A New Beginning

The next day, Marinette arrived at school, where she was nearly tackled her when Alya came rushing and hugged her tightly.

"Marinette! Thank goodness, I thought after yesterday you weren't gonna show up."

"I'm fine, Alya. Thanks for checking up on me, yesterday." she replied, hugging her friend in return.

"Girl, you missed the whole thing! Ladybug was incredible! I saw the whole thing on T.V., but when I rushed to get to the Eiffel Tower to at least get another glimpse, they were gone!"

"Yeah, well Ladybug and Chat Noir are pretty fast, I hear."

"Speaking of which, you didn't tell me, what was Chat like?"

"I already told you, he took me somewhere I'd be safe."

"Yeah, but you didn't give me the details! Come on, spill it! It's not everyday you get rescued by a superhero."

Marinette smiled as she tried to find the best words to describe Chat Noir. But really, there was no one word to best describe him. "Chat Noir is…one of a kind." she said with a cheeky grin, which made Alya gasp.

"No…way! You have a crush on Chat Noir! Don't deny it, it's written all over your face!"

"Alya, stop it!" Marinette shoved her friend aside as they walked into school together.

"Relax, I won't tell anyone. Though, I should warn you, I think you might have some competition." she said, pointing her thumb to a couple of girls who already had pictures of Chat Noir from the news in their hands, squealing like the school girls they were.

Marinette only rolled her eyes. "I think I can handle it." she said.

"Wow! Where did all of this new confidence come from?"

"I figured, new school, new city, new life…might as well embrace it."

Alya blinked in surprise, "Okay, either you drank some kind of power boost vitamin this morning, or crushing on a superhero's gotten you in a tizzy."

Marinette decided to humor her a bit by leaning against a wall, placing her hand on her forehead in a dramatic fashion, pretending to swoon. "You're right! I'm head over heels!"

"Ha, ha, very funny. Wait a second, this might actually work!" Alya said excitedly, "If you ever run into Chat Noir again that means you'll get to meet Ladybug, and if you meet Ladybug then I can get an exclusive interview for my blog!"

"Well, I can't wait to see that."

"Oh, even better! I'm gonna find out who's hiding behind her mask!"

Marinette's eyes widened a bit as the two walked to class. "Yeah, good luck with that one." she said. She made sure to watch her back whenever Alya was around when another Akuma attack ever arose.

(~)

Adrien hung his head, his back pressed against his car seat, listening to his father, once again, scowling at his son from the screen of the ipad via video chat. "Adrien, you disobeyed me. Twice!"

"I know, dad." the boy said sadly.

"And you know I cannot tolerate such rebellious behavior."

"I know, dad."

"Now, you see this school?" he said, and Adrien turned his head to look at the high school he had snuck off to twice already. He knew his father only asked Gorilla to drive him there as a way to punish his son, because he knew he would never got back to this place again. To never attend normal classes, to never see his new friend Nino again…to never see her outside of his new double life, again. He wouldn't even get a chance to show her who he really was. He had already found out who she was, now he wanted her to know who he was. He just hoped she wouldn't be disappointed.

"Yes, dad." Adrien replied sadly. "I see it."

"Good. Because you will never, ever go back there again…without your bodyguard."

Adrien gasped. Did he hear correctly?

"He will drop you off and pick you up, every day." Gabriel said. Adrien didn't even care how silly he looked, he smiled like a happy child on Christmas morning opening up presents!

"Nathalie proposed organizing your new schedule." Gabriel said. "You will continue your music, Chinese, and fencing classes, and of course, the photoshoots."

Adrien looked over at Nathalie beside him. She sat there with a monotone expression, but Adrien knew she had done this because she genuinely cared about the boy. She might not show it much, and she might not be the most emotionally expressive person, but he knew she did not have a heart of stone.

"Thank you, Nathalie. Thank you, Father!" Adrien swung the car door open and dashed out like a happy little child. Even if he didn't see it, Nathalie did crack a small smile.

(~)

Once they entered the classroom, Marinette and Alya were about to take their seats, until Mari stopped on her tracks. "No, wait a second." she said.

Alya watched in surprise as Marinette sat down in Chloe's seat. "What are you doing?"

"Is there any rule that says students need to stay in the same seat every year?"

"No, not really. I mean, it's not a strict rule at least."

"I picked this seat when I first got here, so this is where I'll stay." she scooted over a bit, opening a spot for her friend. "And you."

Alya smiled and the two new friends placed their respected bags onto the table and sat down, giving each other a fist pump in victory.

"What do you two losers think you're doing?!" Chloe asked angrily once she and Sabrina walked into the classroom, seeing Marinette and Alya in their spots. "You're in the wrong seats! Go sit somewhere else!"

"Yeah…no." Marinette said, this time not backing down.

"What did you just say?"

"You heard me." Marinette stood from her seat and faced the blond head on. "You've had your fun, you've had your laugh, but I'm not someone you can just push around. Not me, or anyone else in this class! If you need somewhere to sit, there's a perfectly good desk over there." she pointed towards her's and Alya's former desk and placed a hand on her hips, "As we say in New York; "Tough break, sweetheart!"." she said, using a New York accent for effect, which only made Chloe even angrier.

The rest of the students laughed and Chloe and Sabrina hesitantly sat on that desk. Chloe may act tough, but she wouldn't dare break a nail by fighting. That, and she was secretly scared of fighting anyway, but she would never admit to that.

Marinette sighed in satisfaction as she sat down on her new seat. She never knew standing up for herself could feel this good. After facing an army of stone monsters, and her own insecurities, Chloe was as scary as a worm on a hook.

"Well played!" Alya said, smiling proudly.

Adrien walked into class as well, taking in the sweet classroom air. He and Nino greeted one another and Adrien's spirits lit up the moment he saw Marinette. He waved happily at her but, to his disappointment, she did not wave back. She didn't look particularly upset, but rather unsure if to say hello or not. He had forgotten, she still didn't know who he was, just what he was. He couldn't fault her for that though.

Adrien sighed sadly as he sat down. Nino placed his elbows on the desk and rested his chin on his knuckles. "You know, if you want to make friends, you should talk to Marinette. Explain to her what really happened. You know, about the gum."

"But what if she doesn't believe me?" Adrien asked with worry.

"Just speak the truth. Keep it real, dude!"

"Keep it real…" Adrien whispered to himself. He smiled at his new friend. "Thanks, Nino."

(~)

School was over and everyone was well on their way home. Adrien walked out, noticing the cloudy skies and pouring rain. Thankfully, the school always had extra umbrellas handy in case of such unexpected weather and the students didn't bring their own. Sadly, half of the umbrellas were already gone so only two remained. Adrien choose one, but once he tried to open it, it got stuck. He strained to open it, which caused it to break. Now it couldn't even stay open. He reached to pick another, but stopped when someone else beat him to it.

It was Marinette.

For a moment, Adrien froze in place. The girl didn't say a word, she just stared at him with a stoic expression. Her eyes fell on his broken umbrella. He was half expecting her to say he deserved it, but she didn't.

In all honesty, Marinette didn't know what to say. Thinking it over, Marinette wondered if she had judged this boy too harshly after the gum incident yesterday. Chat Noir himself taught her that one must first see who a person is instead of what they are. She was just unsure. Besides, she really didn't know this boy, would it be such a loss if she didn't befriend him? She already had Alya, Tikki and Chat Noir, so would it be such a loss?

"Hey." Adrien greeted, waving his hand, but Marinette still didn't respond. She opened her umbrella and prepared to leave.

"You're from New York, right?" he asked, making Marinette stop on her tracks. She kept her back turned.

"Excuse me?" she asked.

"New York. What's it like there?"

Marinette was surprised he would ask her such a question, and so out of the blue like that. "It's…alright." she replied, a tad hesitantly. Chat Noir asked her the same question the other night. "It's big and loud. Mostly loud."

"What about Time Square? Is it cool?"

Marinette was practically frozen in place right now. She was experiencing a serious case of deja vu right now. "Really cool." she replied, still keeping her back to him. "Especially on New Year's Eve."

"I hear it's like madness. But the good kind." Adrien said. This time, Marinette turned her head to look at him, but still kept her back turned. "I really was trying to get the gum off of your seat, honest. I've never went to school before, or had any real friends. This is all so new to me too. And I know it can be a bit hard to trust people when you've been hurt by them. I'm sorry I hurt your trust."

Marinette turned her head away, her gaze to the ground. "I'm sorry I acted like a jerk. I shouldn't have judged you so quickly."

"I don't blame you. I know rich kids like me don't have the best reputation."

"Hasn't anyone ever told you?..." Marinette said as she finally turned around to face him…while handing him her umbrella.

Adrien was stunned as he looked at the umbrella and then back at Marinette, who smiled. She had the exact same smile, and her eyes sparkled undoubtedly the exact same way they did that night on top of the Eiffel Tower.

"It's not about what you are, it's who you are." she said. Thunder roared in the far distance at just the right moment.

The two stood there, listening to the sound of the falling rain as Marinette waited for Adrien to take the umbrella. He reached out his hand, trembling a bit, but managed to take the handle. He didn't expect to feel so stunned by this moment. His heart was beating hard against his chest and his muscles didn't respond. His thumb slipped and the umbrella closed over his head.

Marinette gasped a bit at the unexpected surprise and lifted the umbrella to see Adrien underneath it, the dark material casting a shadow around his eyes, almost like a mask, making his forest green eyes stand out. He smiled shyly, his cheeks red in embarrassment.

Marinette started to laugh as she helped open up the umbrella further. Adrien beamed, listening to her laughter before bursting out himself. The two laughed in perfect sync until they heard the sound of a car horn. Adrien's limo driver had arrived. Marinette let out one last adorable giggle and smiled at the blond.

"Au Revoir, Adrien. See you tomorrow." she said, in a surprisingly flirty tone before walking down the stairs, leaving Adrien to stare wide-eyed and weak-kneed.

"Yeah, see you to…see you soonday, well no, see you when-I mean…" the poor boy groaned in frustration as he face palmed himself and Plagg flew out of his hiding place.

"Seriously?" the kwami shook his head, "You're a hopeless boy, you know that?" he said, but Adrien was too busy smiling at what had just happened.

Marinette turned a corner, looking back for a moment to see Adrien enter his car. Tikki poked her head from Mari's bag. "I don't believe it!" she said.

"Like I said…he really is one of a kind." she said, smiling to herself as she walked home, not caring about the rain. It was actually quite refreshing. "Besides, I'd recognize that laugh anywhere."

As the two children went their separate ways, a familiar stranger watched from afar, holding his own umbrella, with his kwami resting on his shoulder.

"Excellent choice, Master." Wayzz said, bowing in respect as Master Fu stroked his beard.

"Those two were made for each other." he voiced out.

"It will be a tough journey ahead of them." Wayzz said. "I just hope they will be up for the challenge."

"Wayzz, do you remember Matthew 10:16-20, by any chance?"

The kwami nodded his head and recited the verse. "I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves. Be on your guard; you will be handed over to the local councils and be flogged in the synagogues. On my account you will be brought before governors and kings as witnesses to them and to the Gentiles.But when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say,for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you."

"I believe they will be just fine. Especially, Marinette." Master Fu said…as he pulled out a hair comb, painted gold with a bee ornament.

"Just like her sister was."

(~)