Ladybug was sick and tired of the way the people of Paris had been treating her lately. It was as though ever since she'd taken down Hawkmoth, they expected her to find a new supervillain in a funny costume to challenge. It was always questions about why there weren't any news coverages of her anymore,, or any big battles. You'd think the people of Paris would be happy to be able to feel what they wanted to now, but apparently not. Saving people from getting mugged or robbed or assaulted wasn't enough because it wasn't newsworthy like an Akuma. Being harassed by an emotionally manipulative terrorist for 6 years wasn't enough for people, they wanted her to do something greater than that now that she took care of Hawkmoth.
She didn't want that, she didn't even want to be a hero anymore. Would she still fight every day to make sure people were safe? Obviously. But she just wanted to have the most normal life she could while being the guardian to the miraculous. She wanted to go to university, graduate with her class and move on to starting her own business. Most of all she just wanted to move on.
And yet it was nearly impossible for her to move on right now. She was constantly waking up screaming, imagining Gabriel Agreste breaking out of prison and getting the miracle box from her. She would dream of him skewering her with his sword/cane. She would dream of Adrien who'd cried and screamed when he saw who his father was before eventually joining his side.
Chat Noir wasn't her partner anymore. Adrien had gone to jail with his father and Nathalie. When he'd found out who Hawk Moth was, why he wanted the miraculous, he'd flipped sides with almost no hesitation. That was almost six months ago at this point, and yet nothing felt like it was going right despite the take down of Paris's one and only super villain.
Marinette had no friends left, Lila had seen to that. She'd graduated lycee with no friends besides the kwamis, and her life had never felt so desolate. She'd told her parents who she was after Hawkmoth was defeated, and they'd had a good long cry about it. But still, she had no one she felt like she could vent to about it. About how she truly felt about being who she was right now.
Mari was lost. She was suffering from severe PTSD, she knew that much. She was also repressing her negative emotions, so used to doing so during Hawkmoth's reign that it was nearly part of who she was at this point. But she was tired of having to put on fake smiles for her parents and the people of Paris. Tired of waking up in a sweat every night because she knew that the prison wasn't as far away as she'd like it to be from the miraculous. And mostly, she was tired of seeing her former classmates walking down the streets and sneering in her direction.
Losing Alya had been the second hardest part of the past six years. She'd really thought that she'd finally made a real friend in her class, not just someone who she'd see in class and no other time of day. Someone who she could tell her worries and memories and secrets to without any judgment. But she hadn't, and Alya had turned on her faster than any of the other classmates when Lila came to the school.
So, when it came time to apply to university, Marinette had chosen to apply out of the country. Her top choice was Gotham University, for a business degree, but she highly doubted she would ever get in there. She'd also applied for the position at Wayne Industries, hoping to be the stylist for the company. She had a lot of experience under her belt, having expanded her brand since she started working for Jagged, but it was still a long shot. She was young, and she doubted that anyone would actually take her seriously enough to look at the resume she sent in.
It would be nice though, to go to a city that had its own heroes to deal with its problems. She wouldn't need to call on her powers unless absolutely necessary because there were other people there to take care of it for once. Did she still hold a grudge against the Justice League for not answering her calls for help? Obviously. But she knew that Batman protected his city with a ferocity she herself possessed.
"Marinette!" her mother called from downstairs, snapping her out of her thoughts on the current design she was working on.
"Coming maman," she called back, stepping back from her latest work. It was part of the largest commission she'd done to date, a full fall wardrobe for her uncle Jagged. He'd wanted 20 shirts, 10 pairs of skinny jeans, 2 full suits and 2 brand new faux leather jackets. He'd also asked her to learn jewelry making to make him some chain bracelets and necklaces.
She'd charged in advance for materials of course, not having that much fabric in stock at all times. He'd placed the order in December as well, so he'd given her plenty of time to finish the project. Of course she was already almost done with it, considering the fact she never went out anymore. Not having to pay for anything but her supplies really helped her save on money as well.
Realistically, with how much she made off of commission work she would be able to afford to live alone while in Gotham. Granted it wouldn't be one of the safest neighborhoods but she honestly considered herself capable of handling anything that came her way.
When she got downstairs she saw her mother excitedly holding a rather large, thick envelope with her name on it. The small Chinese woman was practically vibrating with the amount of excitement she was emitting at the moment.
Granted, her parents had been wary at first when she indicated she wanted to move to Gotham, of all places. But it was easy enough to remind them that she was Ladybug and could easily take care of herself. They had wanted to move to the city with her at first, but she managed to convince them otherwise. She needed to grow on her own, to be independent for once in her life and learn to make her own way in the world. Plus, she couldn't let them give up the bakery for her. She knew how much they loved their customers and the city, especially now that Hawkmoth was gone.
Marinette almost screamed, dashing across the room faster than she thought she could and grabbing the envelope. She looked at the front of it. This one was from Gotham University. She had high hopes with how thick the envelope was, but that didn't necessarily mean she got the scholarship she'd asked for. She really didn't want to have to pay the school fees on top of everything else she'd need.
Tearing the top off the envelope, she pulled out the thick stack of papers and found the one that said what she'd gotten. "Dear Miss Dupain-Cheng, we are proud to accept you into Gotham University with…" she trailed off, reading the full thing to herself with wide eyes.
She could hardly believe it. "Woah," she said, falling backwards into the couch behind her.
"Well?" her mother basically screamed, wanting to know what was going on. Mari thought Sabine might have had coffee or something, with how much energy her normally calm mother had.
"I got the full scholarship," she started, and couldn't get the rest out before her mother grabbed her in a huge hug. "And they're paying for my apartment off campus!" This time she screamed with her mother.
"Oh, I'm so proud of you, Mari," her mother cooed, holding her daughter tight to her body and swaying back and forth. "I'm going to miss you so terribly, but I'm still so proud of you!"
And then her papa walked in, saw the two of them hugging and couldn't resist picking his two favorite girls up in his arms no matter what the hug was for.
Marinette giggled as she told her father about the good news, and giggled even more as he began to twirl them around the room. "Papa! Put me down!" she said with a laugh, secretly wishing they could stay like this forever. It'd been a while since anything had made them so happy they could do this. Group hugs were a daily thing for them, but the twirling was not.
Marinette loved her family so much, and leaving them behind while she went to Gotham for four years was going to be nearly impossible. She'd make it work though. She could now use her designated rent money for plane tickets back during break, something she hadn't been able to figure out before.
"We've got to get all the hugs we can, now, sweet pea!" Tom yelled, laughing with his family. "We've only got a month more to give them to you before you're off!"
Marinette smiled, so happy to be so close to her escape. She loved her family, she really did, but she needed a fresh start with new people and new memories. A place she couldn't walk down the street and remember how she'd been tossed through a wall or where she'd talked with her former best friends.
"Time will fly papa, and I'll be back before you know it," she said, smiling brightly as she was set on her feet.
Yeah, this will be good, she thought to herself, already pulling up her phone so she could make lists of what she would need to do to get ready to leave. I'll be back before they know it, and hopefully I'll be okay again.