Miraculous Raccoon [Completed]

One Week Later

A have a hand in my bag as I walk out of the school building, Raya's arms tightly wrapped around my fingers as she's been prone to do. She's felt terrible all week and hugging my hand helps her feel better. Helps her know that I'm still here even after everything. That we're still a team.

"Oh! Tris! Before you leave! Excuse me Alya, I just want to give her something real quick," Marinette is calling at the top of the stairs. Alya shrugs and gives a quirked smile as Marinette runs down the stairs to me and smiles brightly.

"Hey, thanks for everything," I say. "We appreciate all of it." Marinette eyes the hand still in my bag and raises her eyebrows questioningly. I nod.

"Well, I made something for you, to thank you for all of your help with everything," Marinette says, holding out a small gift bag.

"Wow, really?" I ask, carefully pulling my hand out of my bag and taking the gift from Marinette. I shift the tissue paper and pull out a Mystique doll, large fluffy hair, black mask, ringed tail, even a bracelet with a stripe. "Oh, wow, Marinette! This is amazing! Thank you!" I tell her, awed. Marinette smiles.

"I'm so glad you like it," she tells me. "But I better get going. See you later!"

"Yeah, uh, later," I respond with a wave as she runs down the sidewalk to where Alya is waiting now. I open my bag and slip the doll into the pocket Raya was sulking in. "Guess who made this for us?" I ask Raya quietly. She gasps and grabs the doll, cuddling the soft body in the bag. Maybe this means I can walk around with both hands free again.

Adrien and Nino walk out of the school building, waving at me casually as they make their way down the stairs, past a near drooling Marinette before Alya calls out and the four walk together.

Michael and Charon aren't too far after them and I wave and wait for them to catch up to me. "-and then I woke up on a rooftop somewhere and it took forever until I could find a way to get down!" Michael was complaining.

"Oh, you're still complaining about that?" I ask, gently putting a hand on my bag. Raya doesn't need to be reminded of the negative consequences.

"I was mobbed! By like ten akuma's!" Michael complains. I sigh and glance at Charon in an attempt to share an annoyed look. He isn't looking at me. Did I upset him? I can't think of anything.

"You did have a bunch of bracelets. That's what they were attracted to, right?" I ask.

"Yeah, but I didn't even get to meet the real Mystique!" he says.

"You want to?" I ask, startled. "After everything that happened?"

"Of course! Do you realize how much I've sold in the last week?" Michael asks. "I've run out of everything!"

"You're kidding!" I say. "I thought people wouldn't want to buy that stuff anymore. It was the people who bought bracelets that were akumatized."

"They loved it! Everyone knows who Mystique is and people have even been asking if they come in Mistake colors!" Michael tells me. "Isn't that right Charon?"

"Yeah," Charon agrees mutely, not looking at me still. Michael shakes his head and sighs.

"Ignore him, he's been weird all week," Michael says.

"Uh, okay," I agree. "Oh, I want to show you something!" I say, carefully reaching into my bag and tugging the Mystique doll out of Raya's hold to show the two guys. I leave my hand in the bag as compensation.

"Where did you get that?" Michael demands, staring at the doll seriously. I can see the cash register already working behind his eyes.

"Marinette made it," I say, pointing up the street ahead of us where we can barely see her black pigtails.

"Excuse me," Michael says and bolts after her. I laugh as he tries to catch up with them, yelling Marinette's name. I glance at Charon, but he's not meeting my eyes. Just staring at the doll.

"She really got your likeness," Charon says.

"Yeah?" I ask, turning the doll to look at it myself. "The hair must have been difficult to do, but I reall love the ears. Wait, how do-"

"Do you think she would do one of me?" Charon asks with that sweet genuine smile that crinkles his eyes. I can feel my mouth fall open.

"White Fox?" I ask, barely making any noise. Charon shrugs and nods.

"I know the ribbon isn't very manly, but I still think we make a good pair," he says. "You might be a little disappointed and confused, though. I get that. But I'm sure if you-" I throw my arms over him and he stutters to a stop. His own arms slowly wrap around me and I bury my head in his neck.

"You saved my life," I tell him. He puts a hand on the back of my head and pets my hair. "Thank you."

"Anytime," he tells me. I clear my throat and pull back.

"So, um, that's why you'd get sick for a while, right?" I ask him as we head down the sidewalk. I tuck the doll back into the pocket with Raya. "After you transformed back?" He nods.

"And you'd pass out. Like at the park. I feel like an idiot for not realizing it," Charon grumbles, scuffing his feet on the pavement.

"Well, now that I know it's you, I won't feel so weird asking you to use your power," I tell him, but I feel my face flush as I say that. Maybe I will feel weird asking that.

"You're okay with me kissing you?" Charon asks. And that's why I'll feel weird.

"Kissing you isn't as bad as falling asleep as soon as I transform back," I tell him. There should have been a better way to say that. I look at Charon out of the corner of my eye, but he just has his normal frown in place. "There's so much light and flashing and everything going on when you did it that one time I couldn't really say if it was good or not," I add, feeling awkward. Was that the right thing to say? I sneak another glance, but his eyebrows are furrowed now, too. "I mean, if you kissed me without it being a use of your power, I'd probably be able to make a more informed statement about it." Now I'm just babbling. I should stop saying things. I'm just making things worse. I'm about to tell him to just forget everything I said when he catches my arm and turns me towards him. We're standing in the middle of the pavement and he's looking at me with those intense eyes of his again.

Charon puts a hand gently on my cheek and slowly leans down towards me, giving me plenty of time to move away if I wanted to. But I don't want to. My eyes slowly close and we kiss. Somehow, there still seems to be flickering lights. A zip of energy and warmth on my lips. Fireworks.