The Tube of Toothpaste
Written by: JuliaFC
Language Betas: Khanofallorcs, Agrestebug, Silver Wolf and LizzyBeth
Concept Betas: Etoile-Lead-Sama, Malauu_Ladynoir, Rosehealer02 and Genxha
Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by (c) Thomas Astruc, TS1 Bouygues, Disney Channel, Zagtoon, Toei Animation. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.
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Part 3: Mother's Instinct
When they both regained some composure, Sabine put a hand on Marinette's forearm and stroked it gently. "Do you want to talk about it, dear?"
She saw Marinette sigh deeply, then look around like when she was a little girl and trying to make up a tall tale, so she added, "Have you met some other boy and developed a new crush I haven't been informed of?"
Marinette's face turned pink. "N-no, what makes you think something like this?" But Sabine kept looking at her, and eventually, Marinette lowered her gaze.
"It's…complicated, Maman." She started playing with the hair of one of her pigtails, now her turn to look in the distance as if lost in her thoughts. "There's this…uh, person I work with," she started. "Uh, not a real job, or I would have told you!" She put her hands in front of her protectively, her face all flushed as her gaze locked into her mother's, and then relaxed when Sabine smiled.
"Of course, dear," she said and saw Marinette take a sigh of relief. Again, secrets. Again, something that nagged at her.
"Well, I never realised it until recently, but I've misjudged them and hurt them with my behaviour; also, for reasons I can't tell them, I had to push them away. So I ended up relying on the help of other people recently, and to make a long story short, it made this person feel useless, even though they're not. A few days ago they went to the extent of giving up on their Mir—uh—mission abruptly and without saying goodbye and…for a while I thought I had lost them forever."
Sabine's heart broke when she saw the massive pout curling down the corners of her daughter's trembling lips, and the tears popping out of her eyes and falling down her cheeks. For some reason, though, she felt as if she was having a déjà vu. Why did Marinette's story sound so familiar? She was certain that this was the very first time Marinette had opened up with her about it. Sabine gently wiped the tears from her daughter's cheeks and smiled when she gave her a watery look.
"Did he come back?"
"They…uh, alright, he did, yes."
Sabine's thumb finished drying the tears that had wet Marinette's right cheek and then continued to stroke it tenderly. "Is that why you managed to sleep the last couple of nights?" She chuckled at Marinette's surprise. "Even your Papa has noticed those black marks under your eyes, Marinette. And it's not like you to let yourself go so much that you miss days of school and don't even comb your hair."
Marinette blushed deep red and diverted her gaze from her mother's. "It—it's not just that. That was the beginning of the issue, but…it's not only that, Maman. Recently…well, I found myself in a very awkward position. I…lost everything." She lowered her gaze and hugged her arms.
Sabine's heart broke seeing how vulnerable and defenceless her daughter looked. What had happened to her usually sunny and confident little girl?
"Everything?" Sabine asked, and Marinette nodded, tears rolling down her cheeks.
"Yes, everything. I was so scared. Felt so alone." She blinked and more tears fell down her cheeks. Sabine wanted to hug her close to her heart, but Marinette curled herself into a ball, lifted her feet to the seat of the chaise longue and tried to dry her eyes with the back of her hand. "When he told me that I hadn't lost him, I wanted to tear my heart out of my chest. It hurt so much, Maman. I-I felt so guilty; he nearly gave up on his Mir-uh, mission, because of me, because of the way I treated him, keeping him at arm's length and hiding things from hi—"
"Couldn't you have called him and spoken to him, Marinette?" Sabine felt the grip of Marinette's hand on hers getting stronger.
"It's—complicated, Maman. I…how can I say it…I d-don't know—m-much—about him. Oh, Maman, I…was so scared! So scared that I would never see him again." Her voice cracked and new fresh tears rolled down her cheeks.
She loves him, thought Sabine, but didn't say it aloud. Instead she hugged Marinette tight and whispered in her ear, "Is he this important to you?" and smiled against her hair when she felt Marinette's head move into a nod. Then she broke the hug and moved to look straight into her daughter's eyes. Marinette kept darting her gaze away, but Sabine squeezed her shoulders a couple of times until Marinette finally looked at her.
"But you said that he came back?" She smiled when Marinette nodded.
"He's all I've got left now," muttered Marinette's cracked voice.
Sabine's heart cringed. "So…what did you do to resolve the situation? Did you talk to him? Did you fix your issues?"
A crazy idea was worming its way into Sabine's mind as she saw her daughter shake her head sadly. All these secrets. Her not knowing 'much' about a person she seemed to care for so deeply. Her having other people to rely on, but not anymore. Sabine realised why Marinette's story had given her a feeling of déjà vu—Adrien. It was the same story that the boy had told her. But he'd said that it wasn't Marinette who was to blame.
"Why?" she pressed.
"I…haven't really had the chance," said Marinette with a pout.
"Are you going to talk to him about it?" inquired again Sabine. She saw Marinette open her mouth a number of times, but no sound came out. She darted her gaze around the room and her cheeks dusted slightly in pink. Sabine patted her gently on her hair. "If he's so important to you, Marinette, you should really talk to him and have a good heart-to-heart."
"But," argued Marinette, her face blanching at her mother's words, "there are things I can't tell him. As much as I would like to be honest with him, some things could even break him and I can't afford that. Not now. Not ever! And he apologised when he returned the other day, saying that he had been silly. And he really had been!"
Sabine smiled and looked around Marinette's room. A similar situation called for similar advice. She quickly identified the tube of toothpaste that Marinette had on the top of her little basin; she stood up graciously, picked it up and sat back down in front of Marinette, showing her the tube and looking her in the eye.
"Does my breath smell, Maman?" asked Marinette, her brow twitching.
Sabine laughed. "No, dear. Your breath doesn't smell. Although I do hope that you looked after yourself enough to at least brush your teeth the last few days." She shot her a stern look and Marinette gulped a couple of times and paled before nodding nervously. "Good. However, that wasn't the reason why I got this tube."
She looked at it in her hands and noticed immediately how it was messy and had been squeezed mostly in the centre and at the top, making it look lumpy, twisted and all over the place. She swiftly tidied it up and worked her way from the bottom of the tube, keeping the cap in place, and squeezed it gently around until all the paste had lifted to the top of the tube and the tube itself had gained back a recognisable shape. When she looked back at Marinette, she could see that her eyes had gone wide and her mouth had opened in a small o.
"Oh, I remember you showing me this when I was asking you about Papa and Grandpa. I was eight, right?"
A smile curled the corners of Sabine's mouth. "Well remembered, sweetheart. What did I tell you about it at the time?"
Marinette looked up and brought her right index finger to her lips. "Uh, you said that a lot of silly things can become—oh. Ooooh." When her daughter's gaze locked with hers, Sabine saw the horror lingering in her eyes. Marinette grabbed the tube of toothpaste from her mother's hand and looked at it with a massive frown. Sabine could almost hear the wheels of her brain start working and see the massive lightbulb light up in her head.
"No matter how stupid you think the reason for an argument is, if you don't face it, slowly it will become bigger and bigger, until it will break you apart. If you're saying that you can't function without this boy, if you really love this boy—"
"I don't love him," interrupted Marinette. "I love Adrien!" But when she met her mother's sceptical gaze, she blushed deep red and looked down. "I do care a lot about him, though."
Maybe one thing doesn't exclude the other, was the crazy thought that popped into Sabine's mind, following the rest of her crazy train of thought. As crazy as the idea sounded, it could only mean one thing, and her insides jolted as her blood froze in her veins at the mere thought of it. All the times that Marinette had said she was tired and hadn't slept much, and coincidentally there had been a long and complicated akuma attack the night before…all the times Marinette had been reported as late for school, or going back to school late after the break for lunch and…Sabine's heart skipped a beat.
Her heart still raced as her mind's eye saw again the face of that horrible person talking to the people of Paris from atop the Eiffel tower. She closed her eyes to bring the memory back to the forefront of her mind, and the same feeling of hopelessness and fear filled her stomach like a kaleidoscope of butterflies.
After the first moment of panic, she and Tom had followed the crowd to the Eiffel Tower, to cheer Ladybug's name with the rest of the city. She had seen Chat Noir picking up the broken pieces of Ladybug's heart then, she had seen the young superhero taking his hand, the cloud around her lifting as she heard the encouragement of the crowd. She had been proud of her then, but now, she was even more proud. Her heart was bursting in her chest with pride, but also with apprehension. Because her little girl, her sweet Marinette was…
Okay, there was no need to freak out. She would cross that bridge if she needed to, not now. But suddenly it didn't sound strange and out of place any longer, having heard Marinette talking to that chirpy-voiced creature about the jewels that Papillon, Papillombre, or whatever the slimy insect wanted to call himself now, was trying to steal. And if she was right about all this, not only Marinette did need the help of the boy, now more than ever. But she was also pushing him away and suffering further for no good reason.
"Your Papa would tell you that 'The Nile isn't just a river in Egypt', dear." She huffed softly at Marinette's groan. "Let me rephrase it. If you really care so much about this boy, you have to talk to him. Be honest with him. Explain to him that you love to squeeze the tube of toothpaste in the centre and on the top and leave it twisted and messed up. However, from now on you will respect even his wish, to see the tube tidy, and will try to remember to fix it from time to time." She noticed how furrowed Marinette's brows were and she continued, "What I mean is that you need to explain yourself and find a compromise. Tell him why you're doing what you're doing and what to expect next. Give him tangible proof that you're also sorry for having behaved silly."
"But—" started Marinette, but Sabine shushed her by putting a finger over her mouth.
"An argument over silly things is never one-sided, Marinette. And you said it yourself. You pushed him away, you kept him unnecessarily out of the loop, you hid things from him. You lied to him. You refused his help. I urge you to stop doing that if you don't want to lose him for real."
Marinette's chest stopped moving, her face taking a grey tinge as her expression became cringe. Sabine stroked her cheek gently.
"What was that quote from the Spiderman film that you and I liked so much when we first watched it? 'With great power comes great responsibility'. As a leader, that responsibility isn't only towards the people you protect, but it extends first and foremost to the members of your team. And as things stand now, he's the only 'team' you have left. You need him, now more than ever. And he needs you." She kept her gaze locked on Marinette's on purpose, a frown wrinkling her forehead and brows, until she saw Marinette's face becoming paler and her eyes widening in shock.
"Maman! I—" started Marinette, but Sabine shushed her again.
"You don't need to explain anything, Marinette. Just resolve this conflict that's burdening you, so you can become stronger. You need his help, sweetheart. You need to clarify things, because the more you hurt, the weaker you two are. And Paris can't afford you two to be weak. Not now. Not ever." She smiled softly at her. "I'm so proud of you."
Marinette nodded and hugged her mother tighter than she probably should have.
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This was how Chat Noir found himself hopping through Paris night's cityscape, his brows slightly furrowed as he thought back to the message he'd just listened to on his communicator. Ladybug had asked him to meet her atop the Eiffel tower. Like she had a few nights before, when he'd missed the fight against Moolak. She had said that she wanted to talk to him, but on previous occasions she had made it clear that she didn't want to reveal too much to him; so Chat Noir was left anxious of exactly what she wanted to talk to him about. Maybe she wanted to address the things she had admitted to him the other night, after Papillon's speech?
Still wondering about it, he landed on the metallic surface of the Iron Lady, immediately noticing the lone silhouette of Ladybug sitting down in front of him, showing him her back. She looked lost in her thoughts and oblivious of the fact that he had arrived. Quietly, he moved closer and sat next to her.
"Good evening, Buginette, what was the emergency meeting for?" He put up the shadow of a smile that didn't reach his eyes, but when he looked at her, he realised that she was still in a world of her own. He leaned in, invading her personal space and waved his hand in front of her eyes. "Buginette?" Still no answer. "LB?" Nope, nothing. "LADYBUG!" he shouted eventually, causing her to jump.
"Oh Jesus, Chat Noir you scared me!" She put a hand on her chest, right over her heart.
He raised an eyebrow at her. "Are you alright, My Lady? You aren't usually this distracted."
Her gaze clouded. "Y-yes, I'm alright, Chaton. I was just…thinking and didn't hear you arrive." She sighed and fell silent for a long moment looking at and playing absentmindedly with something in her hands that Chat Noir couldn't quite identify. She was quiet for such a long time that Chat Noir's anxiety reached levels that had never been touched before.
"Um, My Lady, I love watching the city lights with you at night time, but…I'm a little worried; what did you want to talk to me about? You said it was important in your message, but now you're not talk—" He heard her sigh and saw her shoulders droop down and added quickly, "But if you only want to watch the city lights, I'm totally alright with that!"
"No, you're right, Chat Noir. I called you because I wanted to talk to you and it's not fair to leave you on tenterhooks because I don't know where to start."
He saw the pout curling down the corners of her lips and gulped. "Have I done something wrong? Are you upset at me? If there's anything that I have done to upset you, I really am not aware of it and I'm sorry."
"No, I'm sorry!" she blurted out a little shakingly. Chat Noir's eyes widened when he heard it.
"Say that again?" he asked in a quiet whisper, his hand reaching for the nape of his neck.
"It's not your fault, Minou. I too am to blame and I've never apologised for my wrongdoing," she said, causing Chat Noir's heart to start somersaulting in his chest.
"Plagg spoke to me when you gave me back your ring." She chuckled."Well, he scolded me and told me off, more than talking to me. He…told me things I hadn't even noticed and I really should have. For those things, I'm really sorry."
What had Plagg done? "My Lady, you don't need to apologise, I ju—"
"I do! I was wrapped up in myself, worrying too much about my role as a Guardian and my own responsibilities and completely ignored the signals you were giving me!"
"I wasn—"
"You were, Minou. I thought back to the last few fights in my memory. Quite a few times I had noticed that something was off with you. I had also asked you if you were alright and you always dismissed my concern. So I assumed that you were good as you said, and I let it drop. But I shouldn't have, because you clearly weren't alright."
Chat Noir felt blood rushing to his face as his heart jumped into his throat. Was he that easy to read? Yes, his Lady had asked him on a number of occasions if he was alright, but he thought she was just doing it out of politeness more than real concern.
"It doesn't matter, LB. The situation has changed so much that these problems are not relevant anymore," he said, but Ladybug shook her head.
"No, Chaton. Now more than ever, it's important that we clear everything that can hold us back and that we're honest with each other. Even if these were worries from the past, they have affected you strongly. Please talk to me, tell me what's wrong. Why did you never voice your feelings to me?"
"I…just didn't want to bother you with silly problems," he muttered, darting his gaze away from hers. But as he said that, the conversation he'd had just a few hours before with Marinette's mother came back to his mind. So he breathed deeply, trying to calm down the mad beating of his heart and find the courage to say what he knew he had to say. "But as time went on, the silly problems became more and more and…eventually they became big problems."
Ladybug squeezed the thing she held in her hands tight at his words. "So big that you decided to give up on your Miraculous?"
He nodded. "But they were still silly. Things like…you were calling so many holders and my presence wasn't essential to the fight any longer."
She gasped and held her breath, "I—" but he cut her off.
"You said on TV that I was a partner like any other."
"Chat—" she started, but he cut her off again.
"I couldn't remember the last time that my presence was essential to win against an akuma; you were doing alright with the others."
"Chaton—"
"You were often late for patrol and sometimes not showing up at all."
"I'm—"
"Don't misunderstand me; I know that, now that you're the Guardian, we're not equal anymore. I also know that recently I hadn't been able to support you in some fights, for example the one against Moolak. I was very grateful that you had others to help you, but—" He sighed and hugged his own arms and shoulders. "I felt worthless."
Ladybug sucked her breath in at that. "I-I'm sorry, I—Plagg already argued this with me, but…I really thought I was giving you some space, some time off. I may not have needed you in every single battle, Chaton, but you were still indispensable and irreplaceable. I couldn't be Ladybug without you. I thought I had told you that, on many occasions."
Chat Noir balled his hands into fists. The temptation of shrugging it off and ending the conversation there was strong and he felt very weak. But as he let his breath out and started to say a dismissive sentence, he remembered Sabine's words. He bit his bottom lip, his fists clenching on the spandex material of his suit over his thighs.
"I-I don't need that, Ladybug. Getting time off doesn't cheer me up. It makes me feel that you don't need me and that you're going to…discard me."
"I would never!" she said, outrage so clear in her tone of voice that Chat Noir felt the tears prickling at the corner of his eyes and starting to pool in them, misting his view.
He wiped his eyes dry with his forearm, turning on the side in an attempt to hide the gesture, but a quick glance in Ladybug's direction showed to him that she hadn't failed to notice it: her lips were curled down in a pout and even her eyes looked watery.
He cleared his throat, trying to regain a normal tone of voice before muttering, "It's nice to be told that, from time to time."
To be Continued…
Author's Note:
Hello there! Here's chapter 3. I hope you liked the reveal!
Please let me know what you thought of this chapter in a comment. I really hope you liked it! I'm always open to a dialogue, I don't mind ANY type of feedback! To all of you who will write a review or a comment for this story, thank you so much! You always make my day! Also, please check the beautiful art that my friend Rose Minou did as a cover for this story! You can find it at the beginning of chapter 1!
As usual, if you read this and you're not part of our wonderful Discord server already, but you enjoy reading, writing and talking about Miraculous, please join our Discord server, Miraculous Fanworks (for people on FFN, discord dot gg slash mlfanworks). Also, I recently joined another wonderful server! Even this one is friendly and there's a lot of wonderful people to discuss Miraculous and fanfictions with, so…now you get two invites :D Miraculous Discordance /QwgKdUhJNJ (discord dot gg slash QwgKdUhJNJ ). I wait for you in one of these servers :D
