Chapter 1: Disabled, not helpless

From talking with others who had been involved in life-changing accidents, Marinette knew that some people would forget the incident itself, having only a vague memory it. But for Marinette, her memory of that fateful day was clear. It had been a Wednesday, just after lunch, and Marinette had been heading home with some shopping her parents had sent her to get, she was only a few blocks away from the bakery. She was only twelve at the time.

Marinette stood, waiting for the traffic lights to turn green so she could cross the road. As she waited a painfully familiar voice announced the presence of a person behind her, and Chloe and Sabrina came to stand beside her.

Marinette didn't remember exactly what Chloe had said to her, just that it was Chloe's usual way of demeaning her and making her feel small.

And then the traffic lights changed to show the green man, signalling that it should be safe for everyone to cross to the other side. Key word being 'should'.

As a last cruel joke before leaving, Chloe caused Marinette to stumble and almost drop her bags before crossing the road. Marinette scowled at Chloe as she righted herself as she began to cross the road herself.

And then she became aware of a car speeding down the road, a car going way to fast to just stop at the traffic lights, a car that would most likely just speed past the traffic light, a car that was heading directly for Chloe.

Marinette didn't know what caused her to move, just that she did. One moment she was standing just off the pavement, holding her shopping bags and watching the car speed towards Chloe, the next moment her shopping bags had fallen to the ground and she had launched herself forwards.

"Chloe! Look out!" Marinette screamed.

Marinette felt the material of Chloe's jacket under her hands as she shoved Chloe out of the way, taking no mind of Chloe's indignant screech, the blond misunderstanding what Marinette was doing. Then Marinette was slammed into herself, slammed into so hard that she was sent into the air before impacting on the ground near where Chloe was picking herself off of the pavement.

"Marinette Dupain-Cheng!" Chloe began angrily.

But then Chloe's face morphed from anger to that of shock.

"Oh god!" She gasped, bringing her hands to her mouth.

At first Marinette was confused as to why Chloe was shocked over her, but then Marinette's body finally registered the immense pain through the shock. She tried to scream out in pain but all she could manage was weak moans and cries.

Marinette eventually became aware of Chloe kneeling down next to her, which surprised Marinette because Chloe would never dare dirty her trousers by kneeling on the ground.

"It's-it's okay, M-Marinette." Chloe stuttered. "Everything will be okay."

Chloe then turned to Sabrina, who looked as shocked and unsure what to do with the situation as Chloe did.

"What do I do?" Chloe asked Sabrina.

"Oh, uh…" Sabrina tried to remember what her dad had taught her. "Try to keep her still and any point of bleeding elevated."

"Marinette, you need to be still." Chloe told Marinette.

It was only after Chloe had mentioned it that Marinette realised she was struggling to move, which was only causing her more pain, and did her best to keep still despite the pain making her want to move to alleviate it somehow.

Help quickly arrived and Marinette was picked up and put on a stretcher before being loaded into an ambulance. During the ride Marinette did her best to stay awake like the paramedics instructed her to, but she eventually fell into blissful sleep.

When Marinette woke up she found herself in a hospital bed, her worried parents at her side while a doctor displayed an x-ray to them, explaining the damage that had been done to Marinette and the procedures Marinette would have to go through stop her current condition from worsening. The people in the room became aware of Marinette being awake when she started to cry after the doctor told her parents that, even with the operation she would go through, she would likely never walk again.

After receiving the needed comfort from her parents, Marinette was put back under for the operation to fix her broken bones and other injuries obtained from being hit by the car. Marinette's broken bones would heal just fine, but just as the doctor had predicted, the damage to her lower spine was too great, and she would be confined to a wheel chair the rest of her life, with only a small chance at being able to walk for brief periods using crutches.

As Marinette recovered from her accident in the hospital, her parents returned home and came across the first problem Marinette's new disability presented, stairs. The main living quarters were above the bakery, and Marinette's room in the renovated loft above that, and with their humble baker's salary they didn't have much to change the home to Marinette's new needs, Tom and Sabine didn't know what to do. As it turned out, the answer came from the most unexpected of places.

Mayor Bourgeois was eternally grateful to Marinette for saving his daughter from the fate Marinette now had, and for her act of heroism, he offered money to renovate the Dupain-Cheng residence to be more wheelchair user friendly, which Tom and Sabine accepted the on Marinette's behalf. Ramps and stair lifts were added to the home so that Marinette could keep her current room, and the stairs were widened to make room for the stair lifts, Marinette's stilt bed was changed to a normal bed on the floor while a small lift was installed under the sky light so that Marinette could still reach the small balcony on her roof. The mayor also tried to pay for the other expenses that came with Marinette's new lack of mobility, but the Dupain-Chengs didn't want to accept any more charity and insisted they would pay for the expenses themselves.

When Marinette returned home it was a huge relief to her, it was even more of a relief to be able to keep her bedroom. It took her a long while to get used to not being able to walk anymore, there would be more than one occasion where she'd go to stand up only to end up flat on her face because her legs didn't work anymore, but she remained determined not to let her disability get the best of her, and she would always keep that mindset.

"Mama, I'm going out!" Marinette called to her mother as she heaved herself into her wheelchair.

"Make sure you're not late for afternoon classes sweetie!" Her mother called after her.

"I will!"

Marinette put her hands to the wheels of her chair and began pushing, the gloves she created herself giving her good grip on the wheels.

It had been two years since her accident and Marinette had gotten used to life without working legs, working on her upper body strength so she could lift herself in and out of her wheelchair and stair lift, and doing her best to prove that despite being disabled, she was not helpless.

Rather than keeping herself confined to the house all day, Marinette made sure to always leave the house at least once a day, even if it was a short 'walk' with no destination in mind. But her walks didn't always have no reason other than getting out of the house, her constant journeying allowed her to find new inspiration for her fashion designing, like when she spotted new flowers in someone's garden, or witnessing a moment at just the right time to give her a new idea. And if Marinette did have to say, the one advantage to being confined to a wheelchair most the time, was that by putting something flat across the arm rests she could turn it into a mobile drawing desk for when inspiration hit.

Marinette had two different wheelchairs, a manual one that had been fitted for her and provided by the health service, and an electric one that had been given as a birthday gift from a 'mysterious' giver, Marinette had her suspicions as to who it was but never bothered to voice them. When Marinette received her wheelchairs, they had been plain-looking, silver metal and black padded seats, which hadn't suited her tastes at all, so she decided to customise them with the help of her classmates at the time. The fabric of the seats had been replaced with a more colourful fabric with different designs she would occasionally change when she felt like something new, the current designs were a dark blue with colourful butterflies flying around it for her manual wheelchair and flowers for her electric wheelchair. Aside from the different covering, Marinette had left her electric wheelchair mostly alone, it was her manual one that was more personalised, the metal spokes of the wheels had been decorated with beads that moved up and down the spokes as the wheels rolled, some beads where shop bought, some were given by classmates, and others she had created herself, there was protective plastic on both wheels to prevent something getting caught in between the spokes, when Marinette first got the chair the plastic had been clear, but she had then used special paint to put floral patterns on them to make them look nicer.

Though Marinette's electric wheelchair was more practical, especially when she encountered hills when she went out, she preferred to use her manual wheelchair. The more personalised wheelchair gave her a sense of independence and accomplishment when she wheeled herself around instead of relying on a motor rolling the wheels for her. Sure, it made getting around harder, but that only made the sense of accomplishment all the more better when she managed to get past the harder parts of her journey.

Today, Marinette had a destination in mind, one that provided her plenty of inspiration for her fashion designing, or when she simply wanted to draw, she pushed herself down the familiar path and up a hill she was used to struggling up, eventually accepting the help of a passer-by to make it the rest of the way, and then she arrived. It was an old mansion that had been there long before she was born, and apparently, no one had lived in it since before she was born either. Vines crawled the gate and walls, flowers blooming wildly everywhere, a pond of the property somehow remaining with clear water, and a large circular window reflected the sun, despite its abandoned state the mansion remained beautiful, people's natural wariness of the place had kept vandalisers from ruining its beauty. But Marinette didn't understand why people would want to keep away, she had the opposite reaction, she was enticed, she wanted nothing more to see what the inside looked like, rather than looking in from the fence.

Marinette spent the next hour contently drawing things she spotted in the mansion's garden, stopping only to eat the lunch that she had packed. There was a bird hopping about on a branch, dragonflies skimming about over the pond, some flowers midway through blooming, a pure white butterfly.

Marinette paused in the middle of her drawing to look again, but she couldn't spot the butterfly she had seen.

"I guess it flew off." She muttered.

Marinette then looked at her watch and her eyes widened at the time, it was getting time for afternoon classes, and if she didn't leave now she would be late.

"Lunch passed quickly." Marinette said to herself.

Marinette turned her wheelchair around and began her way to college.

A white butterfly watched her go.

Marinette arrived at the college in time and wheeled herself up the ramp, as she entered the building she looked over to where her classroom was, on the first floor.

A few years ago this would have been a major problem for Marinette. Before, anyone who had trouble getting up the stairs would have just been moved to a class on the ground floor, there wasn't anything on the upper floors that couldn't be accessed on the ground floor, so it wasn't seen as a problem. But after her accident, Marinette insisted on staying in her usual class on the first floor, and with some help from an unexpected source the principle was convinced to put effort into making the college more all-inclusive, such as installing new ramps and a lift to the higher floors. So, Marinette wheeled herself into the lift and pressed the up button, the lift taking her to the first floor. After the doors opened, she wheeled herself out and towards her classroom, though the open door.

"Mari!"

Marinette inwardly cringed at the happy voice as arms uncomfortably wrapped around her, probably giving her new bruising from how tight they held her.

"I was worried when you weren't home when I went to get you." The owner of the voice pouted.

"I just went for a little trip." Marinette placated. "I'm fine, Chloe."

Chloe continued to pout.

"But what if you'd fallen over, I wouldn't have been there to help you." She said.

"You know me better than that, Chloe, I don't fall over. And even if I somehow had, I'm sure I could have picked myself up."

Chloe gave a small 'harrumph', not convinced.

Marinette still found it extremely weird to have Chloe acting so buddy-buddy with her, even after two years, how Chloe acted towards her previously still imprinted firmly in her mind. After saving Chloe from being ran over by a car, the blond's attitude towards Marinette took a total one-eighty, going from hating the aspiring designer to being her self-declared best friend.

But just because Chloe didn't bully her anymore, didn't mean she didn't cause problems for Marinette.

Marinette often felt like Chloe treated her like a charity case, using the fact that she had a disabled friend who she constantly went out of her way to help to bolster her social status, adults believing Chloe to be a wonderful example of a child because of this. Another problem with Chloe, that despite Marinette always showing she could be independent and that she wouldn't let her disability limit her, Chloe treated her like she was helpless and fragile, acting like the simple task of going to and from the college was a momentous task for Marinette that she needed help with and that Marinette was helpless without her. Marinette always did her best to correct Chloe, telling her that she could do things on her own and didn't always need help, and sometimes she would get through to Chloe, but then a few hours later Chloe would default back to normal.

And there was also the fact that while Chloe didn't bully Marinette anymore, it didn't mean she didn't bully others. Chloe would always throw her weight around to get what she wanted, not caring, or probably even realising, how she made others feel in the process, as far as Chloe was concerned, she was always right and things should always go her way, and she didn't like it when she was challenged. Marinette did her best to tone down Chloe's behaviour, and to a certain extent it did work, she didn't blow up at people she felt wronged her as much as she used to, but other times Chloe would drag Marinette into her argument, using her position as Marinette's 'best friend' to bolster her argument, making it seem like Marinette was on Chloe's side to others because she couldn't get a word in to correct them.

Don't get her wrong, Marinette liked it that Chloe didn't bully her anymore, but sometimes she felt like best-friend-Chloe was worse than bully-Chloe.

Marinette wheeled over to the desks and parked her wheelchair next to the wall, she then reached behind her to fetch her crutches. Unsteadily, and with great effort, Marinette used her crutches to rise to her feet.

Though Marinette would always need her wheelchairs to get around, her spine and legs had healed enough that she could manage brief moments of standing as long as she had support, but it was a strain for her to do and there were days where she just wouldn't be able to manage it. It had taken Marinette endless determination and countless hours of physical therapy to be able to stand using crutches, and even then, she could only manage it for a minute or so, but she refused to give in or give up.

Marinette's desk was on the second row, up some steps. She should have been on the first row, or even stayed in her wheel chair and used that as a desk, like Chloe never stopped insisting, but Marinette remained stubborn in not wanting to let her disability limit her. Still, Marinette knew that she shouldn't overshoot herself, and so settled on the second row rather than farther up.

"Here." Chloe said, grabbing one of Marinette's arms and supporting her back.

Without needing to be called, Chloe's other 'best friend', because Chloe was allowed to have two best friends if she wanted, Sabrina came and supported Marinette's other side.

As much as Marinette wanted to insist she could manage it on her own and as much as it pained her to admit it, on most days, Marinette did need help to reach her desk. It was a relief when Marinette could finally drop into her seat.

"You should really stay in your wheel chair." Chloe repeated what she always told Marinette. "Why do you always insist on straining yourself?"

"To prove that I can do it." Marinette gave her usual answer.

Chloe gave Marinette an expectant look.

"With some assistance." Marinette admitted.

"Thank you." Chloe said.

Chloe and Sabrina took their seats next to each other as class began and Marinette sighed, already feeling that it was going to be a long day.

Author's note: So, what do you think? Should I add more, or change something?