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Marinette's days seemed to run on a stumbling, unpredictable staccato beat. The flow of her life sped up and slowed down in irregular intervals as she grew and learned. Learning to bake with her parents introduced a smooth languid beat that felt like the thud of dough against wood and the steady whisking of cream in a bowl. When she learned to sew, she moved with the thrumming of her machine as the needle danced in and out of the fabric. Time at school was syncopated at best, and more often than not, simply chaotic. She tried her best as she worked through different subjects and navigated friendships. She was used to the unpredictability of her life, even if she didn't always enjoy it. She didn't know anything else. Blue-black twin tails bobbed in time with whatever she was experiencing at any given moment and a friendly smile was always at the ready.
She felt most peaceful at home, sharing life with her family. Papa's excitement over a new recipe and her maman's gentle way with words as Marinette shared the best parts of her day, would help her to slow down and find a moment of rest. The way maman would pour another cup of tea or the dance of soup spoons in and out of their bowls had a balance to it that made her feel safe and steady.
The many-varied rhythms of her life took a sudden and dramatic turn when she found herself in possession of a pair of magical earrings. More than any other driving force, this one was like an unexpected train- always urgent and never respecting her schedule. Ladybug punctuated her continuing days with oddly placed exclamations shoved into places they didn't truly belong. It was a rhythm she was loathe to embrace, but an inner sense of duty and her natural care for the people around her drove her to accept the new and weighty responsibility.
When the earrings and Hawkmoth stutter-stopped into her life, she found a flutter. It was sweet and quick and always seemed to throw every one of her cadences out of whack. She watched Adrien with a romantic longing, but anytime she drew near him, she would be tripped up by his soft flutter. Flutter. Flutter. Flutter…double step -bang. Her words, her steps, everything she was, seemed to trip and fall, leaving a shattered discordant mess when she got too close. In many ways it was painful.
Urged on by her well-meaning friends, she tried to match her rhythm to his, but quickly became frustrated, what was the point? It was with difficulty that she pulled away and resolved to find a better focus. Surely, somewhere there was hope for a better fit.
Moving through life, Marinette often felt disjointed and out of sync with herself as well as her friends; unless she was carefully focused on one task, she felt like all the bits of her were pulling her headlong into too many directions at once. Until the day she found the heartbeat.
"Hello, ma-ma-Marinette."
Her heart clenched in embarrassment, but Luka was quick to see her discomfort.
"Sorry, I tend to make more sense with this."
Tha-dump, tha-dump.
The sound of Luka's guitar filled the room as the steady beat of his heart seemed to find a place in the desperate, racing cadence of her own.
"That's strange, it seems like you have something like this in your heart."
What he played next felt like the jumble of her life. She could hear the bakery and her skittishness right alongside the panic of needing to save the day when Hawkmoth's Akumas drove her into her spots. The notes weren't bad, but for a moment they didn't seem to work together -until they did. The music rounded out into something new and it felt almost powerful.
She sat in relief and let the music cover her like a blanket.
Tha-dump, tha-dump.
"How do you do that?" He could hear her, did he know what the notes meant to her?
"Music is often simpler than words."
Tha-dump. Tha-dump.
It was a little unsettling at first. The peaceful regularity of that soft beat in the background. Marinette quickly discovered that the other rhythms of her life would fall into time with Luka's heartbeat when she let herself relax. The subtle scratch of a design on paper for her friends' band costumes balanced perfectly with the gentle and steady beat. Stitches moved easily in and out of fabric and her visions took shape under her needle alongside the grounding thrum that seemed to steady her hands and breath.
The hard thumps of dough on a board fell in line too, along with the racing of her heart around Adrien. It was as if the flutter could no longer affect her once it gave way to the steady, reliable beat that was Luka. Even her awkward gait as she moved seemingly too quickly on her way through life seemed to even out when Luka was near. She tripped less, her feet finding a more balanced pace when the steady 'tha-dump' reverberated through her.
The reliable beat helped her maintain her friendship and her footing when she went ice skating- helping Adrien and connecting with Kagami- it was so easy to take Luka's hand when she slipped.
"Are you alright, Marinette?"
She could feel her own heart race in time to his regular beat as he helped her off the ice. A perfect counterpoint. Although the tempos were different, the underlying time signature made being with him delightfully simple. Choosing Luka felt like fate- as if they were already entwined; he was her steady bass, and she was his enthusiastic melody. Not even the chaos of the Icy Akuma could put a damper on the feelings growing in her heart, even while she fought she could feel its dependable tempo leading her to success.
Tha-dump.
A compass guiding her in the right direction.
Tha-dump.
A shoulder when she needed a rest.
Tha-dump.
A port in the storm of life.
Eventually, she found she could feel it even in the steady presence of Viperion as her earrings dragged her racing across the city in times of need. Marinette finally felt less like a runaway train as Ladybug and more like a determined work engine, chugging along as they got the job done. How could one person make such a difference in her life? She craved the moments she got to spend with Luka, craved the way he made her feel.
In time, the many ever-changing rhythms of Marinette's life converged and found a common beat that called to and grounded her as it had done the first time they met.
She could feel the steady presence of his life in everything she did, and she loved him for it.
"How do you do that?" She asked one day when they were sitting on the deck of the Liberty working on their various projects. His gentle strumming had melted away the stress that seemed to accompany her all day long.
"Do what?"
"Make everything better just by being you?" She asked earnestly.
He blushed but met her eyes. "I don't know, but I feel better when you're around too."
"Yeah?" Her heart fluttered- but kept time with his.
"Definitely." He returned his focus to the strings dancing under his skilled fingers, and she to her homework, but they both wore smiles while they worked.
Luka and Marinette danced around each other for a bit, finding their footing as their friendship shifted. It took longer than they might have expected. Luka was clear in his adoration, but Marinette had a big secret, and navigating young love, no matter how sincere, is always complicated.
Luka's bold and delightfully romantic declaration after his akumatization set off a catalyst in their friendship, and Marinette's trust and adoration turned into first dates and shy kisses. Her heavy responsibility to Paris turned early dates into near-disasters when Hawkmoth preyed on the city, but the trust Luka cultivated gave her the freedom she needed to share her burden.
It was easy to see his frustration, which on Luka looked more like heartbreak or disappointment rather than anger whenever she slipped away from dates or showed up so late it was painfully rude. The look in his eyes as he tried to understand finally tipped her over the edge.
"Luka, I'm sorry. And what I'm about to tell you won't fix anything, but it will explain why ." Her voice was steady, but tears shimmered in her eyes, and she could feel a dangerous catch at the back of her throat. She couldn’t help but fear that there was a chance that even Luka wouldn't want the complication of dating Ladybug.
He looked at her considerately, albeit a little worriedly while he waited quietly for her to continue; he was always so patient. And the steady thrum of his heartbeat gave her the courage to share her deepest secret. Marinette took a deep, steadying breath.
"I'm Ladybug." It was tearfully whispered, and for one excruciating second she regretted saying it -she’d kept the secret for so long, but then his arms were around her. Luka was supporting and loving her just as he always had. Marinette felt her heart stumble and then with a gentle lub-dub, it was back on pace with the steady tha-dump that had become her safe haven. Relief filled her and the release of sharing her burden made her feel lighter than she had since the day she met Tikki.
Luka understood, of course, he did. Naturally, they both found themselves disappointed or frustrated by turns when Shadowmoth attacked during dates and their time together. But now that frustration was aimed at the true villain, Luka was always ready to help however he could, and Viperion, rebranded as Python after the Miracle Queen fiasco, quickly became a regular part of the team. His new navy super suit was so dark it bordered on black, and stealth became one of his hallmarks.
The constant presence of quick-thinking and hard-working Python made taking down Shadowmoth's Akumas much simpler than it would have been without him.
Marinette’s class moved on to their respective lycées and she enjoyed seeing Luka at school during his final year. He never seemed to mind the teasing that came with being a terminale student dating a seconde form student. “Good things come in small packages and Marinette is the best thing in the world.” She overheard him counter one of his mocking classmates one day. The next morning she greeted him with an unusually public kiss and a whole sleeve of macarons and refused to tell him why. He accepted both without complaint, and couldn’t keep the resulting grin off his face for the rest of the day.
The last fight against Shadomoth was challenging, to say the least. They say that desperation drives people to great lengths, and that was easily believed on both sides of the conflict. Both the Akuma and Sentimonster were destructive and it was painful to watch the devastation of the city before they got the break they needed. In his desperate attempt to thwart the balance of the universe, Shadowmoth eventually overextended himself and it wasn’t long after that before the determined trio of heroes cut him off from any escape. In the end, securing the Butterfly and Peacock Miraculous took only a moment, but discovering why he had chosen to terrorize Paris revealed shocking information. Chat Noir faltered and choked on a gasp when Gabriel Agreste was revealed in the last moment, stumbling back from the villain, he stood shaking his head until the magical ladybugs had sorted Paris and the Police had taken the man away.
Gabriel Agreste was hardly a paragon of fatherly virtue, but the discovery of his villainous identity was shocking, and a devastated Adrien handed his ring over to a stunned Ladybug before running into the night as soon as the area was clear of witnesses. Python followed him to ensure he was safe for the night at least, and last they heard; Adrien was moving to London with his aunt and cousin to grieve the loss of his mother and father in some semblance of peace.
The aftermath of Shadowmoth's reign was magic in itself. Living, school, dating, loving, everything seemed almost simple without the threat of akumatization hanging over them. The city seemed to take a collective breath and spirits in the city were high for months.
Uninterrupted dates- except for the occasional teasing sibling or raised eyebrow by a parent- became the norm, and Marinette and Luka's hearts seemed to beat with renewed vigor as they navigated life and their relationship together. While it wasn’t exactly effortless, merging the lives of two people always takes work and communication, it was an enjoyable journey for both of them.
When the time came, Marinette flew through terminale, scoring high marks and preparing for design school and a fashion internship all at once. Meanwhile, Luka began to make a name for himself by doing small gigs and selling the occasional arrangement to other musicians. By the end of the summer, he was opening for some of the bigger acts and even traveling occasionally.
They were still young, but they'd known for so long where they were headed. It was a continuation of the long song that began in the confines of Luka's berth the day Marinette stumbled into his room.
One day, sitting on the familiar deck of the Liberty, with the same old black and white guitar in his hands, Luka played the familiar notes that gave way to new measures, and for the first time, he sang as he played the ever-changing melody he heard in Marinette’s heart.
You're the song in my soul,
I never want to let you go.
Please take all of my days,
My love for you will last always.
Marry me, if you would, Marinette-
Let's go on our biggest adventure yet.
What do you say? Will you make my day?
Tha-dump.
"Yes!" She was smiling so hard it hurt, but never had it been easier to make a decision.
Later on, Marinette would wish she'd come up with a little verse or a quick rhyme, so that her answer would be as memorable as the proposal, but Luka only laughed and said he could never forget the joy in her quick response. He made sure she knew that her reply was forever ingrained in his heart and he wouldn't change their story for anything.
"Not anything?" she'd asked, surprised.
"This story we've been living is ours , what could be better?" he answered her easily, following his words with soft, but increasingly passionate kisses that made it easy to agree with him.
The sun shone brightly overhead, while the Liberty rocked gently at her mooring. The deck was surprisingly clear except for the flower-covered stage and mismatched seats lining the space before it on the day Luka and Marinette exchanged their wedding vows. Their hearts seemed to beat as one as they faced each other, and the Captain united them in front of their family and friends and witnesses.
Luka was beaming, his thumb gently caressing the small hands resting in his as he spoke, “Marinette, from the moment we met I knew you were worth knowing. I started falling for you the minute I saw you, and I haven’t stopped yet. I don’t think I ever will. I promise to stay by your side, to support and cherish you- to be your partner in whatever way you need; for now, and forever.”
Tha-dump.
Lub-dub.
Marinette had to fight back tears of joy while she made her own vows, “Luka, you are my steady beat in a chaotic world, my tether, and my greatest joy. I promise to love you every day of my life, to do my best to support and encourage you, and to stand with you through every challenge we face; for now, and always.”
Tha-dump.
Lub-dub.
“Ye can kiss yer bride now, lad.” Anarka's announcement was enthusiastically received and Marinette only half heard the cheers that surrounded them. She couldn't focus on anything other than Luka's lips on hers while he held her close. Her choice had been made and she was ready to start the rest of her life- with Luka at her side.
Tha-dump.
Lub-dub.
"Dance with me?" Marinette glanced up from her sewing machine to see Luka, his hand outstretched and a smile on his face. His abandoned coffee cup was on the edge of her sewing table, but a callused finger over her lips stopped her scolding. "It's empty," he promised with a wink and knowing smile.
Switching off her machine, she rolled her head to relax her neck and shoulders before she accepted his hand and offer of a dance.
Tha-dump. Lub-dub.
Their tether only seemed to grow stronger as they swayed to the music, and when he twirled her around the living room and into his embrace their laughter floated through the notes and charged the night. Fate knew exactly what she was doing when she wove their pink and blue strands together.
Their home echoed with music, laughter, and oftentimes the steady hum of a sewing machine or the soft scratch of pencil on paper. Both music and designs started from a whim and a blank page. Visiting friends swore they could feel the creativity when they came over.
Juleka's frequent expression of, "Ew, gross- that's my brother," was always said with a smile when she turned away in mocking disgust at their stolen kisses.
Tom and Sabine would laugh, and Tom's exclamation when he caught them kissing was always the same. "Here son, let me show you how it's done." Sabine would blush as her husband pulled her in for a kiss of their own.
There were times when life seemed perfect. As if all the stress and work from her time as Ladybug was finally giving way to karma in their favor.
Talent is both a blessing and a curse. Marinette's hard work and dedication to her designs and her clients kept her busy. Luka was no less talented or any less busy. Their rhythm as partners in heroism translated well to their daily lives as a couple. They worked to organize their schedules so that if they had to travel for work, both would attempt to align their travel arrangements. If Luka had a recording tour and Marinette had a design consultation out of town, they would do what they could to book them simultaneously, and thereby end up home (more often than not) at the same time, avoiding the danger of becoming like ships passing in the night. It meant sometimes turning down certain requests, but the knowledge of what it had been like as superheroes - their schedules dictated by outside sources, they were vehemently protective of their time together.
Distance never seemed to lessen the connection Marinette felt to the steadiness of Luka's heartbeat. Both of them had demanding jobs, and however distant they occasionally had to be, she could feel his soul calling to hers. It reverberated over their calls during fashion week and snaked its way through the scrawled lines on the back of a postcard when he toured.
Marinette swore she could feel it whenever either one of them touched down after a trip when their feet were once again connected to the same soil.
Tha-dump.
He's home .
Tha-dump.
He is my home.
Rose and Juleka's wedding was an event like no other. The model and philanthropist were splashed across the news with much acclaim. There weren't many people who could boast both MDC original gowns and Luka Couffaine as their musician.
For Marinette and Luka, it was a day full of love and more than a little sibling snarkiness that was only eclipsed by the memory of their own wedding.
Anarka was proud to see the Liberty as the setting for such exultant moments for her bairns. They had struggled, grown, and flourished under her often untraditional care and landed where they needed to be.
Her work as a mother might never be done, but the tiller was no longer in her control. Her weans had found new rudders to guide them, and they'd both chosen well.
Life was good, and there was very little anyone wanted to change. The next several months flew by in a whirlwind of joy and shared meals amongst family as they all settled into their happily ever afters.
The squealing of tires always seems to come with its own chaotic rhythm. Sometimes there is angry honking or an inconsistent pumping of brakes, maybe shouts and shaken fists. Sometimes though, they bring soft thuds and sudden silence as they break the tapestry of life.
He wasn't alone. Luka had fallen as he lived, gently guiding someone in need. A frail hand still clasped his where they fell together, her silver hair staining the street just as his black and blue locks screamed at Marinette to run, to help, to fix this like Ladybug had fixed so many things before. But Marinette wasn't Ladybug, not really, not anymore. Marinette was the Guardian, true, but mostly Marinette was a woman. A woman who loved and lived… and lost.
She collapsed in the street, not noticing as her slacks gave way to the harsh pavement, desperately reaching for Luka, her hands caressing and beseeching him to be okay.
Tha---dump.
Tha--
Lub-dub, lub-dub, lub-dub, lub-dub, lub-dub.
Too fast.
No tether.
Marinette abruptly lost her way when the steady rhythm she relied on disappeared from Earth, and she stopped.
Static.
There was no beat in the stream of her tears or the gasping breaths she wished she could share, to give to him .
Sirens wailed. Doors slammed. Panicked, sobbing apologies fell around her like rain, but couldn't find purchase in the sudden silence of her soul.
The first few weeks were the worst. Or that's what it felt like at the time. Her heart couldn't accept what her head knew and when she awoke with his scent lingering in their bed, there were a few blissful seconds when nothing had changed. Then she would reach for him- and the cold empty sheets were a fresh lance to her soul- when realization would pour over her like ice water, and her hot tears seared the remnants of her heart.
There were days she couldn’t seem to find the air her body needed to survive. It was as if her lungs had forgotten the push and pull required for life. It took so much work to catch her breath, to find the pattern that kept life in her lungs. The ebb and flow had been disrupted and Marinette couldn’t figure out how to get it back. Where was her rhythm? Sometimes the only thing she could focus on was the desperate sound of her own ragged breath and even that simple task often seemed nearly insurmountable.
She stumbled through the motions of life, and slowly Luka's scent faded from their bed. In a frantic bid to hold onto that tiny piece of him, she spritzed the pillows with his cologne, but his scent had been so much more than one thing. Losing yet another aspect of the way his life had entwined with hers reopened the wound and her heart ached with the pain of renewed loss. His guitar, so lifeless without his touch- much like Marinette herself- began to gather dust, no longer a creator of music, but a mere monument to the past. Luka's coffee cup no longer sat on the edge of her sewing table, where he had always stopped, lingering while she worked, to talk and swap details of their day.
"Not near the fabric , Luka!" The memory of her scolding voice echoed dully in her head as she traced the coffee ring with the tip of her finger. A sob tore its way from her throat when she turned away from the memory imprinted in the wood. She would sacrifice everything she'd ever made to spilled coffee if she could only have him back.
Her dreams tormented her in different ways. Sometimes he was there, just as he had always been- a perfect memory of his smile, his laugh, his touch … and waking up was the nightmare. But sometimes her sleeping hours forced her to relive that horrible moment when she lost him. She would wake with the acrid scent of burnt rubber and the tang of copper in her nose and the remembered squeal of brakes and the sudden silence of a soul ringing in her ears.
Memories painted red.
Silence of the dead.
A broken heart as it bled.
The whisper of words no longer said.
The first time was the result of a long, desperate spiral. The first anniversary of his loss had only just passed when Marinette woke up one morning and for one horrible and anguished second, she couldn’t remember the sound of his voice. The sudden pain of fresh loss was like a punch to the gut and she couldn’t catch her breath. She stumbled to the Miracle Box and hesitated for just a moment- wrestling with her sense of responsibility and the various options that taunted her. Sometimes the temptation to abandon her memory along with the Box was strong. But the idea of not knowing Luka, of not loving Luka, hurt even more than the pain of losing him. So, in a desperate bid to breathe again, she took Fluff and went back. Back to a time before Paris was under siege and life was complicated, but love was easy. Back to a time when Luka still lived. Fluff begged her not to use the jewel selfishly, but she was already past the point of persuasion.
“You might break tomorrow and yesterday could be lost forever! If you lose yesterday where will today be?” Fluff warned in their dizzying way. Marinette could think of a yesterday she wouldn’t mind losing. But she’d never seen Fluff so agitated, so she promised to do her best not to break any timelines or to interact with her past.
“I’ll be careful Fluff, I just need to see him for a second. I can’t forget. Please, just take me back.” Then she called on the transformation and stepped through a window to make a new memory in an old place.
The visit itself was relatively short. She walked along the Seine and paused at the Liberty, listening to the strains of guitar that drove her to silent tears the moment she heard the sound of his song. Marinette took a seat within sight and sound of the boat to watch and listen. She watched as he eventually left the boat- off to somewhere she couldn't know, and drank in the sight of him. He was shorter than she'd ever seen him, and his ambling gait suggested he was still getting used to his body. It was almost funny, there had been photos of course, but seeing him so young, it was almost as if he wasn't Luka yet, not quite. As he left he barely even glanced her way- this Luka hadn't met his Marinette yet, she wouldn't stumble into his room for almost another year.
She returned home with the sounds of his music in her ears and a hole in her heart.
Marinette knew both her family and friends were worried about her. Knew they talked about her. She knew that she should make more of an effort- if only for the people she loved and still had. Her parents tried so hard to help her. She had a standing invitation to join them for meals, and sometimes the only peace she could find was in the rhythmic thumping of kneading bread in her childhood kitchen. But the world was dyed gray in her downcast eyes. She moved through her life in the wretched present like a shadow- as if she were the spectre.
She kept on. Moving through her days without the zeal that used to accompany her tasks. She followed her designs to the letter and sewed with careful precision, but no passion. Designing itself became a chore, something she only did to survive.
One night, after wrestling with her design process, she fell asleep at the table, having nodded off over her sketchbook- not for the first time.
"C'mon Love, you can't sleep there- it'll hurt in the morning. Come to bed with me…" Luka's voice called softly to her.
She gasped awake, looking around desperately for her husband who was no longer there. Memories. All she had left of Luka was the ghost of his love haunting her heart and mind, always just out of reach.
The new line was well received, but she hated it. With grief as her only muse, each piece was only a reminder of where it came from.
Another year passed. But there was something about the anniversary that pulled and tugged.
“Tomorrow is a bad time to go to yesterday! Back then could bleed into now and tomorrow might fall apart!” Fluff implored when Marinette hesitantly held the Watch again.
It was dangerous to go to an Akuma day. But she couldn’t resist the Music Festival. The day fate had intervened; the day her joy and love and resulting grief all began in earnest.
Tha-dump. Tha-dump.
She could breathe. She gasped in shock when she stepped through the portal. She hadn’t noticed it during her first visit. The lack of rhythm she’d been forced to live without since the accident. But here now, at the moment of their meeting, she could feel the steadying pulse somehow, and it felt so right.
How could she live a life without his heartbeat in it? How had she survived this long? How much worse would it be when she went home and found it missing again? She lingered, watching the chaos and magical sweep of creation, sitting on the sidelines and breathing. Evening turned to night and she finally returned home only after the night chill settled into her bones.
It was so much worse than the last time. Stepping through the portal from the burrow into their-her home; the sudden loss was crippling in its hateful reality. She wasn’t meant to live without him, and trying to do so seemed to take every ounce of her strength.
Her visits become all too frequent after that, scarcely a month passed between each time she took a protesting Fluff on a journey to her, to their past. Chasing the sweet feeling of remembered joy, she slowly stalked her own love story. Watching from afar the moments that led her down a path of exquisite joy and eventual heartbreak.
She observed her younger self chase after Adrien the day of the skating rink, offering him a hug in support of his new friendship with Kagami, and then watched with a smile as she saw herself scramble back to the ever-patient Luka, so they could make their way home together.
She had to bite down her jealousy when he held her hand. She knew it wasn't healthy or rational- her visits or the way she sometimes felt about her younger self. Her own past. If only she could step into her own body and feel his hand enveloping hers once again.
Marinette watched the day Silencer fought for a bashful but adoring young Marinette, letting his words of love wash over her in her hidden spot, while 'little' Marinette exclaimed over those same words with Tikki. Time had done nothing to diminish his sincerity or the way his words felt to her love-starved heart.
As a general rule, she tried to avoid Akuma days. There were too many variables that could affect her return home. But sometimes the itch was too great.
It was amazing to watch Luka as Viperion for the first time, the way he took to Second Chance like a second skin. Desperada was handled so easily with Luka on their side. She remained in the burrow for it though, there was no good place to be during that particular fight. This way she could watch Viperion make all the necessary changes as he saved the day.
It wasn’t as if she were living in the past. Just visiting. Honestly, it was more like flipping through a scrapbook or watching home videos. She just had a better option than stagnant photographs or mobile videos.
Luka would hate that she was lying to herself. She hated that he wasn’t around to talk sense into her.
Marinette didn’t know if Fluff realized how often she wrestled with herself, but maybe it was only her final decisions that they could take issue with. She thought briefly of Tikki and Sass, she was sure they would have something to say about her choices, which was why she hadn’t seen them since before the day everything fell apart. They couldn’t scold her for something they knew nothing about, right? The idea of being condemned by the Kwami who had helped her through her childhood was too painful to face.
Marinette watched herself walk away and ducked into a coffee shop; no reason to hurry back, right? The steady lilt of Luka’s beat in the world made lingering in the past for a bit longer feel like a breath of fresh air. Ladybug had been the best of planners, whereas time-traveling grieving Marinette was another story entirely, so when she literally bumped into Luka, she was as surprised as he was.
"Luka! I didn't expect…" she couldn’t find the bright words to finish her sentence. There was not a good explanation.
His eyes skimmed over her, and he tugged her close before whispering, "Is everything all right?"
Marinette hesitated, this was dangerous, she could feel Fluff vibrating in her bag, but he was right there, holding her and taking care of her. "Yeah, everything is fine, just finishing up some, uh… guardian business." She discreetly flashed the Watch and he nodded in understanding. "Do you have time for a cup of coffee?" she blurted out.
Luka’s surprise and concern gave way to an easy smile that stole over his face and he nodded, "I always have time for you, no matter when." He winked at her in amused acknowledgment of their situation. Her heart melted and pooled somewhere in her gut. This was so wrong, an incredibly selfish use of the jewels she should be safeguarding, but being with Luka felt so right.
It was easy, so natural. She had to keep her chatter light of course, avoiding future subjects, but his voice flowed over her and filled in some of the cracks that had been wearing thin at the edges of her memory. He leaned down for a quick kiss when they finally parted and she slipped up, just a little. Her kiss was a little too hungry, edging into desperation and he looked worried when he pulled away.
"Are you sure you’re okay?" His hand caressed her jaw before coming to rest on her shoulder in a gesture so familiar and so foreign that she had to blink back tears.
"Yeah…" she took a shaky breath, "...it's just been a long week." Her half-hearted shrug hardly convinced him, but Luka accepted her answer, he was one of the very few who understood the boundaries of dealing with time. He squeezed her shoulder with a gentle smile as he left and she scrambled to find a place to transform and go home, terrified that somehow the world might have fallen apart. It hadn't. She thought about that visit for a long time, fighting the urge to fill all the moments he’d been away from her younger self.
“Mistress, please! If we tarry in the past for too long the future could be too short or the present might be gifted to the wrong moment!” Fluff never gave up, warning her every time she reached for the Pocket Watch. Marinette did feel guilty, she knew it was wrong, but it was the only thing that helped. The only time living wasn’t a mockery of the dreams she had envisioned for their future. So she stepped back into the burrow, slowly watching her love story unfold as an outsider looking in.
She had already resisted the urge to protect Master Fu, she knew that if she didn’t become the Guardian, she would not have the ability to be here visiting the past. And while the thought of a paradox was there skittering distantly through her mind, it was honestly the thought of not being able to visit Luka that stopped her. The Miraculous Time Piece weighed heavily in her hand, she had a responsibility, even if she wasn’t being as selfless as she should be, she was conscious of the fact that some things had to stay the same.
Unfortunately, not all actions are the result of careful thought or consideration.
Marinette watched the moment Luka saved her during the Miracle Queen mess. The thing was, it wasn’t a decision, so much as a reaction. As the significantly younger Marinette ran to transform she grabbed the stunned Luka and yanked him into the burrow, keeping him and his secret identity safe. She watched from their spot safe in the burrow- waiting for the right moment to let him back out to be swept by the cure. It was its own kind of torture, having him so close, and yet completely unaware of her. The fight was faster than it had been originally, without Second Chance working against them, Ladybug and Chat Noir were more effective in their plans, but very little else changed that day, not that she could identify anyway. She did know that Luka’s identity would be safe now, and she tried to prepare herself for the memories of Luka as Python to shake loose.
The overlapping memories were more intense than she had anticipated. It hit her all at once when she got home and dropped her transformation. Three timelines assaulted her mind simultaneously. The first- her original memory, when Luka was stunned and used by Chloe and Shadowmoth seemed to writhe as the newer memories shoved it around. The second memory- the one she had tried to anticipate- where Luka was somehow kept safe was the easiest to accept, apparently being prepared accounted for something. Still, she could feel her confusion, there was an uncomfortable feeling of being in two places at once; hiding in the burrow with Luka and wondering where he had been. It hit hard. She felt dizzy and her stomach churned- the overlapping memories hurt so much. She collapsed to the floor in a desperate bid to know up from down and reality from the deception of her own making. After a while (and several deep breaths), when she could think again Marinette felt for just a moment that she might be able to understand Fluff just a little more. She hoped that she could learn from her mistake, surely the remembered pain would be enough to keep her from interfering again.
Marinette made a sincere attempt at life after that. She answered her calls, responded to texts, and spent time with her friends. She watched with self-consternation as Rose and Juleka, still dealing with their own grief, breathed a sigh of relief the first time she actually showed up to a gathering, her once traditional baked goods in hand.
The watch was placed in the Box and put up on a shelf, high and hard to get to. Fluff had been right, time was a dangerous plaything.
She threw herself into work and her friends and let herself begin to heal. Romantic love felt like a scar. Something that she could see but no longer feel outside of her memories of Luka. Maybe her love had burned too bright to keep going for too long, or maybe she had been robbed. Either way, all romantic advances were quickly spurned. What she'd had could not be replicated, there was no reason to look for something lost in a cheap replacement.
Marinette was lonely. She was so sick of eating her meals alone. It wasn’t quite as bad as when it was expected, but Papa had gotten an awful cold and Maman had begged her to stay away till he was better so she wouldn’t be infected. She’d been looking forward to supper with family.
She thought back to the accidental coffee date with Luka and weighed the potential consequences in her mind. As long as she didn’t interact with her own history… maybe she could interact with Luka’s.
"Messing with time makes messes and messes are messy!" Fluff said with a pointed look when she clutched the Watch to her chest.
"Nothing went wrong last time, and I'm prepared this time. I have a plan. It'll be alright." Fluff turned their head away in silent disapproval, "Clockwise." Her whisper was hardly the exultant transformation cry of her youth, but it got the job done.
“Hey!” Her voice was light, but her heart was pounding in her chest.
Luka looked at her, confusion evident on his face, “Wha-?” he reached for his phone as it buzzed with an incoming message. She nodded at it with a timid smile and waited while he read his text. He looked at her pointedly. “You just canceled our lunch date.”
“Yeah, I canceled on you today, and in another today my plans were thwarted, so, I thought we could keep each other company,” Marinette explained glibly, hope making her heart flutter in anticipation.
“Miraculous business?” he asked her quietly.
“Nooo, not really, I just really didn’t want to eat alone. Is that okay with you?” He slipped his hand around hers with a smile and pressed a kiss to her fingertips.
“I promised now and always, I’m more than happy to keep that promise.”
Marinette breathed a sigh of relief and let herself enjoy their date.
It started as an accident. After all, she had promised Fluff she would do better. The note slipped out of her old planner during a cleaning fit and fluttered to the ground. A requested cancellation that had nearly led to a surprise visit to her husband in London while he traveled during their first year of marriage. It hadn’t quite worked out. But what if she went now? It had only been a few years- a fresh haircut and a new dye job to recreate the vibrant pink highlights that she’d sported for a while and she could look almost exactly like her twenty-three-year-old self. The impulse was too strong to resist. Much like the very first visit, she was past all coercion on Fluff's part once she made up her mind.
“The once upon a time that is, might not be the once upon a time that was if you go too soon- or too late!”
She thrummed with anticipation and she prepared for her visit to Luka, finally taking that trip she missed back then. With a quick stop to borrow clothes and a suitcase from herself, it was all too easy to fill her own shoes.
"Surprise!" Luka stared at her for half a beat before pulling her into his arms.
"How are you here?" She thrilled at the delight in his voice, melting into his embrace and it took everything in her to not lose her composure in front of him.
"That American client canceled, and I found myself with a mostly open week. How could I resist joining you when you were only a train ride away?"
The week was a literal dream come true. Sleeping with and waking up with Luka again was a drug and a balm all rolled into one. The withdrawals would be killer, but that was for future Marinette to deal with.
She knew Luka was too perceptive to not be able to tell that something was off. He knew her too well and was too accustomed to the machinations of time to be completely in the dark. But none of that stopped him from being delighted at her unexpected visit. Being together in the middle of their busy schedules was heavenly. They spent every moment he wasn't in the studio together; not quite a vacation, but special nonetheless.
He did try asking her about whatever it was that was bothering her once during her stay, but she was careful. "I just really missed you." It was the truth and he let it go, choosing to love her the way she needed him to.
But a week isn't very long, not in the grand scheme of life, and future Marinette arrived home, freshly broken by the renewed sense of loss, to her cold apartment all too soon.
Fluff didn’t talk to her for weeks. She’d left her younger self a note about her visit, a note she knows she'll never find. How could her dream-filled self possibly understand the grief that would drive her to such lengths? But it's there, a slim attempt at due diligence to not breaking the past and thereby safeguarding the future.
She vowed to leave Fluff be for a while, in penance for her actions. Another year passed before she found a better reason to stay.
Life grew a little better when Juleka and Rose adopted little Lucie. Marinette couldn’t stay away from the littlest Couffaine. They don't share blood, but Marinette swore Lucie had Luka's eyes. The same blue that pierced her soul, brought her joy, and broke her heart all over again. She couldn’t bring herself to be emotionally distant from her niece, and she refused to let herself live in the past when Lucie belonged in the present.
Aunt Marinette was there when Lucie took her first steps, cheering her on for Luka as well as herself. She borrowed a page from Luka, who Lucie would never get to know, and bought her a little guitar for her 2nd birthday. She threw herself into the work of making sure it was painted in remembrance of the Kitty Section days- to the delight of Lucie who loved her 'unikitty' guitar. Copies of Luka’s special albums (originally made just for her) made their way to Lucie as well, garnering a grateful hug from Juleka.
Visits to the past dwindled as she learned to live again, day by day with her family at her side. MDC slowly rose to become the powerhouse everyone thought it would, even with the shaky five or so years where it teetered on the brink of collapse due to the depression of its owner. Marinette was compared to a phoenix when her newest line broke trends and blew Style Queen out of the water with its style, inclusivity, and accessibility.
Her greatest pride was her tribute to Luka, which took the company to the top of the fashion charts, the infusion of rock and her own sweeter style appealed to the masses. ‘Leather and Lace’ was her favorite line and creating something out of the joy of knowing him did wonders to help heal the scars riddling her heart.
On what would have been their 12th wedding anniversary, Marinette took a hand-painted silk tie and left it draped over Luka's amp back on the day of their ice skating date. Memories of him wearing it for special events filled her mind when she returned home. It seemed like a better use of the power. A way to show her love to Luka without hurting herself by watching him.
Fluff was not thrilled. "Future presents to the past endanger past presents in the future." But they weren’t as angry about this as they were about the other visits.
She waited carefully and was as respectful as she could be, but she didn't stop. For their 20th anniversary, it's traditional china, patterned in blue and white, left in a crate on board the Liberty, a vague label hinting that it’s for Luka that Anarka can't remember for the life of her. With a shrug and a smile, Ankara gifted the lot of it to Luka when he moved off the boat. The china is in the cupboards when Marinette gets back home. A few pieces are chipped and the pattern looks slightly worn. She can't remember what was there before, the memories slip away even though she knows she made the changes.
The only thing she took from her visits were deep breaths. Marinette lets the heady tha-dump of Luka's rhythm in the world fill her up before returning to the slippery ribbon of life she's held onto so carefully.
For their 35th anniversary, it was a coral guitar pick. Carefully tucked into his guitar case before his first tour. Tokens of her love and their marriage spread through time and tucked into places he will see them in days long past. Gift-giving was always how she liked to show affection, and it felt good to be able to continue that with the man who would always hold her heart, no matter when or where he was.
Grief struck once again when she had to say goodbye to her dear Papa. Death came rather slowly, so they were prepared for the inevitable, but that never stopped the pain of loss. Marinette spent a month at her old home with her Maman. They clung to each other, crying for their loss and sharing memories of the good times- the best times. Tom Dupain had lived his life to the fullest, loving his family with all that he was- and they could still feel it surrounding them in the house, even while their hearts ached for him.
As close as they had always been, there was a new tie forged between mother and daughter, the loss of a spouse binding them in a new understanding. Much of their remaining time was spent together, the familiar rituals of her childhood keeping her steady whenever she joined her mother for tea.
It was something of a shock when she looked in the mirror on the day of their 50th anniversary and recognized herself in an unexpected way. The gold compass she had planned to give Luka slipped from her fingers and fell to the ground with a soft ringing thud.
She had been there, the day everything fell apart. Had there been some terrible reality where Luka died alone? How many iterations of the timeline had she tweaked? Maybe it was fate in the end. ‘Till death and all that. She examined her silvery-gray hair and wrinkled hands with a sigh of anticipation. She would see him again today, and then… then she wouldn't have to long for him anymore, they could leave the world together.
She invited Sass to come with her. "I'm saying goodbye to Luka today, Sass." Her voice sounded frail in her ears and she felt a moment of regret for ignoring the Kwami for so long. She had feared their consternation and reproof- knowing full well that Fluff wouldn’t have been the only one disappointed in her choices.
"It'sss about time, you should have brought me out agesss ago." The little snake was more forgiving than expected. He was saddened by her age-worn appearance, sorrowful that she had spent so long alone and grieving. But he seemed to understand to a degree and was seemingly content with the chance to see Luka once more.
For the first time Fluff didn’t argue with Marinette- but did object to Sass accompanying her. “What has already been has to be still! But what wasn’t should leave well enough alone.”
She wore the bracelet to the end. Just before the car came for the both of them, her unknowing husband reached out to help her across the road when she stumbled- just a little. She didn’t notice the younger version of herself down the way- on her way to meet Luka. She smiled up at the boy she loved as she watched him offer her his hand. He looked so young.
"Can I help you? You remind me of someone special," he said as he offered her his hand. She didn't resist him, she never could. Her heart beat in sweet tandem with his for the first time in decades and they took their last steps together.
Marinette barely felt the burn of pavement through the ripped knees of her slacks as she slid to the ground in the middle of the road. This couldn't be happening. It was too soon, she wanted, needed more time with him.
Tha---dump.
Tha--
Her eyes were already burning- as if they knew tears were inevitable. "Mistress!" Marinette looked up, completely baffled, and Sass was there, pointing at the wrist of the silver-haired woman lying in the road with Luka.
Her heart stuttered, but it took only a second to pull the bracelet from the woman in the road. She transformed where she knelt over Luka's prone form and called back time. Saving him was so easy. She pulled him out of the way before the swerving car whipped around the corner and slammed on the brakes. The elderly woman with him vanished completely and inexplicably as Marinette detransformed, even before the screeching of brakes finally fell silent.
Tha-dump.
Tha-dump.
"Is everyone okay?" The driver was pale and shaking, frantically stumbling from his car, but at the moment so was everyone else.
Luka looked around, confused for a second, his eyes seeking a phantom of time and memory, but then his gaze settled on Marinette and relief swept through him. "Thank goodness you're alright." Marinette couldn’t stop the manic sort of giggle at his words- he was the one who!!! The hysterical giggle turned into wracking sobs and Luka pulled her close, caressing her hair and whispering words of assurance. It wasn’t long before both of them were crying. But it must have been in relief, because what else could have caused such a reaction? There was some kind of weight that seemed to hover over them. They headed home, completely forgetting about whatever they might have had planned for the day.
They were quiet that night. A night spent at home, cuddled close together, thankful for their lives and the future they couldn’t wait to see come to life. They both felt unsettled by the events of the day and yet they couldn't quite pinpoint why they felt as concerned as they did. Both admitted to feeling as if they had forgotten something important, something crucial. Sleep claimed them early and quickly, Marinette wryly observed that she felt like she’d lived fifty years in a day, but Luka’s protective hold while they slept was exactly what she needed.
Tha-dump.
Lub-dub.
All was right with the world.
One of the oddest things wasn't discovered until the next day. Marinette couldn't remember taking Sass with her, and he refused to say how he got there. When they checked on the Miracle Box, Fluff was annoyed with all of them, including Sass, but they were talking in circles so convoluted that no one could make heads or tails of what they were saying. Sass begged to stay with his Snakelet, adamant that he couldn’t be away from him, for how could they protect the Guardian otherwise? Luka and Marinette conceded easily enough, and Marinette trembled to think of what would have happened had Sass not been there- however it happened.
Sass and Fluff refused to talk to each other for a while, but after some time passed, apologies and forgiveness were offered and accepted by both parties, not that the Kwamis were willing to share what their seemingly pointless dispute had been about.
They didn’t forget the near miss, something like that isn’t easily put out of mind. But it did fade into the background as time went on. Little trials and triumphs of life took their place in the forefront of their minds and held the incident in the past where it belonged. The clothing line that put MDC on the map, Luka’s first platinum single, the whispered promise of a growing family; all these glittering moments overshadowed one of the scariest days of their life- and that is exactly how it was meant to be. A thousand kisses and whispered words of love- these are what lingered in their minds for years to come.
It wasn’t long before baby Lucie was enthusiastically welcomed into Rose and Juleka’s lives the same year Luka and Marinette welcomed their firstborn. The cousins grew up as the best of friends and Mélodie and Lucie started their own band with their little bass and guitar at the ripe age of three, and their doting parents were kept on their toes as time passed and they grew steadily together.
Sometimes, but only rarely, Marinette woke up crying; but when she found Luka safe next to her, she could never remember why she had been sad. Luka would pull her close and kiss away her tears, repeating his vows to be with her always. Their marriage was happy and long, with children and laughter studding their lives throughout their many years together.
The Fates wove on, steady hands at the loom, following the lilting tha-dump, lub-dub, of their creation. The shimmering pink and blue strands were carefully woven in and out of the colors surrounding them, binding the purples, reds, silvers, and golds they touched. They surveyed the pattern and smiled; proud of their work.