April stared at Marinette's body through the steam that her cup emitted, leaned against her own bed. Marinette's health improved drastically this morning, so there shouldn't be much time left. April sipped her tea and looked to her clock. In fact, based on Marinette's accelerated heart rate and appearance, she'd say there was only a few minutes left for her. April wasn't positive, especially since this is experimental, but she was confident.
Although . . . there was always the possibility that she'd never wake up, stay in an eternal slumber or even die. Anything could happen, but April only wanted positivity, the exact opposite of her normal personality.
April focused on her friend. The color began to return to her body, her lips pinkening. After Chat Noir brought Marinette to their room, April fixed her up. That was of course after her own two days asleep under the spell. Marinette laid in her bed under the sheets with her clothes and hair neatly adjusted. With all the fighting, her clothes were slightly ripped and her hair was a mess, so cleaning her appearance before she woke up was a must. Marinette wore a nice white dress and kept her signature pigtails. April wore a crop top with leggings.
April sipped her tea, hardly blinking. Marinette said one time that her favorite color was pink, so when April got bored, she painted her nails pink. It's not like she had important classes to go to anyway with the entire academy being on a tiny vacation at the moment.
Marinette took a long deep breath. April set her cup down and walked over. She placed the back of her hand against Marinette's forehead as the girl's eyes shot open. Those bluebells rapidly searched the blurred area before stopping at a familiar face.
"April . . . " Marinette took another breath, eyes half lidded. "What's going on?" She adjusted to the lighting.
"You're awake." April smiled, the happiest Marinette's ever seen her look. Marinette tiredly blinked at her. April turned around and grabbed another tea cup and poured some from her teapot. She sighed with joy. "Well a lot is going on right now." She said, setting the pot down. Marinette scooted up, sitting straight. April handed her the cup. "But you need to recover first."
"I need a nap." Marinette rubbed her eyes, taking the cup.
"You just slept for three days." April chuckled.
"Three days?" Marinette choked on hot tea. "What has . . . " She stared off in space for a moment. April looked at her weird. "Nevermind. I . . . remember." She took another sip.
"It's a lot to take in."
"I tried to kill you." Marinette said.
"It happens." April poured more tea.
"But I could've." Marinette shrugged. "I could've been worse than Hawkmoth and murdered people." She looked down, glooming at her reflection in the tea.
"You spend too much time down in the dumps." April rolled her eyes before turning to her bed and hopping up. "I understand you've dealt with a lot but come on . . . there's some good. A cute guy and not just any guy, the one you love, traveled all the way from Paris to Tibet to check up on you. Then he proceeded to plan a way to rescue you from your impending execution, which succeeded. Not the execution, but the plan." April pointed out. "You aren't gonna find that just anywhere. You need to hop on that before you regret it."
"I don't know." Marinette sighed. "It's so much. Who knows what he's feeling let alone what I am?"
"Oh please!" April scoffed. "You two are madly in love and just need to shut up already. So far, talking hasn't been either of your strong suits and it's really getting in the way!"
"So about the temple . . . " Marinette awkwardly sipped some tea, looking away. "What did you do after I blacked out?"
April glared at her clear avoidance. "Well . . . right before Chat Noir and I fixed your miraculous, I was working to erase the entire council's memory."
Marinette focused. "And?"
"I didn't." April grinned.
"What?!" Marinette shrieked. "They'll murder me!"
"Calm down." April rolled her eyes. "I did something better."
Marinette leaned back. "Why does that sentence scare me?"
"You're so dramatic." April said. "But anyway . . . instead of erasing, I changed their memories. So now, the council should love you. You're a hero." She put her hands on her hips smugly. "I'll accept my thank you now, preferably in cash."
"But why am I the hero? What do they think of me?" Marinette questioned.
"Ugh! Can't you just accept the end result?" April was met with an intense stare. "I just fed them exactly what memories you have as Ladybug, but without their biases. Anyone with a brain would be on your side in the matter. I did however add a thought in the back of their minds that your life was their ideas. I didn't create a false memory, but they just have a sort of feeling that they knew everything you were doing as Ladybug and were okay with it. None of them will question it. I promise."
"But what if they do?"
"They won't." April insisted. "I nearly died to create their minds and they won't dare remember. They're basically my children at this point and I'm Frankenstein."
"So am I like their student?" Marinette questioned.
"Kind of. You are a special student of theirs that they don't think too hard about and you can visit this temple at any time you want and stay in here as my roommate. Plus . . . " April added. "I put a suspicion blocker in their heads. If a student brings up you with negative thoughts or information that contradicts my memories, they will simply not hear it. It goes straight through their minds. They may make a positive comment about you in response, but otherwise, they'll ignore it.
"At least I can come back." Marinette smiled. "I don't think I could forget this place or any of the friends I've made." She sipped her tea.
"I don't think we'd be completely offended if you left us and never came back since we're used to that kind of stuff. But considering I just used my life force to save you a few days ago . . . I'd expect at least an email." She smiled.
"Don't worry. As long as Min Jee answers my calls, I should be able to teleport here every now and then." Marinette flipped the covers off and set her cup down on the table. "But I don't have to leave right away either. I can stay and relax for a bit."
April made a face. "I don't think you're gonna be relaxing for awhile." She laughed. "Or maybe you will, but that all depends on how long you put off your problems."
Marinette's eyes widened. "Where's Chat Noir?"
A loud thump was heard at the door along with an ouch. Marinette stared at April as the color drained from her face. "Is that . . . "
"Marinette." He called.
"Chat Noir was here the whole time?" Marinette freaked out, whispering. "He heard everything."
"I don't think you said anything that he hadn't already known." April glared at the door. "And as for why he's here . . . I did kick him out, but he won't leave us alone!"
"Well I'm sorry that I'm concerned for my partner's health." He retorted.
"Oh don't remind me. I only did you a massive favor." April scoffed. "The door in your face should have been a huge clue to move your butt somewhere else."
"I would like to see her." Chat argued.
April rolled her eyes and turned to Marinette. "Feel free to jump in any time. He might be cute, but I don't know how you worked with him." Marinette slowly sank back into her bed, cheeks flaming red. "Oh no. Don't you dare." Marinette remained quiet as she flipped her covers back over. "No! Stop blushing! That's your man! You gotta do something!" April jumped on the bed and shook Marinette. "Stop blushing!"
"I'm sorry, I can't help it!" Marinette covered her cheeks.
"It shouldn't be this awkward." April stated. "He might be irritating, but you obviously love him."
"Don't tell the entire world." Marinette whispered.
"Why?" April furrowed her brows. "Anyone that knows you, can easily see it and anyone who doesn't know you, doesn't care."
"You make it sound easy." Marinette sat up.
"Cause it is. I don't need a man right now, but if I want one, I can get one." She snapped her fingers. "It's that simple." Marinette sighed.
Chat leaned his head against the door. "Marinette, can I please see you?" He pleaded.
April raised her eyebrows and looked at Marinette.
"Ohhhhhh . . . " Marinette groaned, grabbing her cup and aggressively drinking more tea. "My life is over."
"Your life is just starting." April hopped off the bed and grabbed Marinette's arm. "Come on, get up. You need to get out of bed."
"I don't want to." Marinette complained as she slid over the side of her mattress.
"Ugh, when did I become a mother?" April asked herself as she grabbed a pair of sunglasses from her desk. She slipped them through her hair, resting them on the top of her head. "Anyway . . . I'm starving. Forty-eight hours of sleep is really refreshing, but it really took a lot out of me . . . " She stretched, smoothing her hair back. "And I'm about to binge the whole café. I deserve it anyway."
"Did you not eat when you woke up?"
"Of course I did. I wasn't waiting for you." April rolled her eyes. "But I'm hungry again." She flipped her glasses down over her eyes. April moved to the door and flipped the lock, pulling the handle. Adrien came bursting through before falling face first to the floor. April bit her lip. She lowered her glasses to look between the two. "Yeah . . . there's nothing I can do about that now." She flipped the shades back and walked out of the room, closing the door behind her.
Adrien stared up at Marinette from the floor. Neither of them blinked, but Marinette wasn't even breathing. Her grip loosened and the tea cup dropped, shattering against the wood floors. Adrien blinked first before standing, brushing himself off.
"Adrien?" Marinette mumbled.