Between Generations

Chapter 45

december 2047

The blanket of white was blinding. Tree branches around the apartment building near her window sagged with the frozen snow. Fog rose from everything that moved. Lise almost thought she saw a tiny puff of breath from a rat feeding off from the piling garbage in the alley next to the building.

Lise sat backwards on her desk chair, leaning on her arms on the chair back as she stared out her narrow window at the fluffy snowflakes gently falling. The large plane tree that barely reached her view almost looked like it was a giant snowball. The Eiffel tower in the distance could only be seen as a faint outline among the foggy skyline.

Her homework waited for her at her desk, but her teachers had given her plenty of extensions on account of her recovery.

Her back felt much better than it had been last October, but the doctor told her that she still had to take it easy.

"Your backbone will need to take extra time to fully heal, even after 8 to 10 weeks," the doctor had said at her recent appointment last weekend. "You're young, and your back will heal easily. But I will give you a note saying that you need to be exempt from gym class."

As much as Lise hated gym, she didn't want to miss any more time with her friends. After a month of resting, exercise, and careful supervision of Alix, Lise missed school. School was normal.

Lise wanted her normal life back. But at the same time, she didn't.

Because if she wished for her old life back, she wouldn't have met her real parents. She wouldn't even have known about them.

She had gone to classes that morning, but because gym took up most of the second half of the day, she stayed home after her lunch break. She could've started on the looming pile of homework, but her whirling mind said otherwise.

She hadn't gone to see Marinette and Adrien since that first hospital visit. She wasn't sure if she was afraid to go back again, or if she was nervous about what will happen next. Do I live with them now? Should I be called Lise or Mariposa? Will my last name change to Agreste? Or Dupain-Cheng-Agreste? Or Kubdel-Agreste?

Lise closed her eyes, allowing them to adjust from the brightness of the snow to the warmth and comfort of her eyelids, trying to calm her thoughts.

Her phone buzzed.

She blinked open her eyes, turning back to her desk and picking it up.

LISE!!!! PARTY TONIGHT AT LAHIFF-CESAIRE'S HOUSE!!!

Remy

Nino and Alya's house.

The past months, the remaining Miraculous Holders had been released from their comatose prison, and spent weeks in the hospital recovering and making sure that they were in good health. Their families welcomed them home, and most of her friends had been reunited with their lost parents.

Lise smiled. Her friends had been so supportive and caring for her since she was in the hospital. They visited almost every day she was out of school. They probably did visit every single day after school, and Alix would turn them away some of the days so Lise could rest.

A knock on the door caused Lise to jump. "Come in!"

Alix's pink hair appeared a second later. "Citrouille? Comment allez vous? Making any progress with homework?" she asked, opening the door wider to reveal Kim right behind her.

"Some. Not really any, though." Lise sighed deeply at her textbooks. "It's hard getting back into a normal routine again."

"I'm sure." Alix held up her phone. "Did Remy text you?"