This is literally the longest it's ever taken me to do MariChat May before. Sorry. I had a slipped disc in my back which caused me severe sciatica and I was just in so much pain for such a long, long time that writing was just never going to be feasible to focus on. I slowly tried to start writing again when my disc issue resolved and it reduced to my normal levels of pain again about a month ago, but it's still slow going because I'm out of practise now. I'm not abandoning this story though.


Day 19 – Flowers

Sabine would not have been surprised if her daughter had actually flown through the bakery, considering the speed she was moving at. She watched with barely concealed amusement as the girl dashed straight past her to the door at the back of the bakery before deciding to speak, "He's not here, dear."

Marinette froze, one hand still resting upon the handle and turned to face her mother with a confused and mildly irritated expression. "He hasn't come back yet?" she asked, moving back to the counter to join Sabine.

"Oh, he came back," she said as she finished serving one of the regular customers, who –to Marinette's increasing annoyance– seemed far too interested in her conversation with her mother to go anywhere yet, "But he had to leave again right away. His first appointment with the new doctor is today, remember?"

"Oh." She had remembered, honest, but Marinette's brain was feeling a little burnt out and it must have slipped her mind momentarily. "Did…did he say how things went?"

"He mentioned some things," Sabine continued, maintaining uncomfortable eye contact with the woman in front of her while a menacing, yet somehow sweet smile challenged her nosey nature. Marinette knew the look well and remained silent until the woman left, unnerved by the opposition to her earned eavesdropping rights as a daily visitor to the bakery.

Although Adrien had always been pulled out of classes for as long as he had gone to school, it had always been for photoshoots and other business relating to Gabriel's brand. Things he was no longer required or expected to do, given the man's lack of control over his life these days.

So, when the Principal had knocked on the classroom door and asked that Adrien be excused for the afternoon, her attention had immediately switched to the people standing behind him.

Police officers.

Clearly, they had questions that couldn't wait and had managed to clear it with her parents and his advocacy worker. That didn't mean she couldn't worry about him and the fifteen unanswered text messages she had sent.

Sabine waited until the solitary echo of the bell above the door had died out before she turned to face her daughter. "They asked him a lot of questions about Nathalie," she said, softly "and he's quite shaken. He almost cancelled his appointment because he didn't feel up to it."

"But you made him go anyway, didn't you?" Marinette asked with a sad smile.

Her mother mirrored her, and her eyes betrayed the sympathy she felt. "He needs to talk to someone who isn't as close to all of this as we are. I didn't make him do anything, but I did suggest he go, even if it's just to get to know the woman. And he's a good boy; he listens."

Marinette frowned a little, biting her bottom lip as she glanced back towards the door that led to their apartment. "I guess I'll have to wait till he gets home to see how he's doing."

Sabine's expression morphed from compassionate worry to something much more mischievous and Marinette couldn't help but feel that the look would be better suited to a much younger person than her mother. Or maybe Plagg. She regarded her suspiciously.

"It didn't look like he came straight home though, honey. He brought something in and left it for you upstairs before he headed back out."

Marinette tried to enquire further, she really did, but Sabine was determined not to give away anything that might cushion the reaction her daughter would have to finding her gift herself.

Shooing the girl away as a couple entered the bakery to steal her attention once again, she watched as a pair of pigtails swept through the door, catching sight of the girl taking the stairs two at a time in her hurry to find out what waited for her upstairs.


Marinette burst into the main room of the apartment upstairs, giving it a cursory glance to ensure her present -whatever it was- wasn't there before she exploded into the room above. She was barely in the room when she found she was irresistibly drawn to the large pot sitting by the computer on her desk.

She found herself gently touching the large leafy plant before she was even aware that she had moved towards the desk. Her fingertips electrified where they brushed the soft, fuzzy texture of the long catkin flowers, warmth spreading along her hand as she was reminded of little Trash Bag and his cosy, soft fur.

The long and thin downy flowers were so oddly shaped and stained such a bright shade of red, that Marinette immediately compared them to chilli peppers in her mind. Of course, their resemblance to spicy food brought with it an accompanying heat, which drew forward a blush to her cheeks. Or, at least, that's what Marinette told herself as she stroked the plant with a fond smile adorning her expression.

Tucked in amongst the leaves she spotted a small plastic stake, the kind with the name of the plant and the care instructions printed on it. She reached for it and for the folded slip of paper secured to it with an elastic band, a frown marring her features.

The stake informed her the plant was known as an Acalypha hispida, a fact she quickly forgot as she flattened out the creases of the note Adrien appeared to have left her.

"Hey Buginette."

It started innocently, Marinette's guard slipping down a little, leaving her heart vulnerable to the impact of his following words.

"I felt my phone buzz about a million times this afternoon and I haven't had time to read all my texts yet, because I'm kind of on a time limit here. But from what I skimmed on route home, you've been worried about me.

I probably shouldn't like that, because I don't want to worry you. But it makes me feel warm and happy when you do. Almost like you're still right there with me when I'm trying to deal with some of this crazy stuff without you.

You're amazing.

So, here's some Cat's Tail for the hero of this cat's tale."

Marinette's next breath froze and lodged in her throat, icy shock hitting before the inside of her chest burst into flame at the way he had signed the note.

"Love,

Your partner, in every and any way you'll have me."

Marinette reread the last line several times. The words, 'every' and 'any' had been written over several times with the dark pen, the ink leaving smudges and dirty marks where his hand had rubbed over them in his repetition. It was an odd thing to see on a note from him, considering his usual stance that the appearance of what he had to say was important. She sniffed, biting her lip in an attempt to stifle the dampness gathering on her lower lashes.

"Marinette? Are you okay?" Tikki asked, flying up to her young charge's shoulder, simultaneously watching her expression for a sign of what was wrong and avoiding the sudden teardrops falling down her face. Drawing a blank, the kwami turned to read the note in Marinette's hand for herself.

Reading Adrien's casual words, she sighed heavily, rolling her eyes in fondness for both children. Only her current Ladybug could forget how little thought it required for her Chat Noir to speak of how much she meant to him and how highly he held her opinion of him. Given that Adrien was fully aware of his feelings for both sides of the girl before they were shown to be one and the same, it made sense for him to be so open with her in a less pressured way.

And since this was written and he wasn't present, there was literally no pressure on Marinette to acknowledge it at all if she chose not to. So Tikki would have to be more encouraging in the next hour or so to try and convince her not to ignore it out of her utter fear of the unknown.