Take Her to the Moon

Chapter Three

Marinette cried. She cried as she waved goodbye to Adrien. She cried as she stumbled across town to the bakery. She let herself fall into her chaise lounge and cry. She didn't care if her parents heard her, that was the last thing on her mind. Without Tikki's comforting words of wisdom, Marinette marked herself as a mess.

Adrien, Chat Noir, my best friend, first love and so much more.

"No, this isn't right." She stated firmly to herself as she lifted her head from the soft down pillow that was now drenched in her tears. "I have to do something, I can't just let him suffer like this! He's, he's, he's my friend." The words came out blurred and messy, but she convinced her legs to stand up and carry her to her desk.

She pushed all of her designs to the side, not caring that her precious sketchbook fell on the floor. She grabbed a pen and tore out a piece of paper from an old notebook. The cloud of dust that flew into the air as she set it down on the table made her feel bad for never using the pretty gift. Alya had given it to her years ago, but Marinette had set it on her desk and treasured simply looking at it. "Oh Tikki what'll I do?"

She let one of her hands draw scribbles down the edge of the paper. Tapping her other hand on the wooden desk she tapped to the beat of a song she had heard on the radio earlier. At the cafe? Perhaps.

"Do I take out the miracle box?" She whispered. Marinette shook her head quickly. No, she had promised herself that she would only take it out if Paris were in danger again and that wasn't the case, at least not this time. Hearts were in danger, Marinette was sure that her own heart would break into hundreds of pieces if she weren't careful. Is one heart worth a million lives? She took a longing gaze to her closet where the Miracle Box was hidden. Under stacks of clothes and old discarded sketchbooks, Marinette had hidden it there. "I should at least check if it's still there, I haven't done that in over a year."

Marinette scrambled to make sure the latches to her room were locked, both of them, and she made sure to pull the curtains drawn as she made her way to the closet. She reached her trembling hands into the depths of her closet and felt around for the Miracle Box. She breathed a sigh of relief as her hands made contact with a cold, smooth roundish container. As she lifted it out, she heaved a grunt, remembering how heavy it was when she wasn't transformed. Not that she would know, she hadn't transformed in so long.

Marinette lugged it over to her desk. She tentatively set it down and took a seat in front of it. A lump seemed to form in her throat as she slid her hands over the box. I shouldn't. I really shouldn't. I promised Chat... "But Chat is suffering." she reminded herself, "Adrien is suffering."

Marinette tried so hard and for so long to think of a good reason why she shouldn't open the box. Not a single good reason came to mind. Except for the fact she had promised Chat Noir and Tikki not to open it unless Paris was in horrible danger. Was that a good enough reason though. Wasn't Chat's health and happiness important too?

She stayed a while just staring at the old cork board that hung in front of her. Was it worth it? Yes.

It had to be. If it wasn't, she would find out soon enough. Whatever the case, Marinette could never leave her partner in danger. After years of struggling with depression and self-worth issues, she knew that sometimes being left alone with your mind, was the worst kind of danger you could ever be in.

After double checking the locks, Marinette cracked her knuckles until they were white. Just do it. She pressed the small colored designs in a pattern and after a moment she heard a small click from the inside.

The box left her waiting for only a moment before it split open and sent pinkish light beams to scatter across Marinette's walls and ceiling. Once the light subsided, Marinette peeked into the box. "Tikki" she questioned quietly.

"Marinette!?"

"Tikki?" Marinette said as she quickly turned around her room. She tried to find where the voice was coming from but couldn't see the Kwami anywhere. A tap on her shoulder alerted her to Tikki's presence. Whipping her head around she let out a happy cry when she came face to face with the small Kwami.

"Tikki!" She said with a smile that was pushing back tears. "I missed you so much."

"I missed you too Marinette."

Marinette looked into her Kwamis eyes, felt the warmth that she gave and and just fell apart. "Oh Tikki, I'm so sorry! I should've taken you out more often, I just feel so bad-" tears choked her words as she crumbled to the floor.

"Marinette, don't cry, please." The Kwami begged.

"It's all my fault, we never truly caught Hawkmoth, and I- I  just wanted to be safe but I missed you so much and I accidentally found out who Chat is and he's suffering and I don't know what to do!" Her words were strung together by the end but it felt good to finally open up to someone.

Tikki took Marinette's hand and held it up to her face. "Oh Marinette, It's okay. Don't cry!"

Marinette savoured the moment of peace that Tikki brought. She curled her hand around the Kwami and brought her close to her heart. Hunched over on the floor, She felt a sense of security that she hadn't felt in years. Her body still trembled and shook from the silent tears, but Tikki was here. Everything was gonna be okay.

She wasn't alone with her thoughts anymore.

Authors note: Uhm sooooo the long wait for updates was not planned :/ I apologise from the deepest depths of my soul, I am a horrible person. Turns out, graduating highschool at 15 takes a lot more effort than you'd think. lol anyway, I'm not gonna promise anything rn bc Im still working on my electives for school sooooo I'm a tired blob of flesh and bones...

Welp I hope you guys can enjoy this chapter, I randomly had inspiration for  it as I was attempting to understand chemistry :) yay.
Anyway enjoy, lemme know what you thought of it and what you'd like to see in future chapters. :D