Day 3: Family / Friends

Series of drabbles for 2017's Miraculous Angst Week.
Or how I spent an entire week hurting my babies

Originally posted in April 2017

Sabine sighed as she closed the trapdoor to her daughter's room behind her. Her heart squeezed painfully in her chest, as yet another lie was bared before her eyes.

"I'm tired, going to bed mama. I have a full day ahead of me tomorrow," Marinette had said, kissing her mother's cheek and disappearing upstairs, as she did every single night.

And as she did every single night, her mother had followed her minutes later to check up on her daughter.

Honestly, Sabine didn't know what she had been expecting when she had climbed those dreaded stairs, but in all honesty, she shouldn't surprised.

For the last few years, it had always been the same pattern, repeating over and over again.

Marinette was rarely home, always blaming her more than frequent absences on her schoolwork, plans with her numerous friends, designing gigs that couldn't wait. Most of the time, she wouldn't even answer her phone, and her alibis were flimsy at best. She was constantly lying about her whereabouts, and Sabine felt like her daughter was slipping through her fingers, withdrawing herself further and further from her parents.

True, Marinette was twenty-one now, and deep inside Sabine knew that her daughter needed freedom, needed to spread her wings. But why in the world did she feel the need to do so in secrecy? Tom and she had always been understanding parents, present as much as they could for their daughter, always ready to lend a listening ear. What had changed?

Unanswered questions choking her, Sabine did something she never did before: she lingered in Marinette's room instead of going back downstairs right away, worried of intruding onto her daughter's privacy. She walked to the office desk, smiling as she spotted the grinning faces of Alya, Nino and Adrien on various pictures. A sketchbook laid open, with a black and green hoodie hastily drawn on it, various notes scribbled in the margin in the round, neat handwriting she knew so well.

A movement on Marinette's computer screen caught her eye, and she saw that the Ladyblog was live. Captivated by the images dancing in front of her eyes, Sabine sat in the office chair, watching in awe as Ladybug and Chat Noir easily defeated the villain of the day, playing along for their fans as they kissed for the cameras before vanishing into the night, hand in hand. The superheroic pair had been openly dating for a year or so now, but every self-respecting Parisian knew that their story had begun way before that.

Was that what Marinette was trying to hide from them? That she was dating Adrien? Sabine repressed a chuckle at the thought. True, they still weren't dating in the open, but the pair had grown incredibly close over the years, and to anyone knowing them on a personal level, it was crystal clear that they were head over heels for each other. Public displays of affection was a common occurrence for those two, constantly hugging, holding hands and so on.

Sabine was startled out of her thoughts by footsteps on the balcony, followed by muffled conversation. How… How in the world could this even be possible? Worried about intruders, she crept to the skylight and peeked through it.

Stunned beyond words, she was greeted by the uncanny sight of Ladybug pulling her partner into a long kiss, ignoring the bright pink light engulfing her and leaving no other than Marinette in its wake.

Speechless, Sabine watched as her daughter pressed her lips once again on Chat Noir's, giggling softly.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Chaton?"

The leather-clad hero bowed low, kissing Marinette's knuckles. "I'll be there around noon. Sleep well, Mari."

Another kiss, and the hero was gone as the young woman opened the skylight and let herself drop onto her bed.

And gasped.

"M-m-mom!? W-what-"

Her mind reeling, Sabine tried to process what she had just witnessed. Her precious little daughter was risking her life time and time again. Why her? Why her baby?

Obviously uneasy at having been caught, Marinette closed the distance between them and whispered softly, "I'm sorry I had to hide it from you, mama, I had no choice."

Looking at her daughter, the strong, wonderful woman that she had become, reconciling what she knew about Ladybug and Marinette in her mind, Sabine suddenly knew that everything would be alright. Chat Noir would continue to protect her baby, they would continue to fight villains together, and they would continue to be victorious time and time again.

As she pulled her daughter into a bone crushing hug, Sabine quietly chuckled in her ear. "So, how is it?"

"How is what?"

"Making out with a superhero?"

"MOM!"