Another story I didn't need to start but one I just had the idea of doing, so I type it out and what use is it just sitting on my laptop? Here we go!

Characters or music links in the story do not belong to me, but belong to their rightful owners.

Unravel

Chapter 01

Sabine

Questions, so many questions that it was hard to keep up with them. Nadia constantly asking irrelevant things, Chat Noir being absolutely no help, and the city of Paris being completely unaware of the very things that could go wrong.

Yet that was how this worked, that was just life and it moved on with the flow. Marinette would move on with it, ignoring the questions that always seemed to be in the general area of her relationship with Chat Noir as Ladybug. The answer always remained the same, they were just partners.

The selfish side of her knew he loved her, the bluenette knew this. She had seen it with her very eyes as Marinette. How Chat Noir had set up the balcony with candles, how he waited so eagerly for her to appear. Only she had, in a form he didn't know. He confessed, and she could still only think of Adrien Agreste.

The boy who only saw her as a very good friend. How unnerving was that? Then again she knew she never really spoke to him without stuttering. She knew that he didn't really know her, besides she always left when she could. How pathetic was she?

Only Adrien was the last of her problem, as was saving Paris and defeating Hawkmoth- who's akumas were getting more and more dangerous. Honestly, Marinette knew that someone was bound to get hurt, as did Tikki, beyond what she could fix. It was only in time that it would happen.

Yet time was something Marinette didn't have. At the end of the school semester, right before summer break started, Sabine Dupain-Cheng had fainted in the kitchen. At first both Marinette and Tom had believed Sabine had been dehydrated. Only Sabine fell ill.

At first Marinette was distant from her friends, which made Alya concerned. The blue belle eyed female stopped answer her text messages, phone calls, and the bakery always seemed to be closed now a days. At least they used to be.

Meanwhile on the rooftops of Paris, Chat Noir noticed the lack of Ladybug actually being present. She would be there besides him, scanning over the city but didn't react to anything he said or did to get at least a smile. He knew there was something wrong, seeing as in fights she was getting a little sloppy at times, less focused. When he asked about, she merely muttered it's personal, Chaton, and left it at that.

It was exactly two o'clock in the morning midsummer when Alya heard her phone going off. Grabbing her glasses an muttered about who the hell would be calling so early in the morning, she was surprised to see five missed calls from Marinette. Something in Alya's chest didn't feel good.

On the other side of the line, Marinette was in hysterics. It caused Alya to be wide awake and alert, asking over and over what was wrong. Never had she seen, or heard Marinette cry or crying so hard she couldn't even breath.

"It's my maman." Marinette wheezed out, hiccuping into the line. "She's...she's gone Alya!"

It had been the first time Marinette had said it outloud, and the sounds of her crying of the acception, it had Alya crying too. The line went dead then, and Alya had so many questions going through her head. How? Why? What just happened?

It all became clear when Alya and her own parents went to the Dupain-Cheng residence. Tom was a mess, but he was trying to bake to make up the lost revenue from all the time in the hospital. Marinette was in her room, laying there while Tikki snuggled up to the girl.

Sabine Dupain-Cheng had been in and out of the hospital for month and a half months after being diagnosed with an aggressive case of Leukemia, which is cancer of blood-forming tissues, including bone marrow. She had undergone chemotherapy to reduce the cancer cells the first month, but when she went to get checked for any trace of the cancer, there was more than they had caught before.

Sabine had known in her heart that there was too much cancer, and as much as Tom and Marinette had wanted her to go for more treatments, she had grabbed both their hands and smiled at the two most important people in her life and told them her one and final wish.

"I want to go home to China, see my mother and father and spend my time with you and them." Sabine's smile didn't waver, but Marinette would never forget the sadness in her eyes.

Yet they did exactly this, and for a month they were in China. Spending every single waking moment with Sabine that they could. Marinette helping her grandmother, Tom helping his father-in-law, and Sabine enjoying her family on last time.

During that time, Sabine had gradually gotten weaker. She needed more help and got frustrated when she had to depend on others to help her get place to place. She hated crying in front of them, but her good days turned to bad days, and she knew her body was breaking down. It wasn't fair.

Sabine was supposed to see Marinette grow up, graduate and go to a fashion school. She was supposed to see her baby girl grown up, succeed in life and fall in love with some lucky boy. She was supposed to see Tom walk Marinette down the aisle, give a heartfelt speech at her daughter's wedding, hold her first grandchild. She was supposed to grow old with her husband at her side.

Life was so cruel, but in that moment it gave Sabine mercy. She had slipped away peacefully in her sleep with Tom holding one hand, and Marinette holding the other. Leaving one wish in her wake, that her beloved daughter and husband would be okay without her.

Mayor Bourgeois had insisted on donating to the Bakery, much to Tom's disagreement. Citizens in Paris had raised money for the father and daughter that were going through a hard time, loving the family that had always welcomed them with smiles and nothing but positivity. Even Gabriel Agreste had reached out to Marinette, giving his condolences to her and her father with a personal visit.

When her final year of school started, Marinette wasn't the same girl she was before. Tikki was worried, feeling that seed in her miraculous holder's heart that could cause havoc. Marinette smiled less, she drew less, and she was unmotivated. Alya had tried her hardest to be there for her, same with Nino.

Marinette knew though, she knew that Alya and Nino were now dating. Why didn't they tell her? She assumed because they thought she wouldn't be able to handle it. She honestly didn't really care. Alya could go on dates with Nino, in fact Marinette wanted her too so she didn't suffocate her with the how are you doing today, or the are you okay?

A twitch of a bitter smile played on her lips. God, she was tired of the are-you-okays, because they were just so fucking annoying at this point. No she wasn't okay, so she wanted to know what idiot thought that was the best question to ask her. She swore if someone asked her if she was okay agains he might actually bash her head in. Then there was her father, who was over here trying his best to support her and himself, and she tried her best to help him. Yet Tom wanted her to focus on school, not be in the bakery.

That was something new. Life at home was different for Marinette. Where it was once so full of happiness and love, there was coldness and emptiness. She knew her father loved her and wanted the best for her, she just wished he could be present again and stop stressing so much.

The only one who actually seemed to understand her was Adrien. The irony in that being the one person Marinette was never able to talk to before would be the one person to understand her loss.

Adrien tried his best for the girl who lost her smile. He always ignored her stuttering, knowing Marinette was a good person at heart that had nothing but good intentions for the people around her. He'd seen her in action, helping those out in school. Now he wanted to be the one to help her, because for once he understood what she was going through since he lost his own mother.

Not only that, but Plagg was persistent in making sure he at least checked up on Marinette. Sometimes even asking how she was doing when he slept in Adrien's bag while the blonde spoke to the girl. Deep down, Plagg was just worried for Marinette and for Tikki. It was highly possible to be akumatized, an Marinette was extremely vulnerable at the moment still. Especially when the funeral for Sabine was held here in Paris two weeks ago.

On that note, Adrien had noticed as Chat Noir that his Ladybug was colder. She spoke less, but now she was laser focused when it came to akumas. She was rougher in fights, telling him that in the end there would be no harm to the person. Yet he seen her do it, take out whatever aggression was in her during fights, on the akuma's latest victim. It worried him, yet she would tell him to stop worrying about it.

"Have you designed anything new lately?" Adrien asked, watching Alya and Nino give him a thumbs up as he sat with Marinette in the distant.

Marinette looked up from the empty page of her sketch book into the green eyes she adored. Or used to at least. Nowadays, she didn't stutter, and her heart didn't race at the sight of Adrien. Why would she love something if she was bound to lose it? She didn't want love if she couldn't bare without it when it was truly gone.

"No, nothing." Marinette shrugged, leaning back in her chair. "Honestly, I'm thinking of dropping designing and doing something realistic."

Adrien raised an eyebrow, perplexed at this answer. "Dropping it? Marinette you love designing, that's what you wanted to be, a fashion designer!"

Marinette felt her eyebrow twitch in annoyance, her blue eyes hardening. "How would you know? Up until three weeks ago, we were never close. You think I'm stupid? I notice Alya and Nino tip toeing around on their dates, walking on eggshells around me just like you do. You're here as a distractions, because you can relate."

It was almost between mocking and scoffing at him with that last word, and for some reason Adrien didn't like it. He didn't like this Marinette, the one who smiled less as was emotionally distant.

"Marinette-"

"Why do you love Ladybug?" Marinette suddenly asked, changing the topic that she just cut Adrien off of.

Adrien, opened his mouth then closed it, surprised by the sudden turn in conversation and the question. Not even a second ago was she snapping at him, but she asked him something he didn't even know she knew.

"How did you know?" Adrien asked, wanting to hit his head on the table from just the stupidity of the question.

Marinette gave him a look, knowing that it was something obvious. "You check the Ladyblog periodically. Have deep and long conversation with Alya about her recent weird behavior. Plus you get this look in your eyes, almost perking up at just the mention of her."

Adrien blushed slightly, embarrassed at the fact Marinette had caught these small things. It wasn't a secret though, but it also wasn't common knowledge he made evident for common knowledge.

"Plus Nino mentioned it." Marinette added, which answered everything for Adrien.

"Why?" Adrien scratched the back of his head. "She's just so brave, strong, beautiful. Plus she's intelligent, stubborn, and caring. She always saves the day, and is someone anyone can depend on."

Marinette wanted to laugh in his face, because it made sense then why he never looked her way. He was infatuated with this being, this person who was everything she wasn't. She was nothing like her superhero counter part, no matter what Tikki said. She wasn't brave, or strong, or beautiful, nor was she caring.

Not at the moment. It was a bitter seed in her heart to be envious of herself, because if anyone knew she was Ladybug, they would lose their faith in the divine being they believed the superhero was. She was nothing compared to Ladybug, the one everyone loved and believed in. Without Tikki, she wouldn't even be Ladybug. Without Tikki, Marinette was truly nothing.

"You idolize her, just like everyone else in this city." Marinette says softly, not even looking at the blonde model across from her as she lazily drew scribbles in the sketch book in front of her. "You don't actually know her. She saved you, what- once? And you think all these things of her, yet you don't know her. The girl under the mask."

Adrien frowned more, but he couldn't correct Marinette. He couldn't tell her it was because he was Chat Noir, because he worked besides her all this time and fell in love with his crime fighting partner. Yet he was so disturbed by how Marinette tried to knock him down, knock Ladybug down that he wasn't sure to defend his lady or let it slide knowing Marinette was hurting.

"I'm sure that the girl under the mask is the very same as Ladybug. Just as whoever is under the mask of Chat Noir is the very same." Adrien wanted to reach out and grab Marinette's hand, to gain her attention that was no longer on him. "You're hurting, I get that Marinette, but lashing out on those who care about you isn't the way to go."

Marinette simply chuckled, "Is it lashing out if it's the truth? Besides, I never asked for you to sit here with me, you can feel free to always leave. In fact, please be my guest and go."

Adrien was stunned, but he was also determined. That if she wanted to push people away because she was hurting, he wouldn't let her push him away. No, in fact he would only stick around more. He knew the want for isolation, the need to push people away purely so he wouldn't have to deal with them. It was easy for him, being who he was.

Marinette on the other hand, she was social, she was kind and she cared. It was why she was elected class president, yet even now she neglected that. It made Adrien worried about an akuma coming for her, and yet Hawkmoth hasn't made a move on this poor soul.

"No." Adrien told her sternly, causing Marinette to tilt her head at him slightly. "I'm not letting you deal with this alone. Alya and Nino involved or not, I am not them. I will be your friend, even now and after."

Marinette let a ghost of a smile appear on her lips, as if pleased with the answer. It was the first smile Adrien had directed at him that was sincere, like earning a piece of her trust. Which was something that made him glad.

"We'll see if you can really keep that promise, blondie." Marinette says, her walls high on alert and shielded from this boy in front of her.

Empty promises were coming from his mouth, or promises that were to be broken in the future. Inside her pink pouch, Tikki prayed to the gods that she wouldn't lose this one. That Adrien would figure it out quick enough with Plagg's help that they needed to get Marinette on the right path with her heart, because the one she was on now was worse than any akuma Hawkmoth could muster up.

Oh Sabine, she really needs you. Tikki thought sadly, feeling the waver in Marinette's pure heart turning a bit colder.

Hope you liked it! Please leave me some feedback in a review if I should continue this storyline or not! :) Love you guys and thank you for the support!