Marinette sat on the bed of the guest bedroom of her parent's bakery with a sigh, there was no one else here aside from her little one and Tikki– her husband was out of town for the week, and her parents had been more than happy to take Emma and Jay to go and see the fireworks tonight. They had made no effort to make her come after she said she wanted to rest, only smiling knowingly down at her stomach. She didn't even have a bump yet, but her parents had been thrilled upon hearing about her pregnancy, and had welcomed her home for the week.
Emma and Jay were staying in her old room, which had of course resulted in a fight on who would get to sleep in the loft. Emma had claimed as the oldest she should, but Sabine had quickly put an end to that reminding her that she had slept there at the last sleepover. Tom had spent most of his time fussing over Marinette, ecstatic that he was going to be a grandfather (again), but in the end she had insisted she'd be fine if she was alone while they took the kids out.
She stared outside the window, able to see some fireworks, though a large building obscured most of her view. She could have gone up on her old balcony, but she had no desire to see them. She just rested on the bed while Tikki played on her phone, mindlessly staring out the window. This week was always hard on her, and while people had seemed to understand years ago, as more time passed they only gave looks of confusion at the forlorn look on her face. This was a time to celebrate, a time of freedom.
But for Marinette, she only felt abandoned.
Tikki let out a grunt of frustration as a notification popped up on the phone, breaking her flow in the game she had been playing. She paused as she read it though, blue eyes suddenly widening. She looked up at her chosen, who was clearly lost in thought.
"Um, Marinette–" Tikki began, and the human glanced at her. "M-mari, it's–"
She was cut off as the phone began to ring. Marinette sighed, pushing herself to her feet and made her way over to the desk Tikki was on. The name 'Alya Lahiffe' flashed on screen, a picture of her twins showing, and she took the phone from Tikki before she could say anything.
"Yes?" she asked, hoping that Alya wasn't going to try again to convince her to join the festivities.
"Girl can you believe it?!" Alya cried, causing Marinette to wince and pull the phone away from her ear. "You saw the news, right? Well, it's true– I'm seeing him for myself!"
"What are you talking about?" Marinette asked, waving off Tikki as she tried to say something. Alya sounded shocked, but not necessarily fearful, but something must have happened if it was big enough to be on the news.
"Chat Noir is back!"
Marinette froze.
She stood there next to the desk, eyes widening as she heard those words, hand tightening around the phone. She glanced at Tikki, who looked apologetic, but nodded in confirmation. Marinette stumbled back a step, sinking down onto a chair, trying to process what she had just been told. Her hands shook slightly, and she couldn't keep a waver out of her voice.
"Wh-what?"
"He's right here on the Eiffel Tower!" Alya said in excitement. "Right where Ladybug used to always be– it has to be him, no one else could get up above the viewing platform that easily. It's hard to see and all with how dark it is but it's definitely him– oh I can't believe it–"
Alya was cut off as Marinette began to scroll through her phone, Alya's chatter mere garble in the background as she pulled up a news app. Her throat tightened at the picture of the most recent article, a very familiar silhouette visible against the blackened sky thanks to the fireworks that highlighted the background of the image. No other details were visible, the lights on the Eiffel Tower having been turned off for tonight so the fireworks would be more clear. Despite all this Marinette simply knew it was him from looking at that picture, and her heart thumped heavily.
"Mari?" Alya's faded voice asked. "Are you there? Mari–?"
"Gotta go!" was all Marinette offered, before hanging up. Her phone was stuffed into her pocket as she rose to her feet, Tikki hovering in front of her. The kwami tried to say something, but she never got the chance. "Tikki– spots on!"
With a flash of pink light she transformed into Ladybug, a surge of energy rushing through her. She grabbed the yoyo around her waist, not hesitating as she threw open the window. Her yoyo whirled as she let it fly, jumping out as soon as it went taut, zipping across the street. It flicked back into her hand as she landed on a rooftop, and once again she let it fly, knowing she needed to get to the Eiffel Tower as quickly as possible.