Third pov
Gotham is, for outsiders, a mess of toxic fumes, the stench of blood and the screams of the victims of crimes that happened every day.
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Marinette isn't sure what she's doing. Not that she's been truly sure of anything since she was twelve.
Back when she was so sure she'd grow up to be a designer, marry a nice man, have two kids, a hamster and a house with a white picket fence.
It seems so, silly, now. A childs dreams for the future.
She wonders what her twelve year old self would say if she could see her now.
A mess of insecurities, regret and broken shardes of what is supposed to be her.
She absentmindedly touches her earlobe where she could feel one of the inactive Ladybug earrings. Apparently they could be inactive, something she's thankful Tikki told her about.
The rest of the Miraculous Jewellery were safe in her possession.
"You look like my daughter did when she came home from her first tour."
Marinette raises an eyebrow as an old man sits next to her on the bench. "She's a soldier?"
The man nods. "She was. Wanted to follow in my footsteps."
"How did that go?"
"Seven years as an active soldier, then she recieved a purple heart. My biggest regret is that i encouraged her." He sighed.
Marinette twirled a plastic ring she'd gotten from Manon around her finger. "It's not your fault. You didn't- you didn't kill her."
There was a small twinkle in her eyes and with it, she found understanding. "No. But telling your head and heart that isn't very easy, is it?"
Marinette hesitates, there's so much guilt and anger inside her. It won't go away just like that. Just by talking.
"No. It isn't easy."
"I'm not going to assume i know what you're going through. The youngsters today fight very different wars than the old ones like me did. Now?" He chuckled. "Now, the enemy has magic and super strenght and the like. But, that doesn't change the fact that fighting sometimes take everything out of you."
Marinette agrees.
"Sometimes you loose."
The man grins. "True. But you always have try."
Alright, i think the prologue turned out quite well.
I got this idea from watching videos with veterans meeting younger soldiers.
I also saw and episode of NCIS where they met an old man that served in ww2.
Vote and comment, it keeps me motivated :)