A few weeks ago…
Marinette stretched as she adjusted her stool. It was a Saturday morning, and for want of something to do, she had snuck downstairs early and was helping her parents with the morning rush. She had been careful not to tell them what she was up to until she was actually down there for fear of her dad sending her right back upstairs to rest.
And Marinette could tell you, she was 100% through with resting. Frankly, she was climbing the walls for want of something to do.
She had been so careful that she had even gone so far as to sneak by Tikki, who was happily watching her shows and consuming an unholy amount of sugar. Not that Tikki would have minded. Honestly, in that instance, it was more of a courtesy issue. If her kwami was happy, then Marinette wasn't going to disturb her. Tikki worked hard for all of them, after all. What with her being the actual superpowers. Marinette figured she deserved a morning off.
Granted, there were other things Marinette could have been doing with her time in the bakery, but she already knew she wouldn't be able to do much beyond ringing people up. Every time she bent over to get a scone or stepped away from her stool, her father would slightly tense and panic. For fun, she was secretly doing extra things just to rile him up.
Plus, it was nice. Granted, being up early was hard most mornings to label as nice, but the more she had thought about what her parents had been saying about time with her, the more she realized they were right. Soon, mornings like this would be something she remembered instead of something she did, and that made her suddenly want to do them more.
The door chime sounded, and Marinette perked up with her best customer face. "Good morning and welcome to the Dupain-Cheng bakery!"
Nathalie stood awkwardly in the door.
"Oh!" Marinette said, slightly more nervous than she had any reason to be. "Um, good morning, Ms. Sancoeur. How can I help you?"
Nathalie stared at Marinette for a moment before she shut her tablet off and took a breath. "Good morning, Marinette." She glanced around again. "I… Wasn't expecting to see you working the counter this morning."
Marinette smiled back. "I just felt like helping out."
Nathalie nodded. "I see. How is Adrien? He texted me, but that only tells me so much."
"He's doing well," Marinette said. "From what I understand, he's been really busy with work." Marinette scrunched a bit in her seat. "Um, is it okay that I said that?"
Nathalie laughed a little and nodded. "I won't say anything if you won't. Coffee, two sugars, please."
Marinette poured out a coffee as Nathalie kept looking towards the back of the store. Marinette noticed this as she set the coffee on the counter. "Um, is there something the matter?"
Nathalie blinked and shook her head. "No, no, nothing is the matter." She considered Marinette for a moment. "There's something I'd like to say, though."
Marinette tensed a bit. "Okay?"
Nathalie stared for a moment as she tried to find the right words. "I hope you realize what an exceptional person Adrien is. His heart is a precious commodity. I hope you don't plan on squandering it."
Marinette's smile dropped. "I would never do anything to wrong Adrien. He's the most important person in my life, and I love him with all my heart." She eyed Nathalie. "Did you just come in here to intimidate me because of him?"
Nathalie sipped her coffee. "That was on my list, yes. Also, I just thought, well, someone else would be working the morning shift. I understand your parents have a part time worker? Gina, was it?"
She had only heard the name once, and that was when Sabine had addressed the young woman, but Nathalie was incredibly observant.
"Oh," Marinette said, slightly surprised. "Um, Gina went home for the time being. I'm really not sure when she'll be back. You know her?"
Marinette's confusion started to grow as Nathalie looked momentarily disappointed. "I see," the older woman said. "We've, well, spoken several times. I wanted to follow up on our last conversation, but… I suppose I'm being silly. Well, if you do see her, kindly pass on my regards." She handed Marinette a ten. "Keep the change."
"Thanks," Marinette said as the intimidating woman walked out of the shop. "That was weird," she said to herself.
Not two minutes later, an akuma alert came through on everyone's phones.
Marinette looked to the back-room entrance and had managed to take three steps before she felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned to see Sabine standing there staring at her.
Marinette looked to her mom. "I need to go," she said.
Sabine glared at her. "You most certainly do not," she said back.
"But, there's an akuma!" Marinette said. "I need to get Tikki and go help!"
"What you need to do is help your father with the counter."
"But," Marinette sputtered. "The other heroes are all home! No one knows to come here for Tikki except Ms. Bourgeois! It has to be me! There's no one else!"
Sabine stared at her for a moment. "…Seriously?"
Marinette looked to her mother. "What are you… Oh." She closed her eyes and sighed as realization dawned on her.
Sabine patted her on the shoulder. "You're not getting out of work that easily. Now, let your mother help out, will you?"
"But… But…"
"I can still ground you," Sabine pointed out. "You're still under my roof, young lady."
"Ugh. Fine," Marinette said. "She's upstairs watching Netflix."
"Thank you, dear," Sabine said as she headed up the stairs.
"I'm not okay with this!" Marinette called after her.
"I know!" Sabine called back.
It was becoming increasingly common that Tikki would find herself with a Marinette-free morning. Her current miraculous holder was that ultra-rare combination of an early bird and night owl when it came to working on projects, and Marinette seemed to have endless reserves of energy at her disposal. However, with the pregnancy playing Hell with her biology, Marinette now found herself sleeping in.
Like, a lot.
On school days that the teen overslept, Caline was kind enough to tell people that Marinette was running office duties for her (provided that Sabine would text her and let her know what was going on). But on weekends? Marinette was free to sleep in as long as she liked, and after staying up particularly late to work on something very important and totally not play an online game, Tikki figured she would be out cold well after sunrise.
Tikki however had gotten up early and, as she as well as the other kwamis were now free to, she decided to wander the house. She did her best to stay out of the way and tried to avoid Tom, as he seemed to be extremely curious about kwamis in general. However, all the kwamis liked the fact that they could now roam, and Sabine was known to put a giant plate of leftover pastries in the living room for them to snack on. And yes, the kwamis collectively loved it. The first day it happened, they sang a song of praise for Sabine and did a formal dance around her head for ten minutes straight.
Magical gods like cookies.
Tikki was sitting on the couch and enjoying some morning television while polishing off a macaroon while her master was nowhere to be seen and the parents were downstairs dealing with the morning rush. And it was heaven. She had complete control over the streaming services, and that meant she could watch her shows. No Heartland with Ziggy or How It's Made with Wayzz. It was just her, some Kipo, a soda she had swiped from the fridge, Sabine, some cookies…
Wait. Back up.
Tikki did a doubletake as she realized Sabine was standing off to the side and wringing her hands.
"Um, hello Ms. Cheng," Tikki said with a nervous wave. She glanced at the soda and macaroon and blushed. "I'm sorry. There's a rule about food on the couch, isn't there? I'll clean everything up, I promise. It won't happen again."
"That's, well, thank you, but that's not why I'm up here." Sabine smiled as she kept glancing towards the stairs. "I, um, oh dear. I need to borrow you, as it were."
Tikki blinked. "Beg pardon?"
Sabine held up her phone and hit play on a news broadcast. "…Coming in from downtown that the akuma is calling itself Anarchy. She seems to be able to destroy anything she touches with the power of her magical guitar. This is Nadja Shamok, reporting live. Please get to safety immediately if you're in the metro area."
"I see," Tikki said, her voice dripping with worry. "Marinette can't go out there! I can't guarantee the baby would be safe! I…"
She saw Sabine staring at her expectantly.
"…You?" Tikki asked.
Sabine nodded. "Unless one of her little friends is nearby, me. My little girl is going to be safe for once, no matter what! I left her downstairs with her father."
Tikki stared. "She's awake? Like, awake and working?"
Sabine nodded. "I know, right?"
Tikki stared, dumbfounded. "I legit thought she was sleeping in again. I've been up for two hours! How did I miss her?"
"She can be sneaky when she wants to be. I guess she figured you should have a morning to yourself? Anyway, duty calls, Tikki."
Tikki let out a nervous laugh. "Um, okay, yeah. Sure. We'll need her earrings."
Sabine looked to Tikki. "Well then, can you fetch them? I have no idea where she keeps them in that pit she calls a room."
Tikki glanced to the television and with a sigh, turned it off. "Sure, cool, I can do that. Why not?" She said in a not as cheerful voice.
Not a minute later, Sabine was transformed in a flash of light. Her version of the costume was identical to her daughter's as that was what she saw in her mind when she thought of a true hero. She popped out the window and with a toss of her yoyo, she booked it towards downtown.
"I just hope that Tom and Mari can handle the rush without me," she said to herself as she hurried.
Meanwhile…
"Honey?" Tom cried frantically from the counter. There were no less than twenty people in the store, all talking at once and pointing at everything in the display cases at the same time. Marinette meanwhile had run upstairs to use the facilities.
"Honey? Are you done upstairs yet?" Tom cried. He quickly bagged an order as a mother came in with three screaming toddlers in tow.
"Where's my order?" A client cried out.
"I asked for raspberry muffins, not strawberry!" Another yelled.
"Is this a McDonalds?" A third asked. "Can I get a McMuffin?"
"I need food for the pigeons, NOW!" A gaunt man blurted out.
"HONEY?" Tom begged towards the stairs.
The stairs, as always, stood in silent judgement.
So, yeah. He'll be fine.
Notes:
This section was actually two that were melded into one. I hope it came off smoothly for you, the reader.
Sooo... Sabine is taking point. Yes, there's an akuma. Yes, some help arrives and hijinks ensue. Can Sabine handle things? And can she do things her way?
Find out as we get some early morning hero action!
See! A shocking reveal!
Hear! A hero complain about beiing awake!
Feel! The massive amounts of discomfort a hero will put you through as you read!
ALL! NEXT! CHAPTER!
So, be here tomorrow! Same Bug Time...
TIKKI: She can do whatever the Hell she wants if it means I get my shows. I'm on break.
...Same Bug Channel!
