Early in the morning. This is the daytime when the sun had just appeared in the sky - meaning that a new day had come. Even though it couldn't shine with all of its power, still the lights had already penetrated through the whole city - giving everything a bright yellow tone.
Somewhere in the Palace of Paris, the sunshine - in a spacious, blue walled bedroom - had just waken up someone else too. A pile of blankets covered a whining creature completely to avoid the warm sunlights that made her room instantly bright.
She was still too sleepy to start a new day with full of problems and duties. She would have done anything for some more hours to spend with nothing else but sleeping.
Last night - after the encounter with a certain cat happened - she couldn't fall asleep for hours! Millions of thoughts waved through her head, filling every piece of her brain cells with messy imaginations while she - without her own will - constantly recalled yesterday's events: the library, her father's announcement, the marriage, Chat Noir.
Chat Noir.
Marinette still couldn't believe that he was at her balcony last night. It just felt so surreal that the moment she thought about him, he popped up in front of her out of nowhere.
Oh, how much she wished she could be honest and tell him everything! The marriage, the reasons why she had to fulfill it, and even her identity - secrets that have been becoming more and more unbearable to hide from him.
But she couldn't tell them. Not until they defeat Hawkmoth and make sure the safety of the Parisians. After all, she was Ladybug, a superhero whose identity must remain a secret until the end of the evil.
"And that's not gonna happen nowadays." she thought and turned on her right to delay getting up a little bit. At that moment, she was desperate to do anything to stay between those super comfortable pillows forever.
Suddenly - just as she was about to fall asleep - the door tore open loudly and a redhead girl stepped in.
"Who's ready to start the day?!" Alya exclaimed as she shut the door behind her.
"Iagdbfj..." a weird sound murmured through the blankets.
Alya - ignoring the fact that it was dawn - rushed to the windows and drug the curtains out of the way to let the sunlights occupy the room with all their strength.
"Alya, it's too early!" Mari whined as she pulled a pillow on her head.
"Nonsense! It's just the perfect time!" Alya clapped her hands excitedly.
"For what?" Marinette scoffed. "For waking up a grouchy woman who had absolutely not enough sleep?!"
"Oh, come on!" she sat down on Mari's bed and pulled the pillows away from her.
"How dare you?! Give me back my friends!" Mari tried to reach for them through Alya.
"So, you don't wanna hear about my date?" Alya raised her eyebrows.
Mari's eyes immediately popped up - waking herself up completely - and she pulled herself up. After finding a comfortable position, she looked at her bestie - waiting to hear Alya's date with her handsome captain.
"Spill the tea! Now!" she pointed her finger at her, "but it's better be a good story! Never wake up a sleepy Marinette, Alya! Never!" she warned her.
"Understood!" Alya giggled and so she started to tell her everything.
The date went perfectly. Nino waited for her at the gate - with his horse on his side - and after putting Alya on the saddle, he sat behind her. While they were riding, Nino wrapped Alya's waist gently - to prevent her from falling.
"We were riding around the riverside and oh, girl, the view was mesmerizing!" Alya said - recalling yesterday's night.
"And I'm sure it wasn't the only mesmerizing thing you saw. " Mari teased her.
Alya's flushed face couldn't prove Marinette wrong. She rested her arms on her legs as she listened to Alya curiously.
Since it was Alya and Nino's first date, they basically just talked about causal things like their interests in books, their hobbies, or what was it like to work in the Palace, etc.
".. and he was even a real gentleman! The moment he noticed I was a bit cold, he gave me his coat to warm me up. And after that, he was holding me in his arms for the rest of the date! " Alya continued as she stood up and walked up and down in Mari's room to put her excitement at ease while she told her every tiny detail about the date.
Nino was adorably talkative. He told Alya how nervous he was to become a captain in the Palace and how he messed up his first meeting with the other guards - he was running late and accidentally forgot to put his shoes on. Alya had never laughed before as much as during his stories. Nino was literally the funniest guy she had ever met.
"And what happened at the end of your date? Did he kiss you?" Mari asked teasingly.
Alya's reddening face told her everything.
"I see.. " Mari chuckled and held up her arms - inviting her bestie into a big warm hug. Alya immediately sat beside her and hugged her back.
"It was truly perfect. Everything was," she whispered. "Oh, Mari I'm so happy!"
"And so in love" Mari noted to herself.
She really envied her friend. Unlike Alya, her love life was a mess. She often wished to have a normal life without her royal family, nor being Ladybug. She just wanted to have a kind guy as her boyfriend who loved her the way she was and for who she wouldn't have to lie all the time.
Normal life was all she ever wanted.
Marinette shook her head to clear her mind from this childish daydreaming and let go of Alya.
"I'm so happy for you! You've deserved a man like him for so long!" she smiled. "He really seems like just the perfect guy for you. So.. He better treat you well!" she raised her head - desperate to kick his butt the moment he would hurt Alya.
"Don't worry, he will!" Alya laughed - failing to hide her blush. "Anywaaaaay..." she stood up. "How are you, Mari? You seem suspiciously calm compared to yesterday." she frowned.
"Oh, yeah but I'm doing okay now." Mari shrugged - hoping that Alya would change the subject.
"Girl, you ain't fooling me! Yesterday, Tikki and I left you in a total mess and now you're just casually talking with me like nothing happened! Like you don't have to marry the man you hate the most - if I'm right in the first place!" she raised her eyebrow.
"I know, but really it's nothing. I'm okay." Mari turned her gaze away from her.
"Marinette, you know I can see right through you," Alya smirked. "Something happened after I left, didn't it?"
Mari - knowing her friend too well - could tell that Alya wouldn't stop until she would spill her everything so she finally gave in.
"Okay, so after I went out to clear my head, I might have dumped into someone."
"Who? Just not Félix itself?" Alya giggled.
"What?! No!" Mari looked at her friend with wide eyes. "That wouldn't have helped me at all!" she frowned. "It was someone else. Someone who is 100% better than him."
"Girl, you're teasing me! How can anyone else be at your balcony besides your future - in- husband?!" she exclaimed.
Mari - ignoring how Alya had just called Félix - answered.
"It was Chat Noir. He was at my balcony last night." she tried to force back her blush.
"WHAT?!! Chat Noir?!!" Alya screeched, "but.. HOW?! What was he doing there?! Better question: why was he here in the first place?! "
Mari could see how Alya's mind just blew up by her answer - making herself try to figure out how Chat Noir could appear on Marinette's balcony. After some moments of silence, she spoke. "Mari, please tell me he hasn't figured out your identity!"
"That's what had come to my mind at first too, " Mari explained, "but luckily that wasn't the case. Turned out he was just patrolling as usual and he spotted me out there all alone and.. just wanted to conform me as he said."
"But, aren't the two of you used to do patrols together?" she frowned. "And why did he patrol around the Palace? If I'm not wrong, you have always avoided coming close to this place as you didn't want to be suspected as being Ladybug."
"Well, yes but I've patrolled without him before too. If we have time then we do it together but I can't expect him to go out to the city only when I call for him. I guess, he had some free time and thought he would do it without Ladybug this time." Mari shrugged. She didn't think it was strange yesterday.
Alya glared at Mari. "That's still so odd. And.. Did you believe him?"
"Well,.. Yes. Okay, it did seem unbelievable at first that he was right there just when I was on my balcony too but.." she paused for a moment, "I don't know, I was just so happy that after all the things I've been through a few hours before, he just appeared out of nowhere and rescued me from my obsessive thoughts." Mari lay down on her bed - burying a pillow on her face." I didn't care what was he doing there and if he really did tell the truth. But, he comforted me and listened patiently to my complaints. And.. And I think, we kind of had a bond. Him and me as Marinette." she glanced at Alya. "So, now I'm thinking that maybe we can be.. Friends. Since you know, I can't be with him from now on as Ladybug." she sighed.
"But this doesn't mean that Ladybug and Chat Noir won't work together, will it?"
"Of course not! Our partnership is continuing until the last piece of those akumas. But, I'm sure that he's gonna be hurt and maybe even will distance himself from Ladybug the moment I break up with him. And I can't live a life without Chat being at least my friend. " Mari let out a hopeless sigh.
"I see," Alya smirked. "And, do you really think that you can be friends with him? I mean, just friends? Since you're head over heels for that boy." she giggled.
"Well, I..", Mari cleared her throat, "if this way I can be close to him, then it's more than enough for me. Chat Noir might be mad at Ladybug or even heartbroken after our breakup" Mari forced back a tear to continue, ".. but at least as Marinette, I can stay his friend. I wouldn't be able to do this marriage without his support." she whispered." And as Marinette, I can tell him everything. Finally, I don't have to lie to him all the time! "
Alya looked at her friend with worry radiating in her eyes. She watched as Mari stood up and went to her wardrobe. She opened it and began to choose a dress for the day.
"Look, if this is what you need to do this marriage, then I'm happy for you and I support you. But, just be careful, okay?" she glanced at Mari, "I don't want you to get hurt by letting your guard completely down in front of him. What if he finds out your identity this way?"
"Girl, I'll make sure to not tell Chat things that can make me expose, don't worry. But, I.. I really don't want to let him go just like that." Mari shrugged.
"Look, as long as you're careful, I accept your decision!" Alya said then to change the subject, she stood up and clapped her hands excitedly. "Sooo, what are your plans for today? Besides, cleaning up your room.." she smirked looking through the place.
Mari scoffed. "Haha, very funny. Okay, I might have had a little outburst yesterday but it was absolutely understandable!" she raised her head offensively.
"It was indeed, but don't expect me to clear your room by myself!" Alya smirked.
Mari grinned at her best friend - knowing already that she would clean her room up at any moment since Alya couldn't stand mess at all - and went to her table.
As she reached for her hairbrush - to start something with her tangled hair - she became frozen. Mari was staring intensively at a certain point of her table, her eyes were wide open.
Alya immediately noticed the sudden change in Mari's mood and looked at her. "Girl, what's wrong? What did you see?" she frowned - going straight to Mari.
"It's.. the diary," Marinette whispered.
Alya watched as Mari held up the book into her hands.
Alya remembered that Mari brushed everything - including Sabine's diary - down while she was freaking out. But when she put the book back in its place, she didn't notice any harm to it.
Still, Mari was looking at the diary with shocked eyes like it was ruined completely.
"The cover. Look at the book cover," she whispered as she showed it to Alya.
The book's back cover was opened a little bit - revealing a little pocket that was probably sewed so people could hide things they wanted to keep away from everyone.
A secret pocket.
Marinette reached for it and pulled out a piece of folded paper.
"It must have opened the moment I threw the book down." she inhaled.
"And what is it?!" Alya looked through Mari's shoulders. "I thought you read everything from her book."
"Me too." Mari caressed her fingers through the paper. "But I didn't know it has secrets."
Marinette had to sit down to gather herself. This could be the only thing left from her mother and who knows what it was all about.
She just knew one thing. She had to read it right now!
Alya seemed to notice that Mari would want to be alone now so she went straight to the door.
"I'm gonna leave you with it girl but just know that if you need anything, I will come back immediately!" she let out a sad smile and closed the door behind her.
Marinette didn't even hear Alya's goodbye. She was captivated by that letter.
Finally, she could be able to get to know more about Sabine! It must be pretty important whatever was written in this paper - Marinette was sure about it.
So she opened it.
She could tell it was her mother's definitely - she could recognize her mother's beautiful writing everywhere.
Mari let out a sigh and started reading it.