A/N: Let's just pretend obligatory chocolate exist in France (:
Gifting this fic to nerdqueen395! I'm your secret Valentine :D I hope you like this oneshot! Big thank you to miraculous-valentine-exchange for creating such a fun event!
Beta-d by the lovely tei-gen (asterbells)!
That White Flower
"Aaaaaahhhh… Finally! We're done for the day!" Marinette sprawls out on the counter and releases a relieved sigh. "I'm so beat! Mama, just why did you make me tend the cash register? Did you see all those evil looks the girls gave me when they came to pick up their orders with their boyfriends? Some guys even gave me a onceover!"
Sabine flips the front sign over to "close" and turns around to face Marinette. Chuckling, she shakes her head and says, "Oh Marinette, my sweet daughter. Eighteen years and you still haven't dated anyone! Where did my lovesick daughter go?"
"Mama!" She gets up from the counter immediately and pouts at her. "How many times do I have to tell you? I'm not—"
"I'm not seeing anyone because I need to focus on my studies. I don't have time to be dating right now. Yada yada yada…" Her mother interrupts and comes over to pet her gently on the head, careful not to mess up Marinette's neatly done French braid. "I know, dear. I know. You're going to make us really proud someday."
As Marinette continues to pout, Sabine goes on to brush her bangs away from her eyes and settle her hand on her cheek. "Look at my baby, all grown up and beautiful," she says, her eyes crinkling. Her daughter is already a head taller than her, blessed with her father's genes, her height accentuating her slender legs and slim waist.
"Oh, Mama… Don't get sentimental on me." She smiles, her own hands coming up to touch her mother's, rough from years of baking and tending the patisserie, but still warm and loving. "Studies, first. Love, second."
Sabine laughs and takes her hands in hers. "If you're still single when you're twenty-four…"
"I know. I know! You'll set up matchmaking partners and I'll have to go on dates with them." Marinette sighs dejectedly and squeezes her mother's hand. "Mama," she explains. "We don't have to rush into marriage. Don't worry, Mama. I'll be sure to tell you when I'm ready to start falling in love again."
"Okay, dear." Sabine smiles and, from the way she's looking at her, Marinette knows she wants to ask about her middle school crush and she's thankful her mother doesn't.
It's not like Marinette confessed to Adrien or anything. She still likes him, very much.
As a friend.
A really good friend.
Why did she grow out of her high school crush, you ask?
It's because she had more important things to worry about.
'Things' being her future.
The fashion world is way too competitive a field to be in but Marinette wasn't willing to give up her dream, and she knew she couldn't afford to be lazy if she wanted to be successful. Things changed since high school started. Harsh reality struck and she was forced to sacrifice much of the time spent hanging out with Alya, Nino and Adrien to build up her portfolio and take as many design courses as possible.
Her dream was to enrol into École de la Chambre Syndicale de la Couture Parisienne. One of the best fashion schools in the world, not to mention it being close to the patisserie, and she wouldn't need to spend any unnecessary expenses from living on campus.
Knowing that falling in love or dating someone would be a distraction, Marinette vowed to place studies before everything else.
Right now, she is content to stay in the sidelines and watch Adrien soar to popularity as one of the top supermodels in the fashion industry. Right now, getting into her dream fashion school is the number one priority.
There'll be plenty of time to fall in love later.
At least, that's what she keeps telling herself.
There's always this nagging feeling inside of her. A voice in her head asking her, "What if Adrien finds someone precious to him? What, then? Wouldn't it be too late for you?"
But Marinette just shrugs it off and chants to herself, reminding herself how important her future is and that's all that she cares about right now.
I wonder what Adrien's doing now, Marinette thinks, wiping a damp cloth across the pastry showcase. How is he spending his Valentine's Day? Does he… Does he have a date?
She bites her lip. Even though she's already convinced herself that she's gotten over her first love, it still hurts to see girls fawning over Adrien and making a human circle around him at school, but her desire to get into her dream school keeps her from lashing out at the girls and telling them to leave Adrien alone.
"Marinette, honey, we're going out for dinner. Care to join us? You must be hungry," Her father asks, emerging from the kitchen with her mother.
"I'm okay, Mama, Papa! It's a special day for couples…" She replies, sliding the showcase doors close.
"Oh hush, Marinette, you're coming with us," Sabine says, pulling her to the door, along with her husband.
But Marinette outsmarts her and pushes them out of the patisserie, locking the door immediately.
"H-Hey—!" Marinette hears her mom yell and she waves at them through the transparent door.
"Bye, Mama! Bye, Papa! Have fun! I love you!" She laughs and blows them a kiss. "I can't go anyway. I have a couple assignments due. I'm going to grab a quick dinner and work on a few designs before I go to sleep."
With the surprise wearing off, her father shakes his head and grins, "Don't stay up too late, Mari."
"That should be my line." Marinette quickly adds in, and both her parents turn a brilliant shade of red. Her mother's mouth opening and closing several times before she finally explodes on her through the door.
"That is not how I raised you, young lady!"
Marinette bursts into giggles and Sabine shoots her a glare before Tom laughs and pats her on the shoulder, prompting her to leave. Giving her parents one last wave, Marinette stays at the door to make sure her parents have left before turning and proceeding up to the apartment, turning off the lights in the patisserie on the way.
Climbing up the stairs, Marinette lets out a loud, un-ladylike yawn and pulls off her hair tie, her hair falling in wavy curls on her shoulder after leaving it in a French braid for the whole day.
"Gosh, I am sooooo tired." She says to no one in particular, and opens the refrigerator, wrinkling her nose and closing it, before deciding that she's too tired to cook. Instead, she grabs an apple from the fruits basket on the kitchen table and heads up to her room.
Marinette is about to call for Tikki but shuts her mouth as soon as she sees the kwami snoozing away on her desk beside a plate of chocolate chip cookies. A soft expression on her face, Marinette gently scoops Tikki into her hands, placing her on her bed where she can sleep more comfortably.
As Tikki sleeps, Marinette sits on the bed and watches her kwami breathe deeply and evenly.
Ladybug's mission is still far from over.
As long as Hawk Moth is around, there'll always be akumas and Ladybug has to be there to cleanse them.
Marinette considers herself very fortunate to be chosen by Tikki. Out of the billions of people in the world, why choose her? She's just an ordinary… clumsy girl. Marinette doesn't know what's special about her, but she's become too attached to the kwami that she never wants to leave her.
She doesn't know how long she'll have to continue being Ladybug but Marinette will never give Tikki or the experience of being Ladybug up for anything in the world.
As Marinette mulls over her time as Ladybug, she brushes a hand absentmindedly over her white floral lace skater dress. One of her very own designs, inspired by the flowers she tends to on her balcony.
Flowers…
Oh no! My flowers! Marinette panics, and walks briskly but quietly to the trapdoor leading to her balcony.
I knew I forgot to do something during the day! She chides herself while fumbling with the trapdoor handle. I hope the buds didn't fall off…
"Took you long enough, Little Lady!"
A familiar voice speaks out as she pushes the door open.
"Chat Noir!" She exclaims, and he offers his hand, which she takes, allowing him to pull her up. "What are you doing here?"
"I was on my way back home from patrol and saw your shrubs uncovered. It snowed a little while ago so I took it upon myself and covered them with those cardboard boxes of yours."
Patrol. Riiiight. Marinette didn't have time to go on patrol today because she had to help out at the patisserie. As a safety measure, however, she always keeps a radio beside the counter at all times in case an akuma attacks. Fortunately, there weren't any today and for that, she thanks Hawk Moth for not targeting anyone.
"It snowed?!" She gasps and goes to check on the plant nearest to her. "I took them off this morning because it was pretty sunny out and I thought these could do some sun-bathing. Thank you, Chat!"
Oh, right.
Another thing had changed over the years.
Marinette became really good friends with Chat Noir.
It all started off with one of her neighbours moving out of the apartment building two years ago. Her neighbour was an old, grumpy, and avid gardener. Unfortunately for him, he wasn't able to move all his plants to his new home and resorted to giving them away to the Dupain-Chengs, complete with a few bags of fertilizers and soil – there were so many different kinds that they gave Marinette a pounding headache just by trying to figure them out – and a stack of papers detailing the proper care of each plant.
And of course, being old, clumsy Marinette, she accidentally threw it out along with some of her bad scribbles and couldn't bear to call her neighbour, afraid that he'd blow up on her. She couldn't even tell which plant was which and had to use her limited knowledge in gardening to care for the plants. A few branches might have withered and died initially, but through trial and error, Marinette was able to keep all of them alive. Some even flowered beautifully and made her balcony look like a mini garden.
So, where was she going with this story?
How she became good friends with Chat Noir.
Right.
Apparently Chat Noir lived nearby – of course, she never asked where – but occasionally, when he heads home from patrol, he sees Marinette walking around her balcony, a notepad in hand, jotting down notes on every plant and sometimes drawing the shape and pattern of the leaves or flowers. One day, he couldn't resist saying 'hi' to her and embarked on the journey with her to figure out the names of the flowering plants.
It became a game to them. Whenever a plant or shrub flowered into something they haven't come across before, she would take it to the florist for identification. The next time Chat Noir met up with her on the balcony, she'd tell him the name of the flower.
Marinette would find it funny when every so often, she'd find that her plants were already watered when she climbed onto the balcony, spray bottle in hand. Whenever that happened, she'd always find a familiar post-it note on the railing that would say, "Chat Noir was here!"
So, yeah. That's how they became really good friends.
Bonding over flowers.
Learning floriography together.
Her, drawing inspirations from the flowers and showcasing her floral designs to him when he asked.
"Oh, don't bother with those," Chat says, grabbing her hand. "I've already checked them and they're okay. There's something more important you need to see."
"What?" She asks, tipping the cardboard box back over the plant, and let Chat drag her to one of the plants nearest to the railing. "No. Way. Don't tell me it bloomed!"
Chat looks across his shoulder and gives her a grin. Letting go of her hand, he brushes away the snow that's accumulated on top of the box and lifts it up gently, revealing two flowers, their petals so white they were glowing under the moonlight. They have the beautiful whorl of a rose, but bloom more radiantly, the petals spread out like a lotus flower. Not only is the flower beautiful, it brings with it a heavenly smell.
"It's… gorgeous." She breathes, lightly touching the petals with her fingers.
"It sure is." Her companion nods his head beside her. "Like you," he adds softly under his breath, but Marinette is so focused on her flower that she doesn't hear him.
"After two years!" She lets out a squeal after a while, throwing her hands up in the air, startling him. "Two years of taking care of this plant! Every now and then, it withers and dies a little, and then it comes back whenever it likes. When it decides to grow buds, guess what? They fall off. And now, it blooms in the middle of winter! How crazy is that?!"
Chat laughs at her outburst. "Maybe you should have called your neighbour up. That would've made things much easier compared to trial and error."
Marinette stares at him like he's grown another head. "Not in a million years. He would kill me—" she deadpans, making a slicing motion on her neck with her hand. "—if he found out I wasn't taking care of his plants properly. You don't know how scary he is! Oh god, I hope he doesn't come visit the bakery to ask about them."
"Okay, okay!" He waves his arms before him, trying to calm her down and she gives him a roll of her eyes. "Change of topic. How was your day today? You look really beautiful, I'm assuming you had a date?"
Marinette averts her eyes and blushes a little at his compliment, bringing up a hand to brush her hair to the side. "No," She scoffs, twirling a curl around her finger. "Not interested in any dating whatsoever. I've been at the patisserie the entire day, helping my parents with Valentine's Day orders."
She sees him raise his eyebrows at her honest response but he doesn't pry. "What about you?" She asks. Chat had grown taller over the years and it kills her to admit it but she does think that he's actually… pretty good-looking. She wouldn't be surprised if he was asked out today.
One thing that didn't change was his feelings for Ladybug. They are still as strong as ever.
"Me?" He scratches his neck and looks away. "Nothing, really. The usual. My dad's secretary hands me a schedule and I follow it."
Her eyes soften. She doesn't know much about Chat Noir's background but she can tell that he was brought up in a strict family. Similar to Adrien. And she scolds herself for letting her thoughts stray to her ex-crush.
Maybe she still hasn't gotten over him completely. Not when everything reminds her of him.
"Well… Since I'm here on this special day…" He grins at her and holds out his hand, moving it up and down slightly.
Raising a perfectly arched eyebrow, she looks back and forth from his hand and his face where a cheeky expression lies, trying to figure out what he wants.
So, she does the most natural thing anyone would do.
She places her hand on his.
She's puzzled when he frowns."What? I thought you want a dance or something."
Chat Noir coughs awkwardly. "Um… Uh… We could. But no, that's not what I meant."
It's her turn to frown, her face turning pink. Did she just tell him she wants to dance with him? She withdraws her hand quickly.
"T-Then, what do you want?"
"—colate."
"Sorry, what?" Marinette tilts her head and moves closer to him. "I didn't catch that."
"Chocolate!" He bursts out, stunning her.
She blinks at him a couple times before breaking into a giggling fit. "Y-Y-You want obligatory ch-chocolate from me? Oh! My stomach!" Marinette laughs and clutches her aching side. "Aww, you poor kid. You didn't get anything today, did you?" Lifting her hand, she pinches his cheeks. "You are so adorable~"
"S-Shut up!" He snaps and brushes her hand off him. "And F-Y-I, I did receive a few letters and chocolate!" More than you can ever imagine, Marinette.
"Reeeeaaaalllly?" She drawls, a smirk on her face, and she nudges him playfully with her shoulder. He gives her a scowl in return.
"I'm leaving!" He says and grabs the railing, about to haul himself over but Marinette immediately holds onto his arm and pulls at him gently.
"Wait! Stay! Please stay. I'm sorry. Haha! Didn't mean to bruise your ego." She giggles once more and he lands back down on her balcony, a pout on his face. "I couldn't give you obligatory chocolate even if I wanted to." She shrugs when he gives her a questioning look. "We've used up all available chocolate for the Valentine's Day pastries and desserts."
His mouth shapes into a small 'O' as he nods in understanding.
"But…" Marinette continues, and goes over to the white blooming flowers they looked at earlier.
"W-Wait! What are you—!"
She breaks one of the stems off and holds the flower in front of him. "Here!"
"Are you sure?" He asks, shifting his gaze from her to the flower. "There's only two – well, one now – don't you need to do some analysis on it for your portfolio? It takes an awfully long time to bud too…"
"Nah. It's fine." She waves him off and he takes the flower from her, giving it a quick sniff and smiling at the sweet fragrance. "Besides, you deserved one of the flowers. You've been taking care of it as long as I do. Treat it as an obligatory Valentine's Day present from me."
"Thanks, Marinette," He waves the flower at her. "You know the drill. Tell me the name of the flower the next time I see you." He says, holding onto the railings. "Goodnight, Little Lady."
"See you around, Chat." She returns his smile and watches him run across the rooftops until he's no longer visible.
"Oh my! It's a gardenia!"
"Mama, you know this flower?"
"Oh yes, your father gave this to me on Valentine's Day. We weren't dating at that time. It was the very first flower I got from him."
Marinette's eyebrows shoot up and as her mother is busy fiddling with the flower, she turns to her father. "Papa, why did you give her a gardenia instead of the typical red rose? Isn't that the traditional one?"
"Honey, you have a lot to learn about flower language." He says, and exchanges a glance with Sabine. Cheeks reddening, he clears his throat. "Gardenias mean 'secret love'."
S-S-S-S-Secret love?
As Sabine goes on to talk about how romantic her father is, Marinette thinks back to the night before and she hopes that Chat Noir never learns about the flower.
Which means, she will never, in a million years, tell Chat Noir what the name of the flower is.
"So… did you manage to find out about the flower?" Chat asks the next time they met.
"Noooope." She replies, trying to keep her voice as calm as possible. "It withered and died before I could get to the florist."
"What?! Oh no! You should have had the other bloom. Mine didn't die until three days after it was cut!"
Marinette lets out a dramatic sigh. "Well then… we just have to wait for it to bloom again."
She doesn't really want it to bloom again though, obviously. Not even if she has to suffer her neighbour's wrath.