To the Time That Lost

Response

"Don't worry Marinette. Don't overthink it, everything will be fine. Remember, you have a lot of things on your mind." Tikki softly talks into Marinette's ear as she lays in her bed. She looks up and the roof, listening. 

"I sure hope so. It's just.." she sits up, and Tikki flies to her shoulder, rubbing it gently trying to calm Marinette's tension. "What am I going to do? I don't even know what's going to happen. I've never felt this way before about a villain. As a matter of fact, we had never faced a villain that threatened us in such a..weird way? No no, not weird. Scary? Ugh!" She lets herself fall back onto bed. Tikki sighs. She worries about Marinette a lot. She wishes she could help her, but all she could offer was advise, as well as help her design and sew every now and then. 

"You should sleep, Marinette. It's pretty late." Tikki says shakily. 

Marinette looks at her and smiles. "I don't know about that Tikki. I have to work on my designs and entrance essay." Despite thinking of said work, she lays silently, and closes her eyes. But every time she tried to sleep, the voice would come back.

You have five days.

Marinette gasps and jolts back up in her bed. "I can't. I have to get out Tikki." Tikki smiles sadly and nods. They look at the clock on the wall. 9:53. I was dark out, quiet. The perfect time to stroll the rooftops of Paris. "We can visit Alya?"

"Hmm..she might be out with Nino, or the twins."

"You're right. Everyone's probably getting ready for bed right about now. Except for me of course." Marinette thinks. She's only visited him about once or twice before out of the blue, but now seemed like a good time. She smiles excitedly imagining the view from the harbor. "I know where to go. Tikki, spots on!"

This was one of Marinette's favorite parts of being a superhero. The feeling you get when jumping from building to building. Feeling the wind hit her bare face. She felt so free, like a bird. With a swing of her yo-yo she pulls herself up to the tip of the Eiffel Tower, waving to the people waving to her from the inside. When she makes it to the top, she stands tall and looks around. She admires the view from here. This was all of Paris. The city she lives to protect lies in front of her. Beyond the horizon, was the rest of the world. Marinette suddenly felt so small.

"How can I protect all these people?" She whispers softly. The fear began to rise back up in her chest. Quickly, she shook it off and jumped off, swinging onto a nearby building and headed towards the harbor. 

As she approached the boat, she could already make out the silhouette sitting on one of the fold-able chairs on the deck. Marinette lands in an alley nearby, avoiding the public's eye. 

"Spots off." 

She begins walking down towards the boat. The moon reflected off the water. It was a beautiful night, it feels as though Marinette hadn't been here in forever. As she got closer, she could hear the soft strumming of the guitar strings. It always seemed to amaze her, the way someone could pick up an instrument and just, go at it. 

"I haven't heard that one before," she says and she reaches the end of the walkway. "You working on something new?"

Luka stops playing and turns to her, startled. "Marinette?"

"Hey." She smiles, and raises a hand as if to wave it. But she doesn't.

Luka smiles back and sets his guitar down on the side of his chair. He stands and walks over to where Marinette stands, holding out a hand to help her on the boat. She takes his hand and hops onto the deck. "Well this is a surprise. A nice surprise." He says as he leans on the ledge of the boat. "What brings you here on such a night Mamamarin-wait, did you walk all the way here this late?"

"Uhhhahaa-haha no n-no of course I didn't." Marinette rubs the back of her head. She still wasn't used to this.

"Ah, I see. You flew here I'm assuming."

"Well, more like jumped but it sure feels like flying." At this Marinette stretches her arms out, reliving the feeling she gets when soaring through the skies. Tikki pokes out her head from Marinette's bag and looks at her, while Luka watches her in awe and giggles lightly.

"It must feel amazing, I bet. Must've been scary too."

"Yes very actually. The first time. But I adapted to it pretty quick, and now it feels so natural." Marinette had never openly talked about her adventures as Ladybug to anyone before. If it were up to her, not even Luka would know. But it appeared fate had it's own plan. Luka was the one who somehow managed to put the pieces together and figure it out for himself before she could make up an excuse. At first, it was strange, and she avoided him. She even went to Master Fu to ask for help. The first think he asked her was if she trusted Luka, and she did. To this day she still does. Well, now that she thought about it, having one person know your biggest secret is nice to have. She was grateful for him keeping her identity a secret, and thanks to that he had become one of Marinette's closest friends. 

The two sit silently for a bit, watching the waves ripple in the water below. After a moment, Luka breaks the silence. "Something's wrong, isn't it."

Marinette gasps lightly. Her gaze pulls away from the water and to Luka. She meets his eyes, and they suddenly lose their spark. His face fills with worry. "Mari. What's wrong?" He places his hands on her shoulders. 

"I-I don't know." Marinette struggles. "Today, Chat Noir and I fought a new villain and..." she stays silent. Luka lowers his hands and slides down to sit on the floor. He pats the space next to him, and Marinette slides down by his side. "He said I had five days to give him my Miraculous. But, but I don't know what's going to happen if I don't. And I can't, I have to fight. But, it feels so different. Everything was so much more..serious than before I..." She stops and looks down at Tikki. The small kwami climbs out of the bag and hugs her hand. Her eyes begin to burn. "What if I fail..."

Luka furrows his eyebrows. He begins to reach out to hug Marinette, but hesitates. Should he give her space? Or-

Marinette beats him to it. She silently sobs into his jacket. He wraps his arms around her and lets her cry. "You won't fail. You're Ladybug. You haven't failed before. And if you ever were to fail, I'll always be here. And so will everyone else. We have your back Mari." He looks down at Tikki, who is also letting silent tears fall. She looks up at him and nods at his words. 

"Sass would be happy to see you," Tikki smiles.