AN: I also have this story over on AO3 as Kanzakura, where there are more chapters. Notes on this au, which I recommend reading, are down at the end of the chapter. I hope you enjoy the fic! :)

Marinette's summer had so far been horrible.

Maybe that was a little dramatic, but it honestly seemed that way. A lot had happened since Lila tried expelling her towards the end of the year. Things like, most of her friends leaving her after another "incident" of her supposedly bullying Lila, Adrien abandoning her, Chat Noir becoming more pushy, and the most surprising thing, Chloe and Nathaniel defending her.

Okay, so Nathaniel was a little easier to believe, but never in a million years did Marinette think that Chloe of all people would defend her from Lila and become her friend. It seemed impossible, and yet it happened.

When summer came, Marinette wasn't expecting to enter it without Alya, and with two new, unlikely, friends. But it was okay. Things would be fine.

They weren't.

Lila lived right down the street, so every day Marinette would see her old classmates with the liar, and if they saw Marinette, they made a point to shout and call her names, along with constantly sending her mean texts.

One even went as far as to vandalize her balcony, though she had no clue how they managed it.

On top of dealing with her old classmates, her parents needed a lot of help in the bakery, and Hawk Moth was akumatizing more and more people. It was almost like he was on a time crunch.

She was already five weeks into her summer break, and so far she had had no time to just be alone. No time to hang out with Chloe and Nathaniel. No time to figure things out. It was draining, and Marinette was already dreading the new school year at Lycree Dupont. So, when her parents called her down to talk, Marinette feared for the worst. Everything else in her life was going wrong, so how could this be good?

"What's going on?" Marinette asked as she sat down across from her parents.

"Well, there's something we need to discuss with you." Sabine said

"Okay?"

"You see, around the beginning of summer, Chloe and Nathaniel had come over to discuss something with us."

Marinette could feel her anxiety come on, "Which was?"

"Enrolling you in a different school."

"What!?" Marinette shouted, jumping up out of her seat,

"It's a very good school!" Tom assured, "And we just got word today that you were accepted!"

"You didn't even talk to me about it!" Marinette looked at both of her parents, hurt on her face, "Did you even think to ask me?"

"Marinette, we… we're doing what's best for you!" Tom said, "A-a new school-"

"Would you like to know what school we're sending you to?" Sabine asked, interrupting Tom.

Marinette hugged herself and turned away from her parents, but nodded her head.

"Jeanne Academy for Creative Arts."

Marinette jaw dropped, "Jeanne Arts? THE JEANNE ARTS?" Sabine simply nodded as Marinette continued, "The school on the other side of Paris?! The most prestigious arts school in the country? That Jeanne Arts?!"

Sabine smiled, "Yes, that Jeanne Arts."

Marinette squealed and threw herself across the counter, all anger gone, to hug her parents. "Oh my gosh, this is amazing. There are after school clubs all directed at the arts, famous designers sometimes come and teach the classes, and give lectures. The fashion students give fashion shows twice a year. From morning to evening, I'll be with other artists, other designers."

Marinette's smile fell as she pulled back, "But... I'll have to leave at, like seven in order to make it to school on time every day. I could barely make it to Dupont on time and it's right down the street! I'll have to set five alarms on each device, and I'll definitely need to go to bed earlier! How am I going to fit breakfast in? I'll need to make something easy to warm up the night before. And-"

"Marinette!" Sabine reached out and grabbed her hands, "Slow down. There's more."

"What more could there possibly be?" Marinette asked.

Sabine diverted her gaze, and Tom looked down at his hands. "In order… In order for you to go to the school. You need to move in with your Aunt Sophie."

Marinette pulled away from Sabine, "What?"

"Honey, you have to understand, this, this is the best. This is the best thing for you. Your... your Aunt Sophie. She'll take good care of you. She lives right by the school. She knows about designing. You won't be far. You can come home on weekends. You'll have so much fun at the school, you'll hardly notice. It'll-"

"Tom," Sabine interrupted, placing a hand on his arm, "let Marinette talk."

Marinette looked at her parents in shock. How could they just send her away? Or at the very least not talk to her about this? "Do I have a choice?" She asked. Their silence was the answer.

"When do I leave?"

"Saturday," Sabine said quietly.

Marinette slowly nodded her head as she got up, "I'll start to pack.

She really should have learned by now. Every package comes with strings.

So far since the talk with her parents, Tikki had been silent, which Marinette was very grateful for. She really didn't know what to think, and didn't want to talk about it.

Sure she was excited to go to Jeanne Arts! Who wouldn't? So many incredible designers had started at that school, including Gabriel Agreste and Audrey Bourgeois, along with actors, musicians, dancers and artists. But in order to go, she had to move. She didn't even know that her Aunt Sophie was living in France, much less Paris! The last time she had seen her was when she was six, and she had just assumed that Sophie lived in Italy with her Nonna.

"Are you okay?"

And of course the silence couldn't last.

"I'm fine, Tikki." Marinette said, making her way to her closet to grab her backpack. She had said that she was going to start packing.

"You don't sound fine,"

Marinette took a deep breath, trying to hold back boiling anger. Knowing that she didn't want to attract an akuma. "Well, I am."

"Marinette, it's okay to be upset."

Marinette shook her head, "Why would I be upset? I get to go to my dream school. The school where every artist dreams of going. Sure I have to move, and yeah, I had no say in any of this!" Marinette could feel anger and frustration seeping out of her, "I shouldn't be upset! I have no reason to be!"

Tikki flew over, "Marinette,"

"It's not like I'm losing control over my life! Oh wait."

"Marinette!" Tikki lifted Marinette's chin, and Marinette struggled to keep her breathing under control.

"Marinette, look at me. Everything happens for a reason."

"Then what reason was this for?" Marinette asked, tears stinging her eyes.

"I don't know." Tikki admitted, "But I bet it's something good! Just think, no more living near Lila! No more living near Dupont! None of your old classmates will know where you live. You still have Chloe and Nathaniel. You get to go to a school where you can grow as a designer."

"And I still have you." Marinette said, wiping her eyes. "Thanks Tikki."

Tikki kissed Marinette's cheek, "I'll always be here for you Marinette." The Kwami flew over to Marinette's dresser and grabbed a macaroon. "Can you tell me about Sophie?" She asked carefully.

Marinette nodded, "Aunt Sophie is Papa's little sister. She was the one who taught me how to sew." A smile tugged at Marinette's lips, "She always wore her hair in a loose, long braid, and smiled a lot. She would tell me stories about Italy, because she lived there with Nonna for a while, and would sometimes slip into Italian. She's as good of a baker as Papa, and was always really friendly with everyone. I don't remember ever seeing her really upset."

"She sounds really nice!" Tikki said,

"She is," Marinette laughed, "Papa told me that she would always say that by being kind to everyone every day, no matter how rude they may be, maybe one person would smile and feel better. Because unless you really know that person you don't know what's going on in their life or why they are being rude and unkind."

"I like that!" Tikki said, "Why haven't you seen her in so long?"

Marinette's face fell. "I don't know. She had come for a visit, and said that she'd visit again soon, but soon never came."

"Oh Marinette,"

"Tikki, how can I go live with someone who I haven't seen since I was little? Who I haven't talked to since I was little? What if one of the reasons she stopped visiting was because she didn't want to see me?"

"I doubt that!" Tikki said fiercely, "And you shouldn't tell yourself that!"

"But…"

"No." Tikki's eyes seemed to grow brighter as she continued, "Marinette, this will be a good thing! From what you just told me, Sophie is a kind and loving person! She sounds like one who you can trust to always have your back. Who wants the world to be a better place. It could be good to live with a person like that!"

Marinette gave a small smile, "Maybe you're right Tikki. Moving in with Aunt Sophie could be a good thing. A fresh start."

Tikki mirrored Marinette's smile, "That's the spirit!" She said, before darting towards Marinette's bed, "Now let's call Chloe and Nathaniel and tell them the good news! They can help you pack! And before you know it, you'll be at Jeanne Arts, and everything will be different. It will be better. Trust me."

AN:

This fic is only canon compliant for parts of season 3, non-compliant for the movie specials, and non-compliant for season 4 as I've really yet to watch it.

In this AU, Chloe never outed herself as Queen Bee (personally, I believe that she's smarter than that) so only Ladybug knows who she is. Because of this, Chloe slowly becomes a little nicer and she never found herself in the Lila drama since she never believed the girl.

Nathaniel also never believed Lila or became involved in her drama.

All the akuma's Chloe caused in Canon Season 3 didn't happen in this AU, so Miraculer and the finale never happened.

Lila being a toxic liar effects the way people behave, as it would in real life. From the way her "friends" behave, to the way Marinette behaves.

As the class began to change and Lila's lies got worse, Chloe and Nathaniel drifted towards Marinette, becoming her only friends.