The Promise

Chapter 2

A few hours have passed since Alya told Marinette her story. Now, out on the windy Parisian afternoon, she watched as her best friend struggled with her bags in front of the helicopter. Alya's breath hitched at the sight of it all.

It was the day she finally got to live her dream of studying abroad. Audrey Bourgeoise has offered her an internship over at New York. So she might not get to see her again for more than a year.

Yeah, sure she was happy for her friend, it was the opportunity of a lifetime for crying out loud! There was no way she would have let her miss it.

They were currently standing in the middle of Palace de Versaile Park, Marinette was making her final goodbyes to her parents as Audrey was fuming right next to her.

"Come on! Hurry up, Mariella, we don't have all day!"

She quickly glanced back at her parents before replying, climbing up the helicopter after her boss.

Alya couldn't watch, this was the end of it all. The end of going past the bakery to pick up her friend for school. The end of all her battles to build her up to become the strong, independent woman she's become.

The end...

Wait, this isn't the end.

"Marinette wait!" she yelled out, already halfway there to hug her friend.

"Promise me you'll call."

Marinette hugged her tighter, "Everyday."

And they just stood there, for a solid minute. All the words they wanted to express were easily exchanged without either making a noise.

And she, Alya Césaire, knew she did the right thing. Marinette was in good-

No.

New York was in good hands.

As the aircraft drifted away she smiled. Yeah this was going to be hard, she already missed her friend deadly, but everything's going to turn all right. She just knows it.

That's the same thing she said to comfort a crying Tom along with Sabine, who later invited her over for tea.

"I would love that." She beamed at them, it was good to know she wasn't losing them too.

So they walked back together to the bakery, exchanging laughter and jokes along the way.

After some cheering up, Tom spoke up. "Hey, speaking of company," he turned to Alya, "how come the boys didn't show up today?"

"Oh they've got their reasons." She answered simply, smiling to herself.

• • • •

"S-So uh... Mrs. Bourgeois?" Marinette asked after a few minutes of silence on the helicopter. Once her boss looked away from her phone and her way, she continued.

"I was wondering about my uh, terms, for-"

"For working? Well yes, I knew you were prone of asking eventually. I've already explained the basics. You'll be working the weekends plus Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays after school.

"You're on the designing department as of now, mostly learning how everything works around here. If things go accordingly, you should be able to not only design, but bring to life our designs.

"Since you're still a minor, most of your money will go on to your apartment and living as your parents requested.  Its a... well fairly small place, but suitable to your earnings and is right next to the NYC public high school, which you'll be attending.

"Now, as for 'vacations', we don't give those out often.  Yet again, we're legally required to give you one during school breaks so you can visit your parents. Any questions?"

Marinette blinked, processing everything her new boss explained so briefly. "Er- no. I think that sums it up great, thanks."

Audrey nodded in return and not even a second after, hooked on to her phone yet again.

Marinette had a lot of time for her thoughts during her flight to New York.

It felt as if it was only yesterday that she was the girl who loves fashion, dreaming of all the great things she was going to do alongside her friends.

Now, she got her dream. This was the part when she does all of those great things she's talked about... Just not with her friends.

Then she remembered Alya's story. Her promise, and how much it meant to her. It was the one thing that made her feel connected her with her friend.

She wanted that.

And so she made that very same promise to herself, for Alya.

Then, after a few more moments of silence, Marinette noticed a slight snoring from Audrey. Bourgeois.

"Mrs. Bourgeois?" She asked, waving a hand in front of her boss's sunglasses. "Wow," Marinette mumbled, "she must be exceptionally tired."

"I know, she's got a pretty stressful life." Tikki said, flying out of Marinette's purse.

Marinette, already used to this, didnt even flinch at her kwami's sudden appearance.

"Can you believe it Tikki? We're actually making it to New York. Like it's actually happening!"

"Oh I'm aware of it alright. But are you sure you'll be able to handle it? This is no easy job, you'd be extremely lucky if you mange to keep it while being ladybug."

Marinette sighed, "Yeah i know, and I've thought it through. The akumas are getting easier to defeat every day, with our new power ups, i'll only miss around half an hour at most."

"Plus," she added, pulling out a small cat-shaped keychain from her purse, "I trust Chat will let me know if anything were to happen."

Tikki thought about it for a while, this was all happening so fast, Marinette barely had any time go tell her about it yesterday. "Well... I guess if you're sure you'll be okay, I'm cool with it."

Marinette laughed, "Thanks Tikki, you know, you're really getting the hang of this modern lingo."

And so they continued on with their bantering. Before they knew it, they've arrived and Audrey has woken up.

Marinette stepped out of the helicopter, bracing herself for what's to come. The wind whistled in her ears as Mrs. Bourgeois fired someone behind her.

She took a deep breath, knowing this would be her new home. It would all be okay, she just knows it.