Dreams
Marinette had been human for twelve days. Twelve days of deep sleep, new foods, new friends, sewing, walking, drawing, and learning. So much learning.
She had a solid grasp on human culture, more or less. At least the culture of Port Lunimar. The learning curve was a bit steep, but thanks to Alya, Nino, and her fellow maids at the Black Palace, Marinette was finally feeling more comfortable in her human shoes.
Alya was invaluable. She had accepted that Marinette had limited life experience, and was a judgment-free teacher. Sometimes she would even offer insight without Marinette needing to ask. She was horrified when she learned Marinette couldn't read, and immediately set out to rectify it. Meal times were more about learning the sounds of the alphabet than eating now, and Marinette wouldn't have it any other way.
Marinette plucked a book from the shelf and scrubbed the dust off the cover. The library was empty except for her, as it had been almost every time she worked there. She mouthed the letters along the spine and tried to decipher what the book was about before she opened to the first page.
The library was her domain, like the atoll in the bay had been when she had a tail. Marinette alone was trusted with its upkeep, as it was deemed an undesirable spot to work by the other maids. She worked there every afternoon, from after lunch to four o' clock, when she and Alya would head back home. She relished this time. There was no better place to learn, and on breaks she would pull out the mysterious old sketchbook and get inspired with her own drawings and dresses.
Marinette sewed in the evenings and on her days off. Not rough amalgamations like she did before, but real sewing. After receiving her first paycheck, Marinette tried to give Alya the money for living expenses, but Alya refused it and encouraged her to buy something for herself. Marinette didn't know what to do with it until she found a fabric store at market. She bought everything she could afford, and was half way done with two original dresses. One for Alya as a thank you, and one just for herself. A dress that would flare out as she spun. They weren't up to her standards yet, but these were the very first authentic handmade human clothes. Perfection would take time.
Marinette cleaned another book, and sounded out the title. "B- Boh- Bah? Botan… ee? Botany… off, of, the… Ugh." These books were a little above her reading level. One day, Marinette.
Across the room, the library door swung open.
That was unexpected. Marinette had heard the king frequented the library in the morning hours, but for the most part her afternoons in the library had been lonely ones.
Back turned to her, a well dressed young man attached to a familiar head of blonde hair soundlessly shut the door behind him, neck tucked deep into his shoulders. With the library door firmly shut, he let go of the knob as if it was something dangerous. He turned around, scanning the library with his beautiful green eyes.
Oh crap, it was Adrien. Hide!
Marinette dropped the book she was cleaning. It thumped loudly on the wooden floor and Adrien swung around and spotted her.
Crap. Crap. Crap.
Marinette hadn't seen Adrien since she threw him to the ground after misunderstanding what a handshake was. Maybe he didn't remember her. Please, let him not remember her.
They stared at each other for just a little too long.
Marinette dipped into a curtsey. "Hi! I mean- good afternoon, Your Highness!" She sounded manic.
Adrien blinked, snapping out of whatever reverie he was under. "Good morning. Forgive me, I was startled. Marinette, wasn't it?"
Marinette turned her cringe into a nod. Of course he remembered.
Adrien glanced around the room, looking as awkward and uncomfortable as Marinette felt.
"I was just, uh, searching for… a book! Yes! Specifically… this one." He grabbed a book off the shelf nearest him.
Something wasn't right here. She cleaned that shelf yesterday, and all of those books were medical in nature. A lot of the words flew over Marinette's head but the images were graphic.
"Is Your Highness… alright?" Marinette phrased carefully.
Adrien looked confused. "Yes? Of course. I—" he looked down at the book in his hand and blanched, "I- I'm just fascinated by… Infectious Diseases of the Gut."
"Adrikins!" A muffled cry came from the hallway. Was that Chloe? Stupid question, it had to be.
Adrien grew pale. Almost faster than her eyes could detect, he darted to her bookshelf. Adrien pushed his body flush against the backside, hiding from the library doors.
Bang! The doors flew open. Chloe stomped into the library. She sneered at the books and called out again, "Adrikins? Where are you—" She spotted Marinette, and her sneer turned into a glower. "Oh, it's you."
"Good afternoon, My Lady." Marinette curtsied. Adrien was still beside her, concealed by the book case and as still as stone. Was he even breathing?
Chloe rolled her eyes. "Have you seen Prince Adrien?"
"Yes…"
Adrien shook his head, eyes pleading.
"No…?"
Why was Adrien hiding from Chloe? Well, besides the obvious reasons. It wasn't any of her business. Maybe this could be an opportunity for her to return the favor of him rescuing her as a mermaid. The situations were uncannily similar.
"Well? Which is it?" Chloe snapped.
Marinette ripped her eyes away from Adrien. "Yes. I saw the prince… at the, uh, gates."
"The gates?" Chloe asked, distressed. "Was he leaving the castle? Was he going to market? Without me?"
"Yes- er, maybe- no, uh, I wouldn't know." Marinette shrugged. A flawless lie.
"No, you wouldn't." Chloe turned on her heel. Before she left, she paused at a stack of books and pushed them over. The crash echoed through the room.
"Hey!" Marinette shouted. The librarian would dock her pay if any of the books were mangled while she cleaned.
"Oops." Chloe smirked. She sauntered out of the library, slamming the doors on her way out.
Marinette rushed to check on the books. She knelt next to them, examining each for damage before restocking.
"Let me help." Adrien handed her a book.
In her haste to care after the books, she had forgotten about him. "Thanks." Her cheeks grew warm.
"I should be thanking you. I'm pretty ashamed of myself, hiding away like a child. Thank you for not blowing my cover."
"I- I don't mind." Marinette sorely wished she could get out a single sentence without stammering in front of him. "I owed you anyway…"
Marinette froze. She shouldn't have said that. What was she thinking, alluding to the time he saved her as a mermaid?
"You shouldn't be so hard on yourself. It was just an accident. I'd nearly forgotten about it," he said with a friendly smile.
Marinette's heart dropped in her stomach. He thought she was talking about the handshake incident. It was as lucky as it was mortifying.
Marinette crumpled over the reassembled book stack. "I'm so, so, so sorry for that by the way."
"Like I said, there's nothing to feel sorry for. I'd say we're more than even now anyway."
Not even close.
"Umm, so, may I ask…" Marinette wiped some imaginary dust off a nearby shelf. "Why were you hiding from Lady Chloe?"
Adrien sat at one of the reading desks and rested his cheek against his fist.
"Well, it's been a busy couple of weeks. Between the storm, the Regent's visit, the Reynardine Princess' arrival in two days, the upcoming trade negotiations with Katana, and learning to sail… Is it selfish of me to say that I was craving a little time to myself?"
"No, I don't think so," Marinette said. Adrien looked exhausted. "I don't usually get any visitors while I clean. If you'd like, I could work somewhere else and you could have the library to yourself," she offered.
"No, thank you, but please don't leave. Don't let me keep you from your work."
"Alright." Marinette went to grab her dusting cloth.
"How has Port Lunimar been treating you?" Adrien asked. Marinette was surprised he wanted to talk.
"Wonderfully. I love it here. It's beautiful and the people here are generous and kind." Well, most of the people, Marinette thought, remembering Chloe.
"That's good."
"How are you liking sailing? It's new to you, isn't it?" Nino talked a bit about Adrien's training. Marinette was a little jealous. She'd like to visit the Liberty and listen to their sea shanties and see the ocean from above like that. It was just a matter of if it was worth the risk of getting wet and turning back into a mermaid.
"I love it," Adrien answered, visibly brightening. "It's better than I hoped. I always wanted to sail. I read, studied, dreamed about it, but nothing compares to the real thing."
This was the boy she remembered from the royal docks. Curious and enthusiastic. It warmed Marinette to see him so happy.
He went on, "The work is hard, but it's so rewarding. I've made a few mistakes, but the crew is so kind and patient with me. I've learned so much in so little time. It's just… surreal living out your fantasies in real life…" Adrien flushed and gave Marinette an apologetic smile. "Sorry, I was rambling."
"Don't apologize. I know exactly what you mean."
"You do?"
Marinette felt every word that he said with her entire being. It was just like being human for her. They actually had quite a bit in common, although Adrien could never know.
"Anything and everything is possible now, because the one thing you thought was impossible for you finally came true. The hard work you put in isn't so difficult, and the great sacrifices you make seem smaller because this is what you always wanted. At least, that's what it's like for me," she said.
"That's right. You do know what I mean," Adrien said, looking into her eyes. He was so handsome…
She broke the gaze, returning to her work. This was dangerous. She shouldn't be spending this much time with him.
"Speaking of sacrifices," Adrien stood up from the reading desk, "I really should go find Chloe. She's leaving soon and I shouldn't be ignoring her like this. I'm sorry about her behavior towards you."
"It isn't your fault."
"It will be if I continue to hide from her and she takes her frustration out on the other staff," Adrien sighed. "I hope we can talk more in the future. Thank you again for your assistance earlier." He gave her a small bow to Marinette's embarrassment. She awkwardly curtsied in response.
"You're welcome."
He smiled at her, lovely green eyes crinkling, and left the library. The door shut.
"You'd do the same."
-o-o-o-
It was Adrien's last trip aboard the Liberty for a while. They sailed across the bay to Turtle Point, picked up some provisions for the Reynardine crown princess' visit tomorrow, and were set to return before sun down.
The weather was favorable. Adrien helped Rose and Max turn the foremast to the right angle. The sails were fat with wind and after tying the lines in place, the Liberty was set at a run. Nothing to do now except wait for the winds to change.
Adrien leaned against the berm railing. Waves splashed with every bounce the Liberty took on her flight back home to Port Lunimar.
A flash of movement caught his eye, and Adrien leaned over the railing to inspect. It was just a dolphin, riding the bow currents. He sighed.
He'd been aboard the Liberty seven times now, and no matter how intense his workload was he always stole a minute away to scan the waters for Ladybug. He hadn't seen her, but had she seen him? She said she loved to watch the sailors. He finally was one and he wanted nothing more than to speak to her again.
"What's wrong? Feeling seasick?" Nino leaned up against the railing with him.
"No, I'm alright."
"You sure? You look down."
"I'm just a little disappointed this will be my last voyage for a while," Adrien said. It was half true.
"Can't you ditch the Reynardine Princess like you do Lady Chloe?" Nino asked.
"I'm not ditching Chloe," Adrien said, but then he remembered the incident in the library yesterday. Nino didn't need to know about that, "and no. This is Princess Lila's first visit to Edoire. Father expects me to be the perfect host until she departs."
"How long will that be?"
"I'm not sure." Reynard hadn't informed them of a departure date, as far as Adrien was aware. It was strange, but as long as it didn't interfere with the trade deals with Katana later in the week, his father didn't care how long the princess stayed.
"What about the Captain's Party? You can still come to that, right?"
"I'm afraid not," Adrien groaned. Captain Hardrock's birthday was tomorrow, and the crew of the Liberty was having a party aboard the brigantine in her honor. With a visiting princess in tow, there was no way Adrien would get to go.
"It's at night. We can't sneak you away?" Nino's flashed a devious grin. "Kidnap you?"
"Don't joke."
"You know the Captain would do it."
"Nino, please."
"Alright, alright," he relented.
"Will Alya be going?" Adrien asked.
"'Course!"
"And Marinette?"
"Marinette?" Nino squinted. "Probably not. On account of the whole 'being on a boat' thing."
"Of course," Adrien said. Naturally the victim of a shipwreck wouldn't want to go back to sea so soon.
"What do you think of Marinette? Apart from ripping your arm off, I mean," Nino asked.
"She seems like a lovely person. Generous and insightful," he said, recalling the library.
"Yeah?" Nino chewed on his cheek. "I can't get a read on her."
"What do you mean?"
"Don't get me wrong, the girl has a heart of gold, but she's as strange as they come. When she first showed up, I thought she must be some kind of whipjack."
"You thought she was faking surviving a shipwreck to con Alya out of food and board?" Marinette? The same stuttering, sweet girl he met? Ridiculous. "Nino, it's pretty obvious that she's been through something."
"I know, I know, but in my defense, her story has more holes in it than the SS Miraculous. There hasn't been so much as a loose piece of driftwood unaccounted for after the storm, much less a whole boat. And everyone up and down the coast for leagues knew a storm was coming, we all made sure of that," he said, indicating the Liberty's crew. "Why would she be out in the middle of that, in Lunimar Bay no less? It's fishy."
"Maybe she's foreign," Adrien guessed. "Maybe wherever she's from didn't have the information we did about the storm."
"I'd buy that, maybe," Nino said. He leaned in close to Adrien and whispered. "Don't tell Alya I told you this, but I think she's addled."
"That's not kind."
"I'm not trying to be mean. Her set of knowledge is just all over the place. One second she's asking you to name every fruit you've ever heard of, and the next she's correcting me about what way the currents flow in the bay, only to be fascinated by the concept of a house cat the next second. It's like she's from the moon." Nino bobbed his head. "I don't think she means any harm though… and she makes Alya happy."
"Winds changin'!" called First Mate Jagged Stone. The conversation was over. Adrien and Nino ran to their positions, ready to receive orders.
Adrien had to get as much out of this last boat trip as he could.
-o-o-o-
Marinette was distracted. Every time she heard the patter of footsteps walk past the library door, her head shot up. Was it Adrien? Did he come to visit her again? It never was though. Of course it wasn't. There wasn't any reason for him to seek her out.
The prickly librarian Ms. Mendeleïev already came and went earlier that afternoon. Examining each book Marinette had touched for any harm before fixing her with a judgmental glare. She was the main reason the other maids didn't like cleaning the library.
By the angle the sun poured through the windows, Marinette knew it was about 2:30. Break time!
Marinette did one last wipe down of the reading desks, and tucked her cloth away in her apron pocket. She pushed aside the colorful encyclopedias, revealing the hidden sketchbook.
She cradled the book over to the freshly cleaned reading desk and fetched her own sketchbook, half-full of her own drawings. At first she tried to copy the drawings from the hidden book, but that grew boring fast. Marinette had more fun making alterations to the original's designs or simply using them as inspiration for her own work.
She flipped to a page with a bright red dress. It was a seductive dress, something Marinette would be embarrassed to wear herself, but it was also the exact same color of Tikki's tail.
She missed Tikki. Just as she'd promised, Marinette stood on the Peasant Dock every evening at sunset. Sometimes Alya would wait with her, but more often than not she'd be by herself. She never saw Tikki. Had she come at all? Marinette would probably never know until she went back to being a mermaid.
She turned to another page. A pale indigo gown with lace trim. Here was something she could work with. She drew her own interpretation. With layered skirts and asymmetrical embroidery along the hem and neckline. Would something like this work well on a men's waistcoat as well? Perhaps a darker shade… She could color in the drawings when she got home…
"What are you doing?"
Marinette jumped and the piece of charcoal flew from her hand to the floor. She just cleaned that…
Her head shot up and her heart stopped.
Only feet away from her was King Gabriel. She hadn't seen him in person, but Alya had pointed out his portrait in the hallway. But even if she hadn't seen it, Marinette would have been able to tell that this was a king. His presence was overpowering.
He stared down the sketchbooks and his eyes widened.
Oh no. He was mad. He was mad she was drawing instead of doing her work. She was going to lose her job.
His hand shot out and picked up the old sketchbook. His eyes combed over the pages. "Where did you find this?"
"You're- I, uh- Your Hi- I mean, Your Majesty." Words, Marinette. Speak words! He was looking at her. She pointed at the book case. "I- I found it there. Behind the encyclopedias."
He reached down and spun her personal sketchbook around. Marinette cringed with shame as he thumbed through what she had drawn. "You've been copying the pictures… no, not quite copying. How long have you been doing this?"
"I started two weeks ago," she said. She prayed that her newness might inspire mercy. "I only let myself look at it during breaks, I'm not shirking my duties, I swear."
"Are you a tailor?" he asked, ignoring her.
A tailor? Oh, she knew that word, what did it mean again? She was too afraid to think. She landed on, "I like to sew. Since I found it, I've been using it as inspiration." King Gabriel kept the old sketchbook in his hand. She wanted to rip it away from him. "They're the most beautiful drawings I've ever seen. I hope I can make something half as beautiful someday."
King Gabriel seemed to consider her words.
"How flattering," he said, mouth quirking in something like a smile. "This was my sketchbook."
It was what?
"Yours?" Marinette repeated. The insignia on the cover… she could read it now, it was a golden G and A, intertwined. Oh crap, was she going to be in even more trouble?
"Even kings have hobbies," he said, gazing down at his old work. "I haven't seen this in years. It must have been moved here accidentally when I redecorated my study." His gaze flitted to her sketchbook. He drew a finger over the writing desk and then rubbed it with his thumb. "Seeing as the library has never looked cleaner, you have my permission to keep the sketchbook for inspiration on your breaks."
"Wait, really?" Marinette spoke before she could stop herself.
"I like your interpretation of the periwinkle ball gown. Should you make any of the creations in your sketches, I would like to see them."
Marinette was in shock. She wasn't in trouble? She got to keep looking at his sketchbook? He liked her work? She was overwhelmed.
"Thank you," she breathed out. The king liked the fashion drawings she did. No, more than that, the artist who inspired her liked the drawings she did. Marinette never felt more proud of herself.
King Gabriel was still flipping through his sketchbook. He stopped on the odd portrait of the blonde woman.
Thwiiiiip.
He tore the page out of the book in a single pull. Face blank, he handed the sketchbook to Marinette. "Here."
Marinette took it without a word.
King Gabriel plucked a few books off a nearby shelf and wordlessly left the library.
She didn't know what just happened, but she wasn't going to question it. She had the king's permission to keep drawing and making clothes. She hugged the sketchbook to her chest.
That night after dinner, Marinette finally finished her first dress.
-o-o-o-
This chapter was so hard for me to write. I was stuck on it for a really long time. Next chapter Lila shows up. She's awful, but she really drop kicks the plot ball and keeps it rolling. I'm excited, and I hope you all are looking forward to it too!