-x-Cold-x-

It was cold.

The day had been warm, so Maman had left the heater off. Even when she pushed a chair against the wall Marinette hadn't been able to reach the thermostat.

Closing time came so she had put up the 'closed' sign for the bakery and closed the blinds because she couldn't reach the light switch.

A few of the late customers had asked if she would be alright by herself but had finally left when Marinette stated her parent's would be home soon.

Every night her parent's would close the store and the three of them would make dinner together, Maman would get the ingredients and chop them while Papa would cook them. Marinette was mostly in charge of the sauce or gravy, but if she had trouble with something her Papa and Maman would be right there to help her.

They weren't home yet, the tall lady's order was going to be late. But it was alright, the tall lady was nice and would understand.

Maybe she could make her a necklace as an apology for the delay, one that would match the bracelet she had already given her!

Her family wasn't wealthy enough for her to make her jewellery out of actual jewels yet but the lady had seemed to love the dark purple and silver beads she had used. The lady said her flower-like design for the bracelet had reminded her of a butterfly, since the four silver petals looked like a butterfly's wings.

When Marinette was finished making it she actually didn't like the necklace much, instead of a butterfly it reminded her of a moth.

It was getting really cold, she shivered and climbed up onto the couch, snuggling with the throw rugs placed on it.

Her Maman and Papa would be back when she woke up.

-x-Cold-x-

Maman and Papa weren't coming back.

The red haired police man had told her that, looking down at her with a pitying look in his eye's.

"What do you mean?" She had asked, looking up at the red haired man confusedly.

The officer's words caught in his throat as he thought of what to say, seeing his own daughter in this little girl. Finally his expression settled into a somber look and he knelt down so that he was roughly at the same height as Marinette.

"Your parent's were involved in a car accident yesterday. They got really hurt and their body's couldn't take the damage, so their spirit's couldn't stay in the bodies anymore. When a spirit leaves a body they can't stay here, they have to go to a place up there," The officer said, pointing towards the sky, "Even though they're up there and not here, though, they'll still be with you, in your heart." Marinette looked down at the left side of her chest as the man said this.

Tears pricked at the edge's of Marinette's eyes.

"They won't be coming back?" She asked, her voice wobbling at the end.

"No, sweetheart, they won't." The man's expression grew pained as he watched the little girl beginning to cry.

-x-Cold-x-

Waking up to someone knocking loudly on your door was one of the most annoying ways to wake up, she thought as she threw on her dressing gown and walked towards the aforementioned door.

"Yes?" Her voice rang coldly as she stared at the red haired man in a police officer's uniform.

The man flinched slightly under her hard stare, despite being taller than her, and stuttered slightly before addressing her clearly.

"You are Ms. Sancour, yes? Younger sister of Sabine Dupain Cheng?" Curiosity emerged as she listened to the man, although she wasn't on bad terms with Sabine they had never truly made an effort to be in each other's lives, despite living in the same city. The most she would see or hear of Sabine was the odd run in with each other and an annual Christmas and birthday card, what could possibly be so important that an officer would need to seek her out?

"Yes, that would be me. Is there something you need to talk with me about?" She spoke calmly, although she had a vague idea of what had happened.

The officer sighed, a sympathetic twinge to his voice. "I'm afraid to inform you that both Mrs Dupain Cheng and her husband were killed in a car accident yesterday evening." Nathalie froze almost imperceptibly, "The two left behind a daughter, Marinette. You are the only relative in the country that she has left, and so are the most qualified to be considered as her guardian."

"I know this would be hard for you to cope with, but we need to know as soon as possible if you are willing and capable to care for Marinette, otherwise we will have contact the next most available relative." The officer looked down at his shoes as he said this, looking physically pained to speak of a situation like this in such an impersonal way.

Nathalie's mind was already racing through options and possibilities, as horrible as it was to think, Nathalie did not feel very devastated over Sabine and her husband's death, they were barely acquaintances and although Sabine was nice, Nathaniel had never made an effort to connect with her, so she felt almost nothing over their passing.

She had met Marinette a handful of times, if only because she was the only relative on her mother's side in the country. Marinette had even made a bracelet for her birthday once, it was amateur compared to the things Nathaniel saw through her work, but it showed potential. It was a little thing, decorated with beads that were various shades of red.

Much as Nathalie wouldn't admit it, she had kept it in her bedside table's lowest drawer, hidden under her clothes for good measure.

Nathalie was fully equipped to take care of a child, she had a large enough income that she could easily pay for babysitting and the like and even had a spare bedroom in her apartment.

Marinette was a nice child, she had lost her parents and did not deserve to be shipped off to a country where she knew no one and couldn't speak their language. She hadn't even met her grandparents or her other uncles and aunts yet, and Sabine was no longer around to be her daughter's translator.

Nathalie lived near the bakery she grew up in, she also spoke the same language as Marinette.

But she was not emotionally available. She could not give the girl the hugs and share tear filled memories of her parent's when they were younger that she would need in her life right now.

Nathalie sighed, looking up to the officer, "Are you authorised to tell me where my niece is? I believe I should talk this over with her."

The officer nodded, saying Marinette was being kept in the police station's 'Soft room' until they could find someone to take care of her.

Nodding, Nathalie thanking the officer and bid him goodbye, closing the door before the man could reply.

-x-Cold-x-

The couch Marinette was sitting on was comfy, but that didn't make her feel better.

An officer, not the same one who had told her about her parent's, had come in earlier and had given her a sandwich, which Marinette had barely touched.

The room was warm, but she still felt cold.

Where would she go now? Would she be sent away from her friends? Her home?

A soft knock tore her away from her overwhelming thoughts, her eye's dragging up to see who had opened the room's door.

Recognistion lit up in her tired looking eye's and Marinette stared up at Aunt Nathalie.

Usually she would have called out to her aunt and ran over to hug her, getting an awkward hug back in return. Looking at her aunt with glassy eye's that were slowly filling with tears, Marinette couldnt fathom that at one point she could have felt that happy when now all she could feel was emptiness.

Slowly, as if she wasn't even aware of her body moving, Marinette got up off of the couch and moved towards her aunt. As the woman watched her niece approach her, she could see how different the girl was since the last time she had seen her. Nathalie knew this accident would have a astronomical impact on Marinette, but there was a deep contrast between the vibrant girl she knew and the broken child that was hesitantly looking up at her.

Letting out a breath she hadn't known she had been holding, Nathalie leaned down and picked up the shaken girl, drawing a surprised gasp from her niece. The woman lifted her up and held Marinette against her chest, wrapping on arm under her bottom and other around her back.

Stiltedly, the small girl wrapped her arms around her aunt's neck, a tension she didn't know was in her melting away. An involuntary sob drew itself up her throat, followed by another until Marinette heavily sobbing into her aunt's neck.

"They're gone. . .they're gone. . ." Marinette gasped through her sobs, clutching at Nathalie as if she would disappear too.

There was nothing Nathalie could say that would make her niece feel better, so she just let Marinette sob and clutch at her, making sure to keep her arm's tightly wound around the child to remind her she wasn't alone.

Eventually, the girl tired herself out in her grief stricken state, leaning against her aunt's shoulder. Her steady breaths would briefly hitch at times, as if she was still sobbing in her dreams.

Nathalie sighed, running a hand through her niece's slightly messy hair, doing anything she could to comfort the child.

Glancing to the red haired officer again, Nathalie said "I'll care for her".