had been so worried. He was the first thing that went through her mind when she saw the villain that had been terrorizing Paris for years turn into Gabriel right in front of her eyes. She had almost wanted to cover it up, just so Adrien wouldn't have to suffer. But she knew she couldn't, and Chat was already on him.
Recent tabloids had talked about him possibly having come back to France a few weeks ago, but there were no clear pictures or official news yet. Some magazines venomously suggested he had come back for his father, who would probably be released sometime next year, which wasn't so far away.
"Should I...put them on?" Marinette asked tentatively.
"If you think you're ready..."
The girl inhaled sharply before taking the earrings out of the box and putting them on.