One Miraculous Circus

Chapter 34

A/N: I'm a student in secondary school (high school for you American's) so I have obviously not gone to university and my only experience of it is what I hear from my two 20-year-old sisters so I may sound completely wrong in what I say when it comes to proper technical university stuff, sorry! - Wrenn <3

*A few months later*

Mari grabbed clothes from her drawers and threw them into her suitcase, taping up a few cardboard boxes as she did. She put on a yellow summer dress and tied her hair back to keep it out of her face. She slipped on white ballet pumps and wrapped herself in Adrien's jacket. They may not be together anymore but she never wanted to forget her soulmate.

"Alya! We're going to be late!" Mari shouted as she rolled her suitcase out of her apartment and onto the concrete.

"I'm just packing the final things!" Alya yelled down, "Also, Nino should be here any minute now!"

After a horrible few months of attempting to move on from the one person Marinette thought she was going to be with forever, she was finally escaping the nightmare that Paris had been for her and travelling to New York City for university. After the breakup, she never saw or heard from Adrien, he just seemed to fall off the face of the earth. Although it hurt to never see him again, the fact that he never reached out just made her realise how much she did need to move on, they were the right people at the wrong time.

Her, Alya and Nino were all going to the same school and therefore were driving to the airport together. Alya was going to study journalism, Nino was studying Media and Marinette was studying fashion but she had also signed up for some dance and gymnastics classes. She may not be Ladybug anymore but her love for gymnastics and dance didn't fade.

After a few minutes of waiting on the cold street, Alya came running down to join her best friend, struggling to drag her large suitcase, "Here!"

"Okay, put the suitcase in the back and we'll start driving to the airport," Mari said as she tossed her suitcase into the trunk.

"Mari, why are you wearing Adrien's jacket? You guys broke up three months ago," Alya questioned.

"This is just the same dress I wore the day you found out about our relationship. It felt wrong putting on a different jacket," Mari murmured.

"You haven't fully moved on yet, have you?"

"No... but I'll be fully over it soon. I was the one that ended it so I don't know why I'm still so caught up."

"Maybe you didn't actually want to end it, you just felt like you had to. You were in a really bad place because of all the hate you were receiving so I'm not surprised you made a decision you regret now but don't worry, you'll find someone new," Alya said as she pulled her friend into a tight hug.

"Hey, dudettes!" Nino called out as he ran over to them, dragging his suitcases behind his heels.

"Hey babe," Alya said as she kissed him on the cheek.

"Okay guys, we actually need to get going. Put your suitcases in the back so we can start driving," Marinette said as she swung the door open and shuffled behind the wheel.

Alya and Nino tossed their suitcases into the boot of the car and got into the backseat, giggling amongst themselves.

"Heyy, there's no need to act so couple-y around the lonely friend. It's just plain rude," Mari joked as she started the engine.

"It's not my fault you ended it with someone you're still in love with," Alya teased.

"Oh shut it, Alya," Mari laughed.

She pulled away from the bakery and headed towards the airport, watching her home get smaller and smaller. Being in Paris was the cause of a lot of her misery but also the place of a lot of her happy moments. Her whole childhood was in Paris but her whole family also died there. She found love in Paris but she also had her heart broken there.

Honestly, Marinette was happy to finally leave Paris. Every time she returned their all she could think of was all the bad things that happened, it was getting too much for her.

After a while of driving, she pulled into the car park and jumped out of the car, breathing in the fresh air and stretching her legs after the long drive.

"I can't wait to finally be in New York," Mari said as she opened up the boot of the car and everyone grabbed their suitcases.

"What's happening with your car? It's not like you need it in New York and you'll just waste money leaving it in the car park," Alya questioned as she slammed the back shut.

"Claire is going to come to get it at some point I think," Mari shrugged as they walked into the airport, "Let's just focus on getting all out stuff through."

They wandered through the airport, putting their bags into baggage claim and packing their liquids into small bags as they forgot to before. Security took longer than they thought as Nino got held back for a search after he left his phone in his back pocket when he went through the scanner but eventually they were on their way to their boarding gate. (A/N: Fun fact, my mum actually did this hence the specifics)

"I hate flying," Alya mumbled into Nino's chest as they sat at the gate.

"It'll be okay babe, just stick with me," he whispered back, kissing her on the forehead.

Marinette jokingly rolled her eyes at the couple and Alya stuck her tongue back at her friend, snuggling back into her boyfriend's arms afterwards.

"Gate 6 is now boarding," a voice said over the speaker and the trio jumped up and grabbed their carry-on bags.

They filed onto the plane and Alya and Nino were sat next to each other while Mari was on some other seat at the other side of the plane.

"See you after the flight guys," she sighed as she walked to the other part of the plane and found her seat, getting excited when she realised she had a window seat.

She pushed her bag into the overhead bin before sitting down and playing her music through her earbuds. She had a long trip ahead of her.

Mari watched out the window as the plane slowly moved down the runway, preparing for take-off. It got faster and faster until it finally lifted off the ground and she watched as her home got smaller as she zoomed towards her new life.

She stared at the disappearing ground and began to mutter to herself, "New York, here we come."

Word Count: 1153