A Snap in Time

Chapter 14 (Marinette)

Marinette woke up in her usual panicked way; scrambling out of bed and getting dressed. Her alarm had been sounding for ten minutes already, and she was quite sure she wasn't going to make it to the classroom on time.

Due to her tossing and turning through the night, her hair had knotted tightly on the back of her head, causing her hairbrush to catch and rip at the length of her hair in the attempt to get it straight. Admitting defeat, she quickly parted the back section of hair adding in two bobbles and sporting her four year old pigtail look.

"Tikki? Have you seen my skirt? I've looked everywhere!"

Wading through her wardrobe, Marinette pulled item after item out, throwing them across the room.

"When did you last wear it?" Tikki asked.

"A couple of days ago," she continued to throw clothes around wildly, considering each option as she pulled it out.

Dress? Too short.

Shorts? Too cold.

Jumper? Too hot.

Growling and standing up, Marinette walked over to her chase placing on the pink carpi pants, white tee and black blazer. It seemed that this was the new look she'd be sticking with, the rest of her clothing disappearing from sight. With one last check in the mirror, she scooped her homework into her bag and headed down the stairs and into the kitchen. She didn't look bad, just different.   

"Hey sweetheart," Sabine made her way to her daughter, handing over a selection of macaroons.  "Take these to school with you dear"

Marinette kissed her mother on the cheek before running towards the doorway, and reaching for her phone in her opposite hand. In true Marinette style, she tripped over her own feet, falling into the bakery and luckily into a pair of strong arms.

"Thank you papa," she shouted, heading towards the front door and onto the street.

She quickly checked her phone again, no messages.

Looking left and right, Marinette searched for her partner, only to come up empty. She checked her phone again, still no messages. She couldn't understand why Luka wasn't there waiting for her. When they left patrol last night they were on good terms with each other, and even texted each other a few times before she fell asleep. It made no sense.

Suddenly, a wave of nausea struck her and she stumbled backwards into the wall. The sounds of cars in the distance grew muffled and her eyesight blurred.

"Don't touch him!"

"I don't need to touch him to get what I want, a slight snap of my fingers and you'll be begging for me to take it."

"Marinette? Marinette?"

Her voice being called shook her out of the abyss she'd circulated into. What the heck was that?

"Marinette?" She looked up and into the eyes of Alya, "Are you ok? You looked zoned out for a second there."

Marinette stood herself up right and pushed away from the wall, giving her friend a small smile, which unfortunately didn't reach further than her lips.

"Sorry, I just ... I don't know what came over me?" She placed a hand to her head and tried to make sense of what just happened. Was that a memory? Dream? Premonition?

"Well, we need to go or we'll be late." Alya grabbed Marinette's arm and began to pull her away from the bakery and across the street. Marinette stumbled a few steps from the sheer force of Alya's pull before halting to a stop.

"Hang on," she pulled her arm out of Alya's grasp and looked down at her phone again. No new messages.

Handing the macaroons over to Alya she sighed and opened the contacts up on her phone.

Marinette
Hey, just wanted to let you know I'm heading over to college. I'm so sorry I missed you this morning, for some reason my maman and papa never woke me up to tell me you were here. I was late waking up. Speak to you later x

She sent the message to Luka after one last check to see if the blue haired boy was anywhere in the vicinity, but still he wasn't there. For the first time in two months he didn't come to walk her to school. Yes, he'd been late a couple of times, and there was the one time he didn't walk her to the steps, but this? It made no sense.

Indicating to Alya she was ready to carry on, Marinette followed her friend across the road and towards the school grounds.

As Alya was talking about the latest akuma attack Marinette couldn't help but wonder why Luka hadn't turned up. Again, she balanced the macaroons in one hand as she walked up the stairs and into the main school ground.

Still no message.

"What's up girl? You're checking your phone like it's a ticking time bomb."

"Not so much a bomb as a ticking break up."

Alya froze and looked at her friend. "What?"

Marinette sighed and walked her friend over to one of the benches in the main atrium, making sure the other girls in their friendship group were out of earshot. As much as she loved her friends, having Juleka (Luka's twin) listen in on a conversation where she might need to rant about her brother did not feel right. You can diss friends, but you can't diss family.

"Luka didn't meet me this morning, and he didn't message me to let me know he wouldn't be there."

"Girl, you're so in love with him it's cute." Marinette rolled her eyes. It wasn't that she was in love with him, it was more the fact that her routines were suddenly being broken, changed and some of them totally destroyed, not to mention the way she kept feeling like her spirit didn't belong in her body. "Don't worry though, M, he messaged me to come and walk you over. Wanted to make sure you got there safely and apparently his classes had moved forward for today. It's no sweat."

No sweat? She thought. If it was no sweat, why hadn't he messaged her to let her know he wouldn't be there. He could message Alya to come and take care of her so why couldn't he have messaged her. Marinette's mind continued to spin, he texted Alya to make sure she got to college safely? Safely? She was a bonafide superhero, of course she would have got to school safely.

In the matter of days Luka's wonderful protectiveness was becoming stifling. Had it always been like this? Had he always been overly protective. The temptation to randomly run across rooftops that evening crossed her mind.

That's it!

Tonight, she'll transform, running across Paris and climb the Eiffel Tower, by herself. The only times she went out as Ladybug, was on the two days a week they'd patrol (sometimes three), so tonight she was going free running. Who cared if she was using the Miraculous for her own needs. Whilst in her own private mental prep talk of rebellion, a message signalled on her phone.

Pulling it up she wasn't at all surprised to see the name on the screen. Afterall, if she was talking about rebelling against him, of course he would appear to make sure she didn't.

Luka
Had to be in lycee early. Classes have all moved forwards so won't be able to walk you anymore. Have a great day though, love you x

As Marinette pulled her thoughts together from the message, she missed the person she wanted to speak to heading their way into school.