Marinette's parents continue celebrating their anniversary after the end of Timebreaker. Their story is retold over a photo album of the past three decades.
.o.O.o.
"Mom, Dad, happy anniversary!" Marinette exclaimed, handing a wrapped package to the two bakers.
"Oh, and what is this?" the small Asian woman questioned as she accepted the gift with a smile.
Her broad shouldered husband proudly answered, "It's something amazing! After all, it's from my daughter!"
"Dad, stop being silly and open it!"
Gasps of surprise erupted from the spouses once the purple wrapping was torn away. Mrs. Cheng was the first to speak with a tight throat. "You made this, dear?"
In her hands she held a small book with the words "The Story of Us" in cursive above a photo of the family of three on the cover. The scrapbook itself was pink and appeared to be hand bound with black cord. By the way the pages stuck out of the sides to different degrees it was obvious that each piece was cut individually. As if the answer wasn't already apparent, the girl nodded her head, pigtails bobbing above her shoulders.
"I dug around all the photo boxes we have in the closet and found as many pictures as I could. Then, I arranged them to tell your story. I might have gotten a few out of order, but I tried doing it as best as I remember."
"Sweetie, it's perfect," Mr. Dupain softly stated, wiping tears from his eyes. "Why don't we all sit on the sofa and take a look?"
Before long, the family gathered in the living room, Tom with an arm around his wife, who held the book open in her lap with their daughter beside her. They laughed and cried as they relived their journey throughout the years. The parents described the history behind the photos so well that Marinette felt as though she had been there herself.
Near the beginning of the album there was a Polaroid photo of a young Asian girl, about five years old with long black pigtails, held by her parents in front of a building with the characters '誠麵包店' painted along the front in bright red. Chinese lanterns were strung along the windows along with white lights. Scrawled on the photo's border were the numbers '1987'. "Oh," exclaimed Sabine, "this must be the opening day of my parents' bakery in Lyon!"
"Mother, Father, can I go play with Hui Yin tomorrow? Please?" the girl asked in fluent Chinese.
"No, Sabine, you must go to school," her father addressed, "Tomorrow is your first day." He set his daughter down as they walked inside the shop, tightening his apron strings. The interior of the store was decorated much like the exterior, festive lanterns hanging above the counters. He inwardly hoped that they would draw enough attention for their first day of business.
"Will I go to school with Hui Yin?"
The man shook his head. "Remember Sabine, your mother and I are sending you to the best primary school in the area."
"That's right, dear," his wife chimed in. "We still don't speak fluent French after living in Lyon for two years, so it's best we stay in the Quartier Chinois, as they call it. But for you, my dear Sabine, we want the best education, that you may live and work however you decide."
By this point, however, the pigtailed girl had stopped listening, running up the stairs to pick out her best cheongsam to wear the next day.
"Oh, I remember this," Tom laughed, several pages later. "This was my first day of collège in Lyon. Mom somehow convinced Dad to move a week before school started all the way from Nice, where I was born." The picture he stopped on had the date 05/09/1994 written along the bottom. The subject was a sulking boy with shaggy brown hair falling into his emerald eyes. His limbs seemed way too long on his scrawny frame and the way he hunched under his backpack made it abundantly clear he did not want his picture taken.
"Stop it, Mom, you're embarrassing me!" His eyes darted left and right, hoping no one was watching.
"Nonsense, Tom! Now smile for your mammina," the Italian woman replied with fervor. She never minded what others thought of her, always boisterously entering a room and doting on those around her. This was vastly different from her husband, who preferred to stay in the background, and remained a point of contention ever since they met and married in Nice.
Eventually the camera was put away and Tom stepped into his school, wiping off a sloppy kiss from his cheek. Due to the delay, he was the last to enter the classroom. "Good morning, everyone! This year I would like to introduce a new student. Please welcome Tom Dupain!" The class responded to the teacher's announcement with cheerful replies of "welcome" and "good morning". "Tom," she continued, "you may sit in the second to last row next to Sabine. Sabine, raise your hand, dear."
Suddenly the sullen expression melted from his face as he found the most beautiful eyes he had every seen. The boy took in the dark bun atop her head and the gentle slope of her cheeks, committing them to memory. "Tom, would you take your seat please?" Snapping his jaw closed, he looked toward the floor, hoping no one saw his reddened cheeks. At this point he was so flustered he forgot about the steps leading to his desk and promptly landed on his face when he didn't pick his feet up high enough. Rushing to his seat and ignoring the laughter around him, he almost missed the gentle voice from his left asking, "Are you alright?" His voice cracked and for the next two weeks he lamented his response.
"You're an a-angel."
After several more page turns, the family landed on a photo dated 1996. It depicted a blur of an angry teen girl holding a half empty bag of flour, storming away from a boy whose eyes were wide with shock, body coated in white. "This must have been when you started as an apprentice at my parent's bakery!"
"Of course," Tom replied to his wife, "they wanted a photo of their two assistants. As usual, I made a fool of myself in front of you. I still remember being so nervous around the love of my life!" The couple was so enraptured by the picture, they missed the way their daughter's face flushed as she thought of the way she acted in front of Adrien and hoped her story might have a happy ending, too.
"Oooh, Thomas Dupain! I can't believe you!"
"Sabine, I don't know what I did wrong, I'm so sorry," the fifteen year old apologized. Ever since the day they met, Tom had a habit of upsetting Sabine on accident. At school she avoided him, since he always seemed to trip on air and drop or spill something on her. Today was supposed to be different, and all he did was speak to her and she got mad. He looked to his employers, "I'll clean this for you and won't come back, you don't have to worry about paying me."
The Chinese couple laughed, eyes sparkling with amusement. "Nonsense, Tom," the woman replied, her French near perfect after so many years living in the country. "Today is only your first day and I believe you have potential. Besides, not many French boys share your love of our baked goods."
This was very true. If it hadn't been for his adventurous mother, Tom probably would have never set foot in the Quartier Chinois, where he discovered the deliciousness of baozi, fa gao, and his favorite, sachima. Once his parents deemed him old enough to venture into the area on his own he visited the bakery often, making friends with the owners. Imagine his surprise when he walked in as Sabine kissed her father's cheek and ran in the back of the store. When he stepped to the counter and was offered an apprenticeship he quickly accepted, hoping to spend more time with the girl and even impress her.
Of course, this desire to impress was often followed by disaster. Today, it meant the object of his affection dumped a bag of flour on his head. He hadn't even finished his sentence before earning the surprise, only getting out, "Sabine, wǒ kěyǐ wěn nǐ ma-"
"What were you trying to say?" The older gentleman asked between peals of laughter.
"I had been practicing Chinese, I wanted to ask her to go the movies with me and hoped to surprise her."
"I'm sure you surprised her, all right." The adults began laughing again.
The young man's face lost color as he asked, "What did I say?"
"You asked if you could kiss her!"
Tom fainted.
The couple continued reminiscing as they turned the pages depicting their first date at sixteen (once Sabine started falling for her parent's sweet, but klutzy employee), Tom's move to Paris with his mom following his parent's divorce, their graduations from lycèe and the moments in between. Suddenly, a photo of the two together appeared. "This must have been after I moved to Paris for université. I remember being so surprised to see Tom."
"In a city of thousands, who would've thought we would be able to find each other again?" Tom smiled fondly at his wife. "I had been working through pastry school when she stepped through the doors of the boulangerie I worked for. She was more beautiful than I remembered." Tender eyes gazed on each other as they smiled, remembering the years after they reunited.
"Oh, look Tom!" Sabine announced, turning the page. The photo showed the pair with wide smiles in front of an ice cream cart. The woman excitedly showed off her left hand to the camera, a sparkling engagement ring proudly displayed.
"I was so nervous you were going to swallow it. Maybe hiding the ring in the ice cream wasn't my best idea." The family laughed in agreement.
More pages turned through dozens of wedding and honeymoon photos. Before long the pictures depicted Sabine sporting a short bob and a large belly. Soon after, the couple was joined by a blue eyed baby. As they observed Marinette's rapid growth over the years, they were interrupted by a picture of a five year old girl, held in the arms of her parents, outside of a familiar building with gold writing on the windows. The words 'célébrera l'ouverture' were written on a banner above the store. "This was when we opened a bakery of our own, Tom and Sabine Boulangerie Patisserie," Tom proudly announced.
"It all went so fast, didn't it?" his wife asked gently, a single tear escaping her eye. They continued through the book until the end, thankful for the years they spent together and excited for the years to come.
.o.O.o.
Next time: After the end of Copycat, Nino, Adrien, Alya, and Marinette were supposed to go to the movies together. Unfortunately, Adrien wasn't allowed to attend, but the threesome go anyway. New feelings emerge as a result. (Have you ever wondered when Nino's crush on Marinette in Animan began?)
.o.O.o.
A/N: I try to keep all of these stories around 1k words, but I got a little carried away with this prompt. This was a lot of fun to research for and maybe one day I'll do a Tom and Sabine centered story. In the third 'flashback', the Chinese phrase Tom is trying to say is "Sabine, wǒ kěyǐ wèn nǐ ma-", which translates to "Sabine, can I ask you-". By mispronouncing 'wèn' as 'wěn', the meaning is changed to "Sabine, can I kiss you?" Poor Tom!
From my research, I found that Chinatowns in France are called Quartier Chinois. Lyon has one of the largest Chinese communities in France, so I thought it made sense for Sabine's family to move there. On another note, I want to try some Chinese baked goods now! Most of the traditional items are savory, but some, such as sachima, are sweet.
I admit that I heavily relied on the internet for this chapter, so if there is something that you find incorrect, please let me know!
PS: App users, can we rant together a little bit about this update? I used to love this app, but now it's super irritating. Ugh. *Gets off soapbox*