We're Grown // miraculous ladybug

Chapter Two

She had completely forgotten how many years it had been since she stepped foot in America. A lot had changed. Not in a million years would she have anticipated a message from her high school best friend about a letter she never received. The ten year reunion was coming up! She'd get to see Alya, and Nino, and even Adrien! A smile graces her features as the fond memories play in her mind. The days of her alter ego flash through her eyes for a moment and she sighs, missing her Parisian hero days. She still had the miraculous, as well as Tikki, but the last time she whipped out the old transformation into spandex suit, wow it shocked her. Had it really been ten years? No way. It hadn't felt that way. But, I suppose she had become so big within the fashion industry, so maybe it really has been that long.

She was one of America's finest designers. Although known for her Parisian background, as pointed out in many interviews, her headquarters lies in the bustling city of New York. The Big Apple. She still, to this day, did not know why it was called that. But that aside, she was as well known as Gabriel Agreste. She was at that elite status. It was crazy to think that not only ten years ago, she was graduating. With the amount of years she was apprenticing, making her way up the fashion ladder. She'd only gotten her 'big break' three years prior to where she is currently. Not even two months after her first fashion launch, Gabriel was commenting on her, praising her and how far she's come within the industry, applauding her for making it big, or even making it at all. Coming from her favourite designer, it was a big confidence boost.

She runs through her journey in her mind, wondering around her studio with the utmost pride she could ever muster. Her walls were covered in posters of models wearing her designs, of celebrities wearing her designs, of other designers wearing her designs. She was an icon, keeping her signature Ladybug title, although keeping it still a secret by telling press that it was a tribute to Paris's hero herself. This gave her brownie points when her clothing lines were released in France. The same question kept circling her mind though.

What will everyone be like now?

She hasn't seen anyone since graduation, other than Alya and occasionally Nino (because the poor guy would be dragged along by his wife every now and then) but that was only because they would fly to New York to visit. And yes, Alya and Nino got married. But no, Marinette unfortunately could not attend. The wedding was taking place at a complicated time in Marinette's career, which prevented her from flying to Paris to be Alya's Maid of Honour. But you bet your bottom dollar that she never held it against the ravenette. She's always known how important this is for Marinette, just like how she knew how important journalism is for Alya. If there was ever anything that could get a pass in their friendship, it was their passions. And now that Alya is sharing her life with another human being, spouses are the only other thing that get a pass. But either way, the pair are super easy going with one another, so realistically there are many passes. But we don't talk about that.

Her fingers trace a large framed poster. It holds her favourite model within it, sporting her signature leather jacket design, with a small green paw on each button. Adrien. Although, she hasn't come across him personally since high school, her agent somehow booked him for the photo shoot and he hasn't really been seen again. She'd always wondered what happened to him, where he went, what he pursued, if he's even still a model. Little does she know, she's going to get a shock a week from that point. She thinks about her one sided feelings and how she'd been pining after him for so many years, how she was always so dumbstruck and shy around him, even in her senior days. The shyness died down, but it definitely still there. She just got good at hiding it. She wondered if she still felt that way about him, if she'd react the same way upon seeing him again. Probably not, as she's matured greatly within ten years, but it's always funny to think about it. A grown woman getting flustered and flabbergasted by her crush from ten years prior.

"Hm..." She hums in content, situating herself at her desk and staring down at her various designs laid out upon the tabletop. She was happy with where she was and how she got here. She was happy with her life, with herself. That's all one can ask of themselves. To be happy, to be proud of them self, to be content, to finally feel as though they can settle within them self.

But once she walks through those school doors, that will change. She will not want to settle with herself, she will want a whole lot more than that. And oh boy, will it be one hell of a month.