The Other Part of Me

Aftermath

"You saw him die, Marinette."

She flinched and looked her teacher in the eye. How did she know about that?

"Adrien told me, he told me a lot actually, but that's between myself and him. He's worried about you and I think he has a right to be."

Marinette scoffed at the words. Worried about her? Of course he was worried about her. Ever the knight in shining armour was her Chat Noir. The thought shook her to the core. It was the first time she'd thought about him as her superhero partner, not just the kind model who sat in front of her in class.

Her Chat Noir was strong, he was capable and he was smart. He would take all the help offered, he would get through this for her. He would do anything for her and she knew he would, so what was she playing at? She should be fighting too, she should be working to get herself better for him, for them. Adrien had lost everything in the matter of an hour, she had been lucky and been given a second chance.

Springing from her seat, she wrapped her arms around Ms. Bustier giving her a hug, shocking the teacher and almost knocking her onto the ground.

"You ok?"

"Thank you, I needed that kick. Can the school really do that for me? I want to be better for Adrien."

Ms. Bustier nodded.

"Of course, I'll see if anyone can come in by the end of the week."

"Thank you," Marinette moved away from her teacher and touched her cheeks. She hadn't realised she'd been crying until the wetness hit her finger tips.

"I also wanted to let you know I don't expect you to complete the project, you and Adrien have already passed the year with remarkable grades so you'll be ok."

Marinette sniffed, a new wave of tears running down her face.

"I'm scared," she admitted. Her voice so quiet, Ms. Bustier had to lean in towards her to fully hear Marinette's confession. "I - I thought when it was over everything would be great, that everything would be hugs and kisses and we'd fall in love and move on, but it's not."

"Marinette? I don't understand."

"Everything has gotten worse. It's worse than before we knew."

"Marinette?"

"I stood there and watched his own father hurt him, hurt us, and then his mother ... I never thought anyone could be worse than Gabriel Agreste, but boy I was wrong."

"Father? Gabriel?"

"We're the ones who took him down, myself and Adrien. We've been fighting him for years, and how do we get rewarded," the sobs came thick and fast, and a dam broke inside her, she needed to talk and so for the first time in two weeks that's what she did, "they split us up. The country which wanted us to be together separates us, they make Adrien feel like an outsider, like a - a - villain, they're making him plan Nathalie's funeral, for damn sake, and when have I had a chance to speak to him? During three stinking press conferences where we've had to act professional and all I've wanted to do is kiss him. I want to kiss him and love him so badly. I just, I - I - can't."

Ms. Bustier leapt from her seat swooping Marinette in her arms. What had these poor children been going through? Two of her own students taking on a supervillain that happened to be the father of one of them, this was too much even for her. Her heartbroke as she sobbed alongside Marinette. For the stolen childhood and for the uncertain future.

•••••

"Writing the journal has really helped. Some days the entries are uplifting, especially if I've had a chance to sneak a glance at Marinette behind Nino during school, and then days like yesterday, well, they're quite ... dark."