The place she was looking from was not far away from the Eiffel Tower. It wasn't too close, but not too far either. She wouldn't get entangled with the crowds of tourists, but wouldn't be completely isolated either. Not too close, not too far away. Exactly like the distance she had kept towards Chat Noir during their teenage partnership. Never too close, never too far. Now Chat Noir was gone and the only thing to remind her of him was the Eiffel Tower, their spot. She had counted sunset after sunset since he was gone.
Marinette Dupain-Cheng was in her last year at École des Beaux-Arts. She did study what she wanted, but wasn't quite happy. Going to university estranged her farther from her high school friends.
In the second year of lycée, a corruption scandal took over Collège Francois Dupont. Principal Damocles had embezzled school funds. It became a very large issue at the time, with teachers claiming some unpaid bonuses and many of them quitting in sign of protest.
To say the parents were displeased was an understatement. Many of them transferred their sons and daughters to other high schools. That's when everything started to change.
Alya and Nino transferred to a good public lycée (any school was still proud to enroll former Dupont students, even despite the corruption scandal). Adrien had to resume homeschooling and private tutoring. Chloe was moved to the next best private school, all throughout her whining; she did a good deed and got Sabrina admitted there as well. Max went to an economics school and went on to study Finance in Uni. Mylène, Ivan, Rose and Juleka chose a vocational school with flexible curricula that catered to all their passions, and after high school, Mylène went into Theatre and Television along with Ivan, who vouched to be her lifelong cameraman. Juleka chose to study photography (apparently, being behind the camera proved to be her blessing). Rose followed her heart to become a screenwriter (what better way to satisfy one's appetite for romance than TV and script writing tropes?). Kim and Alix postponed uni to apply for announcer positions - sports announcers, of course. Last, but least surprisingly, Nathanael and and Marinette went to The National School of Arts.
Once everyone changed schools, getting together became more and more difficult. They had different schedules, school projects and, gradually, life took its toll. They made new friends in their new schools, and even though old friendships were dear, they were hard to keep. Alya kept in the contact the longest, but even she couldn't meet as often anymore – all her projects and applying to the School of Journalism kept her really busy. And even though it hurt, Marinette was so much busier too.
After three years of university, Marinette had got the gist of things. No one was simply friends anymore: any student from uni could only be a study partner, a potential business partner (what with the startups and all…) or simply competition. People tended to be envious of each other's talent (artists so much more), and it felt so… adult-like.
Marinette was twenty-one and she had grown up. It was easy to imagine how life would go on forward: she had good grades, so she hoped for a good recommendation to intern at a respectable fashion company. She would work as hard as before and good results were to be expected.
But, be it in two, three or ten years, she would still be missing her friends. And that punny Chat Noir of hers. She didn't even say goodbye to that jokester, she didn't get to tell him how much he meant to her.
To be honest, the greatest source of pain wasn't growing apart from her classmates.
Of all the people, Marinette missed Chat Noir the most. Not even Adrien, no (she would still see his face in foreign magazines once in a while). She missed Chat Noir.
The Damocles school scandal and the transfers didn't affect Ladybug and Chat Noir much (it just made them busier for a while, since many people were angry and sad and got akumatized easier). It was the end of high school that affected them. Chat Noir disappeared suddenly, without even saying goodbye.
She had heard from Master Fu that eighteen-year-old Chat Noir barely had time to stop by and leave his Miraculous behind. He was leaving overseas to study and work for his family and, apparently, he had no say in it.
When Master Fu mentioned the young man being sad to part from his kwami and his ring, she felt her heart ripped in two. She was afraid that Fu would ask her to return Tikki and the earrings as well. In the end Fu didn't, and she was grateful for it.
However, that had been three years ago and there were no signs of akumas in Paris anymore. People were starting to forget about Ladybug, Chat Noir and how they defeated Hawkmoth in a legendary battle.
Tikki was still around, but they didn't know how much time they had left. Marinette was afraid of letting her kwami friend go as well.
Sensing that Marinette's sadness was deeper than usual, Tikki gently caressed her cheek and proposed:
"Marinette, maybe it's time to pay Master Fu a visit."
Tears welled up in Marinette's eyes.
"He'll have a solution; I just know it, Marinette. If not a solution, maybe just some good tea and advice", Tikki tried to soften.
Marinette sniffed.
"Sure, Tikki. And… Tikki?"
"Yes, Marinette?"
"Thank you for being here. These years, with you and Chat Noir… were great. Everything that'll happen later in my life, what I'll choose and what I'll think and do… I'll always come back and compare to this. Thank you for being such a big part of my life, Tikki."
Tikki's eyes filled with tears and she couldn't reply more than
"Marinette…".
They both knew a change was near.
"So, Ladybug, you've come for a cup of tea, I see?"
Marinette smiled.
"Probably for the last time, Master Fu?" Marinette smiled sadly.
"Then I have just the perfect tea for you."
Master Fu searched one of the cabinets and took out a small wooden box, beautifully carved, similar in size to the boxes of the Miraculouses. The box was filled with tea leaves, but they were different to anything Marinette had ever seen. Of all the colours, they were (ironically) pink. Who'd ever heard of pink tea leaves? On the other hand, who'd heard of magic, Miraculouses, kwamis and yielders before they were put to use?
Marinette sighed and inhaled the scent coming from the small cup in front of her.
"Do you have any regrets or wishes, Ladybug?"
"Is this a last wish kind of question? You're not feeding me poison, are you?" Marinette tried to joke.
"Well, not exactly poison", Fu mumbled enigmatically, unheard by Marinette. "Tikki told me these last years have been hard on you, Ladybug, so I wondered if I could lend a helping hand. Do you regret anything behind?"
"It would be immature and ungrateful of me to say so. Being Ladybug was the best thing that happened to me. But… I still wonder from time to time, Master. What if I had told him sooner, what if I had found out his identity, maybe I wouldn't have been so alone. 'Maybes' and 'what ifs'."
"Regrets, in other words."
"Regrets, yes", Marinette took a sip of tea.
"Well, then, Ladybug, this is my present to you. A second chance, to avoid having regrets."
"I'm sorry, second… what?" Marinette laughed incredulously as she felt a twinge of dizziness.
"Second chances are hard to come by, my child, but I suggest you grasp them while you can", Fu said, sipping his own pink tea.
Marinette suddenly felt sleepy and couldn't articulate further. She thought she heard Tikki talking to Fu.
"Master, are you going back as well?"
"A few years won't make a big difference to me, Tikki. Besides, Ladybug's courage and patience deserve this… small gift of mine, I believe. We need happy endings once in a blue moon, don't we?"
"And this is that blue moon, Master?" Tikki smiled.
"Indeed so."
"As you wish, Master."
Marinette fell into a deep sleep.
She woke up feeling somehow lighter and more energetic. She was back home in her bed, but something was different. The decorations were a bit out of fashion. As for the walls… the walls were filled with photos of Adrien Agreste.
"Tikki!", she screamed.
"I'm here, Marinette. Feeling dizzy?"
Marinette stopped for a second and processed what Tikki had just said. Fu's tea… second chances pep talk… She looked around, looked at her clothes, her room, the walls, and, oh – Adrien's pictures.
"Mon Dieu. Tikki. We just went back in time, didn't we?"