Disclaimer: Do not own Marianne, the 2019 horror Netflix series

Warnings for talk of a child's death, trauma, reckless behavior, drinking, drug use and gun use

In retrospect

Chapter one

The gun went off.

The bullet went flying between the two women and whistled by Aurore's ear, making the blonde woman gasp, as she and Emma collapsed to the floor hard.

Aurore heard that horrific woman, Marianne's snarl, then everything went black.

At least, that was how it was, for a while.

But soon, Aurore came to, opening her eyes and raising her head, looking around.

Her eyes widened when she took in her surroundings.

She recognized this room. It took her a few moments to recognize it, but she recognized it, nonetheless.

Aurore lifted herself off of the bed, her blanket dropping off of her shoulders into a clump on her lap.

She saw all the rock and roll posters on the walls of her bedroom.

She knew where she was. The room was dark, but sunlight was slipping in through the window blinds, allowing her to see the posters on the walls. So, she knew where she was. Her old bedroom. From when she used to live with her parents.

Aurore furrowed her eyebrows. How did she get here? And why the hell did she still have so many rock posters up? She kept some of her old rock posters up in her old room. But not this many.

What was-?

Her questions were cut off, when the door of her bedroom all but was rammed open, and a small girl who Aurore for years had dreamed of still being alive, came through that door, the small girl carrying her favorite stuffed toy with her.

"L-Lucie?" Aurore asked, unable to keep her voice from shaking.

"Nana," Lucie announced excitedly, as she all but crashed into Aurore's bed, "Nana! Mama says we can get ice cream after school, so get to school so we can have ice cream after!"

Aurore didn't even have the wherewithal to ask her apparent sister, what was going on. She just stared at the figure in front of her.

Was this another trick? Marianne pulling yet another one of her intensely cruel ploys to lure her prey into a trap?

"Lucie….," Aurore said, more than sure that this had to be an illusion constructed by the vile witch that was Marianne, and yet still unable to keep the emotion out of her voice as she said the name of her dearest sister.

Lucie tilted her head as she looked up at Aurore. "What's wrong?" The girl asked, "Aurore, what's wrong?"

"I…," Aurore began, then there were footsteps that entered the room, causing the blonde to lift her head.

And her eyes widened.

Her mother was standing in the doorway of Aurore's bedroom. Except not her mother as she was the last time Aurore had seen her. Her mother's hair when Aurore had last seen her? Had been almost entirely gray.

This woman's hair? Still had a good deal of auburn in it.

Aurore stared. This woman was the exact same woman that had been Aurore's mother in her teenage years.

Aurore then realized that none of her hair was around her shoulders, and that she could feel something sticking up on her head.

"No way," she whispered, reaching up at her scalp and she felt it. Her mohawk. Her mohawk was back.

But how-?

"Aurore?" Aurore's mother, Louise Lavigne asked, confused, "You look out of it. Are you alright?"

Aurore threw an uneasy glance at her mother. This couldn't be happening. This just couldn't be happening. This was a trick. It had to be.

And when she felt Lucie's hand grab her right hand and squeeze it, she felt herself gasp out painfully, staring down at her baby sister.

How was Lucie here? How was she alive?

Aurore's mother being here made her think that she really was here, back when she was a teenager. How had that happened, Aurore had no idea.

No idea, whatsoever.

She gave a small, sob, overtaken by emotion and still hurting over what she had seen Emma try to do, and she lunged for Lucie and took the small girl into her arms, hugging her.

"Aurore?!" Lucie yelped, "What's the deal?"

Aurore didn't answer as she just hugged her sister close and felt the tears come against her will.

How was Lucie alive? She didn't know. But if that bullet that Emma had fired hadn't actually missed her and had instead shot into her brain? And if this was somehow heaven? Aurore would take it.

Except it couldn't be heaven. Her mother and father both were still alive.

Which left only one option.

This was a trick that Marianne had constructed. Just like Aurore had thought it to be.

Still, if it was? Aurore could play along as long as she got to hold Lucie just for a little while, before she was killed.

She had saved Emma. She had to believe that she had saved Emma.

She hoped desperately that Emma had a happy life after this. That Emma would stop blaming herself for what happened, and that she could move on. She was certain that Emma wouldn't. That Aurore dying or whatever was happening to her right now, would most likely haunt Emma for years to come.

But Aurore hoped that it wouldn't.

Emma needed to forgive herself and move on.

"Aurore?" Louise asked, confused.

Aurore smiled and faced this illusion of her mother and smiled. "I'm fine mom," she said, not sure what exactly this illusion was supposed to do against her, but she loathed Marianne all the more for it.

"You…," her mother said, still appearing perturbed, "You need to get ready for school if nothing's wrong."

Aurore laughed. School.

Wasn't that funny?

"Alright," she said, letting Lucie go and getting up from her bed, "I guess off to school."

A confused Louise and Lucie Lavigne watched as Aurore got up and got ready for school. Aurore never let Lucie out of her sight.

When the two girls left their home, Aurore reluctantly left her sister at the island and went to her high school.

Still too stunned by everything to sit down, Aurore waited by the road. She looked over the edge of the island at the water, catching her reflection.

She had seen herself in the morning since waking up in her childhood bedroom. She looked exactly like how she did when she was fifteen and a half.

But again, how? What did Marianne get out of all of this?

Then she heard a voice that she knew far too well.

"Aurore," and Aurore slowly turned around and faced Emma. Young Emma. Fifteen-year-old Emma.

Aurore's heart hurt at the sight of Emma. Knowing what she knew now? Aurore felt her heart hurting, knowing what Emma had gone through.

Having someone like Marianne in your head almost your whole life? Aurore couldn't even begin to imagine what that must be like.

Knowing what she knew now, Aurore wondered if all of the worst impulses that she had seen Emma indulge in, was because Marianne had made her do it, or because Marianne had encouraged her to do it or manipulated her into it.

"Emma," Aurore said, smiling, and even if this was a dream or a hallucination which Marianne had cooked up? She still wanted to treat Emma gently.

"Sorry I'm late again," Emma said.

"It's alright," Aurore said, fighting the urge to reach out and pull Emma into her arms.

Then again? This was a hallucination or a dream, so what did she have to lose?

So, Aurore did it. She reached out and grabbed Emma's right wrist, and pulled Emma forward, right into her arms.

She heard the hallucination of Emma gasp. Aurore hugged Emma tightly. (I'm sorry,) she thought to herself, (I'm sorry.)

Aurore had never understood it, but she knew now that she should have apologized to Emma. Emma wasn't the only one that had needed to apologize.

Aurore had blamed Emma for Lucie's death. Not directly. But after finding out that Emma had been there at the school when Lucie had died, even if she knew deep down that it had entirely been Marianne's fault? She had blamed Emma.

Yes, she knew now that the only reason she had blamed Emma, had been because she had been in pain. Emma had been there and had left Aurore's sister's body. Emma realized now why it had hurt so much.

She hadn't thought of it before, but she knew now that she wouldn't have reacted the same way if she had found out Arnaud had been the one to leave her sister's body in that tub at Lucie's school.

Why hadn't Aurore seen it before?

Aurore at last pulled back from Emma, smiling at her, unable to help the adoration that was on her face.

Emma stared at Aurore, and Aurore fought a laugh. Emma had no idea what was going on. Even if this was somehow real, which it wasn't, Emma had no idea why Aurore was acting like this, understandably too.

"It's alright, Emma," she said, walking with Emma down the road, "It's alright."

A voice then said, interrupting them, "The two of you are late."

Aurore gasped, looking behind her. Caro. Caroline.

She was here. Alive and young.

Aurore almost cried again. Seeing Caroline? It was too much.

Emma said quietly, "We'll probably miss the bus again, sorry. I…had another bad dream."

"You pissed the bed again?" Caroline asked, no harshness or teasing in her voice, just a simple question.

Aurore stared at Caroline as the other girl began to walk alongside Aurore and Emma.

Seeing Aurore's staring, Caroline asked, "Aurore, you alright?"

Emma said quietly, "She's acting funny."

The bus suddenly came and all three girls had to move out of the way as it drove right by them, the driver deliberately leaving them.

Caroline and Emma both hissed and gave the bus's backside the middle finger.

Aurore's eyes widened.

Wait a minute.

Was this the time that she was beginning to think that it was?

"Ladies," a familiar young man's voice said, coming up and putting his arm around Emma's shoulders, making Aurore narrow her eyes, "I have to confess, I don't know why I even got up this morning."

Aurore was startled to realize that she was jealous. But not jealous of Emma.

How had she not seen all of this before?

She had never felt for Arnaud what she felt for Emma. Yes, she had liked Arnaud. She still did. But she realized it was nothing compared to how she felt for Emma. She just hadn't been able to understand the depths of what she felt for Emma, at the time.

As they kept walking, Emma looking at her still as if she didn't know if Aurore had lost her mind or not, Caroline said, "Need to be careful. If the priest catches us, we're dead."

Aurore tried not to shudder. It was the time that she thought. This was the day when it had all started. At least for her and the others.

This was the day when Caroline would offer a way for Emma to be able to sleep. Through her spirit board that she created.

And Aurore only had that confirmed when they heard Seby's voice.

Seby yelled as he ran at them, "Run! It's the priest!"

Father Xavier, pulled a leash off of the dog he had with him and let the dog run at the teenagers.

Aurore's mind went wild as she and the others fled with the dog at their backs.

She decided to disregard any thoughts about how much she disliked Father Xavier and how ridiculous he was, thinking that sending a big scary dog after children would somehow make them be better, or that he somehow deserved to be a priest when he sent a potentially dangerous dog after children.

This was actually happening.

This was the day when they would summon Marianne.

Was this real? Had Aurore time traveled?

As Aurore leapt off of the stone side, into the water, after the others had leapt into the water, she realized that if this really was an actual second chance, and she had gone back in time for real, somehow, then she would have to take advantage of that second chance.