'Even if life doesn't always give us the gifts we were hoping for, the real gift is life itself.'
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It had been a month since Miracle Queen happened. A month since she had lost her master, the only person who she could tell everything and wouldn't have to worry about keeping a secret about it, and a month since she had been the guardian of these tiny gods that she had become close to in the short amount of time she had known them.
Marinette, after Miracle Queen, went to go seek comfort in her school work and her designs. Too many things reminded her of what had happened, and she didn't want to have any reminders of the day where she lost someone close to her.
Alya and the rest of her friends reminded her that they were the former heroes, ones who she couldn't call upon. Chloe reminded her of the day that she lost her master, the day where she could save everyone, but she couldn't save his memories. Looking at anyone's face reminded her of the day where they were all hypnotized, under Chloe's control. She couldn't take it. Anytime she would look for too long, tears would wield up in her eyes and she would start crying. There were a few times where an akuma would come for her, but Tikki would purify it before it had the chance of coming anywhere close to her.
Lila decided at that time to come back from her all around the world trip, only to find things different than she remembered. Marinette, who she swore she would get rid of, was sitting in the back alone. She was wearing a black hoodie, and she couldn't see what she was wearing as pants. Her head was down, either she was doing her work or her head was down.
From the way the class was, she didn't hear them talking bad about her. Actually, they were worried for the girl who switched personalities over night. Lila wondered what happened while she was gone from school.
Lila, being herself, spread some lies in the classroom, and everyone was paying attention to her. What she couldn't help but notice is that Marinette wasn't even calling her out like she normally would be doing. Instead, she just sat in the back doing her own thing, only you couldn't see what she was doing or her face.
That became the new normal. Lila lying, Marinette sitting in the back alone, minding her own business and not hanging out with someone, or even talk or look them in the eye, and everyone worrying about their former class president.
Marinette couldn't say that she enjoyed doing what she did. In fact, she had mixed feelings about it. She was relieved that she didn't have to go through crying about the day that happened a while ago. But she was also sad that she couldn't talk to any of her friends without tearing up.
One day, Marinette ran out of fabric for her designs. She had sighed and put her clothes on. She put her money in her hand, and the hand in her pocket that was on her hoodie.
She walked out, and her eyes had to adjust to the brightness that was the sun. She pulled her hood over her head, bringing her sight towards the ground.
She guided herself through Paris, going to the store, without looking at anyone. She wouldn't notice the gazes she got from people who saw that someone was wearing dark clothing.
That was until she bumped into someone. She had fell down and saw that the person she bumped into froze.
Marinette picked herself up and looked down, not looking at them in the eyes, but at their feet and shoes. She could see that they were wearing some dress pants and that they had a suitcase.
The guy that she bumped into started talking. "Ms? Are you alright?" Marinette stopped and froze for a moment. The voice who had said that sounded familiar, but she didn't dare look up to see who it was.
