Chapter | Fourteen
Peter had left that morning right after Marinette, the two of them being permanently red in the face. They didn't talk about the kiss, but at the same time nothing really needed to be said. They had a silent communication, and speaking it might have broken what they conveyed. She understood what he had been trying to say about his feelings, and in her eyes he saw the same look. They lived in the moment in each other's presence, completely at a loss from paying attention to the movie.
Which meant Tony of course noticed the obvious change in Pete when the teenaged boy stepped into the lab that morning. Tony noticed the lightly pinkish color on his cheeks, and the goofy little smile on his lips. It was the obvious sign of a love struck idiot, but it made Tony a bit happy that Peter was happy. It was weird watching kids fall in love, but something special to be apart of it.
"So did you make the first move or did she?" Tony asked, right eyebrow raised in question as he tinkered with a new suit.
Peter immediately snapped out of it, "Um, I don't know what you mean Mr. Stark."
"The love struck look. Something had to have happened between you and pigtails." Tony's matter of fact tone made Peter think he knew something, but ultimately caused a nervous laugh. "Anyways, there's some new toys down in the lab and a new suit to start working on so lets get too it."
They tinkered for hours in the lab, going back and forth with the suit design that Tony was making. Peter was just excited to learn the new technology for building the suits, feeling honored that Tony would even let him help. He knew that Tony used this technology to build his Spider suit, so actually doing it for a new Iron Man suit was exciting.
Breaking news here in Paris that comes with heavy hearts. Today we got word that our beloved bakers, Tom Dupain and Sabine Cheng were found deceased in the upper levels of their homes. We have yet to hear any word from their only daughter.
Peter's head snapped up at the news, unaware of why Tony would have Paris's news outlet running with F.R.I.D.A.Y.S voice translating the French to English. It made sense though, he was Iron Man and he liked to know things going on. He would want to know any updates on the situation in Paris, but this was something he wasn't expecting to hear at all this morning.
"Isn't that the parents of your girlfriend?" Tony inquires as a heart wrenching feeling settled. He remembered what it felt like to lose his parents in the accident and to find out that it was Bucky that killed them. The anger was so raw, so real that he was fully intent on killing Steve's oldest friend.
Yet he knew right now in this moment that this was no coincidence that Marinette lost her parents, it was too fishy to him. It was also something he should talk to Natasha about, since they were on weird speaking terms again. And for a moment he thought about telling Peter the truth about Marinette, so he would better understand the situation. Yet he also understood Peter and how that might come off as if she didn't want him to know.
"I should call her." Peter muttered, worry now all on his face.
"I'll have Happy take you home kid. Get a suitcase packed, I'm booking you flights to Paris with her and your aunt. She shouldn't be alone with her thoughts right now, and not alone on a flight on the way home to say a final goodbye." Tony says, watching as Peter said nothing as he walked out on his phone trying to reach her.
Natasha though had heard everything as she waited for Peter to leave, and she also had the Paris news on in the other room. It was a situation she was currently monitoring with Steve and Clint. She felt bad for the kid, but at the same time she knew this was planned. She had been in this game far too long for anything to really be a coincidence.
"She's a target, the last place she needs to be is in Paris." Natasha pointed out, walking into the room right after Peter left in the elevator. "She's a sitting duck going back to that city."
"Are you going to be the one to tell her she can't go say goodbye to her parents?" Tony turned to look at the redhead, "We all lost out parents, and no offense you never knew yours. Realistically the only thing we can do is keep an eye on her, we can't interfere yet. We haven't been given a reason to."
"Steve would have gone with her Paris." Natasha pointed out, "Keep watch from the distance."
"And that wouldn't bring her more attention? Yeah, let's send Avengers with her to a city that is being terrorized by an emotions terrorist."
"We know who it is though and yet we are doing nothing to stop him." Natasha argued back, "We aren't helping-"
"I'm building a file with all the evidence against Gabriel, but at the same time he has a magical jewelry we need to figure out how to get securely or it may fall into the wrong hands again." Tony looked stressed, Natasha took notice of that and he only ever got that look when it came to Peter Parker.
"You care about this teenaged girl don't you?" Natasha asks, "Another teenaged hero under your care?"
Tony sighed, "She's not my student or intern, but she is someone who is trying to make a difference. The girl has the world on her shoulders, and I honestly don't know how she's still standing."
"So you do know more than you were letting on Stark." Natasha frowned, "And you can't share with the class?"
Tony wouldn't even know where to start, but it also wasn't for him to tell. Yet he could see the look in Natasha's eyes that promised a world of pain if he didn't start to spill the beans. Who was he more scared of? A wizard, pocket sized god, or the trained assassin in his home?
"You might want to take a seat, this might take a while." Tony mutters.
At ten in the morning was when Marinette Dupain-Cheng's phone went off the first time, but since she was in the middle of a session with Stephen, she ignored the buzzing she could hear from her purse as best she could. When it would go to voicemail, her phone would just go off all over again with.
She wasn't sure who would be calling her this early, half the people she knew still lived in Paris. There wasn't anything she was missing today and usually if there was an akuma then the app would go off with the specific ringtone she chose. Yet she never heard that ring tone go off once.
"Do you want to answer that to pacify whoever it is calling you?" Stephen asked, irritable after the fifth call in a row.
Marinette gave him a sheepish smile, "Sorry. I'll make it quick, promise!"
Grabbing her phone, Marinette saw she had more than five missed called and text messages from Chloe and an unsaved number. In her hand the phone rang again with the unsaved number, so she accepted the called and raised the phone to her ear.
"Hello?"
"Is this Marinette Dupain-Cheng?" It was a woman's voice, one she truly didn't know or could place.
"Yes, this is her."
"Hello mademoiselle, I am Deputy Clary from the police precinct in Paris. Are your parents Tom Dupain and Sabine Cheng?"
"Yes, they are my parents. I was just speaking with them a few days ago. Has something happened?" Marinette's heart twisted as a horrible gut feeling settled in.
" I have some bad news for you unfortunately. There was a gas leak last night in your parent's bakery that was reported last night when they didn't open for regular business hours the past few days. Upon a wellness check from the fire department, I am sorry to inform you that your parents were found deceased by carbon monoxide poisoning in their sleep."
Marinette's eyes widen, her heart closing in on itself so dangerously tight as her eyes welled up with tears and her blood running cold. Stephen noticed the change in his student, how the life suddenly left her blue eyes and how her breath hitched in her throat. It took a moment, but Marinette dropped the phone as the other line hung up with words fading away.
"Marinette?" Tikki called, floating in front of her chosen. "Marinette what happened?"
Marinette looked at Tikki and with a crack in her voice she was able to mange, "My parents are dead."
It didn't feel right to say that sentence, and as it rolled off her tongue it just felt wrong all around. To think that she would never bake with her father again or that they would never play a single video game again. That the last time she saw her mother was when they gave a hug goodbye at the airport. To think that was the last time she would ever feel their physical was a different type of pain, an unrealistic pain that was slow burning as she recalled memories.
Her parents were a memory now.
"Marinette." Stephen was kneeling in front of the girl trying to regain her attention that was now far off as her eyes glazed over.
He knew realistically there was only so much he could say or do to help her, it was a bombshell that no one really expected. He also knew she took so much time in controlling her emotions that it might be hard now to express them, but he could see her tears flow freely down her face.
Tikki felt mixed emotions, but the most she felt was Marinette's greif. It was worse than before they even came to New York, almost suffocating in a way. The way their bond worked, Tikki felt the confusion as to why this was happening, the greif of the loss she just gained, and the bubbling anger at the world as to why she deserved this. Tikki wished she knew why this was happening to her chosen, but she didn't know. All she knew was that this was something that would change Marinette entirely.
"Marinette." Tikki floated in front of her face, gently touching her cheek.
"I'm not ready to say goodbye to them." Was all Marinette could say, "I can't go back to Paris or say goodbye."
"No one ever is ever truly ready to say goodbye." Stephan looked at Marinette, sitting across from her and uncharacteristically taking a hand of hers into his. "There was once someone who told me that we don't get to chose our time. Death is what gives life meaning. To know your days are numbered, that your time is short."
Marinette wiped at her eyes, "I don't have parents anymore, and I don't want to go back to Paris. I- I can't."
"You can." Stephen encouraged, "You need to go and say goodbye. If you don't, you'll only regret that choice."
She knew he was right, but she didn't want to admitted that. She knew deep down she needed to go and say her final goodbye. She wished she knew the last time she said I love you, to her parents would be the last. She wished she called more often, but she got so wrapped up in life here she didn't call as often.
Tikki could feel the emotional whirlwind of emotions Marinette was whipping though quickly. Regret, anger at herself, guilt, greif. It was all overwhelming at this point with how strong these emotions washed over Marinette. Tikki only felt her worry spike up.
Marinette phone went off again, and this time the caller ID read Peter. Marinette only stared at it, not having the voice to pick up and watched as it went to voicemail. He called three more times until she couldn't ignore it anymore with Stephen and Tikki watching her.
"Peter." Marinette sniveled, wiping her nose with her other hand.
"I heard Mari, Mr. Stark had international news on while we worked. He also said he'd get tickets for us and May to go to Paris with you, but May signed up for this shift and offered to drop is off at the airport. Don't worry about the tickets, Mr. Stark said so. We'll be by in an hour to get you and go to the air port." Peter's voice was rapid fire, but she understood that right now at least she had one less thing to worry about, and that she would at least have Peter.
"Okay." Marinette murmurs, wiping at her eyes.
"I'll see you then Mari."
She hung the phone up.
-15 hours later-
Every superhero has a background story, some type of origin. They come from somewhere that wants to do good for the world, like how villains come from somewhere selfish and wanting to do harm. Marinette thought she had hers that day she met Master Fu, being lucky to have missed a tragic story to originate from, but she was wrong.
By kwami she was so very wrong.
Her body felt numb as she stared at the pictures of her parents over their caskets, her mind not sure how to process this now that she was really here, staring at the still memories of her parents. She had fought akumas, had been able to always save her parents but now? Now they were gone. Taken by something so trivial, so materialistic. She was told by the police that it was a carbon monoxide poisoning from an oven being left on, but nothing would change the fact she lost both her parents.
Nothing would change the fact that she was here in Paris when she was her most vulnerable. She knew the longer she had been gone, the more likely her identity would be found out by someone. It had been found out, multiple times and she couldn't help but feel like somehow she failed. That was the part that got her the most, because she wanted to cry, to grieve and scream that it wasn't fair- but she couldn't.
She couldn't risk it.
"Mari." Peter's soft voice brought her mind rushing back to reality. His hand was holding hers, reminding her she wasn't alone right now. His brown eyes were looking into her's with concern she wished she hadn't put there yet again, "You can cry, I'm looking out for you and for the evil butterflies."
Marinette could only feel her eyes water up as she squeezed his hand tighter, not trusting her voice as she felt the tears slip. She was awfully unlucky for being the holder of the one of the luckiest goddess to exist. Taking a deep breath, she tried to calm her inner turmoil.
When she had walked into the chapel, she hadn't bothered herself to look over at anyone. Why would she? She had little connections in Paris now, a few friends she trusted. Yet she could feel every pair of eyes on her and Peter. She could feel how they watched her every movement, expecting her to break down and curious to who he was. She could play the part of grieving daughter, but right now she just couldn't. Not in front of so many people who had come to pay their condolences.
Yet she owed it to these people to at least look at them, since they too came here to pay their final farewells. Slowly she turned around, her glassy blue bell eyes finally looking over everyone who came to pay her parents their respects. After all they were beloved by the citizens of Paris. She saw a few familiar faces in the front. Chloe sat with Luka and Kagami. Jagged sat with Penny a little off to the side. Her grandma sat there too, tears uncharacteristically falling from her eyes.
Surprisingly she saw Gabriel Agreste in the back with Natalie and Adrien, all looking stoic. Well not Adrien, who's green eyes were a rollercoaster of emotions Marinette couldn't mentally dwell on right now. She did see guilt, regret and sadness. For what she had no clue. She knew he had cared about them too, they had treated him like family the few times he had gone over and made sure he ate despite his strict diet.
She saw Alya with her family, and she could see Alya looking straight at her with regret and sadness in her brown eyes. Just seeing her eyes, Marinette felt her anger leave her body, because right now what happened before she left Paris didn't matter.
Yet the one who was faring the worse, almost to how she personally felt was Nino. His eyes were wet and tearstained as he set with his family. She remember her Maman once telling her how much Nino would spend time in the bakery, especially after he broke up with Alya. She never reached out, not really knowing how too but she saw how much he needed her forgiveness. There was this look in his eyes she recognized since she saw it the same one in her reflection for months.
"I'll be right back Pete." Marinette said softly, letting go of his hand and walking towards he oldest childhood friend. She ignored the eyes that turned to look at her as she walked to take the seat empty seat next to Nino, reaching over and softly grabbing his hand. It was enough to gain his attention, and she swore the moment he looked at her he almost choked on a cry.
"Mari, I'm so sorry." Nino whispered shakily, almost broken and it broke her heart. "I visited them every day, worked when they needed the help-"
"Shh I know." Marinette laid her head on his shoulder, "Maman loved you like her own, told me everything and I'm sorry I didn't reach out to you even after you tried to redeem yourself. I knew I needed to talk to you, and this wasn't how I wanted too."
Nino sat there in silence, just thanking whatever god was out there that Marinette could possibly forgave him. It made the hit lessen on his heart, but there was still this hole there from the impact of the funeral they were at. Tom and Sabine had been like a second pair of parents to him, especially since he was childhood friends with Marinette. It was a loss he never wanted to wish on anyone, not even his worse enemy.
"You know she once told me something. That we all make mistakes, that it's a part of life, to make mistakes and learn from them. To become the best version of ourselves that we can be, but sometimes we get a little lost before we can be found." Nino laid his head on top of hers, "I am sorry I wasn't the best friend to you that I should have been, that none of us were. I hope you can find it in you to forgive me, and eventually the others."
Marinette felt her eyes water, but also felt a little piece of her heart feel a little more whole, "Life is too short to hold grudges. I've made mistakes, and so have you and the others. I'm tired of being angry and sad, so let's move past this together."
Nino held up his pinkie, watching as Marinette wrapped hers around his, "Together. So who's the guy you came here with? Just a friend?"
Marinette almost snorted at that but instead she sighed, "I'm not sure yet. We haven't really had a chance to talk about it, but I should get back to him. He doesn't know anyone here and he's sorta my rock right now."
"He seems nice." Nino commented, almost like an approval.
Marinette sat up, "How would you know? You never met him."
Nino gave a soft chuckle, "My inner protector is telling me that, I can't explain it."
Marinette's lips twitched as she stood up, "Guess it must be something instinctual. I'll talk to you later."
Marinette went to go back to her seat next to Peter before the moment of calm passed and she felt that overwhelming sense of loss again. At least now it was coming in waves and the tears were haphazardly controlled. She made it a few steps knowing that the funeral was about to officially begin as the last of the people slowly went to pay their last respects. On the same path going towards he seat, Alya was on her way back towards the end of the chapel and they met right there in the middle.
Alya felt herself freeze as she came face to face with Marinette, not really sure what to say to her. She could say sorry, but for what part exactly? For being a bitch or for the loss of her parents? How would Marinette take that though? She had every right to be upset or angry, and Alya knew that. She knew she done the shorter girl dirty, believed someone who had the shinny new toy. Yet at the same time she knew she owed Marinette every apology she could utter out.
"I know I'm probably the last person you want to see, let alone speak too but I'm sorry Marinette." Alya's tone is soft, unsure but also apologetic. All at once it gave Marinette mixed emotions. "I was wrong to believe Lila and not you. I was a horrible friend and I am so sorry for everything that has happened. I am also sorry about your parents, if you need anything please know I'm here for you."
"I appreciate it." Marinette says, trying to offer a smile but at this point she was just getting exhausted. "I'll let you get back to your seat."
With that Marinette slipped past Alya, not seeing how Alya slowly sat down in defeat. Sure Alya knew it would be harder to gain Marinette's forgiveness but at the same time this wasn't the exact time for Marinette to be thinking about that. At least she was finally able to apologize, baby steps now.
When Marinette sat back down, Peter knew she was just over stimulated with the whole day. He took her hand again, rubbing his thumbs over the skin of her hand. She didn't really say anything else to him but she did grip his hand a little harder when the priest came out to say the final farewells to Paris's beloved bakers.
After the funeral ceremony Marinette sat there with her hand gripping Peter's as she watched her parents get loaded back into the hearse they had arrived in. They had decided collectively that they wanted to be cremated, so this was her final time seeing them and she couldn't find it in herself to say goodbye again. She didn't really remember much of the people who came up to pay their respects to her. She was worried about the bakery, what would happen to all their things in their home. Distantly she swore she could hear Chloe telling people that it was enough and to leave her alone. She really loved that blonde.
"Mari, are you okay?" Peter's voice pulls her back to reality.
"I want to go see my home." Marinette looks at him, "To see the bakery and were they last where."
Peter nodded his head, understanding this was something she needed to do. This was part of her saying goodbye to her parents and the life she had before. "Then let's go."
They walked for a few blocks, and as much as he always wanted to sight see in Paris the only thing he could really focus on was Marinette and making sure that one of these akumas didn't get her. Soon enough they came to a stop at a corner shop, a bakery named The Tom & Sabine Boulangerie Patisserie.
"My dad would have loved you." Marinette says as she looked up at the sign, "He would have taken you in, and my Maman too."
"I'm sorry I didn't get to meet them Mari." Peter muttered gently, and he meant it because ever since Marinette told him stories about her parents he did want to meet them eventually.
Marinette gave him a sad smile, "It's not your fault."
When she turned her head back towards the door of the entrance, he felt her hesitation. Deep down he felt like this was something she needed to do first on her own. Part of him didn't want to leave her alone in this city that had an emotional terrorist, but at the same time she needed to say this personal goodbye herself.
"I can go grab some coffee down the street and come back really quick if you want a moment to yourself. I know today has been an emotional roller coster." Peter offers, "Only if you want me too."
Marinette nodded as she felt Tikki press against her through her purse, knowing she wasn't truly alone if she went inside. "I'll leave the door unlocked. There's a flight of stairs in the back that leads to the upstairs living space." She stood on her tip toes and pressed a kiss to his cheek, "Thank you."
As soon as Peter was out of sight she took her keys out, having kept her house key on her even in New York and went inside. It was silent in the house, and the stench of death still lingered in the building. She found herself remembering when her dad taught her how to make cookies, or when her maman taught her how to use the register. All the baking competitions between her and her parents were memories, as was everything in this house as she made her way up stairs to the main living area.
"Master Fu?" Marinette was surprised to see him standing in the living room she once shared with her parents.
It hurt to think like that, in the past tense. It hurt and felt so raw and all she wanted to do was scream at the world. Chaos, that was what was inside her heart and mind now, she knew this clearly as well as Tikki was threatening to spill over as she watched the small old man, willing herself to keep every emotion at bay.
"I know that everything right now is out of balance, there's a lot you don't know yet Marinette." Master Fu started, and his eyes looked panicked for a moment. "Everything is not what it seems and is so much more than what it seems to you. You are special-"
Anger spiked in Marinette at that out of thin air. God she was tired of hearing she was special and was meant for greater things. Taking a deep breath to calm herself, her body shook. With anger or greif, at this point she wasn't sure anymore.
"I mean no disrespect, but I keep hearing that. I keep hearing that I am meant for this great thing, but I can't fathom what it could possibly be! I can barely control my emotions here in this city that I'm suppose to protect. I am angry. I am sad. I want to scream and run and hit something, but I can't. It's like this wave washing over me again and again. It knocks me down and when I try to stand up it just comes for me again. And I can't because it's just going to drown me eventually where I can't reach the surface again for air."
Master Fu looked at the teenager in front of him, but he could only see the shell of her former self. She was different than the other miraculous holders, standing there like the world was on her shoulders and he was the one that put that on her. He was the one that sought her out, he had given her Tikki and the responsibilities, and he was only going to make it worse now. Out of all the miraculous holders, she was the one that had lost the most. She was the one that endured the emotional turmoil of every death in Paris, every death in her personal life. Her good luck was running thin, but everything happens for a reason. This was her path, her destiny.
She would be okay, she had to be and Master Fu knew this in his core enough to confidently do what needed to be done next. He needed to have faith she would be okay. That in the end everything would work out for Marinette the way it was intended too.
"Our identities have been compromised, Marinette. They know who the both of us are." He says, watching her eyes widen. "Paris is no longer safe for you, and in a last act as Guardian I already had the other kwami's go to their true holders for their protection. In the mean time, the next best thing for you to do Marinette is to stay with Stephen Strange in New York."
"What do you mean last act as Guardian? What do you mean our identities have been compromised? The others, what makes them less in danger?" Marinette questions, voice going up in octaves. "We are in danger if you're here telling me I need to go for a while longer. What about Hawkmoth?"
"Not a while longer, permanently." He took a deep breath, "They'll be okay, Marinette. They will defeat him, but you are in danger." Wang Fu looked over at his kwami, the one who has been been by his side all these years. "Old friend, it's time we part ways."
"Master Fu, you're scaring me." Marinette lamented, not liking where this was going.
Wang Fu sat took a few steps towards her, taking Marinette's hand into his own. "All these years I was alone, and these past few years you brought me joy. I was able to teach you as much as I could as if you were my own granddaughter, and there is still so much to teach and no time to explain. This pain you feel, it is a process and it will make you who you are supposed to be. The pain and greif will hurt now, but there will be a time where it will all make sense."
"You're saying goodbye." Marinette muttered in realization. "Please. Please don't leave me too."
"In order to protect the miraculous, I have to pass on Guardianship to you." Wang Fu says softly. "You are the one who can protect the miraculous, the potential you have is so great but you need to believe in yourself the most to truly unlock all you can. You will never truly be alone."
Marinette eyes welled with tears as she repeated, "Please. Don't you leave me too."
Like a child scared of the dark, that was what Wang Fu was reminded of as she held his hand tighter. Being alone was her true fear, and this wasn't fair to her. It wasn't fair to leave her so alone and so afraid of the future. Yet there was no other choice now.
"Marinette, you are the best miraculous holder I have ever met. You've made mistakes, but who hasn't? What matters is to fix them. You always miraculously knew how to fix everything. From the young teenaged girl you once were you've grown so much since then. A true hero, you'll be the most magnificent of Guardians." He gave her one last full smile, despite his own heart weighing heavily, "I, Wang Fu, hereby relinquish the Miracle Box and name Marinette Dupain-Cheng as the new Guardian. "
She expected something when he said those words, what she expected though was still unknown to Marinette herself. She watched his eyes though, watched as Wang Fu's eyes receded with the years of knowledge and memories he had of the miraculous. Watched as they all slowly faded into the nothingness she feared. She stared into her future in those eyes, unknowing and confused.
"I'm afraid I don't know why I'm here." Wang Fu says, looking around the living room as Tikki and Wayzz hid out of sight.
It took everything in her to find words on the spot, because she knew now he would no longer be part of her life. "You were a regular customer at the bakery, Monsieur Fu." Marinette gave him a small smile, full of pain and sadness as her heart twisted even more inside her chest. "You came to give your condolences and I'm afraid you had another episode with your dementia."
"Did something happen dear?" Wang Fu asks, and she wished she could just hug him.
"I'm afraid so. My parents were in an accident." Marinette says, voice crackling as she says it aloud. The tears that pricked her eyes stung like acid, and feverishly she wiped at them with her hands. "You came to give your condolences, so thank you. Thank you for all you've done."
Wang Fu had a distant look in his eyes as he tried to grip the words she said, Marinette could tell. Nothing in those eyes seem to recongize a thing here anymore and it just put another nail in her heart. She tried not to grab the old man in front of her, having every urge to shake some sense into him when realistically there wasn't a thing she could do now.
"I am very sorry dear." He lightly patted her arm, seeing nothing more than a girl who's lost everything at once, "When we hit our lowest point, we are open to the greatest change. Someone wise once told me that, a long long time ago."
"I don't know what the lowest point is anymore." Marinette says softly, "I keep finding newer points that are lower than the last."
"Sometimes that is how life works, sometimes our days are filled with more pain than happiness. Sometimes there seems to never be a light at the end of the tunnel, but know this-everything happens for a reason. There is always a light at the end of the tunnel, and there is always a reason to keep going. One day everything will seem alright again, and other days will feel like the end. You have to keep persevering through."
She couldn't even form words as he patted her arm one last time and bid a farewell to her. As much as she wanted to chase him and make sure he got somewhere safe, she knew she couldn't. He no longer remembered her or the kwami's. It would only cause more troubles to try to keep him around.
"I'm afraid I must leave now, Guardian." Wayzz gently says, as if he was trying to be careful not to set Marinette off. "I must go with my true holder now and make sure he understands what is going on."
Marinette wiped at her eyes, nodding. "Yeah, okay. Please be safe."
Wayzz wished he could comfort the girl knowing this was all too much at once. In the matter of twenty four hours she lost three people and became Guardian of the Miraculous. It was a responsibility she wasn't fully ready for yet, but it was hers now too bare. He watched Tikki press onto her holder's cheek, muttering sweet nothings under her breath. It was the last thing he saw before going off to Nino without looking back.
Right outside the door that lead up from the kitchen to the main living area stood Peter, who's enhanced hearing heard things he knew he wasn't supposed too. Yet the minute he had heard the truth everything had fell into place. The truth about Paris, the heroes, why Tony took such an interest having been the one to expose Paris and Marinette.
He understood why she squirmed in her sleep now from nightmares she never remembered having. Why she always looked tired or just stressed out in general. He understood every missing piece he had on Marinette and wanted to do nothing but grab her into a tight embrace and never let her go for the world to hurt again. He wasn't sure what being Guardian meant, but it had to be something big enough for the old man to tell Marinette to stay away from Paris. It also occurred to him that the old man did say their identities were compromised, and now Marinette was more than likely in danger.
"You just never get a break do you?" Peter couldn't help but mutter under his breath as he knocked on the door, acting as if it wasn't to startle her that he'd come back.
Marinette wiped at her eyes again as Tikki flew into the pocket of her coat, trying to offer Peter a sad smile. She could feel that it didn't work the second her bottom lip quivered. She wanted to just lay on the floor and look at old photos, but even the thought of that made her heart hurt.
"What am I supposed to do with everything in this house?" Marinette's voice cracked as she picked up a few various items, "I can't stand the thought of looking at pictures, or going through their things. Or even packing them up."
Peter saw her hands shake as she picked up a frame, and immediately he set the two coffee's down so he could grab the frame from her. He wished he could tell her he understood what she felt, but as sad as it was he was lucky to say he couldn't remember losing his parents when he lost them. He could only imagine that loss.
"No one said you had to do anything today." Peter tells her, trying to pacify her a little bit, "We can go back home to New York. Give it a few weeks and then you can decide what you want to do."
"Home?" He wanted to hide her from the world hearing her voice crack on the word, "I don't even have a home Peter. I lost my home the moment my parents died."
Gently he cupped her cheeks, shook his head and looked her straight in the eyes, "You have a home with me in New York with Aunt May. You can stay with us until you're ready to try to go back to normal."
"I'll be a burden Peter." Marinette muttered out, getting ready to object but Peter was quick to silence her with a kiss. It was effective to keep her thoughts quiet.
"We love you." Peter says it softly, so tentatively that it's almost a whisper on her nose. "I love you, and you could never be a burden Mari."
Marinette's eyes filled with a new wave of tears for the lost number of times that day. She felt some part of her heart warm with the admission, but she was scared to say it back. The response was stuck in her throat, the 'I love you too' was right there. If she said it too him, would he die too? Or would he merely leave?
"It's okay, you don't have to say it." Peter wasn't hurt, he saw the answer in her eyes clear as day but also the fear. He understood she was scared to put him in harms way, but eventually when she was more calm and everything wasn't fresh he would tell her his own secret. Maybe then and only then would she let him be there completely for her. "You ready to go home then?"
"To New York? Do we even have plane tickets?" Marinette asks, confused as why they would leave the same day.
"Tony sent his private plane, that is if you wanted to go back to New York tonight." Peter offered, not sure if it would be taken the wrong way on Tony's part.
Marinette gave one last look around the living space she shared with her parents. Relived the mornings of laughter and love full of family bonding time. Or the nights around the table for dinner and talking about events of the day. All the birthdays and anniversaries, accomplishments and failures. All the love and support that made this house a home that no longer brought life to the walls.
"Let's go home."
I have been trying my best for faster updates, and here was are! I was going to wait a little longer to post this chapter, but decided since it's all done might as well post it! Thank you all so so much for the support!
Hope you liked this chapter!
