A Miraculous Tale: Peacock

Ch. 2

Marinette looked at him quizzically.

"Earlier that night we were talking about you, but we hadn't been talking about you being awful. We were talking about how amazing and what a great friend you are. Kagami must've twisted my words. Marinette I am so sorry. I'm sorry I didn't ask you about this sooner. I was a total jerk."

Marinette snorted. "That's an understatement."

"Biggest jerk of the year?" He offered.

Marinette smiled.

"So, can we be best friends again? Like we were before?" He asked her.

She hesitated. Then she gave him a firm nod. "Yes, but I don't think we'll be exactly like we were before."

Adrien was silent. Then he smiled. "At least we'll still be friends. I don't know what I'd do without you, Marinette."

He reached for her hand. Once Marinette realized what was happening she jerked away. He looked shocked for a moment, but he accepted it and pulled away.

Marinette stood up and took a couple steps back; her arms were folded across her chest. "We should probably start working on that project."

Adrien stood up as well. "Let's put your things in my bedroom, then we can look in the basement. That's basically our storage room."

As Marinette followed him upstairs, a sinking feeling engulfed her. Not every friendship heals overnight. She thought. Though, with all of her heart, she wished it would.

**********************************

Adrien clicked on the light.

"Wow." Marinette breathed. Unlike the rest of Adrien's house, which was immaculate, the basement was a cluttered combination of dust, boxes, old furniture, and more dust.

Adrien laughed sheepishly. "Yeah. It's a lot."

Marinette shook her head as she walked through a cobweb. "Eeeew!" She brushed it off.

"Sorry about that." Adrien reached to help her, but she jerked away. Still not ready.

Adrien stepped back with a hurt look. Marinette cleared her throat once she managed to remove the cobwebs. "Let's get to work." She left him to go search the boxes. It was a very long, very boring process. Most of the boxes held decorations for parties from the past. There were holiday decorations along with a bunch of old gowns. Marinette guessed they belonged to Adrien's mom, but she didn't say anything. Adrien was as successful as she was, and they got discouraged after a while. Just when Marinette was about to call it quits, a large, old, dusty trunk caught her attention. She knelt down in front of it and blew away the dust. She coughed as she waved the small particles away. Then she squinted at the gold plaque below the lock. Emilie O'Connor Agreste. She read.

"Adrien! I found something!" She called excitedly. He ran through the cluttered mess and knelt by her side.

"That must be my mom's." He whispered.

"This chest has to have some info about your family."

Adrien nodded as if he hadn't really heard her. His fingers reached toward the chest, but he hesitated when the were only a breath away.

"Hey, it's okay." Marinette whispered.

"Yeah, I know. It's just that I've never known that much about my mom because she died when I was only six. My Dad won't tell me anything either, so it's like there's always been a giant hole she left behind. And I don't know what I'll find when I start to get answers. I'm excited, but also scared." He laughed softly. "I'm not making any sense, am I?"

"Don't say that; I'd be scared too. Whatever happens, know that I'm always here for you; that's what friends are for."

That seemed to help him make up his mind because he opened the lid a second later. They both leaned over the chest. It was filled to the brim, so they decided to empty it piece by piece. There were masquerade masks, make-up, perfume, a costume, and hair accessories. Adrien pulled out a small box and opened it with a gasp.

"What is it?" Marinette asked while leaning towards him.

"It's her birthstone ring." He picked it and looked at it. He looked like he was trying to soak in every possible detail. Marinette left him studying the ring and went back to work. There were more hair accessories and makeup.

She was surprised when she found a photo album. "We can use this." She told Adrien gently, placing the book next to him. She went back to looking, but she didn't find anything else that was super important. There was a box full of jewelry, and Marinette thought a charm bracelet she found looked pretty. One of the charms had a heart that said sisters forever. Marinette didn't know Adrien had an Aunt, but she didn't think now was the right time to bring that up.

When they had reached the bottom of the chest, Marinette gently pulled out a long, folded white gown. "This must be your mother's wedding dress." She told Adrien. He looked up and lightly touched the soft fabric. He smiled sadly.

She placed the dress down onto the floor. "I think that's it, Adrien. You wanna go back upstairs and check out the photo album?"

He nodded. "Sure. I think I'm going to take the ring with me though."

"Do you want to take this as well?" She offered him the charm bracelet she had found, and he took it.

"Thanks."

Marinette picked up the wedding dress and started to place it in the box.

"Wait!" Adrien said. "I think you missed something." He reached into the chest and pulled something out. Marinette placed the dress in the chest.

"What is it?" She asked him as she placed everything back where they had found it.

"Her diary."

Mariente closed the chest and looked at the book in his hands. It was average size with a binding made of brown leather. A colorful peacock was stitched on.

"We should probably head up." Adrien said. "I can ask Natalie to get us a few snacks if you're hungry."

"That sounds good." Marinette replied, so they got up and took their findings to Adrien's bedroom.