The Wall Between Us

Chapter 2: Old Friends

After horseback riding and fencing lessons, Mae was exhausted. Tutor Plagg, a tall, broad man with hair darker than her own and eyes as green as poison, was lecturing her on something about the country's history, but Mae, try as she might, couldn't focus on what was being said. Though she stared at the board, her thoughts were closer to her vision.

Although Mae didn't want to think too much about it, her conversation last night bothered her more than she really wanted it to.

Who were the Akumas, and what did they want? She couldn't understand the point of men scaring people into staying in bed after dark. Was it power? Money, they were after? She couldn't imagine the symbolism of the purple capes, and why did they burn that... bag... last night? More than anything, Marinette wondered why she hadn't heard of them if they'd been rampaging for over half a year. She was given almost daily lessons pertaining to the country's history, society, manners, and so much more, but this important, fear-mongering group wasn't important enough for her to know about? Marinette stifled a sigh and then changed her thoughts to someone else.

Chat Noir...

Marinette blushed absentmindedly and started doodling a black cat on her notes. He was... Well, to be honest, he was cute. It was hard to see exactly what he looked like in the middle of the night in the dark like that, but maybe it was just the way his body prowled like a cat on the move (Marinette decided that his weird costume was actually rather fitting) or the disconnect between his sunny demeanor despite being clad in black.

Tutor Plagg interrupted Marinette's thoughts. "Marinette, are you listening?"

Marinette's head shot up. "Yes," she lied.

Plagg glared coldly. He went over and picked up one of his little cheese cubes and stuck one in his mouth, taking his time to chew before he swallowed. Marinette had noticed he did that when he was frustrated. She imagined he took that time to count down from ten to avoid a blow up, but she was glad for the moment to process what he'd just been talking about.

After a few moments, Plagg let out a breath. "No, you weren't. What's going on in your mind?"

She avoided looking down at her cat drawing. Then looked at the board. Then, she decided the best thing to do was tell the truth—just not the full truth.

"I miss my dad," said Marinette. She looked down at her hands and tried forcing tears to come to her eyes. It was surprisingly easily.

"He's only gone for a few weeks," Plagg stated bluntly.

Marinette glared up at him briefly. "He's been busy for months, and now I won't see him for another entire month. That makes me miss him." She took a shaky breath. "Sir," she added as an afterthought.

She stared at her hands, and suddenly real tears dripped down. This past year was never ending.  This was her life now. And she never felt lonelier that when surrounded by everything she'd always thought she wanted. Marinette missed home. That dingy, small, two-bedroom apartment that small town on the outskirts of the kingdom. The curtains that the three of them had made out of old, thrifted bedsheet. The pull-out couch that was Marinette's bed, the one that had a loose spring on the left side that Marinette hated back then, but that she missed so, so much now.

Suddenly, Tutor Plagg whacked a book on the desk in front of her. She let out a yelp and looked at him in surprise. The middle-aged, dark-haired man glared at her. His clean-shaven face looked scratchy and old, with his perfectly fitted clothes and perfectly stern rules. "This is your life now, do you understand? Dwelling on things that were do nothing for that which will be. Right now, you need to focus on where you are now."

Marinette felt hot with anger. He was the only one who seemed to treat Mae like a human being, the same as they treated everyone else, and he was the only one Marinette wished would treat her like a princess and let her get away with daydreaming.